1001 Albums Summary

'America' should have been the opener. 'Save The Life Of My Child' is an unlistenable mess. I guess they were going for shock value after the gentle opening. 'Voices Of Old People' is indulgent and boring, I can't see this ever getting a second listen when the album is replayed. Bookends Theme (reprise) should have been the album closer for obvious reasons. Fakin' It has a nice commercial hook and a snarl to it, but it gets dragged down by the spoken interjections- underlining the main weakness of the album, attention seeking artsyness that falls flat and sounds dated. 'Mrs Robinson' is a stone classic and along with 'America' the high point of the album. Hazy Shade Of Winter is a step down but still a good closer. At The Zoo is ok and should have ended side 1. Definitely no place for this in my 1001 albums. They did much better work later on. Sgt Pepper has a lot to answer for.

Better than I expected. Some decent musicianship too- Jon Lord's keyboards make the overall sound more interesting and 'grown up '. The problem I have with heavy rock/metal is that the solos have to be pretty damn memorable to grab my attention (and usually they aren't). Or the guitar riffs have to be muthafukas. With 'Smoke On The Water' you get both. Nothing else on this album gets near it. The intro on 'Never Before' kicks ass then it develops into bland filler. 'Maybe I'm A Leo' has a suitably greasy feel and the second best riff on the album. Not a genre I ever listen to and beyond the obvious classic here not really much that would keep me coming back for more. It's probably a five within the genre but far less in terms of music that engages me.