1001 Albums Summary

Thank God my first album here was given to me on a wednesday so I had all weekend to re-listen and digest it. I'm out of my depth and it's an extremely dense album, I can't analyse everything, it's not only a mix of rap and R'n'B it carries a lot of different styles and every song is different. The best compliment I can give it is that it feels like Songs In The Key Of Life but made by a rapper 20 years later. Needless to say I'll be coming back.

I didn't know what to expect except for what Damon Albarn sounds like (and "WOOO-HOOO"), turns out ... Pretty good. I feel like it's a good snapshot of where alternative rock was at in 1997, with a lot of influences digested and doors being opened for later bands (for example, I now realise Muse owes a lot to them). Theres a lot of old-school influences coming back to haunt the genre like The Beatles (Look Inside America, the aptly names Beetlebum), Bowie (Strange News From Another Star that sounds like Nirvana slowly morphing into Bowie), there's some slightly-doorsian slightly-something else I can't put my finger on mellotron on the ethereal Theme From Retro, there's oversaturated folk on You're So Great (damn right I am), some bluesy country on Country Sad Ballad Man (sidenote : some of these titles are really not subtle, Song 2 is indeed the second song good job), and a bunch of stuff I didn't get (like I'm not sure what M.O.R. reminds me of, I do know that I like that one). And then there's the more contemporary sounds and influence with stuff that sound like grunge (Song 2 is famously a sort of parody of the genre that ended up just being another grungy hit, I think the noisy saturated solos of songs like Look Inside America or You're So Great also sound very grunge-adjascent), there's lots of stuff in there that reminds me of Nirvana, Radiohead (The Bends mostly) and even Oasis (funny since I think they had a beef, but both bands have huge Beatles inspirations so it makes sense), all while still having fortunately their own solid identity. What I like most about this album though is something these tree other bands and tons of others (Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, AIC, also The Pixies that I forgot in the likely inspirations ...) also did to a degree or another and that is quite emblematic of the general vibe of 90's alt rock : there's a huge contrast between melodies, vocal, slow and clean-ish sections that are very moody, with a sort of old-school pop-rock restraint that would make these melodies sound quiet and even boring in isolation, but then it's contrasted with huge overwhelming guitar parts with big open chords drowned in effects, some noisy shit, some crude solos, a production that sounds unpolished (it is polished, but the feeling is what matters), and unpredictable rollercoasters of hyperquiet and hyperenergetic that makes both part elevate the other instead of contradicting it. In Blur's case it creates this kind of dreamy ethereal mood that I like (that is very appropriate considering the name of the band and album, and the cover), with the contrast of Albarn's moody vocals and the big overdrowned riffs especially making it sound like their music is ever-so-slightly disconnected from our reality, in a haze of sorts. It also makes me thinks a bit of shoegaze (which I know very little about), a genre that probably influenced and was later influenced by Blur, at least I'm gonna go with that until further investigation. So yeah I like Blur now. And I just realised I'm probably gonna like Oasis later when I actually listen to them. It's too late, the bougie british alt-rock I used to hate on principle (except Radiohead for some reason) now has a hold on me, pray for my soul.

I have no energy to write a big review, so let's keep it simple : given the reputation of Nick Cave as a very pretentious man, I expected something way more quiet and obtuse with a put-on intellectual attitude ... In short, some poser shit. Pretty happy to see that I was completely wrong and, in retrospect, an uninformed judgemental idiot. It starts with a bang (Get Ready For Love) that sounds like 70's synthy hard-rock, elevated by a gospel choir that is great and is present all the way through the album. On two discs every song sounds different but keeps a mix between high (old-school) rock energy (resonating drums, typically rock'n'roll piano, mellotron, the aforementioned gospel choir ...) and elements of blues (duh), country, folk, lots of things. The quieter and more bombastic moments shine in harmony with each other, in fact there's a sort of ever present tension within the album (Hide It All Away is a good example) when even when it's quiet and restrained it feels like it's about to explode, always crescendoing. It's simultaneously very dense and rich with great arrangements and tons of different elements, and yet instantly catchy and electric, which is what I want in rock and music as a whole. Not much else to say ... Oh yeah, I love There She Goes My Beautiful World, perfect. Thank you mister Cave, I'll be coming back for you. I know where you live now, you can't hide from me.