1001 Albums Summary

Sparse, somewhat rambling second track, singing doesn't follow the song's melody. Voice is open, honest and raw. Important album, but unenjoyable.

Kicks off with probably the heaviest and fastest song yet, Speed King and doesn't let up until the third track, Child in Time which is Ian Gillan's finest moment as a vocalist. An all out sonic assault which announced the Mark II lineup's arrival with a declaration of war that defined speed and thrash metal nearly a full decade before either gained steam. Quite simply one of the greatest rock albums in history.

Coming in between the bluesy rock of The Man who Sold the World and the magnificently overblown rock opera of Ziggy, Hunky Dory is a much more conventional pop album with a much tighter focus on songwriting rather than the showmanship that became a staple of Bowie's later music. Not for nothing did many of the songs on Hunky Dory become staple songs of Bowie's live concerts all the way till the end of his career, there's a raw emotion that radiates from every song and the short nature of the tracks (only three of the eleven on the album go past the four minute mark) means nothing ever lingers long enough to bore the listener. It's probably the most straightforward album Bowie ever wrote and the one that firmly established him as pop rock's vanguard for the rest of the 1970's.

Varied, clever and skillfully written and thus far more interesting than anything Albarn ever wrote with Blur, this genre-buster marks the start of the most creative alternative rock project of the 21st century. A little uneven (Punk has a whiff of the pop-punk fad of the era) and not quite as polished as later efforts but all of the core components are here. An album very much of its time (was there another time trip-hop was this mainstream?) and worth a listen if you want a look at a route hip-hop and rock could have taken without the rise of Bling and the garage rock revival respectively.

Blending Celtic folk with smooth jazz, dub and electronics then adding in a distinctly pop sensibility is the name of the game here. One World sounds ten years ahead of its time and still sounds fresh and interesting. The Trip-Hop/Illbient bands of the 90's owe John Martyn some royalties because the formula for both genres sits here, 15 years before either hit the mainsteam.

Ambient electronic turn of the millennium trip-hop with a side order of acid jazz. Think Massive Attack with more of a groove. Listening music, not dancing music. You're either going to find it an odd but interesting album or you'll consider it a bunch of aimless guff over a two bar drum loop. Best enjoyed with a good set of headphones and some quality weed.