1001 Albums Summary

Sounded exactly like I thought it would based on the album cover. Cars with flame decals. An 80s vibe that always feels scuzzy and unappealing to me. Okay, the synth in legs is pretty good

Feels like I now understand a whole slew of cultural, musical references I didn't get before. It's such a sincere album, wrapped in all this smoke and jazz flute. Definitely enjoying the latter tracks more than the earlier. I have to keep reminding myself that "What's going on" pre-dates all the "We are the world" stuff. Maybe it was just more possible to make this kind of cri de coeur back then?

Honestly, the songs that stick with me from this are "Cousin Kevin" and "Fiddle About" because I found them profoundly disturbing. The whole concept feels alien to the current moment. It's hard to imagine a band getting away with using a person's disability for thematic exploration like this. Two stars because "we're not going to take" it still slaps.