Reviews by henry-winchester

I had another Robert Wyatt album a few days ago and hated it, but with this one it suddenly just clicked, and reading his backstory (he's been wheelchair-bound following an accident in the 70s) made his music all the more interesting.
This album works on another level. The music is incredible, one of the few prog rock albums that actually worked, but his voice, which I found jarring at first, is what really sets it off; a child throwing a ball at a wall of sound.

R.E.M. are definitely growing on me, if only by exposure, but there is a certain sameness to the music here (low/high riffs, basically) that I don't think their later work has. That midpoint double-act of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "The One I Love" is kind of breathtaking though.

Half Beach Boys, half Velvet Underground, but not as exciting as it sounds. Nothing stands out apart from one song where he describes the parts of a car?

So perfectly paced it borders on miraculous.

Sounds so much like Hole! And it goes on a little bit too long. But I liked it.

FUCK YES.
I had no idea this was a thing. I love Rocket From The Crypt, I love At The Drive-In, and this is exactly halfway 'twixt the two. Guttural screaming and chaotic guitars. Enough energy to fuel a mission to Jupiter.
Another reason to love the 1001 Albums project.

I was talking to my dad about Fleetwood Mac the other day, about how you suddenly just get them. I think I'm getting there? This album drags on a bit, but there are some really good tunes. I think the most impressive thing is their ability to steal from lots of different genres and merge them into something distinctive.

I remember this being the great white hope of the record industry, and I also remember finding it pretty disappointing, as much as I wanted to like it.
But listening to it now, I finally get it. Despite their middle-class upbringings, there's something very relatable and humble and just plain sad about the record; it's as much Pavement as it is The Velvet Underground.

This feels authentic and it's dated so much better than that horrible "chill" music Morcheeba and Zero 7 were putting out around this time. Reminds me of Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald. Totally classy and unexpectedly fantastic.

Oddly tame and actually quite sweet 🩷

Annoyingly, I didn't realise I was listening to the CD bonus tracks, which dilute what is a very tight album. Grrr.

Real grunge for real people.

Usually not a fan of this kind of thing, but TLC nailed it. It's both fun and heartbreaking ("Waterfalls" tackles hip-hop themes from a female perspective), but it never gets into the kind of watery, schmaltzy filler tracks that usually drag this genre down.

Very much a product of its time, and I'm sure I bopped to some of these tunes in the dance halls, but there was far better music around at this time: Layo & Bushwacka's "Night Works" is more experimental and musically literate, while Etienne de Crecy's "Super Discount 2" turbocharged the French touch. "Destroy Rock & Roll" probably sold more copies than both of them put together, but that doesn't mean it's the better record.

Doesn't really let up and ultimately becomes a draining, but still unique for his time.

I had this on 12 inch when I was 9 and listened to it almost constantly. It totally loses its focus after those first two tracks, and his sister Janet's output is far more interesting, but it's so emblematic of that particular time and place, that aesthetic.

One of those artists who annoyed me at the time, but I regret not listening to sooner. He had such a unique take, a tough life with a big heart.

Impossible to separate this from the nostalgia I feel for this album. "1977" was the second CD I owned (Dodgy's "Free Peace Sweet" was the first) and it provided the soundtrack to summer of '96, when my 16-year-old self was discovering new levels of freedom in the most inept way possible. Ash were Oasis for sci-fi nerds like me.
It's still great, to me, perfectly paced, and Owen Morris' wall-of-sound production makes it a lot rockier than their Britpop peers' albums. Tim Wheeler doesn't always hit the right note, but the boyish charm of his singing means it doesn't matter.
The only thing missing is the bonus puke track, which is here (if you dare listen!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYivCDJN9PQ

Stripped-back and goofy fun.

The most amazing music, the most irritating vocals.