Ultimately, this album did not match what I expected this group to be. I've heard the Byrds, I've heard the Hollies, I've heard future collaborators like Neil Young and his hits like Heart of Gold. I thought this was going to be a very personal, intimate album with sweet harmonies and gentle soothing guitars. Instead I got something that sounded like it wanted to be prog-rock in the vein of Yes, but produced by the Band.
So while I can appreciate the songs (and there are portions that I genuinely enjoy), I think I've heard so much of what came around and after them that it doesn't break through to me like it would have in 1969. In fact, those harmonies started sounding tiring after the 7th or 8th time hearing the same structure.
A classic album and the apex of Black Sabbath. Nearly every song on this album can be heard on classic rock stations today.
Tony Iommi’s signature guitar sound is fully realized, Bill Wards drumming, while fainter and set back further than a modern production would choose, complements the songs perfectly, and of course Ozzie’s vocals are why he’s a metal icon.
While I’m not a Sabbath super fan or anything, I surprised myself with how much I was enjoying listening to this in the car.
It’s going to take a few listens to catch all the details that make this such an epic album, but Coltrane’s virtuosity and willingness to experiment is obvious and apparent throughout. I can’t wait to dive into this one again!
When The Boss set out to make this record, he wanted to make a statement on America and what makes it what it is. To do that, he evokes images of cars and girls and dreams of something greater. These themes that are first fully fleshed out here would go onto define his entire career.
Springsteen was also interested in employing his own “wall of sound” ala Phil Spector. Dare I say, he was able to achieve a far better sound than Spector was ever able to dream of.
With the exception of the near perfect titular track, I wouldn’t call this the most re-listenable albums for my specific taste. But as a clear artistic statement it’s well done and has everything you need to understand what makes Bruce “The Boss”
Lots of hits on this album, including one of my favorite songs of all time “Dreams.”
Overall, the full album isn’t really my thing, but Fleetwood Mac had a gift for finding great pop and soft rock hooks that make these songs very easy to digest.
Bouncy and upbeat britpop from the turn of the 80s. Unfortunately it really isn't my cup of tea. Perhaps Costello requires multiple listens, but for me each song just bleeds into the next at roughly the same tempo and key. I couldn't really find my way "in."
This album hits the spot for me. Very smooth and thoughtful country folk at its best.
My only gripe is that the mixing and production could have made this album so much better. The vocals are mixed too much on top and they can feel overbearing at times. The instruments feel a little flat as well. I feel like there’s so much sonic richness hiding underneath the surface that could have been revealed to great effect. The lead guitar work is also sloppy at best, which is just what you get with Neil Young.
Thankfully the songs themselves are so well crafted that one can get past the nitpicks to enjoy the album as a whole.
This album did not contain a "Turn, Turn Turn!" or "Mr. Tambourine Man" amongst its collection of songs, but it is an interesting contextual look into how psychedelic rock eventually formed.
Since this album was released in July 1966, I can't help compare it to the corresponding Beatles era. They had just released Rubber Soul, and would go on to release Revolver a month later. While comparing anyone to the Beatles is a fool's errand, but I will say this album fits nicely between them as a musical evolution of the times. They built upon their previous albums and paved the way for what eventually would be titans of psychadelia like Sgt. Peppers and early Pink Floyd.
You'd be hard pressed to find another artist that puts so much CHARACTER in their songs. Tom Waits, while his vocal delivery can be off-putting for some, puts more feeling into his each note than most others can muster in entire albums.
His wheelhouse seems to be both New Orleans-style dreary blues and schmaltzy ballads, both of which can be found in spades on Heart Attack and Vine. But he brings such a uniqueness to them that I find them endlessly interesting. I expect to revisit this album again soon to uncover more layers of the onion.
You'd be hard pressed to find another artist that puts so much CHARACTER in their songs. Tom Waits, while his vocal delivery can be off-putting for some, puts more feeling into his each note than most others can muster in entire albums.
His wheelhouse seems to be both New Orleans-style dreary blues and schmaltzy ballads, both of which can be found in spades on Heart Attack and Vine. But he brings such a uniqueness to them that I find them endlessly interesting. I expect to revisit this album again soon to uncover more layers of the onion.
The album is cohesive and consistent. I generally like the melodies. The Jack Antonoff production and songwriting assistance is obvious, so much so that I feel this veers into Taylor Swift territory on more than one occasion.
And with that comes a little too much familiarity for my liking. The chord progressions aren't particularly adventurous, the tempo doesn't change much, and you rarely get any musical tension building into impactful crescendo's. If the hooks were top notch (like Taylor Swift's), this would be a fantastic pop record. However, Lana Del Ray seems to shy away from actual hooks in favor of melodies that fit a vibe. I can certainly appreciate and enjoy that, but a full album of it can get old.
My favorite song is definitely "For Free." It's a shame that its relegated to the end of the album.
This album got me thinking. What is a “song?” “Music” is somewhat easier to define; it’s an intentional manipulation of rhythm, timber, and pitch changes. But when does a melody turn into a song?
Upon listening to many of these tracks, my first thought was that these were more akin to an exploration of 69 musical ideas, stretched out to 3 minutes apiece, rather than full polished songs. They felt incomplete.
Many of the lyrics start with a theme but never go on a journey or provide any sense of resolution. They seem to just orbit that same central thought. At times it almost feels like one of those persuasive essays you were asked to write in school where you had your central thesis, and then each paragraph was meant to support that thesis.
Similar to the lyrics, each musical idea seems to center around a core refrain, but rarely in a way that builds or releases any musical tension.
The vocal performances were varied and performed by multiple members of the band. Some are more talented vocalists than others. Most of them seemed to have this “local musical theatre company” quality to them rather than anything rock and roll.
With all of that being said, I found some genuine interesting things on this album. “Absolutely cuckoo” was a fun introduction. It uses a lyrical style that’s refreshing and is easy to listen to. “Let’s Pretend We’re Bunnies,” my personal favorite, was one of the closest to what my gut tells me is a complete polished song.
In all, I found this a long but easy listen. I didn’t struggle through this album. However I was left with a feeling of incompleteness, like I wasn’t listening to “songs,” whatever that means.
Incredible experience. I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to hear these guys live in 1987 back when this album was new.
Fantastic album. Its quintessentially Bowie: adventurous in all the right ways
I’d classify this music as “jam folk.” Martyn typically has a vocal riff or groove he centers his song around. While this structure could easily fall into “mood music” rather than impactful songs, Martyn’s musicianship and smoothness make it an worthwhile listen.
New wave and post punk in its purest form. I’m usually not a huge fan of the more popular new wave bands, but this group had an edge to them that I thoroughly enjoyed
While I think "The Colour and the Shape" was the Foo Fighters' "pinnacle," I find their self titled to be the most interesting record they put out. While their later releases were immaculately produced and veered more towards straightforward alternative rock, this album retained some edge. It had ideas that Dave Grohl had been playing around with for a while, so they had a chance to breathe and evolve into something fresh that wasn't around in 1995.
Did not enjoy this one. The horns took me way out of it. They were so prominent, but also so flat, uninspired, and often out of tune.
Don’t you want me is a legit good song, but the rest of it sounds very sophomoric (at least I didn’t find it grating). Ultimately, I don’t think this one is worthy of being on the 1001
Not bad. However it’s very much stuck in the late 90’s
Didn’t have to think too hard about this one. Classic John Lennon at his John Lennoniest. You have calls for peace, vicious attacks, vulnerable introspection, and declarations of love for Yoko Ono all within the same album. If this doesn’t represent the complete John Lennon package then I don’t know what would.
Honestly though, Jealous Guy is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Probably my least favorite Beatles album, but that’s not saying much since I’m still giving it a 5.
While my answer may change depending on the day of the week, I’m willing to say that Abbey Road is my all time favorite album from my all time favorite band. Pure excellence
Like most albums in this list, I need to grade based on a curve. This definitely holds true with queen. Even their worst songs on this album show how talented they are.
They intentionally broke this album into 2 parts, the white and dark sides. I’d say the quality of the songs are pretty well split too. The first half is clunky and meandering. The 2nd half is more reflects what their sound would become.
The 2nd half has some good highlights but I’d give it 3 stars because the first half shows that they hadn’t quite figured out what made them great yet.
Very solid live album. While nowadays these songs seem cliche, that’s only because of how important they are to the foundation of everything we hear today. While it’s surprisingly well produced and mixed for a concert from 60 years ago, Jerry Lee Lewis energetic performance is what really shines through.
I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I’ve never seen myself as a huge Judas Priest fan, but the guitar work was great and it was very digestible. However, this time I happened to notice a lot of similarities between them and AC/DC (which I also don’t particularly love).
