1001 Album Complaints

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Musicians give irreverent takes on "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", delivered every Monday morning. We do all the research, help you better understand why you love the things you love, plus introduce you to new music and musical ideas you should care about. Want to sound informed, intelligent, and funny when talking about music, even the records you don't like? Want to laugh while you learn more about music production and music history? Then welcome to your new favorite weekly podcast.

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Recent Reviews
  • Dean molien
    The most garbage take on Stereolab possible
    Sat through the episode in hopes of gleaning some history or facts about the group and album, and it is filled with nothing but idiotic observations and obvious inaccuracies.
  • Hancoc2
    Bunch of condescending idiots
    Good lord these guys are insufferable
  • RJohnsn
    Good info but pretentious
    Lots of good background info on the bands and music here but once they start doing reviews it gets very music-snobbish. On their “top 50 songs” list, 2 of the top 5 are songs by Rage Against the Machine. Yeah, OK then.
  • Crankle Humpmeats
    Not for me.
    What a bunch of homos.
  • Soren Petersen
    Listen to the podcast before you die? Yes: 4, No: 1
    There are a number of “dudes listen to 1001 albums” podcasts out there. What makes this one distinctive is that these particular dudes are all experienced musicians. They have expertise they can bring to bear. This has its downside. As long time musicians they have an overly narrow perspective on what good music is supposed to do, and they have a hard time dealing with anything wherein conventional musical craftsmanship is not the focus (cough cough Gang of Four cough cough cough). But I’ll give them credit for trying—they do listen closely, even when they flat don’t get what the album of the week is trying to do. And they’re funny and they bounce off each other well, so there’s that.
  • SpongeBobbyHil589
    Fail
    Failed musicians, failed comedians, failing podcasters
  • Jags1942
    Booshtastic
    Having delved into the 1001 albums list through the years (I’ve probably heard each album at least twice and a lot of the albums I’ve listened to many, many more times), it was great to find a podcast that takes a deep dive into each album. The randomness of each episode is also fun. I have no musical talent myself but I sure love listening to music and I love hearing these guys chat about more technical aspects. Keep up the great work for the next 17 or so years it’s going to take to go through them all.
  • Seedybusiness
    Love this podcast
    As a lifelong music nerd, I am enjoying the humor and insight offered here. The right mix of fun and real music knowledge. And I get to ask myself the question-do I I need to hear this before I die?
  • keketwothousand
    The random selection of music makes this very entertaining!
    I love the format of this show and the way it has a randomly selected albums each week. Even when I don't like the music very much, the show does a fantastic job providing a bit of history and context to better understand the musicians who made the music. Even though the hosts can sometimes get a bit snarky, they are generally respectful and are great examples of criticism that seeks to understand rather than tear down just for laughs. My own kids have gotten into this podcast and enjoy listening to the random album of the week and then hearing the breakdown on the podcast.
  • rickyb63
    Annoying
    Failed musicians/comedians criticizing music they only wish they could have made
  • MangoMadness99
    Irritating
    Annoying dribble by wanna be comedians.
  • Chazzzzz74
    Exceptional Music Podcast
    My go to podcast for background information on famous albums. Great chemistry with the crew and A LOT of tidbits about various albums.
  • Ex-Pat in London
    1,001 complaints?
    These guys are a trip. Love listening, but don’t try to do a shot every time the word “hardpan” is spoken. Even if it’s an album I know I dislike (Kid Rock, Kiss, etc.) they are very entertaining. I haven’t gotten up the nerve to listen to the “Seagal” episode yet, actually not even sure if it is real.
  • OTR0624
    Worth a binge!
    I just discovered this podcast a couple months ago and am absolutely hooked, to the point I went back to the first episode and am working my way through every single one, together with album listens. It’s been a super enjoyable ride…I’m now about 80 episodes in and looking forward to getting caught up to the present. I’m especially glad for my new and deep appreciation of the twin patron saints of the podcast, Eric Clapton and Neneh Cherry. I do wish the guys would recruit some more pod guests who grew up consuming different types of music than they did, especially hip-hop - although to be fair they do point out their own blind spots. Amazing work guys and thanks for making multiple road trips fly by lately.
  • NotThatJackNicklaus
    Strangely addictive
    I found this podcast while doing a search for deep dives into 90s music. The first episode I listened to was Odelay by Beck, which they treated fairly and dropped a number of interesting nuggets of info I didn’t know about. The second was Surfer Rosa by Pixies, which they unmitigatedly fumbled. My jaw hit the floor when they mention “this guy named Steve Albini” as if it was the first time they were hearing about him. So I hate listened to a few more episodes, and then a few more, and then a few more (I was on a business trip with 12 hours of driving, lol). And now I can’t stop. Haven’t heard the whole back catalog yet buy I’m probably 2/3rds of the way through it and I find myself really looking forward to each new episode as they drop. Y’all have charmed me. Keep it up!
  • g haad
    👍🏻
    Love it
  • HeyNongMan81
    Endlessly irritating yet entertaining
    As much as I dislike hearing people crap all over some of the best music produced in the 20th century, I keep coming back to it. It’s nice to hear alternative takes to the culturally hip critics’ canonization, and occasionally their criticisms are on point. Having said that, I think they could bone up on their history of some of these albums. Their knowledge of punk and post punk in particular is abysmal and embarrassing. The mispronunciation of the great John McGeoch is one of the many cringe-worthy examples. However I get the sense that these guys despise amateurism in music and only truly enjoy music made by virtuosos and consummate professionals, so I think that’s where it stems from. I’m probably being a bit generous with my three star rating, but overall I respect what these guys are trying to do. Definitely worth a listen.
  • Greg Potters
    Excellent album dives with a bit of humor
    1001 Album Complaints keeps me on my toes! Rob and all the guys give great insight into each album on the “1001 albums you must hear before you die” list. With some added humor, I can’t help but laugh along with the show hosts as they share their takes on what is right with each album and what possibly could be fixed with each album.
  • Jesse W Jackson
    Talking the good, the bad and the ugly!
    There are certain albums that are pushed as "you must listen to this one." Some of them are worthy of that label, others not so much. Who decides which catagory certain albums falls into can be debated. So let's grab a group of friends and have that debate. Listening to them have that debate is so much fun. This is highly recomended, even if they did have less than kind things about Born in the USA.
  • FlyGirlSan
    The Perfect Formula
    As someone who has long collected music, one of my greatest joys has been to find someone I can share a favorite album with who does not already know it. It’s never fun to feel like your audience is only half listening to the music, or has already listened to and written it off. What makes this podcast special is that these guys give each album a fair listen, take the time to learn the artist’s back story, but importantly *don’t normally already know the album very well*, and therefore are giving genuine reactions to the music. I hope you guys stick it out for the full 1001!
  • stantonious
    Entertaining, good chemistry, catnip for middle-aged music nerds
    Are these guys often pedantic and sometimes wrong? Sure, but that’s part of the fun. I also appreciate that they’re right on time with new episodes, week after week, indicating that if nothing else they are really on point with their production process. And at long last I can tell Adam’s voice from Tom’s!
  • Austispumonti
    Hipsters talk smack
    These guys do a tweet synopsis at the beginning of each podcast to sum up their typically negative opinion of an album. In that vein, my quick take headline on this podcast: This is what happens when you have no other friends aside from those hosting alongside you to tell you how bad your podcast really is. It’s a good premise- review all the albums on the list of 1001 albums you must listen to before you die. But these guys take the position of bagging on the majority. Aside from each host having played an instrument, who gigged and maybe recorded an album, they have no actual music theory education or critique experience. They will knock albums that came out 30, 40, 50 years ago for the low production quality. But that was what was available in the day. Their utter lack of musical history and knowledge is staggering for people doing this kind of podcast.
  • manypalms
    Apparently for Musicians
    Although I do agree with them about some of the crappy albums they’ve reviewed, others they mercilessly pick apart every note and chord. I’ve always said that music isn’t for musicians. Their jealousy and obsessions often gets in the way of appreciating it. That’s the issue here.
  • MesquiteMar
    It’s all love/hate
    There’s no accounting for taste… I say that consistently when spending time with this podcast. I genuinely find their personal tastes to be divergent from mine more often than not. But on occasion they demonstrate a refined sense of taste that would otherwise seem impossible from Steely Dan acolytes. This is an entertaining and admirable chore they’ve taken upon themselves and I endorse this podcast in its entirety.
  • Explorationsofa
    Very good musical descriptions
    One thing that is difficult for many people to do is actually put into words why they like and dislike a song, but I will say these guys do an excellent job of it. I actually strongly disagree with their opinions on Weather Report: Heavy Weather but I still really enjoyed listening to their opinions on it. Solid podcast.
  • HussMang
    Very entertaining and great exposure to all times of music
    These guys do a great job reviewing records of all kinds and giving excellent insight. And are very entertaining while do it! In my regular rotation and look forward to every episode!
  • Fazebust3000
    Musicians talking shop
    Fun show - I always learn something, and it’s mostly just musicians talking shop. Reminds me of me and my friends
  • BlottoOtto
    Smart and funny
    Takes me back to talking music for hours at the pub. Cool intro and outro music too.
  • DoctorRobertSF
    Funny, deep music nerd takes on records
    These guys are obviously old friends and though I tend to only listen to episodes covering records I know already, it’s fun to hear them dissect stuff from a musician’s point of view. Also a bonus is that this pushes me to listen more closely to records I’m less familiar with. Overall a great show with lots of little band facts and weird musical tidbits. Feels like you’re hanging out with musican friends.
  • moneyhands
    Funny insights
    I learn something new every episode and somehow these guys are actually charming.
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