1001 Albums Summary

british hip hop is polarizing because it's hard not to think about that meme the whole time, you know the one: "she suck on my willy, it's quite delightful/if i see you in west gloucestershire you'll catch the rifle" having said that, i do enjoy a good bit of grime, and frankly, british accents and regionalisms are no more foreign to me as a southerner (american, not english) than references to something called "fatburger" in west coast rap. this is the only album by the streets that i'm super familiar with. honestly, i dig it. mike skinner raps about what he knows: being working class, broke, heartbroken, horny, hopeless. at times it feels more like spoken word poetry than rap. there's no fronting here. this is reality rap just as much as mobb deep is, it's just reality of a different flavor, and no less harsh an aftertaste. oh, and it's a concept album, with writing inspired by skinner's love of hollywood screenwriting. pretty ambitious stuff. think of it as a soundtrack to getting wasted and wasting away on a slow drip, addicted to whatever is in front of you: gambling, drugs, dead end relationships, toxic people, your own toxicity, in a world that the sex pistols foretold. no future, for you. the beats are simple but fitting to the material. the hooks, too, tend to work their way into your subconscious without much effort or flashiness. the focus, in the moment, remains on skinner's protagonist, whose behavior reminds one uncomfortably of howie from uncut gems. would sleaford mods exist without this album? i hear what could be the origins of viagra boys here, too. before "male loneliness epidemic" became part of our vocabulary, skinner spoke to the alienation of young men under neoliberalism, capitalist realism, whatever you want to call it. i haven't listened to this album in years, but it remains a landmark in the post britpop sonic landscape, and i highly recommend it.

i'm an r.e.m. superfan so keep that in mind. there is a strong argument that this is their best album, meaning there is a case to be made that this is a top 10 alternative rock album of the 80s. what can you say about "finest worksong" except that it is one of the best side A track 1's ever, full stop. the next three songs are all timers as well. r.e.m. is quietly one of the best cover bands ever (just for one example, check their take on "first we take manhattan" by leonard cohen) and their cover of wire's "strange" rocks so hard. not gonna talk about tracks 6 and 7, you know them, you love them, nothing more to say but LEO-NARD BERN-STEIN side 2 overall is overlooked but extremely strong. overall i would say this album is the sound of an underground band becoming a hit band without sacrificing their sound or their identity. listen to lifes rich pageant and then listen to this. clearly the same band, bht they are stepping forward in a big way, not necessarily qualitatively (i think LRP has a great case as r.e.m.'s best album too) but in terms of what kinds of songs they were capable of. "finest worksong" is an anthem the likes of which no one would have predicted from their 4 previous records. stipe sings not like an embarrassed poet but like a revolutionary here. this is the first album scott litt produced with r.e.m. and his approach and his touch are apparent throughout. he very cannily turned them into the southern U2 (that's a compliment, i promise), a band that would soon take over the world.

no need for a long review here. speaks for itself. i learned how to play guitar by playing along to this album, totally formative for me.

people forget every album used to be like this. mostly covers or songs people wrote for you specifically. mama cass obviously is the biggest talent here, you could have plugged her into just about any band of the area and she would have fit in. john phillips is one of the most evil pop stars who ever lived and that's saying a helluva lot but he wrote great songs so we throw our hands up i guess.

c'mon man

late era muddy is so cool. solid album with more variety than you might think in a batch of blues. johnny winter's guitar work here really stands out.

probably the best beatles solo album, i'm not always here for the spector wall of sound but if i were to take points for that it'd still round up to 5 if i'm being honest

pretty wild how ginger baker made an effort to play in africa more because he had no idea how to get heroin there. anyway despite being only the second best drummer fela played with, baker shreds here. and fela is fela. this isn't the africa 70's peak imo but it's a very strong date overall

never heard before, need to relisten for better idea of it. i like indian music but i'm still a neophyte. parts of this were so good i was blown away and other parts had me scratching my head but it might grow on me!

yes, fuck paul simon for performing in apartheid south africa, and for being a bit of a culture vulture. however...this album is full of bangers

we need to make sex legal again

no one does falsetto like curtis mayfield. chattanooga's own lucky scott on bass really shines throughout. tbh the film super fly is a blaxploitation classic but i think this soundtrack holds up better than the film itself. it's arguable imo whether or not this is mayfield's best solo work but it's certainly what he's most remembered for, and it's not hard to hear why

not sure if i like this one more than control or her next two albums, those are all perfect records so it's almost a toss up.

i wore this cd out as a kid. tbh the sound quality is kinda shitty overall, as with a lot of albums from this era (especially ones with rick rubin's signature on them). kiedis remains the weak link, his lyrics remain pretty juvenile for the most part and he can't help but reference california all the time, but his voice sounds better than before. frusciante's guitar work here is extremely simple, probably because he had to essentially relearn the instrument after taking a few years off to do heroin. honestly though the songs feel like they're built around his reduced capacities so it works. flea and chad smith do what you expect them to do. overall one of their best albums.

if you don't rate this 5 stars prince will rise from the grave to spit on your shoes

probably their high point (i fell off after the resistance tbh)

i'm glad janis died before this website was created

this neil young fella, he's going places