1001 Albums Summary

The received wisdom about Led Zeppelin is true: they shamelessly ripped off black musicians, they're all creeps, and about 75% of their songs are just Robert Plant repeating "baby baby baby baby..." over indulgent drum fills and guitar solos. I did kinda like this album though...

Probably their best album. It's more stripped back and raw, bluesier, has less of Jim Morrison's r/im14andthisisdeep poetry (although L'America is particularly rough in that regard) and his vocals sound their most unhinged. Really makes you FEEL like a fat alcoholic with an undiagnosed personality disorder.

Prog rock has to be one of my least favourite genres of music, but I can appreciate why people like it.

I like Hüsker Dü but this wasn't for me. I'm glad the grunge "yarling" vocal style has largely died out.

Did the impossible task of putting me in a good mood before I had my morning coffee ☕️ maybe I'll become a Mambo Guy now?? Was reminded of Who Shot Mr Burns? throughout

Coworker music

Have always been interested in listening to The Teardrop Explodes, partly due to their influence, but also my love for an eccentric frontman. I really like this particular era of British alternative music - and their sound is reminiscent of bands I love from this period, there are shades of The Damned, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, maybe even a lil bit of Television Personalities or The Soft Boys thrown in there - but I struggled connecting with this one fully

I have always liked Sonic Youth, but I've never really been a Big Fan of them like I am for other bands in their scene/era - partly because I used to find their Whole Thing a bit self-conciously cool, and dismissed them as a bit art-schooly (this isnt me calling out art schools though, *Obama voice* let me be clear, but you get what I mean) Relistening to this album, however, I realised I was very wrong. I really loved the apocalyptic textures of this - so stark, spidery, and genuinely exciting. I think their later albums are a bit meh, but this has made me excited to relisten to Bad Moon Rising and Sister - this evokes Gibson more than their later attempt on Daydream Nation

reminded me a bit of The Durutti Column, similarly "good music to chill out to"

Morrissey is definitely missing something without Marr & Co - pretty dry, how did the fatty song make it past the drafts

Strong contender for Most Overrated Band of All Time™️ 🙀CRAZYQUEENFACTS 🙀 This was released just ten years before Queen played to a segregated audience in Sun City!!!

Mostly reminded me of better music from the same period, but I still enjoyed this

For many many years I dismissed Bruce Springsteen as uncslop. When I listened to Nebraska for the first time last year, I realised I was very very wrong - he was uncgem all along

Heaven might be my favourite Talking Heads song

Would highly recommend the film Two-Lane Blacktop, which James Taylor stars in alongside Dennis Wilson. Now that's a fuckin MOVIE

Iconic front-to-back, and one of the great New York albums. Life's A Bitch and The World is Yours back to back *chef's kiss*

The last dregs of the Britpop/Madchester scene. Sure this was well received at the time, but now it is so clear The Charlatans were just a generic mishmash of The Stone Roses/Primal Scream/Oasis/Happy Mondays etc etc.

Enjoyable! But I've always found Kiwanuka a bit middle of the road sorry:(

Steve Albini was in his self-confessed edgelord phase at this point, so it's hard not to cringe at some of the lyrics and subject matter here (although I guess provocation was The Point). Still, there's something intoxicating about this album: ugly, industrial, angst is sometimes good for the soul. Robert Christgau (who didn't like the album that much) hit the nail on the head: "This is the brutal guitar machine thousands of lonely adolescent cowards have heard in their heads." Where he and I differ is that I believe that is a good thing: this is Important representation, and a huge win for off-putting, pretentious, mentally ill, weird guys.

Hilarious a bunch of men approaching their 40's made this album. Still baffles me that John Frusciante continues to be in the Red Hot Chili Peppers when he is clearly so much more talented than anyone else in the band. In a perfect world, he would have gone ahead and actually joined the Meat Puppets. Anthony Kiedis should be in prison.

Enjoyable and light, but borders on muzak at times. I can imagine this would sound unreal if I were high on heroin in a Beatnik bar.

Of Interest, but I still have an aversion to New Wave

Find it so funny that Eels are so inextricably associated with the Shrek franchise

It is just sick

Really liked this - exists somewhere at the intersection of Big Star and Dinosaur Jr.

Was nice to revisit this. I still find Scentless Apprentice pretty jarring, kind of a Scratch Acid ripoff, but the rest is just as solid as I remember. Remember leaving the CD player running after listening to this for the first time, only for Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip to start up and scare the shit out of me 20 minutes later. Probably my favourite Nirvana album. It wears its myriad influences - noise, punk, lo fi indie - on its sleeve whilst maintaining some poppy accessibility. The perverse mythologisation of Kurt Cobain and the endless merchandising kind of precede the band itself nowadays; it’s easy to forget that they were also really good.