1001 Albums Summary

There is something hauntingly beautiful about Nick Drake's final album. The surrealist lyricism on tracks like Things Beyond the Sun and Parasite give the music an otherworldly quality, whereas the choice to strip all other instruments than his guitar from every track but the titular fills the album with a certain amount of melancholy. As Drake grows more and more isolated, so does his guitar, his music reflecting his mind perfectly. One of the greatest albums of all time, no doubt, but not in my top 25, likely. 4.4

Some of the best driving music I have ever heard. Funky ass blues. 3.6

Phenomenal album. Balances the bluesy and psychedelic tones of the band incredibly well. Peace Frog and Waiting for the Sun are two of their absolute best. 4.2

Yeah, still not working for me. I find their music too simple, for the most part, and the grooves don't move me much. I can appreciate the musicianship, but its an annoying listen most of the time for me. 2.6

Musically astonishing, but lyrically subpar in a lot of the tracks. I would listen to Channel Orange a lot more if not for Blonde, which I believe outshines this album in literally every capacity. On its own merits, however, its an anthemic collection of songs about the debaucherous nature of being young. 3.8

12 year old me owes Mitchell Greer an apology. This album slaps ass. I think that the first half clears the second half, but the second half is still VERY good. The double track format is really interesting, particularly for a pop punk record. I don't really understand the sellout allegations. Is it because of how good the music is? Its still sonically gorgeous and complex. Its literally a concept album/rock opera. I loved this so much. 4.2 (but will likely get higher.)

Good but not great. I enjoyed this, but it certainly isn't one that is going in my daily rotation. Pretty much everything being done on this album is done better elsewhere, though there is a lot of charm to the lazy drawl of the singer over the incredibly groovy beats. 2.8

Spellbound might be the coolest song ever written. This is such a banger album. Its so witchy and sexy and goth and it just makes me want to be in a club in eyeliner. The drumming, the singing, and the guitar are some of the best ever out to tape. Lyrically, its a bit weaker than the other albums on this list, but its still an absolute riot. 3.9

One of my favourite albums of all time. Pitch The Baby, Ice-Blink Luck, and the title track run around in my head endlessly. Its maybe the dreamiest album ever written, making me feel like I am falling out of time. The nonsense lyrics and insane production only enhance this feeling. This is a near perfect album. 4.8

I need to give this one another listen to say for sure, but it is definitely in the better half of Velvets projects, which are all fire. I loved Murder Mystery and how insane and psychedelic it was, and Candy Says is top 3 Velvet songs, period. The only issue is that it came directly on thr heels of one of my favourite albums of all time, so I will revisit in a month to see how I feel then. Until then? 3.8

How the fuck did I dislike this on my first listen? Was I stupid? This album rips. It feels like someone crossed an episode of Atlanta with Songs in the Key of Life. Its a sprawling, insane epic of jazz, and hip-hop, and R&B that I am actively getting excited about listening to again as I write this. Since TPAB, I have known that Thundercat has insane chops, but this project really does feel otherworldly. 4.2

This is the album that it took me the longest to review. I have now heard it 20 or so times and feel no closer to a resolution on it, but the website will not recommend me any more albums until I review this one. SO... I loved it. For sure. The question is how much. I think that the run of songs from Rise to Catch the Sun is kind of generational, and I like all of the other songs a lot too. I found the ending kind of a let down given how much else the album had going for it, and I don't feel like the album really reached the heights that I had hoped it would. That said, when it leans psychedelic, I leans forward, for sure. Current rating? 3.9, but that is very unsure

I mean, what can I say? Its awesome. Timbaland is a far better producer than I recognized and Missy is one of the most charismatic rappers I have ever heard. The beats are incredible, and the flow is generally really good, but the bars are not my favourite. I will definitely be listening to most of this again, but mostly as singles, I think. 3.4

I am generally not a fan of albums that are mostly covers, with only a few exceptions to that rule (Signed, Sealed, Delivered). This one rips, though. Otis can sing his head off and his backing band no doubt deserves more than they got paid for this record. For what it is, this is really great, I just don't know that its for me. 3.2

Ok, I really don't get the hype on this one. Its just a really good blues album, but blue is not my favourite genre and this is not my favourite blues album. I think, for me, the main issue is that this came out a full year after Songs in the Key of Life, likely my favourite album of all time, and so I know that we were capable of creating a lot more than this album has going on. It honestly just felt like a more boring Electric Ladyland, to me, but that may just be my unfamiliarity with Blues as a genre. Either way, its slightly better than Otis because at least the vast majority of it was original compositions. 3.3

THIS SHIT IS WHERE ITS AT! I was having a good time with it, expecting a repeat of the past two days when the second track came on and she started improvising about how bad she was cocking the song up and how they were definitely going to use this take for the album and I was SOOOO overwhelmed with how charming it is that I fell head over heels with this album. The closer where she sings the Ella song that she doesn't know the words to sent me to the moon. Now that I have heard this record, I am DESPERATE to find something else that sounds like it. 4.4

Astonishingly good album. Why did no one tell me that she was this funny? Gorgeous, weird ass compositions. Silly ass music, but every song was also gorgeously sculpted. Standout tracks: White Dress, Tulsa Jesus Freak, Not All Those Who Wander. 4.2

A great vibe, but did not move me as much as anticipated. His other album is simply better, and I tend to prefer Stevie and Curtis to Gaye, but I still liked it a lot. It's a groovy little record. Standout Tracks: Opener, She Loves To Ball, Distant Lover 3.3

This shit slaps, but IDK if it's very good. Not the best made, not the tightest tracks, but one HELL of a ride if you're willing to meet it where it is. It's a solid one for me. Standout Tracks: Slip Inside This House, I'm Comin' Down, Loaded 3.8

This was AWESOME! Incredibly country, but the quality is so high that even I fell in love. Felt incredibly modern, even with the stripped down production. Standout Tracks: Opener, Boxcars, Closer 3.9

It's the best Stones album and it's not really close. It's like their drugs became animate and helped them write an album, Rattatouile style. Standout Tracks: Rocks Off, Shake Your Hips, Loving Cup, Stop Breaking Down

First three tracks remain incredible. Had hoped the rest of the album would grow on me. It hasn't. Standout track: Opening Trio 3.0

I mean, its just awesome, isn't it? Its so charming and cozy and weird and a little creepy and SOOOOO English and kind of psychedelic but not really? I loved this one as much as I have the past few times. Standout Tracks: Like, all of them except like, Animal Farm kinda sucks 4.5

This slaps! You can already see a lot of the framework for what Björk will become. Every song is good, and some are bangers, but it's hard not to compare it to Vespertine, which claps in every way. Standout Tracks: Human Behaviour, Crying, One Day, Aeroplane, Come To Me 3.4

Its awesome. Favourite part of the album is how RZA comes in on Ain't Nuthin ta F' wit. No shot he gave himself all the hardest portions of the album, but it is his beats carrying the majority of the album for me. My only critiques are that some of the skits are MAD long and some bars are not as tight as the rest of the album. Illmatic and other albums may have done it slightly better, but this shit did do it first. Highlight Tracks: Bring da Ruckus, Shame on a N***a, Can It Be All So Simple, Chessboxin', Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin ta F' Wit, and C.R.E.A.M.

Yo, why was this shit so homophobic? I feel the opposite of how I did after that Lana album. The first song SHOCKED me with how genuinely hateful it is. Musically, the album is quite good, but I was never able to really recover from the first track. She is a great singer and her band is ASTONISHING. Lyrically, I found it meanspirited and shallow as fuck, which is tough when the vocals are supposed to be the selling point. Its like, if Low End Theory had kept Adam and Steve, the album would be unlistenable. Thankfully, they cut it. Wish Amy had done the same. Idk man 3.5 minus 1 for homophobia tax makes it a 2.5

Pretty good. Left no real impression on me. Will relisten later

Pretty good, but was really hoping for more. Not nearly as psychedelic as advertised, with only a few songs bringing the musical heat that I have come to expect from Crosby. Standout Tracks: One Hundred Years From Now, You Got A Reputation, Pretty Polly 3

Yeah, this is one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. I have heard it hundreds of times because it is one of Ariel's favourite albums and its all her Dad listens to, but this was my first listen in headphones and it is GORGEOUS. Perfect 5

Strong contender for the greatest album of all time. Caravan, War Pigs, and Iron Man are all astonishing accomplishments of songwriting. So well paced, so well played, such an incredible journey. Perfect 5

This shit good as hell. Not sure how to rank albums like this, because there are two albums that have done this sound better than this album, but they're the ones that overlap it in the artist's discography. If I didn't have Experienced or Ladyland to listen to, I would be spinning this shit constantly. Honestly, over the course of this review, I have talked myself into giving it a 4. Finished it and went, that shit good as hell. When I finished Exodus and Paranoid the past two days, I immediately had to relisten to them both. Standout Tracks: Wait Until Tomorrow, Little Wing, whatever the drums are doing in She's So Fine 4

Its good, but I have no strong feelings about it. Not my kind of music

This shit was gas! What on earth happened between this and Sweetheart of the Rodeo? I LOVED this! More of the classic Crosby songwriting that I was missing in Sweetheart. WAY more psychedelic and way more my groove. 3.8

Fine? I really expected to like this more. Southern Man goes insane, though. I liked the opening two tracks as well. I find his voice more grating here than I do on Deja Vu, and his band is nowhere near as good as CSN, which goes without saying. 3.5

I mean, what can I say? When I met my partner, this was her favourite album of all time. It's an astonishing achievement in songwriting. Musically, I think its weaker than Ziggy or Station to Station, but its lyrically dense as hell and contains three of the greatest songs of all time. I need more time with it, but I feel pretty confident in giving it what I have. Standout Tracks: Changes, Oh You Pretty Things, Life on Mars 4.4

Yeah, its like one of the best albums ever. Fun fact, had my first threesome listening to this on vinyl. Morrisey is a dickhead, but this shit is stacked. Standout Tracks: The Queen is Dead, I Know Its Over, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out 4.7

Impossible to rate this in a single day given how deep, varied, and dense this album is, but after being disappointed in like 3 albums in a row by CSNY alums, I have finally found one that I am in LOVE with. Almost every song on this thing is incredible. The only weak section would be Fallen Eagle into Jesus Gave Love Away For Free, which are two pretty off the rack innoffensive country songs that are nothing close to bad, but are just simply outclassed by the rest of the album, mostly because they kind of cuck the rhythm section, who are carrying the majority of the rest of the album. Standout Tracks: Everything but the aforementioned two 4.2

Yeah, IDK why it took me quite this long to listen to this, but it somehow did live up to the insane amount of hype. The beats are great and the bars are lifechanging. The whole record is insane. 4.8

I liked it, but its not something that will be going in the rotation. Alright is a banger though, and so is the second to last track. Thought a lot of the vocal delivery sounded like The Monks and it kinda flicked me.

An astonishing tour de force that makes you feel both disgusting and all powerful, much like the titular character. I really like ever single track on this album. Fun fact, my parents bought a Concert DVD of this band for my brother, and I thought that they were just trying to pass some random ass band off as legends in order to convince him that the flute he played was cool and rock and roll. I now know the error of my judgement. Also, for the record, I listened to the Steve Wilson remixes because I adore his production generally, and specifically on this record. It gives the album a new life that helps it to feel a lot more timeless. Standout Tracks: Aqualung, Up To Me, Hymn 43, Locomotive Breath 4.6

Every time that I tell someone that I am a Kendrick fan, their first question is how I feel about SZA. I have long been embarrassed to say that I actually had no opinions on her because I was still quite unfamiliar. Having now heard this record, I can say that my opinion of her is VERY high, and I am very excited to seem more projects moving forward. The huge synth soundscapes on this record paired with some of the funniest and most vulnerable lyrics I have ever seen combine to form a hilarious, horny, devastating peak into the mind of the artist that serves as a clear inspiration to Doechii, whom I also quite enjoy. The Kendrick comparisons are very founded, but I was shocked to see that this record came out a full year BEFORE TPAB, which means that they clearly owe a lot to one another across the aisle. I will be listening to this one many times again. Standout Tracks: Supermodel, Drew Barrymore, The Weekend, Normal Girl

The feminine urge to give every rock album a 4 shall not prevail today. This record falls into the same category as the Supergrass record, in that its something I have never heard of containing a song that I have heard a million times. As I tend to always find the case, the more psychedelic the tracks, the more I enjoyed them. I earnestly liked nearly every track, with the exception of Freedom Song and Failure, which I found tiresome. I found that the rest of the tracklist was very similar in terms of aesthetic, while managing to explore many different faces of that aesthetic. Will probably be returning to this one. Standout Tracks: The first five tracks are the best in the album, IMO Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️ (The ✨️ is worth half a star)

The type of shit that a certain person in my life will put on and unironically tell me is better than The Beatles. IYKYK. I FUCKING HATED THIS! The first 4 songs felt like AI music before their time, sonically boring, lyrically soulless, and produced like a wet fart. Unfinished Sweet was interesting until THE 20 SECONDS OF TOOTH DRILLING, RESULTING IN ONE OF THE MOST UNPLEASANT SONIC EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE! The only song that I thought had any REAL merit was Generation Landslide with the cool intro, reasonable vocals, and catchy classic rock groove. The closer, I Love The Dead, was ok? Still very boring, but at least was aiming to be something, even if that something was edgy proto-4chan style humour about necrophilia. I will NEVER listen to this record again if I can help it. Standout Tracks: Generation Landslide (which is a 3 at best) Rating: ⭐️✨️

HOLY FUCK WAS THIS SPRAWLING! It felt like the longest episode of Atlanta ever made. So surreal and real and equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious. This Andre 3000 guy might have a career ahead of him. The production is better and more varied than on previous projects and the skits are genuinely some of the most charming in the genre. I wanna start this one over again immediately, but I am realizing that I forgot to rate Alive Cooper yesterday, 🙄, so I will be doing that after this. Standout Tracks: Gasoline, B.O.B., Humble Mumble, ?, Slum Beautiful, Stankonia Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Choosing my favourite Nick Drake is like choosing my favourite child. Adore this album so deeply. The instrumentation is so rich and delicious. The trumpets are so cute and the piano is such a strong accompaniment. The production and instrumentation are so lush compared to Pink Moon that it makes me wish we could have heard what the original plans for that album could have sounded like. Pink Moon certainly has better songs, but the lushness of this record means that I struggle to choose between the two. I will continue to listen to this every week, as I have since I first heard it. Standout Tracks: At The Chime Of A City Clock, One Of These Things First, Bryter Layter, Poor Boy Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Dnf Hated it. Dated and boring.

Its not my fault that I was born in 1996. Therefore, it is not my fault that I love this album. I feel like its very hard for me to give a review to this album, and I am only thankful to not have to review Helplessness Blues instead. Yeah, its fucking astonishing, innit? Cover to cover gorgeous vocals that are so pristine and so human. Lyrics that feel remarkably timeless and some melodies and harmonies that will live in my head until I die. In terms of originality, I honestly cannot name any other bands capable od producing this EXACT sound. It makes me feel like I am wandering, high as a kite, through a forest leading me into the divine. This shit slaps. Standout Tracks: White Winter Hymnal, Ragged Wood, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, Blue Ridge Mountains Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats once said, roughly, "I believe in only two truths. The eternal love of my lord and saviour, and the perfection of the first six Sabbath records." I am not so sure that I agree, though two and three are about as close to perfect as I can conceive of. The fourth record, however, is a bit more of a mixed bag. Its less cohesive, less metal, less gothic, a little more poppy, and a lot more boring, coming from someone who loves pop. That's not to say that the album is bad. Almost every album looks bad when you compare it to Paranoid or Master of Reality. The highs that this album reaches are really phenomenal. The riff in Supernaut might be my all-time favourite Sabbath riff. Its so bouncy and energetic. Changes is beautiful and heartbreaking, but I feel like there is not really enough song there for me to sink my teeth into. Laguna Sunrise is a BEAUTIFUL interlude that calls to mind Embryo from the previous album, one of my favourite musical interludes ever. I just feel like this lacks the cohesive vision that the first three records each had, each distinct in their own way, but very clearly with a full identity. This feels like the King Gizz record, Oddments, just a collection of songs, some of which happen to be incredible. Standout Tracks: The Straightener, Tomorrow's Dream, Supernaut, St. Vitus Dance Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

I have a natural aversion to albums that are mostly not originals/written by the artist. Sadly, even Ravi Shankar's daughter is not immune to this aversion. That said, I did enjoy this album. The tracks Nightingale and Shoot The Moon particularly spoke to me. Even if the instrumentation is a little more sparse than I tend to prefer, the lush production makes up for it. Her vocals are GORGEOUS and I only wish the songs/instrumentation were up to that impossible standard. While I am unlikely to revisit this a tonne, I will be playing this over dinner with Ariel with GREAT regularity. Standout Tracks: Seven Years, Cold Cold Heart, Shoot The Moon, Nightingale Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️