Led Zeppelin and Nirvana’s bastard love child? Lotsa bass and drums, less distorto guitar and vocals. Pretty great stuff.
With side one bookended by two of their best songs ever, this is one of Rush’s strongest albums.
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number was literally my first introduction to Steely Dan as a 12 year old. Listening now, it’s a pretty great album. The songs are of a piece, except for East St. Louis Toodle-oo, which sounds out of place. Otherwise, this is a great exploration of the demimonde, albeit what you get when you’re California hipsters rather than the Velvets.
In an era where they didn’t really do albums, just the artist’s latest hit or two packaged up with absolute dross, this album holds together surprisingly well. This is doubly surprising since it was culled from multiple recording sessions over several years. Nice to see Fats get his due on the 1001 albums list, as he was criminally underappreciated during his prime.
Well I guess you had to be there. I wasn’t. The stars are for “Piece of My Heart”, a great song by any reckoning, “Turtle Blues”, and maybe “I Need a Man to Love”. The rest is the acid-addled musings of her backup band. Maybe this is why she went solo.
I certainly dismissed these guys out of hand as a young adult. They weren’t my jam. Listening 40 years on, I have to give them their due. The playing is really good even if the songs don’t really transcend the genre. Certainly speed metal and Metallica probably don’t end up sounding like they do without these guys.
Very good album. More covers than usual for Creedence, surprising since John was still writing ace tunes. Docked half a star for feeling the need to make an artistic statement with their sprawling 11 minute version of “Heard It Through the Grapevine”, 3 minutes of good single and 8 minutes of meandering psychedelic blues jam.
The voice is still in fine form, but I think this pales in comparison to his very fine late 50’s/early 60’s work.
This was a breath of fresh air when it came out, a snotty middle-fingered salute to teen angst. And it still sounds great 30 years later. The best of these still hit like a ton of bricks. Do you have the time to listen to me whine, indeed.
After trying and failing to out-Beatle the Beatles on “Their Satanic Majesties…”, this is the album where they just tried to be the best Stones they could be. This is a great album start to finish, and is a great leadoff to their classic 1968-72 period. What can a poor boy do?
In which our hero sets out to make a more laid-back Jayhawks album (or maybe they were making more uptight Neil Young records?). Seriously, this just gets down in the groove and rocks in a subdued electrified country-rock vein. He’s not trying to make a grand statement here, and he doesn’t have to. A very satisfying listen.
Not a bad album. Not a great album. I’m a little surprised this made the “1001 Albums…” list. They were better than they were given credit for, but certainly not the second coming of the Beatles.
The album that started it all. Elvis was one of the first of the angry young men to get his thoughts down on vinyl in the immediate post-punk era. This album, while having more of a country rock feel at times (this was recorded before he hooked up with The Attractions) courtesy of Huey Lewis’ then backing band Clover, still has all the EC trademarks: the wordplay, the snarl, and especially the anger at a world not made for him….or us. Great opening statement.
I’m guessing this made the list because this is the album where Madonna goes all personal and confessional. But I have to admit I like the boppy and brainless(-appearing; I know it’s an intentional illusion) Madonna of the first three albums. Here the best songs are the lightest. I know great art is often made from our emotional scars and injuries, but I can’t just call this album great art.
What did you want him to call it — “Soundtrack for a Movie Where Nothing Happens”?
Weird little album. Every time you think they’re about to play it straight some more weirdness breaks out. The instrumentation, percussion and mannered singing are jarring but in a good way. A jagged little anti-pop, almost-masterpiece.
I was ready to be disappointed when I got this album rather than Jailbreak. Happy to say I was not. This is a great album. Makes a fine introduction to an underappreciated band.
Usually SciFi concept albums are done in by contrived plots, bad lyrics and tunes that often sound like amelodic drones. Not so this album. Flaming Lips has come up with a great set of songs that are tuneful and rhythmic. The signature FL sound I first heard on “Vaseline” is still there. An enjoyable listen. Well done.
Face it, this is the album that propelled U2 from good not quite great to megastar status. Side one is chock full of big ringing anthems, their big swings connecting now rather than just missing like on past albums. Side two is a much quieter affair; at times sounds like they were trying to make a Stones album circa 1969. In summary, although I’ll take “Achtung Baby” over this one any day of the week, this album started them on the road to becoming the huge band they are now, and as such, must be given its due.
Not quite the revelation I was hoping for, but nonetheless a good album. ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ remains a great single.
I know the critics fell all over themselves praising this when it first came out, put listening now I don’t hear it. It’s a pleasant enough country pop album. But I feel like it could have been so much more.
Quirky and fun. Doesn’t take itself too seriously.
My favorite REM album, this is a thoughtful meditation on life and loss.
Unfortunate that I randomly got two REM albums back to back. For me, this one pales next to AFTP. Some good songs, but doesn’t quite hang together as an organic whole. Just OK in the end.
Important transitional figure between Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
The most iconic riff ever? This one puts the heavy in Heavy Metal.
The remaining Minutemen regrouped as fIREHOSE following the death of D. Boon, with the addition of Ed ‘fROMOHIO’ Crawford. I can certainly hear the Minutemen in there, but the songs are in general less terse and more melodic than the usual M’s fare.
Cold cold cold. Couple of really good songs but overall just not my thing.
Peter Tosh steps out from the shadow of Bob Marley with his debut solo album. Good stuff, very listenable.
Third album was the charm for Randy Newman, who really gets it right here. Great slice of life vignettes that sound as though they were written 50 years earlier, sung in Newman’s plaintive dry voice, accompanied by himself on piano or often brass band arrangements. This is Americana before there was such a thing.
Good stuff. A little samey-same.
Pretty good stuff. The voice itself is a bit of an acquired taste.
Might eventually merit more stars with more listens. There is something good in there. But in a format where you listen to and review an album a day, that ain’t happening. I think The Pixies and Throbbing Gristle might have been listening to these guys.
Extra half star for effort. But… meh.
Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler seemed destined to be remembered as competent journeymen until a couple of well timed/placed videos in the newish MTV format rocketed them into the stratosphere (see also, ZZ Top). Pleasant enough listening, though nothing earth shattering or that really moves the needle (see instead, Prince).
Another one that would probably get rated higher with some repeated listens. Earnest, punky.
The charms of these nice Scottish lads grew on me as I got farther into the album. However, the notion that these nice Scottish lads also write some of the most pedestrian lyrics on either side of the pond.
Whereas Guns ‘N’ Roses and Public Enemy were the late 80’s/early 90’s go to for young white makes wanting vicarious thrills, these guys actually walked it like they talked it. Or rapped it. While the constant unrelenting misogyny and hate gets old by the end of the album, the first three songs alone are a cleansing blast, and what they should be remembered for.
This was my intro to the Dead, about 12 years after the fact when I was in college. It’s a different kind of Dead album. No meandering jams, just ten well written reasonably concise songs. My favorite Dead album for exactly this reason.
Not sure how I missed this gem at the time.
The album that broke him in America. Solid folky stuff in his unique voice.
My favorite EC album. His first with The Attractions. Great bass & drums from Bruce and Pete Thomas (no relation) and Steve Nieve’s nagging Farfisa organ driving the whole thing. And Elvis’ songs considerably up the ante from the first album. These are really angry songs of failed relationships and (mostly) personal betrayals, delivered with piss and vinegar combined with tongue-in-cheek. Lip service, indeed.
