It seems like I must have heard this album before, somewhere. Hearing it feels like finding a t-shirt you didn't know that you had stuffed in the back of your childhood dresser. I'm glad to have found it but it's always been mine, hasn't it? I also didn't know that "Oh, Lonesome Me" could be made more plaintive. "Tell Me Why" has lyrics that my high school self would have ballpointed into a notebook.
Chapman's voice and her lyrics are a deadly match. Society hasn't advanced and the times are just as vicious. We will always need a troubadour and this album hasn't aged. Even the ubiquitous covers of "Fast Car" haven't dulled the power of this song. "Mountains of Things" is twice as poignant 38 years later.
Definitely some bangers on here but this album, like most electronica in the 90s, suffers from songs that sound nearly identical to my ears. The lyrics for "Smack My Bitch Up" are still a pointlessly misogynistic gimick which is too bad. Honestly, I don't hate this album and "Breathe" slaps. I'd like to give it a 2.5 for being some of the best of its kind AND giving me feeling I've just been subject to some wankers exposing themselves from their vinyl trenchcoats.
Couldn't do an honest assessment of this album if I tried. I could no more review Rubber Soul and The Beatles than rank my spouse. So many of these songs on their own would merit 5 stars. This a fairly strong album from Lennon for lyrics ("In My Life", "Norwegian Wood) but McCartney's vocal delivery is fire; Ringo's honky-tonk baritone for "What Goes On" is an earwig waiting to happen and then Harrison just pops in and introduces a sitar. This isn't just an epic album for the 60s, it's a classic.
Part folk singalong, grief counselling session and rollercoaster this album pushes all the buttons. The lyrics and instrumentation make this a classic.
Neil Young is still angry, he's just learning to cope. This album is a self-soothing set and there's nothing wrong with it. "Vampire Blues" stands out as screed against Big Oil but it's the only memorable track for me.
Oof. I don't want to dunk on this album because Yeezy went off the deepest of deep ends. If you downgrade artists for their personal lives and politics then I think that would just leave us with Dolly Parton. That said, all the misogyny and narcism is a turn off. I'm giving it a 3 because there is both too much and not enough.
This album is beautifully orchestrated and the lyrics are punching you in the gut, right on schedule. So poignant and atmospheric that I can only think that the songs were created as a soundtrack for a pregnant teenager in a very small rural town and her awkward chemistry teacher about to be the lucky pops. I can feel slightly too-plush car upholstery, hear the lawn mowers that start on the 8th try and see a curated selection of brown ties. The songs feel like anthems for grocery carts with one wobbly wheel, toothpick dispensers and smoking on planes... and it's from 2000. Perhaps I just need a nap.
Ce n'est pas mon truc.
Some of the string arrangements and vocals are dated, I will give you that. But get out of Ray's way and let him do his thing and, baby, it cooks. Now this is a classic album but if someone out there wants to do a version of Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Naked (á la Let It Be Naked) then count me in. White people turned the blues into country, so it makes perfect sense that Ray Charles can bring it home.
This album might just upgrade your life. Hear me out. Are you cooking dinner? Are you doing the dishes? Are you logging in to pay for your electric bill? That's sounds dull AF, fam. Now pop on África Brasil. Turn up the volume and let the people know. You may be doing chores but you're still down. Okay, it's in Portugueses but there isn't going to be a pop quiz. And yeah this record is older than Star Wars. But you know what else is old? FIRE
When listening to this album, you can hear echoes of all the artists who are influenced by his work. His voice and lyrics haunt and repeated listens find new moments to treasure. He is untethered by time or place.
This record popped up on a Sunday morning and I was delighted. The harmonies are legendary. The "quit your job and be free" ethos was definitely the vibe. Everything hits just right and I'm not surprised this album appears on the 1,001.
If you were looking for an album to kick start your morning and send you into a whirl of productivity, this ain't it. The vibes are chill and beautiful. Your spine is going to turn into al dente pasta, my friend. You may turn on your out of office notifications, twice.
I checked the release date twice because these songs sound like 70s vintage. Certainly this is a lost album by Leonard Cohen and James Taylor's love child? But 2009 it is and it isn't a relic of some non-existent past but a finely-honed group of songs waiting to be fallen in love with and I think that's the whole reason I'm doing this challenge - to find artists like Bill Callahan.
Like many others, I am listening to this album the day after we lost Dolly. She was an excellent lyricist, a beautiful songwriter and an amazing human being. This record has so many examples of her bright and shiny soul singing "whatever I am, I'm the best one there is". I hope that many more people experience these songs and get to share her unique outlook on the world. "If you see someone without a smile, give them yours".
When this album kicked off I wasn't impressed. Maybe it's dressed up elevator music, I thought? But now I'm on my third listen and show no signs of stopping. Could this be the soundtrack for working from home? There is enough dynamic interest here so that your brain doesn't turn off but it's also more than just "not boring".
The OG. It starts here and it will never stop. The FUndamentals.
Moondance stands up to repeated listening well, as I know from my own experience. While tales of Mr. Morrison himself give me doubts about him as a companion, I’ve taken his album around the world and it’s never let me down.
Abba may be a bit like might Marmite, or as Abraham Lincoln once described it in a book review "People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like." Well, I like this sort of thing and I do like it. I grew up listening to the Abba Gold compilations so hearing an actual album was a a treat. It was essentially more of what I already enjoyed though I do think they mispronounce the 50th state. Their English has always been far better than my Swedish so I'll let it ride.
Phil Lynott, another gone too soon. The tracks on this album are deadly. You can only imagine what being there, in person, would have been. Monsters of synchronicity; everyone is locked in. I'm typically not a fan of live albums as they are typically just a cash grab. With "Live and Dangerous", they can have my money. Definitely worth the price of admission.
Back at the Chicken Shack is a fantastic album but I'm finding it hard not to review it as something else: all Hammond B3 players, which of course includes The Incredible Jimmy Smith. If that was the case then it's 5 stars all the way, especially when you have a a dog on your record sleeve. But the job here, as I see it, is to rate this group of songs so 4 it is.
