1001 Albums Summary

8/10. A powerful album, it combines rock and melancholy very well, elliciting strong emotions upon listening. Every song feels like it could be the closing track, which shows the power of the album as a whole. Excellent work, it's disappointing he didn't survive long enough to see how beloved his work would become.

7/10. An album not like anything I've ever listened to before, it explores the dream pop and ethereal sound spaces very well, bringing together ambient music and seemingly far-away vocals difficult to make out, but easy to understand the emotion in the voice. It stands as the pinnacle of dream pop, combining what they and other had done before with their own spin to make it truly unique, and you definitely won't find anything today that sounds like it and wasn't inspired by it in a way. It did away with the gothic tones of earlier works of the genre, but truly made it into a dreamscape that takes you with it.

6/10. Their second album, it has a completely different feeling from their debut. It brought a much darker, haunting feel to it, but this was by design by Robert Smith, wanting a more introspecctive and atmospheric style, which he said was his true vision for the band, much unlike their first album. The album is decent, if not a little boring at times, but all the songs togetether create a unique sound that influenced theirs and others music for decades, spawning into the massive band we know today.

6/10. Despite having one of their biggest songs on this album, many of the other songs have a much slower, darker feel to them, used to encapsulate the entire feel around the political climate of the U.S. at the time, even going to historical parts like on "Exhuming McCarthy". It's a decent rock album, but I don't think it's their best work, it's too slow for my taste.

6.8/10. This album sounds remarkably similar to a Beatles album, and after some research, it's obvious why. It was heavily inspired by the group, features Ringo Starr on drums, and has McCartney and Lennon backing it. The project is very theatrical in its production, created utilizing a vast amount of instruments and has a very personality-driven sound to it. I enjoyed it, but it did slow down and get weaker at points, so I don't know if I would listen to the album in full again.

6.0/10. A classic example of synth-pop, it makes full use of the instrument. Bringing some catchy sounds, the lyrics don't quite do it justice unfortunately. It gets really weird at points, but it still a decent album overall, there wasn't any particularly bad songs. I could totally see these songs being played at a German nightclub today.

6.1/10. A more groovy, jazz and R&B inspired rap album, it definitely went against traditional anger that often arose, trading it for a more mellow sound that just produced a softer feel. It wasn't bad in any regard, but the topics combined with the length made it a bit of a difficcult listen. I don't know that I would put any of the songs on again.

5.6/10. An album with both sides of grandeur and softness, it does a great job of making you feel like you were actually there. It utilizes an array of instruments, and the album feel like they were built as a theatrical mixing pot, including influences from traditional French chanson, waltz & folk dance rythyms, grand orchestration, and stripped-down music (solitary instruments make up the entire instrumentation). Brel does well with the live performance, but I personally am not that big a fan of French lyricism, the language just doesn't have the emotion due to complex pronunciations.

6.3/10. I don't really listen to live albums, I prefer the perfection that studio production creates. But this album was solid, it brought a lot of personality beyond the music, including the banter with the band and the crowd, missed notes, off vocals, etc. Still enjoyable, but it is clear that this was before their biggest works, as it included some songs that weren't theirs, and had that raw sound.

5.2/10. A certainly obvious indie album, I couldn't help but continuously think of the scene from "Community" where the hitchhiker sings "Jesus Loves Marijuana"; it all sounded like a depressing version of that. The instrumentation was curious, but not exciting enough to make me listen to it again at all. Indie rock like this just isn't my thing.

7.2/10. A peaceful album that didn't have much going on, but its simplicity added to its charm. The composer changed vibes between and during songs with his use of major and minor keys, and it always meshed well with what came before and after it. I enjoyed it, it was great for a rainy Sunday morning.

7.8/10. Em's second album, it was fueled by hitting it big, being discovered by Dr. Dre, and going more into drug problems and relationship issues with Kim, particularly surrounding their daughter, Hailie. There is an obvious influence of anger, sadness, drug use, and newfound success, all shown heavily, but the album gets particularly dark for the tail end. I enjoyed it, I haven't listened to much of his other albums, only the hits, but this one still had the rawness that some of hit later albums lack (especially when he got clean), as the anger at the world was still with him.

6.9/10. The only way I could describe this album is a "psychadelic rock opera". It's so full and busy, and sometimes doesn't make much sense at times, but as a whole creates a nice round product that is pleasing to listen to. I don't think I could listen to any song individually, but I might relisten to the album as a whole a long time from now, to reexperience it's journey.

7.0/10. A slower, heavily R&B with some rock and a dash of funk at times album, it's very clearly a love ballad through and through. Enjoyable to listen to, Prince was such a good artist, and truly new how to make good music. Though a long album, each song has its length for good reason, and the songwriting is very good. Though some of it is heavy, I would listen to it again.

9.2/10. The album clearly is reminiscent of Cash's life, and has the somberness that he knows his time is soon (which it would be, 10 months following the release). The emotion is strong, as is the faith he put into this album, choosing songs from all different times, but applying his classic style to them to create a beautiful piece of work about death, love, life, and everything inbetween. I don't know if I'll have the strength to listen to it again, it's a very heavy album, especially knowing the outcome on why he chose each song.

7.2/10. This album was filled with some classical arrangements, some jazz, some blues, and a lot of spoken word/poetry. Cohen's voice is deep and slightly raspy, sounding almost evil when he wanted it to, reminding me a lot of Mark Knopfler's voice (of Dire Straits). Its use of a choir on some of the tracks makes it feel more grand and spacious in its atmosphere. The tone of the album as a whole feels like a reflection of a journey (which it was of Cohen's life), and gets heavy with the themes that are brought into many of the songs.

4.5/10. I didn't enjoy the slowness that they brought, but tried to push through a pop lens. It just didn't work, and for most of the album I just felt that it dragged on for not much reason. I won't be listening to it again, it simply felt too boring of music. The atmosphere they created makes you feel it well, but other than that it wasn't stand out in any way.

7.0/10. A classic piece of alt-rock, with some metal, grunge, and even a touch of funk, it was enjoyable throughout. The vocalist is a bit whiny, but that's like most 90s/early 00s bands. Foundational piece, it's an easy listen throughout that doesn't linger at all, but doesn't feel too short or rushed either.

7.3/10. A much less rock-based album of theirs, it followed the massive blowup of their two previous albums and didn't have the same level of stardom. It still creates a nice vibe that is much more relaxing than many of their hits, but it also brings sadness into it a lot, creating a product that can be difficult to listen to if you pay too much attention to its content. I enjoyed it, but no songs stood out as particularly excellent that weren't depressing ballads of some kind, so I don't know how much I'll relisten to it.

5.9/10. Björk is weird dude. That is by far the strangest album I've ever heard, and it wasn't good or terrible. I don't know how to describe it other than that it had far more beatboxing than I would have liked, so yeah. I honestly have no idea if I'd listen to it again, but her vocals are solid when intelligible, and the underlying beats still make something interesting. Not her best work, I think, but it could be far worse if it didn't have the master vision of Björk behind it.

7.6/10. A nice blues rock album, it has a great vibe to it, and some great songwriting. His use of soft tones in singing, while having both softer and harder sounds for instruments at different times created a great shift throughout, but also had great individual sounds, like with solos and bridges. I enjoyed it, and definitely will be listening to at least some of the songs again.

6.8/10. The defining sound of American Hardcore Punk, it brings vocal intensity with very heavy music behind, and it's clear a lot of anger was put into it. It doesn't have much musical complexity, but rather sounds very raw, with specific creation to make it harder to listen to. I thought it was a solid punk album, but I don't think any of the songs will be making into my rotation, they're just too raw and heavy.

6.0/10. A nice album that spawned from a former member of Genesis, who went on to have a massively successful solo career. It brought experimental sounds and certainly unique music and composition, but forced catchy mainstream hooks to make people listen, and it got the public used to it and catapulted him into stardom. I thought most of the songs were too long and got a little repetetive at times, but overall the sound was good and still enjoyable, but not something I feel a drawing to listen to again.

7.9/10. A rap album that helped to mix reggae, soul, R&B, and hip hop all into one, creating a masterpiece that led to the neo-soul movement. It covers lots of topics deeply, most of all about love, and the lyricism portrays it well, with the music showing the feeling behind it perfectly. I enjoyed it, and I can see why it won five Grammys in a night.

5.4/10. I can't say I understand the purpose of this album, because I don't. Due to the same music throughout every song and the harsh vocals, I couldn't get any emotion other than rage coming from this artist. It was good at first, and I enjoyed the use of metal instruments as well as orchestral ones, it brought a grandness to the album you couldn't get without that many instruments. But 10 songs in a row of it just wasn't the best, they all kind of blended, especially because the album was sung in French. Not my favorite kind of metal, it was too heavy and not catchy in any way, and it just didn't catch me in the same way other artists of the same style do, like Nine Inch Nails.

5.6/10. This is my second time listening to the album, and I don't know what changed, but I didn't think it was explicitly bad this time, more of just a meh, so I bumped up my ranking by a full point. The music wasn't terribly interesting, but the vibe was something refreshing, and it just had a new energy. Enjoyable enough on a slow morning, but not something I feel drawn to listen to again, it just doesn't excite me in any way.

7.6/10. Sounding like a true new-wave rock album, it brings some interesting, experimental sounds while still being palettable to the average listener through its classic tunes. It didn't stray too far from the main sound of the album on any songs apart from the last one, which created a dark atmosphere that lasts with you much more than the rest of the project. I enjoyed it, though I don't see individual songs I'm drawn to, so it'll be far and few between listens. Upon some research, my connection to The Who was vindicated, with this album being produced by the younger brother of the producer of some of The Who's biggest hits.

6.1/10. A jazz and soul album, it definitely is smooth, but sometimes that smoothness translates into boring, which it did for me at times. The vocals were good, and can understand why it is important, but it wasn't something I feel I want or need to listen to again.

7.4/10. A slower album, it still has multiple hits and propelled James Taylor into stardom after being essentially homeless while making the album. I enjoy his pace, and throughout, he included some blues, some R&B, and even some funk in a short and sweet project that has almost all good songs, none that I would skip.

7.8/10. A showcase of the group in the middle of their run, it's strong with no skips, and is a fun time. It ends with a stronger song, and overall is a nice sound that has influenced lots of artists since its release. It's the Beatles in their strongest element, music, and there isn't much more to say. The songs blend together well, with some distinct sounds, and I enjoyed it.

7.1/10. Easily their most popular album, it set the standard for what modern rap is and how artists are connected to labels by giving all emcees the freedom to do solo stuff with other labels while part of the group. I thought it was decent-sounding, if not a bit old-school, but I get the appeal and would listen to individual songs again.