1001 Albums Summary

There's a reason I didn't buy this one as I was moving out of this phase and into SST at the time. Just not a great record combined with all the failures of late 1980s production. Overcompressed, flat, and without definition. Snare reverbed into non-existence. Kick drum buried in the mix. Might be the GOAT for song titles though.

Hadn't heard this one before. Not a huge Drake fan, but I can dig it. The vocals on the remaster are not good. Lots of clipping, which is annoying with headphones.

I don't know which songs are specifically Kanye, but there are some classic Ye beats here. The Nas dis track "Takeover" is probably the best song on the record. That or "Izzo." Crazy that this was released on 9/11. Maybe that's why I never spent a lot of time with it. I've always liked Jay's singles over the albums. I loved how he could drop a track on Hot 97 at any time. I'd jump through this again, but I'm not thrilled to go through the whole thing. 20 years later is this an all-timer? I don't think so, but my opinion appears to diverge with many.

Standout tracks: 1, 3, 4. Nice to hear a good Purple record without any of the usual radio fare. 3 stars

2 great songs in Beth and Detroit Rock City but the minute intro of Gene reading the news is really not great.

A very pop music record. I can see why folks like my jazz teacher looked down on stuff like Blue Rondo. But if you’re college age cooking dinner for a date, can you do better than putting this on? Probably not.

Don’t think I’d ever heard this outside of the title track. Seems so tame compared to industrial music that would come ten years later. Not sure I’d spin it again but might not turn it off.

Stone cold classic. Every track a classic except maybe “Love You To,” which is famous in its own way for the introduction of the Indian influence. Forgot the really hard stereo effect amplified by wearing headphones.

I remember the excitement surrounding the official release of the Manchester “Judas” concert (misnamed as RAH here on purpose). You know, no YouTube then so it was just a legendary story. That they edited the heckling out of this was slightly disappointing, but it’s an incredible set, and we finally got to see the “Judas” moment in Scorcese’s film later.

Lyrically, it’s right up there with the best Michael’s ever done. At the time of release, it was certainly jockeying with Murmur for their best album. Now, I think it’s maybe fallen just a taste because “Everybody Hurts” just doesn’t thrill me. “Ignoreland” feels like an outtake, musically. Of course, we weren’t in the Clinton era yet, so I get it. And I’ve never loved “Nightswimming.” Yet every other song is Hall of Fame, particularly “Sweetness Follows,” “Monty,” and “Man on the Moon.” Its notable status firmly in the grunge era can’t be ignored either. This seems like a classic 4.5 situation if we could do halfsies.

This album is wild. Another one I'd only heard the singles from. You might as well classify this as a 1977 record, but I'd really love to play this blind for someone and ask them what year it was recorded. Amidst the elders of the British Invasion, California rock, disco, prog and punk, Elvis decides to just do his own mashup of 60s R&B, vintage Stones, reggae and punk without a hint of The Beatles (consider ELO at the time). But you can still hear the crooner in him that would lead to the Bacharach collab. Quite a flex not to open with "Pump It Up," which has a hint of the MC5. Elvis seems to have a lot in common with Springsteen tonally and lyrically, see "Lip Service." "Chelsea" has that nice reggae groove the Police would use to great effect. Then "Lipstick Vogue" tosses in a Motorhead beat before closing triumphantly on "Radio, Radio." Incredible. The SNL ban is laughable, of course, in hindsight.

There's a reason I didn't buy this one as I was moving out of this phase and into SST at the time. Just not a great record combined with all the failures of late 1980s production. Overcompressed, flat, and without definition. Snare reverbed into non-existence. Kick drum buried in the mix. Might be the GOAT for song titles though.

Starts incredibly strong but peters out starting with that 10-minute Indian jam. Knowing where they go next, you're really ready to get there fast.

It's fine. "Le Freak" the obvious standout. Some good grooves, but I like it more funky George Clinton.

From the Amen Break that kicks off the record, this is a tour de force. Been a while since I heard it, and there are so many more recognizable samples than I remember. Even sampling Public Enemy from the previous year. You can definitely hear how rap started out sing-songy but by the time we get to Jay-Z and Eminem, flow becomes more central than working the rhythm of the song. Obviously the problematic issues of misogyny, language and homophobia cannot be avoided. I wonder how this album will play in, say, 2030. You can hear Dre's whole career here in his samples and beats, which is interesting. Raw but definitely his style was formed. Shave a couple of filler tracks off its 60-minute CD bloat and it's a 5.

Not nearly as good as the other Chic album. Mostly grooves, but not really songs.

Listenable any day of the year.

Lots of fond high school memories with this tape. I think I was listening to this concurrently with Camper Van Beethoven, which was the bulk of my ska knowledge at the time.

Tried like hell to find the theme from "Shallow Grave" only to discover it not on this record. Still, I believe it was this album that led me to enjoy Aphex Twin and Autechre as opposed to radio stuff like Fatboy Slim.

Love this record. And I love when Beck would just drop a rando new style on you out of nowhere. "Lost Cause" is just one of the best he's ever done.

All killer, no filler.

Slightly bloated, but the radio hits are legends.

The song theft has to knock it down some, but it's hard to top Good Times Bad Times as your first album opener.

First record of all originals, and it's ridiculous that there are no duds here. Encapsulates the early era heights before they start evolving.

A couple of clear Heatmiser castaways here; Elliott really never traveled down that path again with the bigger studio budgets for his major label works. Had "Miss Misery" been able to make the record, it would be the complete apex of his early career. Still, a stunning work that makes you ache to still have him with us.

An exceptional snapshot in time of a band that had much better songs to come.

Don't know why I got this again

One of the best 1-2 openers ever. If you were raised on the MTV version of the band, this album was a revelation. It's a shame "La Grange" is so overplayed, because when you revisit it after 5 or 10 years, it's really good.

Every Heads record back in this period sounds like a complete different band, and it's amazing they caught mainstream success. Wish I could have seen them live once. Basically you'll have equal numbers of people saying this, "Remain in Light," and "Little Creatures" is their best album, but 2/3rds of them are wrong. This is the one, just because coming out in 1979 it doesn't really fit with punk, disco, new wave or rock, but yet it does.

Not as bad as contemporary reviews made it out to be. It's a little bloated, but there are definitely more than one cd's worth of good tracks here. "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" are worth the price of admission alone.

Nobody knew what the hell was going on with this band as they were ahead of their peers shedding glam metal but still rocking hard pre-grunge. I feel bad for the folks who didn't hear this at its release in their or a friend's basement with their eyes wide and jaws dropped. It must have been like hearing The Beatles contemporaneously.

Still sounds great. An early peak.

Absolutely essential.