1001 Albums Summary

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 1.85 (B-) Absolutely a Wedding Jams Classic, but not really my goto. A couple standouts, a very smooth easy listen, but nothing that really jazzes me up (which is funny for the bits of jazz in here). Not one I am likely to go back to for a full listen ever, that B side is rough. Track Thoughts: "And It Stoned Me" Well composed mellow jam B Jarring initial reaction to the lofi mic leading this in, its a strange vocal presentation in comparison to the clean instrumentation, but the grove is slow and bringing in some brass horns always help give it a grove. Feels a bit like a lost credence jam. "Moondance" A fantabulous smooth grove A- I like the vocals better here, hope this style keeps up. Enjoying these smooth groves. I feel like this what every Generic Lounge Jazz I've heard has been aping, so its kinda weird to see a proto-example of it. I need a vocal sample of that weird trill he does with his voice at the very end of the song! "Crazy Love" Generic Soft Rock Song C Every vocal performance is just going to be vastly different I guess! You aint been soft rocked until youve been soft rocked by me? First sorta miss for me. Dont know if I needed 2 love songs back to back. I guess the last one was Wanting More and this is celebrating Getting Lots. I'm starting to suspect that this album is a Wedding Jams Staple. "Caravan" Solid grove but still generic, and with too much vocal wail C- We keep up the strange vocal delivery choices of being a bit more by adding in an edge... a fry to the voice and some wailing tendencies. I think this is another miss for me. Really solid groves and riffs still, but idk, it feels a bit generic? (Again, this is unfair considering its probably what has influenced all the things I am actually familiar with) The ending descending riff with the layered La La Las feel like finding the roseta stone for 2010s folkpop. "Into the Mystic" Belter, Evocative Theming compliments Instrumentation A+ "'Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic" is what should tip you off this guy is Irish. Love me a good nautical pining song. Also its just an excellent turn of phrase. The guitar has drive to this, the horns evoke ships horns, this is like, the perfectly constructed song on the album. This is a belter. Wish it didn't have a slur in it... "Come Running" Too Repetitive D Trash B side opener. Woah huge miss. Way too repetitive. This is where I first felt like... stepping off of the album. I took a quick break. "These Dreams of You" Way to hard of a sell lyrically C+ Nothing hits quite like describing a dream you had someone else... idk why this is a genre of song. Not sure I was expecting it to be a simple blues structure. Is this the first instance of organ on the album, its the one I am picking out more prominently I guess. Playful Sax Solo, but a bit too Out There for what is otherwise a very by the numbers vibe. I am completely lost at trying to comprehend the lyrics right at the end. "Brand New Day" Too slow, too long D Way too slow of a slow jam for my taste. Wow I had nothing to latch on to for this one "Everyone" Super strange instrumentation (positive) B- Oh we go fun wacky instrumentation on this one! I think this is the bright shining point of the B-side! The Lyrics leave a bit to be desired. Maybe its just the flute, but I am getting Jethro Tull vibes. "Glad Tidings" I'd rather listen to Brown Eyed Girl C+ OH SHIT I DO KNOW VAN MORRISON! Because I was like "this sounds like that one song that goes "sha-la-la" at the end... oh heck what is it called... some kind of Eyed Girl? and like wow is this ever just a re-do of that! Cuz he wrote Brown Eyed Girls! Like it even has the same riffs! WTF! You can just re-do your hit song like that?!? Too bad, upon a re-listen of Brown Eyed Girl there is a reason it is the standout, and this here is very much an afterthought.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 0.38 (D+) Ballad Slop from an incomprehensible lead singer who needs to take the marbles out of their mouth. A Real rough A side, with the only standout being the lead for the B side does not make a solid full album listen through. Today I learned I hate Bruce Springsteen. Track Thoughts: "Badlands" D Woah this is a miss of a ballad? Really hate the vocal delivery. Can't really understand anything "Adam Raised a Cain" B- Lets get a heavy guitar trill to kick us off heck yeah. I think the particular marble mouth vocals are going to really drag this whole album down. But it sure does drive! Generic seedy divebar track. "Something in the Night" D- Was not expecting something so twinkling? Woof really hate the intro groan vocal. This is just a solid minute of tone. I am afraid this is all going to be ballad slop. Yeah sorry the build to the complete nothing drums is not doing it for me. Really dont care for this. "Candy's Room" C+ This is mumble-core. I want to listen to The Protomen instead of this. At least its got a fast pace? Has a pretty kickass guitar solo. "Racing in the Street" F+ I am biased against "I wanna fuck my guitar" songs. I blame country song jokes mixed with not driving myself. Oh dear god this song is almost 7 minutes long. I just checked. Ugh. It's going to have to wow me in the back half to rank higher then F. At least it is the most legible lyrics so far, but its got some whine to it so that takes points off again! At least its not painful to listen to, just I never want to hear it again! "The Promised Land" B+ I think I have been bludgeoned into enjoying this more then anything previous. Somehow I am deciphering lyrics. This feels closest to proto-protomen, I still want a little bit more grit to the music to enjoy, but its a pretty dang decent Ballad with a generic story I can emotionally attach to. aaaaand a Sax Solo that pushed it up a notch. This is how you start a B side. "Factory" D- I want to listen to any Celtic punk working song more than this. Please. Make the "soulful piano" stop. Not even an organ can save you. This is too slow. Its short at least. it should have been cut. "Streets of Fire" F- I thought maybe I was beginning to understand how this man talks. Turns out no, he just decided to stop pronouncing words again. Please go back to crooning, and stop this grit. I lied. I lied before. Bring back the smooth. Oh man this guitarsolo is lame. "Prove It All Night" F- This can not be over fast enough. This slurred singing with some grunt to it is poison to my ears. Its repetitive. No amount of organ can save this. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" F I actually like the restraint to name an album after the last song in most cases. This is not that case. Fuck this. Slow boom bap beat with the same crap slurred grunting singing. Cant stand this. Woof.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.68 (A-) Having never listened to a full REM album, I still knew in my guts I liked REM. And lo and behold, I like REM! Funky Folky Alt Rock band with a super weird nasally vocal delivery paired with wacky guitar tones and a dethatched sarcastic lyricism. I think its got just a few too "Skips" to be something I throw on regularly, but it also has some solid gold! I really would like to give it 3.5 stars for official rating, but I'll actually drop it to 3 Stars, even if I've rounded up in the past. I KNOW there are better 4 and 5 star albums out there. "Pop Song 89" A+ Love me a sarcastic detached "lets mock pop songs" pop song. Fool that you are for you participate in the tradition! Add in the wacky guitar tones and excellent hooks... yeah this is a kick ass way to start an album! The lyrics almost have a Talking Head quality to them "Should we talk about the weather/government" is hilarious "Get Up" C A bit too repetitive for my like on the main riff "You Are the Everything" B Accordion + Mandolin to start with???? YOU SHOULDNT HAVE REM! <3 See this "whiney folk punk" sound is why I think they're canadian XD, this is exactly the kind of crap CanCon we were pumping out at the time! I kinda wanted the beat to drop though... This is a very nice stripped back song, but I know this could go so much harder. REM ran so They Might Be Giants could do whatever the heck they did "Stand" A I mean its no Spam. "World Leader Pretend" B+ See this is how you do a slower song with some drive to it... I am still not sure its a standout though. Too bad the lyrics have aged so well and remain just as relevant today :/ "The Wrong Child" C Got lost in the folk sauce here boss. Like an intro to a YES song that never actually kicks off. "Orange Crush" A+ Do I have nostalgia for this song because of Rockband? You bet your sweet bippy? Did this song get picked from the great pantheon of rock songs to be on the first Rockband track list for a reason? Yes! Because its excellent! Groovy, biting, excellent vocal harmonies... Unless there is something else to wow me on the album, this is likely the standout, go figure. "Turn You Inside-Out" B This feels very heavy, the way the drums cut through like a bullet being fired every time, and we bring in the organ and the heavily distorted guitar... I think I like it? But I think its also not the sound I picture REM having. An outlier on the Album, but a good song in its own right? "Hairshirt" A See this is how you write lyrics! I love a good wtf lead in, and then the actual chord progression goes in to some whacky places! Organ+Mandolin is also a nice touch. This is the standout deepcut from the album I think? "I Remember California" C+ Oh heck we are buckling in for a 5 minute long repetitive song I am afraid. This album seems heavy on the "each song will have a distinct tone", and we have hit the drum grove tone... which isnt really my favorite. I still appreciate its darker feel and the picture its painting, but its only ever going to be a sometimes food, not really something I throw on for fun. "Untitled" C The REM patented call and response, this feels VERY bright. I keep waiting for the actual song to kick into gear for so many of these, but they seem content to right a single good hook and just repeat it ad nauseam. For some it works, for this one it didnt. Untitled, probably cuz it could have been cut.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.33 (B+) Canadian classic. The first real Rock Album we have, which tends to be more my wheel house. I happen to really enjoy prog rock, a bit of synth magic, and some funky time signatures. Is the only thing holding back this album is short runtime when you take out the stinker 11 minute song and my undue hatred of YYZ? This feels like a me problem, but its my ranking so meh. Track Thoughts: "Tom Sawyer" S When the first track is the Classic that has Broken Containment to become a bit of a meme... and its still this excellent? Yeah this is an all timer right here. Phil Collins eat your heart out at this drum fill. Geddy Lee's voice cuts through the swampy bass riff like lightning. Was this also part of Rockband? Concerning that I have only HEARD of one other song on this album, and I couldnt conjure it to mind (something tells me its in 7/4 though). "Red Barchetta" A Kind of giving Boston vibes? Which is good, I like me some swimmy chorus. See, now this isn't JUST a "I wanna fuck my Car" song. This is a story about generational male bonding! Its touching! It also does that Progrock thing of not really falling into chorus-verse structure but just kinda jamming new musical ideas in. Feels like a solid "racing song" too. Its JUST on the right side of "Long Song" to even slip into a playlist without like, overpowering it. Those tapped ghost notes on the harmonics right at the end... it makes me think of Spyro/Sonic music in places? "YYZ" D I KNEW THIS WAS THE 7/4 ABOMINATION! This song feels like a mean trick. Just a pure instrumental (which I usually like) just to be as "Technically Impressive" as possible. There are parts of this that feel like they'd be right at home with Japanese Jazz Fusion acts. Breaking bottles as percussion is A Choice. I am actually a YYZ hater, something about all its constitute parts that add up to LESS than it's whole. "Limelight" A+ Oh heck I really like the stutter step rhyme scheme of this! You know, its now only surrounded by the reverb soaked tones of Geddy that I realize that is what is missing from YYZ. I really just like Rush's lyricism AND vocal delivery! The back half of this song being about as close as I ever want Rush to get to a Slow Jam, this wailing guitar solo... I can't say I've ever heard this song before in my life but I REALLY dig it. This is that 'hidden' (well how hidden can it be on the album with Tom Sawyer but still it was hidden to me) gem I wouldn't have found without doing this project. "The Camera Eye" C+ Why does this intro feel like it should have "Brought to you by the government of Canada" overlaying its jazzy synth? I am strapping in for an 11 minute song. I am ready. Yes me up, daddy, I mean Geddy. Could have been a smoother transition at the 2 minute mark... Doing interesting things time signature wise does not make up for a bit too repetitive of the 2 main riffs in this next part, modulating back and forth between the two root notes. And then at 6 minutes we are into Corpo Product Demo Tape Backing Track for a bridge before going back to the same "Back and forth riff" from before. I think the lyrical picture it paints is too sparse between the repeated musical ideas... its not really a Long Groove Song for me. This one could be tightened up and improved. "Witch Hunt" C+ Oooh! A Creepy Tone! Sadly its like 2 minutes and going, and its too sparse. I was almost hoping it'd kick into a John Carpenter-like groove by now, and it does almost get there, but at half the run time... this is another skip, but at least its not an entire quarter of the runtime of the album! "Vital Signs" B+ Now this is how you kick off an album ender! its still sparser then I'd like initially... it might be the syncopated guitar riff but this is giving me Police vibes? "An ounce of perception an pound of obscure" is an all time lyric tho. This hits me in my "robot rock" soft spot.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 2.7 (B-) The first "Double Album" meaning I kind of want to get two separate ratings. Its not fair that there is some gold on here that I keep having to drag down because of my own personal hangups. But then again, its my freaking list and rankings. And you made me sit through what would otherwise be like 40 minutes of Mid to Mad, IN ADDITION to another full album of the Best Bops Of All Time, and some real new sounds I wouldnt have experienced. They just HAPPEN to be shuffled together. If you took the back half of the A Side, the B side, and the D side, you'd have a 5 star album. As is, with that STINKER of a C side and the worst album opening run so far? Woof. I feel bad for the rating I am going to give this. Track Thoughts: "Love's in Need of Love Today" D Christian Thrifstore Music, bleh. I am biased by lived experience, and that harshes my enjoyment of an otherwise groovy gospel jam riff. This is just not something I enjoy. "Have a Talk with God" F- See above but with my own personal baggage meaning I cant enjoy the absolutely bonkers scifi sounding alien instruments. Like, I can not stress enough I love everything about this song sonically. And then the lyrics absolutely give me the ick. I never want to listen to it again, which is a shame because I want to hear it in any other form. "Village Ghetto Land" C Hey looks like someone discovered the Mellotron! Except I actually am not sure, cuz the strings sound a bit too synthy in places. Either way, STILL not really a song I ever think I'll go back to, but at least this is a Weird Take On Classical Composition? Its a curiosity but not a compulsion. "Contusion" A+ The soundtrack to the best Released In Europe Only Dropping Shapes Puzzler you never got to play. This is such a refreshing, vibrant, inventive, energetic celebration of every great aspect of the last 3 songs I wished were in better songs! And that better song is here! Its this one! "Sir Duke" S+ I think I need to start marking songs that "Have Escaped Containment" in that I already was familiar with them, but now experiencing them in context I can evaluate them more holistically. The most recognizable horn riff ever? Debatable. The most head-bopping-est, strut-stepping-est, bouncy grove of all time? Without a doubt. It is physically impossible to not move along with this song. Which is crazy because it is PRETTY COMPLEX melodically, but it just fits RIGHT in the pocket with its beat. Its a celebration of its musical influences, of the GOATs at the time, and then instantly becomes a GOAT in its own right. Its one of the happiest songs in existence! This is S tier, plain and simple. (I also need to note, for posterity's sake that this structure pops up in the Title Screen song for Paper Mario and that has lots of gooey nostalgia for me) "I Wish" A Okay, so the album has actually kicked off. We are in feel good grove central. The walking bass, the playful keys, the guitar stings, the horn hits, it all just... drives so damn hard. I have harped in the past about things being repetitive, but this is how you have a simple pattern and then just keep it building and evolving so it never becomes boring. You get hypnotized, lulled into exactly where the song wants to take, and im happy to go along for the ride. "Knocks Me Off My Feet" B- Slow piano ballad. I cant say I am much for ballads, I think I am finding. Easy listening lounge music. Its excellent in its construction, but not really to my taste. I really feel like so much of this album, for how long it is, is just going to come down to personal taste sinking otherwise excellent songs. "Pastime Paradise" C+ Its no Amish Paradise. I actually find its sparser, lighter tone to be... awkward. I want this to go hard. "Summer Soft" B+ The Sims Build Mode Music. Oh wait here comes the beat! Here comes the Steely Dan! The lyrics are very poetic, I love the occasional play on words. The back half is repetitive, but keeps things fresh with key modulation. "Ordinary Pain" A- I do enjoy a good yearning love-sick song, as long as it can keep things upbeat. I think if this was sarcastic or did anything to subvert the expectations (that it itself probably cemented in the first place) I would be all for it. As is, its Prototypical, which it cant help, but it still doesnt have that "it" thing to stand out for my tastes, so far removed from its original context. IS WHAT I WOULD SAY UNTIL WE HIT THE HALFWAY POINT WHERE IT BECOMES A SEPARATE NEW SONG!?! We have the shift in perspective?! No wait, no this is excellent. This is genius. (but its repetitive, so still points off ugh I am so harsh? I have to be harsh, these are theoretically The Best Albums Of All Time, so I can be nitpicky) "Isn't She Lovely" D+ Do NOT start your song with the sound of a baby crying, one of the worst sounds known to man. I feel like this song has escaped containment? Is this a Wedding Jam? Is this a Movie Cliche? I do not give two shits about babies. I'm glad you love your kid, you absolutely should, thats like rule number one. I just dont need to hear about it. DO NOT BRING BACK THE BABY COOING RECORDINGS IN THE BACK HALF. Ugh this is murder on the ears with a fantastic harmonica solo that I love. "Joy Inside My Tears" D- This one did nothing for me. And its only half over. Turns out I dont like slow jams, we are finding out. Not enough expansion on the central premise. I think I hate being bored more than baby cries. "Black Man" C Another very long song. But its at least got a driving grove yet again! The lyrics are a bit Edutainment for my liking, but I can imagine this being historically significant. This feels... Anthemic... but I cant see myself just throwing on this 8 minute track "Just For Fun" you know? "I Am Singing" C What the actual heck is this keyboard-demo track? I really cant take this song seriously. I am sorry. This is another Me Thing again. "If It's Magic" B+ See an actual honest to goodness Harp Lullaby is hard to come by. And this is actually very beautiful! Is this something to throw on at any occasion? No. But its certainly has its time and place. And I do actually click with the lyrics message! "As" B+ Assume I strung the words Smooth, Drive, Groove, Funky, Bop, And Jam together coherently here. I am just enjoying this song simply as it is. "Another Star" B+ Katamari Music (I thought before looking at the actual title, lol and furthermore lmao)

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 2.2 (B-) Goodfellas Music. That is unkind, since its 40s and 50s hits filtered through the lens of British orchestral pop music. The album feels less like a cohesive whole and more like a Best Of compilation, highlighting powerful vocal performances over a unified listening experience. I really dont have much to say for most of these songs as I am so divorced from this STYLE of how music is made. You know what though, its a breezy 30 minute listen rather than an almost 2 hour slog double album. Track Thoughts: Mama Said C+ I like this more then Wishn' and Hopen' but its so archetypal its hard to find much to criticize OR appreciate. You Don't Own Me A+ I really like the structure of this song, its push and pull from minor to major. A true belter. This feels like a Bond song. Do Re Mi B+ I cant help but think of the "movie montages" that could be set to this song. "Forget about the Dough and think about Me" is a good line. When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes C- Not really jiving with this one. Couldn't even put my finger on why. This is really hard to evaluate descriptively. Its so very vibes based. It might just be, as I seem to sink so many this way, that the melody is repetitive, in that its just calls and responses. My Colouring Book A I am with a Colouring Book Fiend, so this was kind of humorous to see there was just like, a whole song about Colouring Book Song, which I didnt really think of as a Fad like 70 years ago. A song that is a guided meditation on love lost, but also a paint by numbers (or lyrics in this case), but also with evocative thought experiments like "what is the color of gone, lonely, or empty". Musically, it does nothing for me, conceptually and lyrically it does everything. Mockingbird D Talk about the call and response structure getting in the way of me enjoying a song! I think of this as a simple children's nursery rhyme song. Vocally very impressive. I just uh, dont really care to listen to it. This is the YYZ problem all over again XD. Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa C- I feel nothing about this song. This is such a weird song. I am at a loss for why I dont like it I just dont. Nothing D+ This feels structurally so very similar to the previous song, just you know the exact opposite message. It also keeps me at arms length from an emotional connection with it. Anyone Who Had a Heart B Sonically similar to You Dont Own Me, but it doesnt reach the same heights. But I like this pining, darker tone compared to the last 3 songs. Has a really nice sax solo. Will You Love Me Tomorrow C Filmscore montage background nothing music for me. And like, nothing about it bad? its just not a For Me song. I dont ever see me needing to turn this on to just lay back and listen to. Wishin' and Hopin' C- See above comment. Its at least strange in its super cut off verb delivery? I think it dies due to its repetitive natures ILL KEEP REPEATING IT. Don't You Know A This is at least just fun! This is a big showy number. I cant hate this. A great show stopper for an album ender.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.8 (A) Elton John for the less flamboyant. Its still Billy Joel to me (positive). There is ONE skip on the album, and then I just end it early on a high note? I think this is actually an album of back to back to back bangers... thats enough to round up a rating? Track Thoughts: "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" A+ Turns out Billy Joel has some riffs in him. Goddamn does this song just thrum along. I am ack-ack-actually not too into the stutter punctuation, but you know, its iconic! "The Stranger" A Thematically, I think I really like that the intro and outro sound like a completely different style of song. I also happen to like both styles, but I may find it tedious to just 'throw on' if im in the mood for one or the other. "Just the Way You Are" C+ A slow ballad I dont really care for, that rockin sax solo or two doesnt really salvage. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" A- I think I am going to argue this is prog rock? Its long, meandering, constantly evolving, absolutely rocking... I think its an excellent sometime food. "Vienna" A This falls in the extremely rare case where a Ballad works for me, and I think the trick is to be slightly biting. The lyrics are chiding. The music is more melancholy than sad, the accordion is wistful. Having the bass kind of punctuate a slow plod helps. "Only the Good Die Young" B- We have the "Escaped Containment" song for this album. I generally like organ on a song, but something about the bright guitar here... I dont know why I feel like ive listened to a different cover or recording of this, where it just 'goes harder'. Maybe familiarity has dulled it over the years, but I think there are already better songs on this album! "She's Always a Woman" B This is feeling... uh... Simon and Garfunkel to me? I actually haven't listened to much of them come to think of it. But it feels like like this song has escaped from a completely different album. I like this, its folksy, but it absolutely cuts the momentum of the album. "Get It Right the First Time" B+ Funky! I wasn't expecting funky... I dont know why, the bass on the songs have always been pretty grooving. We are back into upbeat, bright songs, and hey why not shove in some la-la-las. Its weird to think there might be a "Deep Cut" on a Billy Joel album but I feel like this is it? I am absolutely guilty of ending my own songs with a single note trill on a mandolin and I am so mad that I have found out I was doing an unintentional Billy Joel homage. "Everybody Has a Dream" C- He knew he had gold with that slower part of "The Stranger". Its such a great way to end this album. Shame there is a whole other song preceding it that does nothing for me. I think if it sounds like gospel music I just check out.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 1.1 (C-) I still cant believe that the best parts of the album were the cut content released 30 years later. I resent having to wade through so much country dreck. I guess I like Bluegrass and Folk Songs decently enough, but I feel like I am rating them higher by sheer contrast then I otherwise objectively would. Somehow, numerically, Bruce Springsteen's album is lower than this, and this whole album is bolstered by my relief of the C side. Track Thoughts: You Ain't Goin' Nowhere C+ I dont know why I have a visceral negative reaction to the exact tone of guitar here. I should like the vocal harmonies, I should like the laid back meandering tone... but its something about the plodding bass that starts to make my eyes roll back in my head. There is something Dylan-esque to the lyrical delivery. I Am a Pilgrim B+ See now, you know what, lean into bluegrass, some folk-country... and I am all the more willing to enjoy it? Early exposure to, of all things, some fiddler's cassette when I was young, and then falling ever further down the rabbit hole due to celtic punk proclivities, along with reinforcement from the Coen Brothers preoccupation with the genre. I sleep on gospel songs but dress it up old-timey like, set out in Appalachia, and I'm actually down for it. The Christian Life F- Aaaand we're back to the whine, its a guitar that whines that drives me mad. Also wooooof the singing tone! Its the fact that every note they sing needs to be slid up or down to. I can only HOPE this is sarcastically mocking the POV character, but I am fearful it is earnest. F- You Don't Miss Your Water D- Its the dang country waltz that is doing me in. We are hitting the slide guitar again. And yet I REALLY wish the Vocal Harmony was being used for a better song because it is such a strange delivery and voicing, that like, I can see a better cover of this. And they bring in... are they actually bringing in a horn at like the 2 minute mark, or was that a strangely captured guitar tone? Eitherway, I think this has the bones of solid Midwestern Emo Shoegaze song. As is, its insufferable. You're Still on My Mind D- We keep hitting the plodding walking bass bounce and twang, but I keep being caught off guard by the eclectic vocal delivery! And then yeah we almost hit a honkytonk piano, which CAN be deftly deployed (see Jack White's solo career) to great effect. Pretty Boy Floyd B+ See now this DOES have a plodding walking bass, but its up beat, and the banjo and mandolin and fiddle drive this sombitch along something fierce. Plus a good ol outlaw folk story, lets go! My only complaint is that it is over too soon! Hickory Wind D- I wish this song stayed in South Carolina. I have a vendetta against glissando. Steel Slide Guitar is a sin in most implementations. 88 Fingers Edward can get a pass. Like I just have nothing to latch on to here. The lyrics come too few an far between, I want a sentence a bar, not a syllable or two at most. My brain cant hold that much information at once, so by the time the thought is completed I have forgotten what started it! One Hundred Years from Now D+ I am loving the vocal harmonies! The bass is doing something more than just walking back and forth! The backing guitar is doing some strange trills, and we have a piano doing something almost reminiscent of the Beatles if I squint my ears! AND THEN THE GODDAMN STEEL SLIDE GUITAR IS CHIRPING IN MY RIGHT EAR! I feel like if I muted a single track of this song, I could bring it up a whole letter grade! Its almost a rock song! Blue Canadian Rockies D You get my country's name out of your mouth. Stop warbling about my Province. (well technically Lake Louise is in Alberta, so neighbor province.) Its that goddamn hounddog wail, like a ship constantly bobbing up over the crest of a wave... I cant stand it. Life in Prison D I had high hopes before the steel guitar game in that we'd have another bluegrass banger. Lock up this whole album and throw away the key. To say one nice thing: There is a melodic interplay between the piano and the steel guitar during the solo (well, duet) portion that would be very interesting on any other instrument choice. Nothing Was Delivered F- WHERE WAS ANY OF THE ROCK that came in at like 50 seconds into this song (I guess the first half of the Chorus) on the rest of the album? And right back to country schlock. I am like, mad at being shown what could have been, at the tail end here. Do I applaud a brief moment of respite as a shining beacon to be celebrated, or chastise what has been demonstrated as technically possible yet willfully not pursuing it? You Got A Reputation A Oh fuck off the best song on the album wasn't originally on the album? This is a bonus from the re-release? I was ready to just Stop Listening at this point but like, this is legitimately excellent! (and also giving me CCR/Beatles vibes) FUCK I am going to have listen to the last two songs because what if there is gold?! Lazy Days B Fuck me and an early Beach Boys riff? Like actually upset that this is on the cutting room floor of the album. This should replace the opener about doing nothing, it covers basically the same material. (though I dont like the lyrics imagery as much here). Pretty Poly A+ And we go hard into heavier blue grass! Oh man this is like straight up my kind of folk song too! Its got that minor key drone! Again, like absolute shining bright spot of the album! Haunting yet Bright! I am so in love with this! WARGH WHY IS IT ONLY CUT MATERIAL!

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 2.29 (B-) So I am just allergic to this guys voice, it is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Which is a shame because the actual songwriting is pretty solid! Southern Man and Dont Let It Bring You Down are standout songs that I just WISH someone else was taking point on. I cant ever find myself casually listening to the album. Its a curiosity waiting to be mined for ideas, but execution is hampered by an aggressively distasteful lead performance. Track Thoughts: Tell Me Why B+ This isnt I Want It That Way! See this is what I was saying, you do a stripped back country song, and have beautiful vocal harmonies on the chorus. Also, some very evocative imagery in the lyrics! The song is repetitive, but not in a way that grates; its got enough breathing room for my brain to actually latch onto. I think I just dont particularly like the vocal tone of the lead. After the Gold Rush D+ Yeah idk if I am going to jell with this higher pitched voice over most of these songs. Cant say there isnt anything WRONG with this piano ballad, but woof I am just not up for the singer. Like, immediately the trumpet sounds way nicer, if this was JUST a trumpet/piano song it'd be a B tier. It's like if Kevin McDonald was trying to sing. I am just going to harp on the singing this whole album aren't I. Only Love Can Break Your Heart C- I am concerned that we are flying too close to "Generic Country Song" sway. I really like the harmonies on this too! I just want a bit more getup and go to my songs and this is too slow for my liking. Southern Man A+ Oh heck yeah I am grooving along to this immediately! Put a bit of distortion on the vocals so they are breaking up just ever so slightly, and you know what, it fits in with the guitar drive! Double time the piano for the solo! Yeah this is an all time classic I wish I was aware of sooner! Of all the songs to make 6 minutes long on a 30 minute album, im glad this one takes up 20% of the run time XD. Till the Morning Comes D This isn't OK GO! This is just insulting that you could be singing in a lower register that sounds more comfortable to your voice! As is, what the heck is this nothing little ditty. This feels like Fake Interstitial Music in a Bad Community Theatre Production of something. Its too short to be offensive, but it should have been cut. Oh, Lonesome Me B+ It's a little to whiney for me, but I've absolutely heard its decedents, I just cant think of when or where right now. The vocals work better here, we have harmonica to really sell the melancholy. Don't Let It Bring You Down A- Again with this shit ass falsetto BUT it has some crazy evocative lyrics, and I am digging the guitar+bass+piano tone on this. Even the drum has good stripped back drive. I actually wanna learn the bass to this, cuz its groove as hell. Birds C- At least this is a softer voice sung in a decent register, but dang do I not care for the slow piano balad. When You Dance I Can Really Love B See a rock song with strange harmonies like this give me a kind of Boston vibe? I dont hate it, is what I am saying, which is about as good as this album get. I Believe in You C- We are back to weird wimpy falsetto and I am checked out. This is too slow. I dont even get joy from the muppets in the background going la-la-la Cripple Creek Ferry B Hey this isn't Cripple Creek, the show-offy banjo song I am familiar with! This is pretty nothing song that I actually enjoy! But its over so dang fast!

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 0.13 (D-) I dont know why this album is here. Its generic punk rock, heavy on the punk. Its knock off B52s. I checked out. This is an album that feels phoned in (lots of cover songs apparently) and so is this review. Track Thoughts: "TV Set" D Generic blues riff with the weird B52's lyrical delivery. Huge fuzz sound drenched in reverb, with the surf rock drums? Sure why not. Its meant to be a WALL of sound, but its not my cup of tea. "Rock on the Moon" D- Oh this album is a shitpost. Understandable. I can apricate a shit post. I do not have to enjoy a shitpost. "Garbageman" C Louie Louie and Bird is the Word shade! You really do just get to make a song about the garbage man, I take out the trash, and its a hit and gets in a book about the 1001 albums you gotta listen to... I mean, I can see why, you need some Weird Shit thrown in... but this is beyond me. "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" C+ I present for the consideration of The Dark Universe, the DEEP CUT trailer song for the hypothetical Native American Werewolf in Paris movie. "Sunglasses After Dark" C- Its no I Wear My Sunglasses At Night. Again, I feel like this was just an excuse to show off what "Real Punk" was. "The Mad Daddy" D If they were making songs like this still... I mean, I think I could get in on the market? "Mystery Plane" B- You know what? This is actual a hell of a song. Its actually got some... build to the intro, its still the generic surf rock, 12 bar blues structure, but I can absolutely see this being The Standout From The Album. The guitar tone is actually doing something... strange? The rhythm section then the doubled bumblebee buzz overtop. "Zombie Dance" This is still more knock off B52s. "What's Behind the Mask" From here on out I checked out of this album and am awarding everything an honorary D tier "Strychnine" "I'm Cramped" "Tear It Up" "Fever" F How do you take this song and make it boring

You know what, I listened to this album in the background while cleaning my living room with my partner. We had a good time listening to something that came out in our lifetime. In stark contrast to the last punk album we listened to, this one was More Varied, but still had a lot of the same milieu throughout. I dont see myself really going back to this album, but I actually didnt hate any of the listening experience. No individual song grading mean this is a total gut check of a rating. Sorry.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 6.5 (S) Its crazy that 3 stone cold classics, which feel entirely different in tone, come from this, a debut album. There isn't a stinker song on here. This is a "listen straight through" album with the ultimate album closer. Of course this was going to be an S tier, I'm glad its the first! Track Thoughts "I Ain't the One" A The panning and the reverse and whatever else is being done on the drums in the intro absolutely gets me. I love Van Zant's gravel and howl. This deep bass doubled guitar riff, and overblown electric sound, while still having clean mixing so you can hear everything as its playing? A touch of honkey tonk piano? I live for this. This is the side of country, more bayou then haybale, that I can get down with. "Tuesday's Gone" B I cant say've heard this before? I wasnt really ready for the little organ sting here. We are getting a little too laid back, but the guitar twinkles, and has some blues hits in there... It inching towards Standard Country Song, but I find it endlessly more listenable. I think the vocal delivery has a bit more yowl than howl... I still find that grating. Its also a long song, and while it does develop to be more operatic with the string+piano section in the back half, im not sure THIS song needed the length (I see Free Bird as the closer and eagerly await it). "Gimme Three Steps" S I already liked this song, this was part of regular rotation on my background work mega playlist back in the day. A simple song told simply; comedic and catchy... what more could I ask for? Its got that instantly recognizable hook, a hell of a drive that just bounces along, and who doesn't love liberal use of cowbell? They knew they had gold on their hands, you get the chorus TWICE before its ever sung, just in guitar solo form, so you have two whole verses of build up in the story! Its the perfect GTFO song, it SOUNDS like a hasty retreat! Actually, I want to applaud the story telling even further: You have first verse, which is a recap of the night prior, then the second verse and chorus, which is a real time conversation, and the 3rd verse is THE SPLIT SECOND of the run to the door, as the song goes on time gets more and more compressed, until a whole verse spans just a moment. Its just excellent construction! "Simple Man" A Another classic that has escaped containment. The arpeggiated chords with the bass riff really help drive the song. The organ also lends a sense of the grandiose to the song, like a sermon being delivered. I worry that the lyrics are a bit preachy; I dont necessarily agree that a return to 'the simple things' is necessary, as I prefer to view things as complex and nuanced, with detail beyond what appears on the surface... but a plea to live "Authentically" without ostentatious trappings or delusions of grandeur... that I can get behind. I think I knock points off for being, say it with me, repetitive... the whole album has the "fade out ending" problem though. "Things Goin' On" A+ Yeah this is a finger picking good time. This is just fun for the band to play. Unexpectedly funky. I am not sure if the individual parts layer to make a greater whole, but those individual parts as they come and go just have me bopping in my seat. Did this need to be a 5 minute long jam song? No. Am I glad it is? Very Yes. Wild swing of an opener for a B Side. "Mississippi Kid" B This is very sparse, and very simple. It feels like spruced up generic folk blues song. Which it is. I think it leans to heavily on the highend, and really feels better when they bring the bass in halfway through. We just had a jam song though, idk if we need another. One of these days, this is going to be the Deep Cut to get covered in a Slowed Down Dark Trailer Version for some A24 movie mark my word. Weird ending too with the snare rattle? "Poison Whiskey" A Oh yeah we are back to funky organ hits and bass grove. Was this in a Rockband game? I wanna say maybe Rockband 3? I normally would complain about Country Tropes of the "gonna get me beer" but this is actually about the DANGERS of alcoholism... more in line with the tongue in cheek irish drinking songs of "this shit'll get you in trouble". The problem is I am having too much fun listening to the jazzy guitar and piano solos to care. "Free Bird" S Am I going to complain that this song is too long? You just simply do not get to do a Debut Album with a 9 minute closer. This did not need to be 9 minutes long. In a sane world this gets trimmed down and tightened up. All but the best bits get left on the cutting room floor. Therefor, after you remove everything unnecessary from the song, I think you can conservatively have a 9 minute long song. Free Bird is exactly what it needs to be. I dont even have words to describe the build up and then drop of this song, it is a magic trick to listen to. Its not a complex guitar solo, its THE Guitar Solo it needed to be. THIS is where you get grandiose self indulgent excess and it WORKS. Every rockband ever hopes they can EARN a "Freebird" and here Skynyrd is just doing it right out the gate.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 2 (C) My thoughts on Strange Days is where I checked out. Highlights are The Hanging Garden and Cold, but they aren't wort the rest. Ow, The Edge. Track Thoughts "One Hundred Years" C+ I dont really like the singer's vocal delivery, its a bit to whiney. I like the soundscape, its dark and moody, I see it tagged as "gothic rock"... But there is just something about that higher pitched slurred singing that turns me off. I am afraid this is going to be a long listen. "A Short Term Effect" B- There is something about the chorus and echo and reverb that makes you feel like you are drowning. I actually think as the vocal echo goes on it going down in pitch is a neat effect but I just, dont care about the discordant solo. This is music as listened to from beneath an underpass. Is this pop-noise music? "The Hanging Garden" A- This is more up-beat with the drum fill and the thumping bass. I am actually locked in on this one. I think there is something here, but somehow it feels more stripped back even though it is doing a lot with the phaser/flanger effect whatever that is. "Siamese Twins" B- Yeah I guess I am just not that into Emo Music. I mean, I keep saying in these that the drums have a real sense of drive, the guitars lead some wild swimming soundscapes, but its the drawl of the vocals that just takes me right out of it. "The Figurehead" C I feel like the song writing is layered but to what end? You stack these arpeggios ontop of a this very simple bass one note drone, and then modulate between a few of the chords and it just... it feels oppressive. That, I guess, is the end. But its not something I actively enjoy listening to. "A Strange Day" C+ I have run out of things to say. I have checked out yet again. This shapes up to be another 2 out of 5 album. The songs all kind of blur together. Their mushy production doesnt help much with that. The songs are fine to listen to in isolation, nothing outright offensive, but back to back to back to back they all bleed into one another and there is nothing that stands out. "Cold" A- For two seconds I thought we were going to get something orchestral. Then the garbage cans came in. Wait some kind of like organ? Synths? What is this? Where did the rest of the muddy guitar droning go? This is the start to a John Carpenter Movie? The weird clattering? "Pornography" D of all the cliche's, I was not ready for backwards recording. A long closer needs to start strong and this never even gets going.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.9 (A) The System. Is Down. The System. Is Down. Look, do we fault foundational works for being a little structurally bare? Yes absolutely. But I also happen to enjoy this exact minimalist style. We have come a long way from here to Ninajirachi, but both can be enjoyable. Track Thoughts "Europe Endless" ("Europa Endlos") A Refined and Elegant, Elegance and Decadence. You know how I complain about long songs that are too repetitive? The difference is this is designed to be trance like. It builds. Its evokes a sense of precise, articulate, exact, purposefulness. "The Hall of Mirrors" ("Spiegelsaal") A+ Metroid and or Zelda Dungeon music. The pacing footsteps as percussion are touch. The actual singing is perfunctory, but not actively grating. I really like the composition of the various parts, they weave in and out hypnotically. I prefer the minor key, foreboding sound. "Showroom Dummies" ("Schaufensterpuppen") B Something about this feels like a Keyboard Demosong in the way the previous ones did not? I think it may be that the different parts are repeating the same sort of melody/percussion without much variation? Or maybe I just associate that Vocal Synth with "look at this weird instrument we have on here" shorthand. "Trans-Europe Express" ("Trans Europa Express") B Okay calm down there FF6 title screen (which is unfair because this album predates that by like 30 years). This somehow makes me more comfortable with my terrible drum track programming skills and also envious that I am 50 years too late for this to be considered acceptable. "Metal on Metal" ("Metall auf Metall") B- I thought this was still part of the Trans Europe Express, but I guess the metal clanking was Metal on Metal, go figure XD. I mean, say what you will, this suite of songs are coherent if not jump out of your seat worthy. "Abzug[a]" B+ OH THAT IS WHERE HYDROGEN BY M.O.O.N. ON THE HOTLINE MIAMI SOUNDTRACK GETS IT FROM! This is the big climax and you can feel it. Well, if you can call this somewhat moody laid-back trance a Climax. "Franz Schubert" A+ The variety is nice again, we are back into something more jubilant like the opener of the album. There is like, an actual melody that gets developed. "Endless Endless" ("Endlos Endlos") D- This is a Coda. it is not a song.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.9 (A) I somehow ended up with both Dusty albums on the 1001 song list within the first 2 weeks. Woof. Expect the words Smooth and Grove throughout the individual track notes. I cant quite put my finger on what the qualitative improvement is, but I can really feel it compared to the earlier album. The experimentation with structure and accompaniment and overall "vibe" lands a lot more coherently here. Like, I can put this album on and there are No Skips... which uh... actually gives it an edge in my tastes for overall album ratings! Track Thoughts: "Just a Little Lovin'" B+ I mean yeah we are in for a bunch of Love Songs yet again. But they're jazzier. This is a waltz. It still feels a bit like Film Score music. This sets the tone for the album, I like it a lot more then other songs from the previous album, but I dont actually love it as an opener. "So Much Love" A This song's structure is more dynamic and I really like the back up vocals to fill out the production. The drums are a bit more jazzy though, which I think helps drive the song. "Son of a Preacher Man" S Oh hey this one escaped containment! Yeah you cant really go wrong with this grove. Will we ever extricate this from Pulp Fiction? Dusty is singing more subdued here, and yet its still a very powerful vocal performance. I think these songs feel less like "Orchestral Pop" and more like there is a rock band accompanied by horns... which you know, is excellent! "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" A+ Oh there is the orchestral strings again. I actually really like this voyeuristic point of view for the song. This feels classy, but also a little too close to "Film Score Music" again. There is something eerily familiar about the plucked sting after the "walls are much too thin", that I just cant place. "Don't Forget About Me" B Actually, you know what, the breathy and distant placement of the lead vocals here... they take me out of it. The overdrive guitar, with its little runs and trills, I kind of wish it just went full rock-solo instead of restrained yet too ostentatious snippets. The actual kick in of the chorus is boisterous enough, but I kind of didnt want to wait for half the song to get up there. "Breakfast in Bed" B- Again, not really enjoying the subdued vocals. Bedroom voice. Not really doing it for me. Its got a smooth trumpet solo, its got those badump-badump drum grove that I really like, but idk this is just a total tonal miss for me. "Just One Smile" B- Sorry I zoned out here. Its a nothing song. Again. I was really enjoying the more Rock and ocasionally jazzy songs, but we are back to orchestral. "The Windmills of Your Mind" A Fuck this song keeps coming up for me here. I dont know what compelled me to watch The Thomas Crown Affair for the first time recently, but then its also used in the Severance ending (spoilers) and here we are again. I actually am deeply in love with the structure of this song, but I am partial to its initial delivery by Noel Harrison... this is such a fascinating take making it a more Spanish guitar inspired interpretation! Heck actually as this builds... this stands on its own as a Unique Version. But I am like, actively obsessed with this song these days (within the last year) so idk if its getting a glow up because of that. "In the Land of Make Believe" B- I keep saying these songs are... well not overproduced, but there is alot of instrumentation that leads to that Film Score sound, so here we have a more stripped back song, with some strange choices of instrumentation (I do love a good sitar and some bongos), and yet... I kind of dont really think it suits Dusty. I think she is singing too high for her register. "No Easy Way Down" A Oh yeah lets get right back in the groove with that organ, the drum waltz, the strings... this is classy. This is exactly what I want. This is smooth jazz-esque that I appreciate. "I Can't Make It Alone" B- Too laid back for an ending song. A nothing ballad. Dont hate it, dont need to hear it again. The trick of "I cant make it alone" with doubling the vocals is a neat little wink I guess.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 2.88 (B) I am down with the Trudgemank, but this is no Taranchula's hit "Moving Very Slowly". This suddenly makes Infest The Rats Nest make more sense. This is, as I say elsewhere, "Easy Listening Heavy Metal", nothing is offensive, the production is clean and crisp, no parts are actively harmful to listen to... but it does tend to blend together. You hear one song, you kinda hear them all? Which is not to say there arent stand outs! I just get tired by the end of the album. I am actually going to give it a 3 star, as its Fine To Listen To In Full... As Background Zone Out Music. Track Thoughts: "Battery" B+ Okay so I never listened to Metallica, so I had no idea what to expect, I was not prepared for Baroque and or Spanish Guitar intro. Fast == Gooder is not always true, as there are slower breakdowns in here. The tones of the guitar+drums+bass, while muddy and heavy on the low end, actually are still mixed to where they still stand out. "Master of Puppets" A- Hello E1M1. This escaped containment, but I cant say I've ever listened to it in full? Like, legitimately, I am more confused that this is NOT E1M1 exactly and so hearing it feels akin to a cover/re-interpretation? Why the sudden "mastar" lower pitch pirate echo, and then we have this really beautiful classical breakdown... I am getting Castlevania vibes here too. The back half of this song is actually killer, better then the Famous Riff part. Both are good in their own right, but one is an S tier song (the later half of an 8 minute performance of virtuosity) and the first half is Iconic. "The Thing That Should Not Be" B+ I distorted swimmy detuned guitar? And then back to the chugga chuggas... I am most intrigued and find my enjoyment the highest when NOT being bludgeoned (or battered eh) by the chugs. So this is just proto-Enter Sandman. Like its not FAIR that I go "Oh 'The Thing That Should Not Be' is just a proto version of Enter Sandman" but that is all my brain can think and then I spend the whole song going "I should just be listening to Enter Sandman" instead of artistically engaging with the piece as is. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" A+ I keep getting my hopes up by the intro to these songs that they are going to have a different pallet to paint from. And this time I wasnt disappointed. I love this tone. It has a smooth transition to the heavier chorus briefly, and then we get back to this again, soaring guitar solo showing off the more melodic composition, rather then the percussive chugging. I dont know if I can claim ANY Metallica song is a deep cut, but this tail end of side one is like, the album highlight so far! "Disposable Heroes" C+ What is the version of "Easy Listening Heavy Metal"? Idk why I feel like this music is just mellowing me out. Very regular rhythmic structures coming at you fast, with enough variation to keep you interested in different phrases, if not individual bars? Now, this song starts to lose me as its lack of melodic variance, its very One Note for the chorus/verse, even if the solo is very beautiful (though a criticism of "its just scales played fast" is not UNFAIR). Also, while the message "War Is Hell" is important, I am not sure the emphasis is on WHY this is bad, just "this is bad" and so also "well we are wanting to write music about hell... this is hell on earth... lets just... take this iconography then" just kinda falls flat FOR ME. And you know what, its just too long. I said it. Sue me. "Leper Messiah" C+ Everything I said about the musical structure in Disposable Heroes holds true here, points off for lack of as sweeping a guitar solo, points... well do I add points for being only 6 minutes as opposed to 8? What is my time worth? Oh no hold on, there was a brief guitar solo that literally did sweep the scales. Okay so maybe we just keep this also at a C+ as an also ran? "Orion" (instrumental) C This is marked as an instrumental. I know I havent spoken much about the Shout Singing yet. I dont mind it actually, as it helps cut through the low end heavy production. But I have so far enjoyed the actual Song Writing when they have given it the focus, rather than the rhythmic chugging. So I had high hopes for this. What I got was... Trogdor the Burninator? aaaand ive checked out. Im sorry. This instrumental did nothing for me. "Damage, Inc." C Mercifully short. The album drags. I am now done.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.4 (B) Alright. Alright. Alright. I did not rate the interstitials. Gasoline Dreams B- All right. The delivery is a bit too much Yell for me. I really dont have an ear for rap or hip hop yet. So Fresh So Clean A+ See I am enjoying this more melodic style already, and the more "stream of consciousness" sounding verses. A bit more loose on the beat. Also I need a minute to recover from "Youre so anne frank lets hit the attic to hide out for about two weeks". Ms Jackson A Wild choice for the backing track, what I can only guess is just Playing It Backwards. Really trippy sounding. One thing I am noticing about myself is I dont really focus on lyrics on An Initial Listen Through, so very dense lyrical artistry is lost on me. Snappin & Trappin C Now like... this bweep bweep song just sounds like Alien Meme Music. Spaghetti Junction B+ Oh yeah this is smoother. I l do enjoy more laid back beats Ill Call Before I Come B+ Hehe, yeah see this is how you do a goofy sounding song. I actually enjoy this. BOB S This is absolutely wild. Love this. Such a wild varied song. Xplosion A Weird harpsicord beat with distorted drums and guitar squeals? And we are back to the Fart Synths. Okay. We Luv Deez Hoez A I also really enjoyed this one, but was too distracted to write much! Humble Mumble A And this one has a funky beat too! Sadly there is some kind of score multiplier I am noticing in my "somewhat objective rating" where if you have a string of good songs in a row, I kinda ride that vibe throughout! Having female vocals singing is also a nice break? Red Velvet B- Nope. Combo dropped. Gansta Shit B- It takes a hot minute to get started, and then we are back to the stutter step style of rap. Toilet Tisha A- I think this is a bit too long, but its a groove and a half. Slum Beautiful B+ Chill song, I actually dig the weird noodling, but again, a bit too long. Stankonia B- This is a hell of an outro. Not really much to say again. Sorry, this one doesnt do it for me

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 4.5 (A+) I guess I like 1 Neil Young album? Which is a weird thing for me to say? I still cant get past his singing voice, but its used more deftly here. For some reason we had a couple orchestral tracks, and a more electric guitar sound. I didnt think this would come out to be as high a rated album, but its song writing bones are there! Track Thoughts: Out on the Weekend 00:04:35 A This grove is giving me raconteur vibes, which is great until I remember what Neil Young singing falsetto sounds like and I am bracing for impact. And then it never gets that bad? No, I hate to say it, but this is actually an All Timer in my books. Wistful, haunting, and vivid. Harvest 00:03:03 C No we are back to generic country. Sorry this is the same ol sway back and forth, and its too simplistically structured to be anything but cliched. Thankfully the singing and the slide guitar arent overpoweringly twangy this time... but still not something I will ever actively seek out. A Man Needs A Maid 00:04:00 A HEY NEIL CAN YOU SPEAK UP? YOURE SINGING FROM THE OTHER ROOM! Oh heck we get a whole dang Orchestra! Could a piano ballad like this work? Yes absolutely, if it was literally any other singer. This is just a song from a musical. Its meandering in structure (said approvingly), and has such breadth of instrumentation as to be constantly engaging! I just wish there was a stronger lead performance, that is all that is keeping this from being an S tier song. Heart of Gold 00:03:05 A This has escaped containment. And I cant even hate on it, this is excellent almost rock song writing. If they swapped out the slide guitar for an electric with a bit more bite, I think this would be ready to be a staple in my rotation. Oh and yeah, I still cant stand Neil's voice, but for most of this album he is at least staying lower in register. Like I was about to give it an A- and then the final vocal chorus came in at the end and dang if I am not a sucker for that. Uhg. Back to an A, under protest. Are You Ready for the Country? 00:03:21 B This would fit in with "One of the weird Beatles songs" category. You take any other lead singer, you even the slide guitar is good in moderation, but something about the over use of both these tones... it just saps my enjoyment. This is a very wrote song structure, so you gotta do SOMETHING fun to keep it interesting. As is, it actually feels a bit sparse? Old Man 00:03:22 A+ "The old know what it is like to be young, but the young do not know what its like to be old." I think this maybe has escaped containment, but I cant place my finger on where I've maybe heard it before. I really love the laid back bass grove accompanied by the finger picked banjo. If it weren't for Neil's singing voice ESPECIALLY when he tries to belt, this would again be an S tier song! There's a World 00:03:00 C+ Hello uh... Some Final Fantasy Track? This is introducing the Evil Empire vibes. I really was not expecting the full orchestra on this album. This sadly has less drive to it than "A Man Needs A Maid". At least there is no slide guitar, so points for that. Alabama 00:04:02 A+ Ah, now I too have heard what old Neil has said about you! This is such a wild dark full sound for the album! Still cant escape the slide guitar, but paired with the actual drive of the electric guitar it helps fill out the space more appropriately. I think OF THE TWO SONGS re: alabama... I prefer this one? The Needle and the Damage Done 00:02:00 A Okay so a thing I love is a finger picking style like this where you hold the same note and then slide down the chords, its such a vibe. This as a purely single guitar and singer focused song, it actually works... you can imagine this as just 1 Dude On Stage, overhearing this while you are paying attention to something else in the bar. It doesnt overstay its welcome either. And of course the clapping HARD CUT OFF is a choice. Words (Between the Lines of Age) 00:06:42 B This didn't need to be a 7 minute long ender. This is bombastic and really builds initially, but idk if its earned. The noodling guitar solo is a bit over indulgent. But then again, nothing in the song (beyond Neil's voice as usual) is offensive.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 4.45 (A+) I am liking pretty much all of the first half of the album but for different reasons. The back half started to lose me a bit, either by retreading ground or my being a bit too experimental. If it was just for Riders on the Storm though, it's worth it. Track Thoughts: "The Changeling" B- Oough. Olive All Around. While this is fairly easy to mock, its because its ICONIC. Nothing sounds like the Doors but the Doors. That being said, this is a miss of an opener for me. Buckwild vocal delivery choice. Love me a good wah pedal and organ grove though. "Love Her Madly" A- Effortlessly cool. And somehow manages to almost get a surf-rock sound fitted in here? This is a wild ride of a song, if a little repetitive. "Been Down So Long" A Standard blues, which makes it hard to grade. Its generic, using the structure exactly as intended, but it does so with pitch perfect delivery. I hear a lot of Jack White in this, especially in the layering of the guitars and their tones. I cant hate it, its just well done. "Cars Hiss by My Window" A Another generic blues beat done pitch perfect. When calling this laid back and easy to listen to, I dont want to make it sound like I think this is a simple thing to do. Again, when you cant find anything to fault, I think I gotta give it at least an A. "L.A. Woman" A Way more experimental in its structure compared to the more restrained first half of the album. Its also got some get up and go to the song! I enjoy the call and response of the main singer and guitar. The piano helps keep the sound bright, not afraid to be drown out by the edgier guitar or mellow organ. This is the one I'd have expected to escape containment, but I cant say I've heard it elsewhere. Oh well, they knew what they had on their hands to name the album after it. Its long in the tooth but I dont mind it. "L'America" C A different kind of soundscape, trying to be more creepy/spooky, but I'm not sure that works as a SONG rather then a mood setter. Funny implied F-bomb. Not much else to say... this is just strange for strangeness sake. I get the joke, I am in on the joke, I just dont know if I ever need to hear it told again. "Hyacinth House" B+ Woah this is such a psychedelic groove I was not prepared. Angelic organ actually causes this to get a bit overcrowded. This is such a strange song structurally, lyrically, sonically... it works but I dont know if it works for me? I'm glad to have listened to it though. "Crawling King Snake" B- We already had this exact grove already on the record. I dont wanna be your hog, I dont wanna be your crawling King Snake. They are trying something at least with the staccato noodling on the guitar. "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" B A strange story strangely told. Its funky, I can sit back and enjoy it, but idk if its something to casually flip on. "Riders on the Storm" S I've listened to longer songs I've liked a lot less. This is a mood piece. This is a vibe. This is immaculate. The whispers echoing in the background, the rain sounds, the edge to the playing while still being firmly a groove... all this and not even mentioning the evocative imagery in the lyrics.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 2.85 (B) This was not really a stile I had ever been exposed to, and I kinda dig it? This feels like baking out in the hot sun stoned out of my gourd with a tall cool glass of ice cold gin and tonic. Or maybe I am just wanting it to be summer already. I take issue with the lead singer's slurred delivery, but the actual song writing chops are too damn solid. See my thoughts on Step On for more details about the album as a whole. Track Thoughts: "Kinky Afro" A- This could almost be a heavier rock Talking Heads song. This is a compliment. "God's Cop" B+ The slurred singing is going to grate on me. But the actual bass heavy production helps keep things head bopping. I think the the weird overblown slide guitar works here, do not tell neil young I said that. But the rest of the production being swimmy is points off. Im just going to assume he is singing that "Me and The Cheat (from Homestar Runner) got slowly stoned". Why is Cartman singing at the end? "Donovan" B+ Please stop singing from the other room. This feels like something that would absolutely go on to influence Gorillaz... though maybe that is the harmonica. Oh and we are in Zora's Domain all of a sudden. Okay yeah no I think this is going to be another case of I really like the music's instrumentation, but the slurring singer is detracting from my enjoyment. "Grandbag's Funeral" C Actually a bit too discordant. This is cacophonous without actually being enjoyable. Captain Beefheart they are not. "Loose Fit" A- Guy Ritchie Montage Music. A little bit of Spyro (composed by Stweart Copeland of The Police, so like good company). "Dennis and Lois" B Funk Clav! Hell yeah! Other then that, no noticeable traits to latch on to. Good background music. B for background. "Bob's Yer Uncle" F I do NOT want to hear this tone of voice ever let alone when we are making love. Ew ew ew sorry no ew gross. The actual groove is too repetitive. No amount of funky flute is going to salvage this. Is this a call back to Stretch's Why Did You Do It? "Step On" (John Kongos cover) B- I hate having a twisted melon. Apparently this is a cover? It also feels like a bit of a call back to Come Together? This is a kinda nothing song, that just isnt quite my style. I think this album is RIPE for sampling, as there are little golden nuggets throughout... but idk if I want to be picking through the rest of it. Enjoy that metaphor. "Holiday" B This was kinda in one ear and out the other if I am being honest. Its a trick to be up beat and laid back at the same time. "Harmony" B+ This is now this is laid back, I do like the plucked strings reminiscent of say an electric ukulele, and coming after Holiday into what sounds very Tropical... I see the vision.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 4.6 (A+) Track Thoughts: An album of excess, mixed and produced to perfection, but to what end? I think I thought this was a funk band, never having heard them before (that I am aware of), so this was a pleasant surprise. There is something to be said about that juxtaposition of expectation to reality, the discovery of something novel, that elevates the initial experience. That said I think this belongs up there beside every other thing it reminds me of! "School" A- Is this a 5 minute song with a meandering (if enjoyable in its own spaced out harmonica vibe) intro that takes way too long to actually kick into musical gear, or is it a tight 3 minute honkeytonk piano rock piece that also reminds me of good parts of Jethro Tull? I am not sure. I think its nothing at all like what I expected from my completely unfounded idea of what "Supertramp" would sound like. I really hope the rest of the album maintains the momentum this set. "Bloody Well Right" A+ PERFECTLY NAMED! Tickle them keys! Groovy and Funky and just enough of that edge to the guitar drop. Is it kinda a Pink Floyd/Queen also ran? Yeah... but like... I love the sound! Its a little lyrically vapid, and idk if that sax solo is to be celebrated or stuck behind a sitcom intro... For my tastes I loved it though! "Hide in Your Shell" B- I think this is a bit too slow, but I also havent quite heard anything like this exact sound before, so I am happy to have been exposed to it. Its such a cleanly mixed upbeat ballad that I cant really fault it beyond its length... I guess it is again, reminiscent of ELO, but I am not well versed in their catalogue either outside of the hits, so this feels fresh To Me Right Now... 50 years removed. It didn't need to be over 6 minutes long, despite its dynamic range, it feels stretched too thin for its own good. "Asylum" C+ I dont know if I am up for a long piano ballad AFTER the previous song. There is some aspect to the bass that in places feels like its breaking up and has an almost deep brass vibe to it. But Yeah, ultimately this feels like a Queen / Bowie / Elton John also-ran (derogatory). At least its not Billy Joel? It doesnt earn the bombast it insists on reaching for. "Dreamer" B+ Why does his voice sound like that OOOOH it so that when you bring in the panned echoy chorus it actually sounds amazing by contrast. I am also wondering if there is something about the childish nature of the criticism being levied against the titular "Dreamer"... There is something Rush-like to the song now that I think of it. I think there is an A tier song in here if the swell actually coalesced into something more then the sum of its parts. "Rudy" B OH we are in for a trip on this one huh! Heavier Steely Dan (complimentary).. so like... Copper? Silver Dan? Really enjoy the violins over the chigga-chigga-wugga-chigga guitar bit. The false end of the sound of the streets got me. This is maybe a bit too indulgent for my taste, but its a hell of a mood piece. "If Everyone Was Listening" S- This is where the extravagance of the orchestral arrangement actually does add up to something magnificent. My only complaint is that its a bit of a downer song, but its got such a smooth chorus with that reed instrument (I dare not say oboe) cutting right through the mix... I think there are better examples of what this song is DOING and what I would listen to when I am in its particular mood, but I cant think of any of them right now, so I am glad to have this! "Crime of the Century" A+ Yeah I am getting Jethro Tull, but also a bit of Tally-Hall? This is good company to keep! One of these days I should watch Buckaroo Banzai, I think. That staccato piano chords and drums part in the middle is JUST ripped off whole cloth by The Protomen.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 1.25 (D) Oh joy another country album. Reading about its production was fascinating, and it lead me down a tangent on a cover that I knew I heard before, and now I have no idea what version of it I already knew! Not only that, there was an S tier song buried in here! Too bad about the REST OF THE COUNTRY WHINE! Track Thoughts: "Return of the Grievous Angel" C- My god its another country album. The twang of the voice is killer on the male lead, but the female harmony stands in sharp contrast... I dont know if its a stylistic choice to have a more slurred, relaxed (read less disciplined on hitting your notes) lead... But it does just make me wish for better vocal control. I do enjoy a fiddle and piano ditty, but this is just Generic Country and it makes me wish for anything else. At least it isnt ENTIRELY drenched in slide guitar... though the picked guitar solo is still too bend heavy for my taste. "Hearts on Fire" C And speak of drenched in slide guitar. Having a, what, vibraphone? That ringing instrument providing occasional accompaniment is Unique at the very least, but its not enough to elevate YET ANOTHER generic country ballad. The female singer is putting in such a more listenable performance, she has way more dynamic range, she is the real star here. I am at least intrigued by the song, but boy is it just not my cup of tea. "I Can't Dance" A I am now collecting a series of "I cant dance" songs I guess, along with KGLW's "I hate dancing", whatever the antithesis of Weird Al's "That Boy Could Dance" is. Welcome to me prasing a novelty song, shame its so dang short! This is more of a rock song, and there is something going on whith the rhythem of the song, the way the melody initially feels a little out of beat with the rest of the song, not dragging, but just slightly unaligned from how you'd EXPECT the lyrics to fit. And then as the song progresses you get 'into the grove' so to speak. Its also got a bit of a surf rock style guitar solo... Yeah this is a shining bright spot on the album for me! A diamond in the rough. "Brass Buttons" C+ Sometimes a song is just a list of things you know? I like other list songs; I listen to my fair share of Father John Misty. Its evocative in its sparseness. Too laid back for my tastes; the lazy slide guitar is less offensively used here. "$1000 Wedding" C To do a $1000 wedding is cheap as hell these days... Just a stray thought, trying to not dwell on the Generic Country Blues tune. That said, this is a hell of a sad sad song, but its no "Alone Again (Naturally)", but if you're In The Mood for something like it, I bet this hits. I actually think its a missed opportunity to NOT have female vocal accompaniment in this song and this song alone, as thematically resonant as that would be. "Medley Live from Northern Quebec" D- Is this guy canadian? Why are we getting, not just a French Canadian song, but a NORTHERN french canadian song, ugh. I'll be the judge of this melody. Goddamnit I actually like this, its got some get up and go to it. The yodelling is not unappreciated. I dont know why I thought this WOULDNT be a live recording. The problem is this is a MEDLEY, in this case being two songs stitched together, and while the FIRST part is an upbeat and energetic tune, the SECOND half is more slow plodding generic country balads. At least when listening to a few stitched together irish reels and jigs they keep the pace up, often cases building. This is just a letdown. On modern hardware, I now gotta reach into my pocket to skip when a song I otherwise would like to add as a single gets to the back half. Bleh. Do I split the difference between the two ratings, or deduct extra points from the second for ruining the first? "Love Hurts" F This song has escaped containment. I try not to do too much googling, but yeah turns out this is a cover of a song from the 60s which was more famously covered by a BUNCH of different folks. So to judge it as a stand alone song? More slow sappy country dreck. Do I want to do a complete "covers tasting platter"? Not really in the scope for this but you know what I will make an exception for such a weird album already. The rankings go: 1) Original (Everly Brothers): Not what I would even call Country! Its just a pop song! 2) Jim Capaldi: Oh wow, a funky almost disco-esque beat? Yeah okay this is a strong contender for best, but I actually still think the original eeks out the competition. 3) Nazareth: Oh yeah lets get fuckin ROCKED. Guitar tone like "Creep" and who doesnt like that tone? 4) Roy Orbison: The worst vocal performance (too much vibrato), and I actually like the more stripped back instrumentation on the original, this is a bit too much "film score" music 5) Gram Parsons: Blech. Country. See notes above. Cher: Holy super over indulgent much. Sorry Cher. Not today. 6) Don McLean: You get the worst of all worlds, too country stripped back too far past the point of charm of the original, then too orchestra... it walks you through every middling cover and doesnt stand out on its own. I now know that I would listen to 4 other versions of this exact same song before I ever hear this one! F! "Ooh Las Vegas" S- Speaking of the get up and go on the first half of Northern Quebec! I'll take more of this rip roarin kind of blues riff! Gawd DANG that guitar solo, make it YELL boi! No fuck it, in comparison to everything else in the album this stands head and shoulders above the rest, its S, I dont know if it'd be S as a stand alone, but hot damn does this song rip. "In My Hour of Darkness" F Country Gospel Music. Kill me. I am checking out now. Sorry I do not HAVE to force myself to listen to this. I can just turn it off. BUT that would be quitter talk. What if there really is some musical idea, some singular riff or tone or interesting happenstance contained within? I am committing to listening to EVERY SONG no mater how painful. I've got some WEIRD stuff coming up surely. So writing this out is protest for letting it wash away into the background. F Tier, I hate this exact sound because of lingering cult upbringing baggage, but done soaked in whiny country twang, its acrid air on my ears.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.56 B+ Can this even be rated on a song by song basis? This is such a wild blast from the past. When literally a 3rd of the album is a single song, that is mostly crowd work, and repeated build up... well, do we want to have the electronic music and the build up/drop, reacting to the crowd, live set conversation? Or do we want to point out that the composition of this as a Live Set List is a first third flip flopping between high tempo and low tempo songs, a middle 3rd of a single extended Vibes Grove, and the back 3rd where a single track list is a medley of like a dozen songs... and a closer. In a tight 30 minutes... that somehow still outstays its welcome. Track Thoughts: "Introduction to James Brown and The Famous Flames" (by Fats Gonder) B- I mean this is how you hype folks up! Is it a song? Or is it opening theme music as folks walk on stage? We just cant tell! Entirely skippable. "I'll Go Crazy" A+ I was not ready for the triplets of this grove! This drives pretty hard while feeling down tempo; its not something I would have thought to do. I expect we are going to have LOTS of HORN stings IN here AS call AND response. "Try Me" B The way the crowd popped off I guess this was a Big Hit at the time? It sounds pretty tame. Goodfellas music. Generic. "Think" A Now we have moved on from Goodfellas music to Guy Ritchie music (if we just took out the yell-singing of James). I think we are going to see me highly favor the uptempo songs, even if I am having a hell of a time trying to understand what is being sung. Simply because they are a blast to dance to! "I Don't Mind" B This song most exemplifies the highs and lows of the album in its dynamic range... Much like every highschool book report, its a land of contrasts. Super cut short rushed "i dont minds" from the backing vocals, the soft (for him) singing of James Brown into the FULL YELL. I mean, there is something to be said about juxtaposing uptempo with downtempo, high intensity with low... but sometimes you want your set to build, pick a lane and follow it... this rolls along in waves that tend to loose me, much like the final chase in One Battle After Another. "Lost Someone" D Please let this song start. Please. Oh no wait, its another slow ballad. Put it back into high gear. Say what you will, James Brown can fuckin SING. Man has one hell of a powerful vocal performance. I am grasping at straws for any kind of commentary here. I just find fairly generic back and forth swing of this song to be too uninteresting to latch on to, but then the singing is too IN YOUR FACE to ever have it JUST be background noise. This was (as you can hear) killer live, the crowd work in the song is great, but man is it ever not for me on a recording. OH MY GOD THIS SONG IS 10 MINUTES LONG. THIS IS JUST GOING ON FOREVER. HOLY SHIT. POINTS OFF POINTS OFF POINTS OFF. "Medley: Please, Please, Please/You've Got the Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You, Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen/Bewildered/Please, Please, Please" A- Somehow this medley is shorter than the last song despite having almost 10 songs packed into it. This feels like playing ALL YOUR HITS and just the BEST PARTS OF THOSE back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back. Someone should do a polka cover of this. On the whole its actually very enjoyable, if only because of the variety, though focuses a bit too much on the down tempo songs again. "Night Train" B I actually thought this would be a more bombastic closer! Why does this specific organ grove, those staccato rhythm, evoke rolling down the train track so completely? Where did that shorthand come from?