1001 Albums Summary

Always struggled a little bit with the Stones but SFTD is a AAA track! No Expectations is pretty lovely with Brian Jones slide. Dear Doctor very funny but.... Parachute Woman instantly forgettable Jigsaw Puzzle nah thanks, druggy shit. Street Fighting Man - best track since the first. Great piano and doesn't out stay its welcome. Prodigal So - just white boys pretending to be black dudes. Stray Cat Blues really like this one. Factory Girl - like a hippy Bert Jansch guitar line and a deep south vocal and violin. Should be horrible but surprisingly wasn't. Salt of the Earth closing anthem of a track that sounded like a different band altogether weirdly. Had Springsteen vibes that I liked. All in all - enjoyed it. No track outstayed its welcome. Thanks to it being vinyl I suppose. Not the classic Ive always been told it was but a solid 7/10.

An album of two halves, with the electronic based tracks far stronger. Opens with a series of engaging tunes, from the euro-pop affectations of Zero to the standout OMDish celtic overtures of Skeletons. But then disappears into a steam of forgettable filler.

So Hole - Live Through This Blistering companion to Nirvana's In Utero with Kurt's fingerprints all over it but with Courtney and Kristen's feminine swagger. And, whisper this, Patty Schemel is a puncher and balls out drummer than Dave Grohl. Not a single weak track, although the standouts for me are Violet, Doll Parts, She Walks on Me and Olympia. Perhaps the greatest set of postpartum songs recorded? Not sure how many other albums have that as a major theme though 😂 8.5/10

Kanye - A lesson in how to make 20 minutes of music stretch to 4 times that length with pointless dicking around nonsense. Occasionally I would find something I liked but then I would remember what a horrible example of a human being he is.

Haven't listen to Hunky Dory in a few years but launches like an old friend with a salvo of perfect tracks. What strikes me still is just how simple the instrumentation is. Piano, drums, bass. Occasional guitar and strings and even more occasional brass. So simple yet so clean and the brilliance of Bowies songwriting of this period shines through. Signposts for so many that followed, and the exact blueprint for Suede, the influence of this album is undeniable. And to believe he got even better still.... Fave Track - Life on Mars Least Fave - Looks (mainly cos I can't stand the band of the same name). 9.5/10

In Rock "Good Golly" indeed! Intro to Speed King hits like a freight train and clears your head of any preconceptions of what is to come (can't believe this was thought to be too much for US listeners and was cut). Having known this album for several decades it had totally passed me by how much jazz influences these compositions, as opposed to the blues derived roots of their contemporary rock peers. Blackmore and Lord constantly trading improvisation, in turn goading each other into more elaborate and explorative solo, while Paice drums with a intricate, unassuming elegance. No one ever beat Gillan at the rock vocal and Glover ties it all together solid and unshakeable. Rock, jazz, proto-glam, even funk at times. This is the finest collection of songs they put together. Most fave track - Flight of the Rat Least fave - Living Wreck. 9/10

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters Liked the first two tracks. Not loved.....but definitely enjoyed. Second two, absolutely no chance. Just not my thing. I'm super sure that they guys playing this are musically brilliant but.....it's beyond me. I'm afraid. Fave Track - Chameleon. Least fave - Sly 4/10 plus 1 for a great cover = 5

Well.... Elliott Smith. Didn't find it objectionable but I didn't really find it engaging either. Kept hearing snippets of other american bands like Pavement, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr, Ween, but nothing on the level of any of those. Fave Track - Rose Parade Least fave - 2.45am 5/10

Van Halen - Van Halen A tour de force of Eddie's unparalleled skills, thrills and tricks. Totall rewrote the book on hard rock and ushered in an era of big hair and spandex! Impossible not to like, but some dodgy lyrics and DLR's not quite great vocal style just takes the shine off for me. Best Track - Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love Worst Track - Feel Your Love Tonight 8/10

Fats Domino Impossible to listen to without a smile on my face. Knew some of the big hitters like Blueberry Hill and Blue Monday but it was the other tracks that laid clear that this is a crucial part of the blueprint for rock n roll and all that followed. Rolling 3 chord bangers with blistering solos and call and response vocals. What's not to love?! Fave Track - either Honey Chile or the surprise dischordant closure Trust in Me. I'll go the latter cos I listened to that three times and HC only two 😂 Worst track - none really but let's say Troubles of my Own 8/10

Suba Enjoyed this. I mean, not in an 'amazing will change my viewpoint on life' or anything. In fact I doubt I'll go out of my way to listen to it again, but I also wouldn't mind if I stumbled upon it one more time. Not really sure how to describe what I did or didn't like as it was way out my normal listening spectrum. But enjoy it I did, and I'm glad that a guy who met such a sad end in life is still being listened to. Fave Track - the Spanish guitar fizz of Pecados Da Madrugada. But could also have been Antropofagos or A Noite Sem Fim. Least fave - Voca Gosta 7/10

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey Like an iron fist in a velvet glove, this album feels like it gives you no choice but to give in to it's relentless, encompassing rhythms. The metronomic guitar chops, machine gun precision of the drums, a bass that rolls like the sea. I love it, and as soon as it got to the end I went back to the beginning. Best Track - Slavery Days Worst Track - None of them but if we have to pick then Live Good. 9/10

Pere Ubu - Dub Housing My first Pere Ubu but not my last, I suspect. Started off with a riff that could have come from Keith Richards only for it to be assaulted by rogue synth sounds. And that is what this felt like. A deconstruction of rock that had come before and a rebuilding into a new chapter. Kind of like if this hadn't happened we coudnt have had the New York scene that gave us Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and others. Tracks all flowed and all had their way of pulling me in for a journey that wasn't wholly pleasant. Best Track - On the Surface but Blow Daddy O, Navvy and I Will Wait were close behind. Worst Track - Caligari's Mirror. I didn't need a deconstructed sea shanty in my life. 7.5/10

Banshees - JuJu Everything is there. Amazing playing, haunting & gymnastic vocals, but after an opening triple whammy of great songs it all falls away for me. Spellbound, Into the Light and Arabian Knights streets ahead of the rest of the album. I mean it's not bad, but just didn't pull me back in any way. Not hard to spot the legacy they leave in modern music, and important I am sure. You can hear them still in Chvrches, Nadine Shah, PJ Harvey and so on. But never gonna be one I will go back to I'm afraid. Best Track - Spellbound Worst Track - Halloween 6/10

Slits - Cut This really bounces out the speakers as a unique,hypnotic reggae punk dub mix. Wouldn't object if I single one of these jumped out again in my playlist, and it has made me want to listen to more. Found I have the Peel Sessions in my collection that I've never listened to but will stick it on now. Highs were Instant Hit, Shoplifting & Typical Girls. Will go with Instand Hit as best track. No real lows at all but let's say Love und Romance went by without me noticing it much. Bjork must have been a massive fan as so much of this foreshadows her vocal phrasing! 7.5/10

Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swinging Lovers Some might nowadays consider this album easy-listening but that would be doing it a huge disservice as it really deserves the label effortless-listening. Sinatra and Riddle absolutely at the top of their game from start to finish. Highlights - the big hitters of Under My Skin & You Make Me Feel So Young, of course. But also the optimistic melancholia of We'll Be Together Again, the amusing take on 'modernity' of Anything Goes and the killer last verse of Makin' Whoopee. Always had a soft spot though for the mystery of It Happened in Monterey, so that is my pick No weak tracks but I suppose I Thought About You if I have to go for one. Faultless 10/10

Adele - 21 Keeping it brief. I find all this musical misery tourism at bit meh. Emotions for the emotionless, hardship for the masses that wouldn't know struggle if it hit them in the face. Undoubtedly a great voice, and a couple of great tracks - Rolling in the Deep and Set Fire to the Rain. But the rest is all too shiny and well produced and a million miles away from reality to mean much to me. Best Track - Set Fire... Worst - Lovesong (pointless and ruining) 3.5/10

De La Soul Perfect from the first second to the last. A fantastical collage of beats, samples, and lyrical dexterity that bounce out of speakers and into your heart. How can anyone not fall in love with this wonderful noise?! Too many highlights to mention, the album flows as a single aural Lord Mayor's Parade. But if I have to pick just the one track, I've always had soft spot for the coming of age innocence of Jenifa Taught Me 😊 No weak tracks but I suppose I can live without the one 'note' novelty that is De La Orgee. Can only be 10/10

Temptations Starts so weakly for a supposed classic album. First two tracks I was totally indifferent to, but then what a stone cold classic in Papa Was a Rollin' Stone. Love Woke Me Up This Morning absolutely sored like a songbird and then it all slowly fell away again for me I'm afraid. Not one I will listen to again. Best Track - Papa... Worst track - Run Charlie Run 4.5/10

System of a Down Impresssive, relentless but became a bit 'one trick pony' by the time I reached half way. I just guess this isn't meant for me. Maybe 3 or 4 decades ago I might have felt different... 😂 Best Track - Soil Worst track - P.L.U.C.K. 5/10 but with a bonus half point as the singer reminded me of Jello Biafra = 5.5/10

Bob Dylan - Freewheel'... A killer 3 song run opens this album. I was hanging on every word, every time it feels like the first time of hearing. In turn, taking on hope, longing, and anger - as a voice for the voiceless. Sounds simple now but mind widening at the time. Yeah, I'm not so keen on the more traditional rambling folk stuff that builds upon the Bank Williams legacy but A Hard Rain.... and Don't Think Twice add to the essential cannon of great Dylan songs. Best Track - Blowin' in the Wind Worst Track - Bob Dylan Dream 8/10

Dandy Warhols I actually listened to it and there's an hour I will never get back. What a load of generic indie shite. The Velvet Underground made some great records but have so much to beg forgiveness for when it comes to all the flacid white boy 3 chord rubbish it's 'inspired' For the first few tracks I'd barely noticed they'd even started it was so ponderously pointless. Finally with Not If You were the Last Junkie..... we finally got to something worth some attention. We then went into the horrendously outdated proto Jesus Jones guff of Every Day Should be a Holiday. Pete International Airport and its pseudo drone rubbish felt like a lifetime. If you really want to feel like your having some existential out of body experience then go listen to some Spacemen 3. Closed with the interminable Creep Out. Nah, just Fuck Off. 2/10

Allman Bros It kind of all became one long jam. An enjoyable jam, but a jam. Standouts for me were the drums/guitar duel of You Don't Love Me, and the twin guitar of Hot Lanta. Bonus point for using two drummers. Always love a duel drum attack 😂 Best Track - Hot Lanta Worst Track - Stormy Monday (which I know everyone calls a classic but...) 7.5/10

Cardigans Didn't really get going for me until three tacks in when we hit Happy Eater II and it's really clever interweaving drum patterns. Never Recover, Step on Me and Lovefool all strong tracks - particularly Step on Me. Realised Cardigans are a bit of an iron fist in a velvet glove. Bittersweet melodies with a hidden undercurrent of menace - the fuzz guitar on Lovefool for example. Of the rest, I thought the cover of Iron Man was absolutely brilliant - can imagine the handwringing it must have brought to countless Black Sabbath fans 😂 Album closed on a casual high for me with the Bluresque Choke. Mostly solid, sometimes flacid, but occasionally brilliant. Best Track - Step On Me Worst Track - Been It 7/10

Miriam Makeba What a change of pace, style and culture. And what a voice. As celebratory as it is heartbreaking. Much preferred the more indigenous siding songs to the ones that seemed to be there for western ears. The raw honesty of Umhome, the near weeping chorus of Olilili and Saduva meant for more than the fripperies of The Naughty Flea and the House of the Rising Sun cover. And the surprise of Mbube that revealed the origins of The Lion Sleeps tonight was a delight. Whilst I don't think I'd choose to listen to this as a whole again, many tracks would be a pleasure to stumble across once more. Best Track - Umhome Worst Track - The Naughty Flea 7/10

Kings of Leon Bit of a surprise this one. Musically really tight and quite left field. Almost some echoes of UK post punk in the inventive bass lines and tight drums. But bloody hell, the lyrics are awful. Think dribbling, adolescent, sex obsessed teenager and you're right there! Best Track - Slow night, so long. Shades of Joy Division in this one - which I wasn't expecting! Worst Track - Soft. What a horrible misogynistic mess of a song. 5/10 - all for music.

Dusty What a change of pace but what a treat this felt like. Every note perfectly place, every string, every lyric landed so smoothly. The whole album felt like a different moment. Like that coffee in the garden before the world wakes up, like watching the sunset over the sea, like holding a drink in your hand and listening to the ice crack as it slowly melts. This was to be enjoyed as a single musical moment. For an album seemingly born from frustration, and one that was doomed to commercial failure it comes across as a unmitigated triumph. Only blemishes were some misplaced sitar on In the Land of Make Believe and I still don't know if The Windmills of Your Mind sits comfortably in this set. And the closer is a bit of a weaker song after the heights of the rest. But I'm nit picking if I'm honest. Best Track - Could be almost any but Breakfast In Bed is the one the got the repeated plays. Worst Track - Land of Make Believe for those sitar embellishments. 8.5/10

The Verve - Urban Hymns Another album born from confusion. Dealing with the elephant in the room, the opener Bittersweet Symphony is without doubt an end of the 20th century classic. A masterpiece of arrangement, production and performance it sets the bar impossibly high for what is to follow. And whilst there are some high points in the form of Sonnet and The Drugs Don't Work, the rest of the album rests in the shadow of that opening. Very much a collection of two mindsets. The songs - the aforementioned and the likes of Lucky Man and One Day, and the jams - like Catching the Butterfly, Neon Wilderness and so on. And when the treated guitars of McCabe add much needed colour to the former, they ponderously plod on the latter. And This Time is the worst Stone Roses 'lite' I've heard. Fortunately there is one last redeeming moment before the end in Velvet Morning. This paean to Lee Hazlewood echoes not only Lee but also the best of Neil Diamond during his travelling troubadour phase. The album should have finished there. So....hard to score. Some bits great, some bits pointless. At 76 minutes this could have been a much better 40 minute album. 7/10

D'Angelo Every Song Sounded Like The One Before 🤷 Favourite - the first track Least favourite - the first track 1/10

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust I'm calling Emperor's New Clothes on this. Following the perfection of Hunky Dory, there is no way this collection of weaker songs, lighter melodies, and more cluttered arrangements hits the same heights. The big hitters of Star and Ziggy are over rated, there's filler galore in Hang on to Yourself, Lady Stardust and It Ain't Easy. Suffragette City is the only great tune. And the whole 'concept album' thing was only cobbled together to cover up a collection of stuff with no direction. Best Track - Suffragette City Worst Track - Starman (sounds like a bloody Rolf Harris song or something) 6/10

Al Green Not really my thing but even I could tell that In terms of feel and vibe, this is everything that D'Angelo album wanted, and failed, to be. Smooth but with edge, soulful but without being plastic, frank without being fake. Best Track - La-La For You Worst Track - Judy 8/10

David Bowie - Station to Station Didnt really know this album but listened 3 times on the trot as I was so blown away by its brilliance! Leaving the UK glam scene behind, to fester in its bloated, pantomime death throes, Bowie embraces the sharp, tailored sound of LA. At the height of his cocaine habit the cool, thin white Duke is untouchable here from start to finish. Favourite track - all of them but the relentless Station to Station has to take it. Least favourite - like picking your least favourite child, but I'll say Golden Years 10/10

The xx - x Pleasantly surprised that I quite enjoyed this one. I always moan about modern music having so little space, but here we have nothing but sparse, echoey arrangenments where every note and beat is there for purpose. Shades of UK post punk, and bedroom indie - all the stuff I like. Amongst the tracks I went back to was the perfectly formed Intro, the Roy Orbison in a dark alley sounding VCR, the brooding duet Islands, and the build up and release of Infinity. Least fave were the slightly messy Crystalised and the close Stars which never really amounted to anything. Dabbled with the bonus tracks of the deluxe version and would quite happily never hear their version of Teardrops again 🤦 Do You Mind is a beauty though. A really lovely surprise 8.5/10

Pretenders - Pretenders Listen on vinyl and glad I did as this really is an album of two halves. Tracks 1 to 6 explode with visceral inventiveness and excitement. The clever syncopations and machine gun guitars make the first 20 minutes of this collection an absolutely delightful and surprising thrill ride. Then there is the 'odd man out' Ray Davies cover of Stop Your Sobbing. They debut single produced by Nick Lowe before he gave up on the band, it sounds like a completely different time and place. Side 2 presents, to me, a completely different direction with Hynde seemingly already wanting to accelerate the 'maturation' of the group. And, to be honest, I don't really enjoy it anywhere near as much. Yes, Brass in Pocket is a great song but it isn't what I want after the moddish thunder of The Wait, or the in your face Precious. Would make a phenomenal mini-album 🤔 Best Track - hard call but gonna go for Tattooed Love Boys (still get giddy at that 'miss a beat' drum line) Worst track - Mystery Achievement. Such an anonymous way to end. 7.5/10 pretty much all for the first half.