1001 Albums Summary

Aretha can do no wrong and this album is full of bops. A couple of forgettable tracks in there, but I guess that's why they weren't singles.

I fear Janis Joplin's voice has been permanently ruined for me by Jenna Maroney's impression of her in 30 Rock, but there's some really good material on this album. Most of the musical breaks show a lot of impressive musicianship and there's a lot of obvious blues influence that comes out in a pleasing way. I think Turtle Blues and Oh, Sweet Mary ended up being my favorite tracks. Last note is I don't really understand why they apparently artificially added in the crowd noises in most of the tracks to make it sound like a live album despite most of it being done in a studio. I feel like I'd rather just have a normal studio album.

Gonna be that guy: I thought this was just okay! I believed I was pretty familiar with Neil Young but apparently I didn't realize how high pitched his voice was, and to be honest I just never really got that into it. There's some good song-writing and lyricism but nothing that particularly wowed me.

I think the hype around this band and the people I knew growing up who hyped them up had soured my taste to the point that I just didn't allow myself to like them. Obviously I had heard some of their songs and knew the general vibe but had never listened to a full album. Hate to admit it, but I reallllly enjoyed this album. Immigrant Song gets the energy going right out of the gate, but Since I've Been Loving You really stole the show for me. The vocalist's voice irked me at times, but that was mostly made up for by everything else going on. I may have to listen to Led Zeppelins 1 and 2 next.

Not sure what to say about this one except that it's basically all bangers. I feel like I know Elvis's hits but haven't done a lot of deep listening to get a real feel for his work. His singing comes across as really soulful in this album and there's energy throughout that's just infectious. It's also wild to me that this was a live album when there's basically no audience audio, which is a start contrast to the dubbed-in audience noise from the Janis Joplin album.

This album is very much Bob Dylan just being Bob Dylan. Great song-writing, weird voice that somehow works with the style, and just a fun energy. I could really do without some of the added sound effects on the title track though.

Not sure why but this one hit harder than the previous day's Dylan album for me. More energy in this one or something. I feel like there's not much I'd be able to say about this record or Bob Dylan that hasn't been said before. The guy's a master of his craft, full stop.

I was unfamiliar with Sinead's work except for the viral moment on SNL. Turns out I sort of knew "Nothing Compares 2 U" because its chorus gets sample on a Girl Talk song (immediately followed by the line "I was gettin' some head - gettin' gettin' some head" which changes the tone a lot). Anyway, it's a good record. Some of the songs sound a little dated now, but that's to be expected for something that came out in 1990. Some tracks also sounded more modern than I expected for 1990 and there's some neat experimentation going on. "I am Stretched On Your Grave" goes so hard with the Irish jig situation going on in the bridge. All in all, this album evokes some heavy feelings, and you can feel the pain of the singer in a lot of it. Not all of the audio kept me hooked, but the emotions conveyed kept me interested.

Gotta be honest this album didn't do much for me. I didn't necessarily dislike it, but it's also just very forgettable for me compared to other albums on this list. I appreciate the 5/4 time on Tribal Gathering as I'm writing this, and there are some other cool aspects of the album but as a whole I don't think I'll be revisiting it. I had some more notes that apparently didn't save. Overall I still enjoyed the album more than not listening to any music at all so it still gets 3 stars.

I liked this album a LOT more than I expected. There were some dull moments to be sure, but most of it had an energy I ended up being obsessed with. The bassline in Love and Anger rules so hard, along with the rest of the song. Heads We're Dancing steals the show for me though with its strange dissonance and overall tonal structure while still having the energy of a Saturday Night Fever style song. I think the low points on the album will knock it down to a 4-star for me but there are definitely some 5-star tracks on here.

This album evoked no real strong feelings from me. There are some good songs and there were also some forgettable ones. Incidentally my favorite song off this album was I'll Cry Instead, which seems to have the second-least listens on Spotify among the tracklist, so idk what other people are doing.

I knew Hungry Like the Wolf going into this, but the rest of Duran Duran's repertoire is pretty unknown to me. That said, it ended up sounding pretty much just like what I would've imagined, which is sort of like Devo but less subversive. I really like Devo, but I feel like they have more of a unique artistic vision that gives the music some more personality. This album was lacking a little bit of that for me, but I still really enjoyed the sound as a whole. I think I'll probably end up giving it 4 stars.

Trying really hard to be objective here despite my inclination to try to find and focus on positive aspects of the music, but I have to admit that I frankly do not care for or about this album. I'm sure it's good if you're into the genre since it's on this list (and the musicians were talented), but listening to it for me was such a slog that I finally broke my rule about listening to everything all the way through. The energy and overall tone was consistent to a fault, which made the long track times feel like a chore. A few minutes into Maria Lionza I decided I'd give each song an honest attempt for 60+ seconds, but it was obvious based on the rest of the album that if I didn't care for the first minute I wouldn't care for the rest of the track so I gave myself permission to skip at that point. I ended up skipping each of the remaining songs after that attempt. And honestly I typically like this sort of thing, but I just wasn't getting hooked by any of it. Unfortunately it's gonna be a one-star for me.

I had zero clue what to expect with this album as I had never heard of it or the band. Surprisingly enough, I quite enjoyed the 2004 post-hardcore album on this list. I swear I've heard this vocalist before, but according to the internet he's not in any other bands so he must just sound like someone. Regardless, this album ruled. I'm surprised to learn at this moment that despite its critical acclaim, the band apparently has 1500 monthly listeners on Spotify. I listen to what I thought was some much more obscure shit with far more monthly listeners than that.

This album is so strange but I dig it, mostly. Some tracks are a little on the boring side and are skippable, but it's got such a neat energy. I've definitely heard Only Love Can Break Your Heart somewhere before but without really focusing on it until now. Some of the hip-hop sounds thrown in here feel very out of place, but I also don't hate it? I think Stoned to Say the Least is my favorite track here though.

What a strange but fun album. Didn't really feel much about the first two songs, but the title track pulled me right back in and I was hooked from there. Things then got very weird and experimental at V-2 Schneider and I continued to dig it. Sense of Doubt was mesmerizing and then I enjoyed how we ended it on a more traditional musical sound with Secret Life of Arabia. Good stuff all in all for an album I apparently didn't know a single track on.

It's amazing what used to be considered heavy. That's no knock against the album, but more so recording capabilities. Put this up against a modern metal album and the sound just isn't quite as full or something. The drumming is also much more jazzy than what you'll hear today as well. Anyway, that said it's a good album. I was familiar with a few tracks, but listening to it today I realized I don't think I had ever actually heard Iron Man from start to finish before, and it has some weird parts lol. It's weird how jazzy some parts of this album are even beyond just the drumming mentioned above. More metal bands should do that these days.

I'll be the first to say it: lotta duds on here! I love Stevie and need to be clear I enjoyed the album as a whole, but I would argue about half these songs are skippable, which is a shame because the ones that hit, hit. Superstition is an obvious banger. The standout hit I hadn't heard before is Maybe Your Baby though. The funky bass and synth lines go so hard and it just sucked me right in. Luckily the album also ends on a high note with I Believe. It's below Innervisions in his catalog for me, but Stevie rarely misses.

Wasn't expecting a reggae album when I saw the cover today but I dig it. I don't think I have much to say but that the vibe was solid and there were some bops. I'm not itching to put it on again though. 3-4 stars, unsure how I'll feel when it comes time to actually rate it tomorrow.

I begrudgingly enjoyed this album a lot more than I expected. I get it, Jack White is a talented and intelligent musician who draws from a lot of genres to make cool shit. The hype is deserved in spite of my own contrarianism making me want to dislike it.

The rest of the day will have me repeating the words "Sitting on a park bench... I don't know the words except park bench" in my head endlessly as 30 Rock continues to bleed into this activity for me. Anyway, I thought this album was fine. I was familiar with some of it from when my friend and fellow band geek Josh Wilson got super into the concept of a rock band with a flute in high school. I thought it was much cooler then. By the end of the album I was just waiting for it to be over because I was getting bored with it. There are still some really fun parts on here but overall it left me feeling pretty meh.

Oh hell yeah, I love Otis but apparently I haven't heard a lot of stuff off this particular album. Did you know he died in our lake? Anyway now after having actually listened to it, turns out I had heard probably half of these tracks before. I like how in this era they just had everyone on their label record vocals for some songs and just see what sticks. Imagine if Aretha had never gotten her hands on Respect and Otis's version was all we had. I'm also such a huge fan of his take on Satisfaction, especially knowing that he didn't know any of the words or what the song sounded like so he's just riffing the entire time and it works so well. I think the worst song on this album is still 4 stars and most are 5, so this will be getting a 5-star rating once it's available.

Okay so I know we have songs like Earl's Gotta Die and Before He Cheats, but something about this guy saying "If you cheat it might kill you" felt far more ominous than empowering. Anyway, I had never heard of this dude before. Apparently he's known for reintroducing the "Bakersfield sound" into country music, which I guess is more gritty and electronic (I'll get back to this). Overall, I didn't hate this album but I also didn't really love it. The accordion parts were unexpected and made me feel a little like I was in a gondola in Venice (not that I've ever been), which I was iffy about. I did really enjoy some of the bass lines here though, especially in the title track, and focusing on those I understood some more of what was meant by the Bakersfield sound. The downside for me though is that every time it felt like the bass lines were leading to something groovier, it turned out that was as groovy as we were getting and now we're back to generic country. Anyway I wrote way too much about this album but it's a 2-star for me.

Oh man, I looooooved this album. Little disappointed to learn this is a white man from Northern Ireland when the audio samples are definitely meant to evoke an inner city New York vibe but that doesn't change how much I vibed with this. The beats are fun and energetic, it's got some really neat experimental sounds going on over top, lots of fun samples and mashups with other musical elements (like the James Bond song). It's just so good. Hard to believe they were doing some of this in 1997.

First album I've actually listened to front-to-back before doing this, but some of these songs I probably haven't heard in over 20 years (god I hate typing that). As a whole, the album drags on a little bit, but it's basically all bangers so it's not like I'm begging for it to be over by the end. It helps that Kim goes so fucking hard. The anger and emotion in this track and the rest of the album is just so palpable. It hits me emotionally every single time. I also definitely did not understand some of the themes of these songs when I was a child listening to this album (shocker), but it hits a lot harder now. Great album.

I was less impressed by this one than the previous Jack White album we had on here. It's missing the catchiness and energy I liked about that one, and I just generally didn't find this all that interesting. I did really enjoy the combination of the soothing marimba melody contrasted with the sudden loud noises in The Nurse, and there were some other fun moments, but it just never fully drew me in.

I enjoyed this album, but I was also bored at parts. Beck has a fun energy and there's a lot going on musically to appreciate. I don't have much to say here tbh but I'll probably give it 4 stars.

Really loved this album. I still don't understand how they play those keyboard parts in the intro for Baba O'Reilly. But the album has a very lively energy and I dig the jazzy vibes throughout. It's also just very rockin' and at times kind of frenetic. I feel like I already got who The Who were prior to this listen, but also that I appreciate that a bit more now.

I was hoping this would be like, a noise album based on the title, so I was a little disappointed that it ended up being more disco-y than I anticipated. I really didn't care for the first couple of tracks, but I let it keep playing in the background at the office and by the time we got to Stop This Crazy Thing about halfway through I was vibing with it pretty hard. 20 minutes later I realized I had stopped paying attention and that when I zoned back in I was getting kinda bored. I have no idea what to make of this album lmao.

God I could not find a way to care about this album lmao. It's neat to see what The Cars sound like when they're not just blasting a random chorus in a TV commercial but it turns out the deep cuts aren't much better! I will say I appreciated the effort to do something experimental with I'm in Touch with Your World, but they used the same auxiliary percussion instruments you typically hear in slapstick comedy so it just sounded goofy and I couldn't take it seriously. All Mixed Up wasn't bad though, glad we ended on a high note.

Oh man, this just makes me really miss our friend Lisa who loved singing ABBA at karaoke and introduced me to a lot of their stuff beyond just Dancing Queen in the first place. I ended up having a lot of thoughts about this album so buckle in. We start of STRONG with When I Kissed The Teacher and Dancing Queen, which are both surprisingly interesting musically. Seriously, I never really focused on what's going on under the surface in Dancing Queen but there's so much interesting instrumentalism happening there. When I Kissed The Teacher has some super interesting chord structures that I was really vibing with too. Then, the album takes a downturn that I worried would continue through the end. My Love, My Life is just not that interesting and then I would describe Dum Dum Diddle as the first two words in its title. HOWEVER, the slump ends there and never comes back. Knowing Me, Knowing You is once again just so sonically interesting. Then I was singing and bopping along to Money, Money, Money and That's Me by the end of each track despite having heard neither before and famously being terrible with lyrics. Why Did It Have to Be Me has such a fun blues vibe that mixes so well with their weird disco-ness. Tiger comes at you so hard, Fernando rules (s/o to Lisa), and then we end on yet another intriguing and well-produced song with Happy Hawaii. This is a rare one I'm adding to my library, but I'll probably skip Dum Dum Diddle on the replays. (update: I've already re-listened to this and apparently I like Dum Dum Diddle now)

I feel like every Van Halen song I've heard follows a similar pattern: I start out thinking "oh this is gonna be cool" but then we get to the meat of the song and I'm just like, meh. Nothing really wowed me here and I had to stop myself from skipping some of them once I was about halfway through because I would rather just move on with my life to something more fun/interesting. Ice Cream Man wasn't bad, but by that point in the album I was already too burned out to care.

Didn't find this one terribly exciting, but it had a nice vibe to it that I enjoyed. Definitely wasn't expecting a song called "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" to come on, and for it to be that laid back with a title like that but I wasn't exactly complaining. All in all, didn't wow me, but I would put it on again if I had to choose between it and silence so I'll give it 3 stars.

I liked this one. It was nice and funky.

I really just did not care about this album and plan on fully forgetting it existed by tomorrow. It's not necessarily bad, just horribly uninteresting. Adding this in after-the-fact: Elliott Smith died??

Audible "hell yeah" from me upon opening the page today. I think this is the first album I'm actually intimately familiar with from start to finish in my current memory bank. Instant 5/5, Fleetwood Mac rules and this is their best album by a mile.

Three things I learned about the Violent Femmes today: 1. Despite their name, they're all dudes (I thought the singer just had a low voice for a woman, like the singer from The Distillers). 2. I already knew more than just Blister in the Sun (Tony Hawk Project 8 features Add It Up and a version of Gone Daddy Gone from this album). 3. They're from Wisconsin! Also, they're really good. I already enjoyed the three songs I had previously heard but now it turns out I like the rest of the album too.

God I'm so bored with this album, which is a bummer because I actually thought it started out really interesting. I'm begging for this to be over at this point though. Might be a second 1-star.

Suite for 20 G absolutely rules. Some snoozers on here, some real good ones too though. Overall middle of the road for me.

I put this on and immediately recognized the vocalist but couldn't place it. Looked it up, saw it was the dude from Hot Snakes, and it clicked right away. Makes sense that I would like this album so much since I like his other band. Surprised I had never heard of this one before though.

I had to listen to this a second time to appreciate it because it just wasn't hitting on the first set of speakers I was using. I get it a lot more on the second listen. This album was surprising to me though. I'm used to the Beach Boys having a much stronger surf-rock vibe, and this is apparently later in their career so after they had already strongly branded themselves. But this feels so much more generic somehow. You probably could've convinced me this was a Beatles record. That said, it's still sonically pretty interesting. There are some experimental effects sprinkled throughout and there are some neat lyrical themes. Ultimately just kinda so-so, but some standout moments for sure. Day in the Life of a Tree is weird but I dig it.

I didn't hate this album but I was also ready for it to be over well before it actually ended. It felt very much like I got what they were doing and didn't need 30 more minutes of it after I had already hit the 45 minute mark.

All over the place with this one. Some songs were kinda dull, some a little grating, and some really interesting. Miriam has an incredible voice though so even the less-good ones still have a lot of musical value. Fallon and I were both surprised when the hook from The Lion Sleeps Tonight came on so it's interesting to see where it presumably came from. I was also a little surprised to hear House of the Rising Sun. I knew it was an old blues standard long before The Animals had gotten to it in 1964, but I was unaware of this particular take on it, which I ended up really enjoying. That one and The Naughty Little Flea probably ended up being my favorites.

I have such a complex relationship with this album lmao, but I've heard it probably a hundred times even before this instance. As far as Taylor goes, it's one of the much more palatable ones for me but it does get a little dull as it goes on. Feels like better background music than close-listening music at that a certain point in my opinion. That said, I'll still get a lot of these songs stuck in my head and find myself vibing to them. No Body, No Crime is also just a total bop. So is Tis the Damn Season.

Confession time: I didn't actually know what JD was about until today. I had seen a ton of people wear this album art on a t-shirt and I know a lot of people who are really into them, but I've just never sat down and listened to them (except for maybe one song off this album that had somehow been saved before). Ultimately my take is that it's fine. Maybe I was just expecting something else from the hype, but it didn't really wow me in any meaningful way. A lot of the songs felt to me like they were just missing a little oomph that I needed to make it more interesting.

Interesting how the three singles I know and love are all back-to-back on this album while the rest I had never heard before. There are some other hits on here, but some flops as well. The Lady in My Life felt like a weak closer, but I think I could've liked it more at a different spot in the album. Probably will give this 4 stars for the bops.

Apparently it had been a minute since I've listened to this album as some of the tracks were more alien to me than I expected. Still bangers tho. The big standout on this album for me has always been Welcome to Paradise which has one of the best bridges of all time, I lose my shit every time that ride cymbal comes in without fail.

I liked this a lot more than I expected, so much that I put it right back on after finishing it. At first I was expecting some pretty generic English rock and roll from the 70s, and it sort of IS that, but it's sonically more interesting to me than a lot of those bands somehow. In The Crowd is stuck in my head as I type this and I also really enjoyed Down In The Tube Station at Midnight. I don't think it's a 5-star album but I do think I'll be saving it for future listening.

Oh man, I don't think I've heard this album since high school but I have long been a huge fan of this band's first album and the front man's other work (Rites of Spring, Minor Threat, etc.). Real ones in this group may remember us going to see Ian MacKaye do a talk about the DC punk scene at UMD once. This album is held up as the band's best by a lot of folks so I get it making the list over 13 Songs, but for some reason this one just never quite resonated with me the same. I definitely appreciated it a lot more on this listen though, and also just pieced together that Reprovisional is essentially a sequel to Provisional with a lot of similar themes. Anyway I'm gonna go listen to 13 Songs now and then give this one a 5 star rating tomorrow.

I went through a phase where I got really into these garage rock/"proto-punk" bands like this one, but somehow these guys never crossed my radar. Very similar sound to the Standells, which makes sense both being from Boston, but with more synth. I really dig it. Pablo Picasso is so weird but fun, same with I'm Straight. Dance With Me is less fun but is enjoyingly eerie. Huge fan of this one.

This was a fun one. I hadn't listened to it in full before but I should've before now.

Nice and relaxing listening for my drive in this morning. Lot of songs I had heard before and I'm pretty sure most were covers but there might be some in here I'll be surprised to learn Willie wrote himself. Doubt I'll be listening much more but it gave me more of an appreciation for the artist beyond hearing my dad belt out On The Road Again every time I get in the car with him.

I thought the album title and art were both fun, but ultimately the album was a bit of a flop for me. No real standouts and overall just kinda meh.

Sunny Afternoon off this album has been on every one of my nice weather playlists basically since I started using Spotify, but I've never heard the rest of this album. Unfortunately, the bulk of this album is just generic English rock-and-roll for me. Lot of these songs could've been The Beatles and I'd have no idea. I don't hate the genre, but I do get bored if the band in question isn't adding anything particularly unique/interesting to their take on it. This one fell into that bored category for me.

I enjoyed this a whole lot. There was a real blend of genres at different points with some heavy American blues influences alongside whatever the hell other countries were being represented here. Some songs veered a little on the dull side but they were still just good vibes.

I just don't care about Elvis Costello lol. I liked Mystery Dance, probably because it reminded me a lot of the real Elvis. This album as a whole was fine.

Every song on this album was already saved on Spotify, but not the album itself. I must've added it to a playlist at some point and clearly it made little impression on me. I like a lot of songs by The Zombies, but I don't ever really need to listen to a full LP by them. This one has some bangers but as a whole kinda just drags on.

This album is what this list is about for me because I'm filling in some important pop cultural gaps in my knowledge while also discovering some really great music here. I knew little to nothing about Lauryn Hill prior to this other than having heard her name mentioned a lot of times but not being able to place anything to it. Had no idea she was previously of The Fugees and did Killing Me Softly, for example. This album is so good start-to-finish though. I was bopping along the entire time it was on and immediately understood what all the hype was about.

Great example of a 4-star album here. I respect the hell out of John Lee Hooker and really like blues as a genre, but this isn't my favorite era of American blues. I'm more partial to the simpler, toned down aspects and less so the very electronic, heavily produced stuff. Still enjoyed this album a lot though, just probably not one I'm putting on again.

As discussed in the chat, I like Zeppelin a lot more than I realized before starting this list. That said, this album didn't hit as hard as III did for me. Battle of Evermore was a bit of a bore and I think the novelty of Stairway to Heaven is just so far gone at this point that its appeal isn't as great as it could be. Black Dog, Rock and Roll, and Misty Mountain Hop are all jams tho.

I really wanted to keep an open mind about this but I'm sad to say this is my least favorite album on this list so far. I didn't find any of the songs particularly interesting lyrically or sonically, and while she seems vocally talented I found her voice irritating by the end. So sorry Joni but this just wasn't it (for me).

Liked this a lot more than the first Neil Young album we had on here damn. Words Between the Lines of Age is especially a banger. A Man Needs a Maid didn't do it for me tho

All bangers. New faves are backseat freestyle and maad city.

This one immediately hooked me in track one then lost me just as quick with track two. Hit a bit of a lull there for a moment, especially with the Imagine cover. It eventually found its way back to the energy I liked in the first track and ultimately won be back over. By the end I had forgotten all about John Lennon (or was that Paul?)

This album was fine. Pretty sure Stand is the soundtrack for Ben's claymation video in Parks and Rec (it's definitely from something at least) but nothing else really stood out to me. Got kinda bored by the end.

I was bored for a lot of this album. Hallelujah obviously slaps but considering it's a cover it's not adding a star for me. Lover, You Should've Come Over was pretty solid but overall this album wasn't really doing it for me.

A little on the long side, but that's okay because I really enjoyed the sound here. I think part of why I like this album so much is just really good production. The sound feels full and lively so even when I'm not paying attention to what's going on I still feel sucked in. Idk if I'm listening to it many more times after this but I did very much enjoy it.