1001 Albums Summary

I tried so hard to like this album but- yeah you get it. It's not for me. I know people who like this, and they're wonderful people, but this just isn't my kind of music. I like parts of it. I like the instrumental tracks, I think it's well produced, but I can't get into the lyrics and I find the singing to be... well suffice to say it's not what I like.

A wonderfully lush and dense soundscape of classic soul that's as good as it's reputation says it is, and it's reputation is VERY good.

A strange (but solid) look into Queen before they knew what direction the band was going to take. It has a lot more in common with Peter Gabriel era-Genesis than it does with Queen’s later music, with songs about ogres, faeries, mystical lands and all other sorts of fantasy and whimsy. Great if you don’t mind some prog in your rock, and a fantastic listen if you’ve never heard Queen past the hits and want to see the sort of depth they have.

“With the Beatles” is from a time before albums as we understand them, back when they were just a vessel to carry singles and filler tracks. It is also the weakest release in the discography of the most acclaimed band of all time. It suffers in large part because it is compared to later albums where the goal was to record a coherent piece and not a slapdash recording to cash in on a brief window of fame, and because everything around it is great. It’s also just not particularly good, and if this was by a band that didn’t have “The Beatles” as their name it would’ve been forgotten a long time ago.