First ever album served to me by the generator on the First Day of 2026, and… well… where do we go from here?
A classic album from a classic year (1995) in which the UK was going crazy with Oasis (as in 2025) and other swaggering laddish Britpop, this album, Radiohead’s guitar album, was going in its own direction entirely.
Full of angst, rage, and despair, this album feels immediate from the first shimmering notes through to its final guitar-picked outro, with not a single track letting it down. It feels amazing now to think this was a band struggling with the idea of being defined by Creep and possibly a one-hit wonder band.
I say it feels immediate, but I remember in the heady days of discounted singles buying My Iron Lung and the High and Dry/Planet Telex singles and struggling to get into them before plumping for the album and subsequent singles. Like many, it took me a while to grow into this album. This might be, as I said, because 1995 was an exceptionally great albums year, but it wasn’t really until the end of ‘ 96 and beginning of ‘ 97 that I was playing this end to end and really appreciating the musicianship and creativity on the record. Then immediately came OK Computer and that Glastonbury performance I was lucky enough to be at. But that’s another story.
Thom Yorke really found his voice on this record and has probably never sounded better.
Ironically, in building this album to distance themselves from Creep, they created a kind of post-grunge rock sound that was taken up and amplified, IMHO, in a poor way by bands like Muse and from that another sound to distance themselves from (for a while anyway).
A classic.
Best songs - All of them. Sequenced brilliantly as well.
Having missed the Chance to go to Live Aid (I was just 15 at that time) I jumped at the chance to go to the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday concert at Wembley Stadium I was just 18 and really thought Music could help change the World. Having negotiated pamphleteers from (I think) the South African Embassy handing out leaflets detailing why we shouldn’t celebrate a terrorist I made my way towards the front of the stage.
The Mandela concert was not only in front of a sold out 72,000 crowd but being televised pretty much worldwide and so to keep continuity as well as the main stage there was a small second stage where comedians and smaller artists (or artists not so well known in the UK such as the amazing Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens) etc played whilst the main stage was being reconfigured. Having already seen such artists as Sting, The Eurythmics and a surprising George Micheal, amongst others, out onto that small stage stepped a diminutive Black Women with an acoustic guitar that then very nervously, and with little eye contact, launched into a three song set. Later, at peak time, as we all waiting for the mystery special guest little did we know that Stevie Wonders software for his keyboards had either been lost or stolen and so we were treated to two more songs (including Fast Car) as the organisers hurriedly pushed out Tracy Chapman to cover.
This second set would have been conservatively watched by half a billion people. This was, as a music obsessed teen, my first exposure to Tracy Chapman and I’m sure most of that half billion. It genuinely was a standout moment of the concert. I quickly acquired the album and knew it very well by the time I saw her again in September as part of the Amnesty Human Rights Now Tour by which time it was a global hit.
Listening back to this after many years, did this deserve the hype and recognition? I think so.
The albums songs mark Chapman as an observer of life especially of marginalised society and cover things like race, poverty and domestic violence, with a strong acoustic feel backed with a nicely produced backing band and warm clean bass.
The album is nicely sequenced as well, for instance the bleak a Capella of behind the wall being followed by Baby Can I Hold You.
I noted that another reviewer described this as Secretary Rock and in my mind nothing could be further from the truth. Released in the Reagan era when Whitney, Dirty Dancing and George Micheal were topping the charts this stripped back, acoustic and overtly political album often promoted in the way the songs were originally performed by one small, black woman and her acoustic guitar was radical. Even if the music is easily digestible the tremor of the voice and the righteous anger draws you in (were they even listening).
Listening some 38 years on was interesting. At 18 it was an optimistic call for change but listening back at 56 the Revolution never came that she was talking about. Nobody had to answerer the questions in Why and I imagine behind the wall still resonates with many.
If anything the lyrics
Love is hate
War is peace
No is yes
And we're all free
Feels more relevant than ever in the MAGA generation.
I bought Erykah Badu’s Baduizm when it was released and then loved it so much I bought Baduizm Live when it was released straight away but when I saw this album come up via https://1001albumsgenerator.com I had to look it up to see if I owned it (I did). I also didn’t recall any of the tracks on it so probably didn’t play it that much.
Two spins later and I kind of know why. Erykah has a great voice, there are some great musicians on board playing the neo soul music. There are some interesting lyrics. Songs cover breakup, sisterhood and the shooting of unarmed Amadou Diallo by NYC cops.
I listened to this album twice today and it was a little bit of a struggle. The album clocks in at just under 72 minutes and I feel it is too long and frankly dragged on a bit.
Badu has a fantastic voice but at times I felt the tempo and tone was a bit too similar and a bit Languid. By the time it hit into “…& on” the fourth track on the album I was grateful for the change in tempo and style, and possibly just familiar with the take in the song from her familiar first album. It is about 3/4 of an hour before a duet with Stephen Marley and I was really great fil for another voice no matter how good hers is.
On second listen I was impressed by some of the musical styles on display in the mix jazzy, funky, soulful and a little bit psychedelic how it all melded together but maybe it was the day I was reviewing as I still didn’t feel that moved.
I do think there is a possible great 45 minute album mixed in this somewhat bloated album that I might enjoy on a different as there are some good tracks on this and I wish I could give it 3.5 stars, but I can’t, so it’s a 3 star review for this one.
Punchy and swinging big band music on this album of songs written by and arranged by Neal Hefti who would become well known for some as the man that wrote the Batman Theme.
It kicks off immediately with some punchy Brass on “The Kid From Red Bank” before quickly going into a fairly minimalist Piano Solo and it is clear as you go through the album that there is plenty of room for soloing from Basie on the Piano and the Sax and Trumpet players as the tracks progress. Trumpets on Duet (sounding quite wah wah and sleazy in places). Tempo changes from track to track and the album does not outstay its welcome at less than 40 minutes in which a lot is packed in.
This is a great album and I can imagine in the pre rock n roll days how exciting it would have been to see a bigger jazz band like this in a hall belting out these tunes at volume. I listened to the original mix and the 1994 remaster and suggest that at least once you pop up the volume (maybe on headphones) and feel the atomic force of this band.
This had never been on my Radar and was a pleasant surprise indeed. I doubt I would ever had heard it without the 1001 albums project. Exquisite piano playing improvisations across an hour from a Live Solo one-off concert really impressed me. Whilst described as Jazz I thought this felt almost classical in many places (though maybe not the whelps and grunts that suggested how much Jarrett was getting into this performance himself). I listened to both the original recording and the 50th anniversary master.
This album is a great listen without knowing anything about it but once you start reading the backstory the improvisations take on a whole new relevance and it adds to the overall appreciation of the album. It’s worth a read. No spoilers here.
I know some will think the backstory shouldn’t change what you think of the music but for me I am a whole package person and it’s all part of the art. If you’ve appreciated the Divorce Album or enjoyed an album because you knew about creative tensions of the band or understood what pharmaceuticals or personal demons then appreciating the context under how this recording was made is no different.
Will I play this new discovery again - Yes
Back in the day when people bought papers and magazines I used to read the NME quite a lot. Mainly my mates unless there was a freebie or so going (as I was all about the Magazines Like Q, Select, Vox and later Mojo). The NME were responsible for helping break a lot of bands and one of the things they used to do was an annual NME tour (Brats, shockwave and so on). They used to have 4 up and coming bands.
In 2004 the first band on in the evening and possibly the best IMHO was Franz Ferdinand. Energetic, stylish and poppy you kind of new you would hear them again. The debut album also came out in 2004 and having seen the tour on the 8th February and no doubt having voraciously consumed all of the reviews I would have bought this the very next day when it came out on the 9th. I am grateful to have purchased in the days when ltd releases and bonuses came if you bought early (not in a repackage) so the CD came with a bonus Live at the Paradiso CD as well.
The main album is just around 40 minutes of Art School Punk Pop. Yes it does seem to draw influence from bands like Gang of Four and Television but this was the early naughtiest and so having a fresh hound vibrant band like this was great. I seem to remember that in an interview they said they just wanted to make music that Girls could dance to and they certainly did that. Indie discos every wear played tracks like Take Me Out and I imagine they still do now. In fact seeing the, recently on the telly box playing Glastonbury or somewhere they were still playing a fair few from this album and the audience certainly knew the tunes.
Whilst making people dance you can certainly tell that this debut album was made by art school kids and they certainly had an image, but that’s what we want yeah? The album is quite varied musically but relies on angular and tight playing structured so some songs switch tempos and move from laid back to punchy and in your face. Perhaps Germanic? It is also lyrically interesting as well and it is certainly a great debut.
It does stand the test of time and as it is a debut I would give it four stars. It was good to catch up with it again.
For reference the other three bands on the NME tour were The Von Bondie’s, The Rapture (also great) and the headline act Funeral For A Friend
When this popped up I immediately assumed that I would have had this, but no, it terns out that I had Red Heaven and University and had probably come to them via the Pixies and not the other way round. Therefore this might be the first time I had heard this rather good debut album.
I immediately thought of Siouxie Sue on hearing the first track of this album but this doesn’t last through the album as Kristin Hersh is quite a versatile vocalist and her vocals twist and turn throughout the album and the addition of Tanya Donnelys vocals works well. It does the loud, quiet, loud quit type vocals so beloved of this period (and grunge) but has much more emotional intensity than just that.
This is a great angry and passionate post punk album with great guitar and rythmic drumming and it is easy to see how this would have influenced the Pixies. Well worth 40 minutes of your time and now available as the first 10 tracks of a compilation with great demo tracks and additional music charting the early days of the band. There isn’t really a bad track on the album
I really must go revisit those Throwing Muses, Belly and Pixies albums.
