Reviews by meemesker

I'm sure Snoop Dogg is cool to hang out with and everything, but I just don't enjoy the G-Funk sound - it's as cartoonish as that tacky-ass cover.

Have mercy!

This is a very nostalgic album for me. It reminds me of my Stepfather and the tremendous impact he had on my musical horizons. He was always exposing me to music such as this, that was just outside of my capability to fully grasp initially, but which grew on me over time when I was eventually able to start putting the pieces together for myself. Not to say that I didn't enjoy this straight away as a teenager though. My high school friends and I felt somewhat out of phase with our present era - old souls perhaps - so Randy Newman's more timeless, less rock oriented sound appealed to us in that way.

Randy is fucking vicious, he just wraps it up in these beautiful arrangements so it goes down more easily. It's far more scathing that way too. Really messes with you emotionally so you're not even sure how to feel. He's a bitter motherfucker - and I feel that - and I also admire him for exploring lyrical territory very few others are brave enough to tread. He really confronts some of the darkest and most difficult corners of human weakness, hypocrisy, stupidity, evil, frailty, desire, fear, hubris, inadequacy, and sometimes even just mundaneness. He's always playing characters to voice these concerns, but you know he's in there somewhere, full of self loathing for being part of it all himself. And that's why it works - he's not above it. No matter how horrible these characters sound, he always makes it relatable, almost appealing, in some way. We're all guilty of being these imperfect, deeply flawed idiots, but at least Randy Newman recognizes it, is honest about it, and writes these gorgeous songs for us so we can at least all laugh about it.

Birth of punk rock right right here in 1969 Detroit. Biting and stealing everything they can get their hands on: Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison, Bo Diddley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, you name it. Some really great songs here like "1969," "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "No Fun," and "Real Cool Time," but this is getting docked a star for the monotonous chanting drag on the album that is "We Will Fall." Maybe if they had saved that one for the end it wouldn't have been so bad, but third song in really kills the vibe. A little unfocused in their infancy but still absolutely vital rock and roll.

More into this for the math rock parts than the emo.

I prefer George Michael for this sort of thing.

I love Muddy Waters, but I don't necessarily love live recordings - particularly this one that is stereo panned super hard and has a really distracting rumble on the low end.

This is one of the most powerful and heartfelt musical statements ever made, and would be a strong contender for greatest album of all time in my book. I have always admired the atmosphere he was able to capture and maintain throughout the record. Although it has its emotional ups and downs, it really is one big musical statement - like a symphony with different movements and recurring themes. The arrangements are bold and intricately layered, but never overdone. The tracks seem to effortlessly flow into one another in a way that just hypnotizes you. The music is obviously meticulously composed and constructed, yet it feels so natural and organic that it almost seems like it could have been miraculously collectively improvised somehow. As you know, right before our last jam, I listened to this on the way up and damn near had a religious experience in my car. I mean I had heard this album dozens of times before but for some reason this album, and everything he was saying on it, just seemed so relevant to what we're still experiencing today and it hit me so hard. I kept turning the volume up, and up, and up, and heard it in whole new way all these years later. This album is a cry for help in an increasingly complicated and difficult world, but it retains a distinct and heartbreakingly beautiful sense of optimism. An optimism that we so desperately need to hold on to.

I actually kinda like the smooth 80s pop numbers, but the twangier tracks with slide guitars and harmonicas that dominate the album just aren't for me.

Dude I love the music, particularly the bass playing, but I don't need Serge telling me stories in French under his breath through the whole thing, especially when they're about a rich dude seducing a 15 year old. Nor do I particularly like his singing voice. Definitely know where Air got a big part of their sound now though.

I'm generally a fan of concept albums and this is one of the best. "Village Green" usually gets most of the attention in this regard, perhaps because it came first, but I think "Arthur" is much more focused and holds together more consistently as an album. Some of the songs are almost mini-operas or song suites on their own, particularly "Shangri-La" and "Mr. Churchill Says." The former being my favorite track on the album by far. But the entire album flows effortlessly. Only weak spot might be that the jam at the end of "Australia" goes a bit too long.

NYC rap from the 90s is pretty much my Platonic ideal of the form. Speaking of dead presidents, the producers on this are like the Mount Rushmore of NYC beatmakers from the era. And lyrically this thing straight up changed the game.

First off, what a dumb fucking way to start an album. I'm shocked this dude has more than one album on the list. I can't stand this kind of NPR friendly alt country. It's almost as if he's trying to make music that'll specifically appeal to Boomers. He's always trying to chase some kind of cross-over market, hence all his song for song cover albums. He disgusts me.

I only listened to "The Very Best of The Gershwin Song Book" and that's all I needed to hear.

Oh, the drama.

I'd be much more interested in hearing the results of Roger McGuinn's original idea to make a genre spanning double album that started with bluegrass and ended with proto-electronica. That would've been a wild ride. Gram Parsons is cool and all, but I like him better on his own, rather than trying to use The Byrds as the platform for his musical vision.

Hard to say if this or "All Mod Cons" is their best album, but after listening to them both back to back I'd have to say "Sound Affects" beats "All Mod Cons" by a hair for it's slightly more sophisticated and soulful qualities. Really nice synthesis of genres.

I think I actually like this more than "Machine Head." It's way more intense and heavy.

Mick Jagger doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. "Sticky Fingers" takes this shit to the cleaners and then some.

I have fallen head over heels in love with Brazilian music in the last few years and it's partly due to 1001 periodically putting me back into contact with it. This has an all star lineup with Joao Gilberto, AC Jobim, and, the real scene stealer, Astrud Gilberto. Not to mention the smooth sax fingerings of Stan Getz. A finely balanced blend of jazz and Bossa Nova.