Album Reviews

me recuerda a destroyer pero con menos swag. entiendo cuál era la visión del falsete pero no sé si es algo que vaya a querer estar oyendo xd

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(3/7) too noisy

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3.5 ⭐️. Not quite Music for the Jilted Generation.

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Iconic. Few tracks in the middle stop this from being perfect

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Great album, really enjoyed it

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This is a classic politically charged rock album. It is like heartland rock without the americana. Haters will hate, detractors will detract by pointing out things that have no connection to the music. Who cares? It's a great rock album from start to finish.

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It just a really really good album. It’s not one I would ever crave. But it is undeniably great.

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I'll give it a 3 since it is an important album for rocknroll muzak but i didn't like this very much and i'd probably never come back to it. It's just bland and gimmicky.

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Not my style of sound. Worst album I heard so far.

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Garbage why do people like this. Bad bowie bad

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What on earth did this guy do to deserve 5 albums on the list

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135. Sheet Music - 10cc (1974) 7.7.26 Variety: 2 Adequacy: 1 Listenability: 1 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 1 = 1.2 rounded down to a 1 I've heard this at least once before, decades ago, and at the recommendation of another similar list. I don't remember much except that, from their discography, the only tracks I kept on my iPod were "The Things We Do for Love", "I'm Not in Love", and "Rubber Bullets" - all fine songs, and none of them on this album. The first two I'd rate as very solid classic rock pieces that still hold a place in my mind, the third is a bit foggier, and the rest... I honestly can't say much except they must not have impressed me as much as those guys I consider to be their peers - E.L.O. and Supertramp. But if anything, this experiment has shown that my tastes have sometimes swung pretty wildly over the past 30 years, so let's see. "It's one thing to know it, but another to admit/ We're the worst band in the world" THE TRACKS Side one "The Wall Street Shuffle" - Not off to a great start. As far as indictments of capitalist pig-dogs and the culture of greed, it's a bit anemic, and the subject is handled in a vastly superior fashion just the previous year by Pink Floyd's "Money". I'd argue that, as selfish and inward looking as it ultimately is, even the George Harrison penned "Taxman" works better in that regard. Speaking of, these guys are very obviously influenced by the Beatles at this point ( who wasn't in some way?) in the scattershot, slightly humorous kind of avant-pop approach they are taking here. It doesn't all fall together for me though, with the emphasis on the scattershot part seeming more like a lack of focus, and less like a quirky, endearing choice. "The Worst Band in the World" - We geta a promising, almost proto "Tom Sawyer"-ish opening that immediately swerves into something both weirder, and a bit cringe inducing in its attempt at a jokey self-deprecating attitude. The proggish influence slips through here, along with more bits and pieces of Beatles/ McCartney-isms that seem to be drawn out of a hat at random and ham-fistedly bolted into place. This ends up being more Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and less the Rutles though. "Hotel" - Another take that was already done way better, this time by the Kinks in "Apeman". That track at least has the good taste to provide some upper tier melodies to ground it's whimsy and even manages a bit of existential dread in its lyrics, where this one is all effects and poorly thought out sentiments, some of which in particular most certainly do not hold up. Give me Weird Al's "George of teh Jungle" over this any day of the week. Hell, I'd even take a "Tarzan Boy" or a "Cheesburger in Paradise" before revisiting this. "Old Wild Men" - An actual, somewhat serious sounding song. I think? It seems to possibly be a meditation on the (already) aging rock stars of the last couple of decades? If so it's barely an idea, and there seems to be a lot of mood, and less than a little decent melody and hooks to back it up. Not as offensively obnoxious as some of the prior bits, but just as boring. "Clockwork Creep" - Man. Ok, how come when a band like ELO, or Queen, or Roy Wood, or Supertramp, or even Sparks pulls some goofy unembarrassedly whimsical stuff like this I can handle it just fine, and even end up having a good time mor often than not? This is aggressively unmusical I think at it's core, and feels more like a sort of musical theater piece that's been unmoored and dropped into a pop album. Would this work in a cartoonish musical number in the Broadway adaptation of The Brave Little Toaster or something? Maybe, but it sure doesn't as a pop song. Side two "Silly Love" - This is a considerable step up, and borders on being as good as some B-tier Sparks stuff. The mock menacing tone from Godley and Creme works much better than the bridge sung by Eric Stewart though. And the track is still nothing to write home about. "Somewhere in Hollywood" - This was nigh unlistenable, and suffers badly in comparison to similarly themed songs about how the Hollywood machine can chew you up and spit you out. "Celluloid Heroes" by the Kinks for example. And as far as songs with Marilyn Monroe's sad life as the subject matter, this also doesn't hold a candle to the Elton John thing ( which I don't even like). "Baron Samedi" - Just... why? Was this inspired by the recent Bond release "Live and Let Die" from a year earlier? This was so bad, for a number of reasons, none of which I feel obligated to outline here. "The Sacro-Iliac" - This feels like songwriting by way of Magnetic Poetry. Like there's some sort of casual jokiness that really wants to amuse you, but the constant, jarring shifting between the Mungo Jerry sound and the bargain basement CSN harmonies does this thing no favors. "Oh Effendi" - We get a sort of country rock on this one I think? This sounds like Steve Miller and Joe Walsh got really drunk while watching Lawrence of Arabia and woke up the next morning in the studio with no memory of having shat out this unfortunate piece. What a strange spot to end on, but if anything these guys have been consistent. I'll give them that. HIGHLIGHTS MIDLIGHTS - "Silly Love" LOWLIGHTS - "The Wall Street Shuffle" - "The Worst Band in the World" - "Hotel" - "Old Wild Men" - "Clockwork Creep" - "Somewhere in Hollywood" - "Baron Samedi" - "The Sacro-Iliac" - "Oh Effendi" FINAL THOUGHTS This was pretty disappointing, but glad I got it out of my system. Turns out 20-somehting me had the good enough sense to just keep those three songs from their discography, and despite the foggiest of memories, I am in no way tempted to revisit their other albus when I got so many probably way better ones to go, and that clock is tick a tick a ticking away. If I want some slightly funny progressive pop I have a host of other bands that are far more easy on the ears than these guys, and who pack in just as much humor, without sacrificing and listenability. If I want a melody machine I'll visit good old Jeff Lynne. If I want something more esoteric and whimsical, I've got Roy Wood or Sparks. If I want a band who can crank wry looks at modern life I've got Supertramp and Flo and Eddie. If I want a band with wide-ranging influences that I can rely on to incorporate all of all that and more into even their reliably good B and C material - I've got the Kinks. All these bands take elements of what 10cc is doing here and outperform them in every conceivable way. No contest. This album gives off very strong high school freshman who has just discovered Monty Python and WILL NOT stop quoting them vibes. Worse yet, this poor kid will randomly break into snippets of their songs, badly misremembering lyrics. This album has even got me doubting those three hits I mentioned in the intro. Is "I'm Not in Love" really as good as I think? ( I went back after and listened to all three, and thankfully the magic is still there for at least two of them - "Rubber Bullets" is considerably outclassed by any given ELO track that treads similar ground). PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Happy to never revisit any of this ever again FURTHER LISTENING - Boulders by Roy Wood - Face the Music by Electric Light Orchestra - Moving Targets by Flo & Eddie - Everybody's in Show-Biz by the Kinks - Kimono my House by Sparks - Breakfast in America by Supertramp

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Fine I guess. I know I'm wrong! I could hear some cool songwriting and some cool arrangement, presentation and performance. There's just absolutely nothing that I would especially write home about personally though.

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Didn’t know about this album, but it is incredible. Superb from a technical, narrative, and even experimental point of view

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yeah, honestly younger me was onto something - this was my favorite album many years ago but i hadn't listened in forever. Still love it. Still dear to my heart. never expected to see this on this list. happy it's here.

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fuck!!!!! i thought i was gonna hate it but it was too good. the way the drums are mixed, the guitar solos, everything. i loved it so much. lyrics were kind of weak but my god are these songs beautiful. Sucks that such terrible men made this. Seriously what an outright shame. I wish men were better.

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50/50

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Good (relatively) modern folk album. Firmly rooted in the genre's traditions, but it sounds clearly not from back in the day. Competently written and performed from front to back. The first song is the best and most memorable, but there really isn't a low point to be found here. Key tracks: Revelator Dear Someone

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I generally try not to fuck with Van Morrison, but my god this was a life changing album. I’d never heard it before, but from the first few notes of the title track, I knew this was something special. “Astral Weeks” and “Madame George” are god-tier songs, but every single note on this album is beautiful. In the 700+ albums I’ve listened to from the generator, only a handful make me think it was fate that I undertook this project, as I’d probably never listen to them otherwise, and this is one of them. Just stunning.

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It's good it's really good

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No nyt!! 🔥🔥🔥 Just pohdin ääneen edellisen jälkeen kun eksyin kuuntelee pikku Michael Jacksonin versioo You’ve Got A Friend et ”ei meil mittää motownia oo ollu listal?” ni heti albumilistan henget vastas 🙇🏼

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2,5

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Incroyable.

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ровный хороший альбом, классика - 4

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Вроде неплохо. Надо обязательно вернуться к ним

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Det blæste mig ikke bagover. Overhovedet.

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Wasnt expecting that! Amazing listen. The instrumentality is amazing and his voice with his accent makes it to a whole other level. Great fusion of genres!

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Loved this. I knew 'Blister in the Sun' bit nothing else about the band, and was surprised to learn how old it is. Fur me, it has a similar punk energy to early Billy Bragg. Where he defied convention by being a solo singer with an electric guitar rather than an acoustic one, they do it by playing raucous punk on acoustic instruments.

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Started off really well. I sort of lost interest part way through though. All new to me I think apart from The Day Before You Came, which I mainly know through the Blancmange cover.

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5th time listening! My favourite songs on this album where ‘Zero’, ‘Soft Shock’, ‘Skeletons’ and ‘Dragon Queen’ It’s an all around classic electro-rock album I’ll always love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Rating:4.5/5 GEMV (06.07.2026)

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This is a pretty good album full of punky grungy goodness

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Helter Skelter was fun, and Revolution 9 was interesting, but the rest of the album was really boring. It's exactly what I thought Beatles would be. Eh. 2/5 stars.

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Maybe I just expect more of Bowie after the last number of albums we’ve listened to, but this was honestly pretty mid for his standards

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Okay - not really my type of music I find it a little inconsistent. Altadena was nice.

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The top review is a country hating one. Typical. Doesn't matter, none of us, *especially* that reviewer, will be half the man that Haggard was. A native of the Bakersfield region (look it up, it's the land time forgot), he taught himself to play the guitar at age 12, and by 13 he was robbing and riding freight trains at a young age and then did time many times over. At San Quentin, he attended Johnny Cash's concert, which profoundly influenced his desire to be a recording artist. It's like this guy was destined to be a country music outlaw. It's a shame that comps are not allowed, as I feel that they represent Merle a lot better than this album, but this was an important release for its time as he wrote almost all of the songs himself, and it sold well in spite of the rather rugged and in-your-face content. So, it gets a 5, only because it's the only Haggard album on the list. Plus, once again, this kind of country music is GREAT. True stories and wonderful melodies and harmonies. Can't wait when we get past the "I listen to everything but country and hip-hop" phase of humanity.

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Fun, just fun. 4 star

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Yesterday I went into the Cantina at the new Star Wars land at Disneyland and the bartender leans over, sneakily gives me this, and whispers, “It’s not often we get a Resistance General in here. Thank you for your service.” I almost cried.

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Oh fuck yeah. Oh hell yeah. As much as I love the Beastie Boys, I don't believe them when they say they were making fun of "frat boys and party bros" when they performed "Fight For Your Right." It's not like they grew up right away on Paul's Boutique...there's still a lot of hilarious shit and braggadocio on that album, too...they just had an ear for immaculate sounds and producing by the Dust Brothers. I don't think they really grew up and out of the immature phase until Check Your Head. But it sounds good for them to distance themselves from Fight For Your Right and Girls as quickly as they possibly could. This album is awesome...always has been, always will be. I keep seeing mentions about how it hasn't aged well, etc...but whatever, fuck that. This past weekend, I read an article on the DMV rap scene that was on Pitchfork...because I'm from the area, I was curious. And then I listened to some of the music from that article. All that shit makes Licensed To Ill look like nursery rhymes. The production here is immaculate. The bass is awesome. Sonically, it's a masterpiece. What a great album. Fun, hilarious, quotable...just great.

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Once upon a time, there was a beast named Muhammad Who legalized rape, polygamy, pedophilia, and shamelessness The beast Muhammad wrote the Quran, the Muslims' book of hate A manual of terror, wrath, and pedophilia First-degree murderers, terrorists in a world like no other

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to the guy who said "Me and my girlfriend did interesting things in the back of my car to this" it's MY GIRLFRIEND AND I dumbass

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Quintessential slop

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"California Dreamin'" is the highlight here. That opening acoustic guitar is immaculate. For me it is in the pantheon of songs of the Mythological California of which there are many. California loomed large in the psyche of 20th century America and beyond. I love the song. The remainder of the album is quite pleasant in its own right. Right in the wheel house of that 1960s folk rock sound. These tracks are full of harmonies and the right blend of pop sensibilities. Mama Cass and Mama Michelle outshine the guys for sure, in my opinion. In the end though it does all come together for a light 35 minutes. Just stay here though, stay with the music here on this album. There is tragedy on the horizon for this band. Their run was short but sweet. Don't go reading on how the story ends. The music is pleasant enough. Let's let the music be enough. Just keep dreaming of California. We'll get there one day. Promise. 3/5

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I remember this one being a HUGE album until it wasn't. I remember the song (and that Prince wrote it), and I remember the tearing of the picture and the backlash afterward, but I'd honestly never had an opportunity to hear the rest of the album, and was a little flummoxed when it came up on this list. And when I listened to it, I was a whole other kind of surprised. This is a good album. Maybe not a damn good album or a wonderful album, but much different and more interesting than I'd expected. Way more Tori Amos/Fiona Apple/Bjork adjacent and less Dolores O'Riordan than anticipated (and I am at least a casual fan of all of the above). It may not be a blind 5, but it does round up to a 4/5, and intrigued me enough to search out some of her later work to see where she went creatively after her public ostricism.

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To quote Willie Nelson "There are two kinds of men; those who are in love with Emmylou Harris, and those who haven't met her." I only know Emmylou Harris through her records, but that's enough to be madly infatuated. Emmylou Harris has built an incredible body of work as a harmony singer, collaborator and interpreter of songs. But this is one of her rare albums of original songs. Spaciously recorded by Malcolm Burn using a crack band and a host of A-list guests with that atmospheric Lanois-style production, it is spooky and spacious and hard to pigeonhole exactly. It's not the classic country-folk sound of most of her output, but it's classy and sophisticated. But there is no mistaking that Emmylou is the star of the show here. I would listen to her sing the phone book, but this is even better.

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Nina Persson’s cool, almost innocent delivery, the bright melodies, the elegant arrangements, the polished pop shape. Underneath that, a lot of these songs are sour, passive-aggressive, wounded, or emotionally evasive. That contrast is the whole trick. The album sounds sweet without actually being naive.

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I played in a local (and staggeringly unsuccessful) industrial band during the 90s. Don't bother trying to look it up, it has been consigned to the memory hole. We played on the edge of a number of local scenes, but never really fit anywhere. The metal guys didn't like that we didn't have a real drummer. The goths thought we dressed in too many bright colours. The indie/alt scenesters thought it was just a horrible noise. In many ways the electronic/dance people were the most welcoming, although they did look askance at the long hair, guitars and Marshalls. But we played quite a few shows at warehouse dance parties and electronic nights and they were amongst the best shows we played. I hung out with a few people from the Clan Analogue collective (look them up, they are still active https://www.clananalogue.org/), and so was familiar with what was influential in the scene in th eearly 90s. Orbital were certainly big amongst that crowd, but frankly, it wasn't _that_ different from many of those Clan Analogue acts. This type of electronic dance music sounds awesomely great played through a big PA accompanied by flashing lights in a dark warehouse at 2am in a crowd of dancers, potentially while chemically enhanced. But out of that context, I find it all a bit dull. I just don't travel in those circles anymore. Orbital is rightfully one of the great 90s dance acts -- their stuff is clearly head and shoulders above the average, and the appearance of Alison Goldfrapp is always welcome -- but it doesn't feel relevant to me these days. I quite like 'Sad But True', 'Crash and Carry' and 'Are We Here?' and (PS - What is with that terrible cover art?)

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(4/5) Rock classic by a legendary band. It's good and I love the hits, but they always struck me as a bunch of hyperactive kids running around yelling "Watch this!". It's fine and it might even be fun (or funny) at times, but I don't have the patience for it *ALL* the time. That level of energy is unsustainable for me. I haven't snorted enough (or any) cocaine to keep up with that pace. It's over as quickly as it started, which makes this a quick 'shot' of rock.

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I really like Mr N'Dour's hat.

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Listened to the whole thing and now I can honestly say, this album is complete ass and Kendrick Lamar deserves zero praise for this lazy edgelord garbage.

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It’s telling that this album appealed to a younger self. But as an adult, the "edgelord" posturing is hard to look past and made this a real struggle. The album leans heavily into an "only joking (or am I?!)" defence to mask its more offensive instincts, obviously exaggerated for shock value. But this isn't the problem - it's the emotional void. The record constantly pivots between a whining, "poor me" narrative about a difficult childhood and the pressures of fame, while simultaneously offering zero empathy to anyone else. It's the emotional depth of an angsty teenager acting out. In hindsight, he seems to lack any self-awareness when he complains about parents worrying he’s a bad influence. Does he ever stop to ask why his material appeals so heavily to children in the first place? (Note: On a relisten, he does actually state that it's for middle schoolers multiple times. But whether he's joking or serious, it's still true.) It feels too "try-hard" and self-absorbed, and it honestly left me with second-hand embarrassment. I'm sure at the time it was outrageous and fun, but by today's standards, it sounds like stuff an incel would say for attention. It's all just too juvenile. The track "Stan" deserves a call-out for its innovative concept and exploration of parasocial relationships, but the nuance and insight there seem almost accidental compared to the rest of the record. That is the real shame. I think there are interesting ideas that could have been explored well if there were less cringey acting out and a bit more maturity. "Stan" proves he is capable of more, which makes the rest of the album feel even more disappointing and performative. Beyond that, while the production is solid and he possesses a distinct style which he's perfected, it’s telling that the standout track was one he wasn't really on. A lot of the featured artists offered a well needed break. In the end I'd rather just listen to Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and enjoy life. 2/5

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(2/5) Thanks. I don't get it, but it was fine as a cultural artifact. The album was an interesting listen. It wasn't aurally offensive, but it didn't ignite anything either. It all kinda felt the same from track to track, but that could be my lack of understanding and I'm not afraid to admit that. I wouldn't mind some more (not a *lot* more) of this in the list. World music is a blind spot for me and I actually expected more of it. Instead, it's endless amounts of electronic/Britpop bullshit. This is -- by my count -- the second truly "World" music album and is likely just a 'check box' (i.e. quota) addition. We're only a hundred or so albums in.. that's 2%.

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Boy, there's a struggle in my head on this one.. Clapton and Baker absolutely slay the guitar and drums, respectively, but damned if I can't stand Bruce as the singer. "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine.." of course are great, but all the other songs aren't great mainly because of Bruce. I'm taking a knee on this one out of respect with to Clapton and Baker and just give it the average treatment. (3/5)

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I can’t believe the top review for this record (as of Dec 2023) is from someone trying to use their PhD in Mathematics as justification for not liking hip-hop. Weak.

Oh fuck yeah, now we're talking. Wait no, I swear I'm not being pretentious. This is the lowest rated album on this site because I guess mostly people aren't very fond of German people smashing metal plates together - who would have guessed. But halle-fucking-lujah, this is something this list needs more of. Albums that make you go "well, that was an experience and now I'm a changed man". Nobody is lying on their deathbed wishing they heard more crappy 80s post-punk or late 60s psychedelic rock. THIS is what we all deserve to be listening to as we embrace eternal oblivion. I'm giving this a high rating not only because I genuinely really love it, but also to help Kid Rock move to his rightful place as the actual worst album on this list. Together we can make a difference. Save the turtles.

Brings back vivid memories of when me and my mate Ray went on a trip to Dresden. We met this rotund goth in a bar, head to toe with tattoos and piercings, real filth and after a while took her into the disabled bogs for a spit roast. We were both pumping away in her with Napalm Death on in the background and her wailing "MEIN GOTT" at the top of her lungs. I remember spaffing all over her back just as Siege of Power kicked in. As i shoot over her, she takes Ray's cock out of her gob and says "do you want fries with that?" in a faux American accent. Anyway, we go outside and there's this gammy little geezer in a wheelchair sitting there furious, giving me daggers, because he's had to wait so long, so I lean into him and I go "I hope you have as much fun in there as we just did you little cunt".

Back when I was in college, there was this dude who would come into the bar I worked at on a Friday night and play fucking 10 Neil Young songs in a row. He would also hit on girls by doing magic tricks. I remember how angry I got every time he made me listen to an hour of Neil Young because I was just trying to have a good time, and he fucking made me listen to this sad, soppy fuck who writes nothing but songs that sound indistinguishable from each other and never seemed to enjoy a happy moment in his entire like. Fuck that guy, and fuck Neil Young. 2/5

Back when I was in college I used to go to a bar and listen to Neil tunes and do magic tricks for women. There was a bartender there, he was the best. I loved that guy. Some of the best years of my life.

Shit like this on the list is both refreshing and infuriating. Refreshing because it is good, fun, interesting, and also not something I would regularly be exposed to! It's why I started this project and keeps me coming back. It's infuriating because the fact that it is included here means that Robert Dimery, the original author of the 1001 albums list is aware that music like this exists. He's clearly aware that there is an entire world of music out there. SO WHY HAVE I LISTENED TO 200 80s BRITISH NEW WAVE ALBUMS AND 200 SCOTTISH ROCK ALBUMS FROM THE 90S??!!?

I really don't get rap, and I am completely aware of why. I'm a STEM guy, specifically a Ph.D. student in mathematics. Although my verbal intelligence is quite high, it's still about a standard deviation below my quantitative intelligence. Therefore, it should not be too surprising that I prefer melodies to lyricism, and that a genre based on the latter doesn't wow me. I know I'm pretty far out of step with public opinion on this one, but that can easily be attributed to the fact that hipsters with humanities degrees (i.e. extremely verbal-dominant people) are considered the ultimate arbiters of taste for some reason. (Side note: this also explains why prog rock is seen as being for losers.) Best song: Be (Intro), which had a decent instrumental part at the beginning. Everything else just sort of ran together.

Rap isn't my preferred genre of music. But I'm a shitty mathematician so I enjoyed this.

Rage In Favor Of The Machine.

Music for incels to wank furiously by

Sorry Boomers/Gen X, I was like 20 when this came out so it's one of the best things to ever happen to me. Sorry it's not King Crimson or whatever.

i ain’t listening to all that i’m happy for u tho or sorry that happened

The only enjoyment I got from this was reading the review about the brothers in Dresden and their lovely and talented tattooed friend.

The beauty of music is that it is subjective. It’s typically great for a certain group of people, though it’s never right for everyone. Some for the masses, some more niche, but it all has its place. Meanwhile, with lists like this, there’s always artists or records that anyone would have put on in place of what actually made it. Personally, I would have included Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime, Live’s Throwing Copper, Joe Satriani’s The Extremist, Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice, or John Mellencamp’s Scarecrow album on a list of must hear records. Others would put totally different albums on and that's awesome. What someone likes vs. dislikes is truly subjective. Again, that's the beauty. With that said, this album objectively sucks. I mean truly horrible. Something had to be the lowest rated album on the list, and this was a place well earned. There is nothing redeemable about this record. To quote my wife, “they should have stopped at 1,000.”

I am definitely not the target demographic for this album, but I still thought it was very good. There's a lot of skill and artistry put into these tracks, so much so that it is almost invisible. 4 stars for me, plus an extra star just to spite the mathematics PHD guy.