1001 Albums Summary

1 - In Rainbows - Radiohead Good opener / jangly fun / second song is driving but don’t love it / Nude and Weird Fishes are Radiohead moody / All I Need has a cool beat, mellow but good… this album is Radiohead moody… some of it nice and vibey, some of it too weird or droning. No real standout songs on this and more of a mood than anything. It’s tough because Radiohead The Bends is a top album of all time - this isn’t, but does reflect the overall mood of Radiohead pretty well.

Good jangly opener. First five songs are definitely feeling dated / 60's. The Good's Gone is simple, nice. My Generation and The Kids are Alright are classics. The whole first half of the album has that jangly feeling of The Who. Sort of bluesy, prog-rock. It's nice, but none of the screaming guitars of The Who of later years. The Ox is a cool driving instrumental in the middle / nice. Don't love Bald Headed Woman. Anytime you want me could be from a 50's radio show. Same with Shout and Shimmy. Motoring is a fun 60's jamming rocker. It's a good listen, very of the era / has a lot of Beatles elements which makes sense. Good record / definitely captures the time.

First - I do not like Bob Dylan. One of the worst (maybe worst) concert I have ever seen. Opening song is sort of nice until he starts crooning half-way through and I'm reminded his voice is not for me. Second song... okay... but the harmonica is so Dylan-esque... no. Acoustic jangle into his whiney singning... absolutely not. More Dylan crooning... I just so do not like his voice.. can't do it. I'm skimming the other songs but I have no intention of hearing anything on this record again - this is a no for me.

This is just not an album I would ever listen to. Good opening driving song, familiar, jangly nice. Graceland is such an Americana song. Third song gets us to the collaborative Paul Simon… don’t really like this. Now we’ve stepped into some sort of jug band dance and spoken word melody… saxophones… too much of a bayou jig. Here’s the soft bongos and groovy Paul Simon… horns and more upbeat… Of course into Call Me Al as a natural next song… I think you have to at least sort of like this song.. Yeah.. we’re getting a little country/African ramblingish here… almost a church croon going here. More African chanting collaboration… nope. Crazy Love is sort of back to that brightness of Call Me Al. That Was Your Mother brings us right back to the jig-band bayou… I just am not into this sound. Last song with Los Lobos… jig-band, driving drums… country twangs… again, no. Not offensive, but this album is not for me.

Paint it Black as an opener… I do like this song. The Rolling Stones were a huge early concert for me in 1987 so they have a soft-spot with me. I don’t love them, but I like them. Stupid Girl is more jammy-early-Stones. Lady Jane… Jagger crooning slow, folky… no. Under My Thumb is another classic Stones, nice. Doncha Bother Me… bluesy with an annoying guitar riff - no. Think is nice. Flight 505 is 60’s Jagger riffing, High & Dry and It’s Not Easy is some bluesy country… not so much. It’s not easy sounds like 60’s progressive rock / of the day unique but a little dated. I am Waiting is weird and I don’t like it. Going Home is an 11-minute jangle that lost me in the first minute… The back half of this album I did not really like at all.

6 - Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses - Rating = 5 Big album for me - In 1987 as my musical tastes were fully veering from the radio and pop into much more alternative. This album was a big early block in that. The opening notes to Never Let me Down Again… just a grabber for me. It’s a driving brilliant opener and I love this song. The Things you Said is a vibe that this album is going to have a different mood than previous Depeche Mode offerings, a little richer/less poppy. Strangelove has a great opening riff and is just good and an ear-worm. Sacred is mildly catchy if not a standout. Little 15 is haunting and moody. Behind the Wheel… love this song, driving, cool (and the Route 66 remix is epic). I Want You Now… the opening breathing is sort of off-putting but it comes around as it’s a nice crooning, simple love song. Moody, heavy, like the vocal / helps add to the overall depth of the sound on the album. Nothing is one of the better 9th song of the albums around. Nice, cool moody keyboards and fits nicely with the overall. Pimpf is a sorta-nice moody dramatic piano outro to cap it. This album also fed 101… which is a top album.

7 - Fatboy Slim - You’ve Come a Long Way Baby - Rating = 4 Right Here, Right Now is a great opener / vibe setter if a little long/samey. Rockefeller Skank is classic and early Fatboy Slim. (Licensing issues causing it to be missing on the Apple Music album?) I can’t say I love the “Fatboy is Fucking in Heaven” riff that goes on for the first 30-seconds. Sort of a goofy jangle from there… but the one-lyric repeat is a no-for-me. Gangster Trippin’ is just a classic that’s still relevant almost 30 years later. Love that horn-riff. Build it Up is a cool riff, gets a little same-ish… a little long… some annoying moments… not so much. Kalifornia is sorta cool with the sitar and spacey keyboards - like the layer-like builds… He does tend to drag out his songs a little more than I’d like. I like the groove in Soul Surfing and the driving beat. You’re not from Brighton is a cool groove with some good breaks. Which builds into the album classic of Praise You - huge fan of this song. Love Island continues the dance party if getting a little too techno for me. Overall this was such a fresh album when it came out and has some classic songs. The songs do tend to get repetitive and same-ish. Most could be shortened by about two minutes and they’d be stronger. Still - this is a great album and definitely a big one of the time.

8 - LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver - Rating = 3 Get Innocuous definitely sets the tone… slow layer building electro track. Right when it gets a little too same-y, another layer comes in to liven things up… good intro track. Time to Get Away brings the vocal keeping with the building groove, keyboards… they’re good at this building. Nothing American Scum continues the jam… this is okay but just okay, gets long, but thickly layered at the end. Someone Great is a nice change in groove if not totally, but good. All My Friends starts with a repetitive keyboard noodle that goes on by itself for over a minute and is annoying after 30 seconds. The same noodle repeats through the song… it’s annoying. The vocal is nice, but I can’t get past the keyboard. Us v Them gets off to a building jam and has a nice groove evolving, this is a good jam… eight and half minutes is a little long, but I dig it. Watch the Tapes is cool. Good vocal and catchy. Sound of Silver is a driving vocal, bass-y groove underneath, drifts a bit as it goes, a little long at 7+ minutes. New York, I Love You - different vocal piano track… it’s nice and a good ender… definitely different without any electro elements. Overall - this is a good album of the time and groundbreaking in many ways. I like it. I don’t love it, but it’s definitely an important album.

9 - Nitin Sawhney - Beyond Skin - Rating = 3 Not at all familiar with this album/artist - Broken Skin… woah, this is nice. Cool soulful female vocal with a nice groove behind it, some Indian influence here. Letting Go… higher female vocal, mellow… okay, a little samey on the way out. Homelands… the Indian babbling is not good… the groove is cool enough, but the babble interludes… no… but then it settles into this nice bongos led groove which is nice. Don’t love the vocal mumble rap on the way in.. sitar… hmmm… maybe. Pilgrim is another spoken rap under a someone interesting groove, not remarkable but not offensive. Tides is a nice piano interlude that just floats for five minutes. Nadia… a non-offensive female Indian warble with some beats coming in… but no. Immigrant… high pitched female soft vocal with piano, mellow but sorta nice. Serpents, a bit more drama building on the opening, female Indian tease… builds with some beats… not offensive, but too long like the last song. Anthem Without Nation has a vocal chanting build that’s sorta nice with the building drums… doesn’t really go anywhere. Nostalgia is another female vocal but it has a nicer sultry quality to it, like it. The Conference has a 20 second silent intro that develops into some really annoying Indian beat-boxing or something… no… I mean really, no. Title track. Busts into a much more upbeat groove than we’ve been having… the vocal samples in the middle are mood interrupters, don’t like it.. but allows for a serious tempo change into string-lead airy which goes into Indian female warbling… soft guitar outro with more talk vocal samples. Overall this is an album that would be nice in the background or at a cocktail party. Some cool grooves and vibes but some annoying moments of chanting and some of the songs go on for too long a couple deserve to be skipped. I’d give it a 2.5 if I could but I’ll be positive and round up.