1001 Albums Summary

I've dabbled a good deal in Dad Rock (TM), but somehow Yes never much entered my purview. I'm familiar with 2 or 3 of their 'big hits', but this was my first time venturing deeper. I was surprised at how much it just reminded me of other bands. It felt like a mashup of CSNY, Boston, and Styx, with a sprinkling of Jesus Christ Superstar. It was *fine*, but there wasn't much here to grab me and I don't much care for their vocal work. They do get a bump of +0.5 points for using 'yes' as the first syllable uttered on the album, but that is negated with the -0.5 points they receive for their decision to feature an open toed shoe (?) front and center on the cover art. Is it a cast? A broken sock? Either way he looks cold.

I was 10 when this album came out. I have very vivid memories of seeing clips of the Karma Police music video on MTV, but OK Computer was not coming anywhere near my 6-CD changer boombox. This particular prompt gave me a bit of anxiety because I feel like I'm supposed to like Radiohead but I was nervous that I would not have my mind blown by this album. And truth is, I didn't. I really wanted to enjoy OK Computer, but it had an alt rock moodiness that's just really not for Kelseys. It was reminiscent of Tool or Muse - bands that I acknowledge are musically talented but aren't doing anything that I personally enjoy. I will confess that I have a very low attention span for lyrics and need to be grabbed sonically before I can get into any deeper meaning behind the music - especially when lyrics are caged in metaphor and/or not clearly enunciated. For that reason (in addition to the knowledge that this album means a lot to many people who's opinion I respect), I'd be willing to give it another shot and spend more time trying to understand what makes it truly great. But as of now, it's not going on repeat for me.

Previous to today, I cannot say that I have heard of Barry Adamson. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pretty hooked from track 1. The middle section of the album got a bit dark for my tastes (especially 'It's Business As Usual', the stalker-y answering machine piece), but I'll give it a pass being that it's spooky season. Speaking of spooky... I enjoyed the sample of Spooky on Something Wicked This Way Comes. Overall, I probably won't listen to this again as a full album, though I do intend on adding some of the tracks to my 'Music To Work To' playlist. This was a fun find for me. Smug side note. 'In A Moment Of Clarity' was reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks score, so I was right chuffed to find that not only is Badalamenti listed as a similar artist to Barry Adamson, but Adamson also contributed to the score of David Lynch's Lost Highway.

This is another album that, while I've never previously listened to it as a whole (pun intended), I have a hard time giving it unbiased consideration. My memories of this album when it was released were (A) seeing Celebrity Skin on TRL and (B) hearing the media blast Courtney Love for using her husband's death to gain fame. Even then I was a little grossed out by that description and I've never been fond of defining women by their relationships with men. On the flip side, Courtney Love's reputation precedes her and it's hard not to see her as at least a tid bit on the difficult side. All that said, I tried to give the music an impartial listen and tried to pay attention to the lyrics. My conclusions? Celebrity Skin is still a banger. Courtney Love has a shit singing voice. And this music almost certainly inspired bands that I enjoyed in the early aughts, but I found this album overall dull.

I've never had a particularly strong opinion about the Rolling Stones. For the most part, their classic radio hits are songs that I enjoy, but they've never driven me to check out their back catalog. I don't know how this album compares to their others (and still need to go back to review Exile on Main Street), but Let It Bleed felt quite bluesy throughout. In the past, that may have led me to give it a higher ranking because I enjoy the blues sound. But in 2021 it's hard not to read it as gross appropriation that is not done as well as the originators of the style. The lead track, Gimme Shelter, is a great song that starts out the album strong, but it arguably continues to decline from there until the album itself reminds us that we can't always get what we want, even if all we want is a consistently solid album. As the goose says, country honque.

Kelela was not known to me before today. I assumed the album must be something that was either bigger in the UK (which it wasn't) or a surprise hidden gem. A quick wiki suggests that it had a lot of critical buzz in 2017, which I guess I somehow missed? Anyway, I put this album on while doing some work and then suddenly it was over. I have essentially no recollection of any of the songs, other than a generally pleasing R&B sound. Given that I tend to enjoy this style of music, I will try to go back at some point and give it a more contemplative listen.

Much twangier than I expected. Most enjoyed the song Hot Burrito #1. Overall neutral on the album - didn't love it, didn't hate it.

I've been interested in checking out more Blur for a while because British TV shows have led me to believe that the band was much more popular in the UK. I thought it was fine, but didn't love the style.

Yes.

Morrissey is one of those artists that I wish I would have explored more deeply before finding out that he's a racist twat. I do enjoy this music, but the menacing face staring at me from the album cover is unsettling.

The first song on this album was truly one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. There were one or two of these songs that I found tolerable, but overall this was a painful listen. There was also an inconsistency in tone that made the album feel very non-cohesive. The lyrics felt very simplistic, with a weird number of references to facial features. Also, a good amount of Christian messages, which I was not in the mood for. Boo.

A tale of two albums. I I listened to this album in two different sittings. The first I was in relatively good spirits and it felt like a warm blanket. I was brought back to laying in the grass on a warm spring afternoon, enjoying the final years of being a youth. On the second listen I was a bit crabby and the music reminded me of loathsome prep school trustafarians. I would give this a 3.5 if that were an option. The album drags a bit in the middle section, but also has some stone cold classics.

I was a little worried this would be Lovefool plus a bunch of fillers, but I mostly liked this album. It had a definite groovy pop feel of 60s nostalgia, which makes sense for mid/late 90s. But I could have done without the dumb Iron Man cover.

This music doesn't translate well to a live album. Give me production or GTFO.

There's a lot about Bob Dylan that shouldn't work for me, but for some reason I've always really enjoyed his music. Not my favorite of his albums - still gets 4 stars.