Reviews by uhhhellurr

This one is my submission! I'll give a quick explanation first on why I submitted it and then go into my deeper thoughts after.

WHY? I am a huge Beach Boys fan and knew that I was most likely going to submit one of their 70s albums and it came down to this one or 1977's 'Love You' - Although I think both are underrated and interesting for different reasons, ultimately I went with this one because it's less divisive and the "safer" pick. Obviously another 70s Beach Boys album is on the original list, but I feel like 'Sunflower' and 'Surf's Up' are two sides of the same coin. Both released around the same time, but tonally very different. I was actually surprised that 'Surf's Up' made the list at all - not because I don't think it's a great album, but because generally 'Sunflower' seems to be more of the critical darling between the two. So between the connection to 'Surf's Up' and its general high regard, I felt like this was one that should be considered for the 1001 list if I had my way.

'Sunflower' finds the Beach Boys at an interesting time in their careers. They are incredibly unpopular and culturally very uncool. Brian Wilson has taken a step back from the studio for various reasons (health, drugs, etc.) and Brian's brother, Carl, has become the de facto leader of the group. But that being said, this is the Beach Boys at their most democratic - Every member contributes in one way or another on this album, and definitely a lot more than the Brian and the Wrecking Crew days. The stuff the Brian contributes is good, but I think here the standouts are Dennis' and Bruce's contributions.

At this point in time, Dennis is really honing his craft and is on the upswing towards 'Pacific Ocean Blue' - another 1001 album. Dennis' 'Forever' is not only his best contribution on the album, but maybe his best ever, and maybe one of the greatest Beach Boys songs when all is said and done. Bruce's contributions are also a welcome coming out party - 'Deirdre' and 'Tears in the Morning' are both highlights here for me as well, especially for someone who was minimally involved in songwriting for the band before this. This is also when Carl really starts to shine as a band member and as a vocalist - his vocals on 'This Whole World' and especially on 'Our Sweet Love' are terrific. I also want to highlight 'All I Wanna Do' - a really cool proto lo-fi psychedelic jam that as many people have pointed out is a real precursor to a lot of indie music that has come out in the past few decades.

Ultimately, when talking the Beach Boys, it's hard to talk about their greatness when inevitably everything is going to be compared to 'Pet Sounds' - but I still think Sunflower encapsulates what is great about the band as an entire entity. 'Pet Sounds' shows what makes Brian Wilson a genius, 'Sunflower' shows that the rest of the band were great musicians in their own right.

partly feels like a panic attack, but also i kind of fuck with it. didn't think i'd like it, but i kind of do. pretty hooky. this is going into the relisten pile!

in general, i am a fan of wilco/jeff tweedy but i haven't explored their/his greater discography very deeply outside of some of the "greatest hits" so to speak. also as a fan of alt-country, i felt right at home with this one. very cozy album. the songwriting is very nice. definitely a little bit slacker-ish in sound, so may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it definitely is mine. adding this to my rotation!

i guess you just had to be there

i was kind of floored by this one. i don't really know much about jason isbell outside of a name in the country realm of music, but after listening to this album, i am definitely going to check out more of his music. what struck me the most is that the songs here reminded me so much of a lot of classic country singer songwriters, especially john prine at times (who i adore). very beautiful and stark at times, a bit witty but full of humanity. cool stuff!

i always get a little hesitant when i get a "later" period album of a music legend. often times those albums do not hold a candle to their foundational work. because of this, i was expecting something a little lackluster here. boy, was i wrong. what a surprise this was! just a really great bluegrass album. not only are the arrangements here solid bluegrass, but dolly's voice is as great as ever and she does a really nice job with these songs - most of which are bluegrass covers, but several of which are penned by herself. if you told me that dolly parton covering billy joel would work well, i wouldn't believe you. just a testament to the quality of musician she was all around.

RIP <3

it's impossible to understate just how important this collection of tracks is. in a lot of respects, these tracks, as a whole, are one of the cornerstones of the evolution of 20th century american music. this is sort of jazz becoming jazz. i understand this music predates the LP, but as a matter of historical importance, it is shocking that none of this stuff is in the original project whatsoever.

as for the music itself, louis' tone and style are so unique. you can spot his playing from a mile away. it is iconic. the songs here are pretty fun and upbeat for the most part. i do have a soft spot for more "dixieland" and early new orleans style jazz. that being said, it's not something i go a lot out of my way to listen to. so even though it is unequivocally historically important music to listen to, and it floors me from that context, the actual music itself is a strong like, and less a strong love. you do not have jazz without louis armstrong, but the genre also grew a lot more in his wake.

i'm a fan of randy newman but i'm not very well versed in a lot of his albums. this one was new to me (outside of the big hit, which i do love). pound for pound, it hangs up there alongside some of his best. as always, great character exploration in his lyrics, extremely clever and witty. it's one i feel i will come back to.

definitely not going to be for everyone but i appreciated this album. it definitely has a unique vibe and sounds like nothing else. it's fun, pretty off-kilter, but has a solid backbone. it never gets boring. definitely one that i am going to come back to.

wow, what a lovely album. pretty straightforward english folk, but the instrumentation is quite nice and nic's voice is smooth and gorgeous. in a way, he reminds me a bit of jethro tull's ian anderson's voice. while i am decently versed in american folk music, i am less so with british, so this was a really nice treat to listen to. i can't believe this wasn't in the original book. this is one i will definitely be coming back to.

i'm always a fan of getting to listen to non-anglo albums. when this album is at its most upbeat, it feels and sounds similar to, say, early REM or the Pretenders. kinda alt-y, kinda new wave-ish? neat. especially liked the moments where they included strings. those more energetic moments were my favorite parts. the slower, softer stuff on here, to me, feels a little more lacking. i just almost wish those moments were more tender. the production makes those moments feel very sterile and stale to me.

kind of an interesting balance between more ornate pop music from the past and late 90s/early 00s alternative rock. i found myself liking the poppier/softer stuff better than the harder stuff. it's a tough needle to thread well and ultimately, i found it a little disjointed for my taste. an interesting listen, but not totally my thing.

i liked the beats and the production on this one, but wasn't a real fan of his flow. some songs here were pretty decent, and some i found a little on the goofy side. wasn't a bad listen, just wasn't really my thing.

this album is pretty much a party front to back. i imagined it as basically one long club set. the songs transition from one to another and it makes for a really fun listening experience. my god, the sampling is incredible! truly a textbook use of sampling. i genuinely had so much fun listening to this one.

there are some really cool psychedelic moments on here but they are sometimes few and far between and broken up by some very middling atmospheric psych. it's definitely not bad, but i feel like it could have been helped if the band sounded a little less bored.

is it a mind-blowing live album? no not really. is it fun? yeah. is it one of the most iconic live albums of all time? yeah. give in and let yourself be a 1970s teenybopper for an hour

it blows my mind that this was improvised?! that is impressive as hell and to be able to improvise something that sounds as good as this for over an hour is kind of insane. that being said, not totally my cup of tea. pleasant to listen to, but to a point feels like you are in the waiting room of a therapist's office, for better or worse. still, a super impressive feat!

an album i unabashedly adore. i grew up on this and no, i won't be bothered to be rational about it. it's a great album. full of fun moments and great songwriting. if i could nitpick a favorite, i would say that it is a little bloated and definitely tails off in quality towards the end of the album (really, with the exception of 'i'm free' the entire 4th side of this album is the weakest side by a mile). but for 1969, it's a pretty huge swing for a band, especially pre-jesus christ superstar, to have such a crafted narrative through an entire album.

i was wondering when this one was going to come up for me. obviously its reputation precedes itself and as you can tell from the ratings, it's not very well liked on here. i didn't really know what to expect but i had heard a little bit here or there over the years. i actually kind of liked it! it's definitely weird, it's definitely not easy to listen to at times, but if you can get past the sort of off-kilter clunkiness, it's kind of a weird fun time. you can definitely feel the zappa influence on this one. i don't know how often i will come back to it, but man, i really didn't hate it.

this got put on this list over 'the harder they come'