Right at the start of my musical journey, a true masterpiece. Nina Simone was always an artist I should have known more about. This is powerful music with a political messagecand sadly, not much has changed: It's black, feminist, poetic, sublime. Particularly fascinating: ‘Lilac Wine’, 'Four Women', ‘Wild is the Wind’ and ‘Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair’.
Zeitgeist. It was the era when science fiction was booming. The era when astronauts were working in multinational space stations. The future was just around the corner. I’ve known this album ever since it came out. In German. The English-language version still sounds strange, a bit off. Perhaps also because the strong accent makes it clear that the lyrics were never intended to be in English. But that doesn’t matter. Because with Kraftwerk, it’s the atmosphere, the concept, the idea – and the music, of course – that counts. The album is a masterpiece. Their most commercially successful one. And perhaps not even their very best. But great. Still visionary, almost 50 years after its release. And the future is still around the corner. For better of for worse.
‘Songhoy Blues’ – the band name made me fear the worst. Because anyone who knows me knows how little I can be bothered with 95% of the blues and blues-rock noodling out there. But fortunately, the album has very little to do with classic blues or blues-rock; instead, it is an excellent example of African ‘Desert Blues’ (according to Wikipedia), which is musically much more complex. Although, of course, you can’t understand a single word – the lyrics are apparently in Songhay, the language of northern Mali – the music is rhythmically structured and universally accessible. A good example of an album I probably would never have heard if it weren’t for the “1001 albums you must hear before you die” website.
The album offers pure electric blues performed by a superb band. And yet, at the same time, it contains everything I detest about blues: clichéd lyrics, predictable solos, rigid structures. The “Oohs” and “Yeahs” from the audience complete the stereotype. Yes, the album is certainly a role model for many blues (rock) musicians of later years. But I simply can’t relate to this 12-bar blues structure and the “my baby, she left me” lyrics at all. Because I’ve heard it all a thousand times before and it always comes across the same. If you're a Blues fan, this album is a full ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, but for me, as a Blues skeptic it's barely a ⭐⭐ because I have to give some credit for musical excellence.
Whenever I listen to Beck – which is rare, I confess – I find myself thinking that I ought to listen to more of his music. Or that it just doesn’t move me. This album is certainly one of his best. Beautifully sad, a love child of the Velvet Underground’s debut and early Radiohead, slightly drunk, introvert and definitely depressive. And yes, I understand why he was (or is?) such an important figure during the decline of rock music, and I do like what I hear. But even this album doesn’t quite resonate with me. Maybe I'm getting too old for this kind of music. Or I just have enough of this music in my collection. Still, I’ll put it on my to-listen-again list.
Oh, I remember it well when this album came out. It made a huge impact. Tracy Chapman became world-famous overnight thanks to the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert. The debut struck a chord with the spirit of the times: racism, social injustice, misogyny, the lack of prospects for the working class – all these were issues that played a major role in the politically charged 1980s. Add to that Tracy Chapman’s clever songwriting, her expressive voice and the – from today’s perspective – timeless production, which make the album a true singer-songwriter classic. Chapman was never able to replicate the commercial success of her debut, nor perhaps the extremely high artistic standard of this album. But she doesn’t need to, as this album already establishes her as one of the most significant female songwriters of the 1980s. It is shocking how relevant the lyrics still are. It’s as if 40 years haven’t passed…
This is certainly a Britpop classic, released at the height of the Britpop wave and the hype surrounding the ‘feud’ between Blur and Oasis. And yes, the album has a few catchy hits (‘Girls & Boys’, ‘Parklife’), but in the long run it’s too cocky, too superficial for my taste. I prefer Blur’s later albums, as they sound a bit more mature; I can’t really get into this one over the course of a whole album (and even less so with Oasis). Perhaps because I’ve never really warmed to the Britpop wave. Good, probably very good, but just average for me.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the English underground music scene was highly politicised within the burgeoning indie scene. Suddenly, there was music from working-class neighbourhoods for working-class people, with a trendy sound. Ska was danceable and lyrically driven (far more so than disco) and reflected the reality of life for young people in the urban jungle. The Police borrowed this ‘white reggae’ (Regatta de Blanc) from bands like The Specials, whilst Madness were set to make this new ska sound even more popular.
When the album came out, I was too young to understand its significance. Back then, I saw The Specials as a slightly less fun version of Madness, though it was actually the other way round: The Specials were Madness’s bigger, more sensible older brother, musically more versatile and lyrically far more astute.
That was truly the most dreadful album I’ve had to listen to so far in this challenge. Marilyn Manson embodies everything I detest about 90s rock music: posing, senseless extreme volume, deliberate provocation and calculated shock tactics, all for the sake of causing a scandal. Musically, there’s nothing special behind all the screaming and those late-adolescent porn lyrics: Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne and Alice Cooper did the shocking stuff better back in the 1970s, and Gary Numan’s ‘alien image’ was far more convincing and less ridiculous. Music for 90s kids who wanted to shock their parents. Nowadays, nobody talks about Manson anymore. And for good reason.
I keep this short. Otis is Soul music. Perfect phrasing, an expressive voice, pure feeling, not a single note out of place, plus a tight band, and every song is sung as if it came straight from the bottom of his soul. Otis even manages to breathe real soul into the Stones' rubbish ‘Satisfaction’. Soulful perfection.
Unlike what most music fans probably think, I find *Led Zeppelin II* to be the band’s most boring and weakest album. Too much blues, too much posing, too many swaggering guitar solos and “every inch of my love”. Yes, I know, that’s what many people love about rock ’n’ roll, but it’s also exactly what bores me out of my mind. Fortunately, the band has made far better albums. Highlights: Ramble on, Thank you.
They say it’s one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. OK, now it’s official. I just can’t get into hip-hop. A barrage of words over the same old beats, over a words, over beats, over words, over beats. I suppose it’s all very meaningful. But musically, it bores me to death. Not my cup of tea. Definitely not my cup of tea.
I’ve known this album for as long as I can remember. My older brother bought it shortly after it was released. Later, it became one of my first CDs, and I’ve followed its release history with interest, including various expansions, remasters and remixes. What concerts!
The ‘core album’ remains the classic, especially in this familiar mix (though the Steven Wilson remix is at least its equal, just not nearly as familiar). The album is regarded as one of the best live albums in rock history. When you listen to it, it immediately becomes clear why: the band is at the peak of its musical prowess, Blackmore and Lord use their rivalry to create incredibly virtuosic solo duels, Ian Gillan achieves things and produces sounds with his voice that hardly any other rock singer could imitate, whilst Glover and Paice provide a confident and powerful rhythmic foundation. The recording quality from Japanese venues in the 1970s was vastly superior to that of European or American stages, and the audience fires up the band with a mixture of Japanese reserve and frenetic ecstasy. The result is pure energy. Hard rock with progressive influences at the very highest level. An eternal classic and perhaps truly the objectively best live album of all time.
Michael Jackson at the height of his career. This album laid the foundations for the sound that would reach its commercial peak on *Thriller*. Yet unlike *Thriller*, *Off The Wall* is still deeply rooted in the sound of the 1970s. It marked the first time MJ had collaborated with Quincy Jones. The duo would go on to shape the sound of the 1980s and spin the hit machine ever faster. With a disastrous end. But the lightness of this quasi-debut by the new, grown-up Jacko would remain unrivalled.
If I ever needed a reminder of why I can’t stand country music, here’s the perfect example of everything I find annoying about it. Cheesy music, saccharine lyrics (I love my baby, I miss my baby, my baby has left me), sluggish tempos, sentimentality instead of poetry – or at least virtuosity.
"Psychocandy is the debut album by the Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain. It combines catchy (SIC!!) pop melodies with overdriven electric guitars and feedback-filled cacophony. The album is regarded as pioneering for the shoegaze genre." So says Wikipedia. I see. I do indeed hear a lot of feedback, along with bored (and boring) vocals and, overall, a band that would love to sound like the Velvet Underground. Except they were around 20 years earlier and had two brilliant songwriters. Music like on this album is the reason why I’m sceptical about ‘indie rock’. Boring noise for a boring generation (mine). Terrible. And I well aware that this is considered a true post rock classic.
Like most people, I only discovered Nick Drake long after his death. Through a TV advert. (Now that's a bit embarrassing.) After hearing him for the first time, I quickly got hold of Drake’s slim catalogue (back then there were only three albums; today there are a few more rarities compilations). Even more so than my idol Tim Buckley, Nick Drake was completely unknown during his lifetime. Perhaps his quiet, introverted music didn’t fit in with the turbulent times of the late 1960s and early 1970s? I don’t know. From today’s perspective, his music is breathtakingly beautiful, his lyrics are magical poetry: Timeless perfection.
Add to that his clean guitar playing and his melancholic voice. “Five Leaves Left” was his debut and remains perhaps his purest album; the second (“Bryter Layter”) was perhaps a little overloaded in terms of production; the third (“Pink Moon”) remained somehow a bit fragmentary. All three rank among the best singer-songwriter albums of all time. Nick Drake was the John Dowland of the 20th century.
This is probably the ultimate folk-rock album. Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young)’s debut was already a massive success, but “Déjà Vu” surpasses it once again, at least in terms of sales and impact. With the addition of Neil Young and his rock-oriented guitar, the album became significantly more folkROCK than its predecessor, though the quartet managed to strike a balance between ballads, folk songs, protest songs and rock songs. The characteristic harmonies of the core trio (supplemented here and there by Neil Young’s falsetto) dominate the sound. A true classic of the genre and of rock history in general.
The first two Deep Purple albums featuring the Mark I line-up were far from bad. With their blend of psychedelic, progressive, and hard rock, they showcased the virtuosity of Blackmore and Lord, offering a highly distinctive sound right from the start.
The classic Mark II line-up — Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice — made its debut with "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" and once again expanded the band's sound, partly thanks to the charismatic Ian Gillan on vocals and partly because the band were now confident enough to leave the boundaries of the genre behind.
It is perhaps therefore not so surprising that the Mark II line-up's debut studio album, "Deep Purple in Rock", virtually defined and revolutionised the hard rock genre. From then on, this album (and the subsequent Mark II albums) became synonymous with hard rock.
At the same time, with their solo escapades, Blackmore and Lord took their musical rivalry to absurd heights, adding influences from classical music and progressive rock to ‘pure’ hard rock with their virtuosity. The result remains stunning: "Deep Purple in Rock" is a (pun intended) rock music classic set in rocks err stone.
Is this XTC’s secret best album? Their (almost) swan song, their ending on a high note? Yes, I know, there’s the masterpiece *Skylarking*, there are the fan favourites *English Settlement* and *Nonsuch*, but perhaps XTC were never closer to the Beatles – the brilliant, visionary, revolutionary Beatles – than on this album. *Apple Venus Volume 1* is an incredibly good album, fantastically produced and arranged.
I hadn’t heard the album before, and perhaps I was expecting something different. Something a bit louder. Noisier. No, the album isn’t loud. It’s more like quiet, minimalist indie pop. The call it dream pop. But the album is a bit monotonous. No, very monotonous. Individual tracks hardly stand out, and not much sticks in the mind. It’s not a bad album, but it just doesn’t work for me. If I want to listen to that sort of music, I’ll listen to the quiet songs by Velvet Underground. Perhaps I’m simply too old for dream pop.
What a load of rubbish: I had to stop the album mid-play, for the first time in the challenge. Wrong notes, out-of-tune chords, inconsistent timing on top of the already poor drumming: someone’s deliberately trying to sound wrong and ugly here, perhaps in some sort of belated punk attitude. A sound straight out of the rehearsal room, completely amateurish, but lacking in charm and originality. I’m too old for this kind of rubbish.
I’ve never really got into Abdullah Ibrahim’s jazz. I’m afraid “Water from an Ancient Well” isn’t going to change that. It’s all very well played, but overall Ibrahim’s playing (or that of his band) strikes me as too polished, too well-behaved, too clean. The solos, confined to strict blues patterns, are predictable. I’m missing that final spark. The last four tracks from “Tuang Guru” to "Sameeda" stand out a little. But, as I said, overall it’s too well-behaved for my taste. Not bad, but not my kind of jazz.
It is difficult to separate Leonard Cohen’s album "You Want It Darker" from his death, for the artist passed away almost as soon as it was released – an analogy to David Bowie’s "Blackstar". As with “Blackstar”, the album is a final, significant statement by a great artist at the end of his career (I shall ignore the posthumously released Cohen album “Thanks for the Dance” for now, as it was only completed after Cohen’s death). The album powerfully explores the themes of death, closure, turning to God, (final) love, and looking back. It contains some of Cohen’s finest songs from the last 40 years: the title track (featuring the wonderful Jewish chants of a cantor and choir), “Treaty” and “Travelling Light”. Cohen’s voice sounds like a soft hum, the music is often sparse, and the compositions frequently follow a plain blues pattern. Musically, as is so often the case with Cohen, it remains relatively simple. The album impresses with its lyrics and Cohen’s haunting delivery. A worthy last statement.
Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t really like CCR’s music. Too much blues, too much country, too much America, too much Dixieland romanticism for my taste. And yet I love Fogerty’s music. The sound seems to be deeply rooted in the South (even though Fogerty is from California); the music is heavy, mystical, sweaty, yet at the same time drawn straight from life. With their second album, ‘Bayou Country’, the band found their signature sound: ‘Born on the Bayou’ and ‘Proud Mary’ are the blueprint for future greatness. This is the good stuff.
Coolness factor: 100
With all the coolness associated with Isaac Hayes — the voice behind the Blaxploitation classic Shaft — it’s easy to forget that he was also a musical innovator. At a time when progressive rock bands in Britain were primarily embracing the long song format, he released Hot Buttered Soul, an album featuring only four tracks, two of which are well over 10 minutes long (the opener 'Walk on by' and the closer 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix'), one just under that length ('Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic', 9:10 minutes) and one at 'just' 5:10 minutes ('One Woman'). It should have been commercial suicide, even in the world of soul music. Instead of flopping, however, Hayes's first masterpiece expanded the genre and opened up new avenues for it in the coming decade. Ironically, it was this unusual album that made him a star of black music, and skilfully edited singles then ensured commercial success in the charts. A milestone from a giant of soul music.
To be perfectly honest, I find the album — and the band's entire sound — awful. 'Four chords that made a million' (if there are even four). There's not much more boring than American indie rock with a punk attitude — maybe British indie rock is a little worse, but only maybe. I thought Hüsker Dü were awful back then, even when all my friends were raving about them. And if it didn’t appeal to the ‘rebel’ in me back then, it certainly won’t now. Of course, I know that behind the band’s raucous sound there are two clever minds, and that the band had a lot to say through their lyrics, but for me, unfortunately, it's not much more than 70 minutes wasted. I just can't get the message.
I’ve never listened to a Hole album before. I probably heard the occasional song on MTV back when “Live Through This” was released, but it wasn’t music that interested me. I have no recollection of the music. Back then, in 1994, the album was the talk of the town and the subject of wild speculation. Kurt Cobain had taken his life a week before the release date, and suddenly an album by his widow appeared. I don’t wish to engage in speculation about Cobain’s alleged ghostwriting – a certain stylistic similarity is certainly unmistakable. But didn’t half the bands back then sound a bit like Nirvana? From today’s perspective, over 30 years after its release, the album certainly isn’t worth the hype, but it’s better than I feared. Admittedly, if we’re honest, Patti Smith had already been doing this sort of music much better 20 years earlier. A certain ‘polished edginess’ means the album doesn’t really strike me as authentic. But perhaps these are just Yoko Ono-style prejudices that I can’t shake off.
I really ought to like Joan Armatrading: she’s a talented songwriter and her blend of folk-rock, blues, a touch of jazz and pop is something I certainly appreciate. But for some reason, her albums just don’t do it for me. Her third, self-titled album from 1976 doesn’t change that either. That might be down to the overly tame production, which seems terribly dated today. It might be down to Armatrading’s vocals, which, whilst not unemotional, are always a bit restrained. I find her music plain and simple – boring. There are other singer-songwriters who really grab me more.
At first, I thought, "Ugh, just another one of those alternative rock albums that everyone loves, but all I hear is annoying noise." But Sonic Youth is different. Yes, this isn't highbrow poetry, but noise rock and art punk. And that’s precisely why it works, contrary to expectations: it's organized noise. It's not just distorted guitars and bleating; it's played artfully with constant compositional twists. It's progressive rock in noise guise. Furthermore, the sound quality of the album is excellent. When is this from? 1986? Was it released on an indie label? Wow. It sounds absolutely audiophile-grade and timeless. Organized noise. What a discovery! I need to explore Sonic Youth more.
It is impossible to talk about Nirvana’s Unplugged album without mentioning Kurt Cobain’s death. The album was recorded at Sony Music Studios in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, on 18 November 1993. Less than six months later, on 8 April 1994, Cobain’s body was found. He had presumably shot himself in the head three days earlier. Six months after that, in November 1994, the album was finally released, although excerpts from the concert had already been broadcast on MTV's heavy rotation, including 'All Apologies' and the David Bowie cover 'The Man Who Sold the World'. Six of the 14 tracks are cover versions, whereas only one of their own hits, 'Come as You Are', was included in the setlist. Cobain and his band clearly did not want to follow the series' usual format, eschewing a 'best of' live set of acoustic versions in favour of obscure tracks from their catalogue and songs that had influenced them. The album also symbolises the turning point that came with Cobain’s death: grunge was dead, and its unwitting messiah had taken his own life. The movement that had sought to change so much in music and art imploded. The remnants were commercialised, and the focus soon shifted to entirely different genres.
Of course, you can hear the band’s musical limitations. The guitars are far from cleanly played (and are perhaps even a little out of tune), and Cobain’s vocals aren’t always in tune. But that was virtually part and parcel of Nirvana’s musical identity. It wasn't about perfection, but about immediacy, spontaneity and authenticity. Never before or since has anyone sounded so raw, unpolished and unrefined on an MTV Unplugged performance.
I would have loved to hear more from Cobain, one of the most talented songwriters of his generation. It would have been great to see him break away from grunge and develop musically. As it stands, 'MTV Unplugged in New York' is the only album on which he was able to present himself in a different context.
Phew! This album is boring. It might not be even truly bad, but it's really really dull. It's exactly the kind of monotonous rap with R&B samples from Ableton's default presets that you've heard in countless other productions. I really have no idea what’s so special about it, or why it made the 1001 Albums list. Surely there must be plenty of other rap and R&B recordings out there that sound less streamlined and generic?
