1001 Albums Summary

I went into this quite curious about the apparent "first true heavy metal album." It seemed I'd gotten a historically significant album as my first one on this journey. The album began promisingly with a foreboding riff, but things quickly took a turn for the worse as soon as the guy opened his mouth and started singing. It should be evident by now that I'm generally not a huge fan of the traditional heavy metal genre, and I don't know what I was expecting, but I was hoping the vocals and lyrical content would be a little less 'Iron Maiden' (who this album makes me appreciate even less, seeing where much of the heavy metal tropes that I dislike and they embody apparently originate from). The musical content grows more repetitive over the course of the album, catchy riffs growing stale and one song barely-noticeably blending into the next. The first track (a self-titled track on a self-titled album, fun) might've been my favorite--it at least stands out as most memorable after my listen. Perhaps it was because my hopes for the album hadn't yet been shattered, or maybe it's a sign to explore more doom metal (a sub-genre apparently stemming from this song). The ending took me by surprise on my initial listen, the album concluding abruptly after a final track about ruined love that might've been better suited as a sad harmonica ballad. To be clear, there are plenty of great moments that are easy to miss if you let yourself zone out, and the band's playing is solid. I'm sure if I had a greater understanding of music history I'd appreciate this album more, but I don't think there's much that could make me like it more. Not a bad album, and very good for what it’s trying to be, but not my thing at all. As a first album on this journey, I’ll say it serves as a lesson to not let your expectations dampen an experience too much and to judge the music on its own terms. My ratings are ultimately subjective and primarily meant to track my personal enjoyment/appreciation though, so… Rating: ~4/10 _____ Album 1 / 1001+

Take a shot every time he says Flavor Flav. Very cool and apparently historic hip-hop album. The chaotic, funk and jazz inspired backing tracks created with significant sampling sound awesome, abrasive in the coolest and catchiest way. It feels a little repetitive at points, but is mostly just enjoyable. As with many of these albums, I’m sure I can’t grasp the full impact it had, both solely musically as well as culturally amidst the political climate, upon release since I have never experienced 1980s New York. Not an album I’d have likely experienced without this generator. Some tracks feel overly self-referential as someone who had no idea who Chuck D, Terminator X, or the S1Ws were before this (though Flavor Flav unambiguously made himself known…). There are several tracks that center around the racial and anti-institutional themes the album is known for that I can imagine being quite controversially received at the time, especially coming from these established ‘Public Enemies’. Chuck D is a powerful rapper, and Flavor Flav grows on you too. I don’t see it being a lasting favorite, but it’s a great-sounding, cool, and effective album. Rating: ~6.5/10 _____ Album 2 / 1001+

Decent little rock ‘n’ roll album that starts off well enough with its catchy blues/folk sound but then meanders through several just-okay songs, many of which highlight the more annoying sides of Petty’s voice. The famous closer American Girl was an alright ending that would've made a more exciting finish to a better album. Overall, this is an album that starts out fun but gradually transforms into Southern Dollar Store background music. It’s a pleasant enough listen that grows more obnoxious (and occasionally laughable, courtesy of this man's voice) than anything after repeat listening, and, ignoring whatever cultural impact this thing may have had, I can’t call it great or an essential listen at all. It's fine. While I can't hate it due to the almost charming way in which it's bad, to quote the track Fooled Again: "I don't like it!" Rating: ~3.5/10 _____ Album 3 / 1001+

Aqualung by Jethro Tull is a thematically-driven not-quite-a-concept-album whose creative instrumentation and varied styles give its sound range from medievally bardic to bluesy hard rock. It starts strong with an awesome titular track whose blend of styles sets listener expectations for what’s to follow. The album transitions into the rest of the first half with the wonderful intro to Cross-Eyed Mary but loses a bit of traction after this song until the second half. There’s plenty of beautifully colorful instrumentation here, but the sparser sections highlight where the album shines most—leaning into either of its best aspects: the more instrumentally creative sections, and the incredibly fun hard rock influenced sound. The album’s energy picks up again with the catchy Up to Me, and My God marks the beginning of the second half where the album truly finds its thematic footing in its anti-religious satire. Shoutout to the flute solo here, because the flute on this album is awesome; its choral section is also one of the most interesting on this album. The groovy hard rock sound briefly shifts into more of that beautiful orchestral color only for the punchy guitar and piano to bring us to the fun, bluesy Locomotive Breath. The final song thematically wraps the album up, making it easy to see how some see this as a concept album: perhaps the truly "poor" ones are not the slimy, destitute characters from the fairytale beginning but the Church of England’s spiritually impoverished priests and bishops, the singer realizing the church’s flawed vision of god and finding his own that doesn’t involve so much “pomp” and hypocrisy. This is a somewhat inconsistent album with high highs that tries to do a lot and succeeds to varying but almost always satisfying degrees, making for an overall quite enjoyable and fairly thoughtful album. Rating: ~6.5-7.0/10 _____ Album 4 / 1001+

Rikki Don’t Lose That Number is kind of catchy but not great. The rest is pretty forgettable, the few interesting or fun moments (largely coming from occasional colorful instrumentation, like on Through With Buzz, or it leaning harder into that jazz-rock influence on some of the later songs like the titular track) far outweighed by generic and mediocre psuedo-"jazzy" rock that was a bit hard to get through with how boring it could be. I was surprised by the quality of East St. Louis Toodle-Oo only to realize it’s a cover of a much greater artist’s work. Almost a 1-star for me, but had a couple mildly redeeming sections. Some people also just don’t need to be singers, and this Dan guy might fit that bill. Rating: ~3.0-3.5/10 ____ Album 5 / 1001+

A Night at the Opera is a decent album that went down in history for its great production and a few timeless songs that make most of the tracks this album comprises feel like comparative filler. Freddy Mercury’s voice sounds amazing throughout, which is to be expected, and the vocal layering that this album is so influential for makes many of the otherwise just-alright songs on this much more enjoyable because of the crisp, theatrical production. You're My Best Friend, Seaside Rendezvous, and Good Company are good examples of this—decently fun songs elevated greatly by that delightful production. Unfortunately, the songwriting on many of these songs is fairly lackluster, which is disappointing considering that this album may as well be called “The One Bohemian Rhapsody is From.” Fellow prog-rockish song The Prophet’s Song joins that star penultimate track in embodying the innovative genre-blending this album is known so well for, and softer tracks Love of My Life and even ‘39 feel like perhaps the only tracks on here with it that deserve their place on an album with the legendary Bohemian Rhapsody, a fantastic song that shines as the highlight of this album and probably of Queen’s career. Being preceded by some of the better, more ambitious songs on this album helps makes it a special moment when its vocal intro ushers in this famous many-would-say-masterpiece that epitomizes and transcends everything that this album is known for. It alone made this album difficult to rate and shifted its score up fairly significantly for me. It would’ve made a far more potent ending to this album than the odd choice of God Save the Queen. There's a lot of good stuff on here, and it sounds great throughout, but a lot of the songs are just not that substantial next to the classics this album is remembered for. The inconsistency makes this album a difficult one to rate, but… it’s a low 3 stars overall. Rating: ~5.5/10 ____ Album 6 / 1001+