1001 Albums Summary

I was struck by how much Within You Without You reminded me of Gorillaz’s Orange County motif. Not a connection I would have thought to make. Some of the sound effects are chaotic in a way I have come to associate with the later Beatles sounds. I can imagine parents of the time calling it a headache. It’s hard to rate a Beatles album, especially when it is such an iconic album. I haven’t ever listened to it all the way through but I found, as expected, that I knew a fair few.

Angst, cynicism, dark humour. It reminds me of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. Reed’s stark figure on the cover evokes the image of the 1931 Frankenstein, a monster of a modern, post-war age.

damn i didn't realise all these songs were not by the beatles

A chill, jingly album. I especially like Big Sky and the song which gives the album its namesake. I do often feel a bit underwhelmed by the Kinks, however. I am not drawn to the cheeky, light hearted nature of it all. This exercise seems to be illustrating to me how much lyricism and emotional honesty in music draws me in much more.