1001 Albums Summary

Strong glam rock album with a diverse sound, 7/10

To me, this album represents ‘the end of the beginning’ of Rock and Roll as a genre. It’s incredibly interesting that I’m listening to this the day *after* listening to *Electric Warrior *by T. Rex. That album appeared just a few months after this one, and Marc Bolan is credited with pushing glam rock onto the scene with his television appearances on *Top of the Pops* which occurred just a couple months before this album was released (and a few months after it would have been recorded). *Funkytown*, also released in the fall of 1971, seemingly takes clear inspiration from *The Changeling* and was part of the first wave of the 70s disco music craze. The tragically sudden demise of *The Doors* right at the beginning of the 70s and the heavy blues influence on their music and this album specifically make them a bit of a convenient example of the transition from blues to clean 1960s rock to what would come in the 70s. This album is contemporary with and inspirational for ideas that we now think of as definitively “70s,” but also has some strong markings of music that came from the 30s and 40s, while the more straightforward songs are as middle-of-the-road as you get with rock music.

I didn't know The Cure was chill like this