1001 Albums Summary

I have a strong distaste for Van Morrison but these recordings are actually really good, I like the way this sounds. He just has one of those voices... as soon as I heard him start singing on the 2nd track I wanted to turn it off. Besiiididdeeeee youuuuuuuu chiiiiiiillllld Ballerina - "what if someone wanted to get real close to you.. for instance, me?" BAD. Ugh he sounds like he's singing a karaoke bar 3am

Generally not my vibe though there are some super cool moments throughout (string slidey moment on Slipstream for example) Mother Goose is my fav on the record

Is this a dad-rock band?? Man what a cool fucking record. I love this janky, tumbly percussive space we're in. "I am trying to break your heart" is just one of those phrases that is so singable, could mean so many things, gets stuck in your head, etc.. Amazing opening track Wilco is so good at the weird mono type sounds that just pull you into a specific world (Radio Cure). So much glitchy sound design inspo here. Intertwining chimey electric guitars reminds me of some House Art attempts haha. Love Jeff Tweedys voice on this one - tired, gravelly, broooding. War on War - those doubled bass lines!! Jesus, Etc - Iconic all-time great song I'm The Man - that guitar soloooooo There's just so many cool things about this record. Pure beauty from start to finish. There was a bit of talk (controversy?) when this came out because it wasn't too long after 9/11 and some lyrical themes + the artwork felt referential even though the album was apparently recorded before 9/11! 10/10 on Pitchfork in 2003. Someone called it "Americana's Kid A"

This starts off more intense/high energy than I assumed it would. Having a tough time getting into this though. Maybe it's my mood today, idk. He's obviously an incredibly talented singer, I just don't think I connect with the style/songs/lyrics. Something about records from this era-mid 2000's where all of the arrangements are very similar song to song. I bet this would have been an incredible live show, but it falls flat on a recording for me despite how good he is. The "capture a band performance" production style doesn't' always work for me, I guess. Hallelujah is the real reason we're all here, right? It truly is such a beautiful performance of a beautifully written song. Tangent: Cohen wrote 150 verses for this song over 5 years before he felt it was right... Music is almost never better after a process like that but I think this song is probably a major outlier. Apparently his record company told him "we know you are great, but don't know if you are any good" Lover is the other reason we're here I guess. I do really love this song. Surely they made Hallelujah close out Side A originally, right?? Corpus Christi Carol - insanely beautiful Eternal Life - lfg. Love this foray into hard rock/alt/nu metal? There's 2 basses on this song hahaha. Strings bring the beauty back. More into the 2nd half of the record!

I'm digging this a lot more than I thought I would tbh! Didn't expect to enjoy it like I am. Listened to it while on a walk so don't have as many coherent thoughts. Don't think I could have told you that Somebody To Love was by Jefferson Airplane before today. Good song. 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds - This song feels cool to me plus I love the title lol Embryonic Journey is beautiful and unexpected - feels like American Primitive guitar stuff (Ackerman) White Rabbit - over rated and definitely why I expected not to like the rest of the album... Not a fan of this type of psychedelia generally. Don't like the melodies or vocal performance, drums parts remind me of Bolero which sucks.. Also wasn't fully expecting the slow/heavy blues jam/harmonica riffing on In The Morning, but it makes a certain amount of sense in retrospect.

Listened in the car so my notes on specific songs are sparse. First half felt very much in the vein of Neutral Milk Hotel, that late 90's early 00's rough around the edges indie/rock/acoustic guitar thing. Some Elliot Smith moments. Some Wilco too! Second half felt different to me, more rambling, less focused (or maybe that was just me).. idk Unfortunately I wasn't grabbed by much of this - I found my thoughts drifting elsewhere for pretty much the entirety of the album so maybe this isn't a fair shot but giving it a 2 for that reason. Lots of dope french horn though! I think that's one of my fave instruments

The only Zappa record I'm familiar with is Joes Garage (which I really love) so I'm expect to listen to this but also nervous and have absolutely no idea what to expect. Pretty crazy first track (Peaches...). I worry I will get tired of this quickly though if it's an indication of the rest of the album. Burst out laughing 3 seconds into song 2. Should have seen that coming based off the song title. I'm so fucking nervous. This groove is pretty sick, percussion layers, unhinged vocal performance (Captain Beefheart) with a meandering solo over top.. chaos. Knowing what Zappa was all about, I'm sure this solo is in like Phrygian sus7 over Pentatonic9 minor or some shit but to me it sounds entirely random. It could also just be him fucking around. No clue. This is going to be a tough listen even though I want to like it because Zappa is just interesting to me. Actually halfway through Willie The Pimp things kinda settled down and the solo makes more sense to me, with the tack piano/harpsichord just doing straight quarters. I'm quite sure every person on this recording was stone cold sober, but this sounds like a 3am drunk jam. Distorted violin making an appearance near the end is cool I guess. Unnecessary but cool. These recordings/productions sound ahead of their time imho. Like very mid 70's, so like 6 years ahead. (after reading the wiki this was one of the first albums made with a 16 track machine, most albums at this time were still 4 or 8 track, so that's definitely part of it.) I feel like I'm just going to be pointing out crazy things that I like/don't like for this review. Like wild arp synth on Son of Mr Green Genes. GREAT guitar solo tone around halfway. Cheeky ending. Side Note - apparently Shuggie Otis played bass on the first track and was only 15 years old at the time. His album Freedom Flight is cool. and came out 2 years later so I guess he was 17(?) which is wild Into a more classic jazz vibe with Little Umbrellas. Feels like a spy movie/film noir but I'm into it. A nice break from the insanity. Rippin piano/Hammond parts are cool. Some cool crunchy sax/wind parts. Gumbo Variations - I'm kinda into this (it's 12 mins so maybe that will change lol). Sick part part/chords. You can hear someone cueing/counting in the background at times. Wild sax soloing. I can't make heads or tails of what's going on musically, but I did stay engaged on this one! The mid-way guitar solo in Camel starts off sounding like I would play if I was pretending to play jazz. Then there's some crazy pitch bending going on that almost sounds like a digital guitar/pedal? These guitar tones are fake sounding and I'm so curious what they did to achieve that. The album felt like it kinda just.. ended. Not sure what the point of any of this is, but I actually mostly enjoyed what will certainly be my one and only listen. Giving it a solid 2.5.

Gotta leave Spotify for this one. The title reminds me of playing Battle Tanx on N64 at Tyler Pinders house. Hmm... we've got 58 minutes of this eh? Is this intended as a musical? Like I feel like I should be watching actors on stage. Why can't I find more info about the story here? One critic called Tank Battles "worthy" and said that the vocals were "stunning" and instrumental "impeccable". I'm definitely stunned. One Youtube commenter said of Track 5 "this is important" Mother Beimleim is actually really sick. I would have made this the lead single. Song of a German Mother - an commenter on Youtube "These are the most ridiculous lyrics I have ever heard". But this song is heartbreaking. The vocal performance is overly dramatic and feels pushed sure - but it's the grief and guilt of a mother who realized she'll never see her son again after he joins up? "Ridiculous" is a wildly unfair criticism of these lyrics. The further I get into it the album the more I'm appreciating it. But at the same time I'm starting to get pretty fatigued by it. And a few songs later I kinda just want it to end. It's not getting worse.. it's very consistent.. too consistent haha. Just more of the same. But then I get woken up by a lyric like this on Ballad Of (Bourgeois) Welfare: "they take care of the pregnant woman when the need a class to work.." And a legitimately interesting shift into an uptempo section. "You get the soup and they get the marrow" Mothers Hands - this is beautiful and heartbreaking at it's core. It's really just the presentation I don't like. The youtube artwork for The Wise Woman and The Solider is hilarious in contrast to the music. This song is boring. Hit an very out of place ad for a Conestoga College video game design program. THE RAT MEN!!!! wtf is this sexy ass saxophone doing here??? We're kind of just re-hashing a LOT of the same themes here. Not a whole lot of development happening after a certain point. And then it ends with a minute long song written to a radio. I only searched quickly but wish I could find out more about why this album was made or any sort of story behind it. I would be more into this if it was part of a larger musical performance, but I can't say I'm into it musically as a stand-alone album. That being said.. It's easy to laugh at but I don't think it's objectively bad by any stretch of the imagination. There's a lot of beauty and tension and the arrangements are well thought out even if it's presented in a way that I typically strongly dislike (musical soundtracks). It's long and becomes tedious rather quickly. This album is like a bowl of cold Borscht - I personally don't understand how anyone could like it, it's boring, and it makes me feel like I'm hiding from the Red Army. But it serves a purpose.

jesus fucking christ god damn blast beats everywhere There's some crazy rhythmic/drum stuff going on that I don't think of when I think "jazz" (like the blast beats) and it would be really sick if it was explored more but the saxophone wailing is so fucking relentless. Don't get me wrong I can get behind full out chaos if it's being used in juxtaposition. 6 minutes in - can this be over yet? I GET IT. Is there more to say?? Just to be even more annoying they put a big ass reverb on the whole drum kit during Enfant. Intentionally obnoxious shit drives me bonkers, it reminds me of the twerpy kid in school who repeated the annoying phrase over and over because he knows it bugs people and he wants attention - this is why everyone makes fun of jazz. 15 minutes in and I just loudly exclaimed "UGHH" to no one. Imagine being the poor engineer who had to sit through these sessions? The drum reverb is killing me hahahah Woah Ecars actually feels slightly different (one notch more coherent) Feet Music - okay lets fucking go!! Actual discernible melody and harmony!! Performances felt a little one-note to me... get it? cuz there's a million fucking notes!!! 1/5 obviously. Truly torturous. My initial reaction to this is "this doesn't need to exist." But that's a knee-jerk reaction based on my preferences and is unfair. The longer I think on that (and the longer I was subjected to this record) the more I change my mind, surprisingly. I just don't understand it, I think is what it comes down to. Obviously there's a lot of noise music out there (and most doesn't require one ounce of the technique this monster does). So I KNOW there's a point - and maybe a lot of music I love has shared roots with this type of stuff, I just have a tough time seeing it. I'd be happy to get some more insight on this, more than happy to be proven wrong about any of it, but anyone rating this higher than 1 has some explaining to do.

hey man what's happenin?? woah insane choppy transitions from Love Song to the title track. I've heard this band touted as an important early punk band but never listened to them before. I'm instantly hearing the influence on some of the punk bands I loved when I was 13/14. Suicide Machines, Bouncing Souls, Rancid.. a lot of that early 2000's kinda ska-punk vibe (even tho this isn't ska at all) I Just Can't Be Happy - sick drum rolls around 3min mark - I could so this going into a postpunk breakdown sort of thing Melody Lee - fuck ya, fave song so far Anti Pope - this would have been 13 yr old Wills absolute shit. Still pretty sick tbh EXCEPT WHEN THE BONGO COMES IN wtf These Hands - when did this become a Doors album?? Get me out of here Was kinda distracted for most of the 2nd half of the album. Closing track is pretty cool though. The drummers name is Rat Scabies.

Writing these notes from memory the day after: Damn those drums/evrything on One Hundred Years is so sick. Perfect. By the time I got to track 4 my thought was "ok I get it", started to feel a one note.. Closer track was wild. But the spaces created throughout are so so good, the crazy drum sounds, Robert Smiths vocal delivery is so emotional (if a little repetitive). There were some genuinely scary moments. I liked it! 7/10

Never intentionally listened to Stevie Wonder before so stoked for this. Is it called Innervisions because he's blind? That's pretty good. I've definitely heard Too High before. So playful, great track, tones are perfect (little phasers on everything, incl vocals) Wasn't expecting this shift into track 2. I'm less into this tonally, though the guitars parts are nice. Lots of vision metaphors here - this song doesn't seem to go anyway, makes me feel like I'm stuck which could very well be the point. OK HERE WE GO I def have heard Living For The City before too. These verses are so so good. I'm a sucker for a mid-track skit too haha Golden Lady is sick too - those key changes going up and up during the fade out Higher Ground - is this a Chili Peppers cover? If you don't love a clavinet through a wah pedal this song ain't for you. Never really noticed the bass hammer on/pull offs before, so sick. Took me a sec to realize it's a bass synth actually Also kinda stopped actively listening/writing notes as I got doing some work, but got pulled back in by the closing track chorus hook. Good album with some absolute classic songs/sounds!!

jesus fucking christ god damn blast beats everywhere jk this record was certainly something though. What was up with the parade song? Child duet jumpscare at track 11 was unexpected. Is it just me or is she actually not a very good singer? Astrud, not the kid. I feel like songs/albums like this have aged in a funny way. It kinda just makes me think of the music from Family Guy and parody in general Some beautiful string arrangements throughout. I have an affinity for a full string section mixed mono and panned off to one side. Some cool recordings for sure

A fun vibe to help start a dreary winter day and get me through emailing. Our Lips Are Sealed - never actually listened to this song before when it wasn't in the soundtrack of a movie. I like it! It's boppy and unfussy. Kinda dynamically flat though (I have a working theory about this) Its the vibe of the time, but How Much More reminds me a little bit of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (Kids In The Hall theme song lol). Lust To Love - this sounds like it could almost be an AFI song from Sing The Sorrow This Town - sick guitar riff We Got The Beat - same thing here as Lips Are Sealed. Automatic - the band is kinda having a tough time staying together here until the drums come in. They do it, but barely haha. I don't particularly like this song, but that big pause/reverse back in near the end was cool You Can't Walk - lil bo diddley rhythm here. Verses are really cool but the choruses sucks Interesting decision to end the record with a super quick reversed cymbal. I started off having a decent time, but I don't feel much substance here. I'm sure there's cultural significance of an all-girl band even just existing in the early 80's. The whole record is just very one-note, very samey, very safe and middle of the road. Maybe it's the production style. Those 2 huge hits paid for everyones entire livelihoods and that's great.

Not into this record despite some cool moments. Some creepy and off putting lyrics, but mostly just not super interesting to me, especially vocally. I know they've influenced a lot of the stuff I love, but this didn't do it for me. Some aesthetic production decisions I'm not into as well, for instance a lot of it feels pretty mono/up the middle to me. Like big important guitar parts feel lacking because of how they're treated in the recordings. Is this like the post-punky version of Alice Cooper? It feels like it's missing some edge. Fave song: Pretty In Pink - great hook but I don't really like the way the verses feel. Somethings just off about it all to me.

I loved this record! Solid as heck 70's punk. Released Jan 1st 1970 so I feel like this would have felt pretty wild in it's day. It's not even 70's punk, it's 60's punk tbf The thing I liked most about this one was hearing little bits of influence on other music/our collective idea of what punk is (proto punk?). LA Blues is wild and definitely partially lifted by Jack Black for his character in School of Rock

Okay I listened to this is 3 parts as I was running errands today (Nov 13). As such I'm doing notes from memory. This album is hilarious and idk I think it's only partially intentional. I love this era of hip hop but I was asking myself is this an important record in the history of hip hop? I don't know much about it but crazy if true! Humpty Dance is actually sick, that bassline is so cool, never heard something like that before. Love this dudes voice. Underwater Rimes into Gutfest '89 is what kinda lost me. The rest of the record felt like a novelty. The mobster verse in Underwater Rimes had me cackling in the car tho. 1-2 seeee.. well I'm a deep sea gangsta, underwater pranksta, kissin all the girl fish, dissin all the ??? Freaks of the Industry I actually kinda liked too haha, I'm into these story-songs, a friend bragging to another friend, like "this is what I did...", Pharcyde is my reference here. A couple nice piano moments scattered throughout! Track 11 is when we learn that this is an insane concept record (read wiki)????? Packet Man had me laughing in the grocery store.

2.5 Stars Love Vigilantes is an incredible song, love it so much. I'm also really familiar with the Iron & Wine version so that helps (originally thought it was written by Iron & Wine)... There were a few other cool moments on the record. But mostly I was thinking that this album is definitely not what I think of when I think "New Order". Idk if my conception of what New Order is is just skewed and not really accurate or what, but I feel like Substance and PC&L have more of the big New Order songs. Maybe I just don't know this band as well as I thought I did lol.

His vocal is so fucking good Where am I? Never heard strings or an arrangement like this before Like sonically extremely clean Omg these synths (Rags to Riches). Dolly Parton reference (“coat of many colours”) Absolutely insane that this is their debut album Stay is a banger, those guitars! Man I wish I could sing like this guy (Easter Parade) Heatwave - how the hell are they doing the fluttery synths in the background?? They have such a cool way of weaving amazing hooks into songs (Heatwave) I think the thing this album suffers from is over-use of reverb.. and it’s bright af. Fully puts it in the mid 80’s for eternity and bright ass verbs just are not my thing. Otherwise a perfect album? I’ve heard Hats a bit but will need to listen for sure, and VERY curious what their 2004 album sounds like. Autoplay went right into Hats and it’s a seamless transition album to album.. stoked.

I love Nick Drake so much. Such beautiful interplay between the acoustic guitar, electric guitar off to the right and piano off to the left. I forgot how country rippin that electric is, mimicking a lot of pedal steel movement. Such pure beauty. River Man - Nick Drake has this unique way of blending super dark chords, dark harmonic movement but in a way that makes you feel like you're not alone, like it's going to be okay. The string arrangements around the acoustic guitar could move mountains. I think "hauntingly beautiful" applies pretty well here. His voice is so singular, warm, soft, inviting, yet can't help but give away how emotionally broken he is. Okay I feel like I sound like a blogger/critic. Time to just listen. His guitar playing is so interesting and has influenced me a lot even though I barely play anymore. String arrangements range from soft and textural to almost classical (Day Is Done) Man In A Shed - that bluesy/jazzy piano is sooo good Pink Moon is my fave ND record, but this is a very solid 2nd. Time Has Told Me, River Man, Way to Blue, Fruit Tree, Saturday Sun are all stand out songs to me. "So Sunday sat in the Saturday sun, and wept for a day gone by"

I think, like my feelings on New Order, maybe my perception of what Springsteen is was just based off one or two hits. I know super high energy all the time is his thing, but I found it a bit tiring? Like, sick playing/arrangements and the dude can sing like nobody's business.. but I found it tough to sink into his world (i think) because things started to sound like noise to me

Album artwork has me a bit nervous and song 1 (Deee-Lite Theme) isn't helping despite a solid drum break Good Beat - Okay this isn't bad. I can get behind taking a little visit to house/club music like this for a bit. I've actually listened to a few DJ sets in the past week or 2 so maybe I'm primed for this Groove is in the Heart - Huge track! Love the vocal hook, breaks, not into the slide whistles Some fun stuff that feels like a time-capsule. Goofy at times, idk if that's just because of the modern perspective looking back or if it felt that way at the time. Seems like this album was critically acclaimed when it came out in 1990. Definitely zoned out while working with this one, it all kind of blended together but that's probably what it's for!! 3 feels a little higher than I'd like to rate it, but I don't think it deserves a 2. 3 it is.

hehehe-haw Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' is groovy as hell. Love all the layers of percussion intertwining, so much energy there, pretty amazing Track 1. Vocal is mixed too low imho though ;p Ohh Baby Be Mine chord pad synth is soooo good. Leads are sick too but are so period specific. I really love this vocal performance- feels so raw and honest like he's pushing past his limits into like James Brown terrority. WOAH insane mode(?) shift?? MUCH less into Track 3... the doggone girl is mine yip shes mine :D. PM and MJ fighting over a girl is a ridiculous concept for a song and they definitely should have left this one off. We're really going from that into three of the most famous songs of all time? Apparently The Girl is Mine was the LEAD SINGLE for the album (picked for crossover accessibility to white radio stations thanks to PM) - wild stuff. "Are the wolves howling necessary for the studio version?" is what I would have asked in the session so it's probably good I wasn't there. Thriller is a good song if not campy as hell (actually most of this album is campy in retrospect. Was it campy at the time I wonder?) Billie Jean is all all-timer but why is the shaker so fucking loud in my right ear (but it's actually a really good sounding shaker rezpekt). Love the janky ad libs vocals. Human Nature - Ballads like this normally aren't my vibe, but there's a lot to like here. Drum groove is super cool, and some really interesting vocal delays that stutter and pitch up and down in a very modern way. Shakers too loud. Never heard PYT before but it's very dope, so many interesting layers. super pitched up vocals, crazy synth sounds.. Lady - loveee the slow attack/porta on those synth pads so much. But again, I have a tough time getting into schmaltzy/sentimental ballads like this. And one of the biggest albums of all time just kinda slowly fades out...

Listened in the car, walking around a greenhouse. I like this era of Dylan a lot. Some amazing grooves. I haven't looked at the wiki for this record but whoever is playing with him on this sounds amazing. Will certainly revisit this, dive deeper.

I honestly had no idea War was a Black band because I guess I didn't know anything about them at all haha. I really only know Low Rider and Why Can't We Be Friends, and I always forget those songs are by War.... This photo goes hard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(band)#/media/File:War_(US_band,_1992).jpg Groovy, raw, feels great. Love the grittiness of the vocal performance of Cisco Kid. Where Was You At - yeah I love this shit. It feels so good. I'm a sucker for a band member enthusiastically yelling "yeah!" in the background just because they're really feeling it. Cool changes all over the place, and then it just kinda fades out quickly haha. A bit weird ending but I forgive it. City, Country, City - solid jam but I feel like I'm getting spun around a little bit. Long drawn out jams aren't really fun for me unless I'm playing. Self-indulgence, I guess you'd call that. Four Cornered Room - woahhh a rare flexitone appearance!! These bg vocals are very sick. Flanging... Holy shit this is so sick haha Cool album. Lots of sick harmonica, rhythms, big gang vocals. The longers tracks felt a little meandering. But cool overall! I'll have to check out some more from War's discography.

tbh I kinda worshipped Eminem from the ages of 10-12, then 15-17 (3 years in-between was all punk with a bit of crossover). What to say that hasn't already been said... There are MANY bangers on this album. Eminem is truly one of the greatest, it's not an understatement in the slightest. Nostalgia is def coming into play for me here but idk, the dude can write a rap haha. Also the production sounds like 1000000 dollars. Idk if this is a controversial or common opinion but Stan might be a 10/10 song. Do I like it? No. But it's extremely well written. Eminem basically is a voice actor and this is a radio drama. The imagery is impossibly strong, the sound design is actually really great (the scribbling foley throughout verse 1,2 and 4), the way verse 2 opens up spatially to create a sense of unease, and verse 3 puts us in Stans car with the tight "car" reverb.. like it's really fucking well done. Other thoughts - I think Marshall has anger issues he hasn't addressed. Kim is a way more fucked up song than Stan. Didn't he get sued over that one? If not, he should have. The vocal performance is really fucking good though. Album took a bit of a weird turn at Remember Me I felt, this song feels a little out of place to me Ken Kaniff skit is crazyyyy. Em is so fucking homoerotic and so homophobic (hand in hand, I guess). I forgot how many times the f-slur is dropped in this music. I think I kinda forgot how much of a shock factor he was. Honestly not sure what to rate this. Am I docking points just because he's... the way he is??

I get fatigued by bright mixes with tons of reverb. 3 I guess? Feel pretty middle of the road about this but I didn't dislike it