Reviews by aretzorn

RUUUUUUUUUSH!!!!! Love this album, particularly Side 1 of course. Yeah, it's got some cheese, but it's such a part of my musical journey I can easily overlook the cheese and just love it for what it is: awesome hard rock, technical skill, drama, etc. The label told them they needed a hit album after Caress of Steel, which included their first real attempt at a prog epic. So, instead of going back to basic rockers, they doubled down and created an uncompromising prog classic. It was their breakthrough album and let them chart their own course for the rest of their career. For me, I remember playing the 2112 Overture and The Temples of Syrinx with a band in high school. I remember yelling "HEY!!" with the audience at a dozen Rush concerts. I remember that 2112 was the first album I heard on CD and was blown away by the clarity (which is why I roll my eyes at all people who say vinyl is superior). And now, as a parent, I get to enjoy listening to it with my teens - once again, I swear I didn't force prog on them. Yeah, I know Geddy Lee's voice isn't for everyone, and he's full banshee on this album, but I'm forever a Rush fan. Super easy 5 for me.

Good lord, what a depressing album...understandable, given it was written after Nick Cave's 15 year old son died after falling from a cliff. It's beautiful, but absolutely heart-rending. I give 4's to albums I want to hear again - this album is worthy musically, but not sure I'd want to hear again because it's making me think of what it would be like to lose my own children and that's far too painful to think about. But I'll give it the 4 it deserves. Favorite tracks: Bright Horses, Sun Forest, Leviathan (the ending is majestic and sorrowful), Hollywood (especially the dark turn the song takes after the line, "The kid drops his bucket and spade and climbs into the sun").

Except for when they shift to slower songs, almost everything on this album sounds the same to me and pretty basic jazz. I get that the style may have been unique when it came out, but the uniqueness is subtle and still doesn't change the fact that the style is too same-same throughout. Fine as background music, but didn't draw me in.

I find it funny that reggae is listed as one of my favorite genres on the 1001 right now. It's definitely not, but the whopping THREE reggae albums I've reviewed I liked (two Bob Marley + one Peter Tosh). The one thing that surprised me about Bob Marley (and less so Peter Tosh) was the surprising variety of styles, even if everything was based on the same reggae beat (particularly Marley's Exodus, which blew me away). I like this one, but it suffers from the problem I expected from reggae albums - same same throughout. I like the same same - it's nice and chill, and the musicianship is excellent. But I think if I'm going to want a reggae fix I'm going to stick to Bob Marley.

You know what the 1001 needs? More Britpop! No, not really. I liked Urban Hymns a lot more than I expected, but this one didn't measure up (and I don't see why we needed two albums by The Verve). My main issue with this album was how lousy the guitars sounded - there's an undertone of feedback/noise in almost every song. I read that they were looking for a "raw" sound on this album but it just ends up sounding crappy. It's a shame, because the bones of the songs are good, even if a lot of the music is pretty generic 90s heavy whiny Britpop (with a lot of ballads apparently). This album just didn't do it for me and was getting more on my nerves the more I listened. Oh, well. Ok-ish tracks: This is Music, History. Liked parts of Life's an Ocean and Stormy Clouds (liked the riff on the chorus), but both tracks dragged on and the end of Stormy Clouds had more of the noises I can't stand. The final "(reprise)" track is a perfect example of what I mean in terms of noise/feedback. So done with this album. One other note - the Wikipedia entry for this album is absurdly long. I've committed to listening to every album on the 1001 at least twice. Glad I didn't commit to reading every Wiki article...

Interesting album - it's progressive R&B! I'm not a big R&B fan, but I can appreciate the creativity on this album. Plus, there are a lot of tracks with just the kind of weirdness I like (e.g., Make the Bus, Wondaland, Mushrooms & Roses). Really liked Come Alive (especially the crazed singing towards the end). Some nice guitar solos on the album also (e.g., Neon Valley Street). BabopbyeYa provides a dramatic over the top ending. I enjoyed the album more and more each time I listened, which is always a good sign. I'll give it a 4 and would definitely revisit.

This is one of the reasons I love the 1001. It's not just "best" albums (even though this one is good), but also "important" albums if you want to understand the progress of popular music since the 1950s. If I heard this album without reading about it (or noticing that it came out in 1981), my immediate thought would be that this sounds like an imitation of a lot of more popular 80s synth pop acts. But OMD was one of the progenitors of the genre, and tons of acts cite OMD as an influence - the "Legacy and Influence" section of the band's Wikipedia page is impressive, including Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, and many more. OMD cited Kraftwerk as a major influence, although having listened to two of the three Kraftwerk albums on the 1001, it's clear OMD charted their own course. So, from an impact perspective alone, this album deserves respect. More importantly, it's a good album that really grew on me over multiple listens. Can't quite go with the 5, but it's a solid 4. Favorite tracks: Loved the first side (The New Stone Age through Sealand. Sealand struck me as a little weird at first, but I ended up really enjoying the atmospheric sound). The second side took longer to grow on me. Strangely, the "hits" Joan of Arc and Maid of Orleans were the last tracks to "hit" me. Really enjoyed the final track, The Beginning and the End. Would definitely revisit and dig deeper into their catalog.

a·nach·ro·nism

[əˈnakrəˌnizəm]

noun

A thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.

(I would give this a higher score if it was released in 1968 instead of 2002. Didn't dislike it - in fact, it grew on me - but the fact that it was a complete rip-off of 60s psychedelia was a little much for me).

Any time I see "Mercury Prize Nominee" in the Wikipedia entry, it's likely I'm about to listen to some flash in the pan Brit album that Dimery decided to include and then removed in a later edition when it turned out the album (and sometimes artist) had no staying power. The singing is weak, the music was uneven, and it just didn't do much for me. Moving on. Tracks that caught my attention: Angryman, Lying in the Snow, Zia (these last two had a bit of a pre-DSOTM Floyd sound).

Very cool music over mostly cool screaming (I didn't like when they doubled the vocals and he was out of tune with himself). But generally this is a great example of "less is more" - a full LP of this would probably be too much, but 21 minutes is just about right (I was feeling a little exhausted by Little Friend and Out of Step, but really liked Cashing In). Enjoyed rocking out to this album. Favorite tracks: Betray, No Reason, Cashing In (I didn't like the out of tune singing in the chorus, but it was just a really fun song).

I enjoyed this album, even if I had no clue what he was singing. Decent variety of styles, although it was a little long. The end of Sy Sawande seemed like a perfect ending to the album...and then there were three more songs. Hamady Boiro caught my attention each time I listened so I'll call that a favorite track. I'd call the album a 3.5 but, even though I wouldn't mind listening again, I don't think I can bump it to a 4. Ready to move on.

I feel like I should acknowledge her solely on the fact that she's a huge name in folk, but this was a pretty meh album to me. I can appreciate her guitar playing and her singing, but most of the songs were same-samey with only occasional tracks that caught my attention. Worse, on close listen I found myself pretty uninterested. It's not that anything's bad necessarily, it just doesn't do much for me and is often a little too renaissance faire for me. I'll at least acknowledge that it belongs on the 1001 for its historical importance. Tracks that caught my attention: East Virginia, Little Moses.

I definitely like everything I've heard so far from Bruce (and I saw him live a couple of years ago thanks to some free tix from a friend - The Boss puts on quite a show). This is a really good album, but I find myself questioning whether they needed this along with 4 other Bruce albums. Doesn't change the fact that I really enjoyed this album. Lots of cool moments and stirring lyrics, interspersed with some basic rock tracks (probably the biggest "negative" - but even then all the songs are good). Favorite tracks: Into the Fire, Nothing Man, Empty Sky, Worlds Apart, The Fuse, You're Missing, The Rising.

First, are we not going to talk about the shirt Paul Simon is wearing on the album cover? I think it was the model for Seinfeld's puffy shirt. Meanwhile Art is just sitting there in an everyday shirt. Paul just came from the Renaissance Faire and Art just got back from a stroll in Central Park. Moving on, I'm a HUGE Paul Simon fan, but even I have to admit this is an uneven album. It's got some absolute classics on it: Scarborough Fair (the guitar part and vocal harmonies are iconic, a true classic), Homeward Bound (such a great song), and The 59th Street Bridge Song (sure, it's a little cheesy, but again great guitar lines and a great vibe). A lot of the other tracks, though, are cheesy and/or seriously dated. Patterns sounds like it needs an old Western whip crack (wih-CHEW!). Almost the entire second side is dated (especially the Bob Dylan parody). I do like the 7 O'Clock News / Silent Night combo. The album is certainly a milestone album for Simon & Garfunkel, and a classic worth listening to (and I will definitely listen again), but it's a dated classic. Despite my love for Paul Simon's music, I gotta go with the 4 on this one.

Boring and repetitive. Fine for background music, but even then boring. Next. Tracks that sort of caught my attention: Single (I'd almost call this a "favorite track"), Walking Wounded, Flipside.

Very weird, but my kind of weird. It's no wonder she collaborated with Peter Gabriel, because these tracks have a very Gabriel-first-4-albums-flair (but are also highly original...and did I mention weird?). Favorite tracks: Sat In Your Lap, Pull Out the Pin, The Dreaming, Night of the Swallow, All the Love.

Mad respect for their musical skills (particularly Jaco!), but jazz fusion never quite pulls me in. There was a bit of nostalgia for me here, because I played Birdland in my HS jazz band, but aside from that there's not much that makes me want to dig in further. Teen Town and Havona were particularly impressive and caught my attention. I can appreciate why it's on the 1001, but moving on now...

I’ve never been impressed by what I’ve hear from Coldplay, but I’ve never listened to one of their albums. Like every album on the 1001 I tried to approach this one with an open mind. As background, I noticed plenty of decent moments but was having a hard time putting my finger on why their music has never clicked with me. It was finally on close listen that I started to figure it out. First, if I had never heard Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, or U2 maybe I would be more inclined to think this was good, instead of incredibly derivative. Ok, but let’s evaluate this album on its own merits. The lyrics are pretty bland, almost vapid and honestly I don’t think Chris Martin is a good singer. There are plenty of moments that sound cool, but those are the moments that sound like someone else (sorry, I can’t let that go). I can appreciate why it’s on the list, but it’s amazing how bland this album is given there are more than a handful of cool motifs. I’ll give them the 3 because there are enough cool moments to not bring it to a 2 and because I didn’t mind repeat listens in the background. But this definitely didn’t change my opinion about Coldplay. Songs with moments I liked: Shiver, We Never Change, Everything's Not Lost (I'm a sucker for anthemic endings).

Leading with: I really dislike the Velvet Underground and I'm not a fan of Lou Reed's speaking/singing style. But I appreciated this album and found a lot to like. Not enough to want to revisit it (so I can't really go for the 4), but enough to appreciate having heard it. The good: lots of good musical motifs, powerful lyrics, excellent musicians (including one of my favorites Tony Levin on The Kids - too bad his bass work was covered up by screaming kids!). The bad: Well, not so bad - I could deal with Reed's speak/singing most of the time and, in some cases, felt it worked really well, but it's always a bit of an issue with me, plus some of the songs started to drag on close listen. Overall, I can appreciate why it's on the list, but I'm ready to move on. Favorite tracks: Lady Day (really liked the chorus), How Do You Think It Feels, The Bed (oof, the lyrics are tough to digest, but it's a powerful song), Sad Song (anthemic ending, but a little jarring that the guy is basically happy that Caroline is dead. Oops, spoiler alert).

This album is basically cool track after cool track. A lot of contemporaneous reviews compared it to Odelay, but I think this album has its own style. Probably the only "dig" on it is that Beck's slacker vocals get a little repetitive sounding. But I enjoyed the album and would definitely bop to it again. Favorite tracks: E-Pro, Hell Yes, Go It Alone, Farewell Ride, Emergency Exit.