1001 Albums Summary

Moments are 5/5 for me. Others are 1/5. Big fan of the band, will return to their later stuff, but not really this one. This was not the first time through this one for me.

some very cool parts. Some meh parts.

Meh

didn't love or hate it. Like The One I Love, and shoutout for making a song called Exhuming McCarty probably about Reagan/Bush folks. Glad I didn't live through the 80s... For the poliitcs, and also because the music kinda bland.

Walk on By so good. The rest less good, with One Woman being better than the other two. 5 for Walk on By, 3 for the rest. Average, kinda = 4.

no explanation needed

They definitely had it. Writing, execution, recording. I am a bit tired of the Eagles - I wonder how I would rate it had I never heard it/them previously.

Embarrassed to say this was the first time I have listened to a whole Sabbath album. Forgive me, for I have sinned!

CCR gets played so much that my rating has probably only decreased over time. I think the first time I heard them in college I thought they kicked ass. They still do, but less so. Still good.

not going to lie, didn't give this one much of a chance. With that said, I don't give much of a chance to any album that sounds like it was made on the 1988 casio yardsale keyboard of my youth. Maybe when some other artist covers one, or all of the songs in a different context, I can come to appreciate the songwriting, but until then, it's a no for me dawg.

Excited to give this a second listen. I really enjoyed this album. It is like you get to get a look into the mind of the gutter of society, and it doesn't feel inauthentic, or judgmental - just raw. I love the bare bones music, and there is a lot of emotion in his voice, even if some can't get past it. He swings from a song about a wasted guy who got 27 stiches in his head, potentially committing suicide, or spending all of his money on a hooker - or both - running from something - or everything - to a lullaby that might be a songs that is critiquing lullabies, by also showing someone who didn't take to heart that he should have "combed his hair" - and is now in the gutter as a hobo (?) - to a heartbreaker about a breakup or a visit from a ghost. This is only the second album of his that I have engaged with, and I get the same feeling that I did after the first one I engage with - this guy is a genius songwriter. Again, I can't wait to revisit it and dig a little deeper, or have the meaning shift based on where my head is at. Heartattack and Vine: "Don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk. This stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line." "Saving all my love for you" - I imagine a drunk, fuck-up wandering around town in the hours before dawn. Love it. Downtown - 9/10 - "It's the cool of the evening the sun's goin' down, I want to hold you in my Arms I want to push you around, I want to break your bottle and spill out all Your charms, come on baby we'll set off all the burglar alarms, goin' downtown Down downtown." - Did it before Matchbox 20 "Jersey Girl" - Didn't realize he wrote it. Better, more authentic than Springsteen's version. "Til the money runs out" - hell yes. Incredible lyrics. Wasted confusion, can dig into the meaning. Did the pointed man commit suicide? Or with a prostitute? Both? "On the nickel" - a lullaby? A critique of lullabyes? By a homeless guy who maybe should have taken the little things like combing his hair more seriously? Not run away from home? Dunno - it's all of those things -and it's great. Even Thomas Jefferson is down here with him - on the nickel. Mr. Siegal - " you got to tell me brave captain why are the wicked so strong how do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves his porch light on" Ruby's Arms - Is he dead? A soldier? Is he greeting her as the wind, and taking her scarf off the clothesline? Leaving through her blinds, past the windchimes. A soldier? Or a rambling hobo leaving someone he loves, and it breaks his heart? Awesome.

didn't love or hate it. Like The One I Love, and shoutout for making a song called Exhuming McCarty probably about Reagan/Bush folks. Glad I didn't live through the 80s... For the poliitcs, and also because the music kinda bland.

great story, lyrics, music.