1001 Albums Summary

I had a bit of trepidation when realising that I’d have to listen to this album again for the first time in nearly two decades. I had some ideas that it was just going to sound like bland tosh and feel like a waste of the small time I have on this planet. But I also worried that I’d come to realise I’d been overly harsh in how I remembered it. In all honesty, it was even worse than I remembered. It’s so achingly without anything that sounds remotely like art that if I heard it for the first time today I would suspect it was an AI rendering of emotional music. I expected that maybe The Scientist was going to be at least gently enjoyable, but that seemed to be the most devoid of anything I could enjoy. The guitar guy definitely has some talent for writing hooks. But the tracks mainly sounds like nursery rhymes or generic for-TV series dross. They obviously appeal to some, and I miss the appeal. But this is not an album that should be anywhere near this kind of list.

Not sure to start with. After opening track it starts to open up into something different, some lovely melodic moments and a crochet of melancholia and confusion emerges. The move into the (sort of) title track makes sense of the piece as a whole. I appreciate it thinking of it in the context of its time and there are jazz influences flying around in there. Didn’t blow me away but I might throw it on someday again to see how it sits. A few listens might unlock something more but the prog noodling around isn’t instantly appealing for a relisten.