1001 Albums Summary

So What - At the beginning this sounds like what I would expect to hear in an upscale restaurant. Classic jazz sound from the perspective of someone with an untrained ear when it comes to the genre. I enjoy the atmosphere, but it doesn't stand out to me until around 3 minutes. The saxophone solo around 3:30 is particularly enjoyable. The rest of the song continues to not stand out a ton to me, but it makes me feel like I should be drinking wine and I don't even drink. 6/10 Freddie Freeloader - The piano feels almost conversational, lively compared to the more toned down brass instruments. Not much stood out beyond the piano to me on this one. 4/10 Blue in Green - This song immediately sounds familiar, is it wrong that it reminds me of Charlie Brown? According to Google, the Charlie Brown Christmas album by Vince Guaraldi is the second best selling jazz album after this. So that shows how amazingly trained my ear is. Either way, I like it the most. It sounds winter-y without being Christmas-y. This song feels like evening walks downtown and watercolor art galleries, less like stuffy restaraunts. It is also the shortest on the album, which is a little disappointing as I found myself enjoying this as a backing track to my writing of this review. - 8/10 All Blues - This track also feels a bit less stuffy than the first on the album, a more mellow and relaxed vibe. Unfortunately a bit too relaxed for my taste, as it all sort of blends together into what feels at times like a loop. It doesn't elicit much of an emotional reaction from me. I don't feel one way or the other about it strongly, it's just what it is. It is also the longest song on the album by a two full minutes which you would think would warrant something particularly engaging to happen throughout. Overall, it was meh, and somewhat forgettable. 3/10 Flamenco Sketches - This song has a melancholy, cool feel. Has me picturing street lights reflecting off wet roads, smoking a cigarrete in an alley, that sort of imagery. I could definitely see myself listening to this on a solo night drive. This is the type of song that could truly add atmosphere to a movie that otherwise was lacking. 8/10 Top tracks: Blue in Green, Flamenco Sketches Overall, this album feels like something I would hear in an upscale restaraunt that I couldn't afford. I enjoy it, it is pleasant to to listen to, and the technical abilities are far beyond what I will ever possess in any area of my life, musically or otherwise. When searching the album and trying to understand what it is that makes this album untouchable for many, most people point to the fact that it was the first to do exactly what it did, it was revolutionary, it inspired every jazz album and musician that followed, and that is respectable, but I have little to no interest in including how influental or groundbreaking an album is in my review of how much I liked it on a personal level. I don't see myself diving a whole lot deeper into jazz like this. For me, it doesn't engage me enough to listen to in my free time, and isn't mellow enough to become background music. Music like this for me is similar to visiting a museum, I like to witness it, I like to engage with it, and then I like to go back to my art for simpletons that I enjoy in my freetime. Jazz like this has always been one of those things I want to love, but I just don't know if my maturity is at that level. Similar to Opera or paintings made of 1000s of dots. Maybe 40, 50, 60 year old me will get to that point. For now, I will appreciate it as what it is to 23 year old me, technically amazing art that doesn't interest me much. I will likely give it a relisten and change my review at some point in a different environment. I want to test this album as something to create an atmosphere more than to be intentionally listened to with headphones on. I could see the rating being much higher in a different setting. Overall rating - 6/10 & - 3 stars

This is an album exists to make you feel, some of those feelings will be sweet and warm, others not so much. Four Women is a deeply uncomfortable song that explores trauma and race through snapshots of the lives of four black women. Lilac Wine is beautiful and is far more eerie than any love or heartbreak song has any business being. Despite revisiting the same themes repeatedly, it isn't a repetitive album and it shows real range and depth. Top tracks: Four Women, Lilac Wine Bottom tracks: Break Down and Let It All Out

I can understand the appeal of this. It wasn't bad and I actually saved a couple of tracks from this album. But is this a life changing listen that deserves the hype? Ehh not really. It sounds a bit like Modest Mouse with an orchestra, which sounds way cooler now that I have typed. It's a little theater kid-y to me, but that doesn't ruin the whole thing, just takes me out of it a bit. I saw some people criticizing it for its earnestness, which is stupid. Doing away with earnest music is one of the greatest tragedies of our musical era. But it does walk the Millennial-Burger-Restaurant line a little too close for comfort at times. 3 stars.

Not doing a track by track because there are 18 of them. I didn't care for most. Tainted Love is by far the best song on the album and makes it easy to see why they were a one hit wonder. I can appreciate this album a "protect queer/obscene art" sort of way, but it just didn't do it for me at all. The sexual themes of the album didn't feel in any way interesting or thought out. Felt like someone made a list of fetish related terms and strung them together. Wouldn't revisit this one. Top tracks: Tainted Love, Say Hello Wave Goodbye, Where Did Our Love Go? Worst tracks: The rest of them

I like Steely Dan already, so I'm not going in blind, but I don't think I'd ever heard a song from this record before. Kind of gives off that "I'm a character in a movie" vibe, definitely would be better to listen to on a solo drive (which my girlfriend did actually and I'm jealous of her for that). It's easy listening music, it doesn't exist to make you think (at least not this album) but it's very good at what it does. The drums, the saxophone, it's a fantastic rhythm, and a great groove. Home at Last is the peak of this album for me, it's what yacht rock is meant to be, everyone else can stop trying. High points: Home at Last, Josie

I like David Bowie but this was pretty mid unfortunately. I look forward to the next one, hopefully more my speed.

The first half of this album (Cecilia Ann to Dig for Fire) fell extremely flat to me. It felt like TV show rock music, nothing groundbreaking or particularly interesting. Just noise. This album is extremely backloaded with songs ranging from decent to great. The Happening was awesome, why don't we have more alien invasion songs? Hang Wire and Blown Away are catchy. Stormy Weather is fine, not worth repeated listens and the lyrics are absolutely nothing worth noting as they just repeat over and over. Havalina is a decent outro song without being stand out or memorable. That being said, even the lowest and most simple parts of the back half of this album are better than whatever they couldn't figure out in the first half. Still, not strong enough to save them from a 3 star rating. Top tracks: The Happening, Blown Away Bottom tracks: Rock Music, Dig for Fire

This kind of music smells like cigarettes and mouth rot to me, I'm sorry. The vibes are so bad it's hard to enjoy. And it really isn't anything groundbreaking, I have never cared for this band. There were songs I already knew going in of course. Welcome to the Jungle gets on my nerves, Paradise City makes me cringe, Sweet Child O' Mine has fond memories because my grandma loves it, but really their music just bores me. It is one band I have never tried to get into. And I'm scared as I listen that those songs, being their hits and all, are going to be the highlights of the album. Update after listening: it was slightly better than I thought with my least favorite tracks being the ones listed above other than Sweet Child O' Mine. That is probably the best song on the album despite his obnoxious voice. That being said, I still didn't like it. It's not for me.

"All I really really want our love to do is to bring out the best in me and in you too" It alternates almost perfectly between solemn and upbeat tracks, this helps prevent a blending of tracks that's so common when listening to albums straight through. Need to revisit this next time I feel some kind of wistful, nostalgic flavor of depression. Whether it's nostalgia, remorse, whatever you want to call it, it's bottled up in this album. This is how poetry is meant to be experienced. And the love songs on here are sweet and intimate and the type of songs that make me want to go ahead and elope. I can't think of anything I would change. This is the first album in the list so far that I can say I loved and didn't just enjoy or appreciate. Five stars. Top tracks - All I Want, California Bottom tracks - River