Journey Complete!
Finisher #433 to complete the list
1089
Albums Rated
3
Average Rating
100%
Complete
The Bones Of What You Believe
CHVRCHES
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2010s
Favorite Decade
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Rater Style ?
81
5-Star Albums
50
1-Star Albums
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Ratings by genre
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Ratings by country
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darkdancer | 5 | 2.59 | +2.41 |
| Slayed? | 5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
| Destroy Rock & Roll | 5 | 2.89 | +2.11 |
| Heroes to Zeros | 5 | 2.9 | +2.1 |
| Aha Shake Heartbreak | 5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
| Fever Ray | 5 | 2.99 | +2.01 |
| Nighthawks At The Diner | 5 | 3.01 | +1.99 |
| Highly Evolved | 5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
| Duck Stab/Buster & Glen | 4 | 2.03 | +1.97 |
| Microshift | 5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitches Brew | 1 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
| System Of A Down | 1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
| Darklands | 1 | 3.23 | -2.23 |
| The Pleasure Principle | 1 | 3.14 | -2.14 |
| This Is Hardcore | 1 | 3.14 | -2.14 |
| Murder Ballads | 1 | 3.08 | -2.08 |
| The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway | 1 | 3.08 | -2.08 |
| Treasure | 1 | 3.07 | -2.07 |
| Suzanne Vega | 1 | 3.02 | -2.02 |
| Future Days | 1 | 3 | -2 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | 7 | 4.71 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 4.4 |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4.5 |
| Steely Dan | 4 | 4.5 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.67 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 4.67 |
| Beatles | 7 | 4 |
| The Doors | 3 | 4.33 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Madonna | 3 | 1.33 |
| Sepultura | 2 | 1 |
| Can | 2 | 1 |
| Pere Ubu | 2 | 1 |
| The Fall | 3 | 1.67 |
| Pulp | 2 | 1.5 |
| Robert Wyatt | 2 | 1.5 |
| Genesis | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Byrds | 5 | 2.2 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 5 | 2.2 |
| Leonard Cohen | 5 | 2.2 |
| Roxy Music | 3 | 2 |
| Kate Bush | 3 | 2 |
| My Bloody Valentine | 3 | 2 |
| Dexys Midnight Runners | 3 | 2 |
| PJ Harvey | 4 | 2.25 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 4 | 2.25 |
| Miles Davis | 4 | 2.25 |
Controversial Artists
Artists you rate inconsistently
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Fleetwood Mac | 5, 2 |
| Elvis Costello | 1, 4 |
| Ice Cube | 4, 1 |
| Tom Waits | 2, 3, 5, 2, 2 |
5-Star Albums (81)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Wilco
2/5
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There are some good nuggets here and some bad. When I told myself that this thing has to fucking be over by now, there were still 4 1/2 songs to go.
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I bailed on the last song because it was bed time.
51 likes
Stan Getz
3/5
This is a tough album to rate.
Just considering the jazz scene, this album razzes my berries. Listening to it, I feel like I’m a cool daddy-o who’s got it made in the shade along side my ginchiest gal with a classy chassis. We’re at a club like the Copacabana with a whiskey and a cigar blowing off steam before we burn rubber to the passion pit for a double feature and some backseat bingo. I’m no aficionado here, but I do think Stan Getz is a hip cat on the saxophone.
Not to be a wet rag, but I do not consider jazz to be the bee’s knees. I did catch some Z’s while listening to this one (it’s been a long week).
We’ll nightingale, here’s my tale: If someone had this album on, I would enjoy hearing it through. And that’s the word from the bird. I’ll put a lid on it now.
38 likes
The Go-Go's
5/5
This album is yet another example of why the 1001 journey is great. Because the album is great…and I never would have listened to it otherwise. The consistency of the tracks is remarkable. They are high energy, and there isn’t a bad one, nor even a mediocre on IMHO, in the whole lot. I wouldn’t say any individual track is amazing on its own, but 11 very, very good tracks on a row is elite.
Belinda Carlisle’s, who I hadn’t known started out in The Go-Gos, vocals are wonderful as are the harmonies with the backup vocalists. The instrumentalists each stand out at various moments throughout the album. However, the bass guitar deserves the most recognition to me. It and the drums are the driving force behind this boot-sole-to-the-chest pop album.
I can’t believe this is the first, and still only, all-female band debut album that topped the Billboard where the band wrote all the songs and played all the instruments. There are a couple qualifying categories there, but this fact is still insane to me. That alone has to make this one of the most important female albums of all time.
🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
35 likes
The Associates
2/5
Music God #1: I have a genius idea.
Music God #2: Lay it on me, bro.
Music God #1: Now stick with me. Some day this will lead us to eargasmic electronica.
Music God #2: Uh huh. What?
Music God #1: OK. We need an album with some out there experimental sound exploration anchored with some sick keyboards.
Music God #2: Experimental you say. Tell me more.
Music God #1: Yeah. They are going to fill guitars with urine. Make a drum set with all different types of snares.
Music God #2: I’m not so sure.
Music God #1: Look, we’ll pair it with some cabaret falsetto vocals. They will complement each other nicely.
Music God #2: Are you worried the music will sound like a soundtrack to a cheesy, low budget 80s horror movie spoof.
Music God #1: You mean 80s cult classic.
Music God #2: No I mean the kind of movie that is so bad it’s making fun of itself.
Music God #1: Whatever. Eventually other bands will make fantastic music and this will be a loose step in the right direction to get there.
Music God #2: I don’t like the sounds of this and neither will anyone else. I’m using my veto.
Music God #1: I’m using my lone veto veto. It’s happening.
Music God #2: Fuck.
32 likes
Miles Davis
1/5
Fuck, Jazz!!! Just fuck!!! I can’t do the improvisational shit. The lack of structure drives me insane. It’s cacophony! This album is at least 10x too long. I quit before the second song was half over. I just can’t do it. I know this is somewhat unfair, but I have to stick to my rating system and this album is unbearable. My apologies, Mr. Davis. I know you are a master at your craft.
24 likes
1-Star Albums (50)
All Ratings
Eminem
3/5
Obviously Eminem’s talent is evident, but the lyrics, sound, and production are quite immature. The album is good enough to notice Eminem’s vast potential and want more music in the future, but lacking enough to not want to listen to it any more than the rare reminiscent indulgence.
Eurythmics
2/5
Primitive. Bass-y synth beat on Wrap It Up (a song about using a condom?) was good. Sweet Dreams is clearly head and shoulders above any other song and is the only reason I didn’t give 1 star.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
There are some really enjoyable songs on this album, such as: Grande Ol Oprey Song, I Saw the Light, and My Walkin’ Shoes. There were too many instrumental pieces which all blend together and kind of drone on for me. In the end, this album would be a decent choice when I’m in the mood for bluegrass, but bluegrass just isn’t my genre. If the album were reduced down to its best 8 tracks or so, I might put it in my regular rotation.
Johnny Cash
4/5
At first I listened to the original 10 track version, which was heavily edited for time. It was OK. Then I realized that the Legacy Edition was different and sounds like the full show. Classic Johnny Cash. Carl Perkins’s Restless is a revelation.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Ahhh love me some T Swizzle. Blank Space and Wildest Dreams are solid and Shake It Off should make anyone want to dance. The opening bass line on Style gives me the chills. This album is the beginning of her musical metamorphosis and is pretty good, but not yet peak T Swizzle.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
1/5
Completely forgettable. The only redeemable quality for this album is that it is not so offensive that I would turn it off immediately.
Coldplay
2/5
Clocks is a highlight as is A Whisper. The rest, meh. I forgot I had this album in my library. I deleted it.
Rush
2/5
I was really excited to listen to this album because I’ve never really listened to Rush and I’ve always thought there were a band I would like. The openings to Tom Sawyer and Vitals Songs are the most musically interesting features on this album to me. I do not like Geddy Lee’s voice. The album is not bad, but there are not any songs I would seek to play on their own.
Brian Eno
2/5
Peaceful. Serene. I like the first track and I could listen to it with my eyes closed while getting a massage. The last three tracks are meh.
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
There are parts of this album I really like. Band on the Run is a master piece. I also enjoyed Jet, Mrs. Vanderbilt (…Ho, Hey, Ho…), and Nineteen-Hundred and Eighty-Five. If Mamunia and No Words were deleted and the various distinct parts of Band on the Run we’re expanded into their own songs, this would be solid, 4 star album.
Venom
1/5
The closing line of Black Metal (Radio 1 Session) is “Welcome to hell!” An apt line to describe listening to this album, which I did twice. This is the type of album a bunch of goth kids who turned into goth adults make, yet they didn’t realize the goth stage was supposed to end. I understand clearly that they are obsessed with death. I did find myself bobbing to the guitar riff on Don’t Burn the Witch. I thought Buried Alive was kind of funny although I don’t think it was meant to be. In the end, I just don’t have enough teen angst to enjoy much about this album.
Tina Turner
2/5
The musical instruments on this album are meaningless background noise. Tina’s voice is the main instrument and oh man is it powerful. Unfortunately the album is more than just her voice.
Duran Duran
3/5
The 80s were wild man, with a unique sound. This album is squarely 80s, but in a good way. The prominent bass driven rhythms throughout, like New Religion, are refreshing, and I enjoy them quite a bit. Rio comes alive at the chorus, which is catchy and much better than the rest of the song. I don’t completely understand why, but I have to point out that parts of the bass line in Lonely in Your Nightmare sound like an underwater recording of whales communicating. Hungry Like a Wolf is solid while Save a Prayer is ambling and soulless. I can see how this album put them on the map.
The White Stripes
5/5
This album punched me right in the mouth from the get go with Seven Nation Army. I was familiar with the bass line to the song because it is played a lot at sporting events. I thought it was played out prior to today, but now I contend its wide spread use is justified by how much this song kicks ass. Holy shit the guitar sound for Ball and Biscuit is sublime (chef’s kiss to the effects and amp set up), and the vocals are a call back to some super sultry Led Zeppelin tracks. Black Math and Hypnotize are punk inspired songs I can get behind. Now let’s go break some stuff.
Additionally there are several tracks without the familiar distorted, guitar driven sound that are most excellent like: In the Cold, Cold Night; I Want to Be the Boy; and the last track, Well It’s True That We Love One Another, which is a playful, refreshing end to the album.
The drums are never at the forefront on the album, yet they are solid and perfectly support the overall sound.
Overall this album is a great reminder that often times less is more. The stripped down nature of both the musical parts, and having only two members, really allows the parts that are present to shine through quite brightly. A revelation…bravo!
Drive-By Truckers
2/5
I got through the first disc and stopped. This album is not offensive. It could be on in the background, but I would never choose to listen to it again.
Frankly I didn’t listen to the second disc so I could have more time to explore more White Stripes albums and Bob Dylan songs (80th bday!). This is more a statement about how much I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s White Stripes album and my lasting admiration for Mr. Dylan.
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Is there a better voice than Aretha’s? Fifteen seconds into Respect I get the chills that last the rest of the song. She did it to me again in Save Me.
How lucky am I that I get to experience Aretha’s supreme talent? I feel as though aerosolized soul is oozing out of the speakers, and I get to breathe it in, during A Change Is Gonna Come.
Several songs are unnoteworthy. Tracks such as Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream; Dr. Feelgood; and Do Right Woman, Do Right Man could go. In the end as an album, there isn’t quite enough here to garner a higher rating that Aretha herself clearly deserves.
Cocteau Twins
1/5
A Scottish electronic pop act…I must love this…right? No…no I do not. I most certainly could have died without hearing this album.
There are a lot of seemingly random elements to this album somewhat like a Salvador Dalí painting. However unlike a Dalí, there is no overarching theme to the elements, no thematic beauty. Just random shit…like I swear there was yodeling in Amelia…WTF.
According to Internet, these guys started the modern dream pop genre. They deserve credit for doing so because Internet also tells me these other bands are dream pop too: Au Revoir Simone, Chromatics, and Troye Sivan. They all kick some major, major, MAJOR fucking ass. So kudos to Cocteau Twins for pioneering this genre. This album is still shit though.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
This album is soft and intimate, colorful in its storytelling, and kind of makes me want to leave a car running in the garage. That’s both a complement, because of the strong sense of hardship conveyed, and a negative because it is emotionally draining. If this album were a cologne, the name would be Absolute Despair. It’s an album I respect and am glad I heard it, but I never want to endure again.
The Saints
4/5
Shout out to Johnny P, one of my college roommates who was way into punk music. Senior year Johnny P had a badass mohawk and fought off a would be mugger outside RoFo. Busted up the side of his face something good.
The first track of the album, with the brass and saxophone (!) opening, certainly was enjoyable… and misleading. Most of the album is punkish., but not entirely. I would call the album proto-punk … did I just make that up or is it a thing?
Whatever it is, the punk songs are more accessible than hardcore punk bands like The Dead Kennedy’s or Minor Threat. This is a good thing. And there are several more rock-like songs sprinkled throughout such as: Know Your Product, Memories Are Made of This, A Minor Aversion, and Untitled.
No, Your Product and River Deep Mountain High are highlights of the punk songs while Run Down is a punk song with prominent harmonica, which I had never heard before. And a punk song with saxophone (Orstralia)…wtf is going on?!? I’ll tell you what is going on…a great marriage between punk and other non-traditional elements. Proto-punk…see I told you it’s a thing.
This album also makes me happy because I feel bit closer to Johnny P who has been having a hard time in adulthood. You know that would be mugger? We’ll it was really Johnny P getting chased for shoplifting from RoFo. Their fried chicken was delectable after all. His face really did get busted up something good. However, it was because he was drunk off his ass and tripped over a curb.
The Cramps
1/5
The Cramps…am I right ladies? A fitting name for…J/k…I know I’m NOT allowed to make that joke. My apologies and I withdraw the entire approach. I’ll stick with the Strychnine angle.
Ironically I’m Cramped is the least offensive song because there are very few words. They must have known the minimal words made this track stand out because the song is on the album twice, and sounds essentially the same. I don’t even know what to say. Rock On The Moon should be renamed Let’s Make Loosely Synchronized Noise Quickly.
There’s a lot to say about this album, and not much of it is good so I won’t pile on too much. The album is a disjointed mess, which is mostly on the lead singer who comes in and out of tempo at will. The guitar and drums are in synch (a ha! a good thing to say) if not almost entirely basic in their composition (well almost), but still the guitarist played the somberly, monotonic line to Fever OK…the whole song (ahhh the ‘ol complement sandwich).
In I Was A Teenage Werewolf (With False Start) someone interrupts a recording session and a member of the band says, “Man, nobody fuckin’ stops a take of The Cramps in the fuckin’ studio! Now get outta here! I mean it. Get the fuck out!” Oh I wish they had stopped all the takes, saved the band their $80/hr for studio time, and mercifully saved me from listening to this album.
3/5
I don’t like country for the most part, but I do like the down in the small town sound of this album. Loretta can carry a tune. She’s not an elite voice, but still very good. The musical arrangements are simple most of the time, allowing the straightforward lyrical storytelling and Loretta’s voice to feature.
The title track, Devil Gets His Due, and Get What ‘Cha Got And Go are all nice tunes that have a faster, driving beat. It feels like these songs are taking me somewhere. There are too many songs that are just too slow to keep my interest, such as Saint To A Sinner, I Don’t Want To Know, and There Goes My Everything. They feel like I’m stuck in the muck.
Aside from this album, I found out that Loretta was a country music pioneer. She was the country music artist of the decade (the only woman to do so) for the 1970s. She also married a 21 year old that she had known for a month when she was 15. She had 4 kids before she turned 21. Loretta wrote a lot of songs supporting women’s issues and has recorded 70!!! albums over her career. Quite a lot of accomplishments.
Elvis Presley
2/5
I don’t know what to say other than this album is mostly boring. The opening song, Wearin’ That Loved On Look, is by far the most interesting song. I’m Movin’ On is also not that bad. A common connection between the two songs is the bass guitar is a driving part of each song.
I’ll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms) is soooooo slooooooowwww. It reminds me of the Apollo 13 scene where their cassette player’s batteries are dying. Get on with it already.
I was expecting some blues based, hip shaking, rock and roll, and this album is not that. I guess it was an attempt to demonstrate that Elvis was more than a hip shaking heartthrob, but it’s just a slower, more intimate snooze fest.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
This album is a heaping pile of grits, not offensive, but also not very good without something else added to it. This album is missing cheese, shrimp, or even just some basic butter to keep it interesting.
I think the guy who goes “oh oh oh oh oh oh” on The Art Of The Noise might be the best part of the album. His part is a total of about 15 seconds on the album. I’m stretching for compliments here. Childz Play is like a bad circus attraction soundtrack. Cee-lo’s voice is unique and grating some times, but not always.
Conclusion: I do not think that Cee-lo is the soul machine.
The Blue Nile
3/5
When the bass line plays on A Walk Across The Rooftops, I feel like David Lynch is saying hello from the set of Twin Peaks. There is no melody to this song, just seemingly disparate musical parts. The parts are clearly synced together, but there’s no constant beat. Strangely I like this about the song.
There are several other parts of the album that feel similar, like everyone is playing the same song, but they all started at different times. It’s really difficult to pin down a description. There is order to it, not randomness. It just feels like the music is constantly throwing me off. Again, I somewhat like this aspect of the album because I’ve never quite heard anything like it.
Another thing I like is the lead singer’s voice. When he says “heatwaaave” in Heatwave, I think it could be the music dictionary’s definition the quintessential 1980s pop sound. I don’t know, I instantly recognize the decade by this one word.
Easter Parade is sleep inducing, not in a good way while the bass driven groove on Stay is quite enjoyable.
I’ve written quite a bit of positive things about this album, but I didn’t download it. Much like the album itself, my thoughts above are disjointed from my overall feeling about it. In the end I don’t really like the album as much as this review might indicate, but I do appreciate its strange uniqueness.
TLC
3/5
I once purchased this album through the BMG music subscription service. Side note: my parents did not police what albums I bought at all. Additional side note: this was when I bought albums entirely based on the singles, which is not a great way to acquire quality albums. I don’t remember ever listening to anything but the singles on CrazySexyCool, but still 14 year old me was so with it!
Creep and Waterfalls stand the test of time as excellent songs. Waterfalls was also timely for me in the mid-1990s. A few short years later my town switched area codes and had to start using all 10 digits for a phone call. I bring this up because I could no longer use the 7 digit numbers that I was used to for my whole life up to that point.
Yet another side note: I must recognize that these are lyrics from Weird Al’s parody Phony Calls from his 1996 Bad Hair Day album that came out the year before the area code switch. Im laughing hard at myself because Weird Al is so good I actually thought these were the TLC lyrics until I double checked just before submitting my rating. I sure hope Weird Al is on the 1001 album list. He deserves it.
I recognize and like Busta Rhymes on Can I Get A Witness (Interlude). André 3000 also shows up on the last track. Both their appearances are interesting in retrospect because TLC was likely the more well known act and helped propel their careers a bit.
Overall this is a solid album by the best selling American female group of all time (#2 worldwide behind the spice girls). I forgot that they were that big. I only remember the singles and that Left Eye burned Andre Rison’s house 6 months before this album was released. Good times.
The Byrds
3/5
False advertising, wanted more soul.
…for real…
Suede
2/5
I’m not a big fan of the lead singers voice. I get annoyed every time he says “ohh-vah” on The Drowners. His voice is not Axl Rose level offensive, but it’s noticeable enough to cost Suede a star. The potential of the songs is consistently let down by his voice.
Some of the musical parts are quite enjoyable. I like the piano part on The Next Life. The guitar part on Metal Mickey is top notch. The drum and guitar parts for Moving are great…and then he starts singing, ughh.
Sleeping Pills and Breakdown really bog the album down.
I thought Just A Day (Early Demo) was by far the best song on the album and it’s a throw away bonus track. What a shame.
The Verve
3/5
This is a solid album. I’d be perfectly happy to have it on from time to time. It’s not an album I would seek to play, but it is thoroughly enjoyable.
Brainstorm Interlude has a pleasant chaos to it. Drive You Home and History are solid slow songs, but I did not like them back-to-back. It was too much slow in a row. I enjoyed (Reprise) as the closer.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Ted, Just Admit It… “sex is violent” reminds me of the Bush lyric in Everything Zen “there’s no sex in your violence.” Was the Bush lyric a call back to this song? I wonder.
Speaking of Bush, an aside because they are not on the 1001 list. Bush is a strange band for me. None of their albums stand out on their own, a bunch of 2 & 3 stars. However, a compilation of their 10 best songs is really fucking good.
Back to Jane’s Addiction. Jane Says is the perfect song for Perry Fewell’s voice and is a great song. I love the bass opening to Mountain Song. Thank You Boys is nice little interlude.
Summertime Rolls is a snoozer for me, and the brass section in Idiots Rule threw me off from the sound of the rest of the album.
Second aside: Perry Fewell’s voice reminds me of raspier version of the backing vocalist from Sunny Day Real Estate. Specifically I’m reminded of In Circles off The Diary album. I ended up going down the Sunny Day Real Estate rabbit hole, which was refreshing. Perry Fewell does stretch his voice too far sometimes, crossing over the line where it is annoying, but not often.
Third aside: While trying to figure out this voice similarity, I found out that Perry Fewell founded Lollapalooza, and he still produces it today. This is interesting. The second year the second stage had such acts as Tool, Rage Against The Machine, and Stone Temple Pilots at various tour stops. What a line up!
Asides aside: I like this album. I don’t love it. I probably won’t seek it out again, but I would enthusiastically listen again if someone puts it on.
Nick Drake
4/5
The opening line of the first song, Pink Moon, sounds like ‘I zaw it written and I zaw it zay.’ Annunciate, bro! Come on! Honestly this really threw me for a loop the first time ‘round. I also thought he might be saying “Zooey written and I Zooey zay” at one point. And I’m like who the hell is Zooey? Then the second song, Place To Be, isn’t that strong, and I was starting to write this album off.
But I liked the guitar playing. Was this yet another album with decent music and someone’s voice that knocks it down a star or even ruins it? Turns out no. The first listen I was solidly in the three star camp from a good music, iffy voice perspective.
The second listen through had me thinking this is a poor man’s José González. Or that when I’m in the mood for something like this, I’d much rather put James Taylor on.
During the third listen of this album, I realized my annunciation and voice hang ups were only on the first two tracks and the rest I liked. All this while appreciating the guitar even more. For instance, I was loving the guitar picking on Which Will. We’ll shit I thought, maybe this is a four star album.
On the fourth listen of the album, I turned the lyrics on in AppleMusic and realized he’s saying “I saw it written and I saw it say.” Well now Zooey had revealed herself as a fraud and I got what he’s saying.
I like that his tempo fluctuates from time to time. It’s like he lets his mood, in the moment, dictate subtle speed ups or slow downs in a song. Every once in a while it sounds like he misses a beat or skips a note. In the spirit of Bob Ross, I take these as happy little accidents whether they were done on purpose or not.
By the fifth time hearing the album, I settled on this being a bourgeois version of the folk singer songwriter genre. Not quite the elitist crust of them all, but a very good representation. It’s going to stay in my library.
Sleater-Kinney
2/5
This album is a long string of similar sounding songs with OK music and the singer’s voice annoys me.
I do enjoy the two guitar, no bass setup. Little Babies is my favorite song on the album, partly attributed to it having a high proportion where both singers are singing together.
I just can’t get over the voice.
Prince
3/5
I respect the hell out of Prince who was a supreme talent. I think the man could play every instrument ever invented. Housequake sounds like a party at Prince’s house where we are all invited and I’m all-in. I’m also a big fan of The Cross.
None of the other songs on the album definitely make me want to hear them again. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker could go away. Forever In My Life too. Most of the rest are nice and all, just nothing spectacular.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
For Free? (Interlude) is a nicely strange, jazzy, improvisation. I don’t think I’ve heard anything like that on a hip hop album before.
King Kunta has a nice flow. The funk is most definitely within me after having heard this track.
A couple tracks lost my interest, like: Institutionalized and Hood Politics.
Overall this is a nice discovery. I’ve been meaning to explore hip hop more and this was a good place to start. I will be seeking other Kendrick Lamar albums.
PJ Harvey
2/5
While camping and half listening to half this album I thought liked it. Wrong. The best I can say is that this album is not offensive or I could say meh. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Smashing Pumpkins is a band from which I’ve heard their more popular songs quite a bit, but I can’t remember ever listening to an album all the way through. It’s albums like this that make me glad for this experience.
Tonight, Tonight and Bullet With Butterfly Wings were singles off this album for good reason. They are both good examples of the varying styles. One is an accessible, positive song backed by an orchestra while the other has a more grungey, lamenting chorus. I mean who doesn’t feel like a rat in a cage from time to time.
I enjoyed the piano based title track opener. Cupid de Locke is a wistful surprise with the harp music, or at least what sounds like a harp. Bodies works for me.
I will forgive how slow and uninteresting it is hearing To Forgive because we pick right back up with An Ode To No One. The couple times where AOTNO builds and then the whole band rocks out is great. Seems like a great mosh pit moment…you know, for me to skirt around the edge of it to get further forward.
A couple other tracks didn’t get my juices flowing, like: Through The Eyes Of Ruby, Stumbleine, and X.Y.U. Unfortunately they are all in a row on the second album. These are followed up by three solid songs, the last of which begins a bit country-ish interestingly.
Porcelains Of The Vast Oceans is mostly a soft and intimate track. Then at about the 2:15, 4:00, and 6:30 marks the heavier guitars and drums come in for 30 seconds or so and elevate the song to another level. Great song!
On Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the Smashing Pumpkins lay bare a wide range of sounds from the subdued to inviting to grunge to hard rock to borderline screamo. All of which they pull off extremely well. Being a double album, naturally it’s just too difficult to carry the excellentness all the way through, which is why it’s not in the 5 star echelon.
Bonus (for those that really love this album): there is a 92 track, 6 hour version with a bunch of demo versions of the songs.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Remember when John Fogerty got sued for stealing John Fogerty’s music? Well John Fogerty won. Then asked for his attorneys’ fees to be paid. And John Fogerty lost. Then the fee collection part went to the Supreme Court. And John Fogerty won…I think. John Fogerty 2…not John Fogerty 0. It got a little confusing there.
I do know John Fogerty’s case set the precedent for copyright defendants being able to collect fees when they are victorious. Also Clarence Thomas concurred to the outcome to which the other 8 justices agreed. Not because he agreed with their reasoning but because he thought a previous civil rights attorneys’ fees case result should have been overturned. Typical Clarence Thomas…being cranky and not thinking plaintiffs need financial incentives in bringing civil rights cases. I digress.
On to Bayou Country. I find it amusing that a band from San Francisco is often falsely thought to be from the bayou. Understandably the album and opening song titles lead one to believe this myth. But still, hehe. I’m really not sure why this cracks me up.
Onto the songs. I promise. I dig the blues rock style on this album. I’m digging Fogerty’s voice, which from past reviews you’ll know can sink an otherwise decent band quickly for me.
Actual song info. Really. I knew the two most well known tracks, Born on the Bayou and Proud Mary, very well coming into this. They are solid, but not my favorites after a couple listens. I think I like the third and fifth tracks are the best, but I can’t decide which one.
Graveyard Train is a slow and snap inducing blues number. The song is not complicated, yet still impactful. I was humming the bass line during dinner and the kids started clapping along almost immediately. Harmonica can be overplayed, but this is not the case here. Again not complicated, but impactful. John Fogerty’s growls perfectly to convey the loss of his character’s companion amongst the 30 dead.
Penthouse Pauper is a powerhouse of a song where John Fogerty sings forcefully intertwined with some screaming lead guitar with every verse. The guitar is like John Fogerty’s wing man in mind conquering over financial holdings for status in this world.
I should also mention that this a very good take on Good Golly Miss Molly.
k.d. lang
2/5
Pleasant enough and inoffensive, but not something I would seek out to listen to in the future. K.D.’s voice is good, which I appreciate. However, musically this album is quite boring for me. I almost fell asleep walking to the metro. To end on a positive note, Miss Chatelaine is a decent song.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Superstitious is superduperfuckingfantasticalicious!!! It’s one of my favorite songs of all time…yes it’s solidly on my top 20 list. That reminds me that I need to update that list. The clavichord riff is other worldly funk royalty. I had to do some research to figure out it’s a clavichord, and I also found out that Jeff Beck came up with the opening drum part when messing around while Stevie was out of the studio. Stevie came back in and improvised the famous riff and the rest is history. It’s amazing that a seemingly meaningless jaunt by a guitarist on the drums turned into a song adored by so many. Life is funny that way.
Big Brother is a solid song. It’s a pointed swipe at disingenuous politicians making empty promises. There some unique sounding instruments that I couldn’t figure out what they are, but I really like them.
I also love You Are The Sunshine Of My Life. Stevie’s voice shines through especially well.
Maybe Your Baby rambles and rambles and rambles at the end. It’s evidence that modern pop music isn’t the only genre to endlessly repeat the same line over and over. The unfortunate thing is I quite enjoy the first 3 1/2 minutes of the song, especially the instruments, while the last 3 1/2 minutes tear down some of that good will.
There are too many misses on this album; like Blame It On The Sun, Lookin’ For Another Pure Love, and the aforementioned Maybe Your Baby; for it to be in my regular rotation. In the end, this album is like a very talented procrastinator…very capable of high end results, but you just can’t seem to get those results consistently.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
Honestly, I had no idea that Janis Joplin fronted a band until this album came up. I always thought she was a solo act only. I also found out today that Congress has several subway trains connecting their buildings. So not to brag, but I learned two things today!
Janis has a voice that shouldn’t work, but is just right for theses songs. It’s gravelly. It sort of sounds like what happens the day after a night of drinking and screaming too many songs. It sounds like the after effect of smoking too many cigarettes. Maybe she drunkenly screamed too many songs while smoking gravel cigarettes. Nothing would surprise me here. The guitar distortion during the first minute of Ball And Chain reminds me of her voice. Maybe she has a distortion pedal in her throat. The point is Janis’s voice is perfectly imperfect.
I like the songs on this album, I don’t love them. There is a bit too much jamming for my taste that’s better saved for the live show.
Fugees
3/5
The music on this album is present, but not really a feature. The music takes a back seat which allows our focus to be on the main thing. And the main thing are the words, the verses, the social exposition.
Mista Mista is a stark commentary on a person in need of help who is denigrated when asking for assistance. The Beast is another strong account of a system rigged against black Americans.
I enjoy Ready Or Not and Zealots, where the sample is spot on. The famous covers on the album, Killing Me Softly With His Song and No Woman No Cry, are well done.
I like hearing this album, and I feel like I should like it more. But when it comes down to it, I’m not putting it in my library, and that’s the line I draw between 3 and 4 stars. I’m not quite sure why. I don’t have a very good explanation, which bothers me. My only thought is that there isn’t much variety to the sound amongst the songs. They all kind of blend together aesthetically from a high level. That’s all I got.
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
Because of all the references to India, this album reminds me of my biggest life travel regret. In the mid-2000s I could have gone to India with my friend and his family. It would have been great because his parents grew up there and speak the language, and it would have been great insider guided tour. Plus I really like Indian food. I didn’t go because I was doubling up on grad classes, while working full time, and I didn’t want to miss two weeks of the hardest class I ever took because I would not have recovered. I regret not going because I’m almost certainly never going to go to India and I feel like I lost my chance. Missing my opportunity at India was not worth the better grade in fluid mechanics.
Homelands is definitely more appreciated following along with the lyrics. Without them the first time, I wrote the song off as gibberish because I didn’t understand what was going on. But seeing the lyrics, I reassess the song as a beautiful melding of several cultures.
Most of the songs are well put together and pleasing enough. However, I don’t think this album knows what it wants to be. Thanks to jkav for pointing this out because I can’t unnoticed it. This just is not my thing.
Side note: For Father’s Day I request a 5 star album. No whammies!
Gary Numan
1/5
I asked for one thing, Mrs./Mr. 1001 Album Generator! A 5 star album for Father’s Day. If what I asked for were a gourmet shaved prime ribeye steak and cheese sub, what I got was a pre-made ham and cheese vending machine version that expired 3 months ago.
Observer was a bit enjoyable as was Cars, which I recognized. I can understand that the musical sound broke ground for the time. Nonetheless, I pressed my luck with my Father’s Day request and was delivered a whammy instead.
Fela Kuti
2/5
Jam bands are just not my jam. Maybe these guys aren’t a jam band, but this is definitely a jam bandy album. I like songs to have a something to say and get to the point…in and out, which can be drawn out so long as there is continually something more to say.
I must distinguish my feelings about this album and other albums with very long songs because I’m sure it will come up down the line. A song can be quite long and continue adding to its point view throughout. For instance, Dylan’s Visions of Johanna is a master piece of poetic storytelling that feels far too short at 7:30. Also, I just listened to Jimi Hendrix’s 15 minute long Voodoo Chile (studio version) and it was engaging throughout. The difference for this album is that the jamming sounds like directionless noise generated just because they could. A good life lesson: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. I get that this is a live album so there is likely some detriment to not being in the audience. But still, there are other live albums I love listening to at home.
I swear I can hear Ginger and Tony loosing interest in what’s going on several times throughout Ginger Baker And Tony Allen Drum Solo. Listen again to around the 7:15-7:45 mark…they don’t want any part of this. No one needs a 16 minute drum solo unless your name is Bonzo (Bonham) or Neil (Peart), and even then I hesitate to claim they could keep it interesting for that long.
I do like some of the music, especially the big horn parts. Some of the bass and keyboard parts are worthwhile.
Way too much jamming for me.
The xx
5/5
Oh man did it take a couple listens to appreciate this album. This is FANTASTIC!!! Shhhhh…too loud for this album…(soft voice) it’s fantastic. The first couple times through there was a lot of (train) background noise. The subdued nature of this album is best admired in a quiet setting.
The minimalist arrangements are just as, if not more, powerful for what is not there as much as for what is there. The most impactful part of the understated approach is that the parts that would seem “normal” in other music appear conspicuous, emphatic, and flamboyant. And here lies the genius.
There is something notable about the vocals that I just couldn’t quite put my finger on. Enter Wikipedia where I saw that some critics describe them as singing not together, but past each other. Building upon that, I have a different take. To me it feels like they are in adjoining studios singing out windows that face the same direction. Close to each other, but separate, yet projecting in the same direction.
I could go on and on about all the songs, but I will take a subdued approach and just state that this album is incredible. What a gem!
The Slits
1/5
That’s a hard no from me dawg. I would write more, but I was preoccupied with The xx from yesterday.
4/5
At the beginning of Victoria, the lead guitar part is echoed with delay in the opposite ear, which is a pretty neat sound. There are some moments on this album that remind me of The Beatles, like like the latter half of She’s Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina and Nothing To Say. If The Kinks hadn’t been banned from touring in the US for 4 years in the late 1960s during the height of the British Invasion, they might have been way bigger here.
The Kinks are clearly British as they sing about countries of the British empire and Mr. Churchill. The song Australia drags on too long and I could do without Drivin’.
This album grew on me. I was solidly in the 3 star camp, but after a third listen, I want to keep listening. So I’m keeping it in my library…for now. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stan Getz
3/5
This is a tough album to rate.
Just considering the jazz scene, this album razzes my berries. Listening to it, I feel like I’m a cool daddy-o who’s got it made in the shade along side my ginchiest gal with a classy chassis. We’re at a club like the Copacabana with a whiskey and a cigar blowing off steam before we burn rubber to the passion pit for a double feature and some backseat bingo. I’m no aficionado here, but I do think Stan Getz is a hip cat on the saxophone.
Not to be a wet rag, but I do not consider jazz to be the bee’s knees. I did catch some Z’s while listening to this one (it’s been a long week).
We’ll nightingale, here’s my tale: If someone had this album on, I would enjoy hearing it through. And that’s the word from the bird. I’ll put a lid on it now.
Pixies
4/5
One of my college roommates was way into The Pixies, so I’m sure I’ve heard this album before. I was very much in the infancy of my music discovery at the time, and I was firmly committed to classic rock. This time I’m actually paying attention. I definitely remember Gouge Away fondly.
The biggest surprise of this album is Here Comes Your Man. The chorus, and especially the lead guitar part, sound like a 1950s radio hit by a band of dudes wearing suits on the Ed Sullivan Show projected in black and white.
Other highlights are Debaser, Monkey Gone to Heaven, and Hey.
I very much dislike the screaming parts of Tame, but they are only a small slice of the album.
It’s nice that my friend, J, and I get to bond a bit over this album 20 years after college. He got to tell me it’s about time, dumbass.
Billy Bragg
2/5
The Tracks Of My Tears was my favorite song. I’m a sucker for harmony, so I also enjoyed Hold The Fort. I do not care for the lead singer’s voice. I would prefer this album be turned off if it were on.
Anita Baker
3/5
I imagine this is an album that was played on many occasions in the late 1980s to signal it was time for sexy times. The slinky bass and emphatic saxophone layers say “Hey there, are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Ms. Baker’s mesmerizing vocals say “Yes, let’s get down.”
According to expert resource cosmopolitan magazine (2017), the average sex session lasts 19 minutes, including foreplay. Rapture clocks in at 38 minutes…plenty of time.
The Coral
4/5
This album is weird in the good way. I quite like the lead singer’s voice. Give me some bass-led songs with harmonies and I’m in!
Dreaming Of You is the highlight of the album for me. There are other good songs too like I Remember When, Shadows Fool, and Goodbye.
The lyrics do get a bit repetitive sometimes and the last track is a bit slow for my taste. It sorta feels like they ran out of steam at the end.
This album was on the original 1001 list and supposedly was removed by the 2018 edition. I guess we are working off the old list? I am thankful it was still generated for us.
The Police
3/5
This album is named Synchronicity and there are two songs also named Synchronicity. Which one is the “title track,” I or II? Both? Neither because they aren’t technically the same as the album title? This conundrum should be a clue that someone couldn’t make up their mind about this album. By the way when in doubt, trust the math…Synchronicity II > Synchronicity I for sure.
Every Breath You Take is worth a star all by itself.
WTF is going on in Mother?!? That is some strange shit.
The snare drum is fantastically off beat in King Of Pain. And that bookends this album for me. The offbeat characteristic is great in one case, yet completely perplexing in another. That’s how I feel about Synchronicity.
Fugazi
2/5
I don’t have much to say other than I don’t enjoy this album very much. The singing voices are tough to swallow, and I don’t find the music all that intriguing.
There is a guitar riff about 45 seconds into Two Beats Off that is decent. I do enjoy how Joe #1 starts out musically.
Why is Song #1 the 12th track? Why not first? Or why not name it Song #12? And while we’re on the number thing, why are Joe and Brendan #1s? Is their a second Joe or Brendan? I don’t see one. What’s the deal with that?
The Rolling Stones
5/5
I was once an avid listener, and am still a big fan of, classic rock. Surprisingly, I have never been a fan of The Rolling Stones who are commonly considered one of the top 2 or 3 classic rock acts. It’s not that I didn’t like them, but I tried an album or two of their’s a couple times and they just never clicked with me. In recent years, I’ve been on an electronic and alternative kick. So it’s refreshing to get some classic, classic rock today and give the Stones another shot.
Side note: I am fully expecting the Pretentious-Ass to comment on the bulge in Jagger’s pants on the album cover, including an in-depth analysis of what statement is being made and why the words “sticky fingers” lead you right to it.
The saxophone solo in Can’t You Hear Me Knocking is right on. And the sound of the guitar in the solo just after the saxophone is sublime.
And how about the bluesy, slide guitar on You Gotta Move? Mmmm hmmm, I’ll take a side order of that to go.
I’m also loving Bitch, especially the brass section. The whole song feels like I’m cruising down the highway, which means we’re going somewhere.
I have good things to say about pretty much every song on this album.
I’ve seen The Big Lebowski maaaaaannnnyyy times, and thus, I am an ardent fan of the soundtrack. So I was quite familiar with Dead Flowers, which I love. I did not realize however, that Dead Flowers is a Rolling Stones song. So I was quite pleased when it showed up on this album. I must say that having heard the Townes Van Zandt version so many times prior, I prefer it.
So I listened to the Stones version then the Van Zandt version … then the Stones version … then the Van Zandt version again. On the Stones version, Jagger is putting on some kind of American country accent that is, well awkward. From Van Zandt, the accent sounds authentic.
Then I busted out the GuitarTab app and found the chords. Within 30 minutes I was playing along with the Stones belting out “dead flowerssssss”. I used to “play” (more like fuck around with) guitar often a while back, and I don’t think I ever played a song along with the artist, let alone in 30 minutes. It was a 5 star experience for sure.
Soft Cell
2/5
The narrator of the first song, Frustration, is going through a hard core midlife crisis. If he were younger and alive now, he’d be a repeat subject on r/incel (Reddit). In this day and age, the narrator’s anger would be focused onto something else through social media by the likes of Steve Bannon. The lyrical misery continues into Radar Love about a relationship gone wrong.
I do appreciate the music on these two tracks, and several others due to the pioneering nature of the electronic instruments. Even so, the sound is very dated. So while I respect the ground breaking, the primitive electronic sound is a drag.
There are a couple awful songs on here with uninteresting music and unappealing vocals like: Sleezy City, Youth, and Secret Life. Sex Dwarf…I just don’t know what to say. I suppose kudos are in order for the song living up to the album title.
One total extra star for blazing the electronic trail and Radar Love.
3/5
There are some solid, rocking songs on here. I’m iffy on the vocals. Some tracks they are good while on other tracks not so much. I’m more in favor of the music.
Anthrax
3/5
Some nice guitar shredding.
Röyksopp
4/5
AppleMusic says this album is dance music. I disagree. I think it’s electronic music to somewhat turn your brain off and enjoy the mood. This album is Brian Eno (the airport one) to me, but actually interesting.
I listened several times, partly because I couldn’t get through the whole thing at once. I thoroughly enjoyed it more each time. A good find.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Fleetwood Mac is one of those bands that I’ve always been peripherally aware of but never really listened to. I have heard most of the songs on this album at one time or another.
This album is packed with good songs. The experience was as if the album tracks were each audience members and Oprah is on stage, “You are a hit song! You are a hit song! You are a hit song! Every track is a hit song!!!!!”
This album is a prime example of human beings’ ability to excel while drowning in dysfunction in their lives. The fact that this exemplary art was created with a divorce, an on-again-off-again strained relationship, and an extramarital affair going on is impressive. What is incredible is that most of the dysfunction was not elsewhere in their lives, but rather mostly amongst the artists in the studio. How does one even come into the studio to work with people you despise and create this? It’s likely that the dysfunction actually helped create some of the beauty on the album. The emotional compartmentalization required to do so is spectacular.
You know what else helped? Copious amounts of cocaine, reportedly. When the emotional toll was too much, cocaine helped dull the pain.
The ability of the band members to stand broadside into the hurricane of negative emotions and create this magnificent album is truly remarkable.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
This album is white rice. Bland.
Could I live off it for every meal? Technically yes, although likely with some severe vitamin deficiencies.
Would I ever choose it for my next meal? No, not unless there were a tasty main dish paired with it.
I know 1001 albums are a lot, but I cannot understand how this is on the list. I do not care for the lead singer’s voice. Even the Wikipedia page had nothing remarkable to offer. No ground breaking aspect to speak of.
Just plain white rice.
The Young Gods
1/5
No bueno.
Billy Bragg
4/5
An album of unused Woodie Guthrie lyrics put to music generated for us on Woodie Guthrie’s birthday? Yes please. A coincidence?
I appreciate that some of the music exudes country influences, which ties the songs back to Woodie even more.
On She Came Along To Me, Woodie writes, “But I’m sure the women are equal. And they may be ahead of the men.” Smart.
Walt Whitman’s Niece is my favorite song on the album. I enjoy the “I’m not telling you which…” structure to the lyrics.
This would be a good album to play while sitting around a campfire.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
I’m in to the house/club/trance-y music. It allows me to turn my brain off and just feel the groove. This is an a reputable example, not a shining star.
The Specials
2/5
Ska in 1979. Surprising, I thought it was a 90s thing. Kudos for that. I could leave the album though.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Now this is a brilliant concept album! An exquisitely executed emotional journey. I used to have the poster with a formation of marching hammers (the college years), which is still my favorite music poster. This album is a level above 5 stars, or at least the other 5 star albums so far. So going back to the fictitious 10 star system, this is a 10/10.
I love the echoing guitars on Another Brick In The Wall (Part 1). I prefer it to Part 2, mostly because Part 2 has been overplayed soooooo much. But the guitar solo in Part 2 is beautiful.
Call me crazy, but the guitar lick in Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), right after “Hey! Teacher! Leave them/us kids alone!” and before “All in all, you’re just a-nother brick in the wall,” sounds like it is borrowed right out of the Doobie Brothers’ guitar lick catalogue. I have thought this forever, and I can’t unhear it.
Mother lacks the theatrics of much of the rest of the album in a good way. It’s an intimate song, straight forward musically, with a window into the author’s mental anguish. “Mother, do you think they’ll like this song?” “Momma’s going to make all your nightmares come true.”
The lead guitar work on Comfortably Numb is inspirational.
Other songs that stand out: Goodbye Blue Sky, Young Lust, Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?, In The Flesh, Run Like Hell, and The Trial.
This is the first album to pop up where I already knew ahead of time it is a five star without a doubt. Too bad it didn’t arrive on a Friday.
Happy Mondays
2/5
This album highlights the British influence behind the 1001 list. The album is OK, but does not deserve 1001 recognition. It was the domestic commercial success for Happy Mondays, explaining why it’s on the list. It was rated as the 31st and 51 greatest British album by Q Magazine and Channel 4 viewers. I cannot understand these rankings. Entertainment Weekly was more reserved in giving it a C+ rating. That’s more like it but still too generous based on how little I like the lead singers voice.
Jane Weaver
3/5
On albumoftheyear.com this Jane Weaver album is #159/160 for 2017. So I’ve at least sampled it before. I didn’t download it then, and I’m not going to download it now. If someone else was playing it, I wouldn’t mind listening to it again.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
This album is a tweener for me.
First off, I like the Cubano style music. I like the instrumentation. It feels like a party.
The Spanish language barrier is not a deterrent for me. I’ve studied Español on/off, so I was excited to follow along with the lyrics. Not that I understood most of it, but a decent chunk I did.
Per tip from JKav, there are somewhat incongruent styles amongst the songs. Judging the album as a whole, it is a bit off putting. I liked the first half of the album more than the back half.
My 3 star bucket is widest of all, and this album bounced off the lower score rim and in.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1/5
The opening tracks, Uncomplicated, left me wondering what, exactly, is in whose eyes, Mr. Costello? I’m guessing it was a strobe light in the audience’s eyes to distract from the dearth of enjoyable aspects of this album. Sorry, but that’s how I feel. The album isn’t offensive to my ears, but I literally can’t name one aspect I like.
The music leaves a lot to be desired. It’s fairly bland and unremarkable.
Elvis’s voice isn’t great and it sounds like he adds extra artificial effects that don’t feel genuine (like extra vibrato on I Hope You Are Happy Now for instance and breaking his voice in Battered Old Bird). There are too many occasions where the music is in the background (because it’s generic), featuring his voice…and it’s just not good enough. Prime examples are I Want You and Blue Chair. There are plenty of others.
The most interesting part of this album is that Mr. Costello used an alter ego, Napoleon Dynamite, for some of the credits and somehow, it was not the inspiration for the 2000s cult classic movie. That’s the best I can do.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Joni’s voice is a 5/5 for sure, 10/5? It’s incredible really. Unfortunately the song writing is not getting it done for me. In a weird way, several of the songs rely on Joni’s voice too much. Songs where she’s riffing and there’s really no sense of structure or melody. Again her voice is phenomenal, so I can understand why this approach was taken. I want to rate this album higher for her voice alone, but I need more structure.
The two best songs on the album for me were Carey and California.
Orbital
2/5
This album sounds like it was quite advanced in 1993 for electronic music. However, now it sounds outdated. It’s OK, but something I would turn off if I had the choice.
Ray Price
2/5
It was rather refreshing to open the album with Ray telling me about the theme and background. It was almost like he was starting a talk at a conference. Unfortunately, this style of country just isn’t my thing.
Ray’s theme is dancing songs from their shows around the country. Well, they must have all been slow dances because the pace is sedated. This seems like ideal music for a lazy river ride in the Deep South.
Coldplay
4/5
Powerful melancholy is how I describe this album. Maybe the sad overtones were Chris Martin subconsciously foreshadowing Gweneth’s Goop foray into V-Steaming and jade eggs. Whatever led to this sound, it worked.
Musically, I find this album interesting. It is slow paced and beautiful. For instance, I love the bass line on Sparks.
Chris Martin’s voice fits perfectly with the sound too. When he goes falsetto on “they’re just spies” on Spies it really resonates with me. The same when he says “yellowww” on Yellow.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
Utter shite…
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
I like the distorted sound. The distortion reminds me a bit of The White Stripes. I can definitely hear the punk influences throughout. It’s enough punk mixed in with rock to pique my interest.
I really enjoy debut albums, as this is, because it gives me a sense of the foundation of a band’s sound. Often they are the culmination of years of a group scratching and clawing to get an album made. A lot of times debut albums are self produced or at least not overly produced by the big guns because the studio won’t invest the money yet. This all gives great insight into how a band thinks they want to, or should, sound.
When bands are successful and then more people get involved in the making of an album. Some times that results in a band’s sound evolving in a positive way from exposure to beneficial influences that keep the sound fresh and/or polish the rough edges in a professional way. Other times it can lead to a band’s foundational sound getting distorted, buffed out, and lost, which is a shame.
I am intrigued enough and am ready to listen to this album more and more Arctic Monkeys. I hope the future albums retain this raw, distorted, punk influenced, rock sound I’m enjoying.
Don McLean
3/5
The title track is legendary and for good reason. It’s Americana through and through. And even though I’ve heard the song a bazillion times, I still enjoy hearing the verses (the chorus is…well too familiar).
The rest of the album is OK. The overlayed vocal tracks on Babylon are pretty neat as is Till Tomorrow and the guitar part on Winterwood. Then some songs are just lacking…Crossroads and Sister Fatima being two. Everybody Loves Me, Baby sounds the most like American Pie than any other song on the album, but it’s also possibly my least favorite song of them all.
Patti Smith
5/5
Wow! This album really surprised me. Labeled punk rock, this is not what I thought of when punk rock comes up. I’m getting a musical education for sure, which makes this experience so valuable. Props to u/SidledsGunnar!
From the get go, Gloria is a blazing, fresh take on a classic. I’m down with the spoken word mixed with singing verses. The androgynous cover picture is a powerful statement contrary to how women in music are evaluated (today included let alone 1975), even though Patti downplayed it stating that’s just the way she dressed. From the subtle reggae beat on Redondo Beach, to the somber scenes of Birdland, to the dreaming hopes of Free Money, and the expansive Land, there is a lot to explore here.
This album is fantastic. This album is in the 4 or 5 range, and I’m relying on the historical significance, and my desire to continue listening, to push it over the line.
The Flaming Lips
2/5
Not much excited me about this album. It wasn’t awful either.
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
For some reason, Bongo Rock made me think of Fraggle Rock, a wonderful show from long ago with Jim Henson’s muppets. There were Fraggles, Doozers, Gorgs, and Silly Creatures.
The Doozers build, mostly scaffolding out of ground up radishes. Why? Because “architecture is meant to be enjoyed.” By enjoyed, they mean eaten by the Fraggles because that’s what Fraggles spend a lot of time doing. The Gorgs are the farmers and don’t like their radishes being taken. The Silly Creatures are humans.
Henson described the Fraggle Rock series as "a high-energy, raucous musical romp. It's a lot of silliness. It's wonderful." That pretty much sums up my take on Bongo Rock, except I liked Fraggle Rock more. I liked the fresh approach on this album and I’d listen to this album again, but I would not seek it out myself.
Turbonegro
2/5
When I saw this album was published by Scandinavian Leather Recordings and the cover art, I immediately assumed this was going to be a Finnish death metal band. Why?
Well, I’ve spent some time in the Finnish southwestern archipelago, riding speed boats, refusing nude sauna hang outs (a prude…I know), and detonating explosives at 10:45 pm in the most beautiful twilight (legal I assure you). And let me tell you, the Finnish people love death metal. In fact, Finland has the highest number of death metal bands per capita of any country. They love death metal so much that they got a bunch of my mates in to it. When the Finns would visit us, my mates got back stage access to some touring death metal bands, including the after parties too. It was a whole scene apparently.
Anyway, Turbonegro is Norwegian and not Finnish. This album is a borderline-ish rating for me, but ultimately falls short of 3 stars. At least it wasn’t death metal, which I really don’t care for.
Sepultura
1/5
This guys voice really grinds my gears. I dislike his whole schtick. It’s unfortunate because there are some real musical nuggets here, mostly in the guitar playing. When there is singing on this album, it is unbearable. I’m not impressed by the extremely fast double bass drumming either, which appears far too often.
I must say there are several riffs that got my head bobbing: Dead Embryonic Cells from about 1:05 remaining to 0:40 remaining, the first minute of Desperate Cry, parts of Altered State, and the beginning of Meaningless Movements.
The Teardrop Explodes
2/5
This is a generic 80s album for me. I just don’t get it being something I have to listen to.
Forget the music. What is going on with this album cover? The guy on the right is washed out with the bright light. The guy in front of him is leaning forward. Why? And is he grinning? I can’t tell because he is in dark shadows. The guy on the left is staring at us like he’s thinking, “yes you should be scared.” Why? Because he knows what the dude in the back is caressing. Is that a bag of some sort that he is caressing? What is in the bag? I don’t know, but it should scare all of us.
The above analysis was much more interesting than the music.
Blue Cheer
3/5
I like the sound here: bluesy and distorted. However, waaaay too much jamming.
The Smiths
2/5
My dislike of the Morrissey’s voice knocks this album down 1 star. In the song The Queen Is Dead, a character he wrote self-deprecatingly agrees, "Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing" If there were a strong lead singer instead, maybe it’s a 2 star drop. Unfortunate because I like the music.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
We already listened to Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness and this album is not as good. It’s less polished. More sloppy. For instance, the guitar solos in Quiet and Geek U.S.A. feel overindulgent.
I do like the rocking’ guitar on Geek U.S.A. Cherub Rock is good. As is Today. Then again, I could do without Mayonaise and Spaceboy. It’s a mixed bag for me.
Erykah Badu
2/5
I don’t have a lot to say that is negative about this album. I also don’t really have any tracks I’d seek out to hear again. Just meh.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
This album would be fine as background music, but there isn’t anything ground breaking here.
I did learn that Sinatra was 13.5 lb at birth! 13.5 lb and no c-section!!! He was an only child…I wonder why. They had to use forceps to get him out, which left permanent scars on his neck and eardrum damage. I’d say God bless his mother, but unfortunately she physically abused him as a youngster. Was it pay back for his uncomfortable world entrance?
The Byrds
2/5
Do you remember the middle school dance? You know when you had your first dance with someone else.
Where do you put your hands? Who leads…and what is leading anyway? You try to slowly move in a circle while your partner tries the lady/right shuffle. You step on each other’s toes. Oops…sorry.
Do you stare them in the eyes? Do you look at other people dancing to try and figure out what to do? Do you put your head on their shoulder?
How much space do you leave between you? A bible’s width? Or are you pressed up against each other?
Everyone in this experience is doing something they want to and are excited to experience. Yet it takes two to tango, and the dance is out of synch because you don’t know how to dance with a partner … it’s a bit awkward.
That’s this album for me. The various parts are enjoyable…at times anyway. But I swear none of them are NSYNC (get it? in synch). It’s awkward. They needed tighter arrangements and a conductor.
Motörhead
2/5
I don’t like the guy’s voice, and the recording sounds very amateur. There is some enjoyable guitar work here, quite a bit more than I expected. But still, I never need to hear this again.
Dr. Dre
5/5
“This should be played at high volume. Preferably in a residential area.”
Right on.
I listened to this album many times as a youngster and thoroughly enjoyed it. However after listening again today, I realize that I used to skip a bunch of tracks. For instance, I don’t recognize Lil’ Ghetto Boy, A N**** With A Gun, nor Stranded on Death Row.
But oh my are there some great tracks here. F**k Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’), Let Me Ride, and Nuthin’ But A G Thang are the standouts. The beats sound a bit outdated, but fresh enough to still get by.
Nuthin’ But A G Thang is the best of them all. I listened to this over and over again on my Koss stereo writing down the lyrics a couple of words at a time until I had the whole thing. Where was AppleMusic with the live streaming lyrics???
The skits were also enjoyable, especially The $20 Sack Pyramid. I still like that one just as much as 30 years ago.
Songs I like even though they aren’t the cream of the crop: Lil’ Ghetto Boy, Lyrical G******g, and The Roach (The Chronic Outro).
In the 90s, this was definitely a five star album. If I were hearing this for the first time today, probably four stars due to the filler tracks. But I have too much history with The Chronic to not put it in my top tier.
Green Day
4/5
One of the small things I appreciate about Green Day is their ability to blend the end of one song into the beginning of the next (Jink to Haushinka anyone). Being that Jesus of Suburbia and Homecoming are each 5 songs in one, they do it several times in a row. It really is an underrated skill.
St. Jimmy sounds alot like their early 90s stuff: fast and hard yet accessible.
Give Me Novacaine is part the old sound (chorus) and something I can’t quite put my finger on (verses). My oh my the verses sound like a dreamy 50s song.
I’m in between on this album. I really like it, but I don’t love it yet. I would like to keep listening.
Goldie
4/5
It was a day at work today, but you know what is great for cranking through the inbox? This album. Put it on, let the drum and bass set the groove, and zone into what needs to get done. This is adult adderall.
I put it on when driving to lunch, and it wasn’t so interesting. But that’s not the point. This is an album with a specific purpose. And when heard through that acoustic lens (it’s a thing…and it sounds cool), this album deserves recognition.
Primal Scream
2/5
When I saw Primal Scream, I thought some death metal was coming. Luckily no. However, this album wasn’t much better to me. I didn’t run to turn this off like I would with death metal, but I did listen to a couple minutes and skipped the rest of most tracks. Medication was the one highlight for me.
The White Stripes
3/5
The White Stripes are the one band who’s catalogue I explored after hearing another album on this list (Elephant) and giving it a 5. I’m so I’ve listened to this album recently, liked it, and downloaded it.
I still like the distorted, bluesy, garage guitar sound. But I’m just not feeling it right now.
The album feels disjointed. There’s some really good songs here, but there’s also some not so good like Little Room.
I had no idea that Jack White wrote We Are Going to be Friends. I am familiar with the Jack Johnson version and I thought he wrote it. Good song.
Maybe I’m tired, maybe I’m distracted by looping CHV4 all weekend, or maybe it’s just not as good as I remembered. I’m not deleting it from my library yet, but I might after a future listen.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
CSNY are a super group I get behind. I saw these guys in April 2000, and they put on a 3.5 hour show! Impressive for a bunch of guys in their mid to upper 50s. I can’t find the specific set list, but the average set for that tour was 30 songs (includes 2 encores). That’s a lot of entertainment for $40.
This album is loaded with great songs! It’s starts off with one of my CSNY favorites, Carry On. I love the opening, pressing guitar part and the break of styles halfway through.
Our house is a beautiful song born out of one of life’s ordinary moments when Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell bought a vase one day. There’s even a song about a hippie almost cutting his hair.
Unfortunately track 9 is a stinker and track 10 is just OK. For all I care this album stops after track 8. And fuck are they an incredible 8 tracks!
It’s interesting to me that almost every song on this album was written by one member alone and not in collaboration. The final product is cohesive and seamlessly blends their instrumentals and voices together. It’s hard to believe they didn’t write together. In order of preference, I like the songs by Stills the most (Carry On and 4+ 20), then Nash (Our House and Teach Your Children), Crosby (Déjà Vu and Almost Cut My Hair), and Young (Helpless and Country Girl). Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock is quite good too. Young and Stills both wrote the closer, Everybody I Love You.
Radiohead
3/5
This is one of the toughest ratings for me yet. It took me a while to sort this album out in my head. I’d be listening and really liking some parts and then other times I’d pay close attention and not really be wowed.
I had to listen to Kid A to get my bearings on The Bends because I’m more familiar with that album. Needless to say I like Kid A better. More on Kid A later when it comes up.
One side note worth a paragraph. Listening to The Bends and Kid A back to back, there is a stark change in style. For the band to master such different sounds (I recognize folks consider this a masterpiece) speaks to Radiohead’s talent and range as musicians. Very impressive.
One consistent thing I think elevates this album throughout is when Thom Yorke goes falsetto. I love that.
This is one where the automated tennis video replay system would have to super zoom on top of the zoomed in view. I resorted to a yay, nay, or ok rating for each song, which guided me home. In the end, this album just didn’t quite tickle my fancy enough for the next highest rating…by the slimmest of margins.
YAY
Planet Telex
High and Dry
My Iron Lung
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
NAY (Not as in don’t like but rather, meh)
The Bends
Bones
Bullet Proof…I Wish I Was
OK
Fake Plastic Trees
(Nice Dream)
Just
Black Star
Sulk
Megadeth
2/5
Ultimately there are two Achilles heals for this album: 1) the lead singer’s voice is not great and most importantly 2) the musical arrangements are undisciplined.
It’s very clear that there is ample musical talent here: thumping bass lines and shredding guitars abound. As I’ve complained for enough times in these first 95 albums, Megadeth (like the others) does not know when to rein it in. Far too many times they try to cram as many musical notes in as possible without realizing less is more. Some of these guitar riffs are great…head bang all day and bounce around in the pit. Hell yeah!
But the lead guitar is over indulgent…ALOT. It’s the opposite of gluttonous actually…instead of consuming too much, a plethora is produced. If only Megadeth would have known that a 4 oz filet mignon with a side of mashed potatoes is vastly more appealing than the unlimited trips to the Golden Corral buffet they gave us.
It’s a pity really. A seasoned producer should have told them to dial it back a thousand notches. A magnificent album could have resulted. Additionally, the lead singer alone knocks them down a 🌟 .
Al Green
2/5
I like the title track quite a lot. The rest I am completely indifferent to…meh.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
There’s a lot I like on this album. I like the songs. I even like most of the jamming believe it or not, but it gets out of control near the end of the album.
Caetano Veloso
2/5
This album is pleasant enough due to its “tropicalismo” musical instrumentation. However, the arrangements are disjointed at times and of course, I don’t know Portuguese. So I would rather listen to something else.
Gene Clark
2/5
I really don’t understand why this is something I need to hear. Like Caetano Veloso yesterday, the sound is pleasant enough. The main difference is that I know English. Also, I don’t get very much emotion from these songs. I would still rather listen to something else.
Bonus: AppleMusic has an extended version with Stand by Me, which I usually enjoy. This cover I do not like.
Nick Drake
4/5
I like Nick Drake’s guitar playing style. I dig his voice.
Three Hours might be my favorite song on this album. Man In A Shed is nice little jazzy lounge number.
Way to Blue could go. It uses strings only I think. And this track is where I realized I’m attracted to the finger picking folk guitar on many of the other songs.
Aerosmith
2/5
This album is full of thoroughly mediocre rock music. It’s fine as the background music in a main street Nashville club. There is some good guitar work on here, but I expected more from early Aerosmith.
Screaming Trees
2/5
At times the singer’s voice annoyed me (Halo of Ashes). On other songs (Look At You, Traveler) it is OK.
I don’t hear anything noteworthy on this album other than the sitar. I powered through, but next time I hear it I’m turning this album off.
Television
5/5
Thank you Television for not letting Brian Eno ruin this album!!! They recorded demos of several of the songs and didn’t like Eno’s production. So the band waited for a better suited recording arrangement.
I’ve had this album in my library for a long time, and I’ve gone through spurts of repeated listening. I love the guitar work on this album. The twinkling
diddle-liddle-liddle-liddle-luh
throughout Marquee Moon (song) is a great hook. And the little, repeated licks that go against the grain in several songs, which I found out are called countermelodies, are exquisite. The bass deserves recognition too, like on Elevation and Prove It for instance where it carries the melody at times.
Listening to Marquee Moon (song) more closely now, I find it to be an unappreciated master piece. The repeated premature truncation of the chorus on Elevation is unsettling, but in a way I truly appreciate.
Have you ever had a conversation with someone about what era you’d want to go back to for the music? Reading more about Television’s history, 1975 at CBGB in Manhattan is now on my list of potential answers. That year, Television shared a residence at the CBGB with Patti Smith when she had just recorded her album Horses. Oh what a time and place to be!
Suzanne Vega
1/5
I was listening to Suzanne Vega and I fell asleep. Did I miss anything?
No.
Ms. Vega’s vocal style is a mix of spoken word and singing, and it doesn’t work for me. It’s like she knows she doesn’t sing that well, but still tries to make her spoken word sound singing-ish.
And how is there only one Suzanne Vega album on this list and it’s not the one with Tom’s Diner? WTF?
George Michael
3/5
Another rollercoaster album! Faith and Father Figure are really good. I thoroughly enjoyed One More Try as well. Most of the other songs not so much.
This is a solid 80s album. Not my particular cup of tea, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I like about half the tracks.
Tom Waits
2/5
I’ve never watched The Walking Dead. Shocker I know. So I don’t know where the zombies live. In my head they live underground, kind of like trolls.
If there were a club for the zombies in this underground world I imagine, I also imagine it looks like a club I went to in the French Quarter one time. The Dungeon was a place that did not open until midnight. All the walls were covered in bones…fake ones…I’m pretty sure.
To get to the bathroom, you had to go through a hidden bookcase (?) door that led to a geometrically awkward hallway. There were also stairs up to a sitting area that was a half a floor up. However, there was also a ladder built in to the side of the bone wall the stairs were on so you could climb the ladder or take the stairs. Trust me it sounds even weirder to me as I unpack this memory.
Anyway, this album sounds like the house band for The Dungeon if it were a club in my underground zombie world. Tom Waits’s voice is haunting as is the music. Tom Waits sounds like he’s already dead and his voice reminds me of the last 20 years of Bob Dylan. It’s like decades on the road, partying hard is bad for your voice. Tom Waits’s voice is terrible, but strangely it works at times here.
There are nuggets of interest. I like Earth Died Screaming and Jesus Gonna Be Here. I appreciate the unique percussion used throughout. However, a lot of the album is borderline unbearable.
Aphex Twin
4/5
I put this album on the big speakers in the other room while I worked on Friday. It was great background sound whilst I plugged away.
It’s now Sunday night and I was prepared to mail in my *** rating. However, I decided to listen and skip around one last time before moving on to the next album on the list. Surprisingly, I did more listening than skipping. The beats are varied, present, but not in your face.
I’ve dabbled in electronic/ambient/trance music before. I am quite impressed this came out in 1992. 1992 blows my mind because a lot of it sounds current and innovative for today.
The Cardigans
5/5
What a great way to start the week! Reminds me of driving home from uni and popping this cassette (I’m old!), that I borrowed from my roommate, in for a 5 hour drive. It’s a pop album, but not of the over manufactured variety.
The music has a quality that I can’t quite pin down. There is a a lot more depth, and a uniqueness, that stands out from typical pop music.
There are a lot of lyrics dealing with relationships, including: dating a man-child celebrity (Been It), being a commitmentphobe (Heartbreaker), being smitten for an upcoming date (Happy Meal II), being a doormat (Step On Me), and lack of self worth with a side of desperation (Lovefool).
Then of course, there is the cover of Black Sabbath’s Iron Man. The two main songwriters were previously in metal bands. Thus, Black Sabbath were a big influence. The juxtaposition of Black Sabbath’s metal sound with the consumable, pop sound of The Cardigans always fascinates me. In fact, they covered several Sabbath songs throughout the years and referenced their lyrics in other non-covers (Heartbreaker).
This album is fantastic, but I actually prefer their preceding album Life, which is not on the 1001 list. Too bad because it is awesome too!
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
JAY Z
5/5
There aren’t any fancy beats on this album and it works well. The beats set the mood but otherwise stay out of the way of Jay-Z’s lyrical flow. Jay-Z’s style feels almost conversational. I appreciate that he doesn’t necessarily rhyme each verse.
I admire the reverence he pays to those that took care of him growing up on Blueprint (Momma Loves Me). The distorted beats on Takeover are well placed to get my head bobbing.
While I like Eminem’s appearance on Renegade is good on its own, it doesn’t really fit sonically with the rest of the album. I also recognize the Izzo (H.O.V.A.) line “Can’t leave rap alone, the game needs me” from its inclusion on Eminem’s Business from his album The Eminem Show.
This is an album I will be listening to more in the near future.
Jurassic 5
5/5
Back-to-back days of excellent hip hop (Jay-Z)…what a treat!
The flow at the end of A Day At The Races is incredible! And the flow there is only slightly better than the rest of the song, meaning the level is high throughout. The flow is really good throughout the whole album too.
I am captivated by Charli 2na’s deep voice. It is divine. I think if he read terms of service agreements, I would actually know to what I’m agreeing.
I echo jkav’s note on the positivity in the lyrics being refreshing. This is a great find and I will be listening on a regular basis.
One nitpick: Acetate Prophets is kind of weird. It can go.
Santana
3/5
This album makes me think of work, specifically those people that excel in one particular aspect of their job and have no interest in working on their weaknesses, being well rounded, and becoming truly exceptional. In many cases they don’t really have weaknesses because they rise above in anything they put effort into. Their only weakness is the lack of drive to become more.
They just want to work on what they enjoy and dig in as deep as they can. On one hand, there is something to be admired about someone knowing, and sticking to, what they like. On the other hand, the main takeaway for me is lost potential.
Like what if Elton John had just said fuck it, I am a piano wizard and I don’t need lyrics. What if he never paired up with Bernie Taupin? I would probably not care much for Elton John’s music catalogue, and I don’t think we’d be calling him Sir.
Santana’s lead guitar work is top notch. It’s beautiful. The Latin instrumental stuff (conga, timbales, etc.) is good, don’t get me wrong. However, there is just too much instrumental on its own.
This is not all to say that instrumental albums can’t be interesting. They can be interesting, but they usually serve a specific mood, and the artist must commit to being an instrumentalist. Abraxas can’t decide if it’s a rock album or an instrumental album. That’s a problem.
There are only 5 (of 9) songs with lyrics, and two of them repeat the same line or two the whole song. This leaves just 3 songs that are stimulating lyrically, which is the Achilles heal for this album.
I am most pleased to have been introduced to Mother’s Daughter, which is the standout song for me on this album.
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
I had not heard of Teenage Fanclub until now. 1991’s album of the year over Nevemind? Come on Spin magazine, that’s atrocious. I’m not saying this album is atrocious. The album is OK.
And the record company paid off Kiss’s Gene Simmons because he trademarked a bag with the $ on it? That’s stupid.
These are my two takeaways from this album.
Elliott Smith
3/5
This album is fine. Enjoyable enough. I don’t find anything particularly noteworthy here. Elliott’s voice is fine too. Nothing spectacular.
The Pogues
2/5
This album is best enjoyed when performed live in an Irish pub. I am not in an Irish pub currently, so please turn it off.
Haircut 100
2/5
Q-Tip
4/5
Another nice discovery from this experiment. Q-Tip’s lyrical flow is impressive. The lyrics are plentiful and refreshing in their lack of overt misogyny and violence typical of many hip hop albums.
The sample in Won’t Trade is on point.
There is something missing that I can’t quite point out. There are several times where the album falls flat for me, like the beginning of Dance On Glass and all of Shaka.
There is a lot more to like here though. I look forward to circling back to Q-Tip.
Elton John
3/5
I used to be somewhat of a Fuel (1990s - 2000s rock band) super fan. I went to their album release party for Something Like Human which started at midnight in Harrisburg just to give you an idea.
Fuel’s most popular single, Hemorrhage (In My Hands), uses the line “love lies bleeding” several times, which happens to be half the title to the opening track here. I believe this is not a coincidence because Fuel used to cover Daniel quite a bit. So I know they have a thing for Elton John.
Unfortunately, I love Fuel way more than the opening song, which feels like Elton’s attempt at an epic rock song a la Dylan’s Desolation Row, The Doors’ The End, or Pink Floyd’s Sine On You Crazy Diamond. Those examples are masterpieces while Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding feels aimlessly over indulgent.
There are some obvious classics here: Candle In The Wind, Bennie And The Jets, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting. I had heard all those before, knowing the greatest hits. Jamaica Jerk-Off is just weirdly out of place. All the rest of the songs are nice enough, but nothing I feel like I’ve been missing.
It’s tough for a 76 minute album to carry excellence from beginning to end, especially having put out another album several months prior and another the next year. If Sir Elton had cut this down to a 40 minute album, I think he would have had something truly special. I’ll stick to the greatest hits.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I’m renaming this album Sympathy For The Devil + Mediocrity. After the opening track, I found nothing remarkable.
To put this is context, mediocre Rolling Stones songs are still an easy listening experience. I like the bluesy overtones in general. The rhythm guitar and the slide guitar do not sound synched up in No Expectations. And the high pitched singing voice in Dear Doctor is odd.
Bee Gees
2/5
I feel sorry for pop fans in 1969 because this album is boring. I was expecting to dance. Not offensive, but zzzzzzzzzzzz…
Gotan Project
2/5
There is some interesting stuff here, but not enough excitement.
The Smiths
2/5
My conclusion here is the same as it was for The Queen Is Dead. I like the music. I dislike Morrisey’s voice. His voice is a 1.5 star deduction.
Herbie Hancock
3/5
I wish this album stopped after 2 tracks.
Chameleon started off strong. I feel the FUNK!
Watermelon man is weird…good weird.
And then we get to Sly. Sly is all over the place…bad all over the place.
Vein Melter bored me to death…bad boredom.
I’m stuck at a 2.5 here. I’m putting a priority on the innovation in the first two tracks.
Miriam Makeba
4/5
I’m breaking my mold here. Even though I will not be adding this album to my library, it is something worth hearing for all.
The biggest reason I won’t be adding it is the language barrier, which is my limitation. But then again, these are my ratings, so the built in limitation is a necessary condition.
Miriam Makeba’s angelic voice is one to remember. Her vibrato is majestic. The album sounds like it could be current or from 1960…timeless. The music is light and feels effortless, like floating from cloud to cloud in Super Mario WII.
The House of the Rising Sun cover is divine, and I will be adding it to a playlist.
Missy Elliott
2/5
This album is very disappointing. I do not understand what is so worthy of hearing. There really aren’t any memorable hooks. Missy’s vocals are way too laid back to be interesting. It almost sounds at times as if she’s disinterested. There’s just not a lot to work with here.
Finley Quaye
3/5
While I don’t find the music particularly engaging, I do like the reggae voice. I like it even more that it’s not paired with stereotypical reggae beats. I would definitely listen to this again if someone else puts it on.
Blur
2/5
I heard Song 2 a bunch in college. I’m pretty sure until today it’s the only Blur song I’ve ever heard. I now know why it’s called Song 2, which shouldn’t have been tough to figure if I had thought about it.
There really isn’t much else exciting on here other than On Your Own.
Apparently the band changed musical styles somewhat on this album and became “more aggressive.” There is not very much aggressive about this album to me.
The ambling Essex Dogs is almost interesting except for the spoken word delivery (boring!) and being way too long.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
There are several songs on here that I know and enjoy a bunch. I do find it odd that Simon and Garfunkel took writing credit for Scarborough Fair, a centuries olde English tune. A little bit of respect lost here.
Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall is a song I really like that I hadn’t heard before. Same with the offbeat A Simple Desultory Phillipic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission) where the music is driven by the distorted guitar and (credit to Wikipedia for pointing it out) Paul Simon puts on a Bob Dylan affect.
I hadn’t heard the Silent Night / news reel before either. It is a brilliant juxtaposition of a warm, fuzzy Christmas tune and deeply unsettling 1966 current events.
There is quite a bit more anti-war sentiment than I ever remember noticing from Simon and Garfunkel before.
This album has a lot of good content, but I like many of the later, more mature versions of the songs better. The bones are here. I appreciate them. But it’s not quite tip top.
Public Enemy
3/5
The social commentary is the real star of this album. Public Enemy muses on the plight of black Americans like: feeling less than marginalized (911 Is A Joke), mistreatment of women (Revolutionary Generation ), and being stigmatized (Who Stole The Soul).
There are also several songs with positive messages like: black men should help each other out (Brothers Gonna Work It Out), interracial relationships are acceptable (Pollywanacraka), and black pride (Fight The Power).
Musically however, there isn’t much to point to on this album. The vocalists are not great. I get that it’s hip hop, but their voices are not good even with the style being more spoken word than singing.
The music screams early 90s, and that’s not a compliment here. The sound is dated. There aren’t any terribly interesting hooks, samples, nor beats.
This rating is based solely on the apt social exposition. I remember that Public Enemy pissed off a bunch of the white establishment. Of course the white establishment twisted the focus onto the “vulgarity” of the music by doing some of the very things Public Enemy was protesting against on this album. Unfortunately, too much of the message is still relevant today.
Waylon Jennings
3/5
Easy enough to have on in the background. Waylon has a good voice.
There are a couple boring numbers such as Ride Me Down Easy and We Had It All.
Johnny Cash
4/5
This album defines outlaw country for me. Johnny Cash is known for being a hardened badass, and I think it traces back to this album.
He doesn’t just come off as tough, but rather he seems to take it a step further. It feels as if he is firmly Team Inmate. Of course inmates are people too, and deserve to be treated as such.
I admire that he played Greystone Chapel, a song written by inmate Glen Sherley. The song is good regardless who wrote it, but Cash including it shows another side of an inmate capable of something positive.
I had not realized that Shel Silverstein wrote 25 Minutes To Go, which fits with both his humor and Johnny Cash’s empathetic embrace of the outlaw inmates.
A couple song highlights for me are Jackson, Folsom Prison Blues, and I Still Miss Someone. My one negative is that there are too many slow songs on the whole. I enjoy the slow songs individually, but overall it’s too much.
Bon Jovi
3/5
My doctor diagnosed me with a rare form of amnesia where I can’t recall the existence of 80s bands …
…there is no Cure
I totally stole that joke from Reddit. But the strange coincidence is that right before I read it (!), I was telling myself that I’m just not into 80s hair metal bands. Like literally 10 seconds before I saw this joke.
The guitar part on Raise Your Hands reminds me of Ozzy Ozzybourne.
There are some all timer songs on this album that I would scream lyrics to if I were out at a bar. I’ve stood on bar benches and emphatically rocked out to Livin’ On A Prayer. It’s a great song for that situation, but I just don’t care if I ever hear it again.
Same story with You Give Love A Bad Name and Wanted Dead Or Alive, which is probably my favorite song on the album.
To be more specific, I have 80s hair band amnesia. I respect the album, but it’s just not my thing.
Rod Stewart
3/5
I listened to this album a couple times and I’d be happy to hear it again although I’m not going to seek it out. Rod Stewart has a unique voice with all his raspiness. I dig it.
I found out that Rod Stewart had 15 albums in a 20 year period (1969-1988) with no gap greater than 2 years. Even though he’s not “my guy,” that’s impressively consistent production.
Roxy Music
2/5
Some of this album is fine. I really enjoyed If It Takes All Night.
And then there is Bitter Sweet, which is borderline unlistenable especially so during the German verses.
In general, the album just feels like there is an attempt to be too artsy with too many influences.
The Only Ones
2/5
The voice sets the ceiling here and we’re on John Malkovich’s 7 1/2 floor. I do like a quite a bit of the music like Lovers Of Today. Frankly if the lyrics disappeared I would like this more as an instrumental album.
Pavement
2/5
Two in a row! I just don’t like the vocals. The music is decent, although it’s feels off balance at times.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Sinatra makes great background music. This could be the ambiance at a dinner party, an art gallery, or a movie scene of a meeting of one of the 5 families where their rival busts in, springs a well planned trap, and guns them all down. And Frank, who is in on it, just continues to sing on stage through the whole assault. Once it’s over he and the rival mafia leader nod and wink at each other as if to say, “job well done.”
Thin Lizzy
3/5
There seems to be quite a controversy about how much of this album is actually from live recordings vs. in-studio overdubs. The producer, Tony Visconti, claimed 75% of the album was recorded in the studio and overdubbed while the band claims the opposite, that 75% was live. Who to believe?
Regardless, I’m totally rocking out to the guitars riffs from a lot of these songs like Massacre, Suicide, The Rocker, and many others. I should pay more attention to Thin Lizzy based on this album.
Does it matter how much of the album is live vs. in-studio overdub? I think so. I tend to believe the producer because I assume he know most about how the album was…you know…produced, but you never know. The answer is probably somewhere in between…50-50?
Some of the appeal of a live album is the presumable authenticity of the album actually being recorded live. That it was one take, one crowd reaction, a one-off symbiotic experience. Does that even exist?
I hadn’t considered how the live album sausage is made before. Aside from the in-studio overdubbing, Visconti also said Southbound was recorded from a sound check with the audience reaction was from another live song.
What is this Frankenstein shit? It’s difficult to know. Will live albums in the future just be the studio recording with AI dubbed crowd interaction? And while we’re at it, will the studio recording just be AI produced on its own at some point?
I don’t want to think about these things. I’d rather just enjoy the album that was laid down. When AI does take over the music industry, I know it won’t be the beginning of inauthenticity in its albums.
Album judged based on the music alone, which was an enjoyable experience. However, it’s a less enthusiastic 3 knowing it’s a Frankenstein production.
Charles Mingus
2/5
I’m of the opinion that improvisational music should be played, not listened to. That is all.
The Everly Brothers
2/5
Not a whole lot of excitement here. It’s OK. I would write more, but I defer to JKav’s review.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
This is an album I would listen to again. I like the organ which provides a unique sound. The title track is a bit much. If it were a live take, then maybe I could take all 17 minutes. But being a studio song, it feels too long. Still a good song overall.
Pulp
2/5
Music is underwhelming. Voice is not great. No thanks.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
There are some elite tracks on here: Little Wing, If a 6 Was 9, Castles Made of Sand, and Bold As Love. A 5 star bonanza of sorts.
The rest…mmm…a lot of filler. These other 9 songs drown out the elite and drag this album down to mediocrity.
Jazmine Sullivan
3/5
This album offers an interesting perspective on womens’ self worth, sexuality, and relationship power dynamics. Also interesting is the spelling “Heaux”. I’m always down for the Cajun version of words that rhyme with go (e.g., geaux).
I’m not really sure what to make of this album. Is it positive? Negative? Or just is?
I lean toward positive. There is some objectification present, similar to what is found in male r&b. However, women have taken over the narrative here. And there are certainly more favorably buoyant views of women than what I’d expect from a male lead.
In the end, I like the music, but it’s not really my thing and there are too many interludes for me.
The Stooges
4/5
I don’t know much about Iggy Pop. From what I had seen, I’ve always thought he was a stooge. Based on what? I don’t know really. The fact that he often has his shirt off while performing I guess?
After hearing this album and reading up on Iggy, I have a new found respect for his career. The sheer volume of other artists citing this album, Iggy, and The Stooges as major influences is impressive.
The album was originally mixed by David Bowie, who didn’t have a lot to work with. In what appears to go against many opinions, I much prefer Iggy’s 1997 remix of the album. Bowie’s mix is too clean and the volume fluctuations (e.g., Search and Destroy) are utterly distracting. Iggy’s remix is louder, more distorted, and at least one star’s worth more enjoyable.
They say this album is the genesis of punk or something like that, and I can understand that. The album is also referred to as proto-punk, which is a genre I lazily wondered (see The Saints’ Eternally Yours) if I had invented.
Yes the term proto-punk was already a thing. Here it is again, describing another album that I am pleasantly surprised I like.
808 State
4/5
This album is a great lesson on the importance of song selection and sequencing. I was linked to the US version Utd. State 90, which is significantly different than the UK version.
The US version is missing one forgettable track (The Fat Shadow) and it includes 5 additional tracks.
The UK version starts off with two of the weakest tracks (Magical Dream and Acodia) while the US version opens with one of the strongest (Pacific 202).
All 5 additional tracks on the US version (Boneyween, Kinky National, Cübik, Revenge of the Girlie Men, and State to State) elevate this album.
I’m rating the US version, which is at least a 1 star boost from the UK version.
The Cure
3/5
Sooooo, Robert Smith was depressed about being popular and turning 30 soon, and he wrote a dark and mysteriously depressing album …
… the result is quite intriguing. His voice ever so slightly turns me off though.
I now recognize that Chvrches’ How Not To Drown (featuring Robert Smith) is reminiscent of The Same Deep Water As You. TSDWAY is a 9+ minute foray into a mystical realm, as is much of this album. Normally I rail against songs this long, but in this case I think the length is not detrimental. The 9+ minutes just continues the mood, read despair.
I feel like I should be watching the Labyrinth. Listening to this album feels like a parallel way into Sarah’s (Jennifer Connelly) mind while she’s solving the Labyrinth trying to rescue Toby (dude named Toby) from the Goblin King Gareth (Bowie).
A lot of despair. A little hope. More anguish.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
A fantastic achievement for jazz. I gotta admire a groundbreaking album, which is clearly good, that the record company didn’t want to make and contemporary jazz critics panned. What did they know? Nothing…that bunch of traditionalists.
The offbeat time signatures are innovative, playful, and stand out. +1 star for not including a bunch of improvisational bullshit too. Way to keep it real. -1 star for no vocals.
It would make great background noise for a cocktail hour or fancy dinner. It’s probably over qualified for either of those scenarios, but I couldn’t see myself listening to it in many other scenarios due to the lack of vocals.
John Martyn
2/5
This album is all over the place. He mumbles so badly at times that I can’t tell what is being said. There are several instances where I dig what is going on. Overall, I’m turning this album off.
William Orbit
4/5
Ugh, this album isn’t on Apple Music. Damn them for not having obscure, non-charted electronic music. They have a bunch of his other albums…wtf? So I have to listen on YouTube, which is painful. First world problems.
I like the bass heavy beats throughout the album. This is the first album that got my house rattling with the surround sound system I got a couple months back.
The accompanying videos on YouTube are a trip. There are a lot of nature scenes. Also quite a bit of shaky camera work. I can’t tell if the videos add or detract from the music.
I’m not a fan of the Nine-Inch-Nails-esque electronic drum on Into the Paradise and A Hazy Shade of Random, but that’s not going to bring this album down.
There’s a lot of good shit here. An interesting find for sure. I’m starting to conclude that I’m into ambient music. Not all of it, no way (looking at you Brian Eno). But there is a subset that gets me going.
Cornershop
3/5
I dig the groove on Brimful of Asha, but my goodness the lyrics are repetitive. I also like Good Shit and Sleep on the Left Side.
Good to be on the Road Back Home is the highlight of the album when Paula Frazer is singing. Her voice just resonates pleasantly with me. I wish she were the lead singer on the whole album.
I like the mix of electronica in with the rest of the instruments. The sitar is a bit overpowering and changes the feel of the album completely when present.
The Kinks
3/5
It’s hard to reconcile this music with The Kinks having a reputation for being rowdy, which lead to them being banned from touring in the US for 4 years.
The drummer hit one of the brothers Davies over the head with his hi-hat stand after Davies insulted him and kicked over his drum set mid-concert. Davies went unconscious and the drummer fled the scene fearing Davies was dead. Again, mid-concert.
This album contains highly consumable rock music. The juxtaposition with the story above is stark.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with the music, but it feels a bit sterile. I want some knock you over the head grit.
Pretenders
3/5
This album surprised me. It’s an interesting mix of styles: a little pop and a little punky. I like the album enough to listen again, but not enough to bring it into my musicsphere and call it my own.
SAULT
3/5
I like the stripped down music. There isn’t too much complicated, and I think that’s a benefit considering the music alone.
The lyrics however, are another story. There is far too much repetition of the same line over and over again. And it’s not just one song. There are several.
When considered with the lyrics, the music isn’t interesting enough to hold this album up. It’s still something worth listening to though.
My real problem is the the 1001 list picked the wrong Sault album from 2020. I was very excited when I saw Sault come up because I thought it was Untitled (Rise), which was a pandemic discovery for me.
Untitled (Rise) was released several months after Untitled (Black Is) and it’s better. The repetitive lyrics are still present, but to a lesser degree. And the music has more layers, providing more interest.
The 1001 editors made a mistake, not in picking Sault, but in the 2020 album of their’s that they chose.
Van Morrison
4/5
It took 4 listens to figure out my thoughts on this album…
First, I love Van Morrison’s voice. I feel genuine emotion throughout. I can feel it in my gut when he lets loose. One minor complaint is that he mumbles at times.
I have no idea what most of the lyrics mean on a comprehensive level. They are “conceptual.” Whatever, it doesn’t bother me.
The musicians were damn good given that Van gave them no direction on what to play. They essentially jammed to figure out the music. Considering that, Van’s lyrical delivery has a bit of an improvisational feel at times that fits. The blown out brass section on The Way That Young Lovers Do is another minor complaint.
🙏🏼 1001 albums list. Thanks, never would have listened to this and I’m happy to continue listen.
Prince
3/5
Purple Rain (song) is a masterpiece. When Doves Cry makes me want to shake. I like Let’s Go Crazy. I Would Die for You is decent. The rest is mostly forgettable.
Wilco
2/5
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I bailed on the last song because it was bed time.
2/5
I’ll tell you what is rubbish, Suede. And being that Blur were somehow losing a competition with Suede is embarrassing, yet here we are.
Attention r/agedlikemilk: Blur’s Damon Albarn thought the popularity of grunge would soon fade. With a take like that, it’s no wonder that this album is also rubbish.
I find the music boring and the vocals too.
The Icarus Line
2/5
The album started off OK with Up Against the Wall Motherfucker. It’s not really my vibe but I could listen to it. Then came Spit On It, which was utterly horrific.
Luckily it wasn’t all down hill from there. A couple tracks are also OK like: Spike Island, Getting Bright at Night, and Big Sleep. Again, not really my thing but worth listening to once.
But there are also tracks like Meatmaker that make me want to turn this album off.
I do feel bad for the band that their label refused to promote the album at all and made them spend their own money for music video production.
In the end it’s a mix of ⭐️ to ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ songs.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
This album feels like I’m hanging out in Central Park listening to Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and their crew wax lyrical about life’s issues. Some dude could be playing the plastic bucket drums and someone else beat boxing and all would be right.
Who knew a great hip hop album could be made without curse words? Rhetorical question…a lot of people, but it’s refreshing.
I remember back to the Pretentious-Ass’s comment that Dr. Dre killed hip hop. And this is the type of album I assume P-A thought was killed.
I could use more musically to pique my interest. I know they stripped it down to focus on the lyrical message, which I get. However, I would personally be more into the lyrical message with some more layers to the music.
It would be nice if there were more hip hop around like this today. Maybe there is and I just need to search harder.
ZZ Top
3/5
When I first started working, I was on a project with a retirement age gentleman. The main thing I remember about him is that my coworker told me his daughter was the woman in the Legs video.
Well what did google pop up when I searched for “ZZ Top legs girl”? A 2013 nostalgic blog post by an 80s music video aficionado where he tracked down the Legs woman and sort of interviewed her. She remembered,
“I think the most memorable scene (although some would disagree, preferring the lingerie shot) was being placed by the biker up on the counter and spinning to kick off my boyfriend’s boss. In the process, by accident, just a peek of the crotch of my underwear showed. I was ahead of Sharon Stone. A true slip and never brought to my attention.”
https://www.noblemania.com/2013/07/the-girl-in-video-legs-1984-part-1-of-3.html?m=1
The guy tracked down and interviewed a number of lesser known 80s music video stars, like all five women from Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love. The site is a hoot for consumers of 80s MTV.
I watched the Legs video for the first time. All I can say is that special effects were poor in 1983, amazingly so.
ZZ Top are at their best when the guitars are driving things forcefully with a steady beat from the drummer. Songs like Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, and Bad Girl. It’s a bit boring otherwise.
Jerry Lee Lewis
4/5
Jerry Lee Lewis sounds like he was shot out of a cannon and didn’t stop for the whole show. Maybe that’s what he meant by Great Balls of Fire.
This album is full of energy. Of all the live albums we’ve heard, this would be right at the top. This live album actually makes me wish I were at the show.
10cc
2/5
The album started out fine with The Wall Street Shuffle. Then it fell off the cliff with the aptly named The Worst Band in the World. And it didn’t fully recover.
Succinctly, this album is weird. But that’s not the whole story. There are quite a few bits and pieces that are good. But it’s always wrapped in weirdness.
Prince
3/5
After getting all 3 Prince albums on the list, my conclusion is that I want to like Prince more than I actually do. He was innovative and talented. No doubt.
There are some songs I really enjoy, like 1999, Little Red Corvette, and Lady Cab Driver. But there is also shit like Something In The Water, which is bafflingly bad in comparison.
The The
2/5
Meh. The bass or synth bass was the best part.
Aimee Mann
2/5
The best part of this album is the opening of Could’ve Been Anyone. Unfortunately, it only lasted about 10 seconds.
Objectively, I think Ms. Mann has a good voice, but I just don’t like it. I think there are too many intonation changes.
Nirvana
4/5
This album is rough around the edges. Sure there are a couple polished classics like Heart Shaped Box. The cello in Dumb is a magnificent touch while All Apologies is a masterpiece to me. I can’t get enough of that song.
I’m quite fond of the rough edges too. The energy on Very Ape and Serve The Servants is intoxicating. And even Pennyroyal Tea, which was released as a single, kicks up the distortion.
The lowest parts are both Tourette’s and the screaming on Scentless Apprentice, which are hard on the ears. Fortunately, these are relatively minor passages of the album.
I used to have this album, but I only remembered the singles. I don’t think I appreciated the rawness back then as much as I do now. I’m glad to have rediscovered it on a deeper level.
OutKast
4/5
OutKast’s sound is distinct and instantly recognizable. Their flow and lyrical constructions are refreshing.
I could do without the misogyny and gangster-ish stuff (I didn’t keep track of the tracks), and I certainly would prefer not to hear CeeLo’s voice. But overall these feel like minor speed bumps.
I want to listen to more OutKast. I have Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, but I never really got into it. I guess I need to go back earlier in their catalogue.
Skunk Anansie
2/5
The opening to The Skank Heads is quite nice. The rest of the album…whatever. Some of the music is OK. I do not like the lead singer’s voice, and I can’t get past it.
Killing Joke
3/5
"Bass, lead, to tell the killing joke, we mean it man ! Total exploitation, no information, anonymity"
I’ve read this a bunch of times and I still don’t get it. But that doesn’t matter because Geordie Walker and Youth soon both joined and the band made an interesting album.
I dig the post-punk sound, especially the bass player. The guitars shred. I wish the instrumentals Bloodsport had words.
While this isn’t going in my library, I would like to listen again.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
My favorites on this album are Jamming (ironic because I rail against bands jamming), One Love/People Get Ready, and Three Little Birds. The rest of the album is listenable, but average to me. I prefer Survival to Exodus.
I can’t believe Bob Marley died from melanoma found under his toenail. Damn what a tough break. How the hell is one supposed to find that? Life’s a bitch sometimes.
Fiona Apple
4/5
This album starts out very strongly with 4 of the first 5 songs, Sleep to Dream, Shadowboxer, Criminal, and Slow Like Honey.
Her vocal delivery on Slow Like Honey is intoxicating and sounds likes the voice of a much more seasoned, mature singer.
There is only one song I don’t really like, The First Taste. Some of the songs drag on unnecessarily. Like Criminal for instance, it should have ended with over a minute remaining.
The final 4 songs are decent, but not as good as the opening half. All in all a solid debut.
Queen
3/5
The Go-Betweens
3/5
I like the laid back vibe of this album. Streets of Your Town is a highlight as it just sounds so pleasant. I like the songs when Amanda Brown’s violin contributes. The lead singers’ voices are fine for the most part, but it’s a bit off on Love Is a Sign.
Iggy Pop
3/5
This music is not a catalyst for Iggy’s voice like the proto-punk stylings of The Stooges nor his later albums, as confirmed by a sampling of Lust for Life. That’s not to say the music isn’t good. It just doesn’t pair well with Iggy.
Highlights include Sister Midnight, the future NIN sample on Nightclubbing, and the guitars at the end of China Girl.
This falls on the low end of ***.
Frank Ocean
4/5
Frank Ocean has a unique style that’s for sure. The consensus seems to be that there is no consensus to describe him. I’d go with lounge-y, amorphous hip hop.
It’s no surprise that Pyramids is my favorite track as it is upbeat with electronic elements.
Overall, the vibe is a tad too laid back for me. I’d like more of the Pyramids energy. However in the end, this is better than The Bends.
Various Artists
3/5
This is a really good Christmas album. There are fresh takes on some classics.
But I really don’t want a Christmas gift from Phil Spector. Even before the murder of Lana Clarkson, he was a POS according to his ex-wives, ex-girlfriends, and children.
Forgetting Phil Spector the person, I would not listen to this 11 months out of the year because, well, we need a break from Christmas. I’m happy to listen again in 11 months if somebody digs this up.
System Of A Down
1/5
Remember the stories about how some dude took angle dust, cut his skin off with a broken mirror, and fed it his dog? I’d rather do that, without the angel dust, than listen to this again.
Halfway through Mind, the words “Go away, go away” appear. I wish SoaD would have heeded their own words.
From the “r” rolling to the scream-o, this is a 13 song heaping pile of shit. I’m offended 1 star is the minimum. This album can properly fuck right off!
The Band
3/5
I’m disappointed. I really thought I would like this album more. I’ve dabbled in The Band before and liked them although now I realize it must have been mostly a greatest hits type deal.
I like Up On Cripple Creek a lot. The clavinet provides funky greatness reminiscent of Stevie Wonder. Jemima Surrender has some grit to it. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is a nice little ditty. Look Out Cleveland has some good energy.
The rest of the album is a bit boring, but pleasant enough.
An exciting aside to this album is that Martin Scorsese directed The Last Waltz. And that he was co-director for the Woodstock documentary.
When learning these nuggets is almost as exciting as the album itself, mediocrity, and thus disappointment, hath be upon me.
Faust
2/5
I like much of the music here, but oh my do the songs drone on and on. Cut what’s here down to 15 minutes max, and we can talk.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
There’s no doubt that Grace Slick’s vocals elevate a song. Marty Balin has a fine voice too, but Grace takes it to another world. They should have made her the primary lead vocalist.
White Rabbit and Somebody to Love definitely carry this album. But IMHO, there are plenty of other good songs here as well, like She Has Funny Cars. It’s a folk sound twisted and sharpened.
Kaukonen’s guitar feature, Embryonic Journey, is inspirational. It’s easy to hear why the band encouraged him to put it on the album.
In a historical rarity, the recorder sounds good…on Comin’ Back to Me and How Do You Feel. Comin’ Back to Me has a charming intimacy.
Jerry Garcia is credited as a “spiritual advisor”. WTH does that mean? He provided the LSD? Whatever his advisement method was, it worked.
Isaac Hayes
2/5
I think I can recognize this as a landmark soul album but what do I know. Even so, this is just another jam band album of a different genre. Too much talking and exploration. No thanks.
Isaac Hayes only wrote one of the four songs. One Woman tells us the other woman is making a man do wrong. Oh what a fucking cop out from the patriarchy! At least Hayes didn’t write that one, although he did chose to perform it.
This album is best when Hayes is actually singing. His voice is silky smooth. I like Walk On By and Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymystic much better than the last two tracks although the second half of By the Time I Get to Phoenix, when you know…he sings, is good too.
ABBA
4/5
Holy fucking shit The Visitors (song) is fantasmagoric! It’s so good, it almost ruined this album for me.
No joke. The rest of the album is a let down from this track and it skewed my overall opinion downward. I re-listened to the album starting from Head Over Heels (track 2) and then added The Visitors to the end. A marked improvement psychologically.
I totally understand why it’s the first track because it was the first thing one hears when playing the LP and people couldn’t skip around like we can today. They wanted to hook the listener from the get go.
I hearby officially petition the next re-release of this album (it would be the 5th release) to consist of the original album, starting from Head Over Heels, and put The Visitors last. What a fucking way to end an album!
The Visitors (song) reminds me of Goldfrapp’s Head First album, which by the way also kicks some major ass. Hellyeah!
The rest of the The Visitors (album) is solid, other than I Let the Music Speak, but not elite. On their own, tracks 2-9 would be borderline 3-4 star.
Thundercat
3/5
This album felt like a wild ride through another dimension. I appreciate it. The funky, bass heavy sound is like nothing else I’ve heard. Right away the Track featuring Kendrick Lamar, Walk On By, stood out, which is no surprise. It’s not exactly my thing, but I certainly wouldn’t mind taking this trip again.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Living for the City is the star of this album. Great song. The rest is up and down.
Common
3/5
Radiohead
4/5
Now this is a Radiohead album I can get behind.
The subdued opening of Exit Music (For a Film) is a great passage that sucks the listener in with an overall benefit of psychologically amplifying the more intricate portions of the album.
The computer voice on Fitter Happier is a well placed statement on mid-1990s technology. Computers are here…can do cool stuff… but primitive sounding.
The overall sound is experimental and ambitious. It’s rock. It’s acoustic. It’s electronica. It’s intimate. It’s loud and distorted. It’s even got a guest appearance by Stephen Hawking. In summary it’s wonderfully eclectic.
The last third of the album does feel like a downward trajectory musically for me, excepting No Surprises.
I feel like giving bonus points for Subterranean Homesick Aliens referencing my boy Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues. I’m also tempted to give an extra star because “The album initiated a stylistic shift in British rock away from Britpop . . .” (Wikipedia), which is a benefit to all. However, no bonus stars given.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
This album is a sequence of backing tracks. Something one finds on YouTube to practice lead guitar over. That’s a bit harsh as there is a little more than that here, but it’s not far off.
I was expecting a funktastic adventure. Instead I got a great album to put on at bed time.
Cocteau Twins
3/5
So the Cocteau Twins learned a thing or two between 1984’s disastrous Treasure and this album in 1990. I was not pleased when I saw the twins pop up again. However upon listening, Heaven or Las Vegas is decent.
The album unintentionally came on during my car ride this morning after listening all the way through yesterday. I didn’t turn it off. I’ll even say that I enjoyed hearing parts of it again.
The Cocteau Twins might be the most improved band of the 1980s.
Gang Of Four
4/5
I’ve previously discovered I like proto-punk and now I know that I also like post-punk. Gang of Four gets to stay.
Travis
2/5
The sound is softer rock to me. Fran Healy’s voice doesn’t work with the sound for the most part. Some lines his voice sounds good and then the next line it’s back to not quite working. I think his voice would work fine in a band with a heavier sound, but here it gets exposed on full display too often.
I think it also comes down to the register for the song because his voice works for Slide Show, pre-hidden track. But also the hidden track on Slide Show is a heavier sound which covers up the problems with his voice and it sounds fine.
As You Are has one of the most boring guitar solos I’ve ever heard. I think it got somewhat interesting later on but I had already forgotten what was happening.
Supposedly the band performed Why Does It Always Rain On Me? At the Glastonbury Festival and it started raining just as the first line was sung. Apparently this coincidence was all over the news the next day and significantly elevated Travis’s popularity. So much so that they headlined the Glastonbury Festival a couple years later.
First of all, Why Does It Always Rain On Me? is a good song. It’s one where Fran Healy’s voice works well for the whole song. I’d definitely enjoy this song on a playlist somewhere.
However, this story sounds too good to be true. It rains often in southwestern England. Why was this viewed as some sort of divine sign? Even if it’s true, a minor coincidence does not a good band make. If is it true, my takeaway is that musical popularity is too arbitrary.
Grateful Dead
5/5
The first time I heard Truckin’, it blew my mind. High school me was hooked. I’ve had my chips cashed…all-in…since then.
I love this album. It’s easily in my top 15, probably top 10. After several years pursuing psychedelic rock (read: jamming), The Grateful Dead got back to their blues and folk roots, with both American Beauty and it’s preceding album Workingman’s Dead, at the urging of David Crosby.
In an effort to save money on studio time, the band rehearsed more before recording, resulting in a more streamlined and well organized arrangement. The efforts paid off handsomely.
Truckin’ is still great after all these years and yes, the band did get setup and busted for pot in New Orleans.
Ripple is a special, special song. It’s a simplistic, yet profound song about finding your own path in life.
Friend of the Devil tells the tale of an outlaw trying to out run his mistakes and rueing them nightly. I can’t get enough of this song as well as Box of Rain, Sugar Magnolia, and Attics of My Life. The harmonies amongst Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh on Attics of My Life always get me. It’s beautiful stuff.
I’ll finish with the one blemish on American Beauty, Candyman. No doubt Candyman it is a let down. It’s not horrible, but just a filler track. The biggest knock is that it is also the longest track on the album.
BONUS!!!!!!!!!!
The band worked on their throw back sound and released Workingman’s Dead just 4.5 months before American Beauty. The songs that were done were released on Workingman’s Dead in June while those still in flux were saved for American Beauty in November. Effectively, these form a double album. Workingman’s Dead is not on the 1001 list. It deserves a review, so I’ll tack it on here.
The Grateful Dead, especially Jerry Garcia, we’re not confident about the sound of their voices. Crosby, Stills, and Nash to the rescue. CSN showed The Dead how to stack vocal tracks to blend and smooth out their voices. They didn’t get it quite right all the time on Workingman’s Dead as you can hear in High Time when they sing “high tiiimmmeee.” It’s harsh. They seem to have figured it out by American Beauty though.
Of all the tracks on both albums, Uncle John’s Band is my favorite. The harmony throughout is on point. When the chorus shifts to a cappella near the end, I get chills…every…single…time. The lead guitar chimes in here and there to provide apt, short, fill-in licks. Perfectly timed, not over done. And the percussionist adds some kind of ratchet sounding thing that is well-placed.
None of the other songs on Workingman’s Dead are as good as half the tracks on American Beauty, but they are all better than Candyman and Operator. I savor New Speedway Boogie, Easy Wind, Cumberland Blues, and really all 8 songs.
Jerry Garcia’s pedal steel guitar is fantastic throughout the album. It gives Workingman’s Dead a more bluegrass-y sound than American Beauty.
Overall the sound of both of these albums is reserved, not over ambitious (a good thing), and tight. These are not hallmarks of The Grateful Dead, who are mostly known for musical (aided by chemical) experimentation in an unstructured setting. It takes me back to albums like The White Stripes’s Elephant or xx by The xx. Those albums obviously have completely different sounds, but they share commonalities in their arrangement methods. Often times less is more, which applies here too.
And this is what frustrates me personally about The Grateful Dead’s musical choices. These two albums demonstrate their extreme talent. These two albums are accessible and soooo remarkable. I am certainly grateful they were made, but at the same time I am left wishing the band had pursued more albums like them.
2Pac
3/5
X-Ray Spex
3/5
This is the second album not on AppleMusic, but I did find in on YouTube. I’m stuck on the saxophone is this punk band. It is so unusual and still unexpected even on the last few tracks. It’s a refreshing addition to the Spex punk sound. I would listen to this again, but I probably won’t because I won’t think to search YouTube.
Fred Neil
3/5
A low end ***. I could listen to that album again, but that last song. Whew, it ambled sideways.
Seems like Fred had it tough in love. He was married several times, each ending in divorce after not very long. Then later on he accidentally ran over his girlfriend and killed her. Yikes!
The Lemonheads
3/5
When Evan and Juliana are singing together I perk up. There voices blend well (Drug Buddy).
Bit Part is good. Energy to write more depleted.
Cypress Hill
3/5
I recognize Cypress Hill’s unique style. The samples are on point as is B-Real’s nasally voice. The music holds up. The lyrics are another thing.
Paul Weller
3/5
This album was a pleasant surprise. I can imagine throwing this on with people over. It’s interesting enough to set a good mood. It’s not so in your face that it’ll drown out conversation.
Aerosmith
4/5
This album starts off like a roller coaster electromagnetically launched out of the start house. The guitars on Toys In The Attic (song) are engaging right from the get go.
Uncle Salty starts out a bit slow but then by the end I quite enjoyed it. The bluesy Big Ten Inch Record is a great cover, but I don’t think the lyrics are about an LP. Steven Tyler claims he said “cept on my big ten inch…” I definitely heard suck like everyone else.
Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion are all-time classics while You See Me Crying is a nice ballad with piano and backing orchestra.
Overall I really like 3 songs, like 3 songs, and enjoy, but am somewhat indifferent to, 3 songs.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Of all the Simon and Garfunkel albums, this is THE one. What a way to end the duo’s run! The title track just feels so intimate. They mix intimate with higher energy songs well.
Cecilia and The Boxer are two old favorites of mine to sing along to. There are several songs with which I was previously unfamiliar with good energy: Baby Driver, Keep The Customers Satisfied, and Bye Bye Love where the crowd clapping along takes it to another level.
Bill Evans Trio
2/5
I have no doubt this is a quality jazz album, but sheesh I nearly fell asleep. The very long bass solo in Solar is just too much for me to handle. I can’t take it. Not enough excitement. This is the background music at a cocktail hour not a concert for which I would want to pay money.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Growing up my cousin was obsessed with guitar and played in many bands, mostly blues. He introduced me to the blues and I’ve enjoyed the genre ever since.
With a fairly basic structure, blues music can sound the same. However, the blues are best distinguished by unique layers on top of the basic base.
Mannish Boy starts the album off with a bang. I especially love Johnny Winter screaming out in the background.
It’s obvious the band has played together a lot. They are seasoned and tight. The guitars, the piano, and the harmonica all offer engaging layers on the basic blues sound.
I’ll be coming back to this album again.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
I’m jealous of Tracy’s voice. It carries most of this album. I feel like her guitar mostly bland, and I could probably play it, but I will never be able to sing that well.
The lyrics are like an Ansel Adams photograph, painting a captivating scene. I can feel the strife in her scenery.
One nitpick is that the lyrics are repetitive sometimes although I suppose the messaging for a revolution does need to be concise.
Drive Like Jehu
2/5
-1.5 ⭐️ for Rick Froberg’s vocals. I’m sorry Rick because I think people who are fans of the music and the band like your style of vocal. The vocals just ruin this album for me, which is disappointing because I do like the music quite a bit.
Steely Dan
5/5
Insert this Steely Dan and let the pleasure take you away… This jazzy, soft rock always hits the spot…
What a great fucking album! Top 15 for sure. It’s hard to find a dozen albums I’d rather hear than this one.
Reelin’ In The Years and Do It Again are great songs, but Dirty Work is my favorite song on the album. In particular, I love the lyric, “like a castle in it’s corner in a medieval game…I foresee terrible trouble but I stay here just the same…” then the drums lead into the chorus…rat-tat-tat-tat…mmmmmm yeaaaaahhhhh
However after listening again today, I prefer side 2 over side 1. The screaming lead guitar on Reelin’ In The Years is classic while Fagen’s piano on Fire In The Hole is outta this world. The last three tracks all have something special too.
Interesting fact that I didn’t know before today is that Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were in a band with Chevy Chase before Steely Dan.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
This album feels incomplete. The parts feel disjointed too often. For a while I wasn’t even getting a funk vibe. It does show up around Sing A Simple Song. I think listening to Sex Machine would have the opposite of the implied effect. I find far too much of this album boring.
The Black Crowes
3/5
By the middle of the second song, I thought that this album is a good example of generic rock. The Black Crowes would make a great bar band. Maybe a weekend headliner at a music club on the main drag in Nashville.
The songs are nice enough, but I feel nothing from them, until Hard To Handle, Thick n’ Thin, and She Talks To Angels. Struttin’ Blues isn’t half bad either.
Next on Unsolved Mysteries…why did The Black Crowes wait until the second half of the album to do something interesting?
The bar band quip maybe was too harsh, but there is too much generic rock on this album to warrant further consideration.
Chicago
3/5
How the hell is Introduction 6:30? That’s not an introduction. It’s like a drunk uncle that ambled, swerved, and fell up the stairs on the way to give a suuuuuuper awkward wedding reception speech about how the bride’s ex was more liked by the family.
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? comes on and the cringe continues with the uncle adding that the ex is probably a better lay based on the vocals emanating from … and suddenly there are trumpets and the uncle loses his train of thought.
Amazingly the uncle gathers himself and tells an entirely coherent story about how deep love made him feel long ago when he met hit late wife and how he can tell the bride feels that feeling and he admires the groom for making her feel that way. Applause ensues.
“As I was walkin’ down the street one day…” that whole sound is fantastic! I love it.
This album is the ultimate rollercoaster. I really like parts. Then there is shit like Free Form Guitar or the last minute of Beginnings … non-directional wastes of time. It’s frustrating. Im all for mixing jazz instrumentation with rock … the trumpet, bone, and sax with guitars and drums is great. Unfortunately it also came with jazz’s drunk uncle.
This was a 4 sided, double LP. If this album were cut in half it could have been something truly amazing. Minus one star for each superfluous side.
5/5
Wow … just WOW!!!
I forgot how good this album is. And clearly I used to listen to it ALOT because it’s been at least a decade if not more since I’ve listened and I still remember most of the words.
This album is banger after banger. Unlike other albums, I don’t have a song that I don’t like or only think is average. I like every single song.
This has me rethinking my personal album rankings. I can’t believe I essentially left this album behind. It wasn’t even in my library. WTF??!!??
GREAT. FUCKING. ALBUM.
Frank Black
3/5
Hahaha I remember the Pong song from one of my college roommates playing it. Now I know from whence it came.
A double album is hard. Too many chances for a lapse or let down. There are ups and downs here. Franks’s voice isn’t great. It’s not terrible and works better here than it would with another artist’s music.
The music is quite interesting for most of this album. Frank has a unique, offbeat sound that intrigues. However, it’s not enough to pull this album up further.
Machito
4/5
This great upbeat, energetic jazz. I would love to here this again when I’m in the mood for jazz. I’m not in the mood for jazz very often, which I don’t want to hold against this album.
So I’m breaking my mood a bit. It’s a 3.5, but I’ll round up. I’m not putting it in my library, but I recognize the skill.
Gang Starr
3/5
I appreciate the lack of curse words in these songs. It’s refreshing to know hip hop can be done well without them. However, the beats are quite primitive and lead to a lack of excitement to hear this again.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Have you ever been on a major wooden rollercoaster? Compared to steel rollercoasters which dominate the scene, wooden coasters don’t go as high, they don’t have loops, there are no barrel rolls, and they don’t go as fast.
You know what wooden rollercoasters have that steel coasters never will? Grit! Wooden coasters have a distinct sound and feel as a rider. They rattle you around more.
This album feels like a wooden rollercoaster to me. It feels raw, unpolished, ambitious…and gritty.
Lou Reed’s voice fits this sound quite well. But I also contend that Nico’s voice elevates her songs to another plane. I’ve always been disappointed that Nico was only with The Velvet Underground for one album…really just four songs.
This album is remarkably distinct.
Against my better judgment, I’m going to give the 65 track super deluxe version a go because it has a bunch of Nico solo tracks and a disc full of live songs. Wish me well…
Orange Juice
2/5
This album sounds like the soundtrack to a 1980s nerds coming of age spoof film. I’ve never quite heard anything like this. It wasn’t overly offensive, but it certainly wasn’t good either. The only appeal, which is the slightest amount, is in observing how weird it could get.
Fishbone
2/5
This like a 10 year old when you ask what they want to be when they grow up: a doctor, a lawyer, a football star, the prime minister, a world class bowler, etc. You get it. When the 10 year old grows up, they learn that they need to focus their efforts on one profession, or at least one type.
This album needs to grow up. Is it alternative, pre-ska, metal, reggae, rock, etc.? Are they like Metallica, No Doubt, or Jesse and the Rippers?
Unfortunately, all of them a bit. Wikipedia calls it fusion. I call it immature. There are some enjoyable passages, but far too many misses.
Kelela
3/5
This blend of R&B with electronica is a great concept. The execution is a bit off though. Too often it feels like the music is like a blanket shielding Kelela from the listener. I feel like she is muffled at times, and I don’t like it.
Supertramp
3/5
I’m struggling to put my thoughts into words. It’s a 3. Some parts are worth coming back to…you’re bloody well right! Other parts feel like they were trying too hard be be theatric.
The Band
3/5
I could copy/paste my review from The Band (album). Overall feeling of disappointment. I thought I would like it more.
The Band (band) covers a couple songs I like, Long Black Veil and I Shall Be Released, and I don’t like them. The falsetto on ISBR is off putting. Overall the sound is just not exciting enough.
The Weight is an amazing song though.
Isaac Hayes
2/5
There is no way this album should be on this list to me. It’s not because I hate the music.
The music is fine…for a soundtrack. You know…where there is a visual presentation ongoing simultaneously. This album is devoid of much meaning on its own.
Admittedly, I’ve never seen Shaft. So maybe the album would feel more tactile if I had the memory of the action to harken back to while listening. From the sound, I can tell that songs like Ellie’s Love Theme and Early Sunday Morning fit the mood the song title implies.
To me, an album shouldn’t be on this list if it is only impactful when paired with its movie. This album would be better fit for a list of movies with great soundtracks you must see/hear before you die, assuming it fits that mold.
I’ve definitely had a vastly more profound negative visceral reaction to some other albums on the list (The Cramps, System of a Down I’m thinking of you), but at least I can understand how someone can get into them. This album it’s hard for me to understand how this is a go to listen for someone without the movie. And it does not do anything to make me want to see the movie either.
I don’t get it.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Leonard’s voice is simultaneously intriguing and awful at the same time, which makes it more intriguing. His deep talking voice is sublime. Unfortunately he tries to sing which is not pleasant.
I’m convinced from listening that he is the spoken word source in Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
…searches Wikipedia …
No! Alas it was Vincent Price not Leonard Cohen.
Kanye West
2/5
I’ve heard Kanye called and idiot-savant. I do not think he is a savant.
I think the Bluetooth connection to my auto was wonky because there were two very long periods of silence when I listened. One was almost 5 minutes and the other was over 7.
At first I was annoyed that Kanye thought these extended silences were artsy. What a waste of my time. Then I finally realized that I liked the silence more than his misogyny and lame ass suck my balls lyrics.
Consolation prize: most of the beats are worth listening to.
Songhoy Blues
4/5
These guys know how to play! Too often the blues can be boring, but these guys know how to tear it up.
The language barrier is detrimental unfortunately. It’s not their fault, but I am the one doing the ranking. So the lack of my understanding the words prevents me from truly understanding the whole package.
One thing I did pick up on is that the lyrics were often repetitive. From a not knowing the language point of view, I think the repetition would be more of a negative if I did know the language.
One last comment on the fuckers who ran these guys out of their homeland. What kind of asshole do you have to be to not realize what a treasure their music is? This part of their story bumps them up a 1/2 star.
Gene Clark
3/5
I wasn’t paying much attention after the fourth song, but this album worked well as background rock noise.
Jeff Buckley
2/5
2…3…2?…3?…2?…3?…2…3…
I don’t have the energy to nitpick this decision. The cover of Hallelujah is good, but we just heard Leonard Cohen the other day and I’m tired of him, even in cover form. Sorry Jeff.
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
4…5…4?…5?…4…5…
There is real grit here. Grit from the streets of London. I like the music more than the vocals, and I don’t like the music all that much. The electronica bits are intriguing. The cigarette induced laryngital raspy voice is bad. I know Why d’Ya Do It? Is autobiographical, but the lyrics are not very appealing.
4…5…LOL…Just trolling the Jeff Buckley fan club…
Common
3/5
Daft Punk
3/5
Billie Holiday
4/5
This album is all about the vocals. Some have written that Billie’s voice had been ruined by this time due to years of drug and alcohol abuse. It certainly was not as vibrant as it was at her peak, but I wholeheartedly disagree that her voice was ruined.
Her voice has a steely resolve, a hardiness representative of her life. A life growing up with an often absentee mother, nearly being raped at 11, being on the road in a transient life, suffering racial abuse, and the long slog through substance abuse.
Despite, maybe because of all, this I hear a stark beauty in her voice, and my is it intoxicating. I feel the struggle and the pain, and I am lured in. Pulled by the rip current, the gravelly siren call of Billie’s “ruined” voice. Ruined it is not.
The National
3/5
I’m having a hard time coalescing thoughts about this album. I like Berninger’s voice sometimes, but he doesn’t really sing. Other times I dislike it. I’m confused.
At times, like Terrible Love, it feels like there is a lot going on in the music and it’s somehow disconnected from, or overshadowing, the vocals.
I don’t know … 🤷♀️
The best summary I can give is that I liked Berninger’s vocals better on Chvrches’ My Enemy and that’s one of my three least favorite tracks on that album, which is by faaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr my least favorite Chvrches album.
Public Enemy
4/5
Public Enemy is pure, unadulterated hip hop. This is no shit, gangsta rap. These guys are using their art to bring awareness to the conditions of their community. It’s not quite my sound in particular with the beats being fairly basic, but it’s pure and I respect the craft.
Björk
2/5
Ethereal. Experimental. Electronic. That’s what comes across to me. At times quite pleasant, such as the multiple Björks on Undo. And unfortunately followed up by Pagan Poetry. I can do without the hand bell orchestra.
This is in the 2/3 range.
Bottom line: There were far more songs where I wanted to turn this album off than keep listening.
Massive Attack
2/5
The “FLAMMABLE GAS” fire hazard sign has the rating spot on. This is pleasantly boring.
Nas
3/5
Sade
3/5
Tricky
2/5
Hell Is Around The Corner is decent, but apparently that’s because Tricky stole the sample that Portishead used as I’m confident JKav will point out.
Everything before it sucks. After it is a bunch of songs I’m turning off.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
I finally got to this album on YouTube. The music is fine. The talking male vocals don’t do it for me. I’m in between 2 and 3.
New Order
3/5
This is 4 star music paired with a 2 star voice. The lead singer’s voice sounds very thin. Love Vigilantes and Sunrise are my favorite songs.
Garbage
3/5
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Leonard Cohen’s voice is the worst thing in entertainment…uninteresting. His vocals are bland…boring…and I can’t get past it.
So Long, Marianne was the standout song on the album for me.
After two albums and knowing there are three more coming, I’m beginning to wonder if I need to call bullshit on the 1001 list because Leonard Cohen should not be on it. One album I can understand, but 5 (!) means there is a deep flaw here.
Brian Eno
4/5
After having the Ambient 1: Music for Airports album, I have ragged on Brian Eno several times. And now I regret it.
After hearing this album, which is completely different, I’m starting to think maybe Brian Eno is a genius. Let that sink in.
This album is full of intrigue. It’s weird in a good way. And I want to hear more.
Considering that Ambient 1 came out only 4 years after this, I am stunned at Eno’s range. While Ambient 1 wasn’t really my cup of tea, I have new found respect for the ability to produce both of theses albums.
I retract my quip about being thankful for Television not letting Brian Eno ruin Marquee Moon. What a foolish notion.
The Mothers Of Invention
2/5
I’m not a big fan of this summer of love rock with an acidic cover. The vocals are not appealing . And kazoos…WTF?
Then there’s Go Cry On Someone Else’s Shoulders, which sounds like a 1950s doo wop song straight out of Back to the Future’s (I &II) Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
Unfortunately the next track was not Marty McFly wailing on Johnny B. Goode. I think this album is meant for an acid trip not for me.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
The offbeat rhythm section makes reggae instantly recognizable. However, it is also somewhat of a crutch in that it leaves me tired of hearing it after a whole album. I want more variety.
That’s the sticking point for me. There are reggae albums I like. This one is perfectly fine, but there aren’t a whole lot of standout songs nor moments. I enjoy Survival better from Marley and The Wailers as an album.
High Tide or Low Tide is a welcome departure from the well known reggae sound. I don’t find the song particularly great on its own. But coming off 9 previous typical reggae-beat songs, it’s a highlight on this album.
Something I often overlook is that Bob Marley’s voice is quite good. Remarkable in light of all the ganga he smoked (see album cover).
Pink Floyd
5/5
You ever ordered the 7 layer cake for dessert at a restaurant? You ever wondered why there are so many layers? Why not 3, 4, or, 5? You can’t even fit all 7 layers in your mouth at once anyway. But my are they all good. Cake…icing…cake…maybe a layer of fruit filling thrown in. Then the last bit of icing is extra thick.
This album reminds me of that 7 layer dessert. The pianos, synths, and organ provide a vast, beautiful chocolate cake base. Layered between is a purposeful, graceful lead guitar. The bass, percussion, and even saxophone add accent layers, resulting in a multi-Michelin star palette.
I could listen to this album over and over. I’m involuntarily letting out a “Mmmmm” after every sweet, mouthwatering bite.
Bonus: Because we ARE HERE, I’ll put a plug in for Obscured by Clouds, Pink Floyd’s album just before Dark Side of the Moon. It served as the soundtrack for the French film La Vallée. It’s not talked about much, but it is worth checking out.
Funkadelic
2/5
Ding. Ding. Ding! We have another member of the JBZ*!!!
I can’t get into the neutron bomb either, but I am really into the deep voice singing Into You. This album gets me moving and grooving, but there are too many parts that drone on.
*That’s the Jeff Buckley zone for the uninitiated.
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
California Dreamin’ is fantastic! Flutes don’t get very much dap in rock music. So, I’ll give a deserved shout out to Bud Shank for his flute solo, which I love.
I also very much enjoy Monday, Monday. The rest of the album varies between mildly interesting to boring filler.
Interesting side note that I Call Your Name is a John Lennon cover. The Beatles version apparently has their first attempt at ska in the bridge. It’s hard to recognize.
M.I.A.
2/5
This is a unique sound for sure. And for a short while I can appreciate it. One song, maybe two, then I get annoyed.
I can barely understand what is being said, which is probably my fault. Except half the time I can’t tell what language it is. Reading the lyrics it’s English, but it’s difficult to hear.
If this sound were one or two tracks in another electronic album, I could dig it as a good change of pace. However, all stacked together it ends up being cacophonous.
Kraftwerk
3/5
Autobahn started out well. The singing is bad, but thankfully minimal. The middle five minutes (8-13-ish minute mark) were bad too, but Autobahn does come back around.
Overall I am impressed with the sound being that this album is from the Stone Age of electronic music.
The end of Autbahn sounds a lot like Pink Floyd’s On The Run from Dark Side Of The Moon. At first I was pumped because I thought DSOTM came out in 1975. But alas DSOTM debuted in 1973, making it seem like a ripoff.
I like all the other tracks, so this album gets to live solidly in pergatory. The Pink Floyd ripoff is offset by the trail blazing nature of the sound.
Miles Davis
2/5
I just can’t do this. Improvisational jazz is the oil to my water.
The first couple minutes of In A Silent Way is my favorite part of the album.
Ryan Adams
3/5
I’ll focus on the music because I didn’t read anything on this one (Ryan Adams is a dickhead based on inference).
There’s a lot to like here musically. I prefer the more upbeat, honky tonk-ish sounding songs. Some of them are very good. Like the one with Carolina in it.
But there are also some almost inaudible tracks too. I like a stripped down arrangement as much as the next person, but one requirement is that I shouldn’t have to double the volume to hear it. Some of the songs, the more stripped down ones that I could hear, were boring.
There is more to like than not. However, I’m judging the album as a whole which has too many misses.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
If you look up classic rock in the dictionary, a picture of this album should appear and nothing more. This is the quintessential example.
Musically, the changes in volume, pace, and energy are captivating. Lyrically, there are a lot of overt and metaphorical sexual references:
“Way, way down inside, I'm gonna give you my love. I'm gonna give you every inch of my love”
“I wanna be your backdoor man”
“Squeeze me baby, 'til the juice runs down my leg”
“I try to make love but it ain't no use.
Give it to me, give it”
“I'm going to give you loving, baby”
Every song is about a woman. Some are loving (Thank You) while several discuss wanting to get laid (see above).
From a personal perspective, I have an internal mismatch. I love this album and Led Zeppelin in general. However, I’ve never had a phase when I obsessively listened to them, which I have done for other artists/albums that I feel the same.
Frankly, Led Zeppelin deserves this kind of attention and I intend to annoy everyone around me by playing Led Zeppelin, and this album, more and more.
Iggy Pop
3/5
Some really good stuff here, like the title track.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Jeff Beck
3/5
This would would be at least a star higher as a live show. As an album, it’s solid, but not great. I want more structure.
Suicide
2/5
Feels like an album long build up to something that never comes. I like the build up, but I’m still waiting for the payoff.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Eh…OK I suppose.
Cheap Trick
2/5
I find Cheap Trick’s songs to be generic rock filler. Nothing exciting. I Wany You To Want Me is memorable. The rest. Meh.
ABBA
2/5
Too often I feel like this is the soundtrack to a carnival. Not a good thing.
U2
3/5
There is a range of goodness on this album. One and Mysterious Ways are well known for good reason. There are one or two other tracks I like almost as much. There are 4-5 decent tracks and 2-4 clunkers I’d skip right over.
Roxy Music
2/5
A lot of this music is interesting, except the saxophone filled tunes. I very much dislike how the lead singer sings. I think his voice could actually be good, but the way he uses it is very annoying. It almost sounds like he is imitating opera sometimes.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
Do you ever wonder if Zack Attack (the Saved By The Bell friends’ imaginary pop band in season 4 episode 22’s Rockumentary) actually did exist then broke up but Screech started a side project in 1980 instead of searching far and wide for the meaning of life from the High Geek? Weirdly, I did and I think this album is exactly how that would sound, like a parody of pop music in 1980.
In some ways Saved By The Bell’s Rockumentary is a parody of the early 90s. There is waaaay too much color blocked clothing. Post Zack Attack break up Lisa was a US Gladiator, Lethal Lisa. Casey Kasem hosted the Rockumentary. And of course Zack Attack’s hits include too many rock ballads.
In fact Screech, Kelly, and Slater demo a song in the studio to ego maniac Zack called School Is A Bore that sounds too much like this album (11:49 mark). 1980 side project Screech should have learned that it was terrible and never played it for 1991 Zack.
Ray Charles
3/5
The album started out with a bang and I wish the whole thing were like Let The Good Times Roll. There is a noticeable dichotomy between up tempo tracks and slower ones. The up tempo tracks are more fun although they tend to have a bit too much of a big band feel. The slower tracks are nice. Ray Charles’s voice shines through, but I want more up tempo stuff.
The Mars Volta
2/5
This album is the musification of manic depression. It has two gears: I) RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!!!!! and II) Snuffleupagus (“Heeeyyyyyy Biiirrrrrrrrrd”.
With respect to the first gear, there is a saying that goes: don’t confuse motion with progress. The corollary for this album is: don’t confuse notes with music. Rapid motion does not result in progress necessarily just as rapid fire notes do not mean music is being made. It applies to the whole band, but is best noticed in the drumming. Also the singer’s falsetto in the first gear is annoying. Completely annoying.
The second gear seems to exist to give the band a rest in between their bursts of machine gun fire playing.
In the manic phase, everything is a good idea and a diarrhea of thoughts and ideas come spewing out. In the depression phase, there are no ideas left worth conveying. Suddenly something clicks and the manic is back, RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!!!!!
I’m not giving this a one star because the first gear stuff (with no vocals) is impressive technically and somewhat enjoyable, but only in very very small chunks.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
I have a lot of feelings about this album and Kendrick Lamar in general. Though I don’t have the words to express them well. All I can say at this point is that Kendrick’s style is correct. His flow, the vibe, is great. To use an expression I despise, but is appropriate: I really dig his energy.
Van Halen
4/5
I’ve never given Van Halen a chance until this album. Sure I’ve heard the hits, but I never so much as listened to an album of theirs. Admittedly, it was on purpose.
There was a guy in first year of uni that loved VH, staunchly in the DLR camp…hard core. One weekend I went home and when I came back something had happened and our friend group had shunned him. Like ignored his existence moving forward. I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I followed along, which I’m not proud of. I was never close to him, but I feel bad for how it all went down.
I love that VH took a turn toward the synth sound on this album. Now I realize that the synths are why I’ve always loved Jump so much. It’s also no surprise that I like I’ll Wait.
On second listen, Top Jimmy is a nice song with some well executed triplets in the lead guitar part that feel playfully offbeat. However, the 30 second appearance of the whammy bar (1:45 mark) is deflating. I fucking hate the whammy bar. I’ll dissect this more in a year or two when we get to Metallica’s Master of Puppets.
For now I have to say that I enjoyed this album, whammy bar excluded, and will be listening again soon.
Now I have to figure out if I’m in the DLR or Haggar camp…or both if that’s even allowed.
Violent Femmes
3/5
Just offbeat enough to be interesting. Just weird enough to ask myself, “what the heck is this?”
David Bowie
3/5
So this album is the result of David Bowie doing so much cocaine that he can’t remember making it. Hmmmmm…
The title track starts really kicks into gear about halfway through and maintains my interest afterward. I thoroughly enjoy the 1:00+ intro for Stay as well as it’s extended guitar outro.
Golden years is so fun. The claps are a nice touch. I think this track highlights the best use of Bowie’s voice. He doesn’t have a classically good voice. However, Bowie knows how to change his delivery to make it effective.
I don’t think Bowie always uses his voice well though. And when he doesn’t, it’s clear his voice is not “good”. Or maybe when his voice wasn’t “good,” it just means he had done too much cocaine before that take. 🤷♀️
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Once again for the third Leonard Cohen album in a short time, his voice is a major problem. It’s just bad. Not offensive, but bad nonetheless.
His voice kind of works on Avalanche. It’s still disappointing though because the song could be so much better if someone better were singing.
I am not looking forward to the last 2 albums of his on the list. I’m already expecting my review for his 5th album to start, “Not this asshole’s voice again…”
The Roots
3/5
It’s too bad there aren’t more tracks like The Seed (2.0) and too much cacophony like !!!!!!! and the back end of Water.
Underworld
3/5
With this being the only Underworld album, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Born Slippy…the only track I’ve ever known by them. Born Slippy is incredible for 105 seconds. Once the synths go away and it becomes drum and bass dominated, I lose interest. Those 105 seconds were magnificent enough to get me semi-interested in Trainspotting, which is a feat.
On to the album at hand: Banstyle / Sappys Curry has a pleasant atmosphere then ends with a flurry of quick, energetic synth runs. Rowla is a howla. Pearl’s Girl is a step back for me while the last three tracks come back around.
The relevant conclusion is that I’m a sucker for well crafted synths.
I’m very much on the fence and it comes down to the genre. This album is more of a house/trance vibe, and it’s a very good album in that genre, which 20…even 10 years ago, I would have been more into. Today, I can appreciate the quality of this album, but I’m not that into the genre. So I round down.
Kate Bush
2/5
Entirely forgettable. I don’t remember one thing about this album and I just listened to it a couple hours ago.
The Who
4/5
The final position for this album really comes down to tracks 3-6 because 1-2 and 5-7 are quite good. Baba O’Riley is an all time banger. On the second listen, tracks 3-6 hold up well.
The Temptations
2/5
This album is like a guy who falls asleep at a red light. Obviously he was driving because he got to the stop light. The beginning of Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone is the moment after he passed out. Like the car is still idling, but nothing is happening. Four minutes later he jerks himself awake. “I wasn’t asleep!” Then he starts driving. Was he overly tired from a double shift? Was he drunk? I don’t know.
All I know is that someone was asleep at the wheel here.
Deep Purple
3/5
I ended up liking this album more than I thought I would. To the point that I wouldn’t mind hearing it again. For a live album, I was surprised how little we hear the crowd.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
The music is interesting. I don’t care for Siouxsie’s voice, especially affects she uses. I disliked her voice less on a second skim through the album though still not much.
Peter Tosh
2/5
Man, Pete had me for 0:45 of Till Your Well Runs Dry. I was going to give him props for breaking up the monotony of the reggae sound, but then the chorus kicks in. Even the non-reggae part isn’t enough to improve my opinion of the album other than the reggae sound wasn’t actively annoying me.
I’m not anti-reggae, but most of this album is slow paced and, in combination with the basic reggae sound, boring. The more upbeat tracks like Why Must I Cry were the best offering.
Goldfrapp
3/5
This album feels like one long James Bond soundtrack where the villain kidnapped someone from Portishead. And at some point in the movie’s plot, they end up at the circus (Oompah Radar). I like the electronica mixed with throwback 60s cabaret, but that circus part is very tough to get through. I understand why one critic referred to it as strange and beautiful.
As I do, I’ll write something about the Goldfrapp album that should have been on this list and isn’t, Head First. It’s less strange and more soaring, synth-y pop…yes let me inhale some more of that. I recommend you do too.
David Bowie
3/5
From the get go the sound of this album let’s you know that it’s pushing the boundaries. I’ve never heard anything like Speed Of Life with the harmonizer creating an industrial electronic high pitched sound.
One of my favorite aspects of the album is the prominent bass guitar. It is in the driver’s seat for several songs, like Breaking Glass & Sound and Vision. The video game like feel to What In The World is fun.
I have two main issues with this album. First, too many of the songs feel short and unfinished. It feels like the full concept for each song was not fleshed out. Second, the back half of the album is mostly instrumental, which I enjoy here by the way, but it feels like a different album. It’s the Brian Eno effect. The two halves do not go together for me.
This album is exciting. I listened to it several times. The sound is incredibly interesting. And yet because of that excitement, the album also incredibly disappointing due to its incompleteness and change in style.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
I propose cutting this album down to tracks 1-7 plus Road Trippin’. There’s too much uninspired sounding filler in between. I would rate that album one star more…addition by subtraction.
David Bowie
2/5
This album sounds like a forced attempt to be considered on a plane above the rest. It’s a concept album for which I don’t understand the concept. The overwhelming thought I’m left with is the improvisational jazz piece, Alladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?), was awful. I could not wait for it to be over. And back to my first thought, the date sequence in parentheses of the track name is a prime example of the over indulgent pretentious feel of the whole album.
Roni Size
2/5
I had already listened to this on a road trip in November based on it being part of jkav’s musical journey. Its looong and I don’t need to hear it again although I tried for about 10 minutes.
Fairport Convention
3/5
This starts out a little rough. I know they were bored, but Si Tu Dois Partir would have been more enjoyable if they hadn’t translated the lyrics to French. Highlights for me are Who Knows Where The Time Goes? and the last two Dylan covers, Percy’s Song and Million Dollar Bash.
I like Sandy Denny’s voice. I’m not really keen on giving credit for an album full of covers, and the tracks are uneven. It’s on the low end of the rating, but in the end, I could have this on in the background and be content.
What this album reinforces more than anything is what a prolific song writer Dylan is. A well deserving Nobel Laureate.
Deerhunter
3/5
I’m not exactly sure what to say. Most of this album is listenable, but nothing special. A couple tracks I would turn off.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Fine background music. I enjoyed Where Do I Begin.
AC/DC
4/5
🤘 🤘 🤘🤘 🤘 🤘
🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘
🤘🤘🤘 🤘🤘 🤘 🤘
🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘
🤘 🤘 🤘🤘 🤘🤘🤘 🤘🤘🤘
🤘 🤘 🤘🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘
🤘🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘
🤘 🤘🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘🤘🤘
🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘
🤘 🤘🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘
With that display one would expect a higher rating. I really should have written rock on instead, but hell yeah took forever to write out and I’m too lazy to change it. Good solid hard rock album. It gets my juices flowing and gives me FOMO that I have not seen AC/DC live. I was told once by a friend that saw them at Madison Square Garden that before he even left the concourse to go through the curtain into the arena, it was already the loudest show he’d ever been to. 🤘
Dead Kennedys
2/5
One of my college roommates loved these guys. He was my inroad into hardcore punk. I did not not like it.
The first time I listened to this album (this time) I was enjoying some of it. Nostalgia had something to do with it, but I’ve also come to like proto punk and other punk adjacent genres.
There is some good guitar stuff throughout. The energy comes shooting out of the speakers. The lyrical social commentary is anti-establishment, pro-down-trodden, and anarchical. The poor get fucked over and corporations control everything. Not much has changed.
Upon second listen (this time), my feelings are similar to those from college. My biggest issue is how Jello Biafra uses his voice, his affectations. It’s thoroughly annoying. The way he sings makes it difficult to understand the lyrics. Maybe that’s part of the point, but I had to look them up.
To end on a positive note, I do like Holiday in Cambodia.
Kacey Musgraves
5/5
Probably the most surprising album to date. I love it! I haven’t been able to move on to today’s album because this one has been on repeat.
It’s labeled country pop. I hear a little twang here and there, but there is more pop than country, which is a good thang.
Dire Straits
3/5
Utter disappointment, Dire Straits, considering how it started! This is an album of three, three songs acts.
Act I - You had me hooked you magnificent bastards! So Far Away, Money For Nothing, and Walk Of Life are 80s as hell and engaging. A solid 4 ⭐️ performance.
Act 2 - WTF? Did Mike McDonald arrive in alien, body snatcher form and take over all band members? Ugh 2 ⭐️.
Act 3 - The Man’s Too Strong brings something back, with the timely aggressive guitar passages. One World and Brothers In Arms are songs I could take or leave, but wouldn’t mind hearing from time to time. 3 ⭐️.
Paul Simon
3/5
Germs
2/5
This album is raw and unpolished, just as hardcore punk is. It cost $6,000 to record in 1979, which is equivalent to about $24,000 today. That’s not a whole lot of production and it shows. To some that rawness is appealing. Not to me. I was glad when the album was over.
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Pleasant background music. I’m impressed that Shuggie wrote and played most of the music.
Dizzee Rascal
2/5
I dub this album Beats Machine 1.0 programmed by Beats Technician 1.0. The amateurish beats are off kilter like two middle schoolers stepping all over each others’ feet at a dance. It’s hard to get into body bouncing rhythm
Fix Up, Look Sharp was my favorite track.
The Hives
4/5
Call me a bee because I want to be in The Hives! This music is energetic with and edge…and organized. To contrast with the Germs the other day who are energetic with…and anarchical. I like The Hives much better.
I’m not sure if this being a compilation album should have any effect on my rating. It’s seems to be a bit outside the spirit of the 1001 albums list. However, this is the release that made them well known. It doesn’t matter in the end because all I know is I’m going to come back to this one.
The War On Drugs
4/5
I really dig the atmosphere of this album. There isn’t much too intricate or complicated. However the layering of piano/synth with the guitar, and to a lesser degree the drums, makes me happy. I’m not sure how else to put it.
A couple nitpicks are that some of the tracks are a bit long and could be shortened. Suffering is a miss too. Cut that song out and trine another 5-10 minutes off smartly and I think this album could border on being great.
Nitpicks aside, I just want to lay back at night on a muggy summer day, close my eyes, and enjoy this some more.
The Young Rascals
2/5
There is nothing overtly offensive about this album, but I find it offensive. It’s as if Find Somebody exists because they discovered that one could have the guitar play in the left ear then the right then the left again, ya know stereo. Maybe that was a big deal in 1967, but it sounds archaic as hell now.
Orbital
3/5
Are We Here? is a dud…a 15:33 long dud…about 1/6 of the album. Not good.
Other than that this album is great techno. 15-20 years ago I would have been way into this. Today, I don’t care so much for techno, but I respect how this stands out in that space. A quality listen.
Ray Charles
3/5
I’m going with stcarp on this one. The upbeat stuff is great. The slower stuff is nice, but I’m unplussed. Less slow, more upbeat. Mr. Charles is quite the talent.
David Bowie
3/5
Of the Bowie albums we’ve had so far (this plus Station to Station, Alladin Sane, and Low), this is my favorite one. Bowie’s turn towards soul was a good one.
I really enjoy the call and response in Fascination. Win is a miss for me. It was a big miss the first go round, but not quite as bad upon a second listen. Can You Here Me is just OK. The Beatles cover seems to have turned a bunch of critics off, but it works for me.
Fame is the stand out track for me while Young Americans is close behind. These two tracks are strong, but not strong enough to carry the album higher.
Hugh Masekela
3/5
This album is the bees knees of jazz. When I want to here jazz, I’m coming here.
Traffic
3/5
“Whereas previous Traffc albums had been dominated by more concise song structures, John Barleycorn saw the group develop into a looser, jam-oriented progressive rock and jazz fusion style…”
This sums up why this album has a ceiling of OK.
Jungle Brothers
4/5
My education of real hip hop continues. Gangsta rap is a scam…bitches and hoes…blah blah blah…I bought that shit hook line and sinker for far too long.
Done By The Forces Of Nature is entertaining, uplifting, and actually feel like a genuine cultural representation, not some Death Row Records manufactured bullshit.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I really liked Paint It Black and Under My Thumb. The rest is mostly OK. I know rock stars were gods in 1966, but WTF is with Stupid Girl. It’s a pompous, bore of a song.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Fever is a great showcase of Elvis’s voice over the lonesome bass. It’s fantastic, along with a couple of other good hip shakers, but they are not enough to carry the album higher.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I’ve been waiting for a Dylan album. How exciting! I get that he’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I don’t drink tea often so screw that…Bob is my pot of coffee.
It’s remarkable that Blood On The Tracks was his 15th album from 1962-1975 and he still brought the goods. This isn’t my favorite album of his, not close, but we’ll cover the favorites later.
Let’s get the turd burger out of the way first: If You See Her, Say Hello is a miss. It leaves Bob’s voice isolated and sounding strained. Skip please.
There are four 5+ minute songs on this album and not one of them feels arduous. Bob could have extended them and I’d still be engaged by the colorful, lyrical landscape he paints. The longest track, Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts, is so much fun. I feel like I’m standing in the cabaret observing it all go down.
Tangled Up In Blue is a classic. I love Simple Twist Twist Of Fate, especially all the “-ate” rhyming words emphasized before each “twist of fate.”
Listening to Idiot Wind was a new experience reading the lyrics along with the song. Bob is a Nobel Laureate with words and his sharp tongue is on full display here. The new part were my thoughts relating this song with my oldest child’s sharp, witty tongue.
I remember from one of Bob’s biographies that he was a voracious reader, in addition to listener of music. My oldest is also a voracious reader and I’m certain that provides the lingual command to be sharp witted and biting. I was left with the thought that my oldest could someday write something just as powerful. I can’t wait to experience it.
New Order
2/5
Totally 80s. Totally not my thing. The best part was the opening 90 seconds of Vanishing Point until he starts singing.
Nirvana
5/5
I never owned this album when it came out. Everyone else seems to have had it, but not me. Of course, it was all over the place at the time. Upon hearing the opening track today, I was confused for a second why Weird Al wasn’t singing, “Now I’m mumblin’ and I’m screamin’.”
Today’s listen was a bit of a restart with Nevermind for me. I had heard the whole thing, or so I think, but it felt new, fresh, which was nice.
My initial read is that this is a first half album with a fall off in the back half. Upon another listen, I think the second half holds up well. It’s definitely not as good as the first half, but still quality stuff.
I’m currently reading Dave Grohl’s book, which is timely. He writes about living on Kurt Cobain’s couch for 7 months, scraping by. And then this album came out and everything changed quickly, especially after the Smells Like Teen Spirit video came out. Ahh MTV used to play videos, and you know, not suck.
When shopping around for a record company before recording this album, Cobain told an exec in New York that he intended to be the biggest rock star in the world. It happened and unfortunately he did not like the consequences.
This album was revolutionary and kicks your teeth in from the get go. It’s soft and melodic one second and like a distorted war zone of machine gun fire the next.
This album knocked Michael Jackson out of the #1 spot for weekly album sales. In other words, it was HUGE, and deservedly so.
Side note: I wish their were room for Weird Al in the 1001 list. I understand why he’s not there, but I feel like he created an original genre worthy of recognition.
Fiona Apple
2/5
The album cover picture of Fiona struck me as a bit off kilter, a little imbalanced. The album certainly has a uniqueness, and I appreciate the construction of the songs: found percussion instruments and unprocessed vocals.
Unfortunately, the sound is too much like my initial impression of the cover photo. There is a lack of cohesion in the improvised construction and the final product is off balance.
I tend to enjoy the second half of the album better than the first. Respect to the concept of this album; however, I do not enjoy the execution.
The Kinks
2/5
From my review of Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire):
“If The Kinks hadn’t been banned from touring in the US for 4 years in the late 1960s during the height of the British Invasion, they might have been way bigger here.”
Not a chance based on this boring album.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Based on their record company not promoting them much, I starting to think The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed are under appreciated. At least by me they are.
I enjoyed this album quite a bit. Pale Blue Eyes is intimate…delicate…magnificent. I may have a new one for my top song rotation. The Murder Mystery is captivating. It feels like being in the mind of a schizophrenic…not that I actually know what that is like, but it’s somewhat how I imagine it might be.
I’m going to be coming back to this one again.
Beatles
4/5
Quite a solid album. I have neglected many of The Beatles albums and the remediation starts here.
Peter Frampton
3/5
Not too bad. Not too good. Just OK.
I take offense with another “live” album that is recorded over multiple shows and has studio overdubs on it. That’s not what I think I’m getting when “live” is advertised.
I suppose almost the whole recording was taken from live performances, even if they weren’t all from the same show. But the overdubs are definitively false advertising.
The talk box on Do You Feel Like We Do is cool, but it’s a gimmick after all. Not enough to boost this album.
As I do, I’ll mention another related album that should be on the list: The Dave Matthews Band Live At Red Rocks (L@RR). How is it related? Well, it’s live.
Wanna know how L@RR is not related to Frampton Comes Alive!? It was recorded during one show and not overdubbed.
L@RR is one of the only jam bandy albums I like. It’s full of energy, more so than the corresponding studio takes. This is the album that got me into The DMB, and boy was I hooked. I annoyed the fuck out of my first year uni mates by putting Watchtower loudly on repeat far too many times than I care to admit.
Of the bands I’ve noticed are not on any of the 1001 albums versions so far, the biggest omission is The DMB due to their popularity, longevity, and unique sound. I don’t get it other than they must have not become popular enough in the UK to displace Bowie’s 8th best offering.
Love
2/5
The guitar work is nice. There is too much of a hippy-dippy attempt to make artsy music though.
Roxy Music
2/5
John Coltrane
2/5
Sorry Jazz, you are just not my thing. It’s not you, it’s me.
N.W.A.
3/5
I enjoy MC REN’s flow the most, especially on if It Ain’t Ruff. Dr. Dre is pretty good too.
Easy-E and Ice Cube have minimal flow as evidenced by the mechanical 8 Ball (Remix) and I Ain’t Tha 1.
Something 2 Dance 2 is my favorite track while I cringe at the overt violent degradation of women.
The Prodigy
4/5
This is a very good techno album. I’m sure many people put this album on in the mid-1990s, popped E, and had a grand old time letting some random dude massage their scalp because it felt great.
My biggest takeaway is that all I can think about during Break And Enter is the dude working the vacuum in this video:
https://www.reddit.com/r/toptalent/comments/vq7zl6/dj_spin_that_shit/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
I’m not sure if this album will go in my library, like all other 4+’s, because techno isn’t really my jam, but the rating is deserving nonetheless.
XTC
2/5
I did not find auditory ecstasy while listening to XTC.
Yes
3/5
My first thought before hitting play is that a 6 song, 42 minute album is hard to pull off and make interesting. Let’s see where this takes us…
Was ABBA’s fantasmagoric The Visitors (song) influenced by Yes’s Yours Is No Disgrace? There is a synthesizer part in the Yes song instrumental where I kept adding a synthesizer part from ABBA in my head. Example: the Yes song at 8:58 feels like it’s missing the ABBA song’s contribution from 2:41.
Yes is most certainly progressive rock, with their artistic detours part of the actual trip, not an aside. Personally, it’s all fine but it seems a bit indulgent.
The Cure
3/5
I very much am jealous of, and digging, the guitar and bass setups on this album. Their combined sound, for the most part, is great. Whatever instruments, effects, amplifiers, and production used are spot on 42 years later. They nailed this aspect.
Three ends somewhat suddenly and weirdly. Then The Final Sound ends suddenly. I don’t know what’s going on, but then it leads into The Forest, which has that sound I like so much.
Checks Wikipedia…OK they were on a low budget and literally ran out of tape 53 seconds in to The Final Sound. But why not just leave the unfinished track off the album. Pick it up on a future album. I don’t get it.
I don’t like Robert Smith’s voice much, but what I do find very interesting is that the title track is last. Does that exist on any other album? Probably, but I bet it’s rare.
Robert Wyatt
1/5
This album is the antithesis of synergy. The sum is most definitely much worse than the parts.
Sea Song is very difficult to listen to. That non-word, moaning part at the end is the fingernails on a chalkboard to my ears. Yikes! I had to skip the last minute.
I hate the squeaky noises in Alife.
I could write more but I don’t want to listen again to pinpoint my comments.
This is an album where I think being a professional critic is a bunch of bullshit because this album was overwhelmingly well received.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
3.25ish
Elvis Presley
3/5
This more like the hip shaking Elvis I’ve been wanting to hear.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
It’s a good thing this album came up over a weekend. This is one of the albums that delivers the ultimate payoff for this experience. It is something I’ve never even heard of and likely never would have listened to.
I enjoy albums where the artist writes and plays a multitude of instruments because often something truly unique comes out. Especially on debut albums. That doesn’t mean they are always good, but they can be refreshing.
I love the atmosphere of this album, as in the horn and string drenched The Shining. The left/right echo/delay on This Song is trippy. It feels seizure inducing with headphones, but is much more subtle through a speaker system.
A couple things I’m not all in on: his voice isn’t great and the album is too long. It feels like he tried to get all his ideas on his first album, which is understandable. But holding 20 minutes of this material back would have been a net positive.
Linkin Park
2/5
Having two “lead” vocalists, one singer and one rapper, who play off each other is interesting. And there are quite a few of the heavy guitar riffs that I can get into. But those are not enough.
I cannot get past the screaming choruses, chorii (?). Whatever the plural of chorus is, I wish there weren’t any on this album. Every time the the screaming starts, I want to run to turn this album off.
The verses earn Stinkin’ Park an additional star for Hybrid Theory.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
There are some middling tunes on this album, but Mr. Souls and Good Time Boy are pretty good.
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
There is a lead guitar master class or five within this album. Between Clapton and Duane Allman, soaring guitar riffs are a bound. For example, there is some great work on the slow paced blues number, Have You Ever Loved A Woman.
I noted recently that The Cure’s Seventeen Second’s title track is last on the album while here we have Layla appearing second to last, which I find equally odd.
Layla is of course a hell of a song. Kudos to Duane Allman coming up with the famous lead riff. The song is in two “movements,” the guitar driven first and the piano heavy second. I’ve always appreciated the second movement more than the first.
I saw Clapton once in Philadelphia where he closed with Layla. When movement two kicked in, a significant portion of the audience walked to the exits. I was flabbergasted. The piano part is hard to describe, but it just hits home with the subtle squealing slide guitar laid over top.
Also, I didn’t know until now that Duane Allman was playing the slide above the last fret at the end of the first movement. It’s so high pitched I think I’ve never really noticed it.
At 77 minutes, these 14 tracks are too much too ask to keep my interest. There are several tracks I’d rather have been cut: I Am Yours (boring and way out of place here); Little Wing (Hendrix’s original is vastly superior); It’s Too Late; and Tell The Truth. If those were gone, another star would be given.
Steely Dan
4/5
I’ve lamented a couple times that jazz isn’t really my thing. However when it’s fused into tightly arranged rock music, I’m down. Steely Dan have a meticulously organized sound. There are no loose ends.
I have a strange album history with Steely Dan. I started with their Greatest Hits, then Alive In America, a live album. Then I bought their box set, Citizen: Steely Dan, which contains their first 7 studio albums on 4 discs plus a couple oddball tracks. I never owned any of their studio albums even though I had them all on the box set, which is strange to me at least.
I’ve heard Bodhisattva hundreds of times and never realized how much I like the guitar solo leading up to the halfway point of the song.
My Old School is the highlight of this album while Pear Of The Quarter is forgettable.
Overall, this is one of my least favorite of Steely Dan’s first 7 albums, but it’s still enjoyable nonetheless.
Joy Division
2/5
Ian Curtis can’t sing very well. His voice isn’t terrible, but when he’s isolated on sustained notes it’s obvious and uncomfortable. He’s more suited to talking his lyrics melodically. The problem is that he tries to sing. He should have just stuck to what suits him best.
From Wikipedia: According to Colin Larkin, Closer has since been "deservedly regarded by many critics as the most brilliant rock album of the 80s"
Pump the brakes, Colin. I recognize that the bass guitar and drum parts are high quality, but let’s slow down please.
I wrote that before hearing the last three tracks for which the music is outstanding. And every one of them would be better as an instrumental piece.
Judas Priest
4/5
First of all, I didn’t know that Judas Priest rocked this much. Or metaled this much? I can hear future 80s hard rock/metal in these tracks.
Second, I often rail against lead singers that don’t have great voices singing. So when one that can’t sing well uses his voice smartly, like Rob Halford, I must applaud him. Rob doesn’t have a great singing voice, but…brilliant idea…he doesn’t try to sing a lot. He talks musically and kind of grunts, which works great for both his voice and Judas Priest’s sound. He does sustain a sung note from time to time and it works because 1) his voice isn’t bad and 2) he doesn’t do it very much which allows the occasionally strained note to be forgiven. Although I’m relistening to The Rage while writing this paragraph and I might be underselling his vocal quality a bit.
Third and most excitedly, I finally get the references in Sun Kil Moon’s song Glenn Tipton from the Ghosts Of The Great Highway album. I now know Glenn Tipton is a guitarist is Judas Priest. It’s strange that the opening song is titled for Glenn because there is only one line in the song referencing him (“Some like K. K. Downing more than Glenn Tipton”). I now also know that K. K. is a guitarist in Judas Priest. I have to say they both shred.
Continuing with my albums-that-are-not-on-the-1001-list asides. GOTGH is a really good album. Stylistically, it’s nothing like Judas Priest. It’s more folksy indie rock. It gets my recommendation seal of approval.
British steel is likely not much different than steel from elsewhere around the world because they generally use the same standards. However, British Steel is made of the stronger stuff.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
The album should not be titled Loveless but rather Vocal-less. It’s sounds like the music and the vocals come out of two different speakers and the vocal speaker is buried in a sand box. The music itself is enjoyable, but the producers, and everyone involved in the mixing process, of this album were hopefully employed for this one album only.
Destiny's Child
2/5
Independent Women, Pt. 1 is good. I expected to think similarly of Survivor and Bootylicious, but they are all chorus. The rest of the album is forgettable pop.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
It’s hard to believe this album came out in 1992, 30 years ago! I would have guessed late 90s.
Regardless, this album rocks and the shining star is Tom Morello’s guitar with Timmy C’s bass being notable too. These guys’ music makes me want to run through a brick wall. It’s that powerful.
Zach de la Rocha’s delivery also gets me amped up. The guy strongly dislikes the establishment.
The last two songs trail off a bit, but not enough to totally derail this flaming wrecking ball of rage.
Elliott Smith
5/5
I am left a bit speechless. This is an excellent offering from Elliott Smith. Yet another album where a renaissance man composes and played almost all the instruments plus vocals.
The one thing I know I like are his doubled up vocal tracks. Having his own voice more than once provides a comforting quality to the album. There isn’t a bad song on here. Truly a revelation.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Today this album sounds primitive. It’s difficult to keep in mind the technology of the time when evaluating this. The music on several tracks holds up fairly well:
Personal Jesus - I hear some future Marilyn Manson in there.
Waiting For The Night - I can hear the opening to this as the driving layer in a Radiohead song.
Enjoy The Silence - I can shimmy my shoulders to this.
Clean - I dig the bass part.
I can hear why these guys influenced so many bands. In a historical context, this album is likely a 4 or 5. For my listening pleasure, it’s a 3.
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
Too much brass, too much sax, wake me up from the bad dream.
The Sonics
3/5
Pioneering, high energy, punk-ish rock and roll. The two track recording sounds primitive and raw. An enjoyable listen.
Nick Drake
3/5
Having been introduced to Nick Drake out of chronological order I would have thought this was after both Pink Moon and Five Leaves Left. I assumed that he started out solo and added layers to his music as time moved on. Instead he stripped all the layers away for Pink Moon, his last album which is the one I enjoy the most.
Bryter Layter contains what I like most about Nick Drake, his guitar playing. The additional instruments work some of the time, mostly the strings. The piano is fine as is the brass section. The flute is OK.
But we’ve got to talk about the saxophone. No thank you. The second time I listened to At The Chime Of A City Clock I turned my car completely to the left channel and the song vastly improved because the right channel sax was gone.
Poor Boy makes Nick sound like the leader of a throw away lounge act unfortunately. Thankfully the misses are limited.
Overall the album is uneven, up and down. I’m glad Nick figured out the formula for Pink Moon. It’s just a shame that was his last go at it.
Cream
3/5
I’m very disappointed in this album. Not because it’s terrible but rather because I had high expectations.
Sunshine Of Your Love is awesome. Tales Of Brave Ulysses is good. The rest is so so. The last track is weird AF.
Morrissey
3/5
I’m gonna need to figure out the secret to Morrisey’s success on this album. He’s gonna have to give up the goods. Either that or maybe the record company is gonna have to tell me. I was gonna say Mick Ronson, the producer, was gonna have to let me know, but he died a year after this album and can’t.
The real secret are songs with “Gonna” in the title as they are the strengths of this album (Your Gonna Need Someone On Your Side, I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday). Or better yet, Mark E. Levin is the success engine because he wrote the music for both those songs, the only two he wrote on the album.
There are some other solid songs on this album too like Glamorous Glue and Certain People I Know. I would venture to say that there are not any truly bad songs on the album. Just not enough other solid ones to lift this album higher.
Looking back at The Smiths reviews, I hated Morrisey’s voice while I enjoy it here. Im not sure what changed, but this is by far Morrisey’s best performance I’ve heard so far.
I definitely like this album and would listen again. 3 & 1/3 star.
R.E.M.
3/5
This music sounds pretty dated to me. It bounces between a 2 and 3 for me until It’s The End Of The World As We Know It and The One I Love pulled it just above the JBZ (Jeff Buckley Zone).
Pulp
1/5
The album is 65 minutes of utterly, irredeemable shite! And 5 minutes of somewhat interesting guitar work (Glory Days) ruined by terrible vocals. This is yet another less than mediocre band with a singer that can’t sing who tries to sing and miserably failed.
To be consistent with other rankings I should give this a 2 based on not being overly offended by the music. But I am overly annoyed.
Music is boring. Vocals are awful. And it drags on for 70 minutes! -1 star for the extra suffering.
NME ranked this the 166th greatest album of all time. Holy fuck that’s offensive. Finery put in the 1001 list. Bollocks! Is everyone fucking insane?
Foo Fighters
5/5
The music on this album is thoroughly impressive. It blows my mind that Dave Grohl wrote all the parts, played every instrument, and sang all the vocals. Dave’s a kick ass drummer and a pretty decent professional guitar player and vocalist. He’s a rock music renaissance man.
Overall, it shows that Dave spent little time writing the lyrics. They can be a bit repetitive (Big Me) and hard to understand their meaning (This Is A Call, the whole “minicyn” verse).
If I had to pick a weak link, it would be X-Static. With the subdued verses, it feels like a song that should kick in with a high energy chorus like the preceding For All The Cows.
No matter my minor complaints, this album is a revelation.
It’s unfortunate that only one Foo Fighters album is on the list. And they got the wrong one. Clearly the one Foo Fighters album should be The Colour And The Shape. It also kicks ass, but in a more musically mature way. If I’m in a Foo Fighters mood, The Colour And The Shape is always my album of choice.
Def Leppard
3/5
I’m cruising through town in my Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with the windows down and this album blasting of course. Joe Elliott wails “There’s danger in the air” (Billy’s Got A Gun). God damn right and the danger is me. At a stop light, I glance in the rear view to comb my mullet and adjust my black leather jacket. I turn to the babe in the waiting car next me and wink. I just made her day.
-Billy Madison…maybe
-break-
Rock Of Ages has two tie ins to other songs I know in the first 20 seconds which is fun:
First, the “Gunter glieben glauchen globen” is also used by The Offspring in Pretty Fly (For A White Guy). The phrase is gibberish according to Def Leppard.
Second “It’s better to burn out…yeah, then fade away” is a direct lift from Neil Young’s 1979 song My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue). An interesting homage from this glam/hair rock band to Mr. Young.
If I were of the impressionable musical age in 1983, I’m sure this album would have a great deal of nostalgia. Lacking that experience, I could’ve definitely pump my fist to this at 1230am at the pub, except I would have gone to bed 2 hours earlier.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) is far and away the highlight of this album. It’s dark and synthy, my kind of jam. It reminds me of The Dø, who are definitely worth checking out…Shake, Shook, Shaken is a great place to start.
The key to this song being elevated, other than the dark synthiness, is that Régine Chassagne sings lead. Her voice is great. Win’s voice is fine but not on Régine’s level.
I’ve had Funeral for a while and listened to it many times. It stayed on later editions of the 1001 list while this album got cut. Right call, amongst the Arcade Fire albums at least.
Anyway, I brought up Funeral because I like the vocals a lot. Sampling Funeral again for this review, I noticed that they used more effects than this album, which worked better with that musical style.
Beyoncé
3/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
The three song run of Houses Of The Holy, Trampled Under Foot, and Kashmir is just fantastic. Brown-Yr-Aur is a beautiful guitar piece, and I’m into the vibe on the laid back Ten Years Gone. Boogie With Stu is also fun.
There are some flat numbers…for Led Zeppelin. The opening 3 minutes of In The Light is a bit bizarre. And the second half of Down By The Seaside is much better that the first. Black Country Woman and Sick Again are just OK. Just OK for Led Zeppelin is still pretty damn good.
The 1001 list done fucked up though by putting this album, and not Houses Of The Holy, on the list. BIG oversight. I wish I could make it so when you read BIG the letters get bigger and bigger until they consume the entire screen while an alarm sounds and an ominous voice says, “big, Big, BIG!!!” BIG OVERSIGHT!!!
Neil Young
3/5
I’ve listened to this album nearly three times and I’m still having a difficult time formulating a cohesive summary. My enjoyment as a function of track number would definitely show a downward trend as the album moves on.
I’m with Ivey that the Wurlitzer piano and steel guitar sound great on See The Sky About To Rain. Walk On might be my favorite song on the album. I dig the harmonies and banjo lead on For The Turnstiles.
Vampire Blues is an odd sounding slam against Big Oil. The harmonica/guitar solo interplay on Motion Picture (For Carrie) sounds like a bad take that they powered through.
And there is Neil’s voice. Not classically good, but he knows how to use it, most of the time. The back half of the album leaves Neil’s voice sounding thin too often.
This album is worth hearing and I’d listen again, but I’m likely to skip side 2 unless I’m in the right mood.
Talking Heads
3/5
I liked this album a lot more than I thought I would. It’s got energy. It’s fun. It’s dance worthy. It’s another feather in the Brian-Eno-is-a-genius cap.
Eno produced the album and had the band crank up the tempo as compared to Talking Heads: 77. My favorite part is the bass and rhythm guitars as demonstrated in The Good Thing and I’m Not In Love.
Sebadoh
2/5
This album is erratic and unorganized as evidenced by the subdued Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) followed immediately by the screamy Flood.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
After a ⭐️ Darklands experience on album #6 (!), I was not hopeful for Psychocandy. I was pleasantly surprised.
The feedback heavy sounds are quite nice. I imagine this was quite the innovative sound in the alternative/pop scene in 1985. I can hear some future industrial rock during In A Hole. Something’s Wrong is my favorite track. They don’t consistently carry the distortion I like throughout, but there is enough to carry my interest.
Now having both TJAMC albums on the list, I conclude they are not total shite.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
This is almost a greatest hits album. It’s half of a CCR one at least.
Ramble Tamble lives up to the title and rambles too much. It’s 7+ min. I find the cover of Before You Accuse Me to be bland and robotic…too clinical really. It’s not a bad song, but I feel little passion, which is what the blues are all about.
Then the album rips up to speed like a clowder of crotch rockets on the beltway. 7 of the last 9 songs are very good to great while the other two are decent. Quite a remarkable run of songs on not-a-greatest-hits album.
The Go-Go's
5/5
This album is yet another example of why the 1001 journey is great. Because the album is great…and I never would have listened to it otherwise. The consistency of the tracks is remarkable. They are high energy, and there isn’t a bad one, nor even a mediocre on IMHO, in the whole lot. I wouldn’t say any individual track is amazing on its own, but 11 very, very good tracks on a row is elite.
Belinda Carlisle’s, who I hadn’t known started out in The Go-Gos, vocals are wonderful as are the harmonies with the backup vocalists. The instrumentalists each stand out at various moments throughout the album. However, the bass guitar deserves the most recognition to me. It and the drums are the driving force behind this boot-sole-to-the-chest pop album.
I can’t believe this is the first, and still only, all-female band debut album that topped the Billboard where the band wrote all the songs and played all the instruments. There are a couple qualifying categories there, but this fact is still insane to me. That alone has to make this one of the most important female albums of all time.
🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
This album makes me want to dance, shimmy, and shake. All My Friends is a magnificent song. I love the repeated synthesizer part that drives throughout the song. I sincerely hope this part is on a digital loop for live shows and that there isn’t somebody that has to play that same repeating notes for 7+ minutes.
I could nitpick a couple things like 8 1/2 minutes being too long for Us V Them and a couple funky cowbell-like sounds, but I won’t. This electro-pop, sometimes bordering on trance-pop, sound is remarkable.
Now let’s dance!
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
I was expecting some noisy, annoying shit from Captain Beefheart. My college roommate was into him and I hated that shit.
Fortunately, CBH hadn’t yet hit his disdainful stride for this debut album and it’s very listenable. I actually like it and I would gladly listen to this album again.
CBH shows his eccentricities in his varied song styles: delta blues, soul, and psychedelic rock. The weirdness is there just not fully formed yet…thankfully.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Bob Dylan is a prolific song writer as evidenced by this album. He is the most covered artist of all time in terms of the number of his songs that have been covered [4th most in terms of total number of cover versions of his songs].
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2021/12/08/most-covered-artists/11/
His voice isn’t the best, well not close, but it is an acquired taste of mine. I think this stands out the most of Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands. Still a good song but his voice is strained in the beginning and it gets better throughout.
If I were to be allowed to only listen to one song for the rest of time, it might be Visions Of Johanna. I can’t get enough of this song. Even though it’s 7+ minutes, I am always disappointed when it’s over.
I love so many other songs on this album, too many to name. This album is a masterpiece. Of the 350+ albums we’ve had so far, Led Zeppelin’s II is the only one I would put ahead of this and it’s verrrry close. And this isn’t even my favorite Dylan album.
Richard Thompson
3/5
A pleasant folk album. Linda’s voice is radiant. I think The Great Valerio is my favorite track.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
He’s The Boss, but not a boss for me. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Born To Run are well recognized hits, which have their time and place for me (generally at a bar which I don’t go to very often). I don’t like Meeting Across The River. I understand why people like this, but it’s not for me.
5/5
I don’t have a lot of flowery, over the top words to write about this album. It’s just awesome and the music speaks for itself. The Beatles pushed the envelope with intricate layered production that was “out there”. I love A Day In The Life. I love the multiple songs with complete style changes in the middle. I love the crisp, clean guitar opening to Getting Better. Lots to love here.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
I waxed and waned, enjoyed most, but was turned off by some. When it comes down to it, I could listen to this album all the way through with some enthusiasm.
The The
3/5
Just strange enough to to be interesting throughout.
Minutemen
4/5
These guys cannot sing…and they know it, which is wonderful. They don’t force out shitty sung vocals. Instead they intelligently speak their vocals. It works. Kudos.
This album is long, and there are a couple misses here and there, but not many out of 40+ tracks. The nice thing is that the songs are short and the misses don’t last long.
I like the vast majority of the songs here. I especially like the instrumental, not very punk-like Cohesion. Welcome to my collection, Double Nickels On The Dime.
The biggest surprise for me in this 1001 experience, 360 albums in, is that there is a spot in my musical enjoyment for punk adjacent music. Hard core punk, not so much, but proto-punk, punk pop, post-punk…I’m into enough of it that I can clearly say now that it’s a collective genre I can call my own.
Miles Davis
1/5
Fuck, Jazz!!! Just fuck!!! I can’t do the improvisational shit. The lack of structure drives me insane. It’s cacophony! This album is at least 10x too long. I quit before the second song was half over. I just can’t do it. I know this is somewhat unfair, but I have to stick to my rating system and this album is unbearable. My apologies, Mr. Davis. I know you are a master at your craft.
Gil Scott-Heron
3/5
This album is OK. I went back and forth between preferring to not listen and intrigued. The spoken word poetry is nice. The Bottle was my favorite track. The jazz background is not improvisational, so that was welcome. Overall a pleasant album that I could listen to again, but will not.
Bad Brains
2/5
Secret-77 is by far the best song to me, and it’s just OK. I do not care for H.R.’s vocal delivery at all.
Merle Haggard
3/5
Twangy country from back in the day. Feels like sitting around a camp fire after hearing some cattle. Not really my thing, but pleasant enough to which to listen.
The Damned
3/5
I like this album quite a bit. I listened to it 3 times. The guitar work stands out. I like Plan 9 Channel 7 fairly well. A solid punk experience.
Janelle Monáe
3/5
This album is quite the accomplishment. The alien, Android theme is interesting and shines through. If I were a critic, this would be a 5 no doubt. The variety of musical styles is impressive and engaging.
However, I’m not a critic. I’m just me, being critical, and there’s something missing in this album for me. A lost connection. Maybe the theme is too high falootin for me. I don’t really know what it is. I recognize the feat, but it’s for others.
Tom Waits
3/5
This album is definitely better than bone collector. There were nuggets I enjoyed on that album, which were songs for which Tom Waits’s haunting, but terrible, voice fits. I would say his voice fits the songs on this album much better overall. I just wish for his sake he could have extracted the gravel from his throat. It is probably very uncomfortable.
New York Dolls
3/5
The guitar work shines the most on this album. I liked the punkish Personality Crisis the best. Their style is somewhere between rock and punk. The harmonica threw me off. And the lead singers vocals are too raw for my taste. Overall a good album, a nice debut, but not great.
Little Richard
3/5
Little Richard shines most on his high tempo, high energy numbers. These numbers (Tutti Frutti, Readdy Teddy) remind me a bit of Jerry Lee Lewis’s Live At The Star Club, Hamburg. The slower songs are fine too, but they don’t get my juices flowing.
Incubus
2/5
I didn’t hate this as much as I thought I would. I can see why late 90s, coming-of-age, angsty teens, who rejected the culture of the cools, would be in to this. But at some point in one’s life, the angst should lift, so I don’t see this having lasting power except as a nostalgic experience.
Drive isn’t bad. I don’t like the DJ’s scratching, a la Battlestar Scralatchtica. Fuck the screaming on Out From Under.
I was prepared to go full STINKUBUS for this review, but I’ll settle on stIncubus.
The Jam
3/5
This album is pretty good and I’d certainly enjoy hearing it again. It’s impressive that all this sound comes from only three musicians.
I love the bass on Start!. The Jam did essentially lift it from The Beatles’s Taxman, so the credit is not all theirs.
Alice Cooper
2/5
My conclusion is that this album’s reputation is entirely based on one hook (the title track chorus) and Alice Cooper’s bad makeup. School’s Out Isn’t even a good song. The chorus is vastly overrated from where I sit, but I can see why it gets the youth excited.
I’m not trying to shit all over this album, but I don’t know what is must hear. It’s tolerable, not enjoyable.
Van Morrison
4/5
Much like Astral Weeks, this album took me multiple listens to come to a conclusion. Just like Astral Weeks, I’m a new fan of this album.
Van Morrisons voice is sublime and I dig the vibe of his sound. I like the jazzy, swinging bass lines and the flute. All of it.
I will be revisiting both albums in the future and I’m glad we still have one more Van Morrison album to come on our 1001 journey.
Air
4/5
As far as I know, I didn’t know Air existed before this album came up. Maybe I had heard their name, or a song, before, but I don’t recall them.
This album sets quite the mood. I love the mellow electronic ambiance. I prefer more vocals, but I understand this is a soundtrack that doesn’t lend itself to that.
I’m excited to take @Ivey’s advice and explore more of their catalogue. Unfortunately I don’t know if that will happen before 2025 when our 1001 trip is complete.
Taylor Swift
4/5
evermore is the follow up companion to folklore, both surprise 2020 pandemic albums announced less than 24 hours before their release. evermore came second and it feels ever so slightly less than folklore, like the album formed once the crème de la crème was already packaged into folklore.
For me Willow is the only stand out song on evermore, but to its credit, evermore is greater than the sum of its parts.
The album, as a whole, forms an essence. I get the whole folksy, forest vibe. The glitzy pop sound sound of Lover (top notch album by the by) is gone, replaced by low key instrumentation. It feels intimate, like an album that should be listened to snuggled up under a fuzzy blanket next to a fire in cabin in the woods.
The answer to my question from The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds is answered: yes, there is another album with its title track appearing last. So maybe it’s not as rare as I thought.
While not up to folklore’s level, evermore is a very good album on its own. I enjoy Ms. Swift’s pandemic, musical change of direction.
The 1001 list includes two Taylor’s Swift albums, both which are solid but are surpassed by similarly styled, better albums. Lover should appear instead of 1989 and folklore should appear instead of evermore. Potato, po-tot-o.
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
The first “Doesn’t it make you feel betterrr …………………………,” is so great. The piano break juxtaposed against the industrial sound, the 6 second anticipation-inducing pause, and the reengagment with the concussive sound is the best moment, amongst many, on the album. The main riff to Closer is probably my second part of the album.
The concept of a person’s downward spiral through depression to suicide is incredibly well executed. Even more impressive to me is that Trent Reznor wrote all the tracks and mostly played all the musical parts, being a one man wonder band. That’s talent.
Nothing after March Of The Pigs and Closer rises again to these levels, leaving me to want a bit more. This is a very good, but not quite great, album for me.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
5/5
They weren’t yet the “Three Guitar Army,” but my goodness the guitars soar throughout this album. Gary Rossington’s and Allen Collins’s guitar flex is strikingly great.
Free Bird gets all the attention from this album, and it is a great song, but I prefer several others. Gimme Three Steps tells a tell of hitting on another guy’s girlfriend at a bar and then asking for a three step head start as a favor. I like I Ain’t The One because that guitar riff is fucking awesome, including the bass part. Simple Man is definitely my favorite song, an arpeggio filled ballad about advice from Momma. It’s so down to earth.
Things Goin’ On is full is slinky coolness in the bass, piano, and guitar parts. I really need to learn more Lynyrd Skynyrd songs on guitar.
Mississippi Kid is my least favorite track, and it’s still good. Even though it’s only on the extended version of the album, Mr. Banker is a phenomenal slide guitar driven blues piece.
Lynyrd Skynyrd are a band I’ve listened to a decent amount over the years, but I should still give them more time in my rotation. This album is magnificent Even though it wouldn’t be my first choice, if I were given only this album to live on a deserted island, I would be content. It’s that good.
The story of Lynyrd Skynyrd is amazing and heartbreaking too. Showtime made a very good documentary that is worth your time called - If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd. It’s available on Netflix.
CHIC
2/5
I didn’t hate this as much as I thought I would. I like the bass prominent grooves. However other than that, I don’t find much else interesting at all. The sound, on the whole, is vapid, which makes sense for a genre (disco, although this is more funky disco) known for cocaine induced all-nighters at the club.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Gillian’s voice is top notch. The sec harmonies are wonderful. I liked Elvis Presley Blues quite a bit.
I am not a banjo fan. The sound is thin. It can sound good at times, but I can only ever hear two versions: the fast finger picking or the slow plucky version here. There is only so much of it that I can take. Also some of her vocal voicings are off putting, like the sustained, chromatic second to last line in each verse of Ruination Day Part 2.
I swayed from ugh I should turn this off (2) to wow this is beautiful (4). If all banjos were replaced with some equivalent guitar part, this would earn another ⭐️ and a place in my library.
Muddy Waters
3/5
I like the blues and Muddy Waters is one of the masters, but this album is filled with standard average stuff. Hoochie Coochie Man and I Feel So Good standout. The rest, not so much. The recording is not great quality and doesn’t help either.
Massive Attack
3/5
The Smiths
3/5
Not only did I not hate this album, but I actually kind of enjoyed it. I listened to it two times in a row, one after the other, which tells me something.
The album title and its track make a clear point of view about carnivorous diets. According to VegNews (https://vegnews.com/2013/6/vegnews-music-week-the-history-of-pop-music-and-vegetarianism), this album was a seminal moment in musical vegetarian activism. So it’s got that going for it.
While the bass part on Barbarianism Starts At Home is rad, I’m still not sold on Morrisey’s voice. More so, it’s how he uses it. It’s OK most of the time but at other times it grinds my gears.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
The Magnetic Fields
2/5
No surprise that Love Is Like Jazz, an improvisational jazz tune, is my least favorite song. Although there is definitely worse singing on many other tracks, which also displease me.
I was going to write about how insane one would have to be to think a 69 song, 2 hour 53 minute album is a good idea. But then I remembered that many people are involved in creating an album. So there had to have been several insane people involved here. I shouldn’t write insane people, that would be capricious name calling, but rather collective insane thought.
SeLF EDiT PeOPLe!!!! For the love of all that is sacred, self edit. There are plenty of tracks I really like here, at least an album’s worth. It’s too damn exhausting to go back through this album and figure out which ones so I can convey them to you.
As it turns out, this was originally 100 songs!!!!f*$k!!!! To their credit, they decided that 100 was too many and cut it down to 69 songs. Way to miss the mark.
The range of song writing is commendable. Their are a wide variety of styles and voicings, which isn’t easy to pull off.
As it stands, I’m turning this album off if it’s on. Maybe not right away, but eventually I’d hear more than one grating song in a row. Power button.
With pROpeR self editing, this has 4, and maybe even 5, star potential if the best 30-35 minutes were chosen. 5 stars would likely be too generous, and if I were a dedicated reviewer, I would pick apart this album until I identified those top 10-12 songs to be sure. However, that would require enduring a plethora of exhaustion that I am not willing to suffer.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
The beats are primitive and the rapping style might be considered a parody if it weren’t the firstly bona fide incantation. Hollis Crew (Krishna-Groove 2) claims “The beat is big, It’s kind of large.” Agree to disagree, but it’s immaterial.
I like the rudimentary beats. They fit the whole mood of this album. It feels like a window into the birth of a rap evolution and it is special to be able to witness (listen to) it.
Rock Hard is commendable for combining the early 80s rock guitar sound into the rap genre. Wake Up is akin to Lennon’s Imagine, dreaming of a version of reality where all nations and people get along and all people have a job and a home.
The album is the antithesis of gangsta rap, it promotes education (It’s Like That) and I didn’t hear disrespect for anyone. This is a big plus.
I’m in between ratings, and happily rounding up this time.
Adele
3/5
I could write a similar review as I did for Joni Mitchell’s Blue. Voice is angelic, phenomenal, 10/5. The songwriting is not a problem like I had for Blue, but there is a lack of connection for too many of the tracks.
The singles are familiar and fun. Most of the drama (the good kind) is tied up in the choruses while the verses are so so.
The note at 2:45 in One And Only is Awe inspiring though. I get full body chills. That whole song is great.
This is in the 3.5 range, but there’s not enough to round up. Very solid album, but I’m just not going to seek it out for another listen.
Jamiroquai
3/5
I was expecting something completely different from Jamiroquai, which speaks to my severe lack of understanding of their genre. I thought they were more 90s alt-pop oriented and I tried a couple of their later songs and none of them were what I had in my head either.
I sure wasn’t expecting funk infused acid jazz. I like both elements and I like the fusion. Of the two, I am excited by the funk aspects more. They make me want to get up and dance. I fully understand no one wants to see that, but the music does inspire it.
The acid jazz aspects are interesting too, but ultimately they let me down. Jamiroquai just can’t help improvising and grooving as evidenced by 8+ minute Blow Your Mind and 10+ minute Revolution 1993.
Had they stuck to tighter arrangements, I would gladly bump this another star. As constructed, it’s an album I’m perfectly happy to listen to, I’d want to dance to it, and get funky.
Circle Jerks
2/5
High energy for sure. I appreciate the 68 second average song length. For such short songs, I’d expect then to sound more organized. I mean it’s punk so expecting organization is a bit to much.
It sounds like a couple high school kids that had 14 song ideas and couldn’t fully develop any of them. Rock on, but I’ll pass.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
Nick Cave is a bad seed. Dude cannot sing for shite. I dig the music for this album, but my lord I cannot listen to him sing. Hire a lead singer!
Michael Jackson
3/5
This album has some classics and sounds dated at the same time.
I remember Casey Casem telling the story on American Top 40 behind MJ’s dedication of Man In The Mirror to a 5 year old Japanese boy, Yoshiaki Hagiwara, who was kidnapped and eventually murdered. See, MJ cared for children.
Wait…you say the next liner note is “I will always love you. Michael Jackson.” Well yes…that is a bit forward of MJ for having never met young Yoshiaki. I feel like that is a bit creepy, but maybe MJ was just super empathetic…🤷🏽♀️
Ummm…I told myself I was going to avoid the MJ/children angle and focus on the music. But then I remembered Casey Casem telling the Yoshiaki story. How in the hell do I remember that?!?
Back to the music…
Man In The Mirror is a great song. Other highlights include The Way You Make Me Feel, Dirty Diana, and Smooth Criminal.
However, along with the highs are flat numbers like Just Good Friends and Liberian Girl. I still can’t figure LG out. It’s strange.
The Cure
3/5
What are The Cure a cure for? Hmmm…minimal digging on Wikipedia did not turn up an answer.
The melancholy was clear even without reading this album is goth rock. Digging through my history, it seems they are a cure for goth rock bands fronted by terrible vocalists (Joy Division + Siouxsie and the Banshees).
I’m not enamored by The Cure, but I respect the craft.
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Arcade Fire
5/5
I listened to this album a lot a ways back and it is just as good now as it was then. There is not a single weak song included. The sounds are layer upon layer of understated grandiosity.
I complained about Win’s voice on the other Arcade Fire album we had previously. I have no such complaints here. I never paid much attention (obviously) but I had no idea he was saying, “a tunnel from my window to yours” in Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels). I thought “window to yours” was some French thrown in there. So I guess Win could have any coated better.
It’s inconsequential as this album is solid from start to finish.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
This is a really good album. The songs are high quality on an individual level. However, something is lacking for me and I feel light I’m splitting hairs.
It could be that I measure them by their other albums that are stupendous. But I am not excited consistently by this album. I’m giving it a 4, and I feel kind of bad about it.
Sonic Youth
3/5
This is a tough one to rate. It starts out strong with Tom Violence and Shadow Of A Doubt, where I really like the guitar sound.
It gets experimental. The spoken word In The Kingdom #19 is a welcome departure. Green Light gets weird, not in a good way, not necessarily a horrible way either, but in a disorganized noise-for-the-sake-of-noise way. And it continues through the beginning of Secret Girl, which has a cool, low key, horror film vibe during the second half.
Marilyn Moore brings more experimentation that I enjoy because they are playing around with various sounds a guitar can make by altering the way they play it. They are expressing the instruments capabilities.
The cover of Bubblegum brings a fun conclusion to the album. The bass is a highlight.
The experimental aspects of this album are mixed, some good some bad. That’s what experimentation is all about. In the end, this is an album worth listening to.
The Byrds
2/5
McGuinn’s, Clark’s, and Crosby’s voices blend together most excellently. That’s all I can say positively.
This album lacks both soul and authenticity. I’m not sure if it’s due to the way the music machine wanted the sound, singing other people’s songs, or something else, but a group couldn’t sing with less passion. There’s maybe 10 seconds of lead guitar on the whole album that has a modicum of grit.
I could be making a similar comment about today’s influencer culture or airbrushed hunks/starlets on magazine covers. The product is vapid.
I listened to all three Bob Dylan covers to compare. You may hate Bob’s voice, but you cannot deny that you feel passion emanating from the speakers.
This album is like the happy meal toy that you get an excited for when you open the box and then you throw it away with your empty chocolate milk bottle on your way out.
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
The opening of the album is funky bass lovin’ fun. You got the horns, drums, synthesizers, and the list goes on. It feels like they threw the kitchen sink at this album instrumentally.
Then we get to All About Love (First Impression) where I get completely lost. The ending is a bizarre departure.
It doesn’t go too far off the rails because Yearnin’ Learnin’ and Reasons bring it back. But there is too much improv-esque exploration in the last two tracks.
Verdine White’s bass deserves recognition though.
Ute Lemper
2/5
I can’t take any album in which the line, “… and she supplied the breast…” appears (Tango Ballad). The guy singing that song is terrible as well. I like when Ute sings some of the time because she sounds like a Bond villainess. But she also says, “If sex were an Olympic sport, we'd've won the gold.” I just can’t take this seriously.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
For the first half of the album I thought Steve McQueen (“The actor!” I can hear Doc exclaim to Marty) was singing. Then I read the Wikipedia page and realized it was Steve McQueen the album and not the actor. Ah ha!
This album sounds nice with a hint of the 80s. Hallelujah is a drag though. Overall this is an album worth listening to.
Ride
2/5
Mediocre rock fronted by subpar vocals.
Solomon Burke
3/5
This album starts off great with Cry To Me. Even though it’s a slower pace, like the rest of the album, it’s got energy. I feel the soul.
Nothing else on the album meets the level of Cry To Me, which is disappointing. It’s difficult to understand how seven top 100 hits are on this album.
The Cars
3/5
I’m impressed at how many of these songs I’ve heard of but didn’t know they are by The Cars. I think this is a sound ahead of it’s time because I would have bet heavily they were all 80s songs.
There are some commendable sonic pieces: the higher pitched guitar note at the end of the measures/phrases in Good Times Roll, the hand muted riff for My Best Friend’s Girl…so crisp, same for Just What I Needed, and the keyboard part on Moving In Stereo.
Ric Ocasek knew how to write a tight pop song. Upon multiple listens I get tired of the repetitive nature for some of them though. And there is not not so great filler in the middle of the album.
Ghostface Killah
2/5
I looooove the sound of Whip You With A Strap’s main hook. Getting whipped does not sound great. I imagine that people with that sort of fetish (not that there’s anything wrong with that…you do you) feel something as sumptuous as this lady singing, “Take me across her lap, she used whip me with a strap,” when the impact happens.
Most of the music and samples are fine enough, but I’m at the point in my life where overt misogyny is a turnoff.
Mj Cole
2/5
There is scant web info on this album and just a bit about MJ himself. He bested Dr. Dre to win 2001 Best Producer for this album at the MOGO (Music of Black Origin) Awards.
That’s impressive although I had to read the date several times because I said 1991 in my head more than once. Thats the sound I hear. One that was 10 years behind its time. I skipped next before the end of almost every track.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
2/5
That was nice, penguins are cute. This album is a joke. and play time is over now.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
A pleasant affair. I had heard of Rubén Blades before but I forget where. Maybe high school Spanish class.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Pure. Fucking. Brilliance. Hendrix is one of one as a guitar player.
At one point in my life I would have vehemently argued Mitch Mitchell as the greatest drummer of all time. I’m not there today, but his effort on Fire is one of my favorite percussion performances of all time. He is still one of my favorite drummers.
If the track list were reduced to: Purple Haze, Manic Depression, Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary, Fire, Foxy Lady, Stone Free, and Red House (the greatest hits tunes I was intimately familiar with previously), this album would be an 50 out of 5. Note I was going to go 10 out of 5 as an extreme, but jkav and p-ass already went to 12 and 11 respectively. I won’t be out extremed!!!
It took me 4 listens to appreciate the lesser known tracks, but I’m down. If I could throw one track away, it would be the title track. Regardless, this is still easily a 5 out of 5.
Queen Latifah
3/5
Oh my 1989 sounds like a century ago. The beats are ancient. The rapping is basic. The album is like one of those prehistoric lizards captured in a glob of amber. Cute. Nostalgic. But ultimately ancient.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
I see some mention that Perry Farrell’s vocals not being appreciated. I don’t know why anyone would think such thoughts. Perry Ferrall’s voice fits quite well this Juana’s Addición album, particularly with the higher energy songs.
The album starts off well, although I could do without the Raggae-ish opening to Ain’t No Right. Obvious is a let down. I was thinking similarly of Three Days at the beginning, but then it picks up steam and ends up being a positive. Been Caught Stealing and Stop are the highlights for me. This album was headed to fourstardom until the last two tracks where I feel a drop off. I’m not sold on the sitar sounding violin in Of Course and Perry’s voice struggles on the slower Classic Girl.
I would definitely enjoy listening to this album again, but it’s likely to happen when an admirador(a) de Juana’s Addición puts it on.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Keep The Car Running and My Body Is A Cage are the two songs I like the most. There are a couple others I like too, but the rest I could take or leave. (Antichrist Television Blues) sounds like an attempt to sound like Bruce Springsteen. This is a big drop off from Funeral and I’m fine with it being removed in later editions of the 1001 book.
Beck
3/5
I don’t get the Beck hype.
Is this sound unique? Yes.
Is it catchy? At times, yes, but also repetitive.
Are there incongruous sounds stitched together in some sort of I’m-on-a-different-level-than-everyone-else vibe? Yes
Does that aspect remind me somewhat of improvisational jazz? Unfortunately, yes.
Is Derelict a derelict song? Yes.
Is this album something special? Eh, not to me.
Dire Straits
3/5
This album was 4-4.5 stars good through Sultans Of Swing. Those last three tracks were a big let down for me. Setting Me Up, Southbound Again, and Sultans are my favorite tracks.
The lead guitar is noteworthy throughout the album. Even I won’t be adding this album to my library, I should be adding a couple of these songs to a playlist that doesn’t exist yet.
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
Beatles
4/5
The first side + Here Comes The Sun is an immaculate opening to the album. I love the sound of Come Together, but paying more attention this time, the verse lyrics appear non-sensical. Something is something of a masterpiece by George Harrison.
Then there is a five song run, Because through Polythene Pam, on the second half that I could do without. Thankfully it picks back up with She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.
Cutting those 5 mediocre tracks out would boost this album to the top.
Can
1/5
This album is sneaky bad. I can listen to any 5 minute section and it’s OK…a three star experience. But then you string them all together and realize this album stands for nothing. At least screamo or improvisational jazz (I hate both) have a point of view. There is no point of view on this album. Maybe a nihilistic one?
One positive for this album is that it taught me that antagonism is the opposite of synergism. The sum of the parts is most definitely worse than their individual contributions. If this is what our future days sound like, I’m out.
The Pogues
3/5
Irish folk punk you say. Reminds me of nights at the pub drinking a wee Guinness or three.
I once tried to order a half dozen Irish Car Bombs and got lambasted by the bartender. As I came to realize later, lambasted for good reason. I’m glad to see there is a push to rename it as the Irish Slammer. I hope Irish Slammer sticks because it is a tasty concoction.
Seven Drunken Nights was always a favorite tune to hear at the Irish bar along with one where the audience screams, “Alice. Alice. Who the fuck is Alice?” I can never hear the name Alice without internally screaming this chorus.
This album reminds me of those fun nights.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
This album couldn’t start nor end any better than Gimme Shelter and You Can’t Always Get What You Want. The instrumentation on Gimme Shelter is brilliant.
In between, I’m digging the blues stuff and even the country of Country Honk. I realized that I like the honky tonk style in limited, one song per album, amounts. I like the more familiar style of Honky Tonk Women, but hey, this works too.
The lyrics for Let It Bleed are gross set to a nice blues track.
Keith Richards’ guitar deserves to be commended. He was flying mostly solo with Brian Jones being unreliable during the recording sessions.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
After three albums of complaining, rightfully I might add, that Leonard Cohen’s voice is bad, boring, not terrible, and the most uninteresting in music, my opinion hasn’t changed after the fourth. Thank goodness we only have one more Cohen album left!
The one slight distinction this time is his voice isn’t grating on me as much. It fits better with these songs. Cohen has finally broken the Jeff Buckley barrier.
Supergrass
4/5
Great find. Thanks 1001 albums list. I enjoyed Alright and Time the most.
Stereo MC's
3/5
A 2 if I’m paying attention. A 3 as background noise. I listened to this on a road trip, so 3 it is.
Sister Sledge
3/5
I think the Sledge Sisters should seriously consider renaming themselves the Angelic Vocal Sisters. These ladies have the most pleasant voices to hear.
This music is definitely made for the disco club, at least the upbeat tracks. The bass is grooving, inducing hip swaying dance moves. It works best for me as a background accompaniment to something else: a party, Wordling, or maybe cleaning the house.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
In Heaven: I am truly uncertain if Fatboy Slim is enjoying extensive coitus sessions in the afterlife or if he is in a heightened state of euphoria. Yes, I had to look up how to spell coitus correctly. Yes, I guessed correctly the first time. Yes, I’m proud of myself.
Koffi Olomide
3/5
The music is fun. I don’t speak the language so that limits my enjoyment.
Koffi also sounds like not a great dude (multiple assaults and a conviction for statutory rape). Be a better human, Koffi.
Madonna
2/5
After Love Song, which was not great nor good, I was fully prepared to rip Madonna for ripping off Prince’s sound. Turns out it was Prince. Even with Prince it’s still a bad song. Act of Contrition is also a very bad song.
The hits are nostalgic, but as jkav pointed out, quite repetitive. Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, and Cherish aren’t enough to overcome the mediocre and bad offerings on this album.
The, what I consider, cheesy 80s pop music doesn’t do this any favors 30+ years later.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
This is a solid album I wouldn’t mind hearing again. The song styles are a bit all over the place, which is understandable being that this is B&S’s debut. More songs like Electronic Renaissance, no surprise my favorite track by far, would push this album to a higher rating.
George Michael
4/5
Soft. Supple. Intimate. A joy to hear. George has a pleasant voice, e.g., listen to the last note of Waiting (Reprise). He showed the world that his writing and voice could capture an audience’s attention. Waiting For That Day caught me by surprise, as in it’s a commendable song.
Portishead
5/5
This album, or really Portishead, is one of a kind. I have never heard anything else like them. The bands that are listed as being similar and/or adjacent don’t come close to them. And this album started it all.
I don’t know what I like better, the music or Beth Gibbons’s vocals. Mysterons is of particular musical note between the militaristic drumming and the scratching. Her voice is ethereal.
This album reminds me of Twin Peaks: The Return. TPTR had scenes throughout at The Roadhouse, a bar on the southern side of town where bands often play. As is the case with everything in Twin Falls, Washington, mystery and oddity are the backdrop to the goings on at The Roadhouse. The album would fit right in as a performance at The Roadhouse…in a great way.
Side bar alert!!!
I discovered Chromatics through their performance of Shadow at the end of Part 2. Great song, check out the video https://youtu.be/IGUboLZx3Tk. Check out Chromatics too (Kill For Love is a great place to start).
You know who else performed in TPTR? Of course not, but I’ll tell you anyway. I didn’t realize they were on the show until today. I found them separately after watching the show. The answer? Au Revoir Simone, also a great listen (Move In Spectrums is a great place to start).
The Jam
3/5
I like English Rose the best. Of the rest, I enjoy the punkish offerings better than the new wave.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
The Adverts
3/5
Side A -> 🤘
Side B -> 🫤
Side A > Side B
Solid album
Van Halen
3/5
I imagine a lot of people around the world going, “Holy shit! What is this?!?” when this album came out. Let’s all bow down to Eddie Van Halen and his guitar mastery. Mad respect.
Listening to this album, specifically Eruption, a light bulb went off. This is the sound I associate with 80s metal guitar that turns me off. It’s technically phenomal, but at the same time…gratuitous. This is the source.
To be clear, Eddie’s sound here is great. He’s carrying this whole album. It’s the lesser imitators that came later and tried to make their own version of this, for a solid 10-15 years, that I don’t like.
The let down on this album are the lyrics. They aren’t particularly stimulating and they are too repetitive.
Femi Kuti
3/5
Upbeat. Spunky. A fun listen.
Carole King
4/5
This album gets better every time I listen to it. I personally liked it better once I knew that Carole wrote, or co-wrote, all the songs.
The most impressive accomplishment is that Tapestry held the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 by a solo, female artist in the US Billboard 200. 15 weeks at #1! That’s 3.5 months!!! The record stood for 40 years until Adele showed up with 21.
A couple of these songs were famously covered by others. I really love James Taylor’s version of You’ve Got A Friend, better than Carole’s. But now I appreciate that Carole wrote it.
Afrika Bambaataa
2/5
This sounds like a soundtrack from a space invaders movie for the 1950s if the space invaders were actually friendly and took someone from earth to a club on their planet where other aliens were shown having a good time. It sounds cool and futuristic…70 years ago.
Neil Young
4/5
My favorite part of the album, by far, is the guitar part on World On A String, specifically the defending low notes at the end of each phrase. The guitar part isn’t overly complicated, but it’s engaging as hell.
Although it’s more subtle, I also dig the guitar riff on New Mama. And the pedal steel guitar is a nice touch throughout.
My only complaint for this album was about the vocals on Mellow My Mind where Neil occasionally strains his voice. I just thought it was terrible at first, but it happens on the lyric, “Ain’t got nothing on those feelings that I had,” which comes after lines about being on the road and loneliness. So I now think the strained voice is on purpose to convey his feelings of stress and despair.
The biggest take away, other than finding another album to enjoy, is that how I listen to an album makes a big difference. Some might say duh. I initially listened to this on my drive to/from work. I was left with the World On A String guitar take and not much else because I couldn’t really hear what’s going on.
When listening again through headphones, the experience was vastly improved. There are many subtleties to hear, which is difficult to do at 60 mph.
This realization makes me think that Neil might have had a point with his high definition, studio quality audio service idea, Pono. It didn’t pan out because not people can’t hear, or don’t care about, the difference. I’m no audiophile, but being able to hear the involution on this album helped me appreciate it much more.
Steely Dan
5/5
I love these guys!
They took a sound I like with a structure I despise (jazz) and fused it with a soft rock sound that ends up being incredible. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were truly masters. They stopped touring in the mid 70s to focus on studio work and this masterpiece came out. Bravo!!! The arrangements are tight and meticulously executed to perfectly achieve the soundtrack in their heads.
I hadn’t realized until now how many different session musicians a band could use on one album. I’ve always assumed that an album is recorded by one set of musicians with a guest appearance here and there. Steely Dan nearly had a different musician on each instrument for each song. So Steely Dan was more a duo with a rotating backing band for Aja. I would think changing musicians constantly would be difficult. It seems like it was refreshing for these seasoned pros because rotating musicians helped Aja become a masterpiece.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
After three albums of CCR, I’m a fan. More than the greatest hits fan that I used to be. Their run of four albums in such a short time (1.5 years) from Bayou Country to Cosmo’s Factory is very good.
Their 7 album career would be a 20+ year career for some bands these days. They put out 7 album in less than 4 years.
I like the gritty, country, blues guitars with the vocals to match. It’s too bad they couldn’t squash their personal differences.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
Lots of fun. High energy. If I knew what was being said, this would be a 5.
Beach House
4/5
I’ve listened to this album 3 times and I still don’t know what happened. I got lost in atmosphere of it all. This dream pop offering feels like a dream. I can describe it in general, but I can’t sort out the details. I know I had a good time and the imagination of it all was something to revisit.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
This man is smoooooooooooooth. Not a bad song on here. For how well Isaac Hayes is in the soul genre, I wish he sounded like this. Mr. Kiwanuka deserves to be heralded as a soul royalty. Of all the actual soul albums we’ve had, this is the best one.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
This album sounds like it’s from the time period captured in the album cover. These guys have a far out, groovy sound from 1962. Congratulations on picking out perfectly matched album art. The sound is fine, but I heard it 20 years ago when it was already 40 years old.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
I’m glad the 1001 experience brought me to this album. I never would have listened to it, nor learned about Amy otherwise.
Her voice is quite excellent. It has a depth. I also like her song genres: soul, jazz, R&B.
Intro / Stronger Than Me and Amy Amy Amy are the highlights for me. The rest of the songs are solid, and have moments that reach these heights, but not enough of them.
I would like to listen to her later albums to hear if her writing matured to a more consistently elevated level.
Solange
3/5
The message that resonates the most is delivered by Interlude: Tina Taught Me. The speaker is spot on. The morons crying about white history month should be ecstatic about not needing one (nor a white pride month either).
Too often, the music is too low key to hold my interest more.
Minor Threat
4/5
“A Minor Threat to good music.” This is what one of my college roommates said every time Minor Threat came up. His best friend, another roommate, loved(s?) Minor Threat. They used to go back and forth about musical tastes constantly.
At the time, I only heard noise when Minor Threat was on. Relistening many years later, I’m impressed with how musical these guys are.
The drummer is fantastic as is the bassist. The lead singer’s voice is pretty good with a gritty edge that fits hard core punk well. And the song structures are not just thrash some power chords and pound the drums as fast as possible, which is what I remembered, see Little Friend.
Yes
3/5
There are quite a few aspects that are enjoyable on this album. The opening track, Roundabout, was a solid start. The crunchier guitar sounds of South Side Of The Sky work for me. The vocals on Long Distance Runaround hit the spot.
Surrounding all these moments are superfluous forays to newt explored sounds. I’m not a fan of the repeated chanting in We Have Heaven nor The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus). Cans And Brahms and Five Percent For Nothing are all fine and good, but not what I’m looking for on a rock album.
And this is where I come to the realization that prog rock has some experimental parallels to improvisational jazz, which I’ve established that I despise. Prog rock is a genre I can generally listen to, while some I love, but I’m turned off by the more varied experimental versions of it.
Keith Jarrett
4/5
Im a bit blown away, surprised, contented. Coming in, I was expecting to have to bare this album begrudgingly to the end. Never in a 1001 years would I have listened to this album, and I’m glad I did.
This is labeled jazz, but I don’t hear it as such. I guess I don’t know enough about jazz to recognize it.
Keith displays piano mastery, in both technicality and expressiveness. He knows how to rip off crescendoed runs and dial it back into the intimacy of pin drop anticipation. Truly an emotional experience.
The Zombies
3/5
This album is mostly OK, but has its ups and downs. I like the tension between the lonesome bass and rhythm/lead guitars during the verses of Maybe After He’s Gone. The chorus of Brief Candles quite a bit while the verses are bleh. Beechwood Park and Changes can go. I like Friends Of Mine until they literally just name a bunch of people at the end of the song.
It’s a good thing the producers were willing to use their own money to mix a stereo version after having spent the budget on the mono mix. They did a good job of creating enticement with different sounds in each ear and moving sounds from one ear to the other.
They almost lost me before Time Of The Season, which is a classic hit. It barely pulls this album up to average.
The Doors
4/5
I’m a sucker for blues rock, and this is a good example. The three tracks that I already knew; Lover Her Madly, L. A. Woman, and Riders On The Storm; carry the album well. In between, there some decent tracks too, like their own arrangement of Crawling King Snake.
Morrison’s voice growls with a pungent grittiness. It conveys a guttural emotion with his poetic lyrics.
I had not known that Morrison was a Navy brat, whose father was an admiral. The constant instability in his surroundings must have been tough and likely led to some of his instability as an adult.
Gone too soon, but what an album to be his last with The Doors.
The Yardbirds
2/5
I’ve heard of Jeff Beck and he’s supposedly some guitar hero. Admittedly, I have not listened to any of his music, including the Yardbirds, until today.
Maybe he is a guitar hero, but I find this album severely underwhelming. Beck’s guitar is certainly the highlight though.
It’s hard to figure out why, but I have no desire to hear any of this again, except Over Under Sideways Down on rare occasion.
Saint Etienne
2/5
This is some uninspired shit. Very boring. The best I can say is that it is not offensively bad.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Compared to the abysmal Blood And Chocolate that we already heard, This Year’s Model pleasantly reveals that Elvis Costello did have stimulating music worth listening to at one point. I guess he ran out of good ideas in the 8 years, and 9 albums, in between.
The aspect that sticks out to me the most is how prominent the bass guitar is throughout the album. I notice it the most, then the keyboard, with the guitar playing a mostly lick filling role.
I’m glad for the US version they removed (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea and added Radio, Radio. This does raise the issue of what is an album to me. Clearly there is no one version of this, and many other, albums, which breaks a construct I previously held prior to the 1001 album journey. Multiple versions aren’t bad necessarily, but they do render the album experience less universal.
This also makes me think of how albums are typically more Frankenstein productions rather than a band playing songs together from start to finish, another construct I used to hold. I like that Elvis Costello and The Attractions recorded most of these songs “live” with minimal overdubs. That approach is more authentic. The Frankenstein albums result in a more refined, enhanced version of the artist’s and producer’s vision; however, they don’t represent the music a band can produce “live”.
It’s kind of like airbrushing photos for a magazine. It’s an artificially produced version of reality made to induce a certain experience in the consumer. The authenticity of the imperfections is better to me.
Back to this album, I like it and I’m glad I now know that Elvis Costello doesn’t totally suck.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
What a voice! I’d definitely be happy to hear Ms. Vaughan sing again.
The Replacements
3/5
At times the music is cohesively poor. It’s as if the recording engineer captured warm up randomness and somehow spliced it into the album. It’s a real turn off. We’re Coming Out is an example, and I don’t care for Gary’s Boner. Somehow, I’m not surprised that Ted Nugent co-wrote Gary’s Boner.
Upon a second listen, I realized there were fewer of these moments than I took away from the first listen. Black Diamond is my favorite song on the album. Sixteen Blue is a close second.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Another 1001 find! I’m not much of a country fan and this album helped me unravel that mystery a bit.
The aspect of this album that surprised me the most is how much I like Willie Nelson’s voice. The music was very low key at times with his voice being the primary instrument and it shines. I also liked the guitar and piano too. A minor annoyance to note: the music and vocals were so soft on a couple occasions that I couldn’t hear.
What I really don’t care for are the down home country lyrics. I lose interest when Willie is talking about stallions and such. I somewhat buy into the stereotype that country music lyrics are about god, trucks, and puppy dogs. And it’s those types of subjects in country music that turn me off.
Thankfully, there aren’t too many overly folksy orations to drown out the positives on this album though.
Iron Maiden
3/5
oooOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOooooo
AHHHhHHhhhHhHHHhHhHHHhHhHhHHHH
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh
This album sounds like the soundtrack to a great rollercoaster. It hits hard and fast. It would have to be one of those electromagnetically launched from the start house rides.
I went down the rabbit hole of Iron Maiden theme park fantasies, and MrKnickerbocker proposed (https://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/iron-maiden-theme-park.27627/):
“Aces High - A roller coaster with two opposing cars, painted for Britain and Germany. The tracks weave around each other like an airfight and each rider gets a water gun they can fire at their opponent. The best seat is for the Tailgunner, who gets a double-barreled gun and rides backwards!”
Sounds like a blast!
I understand why the band considers Hallowed Be Thy Name to be their best song. It’s a good one.
Too bad rollercoasters give me headaches.
🎢 🎢🎢
Lauryn Hill
4/5
Amongst a sea of big screen tvs, blunts, 40s, and b*tches dominating the scene, Lauryn Hill produced this smooth hip hop original. She wrote of love, relationships, and faith. Leaving The Fugees behind her, Ms Hill shines on this solo project.
I, like many others, heard that Lauryn Hill would rather have her children starve than have white people buy her album. I had to look up if she said it since it’s been so long (she did not). It just goes to show that misinformation predates social media. The main difference is that it spreads much faster now, and back then the internet was not so prolific that one could look up if something really happened.
There is a lot of really good material to take in. Doo Wop (That Thing) and Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You are the peaks.
However, 77+ minutes is a very long run time, and the task of sustaining a high level for that long is tough. There were a few songs for which I lost interest, but then the album picked back up.
Ms Hill’s approach is refreshing and deserves the extensive kudos it received when it came out. This is the good kind of hip hop and still sounds just as refreshing now.
Def Leppard
3/5
When I hear this album, I think of white trash…mullet, Bret the Hitman Heart tank top, and a trucker hat…standing on the chairs at a bar screaming, “POUR SOME SUGAR ON MEEEEE, IN THE NAME OF LO-OVE!!!” I can’t get this picture out of my head.
Gorillaz
3/5
I’m into some lofi and trip hop music, but this offering felt too sparse to me too often. Clint Eastwood is great and I liked the last couple songs better than the rest.
The Monks
2/5
I can see how this album was pioneering at its time, but in this time it sounds almost comical. I liken it to the late 70s/early 80s adopters of electronic synthesizers. It was other worldly at the time and nearly a parody now that the approach has been fully fleshed out.
Kudos to The Monks, but the sound belongs in a museum.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
They kept it interesting for the first two movements of Bo Didley’s Who Do You Love. Then as all jam bands do, they shift into some random noise exploration that just kills the momentum on Where You Love. It’s several minutes of minimalism with picks scraping across guitar strings and claps and whoops from all over. What a disappointment.
Grizzly Bear
2/5
Blur
3/5
End Of A Century ends with the lyric, “…it’s nothing special.” An apt description for this album. Parklife (song) is good though.
Madness
2/5
Full on JBZ with this b!
Blondie
4/5
Debbie Harry has a great voice. I knew One Way Or Another and Heart Of Glass and I was so pleasantly surprised to really enjoy a couple other songs that I didn’t know. I don’t recall a song I disliked n the album.
I pick up a little bit of The Go-Go’s from this album. Rather I sense that The Go-Go’s had a little bit of this album Blondie album in their debut, Beauty And The Beat. Sure enough, the Inspired by Blondie playlist has a The Go-Go’s song in it.
I also noticed that Blondie was a regular presence at CBGB in the mid 1970s. They are a nice edition to my where-and-when-in-music-history-would-you-like-to-visit, 1975 CBGB with Patti Smith and Television. Blondie’s bassist even joined to Television when they needed one. Small world.
Rush
3/5
There’s a lot of snappy pizzazz to Rush. They are so technically gifted and tight.
Rush is like someone who can juggle a soccer ball 1000 times in a row. It’s impressive as hell, but they missed the point that the point of soccer is to score goals and stop the opponent from scoring.
Metallica
4/5
“Metallica sold out man. What a bunch of assholes.”
- Some asshole, somewhere
There are a lot of good songs on this album…and some of them are slow. Nothing Else Matters is great…and shows a completely different side of Metallica from say Master Of Puppets or Ride The Lightning. By album #5, a band should be producing a sound that has evolved from album #1.
“Metallica matured man. What a bunch of assholes.”
- Some asshole, somewhere
The Kinks
3/5
Korn
2/5
There is some 4 star instrumental stuff on here. And through the first four songs, I was formulating how I was going to rationalize a 3 star rating.
But the vocals man. Ugh! The low register growling is just so unbearable. I barely noticed it on the first four tracks. But the. Some of the instrumentals fall off (All In The Family is bad) and all I notice after that is RWAAAARRRRRRRRR…and I gotta turn this shit off.
Fleet Foxes
3/5
This seems like something I would have liked better with the echoy sound and folksy ambiance. Thanks like it, don’t get me wrong. Like a 3.25.
Something is missing. The instrumentals are fairly simple and don’t excite me much. They aren’t bad, but no “oohs” or “wows” here. Other than, I liked Blue Ridge Mountains a lot.
The Stooges
3/5
This seems like a softer version of their later, full developed punk sound. Parts of this I like a lot. Others are just so so. This is a solid 3.5. We Will Fall is a great concept, but 10+ minutes is too long. At that length it’s a slight detriment. If it had been 4 min, what a bonus!
Liking anything Iggy Pop was involved in is still one of the biggest surprises of the 1001 experience. This one is pretty good, but after three listens it didn’t quite make it to a 4.
The Who
3/5
From what I read, I’m underselling this album, but most of it sounds like pretty generic rock to me. La-La-La-Lies bugs me the most in this sense.
My Generation (song) is an exception of course. It is loud, distorted, and obnoxious, and fabulously genre breaking. The same goes for The Ox, which even as an instrumental piece sounds like a Hendrix precursor.
Meat Puppets
3/5
These guys are all over the place. One aspect that remains consistent is that the vocals are subpar. Thankfully…strangely thankfully…there are a lot of instrumental parts to the album.
I definitely recognized Lake Of Fire. Digging more, I had no idea that Nirvana’s Unplugged album covers three of these songs (even though Kurt Cobain straight up says it). After making that connection, I can hear the influence on Nirvana.
I turned the album off just past the end of the original track list. I made it through. There’s barely enough interesting material to pull this above the JBZ.
Radiohead
3/5
Very interesting stuff here. I Might Be Wrong is my favorite.
A 3.5. It’s a bit too concept-y to round up (Life In A Glass House).
4/5
Finally a Bowie album where I can HEAR why he is revered. The music has bones that can stand on its own, without glitz and glam. Ironic because the over-the-top dramatic Ziggy character is what people remember about this album the most.
And he didn’t even need it. Sure, Ziggy helped raise the profile for the concept. But the music would be good no matter what.
I’m glad I finally got to this album and realization because I was starting to think Bowie’s flare only served to cover up music lacking the same stature.
Boards of Canada
2/5
This is a great base layer for something more…hmmm…animated. There’s almost nothing here exciting though. Roygbiv has a little spark. And the song after it, Rue The World, is boring as fuck. Most of the album resembles Rue The World rather than Roygbiv.
Green Day
5/5
One could argue this is the best album of the 90s. Culturally, there are good arguments for Nirvana’s Nevermind, Pearl Jam’s Ten (even though Vs is better), and Radiohead’s OK Computer. But you know what, I like this album better than all of those. It holds up just as well as the first time I heard it.
Listening again, I realize that there are a lot of lyrics on this album that I don’t know. I used to think it was cheating to read the lyrics to an album if they were in the liner notes. Like it was more authentic if you learn the words by listening over and over. My opinion now…who really cares.
Regardless, this album kicks ass and is a 90s defining work.
ZZ Top
2/5
2:17 of La Grange plus a bunch of ho-hum boring shit.
Mercury Rev
4/5
I use the word interesting far too often in my reviews. As I was typing it out again about this album, I searched for similar feeling.
Synonyms to describe this album that don’t quite describe my feelings: absorbing, engrossing, fascinating, riveting, gripping, compulsive, spellbinding, captivating, enthralling, entrancing, beguiling, appealing, attractive, amusing, diverting, exciting, and action-packed.
Synonyms that describe how I feel about this album fairly well: compelling, intriguing, entertaining, stimulating, thought-provoking, compelling, and engaging.
While it does not describe my feelings, my favorite interesting synonym is unputdownable. What a mouthful!
This album is the stuff of Mercury Rev’s unencumbered dreams. And it would be a great sound track for some deep REM sleep dreamscape.
I had never heard of this album until today. Another fine discovery.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Not much to say other than I wouldn’t mind listening to this again. Mr. Mayfield crafts music pleasant to the ear.
Death In Vegas
4/5
Great find. Never heard of Death In Vegas.
This journey is going to take 3 years itself. Then I’m going to have another 3 years of going through the catalogues of my 4 and 5 star artists.
I totally agree with Ivey that this is reminiscent of the Air - Virgin Suicides album.
Tears For Fears
2/5
I haven’t started listening to the album yet, and I have to say these dudes’ hair is amazingly horrible. It was apropos to the time and genre, which makes me fearful for what is coming. Let’s hear what happens…
Shout consists of the chorus repeated repeatedly and not much else. The Working Hour is laden with extra cheesy 80s saxophone shit. Not a good start.
Everybody Wants To Rule The World is really good. Let’s go!!!
OOF, oof, and Oof!
Head Over Heels pulls us out of the nose dive.
Conclusion: the hair is apropos to the album, which is bad but not amazingly so.
Queen
4/5
What a whirlwind of accomplishment. Usually such an array of musical styles would garner a snarky comment akin to pick a lane. However, somehow, Queen make the style gyrations seem seem less.
Bohemian Rhapsody and You’re My Best Friend are great and deserve all the accolades they get. But I’d like to focus on ‘39. I’d never heard it before. It sounds contemporary for today, nearly 50 years later. There is a relatively popular song that sounds like it used ‘39 as an inspiration, and I can’t put my finger on it.
I’d give this album a 5, but the end of Sweet Lady goes off the rails and I don’t care that much for The Prophet’s Song.
David Holmes
2/5
JBZ alert! This album isn’t horrible, only sometimes. As background music that comes on with me unaware: I could make it through. There aren’t any songs that I’m excited to hear again. And if I am aware it’s in, I’m definitely turning this off.
Buckley has company in the JBZ, although Grace is better.
The Black Keys
4/5
This is a five star album through 9 or 10 tracks. I love the distorted, bluesy sound for both guitars and vocals. The album is at its peak when, as I listened the second time, the volume was unexpectedly way too high and smashed me in face. It get good in my bones. The last 4 or 5 tracks are fine, but feel like a significant drop off.
Genesis
2/5
This album really annoys me. The genesis of the concept had to be, “let’s make a bad, but not terrible, annoying album.”
The guitar solo on the back half of Firth Of Fifth is Gilmore-esque.
The album also annoys me because I want to give it a 1 star for annoying me, but it’s not bad enough. I have standards (feel free to disagree)!
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
The 50s were a trip man. 12 songs. 26 minutes. Not Fade Away and That’ll Be The Day are highlights. The music sounds so square. Life was different.
The Stranglers
4/5
Another good find to add to my growing punk adjacent collection.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
The Divine Comedy
2/5
The veiling for this album is tolerable. I have major problems with the vocals.
Beatles
4/5
High quality, innovative stuff right there. It’s not surprising to read that they spent 220+ hours recording these songs. It’s too bad Paperback Writer, which was recorded during these sessions, was not included. It would have strengthened the album.
Lennon said he considered Revolver a continuation of Rubber Soul. Volume 1 and volume 2 in his mind. I agree.
Ella Fitzgerald
5/5
I love, love, LOVE Ella Fitzgerald’s voice. I could listen to her recite, in a singing voice, all the junk emails I get, announce play-by-play of waiting in queues at the airport on a holiday during a winter storm delay, or even take lead on Wilco’s Being There. So soothing.
I don’t want to go over the top, but her voice may very well be my favorite in music. The other contenders from the first 493 albums would be would be Aretha Franklin, Mariam Makeba, Adele, and Joni Mitchell. My favorite multi-vocals are Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young though. Those harmonies do me in. But favorite solo voice? Ella and Adele lead the way.
I could do without the instrumental pieces on this album. I’m confused as to why they are on an Ella Fitzgerald album. Regardless, this album is a home run, all 3 hours of it.
Alice In Chains
3/5
The grungiest of the grunge. Not really my style of grunge, but Rooster is cool.
Buzzcocks
3/5
Not sober. Not drunk. Just a little buzzed.
Stan Getz
4/5
This is some snazzy jazzy. It sounds like background music at some high falutin’ dinner. Extra credit for the foreign language adding to the pretentious feel. I enjoyed this a lot.
Manu Chao
5/5
¡Este álbum es fantástico! Me encanta la musica y la voz. Suena como la banda sonata de Narcos México. Las tres primeras canciones son mis favoritas. Me gusta como Bongo Bong se convierte sin problemas en Je Ne T’aime Plus. Bien hecho.
Estaré escuchando este álbum muchas veces en el futuro.
Alice Cooper
3/5
I liked Alice Cooper . . .
I liked Alice Cooper? What???
That was unexpected.
3.5
The Pharcyde
3/5
I wish there were some otha songs like Otha Fish.
Kanye West
3/5
I can’t deny that the music is innovative and fun to listen to. I also can’t deny the shitty, misogynistic lyrics.
Barry Adamson
4/5
The concept of writing an album as a soundtrack to an imaginary film is kind of wild. I can totally hear it. Maybe the film plot goes something like this:
A woman dies and the whole movie takes place in the time between when her body is no longer living and when she crosses over into the after life. The whole thing feels like one nights worth of an intense dream sequence, interacting with her past lovers.
She starts out remembering how hot Jarvis was in Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis. How she, and many other women, lusted after him. How she get lucky to be one of the ones that experienced Jarvis. But now in retrospect, she sees that he is a conceited asshole.
She recalls the torrid one night stand instigated in Dunkin Donuts. It was a love/hate connection, one of the most intense and transient of her life. They enjoyed and maneuvered against each other.
It gets weird in Business As Usual, but so was Dirk. He thought he possessed her. He couldn’t handle being rejected. He obsessed. Dirk was intense too, but in the creepiest way possible. Is he why our protagonist has died? Strong possibility.
Miles kicks in as the transition leaves her awfulness behind and the afterlife reminds her that she doesn’t have to deal with that shit anymore. (Great song.)
Dirty Barry is her being made aware of the hallway to hell. It’s dark, confusing, and sprinkled with improve jazz bits. She witnesses treachery.
In Vermillion Kisses it is revealed to the audience that our protagonist is not innocent herself as she takes the role of manipulative maiden. She has used and destroyed.
The Sweetest Embrace is all these men from her past letting her go. Acknowledging her sudden and complete vanishing from the world. (Bonus: Nick Cave didn’t tank this track!)
“It’s over babe. And it really is a shame.”
This is a shit plot, but one thing I do know is that David Lynch should make this movie. Or a creative film student should give it a go.
I’m not going to listen to this album very much in the future, but kudos for the creativity.
Bee Gees
2/5
Who thought it was a good idea to make an entire album of ballads? Please fire that person.
Sam Cooke
5/5
RCA buried this album for 22 years! Outrage! The fact that they were reluctant to release this recording to not upset Sam’s pop image demonstrates how repressed American popular society was in the early 60s.
This is a wonderful album. It’s energetic and fun. Wish I were there to twist the night away.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
I enjoyed this album quite a bit. Even more once I saw the track listing that the album is 37 min and not the 77 min I thought going in. I’m happy I didn’t listened to all those bonus cuts.
The guitar is singing high. If it were a Transformers character, it would be GuitarScream.
Despite this, I’m ready to conclude that my ceiling for funk is about a 3.5, where this album lies. Funk just isn’t my thang.
Everything But The Girl
2/5
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
…I apologise for the copious zeds, but holy moly 1001 list this is some boring shite. British 1001 bias albumified right here. There is no planet, no time, no universe in which this is interesting.
Mekons
2/5
I could repast all the zs from yesterdays Everything But The Girl review. In contrast, this album is more interesting and also more offensive to my ears.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
This album explores a variety of sounds, much like the prof rock Genesis from which Peter Gabriel came. I wish he would have explored in private and only put the found gems, like Solsbury Hill and Down The Dolce Vita, on the album. Tracks likes Moribund the Burgermeister are off putting to say the least.
3/5
Prog rock, man. Not my jam. After listening to the album, it makes sense that the band recorded sections of songs at a time, sometimes as few as 16 bars, before moving on to the next.
The album sounds like the result of uber-tinkering with arrangements, takes, and mixes. I enjoyed hearing this, but I’m not coming back for seconds.
DJ Shadow
4/5
The first album ever comprised entirely of samples of existing works. Is this art? It’s a good question. Is it meta art? Is meta art just art? Also good questions.
There are infinite ways to create original music, which can result in whole body, euphoric as well as wretched experiences. There are also infinite ways to create fully sampled music, and it’s a smaller set of infinity. Can it be just as enjoyable as original art?
Yes, this is art. Yes, this is meta art, which is also art. Yes, this is just as enjoyable as “original” music because it is original. The process of choosing the samples, splicing them, layering them, looping them, and joining them together is original.
Side note that surprised me: Lyrics Born is the guy on the cover wearing a wig. He was part of the Solesides Collective with DJ Shadow. Lyrics Born is great. Give his album, Later That Day . . ., a try. It’ll be worth your time.
The Modern Lovers
3/5
Christine and the Queens
3/5
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
I went to visit some future family in the late summer of 2005 or 2006. I was chatting with a wee fella who was in a band, musically inclined. I asked him for an album recommendation and he suggested this album.
This being before the streaming era, I waited until I had a chance to listen to it many weeks later at a music shop. I remember being so excited based on the description of what lie ahead.
But when I sampled it, I was not impressed. I’ve had a disappointed view of this album ever since. Using my 1001 rating scale, I probably would have given it 2 stars based off my memory.
Well my disappointment has been transposed from this album onto myself. What was I thinking?!? I have missed almost two decades of appreciating Illinois. Maybe I just wasn’t ready for it yet.
I’m down with the indie, chamber folk sound. I especially appreciate the variety of instruments, like the trumpet, Wurlitzer, and banjo. Sufjan’s vocals fit the music so well too.
While the recording equipment were low-fidelity, a sound I appreciate for this album, the song titles are not. Across 22 songs, there are an average of 14+ words per title (309 total). Track 2 (shortened to The Black Hawk War here) comes in at a whopping 53 words. Jacksonville, the lone 1 word title, is a slacker. It’s as if Sufjan’s ability to intelligently delete layers is offset by an inability to succinctly encompass a song through its title.
The album is long, an almost certain complaint from me. But not here, I enjoyed every minute.
John Lee Hooker
3/5
This was a big career revival album for John Lee Hooker, but I don’t understand the hype. I like the blues a lot, but this is mediocre, which means it’s still listenable. The keyboard in the opening song was a big turnoff…80s yuck, but the rest was OK.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
A really good way to start the week. I was expecting a hands down, no shit 5. But this isn’t the album I remembered.
It is carried by My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) and Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black). They are phenomenal.
One of things I really admire about Neil Young’s guitar style is the way he intertwines lead and rhythm parts together as one part. It almost sounds like two guitarists instead of one. It’s really fun to play his stuff.
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) is a great, crunchy reprise of the opening track. Powderfinger and and Sedan Delivery are noteworthy too. The rest of the tracks were a bit blasé.
I remembered there being less filler. However, there is still enough here to listen again and again.
Culture Club
3/5
Quick, important side not about yesterday’s Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. I remembered the album Live Rust, which is amazing and definitely a hands down, no shit 5 star. Now you may rest easy. Whew!
Culture Club is a textbook definition of 80s new wave/pop. Not my genre.
Karma Chameleon is fun and the rest of the album is a mix of corny, some fun, and not too cheesy 80s sound such that I’d be OK having it on in the background.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Kim Gordon’s vocals are sweet. Her spoken word style on Tunic (Song for Laren) are reminiscent of Ruth Radelet of Chromatics.
Awesome band sidebar alert: Chromatics are in my top 10. Check them out. I already conveyed how they kick major ass in my Cocteau Twins Treasure review and how Kill For Love is a great album to start with in my Portishead Dummy side bar. Well, I’ll amplify that by telling you Night Drive and Cherry are great albums too.
Thurston Moore’s vocals work for me too. Disappearer is a good example.
I was surprised to hear that Mildred Pierce is such a turnoff for others. I think music has a great groove for the first 1:40. The last 30 seconds do take a bit of a weird turn. I find the last 2 minutes of Mote to be more annoying than that because it’s just noise for an extended time that could easily be cut. I like Mote too, and I’m pointing out that there are less appealing parts of the album to me. So I don’t understand the fingernails dragging across the chalk board that others hear.
This album is great. Never thought I would love it this much. My nit pick are the pockets of feedback, distorted screams, and superfluous noise sprinkled throughout. I could do without them, but they are kind of part of the package.
The noise for the sake of noise bits remind me of The Melvins. Ah…King Buzzo’s hair is immaculate. Anyway one time I saw The Melvins they opened their second set with at least 15 minutes of noise seemingly intended to tell the audience fuck you. It’s like, I could do without it, but then again it’s part of their identity.
A 4.5 that gets rounded up.
The Avalanches
3/5
A good energy. Not enough substance to need to revisit.
Tori Amos
3/5
Amos’s voice is pleasant enough, but I get hung up on the meter of her delivery. It’s uneven, not quite jerky jerky, but enough to keep me off balance. I don’t find the music overly interesting either.
This is not to say why I dislike the album. It is fine overall. It would be fine to have on in the background at a party. I liked Leather the most.
Metallica
5/5
What a … masterful … album! eh, anyone??? That’s a good one.
I’m sort of glad I didn’t discover old school Metallica in my younger years. I probably would have burst a neck disk from head banging so much. This music pairs well with a smash room, one of those places you pay to break stuff.
Everything about the title track is amazing except the guitar solo at 5:47-5:49, which drives me crazy. I fucking hate the whammy bar, at least I think it’s the whammy bar making that god awful, cheesy “woooo woOOOoo woOOoo” sound. It is a stain on the song, the album, and Metallica’s legacy.
Alright maybe not a stain on their legacy, but I can’t not hear “woooo woOOOoo woOOoo” any time I think about this song.
I prefer Ride The Lightning to all their albums, which isn’t on the list, but only slightly over Master Of Puppets. This album thrashes in every good way possible.
Sabu
2/5
I need more than loosely organized congas and bongos to keep me engaged. It sounds like they invited tres hombres to out conga each other and added highly repetitive vocals. No bueno.
John Martyn
2/5
Did this guy invent mumble pop?
John Cale
3/5
An album based on the 1919 Paris Peace Conference is an interesting idea. It finally got a wee bit exciting for tracks 5 and 6, Macbeth and Paris 1919. The rest was fine.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
It’s amazing in hindsight how wrong people in power can be, to the detriment of their own interests. I’m referring to the struggles Marvin Gaye went through to get this album made, one rated as the greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone and highly regarded by many.
Motown executive Berry Gordy didn’t even want to support What’s Going On, one of, if not, the most famous soul songs ever. Gordy reacted somewhere between “that’s the worst thing I‘ve ever heard” to “the sound is out of date.” Motown’s quality control board also turned the song down too.
Another Motown exec believed in the song and released it without Gordy’s knowledge. As we now know, it sold absurdly quickly, which finally led Gordy to approve Gaye to write and record his proposed protest album. The obstructions to getting this album concept off the ground is eye opening.
The album itself is a good time. The famous songs are famous for good reason. I could do without Save The Children.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
Elvis Costello voice is very annoying.
Mudhoney
4/5
The original 6 song album is much better than the deluxe version 1001 sent me to. I like the distortion. Good stuff.
Ice T
3/5
Half of this feels like a pathetic attempt to appear street life authentic. A review of Ice-T’s personal life makes it seem like much of it is authentic.
Tom Waits
5/5
This album is an amazing fit for Tom Wait’s voice. After the first two albums we had of his, I had minuscule hope. Boy oy boy was I surprised.
Tom’s growling, low voice is fantastic with the underground, seedy jazz club feel. The jazz players are great. And Tom is fucking hilarious with his joking banter.
Home run!
James Taylor
5/5
This is the finger picking guitar style I’ve always admired and wished I could emulate. JT’s delivery is smoothly soothing.
I must have thought, “oh, this is my favorite track,” at least 5 or 6 times. Sweet Baby Jane, Sunny Skies, Country Road, and Fire And Rain stand out the most although most of the other songs are a mere tick below these. Oh, Susannah and Anywhere Like Heaven are my least favorite tracks, and I still enjoy them thoroughly.
This album is as consistently good as most any album I can remember from the first 528 albums so far. There’s no dud, no song I’d rather not be on the album, which is rare I’ve come to learn. The only folk rock album I’d take over this one is Bob Dylan’s Freewheelin’.
Nico
1/5
Nico’s collaboration with the Velvet Underground is fantastic. So I had high hopes for a Nico solo offering.
This is the hippy, dippy version of improvisational jazz with Nico’s naked, underwhelming vocals on full display. If I had to think of the worst way to surround Nico in a musical setting, this is it.
Her voice is bad when it’s isolated here. It is awesome with the Velvet Underground’s grittiness. The flute is horrible. Credit to Nico for not being on board with it. But still, the album is what it is…unlistenable.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
“Not this asshole’s voice again…”
- Me 2 Leonard Cohen albums ago predicting this review.
Not far off. To his credit almost entirely gave up trying to sing and somewhat melodically talked the lyrics. It’s the best use of his voice that I still dislike.
I very much enjoyed the music on Traveling Light. Thank goodness this is the last Cohen album we have! See, I found two nice things to say, which is a record for me and Leonard Cohen.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Iron Maiden
3/5
I liked this album more than I thought I would. At times it ventures briefly into the cheesy 80s hair metal style, but never overly so. I liked many parts of this…Strange World stood out. I can hear it as an influence on Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters…the tempo, the ascending and descending rhythm line, and the harmonics of course. I like good portions of the speedy metal too.
Heaven 17
2/5
The funk influenced tracks get me in the groove. The primitive synth driven songs sound like a Time Machine and are comical. Overall, they tend to have repetitive lyrics which leads to waning interest.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Neil Hannon’s voice did not annoy me as much as last time.
Ramones
3/5
I’m glad I finally listened to a Ramones album. I need to explore more. Some of the tracks (I’m looking at you 53rd & 3rd) feel flat, which holds the album back for me. I want to feel more of the energy.
Mudhoney
3/5
The Fall
2/5
These guys don’t want John Quays to have Xmas. I was expecting him to be some famous British a-hole, but I couldn’t find anything. Maybe he was some local a-hole they knew, or they made him up.
The atmosphere brought by the keyboards and bass are the most enjoyable musically. The drum fills are basic and disjointed.
The singer likes to add “uh” to the end of words at the end of a phrase. This reminds me of James Hetfield, “mmmYEAH!” I imagine a lot of singers have these signature word enhancements. It is especially noticeable for Mark Smith here. “…chestUH” “…sweatUH” “…homeUH” (all from Frightened). You get the idea.
Sonic Youth
4/5
There is some quite amazing guitar work on this album, like the last 90 seconds of ‘Cross The Breeze. Every time the album feels like it’s lost direction due some noise or another, the guitar brings it back to ear pleasureland. Teen Age Riot is a great song. Candle too. I’m going to keep coming back for the guitars.
The Temptations
2/5
When I snapped out of my boredom trance, all I can remember is a bad cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine and a bunch of songs boasting about how the singing dude is better than some woman’s boy toy.
Eagles
4/5
I’ve always been an Eagles greatest hits 1 or 2 kind of fan. I never explored their album catalogue.
I wasn’t familiar with most of this album. Nightingale and Tryin’ grabbed my attention. Nightingale feels upbeat. I like that little bit of overdriven distortion in the guitar for Tryin’ as well as the solos.
From two listens, I’m not a fan of Most Of Us Are Sad. It is a depressing sounding song. Maybe it will get better as I listen more.
I went from disliking Earlybird the first time to appreciating it the second time. I definitely hear the bird calls. It’s the banjo that threw me off. I was not expecting bluegrass rock from the Eagles. The song is OK on its own, but it doesn’t fit the rest of the album well.
I tend to forget how much I love Peaceful Easy Feeling. Part of it is that it fits well with my limited vocal range. The laid back vibe always puts me in a good mood.
With the greatest hits classics and a couple new songs to me that I like a lot, I’ll be venturing into Eagles album territory.
UB40
1/5
I dislike reggae that isn’t Bob Marley. For making me suffer through a long album, I divide the score by the number of albums suffered (double album).
Nanci Griffith
4/5
A beautifully crafted album. Country normally isn’t my genre, but I like this. The country instruments (mandolin, banjo, pedal steel) seem more like accents than the main sound, which I appreciate. I would like there to be fewer slow songs and more with the infectious energy on the rest of the album.
Boston
4/5
The album rips. The first half dominates and it feels like the album loses a bit of steam in the second half. But overall, this album can’t be denied from my library.
The Darkness
2/5
The sad part about this album is that I love the music. The guitars shred. The drums pound energy into my soul.
Unfortunately, I can’t think of a more mismatched album from the music to the vocals. I swear the vocals have to be a parody of glam, not a serious attempt. The falsetto riffing is atrocious. The primo example is the repeated title Love On The Rocks With No Ice (luh-UVVV). Just terrible.
This album is unfortunately tragic. 4 for the music. 1 for vocals.
The Beach Boys
3/5
The Beach Boys have a one of a kind sound for sure. It’s mostly a depressing sound, but that’s Brian Wilson for you. When he was able to, or felt like, writing upbeat songs, he was at the top of his game. Unfortunately, there are only 2-3 tracks that fall into that category.
Jethro Tull
2/5
I was hoping to like this album more. Progressive rock is not my genre I suppose. It works when the albums are tight, well thought out concepts. My observation is that too many progressive rock bands/albums/songs meander for the sake of meandering like Aqualung.
Prof rock mashes key changes, time changes, and complete ambiance changes together because well…that’s what higher level thinking progressive rock bands are supposed to do. I liken it to a less erratic improvisational jazz, which I’ve clearly established I hate.
I like Hymn 43, which was my favorite song.
Flamin' Groovies
4/5
I’m a sucker for the blues, especially blues rock. I find it strange that this album is referred to as “Rock,” “Garage Rock,” or “Rock and Roll,” but not blues rock, which it clearly is.
My only complaint is that the vocals are muffled or use too much reverb at times. Other than that, I’m happy to have found the Flamin’ Groovies’s Teenage Head. I’m also thankful that they, being from San Francisco, avoided the hippie sound to create this.
George Harrison
4/5
After all the years of trying to squeeze his songs onto a Beatles album, George Harrison announced his songwriting prowess authoritatively with this album. What a lost opportunity for the group. What an opportunity for George.
The second half of Abbey Road was a bunch of half finished tracks mashed together as a medley that I could have done without. Harrison already had 2 of the 3 best tracks on the album (Something and Here Comes The Sun). Why not use some more of his good stuff?
Songs like My Sweet Lord, What Is Life, and/or Awaiting On You All would have elevated Abbey Road. Maybe George already having two great songs and getting more would have been a problem for the group. Lucky for George.
The third LP was always intended as a bonus disc and I can hear why. I don’t find much interesting in Out Of The Blue, which is 11+ min unfortunately. I do appreciate the other 4 bonus tracks.
Overall, I learned that Harrison was more of a song writing talent than I knew. Good for him.
The Byrds
2/5
There are too many boring folk songs on this album…zzzzzz. And some of the more interesting songs have the faster picked, muddled, psychedelic guitar sound which is more annoying than anything else. The instrumental Captain Soul and What’s Happening? are the tracks I like the best.
Red Snapper
3/5
Decent background music.
Spacemen 3
4/5
Two listens lead me to very much appreciating the distorted guitars with electronic elements.
Jean-Michel Jarre
5/5
I can’t believe this album is from 1977. The version I listened to says 2015, which I didn’t think twice about while listening the first time. 2015 is a re-release that sounded like a Daft Punk imitator.
I hear the Tron: Legacy soundtrack in Oxygène. Reading the Wikipedia page made me realize that Tron: Legacy sounds like Oxygène not the other way round.
Frankly I’m blown away how modern this sounds. It’s a timeless foundation of electronica. I completely hear the space ambiance for which Jean-Michel Jarre was going.
I did not appreciate the intricacies the first time listening while driving. This is a masterpiece intended for focused, hi fidelity listening.
Astor Piazzolla
2/5
Probably deserves to be on the list, but it’s not my thing. It was inoffensive until the end of Operation Tango and most of La Muerta del Angel.
Madonna
1/5
Embarrassing all around. Music is boring. The vocal phrasings are odd. Madonna should be embarrassed that this exists with her name on it. Robert Dimery should be embarrassed that he put it in the top 100,001 let alone the top 1,001.
Spiritualized
3/5
I get the spacey atmosphere.
The Charlatans
2/5
I find this to be generic sounding 90s rock. It sounds like an AI generated. I feel no soul, no energy.
3/5
This was a 4 all the way up until Starship, which went off the rails. They were high energy, gritty, and rocking up until that point. But Starship is 1/5 of the album so it negatively affects the album.
Method Man
2/5
A better actor than rapper based on this album. The music is underwhelming and uninspired.
His character Cheese from The Wire deserved to be unceremoniously executed by Slim Charles, but that’s because Method Man played the a-hole so well.
Simply Red
3/5
There is some cheesy sounding 80s stuff in here, sure. But there are also quite a few higher energy tracks too. I heard some disco influence and a track or two that reminded me of Steely Dan. Overall I’m surprised I enjoyed it a little bit.
Soundgarden
3/5
A bit disappointed. I was expecting to like this a lot. It’s good, but the music overall is lacking something.
Black Hole Sun, Fell On Black Days, and Spoonman stand out prominently. The rest are just fine. The album is long too at 70 minutes. Cut it down to <40 min including these three songs and it would be much improved.
Chris Cornell’s voice is amazing though. It’s a shame the music doesn’t consistently match his talent.
The Soft Boys
2/5
Oddly intriguing for a few tracks. I hear some Beach Boys and some Beatles influences. I also heard I Got The Hots and Insanely Jealous Of You, which take the album off the rails. No thanks.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
5/5
This is known as the preeminent blues album for lead guitar work for very good reason. Clapton’s 1960 Les Paul screams throughout. This album is the Mecca towards which all electric blues guitarists are migrating towards when they practice.
I learned that the 1960 Les Paul Standard used two PAF (patent applied for) humbucker pickups, which hold a revered place in many guitarists hearts. These pickups eliminated the humming sound of single coil pickups by wiring two opposite polarity single coils in serial (nerd shit). The manufacturing process was inconsistent during the early years leading to each guitar having a unique sound.
Over the years, the manufacturing process became more standardized and design efficiencies were introduced. Eventually, the original humbucker design was so well sought after in the community that Les Paul, and other companies, spent significant resources trying to replicate the pickups from this guitar’s time period due to performances such as Clapton’s on Bluesbreakers.
Jimmy Smith
2/5
I don’t hate it, but it’s improvisational jazz. So pretty good…considering.
Bert Jansch
4/5
Two worst tracks by far that I thought I was going to opine opine about…turns out they are bonus tracks. Score.
I like the primitive feel of this album. It being recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder at someone’s house comes through.
I hear hints of Nick Drake and José Gonzalez in this music. Big fan.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
1/5
This is some pretty bad screamy shite.
Weather Report
2/5
Jazzers just can’t help themselves. The whole genre is built upon exercising your chops. Gotta show everyone how free your soul can be and crush some improv.
Mariah Carey
2/5
Very good voice. Very boring music.
Depeche Mode
4/5
A brooding synth driven extravaganza. An important influence on Chvrches, so I’m not surprised that I dig this a lot.
Gram Parsons
2/5
This album displays some of the down home, aww shucks-ness that I hate about traditional country. I Can’t Dance, Love Hurts, and Ooh Las Vegas are the only tracks worth a hoot.
Johnny Cash
3/5
I liked the stripped down aesthetic. I liked The Man Comes Around and Hurt a lot as well as some others.
I like Johnny Cash. His career accomplishments are insane: over 1,000 songs written and 50+ albums.
I didn’t like the covers of Bridge Over Troubled Water nor Desperado. Also his voice was a too deteriorated at this point for me. If this album were sung with Johnny’s voice from 30 years before, it would be a really good album for me.
Fever Ray
5/5
A really good find. I dig the electronic sparseness.
Lupe Fiasco
4/5
This is a refreshing hip hop album. On first listen, I thought he was rapping about b*tches and h*es like many other “gangstas.” But of course when listening closer the second time, Lupe is rapping counter to that sector of hip hop.
The drama is palpable when strings are present. My favorite song is Daydreamin’. It turns out Lupe was forced to put it on the album by a record company exec. He won a Grammy for it, but receives no royalties.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
2/5
From looking at the album list for this guy, he had a prolific career, but it’s not for me.
Neneh Cherry
1/5
This is a ripping 1980s parody without the ironic lyrics. Absolute trash.
Raekwon
2/5
The best part of listening to this album was finding out that Raekwon and Ghostface Killah started the hip hop world’s obsession with Cristal. A restaurant they were at didn’t have the best wine in the building. They asked for the next best thing, got Cristal, and liked it.
The rest is history. The album is not for me.
Public Enemy
3/5
Historical 5. The social and political oriented lyrics make me think. They also help me realize the roots of the hip hop art form as a way to protest conditions for black communities and that hip hop ≠ gangsta rap. For my personal enjoyment, the beats sound too primitive but I still very much appreciate this album.
Pink Floyd
5/5
This album lets me know that prog rock, when executed well, can be amazing. It’s hard to put into words what has been accomplished here.
The only criticism I have is that Money has been massively over played. It’s a great song, but like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I’m not nearly as excited about it as it deserves due to over exposure. I don’t listen to Pink Floyd much anymore and I enjoyed Money this time round.
I don’t think I can pick a favorite song off this album. Of them all, I feel Time encompasses its concept perfectly. Between the constant ticking of the toms and the lyrics I feel as though I’ve experienced the full breadth of a life, a retrospective time lapse sequence, in less than 7 minutes.
“No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun” is such a fucking brilliant line, invoking a sense of regret. And for it be followed immediately by Gilmour’s mind blowing guitar solo!!! Gilmour is the master of the bend and he puts it on such a display here, like treasures artifacts in glass cases at The British Museum.
I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you. Top 10 album of all time for me no doubt.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Dusty has a really good voice. One of the best albums of all time (as several critics wrote)? Not even close. The all time great thin mg Dusty did was to convince Atlantic records to sign Led Zeppelin.
Genesis
1/5
What did I just listen to? We were doing OK until I got the fart-like noises on Counting Out Time (2:30 mark). The Waiting Room sounds like it would be the lobby to the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks.
After this song, I had a persistent feeling of hoping each song was the last and this bizzarro journey would be over. Alas, I have up after track 17.
Conclusion: this has to be the best ⭐️ album I’ve heard yet.
Slade
5/5
Consider me slayed. The cover of Janis Joplin’s Move Over is inspiring. I Don’t Mind may be slow paced, but it is powerful. This is a really good find.
Elvis Costello
1/5
I just can’t with this guy’s voice. It’s awful. It is entirely unfathomable how Elvis Costello has 6 albums on this list. It’s a conspiracy by Big Talentless Vocals (strangest industry I’ve dreamt up) to convince the world that Elvis has talent. He reminds me of the the fake announcer voice Howard Stern does when impersonating shitty radio DJs. “Double U EnnNNNNNnnnnn B C!” Ugh.
The La's
3/5
The three song run of There She Goes, Doledrum, and Feelin’ is good. The rest is a mix of listenable, but ultimately forgettable, tracks.
Soul II Soul
3/5
Nice grooves for background music.
Miles Davis
3/5
This is a style of jazz I can get behind. The arrangements are…well they exist for one thing. The different instruments play melodies in unison. A welcome change from much of the other jazz we’ve heard.
Metallica
4/5
I was cautiously hopeful that I would like this album. And I’m happy to say that I liked it much more than I thought I would. I was skeptical seeing: i) a lot of Load and Reload songs and ii) it’s a 2+ hour long investment.
I think the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra added copious drama to the Metallica sound. The set list was better than I feared. And there were only 2 or 3 songs that I get could have been left out entirely.
This was close to getting a 5.
The Verve
3/5
This fits squarely into 90s Britpop. Into the meaty part of the curve. I hear some Oasis, the quintessential 90s Britpop, in these tracks.
M.I.A.
4/5
What a wild ride! This is a unique sound that everyone deserves to hear before they die. Hate it or love it, it’s worth hearing.
I for one, am struck. The somewhat-industrial, electronic music is captivating. I find the artist’s story to be part of the appeal. A visual artist that happened to play around with a 505 drum machine. She tried to find others to supply the vocals with no luck so she did it herself.
Inspiring stuff. And a sonically stimulating experience.
Wild Beasts
3/5
I like the music. No surprise. I dislike Hayden Thorpe’s vocals. Too much whiny sounding falsetto. Tom Fleming’s vocals are serviceable.
David Crosby
3/5
Like David Crosby himself, this album is beautiful, erratic, comforting, and a disorganized mess all at the same time. Throw in his grief from his soulmate, Christine Hinton, dying a year earlier and copious hard drugs he used to numb the pain and we get this. An album with great harmony (Orleans). An album where only five songs have lyrics, as if the grief held back his ability to convey his thoughts. It’s not a great album, but it has quite a few great moments.
KISS
1/5
I know 70s male rock musicians were all trying to get with women. Great Expectations has to be THE LAMEST attempt to entice women ever written into a lyric sheet. There is zero creativity in this writer’s abilities. Look at these terrible lyrics:
“You're sittin' in your seat
And then you stand and clutch your breasts
Our music drives you wild along with the rest
You watch me singing this song
You see what my mouth can do
And you wish you were the one I was doin' it to
And you watch me playin' guitar
And you feel what my fingers can do
And you wish you were the one I was doin' it to“
The saddest part is that the song probably still worked on a regular basis.
Some of the other songs are OK, but I can’t get over Great Expectations.
Janis Joplin
4/5
To contrast the music here with Big Brother and the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills, the arrangements are tight. And frankly, the musicians are better.
I still love Janis’s voice too. Perfectly imperfect is the right characterization.
My favorite song on this album by a mile is Mercedes Benz. Being a cappella, it showcases her voice well. The “that’s it” plus the giggle at the end always get me. She sings about wanting a Mercedes because her friends all drive Porsches…yet Janis herself had a Porsche.
Unfortunately, this was the last song she ever recorded (in one take no less). At least she saved her best for last. This album leaves me appreciating Janis more than before and also wishing she had the opportunity to make more great music with the Full Tilt Boogie Band backing her.
Björk
3/5
What a fantastic concept for an album, using all human produced music. This is definitely an album everyone needs to hear.
The thing I enjoy the most is Björk’s total dismantling of traditional song meter. The music and lyrics are in odd time signatures, which are sometimes not even the same on a given song.
While everyone should hear this album, it’s not quite what I’ve come to expect to need to hear it on a regular basis. Mad respect for this 3.5.
Frank Zappa
3/5
2 minutes of vocals on a 43 minute album. Why not just make an instrumental album. Frank Zappa…that’s why.
This is the first time I’ve listened to a Zappa album. I wasn’t expecting as much jazz. Knowing how much jazz influence there is, I expect I would hate it more, but I didn’t.
This album is like a runaway streetcar at times. On the tracks. Off the tracks. Back on the tracks. But it never crashed into a building.
This is just weird enough to be interesting.
Pixies
2/5
Noisy noise
The Who
3/5
I originally listened to the bonus tracks edition that left me indifferent. Upon realizing the original version only contained 6 songs, I relistened and was more engaged.
Being a live album, I think they really screwed up not having a mic picking up the crowd reaction. I did t feel like I was there from the recording. The recording always loses something compared to being there and having the crowd noise and cheering bridges the gap.
Otherwise it felt like a bloated, lower quality version of the studio recording with too much talking. And I have to say that whomever was talking had zero charisma.
The songs are good, but the circumstances surrounding the recording left we wanting more.
King Crimson
2/5
To artsy and esoteric for me.
Goldfrapp
4/5
My introduction to Goldfrapp was through Head First, and pop forward synthy extravaganza. I like it better than Seventh Tree…at least from two listens through. It grew on me quite a bit. Now listening a third time using hifi headphones, I’m liking it even more. This down tempo, more subdued sound works for me as well.
Magazine
2/5
I can hear how someone would really like this. Just not me. Burst drags on too long while The Great Beautician In The Sky sounds a bit like a Vaudeville show.
Lightning Bolt
3/5
I hated this album through the first part of Assassins. Then at some point, I got lost in the repetitive, yet catchy, music. I found this to be the case for many songs. There are also several passages that are hard to take.
Honestly, this also sounds like something that could be played at high volume intermittently to torture a prisoner. Torture only if you play 5 seconds at a time. Leave it on long enough and you start to feel the groove.
King Crimson
3/5
I like a lot of this album. I Talk To The Wind is my favorite song. I like the varied instruments. I like the vocals.
I don’t like the jazz influences, the random noise generator shite. It shows up a bit on 21st Century Schizoid Man, but mostly on Moonchild.
The first couple minutes of Moonchild is great. Then it’s followed by far too much noise that sounds like King Crimson dropped acid and blew their own minds. Unfortunately, my mind is wondering why they interrupted a really good album with crap.
Even with these departures, I like the album. It’s a 3.5 that has to be rounded down.
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Renaming them The String Band. There is nothing incredible about this album. There were less than 2 minutes of tolerable music from about 1:00 to almost 3:00 of The Very Cellular Song. The rest of the album is various antonyms for incredible: unspectacular, terrible, bad, and poor.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Rufus melds orchestral elements into his music so well. The drama is palpable. I need to listen to this album more and explore Rufus’s catalogue too.
Ozomatli
3/5
This is quite the multi-stylistic album. I hear Middle Eastern, Latino, hip hop, and American rock music. I like most of the styles, but they feel jammed together rather than cohesive.
Elton John
3/5
This album is like one of those out and back rollercoasters. It starts at the top of the hill with Tiny Dancer. It hits top speed then goes right into Levon when the thrills are still high. The rest of the album is like the mini hills that follow. Sure there are momentary thrills as you come out of your seat momentarily at the crests or think you may hit the overhead wooden beams if your arms are raised too high, but none of it compares to high thrills at the beginning.
3/5
Started off very strong with Where The Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and With Or Without You…strong 5 vibes. By the 9th track, I was lamenting the album not being over yet. Way to front load the album Mr. Producers.
Randy Newman
3/5
I have railed against bad voices used poorly many times before. I feel obligated to point out that Randy Newman does not have a good voice. However, he uses it quite well.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This album clearly demonstrates The Stones’ blues roots. Comprised almost entirely of blues covers, there is little rock of their later, signature blues rock sound.
The songs are fine. I don’t think the boys added much to the blues ambiance. They played/sang the songs with skill but I don’t feel the blues.
Jack White
4/5
One thing I’ve learned over these 609 albums is that Jack White is a musical savant. I’d love to pick his brain about music in general and guitar playing. Once again I’m digging his distorted, bluesy rock sound.
The Stooges
4/5
A home run until the last track, L.A. Blues. Punters gonna punk.
It does highlight the importance of ordering the tracks when constructing an album. If LAB had come in the middle, or even first, I would have lost interest in the tracks that follow.
Instead I had put the first six tracks of enjoyment in the bank already, and LAB didn’t ruin the album for me (something about the primacy bias).
It was a 4.5 before and LAB solidified my opinion.
SZA
4/5
Lots of songs about sex, sex parts, and splitting physical relationships. The subject matter feels like it could be from just another gangsta rap album. But it’s from a female perspective, smooth, and R&B.
I enjoyed the album quite a lot. It feels like a very chill hang. No song particularly stands out as being extra good nor bad, which is unusual. It’s a consistently good time.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
I do not like Lucinda’s vocals. This was almost a 2, but some of the music is pretty good.
David Bowie
3/5
I’m ready to conclude: David Bowie was not a musical genius. He pushed boundaries musically. He pushed boundaries theatrically. He was a big, unique personality.
I’m somewhat confused by the multiple instrumental tracks in a row. I like his music, but not consistently enough.
PJ Harvey
2/5
Pretty…pretty…pretty…not good. What the hell is the English horn call on that one track? Delete the avant garde crap and you might have a low end 3.
Black Sabbath
4/5
This album was quite enjoyable, particularly the guitar. I haven’t listened to much Black Sabbath over the years. So I have missed on how good Tommy Iommi is. He is the only non-bass guitar and he carries the sound well, which is impressive to do.
His sound is one I’d like to emulate, but I’m not going to slice the tips off two of my fretting fingers to do it. I might try his down tuning though. It’s crazy to think his industrial accident contributed to his unique sound.
I also like that they recorded the album live in the studio for the most part all in 12 hours. That makes sense with some of the rough notes and little mistakes throughout.
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
Don’t…please don’t make me listen to this screaming over noise ever again. That is a zero star song. The album up until that point was OK. I don’t like J Mascis’s voice at all, which really held it back.
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
This is quite an enjoyable jazz album. Hard to find, but worth the listen. Nearly a 4.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Play this prehistoric rock offering on a Victrola.
Mylo
5/5
For only having recorded one album, Mylo did a bang up job. He creates an atmosphere straight of the bat with Valley Of The Dolls and Sunworshipper that I want to breathe in. I’m obsessed with the beat on Paris Four Hundred.
I enjoy the preacher’s sermon used on Destroy Rock & Roll. It’s actually frightening and hilarious that a religious leader felt it prudent to complain about, and want to destroy, the music culture. It’s a story as old as time, but what a fucking idiot. Maybe spend some time addressing real societal ills. I find his missteps with artists’ names funny: David BOO-wie, JACK Cougar Mellencamp, Weird Al Yanko-VICH, and Cyndi LOOP-er
Really a A-, but I’m rounding up because I listened 4 times and I’m looking forward to the next time I revisit.
Holger Czukay
3/5
That first song was amazingly strange. I loved it. After that there wasn’t much I was excited about.
The Cult
3/5
Rick Rubin worked his magic. This is a really good 80s hard rock album. Up until the last two tracks, I was ready to give it a 4. But those last two tracks made me reevaluate the album again…twice. And the more I listen, the more it sounds like AC/DC’s little brothers. It just sounds a bit derivative in the end.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
I spent the better part of a week stuck on this album, trying to discover and organize my thoughts. There is a lot going on here.
My initial impression was two stars. The songs are not cohesive, music changing suddenly, constantly. But then I read the Wikipedia page for both the album and Frank Zappa and my mind started to open a bit.
FZ had a thought provoking stance on the world around him. This album lambasts hippies, war mongers, and 1960s culture alike. Listening more closely with this background, I appreciated the album more, a solid three.
I listened quite a few more times over several days and oscillated between a 3 and a 4. I kept asking myself is FZ a genius or some drugged out, musical schizophrenic?
The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny is frankly annoying. There is no way around it. It does the album a disservice by ending with a sour note.
So I settled on a 3 a couple days ago and have just been waiting to find time to write this up. In fact I started writing my review and decided to listen one last time.
Well, I payed closer attention. This time I listened to the album while reading the lyrics. My stance solidified just now.
I can’t believe I’m writing the following: this is a 5 star album right up until the last track (which is a one star deduction). FZ believed people should have the right to do drugs, but didn’t partake himself because he thought they were a waste of time.
FZ is a musical savant…maybe. One thing I do know is that I need to spend some time going through the FZ catalogue after this adventure is over.
The Beach Boys
4/5
The surf pop rock sound of The Beach Boys is long gone. This is an album I feel deep down. It’s like I’m looking through a window at Brian Wilson’s inner angst, but the window is open so I can feel the emotions blowing through the screen, surrounding me as they whisk by.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice and Sloop John B are my favorite tracks here, mostly because they feel the most upbeat. There are plenty of other good tracks too. In this particular instance, I would like the album more if there were a couple more positive feeing tunes, but then it wouldn’t be as authentic.
As an aside, it’s strange that Brian Wilson composed the album almost entirely without the rest of the band, but it is still under The Beach Boys name.
Scissor Sisters
4/5
Never heard of the Scissor Sisters. I was briefly excited that it was The Secret Sisters (not on the list…it’s worth your time to check them out).
This was a fun ride. It was glammy, but not too much. The Comfortably Numb cover was well done. I liked Laura, Take Your Momma, and Music Is The Victim amongst other tracks. Even though I like the song, Lovers In The Backseat didn’t seem to fit the album. It sounds like an 80s Bowie track.
The United States Of America
2/5
Listening to this album, not on shrooms, is like watching a 3D movie without the 3D glasses. You can sort of tel what’s going on, with intermittent moments of clarity, but everything jumbled and confusing.
Steely Dan
4/5
Steely Dan continued their cracking start to their catalogue on Pretzel Logic. Now that we have listened to all of their albums on the 1001 list, I’ve realized how much I appreciate Walter Beaker’s lead guitar. He is by no means near the most talented players. However, his lead lines always seem to accentuate and lift Steely Dan’s songs.
Pretzel Logic (song) is on of my favorite Steely Dan songs, right up there with Dirty Work and Reelin’ In The Years. On this album I also like Rikki Don’t Lose That Number and East St. Louis Toodle-Oo, on which I still am amazed how Becker got his guitar to sound like that.
There are quite a few other enjoyable songs here too. But also one too many misses with Barrytown and Through With Buzz.
While I like this album a bunch, it’s not at the top of Steely Dan’s game.
Baaba Maal
3/5
Joan Armatrading
2/5
I liked the first song. Her voice is pretty good. Other than those two aspects, there is t much for me here. When saxophone came in like the 4th track, I was done.
Joanna Newsom
3/5
This is an album that all should listen to even if harp driven baroque folk is not their thing. I find a lot to enjoy on Ys. The instruments create a fantastical atmosphere. Joanna’s voice is good, but used in a somewhat unconventional way. I appreciate the album quite a bit. I would enjoy hearing it again. In the end, I think the baroqueness and a too much for me in that the album feels off kilter. I don’t know another way to describe it.
Maxwell
2/5
Don't you know what it means to become an orgy guy? It changeseverything. I'd have to dress different. I'd have to act different. I'd have to grow a mustache and get all kinds of robes and lotions and I'd need a new bedspread and new curtains I'd have to get thick carpeting and weirdo lighting. I'd have to get new friends. I'd have to get orgy friends.
... Naw, I'm not ready for it.
Ryan Adams
3/5
Beautiful at times. Boring at times. 70 minutes is entirely too long. There was certainly a very good album in there if the best 40 minutes were chosen.
Public Image Ltd.
4/5
Shout out to bassist Jah Wobble, the only need the radar star of this album. I like the album quite a bit, especially the aforementioned bass as well as the drums. I feel the proto punk sound in my bones. The most unfortunate part is that I’ll likely not listen to this album again because I could only find it on YouTube.
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
I’m not even sure what I just listened to. It’s not music. I can’t imagine why these noises were ever recorded for someone else to hear.
The on exception is AB/7A. It reminds me of the Tron Legacy soundtrack, which is amazing…obviously. Still not enough to pull this irredeemable pile of shot out of the bottom.
Tom Waits
2/5
As an album this is difficult to get through. But I will say that Tom Waits has a niche. It is thin and particular, like the trajectory of spacecraft required to reenter earth’s atmosphere successfully. Not too steep an angle. Not too shallow. The available aperture is the thickness of a sheet of paper compared to a basketball.
In those rare times a track is within that paper’s thickness, Tom sounds halfway decent, if still coming off as a corpse entertaining at a zombie piano bar. 16 Shells From A 30.6 falls into this category. Similar for Frank’s Wild Years which sounds like it’s straight off the five star Nighthawks At The Diner album.
Michael Jackson
3/5
Ranges from 2 star slow boring stuff to 5 star Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.
Ignore the Tom Waits review. Something’s up with the generator.
Japan
1/5
Snooze fest. And a horrendous cover of Lou Reed’s All Tomorrows Parties. Kindly delete yourself from musical history.
The Doors
5/5
Light My Fire may be the 6th song on album, but my fire was lit from the get go. Yup. Really good album, their debut no less.
Light My Fire drags a bit with the instrumentals and Take It As It Comes is the low point of the album. But things get back on track with The End. I like its spoken word stylings.
Morrison was part poet, part philosopher, part vocalist, and part asshole. He was a pure entertainer though.
I have an original pressing of this album on vinyl. I personally prefer The Soft Parade for my favorite The Doors album.
The Beta Band
3/5
Started out strong with Squares. Was pretty decent for a while after that. Then petered out.
Cowboy Junkies
2/5
I would enjoy this a lot more love than as an album. I lose the beauty of what’s here because I get bored. Margo Timmons does have a sweet voice though. They need to amp it up for me.
Beastie Boys
2/5
The sample game is strong and I like the music quite a bit. I strongly dislike their vocals, all of them, specifically their metre. It bugs me so much that I can’t listen to this. The vocals remind me of the Spinal Tap version of white guys rapping.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
4/5
The recording is bad, but what can I ask for from 1958. I like the guitar playing a lot. Ramblin’ Jack has a decent voice too.
Miles Davis
3/5
This would be a 5 in a live setting I’m sure. Through the stereo I find it hard to stay engaged. The players are all excellent.
Jazz, I disappoint you. I know. But go away.
Louis Prima
5/5
Now this is jazz I can get behind, vocal jazz. The energy is high. The harmonies are spot on. Keely Smith’s voice is sublime. The only thing that would make this better is actually seeing the 3am show at the Sahara Casino. Although let’s be honest, I’d probably be asleep well before the show started.
Paul Simon
4/5
While the reggae influenced Mother And Child Reunion doesn’t fit the rest of the album, I like the song a lot. It’s good that it comes first so that it doesn’t feel like a complete departure once the rest of the folk songs have been heard.
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard is an all-timer type song. What a fantastic song! I’ve heard this song a 100 times. This time I noticed the 2nd rhythm guitar on the right channel. It provides a light, airy counterpoint to the main rhythm guitar.
The interesting thing to me is that the 2nd rhythm line has been a key component to the song that I’ve definitely felt, but not necessarily isolated. It’s higher up the neck than the open chords of the mainline. As someone trying to learn the whole fretboard, this really stuck out.
The guitar on Peace Like A River is amazing, as are the break downs during Armistice Day. I love the bluesy hammer-ons and bends.
This solo Paul Simon offering offers quite a bit to get into.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Ali plays the blues well. A solid 3.5.
Tim Buckley
2/5
I like Buzzin’ Like A Fly and Sing A Song For You is decent. The rest of the album I could do without.
I did get caught up in Tim’s life story and that of his m, barely seen son, Scottie (Jeff) Moorhead (Buckley). Both lives cut short: Tim by an overdose and Jeff by accidental drowning. I’ve been in a river when one of this tugboats has gone by (far away) and that thing had quite the pull.
Don’t go swimming at night in the river with industrial boat traffic kids. It’s not smart. How sad.
Dad gets the same rating as son, but I liked Jeff’s album better.
The Shamen
2/5
This album may have busted through some barriers during its time. I don’t know there is not much to go on.
Regardless, it sounds very dated now. Some of the beats hold up but for the most part it sounds like it’s well past it’s expiration date.
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
This album highlights an interesting transition period for the technology with which consumers consumed music. Floodland was released on vinyl, cassette, and compact disc. The past, present, and future of music media (in the late 80s). I listened to the vinyl version, not realizing it until the end.
So that begs the question of which version is the “real” version of the album? Is there one? Shouldn’t an “album” be the same no matter what medium it is on? Is Floodland even an “album”? Is Floodland (Vinyl) really the “album”?
And some of the songs are different lengths and many are different mixes even if they are the same length. What gives?
As for the music, I like the dark, synthy stuff and I’m not so high on the gothic rock influences.
Eric Clapton
4/5
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
A fun ride.
The Beach Boys
3/5
The KLF
2/5
I’ve had it up to here with albums that have multiple, significantly different versions. Wikipedia kept talking about What Time Is Love? I kept thinking it was a breakout song from a previous album. No, it’s from The White Room, but not this The White Room. Rather from a different The White Room. I listened to the whole directors cut version not knowing it, somehow, doesn’t have the one song Wikipedia keeps blabbering on about.
I listened to What Time Is Love? separately anticipating this great triumph. Nope, it sucks.
What am I even listening to anymore? I liked some parts of The White Room (Director’s Cut), namely Madrugada Eterna (Club Mix). For much of the album, I expected Haddaway to break in with “What is love! Baby don’t hurt me!! No more!!!”
Justin Timberlake
3/5
This is a fairly generic sounding R&Bish album for the most part. I like Rock Your Body the most. I know Cry Me A River was a big hit, but listening to it again I hear nothing spectacular.
The Clash
3/5
I like this quite a bit. The sound is a tad too unpolished and the vocals seem frayed at times. Otherwise this would go into my regular rotation.
fIREHOSE
3/5
This does not sound like and 80s album to me. It’s not heavy metal/rock and there are no synthesizers. This sounds more like proto-90s alternative to me, which was a pleasant surprise.
Napalm Death
1/5
This is 100% most definitely an album everyone needs to hear. Frankly it wasn’t as horrible as I expected. The guitarist has some killer riffs. Instinct Of Survival sounds like a Master Of Puppets rip off, but good nonetheless.
The guitarist is not the reason that everyone needs to hear this. That honor goes to trivia knowledge. Everyone must hear this album so that they can confidently answer:
What is the worst abomination ever recorded on a music album? Ever. For all-time.
Answer: the vocals on this album. Atrocious can’t begin to properly describe them.
Dagmar Krause
1/5
It doesn’t seem like this album can be worse than Napalm Death’s Scum from yesterday, but I liked more of ND than this. I hated ND’s bad parts much more, but this album has far less to like than ND’s killer guitar riffs. Therefore, this album dwells in the cellar with ND.
The Zutons
5/5
Revelation alert! Take me on a trip to the planet Zuto. I need to meet the Zutons.
This is a fantastic find. I’ve never heard of the Zutons and I want to hear more. It’s difficult for me explain why I like this so much. The music is quirky and Dave McCabe’s is perfect for it.
Some of the music sounds like it could be from the band playing the Hill Valley town festival in Back to the Future III. I love it.
3/5
Fun at times. Also quite strange at times. You know. Like the sideways head tilt, raised eyebrow thing where you ask yourself, “Is thi the same thing I was enjoying a song ago.” Lots of cool fusion sounds going on though.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
5/5
Blessed, blessed harmonies! And some great songs to boot. Stephen Stills did an amazing writing job on this album. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes and Helplessly Hoping are not only two of my favorite CSN(Y) songs, but two of my favorite songs. Helplessly Hoping is my favorite CSN(Y) song because it fits my limited vocal range very well. I could listen to these guys all day.
AC/DC
3/5
Honestly, I’ve tried getting into this album. I’ve tried. But it just doesn’t do it for me. Even Highway To Hell (song) trails off into something that I’m not super pumped about by the end.
My most prevalent thought is about the line, “She’s got the backseat rhythm” from Girls Got Rhythm. Does that mean he likes the way her back side moves or does it mean she likes to have sex in the backseat of a car.
I have no idea the answer. What I do know is that AC/DC’s lyrics are too obsessed with getting chicks.
Wilco
2/5
Vocals are more bland than grits with no additives. Get a new vocalist.
Neu!
4/5
It’s been a couple days since I listened to this album so the details are fuzzy. However the one description I remember is timeless. It’s hard for me to believe this album was made in 1975 because it sounded like it could have been from the 2010s.
Also apparently 75=3 because their albums go Neu!, Neu!2, then Neu!75. I suspect there is a Neu! fan out there, a real die hard and also a super nerd, that has come up with some number system where 75 does equal 3 and they wrote an amateur thesis about it.
I’m looking for you Neu! super nerd. Find me. I need to read your deep insights.
Grateful Dead
3/5
My previous railings against improvisational music, I’m primarily looking at you jazz, also apply some to The Grateful Dead. I actually like The Dead, like a lot. Strangely however, I do not like their signature acid rock where 20 minute songs are the norm and tripping balls is a baked in requirement.
Instead rather, I love when they focused in the studio and recorded songs like their follow on albums Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty. I conveyed my affection for these two albums in my American Beauty review.
I give a bit of leeway for a live album because that’s part of the magic. Seeing this album performed live, sans acid, would significantly improve the experience.
I give a bit of leeway as well because recording equipment was not what it is today in 1969. The Dead were somewhat at the cutting edge of recording technology. Case in point, this album was the first live one to be captured on a 16 track recorder. The Dead were also one of the first bands to double track their vocals the soften and broaden their sound. They used to experiment with all kinds of strange sound generating methods too.
Having said that I love The Dead but not their well known explorations, they do hit some extended grooves that I enjoy. And I love Turn On Your Love Light. That song is fun and playful.
I don’t despise the improv stuff as much as I do with jazz. While 73 minutes is far too long for a 7 song album, the visceral reaction is not present.
The Libertines
2/5
I’m still a bit stunned this was made 20 years ago and not 40 years. The Britishness definitely shines through. Not a good thing though.
The vocals on Don’t Be Shy are beyond awful. Shy-y-y. Please. I’m with the BBC poll-ees ranking this as the third most overrated album of all time. Cheers.
What Katie Did is actually a decent song. Refreshing, but not enough.
Hanoi Rocks
4/5
With the teased up hair and glam description I kept waiting for this album to get cheesy, but it never came. This blows Mötley Crüe, RATT, Poison, Whitesnake, and the like out of the water.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
I listened to this last week and had a decent angle for a review. I completely forgot what it was. I heavily skimmed the album again and all I remember is a soupy fog of sustained, somewhat distorted guitar.
American Music Club
2/5
Surprisingly offensive for something so inoffensive sounding. Couldn’t wait to skip tracks, except Jenny and Bad Liquor.
The Associates
2/5
Music God #1: I have a genius idea.
Music God #2: Lay it on me, bro.
Music God #1: Now stick with me. Some day this will lead us to eargasmic electronica.
Music God #2: Uh huh. What?
Music God #1: OK. We need an album with some out there experimental sound exploration anchored with some sick keyboards.
Music God #2: Experimental you say. Tell me more.
Music God #1: Yeah. They are going to fill guitars with urine. Make a drum set with all different types of snares.
Music God #2: I’m not so sure.
Music God #1: Look, we’ll pair it with some cabaret falsetto vocals. They will complement each other nicely.
Music God #2: Are you worried the music will sound like a soundtrack to a cheesy, low budget 80s horror movie spoof.
Music God #1: You mean 80s cult classic.
Music God #2: No I mean the kind of movie that is so bad it’s making fun of itself.
Music God #1: Whatever. Eventually other bands will make fantastic music and this will be a loose step in the right direction to get there.
Music God #2: I don’t like the sounds of this and neither will anyone else. I’m using my veto.
Music God #1: I’m using my lone veto veto. It’s happening.
Music God #2: Fuck.
50 Cent
3/5
I can hear why Eminem decided to sign Mr. Cent. In Da Club is an elite track. The beats will make a white man dance while Mr. Cent’s delivery is on point.
There are too many songs for which the music is lacking and/or the subject matters are a turnoff. But the one consistent positive feature is the vocals.
Mr. Cent has a real knack for lyrical flow. He can stitch words and verses together in complex ways that sound natural. Eminem is the GOAT of this skill. I hear it in Mr. Cent’s delivery as well to some extent, which almost pulls this up to a 4.
Joy Division
2/5
Bloody, bloody awful vocals. No other way to put it. The music is really good, which is a missed opportunity.
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
This is not what I expected, pleasantly. I thought I would be more annoyed. The elements of Indian music are woven together beautifully.
Kate Bush
2/5
I know synthesizers were all the new rage and everything, but this sounds comical in retrospect. And I’m coming to realize that it’s not just Ms. Bush’s effort here. Rather it’s the popular music of this whole time period at the forefront of synthesizer/keyboard exploration.
At the time, I imagine it was like “holy shit this is cutting edge.” Having 40 years of musical history since, even focusing only on pop, this album and much of its contemporaries sound like a parody to me.
I have a hard time taking them seriously as evidenced by my 1980s ratings. It is by far my lowest rated decade and my average rating has the biggest gap with the global ratings for any decade. If I were 10 years older, I might say “hell yeah” to the 1980s.
This is not to say that I dislike this whole album. I don’t. I respect the experimentation as it’s necessary to make progress. And some of the sounds hit temporarily so as to make this album not a complete bust.
Lambchop
2/5
Dude’s voice sounds too much like Leonard Cohen at times. Big turn off, which is too bad because the music is decent.
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
Dude’s got talent. No doubt about it. His street life lyrics paint a colorful canvas. It’s too bad there is so much truth in them.
However, when he brags about being good at the sex (see One More Chance) or essentially viewing women as possessions, he sounds like a giant, insecure, overcompensating loser. That’s not a fat joke.
Metallica
3/5
Metallica shreds. Then shreds a different riff. And shreds in a unique tempo. Shreds a contrasting riff. Varies with a short bridge. Shreds the original riff. Harder. Faster. Changes it up with another riff. Fast and clean. Fast and clean. Shreds a distinctly new riff. Shreds disparately, as fast as possible. Hetfield grunts words…mmmmm yeah! They diverge again, shredding Shredder like shredded cheddar. shred…Shredding…SHREDDED!!!! I’ve run out of synonyms for different…(exhale)…
It is all incredibly impressive technically, yet feels entirely superfluous.
Side note: It’s a travesty that Ride The Lightning is not one of Metallica’s four entries in the 1001.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
They knocked it out of the park and revolutionized a genre at the same time. Historical 5. Personal 4. It’s a great album that deserves to be in the various lists of greatest albums of all-time.
Marty Robbins
3/5
Started hot with Big Iron and unfortunately none of the subsequent tracks lived up to it. All the songs about guns, killing people, and women strangely made me think about gangsta rap. Like why does society glorify the “olden days of yonder year” and vilify 50 Cent. Marty pines about fighting over women, singing as if they are possessions to be won. He may say it more respectfully, but how is that much different than rapping about b*tches and h*es. And his characters are riding around shooting everyone…bravely it is portrayed. Sounds like a 2Pac track to me. I bring this up not to judge Marty because I wasn’t around in 1959, but rather it is an interesting parallel that kept making more sense the more I thought about it.
Talking Heads
3/5
JBZ alert.
The Vines
5/5
Gritty. Distorted. Energetic. Engaging. A great debut album from The Vines. I need to explore more of their catalogue.
Deee-Lite
2/5
What Is Love is the height of this album. It’s got a nice, gritty trance feel. The rest of this album is overwhelmingly vapid. When they stay in house electronica mode, it’s the most tolerable. The couple songs where they try to sing verses, it’s insufferable.
Dexys Midnight Runners
1/5
This is the preeminent evidence of the British bias in Dimery’s 1001 list. One band member said the best thing about this album “ is that it got released at all.” It did so badly that the band broke up afterwards.
I could repeat all the things JKav noted as issues. Instead I’ll focus on the vocals. They are awful. The frustrating part is I think they have OK voices if they would have used them properly. Instead there are intonations, affects, and strange noises throughout.
Some of the music is decent, which is another sad aspect of this album.
The final arrow of British bias is that inclusion of this album means that all 3 of Dexys Midnight Runners album from their original lifespan are on the 1001 list. Seriously? DMR are so good that 3/3 need to be included. I haven’t found one worthy of listening to yet.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
A nice listen on a rainy weekend morning. This being Emmylou’s 19th album is impressive.
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
This is a disappointing follow up to Rumours. The band didn’t want to do Rumours 2, which I get. But there’s a reason it would have been a good idea to develop some of the left over ideas…because Rumours was amazing. Hit after smashing hit. What’s wrong with trying to recreate some of that while evolving their sound a bit?
There were a couple moments here that muster up the magic. But by and large, I am bored by Tusk. And while wanting to reinvent themselves is understandable, embracing boring is not the way to do it.
As with many, many double albums if the band had pared this down to a single album, the result would have been much stronger.
Traffic
3/5
With the #metoo movement bringing sexual exploitation to the forefront, a song like Vagabond Virgin is disturbing. I’m still not sure if i) the narrator was trying to get with the girl or if ii) the narrator is lamenting how the girl just wanted to be his fan and someone else took advantage of her.
Regardless the intended message, it points out the stark difference in late 1960s culture where a thirteen year old could follow a band around. There was a popular public campaign that asked parents, “Do you know where your children are?”
I don’t think that happens nearly as much today as it did then. These days the helicopter parent is a known fiber of our parenting fabric. Different times.
I’ve read the lyrics to the song several times and I tend to think it was option 2.
Big Star
1/5
Experimentation is great and necessary for progress, but some albums, like Third/Sister Lovers, deserve to remain undiscovered.
Pixies
4/5
Now that we’ve had three Pixies albums, I can say that I dig the Pixies rather than just one album. Surfer Rosa was not my favorite due to its chaos. Doolittle brought back memories of uni and a new found appreciation for the band.
Boss’s nova is a natural continuation that I like. There are still chaotic sounding pieces here and there, but by and large the songs bring enjoyment. I like that the sound is crunchy and rough.
Based on Doolittle and Bossanova, I will be checking out their follow on albumins too.
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
There are so many amazing aspects to EdN’s history.
- The band’s 1984 London show was cancelled 20 minutes in when they started drilling and jackhammering into the stage floor. They must have been overcome, channeling their inner Fraggle Rock Doozer, with inspiration from their core construction identity.
- Blixa Bargeld teamed up with notoriously terrible Nick Cave in the early 80s and was a member of both bands until the early 2000s, when amazingly, she ditched Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to focus on EdN. Hahaha Nick Cave, you suck!
- Band member threw a metal bar into a booing crowd and got dropped from U2’s 1993 tour.
This album is not music to me. There are rhythmic aspects to it, but music it is not. Considering how bad this album is, the most amazing aspect of EdN’s history is that they are still active and have been continuously together since 1980. I had to list to some of their follow on albums to find out if they stayed this awful.
They turned into an electronic dominant sound at some point and it’s not half bad (see album Ende Neu) although my point of reference here is skewed. Music is a wild and fantastical art form.
I couldn’t find it, but they did have a 2004 album where “blowing the plastic pipes with an air compressor, were greatly explored”. That sounds terrible but you never know.
Doves
3/5
It was chill and kind of decent.
Norah Jones
4/5
Norah Jones uses Come Away With Me to showcase her enticing voice. The folksy, jazz infused pop music melts into the background while her hints of raspiness invite the listener to snuggle up on a couch next to the fire. I feel comforted listening to this album.
Rod Stewart
3/5
I don’t quite get the whole Rod Stewart thing. His voice sounds like recovering from a killer soar throat. Always. The music sounds disjointed at times, like there are 1 or 2 too many parts that distract from the rest. And the mix is way off sometimes too…like the title track, I can barely hear him. All that is to say I think there is a lost opportunity here.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
2/5
I am intrigued by the lyrical subjects, but I can’t get past the vocal delivery. It feels unmusical and robotic.
The White Stripes
4/5
Jack White is a musical genius, no doubt about it. When the song construction is focused on the listener, see Blue Orchid, the result is incredible. However for several tracks, see The Nurse, it’s as if Jack was experimenting for himself without a listener in mind. The sound comes off as esoteric. I fully support this approach for artists because ultimately the art should be what stimulates them. The audience is just along for the ride. But it does feel like we are peeking into his world as opposed to him bringing his world to us. As a listener, this approach makes it a bit more difficult to fully get into the art.
Simple Minds
4/5
The version of this I listened to showed a 2016 date. I kept saying to myself, “Wow, this sounds a lot like early 80s electronica, but better.” Turns out I was listening to a re-release…or AppleMusic has the wrong date. Either way when I realized it was released in 1982, everything made more sense.
New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) stands above most 80s electronica for me, especially tracks like Someone Somewhere, Hunter and Hunted, and the title track. I can hear snippets of Chromatics, a modern electronica band I dig, in this album.
The bass guitar is badass. It carries the album. Derek Forbes, take a bow. The producer, Peter Walsh, should also be commended for pushing the bass so far forward in the mix.
Dennis Wilson
3/5
Not too much excitement here from Dennis Wilson. The album is fairly nondescript.
The more interesting part was his personal life. It seems like it was chaos, from housing the Manson family to drowning diving while drunk for his ex wife’s belongings that were thrown over board 3 years prior.
It must be tough being a famous entertainer, having so much time to get lost in life. 2.5.
Janet Jackson
3/5
General Jackson coming in hot! While this album distinctly sounds like the late 80s pop era, it’s probably because this album helped define the sound. It does not sound dated though.
I like the drum machine beats and the rock-ness of Black Cat. This album is carried by Miss You Much, Escapade, and Black Cat.
This album is a historical achievement and definitely deserves to be heard by all before they die. It holds the record for the album with most Billboard Top 5 singles (7). It resides with the crowning female musical accomplishments along with The Go Go’s, Adele, amongst others. For that, I salute Ms Jackson.
Beastie Boys
3/5
This album needs to decide what it wants to be when it grows up. The style bounces from their version of hip hop to punk to 70s souls inspired grooves with instrumentals mixed in. It’s hard to follow. I like most of the varieties individually, but it doesn’t feel cohesive to the point that I’m focused on the style changes more than the music.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Finally a Springsteen album I’m willing to claim as my own. It couldn’t have started out better than Badlands. It’s high energy and engaging.
I won’t claim Springsteen’s voice though. It is OK most of the time, excels rarely, and sounds strained at other times.
One thing I just realized that I don’t like about Springsteen sometimes are his lyrics. He has songs that I equate to country-typical lyrics that are a turnoff for me. It’s the my truck, my dog, my guns, and my girl stuff. It’s the most basic, straightforward, simple down home verses. Springsteen sings about a “ ‘69 Chevy with a 396” and “driving over the county line” et cetera.
These types of lyrics work fine with Bruce’s rock music, but I like those passages less than the rest. Something clicked because Bruce uses, what I associate as, “country style” lyrics often and I think that’s a reason I’ve never really gotten into him.
The music on this album is wonderful though. The opening to Something In The Night is great as is the aforementioned Badlands.
Sepultura
1/5
Making this an instrumental album would result in +3 ⭐️.
First, it would shorten the album to a reasonable length.
Second, it would remove the most wrenchingly offensive vocals. I understand that the guttural growling goes with the genre, but that’s a no from me.
The sad part is that the music is pretty good. There are riffs that I can get down to.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Marvin Gaye was a sexy sounding man. The start of this album is perfectly smooth. I would like Mr. Gaye to sing me almost anything.
My only issue is that the slow parts of the album lose my interest even though they are still quite beautiful.
Slipknot
3/5
These guys, individually and collectively, are good musicians. They are technically astute. #4 & #7 (the guitarists) rip killer riff Andrea killer riff.
The vocals are not horrible, which is what I expected. I thought I was in for another Sepultura level wrenchingly offensive growls. The guttural source is here, and not entirely pleasant. However, Slipnot’s growling felt more selectively used and more understandable. They mixed in “regular” singing too that is pretty good. And it’s like #8 (the vocalist) knows the growling causes discomfort because sometimes his voice gets less growly through the course of a verse to make it better.
The drummer is incredibly talented too. Just too much straight double kick for my liking, but I recognize that it’s not easy to pull off.
I was totally expecting to get this and I didn’t, which was a nice surprise.
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
I like the bluesy stuff more than the 80s pop sounds.
The Beta Band
5/5
What a find! Consider me interested in being a member of their cult following. This album is a wonderful mix of folk rock and electronica. I definitely need to explore the rest of their catalogue when this is all over.
Brian Eno
3/5
I love a lot of this album, but I get lost when Eno’s yet to be fully expressed ambient side pops up. It’s a shame.
Mike Oldfield
4/5
At first I thought to myself, “Why would this ever be on a list of things people have to hear?” I suppose most people would think, “Oh cool! The Exorcist soundtrack.” But I’ve never seen the exorcist so I didn’t know to think that.
However, it turns out that Oldfield’s (mostly) instrumental offering has many layers like the palette of a fine wine. I taste the drought in the earthy notes if you know what I’m saying.
He layers and layers and layers and the layers keep shifting, twisting, and contorting. They continually shift at just the right instants to keep my attention throughout the whole album. Well done.
Cat Stevens
3/5
Reminds me at times of Nick Drake, which I like.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
An Elvis Costello album I don’t entirely hate. What an accomplishment! He still has his moments of sounding like a giant cheese ball, but he manages to keep it in check for the most part. Somehow. Again, amazing.
Amy Winehouse
5/5
Rehab is likely the most well known song on this album, but it is my least favorite. Its lyrics are routed in truth but sound put on. And I’ve always been annoyed by the pacing of “…no no no.” It’s behind the beat…delayed…and that gap is a wide canyon of despair. Despite my annoyances with Rehab, it is still a catchy song.
My favorite song is Back To Black. It came together quickly and is so simple. It sounds like a hit James Bond theme song.
This whole album has a cool throwback feel to the soul, jazz, and R&B of yesteryear. It is so smooooooooth. The album drips a warmth, drawing the listener in. It’s truly a an accomplishment worthy of record companies pulling up more female led acts in the late 2000s and beyond as its success reportedly did.
Bad Company
4/5
I’m struggling to find organized thoughts about this album, so I’ll leave it at this: I like it mmmmm yeahhhhh.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
Is it finally over?!? Am I done hearing Nick Cave?!? After four albums I still think his vocals suck badly. The music on this album is pretty good though.
The Auteurs
3/5
This one grew on me. Or the album got better as the track numbers increased. Who knows.
The album started off sounding like generic alternative rock music. Boring AF. But by Early Years, I was enjoying myself. I liked the hidden track to close it out too.
They like to use dynamism in non-generic ways though like the sudden audio drop after the first line in Show Girl or the annoyingly slow triplets in Home Again. The dynamisms do not feel like they fit though, like they put generic rock through the unique dynamic filter.
Stephen Stills
3/5
I liked it better the second time through, making two growers in a row! There are some tight tunes on this double album offering. It also has the overly casual feel of a bunch of dudes riffing with each other at times. As I’ve said for several double+ albums before, there could have been something more special by carefully selecting the best 35-45 min.
The Waterboys
3/5
Laura Nyro
3/5
This was a fun little number. I liked the upbeat jazzy feel. And the wind instruments. It feels like a throwback to a long forgotten era.
Klaxons
4/5
“New rave” is a joke that has gone too far and likely become annoying to the band. The only rave sound here is the air siren on Atlantis To Interzone. The other ravy aspect is that Paul Oakenfold co-wrote the cover It’s Not Over Yet, which doesn’t sound like rave music.
The album is engaging throughout. The lowest point happens to be the last song, Four Horsemen of 2012. Thankfully it is short.
Fairport Convention
3/5
This album feels like an afternoon at the pub. A time to enjoy with friends, catch up, and relax.
Tim Buckley
3/5
I enjoyed this album quite a bit. Move With Me, Nighthawkin’, and Make It Right stood out while the other four tracks were just so so. The strings and congas are excellent layers to the sound.
This was a close one, a 3 + 3/7, that I had to round down. It was fun though.
An uninspiring collection of drab. Even Beautifully Day, which I remembered fondly, was a vast disappointment. The opening line of the chorus, iconic as it be, is the only part I will remember fondly now.
The biggest problem are Bono’s vocals. They are bad. He doesn’t really sing so much as he talks in a singingish manner. I’d have to go back to the earlier albums to be sure, but I think he had a good voice in the 80s. By the late 90s, as evidenced with this album, he didn’t have it anymore.
I’m sure someone else has written this, but I most certainly can leave this album behind.
Elbow
4/5
Sparseness dripping with drama. I’m a big fan. Never heard of Elbow. This is what I’m here for.
Doves
3/5
I liked There Goes The Fear. Some of this sounds sort of like Coldplay (could just be the British lead singer). And I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
Laibach
1/5
These deep dark grumbly vocals can go crawl back into the deep dark hole from which they emerged.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Alanis Morissette is God. Well maybe not, but she did play God in Dogma, the Jay and Silent Bob movie from 1999. I wanted to watch her scenes to come up with something snazzy for this review. Unfortunately Dogma is not available on a streaming service. You want to know why?
Harvey fucking Weinstein!!! That asshole owns the rights and is sitting on it. He also refused to sell the rights back to Kevin Smith for a reasonable amount of money. So the only way to watch Dogma is to find a DVD. Unbelievable.
Anyway, Alanis Morissette comes to earth and saves the universe from two rotten angels with her powerful voice. And that my friends is where I’d like to focus.
The standard version of this album is fine. The hits are hits and some of the other songs are let downs. Glen Ballard did an OK job as producer but he screwed up the best part of this album…Alanis’s voice…because he covered it up too much with his bullshit instrumentation.
Side note: Ballard also screwed up The Dave Matthews Band’s sound when he produced their album Everday. It was a big let down.
What really got me to embrace these songs is the acoustic version of the album, which is available on the Collector’s edition. In that version, Ballard’s instrumentation is present, but stripped back and out of the way. The acoustic version takes a let down song like Mary Jane and makes a wonderful experience.
I give the standard version of the album a 3, the acoustic version a 5, and I’m splitting the difference because they should have been smart enough to use the acoustic version in the first place. I know that’s the version Kevin Smith must have heard when he cast Alanis as God for the purpose of using her powerful voice to save the universe.
John Lennon
3/5
This album starts out like a rocket at its apogee about to return to earth. It’s out of this world but continually reduces from that peak. Imagine is great. Crippled Inside is pretty good. Then there is a run of songs that, while they are interesting, don’t quite standout to me.
Leftfield
3/5
Dude, I’d drop some giggle pig and go dance to these guys at the club. Solid house/trance album. If this were 20 years ago, I’d rate it higher, but house/trance is t really my thing.
Neil Young
4/5
Side 1 was five starts all the way. I was excited to have found the Neil Young solo album I could point to and claim as a triumph. I’ve always had an appreciation for him, yet a solo album that is five star worthy has alluded me.
I thought tonight was the night.
Then side 2 happened and while it was good, none of the tracks lived up to side 1. And I’m left wondering when I’ll find the Neil Young solo album that knocks my socks off from start to finish. Hopefully it’s coming soon.
Ministry
4/5
I was fearful upon hearing the growling vocals. Uh oh another one star [blank] core album. But then The guitar riffs got my head banging.
These guys are like Metallica (Ride or Master) level shredding. And some how the growling ceased to annoy me because it actually kind of fits the music.
The album title has 4 “*” in it and that is also how I rate it.
Radiohead
5/5
Every real Radiohead fan knows that this is their best album. 😉
An electronica rock masterpiece. I’m still amazed at the stark contrast in style between The Bends and Kid A and how well they mastered this new sound that they also created at the same time.
The Strokes
5/5
Another wonderful discovery through the 1001. I’ve heard of The Strokes and Last Night or course, but I had never gone out of my way to listen to their music. And I’m glad I did.
I’m in love with the lo-fi-ness of this album. The basement recording with minimal sound processing and imperfections included sounds enticingly gritty. The vocals sound like they were recorded from the output of a $50 amp.
I don’t feel like there is a single track that is a drop off from the rest. I’ll be coming back to this album for sure.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
2/5
At least the lack luster music isn’t of the cheesy 80s style. It did capture my enjoyment briefly from time to time. The vocals are subpar throughout.
Robbie Williams
2/5
I thought Robbie Williams was some kind of superstar. I hear nothing close to that characterization.
Brian Wilson
3/5
Strange like a Warhol. Sometimes bordering on bizarre. He made major changes, whether it be instrument, tempo, key, or a combination, like every 4 bars, which did not allow a groove to set in. Unsettling.
CHIC
2/5
Disco is like the Chumbawumba and/or Macarena of the 1970s. Sure, instead of a whiskey drink or a vodka drink, they were snorting lines off a mirror or their partner’s chest. But they were all in just the same. All in with the same regret and r/blunderyears material decades later.
Disco feels good at first. The bass is greatly groovy. But then you realize your were listening through the equivalent of beer goggles (cocaine ears?).
See, the thing about the old days, is they the old days.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
2/5
At times, I hear AC/DC. Other times, not so much. The two songs about a gang bang and a military wh*re house really threw me off. They were different times but still, not appealing lyrics.
The Human League
2/5
Positive: The album has a consistent upward trajectory.
Negative: the first half is an 80s music parody. Just cheesy sounding. It has not aged well.
Throwing Muses
4/5
I liked this a lot. The simplicity, the noisy essence, the vocals. All very good. Too bad I’ll never listen to it again being that YouTube was the only place I could find it.
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
Meh. It’s still love Cheese Wagstaff though, unknown father to Randy.
Deep Purple
3/5
I enjoy this quite a bit at times. Side two drones on a bit too much. 3.5
Missy Elliott
4/5
Even at 20+years old, the album still sounds fresh. Missy stakes a claim for women’s points of view in hip hop. A well constructed album.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Baroque pop. Now I get it. This guys vocals are a perfect match for the orchestral instruments.
PJ Harvey
2/5
Hopefully we are done with PJ Harvey after three albums. This one is mostly dreadful. Man-size Sextet is terrible. And it’s followed by a cover of Highway ‘61 Revisited that is a cardinal sin against Bob Dylan. I’m sure Dylan doesn’t give a shit because he’s like that. Yuri-G is a good song though. So there’s that.
White Denim
4/5
I’m pleasantly surprised that I have not heard of this album. Street Joy reminds me of Rufus Wainwright, who we had two albums ago, without the orchestral instruments. At times I feel like they tried to cram too many notes into too small a time (Anvil Everything).
Bob Dylan
4/5
What a come back after a long time of being down. This album reminds me of Tom Waits’ Nighthawks At The Diner in that Bob’s voice isn’t great at this point in his career, but it fits the mood of this album so well. I imagine Dylan as a skeleton entertaining in the corner at the bar in purgatory. People are waiting to be judged and here is an old soul spewing life experience.
Fela Kuti
3/5
The original album has energy and an excitement to it. The tracks added to the CD rerelease…not so much. The rhythm instruments on Observation No Crime sound quite uninspired and the song drags on for way too long. I’m discarding the CD version bonus tracks. Even so, this is an album better consumed live rather than through iMusic.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Sounds too generic for me. Obviously The Boss delivers really good guitar chord driven songs, but they do not inspire me. Where are the riffs?
MC Solaar
3/5
Björk
3/5
I respect the shot out of Björk. She is as creative as it gets. I appreciate her. My rating would increase if her creativity were tempered a bit, but then it wouldn’t be Björk.
Ms. Dynamite
4/5
This album feels like the hip hop version of some 90s R&B. I like it a lot. Krazy Krush is great. Almost a 5.
The Who
3/5
It’s I can See For Miles and a bunch of, quite surprisingly, psychedelic sounding stuff. Meh.
Moby
4/5
When I listen to this album, I always enjoy it. The songs are super hooky. It’s easy to learn the lyrics and sing along. It’s strong for the first half and then tails off with Machete as the turning point. Moby purposefully sequenced the album that way to go from elated highs to the the washed out feeling of coming down from heroin. Seeing the explanation helps me understand the concept. The advantage is that I can just skip most of the second half of the album and be happy. The downside of the lyrical structure is that I don’t want to listen to the album very often. The lyrical structure and song sequencing are dichotomies that make the album exciting to listen to, but only maybe once a year.
Richard Hawley
4/5
The music is chill and I like his voice a lot. It soothes me.
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
Please use space lasers to melt the emotionless robot spinning this album. Thank you.
Kanye West
3/5
Of the Kanye albums we’ve had, this is the me I like the most. Still, it’s nothing spectacular for me.
Morrissey
2/5
Still a know-it-all that has a mediocre voice.
Ananda Shankar
2/5
While the album co rains some interesting covers of contemporary tunes, the novelty wore off by the middle of the album. I was annoyed by the later tracks…looking at you Sagar (The Ocean)…and I said “thank goodness” when track 8 was the last one.
Björk
3/5
Intriguing. Evocative. Boundary busting. Perplexing. All things Björk.
Beatles
5/5
I happened to watch Yesterday yesterday. It’s a movie about a struggling musician that wants to give up. Something happens (I’ll spare you the details) where the whole world forgets that The Beatles or their music ever existed. So this guys starts playing Beatles tunes as if they are his own and his career blows up. Ed Sheeran loses a 10 minute song writing contest to him.
Anyway. The point is that the plot was meant to allow the whole movie to be filled with covers of The Beatles greatest hits. It helped me appreciate just how large their catalogue of hits is. And while they aren’t my favorite band, they put an indelible mark on music forever.
The Beatles (aka the white album) is filled with songs I love. It’s a bit silly and a hell of a lot of fun. Being a double album, there are a couple tunes that don’t keep my peak interest, but overall it’s a great album. I used to listen to this on the record player at home with my sister when we were young and I love Back In The U.S.S.R. and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da just as much as I did as a kid. This is my second favorite Beatles album behind Sgt Peppers.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Parts of this are fine and then other parts are just strange.
TV On The Radio
4/5
This is a tweener. I’m tempted to advocate temporarily for the popular 10 point scale, but I know that would just create even more tough ratings decisions.
There are a couple of songs where I’m not totally digging the vocals. But there is enough that I like to round up. Golden Age and Family Tree really shine for me.
I am advocate of the 6 point scale:
1 = oh my bloody god turn this shite off immediately
2 = this isn’t good but I can find a nugget or two that I like and power through
3 = I’d be perfectly happy to listen to this again if someone else put it on
4 = I’d put this in my library and listen again sometime
5 = I like this a lot and I will come back to it often
6 = Holy hell this is amazing and I might just listen to it repeatedly for a week straight
In the 1001 five point system we operate under here, 3 & 4 are combined.
Dwight Yoakam
4/5
I don’t get down with country often. I gotta say I like the twangy-ness here. I found What I Don’t Know and I Hear You Knockin’ to be my favorites.
Billy Joel
3/5
It’s hard to believe that this is the only Billy Joel album on the 1001 list. This album is quite a few of his famous songs on it. So if he only gets one this seems like a good choice. I’m not enough of a Billy Joel fan to have an opinion if he has a better album than this.
The hits aren’t as memorable as I thought. There is too much sax and the like. I guess peak Billy Joel is a 3 for me.
Big Star
3/5
This album was a wild ride. Don’t Lie To Me rocked hard. And then it was followed up by the sounds of frolicking through a dewy meadow. I don’t think the band knew what their identity was for this debut album.
David Bowie
3/5
I like some of the electronic elements of this album but I don’t hear what is so special. I think without Bowie’s name attached to it, it would be a nothingburger.
The Monkees
2/5
Cute I guess, but blandly outdated and unexciting.
Willie Nelson
3/5
It’s pleasant enough hearing Willie’s takes on others’ songs, but I’d rather see an album of originals on the 1001 list than this.
The Afghan Whigs
2/5
There is an erraticism here. The Afghan Whigs alter between chaotic noise and a tight sound. Unfortunately this is all fronted by subpar vocals.
Van Morrison
4/5
Van Morrison delivers again. After our third and final VM album, I may have an answer to the question. You know, when you’re talking to someone and they ask what you’ve been up to. And you say, “well there’s this book, 1001 albums you should hear before you die. And this guy made a website that…” Yada yada yada…eventually the person asks you what the biggest surprise/discovery/take away is from the experience.
VM has such a command of the room on this live album. He (and The Caledonia Soul Orchestra) delivery the energy and whip the crowd up. And they just as easily bring the mood down to a whisper with the crowd anticipating his every word.
The story goes that VM didn’t put much into live shows but that he was into it, and at the top of his game, for this tour. One of the aspects I respect the most is that VM allowed no studio over dubs for the album. In fact he kept a couple of his more successful songs off the album due to errors in the recording.
My answer to the question could be that I’m a Van Morrison fan. His offerings are 3/3 for me. I like them all. Of course there are many other discoveries that stick out too, but VM is a highlight for sure.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
“I’ve been naively hoping that he [Nick Cave] stopped making music a long time ago, but alas here’s an album from 2019.”
- Me prior to listening to this album
This album is best described as an atmosphere. A lilt sheet flapping in the breeze. NC&TBS brought the electronic aspects to bear just so the listener feels like they are a buoy bobbing up and down with the waves of mood.
I must say Nick’s voice still bothers me too much that I can’t not notice it and think twice about this rating. But for the most part, his voice adds to the melancholy in a positive way.
I have to say that I am quite surprised by this album. It only took until The Bad Seeds’ 17th album, but they got this one right.
The Fall
1/5
Me and the chaps used to discuss Metallica and specifically James Hetfield’s “mmm yeah” at the end of the occasional phrase. The affectation is there, more so in the black album and beyond…MMM YEAH!
Mark E. Smith also has an affectation. He adds “uh” at the end of almost every single phrase. And he can’t annunciate for shite. He says “ITS A COARSE UH.” C-U-R-S-E you tw@! UH…UH…UH!!! Everywhere an UH UH!!
This album sounds like a scene labeled bad karaoke in a B film script.
Bloody awful.
B.B. King
4/5
A master at work.
I like Rod Stewart fronting a band instead of being a solo pop act. Here the guitar fuzz mixes well with his fuzzy vocals.
David Ackles
2/5
Too theatrical for me. It sounds like this belongs on a Broadway stage rather than a music venue’s stage.
Kings of Leon
3/5
I liked this more than I thought I might.
Cyndi Lauper
2/5
Too much 80s pop sound.
David Bowie
2/5
If this didn’t have Bowie’s name attached to it, I’m not sure anyone would notice it exists.
FKA twigs
3/5
Very much reminds me of Björk. Not necessarily the music, but rather the feeling, the avant-garde-ness. It’s thought provoking through its musical paradigm change. It’s also odd enough that I’m not so sure I enjoyed the music as I appreciated the feeling of listening to it if that makes sense.
Sugar
3/5
I accidentally reviewed this under Coldcut What’s That Noise which I will review here. I like the Coldcut album more than Sugar’s Copper Blue which is AI 90s alternative rock (read: generic).
Coldcut brings the dog barks. It sounds dated but still listenable.
Im out of words…
Coldcut
3/5
AI 90s alternative rock 8 months ahead of it’s time.
Duke Ellington
3/5
The guys are outstanding musicians, but I need more structure and less meandering.
The Police
4/5
There is a pervasive energy emanating from this album. While the title translates to White Raggae, I am glad the raggae elements were muted.
Rocket From The Crypt
4/5
I vant to suck your blood. Eeeek!!! I’ve been turned into a vampire.
I definitely remember On A Rope from long ago. I’m happy to listen to the rest of the album 30 years later. I like the edge to their sound yet there are saxophones, trumpets, and strings. And these guys can harmonize too.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
I like Bob Marley’s vibe. It’s relaxing and chill. It makes me wish I were hanging out at a park or the beach on a summer day.
No Woman, No Cry is a song I’ve heard a thousand times. I don’t particularly like the sped up pace here. I’m used to a slower tempo and the song feels rushed.
Even though The Wailers had moved on, this album keeps the good vibes going.
Beatles
3/5
I don’t think this should be on the list. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s not a consequential Beatles album compared to their others on the list. Removal of this one would lead to room for deserving entries from other unrepresented artists.
Django Django
5/5
Some of the vocal effects remind me of the Kids Learning Tube videos about our solar system’s planets. And of my more favored video about the dwarf planets. Great videos for kids and adults alike.
https://youtu.be/4tw_RiQp6H8?si=h5t-Rdr4lsrFXdJ9
I learned that term dwarf planet was solidified after astronomists discovered Eris. That led to a Wikipedia investigation: Eris, which is bigger than Pluto (pouring one out for you my long lost planet buddy), was found in 2005. I also learned that the 9 planet crowd are just sentimentalists. In the 1800s, there were 20+ objects considered planets before “asteroid” was a thing.
Rabbit hole over. Django Django is a refreshing blend of electronica, rock, and art. This is a stand out album.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
How had I not heard of these guys? Or maybe I had and forgot. Either way, I’m glad for the (re)introduction.
I consider this as much rock-rap and I do rap-rock. I’m not sure what is the more prominent style. All I can say is that they do an excellent job blending the two genres. And we’re all better for it.
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
For reasons still unknown to me, Take Me Out did not play the first time through the album. The rest played in order. When I circled back to listened to it, it didn’t elevate my opinion. I’ve heard the song a hundred times and it’s no longer all that exciting.
I like This Fire. Well, at least the first time. Upon re-listen, I find the lyrics annoyingly repetitive.
R.E.M.
3/5
Shivkumar Sharma
2/5
Tricky, tricky, tricky. Finding the right album that is. I’m still not 100% sure I found it. I did listen to three different albums, so think I heard it.
Third, I went to YouTube where the track list matched the Wikipedia track list. I’d turn this album off before listening all the way through.
Second, I searched Call Of The Valley on AppleMusic and found an album with the right cover. However, it was from 2012, none of the artists match, and neither do any of the track names.
First, I used the 1001generator link and two of the artist names match (Sharma and Chaurasia), but the track names are wrong and the album title is Soundscapes - Music Of The Valkeys. This album is really good (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) and only 20 minutes long, an advantage.
I’m rating based on the third find, which I’m pretty sure is the right one…unfortunately because the first option is by far the best.
Deep Purple
4/5
After two listens spread out over a week, I have a better appreciation for Deep Purple. These guys know how to write a riff and blend them together. I was only familiar with Smoke On The Water before this and I must say there are 4 or 5 songs I like better. I’m glad I know more than just Smoke On The Water now.
Beth Orton
5/5
Folktronica! Who knew that was a thing??? Well I do know.
This album feels like Joni Mitchell meets some 90s electronic music. The biggest difference is that the songs here don’t rely on Beth’s voice too much. Her voice is really good, but there are many layers supporting it.
This is one of those that make doing the 1001 worth it…the unexpected discovery.
Arrested Development
3/5
This album consists of Mr. Wendal, Tennessee, and a bunch of non-descript-OK-for-background-listening tracks.
Adele
4/5
All of Adele’s album covers are pictures of her face from different angles. The next cover should be taken from below, looking up at her face. Zoomed out a bit, but focused on her mouth using a large aperture to softy blur the rest, to portray her iconically because that’s what her voice is…iconic.
I read back my review of 21…a 3.5 with too much filler. After listening to 25, then 21, then 25 again, I like 25 better. The album cover is better too.
Of what could be considered filler, I thoroughly enjoyed Million Years Ago. The simple guitar backing compliments her voice so well. It’s auditorily (not a word) intimate as hell and the power of her voice is clearly evident even though it is restrained.
N.E.R.D
4/5
I saw these guys open for Dave Matthews Band in Virginia Beach. According to our internet gods, it was the summer of 2004. This album was out by then, but I don’t remember what they played. I just remember liking their energy and music.
So got into In Search Of . . ., which is a great album. 5 stars for sure. I think 1001 made a mistake choosing Fly Or Die over ISO… even though it is not in the current list. At least Dimery was aware enough to include N.E.R.D. in the list in the first place.
Their rap rock is something to be taken in and worth hearing. Too bad Dimery had the poor judgment to 1) not include the superior In Search Of . . . 2) to remove N.E.R.D from the list.
Despite this not being as good as their debut, it is still pretty pretty pretty good (Larry David voice).
Soft Machine
2/5
Best consumed while laying in the dark before bed. That’s a limiting listening scenario. It’s not all trash, being loosely formed prog/jazz rock and all, but it’s best when not paying attention.
The Clash
4/5
I was expecting more punk, but I’ll take it. The album is pretty consistently good until side 4/4 where it trails off. The last song though, Train In Vain, might be my favorite. I think I would like this more if it had more punk and less ska influence. Still a solid album.
The Byrds
2/5
Get rid of David Crosby. Replace with Gram Parsons.
Get rid of soulless folk rock. Replace with twangy country rock.
Any better? No.
The most interesting part of this album was going down the Gram Parsons rabbit hole. OD’d. Step father wanted to inherit grandfather’s estate by having him buried in Louisiana. Friends stole dead body from LAX and tried to cremate him with 5 gallons of gasoline and a match in Joshua Tree National Monument (now Park). Somehow it wasn’t illegal to steal a dead body back then. Craziness.
Hawkwind
2/5
Ambling, directionless nonsense.
Brian Eno
4/5
Another +1 in the Brian Eno is a genius bucket. Dude rips.
It starts out poorly with the 80s cheesy sound of America Is Waiting. But after that it’s great. I heard the expanded version and I like it all.
At this point I need to go back to Ambient 1: Music For Airports because I may have misjudged it.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Another solid LZ album. It’s really really good, not great. I’m going to use this space to complain AGAIN that Houses Of The Holy was left off for this album. It is a travesty.
Spiritualized
4/5
I accidentally posted the review for this album under Spirit’s Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus. It’s repasted below.
Spirit is known as a supernatural being amongst other definitions and spiritualized is an adjective describing something that has raised to a spiritual level. Spiritual beliefs often involve supernatural beings. Naturally they are easy to confuse.
************************************
Far out man!
This space rock beauty takes one on an ever shifting adventure. I dig the layered electronica. It feels like an immersive experience.
NME rated it a 9 1/8 out of 10…a rating scale with 80 gradations!!!! How do they ever distinguish between a 9 1/8 and a 9 1/4?!? They also rated it as album of the year, ahead of Radiohead’s OK Computer. I can hear it.
We’ve been on a run of good albums lately. Let’s keep it up 1001!
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Now the missing review for Spirit’s Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus:
I think I’m listening to the little siblings of the Grateful Dead. I don’t think I was aware of these guys before now. There are times I swear I hear Bob Weir’s voice…or is it Phil Leah. I don’t know, but Animal Zoo sounds like one of them. The album isn’t stuffed with great stuff, but there is plenty to go around. It’s a 3.5 that I’m rounding up because then my misplaced Spiritualized rating is applicable.
4/5
Far out man!
This space rock beauty takes one on an ever shifting adventure. I dig the layered electronica. It feels like an immersive experience.
NME rated it a 9 1/8 out of 10…a rating scale with 80 gradations!!!! How do they ever distinguish between a 9 1/8 and a 9 1/4?!? They also rated it as album of the year, ahead of Radiohead’s OK Computer. I can hear it.
We’ve been on a run of good albums lately. Let’s keep it up 1001!
Elis Regina
4/5
Great energy. Great voice. Now I just wish I knew what she was saying.
Morrissey
3/5
6 albums for Morrissey (3 Smiths and 3 solo) WTF??? He and Bowie have to be the most over represented artists. Even though Bowie has more albums, his portfolio is better. So I’d propose that Morrissey is the most egregiously over represented.
Tom Tom Club
3/5
This album is parts fun and those that you would find in a Back to the Future history display about 80s music. It sounds dated, but kind of amazingly so at times.
Wordy Rappingwood, Genius Of Love, and the Under The Boardwalk cover make me want to listen to this again. The rest of the album…well not so much.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
This album was the first time I noticed RHCP back in the day. Their blend of funk, rock, rap, and slappin bass was fresh then and still is now. I don’t listen to RHCP much. They aren’t “my guys”so to speak, but I do usually enjoy this album, Californication, and Stadium Arcadium.
Rick Rubin pushed these guys in a beneficial direction. I Could Have Lied is a wonderful song and often overlooked gem. Under The Bridge is a plentifully looked gem and probably underrated anyway.
Drugs and fame tore the band apart several times and even led Anthony Keidis to think his mustache looks good. But somehow they keep going.
Shave the stache Anthony.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
There are parts of this album I love. And by now (album 804) it’s obvious to me. I love the electronic aspects. It’s hard for me to believe this album is 40+ years old based on how current some of the sounds are…New Stone Age being a good example.
It’s all good until I thought Sealand was over and then someone started beating a trash can with a stick. The album continues questionably through Architecture And Morality. Then it gets back on track for the last two songs, but the hole in the middle sunk a potentially great thing.
T. Rex
3/5
The bluesy influences get me going for this album (Baby Boomerang and Telegram Sam). Most of the album is enjoyable but not noteworthy.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
The voice. The Voice. THE VOICE!!! She’s incredible and the songs were more interesting on this album as compared to I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You.
Slint
2/5
This is a strange one. They say it’s math rock, but the math doesn’t add up. The guitar parts sound like what I do when I’m just messing around, playing half baked lofi riffs. And the vocalist sounds like even he isn’t interested in what is going on. The only parts of this album I actively enjoy are those when the guitar volume rises and fills out.
I unintentionally listened to the bonus track, Utica Quarry, Nighttime. I originally read the track title as Utica Quarry, Nightmare. And boy was it a nightmare. 15 minutes I’ll never get back. The song would have dropped Spiderland into the basement (-1 star) if it weren’t a bonus track.
Moby Grape
4/5
I like their slightly overdriven, crunchy guitar and bass sound. I hear the resemblance to the Grateful Dead’s sound. They can do rock (Hoochie and Trucking Man), folk (It’s A Beautiful Day Today and If You Can’t Learn From My Mistakes), and psychedelic-ish (Ooh Mama Ooh) songs.
This is a forgotten gem from the late 60s psychedelic scene. I’ve never heard of Moby Grape until now and I wish I had. The story of their band is a sad one of lost potential…too much LSD and a shady manager. They had five members who could write and sing. What a shame.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
I am at once of two minds. I told myself this is too experimental and I also told myself that the music is straight forward and boring. What I’m settling on is that this proto proto-punk album is not fully formed.
It sounds fresh, but at the same time, the music is by and large a steady cadence of the same sound without variation. It’s odd.
I appreciate that this was a seminal work on the proto-punk genre, but it’s not mature enough for me.
Queen
3/5
It’s got the grandiose-ness of Queen for sure. However, I feel like there is a tendency to cram as much into the sound as possible without critically thinking about what belongs best. For me, this album is mid.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Danny Whitten of Crazy Horse shines brightly in the background. His rhythm guitar dances intricately with Neil Young’s lead while his vocals are subtly better, like on Round & Round (It Won’t Be Long).
Cinnamon Girl, Down By The River, and Cowgirl In The Sand are other solid songs. It all sounds so simple yet full at the same time. The guitars get heavy at times (Cowgirl) to balance the more delicate.
Good stuff.
LL Cool J
3/5
The beats are primitive and LL’s vocals aren’t anything to write home about. A great stroll down Nostalgia Lane.
Basement Jaxx
3/5
A nice background scene.
The Birthday Party
2/5
JHFC. A hidden Nick Cave album on the list. That sneaky bastard. It all makes sense now.
Guided By Voices
3/5
This is a lot of songs, well not songs. Riffs with a couple lyrics is more like it. And I do like it. There is abundant potential in these tracks. This could be a 5 star album if they actually finished what they started. Each time I got into a groove with a track it was already the last track.
The experience inspired me to revisit a fully formed song, Visions Of Johanna by Bob Dylan. The dude deserved a Nobel Prize just for that song. It’s a masterpiece.
Unfortunately, Guided By Voices never stopped hitting the bong long enough to find out if they could turn Alien Lanes into one too.
Scott Walker
2/5
It’s 12:30 am. I split my aces. Double down on both hands. Bust a 5 carder on one hand. Draw to a 20 on the other. Dealer draws 3 cards to a 21.
Busted.
I stumble away from the table to the buffet. On the way I hear Scott Walker singing Scott 4 to a room with 9 out of 10 seats empty. Against my better judgment, I decide to sit down.
He gets to Boy Child. I puke and pass out. I wake upon impact after security has tossed me to the curb.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Nirvana
5/5
Nirvana stayed true to their vision and I gotta respect that. Producers wanted more well known songs and guest artists plus an encore, and Nirvana told them to stuff it. They played hidden gems like About A Girl, The Man Who Sold The World, and Oh, Me that I otherwise wouldn’t know nearly as well if at all. I like that they paid tribute to their lesser known musical influences.
Even though it’s an “acoustic” set, mostly…Cobain used an amp and effects pedals, there is still an edge to the set especially in Cobain’s vocals.
Big props. Mad love.
Motörhead
3/5
If the vocals could rip as hard as the guitars, we’d have something special here. Tempting stuff.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Being Boring lives up to the name. Not a good start. Things pick up with To Face The Truth and How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously. The album turns downward from there with The End Of The World a welcome respite.
Pentangle
2/5
The music isn’t terribly interesting even though it’s the best part of the album. The vocals are bad. The affects and strange phrasings off putting.
CHVRCHES
5/5
I heard The Mother We Share on a Pandora station I had and was instantly hooked. I bought the album, slid the CD in my car’s player, and it didn’t leave for the better part of 2 years.
I’m most in love with the electronic elements, especially the synths. Iain and Martin are geniuses IMHO. They layer synth lines with guitar effects and vocal loops into a modern symphony.
Even more so, the particular passages of the album that are the most satisfying use emptiness, sparsity, the negative space, to build to volcanic eruptions of joy. For instance, the first 2:40 of Tether feel laid back, dripping with anticipation until the fist pumping synth line punches through. Or the end of the 1st chorus of Under The Tide that builds only to go straight into the second verse while the 2nd chorus builds and builds into a jump inducing resolution. The juxtaposition, the unresolved 1st chorus, makes the 2nd that much more emphatic.
The live show Chvrches puts on is great.
My favorite song live from this album is Science/Visions. It’s got the pedal to the metal from the jump. I must say if they would vary the set list show by show, I might go on tour with them permanently.
Lauren’s brilliance shines through lyrically as well. On Lies she evicerates a former romantic interest to a pop soundtrack. She asserts her power after putting up with his shit for too long. I finally figured you out…don’t fuck with me. And on Lungs, which is a track I appreciate more and more as time goes on, the pacing and phrasing of her delivery about another deceptive relationship is something special.
To Iain, Lauren, and Martin, my deepest gratitude for sharing your gifts. This is my favorite album of all time. 🙌 ❤️ 🙇🏻
Joni Mitchell
2/5
I listened to this laying in bed at the end of the weekend. Appropriate because the album is sleep inducing. Coyote started it off well and then everything went down from there. The jazz musicians’ influence does not help either.
I also correctly guessed that Joni was way into cocaine based on the album photo. While she had been cured of her cocaine addiction during her solo road trip back to LA, the effects lingered facially for this cover.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
Very little to like here other than not being offensive.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
TP&TH get their career off to a promising start. They’ve got two hits in Breakdown and American Girl and a collection of other decent songs. As with many debuts, it feels like they are still figuring out their sound.
I have to point out that I saw them live in the early 2000s and TP has the best stage presence I’ve ever seen. He was humorous, engaging, and commanded my attention to every detail of what he was doing. He’s one of those performers that I’m glad I saw before they passed away.
As an aside, I recently saw girl in red and she is the closest performer to TP that I’ve seen. She is high energy the whole show bouncing all over the stage. She has the most admirable connection with her audience that I’ve ever seen. Her crowd is hard core. At the end of the show, she parted the bodies, entered the middle of the floor, crushed the end of her last song, and crowd surfed back to the stage. It was phenomenal, especially the trust she had in her audience to be so vulnerable amongst them. It was remarkable.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
The one word I keep thinking of is heavy. This album feels heavy. And not totally cohesive. There’s a lot of instrumental sections. And some vocals that aren’t anything to write home about. And I can’t get the thought out of my head that the electronic sounds in I Was A Teenage Hand Model sound like robot farts. The album also feels unsettling.
Steve Winwood
2/5
The 80s music scene genuinely thought it was on to something. I’m not sure which electronic device produced the sound (Prophet-5, Minimoog, or Yamaha CS-80), but It’s featured throughout by Winwood here, supplying high pitched lead lines. It distinctly identifies this album with the timeframe. Not necessarily a good thing, but there is a certain nostalgic aspect in play.
I am impressed that Winwood played all the instruments on the album. Gotta respect that.
Night Train is the highlight of the album for sure. The bass line is great. Too bad there weren’t more tracks like it.
Tortoise
3/5
This is decent background music while walking through the woods as I did this morning. Though I enjoyed the cricket and bird noises just as much once the album was over and I took my head phones off. I think being high would add the 1-2 stars needed to make this a regular listen.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
4/5
Reading back through my Damon Albarn related reviews:
- I dislike Blur, finding them mostly unremarkable.
- Gorrilaz was better, but still lacked something special.
- He laughably thought grunge was a passing fad.
So my expectations were low coming into this album. Thankfully I’m committed to the process because this album is something special. The music is really good and I like his voice a lot.
Harry Nilsson
3/5
It totally doesn’t fit aesthetically on this album, but I enjoy Coconut. From listening to the rest of the album, I would not have guessed that Harry wrote it, but he did.
The Undertones
5/5
“Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention …, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.“ -Wikipedia
In response to this sophomore album from The Undertones, I had focused attention on the album and reduced peripheral awareness. I’m not sure I had enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion, unless that suggestion was that Hypnotised is a kick ass album.
A great find. Thank you 1001!
Bobby Womack
4/5
Not to be a Tik Tok influencer, but I love his enegyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy [vocal fry]. Bobby has a magnetic draw with his growling vocals.
Butthole Surfers
1/5
Ummm, no thanks.
Little Simz
4/5
I very much enjoy Little Simz’s style. The first half of this album is 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥. I feel like the flow gets a bit disjointed in the second half.
Kraftwerk
2/5
I like that I can hear bits and pieces of bands influenced by this album throughout. Kudos for that, not stars.
Much of the album sounds primitive. It feels like a space invader movie soundtrack from the time period. I like it better when there are no vocals.
I like Metropolis as a song the most, but that’s about it.
Slayer
3/5
Speed for speed’s sake. I like when they slow down to a sprint with riffs that give my brain time to comprehend and bob my head like the last 5 seconds of Necrophobic, the middle of Altar Of Sacrifice, and the opening of Jesus Saves.
The opening riff of Postmortem is dope too.
I went back to my metal baseline, Metallica, to figure out my thoughts. I like the slower tempos and musicality of Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets over the SPEEEEEED of …And Justice For All and this album. They are still heavy and fast, but not just hastened, notes per minute, flashes of lightning.
Sheryl Crow
3/5
I really like No One Said It Would Be Easy a lot. Low key best song on the album. I wish there were more songs of that quality.
1/5
The good news is that it’s not 100% terrible.
Supergrass
4/5
Supergrass fan checking in here. After two albums, I must now admit there is Britpop I like.
De La Soul
3/5
I don’t know how accurate this take is, but it seems like too many albums from the late 80s and especially the 90s are way too long. 65 minutes is a lot to ask.
Big shout out for the Steely Dan sample on Eye Know though.
Liz Phair
2/5
My favorite part of the album is the extended instrumental intro to Shatter because Liz isn’t singing and I like the music. I don’t like her vocals. Flower and Johnny Sunshine were decent too.
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
I’ve always referred to them as Glove and Special sauce. Why? G. Love frankly sounds stupid.
G. Love or Glove…it doesn’t matter. This laid back rap blues fusion is too laid back for me.
James Brown
3/5
My measure for rating live albums is how badly do I want to have been at the show. I’m having a difficult time understanding how the music critics think this is the greatest live album, and one of the greatest albums, of all time. It’s a fine album and I’m sure I would have had a fun time in the audience, but I don’t feel overwhelmingly excited.
Britney Spears
2/5
…Baby One More Time (song) holds up. The rest of …Baby One More Time (album), not so much. Although that statement implies that the album was ever up in the first place. I actually don’t know because I never listened to the album until now.
Britney was 15.5-16.5 years old when these tracks were recorded and had just turned 17 when it came out. Many of the albums songs involve the narrator desiring a love interest or lamenting heartbreak, which is strange coming from someone that age.
Other than the title track, there isn’t much worth listening to here. Unless you enjoy hearing laughably bad tracks like Soda Pop just to know how silly and ridiculous music can get.
The Electric Prunes
2/5
Way too much oscillation in the effects. It’s not that groovy man.
Talking Heads
3/5
A 2.5 really
5/5
What a phenomenal set list! Of course I want to have been at this show. The songs are almost all from Dylan’s rock trilogy of Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. It’s difficult to think of another three album run from which I’d rather have a set list extracted (Led Zeppelin II-IV come to mind).
I could nitpick the tad-to-slow tempo on one of my favorite songs, Visions Of Johanna, or the quality of the recording, especially toward the end of the second disk, but that would be silly.
Silly because this is probably the best version of Desolation Row that I’ve heard. Silly because you get the intimate, solo acoustic set followed by the rip, roaring electric set. Silly because his voice still had a beautiful quality to it.
In a year when this 1089 experience is over, I need to go into a deep Dylan phase.
Beck
5/5
Beck has a unique sound for sure. I’m glad I finally spent the time to listen to his music and this album. I enjoy the various styles he mixes together.
Tito Puente
4/5
I definitely want to dance now.
Kings of Leon
3/5
I like the music, but the dude kind of mumbles a lot.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
It’s a good thing The Byrds kicked Gram Parsons out of the band so that he and Chris Hillman could move onto better things.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
Mostly boring frankly. The prog organ/synth/clavinet sound kind of cool at first but ultimately feel like a gimmicky crutch.
Talk Talk
2/5
a-ha
2/5
This started out nicely with Take On Me. Then Train Of Thought was OK. But then it kept going down hill.
The 80s was a poor decade for pop music. Analogue people transitioning to a digital musical world…with a bad voice in this case. My conclusion is that 80s in general is just a 2 star sound.
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
I remain flummoxed by the lead guitarists. The licks are constantly off beat and usually late. It was distracting, and combined with the psychedelia, made me glad when this album was over.
Sonic Youth
3/5
I liked it better on the second listen. It’s a good album, but I think I get lost a little bit during the more experimental passages. This feels like a transition album, but it’s closer to E.V.O.L. than Daydream Nation.
Eels
3/5
Even though I enjoyed hearing this album, I’m not going to remember it after today. Amongst the grungier, harder popular alternative sounds of the 1990s (Nirvana, Pear Jam, and Green Day for example) Eels came along with an interesting, lighter, unique sound. I can understand how the mid 90s backdrop helped this album standout, but I feel like it doesn’t stand up.
Dr. Octagon
3/5
I appreciate Dr. Octagon’s unique approach, his alien concept, and all that. For standing out amongst the sea of shoot-em-up gangsta rap, this album deserves five stars.
However for my personal listening pleasure, it’s nice to hear, but I won’t be returning anytime soon.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
When Stevie gets the musical energy going, he is unstoppable. Boogie On Reggae Woman and You Haven’t Done Nuthin’ are top notch tunes. For much of the rest of the album, Stevie slows down the pace, softens the mood, and gets intimate. I lose interest during these songs, which is too bad. If his focus were on the energy throughout, this album could have been a home run.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
Talvin Singh
1/5
It was fine, but by the end I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
This album swings from great to strange to decent soft pop. Sledgehammer, where the bass and guitar parts quietly dominate almost unnoticed in the background, is awesome. I liked it better the second time around.
Radiohead
3/5
The first half feels like the 2nd cousin once removed from Kid A (🙌). The second half got better with the more guitar based sound. This could easily be left off the 1001 list considering the other Radiohead albums that are already on it.
3/5
For psychedelic/progressive anything, this is pretty good. The longer songs drone on a bit much, but the core sounds is appealing.
Thelonious Monk
2/5
I couldn’t find a commonly accepted antonym for synergy.
Dysergy derives from a medical term, dysergia, that refers to a lack of muscular coordination due to defective nerve conduction. No.
Reverse synergy describes when the value of an individual unit might be more than the merged unit. Closer.
In toxicology, antagonism refers to the case where the combined toxicity of two compounds is less than the individual toxicities.
I think this comes the closest here. These musicians are wonderful players individually. But combined, I would need some toxic substances to enjoy their antagonistic creations.
Ravi Shankar
2/5
I have drowned in sitar.
I very much appreciate Ravi Shankar’s educational approach to introducing western audiences to Indian music. I want to elevate my rating based on his passion for teaching.
But ultimately, I am glad this album is over and I won’t be returning for more.
Thanks for the education Mr. Shankar!
The Gun Club
4/5
The blues infused punk sound is great.
The Prodigy
3/5
Do you remember how New Coke was a flop?
Their executives commissioned Project Kansas to come up with an updated formulation. The taste tests showed that people liked the sweeter taste of Pepsi over Coke.
So they made a sweeter version and put it to market as New Coke. The problem was that the taste test was flawed. You see people did prefer the sweeter taste of Pepsi…when they had a couple sips. The sugar rush sent their pleasure receptors into a frenzy…bing…pop…POW!!!
But what the Coca-Cola company really wanted to find was a formula that would lend itself to binge drinking, diabetes inducing levels of dedication to Coke. And the sweet flash bangs were great once. But when the brain is drowning in sugar, it starts to go deaf.
New Coke sucked and the market told them so. Soon Coke was rebranded as Coke Classic and the juggernaut continues…at least in terms of soda sales.
The first 5 or so tracks of this album are New Coke…bing…pop…POW!!! But then the sugar hurts a little bit and I need to stop.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
I could only find this album on YouTube. I listened while working out. I got really excited about halfway through when an energetic electronic dance track came on only to realize that is was a between song add.
Ice Cube
4/5
Pleasantly, this album is more than It Was A Good Day and Check Yo Self.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Marty McFly: “This album is heavy, Doc.”
Doc Brown: “Is there something wrong with Earth’s gravitational field?”
Marty: No, it’s just Black Sabbath.
Tommy Iommi stands out on Vol. 4 (Snowblind). His guitar is the whole thing. It’s mostly heavy, but sometimes light as in the beautiful Laguna Sunrise. He taught himself piano during recording this album and wrote Changes, which is mind blowing. He also happened to collapse from doing too much cocaine too. So there’s that.
Pink Floyd
3/5
It’s nice to listen to this album…so I can baseline how far Pink Floyd advanced from here to their classic 70s albums.
Psychedelic _________ is not a great genre description. It’s just too out there and lacking structure. Interstellar Overdrive was hard to take.
Hole
3/5
I kind of liked this better than I thought I would.
Mike Ladd
3/5
The afterfuture is 24 years ago. The futuristic vision starts strong from 5000 Miles West To The Future through Planet 10.
Then the album takes a three track downturn through misogyny and strangeness, which leads into an almost 11 minute instrumental (To The Moon’s Contractor). The instrumental is decent, yet seriously misplaced in this hip hop foray.
Afterwards, the album never really recovers to offer anything like the opening three tracks, which is disappointing.
Jacques Brel
3/5
If the Paris Las Vegas had opened 35 years earlier, this album could have been recorded there.
John Lennon
5/5
I hadn’t listened to much of John Lennon’s solo work. When I see the word Ono, I think of Yoko. My first thought about Yoko is her screaming “art.” Not something I wanted to engage in.
I’m glad the 1001 encouraged me to listen. What a beautiful way to convey his deep pain and disagreements with society. Working Class Hero is especially noteworthy.
Primal Scream
2/5
10% exciting, 90% boring
LTJ Bukem
3/5
It’s a five star drum and bass album. The only issue is that the drum gets old pretty quickly. Ignoring the drums, the atmosphere on this album is great.
Digital Underground
3/5
While the Humpty Dance is a silly, timeless classic song, the rest of the album feels solidly grounded in 1990.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
I like the guitar a lot. Mascis drops these short licks like a meteorite streaking across the sky. Whoa! And it’s gone.
Unfortunately for me, there isn’t a whole lot of structure to the music.
Madonna
1/5
This album demonstrates the true power of music industry. Despite containing auto tuned, vapid, genre-less shit, its sound was all over the place and even garnered several Grammy nominations. Critics “loved” it. I don’t buy it for a second. They know who butters their bread. Madonna!
If you shone a light on this album it would not cast a shadow because there is no substance.
Hüsker Dü
2/5
Double albums are almost never a good choice over choosing half as many of the best songs. Pick any 8-10 songs and this would be a 3 star album. But it just drones on and on and on.
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Christina has a great voice. Maybe top 3 in the 1001 so far.
This is an ambitious undertaking with 78+ minutes of music. I liked the second jazz inspired disc more than the R&B inspired first.
Kate Bush
2/5
This album is Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), which is great, and not much else. The second single, Cloudbusting, is bad. Under Ice is bad. Waking The Witch is bad. Jig Of Life is bad.
Parts of this album remind me of the movie Labrynth…a movie I like. Why, like Spyder with a Y, I don’t know.
The Style Council
3/5
The sound of this album is timeless. It should be the soundtrack to a romantic comedy set in Paris. Unfortunately the run from Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse through You’re The Beat Thing lets the rest of the his album down.
Julian Cope
2/5
There are some worthy nuggets sprinkled throughout this album. My main issue is that there is too much other drab stuff the part through in order to find it.
Nightmares On Wax
4/5
I can same myself turning this on and zoning in to focus. It’s repetitive yes, but that helps the outside world fade out. In fact, it is difficult to hear this album when needing to focus in on my surroundings.
This is a low key version of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack 🙌. Not as good but a similar feeling.
Kings of Leon
5/5
Maybe I’m a Kings Of Leon fan now. The vibes are locked in 💯. The music is really really good. As noted in my Youth And Young Manhood review, dude is still mumbling here but I don’t mind.
Love
2/5
I can definitely hear the jazz and psychedelic influences here. Stereo was novel. Cool. I hear the guitar on the right channel and drums on the left.
The issue is that they don’t seem to be keeping time together. It’s all too loosey goosey. Bad bad jazz influence. Cool, but to listen to.
The Specials
2/5
I just don’t like this.
Lorde
4/5
It’s wasn’t surprising to find out that Jack Antonoff produced this album having noticed that some of these songs bare a resemblance to some of his Taylor Swift collabs. I like the electro pop sound. My only reluctance is the voice processing. It’s a bit much at times.
The Pretty Things
2/5
Lots of sorrow to go around here. Album title: S. F. Sorrow; song titles: S. F. Sorrow Is Born and Private Sorrow; and the greatest sorrow of all: my sorrow for having suffered through the whole album.
4/5
Trevor Horn, bravo! You are right that it may not have been nice, but replacing the bassist with Brad Lang was brilliant. Because Brad Lang’s bass is incredible. 🎸
This album is 80s pop at its core, of which I’m not usually a fan, but I appreciate the twist of “sophisticated disco” and punk sounds. They do have a markedly positive influence.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
(looks in dictionary for definition of Americana)…finds picture of this album cover.
Beck
3/5
Emo Beck, I feel you bro.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Dusty sounds great on this set of cover songs.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
It took two listens through, and I’m on board. I get a little lost during the extended instrumental passages, but always find my way back to the harmonious path. This is an emotionally evocative album with a lot too offer. Of the TW double album, I prefer the first.
Pere Ubu
1/5
The third track is incorrectly listed as Laughing. I dug deep and found the original name, Laughing (At The Listener).
Les Rythmes Digitales
5/5
What a fantastic, novel electronica sound!!!
Barry Adamson
2/5
Barry went for a concept.
+1 star for me hearing the concept.
Funkadelic
4/5
Not totally legal here, but I’m ignoring the last 12 minutes, or 1/3 of this album. The opening track is not the type of thing I usually like, but this one hit home…an acid trip long guitar solo imagining your mom died. The first side of this album is great.
Big Black
2/5
The sound is mostly grating; however, some of the music is decent to rage out to. I’d typically go for something like Eminem or Marilyn Manson for a rage sesh. But the part of this that I appreciate, which isn’t much, is that. 🤘
3/5
Loved it the first time through. Liked it the second time through. I didn’t realize Muse had such an edge at times.
GZA
3/5
I feel your flow GZA.
Elvis Costello
4/5
Well, well, well. Elvis Costello’s career started at the peak and gradually went down the shitter. My opinion of My Aim Is True was polluted by my distaste for his later works. But in opposition to his career trend, this album gets stronger over its run.
So I listened again, and now again, and…
I FOUND AN ELVIS COSTELLO ALBUM I LIKE!!!!!!!!!
The Thrills
3/5
Interesting as I’d never heard of The Thrills even though this album debuted when I was in a heavy music phase. I like their country influenced songs the best with Say It Ain’t So being my favorite. I wish more of the album built on this foundation.
Girls Against Boys
3/5
At times quite engaging like the opening track, In Like Flynn. And unfortunately at other times low key boring like the closing track Bughouse.
Pantera
4/5
R.I.P. Dimebag Darrell
Here lies Dimebag Darrell, creator of some of the heaviest guitar metal riffs of all time on Vulgar Display Of Power. Respect. Being gunned down in a shitty small club in Ohio is a terrible way to go.
This album is a great way to blow off some angry feelings. Not something I seek out often, but it hit the spot today. Even when Pantera tried to show their softer side on This Love, they could only do it for 2 1/2 minutes. So many riffs are great, but Walk stands out.
This album rocks so hard, it cuts diamonds.
Slipknot
1/5
I recognize the individual talents here. I just feel like they used their talents to do the devils work.
Just kidding, but I do hate the music. #sorrynotsorry
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
I appreciate the chill, laid back nature of this album. I like that Tribe eschewed the bad boy image of hip hop and let their personalities shine through.
I am not so thrilled with the conversational style for the lyrical delivery. I wish I liked that more because I truly appreciate the ground breaking nature of this album.
Tangerine Dream
3/5
This album starts out 🔥 with the title track Phaedra. It’s got energy and the vibes are off the charts. Then the album down shifts into something much less exciting, if not still intriguing. Truly disappointing based off the start.
Silver Jews
2/5
It’s difficult to think of a more unexciting voice. Get a new singer or use autotune. Anything to mask the boring.
Jeru The Damaja
2/5
The music/samples on this album are not good just like the lyrical content.
R.E.M.
3/5
Amongst the seas of metal whammy bars that had been gyrated too much and synthesizer tracks that should have been store with blocks of years aged cheese in a cave somewhere, I can see how this stood out. The first four songs are the strongest for sure.
Stand sounds great once, maybe twice, but it’s just chorus, chorus, chorus, key change, chorus, chorus, key change, chorus. You get the point. It gets a bit old.
In general, songs that start with the chorus are already sus. When the second chorus shows up at 0:45, the songs crutches have buckled and a wheelchair is necessary.
I’m being harsh but the analogy works and I wanted to use it. The album is pleasant enough to listen to. You Are The Everything was my favorite track.
Ice Cube
1/5
I was going to write this whole clever passage about how the offenders on Law and Order SVU probably think some of the same thoughts as the lyrics on this album and how that’s ironic because Ice T is a cop on the show. But this is Ice Cube.
Well shit.
I was going to give this a 2 until I heard this:
“Women, they’re good for nothing, no maybe one thing
To serve needs to my ding-a-ling”
How lame. And how did his gangsta card not get taken for that line?
The Sugarcubes
2/5
I don’t know what I just listened to. Avant Garde is not for me.
3/5
I like the orchestral string music. It feels fresh. The lyrics on the other hand, they are pretty bad. The last couple songs lose the musical momentum too, leaving me with a bad feeling.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
Mostly aimless drivel until the last song, Are You Ready Eddy? That’s what most prog rock is.
4/5
A rip roaring good time.
Dolly Parton
4/5
Harmony, harmony, harmony! Some of the slower songs slow down my interest, but overall I love it.
Pavement
3/5
The weight feels good, heavy. Although both the energy and vocals are mid.
Os Mutantes
3/5
This was fun to engage with. The mix of psychedelica with traditional Portuguese music is a combo I hadn’t considered before.
The Residents
4/5
“I have no idea what’s going on.”
-Towlie, South Park
These guys miss the mark of typical music by so much, so often that they made a new mark. Experimental art rock? Um yeah. The amount of LSD consumed while making this album has got to be impressive.
I should hate this, but I don’t. I like it. Like I said: I have no idea what’s going on.
Dr. John
3/5
Gumbo. Voodoo. Mardi Gras. Po boys. Bayou. King cake. Creole. Laissez les bons temps rouler. Beads. Boo. Beignet. Cajun.
I feel The Big Easy in this album.
Antony and the Johnsons
2/5
WaaaAAaaaAaaAAAaaay to much vocal vibrato.
Robert Wyatt
2/5
Heaps Of Sheep’s is really good. Unfortunately they are like lemmings running off a cliff because that’s what the album does next. It’s a mixture of music and undesirable cacophony.
Khaled
4/5
The music is a great blend of Algerian and Western sounds.
Scott Walker
3/5
David Bowie
3/5
This was a 3+ album. Better than OK but not great.
The bigger takeaway for me is that I consider Bowie to be the Lady Gaga of his time. That might sound harsh, but I conclude that he’s more sizzle than steak. Blasphemy, I’m well aware.
I’ve heard consistently that Bowie is a genious…blah, blah, blah. I don’t hear it. There is some pretty good songs, but a lot more mediocre stuff than peak listening pleasure.
I feel similarly about Lady Gaga although Bowie is more consistent than her. Gaga’s hits are fantastic pop music, but the rest is filler. Very disappointing. Her voice is fantastic though.
What Bowie and Gaga share is a flair for the dramatic whether it be a spaceman persona or a meat dress. This gets attention, but the hype is definitely >> the product.
1/5
This album reminds me of a specific scene from Kindegarten Cop.
Teacher: You know, kindergarten is like the ocean. You never want to turn your back on it.
Schwarzenegger enters his classroom to find absolute chaos. Kids running around screaming. Some painting the chalkboard red. Another dumping a bag of flour everywhere. And a kid dancing all over the piano keys.
That scene is this album. And then…
Schwarzenegger: SHUT UUUUPPPPP!!!! Shut up, shut up, shut uuuuppppp.
He refers to them as monsters. I agree.
Steve Earle
3/5
Walon, Earle’s character in The Wire, helped save Bubbles from the needle, resulting in one of the best redemption arcs in TV history. For that alone, I love Steve Earle. He also sang the show’s theme song, Way Down In The Hole, for season 5 which is also great. But that song is t on this album.
This album is nice, but has more twang than I prefer.
U2
3/5
I get excited for Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year’s Day and not much else.
Bauhaus
2/5
The Doors
4/5
Jim Morrison is a sultry, seductive singer. Musically, I want to be with him.
But as a human, not so much. His girlfriend once drank a while bottle of his liquor to prevent him from drinking it because he was a drunkard that needed to quit. Did she think he wouldn’t just go get more. Weird logic.
Side quest complete. I rate based on the music.
Aerosmith
3/5
Aerosmith rocks hard, but much of this album feels superfluous. Of the 48 minute run time, I think 25-30 minutes I would do better.
After completing the Aerosmith trifecta, I think they are over hyped. I do have nostalgia for Get A Grip, which MTV shoved down everyone’s throats. And the band grabbed attention with Steven Tyler being two toned black and nude to open the Livin’ On The Edge video. But when I break down the music, and their hits, I’m left underwhelmed.
Carpenters
2/5
A perplexing combination of pleasant and boring.
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
A hidden gem of the early 90s, buried amongst Britpop no doubt. The bass and lead guitars are great.
Baaba Maal
3/5
This is a nice collab. Baaba and Mansour blend well together. I could use a bit more liveliness, energy or variation, in the music. But at least I know who my favorite Senegalese musicians are now.
Morrissey
2/5
Can we be done with Morrissey please. His vocals just suck.
The Bees
4/5
This is why indie needs to exist. Absent the influence of music industry insiders, artists create new, sometimes odd, sounds. Is it always a home run? No, but the creativity is refreshing.
The vibe of this album reminds me somewhat of Poolside. Not that the sound is the same, but I’m feeling the laid backness.
Justice
5/5
What a find!!!!!! The amount of time and the detail required to parse 400+ microsamples and stitch them together in this masterpiece is incredible. Ya’ll know I’m a sucker for electronica and this one is right up there. They brought the energy and the creativity to blow me away.
Ash
2/5
Pretty much run of the mill 90s alternative with subpar vocals. Until Innocent Smile where they used some vocal distortion, which helped, and the end of the song devolved into Sonic Youth-ish noisy noise…in a good way. I liked the album about a star better from this point on, but the vocals still weren’t a plus.
Talking Heads
3/5
I most excited about my new headphones. They sound great! The album…eh…it’s fine.
Hole
3/5
I can hear why people dig this album. I like it, but I don’t (Courtney) Love it.
The Triffids
2/5
I’m not sure if it’s the 80s or Australia at the root of the problem here, but it’s not a good combination. My distaste for the 80s is well established, so I’ll focus on the Aussies.
I wondered to myself, listening to The Triffids stumble through this album, what Australian bands would I rather listen to. And somewhat surprisingly, the answer is not many. Basing my research off Rolling Stones’ top 50 Australian artists of all time, the field is pretty bleak.
Sure, #1 AC/DC is great. And #2 Sia is respectable. But Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are top 5. Midnight Oil, forget about it. And the biggest indicator of all, The Wiggles are #21. Let that sink in.
I did discover Flume at #9, who sounds like a promising experimental, electronic savant (more listening needed). So it’s not all terrible. Just mostly lackluster.
Australia, we have a problem.
OutKast
4/5
“Skimming” the album to solidify my opinions took 30 min and there in lies the key issue keeping this album from the top. It’s really long.
Is that a deal breaker? No, but the lengthier the album, the higher the level must be raised to keep a higher rating.
I have rated a 3+ hour album (Ella Fitzgerald’s The Gershwin Songbook) five stars. But the level for that length has to be consistently elite.
40 songs are a bunch and not enough are elite. I like every song on this double album at least. That’s an accomplishment right there.
Big Boi and Andre 3000 are both very talented. I think there are more excellent songs than just Hey Ya! and The Way You Move.
Compared against hip hop, this album is as precedent setting as any other. It deserves to be held high.
Sparks
2/5
Glam rock is a genre I can confidently say is not for me. Too much falsetto and cabaret feel.
T. Rex
3/5
David Gray
2/5
This album borders with b being offensively unoffensive. The lyrics are repetitive and I don’t like his vocal affectations. It melts seamlessly into the background when I’m not paying attention. Is that good or bad?
Scritti Politti
2/5
This album reminds me of Cliffhanger, a Sylvester Stallone / John Lithgow classic. The movie is so bad that it’s awesome. This album? Not awesome, but the extremely bad, textbook example of 80s music emits a certain nostalgic feeling. These guys leaned in HEAVY to all the latest synthesizer noises. And the drum machine. So bad, I almost found enjoyment.
Syd Barrett
2/5
Like many things drugged out, psychedelic music, there are snippets of good music. But ultimately this is an incoherent mess.
Faith No More
3/5
My Faith No More guys says, “First 3 songs are solid. Kinda falls off after that.” I’d change that to a solid first 4 songs. Now I know where rap metal came from.
Malcolm McLaren
2/5
I don’t get the whole radio show interspersed with African beats motif. I also don’t think the music was terribly entertaining.
Portishead
3/5
It sounds like they were trying to have their music be less accessible than their first two albums. I miss the scratching sounds.
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
I liked discovering The Holy Bible, the last album before Richey Edward’s disappearance. In contrast, Everything Must Go feels uninspired. Edward’s absence must have affected these guys. How could it not.
Richey was a major contributor to The Holy Bible lyrics. Strangely, the aspects of Everything Must Go that feel lacking are the music and the vocals, both of which were written and performed by the same members for both albums.
Donovan
3/5
Donovan is a mix of exciting and boring. My favorite song is Season Of The Witch due to the palm muted guitar riff and bass line. They are simplistic, yet effective. Other highlights include Sunshine Superman and Bert’s Blues.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
This album does a very fine job of filling a niche mood. Frank’s voice is soothing like a massage. I imagine being at an upscale club where everyone is dressed to the 9s. It could be a supper club or maybe people are playing baccarat. I don’t know, but cigarettes are being smoked with a vintage holders and whiskey from the finest crystal.
The xx
4/5
The xx certainly expanded their sound palate compared to their debut album. Initially I was afraid they had pivoted into house music. But by the time Performance came around, the songs felt a lot more like the sparseness of XX was back, but with slightly more forward electronic elements.
Overall I like the evolution of their sound and appreciate the opening couple tracks knowing that their signature ambiance is still present.
TV On The Radio
4/5
The distortion on the opening track reminds me of The White Stripes. These guys bring a fresh, eclectic soundscape.
Eminem
5/5
The lyrics describe violence in great detail. I find it ironic that Lynne Cheney used her senate position to pin societal violence on musical artists. Did she rail against the Iraq invasion, that killed hundreds of thousands, and ultimately turned out to be based on…what? Who advocated vociferously for that action? 🤔
Did Lynne Cheney advocate for any sort of gun control to stem the violence? Background checks? Metal detectors everywhere? Mental health resources? Anything at all? I’ll wait.
Maybe the above is a case of whataboutism. In fact it is, but like many culture war subjects, the manufactured outrage distracts from real ills/solutions and falls flat.
I view the lyrical content through the lens of an artistic expression of Eminem’s inner fantasticized feelings. It’s like he let the world in on his therapy notes while putting them to hook-y beats. It’s offensive as hell. So are the Piss Christ and political rally speeches.
I could do without the over the top misogyny though. Kim is one track that is very difficult to listen to. I usually skip it.
One thing is clear to me though, Eminem is the most creative hip hop lyricist I’ve heard. His ability to string words and phrases together is unmatched. The guy is a genius.
MGMT
3/5
The tracks that incorporate electronic elements carry more intrigue than the more traditionally rock sounding songs. More of the former would benefit this album.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
When we had Juju I wrote that I liked the music but not Siouxsie’s vocals.The Scream is a worthy achievement in post-punk. I like the music and the vocals. So of course I had to go back and listen to Juju. I don’t know what I was hearing. The vocals are nearly as good for Juju as The Scream. I may need to use the new edit functionality and correct Juju’s undeserving 2.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Simon and Garfunkel remind me of Fall foliage. I went through a heavy S&G rotation one high school autumn once the air had turned crisp and refreshing. So it was likely an October spent listening to their greatest hits.
I fondly remember several tracks from this album. American gives me euphoric frisson (chills or shivers felt when listening to music) every time and it carries side one.
Side two dominates side one, to the point where I felt side one let the album down as a whole. But then I listened to side one a couple more times and came to appreciate its brilliance.
Bob Dylan
5/5
This is the album that got me into Bob Dylan. I love the acoustic guitar, especially the finger picking. The subject matter is a mix of scathing social commentary, love sickness, and whimsical nonsense.
He broke traditional lyrical construction. Instead of fitting his message into 4 line verse or 12 bars, he fit them to the content. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall is a great example. Each section starts with a two line call to his blue eyed son and ends with a two line chorus. But in between there are 5 lines, 7, 7, 6, and then 12 for the finale. This eschewing of convention is a microcosm for many other aspects of his life where Dylan went against the grain, like a folk guy going electric or skipping the ceremony to accept a Nobel prize.
The album has 5 or 6 all time great songs while the rest might be my most-liked. This is my 2nd favorite album of time. I could listen to it on repeat forever.
Paul Simon
3/5
This album feels kind of like the quirky Aunt or Uncle at a family gathering. Good in short bursts, but overall you just don’t get it. “Cars are cars all over the world,” really?
Hookworms
5/5
As the children say, bruh…this album cooks! Holy shit great stuff!! MB and MJ are my synth boys!!!
Serge Gainsbourg
2/5
The music is so boring that I wouldn’t want to learn French to know what he is saying.
The Fall
2/5
This album isn’t so much 11 songs as it is 11 riffs with a corresponding line that are repeated over and over. They are 11 good ideas that need to be expanded upon.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
These guys were the highlight of Paul Simon’s Graceland. Their a cappella is intoxicatingly beautiful.
Buck Owens
3/5
Pretty good for a country album.
Randy Newman
3/5
Parliament
3/5
I noticed several Dr. Dre and Snoopdog samples in this album. It was a nice funky Sunday morning.
Donald Fagen
3/5
Reminiscent of the jazzier Steely Dan though I miss Walter Becker’s influence.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
The sound ranges from neo-80s to alternative rock. I’d rather they stick to the broody synth sounds.
Burning Spear
2/5
Pleasant for a couple minutes but I’m not stoned on a Caribbean island, so I’m out on this album and reggae in general.
Suede
2/5
There must not have been very much happening in the British music scene in 1994 for this to stand out. Underwhelming.
Le Tigre
4/5
Riot grrrrrrrlllllllll, where have you been all my life. I love it. I think they’d be happy about recent developments related to their My My Metrocard jerk.
Shack
3/5
This is 90s Britpop I can appreciate. Most of the songs are enjoyable enough, although as a background setting. Shack saved the best for last with Daniella, which is a great song that I wish more of the album resembled.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Innovative silliness abound. The mix of rock music and hip hop was, and still holds up as, groundbreaking. It’s hard to take their youthful boasting serious though.
Radiohead
3/5
I like the music better than the vocals, which kind of sound like whiny emo. Jigsaw Falling Into Place is my favorite track.
Fats Domino
3/5
Great music from the 1950s. I like Fats’ voice a lot.
D'Angelo
2/5
Sheeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiit damn, Motherfucker. This album is booooorrrrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnnng.
Snoop Dogg
3/5
The beats are the real star here, like Who Am I (What’s My Name?) and Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None). Snoop has a nice flow to his vocals and there is always the chicken and egg aspect of whether or not the lyrics reflect the environment or set it.
Michael Jackson
5/5
Peak MJ. Back when MJ meant Michael Jackson not Michael Jordan. Back before MJ went…sideways.
I love Billie Jean. There was a tennis coach that looked like Billie Jean King. Her doubles team was kicking our ass. Down a set and like 3 or 4 nothing in the second, my partner and I won a point and started singing Billie Jean. We kept singing BJ after each winning point and rode that train all the way back to victory. Glorious, glorious victory.
The Dictators
3/5
Certainly pushed the boundary and created a new space in its time. The beginning of the album feels dated and uninteresting. The guitar and bass breaks in Master Race Rock are great and the album picks up in the back half.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
All I can hear during S-H-O-PP-ING is P-O-O-PP-ING. It’s a shame because the lyrics convey a societal problem in 1987 that is far worse today, everything is for sale…your data, political influence.
I appreciate this synth pop playing a small part in getting the modern version that I love. Unfortunately this sounds very dated.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
Let’s do some word association.
Middle. Middle Earth. Mid Atlantic. Midtown. Middle of the road. Mid season. Midnight. Mid sentence. Middle seat. Mid air collision. Middle of the night. Mid sized. Midfield. Midlife crisis. Mid afternoon. Right down the middle. Mid length. Mid way. Mid stream. Middle age. Middle C. This album is mid.
John Prine
2/5
I didn’t know that John Prine wrote Angel From Montgomery, a song I recognize and like from a Dave Matthews Band cover.
Even so the music is just OK. The lyrics are hokey. And his vocals are nothing to get excited about.
Joe Ely
2/5
I had a very hard time believing my country ratings are above my overall average because of albums like this. But the I see the generator categorizes some albums as country that I don’t think of as country (CSN, The Eagles). Agree to disagree.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
At moments ambling, messy, and brilliant. It feels like Hendrix went on an extended acid trip and recorded an album.
The Who
2/5
Another double album that is too long. There are good songs buried amongst the extended atonal-ish instrumental passages. It’s too much and I lose interest.
Sex Pistols
4/5
This is the first time I’ve knowingly listed to the Sex Pistols album. Not “a” Sex Pistols album. “THE” Sex Pistols album. My biggest takeaway, other than digging the album, is that the Sex Pistols only have one album.
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
I can’t believe that fact. I have heard of the Sex Pistols a bunch and I’m not really a punk person. It boggles my mind how much influence they had as a band with only one album.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
On the cusp of a transition to a new decade, Gabriel wanted to make an album for the 80s. It did not start well.
It took until I Don’t Remember (track 4) to get interesting and again to Not One Of Us (track 8) for a song I could get into. The only other song I like is the last, Biko, which is my favorite.
As far as kick starting the 80s, I rail on 80s pop all the time, so it’s not like this is out of step with the decade.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
2/5
Oh, Jazz you magnificent bastard. I knew 30 seconds into this album that it wasn’t for me. Great individual players. Anti synergy. I did like Flight Of The Foo Birds though.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
This album was a bit of a slow burn for me. Joni’s voice is still top notch. My two favorite songs were held until the last three tracks (Raised On Robbery and Twisted).
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This is one of Led Zeppelin’s strongest albums with LZ II and Houses Of The Holy. Seven of the Eight tracks are strong (Four Sticks being the lone exception) while there are several amazing songs.
Black Dog’s call and response between vocals and instruments is great. And I love the passages where the drums and guitars are out of sync timing wise. Happy little accidents or maybe not accidents at all.
Stairway To Heaven is over and under appreciated at the same time. Too many people try to go against the grain and downplay its brilliance because it’s too popular. Bollocks!
The swinging groove to Misty Mountain Hop is so much fun. And the cover of When The Levee Breaks is awesome.
Black Flag
2/5
I like the energy, but I don’t know that I like the vocals enough to get through this again.
3/5
Now here’s a PJ Harvey album I want to hear again. When comparing this to the baseline of her 3 previous albums we heard, I almost gave an extra star. She said she tried to make this album more melodic. Yeah, more of this please PJ.
Animal Collective
4/5
I wish they had been more adventurous with the melodies and bass lines to push this album to the top.
Tim Buckley
2/5
One thing this 1001 album experience has taught me is to recognize music genres. I was able to guess psychedelic folk. I wish Tim had leaned into the folk more than the psychedelica.
The Streets
1/5
The music is basic AF. The vocal flow is the worst Ive ever heard in professional rap. Only one track is redeemable, Fit But You Know It. Terrible album.
Nina Simone
4/5
Rare Things from My 1001 Experience for 1600, Ken:
Jazz that I like
Paul McCartney
3/5
I like the lo fi sound of McCartney recording on his own in his home. And Maybe I’m Amazed is my reaction to the song. Unfortunately for the most part, this album feels like a collection of incomplete ideas.
Kraftwerk
3/5
I appreciate the ground breaking nature of this album more than the music, but it was still fun to listen.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Otis Redding
3/5
I like the feel of this album and Otis’s voice. I didn’t realize he wrote R.E.S.P.E.C.T. The overall vibe is slow and I’d like some more energy.
Kid Rock
1/5
If I could turn myself into a 15 year old that dropped out of school in the 6th grade, this album might cook. Robert James Ritchie is a poser that can’t rap very well. This was a waste of 71 minutes that I will never get back.
Ian Dury
2/5
This isn’t so much singing as it is talking at me.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
The vocals are so buried it feels like I’m listening to the music through my noise cancelling headphones and the singer is in the next room whispering. The music is disjointingly annoying too.
Lou Reed
3/5
Reed has a tricky voice. It works wonders in the right song, but it’s not good on too many of these tracks. His voice complements the transcendent Walk On The Wild Side and the chorus for Perfect Day quite well.
Living Colour
3/5
I feel like their hard rock songs carry the album more so than the funk inspired stuff.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
Giant Sand
2/5
1014 albums in and I have no patience for bad vocals. And they occur far too often on this list.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I’m really digging this album the second time through. The extended, fuzzy guitar passages are refreshing. At 60+ minutes, it does lose its way a couple times, Farmer John being the most extended.
Considering the popular music of the time, this album is great.
Bill Callahan
3/5
I like some of the music that sounds folk like and Bill’s deep bass. But dude can’t sing.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
This is possibly the most juxtaposed sound I remember hearing. It doesn’t so much blend rock and electronic sounds as it jumps suddenly between them. Odd yet still intriguing.
The Stone Roses
3/5
John Grant
4/5
It sounds to me that the vocals were double tracked, which is what I am most drawn to.
Meat Loaf
3/5
It’s my problem, but I can’t get past his name. Meat loaf isn’t appealing in food form and it impacts my willingness to give Meat Loaf a fair shot. Sorry my guy.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
Futuristic and ancient sounding at the same time. Fun stuff.
Skepta
4/5
I like the beats the best so shout out to the main producer, Skepta. His flow is pretty decent too. British rappers always seem to make it sound elegant.
Marilyn Manson
3/5
Big swing and miss putting Antichrist Superstar on the list as opposed to Mechanical Animals. AS has its moments but they are lost in a sea of filler.
Stereolab
4/5
Great find. Love the music. I feel the lyrics let the album down in a way.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Love The One You’re With is a great song but not enough to carry the whole album higher.
Guns N' Roses
3/5
For the 1000+ albums, I was sure that I would rate this a 1. Why? Because Axl’s voice sucks and ruins every song except November Rain. Now that I’ve heard much worse vocals, my barometer has reset. Axl’s voice is OK.
It’s easy to hear why these guys were yuuuuge in the 80s rock and metal scene. The music is a gluttonous journey of guitar riffs set to your teased hair on fire.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
There isn’t one thing that really jumps out, or is distinctive, from this album. Rather it’s more of a vibe as the kids would say. I like the guitar sound and overall this feels more like a feeling. A feeling I enjoyed, but don’t need to revisit.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
I needed a second listen because I thought there was an extra star, single album hidden in this double offering. The songs that struck me the most were I Saw The Light, Wolfman Jack, and Saving Grace. I was disappointed there weren’t more.
Happy Mondays
2/5
I’m bummed I wasn’t happier listening to this album.
1/5
Whew boy! I dub thee dirtbag rock. The early 2000s were tough. I was there and I didn’t remember it being this bad. Limp Bizkit were all over MTV. It’s astonishing how popular they were.
But, Fred Durst is the worst. He doesn’t give a shit, but he’ll fuck you up because…?…he cares so little. Yeah OK, Fred, keep rollin’.
Brian Eno
3/5
Blood, Sweat & Tears
2/5
Jazzier than I expected. Sometimes beautiful yet sometimes rambling on like jazz.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Sonic Youth’s rawness is why I like them and also why I can’t like them more. The energy is great. The unrefined thoughts are a lost opportunity.
Small Faces
2/5
OK on the execution but my goodness the last song infuriated me several times because it sounded like it was over and then kept going
and going
and going
and going
and going
and going
and …
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Of the three Velvet Underground albums, this is lowest on my list. I like the crunchy guitar the best. But the last track, Sister Ray, kind of goes off the rails a bit.
Youssou N'Dour
4/5
Yeah I’m in!
Neil Young
4/5
Old Man and The Needle And The Damage Done are my favorite songs on this album. Heart Of Gold and Out On The Weekend are solid too. Once again, I love his guitar style, mixing melodic lead ins to his chords. It’s my favorite style of guitar to play. I’m less enthusiastic about the country trimmings.
After all the albums of his we’ve heard, my conclusion is that Neil Young is a four star artist.
Crowded House
2/5
Blah. Bland. Vanilla.
Wire
4/5
A refreshing start to the weekend. Post-punk, raw energy refined a bit with some musicality, is a genre I want to explore, starting with more Pink Flag. The opening to Strange is sublime.
Eagles
4/5
The Dude fuckin’ hates the Eagles man and I disagree. Hotel California (song) is a classic for good reason. And I think Life In The Fast Lane is my favorite Eagles with its energy straight from the open.
Side 1: 5 stars
Victim Of Love is the highlight of side 2 while the rest of it wilts in comparison to side 1.
Side 2: 3 stars
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Once again Joni’s voice sails and the music fails…to live up to her voice.
Mott The Hoople
3/5
I would have been OK if Bowie hadn’t convinced them to keep the band together.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
Laid back and engaging. The somber mood drew me in.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Sublime album. I have a hard time finding anything wrong it. I enjoy Bob Dylan the poet most. Like who comes up with “She can take the dark out of the nighttime and paint the daytime black” and “But even the president of the United States must sometimes have to stand naked?” And the meter he uses on both Subterranean Homesick Blues and It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding are unique.
If I were dmo and only had four total five star albums to give, this would be one.
Joan Baez
4/5
Wow her voice is great! I liked this better the second time through on my headphones as opposed to the car with windows down. This is a fine folk album.
Elastica
5/5
What a difference getting rid of a shitty singer can do! Goodbye Suede and Brett Anderson’s frog croaking!! Hello Justine Frischmann and Donna Matthews!!! The most ironic part is that Suede could have kicked Brett out, turned the vocals over to Justine, vastly improved, and split their earnings one less way.
This album cooks.
🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
The Undertones
4/5
This feels like very accessible punk. Straight to the point and pleasant to the ears.
Curtis Mayfield
2/5
Feels like Curtis got stuck in quicksand. I need more energy to be interested.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Emmylou has a voice that soothes the soul. I wish her musical tastes had been in something other than country, like folk.
After almost 1050 albums, I can confidently conclude that I prefer female vocalists. And Emmylou has a great voice.
Pere Ubu
1/5
Please for the love of god, make this bad acid trip stop. I just want to do my homework.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
5/5
Grandmaster Flash is a genius. Seriously, in another environment growing up, he might have a doctorate degree in electrical engineering. He grew up taking electronics apart, scavenging speakers from broken down cars, and building amplifiers. He brought science to hip hop.
Dr. Flash, as I’d like to suggest we all call him, invented turning the record to find the break beat instead of moving the needle by picking up the tone arm. He would mark on the vinyl with a crayon where a particular beat started and count the revolutions past the tone arm to keep track. Previously it had been frowned upon to touch the vinyl.
The method seems so simple now, yet it had to be invented. Dr Flash did that.
Moreover, he created a great album in The Message. People who talk about when hip hop stood for something…something culturally significant…this album was at the start.
The two soul tracks, Dreamin’ and You Are, threw me for a loop, but in a good way. There are several classic beats referenced in later hip hop that feel refreshing in their original context. The beats overall sound great.
I highly encourage everyone interested in learning about hip hop to watch Hip Hop Evolution on Netflix. Dr. Flash is in the first episode. The whole series is great. Watching that series beforehand, elevated this album for me.
Beatles
3/5
Can’t Buy Me Love and the title track stand out. The rest vary between good and filler. I know this is historically significant for its timing with the Beatles’ US invasion and Lennon-McCartney authoring all the tracks, but I feel like this album could be sacrificed to make room for another groundbreaking sound.
Black Sabbath
5/5
It’s hard to believe that this album came out in 1970. The sound is as classic as it gets, as fresh today as 55 years ago. This is the defining heavy metal sound to me. I prefer The Cardigans’ cover of Iron Man over the original, but that is neither here nor there.
Calexico
3/5
The indie sound is intriguing with the lesser used instruments such as accordion, organ, and mandolin. Interesting enough to listen twice. However, it feels like there is a bit of organization or direction missing.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
I can tell why these guys were popular in the 80s. It didn’t start out so hot, but it felt like the album built momentum throughout. I was ready for Come On Eileen to push the rating to the next level, but felt underwhelmed. I think the chorus is so overpowering that I didn’t remember how forgettable the rest of the song is.
k.d. lang
3/5
This twangy “pop” album from the late 80s has some fun parts.
The B-52's
2/5
This nerd rock is both catchy and grating at the same time. The guitars parts all sound similar and the vocal delivery kind of get on my nerves.
Dolly Parton
4/5
What a refreshing album to hear in the present moment. Dolly Parton has to be one of the most down to earth, good human beings in show business. From the Coat Of Many Colors that her mother sewed her to A Better Place To Live, Dolly is genuine.
The Louvin Brothers
4/5
Brings energy!
Pearl Jam
4/5
I was once preparing a wedding speech for a friend who is obsessed with Pearl Jam. My original idea was to form the entire contents of the speech using PJ lyrics. So I went through their whole catalogue transcribing passages about love to use as building blocks.
Through the exercise I also noticed that Eddie uses passages related to the ocean quite often. Having grown up in San Diego next to the Pacific, and being a surfer, it makes sense. Of their catalogue at the time of my wedding speech (190+ songs), they had 51 songs (27%) that have at least one lyric that references something related to the ocean and 6 (3.1%) entirely using ocean related lyrics. Dude is obsessed.
ChatGPT says, “Pearl Jam frequently uses ocean-related imagery as both literal and metaphorical devices in their lyrics. The ocean serves multiple symbolic roles in their work—representing freedom, emotional depth, spirituality, danger, and escape.”
I also recently tried to get ChatGPT to write a wedding speech entirely built from PJ lyrics because I never got there. The ChatGPT version was disjointed and choppy so maybe it’s not possible.
On to Ten, it’s a really good album where the first half carries and the second half falls off some. IMHO Vs is the better PJ album that should be in the 1001 if only one can be included. Although I think both are deserving.
Oasis
3/5
What a difference a year made. From this baseline of promising mediocrity came (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? The Gallagher brothers learned, evolved, and stepped up their game.
I’m not quite sure why this album is on the list.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
In the long run, I’d take this over many pop albums and their songs that are all chorus, minimal verse, and over processed. With that written, this album is a horrible assault on the ears.
Reading the comments is amusing. There is a lot of Stockholm Syndrome amongst the high raters. I was expecting more of the “you just don’t get it” type comments, but many of them acknowledge how bad the album is the first 10 times they listened. I appreciate that.
I also appreciate that this album exists. Experiment on my friends, but please do it in a forest where I won’t hear it.
The Youngbloods
4/5
If there weren’t so many instrumental parts, this would be a 5. I’m sad that I had never heard of this before.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
Good shit.
The Crusaders
3/5
Fine as background music.
Air
4/5
I feel relaxed now. Thank you, Air.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
Books Of Moses is my favorite track amongst too many boring, mumbly, off tempo offerings.
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Remembering the bubblegum pop start to Christina’s career and seeing that this album is 78 minutes, I did not have high hopes. I was surprised, not blown away, but pleasantly surprised.
Christina has a hell of a voice. The music mostly takes a back seat and that kept me focused on her voice which I can apparently listen to for 78 minutes and continue enjoying.
Beautiful is a great song with an important message. It reminds me of Dolly Parton, not musically but rather for its supportive wholesomeness.
Ironically wholesomeness is a trait Christina was trying to get away from with Stripped. I think she successfully stripped away the facade and showed more of her true artistic self. And that’s always a good thing.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
I’m with dmo here, the vocals sound like U2. I also don’t know if that is bad or good, but they sound like a worse version of U2, which isn’t good.
Lou Reed
3/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
I feel the groove and it feels good to kind of space out and vibe. I like the UK version better that leaves the last 2 songs off the album. I still don’t get albums with different versions. It confuses any ability to discuss album music with others.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
Low energy and repetitive. Way too many 5+ minute songs with no direction or purpose past 3 minutes.
Astrud Gilberto
4/5
1001 conclusion: I like samba. Who knew?
The Boo Radleys
2/5
This could be the final JBZ alert!!!!
This album vacillates between weak 90s soft alternative and something better with a harder edge. At 64 minutes, I have to round down. This is too long.
R.E.M.
3/5
Tom Waits
2/5
Bad music. Poor vocals. Sometimes it works, but not often.
Devendra Banhart
4/5
It’s refreshing to hear a recent folk album that is interesting and engaging. It’s a little offbeat and I like the vocals. The finger picked guitar is great.
Dion
3/5
I’m mad that I got 5 tracks into the Streetheart album that is paired with this in the 2001 rerelease. Much better at 35 min than what I thought was going to be 79.
The Psychedelic Furs
2/5
The music is a borderline 3 I tell myself. And then every time the vocals come in, I want to skip the track, which I did often.
The Offspring
3/5
Exciting to hear once every 10 years. More than that and I feel like a dirtbag.
Megadeth
3/5
A glutinous display of lead guitar skill. Impressive but not necessarily the most interesting sound after a while.
Hot Chip
3/5
The music is truly exciting half the time and a let down the rest. The big let down are the vocals though.
Sigur Rós
3/5
Dirty Projectors
4/5
Four times through and I still don’t quite know what I’m hearing. Folksy art rock? Artsy indie folk? Indie folk art? It’s perplexing. What I do know is that I want to keep listening to figure out why I like it.
Bob Dylan
5/5
This album is immaculate from beginning to end. What I love the most about Dylan are the rich tapestries of characters intertwined throughout his songs. He weaves historical figures and fictional folks together in densely engaging stories.
I could listen to this album over and over again, which I did in the last day and a half. The songs are long, including an 11+ minute closer, and yet I wish they continued on.
I am grateful that Charlie McCoy happened to be in New York while Desolation Row was still being recorded. His lead guitar flourishes make the song even more special than the lyrics alone.
Dylan got booed at Newport and then immediately came back with this album. It is electrified all except the finale. It’s as if he heard the crowd’s dissatisfaction and said, “Screw you. Hang on if you can.”
Now I need a dump truck, baby, to…unload my head.
George Jones
2/5
I wish more of this album were upbeat like Our Private Life.
Can
1/5
It’s albums like this that reinforce that music critics largely don’t know what the hell they are talking about. Through the first LP, they were hovering in the JBZ, likely a 3. But then LP 2 rolled in with Aumgn and Can promptly took a shite on my ears.
What terrible nonsense!
The Killers
4/5
I think they would have done better to spread the first five songs, which are the strongest, throughout the album. Regardless, this is a fun album that I hadn’t heard other than the hits.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Well, this is the last album. 1089/1089. It’s hard to believe the experience is over.
This was a super chill album to end it on. The guitar parts held my interest but the pace was too slow at times.