1001 Albums Summary

Rating shamlessly stolen system from George Starostin: Variety: 2 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 4 B.B. King has more or less been the default "this is blues" sound that's been in my head since I was a kid. Never one to be taken with the genre, I was still exposed to quite a bit of it growing up, mostly via movies and tv. I think King had such an overwhelming influence that most of what I was hearing, if it wasn't actually him, owed him a heavy debt at the very least. This usually amounted, in my mind, to a pleasant, but very samey background noise. One I associate with some cosy chain bbq restaurants I used to frequent to some degree. Unfortunately I also associate the sound with a certain brand of over-kinetic blues rock familiar to anyone who was aware of Bruce Willis, Jim Belushi, and the like that has since become grating when performed this mode. This was a first listen for me, and was pleasantly surprised to find that King doesn't suffer too much from any associations I have with the watered down product mentioned previously. While it did end up mostly being pleasant background noise, my ears did perk up at "How Blue Can You Get" and "Worry, Worry". The banter and the crowd noise made this a pretty chill experience, but far from an essential one. Glad I listened but can't say I'm any more or less a fan of King.

Rating shamlessly stolen system from George Starostin: Variety: 2 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 4 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 2 Been a good 20+ years since I've listened to this one. Never rated it as highly as its reputation, while definitely being able to see where all those critics were coming from. "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Gloria" are more my speed, and Moondance I recall lumping in with stuff like Joe Cocker and The Band which, in my mind, belong to a genre I would classify as perfectly fine wedding reception music. This one I imagine holds a special place in the hearts of elderly uncles everywhere. That being said - wow... "Moondance" is still crazy good, and feels like a classic standard that Morrison must have re-interpreted. Maybe that's the genius on display here that so many Rolling Stone critics adore. "Crazy Love" might even hold up even better though, as I think a brief Youtube search comes back with pages and pages of covers, all the way up to yesterday! Sounds timeless, and easy to see why it's still so popular. While there's no denying Morrison's vocal effort, "Caravan" is where he starts to loose me with his almost lazy sounding delivery and repetitious vocal noodling, reminding me of what I dislike most about him. His voice comes across as less souful and more a calculated imitation of what he thinks "soulful" is. The reputation of "Into the Mystic" as the "stand out track" a lot of people cite baffles me. The song itself is not awful by amy means but just don't get what's so special about it, especially when you've got the above tracks. The simple "Come Running" I think I even prefer over this. For that matter I also don't really understand the love "And It Stoned Me" gets. "These Dreams of You" gets docked points for both excessive sax and the impression that I'd enjoy this way better if Sam Cooke were singing it. Similarly, "Brand New Day" I think is a strong candidate to have been much better if it had been a Joe Cocker song. The backup singers carry this one. "Everyone" hits hardest for me out of all the tracks here. Earworm territory here for sure, and appreciate how it breaks up the samey instrumentation on the rest of the album with the shamelessly twee flute ( is that also a harpsichord?) and baroque sensibility. I'm a sucker for a catchy as hell bit of sugary pop. Feels like it should have been the closer, though "Glad Tidings" as an energetic, if generic feeling of an encore, so I can see it. Ultimately not much here for me to fault aside from my dislike of Morrison's voice and thinking it's three great songs surrounded by competent filler. Tracks to save for a playlist: - "Moondance" - "Crazy Love" - "Everyone"

Variety: 3 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 3 Never listened to this the whole way through despite some glowing recommendations from trusted sources at the time of release. I think around then is when I began to actively disengage from listening to much of anything new. This one has been on my list forever though, so glad to finally get a listen in. HIGHLIGHTS ( can they still be called highlights when it's mostly highlights?) - "Thinkin Bout You" is one of the few tracks I remember hearing, and holds up exceedingly well. The time has long since passed since I was able to pinpoint the decade of song's release by its sound ( maybe even agree with the theory that music and pop culture in general been frozen in time since the early 2000s with nothing to distinguish it from what came before or after), but to my ears this sounds as fresh and new today as anything recent I've heard. Very strong start out of the gate here. Dig the sparse instrumentation on this and damn... that falsetto... Listened to this track multiple times. - "Sierra Leone" - I also listed to a few times. Wow. No diluting the album with filler tracks yet. Bold move after that first track to drop another great one here. Love the Phil Collins-ish gated drum beat sound here. - "Sweet Life" - Ocean's phrasing here is giving me strong Stevie Wonder vibes, and he's able to get a completely different feel from the prior tracks. Upbeat and bright and dipping briefly into lushness. - "Super Rich Kids" - The Casio keyboard preset beat that gets layered into the "Benny and the Jets" piano hits hard for me. Lyrically probably my favorite track. - "Lost" - Highlight of the back half for me, and possibly the album itself. Going to go out a limb without even checking that this one had to have been a breakout single. Has pop crossover appeal written all over it, and stands out from the R&B-ishness of what's come before. Puts me in mind of a more downbeat, subdued Pharrell Williams. - "Monks" - Strong Parliament-Funkadelic vibes here, and dig those drums. - "Bad Religion" - Prince is all over parts of this one. Organ at the beginning reminded me simultaneously of the opening of "Let's Go Crazy" and Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale", but then the electronic strings elevate and change it into something completely different. - "Pink Matter" - Andre 3000! ( had to verify) but was the only guest on here I recognized. LOWLIGHTS ( few and far between) - "Pilot Jones" - As close to an inessential track as there gets on this album? In no way bad though. Just felt like a throwaway. Dig the airplane transition though. - "Pyramids" - Never felt toooooooo long to me because of how often it changed up, just not sure the length was justified for what felt like it could have been a couple of smaller, much tighter tracks. Carve out that middle section by itself though... - "Forrest Gump" - Had to look the lyrics up for this one to make sure I was actually hearing what I was hearing. Ok. Interesting choice. Feel like I'm missing something here. Change my mind about what I said about "Pilot Jones". - The interludes I'm not sure I have much to say about other than they ( mostly) didn't feel completely extraneous, and had some interesting elements, "White" might be my choice for the best telephone hold music track ever. Seriously could listen to that on repeat without much frustration. Though "Not Just Money" I think maybe I'd skip on future listens ( spoiler alert: there will most definitely be future listens). - The radio station changing gimmick ( not fully committed to here) didn't bother me that much, though felt it was just as unnecessary as it was on "Songs for the Deaf" by Queens of the Stone Age. Overall, was mighty impressed with this one, and slightly disappointed I waited this long for a full listen. Found myself struggling to pick a favorite track, and the production felt smooth and simple, but never too sparse. Was reminded of Prince in this respect. I never felt assaulted by effects and busyness. The emotional highlights stood out that much more for how subdued a lot of it was and I appreciated how cohesive it felt despite big swings into different sounds. If I had to knock this album for anything it would be length. I wouldn't call it bloated, but the hour and 2 minute run time is a lift to be honest. As many times as I replayed tracks I did have to listen to this in chunks. As listenable and varied as it was throughout, I do also feel that the first half is weighted with the top tier stuff. This is going into regular rotation for me for the time being, and several tracks will be going into the 5-star playlist. Playlist alteratons: - Drop "Pilot Jones" and "Forrest Gump" - Drop the interludes - Find a shorter edit of "Pyramids"

"None more black." Variety: 2 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 5 Now we're getting into familiar territory. Going into this one it's worth mentioning that The Cure are a top 10 band for me. They are one of the few acts I will seek out live performaces, rarities, B-sides and the like from. While this one has never been my favorite release from them, historically it has gotten a LOT of play. It has been a while though, so let's see how well it holds up. THE TRACKS - "One Hundred Years" - Top Cure track in peak energetic doom and gloom mode. Up there with the best of Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy as far as danceable misery goes. Works perfectly over top of that upside down video of the bats that makes it look like they are in a goth club. You know the one. - "A Short Term Effect" - Best synthesis of all the aspects of this album all in one track in my opinion, veering into a muted psychedelia at times which adds a weird tone I'm mixed on from moment to moment. - "The Hanging Garden" - Possibly the epitome of a Cure track? Definitely the one I might use as the barometer to tease out someone's openness to the darker side of the band. I feel you either start singing this in a mocking Robert Smith voice ( like my wife did as she passed by my listening post) or you bob your head and barely restrain yourself from doing the shuffling South Park-goth dance. - "Siamese Twins" - Nice slow down. Driving rhythm section is the star here, but the mood... The pure pancake makeup, eyeliner and smeared lipstick experience on full display. "The Figurehead - If "The Hanging Garden" is pure distilled Cure, then this is the low hanging fruit whose seeds have blossomed into a the stereotypical Cure sound. While perfectly fine to my ears, its also nothing special. I could drop this into the middle of a half dozen of their albums and not sure most casual fans would notice it was out of place. Cool, sinister guitar hook surrounded by Robert Smith Mad Libs. "Strange Day" It's... fine. The intensely percussive beat here loses something right after The Figurehead. The wobbly synth hooks me in though. "Cold" - Possibly the most atmospheric track here. Dig that cello-organ-glockenspiel combo. Could easily imagine this one running over the credits to a modern Dracula movie. Sounds like practice for Disintegration. "Pornography" - Never been the biggest fan of opening ( or closing for that matter) noise collagey stuff on a track. That being said, this does at least slowly build OUT of that noise and into something, giving it a steady rising feeling of almost galloping forward out of the muck. "Fight against the Sadness, Artax. Please!" HIGHLIGHTS - "One Hundred Years" - "The Hanging Garden" - "Cold" LOWLIGHTS - Impossible to mine any pure stinkers, but gun to my head and I was forced to trim 6:16 or thereabouts from the running time, "The Figurehead" fits the bill nicely. - Not a knock on the album itself, but also would not recommend this as the intro point to a Cure newbie. - Not the biggest fan of the mix on "Pornography" and much prefer some live versions I've heard where you can actually hear Smith a lot clearer. There's a perfectly good song buried under all that noise. FINAL THOUGHTS There are a lot of bands I love that I still only consider "greatest hits" bands. Meaning I might rate a lot of their songs very highly, but when I listen to them it'll be in playlists of 4-5 star songs culled from their discography. As much as I love Prince as an entity, for example, I rarely find myself listening to a full Prince album front to back in order. The Cure are an exception to this. I've found that looking their discography in aggregate, I much prefer to listen to their stuff via the album experience. I also tend to vaguely classify bands into two camps - vibes bands that ooze atmosphere, but who don't ultimately have much to say or whose lyrics might even be mostly nonsense filler ( The Beatles, Soundgarden, Beck) and acts who are message based, with distinct lyrics that tell a story ( Elvis Costello, The Decemberists, Bob Dylan). The Cure ( as well as Depeche Mode, Alice in Chains, The Kinks) for me fall into that sweet spot in between where we not only get tons of atmosphere, but there's no slouching in the lyrics department either. Should you choose to pay attention to them at all. But it's never required. I can just as easily zone out and take in a Cure album as I can slow down and pay close attention to each track. There is a spectrum however, and Pornography falls just on the vibes side for me. As far as Cure albums go anyways. As much as I like the album as whole, and I can totally see the influence it had on dark melodic rock that came after ( some consider this to be peak Goth), it does not have as many high highs as my favorites from them, and in the end suffers more from the sameyness that in most cases causes me to dismiss stuff from less revered artists. While I'll never take this one out of rotation, it might be a while before I get back around to another full listen. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - No notes. You be you, Pornography.

"Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and old" Variety: 3 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 4 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 2 = 3.2 rounded down to a 3 Despite remembering the singles from this being pretty inescapable at the time ( mainly via MTV for me) I never engaged with this as an album experience, and so was really only familiar with the hits. I've listened all the way through maybe once before, but don't recall too much other than what I already knew. I've also been historically averse to the pop punk sound. I'm curious if I've mellowed a bit in that regard. THE TRACKS "Burnout" - If there's anything I can fault Green Day for it's certainly not a lack of energy. This track jumps right in, full bore and is as melodic as expected if a bit lacking in great hooks. The fat bass, speedy yet precise drumming, and that snotty delivery are all on display here. "Having a Blast" - More of the same, but more hooks, some solid but minimal harmonizing, and great driving guitar. It's like they're building up to something. Wet noodle of a chorus though. "Chump" - Bit of a feat to keep the energy up three tracks in, but mission accomplished. Liking this more with each successive track. The chorus here is definitely an improvement and damn that bass breakdown hits. Loved it when the Pete Townsend-ish guitar comes in over top and the song messily peters out and transitions into... "Longview" - Happy to say this is still the god tier melodic ode to boredom and apathy that it always was. That bass line will forever live in the folds of my neocortex. Armstrong at his peak lyrically here as well. "Welcome to Paradise" - Right after "Longview" you'd expect anything else to be disappointing, but holy hell this is a burner. The harmonizing, the sinister breakdown, the HOOKS! While the previous track is maybe my favorite song on here, this is the one we put on the golden record that we shoot off into space for the aliens to understand what Green Day was. "Pulling Teeth" - I had forgotten this little mid-tempo thing. Comes across now as a pop punk take on the 50's Everly Bros/ Buddy Holly mode of relationship song. Would not be surprised to learn that Armstrong was a huge fan of this stuff. A nice little rest before we jump right back into that breakneck pace. "Basket Case" - And here's the blistering sing-a-long right about the mid point. I can't imagine a world where this isn't always the finale at a live Green Day show. Even on an album where the energy level is averaging out at a solid 9.5, this one is still somehow still invigorating. And you know your song is an all time classic when Weird Al includes it i a polka medley. "She" - Well damn, I totally forgot about this one. I came into this fully expecting the four big ones to be the obvious stars here. This was definitely on my radar at the time of release but I think got buried under how massive the other ones were. Dark horse pick for 2nd best song on the album. "Sassafras Roots" - Not much to say about this one other than it pales in comparison to everything around it. "When I Come Around" - Unimpeachable radio staple that I have maybe heard the most off of this. So much so that it feels like less of a crime to skip. I mean, I also love "Under Pressure" but it's also on that list. Do better, Sirius XM DJs. "Coming Clean" - Another one I don't have memories of at all, and not sure I need to. Filler is too harsh a classification, but I doubt this is anyone's favorite. "Emenius Sleepus" - Getting the impression that these last several songs were leftovers or reworked earlier material that they used to pad things out a bit. All short, perfectly competent numbers but nothing too affecting. "In the End" - This included, but at least it's got a kind of weird country western beat going for it. For real. Slow this waaay down, add a fiddle and an upright bass... "F.O.D." - Acoustic opening is a bold choice here,but have to say Armstrong's weaknesses as a vocalist are unprotected in that section. When everything kicks in things improve a good 90%, but that still only puts the song at a 60% for me. Too little too late. The hidden track is a skeevishly charming ( charmingly skeevish?) little Daniel Johnson-ish thing. HIGHLIGHTS - "Longview" ( especially), "Welcome to Paradise", "Basket Case", "When I Come Around"... everything you expect. - "She" - Tight, short songs - Very little fat on this one LOWLIGHTS - "Sassafras Roots" - Weak ending mostly filled up with half-realized nuggets that don't really stick FINAL THOUGHTS I still regularly hear the hits from this on the radio, and I rarely change the channel when I do. That said, this will never hit as hard for me as it did to a 13 year old outsider in 1994. I missed that boat and so the band never got their hooks in me. So much so that I eventually became dismissive of them later and never even bothered to follow up with much of anything else aside from whatever top 10 hit of theirs that would have been unavoidable ( looking at you "Good Riddance"). I even managed to actively avoid their whole American Idiot phase. While it will never be a bit of fondly remembered nostalgia for me, and the entire album will not be in regular rotation or anything, I can't deny the musicianship and energy on display for throughout. Impressive stuff. And hooks for miles. I think the band got a lot of shit for being too mainstream at the time, but seems like the idea of "selling out" has gone the way of the dodo and history looks more kindly on acts like this. If you're going to listen to whiny, post adolescent-moaning, you can do worse than a version that's catchy as hell and funny to boot. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS Drop "Sassafras", "Having a Blast" and everything after "When I Come Around" and you've got yourself a 5-star EP.

"Little Ham 'n Eggs comin' at ya, hold on people hope ya got your griddles!" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 3 Listenability: 2 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 2 = 2.2 rounded down to a 2 This one had me baffled at first. Had I heard of this before? Is this a compilation? The name of the group I was vaguely aware of, but honestly can say, aside from "Back to Life" I don't recognize any of the titles here. Unfamiliar territory for me, but excited to dive in. THE TRACKS "Keep On Movin'" - Ok. Immediately recognized this one. Remember hearing it waaaaaay back when on the radio ( we're talking elementary school days), but at the time never knew who the artist was. This is some very chill head-nodding material, with great vocal performance. "Fairplay" - Bit more energetic here, but more head nodding goodness. Can't imagine that the beat on this has not been since sampled a bunch since ( checking afterwards at least 21 times, and by luch luminaries as Bel Biv Devoe, Boys II Men and Nate Dogg himself). "Holdin' On" - There's no denyin the groove on this one, but not a fan of the lead vocalist at all. The disco strings and the background singers can't save this one either though. I can imagine the dude getting the lyrics seconds before they hit record and he just did his best to read them. "Feeling Free ( Live Rap)" - This is more like it. Nice change up into some laid back funky hip hop style. Parenthetical on this is believably, and captures a live feel well. Crowd vibes of something like "Got to Give It Up" but way more subdued. "African Dance" - Give me flutes as an accent all day long. Even a solo. But this one had me hovering over skip for the first time in this little project. "Dance" - Nicest thing I can say here is that male vocalist is slightly less irritating, and this is a much more responsible use of the flute. Not sure the spoken word/ talk rap thing has ever really worked for me, and this is no exception. "Feel Free" - The pattern maintains. Just barely. Somewhat of a step back up, but the vibrato style on here is ruining the vibe. Where's the original lady? "Happiness" - Right down the middle drum groove and some vocals that did not distract too much. I want the original lady back. "Back to Life" (Accapella) - There she is! Wait... Ok, so this is not the version I'm familiar with, I still dig it, especially after the beat kicks in and it becomes a roller skate jam for about a minute. Going to call an audible here and sub in the alternate version ( technically still part of the album, at least in it's 10th anniversary incarnation) here, and BOOM. Perfection. Close my eyes and I can almost taste the puff paint and feel the lacerations from the slap bracelets. "Jazzie's Groove" - Perfectly fine closer with minimal vocal interruptions. Looking back maybe more horns would have improved some of the previous tracks as well. HIGHLIGHTS - "Back to Life" ( the hit single version) and to a lesser extent "Keep on Movin'" both are well deserving of a spot on any 90s ( yes I know this was released in '89) era dance playlist. - Nonstop grooves throughout - Very chill atmosphere LOWLIGHTS - Most everything else, though "Fairplay" and "Jazzie's Groove" might be issued a reprieve from the trash heap if I'm feeling generous. FINAL THOUGHTS Can't say I'd ever put this one on and pay complete attention to it, but would not be completely terrible to have on in it the background while doing some mind numbing, repetitive task. Not a knock, as those kinds of albums I value. Just nothing about this really grabs me other than the big hit and the opening track. I can easily imagine how this must have hit way harder in '89. And in the UK maybe it even seemed like a revelation of sorts, but the years have not been kind. As far as smooth, atmospheric, chill R&B-tinged stuff goes, I'd rather might seek out some PM Dawn before I'd ever revisit this. Looked up afterward and verified same vocalist on both those standout tracks - Caron Wheeler. Best thing I can say about this album is that it has inspired me to look up her solo work. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Open with "Keep On Movin'" and then "Back to Life" 9 times in a row

"Cause life ain't nothing but a good groove, A good mixtape to put you in the right mood” Variety: 3 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 3 = 3.8 rounded up to 4 INTRO I saw Massive Attack come up and got a little too excited before I realized this is not the one I thought it was. I didn't jump on the bandwagon until Mezzanine which was, to my complete surprise, a full 7 YEARS LATER! Surely I must have heard some of this before, right? Let's see what Banksy and friends have in store. THE TRACKS "Safe from Harm" - Ok. Fears unfounded. I have at least heard this one before. Awesome opener. Everything about this is what I was hoping the Soul II Soul's Club Classics vol. One was going to be. Take all those criticisms and reverse them. I'm back on board for some late 80s/ early 90s British music collective shenanigans. "One Love" - Steady as she goes. Horace Andy is what you want from a male vocalist on this type of thing. Soulful, and tuneful. He's not just reading off a menu here. That awesome sting is lifted from "Ike's Song" by Isaac Hayes ( had to look it up as I thought it was from a Godzilla (!) soundtrack at first) cements this together for me. Seriously though - do yourself a favor and pull up the Who Sampled Who site while listening to some of these. "Blue Lines" - Not the biggest fan of Banksy's rapping on this. It's not distractingly awful but it veers very close to the talk/ singing stuff I tend to loathe. His flow is , uh... monotone and deliberate if I'm being kind. However, it slots into the chill atmosphere well, so... "Be Thankful for What You've Got" - We get a more than capable, modernized cover of William Devaugn's minor soul classic here ( recognized the song, but had to look up the artist and release date). Enjoyable and a nice change of pace, but does not touch the original by a country mile. I listened to the original while the cover was paused, came back and confirmed this opinion. Bet this killed in their live sets though. "Five Man Army" - I think I could listen to just the drum and bass on this on a loop for hours ( found this after - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3LPGmxpCu4) . The reggae dripping off this is a delight, and maybe my favorite rapping so far (Tricky!) off the whole album. Banksy doesn't even detract from the experience. "Unfinished Sympathy" - I feel like I've heard this drum sample a zillion times, but doesn't lose anything here. The strings over top and the vocals are lovely as well, but both parts seem to be straining against each other. I wish the drum loop was slowed way down so this could feel more chill, but I feel like I'm running to catch up or listening to two separate songs playing over top of each other. This is a flavor I'm not sure of yet. It seems to come together in the end though with the piano. Maybe it could grow on me? "Daydreaming" - Tricky seems to be working at Banksy's pace here for the first part and then gets more confident by the halfway point. Right down the middle though and can't say this one hooks me. Not filler by any means, but the rapping is not what draws me to Massive attack, and it's front and center here. This would be best time to hit the toilet at a concert. "Lately" - I'm fully along for the ride. The groove is in full effect and Shara Nelson kills it with the baby-making vocals. "Hymn of the Big Wheel" - Easily the most surprising track here. To quote They Might Be Giants "No one in the world ever gets what they want / And that is beautiful" - seems to be the vibe here. The electronic bits remind me of Aphex Twin. Not my favorite, but my biggest criticism is that it's the one track that feels out of place. Until the last 45 seconds or so anyways. Paints with such bright colors early on I'm not sure I would have pegged this for a Massive Attack song at all had I heard it out of context. We got some whale song though I guess. HIGHLIGHTS - "Safe from Harm", "Five Man Army", "Lately" if I had to pick standout tracks - Shara Nelson and Horace Andy are the co-MVPs here in my opinion, only enriching things when they show up LOWLIGHTS - Banksy's rapping will never be my favorite - Ends on such a weird note - Another 7 years til we get "Teardrop" :( FINAL THOUGHTS I've heard bits and pieces of this over the years but never thought to go back and give this my full attention. Glad I did. I could make a whole 5 star playlist of just great songs that were sampled for this. It's crazy that this is their debut and they feel so complete and steady already. I can't imagine Mezzanine won't come up on this list at some point though, and gonna go ahead an predict a 5 star for that one. It puts this in perspective though. Very little at all to find fault with, but I know there's better things coming. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Drop "Blue lines" and "Daydreaming". If only there were some way to swap Banksy and Tricky on these. - "Hymn of the Big Wheel" we can maybe pretend never existed. Besides I think ending with some Shara Nelson is appropriate here.

"Everybody's got a bomb/ We could all die any day, oh/ But before I'll let that happen/ I'll dance my life away, oh" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 3 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 1 = 2.2 rounded down to 2.0 I very much associate this one with the beginnings of my iPod listening days. For several years my work day was a constant back and forth between podcasts and playlists, and the hits from this featured quite heavily. This is also maybe one of the first albums I went through and cannibalized for the cream of the crop, dropping the rest. yes, I did my part to kill the album as a format. My old iPod still works (technically - screen is barely visible through all the cracks and it has to constantly stay on the charger) and a look-see reveals that I only saved two songs. We'll see if you can guess which two. THE TRACKS "Time to Pretend" - This one is way more memorable than I recall. Not sure why this one got deleted. Hooky, bit funny, and seems like the perfect mission statement for the album. Fun, danceable energy with some light sarcasm and melancholic "we're fucked, but we might as well have a good time" vibes. The repeated childlike synth melody, the rising near the end and the nostalgia-tinged lyrics give this one a deceptive heft. "Weekend Wars" - Turn into a downbeat indie rock here immediately adds some variety, and brings to mind some later bands who would seem to make this song their whole vibe, with the choral up vocals. "The Youth" - Effects laden, quiet bit of jangly twee is step up from the previous track, but in the same mode. These guys got vocal hooks for miles though. This sounds like they may have listened to Beck's Mutations album and taken some good notes. "Electric Feel" - All time classic. If you don't find yourself tapping toes to this, I'm not sure what to say except... my condolences. No surprise this was a radio hit and continues to get heavy play. It's a bit downbeat despite the catchiness. "Kids"- Wow, two in a row. Definition of an ear-worm. Also digging hard into that "sad content/ bouncy melody" dichotomy. The music video for this one is tied heavily into my memory of this one. I've seen this one live and funny to see a giant crowd chanting and jumping up and down to this weirdly dark song while the band has some sort of bargain bin Flaming Lips-ish style stage stuff happening with dozen people throwing stuff around and dancing. "4th Dimensional Transition" - Ooohhh trippy, maaan. I can't tell if these guys are fans of psychedelia or if this is some sort of send up, but this one runs the gamut of influences from the Doorsy organ, to surf rock ( dig that "Wipeout" beat). And yet it all blends well. But does it amount to much? That strumming ending started to get on my nerves though... "Pieces of What" - Throwaway track here. 60's era Rolling Stones seem to be the target here, and while the sound was somewhat successfully evoked, the feeling was most definitely not. Feels unfinished. "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters" - More 60's pastiche stuff going on here, but harder to pin down what the influences are. Not sure this one knows what it wants to be either. "The Handshake" - More of the same, but even less energy somehow. Phenobarbital Rock. "Future Reflections" - Still on the floor here, but at least it's got a bit of a groove to it, and some dynamics. Weak statement to end on though. HIGHLIGHTS - "Electric Feel" and "Kids" are both all time classics in my opinion, and will forever have a place on my 5 star playlist. - "Time to Pretend" LOWLIGHTS - Latter half of this disappoints in comparison with the energy of the first half - Also lacks the synthy hooks of the first half FINAL THOUGHTS I was 27 when this came out, but I think it's one of the first things I remember listening to that made me feel old. This is also around the time I remember it starting to feel like genres were disappearing and everything, even the good stuff, sounded like a collection of influences from the last several decades, but had no identity in and of itself. This one certainly fits the bill. You got electronic, indie rock, folk, psychedelia, baroque pop, maybe a dozen other microgenres represented here. And while it doesn't feel like a complete mess, at least for the first half, the last half is shambling and not as distinct, and suffers wildly in comparison. I read somewhere a while back that the impetus of this album was a more or less cynical attempt to write something that would be intensely radio-friendly, hence all the hooks and upbeat synth pop stuff here. Several of the songs were originally conceived as parodies of what these dudes thought a hit song was. And the dumb throwaway jokes became their biggest hits. Right after they veered far away into more experimental, difficult material. I do distinctly not enjoying the follow up. Mission accomplished I guess, but wish they had further developed in the direction this album points. Seems like maybe a ton of other artists took the ball and ran with it though. Guess my initial thoughts on this one did not change too much. Was hoping this would be a whole album built around the energetic synth pop jams, but those just seem like anomalies dispersed amongst the other tracks. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Drop everything but "Electric Feel", "Kids", and "Time to Pretend"

"Cool wind in my hair/ Warm smell of colitis/ Rising up through the air" Variety: 3 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 4 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 1 = 2.6 rounded up to a 3.0 INTRO Yikes. First double album. This one has been on list to tackle forever, so let's go. Will say that while I'm positive I've listened to Stills's self titled solo album way back, I remember little to nothing of it. This kind of stuff is always going to be a unique challenge to me. Most of it I've heard has been inoffensive enough and even listenable - but it's just that... listenable and not much more. In my experience these genres eschew the highs and lows that make most music stand out to me in a memorable way. Most music for me lives or dies by the hooks. And failing that, great atmosphere. In my own personal tortured metaphor I see the songs as the unique and varied furniture decorating the room that is the album. In most blues/ country/ jam rock the songs just end up being the carpet or wallpaper. It might be damn fine carpet/ wallpaper, but you just don't ever notice it. THE TRACKS Side One - The Raven (ughh...) "Song of Love" - Off and running with some very capable, very smooth stuff here. While I might not be able to pick it out of a line up of similar material, this was a good start. These guys at least know what they're doing. This feels like the music playing in the part of the movie where the protagonist is driving along the Pacific Coast Highway with the convertable top down as the helicopter shot zooms out just before the credits role. "Rock & Roll Crazies/ Cuban Bluegrass" - Different enough especially with the Latin rhythms near the end, but Santana this is not. I can feel that thick shag carpet beneath my feet, and least it's comfortable, but that weed smell is never going to come out though. "Jet Set (Sigh)" - Generic blues rocker is nothing special, but a fine enough specimen of the type. Stills's voice has got a bit more oomph to it than I expected. Was never really sure what part he played in the CSN dynamic, but by comparison seems he's got range enough to pull this off well. He's no Jack Bruce, but few are. "Anyway" - More of the same. Light one up, pop open a few tallboys, open the garage and head out to the driveway. That Camaro ain't gonna wash itself. "Both of Us (Bound to Lose)" - Some recycled CSN material here? Will there be any more? Getting notes of America as well. Did not come here expecting bongos, but I'm down. Side two – The Wilderness "Fallen Eagle" - Huh. Good call waiting til side two of disc one to pull out the bluegrass stylings. More shades of CSN with the harmonies here. Foot tapping away, I barely noticed how short this was. Reminds me that my favorite Grateful Dead adjacent project also happens to be bluegrass - Old & in the Way. Seriously, check this (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1cKK20CwQk1pd6vTinxCMx?si=b49f28942f2f4609) out. In fact I might just after this. "Jesus Gave Love Away for Free" - Was not expecting this degree of variety for sure. Some steel guitar filled country gospel stylings don't feel out of place, and work to further differentiate side two. The upon first glance groanworthy side titles are making more sense now. "Colorado" - Hmm... this sounds soooooo familiar. I can't quite place it though. Oh well. Solid stuff. This is what I imagine Bob Seger would be doing had he been a country boy. "So Begins the Task" - Entering some more traditional folky territory here, and have to say I like it as a contrast. Guessing there's going to be a decent CSN ( minus the C&N) album's worth of tracks to gather from this when all is said and done. Memorable chorus here is making this one rise above the noise a bit. "Hide It So Deep" - More bluegrass here, perfect for some sleepy slow dancing, beer in one hand, just before closing time at your favorite honky tonk. "Don't Look at My Shadow" - Flashback to earlier in the night at the same honky tonk. Being honest, if I want something like this I'll just throw on "East Bound and Down" by Jerry Reed Side three – Consider "It Doesn't Matter" - Downbeat America/ Poco vibes. Not quite Now That's What I Call Smooth Hits of the 70s material, but heading in that direction. "Johnny's Garden" - Maybe the first real stinker for me. Hippy garden party nonsense. "Bound to Fall" - Another cut for the CSN redux. Sounds pretty but goes nowhere. "How Far" - This is what I would expect to hear from a Stills solo album. Nothing special, but fine enough. "Move Around" - Less passing the Dutchie 'pon the left hand side here and more be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. I'm not down for the gentle flower power sound, but at least there's some atmospheric stuff going on. In a world where people didn't have to look up what this album even was, I bet it would have been covered a zillion times by early 2000s neo-folk duos. "The Love Gangster" - Trying to get a little funky on this one and I'm not buying what he's selling. Ballsy title. Give this to Joe Walsh and I bet it would be a lot more fun. Side four – Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay "What to Do" - Back to the country and western stuff. Strong return to what works. Could see either Joe Cocker or Rod Stewart (minus the fiddle) doing a version of this. "Right Now" - Fairly straight ahead energetic rocker gets the job done, but could have been on half a dozen albums by just as many artists of the era. "The Treasure (Take One)" - Vocals on this one are weirdly unintelligible. Too low in the mix or maybe version I'm listening to is just crappy. Didn't really affect the experience though. Wah wah pedal was uncalled for on this, but I liked the piano. Listened to this one twice and liked it better the second time. At least the first half. The second half switches into a sub-"Truckin'" jam which I didn't hate. "Blues Man" - Surprised at how capable Stills's blues vocals are here. Liked this much more than I thought I would based on what I figured was coming. Stripped down acoustic here. Still though, I want to hear what Ry Cooder would do with this. HIGHLIGHTS - "Fallen Eagle" - "So Begins the Task" - "Hide It So Deep" - "What to Do" - "Blues Man" LOWLIGHTS "Johnny's Garden" especially and most of side three. FINAL THOUGHTS If the Eagles are country coke-rock, Stills is the country weed-rock alternative. I think given a choice early ZZ Top are much more my speed as far as western-tinged blues rock. In the other direction, The Grateful Dead are maybe also more interesting a country-folk jam outfit. This album seems smack dab in the middle as far as being perfectly listenable version of either of those. A forgettable piece of pleasing, professionally made material. Despite the prospect of a double album making me a bit nervous, the songs don't overstay their welcome. Did not come out a superfan by any means, but I'm not above revisiting some more of Stills's stuff. That is if it happens to be set in front of me. The worst I can say about this album is that I found myself wanting to listen to other artists throughout. Old & in the Way, or ZZ Top, or even Poco. If this lacks anything it's personality. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - I might "Consider" dropping side three in its entirety, and make this a much more straight ahead country/ blues infused thing

"It sounds like someone else's song/ From a long time ago" Variety: 5 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 3 = 4.0 INTRO Two double albums in a row. Ok. Surprised to see this rather than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot though. Wilco I've always been lukewarm on, never connecting much with the albums despite liking them very much in some live appearances I've seen on tv. And Tweedy seems like an interesting dude. His numerous appearances on various late nights shows as both a guest and a performer seem to have earned him some goodwill. For a while I even followed the charming home project he did with his kids where would post live performances of cover songs they would do. Still have never sought out any of his work. Anytime I've heard it it has been by accident or at the recommendation of someone else. In fact, I think maybe one of the reasons I've avoided Wilco in general is because of how hard it seemed to get pressed by critics at their peak. There's sometimes nothing worse to motivate you to do something than someone repeatedly insisting that you do that thing. THE TRACKS Disc One ( at least they had the good taste not to name the sides here :) ) "Misunderstood" - The discordant opening is gives me the impression of an orchestra warming up and contrasts nicely with the quietness on display. Guessing the song itself is warm up of sorts. Lazy, distorted vocals over the church-like organ and the piano, with the slow build are all putting me on alert for a huge jump in volume and intensity. And there it is. Notes of Like what if the Replacements had been way into John Cale? "Far, Far Away" - Right into a sleepy, charming little country and western thing with some steel pedal guitar ( I think?) providing the a lonesome atmosphere. Neat trick not feeling too out of place after that opener. I'm aware of the alt-country sound Tweedy's various projects indulge in and this was an appreciated light touch. "Monday" - Well into some Matthew Sweet-ish territory now. Little looser, and lighter on the hooks than I usually prefer in my power pop, but solid. Was NOT expecting the horns, but I'm in for it. Looking back at the musical landscape of 1996, knowing what I know now, this must have seemed of a piece with the brighter sounding post-grunge stuff floating around then. Weezer and Pavement, and Beck , Eels were right there as well, so wonder why this one slipped past me. Maybe the alt-country label? "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" - Not much to say here other than we're continuing down this nice little path into power pop land. Would most definitely slot this in amongst the Matthew Sweet/ Susannah Hoffs stuff that I think comes slightly later. "Forget the Flowers" - Back to the twang and country beat. Perfect driving music. Some catchy stuff here. "Red-Eyed and Blue" - This one was driving me crazy as the opening reminded me SOOO much of some old 70s soft rock classic. Dug around and found this - "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1uA_Zw7zAk) . One of those songs I heard a zillion times as a kid but had no idea who it was, so probably attributed it to Hall and Oates or ELO or something. Some people also apparently hear "As the World Falls Down" by Davd Bowie off the Labyrinth soundtrack in there. Me less so, but sure, why not. I'm also hearing someJohn Lennon influence here, but I'm fully onboard. Beautiful stuff. And I loooooove me some whistling. "I Got You (At the End of the Century)" - A return to the power pop well is a little bit glammier, and has not gotten stale yet. Tremolo and the bluesy refrains make this one stand out a bit. "What's the World Got in Store" - Catchy little ditty starts off as something out of the Elliott Smith playbook and morphs into something a bit more optimistic and poppy. "Hotel Arizona" - Tweedy wearing some Tom Petty influences o his sleeve here? "Say You Miss Me" - Bringing the energy way back down for the first disc closer. Possibly the most basic thing I've heard so far, but still a pleasant listen. The little bit of background vocals and the sharp chord changes that don't come quite where you expect still makes this sound different from similar folk rock material by other artists. Disc two "Sunken Treasure" - We open disc two with some not quite-garden variety acoustic indie fare. I can easily imagine this is where teh cigarette lighters come out at the concert. As close as we'll get to a slow jam on this? The electric guitar coming in halfway through is a welcome addition, and the way it builds, crests and smashs against the main sturcture of the song reminds me of Radiohead's "Electioneering". "Someday Soon" - If Lennon came to mind on "Red Eyed and Blue" then this catch number has got some McCartney DNA in it, espcecially from his early post-Beatles country-pop stuff. "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)" - Am I crazy or is this just straight up Sesame Street theme here in the opening? Ok. I could not put it better than the first commnet I read when looking this up - "Sesame Street is owed some royalties." Other than this distracting bit, a perfectly... ok indie rock thing. I just can't stop hearing it. I thought it would just be in the opening. Has to be on purpose, right? "Someone Else's Song" - Very pretty bit of folk country here. Would not be out of place on a prime Kris Kristoferson album. "Kingpin" - More Tom Petty vibes here, especially "You Don't Know How it Feels". But not so much that it overpowers anything. Turns a but funky near the end with the (Hammond?) organ. "(Was I) In Your Dreams" - Randy Newman on quaaludes. I like Randy Newman, so that's fine. "Why Would You Wanna Live" - Seems like every song on this reminds me of some other specific artist, and that is how my brain works in general with most artforms - I just can't help seeing the influences and connections, and I live coming across them. Even when it may be a ghost of something not really there or no one else hears it, I find it comforting somehow. This one at times reminds me of Elliott Smith, Andrew Bird, and even Amy Mann. All positive comparisons, and not any kind of straight lifting I can identify. Entirely possible ( probable even) that these people are all drawing on the same influences. Anyway - damn fine track "The Lonely 1" - The sparseness here works as a great contrast to the stripped down , but dreamy chamber pop elements. Makes me want to revisit Hour of Bewilderbeast by Badly Drawn Boy. "Dreamer in My Dreams" - Comes in like a reprise of some earlier song we actually never heard. Though the tone and speed of this is perfect, can't help but wonder what a more bombastic, faster version would sound like. This one reminds me of that time john Lennon and Chuck Berry jammed on "Memphis Tennessee" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y40Yw9Lz2y4) but without the Yoko Ono backing vocals. Not sure this would have fit anywhere else on the album but here. HIGHLIGHTS - "Far, Far Away" - "Forget the Flowers" - "Someday Soon" - "Why Would You Wanna Live" LOWLIGHTS - Struggling to find much to complain about here at all - I don't hate it, but "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)" is pretty hard to listen to on its own merits FINAL THOUGHTS This was much more eclectic than I thought it would be. I was expecting a more or less straight alt-country thing with very little to distinguish the songs from one another. A lot of varied influences are all over this. Country and western, power pop, jangle pop, singer songwritery yacht rock accents here and there. But even though so many specific artists came to mind while listening to this, I never felt it was overwhelmingly derivative of any of them. Everything blends well, and often goes off in original sounding tangents that end up far from the source ( "Hotel Arizona" for example). Ultimately, I can't really knock this for unoriginality. It seems to wear the influences pretty openly, and synthesizes them all pretty well ( save that Sesame Street riff...) Supremely catchy and at turns both mellow and uplifting, I can honestly say I'd be happy to keep this one around. First half I slightly prefer. Looking forward to hearing more Wilco. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Maybe drop "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)" for crimes against muppet-kind

"(Let's dance) To the song they're playing on the radio" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 3 = 2.8 rounded up to a 3 INTRO I expect amongst my group that I have a bit of a higher tolerance for some of the campier 80s pop and new wave material, and that assumption is about to be challenged I guess. ABC is not a band that was ever on my radar growing up, and never remember hearing it on the radio. I came to it fairly recently with via satellite radio and only really through the hits. While catchy enough to sing a long to, I have yet to be driven to seek the full album out. Let's see how wrong I was to wait. THE TRACKS "Show Me" - Nothing like getting slapped in the face by a bit of disco at 7:30 AM. And I've heard this one. Bracing as it is, what immediately stands out is the catchy mix of that disco feel with the shamelessly emotional vocals I've come to expect from the likes of Kajagoogoo or Dead or Alive or other early 80s UK dance pop acts. Instrumentally I'm picking up some Duran Duran, vocally this is more lounge lizardy Bryan Ferry. "Poison Arrow" - This is the one I've heard the most and imagine must have been the biggest hit. Bass and drums are the star here, but this is some overall well-crafted dance pop. Having noticed that David Bowie had a very heavy influence on a whole generation of male UK vocalists, I can say this one is no different. "Many Happy Returns" - Bit more basic here, and a slow down but that bass is tying it all together so far. Not a fan of the falsetto-led breakdown just past the middle section. "Tears Are Not Enough" - This is more my speed. They've turned up the funk about 60% or so here. And dig that guitar scratch. We almost got ourselves a roller skate jam! Remove the vocals and this doesn't sound a million miles away from something that Talking Heads would have been playing like a year later. Very least could have been a Tom Tom Club deep cut. Can you hear it? "Valentine's Day" - Slight step down here, but still full of hooks and keeps the funky groove up. "The Look of Love" (part one) - Another radio hit for these guys, and I think the most obvious entry point for anyone coming to this group fresh. Damn the hooks are on display aren't they? Catchy as all get out, and my favorite vocals of the album so far. Looked it up and not only was Fry a HUGE Bowie fan, apparently the man himself visited the studio and hung around with the band while they recorded this one, even offering some advice. "Date Stamp" - No real change of pace here, but an interesting dynamic with the female vocalist offering a counterpoint to Fry's domination of the proceedings. Can't say it works completely though. This one doesn't hit for me though like all the rest. Also the cash register sound effects.... ugh. "All of My Heart" - Another one I've heard. We're firmly in Avalon-era Roxy Music territory here. Possibly the slickest, most mainstream sounding of anything I've heard yet. Dark horse track of the album for me. Not as flashy or bombastic as the other big ones, but possible better crafted. "4 Ever 2 Gether" - Lacks the fun dance vibes of what's come before, and poorer for it. Possibly the most unmemorable track so far. The drum breakdown by far the best thing about it. Prefer Fry when he doesn't sound so exasperated. "The Look of Love" (part four) - Ok, but why remind us now that there were much better songs earlier on? Useless appendage here, and not worthy of inclusion as an actual track in my opinion. HIGHLIGHTS - "Show Me" - "Poison Arrow" - "Tears Are Not Enough" - "The Look of Love" - "All of My Heart" LOWLIGHTS - "Many Happy Returns" - "Date Stamp" - "4 Ever 2 Gether" - "The Look of Love" (part four) FINAL THOUGHTS This leaned way further into the funk and dance sounds than I expected, and was surprised at how, well not restrained... but maybe appropriately unrestrained the vocals were? I think this type of musical gesture requires something big, and Martin Fry proves up for the job. I would solidly recommend this to fans of Let's Dance-era Bowie or latter day Roxy Music and David Ferry solo stuff. I'd slot this into the "Sophisti-pop" label for sure. An acquired taste, to be sure. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Drop the four lowlights, and add in some Bowie, Roxy Music, and the like and just put it on shuffle.

Variety: 2 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 4 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 2 = 2.6 rounded up to a 3 "Oh on and on and on and on/ Goddammit, I'ma sing my song" Amy Winehouse is another artist I actively avoided, mainly because I very much disliked "Rehab" which was pretty unavoidable. From what little I've heard, I can't deny the talent on display. She most definitely had the voice. And in theory I should be very receptive to the whole neo-soul/ R&B aesthetic that's going on around that voice. Not sure I'm familiar with any of these tracks though, and I don't see "Rehab" in there so maybe this won't be so bad. I'll be using the UK release here. THE TRACKS "Intro"/"Stronger Than Me" - Instantly reminded of Erykah Badu here. Modern jazz vocals over top of a hip hop beat. This is good. Horns coming in at the end tie it together nicely. I can't tell if intentional or a shitty file I'm listening to, but there is some fuzz to the overall sound which isn't distracting, but feels off somehow. "You Sent Me Flying"/"Cherry" - Did she ever play a 40s nightclub singer in a video or tv or film role? Maybe she should have based on this. Very easy to picture hearing these vocals over top of the piano. She puts just the tiniest too much stank on some of the inflections here for my liking, but the overall net effect if negligible. When the beat comes in it smooths out and becomes a good headnodder. Transition into the little bossa nova works well, and would not have minded this being its own full track. Serves well as some contrast though. "Know You Now" - Can't help but think of the opening of "Message in a Bottle" by the Police when the drum kicks right in. More Erykah Baduizms here, and I don't hate it. Still not totally sold on her delivery though. Her voice hits me much harder when the inflections are toned down. "Fuck Me Pumps" - Winehouse's version of a dis track here? Pretty straight forward stuff here and almost wholly dependent on her vocals which are rightfully carrying the load so far. A bit slight. "I Heard Love Is Blind" Winehouse - More of the lounge chanteuse here and I'm here for it. I think a full album of this kind of stuff might be nice, but I wonder if it would get repetitive without the R&Bish upbeat stuff mixed in. Again though wish this could have been longer. "Moody's Mood for Love"/"Teo Licks" - Echoey trip hop beat over top of the interpretation of a jazz standard doesn't really work for me. This would have been 90% better with more traditional instrumentation. The bit at the end felt like incongruous filler. "(There Is) No Greater Love" - This is more like it. It's a shame that Winehouse never got to do a slew of straight forward jazz standards ( that I am aware of anyway). More of this please. "In My Bed" - A lot going on here from the Fugees vibe, to the hip hop beat, the Portisheadish spy guitar accents, and even some flute. Winehouse ties it all together and gels incredibly well. Much as I've gone on about the jazz standards, this is my favorite so far. Lush and vibrant. "Take the Box" - Jazzy piano ballad break up song. Very basic compared to what's gone before. This type of thing never really ever hits for me and this one is no different. The background vocals save it from being a complete bore. "October Song" - Man, Badu is all over this album. Could easily imagine a version of this being on Baduizm. Solid and breezy. "What Is It About Men" - Another solid entry here, but more downbeat and a lazier delivery here along with the guitar leans into the funk. "Help Yourself" - Read that this oe was not included on the U.S. release which is a shame, as this is a bright spot near the end and is catchy enough. Regretful beach lounging music. This would have been a fine place to end. "Amy Amy Amy"/"Outro"/"Brother" (hidden track)/"Mr Magic (Through the Smoke)" (hidden track) - Weird suite of disconnected aounding leftover pieces serve as a bonus here. "Amy/ Amy / Amy" comes across as some sort of self-referential parody that doesn't work for me. We get some nameless MC closing down the festivities. "Brother" and "Mr. Magic" ( especially) both would have been fine as regular tracks, so not sure what the thinking was here. HIGHLIGHTS - "You Sent Me Flying"/"Cherry" - "I Heard Love Is Blind" - "(There Is) No Greater Love" - "In My Bed" - "October Song" LOWLIGHTS - "Fuck Me Pumps" - "Moody's Mood for Love"/"Teo Licks" - "Take the Box" FINAL THOUGHTS This album has whole chunks that feel a little undercooked. While Winehouse's voice shines on this I did find some ger delivery to be annoying in spots, and teh album as a whole can't help but suffer in comparison to Baduizm, which is going to win out everytime over this if I have to choose to listen to something in this mode. Overall a solid album though and the good outweighs the bad by a good bit. I do now plan on looking to see if maybe there are enough extant tracks of her performing more striaght forward jazz numbers to make a playlist of that PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS Drop - "Fuck Me Pumps", "Moody's Mood for Love"/"Teo Licks", "Take the Box" Find some carved out versions of "Brother" and "Mr. Magic" and include them somewhere in the middle as standalone tracks.

"Lyin' there and staring at the ceiling/ Waiting for a sleepy feeling" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 1 = 2.4 rounded down to a 2 Can't say I've ever heard of this guy, or if I did it was a passing reference in some other music review or book I read, and he was quickly forgotten. From a brief bit info I skimmed over it looks like this will be some early 90s electronica, so there's going to be some stuff competition between Aphex Twin, The Orb, The Prodigy, Underworld, and Orbital ( that's a popular name with these guys, huh?). The cover art is conjuring some sort of world music inspired thing, but maybe he just thought it looked cool. This might be a rough go for me as I tend to treat this kind of music as background noise, and even with artists I really like I don't differentiate too much between tracks. The overall mood seems to be more important. THE TRACKS "Water from a Vine Leaf" (vocals: Beth Orton) - Very atmospheric from the start which is to be expected on this sort of thing, and VERY early 90s beat that comes in over the electronic chatter. Reminds me a bit of what the rhythm section of U2 was doing on Achutung Baby. Saw there were vocals from Beth Orton on this and was looking forward to those, but then we get the worst sort of "vocals" where someone comes in and reads some awful poetry off some index cards in a monotone voice. BUt wait! We do get a nice little chanty bit from Orton that ties the final 4th of the song together before ending with some NIN-ish syth melody before fading out. This is definitely of it's time, and would not be too out of place alongside that track with the chanting monks that was al over those compilations. You know the one. Maybe a bit cooler though. "Into the Paradise" (vocals: Baby B) - This one we get some vocals right off the bat. Bit more sinister and danceable. Can imagine Neo and Trinity entering slow motion into a club where this is playing right before some shit goes down. Much more effective for my money, and holds up better as well. By the time the thudding bass kicks in just under halfway through you might be able to feel your drug of choice start to kick in. Things remain relatively chill though. We're still in the slow motion phase. One other thing I read about this guy is he was heavily involved with Madonna's Ray of Light album. Can totally see the through line from here. Vocals from Baby B (?) tie things together once again. Seems like a lot of these tracks are going to be a variation on this formula. This was a solid one though. "Time to get Wize" (vocals: Divine Bashim) - Bit of a change up here as we get a make vocalist and more of an echoey triphoppy beat, with some energetic piano over top. More talk singing here. Ugh... Instrumental part at least was pleasant enough, but nothing special. "Harry Flowers" - Telephone hold music for the yoga retreat. "A Touch of the Night" (vocals: Cleo Torres) - Bit spookier opening here that I'm liking. Did the composer for the Alias tv show base his whole thing off this one track? Could also imagine Tom Cruise and company doing some spy montage stuff set to this. It's fine, but nothing comes to the foreground for me. Vocals are used as an effect more than anything. "The Story of Light" (vocals: Baby B) - This is more my speed with the ambient opening and the ghostly vocals dropping into an energetic little number that has a driving beat. The variance in tempo and dropping in and out of the beat works really well. Lots of atmosphere and while I wouldn't call it danceable, it certainly hangs with some similar upbeat chill tracks that came much later from some more well known artists. Standout track so far. "Gringatcho Demento" (vocals: Cleo Torres) - Points for the interesting title here, but the radio static opening, meh... A triangle or finger cymbals or something add a bit of an interesting dynamic and then it morphs into something more interesting when the beat drops in. We're in Trip Hop territory again. Also not a fan of the guitar noodling on top. I'm sure this sounded very cool in 1993, but I'm just getting Tomb Raider soundtrack vibes now. And this isn't even a good part. It's a montage of Lara croft buying an airplane ticket and zipping across the map to Cambodia or wherever she was in that first movie. But then maybe this is the track that proves this guy's genius as it forms a sound that's being cannibalized by mainstream action movies circa 2001? "A Hazy Shade of Random" - This one's got an interesting conga drum beat to it that keeps my attention, and aside from the piano sounds a bit more modern to the ears compared to some of the other stuff. I bet Moby listened to this one on repeat at some point. "Best Friend, Paranoia" (vocals: Cleo Torres) - This one's all mood, and all filler. The late arriving funky beat can't salvage this one. "The Monkey King" (vocals: Laurie Mayer) - Inspired by the ambience of the first half of the last track, this one is all of that stretched for 5 minutes. I like me some ambient noise but it helps to have some dynamics mixed in. "Deus Ex Machina" - Better. You got your ambient drone, but also layered in are some echoey synths, and eerie effects that give strong horror movie score vibes. Perfect track for exploring some caverns populated by some cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers. There's even a dialogue sample from what sounds like a couple horror movies. ( later verified this was from Yougblood, a crime drama from 1978, which is very confusing as Orbit did the score for a completely unrelated movie called Youngblood from 1986 that is a sports drama... Sure, ok.) "Water Babies" - Odd wobbly synth line here works well as the base to this with a couple more elements dipping in and out as needed to keep things interesting. There's no real build to anything, so feels a bit like running in place. Odd note to end things on, but decent enough. HIGHLIGHTS - "Into the Paradise" - "The Story of Light" - "A Hazy Shade of Random" LOWLIGHTS - "Time to get Wize" - "Harry Flowers" - "The Monkey King" FINAL THOUGHTS I don't consider myself as having much of a rock-bias, but I find it very difficult to find much to write about on stuff like this that doesn't just devolve into me describing the track elements. I wonder if this is the nature of the genre or if other albums will give me more to expound upon. Orbit here is very capable, and there's no knocks on professionalism or anything, but overall it just wasn't as engaging as other similar stuff I've heard from the same era. I see he was active since the 80s, so maybe part of his reputation ( and this album's) rests on him being a pioneer of some sorts in this genre? I do know that of the Orbit-named acts from this period, he is starting out lowest on the list for me. Overall, this is very inoffensive stuff, but nothing stood out as very memorable. Very dreamy with a lot of ambient effects, this would not be a terrible listen to try and induce some sleepiness. Can't see myself ever wanting to specifically revisit this, at least not in album form, but didn't hate it. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Drop the lowlights and shuffle the rest into a giant 90s electronica list

"The time is gone, the song is over/ Thought I'd something more to say" Variety: 1 Adequacy: 2 Listenability: 1 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 1 = 1.2 rounded down to 1 Morrissey has always been very hit or miss for me. Lots of great material with The Smiths, but also lots of insta-skips. One of my issues, especially with his solo stuff as it's often lacking the catchiness inherent in a lot of Smiths work, so it's VERY reliant on the lyrics alone. I guess I'll be playing closer attention here than on most, but I'll be trying to avoid falling into the trap of ascribing any personal intent to the content. As I would try to do with most artists. The only time I think that can be useful is if you're looking at pure protests songs or something. And this is all about entertainment in my opinion. Plus, Morrissey's too smart for that and using a literary voice is part of his game anyway, even if he might be fully just stating his honest opinion. THE TRACKS "America Is Not the World" - Musically this is fine. The sentiment, while on its face is pretty hilarious as a concept ( imagine this as a letter being written to an old friend the author is on the rocks with) is also in that nebulous area where I find myself questioning if it's SUPPOSED to be funny. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt though, as he's proven himself no slouch in that department in the past. A knee-slapper it is not though, and from the start here we seem to be leaning into the musically unfriendly. Immediately upon finishing this I couldn't even begin to try and hum it. "Irish Blood, English Heart" - Once again the music seems secondary to the message. No matter how much I might agree with he sentiment, I'm feeling a bit sorry for the session musicians as it seems like they have nothing to do. "I Have Forgiven Jesus" - Bit more musically dynamic here with the organ, but once again nothing special. And still not getting what I think is intended to be some sort of humor. "Come Back to Camden" - Sounds like a schmaltzy, slow motion imitation of something Pulp could have done much better. "I'm Not Sorry" - Wow. The instrumentation on this sounds like something that would be included in a music library package. The World Is Full of Crashing Bores" - The title is by far the most interesting part of this one. "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?" - Finally something halfway decent. Not amazing by any means, but has he finally hit his stride here? "First of the Gang to Die" - I guess not. I really can't get over how generic this sounds. And how dated. 2004? Really? This sound firmly in the realm of 1996 at the latest to my ears. "Let Me Kiss You" - And this one even older maybe. 1991? Are these songs he sat on for a decade? This is proving to be a bit of a chore to get through. "All the Lazy Dykes" - Again I guess the humor is lost on me. Is this a takedown or a celebration or both? Neither? "I Like You" - Something approaching a catchy chorus here, but it's lost beneath the generi-rock sound. "You Know I Couldn't Last" - Dear lord. This sounds like the 11 O' clock number in an awful musical about the evils of corporate rock that was written by someone not very familiar with actual rock music. At least it's over. I hope no one decided to subject themselves to the deluxe edition (I audibly groaned when I thought for a few seconds this was a double album and I had mistakenly clicked on the wrong version). HIGHLIGHTS - "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?" ( quite the feat for a 3 star song) LOWLIGHTS - Everything else. FINAL THOUGHTS Why not just switch to writing books of "humorous" essays at some point? I'll admit there have been a handful of solo Morrissey songs I've listened to and enjoyed, most everything has paled in comparison to his stuff with Marr. By any measure of financial and critical success I don't think most would say he peaked too early, but there's a bit of that in my opinion. He's certainly no Sting in that respect, at least as far as mainstream popular solo careers go. This whole thing felt like he was on autopilot. I found myself defaulting so many times during this to "oh, that's supposed to be a clever turn of phrase I guess" with the instrumentation becoming the unnoticed wallpaper in the room where Morrissey attempts to impress us with his scathing takedowns and occasional self deprecation. While I don't think he slips into unintentional self-parody on this, I also don't think he's got much of anything to say that's interesting enough to overcome the lack of engaging hooks, memorable riffs, or anything of the sort that would make this an enjoyable listen for me. This felt like being talked at by the most boring person at a boring party. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - You get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!

"Oh, when they beat upon a broken guitar/ And all the streets, they reek of tropical charms" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 2 = 3.2 rounded down to 3 We're back in my comfort zone a here as I'm already familiar with Getz and Byrd ( moreso Getz) a bit via several compilations and a couple of full istens a LONG time a go, but can't say for sure if this was one of them. Getz/ Gilberto is the only one I know by name I've for sure heard and remember liking that quite a bit. Also bit familiar with this album's reputation as being the big one that brought the bossa nova craze to the U.S. Before I even start it up my mind is conjuring up all the space age bachelor pad cliches. Let's see if this holds up as more than just a marker of the time and can give me anything more than just an urge to try once again to watch Mad Men. THE TRACKS SIDE ONE "Desafinado" (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça) - The very definition of the chill atmosphere I was expecting. I've most definitely heard this before in some movies or tv shows and on some compilations. I can taste the old fashioned and cigarette smoke. Byrd's guitar here is understated to almost an extreme, and works to accent the Getz's sax line throughout. Classy but not staid. We're not yet into the overdone Austin Powers era of the movement yet. "Samba Dees Days" (Charlie Byrd) - Little but more upbeat number here to change things up. Also both guys still integrating well, though I would say this does put the sax front and center. "O Pato" (Jayme Silva, Neuza Teixeira) - More variety here despite sticking to the mission statement of what I guess was meant to be a primer of sorts. Nothing too flashy, we don't want to freak out the squares. Rather abrupt ending though. "Samba Triste" (Baden Powell, Billy Blanco) - Downbeat sad number here that has a highlights the classical guitar. Damn solid stuff. There's a through line from this to some of the stuff on Sade's Dimaond Life album. Favorite track so far. SIDE TWO "Samba de Uma Nota Só" (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça) - This one also sounds very familiar. Guessing if I haven't heard the original, then one of a dozen or more covers that I'm sure exist. This one has a weird vibe of hesitancy to it. Seems like more an even split here between the two guys, or two songs sharing the same beat. Kind of wish they had mixed together a bit more. Still an easy listen, and can imagine this playing from the speakers at any number of beach resort lounges. "É Luxo Só" (Ary Barroso) - This is veering more into the stereotypical sound I associate with this type of music. I think Byrd's guitar reigns it in though and saves it from straying too far into the elevator music mode. We're still miles from the likes of Chuck Mangione. Not light years though. "Bahia" (aka 'Baia') (Ary Barroso) - Perfect soundtrack to a candlelit dinner for two at a secluded table in your favorite restaurant. HIGHLIGHTS - "Samba Triste" LOWLIGHTS - None to speak of, though "É Luxo Só"comes closest. FINAL THOUGHTS This was a much needed palette cleanser after the chore that was the last album, and I can see this one getting a revisit in the future. Pleasant, relaxing treat of an album that didn't feel slight despite the associations it immediately conjured as the soundtrack of upper middle class white business professionals from 1960s America. It makes me want to revisit the Getz/ Gilberto album and compare, and has inspired me to dive a little deeper into his sources. I'm not aware of Getz ever being called the "Elvis of Bossa Nova", but I'm curious what the general historical critical take on this is now. Is he viewed as some sort of cultural raider, a respected popularizer, or someone ultimate responsible for the watering down of the sound? Either way, it's very easy to see why this caught on and lit some fires under some asses at the time. It never strays too far into too dark or too bright territory, but feels very warm and cozy throughout. Not exactly earthshattering, or even challenging, though I expect that was the intention here, and I'd happily listen to more of the same. It's the later more orchestrated and dense sound I associated with the aforementioned Austin Powers-ish type stuff I'm wary of. I suspect if I can find some of the influences for this ( see the original composers in the parentheticals for each track for those curious to do their own investigation) I might like that even more. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Fine as is

"The drugs, they say, are made in California/ We love your face, we'd really like to sell you" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 3 = 3.0 INTRO This was not the Hole album I thought I'd be seeing. Have most definitely heard this all the way through a few times, but it's been a while. I recall liking Live Through This a lot more, as this was a bit poppy for me at the time. but tastes change, so we'll see. I've known that Billy Corgan had his hands in the mix on this one with co-writing credits on a good portion, so curious to see how light the touch is here. I don't recall this sounding like Smashing Pumpkins at all, so ... THE TRACKS "Celebrity Skin" - Strong opener here, and I'm guessing the biggest hit from the album. Steering well away from the gruge sound and in some weird power pop, post-grunge but still squarely alternative sort of genre here. Hell of a kevel set for the album, and I recall at the time some people complaining about how mainstream this sounded. But is this that far from some of the radio friendly stuff Foo Fighters were doing around the same time? A more than solid earworm, and we're in and out in under 3:00. "Awful" - This sounds like a slow motion Blink 182 song to my ears now. Not necessarily a bad thing as that band knew their way around a hook. In case you were unclear on how poppy this was going to be based on the first track this one drives the nail in. I can't deny it's very catchy. Really only a bit in the last forth for a few seconds where we sort of travel back in time to the old sound, and then right back in to end strong. "Hit So Hard" - Pretty generic, yet pleasant enough one here with another drop in the middle that sounds like them reverting to their old sound, but briefly. This one's not making many playlists I think, but accomplished the task of keeping the ship steady. In another world I could imagine the Bangles having a much longer run and eventually doing something like this. "Malibu" - Remember this one being the best track. Down beat rocker uses the quiet/ loud dynamic between verse and chorus here pretty expertly. This is top tier power pop with hooks galore. I stand by my previous call. "Reasons to Be Beautiful" - A bit harder, and appears Hole has not shed its previous sound completely yet. Notably do not see Corgan's name on this one. Love's scratchy caterwauling is put to great use. A little more than halfway through and despite the harder tone, this is still catchy enough. Not quite a Live Through This outtake, but maybe a reminder that not all the rough edges have been sanded off yet. "Dying" - Slowing things WAY down here for this one. Starts quietly and builds to a mid tempo thing that hangs with the previous tracks, but just barely. Most generic sounding one of these so far, and could imagine this as filler on a Pumpkins album with some changes. "Use Once & Destroy" - This one is lacking the Corgan writing credit, but the instrumentation sounds the most like a pumpkins song to my ears. On the chorus the band briefly gets its own identity back. Still nothing terrible going on here, but I can feel the momentum from those earlier tracks slipping away. "Northern Star" - An Acoustic opening that picks up with some strings and very martial sounding drumming that come in later to try and give this a sort of epic feel. Doesn't quite work for me though. One of only two tracks credited soley to the lead guitarist. Interesting swing, but doesn't quite connect with everything else, and leans a bit too hard into the ponderous for my tastes. I can imagine late-period James Hetfield coming up with these lyrics. "Boys on the Radio" - Even more of a Bangle vibe here with an ear-friendly but of mid-tempo jangle pop. Close your eyes and imagine if Susanna Hoffs maybe had a 2 pack a day growl, and was way more into distortion pedals. "Heaven Tonight" - Even harder lean into that jangle pop sound on this one. Doesn't sound anything like the Cheap Trick song of the same name, but this would not be out of place as a middling track on an actual early Cheap Trick album. This one hits for me, even the electronic tremelo effect that comes in late I'm down for. Purest bit of power pop on the album so far. "Playing Your Song" - Then we dip back into a bit of rougher, older sounding material. Nice contrast to what came before, but find myself wanting more of that sugary ear candy. Fine enough. "Petals" - Solid downbeat closer that splits the difference between the downbeat rockers and the wispy, jangly tracks. HIGHLIGHTS - "Celebrity Skin" - "Malibu" - "Reasons to Be Beautiful" - "Heaven Tonight" LOWLIGHTS - "Dying" - "Use Once & Destroy" - "Northern Star" FINAL THOUGHTS Overall we get a slick, (mostly) polished version of the band which seems laser-focused on courting the charts, and which seems to have been pretty largely successful. A real radio friendly unit shifter even. I find it pretty wild that this didn't get a follow up until 2010. And was that really just a solo album branded as a Hole album? The equivalent of these touring cassette-era acts where there's one lone band member left using the name? I don't think it could be argued that this wasn't a professionally produced, cohesive sounding collection of hummable alt-rock. And the hits on this are still radio mainstays. I do feel like I might still agree with my old self that Live Through This is the superior album though. If we get to it. Surely that's got to be on this list, right? PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Drop "Dying", "Use Once & Destroy", "Northern Star"

"You've lost that lovin' feelin'/ Now it's gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh-oh-oh" Variety: 1 Adequacy: 2 Listenability: 1 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 2 = 1.4 rounded down to a 1 INTRO Looking at these albums has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Sometimes I'll wake up and see something like Hole or Stan Getz and be pleasantly surprised. Sometimes I'll see something like Morrisey or Soul II Soul and dread the next hour. This morning the rollercoaster has stopped mid-loop, and we're all hanging upside down waiting to be rescued. The only thing I can offer up as a reaction to seeing Dion in the queue ( Dion? Really? The "Wanderer" guy?!!) is sheer bafflement. Absolutely zero clue what to expect here. I think we here in the U.S. might sometimes get thrown for a loop by a list made my someone across the pond. It's completely understandable that some stuff hits at differently to people given the vagaries of time and circumstances, geographical location, local tastes, history, etc... But Dion? Frankie Valli had a weird 70s comeback run over here though, so... THE TRACKS Side One "Born to Be with You" - Not what I was expecting AT ALL. This is like some sort of weird thing where you get to 70s Beach Boys and are thrown by the disconnect between their popular material and what you are actually getting. The sleepy, soulful performance and the slow motion orchestral bits give the impression of floating underwater. This is more Lou Reed and less Doo-Wop. Though, to be fair there is some crossover between those two, so maybe this makes more sense than I think it does. "Make the Woman Love Me" - Schmaltzy early 70s pop fodder gets a bit of a lift from Dion's voice and the production, but not enough to make this anything special. Eric Carmen meets Van Morrison. "Your Own Back Yard" - Inoffensive, capable little country-tinged thing. Forgotten as soon as it was over. "(He's Got) The Whole World in His Hands" - Nothing much going on here aside form the crazy muffled production sound. Side two "Only You Know" - Another Lou Reed-ish number here. At least it starts that way. Then it takes a sharp turn down soft rock alley and we get lost in the maudlin slush. "New York City Song" - Huh? What's that? I think Spector must have recorded this one in an a open manhole. "In and Out of the Shadows" - More slow motion soul, but a poor imitation of the feel of that first track. "Good Lovin' Man" - Some real energy, bluesy guitar work and game for it background singers can't save this muddy sounding mess. I honestly searched around for alternate versions of this to make sure my laptop speakers just weren't flitching out on me, but no. I'm wondering if Spector's famous "Wall of Sound" by this point just meant he took the master tapes and let them soak in some dirty dishwater before running them over a couple times with a truck. Lo-fi I don't have issues with generally, but this is not the sort of thing suited for that approach in my opinion. HIGHLIGHTS - "Born to Be with You" - Dion's vocals are the loose stitching barely holding this thing together - The runtime LOWLIGHTS - "Make the Woman Love Me" - "(He's Got) The Whole World in His Hands" - "Only You Know" - "New York City Song" - The general production of this is very unappealing. FINAL THOUGHTS Poor Dion, looking like Warren Zevon's meek uncle on that cover. I still remain a bit baffled by this choice, but I can see it. Just. It was totally not what I expected, and based on some reading after, it apparently wasn't what Dion expected either. He didn't seem to happy with the outcome, and seems like this was largely a Phil Spector production with a lot of outside writers and would call it an album in search of a voice. Say what you will about the man, Spector at one time seemed to make inspired choices, and Dion I guess was one of them. But while I can appreciate the circumstances, and even be a bit impressed with how Mr. DiMucci handles himself here, it's still so full of that early to mid-70s soft rock feel that puts me in mind of Bread, Air Supply and that ilk. A touch more soulful because of Dion's strong vocals, but the atmosphere so undynamic that I felt more drained than relaxed by any of it. If I want a lushly orchestrated, odd take on pop balladry I'd much rather hunt down some Scott Walker. At least he's interesting. And this even fails as a Phil Spector project in my mind as a good portion of it sounded awfully mixed. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - "Born to Be with You" alone gets rescued from the burning dumpster but still doesn't make the playlist

"All music is folk music: I ain't never heard no horse sing a song" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 2 = 2.6 rounded up to a 3 INTRO Man, what I expect to be another rough one. Tull is one of those bands I can definitely see the appeal of. Interesting is not something I could accuse them of. Their approach seemed more rock oriented than some of their progressive peers, but I also remember them being just as self-serious. The title track used to be a radio staple ( or at least an edited version of it maybe?). And while admirable enough to justify it's place in the radio-worthy canon, man did it get overplayed. Even by the time I was listening to the radio a good 1 years after it came out. Enough to overstay its welcome anyway. I braved this album a good 20 plus years ago and do not remember it too kindly, but also don't remember absolutely hating it. Let's see once more if age has tempered my view. THE TRACKS Side one: Aqualung "Aqualung" - Been a hot minute, but it all came rushing back. Undeniablly solid stuff, and one of the all-time memorable riffs. This one definitely has benefitted from some time in the closet. That being said, I'm good for another 10 years or more. "Cross-Eyed Mary" - Electric prog folk? This one hits better than I recall. Lyrical, uh... content aside here, this one has a lot of good stuff going on musically. "Cheap Day Return" - Pretty little acoustic interlude here reminds me of Cat Stevens or something Zeppelin would have in between some harder bits on later albums. "Mother Goose" - I find myself much more amenable to this sort of thing which I might have dismissed as "folky nonsense" 20 years ago. But find myself admiring how damn catchy it is. Since then though I've come to love stuff from acts like Fairport Convention and the like, and this seems of a piece with all of that. Anderson's vocals here are not as overcooked as they are in my memory, though I suspect that "Aqualung" can be blamed for that, looming as large as it does in the memory of this. "Wond'ring Aloud" - Another nice little interlude here. Maybe a bit string heavy. "Up to Me" - And the flute comes back in strong here. Electric prog folk.... funk? There's a LOT going on here, and not sure it all works. Still not awful though, and there's a bit of vibe that keeps interest going along with that repeated flute line. Side two: My God "My God" - Think between the two modes I've heard thus far, the more acoustic, folky ones are my preference. This one spits the difference opening with a dark, sinister bit that would not be out of place in the soundtrack for the old animated Rankin and Bass Hobbit movie. But then the electric guitar kicks in and we get some actual noodling. But maaaaan that flute solo. I just could not help but picture Ron Burgundy going to town during this. This was on track to go on the highlights, but you just had to double down and add some chanting background vocals to the flute. This becomes a bit of a slog after that. I think stuff like this is where Tull gets the reputation as a pompous, over earnest group. "Hymn 43" - This one fades in like a coda to the previous track, and but you've got the piano and guitar chugging along so it's got some good dynamic contrast. As bluesy as anything we've heard on here, but to my ear sounds more like a rejected track from Jesus Christ Superstar. Not necessarily a knock on it, but feels slightly out of place. "Slipstream" - I might want to hear a whole album of these little acoustic interludes. With less strings though. "Locomotive Breath" - Ignoring the night club piano opening, this one comes in strong and feels like Aqualung pt. II. But now I can't shake the Jesus Christ Superstar comparisons out of my mind. This also has strong 70s rock opera vibes. "Wind-Up" - Anderson's voice sit somewhere in the middle and neither greatly offend or amaze me, but seems like they are the focus here. Dig that guitar tone when it comes in though. Dang there's a killer .38 Special deep cut buried under all those vocal gymnastics. Feels like an appropriate final statement for the album. HIGHLIGHTS - "Mother Goose" - The purely acoustic stuff - The general dark vibe - The guitar work on "Wind-Up" LOWLIGHTS - "My God" - Anytime strings pop up FINAL THOUGHTS The flute on this was not nearly as excessive as I recall, and the album feels very cohesive aside from some minor quibbles. While it's not something any but the most hardened ren fair devotee might ever try and dance to, it's got some fine grooves throughout, and could see this being a once a couple of decades listen. The flower children and the hard rockers can meet halfway here, in the magical grove where the bongwater flows and the mushrooms grow. If you can ignore the bleak lyrical content, this could provide some nice background music for your D&D game. I don't think I'll ever be a big Tull fan ( though Thick as a Brick is awesome) this was listenable, and interesting throughout. Just too serious to take seriously, and in need of a remix to remove those damn strings. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - "Mother Goose" and "Cross-eyed Mary" can stick around. I think I've had my fill of the title track for this lifetime, as good as it is. - Find me the isolated guitar track from "Wind-up" that I can play on repeat

"Let them leave you up in the air/ Let them brush your rock and roll hair/ Let the good times roll" Variety: 3 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 2 = 3.6 rounded up to a 4 INTRO I think this is the first one of these where I can say the review was written in my head before I even pressed play on track one. For people of a certain age, no matter your musical proclivities, this here represents your childhood. Yes it came out in 1976, but this was EVERYWHERE, or a LONG time. Without even looking it up I can tell you this must have sta yed on the charts for years. No matter what phases I went through, or what new challenging music I discovered along the way, this has always been comfort food music to me. Even when I really didn't want it to be. Even deep into grunge and metal there was no denying the epic hooks and big sound. Even Kurt Cobain could not escape the gravity well of that massive sound ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvmuVvb_zO4). This will largely be going through the motions, but I can't say it'll be a chore in the slightest. THE TRACKS Side One "More Than a Feeling" - The legend goes that this guy recorded the whole thing ( aside from vocals) in his dingy, tiny basement, which cost a few grand at most while the record companywere paying through the nose for a professional studio he never used. I hope he got to pocket all of that dough, cause he deserves it. Wracking my brain right now to think of a better opening track to an album of this era, and maybe I'm forgetting some obvious ones, but this is pure gold. Enough has been written about how great this sounds prodiction so I won't add my two cents other than to just wholeheartedly nod away while it fades out. When you start at such a high note, the only possibly direction you could go is down, right? Right? "Peace of Mind" - Well, ok. It's not "MOre Than a Feeling" but it's close. And probably heard it almost as much on the radio growing up. Constant. Radio. Play. And still never get sick of it. And feels like such a continuation. And so many bands tried to imitate this sound, some more successful than others. I think even that Rush in their 80s pop mode even tried to capitalize on this sound. Listen to that "take a look ahead" section breakdown and tell me that didn't launch a thousand mediocre 80s arerna rock bands. "Foreplay/Long Time - This was always the weird one for me. As proggy as this album gets maybe with that opening. I can imagine the Alan Parsons Project furiously scribbling notes for their Eye in the Sky album just based on those first two and a half minutes. Then the guitar kicks in and we're sailing on that distant... uh, highway? Ok whatever, nobody is here for the deep lyrics of Boston. This stuff is platitudes and "Hang in There" poster-level material at best. We're here for when the acoustic section drops so we can start clapping and then cheer when it gets loud again. If you're not tapping your fingers on the desk or steering wheel when the drums and vocals drop out, I'm not sure there's much that be done for you. If I had one criticism of this it would be the guitar nonsense at around 6:00. But blink and we're back in it. I should also note that this point that I generally don't care for fade outs in rock songs, but three in a row here and can't say I'm bothered. Side two "Rock & Roll Band" - This is as close as this album comes to an inessential track. I can't find too much fault here other than it's NOT one of the prior three songs. Also, Rush's "Spirit of the Radio" is just this but better, down to the cheesy piped in crowd noises. "Smokin'" - And it then drops a groove that hangs pretty dang well with your 70s southern rock bands as well. Can't tell if this is a pastiche of that stuff or not, but it reminds me of the generic Deep Purple meets Allman Bros sound that so many bands from the mid 70s but in a good way. The organ here goes a little sideways, but can't say I'm not down for that all-time boogie rock guitar line. "Hitch a Ride" - The weed has kicked in and now it's time to ride that mellow vibe. But not too mellow. Dark horse pick for best guitar work on the album. Not as iconic as some of the other stuff, but especially from around 3:00 in... beautiful. "Something About You" - Feels like a reprise to everything that's come before. Says something that even one of the lesser known tracks here is prime arena sing-a-long material. I can imagine the thunderous crowd at the end of this. "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" - They only real attempt at a "love song" we get on here, and probably the most cliched souding one as well. This one has probably aged the worst, and instead of sounding like the far off future of ... 1982, this instead fits squarely in the 1976-1978 of "Afternoon Delight", "Reminiscing", and "Dance With Me". Though to be fair the end rocks out a bit more than any of those. HIGHLIGHTS - An album full of them - Hooks, hooks, and more hooks - "Smokin'" is the clear highlight of side two though LOWLIGHTS - Huh? What are you talking about? I guess if I HAVE to pick some stuff... - "Rock & Roll Band" - "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" FINAL THOUGHTS This guy pretty much invented how the 80s sound in my brain. While the album remains a perennial great, I still can't claim that it's a favorite or that there aren't 100 albums ahead if it at anytime in the queue. If I hear a track form this, I'm usually not gonna change the channel. I might even sit in the parking spot and wait out the end of the song before going inside to buy groceries. The worst thing I can say about it is it's a grilled cheese and tomato soup meal for me. Will never get old, and it's highly comforting. But it's no steak dinner. I hope to see plenty of those on the list. Also, while the whole thing feels tightly glued together, that second half suffers the tiniest bit in comparison of the blisteringly great the first half. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - "Rock & Roll Band" will always remain my least favorite track. Eh, sure, we can leave this off. - "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" would be no great loss either. Still not gonna skip it if it comes on the radio though.

"Don't worry about a thing/ 'Cause every little thing gonna be alright" Variety: 4 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 5 Emotionality: 5 = 4.8 rounded up to a 5 We finally made it! Not to make any promises before listening ( it has been a while after all), but I'm pretty confident this will be a guaranteed 5 star for me. This one is absolutely loaded with great songs, and not a dud among them. Heard a lot of this as a kid on terrestrial radio, but wasn't til maybe my 20s (?) that I gave the album a full listen to all the way through. When I got rid of most of my LPs a few years ago Stevie's bunch of albums were among the last to go, and I had to reconsider more than once. Really looking forward to this one. THE TRACKS Side one "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" - What an opener. As joyful a song as any I can think of and it transcends any sort of sappiness with the killer instrumentation. Not even the Minutemaid Orange Juice commercials I remember as I kid could kill this song's greatness. "Maybe Your Baby" - Damn... The funk coming off this one is powerful. That synth organ that sounds almost like it's underwater, and when the female vocals drop in, the song hits another level. It even peters out with style. "You and I (We Can Conquer the World)" - There is not much media that effects me emotionally. This is one of them ( not the last one either from Mr. Wonder, or even the last one from this album ). What a deceptively simple song. Wonder goes less is better on this one, and pulls off the trick of getting your full attention after the musical display of those first two tracks. And despite the positive lyrics, the music itself has a somber, thoughtful quality. "Tuesday Heartbreak" - Even his throwaway tracks would be the best song on anyone else's album. A quality he shares with a very few elite ( future collaborator Paul McCartney comes to mind). Four love songs in a row and this doesn't feel stale at all. "You've Got It Bad Girl" - The ascending and descending vocal hooks on this one remain a pleasure. Stevie gets a lottle more serious on this one, and we end side one with a damn fine closer, that prepares us for the less lovery dovey side two. Side two "Superstition" - Man. A contender for a place in the top 10 songs of the 20th century in my opinion. Every part of this song is gold, but the horns are key for me. I could listen to this one on repeat for an hour and no get bored. "Big Brother" - Stevie gets political here and loses nothing in the musicality. The almost plaintive sounding harmonica (?) almost serves as a counter vocal. My favorite percussion on the album. And those lyrics still hit hard - "I don't even have to do nothin' to you /You'll cause your own country to fall". Damn... "Blame It on the Sun" - Can we even call this a deep cut? Does this album have any? "Lookin' for Another Pure Love" - Has there ever been a more chill breakup song? "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" - This one gets me to. When those drums kick in the clouds open up and the sunlight shines down. Even if just briefly. Hope How many times has this been covered. I'm betting a lot. Another stone cold classic, and an all time great album closer. HIGHLIGHTS - All of it LOWLIGHTS - None of it FINAL THOUGHTS One of the hardest thing for any of these albums to overcome is how difficult it is to sound unique in any way. To stand out even among all the amazing music from this decade is no small feat and no one - NO ONE - sounded like Wonder. I can only imagine what this must have been like to hear at the time on the radio, especially for people more familiar with his earlier stuff. Also going to guess that this guy should have gotten a piece of the action on all the synth sales that were no doubt driven by musicians hearing this and wanting to copy its sound. Without this stuff do we get all the amazing P-Funk stuff later on? PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - None

"Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void" Variety: 1 Adequacy: 3 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 0 = 1.6 rounded up to a 2 INTRO I'm always a little bit wary when something like this pops up that I remember really liking, but which is so chick full of samples and interpolations. While a lot of it really hits and gets stuck in my head, It makes me wonder how much of what I'm listening to is just a very clever sound collage. I have no issues listening to the stuff, like I'm not objecting on some moral ground to sampling, but it does make the standard a bit higher for me when rating something like this. I won't be calling them all out but the info is out there for anyone curious ) https://www.whosampled.com/album/The-Chemical-Brothers/Dig-Your-Own-Hole/). My own memories of this album are vague, and the two big hits are the only ones I can identify by name. And they were pretty huge for a small time. THE TRACKS "Block Rockin' Beats" (Rowlands, Simons, Jesse Weaver) - If this is any indication, then I think any worries I may have had about how well this stuff would stand up might have been unwarranted. Great opening track. Built solidly around a bass line from a Crusaders song, and mixed with a pot of other ingrediants cherry picked from at least nine other songs, the energy on this is undeniably great. The soundtrack of that late 90s breakdance nostalgia. "Dig Your Own Hole" - This one I have no memory of whatsoever. This one is more straight forward and feels much more tied to 1997. Lots of "Firestarter" energy here. Probably fine background music to get dehydrated to at your favorite club, but not my thing. "Elektrobank" - Echoey electronic drum beat with some unintelligible chatter over top. This feels even more ancient to me. Hate this sort of thing now as much as I did then. It picks up again but then feels like maybe a 3rd or 5th attempt to recapture the magic of that first track. Will we be seeing many more of these Temu "Block Rockin' Beats"? "Piku" - Change of pace here with an airy opening that fades out into a nice electronic beat that would not be completely out of place on a more modern track. This one had surprising staying power. "Setting Sun" - While I'm sure these guys went WELL out of their way to avoid sampling the Beatles as even back then that would have proved very, very expensive. But if they did steal any exact bits from "Tomorrow Never Knows" it certainly stole that song's "essence" to paraphrase a once popular comedian. What they did with it though is quite impressive. That doubled siren noise over top is almost as important to the effect though. The last minute of this song I have absolutely no memory of. Maybe the music video ended way before? "It Doesn't Matter" - I love a good hi-hat beat. The distorted radio chatter-like voice no so much. This feels very dated as well, mainly from the effects. More is needed than just the "boots and cats" beat to save this one from the trash pile. Very self aware title. "Don't Stop the Rock" - PEW PEW! Bit repetitive, but this is more like it. This feels like the track where the foam drops. "Get Up on It Like This" - This one felt very generic, and points lost for that abrasively annoying ending. "Lost in the K-Hole" - Worse than generic, this one felt boring to me. I think by this time the sameyness is setting in, and feeling more exhasusted than interested. "Where Do I Begin" - This is the most anomalous track on the album. Nods to the electronic stuff that has come before with some effects, but largely an indie pop thing with some pleasant Beth Orton vocals. Honestly sounds like it belongs on one of her albums for the first half, then morphs into more of what I expected. A bit brighter and lighter. Wish it had returned to the Orton part instead of the awful dental drill we get for the last fourth. "The Private Psychedelic Reel" - Great tone built up here from the beginning. Not so much dark as introspective psychedelic naval gazey stuff. The energy kicks in relatively quickly though and then we stay in this unchanging section for another 7 minutes! Fine enough by comparison to some, but at some point one imagines someone pushed a button on the console to create a loop so they could go have a good long shit. HIGHLIGHTS - "Block Rockin' Beats" - "Piku" - "Setting Sun" ( gonna give that last minute a pass) MIDLIGHTS - "Dig Your Own Hole" - "Don't Stop the Rock" - "Where Do I Begin" - "The Private Psychedelic Reel" LOWLIGHTS - "Elektrobank" - "It Doesn't Matter" - "Get Up on It Like This" - "Lost in the K-Hole" - "Where Do I Begin" FINAL THOUGHTS As with much of this music, I almost always find myself picturing frenetically edited shootouts with people in cool looking coats and / or sunglasses. I was never a clubgoer, so none of this is much associated in my mind with dancing in any way. A lot of this electronic stuff from the period can also feel kind of samey. This one is not immune. It also gelt like these guys would tale a really cool idea and beat the living hell out of it or immediately drop it and go off into these kind of purposefully grating tangents ( Where Do I Begin maybe teh worst offender), so more than half the album ends up feeling like a bunch of lost opportunities. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Save "Block Rockin' Beats", "Piku", "Setting Sun" ( sub it for a radio edit that drops that last minute though) and delete the rest

"Got a hold on you/ A new sensation, a new sensation/ Right now, it's gonna take you over/ A new sensation, a new sensation" Variety: 2 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 3 = 3.6 rounded up to a 4 This is one I remember very well, having listened to the cassette a zillion times in middle school. It was on constant rotation with the Prince Batman soundtrack, Depeche Mode's Violator, and Enya's Shepherd Moons (all of which I obtained from Columbia House in a very legit, totally not illegal manner). At the time I had heard what was on the radio so was aware of "New Year's Day" and whatever tracks off of Joshua Tree that had music videos. This one is no longer my favorite after going back much later and listening to their earlier stuff in full, but at the time I really dug it. It's been a good 30 years now since I've listened all the way through, but I suspect this one may have started to show its age by now. There only two of these I hear with any regularity on the radio anymore, which makes me wonder about its staying power. THE TRACKS "Zoo Station" - Starting off with a bit of industrial influenced noise I think is them sending a message. It doesn't last long and we get right into a more friendly sounding rock song, but that trashcan lid percussion sticks around and we get some heavily distorted vocals. Can imagine long time fans at the time being very confused by this. There's a bit of Berlin-era Bowie DNA in here, and the sleazier, rougher sound is contrasted well with the spacey guitar. Good stuff. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" - There's that guitar effect we'll hear again on future material to start us off with. This one I'm hearing a lot of INXS influence on, maybe some Rolling Stones from the drums, and it doesn't disappoint. Hutchence and company would have killed for a song this good at that point I think. "One" - Every time this comes on I expect the depressing, sentimental nature of the thing to drive my finger to the change the channel, but it's just too damn effective and catchy. Bono's just at the edge of full on whine here, but keeps it tasteful and understated despite the lyrics. This one must have gotten the lighters out at concerts. "Until the End of the World" - Very middle of the road with the only the vocal melody at the end of the refrain standing out much to me. World music touches here are stronger than we've seen thus far, but more to come I think. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" - Speaking of Radiohead, this opening of this one before the vocals start would fit snugly right in between The Bends and OK Computer. BUt then there's also a weird Springsteen in slow motion vibe to the thing. Maybe its the tambourine. Then it morphs into a a sort of Echo and the Bunnymen-ish chorus. And on the other side of things this sort of thing is a clear predecessor to stuff like Coldplay. Solid post-punk pop. "So Cruel" - The piano and heartbeat percussion push us further out into unknown territory here. This almost sounds like the band was wondering what it would sound like if one of those chanting monk songs has some more traditional rock lyrics and chord changes. It's interesting enough that I'm down for it. The strings and the plaintive falsetto tie this one up in a nice bow. "The Fly" - This is where it gets weird. I think people talk about Zooropa as U2 going full on glam, but that maybe starts here? This is also got a lot f INXS in it, and Bono might as well be doing a Hutchence impersonation for part of it. While I wouldn't call it danceable, I can at least picture people swaying to it. The Edge goes whole hog here and we get as close to noodling as we ever really do with him. But still identifiably U2. This one might as well just morph right into the next considering what all's going on at the end of this. "Mysterious Ways" - This song has lost none of it's appeal. The funky guitar riff, the world music beat, and Bono at his laziest, most relaxed. The contrast between the loud and more quiet parts makes this one. A classic for a reason, that has lost none of its edge. The bizarre electronic breakdown that sound like the orchestra hit on a an 80s Casio keyboard even works. It gets messy and crowded at the end and that chaos drops out to end on a perfect note with the drums. "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" - And where can you go from there? You're not gonna one-up "Mysterious Ways". You go bare bones basic with a beautiful, light piece of candy. This isn't quite "The Sweetest Thing" but would make a great pairing. They dip into some talk singing but only briefly enough for the worry to evaporate when the song proper comes back. "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" - Some wobbliness here, but they are doing an admirable job of staying on message. Maybe the most uninspired chorus on the album so far, but nothing too offensive going on here. Listenable enough but nothing special. "Acrobat" - The circular guitar line is the star here. This might be the darkest, most emo the band gets on the album. It's ok, but not very memorable. "Love Is Blindness" - Solemn organ to get s started and right into some more world beat influences. If the last song was emo U2, then we get gothier here. Shades of the Cure, if maybe Robert Smith was more of a crooner. The guitar screeches here while they accomplish the goal of a dark mood, feel like some kind of alien was told about the blues secondhand, and tried its best to recreate it here. And what we end up with is a very Johnny Greenwood-ish sound. Kind of a dark spot to leave on. on an album of experimentation, this might be the most experimental. HIGHLIGHTS - "Zoo Station" - "Even Better Than the Real Thing" - "One" - "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" - "So Cruel" - "Mysterious Ways" - "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" MIDLIGHTS - "Until the End of the World" - "The Fly" - "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" - "Acrobat" - "Love Is Blindness" LOWLIGHTS - Not much to criticize FINAL THOUGHTS U2 will always remain one of the monster acts of the 80s. At the time no one else sounded like this ( at least that's what I thought until I did a deep dive into the post-punk era much later in life), and they were the only act I can think of that equally straddled the alternative rock and mainstream arena world, though I think they suffered quite a bit of blowback from both over time. R.E.M. is the other big one I can think of and they weathered that storm with much more aplomb I think, coming out the other side with their indie cred still mostly intact. I try to avoid going much into personality of the artists on these things, but in some cases it can't be ignored, especially when the image or reputation is so tied into the music. Bono has been dragged pretty constantly for well on 40 years at this point, and that parody of him has almost become accepted fact. The band has proven that they have a sense of humor about themselves a few times I think, but that self-serious attitude informs so much of the music. At least they were trying something different here though. The stuff in between this and Joshua Tree - the Rattle and Hum period where they did the documentary, and started performing with Van Morrison and Bob Dylan, got really into American roots stuff, became way more political, etc... is probably the worse that ever got, and a shorter time period than I think people remember it to be. Achtung Baby seemed like an adjustment and reaction to that backlash and I think as an experiment it works over all. This album seems way more music focused and is filled with a lot of solid deep cut material. If at the time it seemed like a weird, possibly desperate outlier, now it seems like it was just more forward looking. Incorporation of dance and electronic textures into rock I think validates this as more than a grab for relevance and makes the band look like prophets of the next 20 years. Aside form being highly influential in its sound, I think it probably made a lot of bands less afraid to try similar stuff. Without this do we get prime Radiohead, for example? A more than solid outing, and while tempting to give it a higher rating being as influential as it was, I think ultimately it's missing just a little something in order get those numbers. There's U2 albums I like a lot more, and there's certainly ones I like less. This is up in the top quarter for sure though. The highs are high as hell, and there are no lows to speak of, but there's a tad too much sag around the waist. Overall, it held up WAY better than I expected. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Drop everything other than those highlights and we have ourselves another 5 star EP!