My 1001 Albums Journey

As someone who listens to a lot of hip-hop, this for me is very much a hip-hop history artifact. I don't want to put it up against today's brand of hip-hop because its gone through such an evolution that its not the same genre as it was back then. That being said compared to contemporary albums of that year like Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" and Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head" the lyrics and delivery do come off a bit corny to me. I respect they were trying to be an antithesis to the popular gangster rap of the late 80s/early 90s and bring some positivity to rap, but I felt like I was being preached to with their straight to the point lyrics. Some of the songs were really repetitive as well. There is definitely a way to make conscious, positivity infused rap work. The rapper Common is a great example of making conscious rap interesting by using intricate rhyme schemes laden with metaphor and wordplay. While I found Speech's delivery a little simplistic, I did love the instrumentation! They used a lot of live instruments, which I always appreciate in a hip-hop group. And I don't want to totally yuck anyones yums because I did enjoy the "Everyday People" cover on "People Everyday," and the song "U" was another standout bop for me as well. While these tracks were pretty cool they were not enough to save the album for me.

This album was perfect for my 2nd covid vaccine fever stupor. I listened to it in the shower while getting my ass kicked by the shot, and boy did it put me in such a peaceful place. I love Jimmy's warm organ sound so much. But you know when rappers say "He got killed on his own track," when a featured artist outshines them on a song? Jimmy's saxophonist killed him big on this album. I felt like that sax dominated this album while his organ playing was kind of relegated to second chair. Not to say he isn't a fantastic organist or bandleader, but I did find myself grooving to this sax in a big way. I really love this sound, and it inspired my to seek out more music like this, so I have to give it points for inspiration.

Yo, Meatloaf is the Bruce Springsteen for theatre kids! So as a theatre expat I loved this album so much. I could not help but picturing every song being performed on stage. It was just dripping with melodrama so you could feel the light-hearted cheesiness of it, but Meatloaf's impressive pipes just drove it all home with gravitas. Expanding on my Springsteen claim, I felt the driving bright piano all over this album is so common on "Born to Run," and the musicality in general was very reminiscent of the E-Street Band. Learning that these songs were written by a composer came as no shock to me.

Confession, "Gotta Get Up" was my morning alarm song for awhile. I'd heard this album a few times when my dad played it in the car. I always enjoyed it but it never made a huge impression on me other than that song, so I was ready to give it a 3. But then "Without You" came on and I couldn't stop myself from belting the hell out of that chorus, and I was like no yeah this is a 4! And lest we forget the man gave us the gift of "Coconut" on this record. Bless you for that absurdity Harry Nilsson. This album may not have had a ton of cultural impact or influence, but man is it a fun listen.

However flawed he may be, I am a Lou Reed fan. This is the first VU album after John Cale left the band so the experimental weirdness that came from him and Reed together is lacking here. This makes for a more widely palatable VU sound, which is not a bad thing. I love this album! There are lots of standouts for me, the biggest being "Pale Blue Eyes," which is one of my favorite love songs/songs in general. I think this record is also a testament to albums as a cohesive piece of art as opposed to a handful of singles and supporting tracks. The pacing is fantastic. It goes from serene to rollicking and back again throughout, which creates this wonderful feeling of tension and release. This is especially apparent as the wacky, intense "The Murder Mystery" plays into the cute little ditty "After Hours." I also love that track as a closer because it feels like I'm being tucked in and sung to sleep as a night of partying, and the album, concludes. A classic.