1001 Albums Summary

Found out after listening to half this album that this is the indie/folk band who did "Mykanos" - This (earlier) album sounded a bit "echoey", and less melodic/more "whiney" than I had hoped given how much I like the sound of Mykanos. Yeah I could throw a song or two from this album into a broader playlist (such as "Your Protector") but those echoey backing vocals are something I would struggle with for a repeat listening of the full album.

Iconic music along & perhaps the most iconic album cover artwork of all time?. Proper album rather than a collection of tracks . This was the second album thrown to me in the 1001 list so I struggled to hand out a 5 so early in the campaign. Some slightly indulgent early 70's druggy synth wasnt enough to nudge this from a 5. Dear Lord those backing vocals (Claire Torry) too.

"Random note generator" style of Jazz. Improvisational & all over the friggen place like a mad woman's shit. Hardly melodic, but definitely hard going.

I'm not sure if this is music for when you are in a melancholic/vegetative state, or, arent satified with being happy in life & want to be put into a melancholic/vegetative state. Regardless this Icelandic language malarkey its far too out-there/niche/soundscapey for me & unless I ever decide to take a lot of drugs whilst laying under the Northern lights, its irrelevant to both my ears. Side note : Cmon, how does niche stuff like this end up on a 1001 greatest?!

The epitome of "Rock out with yer c0ck out" Thanks to this 1001 list - this is the first time Ive actually sat and listened to a Stones album. Its also the first time I've actually looked at the lyrics to Brown Sugar....man they wouldn't fly today Guitar in "Hear me knocking" and the brass/Guitar jam in "Bitch" were two highlights in songs previously unheard. Sister Morphine has range due to tempo changes & a quick Google showed that awesome slide guitar to be from Mr Ry Cooder! The fact that the window for making mainstream albums like this has past resolves my question of whether to throw it a 4 or a 5

Random note jazz with no structure. Fits my 1 star criteria : after listening to entire album there is not a single "tune/sequence" in any song I would remember

Walks the line (pun intended) between fitting swansong for a legend and Elder abuse....almost.

1000 words per minute monotone gibberish

Jazz where a couple of songs have a hint of melodic value - Although the most notable example of this (Sunny Side of the Street) is a cover. Too classy to play at a chicken shack unless said shack is serving Chicken Cordon Bleu instead of Nuggets

The 80's slow/simple/repetitive drum synth in most every song has aged poorly and tends to dominate the listening experience given the "thin/sparse" production on most songs. Offbeat synth in "It" and "Starfish & Coffee" also add to this distraction rather than melodic value. Some songs sound like deliberate self caricature - both in vocals (eg: "Housequake") and in lyrics (eg: "If I was your Girlfriend") For a bloke who can famously play 27 instruments, it might have been an idea to bring a few of these to the studio with him other than just that rubbish drum machine.

Retro sounding sassy goodness that revived a genre. 3 stars may be a tad stingy, but so is releasing an album with only 34 minutes of muzak.

Not too many times you hear 2 lead guitars play the same note 32 times in a row. Not their strongest.

4 stars for clearly being Amy Winehouses' Grandmother, but a point deduction for the 1997 re-release having 20 tracks(!) and feeling like "too much of a good thing" which should have been truncated.

Hot and Spicy. 4.5 star

A couple of funky bangers (Boogie on Reggae Woman, You Havent Done Nothin) however too many elevator muzak fillers to elevate this beyond a solid 2 star.

"The music is not in the notes but the silence between them".....in which case this album feels like it needs more room to make the overall sound less noisy/messy. Not a lot of range to the songs on this album (unlike later work)

My theory is that Robbie's musical powers are proportional to his level of arrogance. Whilst there is clearly a high degree of self-importance on display here, I feel there is still a hint of humility he was yet to fully expunge in this, his first album.

I expected significantly more crooning given I had only heard their later post-coital knob-rock works - I much prefer their more cohesive sound once they moved out of their Mums Garage, stopped the experimental phase and fully committed to allowing Mr Ferry be a certified pussy magnet.

DEI Beatles

Expected hard(er) rock, but this album was more along the lines of pisstake rock. The unexpected hint of satire is something they wear well though.

Probably a very good example of music I definitely dont like very much. 1.5 star

I'd only even known "Bald Billy". This earlier work with hair way rocked harder than expected and made me smile politely throughout.

If you dont make cumface at 4 minutes & 20 seconds when that guitar solo hits on Hotel California then I'm not sure we can be friends.

Average background music with above average vocals. 2.5 star

When an artist is referred to as "a storyteller" I've always taken that to mean the lyrics are good but the music is probably a bit shit. Whilst the latter is true, its the immature "creepy Uncle Rock" lyrics which are outstandingly bad: "The fuse is burning Shut out the lights The fuse is burning Come on, let me do you right" The old bloke seems pretty proud of his wick too as he proclaims "The fuse is burning" a total of 15 times in the song 5-star wick, 2-star Dad-Rock

A couple of 80's radio all-star classics combined with a several 10minute long 80's synth songs which feel like they belong in B-grade cop movie chase sequence. Not sure why we had a chick orgasming for half of one of the songs too. 2 star

No pants were involved in the writing and/or recording of this album.