1001 Albums Summary

I mean it’s ABBA, who doesn’t love ABBA? An album filled with catchy songs filled with those 70s disco influences most notably in Dancing Queen (of course) and Tiger. My only critique of the album is the genre shifts drastically in some parts of the album especially in the switch between disco-influenced ‘Tiger’ then immediately into the Swedish-folk sound of ‘Arrival’. The album can at parts seem confused on what sound it wants to particularly achieve overall, but who cares? It’s. ABBA. All in all a great album that’s guaranteed to get you off your feet and onto that dancefloor. Favourite Song: Money, Money, Money or Tiger- both absolute bangers. Rating: 4/5

Going into this album I wasn’t sure what to expect given I haven’t heard many Beastie Boys songs but this album has exceeded my expectations. I found the album masterful in its use of genre-blending, from the hip-hop tracks like ‘Root Down’ and the heavily punk influenced ‘Tough Guy’ the album was able to convey the social/spiritual messages that the Beastie Boys wanted to get across. The most impressive part of the album, however, was the fact that the further the album went on the more I enjoyed it. The track ‘Sabrosa’ offered an unexpected change of pace with its Jazz elements and ‘Bodhisattva Vow’ introducing spiritual elements to the album which I very much enjoyed. My only critique would be some filler songs within the album that didn’t appeal to me particularly which takes this album down to 4 stars. Nevertheless, this album makes me excited to hear more albums from the Beastie Boys as I wasn’t particularly familiar with their work beforehand. Overall, an experimental album that, in my eyes, very much worked. Favourite tracks: Root Down, Sabrosa and Alright Hear This My rating: 4/5

I wasn’t sure what to except from R.E.M as I’ve only really heard their music from the 90s. Safe to say, I was quite impressed. It’s an album which is well ahead of its time, each song is well produced with solid vocals from Michael Stipe in tandem. A stand-out song for me was ‘It’s the end of the world’, the song reminded me of We didn’t start the fire by Billy Joel, I was a big fan. Overall, the album was an easy-listen with a nostalgic feel and a classic. Favourite tracks: It’s the end of the world and Exhuming McCarthy My rating: 4/5

This album has me very conflicted, I really want to like it but I just can’t. Don’t get me wrong, the story-telling about Tommy’s life is good but it can wear a bit thin after 74 minutes. I do give the album credit as one of the first instances of the genre of opera rock, but most of these songs can come across as a muddled stream of consciousness to be completely honest. Songs such as ‘Fiddle About’ definitely do not age well and was a slightly uncomfortable listen. Although, there are some highlights in this album, especially ’Pinball Wizard’ (a banger) and ‘Smash the Mirror’ but these highlights can get lost in the other 22 songs. Overall, this album is a historical album in terms of genre experimentation however its long run-time and dated concept certainly lets this album down in my opinion. Favourite tracks: Pinball Wizard and Smash the Mirror My rating: 2/5

Whilst jazz is definitely not my go to genre, there is no doubting this is such an influential album and marks the beginning of the “cool jazz” genre. At moments within this album I could almost picture myself in 1950s NYC with a whiskey in hand listening to this. The improvisation on this album is top-notch and more incredibly when doing my research, this album was actually recorded from 1949-1950. This album was truly ahead of its time and I can very much appreciate that. Particular highlights are ‘Moon Dreams and Deception’ which highlight this new genre of “cool jazz”. Additionally, ‘Budo’ was another favourite of mine with its up-tempo and bee-bop influence. My only issue is that someone else will truly appreciate this album more than myself as I’m not a huge listener of jazz music. Although, I can see myself listening to some of my favourite tracks from this again. Overall, this album is undoubtedly hugely influential and has some great tracks on there but to a non-jazz listener perhaps I didn’t get as much as I needed to out of the whole album. (Hopefully my opinion can change after reviewing more jazz albums!) Favourite tracks: Moon Dreams and Budo My rating: 3/5

This album is a mixed bag for me. You have some great songs in ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ and ‘(They Long To Be) Close To You’ but also have some questionable and borderline cheesy songs such as their version of the Beatles song ‘help’. However, there is no denying Karen Carpenter has lovely vocals throughout all the songs which shouldn’t be overlooked. Overall, I think it was a well-produced album with some highlights but at other moments can feel a bit off and too one-dimensional. Unrelated information: The song ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love again’ made me chuckle as it reminded of the Peter Kay misheard lyrics routine. Favourite tracks: (They Long To Be) Close To You and We’ve Only Just Begun My rating: 3/5