1001 Albums Summary

What a terrible record. Musically dreary and lyrically silly. The guitars solos are rockist and the words often inane. And it jumps around in style all over the place. Best track is Mr Soul but only because it borrows the Satisfaction riff. Decent politics, awful music,

Occasionally brilliant. Loses it here and there. And probably could do with lightening up. But never uninventive. And lyrically adventurous at all times. Lots of songs saved by powerful anthemic chorus or crescendo. Bit too much big musical infill. But a real achievement!

Album of two halves. The first half is heavy, and I found it a bit of a tough listen. It was full of anger - but I and I couldn’t hear the words properly. Then, after Exodus, when Jammin starts up, and the subject turns from lament to live, the whole record cheers up and grows wonderful. Was going to give it 3 but Three Little Birds lifted me to a 4.

Brilliant record. A step up from Exodus because it has more variety. Marley seems to have been listening to some Stax soul. Hammond organ. Horn section. Chirping backing singers. And the there isn’t a duff song on the record (although Am-A-Do comes close!). Then there’s the sublime No Woman. Talkin’ Blues. So Jah S’eh. I and I loved it!

Tedious. Lyrically narcissistic. Musically rambling. Cringe making psychology - ‘My analyst told me’. The whole album felt as if was searching for a tune - and never found it. All the big musical moments - brass, cello, French horn - felt like gate crashers at Joni’s album long solo moan party. .