Hangs off the title track quite a lot, but some other stand outs too… reasonable amount of nostalgia attached to this one but still probably overrated.
I guess you had to be there (geddit?)... great title track, the rest, god, I don't want to listen to it again... far too much noodle, not enough meat...
Begone foul music!
By no means their best offering, and extremely varied/erratic, but good fun, signposting the kind of creativity to come. Some classics like Shake Your Rump, Shadrach and Hey Ladies hold this whole thing together.
You’ve got to admire the ambition but as per most concept albums the music gets lost in the wider purpose of the story. Very underwhelmed.
This one truly was en-route to my first 5 but Four Sticks isn’t great, and I can live without Going to California. The rest is absolutely essential though. What a band they were. I can only imagine the excitement of being around when this kind of music was released for the first time…
I really don't think I've heard this album before - it's very interesting. As the initial album of this heavyweight supergroup, it is surprising to see how easily they find their sound. It's very much flower power, westcoast guitar pop with a strong Grateful Dead leaning and the occasional very British-sounding input from Graham Nash, fresh from the Hollies I suppose. Generally very pleasing on the ear. I'm going out on a limb with this one and giving it a 4. 3.75 might be more accurate.
Another of those you perhaps had to be there for... then again, the Sex Pistols came very soon after, and the Clash... The Ramones get a 2 for innovation and the knowledge that a lot of the music I listen to may not have been made without them...
I used to think it was edgy to say the stones were better than the Beatles… nah, that’s just being contrary. As said elsewhere, a below average album held together by a couple of outstanding tracks. Really disappointing.
Not my thing. Talent can’t be denied but too safe… can imagine my grandparents maybe listening to this 40 years ago. Doesn’t do anything for me. Meandering and bland.
OK, well this is quite excellent. Really soulful, beautifully produced... if more R&B was like this, I'd be all behind it. Low-key, "smooth" and more than a little nod to Prince it feels... but certainly it's own thing. A 4 rising to a 5 potentially I'd say! Best discovery via 1001 so far.
A couple of missteps, such as "Why did it have to be me?" (uh, you're not Fats Domino) and "Happy Hawaii" (uh, you're not the Beach Boys!) this is pretty solid... incredible pop writing in the most part, and again superb production. Pretty unfairly maligned as being trite, it's all great fun and super catchy, of course.
Appreciating the context of this release, I wonder if this album is included somewhat on a sentimental basis. No doubt the lyrical genius is still there, and his voice plumbs even new depths… In that it’s super deep on some tracks (of course) but on first listen - that I can recall anyway - this doesn’t come across as super memorable. Surely another Cohen album belongs on this list.
Sure, production is great, musicianship all on point, a strong voice too… but the cheese factor goes up to 11… when I think what artists like Marvyn Gaye, Curtis Mayfield or Bill Withers were already doing when this came out in 1980… this just doesn’t stand up.
Superb. Equal measures euphoric, haunting, delicate... difficult to fault.
Not for me - new age ambient and dub crowbarred together in the most contrived way possible... just about made my way through it
Oh god, don't you hate it when straight off-the-bat you recognize the 1st track but can't be sure from where... apparently Beck samples the intro to Desafinado in Readymade from the masterful Odelay. I shouldn't be surprised, Beck always knew what was good... apart from scientology. Whoops. Otherwise, smooth as you like. I would imagine that a reasonably large percentage of 63 yr olds were probably conceived to this. Oh man, I don't want to imagine that at all actually...
Another of those "you had to be there" I feel.. it didn't set my world on fire but this is 2026 not 1957... there is, however, the promise of something really special in there even if the outlandishness of Bitches Brew was still far off. I'm no jazz expert so don't probably appreciate this at the level it should be appreciated (whatever exactly that might be) but... I prefer The Death of Cool by Kitchens of Distinction. Wonder how often, despite the reference, those two get mentioned alongside each other...
Irrefutably influential and incredibly 44 years old, this is good fun. Some tracks are unremarkable but at the same time there are some stone cold stunners too.
Elvis is back? Where did he go? Or is there missing punctuation? Elvis' Back? Famous for the hips but at least the back got a look in too.
To be fair, all kidding aside, this sounds excellent... largely on the account of ardent remastering I would imagine. However, I know more than a small amount of Elvis but only recognize a couple of the tracks on this album, which makes me believe that this is another of those choices made so as to not be obvious. Elvis' cover of Fever is adequate but I'm not sure about it being sung by a male voice, and it essentially feels unnecessary even though it would've driven the ladies wild I'm sure. Such A Night is a very respectable track and the last two tracks end the album well but otherwise quite forgettable. Sorry King.
oh boy, the end of "The Needle and the Damage Done" going into "Words"... it's always stood out to me as sheer brilliance. I don't love "Are You Ready for the Country?" but otherwise this a generational album. Superb.
An artist I’ve rarely visited, I was interested to try this one. I know Solid Air gets the critical acclaim so was intrigued the album chosen wasn’t that. Despite some high points (especially the superb “Couldn’t Love You More”) this feels decidedly middle of the road. Nice Canada geese on the final track though…
I’d want to give this some more time; it’s got quite an endearing ramshackle nature to it, plus lyrically I know there’s more to explore. Good potential.
I really enjoy me some REM and there most certainly are some stone cold classics on here; but for me there are much more rounded and consistent albums by Micky Stype and the lads (as I don't call them).
I only knew a few of the tracks from this one but it's a very interesting time capsule for early Cure (and indeed alternative music at the time, 1980, as a whole) - the sound is so very sparse and bleak... it's borderline arctic in temperature. They really did tread the fine line between gothic and post-punk even when both were still quite fledgling. I by no means think this is their best output but I can understand why it was chosen for this list. 3.5
God I can't stand Song 2 any more... but the other singles from this are rather good... You're So Great is a little twee but generally sweet and Death of a Party and I'm Just A Killer For Your Love are sinister and broody, a little like something Pulp would have done on This Is Hardcore. And did I know that David Bowie and Brian Eno contributed to M.O.R.? I did not. Kind of makes sense though on re-listening. Oh man, it's very much like Boys Keep Swinging in places... this one is somewhere between 3 and 3.5 for me. In addition to Song 2, I can't really abide Chinese Bombs either.
An album I know so well as to not need to listen to it... I struggle to really fault it. If anything, as I've grown to know the album, Word on a Wing and Wild is the Wind perhaps don't fit as well as the other tracks here, but I adore them nonetheless. Infamously, Bowie apparently couldn't remember anything about the recording of Station to Station, which in itself is little short of a miracle. The Thin White Duke, you shall always be missed.
