Reviews by 1001mjanzai

This is another one of those “just ok” albums.
It might fit on a list of 10,001 albums but probably should not be on a list of 1,001 albums.
It sounds ok with a pleasant mix of alt rock styles but they’re clearly taking their sound from many great bands that came before within 10 years from when this was released and it doesn’t sound like they’ve taken that sound and elevated it much.
The vocals are good, the musicianship is good, and there’s some interesting things going on with the arrangements and the mix but I still can’t help but think that this sounds a bit second rate.
There’s some potential here though and with further listens and perhaps a deeper examination of the lyrics it might click with me but for now this goes in the ok pile and I’m unfortunately left with that feeling of hoping for a better album tomorrow.

Holy smokes! I remember this album was in our household way back when it came out.
I really love the song “Church Of The Poison Mind”!
I couldn’t remember much about the other tracks other than the hits and didn’t expect much but I was pleasantly surprised.
Upon listening to this again (about 40 years after the last time I heard this!) I’ve realized how somewhat rooted this band’s sound is in R&B and soul music and Boy George does a good job at getting some soulful vocal takes.
Funny how around this era there always seemed to be an obligatory reggae number as well as the dramatic, piano driven, album closing, epic.
Alright well this was an unexpectedly fun listen and it’ll make me want to check out their other albums around this time as well.

Another band that was around when I was a deep music listener but never got to hear when I was young.
I’ve had the chance to finally listen to so much great music from this era it really makes me realize that I was born just a few years too late as I’m sure I would have been able to hear all this great music if I was in college rather than elementary or high school.
I’ve been wanting to dig into their catalogue for a while now so it’s great to finally start with this album.
I’m definitely digging this!
Such a unique sound!
Her vocals are great and that flanged and chorusy guitar, although a bit thin sounding, is doing some very unique things on top of a great sounding rhythm section.
Even though I don’t know much about their music I did get to see them live once when they were direct support to Jane’s Addiction on the first Lollapalooza tour in 1991!
Damn that would have been great to experience with more knowledge of their music.
Definitely looking forward to digging into the rest of their catalogue.

Oh great!
I remember the song Dear God from back then and I remember liking it.
I never knew that it was a dilemma whether to include that song on the album or not.
I never got the chance to hear any albums from these guys so it’s great to finally listen to one and this one is pretty great!
So creative and progressive!
Great songs with great chord progressions!
I can see once again how an album like this back in the day would be more of a college radio staple rather than on mainstream radio.
Listening to this was so enjoyable that I definitely need to check out the rest of their catalogue!

Ah hell yes here we go!
Good to finally get to something heavy!
Although their best albums were before this one, this is a pretty important piece of the puzzle regarding this band’s history.
There’s no denying how fucking awesome this album sounds!
Huge props to Bob Rock and his team for recording and mixing some of the greatest tones in heavy music history.
The slower tempos really fit this new style and recording.
It basically shows you how important Black Sabbath is to heavy music!
It’s still a little disconcerting to hear how much they simplified thei riffs and songs but they knew what they were doing because this is the beginning of them becoming one of the greatest and most popular heavy metal bands ever.
Although a bit long, because of the age of cds at this point in time, they really do a good job with each and every song on this album.
They really learned from the last album how to throw in some good arrangement tricks in their songs and there’s definitely some good ones here to keep things interesting.
The only thing preventing this from a perfect score is the fact that their best albums were before this, in a different style, so I hope those albums come up at some point on this journey.
Otherwise, yes, this album is essential listening for anyone who considers themselves a music fan.
And those who don’t know this band should absolutely check out all of their previous albums!

Well this was totally inoffensive.
Just a plain and pleasant listen.
There’s some basic arrangement ideas here but the recording keeps it fairly devoid of dynamics so by the end I just felt flat and emotionless.
I’m not sure what exactly would make this a must listen album but it’s not bad.
It’s just good.
That’s all.
Just good.

Well alright here we go again with the quirky tunes of Talking Heads!
Their first album came up a couple of weeks ago and now on to their second album.
Yep it still sounds like them.
The production seems to be better this time around.
I find a lot of the time that the songs don’t necessarily stick in my head very much and I find some parts to be a bit monotonous however I’m sure that with a few spins they will stand out more as there are a lot of cool things to listen to here.
Ya I’m not sure if the first two albums by this band should be on this list as I have a feeling that their best albums are about to come after those two.

A very interesting collection of songs on an album by a very talented stage actress.
The songs are all interesting and they are all arranged, performed and recorded well.
The vocal performance is very dramatic as expected and there’s a lot to take in from the lyrics.
Once again, hearing an album like this makes me think of other albums in this vain, especially recordings of musicals as well as soundtracks.
So many albums to be considered for this project and so many that are not on the list!
Anyways it was good to listen to this album as it’s not something I would normally gravitate to.
I was quite mesmerized by the last piece and finding out that it was by the great Scott Walker and also learning that there’s another long Walker piece as a bonus track means that I’m gonna try and track it down so I can listen to it.

This project is really helping to check off the list of all the bands I’ve heard of but never got a chance to hear.
Although this album came out at a time when I was fully immersed in the act of listening to music, I can tell just by the sound of this that I would not have encountered this because I was in high school and I didn’t have any friends that listened to stuff like this at the time.
I bet I would have heard it though if I was in college and into listening to campus radio.
It’s a real nice mix of some sort of folk, country, and rock.
Yeah I’m digging this more and more as the album goes on.
It would have been cool to see them live back in the day.
Ok I’m sold on these guys and I’ve gotta check out some more of their albums!

ps I love the photo on this album cover!
I would like to know more about it but came up empty online however I did get to do a bit of a deep dive on the photographer Bobby Neel Adams and his stuff is great!
Now I want to find some of his photo books if they’re available anywhere.
Ah art! So tough on my wallet!

Well this one’s gonna be easy as its another absolute classic!
The album starts with a hypnotic (guitar?) synthesizer riff in 6 and off we go!
Every single song on this album is great, most of them written by Sting which shows you where the songwriting talent really was.
Even the twisted piece in 7 by Andy Summers and the sing along one by Stewart Copeland are fun to listen to and make a great contrast against Sting’s songs.
For a 3-piece band it’s harmonically rich, the vocal melodies and lyrics are great, and the drumming is subtly complex.
It’s no wonder they broke up after this album as they definitely hit their peak here in their career and they surely would not have been able to top this one.
I hadn’t heard this album in a while but managed to listen to it around this time last year so it was nice to pull it out again today for this project.
What fun it was to sing along from the beginning of the album to the end!

Alright here we go with my first rap album from this list.
The flow and delivery of the words can really make the difference without a strong melodic component up front and it’s all delivered well here.
The backing tracks are fairly simple riffs and loops with some guest singers and samples to fill the sound out a bit.
For me, it’s hard to relate to much of what he’s trying to say but there are definitely moments where what he’s talking about is universal and I understand the sentiment.
This album seems to be lacking some dynamics though.
It all seems a wash of words on first listen however I do believe that rap music takes more than a few listens to really understand so for now I’m not into this much but I do want to hear more, if not this album then maybe some other albums in his catalogue and only when something clicks would I be able to give this a higher rating.

Wow what a nice surprise!
From France no less, which makes me wonder how many hundreds of international albums deserve to be on this list.
I like the sound of this pop record with its subtle arrangements and dry beats with a sparse mix.
The vocals are performed very well, often carrying the whole tune over a minimal soundscape with some nice harmonies here and there.
Looks like there’s french versions of some of these songs which I’ll be checking out as I bet they sound even better in their native tongue.
It sure was great to listen to a modern day artist exploring pop music in this way!

I remember when this album came out back in the day and being surprised by the sound of this album seemingly looking back to the aesthetics of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and well, just the Beatle-ness of it all.
It definitely stood out amongst the pop and rock music of 1989 and 1990.
Lots of varied song ideas and soulful vocals and cool that he made most of this himself.
Unfortunately it’s a bit too long at just over 55 minutes and would have been served well by some edits and/or cutting some songs out.
It’s a good first album but personally I like his next album, Mama Said, much more and that would have been my album of choice for this list rather than this one.

Ah so nice to get back to some rock ‘n roll again and this one rocks!
Once again a band I’ve heard of but never really listened to.
There’s a lot of good energy on this one with some hyper drumming and loud guitars.
The songs are good with some interesting chord progressions and vocal melodies, all in a pop rock framework.
Not sure if this is essential listening right now but with repeated listens I can see this one being justified so.
Definitely want to hear their other albums to see where they went after this.

Ah, another nice and warm sounding recording.
Nothing like the ‘70s to envelope you in its analogue methods!
I’m only a little bit familiar with Richard Thompson and always heard about his albums with Linda so it was great to finally get a chance to hear one.
Having spent some time with the albums of Sandy Denny a few years back this album really put me back in that sort of vibe.
Once again I don’t usually gravitate to folk based music but I really enjoyed this one as well.
There’s a sort of nostalgic sentiment to these songs in the lyrics, vocals and chord progressions over a lot of slow and steady tempos.
I’m guessing that there’s some sort of a British folk sound here in the way the songs are written and performed.
Definitely going to check out their other albums and though I’ve heard of Fairport Convention I haven’t spent much time with that band either so here’s hoping there’s one coming in the pipeline but if not I do hope to get there one day as well.

Alright, here’s an artist that’s hard to not know yet I’ve never sat down to listen to any actual albums.
Once again another genre of music I’m not very well versed in but I definitely enjoyed listening to this very much.
This recording sounds really nice, very warm sounding, and the music is all performed well.
Love the background vocal arrangements!
Definitely want to hear more from the catalogue especially learning that this is his seventh album!

A name I may have seen or heard around but had no idea what they’re about and what a pleasant surprise it was to listen to this!
Although I don’t normally gravitate to folk based music, the way this music is put together is very interesting.
Great arrangements and vocal harmonies!
I’ll definitely be checking out their other albums and I’m already thinking about asking around to some of my friends to see if they know of this band or not.
I’ve been a little dismayed by some of the albums I’ve had to listen to lately, a lot from around this era, but this one gives me hope that there actually are some great albums I don’t know of and to not give up on this project.

Another artist I’ve heard of but never got to hear.
This is sample based dance music which can be ok but this album makes me wish that it had more adventurous content or that I was at least listening to some real musicians playing.
There are some moments here and there of harmonic movement which keep it interesting however presented over an unchanging electronic beat does make it sound a little flat.
I am curious though to listen to at least a couple more albums by Moby to see if anything grabs me.
In the meantime unless I can muster up any desire to listen to this one again to see if it clicks, I’m afraid that this will be filed under non-essential listening for now.

I remember these kinds of bands a lot in the 90s.
I think the one that did it the best was Mano Negra.
As for The Coral, the mix of styles is interesting and it’s well played and recorded but for me it sounds a little stilted and a bit too clever for its own good as if trying to win over a conservative audience in a friendly way which they no doubt did.
This is good but for me is not essential listening.
Personally I’m not sure that I would ever need to listen to this again however I might play this to a group of the right people at a party if they were somewhat adventurous but conservative listeners.

Getting the first jazz album of this generator makes me wonder how many jazz albums there are and also if there are any classical albums.
There must be tons of great jazz and classical albums out there and so many of them should probably be on this list but sadly are not.
This album is amazing to listen to for the fact that it’s a big band playing incredible arrangements live, being captured by minimal equipment.
You can totally feel the energy of the crowd build towards the end and it sounds absolutely wild out there!
We are blessed that this moment was captured and available for all to hear.