1001 Albums Summary

This genre isn’t my usual cup of tea, but I am well aware this album has achieved cult status and is regarded as one of the greatest hip hop/ rap albums of all time. I very much enjoyed most of the tracks and skits. What I really appreciated was the rhythmic rapping, it was among some of the best I’ve heard. I’m less keen on lyrics that reference gang stuff and didn’t enjoy some of the darker beats on first listen, but I envision I’ll revisit this album several times and think these elements could grow on me.

Lou Reed was always a great lyricist but I am a self-confessed fan of strong vocals and for me his vocals lack dynamics i.e. they are all on one level. I do feel this is a relaxing album with good vibes aplenty. The opening track, Candy Says is memorable and haunting. I found myself drawing comparisons to Mr. Sandman with its sleepy bass line. I liked the up-tempo jump to 'What Goes On' which took me by surprise. Spotify shows the highest play count attributed to 'Pale Blue Eyes'. I have just listened to it for the first time and while I would describe it as a 'nice' song, though, to my tastes I found it quite nondescript and unmemorable. 'Beginning to see the light' rocks pretty hard and Lou sings a bit more characterfully. It is musically quite Doors-esque. Another Doors-esque number (owing to the late sixties synth sound) 'Murder Mystery' was a super-intriguing track which features frantic stereo ranting from Lou and other members of the band. This was a surprising tonal shift and I expect I will return to this track and its' epic 8+ minutes much more in future. I'd rate this as my favourite overall. The closing track, 'After Hours' was a welcome break from Lou. It was great to hear another voice take lead vocals. I really enjoyed this one.

An enjoyable listen that is bookended by its best songs around a desert of mostly average stuff. 'Where It's At' boasts a large Spotify play count, but I rated it as 3/5. Devil's Haircut, Hotwax, Novacane, Minus, Ramshackle and Diskobox were the songs which illicited the best responses from me. All in all, some decent stuff here which I will revisit.

An album which scored 6 X 4/5's, 2 X 3/5's and 2 5/5's from me. This is definitely one I'll be revisiting. Really enjoyable.

Very solid. Most tracks were 4/5. I can see why this is regarded as the best live album of all time. Daltry’s vocals are absolutely on point and the instrumentation is second to none. They were so incredibly tight.

This is a brilliant album, I find myself recognising several of these tunes from the Jim Carrey movie, Me, Myself and Irene. It's a short, impactful listen and one I will come back to over and over again.

Dull as ditch water