1001 Albums Summary

Call it my musical inexperience but it really reminds me of Fallout lol, I feel like playing it just after listening to the first couple of songs. It's a very pleasant listen, very cosy. I appreciated the instrumental songs sprinkled in every now and again, broke things up nicely. What a strong start to my 1001 albums lol. For My Baby reminded me of that one Pixar short, I think the snowman one? I noticed it like halfway through and it made it even better. Body And Soul was so cool, as the first instrumental song it surprised me a bit since I expected vocals, but the tempo and style changes were interesting. Oh, Marie wasn't bad but I thought it was cool when the saxophone echoed his gibberish in that one part. Buona Sera felt like it slowed things down a little after the hugely energetic Jump, Jive An' Wail and starts off romantic and cool and nice and good, but when it kicks in and you get that sax solo later, ooof. The sounds he was making on Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days were funny. Good song but was caught off guard, had a very nice and explosive ending. Banana Split For My Baby was very charming with the lyrics, just waffling in the best way possible about putting whipped cream and a pizza on the banana split, guy's just laughing on the track as he's singing, hella charming. The whistling is so catchy in Whistle Stop. Be Mine wasn't my favourite choice of an ending track but it was decent enough, maybe swapping Be Mine and Whistle Stop might've been better, imho. FAVOURITES - Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody; Body And Soul; Buona Sera; Banana Split For My Baby LEAST FAVOURITES - The Lip; You Rascal You

Interesting one. When I first opened the album I was surprised to see only 4 tracks and thought it'd be a short one, only to see the last track Mode D / E / F is almost 19 minutes in length lol. Unfortunately I just don't seem to really get it. Often, a lot of things were going on at once and I didn't quite see how it fit together; other times weren't as bad, but then I was waiting for a satisfying progression that never came about. I think there's a world where I can come to appreciate this album more, I did relisten to the final track a short while after the initial album listen and it did bear more fruit than expected, but I'm not crazy enough about the rest of the tracks to really try to cram it into the 'enjoying' part of my brain. Track A isn't the best start, perhaps somewhat slower than I imagined it'd be going in. Sometimes I thought the amount of instruments playing at once was a bit overwhelming. It seems to contrast the idea of it being meant for a solo dancer, intentional or not. I feel pretty similar about Track B. I became a bit more interested when things started to pick up into somewhat of a swing rhythm but it never really went anywhere satisfying for me unfortunately. Track C was thankfully a bit of a turning point. I can't quite put my finger on why but it feels a lot more cohesive and interesting to me. The Spanish(?) guitar in the middle was a fun touch. Later on in the song it seemed to fall into the same ways that made me not really vibe well with the first two songs but I definitely enjoyed it more on the whole. [First Listen] Mode D / E / F feels like more of the same. I noticed a part of Track C which I liked reappear here so maybe it's clearly supposed to act as a culmination but I couldn't really tell you if anything else is being referenced again here. Just feeling a bit worn out halfway through. It's a shame because there are parts I do like, in this track and throughout the record but it's all hidden throughout parts I find confusing and not that enjoyable. [Second Listen] I decided to listen to Mode D / E / F again since my friend had a completely different view on the album to me. I think my feelings on the other tracks will remain the same but I can at least say I like this track in particular a little bit more now that I've had a break from listening. It kinda sucks that it's at the end, I don't think that does it any favours. FAVOURITES - Track C; Mode D / E / F LEAST FAVOURITES - Track A

Cover is super cool lookin; idk why it appears more muted on Spotify, the colours make it really striking. It's interesting seeing how the two most played songs from the record are also within the three longest (not counting the live tracks), especially since most popular music in modern times don't even cross the 4 minute mark. Overall, I enjoyed the listen, in a vacuum I liked most of the songs, but while there's a good pacing and variation to the tracklist, the overall vibe still feels a little too samey? I'm a fan of cohesion in the sound of an album but here it's almost a little too obvious? I don't think I'm using the right words to express what I'm trying to say here but I feel like now that I've heard the album in full, I'd be better off simply listening to songs on their own rather than back to back again. Also, I expected a lot more of a Hell theme, given the cover and some names of the tracks, and I do wish they explored it more. By the cover, I was expecting a bit of a darker, more evil tone to the album, and the titular track Bat Out of Hell doesn't really provide that, but it's a great representation of what's to come, and I wasn't disappointed. Despite being very nearly 10 minutes long, it doesn't overstay its welcome, and I think it uses the time well to really deliver the introductory vibe it's looking for. The album's musical roots are very apparent here especially. The introductory skit (probably not the correct word for it?) of You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth was funny and intriguing but was a bit too drawn out for my taste (no pun intended), it'd be annoying to sit through for each returning visit if I wasn't able to skip for whatever reason. The song itself wasn't bad, but I wish it developed itself more as it went on like the track before it, not really worth the minute-long intro. The pace pleasantly slows down a bit with Heaven Can Wait, and the melodies are nice. It does sort of fit the album, at least judging by what's come before it, though I'm surprised to hear such a peaceful sounding song considering the last track was literally talking about a wolf chomping on a girl's throat, whether it's literal or not lol. The saxophone was a easily highlight on All Revved Up with No Place to Go. The change in tempo for the final 30 seconds or so got me like Wowza! How Nifty!, really enjoyable and it kinda sucks that it wraps up so soon after it begins, I kinda preferred that to the rest of the song honestly. Two Out of Three Ain't Bad is another song on the slower side, but the instrumental feels a bit more full and feels more in-line with the rest of the album. Definitely a highlight of the record, for me. Something about the sounds at the beginning of Paradise By the Dashboard Light almost primed me to not really like the track but it's clearly the most streamed currently for a reason, it's fine. Similar to the titular track of the album, the length isn't an issue through the changes in rhythm and tempo, although it isn't quite as 'cinematic'(??) as said track. Was a bit disappointed that the middle of the track wasn't more fleshed out, I thought it was going somewhere that wasn't just an intermission sandwiched in between the two major sections of the song. I did enjoy the rest of the song enough, however. For Crying Out Loud had a really strong and powerful second half, and while the first half was cool for what it was I think I'd need to hear it again in isolation to appreciate how it long it takes before it reaches the song's full potential. FAVOURITES - Bat Out of Hell; Two Out of Three Ain't Bad LEAST FAVOURITES - You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth

Doolittle is an album with a lot of variation and ideas. Not all of them work for me personally: especially the beginning two tracks, which made me worry I wasn't going to like the record at all, but thankfully a lot of said ideas did hit for me. There's clear talent here with the infectious melodies, good pacing and clever experimentation that create something really special, and truly worth sitting through, even if some songs don't quite hit for you. Starting with Debaser, can immediately say I do not like this guy's voice here. The rest of the song is kinda nice if I block him out, but then the main singer sounding like the sort of guy you'd avoid in public, screaming from the corner of the room, is too off-putting to really enjoy the song. I expected to feel similarly about Tame, but it honestly wasn't as bad. The screaming kinda blended into the track more and kinda worked with the blaring guitars, so it didn't bother me as much, and I kinda liked it when he was more whispering, though the heavy breathing a couple thirds into the song was again off-putting. Still, not as bad for me. Wave of Mutilation was a lot more enjoyable. If it wasn't already obvious enough, I do not like it when the main vocalist is screaming lol, so this was a huge fresh air. It wasn't the most interesting song, but after the previous two I can't help but give it credit. I can't say the same for I Bleed, which is both more interesting and also doesn't have the screaming. The main vocalist's almost eccentric inflections compliment the more traditional singing behind it, all featured on a slightly eerie instrumental, creates a fascinating listen that I can vibe with. Here Comes Your Man is a break from the experimentation, and is pretty catchy. I love the choice of guitar on Dead, perfectly mirrors the visceral undertones of the track. I loved the chorus of Monkey Gone to Heaven. I'm not really a fan of the spoken-word-esque verse delivery but I really love how the rest of the song sounds so maybe it's something I can get used to. Especially appreciate the brief plucking of strings appearing intermittently throughout. The tempo changes and faster pace in Mr. Grieves was also super enjoyable. This is the point of the album where I realised how far my opinion had changed since the beginning of listening, for the better. Crackity Jones sees another fast-paced song with unhinged inflections in the chorus and I'm here for it. I can see the appeal by La La Love You, but I found it unengaging at best and whiny at worst. Almost reminds me of a budget The Smiths song lol. No 13 Baby isn't at all offensive or 'bad', but is rather uninteresting compared to the more experimental tracks, is not as appealing as some of the more catchy tracks, and falls into this weird no man's land of something I don't mind playing but probably won't revisit often, if at all. It's the longest track on the album and it unfortunately shows too, I felt it dragging on. There Goes My Gun didn't do much for me either, but the guitar riffs and the guitar solo were nice at least. Hey is a similar story to the previous track, with a nice guitar and not bad everything else, but overall feels more fleshed out, and I feel the sum is greater than its parts here. Was suddenly transported to a Gorillaz feeling world with Silver, with the slow rhythm and vocals that sound like an alternate universe 2D. Grew to really like it as it went on. Gouge Away feels like an appropriate way to close out the record. I don't really have the words to explain why. It just works. FAVOURITES - I Bleed; Monkey Gone to Heaven; Mr. Grieves; Silver LEAST FAVOURITES - Debaser; No 13 Baby

This was an exciting album to dive into, since while I'm a fan of electronic stuff I'd only gone as far back in time as Aphex Twin's stuff from the 90s. With what I thought was an underwhelming intro, the album picks up momentum quickly with a dark, almost dystopian soundscape full of hypnotic synths and percussion. Sadly, in the middle, I felt the album lost steam and I came away ultimately underwhelmed - while I found some tracks that I did enjoy quite a bit, I would've loved to see some tracks be shortened (there's arguably a lot of room for that) and to have more to dive into. While only 6 tracks isn't inherently a bad thing, only liking half of them doesn't exactly compel me to revisit the record any time soon. I found it funny that some tracks had lyrics solely consisting of pretty much just the song name, I imagined it as reminding us which track we were on in case we forgot lol. The Robots was bound to be an interesting listen for me whether I liked it or not since I didn't know what to expect from 70s electronic. Unfortunately I found it a bit repetitive, and the whole 'robot' thing feels a bit cheesy coming from an electronic record. Spacelab is a lot more fun right off the bat with punchy percussion and spacey synths. The melodies are also a lot more enjoyable compared to the previous track, and I can even hear a bit of Carpenter Brut here, with some of the deeper, darker synths. Metropolis takes some of what I enjoyed about Spacelab, particularly the synthwork, and expands on it with even more synth emphasis and an even darker sound. I didn't find it quite as charming as Spacelab but it's still a nice track in its own right. The sound in The Model takes a different direction I didn't quite enjoy. It felt like a lot more of a slog to sit through for me, despite being the shortest track on the album. Interesting to hear actual lyrics for once, but lyrics have never really been my thing anyway, so I can't say it does much for me. Neon Lights is more of what I didn't really like from The Model to begin with, stretched out to 9(!) minutes long with even more uninteresting and empty feeling melodies, perhaps even feeling like it was there to pad the record out. The Man Machine is thankfully a decent outro, but it's not quite enough to save my opinion of the record. This track may have the best variety of different sounds to work with (at least from what I noticed) and has my favourite vocal usage, so there's that at least. FAVOURITES - Spacelab; Metropolis LEAST FAVOURITES - The Robots; Neon Lights

Don't think I've ever listened to a country record in full before, though I can't say I didn't really know what to expect. Having said that, I was indeed surprised by the short length of the tracks. Big change of pace, especially considering a lot of the albums I've listened to recently have had rather long songs. [Side note before listening, I have a feeling I might not have so much to say about some tracks lol.] I am empty brain with little appreciation for lyrics, so the story behind the album didn't do much for me. Having said that, I didn't have any issues with any of the tracks, though after a while they kinda just blended together anyway. Not sure if that's my opinion of country as a whole or if it's just the way this record is structured lol. I enjoyed the listen, none of it really bored me or put me to sleep zzz, though I feel like it's value is mostly in a full listen of the record, moreso than almost every album I've sat through, while I tend to listen to my music in shuffled playlist goo-goo-gaa-gaa form, and also again the tracks didn't super wow me either. As a result, I don't feel like it's fair to rate it lower than a 3, but equally, in an attempt to rate it on a scale that's fair with other albums and in-line with my own personal resonance with the record, I also don't feel like I can rate it higher. Time of the Preacher is a nice, calming intro with a particularly nice instrumental. The guitar and piano compliment eachother nicely, with nice vocals to tie it together. A lot of the tracks here are short, and sound relatively similar, though it's hard to say whether that's just me or if that's really the case. Hence I don't have much to say about many individual tracks, but it's cool how well they flow into eachother, there's clearly a lot of value here in revisiting the record. Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain had a particularly nice melody, I thought, and the use of the harmonica added a nice atmosphere to the track. I'm sure there's some rhyme and reason to it but it made me laugh that there's three different versions of Time of the Preacher on here. Something about the instrumental break in Remember Me revived me a bit, despite being further on in the record. FAVOURITES - Time of the Preacher (I guess, since it came up three times it feels rude not to lol); Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain; Remember Me LEAST FAVOURITES - None?

My first (neo) soul album here! Had no clue what to expect. The cover looks a little dated for 2000s but perhaps there's some meaning to it that I just don't understand. A super strong record with some songs that I honestly feel could've been cut. They are very likely subjective picks, but it's hard for me not to feel that way when the high points of the record are so damn high, and it doesn't help that the record's pretty long at 1h15. When the album's in its stride, it's interesting, varied, smooth, hypnotising, everything, but it has enough bumps in the road to keep it from the 5 star spot, for me. Don't get me wrong though, it's close. Penitentiary starts the record off strongly featuring a powerful drum performance in particular, and a cool intermission midway through. I think it serves well as the intro track, though, perhaps paradoxically, it's not something I can see myself listening to again individually. Didn't Cha Know takes things slower, while still having good energy. It's something I can get behind a lot more. Very cool chilled vibe. I like what Erykah does with her voice here too. My Life is even more laidback, with a fun piano melody, and even more smooth, nice vocals. It's not quite as infectious as the previous track, but does enough to keep it interesting and fun to listen to, especially where the beat occasionally reverses. The transition to ...& On caught me off guard that was smooth lol. The shift of the vibes towards the second half too oh mah gaw. I think this is the most vocally and instrumentally interesting track so far. Of course the best way to attempt to match such a track is to shake things up even more, which she does with a feature and a killer vibraphone (never thought I'd feel so strongly about a vibraphone but here we are). Cleva somehow lives up to the previous track. A nitpick is the chorus is ever so slightly not nice to the ears. But I don't really mind, that vibraphone is doing bits. Come on mayyyyynnnn even the interlude goes hard. Hell nah come on what's going on. Booty completely switches things up again with a crazy funky beat. The brass going off too. The brief empty spaces do so much as well I can't even describe it eloquently but it's like when the beat cuts out and gets back into it, neuron activation. Kiss Me On My Neck is finally a track I'm not really into lol. Things were so good for a few tracks I was starting to get worried, was gonna lose my mind. It's not even a bad track honestly, I'm just not super into it, particularly the vocal melodies chosen. Not so sure about A.D. 2000 either, honestly, though that keyboard(?) in the chorus stands out, very pleasant on the ears. Started levitating as soon as the initial piano of Orange Moon started playing. We're so back. We are so back. The harmonisation bro. Are you hearing this music too?? The crickets in the background. I can see the orange moon, I see it. If this isn't the definitive stargazing song, do not hesitate to tell me what it is, not that I'd believe you. The way the song climaxes at the end too ohhhh mah gaw. In Love With You isn't for me. Similar feelings to Kiss Me On My Neck honestly. Just not really into it. Stephen Marley is featured here but he unfortunately doesn't save it from feeling a bit uninteresting. Something about Bag Lady feels a bit more empty than some of the other tracks I liked. However I still really like it lol. There are some really catchy elements here that I can't really describe but I can't ignore the groove. Time's A Wastin is fine. I mean it's fine by this record's standards, so that means it's good. But I also don't feel like I have much to say. I'm a bit fatigued by this point, but Green Eyes is actually so good too. I wasn't sure initially but after a few minutes I was convinced. Tired but convinced lol. This is music. FAVOURITES - Didn't Cha Know; ...& On; Cleva; Hey Sugah; Booty; Orange Moon; Green Eyes LEAST FAVOURITES - Kiss Me On My Neck; A.D. 2000; In Love With You

Frank Sinatra is one of those artists which I really should have listened to by now, but just never got around to it. I found it hard to comment much about each individual song. It was all very nice and pleasant to listen to, but honestly I feel like you can get away with picking almost any song at random and you'd feel the same as with every other song for the most part. I don't know if that's necessary a criticism - again, it was all nice, consistently - but it also means not many songs particularly stood out. You Make Me Feel So Young is super nice, and cosy in a way. Perfect song to start on. It Happened In Monterey had a bit of a weird start and end to it in my humble humble opinion, but the rest is decent. You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me has some nice melodies and has a great rhythm to it. You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me wasn't as interesting to me as the previous songs, but wasn't bad by any means. Kinda caught me off guard when it started out pretty smooth and halfway through got pretty intense instrumentally lol. At this point in the record I realised there wasn't much point commenting on songs individually. FAVOURITES - You Make Me Feel So Young; You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me; Love Is Here To Stay LEAST FAVOURITES - You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me (if I had to pick)

Super cool idea to have a live performance at a prison. Despite this I was quite surprised to see a live album here. Not only is it a novel idea, it's also a very cosy listen. The songs are nice, and perhaps get a bit one-note in some ways, but also have their own little things that make them unique and stay interesting, and the listen itself doesn't get boring at all until perhaps the final stretch, as you get little pockets of Johnny's personality poking through, and cleverly placed crowd ambience, which really sets the listen apart from the usual, studio recorded album. Folsom Prison Blues was a cool song to start on, being about the prison it's being sung at. Nice melodies and a soulful performance, with very nice musical intermissions. Dark as the Dungeon was decent, but the laughing in the middle, and the outro, make it stand out. Really drives home how this is all done live, and shows how easy it is to forget that, even two tracks in, as the quality of the performance is just that good. Aside from brief crowd noises, it still feels like a standard recording, tried time and time again for perfection. I Still Miss Someone was a bit short, and I found it weird how the outro from the last track bled into the intro here, but the song itself wasn't bad. Cocaine Blues is the most energetic performance so far and while Johnny doesn't keep up as perfectly as the other songs, it's still a great performance and doesn't fail to excite. The outro was hilarious too. 25 Minutes to Go is the most memorable lyrically so far with the whole countdown thing, and Johnny gives it some nice flair with his vocal inflections too. You can tell he's having fun as he does the performance. Caught me off guard when he said 'seven' more minutes instead of 'four' more minutes. Orange Blossom Special is a nice change of pace as he brings out the harmonica. Big prison vibes, if that's even a thing. The Long Black Veil was also pretty funny halfway through, and also a nice song to slow the pace down. Bit of a shame how long the outro is, but I love these humanising moments, going through these albums each day it's easy to forget about the actual people behind the albums, and this performance has so many little moments where it's like 'oh yeah, these are real people here' and it almost makes you feel like you're there, as cliche as that might sound. Send a Picture of Mother was nice. Not much else to say about it, but I did like it. The Wall is equally pleasant, even if it does talk about suicide. Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog is just funny to me, very memorable. Short but sweet. Especially how I'm pretty sure he described it as a love song in the previous song's outro. Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart was also kinda funny with how surreal(?) and creative the lyrics get. Jackson mixes thing up with a duet, and it works really well. The setlist of this performance is really good at keeping things varied and interesting. Give My Love to Rose was a bit boring to me, even though I did like the lyrics. Wasn't a huge fan of I Got Stripes either, though I can't quite put my finger on why. I think I must be fatigued at this point because Green, Green Grass of Home isn't hitting either. Having said this, I'm surprised it didn't get tiring earlier, since while they mostly have unique identities, a lot of the songs sound similar rhythmically and instrumentally. Greystone Chapel is a nice way to finish the record, being a song that someone else from the prison wrote. Has a nice vibe to it. I didn't really get what was happening in the outro though, and kinda ruins the replay value for an individual listen. Seemed unnecessary, apart from reminding you that it was in fact a prison lol. FAVOURITES - Folsom Prison Blues; Dark as the Dungeon; 25 Minutes to Go; Send a Picture of Mother; Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog; Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart LEAST FAVOURITES - I Still Miss Someone; Give My Love to Rose; I Got Stripes

Live and Dangerous was gonna be a hard one to impress me, coming straight after a different live album, in which I now wonder if that album can even be topped as far as live albums go. Part of me's a bit disappointed even, after reading that there was a lot of overdubbing on the record. Sure it might make it more listenable, but it begs the question, if it needs overdubbing to be listenable, why release the live tracks in the first place? That's the way I see it anyway, there's supposed to be some semblence of imperfection when a track's done live. Thankfully, the songs are pretty good overall here. Was a little too long, got pretty bored by the end, and it didn't help that some of the longer songs were there. The guitar work carries some of this record and it consistently pretty good. I don't think there was any real point in this being a live album, other than simply being able to listen to slightly different renditions of their already released songs but for what it is, it sounds good. Perhaps it's worth noting these are all first listens for me, so the songs are being judged as songs as a whole, not just the live performance aspect. Jailbreak was cool, very nice instrumental. Emerald also had some nice ideas, such as some really nice guitar work in the middle, wasn't as catchy as Jailbreak to me, but they kept the energy going at least, and it was still a good song overall. I wasn't really a fan of the main vocalist's performance on the verses, but the chorus was pleasant sounding and catchy, and it seems to be a trend that the guitars are just good on these tracks, so that saves it kinda. By contrast, Rosalie has a much better sounding vocal performance in my opinion, a lot more electrifying. Dancing In The Moonlight doesn't really fit, coming off of the previous tracks, I thought. The sax is a nice change of pace I suppose but something about the song makes me feel like it came at the wrong time. Massacre brings us back to speed, and I am happy again. Loving the guitars and bass on this record, for sure a standout. They really know how to make memorable instrumentals. Still In Love With You slows things down again, but this time something about it feels more appropriate. It's nice, but I do kinda wish the instrumental breaks were shorter on this track. While they've been highlights of the record for me so far, I think this song is much more suited for singing. Nitpicks aside, it's still decent. I found Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed to be pretty unremarkable, to be blunt. A fine song but it just kinda played in the background, which I couldn't say about any of the prior tracks. Similar case for Cowboy Song unfortunately, though the guitars do save it this time, so not as bad. OH I didn't know The Boys Are Back In Town was by these guys. First time in these 1001 albums I've recognised a song I think. And this live version's just as good as I remember it. Don't Believe A Word was cool. I didn't know what to comment on specifically, I just liked it. I hated the vocal work on Warriors honestly. It just sounded bad. I wasn't even much of a fan of the song in the first place but that really didn't help. By Are You Ready I was kinda tired of the record. I'll listen to the rest but I doubt I'll have any more comments on songs from here. FAVOURITES - Jailbreak; Massacre; The Boys Are Back In Town LEAST FAVOURITES - Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed; Cowboy Song; Warriors

I thought this record had a good amount of diversity in its sound while still staying cohesive. Unfortunately I found a lot of the songs a bit uninteresting and slow. I was pretty done only halfway into the record honestly, and I sat through the rest, in case it started to click or I just found some songs that were more my style, but honestly I think it did more harm than good. I'm half giving this my first 1 in anticipation for it being very hard to find many 1's on a site dedicated to some of the most important records of our time. Additionally, they're clearly very competent musically, but then again, who isn't, if they're on here? Thus the other half of this 1 is just because of how I didn't really vibe with it at first, and listening further only reinforced those feelings as opposed to putting them into question. Even the couple songs I did kinda like, it was only kinda. Also, track 2 and track 11, inconsistent capitalisation in the song titles, very annoying. Starlings is a very weird intro for a rock album, at least by what I know about rock (not much tbf). Really quiet and low energy, until they blast your ears for a second and back to quiet. I found the song as a whole a bit boring. They do a few different things across the track, so credit where it's due, it's got depth, but none of it really hits for me. And I really don't like the ear-blasting. The Bones of You is a bit nicer to listen to. It also doesn't really hit for me overall unfortunately, but I see the vision a lot more here, and somewhat enjoyed some sections. Mirrorball isn't so bad. I could see myself listening to this more than the previous two tracks, though I think it takes a while to hit. So far I'm enjoying the diversity in sounds the record seems to have. I just don't like Grounds for Divorce. Maybe it was good at the time but to me it sounds like I've heard the same song 5000 times already by other artists. At An Audience With The Pope I'm starting to think this band's music just isn't for me. Some Riot was kinda nice. FAVOURITES - Mirrorball; Some Riot LEAST FAVOURITES - Grounds for Divorce; An Audience With The Pope; Weather to Fly

Very cool cover art for 1966, especially compared to some of their earlier works. Really should've listened to some of The Beatles by now but never really got around to it, so this is my first real experience of them. It's very strange seeing the length of this record and some of the songs, since I was under the impression 2 minute songs were only a real thing in modern times. I do kinda like it, as it's impossible for any song to outstay its welcome. Some intros or outros would've been nice to process the tracks a bit more before the next one, but it is what it is. At least some tracks fade out but even then it feels like it ends before it should. With all that said, it's a nice listen. I can't say it's as close to a 5 as some of the other record's I've listened to on here, but it's definitely nowhere near a 3 either. Strong album with some good songs. Instantly, Taxman's instrumental sounded familiar but I'm not sure if that's just me or not. The vocal harmonisation is really cool and the instrumental is striking. I can't say I like how it's separated in each ear and I have a feeling that's gonna be a theme in the record, but I guess that's just a product of its time. Eleanor Rigby has nice panning at least. Didn't expect string instrument usage on here but it sounds really good, and the vocals are similarly fulfilling, the melodies are great. I'm Only Sleeping was a bit jarring with how quickly it got into it, after the sudden ending of Eleanor Rigby, but it's thankfully a relatively chilled listen. Not as good to me as the previous two tracks but I can appreciate its inclusion here, and it's not bad at all. Love You To takes a more unconventional tone instrumentally here, and it's pretty cool, even if I don't really like how it sounds personally. Going into the record I wasn't sure how varied it would be sound-wise so this is appreciated. Here, There And Everywhere is a lot more like what I'd expect from the record thus far. Another chilled track, sort of in the same vein as Eleanor Rigby, and it's very pleasant. Part of me wishes some of these songs gave us more breathing room in terms of intros and outros, but it's not a huge problem. I don't like Yellow Submarine. The added noises are distracting, the panning is annoying, and the instrumental and chorus are boring. At least it fades out at the end though, addresses my concern brought up with the last track lol. She Said She Said was cool, back to the vocal harmonisations I've been loving so far but the track didn't do as much for me as some of the previous ones. Pretty middle-of-the-road, in comparison. Good Day Sunshine is nice and cheery. They did a good job of capturing the feeling of sunshine with the vibe. The panning isn't great here but I don't think it's too offensive, and the song itself's good so I can ignore it here. Love the piano here. I wasn't too sure about And Your Bird Can Sing initially but thought it could grow on me, but as it hit its stride it already grew on me lol. Very cool. The guitar solos on here really make it. For No One carries on the streak of songs I'm enjoying, just really nice. I smiled at the trumpet(?), and the vocals are smooth like butter, but again it ends too abruptly!!! I'm surprised Doctor Robert is the lowest streamed here. It wasn't anything crazy and I'm not sure if I'd revisit it, but it sounds fine, nothing's really 'wrong' with it and I'd certainly choose it over some other tracks here. I even quite liked some sections. I Want To Tell You kinda sounds a bit predictable after what's come before it, but honestly I don't think I mind. It's a great sounding song, doesn't outstay its welcome, has some infectious melodies, and that's enough for me. Got To Get You Into My Life is a really strong track, some vocal strength that hasn't yet been showed on the record yet, along with a great, booming instrumental backing. Very surprising considering how far down it was. What is going on in Tomorrow Never Knows, it wasn't all that even to start with and then the weird experimental sounds are just off-putting. Ruined what would've been a decent end. FAVOURITES - Eleanor Rigby; Here There And Everywhere; Good Day Sunshine; And Your Bird Can Sing; For No One LEAST FAVOURITES - Love You To; Yellow Submarine; Tomorrow Never Knows