1001 Albums Summary

Excellent from start to finish. Despite having David Bowie's lovely hands all over it, this album is quintessential Iggy Pop and laid the foundation for what was coming next.

Not an easy one for the uninitiated. Coltrane's album is soul energy in search of something but never really finding it, The timings switch up without warning. Gillespie is playing with modals. The percussion is off in its own world. Coltrane is pushing at the boundaries of jazz and dangerously skirting around the edges of music before retreating back to safety, but only for a moment. Although it sounds like chaotic jumbling at first, you realize on second or third listening that there is not an unintentional note being played anywhere on this album. Not an accessible or easy record to sit and listen to but that's part of the charm here.

I find the production on the early tracks to be distractingly muddy in places. By the time we get to Lady Jane, it's suddenly clear that the Rolling Stones would earn a place among the rock pantheon. Good songwriting and solid playing all combine with Jagger's voice to boost the whole package. Along with the soft and reflective "I am Waiting" and "Lady Jane", we get the rougher edges on display in songs like "Under My Thumb" (nearly 9 minutes long!) and "Doncha Bother Me". This is the Stones walking the line between playing it straight and trying to push themselves just a bit out of their own comfort zone. It may not be risky or daring but it is a ton of fun. Listening to the album start to finish highlights the band's flexibility. Despite being labeled as a straighforward rock band, the Stones had a breadth (country, blues, jazz) that few bands could match in the mid-60s and even now.

Just listening to this album without any of the baggage it carries around these days, I find it fun and spirited music. Back when it was released, it opened up an entire new wonderful world of African music for me that I wasn't aware of and couldn't have easily accessed even if I had been aware of it. I loved the percussion and the bouncy bass sounds that carried through each song and gave the album a peculiar lift. At a time when music was becoming increasingly artificial in terms of how it was written, made, and produced, this album stood out with its uniquely human warmth and craft. Watching interviews with Simon from around this time, it is clear that his interest in exploring other musical genres and art forms was not cynical or shallow in nature or scope.