1001 Albums Summary

A real struggle to listen to. I enjoyed the first 2 or 3 songs- a compliment to his impressive and well-done song writing- however hearing the same song a further 19 times made Illinois a difficult listen. I understand the love for Steven’s as a song writer, and do not discredit his work such as Carrie & Lowell, however Illinois lacks the ability to pull on the heart strings like Carrie, and leaves you waiting for a big finale… for an hour and a half. We see many long albums that can keep you drawn in and awaiting the final few tracks, however here Stevens left me bored by 30 minutes, and nearly unable to finish the record by an hour. For such an interesting concept, I wished Stevens could have delivered with interesting music, though he failed to do so. Overall an unenjoyable listen, with hints of creative writing, but for the broader experience, left me wanting something that was never delivered.

Mitchell does an incredible job of taking minimal instrumentals, and transforming the song into something incredible with just her vocals alone. This album and the rest of her discography have obvious influences on the likes of Björk and the later works of Bob Dylan, accentuating her immense talent. Blue has left a clear impact on not only female artists but the music scene as a whole. To me, Blue only lacks one thing- a concise and interesting concept. Whilst the idea of her struggle and disconnection with love is clear- “sometimes I think love is just mythical” This Flight Tonight- I just wished it was had an extra layer to make this record even more interesting. That however, is probably my only complaint. The song writing and vocals are immaculate, the lack instrumentals work perfectly to showcase her voice, though incorporate perfectly to fill where she isn’t singing. The music industry has many thanks to give Mitchell and Blue, an inspiring and touching album that helped create the likes of and Björk, and later had greater influences on female artists such as Swift and Lana Del Rey. A beautiful piece of work by one of the best artists of the 70s. 4/5

What needs to be said? Perfect album, one of the few on this list. 5/5

Incredible and groovy experience, nothing like I’ve ever heard before given I’m not knowledgeable of the jazz scene. 3/5

Great album one of the best indie hits of the 21st century. Imo The Arctic Monkeys best. 4/5

Solid, too long. 2/5