1001 Albums Summary

Lauryn Hill is iconic in her genre, and this is her most iconic album. A great inspiration for a lot of RnB and Hip Hop artists in the 00s and 10s. Many people may dislike the skits, but it adds to the narrative here, which has a complex backdrop of different samples and instruments, overlayed on hard kicks and beats that you expect from Hip Hop / R n B. All of it blends to give a truly 00s sound ahead of it's time. I could give a break down of every song but it would take too many words. Just know that there is a lot of range here, there is everything from acoustic guitar and gospel over beats, to more funky soulful tracks. I love this album if you haven't noticed already.

It is hard to believe this was released in 1991. This sounds like something more recent, especially considering the sampling and production. Not sure how this band is a rock band though XD It certainly requires a few more listens to give this a decent rating, as there is so much to unpack here. I feel each listen you will discover something new, which is just a testament to the production here. Love it!

This album started with high hopes from me. A promise of mixing psychedelic rock and hardcore hip hop rhythms from Spotify's band description, however this was not what I expected. This is because this album actually comes from their acid house era which they became known for. This album started out with a bang, and soon became very samey to me. I know that's the case with this kind of music so maybe it needs a few more listens from me to get to grips with the subtleties of it, especially as i'm not really listening well when coding these days. To be honest this is a no from me dawg. 2 because I liked some tunes but mostly it's not my cup of tea.

This guy must have blisters on his fingers. He is a madman on the piano. I loved every minute of this 22 minute live show. I have a real soft spot for this kind of bluesy jazzy show, and I wish I could go back in time and see this in person. In the meantime, while we wait for the delorean to be built, this album does the job. Anyone else looking for some retro live bluesy vibes: check out BB King's Live at Cook County Jail, one of my favs.

There wasn't much in this album that truly gripped me. The most enjoyable part of Rush is the interesting mix of synths and guitar, which are unfortunately let down by the monotonous voice of the vocalist. The first half of the album is the most interesting, thanks to the apparent favourite opener "Tom Sawyer" and it's follow up "Red Barchetta", these are probably all you need to hear to get a gist of what Rush is all about. The next song "YYZ" stood out to me because the instruments took the limelight (ayy) in this song due to no vocals. The best part of the second half is "The Camera Eye", but arguably went on a tad too long. It could have stopped 7 minutes in and it would be still as good. I feel the vocalist could potentially have been saved by some better mixing, as his voice melts in to the background and doesn't really get an opportunity to punch through the overshadowing instrumentals. I admit that I enjoyed this album a bit more on the second play through, which historically has been how some of my favourite albums have started out, so maybe i'll be a Rush stan soon. For now though, I found this album mostly "meh". 2/5 on first play through, a light 3/5 on the second round (with rice)