1001 Albums Summary

As a fan of the Mussorgsky tune, I was happy to hear the opening theme on a pipe organ and then referenced throughout the album. 'Blues Variation' is my favorite track of the album so far - just a real heavy jam. Of the prog-focused songs, 'The Curse of Baba Yaga' is my favorite. It's still got a groove that (mostly) doesn't get overshadowed by the virtuosity. The closer 'Nut Rocker' was kind of cheesy to me, and not a great closer in my opinion. However, I admit that I was born after this time, so the combination of rock and classical music isn't novel to me, especially with bigger pieces like the Nutcracker, which had already been reimagined in a new genre at that point (Duke's jazz version). Maybe it was a bigger deal to the audience when it premiered - at the time may have been ground breaking.

This is a good album, first seven songs are radio hits and the last two are just overshadowed by the heavy hitting first half. Always loved the western-inspired main theme.