1001 Albums Summary

Four stars for the music, two stars for the vocalist. Put that together and... Probably not something I will go back to again, but I wouldn't turn it off if it came up on a jukebox.

This is a strange one for me -- it feels weird that this is one of the 1001 (or 1089) best albums of all time when it's arguably not even their best album of this decade, let alone their entire career. Still, I think Radiohead's 90s output is my favorite era of them. However...I feel like it's a strangely sequenced album, as (for me) "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" bring the energy the opening two tracks have to a screeching halt. The middle is mostly average, and the last three tracks do end things decently. Track by track (out of five stars) Planet Telex: 5/5 The Bends: 5/5 High and Dry: 2/5 Fake Plastic Trees: 1/5 Bones: 3/5 (Nice Dream): 3/5 Just: 4/5 My Iron Lung: 3/5 Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was: 2/5 Black Star: 4/5 Sulk: 4/5 Street Spirit (Fade Out): 5/5

Another one that I'm surprised to see as a 1001/1089 top album of all times. There are Elton John albums that I think most critics would see as better than Madman Across the Water (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic), but from what I've read, this seems to be the first album where his style fully coheres. It's definitely front-loaded; Tiny Dancer is a classic love song for good reason, Levon is anthemic in all the best ways, and the title track thunders and storms with its string accents. The second half is not as good, but a lot of that is because Indian Sunset, for me, is a victim of being written at a very different time even if it means well. I have a lot of nostalgia for it, though, having listened to it many times as a kid from my parents' CD collection. Track by track (out of five stars) Tiny Dancer: 5/5 Levon: 5/5 Razor Face: 4/5 Madman Across the Water: 5/5 Indian Sunset: 2/5 Holiday Inn: 3/5 Rotten Peaches: 4/5 All the Nasties: 2/5 Goodbye: 3/5

If memory serves me right, this was one of the first records to popularize the CD format (Wikipedia tells me it was the first one to sell a million+ copies). I have memories of listening to this when I was younger as well, though some songs stuck with me more than others. The first four songs are as good a four-song run as I can remember any album starting on. The four that follow can't quite match the interesting things -- 80s MTV homage/parody, 50s rock appreciation, jazzy blues, and whatever "heartland" rock is per Wikipedia's assessment of So Far Away -- that they do. A couple that are overlong, a couple with ideas that aren't fully baked. But, boy, Brothers in Arms is an all-time classic weeper. Track by track (out of five stars) So Far Away: 5/5 Money for Nothing: 4/5 Walk of Life: 5/5 Your Latest Trick: 5/5 Why Worry: 3/5 Ride Across the River: 3/5 The Man's Too Strong: 3.5./5 One World: 3.5/5 Brothers in Arm: 5/5