1001 Albums Summary

“Indian Sunset“ and “Tiny Dancerl were highlights, also the backing vocals on "All the Nasties".

Ginger Baker’s drumming is just savage. Jack Bruce’s playing also grabs me throughout the whole album, The strongest tracks were the singles, of course. I started listening to the standard release and was disappointed by the hard panned stereo, so I switched over to the deluxe edition and was glad I did. It’s a much better mix.

Classic new wave-y power pop, with handclaps, harmonies, and hooks galore. And just great songwriting, to boot. I must’ve been skipping around when I last listened, because I don’t recall “I’m in Touch with Your World” which is mostly a bunch of cartoonish sound effects, kind of a waste of time time. I’m giving this album five stars nonetheless. Favorite Tracks: "My Best Friend's Girl", "Just What I Needed" I tried to choose one, but I am a sucker for handclaps in pop songs.

"Buffalo Stance" is a classic, five-star song. "Manchild", "Kisses on the Wind", and "Heart" are also worth a listen, but the rest of the album is kind of dated filler.

"Smooth Criminal" is possibly MJ's best song.

One of my favorite albums. Great songs, production by Nick Lowe, and Bruce Thomas' bass lines are wonderfully melodic and buoyant.

Stardust showcases Willie's talent as a versatile and expressive vocalist, in spite of limited vocal range. The strongest tracks on this album are "All of Me", "Blue Skies", "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" - the more uptempo tracks in general.

It's nice to revisit this album after some distance from it. "Nightswimming" is in my top 10 ever R.E.M. songs. "Find the River" is a great contribution from Mike Mills.

Inert and lifeless. I don't get it.

While "I'll Be Waiting" seems like it might be out of place, it was quite welcome, the only track that didn't seem to be hammering me over the head with pangs of overwrought emotion. I was really looking forward to the Rick Rubin-produced tracks, but damn those are some LOUD drums.

I was a pretty big fan of The Cure when this album was released, but for some reason it didn't click for me at the time. It's definitely darker and moodier than its predecessor, with fewer, but lengthier tracks. I did like the singles from the album, though. Revisiting the album as a whole for the first time in who knows how long reveals that it's definitely one of the strongest releases in their catalog.

I actually had to wait a few days after Brian Wilson's passing to listen to this album, even though I'd been hearing lots of Beach Boys tracks on the radio. I still remember listening to Pet Sounds for the first time about 30 years ago, and I am still moved by it today upon re-listen. While "God Only Knows" is deservedly the most acclaimed song on the album, I’ll name "You Still Believe in Me" as a less-talked about high point of the album. The arrangement is something special, the melody of "I wanna cry" gets me every time, and the backing harmonies are just heavenly.

I definitely prefer the Iggy Mix.

I know this is Jimi's band and yes, he is an incredible guitar player, but can we talk about the drums, please? Just incredible.

I wish I could hear the backing tracks without the backwardness and misogyny.

“You can only trust yourself and the first six Black Sabbath albums.” -Henry Rollins

4+ for lyrics, 2.5 for music.

I've never been a big U2 fan, but this album has always worked for me somehow.