1001 Albums Summary

Starts and ends strong; contains ‘Superstition,’ arguably SW’s best-ever track. ‘Big Brother’ is breezy w a lyric that is very relevant to the current moment. Would say tends a bit too saccharine elsewhere. For me this completes the 2 album ‘warmup’ to SW’s peak period: his next 3 albums.

Starts and ends strong; contains ‘Superstition,’ arguably SW’s best-ever track. ‘Big Brother’ is breezy w a lyric that is very relevant to the current moment. Would say tends a bit too saccharine elsewhere. For me this completes the 2 album ‘warmup’ to SW’s peak period: his next 3 albums.

Heartfelt offering by veteran band unafraid of change in the mid- late 70s. The way Buckingham- Nicks were welcomed with open arms and found their footing to create genuine magic within the gentle confines of this long-running act is the stuff of legend. Concept album of relationships on the rocks with all the light, dark and every shade in between.

Still sounds ground- breaking even after hearing Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Years Day a million times. Several album tracks I didn’t know, all of high quality foretelling of U2 glories to come.

Well, Physical Graffiti may be my favorite record of all time and seems to be these guys’ favorite too, so there’s a mutual admiration there. There’s a bit of Boston (the band, along with the city) here, along with some Priest-y touches and a power ballad (Home Tonight) I don’t think Zep would ever go near, so at least they’re not imitating only one band. In terms of a bunch or die hard rock and roll fans living out their dreams to try and measure up to their idols, I would call this a resounding success. And yes, it Rocks.

Talented guitarist, competent singer, polished production, but I feel on every track they manage to do very little with these gifts and come up with an overall sound that is to me less Brit-pop and more like Scorpions meets Worship Band.

Solid gold disco bangers up front, seriously runs out of juice by side 2, ends up lasting only about as long as I would at Studio 54

Lives up to the title for damn sure. The guitar work here is as bedrock to subsequent punk/alternative bands as Robert Johnson was to the classic rock bands. The first two tracks are perfection, the rest is good though I do feel they get a tad lazy with the songcraft later on and sound at times like they’re caving to the mistaken impression a lot of people had they were a freak or novelty act. The best moments of this album show this band was in fact as serious as a Heart Fulla Napalm.

Good country tunes in ultra polite packaging.

Minimalist instrumentation, song structures and vocal range on display here. Admittedly didn’t dig in deep with the lyrics but nothing that stood out there to me on the first listen either. Sets and sustains a mood, and there are a couple moments that feel semi- cathartic amid the gloom; however overall too much empty canvas to make me want to come back to this one.

On this outing Radiohead sounds like an ace pitcher heading into the middle of their career: knowing they are not able to simply rely on the knockout stuff of their youth, they have honed their craft over a wider variety of styles to prove they can take it the full 9 and turn in a winner.

Admirably ragged and unconventional considering the massive hit it was (and still is). The hits are bedrock for the 90s, undeniably essential; the remaining album tracks just don’t hold much interest for me.