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"