Reviews by korb

Kraftwerk are pioneers of the electronic music scene and any of their albums merits a spot on this list, without a doubt!

The core of the album is the openning track (Europe Endless), and then tracks 4 through 8 ('Trans-Europe Express' through 'Endless Endless'). If you consider those 6 tracks alone and played in order, it's really two musical movements. When I listen to those 6 songs together, I hear it like a musical interpretation of a trans-european train ride. The themes slowly ebb and flow, much like the scenary would out the window of the train. Where you end is much like where you started, but there is just enough variation to make it feel all its own.

The other two tracks ('The Hall of Mirrors' and 'Showroom Dummies') are more like single b-sides that were tossed into the album. The seriousness of 'The Hall of Mirrors' stands in sharp contrast to the nearly humourous 'Showroom Dummies'. Both are enjoyable tracks, but they seem a bit out of place.

This album provides a great trip through the state of the art for early days electronic music.

I enjoy the general sound of the band and I the vibe they are going for. But the songs are SO BORING and mind-numbingly repetitive. With the exception of 'Proud Mary', you can hear everything that each song has to offer within 20 seconds of the song starting.

The album is just catchy enough to keep you listening and just deep enough to keep you thinking. I personally think "Miles From Nowhere" is the standout track, but I complete understand why the stand-out hits ('Where Do The Children Play?', 'Hard Headed Woman;, 'Wild World' and 'Father An Son') are what they are as well.

I honestly have no idea how the Flaming Lips could claim that 'Fight Test' was not directly *ehm* "influenced" *ehm* by 'Father And Son'.

Uncanny similarities aside, the album was a good listen on it's own two feet.

I remember spotify annoucing this album to me and being happy when I figured the news out, that LCD Soundsystem had reunited. It took a while for this one to grow on me, but grow on me it has.

The more linear songs, like "other voices" and "i used to", are good enough. The real gems in my opinion are the tracks that grow and unfold, such as "oh baby", "how do you sleep?"

As far as the whole album goes, it is good, but I'm surprised to see it on the list. If anything, I would've expected to see "Sound of Silver" or "This is Happening". "American Dream" is (in a good way) a derivative or a continuation of those albums.

A punk rock musical? Nine minunte long medleys? What am I listening to?

Well, shame on me for writting these guys off after Dookie. This is an album that was made at a serious inflection point for the band, and what they came up with is a real coming of age for the group. It took courage for the group to step out of the mold they'd been cast in and what they came up with is something that I really enjoyed.

The album started off on an almost 50's pop production, amped through heavy distortion, but then I hit the 1:50 mark on "Jesus of Suburbia" and the vibe started changing. From that point on the story telling took over and the album gave way to an unfolding narrative. I was struck with the realization that I had heard a fair amount of this album in radio hits, but I had no idea how they fit together (i.e. "Holiday" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" are conjoined!). Since I hadn't heard the entire album, I didn't fully appreciate the songs in context and I was missing out on the goodness that didn't make the radio.

The album includes plenty of flexes from the band's punk core ("St. Jimmy"), but they don't stay contrained by it, rebelling against their constraints. And maybe it's that spirit that really makes this album so good. After all - isn't that what punk is about?

I'm not so sure about this one. It's a wild and only partially folded amalgam of genres. The musicians (singer aside) clearly have a mastery of their instruments, but at the same time they seem unconcerned about anything sounding cohesive or finished. Like, literally, some of the songs just sort of stop.

As for the engergy of the music, I bet they had a good time putting the music together and playing it. I suspect they'd also be a good band to hear live.

Alas this isn't "1001 bands you should hear live" so it all comes down to the album. For that, this one didn't really do it for me and I'm not really clear on why its included in this list.

Meh. I couldn't get through a single playthrough. I have got to believe that there are at least 1001 albums in the world better than this one. Sure, I recognized 'Alright', but it sounded nothing like the rest of the album. If that was the only song that got this album on the list, then I'm really lost.

I did appreciate that the related wikipedia page taught me about cockney rhyming slang, so at least I've got that going for me.

If one of my kids asked me what classic rock was, I would sit them down and play them this album. It is quintissential. If it weren't for a couple of Plant's questionable performance (I'm looking at you "Bring it on Home"), I'd say the album was flawless.

Classic riffs like the openning bars of "Whole Lotta Love", "Heartbreaker" and "Moby Dick" are all you need to hear to know exactly how impactful this album was on every record that came after it. But it didn't just come down to catchy bars. Almost every song is dynamic, leaving room for exploration of the spaces in between the muscial themes.

I've listened to this album countless times before, and it continues to be worth every star I can give it.

Any album containing a song played by Marvin Berry and the Starlighters for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance is good enough for me!

In a word though, this album is "joyous", end-to-end.
It lands like a band of musicians who really are have a great time playing together and a band leader that is both putting on the act for the crowd and having fun goofing for the band itself. Even songs with titles like "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You" lands like playful teasing between friends.

I'll definitely be coming back to this album again and again. Worth every star.

Interesting aside, this is the first album where I noticed the wikipedia page pointed to the book that appears to be the source material for this site's list. Spoiler alert.

First off, the improvised humor during the second song (Willow Weep For Me) and throughout the last song (How High The Moon) put a smile on my face. It was enjoyable to hear an artist just rolling with it in a live performance. And honestly, if you weren't paying close attention, I think it would just roll by you as a listener as well. It's a testament to how clean, tight and yet how fluid Sarah Vaughan and the Trio are across this album.

Everything about this album felt in perfect balance, which I find especially remarkable given it's a recording of a live performance.

Sarah's vocals are an enchanting blend of smooth, pitch perfect and with a touch of smokey rasp. She carries every tune perfectly and doesn't overly-adorn, preferring instead to be straight to the point.

And sitting just below the canopy of the vocals is the remarkably stout trunk that is the backing trio. Their performance was equaly clear, concise and beautiful.

All told, it's a lovely album, made more special by the candor and simplicity that comes from the stripped down production of recording a live performance.

Well, the album started off strong, but then it all started to sound the same. I can absolutely understand songs like "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough' and 'Rock With You' being on lists of 1001 songs you must hear, but as an entire album, it's hard to see. In fact, I noticed this first with when listening to Bad and I'm picking up on it again here, but this album also feels more consumable in pieces as opposed to trying to listen to the whole thing in one sitting. I do think that 'I can't Help It' redeems the latter half of the album, from being mostly forgettable.

My tastes aside, it's undeniable that this album was massively influential on countless artists, so for that alone, I can't really bring myself to rate it below a four. In this case I think the album is great, less for what I hear in the music, then for what most people hear in the album.

It's certainly a compositional and recording feat. I just didn't find it very interesting.

A very subtle and relaxed album.

The song structures seem, to my untrained ear at least, to be completely linear and unrepeating lines throughout. There aren't verses and choruses, just a start, an exploration and an end. I'm so accustomed to hearing repetition in music, that I'm unsure of what to make of it. It must take an immense knowledge and comfort with your instrument, with your bandmates and with the foundations of music theory to make music like this.

What I can't say for the album, is that any one track stood out to me. This is probably again due to my lack of understanding the format of Jazz and the challenge of what they are doing as musicians, but I feel like I could be dropped into the middle of any of these songs and I would have no idea which one is which. Again, I don't really know what to make of it.

All told, I wouldn't likely go out of my way to put this album on again, but I do feel opened to something new and I'm curious to learn more from others that do have a deeper appreciation/fascination with the genre.

The 70's deliver again.

Good old fashioned anti-establishment punk. The composition of the songs themselves show a complete disregard for established pop norms, instead preferring to forge their own path. The instruments float in and out of the song and even in and out of alignment with eachother. But they all work together to create a truly distinct and enjoyable album.

I was pleasantly surprised to find tracks that appear to be direct forefathers for groups like LCD Soundsystem (Not Great Men) and Blur (Ether).

I'd never heard the album before, but it will defintely be on my list and it defintely belongs here as well.

Well, I'm a sucker for a concept album, so the stage was already set for a favorable reception.

The understated composition of every song belies the relentless and tragic story that unfolds across the entire album. I was honetly startled when the second voice came in for harmony on 'Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain', because it was almost like someone snuck in the room and interrupted while Willie was confiding a dark secret to me.

And so it went through the entire album, until 'Remember Me'. It's an enjoyable song on its own, but it was jarring in it's place and in it's contrast with the mood of the album.

All told though, it was a riveting bit of story-telling folded into musical form, which further enhanced the emotions of the tale and of the telling.

Its funny to me how much this album now sounds like electrified honky-tonk to me. In any case, it was still thoroughly enjoyable to listen to. The radio anthems that are nearly impossible to not sing along with, still hold strong, but the rest of the album is a solidly stable collection of tracks as well, that doesn't really leave much room for complaint - assuming you can get into the style at all.

The production of the album is vocals and guitars forward and it's pretty obvious why (Axle, Slash and Duff - I mean, come on!). In contrast, the rhythm section could basically be any studio artists out there and I'm not sure it would feel any different.

All around, a good one to revisit.

Man! Looking back on this album, there is so much cringe-worthy content. After listening to the track "Bad" and then "Speed Demon", I couldn't help but feel like this whole album was going to be like scrolling through r/IAmVeryBadAss.

Seriously, all I could think about while I was listening to "Liberian Girl" was the scene in "40 year old virgin" where the main character was (falsely) talking about all the experience he had with girls. "Just like in the movies" - ha!

Jokes aside though, the album is still undeniably good. My personal favorite is "Leave Me Alone", and there are many other that are great listening and chalk full of nostalgia for me.

I guess what makes the album hard for me, hence the lower rating, is it's a bit much to take in one sitting. A ton of great singles, but I need a break between most songs to wash the synthesized taste of my mouth.

This album was right up my alley. The blues-rock genre is already something I really enjoy, so this fit right in.

The production of the album overall felt very genuine and laid back. I'd point specifically to the track Too Bad as a good example of this. Every instrument has it's place and each stands out so clearly that I feel like I'm hanging out in the room with the band playing around me.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the clarity and grit of Rod's vocals.

Overall a fun listen and a band that I'm curious to hear more of.

and I was pleasantly surprised by the grit of Rob Stewart's vocals.

Another good album I'd never heard of. Apparantly I need to pay more attention to bands from the 70s. I heard clear parallels to bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Strokes, but I also appreciated the differences. The band didn't hold strictly to 2 minute verse-chorus-verse and they allowed themselves to jam and explore.

By and large I enjoyed the album and I'd point to Sometimes, London Lady, Peaches and (Get A) Grip [on Yourself] as good tracks to check out to get a feel for it.

I could have done without the track Choosey Susie, to behonest, give the overt depictions of sexual violence.

Was there a typo that resulted in this album getting on the list? I fail to see any aspect of this one that merits it being in a list of 1001 albums I must hear.

The whole thing feels over thought and way over produced. Given the pay counts (or lack thereof) on Spotify, I get the feeling that I'm not the only one this hasn't connected with. I wonder how many of those plays are purely generated from this site recommending the album.

The worst part was that track had so much reverb and chorus on it that I was effectively forced to listen to every song multiple times at once. It was like each track was actually multiple instances of the song being played; each instance's timing slightly offset from the next. I could only get through track 6 (Open for You) before I had to call it.