1001 Albums Summary

I'm still not a fan of Coldplay. Off to a great start...

I like Air, but this album has always seemed empty in comparison to their others. It makes sense - this is a soundtrack to a move. It's MEANT to be in the background.

Some really great moments. "Jumping Jack Flash" for blues, "Baby I Love Your Way" for pop/rock. Much of it though is a bit too down the middle to make a stronger statement. The album also suffers the same fate as so many live albums. If you were there, the feelings are intensified. If you weren't (like virtually all listeners younger than 60), it's just a standard classic rock album with inferior recording and extra long vamps. Do you feel like I feel?

I dig it. A lot.

Good trance-y techno. Quality music for working or driving, but I'm not sure this would suffice too long for active listening. Still, for what it is, it's great.

I've seen too much of The Muppets, I think. This band sounds like The Muppets, but without the jokes. I'm pretty sure The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is gonna be stuck in my head for weeks now...

It's fine, I guess. Too much hippy, too much bad jazz. But I didn't have to skip anything, so that's a bonus. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised at how SUPERLATIVE this album is considered to be. It's fine, just fine. I think I'm 30 years too young for this, and I'm not young.

Was there ever a time people took Bon Jovi seriously? This sounds like a bunch of suburban dads trying to impersonate a heavy metal group. Also, does he really yell "rock band" before the guitar solo in Wild in the Streets? Pretty good song, then suddenly it's a joke.

Niel Young never came off as inauthentic, which is more than you can say for some other 1970s acts.

Erykah Badu is good shit. This is good shit.

Pure bubblegum pop. Which is fine, I guess. But most of it doesn't really move you the way it did in the 60s. There's more than a little Beach Boys influence here. But the Beach Boys definitely do it better. I guess this KINDA makes sense if you think of this list as 1001 historically significant albums. But not 1001 of the best albums. Because this isn't it.

I made it as far as "Oh Yeah" before deciding it just wasn't going to get better. C- or D+.

It's hard to judge songs you've heard literally thousands of times. But "That Lady" still jams! If I'm going to nitpick, this is a short album at just nine tracks and 40-ish minutes. But six of the tracks are covers (if you count "That Lady"). Mind, the covers are unique, and not just re-recordings with different personnel. But you'd still hope for more originals.

Yeah, good stuff. A little too old-fashioned, but it's 70 years old. That's totally understandable!