1001 Albums Summary

Just such a good album. It's clearly one of the top albums for the band, as well as one that defines a particular moment and genre of music. People who love the Cure mostly love Disintegration, but it's also the sort of album that someone who doesn't really like the band and who doesn't listen to any of their other music might still have in their collection and love. It's also pretty perfect as a complete album, the songs are great but the flow and feeling of the whole thing is also clearly carefully considered.

The opening track so perfectly encapsulates what Elvis Costello does well - the desperate, breathy opening vocal, the pulsing explosion of sound, the sneer and scorn of "I don't wanna see you 'cause I don't miss you that much", the layered poppy backup vocal on the chorus, the swirly carnivalesque feel of the instrumentation, all this happening in a 2 minute track.. a track that packs in more than most songs in the first 1:40.. but then gives you an extra 20 seconds of vamp and swell and crash to wrap it all up perfectly. I wouldn't even say it's my favorite track on the album but it's such a great encapsulation of his ability to grab you by the collar and take you on a surprising ride. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea is another standout. The rest of the album - I don't think there's a bad song here, though there's some that work better as part of the album than they would as singles. In some ways, I think this might be the strongest complete album of the era for him. There's bigger hits on some of the other ones, but this is the most cohesive feel overall. To own my bias, this is definitely one of the records that got me into him. I think I first discovered him through a good review of Spike (also a great album) when it came out, and then found a copy of this one, maybe on vinyl? Anyhow, I've spent more time with it than either My Aim is True before it or Armed Forces after, but I've definitely given good listens to all three and still think this one is the most compelling. This anecdote (from Wikipedia listing) is a good one: ""The concept of him behind a camera for the sleeve of This Year's Model had already been chosen, so I decided to equip Elvis with exactly the same tripod and camera as I was using to create a 'mirror' for him. Alongside a powerful stereo I kept a large record collection at my Camden Studio, and artists would choose music they enjoyed or were interested in for their sessions. Just as we were about to start shooting, Elvis asked me if I had "Hotel California" by The Eagles, and could I play it? I was puzzled by his choice – until he told me that he loathed the record, but wanted to look really pissed off and angry in the shots! We played the record several times during the session and whilst I directed him, I was also aware of his copying some of my own actions as I took the photographs"" Also from Wikipedia, Robert Smith (from The Cure) listed this as one of his 5 favorite albums on a French TV show in 1985.

Probably the most open and boundary pushing VU album. John Cale's influence is felt the most here, both on tracks like The Gift and in the instrumentation. Each VU album has it's own special place in my heart, and while I don't know if I could choose a favorite, this is always a fun one to put on because it's very much not the "greatest hits" but still makes a very compelling argument for what a great band they were.

I'm not going to get into whether this is Dylan's BEST album. That just feels like too weighty of a proclamation for anyone to make, and I'm pretty sure that personally, there's one or two I'd pick over this one. Probably. Depending on the weather and the day of the week. That said, there is almost no potential for argument that this is among his best and most important work, and that he is one of the most important musicians and artists of the past century. So, no way I'm rating this anything less than 5 stars. One thing I love about this one is the variance in the tracks included - which feels pretty different than, say, Blood on the Tracks or Desire. There's epic ballads like Visions of Johanna or Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, there's raucous romps like Rainy Day Women and Leopard Skinned Pill-Box Hat, there's the more likely radio friendly singles like I Want You, Stuck Inside of Mobile.., and Just Like a Woman, and also the sleeper tracks, songs like Fourth Time Around and Obviously Five Believers, that are maybe less memorable or iconic, less likely to make a greatest hits comp, but still very strong and interesting songs on their own. It's worth clicking through to the Wikipedia link, assuming you're listening digitally, to take a look at how the track listing splits up over four sides of a vinyl double album. The whole flow works pretty amazingly, with the bulk of the album switching up tempo and feel nicely, bookended by some of the more rocking songs (Rainy Day Women and Obviously Five Believers open side one and end side 3) and then Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands tacked on as the fourth side all by itself, feeling almost like a "hidden track" on a CD release, an interesting and epic coda on the whole thing. Look, if you are into Dylan, you can feel one way or another about where this album fits into his body of work, but I'd be surprised if anyone who likes him thinks it's crap. If you aren't into Dylan, it's worth making some effort to dig a little deeper into his music, and if this doesn't work as your starting point, I'd say it's well worth checking out some of his other stuff.