still slaps , solid nine

What a bloated, pretentious collection of average Indie rock. Maybe there are some good or very good of songs but they are lost within all the mediocrity.

“Fitter, healthier and more productive A pig In a cage On antibiotics” -Fitter Happier When this album came out in 1997 it was largely a contemplation on the alienation throughout society caused by rampant technology, consumerism, and greed. The music and production perfectly combined with Thom Yorke’s lyrics and vocal delivery to echo the band’s disaffection with modern society. Now, OK Computer sounds like what somebody in 1997 thought the future would be like. Unfortunately it also sounds like exactly what 2024 is like. “Riot shields Voodoo economics It's life, it's life It's just business Cattle prods and the I.M.F. I trust I can rely on your vote” -Electioneering

“You big dummy” So throughout this project, of listening to 1001+ albums, I find myself still getting stuck in the same consistent patterns. Traveling down the same roads, staying in my Sad Dad Indie rock lane, I cheer when I get a Radiohead or Springsteen. Artist I rarely listen to, but will always give a 5/5. Then M.I.A. pops up and I’m wondering how I’m gonna get through this album. It turns out this album really good, significantly better than even my highest expectations (which were really low.) The beats come fast, this record is really relentless. It comes at you hard and doesn’t let up until the end. I would’ve given it a 3, but it gets bumped up to 4/5 for the Sanford and Son sample. It doesn’t get any more elite than that!

There is a lot to unpack with this album. I was prepared to hate this record, but the first thing you notice is the music. It’s like a loungy, cool jazz, rock fusion. It’s got soaring strings coupled with crunchy guitars all coming together with an ambient, laid-back vibe. Could be a Post-rock masterpiece except for the fact that it’s a concept album and lyrics are necessary to convey the concept. The lyrics are not sung, but spoken over the music. Think about the cheesy, stereotypical beat poet with a cigarette and a beret in a jazz café, and that’s with the vibe of the lyrics. Since the lyrics are in French, I am oblivious to the concept. Which is a good thing, because the concept sucks. According to the Internet and other reviews, the narrator is perving on an underage girl he just hit with his Rolls-Royce. I could potentially rate this album a 4, if the lyrics were better integrated into the music and there was not all the pedophilia.

I was 21 when this record came out. It was in constant rotation. Revisiting this album 30 years later it hasn’t really aged well. A little too bloated and a lot too cringey. they probably deserve a five but I’m gonna let my 21 year old self review it. That kid thinks it’s a five.

if a band is the first to try something new or experimental, that doesn’t mean it’s something that’s very good. If Jim Zorn was a 60s, jazz inspired Prog musician then this is what he would sound like a 1 out of 5.

here we have another inconsequential British band riding the coat tails of bigger and better bands. sure, this is a fun and catchy album to listen to, but it’s absolutely inessential.

NO MORE BRITPOP! completely unessential!

Maybe you had to be there to fully appreciate Elvis Costello, but he seems really overrated. The kind of artist to you really just need the greatest hits album. This particular album came after his greatest hits album and there’s nothing on it to indicate a great hit.

Regardless of whether you like this album, just know that: Wu-Tang is for the children.

Before this album, the only Dolly Parton song I’ve ever listened to was 9 to 5. I do listen to some contemporary Americana, while those artist create some high quality music most of it’s not even half as good as this album.

So here we have Pavement. Music critics and aging Hipsters will tell you this is the pinnacle of alternative music in the 1990s. They are wrong. this is a solid album, an 8 out of 10, but they should’ve just tried a little bit harder. Nice Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins diss, though.

“I'd never been so alone Til I read that the Minutemen were dead” -Matt Berninger

Pro tip: if you were listening on Spotify, the remastered version is one minute shorter.

The Paris Olympic Committee really dodged a bullet by selecting Gojira to play the opening ceremony instead of these guys.

It ispretty perfect that when Ryan Adams, all around shitty person, recorded his first album that the first track would be a spoken word argument about another all-around shitty person, Morrissey. The album is still pretty good though.

This is just a hauntingly gorgeous collection of songs. Elliott Smith was probably the biggest influence on the sad indie genre that would emerge in the 2000s and beyond. No one really did it better, but we can think Elliot Smith, for inspiring a whole generation of bands. “Elliott, man, you played a fine guitar And some dirty basketball The songs you wrote Got me through a lot Just want to tell you that” Late by Ben Folds

Another mid 90s band from the British Isles, not strictly BRITPOP, but definitely riding the coatails of Oasis. Sounds like a garage rock revival with grungy guitars added to please the kids. Nothing really bad about it but nothing really good either, mostly just uninteresting and derivative.

I’ve never heard this artist before, but I’m gonna give it a four because it’s so good it doesn’t deserve to be slumming down with some of the trash I gave 3.

I’ve been using an overly broad definition of Britpot for these reviews, there’s way too much of it and most of it pretty mid. It’s nice to get an actual OG of the Britpop scene from the 90’s. it’s still not for me though.

Listen to this album for the one hit wonder, stay for one of the worst cover songs ever!

01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101111 01100100

John Lydon trying to prove his relevance after the dissolution of The Sex Pistols, but just providing a noisy, incoherent footnote.

I really wanna give this a 2 or 3 because; -Morrissey is an all-around miserable and insufferable human. -Morrissey solo albums don’t have Johnny Marr playing guitar. -there’s four Morrissey solo albums on here, in addition to the more deserving Smiths albums that made the list. That is way too many. Despite all the reasons not to give this a 4, it’s just too good to rate anything lower.

A lot of reviewers are hating on Sonic Youth for being nothing but noise, but when they hear this, they’re going to REALLY hate it. BTW, Sonic Youth is awesome, this is not!