1001 Albums Summary

Not as good as I remembered. The use of backing vocals, and the very Kanye power transitions from verses to choruses were great. But overall, just not as good as some of his other stuff. Several songs are pretty boring, and I have a love/hate relationship with skits in music albums. This album overdoes the skits. Get Em High and Family Business were bright spots and hint at the genius we get in Graduation and 808s.

Frantic beats, soaring arpeggios, and breathy, overwrought vocals. In a word, produced. There are moments where the combination hits. And when it hits, it hits. The problem is how it can hit and miss in the same song (With or Without You). One chorus kills and the next dies. Frustrating. Bullet the Blue Sky is garbage and points towards the nonsense that was Discotheque. They tried to do something cool with Running to Stand Still, but Bono shit the bed. The music makes promises the vocals and lyrics can't deliver on. All that said, I see how some of these songs would be incredible played loud and live. The hits are the hits, and the B sides belong on the B side. No buried treasure here. I'd be disappointed if I bought this album for the radio hits. I think I've always thought of U2 as Bono centric. Now I see that The Edge is the real star of the show.

I did not like this album at all. Bright spots: the groove in 'Easy' and the occasional harmonica. Maybe if I was on acid this album would grow on me. The scene I pictured throughout my listening was of a black and white episode of MST3k where this band is playing in the background of a beatnik bar while bikers talk about their feelings and an actress turned down for the role of Catwoman dances awkwardly.