1001 Albums Summary

Track 1: The line "Down at the Men In Music Business Conference" sounds like something out of a Flight of The Conchords song. I appreciate the sentiment of wishing for simpler times. Nice atmosphere. Her vocals carry the dynamics, and the instrumentation is just bedding. Makes sense given the genre, but I wish she or the instruments let rip a bit more for that final chorus. Track 2: Musically, a better attempt at what track 1 did. Better peak. Lyrically, prefer track 1. Had to confirm what this song was about and still didn't resonate much. There's probably more of a story there, but it was a bit impenetrable to me. Seemed more focused on turns of phrase. Fair enough. That drum outro wasn't interesting and served no dramatic purpose. Let the song just end. Track 3: Appreciate a bit of a tempo change. Lyrically, most interested in this one so far. Musically, solid but not super noteworthy. To the point. Get in, get out. Track 4: A simple song. Probably the simplest so far, both lyrically and musically. It's crystal clear. My favorite so far. The only one I've added to a playlist. And not just any playlist, a dear playlist. I've lived in LA. This brought me back there. I could feel that drive to escape it. To adventure away from it with the one I love. I felt the Pacific Ocean's massive presence beside me. Track 5: Good song. Again, solid. Not super noteworthy, but that's fine. Mostly, I need to go rewatch Wild At Heart now. Digging the vibe of the album, but definitely need to be in a particular mood. Track 6: Mixing it up a bit. And not only that, mixing the song itself up a bit. Nice. Almost like a prog pop song. Track 7: Maybe a better song in isolation. As the seventh track, quite underwhelming. And I'm a sucker for songs about the road and wanderlust. But the themes, vibe, and sound pallette feel like we've already explored them. The only new idea is the random production dialogue snippets. And they don't sound interesting or uplift the song in any way. Track 8: The other track to go into that dear playlist. Smoldering. Just like the campfire atmosphere. Mariee Sioux-like. Again, transports me to the forests of California. I have been to Yosemite. Been on top of Half Dome. Marveled at the Sequoias. Deer in Tuolumne. Braved the canyon traffic. But this really brought me back to those campfire reposes after a day of adventure. Being together and basking. Track 9: Not feeling this one. In a world of break-up songs, this one feels mundane. Nothing really interesting here, melody, lyrics, instrumentation, all kind of whatever. Especially coming off that last track. And unlike Track 7, I think I would feel the same were I to hear it in isolation away from the album. Least favorite. Track 10: Nope. This is my least favorite. Track 9 was boring. This one I find boring and tone deaf. What is it even about? She hangs out with her heroes. But again, fame is hard everybody. But I'll keep struggling on....while name-dropping Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Stevie Nicks, and Courtney Love. I even read she played this for Joan Baez at a dinner with her. A bit of the Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee thing here. Rich people complaining, and really about their privilege. Normally, I'm more tolerant than most. I understand that's now their perspective and they can't help it. That's the lens they have. But what is the conflict here? This song seems pointless. It might fit the album's theme and what Lana is struggling with, but the delivery doesn't land. Plus, the song isn't interesting musically. The new idea it brings with that bridge section just sounded like a flat Fiona. More Yosemites, please. Track 11: Best lyrics on the album. Well, they are Joni's and she is hard to top. Good cover. Would rather listen to Joni's. A perfect way to express exactly what I felt the last song failed at expressing. There is a way to tell a story, and express and receive sympathy when your hardships come from being in an envious position. That's your life now. Joni shows how her life has changed, but maybe she hasn't. Still sees things the same as she would before. A perfect thematic bowtie. However it may have upstaged Lana's own efforts to express the same theme. It's like closing a landscape photographer's exhibit with a picture he took of an Ansel Adams. Closing: Where Lana shines for me is in exploring place and relationship dynamics. I think she does well in a dialogue with herself explaining her relationship. In isolation of explaining herself, mixed results. Overall, I like the atmosphere of the album, but musically wasn't super impressed. More tone poem, which is fine. I like the tone. When she lands the theme of the song and the vibe, the song hits. She is the best instrument on the album. Beyond that, I remember some piano bits, but they are just doing a melody her voice will do anyway. 2 standout tracks. 1 great cover, but I credit Joni. 5 decent tracks of varying success. 1 meh. And 2 duds. Replayability feels non-existent for me except for the 2 standouts. I appreciate it. Glad I listened. Will listen to more Lana. She is now on my radar. There's enough here for me to see that she has something, but might work better for me with a different producer. But for my first Lana, this was probably a 2 out of 5. 2 is decent/good. As many problems as successes, canceling a a fair bit out, leaving behind a lot of mixed successes. Also not in a go-to genre for me, so take that into account.

Track 1: Nice thumping drive. Using flourishes and details to ramp it up while keeping the muscular groove consistent. Not a big fan of the vocals except the chorus and the falsetto harmony bits. A bit anemic in the verses. Also, low in the mix, like MJK from Tool, except MJK uses his voice like an instrument on par with the rest of the band. This singer sounds histrionic. Sounds better when layered and melded with the band. Track 2: Another good thumping drive. To be honest, thought it was okay. Felt like it was missing a chorus. Like verse, pre-chorus, verse, pre-chorus. Until that bridge change-up. That was good and then made the return back to what the song was already doing more elevated. Track 3: Good song. Feels like a complete package. First song where I liked the vocal delivery the whole way through. Track 4: Another good song. And here I think I'm understanding the elements I like and those I dislike. The songs seem to be incorporating more dynamics and builds now. They can do good thumping grooves. They seem less into riffs and more into wall of sound instrumentation with flourishes. It's nice. However, I spend half the song not liking the vocalist's delivery, usually in the verses. When he plays to the song, pretty good. When he tries to stand out, it just sounds shrill and has that indy rock vocal trapping that does nothing for me. If anything, sounds like limp bombast, goat bleating without the Jello Biafra or Comus character. Track 5: I like the song musically. Was excited for a vocalist change, but don't have much of an opinion because they drowned her. They drown her under the wall of sound so much that following along with the lyrics on spotify seemed to glitch out at times and the app didn't even know what line she was on. Track 6: Boring. Seems like the epitome of the aspects of the band that don't grab me. Track 7: Meh. Pretty good strings. Seems a bit overblown. A lot of melodrama in this album. Plus, the mix isn't great. I either don't like the vocals, or am underwhelmed. And they really muddy them and keep them in the back some times. Not to keep harping, but the vocal melodies are getting really tiresome. Would love to hear an instrumental track. Track 8: Another meh. Bombast, but I'm not finding myself caring. So far lyrically, I've only connected with Modern Man and Rococo. Everything else has been so vaguely whatever. Suburban pathos or suburban horror or suburban ennui or suburban apocalypse would float my boat, but not much I find to really latch on to other than those two songs so far. This is a long album and I'm halfway through. Please, do something interesting. Make me feel something. This might be one of those times where growing up listening to heavier genres just makes other's attempts at bombast sound wafer-thin and melodramatic. Track 9: Finally. Best song so far. Lyrics that gave me a story and emotion rather than generalities. Music that had dynamics and interesting musicianship and structure. Not making a song for the sake of swelling bombast, but adding it in appropriately. Track 10: Decent track. QOTSA-like. Seems written to play live. Actually think his vocals work a lot better here. Track 11: Mostly a decent track. Sounds like a sequel or reprise of the previous track. Not too big on the moments where the instrumentation drops out and the melody changes. For some reason. Track 12: Again. Decent. More of the same. I think I'm getting bored with the sound. Feels like hanging out with an extrovert that hasn't said anything original or only a few things interesting. They are all into expression and presentation. Even their quiet moments are irritatingly performative. And I'm tired. Track 13: Ha. I'm back for this one. They keep doing that. I start to get bored and then they throw in a great track. On par with Track 9. Track 14: Pretty good. Nice and moody. Lyrics on point. It does feel like an extended intro. On to what it was setting up. Track 15: Hell yeah. Great song. Mixed well. Great epitomizing track. Like a celebratory dirge. Track 16: A coda reprise of an earlier song. Completely unnecessary. Thought the previous track was an excellent finisher. Didn't need a come-down. Actually, would have rather kept the high of the previous track as a send off. Conclusion: What a mixed bag of a record for me. Some strong moments, some strong elements, some strong tracks. But equally some frustrating elements, vocals that I found more grating than enjoyable. Not Billy Corgan (for some people) levels of turn-off. It's more the lead vocalist's melodic choices and affected style that I just can't fully vibe with. And the songs with the second vocalist are mostly drowned out, except for Track 15 - one of the best. A lot of the songs I like are despite the vocals at times. 3 great. 3 good. 6 decent. 2 meh. 2 bad. 3 out 5. Mixed bag leaning toward good. I know a lot of the aspects that don't vibe with me do vibe with others.

I have heard this before. I love Bjork. I will try to not make this a gush-fest. Chances are, the less I write, the more I like something. Track 1: I have listened to this song countless times. And will listen countless more times. Utter classic. Track 2: Sonically rooted in that 90s sound. Whatever. Head boppin', body movin'. And this while the chorus makes widower me think about my late wife. She'd be boppin' and movin', too. Track 3: Another classic. Now I have to go not re-read Story Of The Eye. Track 4: Total Bop track. I wonder if there were any women in that bathroom with Bjork just wondering what was going on. Track 5: Even when Bjork doesn't write the song, you can feel her channel it. I've felt this feeling. Even if consigned to the past, what a memory to possess. What a feeling to have felt. Track 6: Like track 2, very rooted in that 90s sound. What a chorus! Another total bop. Track 7: I can't wait until my daughter fully experiences this song. Track 8: I live this song. There better be an afterlife. Track 9: Solid track. The idea of expressing a feeling as somehow breaking the charm is a nice, quaint notion, but one I've outgrown. Still a good track. A past self truth. Track 10: On the introvert-extrovert scale, I tend to skew introvert. After losing my wife, I've become way more talkative and personable. My energies are still introverted, but I realized how much heavy-lifting one person can do for you. Track 11: As a closer, and as a song itself, it's...okay. My least favorite track on the album. Just feels like there is a missing element, both musically and lyrically. A bit broad. Overall: As a debut, not really a debut. Bjork has been around. She recorded an album as a child - punk band - Sugar Cubes. But as a solo force, what an expression. 11 tracks, 10 are great or good. Anchor Song kind of messes up the average for me. Plus, knowing what is coming in her discography. Being familiar with the album, I was predicting a 4/5. While listening, I was starting to think maybe this is a 5/5. If every track is a positive, that's a 5. But then Anchor song. Then context. But fret not. Bjork has 5s. 4/5 Thanks for making me listen to this again, website.

I've listened to a bunch of Floyd albums, each of them several to many times. Oddly enough, have never listened to The Wall. Never seen the film. I know the hits. Definitely a classic blind spot. Let's see if it can rank up with Wish, Animals, Meddle, and Dark Side. Track 1: Way to make me wonder if my headphones were busted. Explosive intro, literally. I read this was originally supposed to be a Roger Waters solo album, but slapping the Pink Floyd name onto it got it funded. I wonder. Meddle, Dark Side, and Wish work so well because the band was in balance. Animals, though a great album, was the slide away from balance. You could see Roger Waters' hands all over everything. Now let's see the progression of that imbalance. Track 2: Kind of bored with this one. Not always a fan of Waters' vocals, and the delivery in this song exemplifies when I don't like it. Loved when Gilmour's guitar started soaring. Then the song ends. Track 3: I like it. That familiar melody. Great guitar. So far, every song seems like only an intro and an outro. At least they let this one breathe a bit. I like noodley Floyd. Great atmosphere. Waiting for a proper song, though. Track 4: I like it, but this album is like the Anti-Animals so far. Animals squeezed every drop out of each song. This has yet to turn an idea into a song. It's going for the forest over the trees, the album is the song, I guess. Movements and motifs. It's like speedrunning a hike. Track 5: Finally a song. One I've heard a zillion times. Classic. Track 6: Great song. This is the Floyd I like. Track 7: Favorite track so far. Nails the mood, nails the theme. Now the album is hitting its stride. The first few tracks were whizzing by a bit too fast for me. Now it seems to be settling into a groove. Ideas are being explored more rather than hinted then left behind. It's a weird critique when you want songs on a double album to be a bit longer. Track 8: Nevermind. Back to setting up a vibe and then moving right on. Ha. Like Roger's vocals in this one. Track 9: Another classic. Track 10: A really good song in the context of the album. A mess, but a thematic mess. I like how the first verse sounds so sloppy. Love the instrumental section near the end. Like the ending. Good storytelling. However, this is the type of track on a concept album that I wouldn't want to listen to unless I'm going through the whole album. Not a playlist song. Track 11: Thematically apporopriate, but hard to listen to until the band comes in. But I think that's the point. Track 12: This again. Track 13: Closing the first half of the album. We're at a low point for Pink. Not much else to say. Track 14: Another classic. Gilmour and Wright and Waters crush it. Even Mason does some stuff. Track 15: An ambient album track, though one I will playlist. Love the acoustic guitar. Positively dripping with atmosphere. Track 16: Pink Floyd channels Randy Newman. Big fan of the instrumental track. Vocally, not so much. Track 17: A transitional track. Continuing the theme of loving the instruments and rolling my eyes at the vocal delivery. Did you forget you have David Gilmour in the band? I'm sure it's because it's Pink's character voice, but geez. Track 18: Absolutely ridiculous. Love it. A total studio track. What madness. Track 19: Thanks for coming back, Mr. Gilmour. Oh damn, Mr. Gilmour. Those vocals. Those solos. Another classic, despite Roger's vocals being so silly. Track 20: A pleasant little track. Almost a nice break. Track 21: A reprise of the opening shot. Way better. Finally let's it breathe...in a horrifying way. Track 22: Another classic. A track that inspired the 80's. Track 23: A very theatrical pastiche. Not sure how I feel about it. A tad overwhelming. Track 24: Okay...were you necessary? Track 25: Side 2 is wild. I feel like I'm listening to a play. It's a bit awkward. Don't get it twisted, I like Roger Waters. He's a great lyricist, bass-player, and conceptualist, but he needs someone to rein him in. This is bonkers, and not in an entertaining way. I feel like I'm missing the visual half. Is this what Richard Wright felt? Track 26: Okay, I'm done. Didn't like where that went. Overall: Not gonna list out albums and what was good, bad, meh, etc. Great moments, but like most double albums, would have loved the best buts as one album. Yeah, the story may have been lost, and it's a decent story with a good theme, but, I like my music to be music. If I wanted to go to theater, I go to the theater. Maybe I'll watch the film and feel different. 3/5. The strong bits make up for the meh or bad. An awkward 3.

Only know the hits. Coming off Pink Floyd's The Wall. Need a straight rock album. May inflate my feelings. Track 1: Classic. A tribute to Bon Scott. Definitely has a dirge-like vibe to start off, but AC/DC can't contain their nature for too long. My only complaint is the length. I got it. Track 2: I like the story behind the lyrics, but it's just another AC/DC song. Wouldn't turn it on, but would leave it on if it played. Again, a bit long. I got it. Track 3: I don't think I like AC/DC. But in that way where I'm totally fine that other people like this. Sounds like a good time if you're into it. But I'm bored. It's like peeling out over the same skidmarks, over and over. I won't turn them off if the radio deems it AC/DC time. But I'm not enjoying myself. Track 4: AC/DC rock about blowjobs. Track 5: Gross. Is this a rape song? I'm turning down the next piece of cake offered to me. Was actually enjoying the riff before the lyrics started. Track 6: Another classic. Or is it? Sonically, yes. But this is my first time reading the lyrics. Worst rap song I've ever heard. Track 7: Another classic. I'm not horny enough for this album right now. Track 8: I'm not drunk enough for this album right now. I'm pretty sure that band did a cover of this song in Road House, or should have. As on the nose as a Dalton right hook. This album could have been the soundtrack to Road House. Track 9: What the hell... Track 10: i don't know if it's because of a previous song, but why was he looking in someone's bedroom? Overall: Four standout tracks, and surprise surprise, the four singles. The only songs with individual sonic identities, kind of. The rest is AC/DC slop. Hey, you want to hear the same noises at a roughly similar tempo again and again? The only other song that had a riff I was starting to like turned real rapey sounding. These lyrics other than Hell's Bells are ridiculous. And not good ridiculous. These are adults. 1/5. Good riddance. Never again. Hell's Bells is the only track I care about. Otherwise, boring. Maybe not background enough?

Never heard a Kanye album before. Don't even know if I've heard a single. Track 1: Okay. Track 2: Man. Banger track. Capitalism is a failure state. Exploiting it is a means for true success. There's intelligence within the system, and there's intelligence to break the system. It all boils down to getting paid. And any intelligence knows who has the money, and how they got that money. Track 3: Good interlude track. The Dean(?) is a bit overly play-acted for me, but the autotuned section was nice. Track 4: Great track. Consumerism. Just chipping away. Track 5: Sang this song at church many a time. A whatever rendition. Just messing with harmonic layers. Kind of puzzled why it's here. Perhaps it's an intro to the next track? Track 6: Favorite track so far. Have you played the video game What Remains Of Edith Finch? This song expresses the theme of my favorite story from that game. Track 7: Holy shit! Banger! Nice Happy Gilmore reference. Glad the intro and interlude tracks went away. Just give me the songs. Track 8: Pretty good. Music good. Not feeling Jay-Z's contributions. Masturbatory. Plus, tonally different than the other two's verses. Praising family, praising helping others. His is just about how great he is. No thanks. Represents that dark side of capitalism and ego. Track 9: Not into this style of track. Slam poetry with a repetitive beat. I'll take another song, please. Track 10: Okay. Track 11: Great song. What a production! Track 12: Nice song. Good vibes. Good story. A good stoey about wanting good vibes. More into the choruses and bridges than the verses. Track 13: More of that bullshit ice rap. Not my thing. Track 14: Ugh. And not in the intended way. Cheesy. Track 15: Okay track. I'm starting to get a bit bored. Album is feeling long. Production is on point, but the writing is feeling a bit uneven. It's starting to feel like a good chef who made too many dishes, and half of them are a great meal. Track 16: Meh. Did he say doctrine instead of doctorate? Intentional. These skits sound like they were supposed to be funny and clever. Track 17: I don't know how to phonetically type out the sigh I just made. Kanye, stop trying to recreate old Adam Sandler cds and stick to songs. These skits are really messing with the average. Track 18: Another slam poetry song, two words at a time. As I get older, I'm more drawn to ambient or lyric-less music. Mostly because I don't give a shit what people have to say as much. People talk too much for how little they are actually saying. A lot of whatever words. Would rather listen to music. Track 19: Yay, a song. Pretty good. Track 20: Decent track. Feels like I should have liked it more. Track 21: Okay. Weird. Almost feels like an audio commentary track on a dvd. But instead of being optional, it's the final song. Alright. Cool story... Overall: The actual songs are really good. The interludes and skits are bad. The slam poetry tracks aren't memorable. 2/5. Only 6 out of 21 tracks playlisted.

Completely new to me. Spotify has an 8 track album, but wikipedia has 15. Apparently 8 is the original, and 15 is a reissue. I'm gonna listen to the 8. I've had some long albums recently, so I'll take the under half hour option. Track 1: I don't speak French. Won't even bother trying to understand. Won't look at the lyrics. Just vibes. He likes to trill those r's. A gradual builder. Kind of wish I could see what he is doing. Interesting. Track 2: So, apparently, this style is lyrics-focused. Not understanding the language, I feel like I'm missing a key ingredient. He seems to be singing with a lot of expressiveness. I like the instruments. But my mind is wandering. A bit languorous. Track 3: Awesome. Felt like a scene from L'Atalante. Track 4: Kind of stopped paying attention. Track 5: There are two things taking me out. One is the lack of lyrical understanding. I won't carp on that anymore. The other is, I personally prefer to hear a studio album first, and I prefer to watch live albums than just listening. Track 6: Other than Track 3, I probably won't playlist any song. Not active music for me. Definitely background though. Track 7: Nevermind, this one also gets playlisted. Track 8: Yup. Good background. Overall: Good background music. Nothing bad. Nothing great. I feel like I like the ability to fully enjoy it. So in my limited capacity, it's okay. 2/5.