As I noted before, I've been working through the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, as presented though the 1001 album generator web site. My goal is to present a week (or so) of reviews, once every week (or so).
So here's the next few albums I listened to,
# - Year - Album - Artist - Rating - Global
40 - 1968 - Scott 2 - Scott Walker - 2 - 2.69
41 - 1987 - The New Tango - Astor Piazzolla - 4 - 2.92
42 - 1990 - Behaviour - Pet Shop Boys - 3 - 3.06
43 - 1970 - After The Gold Rush - Neil Young - 5 - 3.68
44 - 1975 - Tonight's The Night - Neil Young - 5 - 3.28
45 - 1978 - All Mod Cons The Jam - 4 - 3.29
46 - 1967 - Axis: Bold As Love - Jimi Hendrix - 4 - 3.81
47 - 2002 - Highly Evolved - The Vines - 3 - 3.12
48 - 1997 - The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 2 - 3.27
48 - The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 2
First lines of first song: “I don’t believe in an interventionist God / But I know darling that you do / but if I did I would knee down and ask him / not to intervene when it came to you”…. Dylan it ain’t. I guess it’s supposed to be deep. Musically, this is pretty good; spades, piano driven Melodie’s. I don’t much care for the singer’s tone/style, has a spoken feel, not a lot of tonal variation, and sometimes seems to be straining to reach. But the killer for me is the lyrics themselves. As above, who actually uses the word “interventionist” in a melancholy song? And where’s the faux depth of “seasons came, seasons went / the winter stripped the blossoms bare / a different tree now lines the streets / shaking its fists in the air”.
The overall affect is just irritating. Melancholy songs, atonal singing, stupid lyrics. The more I listened the more irritated I got. A d the lower my rating. I’ll settle to 2/5, even though it irritates me.
47 - Highly Evolved - The Vines - 3
So, this Australian band is “ frequently compared to Nirvana” (per Wikipedia). I guess that’s the current day equivalent of being the “next Beatles” we used to hear 40 years ago. Listening to this, I can tell they were inspired by Nirvana, maybe even trying to copy Nirvana. Not especially original. But the result is, at best, a pale imitation. It’s not bad, but it certainly isn’t memorable. 3/5
46 - Axis: Bold As Love - Jimi Hendrix - 4
Jimi Hendrix is one of those artists who we’re just expected to love. And while I certainly respect Hendrix, I’ve never liked him as much as I’m supposed to. There’s some great stuff on here, but the overall package isn’t quite great. It certainly doesn’t come off as cohesive, ping-ponging from the pointless sound effects of EXP to a nice shuffle number to the jarring contrast of Spanish Castle Magic, to the melodic Wait Until Tomorrow. It is mostly very good, but the overall is less than the sum of the parts. My favorite songs from this album are “Little Wing” and “If 6 were 9”, and I prefer cover versions of both (by Derek and the Dominies and Roy Buchanan, respectively). Don’t get me wrong. It is a solid 4, a little bit below the debut, and above Electric Ladyland. But none reach the 5 that everybody would expect/demand. 4/5
45 - All Mod Cons - The Jam - 4
The Jam are my favorite band from the 70’s English punk/new wave era. I much preferred them over the Clash, the Sex Pistols or the Damned, but they were never really appreciated here in the USA. That said, this is “only” my third favorite album of theirs, behind “Setting Suns” and “Sound Affects”. All in all, a really solid album, with some key songs. Not quite as complete as the subsequent albums, and easy 4 stars, but not quite good enough for 5. 5/5
44 - Tonight's The Night - Neil Young - 5
Neil Young’s albums from the early/mid 70’s all have a organic feel. Or whatever is the opposite of overproduced. “Tonight’s the Night” takes it to another level, feeling almost unproduced. It is somewhere between a wake and a celebration of friends/band mates Bruce Berry and Danny Whitten, who had both died of Heroin overdoses. The feel here is a bunch of guys hanging around the studio, laying down a few tracks in between a few drinks (or whatever), honoring their friends in the best way they knew (musically). In concept, it could’ve been a hot mess, but it all works. It’s “real”, it has emotion. This has been one of my favorite NY albums for years, and “Tired Eyes” is one of my favorite songs. An easy 5 star rating.
43 - After The Gold Rush - Neil Young - 5
It is rare for an artist to release 3 consecutive essential albums, but between 1969 and 1972 Neil young did it with “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere”, “After The Gold Rush” and “Harvest”. He also managed to squeeze in “Deja Vu” with Crosby Stills Nash and Young in that span. These are all albums that made an impact, tgat could be considered <I>important </I>. This would be a great album independent of the others, every song is solid, and it includes several of my favorite NY songs. I have 16 of the 21 albums NY put out between 1969 and 1990. After The Gold Rush is certainly in the 1/2 dozen I’d rate 5 stars. 5/5
Aside: it seems that this album is blocked on Spotify, that’s a bummer. But not a problem since I own it on vinyl and CD.
42 - Behaviour - Pet Shop Boys - 3
Call it Electronica, or synth-pop or whatever, it’s just not my bag. It’s smooth and rhythmic and has lots of synthesizer noodling; well done, but it is (to me) boring and largely forgettable. They’re clearly good at this, the sound is good. But I just don’t like it. 3/5
41 - The New Tango - Astor Piazzolla - 4
I wasn’t sure about this album when it started. Vibraphone, Bandoneon and violin? Not an instrument grouping that Imagine, one expect. The opening track seemed a little unfocused. But as the album progressed, it really sucked me in. There’s a complexity in the songs/arrangements that is really interesting. I’ll never be enthralled with the key instruments, but it works well in this setting. I’ll be listening to this again, and can see it potentially in my collection in the future. Solid 4/5
40 - Scott 2 - Scott Walker - 2
I’m a little concerned when an artist comes up from the late 60’s or the 70’s comes up that I’ve never heard of. And I’ve never heard of Scott Walker. After listening, I’m not sure who this made it to a “must hear” list. Over-orchestrated music, that sounds like a mix of bad musicals and something you’d expect over the closing credits of a James Bond knockoff movie. The lyrics are overblown, like a middle schooler with a thesaurus, trying to sound deep. I found a review on Allmusic that summed this up nicely: “uncommonly ambitious lyricist cloaked behind over the top, schmaltzy orchestral arrangements”. Spotify had the lyrics available, it’s worth reading along just to marvel at how bad they are.
I pondered giving this 3/5 just for being audacious and a bit different. But I think Walker is serious, and saw this as some sort of statement on…. Well, I don’t know. By the time I made it into the 2nd side I was just putting up with it. Still, I wasn’t offended, didn’t (quite) feel the need to turn off. But I can’t go above 2/5
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