1001 Albums Summary

I enjoyed the layering of vocals and harmonies, as well as instrumental flourishes in places. The album as a whole feels like its aiming for something very grandiose in scale and this could just be because the style leans heavily into lushly orchestrated, baroque-esque popera. I would say that in terms of lyrics, they were of variable quality. Some provided quiet musings on the quirks of life, whilst others seemed to be repetitive or not say much at all. My favourite tracks were Go Or Go Ahead and Beautiful Child. I enjoyed the swell of these ones and they felt like the main high points in the album for me. However, a criticism I would make about choosing this style is that in comparison to these lusher tracks, the ones in the second half of the album in particular feel a bit non-descript and seem to blend together in an easily forgettable way. Having said that, there still needs to be variety so I think the tracks should have been arranged a little differently, providing a bit more variation in tone between tracks. I can understand why this album made it into the list for 1001 albums - technically, I would say that the songs are well composed and the decadent style will be a pull for some people. It was an enjoyable enough listen but I don't think I would go back to listen to this album again or seek out Rufus' other music - it's just not that uniquely interesting enough for me. I would rate this album at 2.5 for me personally but since I can't give it half a star, I'll be generous and give it a 3 for technical achievement alone.

Wasn't particularly impressed by the vocals... A little bit whiny for my taste. The most interesting aspect for me was all the strange little noises going on in the background - It has some good ambience / mood in those parts. I also appreciated the variety of genres the album pulled from but I wouldn’t call it anything ground-breaking.

Ranging from emotionally melancholy, dream-like, deep & immersive soundscapes to an energetic and chaotic flurry of soulful sound. Transportive and brilliant.

Aaaaaawww yeah... Buttery smooth.

A decent enough selection of songs on here but the only one that really grabs me is, 'Feeling Yourself Disintegrate'... that imo, is the strongest song on here. Has some nice arrangements and if all songs on there held my attention as much as track 11, then it'd be a solid 4 star.