This record is so meandering. Van’s singular voice does so much heavy lifting.
I might have been in a bad mood when I first listened but I was hating it haha.
There are stoner tree-planter bands in Vic that kinda sound like this tbh.
Fav songs: Cypress Avenue, Ballerina
Tried a couple separate times listening. Gotta be honest it's not my thing. Won't return. To be fair, 70s prog rock in general is something that doesn't speak to me.
To me, this music just feels so self-indulgent and crude. I came in thinking of the flute scene from Anchorman. I leave thinking of the flute scene from Anchorman.
It's getting a 2 because 1 is reserved for things I don't like and think are really bad for some specific reason.
Really fun listen. I knew this record better than I thought. It isn't something I come back to frequently but that might change.
There's so much going on and quite a bit of experimental production stuff - but the recordings still feel down to earth. That's a feat in itself. There will be intricate polyrhythms going on and all these beautiful textures -- meanwhile the acoustic guitar is flubbing the barchord. It's lovely. Wabi-sabi.
The beginning and ending of this record might be where my heart lies. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart sounds like the song every 2025 alt-country revival bro is trying to write every time they sit down with a guitar. Poor Places - wow. Reservations too.
As much as I thought this was a 3 when I listened, I can't shake the feeling it deserves a 4. OK I just listened to Poor Places again - it's a 4 for me.
Mojo pin started and I was on board. I wanted to stay on board so bad!!
It just has that 90s major label sheen to it that makes me kind of cringe. The production especially.
I think Buckley's voice is obviously amazing but I just doesn't really do much for me. The songs def don't help
His 'Hallelujah' apparently is in Rolling Stone's Top 10 covers of all time. I swear it's not even the best cover of 'Hallelujah'. kd lang clears it. Hell, Shawn Mendes maybe. Theory of a Deadman even! Ok too far.
I want to watch that new doc about him. That usually does it for me. A personal touch and I'll be running back with a 4 rating. Cause I'm a little empathetic bitch like that!
Fav songs: Corpus Christi Carol, Mojo pin
Another one where the singles I had heard previously are actually my least fav on the record.
Cool songwriting. Beautiful harmonies. Wall-of-sound esque but I guess not so lush and relentless. A lot of the guitar parts are v unique.
Fav tracks: Today, Embryonic Journey, JPP MC. Step B Blues.
Lovely string and muted horn intro to the record.
Track 2 really not my jam.
Really like the slow entrance intro situation on track 4, 'Fall in a River'.
Hit track 6 and it started to feel Elliot Smith-y but with songwriting nowhere near as captivating.
This record does feel super 1999 which I usually quite like. The weird time-stretched drums on 'Another Pearl'. The weird sample delays and reverb swells on 'Blistered Heart'. It doesn't have enough of that 1999 quality to keep me around unfortunately.
'Magic in the Air' is beautiful. I was praying for full band not to enter the picture. They didn't thank god.
The moments were few and far between for me.
Favs: Bewilder, Fall in a River, Magic in the Air
Peaches En Regalia was all I’ve really spent time with. I remember loving it like 10 years ago. I tried Hot Rats at that time but Peaches was all that sticks. The melodies are so memorable and it’s still a fun listen, but I’m acruay drawn to the B side so much more now.
Specifically Little Umbrellas and and It Must Be a Camel. Those were big standouts.
A 15 y/o Shuggie Otis played bass on this record? Crazy.
Pretty cool but I most likely will not return.
Tim Burton probably like this shit.
I started off thinking I was gonna hate this but honestly at times made me very curious. There’s something here. If there were less music in the world I might try harder to follow that curiousity lol.
Some of the melodies/chord progressions took me off guard. Like moments of woah that was cool but then I’m brought back out.
The weird theatrical vocal delivery isn’t something I gravitate toward but then again I love Kate Bush and Prefab Sprout and somehow those don’t seem completely dissimilar.
I realize I actually have a couple tracks of her other project Slapp Happy saved. Some cool stuff there.
BTW John Harle on sax - he served as Paul McCartney’s artistic advisor?!?! But more importantly dad to Danny L Harle (PC Music, AG Cook collaborator) which is wild loll
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I read that this album was fuelled by LSD and alcohol — that tracks.
Essential goth rock. Not something I’m too privy to but I do like the general feel/space/sound of the record throughout. Wall of sound but depressing.
Standout track for me is ‘Siamese Twins’. Interesting that it’s definitely the most dry (least wet) song. Sounds like a lot of post-punk I love. The jangly guitar melody and the harmonics are so cool. Also the two tambourine hits at the end of every bar make the song. I’ll be listening to this song a lot.
Can't believe I still haven't dove deeep on Stevie. I think I tried once a few years ago and wasn't ready. I'm still not sure I'm quite ready but I do 'get it' so much more this time around.
This is a true master at work - no doubt. I'm not sure I've heard much music that is so complex while also being so accessible. Stevie makes sure to bring the listener up to his level - he wants you to come along for the ride, like truly.
Too High brought me in right away. Fuck the drums sound so good on this record. The hi-hats sound so musical.
It's fun listening to these 1001 records and hearing moments of tracks that sound familiar. I knew this keyboard line just from DJ Rashad's Chicago juke track I'm Too High (2006) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8OLfnW1bc
Also -- I had heard (and love) Robert Glasper's recording of 'Jesus Children' (2013). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3-7S5nbdwk
(which also features Lalah Hathaway on vocals - she has some beaaautiful R&B stuff from the 90s like this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EnAVD00cUw). Apparently she has performed w/ Stevie, too!
When I was younger I remember vividly that whenever he was involved in any Grammys performance, the artists attending were always so so moved by him and his presence. Beginning to feel that. Excited to listen to more Stevie through this (I'm assuming there's more coming).
Tracks like Higher Ground are the ones from Stevie that don't speak to me -- sort of like 'Superstition'. That straight-ahead drum beat funk stuff just is not my jam.
Fav tracks: Too High, Visions, He's Misstra Know-It-All
It’s pretty at times! I just think it reminds me too much of mall loud speakers and shopping. It’s so agreeable. Really designed for consumption in a way that urks me.
There’s so much better Brazilian music, no?
The mix of new wave and surf is just not really my jam, but the album is fun!
I hate the first thing I thought of hearing 'Our Lips are Sealed' was the old Gillette Venus ad from when we were kids. I swear it played non-stop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOToMeTI6eY
To think this cool girl new wave band ended up being co-opted to sell pink-tax razors kinda sucks - fuck the patriarchy!
The era of just a 3-second reverb on everything lmao.
A lot of the backing vocals are really dope.
Crazy that apparently they saw the sex pistols last show and decided to learn instruments and start a band. Love a {friend-group before band} situation. Shout out to them.
Favs: This Town, Automatic
Intro song is so badass. That lead melody is so weird and angular but so fetch. The outro of the tracks is bonkers and I love it.
I seriously think I haven't heard 'Pretty in Pink' before. The chorus is proto-Preoccupations as shit holy. I can tell that a bunch of the jangly post-punk I'm drawn to is inspired by Psychadelic Furs.
OK half-way through and I feel dumb for not knowing this band better. This is the archetype of anything post-punk I like.
'Into You Like a Train' is so driving, so relentless. Gah this is really good. Also can see ArcFire being super influenced by this stuff too, especially at their most post-punky.
All of This and Nothing is so wild - the acoustic intro that fades out then the band comes in. End of the song the band fades out and we're back with the acoustic, which fades out. Three fade-outs in one track?? Or am I fried.
This album is making me rehash my age old mantra, "i wanna be in a post-punk band so f bad'. This might send me on a real journey through post-punk history in a way I never have before.
Favs: Into You Like a Train, Pretty in Pink, No Tears
"your wife looks just like a fat blue grouper"
Starts off big with Humpty Dance. That bassline is bonkers. I love when he sings to the bassline in the middle lmao.
I guess I liked Slick Rick back in the day, but otherwise this sort of funky funny rap from the 90s was never my jam. That being said I do love newer funny rap (YN Jay, RXK Nephew, Rio da Yung OG, Lil B, etc. etc.) so I will rock with this and see how we do.
Underwater Rimes is great lmao. The underwater mouth sounds that repeat.
Had to look up whether this album invented the 'hip hop skit'. I guess consensus is De La Soul beat them to it a year earlier but still pretty cool that this tradition still lives on. Haven't thought about it intentionally in a while but it is suuuuuch a cool generic tradition fuck.
I think mainly what brings me out of it are the drum grooves. I've never liked the swung beats of the 90s and at the end of the day, the beats are so much of what keep me around.
OK the sampling on 'Sex Packets' is beautiful. Those first 12 seconds had me like confused in the best way.
PACKET REPRISE!
I’m not sure man this shit was quite boring to me. Slight moments but for the most part it was lost on me!
Rags to Riches synth sounds are decades ahead of time. So good alongside Buchanan’s pleading voice.
Easter Parade gives a hint to what’s to come later in their discography (see: Family Life). I do think they’re at the best when they get ballad-y and nostalgic and bittersweet and melancholy.
There’s just a bit too much new wave for me on this record.
Sweet record but nowhere near Buchanan and co.’s best. Idk if I’m being hard on this record because I love their other three records way more, but it just isn’t incredibly memorable for me. It’s the record I always skip when I do my annual Blue Nile binge.
They are so good.
Favs: Easter Parade, Automobile Noise, From Rags to Riches
Favs:
Beautiful front to back. Lovely recording and a space I want to stay in. Drake is that guy!!
Favs: River Man, Saturday Sun
This is relentless holy. Not sure if I wasn’t in the mood but it felt like the album was like yelling at me and I didn’t like that hahaha. Read the room Bruce I’m just sitting in my car.
One of the rare times when the title track and biggest single is the best song? Born to Run hits big time. The glockenspiel is NECESSARY and is the hugest instrument on a track like this.
Bruce is made for arenas.
I feel like I’m in the Bronx playing basketball with a backwards floppy hat in 1990.
Considering the list, I’m just wondering how much important house and dance records miss the cut to give this one space here. Especially by black house artists in NY/detroit/Chicago etc.
The last track is actually incredible. Otherwise it’s quite a miss for me.
This record grew on me a lot while listening.
Things I don’t care for on this record:
- singing with an intense affect/accent/caricature.
- circus/scary music
Things I do care for:
- the sonic space of this record (fidelity?)
- the moments (often instrumental) where it feels so wabi sabi and the perfect mix of insane and beautiful —- mostly second half.
Strings in Weight-Lifting Lulu are so good. I love that progression.
Cuts like Soulful Sax* remind me of Micachu & the Shapes. This record does sound so good. It’s intentional with space in the best way.
Favs: Semolina, Weight-Lifting Lulu, The Electrocutioner, Soulful Sax*
What a start to the record. 6-minute relentless beautiful stuff. The groove in Wanna Be Startin Somethin is quite literally infectious. All these elements are so perf.
Baby Be Mine goes so hard.
Paul song is hilarious. Doggone is a word that probably shouldn't be in a chorus post-WWII. Good for Paul weaselling himself onto this classic record though.
4, 5, 6 is a crazy run.
Human Nature is a beautiful song wowz.
PYT is so fucking good. Maybe one of the best choruses ever?
9 tracks is the perfect length of a record.
Classique.
There's a couple tracks on here not for me (tangled up in blue esp.) but mostly i wanna live in this record. The space is so great for Dylan. The reverb-y vocal is nice throughout.
Favs: Simple Twist of Fate, You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome, Buckets of Rain
the intro(s) on The Working Hour is so god damn amazing. I've returned multiple times. There's the lil string intro, then the drums, then the drums + weird horn thing, all before the intro or A progression comes in. THEN the song really starts at 1:42. Fucking nuts. So good.
Everybody wants to the rule the world is a classic pop smash.
Mothers Talk drums are so heavy. The outro vocal samples thing is so ahead of its time. I'm wondering if it was sampled in some rap shit. OK nope just checked whosampled and it's mostly sampled by plunderphonics artists lol that makes sense.
This is right on the edge of a 4 for me but not quite.
favs: the working hour, everybody wants to rule the world, mothers talk
So hard. Doesn’t sound like 78. Rare music that I believe will sound relevant forever. No wonder it’s so influential.
really haven’t listened to this since being a kid and playing it on my walkman as a kid. it’s actually really good hahah. I can’t bring myself to give it a 4 but this is a strong 3. so many hits on here.
insane bass tone to start off the record lmao. big cure vibes on the first track. honestly the bass is so forward in the mix the whole record. looking at a picture of this guy yeah he’s like “my part is sick bring it fwd please”
lol okay sorry to be a sith and deal in absolutes but Mr Brightside might be one of the best pop songs of the 21st century so far. top 30.
smile like you mean it literally brought me back to limewire days so hard. holy i rinsed the f out of this track. the vocoder part is so sick like what an insane production decision.
so much hard pan on this record. it’s cool i guess?? you can pick out all the instruments in the mix so well. not sure if that’s the product of great mixing or if i’d rather everything gel more.
is this live off the floor? there’s a refreshing amount of flubs/tempo wavering. it might even be like on purpose in a big way. SEE: glamorous indie rock & roll intro. it’s almost so pronounced that it’s a push-pull idea that is above my pay grade. what a hilarious song btw.
favs: mr brightside, believe me natalie, smile like you mean it, all these things
wow. i’m going on an mbv deep dive after this… finally.
favs: she found now, is this and yes, in another way,
Realizing I’m a bit prog-averse. My fav parts on here are the quiet bits where Fripp is noodling. Have listened to this quite a bit and have even loved it at times in my life. Gah a 2 feels bad but I won’t be returning.
gran turismo menu ass music. I don’t hate it! it’s campy in a way I love all early 000s music though.
Mix was so jarring at the beginning but by the end I felt like it was quite cool. Def enjoyed the back half of the record a bit more. Ironically doesn’t have the raw power of the last stooges record we listened to imo. Iggy still cool and the riffs are so fuck u.
Favs: penetration, shake appeal
Damn I like this a lot more than I’d thought. Not a glam rock head and don’t quite like the theatrical stuff but the auditory space of this record is so nice and cozy that it brings me in. I absolutely love the mix.
All of King Krule’s later albums are super influenced by T-Rex I figure. ‘Rip off’ is what made me think of this. All the horns and the drumbreaks.
He definitely got the juice and knows how to work a crowd good for him.
Luna’s not bad. If the album were instrumental I’d rate it a 3. Idk what it is about his voice but I instantly tune out. Like for a good chunk of this record I forgot I was listening to music.
I really don’t think it’s cool to hate on lorde but she leaves us no choice.
I like her in theory too - her whole dancing like nobody’s watching bit (not in a Taylor Swift “this is me at my most vulnerable brought to you by AMEX” sort of way but an actual sincere way that I believe) but it’s just too bad that she does in fact suck
I will say this album clearly made a fucking impact on pop music. I assume this is one of the first few instances of Olivia Rodrigo ultra-specific songwriting (IMO the worst thing to happen to pop and indie in the last couple decades).
The production is obviously quite ambitious for a pop record which I know is partly why this part of the 1001 canon
I feel myself dozing off and enjoying it a bit at times (at least not hating it) but a lyric goes by and I am reminded of the insanely cheugy lyrics and cringey delivery
enjoyed this a lot more than i thought i would. i can see why this shook the industry. never been an amy head but i get it and - she was sincere and she was great.
it's much more trip hop-y than i ever knew.
Music has never been so powerful
