Reviews

The intro to Once in a Lifetime sounds so unique and aquatic

It's not going to blow your mind away, but apparently, the Badly Drawn Boy is its own genre. I'm not sure how to classify this. It's one of those Pop-Rock-Soul-Folk albums .

this album is really good. I never liked oasis (I guess I didn’t care about them) when they were new. It’s so Brit pop. “Don’t look back in anger” is the best oasis song.

Standout Songs: Crosseyed and Painless Once in a Lifetime

Love the music, hate Morrissey’s voice. And his persona. And his lack of interest in song structure. He’s sort of just singing his shitty poetry over jangly music; the Smiths has always felt like a band doing something totally different than Morrissey is doing at any given point. I’ve heard plenty of the Smiths over the years, but never sat down to try and tolerate my way through a whole record at once. Well, here we are. It sucks every bit as much as I remember, but now it sucks for 39 minutes straight. I don’t understand how Johnny Marr can be so badass, but Morrissey sucks so hard that he actually ruins what Johnny Marr is doing. Fuck, this is terrible. 1, and only because Morrissey’s self-absorbed caterwauling ruins all the good things that the rest of the Smiths do. Morrissey is so much worse than the Smiths are good.

I think I’d rather listen to actual sand

Crack open the craft beer, let the Aperol Spritz flow, we’ve a current-millennium, Mercury Prize-nominated album that doesn’t sound like a winning round of London A&R bullshit bingo, that diarrhoea. This might be the only click-track proud, indie disco LP I’ve heard so far that lives comfortably within its cyborg, schoolboy choir Brit bric-a-brac cul-de-sac.

I was 15 years old in 1986 and just starting to explore alternative music to the Top 40 radio that I had grown a bit bored with. Back in those days, it was hard to discover things outside the mainstream. I was starting to listen to a lot of Triple J radio (the ABC’s youth station, then Sydney-based),which would play music that was quite out-there, especially late at night. The Residents toured Australia in 1986 for their 13th Anniversary Show, and Triple J played a short radio documentary about the Cryptic Corporation and played their records. I think they played some albums basically all the way through – I certainly remember them playing the Residents-adjacent Snakefinger album ‘Night of Desirable Objects’ in its entirety. I was too young and baby-faced to get into the shows at the Tivoli or Selinas, but I was really intrigued by these outsider musicians. It gave me the impetus to track down the types of record stores that would actually stock this type of music, which led me to Red Eye Records, a Sydney institution, still open to this day. A lot of the records in Red Eye were obscure imports, eye-wateringly expensive for a teenager like myself. (I still find their prices uncomfortably high – I moved on to other stores that stocked the music I wanted and who would look after me. I ended up working at one of those stores, Scratches Records in Newtown until it closed in the mid 90s. My favourite store these days is Beatdisc at Parramatta, shout out to Tom and Pete). But Red Eye did have a few second-hand Residents’ records, including a 7” EP version of Duck Stab, that I snapped it. A local label, AIM, also briefly released a few Residents’ records locally at reasonable prices, including the 13th Anniversary Tour Live in Japan album, which is probably my favourite Residents’ album to this day. It acts as a bit of a “best of” the early Residents, played with a spooky and spacious intensity. I intrinsically “got” The Residents – their best records are heavily informed and influenced by pop music, but played with an eerie and unsettling outsider perspective (especially their 70s releases – Meet The Residents, Commercial, Duck Stab, Third Reich’n’Roll). I loved the anti-technique, which appealed to me as someone with a strong interest in making music but little actual technical talent. You didn’t need to be a great musician or have a lot of expensive equipment to play music like this or be a good looking rock star type, you just needed ideas and a point of view. I still find it inspiring. Their interest in multi-media meant they were often at the forefront of musical development. In retrospect, it’s hard to believe their videos were played in MTV, but they were one of the few bands to make videos as short films. The Residents influenced what I look for in music. I still like music with a strange and sideways approach, especially if that includes a slightly disturbing humour. Their later albums are often too high concept for my taste (I generally don’t like concept albums), and there is now such an enormous body of work that it is hard to know how to approach it all. It’s hard to decide what is a good representational work from their idiosyncratic and diverse oeuvre. But Duck Stab is a good place to start, I think. It is certainly where I started. I did eventually see the Residents on their 2016 Australian tour. It was a strange and beautiful and funny and disturbing show and just what I wanted from them. Is Duck Stab (or The Residents in general) to everyone’s taste? Well, probably not -- there’s a reason this is one of the lowest rated albums on the 1001 list. But Duck Stab is special to me. I find The Residents’ creativity inspiring, and especially this record. It demonstrates how far you can push the pop music form. And I do think everyone _should_ try this at least once. The Residents (and Duck Stab in particular) opened my ears to new ways of listening and to the fact that there were whole worlds of music that existed a long way outside the Top 40. I will forever be grateful for that insight. I hope that listening to this will have the same impact on someone else as well.

I’d still love to know what exactly the folks from Quebec were drinking during the making of 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭, because this album sounds just as fresh and urgent as it did when I first bought it back in 2005 (I’m European—it didn’t even drop here until then). The mix of raw emotion, orchestral chaos, and suburban existentialism somehow feels timeless, like a soundtrack to the end of youth and the start of everything else. Even after all these years, it still hits with the same intensity—like a panic attack and a celebration holding hands. 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 has long since earned its place as a modern classic. Whatever potion they stirred up in Montreal, it worked.

Vocally, he kind of reminds me of Dave Vanian from the Damned every once in a while. Musically, is there such a thing as too many drums? I think there is. Also, too many vocals. Between the vocals and the constant thumping drums, by the seventh song, I think I’ve had enough, but I’m going to plow through and finish this mess. I owe it to you, fellow listeners, to finish this record. It just kind of feels like style over substance, which is unsurprising, given the connections to Malcolm McLaren, the UK’s #1 purveyor of style over substance in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I fucking hate “Jolly Roger”. This record is corny. The 80’s were abysmal. I was born at the start of the decade and I remember them. Most overrated decade I’ve lived through and I really don’t understand why people are so obsessed with 80’s culture - at least when it comes to popular music.

I can’t believe the top review for this record (as of Dec 2023) is from someone trying to use their PhD in Mathematics as justification for not liking hip-hop. Weak.

Oh fuck yeah, now we're talking. Wait no, I swear I'm not being pretentious. This is the lowest rated album on this site because I guess mostly people aren't very fond of German people smashing metal plates together - who would have guessed. But halle-fucking-lujah, this is something this list needs more of. Albums that make you go "well, that was an experience and now I'm a changed man". Nobody is lying on their deathbed wishing they heard more crappy 80s post-punk or late 60s psychedelic rock. THIS is what we all deserve to be listening to as we embrace eternal oblivion. I'm giving this a high rating not only because I genuinely really love it, but also to help Kid Rock move to his rightful place as the actual worst album on this list. Together we can make a difference. Save the turtles.

Brings back vivid memories of when me and my mate Ray went on a trip to Dresden. We met this rotund goth in a bar, head to toe with tattoos and piercings, real filth and after a while took her into the disabled bogs for a spit roast. We were both pumping away in her with Napalm Death on in the background and her wailing "MEIN GOTT" at the top of her lungs. I remember spaffing all over her back just as Siege of Power kicked in. As i shoot over her, she takes Ray's cock out of her gob and says "do you want fries with that?" in a faux American accent. Anyway, we go outside and there's this gammy little geezer in a wheelchair sitting there furious, giving me daggers, because he's had to wait so long, so I lean into him and I go "I hope you have as much fun in there as we just did you little cunt".

Shit like this on the list is both refreshing and infuriating. Refreshing because it is good, fun, interesting, and also not something I would regularly be exposed to! It's why I started this project and keeps me coming back. It's infuriating because the fact that it is included here means that Robert Dimery, the original author of the 1001 albums list is aware that music like this exists. He's clearly aware that there is an entire world of music out there. SO WHY HAVE I LISTENED TO 200 80s BRITISH NEW WAVE ALBUMS AND 200 SCOTTISH ROCK ALBUMS FROM THE 90S??!!?

Sorry Boomers/Gen X, I was like 20 when this came out so it's one of the best things to ever happen to me. Sorry it's not King Crimson or whatever.

The only enjoyment I got from this was reading the review about the brothers in Dresden and their lovely and talented tattooed friend.

Music for incels to wank furiously by

5: The moustache that appear on Art if you put your thumb on Pauls face on the album cover. 5: The songs.

Most 60's groups had three choices: copy the beatles, copy the beach boys, or sexually abuse minors. These guys changed the game and did all three- Four stars!

This is the 4th Springsteen album I have gotten out of 70, 2nd this week. After listening to the album I ate at a McDonalds, read a Ronald Reagan biography and punch a commie in the dick. MERICA!

i ain’t listening to all that i’m happy for u tho or sorry that happened

The only reason this is here is because it’s from before streaming, when if you bought a shit album you had to convince yourself you liked it.

Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Favorite tracks: Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Album art: Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. 4.5/5

Hey, reader! If you can't find the full album anywhere, email me at sodaco3@gmail.com and I'll send a zipped file of the songs. John Zorn. Hmmm.....let's talk about John Zorn. He's a jazz artist (saxophone) who specializes in avant-garde jazz. This alone will turn away quite a few people, and I can't blame them: avant-garde art is inherently pretentious with it's "ooo, look at how I deconstruct certain pervasive elements in art and rearrange them for new experiences". It's pretty anarchist, and anarchists SUCK! Given this, I'm pretty surprised that Zorn is even on this list. I would've went with his much more popular "Naked City", but maybe that was too "jazz-rock" for 1001. Regardless, most people are going to walk away not enjoying John Zorn's work. So, what is he doing with this album? Well, he's got a 5-piece band built of two alto-saxophones, a bass, and TWO DRUMMERS! Neat. Double drummers is always risky but it's avant-garde so we'll let it slide. Cool production note: each saxophone is playing in a different channel (Zorn is in the right; listen for his licks!). Also of note is that everyone playing is improvising, giving a sort of full sound that surrounds the listener like a chaotic hug. Can you feel it? Zorn's compositions are interesting, as he opts to do these much shorter tracks that don't stick around for long before moving on the the next one. Zorn is heavily inspired by the hardcore punk scene in New York, London, and Tokyo at the time, particularly the rise in grindcore (see: Scum by Napalm Death). That sort of quick-and-dirty, attack on the ears is something that was very much inspired from grindcore and can be seen crossing over in jazz through Zorn. Again, most people will not like this, but for what it's worth I think it's a cool approach to jazz. By the 80's, Jazz had pretty well split; smooth jazz was on the rise with the likes of Kenny G, producing the most accessible, commercial music possible. Meanwhile, Jazz was being used more as a prop for other genres, such as acid jazz in the UK being a combination of electronic beats with jazz (great for clubs), or hip-hop producers incorporating jazz samples in their beats, leading to the rise of jazz rap in the late 80's and early 90's. This comes AFTER the prominence of avant-garde jazz actually, so Zorn is late to the party and very much on his own. Regardless, his approach to jazz with the mindset of hardcore punk makes for a fresh and thrilling listening experience. Overall, I think there's a lot one can take from this album, but they'll need to be open to the weirdness of it all. Do not expect structure, melodies, and rhythms that ground most songs. Instead, listen for how each instrument is playing off the others while also being totally independent from the song. There are times in this record where the stars align and you can hear the purposefulness of Zorn's band coming together in creating some really rad shit. But you gotta be open to it, or you'll just walk away thinking it's a total stinker. If you liked this record, consider listening to Ornette Coleman's stuff! I recommend "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and "Free Jazz", both records that did NOT make this list because Coleman ISN'T ANYWHERE ON THE LIST, DESPITE HIS NAME BEING HONORED BY THIS ALBUM. FUCK YOUUUUUUU 1001 ALBUMS!!!!

Rage In Favor Of The Machine.