478
Albums Rated
3.35
Average Rating
44%
Complete
611 albums remaining
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Rating Timeline
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1950s
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Enthusiast
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153
5-Star Albums
77
1-Star Albums
Taste Analysis
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Ratings by genre
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Ratings by country
Rating Style
You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tank Battles | 5 | 2.12 | +2.88 |
| Oar | 5 | 2.46 | +2.54 |
| Boy In Da Corner | 5 | 2.57 | +2.43 |
| Palo Congo | 5 | 2.69 | +2.31 |
| Histoire De Melody Nelson | 5 | 2.75 | +2.25 |
| My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts | 5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
| A Little Deeper | 5 | 2.81 | +2.19 |
| Southern Rock Opera | 5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
| Club Classics Vol. One | 5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
| Kilimanjaro | 5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Bends | 1 | 4.01 | -3.01 |
| (What's The Story) Morning Glory | 1 | 3.84 | -2.84 |
| Vol. 4 | 1 | 3.75 | -2.75 |
| Kid A | 1 | 3.71 | -2.71 |
| Deja Vu | 1 | 3.7 | -2.7 |
| The Low End Theory | 1 | 3.7 | -2.7 |
| Hotel California | 1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
| In The Court Of The Crimson King | 1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
| Moving Pictures | 1 | 3.58 | -2.58 |
| Stankonia | 1 | 3.55 | -2.55 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Frank Sinatra | 3 | 5 |
| Brian Eno | 4 | 4.5 |
| The Police | 2 | 5 |
| Leonard Cohen | 2 | 5 |
| Isaac Hayes | 2 | 5 |
| Fela Kuti | 2 | 5 |
| Wilco | 2 | 5 |
| The Doors | 2 | 5 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 5 |
| Bruce Springsteen | 2 | 5 |
| Nirvana | 2 | 5 |
| PJ Harvey | 3 | 4.33 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Radiohead | 4 | 1 |
| The Fall | 2 | 1 |
| Super Furry Animals | 2 | 1.5 |
| Black Sabbath | 2 | 1.5 |
| Pavement | 2 | 1.5 |
| Rush | 2 | 1.5 |
| Aerosmith | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial Artists
Artists you rate inconsistently
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| The Cure | 1, 5 |
| Pink Floyd | 5, 1, 2 |
| Blur | 5, 1, 2 |
| The Beach Boys | 4, 1 |
| Metallica | 4, 1 |
5-Star Albums (153)
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Popular Reviews
The Bees
5/5
Thank you 1001 for introducing me to do many new albums. Except for all the crap ones like the one after this.... Music is meant to be fun.
To press a musical pleasure button.
Bring about a wanted emotion or distract from an unwanted one.
This one is a very, very out there version that. This is at the DEADPOOL end of the spectrum. Soothing quirky irony is track one. I gird myself for the 2nd. Oooh, funky. I like the kettle. Oh shit I might be hooked on a new album. And wildly new genre that feels created all for me.
I'm in a good mood with this. Immediately added this to my "grooving mornings" playlist.
7 likes
Fairport Convention
2/5
Look, its English folk music.
Its not meant to be a) popular b) reviewed or c)rated.
Neither engaging, nor annoying... I didnt actual notice it was playing much of the time - like a gentle breeze, musically. Or polite English lovemaking.
Lay back, and think of England / Are you in ?
oh the English...
6 likes
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
A bit odd as an album. Its a bit of a grower but Soo padded out, it
They have 18 studio albums to choose from. Sensing this might not be here to to its peerless perfection, I look it up. Could it be the important "transitional piece".
Turns out it was a recording so long and expensive as to have caused debates with lawyers on whether it would be best to build or buy or rent a studio?
That was before they ended up spending 10 months to incubate 20 tracks.
At the cost of $1.4M. in 1979.
Two or three good songs ("Sarah' has the signature sounds, that epic cinematic sweeping warmth of this band ), some really sleepy heated waterbed version of country music. Sleepy enough.
Some oddities. Track 6 is rotten.
And then we get to the Celtic / Saxon drumming on Tusk. It's mysterious ... And grows like a Tubular Bells does, but blending with some rock opera.
I guess at this time everything was a concept album. I have a few other goes at the album. Headphones. Warm 80s speakers. I detect more artefacts and breadcrumbs. This artists with no limits no budget and no deadlines. And no editor. A slow grower for me, a bit of curiosity. They were quite prolific weren't they? Hard to mark down to a 3. Not my kind of 5.
3 likes
Slint
2/5
(if you skip track 1) it's Stylishly made music of seething perfectionism. Akin to listening to eloquently phrased pain, there are some very atmospheric moments, with "Washer" we get a taste of something a bit more cinematic, with building a menacing undertone, oh yes the foreboding is rising, especially if you listen to the lyrics .... It's an 8 minute track. The kind of music a pensive serial killer might unwind and do the dishes to. I admire the art, but in the end, I dislike it.
3 likes
Eagles
1/5
They made me listen to it.
At first it didn't hurt as much as I expected. But soon I got that gnawing feel...
"It might feel good, but its bad for you." either literally or figurately.
Like chewing gum, processed food, breakfast television, and Guantanamo Bay or infinite detention at Nauru, Christmas Island, of the Australian mainland (another kind of hotel your cant leave).
Ok, its going too far to equate The Eagles with human rights violations. Special rendition. and Enhanced interrogation (kidnap and torture int he same of freedom, or revenge, or deterrence?).
smooth, polished and sweet, and a bit flavourless and lacking fibre
2 likes
4-Star Albums (88)
1-Star Albums (77)
All Ratings
The Young Rascals
4/5
Ok. First listen to this. Surprised how many songs leapt out. Very dynamic style. Of course groovin' is one I knew but I'd say I probably didn't know the other tracks. Enjoyed it.
The The
3/5
Infected - the the ( I am catching up on the first 100 I missed)
Very familiar and I enjoyed their hits in the late 80s/early 90s. Reminds me of porch parties in Summer.
I didn't realise how inconsistent the actual album is - familiar songs “infected” and “heartland” and “slow train to dawn” are great and still resonate.
But the rest sound unfinished, and really missing something
As an album its jarring to bo form rocking along cool but weird stuff then stop. Thank goodness for the SKIP button.
Reminds me so much of the voice of Hunters and Collectors, I thought they might be Australian.
Inconsistent, with 3 brilliant tracks and good atmospherics.
Pitty I don't know more from them. 3.5-4.0 depending on mood
OutKast
1/5
Stankonia • Outkast • 2000
The teenage mentality of the opening and HIP HOP genre don’t bring high expectations.
I feel dumber just listening to the first track.
Ms. Jackson has always been so catchy though, so I raise my expectations (so i know Outkast after all)/ I raise my hopes.
But its more a soundtrack for a violent or urban film, and i cant rate it within the genre as I stay away mostly... In summation, it might be highly rated as hip hip, or rap, but its not much music to my ears.
Wouldn't turn it on again...
I skip a few interludes and nasty tracks ont he ebay to the Cee-Lo collaboration (track 22). Sounds like a drug den scene in a ganster movie...
historically an interesting artefact, perhaps - but not for listening
Skip. next album.... 2
Super Furry Animals
1/5
Rings Around The World
All over the place. Starts with a piano melody morphing into space soundtrack, then track 2 is a jarring rock alarm. Smacks of annoying concept album of monumental importance to musicologists but not me.
I look them up. Welsh brit pop electronica. Ok.
I hear a bit fo “AIR” in track 3
But them I got bored.
Living Colour
3/5
Nice hard rock opener. Its ok. Good vocals... but their best track, for me, is “Love rears up its ugly head” - which is another style...
They have a good stop start thumping style. Which might be their signature sound. Ok. they’re good.
But the album is 3.
Al Green
5/5
Who do you love? Al Green. So let's stick together. I will be listening to this some more.
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
Truth. Oh how searing honesty in art is discomforting. We want it but its hard not to turn away when its here. A little bit searing. Awful name for an album. I like the opening… and yes the music is good but the themes despairing and painful as per the main popular review – its utter human carnage and (deathly, as it turns out) despair. But wonderfully done. They say art is borne of pain. Yes, I agree – as others have written - a terrible masterpiece. …..
Ultimately beautiful, moving, and agitating: depression brought forth into and almost exultant sweeping and cinematic grandeur.
The kind I may never wish to listen to again, but WOW.
The Police
5/5
What a revelation and – for me – a different side of Police. I had mostly listened their Singles on cassette. This album is unexpectedly mystic and Jungian and intellectually wide ranging.
The moods and sounds … I enjoyed big ideas like Spiritus Mundi – a universal energy or inspiration for ideas – like a collective unconscious or and or muse.
I love the rhyming genius in the tracks.
the way the lyrics stack
meaning mixed with from:
The lilting on “Wrapped around your fingers”
its almost astral
“Tea in the Sahara”
feels new - yet saved
playful and prophetic.
I love the lyrics
cryptic and poetic.
Rounding up, rather than murdering by numbers
MGMT
2/5
At first, its likable pop lo fi psychadelic but it doesnt sustain my attention - somethign about it just sounds dumb.
Dumb and annoying.
Arcade Fire
2/5
so relived you guys didnt like it either.
Its well made drawn out, droning bedroom music for a new generation of depressed teens. too harsh?
Ash
2/5
The Girl from Mars ....sounds familiar. and yet not enough.
Oh Yeah, its just that it reminds me of average.
(I figured it out)
Its distinctive for its lack of distinctively-ness-ness.
Its like demin, or noodles, it needs something to go with it, so its not boring...
Butthole Surfers
1/5
These guys must have laughed so much taking the utter, utter piss. It’s a prank call of an album.
Music for Beavis and Butthead? Or Terence and Phillip? Spongebob?
This music – I am sure – brings on the laughs for juveniles who’s mood is heavily pharmacologically enhanced. Music with a purpose.
But I can see how its in the bottom 15 albums after 12 million votes. Its tormenting.
[P.S. “Pepper” their moment of genius. Isn't on this album.]
Minor Threat
1/5
I have two things to day.
1. The ad agency who did famously racist "Bye Bye Black Sheep" poster in 2008 for the Swiss SVP must have liked this cover art.
2. a bit harsh & industrial for me. as gentle as a nazi salute.
Non merci. pas au jourdhui.
The Cars
4/5
WHat agreat opener, pretty good - some very iconic stuff. An extra point for longevity. Id listen twice to this.
Beatles
3/5
Being My FIRST listen to Revolver, and the Beetles mean LESS to me than those who heard it NEW in its groundbreaking context. And I've never been a massive fan, so this felt like homework, and I am maybe critical, but I like 1001 Albums for being educative and horizon-expanding. I still appreciate their sound, vast influence, and stylistic journeys. and how this album is mentioned SO OFTEN as a landmark. So, I made myself listen to EVERY TRACK in full. without skipping. I felt like I should have incense burning and a velour bean bag, and bead curtain, lava lamp... its chill by todays standard, but also it's a messy, all-over-place album. could be Beach Boys for one of the tracks, brain dead kids music for amnother, trippy stuff, but reading reviews, I held out for a strong finish. mostly new songs for me. I LIKED She said, love to you, got to get you into my life (finally some energy) and and it turns out I knew and liked the last TRACK "Tomorrow never knows" BUT WHY IS IT SO SHORT AND UNFINISHED?- man if there was album of more like the last 2 tracks i might have loved it...., (DISLIKED yellow submarine. and your bird can sing.) and, songs don't finish, they just fade away... an historical style? So, in summary. a few really good original tracks that got me interested. I CAN'T GIVE IT MORE THAN 3.5 STARS in terms of liking it...but it finishes strongly.
David Bowie
3/5
I am about 150 albums behind the pack, being a late joiner, so I an working on my backlog. Time for Bowie! (hard to rate important, hisotorical albums - they are so important, but i just bagged Revolver, so ...). but here is my reaction. I dont like each track, but then Heroes, the song, is so soaring, moving, and lyrically interesting, ambitious and has the best of his Berlin period in it. I enjoy his yelling of the chorus, unbridged almost pleeding. this is the song. I'd like to find the trilingual single disc for this one day. Songs of the silent age returns to familair style. then the B side atmoshperics are interesting and totally unfmailair for me... Bowie is demanding. not going to gush about hsi as an album, but interesting symth expeirments on side B. I were an older man, I might have had blues, funk, jazz, Stones, Bowie, Cohen, (but probably not Beetles, Folk or much other rock...). I like the last track, the Secret Life of Arabai, and the Moss Garden was a surpise... NB: the track played next by the YT ALGO: "more than this" by Roxy Music. the algo knows me...
Red Snapper
4/5
An almost inpenetrable musical fortress of a puzzle. The Warp and Weft dont meet until later. The best 3 track are the last 3. Which no one will ever hear.
A superb astral soundscape. Hard to catalaogue. If this is here, surely it means any album by Xangadix, or The Art Of Noise or Nightmatres on Wax will be too, because its MUCH better at occupying this landing sequence for astronauts.
Experimental flyovers of psychadelic insomnia progressions do not a pop album make. Great concept album, though. I was going to crap on it as a superb and esoteric art curio. For the "wierd and interesting" pile.
But I in my perigrinations got to Alaska Street and the threads or waveforms lined up... It becomes wonderful ambient. I mean its almost progressive. But too late.
GZA
2/5
Pure art and yet, not for me.
Black Sabbath
2/5
The cover promises and happy jaunt , to enjoy the best of the english countryside.
Promise delivered. File under Q for Quaint english heavy rock that sounded mean and naughty and worth banking even, but now is just soothing to sit down to with a warm flat pint at the end of a day being British.
Funny that.
Arrested Development
5/5
Adding it to my playlist "HIP HOP CAN BE FUN AFTER ALL"
or as the critics wrote back then: "as a major new voice in hip-hop", noting Speech's social themes and rejection of "macho boasting and gangster posing"
Here I was thinking ' least it's different... You always get a point for originality.'
THEN I REALISED -
Tennessee
Mr Wendel
Everyday People
.....
Are some of my all-time favourite feelgood tracks.
I didn't know that I didn't know but that I knew... Oh you know !
Jimmy Smith
5/5
Life is good at the chicken shack. Everything feels right at the chicken shack. Chicken shack, how ever did you make a Hammond Organ sound fun soulful and happy from the first few bars of the album it had me. (But being on the Blue Note Label was a clue to the high bar it would have met to even exist. Note to self, explore more blue note back catalogue - a seam of gold)
Mmm mmm mmmmm! Love it.... Gorgeous!
PJ Harvey
3/5
earnest and arty and / but not sure it resonates fully for me despite occasionally really liking her stuff. could be a grower...?
The Blue Nile
3/5
So much overlooked or ignored music from the 70s and 80s. This I never heard. Its has that sparse "less than zero" sound of ultra smooth 1980s. Tinseltown is good. Its atmospheric and beautful but doesnt make me feel so good. They need to subtract some of the bleak or detached feeling. Stylish and herribly depressing.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Who does he remind me of :-)
Interesting.
This guy's incredibly varied in the material and styles. He is trying to do everything with his instrument. Musical peregrinations.
Good.
Beyoncé
4/5
Ok. A whole album of Beyonce is a first for me.
The full rapturous entertaining package. So much more than an amazing voice, and evocative of power, desire, luxury, pleasure, empowerment, and yes, this music is all about her. She fill the shoes. We are never in any doubt of Beyoncé Knowles obvious talents and full assets. Its music from a whole fantasy land into which to project.
An empowered and dignified deity is here on her terms to entertain, command our adoration, the central focus is her enchantment supported by a suprisingly slow and very carnal beats and rhythm.
It's like she is slowly strutting through the room at all times, as she does on stage, controlling the beat, holding us
dripping with the rapture of a luxurious, heavenly nightclub-come-boudoir, steamy with the pheromones as she holds us all in anticipation for a jouissance on her own creation.
She is control at all times. Quality stuff.
The Cure
1/5
Question. How many different flavours of misery must we tasted to get your music passport stamped by these wretches of no taste?
The Cure's mastery is undeniably evocative across the whole realm of Melancholia, so, having honed their considerable talents and a signature sound, they really channel all their misery to make the musical equivalent of the Slough of Despond [*footnote].
Listening brings me both psychological and physical pain, and evokes teen misery, self loathing alienation, and disorientation as opposed to the self compassion, self care or meaningful connection we all need. It is psychological kryptonite.
I do much prefer when The Cure when they can get happy like on "Friday I'm in love", “love cats” and “Just like heaven”
Alas. None of that fun on this black hole - a kind of horrible perfection to be admired and avoided.
1 star so I am not tempted to go near it again. Best pointed at from a tourist bus maybe.
Foot note - explaining *Slough of Despond; a PLACE described in John Bunyan's book “A Pilgrim's Progress” (1678); also known referred to in Wuthering Heights and the game DOOM:
(my paraphrase)
On inescapable swamp and where the guilty are exiled; a depression in the land into which scum and toxic sludge continually drains, a place for sinner to endure self loathing in the mud. Here you gain an acute appreciation of your own utter abandoned and complete alienation, thus evoking further fears, doubts, and fresh dread, moods which engulf and swirl throughout the place, making it a place so completely horrible...
OR, THE ORIGINAL TEXT
This miry Slough is such a place as cannot be mended; it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore is it called the Slough of Despond: for still as the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, there ariseth in his soul many fears, and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get together, and settle in this place; and this is the reason of the badness of this ground.
Tori Amos
2/5
I admire but cant enjoy it.
One of my partners favourite albums, it highlights a difference betwen men and women tastes and also emotional range. All I can hear is a voice achingly shrill with too much emotionality and soaring drama (other reviewers mention Kate Bush etc).
This is a thing.
In her own words, Tori Amos "I’m too raw for straight men. They are tortured by my shows"
(2015, The Guardian)
Silver Jews
4/5
I wanted to hate it, but cant.
This quirky messed up faux country bulldang whatever it is. Surely its satire and then the quirky smile creeps up.
Country (mostly) sucks, but we are mocking several genres here, even Dylan.
So yeah its oddly fun/soothing and the lyrics are at least entertaining and different. And I give a point for originality (as long as I like it). and like country, it grows on you.
Steely Dan
3/5
Apparently this is jazz rock. Consider the genre covered?
The name and cover suggest a waiting room for Death. I learn the Band names itself after a sex toy in Naked Lunch by William s Burroghs. So are they toying with us?
It sound very smooth 70s. a bit qurikly, a bit slow a bit too repetitive, and overall "not enough". Hmm maybe flat is the word. You had to be and I wasnt?
Leonard Cohen
5/5
so wonderfully flawed, out of tune and even more intimate for it. maybe I am alone in this, there is something playuful & humourous, even hilarious, as well as a soothing. Its not melancholy - more a lugubrious tone, hence playfyully sleepy, lulling. and then, at times, its like a Nick Cave lyric pops up... original. I need MORE COHEN, not less. adding nhim to my new listening pile, alone with Serge Gauinsbourg.
The Smiths
2/5
I am prejudiced, as I have decided I dont like the maudlin Smiths. I force myself to listen to their most popualr track, from the album.
Its called "there is a light that never goes out" ... it would be cliche to say their mission seems to be to extinguish said light. There, I did it, without meaning- a Smiths joke.
I feel like I ate too much.
Which is have.
I also find so little pelasure in their music...
Elton John
4/5
Again, sorry fans, I am prejudiced. I decided I mostly dont like Elton John.
No denying its an iconic album and has so many great moments and songs. Its better than I expected. Few albums are this evocatice. Princess Diana.
A reluctant 4. legandary. just not a fave.
Q-Tip
3/5
Never heard of them.
I sampled some of their more tracks - catchier than usual for hip hop, with interesting samples for a disco or maybe motown feel for variety and a certain grandeur. but this really isnt my genre of choice
Digital Underground
2/5
2nd hiphop album in a row. too much .
And Im incredulous at the title this time.
It sounds like a gangsters clubhouse
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
yeah I dont get it either
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
OOH I might like the opening track.
Its like a favourite song I forgot. ( I dont know htis band)
Sounds like Rat Cat mixed with Joy Division.
Compelling - I will listen again.
Big moody presence <--->party ish vibes.
[seems to be the range]
P.s. I look it up - apparently I already love the song "just like honey" so maybe i knew this band, hence the familiar sound. and the energetic tracks do it for me ...
Pink Floyd
5/5
Oh no. I wanted to be brief but all of this juts came out of me.... Not time to edit.
Review dark side of the moon - pink Floyd
Wow. The English can do something right after all.
:B∆)
It's remarkable this was a 1974 concept album that still holds up - IMPRESSIVE.
A definitive one. It's an experience all right.
You aren't gonna sit and listen to a whole album very often, but this would absolutely have to make the top10 list. It's the 4th nuggets seller of all time. And spent more than 800 weeks on the charts
Earlier Pink Floyd albums - by comparison - are just earlier (lesser) formative experiments into music and soundscape excisions. And this one has a female vocal bit. And what a on amazing improvisational moment it is!
This is the Masterpiece. It was in the top 200 for more than 900 weeks, and it's still in the top 20 charts for Vinyl after 50 years.
I just listened to it twice through.
1 on big speakers. I forgot how huge their sound and emotional range is.
2. Big headphones - even more immersive. And impressive.
And not at all tiring. If I had one word for this long review it's simply “Wow”.
Make no mistake, it's full psychic and sensory journey and soundscape, this is a “concept album” - intended as a sit down experience front and back. Not for the singles! like many of this era, yes, it is commentary on many things (there were issues here album encountered with insanity and conflict and greed and the loss of Sid Barret - but very different to Back in Black, it's about a genuine creative who can't function any more in their world) so it's also on alienation, connection, search and insight, including imitating what drugs (probably at high doses) and we definitely gets a sense other forms of rapture - physical, sexual and spiritual - are like, and pleasing forms of anaesthesia and numbness (more of that on their next album).
The transition from track 1 to 2 being very much the onset or “ rush “ of a drug.
And there is the languid yet EPIC Pink Floyd sound. Even people who haven't had drugs can tell, this must be drug music. They paint quite a picture.
A side note: cannabis - for context - in the 70s and 80s was much more relaxing and feel good (and less of a high). It was very high in CBD with a fraction of the THC of today so it would have felt more mellow.
A beanbag and a pink Floyd album and good company was all you needed back then.
So much better than the other Pink Floyd albums I've encountered on this list so far
As a 50 something year old who doesn't actually own a copy, all I can say is it just sweeps over you. And I remember my first few listens to it well - it's quite amazing.
And you don't need to be high to enjoy it.
This is one of their top 3, with 'Wish you were here' and maybe 'Momentary Lapse of reason' being essential listening too. Especially on headphones.
P.S.
I never saw them “in concert” but I did hear them from a stadium 5 Kilometres away in 1990 and it was, well, “wow” then too, it was so loud and clear, filling the sky. The twilight seemed to go on for hours and hours.
Maybe it was the stadium lights. And there actually were flying pigs. True.
Radiohead
1/5
There is such a spare bleakness that runs through all of the Radiohead body of work.
It's not pleasant. Adding clicking artefacts isn't impressing me.
Gloaming induces a sensation that definitely feels like gloaming. Yucky but effective.
Also, I am firmly on the side of the room that finds Thom Yorkes voice not pleasant.
I am unable to discern the point of RadioHead. It's is to wallow in alternating streak of pain?
Oh the English. A masterpiece of terrible perfection.
New Order
5/5
Am I the 1000th person to say STRANGER THINGS tv series opening title track owes everything to ELEGIA by New Order?
To New Order. Their genius. They are the music of my 90s. 7 am drive to uni, grad a free parking spot and wait for the library to open. It's never enough until you're stops beating. The perfect kiss. Dancing under strobes , carefree to Bizaar Love Triangle at the From Nightclub. the rapture and energy of youth. Yes you had to be there. And I was.
But I listened to their compilation SUBSTANCE v1&2. (Mostly 2) Not actual albums. So the masterpiece ELEGIA is a revelation to me. Also remembering a perfect kiss.
Frank Sinatra
5/5
Well I don't know how people can rank Frank Sinatra Albums. So many top tracks here. At times they sound so camp. But that is the joy too. The warmth grandeur never fades from these songs. I'd say there are 5 superb tracks on this album. You know them too. How could you not? Go Frankie!
Isaac Hayes
5/5
Yep in in the movie before the guitar uneven starts up. Oh yes. This is something I've always wanted to here.
Bring out the cars and long states, while chewing a match. Shiny leather jackets, and hormones.
Morrissey
3/5
The title is SO inviting
The 1001 albums you
MUST listen to before you die.
IF YOU WERE DYING WOULD YOU SPEND IT SWAYING AND POUTING TO THIS, with your fringe in your eyes? Scuffing your suede?
Its so... so "very" to find SO MUCH Morrissey, Dylan, Beetles ( and Hip hop) here. YUP. a first solo album. i get it. a sound. his.
I admire the art. now get this this special Cussons scented wailing in a tiled room away. I do not want to feel like the closing titles of a film on loss all day.
Actually, BUT MY POINT IS with so much of the musical rainbow to explore,
and so few slots,
And LIFE SO SHORT
must we spend so long in the bleak english sodden soap scented flannel dark part of said spectrum
When they could have been listening
to music from a less suburban world.
And so, My review. Its prejudiced.
If it were a scent, its bottled essence of stilll vibrating loss, of sentimental idealism and self indulgence hanging naked and so playfully alone - waiting, insisting, out of utter vain depravity for rescue. The feeling when your sweetheart flies away form you, or when you put flowers on a grave, an ache. a special ache. bottled in a handy pump pack.
Sold wherever you can find Imperial Leather, Silk Cut and Lucazade. Its Coherently pulsatining driving us to an aching grey conclusion. Its they onanistic hate that made them leave the EU so they could sit in wallpapered rooms listening to this without the oversight on an MEP, who surely was spotting the metrication of records, and the final death of Imperial Units. God Save the King. Pip.
The Strokes
5/5
a 21C Band. Rock.
Live is alive. Rock is back.
Yeah, every track builds on the last in rising mood and tempo and an evolving style. We are getting there, alright.
Ah yes Bore and Stroke and Injection and Exhaust. All apt analogies for the cover action.
The tone and rising intensity keeps ramping,; we are working our way along the tacho ...
Everything is new but familiar. It borrows everything from the previous 2-3 decades. Like the Matrix film did. It works as a whole.
Fresh. Propulsive. Tickles my fancy. BOOM!
R.E.M.
5/5
... like an enormous Star on the end of a Girder, you might miss it if you don't look up, and pause. music that moves every song rubs through your body like a soothing cord, and then some almost move you to tears, or to dance, or to shout in exultation of the beauty and exquisite pain and delicious richness and terrible precariousness of life and music that once in a while just gets it.... sometime hypnotic, calming, or evocative of the most painful moments and episodes. it's the comfoet of reapting a familiar chord and letting it out...healing. they are angels come to sing to us, while we toil fumble and stumble, they get us to look up and see the hand, or the fire, the point, or the star sticking out in the sky, and go on. or the whole album could just be about sex and loss, dear kitten. read the lyrics.
Serge Gainsbourg
5/5
oh, yeah, smooo-ooth, lush and pure 1970s. Quelle Poesie decontracte, esprit de reves. This is so different & new to me. I do like a concept album from time to time.... (But if I had to guess, the its Francoise Hardy, (but I'm wrong, its Jane Birkin) and yes zeh eenglish weeel be geluwss that a french man can spend an album in admiring contemplation of a single, fascinating woman while sustaining our rapt attention.
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
New to this and them ... as an album and barely know the key tracks. Saving this to listen to again....it's all very good isn't it.
Parliament
4/5
Happy to be here, but how can I be so late to this party? I am new to P-Funk, Parliament-Funkadelic, etc. This is better than any imitations that have come since. pure enjoyment. stylish, ultra cool, joyful concept and the instrumentation even works. warm vocals, hilarious, and they know it.
Talking Heads
3/5
I may benefit from narrated guidance ... as to WHY an album in included. I listened to it like novice. And while I appreciated the guitar noodling and changes of styles it left me cold... UNTIL the lyrical and rhythmic slow * TAKE ME TO THE RIVER * - which got me. So alive and playful like a new language after the tinny stuff before it... Is this track and stylistic transition why the album was selected ? It's the sound I associate with talking heads, so maybe this is their breakthrough or experimental album from which this big new sound emerged? Curious now. 3/5 as an album for me.
U2
5/5
Each U2 album an atmosphere and set of anthems we know like a multiplication table. With this new sound, they go it right again. Even if you see it as a product like Madonna, this was on very Heavy Rotation on cassette my car. So good to listen to it in order. My brain still knows it this way. Resolution: listen more to the favourite albums of youth. They press the buttons so well. Enjoyed that.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
stylish. good stuff.. some excellent HITS ... but, I cant listen to a whole album of them, as much I *want to*.... and the tinny drum machine just grates and lacks the warmth I like for techno - a distinct & unique sound though for the 80s and 90s. Please, just the hits.
Motörhead
4/5
Brings back the excellent documentary about Lemmy. Entertaining story and good music that was too big for me in the 80s but now I enjoy it, good fun, almost comedic music, I see it as fun not serious rock now, to listen to with a wry smile. This guy is an icon... He looks and acts like a philosophical Roady, living for the moment, and the poker machine at the end of the bar ...and sex with his groupies and bourbon slacker life on the road ... Other will describe this better and. Have more attachment to it... Not my top album but the sound is defining for the times ...
Def Leppard
5/5
It took a long time to like in the 80s. I wasn't into heavy rock ....and again I am surprised how much I enjoy it now.... considering I have only heard this during the 1980s, from a cassette player on and only Renault distorted speakers... It's really quite good. 3 years to record, with a one armed drummer (that's not why) this was a huge hit ...
Tom Waits
4/5
the incomparable Tom Waits. this album is slower and more atmospheric than the others I know. and the ealrier the album, the less gravel in his voice. some songs are a shambles and yet there is beauty soul and execution in Jersey Girl, which is so Springsteen, and then I remembered he does a cover... (a fun and obscure crossover I hadn't realised), in the ends it's a LUMPY . gems, rough stones, and inexplicable flat spots.
The Fall
1/5
Ok, Lool, I tried. It sounded like a blend of punk and mod and a few tracks sound like the beginnings of a Joy Division sound. Not one of the greatest albums of all time. An interesting musical sampler of sorts. if you were doing a course on the evoluition fo British music. I assume it's an important transition album, or it represents a genre or "moment" in music. but I don't like it... I wil let Wikipedia do the rest as they say it best, actually
" their music has generally been characterised by an abrasive, repetitive guitar-driven sound, tense bass and drum rhythms, and Smith's caustic lyrics"
yep.
Funkadelic
5/5
Fucking out there. Artistry.
The Sonics
2/5
I like the guitar. but mostly it's music to repel grown ups. All the noise.
Ok I get the history and influence of the sound.
If you can get past being screamed at and the assault on our hearing .. . ( I hate distortion ) and the stupid screaming, then it's almost good. They were onto something... It's been copied so much it makes me think of "Wild Thing" by the whatever's ... I lost interest fast
Travis
5/5
Definitely belongs on any list of music that defined the 90s. Was everywhere. And it's exquisite on headphones. Very slick.
Fats Domino
4/5
Took me a bit ro get into it and then by "trust me" I was bopping. This era started rock n roll and modern music, the inventive new sounds are important... And there is walking blues and jazz and swing and everything mixed in. I didn't realise his single FatMan is considered by some as the first ever rock n roll singles. or that he sold 100 million albums. It almost got boring until I read about the origins of rock n roll on wikipedia and the then it came to sounds that defined it . I wonder if the others like Sister Rosetta Tharpe get it... But so many were singles and not albums back then....
Gang Of Four
2/5
Well executed but not my sound. Post Punk 80s... His voice sounds like a lot of bands of the time... Did he sing with Duran Duran?
The Temptations
5/5
(rounding up to 5, because I want to rememebr to listen more to thise guys) Tempatations cloud 9 - tight. but ti not the GREATESt HITS... its a new sonbd maybe,.., makes me want more"1001" is a wide ranging tour and education, .. and even this is new for me. I know the name. thats it. ...You can enjoy the breakthrough unique sound and just imagine how amazing it would have sounded "in the day" when I captured the sound of that summer and excitement of the time. plus is beautiful to listen too. vocals. tapping beat and a sound so often imitated...
The Beach Boys
4/5
In a nutshell: first time ever paying attention and listening ot them - soothing, easy to listen to and very catchy indeed, so yeah, Surprisingly good, tight and varied. I understand (form reading) its poppy energetic on sideA and quiet introspective on side B - a real concept album, they say. They have a mature and artful sound here for sure. So educative.
AND also, kind of loved the album for social curiosity/etymological reasons too; hearing the language of the YOUTH era used (without self consciousness? Not sure) terms and content like Groovy, Square, “put me down” , “turn me on” all with layered connotations today of course.
MORE:
Surprising myself by giving it 4-5 stars, thus demonstrating the Simultaneous GENIUS and JOY of discovering critically acclaimed albums you would never otherwise listen to. Th Beach Boys “today!” is catchy, happy and evoking care free, dreamy youth / surf vibes for me more than most bands... I admit never having sat down to actually "intently listen to Beach Boys“ but generally i see them as “easy listening defined”, it provides a cushy wall to lean against and it doesn’t intrude on the one hand, but then jump in /throws up a richly happy sound with its twangy guitar anthems…. (still a bit “tin can sound” for me overall, but thats maybe an aside).
they are so enticing and woven into American cinema and TV, then when Beach Bosy summer anthems come on, it is like i have them as implanted memories of driving to the beach in my parents’ station wagon to meet my friends and surf followed by a coke while watching the sunset. Maybe its something relatable, form growing up on the West Coast of Western Australia. (but) Being a kids of 80s Perth, I doubt I got much Beach Boys on FM radio - so my beach boys memories are probably due to overexposure to flashback/fantasy sequences in The Wonder Years or <cringe> ALF (h, no, its coming backt o me now… TV commercials doing covers, and “Help me Rhonda” on Alf…, got done a few times, and our brains love repetition, so I accept zero blame!) .
Pixies
4/5
(generally i thought i LIKED Pixies... but...) Likes: 1) the DRUMS on every track are great.... and gets me bopping to the the drums start and reckon it's gonna by a 4... her voice.
DISLIKES but his yelling was a bit much ... oo a Debaser....
best tracks : I bleed (for the bass line and slow build , slow liscious drums laid on..) .
Pink Floyd
1/5
Torn. dont like, it, but objecitvely I cna admire what it does. I see it as an interesting historical curiosity - probably breakthough stuff at the time, and shows how far PF developed in their distinctive mastery. I remember int he 80s as a big PF fan trying hard to listen to this but really not liking it. Not much has changed.... I appreicate the originality, interesting stylized stuff (I could really do *without* the painful, oddly nauseating and saddening spacey 9 minute synthesizer trip - very out there, ok done, glad its over! ). But overall, its not that engaging, also think this music would make for an unpleasant terrifying acid trip if this si what was playing in the background. where is the joy and uplift. its not what "wonder" sounds like to me. However, I persisted, and then came to the final tracks.. needed comic releif is provided in the form of THE GNOME which is fun and sounds very stoned & playful. I think teenage stoners of the 80's much have been quoting this, and i didnt understand... So, PF; they have achived a high quality window into distorted perception in this album which experiments a LOT with new sounds, and they had relaitvely little to work with as tools, so well done... Hoorah. also "bike" has some perfect auditory echoes which are hallucinatory (NOx-like) , this would have been very new then. and maybe not understood. But as an album, happy to leave it again for abother 40 years, TBH.
Happy Mondays
1/5
unhappy. English industrial . the cover looks like they just want to poss you off. the music does the same.
Mott The Hoople
2/5
I am writing this in a bad mood. Does it show? An obscure album name, which almost helped piss me off before I even listened to it... So expectations low. Piano is opening track sounds out of tune, music sounds like flat boring air guitar stuff. The track title "Hym for the dudes" is meh. Got at far as the title BALLAD, and yeah I don't get this kind of 70s rock.
Elastica
5/5
never heard of them. Is this another drummer-led band? I think, then,... turns out I know & LOVE "connection" for it's edginess and her sexy voice... its 90's joyfully relived, Turns out I would have been a massive fan if I knew them. discovery! Best tracks on first listen are: Smile (oh YEAH on the finish), Connection, Car Song, Blue, (and yet, GREAT drummer, i love their sense of rythmn, and her voice is at an indiscirbable sweet spot of soft refined, and yet a punky edge makes her elusively sexy to listen to.
50 Cent
2/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
This is one reasons to do this. Listen to albums you never say down to understand and appreciate. They have their own sound. Out there on their own mastered it and stayed Distinctive ... I don't know what you call this funky r&b bear but it works and it's great. Full of anthems of our time. Breaking the Girl. Give it Away! Blood sugar sex magic .. under the bridge Are standouts. Some low points but legendary rock tight bands live sound. Captivating singer.
Rocket From The Crypt
1/5
I was bracing myself before it started and then Ugggh. How can I describe the sound? Soundtrack for a shot movie about awkward skater boys? The kind of music they'd have in a Jackass film. Intentionally annoying shitm Cultural sludge of America. Maybe it's supposed to be funny and Beavis and Buthead laughed at it while headbanging . 1 star because the drummer worked hard. Woeful song titles.
Sonic Youth
4/5
(and to my ears thoroughly distinctive original) and surprisingly resonant sound and use of strings and percussion, (there is an Eastern influence somehow?) and whatever it's called when harmonies echoes and overlap happily. Needs a room, and the echo of a student share house without furniture, loose drapes, incense, and ....
Sonic Youth
3/5
Wanted to like it more ... But to was noisy. Self indulgent. Unpolished. Unpleasing... Not a single standout good track. Listed to it twice.
Pavement
1/5
Made in 1992 and sounds like 1992 - the kind of music someone who wishes they were in a band would like. Good drummer. Alternative indie cool boy music .... I am sure the smart lyrics would make a guy smile. But you missed your window with me and there is nothing that speaks to me... I was probably into Cake. But this feels garage noisy distortion. No joy or melody for me.... Music for a Sydney SoCal 90's Kegger?
Spiritualized
4/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
a great grooving goth intro ...and then Vooodoo Dolly opened up. superb atmospherics (at once chanelling through time: Ute Lempur, Nirvana, Cure, B52s and some other batshit crazy stuff, but tight )
Sound like Banshees alright, fun loud shrill, and jungle girl sounds... wild woman lyrics, - its impressive for 1981 and i imagine it was influential and the tribal drums very new...I LIKED the propelling transporting beats of Arabian Nights, It is goth, is it punk, is it girl garage band? its empowered, in your face and avant guard. Feels like 1988. Spellbound rang a bell,but pretty sure this is entirely NEW MUSIC for me
B.B. King
5/5
Great performance and recording strong and young! I saw this man perform live at the age of 83. He did it all but his voice was heavier and gravelly, and he did it sitting down... Yes. Blues. Touring his whole life to pay for the 13 children dependant on him (and their mothers). This would have been going mainstream.... A joy to hear his baby young voice and the crowd are so exuberant and involved, he bends the notes in his inimitable style so well, a bonus is stereo in 1965. Great recording. No hits on it but what an intro it would have been for mainstream.... authentic as hell
The Zombies
2/5
tracks on this album are either good or shit for me. (at first lost on me) disliked weak voices and British fragile crappy sounding instrumentation - hurts me, like listening to Andrew Lloyd Weber with the vacuum turned on, while someone's mum sings along doing housework. I wanted to shut off the music and walk away!...
So, I skipped through the 2nd half of each track .. Then "time of the Season" hit a note and the album completely shifted to something else completely with some synth organ and hitting their stride " she's not there " was on the 40th anniversary version of the album.. but wait. That's a bonus from another album. Still shitm . Only 2.5 stars.
Ice T
1/5
one sentence review: (Liked "first Impression" for the humour, but I can agree with the words, if you listen to it...) at first enjoyed & felt all cool and tough like gansta, but soon it reminded me why I just dont listen to Rap - gives me a headache, glorifies shitty lifestyle/actions/gang war, machine gun violence, childish, mindless, full of violent disturbing boasts and attitudes, the horrible underbelly of the american psyche of the disempoered and alientated. they want ot destroy the system taht destroys and marginaises them. sounds cool for a sountrack.... but grates really quickly... hardly uplifitngif you listen tot the words.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
A very unexoted 4. Could this be the answer to my unanswered questions form the film American Beauty? Ah so this is the punk music I missed out on. Better than the sex pistols. Sounds like the sister act. But with better instruments. They took it seriously? Anyway... Yep. She has a kind of a voice and we'll stylaised.... Good brass and the drum kits gets a workout, and telling. it wants to woman does a better job . Funnest songs. THE DAY the world turns dayglo. ( I found my self humming "I am am an ar Christ...." Somehow) . How funny . By the time art-i-ficial came on I think I could like this guys despite it all... Where's my hair gel, safety pin, and tartan? It's fun. "my mind is like a plastic bag" is beautifully dernaged and she goes on to perform a wonderfully unhinged salute. Landmark. It this American beauty explained? She channels Bellatrix Lestrange for a moment ... Is Helena B.H. a time shifter too? What's that, cockney? But yes. Thanks for the Edyukation.
Kate Bush
4/5
Original varied
There are almost no female voices in this list of 1001. And there is so much shitty garage experimentation, and not enough masterwork. Those are my two criticisms of the list..... Back to this album.. side b. that's where the magic of this album is for me. Either way, Kate, it's been a while... I had you on cassette. Nice to hear your mad genius and kaleidoscopic arabesque on a hifi instead a plastic 80s Stereo. there is something wonderful and very Gemeinde about it.... Although shrill at times and hard to take on LARGE doses, here we have something completely different richly executed. Art. I can't go without mentioning the very suggestive flower on the cover... This has nothing to do with the photo shoots she did for the album.... in case the title didn't give it away, clearly marketed as boudoir music... But when you enter, there is a lot more to handle. The prescience of \"deeper understanding\" and the impact of computers and consumerism and loneliness in our world. Not easy to listen to. But brilliant and demanding. With flowers
Jazmine Sullivan
1/5
I am noticing a theme here - music that can be PERFORMED for an audience wins me over far more than stuff you might have mixed in your bedroom for YOURSELF. first impression is hthis is a private musical diary and scrapbook of their "TRUTH" great for them.... (first track, fully of "Get it together Bitch..." and yeah yeah acapella whaling). I am saying to myself "on no, more American urban attitude and shared trauma, violence and struggle... there isnt going to be a single song on here". I have nothing against social commentary / perosnal dioary turned into an album.... but in this case, nup. this is an urban petry project, an interesting cultural document, but not for me, enjoyable. I am not the audience, I know. Do I really need to deal with the attitude and statements-as-music .... I don't disagree with the social messages and aspirations, necessarily or owning your own script in urban life. but the MUSIC IS LACKING . zero enjoyment... but a good and mabe significant social historical document/project 1 star.
Metallica
4/5
hearing it immediately after Back in Black by ACDC, it is unfair to compare - the drumming and seething power is different here... angrier and more snarl (which make the AC DC boys seem sinpler, happy and loud). not that darkness is needed in rock - its raw power it taps into. but here there is also a somehow subtler finesse that is more easily heard - details that endure scrutiny. Shit guys, I need to say its Ornate, and what they are doing is "on show". a performance of power, almost POSING, no illusion of spontaneous animal rock here. ?. maybe that is part of the magic of AC DC, it works and you don't question why. (whereas if we call this virtuoso stuff more "American" - well it is from the first track, it's telling you why it's special - the slapping/tapping timbre and thunder drums is really attention grabbing... then the restraint and musical "The Unforgiven" shows their control in a way that juts spoves their skill but also everything I just said (even if the cutover form intro int hat song is harsh IMO). I Like it, I admire it, but I find myself feeling it's much more "commercial" and pristine as heavy rock goes. The skill and talent of the musician's is beyond question. showpiece stuff. But what is missing? relatability? is all this showing off putting distance between artist and audience?. and yes, too much twiddling on the guitar at times, and what that up-tick and "ah" at the end of words. over-laboured? yes to me it is Ornate heavy rock, at times it even operatic "wherever I may roam" was tiresome for me. I guess this is what 1001 albums and thinking about music does - I sound like a record shop tosser now. who cares. no one is ready, ha! Nonetheless the first song from the album is all class. 4.5 stars... marked down because it's a bit much, despite great musicianship.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
Two reviews here. Kate Bush (5) + cee-lo (2).
1st: Cee-Lo to get it out of the way. way too self indulgent self referential onanistic crap. funky in parts... But ultimately annoyingin large doses.
2nd 5 stars for Kate Bush The Sensual world.(I PRESSED Didn't LISTEN BY ACCIDENT)
There are almost no female voices in this list of 1001. And there is so much shitty garage experimentation, and not enough masterwork. Those are my two criticisms of the list..... Back to this album.. side b. that's where the magic of this album is for me. Either way, Kate, it's been a while... I had you on cassette. Nice to hear your mad genius and kaleidoscopic arabesque on a hifi instead a plastic 80s Stereo. there is something wonderful and very Gemeinde about it.... Although shrill at times and hard to take on LARGE doses, here we have something completely different richly executed. Art. I can't go without mentioning the very suggestive flower on the cover... This has nothing to do with the photo shoots she did for the album.... in case the title didn't give it away, clearly marketed as boudoir music... But when you enter, there is a lot more to handle. The prescience of "deeper understanding" and the impact of computers and consumerism and loneliness in our world. Not easy to listen to. But brilliant and demanding. With flowers
AC/DC
5/5
This is music I only appreciated in my 4th decade onwards- Hells bells is important, given the theme and history of the album, but track 1 feels badly mixed with the bell oddly subtracting in stereo, "shoot to thrill" is the first that does it for me ... by track 5 the vicals are really soaring anf then boom, guiar , drums and lyrics all explore forth on |Back in Black. A singular song. NOTE to self...full enjoyment of this bass-driven power-rock album is brillaint with big drivers and a subwoofer to feel the kicker in the car.... I will always remember playing Back in Black at top volume through Klosters one fine summer ... windows open so the locals got to enjoy it with us, while exporting Full Bogan (this music is actually more popular in Germany than Australia, where they have the - often deadly- Rock Am Ring rock festival.). so, its a unique sound and this band owns it 100%. on Shake a leg, i heard vibrfato int he voice like Led Zeps lead singer--- how i wonder if they every payed together? sparks.
Fela Kuti
5/5
an easy 4 or 5. It was cooking from the first track "lets get started what we came into the room to do". a whole new artist for me. Ginga Bekaaar. I was transported easily to another time and place. grooving background bop, made me think of shuffling around while cooking, and its pure gentle propulsion. Irrisistable drum music from africa, with synthesizer, standard drumkit, and a bunch of stuff, even horns... the audio quality for a live recording in 1970 is very good. not a boring moment either, despite the improv bits. SO I went on the net to read that it is "The album is on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 greatest live albums of all time. " yeah I see that. so which one is the Ginger and do he Smeeell? :-)
Little Simz
4/5
ok, this is entertaining. fun even. I dont like MOST rap. ,But unlike most urban stuff , this has some nice head candy / enjoyable musical sounds, pace, attitude, and its lyrical and fast. The lyrics are catchy. But they cant be sung out loud in public. Fun irrisistable new music for me. 4. ***(I am impressed my her releases since this 2019 album. Her style has evolved veryu quickly and her African and jazz influenced album is very VERY enjoyable to listen. An artist to watch - maybe my eyes werent open or int he right places ?***
Nina Simone
5/5
(please come back to her if you're new and find it odd. For example go away and listen to SUGARMAN, and My Baby Just Cares for Me. Or read about her life and music. Shit she made it despite it all.) . Pure Nina. (YT MUSIC has 2 versions. The oink cover is better. Very different tracks so maybe a glitch?) From the first track opening, I am at a 5. I am at five at the last too. Such an intimate recording. Amazing despite having none of her greatest work...., (usually the quality isnt great for 69s live,as far as I know. Is this an) it's like sittig on stage between the instruments. She moves from playfyul carefree joy, with that 'smile' in her voice, to the breakup and slow heartbreak songs like at track2 where voice is pain, rendered beautiful, and then ... back to where ? Its lady sings the blues on this album, even Summertime is subdued, restrained. I know her for songs of joy. and here she is live, singing her pain,which was her life.,.. can you imagine being there to see it live? Nina is art. her life was pain. Ive listened to her SugarMan and My Baby Just Cares for Me 1000 times, but never this. amazed. they saved a taste fo her best, the redemption, for last. If you listen carefully to her highs on the last track (Fine and Mellow) , her voice is like a muted trumpet. Alright! ****(NB: the algo followed this one up with "Mad About You (Live at Koningin Elisabethzaal 2012) Hooverphonic With Orchestra Live 2012***** its all soaring troubles and strings. oh. mad about you....
N.W.A.
3/5
While dreaded a dose of yet another rap hip hop, which is not one of my preferred styles,
This one is - at times - actually funny a bit catchy and less unpleasant/malevolent general. And then Express Yourself is a bit upbeat. Still, would I ever listen to them again? No.. . Not really. Maybe only that one track....
Bebel Gilberto
5/5
Sumptuous opening track. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Bossa Nova music style. And real music.
If you like this just a littel bit, go listen to RED HOT +RIO (a compilation) or the all time classic album that will blow you away "Getz/Gilberto" .
This album gives me hope for The List. ....which needs more variegation, World and more Varied (and female) voices, and less rancid rap, garage and punk. But hey, another time we can go down the allmusic ratings, or rolling stone lists, right? And this has been educative so far.
Bebel. She was Eva in the film Rio, is a brazilian bossa nova figure, she is NOT descended from Astrid Gilberto, but IS descended from Brazilian guitarist / vocalist João Gilberto (Astrid's ex), and her mother was singer Miúcha.
So, maybe we will hear the album "Getz/Gilberto" which has two of my all time favourite tracks. I'm off to Rio now....
Elvis Costello
3/5
I like his popular stuff. He is quirky. Interesting. Sings like a wonky gentle punk Brit who got dunked in punk then blues, and this is what came out. Playful yet sad, upbeat and depressing in equal measure. Perfect teen alternative music.
Heaven 17
3/5
And now for something completely different. Ahead of their time clearly. But their
Lyrics could be considered, funny, in very bad taste, or inviting violent insurrection depending on your perspective.
Too bad they didn't develop this further. At times they
MC Solaar
5/5
(it helps to know french). 5 stars. A Smart mimic and comedian, hilarious complex and double-entendre lyrics linking wildly unrelated concepts. It's a fun juxtaposition - surprising to hear childhood & everyday french phrases. Catchy. enjoyable. Yes, rap can be fun and intelligent. \"Bouge de là\" (part 1) provides a veritable thesaurus 'get out of here's and he goes on to mixes a bit of Reggae and plays across cultures. He is great mimic and a comedian.
. There is some English language in \"La musique adoucit\" (the music softens you).
Rush
1/5
Annoying. For me, sorry, this is boring. Music from another planet. A planet called air guitar hero? Seriously this was a bit album in 1981? Thin reedy lyrics. Huge drum kit presence.... Big guitars. Droning forever. I can just imagine the long hair. Alas, I have found a new band I don't like. I need an antidote to wash the taste out....
Fred Neil
1/5
Sorry, this is boring. It's now caricature, maybe that's why it's on the list (so 80s megaband, so baaaad, it's good?). I'd happily listen to David Lee Roth, but not this. I give it a slot as "80s obscure /do they have big permed HAIR/ in the video game "air guitar hero"? Thin reedy lyrics. Huge O v E R d O n E drum kit presence. Big guitars. And tiring stereo effects that go on forever. And zero groove. Droning forever. Oh my.
Gene Clark
5/5
Surprised by this album and it's history.( But first, a Note: previous review text=duplicate, but for me it's still a "1" . Felt like Johnny Mathis hour. Didn't finish... )
Ok. So. I am new to Gene Clarke. Fellas, I Gotta admit, yet another unfamiliar cover and name...I was dreading (yet another) obscure "back shelf" 1970s music that essential" by old music afficionados.
That band called Rush ...was not a rush.
I knocked off my grumpiness and listened to this on the big speakers instead of headphones (to appreciate it better, and also so I can run away if I need to!)
...so I read that this "Gene Clarke" was in the Byrds. And hung with/collaborated with the influential music and culture types in 60s California and wrote this album after full days meditating and staring out to seea.
So it's going to be soothing and contemplative. And maybe a touch floaty...
Also, The 'Pedia says he "was in the vanguard of popular music during much of his career, prefiguring developments in such disparate subgenres as psychedelic rock, baroque pop, newgrass, country rock, and alternative country. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Byrds"
And that's what's this sounds like.
Sure there's big tape hiss.
An interesting discovery album, and pity it didn't get recognised until recently.
As "education" for 70s music this works for me... maybe this is just the right album. It's musical, well arranged and recorded, and quite pleasing to the ear with plenty of warm resonances, mood creating, and playful. I needed this as antidote to some of the painful garbage on this list.
I can hear the sound and rhythms pre-saging / reminiscent of "the horse with no name". This could be a soundtrack to a movie of the 60's.
And by the time "No Other" comes up, you're enveloped in its rich shaggy pile and the guitar does something wonderful, I think this would be in my "mellow/grand chill" music pile to bliss out to.
As it starts to soar. I want to read the lyrics. Apparently he wrote sober but very psychedelic/floaty/other dimensions are there. Like burning gens cooling in the sun...
This album is especially nice through some big old speakers in a living room.
Bookshelf speakers without a sub-woofer won't do it justice, sorry.
In conclusion, this is the kind of album that makes it worth persisting with the "flat spots" of this list.
A nice discovery.
In summary: warm trippy early 70s California freedom in the sunshine soft psychedelic rock... the perfect album to play on a summer road trip in a big station wagon on the west coast, or in a big old holiday house overlooking the sea.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Bit of a sampler isn't it?
First track is the bomb... Housemate used to pump it loud on the roller speakers 3 times a week before going on dates. It's stuck as a good time song ever since.
He does a full range of styles like his slow romantic "snowball" or "slow" songs for dancing cheek to cheek
.. this was the 50s....
How new and strange this would have sounded in 1956. It's all there... But as always, despite liking Elvis after 5 songs I tire of it. So 4 stars. But it's important...
Arcade Fire
2/5
Not my sweet spot. Agha I thought I liked the band, some sounds are good but a whole album is aaahhh, what the word? To closed and constrained ? kind of flat homogeneous and featureless and I suppose no life to it...
3 stars...
That kind of serious music you hear and think "what's this?". Sounds interesting, but then after a few songs nothing seems to happen.
Yes, worthy, good background atmosphere cool stuff but I'm not getting it.
The National
4/5
It's a grower. Culminating in Bloodbuzz. Listened a few times to the whole album. Enjoy it. The vocal warmth I think is what makes it work, and energy. Good stuff.
Blue Cheer
2/5
A musical education for me. The first few tracks are ok...but.... Sounds a lot like 1968 Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix, (could it be they had the same peddles and guitars?)so.... Blue Cheer is, for me, unheard of... and I have no idea how this was called Heavy Metal. Different times. Anyway. It's ok, as a historical album. But not listening again... Only can only listen to so many guitar solos.... 3 stars tops. 2.5 maybe.
Wilco
5/5
Finally. An album I actually have.
A favourite. It's atmospherics.
Thanks Jonathan for recommending it in ZRH.
It's a defining album of the first decade of the 2000s. But does anyone know it.
Bare with it, let it envelope. And do it's thing.
This time I listen on headphones for the first time, and I get a whole other layer of intimacy... It's surprisingly vulnerable, personal and feels honest.
The corn cob cover (Marina City complex towers in Chicago).
The rejected album.
"She tasted like mountain dew and maraschino cherries"
It's a building somewhere.
A full five stars from me.
CHIC
5/5
Enjoyable album to play again and again, plus if you use a streaming service, the algorithm will go on to provide an endless stream of groove based on this, as a tasteful follow-up.
This albums is the kind of music that
A) DJ Sarcastic Elbows plays at Cotton Mouth records
B) cool seduction music to play in sunken lounges beside a lava lamp
c) fun groovig beats to drive to. put youy in a GOOD mood.
The warmth of a 70s hifi ... Only funky.
5
LL Cool J
2/5
Wondering, will he hear better stuff like true masters in the genre , like Ina Kamoze " here comes the hotstepper" , or Run DMC and the Beastie Boys? Or Arrested Development?
There are some fun and pleasing rhythmic party tracks with a rolling bass line, contagious and on a subwoofer.... Ok? And his voice isn't all screechy. It's quite warm. But what got it on The 1001? A mystery. Is it saucy lyrics ? Did it empower low rider owners to bounce in time. The threat of "making your g spot sore" for it's originality ? Mmm , mood music for da strip club...?
Or is it purely thew commerical success he made, as evidenced by his jewelry ? ( gold is a good hedge against inflation, he is right there).
His voice has potential but I want more that smart ass lyrics spoken on a slickly produced album. Take the lyrical peregrinations of his most popular track "doin it" pleading "yo baby open the back door" . There is much worse
Here is an extract from Til Da Break of Dawn.
"Homeboy, hold on, my rhymes are so strong
Nothing could go wrong, so why do you prolong?
Songs that ain't strong, brother, you're dead wrong
And got the nerve to have them Star Trek shades on
Ha, you can't handle the whole weight
Skin needs lotion, teeth need Colgate
Wise up you little burnt-up french fry
I'm that type of guy"
The Power Of God is an interesting departure. .
Aerosmith
1/5
not my thing. Performance / stage / big concert music for the MTV generation, the stage performances keep you paying attention, a few fun bits but nostalgia aside, its not great. nothing to see here.
Guns N' Roses
2/5
Ahh the Gunners.... how can they be ignored?
My 1st actual album listen. starts off sounding solid ... lets go trackj bvy track this time...
1. Jungle. I know this one.
2. "It's so easy" is an angry rape anthem. Nope.
3 &4 . "Night train" & "out to get me" are a copy of ACDC with a Kiss chorus.
5. Mr Brownstone opens like a Stone's track ,but then he starts to sing and it's over. Skip.
6. Paradise City. That's more like it. This is their sound. All energy. And great whaling. Easy catchy chorus. Good one.
7. My Michelle. Dumb/flat.
8. More filler.... flat/Skip.
9. Sweet child of mine. Ah! Iconic 80s big rock music ....instantly recognised. Signature track. The opening guitar, love it. How can lyrics that say so little imply so much? The defining song of the album. And the joy is prolonged by an actually *good guitar solo*. Top stuff
I have mostly though of this band as "ok" etnertaining, Halloween fun with garish Costumes included. heavy rock people sing along to after a few drinks... Now that I have actually listened to a whole album, my opinion of them is lowered, they're ok ... but "Sweet Child of Mine" is very good as an 80s anthem that captures soemthing of the big carefree celebratory zeitgeit of big rock acts of the day.
(But the debased portrayal of rapey sex and misogyny of some of the lyrics on other sings can't be ignored.)
trivia: But they sold 100 millions albums (matching Fats Domino, how funny) , made the most expensive album in history (14 million) and the most successful tour by a US Band (dwarfed by U2 and Rolling Stones and even Ed Sheeran and Elton John).
They sure left a mark. An icon. But...
N.E.R.D
3/5
"Fly or die" . Ok let's get urban and possibly deeply ironic, yeah :-) . It ticks a genre box I suppose. I'm curious as to why it's on the list... I drop my bias for a moment... I looked for their most popular track.. "she wants to move".. and reluctantly, I can say , on the 2nd listen, does have a certain catchy and original style, on the 2nd listen. Sometimes you have to give new music some time... As the album cover advertises so well what it is, it's easy to see this as juvenile american boy music with attitude. Mostly not for me, and at first it really defies me to see what it defines, achieves or says. ... I actively disliked much if it. As the review mentions they worked hard to make something that others see... Party Rap rock. I started to hear influences of Nirvana harmonies and heavy 90s rock updated ....with modern bit band overtones - moments of Timberlake without the vocal gifts. So that's how I got to 3 stars instead of 1. Bruv slates, andLive long and prosper, fellas. (But I am not sure you broke the metaphorical shell of our understanding of brash American culture).
The Kinks
2/5
"Fly or die" . Ok let's get urban and possibly deeply ironic, yeah :-) . It ticks a genre box I suppose. I'm curious as to why it's on the list... I drop my bias for a moment... I looked for their most popular track.. "she wants to move".. and reluctantly, I can say , on the 2nd listen, does have a certain catchy and original style, on the 2nd listen. Sometimes you have to give new music some time... As the album cover advertises so well what it is, it's easy to see this as juvenile american boy music with attitude. Mostly not for me, and at first it really defies me to see what it defines, achieves or says. ... I actively disliked much if it. As the review mentions they worked hard to make something that others see... Party Rap rock. I started to hear influences of Nirvana harmonies and heavy 90s rock updated ....with modern bit band overtones - moments of Timberlake without the vocal gifts. So that's how I got to 3 stars instead of 1. Bruv slates, andLive long and prosper, fellas. (But I am not sure you broke the metaphorical shell of our understanding of brash American culture).
Metallica
1/5
Symphonies of strung out boredom. Enter Sandman was just ok. Why mess with perfection? This genre crossover experiment is strictly for fans.
Personally, I would have gone for Baroque period instruments and gotten a bit more floral, or then tied in Ravel & Tchaikovsky influences....
Or at least Danny Elfman, might have made it fun actually! Whereas, thing might have been entertaining - this is about as attention grabbing as a Hans Zimmer 90s soundtrack (he did better with Dune & Blade runner 2049, so he's not all bad a digress. )
Stick with electric strings.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
Whitney minstrel noise for old men. I was there already when I was 21. Love this shit. Inexplicable - he just has a groove and way with words and non stories...
Beatles
3/5
Born after 1970... I remain unmoved. It's and album of soft background music of the era. I have never listened to so much of this band in all my life... Why does this not speak to me?
Doves
1/5
Also for the oddments pile. Even when contrasted with Hawkwind, which i sampled immediately before, not especially soothing, musical, entertaining or uplifting. Again, unpleasant and verging on noisy and mechanical then flicking over to ballads. Or whiney and deflating, like english weather. yes, thats it. heavy low clouds, rain, puddles and mud with a druggy tone that is more bathroom echoes that any kind fo pleasant tickling of the lower or upper ganglia.
Le Tigre
5/5
What an amazing quirky band. I nearly shut it off after 5 seconds , but it turns out their work is quite varied, intelligent and the screaching is used selectively, thankfully. Interesting lyrics. Varied style. (Mr Elbows can tell me the name for this style as I am ignorant)
Turns out I got interested enough to look up their more recent work. How did these guys stay under the radar so long? I guess that's Indy music - you end up getting noticed on a soundtrack selected by people with great taste...
Good stuff - quirky, good stuff. Feels like walking down King St Newtown after a strong espresso....
Beatles
2/5
Look. It's ok. Enough beetles.
The Only Ones
3/5
I gave it a 2nd listen. It's an interesting garage band sound, at moments sounds like the Violent Femmes (ah, high school days!). And there is that punk sneer to the vocals ...Some good sounds but changes style constantly. (Another Girl and Breaking Down are very youth targeted, and I can imagine them doing well a tragically cool alternative live music scene in the 80s. Surprised it was the 70s.. .This sounds more like a well made demo tape than something ready for radio. It has signs of attitude, or of a potentially great guitar band strutting it's stuff. I hear some Doors and Stones and even Patti Smith sounds - but I find the vocals depressing. Pity that heroin stopped them in their tracks, no pun intended. Interesting historical stuff but not going to listen to it again ... not quite there for me
Steely Dan
3/5
A familiar easy listening sound, but didnt know this by name... I now see its good easy listening mix of jazz blues rock and other experiments. I cant dislike it, but its doesnt make a strong impression on me.
The Doors
5/5
Morrison Hotel - The Doors
Yes, yes, and yes. What an album - this is what I expected to find lots of - amazing , superb albums, that capture: an essence; a style; a moment in music; or cultural/musical shift. This is also wonderful for listening simply for its enjoyment and artistry. Yes, 5+ stars. Amazing album, I simply loved *every* track, cohesive and really enjoyable and interesting music, its elevating and soaring, catching blues rock psychedelia (I suppose ), sometimes bawdy in sound, then lilting and trippy, then rollicking and catch, and so, so different to the other music of the times. Behind the catchy tunes are rather challenging, political, or counter culture or simply obtusely poetic and psychedelic messages, if you can be bothered with the lyrics. And a joy - it is the kind of music to turn up loud and exalt in, its so enjoyably unique and bizarre, beautifully executed, they really defined something so different. Naturally, reminded me of the Doors movie, but also of the track "The End" used for the Opening scene of the film "Apocalypse Now" - which has a strange resonance right now, but that's for another article. The Doors. Super solid album. More like this please.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
And again. They pull off doing blues and never admitting the ruse... First and last tracks blow it out of the water. Really music defining. I've greatly enjoyed the Stones through the last few decades. This album captures much of what I like. Grandstanding pouty confident grinding big blues with a mix of unexpected tenderness , whimsy, as that contagious & rythmic. Sounds convincingly gritty at times depsite the blues premise... they pulled it off - showmen. And they just got better, and better. but kind of I comprehensible at times. As is life. More.
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Perplexing.... This is more bizarre and more obscure and odd than I knew music could. A maddening english riddle. Is this Month Python under cover? Or is this the turgor they mock? These are the people who made clockwork orange and a dish called toad in a hole.
4/5
Liked it more than I expected... will give them some more listing time. For the simple reason that bands like Radiohead and Muse get written up so well, and then I find its "meh" for me. These guys are slick, smooth consistent and well produced. I think I need to listen more to fully get the sound. One word summary 'slick' .... But I wasn't truly listening... (But it certainly didn't annoy me, which is a relief after the recent albums on this list!)
The Byrds
3/5
Ok, and lets try some spacey folk rock. How different the 60s were. the slower pace, the tinny instruments, cheery tone - I know its not beach boys but it does remind me of their carefree stuff. Apparently an important album for US to have somethign so Byrds could Beeetle and Stones. Its innoffensive eneough but to my modern ear today a bit slow...
The La's
3/5
1990s music I havent heard of?. hmm. They really are a throwback sound. is the time signature or beats different? A 60s brit/liverpool sound I read... but I didnt "bond" with it in the 90;s so this music doesnt speak to me. "there she goes" of course... (turns out I had heard that one). Yeah, it warms up as the album goes on. like a live show. form a musicology perspective it may have been super influential. but not on me.
Wilco
5/5
Ins E always found this band hits my sweet spot. Like all sweet spots, it's hard to describe. Soothing gentle, perfect for a Friday morning, grooves on, but it's not juts the guitar sound, he has a happy warm voice that does the work. I love the uniqueness of his confusingly happy minor key (or whatever it is he does) vocals and melodies .... I blame California stars.
Funkadelic
4/5
Pledge a groovallegiance to the funk.
Do you promise to Funk the whole funk and nothing but the funk?
Cat Stevens
4/5
Early Cat Stevens. It could be a 2 or a 5 depending on your mood and sensibilities. its slow and dated but not annoying or boring. He was a bit of a heretic even ealry on it seems. His lyrics are commentary. Father & Son. he has such a warm style, and voice, and still cuts through with a universal voice and appeal... I enjoyed somethign less jangly today.
Maxwell
5/5
This promises a lot on Wikipedia, so I'm ready for the swing and gliding entry of the opening track of The Shagadelic Love Pad, I mean "Urban Hang Suite". you guys hated it, but for me, its grooving sexy beats get more and more mellow and sensual using all the tell tell sounds, until its obviously romance atmosphere music and dimly lit hotel room or rug by the fire scenery comes to mind. I managed until track 10 before It actually felt a bit too cheesy and self conscious, by the time its The Suite Theme is very post coital somnolence. ha, this is so cheesy and cool, and done with such a straight face, that it made me smile. I see why the Algo suggested to play next songs from Marvin Gaye and George Howard (but not Barry WHite, that would have been too much!)
3/5
Let's do this. Nü-metal. If not for a film soundtrack for The Matrix, I'd have never heard of these danger dudes ("Take a look around" still does pack a sweat punch). It can be grating and rythmic and still I can heal some begrudging praise, but the subject matter is awful.
So, debasement can be an aim, in music, and life.
Does it belong in the list? Maybe. So does Tool, maybe more so?
Do I like it... But Man, it's wrecking music for an insane workout... not sure I want to listen to music as loud as this needs to beheard (it's better when it's so loud you can hear it bouncing off a neighbours' house... I do believe it is designed to do that). but those few catchy songs, what can I say? It's not completely awful but it's so damned RARE to feel this angry and destructive....
Overall 3
Jeff Beck
2/5
As musical education and history I see why it's here. I didn't especially like it but it's not "bad" or "annoying'. A showcases some vood guitar and drumming, changes styles a fair bit, shows off solid blues. It's music historian or serious guitar student collection stuff ... but to my ear, it's very much "period music" when listened to in 2023. Reminds me of Hendrix era. even is it's "important" and worthy and well rates, definitely not going to listen again and in terms of pleasure provided for me 2 stars, despite the artistry.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Enjoyed it great funky sound track. Enjoyed. Grooves and has that warm 1970s groove. Sounds 1,000 miles away from what was playing in the rest of the world, but sounds incredibly influential.
The Cure
5/5
The Cure. Transporting, defining music of the last 2 decades of the 20thC. And of my generation for sure Yes, they belong on a list like this. They are good, too good, at what they do. I had forgotten what it is to listen to, and then enter, beautiful discomfort. at first you resist it as moody angsty stuff. but if you want to remember the feelings of teenage alienation, unrequited love, and the complex moods of those hormonal, transitional, and so formative and yet whimsical/melancholic/exciting/hopeful and disoriented times? Disintegration, is sounds almost glib to say it, but it evokes all the longing, pain, empty moody depressed emotions of a teen breakup, or alientation, or sense of isolation so well.... Their melodies and lyrics (their strange so beautifully evoke emptiness, sadness, and Hopelessness with a capital H. As an online reveiwer from Immortal Reviews wrote: "The Cure's Disintegration is an ode to depression, capturing the hopelessness of it in a perfectly..." and then there is this : “A protracted wallow in the misery of love unrequited or recalled in hopeless desolation” is what Britain's Q magazine called Disintegration. And that is their artistry. I always liked (and needed, as an antidote for any listening to their painful cure) their 1 or 2 "happy" tracks best. (Just Like Heaven, "Friday I'm In Love", lovecats. They do make pain beautiful. they do sadnes well, so they also know how to evoke an exquisite joy. I am reluctantly giving this a 5, despite not *wanting* to listent to this at the outsiet, but its quite the psychological exploration. and then the music; they were masters. Small doses.
Slint
2/5
(if you skip track 1) it's Stylishly made music of seething perfectionism. Akin to listening to eloquently phrased pain, there are some very atmospheric moments, with "Washer" we get a taste of something a bit more cinematic, with building a menacing undertone, oh yes the foreboding is rising, especially if you listen to the lyrics .... It's an 8 minute track. The kind of music a pensive serial killer might unwind and do the dishes to. I admire the art, but in the end, I dislike it.
Steely Dan
2/5
MORE Steely Dan .. ? is this list rigged towards a certain demographic? Do I attempt to critique this ak I'm? It's probably another breakthrough concept album of semi all importance and stylistic brilliance that ... Anyway.
I didn't know I could be found listening to a Steely Dan album TWICE in a year But there you go. It's very up and down. Some tracks "reeling the years" rock on. Other are easy listening but uninteresting. Doesn't really stand up well these days, to these ears. It sounded old to me in the 80s.
Is this what pro and anti drug or prostitution messages were like back then? I'm not sure what the title is saying. Or the cover art. Something about self addressed envelopes making people happy.
NO more Steely Dan please. Or beetles.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
229 Midnight Ride - Paul Revere & The Raiders
Please indulge a lack of concision here. We like music from what Springsteen so aptly named our “Glory Days”.
And so, it’s hard to break through that. Its highly personal idiosyncratic and down to taste mostly, or so we think. But if we’re honest and informed about the neuroscience and genetics of our programmed preferences – what we like is also a product of time and environment but is largely beyond our own free will and volition. We like and dislike stuff based on criteria that are largely set for us, not by us. And one of those is familiarity and repetition. Or the known formulae for catchy, and the earworm… And the attention we have given it, the memories associated it with; the film, party, personal or relationship (real or imagined), a special place and time. Or maybe it’s something you find very danceable….
Where is the DANCEABLE music? This list was not, I hypothesize again, made with much input from dancers. Or women. You can tell. It’s a list overweight with introspective, male oriented, sitting on the bean-bag listening guitar rock, experimental, and psychedelic in a U.K. and US 60’s -70s stuff
And then there are masterpieces. Which brings me to his album, and its about time I do.
The (3) times I listened to this album... and each time it played though without any track truly grabbing me. Oddly, its the 1960s stuff that came on next due to "auto play" on my streaming services, fed by algorithm , that I liked. Every bloody time. Just when I thought, “oh I like this one, what is it?”
“I'm not your stepping stone” is ok – but that was familiar because of the Monkeys’s version. So does it count?
Its hard to like unfamiliar music. And unless you really have an interest in 1960's music or styles, or good memories linked to it, its risky - its hard to break through and inform our taste anew with an unknown album. And 1960s stuff is going to sound quaint and slow.
So this album didn't jump out at me. I don’t dislike the band. This album does nothing special for me. So why is it hear?
"Baby Please don’t go"" is not on this album
NOTE TO SELF - CONCLUSION / THOUGHT - I am adding this one to the pile to be labelled "Textbook stuff", yes it was part of my musical education and broadening of repertoire. I can now name a band I was COMPLETELY ignorant of.,. I've heard the style and heard their experiments now. Tick that box. And I tried really hard to ‘get’ it. But this album, just ticks the box of making progress on the 1001 list goal. I could regret slowing down and spending hours exploring this slightly featureless flatspot of an album that presses no particular buttons for me, but you now what? I learned:
1. If its not working, after a 2nd glance SKIP the album. As an antidote, listen to a few hits from the decade. there is plenty to like in the 60’s - atime of Singles. Get the taste out…
2. There is work involved to sift and find gold and new discoveries. But it sticks out when you find if. Trust your instant reactions.
While it failed to move me.. in a way THIS ALBUM HAS SOMETHIGN FOR EVERYONE.
"get it on" soulful on the Hammond Organ (or send up of square culture?)
"SHAKE IT UP" . could be called "pretend at home" its background music to a 70's film with a house party - except the sound of people talking in the background has been added in.
"Little girl in the 4th row" - it is creepy, is it a lullaby? Is it just trying way too hard, and from an era where it seemed oddly sweet to serenade a fan so shamelessly and exploitatively ?
Likewise, "melody for an unknown girl" is like an awkward musician writes a musical Personal's Ad which is innocent and hopeful, but also irksome, obvious, and immature and I dont want to be rude. So I will stop.
SS396 – oh boy! a song about a car (Chevrolet Chevelle) it sounds like advertising.
An interesting archaeological artefact from a more innocent time when popular music and productions were less polished, hyper aware of criticism and varnished into something indistinct. Its doesn't stand up well today. Remove from list…
Hawkwind
2/5
I am putting this in the "unusual" pile.
Having at least *heard* of these guys, I flicked off the actual album, went and listened to hits Master of the Universe & Silver Machine. And then I remembered Motorhead. The band. Music doesnt need a point, or message, or form, it can just be.
I seek not to understand. I bare witness.
It has its moments. Guitar grind. But I do wonder though what potion you need to take it with for this music to fully 'work'.
Steve Halpern is far more transporting. And pleasant
I feel the need for a towel folded under my feet to reduce the disorientation and nausea.
The guitars are good - but is it because of Lemme?
For me, this lacks the pleasant vibe I'd like to have during space travel. This is akin to riding in the back of a Transit van with a broken muffler all the way north on the M6.
I'll take an early exit.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
1/5
Oh lordy that was painful. Shortly after (quite bad experimental track) "Blues Pt 2 " I had to stop..classical attempts are notable for the hellish amateurism.
This albums reassures me of my recent conclusions about this list. It's definitely not about the 1001 ***best*** albums.
Some parts of the album are so bad they taint the okay parts. Definitely doesn't work for me.
I'm starting to think think this list was put together by someone with very wide ranging and obscure tastes which seems to excessively and detrimentally favour uniqueness, curiosity factor or obscurity of the material (perhaps with an exhaustively éducative goal?) over enjoyability or objective quality.
The quality/ enjoyment of the last 20 albums has been very inconsistent.
Big Star
4/5
Amazingly, this album still sounds timeless and fresh despite being from 1978.
Some of these are quite beautiful midnight guitar ballads of love or regret. How is it some albums can sound terrible, forced, dated, awkwardly produced by amateurs, and this one still sounds to current, universal and well made ?
So finally another wonderful “discovery” album... so much to it, too.
Nice to have this for phase two of my use of the 1001 list. I am using it to not just listen and rate, btu also understand why on album is considered important or influential...
The 1001 book isn't much help (uses too much impenetrable ‘insider’ shorthand ) so I resort to internet articles and they say enough when I ask basic questions like “why is big star considered influential?" Yes, evidently this band is held responsible for what we recognise as 80's and 90's "alternative pop" sound, or our beloved, lamenting university radio (or Triple J in Australia) at the time.
This - they say - is the most influential band no one has heard of. My online search yielded this (rolling stone) comment: "It's a record of gorgeous, disjointed heartbreak ballads." and this (from “insidehook”) that “Third wouldn’t have sounded out of place on ’90s college rock radio at all."
I agree. It still sounds current... yes, hauntingly good stuff and sounds fully 1990's and very playable at midnight. their languid stuff is very good indeed if you're in the mood for it. Standout for me were: Dream Lover , Nature Boy, Night time- sound so perfectly ahead of their time. and do remind me of a softer version of REM .
I did note that Chris Bell (vocals, guitar) sounds, to my ear, very, VERY Australian on Motel Blues (on another album).
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
The Message by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Edit - My reviews and tone may get a bit more neutral and maybe upbeat... because I am now reading up on the influence / likely reason an album is here, so I know a bit better what I am in for, and thus less bemused about "what is this?".
So thank you 1001 list for introducing me to this seminal album/group.
They (MC’s and DJs coming together) paved the way by going from "house parties" to recording studios with their new form of music - rap and hip hop, with important social commentary. It is going to be hard to rate this separately from the obvious importance of a work (I get it) from personal enjoyment, as I don't listen to this style much... and I am only learning to appreciate how much this was “breakthrough” as a style and voice.
LIKES
+very high quality, no rubbish on this album - (slick and professional in a good way)
+warm grooves, oddly soothing and comforting sound
+history lesson/art education about his being the first band and seminal work in the style of HIP HOP
+oddly familiar (I suppose endlessly covered is why)
DISLIKES
-its a bit slow at times, and demands attention,
COOL
% whole song dedicated to celebrating / devoted to “Stevie Wonder” as “the Greatest”
% Hearing all the special sounds and cuts and stuff they probably invested, in its original context and early form.
% there is a dance remix of The Message. That
Notable tracks -
The Message - Turns out I know this song "The Message". It’s very well produced, catchy beat and rolling vocals carry me along ... has a warm, listening style, despite the harsh themes covered. I can see how it got the status of “anthem”.
New York - cautionary tales, with a cool signature voice effect I dont know the same for..
Scorpio - seems to showcase use of a robot voice - I expect this was very new at the time... and was very cool for the time.
Summary: definitely “must listen” as part fo a good Musicology education of the seminal works and sounds that started it all. Top quality production and enjoyable listening. Its objectively high quality art of a new style. I enjoyed it, and its nice to know it a bit better. And to understand its importance socially too.
Does it belong on a 1001 list? (1-5) 5
Personal Enjoyment (1-5) 3.5
Will I listen again? Maybe
Final score. 4
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
It's an experiment. Conceptual. A study. Collage. Moments. Observations. All smashed together. It is art and expression but horribly unlistenable. It serves as conceptual art... Ingredients to pull out and do something with later, like the junk drawer. Mostly it is rubbish when countenanced as such. Few will know what to do with it.
DOES IT Belong on the kist.? Maybe so we can aste a bit and move on fast... Debatable if you only have 1001. A 2?
Maybe there is a category for noise in musicology. If so maybe there are tigers than can sit noisy beside this one.
Did I enjoy it even finish it? No.
A 1 from me.
1
Sigur Rós
5/5
It is what the articles suggested it to be. Original - so very Icelandic and other "ic" words like Cinematic, beautiful Ágætis Byrjun - Sigur Rós
Summer up in a phrase "Take me dreaming, carry me, languid , through a mystic dream forest to the exquisite slate mountain so I can sleep in the Heaven up there"
So soothing and well suited to soundtrackers and past listeners of Eno or maybe minimalists who can tolerate a soundscape album for a while - music for those who can hold unfamiliar music and can grasp imagining a film scene or creating in their "KopfKino" a continuance after the seminal scene of a films climax , the ones where the camera rises, and floats before it blurs or darkens after that long drift (like at the end credits of La Grande Belezza, or in films like Wings if Desire ).... Me, in other words.
I really enjoyed how this website did a well researched review that went wide and deep,included reference to Huldufólk, the Icelandic island’s native elfin population, and its potential relevance when first listening to this so it needn't seem so odd. Well it will still be odd. But it's like a soundtrack to a very different movie ... And knowing there might be elves there gives you an opening into the ethereal fairy world you are invited to share.
https://classicalbumsundays.com/album-of-the-month-sigur-ros-agaetis-byrjun/
So
Imagine Brian Eno music for airports meets Nick Cave and Warren Ellis music for odd movie moments. - the outcome is something ethereal and very organic feeling ... and depicting elves maybe, in this highly original Icelandic music with lots of words ending in "-ic" to describe it
Cinematic is grasp reach and ambition. Lands it too.
Artistic and ambitious - and gets there.
The sonic landscape of the elves and of being enthralled , engulfed, embraced warmly and sonically
Ethereal
Enigmatic and yes somehow familiar and soothing.
Melodic and yet some schrill moments - there is falsetto
Incomprehensible nordic tongue means you hear the voice and don't understand the words except in a soothing transporting nautical way like a half dream. It
Reminds me greatly of "music for airports" by Brian Eno (especially on Avalon) .. and also of Moments of late Hansa Zimmer here too (blade runner 2049 )
I imagine making this , especially when young, this isdaring stuff, not even done as a project for a film, with a support or pointz but as stand alone is quite something. And they stuck with it for more than one experiment. Imagine it in black mirror or cinema credits. They can do some amazing stuff.
Yes it could be trippy. I'm not sure if the effect would be happy or unhappy if you were floating drugged to this soundtrack. To my ear you don't need anything. It does enough on its own
NOTED WITH INTEREST. to keep the vibe going after this album, the algo again came up with the gorgeous sounding SONG FOR ZULA by Phosphorescent.. and then the lovely, so lovely Palace played HEAVEN UP THERE. Oh yes... That might be a direct influence and connection right there ? I do thank you, algo.
I like it when that happens. More of this for a haggard soul.
Not for everyone but if you're this far into the list, you can probably handle almost anything. And hopefully this soothed.
Should it be here on the list? Yes. 4-5 (wonderful and unqiue for a genre, unsure how influential or important it is, but beauty and art it is to me ...)
Like it? 4.5
Overall. Oh gosh a 5.
I'd like to hear more Palace since we are here. Written completely sober, save for the entrancement if this album ....
This album sustains an idea a long as half an album side ... And yet has
Stevie Wonder
5/5
His 16th album. I had no idea he was so prolific, or had a record deal at age 12, and they say here is was at the height of his powers - from his “classical period” this is one of his best, most perfect works (3 consecutive Grammy best album awards in the 70’s - and he not only defined the sound of the 70s, he is a joyful voice for so many feelings, moments and places - thats a legacy and influence). Thai album, I learned, is considered “his the most consistent, most coherent and most perfect of all Stevie Wonder albums“ . And yes, I found it spectacular for so many reasons. His beautiful warm and delicate voice. Motown is so soulful enjoyable happy and upbeat. And then the emotion evoked, when understanding it an important political / social document on post 60’s disappointment - the promise that didn't materialise. Succinctly summarised here ( I am neither expert nor succinct enough to do better): https://somethingelsereviews.com/2015/08/06/stevie-wonder-innervisions/
So onwards...
MY IMPRESSIONS
Simply put its a beautiful album. Very cohesive in sound. Agreed.
Fascinating wonderfully and elevating . He does tender, beautiful, intelligent and strong simultaneously.
Moving if you actually sit , pause, and listen to understand what he is singing about.
Standout tracks for me?(so hard to choose)
Higher Ground.
Summary
Does it belong on a 1001 list? (1-5) 5 yes.
Personal Enjoyment (1-5) 5
Will I listen again? Yes
Final score. On easy 5.
What a standout talent and impact for all of us... not to mention so many other albums spanning decades, the “other” version of Happy Birthday and its significance to many Americans. Entertainer, and true leader and culture shaper.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
Disclaimer - mostly on country, I am more I Solent and heretic that irreverent. You see country is a style that I have never taken fully seriously for it's bizarre plaintive and repetition, not least the wonky noises it makes. (Think of the use of Blue Bayou in Mars Attacks film, as a weapon that killed Martians ... that will out you on my wavelength , dear reader, as there can only be one of you, too!)
This album, well the band name is a clue, - A curiosity and highly entertaining as a pisstake of country and folk and whatever the cool style of the moment was. (I mean, does style and gentle matter...? . )The lyrics are meant to be funny right. Right??! It's like the send up/hamming up - beautifully done - in the fillum O'Brother Where Art Though? It's gelled so stiff it's caricature. And thus funny. And "Sin City" could be what " A man if constant sorry " was based on....
Performed with a stupor and straight face, it would make me grin ear to ear. I can rarely handle country except ironically, and this helped me chill and smile wryly while sipping from my jar and thumbing the hole in my overalls.
Surely "Juanito" is both parody or horror of true childish male debasement of women.
Does it belong here? Not sure. To tick a box?
Did I like it? It's ok.mnif it gives you the giggles but then gets painfully plaintive
Sometimes it serves to entertain (like the upbeat, My Uncle).
Actually better is the soundtrack to OH BROTHER WHERE ART THOUGH ? ...
Final rating. I barely care to rate it... It induces such deep hopelessness and apathy, as perhaps it should.
Radiohead
1/5
The Wizard of Oz had a yellow brick road, Dorothy, travelling buddies, and encouraging affirmations to sing so the journey was less painful ... Instead, Radiohead listeners WANT the pain. Exhibit A: their most popular track is “Creep” , which soars in beautifully articulated self disposing teen-like shame pain. A quick ‘taste’ is enough for most. So, this is exhibit B: An entire album about a protagonist suffering from severe anxiety and social isolation, unable to get the contact and joy they seek. A bit like that bit in Pilgrims Progress, where, weighed down by his Burden (his own filth and shame literally strapped to his back), the protagonist sinks into the Slough of Despond. If you want, this album can take you there. To that feeling. And it sounds so screeching and grating, others will close the door so you can be really alone with it.
So don’t listen to this. Look for the metaphorical steps. Climb out. Seek help.,
Yes a purpose in life it to learn to adaptively LEAN IN to your own pain, and not always seek comfort, if you’re to grow. But sitting and listening to this is just depressing.
So what is the attraction of Radiohead ? Why is this pain enjoyable? Does it feel deserved. Is the illusion that diving in you come out the bottom, stronger?
On the other hand, researching the musically influences for this album led me to re-find some excellent ambient techno from last century (“we are the music makers”). So its not all bad.
Why its hear? Because serious muso seem to like it. Is it art? Yes. Do I like it? No. Especially the voice. And the music. Rating 1.
Mercury Rev
4/5
I liked it. From the first track. Its cinematic and quirky, only a few tracks detracted (was it theramin they ruined it with? or a saw? c'mon.) but anyway.... gentle and flowing to the point of almost boring, perfect for odd cinema and TV or a scenic road trip through alps or majestic valley in a desert, or tripping (the psychadelic connection isn't hard to make)
I do think you could go for a walk in a forest to this and not realise the music is playing - its so breezy and atmospheric. (it would just blend with the situation, and make sense, carrying you along.
SO YES, seeing I liked, it, I wondered and thought why not? ... so, yes - I dared, I LISTENED TO THE INSTRUMENTAL VERSION OF THIS OBSCURE LITTLE ALBUM.
Yes, there’s more! Its even better and cleaner.
This is going to appeal to listeners of classical and soundtrack, and gentle ambient music, and it is evocative - hence , yes, I liked that even more. warm slow pulsing builds BUT NOW WITH MORE HORN! and some harp...Not kidding. .
Yes, psychaledic rock, I like.
Best tracks, Opus 40, Godess on a Hiway, Holes.
Does it belong here?. Probably because its obscure and they hung around., and maybe there isnt much recent Psyrock around?
Do I like it? yes, I do like Psychadelic rock. its a great soundtracky journey. and somehow it dint annoy me.
4.5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Ragged glory - Neil Young
The guitar on the first track: S U P E R B. Feels like a concert (and on reading, I find it sort of was). Oh the warm and soothing sounds of Neil Young. He constantly evolved, (he has done so much over the decades - I love his “Harvest Moon” version). Apparently this album was another renewal. It certainly sounds like wonderful jam session among friends (the internet explains they recorded all their “sets” across 2 weeks, and chose the best version of each song).
They capture a polished yet “live” and natural feeling very well.
It works, and you feel invited to be right there. Quirky, homemade, and real. Just go with it. Let it work.
And I love how they sound somehow celebratory and carefree... "it gives me peace of mind, and leave myself behind"
Apparently they call this ‘garage rock’
A full throated 5 from me.
Billy Joel
4/5
The piano man never lets down. He is Mr Consistent. Oddly I didn't know the album, but yes to the tracks, obviously perhaps, from cassette days... I thought it would sound more dated after all these years. Good stuff. Timeless? Definitely polished and well produced. He fills the well worn slot if story teller for the everyday man , where relatable suburban music is rare on this list.
It's not hard to listen to. Or understand buts relatable. Decent. It's like music or stories that are welcome because parts of them are already known, I served, either familiar tropes, or silent echoes already in your soul, like an ancestor. I don't know if I can critique it, we so easily dismiss what works well because it's isn't hard.
4
The Band
3/5
Screwing with database is since the 1960's these guys clearly were experimental and willing to mix different styles which I guess that's why it's in this list it's a Fusion kind of crossover in a bit of Bluegrass mix it country mixed with I don't know probably do I love it no do I hate it no it's it's ok soft background country 20 fun stuff 600mm
Simply Red
5/5
Warm and enjoyable over big speakers for pretty much anyone who lived and loved through the 80s a wonderful reminder of the joy of Simply Red and his bouncy locks and magical voice... And what a nice way to wake up. Great blue eyed soul (was it always called that?).
Cheap Trick
2/5
fun . much more enjoyable and familair than I expected.
because I thought I woudl compeltely hateit. but it felt like caracature rock for Japan to thrash out and headbang to... who is to say?
belong? no idea.
Love? not especialy.
and I in a bad mood now form all this mediocrity and obscuranus on this list today? yes.
k.d. lang
5/5
So different at the time. So alternative it was our mainstream. Stunning. Gripping emotional languid emotional almost purple and atmospheric - a sound that lasted a decade until we probably heard it too much. Soft samba country blue no genre ...
It's so VERY different to occasionally turgid garage boy albums on this list. Yes this is much needed colour, warmth, sensuality and a female swooning voice. Take me to your place and play this.
Wild Beasts
4/5
It's well produced. Alternative and non standard.A bit haunting and soundtrack like. Atmospheric. Polished. Experimental clanging and lyrical with a good little drum kit. Warbling lyricist who does all kinds of things. Creatively courageous because it isn't going to be a commercial hit and would be hard to give radio play, or tour with.... I didn't bother reading why it's important or who's side project this was. Good but not a bringer of particular joy.
Does It deserve to be on 1001 list? Hard to see why... There is a lot of very interesting instrumental stuff that never sees the light of day. Why this one?
How much did I love it...? 3-4. I could listen again.
The Beach Boys
1/5
Soundtrack to a kids film? I thought at times it was a 45 rpm played at 33 rpm. Dated. To the point of feeling archival. Not groovy.
Turbonegro
1/5
This might make sense on a cassette. But in a different place time and music system than mine. As the song by this band says "all my friends are dead" and "FTW" and "don't say motherfucker motherfucker" sum up their developmental advancement and contribution to the art.
Ian Dury
1/5
Oh the british.
Like childish song sung by a sock puppet.
Rubbish.
The mentality of a teenager. Creepy when sung by an adult.
We expect so much more now.
This aged poorly.
Take it off. Off.
Deep Purple
1/5
Um yeah. I accidentally listened to a Delux edition and the album had a about 30 too many tracks.
This band is in the category of " a few tracks good, a whole album, bad"
So it hurt after a while.
I imagine some people like this rock opera and maybe it brings back power ballad memories, like maybe running helicopter missions on speed in Vietnam, with this on an 8 track. But I wasn't there man.
Frank Black
5/5
((Totally new for me. Excellent and different. a relief it isn't crap. This is a wretched list))
Adventurous? ...you like it non-standard sometimes? Or maybe you are bored and need something edgier to meet your mood ?
Take one of these then. It might work....
Excellently chaotic music, suited well to almost any mood, but perhaps best suited driving top down along Mulholland at some crepuscular dawn after an all night pool party, half open Hawaiian shirt, RayBans and a 52mm girth Cuban between the lips.
Haven't you heard of this band? Me either. He played with the Pixies. This description from Wikipedia makes help to make sense of what is going on, and why the guitar sounds are pressing familiar buttons you can't put you're finger on:
"His vocal style has varied from a screaming, yowling delivery as lead vocalist of Pixies to a more measured and melodic style in his solo career.[4] His cryptic lyrics mostly explore unconventional subjects, such as surrealism, UFOs, and biblical violence, along with science fiction and surf culture.[5] His use of atypical meter signatures, loud–quiet dynamics, and distinct preference for live-to-two-track recording during his time with the Catholics, give him a distinct style within alternative rock.[6]
Source: Wikipedia, obviously.
The Sugarcubes
5/5
Björk the screaming sparring angel. So playful and Acid drenched... A fascinating warm and merry band of revellers twirling the skirts of reality - bluegrass and freeform meets dervish singers..... I also liked her on 808 State....
The War On Drugs
5/5
I almost missed it, but had a 2nd listen. Atmospheric stuff, languid and cinematic and a bit soundtrack-ish
Sunday morning music.
But small speakers ruin it
Large speakers let it's warmth fill the room properly, and revel the artifice. A massive echo, sounds like it recorded in a big warehouse - hence big atmospheric airy feel.
And so I look them up. Toying this year. Subdue Opera House in December.
TV On The Radio
1/5
2008. rated album of the year by some. why havent I hear of it? I play their best of... / most popular in descending order. nothing for me today.
Tidy, atmospheric, but the vocals dont light me up. Boring boy music?
So I tried not to dismiss them. I listened all the way through GOLDEN AGE.
Nothing.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
I actually like the yeah yeah Yeahs I liked every truck on this album it's a funny playful punky super firm screeching with playful delight kinda sexy
Van Morrison
4/5
What's not to like?
Perfectly suited to chilling . Great rainy day music. Amazing that it stands up so well from the 1960s...
And there is nothing quite like can Morrison... I don't think anyone even imitates it...
Best when not overplayed. (Like the 90's after the Julie Roberts film - sleeping with the enemy....) That was rough.
Yes belongs on the list
...
Not my all time favourite musician. But a big soft spot. 4 starts
Blur
5/5
Hello blur. That gorilla sound. French autoroutes. Driving. European summers.Im finking about leaving the house. And I crack a beer. And I am happy for the test fo the day.
Know what I mean ?
Iron Butterfly
2/5
ok, my instant reaction was this is the kind of whacky stuff that many of us first heard on all those soundtracks of vietnam war era Hollywood films that came flooding out in the 1980s - way out psychadelic road rock.
I got into those for a while, but I dont recall ever hearing of this. We are in woodstock territory here. Not sure when I will next be in the mood for that...
Or how this is different or better than the ones that were successful- sound very similar. If "in-a-gadda-da-vida" is meant to sound like siganture anthem - the noodling is fun and familiar vbluesy, but then its a bit overdone and verges on rock opera.... oh my.
JAY Z
3/5
Main review - started as a 4 or 5 but i see how others ended on a 3...
His voice works for the genre, and he has a distinctive sound, and a lot of melodic complexity, breaks out into singing - the very well woven in (seemlessly?) samples and mixed with other singers - what a great example. Apparently 20 years on.
The beats and sounds work for my ear, and bring a playful joy and intricacy that is both polished and enjoyable ... Energy and yet - slow beat - is this called swingin' ?
I cant but agree with terms like “lush” and “effortless” The best tracks have a warm richness and evoke fun motown so smoothly woven / counterpointing the samples.
But ...
then it takes darker turn (so awkwardly it sounded like caricature/irony/pisstake to me.. I thought Weird Al Yankovic got the mic) - oh boy - he needs to claim and show and explain how great he is.. And it get less happy in tone and the words revert to bragging themes... As the albums cover suggest ( on urban african american posing on a large wooden desk with leather writing pad, smoking a cigar, showing status and holding audience - ) in the end, has all the hip hop signs of “show and explain” the status and triumphant superiority and brittle socially constructive redemption and mutual destruction inherent to urban masculinity.
Which is abrasive and boring, and doesn't give something that i take up and run with, thats for sure... is it the cover for urban boys - puffed up status - so hollow.
Post script
I know so little about Hip hop, I had to look up how it differs to rap (which I now know is a musicall offshoot of 4 part culture/artistic movement of music dance street art and xxx) . This album - released 11 September 2001 - (yes, 9/11) continues my exploration of the genre which is due to this 1001 list. Before this I mostly hear it incidentally if it was charting (although I once owned a cassette by “the disposable heroes of hiphoprisy” which i found interesting social commentary)
When I hear one I like, I am basically surprised, so I have started a playlist called something like “rap & hop hop I actually like” (because I cant tell the difference between hop hop and rap yet - and it mostly unusual to find one that is energising happy and pleasant - I dislike most for their harsh rapping, misogyny and violent dissing and shgit-taliing, and general non melodic aggressive beats - ) . Some are cool - and have warm grooves and powerful lyrics, and - maybe - a pleasant voiced singer who does something other than claim exceptional amazing, superior dominance and power over enemies he wants to smoke for their transgressions.
There is some literature on the particular socially constructed (reactionary/ insecure/shame based debased then exalted) male identity, misogyny etc of the genre. Because it is reactionary - emergent and I’d like to know better how to describe what this is, socially, psychologically and in terms of identity. Is it self aware? Its definitely archetypical and caricature - young bloods, gnasters, bosses, intimidations and war etc . Its about “getting out” and not being like the rest (which is what they were so.....?). Rejection of the self - shame and a type of false confidence and a constructed and possibly false self? Disowning a part of yourself - and them I remember “Jenny from the Block” , when she goes back and owns that part of herself her past , her origin story, transforming the whole identity or making peace with it, or is it PR?
I would like to read more on this thing.
But pain produces something beautiful sometimes and this subculture gives a voice about injustice, social political and identify issues....
Unique. Important. If harder to understand when you aren't the intended audience.
Sepultura
1/5
I think this might be a quick listen and review.
I think its heavymetal.
Excelent power ballad stuff for those seeking it in this form. Deeply unpleasant voice that evokes horror, disturbing feelings of visceral unpleasantness and nausea.
Id give them a chnace with a different vocalist... if life was longer?
I need 30 seconds before I shut it down., or.... the time it took to write this.
Scritti Politti
1/5
OK we are 1980s caricature now. Is there a famous or brilliant track here, is this Paula Abdul's backing band doing intro music for straight to VCR movies?
Hmm cater a few tracks...is album is here because it fits into a micro genre and if we're going to fill out the entire colour wheel of musical genres in this house and one album left we're taking a box birth other than the curiosity fact there in musical education of 80s synth pop background music that could well be elevator music I really don't understand what special here
De La Soul
5/5
Ah De la Soul. The happy smiling voice grooves. They make hip hop sound SO much lighter than anyone I can think of right now... Of course it's more a private listen, as opposed to radio, so unless you had an album, you don't hear this much... Outside clubland, that is, and even then it was faster remixes.... A welcome shift in mood. And I so like the gentle pace. For grooving. And chilling
hadn't noticed the whole thing was like a gentle hip hop Sesame Street ... It's explaining the basics. ... Life lessons and a big piss take. Like.
Belong on the list .. yes but not sure it's their best album. Was it breakthrough?
Like. 4-5/5
Elton John
2/5
Proof I am not an Elton man, I havent heard of the album. that is also how ignorant I am of the 70s. Does he rival the piano man for ballads, i hear you ask? its ok road music... is it telling a story I relate to like Billy Joel?
its pleasant enough, and doesnt offend.
I cant beleive there is a 3 disc 50th anniversary version to draw all this out though.
Life must have been SO BORING and dry for this to ignite anything. Oh England in the 1970s was so awkward.
The Bees
5/5
Thank you 1001 for introducing me to do many new albums. Except for all the crap ones like the one after this.... Music is meant to be fun.
To press a musical pleasure button.
Bring about a wanted emotion or distract from an unwanted one.
This one is a very, very out there version that. This is at the DEADPOOL end of the spectrum. Soothing quirky irony is track one. I gird myself for the 2nd. Oooh, funky. I like the kettle. Oh shit I might be hooked on a new album. And wildly new genre that feels created all for me.
I'm in a good mood with this. Immediately added this to my "grooving mornings" playlist.
Pulp
4/5
oH mY. carefree, songs that make me long for my party friends.
TWO HAPPY ALBUMS IN A ROW.
WELL DONE 1001!
This is class stuff. Classy. classic. and even has sing along and dancable stuff. old favourites - so yeah a sentimental choice.
Summary:
1. Belongs on a list of 1001 - no idea... It's interesting. But how unique or influential, I don't know OK.
2. Do I like it? Yes. One if albums to own. 4-5.
yes.
Guided By Voices
1/5
...my instant reaction this is going to be more of that whacky (cool?) stuff on all those nostalgic/atmopsheric/retro soundtracks of Hollywood 1980s 'vietnam' war films. - way out psychadelic road rock 8 track rediscovery stuff... generously or optimistically thinking "ah, We are in Woodstock territory here. Not sure when I will next be in the mood for that..., but maybe this is ithe time?"
If "in-a-gadda-da-vida" is meant to sound like their signature anthem for their album, the first 20 seconds of noodling is fun and familiar, but then its a bit overdone and verges on rock opera.... oh my. the vocals lets this down. not for me.
Method Man
3/5
Its not aweful.
I have now heard even more hip hop and can say I heard something offshot from wu-tan clan but I miss the signifcance and imprtance shirotically msuically or otherwise?
why is this different enough to include?
Its smooth consistent and like one long background track for a ganster scene - repetitive for me, you?
its not talkoing ot me, its not my pain, origin, style or scene
I see puff daddy helped on a remix...
Black Sabbath
1/5
According to a rolling stone article it's a drug fuelled masterpiece from 1972.
To me it's a slow version of heavy metal, which I basically don't listen to, except for a bit of Motorhead, and a bit of ACDC (its energising stuff now)kind of ironically for fun.. .
gentle even... rock opera? anyway, i saw them live in Sydney 15 years ago and it was history, education,
It is funny how this music was so rebellious and harsh and scary to people in the 1970s, compared to how normal and tame it sounds now. they clearly were very influential..
SUMMARY
IT belongs ON THE LIST? probaly. imprtant. 3 ish...?
Do I love it? no. 1-2
Marvin Gaye
5/5
This moves. A change of pace alright. SO DIFFERENT to the turgid stuff in this part of the 1001 list.So slick and lush and almost painfully sensual
(this makes the mainstream stuff others were playing feel cold and remote...an aside on album art - fonts aside - the cover photo is modern, still).
This album moves... what a voice, and style. tight band.
If this is his first attempt at funk, he nails it.
... and he isnt even at "sexual healing" (that was 10 years later!) , but he is on the topic already, as captured on the wikipedia page for this album.
...this deserves to be on the list.
and I like it.
An easy, so easy, 5 and I am just 3 tracks in.
Steve Earle
3/5
Well boys, if am going to listen to this, I am going to need a Trucker handle (name) for my CB radio chatter , but cant decide between Moonshine & Luna Moon. Which is more me, a double entendre or the tautology?
This smooth album, err, "transports" me to a big barn style bar with neon and barrels and peanut shells and sawdust around. The warm relaxing tones are welcome on this album, and unlike most country, it doesnt grate and need not be weaponised in the Mars Attacks style. I suppose I do miss my 80'thundering Copperhead Road (Pogues influenced).
Does the album below here? not qualified to say
Do I love it? It is pleasant enough. Comforting. And the lullaby "little rock n roller" finally mentions a Truck Stop, and is kinda sweet.
3.5
Beatles
4/5
Aware of it's legendary status, I have a listen (while reading a bit about its groundbreaking sound effects, equipment and recording methods... )
It was overall an enjoyable ride and a good tour of their music and some surprising styles they had collectively and individually arrived at by the time it was recorded, including a more expansive guitar and blues than I expected, but plenty of their psychedelic style, but also interesting, as a musical education goes.
It takes a fair bit of education to understand the immense symbolism of what is achieved here. But the main thing is to experience it and have a fresh (actually, first) listen.
I enjoyed the fittingly warm welcome of Track 1, the rich warmth (on big speakers) of "come together" - which is exactly what they did, here, for a final album.
And then its quite a range of styles and pace: sometimes its blues album, some almost roger-waters guitar going on, and other experiments as if they each got a few 'wild cards' to put on it. Notable are "trippy" and coded references I suspect I often miss (being neither a Beatles expert or around at the time to understand).
Track 2 (to my ear) jumps back to an earlier very McCartney sounding style? then "Maxwell's silver hammer" was just annoying, American blues with "Oh! Darling" but not with a voice I'd match with blues at all... ). A few jarring oddities (Octopus's Garden a kids singalong ditty). Andyte, this was fun and carefree rebellion, music of a time. Obviously so massive and influential. Would have been a wild listen. And on big speakers the warm blues rock sounds do work. I;ve seen at least one Beatles doco, soi i am not surprised the boring flat spot is Lennon's song about Yoko "she's so heavy" ( a triple entendre unintended?) to end side A.
SideB offers "Here come the sun!"... Lovely uplifting energy. They can put a smile on your mind when they do their stuff right. Kids of the 60s, I think I might be starting to understand your music a bit better. (and how did you listen to "Because" without feeling stoned?)
Sun king. I like "Sun King". A bit of fun gibberish. I think I have a favourite Beetles song finally And then it keeps going - a medley they called it... . A fitting, playful, showcase, farewell album. A bit of everything and it felt like everyone got to have a go...
I am happy I did not skip it.
The Icarus Line
3/5
2004. A " best album " I never heard of it. ... Curious.
But the ugly portentous cover threatens a forgone conclusion it might not be my taste. (Because it's going to be intentionally jarring and ugly and hard to love?. But let's see. )
Ok. You really have to be in the right mood for this...!
Their music is wild and rough and original and varied. And also I sure and hard to get access to via streaming.
Important to include a struggling stark and different voice. Even if it's not easy
Sister Sledge
5/5
oooh yeah, wonderful; its the mellow groove - yes, smooth on every warm loving track. I am going to have to be careful not to overplay this now...
Santana
5/5
Let's just take a moment to take in that cover art.
And then try standing still when the music starts.
Smiling, dancing, soul warming music.
The energy and playfulness and riotous fun of Latin music, still does it's magic as well now as 50 years ago. And the title and texts Endure some analysis apparently.
A timeless masterpiece I guess. Again! Ola.
The Jam
5/5
if music on this list can make me smile, even ironically, it gets a point. At my high school there was wall with either The Jam or The Stems grafiti on it. Given how many mods I knew then, I am surpised I dont know this music so much. (obviously it was deeply cool at the time), i find iconic happy crazy light sound. I find it playful, in the way Elmer Foodbeat is, without the poignant and extremely crude French lyrics. So yes, there's a warmth to the guitar style, and something proulsively mindless to the poppy repetition. Funny to discover these at age 50, feeling my teen rebeliousness rising, I am putting this in the cool pile. Oi! babbabbababah! yeah why not, a fiver for ya.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
1/5
While I have sufficient empathy to see how serenely introspective and delicate this album can seem, I wasnt in that mood. It made me so ... tired. This... it answers "How to make one of the most vibrant times in musical history feel boring, dejected, flaaaat.. oh wow a droning steel string in the left speaker, and droning male rheedy voices on the right. harmonically bored in stereo. ****stop press*** the exception was the tralalalalla bits in "our house" was almost happy in a silly way. probably perfect for swaying and painting walls while off your face, half asleep... to twangy to sleep to, alas.
Jamiroquai
5/5
I nearly named my first born son Jamiroquai because of this album. Jommi for short. This is just just soaring music, the coolest, happiest beats..
Richard Hawley
5/5
Soothing cinematic opening, warm strains, evoking a dark, softly lit and red carpeted jazz lounge.
Not a jarring moment - well produced, after a gentle country moment, it returns to full stylistic form, before a fine exit.
On the 2nd listen its like a male analog of Petula Clark, with Karen Carpenter perhaps. I am surpised I didnt find it corny. It is relaxing.
I am not sure how this made it onto the list, but it is very listenable. And not at all challenging.
If the role of Art is to uplift, provoke, soothe, entertain and educate , this ticks one box nicely. Why havent I heard of Mr Hawley?
Beastie Boys
2/5
Admittedly, the music bits of my brain were salivating before I even got it going, as I'd never listened to an actual Beastie Boys album. Normally, I just sing along to their anthems, feeling audaciously cool and hoping there is a some RUN DMC coming on too. Secretly hoping I haven't confused the two... <cringe?>
While at its best these guys are “good fun” and extremely effective and catchy hooks and have a really special signature style we all know and enjoy to various degrees.... Alas, it turns out its lyrically debased if your examine it closely, they are upfront in their fascination for getting the girls, and theft are so different to the rest in the urban music space, despite the indisputably shrill and annoying vocals.
Summary
Does it belong on the list? Yeah, they did stuff that stood out... but I cont say this has the influential songs. The hits certainly aren't here. It does represent a consilience of styles from different genes - were they experts at assembling other’s ideas (like the film the Matrix by stealing almost every science fiction concept out there) or did they do breakthrough stuff? I have no idea..
Did I love it? Its was just OK. Somehow I preferred the first track to the rest. So no then... It's not really album music - it gets annoying fast . Their catchiest songs like Sabotage and Fight for your Right, and Intergalactic have been huge - they aren't here.
Rating 2. Dont love or hate it. meh
Slade
1/5
Sometimes a cover tells you all you need to know. One of their albums (till deaf do us part) has a bent 6 inch nail hammered into an earhole.
And I now believe these man-boys of Wolverhampton had no more meaningful or artistic ambition than to 'ave a go and cash in on the crap glam rock era. They sure 'ave succeeded in making satirically aweful music. But why did they make so much of it? As if english food, and the weather wasnt enough.
The Gun Club
5/5
Sounds like part of a movie soundtrack that intros you to cool obscure music like on Pulp Fiction, Dirty Dancing and Baby Driver.
They sound a bit wild louch and playful - and I do likes me a bit of freeform hooting on an album from time to time to mix it up... and the slow drum bits.
[side musing: It might be that when punk lacks vitriol its very enjoyable!]
I magine a live show would be good entertainment from these clowns. I assume they didnt stick around
Is it bad/good/punky Alt Country?
A punk Elivs revival ?
Or is this related to the Leningrad Cowboys?
somethign about it makes me smile.
Surpsingly good fun. and varied (without crossing the line to annoying). Unboring. 4 rounded up to 5 for making me smile, and ...for the reason I want to hear it again and appear cool and highbrow in an obscure while doing so. :-)
2/5
Oh well, on to the like with the other circa 1970 albums that sounds like a (bad as opposed to wonderful ) self indulgent teenager rebellious experiment... a quirky caricature of the 70s.
... was it " Deliberately challenging and hard to like " in that punky way.... ?
They took the repellant image of a Rictus Sardonicus, the tetanus induced grin, from the horror movie (a 1961binteractive horror film) ... and made an album.
Thumbs down. I choose punishment.
Led Zeppelin
2/5
Liked track 1. Tried twice but this album didn't sustain my attention. Felt like it's juts noodling and noisy. And I like led Zeppelin, or so I thought.
PJ Harvey
5/5
intimate and brooding and then animal howl. sexy sensual and rocky angry artistry packed into a small space. she has a voice and does a lot with it. Putting it on the energetic workout or gardening pile, work out some angst on this soundtrack.
3/5
Interesting and amped up time capsule from 1969 - a live punk rock education. A call to the barricades.
Rocking along, energetic, choatic agro fun for slam dancing. The hoarse vocals are a bit painful. They sure put it all out there. This is real rock. interesting vintage listening, history lesson.
System Of A Down
4/5
Ah, what fun!. That hand on the cover, it pleads like the hungry five petaled face of a demogorgon... Self aware and funny ... I hope it's intentionally a giant pisstake of everything an angry young man struggles with. A nice light touch for the genre. Refreshing. Happy. so playful and varied. A soundtrack to a video game life wish a big dash of Dead Kennedy's insouciance ...
1. Does it belong on a list like this? Absolutely. Wonderful example of a well executed stuff most sane people will never willingly explore but this is enormously entertaining fun. (Example "Chop suey!" On another album). All of it is probably in bad taste but I haven't assessed the lyrics yet...
2. Did I like it? Oh yeah, I probably like the album called "toxicity" more for it's entertainment value.
Score?
4.5 because it should be played more. But ONLY when your up to it ... Go for it .
Suicide
2/5
OK a warning might be nice. Intense. Requiring serious attention, substantial tolerance for noxious psychological stimuli. Functioning as my own ethics committee, I assigned myself an antidote immediately (vagus nerve breathing). Astonishing and Potent. And how obviously Springsteen's NEBRASKA album sound - yeah verily, "Rocket USA" gave us the whoops on Johnny 99, and Frankie Teardrop fed State Trouper. Effective as all ____. But never again.
Ray Charles
4/5
nice to experience ray charles voice - different to what I expected. very varied album. side B preferred, smaller intimate sound, and his voice comes through. a different pace altogether. but mostly its background, atmosphere, as oppose to deeply moving, for me.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
Its just not my thing. bye bye rock opera 70's style. but i I want to blame you, and british stuff like this, for spawning Andrew Lloyd Weber .
Richard Thompson
2/5
A perfect album for evoking a thorough hopelessness and deep dispair.
I wonder - the female vocalist could do a “cowboy junkies” cover with that voice.
Impressions: A melancholy and weary sorrow. Deep disillusionment. Pleading when hopes have withered and died. A droning desolation, punctuated by shanty drinking tunes. charting the bottoms of the sea of depression, they paint a very brown picture of lifes despondency.
I hear 'pogues' like sounds and a 'cowboy junkies' female voice peaks through , but I dont , I really dont, want to listen to this any more today. it makes me worse than weary. so yes, very effective, their evocations of self pity.
2
2
A Tribe Called Quest
1/5
I cant fathom why this album is special enough to make it on a top 1001 list. its a genre... is it amazing? no. plus there is plenty of this genre here.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Much more enjoyable as a LZ sampler than LZ 3
Arctic Monkeys
5/5
what can I say that hasnt been said ? - great energetic really different fun sound - playful full bore rock. yeah!
Can
4/5
At first boring then it got interesting because I paid attention to what was going on, and read about it's psychedelic improv ... which makes it a whole different experience. A careful listening thing. Curious.
Neneh Cherry
4/5
Headphones made this especially joyful. The detail in the synth instrumentation and the rhythmic and energetic grooves plus the really fresh attitude Cherry brought to music is just a wonderful throw back to the era. Some defining sounds of the era which remain so fun to listen to.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
A few historical and important tracks and shows their style. But is this their best album?
Foo Fighters
5/5
Ways of Seeing and Hearing. Chewy goodness, yeah they *ARE* the 90s, along with the seattle grunge of Nirvana, and Well, you know, there's a album cover to like. it ws a t shirt for the decade. sign signified and signifier - a Magic Marker in the lower cockles of my uni brain. My Synapses enjoyed hte openign bar and then the joy of the messy twangy grunge. I cant help but call it good, wholesome 90s propulsive fun that , unlike many studio albums sounds like its live at a summer outdoor event with a bit of sweat and dust and sun kissed skin.
Meat Puppets
1/5
So, I take it this is comedy. Or at least ironic?
Todd Rundgren
1/5
Fully powered up, intergalactic tripfest 1970s style. Liek the cover art, its a bit 'busy'...
The Psychedelic Furs
2/5
certainly music of a certian era; "of a time' - like opening a box of cassettes from those awkward teens, some familiar stuff a bit whinier , and bleeker, than I remembered. whistful but kind of melancholic, so bye furs! definitely music with which to mix psychadelics if wanting st and setting to be conducive. pull up, pull up!
Dizzee Rascal
5/5
Do try it. Quite some playful brilliance worth listening to here. Inventive and unexpectedly dynamic, right down to the phrasing or lyricism. To my inexpert ear, UK rappers made sweetly fun and catchy/enjoyable tracks for about decade after this came out. oh yeah sure, admitedly, I had to resort to my huge headphones as I di' no' wan'na shake der whole HOOD with my massif speakas playing dis up loud bruv. (Yes, there is a lot of intense rolling bass, which I enjoyed, as its well placed, but no need disturbing the neighbours). I can give this some respect, its thoroughly built, entertaining in its dynamic inventiveness, (and no, not disturbing as I didnt detect the threats of territorial violence or posing of gang oriented American rap, here the bravado just makes me smile - maybe its a young boy crying out his anfems in false Jamaican/east ender accent with extra atittude on it. It just sounds so playful form this distance. At times the lyrics turn confessional; almost reflective, a poetry of urban boy trying to rise from a gritty malaise, and then boom - "Jus a Rascal" really adds rapid dynamism which I found irrisistable. He calls on a lot of musical tropes without getting too obvious, whcih is particularly admirable for the genre. Big, out there, but not clicheed or too overplayed. (I confess, i knew track 1 "Sittin' here" already - I have no idea how I knew it, but it was fairly chill...) so, for most lsiteniners all they will hear is Sploom & an unintelligible blender of London attitude, but I get touching humour and social odcument. and the final track is a fitting bookend to that; uplifting song. I hope they hear it. I will listen to this again. (all of this is all the more surprising as I dont listen to urban music much)
New York Dolls
3/5
Shyeah, but through a loudhaler is a bit hard
The Stooges
3/5
It is time I heard this . Quite the Ouvre from the taught skinned naughty little doggie. Genetics are cruel. an intersting listen
Ozomatli
4/5
N E V E R H E A R D O F T H E M AND E X P L O R E D T H E I R OTHER ALBUMS AND THAT WAS FUN
This music *could* rock the house, up loud. Party music for the 90's ? Its dated, so now sounds almost ironic, in a good way, mostly, but not fully.... its ok, like the others day. I think for today it needs speeding up slightly, we're more caffeinated now. Catchy lyrics ... Their kids maths song is so, so good. "maths, thumbs, "
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
friday soother
Motörhead
3/5
Dark but entertaining stuff when you’re in the mood for it, perhaps best experienced as an accompaniment to the documentary film Lemmy (2010), in other words; his life as soundtrack or vise versa.
It's not the music alone, it's what Motorhead represents - a kind of barely believable out of control life of the road - while we are at the dark end of the colour wheel of "rock 'n' roll" here, ultimately I find its semi-humourous and a partly self aware caricature of the hedonic nihilist rock’n’roll life, done in the "picaresque" tradition; the likeable rogue being the Lemmy Kilmister, whos' real life sounds like pure fiction. So its part Rock'n'roll voyeurism - the songs describe his life on the road and its lewd comforts, autobiographical, Lemmy seems like a motif that couldn’t possibly be real, and yet the film seemed to show him as just that, hence comedic and perhaps tragic, but definitely entertaining. Good fun metal, if there is such a thing.
3/5
Proof that music is best live. They are... totally smashing it with improv; yes a great performance and in tune collaboration... if you can handle it. there are some very good build ups drops and crashendos in this polyphony. great to drop in and experince this briefly, and I was also glad I could get out when I wanted to after a few tracks, without losing my cover charge. a document in jazz high energy improv. yet not something I'm like to go back to ... so very hard to give it a number. 5 for quality, 2 for wanting to listen again, 3.5 overall? not fair.
American Music Club
2/5
Saved from obscurity by this list it seems. No, Do Not adjust your set. The whining... this is not Danny Elfmans "Mars Attacks!" defence sequence, (where country music like "Indian Love Call", performed by Slim Whitman makes the Martians heads expode.)
A hard album to stream.
Its not on YT Music or Spotify, except as bootleg playlist.
Coincept album stuff. mixing Pink Floyd late 80's atmospherics, with early Springsteen fireside intimacy, and some Counting Crows pleading and crooning.
Feels like its posing too much while hoping its delighting... there's potential here, but its not greatness due to the wierd production and pacing.
Maybe one for listing alone in the garage while rebulding a classic car with your favourite doobie?
Its just overdone for me....
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Some friday afternoons you just need a thumping drumline and techno shit from the 80.s this will do.... with a clubby monotonous mindness feel, but the with coolness that is PSB. he has it.
Ride
1/5
ah the english...
Talking Heads
4/5
probably one the first albums for me on the list where it sounds like genuine and original experimentation - that trippy jamming newness with originality - AND YET - they find where 'cutting edge' meets 'enjoyable' ... its a scintillating combination of tones and rythms and finds that certain happy groove that is constantly evolving without being tiring or annoying, (which is the Art of music... especially witht he number of albums i have put ont he 'never listen again pile' on the way to this one at number 325 in my 1001. aha - I am a third fo the way through this week. And there you go. Happy sounds from the Heads that Speak to me.... (and there are apparently better TH albums out there - bring it on)
The Monkees
3/5
a bit archival for me. they were fun on TV . somehwat unmoved, every time i listen - except ofr "im a beleiver" - rocks.... and I like a bit of twangie light boyish playfulness ... somehow there's no "glue" for me.
Laibach
1/5
Nope.
Bonnie Raitt
2/5
And who doesnt need a bit of Bonnie Rait from time to time to bring them down to earth, and experience the misery of the broken American dream and all the wasted potential funneled into consumerism, jingles and political theatre? This dont expert well, Jeb.
There is as much depth dynamism in this as the "breeze wave" soundtrack on the video game "OUTRUN".
(on a good day) It is suitable for drunk dancing in an elevator. Or a soundtrack to a Gwennyth Paltrow film.
She *really* sounds a lot like Gwyneth.
Squelch. hhhahaa. :-)
Blur
1/5
I never listen tot he actual album. a surpise to find the first track on the album a homage to Beetles (admitedlhy, if it werent for this lits I'd barely know the Beetles).
Woo hoo for song 2.
but the rest ? it is bitish shite rock whine... and some gjuitar noise.
Rod Stewart
2/5
never the rod stuart man. background music to me... i always found it cliched.... i missed the opportunity to connect with it emotionally or in relation to "moments" so regrets to all those who find this deeply moving. time to chnage the oil.
Pavement
2/5
A playful style. There was a definite sound back - eternally catchy for a summer tune in the 90s. As I listen, I feel it be great to see this performed laconically in a student bar.
"cut your hair" captured the fun and quirky 90's sound and yet ... much of the rest of the album reminded me of the line from the film Clueless about all that "complaint rock from university radio stations".
Some playful wackiness here - nice to reminisce.
(I always preferred the upbeat party tracks of these albums, the rest is a bit of filler and noodling, I feel).
3
Leonard Cohen
5/5
such a legacy, such a masterpiece and influence - and the quirky bits really come through. Its the vulnerable/raw/real imperfections of it, and the poetry, which make it so appealing and accessible 9and easy to criticise)
Ms. Dynamite
5/5
Lifted my mood. so fun, great , great , great and a surprise. voice, style, grooves and a perfect antidote to the grim R&B out there... and some nice blood diamond references to keep it real.
Bill Evans Trio
5/5
Impressionistic jazz. So easy sounding and without a flat moment . Someone took it upon themselves to introduce me to jazz and made some mix tapes for me. It includes Bill Evans Trio, and Ella& Louis and others and that was it for me.... I had a base from which to explore
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
I wasn't going to even bother listening to this old man music if it weren't for my buddies rating it...
So here goes. I can almost hear and old moustached American man yell "creedance" from afar... this is Vietnam War era stuff, and time of America's potential awakening, well sort of. A certain mood of time times is here alright - fully plagiarised or hommage, you choose. they certainly distilled and repackaged what was on, and those a mainstreaming of the interesting music developments of the time - swamp, blues, with added swagger - I'm not gonna judge . its good ho'down stuff. and (John) Fogerty has a voice on him, evoking a real truckstop blues sound from behind the chicken wire at times.
... makes you want to hurl an empty bottle with joy, doesnt it?
if I had big garden speakers facing some swamp, this would echo well off my everglades while I'm brunching and crunching down on some fried chicken. woop.
I had a lot of fun listening to this. Anyone mind if I use the word "propulsive" again?
Eagles
1/5
They made me listen to it.
At first it didn't hurt as much as I expected. But soon I got that gnawing feel...
"It might feel good, but its bad for you." either literally or figurately.
Like chewing gum, processed food, breakfast television, and Guantanamo Bay or infinite detention at Nauru, Christmas Island, of the Australian mainland (another kind of hotel your cant leave).
Ok, its going too far to equate The Eagles with human rights violations. Special rendition. and Enhanced interrogation (kidnap and torture int he same of freedom, or revenge, or deterrence?).
smooth, polished and sweet, and a bit flavourless and lacking fibre
Beck
3/5
Thrown by this Beck.
What drug gets a musician this mellow, yet still able to sing and strum?
(hang on, I'm thinking of something - ah yes, ah, maybe I finally understand = Fairport Convention is what frustrated British people listen to when they have taken a weeks worth of hash, muscle relaxants and codeine at once. (when putting off that trimming of the thatched roof ).
And this would go well next to that section called
"slightly turgid"
or
"chill-out for over 70s"
sections music in an LP collection.
Masterfully slo' mo'.
Instead of Sea Change, he could just have been less euphemistic and just called it
"retirement"
:+|
Fairport Convention
2/5
Look, its English folk music.
Its not meant to be a) popular b) reviewed or c)rated.
Neither engaging, nor annoying... I didnt actual notice it was playing much of the time - like a gentle breeze, musically. Or polite English lovemaking.
Lay back, and think of England / Are you in ?
oh the English...
The Hives
3/5
Why do the first bars of every song sound like a cover?
While unoriginal they do a good punky voice crack. Is it different to anything? Not being the expert I just listened to the fun garage rock punk and drummy stuff wondering if it's a happy part of life...
1/5
I never liked this brain dead crap, the lyrics and vocals and trashy acoustics. Reminds me of a British greasy spoon on a Sunday morning. Sweaty headache territory.
The modern Beetles. Give them different drugs, a lot more anger, lager, conflict and renown, and mix Seattle grunge into it, and you the the hope of the new leisurewear generation.
rounding up?
Bob Dylan
3/5
I was in the right mood....
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
Ok music for hump day morning. Propulsive highly repetitive and fewlyrics. A bit hypnotic and slightly trance inducing.
Like religion in way... You can let is wash by
I wondered about the lyrics. They are mumbled or muffled. Reading them reveals little, it's minimal. Brief themes. Very simple, leaving the word to resonate, including pensive synonyms for noose.
If I enjoyed this and wanted more of this, maybe this can be the gateway drug to trying Tool some more. Rounding up to 4 as I'd like to listen to more of them...
Pink Floyd
2/5
Very, very hard to rate for me. My teenage self listened too much to this, and I cant bare it now. It evokes a sullen chill - rock opera for angsty teen boys. So very original and important seeming, once... But ever since I have found it so very gloomy. Not their best album.
Sonic Youth
5/5
As cool, pleasurable and timeless as a Hal Hartley film.
I first remember the song Kool Thing from 'the dance scene' in "Simple Men".
So wonderfully spot on, and it does it for me every time.
Look it up, it will put a smile on your face, even if you didn't find the album pressed every button.
It might be unfair to give an album 5 stars for some favourite songs but here goes.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
I shouldn't like it but I do. Not sure why music critics don't like him. Is it the lack of edge?. It's a mood and sound and something relatable and ordinary about his drooling moan.... It makes me smile. Sore there are flat bits in his albums. But some gorgeous happy tingling bits too. Maybe the ordinary suburban male can imagine the slaves as this lesser less glorious Elvis.
Music for playing on a hot summers night with friends while debating 90s cinema. Ploom.
Dead Kennedys
5/5
Stark Political Art.
Perhaps they too were looking for stark pilitical art - my friends - to wake us up form stupor in the burbs .... My school mates started a band called CINEMA PRAGUE. They were highly influenced by DK, esp. their enthusiastic & energetic drummer Tim Lowe .
Bassist Simon Hemsworth went on to form Ammonia, with chart success in Australia.
They played school gigs, and parties. We enjoyed the music and revered them for doing their thing. some events and parties were riotous and some epic and others even mythic, if only there was a film of this time.... I remember egg carton collections to soundproof a garage. Jam Against Jelly. Seeing what a guitarist on acid looks like on stage. and beign both horrified and intrigued by the album cover of a starving hnad
DK for me sits in an era, signifying teen rebellion, outrage at the horror of complacency and fascism disguised as conservatism. And some of my first anti establishment political messages ... I think there was something about a white supremacism or a KKK governer of California (but I might be conflating the messages of the Disposal Heroes of Hip Hop Racy) , But also the jarring grating voice of Jello, his attention grabbing megaphone like calls, shining a light on society some kind of attention seizing lucidity.
Is the triumphant rhythm of a "military or regimental march" being mixed with punk Klezmer in Harlequin-like genius here. Whatever it is, it's singular, catchy and so very thought provokingly disturbing ... And as relevant now as ever. I can't forget the emaciated infants hand on one of their covers (starving Ethiopian or Eritrean apologies for not knowing off the top of my head) , a visual burner into the conscience ... equalled ( in its ability to evoke abhorrent shock at the devastation the west causes or allows for the rest of humanity and it's uncountable suffering), as the self immolating monk on the cover of a Rage Against the Machine album.
The message is mixed. Ironing, mocking , critique of the American dynasties, and an anger at tragedy. More direct than the punk that was there to just annoy or entertain - this is political. I will need to study it to be sure if there was a call for action. But for me it was simple " don't look away, question, and be horrified, without bourgeois complacency).
This is stark political art.
Van Morrison
3/5
I didnt realise this all dates back to the 1960s.
It also sounds like it could be intimate, soft soothing, and comforting etc. and his lyrics reveal some vulnerability. the guitars and flute offer delicate counterpoints to this raw and unique vocals.
Alas, while acknowledging it has merit, I cant hear it with a 60's ear, or tell you those special moments where he was the soundtrack for my life, where his music was alive a brave and spoke to me, because the Wonder Years, while wonderful, arent my youth.
So it is wasted on me.
Isaac Hayes
5/5
He takes one of my all time top 100 tracks and takes it stratospheric as track #1. Masterful orchestration. and then the 'liquid' voice comes in (shivers down my spine as I recalled a Gregory Porter concert Kongresshaus Zürich) . oh my. 5+++
Brian Wilson
1/5
My apologies fellow travellers, the nostalgia is so lost on me, even after reading of the emotional journey needed to do this work. Suitable listening alongside a Brian Wilson biography perhaps?
White Denim
4/5
Melodic fast ordered which a touch o whimsey without whininess. Liked. Sounded so new and familiar; Its like I already knew this music. Its synchs well with the frenetic pace of the final week of work before Christmas Getting everything done but I can see how it'd be annoying if you're not in the right mood
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Oh yeah, this is different. hard to describe. I got it. Tickled. me. And I love the confessional title. Strewth, mate. (new music for me!)
TLC
3/5
Didnt mind it. not amazing.
Ramones
3/5
My first listen to the Ramones. Oh yeah, okay. A punk sampler - 2 minute tracks. Short sassy and a catchy very basic driving beat. Mumbled garage rock with a real brit style (are they faking a brit accent - punk is the ultimate pose after all - sounds so british to me, I didnt pick this as American, let alone boys from Queens, N.Y. ). Not sure who influenced whom, but apparently its essential punk listening. Why does Blitzkrieg Bop sound like "bleets geet fuk"? Its the defiant Idontgiveshit attitude of the genre. Wide variety of topics covered, playfully. I guess these were the bad boys of the time and kids would have loved it.
Some good playful music for a punk party and mucking around. But don't listen too carefully, it gets boring and repetitive. A bit simple, very repetitive. If they did what their lyrics suggest, like sniff glue, the brain damage would be immediate.
So, I've done it... good to know them finally, after seeing the iconic t-shirts for decades...
Looking for the bright side - the most 'fun and catchy ones were the Banana song "Havana Affair", "Let's Dance" is okay, adn I recognised the thunderous propulsive ( there's that word again) drive of "Blitzgreig Bop"
I started to hear influence they must have had - on Blondie for example... that's clear.
Probably a seminal album, interesting for my musical education - but not a fave.
SZA
2/5
Ok more. Rap
Ice Cube
1/5
Definitely gets you going. above average rap. my appreciation of it is below average. the reference to kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach was stomach churning. the cycle of trauma and abuse as entertainment? no.
The B-52's
4/5
Right Band, wrong album.
Yes we get "dance this mess around" and "rock lobster" for a taste of zany crazy fun.
But maybe "Cosmic Thing" is the name of the album all the young kids need to hear.
This album (B-52s by the B-52s) is a musicologists choice as it's their debut and they introduced a new and very distinct and original style.
But I can't trash the album. Extra points for being so wacky and out there.
Nice cover art.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Yes of course I like this.
I also like Wolfmother , white stripes, and this sound I general just bangs. They noodles and posed but were very convincing.
You know, for occasional listening only, you understand. Not everyday. ;-)
Frank Sinatra
5/5
An unexpected and special album. I am swooning a bit after this one... if only there were more complete surprises on this list like this!
A very welcome experience on my new Focal headphones, it was all cocktail lounge lush and adorable, good stereo separation, and yes, I hear the certain vulnerability in his voice, that amazing amazing voice. I tend to prefer female vocals for this genre / American standards / bossa nova and mood, (other than George Michael in his later years) and now I have a 2nd exception: Frank. he does stand a little alone, and then this album. Slightly slower and gentler versions of the songs than I knew.
Its also an amazing clear recording, might I add. I turned it right up, and nothing is lost.... just the barest hiss
(yes, I am now seeking out "Sinatra–Jobim Sessions" for just a little more... just like people do after hearing "Ella & Louis" for the first time) .
[GRATEFUL FOR a lovely entry point to Frank Sinatra - this is the first album of his I have ever heard]
The Kinks
3/5
Honestly not an album for sitting and listening.bit too old and folky for me. I am more into their hits. Cover art interesting if you look at it carefully.
Crowded House
5/5
What a band and sound. How can you say soothing and happy, fun and good nostalgia is two words? crowded house. Arguable culturally defining for the 80s and 90s and even important to the identity of NZ and Australian music. Most Aussie probably think of them as Aussies. Their last ever concert was a free gift to the nation at the steps of the Opera House. It was like a national event. But very mixed feelings for this album for me was their "sell out" to market themselves to American tastes. It is glib and pop and departed from what I felt was their authentic roots. So "chocolate cake " for me is feeding an American consumer taste for sweet and familiar crap, right down the forces references to Elvis & 7 eleven. But a great band. Maybe not their finest album or reflective of the best of their self co structured sound.It's the one that opened doors to international sales. I will be interested to read what their influences were and how they Influenced music, as I'm ignorant on that point. My 4 stars is for the better songs, like sweeping "fall at your feet" and the eternal "take the weather with you" and songs like "4 seasons in one day" about Melbourne weather and more... but maybe not the album as such. Love the Wookie on the cover though :-). There is something so nice about hearing them, isn't there, eh? ;-)
Prince
4/5
Prince , the genius, indisputably has to be on any top 1000 list. Who else did *everything* - composed, played very instrument, saucy lyrics and voice, grooving performances and , the Mineapolis sound, song writer of many of our most memorable songs )(Sinead), and what a performer - we've all seem that stage show where all the guitar greats are there and he does his solo and its call clear. What artistry.
now, this album... (one of 8 Prince albums which defined if not dominated 80s music). My guess is he has 4-5 albums in this list.
Would I consider this one essential in my collection, no...but I am sure I'd say yes to some others. I just don't know which.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Heavenly voice and varied album. I quite enjoyed that. Note to self. Find your favourite YEAH YEAH YEAHS album and replay it some more.
It might be the other one ... Also introduced to me here at 1001. Yeah found it. Aps" what a track. So, the list inst utter crap all the time.
Should this band really be here twice? Choices suck.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Ah yes. Uniquely gifted and prolific storyteller, our Nick. I have developed quite a taste for his music and enjoyed this album, which I remember listening to on my first and only ipod on a plane, sitting next to a NZ radio DJ who was on his way to interview him, who explained it all to me, while we debated the tracks and his new blues style - playing with standards and making his own...
He is not for everyone - even small doses can feel harmful if you’re new to it, or not ready. Set and setting. But if you can take the intensity, the singular soaring ride he takes you on can be very unexpected, roaring and blistering at times, then tender, mystic or calming, depending on the album. The talent - well his theatrical, dramatic style and full, perfectionistic chaos and firm command is always there. Scarily.
This album is more or less core Nick cave - big gospel gothic rocky with touches of more reflective tender elegance on the 2nd disc. He keeps improving and producing. Are his very best tracks here? Debatable - he has many ‘great’ songs and enduring anthems and few of them are here.... But it does give a good sampler of his stylist core range, if there is a thing.
We all need it sometimes. The perfect song from Nick Cave to suit the moment. To propel, to sooth, or reflect, to laugh. Or look on in horror.
So, welcome to the darkly inventive, always varying and evolving themes (not to mention entertaining and often highly erudite and literate) lyrics from that intense brooding baritone voice of Nick Cave. As per the album title, he alludes to and uses myths legends and uses his own (and others) poetry a lot - the Lyre of Orpheus is a song referring (and borrowing heavily) from a Ted Hughes epic myth poem in “Crow: from the life and songs of the Crow” (1972) - the collection includes Song for a Phallus, Oedipus Crow, Crow and Mama, Crow Sickened which in turn, borrow from, and refer to Seneca's depiction of Oedipus. Yes, Nick reads widely. And his long and wiry grasp goes very wide indeed.
(hang in there I am riffing) .... wide... and intriguing.
Like my first memory of on enthralling exposure to Nick Cave was his stage performance of “From Here to Eternity” in the Wim Wenders film, “WIngs of Desire” . In which, hsi story Words resonant baritone voice that perfectly complements his darkly poetic lyrics and brooding stage presence in a smoky Berlin night club. And there is a comedic ‘grand guignol’ never far aware. Is he doing cabaret with edge, is it a love song, or is he sharing gothic terror with a half grimace /half smile? We’re left to guess. Thai is art, and entertainment that challenges.
He is now more than iconic. He is a kind of weird, wise advisor and commentator on life and the human condition (more so in the Red Right Hand files online forum where he writes letters and responses to questions, drawing on his studied and admirably eloquent wisdom from, it seems, his own psychoanalysis, learnings, and incredible capacity to read and reflect).
There is good humour and soothing glory as we bathe in “babe your turn me on” and comfort in “O Children” . And after listening closely to him, it may help to go for a walk.
Radiohead
1/5
duty calls. I'm not a radiohead fan, I tried . no this is the same teen boy bedroom music I never got into - feels bleak, so bleak, plaintive and in no way relaxing. I tried. I even listen to Pyramid song (26M plays on YT music). Not sure why its so uncomfortable for me and so revered by others. No doubt Highly polished and well produced. cant fault that. Is their music polarizing? had to stop.
Fishbone
3/5
Lots of styles and noodling and experimentation, so good on them. Didnt sustain my attention, sadly. didnt hate it, being so all over the place .... grated. tick/skip.
The Go-Betweens
3/5
Love "the streets of your town" in a similar way that The Church had cool atmospheric breezy stuff - probably around the same time. I can imagine driving carefree along the Sunset highway on the west coast early one summers evening, soothed by meaningless fun lyrics. The rest of the album is easy 80's listening - gentle fair. The res of the album is okay, is it earthshattering/top1000 material, no, but does fill an 80's slot and memories, it does and probably greatly underappreciated. I noodles around listening to their other stuff and discovered their "first 5 singles" - worth a try, if you;re a fan to hear that 'We are finding our legs' period
Amy Winehouse
5/5
So full and sweet a pleasure to listen to. Enjoyed sitting down and actually playing this on the turntable. Next time it will be headphones moment I think, for closer appreciation (it all sounds very tight. id use the word phrasing but I am not qualified to use that). This kind of perfection inspires awe is all I can say. to me, its a wonderful cabaret and torch song , but more than usual she is a revelatory story telling musician. Its all laid bare. Her voice. others will describe it better but its both beautiful delicate and pained - there is an edge which does come out. Isa it damage? Is it cigarettes and drugs like Billie and Piaf? But made unfortunately more poignant by her tragically early loss to drugs and a troubled life.
Enough analysis. Its lovely sitting in warm stereo with her in the room for a moment.
ZZ Top
2/5
first sit down listen to ZZ top ("She's got legs" is their only song that comes to mind and that is very 80's fun). I always thought of them as light entertainment, American guitar pop rock, so surprised this is leaning more into White Blues (is that a thing?) than I expected. Ok, but doesn't press any particular buttons, except when their propulsive beats get going. Which sounds bland to me.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Classy stuff. and jingling stereo effects to titillate people with headphones / hifi ... I cant believe this was 1979. fun and funky. No I never bought MJ, but admired it. he got more than generation moving
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
and to the year 1999 we go... I remembered little except a sense of happy quirkiness, and there it is with "once around the block" ok.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
I thought I liked them. I do. but not so much this album
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Floaty and different. A style all right. Pleasant enough. A dissembling
ensures. At the end of side A this albums feels stuck between
two rocks, or feeble buttcheaks of anaemia and
constipation.
Cold cheddar
English ale.
“Thorn of crowns” is the Grail for unadorned awkwardness - a musical In flagrante delicto moment?
Yup, a salute to Springsteen’s State Trooper, and - necessarily - the stark shrieking of the the signature sound on the (self titled?) album Suicide ... which is on this list, and hard going but a definitive listening moments you wont equal or want to .
But unexpectedly, the album kind of has resurrection moment and soars after this messy jouissance.
The hit “Killing Moons” emerges from what was destroyed
The bridel.corset is off; the horse/man stripped bare, it finally gallops out of hesitant adolescence, full throated and past the rain. Shine England
3.5?
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Yes a magical gutiar tour of an era but a bit dated now. As I always say of Hendrix, - brilliant but demanding listening. Reminds he of those 80s Vietnam film sountracks. How do you critique this?
Its a whole parallel universe of music versus what was around in the mainstream. I prefer studio to the live I think. Its more settled
Brian Eno
5/5
Oh Eno! Definitive. Perfection. Mastery. A master artist of a genre, creating perfect musical instrumental impressionist topography akin to feelings of meditation or guided astral travel. He produces the highest quality music of this style I have ever had the pleasure of trying. I have searched a lot too.
While this album might have been seminal for being so new (it was the 70s!), it is terribly flawed and jarring, compared to his best works. It's neither a vocal album nor a pure instrumental, a real pity and early mistake in production.
Start elsewhere. Go straight to "Ambient 1: Music For Airports" or his other great album “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks” . I didn't realise it was all so old though It still feels so current. I find a rare comfort in it, almost incomparable to anything around. Maybe the band AIR comes close. And Vangelis and JM Jarre are different too. Hans Zimmer has been maturing and broadening too.
I love the architectural solidity and range in Eno's work. He creates a soundscape that feels bounded yet enormous, like an empty airport – enormous, safe, liminal space.
This album is only a taster. The sensibility of a progressive intelligent trance composer is forming but yet to be perfected. If you liked closing your eyes and floating to some of this, go to his Ambient 1.
Happy lucid dreaming and Happy Landings.
Mudhoney
2/5
I knew the name - back then - a must see band - but its at what I call the 'hard' end of the JJJ musical spectrum for me
Bob Dylan
3/5
Perplexing. I dont know his except for a few famous all time greats. yes this is mellow and spacey - very gentle. His voice isnt as nice as I expected. but the ambience is there. torn - he is such a great, its well produced and clean but I am not hugely moved... it make take a few listens to grow, and sit with the lyrics - maybe another time?
The Stone Roses
5/5
Thoroughly enjoyed this. first a Confession. I couldnt differentiate "queens of the stone age" from "stone roses" before listening to both in the last month (here).
track 1. First 15 second impression of "I wanna be adored" - ah - some of the "war on drugs" eternal floating cinematic feeling.
track 2. "she bangs the drums" Ah, one fo the best happy songs of my youth! (I didnt know i liked the Stone Roses!)
Overall really enjoyable, and a nice reminder of the style and era, except some tracks later on went on a bit/or overdid the 'spcey distortion' .
Overall a breezy album - "this is the one is that 90s sound I liked in a rnage of bands - That late night sound the church did so well in "under the milky way tonight" - oh yeah, that rooftop party, remember Nigel/Matt?.
Machito
4/5
Album from 1957 a lesson in music history - Latin-Jazz and Afro-cuban - "machito" of Havana, Cuba being very influential on mid 20thC jazz musicians. Reminds me of the music that would be in the background on old movies of the 50s and 60s - mood music. Happy light and playful. Not bad at all. And as 1957 /8 was when STEREO was just starting ot be available to consumers - this might have been a great hifi shop demo album. Im guessing all of this woudl be in the book. The history of the album prevented me, admittedly for thinking - oh yeah - good lobby/elevator/movie music. appreciatign the era a bit, especiialy the more lively tracks!
John Lee Hooker
3/5
Well its good fun.
The opening is very Santana.
JLH sure has a voice.
They popularised the delta blues a bit here and its slick and smooth and easy to listen to, and yeah its a bit commercial, a bit slick, a bit soundtracky mainstreamed, thats clear. Oh welll, we all need a Special. And it gives people a taster.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
1/5
bored. no worse than that! looked for a band I hadnt heard of on the list. and i agree - dumb name.
Oh the bleakness. how to make a ska beat feel flat... but then it sounds like Gorillaz B-side stuff. POh wait - Damon Albarn is Blur and Gorillaz - this is why some peopel should not always be indulged do side projects - NONE of the fun and charm of the others tuff I have heard him in.
the opposite of uplifitng - its jarringly two speed (sad and bleak mixed with happy keyboard - my audiitory processing area is hurting)....
admins - please remove this album from the list - ahhahaaa. no.
The Clash
4/5
nice to have a little punk and primitive music on a random Friday. Fun indeed.
Aerosmith
2/5
Like Junk Food, all heavy glam rock is occasionally fun in small doses, a guilty pleasure.
When browsing, I tend to skip these guys and the whole Bogan Music pile (its musical junk food or the bourbon of dark drinks, along with Motley Crue etc.)
To quote another reviewer here; (if I am judging an album by its cover) I'd agree with the following.
" If it's 1975 and you want a rock album but you're too much of a fuckin' JOCK to listen to Physical Graffiti, Blood on the Tracks, Wish You Were Here, Born To Run, Horses, Young Americans, Fleetwood Mac, Another Green World, Mothership Connection, or Face the Music, this is the album for you and the boys as you cruise around town in a less interesting version of Dazed and Confused."
This is commercial, catchy, showman music. "walk this way" being proof they made a deal with the devil to get the recipe for catchy.
yes its fun. I hate them for that. Some ok singles for when I am in the mood for Massive Glamourous Hollywood Soundtrack Rock. Its still mostly Junk food. and for thta ACDC is better
The Rolling Stones
3/5
The UK version didnt have Paint it Black (track 1 on US version). Its ok as a blues early Stones period example.
Roxy Music
3/5
Interesting varied and playful I was surprised but as much as I like the band this album isn't it for me. Controversial I know.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
It's ok. Plenty of Hammond organ and slow walking blues. Lobby music these days an d in offensive - I might call on it for focus / desk work.. .
The Police
5/5
All I cansay is is as poor uni student I have only a handful of genuine (non copied) tapes and the Police greatest hits would play a lot.
Heavy rotation stuff and it's very hard to get sick of the police. Even thrashed through bad speakers. It may even be better when heard through bad speakers distorting off the rear windshield.
5 stars based just on track one
However am I qualified to judge the rest?
I haven't listened to these before. Truly. Didn't know the mastery of the Police other than their Singles. Shit this is a surprise.
Detailed fast and fun.
No wonder I like them. Even their lesser/ unknown stuff is amazing.
The Go-Go's
1/5
I needed this after crosby stills and nash - fun pop light antidote. fun candy floss.
some fun but nothing stunning - nice to hear Belinda Carlisles voice on a few.... how is this essential listening. to document the pop of the era, the first big girl band in a while? does that mean Bananarama will be here too?
T. Rex
3/5
Born too late for this album to mean anything nostalgic, I was left trying to like it, which was an alarm bell. So I sat back instead of 'leaning in' and let it do its thing as background. There are some okay tracks. For me it is very dated rock n roll without anything to pick me up or sing along to. But some lyrics made me smile. Nice to hear some of that glam rock era stuff where they fed everything and anything they thought of into the lyrics and didn't take themselves so seriously. They had very stiff competition which this album came out .... For me it isn't much.
The Smiths
2/5
I liked the first track and feel, but the effort to listen to a while album was too much. Probably fair to say I like the Smiths, maybe a song at a time. I really really can't do a full album.
It evokes too much irksome awkwardness after a while and if I have to explain you won't understand.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
Oddly does nothing for me now. But was some of the first rock I saw on tv.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Has its moments - California waiting got going, but ruined by his voice at times
overall the albumis OK
Not their best work, why is it here? humph!
Supergrass
1/5
Bravo - you suceeded in channeling the aweful feeling of spending a pale and badly fed youth under english weather into the musical form.
hard listening.
captures all that I find endlessly boring 'same' and annoying about noisy Brit Pop with a whiney edge.
They did have one good uplifting (light) song once - it was called "alright' and we have the film Clueless to thank for bringing a momentary joy from these guys.
Proof the sun does sometimes come out in England. another crap selection for this list of 1001.
nothing exceptional here.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
1/5
soft gentle boring whisper of music.
Gram Parsons
4/5
A taste-expanding music moment.
Ever walk into a room who’s decor you’d long dismissed as hilariously bad taste, only to realise its sublime charm and how it comforts you in new and expected ways?
This album did that
Country for me is something to be comically weaponised, like in “Mars Attacks”(against the Martians)
Having mostly dismissed country, why do I love this? Maybe because its not country? I read he changing the form. His story is interesting. And So ...maybe this list is achieving what I hoped here - introducing works I would never go near and maybe opening my ears to other sounds.
Back to GP, (who died too young and spectacular partial cremation in Joshua Tree (Cap Rock) and his music - A side project: if he is so influential, then listen to his albums and bands in sequence to experience the evolution
International Submarine Band (66-68) debut album, Safe at Home.
The Byrds ( the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album), apparently a pioneering / seminal progressive country album), thjen
the Flying Burrito Brothers, either t, The Gilded Palace of Sin, or Burrito Deluxe - a style called "Cosmic American Music",
And maybe his other album - GP
For now a reluctant 4. It is so soothing. I think I need a porch swing and a sunset.
Neu!
2/5
Has a sunny propulsive sound to it like the ysrat of a movie seeing someone's day begin ... An emotional tone form the keyboard a believe. I am adding this to 'focus" music... Good for working without lyrics. Upbeat. Like. Yes if the rest is like track one... Optimism in a bottle...for a few tracks anyway. Did like the lyrics or industrials
Lightning Bolt
1/5
skip straight to the track called WONDERFUL RAINBOW. There is an interesting pattern that develops in the nonsense. Like when you repeat a word out loud a hundred times it becomes something else. The rest is an art project not an album per se. Could be soundtrack to a psychological trauma or falling apart of a personality, or a cataclysmic dissociation or disorganised fugue state. .... Correction: I think this is what happens to the brain of a Meth addict. Highly unpleasant except for one notable track which is more trick than music.
4/5
For so many to call this brilliance suggests I dont know it well enough. I certianly appreciate it as interesting, alas, I have sat, as perhaps I should, intimately pondering the journeymans lyrics. His poetry may have been seminal in bringing political and social issues to the fore and the masses in a very conservative era. That couraegous subversiveness is to be celebrated and applauded. especially is he was aprt of changing the world. I wasnt born yet so I am bit an observer and commentator.
This is album that I need to sit with. I dont have an authentic impression I can share right now.
Its live, its a concert, and clearly for many its more thnan just a good concert, this is social, political and musical history.
Giving it a 4 so I can come back respectfully and consecrate some time to my Dylan education.
But in advance I know that its the social and phenomenoligical stuff that is going to be the magic for me, and not his voice. You cant always get what you want... btu tyou will get good lines out of him.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Ah. Indisputably essential listening. If anyone doesn't know - here is what is cool , new, interesting and perhaps subtley sounding about it that makes you pay attention without know why.... "Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9/8, 6/4 and 5/4 (instead of the usual 4/4 time we got used to as kids - they break a rule.... . And apparently...'The album is a subtle blend of 'cool' and 'West Coast jazz' ." (Which you'd have to have been there at the time to understand, perhaps).
So take that!
Enjoy
Killing Joke
3/5
Not sure what to say. Where is my impression. It's supposed to be nauxious. And it is unsettling aggravating stuff. Cold and metallic like DK. An angry and dejected reaction to injustice and the horrid society beating and gassing its own people. Its excellent and - for once in pink - clear clean uncluttered as careful restrained art- very good at what it does - so 4-5 stars for being very good at being bleak, pared back punk. But for my enjoyment it's a 3.
Syd Barrett
3/5
First contact. He has a certain stylistic and song writing genius. And such a massive following. I see the talent. It's a pity such huge figures collides with the Pink Floyd and it didn't end well. This is interesting and after I leaned in past the the tinny " demo tape jamming " soundscape I was quite impressed. I won't listen to this a great deal ... But it's very good. A warmer voice and recording would have made this album and showcase but maybe not his style to be commercial. More than a curio and history show his importance but I'm not close enough to it all to feel it strongly. Thanks for the introduction.
Yes
1/5
Impression: a freeform musical playroom. This album is one of (too many) albums on this list that exist almost singularly as indulgent musical experiments. interesting curios you might cover in a documentary. you need deep academic interest in listening to a grown up noodling on their toy Casio and recording sound effects like steps and wind in a soundstage. It should be entitled "look what I can do Mum!". . Deeply nerdy rubbish for lovers of pure eclectic whimsy - a pointless Divertimento
Dr. Dre
4/5
Huh! actually listenable. I cant stand most rap hip hop. If it wasnt for the name (Dre) I woudl have skippe dit. .. and yes, sound catchy and and rytmic - I can see what Will Smith was copying when he nailed the style commercially - for fun. I can listen to this. So far
Joan Armatrading
4/5
How nice to hear Joan Armatrading - a catchup activity, an artist Ive never had the peasure of sitting down to like this, and I know form decades ago I liked a few of her tracks. Interesting pulsing voice where the uses volume and emphasis in syllables from- a signature of hers used to good effect and to add rythm and beat via her vocals - no sure what its called to do this>>?. so yes, this stands out as different - feels like a transition or blend of Tracy Chapman and Nina Simone. Unique and soulfully soothing. I was hanging out for the star of the show "Love and Affection" is mastery. oh I do love that delicate and powerful magic - nothing jumps around and works that well tonally - worth a listen just for that happy song.
Pixies
5/5
the sweet spot for me. Quirky different well made and energising. Completely my kind of music. Almost every track is a winner. a riot of sound and fun and yelling/singing and theres a sexy grungey sound to it , and the cover art is notable and tastefully titilating too (but wheres the flamenco?). To be played loud proud and carefree - maybe thats what it means.
The Who
3/5
(personal trivia/talking to myself about social poetry in songs, and what they mean): My Generation - written by Pete Townsend. Whether a plea or a rebellion, the titular opening song (depends on album version) says, essentially, we are here, see us, deal with it. It seeks Identity, recognition, acceptance and belonging - and maybe approval from the older (hypocritical and amnesic?) generation who finds them and mod/punky sensibilities, puzzling/concerning.
I know because I thought *hard* about this under exam conditions, during a heatwave in Perth so bad, they served water during our exams so we wouldnt pass out. Australia, 1989 (24 years after its release) that meaning of the song - My Generation - was an exam question in my ENGLISH LITERATURE paper for my university entrance exam. You could say its 'respect us' - we want to live in the moment, and live in the possibilities of post war Europe, not just subsist. So many irionies to this, It a voice to power, and rallying call indirectly, to die living and not getting old rich comfortable and complacent. its a call for the full throttle struggle and defiance, if not rebellion (quite). The irony is these Boomers became the richest generation there will be, with an extraordinary progression in standard of living never to be seen again. Se-se-stutter your way through a song that pretends to swear and says to old people (censorhsip was strong) we have identity and worth, and are a tribe with our own language, distinct form yours, different habits, not worse, and ready to live.
So 10 20 and 30 years later it resonated for youth and most of all, was as catchy as a jingleso stayed popualr and had lots of airplay thorugh the 80s....
I love how the cover looks like an off balance selfie of mouth breathing pale english boys with Big Ben.
the references to the Stones make sense as there is polenty of blues inspiration here and yes, some beatles - the predominant sounds...
Yes an ok album - talent is there (but make up your mind, are you rebelling, doing blues, or copying the beetles!) a bit of a sampler and showcase fo what they can do - it your can masterfully imitate, you can masterfully do your own stuff too - like The Ox, and while they choose which muse to love most. general tick, and score of 3.5.
As if we're making requests, I want to hear Quadrophenia in quadrophonic 4-speaker array next.
Surely its better than that too long too indulgent shite called Tommy. Sorry Brits - I wasnt there so I dont care.
Funny how music and memory bind this way, isnt it?We are all a Generation.
But I wasnt gorwing up when this came out so it didnt , couldnt, bind more than this. good stuff tho'
David Bowie
4/5
accessible , enjoyable, and rythmic, easy to like. happy party vibes, with 2 especially strong tracks - Young Amercians, and the brillaint Fame. nothing defines him, so this album doesnt either.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Well Hendrix does belong on this list.
While I can only handle Hendrix in doses, it is undeniable - he is phenomenal - so different, original and 50 years on, its still stands out as unique - could anyone else conceive let alone execute this stuff. ... he had talent, and was self-tuaght which why he held the guitar left handed. I remember hearing his Dad gave him a Ukelele and thats how it all started.
Mr Henderix brings another unimagined world to life and no dont need LSD to start to understand what psychadelics do - just listen to this music and his poetic vision. to borrow a Hendrix quote from another reviewer in my little pod:
“My own thing is in my head. I hear sounds and if I don’t get them together, nobody else will”.
P.S. the opening sound on the album sounds like opening sound in Dogs of War by Pink FLoyd. to me...
P.P.S. Woudl Withnail & I have been quite so entertaining with Henrix for the mad Jaguar driving scene?
Steve Winwood
2/5
OK. opens with a breezy 80's track - feelgood nostalgia. a reminder of a simpler time and the quirks of the pop music of the era.
Q: does the rest fo the album carry the same impact?
A: a few sleepy tracks that feel like lobby/elevator music now. A bit too sleepy and for me, frustratingly slow -
A top album? no. more a curio now, that is maybe interesting for someone for its use of organs and stereo effects 80s style. but it might sound better sped up! like Night Train does... but I confess this sounds like a slow soundtrack to a straight to video 80s american crime thriller.... man gets out of TransAm and walks inot convenince store in a run down town, where somethign is about to happen. but not enough "happens" on this album. Yet another "old white man nostalgia album from a wood veneer listening room with wall to wall carpet". Its deifnitekly not the best of the 80s. take it off the list now,
Neil Young
4/5
Surprised so much of one artist in this list. I keep discovering more Neil Young here.
Purely to describe what it does for this one listener, it feels intimate and personal , it dies a kind of soothing thing like his other albums. Good song writing and the first time he's reminded me of Horse With No Name. There are very recognisable oft-covered songs here which means others like the lyrics and lyricism of his stories and they are in the eternal themes, with languor and longing, (to my Mars Attacks tuned ear that sensitive to irony and humour readily) some self aware humour mixed with patios, I think. Either that or it's easy to take the piss with his songs, and I like taking it lightly and letting it put a smirk on my face while it chills me out. Cause we need to laugh and Neil Young stokes a funny bone for me at times. Enjoyed. Ok some slow songs to skip. But good
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
I will probably be repeating myself form the last album by 'Siouxsie And The Bansheest's rocking, and she has a uniquely muscular voice. Plenty of thundering drums and grinding guitar. Great music to get ready for something. Warlike, determined, and gets the blood going doesn't it? Some great songs, not brilliant or as fun as the first S and the B album I heard. (I read they are more a single band than an album band- makes sense)
James Taylor
2/5
+1 point for his warm voice, and for the nostalgia and how folk sooths Boomers.
+1 point for the cellos in a country rock song (fire and rain)
-1 point for silly use of stereo for the guitars L&R
and then rounding up to 2, as I dont hate it, its not offensive or horrible, its ok, I just dont love it.
But I wont listen again.... hence sub 3
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
a bit suburban . not a virtuoso bonga album.
good solos ands calls and replies by track 5 ( yeah they took a while to get going !- man this should have been the opening - most people lose interest after 5 tracks of lobby music on a DRUM album! Drum music served up by a committee.
The Who
2/5
Whats happening? Are we skipping in the forest with guitars ? it is beatles or the beach boys after they find acid in the glovebox? oh a Walrus . oh , its Mary here to save us. I guess this was new as we are bombarbed with mashups now.
... oh I like a track - I can see for miles now. it has grooovy moments... and I can sense a thumping band here. but as an album, I guess it must have seemed important but without the guidebook its not making sense. Oh no back to tamborines and englihs folk rock sounds whcih grind me ... gotta go - this isnt "My Generation"
Stan Getz
5/5
No justification necessary. Stands alone
DJ Shadow
2/5
ah something new for me = trip hop.
I try let it do its work... interesting atmosphere created (but very quickly, I find this too reptitive and heavy, and in the end, tiring. Music WORKS because our brain knows what to expect next and they ignore this need. Result it feels like a box of music, not a progression. Units. Blocks of stuff that dont make a whole... so yeah moments of groove. but they need joining up to work on me.
Exception: there is a build and progression or transition in "stem" only ... its an interlude. and by then I had lost interest. Essential its an experiment/concept album. interesting for some but not epic. There are signs of intelligence and willingness to seriously attempt something new - hence 2 stars, for the interest and mambience it set
Neil Young
4/5
superbly soothing and dreamy - I dont think anyone makes country this soft + lyrical - sounds almost hallucinogenic/dreamlike.
Sinead O'Connor
5/5
I am a bit stunned and lost for words on the effect her voice has when you sit in a quiet room to listen to it. If you can bear it, and are in the right franme of mind for it: She renders pain beautiful. True art.
her broader body of work is crazy varied, I like htis, and even more her jazz torch songs on "Am I not your girl"
And on a technical/listenign note: the power fo the album is so strong on bit speakers where it becomes a surpisingly solid orchestral album with a precision that come outs on big speakers. Ominous opening. Top quality, any ratings really ocme to to taste and enjoyment factor. I would not put this on heavy rotation, but for feeling a full emotional range and leaning in, go for it.
Duran Duran
1/5
Before this album I'd say youd never find me listening to Duran Duran. And Same now. I did an intro scan. its all I could manage.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
2/5
Great concept. A harsh mix if great stuff - Iggy meets Elvis and they go garage punking. Hard to stick with. Ok In small doses. But Bellbuttoms isn't in this album, so I did an intro scan... It's remarkable consistent, I'll give em that. So the album is a curio and I still find Bellottoms
Marilyn Manson
1/5
I dont enjoy this. it serves as distrubing art, bit when life imitated art, its too disturbing, aspecially when its influential on the impressionable. Its just soundtrack stuff really. Stright onto the NO pile, and back to other albums for me.
Jeru The Damaja
1/5
90's hip hop rap. not the worst or best. I still think its dumb. (I give it one star for the promising unexpected start to 'Come Clean') turned it off before it made me dumber.
Sisters Of Mercy
2/5
Hurray for ticking yet another band I know the name of but havent really listened to.
And kudos for music thats simultneously propulsive in beat, and depressing in atmopshere, a unique gift and the quivering postruring voice - yeah nah, actually NO! I dont want to wade kneee deep through this flood and of misery, a journey through doom and gloom. (but it doesnt sound definitive and atmospheric, I'll give them that, and points for ernestness.) . thoose a well lived life, not misery and loathing - its such a teen place to be. But well crafted misery - I can see how they authoritatively hold a niche and style.
Little Richard
4/5
Yes. important. Original. and still Fresh. It still works now. So imaginethe riot and a joy to hear it back in the 50s. a Hoot. so I turned it up so the mono sound came forth... still energizing today, which is something as old music and films seem slow now. its got to be hear as a birth of ROck album
Malcolm McLaren
2/5
SO confused. This is where some of our music as kids come from?
More so after listening and reading about it.
It felt fake to play double Dutch In white Perth but now, I question everything. Its alike a musical lies or a grotest charade where you find out years later all this stuff is just stolen from other cultures and sold to you as original.
WHo the F is Malcolm McLaren (not a good stage name) and Duck Rock (typo?) and why does it sound So Familiar?
Track 1 is Gamelan/PiPhat Thai beats. Im in a touristy restaurant. btu then - wait forit
Track2 beatboxing? was sampled to hell by everyone from Max Headroom or George Michael for 'get funky' - and so EMINEM was really *really* taking the music history piss .
rack 3 Double Dutch - 1983, (Perth WA) that meant was skip rope craze. Catchy to watch but thin poly rope stings... and ... boys cant jump! We had no idea how urben/getto/NYC music got as far as us. This is a bizaar to hear now.
Then stealing music from the townships of South Africa and claiming it as yours? Bemused and annoyed and its a musical word salad.
Simple Minds
5/5
Huh! Thanks for reminding me if the glorious and Simple Minds. Adding them to my list of "live bands to see before I die' list now....
this album = Gorgeous on headphones - they were loving their work together and everything was just working for them. And they shapes pop music for a decade or more and there are some eternal songs that came out of this period (not all on this album, but you get a sense of how they can make soaring anthems here) . Warm sounds, funky beats, and playful - and most of all the gift for the warm voice of Jim Kerr, which of course have us - a few years later - "Don't you (forget about me)" which a new generation is learning.
An excellent and very "tight" pop music style, rich vocals and all the funky electric toys of 80s music here. Yes this band deserves a place on the list. They would groove a stadium live. Something to keep in mind. I just checked. Anyone going to be in Nimes (FR) ON 12 JULY?
Joy Division
5/5
Iconic cover. I pretty much ignored this band until I saw the film Control (2007) recently. Very cool stylish and atmospheric. And yet tragic which overlays a bit of gloom over this potentially very cool stylish and moody album. At times it can sound bleak but perhaps I. A cinematic way. Not a band which I would have wanted to listen to heaps as a teen, but it has its moments and. I confess I am a very late comer in appreciating the artistry, as I am an 80s child and their posters and t-shirts were everywhere and well know by my music buying comrades at school who knew what cool was (better than I) but hey, they didn't have streaming and this was getting much airplay in the pop charts.
I am going to give it a 5 as it was important and influential and marked a time so well. It's an album that means a lot to people and a time and for people who wore a lot black and I can't deny the polished and to me ears anyway, unique and beautifully ominous atmospheric sound. There are detractors - and usually is be with them when it comes to depressing British music and their ability to remind us of rain and fog and bad food, but this, well, it's different enough to out in the pile of 'yeah this is really special to listen to'.... But you DO have to be in the right mood for it not to tear your heart out and suck the dopamine from your meninges.....( But bleak *can* be entertaining - and propulsive bottom beats of the drum kit works well as a cool accompaniment to pensive / hard work in a rainy day today). Putting this on the "yes" pile.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Hey! Try *womething (sic) completely different* today ladies & gentlemen, such as listening to FATOUMATA DIAWARA (her songs that blend Wassoulou traditions of southern Mali with international influences [I detect element of Omttmar Liebert's "Luna Negra" lyrcial flamenco guitar, for example on "Manitoumani"], and she also sings in French. One of the first female solo electric guitar players in Mali, she makes for more interesting listening on a Friday afternoon than *yet another Dylan Album* - I muse, - how much more interesting this list would be if it had some World music mixed in to make this less mundane and vanilla as a list, as it is.
Meanwhile, I have read others' reviews of this Dylan album, and decided it will add nothing significantly to my life as an exploration , nor is it likely to blow my mind as anb 'essential album to listen to'.
Hence my banal rating.
John Cale
1/5
SILLY_SING_TALK is what I will call this silly and almost absent genre - singular for its ability to evoke so little.
it serves to introduce me to something completely different - job done. Boxed ticked. can we leave now?
And I did not quite fall asleep but I got annoyed. So wierdly slow I felt like I was following a forgetful, verbose and mad (but sedated) englishman around their house as they SING-TALK a description of what they do in each room of the house.
Public Enemy
4/5
I cannot deny the significance and importance of the album and its messages - shines alight on a lot of stuff and cuts otthe core as oppose to railing against it ineffectually. Its also much better to listen to than most hip hop - has is quite comprehendable (vocals remind me of the band "disposable heroes of hiphoracy" and interesting - its quality stuff. I cant give it a 5 as I really would put this album on for the joy of it. and also a surpise to see how their music has evolved and they have done death metal and techno collaborations, with a remix of Bring the Noise being their tap streamed tack - it sounbds nothing like Public Enemy .
Bob Dylan
4/5
As if to ask... ."When is too much DYLAN BARELY ENOUGH?"
As it turns out this album is recognisably uniquely wildly (weirdly) Dylan to the core. Perhaps breakthrough different, shaping stuff. Yes. And some lyricism come through and i noted some occasional soothing lilting beats - you can let this album wash on through.
He doesnt do a 5 for me, but his is better material.
Ever notice he sings like a madman? as its there is a haunted quiver of death warbling in there too. I need to read the words apparently.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
5/5
Oh I need to open a nice bottle of wine (or a thing ) and sit with this while. Lights off music. Carefully cartoonish whimsical and trippy crazy, like a drunken but very polite walk through Newtown. What. Is happening? that doesnt matter, it just is. They let this be released? thank goodness, yes. I mean, YEAHS. yesh. they did. so 5 aces form me.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Indeed I did like this - even before it got to the singles. Enjoyed the laid back, chilled and yet interesting and enjoyable feels and vibes. Its Rythmic and urban cool (without anger), and beats (without getting tiring). ohh what do you call this, NEO SOUL, alternative hip hop? I like. is that Public Enemy reference and hommage I detect. Very Varied - bounced around but I didnt seem to mind, as its got somethign *happy* about it, and chill. Like
Elis Regina
4/5
SHORT version
A wonderful voice and exemplar of a style and basically 3 decades of Brazilian music but this album from a very popular master is merely “good” and it lacks power, passion and commitment - its relaxing easy listening but I was left craving more and went to listen to her more popular works instead, as I wanted to experience her warm and sweet voice when she is ***really going for it *** (this album sounded somehow lazy or flat to me).
If it got your curious , then check out her beautifully painful Suadade for some music tourism
I was however amused by her album titling methods. That Magical south american disconnection from linear reality - ah chaos ;-)
The end it is good - like a Brazilian Carol Carpenter - but I sense so much headroom in potential. It might be what happens when anticipation is just too great before hearing something first time?. Mea Culpa?
LONG version
It's Friday ! What awaits? Hopeful and expectant I read up on the musical adventure of the day. Ah!! Finally some more World music, a Brazilian artist who defined a style (BMP) and has more than 30 albums.
Elis Regina 1945-1982, the singer, the legend, the film, the tragedy and legacy. I knew none of this before today. How so?
This is her final studio “album” released a year after her appearance at the 1979 Montreux Jazz Festival (tantalisingly available as a live album) , and after her album of Saudade (a very special portuguese song from of longing and pleasurable heart ache), and she would have been at the height of her popularity and powers. The Brazilian went nuts for her - thats plain to see. But elsewhere?
Technically the title used for the 1001 list is not actually an “album” she released - but this minor crime is forgivable, as you will see. The chronology and album title aetiology, as best I could tell from internet sleuthing is:
(1980) “Elis” with 9 tracks which was reissued as
(1983) “Elis-Vento De Maio” with 10 tracks which went on to become
(1997) “Vento De Maio” - is the next reissue - a 1997 CD with 9 tracks in different track order + 4 bonus tracks.
(2002) “Elis” - back to the original title now, the 1980 version was re released as CD with 9+4 additional tracks
Confusing.
Why such chaos? Oddly, Elis called many of her albums simply “Elis”; fully seven of her studio albums have this name: her 3rd (1963) , 6th ('66), 10th ('72), 11th ('73), 13th'(74) 15th ('77) and 18th ('80).
Which makes me wonder how Brazilian record shops and libraries work - or was she a fan of the magical realist Jorge Luis Borges?
To The music: finally? Let’s do this.
I spin this disc and its okay. She seems to sing-speak making it all sound so effortless and gliding. The vibe is lazy yet relaxing and works fine... but is it the key changes that sound like false notes from time to time? Still, its breezy bossa nova and all that - I am searching still for a track that I “adore”. Some dancing music, then some longing Saudade vibes, some playful duets
Well produced, tight, clean, good pace and very consistent but EVERY song is good- and nothing blew me away on this album. There are teasing moments of playful instrumentation on the opening of tracks- but then nothing happens... frustratingly it goes nowhere each time. Its session musicians doing accompaniment for her voice.
I wanted more. Her voice is lovely on some songs but she doesn't highlight its warmth and richness quite enough - it lacks intimacy and passion , but you sense it was in there some there - which is even more frustrating !
It turns out, looking deeper, from a streaming popularity standpoint we are in the doldrums here mostly - these tracks are not her most listened to tracks. And there are albums that sold a million copies back in the day. So what is it about his album?.
I enjoyed her voice most on “so deus e quem sabe” and the playfulness. Also a torch song and something tending to Saudade in style, and plenty of easy lobby style bossa nova “easy listening” - I definitely really like but I don't love this - and I am trying hard, looking for a track to favourite....
Still, I want to solve this album mystery.
Why is it here? Legacy? Or the strength of the album? Did someone go to Rio?
I will go looking for the following:
Her best live performances. And her most popular tracks (those will 1 Millions+ streams) . I will report back. As this is pissing me off.
Ok Im back., there is more power in her top tracks and more of the Saudade (beautiful tragic pleasurable devoted lovesick elongong) going on ...
Call me a tough marker, but I can only give it a 4 and I am not swooning as I expected. And here for sure, I feel she “is not working to her true potential!
Ray Charles
5/5
First impressions - I like a torch songs. Soothing and swoony. Then into fun big band. Back to serenading with strings. Oh he does the aching beauty well, and when he goes low the reediness of his voice disappears. Impressed by my first listen to Ray Charles, adding it to the pile of music from that generation which will be eternal.
Dire Straits
4/5
I smiled and almost laughed out loud at the 1:30 mark of ”Money for Nothing” . its juts so fun and silly...
This is no virtuoso First Clarinetist playing the improvised Glissando from Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin.
It is 100% mass produced over polished mainstream stereo candy for the masses. And it's as fun to listen to as ever, especially turned up slightly too loud, and I am back there..
Ranking 80s albums is very risky business. I mean is it here because it is “so quintessentially 80s” or “so loved”. What defines it as “essential” or musical education?
Who wins and loses here, the masses, the critics, and what is Art, when so many like it like this. huh!?
It isn't great blues guitar, or anything. Its mainstreamed for a simple palate.
Which is why it is an almost perfect “SOUNDTRACK” to the (male, mainstream) TASTES of the 80s, (and how to shape and please them - and maybe exploit or pander to them - for better or worse).
And how funny watching my now middle-aged myself - I delayed listening due to trepidation (slight cringe - will I still like it?) and anticipation (I want to listen with my good headphones to get the best of it). Like resuming a neglected old friendship, I wanted to give it the best chance ... and not be too critical lest they judge me too.
So yes, Its 100% pure mainstream pop rock music. Highly commercial, polished / produced from a well resourced supergroup. Love or hate it, it's pretty far from musical “purity” - hardly raw and live. These are suburban cosy anthems which is why it just “goes in so easily” .
I refuse to claim the immunity by way of sophistication and discernment in the face of its moody synth and air guitar charms and - yes, the nostalgia.
And how else to demonstrate a totally indulgent excessive stereo separation of drum kits (its almost binaural) to today's generation? I mean , there are only so many warm catchy spine tingling pop supergroup from the 80s to call on. [Alternatives are “Tango in the night” by Fleetwood Mac, “in the air tonight” by Phil Collins,or “I wear my sunglasses at night” preferably played in a 1986 Porsche 928 s4 with a Clarion or a 1989 Nissan Skyline with on Alpine hifi 8 speaker stereo. ]
Like a burger, its on occasional guilty pleasure. But its very hard to get a burger to 5 stars.
The Modern Lovers
4/5
I cant tell if its parody, Tasting this "blind".
After a few tracks I find it reassuringly consistent so i trust it, and it starts to do it work on me.
A gumshoe mod party vibe, playing either the musical ancester or descendants of about 2 decades of good post Blues Brit Pop. fairly tight and clean, and I like it, ironically I think. He has a charming sly smirking swagger, the main singer.
It needs another listen .... moody, and its has an certain 'digitus impudicus' insolence and attitude a certain irrisistable self awareness I cant fathom yet
Great one liners. Cant beleive I dont know them from some soundtracks>>>>
So for now: "un certain regard". Sensing a slow burn ...
Paul Simon
5/5
This is 5+ territory. The core of the core of the collection. Maybe The Grail album.
Such completely new sounds to our ears and so very alive playful - the refresh and wake up we needed. Joyous, expansive. He brought new syncopations and celebrated African instruments and forms and a whole new feeling with this album.
I leap at any opportunity to hear this again - my whole brain lights up, my body still smiles at the lyrics and musical glints and picks, and how does a voice do that beautiful happy sad whimsy? How to feel so poor yet so wealthy?
I am going to Graceland, I am that ordinary boy, and meantime You Can Call Me Al.
Beck
3/5
Its all there, its wonderful, virtuoso, tricks, ear candy sounds and playful moments, with polish and genius... and yet, AND YET, as the whole, the 'gestalt' mysteriously doesnt touch my soul. I CANT EXPLAIN IT even if I want it to... instead it just 'klangs' in ym head. And its not just this Beck album, I have bought them and not understood why I cant listen to him.
Proof that attraction does not equal compatibility.
Intellectually I get it, but by senses reject it.
Beck is impressive, but never organically "worked" for me to touched me. I am left with a jarring emptiness. I just cant "listen" to it.
SO, as my ratings are weighted towards my personal enjoyment, (more so than the points awarded to quality mastery and specialness or originality):
Enjoyment: 1-2
Quality/mastery/specialness: 4-5
Overall: 3
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Blood and chocolate Elvis Costello
This album seems like an intentional mess, which despite itself created some good stuff, it you can wade through side A.
Like an angry group of kids who can't get on told " hand something in, anything, to pass my class. ". Fine. We will!
And the angry work begins. ....
It takes 4 tracks of utter crap to get good.
It sounded worse on headphones than on my smartphone. Tinny lo fi is the vibe
The hand painted crap cover of a brown sheep (with Afro?) named Napoleon Dynamite, Costello's pseudonym for himself.....this should have been called “the blood and shit of my defiant self destruction’
I hear eviscerated pain.
It might be my cramping guts.
Or is this album giving me cramps?
And then on track 5 something works. Tender. Calm. Longing and pain..
So there is relief and a good track in " I want you"
Track 6. Doesn't get past a build up....but good
Battered old Bird. Finally something is coming out from that place of pain. It's quite a performance.
A beautiful jangly mess that barely deserves to be listened to or to be on an album. But some good bits.
It's pain for the fans to endure watching the destruction played out ....?
Autobiographical documented self slaughter. ? It's interesting but hard to love.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Both wonderful and repulsive - the apt juxtaposing titular portmanteau word suggests this confusing mix was entirely deliberate: to cajole then fry your brains.
I suspect this art (or revenge) project intended to showcase (probably) a whole new sound but unfortunately added injurious screeching sounds. As if annoyed with having on audience.
That’s the Borderline way of avoiding intimacy. Or airplay.
So. I'm going to try to beat SarcasticElbows to the line ”this album is like the alluring girlfriend you kept going back to, only to instantly realise why you left her”
Warm playful light prescient indi-grooves, but too abusive and unpredictable to enjoy as is...
Surely I'm not the only one who loves some tracks but finds the rest pointless. I did enjoy - and recognise with a distant smile - "just like Honey" (feels like on essential track for the soundtrack for my 80s and 90s generation) but the really the noxious noise overlaid on many tracks means Jesus and Mary Chain are for me a new metaphor for masochism.
I am frustrated by the whiplash heaven/hell experience. Interesting as metaphorical art maybe, but not as on album.
Does remind me of RatCat and other stuff... so there's that. .... they must have left more than skid marks... I look forward to learning that their talent somehow was channelled successfully and they made something more than a concept album.
Mudhoney
2/5
How nice that humanity's infinite creativity means there is music to precisely match whatever feeling, state or story you want.
Playing this album by Mudhoney perfectly recreates and channels suffering, anguish, pain, chaos and some defiant anger.
Some people may find this hits the sweet spot for them, for some catharsis.
Probably best experienced LIVE in a dusty hot outdoor arena, but anywhere that smells of dirt, heat and sweat should do.
No thanks
Pentangle
4/5
At first it was bland blithering Brit folk, bah!
But then.... I realised it's a lesson,
On explanation or demo of the progression from folk to rock.
There's some heavy spinning going on by Psychedelic rock and almost hypnotic dervish way. Which goes to show so little changes... By track 5 (train song) we are getting to Woodstock, and by 13 (I saw an angel) we are literally at modern drum kit, steel string guitar and tambourines 3 peice.
... And so, yes I surprisingly got into it and was surprised by the build in energy and style as the album proceeded. It went from utter boredom to quite engaging and playful !
Sure it was a whole 5 tracks before it ‘took off’ but by the end I was seeing how this unexpected album could - without too much hyperbole - be played and discussed as a kind of Archaeopteryx - the missing link showing how everything from psychedelic rock to Sinead has deep roots in our folk music(s).
I don't feel qualified to say if this is truly great folk. But it takes you on a surprising little musical ride.
If this were a wine, I'd say I tasted hints of Jim Morrison /Doors mood/tone,and at others it is Fleetwood Mac and definitely some Jefferson Airplane, a pre-echo of Sinead O'Connor s more touching ballads.
Even Susan Vegas “Toms Diner” due to the unusual metre...
It's going (way) too far to say this is my new “go to folk album’ for fulsome Madrigals & hearty Dirge.
But it reminded me I like a bit of folk, and definitely a good Sea Shanty!
(Rogues gallery compilation v1 & v2 comes to mind) , Celtic music by Alan Stivel, and indeed it might be time to pull on my Celtic and Breton CDs, read a Cornish tale or two and get on the folk trail.
Why not. A 4. As in appetizer
Cocteau Twins
2/5
Heaven or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins
A new band for me. The names are familiar but that's it.
There is a sense of 80s cool going on here.
Their term “lazy calm” - the name of a track on another album - is something they seem to convey. Something I might have heard in a David Lynch film perhaps. I don't recognise anything though.
Let's discuss the vocals. I recognise the sounds and rhythms of English and am frustrated by my inability to understand them.
It's deliberately obscure - like made up words are dropped in, and then further inveigled by layering the two vocals; one atop the other.
On auditory palimpsest of blathered words.
It would be interesting to experience as a work of conceptual art. To make a point, doubtless subtle and refined.
But for listening music? I found it frustrating, so frustrating ,and the music wasn't so amazing as to redeem the problem with the vocals for me.
(Being more patient than most with conceptual artistic stuff and having broader tastes than most, I do feel this is exactly the kind of music that might have touched me if heard in the right place, time and mood. Or with the right explanation of what the hell is going on.
Perhaps today it is just that none of those converged suffictly for me.
I am left feeling that this is too intentionally inaccessible to the point of being rarified and cold and it's esotericism more alienating for me, than curiosity arousing.
Reluctantly giving it a 2.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
Soaring talent and range, and it's such a good things when talent and commercial success an somehow happen with compromise. If course the tragedy being his death and this is all we have.
The emotional intensity and attention needed make this wonderful to listen to, and such an exemplar, but also I need to pause for air at times. It's so intense.
Which is why I would have loved to see him mature and fill out in style and repertoire. If this is the ernest exhibition price to pass the exam, I would have loved to see his lyrical expressionism develop and relax, and to see his performance personality grow to give room for playfulness and fun to enter on stage too.
I've had the album for decades. It the kind of album you find when moving how or rearranging furniture and you compulsively out it on. It was so rare for pure vocal talent to be pop.
Lilac Wine is a song, somehow I heard as it I had never played the album.
I did need to pause. I can't fault or criticise this. It's past that point. It's easily in a top 500 or 300 or 100 list as something to hear once.
It can be almost unbearable intensity and there is its purity - nothing is held back. I can't hear this with critical ears.
Only amazement.
As an aside, I think Katie Noonan is another of these rare voices which is such pleasure to hear doing virtuoso things, but even more trained and practiced... I don't out them side by side- but for vocals .
Liz Phair
5/5
I must be in a good mood. Liked every track.
I really liked her voice. A sardonic story teller - keeps it interesting, and feels original, interesting. Like a less boring and less jagged version of the following, all rolled into one. Sheryl Crow , Courtney Love, Amanda Palmer and maybe hint of PJ - fits for me anyway.
I have a head cold so maybe everything is wonderful or crap today. Let's be generous as I want to hear this again and follow what she does next....
The Undertones
3/5
Crazy wild stuff from the 60s. I mean a lobster bib. I like the album cover.
Undeniably interesting but not sure....
Sweet boys eh?
Make sense. Irish. Oh Fergal....you sound almost like DK
I provarocate...
I have a head cold.
The Yardbirds
5/5
I liked it from the start, but it actually got better with every track.
I may gush here. I didnt know the Yardbirds, and I am slightly restless as I cant find the words for their groove - how could you keep still in the 60s with this around?
I very much like the pace and energy - its full vibrant blues/rock and really fun to listen to. Feels like I found a perfect musical windows into a little secret performance in the late 60's by the talented ahead-of their-time players who actally showed off their mastery of instruments and styles in a way that only highligts the best of the era - tyhe stuff you'd still want to hear 50 years later - it DELIGHTS (unlike so many 'off-piste' annoying experiment garage projects in this list). These players have the energy, the fun and soul or zeitgeist of the era bottled to perfection.
Even "Farewell" which could be naff folk on any other album, is basically a hilarious sing along which brings to mind Michael Palin.
Damn, now I need to go find some restored stereo Yardbirds to listen to (unless there is a reason mono is better).
Ha, got you thinking.
Its okay, I will just binge on whatever I can stream for now, but if I see a good Yardbirds LP, you know, one with low odour and mould levels, I will be procuring it forthwith.
5+
Rufus Wainwright
5/5
Unique Rêveries. like listening to someone's beautiful secret. Rich full colourful art rock that's gently theatrical and cinematic but also too personal for those descriptors . An assemblage that at times reaches intensity thats almost excessive but makes you want to hang on and let it expand your capabilities ... It may span too varied a range to truly hang together as an album, as it feels more like a compilation of rapidly evolving styles, but maybe that is Rufus, nothing is the same as the last and there isn't a particular style, just a voice and talent doing the work and sharing the lyrics.... or maybe these are just emotions and not enduring moods that he wishes to share: like pages from a poetry book....
Because then...
he drops in a slow ballad stripped down and pours the shining gleaming weight of his story into your upturned palms.
More intimate and personal than anything I've heard in a long time. And so lyrical and beautiful. He has a voice. I think it's unique in warmth and that singular reediness, a soaring Karen Carpenter in a male voice. Oh how O hope he holds this together and evolves and performs like. Happy to reminded of this artist.
Ella Fitzgerald
5/5
I hereby thank the stupdi list for reminding me of
a) the joy of my favourite singer.
b) the reason we have physical albums is as a reminder: to pick them up and say "oh yeah" which streaming doesnt do... even the algo doesnt know I love her more than Nina, somehow. I mean, IYDKMBN...
Her voice sooth and smiles swings and cajoles like no other. and then add great material and you have essential listening. A similar Verve late 1990s Ella Fitzgerland 4-disc booklet release was one of my first ever purchases and often played - and I I thought knew her range, but this 4 album collection filled my weekend with new lsitening and much raunchier content that I knew from "the First Lady of Jazz".
[Side note that a whole songbook retropective project doesnt quality as an album as much as massive showcase. But Ella deserves the space given!]
Yes.. this project shows her (she makes great material shine) but... I detected a lot less of her famous improv (or "scatting" in this collection), but the alternate takes available of one song at least, demonstrates how she can change and lead the style of a song so flexibly - such is mastery and talet combined...
This is an easy 5 - its such gold (I cant remember if there are any Louis Armstrong duets - but the "call the whole thing off" version with him is the playful riotous best - seek out the albums "Ella & Louis" and "Ella & Louis again" for that :-),
An album I will put on my Christmas list, as, alas/hurrah , 80% of the material was new for me, a long time fan. so yes, I will be lsitening to this one soem more. A lot more.
Thsi is a 5+ from me.
Its not possible to share in words the comfort, the joy this music brings.
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
481 - If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle & Sebastian
PREFACE
A “grower” - I nearly missed what works about this.
[and I needed a reset after swooning to rediscovered Ella Fitzgerald albums for 5 days]
Have you ever - disliked a painting - only to find what you like in it wasn't immediately apparent? This also requires a pause; and a bit of curiosity, openness and even effort.
I nearly didn't get past the off tune singing in track 1 or 2.
REVIEW
Title "If Napoleon Dynamite were a band"
...ever feel like something is almost okay, a;most familiar, but something isn't right? That awkward "just out of reach" feeling? Mildly irksome, it incites action.
And so, I was gong to commend this music to anyone wanting to listen to stumbling or rambling everyday mellow stuff, sung slightly out-of-tune breezy manner.
And then I “saw it”....:
It's quirky and lovable like Spot the wonky dog. It's delivered in what I believe to be self-aware intentional polish. It's therefore a wonderful artform. Who knows what this is called... or why it grows on you. It has an quirky slow lazy effortless “something”
Is it comforting knowing I too could sing and write at least this well? Does that remove a wall, and what does it open ? And then I just stopped asking.
It might make you want to punch a wall.
But if a goal of Meditation, Buddhism, and of Jungian Analytical Psychotherapy is to learn to perceive and not judge, then this might be a worthy object onto which to direct your awareness.
Consider a workout for the Muscles your Consciousness. Like getting up from your workstation for a stretch and a deep breath.
[PATIENT ADVISORY: Start with small doses, don't try too hard and if discomfort arises, use the "Valsalva Maneuver" or 4 7 8 4 breathing. And smile to yourself, then say ha, ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha until you get to ten syllables. Other Side effects of this album may include sighing, frequent yawning, stretching. Or going for a walk in annoyance. Lesser known side effects are familiar queasy comfort especially among the chronically awkward - but it subsides if you let it. see?. More common, and desirable, it a sense of expansive freedom or elation which may inspire you to walk in the cool sunshine humming "you dream of horses" to yourself]
Here is some illustrative text to get you going if you are not near a large warm brown berger covered speaker and velvet beanbag set - which would be ideal for listening to the album/doing the “Belle and Sebastien” experience :
"Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying"
Song by Belle and Sebastian
Oh, get me away from here, I'm dying
Play me a song to set me free
Nobody writes them like they used to
So it may as well be me
Here on my own now after hours
Here on my own now on a bus
Think of it this way
You could either be successful or be us
With our winning smiles, and us
With our catchy tunes or worse
Now we're photogenic, you know
We don't stand a chance
[cut to save space]"
They know exactly what they are up to.
This is the ultimate slacker music - prompting The Pause
And allowing Whimsey
Telling us , with on oddly soothing late 20th century folk rock feeling or speed
They may well be saying “it doesn't need to make sense to be good”
And if you don't get it that’s fine, come back later
We’re just mucking around anyway
Because: Fun. Everything is going to be alright because it always was.
I wonder what this album would do as a control group treatment versus Psychedelic Therapy.
Or if it works nicely as an accompaniment to the essential Swedish ritual Fika - the tea/coffee on chat break they have at 10 and 3 each day.
Like all good nordic ideas, I hope this bookish charming music style spreads.
Haircut 100
2/5
I am clearly missing the point with this one.
Is this soundtrack music/musical wallpaper/reprise/ or some kind of uber cool a micro genre that I am meant to "get"?
I own sountracks to Hal Hartley movies.
I have the patience and curiosity to sit through The Beast (2023) and Peter Greenaway movies.
But I dont have patience for this.
Its like Madness / The Smiths and Wham did a childrens show soundtrack and were told to use the "carols by candle light" orchestra to sound like the Wiggles.... the result like outro music for bad kids TV.
The Style Council
1/5
Just because The British make Stilton and Pork Pie, doesnt mean their cuisine is any good.
Likewise this Album. its so... Imperial Leather.
Which brings me to Pause momentary and lament the land of The English - as much a mindset as a destination - that land of soap lovers, awkwardness and longing for a lost (breif) greatness, coloured by misery, clouds, a fragmented rail network, failed privatisations, the Glasgow Effect, of flouncy PMs and now the Economic Self Harm of Brexit.
As if the food and accents werent enough.
They have to be drunk to eat it, it seem, based on how they hit the pubs before going home for supper. Maybe they vote drunk too?
Oh yes, the album. So at some point they made some pleasing sounds, and feeling rather good about that, they posed (non ironically it seems) for the cover art, or a hair salon poster, wearing black skivvies and (lead singer) a gold chain, like a Hard Man with a High Voice. But they then needed to go back and fill an album. And they made filler, in the good old English tradition of Stuffing. Which of course you're not meant to eat (the DiMaggio family recipe is an exception, but dont get me talking about Marilyn Munroe and turkey basting, I'm writing here!).
The album is dry a turgid and too bready and milky for me. It reminds me of "bread sauce" in that it only brings to mind what is missing. Could it be that in deed there is a thang called Manisfest Destiny, and that it is the English will incessantly make jokes about the French, only to mask their own envy embarassment as being so very English and forever unstylish.
Meanwhile to their political future - what will they think of next as their ignorant, pallid version of Populism drives the bus of British history even further off course, insisting "we're not lost, no need to ask for directions!"
I do like a few songs but this album annoyed me.
So I say "NON alors!"
Terence Trent D'Arby
5/5
I can spontaneous remember "wishing well" - a cool song; Soul +pop +80s - Hey Mr List, thanks for transporting all the walkmen owners back to those 80s parties! I’m having fun before even hitting play! Will the whole album cut it? Lets see...
Ok. Verdict? This is some soulful sexy sh*t. And don't miss him as a Micheal Jackson copy just because for the first few tracks - there is something different here.
Even better than expected - standouts are superb:
*****Wishing well,
*****Sign your name, (how did I forget pure sex soul & cool 80's ) plus the spatial stereo affects?=makes me almost laugh out loud. But its sexy cool, like Axel F, right ?)
****and I also like the last track where he really launches it. We called that “raunch”
Scorching in places. Why didn't he continue?
I looked him up. OK, quite on ovulation for me to catch up. I do hope to enjoy his voice again, and enjoy his maturation and what looks like a massive stylistic evolution.
A surprising 4-5, rounding up, as i DO want to hear dis more
Beastie Boys
5/5
Ah, I knew the cover, not the album. 15 seconds in and I know this 5 stars. Nuf' said.
P.S. the cover is enticing: oh those greedy fat fingers holding a speaker, looking at a menu where the $1 green salad is more expensive than any desserts. No wonder every song is explicit. Its time to question, to rise up, beacause the price of freeedon, as Lisa woudl say, is eternal vigilance to whatever may undrmine democracy and Fascism sure will ... and so stick it in the mash.
Green Day
5/5
Propulsive popular punk:
We rocked along to it, our mock hero's, and they appeared on the Simpsons:
Mindfr*ck America - let's commercialise our satire and rage, that's show the capo Basterds.
it's good fun.
Korn
1/5
not my kind
2/5
I just dont like the Beetles much. But it gains a star for an attempt at some world music (Sitar?) on track 8.
More World music is what the world needs.
David Crosby
5/5
The rule of thirds as it applies to the 1001 list:
1/3 if the music hurts me, and I have to stop.
1/3 is ok, or quite good but I wouldn't bother looking it up.
1/3 is a new and maybe a top or favourite album, or good enough to listen to again.
Even through the external speakers of my phone, this is amazing. The atmosphere, lyrical and free beat. Feels good stuff for me.
No analysis required. Just positives.
Can't wait to out in some headphones for the full feels. It's been 2 tracks!
1/3 feels
The Cult
5/5
Well pepper me silly, roll me in flour, and call me a metal fan.
Who knew?
I am a fan of the Cult.
It sounds like the English cultivar of AC/DC, or put differently, if Motorhead and ACDC had a good look descendants, with a bit of polish and discipline, this would be them. Good clean propulsive fun. (Using it for housework right now)
I thought it was just their tongue twister sea shell song I liked... #mymusiceducashion
Thanks 1001.
Spiritualized
3/5
So this is "space rock" or "drone rock" ? The Wikipedia quote of what "Critic Simon Reynolds wrote in his Melody Maker review of the album" seems definitive in its description.
People will poke their fun nonetheless.
I like a bit of floaty mood music sometimes.
Apparently their best stuff is in the blue album with white blister pack, called "Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space".
Music to file under "good anaesthesia".
Its good, but falls short of utter brilliance of Brian Eno on his Ambience albums.
Fela Kuti
5/5
Jazz with an African voice that somehow feels like it is the right Meter, and makes me question jazz. I feel I need to read up to be qualified to understand what I am listening to but I like it and it's completely new to me.
The Darkness
5/5
Purely for fun entertainment and glimmers of happiness. In surprised how good they are. Dedication to the artform. Didn't think I'd give a 5 to a Glam Rock Band.! .... but the, umm, respectful tone of consent (cover art), combined with hilariously fun music and swell screaming which had all the feel good stuff happening - these guys nailed Glam better than they did it first time around. Very happy surprise. I only knew one song beforehand. ...
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Epic feel good music. His stories capture the jearning , the love, the pain , dilemmas and pain of youth and transitions, and yet also the hope, struggles and shares passion and anthems like ever have. He found a way to pump a whole crowd and he hasn't stopped. A gift a talent and always a joy. (He is a stadium filler and anthem singer and made songs if the generation for decades, he speaks to us, Plus his range and abilities show best on other epic albums Nebraska and Ghost of tom Joad, arguably)
Another "blind tasting" - listening without reading anything about this.
It took a bar for me to recognise Rod Stewart.
Ok Big Rock. I skip to the mist popular (played) track " Stay With Me" and it's big rock which would have been fun in the shag pile lined Bedford van, but I don't listen to or particular enjoy big glam rock. Enjoy fellas. Not my era or sweet spot.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
Yes important in a musical education - along with a few paragraphs of the Wikipedia entry.....Look for the 1994 remaster - previous version either ripped badly to YT music or is a bad recording, despite its importance. Not forgetting how important his innovations and influence are he is one of many who changed music, creating many "standards" - the track "Li'l Darlin" standing out to me as something I first heard on "Come in Spinner" on ABC in 1990 when first discovering the swoons and joys of jazz and the voices the orchestra can play. Whichever way you discover a love for Jazz, I hope you find it. But this album is more history that joy for me. But a great reminder of the debt owed to the passionate innovative genius of the first half of the 20th century I music. They were exciting rule breaking and standard setting times.
Hookworms
2/5
In a sentence, soundtracky mood synth music with ambience and a techno vibe growing as the album builds - it feels like its going to getting trippy but then it crashes badly, merges expectedly with other styles. Obscure territory here folks.
Occasional faint tinges of Pet Shop , New Order, and straight out copy of Chemical Brothers going on ... gets spacey and neo psychadelic but a FAIL by the 2nd last track due to nauxious screachigng sounds, after all that foreplay!
I am not sure of the pedigree impact and value of this album - despite this being precisely my kind of genre... apparently these guys do good live when the room is already high
BUT - If you want a solid intro to more 'intelligent' and playful guided trippy trance or just great beats for walking in nature to fun techno, I can think of no better starting place that "knowoneness" by ELECTRIC SKYCHURCH.
Here is what i was gonna say until the bad track. What is it? What does it do? Well, its might be what you listen to Eyes closed. Or, staring at a soothing blank smooth view, with a seagull in view; a solitary seagull, to look back at you, as you both figure out what the hell is going on today, and how to respond. At best this might be stylish mood music to play while you figure who is the beast really in the film "The Beast (2023)" Original title: La bête . 2023. 2h 26m
There are playful electronic bloops and harmonies forming in "each time we pass' so they are capable of a lightness which feels like New Order at times.
Left wondering - What is this?
The Undertones
3/5
They were big in Derry. I wonder npow if they are on the Derry Girls soundtrack at all....
Says the wikipedia page. The shivering voice of Feargal Sharkey cofnuse me, as it reminds me of DK. So there is punk and other styles happening. Its entertaining and confusing the familair sounds - and there is a moment where I think its a Tone Loc song, buts its just "teenage Kicks'. pleasant enough early English rock, and a history lesson. is it big and inluentialand special enough for a top 1000? who knows. My guess is its a lukewarm one
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
As an album, a very good reminder of the stylistic reaches of this master when he does different work. It makes me rethink how i listen to him - this album hangs together SO WELL as a mood and style.
Many of his albums are distinct in mood from the others. This one I hadnt realised - and maybe as i get older I want this gentler tender soothign stuff form him.
Still I often wonder - "who actually listens to Nick Cave as much as I do?"
If there are 2 obvious "types" of Nick Cave songs, there is this - accessible sweeping almost sentimantal ballads that senak into film soundtracks. He does very specific sentiments exquisitely. And the sonorous warmth of his voice - when not snarling - sure works. So, here is a whole album of it - the kinds of Cave songs that make it into films (Shrek satirically used "People they aint no good" so welll, and Harry Potter has "O Children" would have worked well on this album ). and the other type of song? His rocking frightening doomsday mock gothic anthems - stuff like "Red Right Hand" and "stagger lee".
He really nailed it here, career wise - after grabbing popular attention with a Kylie duet in his p[revious album, he holds course, showing off really, and sweeping into a showcase of range and style in these coming albums, going into new spaces not filled, and the genuis of his always wry and playful and devastating lyrics, his intensity swoon and swagger, brought down to an intensity people can handle, bringing contemplative but not quite confessional intimacy.
Well he does ithere - the sweeping atmospherics and style of Warre Ellis, they go on to do heaps of soundtracks and colabs together ... Its a very 'soft' album for Nick. And it starts with a song that became a wedding if not love anthem for so many.
I am adding this to the "oh yeah, play that MORE!" pile.
Public Enemy
4/5
Hard to rate. Important influential and has a powerful presence that demands attention. Authoritative and distinctive (yes reminds me both of "the revolution will not be televised" and the 90s band 'disposable heroes sir hiphoprisy') ... Important for a list so 4-5 but listening ability 3-4. Averaging all out to a reluctant 4.
Fugazi
3/5
I like the instrumentals, but not the singing.
Good rocky with attitude when it comes to the stylish and hard edged guitar and drums.
... but The vocals are noise. The intensely angry , annoying , louty accent and singing does nothing for me.
(except for Waiting Room which is on another labum, so no points for that assignable here). And I do like thier instrumetnal track "sweet and low" also on another album. so.... They have an interesting sound but I am not going ot try hard to figure out what I like in their back catalogue.
The great thing (learning) about this list, I'velearned to trust my musical instinct and judgemnt. A few track is enough for me, despite liking big hard rock done to me tastes, this aint.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
A great to start the day - eggs with Furikake, toast, espresso and playing "Sympathy for the Devil" playing as it grows and builds intensity. I prefer my stones as singles (my favourites like Brown Sugar, paint it Black etc) , due to my ignorance of their discography - although I keep seeing Exile on lists, not this one. Its a bit all over the place isnt it? I confess to skipping some more boring tracks, and the out of tune drunken crap, but its a goo dreminder of the harmonica playing swagger and early strong blues focus - when the tracks are good. I cant give it 5, but 4? sure...
p.s. I love the lyrics, its all tongue in cheek - these guys had a great time.
Slayer
1/5
Of acadamic interest. The super fast drumming and guitar. Music perhaps suitable for violent chase scenes in films, or when doing SPRINT or HIIT training/exercises. But not so much for listening, or for any kind of pleasure/mood making.
But I knew that before pressing play, didnt I?
The Streets
1/5
Aversion. Bemused resentment.
"People always say that they would rather have Chlamydia than the Birmingham accent" is a purile yet felicitous analogy, if we are to play social peccadilloes and avoid talking about our own shivvers of prejudice towards group of people we are unqualified to insult or look down on.
I can't take it seriously; yet I don't detect irony or satire.
To quote him; “it tastes like hairspray”
Ryan Adams
5/5
His voice works for me. and the gentle guitar. As does his playful willingness to do very different stuff from U2 to Taylor Swift's 1989. Curious as to why I like his music despite the 'country' sound. Pure enough. Interesting enough lyrics. open to more. at least a 4. on the 'definitely listen to more' pile.
Super Furry Animals
2/5
Im not getting whateverit is
The Who
3/5
album cover to get me interested. tick
great opening to the first track. tick
Enough to make me need to hear it again?
Its ok, but a bit ..... dated?
The Rolling Stones
4/5
The Rolling Stones by The Rolling Stones
This is not a review. NON!
I’m coming out of anaesthetic and not allowed to do anything important. So this.
Are your wondering Who in Hell the Rolling Stones Are and what is going on?
Yes - this album is (maybe) OK as a taster of their early R&B covers. Who knew, right?
Fun toe tapping RB twanging fun guitar. A delight. But its ALL covers. Practice. Only listen all the way if you want to be swatty for the exam.
But they got SO much better and grown up - their attitude was just building.
Later is So much. Better.
After much mucking - the 60s was a period of exploration, despite themselves and the Beatles rivalry, they did get it right in the end.
So. FOR A GOOD TIME - SKIP THIS ALBUM and go straight to ONE OF THESE 3.
They are the lux, the sound that makes you scrunch your face and yell YEAH and dance and jive.
Beggars Banquet (1968)
Exile on Main Street (1972)
Sticky Fingers (1971)
Meanwhile Footnotes for Young People:
There weren't enough songs to go around in the 50s and 60s. Covers were so accepted, sometimes there would be 3 versions of the same song in the pop charts. Boring but true. The Stones first 4 albums are basically all covers.
The final track, “Walk the Dog” was written by a man named Rufus. Yes, Woof! It was his surprise number 1 hit. And has been covered at least 30 times. The lyrics euphemistically mean anything, right? And he probably retired on the royalties. So write poetry that lasts kids, don't do onlyfans with backup insta feeder accounts.
Until these guys came along, StoneD was another word for Drunk and took decades to only mean drug affected. Their song "Stoned" - was actually The Roling STones first original composition to get recorded (1963 - as a B side to the single "I Wanna Be Your Man" ) As for the term, it was coined by Jack Kerouac eg. ( 1951) Kerouac On the Road (The Original Scroll) (2007): "I had finished the wine [...] and I was proper stoned." also see Kerouac (letter 8 Jan 1951) : "I stood completely stoned on the sidewalk in unbelievable and heavenly rapture."
If you're under 30 - go at least find out who Karouac was and how he wrote a whole book on a single piece of paper. And Beat Poets.
Before that, it meant to be killed by stoning like in the Bible, or to have your stones (bollocks) cut off as punishment. The rolling stones probably refers to a cliche, and folk music and the 60s was the time for cliches.
We are not all cliches.
7. Nevertheless the lyrics of “stoned” by The Rolling Stones suggest an attenuated sense of space or location, seeking re-orientation, then a rapid change of state to one of pleasant euphoria, suggesting a fast acting drug: "Stoned | Out of my mind| Here I go | Ah, yeah | Where am I at? |Ah-ah-ah | Yeah, yeah ".
8 naturally, later the fun police caught on to the meaning. The single was withdrawn. So they changed the song name to “Stones”. Which confuses things, especially due to the nickname the Rolling Stoned.
8 no 9!. For a trivial taste of how very far off track the Stones got before refinding their roots again. Listen to “In another land” which is soooo baaaad and includes a high quality recording of Bill Wyman snoring for 20 seconds.
My review.
This - My first listen to the particular early record, and I'd agree that this first album will surprise anyone under 50 - it was so new to UK and Europe for the times, all these thumping American R&B covers - not at all what we thought of if we got to know the superstar Stones in 80s & 90s.
But some honesty - their first 6 or so albums were just covers. They sound cool. But its also disappointing to discover at first (see above)
I think it wasn't until Beggars Banquet (4 years later) that albums were mostly new material and their own sound was more or less settled. And then they were standing tall doing something honest. And full throated. HERE they were young and finding their way. They even spent at least 2 or 3 albums outright copying the Beetles (shock, intake of breath!) and trying to do psychedelic music to their style (which pissed people off - they even ripped off the Sgt Peppers cover and it wasnt ironically ), and there are many Beatles songs they recorded too. Whah?
And so, this was England in the 1960s. It cant be overstated how important, different and even shocking this music, content and themes were. It would have created quite a fuss and discussion, bringing rhythm and blues to the masses - it was louder and faster and compared to the madrigals your parents hummed to, this was quite the toe tapping stuff (not to mention race and morals. Don't mention sex darling its crude ) !
That said, which version of this album am I supposed to listen to?
A I cant find the UK version
B “England’s Newest Hitmakers” - 1964 (US release) - does the job
C the re-released tracks “The Rolling Stones, Now!” ?
But the quality of recording is variable. By that I mean shit.
Like a sunbaked transistor AM radio up too loud. But thats a certain sound too, right?
"Roll Over Beethoven" - may have gone down like Michael J Fox playing guitar at the ball (in the Johnny be Good moment in Back to the Future).
Telling the world classical is over and rock n roll / or rhythm & blues is in - it did it literally and figuratively.
Some songs sound like they were recorded in a barn with tin microphone, buts that the 60.s...
Off to the pub with my newly acquired Brummie accent, from the last crappy record ont he list./
Raekwon
3/5
An 18 track rap album from some members of the Wu-Tang Clan – “urban America”.
I've listened to more rap on this list in a year than my whole life and <10% lands with me. I claim no sophistication, pedigree or discernment – catchy party tunes may bring a smirk and head nod from me. But I am not drawn to these tracks of unhappy struggle, witnessing pain, or boastful war cries.
I don't dance or sing to this. It doesn't do what I want music to do.
Now this. Still unrelatable, but more polished slower, thoughtful variations in tonality – seems worth a listen. Its certainly less ear splitting and painfully harsh. Consistently produced the whole album holds together very, very cohesively. I do sense this is definitely better quality than most rap. Theya re good at what they do, but it doesn't touch me. Even the very best Rap, has a low ROI for me. I’m tired.
Nirvana
5/5
Its breaks through your musical defences.
Nirvana perfectly illustrates that abrasive sound, lean hoarse vocals with repellent themes can be transfixing.
Intimate and comforting – and somehow moving, oddly relatable or catchy in a way you least expect. While 90’s grunge rock + poetical angst + troubled devotionals aren't going to happy, it is painfully, stunningly good art.
I don't do album sized chunks of grunge. I wouldn’t call it a ‘pick me up’, but it rouses something. Perhaps our bestial bits.
Nirvana did make uniquely arresting and memorable music; I literally stopped by the side of the road the first time I heard them, it was “Smell like teen spirit” and I needed to know what it was. “Heart shaped box” is another inimitable work in the grunge from – it taps some kind of magic formula, I suspect. Maybe a classical transcription reveals it. What a sound – like a pied piper who found the magic harsh note that calls to an angry teen.
I think at least one Nirvana disc has to be here so people hear and feel what they do (and how unexpected that can be, no matter your taste in music, it works). A solid entry to the list for all the right reasons.
Calexico
5/5
Allow me to jump on the metaphorical BANDWAGON here, and agree this is exactly why I came to this list - to discover and hopefully enjoy NEW music and unexplored styles. and sure, also be reminded the music I love but forgot to listen to because the CD case isn't sitting in front of me .... I read a few other reviews is which helped me grasp this is a mix of Mariachi (?) and post something. Ok. But I still like it for what it is. Interesting interstitial atmospheric - and it's music: I would paint to or write to... Feast on
Scott Walker
3/5
New to me. As iconic and distinctive as V
vintage wood panelling, lava lamps, burnt orange and brown patterned couches with piping. A very specific style. I read some reviews and decided to give it a go. Unsure if I can listen to it without almost giggling and listening to it ironically/satirically. ....orchestral with rich vocals, but also very serious and evenly gravely ernest this 'baroque pop' addresses the serious themes of the unsettled 60s where war and death hung over the youth. It's well made. I find it depressing and soothing and yet - it tickles my funny bone. But ultimately...
It's a bit heavy and croony.
Rush
2/5
2112
A prog rock comeback album? Sounds so pure, male and navy blue. Who's music is this? Is it corporate or corporal? The first 5 or so minutes of the 20 minute opener are good (if never ending) but in then end it left me so cold, this is more ranting riff than review.
How is it so boringly familiar and yet troubling...? Ayn?
“Breakfast of champions” music for young aspiring hard right politicians?.
... The insecure kind; who want Authoritarian figures to usher in reassuring economic Feudalism (as late-stage-capitalist fades away in a non-televised denouement).
In 2024, we have some real Dr Strangelove-esque leaders rising in many western democracies. And they are jealous of the chief Oligarch. They want the same.
Maybe ...This is their music?
For fist punching the air.
Saluting themselves in the mirror.
Before occupying the high
...tower in the sky.
Great cherry faux American soundtrack for an opening to a post apocalyptic dystopian dictatorship series.
Encore, Non! Je Name pas!
Everything But The Girl
5/5
WALKING WOUNDED EVERYTHING BY THE GIRL
This was the Ear Candy of the 1990s. Sounds as direct, moving and sensually erotic as it was then.
Do Listen to their earlier stuff to understand how this is amped up and repackaging of the earlier ‘acoustic’ and raw recording style.
Earlier EBTG remains, for me, some of the sexiest sumptuous music there was. Sunday morning music that would make you grab your lover and gently sway and dance them back to bed.
Her gorgeous vulnerable, wonderfully pure, and soothing voice and their original feeling lounge-but-not-lounge bossa-nova infused vibes are the thing.
And this techno version of the is just a pop-translation that got chart success. I'm not judging... I liked it too..
Back then, all up-to-date people of good taste had the (previous) “Amplified Heart” album. The cultivated chill out set. “Missing” was the name of the sexiest and most propulsive track - it was all about YEARNING.
Some fortunate and hard working genius bastard hit the magic formula with a remix of MISSING and the result is massive chart success and this album.... As they confess in the final collection of remixes, it was time to “adapt or die”..maybe they were told. I don't know the story.
I do see how their acoustic sound risked slipping to oblivion after having a minor moment, after working at it for decades.
But I remember for a few wonderful years, this music was at all the summertime parties and we felt good, and groovy and sexy when we heard it. So happy to rediscover them here.
So yeah, I'm so grateful and happy they're here to represent in this list all that was right and bright from that era - a shining musical moment in the world. It was ear candy. And great love making music. True.
And the success of on acoustic pair who did beautiful art together.
Go listen to their early stuff. In pairs. OMG YES. sigh.
John Martyn
5/5
If I judged an album by its cover, it's say it's going to be spacey and out there. And it is. Psychedelic Folk Impressionistic ?
Interesting. Performance ART style of music. Imagine it live.
Would be glorious to drop into THAT room. I will be back for more.... Great new album and artist is never heard of. Feels alive and live and catchy. I assume this is regarded as a high end and very special cool local blues and roots band.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Ever feel like the odd one out?
I intellectually 'get' that he's a good song writer .
The folk Blues style music.
But his wonky wah-wah / louche, almost drunkassstykised singing voice (like when Alan Ginsburg did that reading) stops me enjoying or getting any real emotional connection to the music. Especially in this album. He may have captured the voice of a generation.
Try as I might I can't plug in .
Brian Eno
5/5
Do I like it, is it any good, should it be here?
I find Brian Enos ambient work to be some of the purest and most satisfying music and beyond compare. It's the best I know. He captures a core or ambience like no other.
Back to this.
This is clearly a seminal album and sound from a time where this was significant. I don't however connect with it but admire it has quality production....
There are bits that are very good. Like the 2nd half of Some Faraway Beach .... How did he do that? A champion of originality. Or. There are some people who convey otherworldly things as music. He has that talent. Rounding it up as a 4 due to its ability to work as an album if you let it okay in the background .... Or maybe a 5 as I do want to hear it again. Hmmmm ....
Drive-By Truckers
5/5
Cross the gothic edges of Nick Cave, mix in the storytelling of Bruce Springsteen and George Thoroughgood's southern humour and put it behind some chicken wire in a truck stop. It doesn't get much more "out there" or unexpected than this. I thought it was satire at first but it was too well produced to dismiss. I really got into this interesting damaged music.
Intelligent, surprising and varied southern stories with some gothic touches and humour.
Then some history.
Pere Ubu
4/5
A very interesting diversion. Are you really ready for something different today? Give this a go. On nice big warm speakers. It gets better and better, track by track.
Oddly compelling. Experience it once. We are not here to hear Radiohead and Dire Straits again. So hold on last the first 30 seconds, and you will get some music you might otherwise NEVER hear.
I admire the artistic freedom and willingness to defy anything really.
It's interesting the way installation art is + you look at a seemingly incomprehensible mess trying to figure it out, and realise it best to just let it flow ... It's a bit free and deranged, if you can handle the concept.You REALLY gotta be in the mood for this kind of thing. Or truly like punk. Or free forming art.
Give it space and let it overtake the room.
File under: experimental + interesting punk almost jazz.
It does have its moments.
And as someone who listens as broadly as Stromae & Indila to Tom Waits & Patti Smith , it's rare to find something this new and different and avant garde feeling.
Will I become a regular listener?
Hell no.
But it's worth a listen.
Once.
Bee Gees
3/5
Having just listened to a Bobby Womack album, I am adding this Bee Gees album to a satirical playlist (so cheesy, it's good).
The opening track. ....if isn't already on a Deadpool soundtrack, I expect it is on some kind to a shortlist.
Bobby Womack
3/5
If Super Cheesy Soul were a genre, this would have to be a finalist. I enjoyed it, it's warm, bounding and fun, but part of my smirk is a satirical one.
I'm missing a few things, furry dice, a V8, summer nights and flares, and formation dancing by the Solid Gold Dancers .
If you ARE in the mood for it, it's super extra cheesy fun to groove to.
But it's also so cheesy it's rich for satire, too. Like American cheese sauce, don't look too deep for substance, and it may not "mature" well.
Still undecided if this is intended as Comedy.
Hole
4/5
The history, person and music are inseparable. It's more than 2 catchy songs. She undeniably has a voice. And a unique recognisable style here. It's much better than I remembered.
I really like the guitar and vocal sound on the opening track, the fun rebellious punk sounds of Celebrity skin and Malibu. It's all attitude and remind me of the stories of their wild and highly sexualised concerts.
I don't expect much from the rest of the album .... It's ok. I give them points for having a finite and recognisable sound and one of few angry female voices to make it mainstream.
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
Oh nauseating dysphoria pain, with faux chirpy bits. yay! wow sure bring it on. I brought a backpack into which you can pour any left over grating unresolved putrid misery.
Hmmm. Its not just the English who musically and politically seek to pick at old scabs and distort things so the suffering repeats.
This gets a whole star upgrade for destroying Just Like Heaven (by the Cure?) so hatefully. You got marks for effort and application. Now put out your hand for a stamp.
Confession. I skipped from the first to the last track. It seemed best for all concerned.
Deux!
Buena Vista Social Club
5/5
All Cuba's exports will make you happy, and a minority will kill you. This is good for you, like a slow lover, or company of a gentle old friend. Oh the soothing music 30 and 40s Havanna (styles called
as son, bolero and danzón)
Seriously, so very happy to see this album - I'd been meaning to listen to the album, and see the film (Win Wenders seems to be a singular source to pleasure in my life), ever since it came out.
So yes it's taken half my life to sit and listen to this.
I do love it, more so as it's so much gentler and softer than expected. Feels pure and classical in styles which makes it even more of a treasure. We are fortunate indeed this musical style was preserved and brought back to life.
Erykah Badu
5/5
HER honey sweet voice - sexy funk warmed until its dripping
Incubus
5/5
Yeah I like it. Reminds me of the Matrix Soundtrack but significantly more listenable; more rolling and organic in the bass lines. I thought I knew this band, but no Kenny! its PRIMUS that did the South Park theme, not INCUBUS.
So, this is nu- or funk metal. Not for everyday. But its a great Funk to push through by at 8PM after a long hr slog when here is decidedly poopy but paperwork to do!
Productivity kick. Influenced by bands I like, as it turns out. Makes sense.
U2
4/5
Disclaimer - excuse my brief inability to be unemotional and detached here. After hearing Sunday Bloody Sunday & New Years Day for the first time in maybe a decade, I needed a few days to compose myself and write this.
Like most Generation Xers (‘65-’80) here, I won’t see straight or be on objective and reliable rater on this (or several u2 albums). They have 5-6 extremely popular albums that will flood our brains with nostalgia hormones, emotional memories, triggers both good and bad.
And many stories. Such cool music.
Serious musos will get smug about the poser frontman. The rest of us may blubber with joy, recall at least 2 loves/crushes, life defining parties and moments, or simply attempt to sing a bad falsetto with arms outstretched, eyes closed, imagining ourselves at a stadium show.
You see, we felt powerful, political, all-knowing and eternally invincible when this music came out. We were teenagers, their music both shaped and described the vibe, emotions and epochs of our lives. So we will forever be teens when this comes on the radio.
In Gen Z terms - U2 music is akin to “Core Memories” in Inside Out.
In Boomer / Bladerunner terms - all replicants would have favourite U2 songs and memories. Its that ubiquitous.
It’s so, so good to hear this after all these years. Wow. That felt good, nostalgia 💭
(•_•)
\^o^/
(*＾-＾*）
:-)
Indeed, I waited a few days. Calmed down. Listened again and wrote this. Its perhaps not a fulsome 5 after all. But it does so sumptuously cast that stadium filling spell. And the mass 80s mood. But there are gaps in the album. Style changes. Some long stretches feel self indulgent now, but still, they don't depart from a strict adherence to their signature sound.
Oddly, I had never noticed Bono “do” sound and vocals like Robert Smith of The Cure on “Drowning Man” or “40” .
I don't have the full u2 back catalogue. But flicking through, there must b 4-6 essential albums. And many of us I know absolutely every second of at least one album. For me its Achtung Baby.
SUMMING UP
Lovely nostalgia. Two amazing definitive tracks. A bit indulgent after that.
A reminder to listen to our most treasured albums more.
The joy of the familiar. Wow. and l’m only 50 ish
Time for an 80's party ?
Definitely enjoyed it.
And resolved to make a play list of the very best 80s albums.
And pull out my CDs and listen to those faves too.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
This is where he shines. Stripped right back. I once thought I knew Bruce by his anthems. But this album for me goes back to who he was ‘before’ . I remember it was like finding his true origin music that no one ever plays anymore.
It might be confusing for latecomers.
Nebraska at first feels unfamiliar - even bleak, but soon this campfire style and warmth feels intimate and pure. For me it’s still his best and most powerful work.
But I only discovered this 1982 style in 1997. His stripped-back steel string album called "Ghost of Tom Joad" had just completely flopped. So, a bargain-bin find introduced me to a really different, non-commercial, really rural sounding “ campfire folk singer Bruce “.
And it blew me away. It was my favourite album for years.
The raw intimacy and new meaning in his lyrics knocked me on my ass - just when I was getting into the subtle emotional range of acoustic music, jazz and blues and roots. So the “Tom Joad” surprise led me to totally re-evaluate Bruce’s music and then curiously check in on his back catalogue, leading me to Nebraska which I remember, I felt then was his best work.
So I came to this listening session remembering that. And it’s a heartwarming joy to hear it again tonight. And have the view confirmed.
I feel renewed to remember a chart-topping megastar can courageously step back into a forgotten quiet style, to remind people what his roots and songs were really about. And so; for me this is part one of a two-album set, so Nebraska + Ghost of Tom Joad kind of go together.
What I like best is how artists evolve, explore and drop the facade and re-invent then return. And we taste different sides and get surprised sometimes - who knew?
The Velvet Underground
3/5
That first feeling of wise wonder is elusive. You have to experience it to know if it's a 1 or a 5 for you. Listenable as an artistically playful and multilayered piece that definitely sustained my interest as their interesting parting ‘exhibit’.
To paint a picture - it's a bit like going ‘up river’ to unfamiliar scenes in Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now. Instead of a frantic press dude guiding our search for Kurtz, its more a beatnik 60’s house party with a cataleptic Waldo, who’s bestial, obsessional and insecure yeanring for Marsha results in his sacrificed on her later, instead of the wide-eyed Buffalo.
Trippy musical peregrinations and oblique motifs lead us to a final, cataclysmically carefree and intentionally lazy dismantling of all music, electric guitars being layered and compressed as if through a giant euphonium for a slightly Hendrix inspired rapture, while your name is being called from the surrounding tangled forest.
So yeah. An interesting bonfire on which they threw all their drafts and just lit it.
To be fair, the first track overtly warns “this is our trippy art project” by wrecking some bubblegum rock as a warm-up. I consensually went through the curtain. Twice. I wholy enjoyed it the first time (4-5 for the ride) and it disintegrated completely on me the second listening (1-2 and with no need to hear it again).
But no damn word on Kurtz. Where is the fat bugger?
Meanwhile, I am already at album 529, and no sign yet of de la Rocha, Morello or their rebel fighters! They’d be perfect for cleaning up this feudal mess.
a-ha
1/5
Ah, no.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Magnificent, but.....
I've always found his genius is best in very small doses. Virtuosity, yes. Original, self taught and much imitated, and I've owned the album for 30 years, but it's too cataclysmic for "listening" . It demands a lot of the listener.
In the end very hard to rate. Essential listening or viewing yes. It belongs here, but I tasted only a few tracks before putting it away again.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
A bit odd as an album. Its a bit of a grower but Soo padded out, it
They have 18 studio albums to choose from. Sensing this might not be here to to its peerless perfection, I look it up. Could it be the important "transitional piece".
Turns out it was a recording so long and expensive as to have caused debates with lawyers on whether it would be best to build or buy or rent a studio?
That was before they ended up spending 10 months to incubate 20 tracks.
At the cost of $1.4M. in 1979.
Two or three good songs ("Sarah' has the signature sounds, that epic cinematic sweeping warmth of this band ), some really sleepy heated waterbed version of country music. Sleepy enough.
Some oddities. Track 6 is rotten.
And then we get to the Celtic / Saxon drumming on Tusk. It's mysterious ... And grows like a Tubular Bells does, but blending with some rock opera.
I guess at this time everything was a concept album. I have a few other goes at the album. Headphones. Warm 80s speakers. I detect more artefacts and breadcrumbs. This artists with no limits no budget and no deadlines. And no editor. A slow grower for me, a bit of curiosity. They were quite prolific weren't they? Hard to mark down to a 3. Not my kind of 5.
Sam Cooke
5/5
Soul. Great voice. The father of soul, inventor of soul,Mr Soul etc Sam Cooke. An auditory outing, dinner and show with some rowdy guests in the background, set list builds to a peak then we head home. Interesting as a reminder music is best as live event; organic.
Like a naturalistic eavesdropping recording; captures what an evening in a club in Harlem really sounded like, audience interaction, chaos, wailing ...
A beautiful tragic important entry.
I get why it's here and fell compelled to explore his music and soul further. Defining music of a time. And I barely grasp its full significance I think....
Thelonious Monk
4/5
Yes I knew the name. Not the album. Clearly it's polished high end stuff from some kind of pure uncompromising musical genius. The competing or contrasting overlaid melodies, like a well composed double exposure photo, can be enjoyed intellectually for a bit. Too much and it becomes demanding (for some, well, for me....) ... So, call me lazy, or bourgeois, but I like to take my jazz easy, where the music does the work, and I sing along, bop along or just chill. Nevertheless I admire this music for its precision, clarity, and tight instrumentation. Top stuff. Just not my alley... [Side note, I discovered I do really like other recordings.... Midnight Blue, and Blue Monk, among some other tracks of his repertoire - his collaborations with Coltrane I think are more my style, mellow and flowing] ... Maybe it's just this album .
Primal Scream
4/5
Now this is confusing. Unexpected and well, hard to describe. More mellow / trippy / clubby / strange lounge than expected.
Kowalski ? The Penguin? A '97 album, with a track called Trainspotting? Feels like a disorienting nightclub movie scene - expertly made into an album. Ride it. Ride it. So, "Get Duffy" and "Star" are atmospheric and promising, but it gets too wierd to trust. I skip ahead to Trainspotting - now it all makes sense. This is the "sound"that defined the movie. Brillaint.
Uneven Brillaince; geniuses. I didnt know I knew them so well. This is really, *really* out there, even for me. But if I was in a certain club at a certain time of my life, in a certain state, it might all work. But the nauseating sinking feeling of this takes me to the film set of Irriversible just a bit too much. In the Rare Art category for now - pending my review at alater date...
The Soft Boys
1/5
The disconcerting cover was a clue. This is icky and I felt like I was listening to the record collection of Jimmy Savile.
Then the titles of the next 39 tracks added dread to that.
The lyrics are a nauseating string of chiches.
I check. Yep.. As I suspected.
This perversion is English.
Anyway, I Not in the mood for disgust or listening to other people's hated today. Aborted at track 3.
Trust your instincts.
Morrissey
3/5
1. Is it enjoyable,l (not for me) and/or
2. is it any good? (It's superb) And
3. would I listen to it again? (Definitely not)
The God of Despond, the Patron Saint of teen angst, the mournful beautiful voice of pain, longing - like a jaunty polite ride through an alley filled with broken hearts, doubts and goth corpses...
Reluctantly I have a go.... The opening track is one of the most uplifting and rocky Morrissey song I've heard. The next song has energy too- not what I associate with him (emotional black hole).
Then track 3 is actually sweet sounding. Sounds like rejection and praise mixed together - young love adolescence and the ups and downs. His music always seem to go to that place:adolescent era pain.
He is the star, the god of the genre in that sense. If it exists. He does eerily sweet soul crushing despondency so lyrically. I really don't like it, it makes me think of Goths with bandages arms
While Morrissey is important to include as so many people latched onto this music, it's just too gloomy for me to endure.
He is brilliant at what he does. I could have been a lot more succinct, but it's so hard to edit these by phone....
Beck
5/5
Beck. This is a reminder for me to listen to my 90s discs again.
Genius and experimentation.
Uneven but yields some true gems. That's okay with me.
....and Gladly - Beck is prolific (I like maybe 10-20% of his stuff. But when I do- I really like it.)
I was delighted to see this here as I have a copy I haven't listened to Inna decade or more.... I like this album for its very 90s vibe and fun, upbeat GROOVY music (even if I have to skip 60% of the tracks as they represent his depressing tinny grating grind).
So, if we're listening for a reminder of that 90s swinging, grooving guitars and smile-inducing feel good tracks, the Best tracks - obviously - are:
"Where it's at”;
"Devils haircut”;
"hotwax”, and to a lesser degree....
“the new pollution” and “Jackass” (for the donkey bray at the end ).
I literally skip the rest of the album.
RATING: A 5 for some of the best tracks of the entire 90s, but it really should be a 4 if taken as a whole...
DOES IT BELONG HERE? yes.
**** As a side note...
As well as eye catching, I always found the cover art has a fair bit of symbolism (which could be taken to represent emotions or ideas) in relation to artistic performance. It's not too far a "leap" to see the dog performing a tricks as analogous to the artists performance.
What do you “see” when you look at the components of the photo? I see a funny rope dog looking even more interesting as it flies over the hurdle which is on invented human performance obstacle for animal performance of its natural talents. Its is funny and cute too. But why? It also looks fun and interesting because of some juxtaposition (playful & decorative versus assessment & artificial). It could also be a metaphor for so many things.
What do you see?
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
Lets say you give a blues rock band hallucinogenic drugs and ask them to paint the sky with the sounds they can make.
The result? Intermission music to play whilst waiting for Jim Morrison to return to the stage.
.... I kept expecting it to launch.
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable", said the Mexican poet and academic, Cesar A. Cruz.
I would append; “Within reason.”
Challenging art can be important, rewarding and memorable. Or just entertaining aural puzzles and experiences. Sometimes we seek it out and get what we came for.
But to subject another person to this abrasive annoyance, boredom, or pain like this is beyond me. And beyond what I want to tolerate. I can only guess or sense that the origin of this art is their own special, twisted and malevolent form of abject alienation. Or maybe not so much experience worth sharing, but a joy they get from inflicting it.
And I don't wish to study it further.
The cover art and track names were informative sign posts.
I won't reveal the rare and special insults that come to mind for this group.
Solomon Burke
4/5
Clearly I missed all the Soul units at the School of Rock. My bad, abviously.
Quite the show. Apparently this is the guy is largely responsible for the Soul sound... and made 40 or 50 albums.
Well, this is my "first date" with Solomon.
I have no whimsical stories or oral histories to share.
A comely voice - an album of hits, and prodiguous output. It will go on the 'listen again' pile.
& right now its sounding good as a Friday afternoon beers and sunset music.
The energy of a live show is right there alright.
A solid 4 for now, but not the full gush just yet.
Beastie Boys
5/5
Gush warning.
I feel spoilt, to listen to not one but two (yes 2) Beastie Boys albums on this list. I would never have considered a whole album of their stuff. I thought they had a few fun tracks and that was it.
Turns out they make a lot of thumping catchy stuff which I love and smile to (its so out there as to be almost mock ironic and hence - for me - hilarously fun as well and pumping rock).
Perfect shit silly for a middl aged man to krank it up loud. Fully. Music for stomping around the house when you're feeling too silly and to listen to RATM.
:-)
Oddly, I am having too much fun to be annoyed by his nasal pee wee voice. And I have always liked the cover art to this album. There's something in that, isnt there?
Some fo their most entertaining lines /rhymes:
"I don't mean to brag I don't mean to boast;
but I'm intercontinental when I eat French toast"
" 'Cause I'll be rockin' this party eight days a week "
"I'm Mike D and I'm back from the dead;
chilling on the beach down at ClubMed"
"I’m a writer, a poet;
a genius, I know it"
"Well I’m a 6.7 on the Richter Scale.
Got rhymes galore and then I never fail.
Like gravy to potatoes, Luke to Darth Vader,
I’m a souped up sucker and I’ll see you all later."
ZZ Top
2/5
You need to understand something. I don't normally come into these kinds of establishments.
This music pumps like an action sequence from a US car commercial for a pickup truck (or any meaty car with a big enough donk to substitute for ego awareness and intellect) in the dessert, where a tight denim wearing blond with red lips tilts up her hat to look at you, then wink, and kick up some dust. ...
It's cheap, low, formulaic cliché ear juice. And just like bourbon, it does the job, even if it hurts to know it's basically couch syrup you're drinking.
Get me out of here before someone sees me. Back entrance?
The The
5/5
Playful langourous happy party vibes - who else does this so well?
Thank you again 1001.
For REintroducing me to simply the best feelgood and amazingly languid, liquid and cool music from the 80s. That voice+tight trashy pop instruments=musical alchemy, (which tooks 35 yrs to certify Gold appparently! that's some slow gold...)
I knew "the The" from balmy summer parties of my student 90s.
"This is the day" goes nicely alongside "Sounds of Then (This is Australia)" by GANGgajang.
But lets not get AUTOBOGRAPHICAL, kids.
Its now on my Essential 80s albums list. No question.
...the magic arpegiio things in Uncertain smile, and drummy bits in Giant, but most of all, the playful langourous happy party vibes - who else does this so well?
Funny how how music transports you to a space and time ...I let the warmth and poppy 80s sounds wash over. Yes.
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
This is a special art, culture, a voice and style apart.
Propulsive power rock defined. Nothing moves like a RATM concert Audience and mosh pit. Its extraordnary. The swirls and heaving.
Unapologetic protest music- always and still relevant - frustration, outrage, oppression fear and unrest weaponised as music propaganda. You cant sit still for this. Used as Sound Test music at empty stadiums and outdoor concerts all over Europe for its dynamic range - it is both entertaining (fun) and eery to hear for its contained aggresion. it can sound forboding.
But at its best it get the blood up, for sure.
Unashamed protest music that taps into a deep rage and malaise around what is wrong. The opposite of pop and pap. They 'get' primitive emotion and expertly weaponise as music. A memoranble eloquence on so much that is unmentionable.
Instantly recognisable, but maybe a bit 'male' for much of the audience, as I seem to remember when looking down at their mosh pit - where does a crowd learn those tribal moves?
10cc
1/5
Not a review.
Definitely sounds early 70s and very English.
Almost folk, with embellished as intelligent, psychedelic, or as humour?
But perhaps too insular and rarified to translate beyond a very narrow group and time period. I think to understand it you need a deep appreciation for the Magic mother one where it really shouldn't be in the list except for academic interest or to tick a box on a MICRO GENRE.
Merrigoround and a taste for Python, which makes very obscure white dude music.
This goes onto a pile with about 20 albums on it already form this list:
Albums - "other - only of passing interest" 20th century music, (including obscure micro genres no one will ever listen to again) ...
This is really pushing the limits of pointlessness. I mean why is it on the list?
Skunk Anansie
1/5
Auditory violation. I admire the female vocals for a moment, am reminded of Evanescence, and the repulsion and nausea set in. Not in the least bit sexy, or enjoyable. File under N for Noxious.
Kelela
1/5
Tightly produced enough that the whole album feels like one track evolution. If you liked it, that would be good. But it's not speaking my language. It's not bad. I just find it really boring. Niche music. And definitely, ABSOLUTELY no idea why this is essential listening. Probably purely academics
Joni Mitchell
5/5
So glad this is here. I have no idea where my copy is and out of sight out of mind. Maybe I lent it ?
Thanks.
For some simplicity.
Some clarity where we can focus on just the voice and one or two instruments.
For the reminder of feminine whimsy raw honest folk, delicate and shrill and some playful non-standard standards.
And then case if you. Often covered. Tender sensual emotional and sad and oddly soothing. What an album. And the there's the lyrics, as devastating as an unexpected poem from The New Yorker. Careful.
Thanks Joni.
Frank Sinatra
5/5
Review Sinatra
Yeah this is the full full swoon, the full shot of velvet. Turn it up and chill - whether its a balmy summer at sunset, or a fireplace moment. Its Gold. I really should listen to more Frank.
Out his record on the “listen to me” pile, along with a few of his other 5 start ones. So many...
Take the best albums of each of these vocal greats from the golden age and you've got a solid 4 or 5 from me. But when it comes ot Ella Fitzgerlanbd Frank Sinatra there is just so much amazing material. How to choose a single definitive best album?
And leave room for the other greats Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole, Julie London, Billie Holliday, a Tony or two, so many more including Chet Baker, Shirley Horn, lus the best jazz musicians of the day. And Dorris Day - juts for fun! (who always makes me smile). Did I miss Carmen Macrae, or Etta James ?
Then around the turn of the century we got the vocal gifts of Stacey Kent and Madeline Peyroux (overplayed in all the homewares stores) the amazing Gregory Porter, Harry Connick, Melody Gardot,
and so many who could spill off Frank, like Vince Jones/Grace Knight (come in spinner)
Where is that little CD? I think I have 2 copies....
Brian Eno
3/5
Do you DEEPLY like ambient soothing music? I wonder how many do?
A little discovery for me. The transitional album (so calming). In context, this musical easter egg isn't going to do it for most people. Its obscure even for here.
And I nearly gave up on it, before realising Side B is on an amazing - unexpected - five tracks that morph as an intro to his new style of Ambient music (and his whole next album)..
His ambient work, for me, goes beyond a mere “5”. So, by tiny joyful coincidence, to get past the rock bit and “skip to the good stuff”, start at track 6 . a nice experience if you love his Ambient and are likely to recognise some signature elements. It's like going back to watch the lost pilot of your favourite tv series.
Or you *could* skip his kind introduction to his new style over 5 tracks, and simply jump ahead to his next album. You want have had the transition.
And so, for those of you, really DEEPLY interested, we’re going back. To hear a genius do something for the first time, and for me it “worked”... Set aside a full 25 mins; as ‘set and setting’ is needed for this album to do its work.Skip to tracks 6-10. the first emergence of ENO’s ambient. And he takes you gently in. Side B (track 6: “Here He Comes”) after the jumble of side A this is different for its musical coherence; all floral , pastoral and calm; and settles you right down. Let it take you there.
Tracks 7-10: he deepens and softens and almost drops all vocals; the transition into delightful droning AMBIENT. Like a psychic massage table. He goes right past ‘New Age music’ - then his new magic keyboard is introduced as the vehicle for meditative, almost astral transport. [We’ll hear heaps of it on “Ambient 1 Music for airports”, on his next album].
[edit or side note: if you are NOT interest in curious like transition or ‘missing link’ albums, I totally get it, I wasn’t either, so for a FULL taste of a basically perfect ambient album, listen instead to Brian Eno’s NEXT album which is
“ambient 1: music for airports”
which is ultra soothing calming musical meditation and sounds like it was made in 2010 or 2020 but is from 1978. I know. Genius. And I need to say, there is no better album for listening to when jet lagged, commuting for work utterly exhausted on long haul, or even in bed sick needing music that will be as soothing as a warm bath. I don't know where to go after it, as he has produced so much. I need a curator to help]
Ambient 1: is also music for sleeping. And why its so treasured. And not played at parties or on the radio.
Thank you Mr Eno.
Don McLean
1/5
This album is a trap. I dont think it needs ot be here ...
Sure. A rock n roll moment. But is this really essential listening? The song yes. The rest no. Guys! c’mon...Maybe my first time for the whole ALBUM. The nostalgia inherent to track 1 is drawn out and expanded for a whole album, as if by a Spinner at a Wheel of Gloom.
Now I don't blame people for throwing out the album in frustration. I own a discarded copy myself. Ha! I get the joke. The cover is so iconic. Its says “All American Party its all Ok”, but its not. Bait and Switch?
Who wants a copy of the pop folk rock equivalent of Auld Lang Syne?
Tricky. And a Bummer.
And now I need an antidote to lift my spirits now! yuk.Wish i didn't listen. Bastards.
The Fall
1/5
kind of noisy punk. annoying britishness
dont explain to me why its important.
The extremely low number of listens, except for track 1 suggest a "1001 Albums effect" . no thanks
Boston
4/5
Harmless cheesy singalong stuff form the 70s and 80s. Hmm. What a horrible thing to say.
As the album progresses, you see how it would have felt epic to play at the time. A true airguitar album. Anyone with an 80s convertible shoudl pluy this loud. Its awesome in that cheesy ironic way.
Japan
4/5
I unexpectedly like this.
It promises, and delivers, synthesisers fake drums and moody stylish avante-garde artists from 1979. And I read of glam to synth pop shifts.
First track passes muster, unexpectedly.
They have that stylish 80s feel.
Then I find they develop and become even more interesting, with experimental things (and their later albums keep getting better)
Conclusion: stylish and interesting and more accomplished than I expected. a taste fo some of the better 80s elements, at time have quite a grand sound. ( I like from other albums alkso the tracks Burning Bridges, On Gentlemen take Polaroids).
They benefit from an extra point for surpising me. And experimentation with eastern /arabic instruments - so unexpectedly cool overall. I will be curious to find out if they are as completely unknown in Australia as I suspect
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Music to get
Soulful in Sorrento?
Bouncy in Bombay? or
Caliente in Cadiz?
(Its so playful and evocative, and it probably didnt sound a bit cheesy at the time)
Or just plain lugubrious, pleading, sensual and enthralling tones of the ever soulful Dusty in Springfield.
I'm a fan. definitely a voice people should know. Will delve (not an AI) into this album again maybe (but her hits for sure). She was very popular, but so was Petula Clarke. One things this list could make for room for is all the amazing female post war vocalists (and remove some rappers or experimental proto punk perhaps).
Django Django
2/5
No points for guessing that the special niche being filled here is "albums to listen to when stoned".
Patterns and echos and synth attempts at ear candy. Its as interesting as it is silly.
So many albums could fit. But if seeking purity, this album would ONLY serve this purpose.
hmmm. I can think of a 2nd purpose for the album.
Make sober tweakers listen to it, so they know how dumb people sound when they are off their faces.
Surely there is better music that THIS for THAT?
The Allman Brothers Band
5/5
Yep you got me with this album. Love the endless jam feel - the gift of feeling right on stage in on immersive almost Binaural recording of extraordinary clarity and quality given the 1971 vintage.
Even the drum kit is in stereo.
This introduced me to whole new dual lead guitars playing in synch and replying. A rule breaking band mixing jazz blues rock and country blender.
A wonderful indulgence.
My tips.
#1 DEFINITELY headphones. it's like being in stage with them, almost Binaural.
#2 read the Wikipedia entry. The cover art story alone is gold.
#3 find something to do while listening to this. It's gonna be long.
Iggy Pop
4/5
Only a genius would call themselves an idiot.
But he is standing in the snow inappropriately attired. Probably Berlin. Not far from Mr Bowie he made this with or for. Making art together must be the best way to solve an serious drug addiction. What an odd pair. But gives the lyrics a new meaning. The results are pretty good.
Meanwhile this Prince Myshkin sounds ok, hmm, mayabe I should read some Dostoevsky.
PJ Harvey
5/5
An easy five. The Wikipedia roundup of the critical praise for this is kinda definitive. The brooding dark angel - and what a voice - and what poetry - no wonder she flitted with Nick a but. The French DJ here form 'Bury'field was right in giving me some Polly. And the Englishman from 'nes borough for introducing me to her. It's a match!
The Youngbloods
2/5
Why is this here? It's so ..... blousey.? That's not it.
No.
It's diaphanous.
It could blow away in a light breeze.
King Crimson
1/5
The greatest what?
It sounds like putting ketchup on fish. Or champagne after brushing.
It's just wrong. As is the instrumentation and mixing rock and pastoral styles. I don't hear the genius. Aborted half way through.
At least now the iconic expression in the cover makes sense to me.
Anthrax
1/5
I'm not into metal.
Brian Eno
5/5
It's definitely impressive for being both listenable and extremely "OUT THERE". It is more than a collection of unusual sounds, it's quite musical. Reminds me a lot of TALKING HEADS but it's more off the beaten track even.
A quality album. Interesting and I would listen to it again for sure.
I am surprised to say all of this. Despite liking ENO a LOT, I expected to write "why do we need so many Eno albums here to introduce different styles to people? But then I heard this. It's surprisingly groovy and cool without being alienating experimental bullshit.
So yeah surprisingly it belongs on this list. And now to read what others wrote about it.... Curious ....
The Beta Band
2/5
Ok-aaay, so an experimental Scottish band goes straight; insoding surpises even themselves by making actual songs. The Album cover: an explosion in the vacuum of space. Sarcastic physicists? Id listen to this on a bus tour of Glasgow or Edinburough. Yes, how fitting. A soundtrack to commuting amoung the welcoming madlings of the Hebrides. Out of context its mirky at best. So, I re-label this to "Music for discovering the people of Scotland" . Because a knowing glance can say more than words.
We could have been listeing to music that connects us and makes us dance and smile.
But all we got more pudge.
Dexys Midnight Runners
1/5
I already know, because of my infinite curiosity there is no need to enter this room. Is where the ugly or forgotten and broken things are. Slumming poshies and mutiple failed versions of the mini. Ah the English. They fail so elequently, non? This Ingleesh quaintness.
As interesting as ASCII Art. really.
1oo1
8
~~
Hello ?
Does your dig bite?
Non, of course not! rediculous question.
><Ouch<> your dog bit me!!
Errh, Monsiuer, but that is not my derg.
Norah Jones
5/5
Put on the big speakers. Its a sound stage album.
Its clarity playful light and breezy jazziness and soul and somehow a unququeness that just got too unquiquitous and worn out... now Ive ignored it for a decade I can hear it again , and Wow yeah, what it does. it does well. The soother.
Not the albums fault it was overplayed or had mass appeal. I beleive I have the HD version somewhere. perfect for lsitenign to the vibrations between vibrations, and losing time.
Van Halen
5/5
Oh.
Music for a Walkman. You get me at a weak moment it seems.
I honestly cant tell if I like it because I woulda liked it then, or if hearing now (First Time) I like it Ironically.
What the hell is going on? Ever feel guilty or self aware for liking bad junk food (and this is junk).
So I let out my belt, and put on a daiper, pulled up a keg of root beer, and turned my Focal headphoens up a bit too loud and enjoyed the soo cool and dated grainy humm of the Synth of JUMP! and was transported to a time when I could clock GYRUSS in an arcade parlour.
(ah, exalting victory music elements - as if stolen form Toccata by SKY (1980), and the Gyruss rip off of that.)
Its definitely fun in a retro , pumped up , dayglo airguiter way.
I blame my vintage primary auditory cortex, meninges and hypothalamus for not knowing better.
The catch ? Its also exactly the indulgent crap I thought Bill and Teds satirised as mindless. Which works on teenage boys.
(*) I also liked Bach, George Thoroughgood, Timbuckthree and Corey Heart back then.
The zone of proximal exposure hypothesis?
Thsi is gonna be great music for vacuuming if the robots rebel.
The Specials
3/5
The opposite of metacognition is incognizance.
In a sentence: "despite liking the fine reggae song "A message to You Rudy" in an obscure way, I was incognizant of any link to the Specials.
partly because for me, a "Special" is an lit award given by very old pinball machines. By that I mean pre-1980s. This is older than even that"
I definitely didnt know tracks 2 onwards
I am having a mixed response, its a clash of things I like and dont like at all.
Interesting exploration. But oh so dates, but if this the best trashy english reggae album they could find? there is something wonderfully innocent and horribly childlike here. Glad I hear them for the first time.
"Is everybody Happy?"
Sabu
5/5
album cover and sound are perfect poser record bar accoutrements. But do I like it? Well, yes the drums seem fun for cooking / party / typing. And the generla lack of intelligibility (to my ear) means it is great work music that wont distract. Except for the stereo seperation. and the cool sub call and response going on. and the cool mumbling and waling. hey maybe I really like this. At least a 4, so lets get binary. Either I hate it (1), am indifferent (3) or I wantot hear it again (5). Happy Easter Buona Natale, et Buena Note. damn I am starting to understand this.
Grizzly Bear
5/5
AH! Some very unexpected but very welcome accoustic atmospherics. (for a change). A welcome change and it might just be the perfect mood music for a cosy night in. But what do you call this? Starts like jazz, then gentle early 2000's Keen-ish Fleetish Foxish, and after that it edges int arty KImbra anmd then I dont have much of a reference. Its going its own way, and I like it building /as the album does a kind of progression. and its sounds on the edge of a half dozen of my favourite new bands. Song 3 and I had my finger on a rating of #5 already. Stunning finish. And all that I like. Even the cover art. And it album #572 its so enjoyable to find the unexpected novelty to delight me like this. And it ends on fun beat. A "yes" from me.
The Verve
4/5
Ah. wow. Decades. I want to pull out my old CDs and listen to more wonderful albums of our youth...
The album - Definitely floods of nostalgia, imagery, ah the 90s. This album seemed to articulate so well the unspoken and intangible uneasiness , insouciance or malaise of a generation of youth. So , we did hear it too much. I certainly like it again now.
It must be here as it was undeniably iconic and hugely popular - of a time and style.
The wikipedia page has a huge amount of analysis, so there is a lot of meaning and significance in the compositions and content I remain unaware of and don't have time for right now.
[p.s. tech #glitch gripe; despite this album having 10,000,000 certified sales its not available on YouTube Music premium. Very odd. and it throws the same incorrect playback error its been shooting out for a decade. I don't want to go to Amazon, i cant go to Apple can I, but maybe Tidal....or Spotty does good algo..]
Frank Zappa
4/5
yeah I guess it grows on you. Perhaps ideally enjoyed with the right low dose psycho-active ingredients, or surrounded by happy and loving and Patchouli scented people in loose fitting clothes, spontenously free form dancing.
I've never listened to this much Frank Zappa.
He is definitely worth listening to once or twice.
So this album, amusing and adds pepp on a friday afternoon - quirky - happy - unconventional
- inventive - very Zappa...
An interesting diversion. Not the greatest of all time by any stretch. But a style definitely worth it.
Its good music if youre into live rock blues rock psycho zydeko experimental etc.
Its growing...
Depeche Mode
5/5
Ohh I am sinking into this nicely. I resolve immediately to spend some more time with Depeche Mode.
This so, so stylish. I wasn't this cool in 1986; hence my first listen. The notable achievement here is album is a humming synth pop 80s soundscape has enough soothing human warmth to prevent it being another "less than zero" emotional sinkhole.
Quite the beguiling a mood maker - we certainly hear the "soundtrack" intent of this project. I'm hooked from the start. Hints of German Kraftwerk but also New Order and far off Joy Division. I am ignorant if who knew whom .... But I'm loving how beautifully it's honed from a shared palate.
Superb. Archetypical warmth and resonance.
They are fully in charge of both austerity and power, skillful progress atmospherics and some very nice playful (and perfectly executed) flourishes.
Spine tingling stuff. Pimpf feels like a prologue to a Requiem.And speaking of classical terms,
I am a bit fascinated at how New Orders "Elegia" is an hommage to Joy Divisions Ian Curtis and yet the organs in "Little 15" have a similar signature for me.
To quote Playboy as quoted in Wikipedia (if only to its delightful use of a German portmanteau word).
From Wikipedia; 'Robert Christgau complimented the abnormal road symbolism of the lyrics, particularly on "Little 15", and believed that apart from the sadomasochistic metaphors, Depeche Mode succeeded in turning "adolescent Weltschmerz into something catchy, sexy and seemingly significant".
Easy 5. Probably a 6.
Missy Elliott
3/5
They squeezed a lot of puns and new deed terms into this album. Ladies calling and raising. Missy pushes limits boundaries and while you wont blush, you may choke on your cheetohs or laugh if you follow the lyrics. Skilled , tight and entertaining, abnove overage and the resoruces and playas must have something to do with it. best track "work it" which got airplay everywhere so even this bit of eurotrash knows it. 3.5 overall. (woudl not seek to rotate it, but if in the right mood I'd allow it)
The Black Crowes
1/5
The name is familair. No wait, that was Counting... , so---huh--?
My fellow reviewers seem (equally) bemused angered. Why this trash here?
[A: Environment+Pop'n+Value of greenback=distortion ].
footnote:
I'd venture many ernest lads just like JUST LIKE TOM CRUISE need a soundtrack for fist pumping while driving a pick up? and that this kind of music is played at monster truck events, venues serving bucket margeritas, and at walmarts?
Rest of World, shrugs.
I wonder if AI can tell this apart from Bon Jovi and Springsteen? its missing secret sauce, veges, lean protein.
Dagmar Krause
5/5
Why 5? For on album I cant find?
And what is this niche called “Cabaret, jazz, avant-garde”? Its music from the 1920s!
The 5 is for the genre - salty dark/light style of Deutsche serious fun - its poetic dramatic themes, time, and place. I am happy and a bit surprised to find it here (and that my beloved Ute Lemper’s album is also on the 1001 list at some point!)
So, the album is too hard to find. So if you really want a taster, I include suggested samplers below so you can “taste” this salty dark/light style of Deutsche serious fun. Can i do that? I do.
A hugely influential genre, and very special style - I call it Kabarat - the “Weimar Republic era” in 30’s Germany - songs from dramatic plays in what one might all very progressive times, and works such as The Threepenny Opera, or Brecht-Weill's "sung ballet" The Seven Deadly Sins. We are deep in Brecht / Weill / Eisler territory and its harsher, heavier and more demanding but truer in German.
Its not just music for femme fatales to sing as cameos in WWII films, across the 20th century, everyone from Louis Armistorng, Lou Reed, Nick Cave,Tom Waits, and Mariane Faithful got together to do cover versions of this stuff.
The current ‘pure’ singers is Ute Lemper - superb - seen live: her voice cuts you.
Robyn Archer is apparently good. There is also an opera singer who does Kurt Weill - Teresa Stratas .
The core singers originally were
Lotte Lenya - the original (she married Weill)
Marlene Deitrecih (yes),
And somewhere this Dagmar Krause inthe 80s?.
P.s.
This entry was supposed to be about this album you just cant find it streaming on the main two - Spotify and YoutubeMusic, except as playlists)
Tank Battles (1994) reissued covers both the nelgihs and german versions (Tank Battles: The Songs of Hanns Eisler by Dagmar Krause 1988. & Panzerschlacht: Die Lieder von Hanns Eisler. Sung in GERMAN
Meanwhile.... Recommended showcase albums
ALBUM: “Punishing Kiss” - Ute Lemper (2000) - NOTE: this is elsewhere on the 1001 list (2010 version)
Compilation” Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Kurt Weill - various artists (1985) (includes Dagmar Krause - “Surabaya Johnny” ( very good audio) .
Film & CD & DVD: “”September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill” (1994) (there is a 2015 DVD) - documentary + all star performances
A weird but flawlessly done one - by industrial band from Zurich
The Young Gods Play Kurt Weill (1991)
Go hear
Mack the Knife - Nick Cave
Then listen to the The Louis Armstrong & Bobby Darin versions
Alabama Song (whisky Bar) - the doors (166 on their debut album) .
“Moon of Alabama (good Quality Audio)” - Lotte Leny (1930s recording I presume)
Bilbao song
Pirate Jenny,
After all of this, the Hollywood version of CHICAGO might seem vanilla. Maybe try the older versions....
The Verve
1/5
Gee, that was awful. Now I need cheering up.
IN A NUTSHELL: Just because the English are too inhibited/embarrassed to share their true feelings doesn't mean we deserve to find out. Here some “Northerners” spend a disinhibited week vomiting up self pity and push whiney sounds into bloated undisciplined ‘scatalogue’ of their existential disquiet. Put all the saddest Oasis, Coldplay and The Verve songs in a blender to homogenise and drink it on a rainy Tuesday hungover rainy morning = the sound.
Or “Music as emotional contagion - weaponised as a gently nauseating depressant.”
A kind of bored exaltation
LIKELY AUDIENCE:
Then: Young brits unhappy in their jobs dissociating and self-medicating with lager, nicotine and shit Mediterranea holidays (rather than meaningful connection).
Now: old white men wondering what went wrong with their life. And Britain.
LISTEN to it IF:
You don't have time to read "Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class" by Owen Jones, or Notes from a Small Island.- by Bill Byrson
You want a succinct explanation of British emigration
ANTIDOTES:
"Tu vuò fà l'americano" - Lou Bega
David Lee Roth -
“Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody”
Imelda May “Johnny Got A Boom Boom”
CONCLUSION / OUTCOMES
More effective than placebo when used as a depressant. Not to be used when operating heavy machinery or when “cleaning a gun”.
Eric Clapton
5/5
Started off thinking "this is great headphones and listing and chilling" music. Settled in...
Then these moments of fluid hypnotic magic came on:
- Willie and hand jive
- I shot the Sheriff
I I can't hold out
And by the I realised. This is perfection. Oh Eric. You've done something wonderful here. I knew I liked you but had no idea which album would be the entry point.
This does on the 5+ pile.
The Pogues
5/5
Best album title ever?
What is it that makes it work? The Irish spirit of responding to suffering with a gleefully defiant glint? It's not saudade but I wonder if this sits somewhere near that in the 3D genre cloud if the musical universe.
It's got the earthy Celtic Instruments and harmonies. And some good old see shanties that I happen to live. Instead of being serious and austere it's wild and tiny bit unhinged like a wild night at the pub. And why would you go home early for that?
But self destruction isnt normally comedic and imminently catchy entertainment. Never has so much fun been had singing about soiling yourself and others in bars and throwing up in church.
The ships horn book ending the piano accordion. Beautifully broken songs.
It's the tender pathos and humour.
They can do what we cant and entertain us with it... Our modern jesters remind us of our animalism while we click our mice, and look at blueish screen wearing suits and sigh.
Anyone who doesnt know the wonderful drunken jigs of the Pogues have indeed missed out.
Loved hearing this filthy, debauched, addicted, album.
The xx
4/5
This album makes me as unsure as Englishman.
You see, I happen to really enjoy this music. Fun bass-heavy ‘ear candy’ that has those playful progressive mildly trippy cuddly warm beats.
You hear a "but" coming don't you? That Shakespearean vacillation...
Well... its also a bit of ‘guilty pleasure’ - I wonder if it's like highly refined food. So perfectly produced & polished so it goes down so easily. Is this musical snobbery/its mass appeal/lack of ‘edge’? ...or that their albums sound so ‘same’ and numbing - so that can get a bit “missionary” or .... hmm.. How do I say this? Soon a need for refreshment creeps in. Why do we doubt what's good? We’re spoilt, and entitled and so easily bored.
Confession: I do own a copy. Not on heavy rotation. Of this I am neither proud nor ashamed.
"What is infirm from your sound parts shall fly"
(All's well that ends well, Shakespeare).
It just does feel worthy of a 5
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
As Easy 5 - again - I want to listen to it again - and to read the lyrics and get to the bottom of what the album means underneath. The kind of obviouysly good / seminal artists I havent prperly "met" before, exactly waht I am here and psuhing past Gooving mellifluous melodious and funky - you slip right into this and enjoy it.
BUT.... damn!
I cant ignore the power of the cover art. Ever struggled to define "irony" to somone? Show the cover. Explain the maxim of comedy - that if youre going to tell the truth, make them laugh, or they will kill you. Do its darkly comical but no laughing matter. To celebrate hope and prosperity and consumerism while so many starve or labour for poverty wages, and blamed for perpetuating their own disadvantage. Those exceptional and lucky few who rise up were beaten or shot down. So Curtis was taking a risk whenever he spoke out about the black experience, rights, and more. Plenty to chew on for my next sit down with this one, but the sound is delux meanwhile...
The Clash
5/5
Always remember to laugh.
I enjoy this album more with each listen.
But it is too important to take seriously.
Not just because it's British and good fun.
I like imagining a Monty Mython-esque singer “thinging” Guns of Brixton & London Calling with comedic thick lisp. This Punk is already funky, catchy and so bloody fun. So on top of the nostalgia, why not a bit of pith-taking? Because this is sheriosh stuff. And it is.
So much so , here is a <true> funny story to go with it.
April 2006, on a Durham FLIGHT about to take off for LONDON, a 24 year old man <who deserves to be left alone so I wont name him here>, happily singing along to "London Calling"' ... was taken off his Heathrow-bound flight + detained by police for 3 hrs under the Terrorism Act. It turns out the lyrics - when mouthed by a man in a turban - freaked out a local - brits were very twitchy about bombs on planes back then).
While funny now, I did re-read the first 6 or 7 lines of “London Calling”... I now smirk, but am careful what I mumble along to shops in airports and on planes. The more gleefully you sing that, or “Guns of Brixton” songs, the more likely you will seem nutty and troublesome. So...
But I can't help smirk every time. I also blame listening to Nouvelle Vague cover versions too many times. Speaking of which... Their version of Guns of Brixton makes it sound far more sinister, and yet sexy than you'd every imagine.
Now that’s on an essential sultry album. And good fun.
I’d add them to any 1001 list. This one is far too serious.
I'd igve this one a "fiver".
Nightmares On Wax
2/5
A good opening track “Introlude”; but the rest?
Boring funky ‘hold music’ - tracks that neither progress nor end. Surprised. I thought I like Nightmares on Wax, but Is this the ideal intro to “trip hop” as albums go? Do Portishead, Massive Attack and DJ Shadow do a better job?
This is slippy and sleepy. Is the album “In a space outta sound” better?
Anyway ... having listened to more nightmares on wax today than in my entire life, this is clearly stoner music. The pace is very, very languid indeed.
I think they got this pick wrong.
2 (3 for the track 1)
The Dictators
2/5
Clearly it's here because it's considered one of the first Punk albums but it's not actually that interesting
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
4 out if 5. Nostalgic Kitsch and fun and silly at times - plenty of irony and playful lyrics. Trippy. but the voice and timbre can only be handled for about 5 songs. Individual sings are a 5.
Carole King
5/5
An accidential find, a kind of reassuring warm comfort and maybe a hint of joy and (understated) sublimation unexpectedly here - an album which had so many familiar comofting sounds so wonderfully held together as a whole album (Carol King is a new name for me, but my ears recognise her). words liek imtimate , personal ... evokes beanbags and a slower time. On hearing it, I wanted to buy it for my daughters as an examplar of a 1970s sound and pace: an album to listen to on a bean bag, a light breeze, a lava lamp, rainbow sticker, and no partiularly rush to the day. It may not be a 5, but I am giving that number to albums I definitely will listen to again. and yeah, It belongs here as a sound/style/tone of a time.
Soul II Soul
5/5
Yes, I'd liek to listen thjis a lot more. butnif its too slow for you, ...skip to track #9 - "back to life, back to reality" a track to a put a smile on everyones face, make you dance, and evoke youthful euphoria - clubland circa 1992 I think.. Ah, a joy to be reminded. ... classy stylish sound.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Absolutely love certian Led Zep tracks, the opener (Whole Lotta Love), obviously it one of the all time best , and most theatrical, of rock performances. , but I'm not such a Led Zep album listener, and this is a bit of a rambling indulgeance, but worth a listen.
Queen
3/5
(so shoot me but for all their splendour...) For Queen "just give me the greatest hits". I really dont like prog rock. Too close to The Who for me. <weak sigh> and, I do feel this leaning (aetiologically / evolutionarily ?) into <ickky> Andrew Lloyd Weber territory for me.
Exceptions: (there always are exceptions)
A. Bohemian Rhapsody (elevated, as it was, by some theatrical headbanging in the 1990s)
B. LIVE AID performance by Freddy Mercury stands up as one of the best live performances of all time. Note: He played the hits. and Bowie...
John Lennon
2/5
Two views. Yes, sure, spend a moment to explain to people who dont know the Beetles and John Lennon their message to the world, and the zeitgeist, and Imagine as something that people connected with.
as an album, not for me. It bores me, and Yoko is a difficult topic
Nirvana
5/5
Easy 5. So mesmerising after knowing the recorded versions. To then see the raw, stepped back and stripped back and live versions blew us away. MTVs penance for killing live performance music was to do unplugged and for the young kids at the time it opened a whole new door. Superb in so many ways as a performance - a very precious disc.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
Another "easy 5" and very happy to hear an album like this. We all know her big role in music hisotry and big voice, and big hits, they are everywhere . Yet, perhaps the first time for me hearing a whole album by her. Each song packs a punch and her bold, loud, catchy groove is really energetic and upbeat. Incredible.
If it moved you, listen to on of her final performances when she still packed the power in her voice, (very surpsing for age 73 ish) playing and singing at a charity gala - It is on youtube as "Aretha Franklin singing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 2016"
The Zutons
1/5
They were celebrated for "Valerie" (not on this album).
I feel like I am hearing a resort, cruise or country club cover band/session musicans? versatile but nothing shines, moves or touches me.
No review needed.
Not to me essential, unique, compelling, influential delightful or challenging. I even went to find 'Valerie', their one hit. But their smoothness has become a grating blandness to my ear. I'd nominate this as one (of many abscure albums) to PRUGE FORM THE LIST to bring in more varied, independant, World and female artists who can introduce us to new sounds.
Radiohead
1/5
A "1". I dont like Radiohead; a whole album=ick for me.
Speaking into the void and hoping it doesnt speak back: - so many Radiohead (and Beetles and...) albums says a lot about the author(s) the list, and how 'experts' can get stuck in small recursive ponds, this material is weary, bleak and plaintive. I can do weepy melancholia is small doses, we all can, but this does it in a way that really grates for me. Does a fine job evoking/capturing abject shades of emotion, but other than providing soundtracks for breakup scenes/pathos/bathos, why oh why?
The Teardrop Explodes
5/5
Kilimanjaro by The Teardrop Explodes
Do listen to ALL of this album - there is a lot in it and its a very good example of a single album holding the early seeds of so many styles we came know and love so well in british music for the next 3 decades.
So. My review in reverse. Which i don't have time to summarise and shorted. Its could be 5 bullets points, I do realise... so I wrote the stance above.
Because I hugely underestimated it based on the 2 boring opening tracks.
My conclusions (academic) and my impressions (rather neutral - becoming quite positive ).
CONCLUSION
I end up concluding its a very well made, consistently polished, educative and important formative album showing where british music was just as certain styles were about to bloom and scatter. But I'd forgive you if you skip the boring first two tracks.
A teaching album. For interested fans and musicologists.
Yes, perhaps one of the better examples/receptacles you'd use as a “teaching album” at a hypothetical school of rock.
Listen to it for the time travel experience.
Or just for the joy of hearing - as if for the first time - so many familiar styles in one place, from one source. For me they were all new songs that sound SO FAMILIAR.
Includes of the sounds that were developing in british music at the time and if you were super interested in the formation and evolution of various british sounds genres or styles, you can listen to this album and be delighted to hear so many recognisable flavours and “ingredients” or sounds used by others.
I am not a musical historian or walking encyclopaedia on music, but this leapt out as obvious.
I easily detected sounds that sound formative or influential for :
Morrisey
Madness
Depeche mode / Duran Duran
And even Billy Bragg, and hints of that epic U2 sound (“Poppys in the Field” - who influenced whom?)
I later read on wikipedia that Blur, the Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen are listed as having bends members of influence from these guys. Ha. maybe i have a knack for this. Or its that obvious.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I was bored by track 2, but before skipping it ALTOGETHER, I was curious how it got included on the list.
I wanted to rush to the good stuff, and checked their most popular single "reward" - this and "treason" sound very british [maybe there were hugely influential, I muse, as I can hear ALL KINDS OF FAMILIAR SOUNDS and very Brit sounds that people later ran with. It sounds like Billy Bragg on some kind of happy drug, playing with a ska band (Madness?) and also Smiths and Cure sounds come through. Did these musicians all hang out together or something?
So its incredibly interesting to hear so many influences or british styles in one song at a time. Plus the music creates a certain atmosphere/mood - if you sit and listen its literally prototypical of music the time - if this album is a multicoloured flower - each petal (song) could be taken away and propagated and cultivated as a whole “sound” for a band.
So its like a sampler of brit /irish pop music for the next 2 decades.
So assume early on that this is included on the list as it is good at filling a very specific, important “node” or micro-niche in musical pop evolution in Britain, and therefore is essential for a musical classification/evolutionary tree diagram.
(I did the research above, then let it keep playing, during which it grew on me - and the whole sounds of the album evolves enormously - its a complete musical evolution in one album. Extraordinary for what you get from one album. )
So yes, after nearly skipped and missing it, I soon appreciated it much more.
But only because I left it playing,....
In the end?
Yes I would definitely listen to this again - I reluctantly must admit - well made , polished and rich in musical styles. Is it essential listening - yes - if only there was a one sentence intro like” this is the album that captures the sounds and styles and vocals influenced
I don't think its got much play out here...
I was going to giv e it a 2. Its at least a 4. It might get to 5 if i keep listening to it.
5
Jefferson Airplane
5/5
Obviously belongs here. Distinctive influential sound. And it really grew on me. By track 12 I upgraded foprm 4 to 5 star:
+ White Rabbit is superb and unique.
+ Somebody to Love is iconic too.
+ some great guitar and improv along the way
+ liked the switch to bluesy "In the Morning"
- I disliked the twang and brittle scratchy sounds of some songs.
? time will tell if I listen to it as a whole album again. Definitely interesting & rewarding and enjoyable ( I skipped the first track though) . A mid stregth 5.
Doves
4/5
Yeah works for me, mellow cinematic, like a blend of "war on drugs" and ambient. Great to play in the background, to chill, but also wafting and growing and at times warm. very listenable, but I cant quite goush for the full 5 stars, as it doesnt evoke a super strong response, but thats maybe the charm here.
Morrissey
2/5
I experience Mossissey as less as a god, more as a master of Misery. His wales defy me.
Sometimes, I can bop along to a catchy hit.
But if I listen too much of him, a familiar teenage despondency rises like a nauseating bile pond. By track 3 on this album I had to shut it down. Never waste listening time. Off!
Germs
1/5
Oh the repressed british. More an art form or social document, than music. This succeeds at being repulsive dosh to annoy Mum and Dad in a crushingly boring time? was there genuine protest here? Well done for making cockney sounds even worse. Probably seminal example of a genre and style I don't usually listen too, unless its a sountrack of the 80's. I feel unqulaifies to review. Aborting this one ealry too.
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Yes. But wow, 1984! A fairly unique one. Does one actyally opull out a Cocteau Twins album to listen to it? Maybe for painting to it. Or to watch rain from a Tokyo Slyscraper. Or to ease into sleep aftewr a long drive. Its atmospheric. Maybe my first listen to Cocteau Twins as an actual albums (check that I havent mindlessly reviewed another) , so I go in expectant - knowing like some of their best work. Floating on a lyrical tingling cloud on a Friday afternoon with these guys is pretty good one the album settles in, is great.
Yes I skip 1 or 2 jarring acute/shrill/jangly moments.
But the good is very good, dare I say "high production values" evident.
I loved the finishing track. Huge. Play this loud and confuse the neighbours who wont be able to figure out where its coming from. Sounds like a quadrophonic polyphony (but doesnt overdo it like Enya).
David Bowie
5/5
Yes I enjoyed that. I am finally old enough to enjoy Bowie... it first happened in my 40's. He finally grew on me. Not all of it, you understand. But in so many ways he was living art, in that he was always "performing" for us. This is quote a warm lyrical album, and the preoccupations and poetry so thoroughly modern. [No, there's no Life on Mars , but its now the a planet inhabited solely by robots, searching for life. ]
2/5
doesnt hit me as extraoridnary.
I like some of their songs.
... but this album felt "brown"
The Avalanches
5/5
My review:
love love love,
groove groove groove,
bliss bliss bliss
breezy breezy brezzy
Sounds so timeless.
I cant beleive its a 20 year old album.
Easy feelgood 5.
Donovan
5/5
Some kind of groovy gentle folk Psychadelic 1960's music that just sounds famliair easy to like. and yes its all new to me, as far as I can tell. I'd expect to be on the soundtracks of the era / Vietnam war films.
"Season of the Witch", apparently his most popular track, is both groovy and immediately catchy - and for me completely unfamilair (except for occasional reminders of Sugarman).
I wonder what he meant.
[some marginalia: His live album from 1967 is very spacey, and so soft and gentle and calming, especially when heard from 2025. The intro by his proud Dad is very sweet.]
FYI I have apobserved I am using a 3 point rating scale.
1=yuck
3= Meh, didnt especially excit me
5= I liked it/I wish to hear it again.
(it was taking up too much itme and effort to get more granular)
Carpenters
5/5
... im with G.S. on this... I knew this a would polarise the posse. :-) Perfect music for blissing out on a soothing velvet female voice, and also great for annoying punk rockers (it may well help blow the heads off aliens too). .
Ali Farka Touré
5/5
Savane Ali Farka Touré
[THIS is what we came here to discover. I welcome any WORLD music to bring colour and vibrancy and introduce us unfamiliar new sounds. ]
Ah joy! New music to broaden tastes by showing us new flavours we didn't know existed. And what a jun album. variety. I even understand the French in track 2, but there are dozens of languages in Mali so it was an unexpected treat.
Each track is so different. Its like hearing a whole new instrument when you hear th West African guitar players. The beats are unfamiliar - is it a totally different meter?
Desert Blues is new to me, as is this legendary guitarist from Mali. I have listened to a bit of West African music, and enjoy and understand some of the french creole, and I enjoy the 'rounds' sound here, (layers and different uneven beats and voices) which reminds me of the merimba. And of riding a camel - that rocking motions and unexpected lurching.
not understanding a word doesn't prevent this laid back atmospheric music doing its work. Its chill, has a call and response, and its gentle lilting settles you into a trance maybe like a camel ride, or other lumpy ships of the desert.
I enjoy, and am curious for more, but am not educated in the #West African styles.
P.s.
I looked this up. Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist. Here are but a few of his claims to fame:
- one of the African continent's most internationally renowned musicians
- blends of traditional Malian music and African American blues
- he's a pioneer of African desert blues
- number 76 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"
How do we not know him here? Well done adding it to the (otherwise quite weak and narrow) list!~
Jethro Tull
3/5
My first listen... Aqualung/Jethro Tull
Here I am thinking I dont know the band... but its familair... like all heavy metal of the era, to some extent. I am getting a lot of School of Rock vibes/Jack Black. Its fun and exciting. and then annoying. I stop.
Minutemen
4/5
A different rodeo.
An interesting diversion. like any festering ugly thing, if you look away too long, it might grow on you . I admire the rawness of the sound - the lack of artifice creates some immediacy and closes the distance... subject matter includes the taste of her sweat.
...a kind of redneck punk jukebox soundtrack for arthouse road movie?
in which... there are places where the band plays behind chicken wire for their own Protection (the audience throws bottles and chairs).
Lyrics and form evoke a visual of on unhooked lead creative/ lead singer swaying in a slightly drunken or tired way, unbuttoned cowboy shirt, cigarette in hand and an unfinished tattoo.
Its safe to say its a very uneven album. formative? experimental? proto probably ... There is something about the way that they sound that makes you wonder how they got to a recording studio. The barely controlled aggressive spiralling shambles is the thing they created, which after a while I can nod to it... (and wonder if it's on the soundtrack to ‘caught stealing’’)
Play like your working it out, jamming and dont care if people like it. . Sounds like "we're playing for us, if you choose to stay for the whole gig, sure, but why would you"?.
Which I guess is punk. Interesting. Art? I adjusted and enjoy the diversion - careful i might start listening to Bauhaus and other bands i never knew ....
I am going to give a curious 4
John Coltrane
5/5
Definitely 5+ starts. On the pile of records that sit outside the category of rating. Its essential listening. the wikipedia entry really says it all enough.
His jazz masterpiece recorded on a single day in a studio with another master musician.
Its mostly instrumental - a spiritual and soul touching experience. Regarded wisely as truly one of the best masterpieces of all time. Especially for jazz.
Pleasure rating 100. Superb for me. Truly 5+. You do need to be in the mood for it, or let it bring the mood, and just be alone with it.
. When I discovered jazz in my late 20's, there were the jazz standards (songs and albums you just need to know - Stan Getz, Ella & Louis , and then Without doubt one of the most essential and pure albums here for me, so I am putting this straight on my rather small. . Mastery in a genre. listen any way you like, let it wash over you, close your eyes in a softly furnished listening room on a vintage hifi
Or headphones
reminder to self as I haven't rated for a while here: >>>>(mostly I use the extremes for simpler ratings. I rate 1 for bad/yuck//never gain , 3 for OK but in a busy life not devoting time to it, 5 YES, love, definitely LISTEN AGAIN, and 5+ for CHERISHED favourite I should listen to more. Its fully delights. Essential listening my girls.
Violent Femmes
5/5
There aren't enough stars for this album.
It's so wild and carefree joyous and unexpected. Impossible not to sing along, yet edgey, psychedelic, and so alternative.
Applecross High , WA, 1989 at some school dance or one of the Legendary parties , at every occasion this song came on, Nigel Calver showed us exactly how much music have him joy and he danced like he didn't care - pure joyful frenzy and jumping about and maybe even chair dancing . Woohoo! #Airbourne!
I have a small pile on which my 6 star records are going on. This is on TOP.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
My 3rd listen this week. Each was different, depending how much attention I give it. There is space in this album to insert yourself - like a Demo tape.
So listenably lugubrious, blasé rebellion. Oh the Languorous Indolence of mildly anaesthetised artists, questioning and striving against society so damn hard, which is why the late 60s is so interesting for new and influential music.
Listening now it holds up well as alternative, arthouse, atmospheric, and at times propulsive (ironically on Heroin, which rises and falls like something quite different, it might instead be a story arc, or an erotic arc). Lou Reeds voice works for me. And yes, with the distortion and low fi , the whole album has the freshness of a first draft, a demo tape. Its not over-polished. I like sketches & drafts in visual art - the imperfect and yet fully formed lets you project yourself into the artworks and finish it ...
Maybe that's why its still sounds approachable 50 years later. And its rating very highly on this list I see,
It makes me think of a bunch of films. The 2013 film “Venus in furs” and “Velvet Buzzsaw” (the art world and its inhabitants), the Big Lebowski, and probably there are better examples. A great album of its era. I don't care if its influential or not (some very influential albums are hard to hear ) but it works for me. And if a recognisable cover matters, they hit gold with the banana (which i had no idea actually peeled off.
And the quote about everyone who heard the album (in its early days) going out and starting a band - well this unpolished but good album sure makes it sound achievable for nay garage band to put something together and call it on album, so they did something but showing us authentic imperfect and raw is ‘good enough’ and you don't need to be on Elvis and Beach Boys polished act to do really good stuff people enjoy and that stands alone . Bravery in art and allowing imperfection.
Maybe that's the lasting influence here.
And definitely go see the film Venus in Furs.
Dr. John
5/5
Oh Yeah this sure is different. First listen to a New Orleans R&B with a slow psychedelic curtain breezing through it all. So if this is stoned New Orleans music, then its very good - softly musing if I am likely to have much occasion to listen to it - it seems perfect when matching music to a mellow and breeezy atmosphere, or creating one. its very compelling and so new. I can see why the boys rated it so highly. Not much of this around - so definitely belwongs on a sub-list for people who want to really, really broaden their music horizons. In a quality way. so yes, a 5 as I woudl definitely want this in my collection when I turn off streaming. Because without a subscription, you listen to what you want. for free. and there's radio if you want a change. Did I wander off topic? thats okay, I'm the only one reading here. My reviews are essentially a not eto self and written as such.
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
Just superb, so pure and beautiful a voice, and so gently touching and gorgeously warm. Equals or even betters the voice of Ella. or the gentle slow phrasing. The quality of the recording is great - crisp minimal tape hiss, and her voice sounds very VERY close to the mic and hence very intimate. the original (non remastered) is superb. the remaster is 'brighter' but has more hiss. Easy 5
Afrika Bambaataa
1/5
I was/am an 80s kid. Music shouldnt make you feel tired this fast. Harsh, jarring, tinny and remorslessly aggressive. Only listen out of curiosity to hear how far we've come in pop electronic hip hop. But if old scool hip hop was mid 70s to mid 80s, is this (1986) supposed to stand out as an examplary or seminal work form the period. I sspect its ill chosen. Or the genre is weaker and more discordant than I thought? a hit album apparently. doesnt work on me. But... makes me appreciate all the more other electronic / synth musis of the era . there was Jean Michelle Jarre, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, New Order, I know these are not hip hop. I dont really know hip hop. I dont htink I want to know any more. I think i might need to listen to Rhapsody in Blue as an antidote. Can someone suggest an antidote? I needs colour lyrcism and human warmth, music to tell a story, and move the soul.
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
Pleasing Pleasant. Good a range. enjoyable for sure. But not a top 1000 list.
There is SO MUCH strong talent in this segment, which is a tragedy perhaps.
Easily Far, FAR better is Gregory Porter (on "Liquid Spirit") - i haven't seen him on this list yet.
Listen to that if you want a virtuoso vocalist with astounding warmth who will send shivers.
Others cant even touch him .
Sorry to all those who gave THIS a 5 - you have more listening to do.
Imagine HiFi version of greats like Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole.
This is a 4. You can now skip to the 5s.
Arcade Fire
3/5
I'm not connecting to this. But it seems intentionally remote.
Herbie Hancock
5/5
First track was meh but the rest is gold. It transported me somehow into the opening titles of White Lotus... (5 mins into Watermelon man, that is. You can t miss the pan flutes funking around and monkey yelps)... It kind of pre-empted to me how Gibbon calls can become music and hence real cool jungle trance - before bass and click tracks. Oh to hear this remixed. Yeah bay I thought of it first.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
interesting to be introduced to this classic period in his prolific recording career. Very smooth, but almost too, slow ? Does one need to be slightly sedated for it to truly roll over you? I cant say 5. but it might grow on me when loungng
David Bowie
3/5
I really wanted to like this album. Bowies awesome and ahead of his time and as others have said he is from another planet (in so many wonderful ways). Side B is alien spooky Film Music for alienating filmscapes (from what I can tell) and it creeped me out a little.
He always lived his life as a true artist.
It doesn't make this album essential or especially enjoyable listening (except for deep Bowie fans or those who want encyclopaedic coverage of emergence of each individual sound and substyle in the western canon, which even the majority of listening here aren't).
IMHO doesn't belong here...
The Doors
5/5
Essential 60s listening. Sure it's one the soundtrack of all the Vietnam war films. It's wild psychedelic happy stoner road music, crazy, unhinged and glorious. It was great while it lasted and crowd pleasing rebellion. I don't care what the critics say. It works. I enjoy it.
Slipknot
1/5
Nauseating. Bracing
If there were a ‘remove from list” button I would be using it. I can't rate this.
The rage filled lyrics about oral r$pe were too sickening to hear.
Some young men mistake rage for strength, cruelty for power; and need dehumanising sexual aggression to feel a man. But it's the worst man.
They just lonely wonder and adrift and need kindness but don't know how to give it ir ask for it. .
Worse, When anger is sold to young men as power, there are predictable bed outcomes: isolation, mental-health collapse, broken relationships, harm to self and others.
And this is happening a lot with young men.
There are better option for your men who need connection belonging.
Is change and replace this bankrupt script with models of masculinity rooted in courage