My first impression was that this reminds me of Joe Jackson... but without any hit songs. I didn't latch on to any songs that I would immediately want to keep repeating. There are a couple songs that might work better as singles by other artists. I was surprised that there was a rap song. The genres seemed to be all over the place. I thought at one point possibly the genres were changing intentionally as if a character was moving into different settings which caused the genre and music to change. I was surprised that this was a Paul Weller band. I was a little familiar with The Jam but did not know what else Paul Weller had done. I kept thinking this was possibly a George Michael band before he was known in the pop genre.
Going into these albums blindly I'm quick to try to think of an artist that I'm reminded of while listening. I couldn't think of anyone right away. Britney Howard came to mind early on just because of the album cover... but towards the end of the album I came up with Fiona Apple. Even though I knew it was from 1976... this really does feel like 70's. It's jazz and folk and even has an electric guitar solo akin to David Gilmour. I was hoping that Joan played all of the instruments (like Lenny Kravitz) but on this album she plays only acoustic guitar. Her backing band is excellent. I need to do a deeper dive.
I actually own this album. I have probably only listened to it 2 or 3 times prior to today. I'm a huge fan of his album Mutations and I figured this would be similar. However, this is his breakup album and it's very depressing which is probably why I didn't listen to it much. Listening for this project I was reminded of the song Lost Cause which I liked a lot (enough to remember from before.) I knew Golden Age first from a great KT Tunstall cover on her acoustic album.. which most likely led me to buy the Beck album. This is Beck at his simplest... no crazy samples or cryptic (odd) lyrics. Even though the lyrics are simple it seems like Beck is mumbling his way through them and I wish the vocals were clearer. Song to song is mostly the same monotone muddy vocals without much dynamic from track to track. This album is not bad but not his best. Because I'm aware of his other albums this will more than likely be judged harsher than if this was a true first listen to an artist I knew nothing else about.
My music listening skills are not high enough to rate a jazz album. Kind Of Blue is supposed to be the best. I couldn't tell you for sure if is or not. This is in a similar catagory. Is this the best Bossa Nova jazz album? Is the Mona Lisa a great painting? Is Citizen Kane the greatest movie? Or is this album just one I need to listen to before I die because it's one of the better albums. Are there 5 more jazz or bossa nova albums like this that are better? I have no reference. This is fine to listen to on a rainy day with nothing else going on in your life. I don't hate it... and don't love it. It's perfect music for a cocktail party or lounging around on a rainy afternoon with nothing else going on in your life. My rating will skew more towards the middle only because I have nothing to compare it to... and other than the opening track I don't recognize anything. Also 95% of the album is not in English so I couldn't even appreciate the lyrics.
I figured after "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Time After Time" the album would be all filler but I didn't realize "She Bop" was also on this album. "All Through The Night" was another pleasant surprise. The album is short in length... only really has 9 songs (not counting the 45 second "He's So Unusual"). Most of the songs just fade out at the end... which gets a bit of a mark down for that alone. Learned that Prince wrote one of the songs too. Overall a solid album that I found quite enjoyable.
I've already listened to this album quite a lot just in the last year or so. Incredible album. Double albums are often criticized for being over indulgent... "less would have been better" or "could have made one solid single album and got rid of the filler it took to make 2 albums." In this case it's the perfect amount. Side 1 and 2 go by too fast. Side 4 might drag on a bit but being a concept album it's acceptable. Not much to say about this album that hasn't been said in the last 45+ years. This album gets an easy 5 stars.
More jazz. 1001 albums and I've already had 2 jazz albums out of 6. Again, this is not bad to listen to... but I'm not versed enough in jazz to decide if it is great or it is just average. I can assume it is great since it's on this list... but nothing caught my ear right away. It all sort of blended together for me and sounded the same. I need to take a class in jazz to have a better idea why this is great. It will unfortunately receive a middle rating because I have no reference to judge it higher or lower.
This album was listenable. 50+ minutes was a bit too long for me. Like the jazz albums these songs all kind of ran together. I didn’t hate it and am not the one to judge this album due to my lack of reference in the rap genre. I did like “The Meaning of The Name” and the title track.
90 minute double album of 10 songs. Space Truckin' is less than 5 minutes on the album. Here it is extended to nearly 20 minutes. Several other songs are extended versions including a lengthy drum solo on The Mule. I probably would have a better appreciation of this live album if it was 1972.... and I was more familiar with the studio versions of these tracks and more in awe of the clear sound of the live album. Phish does this to their songs. A 4 minute song on an album will be 22 minutes in concert and after 18 minutes you don't remember what song they started with until they come back to it in the last minute. I like the 4 minute song... I don't need a 22 minute version. I will more than likely hear the Deep Purple studio albums eventually as they are probably part of this list... which with more familiarity I may gain appreciation for this live album.
These are all very good musicians. Unfortunately this doesn't really do much for me. I'm honestly surprised this is on the list... but 1001 albums covers a lot of genres and artists. Ozomatli is probably the best at what they do... but that doesn't make it something I need to listen to before I die. Is this even their best album?
