The guitar tone is irritating. The vocals are irritating. The 90s alterna-rock cliches are irritating. But Billy Corgan could write a good pop tune and there are some gems here as well. That said, its almost never worth the effort to find them.
Dylan is an acquired taste. But few artists provide quite the rewards of making the effort to acquire it as Dylan. This album stands out as it is the bridge between folk and electric Dylan, and you can still hear how side one of this record must have had the same impact as early punk rock. It’s got great tunes - both blues rockers and folk - but the added context of how it shaped music make it an essential album IMO.
And with that, heavy metal - complete with all its durable tropes - is born. Killer riffs abound - a template for this band and much of heavy metal, emphasizing the riff over pure melody.The energetic if not yet overly tight rhythm section showing the bloom of its potential, and Ozzys distinctive vocals and ridiculously theatrical lyrics on top of all of it. Sabbath would go on to produce better albums, but they come out of the gates hot, and while the record loses a bit of steam toward the end it opens with a series of blistering tracks. There are some unusual flourishes here - in particular the blues orientation - that would not be repeated in future records. Any of Sabbath’s first five albums are 5 star affairs for me, and this one is memorable for establishing the template, both for themselves and for metal in general.
Great, edgy pop.
Funky, sexy, grimy, and vivid.
A fun evening out in a seedy Irish pub in a bad part of town. Fun for a while, but ultimately fatiguing and not a place you necessarily want to revisit often.
Funky fun and a party on record. Would be a great live experience, but as a studio recording it can get a bit repetitive.
Anthemic Beatleesque Britpop that it’s hard to truly dislike, but it’s too simple and derivative to truly be great. Blur kicks their ass.
Silky smooth and sexy. Makes one thirst for a martini. Strengthens with every listen. Does have a certain samey-ness throughout
An album that is more important than enjoyable, but it does retain its ability to jar even after 50 years and you can hear a lot of the future of music in it.
Jazz, rock, psychedelia and inspired musicianship with a few great melodies to boot. A prog classic with all the occasional interludes of indulgent noodling.
The smoothest of smooth R&B and a full albums of tracks to smash to. Overlong in parts, but the highs are truly outstanding.
I detest this album. Admittedly not a big fan of hip-hop to begin with, now add on top a bunch of whiney sub-par cultural appropriators and take the one interesting thing about hip-hop - poetic lyricism - and remove it and replace it with brain-dead hair metal party anthem chants. You officially have created the worst musical abomination possible.
A shambolic masterpiece, with terrific songwriting enhanced by emotionally resonant performances complete with mistakes, tempo problems, and Young missing notes left and right. A truly great album.
I hope you like “Who Do You Love” by Bo Diddley because it’s half the record. This is classic 60s era live psychedelic noodling in the same vein as The Dead’s Live/Dead. If you like that, this is a masterpiece. If not, you might find this a self-indulgent bore. I’m in the middle.
An artist I was not at all familiar with prior to this book. A world music fusion of funk, samba, and rock. Terrific songwriting and orchestration. Maybe a little less cuica on some tunes? If you want to know what created David Byrne, this is it.
Van Halen's debut album. That seems about enough.
A fun and often funny hyper-British proto-punk romp. Kinks meets Madness with a touch of Gary Glitter. Good times.
The definitive proton-punk album and one that still sounds fresh and fun decades later. It almost excuses the mind-numbing stupidity of the lyrics. The Stooges would put out better albums, but this one clearly helped set the direction for the future of rock.
A really fun album, remarkably early punk album that combines great tunes, solid musicianship, punk attitude and sneer, and a bit of spice with horns. I had never heard this album before and I'm now going whole hog into the Saints catalog. If you like early punk (Ramones, Damned), you will surely like this.
A punk rock opera, complete with progressive rock staples like multi-part suites. It sounds ridiculous, and it would be if the songs weren’t so damn good.
It has its moments, but on the whole seems inconsequential and a curious inclusion on this list. Numerous artists from which it is derivative would seem to have been better choices.
This is where it becomes obvious that this book was written by British music critics, because this is essentially a UK version of Weezer, but with worse songs, singing, and guitar playing. There are at least three Weezer albums that should have made the list ahead of this. All that said, this is fuzzed-out Power Pop with a Britpop flair, so what’s not to like?
It’s got an unmistakable ‘Dad rock’ vibe, and the under-developed songwriting can give the tunes a bit of sameness. But the band is tight, the guitar playing awesome, and it washes over you in a pleasant, warm bath kind of way that can make for an enjoyable listen.
Rewarding repeated listens, what comes across initially as self-indulgent chaos reveals itself over time as a lyrical, emotionally rich, and vivid musical experience.
A mostly enjoyable record with some real 5-star highlights, including the moody James Bond stylings of standout track “Black Heart.” But the album ultimately trips over itself with its broad eclecticism - moving from Americana to Latin to Country. As a result it feels less coherent than it otherwise could have been.
Overly long, but a trippy psychedelic journey executed by a tight band of true believers. Great entry point into a rewarding deep dive into the phenomenon of Hawkins.
A Dylanssqur collection of folk tinged short stories that is unlike most of Springsteen’s catalog. Delivered with a stripped down authenticity that fits the material
The guitar tone is irritating. The vocals are irritating. The 90s alterna-rock cliches are irritating. But Billy Corgan could write a good pop tune and there are some gems here as well. That said, its almost never worth the effort to find them.
B-minus grade 80s synth pop that pales relative to peers like Human League, New Order, and Depeche Mode, but still mostly fun and listenable if you are a fan of the genre. A more funky and danceable variation that at times sound like a combo of Chic and Kraftwerk
Fantastic album that combines great melodies, ragged and crunchy performances, and a couple of Young’s best tunes.
A harrowing and depressing concept album about drug addiction, domestic violence, and suicide that’s not the kind of record you want to spin that often. But it mostly works because of a strong set of tunes and a great backing band, even if it sometimes devolves into maudlin theatricality. Lou Reed sometimes gives off the vibe he’s phoning it in, but this remains one of the most ambitious statements in his catalog.
I love The Police, but the criticism that they are more of a singles band and that their albums are replete with filler is valid. There are also some elements, like the white reggae and Sting's self-importance, that can get cloying. But man what a tight, talented band with a gifted songwriter in Sting. Synchronicity is when they just began to jump the shark, and it's probably fortunate they broke up shortly thereafter. That said, there's plenty here to like - highlighted by Synchronicity II and a slew of hits. Not quite a 5-star record, but a damn fine one.
The fun novelty song "American Pie" dominates most of this record, and is nothing like the rest of it - a bunch of 70s era California folk singer-songwriter stuff in the vein, if not the quality, of Jackson Browne. Few of the tunes are all that memorable, and they can run together with a certain mopey sameness. It makes for an erratic listening experience, and not a particularly great album.
Bjork arrives with a major statement record and establishes herself as a creative force to be reckoned with. An incredibly visual and emotional record, brought most to life by the visceral sense of being inside a dance club. It’s less cohesive than some of her subsequent albums, but is nevertheless an astonishing debut.
An LSD soaked, naively childlike musical experience in the style of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd, some killer tunes (title track, “Season of The Witch”, “The Fat Angel”, “Celeste”) are interspersed amongst overly long hippy-dippy workouts (most egregiously, “Legend of a Girl Child Linda”. Most of the songs are simple and repetitive, which gives their 4+ minute running time an overlong feeling. An interesting exploration with some good tunes, but not a great album.
“Frownland”, the opening track, is so jarring and incomprehensible that it helps make most of the rest of the record actually seem a bit accessible. A free jazz style freakout that introduces the further complication of competing time signatures that come in and out of phase with each other, this album ends up being more interesting than actually enjoyable. I have heard it clicks after 8 or so listens. Not sure I will get there.
A record that feels more about style than substance, it’s a slick distillation of dub, R&B, and early 2000 indie pop. The songs are minimalist, and the tempos and melodies sort of morph into one another into a background music soundtrack. It’s perfectly listenable, but a bit boring. Seems a bit too cool for school.
Solid blues oriented jazz workouts by a terrific set of musicians.
90s power pop, but with some wonderfully crafted arrangements that recall the pop sophistication and songcraft of Burt Bacharach. And the “hey I know that song” moment of hearing “Lovefool.” Overall a strong album from a band I wasn’t familiar with.
An inexplicable mashup between Dad guitar rock histrionics, punk attitude, and post-punk / new wave orchestration that somehow works spectacularly. There is no other album quite like it, including the rest of Televisions’ catalog.
“You Can Call Me Al” is a banger, but on the whole this world music exploration by Paul Simon feels like the work of an artist who is running short on original ideas. Whether it amounts to “cultural appropriation” or homage, getting Simon’s watered down interpretation is a pretty safe and suburban way in which to scratch the world music itch. Simon is a tier one songwriter and that shines through on more than one occasion, but in the end the gimmick wears a bit thin.
Each Kate Bush album is an artistic experience. I wasn’t familiar with this one, but it’s no exception. A bit more adult in theme and sometimes wearied and even cynical in message, this is fantastic art pop that stands just a hair below the quality of her very best work, which makes it an absolutely terrific album.
Probably peak pre-Pet Sounds Beach Boys, this a catchy collection of simple, hummable summer beach songs, a few of which add minor elements of sophistication that hint at what’s to come. This is not high art and the lyrics can tend toward the sophomoric. But in the right mood this can pair well with a Corona and a sunny day.
Music that is eerily effective at evoking mood and image, but unlike earlier Kraftwerk outings these tunes also bring the pop goods. Repetitiveness is part of the recipe in creating the hypnotic visual state, and that can grate if not fully dialed into the experience. This ranks with the best electronic records of all time, and is certainly among Kraftwerk’s best.
I love 10cc - a collision between two pop songwriters and and two art rock songwriters creating sn explosive combination that reflects the push/pull tension of both directions. The result is simultaneously bewildering and exhilarating. Sheet Music is peak 10cc - within a few short years they would tear themselves apart, creating one of the great “what if” stories in rock history.
Immaculately produced and orchestrated, the layers upon layers of instrumentation benefit from listening on a high-end system or with a good set of headphones. It’s a demanding listen, as the album is well over an hour and all of the songs sit in the 6-7 minute range and develop in a slow, progressive fashion in the now classic post-rock model. An impressive achievement, but one that rewards attentive listening and the right mood to maximize its impact.
This album is widely regarded as Talking Heads’ best. It represents a major shift from the nervy post-punk of the early albums, and if I’m completely honest, I prefer that version of Talking Heads. This album combines funky dance rhythms with Brian Eno’s sound experimentation and some tasty guitar licks from Adrian Belew. The songs lack the conciseness of the earlier albums, and the rhythmic centricity and light melodies can make them feel repetitive. All that said, there are some truly terrific songs on here (Once In A Lifetime, Crosseyed and Painless, Listening Wind). But it’s not in my core stylistic wheelhouse. Give me “Fear Of Music” any day.
I consider myself an Elvis Costello fan, and consider his run of early albums as consistently great a run as any artist in popular music has ever produced. Brutal Youth is the first Costello album I’ve been served up from the 1001 list, and it’s not one I’ve heard before. After three listens, I’m confused as to why it’s on the list. It’s fine, but it simply does not approach either the songwriting consistency or fiery impact of his earlier albums despite being in largely the same style. There are a handful of good songs - Kinder Murder, 13 Steps Down, Sulky Girl - that would have fit just fine on earlier albums, but that’s half the record at best. On top of all of that, the production - which shoves Elvis’ voice super high in the mix - is annoying and robs the record of the propulsive energy that the Attractions can bring. There is nothing wrong with this record, but this is the first album I’ve listened to whose inclusion on the list is inexplicable.
This is afrobeat - jazz over African polyrhythms creating a jazzy but funky, hypnotic, jam band aesthetic which one could imagine as an amazing live experience, preferably outdoors. Others have touched on the protest nature of the music and the retribution and cost in brought to Kuti, and that context brought to the music takes it to even greater heights. Want to know where the Talking Heads "Remain In Light" came from? This is it.
Dirty puts the RAWK in noise rock, bringing Sonic Youth closer to their alt-rock contemporaries. It’s not as interesting to me as EVOL or Daydream Nation, and maybe an odd choice for this list, but a totally solid record
Something of a “Pet Sounds” of Motown, with incredibly rich orchestration and a fantastic vocal performance from Gaye. It’s also an unavoidably “important” record, dealing with a variety of political themes that still resonate today. The big three of “What’s Going On”, “Mercy Mercy Me”, and “Inner City Blues” are tremendous, and “Right On” is a great groove. Some of the other songs, notably “Save The Children” fall a bit flat and feel dated. But on the whole, it’s the real deal.
Peak Prince and one of his best albums - showcasing his talent as a songwriter, guitarist, and arranger across a blistering fusion of styles including funk, R&D, hard rock, and pop. This record made Prince a tier one star, and deservedly so.
I admit to loving Pink Floyd, and I find this to be one of their best albums. There are great songs on here like “Wish You Were Here” and “Have A Cigar”, but what makes this record work is the atmosphere and resulting hypnotic vibe it creates. A mesmerizing and enthralling listening experience that was a seminal one as a young person and still hits home to this day.
Sam Cooke cooks.
The prototypical classic rock band, complete with bland arena rock interpretation of blues rock with all the edges sanded off. It’s pleasant enough in a backyard BBQ dad rock sort of way, and a number of the tunes on here have been staples of FM radio for so long its hard to listen to them with an objective ear. This album is completely fine, which is its biggest problem.
Dylan is an acquired taste. But few artists provide quite the rewards of making the effort to acquire it as Dylan. This album stands out as it is the bridge between folk and electric Dylan, and you can still hear how side one of this record must have had the same impact as early punk rock. It’s got great tunes - both blues rockers and folk - but the added context of how it shaped music make it an essential album IMO.
An incredibly creative amalgam of funk, soul, post punk, doo wop, and noise rock - this proved to be one of the most original and exciting discoveries I’ve run across on this list. Not everything completely works, but this is an endlessly fascinating album that rewards multiple listens.
Seventeen Seconds is emblematic of “phase 2” of the Cure which would extend from this album into the following album “Faith”. This is the pure post-punk phase, before the tempos slow, the mood completely darkens, and the song lengths extend. I probably slightly prefer Pornography-era Cure to this, but if they never left this phase and reveled in it forever they would still be one of the great bands of the era. “A Forest”, “M”, “Secrets”, and “In Your House” are all essential.
Sort of an Irish “Darkness On The Edge of Town”, this album combines anthemic rock with traditional Irish music touches, merging the two in some places but also adeptly drifting between the two styles from track to track. Remarkably, it all works and is aided by strong songwriting and fantastic and emotionally rich performances that pop off the record. The album and many of its tracks are overly long - 57 minutes overall and a few individual tracks in the 7-9 minute range. That overindulgence aside, this is a remarkably affecting and well-crafted record.
It’s 60s style blues rock performed in a studio with a fake live audience piped in. The band is remarkably raw, and often off, for a studio performance. It feels like they are a live phenomenon that was trying to capture that energy in the studio to mixed results. Janis, of course, is an otherworldly talent, and she often delivers here - though there are moments, such as an “Summertime”, where her whiskey and nicotine infected delivery are distracting. Overall, it’s a fine 60s blues rock record, but mostly memorable because of Joplin.
A strong debut that probably was more impactful at the time then it is hearing it today. A mix of blues, jazz elements, psychedelic rock, and Jim Morrison's sophomoric poetry but electric presence, it is unique and fresh compared to much of the music of the time. Today it seems less so, but it comes out of the gate hot and only contains a few outright misses ("Alabama Song"). A legendary debut.
What do you do after scoring a surprise hit that has you all over MTV? Career reinvention / self-destruction in the Paul Wellee mode. An album of over-long and sometimes aimless pieces of sophista -pop with pointless conversational overlays. But, when it works it works (“This is What She’s Like”) and the album ends up being more enjoyable than it has any right to be. So is it a pretentious abomination or a lost masterpiece? Right smack dab in the middle.
A strange entry. As at least a peripheral Smiths fan I have always considered this both their weakest album and the point at which it became clear that Morrissey was pompous tool. Nevertheless the Smiths don’t really have a bad album, and I take its inclusion to mean there are more Smiths albums to come …
“Street Life” is a terrific if overly long Jazz/Funk/R&B groove. The rest of the album is easy listening jazz, with the best tracks (“Carnival Of The Night”) retaining some of those funk stylings. The weakest tracks are the definition of elevator music - pleasantly inoffensive but offering nothing.
An immaculately manufactured product that takes the Nirvana sound and molds it into a somewhat safer pop sheen, sanding down the edges and filling out the production to create an irresistible confection for the time. And it works, with the quick surface appeal of junk food. But something substantial is missing, and while it’s enjoyable it’s not something i feel compelled to ever come back to
This albums has some undeniable all-time great bangers on it, including "America", "Mrs. Robinson", and "Hazy Shade Of Winter". But it also has some truly trash filler, and it's a strange record in that it starts as what appears to be a high concept album ("Bookends") complete with a narrative, opening, and symphonic orchestration - but it bails on that midway through and then simply pastes a bunch of (admittedly great) singles on the back end. As such, it's a bit of an incoherent listen, and doesn't strike me as a fully realized album.
While the performances and grooves are strong, over the course of an album this fades into a pleasant but ultimately unmemorable set of easy listening jazzy R&B tunes. That background music feel makes it a rather dull active listening experience.
Along with CCR, this is the birth of Americana music - an amalgam of folk, country, and rock performed by world-class, if perpetually stoned, musicians. Some of it drags (in particular the ballads), but overall its an enjoyable listen that fits certain moods like a glove.
A big band party! Electrifying individual and collective performances, built around the core track ‘Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue’, are further enhanced by a live audience that is seriously dialed in (the studio retrofits on some tracks notwithstanding). As energizing and ‘rock and roll’ as jazz gets.
Inescapable bias here as this was on heavy rotation during those music formative college years, but I consider this peak R.E.M. as part of the period that includes the last years on IRS and the early years on Warner. This is definitely the band stretching for pop commercial appeal, and the sunny sheen stands in stark contrast to the more morose feel of the earlier (and then later) records. But the songs are absolutely first rate (the novelty hit "Stand" aside), and the band is on the absolute top of their powers.
I’m not a fan of reggae, and that colors this review. On first listen I found this repetitive and boring, but on subsequent listens it clicks, and the hypnotic nature of the grooves coupled with the incendiary lyrics make their mark. Add in the subtle touches such as the flute in “Give Deep” and it becomes slyly captivating. It’s never going to be my thing, and it's unlikely this will be on regular rotation, but full respect for moving my opinion on a genre I’m not fond of just a little bit.
If there is one artist for whom my appreciation has been markedly elevated as a result of this list so far, it is Kate Bush. This is pop music as uncompromising art, but is no less accessible because of it. I'm not sure this is my favorite Kate Bush album, but its in the running. And that distinction puts it on par with the best records on this list.
This is an album I’ve heard so many times that it’s difficult to objectively evaluate - I don’t need to hear “Where The Streets Have No Name” ever again. That said, it’s an undeniable anthemic statement, taking the proto-stadium rock of “War” and amping it up another level. The tunes are universally strong with zero filler, but you can also see hints of what would eventually make U2 annoying with the cloying and preachy rock star posturing. Still, this is an undeniable classic.
And with that, heavy metal - complete with all its durable tropes - is born. Killer riffs abound - a template for this band and much of heavy metal, emphasizing the riff over pure melody.The energetic if not yet overly tight rhythm section showing the bloom of its potential, and Ozzys distinctive vocals and ridiculously theatrical lyrics on top of all of it. Sabbath would go on to produce better albums, but they come out of the gates hot, and while the record loses a bit of steam toward the end it opens with a series of blistering tracks. There are some unusual flourishes here - in particular the blues orientation - that would not be repeated in future records. Any of Sabbath’s first five albums are 5 star affairs for me, and this one is memorable for establishing the template, both for themselves and for metal in general.
A surprising selection, and a band that is probably most well known for having one of its members killed in a drunk driving accident with Motley Crue's Vince Neil. I had heard a prior album before - "Self Destruction Blues" - so didn't come in completely blind. But this record is a bit different - sort of a mash-up between the New York Dolls and Cheap Trick. As such its undeniably fun, and you can see how these guys would be a compelling live act. But it also all sort of reads as derivative and inconsequential. A perfectly fine and fun record, but not something anyone "needs to hear before they die."
Smooth, smoky, jazzy R&B with pop hooks, a tight band, and a sultry singer. The genre is not really my jam as I find the overall effect a bit sleepy, but it is well crafted sophisticated pop that is an easy listen.
I was quite familiar with Loveless, an album I always felt was more interesting and innovative than a truly compelling and enjoyable listen. This record is quite different - a pre-shoegaze version of the band that hints at what's to come on songs link "All I Need". But this MBV is a post-punk band, and a damn good one at that. My new favorite MBV album.
An album that blew my mind when I first heard it in high school, and one that credibly stands as perhaps the best album by the best metal band of all time - and by extension a good case can be made that its the best metal album of all time. Killer riffs, sophisticated and often prog-like songs structures, and surprising melodic touches. The leaps Metallica was making during this period is extraordinary. A landmark record.
An often strange record where Alice Cooper's theatricality comes to the fore - most spectacularly in "Gutter Cat vs The Jets". But that's not to say it's short of more traditional rockers - beyond the title track there's also "Luney Tune", "My Stars", and "Public Animal #9". There even a lounge-y jazz tune on this record with "Blue Turk". Overall a creative and adventurous record that's a ton of fun.
I have found the reverence for solo John Lennon somewhat perplexing. His three solo records prior to the breakup of the Beatles are universally unlistenable. "Plastic Ono Band", because of its raw confessionalism, overrates what is a fairly weak set of songs. And then there is this record, where Lennon's self-importance and insecurity wrestle with each other. I generally preferred Lennon's Beatles material to McCartney's, but as solo artists I have the opposite opinion. All that said, this is probably front-to-back the strongest and most consistent of Lennon's solo output, with strong rockers ("Gimme Some Truth") and ballads ("Jealous Guy"). Things mostly went downhill from here, so this is Lennon at his solo peak.
A sprawling double album exploring a range of musical styles from ska to punk to pop to indie rock. It’s a record that shares both the rewards and downsides of other noteworthy double albums in rock history such as The White Album, Exile On Main Street, London Calling, and Tusk - and that is an unfocused quality where the music veers all over the road and one can make the tired argument that it would benefit from single disc consolidation. But that unfocused nature is part of its unique charm, and this record does indeed angle for inclusion with those other greats listed above - warts and all. A terrific double album just short of a masterpiece.
Terrific period soul that is well executed and delivers a chill vibe throughout, but is brought over the top by a handful of truly terrific tunes. This includes the title track, of course, but also “La-La For You”, “I’ve Never Found A Girl (That Loves Me Like You Do)”, and the blues workout “It Ain’t No Fun To Me.” There are a number of records on this list where the silky smooth delivery is most of the story. Not so with this record - this one also brings the tunes.
This is peak early queen - vestiges of their prog-rock origins remain but have been streamlined and tightened, the operatic pop song craft is there in its early nascent form, and the killer crunching guitar riffs as on “Now I’m Here” are present throughout. Queen would go on to produce more acclaimed albums, but none that rocked quite like this one.
Have never listened to a Taylor Swift album front to back, this despite the fact that my daughter is a huge fan. This record was assuredly not what I was expecting. This is modern pop folk wiith great melodies merged with a literal storytelling lyrical style - sort of a latter day Suzanne Vega. I don’t know that this has sufficient originality to warrant inclusion on this list (Suzanne Vega’s first or second album would probably have been a more thoughtful choice), but this is entirely pleasant and something I would listen to again. Solid, strong even, if not groundbreaking.
Joni is an acquired taste, and I can honestly say the first time I heard this album I was bewildered by it. The vocal stylings can be abrasive, and the melodies are not straightforward and sometimes difficult to track. But with repeated listening, and broader exploration of her catalog, it starts to click. Blue is one of the most accessible records in her more mature period, and while not my favorite it is undeniably brilliant and among the most emotionally resonant pop music ever produced. Worthy of all the accolades.
Simply extraordinary and one of the greatest albums of all time
As new wave started to get long in the tooth, some of its more ambitious adherent began incorporating broader influences into the sound, including jazz, R&B, soul, electronica, and even classical touches. This traces the same development of progressive rock in the 70s, and it introduces both the same pitfalls and same possibilities. The Blue Nile fall squarely into this camp - this is classic 80s “sophists-pop” in the same vein as bands like The Style Council and Prefab Sprout. If you enjoy the ambition and creativity as I do, this is an enjoyable listen (and a fantastic sounding record because of its odd origins). If you don’t, this will come across as pretentious pablum. To each his own.
Yikes. Music to frustrate and exhaust. I typically like to listen to records suggested by this list that I haven’t heard at least twice. The thought of enduring this sometimes interminable 75 minute experience twice had me in something of a cold sweat. But repeated listening does help - and what feels initially like random indulgent exploration reveals itself as more intentional songcraft. This is progressive rock/jazz and it is pulled off in impressive fashion. Admittedly, the record can come across as something more to be admired than enjoyed, and its overall length - both individual tracks and as a whole - tends to pulverize the listener into submission. When it’s over, there is a feeling of relief. But as a performative achievement it is truly something astonishing. And that alone warrants recognition.
An album that starts out strong as a lost Buffalo Springfield or Neil Young record with “Darkness, Darkness”, but then jumps from there and springs out into several disconnected directions from pop to bluegrass to country to lounge jazz. The musicians are talented, but few of the songs are truly memorable, creating a sometimes interesting and diverse musical journey but one that is inconsistently executed. In the end this is a perfectly fine record that that isn’t party noteworthy.
Maiden! One of the great metal bands of all-time and, along with Judas Priest, among the most durable of the original NWOBHM heavyweights. Their harmonized dual guitar attack, increasingly progressive song structure (only hinted at here), operatic vocal delivery, and completely ridiculous lyrics left an indelible mark on the genre. An argument can be made that this is their best album, and as the first with new lead singer Bruce Dickinson it would set the template for the string of strong albums to come. A classic of the genre, and a great album overall.
This record is not without it’s moments - the Prince send-up “Blow” or the slow burn R&B of “Rocket” are both real high points, but on the whole it feels like antiseptic, manufactured pop carefully assembled for mainstream success (perhaps its the 44 writers, directors, and producers that were involved in its production). Just not my jam, even if I can appreciate the spectacle of it. But on the whole it leaves me cold.
A seminal album in the folk-pop revival that emerged in the mid to late 80s with strong melodies and thoughtful lyrics that touch on the full array of topics in the folk tradition - including protest songs. “Fast Car” remains the album’s highlight, but there are others nearly as good. And it all wraps up in a tight package of less than 40 minutes.
Take the theatricality of Scott Walker, the vocal stylings of Neil Diamond, the lyrical storytelling of Randy Newman stripped of all its humor and charm, and stir it all up and amp up the campy melodrama to 11 and you have some idea of what you will encounter with this album. Listening to this record is more akin to hearing a Broadway soundtrack, and because of that it gets points for originality as I can't recall hearing anything quite like it. It succeeds best on the ballads where it is more traditional - tunes like "Another Friday Night" or "Waiting For The Moving Van." On the other hand, the talk-sung stories and ragtime sendups border too close to the ridiculous. I give it 2 stars for interesting, but can't see revisiting it.
A innovative band that arguably ushered in both dream pop and shoegaze, the Twins have never been my favorite flag carriers of either genre. More atmospheric mood music than performative pop, the indecipherable lyrics, wailing vocal delivery, and irritatingly artificial electronic drums all drenched in excessive reverb don’t create for me the mesmerizing, “ethereal” vibe that other reviewers cite - it’s just a style that seems alternately pompous and unnecessary. The songwriting is hit or miss - it would improve markedly on the subsequent “Heaven or Las Vegas” - but here for every “Lorelei” there’s an “Otterlay”. At their greatest heights this band approaches, grandeur, but this album is not that.
Never listened to this band before, and while the genre isn’t really in my wheelhouse, this is so exceptionally executed that it gets a solid thumbs up even if I’m unlikely to ever spin it again. This is arena filling electronic pop with huge melodies and hooks it’s impossible not to have worm their way into your brain. Fun record
Fun, catchy, bar band roots rock - it’s a collection of mostly simple but catchy rock songs that boogie, swing, twang, and groove. It is for sure not high art, and Elvis Costello’s songwriting would get substantially more sophisticated in the albums that would follow, and the performance would have more bite with the addition of the Attractions. But this is a great and fun introduction to one of the great songwriters of the late 70s and 80s.
Not Breakfast In America, but the album that captures Supertramp in the midst of their evolution from a prog band to a pop band. It’s something of a transitional album, making it perhaps their most interesting even if it’s not their best. Hodgson’s tunes, like “Dreamer”, lean more pop, while Davies’ songs like “Asylum” retain the prog explorations. But this is really the album where Supertramp came into their own, and as a mix of progressive, art pop, and arena rock - it’s a fun listen.
On the surface, this should be an album I love. I'm a fan of metal and hard rock, and like quite a bit of grunge. And this record does have some absolute bangers with great riffs - among them "Down In A Hole" and "Rain When I Die". But there is something about some of the stylistic choice - among them the odd interval harmonies - that just grates. A poster child for everything I hate about this band is "Rooster", which is both ponderous and annoying. If you like this style of music, this is unequivocally a 5* record. But for me it just misses the mark.
Sprawling, shambolic, and varied - this is the classic statement double album that veers experimentally all over the road. Grounded principally in a merger of 60s art rock (Velvets, Leonard Cohen) and the dance grooves of the Madchester scene (Inspiral Carpets, Happy Mondays), it’s an album that is of some distance from Julian Cope’s more new-waveish work with The Teardrop Explodes and on his earlier solo records like Saint Julian. The backing band here is truly terrific, and as a whole while there are some inevitable missteps (Pristeen is a bit of a limp opener, and East Easy Rider is just groove without much behind it), it’s a truly masterful creative work and probably the best thing Cope has done.
A Hammond organ led collection of instrumental covers, a number of them blues standards. “Green Onions” is the clear standout track, but there are a number of others that work well including “I Got A Woman” and “I Can’t Sit Down”. The band is tight and the performances are solid, but ultimately a collection of instrumental covers can only inspire so much passion. This is good background music for the right vibe, but outside of “Green Onions” its hard to get too worked up.
Ah, the rock opera. There is no denying the singular ambition of this record. Unlike other concept albums that preceded it - SF Sorrow and Sgt Peppers as noteworthy examples - “Tommy” has a plot that (sort of) holds together via a narrative flow throughout the whole album, though it is an oddly bizarre story. There are also some great musical moments spread across the record - including “Pinball Wizard”, “The Acid Queen”, and “Go To The Mirror.” The problem lies in reconciling the plot with the music. It sometimes feels like songs are inserted for plot purposes, which weakens the record as they can come across as filler musically. Because of that, the albums doesn’t quite reach the heights it aspires to, particularly when compared to the much tighter “Who’s Next” which was relieved of the narrative constraints when the Lifehouse project was flushed. But Tommy is still both a unique artistic achievement and a (mostly) solid collection of songs, even if it doesn’t quite reach the heights it sought to.
I’m an unabashed Britpop fan, and I had three Doves albums I hadn’t listened to in decades bouncing around in my collection, so it was with some curiosity this one popped up on the listen list. Doves follow in the late Britpop style that was inspired by early Radiohead and have a sound that is reminiscent of Coldplay and to a slightly lesser extent Muse. The neutered, safe, adult contemporary stylings that are irritating in Coldplay are present here, but to a much lesser degree. The record is far too sterile to inspire much passion, but it is a solid ‘down the fairway’ mix of pop and light art rock. If you like Coldplay, you will probably love this.