Reviews by aretzorn

I'm a HUGE Pink Floyd fan...starting with Meddle. I can appreciate that this Floyd was necessary to get to the Floyd that I love, and I can appreciate how this is a landmark in psychedelic rock, but I've never been a huge fan of Syd Barrett era Floyd (and cringe any time I see someone say "Pink Floyd were never as good after Syd Barrett left." And, yes, occasionally some hipster will say that online). It's a shame that the two best Syd-era tracks are single only tracks: Arnold Layne and See Emily Play (my favorite Syd-era song). Overall, the album sounds like an LSD trip through fairy tales and down Alice's rabbit hole. I agree it belongs on the list for its historical significance, but it's no more than a 3.5 for me (I'll round up because without this album, we don't eventually get Dark Side of the Moon). Favorite tracks: Astronomy Domine, Bike. I'd add Interstellar Overdrive if it was shorter.

I'm happy to hear this as a historical piece - Jimmy Smith apparently popularized the Hammond B3 organ, which eventually becomes a big part of later funk, hard rock, and even progressive rock. But musically, it's kind of basic and dated. Can't really distinguish it from music you'd hear in the background during a reception. Probably not fair given it was supposedly groundbreaking, but that's how I hear it today. Textbook 3 for me - had no problem hearing it, don't need to hear it again.

I loved Everything Must Go, so I was excited to see this one come up. But, man, this one hits hard. The music is great, but the lyrics are DARK. Like, uncomfortably so. It's almost relieving that most of the time I couldn't tell what James Dean Bradfield was singing (he has very unusual cadences and pronunciations, but he sounds cool). Especially 4st 7lb - that one was really tough (about anorexia, which lyricist Richey Edwards suffered from, among the many things he suffered from before vanishing, presumably from suicide). Add in songs about despots, genocide, serial killers, and more and it's just an incredibly difficult album. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate dark music, but the lyrics started to feel oppressive (which might be what they were going for). I definitely loved the music - great songs and playing - I just don't think I could listen to this album too many times without falling into a serious hole of despair.

DOOO...DOOO...DOOO...DOOO
DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO
D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D

This is my second Fatboy Slim album. It's boring and repetitive. It's also repetitive and boring. Especially that one drum beat that he uses in almost EVERY. SINGLE. SONG. Plus, he occasionally throws in sounds I can't stand. Not a 1 because it was somewhat tolerable, but it was pretty close. Song I sort of liked: Santa Cruz (still tons of repetition and that same drum beat he uses throughout most of the album, but it had a nice vibe).

Strong album from Dylan, apparently reviving his career in the late 90s. Most of the time I even liked his singing (unlike a lot of songs where he sounds like a parody of himself). A few exceptions - drop the twang in Tryin' to Get to Heaven, Bob (fun fact - David Bowie recorded a nice version of this song, released posthumously - listening to Bowie growling "Tryin' to get to heaven, before they close the door" is much more powerful than Dylan's twang). A lot of the album is basic blues, but he takes it to the next level through his lyrics and, yes, even his singing. The band is top notch and Daniel Lanois' production is outstanding. Every article I read says that Dylan didn't feel comfortable with the production style and self-produced from then on out. I wonder what happened behind the scenes. Maybe it's as simple as Dylan prefers to be his own boss. No idea. Probably the biggest disappointment is the most covered song on the album: Make You Feel My Love (made huge by Adele - and according to secondhandsongs.com it's his most covered song, period). It ends up being another one of those "Dylan wrote it but others did it better" songs. He doesn't even sound as good on this song compared to other tracks on the album, yet his singing on a lot of other tracks suggests it could have been great on its own (compare to a song like Most of the Time from 1989 - another powerful emotional song, but Dylan sounds great on it). There's just no explaining why sometimes Dylan sounds good versus bad. Finally, Highlands is stupid long, but at least it's a good vibe. I would definitely revisit this album. Favorite tracks: Love Sick, Standing in the Doorway (great vibe, poignant lyrics), Million Miles (a great example of how he makes a basic blues track sound amazing), Not Dark Yet (very powerful, beautiful track), Cold Irons Bound (catchy groove).

Very cool album - great grooves, impressive smooth rapping (and occasionally crazy fast, e.g., Ragga Jam). No clue what he's saying but it was simply really fun to listen to. Favorite tracks (these are tracks that caught my attention every time - again, no clue what they mean): Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo, Victime de la mode, Armand est mort.

It's crazy that the Yardbirds launched Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, AND Jimmy Page. Beck is of course outstanding on this album (the only one of the three to appear here). A lot of the songs take basic rock and roll sounds and pump them up to 11 and then they add new twists and turns. There were a lot of instances on this album where I could hear how The Yardbirds influenced future sounds (did anyone else think the first half of Ever Since the World Began sounds like Black Sabbath?). Admittedly the album sounds pretty dated, but is definitely a good listen (and grew on me with each subsequent listen). Favorite tracks: Over Under Sideways Down, The Nazz are Blue, Jeff's Boogie, What Do You Want (sounds like it could be a Who song).

Ok vibe over relatively simple repetitive songs. Makes for decent background music, but on close listen two things become evident: 1) the songs really drag on since they're so repetitive and 2) he's a really strange singer. Honestly no track stood out enough to make a list of favorite tracks. I'd call it a 2.5 and I'll round up for no good reason.

I listened to this album years ago and remember hating it, but I couldn't recall why. As I'm doing with all of the 1001, I decided to listen to it with fresh ears, in the hope of seeing why this is the #10 album of all time on rateyourmusic.com (as of the time I'm writing this). As the opening track (Only Shallow) was playing, I started to think that maybe I had been overly harsh in my previous assessment. I was thinking, "hey, this is kind of cool. I must be misremembering or it must have just been a bad day when I originally listened." NOPE. After Only Shallow, the album becomes HORRENDOUS. But at least now I can articulate why I hate this album. Let's start with Kevin Shields' "glide guitar" that critics and fans rave about. He takes the tremolo bar and intentionally detunes the guitar - so basically the guitars are constantly going in and out of tune, giving a sense of seasickness. To Here Knows When is a good (bad?) example of what I'm talking about. I hated this track with a burning passion. Also, unlike Only Shallow, they do the typical shoegaze thing of putting the vocals deep in the mix so you can barely hear them. The sad part is that many tracks have the bones of a good song - take away the detuning, put some energy into the singing and make it more present in the mix, and songs like When You Sleep, I Only Said, Come in Alone, and others would actually be good. The only song I outright liked aside from Only Shallow was Sometimes, which didn't suffer from detuning, but it still had the vocals too deep in the mix (and the guitars were pushing the edge of my noise tolerance). The last track (Soon) was also sort of ok. But, overall, the detuning and general noisiness made this album a miserable experience (especially since I'm committed to listening to every single album on the 1001 at least twice, preferably with at least one close listen). I know this album is critically acclaimed, and I'm pretty open-minded with respect to music, but to me this is absolutely horrendous.

Mostly harmless. Nothing bad, but very little that makes me want to rate it above a 3 (Fire and Rain is a beautiful song, and rightly a classic, though). Light folk interspersed with country and blues sounds. To the latter, he veers into the cultural misappropriation zone, particularly in Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip on Me and the end of Suite for 20 G. Seriously: "Good God / Looky here, looky here!"?? Stay in your lane, James. Favorite tracks: Lo and Behold, Fire and Rain.

It's time again for everyone's favorite game: Separate the art from the piece of shit artist! This an outstanding album from a horrible person. It even helps get under the veneer of his horrible personality, but unfortunately it wasn't redemption - he only doubles down (and then some) over the ensuing years. Still, let's review only the music. Mostly excellent. I'd basically call Dark Fantasy through Monster a nearly perfect stretch (Gorgeous goes a little long, but the lyrics are powerful). First of all, Ye is a prog fan? Mike Oldfield and Jon Anderson on Dark Fantasy? Power based on 21st Century Schizoid Man? I enjoyed watching a video of Greg Lake starting a concert with Power and segueing to him singing and playing 21st CSM. Power was the first song to really hit me - very powerful (pun not quite intended?). All of the Lights was a super-catchy track and Rihanna sounds great. Monster was a fun, cool track and Nicki Minaj's section made me laugh. The rest of the album has a lot of good moments, but the lyrics got to be a little too much (Devil in a New Dress, settle down Kanye, plus the end of Hell of a Life. Ugh). Blame Game was crude as hell (although Chris Rock is never not funny). Lost in the World was catchy, but I HATE AUTOTUNE. Who Will Survive in America was a powerful closer with some disturbing imagery (all from Gil Scott-Heron's spoken word poem Comment #1 from 1970). I recognize that in the world of rap albums, this should be a clear 5. However, I was less of a fan of the second half (except perhaps Runaway, but it went a little too long), hate autotune, and feel I can't give Kanye a 5 since he's such a piece of shit. Guess I can't fully separate the art from the artist. Favorite tracks: Power, All of the Lights, Monster.

Where has this album been all my life?? One of the most fun things about the 1001 is hearing bands that influenced a ton of other great acts. The list of bands that Bad Brains influenced is crazy - according to Wikipedia, this includes the Beastie Boys, Guns 'n Roses, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, and, of course, Living Colour - I say "of course" on the last, because if you didn't know any better you might think this is a Living Colour album, even though it came out three years before LC's debut album. I enjoyed the hell out of this album. It rocked and the musicianship was outstanding, especially Dr. Know on guitar - talented playing, fantastic sounds - occasionally sounds like he's channeling EVH, but plenty of originality - but also outstanding, funky, rocking bass and drums. Add in some occasionally insanity in H.R.'s singing (especially in Return to Heaven and I Against I) and it all adds up to an awesome album. Favorite tracks: I Against I (crazed but cool), Re-Ignition, She's Calling You, Sacred Love, Hired Gun. Heck, even the intro rocks!

When I saw this was a Liverpudlian band from 2004 that's been removed from the 1001, I immediately figured it was going to be another boring Britpop band - instead I was pleasantly surprised: this was a fun album! I can't say any of it is super-original, but I found myself smiling and bopping along throughout. Would definitely revisit. Favorite tracks: Zuton Fever (I like the 60s horror campy style), Pressure Point (very-Black Keys-ish, who were contemporaries), You Will You Won't (very cool track), Long Time Coming, Dirty Dancehall.

Great album, with one of the best songs ever written (Heroes, of course - absolutely legendary - outstanding vocal performance from Bowie, especially when he starts screaming the vocals, and Fripp's droning guitar is iconic - everything on this track is amazing). This album is similar to Low, which immediately preceded it - rocking side one, more artsy side 2. I can see how some might not like the unhinged nature of a lot of his singing on side one and the ambient nature of the second side, but I'm a big fan of all things Bowie so that makes this an easy 5 for me. Favorite tracks: Beauty and the Beast, Joe the Lion, Heroes, The Secret Life of Arabia.

Two additional thoughts:

1) My "TIL" is that Bowie plays sax on this album, and he's really good, too. Never knew that.

2) This is the last of his classic age albums on the 1001, so I'm going to use it as an opportunity to put in a plug for Scary Monsters (1980), one of my favorite Bowie albums. Side one of Scary Monsters is a murderer's row of amazing songs (including Scary Monsters (with more amazing guitar work by Fripp), Ashes to Ashes, and Fashion). I suppose 8 albums in the 1001 is enough, and I generally don't disagree with the choices but, if you like what you've heard there are plenty more great Bowie albums to hear!

This grew on me and it generally made for good background music with some tracks that I really liked (Duke of Earlsfield, Tow Truck, Theme). There were a few moments I disliked, such as the tracks that had a "liquid" sound (e.g., Bubble and Slide, Theme 4, Ballad of Nicky McGuire) and when they kept rapidly switching between speakers in a couple of the later tracks (an effect which really sucks on headphones). Overall, I really didn't need to hear this before I die, but I didn't mind hearing it either.

This was her "dirrty" phase. I still remember SNL mocking this when they had Xtina (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) saying the video wasn't "dirrrty enough" and a production assistant shouted "Can we get more urine in the fog machine, please?" re: the album - I'm not a pop fan, although there have been albums I've appreciated on the 1001. This isn't bad per se - she has a powerful voice, with a lot of impressive control jumping across notes (although I'd prefer a little less "ooh-ooOOh aaaAAAhh") - but the album is stylistically all over the place and way too long. Again, I can't say I disliked it, but I can't say I'd seek it out again either. Tracks I liked: Fighter, Infatuation, Beautiful, Get Mine, Get Yours.

Like plenty of people my age, this was in heavy rotation in my car CD player back in the day. You could easily spot this CD in someone's collection because so many people owned it and it had a very distinct pattern on the CD case spine. Listening to it now, it still sounds good, but it's very much Of Its Time. Maybe that's just because it was a very different time in my life, but there it is. The music rocks (although the guitar sounds are a little tinny), the lyrics are powerful, and she sings...angry? Powerful? Just ok? She always had an unusual voice, that's for sure, but it worked here. The lyrics really resonated with 20-something me, but not as much anymore with 50-something me. I feel almost wrong giving it a 4 rather than a 5 given how much I used to like it, but (right or wrong) it didn't grow with me. Favorite tracks: You Oughta Know (the angry break up song to end all angry break up songs - I always knew it was Flea on bass but didn't notice until today it was Dave Navarro on guitar), Perfect, Hand in My Pocket (GenX ultimate feel good song?), Right Through You, Mary Jane, Wake Up. Oh, and I agree that nothing in "Ironic" is actually ironic. But I loved the MTV taxi driver who sang "It's like raaain, on a rainy day."

They sure loved garage rock in the "aughts." This one is pretty basic, the music is interchangeable with a bunch of other bands, and the singer sings kind of weird. This has been removed from the 1001, along with its replacement album, "Only the Night." I agree on both counts. Tracks I liked: Wasted Time, Talihina Sky.

My spell checker is going haywire with this track listing. My initial reaction was "this is pretty typical glam rock." This is where doing a little research matters - Slade was at the forefront of the movement and directly influenced a ton of later acts, including punk bands, the glam metal acts of the 80s, and a lot of future Britpop (even if I'm not a huge fan of Britpop). So, they deserve respect for that - tons of other bands sound like them, but they were originals with this sound. As for this album, it rocks and has a great sound throughout, apparently often imitated. I wouldn't call it a 5, but I definitely enjoyed rocking out to it. Favorite tracks: Look at Last Nite, I Won't Let It 'Appen Again, Move Over, Gudbuy Gudbuy (ugh with these spellings).

They all have great voices and the musicians are excellent, but that doesn't change the fact that it's straightforward country. Not my thing.