Reviews by callimar

Until now, I was only familiar with Booker T. & the M.G.s by name. I had probably heard them before without realizing it—at least some of it sounded familiar.
Green Onions is easy to listen to, but I spent the first three songs waiting for a singer or at least a distinctive lead instrument to come in. This is exactly what the album lacks, despite all the beautiful patterns and riffs—it never really takes off. In my opinion, it's possible to record a purely instrumental album, and there are many outstanding examples of this, but then you need clear melodic ideas, complex arrangements, or brilliant soloists—ideally all three. Booker has all of this at best in rudimentary form, and the result is an easy listening album that doesn't really sound so easy in the long run.
If you like blues-oriented music and play it yourself (like me), the result is still OK.

I had never listened to Adele's “21” in its entirety before. While her voice is known to be outstanding, I had previously been of the opinion that this did not apply to her songwriting. Listening to the album confirmed this impression: “21” contains 2-4 really strong songs and a whole lot of filler material. At least this gives me the opportunity to highlight a few songs. Here we go:
In my opinion, “Rolling in the Deep” is already the best song on the album—Aretha always started her albums this way, so Adele is in good company here. Next, I like the rhythmically accentuated “He Won't Go”—especially after the rather monotonous songs that precede it. Adele's voice also comes into its own on “I'll Be Waiting” and “Someone Like You.”
All in all, a pretty good second album from an up-and-coming artist at the time—but with some room for improvement. Too bad she didn't make it beyond that until today!

I knew The Kinks as the guys who wrote “You Really Got Me” for Van Halen, but I had never listened to a complete album. I would describe their sound as somewhere between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, with influences from Simon and Garfunkel—but without the clear and well-rounded overall picture of the aforementioned, and only occasionally reaching their level.
“David Watts” is fun, “Death of a Clown” is actually not bad, but after that the level unfortunately drops and reaches its first low point with “No Return,” which combines the worst aspects of the Beatles and S&G. After that, it gets better again, but I won't describe it in detail—I think the principle is clear.
I guess you could call it light and shadow—though there's more light than shadow.
3.5 for me.

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” is one of those albums that I've simply heard too many times—whether at my father's house or in music class. But since that was several decades ago, I was able to listen to it without any problems. The title track still annoys me a little, I still find the Simon & Garfunkel version of “El Condor Pass” random, and then there are the two songs that don't really sound like S&G... And finally, “The Boxer,” which in my opinion is the strongest song on this album. Maybe it's just less worn out for me than the ones mentioned above—I guess my parents just played side B less often.
Yes, it's one you should know, but for me, it's definitely not five stars.

Very early in my life—I must have been about 10 or 11—there was a phase when I voluntarily listened to hip hop. That was ages ago, but I can still remember Public Enemy fairly well. I don't like the music anymore, but I recognize that “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back” in particular had a significant influence on the development of both this genre and various crossover styles.

David Bowie is one of those artists who defies description. That's why I think it makes the most sense to consider his albums in this list separately from the others. In that sense, “Young Americans” is a good, but not outstanding, R&B album.
The fact is, however, that this is not the music for which David Bowie was primarily known. Of course, “Young Americans” is therefore also an experimental excursion by a singer who simply likes to try things out.
According to Wikipedia, this album represents something of a commercial breakthrough for him in the US. That surprised me, but it highlights its historical significance.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I don't yet have a complete overview of Bowie's work. But I hope to gain one in the course of this challenge and that this isn't the peak yet.

Hmm, what can I say? “Forever Changes” is a fairly ordinary 60s folk rock album—it sounds as you'd expect, it's not annoying, but it also has few moments that make you sit up and take notice. The first thing that really struck me was that on “A House Is Not a Motel,” someone made the guitar solo really loud. In a live situation, that would be remarkable in a positive sense; on the album it's... surprising.
Otherwise... Yes, Love was obviously a pretty good band, tight and clean without technical support (which basically didn't exist in 1967, so that's actually a sign of quality – unfortunately, there are enough negative examples on this list). Since it lacks really exciting ideas, I still consider it mediocre.

“London Calling” by The Clash is one of those iconic albums that pretty much everyone knows at least part of. I'm no different, and I had already consciously listened to it in its entirety about a year ago. I definitely enjoyed it, but at the time I had no intention of reviewing it. So here we go again.
Even the title track “London Calling” isn't classic punk rock (but it's definitely very punk-heavy), and the rest of the album follows suit. There's a bit of blues and rockabilly here, ska and new wave influences there, turnarounds, saxophone solos... But despite all that, every song is unmistakably The Clash, with their familiar attitude evident throughout. “Clampdown” – of course you know it, as well as “Stand by Me”... but my highlights today were “Lost in the Supermarket” and “Guns of Brixton.”
I often find it difficult to compare albums from different eras, but in terms of both approach and result, there are some parallels to an album that was released 25 years later. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it at the time, so now and here, let's reverse the comparison: “London Calling” is the “American Idiot” of the generation before me.

If it has to be electronic music (which I don't really like), then I'm happy to go with The Prodigy. “The Fat of the Land” is the relevant album here, and I can still remember hearing “Firestarter” everywhere for a while. Of course, this album is also quite monotonous, but at least Keith Flint brings a certain punk attitude to it, and you have to give The Prodigy credit for the fact that their beats are instantly recognizable. At the time, “The Fat of the Land” could even be described as innovative—no one else was so consistently sitting on the fence back then. Conclusion: never my favorite album, but a respectable milestone in music history.

What a pleasant surprise! I wasn't really expecting to find The Darkness here, but I'm really glad I did and happy that it gave me a reason to listen to “Permission To Land” again after so long. When I first heard about The Darkness in 2003, I wasn't sure if it was a parody—their appearance was so at odds with the zeitgeist at the time. I also remember them being described as the gay AC/DC or the straight Queen. What they present on their debut album is all three of those things and much more: a mature production of songs reminiscent of AC/DC, Queen, and similar bands, but with a modern sound (the equipment of the aforementioned bands was already outdated in the 1980s) and a self-deprecating coolness that I still admire today. My only criticism is that The Darkness' later releases never quite reached the level of “Permission To Land.”

For me, the Allman Brothers' album “At Filmore East” is the ultimate blues rock album. Everything fits together perfectly, the band just grooves, and the jam parts are great. Unfortunately, this fantastic live recording is not only the Allman Brothers' first live album, but also the last album recorded together by the eponymous brothers Duane and Greg. That makes it all the more important to listen to it—simply because there is almost nothing else like it.

I had already written that I like Yes, and that hasn't changed. As with some other artists (so far Frank Sinatra, Coldplay, Iron Maiden), however, I can't quite understand the exact selection of albums for the 1001 list. To my knowledge, “The Yes Album” represents the band's breakthrough and therefore, in my opinion, deserves to be on the list, although from today's perspective I would describe it as still a little immature:
- Many typical Yes elements—especially the vocals—are already clearly recognizable here, but
- the rhythm work is not yet as extremely tight as I remember it from later recordings, and
- “Clap” is nice and somehow impressive, but doesn't really fit in with the other songs.
All in all, it was a nice listening experience.

Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim recorded an album together that is quite enjoyable to listen to. It is essentially a Frank Sinatra album with bossa nova songs, which works well, but in my opinion is no improvement on his standard/swing recordings.
The recording of “Girl From Ipanema” is, of course, extremely well known, but after that there is not much else that deserves special mention. As I said, it's not bad, but in my opinion, any other Sinatra album could have been included here.

“La Revancha Del Tango” can't quite decide whether it wants to offer the dance music that gives it its name or more relaxed electro beats. Ultimately, it fails to do either really well, and the result is simply inconsequential. This sets it apart from the similar attempts by Astor Piazzolla, which I “had the pleasure” of listening to a few days ago—I didn't like those either, but at least they were exciting and inspiring.
Two of the songs are part of film soundtracks, and in fact, the Gotan Project's compositions are best imagined as background music for blurry camera shots through Paris at night. But I have no idea who needs an album's worth of “horizontal elevator music.”

As for the Smashing Pumpkins, I had a kind of déjà vu experience today: based on everything I've read, I should love this band. The first song, “Cherub Rock”, starts playing, and I immediately have my first doubts—somehow it sounds very familiar, like Nirvana and the like, but without that special vibe. The next songs offer little variety—sure, the sound is good and “Siamese Dreams” is easy to listen to. But somehow you're always waiting for the moment when it really takes off, and that moment just doesn't come.
So let's listen more closely: From my own studio experience, I know the effect (perhaps typical for guitarists) that I can think of about 25 different ways to interpret and accompany a song, but only 2–3 tracks are available. Lucky are those who have a virtually unlimited budget (like the Smashing Pumpkins in 1993 ;) – we'll just record every track imaginable! Now, it's no surprise that despite some nice ideas, everything sounds very similar – of course, certain ideas just fit every song, and if you record them all and don't make any selections during mixing... Well, I think the principle is clear.
At least this gloomy music finally stopped my children from dreaming of a future I can't possibly provide. Homer Simpson, smiling politely.

After giving a seemingly appealing album a poor rating yesterday after listening to it, I was in a bad mood when I read the Wikipedia article on Massive Attack and “Blue Lines” (I was on the train and didn't have my headphones with me). Fortunately, the opening track on this album, “Safe From Harm,” surprised me in a positive way. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else worth listening to after that, except for a few nice basslines here and there—but of course, those are always much cooler when they're played by a good, real musician and varied accordingly—and then three more songs with Shara Nelson's voice further back in the album. Of course, guests on an album are there for the highlights, and the host artists naturally try to offer the best tracks for collaborations, but in this case, there are four songs that are quite nice and easy listening (with Shara Nelson), while all the others fall short. Is that necessary?

In an earlier review I asked how bad an album that Bootsy Collins contributed to could possibly be. I have to admit that this question is no longer rhetorical and the answer is 'far worse than I thought'. "World Clique" may have been innovative in its day but from today's view it is the cheesy starting point for one of the worst music genres ever - 90s dance floor. Not everything on this album is disgusting but if for some reason you get the chance to travel back in time to prevent it - go for it.

I've always thought Johnny Cash was cool, but most of his life's work comes from a time before I was born. Of course, that doesn't apply to “American IV: The Man Comes Around,” and I remember being surprised by this release at the time. His cover versions of ‘Hurt’ and “Personal Jesus” were played everywhere and were considered the ultimate versions of these songs—and rightly so, by the way. The rest falls a little short in comparison, but the album has lost none of its quality over the last 20 years and is, of course, still a worthy entry on this list.

In my opinion, “Parachutes” is not Coldplay's best album (and therefore not really a must for this list), but at least it is their debut with a major label. Of course, Coldplay were very talented musicians from the start, but as I recall, the band's most innovative phase was after 2005.
Back to Parachutes: “Don't Panic” and “Yellow” are reasonably strong songs—the rest are OK, but overall I find the album a little too quiet and monotonous. Still worth a listen, though.

David Bowie's “Heroes” consists of five pop-rock tracks dominated by Robert Fripp's guitar and five more or less pure ambient tracks, most of which are attributable to Brian Eno. Even more daring than the huge influence of these two outstanding musicians, I find it remarkable that David Bowie doesn't sing at all on the last four tracks—after all, this is nominally a solo album by the singer. Of course, he was involved as a composer and producer (and on several instruments), but for me this gives the impression of an EP with a very long outro. In addition, the album starts off strong with “Beauty and the Beast,” but then really loses momentum with each song and ends up just coasting along. It's a shame—this could have been a really good album.