1001 Albums Summary

Hell of an album to kick off this project. I am going to refrain from comparisons to albums like Revolver or Abbey Road, as that's very 'apples to oranges' and it's just not the space that these earlier Beatles albums occupy. This is the Beatles at peak Beatlemania: young, dumb, naive, full of love and optimism and whimsy. The writing from John and Paul just pops (this is their first full originally written album), and this early Beatles sound was foundational in building 1) the sonic footprint of the 60's and 2) the massive public goodwill necessary for more risqué projects like Sgt. Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour (or songs like Yellow Submarine or Maxwell's Silver Hammer lol). An iconic and decade-defining sound wrapped up in a tight 30 minutes. Great for what it is — a foundation — which is how I’m evaluating this album Favs: - Hard Day's Night - I Should Have Known Better - If I Fell - And I Love Her - Tell Me Why - Can't Buy Me Love - I'll Cry Instead

I'll always have a soft spot for 70's British rock, so even though I haven't listened to a ton of Bowie, the overall sound is still pretty familiar. This felt like leafing through my parents' old photobooks — there's gold-tinged hue that settles over the whole album. A good album for a lazy Sunday morning. Eight Line Poem is such a treasure. Bowie's howling and the wailing guitar are nigh indistinguishable, and he just pours his heart onto the track. Might be my favorite track on the album. Changes and Life on Mars? are well-tread territory but this is the first time I really listened to the lyrics and I just gotta say #wow. Kooks really irritated me for some reason. It feels very out of place. I wish I had a better explanation than that. The songwriting is sincere and assured, but hearing all of the different styles he was trying out, I get the sense that Bowie was still settling into his musical identity here. God, Bowie has such a unique voice though. Not the most technically proficient singer, but the personality is just bursting at the seams. The player in me is a big fan of how piano-forward the instrumentation is on a lot of the songs at the front half of the album, especially on Oh! You Pretty Things and Fill Your Heart. The production feels really open and airy, and the flow of the album has a nice ramp up and down. Just like for Hard Day's Night, you can see the foundation being laid for later albums like Ziggy Stardust here. My true rating is a 3.5 but I'll round up to 4 here since there's no half stars. Favorites: - Changes (a bit overplayed but a banger) - Eight Line Poem - Life on Mars? (for my money, Bowie's best song) - Quicksand - Fill Your Heart - Song for Bob Dylan - Queen Bitch

All told, a middling album when you consider an artist of Stevie Wonder's songwriting prowess. For me, this registers as slightly more than "the album with Superstition on it". To be clear: the production was very strong, and his departure from the Motown mold of his early career is a welcome change. I love how heavily the sound leans on drums and bass, and the synth work is pure magic. Not as orchestral/string-y as Songs in the Key of Life, but the pianist in me was a big fan of the heavy usage of Rhodeys and clavs (clavinet, not Clavicular). HOWEVER, the overall songwriting was a big mark against this album. Way too heavy handed with the lovey-dovey themes for my taste, and frankly just boring a lot of the time. It felt like the lyrics were asleep at the wheel for long stretches of this album. Song notes: - Maybe Your Baby has got some serious oomph. Coming off the intro track, it hits like a ton of bricks, hot and heavy and funky. Love it. - You And I is like warm honey. Sometimes all you need is a piano and a voice (and a little bit of synth). - Tuesday heartbreak had me making some serious stank face and shaking my head like a seal, Stevie-style. - Big Brother reminds me a lot of Village Ghetto Land on SITKOL. Stevie is nothing if not politically outspoken. One of the few tracks with strong writing. The harmonica just rips. - Blame It On The Sun is lyically bland, but I really like the way he uses the drum kit to keep the song from falling into straight up sleepy territory. Favorites: - Maybe Your Baby - You and I - Tuesday Heartbreak - Superstition - Big Brother