I loved this Album! I especially love “Changes.” A classic, but probably the best on the album. Followed closely by “Fill Your Heart” and “Oh! You Pretty Things.” I don’t know Bowie very well, so it was fun to dive into this album and get a feel for his quirky, rocky style.
I didn’t know much Rod Stewart at all before listening to “Every Picture Tells a Story.” I don’t think I’d seek out this album again. My favorite song was “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” but I like the Dylan original better. Though the harmonies are beautiful. “Mandolin Wind” is also beautiful. I think if I were to like any Rod Stewart album, it would have to be this one because of its folky, bluegrass, mandolin flavor. But for me, it misses the mark.
Man I do love Taylor Swift, though this album pales in comparison to her new Midnights Album. Evermore and Folklore were both produced by her long-time collaborator, Aaron Dessner. But Midnights has more producers on it and I wonder if that is what makes it more experimental and interesting. But evermore is a quintessential Taylor album and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Gold rush has such a great melody at: “gleaming, twinkling, eyes like sinking ships on waters…”
“Tis the damn season” is a beautiful song about a high school love you leave behind. It really hit home for me.
“No body no crime” just sounds pretty phoned in to me. Pretty flat song. Does Hiam just do backup vocals? What a waste!
“Happiness” is a tender breakup song. I love it.
“Evermore,” the last track with Justin Vernon is the best of the album. I wish his vocals were louder during duet parts and all over the freaking album. In fact, just take Taylor out and put Justin in instead. And while we’re at it, let’s just call it a Bon Iver Album. Nah, I kid, Evermore is great and I can hear the Justin Vernon influence. Let’s not forget that this album was created during the pandemic and everyone had to write in isolation. Given that, it’s a miracle the writing and production is so cohesive.
4 Stars! It didn’t change by life but now I understand Taylor Swift better! Whe!
Wow, The Artic Monkeys. I really missed these guys in the early 2000s. I was too busy copy/pasting the VH1 top 20 onto my Bat Mitzvah mix to really appreciate them.
I thought this would be too punk rock for me and that was true. I liked the beginning of “Dancing Shoes,” and “Riot Van” but the rest of the album sounds so similar to me with the frantic guitar and doubled vocals. I realize I’m just not getting it and that’s okay.
I think I need to listen to the whole thing again and I might have a different take. Big apologies to the Artic Monkeys fans out there.
“Imagine” beautiful piano, great on my AirPods. I can just imagine living in 1971 and having this come out on vinyl. How cool would that be?
“Crippled Inside” great tune, great twangy banjo, never heard it before.
I like the sax breakdown towards the end of “I don’t wanna be a soldier mama.” The band is tight and outshining Lennon’s voice for me.
Wow, How Do You Sleep? was High Drama. I loved it! Jacob is right, John Lennon is butthurt and I’m eating it up.
Man, put violins and drums together and it’s going to be a big yes from me. Really enjoyed the band in How?
I agree with Dyl that Oh Yoko! is the best song on the album. The Rushmore soundtrack can’t go wrong!
Overall, I enjoyed listening to this album, nothing ground breaking for me. The band shines so bright ☀️.
I didn’t get the whole way through the album, but it was a fun, somewhat mindless collection of songs to listen to while driving to the gym. I think she’s drawn on a lot of different genres in this album. Some highlights:
From the Bottom of my Broken Heart has major Bee Gees Vibes! I love it.
I was really into the Soda Pop song mainly for the reggae singer. I wish he was on more songs!
I Will Still Love You (with Don Phillip) was so good. I actually think they have a great vocal match and the harmonies are simple and beautiful. How can you go wrong?
I didn’t make it all the way to E-Mail My Heart but went back to listen after reading Jacobs review. Wow! But not in a great way.
Overall, a lot of skips on here, but this was a crucial album in 1999. I was but a mere 4-years-old but it endures in my consciousness even now. I also love the cover art, it’s so cute.
Excuse me, this album has 43 songs?? Oh no, I don’t think I’m going to like this album 38 seconds into D.’s Car Jam / Anxious Mo-Fo.
Update: I didn’t get through the first three songs, I’m so sorry.
Okay after Dylan’s virtuosic and passionate review of Darkness on the Edge of Town, I felt both excited to listen and a little intimidated by writing my own review. That’s what he’s going for, right? Making others intimidated through his own success? Too bad the whole review was undermined by his inexplicable 1/5 stars. What’s he on??
I’m listening to this while walking to my chorus dress rehearsal in the early morning, which is fun and romantic. Crazy guitar on Adam Raised the Cain. It makes me want to dye my hair black and take up electric guitar.
Something in the Night is one of my favorites on the album.
Streets of Fire has some fire-y vocals with some big round and resonant sounds I don’t usually hear from Bruce.
Promised Land—I could hear those Boss harmonies all day long. What a masterpiece.
I gave this album a 4.5 stars, which I know will ruffle some Finley feathers. It’s not a 5 because I love Born to Run and Born in the USA more than this album.
I’m surprised, I thought the Grateful Dead were much more hard rock than this first track, Box of Rain, is suggesting. This has some major Simon and Garfunkel vibes?
What the heck! “Friend of the Devil” has a jumping banjo. I’ve been so wrong about The Dead.
“Sugar Magnolia” is a catchy and beautiful song. Loving these harmonies.
“Ripple” is another beauty. I think I’ve heard this one before but didn’t know it was Grateful Dead.
Okay I’m still Jewish after that guitar solo on Truckin,’ but this song is definitely going on my road trip mix. What a great tune.
I like this band a lot. They look like a bunch of Dads. I get why so many Dads are Dead Heads. They all wanted me to believe they were so tough for enjoying a band with skeletons on their t-shirts, but this band loves tight, sweet harmonies just like the next guy.
Thoroughly enjoyed this listen. Didn’t light a fire underneath me. 3/5.
Lol, the first public review of this album made me laugh: “Do you wish the Strokes were more punk and less good? Well hot damn do we have a band for you!” I don’t know if I agree with that yet, the first track “Hate to Say I Told You So” is a major jam though my ears didn’t like the ending ☹️.
Okay, this album was like a metronome with some loud music around it. I was not a fan. 2/5.
Fever Ray caught me completely by surprise. What a completely unique sound! Now this is an artist that knows the joys and wonders of the Voice Live, am I right? About half the tracks use that deep, haunting vocal and half use an almost Tegan and Sarah-like crone.
I love all the mouth sounds in “If I had a Heart.” It makes me as uncomfortable as the subject: greed, lust, power.
Concrete Walls is insane. Really insane. I think the subject is psychosis. Or maybe its from the perspective of a cockroach. Either way, the synths are haunting and the percussion is infectious.
Keep The Streets Empty for Me is deeply unsettling. There’s something very un-human-like about this song: “I’m laying down, eating snow. My fur is hot, my tongue is cold. On a bed of spider web, I think of how to change myself.”
Weird and brilliant artists are coming out of Sweden. This album reminds me of an incredibly disturbing Swedish fantasy film “Border” which is about trolls. I am shook. 4/5.
I’m another stranger to The Smiths, though I’m told Hannah was decades ahead of me in high school (middle school?!). What’s new?
This album was enjoyable with two standout songs for me: Girlfriend in a Coma and A Rush and A Push and The Land is Ours. I enjoyed the guttural sounds throughout the album and especially in the first track. Girlfriend in a Coma I could listen to over and over. It’s catchy, silly, and now saved to a few of my playlists.
Overall, happy I know a bit of The Smiths. I’m told The Queen is Dead is the album I should really listen to, though.
The instrumental tracks were the only ones I found interesting. I read the description after listening to the album and it really helped me understand the mess I had just heard. It’s basically an unfinished Beach Boys album that only Brian Wilson contributed to. While no doubt he was a creative powerhouse in the band this is proof that creativity is not just about adding things it’s knowing when to stop or remove things that aren’t adding to the overall piece. A lot of good ideas here but they’re mostly ruined by being sandwiched in between nonsense; leaving very few tracks that I would willingly return to for a second listen. Had I heard this for the first time in 1970 I would’ve undoubtedly been blown away but being released in 2004 it was decades late and outperformed by many other artists. Can’t imagine how this made it on this list
Oh boy, this album was a crucial part of my upbringing. I recently returned to it a few months ago because Fleet Foxes came to Philly and I needed to brush up on some of my old favorites before I saw them live. Every member of my household had Fleet Foxes playing 24/7, often different albums coming from different rooms. Given the nature of Fleet Floxes, this actually sounded pretty good. I came out of the experience loving them even more.
Almost every song on this album is a stand alone jam for me. Some highlights include White Winter Hymnal, Your Protector, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, and Blue Ridge Mountains.
I’m appreciating some of the less popular songs on the album like Meadowlark. What a stunning song. I missed it back in 2008, but if seems like a song I’ll listen to over and over again.
Blue Ridge Mountains is one of the bands’ greatest achievements. There is something special about loving a song over the course of many years and returning to it at just the right times.
I can’t review this album without mentioning the Bruegel the Elder painting as cover art. It’s actually a detail from the larger painting. If you look closely you can pick out the strange happenings—people on fire, carving live animals, a man releasing a snake into the river. Everyone is up to their own “foolishness,” and the effect as a whole is beautiful and chaotic.
I love this album. I want to give it a 5/5, but I do Helplessness Blues and Shore better. But I realize 5/5 albums are like best friends: you can have more than one! So this album is a 5 for me.
As one reviewer on 1001 Albums Generator so eloquently puts it: “A synth-pop 80s purgatory is a better place to be than a 80s post-punk hell.”
I don’t feel that I’m in purgatory listening to this album, but I do feel a little cleaner afterwards. I like 80s synth pop! ABBA, Laura Branigan, Tears for Fears. Maybe it was because I took a small taste of the first track at 6:58am, but those synths slap a little hard and that main vocal feels too forward in the mix and too gravely. I really just wanted Laura Branigan to start singing I guess.
It was fun to read everyone else’s reviews first because I’m handing in my homework late. DJ, Jacob, and Charlie all had a very similar takes, which is funny. You all did some major take-backs by the end of your reviews. I don’t have the curse of listening with a producer’s/musician’s ear, so I embraced this album with no questions of irony or prejudices of commercial ambitions. I enjoyed it! I can see myself dancing to it while cooking! It’s a 3/5 for me.
Oh man, I love ABBA. I saw a Philly ABBA cover band last year and they were fantastic, so I can safely assume real ABBA would blow my mind. I can’t help but bop my head when they come on.
This isn’t my favorite ABBA album by a long shot, but it has a few stand out songs. I listened to it in the car with Jacob and he was complaining about the album the whole time (occasionally moaning “no, no, no”). Dispute his whining, I was able to thoroughly enjoy ABBA’s magic.
The title song, The Visitors, starts off the album with a new energy and twist. Head Over Heels keeps the momentum going and feels a bit more classic ABBA to me. When All is Said and Done is another banger. I Let the Music Speak is really odd—Klezmer-influenced! I can’t help but sing along to One of Us. It’s cheesy, it’s all cheesy, but I love it. But Cassandra has to be my favorite.
Some of the tracks (especially parts of Soldiers) sound like Andrew Lloyd Webber could have written them, which is good or bad depending on your penchant for slightly broadway-style vocals and early 80s synth.
All in all, great album, great fun listening to it. Great fun witnessing Jacob angrily heart most of the tracks after declaring he “can’t do ABBA.”
4/5 for me!
Smashing Pumpkins, perfect for a 7am walk to the bakery in 20 degree weather. It really puts a fire under your foot and makes the cheese danish even sweeter.
Would I put this on just for fun when I’m not on a mission? I’m not sure.
Teenage Fanclub! This is my first time listening and I thoroughly enjoyed this album. It’s nothing to write home from camp about, but most songs were totally pleasant and some were good enough!
Metal Baby is great but repetitive to a nauseating degree. 10 less “Metal Babies” and it would have been great.
Sidewinder was pretty but the lyrics sounded AI-generated from 1001 other love songs.
Is This Music? totally slammed. It feels like the standout song on the album, even with no vocals. As one reviewer in 1001 albums perfectly puts it: “It's funny to me that the last song is called "Is This Music" because that's probably the best on the album. Yes, guys, THAT is music. Give us more of that.”
I would have thought I’d have been turned off by the the sometimes minute-long guitar jams before the singer comes in, but I didn’t mind. I thought the band was tight and it was fun to listen to. Great driving music. It’s a 3.5/5 for me.
Okay I finally listened to Def Leppard, but only because at some point Jacob threatened to stop picking up my calls if I didn’t.
I liked it! I listened to it over the course of two runs and the first half of the album really made me run faster. Really enjoyed the opening of the album, Woman. The first three songs are great and then the album loses steam for me. It could have been 4-5 songs shorter. Great guitar hooks all around though.
It’s fun to imagine this would be playing at a crowded sports bar in the 80s. You’d probably find some dirty pinball machines in the back. Jacob describes this as pinball music, but really what’s happening here is that specific sounds in the second half of “Gods of War” are actually in Star Trek Next Generation pinball machine and lots of other machines! Those gun and metallic vocals are really pinball, I’m with you Jacob.
Overall, I did my duty and listened to this album in full. If they had kept up the momentum of the first three songs, it’d be a 4/5. But alas, 3/5.
This album made a powerful impression on me, probably the most I’ve taken from a 1001 album so far. I had never listened to Beck beside his song Loser. He really is a master of genre-bending.
This is one of those albums that, looking back, I will associate with this particular time in my life.
Paper Tiger is when the orchestra comes in and it’s stunning. Guess I’m Doing Fine is devastating track. His voice sounds country, and has an almost Bruce quality to it. It’s All in Your Mind is another spot I turn the volume up: “and I wanted to be, I wanted to be, wanted to be, your good friend.” Already Dead has to be my favorite on the album. It has a beautiful Celtic lilt. It reminds me of something Orpheus might sing in Hadestown: “Because it feels like I’m watching something dying.”
I will be listening to this album for a while. I will admit that I was partial to him because his name is, no doubt, a cooler version of my own. But this 5/5 rating has nothing to do with my namesake and everything to do with a stunning and desolate album.
Oh boy, I grew up on The Pogues and I’m so glad we got them. This is a 4/5 for me, no doubt. Some of these songs were new to me. Like what the hell is happening on Metropolis?! I feel I’m playing a Batman 66 pinball machine while traveling through a black hole. I guess anything that bridges Fairytale of New York and Fiesta is going to be a little odd.
Speaking of Fairytale of New York, this is one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time. Also a great potential Karaoke 🎤 choice for the future…
This album is all over the world, it’s incredible. Who knew this is what I’d be listening to on my Frontier Flight to Cincinatti? So far no one has sat in my row and I’m hoping the Pogues will continue to provide good luck.
I’ll admit, I can’t understand most of the lyrics (even when they’re singing in English) without following along on Spotify, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
I love the two tracks with The Dubliners, another quintessential Irish Folk band. Overall I’m so pleased with this album, no one else has sat in my row, 4/5.
I’m back baby!! Who better to come back to than Tom Waits? I know Tom Waits only because my beloved roommates play him on our warped record player in the living room at strange times of day. Hearing his voice not distorted by the record player is only slightly different. My favorite song on the album is Jersey Girl, with its Christmas like jingle jangles. I’d like to hear Bruce sing this one.
Tom Waits has a very strange voice, very muppet-inspired. But who can fault him for that? I love the muppets.
3/5 for me.
What a great album. I know and love this one well.
I will have to majorly disagree with BUBS, someone I thought I knew and loved. After reading his review, I don’t know who he is anymore. Did we listen to different albums??
I thought this was a great album. Jacob and I listened to it on his car speakers on the freezing Ohio roads. I thought it was a jam! There were songs that felt like a Berstein soundtrack—so beautiful. The instrumentals were pretty. Not a lot of vocals to go on. I’d listen again! 3/5.
Oh I already know I’m going to love this album. Time to Pretend is a classic high school song for me. Great road trip music, which is appropriate because Jacob and I are currently driving across Ohio.
Kids is a masterpiece. The synth is simple, but so effective. Effectively making me dance, that is. The synth of 4th Dimensional Transition is also so strange and amazing.
Overall this album stands the test of time. It is a journey and I’m along for the ride. 4/5.
I am back baby in order to defend the righteousness of this breakthrough album! It’s a masterpiece! It’s one absolute banger after the next: Scarborough Fair followed by Patterns and then Cloudy. How can we ask for more?! Scarborough Fair is a beautiful song, sure. But have you heard Patterns or A Poem on the Underground Wall?! “And the pattern never alters, until the rat dies!”
The 59th street Bridge Song can’t be looked over either. What a classic! Great for when you’re walking to work in the rain and need a little pick-me-up.
The Dangling Conversation is one of my all time favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs. I think it captures something beautiful—what happens at the boarders of our lives and without our relationships.
Oh man, I got lost in this album and now am late to a meeting, but it was all worth it. 5/5, will listen over and over.
Popping in to quickly review this album as I ended up listening to the whole thing while cooking a Tunisian chickpea soup. What a beautiful album. I can’t wait to listen to it again and then again.
I can hear how artists I love are influenced by this album. Perfume Genius must have listened to A Spoonful Weigh A Ton many times. The compositions are complex and are beautifully matched by simple and elegant lyrics. The layered harmonies are like butter. Chickpeas and butter!
I could just float away into space while listening to this album. 5/5, what a gift to rediscover The Flaming Lips after all these years.
God god this is beautiful. It makes me want to fall in love and be alive in spring. To be totally fair, I didn’t listen to the whole album. But you know what they say about album reviews: better done than good! ✅
