1001 Albums Summary

Too long. Of its time. But still good. Best song: John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Disappointing. Feels like a pale imitation of the Texas blues greats. La Grange saves it from 1 star.

Surprisingly joyless.

Sublime.

Pointless.

Sing another song, Leonard.

Come on…

Oh Stevie. Towering figure in music. I respect him far more than I enjoyed this sprawling record. Moments of genius but overall too saccharine for my palate. There’s a 45 minute clear 4* album in here, but (self imposed) rules are rules. Sorry.

Good. Not great.

Has its moments, I guess.

Nice enough I guess.

Great band. Great onions. Good record.

No.

Yeah. OK.

Pretty, pretty good.

New to me. Really glad to be introduced to it.

Some work better than others, but I enjoyed this and it merits 4 for the strength of the high points.

Very enjoyable.

Passed me by at the time. Liked the dubby basslines and there were some nice moments but overall forgettable.

Didn’t need this really.

Obviously an important artist. Plenty of ambition and inventiveness here, and a lot darker than I expected. The chorus of Tiny Dancer is worth waiting 15 minutes for. But I’ve never really liked his singing.

Could have done without it.

Insipid.

Started well, dropped off in quality for me. Giving it a narrow 4 because I like his work and I don’t know if other stuff will appear. I am not promising to be consistent in this approach. So there.

I like this sort of thing. I liked this record. Proud Mary was my least favourite song. 4

Some great writing here (as well as some garbage). I can hear the influence in rappers I like more. Also some really good production. But hasn’t aged that well for me.

Old, yes. But I’ll never get bored of this.

Liked it more than I expected.

fiddle > vibes

I’m probably being a bit generous because I find this band a bit dull.

I didn’t like it as much as I expected to. But there are some lovely moments here and I am feeling generous.

Perfection.

Goes on a bit. But when it’s great, it’s great.

Not his best. Still brilliant.

Enjoyed this very much indeed.

Very competent but a little too easy listening to get me excited.

No thanks.

Has its moments.

Brilliant stuff.

One of those big names I respect more than I enjoy listening to. There were moments I really liked, but I didn’t always find the experimentation was done in that interesting a way. I’ve always found the Simon aesthetic a bit too clean and jaunty and his vocals a bit too thin to really grab me.

Essential? Maybe not. But I love it. I love the warmth, humour and pathos in the way he describes places and people. I love the way he talks about patty melts and naughyde stools and other things that are exotic to me. And I love it when the dawn cracks hard just like a bull whip and a dozen other descriptive moments. His best tunes are elsewhere but this captures a moment of brilliance from a wonderful observer and performer.

Probably my favourite album.

Didn’t like this very much.

A mostly forgettable album that gets an extra star for that flute solo, which is one of the loveliest moments in 60s pop music.

Marvellous.

Quite fun.

Not bad. But I found it a bit Hard II Care.

I’d rather be listening to the Rolling StonesStones.

Believe the hype.

Remove the lead guitar on Desolation Row and it’s a perfect album.

Liked this very much.

Excellent.

Cool.

Some good riffs. Annoying singing. Appalling lyrics.

Lovely stuff.

I didn’t really leave myself much room to manoeuvre by giving their debut 3. This didn’t really develop that sound in an interesting way for me and feels a bit disjointed.

It’s hard for me to understand how cold this leaves me when their debut was, and probably still is, one of my favourite albums of the period, and their gig in Glasgow (touring the debut) is one of my top five gigs. This just doesn’t do it for me. Pity. Really love Ocean of Noise though.

A bit too short.

I want to say something learned about why this is great, but there is something at work here that resists puny words. At his best Neil expresses pain and beauty and truth better than anyone else. We’re all just pissing in the wind, I guess. The world is better for this album existing.

Got better towards the end. But without this challenge I would never have found this out. It started very badly.