1001 Albums Summary

as much as i wish it was, this album is not a 5 as there is definitely a skip or two on here, i think a few of the boppier tracks are great songs but don't fit with the album, i wish they were sadder i guess favorite tracks: Bridge over Troubled Water, El Condor Pasa, The Boxer, Song for the Asking

I learned about Fela Kuti in my history to west africa class, so it was interesting to see a lot of the same themes of pan-africanism present in Femi's music. Anyways, when the afrobeat hit it HIT, but when it didn't I was ambivalent; I think a lot of the longer songs started skewing repetitive after minute 6. It was never bad, but not all the songs grooved to the same extent. That being said, I had a great time using this album as baking music, would love to explore more of this genre, but I'm not adding this to my everyday rotation or everything.

I can't help feeling that a lot about this album didn't age well? SO MANY lines I'd call corny today if they came from any rapper popular today, and the misogyny/homophobia that was probably unremarkable at the time is just eye-rolling to listen to today. Plus, I just kept waiting for it to go somewhere or say something interesting, but I feel like I couldn't pick most of these songs out in a lineup. Also, I feel like Dr. Dre lowkey got overshadowed by Snoop Dogg on this??? I know Dre's more of a producer (and wow the beats and samples on The Chronic are FANTASTIC, by far the best part of the album) but I shouldn't walk away trying to remember some of Dre's lines on here. standout tracks: Let Me Ride, A N*gga Witta Gun, Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat I'd give it a 2.5, tbh. The Chronic was probably groundbreaking at the time but as someone who grew up on the music that built upon Dre's work here, I'm just underwhelmed.

Let England Shake has some seriously great instrumentals, reminiscent of old English folk songs mixed with modern folk-rock. Plus, they add some depth to the concept of this album, about England's legacy as a country of war. The first four tracks were a rough time for me; it felt like big lines were being repeated about ten times for shock value or something (like ok girlie we get it! deformed children! the UN sucks! new idea please) and the dissonance, although thematic and intentional, made for a not fun listening experience to me. Thankfully something clicked with track five, and I vibed with the rest of the album, both lyrically and melodically. I don't know if I can overcome how much I didn't like the first third-ish of the album - they might click later for me, but I tend to prefer songs with form and IMO the risks she took here didn't always pay off. I also don't think Harvey fully delivers on her concept at the end of the day, since the album is generally depiction with little commentary. That being said, it has high highs. Harvey has created haunting instrumentals, and the best songs on here carry lyrics that are unfortunately timeless in their depiction of the inhumanities of war. Standout tracks: All and Everyone, On Battleship Hill, In the Dark Places, Written on the Forehead, The Color of the Earth 3.5 for the yikes first four tracks and my high expectations for the concept not being met, but rounded up to a 4 because I'll be returning to tracks 5-12 again.

Long time Peter Gabriel fan (I'm talking kindergarten age, my parents loved his solo work), but I've somehow never listened to this album? I really fuck with it though, it's not as worldly as his other stuff but I think he does enough differently to make it stand out from its contemporaries. It's delightfully weird, in a way that points towards what rock would look like in the next decade. That being said, it's in my bottom half of albums by him. I miss the innovative percussion elements that I associate so strongly with him, which definitely made some his later stuff stand out in comparison to this. I'm not faulting it for being a bit of a bridge album linking his solo stuff to Genesis, but it absolutely feels like a debut. The songs are each distinct in a way that makes it feel like Gabriel is trying out different things to see what sticks (with varying degrees of success, but never outright failures; I think the worst tracks on here are at least decent). Standout tracks: Moribund the Burgermeister, Solsbury Hill (of COURSE), Humdrum, Slowburn, Here Comes the Flood I'm giving it a solid 4. There are some really great tracks on here, some of which are hella underrated, but they aren't all bangers. If I'm in the mood for Peter Gabriel, I'm almost always going to pick Melt or So - both of which I would probably give 5s - over this one.

It feels wrong to be listening to this album through headphones, it feels like it should be playing in the background as I walk through seedy alleyways and through grimy underground clubs in a neo-noir film or Matrix ripoff. Some cool stuff happening on here, but some of the production choices are hugely dated (the fake record scratches on Original are strangely endearing though). Also, most of the songs are a minute or two too long. I don't see myself revisiting the album, and even for the songs I really liked, I preferred parts of them over the whole. Still, enjoyed the listen well enough. 3 stars feels about right. standout tracks: the run from Inspection -> Open Up

I really shouldn't judge an album by its cover. This was phenomenal, the biggest surprise of this 1001 albums project so far. The more conventional tracks see Adamson harness the sounds of the 90s and somehow fuse them seamlessly with bits of jazz and big-band and trip hop? The weirder ones feel like I'm listening to a surreal Lynchian horror film, which present an unfortunate road block for this album's replayability but also are very impressive interludes that succeeded in spooking the shit out of me while still successfully twisting the jazz I loved so much in a fucked up way. standout tracks: anything with that sax goDDAMN 4 stars; the jazzier tracks are going to get SO MUCH replay from me, but I can't see myself enjoying the album casually without the removal of tracks like Business as Usual, bc how do I explain that when it comes up on shuffle

Pleasant background music, I guess. Not really my genre of music (I feel bad for not being more passionate about this, it's a fine album).