Reviews by mitch058

This is #4 of 5 Boss albums so far, so nearly there now. And while I would argue that both this album and "The Rising" could very easily be eliminated from the collection without any Springsteen withdrawal symptoms, I also found that I enjoyed this album more than "The Rising". It starts off strong with both "Badlands" and "Adam raised a Cain", but then kind of wanders around after that for much of the rest of the album, with only a few embarrassing moments (like "Something in the night" or "Prove it all night") and a few flashes of insight (parts of "Racing in the street" and "Streets of fire"). I do wish there was more variety across the album, though; too many tracks sounded kind of interchangeable, at least musically.

It's nice to get a Springsteen album, though, that has the E Street Band fully participating (unlike "Nebraska"), yet without overwhelming the senses and sensibility (e.g. "Born to Run"). I'm not really sure I'll ever be a big fan of his sound and songs, though, and I found Christgau's critique very apt of the unevenness of the album: he wasn't sure whether Springsteen was "an important minor artist or a very flawed and inconsistent major one". I'm not sure either, but you have to admire his ability to endure and adapt across these many decades.

Much like the various Brazilian and West African albums in this collection, my lack of non-English-language comprehension really limits my appreciation of the clearly passionate musical stylings of Mr. Brel. (I'll also admit that French/Belgian chanson singing isn't really my thing, which doesn't help much.) The highlights for me were probably the ominous "Le dernier repas" presuambly somebody died by the end?), the combo "Les toros" and "Tango funebre", and his reprisal of "Les bourgeois"; it also helped to have videos of his live performances for most of the CD/reissue-only tracks (tracks #9-#15), so you could at least see his presence as a performer.

I'm sure Brel afficionados would consider me blasphemous for saying this, but I have to say that Scott Walker's versions of Brel's songs are more entertaining, or maybe it's just that they're easier to hear when they're in English (even true of Brel's "Au suivant" vs Walker's "Next").

Although I'm kind of glad to have this album in this collection, as I always meant to listen it but never got around to it, I'm also a bit disappointed because it sounds much like I expected it to, and I already knew my appreciation of Nirvana's style is *very* limited, and pretty much limited to "Nevermind". So while I enjoyed "Nevermind"-adjacent tracks like "Heart-shaped box" (with a fantastic video), "Rape me" (sort of), "Dumb" and the closer "All apologies", much of the rest of the album is a grind through their pre-Nevermind ultra-grunge aesthetic filtered through Steve Albini's distinctive recording style (apparently much to the studio's dismay). The apex/nadir of this direction are probably "Scentless apprentice" and "Tourette's"; well done, but not really my kind of thing. Nirvana was definitely too talented to ever label "Nevermind" a one-hit album, but "In Utero" sadly showcases the somewhat limited range of their genius.

This album is a nice detour from the usual 70s/80s/90s fare in this collection, and a modestly interesting alternative to much of the R&B/soul-esque albums we've had so far. Much like the Wikipedia entry for the album, it's probably too long by half, and it never really struck me as a revelation the way a lot of people apparently felt. The best tracks of the lot for me were, apart from "Sweet life", largely from the second half of the album, especially "Pyramids" and "Lost" and "Bad religion", but I also appreciated the low-key vibe throughout. As his mother apparently noted, it's a great summer album if you're in the mood to chill.

Despite having heard an impressive number of their hits over the years on the radio, I'm not sure I ever knew that Bad Company was a supergroup. That's likely because I'd never heard of either of the bands Free or Mott the Hoople, although I'm sure I've heard some of their songs on the radio (and I've now even listened to a full album by Mott the Hoople thanks to this collection). This definitely seems like a band that is far greater than its parts, and even if I wished that the album rocked a little harder than it does, it's hard to find fault with the balance in their songs; the only weak spots are the slow confessional "The way I choose" and their ballad "Seagull".

Well, this is definitely a contrast to recent albums in the rotation. I'm not sure it's for the better, at least for those (like me) who don't particularly enjoy orchestral pop, but I appreciate the detour from rock/punk/indie-rock themes, sort of. The highlights for me were his covers of Jacques Brel songs--particularly "Jackie" but "Next" and "The girls and the dogs" are also fun--as well as the rolling western-style cover of Tim Hardin's "Black sheep boy". Taken together, it felt like I was listening to an English-language version of a soundtrack to some important/obscure 60s French movie/musical.

As much as his sound is a refreshing change of pace, I'm a bit disappointed to see that we also get "Scott 4" in this collection. This one felt too much like a novelty album to justify another entry from Scott Walker.

Nice to know that the Aerosmith journey in this collection is now over, and it's certainly not a bad way to round off a band whose popularity and endurance I've never really understood. If they had managed to keep the impressive energy and range of the first two tracks throughout the album, I'd have easily given them five stars. But after the impressive combo of "Back in the saddle" and "Last child", the songs just drop off a cliff into mediocre and generic hard rock, with a minor exception to "Nobody's fault". (Christgau's description of how they do a good job imitating Led Zeppelin, at least through this album, is very apt.)

It was fun, though, to read in the Wikipedia entry how much the entire band really felt this was their crowning moment and album, some bizarre alchemy where they were living their dream lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock-n-roll and somehow able to gel as a band and crank out the tunes. The Wikepdia entry also has a hilarious anecdote from GnR's Slash, describing how he'd managed in the seventh grade to get into an odler girl's room to make out, and then she put on "Rocks" and he fell in love with Aerosmith, played the album multiple times, and then biked home without even getting a kiss. Perhaps their producer Jack Douglas summed it perfectly: "Wanna know what the secret to Rocks was? Distortion." Indeed.

Although I'm not all that well-versed in early R&B/rock-n-roll music, it's hard to imagine this collection *wouldn't* include something by Fats Domino. I have no idea if there are better Fats albums to choose for this project--according to the Wikipedia entry, this only sold 50,000 copies, while the "1001 Albums" entry indicates that Fats Domino sold a staggering 65 million records in the 1950s alone--but this seems like a reasonable selection.

I was always afraid long ago to listen to The Cramps--what a creepy name--and never really got over my aversion, until now. I'm a bit relieved that I didn't seem to miss much all these years, although I'm sure many/most fans would argue that I neglected a foundational band and sound. Nearly every single one of the tracks sounded like it was lifted from a Halloween-Hootenanny type album, and I'm honestly a bit disappointed that Elvira didn't grace the album cover. But I definitely appreciated the punk-like brevity of the songs, as well as the compact running time, and I particularly enjoyed the Mojo-Nixon-esque "The mad daddy" and the full-camp (and well-done) cover of "Fever". Somehow it seems fitting that one of the band members during their album tour stole and sold a bunch of their equipment for drug money and then disappeared, probably into one the song's dark and twisted plotlines. And a tip of the hat to Kristy Marlana Wallace's stage name (Poison Ivy Rorschach).

What a curious band and album. I know both the Wikipedia and "1001 Albums" entries reference the band members' punk roots, but it's hard to hear it on most of the tracks (except maybe "Language problem". That said, Peter Perrett's warble of a voice is strangely beguiling (and often reminds me of Pulp), and their overall sound seems far ahead of their time, more alt-rock/indie than anything from the late 70s. I know their (big?) hit was "Another girl, another planet", but for me the best songs of the album were the opening track "The whole of the law", the somber "Breaking down" and the bizarre "The beast". I'm not sure I'll ever listen to this again, but I'm glad to have heard The Only Ones.

I wasn't sure whether we'd get this album in the collection, but I'm very relieved we did, mainly because it's fun to revisit an album I've enjoyed for a long time, and now I feel like I have a bit more context for what was going on musically when this came out. I love the way they incorporated a bunch of great samples into a fun, light-hearted and decidedly un-gangsta rap/hip-hop album, all with a touch of social commentary at times. Nearly all of the tracks are really well done--the only ones that kind of fall flat are the various game show interludes, plus "De la orgee"--but my favorites are probably the "The magic number", "Jenifa taught me", "Potholes in my lawn", "Say no go" and "Me myself and I", with an honorable mention to the brief French masterpiece "Transmitting live from Mars" (although I never realized that they got sued by The Turtles for the uncleared sample for "You showed me"). It was also fun to see the videos for their singles for the first time, and to place faces with voices nearly 40 years later (especially true for "Eye know").

I'm also really impressed that De La Soul *finally* managed to reissue this album digitally, after decades of clearance issues, and a long-standing conflict with Tommy Boy's ownership of their masters. It's a bit of a bummer that a few tracks had to be changed (e.g. "Cool breeze on the rocks" lost all of its awesome rapid-fire collage of samples), but the overall effect remains the same, a truly unique album and an amazing legacy.

I'm not really sure I've ever heard of Scritti Politti before, but from the opening track (and video) I felt like this was some watered down Brit version of a generic 80s pop/R&B band (I also thought of Milli Vanilli, mainly because of the name similarity, since they clearly were hoping to have more of a Michael Jackson vibe going on, although those painful videos kind of ruined that intention). Sadly, nothing on the remainder of the album disabused me of the generic and outright boring sound; in fact, the most interesting (and perplexing) aspect of this album was reading that the lead singer Green Gartside was heavy into French literary theory and Italian Marxism, and the band in earlier incarnations was an anarchist collective, the name apparently a riff on Gramsci's "Political Writings". How far poor Scritti and Politti fell....

I always appreciate seeing something in this collection released in the past decade (as of 2025), but I'll admit that these selections feel even more arbitrary than earlier albums that presumably have stood the test of time. I enjoyed this album, as well as the nominal foray into country-esque music (a major shortcoming of this collection), but I also don't feel like Musgraves' music is all that distinctive or memorable, and verges on too saccharine on this album. My favorites are probably the opening "Slow burn", the pop-oriented "Butterflies", and the more subdued "Space cowboy". But it was hard to escape the feeling that I was listening to some Hallmark Channel movie soundtrack (despite that Musgraves apparently took LSD for the inspiration for "Slow burn" and "Mother").

An interesting album in some ways, and I like it that we're getting a few Australian bands in this collection, although why we get the much more obscure Triffids and no Midnight Oil or INXS is beyond me. I really wish this album had come out either a decade earlier or later, though, which might have helped them avoid a sea of 80s synths and electronic excess and hopefully not sounding as generic as they do. Some of the tracks have some great lyrics--especially the opening track "Bury me deep in love", "Hometown farewell kiss," the fun ballad "Jerdacuttup man", and "Save what you can"--and David McComb's voice has a great presence, although I'm not sure the comparisons to Nick Cave are all that convincing. But at the end of the day it feels like something essential is missing from the album; maybe they just needed more variety (or just quiet spaces) among the songs? I do love the album title, though; once I found out what it meant it made me think of the psychosis that overcame Spanish soldiers in the southern prairies of North America in the 16th century.

There are times like this where I wish I was more of a Michael Jackson fan, because I could say I listened to this album nonstop when I was a kid and welcomed this coming-of-age album. Since I didn't, I'll admit that I didn't recognize a single one of the tracks on this album, which I now know is often considered his best album. It starts off strong, with several pounding dance numbers, then kind of meanders into a weird mix of ballads and soft pop until returning to the disco floor at the very end.

I'm really impressed that he was the main songwriter for the Jacksons, and for nearly all of his solo albums, and this alone elevates him above so many other pop singers past and present. And of course his impeccable voice and presence on stage too (it's so funny to see his trademark moves and voice in the videos to "Don't stop 'til you get enough" and "Rock with you", in a very young looking face and body before all of the body dysmorphia kicked in (or at least before he acted on the dysmorphia)).

I *really* wish that I enjoyed some artists and bands in this collection more than I do; it would certainly make it easier to feel excited when we get the third/fourth/fifth/etc. album by someone like Sonic Youth. But at least this is number three of five for me, and it's not super long or anything, although also not all that appreciatively different from the later "Goo" or "Daydream Nation" albums. I'd say the highlights were the discordant noise of "Catholic block", the almost song-like "Stereo sanctity", and the almost mainstream-esque (and Kiss-dissing) bonus track "Master-Dik". (I'd hoped their cover of Crime's "Hot wire my heart" (which I'd never heard before) would be more Sonic-Youthized than it turned out to be.)

I really like the idea that this is a concept album centering on the life and writings of Philip K. Dick, even down to the title, referencing Dick's fraternal twin that died shortly after birth and apparently haunted him the rest of his life (and is the (heavily adapted) subject of the opening track "Schizophrenia"?). But I only know this from the Wikipedia entry, because I can rarely make out *any* of their lyrics, and I'm not sure I would have caught the subtle references in some of the song titles.

Well, at least we get this album to help wash out the sad/disappointing "Da Capo" from a while back. Love isn't really my cup of tea, but at least this album has more cohesion and far less flute- and sax-playing, although I'm not sure all the Spector-style strings add all that much. I appreciated the sense of disillusionment in many of the songs, especially the classic "Alone again or", the strange storyline of "The daily planet", the haunting "The red telephone" and the dystopian "Live and let live" (the latter two by far the highlights of the album), and the sadly cynical "You set the scene". A bit sad as well to read that the band was barely able to focus and record this album, and then disbanded not long after by Arthur Lee's frustrated (and paranoid) hand. What a way to usher out the 60s....

It's tempting to give these guys four stars simply for the relief of a short and sweet album after too many double albums in a row. But that's not fair to them or the other genuinely four-star-worthy albums, so I'll just express my thanks here (where no one will ever notice). I'm not a huge punk connoisseur, so this album didn't do all that much for me, and I can only take it on Wikipedia/"1001 Albums" authority that this was a seminal album for both Minor Threat and the hardcore punk scene (especially the "straight" punk scene). I *can* say I thought the production quality was higher than some of the punk albums we've gotten in this collection, and I applaud their commitment to keeping the songs in the 2-4 minute range. And some impressive bass playing in "Think again" and "Sob story" (the latter almost verges on having a tune amongst the pounding noise, much like the well-done ironic "Cashing in").

This didn't really work all that well for me, largely because (a) I don't understand Portuguese, and (b) their style of music (wide-ranging as it is) isn't really my thing. The Wikipedia entry is very helpful for those who want a sense of what some of the songs are about (and funny to read that contemporary Brazilian music critics utterly panned the album, despite its international success), and the "1001 Albums" entry helps provide an enthusiastic connection to the Beatles and the artists' connection to each other. But it's a bit frustrating to listen to yet another double album, and feeling like I'm missing quite a bit by not understanding a single word.

Given how many albums there are in this collection with Stephen Stills (this is #4 for me so far), you'd think I'd have a better impression of the artist, but I don't. And much like his debut solo album, it seems fine but almost completely forgettable, although I appreciated how the band "Manassas" seems a bit harder-rocking than his debut solo album or the CSNY fare. I'm not sure there were any tracks that really stood out for me, although the opening "Song of love", "Right now" and "The treasure" were a bit more distinctive than the others. I kind of wish it wasn't a double album--I could have lived without side 2 ("The Wilderness") altogether, for example--but I'm sure his fans loved all that extra Stills-goodness....