I'd never heard of this band but did recognise so of the songs from the main playlist.
This album is right up my alley.
Great 60s hippy vibe, one that you can take a nice toke to and mellow out to.
Didn't know Proud Mary was their songs.
Overall this is a good album and shows me how good John Fogerty is as a writer.
7/10. Will listen to this again and I'm sure I'll love it even more over time.
Never heard of this band but this is a solid jazz album.
It's a perfect Sunday afternoon album.
I throughly enjoyed sitting back, relaxing, and just listening to this album.
Will definitely be playing this album again.
7/10.
Not heard of his band before, as with all albums on the list assuming this is considered one of the greats but sadly I didn't hear it.
I just found the album to be very average.
Maybe for the time it was considered new and pushing boundaries, but sadly to my modern ears it all sounded a bit naff and cheesy.
4/10.
I like the Offspring, they're especially a great band live but to me this album just feels very dated and a bit rough around the edges.
Sure it has some good songs but it's more misses than hits.
Really good have done with few songs of more quality; this albums feels a bit stretched out.
5/10.
Never heard of this band but their style sounds very much like dad rock and pretty naff overall.
No real standouts, a very background music album.
5/10
I'm a big fan of Earth, Wind & Fire, so this album was always going to be one that I liked.
Just everything about this album shows you exactly how in their groove and flow Earth, Wind & Fire were. Each song is funky, fresh, and I imagine if I had been alive at the time, it would have gotten me dancing at the disco.
I absolutely love funky and Motowny albums such as this.
Definitely on the repeat list. 8/10.
I only know Morrissey as a grandad who spews questionable opinions on foreigners, but I tried to judge the music on its own merits.
Ultimately, it's just fine. I get that it was influential for 90s indie, but listening back now, it feels completely tied to its era and pretty unpolished. 6/10
This album is a bit before my time, so I only really know Coldplay post their depressed period, but I can see why so many depressed teenagers listened to this album. It has that sort of moopiness that privileged white kids have and moan about.
Overall it’s an okay album, better than I thought given how naff an image Coldplay has. Not sure I’d bother playing it again, but overall it was still an okay listen. 6.5/10.
I’ve seen De La Soul live and they were excellent, with the exact right energy that you want to hype up a crowd.
This album does feel very 80s by modern hip hop standards, but it still has an element of classic hip hop beats.
Sadly, this album is far too long and could have done with being half the length. Having a select few solid tracks would have made the album stronger, but 3 bangers out of 23 tracks is a bit lackluster. An 8-track album would have been better here. 5/10
Can’t say I noticed any real standout bangers on this album. Given Damon Albarn’s involvement, you can hear that signature melancholic Blur and Gorillaz influence throughout.
Overall it’s a pretty average album, albeit a slightly dystopian and depressing one that feels like a dark, rainy ode to London.
Can’t say it’s one I plan on replaying anytime soon. 5/10
I get this is an album targeting white American frat boys from the 80s, so obviously I’m far from that and as such I was often left with a feeling of what the hell was that lyric or song?
I appreciate that for the target demographic this felt fresh and relevant with Rick Rubin's heavy rock sampling, but I found the album resolutely average with only a couple of decent songs like Fight For Your Right and No Sleep till Brooklyn. 5/10
Sounds and seems like a very 80s album, so I was surprised that 77 stood for the year this album was released.
I can see why so many people hold Talking Heads in high regard, and this album is clearly at the forefront of new wave music. David Byrne's twitchy, anxious vocals give the tracks a unique edge, especially on standout songs like Psycho Killer.
Even with its minimalist art-punk style, it set a huge benchmark for what was to come. 6/10
I'm mostly familiar with Lou Reed by name, but I don't really know much about his actual albums rather than songs. I see people going on about how amazing and revolutionary he was, but this is the first actual album of his I've listened to.
I found it just okay. Coming off the back of the huge hit Walk on the Wild Side, this album is a jarring, bleak shock. I guess for the 1970s it was pushing boundaries as a dark concept album following a doomed relationship in Berlin, but like many other albums on this list, it just felt a bit average. Even with Bob Ezrin's heavy production and full orchestral arrangements, the whole thing is just a bit gloomy and depressing, which I suppose is the point of the album, but it wasn't my cup of tea. It's supposed to have famous songs on it, but they all sounded relatively similar to me.
If that's your style, it's probably a solid album, but for me, it just sounded a bit dreary and meh. It wasn't necessarily bad, just nothing special and not something I'd put on again. 5/10
Another band I'd never heard of but I did recognise the hits from the album. Like a few other albums I've heard from this era, it’s clear to see that classic late 70s transition where the raw aggression of punk started blending with catchy pop melodies and synth driven new wave, setting the exact blueprint for the 80s sound. Dave Greenfield's swirling organ work really gives it a distinct, moody edge compared to typical guitar led punk.
This musical blend makes it an easy album to listen to. I didn’t find it anything particularly special to rave about, but overall it's an okay debut album. 6/10
This was the band that started my 1001 albums list and they were right up my alley then, and remain so now.
John Fogerty's songwriting on tracks like Bad Moon Rising and Green River gives the album its signature swamp rock feel and unbeatable hooks. It has a perfect 1960s hippie vibe that you can just chill out to. 7/10
I hadn't heard of this band and didn’t recognise any of the songs on the album. It sounded a bit like they were trying to sound like The Beatles, albeit not to a particularly high level. Mark E. Smith's chaotic, semi spoken vocal style and repetitive riffs make track after track blend together.
The songs sounded very similar and nothing really stood out. Overall, the album is distinctly average, and I'm not sure why it's listed as a must hear album. 5/10
Ye brought Lupe to my attention back on Late Registration, and I can now see his influence on touch the sky.
The whole album has a very touch the sky feel to it, along with a turn of the century hip-hop vibe. His storytelling on tracks like kick, push, alongside mid 00s soul sampled production from Kanye and The Neptunes, gives it a distinct socially conscious edge.
Overall, it’s an okay album, but there's nothing really special about it. I can see why Lupe isn’t an artist we hear much from nowadays, as he seems pretty much dime a dozen. 6/10
This album has that early '80s vibe and a post punk feel. By smashing 1950s rockabilly with 1970s punk rock, The Cramps pioneer the psychobilly genre here, using two distorted guitars and no bass player to create a muddy, mid heavy garage sound. Combined with Lux Interior's horror obsessed, B movie style lyrics, the tracklist ends up bleeding together into one noisy stretch.
Sadly the songs all sounded very similar and nothing really stood out for me. I can't say I’d recommend this album to anyone. 4/10
There's really not much that I can say about the Prince of Darkness that hasn't been said millions of times.
This album definitely deserves to be on this list; it just flows so beautifully and there isn't a bad song on it. By shifting away from the frantic pace of bebop, Davis teamed up with arrangers like Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan to give birth to the cool jazz subgenre, using a nine-piece band to craft a smooth, beautifully structured sound. 8/10
A solid entry on the list that inspired many artists after it.
As a cornerstone of the 1971 singer songwriter movement, there's a nice, mellow tone to this album that you just don't get anymore. Carole's soulful voice alongside her honest and heartfelt lyrics really speak to us empathetic listeners. 7.5/10
On the tail end of 80s rap moving into the 90s, this is rap and pop as we now know it. The lyrics are very Queen Latifah, with that bright 90s clothing vibe.
As one of hip-hop's first major female solo stars, she uses this album to push female empowerment, most famously alongside Monie Love on Ladies First. By blending traditional hip-hop with house and reggae influences, Queen Latifah crafts a solid snapshot of that era. Not a bad album, but it doesn't do enough to stand out as a classic. 6/10
Reminds me of a rough around the edges Freddie Mercury style of cadence with art rock touches. Despite its standing as a 1971 prog rock milestone, the contrast between Ian Anderson's acoustic flute passages and heavy guitar riffs doesn't quite pull it together.
The songs themselves seem more like demos than fully completed songs, meaning the album ends up being distinctly average rather than fully polished. Needed a bit more oomph. 5/10
I liked this album; I know it's classified as hip-hop, but it really feels like its own genre. It's smooth, soulful, very jazzy, and just overall just pleasant to hear Simbiatu's mellifluous melodies. I think there's a certain aspect to songwriting that Londoners from immigrant backgrounds just know how to express, which makes it speak to us even more.
This is the sort of album that speaks to you. How it only got to number 87 in the charts is insane, but I'm glad people going through this list will get to experience it. I just wish the album was a bit longer. 7.5/10
A very folksy album, sounding a bit jazzy in parts. This album showcases Chris Wood's distinctive flute and saxophone work alongside his take on traditional English folk music.
I can't say anything really stood out for me, though it's nice enough and mellow. 6/10
This album has a nice blues rock feel to it; It is smooth in parts, but with just the right amount of rock to it.
How Eric's cover of I Shot the Sheriff got to #1 in the charts whilst Bob Marley's original didn't even make the top 100 will never not be wild to me. 7/10
I mean it's Bob Dylan so you know what you're getting.
It follows a pretty standard Bob formula and despite being released in 1975, still has a very 1960s vibe to it. It's a very rock and folk driven album, with each song blending into the next. 7/10
I appreciate this album got tons of white kids into mainstream rap, but let's be honest, it's a very cheesy album. Backed by Dr. Dre's crisp production, Eminem introduced his cartoonishly violent Slim Shady alter ego on the lead single My Name Is, which triggeried non stop media controversy with its relentless shock rap lyrics.
Some songs have that 90s vibe that still holds up to a point, but for the vast majority of this album, it hasn't aged well. It's not necessarily a bad album, the production value is there, it's just a bit naff now. 6/10
I'm familiar with Willie Nelson the person, but I can't really say I know his music that well. I just assumed he'd be high energy country music, but this album is really soft and mellifluous.
This was a real easy listening album and one that I will definitely be playing again. 7.5/10
This is definitely more melodic gangsta rap than it is traditional rap.
Recorded amid intense legal turmoil, it captures Tupac's raw vulnerability. I can see where modern artists such as Eminem or 50 Cent get their core style from. The flow and the poppiness have all carried over to the modern day.
It's interesting to see how much of this album is still relevant to modern life over three decades later.
I think I like my rap a bit more hip-hop and a little less poppy, which is why this album sounds a little bit cheesy to me in parts. Overall, the songs were okay, but nothing really struck a chord with me. 6.5/10