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.