1001 Albums Summary

Oh hey I know this one already Concerning the UFO sighting: Incredibly beautiful opener, great vocals, great piano. "Then to Lebanon, oh God" The Black Hawk War: I never really listen to this one. Neat harmonies. Feels very theater Feel the Illinoise: This is easily one of the best pop songs ever made. It's weird taking notes on this one because it's a song I fully know the ins and outs of. There is nothing to really say, it just works. Beautiful writing all the way through, some of Sufjan's best. The first part especially really fills you with the optimism and wonder that came with the World Fairs. "Chicago, the new age, but what would Frank Lloyd Wright say?" "Are you writing from the heart? Are you writing from the heart?" John Wayne Gacy, Jr.: The way Gacy is humanized and presented as a figure with some relatable qualities always made me somewhat uneasy, I guess that's the point. Eerie outro, great melodies all throughout. Jacksonville: It's just so in-your-face optimistic and conciliatory, very disarming. Hard to dislike. A short reprise for Mary Todd: He wasn't lying, it's short. Neat I guess Decatur: Be nice to your step moms everyone I've never really loved the vocal harmonies here but as a whole it works out well. "Sangamon River it overflowed, it caused a mudslide on the banks of the operator" is an incredible lyric One last Whoo-hoo: This is definitely one of the songs on this album Chicago: Another one of the center pieces on here. Feels really monumental. Casimir Pulaski Day: Absolutely soul crushing from the very first second To the Workers: Another one I never really listen to. Neat interlude but there just isn't that much substance The Man of Metropolis: This one never really grew on me too much. Not bad but pales in comparison to some of the other ones on here. Actually I think the chorus melody is slightly annoying. The ideas here just don't really warrant the 6 minute runtime. Idk Prairie Fire: The best "short" song on here I think. The ascending melody is great and works very well. Also amazing drumming A conjunction of drones: This would be really cool if it wasn't literally 20 seconds long Palisades: Sweet and heartfelt. We swaggered and swayed. They Are Night Zombies: This one is kind of silly. Too gimmicky, I don't think the chorus works super well either. Actually might still work better than the verses though. I don't know, none of it is amazing. I have to say some of the high notes he hits in the second half are pretty gnarly Let's hear that string part again: Sure then In This Temple: Mysterious, ethereal The Seer's Tower: The piano part is pretty good. The vocal melody could have been better. This song always reminds me of the thing from Lord of the Rings but that's probably just the title. The Tallest Man: This one's groovy. Compositionally speaking one of the best ones on here. Everything just fits together perfectly. It's like listening to an infinitely complex machine of cogs that work together in perfect unison. Riffs and Variations: Quiet goodbyes Out of Egypt: It's definitely a power move to end the album with a minimalist composition and I'm so glad he did because this makes me float One of the best, most evocative pop albums ever made :)

Some good ideas but it feels like they can't really decide if they want to be prog or more poppy rock so they kind of end up oscillating between the two. The result isn't bad at all but it feels disjointed in places and a tad bland. It also feels like it somewhat picked up towards the end, the second half definitely engaged me somewhat more. "Rudy" and "If Everyone Was Listening" were probably the standout tracks if I had to pick, the rest of it largely blended together. Also can't help but feel like Manfred Mann's Earth Band took inspiration from the title track's piano riff for their version of "For You". Maybe I'm just going crazy though

DUN DUN-DUN-DUN DUN-DUN DUN, nevermind, that's on a different album. He sounds like he's on the verge of tears most of the time! Makes me want to check in with him and ask if everything is fine. This really didn't need 16 tracks, did it? The instrumentals—for the most part—are fine and fun and energetic but I just can't really get behind the vocalist. Next time, just hire Julian Casablancas and let him do it. The writing is less than stellar too (I'm totally fine with steering clear of unnecessary complexity, but, come on, "I Think I Smell a Rat" solely consists of the rhymes rat-at-rat-bat-rat-at-rat-mat-rat). I think "Aluminum" was my favorite track on here. I love the vision they had for that one, very mathy. It was also the only instrumental, go figure.

Nearly every track on here is ingrained into my brain. Extremely iconic from front to back, this record played a key role in birthing whole genres of music. I guess my only real point of criticism would be that personally speaking, songs played in this style have never been extremely evocative for me so while I concur that these tracks are heaters, they somewhat lack on the emotional front. That being said, I think the specific genre of classic Heavy Metal was pretty much perfected on Paranoid.