Reviews by aretzorn

Cool grooves, great flow. I feel like I should give an extra star just for the fact that she was pioneering. On the flip side, I want to take back a star for Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children. What the heck was that?? Some repetitiveness across the tracks, but it's definitely an excellent rap album. I also like the positivity in the lyrics and she's one of the best female rappers of all time, so I'll go with the 4. Favorite tracks: Dance for Me, Come Into My House, Latifah's Law, Ladies First, Evil That Men Do.

Expected not to like this based on the seriously over-the-top gushing review in the book. The reviewer made it sound like the most important album ever in the UK dance scene, a genre I'm not all that keen on in the first place. It didn't help that the first two tracks, while generally catchy, had some moments that I really disliked. Once past those first two tracks, though, I found myself pleasantly surprised. Dark synth grooves, interesting mashups of African and reggae styles, and then throw in the singers from Curve and the Sex Pistols and you've got a cool-sounding album. Works best as background music, but I'd put it on in the background again. Favorite tracks: Melt, Song of Life, Space Shanty, Open Up (w/ John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten).

wtf? Why does this dude have two albums in the 1001?? Like *really* two albums, not "one of these was removed and the other is a replacement." Is he friends with Robert Dimery? I just don't get it. There were a few good moments, but also some really weird moments. It wasn't awful, but I absolutely did not need to hear this (or his other album on the 1001) before I died. Tracks that I liked: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Pelvis (awful name, good bop, a little weird),The Vibes Ain't Nothing but the Vibes, The Big Bamboozle, The Sweetest Embrace (Nick Cave makes it good).

If someone were to ask me to provide an example of 90s slacker rock - THIS. They're ok. A little noisy sometimes (e.g., the end of Unfair) and Stephen Malkmus' slacker lazy vocal style works sometimes and not others (e.g., the first couple of songs). It was ok, but I'm not a big fan. Tracks I liked: Stop Breathing (especially the guitar line in the latter part of the song), Cut Your Hair, Newark Wilder (nice vibe).

The Police demonstrate how to go out on top with an ALMOST perfect album (looking at you, "Mother"). Seriously, pretty much all the songs range from really good to great. If I had to classify them: Really good: Walking in Your Footsteps, O My God (sounds like it belongs on Sting's 1st solo album, which I love - couldn't confirm, but Genius says Sting played the sax solo?? Impressive), Miss Gradenko, Tea in the Sahara. Great: Synchronicity I, Synchronicity II (used to play this in a band - lots of fun), King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger. Stone Cold Classic: Every Breath You Take - it may be over-played, but it's an amazing song (and I guess technically one of the greatest songs ever made about stalking?). Super-easy 5.

Super generic and way too long. When I saw it was some British artist I never heard of from 2002 who won the Mercury Prize, I immediately assumed it's since been removed from the 1001. Yup. Tracks that I thought were catchy: Dy-Na-Mi-Tee, Put Him Out, Sick 'n' Tired.

I've mentioned before that OK Computer was the last Radiohead album I really liked before they got fully Weird with a capital W. As I listened to the first couple of tracks, I thought, "Here we go again." How wrong I was. At first, I just appreciated a lot of the songs that were based in regular instruments rather than electronica (e.g., Sail to the Moon, Go to Sleep, A Punchup at a Wedding), but it was on repeat listens that I started to get pulled into more and more tracks (incl. Myxomatosis and A Wolf at the Door). I was busy this week and it took a while to get to a close listen, but I was already clearly at a 4 for the album by then. Then, I did my close listen and frankly was blown away by how much better the album was when paying close attention. The lyrics are sheer poetry and horror - the sense of foreboding throughout the album is palpable. It's a shame Thom Yorke doesn't enunciate well when he sings (and I know he's capable - that always irks me) because the lyrics are outstanding. Every single song hit me on close listen, so much that I'm not even going to list "favorite tracks" (but a few that really hit me for the first time during the close listen included Where I End and You Begin, We Suck Young Blood, and The Gloaming and if I had to pick one track to call a favorite it would be A Wolf at the Door). Simply put, this is an amazing album - can't believe they pulled this from the book - I slept on this one and I'm glad the 1001 got me to give it another chance.

Interesting as an historical artifact, but incredibly dated and often cheesy, both musically and lyrically. As a Jeff Buckley fan, what I found most interesting is the echoes of Jeff's voice. I suppose it's the other way around, but to me Jeff was leaps and bounds superior to Tim, both from a vocal perspective and a songwriting perspective. I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain is a decent sounding song, but basically he's declaring what a POS he was for abandoning his newborn son. F this guy. Songs I sort of liked: Once I Was, Phantasmagoria in Two, Morning Glory. Most irritating song: Goodbye and Hello - cheesy AND long.

Like many albums in the 1001, I had preconceived notions about this one, but I'm trying to listen to everything with an open mind. I start by listening primarily as background music and it fit all my preconceptions: Courtney Love sounds like either she can't sing or she doesn't want to be bothered. When she puts more anger into it, it sounds like she's trying to barf out the words. The music is just typical grunge and there are better bands to listen to. I was drafting a review and figured it would be a 2. On close listen, though, paying attention to the lyrics, I found it's a much more powerful album than I thought. Couple the lyrics with her singing style and suddenly it works. She also becomes a lot more sympathetic - you realize maybe, just maybe, you're focused on the press version of her, and maybe not the real her, and damn she's been through a lot. I have no idea if any of that is accurate, but the singing style and music work much better when you realize what she's singing. The album grew on me with each listen and I definitely appreciate Hole and Courtney Love more than I did before. Favorite tracks: Violet, Asking for it, Jennifer's Body, Doll Parts, She Walks on Me, Rock Star (Olympia).

Emo and often weird. Not a bad weird and there are some good moments, but generally too much of the same tone throughout. By the end when she was singing "I'm worn out, thinking of why" I was kind of agreeing. Favorite tracks: Silence (although the end was a little abrupt), The Rip (very cool middle break), Machine Gun.

Pretty chill album that ran a little long for me and had me wanting to skip ahead during my close listen. She sounds great both singing and rapping, with an interesting meter most of the time, it was just a little too chill and lacked enough variety to really pull me in for the whole thing. Favorite tracks: Sock It To Me, The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly), Beep Me 911, Pass da Blunt, Don't Be Commin' (In My Face) (awful name, but very catchy track), Izzy Izzy Ahh.

Any album that I think is just a good background bop but then sounds better on close listen is a good album in my book. Just a fun, clever album. Plus, I automatically add a star for anything with Adrian Belew (although interestingly, he wasn't as present on this album as you'd expect, except for the obvious guitar/elephant sound...well, obvious to any King Crimson fan! I love that the blurb in the 1001 book referred to him as "stunt guitarist" Adrian Belew. EDIT: Wow, per Wikipedia, "recording engineer Steven Stanley erased the majority of Belew's solos during the mixing sessions" - so it wasn't my imagination!). Really enjoyed this album - can't call it a five, but I would definitely revisit. Favorite tracks: Wordy Rappinghood, Genius of Love (one of those "Hey, I know this one!" the moment it started), Lorelei (really liked this track - creates a cool mood).

Slick and poppy. Starts super strong (and awesome) with the song Celebrity Skin, but then is mostly slick, polished pop rock, which is honestly shocking after the hard edge of Live Through This (which itself was apparently toned down from their first album, which admittedly I haven't heard). Heaven knows Courtney Love went through a lot between these two albums, but this album just isn't as strong without that edge. One big difference is that the lyrics, even though they're often about drowning and loss, aren't as cutting as the lyrics on Live Through This. Those lyrics made me truly appreciate Hole after being dismissive of Courtney Love for a long time. This album doesn't make me want to go back to being dismissive, but it definitely lost something (which could easily be due to her personal loss, which I wouldn't wish on anyone). I'd call is a 3.5 but I'm rounding down to differentiate the score from the 4 I gave Live Through This. Favorite tracks: Celebrity Skin (rocking song - and the bass sounds fantastic), Use Once & Destroy, Boys on the Radio, Playing Your Song.

Despite being a long-time Peter Gabriel fan, I never really got into his first solo album, so I enjoyed spending some time listening closely. There's a lot to like, but it's an uneven affair - like he's trying out different sounds and can't decide what he wants to be (my favorite tracks - Solsbury Hill, Humdrum, and Here Comes the Flood - all point in the direction he eventually went).

Moribund the Burgermeister sounds like classic prog Genesis - an odd choice to start the album if he's trying to show his independence - but since I like classic prog Genesis I like this track too. Then we have Solsbury Hill, an outstanding and timeless track that could have been written today - one of his best. Modern Love sounds like Peter Gabriel trying to write a Bruce Springsteen song. Then the completely odd style of Excuse Me - did we need a barbershop quartet on this album? No, no we didn't. With Robert Fripp on banjo and Tony Levin on tuba?? Ok, I'll allow it. Humdrum is a great example of the direction he's going to take in his upcoming albums and, man, when the synth kicks in at 1:53 leading to the "out of woman comes the man" section - chills every time. Absolutely majestic end to Side 1.

Side 2 starts with Slowburn, kind of a glam rocker? Very 70s sounding. Waiting for the Big One is straightforward blues, singing like Randy Newman? It's not a bad song (none of the songs on the album are bad, even Excuse Me) but it's another example of how this album is all over the place. Down the Dolce Vita is a bombastic 70s rocker, complete with an overly dramatic orchestra. Finally, Here Comes the Flood - I absolutely love this song, but moreso when it's stripped down (which he did live and also on his 1990 compilation album Shaking the Tree). I've always felt that this album's version with the full on rock band chorus is a bit much. Check out the version on Fripp's album Exposure, released a little over two years later, which just features PG on piano and vocals, Brian Eno adding subtle synth, and Fripp playing his "Frippertronics" looped guitar. So much better than the original version here. Go check it out (and stay for the next track on the album, Water Music II).

Bottom line, this is a 4 for me - lots of good songs, but a little disjointed. As a PG fan I can really appreciate its place as the first step in his move from Genesis frontman to solo superstar, but it's not an album I would recommend to someone new to Peter Gabriel's solo discography.

I'd say the first side hit me right away while the second side was a grower - I wasn't as thrilled with it on first listen, but got into it more on subsequent listens (it's a short album and lends itself easily to repeat listens). In particular, the opening track is a great jam - I only knew Steve Winwood from his 80s hits and I had no idea he was such an outstanding musician. The jam at the end of Every Mother's Son also sounded great. Probably the only negative was that John Barleycorn got a little boring on a close listen, but made for good background vibes. Overall, I don't hear a lot of groundbreaking music here, but it was a good listen and I would revisit. Favorite tracks: Glad, Empty Pages, Every Mother's Son.

Big King Crimson fan here, so definitely biased. Personally, if I wanted to represent KC's Wetton-era, I would have chosen Red. Much more accessible yet still just as groundbreaking (and Starless is one of my favorite songs of all time - and I'm not alone as it's currently ranked as the #2 song of all time on rateyourmusic.com). But let's talk about this album. I try to imagine what this sounds like to the uninitiated and I can only think it would sound disjointed and aimless with a few cool moments here and there. The trick, though, is to recognize that this album has more in common with Stravinsky and Bartok than with Chuck Berry. If you listen to it like a symphony, you hear layers upon layers. And that's really what a song like LTIA Part I is - it's a modern symphony, played with rock instruments (well, and a violin and random percussion). However, unlike a symphony that might be written by a single composer, much of it is based on improv, which makes it have more in common with jazz. Take these elements together - classical, jazz, metal - and you've got King Crimson (at least 70s KC - 80s and beyond, which aren't included in the 1001, are a completely different animal. Check out Discipline for the perfect example). You're not going to dance to it, or bop to it, but perhaps you can appreciate it more (turn it up, too, because the volume differences are similar to a symphony as well).

Continuing through the album, next we have Book of Saturday, a beautiful ballad - love the guitar line throughout the song and the backwards guitar solo into the violin solo is so good. Exiles is a song I didn't truly appreciate until David Cross did a re-make years later. Excellent song. Easy Money is a great track - a bit more "groovy" than the rest of the album, although it's a slow groove. Then, The Talking Drum gives us a cool jam with a slow build to LTIA Part II. I've seen them play this live and it gets incredibly intense, building up to LTIA Part II, which is a heavy metal instrumental unlike anything recorded to that point (again, had they picked Red, this style would have been well represented by that album's title track). Then the end is just pure majesty - it's my favorite track on the album. I realize this album isn't for everyone, but for me it's a masterpiece. Easy 5.

While I liked this album, I feel like nothing on it is sticking with me. I enjoyed listening to it, but I suspect I will forget about it as soon as I move on to the next album. Rightly removed from the 1001. Favorite tracks: Herculean, Green Fields, title track.

Stone-cold classic album. Their harmonies are iconic and nearly every track is good to great. To me the only exception is Almost Cut My Hair - the lyrics are pretty dumb - apparently Stephen Stills wanted to cut this David Crosby track, which would have been a good decision. That said, Stills doesn't get a complete pass - his Everybody I Love You is the second weakest track on the album (but not bad). The rest though? Outstanding. The 1001 has helped me discover I'm a Neil Young fan. Really liked his feature songs, Helpless and Country Girl (love the end of Country Girl. Would have been a better ending to the album than Everybody I Love You). But the best moments are when they sing those lush CSNY harmonies: Carry On, Teach Your Children, Woodstock, Deja Vu, and Our House. Amazing tunes - easy, easy 5.

I can appreciate how influential this album was, but it's a so-so listen to me. I'd probably like it more if they never sang, but even then it's more of a fun background vibe. Favorite tracks: Isi, Seeland, E. Musik.

No longer in the 1001 - 90s hard rock alternative vibe, primarily made unique by Skin's vocals, which are outstanding. The major problem is too many of the songs are generic sounding - the first three or four tracks were pretty unique and made me think I was going to rate this album highly, but then the rest of the album (except And This is Nothing That I Thought I Had) is all basic/generic alt rock. I'd call the album a 3.5 but I'm rounding down because it was less interesting on a close listen than in the background, and that's never a good sign. Favorite tracks: Charlie Big Potato, We Don't Need Who You Are, And This is Nothing That I Thought I Had.