1001 Albums Summary

I remember first hearing the Arctic Monkeys and liking the return to rootsy, raw rock sensibility. On this album, I liked the "garage" quality that gave it power and honesty. I was impressed with the guitar sounds - some of them expanded the sonic palette nicely. The central figure to me seems the vocalist. Unusual quality of voice and style, mixed up front, lyrics biting. It's all attitude, all the time. Rock indeed.

This is a worthy soulful, retro, low-fi effort. The mood is chill and I find it uplifting. I think a wide range of people would enjoy this music. I particularly enjoyed the melodic approach and the relaxed grooves. There was a nice balance of simplicity and layering.

I'd heard the name Fatboy Slim, but I wasn't aware of how familiar I was with some of his work. Some of it is good stuff. But not really my kind of thing. Good manipulations. I'm more into musical conversation. That is not this. Fucking in Heaven is truly obnoxious and horrendous. This type of music, I suppose like much of dance music, is repetitive. To me, it's repetitive to the point of annoyance. Some of it is the self-referential type of lyric that reflects a narcissistic generation. The artist assumes we care about them. We don't. We care about us, or the world as a whole. I prefer something that contributes to a shared experience/understanding. This doesn't attempt that. By the time I got through Build It Up, Tear It Down, it was all I could do to keep going with it. I said "thank God!" to myself when the album was over.

I like Springsteen more as a songwriter than a singer. I respect the musicianship on this album too. I like Badlands quite a bit. But a little Bruce goes a long way for me. These songs are BIG. They have space and density at the same time. There's a yearning quality to this album, and perhaps Bruce's music in general. Some of these songs deserve their place in the annals of rock history, namely Badlands, Prove It All Night, The Promised Land, and Darkness at the Edge of Town. I did not like the vocals or the guitar solo in Streets of Fire - annoying. It was enough for me to downgrade the album from 5 stars to 4.

I know this album very well. It’s one of the albums I’ve probably heard most, in fact. It’s breakthrough. What three guys can accomplish- wow! Each is so talented, and they work si well together to create a coherent whole. They take us to places we’ve never been before. In this case, a dystopian future. We could do well to heed some of the warnings about too much trust and reliance on authority. The music is iconic, and I think the title track may have been responsible for the invention of air drumming. Panned or ignored when it came out, it survives as an important breakthrough, if nit masterpiece. Definitely 5 stars.