Reviews by jf01

It seems like The Idiot was more Bowie and this was more Iggy. Love Bowie…but this far surpasses The Idiot. 4.5

It’s ok

There are a few jazz albums I like and then there’s stuff like this that all sounds the same

I didn’t really know what to expect and liked this more than I anticipated. “Glam rock” conjures some bands that aren’t my favorite. But maybe now this band is my favorite glam rock band?

I loved this album (and the “Breathe” video, omg, I’d never seen anything like that) so much in junior high I distinctly remember asking my parents if we could fly to Australia for my birthday to see them in concert. You’ll be shocked to learn that was a no.

After listening: still like it. A little long, a little repetitive, but solid.

Little known fact: “fooled again (I don’t like it)” is about the people who bought this album on the strength of “breakdown” and “American girl” and then learned the rest of the album wasn’t good.

Still three stars because it’s pleasant enough. A genre I like, an artist whose hits I enjoy, doesn’t overstay its welcome, this was never going to be below 3. But it’s two great singles and not a lot else.

Yes, Bob!
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said, "Addicts of updated nostalgia and rock and roll readymades should find this a sly and authentic commentary on the evolving dilemma of Harold Teen. The songs are cute, the riffs executed with more dynamism than usual, and the singing attractively phlegmy. And like they say at the end of other cartoons, that's all, folks." Correct! He gave it a B+. Arguably, B+ = 4, but I’m sticking with my 3, despite my concurrence.

I knew the band but had never listened to this album. I really liked it. I considered five stars but I think it’s more like a four. A few songs I really loved, like “mighty long way,” “bonin in the backyard,” and “change.”

I’ve never listened to Scott Walker before and my impression of him was that his music was cheesy, ornate, ostentatious, over the top. This is . . . close to that. But I’ve mostly thought it stays on the right side of the line (not “angels of ashes,” though). I like it.

I really liked this when it came out and put it on my list of favorite albums from 2021.

Ah yes, I forgot how great “lost one” is.

I think this band is just ok

I’m sure I’ve listened to this before, but it isn’t one I know well. I know I love “born under punches” and, obviously, “once in a lifetime.” I have a distinct memory of once in a lifetime coming on the radio once when my dad was driving me to school and I was like, “WHAT is this?” (I think I had a similar reaction to a Frank Zappa song on another trip to school.)

Overall, just okay.

There’s a reason people only listen to the two Pixies albums before this

A new one to me, but not my favorite. Waits can be hit or miss.

I didn’t know Stoned College Roommates of America got to lobby for spots on this list

It’s fine

I just know they were like, “what’s so hard about making Station to Station? We’ve got seven good long songs in us too!” Reader, they did not. They had one good short song in them that isn’t even on this album.

Better than I expected!

I had some fear that this wasn’t going to hold up and it’d fall to 4 or even 3 stars. I needn’t have worried.

Because this album has such an emotional hold on me, I went to reviews to see what people who gave it less than a 5 said. It looks like there are a couple basic camps. One, people who think it’s too rudimentary, silly, or adolescent. It is all those things. Still a 5. In fact probably mainly a 5 because of those things. Two, people who protest that it isn’t punk enough. It’s not pure punk, true. (I’d say pop punk but wouldn’t get mad if someone said pop.) But I’m not upset with the album for not being something it’s not. It’s a fun, dumb pop punk/pop album.

If I made my own 1001 albums list, it would absolutely contain some terrible stuff that I personally adored, and I’m convinced that’s why albums like this one are on the list. I skipped the last two songs.

This genre is not my favorite, and that’s probably the difference between a 4 and a 5 here. Because within the limitations of this genre, I think Gillian Welch is the best.

Every song here is a (n Americana) banger, but you don’t end the album with a 14-minute song unless you think it’s a big artistic statement deserving of that space on the record. Luckily, it is (glares intently at The Doors).

This post talks about it well: https://www.nodepression.com/i-dream-a-highway-gillian-welchs-song-of-america-explicated/

But at its simplest level, I’ve always heard it as three things: a lament for an old way of Nashville/country music that isn’t coming back (in 2001! I wonder how she feels now), a love song in the style of an Odyssey—returning to someone from your past, and a death song (where the You is God). I’m not at all confident the lyrics support all of that, just a vibe I get. But what a beautiful, mysterious way to end the album. Sublime.