This is a great album that's an instant throwback to a happy wild wide-open time -- musically and personally! Thrillingly fun tracks, with "Clint Eastwood" obviously surviving as the stand out that may well survive on radio and playlists until the end of human's time listening to tunes here on earth. Buoyant and maximally produced in a fun, fuzzy, head-bopping way. While I never fully understood the animated character concept, the vibes and beats and tunes are undeniable and awesome. Some of the deeper cuts here (which I may or may not have ever listened to!) are a little grittier and a lot weirder. Cool that this album contains multitudes, who knew!?
Hard not to compare this (unfavorably) with the Beatles -- it sounds SO much like late-stage Beatles (obv). So trying to evaluate it on its own, completely separate, merits is hard...almost impossible. At the same time, there is no more obvious master of tunes and hooks than McCartney. So in a world where the Beatles never existed this is a super fun, groovy rock and roll album, filled with energy and spirit.
Some of the "goofing" (Mrs Vandebilt) feels a little forced and derivative of the madcap Beatles tracks. If I had any complaint it would probably be that it overall leans a little TOO light and borders on insubstantial. But Band on the Run and Jet are deservedly pop classics and the rest of the album still holds up in 2026 as the most classic form of classic 70s pop-rock.
Never heard of Hugh Masekela before (as far as I know!?). This album rode the line in terms of the jazz I prefer -- I am more of a "mellow" and "melodic" jazz guy personally. But, while being mostly upbeat, this has a nice balance of melody and tempo and wasn't all wild and crazy dissonance. Overall, an enjoyable listen -- not one I will be returning to regularly but one I'm glad to have heard!
Pretty crazy this album is from 1967. Could pretty easily have been a band from yesterday. You can certainly still hear the resonances at the forefront of our music today. I'm not a hard rock guy or an extended electric guitar solo fanboy, so some of this isn't what I would choose to listen to in a vacuum, but there's still a ton of tunefulness and rollicking glee I can enjoy. Overall, an undeniable classic and I enjoyed hearing some of the deeper and album cuts you don't hear on the radio these days.
fun to listen to -- again not exactly my cup of tea musically for an entire album, but obviously some stone cold classics in here that are still completely delightful.
LOLOL get me out of the 70s! This is another "great album" that isn't fully to my personal taste. I like this OK without LOVING it. A little bit of Byrne goes a long way for me but I know I'm in the minority and he is a legend and an institution. (FWIW I like the artist/guru/institution of David Byrne much more than Byrne's music itself :) )
I can understand the appeal for some but this kind of preening, muscular, churning rock isn't my bag. In small doses, I could definitely like some of these tracks, but overall this album is not anywhere close to being a favorite of mine.
hahaha absolutely not.
Never listened to this album before -- aside from the "bang a gong" mega-hit I don't know that I could even have Identified a T Rex song, it's just never been in my orbit. But this is a fun and great album! A little bluesy, rocky, groovy, weird, catchy... what's not to love!?
Funny to hear an ultra-nerdy fantasy prog-rock version of Queen -- that sounds just like the Queen we all know and love -- just without the massive hits. Fun and honestly pretty hilarious.
Please stop making me listen to David Byrne? This is a great artist who I can like -- even love! -- in small doses...just not at album-length. This is "excellent," "good," "artful" rock and roll that I just don't personally enjoy/prefer. It's good, ok?!? It just gets on my nerves after awhile musically. I'm not a math-rock/art-rock enough guy for Talking Heads, I'm sorry! Please let me continue to appreciate them from afar and occasionally on the radio, 1001 Album Project!!!
Please stop making me listen to David Byrne? This is a great artist who I can like -- even love! -- in small doses...just not at album-length. This is "excellent," "good," "artful" rock and roll that I just don't personally enjoy/prefer. It's good, ok?!? It just gets on my nerves after awhile musically. I'm not a math-rock/art-rock enough guy for Talking Heads, I'm sorry! Please let me continue to appreciate them from afar and occasionally on the radio, 1001 Album Project!!!
stone cold classic! I love (prefer?) some R&B and soul and singing mixed into my hip hop!
for better or worse I absolutely love this!
weird and interesting and experimental and kind of pre-jam-my? Or maybe it's full jammy? I'm not sure as a non-jam guy. But this was mostly funky and interesting, and while I would never willingly listen to it again, I enjoyed dipping my toe into these waters!
weird and interesting and experimental and kind of pre-jam-my? Or maybe it's full jammy? I'm not sure as a non-jam guy. But this was mostly funky and interesting, and while I would never willingly listen to it again, I enjoyed dipping my toe into these waters!
weird and interesting and experimental and kind of pre-jam-my? Or maybe it's full jammy? I'm not sure as a non-jam guy. But this was mostly funky and interesting, and while I would never willingly listen to it again, I enjoyed dipping my toe into these waters!
weird and interesting and experimental and kind of pre-jam-my? Or maybe it's full jammy? I'm not sure as a non-jam guy. But this was mostly funky and interesting, and while I would never willingly listen to it again, I enjoyed dipping my toe into these waters!
I have definitely never tried to listen to a whole Soundgarden album. Too hard for sensitive lil old me, sorry!
This is awesome. Absolutely bizarre and dated while also being vibrant, relevant and thrilling. "Moribund the burgermeister" has got to be the craziest biggest swing for an opening track of a debut solo album ever -- totally bonkers and hilarious -- which leads into solsbury hill, this absolute timeless pop classic. Lows and highs? Or maybe flip sides of the Peter Gabriel coin, beats me. I know I enjoyed this one, despite some giant eye-roll and totally gonzo ("Excuse Me"?!?!) moments.
Liked this one! I know so little about jazz that I'm sure I sound as ignorant as I truly am, but I do need my jazz to have some melody and swing in order to be accessible to a dolt like me. This one is in a good spot -- some challenging sounds and sequences but all of it grounded in enough melody that I can hang on.
Perfect. It doesn't get any better.
I've never been a huge Elvis Costello fan (like some of my friends), but I definitely enjoy his work -- his songwriting probably more than his vocals. That said, I can appreciate him and his work. This album is a great distillation of my Elvis-feelings: some absolute home run songs and a great overall vibe, even as I get a little sick of his voice on and off over the course of a whole LP. He's more of a "singles" artist + songwriter for me -- it can all be a little too much "the same" over the course of a whole album. But still a lot to love in here!
Not really my bag, baby, but turns out I can enjoy a moderate dose of classic mid-90s rap here and there!?
Awesome. I obviously know plenty of classic Kinks songs but have never listened to an album from start to finish. This one was awesome to dive into. I have a feeling I could REALLY get into the whole Kinks oeuvre with a little time and effort. Could this be the start of my journey into Kinks superfandom?
A perfect album honestly.
Love and celebrate the seminal nature of this album, but aside from the gigantic hits (esp Sabotage) this album is only OK for me. In the right mood I can really love 80% of it, but in my normal life its less than that. Still gotta love and celebrate the Beasties of COURSE though!!
Knew nothing about this band or album. (I have heard of Steve Winwood of course.) I must have heard something in my life at some point but damned if I have any idea what.
Having your album kickoff with a squawky Benny Hill-style sax is absolutely hilarious and this whole album was a groovy jammy guitar-noodle-y goof. You can hear the 70s creeping in! But overall it kind of blends into the background of vague classic rock that feels somewhat indistinguishable? Maybe it's a seminal work of genius but it just kinda disappears for me.
Fun to revisit this classic, good stuff.
crazy synth-sounds on here! but really fun to listen to
Embarrassingly never heard of The Specials as far as I know! but enjoyed this ska-pop-punk fusion -- which may seem crazy but actually sounds great and really holds up for the most part!
awesome
LOVE everything about this ... except potentially for the very strange cover! Whyyyyyy is there a mushroom cloud on the cover of this swingin' jazz album from 1958? Regardless, this is an absolute stunner from beginning to end. Loved it.
I dunno I guess this is fun and groovy and cool and everything but I don't really care about it all that much? maybe if I was a giant pothead this would be my absolute favorite thing? Nothing wrong with it, just a lil boring for yours truly.
great groovy chill album that I'd never heard of. loved it.
top top top stuff. heartbreaking -- compounding, easily triple layers of heartbreak: the music itself plus my nostalgia plus the tragedy of elliott smith. all that aside, it's a beautiful perfect album. six stars. three hundred and six stars.
essentially perfect
I can listen to this to broaden my musical and personal horizons for like 20-30 seconds. Unfortunately that's all I can offer; this isn't for me and that's great.
This, if not my favorite album of all time, definitely in my top 3. I've listened to it hundreds of times in my life. Formative, essential, perfect from top to bottom. RIP Dolly.
groovy and funky and fun!
some great fun songs on here, don't get me wrong. but this isn't really an ALBUM that holds up sturdily enough to be one of the 1001 ALBUMS you need to listen to from back to front. If this were just singles, maybe. But I don't think this can or should make my top 1000 albums. In other words, there are some fillers on this album by the killers.
not bad for a ripoff? I dunno, nothing's necessarily wrong with this (besides being a full and obvious ripoff I guess) but nothing's particularly right with it either. Kind of weird to be included here. Like including a KidsBop album
Right after this system gives me the monkees with their direct ripoffs of the Beatles, I get compensated by getting the real deal. Thanks, system?!
this is an obvious master-masterpiece and one of the greatest albums of all time. There should be a special sixth star for albums like these.
First of all, album art is a stunner. Right? Damn. Second of all, this doesn't hit me QUITE as hard as perhaps it does for some folks, who categorize this a forgotten masterpiece or one of the secret greatest albums of all time. That said, I still loved this a lot and was thrilled to go down the Gene Clark solo rabbit hole!!
this is great stuff but I cant get through a whole album. Just too much rocking for too fucking long. But I can understand and acknowledge and appreciate that it's some of the best rocking of all time! Keep on rockin' no matter what I think, boys!
I'd never heard any of this music or heard about this band! Liked it...but it also sounds pretty strongly Beatles-derivative (or maybe the Beatles are so ubiquitous that everything from the British Invasion sounds derivative). I dunno. Some interesting songs and sound but got kind of droning and boring to me. Maybe I needed to be smoking up and ranting about vietnam to really connect with this one. But I enjoy hearing, and learning about, new things!
cool and weird and not necessarily my speed exactly but I really enjoyed it!
I missed being a Sonic Youth youth by a few years but I appreciate them as a band? and an idea? With lots of respect to who they are and what they did this is mostly not my style. I enjoyed listening to this one though!
I have always liked Amy Winehouse's gigantic hits just fine but I really didn't care much for this album at all. Thanks anyway!?
Catchy and zingy. It's honestly aged pretty well!
this was interesting! Never heard this whole album, just Come On Eileen (ofc). But there's more fun to be had beyond that one giant hit. That said, it's basically impossible to hear this guy's voice and not JUST hear Come on Eileen. Fun weird celtic-pop with slight ska vibes? Ok!
wild disco dancin' stuff
always great to get a little Shirley Manson. I don't have enough alt-rock angst to get through a whole album of this, but in the proper doses, it's great stuff.
hahaha out of 1001 albums I get two Amy WInehouse albums in the span of 5 days. No shade, but hopefully that's the end of Amy Winehouse in the greatest 1001 albums of all time? Amy Winehouse is personally responsible for almost one quarter of one percent of our greatest albums? Gotta think hard on that one.
Anyway, this album is a ton more polished, tight, fun, slicker songwriting by a mile, etc etc etc that the earlier one I just got served. Maybe that's all Ronson? Either way, this is a demonstrably better tighter record. It's good, too!
There aren't enough stars.
