1001 Albums Summary

The guitar work, the production, the *music* is tremendous. Influenced so many. Oasis before Oasis. The lyrics don't do anything for me. The instrumental at the end of I Am The Resurrection is four amazing minutes.

It's two separate albums. Speakerboxxx is great. The Love Below has a couple of singles and a bunch of crap.

This album was a 'vibe'. Loved it. The lyrics...I don't speak the language, but they worked as an instrument in themselves.

This is not my thing. It's got Sabotage, and it's not actively annoying in the middle, so it gets a 2.

Dancing Queen! This is gonna be great! <First song plays> Okay, maybe not great, but Dancing Queen! <Next couple songs play> Okay, it's, you know...got Dancing Queen! <More songs, including 'Why Did It Have To Be Me', a 'Ringo' song led by the guys> Okay, well...Fernando's coming up, that's good. And Dancing Queen! <Album finishes> Okay...well, at least it has Dancing Queen. 3.

One of the seminal albums of the 90s. The difference between this and Stone Roses from last week is probably entirely a function of when I grew up and the way this sound shaped the background of my life. If you ask Amazon to play this album, it plays some remastered and mashed up version that includes all of these B-Sides and Extra Tracks. I'm excited to listen to those, but I'm only rating this album in its original form, and it is a 5 with a bullet. 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is in my personal top 20 songs of all time. Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova, they're still everywhere. And what elevates this album for me is that all of the rest of the songs have the hooks, the guitar play, the *rock* that fits perfectly together. I wasn't cool enough to actually own this album in the 90s. Wish I had been. Came to the party late, but at least I showed.

First thought: I have no idea what is going on. Maybe you had to be there? The music is fine...love the groove, love the tone set in songs like 'The Vibes Ain't Nothin' But The Vibes'. And then the 'singing' sets in, and the sound effects, and it's just...this doesn't work. Sounds like an album specifically made because we had this new technology called 'CDs' and specifically made for pretentious bastards who just got new 'sound systems' for their 'entertainment centers'. It's a 1.

Fantastic album. Other than Mick's falsetto on 'Dear Doctor', that I don't need. But I would have absolutely been playing this thing on repeat in 1968...or 1978...or 1998...or 2018. When I was a kid I somehow decided you had to pick, Beatles or Stones, and that was that. And I picked Beatles. But I'm older now, and I don't have to pick, I can like whatever I want, and I. Like. This. It's a 5.

This is the best reason to do this 1,001 albums project. I'd never heard any of this before, and spent the entire hour's run-time asking myself: Do I like this? The answer is...not yes. It's not an album, a style, for me. But the answer isn't 'no' either. I think there's just a little too much random-ness in the samples for me to really get into it, specifically the 'soundbites' (as opposed to the music). But damn, do I appreciate the dedication, focus, talent it took to blend all of this together and create something entirely new. So it's a 3...but one I smile on, not one I set aside.

I can respect that this album inspired a bunch of bands. It does nothing for me. Turns out I like Dream Pop - but hate Shoegaze. And when this tips over the line, yuck. I want to hear it without Elizabeth Fraser making syllabic sounds into a mic, but I'll never get that chance. It's a 2.

Absolute first thought: YES. But I'm the kind of guy who listens to 40's Junction on SiriusXM and full background music loops from theme parks. And my final thought: I need to listen to more jazz/big band music. Loved every second of it - each individual track told a story, the instrumentation was spot on...it's a 5.

It's short, it's fine, there's certainly some toe-tappin' goin' on. I gather that this is generally considered to be fantastic, and I wouldn't mind it in the background of a restaurant, I guess, but I won't be playing it again. 3.