1001 Albums Summary

I listened to this half an hour ago and I can barely remember a thing about it. Sorry. I just remember a lot of really whiney leads, and when "Don't Fear the Reaper" came on shuffle after the album finished and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm trying to catch up here, so I won't drag this on. This album rocks. The first time I ever heard Michael Jackson (adult) was when I played Beat It on Guitar Hero 4. My parents are old, man. This album gets better and better the more you've spent on a good set of headphones or speakers. Fortunately, I have both. It's not Off the Wall, however, and Human Nature has never been my cup of tea. Those are my only criticisms. Billie Jean is the most important MJ song (everyone knows this) and so it should be!

THE Yacht Rock album. Bunch of American white dudes realized Black America was making all the swanky, cool music and wanted a piece of the action, and BOY they got it. Do It Again is one of the coolest songs ever made. So is Only a Fool Would Say That. Midnite Cruiser and Dirty Work take equal 2nd place for me. Turn That Heartbeat earns Bronze. I love this album. Five.

I grew up on Folk and Country, thanks to Dad. I'm going to show him this album. The captivating storytelling over sweet country instrument arrangements is always a good time, even if some tracks could be mistaken for one another. El Paso is the best example of this recipe's charm. My first experience of Marty Robbins was that edit of a chihuahua with a hat and pistol costume in 2016. I also had a really fucking annoying coworker in 2021 who played this song relentlessly, which temporarily spoiled it for me. She quit, so I can enjoy it now. I don't think I'd listen to this on a regular basis, but I would be sure to savour it every time I do. The next time will be whenever I drive to Toowoomba. Special mention to The Master's Call, what a hauntingly beautiful ballad. Goosebumps. This album is a treasure, Marty Robbins would have been 100 years old this year. May he rest in That Little Green Valley far away.

Similar to my prior laments of the repetitiveness of the 12-bar blue and its requirement to be absolutely the best in its class to really stick with me (hello, Elmore James), I will say much of the same of this album. Deary me, this DRAGGED ON. A 19 MINUTE track? Really? Good mixing, however. I just don't need this in my life except when I'm making my way through a bottle of dark spirits, which I never do (yucky). Oh, and then there's a 13-minute track which is... better? Don't worry though, you get a nice 23 minute off-road journey to close off the record. I just don't think many people want to listen to a guitar... doing things for this long.

A career-defining performance (with a slight, slight edge over Folsom) where Cash manages to make his allegiances with the prisoner cohort apparent very quickly. He mocks the quality of the water between two iterations of his purpose-built song condemning the prison to hell. Cash is earnest in his mission to bring music to the most down-and-out. You'd be kidding yourself if you didn't think a decent share of the inmates in a 60s US Prison probably shouldn't have been there in the first place, some maybe never to have drawn breath in the free world ever again. My only wish is that he'd interpolated the lyrics of Folsom Prison to San Quentin for the closing track. Special mention of course for A Boy Named Sue being the best example of Cash's supreme storytelling and penmanship. I adore this album.

Enjoyable soul album to chuck on in the background, but didn't grab me at too many points in the way a Gaye album would. Smooth as hell, don't get me wrong, just nothing mind-blowing like the beat change in "Save the Children". If you rate this less than a 3 you're racist.

The closest you'll get to the sound of a Dad who's put The Incredibles (2004) on for his kids so he can go drink in the garage for 2 hours at 10 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. I understand the desired reception to putting an orchestra over rock/metal is "this is EPIC", but I'm yet to see an instance in history this has ever happened. What a way to start this fucking list...

This is the AC/DC said father listens to (see S&M by Metallica Review) while drinking in the garage at 10am on a Saturday as the kids watch the Incredibles inside. I still love the title track, mainly because it annoys my Mum. Besides this, I don't understand how you can enjoy this kind of music once you give it more than 43% of your attention. There was better rock music available at the time, and better has come out since. I also think AkkaDakka didn't cram anything else in this album to be well known for. In other words, this is one of the AC/DC albums ever. Like I say, some people shop for music like they're buying a new car or house, others shop for it like they're buying a new kitchen spray & wipe.

Underwent a bit of character development in 2022-23, and Cherry-coloured Funk could just about be on the first 5 tracks to the soundtrack of that period. I get misty-eyed and nostalgic at the opening riff of this tune, sometimes even now. What an opener. What a great song to listen to as you've just opened the cafe and the sun's coming up on a crisp early winter morning (as I did many times, fuck off Marko). This album, uninterrupted is going to be an absolute treat this morn- - Nevermind, my work phone's ringing. As for the rest of the album, I've had a couple tracks outside of the big 2 saved, but I can honestly appreciate it even more in sequence. I might grab this as a vinyl. As lame as this come across, this album is what I imagine the 90s did sound like. Heaven or Las Vegas even my Dad liked, and doesn't like anything I show him. Fifty-fifty clown is the only track here I'm not so big on.

I'd like to thank Elvis Costello for this album. Because I enjoyed it? Fuck no. I'm 5-6 albums deep into reviewing this list and catching up, so my ratings still obviously require a bit of calibration. I'm realising now my 2-star rating for Van Halen was a tad harsh - there was nothing I specifically didn't like about that album, it was just a bit of an overdriven-lead-guitar blur. This shit, however, is my new benchmark for a 2-star album. Good grief. I genuinely went in optimistic, having heard folks praise Costello as one of the best songwriters of his time. My listening notes were as follows: Track One : "Something about this is annoying. Can't put my finger on it. Hoping for better after this opener." Track Two: "Nevermind, I know exactly what it is. There is a horrific disharmony between the instrumentation and vocals. Surely this smooths out later in the album" ... Track Five: "Fuck this. Could the man have just done another take? On ANY of the songs? Why does this sound like Elvis Costello doing drunk karaoke of Elvis Costello?" This album was fundamentally irritating to listen to (even "I Want You" to an extent) and I genuinely think this is the musical equivalent of enjoying ultra-stinky cheeses like Blue Vein; it's horrible, but you've consumed so much of the normal stuff you just want to feel something. Honestly, if you enjoyed this, just stop listening to music for a while. Let your cochlear nerve recover. The only redeeming part of this album is some solid rhythm lines and production which save it for fleeting moments where Elvis just shuts the fuck up. If Costello dropped an instrumental version, I'd honestly give it a listen. This is my first angry review.

Here we go again. Another album whose first-track prognosis proves itself correct. What’s that you ask? My thoughts 30 seconds in were “Oh, right, it’s loser music!” “Jc hates Faggots” didn’t garner sympathy from me. I’m just homophobic now. Also, he managed to do a whole “We Are the World” of slurs in the process. Like, dude, dry 2010 GarageBand backings that my primary school piano teacher could have put together with an IKEA-unique American accent singing tragically unwitty lines over it should never have sold this well. Furthermore, this album should not be in this list. My tendency to dislike music that people I don’t want to be like would listen to has been reaffirmed after listening to this sleepy faggot moan over a non-copyright instrumental for 69 minutes.

I really liked the song where Colin Newman yells “one two three four” before overdriven guitars and bass. Seriously though, it’s a pretty homogenous listening experience start to end, but the title track definitely stands out. Also enjoyed Ex Lion Tamer and 1 2 X U. I definitely understand now where Hockey Dad got their early guitar presets from. Seriously though, not much to dislike here, just not super memorable 70% of the time.

This was a great album for the weekend. No complaints here. Charistmatic Brit Pop. Don't know why, but the name "Duran Duran" has always given me the ick, as the girlies would say. I'm not kidding. It is for that exact reason I abstained from exploring their discography besides Girls on Film. What a pleasant surprise! This is an album I'd happily chuck on for a drive. Really nicely produced. Adequate big-room drums that Patrick Bateman would boogie to off his Harman/Kardon multi-CD system. It's just too short, and Save a Prayer/New Religion just don't do it for me, especially the latter. They just sound like worse repackages of other songs on here. I wish there was a bit more punch packed into this album. I wish the lyrics pierced through the wall of reverb a bit more - not with volume, but with substance. Enjoyed: Lonely In Your Nightmare, Hungry Like the Wolf, Last Chance on the Stairway. 6.5/10

I mean, what hasn't already been said? This album paved the way, it's possibly the most famous Jazz record ever published, it's genre-defining, the copy list of praises goes on. I first listened to this album at age 14 because I got into Jazz rap (thanks Rejjie Snow) and went down the Mac Miller - Joey Bada$$ - Madlib - Duke Ellington pipeline. This record still fucks. I still enjoy it uninterruped, but honestly? There's even BETTER Coltrane Records out there: Ballads, Coltrane and Ellington, Impulse (especially). That's what makes him so good. His most famous album isn't his most accessible nor his most interesting, but it's still a solid 9 out of 10. It would be wrong to give it a 4 even though there's likely albums on here with a 4 I *personally* enjoy and listen to more. My own taste doesn't deserve to swing this rating too much. Have your 5 stars, John lad. Time to go listen to Wise One (your best track).

This album provides a taste of what adding a little too much big-hall reverb glamour and glitter sound effects does to RnB. The tier of albums it belongs to is just like the frequency response of the ceiling speaker it's usually coming out of: only the mids. Sweet Love is a good song, but again, all I can think of is walking out of a shopping centre at 6pm after a tired post-work Tuesday grocery shop, when half the shops have turned their lights off and the cleaner has just stopped giving a fuck about leaving wet floor signs around. Been So Long is technically good but fails to grab me at any point. Overall, this album just left me bored of her voice, jumping around the frequency register for the sake of doing so. What it did leave was an awesome soundscape for 25+ years of Hip Hop Sampling. Good job Anita.

Ah yes, more anemic rock. Goodie. I think my 2-star rating has been dialled in correctly now. This album explains to me the hopeless, worthless demeanour you see amongst some Gen X folk. No wonder - they listened to this growing up. It sounds like they modelled their half-singing-half-talking vocals off “Hey” by the Pixies, but just decided that didn’t sound lethargic enough. Conduit for Sale had a bit of punch, and I can honestly say that’s where I stopped listening to the full tracks. I really want the writers of this book to look at me dead in the eye and tell me this needed to be here because they listen to it frequently. 4/10

My Volkswagen polo has recently had an issue where my Bluetooth will start up and cut out along the drive. While listening to this album, I couldn’t tell if this was happening or if it was just the production choices of this album. It feels like the equivalent of throwing a knife across the map at the start of a Call of Duty match, that is to say the one time the knife hit another player M.I.A. and her producers created one of the most iconic and innovative pop tunes of the late 2000s. Funnier still, this track wasn’t even meant to be on the album in the first place. While I appreciate M.I.A. getting a bunch of Wilcannia mob kids onto one track, a couple songs later she condescends them by claiming “I’ve put people on the map who’ve never seen a map“. Rah. I get the big cacophony of drums is taking after Gwen Stefani and it would have sounded great off a TEAC boombox in some 17 year old girl’s Suffolk bedroom in 2007, but this style didn’t age well at all I want to give it a 2. This album deserves a 2, but I got with a really hot chick in year 9 because I brought speakers to a party and put Paper Planes on for her. Thus, it gets a 3 5/10

At the end of an already terrible week, this album took me to the Sunshine Coast in the pouring rain to then help my Dad move furniture in the pouring rain. Prayers for Rain played as I hit a pothole and had some locals help me change it in the rain. Thus, I needed to give this album time before listening again so I could detach this annoying experience from it. It’s a great record. Production/Instrumentation wise it’s consistent to a fault, with a hazy, gritty texture to all of the synths and leads, interrupted by some pretty clean drums, Korg synths and bright piano. This all feels very deliberate - this is an album you SHOULD do Heroin to. Robert Smith’s songwriting dwells largely in despair and yearning, which… fits the instrumentation perfectly. Even Lovesong, which has a fair bit of groove to it, is definitely sad guy rock to some degree. Look, I personally am not going to chuck this album on back to front too often, but it sets out to do exactly what The Cure intended: produce something to last the decades after singles-driven success and escape the nomenclature of “stadium band” (I mean, shit, I’d go see Fascination Street at Suncorp). Depressed friends I have will still enjoy this just as much. 9/10 Fav Tracks: Lovesong, Fascination Street, Homesick Least Fav: Prayers For Rain (fuck you, Steve Irwin Way)

The story of the man who REALLY wanted to trade his vocal chords for a bionic Fender Stratocaster/Marshall Amp inside his throat. As others have said, the title track is a fun way to spend 20 minutes. but the following 5 tracks just feel like worse drafts for the opener. It'd make sense it it was released as an EP with these tracks for the diehards but they serve no purpose being there. I'd have much rathered a 2-track record, with the second being 10+ minutes and possessing the dynamics and charm of the first. Eh? 5.5/10 Fav Tracks: You know...

This album can objectively only be given a 3 as the sheer numerical average of what I felt like giving it and the propensity this album had to impress me and piss me off with each track. I felt like giving it the same review Taylor did at MANY points, particularly at Cuckoo Cucoon and Counting Out Time. It does many things so well, but makes you wait way too long for them. I blame this album for feeling so unmotivated to keep up with the review, but alas, here I am, white Monster in hand, reviewing. If you're going to make a concept album you want people to stay engaged during, at least make it enjoyable ALL the way through.

Some really smooth renditions in here, though very little stuck given I'm more fond of the originals in the case of most tracks. That said, this was a fantastic chaser to that laborious Genesis album which stifled my progress in catching up on these albums. 7/10

Gritty, but interesting. Listening to Death Threat at my 2pm crash was great because the song sounds exactly like how I feel at 2pm, crashing. The distortion can get grating if you listen to music loudly like I do, but it feels like the right thing to do with this album. I can't say I loved this, though. The songwriting (where lyrics occur) doesn't penetrate the noise, and so while aesthetically pleasing, I can't remember a single line from the record. I'd chuck it on next time I build furniture, I guess?

It's the 80s, so GIVE ME REVERB, GIVE ME DELAY. Seriously, the production rocks, but some sounds are very much a dead giveaway to the year this was made. There's some cracking tunes on here, Mothers Talk being one besides the obvious 3 I really enjoyed. I probably wouldn't come back to play this album as a whole to friends though, as it would just seem like I was trying too hard. 8.5/10

This grew on me through listen 2. There's some genuinely gorgeous sounds in this album, but other moments that let it down. The popular track, Svefn-g-englar was one I actually found the most annoying, funnily enough. Olsen Olsen was blissful. Really, I don't know how to feel, but this record is well produced, I have to give it that. 6.5/10

Here we go again... good lord. I can't do this, man. Hey look he said the N word! Something about Costello's voice fundamentally irritates me. Every track sounds like he's said to the band "let's make a cool song with a... deeper meaning" and it just never goes anywhere. The kit has no bite, and sounds like it's on the other side of a big room. The one exception to the production feeling so lacklustre is Moods for Moderns., but even then I think I just felt grateful for a cut-through bass line... oh wait Elvis has started singing. Nevermind. I cannot enjoy this man's music and I never will. If you ever brought someone home, things were getting hot and heavy and proceeded to put this on you would no longer be getting laid. I look forward to the next hour I will never get back from this guy.

A tasteful collection of ballads, driven by Cohen's twangy, but ultimately warm vocals. Instrumentation which doesn't stray far from a guitar and a bass, with occasional whistles is perfect for this record. Favourite Tracks: The Partisan, The Old Revolution Least Favourite: A Bunch of Lonsesome Heroes. 7.5/10

Nu Metal should, categorically, not exist. However.... I appreciate Linkin Park assumed the role (someone had to) of "Fuck you Mum, I can do what I want!", the band. If it was 2000 and I'd just turned 16, I'd probably think this is dope too. The transition between tracks one and two really sets the tone, and the overdrive on those leads never really goes away. Chester's vocals, however, get really corny really quickly, even more so than Shinoda's in a listen endured these days. Despite being largely unbearable these days, the album definitely accomplished what it set out to do, and provided people a soundtrack to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for years. 6/10

You know, I’ve always liked Adele. I think the machine of radio-first-trickle-down taste curated music broadcasted through the head units of 2010 Holden Captivas via B105 and 106.9 did a lot of damage to my cognitive development during the “let’s do it tonight babeeey” recession-pop years, but Adele was not one such villain in that. What’s not to like? Adele’s a phenomenal singer, a songwriter who would have done well at any point from the 70s to the year of release of this album. The UK lost its figurehead female voice with Amy, and Adele did a job better than anyone else could have to fill those shoes. Admittedly, she did so better in prior (especially) and subsequent albums. The big 3 hits that arose out of them all stand up today, and we’ll all look back at them reasonably fondly in decades to come. Besides that, the Lovesong cover feels like medium quality filler. I listen to newer artists like Celeste and hear Adele’s warm timbre come through, and I appreciate it. I honestly believe her songwriting to come from a sincere place, albeit with the help of some industry heavyweights here and there (somehow Rick Rubin is here??). I mean for crying out loud, the breakup was happening mid-production. Anyway, I appreciate this album for what it is, though it’s my second-least favourite from her. It’s been long enough to somewhat detach it from ceiling-speaker repertoire irritation. Favourite: He Won’t Go Least favourite: Lovesong (this is the correct choice) 7/10

Credit where credit's due. If you can effectively mic up a venue to sound like you're actually there in the recording, and it's the mid 60s, you're a freak of an audio engineer. That said, this is a 10-track-long exercise in "how many ways can we make the 12 bar blues sound different?". I will not stand for anyone claiming modern music is far more formulaic and repetitive, even though it has got worse. Listen, I'd chuck this on in the background at a dinner, but far more revolutionary things were happening in the world of blues. Sorry B.B. 6.5/10 (again)

A very solid 4. Very much what it says on the title, though it leans more in the Soul direction. Just Out of Reach, Can't Nobody and Beautiful Brown Eyes were standouts for me. All of these songs sound perfect for a "the protagonist is about to die and has one dance with lover" scene's backing track. That or someone's about to commit mass murder. I enjoyed this, but again it does unfortunately suffer from being one drop in the ocean of 6/8 soul records which this era provided.

Okay, time to write this without letting any nostalgia or deep emotional connection to this album get in the way. For the moment. Let's review the non-interlude tracks which ultimately serve the purpose of making this album feel like you're flicking through radio stations (a fantastic companion album to QOTSA's which does the same). Thinkin Bout You is a straight-down-the-middle, stripped back R&B anthem, and has served Sunday Seshes, UE Booms on the beach and Cafes alike for 13 solid years now. Frank strains his voice a bit in the falsetto, but that's ultimately part of his sounds, and he pulls it off well. Sierra Leone is a hilarious lo-fi ballad about getting yo baby momma up the duff when you're a teenager. Fantastic bass line on this one, and the vocal harmonies are fantastic. Sweet Life is definitely one of the more refined tracks on here, though despite the groovy bassline and Rhodes piano accompaniment, one can hear incriminatingly N.E.R.D. style jazz chords played on synth horns in the background which Pharrel has obviously contributed. Tyler was also using these sounds a lot around the Wolf/Goblin album era which coincides with this record. Super Rich Kids follows largely the same theme, and nowadays I can't say it's too impressive track, but Earl's MF Doom level of syllable-matching is impressive over a beat like this. Pilot Jones used to be my least favourite song on the album. Frank's falsetto is annoying here, but the unique beat tides you over into the first verse, where things get better. The coda is the best part of this track. Actually... it still might be my least favourite, but I don't hate it like I used to. Then you have the sound effect of a plane landing which rumbles into the intro of.... Crack Rock, which is one of the BEST songs ever made in this genre. This is a spiteful condemnation of a former friend/lover who's gone off the rails on the rock. Frank's laid-back vocals at the start are quickly accompanied by lush harmonies. It's in the last 90 seconds of the song Frank shifts into top gear and delivers a scathing "how's the gutter doing?" while singing in his voice, one whose timbre you could not confuse with someone else's. I love this song. Pyramids... man... You get 3 insane instrumentals, the last one comprising "part two" of this track which also coincides with the halfway point in the album's runtime, as Nights does in Blonde. I probably wouldn't adore this song the way I do if I had no sentiment toward it. Lost is an inoffensive song off this album I've always enjoyed, but only so much. It's a great "show Frank Ocean to someone" track, but that's about it. White is fine... but to really understand this song you need to listen to the version with vocals on the Odd Future Tape, Vol. 2, where Frank delivers possibly the most charming and vulnerable verse of his career. This version is just John Mayer noodling on the geeetar. Monks, another track I used to hate. It's a groovy attempt at funk, but his bridge still just annoys me here, but the coda saves it with some very charming vocals. Bad Religion, aka I just got rejected by my first high school crush: the song. That is, until I realised it was about a dude. Anyway. This is probably the vocal climax of the album. It's a gorgeous, introspective conversation with his (islamic) taxi driver, grappling with unrequited love. I used to belt this fucking thing in the car at age 17. Still would if you gave me enough beers and a piano. Pink Matter, a horny but brilliant track about wanting to not wear a Johnny and bang your Sensei. Jokes aside, do you know how good an artist you have to be to have ANDRE 3000 agree to do a verse on your album? The bass line, like many on this album is just class. I love this track and it's probably the most frequently on rotation still to this day. Forrest Gump I've never been huge on, but I guess Frank needed a chance to tell the world he's gay and... here you go. Phew, now to talk about how I fucking LOVE THIS ALBUM. This, along with 2-3 albums (none of which were Drake, thank god) carried me from ages 13 to 19. As the years went on, different tracks became my favourites, starting from Pyramids and Lost, then to Super Rich Kids and Bad Religion (hope you're well, Emily) then to Crack Rock, and back to Pyramids. Blonde is a great album, but it wasn't there for me the whole time like this record was. The only reason I ever started enjoying singing was this album burnt to a CD, on my Ps, going up the highway to visit my folks. I wouldn't be the same person without this album. It's not the best work of its type, not even the best work by Frank, but it's so unbelievably important to me and I will cherish it as long as I live.

I'm coining a new genre: Record Store owner music. It's always a greying, 50-60 year old bloke in a black tee, blue jeans and glasses who smells a little bit like darts. They're always super nice but MAN, they play the weirdest shit in store. This is one such album. Like I said in relation to Blood and Chocolate, if you reach a point where your cochlear nerve is just burnt out from listening to shit (pov: you're me over the next week trying to catch up), just stop listening to music! There's some cool instrumentation here, but it descends into too much experimental 70s disharmony to even be enjoyable to a keen, open minded ear. I'm giving this a 3 because it's very technically impressive, but that's about it. This is like Prog Rock's answer to Free Jazz.

The Bush Administration's involvement with the Bin Laden family, particularly in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, has long been a subject of controversy. Despite the fact Osama bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks, members of his wealthy Saudi family—who had longstanding business ties with American elites, including the Bush family—were quickly and quietly flown out of the U.S. in the days following the tragedy, raising questions about preferential treatment. The trauma of 9/11 deeply impacted American culture, and country music became a key outlet for expressing grief, anger, and patriotism. Songs like Toby Keith’s Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue and Alan Jackson’s Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) captured the national mood, often reinforcing pro-American and militaristic sentiments that aligned closely with the Bush Administration’s subsequent War on Terror. In this way, the political handling of 9/11 and its symbolic associations trickled down into popular culture, with country music serving as both a mirror and amplifier of the era’s nationalist fervor. This is what I wish country could have remained as, but alas, it couldn't. Beautiful songs by a beautiful singer. My Mum adores this album, and I can see why. I'm not exactly going to go as far as say this is good for many replays, personally, but I think Emmylou had a gift, and one she used well. I've saved a couple of tracks on here as the radio for them is GREAT.

Listen, I get it. This record was leaps and bound ahead of its time, but I'm not going to review this favourably because of such. Other genres are reviewed partially with respect to how well they hold up, so why does old (with a capital O) school Hip Hop get special treatment? The production is solid, the rhymes are clean but ultimately this album, be it culturally significant at the time doesn't cut the mustard anymore. It's fatiguing listening to a busy boom-bap beat over and over with different herbs and spices added each track. Best Track: Revolutionary Generation Worst Track: Reggie Jax... dude...

It’s precisely the qualities of Neil’s voice which make songs like Harvest Moon so good, but songs like A Man Needs a Maid and There’s a World so unbearable: a timid, slightly struggled vocal delivery. The first three tracks go from dreary to drearier before resuscitating you with Heart of Gold (Cash version still better). Are You Ready for the Country is… fine as far as Blues tracks go, before giving you Old Man, the other standout track on this album. I had way higher hopes for this record and I really didn’t come away with a greater appreciation for Young’s composition. Sorry but… this is a 5/10 Favourite track: Old Man Most Hated Track: There’s a World

I really liked this! I just wish the recording played in higher quality on YT. Very charismatic, multilayered and sparkly leads and 90s alt-rock groove throughout most tracks. Favourite: Western Sky, Laughingstock, Highway 5. Least Fav: Bad Liquor 7.5/10

I guess this is how I found out the Foo started this early... damn. They definitely found their sound between this and their second album. Some tracks on this stood out, including Big Me and For All the Cows, but it's not at all what I'd call Foo Fighters. Everyone's gotta have a debut album, I guess. I just don't think this is one with much replay value. 5/10

Weird one for me. There's some nice moments across this record like the opener and The Fix, but overall lacks anything to make it memorable. The riff on Grounds for Divorce had me giggling once I thought about how it sounds like it should accompany someone saying "THE NEW TOYOTA TUNDRA" on an ad. Some other moments like Mirrorball were just screaming "wow this must've been profound in 2008, or at least it was trying to...". Weather to Fly just annoyed me, as did the sub bass on Loneliness of a Crane Driver which sounded like someone hasn't properly fastened their number plate down after install two Kicker 12" badboys in the back of the car. Overall, I can accept this album is well done, it just didn't leave me feeling anything. 5/10.

The Boy in the Bubble is such a weak opener. It's followed by my 3rd favourite Simon song of all time. I Know What I Know is fundamentally irritating. Gumboots is good fun, but has never been anything specialy. Diamonds on the Soles is wonderful choral arrangement and lets you forget how Paul completely shunned an international boycott on South Africa to get some sweet sweet Joburg voices on the track. You Can Call Me Al is a great song to walk down the aisle to. I said it. I feel like if I listened to Under African Skies every day until I was 60 I'd get it but it's just a little kitschy for me. Homeless I can only assume is a song about the living situation of the thousands of South Africans left disenfranchised by an Apartheid regime which Paul Simon decided to slightly turn a blind eye to in order to record this beautiful acapella track. Crazy Love, vol II. is what I can only assume to be Paul Simon's response to Van Morrison's track. It seems Paul isn't interested in a romantic partnership which Van has proposed. Shame, it would have done so much for the gay community. Nice track though. That Was Your Mother, a.k.a. The Benny Hill (Remix) featuring Paul Simon. I like this song's cutesy touch and sax inclusion, however. Finally, All Around the World... I still don't know what he means by "ever since the watermelon". I estimate that if I smoke pot for a solid 6 months this album will become one of my favourites, but I'm Still Crazier over the album of the same name a bit more. It's less interesting, but it's better. 7/10

Very enjoyable compilation of Beach Boys B-sides. It makes sense they used to open for BB. This is largely a mix of straight-out 60s rock with the occasional deviation. Little Girl in the 4th Row is thus for the right reasons, SS396 for the worst.... (Tranny hehe). I didn't mind this. 6/10

There's a certain magic of Parachutes that Chris and the gang failed to drag over to this sophomore project, but that doesn't mean it plays without its own highlights. The Scientist is objectively a fantastic 00's rock ballad, Clocks is in a league of its own and Amsterdam is my personal favourite. There's just too much dreary filll between these stellar moments and the album fails to grab me anyhwere near as much as Parachutes does. I understand Coldplay isn't to everyone's taste - it hardly is to mine - but if they carried on making tunes like these through the years I think they'd be more respected and not referred to as "gospel music for atheists". Favourite : Amsterdam Least Favourite: God Put a Smile etc. 6.8/10

This is everything a 60s rock album should be. Obnoxious, wailing leads; singing with tons of reverb; super cymbal heavy kits and a bit of hippie fusion in the mix. Am I mainly here for Sunshine of Your Love and Tales of Brave Ulysses? Sure, but everything in between is a pleasure to just melt into. You could throw this album on at any function and you’re just cool. This album is cool. I love it. 9/10

Incredible record, though not flawless. Q-Tip’s voice is probably the best example in history of “you’ve either got it or you don’t”. Excursions is an incredible opener and sets the tone perfectly, while Check the Rhime and Jazz are exhibitions of Tip and Phife’s ability to spit as if their voices are an extension of the lush but pretty simple instrumentals. Alternative hip hop, a genre where you can spit without talking about who you’re going to hang off the side of Queens Bridge next was more or less born from this record, and it will be cool, forever. 9.5/10 (due to the song we don’t mention). Favourite: Check the Rhime Lease Favourite: I will pretend this song isn’t on the record.

Already based for not being on streaming services, though with its extremely shrill mastering at times it made for a jarring listen at times. I can see how this laid the groundwork for a lot of Doors music in one sense and potentially James Brown in another. It’d be a good vinyl to own especially given it’s significance, but I can’t say many tracks beside I Hate You deviated much from a fast, Rhodes-driven storm of blues rock. Favourite: I Hate You Least Favourite: Shut Up 5.5/10

I’m not going to proselytise to any of you about why you should care about this album, nor defend it as a landmark release in Hip Hop. My introduction to this like many was hearing POWER on the Saints Row 3 trailer, followed by All of the Lights being an Ohrwurm of year 6. The real beauty of this album is how many styles Kanye successfully threw into it… for the first half. Man, everything after Runaway makes it hard to keep the sentiment of “this shit rocks” as you listen. This is why l’m giving it a 7.5. The features on here were a statement from Kanye that he could get any other artist he wanted so long as it enriched the track, and just about all of them did (though I’ve never cared too much for Jay’s verse on Monster contrary to popular opinion). I don’t come back to this album beyond tracks listed prior and below, but I guess if you love it, power to you. I just think this was a mid-career victory lap embellished with some very, very good productions. Favourite: Gorgeous, DIAND Least Favourite: Hell of a Life 7.5