Rated 10/10
This is that good shit, funky psychedelic soul. Every song hits just right and peaks with "Strawberry Letter 23". I've been vibing this for the last 25 years after, of all places, hearing a cover of "Strawberry Letter 23" by Zero 7 at one of their concerts where it was sung by Sia Furler (Pre Sia Sia) and Sophie Barker... Good times.
Rated 4/10
Sounds like so many other bands of the time, and every song sounds very much the same.
Rated 4/10
Music my mum liked, I can close my eye and hear this playing in my mum's old VW Golf, it would be followed by Level 42, guaranteed. "Holding Back The Years" holds up but, honestly, Simply Red are an abomination and it still befuddles me how they made a comeback in the mid 90s for one hot minute..
Rated 4/10
Nothing noteworthy or revolutionary present here... 1991 was an important year for music, and this feels like a remnant of the past.
Just noises, nothing but noises
Rated 6/10
Let's be clear, it's not as overall good or polished as Black Sunday would be, you wouldn't expect it to be, but I had forgotten how much fun this album this, its a whole ass vibe of half remembered lyrics that came flooding back like a weird old friend. Its surprisingly wall to wall bangers here, overtly violent lyrics but fun as fuck cali beats beats make you forget how gangster Cypress Hill really were, but you'd never call them gangster rap...
A Scooby Doo Y'all, a Scooby Doobie Doo Y'all
Rated 10/10
The sound of a long abandoned cathedral collapsing off an eroded cliff. In slow motion.
Rated 4/10
Fuzzy bass, heavy drums, hard guitars, monotone singer? Yep, its a DC post-hardcore indie rock band screaming into the void in the wake of the Seattle grunge takeover... Nothing wrong with this album honestly, its just so one note bland at times. If this was released in 1989 we'd be talking about it in different terms, but after Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden bust the mold wide open, it mostly sounds like a bar band going through the motions.
Kinda telling the most played song on this album (and their entire catalogue) on Spotify only has around 700k plays...
Rated 10/10
The ultimate dad rock album, there's not a single person born in the 70s or 80s who's dad did not own this on either vinyl or cassette. This was the soundtrack to road trips, always was, always will be... Opens up with 3 huge all time songs in "Hotel California", "New Kid In Town", and "Life In The Fast Lane" before settling into a deep groove like the slow sad vibe of "Wasted Time" and its reprise and the straight up rock and roll of "Victim of Love", the rest kind of follow what came before.
A victim of its own monster success often leads to people turning on it, but this is an easy 5 star album.
Rated 6/10
Completing the Steely Dan section of 1001, and it starts off with a literal bop in "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" but then its veering off into their default mid 70s jazzy rock, horns an all. Now quite as Chicago-y as the Aja album, but the road has been laid...
Rated 8/10
Hard to imagine any band nowadays having their lead singer die then a few months later be all like "we got a new guy, he helped write new songs, and we almost immediately recorded this kick ass album for you sickos"
Apparently the sicko is me...
Rated 6/10
Come for the songs they performed with Nirvana on Unplugged, but stay for the distorted guitars and signs of proto-grunge
Rated 4/10
Much like Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and early Rolling Stones, the cloud of "white man popularising the black man's music" hangs heavy here. Classic rock & roll, albeit distilled.
Afrocentric midwestern alternative conscious rap for the masses? Rap around this time was either gangster rap via Dr. Dre's The Chronic, East Coast Hip Hop via A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory, or whatever the Beastie Boys were doing in Check Your Head (punk rap?) so a legitimate alternative was a breath of fresh air. Powered by the three monster singles "Tennessee", "People Everyday", and "Mr. Wendell" this album felt like it was everywhere.
It mostly stands up, once you get past the realization that the version of "People Everyday" isn't the same as the single version you know.
Rated 4/10
One good song, "Everyday Is Like Sunday", and a whole lot of whining from that twat Morrissey
Rated 10/10
So of its time, but strangely timeless, Ms. Jackson (because I'm nasty at heart) and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis weave a tapestry of samples, loops and New Jack Funk to drop an album filled with club bangers. Social consciousness is heavy on her mind here, songs about racism, poverty, injustice, politics, sex, 35 years later and it feels very much on point today. In fact today this would be branded "woke" and all the connotations that go along with it.
Meanwhile I'm still here trying to perfect the 5-4-3-2-1 hand countdown she does in the "Rhythm Nation" video.
Tracking down the authentic 1967 recording of Call of the Valley on YouTube, after realizing Spotify serves up a glossy, new-age remake, was a bit of a minor chore, but I always genuinely appreciate when this list breaks away from the Anglo-American rock default to spotlight something completely outside my usual listening habits. Following a day in the life of a Kashmiri shepherd is beautiful, the blend of flute, santoor, and slide guitar over steady tabla beats is incredibly relaxing. While I lack the background to fully appreciate the technical side of the ragas, it was a refreshing, peaceful detour that washed away all my stress. I likely won't dive deep into the genre, but I really enjoyed this atmospheric experience.
Rated 8/10
Classic dad rock, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Every song is a driving groove. Want some riffs? Want some guy screaming to an orgasm (possibly?)? Want drum fills a-plenty? Mad man twisting an organ for your pleasure? This has them all!
Rated 4/10
As bland as psychedelic music can be, not even middle of the road, just sitting on the side of the road, unable to cross it.
Young sheds his folksy rock roots and gets a little down and dirty with Crazy Horse. This album contains some legit jams like "Cinnamon Girl" and "Down by the River."
While the album is often categorized as proto-grunge, its influence transcends any single genre. The raw energy and emotional intensity foreshadow the alternative rock movements of the decades to come, while the introspective lyrics and acoustic moments retain a timeless folk sensibility.
