1001 Albums Summary

Mannish boy was awesome, real bluesy groove. It's repetitive, but in the best way. Great harmonica - guitar solos - piano; they all show up throughout the album, often in the same track. I think there’s some - just some - merit in the comments that suggest it all sounds the same, but if you can get into the blues, then I think it's unlikely this won't be your jam. I would be remiss not to note that Mannish Boy is iconic, so much so that it is the tune Darryl uses to cheer Michael up during the drive back from moving Holly to Nashua #employee transfer.

Things that impressed: - their ability to do so many things within individual songs in this album (Jesus of Suburbia, St Jimmy) less so by: - all the angst. I am sure it resonated with the 21 year old, but less so with the 42 year old. This exercise is great for reminding you of the songs you loved from this album, and revisiting the tracks you didn't really connect with the first time - but find pretty great (Homecoming).

I will admit that I don't think I'd ever listened to AW before this album came up, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. What impressed me: - just 19 years old when this came out, clearly a powerhouse singer right out of the gate - I should be embarassed about what I'd accomplished at the same age (which we basically are/were) not so much: - just isn't really my genre or style

What I liked: - I never knew this group existed, and it added dimensions to what I thought was going on in the music scene in the 1980s and 90s. They said the Manchester scene was dominated by groups like the Smiths before these guys, and you can hear a bit of that sound in TSR. Pretty cool. Not so much: - the most damning thing I could say is that it was somewhat underwhelming. Not much of a critique, but it is what it is. Strap yourself in for an impromptu jam session at the end of a few of their songs. There's often a false bottom to their tracks that has 1-3 minutes of additional jam time.

SR has some tracks I genuinely love, but taking in a whole album can be a lot. I recall using them a lot studying in my uni days. Impressed by: The ethereal magical sounds. I remember loving it in Vanilla Sky. Not so much: There’s only so much other worldliness I can handle.