Album Reviews

Recent and most liked reviews from all our users

Latest Reviews

From the last 10 minutes

I liked! Bit bloated, but good - never ungood!

A lot of beautiful song. Basically every song on here is instrumentally great, especially with how the production sounds and how early of a work this is. The acoustics really help drive a lot of the emotions and lyrics throughout the album. Also lyrically, a lot of great ones. Obviously you have the hits like Yellow (which I think may be a bit overrated, but still good), and Sparks. But other ones like We Never Change and Trouble can be heart wrenching in the right mood. Some tracks on here feel like they act as a precursor for their later work like Don't Panic and Shiver in they're more upbeat. Only gripe is Everything's Not Lost / Life Worth Living. It seems like it had lyrical potential, but the instrumental and delivery of lyrics I fear made it fall flat.

Nices alternatives Rock Album nice chords, aber nix fürs 2. Mal hören. Maybe irgendwann… aber in general nice.

Bunch of silly lads

I’m English and I wasn’t sure about this. It’s a bit Björk with bits of British music sprinkled in like the There Is a Light chord progression in In The Dark Places. Nice singing at times but not something I’d listen to again

Not for me. These feel so loose and simple, nothing really stood out to me. I also didn’t realize there would be so many covers! Classic rock like this is a genre I have respect for, but can never really dive deep into unfortunately.

None more 80s.

Sounds like Pixies but more experimental, good of course but nothing that stands out

Wasn't a fan of this album. Too experimental and out there for me to enjoy it. There were a couple of songs that were enjoyable, but most either sounded weird or off-putting to me. 2/5 Favorite song: I Zimbra Worst song: Cities

There is a weird contrast between the cheery happy melodies but the lyrics are pretty dark which is interesting. Songs more or less blend together and have a similar sound. "Time of the Season" which is a classic is a total different sound from the trip happy sound of the rest of the album and stands out. 2/5

This is one of those where I recognise the importance of the album more than I enjoy listening to it. Although I do enjoy it - it's just a pretty intense listening experience (especially Frankie Teardrop), so I wouldn't often.

Listened before? No Familiar with the artist? Yes Thoughts: - I really like Bjork in general, though I've only heard 1 or 2 of her albums in full. This one is weirder than even her usual, but I am glad I've heard it. - Wasn't really into the first 2 tracks, but "Where is the Line" is a vibe! - Seemed to go back and forth between tracks I love, and ones I'd have a hard time making it through again. I think it depends on what kind of mouth sounds you're ok with, lol. I love the beatboxing, not so much the breathing noises. Favorite track(s): Where is the Line, Who Is It

Alright, nothing special. Poor man's Talking Heads

(5/7) never heard any of this before - he sure seems to have written a lot of stuff

This had some good moments but I grew tired of it quite quickly.

i can’t put my finger on why i don’t enjoy zeppelin. i think this is the type of music that i would appreciate more live, rather than through my headphones at home. or at a dive bar. literally anywhere else.

When you can remember when an album was introduced to you, and it was an interesting time of your life, and the person who introduced it to you was a cute girl that liked you, that's 5 of 5 honeycomb towers.

It doesn't move me. She never has.

Interesting.. an strange. I learned that pub-rock is a thing -- and this is that thing. Surprisingly the melody and bass lines are catchy - and as an example of its genre its good, I guess. Survivors: Wake up and Make Love with Me | Billericay Dickie | Blockheads

This album summarizes my last trip to the dentist, painful. I was left with a sore mouth for the rest of the day and today I am left with sore ears from this album. This album should have been one of the torture methods in that GTA 5 mission where Trevor interrogates those men. I would have given up the location after hearing this. 0.1/5

Syrupy

Considering myself a Trip Hop enjoyer, I am always left dumbfounded by how many such albums are included instead of 'Mezzanine'. Despite this, this album could be argued as Tricky's best, including his Massive Attack days. The record itself is very textured, not only by how dark yet sensual it sounds, but also by how it incorporates a lush tapestry of ambient, hip hop and soul elements to create a beautiful sound that would become synonym with the incipient genre. 8/10 [KEEP]

short and sweet, word to sabrina

Nice voice but not a music style I'm enjoying.

I really liked this one. It reminded me slightly of the sound of our jam group sessions. Very dreamy, ethereal, and ballad like, with kind of incomprehensible lyrics. I personally don't mind only being able to distinguish certain within each song, as she is focusing more on the sound and instrumentation of her vocals rather than deep meaning, almost as if you are dreaming the music up, and are not able to distinguish certain words. I totally get not being into this, it can be heavy and enveloping. The deeper into the album you get the thicker the music can feel as it wraps around you. For me it feels like a warm hug, for others I could guess this could feel like its suffocating you with sound. Due to the nature of dream pop, and how it fills so much sonic space, there are no gaps between sounds, reverb carrying each bar into the next, creating overlap. Subjectively I love this kind of stuff, it is great background music, or great foreground music. So I feel as though I'm giving it an extra point on it being my cup of tea, although maybe not a perfect album, I think the Cocteau Twins are a new found favorite dream pop group of mine.

The band is alright. I don't like his voice. Just boring, middle of the road rock.

Good without any big kinks hit.

Overall a pretty great album. There’s a couple of songs I don’t care for, but most of them are unique and have a great feel, and I like the way it gets its message across

It's a big old mug of Sleepytime tea

A punk album with even an ounce of variation within songs?? Gasp!

Looooved this album. Dire Straits has some great bangers, but this album as a whole was really good.

Honestly this is fucking boring. It takes half of the album to start showing any sign of direction or quality, and then even that wears thin by the end. Only giving it a 2 because it’s listenable

okay Stevie is obviously never unpleasant, but my first thought after listening was “this won album of the year? Must’ve been a weak year…” even its biggest hit “Boogie On Reggae Woman” didn’t really stand the test of time

Not for me. 1/5

It’s still pretty wild

Top This Month

Most liked reviews from the last 30 days

AHHHH MY SOUL HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED BACK ONTO THE MAIN LIST AHHHH And of course the first fucking thing I generate after the new book edition comes out is the SEVENTH Rolling Stones entry released in the year of our lord 2023 (their TWENTY-THIRD studio album) featuring 80 year old Mick Jagger. I've spent 668 days on the user list. It's not all sunshine and rainbow over there, but the user base has nicely covered almost all the big misses from the original list by this point - Weezer's "Blue Album", Pink Floyd's "Animals", Massive Attack's "Mezzanine", Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Neutral Milk Hotel, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, This Heat, the soundtrack to 2004 video game Katamari Damacy (very important) etc etc.... ....And of course the first thing Robert Dimery does when it's time to update his list for the first time in five years is to add another album by these rotting fucking geriatrics half a century past their prime. Actual music review: It's exactly what you'd expect a 60s band to release in the modern day. I don't know what's up with it, but it seems like this is exactly the sound every single "way past their prime" band grey goo's themselves into. The musical equivalent of an overfitted neural network. The Stones will probably release one more album in a year or two and it will sound exactly like this one again. Maybe that one will be "the last one" so it will be a slightly bolder footnote in musical history. Couldn't ask for a more poetic and fitting start to this return. Is Elvis Costello still releasing music as well?

Very high level rage baiting, bravo Dimery

Every 8 years there’s a massive hit act that makes people tell you, “Oh, no, this is actually REALLY good, this has a lot more vitamins and fibre than you would expect!” and so you give it a try and it always turns out it’s just another Nutrigrain bar

Shout out to Mr Dimery. He doesn't care about what you, or I, or common opinion thinks. If he likes an album, he will put it in. So, I have the luxury of reviewing an album that was added only yesterday. My review will, by default, briefly appear closer to your eyes before descending down the rankings—which is a fitting analogy for this album. So why has he picked it to be added to the 2026 edition? Do the kids love it? No, barely 2 million streams for the lead single. Do critics love it? No. This is an album that appeared in a few publications’ mid-year best album lists before mostly descending down the rankings into irrelevance by the time of publication of the more important end-of-year lists. Is it challenging? Not really. Is it unique? Not really. Socially relevant? Also no. It's an album that, without Mr Dimery's intervention, would have disappeared, covered under the mountains of other releases that define the streaming-pile album environment of modern music services. This is an album that is fine (although a lot of you will hate it). It's beat-driven, well structured, with angular vocals filtered through a foreign vocal charm that adds mystique, but it is generally unremarkable. It heavily recalls The Knife (a better candidate for this list) and relies on a hard-leaning electro sound that I'm sure will sound great in a modern playlist alongside artists like Slayyyter or Heartworms (not a misspelling of Hookworms, which has just been deleted)—two better albums ( not hookworms another odd pick that was pleasant but unremarkable). Fair play, Mr Dimery, it's a pick you like, and it takes courage not to bow to internet publications and their consensus lists, but to stick to your own opinion. It's a 3 for me. Being the first review published, I get to play a game and make a prediction for what you lot will score it. I'll go for 2.7.

Excellent album. Probably the best album added to the revised addition. Hit me hard and soft is the perfect way to describe this record also. Billie and Finneas wrote every tune on this bad mofo, take a lesson future and current pop stars.

If Kenny G. had a mohawk, he wouldn't be punk If Yanni had dumb tattoos, he wouldn't be punk If Garth Brooks pierced his nose, he wouldn't be punk If Liberace sounded like the Green Day, he wouldn't be punk

These all sound like entrance themes for wrestlers that get zero pop

Great that these lads are still going but god this is awful

some wrinkled crypt keeper looking 80-year-old man singing about how he wants to be the only man for some girl... What the fuck is wrong with you, 1001 guy? Do you not have any sense of anything when it comes to music? who the fuck put you in charge?

A band truly ahead of its time. This album is from 2013 and already sounded like AI slop.

And now we encounter the issue with book revisions. In a vacuum, this would be a good choice for the book. There is a severe lack of metal on the list. Especially from female singers. And this record is kinda good. In a vacuum, I'd give this a 4. But problems start to sleep in. 1. This record came out THIS YEAR. It was added to the book the year it was released. There is NO record where that is acceptable. It's just too soon and therefore has a high likelihood of being removed in the next edition as it's impossible to tell what albums will age well THE YEAR THEY COME OUT. 2. Every new record added. I think 13 of them. Took out another. And we can see both lists. Is this better than the Mars Volta? Both records are different from the norm of their respective eras. But is it better?! I wouldn't say so. And so now this can't be judged in a vacuum. Fair or not. As I write this, I'm still on my first listen for the day. I don't know yet what I will rate this. But every day for the next 13 days... I will have an issue.

My first album back in the game after the release of the revised book, and it's a banger. This is exactly how an alt pop album should be, 12 tracks at 34 minutes, get in, kick ass, get out, and keep it just weird enough to pique my interest. Plus, I needed some British flavor after all the Canadian albums from the user submitted list.

Not bad! This band's got a real future ahead of them!

If you are wondering why an album from 2026 us on the list… It’s worse than it looks. Not only are albums added to the list that are less than a year old… Previous albums are removed! Which means you may have heard an album “before you die” unnecessarily. What will St. Peter have to say to you then? But, it gets worse still…. The albums that are removed, this time around for example, are all from 2001-2020, which divides into two more bad things. One, that the entire list is not analyzed with each edit (even though we’ve all had very mediocre to terrible albums from those earlier 40+ years, not to mention albums left off that shoulda been). And, Two, that this particular album from 2026 that you now “must hear before you die” could be (and probably will be) removed over the next few years. The person who runs this site is a saint. But the editor of the 1001 list is destroying his own credibility. Meanwhile, we now have 1100+ albums to work through due to all the different editions. Mr. Dimery should use all our reviews, and mine in particular 😀, to do an actual one-time edit of the list that makes sense.

Yep. I can confirm this is The Chemical Brothers

░░░░░░░░░░░█▀▀░░█░░░░░░ ░░░░░░▄▀▀▀▀░░░░░█▄▄░░░░ ░░░░░░█░█░░░░░░░░░░▐░░░ ░░░░░░▐▐░░░░░░░░░▄░▐░░░ ░░░░░░█░░░░░░░░▄▀▀░▐░░░ ░░░░▄▀░░░░░░░░▐░▄▄▀░░░░ ░░▄▀░░░▐░░░░░█▄▀░▐░░░░░ ░░█░░░▐░░░░░░░░▄░█░░░░░ ░░░█▄░░▀▄░░░░▄▀▐░█░░░░░ ░░░█▐▀▀▀░▀▀▀▀░░▐░█░░░░░ ░░▐█▐▄░░▀░░░░░░▐░█▄▄░░ ░░░▀▀ ░░🔥░░░░ ▐▄▄▄▀░░░

However bad the other new albums added are - this album makes it worth it

Jesus, I think I've done it. I think this is album 1089 and I am done (until I start the user list tomorrow). It's actually been longer because I reviewed over 200 albums before I started a group, which meant I had to do those all again! Nearly five years, it's been a journey... Many thanks to the members of my group (especially Dave L., Peter P., Alan L. and Glen S.) who have staggered alongside me through this winter death march. A really special call out to Peter P., who really instilled a broad and unprejudiced love of music in me. He was my boss at the record store for about two years, but has been my friend for forty years. He introduced me to so many artists and records that I love. We DJ together. He encouraged me to take a more autobiographical approach to reviewing. Thanks Peter, I love you, man. Thanks to any critic who ever inspired me, especially Jessica Hopper, Bill Wyman (not the Rolling Stone), Amanda Petrusich, Simon Reynolds, Charles Shaar Murray, Robert Christgau, Elizabeth Nelson, Hanif Abdurraqib, and a plethora of others, all worth reading. But not Greil Marcus; fuck that guy. Many thanks to anyone who ever threw one of my reviews a thumbs up, I appreciate it. And a thousand thanks to Alexander for setting up this project and his technical support along the way. This project has been exciting and infuriating and exhausting, but I have appreciated the structure to my listening, and the opportunity to reflect on my musical tastes, history and the friends who helped form my tastes. In the words of the great Liverpudlian band: "All these places had their moments With lovers and friends, I still can recall Some are dead and some are living In my life, I've loved them all" And here we have Buck Owens as my final album, which is as good a place to finish as any. This project has given me an appreciation of classic country, and this piece of Bakersfield honky-tonk is a simple pleasure. I love a tight album that doesn't outstay its welcome, and this album is _tight_. I'm listening to the version with a couple of bonus tracks (including 'Act Naturally', love it) and it still only runs 32 minutes. There is not a wasted note on this album. The band is energetic and efficient, with special props to the wonderful Telecaster work of Don Rich. Could you argue that some of the songs border on being novelty tunes? Possibly, but they are fun and catchy and rollick along, so I don't care. I've spun this through three times in a row, and I am whistling along. I was going to give this a three, but I am really digging it. Call it 3.5 stars, rounding up!

This is ridiculous. With all the respect I have for TRS, the inclusion of this record in the latest batch is preposterous

Garbage in name, Garbage in nature. DO NOT LISTEN

Just put Evanescence on here and call it a day. This just doesn't seem like anything better than came out in the early 2000's and sounds similar.

After the first song I thought "this is what LCD Sound system might sound like were James Murphy a bisexual millenial." By the last song I'd realised that "this is actually what Björk would sound like were she a bisexual zoomer."

Rainwater filters through trash and creates leachate, a toxic liquid filled with heavy metals, chemicals, and microplastics that can seep into soil and groundwater. Leachate is essentially garbage juice.

You Are The Morning is the debut album of jasmine.4.t. It is an album full of country and folk based indie rock with strong ties to the Boygenius members (Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers). The album contains strong songwriting, but the vocals are nasal and boring after a while. I've seen them perform at the Best Kept Secret festival where this vocal issue was not so annoying. All in all it's a good, but not a great album. Of course it has a significant meaning in the trans community, but that is not a reason to act like it's an essential album to listen to before you die. Speaking of the Boygenius members, would their album or one of Phoebe Bridgers' not been a better submission to the list?

They cut Fetch the Bolt Cutters to add this?

The retirement age in the UK is around 67, just saying.

i'm not sure what demon possessed them to include this instead of something less obscure and more mediocre in the latest book but I'm glad they did

An album that came out last year listed here as influential? Whoever compiled this list has confused ‘influential’ with ‘ i liked it’.

Music to listen to while your wife is fucking her boyfriend

1080 albums into this project, I've never been closer to rage quitting. Removed in 2026: Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker (2016) Django Django - Django Django (2012) The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium (2003) Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers (2002) For THIS?!! Who hurt you, Robert? Why is Mick Jagger singing about his landlord in a bop about - checks notes - elder abuse? Good grief.

I’m a Rolling Stones fan, so I enjoyed this. It’s a good album, but nowhere near their prime and not exactly breaking new ground. Unlike Blackstar or You Want It Darker, it doesn’t feel like a late-career statement that adds something significant to their legacy. Enjoyable, but not sure it deserves a place on this list.

The more recent an album is, the harder it is to meaningfully assess whether it realistically has a place on the 'must hear' list. And this album is less than a year old. Don't get it twisted; I like Charlie XCX. I think she is one of the most dynamic and interesting pop stars working today, and this is an interesting and compelling piece of work. But it suffers from the problem that the movie of Emerald Fennel's "Wuthering Heights had; more style than substance. It is a big swing for the creative fences that became a pretty hot topic of discussion for a little while but doesn't really have long-term cultural impact. Even a year on, it has been overtaken by Carlie XCX's latest creative outputs. I would argue that this album has a far better hit-to-miss ratio than the movie, so let me say the things I like about it: - it's smart without being overworked. There is an idea here and I like that she has something different to say without going crazily concept album. - that she, she didn't forget that this is a pop album, and that means tunes and beats. Not as many bangers as Brat, but an acceptable level given the high concept. - it's short. I wish more pop artists would release 34-minute albums full of 3-4 minute songs. - those string arrangements are fantastic. Creepy, gothic, evocative - I like the sound design, which is tastefully weird, even though I wish critics would stop describing anything with use of destructive filters as "industrial". It's not. That's just what pop sound design is like these days. It's a good, smart pop album which makes sense in Charlie XCX's growing body of varied and interesting work. Will it be remembered as the highpoint of her career a decade from now? Is is a classic for the ages that will still be in 1001 Albums a decade from now? I suspect not on either count. But I enjoyed listening to it. 3.5 stars, rounding up.

This is a simple protest vote. It is ludicrous for albums in the current year to be put on this list. More ludicrous still is the fact that you have removed more recent albums (in the last 5 years) as you add new ones. If you were removing questionable albums from the 70s, for example, it would make much more sense. When the bulk of the removals come from your own recent additions, it makes your judgement questionable Sorry, Charli! The one star rating is for the list managers, not you.

Is it necessary for this album to be over 2 hours long? Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No, but I do it anyway because its sterile and I like the taste

This album has disappointingly very little to do with bratwurst.

I mean it’s fine but like come on man what are we doing here

This album's inclusion on the updated list is kind of the final straw in destroying the very little credibility and integrity that these list makers were clinging to. Sure, The Rolling Stones are legendary mega stars who occupy an important position in music history, but there is no reality that an album released in their 7th decade rises to the level of being essential listening material. This album was fine, but come on, what are we doing here?

I can say with utmost certainly, whichever editor of the book submitted Supernova has teenage girls in his house. I'm sure dude randomly finds fake eyelashes in the sink, in the dishwasher, in the couch, in the dogs fur, everywhere but the trash. He probably took a browbeating that sounded like Veruca Salt saying, "Daddy, I want a Nova Twins album! I want you to get me a Nova Twins album right away!" "Daddy, get me one of those silver outfits!" So, like a real father, he caved to the whims of his children and championed for the inclusion of their favorite album. While everyone else is bashing him and falling out like they're at revival for including this slice of pop dreck that will surely be cut from the next book revision, I stand at attention and salute you Sir! Your kids are only young once and they will love you forever for adding this.

This is the least essential album on this list. UK music critics are a damn joke.

Believe it or not, we don’t need to place every Rolling Stones album on here. I don’t think this should qualify for a top 1001 album, not even because I think it’s not good, that’s not the point. But to flood the list with an entire discography of an artist I feel like is just a waste and there are potentially other artists getting snubbed because The Rolling Stones released a 26th album.

Pleasant but dull. How this rates a spot on the list, I will never understand. The most interesting moments are when members of Boy Genius guest, which immediately makes me wonder why Boy Genius or members thereof -- Phoebe Bridgers especially -- aren't on the list. Their albums are better and more prominent. What on earth is Dimery thinking? At least it didn't drag on too long...

I mean yay for not letting age stop you from creating but damn we didn’t need this gang

LETS GOOOO! I’ve loved this album since it came out; thank the Lord it made the list. Just a perfect pop record in every way I could think of. Dancy, dramatic, emotional, and cute, all together mixed so well. And the production is just *chefs kiss* (the transition from Bittersuite into Blue is one of my favorite musical moments of the last few years god it’s so good). 10/10

gentle, mild, light, inoffensive, insubstantial - if Babybel Cheese made an album, it would sound like this. a breathy, fey, waste of time, and a senseless addition to a list which still excludes Eric Dolphy, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey (and many other great musicians)

Call me a conspiracy nut, but this album would have a higher rating if the artist wasn’t trans. People claim that they don’t care, but can’t handle being exposed to them. That’s my little rant. Anyways, I really liked this album. I enjoyed it when it first came out and I enjoyed it now. Not all bangers, but none of the songs are terrible. Several certified bops, in my opinion, give this album a good bit of range, but it could use a tad more to really get it to where I feel like it could be. Looking forward to their next release. Great suggestion. 4/5

I'll admit that I'm a little skeptical that this needed to make the list, but I did really enjoy it. At this point I'm skeptical of almost any artist that is British and was previously unknown to me, which I recognize is a little rude, but also, the list editor has made enough transgressions that I stand by it.

When I got bored of trying to stay with the words, my mind drifted to the music. That's when I realised I was putting more effort into listening to this album than the artist did making it.

One of my learning from this project has been that I don't mind a bit of outlaw country. I think Merle Haggard really hit his straps a few albums after this (and we miss the chance to grapple with Merle's complicated politics). But this is a pretty tight album.

It's so funny being on the user albums list with such a wide variety of stuff and then being dragged back to the main list and having to listen to... this. Here's 3 reasons why this is one of the worst inclusions on the list. 1. This album sucks. The production is awful and the bland, overplayed blues riffs make it sound like it was made as background music for a millennial burger restaurant. And while everyone plays their instruments fine, Mick Jagger cannot sing to save his life. All the power in his voice is long gone, and no amount of reverb/vocal distortion can save him. 2. Even as a legacy album this is a terrible inclusion. It isn't a final statement like Blackstar or You Want It Darker. (Which was removed from this list, what the hell!) It doesn't show the evolution of their style or songwriting like The Rising or For That Beautiful Feeling. It's just "good-old fashioned" Stones again! If anything, this only shows the Rolling Stones as dramatically weaker than their prime. 3. Seriously? No Olivia Rodrigo? No Chappell Roan? No Black Country, New Road? No Lady Gaga? (Her collab on this album DOESN'T COUNT!) This decade has brought so many great faces and great albums, but we're STILL getting oldhead white boy blues no one asked for and has had no relevance over the past decade. In conclusion, I am 99% sure this album was included for Robert Dimery and no one else. If this book gets any new editions in the future, please dear God give it to someone who isn't a senior citizen.

This one was originally my user-submitted album on the generator and I was very excited to see it added to the 2026 edition of the book (and thus, moved to the main list of the generator). I'm also excited to finally be able to leave a review here. When selecting my user submission, I had a handful of artists I really wanted to showcase. A handful of them were submitted by others before I had the chance, and when the time came, I knew that I was going with St Vincent. Annie Clark is an incredible artist and it's criminal that she didn't make the cut earlier. I honestly think she's one of my most interesting artists out there right now. Now having read the other reviews, a question that I saw come up a lot was why this album? I was really on the fence about it, to be honest and very nearly went with Masseduction, which I thought is likely to be the most popular pick. Ultimately though, this is the album that really made me fall in love with St Vincent. Arguably, she has better songs on different releases ("New York" and "Actor Out of Work" to name some of my favorites). But "All Born Screaming" is, in my opinion, the better complete album, albeit maybe more of a slowburn. When it came out, I found myself listening to it constantly without skipping a track. There are so many amazing songs here, but my favorites are "Flea", "Sweetest Fruit" (an ode to Sophie, another amazing artist), and the title track. And there's a fantastic selection of musicians on the album as well, including Dave Grohl, Josh Freese (Foo Fighters/Nine Inch Nails), Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Nine Inch Nails/Beck), Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint) and Cate Le Bon, one of the best producers on the scene right now. The other reason I went with this album for my user pick is that I figured, if anyone else is going to add a St Vincent album (and I hope someone does!), it probably won't be this one. So let me take this chance to promote a personal favorite. It seems as though Robert Dimery proved me wrong though and picked the same one! So my plea to listeners is, definitely check out her other albums when you can, but don't dismiss this one. There's a lot going on here.

Most Popular Reviews

All-time most liked

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.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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

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

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??!!?

Rage In Favor Of The Machine.

Around 1990-91, I was a volunteer at 2SER student radio. Mostly, I did technical work helping my mate, Tim, who hosted 'Monday Night Football', a music program that ran from 1-3am on Thursday nights. Panelling, editing, that kind of thing. In 1991, Einsturzende Neubauten were touring Australia and there was an offer to do a radio interview with 2SER. I could actually pronounce “Einsturzende Neubauten” and knew a little bit about the band, so it was decided that I would do the interview. Interviewing was not really my thing, but it came with perks; tickets to their show at the Phoenician Club and a copy of the Strategies Against Architecture LP, so I said OK. I knew the legendary Blixa Bargeld has a reputation for not suffering fools, so I tried to prep questions that were interesting. So, on the day of the show the plan was to go down to the club after soundcheck and interview Blixa. It was a bit intimidating. I mean, EN were one of the world’s most dangerous bands and Blixa also played in the Bad Seeds, which made him an underground legend. Tim and I were in the equipment room gathering up a portapack and mics and whatever else we needed, when someone comes running in the room whispering “There’s a vampire in the lobby, and he’s looking for you!” And sure enough, there in the lobby, stands Blixa in full stage outfit, pale as death, six foot six in Cuban heels and his hair teased up and 100lbs wringing wet. He has a bottle of schnapps and a filthy look in his eye. He’s staring death at everyone. And then I hear my name called. Standing next to this imperious vision in black is a smiling Japanese man in bright green overalls with a flower appliqued on the front. His voice is oddly familiar; it is Rick Tanaka, former presenter of 'The Nippy Rock Shop', an experimental collage-style radio show from Triple J in the 80s. I was a fan. Turns out, he is the road manager for this EN tour, and he is asking for me. He hands me his business card: Rick Tanaka, Private Guy. We hurriedly shuffle Rick and Blixa into a meeting room and turn on the recorder, and I attempt an interview. It did not go well. Blixa did not want to be there, was much smarter than me, and was not very patient with my attempts at questions that were more engaging than the usual stereotypical “who gets to go to the junk yard to get scrap metal for your stage show?” Eventually, Blixa just started ignoring me and chatted to Rick. Tim and I kept the tape rolling for their conversation, and afterwards edited it up into something resembling proper radio. And then they left. Tim and I packed up and then walked down the road to the Phoenician Club. En route, we bumped into the Beasts of Bourbon, who were playing support. Tex and Kim were intensely focused and wouldn't say hello, but we chatted to Spencer for a bit. They clearly knew what was coming and were determined to put on a good show. They were the best I ever saw them play that night; tight, ferocious and angry, showcasing material from their Low Road album, that was not yet released. And then on came Einsturzende Neubauten. It was possibly the most intense, frightening show I ever seen. I confess I was a little freaked out by my encounter with Blixa and not really prepared for the experience of an EN show. By the end of their set, I was pressed up against a wall with my fists clenched and my eyes shut. The sound from the stage was so brutal and overwhelming. I can’t recall much of what went on, except for a bit with shopping carts with contact mikes crashing into each other repeatedly. It was really loud. I know I left the venue about 11.30pm. At 2am, I turned up at my girlfriend’s house, tapping on her window. I assume I spent the intervening hours walking the streets in a daze, but not really sure of what I did in that time. She yelled at me for a good 15 minutes for waking her up, but I was unable to put a sentence together, let alone explain what had just happened to me. It was a heavy, really heavy, performance. Ok, so given that background of my relationship with EN, what do I think about this album? I have listened to it once or twice before. EN is really influential on me. I love noisy things, really noisy things. I played in industrial bands through most of the 1990s. And this is like the ur-text for much of what industrial music became. It still sounds frightening and surprising now. That said, this is a massively difficult listening experience. I am reminded of Brian Eno talking about Steve Reich (I think), and how hearing one of his early tape pieces was massively influential, but he never listened to it again. Early EN (and this album in particular) is like that for me. It opened up a world of possibilities to explore, but I don’t need (or probably even want) to listen to it much. I certainly was much more enamored of their early 1990s material, which contains actual songs, rather than just this scary barrage of crashing rhythms and screaming. Kollaps is an important record for me, but I would not recommend it.

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.

Back in the day we girls always went to a bar to dance. Most of the nights just when the evening started to be great this nerdy guy put coins in the jukebox to play at least 5 Neil Young songs in a row. After he spoilt the mood he even tried to hit on us with tricks as "he was a magician". We considered him "Helpless". The only reason we kept returning to this bar was the fact the barman also disliked the guy and told us the drinks were free as long as we kept on rebuffing the guy. Ever since I get thirsty when I listen to a Neil Young song.

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.

Top Reviewers

Most liked contributors