1001 Albums Summary

Not what I expected. It starts with an orchestral piece, moves into hip hop before doing a Britpop type song. And that's just the first three tracks! "Tightrope" is a great single! Lots of genres, all over the place. A little show tunes, a little folk, a little Danny Elfman. Uses "Like a schizo" a little much haha.

I think in the context of his career, this is probably an interesting document. But here I am two songs in already wondering how much more I have to go. The classic "Rainy Day Women" is a great listen, but I don't particularly like standard blues stuff, which is where he goes right after that. There's a lot of "sameness" to Dylan according to my modern ears. "Visions of Johanna" reminds me of North Country Fair with more rock instrumentation. Yeah, I'm only on track 4 and I'm pretty bored. I like the playful instrumentation of I Want You. This is the mode of Dylan I like -- pop songwriter. Overall, I think "I had to be there" -- it's hard to listen to Dylan for the first time and not hear all of the impressions and imitations.

Glad I get to listen to this one. I don't think I've ever intentionally heard the whole thing. I remember checking out a Parliament CD from the library when I was in college but Funkadelic, as far as I know, is its own thing. I know a couple tracks here but looking forward to hearing the whole thing. This was a really fun listen. I really liked the five sub-four-minute songs between the two jams. Feels like you can hear a lot of what was to come in rock music, especially in those five songs.

Oof, this '80s production is going to be tough for me to overcome. "Red Rain" is such a cool song but the instrumentation is so Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. The more subdued production works really well on "Don't Give Up." Nice featured vocal by Kate Bush. "Mercy Street" is another cool one. I think I like the darker/quieter songs more. I like Gabriel's vocals and the harmonies are really nice on this one. I don't know if the production has just ingratiated itself to me, but I really like "Big Time." It doesn't sound as corny as the first couple of tracks did to me. Lots to listen to, including lushly layered vocals. I'm coming around.

It's 1999 all over again. "Around the World" starts strong until it hits the first chorus and you realize what Red Hot Chili Peppers are now: an adult contemporary band. Surprisingly, I already know 5 of these songs pretty well. "Parallel Universe" is probably the one I remember most fondly. I like the anxious guitar part in the verses. Otherwise, it's a big bowl of "meh."

This is the first one on the list that I know very well. I think I first bought it in high school. I used to listen to it quite a bit but probably haven't sat with it in over 10 years. It's still nice to listen to it again, especially considering how long it's been and how different it is from all of punk rock I listen to these days (again). When I was a junior in college, I took a girl out on a date and played this in the car to impress her. Looking back, it wasn't just pretentious it was misguided :D I was a band nerd in high school, and even played in the jazz band. I never liked modern jazz, especially the stuff they played in the dentist's office, but Miles Davis, and this album in particular, was really easy for me to hang my hat on. You don't need to think too much to get it. You can feel it all. Had a really pleasant listen via my Airpods. I love hearing the separation of the players in the mix. You feel like your sitting at the feet of the bass player taking it all in.