"He's my sunshine in the morning. He's my fireworks at the end of the day."
"Songs are like tattoos."
"Sometimes I think love is just mythical."
"I wish I had a river I could skate away on."
"All romantics meet the same fate someday. Cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark café."
"Only a phase, these dark café days."
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Favourite tracks: River/The Last Time I Saw Richard
Summary: Astounding that Joni Mitchell had so much life experience at age 27 in order to write this record, and that it was written in 1971. I was unfamiliar with pretty much all the tracks on this album with the exception of 'River' though I don't recall where I heard it. Easy to see after a single listen how this album went on to impact the work of many other artists past and present. Effortlessly conveys what Joni must have been feeling at the time to the listener, to the point where it sometimes feels intrusive. I think this will stay with me.
"Eyes that shine, burnin' red, dreams of you all through my head."
"Oh seems so long since we walked in the moonlight, making vows that just can't work right."
"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold and she's buying a stairway to Heaven."
"And as we wind on down the road, our shadows taller than our soul."
"So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains. Where the spirits go now, over the hills where the spirits fly."
"Oh, the sea was red and the sky was grey, I wonder how tomorrow could ever follow today."
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Favourite tracks: Stairway To Heaven
Summary: I knew very little of Led Zeppelin outside of the obvious big singles (Immigrant Song/Kashmir/Whole Lotta Love) but I had a rough idea of what to expect. What I did not expect was the amount of LOTR allusions which I enjoyed very much. I'm not musically talented, but can definitely appreciate and understand the complexities of the sound. I was aware of Stairway To Heaven, but I think today is the first day I listened to it in full - and now I understand.
"Never opened myself this way. Life is ours, we live it our way. All these words I don't just say. And nothing else matters."
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Favourite Tracks: Enter Sandman
Summary: I tried to keep an open mind with this as it's definitely not to my usual tastes, I knew of Enter Sandman going in which I didn't mind, but from there it all felt very repetitive and one note. I'm sure it was very influential and clearly has a massive fan base, but it's just not for me - the highlight was when my headphones interrupted the album to tell me the battery was low.
"All you do is call me, I'll be anything you need."
"No fight left or so it seems, I am a man whose dreams have all deserted. I've changed my face, I've changed my name, but no one wants you when you lose."
"Don't give up 'cause you have friends."
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Favourite Tracks: Sledgehammer/Don't Give Up/Big Time
Summary: Really enjoyed the variety of sound on this album, feels like every track is completely different to the previous. Enjoyed the themes on Big Time and way it was structured to emphasise that kind of lifestyle. I was quite taken aback by We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37) having looked up the experiment that inspired it, worth a read! I have been a long time fan of Sledgehammer as well as Don't Give Up which I feel is a genuinely beautiful song.
"Heard some talk Papa doing some storefront preaching. Talking about saving souls and all the time leeching."
"Everybody, everybody's got something but me. I ain't got nothing."
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Favourite Tracks: Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
Summary: Enjoyed this, started off very funky which I wish I had persisted a bit more through the album. 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone' is a track I was, of course, familiar with - and I appreciated this long version, though it does stand the whole album up and I think it would be a bit lacking without it.
"Wait, they don't love you like I love you."
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Favourite Tracks: Date With The Night / Pin / Maps / Y Control
Summary: There is not much I can say about this album as I am very familiar with it; only that I love it and that every time I listen to it, it takes me back to being a romanticised teenager. 'Maps' is one of those songs that I think will be with me my whole life, as I am sure is true for many other people. Seeing Yeah Yeah Yeahs for the first time at Reading 2009 is still such a vivid memory.
"It's another one of them ol' funky Cypress Hill things, you know what I'm sayin? And it goes like this..."
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Favourite Tracks: Real Estate
Summary: While I enjoyed the funky sound and the use of the samples the lyrical content hasn't aged gracefully (minus the life experience with the police) - it's pretty aggressive on the violence, at least by modern standards, and I think maybe the anger took over the message in a few ways. But it was enjoyable all the same considering the time it was released.
"He said, "I just think you're depressed."
"We only said goodbye with words, I died a hundred times."
"One I wished I never played. Oh, what a mess we made and now, the final frame. Love is a losing game."
"I cannot play myself again, I should just be my own best friend."
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Favourite Tracks: You Know I'm No Good/Back To Black/Love Is A Losing Game/Tears Dry On Their Own/Wake Up Alone
Summary: Even though (at time of writing) it has been 12 years since the death of Amy Winehouse, I think the UK in particular still mourns the loss. It is kind of a strange thing for her music to invoke such sadness and also such nostalgic joy when I think about the kind of character she was - her talent is beyond doubt and I know this album in particular will be remembered for as far as my mind can imagine.
