I remember when "Riot!" came out and what a mass success it was. I've only heard songs here and there from them since "Riot!", including a couple of this album's big hits, "The Only Exception" and "All I Wanted". But as far as entire albums post-"Riot!", I have been fairly ignorant to their work, so I was looking forward to diving into this.
And really, it lived up to "Riot!". This a solid alt-rock/emo-adjacent listen. In a sea full of this type of music during the late 2000s/early 2010s, Paramore did a great job standing out, and this album demonstrates that.
This was a really fun mix of disco and electronic and confirms what we already knew to be true: disco makes everything better. There was a fair bit of early era electronic music on 1001, and I often found it to be a slog. But with the addition of disco, this sound is a lot more enjoyable to me. The traces of Eastern world music also add an interesting layer.
All in all, a good listen -- there was nothing quite like this on 1001, so props to the submitter for including something that expands those horizons!
This was definitely folk rock bordering on yacht rock, and I enjoyed that. I was not familiar with Bruce Cockburn, but I was taken in by his songwriting; all 8 tracks are written by him. His guitar work is very nice, too and demonstrates great skill. Overall, many moments of this album reminded me of Nick Drake, who was also a new discovery for me in the original 1001 -- hippie folk vibes, strong songwriting, skilled and yet somehow peaceful guitar playing.
I was not familiar with The Beautiful South prior to listening to this album, and I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but this ultimately was not it. I do find the album generally difficult to categorize. For having come out in the 80s, it isn't overly 80s sounding. At times, it's jazzy, poppy, indie-y, and even kind of ska-y. The lyricism stood out as rather interesting on this album; too. Lots of clever word-smithing. And the closing track, "I Love You (But You're Boring)"? Honestly, mood.
All said and done, a unique and intriguing listen that is pretty hard to pin into a box -- and I'm not mad about that.
2000s country was heavily informed by country pop sounds that emerged in the late 1990s. It was around this time (2010) that I recall an intersection between indie, folk, rock, bluegrass, and country emerging and shifting mainstream country music a bit. One could argue that this movement was responsible for shifting country back towards its traditional roots, but with a modern twist. In any case, Turnpike Troubadours were at the heart of this movement.
Turnpike Troubadours strike a difficult balance here: they're twangy, they're honky-tonky, but while maintaining a rooted folkiness about them. The instrumentation maintains a similar rooted-twang sound.
This was an enjoyable, approachable country album that really demonstrates the neo-traditional country sound.
I remember thinking this when this album came out, and I still think it now: nobody does electronica quite like Imogen Heap does, and her take on "Speak for Yourself" is Imogen at her best.
The album has a strong cohesiveness to it. Against the electronic music, the instrumentals create a very dreamy soundscape. Even with the dreamy quality, I have always found this album's opening, "Headlock" to be such a banger; the slow build followed by the eruption of instruments is irresistible. It sets a solid stage for what to expect from this album. And speaking of slow build-ups, I have always found the delicate yet palpably passionate balance of "Hide & Seek" to be satisfying; this song is easily another crown jewel of the album. Even still, as this album progresses, Imogen Heap starts playing in a more alternative rock type space. It truly keeps the listener guessing.
On a matter of personnel, it's impressive that Imogen Heap wrote and produced the entirety of this album and then released it without the backing of a major label. I always enjoy noting such work in my reviews, because doing all of that by one's self is quite impressive.
This album has really held up in terms of sound and my personal enjoyment of it!