1001 Albums Summary

Rating: 2.5 stars Overall: Not my usual kind of thing but some tracks are actually kind of a vibe for this time of year if you’re in a very specific mood for long guitar riff-heavy music and a droney voice. Very hit and miss for me. I had low expectations for this one so a few of the songs pleasantly surprised me! Best song - N.I.B. Track 1 - Black Sabbath. Love the intro. So autumnal. Giving massive Halloween vibes with the church bells and kinda haunting vocals. I’d come back to this one for the intro only. Rest of the song from around 1m in is not my sort of thing and goes on for too long. Track 2 - The Wizard I like more and might come back to it again. I’m enjoying the harmonica and groovy guitars. Track 3 - Third song Behind the Wall of Sleep has a weird time signature or something. It feels messy and offbeat. I wouldn’t come back to this one. Don’t like Ozzy’s voice in this one either. Track 4 - Fourth song NIB is definitely one I’d go back to. Great driving song on a motorway. Cross between Born to be Wild and System of a Down. Best song on the album. I definitely turned the volume up for this one. Track 5 - Fifth song Evil Woman has an amazing guitar riff. Could be a grower. I could see this soundtracking being wronged by a fellow gal but the feminist in me hates that this is written by a mediocre white boi 🤺 Track 6 - Trying to remain open-minded with song six - Sleeping Village - but it’s immediately giving whingey sad boy anthem. It does kick off a bit but - nah, I was right. Too random for me. All over the damn shop. One line of lyrics in the whole song and the rest is guitar. Track 7 - Warning - I love that the last song runs into this one. One of my all time fave things that rewards album listeners for sure. Guitar is cracking but the lyrics at times sound like a made-up song that I’d sing to my dog on a day I was feeling particular deft with my lyrical improvising. Whoever played guitar on this album deserves 85% of the royalties. Rent was dueeeeee. Okay I thought this song was finished because it changed sounds but it’s only half way through. Why not make it 2 songs?! Everything else has cut out except the guitar. Big fat meh. Sounds like I’m overhearing a (very talented) person fuck around practising guitar. It’s gone on for so long I’m starting to think the rest of the band is being held hostage. I can’t imagine how awkward it would be to stand around on stage wondering what to do with your hands while this is going on. Okay the rest of the band have come back from their toilet break or something. “Just a little bit too strong” part is great and it’s a shame that the whole song didn’t have the vibe of this one bit. This has knocked the overall star rating down for me. Hard skip. Track 8 - Wicked World - last song on the album. I like the lyrics and message of this one. Sonically was a bit messy for me. Like I’ll be getting into it and then everything cuts out and there’s a messy guitar solo. Not sure.

Overall: I think Talking Heads for me are not an album band. They’re a ‘sprinkled in a playlist’ kind of band. In some songs his voice is really good but in others it’s a tough listen. Shame as I really enjoyed the music on a lot of the songs. Best song: Psycho Killer Track 1 - Uh Oh, Love Comes To Town - Immediately yes. Shaking my tush. Could be a Guardians of the Galaxy song. His voice is strangely strained but it works so well in this song haha. Steel drums?! Stop it. I’m in. What a start. Track 2 - New Feeling - bit more of an experimental sound to this one. It sounds a bit messy and is a bit forgettable. Still dancing though. Love the guitar, bass and beat. Vocals are a bit all over the place for my taste. Track 3 - Tentative Decisions - this feels quite ahead of its time as an album. You can definitely feel the early 80s influence in this. This one feels a bit like it could be The Police. Quite good. I have no other thoughts. Dancing slightly less. Track 4 - Happy Day - I like everything about this song except the chorus. The vocals are throwing me off a bit. Hmm. This is a skip. Track 5 - Who Is It? - I hate the tone of the guitar with the vocals. One or the other sounds really off. Lyrics suck. Weirdly I’d probably listen to it again. This is the song that goes through my dogs’ heads when they hear one (1) single noise outside. Track 6 - No Compassion - okay we’re back with this song. Okay no we’re not. I really hate the tone of the vocals in this one but love the background music again. Feels very generic lyrically. Like loads of words just thrown together that don’t make a lot of sense. Track 7 - The Book I Read - another cracking backing track. The lyrics are a bit naff and the backing music and way they’re sung isn’t enough to distract from that. At times it’s giving karaoke. I bet the lead singer of the Talking Heads was quaking in his boots when Nicholas Cage’s Longlegs started singing. #twins Track 8 - Don’t Worry About the Government - I like this one. It’s a bit different and the bass is good. His vocals are strong in this song and don’t sound so strained or vibrato. It’s a bit polka-y. I think it works. Would I come back to it more than once or twice? That’s the question. I think it’s a good song for when you’re travelling, so maybe if it was in a playlist. Track 9 - First Week / Last Week… Carefree - I won’t elaborate on this but I feel like Tom Hanks exclusively listens to this band. They give me gigantic Tom Hanks energy. This song is alright. Probably the fourth best song so far but still only on the better side of ok for me. Track 10 - Psycho Killer - okay hello baseline. I already knew this song and it’s definitely the highlight of the album. The weird lyrics and strange singing and incredible background music come together perfectly. I feel like this album is like that bit in Alien Resurrection and every song that isn’t this one is all the iterations of Ripley clones that didn’t quite work out. Some were really nearly there but not quite. This is the best of the bunch. The Ripley of the album, if you will. Track 11 - Pulled Up - yes this one is quite good too. Weird and fun! Probably the third best song off the album. Was this a single?

Overall: groovy. You can tell they had fun making this album. Some tracks are quite long-winded and chaotic but, for the most part, I did enjoy it. Made me want to grow a moustache and become a cop in the 1970s (I am a 30-year-old British female). Would I come back to this album? I think I would if I was looking for instrumental music to work to, but probably wouldn’t stray past Track 2. For an instrumental album, I’d give it 3 stars but generally speaking I’d give it 2. Best song: Watermelon Man Track 1 - Chameleon - very groovy start. Very 70s. Wow this song is 15 minutes long. No wonder there are only 4 tracks on this album. My attention span isn’t long enough for this. By the end I was really looking forward to changing it up. Track 2 - Watermelon Man - it took me a while to come back to this album because I really struggle to get excited for instrumental-only albums. #bandkidtrauma This one is a bit different. Did this band influence Childish Gambino by any chance? Or did he sample this? Quite cool. Enjoyed this one. Track 3 - Sly - This is potentially a good one to use as an alternative for the Avengers Theme when I’m rushing to do last minute bits for work. It’s so chaotic that it’s making me feel stressed and I’m just sat looking out the window. Perfect for rushing about. Not the biggest fan of the last 2-3 mins though. Becomes a bit too ‘jazz’ for me. Track 4 - Vein Melter - this is very mysterious woman in a dimly-lit smoky room vibes. Weirdly also gives me Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and The Sims vibes in parts too. The soundtrack for the coolest film you’ll never see.