Was so stoked when I saw this as my first album to listen to. "Everything In Its Right Place" is one of my fav songs of all time, and I knew I loved some of the other songs in the album but I can't say I've ever listened to it in its entirety before. Fantastic album, love it, love any excuse to listen to it. Yay!
Admittedly, the first time I heard the song 'Let's Get It On' was in Austin Powers. So I've always found the concept of Marvin Gaye to be kinda cheesy. The butt of a joke. But I'm actually really grateful that I spent time with this album and gave it a chance. It's a beautiful and soulful album and I can hear where a lot of modern R&B artists take inspiration from his work. I can see myself listening to it on a slow Sunday morning, maybe cooking breakfast. It's not my usual genre, but that's what I'm here for! 4/5
I think the reason I didn't really 'get' this album is because I don't know much about 80s hip hop history. So I went in blind, and here's what I enjoyed: the sense of humor, and the vibey beats. It's a long album, so I listened to a lot of it while at my part time job, doing some inventory restocking. It's a good, kinda groovy (idk if that's the right word but it works i guess) album to do mindless physical labor to. I didn't really follow most of the lyricism but I loled at Can U Keep A Secret, and had to turn the volume waaay down on De La Orgee when I was at work lmao. I enjoyed this album for what it was, but it's not my personal style and probably wouldn't listen to it again tbh. 2.5 stars.
That said, I was thinking today about this project, the '1001 albums generator'. One of the reasons I love this project is that listening to these albums in the context of knowing that these are all critically acclaimed and famously Good™ changes the way I listen to them. I consume them with a different set of ears than if I were to just hear it playing on the radio with no context. Kudos to the creator of this! <3
Nina Simone, the OG androgynous vocal queen. This album had some really beautiful moments, but tbh was a little too dated for me to fully enjoy. I could still very much appreciate the artistry though! My favorite song on the album was, of course, 'Wild is the Wind'. The piano and her vocals are just otherworldly in that song. I also was curious about 'Four Women', and googled who each woman represented and what the story there was. Poignant take on Black women archetypes, especially back in that time period. I also love how she kinda screams/sings "PEACHHEESSSSS!!!" at the end of the song lol. Lots I enjoyed, but still not entirely my cup of tea. 3/5.
I imagine I'm probably not the only one who has mixed feelings about this album. On one hand, nostalgic slim shady classics like 'Stan' and 'The Real Slim Shady' are always fun. I enjoy, and regularly listen to hip hop, rap, and pop from the early 2000s, so the genre is my style. However, listening to this album all the way through was...tough. All of the lyrical misogyny (especially doing the song Kim...yikes) was hard to swallow. Idk if it was meant to be received as tongue-in-cheek or somehow subversive, but it just read as Good-Ole-Classic-Angry-White-Guy misogyny to me. And don't get me started on the anti-queer lyricism in 'Criminal'..! Lowkey, I feel like this is the album that Red Pill guys and incels listened to growing up lol. That said, ALL of the beats on this album are fire. 2/5.
Very easy listening. It has a good balance of edgy/alt rock and indie/pop. At times they reminded me of No Doubt, other times the Beatles. I had never heard of Supergrass before, but some of these songs definitely rang a bell. A lot of these songs remind me of something I'd see in a coming-of-age TV show (randomly, I actually pictured Dan from Gossip Girl lol). Overall, I admittedly don't have a lot to say about the album. It's a pretty good album, easy to listen to, and enjoyable. I think I need to learn more about the album and the history to learn why it made it on the 1001 list. 3.5/5.
There are definitely some hits on this album. As a millennial, this came out at a formative time in my adolescence, and some of these songs are tied to important memories from that time. But aside from those nostalgic hits, the rest of the songs didn't do much for me. It's a pretty solid album though, easy/enjoyable to listen to. But tbh it's not super clear to me why this album made it onto this list. 3/5.
Idk if I've gotten too many indie/rock white guy bands in a row on this website lately, but I'm getting a little tired of this sound lol. This album is...fine? Easy enough to listen to. My favorite track is the instrumental Elegia. Still, and idk, maybe I'm being too harsh because I'm craving a little more variety, but I'm a little unclear on why this album made the list. 1.5/5.
I had never heard of John Martyn or any songs on this album before, so I went in blind. I listened to it a couple times, and it grew on me as I listened more. Love the grooviness of most of the album, great instrumentation. The vocalist grew on me. I heard some resemblance between the lead singer and Joe Cocker and Nina Simone at times lol. The standout track for me was Small Hours. Kinda gave me whiplash because it was SO different from the rest of the album. Small Hours is BEAUTIFUL!!! Honestly brought this album up a whole half point for that song alone. 4/5.
My dad loves Yes, and I love my dad, so this was fun. I'm also a sucker for some harmonies, which Yes does so well. Such talented vocalists in this band! This isn't a genre I usually go out of my way to listen to, but the nostalgia of this album (among many of its contemporaries: Rush, Moody Blues, etc) blasting through the many speakers my dad installed throughout my childhood home is always a nice memory. AND I forgot how much I love the song "I've Seen All Good People"! I replayed that one a few times. 4/5.
I wish I was cool enough to enjoy post-punk or whatever this genre is called, but I’m really not.
I went through a Nirvana phase in high school so I know and love most of the songs on this album. Gotta love some classic 90s grunge!
I really liked this album! I was surprised by how many of the songs I recognized either from movies/tv or from other popular songs that sampled music from this album. Very groovy, atmospheric music, and I enjoyed that it was all instrumental too. I also was happy that this wasn’t just another white boy indie/alt rock band (since my last like 5 albums from this generator have been just that lol).
The last time I listened to Kanye and enjoyed it was when Graduation came out tbh. He's had a couple of bangers since then sure, but his music became very... experimental after that album, in a way that I just really don't vibe with. Plus it makes me super sad to think about who he is as a person now. I definitely loled at some of the bars in 'I'm In It' though.
This album was nothin special for me. George Michael is an objectively talented vocalist but the music itself just wasn't my style, and sounded dated and corny in a way that made it hard for me to connect with it. My favorite song on the album was They Won't Go When I Go, which I learned was originally by Stevie Wonder.
Honestly, I have no strong opinion on this album. It's not offensive, controversial, mindblowing, amazing, nor special to me. It reminds me of an amalgamation of other classic rock bands ... and Jack Black lol. I've also been doing this album-a-day thing for 15 days straight and I've only gotten one woman the whole time... so maybe I'm also just getting a little tired of men's voices in general? lol 2/5
Very fun crowd work, it seems like this would’ve been an epic show to be in the audience for. Not my personal taste of music, but still enjoyable.
I did not have to listen to this before I die lol
I’ve been doing this album-a-day thing for about 20 days and I’ve only gotten a woman once. And I’d say 80% of the other albums have been British white guys. That said, this album is pretty good.
