Reviews by galway_rat

November 7, 2026

HL: "Sethed seketelat", "Aha begena"

Is it jazz or punk? Is it live or a studio album? Are we human or are we dancer?

These questions, and more, will not be answered tonight

Huh. This is one of the first albums I listened to this year. I was specifically looking for albums for a cold winter’s night

With no snow in sight, and the sun in the sky instead of the moon, it’s quite a different experience listening to this album.

Idk, I might have enjoyed it even more today, despite it being perfect for listening right before bed (or, alternatively, lying awake as an insomniac).

I don’t always appreciate lo-fi techniques , but the way it’s used here is quite something. Despite the broken recordings, I got what I needed from them- beautiful, kind of sad melodies and tones, rising from the ether.

Maybe a 5 one day

HL: “Moon Is Sharp”, “Vapor Trails”, “She Loves Me That Way”

It's good. Likeable, you could even say. I expected something to become familiar to me, considering the album's success and Wikipedia's comparisons to Dookie and Smash in reviving mainstream interest in punk rock, but it was all new music to me.

3.5/5

HL: “Junkie Man”, “Ruby Soho”, "Old Friend"

October 30, 2026

HL: title track, “Caught in the Middle”, “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, “Rainbow in the Dark”

I’ve never been as enthusiastic about heavy metal as some, but I bought this on CD because I had a good feeling about Dio. Only actually heard the whole thing earlier this year, partly because someone from the 1001 subreddit named their cat after Dio.
Before, I really only went to the title track and “Rainbow in the Dark”, but pretty much every track lives up to its cheesy cover.

Man, I was so happy ending the list with the Hounds of Love, but now it ends with Hackney Diamonds. Tainted! :p

Two other lists I've been "almost done" for at least a year now are Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums (all editions combined, of course) and the 100 Best Albums of the 2000s.
The latter list is especially important to me because I had the physical copy of the magazine as a teen. Even though I wouldn't actually hear many of the albums in full until later, that issue certainly led to me paying attention to the artists they showcased, like MGMT, Arcade Fire and Radiohead.
There's also multiple albums by Bob Dylan, U2, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash.
I guess looking back, it wasn't the cutting edge of modern music journalism I thought it was. It might have been the ONLY music journalism that got through to me for a time. How was I supposed to know the other teens weren't bumping U2's "Moment of Surrender" and Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere" on their iPod? (both good songs, btw).

I guess there's nothing wrong with showcasing late-career highlights from legacy acts- they don't have to be swan songs, either, like Blackstar or You Want It Darker. Songs of a Lost World was pretty good. I guess when one is trying to encapsulate a time period, like the 2000s, or the 2020s, balance is the key. You put too many legacy acts, it kinda seems like you don't actually care about the music of said period. And yeah, R.S. also has Tha Carter III and The College Dropout, this list has Billie and Charli, but then they're put on a par with the Rolling Stones's TWENTY FOURTH studio album and suddenly the whole thing stinks. It stinks!

The album is... good, I guess? I'd have a lot more thoughts about Hackney Diamonds if their return to the studio resulted in dogshit, but alas. They played it safe, and invited their rich friends to guest star, including at least two Sirs, a Lady, and Stevie M.F. Wonder.

The results speak for themselves. I have a soft spot for when they go full cowboy, like in "Dreamy Skies". "Dead Flowers" and "Love in Vain" are already on albums on this list, though. They also kind of revisit the Some Girls era with "Mess It Up", and go right back to the source in the final track, "Rolling Stone Blues", harkening to their early days when they cut their teeth watering down the Delta blues.

My main issue is the production, helmed by American producer Andrew Watt.
I quote from the Apple Music blurb:
"Watt kept it simple, bringing in vintage microphones and highlighting the interwoven guitars of [Keith] Richards and Ronnie Wood", and
"Hackney Diamonds was indeed made like the old days- live, with no click tracks or glossy production tricks".

Okay, so, my question is, why do songs like "Whole Wide World", and "Live By the Sword", and "Driving Me Too Hard" sound so GOD DAMN GLOSSY?? Even the COVER ART is glossy. I feel like I'm being lied to here!

My gut, based on other Watt-produced albums like the recent Paul McCartney and Elton John/Brandi Carlisle collab, tells me he's a hack who treats almost every artist with the same bland, commercial, over-compressed treatment. But he keeps working with a growing list of acclaimed artists, both old and new (see: Paul McCartney, Elton John, Brandi Carlisle), who all have good things to say about him.

Well, I'm sure that doing whatever it is he does bought him a nice house.

Man, having this on the 1001 is top-level ragebait.

Is it bad that I would still rank this album higher than their self-titled debut?

HL: "Angry", "Bite My Head Off", "Mess It Up", "Sweet Sounds of Heaven"

October 25, 2026

HL: title track, "Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation", "Woman"

Prefaced this with the Boygenius E.P., which I somehow missed in all the publicity for their record, The Record (2023). Earlier this year, I listened to Lucy Dacus's Historian (2018) and Phoebe Bridgers's Lost Weekend (2026) as well, so I am primed for this new entry in the Boygeniusverse.

The book entry says that Dacus discovered Jasmine's demos, so we have her to thank for this album being released- at least in this form, recorded in the States, with Dacus/Bridgers/Baker producing and performing on the album.

I think the best moments are when the backing vocals rise from the ether, especially with the choir in the closing track.
Making potentially stark, painful lyrics somehow uplifting; Saying "You are not alone" without saying it.

jasmine.4.t follows the Phoebe Bridgers via Elliott Smith ethos of reedy vocals, which suits some of her songs (the delicate "New Shoes" and "Best Friend's House") but not others. I enjoy Cruikshank more as a guitarist, alternating between rock & folky fingerstyle, then as a singer, at least based on this album. Elliott improved as a singer throughout his career, did he not?

"I Can't Believe I Did This Without You", found on the deluxe edition, already shows a more confident vocal performance than we get for much of the standard album.

As the user list reminds me time, and time, and time again, there's so much more indie/folk/Americana being released these days than I have the stomach for. I guess all I can do is say "Good job!" and move on

"Hi, I’m Poppy!"

The YouTube channel was neat- creepy, but neat. I wonder what she's up to these days...

Oh, metalcore.

What are we even doing here? The only metal albums added in updates were Slipknot's All Hope Is Gone (2008) and this, released a few months ago. That's it.

Poppy, and the journey she took from bubblegum to metal, are both fascinating, but this gray, processed album isn't.

Take this with a grain of salt; I can't compare Empty Hands to *good* metalcore because I don't think there's any metalcore I enjoy.
Killswitch Engage? Spiritbox? Enter Shikari? Fuck me...
Maybe the element won't burn me if I touch it THIS time.

HL: "Public Domain", "Unravel", "Ribs"

October 24, 2026

Who are Nova Twins?? (*Wikipedias furiously*)

Oh sick, they performed with Muse, Skunk Anansie & Little Simz. I like those artists. By the way, all three of those artists were removed from the book to make way for newer artists, like Nova Twins. >:0

I predicted that Simz would gain an album, with S.I.M.B.I., not lose one! Good thing I'm not a gambler.

However, imagine a fusion of Muse, and Skunk Anansie, and Little Simz, and you get a decent approximation of what this album sounds like.

But also, like, nü metal is here as well? Why are we bringing that back again?

I'm not sure what to take away from this fairly short album. Is it that bringing back 2000s rock tropes is more important to showcase than, like, anyone from the "Windmill Scene" (Black Country New Road, The Last Dinner Party, Maruja)?
Is it that everyone has the right to make butt rock, not just white men? In that case I'm 100% on board.

The Nova Twins are probably a killer live act.

HL: "Antagonist", "Cleopatra", "K.M.B."

October 23, 2026

Man I have like 50 leftovers from my 2025 album wishlist, I don't got time for this shit

Edit: I did, in fact, have time for this shit.

Let's get this out of the way: Fever Ray & Björk. Those are the artists I hear the most strongly in this 2025 release.

Without going too far into the Ela Minus rabbit hole, I think it's interesting that she released her debut in the midst of the pandemic, both because that seems way too recent (well... 6 years ago), but I think it contextualizes the kind of introverted dance music here. As "BM" writes for the 1001 Albums book: "If it's three o'clock in the morning and you're too tired to dance but too cool to sleep, here's the album for you."

I didn't take that advice; I tried listening on the commute to work but couldn't get past the first couple tracks. On the commute FROM work, free of additional distractions, it became more enjoyable.

I can see that liminality working against it for some listeners, where people wanting electropop jams and those craving exploratory synth ambience could both be disappointed.

Definitely the strangest so far of the new albums, but idk- it scratched an itch.

A low 4

HL: "Broken", "Onwards", "Upwards", "QQQQ", "Combat"

October 22, 2026

Not first listen

Hmmm- I’m torn on this one. In one way, it exceeded expectations because I thought the processed orchestra was used very effectively- a nice balance between pop music and film score.

On the other hand, the production carries some otherwise slight songwriting. They’re all short songs, but sometimes the economical length leaves me feeling like some songs could have spent more time in development.

Lyrically “Always Everywhere” is nice, musically it sounds like a basic-ass throwaway that Taylor Swift might have written.

This being a movie soundtrack doesn’t really affect my rating. I’m not super interested in seeing this Wuthering Heights film, but I imagine hearing these songs in the context they were made for might make me appreciate them differently.

13 new albums on the list and 4 of them are repeat artists (Charli, Cure, Chemical Brothers, Stones)? Smarten up, editors

HL: “House”, “Dying For You”, “Chains of Love”, “Eyes of the World”

"Set me on fire, Kerosene!"

I wanted to return to this updated list with a more critical eye, but this is 7 in a row now that I won't complain about! (Including Brat and Songs of a Lost World, which technically came up on our user list first)

Not first listen, though I never spent much time with this one. I checked my lil' diary to find out I first listened to this on November 30, 2024.
That's the same day I got Kid A from this website. Fucking A, no wonder I was distracted then!

I don't know if this is the best example of St Vincent's music. I can't begin to tell you where to start in St. Vincent's discography. I will say I had already heard Actor and Daddy's Home before All Born Screaming, and all three are so god-dang different from each other. I probably took to the former two, experimental rock & psychedelic soul projects, faster, but relistening to this I can say this is another quality album from her.

Two tracks that aren't my FAVOURITE thing ever are "Big Time Nothing", which is almost too obvious a throwback to 90's alt-rock, especially U2's "Numb", and "So Many Planets", because isn't there enough white reggae on the original list?

But pretty much the rest of the album is a smorgasbord of dark, danceable rock tunes mixed with some heavenly-sounding synths. I'm glad to come back to this after the dust from the "Best of 2024" lists have cleared, and finding out it's still solid.

HL: "Hell is Near", "Violent Times", "Broken Man", title track

October 20, 2026

NOT first listen

It’s 🇨🇦🇨🇦Can Con today, believe it or not. And I can honestly say, if you’re going to update the list with one more Canadian band you can do much worse than Alvvays.

A crush in university recommended Alvvays, but it took the buzz surrounding their third album to finally take the plunge beyond the odd song (like "Marry Me Archie").

I enjoyed it but I wasn't over the moon for it. The dream pop haze kind of made the whole album float by, with no clear standout. I was also a stupid person back then, which may have influenced my opinion.

Every time I hear this album, it gets better. Makes me wonder how many favourites I am currently unaware of, since I didn't give them the time to properly settle into my bones. "No clear standout" has hereby changed to mean "almost every song could be the best song".

Comparing this to other albums from the 2026 edition of the book, I'm definitely sensing a pattern. On one hand, Brat and Hit Me Hard and Soft are pretty on-point when it comes to modern pop. Yet, the St. Vincent is reverent towards 90's alt-rock, and the new Chem Bros and Cure albums are obviously indebted to their earlier work from the 90's and before (not that it makes those albums less enjoyable). Blue Rev is in many ways a love letter to the 1980's, with jangle pop, new wave, synthpop and of course the innovations of the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine being combined here.

So maybe the 1001 writers aren't too interested in new developments in music, but they still found a real gem despite their tunnel vision. Not only is it a great distillation of its influences, but it's also a remarkably pretty set of tunes.

HL: "Belinda Says" (that KEY CHANGE), "Pharmacist", "Easy On Your Own", "Tom Verlaine", "Velveteen", "Tile By Tile", "Bored in Bristol"

October 20, 2026

I came into this with pretty low expectations, partly because ignoring much of the cool, interesting electronic albums of the 2020s in favour of a 90’s legacy act who’s already here two other times seemed out of touch to me? maybe??

Almost 100% of the Chemical Brothers I have heard is from either Dig Your Own Hole or Exit Planet Dust. But I know “The Darkness That You Fear”, somehow- and what a beautiful piece it is! (It’s a single from 2021, but not sure if I was aware of it for that long)

At some point today, I had to reckon with the fact that my enjoyment of FTBF was starting to eclipse my disgust of it being on the list.

It flows well, and its takes on melodic house and coarser, bassier grooves are balanced nicely. The song “Fountains” is a minor speed bump in the overall flow, not that it’s bad but the Pharrell-ian beat sounds like it belongs to a different project entirely.

I still maintain that it doesn’t have much to say about electronica in the 2020s, but as a modern refresh on old ideas, it is surprisingly resonant. I’ve bitched about 90’s big beat before, that “you wouldn’t buy a car”-ass subgenre, but the Chem Bros’ interest in psychedelia and other dance styles has long interested me more than, say, the Prodigy or Fatboy Slim.

I guess “BM”, aka British Man, aka Bruno Macdonald confirms my point by implying in the book entry ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Yeh but… isn’t there something nice about breaking things in electronica? There’s a whole genre called “deconstructed club” on RYM…

Should this be here? NO. Would I have considered listening to this if it hadn’t popped up here? Also no.
Am I glad I heard it? …yes

HL: “Goodbye”, “The Darkness”, “Skipping Like a Stone”

October 18, 2026

NOT first listen

Hearing “Lunch” and “Birds of a Feather” before the whole thing (first heard in the summer of ‘24) kind of had me bracing for disappointment, since on the surface the former seemed like a worse version of the alt-pop sound she had become known for, and “Birds” was so sunny and light compared to her earlier stuff it was almost alarming.

Yet while I still don’t love “Lunch” (the unabashedly queer lyrics and electronic outro being the best parts of it), the album steadily gets better from there, & “Birds” has grown on me massively despite the risk of overplaying from radio stations.

The order of the tracks is something I appreciated more this time around. Those songs of lust and love hit harder when they’re preceded by “Skinny”, and followed by melancholy tracks like “The Greatest” and “Blue”.
A rush of euphoria, followed by heartbreak

I think the moment I decided this album was a keeper, that first listen, was the sudden genre switch of “L’Amour” followed immediately by “The Diner”. It came as a relief that the O’Connells are still experimenting, in the same album that contains some of the most commercially successful Eilish songs to date.

The 1001 book often gives belated shoutouts to lesser albums by good artists- I don’t know anyone who would say Chemtrails is Lana Del Rey’s best album- but this is a pretty great representation of Billie’s career to date.

On the trajectory she’s on, the next album will knock my socks off

HL: “CHIHIRO”, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”, “WILDFLOWER”, “THE DINER”

I missed the chance to see this guy at the Winnipeg Folk Festival this year, partly because two polka-dotted aliens happened to be headlining, hence most of the days were sold out. However, having *only* seen Black Country New Road, Father John Misty and Real Estate was a pretty nice concession.

Aside from some positive word-of-mouth about his performance, I haven't listened to more than a couple minutes of Mon Rovîa's music.
That changes today!! Because I have to listen to it! Or I'll die, or something :0

There’s a word that’s probably used too much in music criticism, or at least in my own thoughts, and that is
P O T E N T I A L.
Because there is a lot to like about Bloodline, from the endearing melodies, to the thoughtful, stark lyrics, to the rustic treatment that isn’t over-tuned to the TikTok crowd like Noah Kahan or Ella Langley are to my ears. For the most part. “Field Song” and “Heavy Foot” are especially middle-of-the-road in an album that doesn’t stray too far from the indie folk formula.

The samples early on in the album, like the church choir and bagpipes in the title track, are perhaps the most adventurous this album gets, though take them out and you’re still left with a good song.

Despite the lightness of the overall album, some songs like “Somewhere down in Georgia” veer into a darker, almost Southern Gothic flair that I would like to hear more of from this artist.

It’s also the first album I’ve heard that directly addresses the inextricably connected histories of Liberia and the United States (besides Bad by Michael Jackson /s), so kudos to Mon Rovîa

3.5/5, for now

HL: title track, “Black Cauldron”, “Pray the Devil”, “Running Boy”, “Somewhere down in Georgia”

October 17, 2026

Haven't heard of this album or artist

The bachata in "Pote de Ouro" came as a surprise. The afropop of "Tudo" was a surprise. Lots of surprises here.

Hell, we're even voguing with "So Special", a rare English-language track.

Apple Music just slapping that MPB label on this album didn't really help anticipate its many delights. It is a maximalist R&B album that runs 70 minutes in length, yet it was surprisingly easy to get into. If anything, the closest album I can relate it to is Beyonce's Renaissance, another dance album that celebrates black music, or more specifically black, queer music.

I didn't learn Portuguese by osmosis like I hope to every time I listen to a Brazilian album, but I did learn one word today! Caju. It means "cashew" :)

I ran that spoken word at the end through Google Translate (which I'll admit was the moment I thought the album should have already ended), I will admit it's a nice, optimistic end to the album, where Liniker likens herself to Uma Thurman's character from Kill Bill, and drops what reads as an Irish blessing, or affirmation in there:
(direct translation) "May today be a sunny day—and if there is fog, may I be a sun from within."

the vocal performance was great, too.

HL: "Veludo Marrom", "Ao Teu Lado", "Me Ajude a Salvar os Domingos", "Pote de Ouro"

October 26, 2026

Albums I have heard that were released the same day as this Nascent record (April 26, 2024):

Anitta - Funk Generation
Justice - Hyperdrama
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Fuckin' Up
St. Vincent - All Born Screaming

My only knowledge of Nascent's music is that he produced SZA's "Good Days", one of my favourite songs by her.

This is a neat entry from a producer who should probably get more work. (I can't find anything about this guy since this album dropped.)

Even though the album is under an hour, I think it is a little bloated, with several tracks just falling into "lo-fi beats to study to" territory. Also, not all rap features are created equal, but Ab-Soul, Saba and DUCKWRTH do decent work here.

I like SAILORR though, didn't expect to see her here! (or at least I like the song "W1ll U L13?")

"Childhood star like Sarah Lynn" - I loved her on the '____ Around' sitcom from the 90's

HL: "Take Your Time", "Mangosteen", "Big Brown Eyes", maybe "Before I Leave", "All to Me"

October 21, 2026

Post-script: OP, I saw your Abbey Road and Slipknot ratings and had to compare our projects to see if we had ANY common ground in music taste!
1001albumsdashboard.fun tells me we rated 142 albums the same, so a lot more common ground than I expected :)

October 14, 2026

HL: "Life Itself", "Mama's Gun", "Agnes"

Three very good songs

So. Last year. My own spreadsheet to track the last of the 1001 albums (+ all the stuff I was going to dive into afterwards), differed from this website by exactly one album. I couldn't figure out why, and my unemployed ass was going *crazy*. Turns out it was because I mistakenly labelled The Infamous as part of the 1001, and I couldn't spot the mistake because this is on SO many other greatest lists.

It wasn't out of love for this duo or album- maybe I heard "Shook Ones" before, but otherwise I didn't know much about Mobb Deep. Yet thanks to a little slip on the keyboard I gaslit myself into thinking this was an AlbumYouMustHearBeforeYouDie, and listened to it fairly soon after completing the real list.

This ice cold version of East Coast hip-hop isn't something I would've happily listened to a few years ago. I was pretty lukewarm on this scene, as my original ratings show. Yet as sinister as "Eye for a Eye", "Trife Life" and "Shook Ones" sound, the commitment to this style is partly what makes this so relistenable. Plus the infusion of jazz-rap from the Abstract, aka Q-Tip, for a few tracks add some welcome light to the darkness.

Big Noyd, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon have good guest spots, but my impression is that the best moments still belong to Havoc & Prodigy

HL: "Survival of the Fittest", "Give Up the Goods", "Q.U. – Hectic", "Shook Ones Pt. II"

I've listened to their Polaris-winning* The Chemistry of Common Life. I probably thought "man. the shouting. this is a lot. 60 minutes? this is a LOT".

Good thing they made their follow-up 20 minutes longer, then!

* For those not in the know, they give out Polaris prizes to "the best full-length 🍁Canadian🍁 album based on artistic merit"

Interestingly, this isn’t the first album with his vocals this year- I heard Tanya Tagaq’s newest album earlier which was ALSO up for a Polaris. (He guest-shouts for one song.) The voting members really like Fucked Up I guess.

Maybe it was a long time coming, but I think this list has killed concept albums for me. Or at least has laid to bed the notion that having a through-written story makes the music any more exciting to listen to.

Like on paper, the love, the grief, the worker rights angle all sound neat, but all I actually heard without looking at the lyric sheet was "RAH RAH RAH FUCK RAH RAH". Occasionally an alternate vocalist will appear, like a ray of sun in a stormy sky, but then growly one-trick pony Damian Abraham comes back and I think "well that was good while it lasted".

Recommend if you want a Husker Du/the Hold Steady hybrid, but with more screaming.

I'm not as happy as I was when I started this album.

HL: “Queen of Hearts”, “The Other Shoe”, "Turn the Season"

October 15, 2026