A friend shared a book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die that is a curated collection of some of the best albums of history and a website project which randomly selects one album per day to listen from the book.
I’m not gonna listen to them and write about them every day but I figured when I do listen to some, I’d write about them a bit here. And yes, I went through quite a discussion with myself whether to start writing about what I listen. I just can’t do anything without turning it into some sort of a project so here we are.
I don’t know much about music: I like to listen to a wide variety of genres but I don’t usually remember the artists, albums or song names - the lyrics usually stick in my head though. I have never really been an album listener. Rather, I’ve mostly listened to music in radio or playlists and there are only a handful of albums that I really like as albums (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie, Talvikuningas by CMX and Piano Man by Billy Joel).
If you wanna read about my favourite songs, I’ve written my own Desert Island Discs list of 8 songs I’d bring with me to a desert island.
In the beginning of 2025, I wrote about how I prefer human curation over recommendation algorithms and this book + website project is a perfect for that. I felt the website alone was a bit of an information dump (although nicely paced with one album per day) so I got the book to find more human touch on the list. Instead of reading the book from front to cover, every time I pick up an album through the website, I search it in the book and read while I listen.
28.1.2025: In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson
The first album the website presented me was In the Court of the Crimson King. It is a progressive rock album from 1969 and definitely the kind that I probably would not have ran into on my own. That means the project is already doing its good work.
I listened the Expanded and Remastered Original Album Mix from Youtube Music and it has a runtime of 1 hour 7 minutes while the book reports the original as 44:01 and it includes three bonus tracks and apparently some extras in other songs.
The album is definitely interesting.
The Wikipedia article calls it
one of the earliest and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band combined the musical influences that rock music was founded upon with elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music.
and in the book, Manish Agarwal describes it as
perhaps the first alternative anthem, featuring a gargantuan main riff, squalling sax, and apocalyptic visions.
For the little I understand about music, it does sound like both of those descriptions. There’s a lot going on in this album. I don’t know if I have ever described music as “full” but this one feels like it. The songs are long and winding explorations and seem to have quite little to do with each other. The difference between 21st Century Schizoid Man, I Talk To The Wind and Moonchild is so big that if I didn’t know better, I’d never guess they are from the same band - even less from the same album.
29.1.2025: Bryter Layter by Nick Drake
If yesterday’s album was a full experience and something very different, today’s album Bryter Layter by Nick Drake is quite big contrast to it. In the book, the album is described as an ideal introduction to Drake’s music.
To me, this album doesn’t really evoke any emotions. It’s the kind of album I’d love to listen on the background when hanging out in a pub but I don’t see myself putting the album on deliberately to listen.
30.1.2025: Aja by Steely Dan
I really liked today’s album Aja by Steely Dan, a jazz rock album from 1977. It’s the type of album that you can put on when you wake up, before you get into your doom scrolling habits and just jam out for a good 40 minutes and have a great start for a day.
31.1.2025: Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek & The Dominos
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek & The Dominos is the only album of Derek and The Dominos by Eric Clapton and the crew. It’s a long album full of songs that go on with long guitar riffs and wandering melodies.
A fellow reviewer on the 1001 albums platform summarised my thoughts exactly:
You know, when I first listened to this album I thought, “Guitar guitar guitar guitarguitar, but guitar with guitar is guitartar.”
As I’ve been listening to these albums, I’ve noticed I’m spending a lot of time reflecting on what I enjoy and why some songs or albums don’t stick. I enjoy good lyrics and storytelling. That’s why this album doesn’t really hit it home with me.
As the album was reaching its final songs and Layla started playing, I recognised the song (I had no idea it was called that or it was by this band) and it’s a great song. Although, the latter half of the song feels so separate of the rest and could have been better in my opinion as a 4-minute song instead of 7+ minutes.
2.2.2025: The Fat of the Land by The Prodigy
Jumping from the 70s guitar albums to the late 1990s, The Fat of the Land by The Prodigy is finally an album strongly in my wheelhouse. I love Prodigy and if my memory serves me right, Firestarter single was the first CD I purchased myself. I generally wouldn’t describe myself as a fan of electric music but this album hits hard.
The album’s two best hits, Breathe and Firestarter are both iconic songs.
4.2.2025: Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 is an album I would have imagined I’d run into at some point but I hadn’t. I had a vague idea of Jackson’s music but if asked, couldn’t name any songs or albums or really pinpoint to the style of the music.
I had a really good time listening to this album. It’s the type of album I could see myself put on on a Friday or Saturday evening and dance to while enjoying a slow weekend. It has got real nice grooves.
5.2.2025: Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins
The more we move from the 70s to the 90s, the more I find interest in the albums. As a kid in early 90s, I mostly listened to what my brother and sister listened to and a lot of it was Finnish rock bands that I don’t expect to find on this list. Smashing Pumpkin’s Siamese Dream was another new find for me. I was familiar with the band but more on their newer production.
I listened to the 2011 Remaster of the album since the available versions were a 2hr17min Deluxe version and the 1hr2min remaster version and I chose the shorter one which was the length listed in the book as well.
The book describes the album interestingly as
An exorcism of childhood demons? A megalomaniac’s masterpiece? A full hour of hard-rock humdingers? Siamese Dream is all this and more
6.2.2025: Isn’t Anything by My Bloody Valentine
I don’t have much to say about today’s album, Isn’t Anything by My Bloody Valentine. I listened to it twice today but both times it kind of just blended to the background hum of the universe. Despite my efforts to focus on the album, it didn’t leave strong memory imprint and I couldn’t describe any of the songs as they kinda blended together.
7.2.2025: Transformer by Lou Reed
Transformer by Lou Reed is the kind of album that very well exemplifies the fact that I know music but I have no idea about song or album titles or artists. I did not know who Lou Reed is or what kind of music he makes.
And yet, there were a couple of songs on this album that I know and like. Walk on the Wild Side and Perfect Day being two of the probably most known songs.
This album landed perfectly into my Friday morning and set up the good mood for the day and hopefully the weekend.
8.2.2025: Sunday At The Village Vanguard by Bill Evans Trio
Sunday at the Village Vanguard is a compilation jazz album of three live gigs by the Bill Evans Trio from summer of 1961. It’s a great album but hard to put in a box as a jazz album: either I need fully focus on listening the album as it’s so easy to drift away or I decide to put it on for a background music when I’m doing other stuff.
I do like this album but I’m not sure if jazz is the type of music I want to choose to listen with focus and as a background music, it doesn’t really stand out any different from other good jazz albums or some lovely piano music I usually pick as my background tunes.
Live jazz on the background in a pub though? That’s my kind of jam.
21.2.2025: Coat Of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
Back in action with the albums and what a way to kick off the weekend! Friday morning, slowly waking up and putting some of the finest country music on the planet on the speakers. Dolly Parton’s Coat Of Many Colors is definitely an album worth listening to.
If this album doesn’t make your day a better one and make your feet itching to bust some dance moves while prepping for breakfast, I don’t know what will.
10.11.2025: From Elvis In Memphis by Elvis Presley
After a 9-month break during which I kind of forgot this exists — and listening to a lot of Taylor Swift and G Flip recently — I wanted to listen to something… new? can you say new about albums mostly published before I was born?
Anyway, the system provided Elvis Presley’s From Elvis in Memphis from 1969. While I’m not a stranger to Elvis, I’ve only really listened some of the individual hits rather than a full album of his. Looking at the track list for this album, I didn’t recognise any by name which means I get to listen to some new jams from him and I’m all for it.
According to the book, this was bit of a comeback album by Elvis that re-established him as a relevant star after a detour into career in films (that the book describes as increasingly awful.
I don’t have any reference to compare this album with Elvis’ other production but it’s a solid one. While listening, I recognised In the Ghetto as a familiar song and I think it’s one of the best Elvis songs.
I should definitely listen to more Elvis. It’s so effortless to listen and enjoy his work, no wonder he became such a massive star on his time.
11.11.2025 They Were Wrong, So We Drowned by Liars
I had never heard of the band Liars before this album was handed to me by the system. Looking at the Wikipedia article, it is described as noise rock which is a genre I’ve never heard of either but it doesn’t raise my hopes that I’m gonna enjoy it. It sounds… well, noisy, and I’m interested in hearing how that translates to the music and if that matches my first assumptions.
From the very first beats of the first song, my assumptions about my enjoyment were confirmed: this definitely is not my type of music. And it is very noisy but not the type of noisy I was expecting. Given the genre of rock, I was expecting more rocky sounds but this provided sounds more in the world of weird electronics.
I can appreciate the artistic creativity that has gone into creation of these songs but I would change the channel or skip the song if these came up while listening. Sorry Liars.
13.11.2025 Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
Today’s album is interesting. I know the titular opening song The Village Green Preservation Society because it was once a sequence in Only Connect, one of my favourite quiz shows and I know The Kinks for the song Lola which is not on this album but is a brilliant song (as is Weird Al’s parody Yoda).
So I was very excited to listen to this album and wasn’t disappointed. I did listen the 2018 remaster as that’s what I was able to get my hands on today.
There’s a positive and happy clang on the melodies of Kinks’ songs that make them easy to listen and enjoy.
14.11.2025 Buena Vista Social Club by Buena Vista Social Club
The first non-UK/non-US entry to this list as I listened to a Cuban Buena Vista Social Club. Although even this one has a US influence as the producer of the album who gathered the ensemble together was from the States. A lot of the music in this book is from US/UK or adjacent to them which says a lot about how narrow its view to the important music is — which is not new to these kind of lists of art unfortunately.
The music is exactly what my expectations for Cuban music is. Enjoyable to listen on the background or when you want to get your hips moving. This album landed on a Friday morning and set up the mood for the day and the weekend.
15.11.2025 The Yes Album by Yes
Back to early 70s British music with The Yes Album. We started this project with King Crimson’s 1969 progressive rock album and now we’re two years later with another one. I described that album by saying
There’s a lot going on in this album.
and there’s a lot going on in this album as well. The book calls this album “a genre benchmark”.
I had a good time with this on a Saturday evening while watching hockey on telly. Half of the songs span around 9 minutes or more and sometimes I wonder why. It feels like these long songs are more like multiple smaller songs hidden in a trench coat as there doesn’t always seem to be a coherent connection between all the parts. Wikipedia says it’s to let the music develop:
All of the band members contributed ideas, and tracks were extended in length to allow music to develop.
16.11. Private Dancer by Tina Turner
Today’s album is Tina Turner’s Private Dancer. Originally from 1984, the album has 10 songs for 44 minutes. The only version I could find to listen is the 40th anniversary album that is 61 songs and almost 5 hours. That’s a lot of music. At least the songs were in order so I could listen to the original 10 songs and not spend my entire Sunday on one album.
Tina Turner has so many great songs and yet, I don’t believe I’ve heard any from this album before which is interesting. The album is really solid, uplifting Tina Turner experience.
17.11. The Velvet Underground by The Velvet Underground
I know The Velvet Underground mainly through Andy Warhol whose art I adored as a kid and in my early teens. They have at least two albums in this book which seems quite a lot: I don’t know many artists or bands have multiple albums in a book but if I think about the world of music history, I think there probably should be 1001 different artists in this collection.
Regardless of my critique of this book’s narrow world view, this album is wonderful. It’s quite mellow in its tunes and easy to listen and enjoy. I listened it today on my morning commute to the office and I do enjoy the mood it set for the day.
21.11. At Newport 1960 by Muddy Waters
It’s Friday after a long week and the system provides me with a live jazz album from Muddy Waters from the 1960s. I’m spending most of the day in bed after catching a cold and this was a perfect album for the day to help make me feel better under the illness.
Every time I run into an album like this from this book, I don’t really know what to write about. To me, these jazz songs kind of melt together and while I’ve been enjoying this one on this occasion, it’s hardly the type of album I’d put on other than very specific moments when I want so soothing sounds in the background to relax. Nor would I likely remember the name of the album or any of the songs (which is also why these notes are valuable to me).