Instantly loved the intro Peace Go With You, Brother - so tranquil, sad and interestingly produced (listen in headphones). The rest was a bit more "your general jazzy sound" for me - pleasant, but unmemorable. Another gem is ballad Song for Bobby Smith. Album as a whole is about dubious politics and hard life of black americans
Emotional, raw and witty. Unique voice. Clear inspiration for Adele, but funkier. Not something I'd like to listen to often though, beside Back to Black, which is an old time favorite.
Interesting to see cover album here. Some of the rock songs covered are my favorites, but I can admit, Cash did them justice. Hurt sounds like a different tune (love both deeply). Bridge Over Troubled Water is too good as it was, no one beats SaG at duets, but is was a nice take. I Hung My Head've come home with this album. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face is just beautiful. With Hurt, two of my favorites here. Personal Jesus by Cash sounds awkward to me, though piano is fun. Desperado suddenly turned into grandpa's loving pep talk, which fits the lyrics perfectly. Ironically, I've enjoyed Cash's own songs the least in the album. Apparently a different genre song covered by a country singer is as much country as I can take. As a whole American IV gives you an impression of wise old man contemplating his life, love and what will come after.
In most songs I found the vocals and the way it produced grating and hard to listen (Whispering Pines being the exception).
I found Sea Change utterly unmemorable maudling and bleak, especially vocal-wise. The only exciting moment came at the end of Lonesome Tears. However, the reviews made me check out previous Beck's works and I found them way more enjoyable. There is even some life to his voice and you can decipher words. Maybe if you follow his career in the right order, Sea Change gets a few points for being different?
It is such an American album from the title track to baseball nostalgia, I just feel like I am out of context here to really connect with lyrics even after reading up on it. Musically it haven't grasped me either.
Not my favorite of Bowie, but up there and a good introduction (I think HD is among the least wierd Bowie albums). Life on Mars is phenomenal, also, listening to early Bowie, I just noticed how well and clear Hunky Dory sounds (compared to, say, TMWSTW, which I still enjoy more bc mood).
Fun political fem punk. Listening to the whole album at once got me tired fast. They sound interesting, but songs are very alike and quite grating to the ear, which, yeah, fits the message alright. I think I'm going to enjoy Le Tigre way more one song at a time in a playlist (Deceptacon, Eau D'Bedroom Dancing and Hot Topic go in there for sure). Slideshow At Free University genuinely made me laugh. Interestingly, they may be an inspiration for some modern groups I enjoy.
The lyrics are cryptic and sad, the music is peaceful and 70s, no question about age here. I would probably say more about some songs, but got lulled to sleep in the middle.
So cheezy, so adolenscent... "I'm kissing the lips that I'm missing", "I love you madly, you treat me badly" - all right, gents, that's early stuff, got it. Still strange that The Beatles of Yesterday, Come Together and Eleanor Rigdy had blown up with this. It was a fun way to shake the dust off the legends.
21 reason why I don't like punk, or variations of noise. The idea of short biting tracks is interesting, but in reality they sound the same bad to me.
Now, this is a discovery, this is the music I want to dance on, despite the (probably? Couldn't find the lyrics) sombre message, or, likely, because of it. I think, I need to dig into desert blues now. Loved Soubour, Al Hassidi Terei and Desert Melody.
Beautiful vocals, very heartfelt performance and yet, this album is exactly the type of music that sounds great at dinner but on itself makes me want to nod off.
It seems to be an album that you either love to pieces, or get a bad headache from, and I'm among the last category.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Am I going to ever see the appeal of pure electronic?
This album took me some time to rate, because it seemed interesting, but for whatever reason I couldn't get into it.
Whenever I hear a snippet of any of the "sad" Cure songs, I think wow and check it out and then check out the album and then can't differentiate between that one song and any other in it. Somehow I like The Cure and don't. This album is just like that, it's full of songs I kind of enjoy, but can't memorize or really care about, which is tragic, because everything I know about the band and Mr Plant is awesome, and his voice is awesome, and they look like a perfect match to me. There wasn't a song I didn't like in 17 seconds, nor particularly loved, but I've picked M and A Forest as favorites.
Wild album. It feels like it should come with a Broadway show. Not very pleasing to the ear or profound, but a fun listen. Thank God It's No Christmas goes to Christmas playlists
If Johny Cash made me question the way I feel about country music for a moment, Dolly Parton set things stright back. I'm sorry, ladies, it sounds horrible.
Every Bruce Springsteen album here reminds me that I'm too young and non-American for a solid part of this list.
This is the fun one. Fits perfectly for a specific mood, while hardly being groundbreaking and having a bunch of really hideous tracks. The treak, I guess, is to not take Blur too seriously, but than, even Blur didn't take this album serious, why people try? On Your Own, You are So Great and Look inside America hurt my ears and Song 2 is ruined by all the commercials it was in. But Beetlebum, Country Sad Ballad Man, Death Of the Party and Strange News from Another Star are the highlights.
This album desperately needs weeding. Most of the songs are just weak. Others feel undercooked and would gain from having more time and effort spent on each of them. Music is repetitive, vocals go from bad to nice but as a whole this is unlistenable.
Listening to a rap album start to end is a big step out of my comfort zone. And in this case it was rewarded. Do I now like rap? No. But I can appreciate the idea behind this work (with the help of lyrics explanations, cause it requires deciphering), the choice of instrumentals, the production and musicality in "To Pimp A Butterfly". It also gives you something to think about beyond the sound. The biggest discovery on 1001 journey so far, because never ever would I just listen to it on my own.
This is an album of perfect OSTs that never were. There's so much space for something else in this album: be it a complimenting video, prominent instrumental solo or vocals from people actually opening their mouths for singing. What is on it is beautiful and stylish, but for most tracks it is not enough to grasp me emotionally or intellectually. Highlights: intro, Crystalised, Night Time.
I could never understand why that guy is so loved beyond doing big stages, this album changed nothing. Corny, gllib, squeaky, overproduced - truly Bad (excl. Smooth Criminal).
With all love to classic rock, The Rolling Stones were never among my favorites. They have great songs, but most of them aren't that interesting to me and kind of repetetive. Sticky Fingers is great as it has two songs I actually enjoy (Can't you hear me knocking and I Got the Blues) and one I love (Sister Morphine). As an album experience, I would gladly relisten to it second half, but the start was shaky.
I do appreciate the irony, but not so much the music here.
"the Beatles meets Simon and Garfunkel" it is. It's a very nice, chill album of guitars and vocal harmonies.
One of my favorites here, so, no discoveries, loads of love. Radiohead started with the music I loved as a teen (Street Spirit in my heart still) and moved to the music I do love now: complex and daring, but full of personality, musicality and feelings.
Everything by REM sounds alright to me, but this is far from their best. Document sounds really clear and well done, but no songs really stood out to me. Personally, I find murky sound of Murmurs and 90s R.E.M. more interesting.
Guitars played like balalaikas make me sad
This album has a bombastic start, Starman for a cherry on top in the middle, and good, but not great finish. I love that album, couldn't give it less than 5.
How did I miss Pulp? They sound like something that should have been on my radar for a long time now. Love the ridiculousness of the lyrics, the raw charisma of vocals, the social commentary hidden in between of all that drama, and the sound. No bad track on the album.
Main vocals are too torchuring to comprehend anything else about this.
I feel bad to automatically rate (almost!) every rap album low, but to me that sounds like an audiobook with bad background music.
This one hurt me. Tina Turner has got one of the most memorable, recognizable and emotionally charged voices of the time. I love her singing. Yet, I hate your typical 80s sound. Private dancer combines those two, and even has a cute cat on the cover, yet the good doesn't win here. I'm sorry, Tina.
The release date for this is sure respectable, but I found no joy in this outside of historical perspective.
I do appreciate how stylish, imaginative and well produced it is. Yet, I can't name a song on Archaandroid that grabbed my attention, or made me feel anything beyond intellectual approval. Another album that would be great as soundtrack or background music on a venue, but not as charged and encompassing as I prefer it to be.
I thought the generator is bugged, when I heard Teach Your Children again, but no, it is just same guys +1 giving me a Deja Vu. Contrary to common opinion, I actually prefer their earlier sound as just CSN.
The great randomize decided to feed me all Neil Young in the list this week. Maybe that why every new album sees me less enthusiastic. There are really bad songs on this one. Most are ok songs. I thought I'm going to love Broken Arrow for about half of the song. But overall it's not my cup of tea.
How did I only know one song from this album? I love it. Garbage provides charismatic vocal delivery layered over dark, hazy atmosphere. And the blending of genres stops it from being repetetive. The first half flies by effortlessly, and though the second does drag a bit, I'm willing to ignore it. Also, having Only Happy When It Rains in such a gloomy album is an ironic statement of respectable proportions.
I've had lots of fun reading this album's lyrics with commentaries. It was a blast. But as it is not just poetry, but a music album, I can't ignore how horrendous it sounds. Take the worst of the worst - 80s mess of generic synth music - and layer above a distinguished gentleman monotonous reading. It can't work and I'm shocked, that, apparently, at some point in time in Canada it did. Anyway, there are a whole bunch of covers that give lyrics justice, and that's the best thing about 'I'm your man' to me.
I found Doolittle to have lots of noise, hardly exemplary vocals, and cryptic lyrics saying everything and nothing in songs that sometimes end before they begin. And yet, it has its charm. By the middle, the Pixies had won me over with their energy—not unlike Nirvana in my school years, but minus Cobain’s voice and plus better music. It must be a rare album where I’d prefer to remove vocals on some tracks and just enjoy the wall of sound undisturbed (Dead, I’m looking at you). There’s just enough versatility here to keep things interesting, but not so much that the album starts to sound all over the place. That’s something I’ve started to appreciate more and more while going through the 1001 Albums list. Best: Monkey Gone to Heaven, Hey, Tame, Wave Of Mutilation Worst: Dead, Here Comes Your Man, Crackity Jones, La La Love You
We're Only in It for the Money is a sad example of an album, that should have been a stand up show. There are lots of very thick satire, noise and talking, and not nearly enough good music in it. As soon as I start liking a song, it gets ruined by the band's wish to be annoying. I take this album being included in the list as its authors' personal statement. Leave my psychedelic dungeons alone, Frank Zappa.
My soul is so dark, this type of feel good groovy funky music leaves me cold and uninterested. It is probably objectively good, but I can't recall a song from it, or a motive, or anything of note on the next day after listening to it.
Half of this album is sang better by someone else, originaly or as a cover. Another half failed to blow my mind either. I don't much appreciate this manner of singing, so, no surprises.
The Colour of Spring is an album that requires context. I'd listened to it mostly unaware of the band's history, and was confused. Checking out Talk Talk before and after 1986 explained things alright. Going from It's My Life to this is wild, yet, TCoS clearly takes a lot from their roots and steeps in a direction unknown at the time. The wind of change is strong in this one, and i love it. Percussion was surprisingly vivid, but the mixing gives shine to every instrument here. Even Harmonica didn't bother me too much. The Colour of Spring just sounds good. That Rolling Stone critic, who dropped the album rating, ruined his karma. What I didn't like as much is pounding one-liner choruses to infinity and beyond, yes, despite Life's What You Make It being an overall cool track. Mark Hollis has an awesome voice, I wouldn't mind hearing more of him here and there with some variety in lyrics and musical phrasing. I liked The Colour of Spring more on a second listen and that's telling. Best: I Don't Believe In You, Life's What You Make It, Chameleon Day.
As far as hip-hop goes, this is a fun album. Tough to the ears with so much shouting and longer than I'd prefer, but diverse and tasteful in motives and samples (espetially in the second half) enough to provide a good experience for a non hip hop fan. Best tracks: instrumental ones.
"I'll tell you this, no eternal reward will forgive us now / For wasting the dawn." I love Morrison as the lyricist and frontman. Even if much of this album doesn’t connect with me, when it does land - it lands. "I had money, yeah, I had none / But I never been so broke that I couldn't leave town." The first half of L.A. Woman is bluesier, more rock’n’roll Doors. While I adore The Changeling (and The WASP) lyrically, I generally prefer their heavier sound. But from L’America onward they deliver - apparently an unpopular opinion. Hyacinth House is as beautiful and tragic as the Greek myth it echoes, with instrumentation to match. And Riders on the Storm, despite overuse, remains iconic. That melody, the rainstorm backdrop, Morrison’s nonchalant delivery: a perfect fatalistic ode. It’s so monumental that the rest of the album pales in comparison. For me, this is an uneven record that builds toward the band’s peak artistry (Riders). A strong finale is great, but it also turnes L.A. Woman into a sort of waiting game. Favourites: Riders On the Storm, The Changeling, Hyacinth House
I'd known a handful of songs from Paranoid before, of course, but I'd never listened to it straight through - and what a mistake that was. The opening trio alone - War Pigs into Paranoid into Planet Caravan - is sick. A hard-hitting anti-war protest slams into a song about losing your mind, then drifts into mellow cosmic bliss. Even if the connection exists only in my head, I love the emotional whiplash - it shows the album's incredible range. And don't sleep on Planet Caravan - it is essential here. Then Iron Man kicks off the "tech horror" suite - all wicked riffs and apocalyptic imagery. Electric Funeral might be my favorite track, with its killer guitar run and nuclear dread hammering home War Pigs' message. Meanwhile, Hand of Doom and Fairies Wear Boots dissect other society's sicknesses. Paranoid might be the first perfect album I've encountered. It's dynamic yet concise, packed with bangers (zero filler), and balances raw energy with deep social commentary. Every melody sticks, every message lands. Truly music for both the mind and the heart.
This album starts with its worst, but gets better on the B-side, especially with the slower songs. I feel like energetic old-school hard rock about the pleasures of rockstar life didn’t age well in general. Can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the vocals here. Basically, nothing exciting happens vocal-wise through the album, though in some songs he sounds better than in others (Look At Last Nite). The instrumentals in Gudbuy Gudbuy shine (but repetitive one-word chorus grates fast). When you realize Ziggy and The Slider happened in the same year, Slayed? starts to sound dated and unimaginative too. Best: Look At Last Nite, Gudbuy Gudbuy, I Don't Mind
Somehow the things you know best are the hardest to rate. I've never aspired to be an objective judge of good taste (as art perception is inherently a subjective matter), but songs that I grew up with and know by heart from listening to the same 10 CDs over and over occupy a different space in my brain than any of the more recent findings. Say, Nirvana. I've heard Smells Like Teen Spirit so many times I kind of hate the song, but automatically want to start ugly dancing to it. I adored Come As You Are, Lithium, and Something In The Way before I could fathom what the hell they were even about. Kurt Cobain and Amy Lee were my first (and only truly star) crushes. That all being said, I haven't willingly listened to Nirvana in years. Nevermind is a crazily energetic album. You start jumping on SLTS, you don't exactly have time (and reason) to stop. Those messy 4 chords on repeat, a good rhythmic section and loud-quiet sequences work well. Kurt's voice is not for everyone, but I always found him very memorable and full of personality, which can be more important than technical perfection. Meanwhile, the lyrics can be pretty disturbing. Nevermind is filled with rage over a lot of things apparently, and a wish to be different, that managed to capture rebellious and secretly fragile teen spirit. "I'd rather be dead than cool" - said the author of the biggest party hymn of troubled youth on the same album that has Polly. It's hard for me nowadays to take Nirvana's protest as serious as they wanted it to be taken. Yet, it's a powerful album, that radically changed the musical landscape in the 90s for a reason, and provides a good listening experience (if you're in the right mood).