1001 Albums Summary

My first delve into Rage was a pleasant surprise! Listened while at the gym for peak angry white boy immersion. Very consistent, riffs are surprisingly groovy. Good bass tone and great bass parts overall, more funk inspiration than I expected. I was promised weird guitars and I got them, shoutout Tom Morello. Lyrics vary greatly from shockingly intelligent to heavy handed and repetitive, but are never a major detriment of the song. Do not much care for Zach de la Rocha’s vocals but I can’t imagine anything else fitting better with their sound. Killing in the Name is a slightly overrated song. Good payoff but verses have too much repetition. Best song: Take the Power Back or Settle for Nothing Worst song: Fistful of Steel - siren sound in verses is a bit grating and it drags a bit. Very solid 4/5 - Will revisit.

Never got into Cohen despite being encouraged to by my fellow Jeff Buckley fans. I hadn’t been huge on what I’d previously heard but I appreciated the artistry. You can’t argue with the artistic merit of the man who wrote Hallelujah. With that said, speak-singing is not my thing, man. I like the bluesy elements and gospel touches, Cohen always brings religious imagery to his art which I never object to. This project has very tasteful instrumentals and it’s very well produced, but I can’t get behind the vocal delivery, which makes this hard to enjoy. Cohen is much more a poet than a singer and his words are wonderful. It’s just not for me. The title track was a great, refreshing introduction that got my hopes up, but the rest of the album had comparatively little to offer. As albums by singer-songwriter legends from 2016 go, this is unfortunately no Blackstar. Maybe I’ll like this album more when I’m seventy. Best track: You Want It Darker Worst track: ? 3/5