#1/1001🇺🇸
My first album on this project and so good to start with something out of ny normal listening habits. A wonderful slice of Big Band, Swing, Jazz - not really sure on the correct way to label the genre.
So evocative of sitting in a smokey bar drinking bourbon in the 1950s.
#2/1001 🇺🇸
and a Beatles album already.
This is great fun, packed with 2 1/2 minute pop songs. Its obviously part of their evolution but I'm (maybe unfairly) comparing it with their later more experimental records, so its getting 3 stars.
Can't buy me Love and And I Love Her are the stand out tracks for me.
#3/1001🇬🇧
Listened to this loads when it came out but its been a long time since i heard it in full.
Its been a blast hearing it again, in particular through headphones out walking in the snow this morning.
I'm giving it a solid 4, but will i come back to it again any time soon? Probably not.
Best songs Idioteque and National Anthem.
#4/1001🇺🇸
Mixed feelings on this having only heard the title track before. The hip-hop / electro tunes are more interesting for me, but i'm not so keen on the 2 more soulful ones on side two.
Its an important document of the evolution of music in the early 80s and deserves its place on this list, but doesnt feel like something i need to come back to again and again.
#5/1001 🇬🇧👨🎤
Bowie's Soul album. A re-invention coming off the back of his Glam rock phase.
The beauty of this album is mostly in the band and singers assembled. I love that a young Luther Vandross is one of the backing singers.
The breathless title track and Fame are brilliant. Track 2 - Win is a standout for me too, but i'm not so keen on the cover of Across the Universe.
It's not my favourite Bowie album by a long stretch but there is a lot to love about it.
#6/1001 🇺🇸🏴
Takes me back to my last day of 6th form, buying a very ltd edition copy of Vow. It was a hideous sounding press in a cool metal sleeve. I collected all the other singles too, in equally cool sleeves but got a bit bored of the album and gave it away to a girl that i fancied.
Relistening, the singles sound great still, Shirley's vocals are superb and the production is on point. So, i guess it maybe just seems a bit false and contrived. Is that because i pinned too much on NME or Melody Maker reviews at the time?
Garbage always reminded me of more poppy version of Curve, who i absolutely loved, although i doubt that we'll see them on this list.
I'm going for a very solid 3 stars here. Enjoyed relistening twice today but not likely to rush back.
Best tracks for me are Milk, Only Happy When It Rains and Stupid Girl.
#7/1001🇺🇸
The first artist that was entirely new to me but i did know quite a few of the tracks from later artists like Nick Cave, Jonny Cash and Nirvana.
At the first track, i thought how am i going to get through this one? I found the brother with the higher end vocals a bit grating. I persevered and found it quite enjoyable, i've often found this with bluegrass records - enjoyable to listen to in the moment but not to go back to again and again.
Its essentially a collection of traditional folk songs from the darker end of things, murder ballads and tragic tales and so the brothers didn't write much of it. The version that i listened to had some extra tracks included Satan Lied To Me which i loved but isn't on the original record.
Its worth reading up on the history of the brothers, especially Ira - a real tortured soul.
Best tracks: In the Pines, Mary of the Wild Moor, Alabama.
#8/1001🇺🇸
In 1994 when this album came out i was concerned more with the American "alternative" music scene and drifting towards electro, house, drum & bass etc. I have to say that the hip-hop thing largely passed me by.
Hearing it now now with a greater appreciation for the genre its easy to see why this wins its plaudits. The production is gritty and raw with some nice melodies and jazz breaks behind the vocals. Lyricaly this is really strong stuff and very much paints a picture of growing up in NY at the time.
I loved it and will be back for another listen.
Best tracks: Halftime, NY State of Mind, The World is Yours.
#9/1001 🇺🇸
Released in 1965 this would be one of the earliest "psych" records and you can hear it's influence right through the last 60 years.
It has a raw garage flavour - its great to hear the band wigging out and Roky Erikson, the singer screaming his lungs out - reminds me a bit of Robert Plant.
There a few great tracks on here like You're gonna miss me and Splash 1. I was also familiar with Reverberation - it was covered by Jesus and Mary Chain.
The big but for me however is the bloody annoying vocal sound which appears on most tracks(* Edit wikipedia tells me this is an electric jug.. why did i then go down the rabbit hole of electric jug playing). I guess it was fun holed up in a studio on LSD but it just grates by the 3rd time you hear it.
Influential 5/5
Songs 3/5
Jug 1/5
10#1001 🇬🇧
Already on to my second Radiohead album of this project. I saw them touring their first album supporting Kingmaker and also reviewed their first album Pablo Honey for our college magazine - i remember giving it 6/10 and saying that whilst it was a bit of a duffer they might go on and be as big as U2 or The Pixies.
Fast forward and they released this massive album. I listened to it to death at the time, but that has faded over time so it's been great to revisit it - i've gone through it 3 times today.
Its a big fat 4, only because i've made a vow only to give 5s to those albums that blow my minds on a first listen or ones that stand the test of time and continue be my favourites.
Best Tracks: Black Star, Just, High and Dry.
#11/1001🇮🇳
Simply stunning, especially the first and last tracks. I was aware of Shankar before but never listened to him in his own right.
His descriptions prior to each piece seem a little unusual, possibly to be seen as dumbing down or novelty value but i dont mind them.
#12/1001🇬🇧
Doing this project might be the thing that really gets me into the Kinks, but probably not this album. Its well crafted, but the whole concept album thing annoys me a bit and i can never really get into them.
I see this as a snapshot of Britain in the 60s still coming out of the shadow of WWII and the daily personal struggles of normal people living alongside commercial regeneration and pop culture.
Best tracks: Victoria, Mr Churchill Says, Arthur.
1 point deducted for the Kazoo in She's Bought a Hat...
#13/1001 🇺🇸
No.13 Baby and i've hit my first 5 star album. This band meant the world to me in my teenage years and whilst Surfer Rosa wasn't the first album that i heard it quickly became my favourite.
It contains perfect pop nuggets in Gigantic and Where is My Mind contrasted the all out assault of the first four tracks. Kim Deal's sacharine vocals are the perfect contrast to the Black Francis' primal scream.
Then there is the production, with Steve Albini overseeing the recording this album has a more raw live sounding feel than any of their other albums. His name crops up so many more times with my favourite artists like PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Low, Wedding Present.
Best tracks: Vamos, Bone Machine, Cactus, Gigantic.
#14/1001 🇺🇸🇩🇪🏴🍌
My second 5* rating coming hot off the heels of Surfer Rosa which was of course heavily influenced by the Velvets.
I picked this up as one of those albums you had to own in my teenage years and didn't get it instantly but after a few listens it soon became a big favourite.
I've had a deeper dive into into the VU and Lou Reed back catalogue in recent years but this album will always stand out.
The inclusion of Nico on the record and her ice cold delivery is masterful whilst Lou Reed's lyrics wonderfuly describe the NYC's underbelly.
Best tracks: Waiting For The Man, Heroin, Femme Fatale
#15/1001 🇺🇸
Sorry, its just not for me. The experimental psychadelic stuff just grates on me. I've comitted to no skipping and listening to every note of these albums but under normal circumstances i would have ditched it by track 3. In fact i wouldn't even play it due to its silly title.
Best track: Life Has Just Begun.
#16/1001 🇬🇧
I have this on CD but nothing to play it on. Went to the stream but as others have commented, its not the correct tracklisting.
I loved it at the time and really enjoyed going back to this period. Saw some great DnB DJs in the mid 90s including Bukem, Peshay, Photek and Goldie.
Best track from memory of the original: Demons Theme.
#17/1001 🇬🇧👨🎤
I bought a vinyl copy of this the day i got the 1001 book.
A brave and bold move for Bowie after the more commercial outings, filling the second side with instrumental tracks which is what i love most about it. Bowies Saxophone and Brian Eno's synths build an amazingly atmospheric suite of songs.
This is right up in my top 5 Bowie albums. I dont have a favoirite. Its impossibke to pick.
Best tracks: Warszawa, Subterraneans, Be My Wife.
#18/1001🇺🇸🦇
When this flashed up this morning, i though "here we go... my first 1 star rating."
We listened to the album a lot at house parties in my teenage years but its over 30 years since i've heard it. I pressed play with some trepidation but have to say the first 2 tracks sounded amazing but by the time i reached "all revved up.." i was starting to lose the will tonlive.
Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad isnt a bad song, just on the right side of schmaltzy. Paradise by the Dashboard light is just too much though - i've always detested even more after seeing a couple sing it (heavily rehearsed) at a pub in Ramsbottom.
This is undoubtedly my lowest point in this project so far. I hope it generates some fast dirty Punk Rock for me next.
Best bit... when i realised i had reached the end.
#19/1001 🇨🇦🟦
Love this album. Its been a few years since i last heard it. Not an easy listen, its brutal in its simplicity and honesty. Heartbreaking lyrics, delivered with such fragility.
Best tracks: Blue, River, A Case Of You.
#20/1001 🇨🇦🖤
Marvelous stuff. I bought this on reputation as a teenager and loved it. His poetry of love and heartbreak made a big impression on me at the time.
It still sounds magnificent now with its simple instrumental backing.
Best tracks: Suzanne, So Long Marianne, Teachers.
#21/1001 🇺🇸🚘
Woweee. I didn't know anything about The Cars before i heard this but its blown me away. When i started out on this, I promised myself there would only be a handful of 5 star albums and i definitely wouldnt just dish them out to anything i didn't already love but this is damn near close.
#22/1001 🇺🇸💩
Misoginistic, narcistic and delibarately uncommercial. Not a lot to enjoy here.
Best track: Hold my Liquor. I won't be sad if i never hear it again.
#23/1001🇩🇪🤖
Listened to this through 3 times before 9am today. An absolute masterpiece of early electronica.
The title track is magnificent and there is not a bad track on the album. Hall of Mirrors is wonderfully moody and dark.
I know that Kraftwerk divide opinions. Seeing them live for the first time at Rock Werchter 2005 is still one of the best shows i've ever seen, whilst my wife will tell you that the time i took her to see them at Blue Dot was one of the worst she has ever seen.
Best tracks: Trans Europe Express, Hall of Mirrors, Endless Endless.
24/1001 🇬🇧👨🎤
24 albums in and this is my 3rd Bowie record already. This is really going to take some beating.
For me, 5 Years is one of the best ever album openers and one of my favourite Bowie vocals.
Moonage Daydream is Mick Ronson at his best and Starman is just an iconic song.
The last 3 tracks are absolute perfection too. There is simply nothing throwaway here. Outstanding.
Best Tracks: Moonage Daydream, 5 Years, Sufragette City.
#25/1001 🇬🇧
Robert Wyatt's version of Shipbuilding is one of the saddest, most beautiful tracks i've heard but saddly this album doesn't live up to this standard.
I'm setting aside the backstory and the fact that its remarkable that he even made this album. I just find the experimental nature tedious and silly. There is something great in there but i find it hard to see past the wibbling and replaying tracks backwards.
I've never taken acid, maybe I'd feel different if i had.
Sorry Robert.
Best track. Alifib.
Note: listening to this on the day my best friend from 6th form died. Maybe i need to try it again when i'm more in the mood.
#26/1001 🇺🇸
Its a long time since i've listened to this and its been a blast hearing it again. I didn't realise that it was an EP and the copied cassette that i had was more a compilation.
The band obviously share a lot of DNA with Nirvana and the influence of Black Flag and The Stooges can also be heard. I've always loved Mark Arm's vocal style (and his name too).
I used to enjoy throwing myself around to Touch Me I'm Sick, but thats not strictly on the original record. Need is a great tune and i love the complete wig-out that is In 'n' Out Of Grace.
Best Tracks: Need, In 'n' Out Of Grace.
#27/1001🇺🇸
I have a theory that the best albums were made in the year that you were born and the year that you turned 16. In my case this is 1977 and 1993 and Siamese Dream is one amongst those albums.
It still sounds amazing today and i was fortunate enough to see them play about half the songs from this album live in Halifax last year.
Whilst it was produced by Butch Vig and plays upon the same loud-quiet-loud dynamic as Nevermind, this is a more ambitious record and i feel that it has aged better. Don't get me wrong Nevermind will always get 5 stars from me too but this is the album that i'm more likely to pick out and listen to.
Best tracks: Mayonaise, Today, Disarm, Cherub Rock.
#28/1001 🇬🇧
My first (and second) listen to this album. Sadly not as good as i hope it might be, nothing lives up to what is possibly the perfect pop song with a dark undertone- There She Goes.
Best tracks: There She Goes
* I actually prefered the bonus tracks All By Myself and Over to most of the album tracks.
#29/1001 🇺🇸
Another album that i have never heard before save for the absolute classic Give Up The Funk.
The influence of this record and the key members Clinton, Worrall and Collins is immesurable. I'm sure that all of them will appear again on this list as producers, musicians or guests with other artists.
It's an album very much of its time, fried on acid, heavy funk and highly camp, but has been heavily immitated and sampled by other artists.
Best tracks: Give Up The Funk, Mothersil Connection.
#30/1001 🇺🇸
I felt a bit sorry for Lenny back in the day. He was the target of much ridicule from the comedy columnist Mr Agreeable in the Melody Maker. Having said this, i'd never listened to this album.
It's not that it's bad musicianship, he has a great voice and he's extremely handsome. Some of the lyrics are dreadful and i don't care for any of the tracks.
If it was background music in a shop or bar, I wouldnt run out holding my ears. I don't want to hear it voountarily again howeve.
Best track: Meh.
#31/1001 🇺🇸
I've streamed this today whilst driving in what i think is the original format. My copy of this is actually 2 records (part 1&2) which were sold separately. I always wondered what the story was as they were missing the infamous artwork and i've finally taken the time to read up on this.
Whichever way, this is a stunning record with 3 musicians right at the top of their game.
For me there a couple of tracks that i can live without: ...And the God's Made Love - a short opener and Little Miss Strange - where Noel Redding takes over vocal duties - this just feels lightweight to me.
Crosstown Traffic is just sublime and the 15 minute long Voodoo Chile is mindblowing. The best is saved until last however with All Along The Watchtower (i love the Dylan original, but this blows it out of the water) and the (Slight Return) to Voodoo Chile.
I'm so close to a 5 here.
Best tracks: Voodoo Chile x2, All Along The Watchtower, Crosstown Traffic, 1983.
#32/1001 🇮🇸
Bjork's break up album is never an easy listen lyrically. Its her in the darkest place of all her albums. Musically it combines sparse electronic beats with haunting strings to great effect, most notably on Black Lake.
Bjork is undoubtedly one of my favourite musicians and has the ability to make me laugh and cry with her deeply personal lyrics. I was intrigued and blown away the first time i heard the Sugarcubes on late night tv, then totally hooked from the first time i caught Human Behaviour on MTV.
I get that she divides opinion - just read the other reviews here, but life would be boring if music never evolved or stepped outside its lanes.
Best tracks: Black Lake, Stonemilker, Atom Dance
#33/1001 🇬🇧
I knew nothing of the background before listening to this record and had to read up more after hearing the first track with its use of Jew and N*****. It sounded obvious to me as satirical but will every listener at the time seen this.
Musically, its an easy listen fusing blues and country with Newman's laid back vocal style. This sits in contrast to the biting lyrics.
Best tracks: Guilty, Louisiana 1927, Rednecks.
* Check out John Belushi's version of Guilty with The Blues Brothers Band.
#34/1001 🇺🇸
Marvelous stuff. Really enjoyed listening to this, whilst knowing a few tracks it was great to discover others that i hadnt heard before.
Only a short album - i've listened to it 4 times before and nothing has grated or caused me to skip. Scarborough Fair is just stunning and Homeward Bound is the best song ever written on a railway platform. The more rocky tracks also suprised me.
Best Tracks: Scarborough Fair, Homeward Bound, A Simple Desultory Phillipic.
#35/1001🇬🇧
I know XTC as more of a punk band and the style of this album has suprised me. Having said this i've listened to it twice today and its not that memorable.
I enjoyed Grass and The Meeting Place but there is nothing really to bring me back to listen more.
Best Tracks: Grass, The Meeting Place.
#36/1001 🇬🇧
I'm sitting here listening and wondering why the teenage metalhead me never got into Sabbath. I know them by ear but have never listened to their albums in full.
Could be because they didnt seem that cool due to the cartoon character that Ozzy had become. I didn't think that i liked his vocals but they do sit well here, offering a slightly unhinged paranoia on top of some magnificent guitar work and a solid rhythm section.
Best Tracks: Supernaut, Snowblind, Laguna Sunrise.
#37/1001 🇺🇸
It's hard to believe a band could appear on the scene so fully formed with album that still stands the test of time now.
Hearing this at 12 yrs old shone a light on so much musically for me. Ok it could have been the swearing and the recording of Axl having sex with a groupie in Rocket Queen. Listening now there is a lot that doesnt sit right in some of the mysoginistic lyrics but there are some amazing songs here.
Best tracks: Its So Easy, Mr Brownstone, Welcome to the Jungle.
#38/1001🇺🇸💚
I have to say that R.E.M are my favourite group of all time and when i'm not doing this project i've been known to listen ti their whole discography from start to finish.
Green is not one of those records that ever lands in my top 5. Its the sound of a band who weren't underground anymore, but hadn't gone stratospheric yet.
It contains two of my favourite R.E.M tracks in You Are The Everything and World Leader Pretend. Stand sitting between them always grates on me and just doesnt work - so thats really why its getting a 4* rating.
Best Tracks: World Leader Pretend, You Are The Everything, Untitled.
#39/1001 🇬🇧
First listen to this album, although i have heard later stuff and seen them live in a tiny venue in my hometown on their reunion tour - they were brilliant.
This seems an album ahead of its time, setting the template for the likes of Ministry, Faith No More and NIN. Heavy distorted guitars, pounding drums and bass overlaid with doomy vocals.
The band self produced this record and its no suprise to see the careers that Youth and Jaz Coleman went on to have although the music would be diverse and in stark contrast to the bleaker industrial sounds here.
Loved this - not my normal saturday morning with a cup of coffee listen.
Best tracks: Wardance, Complications.
#40/1001 🇺🇸
What an absolute belter of an album. I'm rating albums musically, but this also has an iconic cover too.
Where to start? Side one is pretty much perfect, the first 2 tracks are fast and furious, then we've got a Picture This - lyrically brilliant, an unsettling love letter. Fade Away... gives old movie nostalgia and Pretty Baby is perfect pop. I know but i don't know has a heavy hypnotic riff and whilst its not one of their best known tracks i think its a belter.
Moving on to side 2 we have paranoia and dread in the brilliant 11.59. Sunday Girl is power pop and Heart of Glass absorbs the disco influence of the time. Just Go Away is another big favourite of mine too.
This album really catches the band at a pivotal moment in their career, moving from punkers to mainstream power pop. I love Debbie Harry's vocals on this record - ranging from a gravelly growl to ethereal cool.
Best tracks: Picture This, Fade Away And Radiate, Heart of Glass, Just Go Away, Hanging On The Telephone, 11.59. I mean pretty much the whole album.
#41/1001🇺🇸
60s California - what a time to be alive. Monday, Monday was the perfect start to my Monday morning.
California Dreamin' is one of the most perfect songs ever written: the lyrics, the harmonies and the flute solo!! I'll never tire of hearing it.
I enjoyed the cover of Spanish Harlem too and the rest of the album just breezed by nicely. A perfect document of its time, there is a lot to enjoy here and i feel a bit mean just giving it a 3 but the review is for the album. Not just one track.
Best Tracks: California Dreamin' on repeat.
#42/1001 🇺🇸
An enjoyable listen with some great songs. He is a real storyteller and i can see why this album is loved.
One thing that really struck me when listening to Father and Son is that it could Eugene Levy's character in American Pie talking to Jim.
Anyway, a pleasant enough listen but i won't come back to it so its getting a 3.
Best Tracks: the ones that i already knew.
#43/1001 🇵🇰
Well this is a coincence. We went to the cinema last night to see the Jeff Buckley documentary (five stars by the way) and one of the scenes that moved me most was when Jeff met NFAK.
Neither could understand each others language, then Jeff sang one NFAKs songs to him and the 2 just bonded.
I've listened to quite a bit of Kahn's music before, largely due to following a rabbit hole after a collaboration with Eddie Vedder which just blew me away. Some of it, i find not to my taste - he recorded over 100 albums by all accounts. This one i love however - by all accounts its 2 albums (Love AND Devotion) on the spotify streaming link.
He has the most incredible voice and i love this record musically too. I'm certainly going to come back to it again.
Best tracks:
Love: Halka Halka Saroor
Devotion: Haq Ali Ali Haq, Mast Nazroon Se Allah Bachae.
#44/1001 🇺🇸💀🥼👽
Musically i love this. Less keen on the subject matter but i guess that this was the 90s (no excuse - it's just silly). It's better when he's not talking about medical procedures.
Best tracks: 3000, Bear Witness
#45/1001🇺🇸
An ambitious, sprawling record, which i've been guilty of not listening to in full before - this is a shame because some of the better tracks do fall towards the end.
Best tracks: Momma, How Much A Dollar Cost, The Blacker The Berry, Mortal Man.
#46/1001 🇺🇸
More 60s Psych. This is definitely one of the better albums from this age and has more of folk and blues feel.
2 songs in and i thought this was going to be a 5 but it fell away a little bit. The Grace Slick vocal / composition tracks are undoubtedly the stand outs. White Rabbit and Somebody to Love are just majestic. Having said that i really liked Comin' Back To Me too.
Best tracks: Somebody to Love, Comin' Back to Me, White Rabbit, She Has FUnny Cars.
Ps Silliest album title so far.
#47/1001 🇬🇧
What a good record. Mixing a gritty guitar sound with some nice synths and even a bit of a reggae bounce to the last track. I've never heard this album before, and i've enjoyed it immensely.
Lyrically its not an easy listen and 'Lucy Jordan' is one of the saddest tracks that i've heard in a while. I enjoyed the lyrics and delivery of Guilt too.
There is wonderful version of Lennon's Working Class Hero and also a powerful version of Sister Morphine in the bonus tracks.
The final track was brilliant but was not one that i'd play for my mother inlaw!
Much is made of Faithful's vocals, damaged by years of excess but for me they really make this record.
Best Tracks: The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan, Guilt, Why'd Ya Do It?
#48/1001 🇬🇧👨🎤
Controversial statement judging by some of the other reviews on here, but this is one of my favourite Bowie albums. I love the way that it arrived, fully formed, no hype just Where Are We Now? as a preview track.
For an artist who found influence in other genres, this plays as a much more straightforward rock record. There are some blistering tunes here and other more poingant moments - looking back on his life in Berlin, for example.
Best Tracks: Where Are We Now?, The Stars (Are Out Tonight), You Will Set The World On Fire,
#49/1001 🇬🇧🇮🇳🐺
Although i heard the singles at the time, this was my first listen in full. Blending Indie Rock, Hip Hop Beats and Punjabi music was something that really stood out at the time and i think that my impression of them was that they were a bit of a novelty act on the basis of the remix of the Brimful of Asha track.
As ubiqitous as that track was back then, hearing the original here without the whistles and bells is really fresh.
There is a lot of variation on here including collabs with Paula Frazer (Tarnation) and Allen Ginsberg. The cover of Norweigen Wood is fab too but then i'm just a sucker for that song.
I'm a bit cross that i didn't spend more time on these guys in the 90s, they were definitely doing something more interesting than the likes of Oasis. I'll certainly come back to listen again.
Best Tracks: Sleep on the Left Side, Brimful of Asha, We're in your Corner, Good to be on the Road Back Home.
#50/1001 🇬🇧
Famously, the first CD to sell 1 million copies. I didn't buy one, but had a taped copy and i can't say that i remember many of the tracks here.
Money For Nothing is obviously the big hit here and whilst its a song of epic proportions, it doesn't speak to me on any level. Walk of Life has always grated on me too.
The songs that i enjoyed most were the more low key numbers like The Mans Too Strong and Brothers In Arms.
I can see why it was the spearhead for CD quality sound whilst i've been playing it through my speakers, but i think that there is just a bit too much in the production to distract me from what is good in there, for example: Ride Across The River and the Bass wankery in One World.
Best Tracks: Brothers in Arms, The Mans Too Strong.
#51/1001 🇺🇸
When i started this project, i vowed to to listen to every track from every album. This is the closest thing that has pushed me to skipping.
First of all metal is a genre that i have a lot of time for, secondly i've seen Korn live - from a distance at a festival. This however is a tough listen. Who the hell do these man babies think they are? Childish, misoginistic, homophobic lyrics abound over a soundtrack which could actually be worse.
My biggest compliment would be that they are musically proficent. But then there is all the giberish babbling - the singer trying to imply that he is insane perhaps.
The absolute nadir is bringing Fred Durst in to trade insults in a rap battle about incest.
Best Tracks: 💩
Worst Track: All In The Family.
#52/1001 🇺🇸
Always enjoyed Paul Simon's music, but this album is new to me. It doesnt stand out as an out and out classic, but its a step away from the folkier sound of his work with Garfunkle and moving in a more experimental route.
I'll come back for another listen.
Best Tracks: Duncan, Paranoia Blues, Me and Julio down by the Schoolyard.
#54/1001 🇬🇧
I generally like Elvis Costello and Armed Forces holds a special place in my heart - right place and right time. This album never hit my radar at the time, maybe thats why i feel a bit indifferent about it.
Its's another one of those records that is well made but doesn't bring anything really fresh to the table. Maybe it needs another listen.
Best tracks: All The Rage, London's Brilliant Parade, Kinder Murder.
#54/1001 🇬🇧
Never listened to this before, but have been to my fair share of gigs at Leeds Uni Refectory and seen the Blue Plaque. Its not a venue that i really care for but i'll try not to let that affect my review.
There is no doubting the raw power of a band at the top of their game, but 3 of the the tracks here are cover versions. It could be argued that the 2 tracks on side 2 are overlong, but i guess representative of a live set. I've never liked the lyrics of Substitute so its the cover version that appeal more to me.
The extended version perhaps is more complete than this which seems like a snapshot.
Best tracks: Young Man Blues, Shakin All Over.
#55/1001 🇬🇧🇮🇪
I was starting to feel a bit down about this after a week of mediocre albums and one downright awful one, but The Pogues are of course my saviour.
So good to hear this record which i have spun so many times in the past. I love the way they fuse punk with traditional Irish sounds, and this record takes on other influences - from the all out riot that is Fiesta to the mournful Streets of Sorrow, this is packed with brilliant tunes.
Best Tracks: Thousands are Sailing, Streets of Sorrow, Turkish Song of the Dammed, Faiytale of New York, The Broad Majestic Shannon.
#56/1001 🇬🇧
My 2nd Who record in 3.
Starts off with the brilliant Baba O'Reilly but goes downhill, by the time you reach My Wife i'm a bit bored. Things pick up towards the end of side 2 with the other 2 singles really shining out here.
The overall theme of the record seems to be a chauvanistic tale of a man who gets a "bargain" wife, then goes out on a 3 day bender, his wife leaves him and now he's remorseful for her dumping him.
Best tracks: Baba O Reilly, Won't Get Fooled Again.
#57/1001 🇺🇸
I'll file this under challenging listens. USSA is the first track in this project to upset my dog. Then The O-Men upset me.
It wasn't as unlistenable as i feared it might be. Having read the chapter about them in Michael Azzerad's This band could be your life, i wasn't inspired to search out their music, but this wasn't all bad. I never realised that the intro to Satan by Orbital was sampled from here either - a nice suprise.
I'm not sure that this would be on here if Kurt Cobain hadn't championed them.
Best tracks: Human Cannonball, Sweat Loaf.
#58/1001 🇬🇧
1995 was an incredible time for new music and i remember being hooked on this right after hearing it in my final year of college. It became the soundtrack of summer - a time without worries or cares.
The album shares its closest DNA with Massive Attack - Tricky Kid was a long term collaborator. It's built up on layers of samples, slowed down bass lines and gritty textured beats. Tricky's gravelly spoken lyrics are overlaid with Martina Topley-Birds more seductive vocals, sometimes simply repeating back to him and sometimes providing the melodies.
Alison Goldfrapp also lends vocals to Pumpkin.
The first side of the record is practically perfect and the thrashy cover of Black Steel shouldn't sit right with the other more laid back tracks here, but it just serves to blow off some tension at just the right time.
Best Tracks: Overcome, Black Steel, Hell Is Round The Corner, Aftermath.
#59/1001 🇺🇸
I wasn't aware of Sarah Vaughan prior to this, but its a really enjoyable record. I think its beautifuly recorded (imperfections and all) and her voice is so amazing. I kind of like how they left in the bits where she forgot the words. I'll look out for more of her work.
Best Tracks: Stairway to the Stars, Willow Weep For Me.
#60/1001 🇺🇸
With just 6 tracks to go at, this is by no means a short album as it features 2 sprawling tracks, clocking in over 10 mins each.
I'm familiar with Buckley's work - Song to the Siren being one of the finest tracks ever comitted to vinyl - but i've not listened to this before.
The influence to future artists is obvious here and i can hear glimpses of Beth Orton, Stone Roses and Ben Howard in Buzzin Fly alone.
Love from Room 109 is beautifully sad with haunting vocals over a more sparse instrumental track that blends multiple genres.
I found Gypsy Woman a little challenging first time out, but his range of vocals is incredible and it gets under your skin.
Dream Letter sounds like it was written to Jeff, who he sadly had no relationship with and Sing A Song For You is as close as this record comes to a conventional 3 minute pop track.
Edit: I really enjoyed this and was suprised to see all the haters here.
Best Tracks: Buzzin Fly, Love From Room 109, Strange Feelin.
#61/1001 🇬🇧
A tremendous album. I listened to this loads back in the day. Musically, it plays like a film score with Allison Goldfrapp's ethereal vocals over the top.
Its getting a 4 but i feel it was bettered with their later albums.
Best tracks: Lovely Head, Human, Pilots, Utopia.
#62/1001 🇬🇧
First time i've listened to the album intentionally, but i think at least half of the tracks were released as singles and where did that Cure cover come from?
Her vocal and songwriting talent isn't in doubt, but overall its just a bit bland isnt it. If one of these tracks comes on the radio i'm not going to turn the volume up, i'm more likely to skip to another channel.
It's not a 1⭐️, but then there is nothing here that merits 5⭐️s either. It sold bucketloads and will resonate with folks where it was present at a particular time in their lives.
I'm going to use Blood on the Tracks and Rumours as the barometer for "Breakup Albums" here and both are 5⭐️. This a 3⭐️ at best. Absolutely middle of the road.
Best tracks: Rolling in the Deep, Set Fire to the Rain.
#63/1001 🇬🇧
This is the start of a run of 4 albums in 5 years by the Stones that form my favourite period of their work. Its a return to the blues sound of their earlier work but with country and soul finding its way in.
The standout tracks are of course Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man. Stray Cat Blues is a sleazy blues sound with equally sleazy lyrics lusting over a 15 yr old girl. I think the slower No Expectations with its slide guitar is possibly the track that i've most enjoyed re-visiting here.
Best Tracks: No Expectations, Sympathy for the Devil, Street Fighting Man, Stray Cat Blues.
#64/1001 🏴
This is an intriguing one. I was expecting something more Avant Garde from Cale. I love the Velvet Underground and have found some of his solo work challenging, this is an unashamed lush textured pop record with some lovely acoustic guitars and strings.
I've listened this through 3 times today and think its one come back to again and again.
There is variation which keeps things interesting including a run of 3 tracks in the middle: Andalucia is a beautiful track where his slightly faltering vocal just adds to its charm. Macbeth is a stomper, then the title track verges on theatrical with its dramatic string arangement.
Best tracks: Andalucia, Paris 1919, Half Past France, Antarctica Starts Here.
#65/1001 🇨🇦
I was always a bit neutral about Rush until one record store day, one of their fans who turned up late tried to skip the queue by asking me to buy their record. I politely declined and he buggered off to pester other people.
This made me think: "wow, this band Rush must be pretty decent."
Well, i was mistaken.
Best Tracks: Well not the 20 minute long opener.
#66/1001 🇨🇦
I know every word of this album.
It was huge at the time and the songs have stood up well in my opinion. Some will hate the idea of it being here but i'd rather listen to it than the 20 minute long twoddle Rush track that i got yesterday.
Best Tracks: Head over Feet, You Oughta Know, Ironic.
#67/1001 🇺🇸🐼
Nah this is not for me. There is a bit too much going on here for my liking. I don't entirely dislike Psychedelic music but i do often find it quite irritating. The thing that bugged me the most here was all the speeding up and slowing down mid song. The last track in particular was awful.
Best track: My Girls.
#68/1001 🇬🇧🦖🎩
I had a real deep dive into TRex a few years, specifically the earlier unabreviated version which i prefer to the glam rock phase. This album didnt ever hit my radar but i did find it really enjoyable.
I love Bolans vocals and Tony Visconti's production elevates the sound with strings - there is some lovely dark Cello in there i think.
Best Tracks: Metal Guru, Buick Mackane, The Slider, Ballrooms of Mars.
#69/1001 🇨🇦🕹🔥
I listened to this a lot at the time it came out, Arcade Fire were one of the few bands that came out in the early 2000s that made me sit up and listen with their first album Funeral.
This has a fuller sound and might be criticised for being a bit samey and overlong. Ultimately its a bit of a concept album, which generally means both of the above.
Listening back its a solid record with some great tracks and i've enjoyed revisiting.
Ps: the fiff on City With No Children is surely a rip off of Rocks Off by the Stones.
Best Tracks: The Suburbs, Sprawl II, City with No Children, Ready to Start.
#70/1001 🇺🇸
Hands down, one of the greatest records of all time and certainly in my top 5.
This is a flawless album from start to finish. 35 perfect minutes.
The sad thing is lyrically it is still relevant today 55 years later.
Best Tracks: Inner City Blues, Whats Happening Brother, Whats Goin On.
#71/1001🇬🇧
I like EBTG, this record whilst being new to my ears is no real suprise stylisticly. Well crafted pop songs with great lyrics and a soulful, folky tinge.
Best Tracks: Shadow on a Harvest Moon, Oxford Street, I don't want to Talk About it, Apron Strings.
#72/1001 🇨🇦
First time listen. I've been through it twice back to back and feel like its one of those albums to come back to again and again.
It has a sense of road trips, escaping broken relationships and falling into other unwanted ones.
Best Tracks: Coyote, Amelia, Song for Sharon.
#73/1001 🇨🇦
Neil Young is the artist who commands the most space on my shelves and whilst this isnt my favourite of his records, its easy to see why its his best known.
The first album that i got into was Sleeps With Angels in the early 90s and from there i've been on a journey going back through his catalogue and also enjoying his more recent works.
This is a fine record throughout, A Man Needs a Maid being the only track that bothers me. Heart of Gold is maybe a little overplayed - its the only one of his tunes i ever hear on the radio.
Best tracks: Old Man, Alhabama, Needle and the Damage Done, Words.
#74/1001 🇧🇷
A lovely listen on a Spring Saturday morning with sunlighy streaming in through the windows. I'm aware of Gilberto's work but not this album.
Now somebody pass me a Pina Colada.
Best tracks: Stay, Misty Roses, Oba Oba.
#75/1001 🇬🇧
Synthpop made in Sheffield. Whilst this is a genre and period that i generally like but can't see myself revisiting. It wasn't dreadful but neither was it that memorable either.
Best tracks: Facist Groove Thing, Penthouses and Pavements.
#76/1001 🇺🇸
What a thrill it must have been to see JB in his prime. This is a perfect snapshot of one of his live shows, his band sound amazing and the crowd is justifiably wild for him.
I like this as much for the players in the band as his voice. Some of the instrumental breaks between tracks are brilliant.
Best Tracks: Lost Someone, Think, Instrumentals...
#77/1001 🇺🇸 ⬛️⬜️🟥
Played this album to death when it came out. After being a fan of the earlier stuff, it really felt rewarding when they went massive with this album.
I remember being in a clients house and the owner and her friend were watching MTV. Seven Nation Army came on and they were just horrified by it, like a chavvy Beavis & Butthead. I just thought, "yeah well done Jack and Meg, you've infiltratec the mainstream". Now you hear the song everywhere, it just takes one voice to start in a crowd and it builds and builds.
Its like a mad hybrid of Zepelin riffs, Stooges garage, Beatles psych and Carpenters duo minimalism, but still a really fresh sound.
Best tracks: Ball and Biscuit, Cold Cold Night, The Hardest Button to Button.
#78/1001 🇨🇦
Another Joni Mitchell. For me this one doesn"t match up to Blue or Hejira. I think i prefer Clouds too.
The record has a nice folk / jazzy feel, bluesy at times and some more experimental parts. It didn't quite hit the mark with 2 listens today but might be a grower.
Best tracks: The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Harrys House, Don't Interupt the Sorrow.
79/1001 🇧🇷🤘
Oh yes!
Seeing Sepultura live at Donnington in 1994, aged 16 was one of the most thrilling things i have ever witnessed. They literally turned the site into a field of flailing limbs. My mind was blown and their music never ceases to give me goosebumps.
The 2 albums that followed Arise are the ones that i come back to so it felt really fresh to hear these songs again.
From start to finish, this is an aural assault and it really get the adrenaline racing. Igor Cavalera absolutely pounds the life out of his drumkit, whilst his brother Max's vocals are from the deepest recesses of hell!
Best Tracks: Desparate Cry, Altered State, Arise
#80/1001 🇬🇧🐐🏅
One of the best albums you will ever hear. I could write a disertation on this record. Its a double LP weighing in at 19 tracks in total, but doesn't drag.
From the start of the title track, the menacing guitars give way to Paul Simonon's rumbling bass line, then there's Strummers snarling vocals, oow oow oow ooo's and the morse code bit at the end.
From here we have a rollercoaster of reggae, rock, rockabilly, pop and even a more soulful sound on some of the tracks.
There is so much to love here, turn it up loud on some good speakers and you will hear so much.
Best tracks: London Calling, Lost in the Supermarket, Guns of Brixton, Spanish Bombs, Hateful,
#81/1001 🇬🇧 🖤🦇
I have goth sensibilities but have never been good at wearing black.
I only have one Siouxsie record, and its not this one. After listening to it today it's definitely one that i'm annoyed that i haven't checked out before.
The first 4 tracks are just relentless and brilliant. Side 2 starts a bit more measured with Night Shift, this builds and builds into a really atmospheric number.
Its the sound of a producer getting the absolute best out of the band. Loved everything about it, the layered guitar sound, the tricky drum fills and of course Souxsie's vocals. Loved it, loved it.
Best tracks: Spellbound, Into The Light, Arabian Knights, Night Shift.
#82/1001 🇺🇸
When it comes to CSNY i've always been in Neil Youngs camp, so have never taken the time to Stills' records. This is an oversight.
The first side of this record is flawless. Love The One Your with is a great tune and the only track i was familiar with. He introduces a gospel theme in Church and then Hendrix and Clapton throw their weight in on the last 2 tracks.
The second side is a little disjointed but i love the playing on Black Queen - this could be an outtake from the likes of Soundgarden or Pearl Jam unplugged 20 years later. I like the bluesy feel of Cherokee and it finishes strong with We are not Helpless.
Best Tracks: Love the one you're with, Black Queen, Go Back Home, We are not Helpless.
83/1001 🇺🇸
I was big into the White Stripes, but this one passed me by. I've checked my CD collection and its not there. God knows what i was doing then. I can't remember.
I've listened to this solidly 3 times this evening and whilst its got all the hallmarks of Jack's amazingly unique talent all over it, its not all that memorable.
Its very bluesy in places and an obvious movement on from White Stripes with a greater cast of musicians as accompaniment.
I'm giving this 3 stars as i've had such a good run of 4s and 5s recently and this doesnt measure up, so i need to even my par up.
Best Tracks: Hypocritical Kiss, Sixteen Saltines, Hip (Eponymous)Poor Boy.
#84/1001 🇺🇸🎤
There's something that I love about Run DMC. They have a distinctive sound and you immediately know what you are getting.
I've given it a couple of spins today and while its not really set my world alight, i dont dislike it either. Its easy to see the influence that this album had in hip-hop reaching the mainstream.
Best tracks: Rock Box, Its Like That, Sucker MCs.
85/1001 🇬🇧👨🎤
Part 2 of the Berlin trilogy and this takes a similar format to Low with the standard songs on side 1 with a more experimental largely instrumental side 2.
I have to say that whilst the first half is an enjoyable ride with the magnificent title track as a centrepiece, its the other side that really makes this album for me.
In addition to Brian Eno, we also get Robert Fripp within the cast. I love how Bowie surrounds himself with experimentation but then drops one of the best pop anthems ever written within it all.
Best tracks: V-2 Schneider, Moss Garden, Neuköln, Heroes.
#86/1001 🇬🇧
It's been a long time since i last listened to this. I was a constant on the CD player, pre nights out. Can't say that i ever loved it but there are some brilliant moments that would really sound amazing in a packed club in isolation.
Listening back, i can totally appreciate the craft that has gone into creating the record, putting together all the samples and building the sound. Unfortunately it grates on me after a while and an hour in, i'm sick of listening. Some of the "best" tracks have been played to death in adverts, montages etc so it just got painful to endure sadly.
Best Tracks:
#87/1001 🇺🇸 🟧
This is a near damn perfect album with the exception of the thankfully short fertilizer.
By the time we reach Sweet Life the album is in full swing, then before you know it we get the epic Pyramids right at the heart of the album. It's like everything else is built around this 9 minute track. The the second half of the record finishes really strongly. Something that i appreciate, not just loading the first 4 tracks with singles then filler in the second half.
A masterpiece.
Best tracks: Pyramids, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Pink Matter, Bad Religion.
#88/1001 🇬🇧
I like the earlier era Elvis much more than his later stuff. This is punchy, up beat record with some sharp lyrics and a great backing band. I think that its
Best tracks: (I don't want to go to) Chelsea, Little Triggers, Pump it Up.
#89/1001 🇬🇧☁️
Dreamy Ambient Electronica from the early 90s. I'm not sure how this never hit my radar at the time as Orbit seemed to be on the lineup of every festival i went to at the time. I was mainly aware of him from his collaborations with Madonna and Beth Orton, who lends her vocals to the opening track here.
Best tracks: Water From A Vine Leaf, Harry Flowers, Story of Light, Hazy Shade of Random.
#90/1001 🇺🇸🤘
This is the sound of Metallica hitting their best form, only surpassed by their next 2 records. After the Black Album it all gets a bit bloated.
I love the title track, its one of the best things they have ever done and will always give me goosebumps. I have memories of it playing in rock clubs and it just turning the floor into a whirling frenzy of hair.
Best tracks: Master Of Puppets, Orion, Battery.
#91/1001 🇬🇧🦇⬛️
I've dabbled with Bauhaus before and found them a bit hit & miss. Really enjoyed this record though, so much so that i'd listened to it 3 times over by the time i got to work.
This follows on nicely from the Souixsie and the Banshees record i got the other day. Hoping that tomorrow brings Joy Division to complete the early 80s trio that would inspire the Goth movement.
Best tracks: Passion of Lovers, Hollow Hills, Mask
#92/1001 🇨🇺
Ry Cooder brings a collective of veteran Cuban musicians together to document the music of their past.
This is a simply wonderful record, i bought it unheard one day having no clue what it was and have loved it ever since. I had a habit of burning through £50 in HMV most weeks on payday, often buying albums that i knew nothing about on the strength of their artwork or sometimes an NME review. This was undeniably one of the best of these purchases and it still sounds wonderfuly fresh today.
Now pass me a Cuba Libre
Best Tracks: El Cuarto De Tula, Candella, El Carretero, Chan Chan.
#93/1001 🇬🇧
I bought this album at the time it came out but forgot all about it after allegations about the singer and the band splitting up immediately. I've tried hard to separate the artist from the art when revisiting this and there are some enjoyable moments.
Best tracks: Ullswater, Opener, Each Time We Pass.
#94/1001 🇺🇸
I wanted to like this more than i did. My favourite track was an instrumental, this tells me that it was his falsetto vocals that i'm struggling with.
Best Tracks: Africano, That's the Way of the World.
#95/1001 🇬🇧
From the year i was born. A great year for music.
I've known and loved Another Girl Another Planet for years and danced to at countless indie nights in my youth but never gone beyond this until today.
I was expecting something louder and punkier on account of its era but it has much more instrumentaly than guitar, bass and drums. It has a rambling, unpolished sound which you hear later on in bands like The Replacements, Violent Femmes and The Libertines.
I'm a bit mixed on this record, it doesn't start well but there are some real gems in here. I should give it another listen.
Best Tracks: Another Girl Another Planet, Breaking Down, Language Problem.
#96/1001 ☘️
I don't think of myself as a Van Morrison fan but this album is certainly an all time favourite of mine. I came across it some time ago by way of Sweet Thing being included on a John Peel compilation.
Blending folk, jazz, soul and bluesy sounds, this has such a melow vibe. It's a record that i will always reach for on a warm day, sitting outside and enjoying the sunshine.
Best Tracks: Slim Slow Slider, Sweet Thing, Cypress Avenue, Madame George, Astral Weeks.
#97/1001 🇺🇸
A slick sounding slice of seventies sophistication. Whilst it's an incredibly well produced record, there was far more interesting, ground breaking music coming out at this time.
Best track: Peg.
#98/1001 🇺🇸
Did i make the generator angry? I just gave Aja by Steely Dan 1 star and its thrown this straight back at me.
First track in and it's all Flight of the Bumblebee call and response guitar solo nonsense.
I'm sorry, this is just not my vibe.
I'm going to leave it with this quote from William Burroughs, whose steam powered dildo was the inspiration behind the band's name:
“They’re too sophisticated, they’re doing too many things at once in a song.”
“To write a bestseller, you can’t have too much going on, you take The Godfather, the horse’s head. That’s great. But you can’t have a horse’s head on every page. These people tend to have too many horses’ heads.”
#99/1001 🇬🇧
I don't know just how to feel about this record. Its pretty ambitous as far as debuts go straddling a number of genres with elements of pop, folk and house. Sometimes pulling off a 60s French pop style before moving to lengthy electro tracks.
The samples from old tv shows and Richard Whiteley from countdown bug me a bit and would normally have lost this a star but i'm adding one back on for the fact that Bob Stanley is a regular visitor to my favourite football club Emley AFC and a thoroughly nice bloke.
Best Tracks: Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Girl IV, Stoned To Say The Least, Nothing Can Stop Us, Like The Swallow.
#100/1001 🇺🇸
"Brothers, it's time to testify. And I want to know - Are you ready to testify?"
This is the record that divides our household more than any other. I love it, my wife despises it.
Imagine putting out a live album, drenched in feedback, full of mistakes and out of tune backing vocals - yet sounding so amazing. This is punk rock a good 7 years ahead of its time.
Detroit was in turmoil at the time that MC5 recorded this album following the race related rioting agai nst the police that came in 1967.
What makes this record so incredle is that Detroit was dominated by the motown label at the time and this is as far removed from that soind as you can get.
Best Track: Kick Out The Jams, Motor City Is Burning.
Further Reading: Detroit 67 by Stuart Cosgrove.
#101/1001 🇨🇦
I listened to this a hell of a lot when it came out. It's darker than Funeral, which just blew my mind when it came out. Enjoyable to revisit but its not essential listening for me these days.
Best tracks: No Cars Go, Keep the Car Running, Intervention.
#102/1001 🇺🇸
Well you can't say that he isn't a musical genius when he tries. This infinitely better than the Yeezus album i listened a month or so. There are too many colabs on here for my liking and when the main act has such an ego hearing more largely misoginistic bragging over each track just becomes tiresome.
Best Tracks: Runaway,
#102/1001 🇺🇸✂️🏳️🌈
This record is brilliant fun. We had it on rotation when it came out but haven't listened to it in years.
Just a riot of electro, disco and damned good pop music. The cover of Comfortably Numb serves well to upset and outrage the purist rock fans. I love both versions.
Best tracks: Filthy Gorgeous, Comfortably Numb, Laura.
104/1001 🇺🇸
Featuring one of the greatest songs ever written in the form of God Only Knows - the French Horn is just sublime and whilst so simple, the lyrics just resonate.
Nothing more needs to be said about the production and ground breaking sound of this record. That said i find a few of the lower key tracks a bit flat so its going to get a perhaps slightly harsh 4 stars.
Best tracks: ⭐️God Only Knows⭐️, I Know There's an Answer / Hang on to Your Ego, Sloop John B.
#105/1001 🇬🇧
Another artist that divides opinion in our household. I'm most definitely in the Love Kate Bush camp. This is almost certainly her best work (so far - i see more to come).
It starts so strongly with Running Up That Hill - a song that 7 year old me fell in love with at the time. Cloudbusting is just magnificent.
Side 2 is more experimental and even includes an Irish jig. In this sense it reminds me of Bowie's Berlin period which took a similar format and i'm all for it.
Best Tracks: Running Up That Hill, Cloudbusting, And Dream of Sheep,
#106/1001 🇺🇸
I have the day off work today so chose to listen to this in bed on my headphones. Now i'm off a mind to stay in bed all day smoking cigarettes and drinking red wine.
Mark Eitzel's music has always conjoured those images of a tortured soul scribbling poetry and playing his guitar in hazy daylight through net curtains. Of course great music is so much more than that.
I regret never having listened to this record before as its a beautiful thing. I came across AMC just at the point that the split seeing them at Reading Festival and via their San Francisco album but i've never gone much further back. I've seen Mark live a few times solo and he remains beautiful yet flawed. Too much red wine last time i saw him.
This won't be for everyone, I get it but I'm so glad that its on this list and was able to discover it.
Best Tracks: Firefly, Pale Skinny Girl, Blue and Grey Shirt, Western Sky.
#107/1001 🇺🇸
FNM were huge amongst our group as kids and this album got played loads at the time.
The first 5 tracks are pretty relentless and Epic will always get me up out of my seat.
At times does seem like each member of the band is trying to outplay each other and falls away towards the end unless you include the bonus cover of War Pigs.
Best Tracks: From Out Of Nowhere, Epic, Zombie Eaters.
#108/1001 🇺🇸 ▶️
Another record that i played endlessly at the time it came out.
Listening back today it doesn't hold the same appeal, maybe its been overplayed. The vocal samples do get a bit repetative, but still it holds more appeal than say the Fat Boy Slim record that i got a couple of weeks ago.
Best tracks: Porcelain, If Things Were Perfect, Down Slow
#109/1001 🇺🇸
This a perfect album. Black Francis screaming from the pit of his depraved soul, over catchy pop tunes, distorted guitars, and Kim Deals sugary backing vocals.
This will always be amongst my favourite records, i got to hear it first just as they split but made sure to see them live on the very first date if their reformation.
Best Tracks: Gouge Away, Wave of Mutilation, Tame, Mr Grieves, Debaser,
#110/1001 🇬🇧❎️❎️
I loved their first 2 albums but never got into this one despite having a CD copy. It has a fuller sound than the others with lush soundscapes but just doesn't feel that essential.
Best Tracks: Lips, A Violent Noise, Brave For You.
#111/1001 🇬🇧🥱
Every morning since getting this app i wake and dutifuly update my review of the previous days album, then refresh in anticipation of the next album. Like Russian Roulette, i've always known this was coming.
I've always promised that i would listen to every album on here in whole, impartially. So this one starts ok actually, then Shiver sounds like Jeff Buckley without an ounce of passion. By the time it gets the song about spies coming out of the water i was getting a bit bored. Then you have the double whammy of Yellow and Trouble which are just excruciating. The rest is pretty nondescript.
😴😴😴😴😴😴
Best Tracks: Don't Panic.
#112/1001 🇺🇸🎱
I've enjoyed Elliots earlier work but never spent much time with this one. Whilst this is more conventional musically, i think i prefer the more stripped back sound of Either Or.
Its still a better record than i remember and a great listen. Loved the piano instrumental ending with the lid being shut at the end.
Best tracks: Everything Reminds Me Of Her, LA, Can't Make A Sound.
#113/1001 🇺🇸⭐️
I'm not sure what the definitive version of this record is. In my first listen i found it good in parts but a bit disjointed, then after reading wikipedia I can see its been reissued a number of times with differing track listings.
I found the first track on the spotify version a bit annoying but it gets better. A suprise cover of Femme Fatal went down and there are some fairly sad songs which are the ones that appeal most.
I love Alex Chilton's voice and have only previously hear their debut album. I'll definitely listen to more on the strength of this.
Best Tracks: Holocaust, Blue Moon, Nature Boy.
#114/1001 🇺🇸
I'm struggling to see the relevance of this band, sorry. I mean they are very competent musicians, but I think that they are just a bit too aware of that.
Its probably a bit too polished for my liking and whilst its not a long record it just seems to go on a bit. I was expecting a more garage rock sound but its just not gritty enough for me. All the jazz rock tempo chamges just grate on me. Normally i'd skip but i'm 114 albums in and am not going to do it now.
Best Tracks: Street Joy.
#115/1001 🇺🇸
Covers albums mostly seem a bit unecessary, occaisionaly brilliant and some are downright dreadful.
I'm not sure why Willie Nelson chose to record this when he always has so much to say in his own compositions.
I was struggling to find much to get excited about here until Unchained Melody and September.
It makes for good background listening and Willie has one of the most effortlessly beautiful tones but its not an album that i can really fall in love with.
Best Tracks: Unchained Melody, Moonlight in Vermont.
#116/1001 🇧🇷
An artist and album that i have never heard of or heard before in my life and I'm so glad that its here.
I've definitely found some of the psychedelic albums on this list a bit challenging but this is an absolute joy to listen to.
Best Tracks: A Minha Menina, O Relogio, Adeus Maria Fulo, Bat Macumba.
#117/1001 🇨🇦
I've got through Joni's albums on this list pretty quickly. This is another that i've never heard before. Of all of them this feels the most polished and accessible but not necesarily my favourite.
Best Tracks: Free Man In Paris, Peoples Parties, Down To You.
#118/1001 🇺🇸🎹
I enjoyed this very much, the simple combination of piano, bass and drums seems to work for me in the jazz format. The double bass playing really stood out to me here, so it was a bit of a gut punch to read that the bass player Scott La Faro died just days after this was recorded.
What really works for me is that it sounds real, its obviously a live recording and you can close your eyes and feel like you are in the room.
Best Tracks: My Mans Gone Now, Solar, Jade Visions.
#119/1001 🇬🇧🐝
Whilst i've seen BDB live a couple of times (and even sat on the table next to him for Sunday lunch in my local) in the past i've never heard this record in full which i'm now realising is a big mistake. It's brilliant - a true revelation. I always found Damon to be a little self depreciating and harsh on himself live but this is a wonderful varied record with some killer pop tunes and other more low key numbers.
Best tracks: Everybody's Stalking, Pissing in the Wind, Once Around the Block, The Shining.
#120/1001 🇺🇸🌯
A strong country sound which seems to be influenced by the Louvin Brothers - who i reviewed here about 100 albums ago - fusing this with a more soulful feel. There are 2 soul classics on side 1.
You can really hear the influence of the band in many of the later alt-country bands and i became aware of them through a cover of Hot Burrito #1 by Belly back in the 90s.
Best Tracks: Sin City, Hot Burrito #1,
#121/1001 🇬🇧
My first listen to this record, and its been on repeat today. Lennon's debut after the demise of the Beatles. It has a very personal and cathartic feel and Lennon proclaims that he doesn't "believe in the Beatles".
Best Tracks: Working Class Hero, God,
#122/1001 🇬🇧
Simply perfect. I love Polly Harvey and this sits with Rid of Me at the top of an astounding body of work. It's without a doubt her most accessible record.
From the beauty of You Said Something to the banshee's yell of Kamikaze, this record twists and turns in all directions. Thom Yorke guests on 2 tracks but this album truly owes more to collaborators Mick Harvey and Rob Ellis.
Best Tracks: The Whores Hustle...., You Said Something, We Float, Good Fortune, This Mess We're In.
#123/1001 🇳🇬
I feel a bit ashamed that i've never listened to this before. I've heard Zombie (the track) before and other odd tracks by Kuti but never fully sat down and listened.
This might be only 4 tracks long but its an almighty record. It starts with Zombie which is undoutedly the key influence on Remain in Light by Talking Heads. Track 4 - Mistake is a live cut and has so much power and energy. Just infectious.
Best Tracks: Zombie, Mistake.
Edit: just read Wikipedia. This was originally the first 2 tracks, the other 2 appear on the reissue.
#124/1001 🇺🇸
Billie had the most unreal singing voice and this album showcases it wonderfuly. The production is slick (maybe a little too much so) and the assembled band and backing singers are immaculate too.
Best tracks: I get on without you very well, , I'll be around, End of a love affair.
#125/1001 🇬🇧⬜️
I have always had such mixed feelings about this record, mainly about the number of slightly gimmicky tracks, pastiching styles like Ska, Country, Ragtime and also the Beach Boys.
That said there is some absolutely wonderful stuff here and we shouldnt forget that they invented Heavy Metal and inspired Charles Manson with Helter Skelter.
I think my belief has always been if they trimmed it down to 3 sides of the best tracks (with Revolution 9 as a single track on side 4) this would be a far stronger record. I guess there were lots of egos at play by this point and everybody had to do their bit.
Best Tracks: Happiness is a Warm Gun, Helter Skelter, Revolution 1, While my Guitar Gently Weeps, Glass Onion, Blackbird.
Also good:
Long Long Long, Cry Baby Cry, Julia, Good Night.
Nope:
Bungalow Bill, Rocky Raccoon, Savoy Truffle, Honey Pie.
#126/1001 🇬🇧🎷
This takes me back to a time when the music industry was feeling quite bloated and riding that final wave from the 90's when it seemed that any band with guitars and a haircut could get signed. Indie Landfill.
Zutons were and still are an honest band and entertaining to watch live. In terms of rating albums here on the basis of influence and importance there isn't much to shout about but it is entertaining. I think the key part of the sound is the saxaphone which does set things apart from other music at the time.
Best tracks: Pressure Point, Remember, Dirty Dancehall.
#127/1001 🇬🇧
This isn't an album that i'm familliar with. I do like Kate Bush as a rule but this a more challenging listen this morning. I'm going to give it another spin later.
2 listens later, once in the car and then making dinner and it really grows. My wife even enjoyed it and she's not a fan.
Best Tracks: Night of the Swallow, Sat in Your Lap, Suspended in Gaffa.
#128/1001 🇮🇪🇬🇧
Wasnt expecting to enjoy this as much as i did as i'm not always a fan of the "live" albums compiled from a number of different dates. This captures all the power of a live set.
Best Tracks: Jailbreak, Southbound, Still in Love with You, Boys are Back in Town.
#129/1001 🇺🇸
A cracking slice of Motown with all that you would expect from the label. Pounding rythm sections, horns, strings and more.
Runaway Child Running Wild, Love is a Hurting Thing, I Need Your Loving, Got to Find a Way (To Get You Back).
#130/1001 🇺🇸
This project is absolutely telling me to dig deeper into the wold of CSNY.
Best Tracks: Cowboy Movie, Tamalpais High, Orleans.
#131/1001 🇺🇸
This is a weighty slab of country and bluegrass (2 hours) and I struggled to do it all in one sitting so listened to it in 3 chunks. I'm glad of it being a Sunday morning for the time and this has felt quite appropriate.
I feel that in the context of this project it is a bit too lengthy to fully appreciate and needs to be appraised over a longer period of time.
For me this could easily have been split into 3 albums. For example the first 10 tracks finishing at The End of the World as one more conscise record.
Best Tracks: Keep on the Sunny Side, Tenesee Stud, The End of the World, Will The Circle be Unbroken?
#132/1001 🇬🇧
I bought this the week that it was released on cassette tape and listened to it on my walkman on repeat. Its a record that has stuck with me ever since.
My abiding memory is visting Portishead (the town) a year or so later, driving down the main street in the pouring rain with this as the soundtrack and thinking "well, its not as good as the music". My best friend lives there now and i wouldnt dream of doing it, in fact I've never even heard them played in the shops or bars. No blue plaques or statues even.
Back to the music, its a cinematic blend of sampled beats, strings, killer vocals and some theremin. For me the second side of the record is where things get darker and in my eyes better.
Best Tracks: Roads, Numb, Pedstal, Wandering Star, Sour Times, Glory Box
#133/1001 🇺🇸
Sorry, this didn't do much for me. I'm sure that in the right moment and in the right place it makes sense. He has a good voice but it was grating on me by the 3rd track in.
Best tracks: Drink up and be Somebody,
House of Memories.
#134/1001 🇺🇸
Another album that i can't find the love for. Bar the outstanding Superstition, I find this pretty dull. Musically it's slick but on the whole not that exciting. Innervisions - Stevie's next album is far more enjoyable.
Best Track: Superstition.
#135/1001 🇨🇦🇺🇸
This has totally blown me away. I've listened to it through 4 times and am left wondering why i've only heard one track before.
I love the way that he sings profanities so elegantly.
Best tracks: Hometown Waltz, Gay Messiah, The Art Teacher, Memphis Skyline, Peach Trees,
#136/1001 🇺🇸👢
My 3rd country album this week and by far the best. It's sharp, concise and doesn't have a duff track. In a male dominated genre, Dolly is the shining light.
Best tracks: Coat of many Colours, Traveling Man, My Blue Tears, A Better Place to Live.
#137/1001 🇬🇧
My first (and second) time listening to this album, although i have other music by them.
I enjoyed it on the whole but nothing really stood out to me. Preferred the instrumental tracks largely.
Best Tracks: Keeping Pigs Together, Shellback, They're Hanging Me Tonight.
#138/1001 🇺🇸
Well the country albums are coming thick and fast at the moment. 4 out of the last 8 to be precise.
Jennings has a really rich baritone voice and i've really enjoyed hearing this.
Best tracks: Omaha,
#139/1001 🇺🇸
The Album where REM started to deliver a more commercial sound, notably with Stipes vocals becoming more coherent.
I wouldnt say its in my top 5 by the band but its definitely a 5⭐️ record.
Best Tracks: Welcome to the Occupation, The One I Love, King of Birds, Oddfellows Local 151, Disturbance at the Heron House.
#140/1001 🇺🇸
I was struggling to find anything to love about this so read some of the indecipherable lyrics.
And i quote:
"I'm passed out in your garden
I'm in, I can't get off, so soft
I'd pop myself in your body
I'd come into your party but
I'm soft, but I'm soft"
No wonder he signs so badly.
Best Tracks:
#141/1001 🏴🇬🇭
This is confusing record, it starts of with a heavy psych dub track, playing through to some lighter poppy tracks which are the real standouts here, before tailing away towards the end. Could have easily been 2-3 tracks shorter and better.
Best tracks: Sunday Shining, Even After All, Red Rolled and Seen,
#142/1001 🇺🇸
A great excuse to revisit this album which i'm guilty of overlooking by listening to their next 3 albums.
Perfection in impeefections.
Best Tracks: The Lung, In a Jar, Raisans.
#143/1001 🇬🇧
Amy recorded this when she waa just 19 and whilst there must have been an amazing team of producers and musicians behind her, what really shines through is that combination of voice and witty lyrics.
Its been a while since i listened to it but its had 3 spins today and i've loved it.
Best tracks: Stronger than Me, October Song, Amy Amy Amy, What is it about Men?, Moodys Mood For Love.
#144/1001 🇬🇧
This is an album that i regularly see propped up on display on the shelves of record collectors.
Its genuinely my first listen and first impressions are stripped back beats, jazzy samples and great lyrics.
Best tracks: Jazz (We've Got), Excursions, Bugging Out.
#145/1001 🇺🇸
Another country album that leaves me a bit cold. Whilst it only lasted half an hour, i was mildly bored and a bit irritated by it.
Best track: Streets of Laredo.
#146/1001 🇬🇧
I expected much more from this. The first half is pretty dull until you reach the god-awful track Mother. What on earth were they thinking.
Side 2 picks up the pace and there are decent tracks - all 3 singles i think, which prevent this from getting 1 star.
Best Tracks: Every Breath You Take, King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger.
#147/1001 🇺🇸
Gang Starr were the first hip hop artists i saw live at Reading (1994) amongst a largely guitar based line up although Cypress Hill headlined that night. They left a good impression but i never looked them up further.
This is a great record without the trappings of misoginy, guns and ego's that much of rap music is dominated by. Much like A Tribe Called Quest that i got a couple of days ago this contains strong, smart lyrics with great beats and some choice samples.
Best tracks: Form of Intellect, Execution of a Chump, Take a Rest.
#148/1001 🇺🇸
You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, so I should ignore the album cover, the fact that this record was released in 1973 and its 19 tracks long.
Well i've listened to it and i'm sure that there is a decent record in here somewhere but i found it a bit overwhelming. Just way too much going on. The whole medley of songs concept and mixing one track into another was just a bit too much for my brain.
There is also a special place in "music" hell for Dogfight Giggle. Dogshite.
Best Tracks: Zen Archer
