1001 Albums Summary

I’m not sure what has ever possessed an artist to record and release a double album. It really is just a bit much. Knowing that Mr. Blue Sky was on this record, I felt like I was anticipating it constantly, especially with recurring motifs which popped up early in the record. Usually I enjoy things like this; musical clues scattered throughout a record to encourage front-to-back listening, but by the time Mr. Blue Sky came around, I was sick to the back teeth of the noises, the dense instrumentation, and (in my opinion) the poorly-placed (in the mix) vocals, not to mention to generally poor backing vocals which manage to find their own way of treading all over everything after every second word. I wanted to enjoy this, but I will probably not listen again.

Sea Change? More like Please Change the tempo. The first song on the record that stood out was “Round The Bend”, which unfortunately for Beck happens to be almost exactly the same as “River Man” by Nick Drake. Sorry, Beck. I love your voice but I do not love this album.

A brilliant show of musicianship. I think many of their songs leave much to be desired, however the transition from Cowboy Song to The Boys Are Back In Town is absolutely spot on.

I have never been so impressed by an opening track to then be so underwhelmed by what follows. There is some lovely lyricism on display here, but musically it’s just quite samey isn’t it.

I like Talking Heads. This is not my favourite of their records. I can undoubtedly hear the influence this record has had on modern pop and indie music, but there’s no songs that really jump out. Musically it’s very ornate and deliberately put together, but I found myself forgetting melodies before a song was even over.

Overall this was an enjoyable listen, with interesting textures and fun rhythms, but still not a huge amount to hook me into another listen.

Once you’ve heard one, you’ve heard the rest. Woof.

A perfectly adequate post-grunge, nu-metal album. Not as good as other better-known records in the genre but definitely fine.

I do not like Blur. I went in with an open mind as to not ruin my listening experience, but this just reminded me why I don’t like blur. It sounds like several different bands fighting for attention on this record and all of them band. Stupid, pretentious, postering nonsense. Get to fuck.