1001 Albums Summary

I've heard pieces of this before (including plenty of exposure to "heart of glass", of course) but not sure I've ever sat through it front-to-back. Strikes me as interesting on this listen how... conventional so much of it sounds, even with the knowledge that some other pieces of it are so forward-thinking. I'd be curious to know how the band existed in relation to some other artists that are coming to mind while listening to this (Elvis Costello, Talking Heads) and realizing I don't know a ton about the actual backstory of the sort of birth of new wave in this time period except "lots of the American bands were hanging out at CBGB all the time, then new wave happened" which I would consider a sort of high school textbook analysis level of detail. Time to look for a book to read, I guess!

Funnily, yesterday's album (Blondie's Parallel Lines) was also black, white, and red and was from a rock band that drew from heavier influences while making something that would become a relatively mainstream success via a smash hit. I hadn't listened to this one in a long time, though I "was there" when it came out-- "Fell in Love With a Girl" and its LEGO music video (which is the kind of filmmaking that would sort of define the early "viral internet video" aesthetic) was inescapable to a teenager who saw indie rock as my version of the 90s alternative movement. I think that Davin knew _De Stijl_ (and possibly the self-titled?) before this, but this was where I got on board. There are lots of other weird little songs that made an impact here... 25 years later they almost feel like novelty songs in comparison to the rock anthems like FILWAG, "Hardest Button to Button", "Seven Nation Army", etc. But it's not like other albums were lacking in songs like "Hotel Yorba" or "We're Going to Be Friends" (definitely a cringe-inducing mixtape-for-your-crush staple for people my age-- sorry ladies!)

it is difficult to hear an album like this with fresh ears-- it's been in my life since I was a literal child. It set the template for most of what I like about rap music (though there have obviously been innovations and evolutions since then). What Prince Paul does to repurpose existing music and audio is something I love about music and technology and is technically part of a really complicated story that ties into the current moment with AI and copyright and blah blah blah. But even while I'm typing that "Eye Know" comes on and I have to stop because I just have to enjoy this beat!!

four stars but I’m biased because I was 25 when this album came out and indie rock was approaching a sort of peak cultural relevance. Obama was president. Nothing would ever go wrong again

sorry!!! nothing interesting to say. this shaped my worldview lol