This is my first album as part of this journey. I'm no music critic, certainly not a talented writer, and have never been one for parsing deeper meanings and messages from art.
This album is one I would never have selected to listen to on my own. While I don't dislike jazz, its also not something I play intentionally. To me, jazz has always been something on in the background in a bookstore, or something used to draw emotion during a movie scene.
This album is only 33 minutes long, but I found my mind wandering during most songs as I listened. Listen, the instruments are beautifully played, the composition is interesting, but if there is a deeper meaning or theme, it has gone over my head. I suppose this is just an album that I'll enjoy at face value.
I've always been a fan of 70s folk rock, but I must admit the name Carole King didn't ring a bell until I started listening to this album. As this album opened with "I Feel the Earth Move" I instantly thought "Oh, thats who sings this!". By the time I finished "So Far Away" and started "It's Too Late", I stopped being surprised that I recognized the some and started wondering how the name Carole King never stuck in my head. I found this album to be wonderfully composed with themes flowing from song to song and a cozy performance that felt as if we were all sitting in somebody's living room. However, I was less of a fan of the b-side of this album. Songs like "Smackwater Jack" are forgettable when compared to the first half.
I've always had a soft spot for Brit pop, but I guess that doesn't extend to the whole genre because this album was not my favorite. I'm not British and I was too young when this came out to have any nostalgia associated with this album. I can definitely hear and appreciate the 60s and psychedelic rock influences here as well as some early Gorillaz sounds from Daman Albarn.
I gave this album 2 listens thinking maybe I missed something but it just sounded monotone to me. I really struggled to make it through the whole thing. "Girls & Boys" was pretty catchy, but this album just missed the mark with me.
Obviously "Superstition" is the star of this album, but it contains a few other songs that I really enjoyed. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a great smooth opener and "Tuesday Heartbreak" has a great baseline. A few songs had some good funky parts I associate with Stevie Wonder based on his bigger hits. Most of the album was forgettable on the whole in my opinion.
The first time I listed through I was tuning out near the end of the album, but "I Belive (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever)" brought my attention right back. I'd never heard it before and it hit me like a truck. I don't know why, but when it got to the Chorus I had to sit down just to listen, process emotions, and think. I've never had a song do that to me before. It's pretty awesome that a song can affect me like that 50+ years after it was released.
When I was in college about 15 years ago, my roommate got a record player. He and I were both fans of classic rock so we went to the second hand record store and browsed through what they had. We bought every Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd album we could along with some Journey and Eagles albums. Along with those we bought Deja Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and man was that a great choice. I wore this record out listening to it over and over while studying. It was the perfect mix of smooth and relaxing along with just enough energy to keep me going. I can still hear the hiss of the worn out needle as "Carry On" fades in, even if that detail is only in my mind.
What I'm saying here is that my 5 star rating may be dripping in nostalgia, but I absolutely love this album.
This album was... fine. I've never been much into new wave and this album was no different. Cars is of course good, but for most of the album I found myself zoned out tapping my foot along. Not great, not terrible.
Not what I expected based on the album title and cover. Its fine. Background noise for the most part.
Haven't listened to much Elvis Castello before, but I dig the album.
The opening number hit me with way more funk than I was expecting. I enjoyed the album, but the A side was much stronger than the B side, which drug on a bit.
The live aspect was cool but ultimately detracted from the album.
My first introduction to Arcade Fire was the trailer for 2009's "Where the Wild Things Are". That book and movie filled me with a sense of Wanderlust and the trailer was accompanied by an unreleased acoustic version of "Wake Up". That combination forever attached positive emotions to this album and made me a huge fan of 2000s and 2010s indie/alt rock as a whole.
Side note, back in 2010 or so Arcade Fire did a live YouTube concert, back when a live streamed concert was a novel idea. About 30 seconds into their 4th or 5th song they all stopped and apologized. One of the members missed a note so they started the song over. Its a pretty small thing, but I respect their commitment to a good show.
All that said, looking back this album heavily shaped the indie rock scene for years to come. This album is the Seinfeld effect in action. This bombastic wide open sound would go on to take over the indie scene in the coming years because everyone wanted to copy it.
R.E.M. was never my cup of tea. There are some good song on here, but I find it hard to get past the droning vocals. Its a very... medium energy throughout punctuated by mountains of gated reverb on the drums. I was whelmed.
Its not a very far leap from here to the beginnings of grunge. "End of the World" and "The One I Love" are pretty clearly the top songs here for me.
I hadn't heard of Gene Clark before listening to this, but he was apparently an original member of the Byrds. This album was an interesting listen, there is a definite Neil Young sound to it. You can also hear how this influenced the Eagles early work and the Americana genre as a whole.
Not every song is great, but its a pretty unique mix of genres for the time mixing rock, folk, country, psychedelic, and blues.
Just regular fly, not supa dupa fly. Some good songs, but I general it's a bit slow for me.
Albums like this are a good reminder that this list is supposed to be 1001 (really 1089 now) influential albums, not the 1001 best albums of all time. Influential things are often the first to try something new, and the first pass at something new is not always the best. While there are some great albums on this list, most are the first commercially serious attempt at a new genre/sound/mix/etc., not the album that perfected that thing.
This album was definitely influential to the alt rock and Americana scene, but there is a lot of filler here. There's no rise and fall of energy, every song just feels like more of the same. Its not a bad sound, but its not one I want to listen to for over an hour straight.
This feels like a 3 star album in every way. Not great, not terrible. Just steady and...okay.
My previous Stevie Wonder album to review was Talking Book, which was his album released before Innervisions. Its evident the amount of professional and musical growth that has occurred between these 2 albums. As the wiki description says, less love ballads and more synth and electronic sounds. The A side is higher energy including the highlight, "Higher Ground". The B side was slower, and while good, was less enjoyable for me.
I really did my best, I even listed to this album multiple times, but I just don't get jazz. The instruments are clearly well played and I can appreciate the skill involved. It sounds good, but I just don't get what is so amazing about it. Oh well.
Led Zeppelin's debut album is a fantastic mix of rock and blues. It has so many lasting hits that I knew as well as a few songs I never really listened to before. Not every song was an instant classic, but its such a good album on the whole. Honestly they are one of the few bands I can name every member of, especially ones that haven't put out new material in 46 years.
I'm finding it hard to write anything here. This album was entirely forgettable. Nothing stood out to me. It wasn't actively bad, but just nothing compared to some of the great albums on this list.
Interesting and solid beats throughout, but nothing groundbreaking. As somebody who's not so young anymore I'm glad A Tribe Called Quest was out here years ago talking about eating low cholesterol foods.
Neil Young's best album with some of his best songs. Simple music backing powerful lyrics and his signature voice makes this album something special.
Better than her other entry on this list Supa Dupa Fly with some great collaborations. I heard this everywhere when it came out, but not exactly my jam.
"Work It" is going to be in my head all day now.
Kinda feels like Pink Floyd inspired lo-fi. I'm sure it was cutting edge at the time, but i don't know if it really holds up.
