1001 Albums Summary

Highlights: Paranoia Blues, Papa Hobo, Peace Like a River, Run That Body Down Kind of a weird start for this exploratory journey. Not really my style musically but I like the themes of the lyrics. I'm just not used to folk, that's all. It has to be one of those "gets better after a first listen" deals. Still, I have found a great deal of nice songs on here. Not an easy listen, it's more of a sit-down situation. At some points the album feels like just a collection of little stories backed by a bare-bones musical theme.

Highlights: Welcome To The Jungle, Paradise City, Sweet Child O'Mine Besides the hits, I feel like this record is just a bunch of slop. It all sounds the same and the vocals get annoying after three songs in a row. For instance "Think About You" was almost 4 minutes of pure ass with no artistic or any other kind of value. It sounded vaguely similar to something I heard just 15 minutes ago. I'm just not impressed and feel like I was justified for not listening to the record in its entirety up until this point. It was kind of funny the way the record turned sexual by the end. Didn't expect that.

Highlights: Message In a Bottle, Reggatta de Blanc, It's Alright For You, On Any Other Day, Contact, Does Everyone Stare, No Time This Time Fine record, but mostly same-ish sound scattered all over the place. But the sound is good, so it's not that much of a problem. The songs where the reggae was mixed with the new wave sounds were a standout. I mean, they all sound like new wave, but some did a bit more than the others if that makes sense (for example Contact). I liked how it got a bit livelier by the end of the record - it's usually the other way around, so this was a welcome change. The lyrical content also got progressively more interesting by the end - from some suburban midlife horror, rush of the urban life to a POV of a insecure guy with a crush (very relatable 🤓). Overall I was quite pleased with the record.

Highlights: He's the Greatest Dancer, We Are Family Didn't know this was where the Will Smith sample is from. Other than that this record left no specific impression on me. It's disco, alright. It has the groove and it did get me jiggy wit it, but it was dull at the same time. As a collection of songs, I would hate to have to sit through it again. It doesn't click with me because the record rarely changes in style. But I guess some of the songs would hit the groove as intended if they were played individually. For instance Lost in Music comes off as an unimpressive song when looked at as a part of an album, but I do see it moving butts at some disco party. It's practically begging for it given the theme. But the again, some don't even work as dance tracks. How is anyone supposed to dance to Easier to Love?

Highlights: Janie Jones, I'm so Bored with the U.S.A., White Riot, Hate & War, London Burning, Career Opportunities, Cheat, 48 Hours Interesting listen. Don't like punk all that much, having dabbled in it only a little bit (mainly Sex Pistols whom I found to be quite "simple"). But after combing through this record I can say I do like the Clash. I knew I liked their post punk music (since it generally is more popular overall), but the punk also turned out great. I was amused by the overall "Britishness" of these punks. It's got a very distinct British character with all these cultural references that feel like a bygone era - domestic condom brand dispensers in a pub bathroom, mentions of Daleks and some TV talent show, dread of an upcoming Thatcher government and so on. Even so, the themes are timeless. The mid-70's were politically similar to the 2020's so the political tracks were a highlight.

Highlights: Blister in the Sun, Add It Up, Promise, Gone Daddy Gone One veeeery horny incel. The album left me wondering if this is some sort of emo parody. Half of the time it was hard to take the lyrics seriously because of the vocalist. I see why it could be considered important, but it didn't click with me. Given its ancient release date, I presume it was very influential on future incel music. It was very ahead of its time. I guess it deserves respect for that. But my distaste for the majority of its distant relatives applies to this album as well.

Highlights: Eid Ma Clack Shaw, Too Many Birds For the majority of the record, the vocals follow a certain template. Kinda gets monotone, but some songs have scarce lyrics and long instrumental parts which make them interesting. First half was noticeably stronger than the closing half. Definitely not something I will give another listen in its entirety, but it wasn't bad. Just a bit too artsy and mysterious for my taste. Also, too many birds.

Highlights: Swimsuit Issue, Drunken Butterfly, Shoot, Youth Against Fascism, Purr Love the style, but feels a bit too abstract for it to be something more than a nice one-off listen. Musically it slaps. I wish the lyrics weren't so lacking in comparison. The record oozes with cool, but alas, in the sea of other "cool" albums from the 90's this just doesn't stand out with its bland themes. Also, couldn't help but think how the female vocalist constantly sounds like she's taking a giant dump. It didn't bother me, it was just a bit funny.

Highlights: Karma Chameleon, It's A Miracle, Black Money, Church Of the Poison Mind, Miss Me Blind, Mister Man Worthy mentions from the 2003 reissue: Man-Shake, Mystery Boy, Melting Pot It's British and it's new wave - I'm a sucker for that. Lyrics are very political but also personal, so they do sound a bit preachy but you don't mind it because Boy George doesn't come off as a douche. I was surprised by how calm the record was, I expected a more energetic sound. Still a fun listen. Loving the use of the harmonica since I don't remember hearing it a lot from other new wave acts. However, my fondness for it isn't all that deep, it's just very good pop. I liked almost every track on it (track 5 being the odd one out), but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. Ultimately it did change my view of Culture Club as something more than a band with a couple hit singles.

Highlights: No Woman No Cry, Them Belly Full, So Jah S'eh, Natty Dread, Bend Down Low Strong lineup of songs that surprised me. I'm not that hot for reggae because I find it to be the perfect music for annoying white people, but I must say I like it (self-diagnosis?). No but seriously, on my soul I bet 90% of them can't name a god damn album of his but they will swear he's their idol. Musical Che Guevara. Great opening, noticeably weaker ending. Rebel Music was close to making the honourable mentions, but it's a bit too long and repetitive for my liking. Kinda sounds like it was long just because it's a closer for side A (fact check: yes). Similar take on Liven Up Yourself. It's a groovy opener, but it grows stale by the end because it relies on the bass which goes in circles. Memorable and playful refrains like in So Jah S'eh and Natty Dread are real ear-worms. Groovy sound paired with wise and horny lyrics. Sensational.

Highlights: Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, Map of the Problematique, Assassin, Exo-Politics, Glorious I prefer it when Muse go for a heavier sound and I don't feel like there was a lot of that on this record. I guess I got that impression from the middle of the record which was a definite low-point. It's heavily carried by the iconic singles, and while the rest of the tracks aren't filler, they didn't strike me as much better than that. Mid tier alternative rock that has multiple better contemporaries. For instance Soldier's Poem and Hoodoo are just plain bad, while City of Delusion tries to go for the heavier sound but it misses something. Knights of Cydonia is supposed to be a classic and I have met people that recommended this record to me based on it alone, but I found the buildup to be way too long for my liking. The second half of the song does slap indeed, but that half is repetitive too. The song is a sandwich with nothing in the middle. A big problem for me were also the vocals - I just don't like the vocalist most of the time. And I also feel like Muse just has this unique formula of theirs that they just run to the ground. Quite often I ask myself "Why does this sound familiar?". When all is said and done I am sure I won't be returning to this space rock opera for some time.

Highlights: Rockin' Around, Breakdown Very American style. Not something I'm used to hearing a lot, but it wasn't anything special. As a record it's not something worth revisiting, but the highlights do hold up on their own. Lyrics are basic (except Strangered in the Night - wtf was that), and the instrumentals son't stand out much either. This is just a (mostly) clean version of better rock from the 70's, so it didn't really click with me. At least I'm pleased with the fact that mr. Petty didn't want to "torture" me too much so he made the record veeeery short.

Highlights: You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Maybe Your Baby, Tuesday Heartbreak, Superstition, Lookin' For Another Pure Love, I Believe Gem alert! Gem alert! Perfect record worth revisiting a billion times over. Had this on my personal favourites list for a while. The record was made back when Stevie was freshly divorced and I feel like that's what gave him the bad energy to make such grumpy songs like Maybe Your Baby and Tuesday Heartbreak (but he was even more sour on the previous record!). I read once a long time ago how he intentionally put You Are the Sunshine of My Life in front of Maybe Your Baby just to point out the duality of a relationship. On the beginning of Maybe Your Baby there is a bang, so that's like a metaphor for the point where the honeymoon (the sunshine) phase ends and a more cynical view of the relationship begins to take over. The first song sounds like a dream and then it's followed up by something that sounds like a bad, slow morning. It's not like he's all negative on the record, but overall this period of Stevie's discography felt to me more negative on love than positive. For instance You and I starts like a love song but then at the end it also twists into a post breakup whine. Side B makes an attempt at diversifying the lyrical themes by stepping into religion and politics, but love still creeps its way onto it as well. It's a sign of things to come on future records while still retaining the emotion of Music of My Mind. The record is a display of Stevie's enormous musical genius - from the brilliant Superstition, funkiness of Tuesday Heartbreak to misty dream vibes of You Are the Sunshine of My Life. If you liked the synth on this record I suggest reading up on his famous T.O.N.T.O. - one of the famous early synthesizers often used on this record.