Reviews by aretzorn

Why the HELL did Dimery think it made sense to add yet another Rolling Stones album to the 1001?? Ridiculous. Well, let's put that aside for a moment and just assess the album on its own merit: it's OK. Some catchy tracks, but fundamentally it doesn't sound all that unique compared to the rest of their catalog. Good for them, they can still rock around 80 years old, but did we really need this album in the 1001? High points - Steve Jordan's drumming is outstanding, Bite My Head Off is awesome (and love the gritty bass line played by Sir Paul himself), and a clutch of catchy tunes - Angry, Get Close, Whole Wide World, and Mess It Up. Ok album, and a complete waste of a spot in the 1001.

Absolutely hysterical that our final pick is an Elvis Costello album. Sure, I know statistically it was more likely, but hysterical nonetheless. He's way over-represented in the 1001, but at least I like his music (unlike freakin' Leonard Cohen, the other criminally over-represented artist in the 1001). One of my biggest complaints of his over-representation is that the albums sound too similar to each other, but this album at least has the distinction of being a little different and it grew on me with each listen. Good songs, well-arranged and played, excellent recording quality. I can't give EC a 5 - he's a little too goofy for that, but I would definitely revisit. Favorite tracks: Beyond Belief, Tears Before Bedtime, Shabby Doll, The Long Honeymoon (the first four tracks are just really strong - overall Side 1 is better than Side 2), The Loved Ones.

Catchy punk tunes with slightly off-key (but energetic) singing and somewhat amateurish sax playing - I want to say the sax sounds "flat" - not in an out-of-tune way, but just lacking energy, despite the speed of the playing. Supporting this impression, when I heard Identity I thought, "Hey, the sax sounds a lot better now!"...and then saw it was a different sax player. Still, the sax is a nice touch and the whole album has a ton of energy. Poly Styrene's singing style grew on me, even the occasional off-key moments, and she was clearly influential so credit where credit's due. Finally, I've got to imagine the live shows were a lot of fun. Favorite tracks: Warrior in the Woolworths, Let's Submerge, Germ Free Adolescents, The Day the World Turned Day-Glo.

Starting with a wall of feedback is an automatic 1 star deduction for me. The Concept was a decent song, but they already put my back up with that opening. The next track Satan didn't help (although the last 15 seconds were good?). Eventually, most of the songs were decent jangle pop songs pulled down by the slacker singing style. A lot of the time the songs made me think of Matthew Sweet, who I prefer (he was releasing albums at the same time, so it's not a who was first kinda question). I think what makes Matthew Sweet better is that he has more energy in his singing - there are a lot of songs on this album with great music but boring singing (e.g., I Don't Know and Star Sign) and the album got more boring on close listen - never a good sign. Can't believe Spin Magazine picked this for Album of the Year 1991. That's insane, and shows that music critics generally have their heads inserted in certain orifices - I don't think the band should be punished for that, though. I'll give it a 3 despite the noise in the first two tracks and the lazy vocal style that detracts from far too many songs. Didn't mind listening, wouldn't seek it out again. Favorite tracks: What You Do to Me, Is This Music? (nice closing instrumental).

Good heavy blues rocker - before the 1001, I never really listened to anything Rod Stewart did before his 80s big hair days, and I can't say I was a fan but I'm really appreciating his early work, both here and with Jeff Beck. Every song is good, but they sound like a lot of other bands (even contemporaries - I try to be sensitive to appreciating who were the trendsetters). The lack of originality keeps them from getting a 5, but they get the 4 because I'd happily queue this one up again. Favorite tracks: Miss Judy's Farm, Love Lives Here, Stay With Me (one of those "hey I know this one!" moments), Debris (with Ronnie Lane singing lead with Stewart on backing vocals - nice chill song), Memphis Tennessee (fun Chuck Berry cover), That's All You Need (love the slide guitar - Ronnie Wood, soon to join the Rolling Stones). Yeah, that's 2/3 of the album. Good stuff.

Eno transitions more fully towards making ambient masterpieces (with a few "traditional" songs, at least by Eno's standards). It's certainly not something you rock out to, but it sounds amazing. I like pretty much every track, but standouts are St. Elmo's Fire (that Fripp solo is amazing - Eno told him to sound like a Wimshurst machine, which generates high voltage with an arc of electricity that jumps between poles. I hear it. I also like his clean solo on Golden Hours), Over Fire Island (love the bass on this and Sky Saw), In Dark Trees (a cool dark ambient instrumental), Everything Merges with the Night (love the cascading piano line - it takes you away on a gentle ride), and Spirits Drifting (cool ambient closing track with a nice little bit of dissonance). Outstanding album.

Ok, a lot of sources say this is the first heavy metal album. I hear the Who, Cream, and Jimi in this (all of which came first). What makes this heavy metal then? Louder? More distorted? Honestly, it sounds to me just like sloppy playing and amateurish recording quality (even for the 60s). I can acknowledge their influence - heck, about 4 minutes into Doctor Please there's a riff that Rush clearly ripped off (I mean, adapted!) in the instrumental break in Working Man. Plus, I really hear Deep Purple in this album. I feel like I should give them an extra star for historical significance, but honestly I have no urge to ever hear this again, making it a 3 at best. Tracks I liked best: Summertime Blues, Parchment Farm (cool groove).

Cool album start to finish - very interesting how dense the samples are. When I went to whosampled.com I was surprised just how many samples were present in every song. Then I learned about the Grand Upright Music Ltd v. Warner Bros Records case that basically killed wholesale sampling in rap. In other words, this album couldn't exist just a couple years later. Although the samples are a little more in your face obvious than later hip hop, the Dust Brothers and Beastie Boys still make it their own. I may not be a big rap fan, but I really enjoyed this album...I'll give it the 5 it clearly deserves. Favorite tracks: Shake Your Rump, Johnny Ryall, Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun (by far my favorite track on the album), Car Thief, and two parts of B-Boy Bouillabaisse: Stop That Train and A Year and a Day.

Despite never previously liking Madonna, I've tried to be open minded. Imagine my surprise when I really enjoyed Like a Prayer and Ray of Light, leading to 4 stars for each. But I knew I was in trouble when my wife (a Madonna fan) told me that Music was the last Madonna album she bought because she didn't like all the autotune. Since autotune is an automatic one star reduction (at best) for me, I knew this one was going to be tough. Overall, I'd say there's enough good on the album to (mostly) override my distaste for autotune and, dare I say it, the autotune in the title track was subtle and even worked as a good effect for a change. After I got through the first half, I figured easy 3, maybe even a shot at a 4. Then I got to Nobody's Perfect. HOLY CRAP WHAT A HORRIBLE SONG. Awful autotune, nauseating key sound. Like I literally will remove a star JUST FOR THIS AWFUL TRACK. Wait, then Don't Tell Me - wtf, they purposely made it sound like the track was glitching?? I had to listen on another service just to make sure there wasn't something wrong with the Apple Music track. Who on earth thought that was a good idea?? The rest of the album was ok - nothing groundbreaking, but catchy enough (although Paradise had more autotune/electronic effects on the vocals than I'd like, which was a shame, because I liked the atmosphere of the song). I don't know if those two awful tracks are enough to bring me down to a 2 on the album. I'll go with the 3 because in general the album was growing on me with each listen, and got better on close listen. Feels wrong to give it a 2 in that case - but those two tracks alone make it no more than a 3. Favorite tracks: Music, Amazing, What It Feels Like for a Girl, Gone.

Fun, catchy album. I was really busy the last couple of weeks and could only listen to it in the background and noticed it was seriously growing on me and got better with every listen. Lots of different styles on the album - I hear Brian Eno in Get Innocuous and Someone Great, Prince in Time to Get Away, the White Stripes in North American Scum, and the Killers in All My Friends (loved the lyrics in this track - makes you really feel how life changes too fast). Normally I'd call being all over the place a negative, but each track is excellent, so I'm ok with it. Bottom line - I was still enjoying it after putting it on repeat for nearly two weeks. When I finally got to a close listen it was even better. Sounds like a 5. I'm normally not into dance/electronica, but this is in a class by itself. Favorite tracks: liked all of them (weakest track was Sound of Silver - good groove but a little too repetitive). I'll put Time to Get Away, North American Scum, and All My Friends as my favorites.

Interesting/cool samples, particularly the dissonant piano chords on D. Original. And, wow, that's some smooth jazz to rap about Da Bichez. But a lot of the songs got dull after a while, even when the samples they were based on were cool (e.g., Brooklyn Took It, My Mind Spray, Come Clean). I'll go with the 3 because there was nothing I disliked, but I probably wouldn't revisit. Favorite tracks: D. Original, Ain't the Devil Happy, Jungle Music.

Wasn't sure what to make of this album. One moment it sounds Middle Eastern, then it's rap, then it's salsa/Latino jazz, then it's Latin Rock, then it's Santana, then it's jazz fusion...it's not bad, it's just all over the place. The band is clearly really good and the recording quality is excellent, I'm just not sure why it made this list (and it has since been removed). Nothing bad, just nothing I'd revisit. Favorite tracks: Believe, Saturday Night, Ya Viene el Sol (great drums). By the way, when they were playing more Latino Rock style, I kept thinking of the Austin-based band Vallejo. Check them out - Alternative Tejano hard rock, much cooler than this album. I recommend either Into the New or Stereo.

I liked the other Sepultura album on the list (Roots) except for the growling singing - it had a unique sound that warranted inclusion on the list, even if I didn't personally like the style. This one didn't really grab me, although I could handle the growl more for some reason. Every time I tried listening closely I found I wasn't all that interested. Except for a few interesting moments here and there, every song followed the same structure (with almost always the same thrash drum beat). Oddly, it worked as rocking background music for me, strange as that is to say. I'd say it's a 2.5, but I'll call it a 3 and move on. Tracks that caught my attention: Arise, Desperate Cry, Under Siege (Regnum Irae).

Too long, too uneven. Side 3 ("The Kid Gets Heavy") was my favorite side. Side 1 is mostly 70s soft rock with occasional harder edges. Side 2 had too many "dumb" moments trying to be clever (to quote Spinal Tap "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever"). Side 4 was moderately fun, but I was just bored of the album by this point. I'd say a 2.5, but I'll round up because it wasn't BAD, it just wasn't all that interesting to me. Favorite tracks: I Saw the Light, Wolfman Jack, Black Maria, Couldn't I Just Tell You.

Great solo debut album from Eno. I know he's not for everyone, but I'm a big fan of his song-based solo work and this album is no exception. So many good tracks. Of course, Fripp's guitar solo on Baby's on Fire is out of this world and Needle in the Camel's Eye is a great opener. Side two is really strong start to finish. Easy 5. Favorite tracks: Needle in the Camel's Eye, Baby's on Fire, On Some Faraway Beach, Blank Frank, Some of Them Are Old.

Ok, here's one I never heard of before but really enjoyed. A little stylistically uneven, but I liked pretty much all the tracks, so no big deal. I didn't know what to expect and was surprised when it opened with the mellow Roxy Music-ish "The Whole of the Law" and then we're on the pop-punk track "Another Girl, Another Planet." The album continues to shift gears throughout, but never goes wrong (although I found the 1st side more engaging than the 2nd). Would definitely revisit. Favorite tracks: Breaking Down, City of Fun (rocking track!), The Beast, The Immortal Story (good closer).

Catchy tunes with good driving beats throughout, but doesn't hold up on close listen. They get a cool riff or chorus and then just repeat them over and over. So, it works best as background music, which isn't really a good thing to say about an album. That said, the only song I didn't like was Atlantis to Interzone - it was a bit much, particularly in the chorus. I'd call it a 3.5 and round up to a 4 because I dug it as something to bop along to while doing other stuff and wouldn't mind revisiting. Favorite tracks: Two Receivers (cool start), Totem on the Timeline, Gravity's Rainbow, Four Horsemen of 2012 (cool end).

I'm generally not into dance music, but this album really won me over. At first I was a little resistant to giving it a chance, but the words "catchy" and "cool" kept coming to mind over and over, and the album grew on me with each listen. By the time I was writing this review, I was seriously impressed. I even came to appreciate What Have I Done to Deserve This, which I thought of as a cheesy 80s hit until I listened closely. I don't think I can go with the 5 for the album - still not my thing - but lots of respect for making me like an album in a genre that I'm not really into. Favorites tracks: One More Chance, What Have I Done to Deserve This, Shopping, Hit Music, I Want to Wake Up, King's Cross (powerful ending track).

I think this was included in an earlier edition of the 1001 because they were excited that Bowie finally had a new album after almost 10 years, but it was wisely replaced by his swan song, Blackstar (which I view as an absolute masterpiece and is a very unique entry in Bowie's extensive catalog). This is a good album, but even though I'm a Bowie fan I can acknowledge it didn't need to be in the 1001. That said, it's a really good album. I admit I never gave it a big chance since it came out, but on repeated listens it's growing on me. I'll call it a 4 - not a masterpiece, but definitely worth revisiting. Favorite tracks: The Next Day, Love is Lost, If You Can See Me (crazy track - sounds like it would fit on Blackstar, or even Outside (another favorite Bowie album)), Boss of Me (great bass line from Tony Levin - it's not credited, but it sure sounds like his "funk fingers"!).

The Wikipedia page on Prefab Sprout has a lot of superlatives - "some of the most beautiful and intelligent records of their era", "most beloved pop music of the 1980s and 1990s" and that Paddy McAloon is "one of the great songwriters of his time." That's a little much. This was pretty much boring soft listening and I enjoyed it better as background music (never a good sign) - I got pretty bored on a close listen. I like the Thomas Dolby connection, and I'm sad that Dolby's The Golden Age of Wireless is not in the 1001 since it's so much better than this. Tracks I liked: Faron Young, Bonny.