1001 Albums Summary

An angelic and intimate counterpart to Ella Fitzgerald's more spunky and bustling 'Mack the Knife" Berlin concert. More than a good album, this record is a nice place to be at. It is a bit samey across its runtime but Sarah never fails to delight - the thing really takes off with an entirely scat improvization of How High the Moon that is simply jaw dropping.

A perfect synthesis of brit rock of all ages from the Beatles and Stones to T-Rex to Jesus & Mary Chain. Just like Nirvana pulled off with Nevermind, this album summarizes an entire lineage of rock music with just the right pop songwriting approach to make it their own and break the mainstream. Noel's derivative lead guitar work is excused because of his songwriting. -1 star because the wall of guitars does wear you out a bit and while all songs are great I don't think they're all instant classics.

It's crazy that one human being can come up with this amount of amazing music more than a few times.

No matter its historical relevance (especially to me, born in '89), Machine Head has half the teeth and sounds only half as heavy as In Rock, a record that truly blasts you to bits from the opening second. There's no ground here that they hadn't covered previously. Only a handful of flagship songs which are classics in their own right. They just happen to be on this album. I much prefer to listen to the Made in Japan live workouts of these songs.

Beautiful songs but a little strident or over the top at times. I can't picture myself being in the mood for this record too often. The more melodic straightforward songs (such as the opener track) are all golden!

Don't really dig the period harmonies here - some great songs others not so memorable. This one might've burst through the wall like the big Kool-Aid jug but I think Rave On is Buddy Holly's definitive statement. Some great guitar though!