1001 Albums Summary

What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Wonderful album, cracking vocals and tip top musical arrangements. It made me yearn for times past, when the world seemed far simpler than it is now. Would give it a 4.5/5 if I could but will have to settle for 4

I’m a sucker for bluesy rock so I was looking forward to this. It was pretty much as expected; enjoyable without being breathtaking. Well executed bluesy rock without any absolute classics which would make it stand out from the crowd. 3 from me

Great album, really enjoyed listening to it again as I haven’t for many years. A couple of classic songs in Seven Nation Army and Ball And Biscuit. Only one really weak song in Black Math. Recommended for those who like punchy guitars

Not terrible but not great either. If I saw this as a band performing down the pub I would think it was quite good, but as a classic album? Hmmm. Really just a collection of fairly average unoriginal tunes.

This used to be my least favourite of the Arcade Fire peak period albums. However upon a fresh listen on a Sunday afternoon sitting on the couch with the dog I must say I revise that. I really enjoyed this album from start to finish, probably for the first time in my life. Intervention and My Body Is A Cage are absolute bangers. A surprisingly healthy 4/5 from yours truly

I actually liked this far more than I thought I would. Generally I find prog rock a bit pretentious, music trying to be too clever for its own good and failing in what should be the key aim of music which is to make you feel something. However, I actually quite enjoyed this album, particularly Limelight and Witch Hunt and I can recognise the musicianship which was excellent throughout. They must have caught me in a good day. A solid 3 from me

Never really listened to much Tori Amos apart from Cornflake Girl. But I like Fiona Apple and I thought she would be similar as an artist, and whilst she isn’t quite as batshit brilliant Tori was an enjoyable listen. It wasn’t a classic end to end but there were some really good songs on the album (particularly the stretch with Silent All These Years, Precious Things and Winter) and overall it was a decent listen. A respectable 3 going on 3.5

As a teenager I always quite liked Sign O The Times and U Got The Look, so was intrigued to listen to the rest. Jeez this record sounds very dated. Synth drums? Terrible. Some of the songs are simply awful, others simply meh. This was so close to getting a 1 but a couple of half decent songs save it from that ignominy. A fairly generous 2/5

Despite living through the heady days of the Britpop era the one band I’ve struggled with are Manic Street Preachers. Apart from A Design For Life and Motorcycle Emptiness (neither of which are on this album), the vast majority of their songs sound like a shouty noisy mess to me. This album didn’t alter my 90s opinion of them one iota. With the exception of She Is Suffering (which is not too bad) all the songs are complete crud, melody-anaemic and instantly forgettable. The constant news recordings overlaying the songs are so bloody annoying as well. If this a classic album then I’m the Queen of Sheeba. The Manics get the dubious honour of being my first 1 - congrats!

Ah the finest from Basildon’s finest. To me, along with The Stone Roses release in late 1989, this album marks the symbolic end of the 1980s, a passing of the chalice from predominantly synth electro pop back to traditional guitar led bands. This album includes two absolute classics, Enjoy The Silence (which I bought as a single) and Personal Jesus (although my favourite version of the latter is the Johnny Cash cover), and a decent collection of supporting songs. I haven’t listened to this for a while but loved it just the same as I did back in 1990. A healthy 4 for Gahan and gang

What can I say? Adele is a genius. A genius for managing to sell millions of records by recording pretty much the same song again and again and again. Honestly, listening to this album was like being in Groundhog Day. The only song of any interest was the second one because it wasn’t another bloody ballad. This was the musical equivalent of having mashed potato for dinner every night of the week. I ummed and ahhhed over whether this should be a 1 or 2 but then when comparing to my last outing, the Godforsaken The Holy Bible, it actually was marginally superior. Therefore this gets a generous 2 from me

Apart from the classic but overplayed “Without You”, classic but underplayed “Everybody’s Talkin” and “Coconut” (thanks to Reservoir Dogs), Nilsson wasn’t an artist I knew much about so I was intrigued what I would find. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I feared an album packed full of dreary ballads but there is a decent amount of variety here and I genuinely enjoyed most of the songs (“Jump Into The Fire” was a surprising favourite). In fact I thought “Coconut” was one of the weakest songs on the album (along with the turgid “I’ll Never Leave You”). Overall all decent effort - Harry gets a respectable 3 from moi

So I went backpacking in 1997 and so a lot of music from that time passed me by. One of those bands was Sleater-Kinney so this was a complete venture into the unknown. Whilst the songs on the album are of the same ilk I must say I did enjoy it. The first 3 songs on the album are great, particularly Turn It On. And I also loved the last song Jenny, which could sounds like it could be the 90s offspring of the Velvet Underground. The album didn’t have enough variety or classics to be rated a 4 but it was a decent 3 going on 3.5

If I could been in my 20s during any period in modern music history it would’ve have been around 1969. The music being produced, by all types of artists, was just so damn good. CCR are a very underrated player in that period, mainly because of the insane amount of competition they had at the time. This album is a great taste of what they bring to the party. I enjoyed pretty much every song on the album, and it includes one classic in Proud Mary (the original and version to boot). The only thing stopping me from giving this a 4 is the overall length (7 songs and just over 30 mins for a standard bluesy rock album is more like a bloated EP) and the fact one of these is a extensively covered cover. Overall though a very enjoyable 3.5/5

Really enjoyed this album. Lovely arrangements throughout, sublime vocals, 2 absolute classic songs in Son Of A Preacher Man and Windmills Of Your Mind and a fine selection of other songs in support. I wasn’t sure if this was a 3.5 or 4 but I thought I’d be generous for once and give Dusty 4

I’m on a roll, another album I enjoyed. The only song I knew was the opener (albeit the Fun Boy Three version), and whilst the Go Go’s version was decent I actually preferred the more punky 80s pop material present throughout the album, particularly How Much More and This Town. The only gripe really was it was a bit samey after a while but when the songs are enjoyable you don’t mind too much that it’s the same. Was it a classic? Not really. Did it put a smile on my face? Yes. I’m going to plump for a decent 3.5/5

I’m convinced that when (probably AI) historians look back at when the 21st century truly begun they will say September 11, 2001 as that set the tone for everything else that was to follow. Perhaps when the AI-engineered musical historians look back at when the dire 21st century fare that’s plagued the charts truly began they will look back at the release of this monstrosity. Over produced to within an inch of its life, this album personifies everything that is wrong with modern music. I can honestly say this felt like the longest one hour and 3 minutes of musical listening I’ve ever had to endure.And I grew up at a time when The Birdie Song was a hit. I wouldn’t be surprised if they play this album to captives at Guantanamo Bay as one of their torture methods. Following the success of Eminem, the music industry were obviously obsessed with finding a white Usher-like R&B artist to rake in the $$$. And so Project Justin began, ending with this utter abomination. In the year of my birth, a long time ago now in what feels like a galaxy far far away, Don McLean had a number one famously lamenting about “The day the music died”. Don was wrong. That day was November 4, 2002 If I could give 0 I would. Unfortunately the machine won’t let me know so 1 it is

Ahhhhh listening to this album after enduring Justin “Wanker” Timberlake’s effort was like heavenly ointment to a damaged soul. Confession: I absolutely LOVE disco. It’s easily my favourite dance music genre. So when I saw this album had not one but FOUR undeniable disco all-time classics in He’s The Greatest Dancer, Lost In Music, Thinking Of You and We Are Family I was obviously going to be a fan. The true test was whether the songs I wasn’t familiar were decent. And it was a mixed bag. I really liked You’re Friend To Me, never heard it before but I definitely will again. The other songs were more average / forgettable, which is the only reason this gets a 4 and not higher. Overall though I loved this and it has me wanting a 70s night out. Bravo Sisters!