It’s a difficult album to review as it was one of those albums that entered my life as an “instant classic” lauded as genius. It’s a good grind, serious rock feel. At this stage, I’m weary of Billy’s voice and kind of wish I had an instrumental version. Bullet with Butterfly Wings is my standard fave. Muzzle hit me as a solid track on this listen, it might be a new top SP song. The double album gets a bit long and repetitive on a full listen.
I was born the year this album was released. I love Morrison’s young yet weathered voice. As I heard all these songs on the radio, mixtapes and at parties my whole life, I’m not sure I’ve listened to the whole album intact front to back. It is an odd collection of styles and moods, with Van Morrison’s voice trumpeting across each song to keep the thread throughout. Moondance is a series of frozen moments from teenage dreams 15-18 or so. I’m right back there as soon as I hear the intro. While Into The Mystic is maybe the best written song, And It Stoned Me is still the most indelible Van Morrison song. It seems like he really wrote his soul for it even if I don’t understand it. Some of the B side feels light, the A side is definitely stacked with the best compositions. But if I were seeing a band live in the sunshine in a park somewhere it would all wash over me real easy.
It's a good album, the sound quality is impressive for being recorded in a huge concrete room. The reason to listen to this album is to hear the rapport and camaraderie that Johnny Cash finds with the incarcerated people at SQ. He so clearly understands the inhumane nature of a prison, and without directly insulting the correctional institution he lets the men know he is on their side and there for them, no one else. Playing his new song twice through is a great document in terms of his solidarity with his audience, and the nature of live music "back in the day". If the audience wanted to hear a song again, you best play it or be prepared to deal with potential harassment.
Required listening for music fans. “Johnny Ryall” and “Shadrach” are favorites.
Great early proto-punk sound. Clearly a huge influence on many who came after. "Hospital" is a standout to me, different sound with the same raw energy.
Nice mood, an easy album to listen to. Makes me wonder how many nice albums like that are out there, never heard widely unless someone highlights it.
Willie Colón is the best of the best. Fun to have Rubén Blades with him on this.
A very good album, nice variety along with the well known hits. “He’s The Greatest Dancer” is my favorite of theirs.
Gillian Welch is an institution and an icon of the Americana/Folk genre.
Clearly influential to bands that came after. Excellent musicianship, classic band.
Love it! Completely new to me and I really enjoy the rhythms of Mali combined with the bluesy guitar.
Super good album, I'm not sure why I missed these guys the first time around. Excellent musicality, some reminiscent refrains but still original.
The energy captured on this album is a gift. Since we didn't have Janis for a long time, we have to make due with the memory and the music. Classic, funny, deeply sad and soulful.
Great classic pop punk album. It’s fun to listen and hear the seeds of what Bjork would do later.
Required listening for rock literacy.
A solid rock n roll album. Perfect amphitheater on a warm day kind of music. I like Caleb's voice a lot - it helps to ground the wall of guitars and keep a touch of the southern flavor of their sound.
I liked this! More mellow than I imagined it would be. Atmospheric and actually quite lovely.
Lovely, heartbreaking and beautiful
Incredible sound and still salient prophetic lyrics.
This album is all attitude, and if you like that attitude you'll love this album. Well-crafted songs and lots of fun hooks, a bit snarky/whiny for me as a complete listen. "Somebody Told Me" is a great rockin tune, "Everything Will Be Alright" is my favorite. Flowers reveals his selfawareness in the last track, makes clear they have a sense of humor about it all.
Interesting mellow Frank album. I’m not a huge fan of his renditions but I am sure it was revolutionary in its time.
The Kinks have a very identifiable sound due to Ray Davies' voice. I like it, and it also has a similar level to all the songs. Nice listening but doesn't blow me away. Picture Book, Big Sky and People Take Pictures of Each Other are standouts for me.
As mentioned by many reviews, "The Party" is a bit hard to take. Otherwise, a rockin' party beats album.
It's Miles Davis, what can you say?
Some of me favorite Beatles songs on this album. It’s the clear start to the separation of styles within the band. Rubber Soul and Revolver are a great pair of albums to hear the past and future genius of all four members.
I love the mood and feel of Metallica's music, it's very nostalgic at this point. It's never been my genre but I do appreciate the gloomy intensity. "Leper Messiah" is my favorite track on the album.
Really enjoyed this. Thoughtful with really experimental elements. Minimalist until the screaming kicks in. Clearly an influence on many sounds that followed.
A wide-open sound that is very appealing. I had not listened to the whole album before. The hits are clearly hits, Don't Look Back In Anger is the better song but Champagne Supernova is just a good feeling tune musically. Wonderwall is still overplayed in my mind. I liked Cast No Shadow maybe the best of all the tracks.
I was not familiar with this album or the band but I really liked it! Lots of echoes from favorites past, but blended in a way that makes the music fresh. I like Cedric's voice a lot. And the band is skilled and tight, allowing them to achieve a lot of different sounds.
When I'm in the mood for this genre of music, very few albums satisfy like Paranoid. As many years pass and bands come and go, the energy is solid and the hard blues and inklings of weirdness are just delicious.
Good beats, excellent production. The band seems to have a strong attitude but also a humor which I like. Soft Machine and Damaged People are standouts. And Nik Kershaw!
Like many of these albums, listening in the current time and trying to recall how peculiar this music was when it was released is difficult. R.E.M. have been influential to so many bands and artists over the years that it doesn't sound as wild as it did in 1983. Radio Free Europe still grabs me like it did back in the day, raw and furtive and somehow also with a floating feeling.
I can't say anything more about this album than has been said. Absolutely one of the essential albums in the canon of American Music.
I liked this one a lot! More mellow than other Can albums I have heard, almost ambient. Still abstract and poetic but accessible.
This album is where we see the beginnings of the genius that is Janelle Monae. It's difficult to put into words the affect she has (and will have) on music and the energetic vibrations of Earth. Listen, it's worth your time.
It's hard to listen to this album separated from how ubiquitous it was in the 80's and my teenage self as a huge Peter Gabriel fan. I find different songs are favorites: today, it's "That Voice Again". The album production is incredible for the time. Lyrics are emotional and poetic. It's a wonderful album.
Another album that is a great artifact of the moment. It's great dance/club music, "Around The World" is an iconic hit of the late 90's, the duo have made their legacy in EDM. Still, hard to listen to the entire album front to back in one go (when you're not dancing), repetitive beats are good for some focus but tiring after 10 tracks.
Sam Cooke is deservedly a legend. I don't like typically like live albums, but this one is deligthful (much like the live Sarah Vaughan)! Cooke is such a light and charismatic presence, it would have been a dream to be there at the club to see him record.
A rollicking album of rock theater. Some moments are experimental and weird fun, but the rest is accessible from many musical directions.
Full tilt rocking band! Intense with a sense of humour. Not necessarily my new favourite band but I know a little more of their music and I like it!
Solid RAWK album. It's fun to listen from today and think back to how outrageously new Eddie's guitar work sounded. And I forget how jazzy Dave was right from the first album. Several classic songs on here, although I might like "On Fire" the best,
Aggressive and relentless album. Araya's voice is a gift to metal music. Darkest of dark subject matter but sometimes that's what you need to see the light.
He's the kind of songwriter that lures you in with gentle melodies and smooth voice, then gets under your skin with the intensity of his emotions. You're singing along and realize you're singing "Everything means nothing to me"! Plus, as a Schoolhouse Rock generation kid, the rendition of "Figure 8" is amazing and perfectly haunting as the original tune is.
I was not familiar with this album until I listened for the 1001 Albums project. The Byrds is a foundational group (in all lineup combinations) for American folk rock and indie folk. You can hear the echoes of their influence everywhere. This isn't my favorite Byrds album but the songwriting and musical experimentation are undeniable. "Natural Harmony" and "Draft Morning" are beautiful and stand up to similar music today.
Certainly influential in its time. The artistry in sample-craft and beats is still solid. My nervous system these days simply can't handle the entire album at once! "The Rockafeller Skank" and "Praise You" are club/dance/EDM canon.
Wonderful to hear the live performance captured organically. Sarah Vaughan is maybe my favorite vocalist from this era, her voice is so bright and she seems to be truly having a great time.
Meditative blues from the legendary Dylan. Not my favorite but a few songs have that satisfying Dylan feel.
Uneven first album, although it's clear that Meisner is in a groove with the songs that did end up being popular. I also like Tryin'.
Groundbreaking and classic. And still fun electronica!
If you are a) reading this review, b) like electronic music and c) are not familiar with Kraftwerk, please look them up and research what they are about. It's understandable from today's position to think this sounds "simple", but it was not from 1977's technology. Many of these sounds you hear and know from keyboards today were created mechanically (analog wires and electricity) by these people.
If you just don't like the music or this genre, be well and I hope you enjoy the rest of the 1001 list!
Prince is one of my favorite artists so I have a bias towards his music. This is an uneven album, but I love many of the songs on it. Some wonderful classic Prince moments. "Automatic" and "Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)" are tracks that were not hits but are maybe my favorites. D.M.S.R. is an all time club standard.
This album does not catch me until "Trying To Get To You". The last five tracks are worth a listen. "I'll Never Let You Go" and his version of "Blue Moon" sound wild. The production is so echoey, spare and almost experimental? "Money Honey" has the 1968 Special energy a decade+ early. I imagine it would have been a blast to have seen him and his band live back in the 50's.
I'm not sure how to review The Cure. Their sound and feel is ephemeral and unpredictable. Sometimes I miss the point completely. Sometimes it surprises me out of nowhere, like walking through a spiderweb in the forest. I can only respect the poetry and magic the band seems to continue to conjure.
Very "soundtrack of your life" kind of tracks, great to listen to while you're on a train or subway to make the trip seem more dramatic.
While this double album contains some of the best songwriting to come from the John/Taupin collaboration, it's a kind of a wild ride. Uneven in terms of the songs in sound, topic and apparent thoughtfulness. Jamaica Jerk-Off is just weird. If you replaced that track in order with Harmony, the first 8 songs could have been a perfectly solid album. The rest of the songs could well be some Off Off Broadway musical book.
Don't get me wrong, Elton John is one of the most enduring musical influences of the era. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Bennie and the Jets and Grey Seal alone make the listen worth it.
Fun and rockin' album! I like Karen O's voice, her lilting into belting out the emotions is infectious.
I loved this album, but it's definitely right up my musical alley so not a surprise. I didn't have the album back in the day but I knew and loved the hits. 80's jazzy synth pop is a nice palate cleanser along the 1001 albums journey.
Dusty Springfield is a legend and a treasure. It's lovely to hear her young voice, I love that era of girl group style music.
While I acknowledge the legacy and influence these gentlemen gave to American Rock, it's mostly not for me. That being said, Who'll Stop The Rain and Around The Bend are pretty good tunes.
Very easy to listen to, smooth synth stylings.
