My 1001 Albums Journey

It's got 90s style, but reminiscent of Smiths, Cure, New Wave stuff, and some Bowie. So Young - good teen-emo jam. Animal Nitrate - Interesting title. This one reminds me of something. I can't place it. The riff is kind of like Oasis. She's Not Dead - slower ballad. Good song - apparently about joint suicide of his aunt? Moving - Reminds me of Empire Records. Rock song. Called moving and it moves. Pantomime horse - Weird title, like one of those costumes two people wear of a horse? The Drowners - This is another great song. Awesome guitar work. I'm told this one's about a man trying seduce another man. Could be. Hopefully not incest. That word Brother is dubious. Sleeping Pills - beautiful song, very sad sound. Breakdown - Another slow one with a good build. Instrumental solo is solid. Sounds like Bowie, and also about loss. Metal Mickey - Strip club? She sells heart, meat, money shaking in time. Animal Lover - Story is apparently about singer's girlfriend, returning with scratches from being with another dude from the band? Guitar at the end sounds like Matthew Sweet. The Next Life - Damn - what a downer of a sad song to end it on. Another Bowie sound.

She came on the scene with an explosive presence. She is indicative of Phil Spector's sound and Ronnie Spector's voice. There's definitely a bewitching quality to her vocals. This is especially present in "You Know I'm No Good." She's one of those artists that could sing the phone book and make it work. "What kind of fuckery is this?" is a question for the ages, and it sounds delightful coming from Winehouse. She sings from the heart as well. No song is a throw-away. Even the minor songs like Just Friends hit that mark of emotion she's going for. The beats are also so catchy on this album. Back to Black is practically iconic now. If Winehouse, Gaga, and Adele could have gotten together...Anyway, this album is a modern masterpiece.

Hip hop with a message, most definitely. I'm instantly a fan. Hip hop is the only genre of protest anymore. This is from 1992, but even then - mainstream music has little to no message, but that is not the case with music like this. The lyrics here are a lot to take in. They are critical, but not afraid to be self-critical. There are injustices and cultural/social problems that affect all people. Its a classist society that created a racist society, so he takes aim at the racism by bringing up the elites control the narrative through money, sports, media, television, etc. Language of Violence is going to be my go-to as a father of young kids (obviously not sharing the full song with them for years to come). Dehumanizing the victim makes things simpler. Mob mentality, all of it. Really thoughtful here and terribly tragic. This album was a masterpiece. There are two tracks not listed on the YouTube playlist, a "cover" of Dead Kennedy's California Uber Alles and Water Pistol Man that I suggest be sought out if you listen to this album.

OH MY GOD, 1001 ALBUMS GENERATOR, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME? This is nonsense of the highest degree. I just forced my way through Nightmares on Wax, and this is what you serve up next.?! Give me a break that this is "before you die" critical listening. Music for a rave is great for ravers the same way that an album of dogs barking is great for dogs - I am neither, and am uninterested in both. No.

I remember being scared of Alice in Chains when I was a kid, and having listened to it now, I was right to be scared. This is dark stuff, but I can appreciate them so much more now. Drugs suck. Them Bones is a perfect opening track. Really great work on that song. Sets the tone, awesome licks and the chorus is solid. Dam the River is an angry song. Then Rain When I Die is one bummer of a song. It could be taken to mean that he'll die right be fore the "rain" that could have saved him. Or it could just grunge angst about death and rain and darkness. As I read, I see that the two main songwriters, Jerry and Layne had a tumultuous relationship to say the least and Layne tended to write the darker, sadder, drug related stuff, and Jerry wrote about girls. Also, a girl named Demri apparently had quite a grip on Layne in some way. Down in a Hole sounds like a Layne song, and it's excellent. Great rock song that has elements of grunge, ballad, and alternative styles. As I write this I discovered I am wrong and Jerry wrote this about a girl named Courtney, but Layne singing it certainly fits his persona. Oof, Sickman is a drug song. Jesus, to be so aware of your addiction and express these thoughts only to inevitably fall victim to them is just so tragic. This song is so segmented; I think the idea here is to mirror the manic wildness of the high and then follow it with the self-loathing low afterwards. The video for "Rooster" tells you everything you need to know. Very important song for the band, and one that makes you think about war, parents, life, everything. Junkhead - another drug song, but a totally different take than Sickman. Sickman can be seen as a metaphorical journey, but Junkhead is on one hand an honest account of a user and on another an admittance of helplessness. Either way, it's dark as hell. What I did just read though makes this album amazing. A theory is that Junkhead, Dirt, God Smack, Iron Glad, Hate to Feel, and Would? are all an interconnected mini-concept album on the cycle of drugs. Listening to it that way made for a hell of a trip, and if it is indeed the point of this final suite, it makes the album far more epic.