Perfect kitchen music. You could have this on in the background of anything and it would flow, or just listen to it alone & get totally lost for 45 minutes.
Listened to the whole album while looking after a cat this morning, may be the most at peace I’ve ever been. Huge fan.
A bit too sad & a bit too country for me on the whole. On the other hand, there’s some good instrumental stuff here & every time the music gets a pulse to it the album gets better.
Two songs added to 1001 playlist, one song added to my playlist
This one’s a 5. I’ll take any opportunity to listen to it with purpose though
My experience here is tainted, but this is the good sad. Like five eulogies at an Irish funeral in an album. A farewell too soon, but more importantly an appreciation for the struggle, a celebration of the good times & a triumphant send off to close it out.
One song added to my playlist, whole album’s in the 1001 playlist - even though that butchers the design of the album itself.
Wasn’t expecting to have to commit a full hour and a half this early on. Would’ve been very funny for Lewis to wait a few days and have connor and I start with this one.
That said, this is music history here and the vibe shift between discs is brilliant - very funny to hear an artist get more into their own music 45 minutes into an album.
I like the harmonica.
They should’ve kept more of the boos in.
Nothing added to my playlist, 6 added to the 1001 playlist
Awesome album, hugely experimental - just feels like people in the studio saying “hey let’s try this out” and switching up the vibe every song.
I can appreciate a lot of different styles of music so this is my ideal kind of album where it’s obviously just really creative people having fun and playing around to see what sticks for them.
Eastwood is the highlight, but things like Punk, Double Bass (which is just a Bond game menu theme) & Latin Simone are so cool to include where it’s clearly just them playing around with that different kinds of music and seeing what they can do.
Four songs added to my playlist, ten songs added to the 1001 playlist
Who d’ya prafor… oasees or blot??
Sorry father, it’s pulp for me.
Strong opening for the album through to Disco 2000, then it softens up maybe a little too much until halfway through feelingcalledlove. That’ll work for some people though so I can’t fault them.
I spy still rules.
3 songs added to my playlist, 7 added to the 1001 playlist
Immigrant song is forever tainted for me because of that one guy who would get up, sing & dance along to it whenever it played during a screening of Thor Ragnarok I was at in the dominion.
4 songs added to my playlist, 6 added to the 1001 playlist.
This one isn’t for me, there’s a handful of good songs here & I can appreciate some of the more bluesy tones & riffs to it.
Streets of Bakersfield is cool, as a Spanish fusion song, very Latin vibe to the accordion there, in concept.
One more name starts strong - give me more of the Buster Scruggs singing cowboy type noise.
Maybe I’d like this more if I got drunk, watched crazy heart & wrote a country song again.
Oh boy, this makes for an aggressive start to a day of you listen to it on a morning walk. Mellows out pretty quickly once you settle into it, you’ve just got to let this one take you for a ride. Like instrumental slam poetry.
There’s so much in here that I’m certain there’s at least one ‘I love this’ and ‘I hate this’ moment for everyone listening to it, like the musical equivalent of one of those game boy games with 100 different NES games on it.
Absolutely love this, an insane album for one group to be able to come up with, made even more insane for being able to apparently record it all in one 6 hour sitting.
2 songs added to my playlist, 5 added to the 1001 playlist
Immediate hell yes from me. My favourite Crizzo coded electronic group.
Imagine the vibes of hearing this blasted through a big ass cathedral.
Shout out to Pimpf for being Final Fantasy villain music in the middle of all this. Piano building up throughout until it’s just the final flash keys at the end rules.
This is good, but didn’t really get any emotional reaction from me. The guys are talented and there’s some bangers in here but this is one of those cases where I don’t have anything to add to the conversation.
I do appreciate the trend of rock/metal bands in the 60’s and 70’s all starting off super bluesy because it’s what they would have grown up listening to though.
3 songs added to my playlist, 5 added to the 1001
Walking down the street in one of my shirts while wearing this felt dangerously close to cultural appropriation. The dance I was doing probably didn’t help.
This is really cool though, great tavern music because we’ve got a lute & a harp in the back, I think. So glad it’s here.
Nothing added to my playlist, 2 added to the 1001 playlist
Less talk about killing your wife this time around, immediate improvement over ol’ Dwighty.
I like this, some yodelling vibrato in there which I always like to hear.
Every word in the title 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten actively makes me angry.
Might rewrite ‘Lake Charles’ to be ‘he was from Waitrose’ and it’s about a posho at uni who won’t shut up about how much money they have.
2 songs added to my playlist, 5 added to the 1001
Hope you guys like the piano, because Jim’s rocking it in this. Huge fan whenever it kicks in.
Roadhouse Blues is such a strong opening for the album, not sure it ever gets better than that.
Some of this is a bit too slow and down for me, but whenever we get a bit of rhythm it’s so lovely.
4 songs added to my playlist, 5 added to the 1001 playlist.
I’ve dropped this ‘dote many a time, but my after school routine for a full year was to get home & sit my ass down infront of the TV to play dynasty warriors and listen to this full album on a loop.
For real though this is like time travel to me, instantly I’m at the back of the class with my head in my hands stressed about why Lauren won’t talk to me.
It’s the high school waster album. It’s not exactly musically complex, but I do love that since it was written as a rock opera experiment before actually becoming one so much of it is musical theatre coded. songs like extraordinary girl and letterbomb as well as the more long form songs feel like there should be a company with them.
I’m (sort of) Louvin’ this!
I said before that I wanted more Buster Scruggs ass singing cowboy music & this scratches that itch perfectly.
Repetitive in terms of content & sound, I’m just lucky that vocally that sound is exactly what I asked for two weeks ago. Because of the melancholy nature of all of these songs, and the acoustic openings to each song, a lot of these sound almost like Portuguese Fado music at first.
Just a cool 21 minutes of groovy punk to make you want to buy a skateboard. This one flew by.
Ending a song on “boo fucking hoo” - you love to hear it.
Shout out to Cashing In for having the most polite opening lyric in punk “How do you do, I don't figure we've met
My name is Ian, and I'm from Minor Threat
You know I tell them, usually, to be at their best”.
This is at its best when the bass takes the lead and switches up the sound a little, big fan though.
5 songs added to my playlist, 8 added to the 1001 playlist
what a voice! This is just a lovely old time.
Beautifully written & such a great musical tone throughout - such an atmospheric sound. Great for just getting lost in while you wander.
Was walking down by the lake at the foot of Arthur’s when the double bass comes in on man in a shed? Life changing experience. What an exceptional piece of music.
4 songs added to my playlist, 6 added to the 1001 playlist
At first I thought you guys were being overdramatic about this album, then I got into it myself. To its credit, it starts off really well & I do quite like a few of the black keys songs - Fever in particular is one I’ve always had a soft spot for.
Back to this album, this thing felt like a marathon, it went on for hours! I felt like I had to stop halfway through & eat a banana, There’s like 100 songs here and they’re all the same!
Everytime I hear Howlin’ for You I think it’s going to be a cover of Rock & Roll part 2
Tried to engage with this in good faith but the middle of this album had me question if I ever really liked the black keys at all. Maybe it’s just very samey & I can only listen to one of their songs at a time. Strong start, a couple near the end are good but the middle of this is just noise.
Three songs added to my playlist, 5 added to the 1001 playlist. That sounds good, until you remember there’s 500 songs on this album.
Who’s excited for and Imagine Dragons album in coming months?
The relief I felt going into this after listening to brothers on the same walk cannot be overstated. Some actual musical variety, and it’s almost like poetry as well. I’m blessed.
I think I’m down with the Dan, bro
This is a Mags album right here, pretty high chance that Son of a Preacher Man is her favourite song - and who can blame her? That riff is an all timer. Even Cypress hill sampled it!
Just a nice warm connection to home here, a lovely listen on the bus out to visit friends from home.
I’m the nicest way possible - is PJ doing okay here? Mad album, ranging from some of the horniest songs we’ve had so far to stuff that sounds like it came after the worst breakup ever. Musically & emotionally all over the place but always feeling real though out, such an interesting album. Love it.
I like that Man-size Sextet sounds like something Tim Curry would do. There’s just a certain cadence to the first verse. Maybe it’s just the accent.
Good album to wake up to; fast, loud & fun. Plenty of variety so you don’t get lulled into just one thing.
Always a good sign when I make it through an album and then check my phone & realise I’ve just listened to three other songs from a different album of theirs as well.
Man, Bowie really could do anything couldn’t he?
Far from his best album, but to be able to take in decades of experience & come out after a 10 year break & surprise release a new album with a new sound that still manages to reference those previous 24 albums? That’s an artist right there.
Can’t believe this has made me listen to a full Radiohead album.
I was concerned when I started this about what kind of Radiohead we were getting, the end of 2 + 2 = 5 got me a little excited, then everything fell apart again.
As usual I like all the little moments of electronica stashed away in here in songs like Sit Down Stand Up and Backdrifts, but this was a bit of a slog.
Imagine being able to make a song that sounds as cool as Myxomatosis & then you make people listen to 40 minutes of bland sad boy music to get to it.
‘a punch up at a wedding’ is an incredible name for a song - even if the song itself doesn’t feel like a punch up at a wedding.
After the final song, Bodysnatchers played and I thought ‘oh maybe there is a little more life in this’ before realising it was from a completely different album. Added that to my playlist though, so we’ll done Thom.
1 song added to both playlists. 2 added to my playlist if you include Bodysnatchers, which you shouldn’t.
*obligatory comment dunking on Keidis*
This rules, lots of long form songs that just keep evolving over time that feel like the kind of thing that would usually be reserved for a life show.
Long album, but absolutely worth it all the way through. I’m only slightly embarrassed by how frequently I changed my gait while listening to this album while walking around - at least for the most part I was between parliament & St James via meadowbank. I blame flea.
I get that this is important to the genre and that they are super talented, but this is too safe a play & feels boring as the album goes on.
I don’t hate it & there’s a few good songs here - there’s just nothing here that does anything for me. It’s largely just noise - repetitive beat, screeching guitar riff, back to repetitive beat. Where’s the passion guys??
Love this, glad to finally have an opportunity to listen to Aretha properly. She’s one of the most famously great vocalists ever, so no surprise that this rocks.
That said, the actual arrangement of each song is what stands out to me here - including a guest appearance by the reason for Rock Against Racism on guitar for one track.
Huge fan. Three songs added to my playlist, five added to the 1001 playlist.
Took me forever to write this up, it’s a hard album to properly put into words how I feel about it because when it works it works so well musically, lyrically & emotionally.
Always been kind of obsessed with the tone of the lead’s voice here - the way he sings things like “she’s a black belt in karate” is a proper ear worm for me.
The album is so much fun, at first a lot of it seems campy but as you listen more intently there’s real depth here musically to support the initial campiness. As the album goes on we keep returning to points about what it means to be human & what it means to love.
Huge fan of the dreamlike psychedelic quality throughout - The acoustic guitar/ overall feel complimented by a largely electronic backing really completes the experience.
A couple of missteps here maybe individually, but as a whole every song earns its place in the album itself.
Not at all surprised this was made into a musical at one point. Very surprised to find that Sorkin was attached at one point during the west wing years.
Imagine being able to get a room of people this excited, while also singing lines like “I’ve got something wrong with me, it ain’t that Leukaemia”.
Love a live album, and this is one of the best. The way this builds & you can hear the audience getting more and more excited as the album goes on really adds to the experience - I assume this was recorded somewhere smaller & more intimate than a lot of live albums which is why you can feel that energy a little more here.
Incredible work from Sam all the way through; smooth, soulful & energetic with a killer band to back him up.
This rules.
I wasn’t blown away by this, but that could be because I listened to this after a series of all timers with a similar energy.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised with how this progressed given I let out an audible groan midway through the album after checking the full runtime - maybe I found post orgasmic chill after all?
Mad for this to be a debut album, it’s completely its own thing & fully formed which I have to appreciate.
Love that the album conveys this sense of a grand scale throughout by changing pace & introducing a huge variety of instruments. Makes the album feel like it’s made to be performed with a ballet or some action on stage alongside the band - though that may just be me getting mixed up with the hall of a different king. We start heavy, mellow out then finish big and operatic.
Really appreciate this, even if overall half the songs did nothing for me themselves they added to the vibe of the album as an experience.
Generational album right here. Maybe a little front loaded, but I’ll be damned if it’s not got one of the best 3 songs to open an album with.
The vibe is so clear here throughout, a total time capsule of an album.
Red Barchetta is so clearly a song about a car even without knowing the title or hearing any lyrics. It’s got the Splash Wave from Outrun thing where it’s almost got a countdown built in to it as you start driving & then the core of the song hits right as you turn into a beautiful view.
Iconic is a word I’ve been trying not to use much here, but if there’s an album to drop it on this is the one.
More albums should be interrupted midway through with a group of drunks chanting “get your tits out for the lads”.
Fully honest, was not a fan of the start of this at all - more of the same problems I have with a lot of metal in that it feels like it lacks rhythm to me.
That said, this picked up pretty well in the middle and there’s some good stuff in here! Big fan of teachers pet & countess bathory.
Huge hell yes on this; So many firsts that I want to see more of in the list -
First proper dirty electronic album we’ve had
First appearance of anything hip-hop related on diesel power
First appearance by the beastie boys
I love how this consistently holds a similar tone & there’s motif’s that appear throughout the album - while each song still touches on the edges of different & specific sub genres of electronic music.
The beasties said it best, it’s that funky shit.
The lone negative here - there’s nothing quite as earwormy as “Big wheel keep on Tu’y’nin” or “just got home from Illinois, locked the front door - oh boy” which are maybe my favourite pronunciations and lyrics in any of Fogerty’s music.
With that said, as you would expect, I love this. Same vocal quality I love from all CCR music, same clean guitars. Bad Moon Rising’s core riff is so simple but makes me smile every time.
‘Wrote a song for everyone’ is such a lovely listen in the middle of this, it’s got real soul to it & the album slows down to make sure it stands out.
Some covers of ‘The Night Time is the Right Time’ change the line from the backup singers in between each line of the chorus to “night and day” but not CCR - the original “wah-do-ay” will do just fine.
Begging you all to power through the Guantanamo style opening to this album. Moon in June is such a treat.
Right off the bat, I’m listening to only the original version of the album here. I love you Tina, but I’m so far behind on albums to listen to here. That said - I dare one of you to listen to the 40th anniversary in its entirety.
This is like the comeback album, a complete departure from her previous style. This being filled with covers by massive artists that Tina manages to make entirely her own is probably enough evidence as to how big a deal this was at the time.
Let’s stay together in particular is one of Al Green’s best songs as it exists & I’ve got mad respect for Tina for not taking the easy route & doing a beat for beat cover of it.
Absolutely full of energy, as you would expect - show some respect & steel claw were great songs for waking up on the morning walk.
Okay I lied I listened to more than just the original album, but can you blame me? It’s Tina!
Did a father Ted joke in my pulp review, can’t reuse the same joke here. Well I can, but that would be tacky.
Song 2 may be over played, but it’s a song that sounds so good & has such a strong energy that it managed to break the britpop barrier & make it through to the states and the rest of the world.
I like that you can feel this evolving as the album goes on, there’s some songs like On Your Own & Death of A Party that have a sound that’s a little more electronic, more Radiohead than britpop at some points.
You can kind of hear Gorillaz starting to materialise in Damon’s vocals and the overall sound during some of the later songs.
Overall, big fan - a very cool album.
This is the magic of this list, something completely new to me & not saying “hey have you ever heard 1984 by Van Halen?”
Sorry for calling 1984 out in particular, it’s just fresh in the mind.
Going to download this whole thing for when I’m toddling around Split next month, ideal gallery & coffee music.
I was very glad this evolved into more folk rock with the acoustic & piano work after the opening of this - otherwise we’d be treading dangerously close to the black keys again.
Nothing stood out individually aside from I’m Shakin’ which does have a killer riff to it and is nestled in between a lot of the acoustic stuff so it stands out properly. Also he says nervous funny a couple of times, that gets the album an extra star in my eyes.
Even if the other songs as a whole don’t stand out much to me the various piano riffs did.
Glad this is in here, even if it isn’t 100% my thing.
It feels against the point of this exercise to say that this would probably get a 5 for psycho killer alone.
Thankfully, the rest of this is a grand old time too - and psycho killer isn’t even the best song here.
Then again New Wave has always scratched an itch for me so I’m not surprised that more than half of this ended up in the playlists.
Side Note: God I love a steel drum, one of the most pleasing sounds out there to me. Hopefully we get more of it down the line.
Do you think if you showed NWA era Ice Cube his new war of the worlds movie he’d shoot himself
Aw shit, it’s the verbal Herman Munster!
