25/1001 Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Initially I was surprised at the number of songs I did actually know, whether I liked them or not is another matter. It's chilled out dance, which ultimately just becomes background music. I found the beats to be repetitive and there a couple of songs that just list off musicians and cars, which frankly is just annoying.
Some real moments on this, particularly liked the instrumental Flower Pot. Trust Us - Take 9 for it's sludgy, bluesy guitar line and hoarse singing and I'm Glad for its soulfulness I do enjoy the blues rock aspect of this, but it is just a bit too on the weird side for me.
It's been a while since I last listened to this, but what struck me most are the baselines in this. When you combine them with the general arrangements and Morrissey's vocals and lyrics, it's a truly great experience. Highlights for me are Barbarism Begins at Home, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore and The Headmaster Ritual.
It's cool as hell this album, even if the beats can get a little repetitive at times. Still can't knock how influential it was.
This is one of my mum's favourite records, so I heard it a lot when growing up. I don't listen to it often anymore, but each time I go back to it, I absolutely love it. King's soulful vocals, impressive melodies and memorable lyrics all add up to a great album. Some of these songs should be in conversations with the best of all time.
One of my favourite records of all time. The fusion of hip hop style backing music with the atmospheric/gothic vocals of Beth Gibbons creates such an interesting dynamic to the music. Each time I listen to it, I get something new from it. One of those fully formed debut albums. Wonderful stuff.
One of those I've listened to countless of times due to it being on heavy rotation in my mum's collection. Yes, the harmonies are great and some of the arrangements are as well. I just enjoy it less and less each time I listen to it.
7/1001 Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way Baby Heard before? ❎ Would I revisit? ❎ I've heard the singles before and they're decent, but this sort of thing is so far out of my comfort zone. One of those where I neither liked nor actively disliked. I can obviously appreciate it's influence on the dance/rave scene.
8/1001 The Young Rascals - Groovin' Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ A bit of light psych rock, a bit of soul. This all comes together in a very enjoyable way. Just how different it is from other stuff in the 60s, I honestly can't say, but it all felt very familiar.
9/1001 The Beach Boys - Surf's Up Heard Before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ Melancholic Beach Boys is the best version of the band. Here, it sounds like a warning of the hippie dream gone wrong. One or two dude here and there, but overall an excellent album.
10/1001 Bill Callaghan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I only discovered Bill Callaghan in the last year to two years and this was the first I'd listened to of his solo stuff and Smog's. It's categorised as country, but fuses so many other influences into this to great effect. The baritone/almost spoken word aspect of it fuses so well with the sumptuous arrangements. Lyrically, there's a philosophical quality that sometimes verges on gloom and despair. There's experimentation here and whilst not all of it works, it predominantly does. Great stuff.
11/1001 Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 On the whole, I do like this album, but it's one of those that I would have to be in the mood for. However, I can appreciate just how influential it's been on metal in all of its forms.
12/1001 Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks Heard before? Yes Revisit? Yes Culturally more significant than it is musically, but comes with a number of bangers that separate it from becoming too samey. It's brimming with energy and it's just a fun record.
13/1001 Talking Heads - Talking Heads '77 Heard Before? ✅ Revisit? ❎ There should be a lot that clicks with Talking Heads for me, however, whenever I try and album of theirs it always leaves me a bit nonplussed. It's perfectly fine but yeah, I wouldn'trush back to this again... Psycho Killer is a banger though
14/1001 The Band - Music from Big Pink Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ❎ The most famous of the Band's studio albums and I've always been torn on this. Whilst I appreciate its influences on bands and artists I regularly listen to today, there's a lot on this album that just doesn't work for me. Anything with the falsetto like vocals completely ruins the tracks for me personally. The Weight is still such a good track though.
15/1001 Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 This is the quintessential 3 star album - some really good stuff marred by some absolute rubbish. The Young penned songs are predominantly the standouts. More folky/blues rock than psych, but I'm fine with that. I wouldn't be adverse to listening to it again, but would have to wanting this sort of stuff. Also, the album art for this, is utter garbage 😂
16/1001 The Doors - s/t Listened Before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ The hits are incredible on this for me personally. The trippy 8 minutes of Light My Fire, The End - sublime and the opener - Break On Through. Yes there are some duds, but this is still such a great album.
17/1001 Dinosaur Jr - Bug Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Dinosaur Jr really work for me as a band, from the distorted guitar sound to the play with the soft and loud nature of the compositions. Also the monster guitar solos in a couple of tracks here. It took me a while when I first heard Dinosaur Jr to get used to Mascis's vocals, but when the penny dropped, everything just clicked. Hard to ignore just how influential this was for the alternative/grunge scene at the time.
18/1001 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I know some will argue that either Leaders of the Free World or Cast of Thousands in particular is the best of theirs, but it's the one that launched them into being household names. So much interesting instrumentation and lyrics that turn the everyday into something quite profound. Yes, I've kinda had enough of One Day Like This, but still I love this album.
19/1001 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III Heard before? ✅ Revisit? 🫳 Led Zeppelin III has one of the greatest opening tracks of all time, however I forgot just how top heavy this album is. After Since I've Been Loving You, it kinda all goes downhill for me. Yes, they're experimenting with the sound on the latter tracks, but they don't work for me.
20/1001 Bee Gees - Odessa Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Oh the Bee Gees, I'll get some disco to into work to. Nope, not a little bit of it. A concept album based around a Ukrainian port that throws all sorts of genres into the mix - psychedelia, country, soundtrack, ballads. Does it work? Absolutely not. Far too serious for their own good and often times far too overwrought.
21/1001 The Specials - More Specials Heard before? ✅ Revisit? 🫳 It's hard to deny the influence that the Specials had infusing ska, reggae, music hall, lounge and often times biting social commentary. Whilst their debut had the majority of the hits, their follow up feels more experimental and whilst I can appreciate it, it never lives up to the highs of the debut. I still had fun listening to it.
22/1001 The Velvet Underground - s/t Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I've tried to get into the Velvet Underground before with listens to both the album with Nico and Loaded and the music has always held me at a distance. It's the same with this album unfortunately. Not that there's anything I actively dislike here, it just never grabbed my attention, bar a couple of songs. A shame really.
23/1001 Fela Kuti - Zombie Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Ever since hearing Fela Kuti on 6 Music, I loved his music and this is the only physical album I own of his. The fusion of West African music with jazz and funk work so well together. The vocals on this aren't going to be for everyone, but works for me, in this hyper political album.
24/1001 Randy Newman - Sail Away Heard before? ❎ Listen again? ❎ At first I thought yeah this is ok, bluesy kinda voice and some decent arrangements. Then it turned more and more into an amalgamation of the aforementioned bluesy stuff with show tunes bent and I was out.
25/1001 Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Initially I was surprised at the number of songs I did actually know, whether I liked them or not is another matter. It's chilled out dance, which ultimately just becomes background music. I found the beats to be repetitive and there a couple of songs that just list off musicians and cars, which frankly is just annoying.
26/1001 Jimmy Smith - Back At Tgd Chicken Shack Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 Overall, I enjoyed this. It leans more into that bluesy jazz and reminded me of in parts Booker T's Green Onions. It's a bit on the chilled side, so kinda blends into the background.
27/1001 Silver Jews - Bright Flight Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 Country enthused indie. I think I far prefer the musicianship and arrangements than the drawl that David Berman has. The lyrics can often be quite wry and witty.
28/1001 Black Sabbath - Vol 4 Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ RIP Ozzy 🖤
29/1001 Billy Bragg - Talking with the Taxman About Poetry Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Billy Bragg is someone I admire, even if I don't always love the music. Coming in at just under an hour and ten, this mixes politics with romance and street poetry in a stripped back and raw fashion. There are dashes of country in this as well. There's a clear lineage between him and Woodie Guthrie and updates the sound for the 80s. The politics are still as relevant today as ever. Greetings to the New Brunette is the standout on this.
30/1001 The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I've heard the singles from this and very familiar with them. Whilst I appreciate its crossover appeal between rock/metal and dance/techno giving it this abrasive quality. However, this clearly isn't an album for me.
31/1001 Lou Reed - Transformer Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ I got a lot more from this than I did from the Velvet Underground outing last time around. There's a lot to really enjoy on this from the proto-punk styling on Vicious to the ballad of Perfect Day (which is elevated by the arrangements on here), to the gender/sexual politics on Walk on the Wild Side. My personal favourite is Satellite of Love, which is Glam Rock personified and you can see Bowie and Ronson's fingerprints all over it. For all of this, there's a lot, which just doesn't work for me from Goodnight Ladies to New York Telephone Conversation.
32/1001 Getz/Gilberto - Stan Getz and João Gilberto Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I've heard some João Gilberto before and the Girl from Ipanema, so was prepared for a mellow jazz record. Whilst it works well for a lazy Sunday morning listen, there's not a lot here to keep it from becoming background music. Nice but nothing more.