This is an interesting album. Usually I like heavily produced psychedelia, but this one feels a bit overbearing at times. I like it, but intermittently. It starts to hit it's stride 4-5 songs in. I think if the first two songs were stronger then this might be an album I really like. Also this album feels like it's crecendoing to the end a couple of times, and then it just picks back up and keeps going.
3/5
Rated 6/10
It's tough to know what exactly to think about this album. It's weird and cool. There are certainly moment where I get into it. It's not something I see myself going back to because there's not much about the album that I find really engrossing. Caligari's Mirror is a notable highlight. I can definitely see how it is influential in what came after it. 3/5
Rated 10/10
This is the first album that I've been suggested that I'm intimately familiar with. There a several titanic songs on this album, including Fight Test, Yoshimi part 1, and Do You Realize. In between these songs is a psychedelic soundscape that guides you dreamily through the album. The instrumentals on this album are incredible. No two songs sound alike, and yet the album has a cohesive feel.
5/5
Rated 6/10
I had never heard of this album before it was recommended. It starts out so strong, but the second half of the album is less interesting. Part of me thinks that this album would be better if it was all instrumental. Every time the vocals come in I sort of tune out.
3/5
Very simple, though the music is deceptively complex. Just a solid album that flies by at a clip
4/5
Rated 4/10
This is fine musically, but who in gods name thought it would be a good idea to mix a bunch of jingles into the songs, and who decided that they should half ass it so hard instead of committing to the bit. I get what they were trying to do, but I feel like they could have just made a good album instead.
2/5
Rated 4/10
Same reaction as the last The Band album I listened to. It's fine. I understand why people like this, but this is not for me. The Weight is a great song, but it sags a bit when placed in the middle of a bunch of songs that sound a lot like it, but aren't as good. This is like the mopey version of the Grateful Dead, and I don't really care for the normal version of the Grateful Dead. There were times when I felt like I was starting to enjoy this album, but kept finding ways to wear out its welcome. At 55 minutes in I was starting to do the math in my head for how long it would take to finish. Still 16 goddamn minutes left.
2/5
Rated 8/10
A super solid album all the way through. Thoroughly 90s, but with a lot of 70s punk elements also mixed with some electronica.
4/5
Rated 4/10
This is the first album I've gotten so far that I don't understand why it made this list. I understand that 1,001 albums is a lot and is going to include a lot of albums from every year, but I just don't get this one. Their cover of Sweet Jane is an abomination, and it certainly shouldn't have been used to lead off the album. All the Young Dudes is a notable high point on the album, but at the same time I understand why Bowie sold it to them instead of keeping it for himself. The mix on the album is muddy. Everything picks up toward the middle of the album, but by that point I was already pretty mad
2/5
3/5
Rated 6/10
This album feels more like it was made in the mid 80s than the mid 90s. It becomes a little more modern as it develops, but the throbbing heart of this album seems stuck in the 1980s. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It's fun dance music.
3/5
Rated 8/10
My first electronica album, and one that I've been meaning to revisit as a result of the trip-hop albums from this era that I've been listening to lately. Starts off really strong with two huge hits. The whole album is super high energy. Great sounds all the way through. It lags a bit in the middle, but that's partially a result of the fact that it starts off so strong. Perhaps the peak of angry dance music.
4/5
This is another album that I don't have much to say about. It's solid all the way through. There weren't any songs that particularly stood out to me, but it didn't fade into the background while I was listening to it either. I really dig his style
4/5
Rated 6/10
Fleetwood Mac just isn't for me. This is a good album, but I don't see myself coming back to listen to it in the future. I've been waiting for one of those iconic FM tracks to come on and make me take interest in this album, but I don't think it's coming. On the plus side, Rumors autoplayed right after this album, and I really like Rumors
3/5
Rated 8/10
It's just a fun album. Distinctly of its era in the 90s. I surprised this one has passed my by until now. Lots of variation in the songs. Lots of energy in the first half of the album, and then it slows down in the latter half and has some more noticeable instrumentation. There's a little bit of Beatles in this album. Fun pop music that you can still take seriously. I imagine this band would have been awesome to see live during this era
4/5
Rated 8/10
I don't have a lot to say about his album either, but it's just really solid. Just when I start to feel like it's bogging down, they drop Heart of Glass, and it's amazing. This album doesn't really feel that dated either. If I didn't know who it was and you told me it was from the 80s or 90s, I would completely believe it.
Rated 4/10
This just isn't for me. It's fine, there's nothing bad about it, but I don't see myself ever coming back to this album.
2/5
Rated 8/10
Jazz and hip-hop were meant to be together. Just good fun, old school hip-hop. The fact that this album ends with Scenerio just shows how full of solid tracts this album is. 4/5
Rated 10/10
I had never heard of this album before today, though the album cover looks vaguely familiar. It has that strange "more than the sum of its parts" feeling that a lot of great albums that come out of nowhere have. It certainly presages a lot of the music that will come after it. A lot of what made Slanted and Enchanted feel unique is also present here. It develops so slowly, appropriately like a spider crawling across the wall. The lyrics are dark, but not maudlin. Nothing feels overdone. There's this tension that hangs over the album that, like most aspects of this album, is very hard to define. Halfway through, it feels like the album is just getting started. When it ends, I feel like there should be so much more, but I'm not disappointed. Timeless. 5/5
Rated 6/10
What a weird little album. Very 1970s. I'm struggling to find much to say about it, despite the fact that I'm enjoying it. The pianos are excellent and always mixed in well. It's very cinematic, but for that reason this album also sort of fades into the background. At times it sounds like a more poppy Pink Floyd.
3/5
Rated 8/10
This is the third blues-rock album that I've had chosen in the last week, and provides an interesting contrast with the other two (Shake Your Money Maker and Cosmo's Factory). This album has a very 60s feel to it, but not in a way that is confined to any specific genre. There is a definite psychedelic influence, but there's also rockabilly and early 60s pop influences. This album at once sounds like more authentic blues than the other two but at the same time strays further away from the blues. Jeff Beck's guitar does a lot to pull this album together and make it an interesting listen. It's cool, groovy, and it goes by quickly. 4/5
