1001 Albums Summary

I've listened to this album before, but it's been years. I'm familiar with the history and the legacy of this album, how Wu-Tang revolutionized the business of hip-hop. This time through, I'm more familiar with the connection between hip-hop and kung-fu, as well as how hip-hop was used to give voice to frustrated black youths. With that understanding in mind, I'm understanding the violent imagery more than I did the first time. The music is empowering the Wu-Tang clan to overpower their enemies, much like Kung-Fu does for the under dog protagonist in so many hong kong kung-fu flicks. Many of the MCs in the collective went on to achieve previously unheard of success while maintaining more creative control over their music than was typical. This album is a snapshot of a moment in history where hip-hop is approaching mainstream, and labels will soon recognize the opportunity it presents.

I've always heard of Elvis Costello but never sat and listened to him before. While a good portion of this album didn't speak to me directly, I could easily picture how different his music must have felt at the time. His voice is full of swagger and confidence, so much that I wondered where it came from. His backing band perfectly balanced the front man, keeping up without overstepping. I was a little uncomfortable with the unexpected slur, I know it was a different time but still...I'd be interested to know if Costello has commented on it since then.

This came out when I was a teenager, so I totally missed it, and then I was out of the country when Back to Black came out, so I totally missed the Amy Winehouse boat altogether. I get it now.

By today's standards, this sounds slightly outdated, and simplistic. I can only imagine at the time, this was pretty ground breaking and innovative. Despite the almost 45 year period since it's release, I can hear the ripples of this album in modern cultural works (most prominent in my mind is the Mass Effect OST, or how the dark arpeggios and harmonies in "Metropolis" have become ubiquitous in cyperpunk style music). In this way, this album was truly ahead of its time. I'm also impressed that 45 years ago, this group produced synthetic sounds that still feel relevant today. A lot of synthesizer work from the time feels overwhelmingly outdated, and instantly out of place. This album, despite being a little cheesy ("We are the robots"), still feels clean and a standard for high quality audio production in electronic music. If someone had played it for me blind a day ago, I would have guessed it was a retro-inspired work from the last decade. This says a lot. Kraftwerk were surprisingly ahead of their time.