My 1001 Albums Journey

5/5 Amazing grooves with brilliant vocals and lyrics. Just an almost flawless album, which just happens to be fantastically enjoyable. Marcus Garvey 5/5 (FAV) Slavery Days 5/5 The Invasion 5/5 Live Good 5/5 Give Me 5/5 Old Marcus Garvey 5/5 Tradition 5/5 (LEAST FAV) Jordan River 5/5 Red, Gold And Green 5/5 Resting Place 5/5

5/5 Aggressive, fantastically layered synths begin the album with a bang on Zero, before the choppy dancefloor hit Heads Will Roll goes hard. The guitar parts compliment the lighter synth brilliantly. Soft Shock has a quite delicate, elegant quality and Karen O's vocals slip between the punchy synth so well. The simple slightly cryptical lyrics are so alluring. The atmospheric, slower Skeletons is a welcome change up, followed by the alternative rock banger Dull Life. The verses are exceptional to the ear, and the change ups are great, as the song progresses in such a satisfying manner. Shame And Fortune has a great attitude and way, like a prime Radiohead song. Night and day with the beginning of the following Runaway, but it builds that same dense synth-guitar sound in, which is just amazing, especially coupled with the orchestration. How can you follow it? Well it was an inspired choice with the funky, quirky Dragon Queen. Love it to death. Hysteric might be a more straightforward alternative rock song but it has such a simple beauty, and then to finish Little Shadow's melancholic, bold tone is a welcome reward for 40 minutes of your time. All in all, it's hard to tell on first listen, but this might settle in as one of my favourite albums of the 2000s. Just banger after banger after banger. Very hard to pick a best track. Zero 5/5 Heads Will Roll 5/5 Soft Shock 5/5 Skeletons 4.5/5 (LEAST FAV) Dull Life 5/5 Shame And Fortune 5/5 Runaway 5/5 (FAV) Dragon Queen 5/5 Hysteric 5/5 Little Shadow 5/5

5/5 This album gets off to a real flyer with the absolutely amazing Black Cow, which is lyrically, vocally and instrumentally brilliant. It's structured beautifully, with such an infectious quality that draws you in straight away, and keeps you there. Then Aja, which is at its core so delicate and smooth, yet is unsettled, continually moving forward dramatically and fantastically. Deacon Blues is so inviting and clever, and goes by so fast, closing the first half with elegance. Then the funk kicks in on Peg, a song with groove and glamour. Home at Last feels like a jazz-reggae fusion sent down directly from heaven. So, so good. It's bright and full of life. It would be a favourite on almost any other album. Then I Got The News is fun and groovy, before the experience finishes with Josie. The guitars cut through the song so well, melding with the great bass work. Once again, just a breathtaking track that deserves so much praise. All in all, this is 40 minutes of brilliant songwriting and musical performances that I can't wait to revisit. Black Cow 5/5 (FAV) Aja 5/5 Deacon Blues 5/5 Peg 5/5 Home At Last 5/5 I Got The News 4.5/5 (LEAST FAV) Josie 5/5