1001 Albums Summary

I found it surprising how many of these songs I've never heard before, and I think of myself as a Beatles fan. I guess I've never thought of this as a "real" Beatles album, given that most of it wasn't written by them. But it contains so much of what's great about them - the arrangements are so fun: the inventive bvs on Please Mr Postman, great lead guitar lines, inventive doowop harmonies, often strange drumming choices (the constant floor tom playing all the way to the climax in Money (That's What I Want)), and Ringo suggesting absolutely delighted to take his turn on I Wanna Be Your Man. Sure, some of it is raw and shambolic - Lennon's double tracks, the thin handclaps on Roll Over Beethoven, and the weird stereo separation (obviously not George Martin's fault) - but it feels live, and captures some of the magic of the Cavern/Hamburg. And it's ace.

I was scared of them at 14 - too loud and emotional - and even now I prefer the reggae versions by Little Roy. The sound of someone screaming isn't ever going to be my favourite sound. But I wasn't on the right side of history - clearly this was the greatest album of 1991, and not 5:30's "Bed" or Blur's "Leisure". And nowadays I do enjoy its melodicism. Maybe one day I'll analyse the prevalence of medial chord changes in this album, in particular the way that it supports chromatic melodies. But for now I'll be "he's the one / who likes an our pretty songs / and he likes to sing along / but he don't know what it means". This was, I think, the first thing I've ever listened from start to finish. Pretty sure I hadn't heard any of the last five songs before, and it definitely tails off: "Endless Nameless" is too much. Plus, the stuff that Spotify took me to after this was bloody awful (Jane's Addiction, Fugazi, Pearl Jam) so I think I'm better off having not really been into grunge. Guess I just wasn't an angry enough kid.

Are there too many Beck albums? These jams are fine, if a bit lazy. I suppose it's classic gen-X - Odelay with the edges sanded down. But it's definitely no "Sea Change"

This is a fascinating crossroads record. Stylistically, it's definitely not country and western. Ray Charles took in the country canon and treated it like a jazz head - reimagining standards in the "modern style". To contemporary ears it sounds, ironically, more dated than actual country. We are in full easy listening territory: syrupy backing vocals; gorgeous strings; and Ray Charles in full crooner mode - it could be Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole. Not that that's a bad thing, but it does feel like a long double album, and is lacks variety. I could've done with a few more of the bangers that defined most of his 60s work. The racial dimension feels radical - a black r&b star taking white-coded songs and transforming them, partly as proto-soul and partly 50s balladry, in a style that was neither black nor white. Overall, I don't love the songs (I'm not really up on my country standards), but the arrangements are so classy and the piano playing is sublime.

Despite being recorded in exile, basically this is a straight-up joyous jazz record. Some deep swinging numbers "Masuru" absolutely tears it up. There's also - since it's 1972 - some heavy electric fusion ("Inner Crisis"), and some spiritual jazz - "Unhome" is a particularly lovely meditative moment. That is, until the last track, "Ingoo PowPow (Children's Song)" which is like fusion with African elements, and feels really refreshing. Think Bitches Brew with some chanting. Really good stuff.