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.