1001 Albums Summary

If you like the Beatles, you MIGHT like this band… but just listen to the Beatles instead; they’re better than The Velvet Underground. The songs aren’t terrible or anything, they just sound… bland. Their slow songs are boooring. The upbeat ones are better, but regardless, every song has very repetitive instrumentation and uninspiring lyrics. Apparently this band’s most popular song of all time is Pale Blue Eyes, so I paid special attention to that one and ??? It’s not catchy, it’s not thought provoking, it’s not visceral or emotional. “Sometimes I feel so happy, sometimes I feel so sad, but mostly you just make me mad.” Riveting stuff. The song I’d be most likely to listen to again is After Hours, the last song on the album. I think it was just included as a little extra thing for fun; It has a completely different singer and a completely different style than the rest of the album. Ironically, it turns out to be better than everything else on the album, precisely because it’s nothing like it. I’m think the bar for a good album was just lower in the 60’s.

A fine album. REM has a very recognizable and interesting voice. I didn’t dislike or lose interest in any of the songs, listening to each of them all the way through. I wouldn’t mind having the album on again in the background. However, I don’t think I will be revisiting it again to listen to with intentionality. The two hits on the album, End of the World as We Know It and The One I Love, are the only tracks I liked enough to save, but they are good hits.

All of the songs could have been great if the guy just sang normal. Love the instrumentation, love the energy, but the vocalist is just so, so bad I cannot get past it. I’m not normally one for instrumentals, but this album would be actively better if he just wasn’t in it. My favorite song on the album is Metropolis, because the singer isn’t there. I also think the hit of the album is a hit in part because it is a duet with a woman who actually sings like a normal person.

They are good at what they do, but what they do is really not my thing.