1001 Albums Summary

personal review ignore inconsistent grammar / restating of points / poor narrative. It's starting off really strong with "And It Stoned Me", great guitar tone and solo near the end of the song, singing is overall unimpressive technically but emotional. CLASSIC 70s vocals. Kinda hate that he's anti lockdown and republican but he's also really old. Second song "Moondance" is incredibly jazzy. Not sure if his vocals suit a track like this quite as much. Still pretty good. I like the woodwinds. How did he do that at the end of the song when he said "la la la" white boys don't do that anymore. He's trying to be a black woman. Crazy Love confirms this. Very soft, feminine vocals. I'm pretty sure the backing track is black women? Weird comment I know, but it is a little jarring for the album cover. Apparently 'Brown-Eyed Girl' was originally called brown skinned girl. I'm pretty uneducated on this but it seems like he's appreciating rather than appropriating. "Switch on your electric light" is a pretty funny lyric because apparently in 1970 they had to clarify. Caravan is a very enjoyable track. Banger. Could see me playing this for a Instagram story while golfing or cruising around the suburbs. A little yacht-y (see what I did there? I didn't). The foghorn on 'Into the Mystic' is pretty great. "I wanna rock your gypsy soul", contrasts that by being a pretty weird line. A little fetishizing and reminds me of what we read about in comp lit 114. Although its much past that time the remnants are still there. It's pretty gross. Maybe I'm too woke. People seem to really love this song but it's not for me. "Come Running" did not really grab my attention, will relisten. Sax solo on "These Dreams of You" rules. It sounds a bit like the saxophones are layered for harmonies but I think that there's only one sax player in the band? Were they mixing? I was not aware. This album almost feels after its time. "I've be used bruised and so confused" Is the type of low hanging fruit line that you only see on older records and I'm going to go against the grain and say that lines like this objectively suck. Art takes creativity. Art takes cohesion. The layered backing tracks on Morrison's records juxtapose his simple vocals. "My heart is fill // I've got the will // And I don't really feel so mean" He's bringing me back in. Maybe the contrast between his lyrics and the backing track does him a service?. "Brand New Day" is probably the most interesting track to me so far on the record. The clavichord on "Everyone" really comes out of nowhere. This is Ren Faire music if I've ever heard it. Cool Ren Faire music. Saying 'everyone' like 9 times is not a chorus Van Morrison! Why were people so bad at choruses back in the 60s-70s? It makes me actually mad because their verse writing is arguably better than it is today. But in modern music which has almost done away with the verse a song lacking a strong chorus just sounds so forgettable. His vocal Timbre might be the best part of his music. That isn't to say that the backing tracks aren't great also. His voice is so distinct. It comes out really well on "Glad Tidings" but the backing track is a little boring for my taste! Overall this record has some pretty decent highs. But is pretty forgettable. I also don't like 'Van' very much at all. After reading some reviews I've settled on a 3/5.

Low feels dated because its structure feels dated, not because its sounds are old. The record cuts itself in two. I understand the idea, and I don’t think the second half is worthless. I just don’t love divided albums. An album should feel like one piece. A paragraph can turn, but it still has to stay with itself. The first half does that. It sounds like rock being pushed forward without losing its body. The songs are sharp and strange. The backing tracks have depth. The drones give them motion instead of just mood. Then the album changes shape. The second half has dread and distance, and I can hear what it is reaching for. But it moves me less than it interests me. It feels like an early sketch of ambient as a full language. Eno would make that argument better on Music for Airports. Here, the idea is there, but it still feels unfinished. That is where Low loses me. The first half still feels alive. The second half feels important, but more tied to its moment. I respect it more than I want to return to it. Bowie’s vocals add personality, but they also push against the texture sometimes. They can feel scattered, like he is pulling the song toward himself instead of sinking into it. I don’t think modern vocals have less character. Geese makes the opposite case. The voices are strange and specific, but they still belong to the songs. So Low is interesting, especially song by song. As an album, it feels uneven. The second half matters. It just does not make the record feel whole.