Easy listening, but a bit... Boring. Apologies to the fans, I know lots of people hold him in very high regard indeed.
Musically I enjoyed this way more than I expected. Which really isn't saying much, because I expected 1/5 on that front, which this isn't. Quite. But my god, if this isn't an incredibe collection of cringeworthy lyrics, I have no idea what is. So... It's between 1 and 2 stars. Tough one because I'd be marginally less inclined to turn it off than other stuff. Not sufficiently so to round up to 2 stars, though. So there you go. Enjoyed it more than I expected and it still only comes in at 1/5
Seriously? Another Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album? Or is that another Crosby, Stills and Nash album? I don't really care. I get how they were very influential and obviously a bit of a supergroup. But... They're not really that different to warrant having more than one entry here.
Great voice, lush instrumentation, some interesting drug references. Still... Gets a bit schmaltzy after a bit.
Tricky. Very mixed bag. I can see how it was seminal at some point, but I'm not really enjoying it (not hating it) today.
First time I actually listened to any of their stuff, although I'd heard of Traffic before. I can see where they got their status from.
Some decent tunes, but some fillers as well, and Jack's voice gets a bit old on this surprisingly long record
Quite decent and not as... Mindless? As I expected
I appreciate Beck has an artistic vision. It's just not one that does anything for me. Also, he should not rap. Ever.
Not as good as Love & Hate. Still very good.
Confirms The Doors are not my cuppa.
Not my cuppa
Forgettable
Very pleasant.
I like some of NO's songs, but this album is u listenable for me, especially thanks to the production but also Bernard Sumner's surprisingly insecure vocals.
This sounds *incredibly* dated, with the sole exception of the title track, which isn't dripping in 80s production values quite as much as the rest of the album. When Doves Cry is the one track where those production values... Sort of work. Surprisingly tough to listen to.
I appreciate her artistic vision and she definitely has her very own sound, aesthetic and everything. Love her voice, too. But overall, this is just too dark for me and it's a matter of being equally unaccessible (to a point) and me not wanting to actually enter any further.
80s hair metal and poser guitars at the end of the 70s. Not exactly what I need.
Unlistenable is a mild way of putting it.
Still a bit rough, but an indication of things to come
Still quite revolutionary-sounding, but the repetitiveness isn't balanced that well (yet).
Pleasant
Not what I expected at all. Quite serene, but even while smoothly gliding through snowy landscapes on a high speed train... Ultimately a bit boring.
Terrible cover, terrible music.
I really do wonder why this is on the list. It's not bad as such, but there's nothing here that I would classify as particularly original or standing out.
This is way too Bruce Springsteen adult contemporary for me in songwriting, singing and instrumentation, except it was recorded more recently.
Much less challenging and enjoyable than expected, besides "Feedback".
Not having listened to this in ages, it made me realise how it is a bit of a let-down after OK/Kid A/Amnesiac.
You believe their conviction and drive, but musically it's just not interesting enough for me.
One star for the title track, the reast really isn't my cuppa. Smells of football dads living it up while also reassuring themselves that they have feelings, too.
Some interesting instruments take care of providing an air of decorum. That said, not an album I will be coming back to an awful lot.
I'm usually very sympathetic to the little sibling of the really popular guy/girl (I'm talking Tusk vs Rumours of course). But Tusk really falls short for me I'm afraid.
Great album and (unfortunately short-lived) return to the scene, but not without a couple of duds towards the end (Boss of me, Dancing out in space),
Phew. Especially the production really didn't do anything for me. It just sounds so sterile and lacklustre.
It's an amazing achievement in sampling stuff and assembling things into something else completely. Its very loop-based nature does get on my nerves quite a bit quite quickly, though. Frontier Psychiatrist will forever stand as an everlasting piece of genius.
Some decent tunes, but my God, is the mix awful, with her vocals so undefined and remote.
First listen in 15 years. Confirms that it's not a bad album, but my least favourite by Arcade Fire.
Not my genre, but an excellent album
Sorry, but this is just too boring for me, never mind I realise this is all technically excellent playing.
Yadayadayada. Not bad, not my cuppa. Never really was.
It's country. It's got topless women and religion. It's not my cuppa.
The Floyd album I've listened to the most as a teenager, and the album I've tired of the most.
I appreciate the lyrics, I do. Shane was a great storyteller. But musically, almost as tough to get through for me as a country album.
It's alright. I can see how it was quite groundbreaking, and you see and hear the references all over the place. It's just not my kind of music.
A pretty fun album, although their Comfortably Numb is still a hard skip. Not entirely sure why it's on this list. But then again... Maybe because there has to be some stuff on the list that's just feel-good enjoyable with hints of Bee Gees, Elton John and songtitles about boobs.
If there's any AC/DC album that can be enjoyed as a whole, it's this one. But my God, are the drums monotonous.
A very mixed bag for me. I'll revisit some individual tracks but not the whole album.
Listening to this turns me into a middle-aged American dad pumping his fists into the air to this and screaming "hell yeah, man" to every single guitar solo on this.
Ambient music had its time. This reminded me why we're using the past tense here. Also, it's way too long.
The Cure. An acquired taste I just cannot get myself to acquire, try as I might.
Just way too much pleasantness and pomp and circumstance and pathos.
As usual with Elton John for me... Some absolute killer tunes, but a whole album's worth is just too much. Particularly this one, which is heavy on the really grand piano, strings, big emotions. It's just too much for me. As a side note, the production on the drums really is godawful. Worse than St Anger. There, Elton John and Metallica in one short review.
It's alright.
I really wasn't looking forward to this one. Not after the Royal Albert Hall live album. But. This one is actually alright. Lots of bended/stretched vowels, which combined with his limited vocal range gets a bit tiresome after a while. Still. Quite alright even if you don't listen to the lyrics that closely all the time.
Got this after some pathos-heavy early 1970s Elton John. Couldn't have been more delighted.
R.E.M. One of those bands like The Cure that have a huge indie fanbase and that, beyond a few individual songs, I really can't get myself to get into. They seem like really decent guys and I respect the way they called it quits without falling out, but at album length, they're really not for me. Well. Actually. I remember liking Monster (is that on this list) a bit more than all other R.E.M. albums. But that's really not saying much.
The repetitive loop bits tend to go from charming to really annoying really quickly.
It's sort of pink and hardcore and sick but in a way that wouldnt immediately make my mom turn it off.
Hadn't listened to this in ages. Used to like it more than I do now, but I appreciate it's a ground-breaking album in terms of bringing this music and the artists to the wider audience they deserve.
A lot better than I remembered it, to be honest. Unfortunately, the incredibly great Karin Dreijer feature is not on this album, though.
Have absolutely no idea why this is on the list. Run-of-the-mill indie stuff. Badly produced, too.
Much better to listen to than Madman Across The Water. Very dated-sounding intro, though, and you do wonder what on earth he was thinking with Jamaica Jerk-Off.
It's alright, I guess.
Grand, like, but not something I can get hugely excited about.
I found myself not really liking jazzy albums that much any more, whereas this was grand. Could have done without that last medley, though.
Not as lo-fi as I expected. Talking 'bout a Revolution has of course been played to death, which is a little unfair to it, because it's a good little number. On the whole, very solid, but I probably won't revisit this any time soon because it's not really down my alley, even though I do see why it's on the list.
The state of Pop in 2014. And pretty much today still. Well-produced, some catchy tunes, some forgettable ones, some decent lyrics, some cringey ones. At the end of the day... A bit forgettable despite the hits.
Haven't listened to this in ages, and will surely come back to it. Some distance actually makes me appreciate it and its impact a bit more.
Probably my biggest discovery of this project so far, 150+ albums in. Also gave me a new appreciation of early Midnight Oil (a band I was really into for a good bit, and which is sadly missing from the 1001 albums list).
Didn't hate this nearly as much as I thought. Actually sort of enjoyed it besides the fact it's probably 4 or 5 songs too long. Feels a bit weird to give this a 3, but that's where we are.
Incredibly well-produced - and the profuxtiin is fairly timeless, too, especially considering what decade we're in here. There's also more happening here musically/instrumental than I expected. Sonically, it's very much started its own genre, so it deserves to be on the list. And yet. It's very... Adult contemporary, content-sounding and sort of lacking in drive. And I know I'm being mean to Sade here, without wanting to.
An album to fall to sleep next to your old lady by.
Rap/hip-hop generally isn't my cuppa at all. I've listened to Kendrick before (not this album) and he's an artist from that genre I actually enjoy, and this album is no exception. That said, I won't spin it many more times going forward.
Tubeless shouting over angular guitars. One song after another, after another after a Beatles cover in the style of tuneless shouting over angular guitars. Gets very tiresome very quickly for me.
As happens often while working through the 1001, this is one of those albums that you dread as it comes up. You know it's in a genre that doesn't do anything for you, and it's also from a band you have a life-long aversion to. So me giving this two stars is quite the compliment because I can appreciate it actually broke new ground as diaspora reggae, with very socially conscious lyrics to boot. And its miles removed from the boring, trite rubbish they would produce later. And yet. It's reggae, and it's UB40.
Enjoyed it more than I expected. That violin in Running Dry was unnecessary, though. Still - grand old album.
Ah, a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, and one of their finest at that. "Runaway" is an eternal masterpiece, and "Zero" is a perfect opener.
Yeah, they sing in great harmony and at times it sounds almost classical. Which is exactly why I can appreciate others liking it - but me, not so much, despite the psychedelic elements thrown in.
I forgot how funky they could be. But. It feels like an extended series of jams, often with ad-libbed lyrics that you wish they hadn't put on record. So it feels like something enjoyable in a club for an hour but not as enjoyable for an hour in record.
Lots of energy, and probably not a minute too long (or short).
Easy listening, but a bit... Boring. Apologies to the fans, I know lots of people hold him in very high regard indeed.
What a smashing debut album. Basically, their first three albums are outstanding and fairly untouchable.
Just not my cuppa. A bit too... Hectic?
Elevator music. Well-crafted elevator music. Still. Elevator music.
It's pleasant enough, but I have no idea why this is on the list. As in: Zero idea. Particularly considering it's an Australian band while other Australian acts like Midnight Oil and Regurgitator, which were much more groundbreaking at their time, are missing.
Some true gems, as you would expect from Queen, and probably more coherent as an album than most of their albums. Still... More noteworthy for the gems than as an album as such.
Very, very much of its time. She's really getting very excited about really bad electronic versions of hi-hats and tambourines. And that's in the first few seconds of the album, which has a surprising amount of cringeworthy production, raps and lyrics. I mean... She's definitely matured since then, but I can't bring myself to give this 2 stars. It's just... Phew. It has so much really bad 80s stuff on there in bloody 1989.
Double live album from the 70s. Oh dear. But. This is very well recorded. Not precisely sure why it's on the list, but I did enjoy this way more than I expected.
I find myself a bit ill-equipped to really judge this. The hits are familiar territory, of course, but I was never hugely into them. In fairness, it's easy to appreciate that this was groundbreaking, mixing rock riffs and rap, all produced by Rick Rubin, no less. And it hasn't aged as badly as a lot of other 80s stuff. Some clever lyrics at times as well. That said, there's a lot of cringey stuff there, too, and the constant shouting voice and persona get old really quickly. Lastly, Fight for your right doesn't get any less obnoxious with time.
The opener ist fine. Too long, though. Which is a fine indicator of the overall impression this album left. It's the worst kind of noodling. It's noodling, but the production tells you that not a single note is actually improvised, which adds an aseptic, sterile quality to this record.
Lots of stories of lonesome men, grief and a certain degree of idiocy. Not a whole lot of musical variety.
Nice enough, and it of course has one of the greatest tracks of all time on it (you know which one). Torn between 3 and 4 on the whole, and this is the lucky album that gets rounded up because I did a lot of rounding down recently.
Oh, second Queen album in as many weeks. I was hugely into them around the time Freddie died, and have since taken a more nuanced view. They're one of the major singles bands to me but never really did it for me as an album band. And this album confirms that. Very much. There are sooooo many ideas in this, but they're not very focused. Sure, Bohemian Rhapsody a few years later also had tons of idea, but the song structure actually made some sense and was coherent. Whereas here there's a lot of "oh, let's just stick this chanting and screaming here, attach the weird guitar overdub to it, too, because, hey, props to Brian, we can't leave that out". The production is also weirdly muddy and overall it ends up not being a particularly coherent or great album.
Going through this list makes me realise that Prince for me is a lot like Queen. Some indestructible hits and great individual songs, but by God, I really can't stand most of his albums as a whole. This is just so steeped in 80s production. Including tons of synth drums, which is ironic considering there is a bloody big drum kit on the cover. Also, a lot of the songwriting isn't... Really going anywhere. Except to the next 80s synth sound. You can put all of these songs over any big hair 80s romantic drama movie abomination. And I don't mean this in a sort of nice, nostalgic way. Although I'm sure many will.
Phew. Freed from the Beatles, I have very little time for any of the individual members. John particularly. This is an album with one evergreen that's been played to death... And then there is a whole bunch of incredibly mediocre songs that are variations of blues routines and Beatles-esque ballads and Beatles references. And I get that John wasn't a particularly peaceful person in his younger years, and he was openly compensating for that with all his peace and love stuff in the 70s. But my God, is this getting dreary really and cringey quickly. Having said all that. It's well-produced and I'd much rather listen to this again than to Sign O the Times by Prince. That album got 1/5, so this has to be a 2/5.
Musically I enjoyed this way more than I expected. Which really isn't saying much, because I expected 1/5 on that front, which this isn't. Quite. But my god, if this isn't an incredibe collection of cringeworthy lyrics, I have no idea what is. So... It's between 1 and 2 stars. Tough one because I'd be marginally less inclined to turn it off than other stuff. Not sufficiently so to round up to 2 stars, though. So there you go. Enjoyed it more than I expected and it still only comes in at 1/5
Oh dear. Great lyrics and songwriting drowned in 80s production. I really wish somebody did a reworking of this album. Jo Cocker did a cover of First we take Manhattan which isn't going easy on the adult contemporary production, but it still stands so tall above Cohen's original in that regard, it's not even funny. And the whole album is like that, and First we take Manhattan isn't even the worst offender (that title goes to Jazz Police). I thoroughly enjoy Cohen's last four albums, but this is such a hard pass for me... So... Dear estate of Leonard Cohen, can we have a more timeless rework, please? Because there are some good songs here, buried beneath all that shitty production.
Pleasant background jazz.
One of those people where I perceive they're held in high regard - and I absolutely can't connect to what they're doing. It's pleasant enough, but it doesn't stand out to me in any way.
These guys have listened to a lot of Kraftwerk and decided to do their own. With mixed results. Doesn't really stand on its own feet, and the bits that are not obviously Kraftwerk-esque aren't that convincing, really. Kosmischer Läufer does a better job of emulating Kraftwerk while still being more than just an hommage.
Hadn't listened to this in ages. Oh boy, what a reminder of the great storytelling and incredible musical assuredness it was to revisit this album 18 years later.
I know it's an iconic album, and yes, some indestructible smash hits are on this. And I know why it's on the list, and how culturally important and influential it was/is. Still. I give out stars based on how much I enjoyed this, and on that basis, it's a 3/5.
Didn't get why it was so big back in the day, still don't get it some 20 years later. It's a collection of fairly bog standard boring songs with fairly listless melodies, if you even want to call them that. Just doesn't click at all with me. And it's way too long, too.
Honestly, I knew the song everybody knows off of this album. So... I didn't really know what to expect. Not much, maybe. And actually... This is a GRAND album.
Seriously? Another Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album? Or is that another Crosby, Stills and Nash album? I don't really care. I get how they were very influential and obviously a bit of a supergroup. But... They're not really that different to warrant having more than one entry here.
Okay, I guess, doesn't particularly excite or offend me.
Boring.
I can see how this was kind of groundbreaking in its theatricality and ESC-compatible campness at the time. Yet: Bit too much for my taste, especially the vocal flourishes, and I prefer the traces this album certainly left in the mainstream.
Oh dear. The Cure. Again. Why? A band I never really got the hang of. But. This has the one single song of theirs I truly appreciate, Lullaby. And Lovesong. And. Fuck me, this is a grand album overall and I wouldn't mind listening again, in fact, I kind of want to.
Yes, groundbreaking, a bit hard to connect to it for me because teenage/twen angst and anger isn't really where I'm at right now. At all.
Yeah. Uhm. I lose interest in this very quickly. I mean. It's not total shit, it just doesn't interest me, and I'm not entirely sure why this is considered a groundbreaking album. So. 1 star? 2? 1 seems unfair.
Yeah. No.
There is that one fairly funky Stevie Wonder album on the list, which I enjoyed. There is also this, which is Stevie Wonder as I originally got to know him - the somewhat schmalzy adult contemporary singer of ballads and writer of songs that don't quite want to make you dance, and all sound vaguely similar and familiar. I have much more time for funky Stevie than I do for schmalzy Stevie.
A lot weirder than I expected. Wish I hadn't read up on what Oldfield has been up to more recently. But anyway. It's a grand album, but maybe a bit too instrumentally wankerous and too influenced by medieval melody lines and instrumentations. It's also one of those big ones on the list that I was very much aware of but never actually gave even the shortest of listens. Glad I did, but I probably won't come back to it very often if ever.
I'm selective buying music these days, but I actually own a physical copy of this. So.
A lot of songs that have been played to death, of course. Astounding how many this album has, I had no idea.
Phew. Uhm. Not sure how this is really an album, to be honest. One vinyl side of concept, followed by a collection of non-album singles and miscellaneous songs. Liked it more than I thought I would, but it's still Simon & Garfunkel, a duo that certainly earned its place, albeit not necessarily in my frequently played artists playlist.
Music to drive across the USA by. Music to write Tarantino or Coen brothers movie scripts by. Kind of too short for either, really.
As others have stated before me: A classic example of 80s production, which I'm the first to say hasn't aged well at all. Although this is still way better done production-wise than Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man, which is probably the lowest depth the 80s sunk to. His estate should really consider doing a re-recorded version to strip off the 80s shite. Wouldn't be a bad idea for Private Dancer, either. Weirdly, I can't stand the Rain somehow works with just that production. PS: Oh dear, this also contains not one but two butcherings of classic songs by The Beatles and Bowie.
Knew the band name, had no idea what to expect, except I thought they had male vocalists. Got 80s ethereal female vocals with a influence from something I can't quite point to any more because the kids are listening to a song about a rhino having to poo.
There's Disintegration, and there's the rest of The Cure's catalogue.
Hadn't listened to this in ages. Such a mixed bag. The first two songs are a showcase of outstandingly GOOD 80s production. I mean, there is such drive - the opening/title track clocks in at over 10 minutes, doesn't really have THAT many different lines of lyrics, and you're still entertained the whole way through. War and Two Tribes are good. Then comes a cooldown. Grand. Then it gets... A bit tricky. I kind of get the Springsteen cover, but then... Bacharach? Then something that showcases bad 80s production and boring songwriting. And then an instrumental that probably inspired Enigma. And then...a sort of bebop/rockabilly song about fisting. Anal fisting. Not what I expected and something I need to remember to slip onto an innocent-sounding playlist alongside Bobby Brown Goes Down. Then two more decent tracks with very driving bass lines, and of course: The Power Of Love, a love song to love which makes it so universal and timeless. In the end... When I first listened to it I didn't quite realise how gay the whole album is (well, I was 16 or so, not gay myself, lived in a very rural area... so a lot of the references and not so hidden innuendoes went totally over my head), and the fact that even on repeated listens, you can delve in the gayness - or just ignore it and enjoy what is mostly a very decent, driving, danceable album. Plus an outstanding, no holds barred pompous, romantic ballad, done very right. All of which was and is probably part of the continuing appeal of the songs and the band. And my God, Trevor Horn can produce. And damn, on finishing the album, I want to put the title track back on. Just skip San Jose and Wish The Lads Were Here, and you're looking at a great album, honestly.
Another example of fairly GOOD 80s production. Sounds much less dated than most of its contemporary albums. And there are so many layers of keyboards, percussion, interesting time signatures and rhythms (especially for songs that would broadly qualify as pop) to keep you interested even on the 200th listen of eg Sledgehammer. All without ever losing focus. What irks me the most, I suppose, is a certain perspective Gabriel tends to have in his lyrics, which... I can't put my fingers on. Regardless, this certainly is a groundbreaking album in terms of songwriting, blending avantgarde and world music influences with an incredible catchiness.
Reggae isn't my scene at all, but this was quite enjoyable.
I can see why this is on the list, but honestly I prefer their later work and Gaz's solo albums because they're stoll playful but... A bit more focused/refined.
Sorry, this just doesn't do anything for me. It isn't rubbish, but I just can't connect to this album.
I have no clue about this kind of music, so I don't know if this is really a standout album in its genre. But I enjoyed it.
I really hate the fuckin' Eagles.
The list needs more of this vibe.
So Billy Bragg and Wilco - both of whom I'm not exactly a fan of, but don't have anything against, either - write music to go with unsung Woodie Guthrie lyrics. Which...you know. Is grand for Guthrie fans, I suppose. Because they also stay really close to how music by Guthrie himself would have sounded. But I really, thoroughly do not get why this made the list. It's perfectly fine musicianship, combined with perfectly fine lyrics. But if Guthrie had written, recorded and released the music himself, this wouldn't be one of the Guthrie albums on the list. So... Why is it on the list with Bragg and Wilco doing the honours?
So, yeah, Clapton can play guitar. Besides that, this, to me, is a totally unremarkable blues album that also clocks in way too long.
Oh. One of the classics I know but have never actually listened to. Decent album. Won't go into my heavy rotation, but it did give me an appreciation of why Led Zeppelin are still held in such high regard.
There was a time when I would have enjoyed Indian instrumentation over western beats more than I do now.
It's obviously got two standout tracks in One way or another and Heart of Glass. The rest isn't bad per se, but not very interesting. The drumming with its too frequent cymbal use for single accents is actually surprisingly annoying to my ears.
Another Elvis Costello album. And I am still left eternally wondering why he has the status that he has. This is... Okay.
It's an okay album. Music to scratch your itchy feet by.
Love this album, love its predecessor a tiny bit more. Still... As the predecessor isn't on this list, this gets the 5/5 from me that Hot Rail should get. Not to belittle this one at, all, it's a very solid 4.5 in any case for me. Both are outstanding albums that whenever I listen to them make me wonder why there isn't more music out there in a similar style.
Oh Jesus. My first association... PAPER PLANES. Turned from a dancefloor favourite to an annoyance. Also, hasn't she turned into a bit of a conspiracy nutjob lately? Anyway, on to the music. Phew. I appreciate the layers expertly laid on top of each other and all sort of making some sense. Nothing here is a coincidence. You can also hear loads of influences. First two that come to my mind have a connection, even - Tom Tom Club and My Life In the Bush of Ghosts. The thing is: So many of the choices made are just so annoying to my ears. High-pitched repetitive samples. Give me a claustrophic feeling of being on some sort of trip without an off button, when I've only had a glass of beer. Which of course means there IS an off button to what I'm experiencing. Jimmy is weirdly annoyingly catchy in a way that might make me want to come back to it in the same way I sometimes need a dose of Gwen Stefani's Watcha Waiting for. But by and large, I never want to listen to this album again.
There was this one guy at school who really liked George Michael around the time of this exact album. And somebody later lent me the Ladies & Gentlemen compilation. None of it connect at all. George Michael has since grown into this somewhat odd figure in my head whom I sort of followed and who I have an appreciation of sorts for because... Well he had a huge influence on pop music, and the amount of hit singles he had with Wham! (and what incredibly hard to shake earworm each single is) is just astounding. So I felt well-prepared to do as the title implies - listen without prejudice (and don't you hate when there's a Vol 1 in the title and no Vol 2 ever happened?). And here's the long and short of it: Freedom! 90 is a great track. I skipped the rest of the first four songs. And then comes Cowboys and Angels, and the mood shifts quite a lot. The whole Symphonica stuff a few years before his death kind of makes sense. Songs like Cowboys & Angels or Mothers Pride shows his ambition. They also show where and how he saw himself. Problem is... I don't really have much time for the tons of symphonic albums pop stars did for a while. Also, he's just way too self-important. Then follows an incredibly sugary pop song, a song not quite as catchy as Freedom! 90, but with some funk nevertheless, plus a reprise - and that's it. So. Three decent tracks, a lot of ambition, but ultimately a really mixed bag for me.
Very seriously... Why are there three Stevie Wonder albums on this list? Or are there even more? It's the third I got, anyway. This is probably the one of those three that actually belongs. But as others have already observed... There are some kick-ass numbers on this album, and then you have the sickly-sweet stuff that drags proceedings down a lot. Because there is just so much of it.
It's fine. His vocals are surprisingly imperfect in quite a lot of places. Not sure if I find that charming.
This was an album I really dreaded. As it turns out: Rightly so. Serious case of having to separate the art and the artist for me. By all accounts, Springsteen seems to be a good guy, and for those inclined to go and see him live, he absolutely delivers the goods. But my God, I cannot stand this. Born in the USA is so obnoxious in how it trots out the same keyboard riff for over 4 minutes. Followed by another song that stretches out precisely one idea for over 3 minutes. Next up: Basically the same idea and chord progression as Born in the USA, but arranged in a kind of country barnyard rock style. And it kind of... goes from there. Also, the lyrics are just so incredibly in-your-fucking-face, I can't bear it. Sure, not every piece of lyric needs to be a super-subtle poetic masterpiece. But all of this is like... the equivalent of a letter a 17 year-old who's never been away from home and who's never been one to read or write much would send home while being away on an excursion for a week.
So this was recommended to me ages ago. And I haven't listened to this in ages. Still holds up really well and I'm pleasantly surprised to see it on this list.
Why is there a second Cocteau Twins album on this list when they both sound absolutely indistinguishable from each other? Okay, I'm being harsh. This does sound a bit different from Treasure. But not sufficiently so to warrant two entries on this list for the same band. Has elements of Kate Bush hiring Peter Hook as the bassist, plus lyrics that definitely inspired Sigur Rós. I can't say much more about this. It's not rubbish, but for me, listening to this drove home that dream pop really isn't my genre.
Honestly, Norman Fucking Rockwell! should be the Lana Del Rey album on this list. None other. By a long shot. That said... listening to this album again made me appreciate it a bit more than I did previously. There isn't a bad song on this, and it's impressive to se her development as a songwriter. However. There were too many times here when a decision was made to never go beyond a very tame mid-tempo at best. And given the production and instrumentation is pretty much identical on all songs, it's an album that easily sort of drifts into the background, and at some point you realise it's over. Which is a pity, because there are some great songs here.
Besides the hit on this album, this was my first conscious exposure to Crowded House. I enjoyed this, actually, and this really tastes a LOT like Wilco. Or the other way round, given these guys were first. I have half a mind of checking out some more of their stuff.
Hadn't listened to this in ages. My god, I'd forgotten how seemingly flawlessly it combines elements of genres I don't particularly love into one really fucking tight, grooving album that just makes your feet move and your head nod rhythmically.
Over an hour's worth of blues noodling.
Old-fashioned in a fairly timeless way.
Very ambitious but ultimately also a bit pretentious and definitely too long.
Tiresome.
I adore "I'm new here", Scott-Heron's late masterpiece. I also enjoy some of his earlier songs. But this, at album-length... It's not bad, but doesn't engage me at all, I'm afraid.
Pretty decent album, flows nicely. Doesn't stand out as such, though.
I'm not hugely into this genre at all, but this was a great listen. Totally unexpected, too. Good stuff.
Wants to be smooth and... Something else, I'm sure. Ends up being tedious to my ears.
Folk rock. The good kind. Kind of. Still folk rock.
I hate the fucking Eagles. And fucking Linkin Park.
It's very much conceptual prog-rock, isn't it? Sort of in the vein of Tommy and The Wall. It's a genre that, for me, hasn't aged terribly well at all. Partly because it has a tendency to take itself too seriously, leading to unnecessarily long albums.
Needs more reverb and distortion. Also, not enough cowbell
Iconic and whatnot. In this kind of became what the album and the band set out not to be.
It's alright, but with the power of hindsight probably not an entry in the list that anybody would or should be fighting tooth and nail to keep.
I can see how they were groundbreaking, I just don't think it holds up that well some 35 years later. And Shaun Ryder's voice has an irritating effect on me after a few songs.
Definitely a unique album at the time it came out. Some good tunes, some forgettable ones. What strikes me, and maybe I'm biased because I'm listening with a cold on the couch, is how nervous and uneven this album feels.
I knew a couple of songs, even did a cover of Paranoid ages ago with a band I was in. But I never really gave Black Sabbath much credit. Turns out - credit is definitely due. Great album. And it's in luck because I'm torn between a 4 and a 5 and feeling like I'm giving out too few 5 star ratings.
I hated this band when this came out. It had so many ubiquitous songs on it. When I saw this come up here I dreaded it. Turns out time has turned me a lot milder towards it. I accidentally made it through the whole expanded edition and it was grand.
The samples and lyricism are outstanding. It's got a nice flow to it, too. But to me, not a seasoned hip-hop listener at all, the lyrical content tends to be very repetitive, variations of the same two themes. Still, if there's a hip-hop/rap album that gets 3 stars from me, this is probably it.
Hard no. Some feedback guitars followed by sugary sweet, unengaging melodies and lyrics.
I'm not an Elvis guy. He's grand, like.
All over the fucking shop. They tend to be better when they're a bit more melodic (to my ears, anyway), and that's saying something because I gave Teenage Fanclub a 1/5 for being to sugary-sweet melodic. The album is a wild ride, but I wanted to listen to it again after an hour of listening to something else. So... That's a good thing, I guess.
The Ian Curtis biopic, Control, is one of my all-time favourite music-related films. In the context of that movie, Joy Division's music really works for me. Flawlessly. Outside that context, though, I appreciate how they broke new ground, and I appreciate the odd song. But overall, their debut is just a constant gloomy droning sound, claustrophobically produced, that prevails.
Reminds me a bit of The Smiths. With the advantage of the singer not being as obnoxious as The Smiths'. And the disadvantage of this album being a tad bit more boring than any Smiths album I know.
The absence of new Tom Waits music in almost 15 years (and no sign of this changing any time soon) is made more bearable by the existence of his back catalogue, this album being one of the greatest entries in that discography. Hearing this for the first as well as the 20th or 50th time, it's still utterly original and intricate in its themes and instrumentation. And its vocal delivery, of course.
This is not really my favourite genre or decade. But. It does put me in a good mood. And sort of makes me sway and tap my feet. Some of the recording/editing artefacts still audible are a bit odd, though. Like this was a bit of a rushed job that nobody bothered to clean up in the last 60+ years.
It's not bad per se, it's just boring to my ears. And it makes me wonder... If this is on the list, why isn't any of Amadou & Mariam's albums?
The first song is a bit too omnipresent, of course. Still... On first listen after ages, it's a great album.
Not a folk person usually, but I can get down with this.
Some outstanding tunes, but also some duds. Which is a shame - at 20 songs, it comes in long, and cutting the four or five songs that aren't quite up there with the rest of them would still have been an album's worth of material. A bit curious in retrospect how much she sings about boys/him/he and it does sort of make you think about her image at the time and how she must have felt about that.
Adult contemporary dad rock of the not-so-cringey kind.
I'd previously given this less credit than due, I think.
He was quite popular in the indie scene (as I followed it) ages ago. I didn't get it back then. Tastes change with age, so I thought this was as good a chance as any to give Adams a second chance. Turns out I don't find it as bad as I did back in the day but it's still a 3/5 at best for me.
It's all very competently played, with a very unexcited, laid back attitude and atmosphere. Which makes it perfect to play in the background while sitting in a café, or while having a wine with your significant other and reminiscing. It ultimately also makes the whole album a tad boring.
It's definitely a rough listen, which I've come to expect with Tom Waits. That said - I really enjoy it, even though it's not an album for your elegant dinner party.
It's okay. Not particularly memorable for me, despite the sex-laden lyrics.
Much better than any other Doors album I've listened to so far. Starts off with a weird alternating pattern of generic blues rock and stunning, original song.
Jesus, this is almost 30 years old. I feel old now. This was revolutionary in how it gave voice to a sort of female anger. Definitely not the first, but incredibly influential and successful at the same time. Pity that the most annoying song on this album - Ironic - became its most successful track.
This was such an eye-opener in its depth, musicality, atmosphere... Everything. For some reason I hadn't listened to this album for ages, and relistening to it, it hasn't lost any of its impact and ages incredibly well.
80s new wave pop shite. Sorry.
One of the better electronic/ambient records from that era.
Not a particularly exciting or uplifting record.
This makes me aggressive, and not in a good way.
Pathos, instrumentation, vocal delivery... Everything is turned up to 11 on this album. Which sometimes makes it seem a bit pretentious, but even that was obviously part of the equation when it was conceived. This is obviously too much of everything, but it's great this stuff exists precisely because of it - even though I definitely won't start listening to this album on a more frequent basis now.
So all three of Drake's albums are on this list. This is number three for me (so I'm through now). And yes, they're all very good. But they're also not that vastly different in the grand scale of things to warrant putting all three of them on this list.
First thought in my mind: Huzzah, more British new wave. Yeay. And this totally delivered on that expectation. Which means I'll never listen to this again.
First actual Police album I ever listened to. The hits are absolute standout tracks, some of the other songs are okay, some are unnecessary. Also...I think Stewart Copeland is an outstanding drummer, but on this album it often sounds a bit like even when he's doing tons of little fills and other things, he's still bored and adds more stuff still. Which is often a bit too busy for my taste.
Simon & Garfunkel, a duo that certainly earned its place, albeit not necessarily in my frequently played artists playlist. And Jesus, I expected some more acoustic guitar singer/Songwriter stuff like on the previous S&G albums I got, instead, this album launches straight into its title song that pulls absolutely no stops on the pathos - it's MUCH more sappy than I remembered it. A sort of pseudo-Greek/Latin/Italian/no idea folky thing follows, which is fairly awful. It gets a tiny bit better after that. The good news is: Simon & Garfunkel have 3 albums on this list, which makes this the last one I'll have to listen to.
Another British album that did things back in the day, I guess. Doesn't do much for me, though.
I knew precisely one track from this. This is ridiculously well-produced and mixed. Everything is precisely where it needs to be and gets precisely the right attention in the mix. There are the lyrics, of course - honestly, I hear a lot of what is often interpreted as misogyny as an obvious dig at misogynists. But yeah, if this was the shit right now and my kid was listening to it, I'd probably be worried, too. That said, there are bits in the skits on this album where there isn't that much distance between the artist and his art. And there are also songs that aren't... That great. Still... Overall, and considering it's not my genre at all, and I hadn't listened to this before at all, it's still an excellent album, and and album that definitely belongs on this list.
Not as great as I thought it was going to be after the first few songs, which I really enjoyed. Still - very solid, and a nice musical hange on this list.
I used to own a physical copy of this back when it came out, actually. Then I realised I also owned some Strokes, some White Stripes, and very deliberately didn't own any Lynyrd Skynyrd. I also realised how incredibly annoying the singer's voice is after a short while. Later still they put out stuff I legitimately detest. So... This gets a 2 because I need to be able to go lower in case any other of their albums come up.
This, along with having seen them live in 1998, confirmed my suspicion that my overlap with this band is precisely one song: If you tolerate this your children will be next (not on this album).
Ooohh. This slaps. Early premonitions of Drive Like Jehu or Mclusky or Future of the Left. Weird for sure, but good weird. And it's so cool to hear something so original here.
Not as terrible as some reviews here make it out to be, but nowhere near as good as Ute Lemper and the people who made this album obviously think it is. Very self-important.
Second Eminem album within the space of a week. Production is once again ridiculously on point. And again I can't help but feel that a lot of the controversy about his lyrics at the time had to do with insufficient listening comprehension. Or lack of willingness to pay attention. Which isn't to say that there isn't stuff in there that isn't up to scratch. But for a lot of the big items at the time, there's mostly a very obvious second layer. Most obviously in Stan, where it's clear the artists doesn't condone quite a lot of what he's expressing in his lyrics. I also realise it's a - welcome? - change to listen to the uncensored version rather than the cleaned up edits that MTV used to play all the time. Overall, though, this is a bit too aggressive compared to the Slim Shady album (which I gave a 4/5), and not as melodic/playful, and I was kind of glad when it was over. So... As I kind of feel like I'd listen to the Slim Shady album again, while I'd give this a pass, we got a 2/5 on our hands here.
Marginally more listenable than Born in the USA. Springsteen is one of those separate the art from the artist cases for me. He seems like a genuinely sound person, but I cannot for the life of me bring me to enjoy his music.
Echoes of Dylan, Joplin, Drake... And forebodings of Bill Callahan. Not very interesting despite the backstory.
The amazing thing with this album is that within two years of it, they made Rubber Soul, then Revolver a year later, and Sgt Pepper's another year later. You really wouldn't guess from this collection of songs.
Much like Portishead - which absolutely holds up to this day - I remember this as an outstanding album. Listening to it now, though, it's still very well produced, but not nearly as moving, swallowing you whole, as I remembered it to be.
An enjoyable wild ride of an album. Covering folly sounds to electronica and pop and it still kind of makes sense.
It's a weird one for sure, because it kind of loses the Trans Europa Express theme about halfway sure, so I feel it's an album that cheats me a bit. And while I've got Schaufensteruppen as an earworm a day later, I'm not that fond of that song. So all in all, from their classic period, it's not my favourite album, but still a very good one.
Separating the art from the artist is an important skill. I actually enjoy a lot of Morrissey's music, especially his solo stuff. But my god, is he an insufferable prick.
Hard to listen to because the sound quality is just so crappy
Grand, like.
For some strange reason, Stop Making Sense, a clear 5, is not on this list. Remain in Light is, though. And while very good and innovaative in terms of the way they work with effects, repetitive riffs etc., the songs sound a bit too restrained at times compared to Stop Making Sense.
I got this the day after Remain in Light by Talking Heads and I was surprised how much common DNA there is to these two records. Enjoyed it way more than I expected and want to listen to it again.
The concept sounded preposterously pretentious when I read it, and the first few notes confirmed my fears. But then it was actually alright. I mean you kind of have to applaud the ambition shown here. That said, Deezer gave me a deluxe edition, which adds a historically important second live recording of the same songs. And I wasn't really keen on going through the whole thing twice in a row. So does that make a 2 or a 3? 2 seems a bit mean-sprited. But not being keen on a second listen isn't really material for a 3...
Fucking ABBA. Incredible songwriters that make it seem so easy to write strings of earworms. Top-notch production, too. Very questionable aesthetic choices, including this album cover (trademark (R) against the band name and all). How kind of sugary it all is, though. It really isn't my kind of music, but those earworms still work on me. Oh - Money, Money, Money is a great song. Tough to rate, because I'm fine never listening to this album ever again (except Money, Money, Money), but do think it's an achievement.
It's not shit, but does absolutely nothing for me.
I can see how much of this was quite ground-breaking in the mid-80s. The expressive dancing, the production, the sampling, Bush's voice of course. But for me, it's very dated sounding with its really clean production and liberal use of what I think is fretless bass. And it isn't something I really have any ambition to revisit, although I absolutely think this album has earned its place on this list.
Mile Rodger is the master of funky production. The songs themselves left me a bit wanting, though, as a few of them maybe dragged repetitively on a bit longer than strictly necessary.