Pretty solid, a bit cheesy, but definitely important regardless of the controversy surrounding him. The last track, "Leave Me Alone" stood out with its amazing hook, I'll definitely be coming back to this track in the future.
Favorite Song: "Leave Me Alone"
Many "polished" rock albums fail to get it right and come across as soulless cash grabs. Black Holes and Revelations, however, is rich, expansive and almost cinematic in its production and writing. While I generally abhor rock that is over-polished (think Bon Jovi, etc.), this album takes it and runs away with it perfectly. "Knights of Cydonia" hits the nail straight on the head for the overall space-western feel.
Favorite Song: "Knights of Cydonia"
Despite not being the biggest fan of electronic music, especially as of late, I find The Man-Machine, as well as a handful of other Kraftwerk albums very enjoyable. Kraftwerk's classic 70's synth-y sound definitely may not be for all, but I greatly enjoy it and its simplicity. The one aspect that really just doesn't click with me is the robot theming of "The Robots". While I find it fascinating that they went all-out in going with the whole robot theme, I just don't really care for this track, despite it being decently popular. However, I really enjoy "Neon Lights" and its relaxing, optimistic sound akin to some of their tracks off of their previous album, Trans-Europe Express.
Favorite Song: "Neon Lights"
I came really close to giving Tusk a 3, but I just couldn't. The main thing that turned me off was some of its more "out-there" songs, such as "The Ledge", but its high points made up for its shortcomings in my mind. That being said, though, I still believe that it pales in comparison to Rumors. I still mainly enjoy Fleetwood Mac for their more mainstream soft rock songs, but Tusk is by no means a bad album in my opinion. "Angel" was the main song that stood out for me, I really enjoyed the lines "And to those that I love, like a ghost through a fog, Like a charmed hour and a haunted song".
Favorite Song: "Angel"
Jazz Samba is just about everything I could ask for in a jazz album. It's smooth, relaxing, and puts me in a good mood (in other words, it's bossa nova.) The whole album is consistent in sound, and I just really enjoy it. "Samba de Uma Nota So" ended up being my favorite track off of the album, although "Samba Triste" came really close to being so. Call me a jazz casual (that's what I am after all), but I found this album extremely enjoyable.
Favorite Song: "Samba de Uma Nota So"
I found Band on the Run to be extremely uncompelling. I do actually enjoy the track "Band on the Run" a lot, which made me have artificially high hopes for the album, but aside from maybe "Jet" and "Mrs. Vandebilt", I just did not enjoy this album much at all (and those tracks did not nearly enough make up for it.) I'll keep "Band on the Run" in my classic rock rotation, but other than that, this album's very forgettable for me.
Favorite Song: "Band on the Run"
Scissor Sisters was surprisingly tolerable for a modern pop album. I'm not at all in the market for modern pop, but I can definitely see that this would probably be a good album for the right listener. That being said, I think their cover of "Comfortably Numb" might be one of the worst covers I've ever heard, and of a song I really like, which really hurt the album's image for me, along with "Filthy/Gorgeous". Its saving grace, and what helped soften the blow, was the last track, "Return to Oz". Out of all of the songs on the album, it actually felt like the one with the most actual soul and emotion. As a random extra, I think the cover art is pretty cool as well.
Favorite Song: "Return to Oz"
Some classy sounding stuff (although the lyrics are far from classy), not incredibly bad. "Sharp Dressed Man" is obviously the standout track here, and I enjoy it. That being said, this album is severely lacking in the emotion/meaningfulness department (surprise, surprise.) Like many albums of the time, Eliminator is plagued with a bunch of junky filler aside from the singles. "Best of" albums of bands like these tend to be their most popular for a reason.
Favorite Song: "Sharp Dressed Man"
The music of New York Dolls was actually pretty good, I especially liked the blues-y(?) guitar solo in "Vietnamese Baby" as well as the drumming throughout the album. I just can't stand the first-wave punk style of singing that the singer did throughout the whole album. I am just not the right person for it, I really don't see the talent in guttural screaming, but to each their own. Of course, being a glam-rock album, I wasn't expecting any life-changing lyrics, and with songs like "Looking for a Kiss" and "Pills", my presumptions were correct.
Favorite Song: "Vietnamese Baby"
Doggystyle left me pretty torn. On one hand, it's a silky smooth, catchy g-funk masterpiece. The music is amazing, the blend of jazz and funk samples with simple yet catchy rhythm is beautiful, and it is well produced to boot. Snoop's rapping sounds good and his flow works well in weaving the music together into a really iconic album. On the other hand, the things he actually raps about are extremely childish. The whole "I'm a gangbanger, look at me I'm the toughest mf" crap is insufferable. Speaking of insufferable lyrics, the album is dripping with misogyny. Nasty stuff. For a teenager in the 90's, Doggystyle was probably the coolest shit ever, but especially now, it's very weak lyrically. Then again, how much should I expect from a early 90's west coast rap album? It's great to listen to while playing Grand Theft Auto, but outside of that, I don't really see myself listening to it much. The music gets a 5, lyrics get a 2, I'll just go ahead and give it a 3 overall.
Favorite Song: "Gin and Juice"
Aladdin Sane didn't do it for me. It wasn't outright terrible, but it felt generic/mediocre at best and got pretty bad at points (that one piano solo was terrible). The jazz elements also felt haphazardly thrown in and didn't fit well. Overall, it leaves me very disappointed.
Favorite Song: "The Jean Genie"
I've never heard any soul music from earlier than the 70's and I must say I've enjoyed Cloud Nine a lot. It has a really nice rougher, raw sound to it, and feels full of emotion. I really like the psychedelic undertones it has as well. I also really liked the dramatic orchestral sound of "I Gotta Find a Way (To Get You Back)", it definitely stood out to me.
Favorite Song: "I Gotta Find a Way (To Get You Back)"
I enjoyed Songs of Love and Hate, except for Cohen's singing. I don't really enjoy when an artist is extremely monotone (only other that comes to mind is the lead singer of Cake), and there's not a single time where Cohen isn't being monotone. That being said, it definitely fits the depressing mood perfectly.
Favorite Song: "Famous Blue Raincoat"
Boy in Da Corner sounds like music to get lobotomized to. It's annoying, extremely repetitive, and barely even passes as music. To top it off, I can't hardly even understand what he's saying over the racket. Seeing that the genre it's considered "grime" music, I assumed it would be some sort of grungy lo-fi hip-hop or something, not this weird amalgamation of rap and abstract electronic sounds. If this "sounds like the future" like I keep seeing people say, then I couldn't care less for it. I try to find redeeming factors in albums, even ones I dislike, but I can't find anything in this one. It's a lost cause. Boy in Da Corner has the honor of being my first 1 star rating, I don't know how I made it through the whole thing.
Favorite Song: None
I've never really listened to Latin music before, and I must say it is extremely enjoyable. The great melodies, emotion, and presentation make Buena Vista Social Club very refreshing for me, as a newcomer to the genre. I will say I did recognize the singer on "Dos Gardenias" as the person who did "Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo)", which was interesting. I really enjoyed his work on this album, as I did with "Latin Simone". This album has piqued my interest in Latin music, I'm definitely going to check out more of what the genre has to offer.
Favorite Song: "Dos Gardenias"
Psych-rock music is right up my alley, and Django Django gets it all right (for the most part). The whole album had a vibe to it that I enjoyed, and I found the more electronic-y aspects really interesting. "Hail Bop" was one of the highlights for me. That being said, it did feel somewhat bogged down at points, and overly repetitive at others (even for psych-rock.) Despite that, I still liked it a lot.
Favorite Song: "Hail Bop"
Waiter! More boring, unoriginal, misogynistic garbage, please! This Year's Model feels like Elvis Costello's failed attempt to remedy his tiny dick syndrome that he evidently has. His solution: spew pure and utter garbage that makes him feel "cool" and like "a real man". Tracks like "Lip Service" and "You Belong to Me", amongst others are just completely and utterly disrespectful towards women. To top it off, he can't even hardly sing to boot! The tracks that aren't misogynistic junk still still continue to be junk, just generic crap. The music itself isn't that bad, but is nothing special, although at times the drums did stand out. That being said, none of his fans come for his band, just for little old Elvis, and no matter how influential he may be, he should be paid no attention. He absolutely does not deserve to have 6 albums on this list.
Favorite Song: None
Wow, I'm only 18 albums into my 1001 Albums journey and I've already heard two Bowie albums. That being said, I enjoyed heroes much, much more than I did with Aladdin Sane. It feels much more coherent and emotional, and of course has one of Bowie's greatest hits, "Heroes". The first three songs were really amazing, and while I do feel like it fell off for a little bit, I also really enjoyed the ambient portion of the album with "Sense of Doubt", "Moss Garden", and "Neuköln". That part was really interesting, and I honestly would like to hear more of that kind of music from them.
Favorite Song: "Heroes"
Led Zeppelin III is pretty solid, but is mostly overshadowed by their other albums, excluding the one single off of this album, "Immigrant Song". It did somewhat fall apart towards the end, becoming pretty repetitive, but I did enjoy "Tangerine" a lot. It has a very nice, warm atmosphere to it.
Favorite Song: "Tangerine"
With the Beatles isn't that bad, but it's got a ton of filler. While the filler isn't that bad, it's also not very impressive, which is the overall impression I got from this album. It's got a handful of good songs in the beginning, as well as some good ones here and there, but otherwise isn't all that compelling. I really liked the sound of "Devil in Her Heart", aside from the lyrics sounding a bit controlling.
Favorite Song: "Devil in Her Heart"
Some really pretty ballads mixed in with some alt rock and country, with some classic rock influences in there as well. That makes for a pretty interesting album, and an enjoyable one at that. Seeing that it's labeled country had me underestimating the album when I started, but I very quickly started enjoying it. "(Was I) In Your Dreams" was my favorite song off the album, it's very pretty and emotional. If you find country off-putting, like me, this album is much more than country. It's very much worth a listen.
Favorite Song: "(Was I) In Your Dreams"
The Atomic Mr Basie is quite enjoyable. It comes from right at the end of the big band jazz era and feels like one last hurrah for the genre. I really liked "Splanky", although "The Kid from Red Bank" and "Flight of the Foo Birds" were good as well. This album leaves me wanting to try out more albums of the genre.
Favorite Song: "Splanky"
Wow, Southern Rock Opera was horrible. Between the dreadfully stereotypical southern/country bullshit lyrics and insanely bland, untalented music, I'm surprised this album gets as much praise as it does. It's just one song after another about "such is the duality of the southern thang" and "Lynyrd Skynyrd this, Lynyrd Skynyrd that" and yet it somehow manages to be a full double album, clocking in at an hour and 33 minutes of this dreadful junk. The music is just a bunch of the most generic rock power chords and stiff, dry playing. This whole album sounds like it'd fit perfectly in some cruddy 2000's comedy about some looser band trying to make it big.
Favorite Song: None
System of a Down is an awesome album, but I definitely have to be in the mood for it, which I'm not really in right now. Ask me a few years ago when I craved this kind of angry music and I would've given it a 4 or a 5. But especially now, when I'm trying to improve my mood, this album's just too angry. Nothing wrong with that, though, just it's not for me right now. That being said, the playing is awesome, absolutely adrenaline packed, and fits Serj's style perfectly. On the topic of Serj, he's one of the more political singers that I actually like, what he says is true, but is also packed in with enough crazy and bizarre lyrics that it never gets tedious (looking at you, Zack de la Rocha.) I love the batshit insanity of them all, and "Sugar" is a good representation of that.
Favorite Song: "Sugar"
Steve McQueen was a very interesting album. It has a very nice sound, the occasional airy synths and choruses that would show up here and there really stood out to me. After wearing out New Wave music a few years ago, I've been pretty unreceptive to it since, but lately I think I might be opening back up to it again. Especially with this one being more pop-leaning and not nearly as dreary and depressing as some other albums, I found it very enjoyable. "Bonny" was my favorite song, it was really great, along with "When Love Breaks Down". I think this album might've single-handedly rekindled my interest in new wave music.
Favorite Song: "Bonny"
Time Out is easily one of the most enjoyable jazz albums I've heard. It's super accessible despite having some odd aspects (mainly time signatures), yet it's became one of the most popular jazz albums ever. Call me simple, but "Take Five" is my favorite off of this album, I just love its sound.
Favorite Song: "Take Five"
Not that I should really compare albums to each other, but I'm much more impressed with Step in the Arena than with Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle. While it doesn't have the catchy g-funk beats that I love on Doggystyle, it has much more thoughtful and meaningful lyrics, that actually evoke thought and bring issues to light rather than create more of them. And don't take the absence of g-funk sampling as a dig at this album, because it has very great sampling of its own. "Lovesick" and "Check the Technique" stood out the most to me on this album, I liked both of them, but especially "Lovesick", with its awesome sampling.
Favorite Song: "Lovesick"
The Good, the Bad & the Queen was very beautiful and has a great vibe to it. "A Soldier's Tale" really exemplifies this for me. I also think it sounds pretty similar to some of the stuff Gorillaz was putting out around the time, which isn't a bad thing, since I enjoy their music. That being said, it would kind of trail off at points and lose direction, which definitely detracted from it. Other than that, it's a really solid album, and sounds like perfect music for Fall.
Favorite Song: "A Soldier's Tale"
You've Come a Lone Way, Baby was very polarizing for me. On one hand, there's some really cool and catchy beats that I enjoy a lot, and on the other, there's way too much damn repetition. Most of these songs go on and on repeating the same vocal sample and drumbeat throughout the entire 5-6 minutes they go on for. Some variation really wouldn't have hurt. On some of the songs, though, the sampling was really cool, especially with "Gangster Tripping". I also liked the use of synths in "Right Here, Right Now" as well. While not nearly as "hardcore" as some of the other songs on the album, "Praise You" was nice as well.
Favorite Song: "Gangster Tripping"
