Album Reviews

Fun album Right here, Right now is great

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No classical music at all in this list (and almost no music from before 1955) but tons of ambient noise….. completely inane

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WE LOVE THE NATIONAL. This is my bread and butter. Added like 3 songs from this album to the library and have listened to it quite a bit since. What a treat.

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I actually really enjoyed this album. Having not been too excited about a previous Fiona Apple album that I had listened to, 'Fetch The Bolt Cutters', I was really surprised to see how instantly I started to love this. Track one pulled me in straight away, with the peculiar beat, followed by really naturally lovely vocals. One issue I had with that album was that I found the vocals really strange, and even annoying, at times. But this album felt completely different to me. There was a real beauty behind most of the songs, and I would happily listen to this album again. Some of the songs were quite long, which I disliked slightly last time, but these songs have slightly more to offer me, so I wasn't too bothered by this. I actually think I would have been happy with a longer album, which surprises me, as I am not usually a fan of albums that are too long, unless they have something to offer. Favourites: Sleep to Dream Shadowboxer Slow Like Honey Never Is a Promise

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Muy buen disco, yo catalogaría personalmente a Judas Priest como Glam Rock, aunque sé que no cumple con todos los requisitos. Mis favoritas: Metal Gods, United y Living After Midnight.

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Solid post 2000s indie rock band. Not much to say otherwise.

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GVSB always had this sheen of “cool”, like they were fashion guys, but maybe darker-edged, more Bret Easton Ellis, less Zoolander. And in keeping with that, most of their material sounds incredibly dated. Less so here, but similarly devoid of anything memorable other than a posture or vibe, whereas countless Dischord and T&G labelmates deserve a spot on this list. Kinda bummed to hate on them, they’re good people, related to or part of some great music, but nothing here clicks for me.

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Mám rád jeho najznámejšie piesne, ale nie všetko z tohto albumu mi sadlo

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Ok, just ok.

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Not my usual thing but I leaned into the vibe today.

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awesome

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I appreciate it culturally. And live it would probably be awesome. But just casual listening it’s not really my thing.

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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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Don't believe these liars.

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Quintessential slop

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Pioneers of the alternative rock sound that would define the following decade, the 1990s. R.E.M. was making the jangling guitar rock that would bear the labels of indie and college rock. When I came of age in the nineties this sound would find its commercial success. This entire album sounded about 5 years later than its 1988 release date suggests. Lower sounds abound and I mean listen to the distortion on “I Remember California” And yet, this sound is still a work in progress. The album is all over the place. In spots we have bouncy pop with “Stand” whereas others slow down for more intimate work, “The Wrong Child” or “Hairshirt.” We’re transitioning into new eras on this album. R.E.M. has a new label and creative freedom and they’ll use it. For me it all works. I appreciated R.E.M. as a radio and MTV friendly act during their time, even if I never owned an album. Still, terrific form from a band that was a staple of my younger years.

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Standard, late 60s English pop. Sounds like a Sgt. Peppers imitation, honestly. "Private Salts' Empty Kidney Association Troupe", I guess? A poor man's Sgt Pepper... Through the listen I couldn't take my mind off of this comparison and how this record arranged itself in a similar way, with each song feeding from the tracks before and informing the later tracks. An obvious concept album, so I see where the critics and write-ups make that comparison. The music is just standard stuff for the era though, with only a few really catching my ear but not for long. I hate to do this to The Kinks, because I like a bunch of their earlier work, but this one didn't take off for me (3/5). Reading the other reviews here, there's an angle I didn't consider -- how very English this **IS**. Numerous other reviewers talked about how it takes them to small, country villages, and (this is hyperbolic) tea times with aunties and crumpets and shit... ALL of that is lost on me. I've got no personal context for that. The music is middle of the road, unlike Sgt. Peppers, so nothing elevated it out of mediocrity and pulled me into that world The Kinks seemed to be trying to create. Here's my attempt to bend future lists out of the event horizon of all the British invasions and frankly insular English music world, with some keywords I keep using.. THE SUPREMES should have been included.. Anglo-centrism is bad.. Hope that helps.

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One of the easiest 5s ever. such an ambitious project, stuffed with a kaleidoscope of references to a state I may never visit, and with such a variety of great songs with fantastic songwriting. He played like 20 different instruments on this which is just mad Casimir Pulaski Day might be my favourite “sad song”, and very funny to think he didn’t come out until like 2023 when you read the lyrics to “Primordial Beast Of The Palisades” Very bold to have a song relating yourself to a pedophilic serial killer and have it not come off in the absolute worst way possible I always run out of steam a bit towards the end, first half is definitely stronger, but it’s all great still

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Another smart, articulate and catchy pop album. I loved 'Royals' when it appeared; it was clearly an instant classic and was one of the best songs of the decade. And I really dug 'Green Light' when it was released, but I mostly listened to pop on the radio and so never delved into the whole album. And it has been a real pleasure to acquaint myself with this record. Lorde works in the intimate public sphere (to use a concept from Lauren Berlant) that assumes women share a bond of communal longing and a "sense of lateral identification". This is a similar operation to Taylor Swift's 1989, a comparable and contemporaneous pop album (with a shared producer in Jack Antonoff). Interesting to compare; Swift feels a little bit more crafted and deliberate in her revelations, Lorde feels a little more unfiltered -- although interviews about her writing process suggest that Lorde is equally careful about what she is putting out there. Lorde and Swift are both smart and effective songwriters and performers, and unafraid of working in the pop genre. There is no shortage of big choruses, infectious beats, or hooks on this record. That's a good thing. The album stood up to multiple listening, and 'Liability' and 'Homemade Dynamite' stand out as particular highlights (alongside 'Green Light' which is an unapologetic banger). Lorde is great, but I am currently a little weary of the Jack Antonoff sound, which became ubiquitous in the past 15 years. I suspect that if I come back to this in ten years' time with fresh ears, it will have stood the test of time.

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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??!!?

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

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.

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.