1001 Albums Summary

I enjoy the twee/ indie pop leanings more than I do the dub touches, but overall, it's a smooth hybrid and the vocals are always fetching.

Since I was a high school junior when this album (and, of course, the single "Smells Like Teen Spirit") rattled youth culture like an earthquake, it's hard for me to offer an objective appraisal of the music 30 years later. Songs like the aforementioned anarchy cheerleader tune-- plus "Lithium", "Come as You Are", etc.-- have become as overplayed in our collective mind as "Sweet Caroline", but you can't penalize a band for ubiquity, and deep tracks like "Lounge Act" and "On a Plain" sound as fresh as ever. Great raging punk-grunge-pop, and (I guess) as good a 90's album as you can ask for to merit a bunch of Gen Alphas to (inexplicably!) buy the t-shirts at Hot Topic and turn Kurt into a Gen X icon.

Maybe the epitome of the "separate the artist from the art" phenomenon. What more needs to be say about this thing? It really is a Maximalist Pop/ Id Rap masterpiece. I defy anyone to find a project with as eclectic (and brilliant) a "feat." list as this: Rhianna, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Sir Elton, etc., etc... Not one man should have all that power.

Some great individual tunes (“Christmas”, “Pinball Wizard”, etc), but the whole rock opera/ “narrative” (those quotes are for ironic effect, btw ;) ) set up just doesn’t come together for me.

I prefer the Dan’s earlier sound: jazz-inflected rock, blues, and soul (as opposed to this rock-inflected jazz and schmaltz). “Peg” is a great tune, though.

I might like “Doolittle” more than this one by a hair, but they’re both fabuloso. Best buzzsaw-guitar-pop out there.

No one needs to write anything else about this album.

Sure, “groundbreaking” and all that, but hard to listen to. (I’ll take the more melodic/ tempered Pink Floyd stuff when I want my psychedelic fix.)

Trip Hop is not my jam, but I can see why this (and earlier Massive Attack) is considered essential listening in this genre

Maybe the best folk rock album ever? It’d be between this, peak Byrds, and Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” era.

Prob tied for first (alongside their first LP) for my favorite Doors record. This one is more… playful? I was always a bit confused by the dramatic shifts in style and mood between Doors songs (revved-up blues, psychedelic, brooding, pretty pop songs, etc…) but the jauntier songs on this one all work as nice compliments to Jim’s more “poetic” offerings.

Alas, more disco than soul or funk. I did like those ‘79 Pirates, though!

Talk-singing folk indie. (Too many nouns as adjectives, I know, but it is what it is. 😉) For this “genre”, I generally like Mt. Eerie more than Callahan, but both are similarly engaging in some spots, dull in others.

Super catchy, impeccably produced, classic “New Wave” power pop. Ocasek bests this effort ONLY in his production work on the first Weezer!

Wall of Sound+ Classic Girl Bands= Brilliant Overplayed Christmas Songs in Dec= Pass

Catchy, campy, not quite as good as “A Night at the Opera”

Specter’s Wall of Sound meets Orbison’s voice meets Dylan’s lyricism— all a little bit hyperbolic but still a great capsule summary for this RnR masterpiece.

I think I like “Sister” a little more, but this one does contain the iconic Teenage Riot and lots of (SY trademark) guitar textures.

Liked it more than I thought I would. There’s just as much Breeders/ Belly going on (melody and 60’s vibe) as there is Mudhoney/ Nirvana.

Not as good as “Odelay” or “Mellow Gold”, but better than “Midnight Vultures”.

Beautiful 80’s synth-art-pop! A Kate Bush feat.! Who doesn’t love “In Your Eyes” and “Sledgehammer”?!

Guess what— sounds like Talking Heads minus Byrne! I do like the female (Weymouth’s?) chipper vocals, and the tunes are catchy and rhythmic, but truly miss Byrne’s one-of-a-kind lyrics.

Meh. I like “Jane Says” (who doesn’t?), but otherwise I don’t care much about the thrashy screamy stuff. Sounds like Soundgarden at times, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. (Funny how I really love Zeppelin’s metallic material, but not most of the bands that it inspired!)

I tend to admire his unique style more than actually enjoying it. Nick Cave and Tom Waits sure do appreciate Scott, though!!!

I WAS going to say that the Police are the ultimate “the Greatest Hits suffice” type of band, and that I didn’t care much about the “deep tracks” on the individual albums, but then I listened to this one in full and decided that it’s actually pretty good Clash-lite edgy pop/ reggae/ punk!

Loved this album as a high schooler in the 90’s! Haven’t listened to it in full in a quite a while (15 years?). Y’know what? It holds up well! The crunchy guitar parts (“alternative”, but not-quite-grungy) and quiet-loud-quiet sequences really build angsty vibes, and feature sneaky melodies too.

Pretty good. Def the most classic rock (ie over-wanking?) influences of any of the 90’s grunge bands, but there are some gems on here that do stand the test of time.