Reviews by aretzorn

Eh, fine as background music. Some moments caught my attention and it wasn't a bad listen, but a whole album of tango (even if using more modern styles) is not really something I need to return to. Tracks that caught my attention: Una Música Brutal, La del Ruso.

Robert Fripp said (approximately): “A studio recording is a love letter, a live performance is a hot date." So then what do we call it when they take a frenetic, mind-blowing live performance and replace some of it with a studio version, complete with canned applause? I'll leave that to others to define, but I'm glad I listened to the 90's rerelease with the actual live recording. It includes the studio excerpts at the end of the album and the energy level between studio versus live is night and day. Half of what made the actual live show great was the craziness of the audience and the band. Case in point: yeah, Paul Gonsalves' sax solo in Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue is pretty great, but what makes it amazing is listening to the band egg him on. It's also crazy how wild the audience got. You crazy 50's hipsters you! Overall, it's a great historical time capsule. Favorite tracks: Blues to be There, Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, Skin Deep (great drum solo).

One of the earliest psychedelic rock albums with a minor hit in "You're Gonna Miss Me" (I knew that song thanks to the High Fidelity soundtrack). The Electric Jug is a...choice. After a while it got irritating to hear. The whole album is very dated, but deserves accolades for being on the leading edge of psychedelic rock which ultimately influences many acts and other genres for decades to come. I'm glad to have heard it, but I don't think I'd revisit it. I'd call it a 2.5 (docking half a point for how irritating the electric jug got), but I'll round up in recognition of their influence. Favorite tracks: You're Gonna Miss Me, Splash 1 (Now I'm Home), Reverberation.

Not my thing. Mostly uninteresting computer-based grooves. Each track is highly repetitive. Thank goodness for genius.com because I couldn't understand a single thing he's saying - lyrics are occasionally interesting, occasionally ugh. Not a 1 because it was tolerable, if repetitive, and there were a few tracks I liked: Fix Up Look Sharp, Hold Ya Mouf, Seems 2 Be (very cool track - goes hard and has a very catchy chorus).

Dance music doesn't do a lot for me - if you ever saw me dance, you'd know why. Generally, I found most of the songs repetitive and boring. There were a few that drew my attention, typically the ones with the most "real" instruments (i.e., minimal drum sequences or synth sounds). After I finished my first listen, I really didn't want to listen again, but I did (since I'm committed to two listens each) and was pretty bored, hence the 2. Favorite tracks: Deee-Lite Theme (really made me think I was going to dig this album...unfortunately not much was like it), Smile On, Groove is in the Heart (Bootsy!), Who Was That?

The good: Some serious classic tracks on this album - Gimme All Your Loving, Got Me Under Pressure (questionable lyrics, though - "She likes cocaine / and flipping out with Great Danes"? I don't want to know), Sharp Dressed Man (great song with a fantastic slide guitar solo), and Legs. The bad: Despite those classic tracks, the album doesn't hold up, primarily because it's ridiculously repetitive. Almost every song has the same driving beat, similar vocal lines (usually with cheesy lyrics), and a guitar solo (but, credit where credit's due, we're talking great guitar solos). Now don't get me wrong, the album rocks, but the repetition and cheesy lyrics (particularly bad examples: I Got the Six, TV Dinners, Dirty Dog) leave me with no interest to hear it again, and that's a 3.

Absolute masterpiece. George Harrison, released from the limitations put on him by Lennon & McCartney, creates arguably the best solo album by a former Beatle. With songs like Something, Here Comes the Sun, and While My Guitar Gently Weeps, George had already proven he was a great songwriter, but this album proved that those were not rare exceptions - the Beatles were actually holding him back. I'm ignoring the Apple Jam album - that was just a "bonus" and not really a part of the main album (but I like the Out of the Blue jam). The first album is just mind-blowingly good. The second album isn't quite as strong, but still very good (with some great tracks). RIP George and thanks for the amazing tunes. Favorite tracks: My Sweet Lord, Wah-Wah, Isn't It a Pity, What Is Life?, Let It Down, Beware of Darkness, All Things Must Pass.

What an incredibly boring compilation. There were a few bright spots, but since it was only available on two YouTube videos with missing tracks, I can't even say what tracks had the bright spots (the one with the rap, is the best I can do). There is absolutely no reason I needed to hear this before I died, and it was one of the few albums that made me regret my commitment to listening to every album twice. Way too long, way too repetitive, way too unnecessary. I feel like I should give it a 2 because it isn't the worst background music, but my irritation at the length and its lack of availability on streaming services makes me call it a 1.

It's like Talking Heads went insane. Love it. Every song is crazy, awesome, and fun. Super easy 5. Favorite tracks: Liked all of them, but I'll give the edge to Uncontrollable Urge, Satisfaction (love the story of Mick Jagger getting up and dancing to it when he heard it for the first time), Jocko Homo (crazed track - I can't help but think of how Weird Al included this in one of his polkas), Gut Feeling (much more straightforward - very cool song), Shrivel-Up (sounds like Primus...well, the other way around).

My first reaction to this album was "I bet it will be removed from the next edition." The first couple of tracks were ok - I thought I heard shades of Michael Jackson and figured this would be a 3. But then I found the next few tracks were very catchy (and I no longer heard MJ) and I was enjoying the album. The next thing I knew I was listening to the album on repeat for a while in the background, just enjoying bopping along. Finally got to listen closely and still liked it, but noted that the singing cadence in English was a little off - it sounded more natural in French, although since I don't speak French it could easily be as odd in French and I wouldn't know! I still wouldn't be surprised if it gets pulled - while I like the music, it doesn't sound that original - but I definitely enjoyed listening. Favorite tracks: The Walker, 5 Dollars, Make Some Sense.

Liked this album much more than their self-titled 97 album. Good catchy power pop riffs throughout, like a heavier version of the Kinks, but I like the Kinks, so ok. There were a couple tracks that pull the score down: Oily Water (didn't like the guitar effect or the noisy ending) and Miss America (with guitar detuning like My Bloody Valentine, which I hate). Admittedly, Oily Water grew on me once I got past the effects and Miss America surprisingly sounded better on close listen. One other small quibble - the mix was a little too trebly - I had to turn the music up pretty loud to get good bass sound, which was a shame because the bass player has a lot of interesting riffs. Beyond that, though, I enjoyed the album. Favorite tracks: For Tomorrow, Advert, Chemical World (including the piano "intermission"), Villa Rosie, Coping.

Same reaction as the other two Echo and the Bunnymen album I've heard - they're like a weirder, darker version of U2, and that's ok (especially The Back of Love - that could absolutely be a U2 song). Not sure they needed three albums on the 1001, but I enjoyed all of them. Definitely liked the addition of Shankar's raga violin on The Cutter and Heads Will Roll (I saw him play with Peter Gabriel, so I like that connection, too). Favorite tracks: The Cutter, My White Devil, Clay, Heads Will Roll, Higher Hell.

This album is a snoozefest of generic, boring ballad after generic, boring ballad. Twangy singing style from an English "folktronica" singer, heavy on the folk. Sometimes I hear echoes of Joni Mitchell, but Joni Mitchell does it better. Overall, I'd say the album is inoffensive to listen to, but boring as hell. Tracks that didn't completely put me to sleep: Stolen Car (good guitar solo at the end), Stars All Seem to Weep (both were generic, but at least had a little energy).

Very cool album. Cool vibes and not a single song I disliked. Their vocals are a bit same-samey throughout - not very dynamic singing, but not bad. Another (slight) criticism is that many of the songs are a bit same-samey within the songs. Only a few songs change things up over the course of the individual song. That said, I liked this album more with every listen. Good stuff. Favorite tracks: Space, Easy, Wonderful, and Simple.

Dark ABBA? I like it. Dramatic and varied (and much less poppy than their earlier material except perhaps for One of Us, although even that one is a sad song). The one misfire is Two for the Price of One - ugh to those lyrics. Favorite tracks: The Visitors (love the dark beginning), Head Over Heels (fun song with an interesting style), I Let the Music Speak (very dramatic - sounds like it's out of a musical. Guess it's unsurprising that Benny and Björn ended up writing musicals after this), Slipping Through My Fingers (schmaltzy, but since I have a daughter who is growing up too fast it makes me go <sniff>), Like an Angel Passing Through My Room (beautiful closing track).

I liked his album "No Other" from 1974, generally considered to be his masterpiece. This one was ok, but nothing about it stood out much. He has a good voice and his songs are fine, but nothing that makes me go "wow, I need to hear this again." Also, a lot of the lyrics are kinda meh. Favorite tracks: With Tomorrow, One in a Hundred (especially the ending), 1975 (really liked the end guitar solo - the chord progression in the verse and final section of 1975 reminded me of George Harrison's Isn't It a Pity, which came out in the prior year, but it's certainly distinct enough).

Super-dated sound, but really good music. White Rabbit and Somebody to Love are stone cold classics, but there's a lot to like in the album's other tracks, including Today (nice mellow track with an interesting guitar part), Comin' Back to Me (another nice mellow track - really like the guitar parts on this album), 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds (good rocker), and Embryonic Journey (really nice fingerstyle guitar). Plastic Fantastic Lover didn't hit me at first but grew on me. Well worth hearing.

Ok, this is my third Kings of Leon album, and my initial reaction to seeing it pop up was that the 1001 people really tried to make Kings of Leon a thing. Three different album attempts, all removed from the 1001. I gave the previous albums a 2 and 3 and initially thought this was going to be a 3, but gotta admit it really grew on me. Even Day Old Blues, which annoyed the crap out of me the first time I heard him repeating "day old day old day old" got caught in my head and I even started to dig it. So, I think I'm going for the 4. Still too weird to go higher, but this album is a good bop. Favorite tracks: King of the Rodeo, Pistol of Fire, The Bucket, Where Nobody Knows (Wiki says it's a bonus track, but it's on the UK release which came out first so I'm including it).

I always like discovering bands that were precursors of bigger bands. This is grunge about four years too early. Little Fury Things immediately made me think of Nirvana. SludgeFeast immediately made me think of Soundgarden. The main dings against this album are a bit too much noise for my taste and I'm generally not a fan of slacker singing. I'd call it a 3.5 - I feel like I should round up to recognize that they were ahead of the curve, but between sloppy playing, slacker singing, and too much noise, I've got to go with the 3. Favorite tracks: Little Fury Things, SludgeFeast.

Eh, I remember trying to get into this album when it came out - everyone was raving about it and it didn't do much for me. Still doesn't, even now that I'm trying to be a lot more open minded. The songs all feel like they drag and the aspirational lyrics just don't connect with me (which might be a function of not living a disadvantaged life - does it say something that I find optimistic rap boring? Then again, I often find gangsta rap uncomfortable - maybe there's a middle ground, but this ain't it). Tracks I liked most: Mr. Wendal, Fishin' 4 Religion, Washed Away. Most awkward track: Natural - settle down, Speech. I'm uncomfortable on behalf of the girl he's singing to.