1001 Albums Summary

Genuinely unique project with an interesting blend of indie folk & haunting electronic, but not really my thing.

Masterpiece. It’s constantly debated what Stevie’s best project is — with Innervisions frequently cited alongside Songs in the Key of Life & others — but I think this is his most tight triumph. Not a skip on here, a litany of variety & songs like Living for the City, Too High, or Visions are all testaments to Wonder’s genius. This all goes without saying he also basically created the entire project on his own, playing nearly every instrument on 7/9 tracks. Really special album that is inarguably timeless & endlessly influential.

Foundational hip-hop record that’s received more than enough of its flowers. That being said, I feel like people nowadays don’t mention enough how groundbreaking the production on this project is. While still sample heavy like their peers of the time, some truly inventive production choices on tracks like The New Style (the last third of the track really stands the test of time & Travis Scott’s interpolation of it on Astroworld is real life proof) or Paul Revere really shows how different they were looking at the genre at the time. ESPECIALLY as an East Coast rap group. The main thing that holds this project back are some of the corny or outright poorly aged lyrics (underage girls like on The New Style is so so bad). Outside of that though, it’s a great record that continues to influence the genre to this day.