1001 Albums Summary

Strange and unique. Great vocals. Love her style though it’s not my usual taste in music.

Boring folk pop with bad vocals.

Funky and easy to digest. Strong start and ending tracks, but it gets a little repetitive in the middle.

I know this is considered a classic album, but I just couldn’t get into it.

Really solid album. Before listening to this again, I was set on Kiwanuka’s 2016 album Love & Hate as his best offering, but now I am not so sure as this one is more mature and subtle. Overall, it is a soulful celebration of 70s sounds, with long David Gilmour-esque guitar outros on many songs, catchy vocal melodies (his voice is so smooth and yet has this raspiness to jt that is much welcome), and solid compositions that reward multiple listens. This album manages to be accessible and easy to listen to without being generic. If you like this album and artist, check out Skinshape.

Did I enjoy listening to this? Mostly not, but I am rating it higher simply for being released in ‘89 and sounding considerably ahead of its time. This came out around the same time as NIN’s Pretty Hate Machine, and some of the gritty industrial sounds on this album sound more modern than PHM.

I know this is some people’s favorite album. It’s catchy and definitely defined that 70s Southern rock sound that later influenced some of my favorite bands like Alice in Chains. That said, this album doesn’t wow me. It’s a decent listen, but it is not something I will be obsessively listening to again.

This is a rough listen. I can see how this was ahead of its time musically, but I do not really find it interesting. I dislike most spoken word albums, especially when they are this grating. I’m sure the poetry is great, but this is not for me.

Fun and eclectic listen. Not sure how much the novelty would wear off w repeated listens, but I enjoyed the concept of the radio stations and commercials mixed in w the songs. The drums and bass really stand out on the better songs here.

While I have a slightly deeper appreciation for her talents, I still don’t get the big deal about Beyonce. This is nothing special, just conventional R&B. I think there are much better singers out there too. There are some falsetto sections on a few songs that frankly don’t sound great vocally. “Haunted” is the only song on here I found interesting.

The first song is great (and I just realized it was sampled by the trip hop group I Monster for their song “Daydream in Blue”). After that it got a bit repetitive for me.