Reviews by aretzorn

The good - cool 90s alternative sludgy grooves. The bad - a bit too much noise in the guitar sounds and the singer is too far back in the mix most of the time. Grooved to it, but it was a little much sometimes. I'd call it a 3.5 and I'll round it up because it definitely had me bopping. Favorite tracks: Go Be Delighted, Rockets are Red, Bulletproof Cupid.

Long double album with some cool moments, but after just listening to the 3 and a 1/2 hour Ella Fitzgerald box set, I'm kind of anti-giving-super-long-albums-where-there's-not-a-lot-of-variety-a-chance. Moving on.

Very cool, chill album. The high point for me was the sax solo in the song The World is a Ghetto. Outstanding. Pretty much enjoyed the whole album - the only weakness would be City, Country, City was too long, but still sounded cool. Right now I'd call it a 4.5, but I'll round up to 5 since every time I listened I enjoyed it more.

Another one that made me regret my commitment to listening to every album on the 1001 twice. The noise was brutal and sometimes it seemed like they went out of the way to make it sound miserable (ugh to the last two minutes of Seasick). A fair number of tracks could have been good if they didn't drench them in noise (e.g., On the Lash, Caviar, Spike Island, Kiss Like Lizards, White Devil), but most of it was just obnoxiously noisy. Also, didn't like the whiny sounding singer. Not much redeeming value to this album, and glad they removed it from the 1001. LEAST favorite tracks: Spit on It (apt lyric: "This sucks"), Getting Bright at Night (had some good moments, but the noise outweighed the good), Meatmaker, Virgin Velcro, Seasick.

I don't speak French - if I were to just judge based on the music, I would say it sounds like what would happen if Leonard Cohen turned French and funky. The music alone would probably bring the album to at least a 3, if not a 4.

However, the album cover provides cause for caution: Jane Birkin as a young, topless girl clutching a doll over her chest. She was 25 when the album was released, so the pedophilia is suggested, not actual...until you read the translation of the lyrics. In a nutshell, while driving one night, the narrator hits a young girl who is riding a bicycle: Melody Nelson, who we learn is not quite 15. He becomes obsessed with her (and whether she's a virgin - saying "Oh! Melody / You don't know what love is / You told me that yourself / But is everything that you say true?" and then "Oh! Melody / If you lied to me I'd do / Some crazy things / I don't know what I'll do to you"). He takes her to what sounds like a pretty seedy hotel and, well, "Slowly, I embraced Melody." Ugh. Spoiler alert: she dies in a plane crash and he is left poetically pining for her.

Maybe this album is shades of Lolita - you're supposed to recognize that the narrator is a horrible person. At least I hope so, because if he meant it...ugh. Double ugh. Reading up on Serge Gainsbourg, it sounds like he was a provocateur - and hopefully provocation was his aim - but it's just too hard not to think of this album as a paean to pedophilia. The seductive musical style makes it even worse. The ick is too strong, and I move on.

I liked this one. Creative compositions, excellent musicianship. The male singer (songwriter) has a bit of a Jeff Buckley sound going and the two female backing vocalists take very interesting approaches to their vocal lines (and I particularly liked Amber Coffman's lead turn on Stillness is the Move). Not in the 1001 anymore but I'm glad I heard it. I'd probably say it's a 3.5 but I'll round up because I wouldn't mind revisiting. Favorite tracks: Cannibal Resource, Stillness is the Move (caught my attention every time - cool groove).

My initial reaction to this was that he sounded like a cross between Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen, neither of whom I like, and there were some weird moments..."How? HOW?" and "ro-co-co." I figured this was going to end up being a 3, but then I kept listening. The more I listened, the more I really enjoyed the vibe, got used to his voice, and ignored the occasional weirdness. The next thing I knew, I was listening to this album on repeat over the course of a whole week, enjoying the hell out of it. At a minimum it's a 4.5. I thought about rounding down, giving it the "weird" penalty like I do for Tom Waits, but it wasn't THAT weird. I'm going for the five. Ended up loving it. Favorite tracks: Jim Cain (nice chill opening, right from the start), Eid Ma Clack Shaw (the punchline makes me laugh - he writes down the perfect lyrics late at night while half asleep and in the morning discovers he's written pure gibberish), Rococo Zephyr (loved the line "I used to be sort of blind, now I can sort of see" - in fact, I liked a lot of the lyrics on this album), My Friend (very cool build-up to when he sings "my friend"), All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast (I liked this one on background, but it's the lyrics that are incredibly powerful and add weight to his singing - the eagle represents powerful disturbing thoughts that chases off the gentler thoughts, leaving the "tree" alone in its pain), Faith/Void (mesmerizing ending track - yeah, I really liked this album).

The singing is a little weird, and I don't like the occasional lo-fi moments (e.g., I Collect Coins and the end of Pick Up If You're There), but aside from that I enjoyed the album. I thought they were playing a theremin on multiple tracks, but apparently this is the "Tettix Wave Accumulator"? Sounds like a theremin to me. Anyway, a little weird, but I like it. I'd revisit. Favorite tracks: Holes (really liked the trumpet at the end), Opus 40, Hudson Line, Goddess on a Hiway, The Funny Bird, Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp.

The opening track sounded like I was about to hear some late 60s heavy psychedelia...too bad the rest of the album didn't follow that sound. The rest sounds like a garage band demo. Slacker singing, fuzz guitars. I can acknowledge that these guys were ahead of the curve (and I liked Superfuzz Bigmuff), but It's no surprise these guys didn't make it huge. I'd call it a 2.5 and I'll round up since at least it's mostly listenable. Favorite tracks: Who You Drivin' Now (actually a fun track unlike most of the others), Move Out.

Who on earth thought a 4 disk collection of songs that mostly sound the same was a good idea to include in the 1001? I've never been a huge fan of box sets to begin with, even for bands I love. Now take a genre that I appreciate but don't love and have it go on...and on...and on... Sure, she sounds great. The band is excellent (if schmaltzy). The music is all high quality, but it's fundamentally the same style throughout. I'm sure I would rate a single album of this music much higher, but I just didn't need four albums of the same thing. I was particularly irritated when I hit the fourth disk and was hearing the same songs again. Enough. Favorite tracks: I'm not even bothering to focus enough to pick out specific tracks. Sad that this made me regret my commitment to listening to every album on the 1001 at least two times before rating.

Basic country songs with a country twang and shades of Dylan (at least nice to hear that Dylan was a Prine fan). The lyrics are powerful which is why I can appreciate his reputation as a great songwriter, but basic country just isn't my thing. Favorite tracks: Hello in There, Paradise, Quiet Man.

Interesting album, with a lot of variety and excellent musicianship, but it's very dated and has a bit too much cheesy Ren Faire vibe (especially the lyrics on The Cuckoo - "She sucketh white flowers for to keep her voice clear"...ugh). I also felt Bert Jansch should let Jacqui McShee do all the singing, but there are some times when his vocals work (e.g., House Carpenter). I was originally leaning 3 and I feel like I've been giving too many 4's these days, but damn if this album didn't grow on me. Just really appreciated the interesting arrangements and outstanding musicianship. Favorite tracks: Light Flight (cool guitar pattern and vocals, particularly in the second half of the song), Once I Had a Sweetheart (I'm a sucker for sitar), Lyke-Wake Dirge (fascinating old English lyrics - knowing it's about the dead passing through purgatory makes it more powerful), Train Song (liked the frenetic nature of the song, like, um, a speeding train?), House Carpenter (I liked the driving nature of the music, with interplay between drums, sitar, and banjo - how's that for an unusual combination? I also loved the second to last verse where McShee sings a capella).

So very dated. So very 80s. I'll give some credit where credit's due: 1) It came out in 1980, so at least it's ahead of the 80s curve. 2) He played everything on this album. That's always impressive. But man, those keys and the recording style are so dated. Getting past all that, the songs are just ok (like, even if you modernized the sounds, it would probably still just be ok). Nothing bad, per se, but not all that good. What was good: While You See a Chance (sure, I knew this one), Spanish Dancer (dated, but I like the vibe...problem is it goes on for too long).

First, ELP didn't need two albums on the 1001. Tarkus was enough. Second, this album demonstrates all the excesses of ELP (usually held up to represent the excesses of prog - which is a shame because I'm a prog fan and even I think ELP is too over the top). It may have been groundbreaking (and popular) at the time, but it hasn't aged well. In general, I wasn't a big fan of Side 1. Mostly Emerson showing off (as per usual). Lake's original The Sage wasn't bad, even if he lifted part of the acoustic guitar line from King Crimson's Epitaph (which he co-wrote, so I guess there's that). I liked the first section of Side 2 a lot - the full band Promenade followed by the three Baba Yaga tracks. Those tracks rocked and show that Mussorgsky was metal 100 years before metal (at least his composition style was).

This sent me down the rabbit hole, learning about the original Mussorgsky composition (originally composed for piano) and Ravel's famous orchestral arrangement. I then spent time listening to recordings of both versions. Definitely had a preference for the orchestral version. The Apple Classical app recommended an amazing version by the Berlin Philharmonic (conducted by Sir Simon Rattle in 2007). Absolutely amazing - go listen to it, especially The Gnome, The Catacombs (you want metal? The second part of the Catacombs is titled in latin, "Cum mortuis in lingua mortua" - "With the dead in a dead language" - raise your metal horns!), The Hut of Baba Yaga, and the Great Gates of Kiev. Why am I talking about all this in my review of ELP's album? Because you're wasting your time listening to ELP's version. It pales next to the original. As an example, I got chills listening to the symphony version of The Great Gates of Kiev but was underwhelmed listening to the ELP version (yes, despite all the explosions). It probably didn't help that Lake's singing was particularly weak on this track and the lyrics were cheesy ("Death is Life"? Whoa, deep, dude). I can appreciate the skill it took for ELP to play this, and the audience sounds like they went wild for it, but this is one case where I can see why people crap on prog rock.

Neil Young's first album with Crazy Horse - it sounds a lot like other Neil Young albums, but fortunately I like Neil Young. He's another one who is way too over-represented in the 1001, but I definitely enjoyed this album, particularly the first side. Cinnamon Girl is a classic and opens with an iconic riff, the title track is a good song, Round & Round is a nice chill track, and I enjoyed Down by the River, although it could have been shorter. The second side didn't hit me as much, but Cowgirl in the Sand was good (although another one that was too long). Great guitar playing to close out the album. Overall, the album sounds like being at a great live show - raw, but it pulls you in.

Starting with full disclosure: I'm a long-time fan of the Police and Sting's solo work. Despite that, TIL that the album title means White Reggae. That made me think about my recent review of UB40's debut, where I griped about cultural appropriation - UB40 are a complete rip-off of Jamaican reggae and so one could argue that there's only one reason they made it bigger than Jamaican reggae acts. I'm not going to do the same with the Police though, for a simple reason: they had reggae stylings but they made it something different, something new. If you're going to sound exactly like a band from Jamaica, then I might as well listen to a band from Jamaica (in fact, ethically, we SHOULD listen to that band from Jamaica instead). The Police are reggae, punk, new wave - they're unique. They were influenced by and incorporated certain styles but then made it their own (I said a similar thing about Led Zeppelin's evolution of delta blues to hard rock, while fully acknowledging that they failed to credit a lot of the original writers of the songs they ripped off). No one is truly 100% original, but the Police deserve credit for a very original (and very cool) sound. That sound isn't just the writing, which is excellent, but also the players. Sting's outstanding voice and solid bass, Andy Summers' under-rated guitar playing, and Stewart Copeland's distinctive drumming. Sting is definitely the key - he wrote pretty much every hit and was the face and voice of the band - but each member put their unique mark on the sound. All the elements that made the Police great are evident on this album, making it a super easy 5 for me. Favorite tracks: Obv. the hits - Message in a Bottle (great guitar line) and Walking on the Moon (classic) - Reggatta de Blanc (a fun moment live), It's Alright for You, Bring on the Night, The Bed's Too Big Without You, Does Everyone Stare.

Crazy, crazy album. Ordinarily I hate noise rock, but they manage to make noise without injury - it's actually noise that fits the music. Sludgy and weird - I know this is currently the 20th worst rated album on this site, but I actually like this kind of weirdness. Underneath the weird are very cool sludgy riffs. I wouldn't listen to this anywhere that anyone else could hear...but I liked it (a little concerned about the fact that I liked it, but hey). Favorite tracks: Sweet Loaf, Graveyard (totally weird, but I like the underlying bass and drums), Pgh to Lebanon (sludgy blues), The O-Men, 22 Going on 23 (dark and oppressive, matching the subject matter). Oh, and it's hysterical that all the "heys" in HAY are the sound of cows mooing, played in reverse double speed.

Incredibly derivative - sounds like an 80s hair metal band, with a cheesy lead singer. The band itself plays well and generally rocks, but I really dislike the singer's voice. Rightly removed from the 1001. Songs I almost liked: Love is Only a Feeling, Love on the Rocks with no Ice. Moving on.

Didn't know what to expect based on a) the cover showing a sad and very 70s looking guy and b) learning that he was the founding drummer of the Beach Boys and brother of Brian and Carl Wilson, and he drowned in 1983. Ok, figuring I'm going to hear some variation of the Beach Boys, who I'm not really a huge fan of (I appreciate them, but never really got into them). Well, I ended up really liking this album. VERY different from the Beach Boys. A lot of the songs have a dark edge, no Beach Boys harmonies (although the chorus singing in River Song is outstanding). Many songs sounded like they were going to be Yacht Rock and then opened up into genuinely rocking tunes. The lyrics are so-so, but the underlying sadness comes through. Wilson's singing is so-so, but authentic. A very good album, and a nice discovery on the 1001. Favorite tracks: I liked pretty much all of them (and also enjoyed the tracks from the unreleased follow-up, Bambu). If I had to pick standouts, I'll go with River Song, Dreamer, Thoughts of You, Time (particularly the end), Farewell My Friend, End of the Show.

I'm a prog fan, but when people complain about prog's excesses, ELP is almost always the first band that comes to mind. They were so over-the-top, and their albums are primarily a showcase for Emerson's insane keyboard playing. However, I'll give credit here, Tarkus is a powerful album and the title track is seriously impressive, both from a compositional angle and the musicianship. And, credit where credit's due, ELP rawk a lot more than most prog bands. It's understandable how they could sell out arenas in the 70s (no way could a band like this become huge today. Take of that what you will). Taking away one star for excess. Favorite tracks: Tarkus, Bitches Crystal, A Time and a Place.