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
58 - 1983 - Porcupine - Echo And The Bunnymen - 3 - 3.04
59 - 1957 - Chirping Crickets - Buddy Holly and The Crickets - 4 - 3.31
60 - 1966 - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme - Simon and Garfunkel - 4 - 3.63
61 - 1985 - Steve McQueen - Prefab Sprout - 3 - 3.01
62 - 1973 - Raw Power - The Stooges - 5 - 3.40
63 - 1993 - Exile In Guyville - Liz Phair - 3 - 3.02
64 - 1971 - Pearl - Janis Joplin - 5 - 3.71
65 - 1979 - The Pleasure Principle - Gary Numan - 3 - 3.13
66 - 2019 - KIWANUKA - Michael Kiwanuka - 4 - 3.78
And this posting's Reviews:
66 KIWANUKA Michael Kiwanuka 4
This is 100% new to me, and a very nice find. I'm not sure how to classifty it, but it certainly has groove. Generally smooth sound, but not bland. I'll need to listen to this a few more times, but it's a solid 4.
65 The Pleasure Principle Gary Numan 3
"Cars" was a great, fun song that was hugely popular when I was 19. With its robotic, technical sound it was pretty unique. I still have the 45rpm single from back then. Unfortunately, this album is lots of more-of-the-same. Tehre's several pretty good songs, and no horrible ones, but this is a one trick pony, and the trick is a bit dated.
64 Pearl Janis Joplin 5
Janis Joplin was a musical force, who burned brightly, but burned out quickly. This is the 4th of her studio albums, released 3 months after she passed away. It is also the high-point of her discography. This album includes several masterpieces: "Cry Baby", "Me and Bobby McGee", "Mercedes Benz" and "Move Over". The rest of the album is just very good. The least compelling song is "Buried Alive In The Blues", which is notable as an unfinished piece. It is an instrumental, because Joplin died before recording the vocal tracks.
All in all, this is a great record, and an important record in the history of rock. Easy 5/5
63 Exile In Guyville Liz Phair 3
Wow, she’s not a very good singer, especially the first couple of songs. Unless this is affected to follow the whole bit about copying the Stones’ “Exile On Main Street”. I do like the overall sound (of the music), it has an open, sparse, not-overproduced sound that is refreshing for the early 90’s. Lyrically, there’s nothing dramatic here, nothing outstanding, but neither insipid. On the other hand, there’s a lot of profanity that comes off as gratuitous. I don’t mind profanity, but I do mind gratuitous.
Meanwhile, some of these songs are quite good. All are at least OK. I’m left thinking high 3, leaning towards rounding up. But over a full hour, it starts to lag a bit, and I sure wish she could sing a little better. so I’ll round down. 3/5
62 Raw Power The Stooges 5
Let’s start by recognizing the opening cut, “Search and Destroy” as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. The Stooges were inspirations to the Ounk rock movement, and Search and Destroy is one of the signature songs of “proto punk”.
But, going into this listen, Search and Destroy was the only song I’d heard on the album. Quite simply, this album rocks, in the best possible way. I’m trying to figure out how I overlooked this for 50 years…. It’s raw and real, and the sharp edges aren’t buffed out. But it is not just noise, these are actual songs, well constructed and performed. It has the loose feel of the Velvet Underground, but has a hard driving passion that VU never tried for. It has the drive and attitude of The Ramones, Band, but a few years before they came to be. Plus a hint of or maybe early Alice Cooper Band.
I’ll be listening to this album again, and there’s a good chance I’ll end up purchasing it. 5/5
61 Steve McQueen Prefab Sprout 3
Pretty generic, mid 80’s Brit pop. There’s nothing especially memorable here, but nothing that’s bad or offensive or anything. Pretty close to boring. The album title is odd, there’s certainly nothing in this music that is remotely related to Steve McQueen. Maybe it’s ironic, and I’m just not cool enough to get it.
There’s several albums from 1985 that I would suggest as notable (must listen) before this: Three O’Clock - Arrive Without Travelling, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Southern Accents, Guadalcanal Diary - Walking In The Shadow Of The Big Man, John Fogarty - Centerfield, Katrina and the Waves, Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms…. Etc, etc, etc.
Whatever, call it a 3/5 and hope for something interesting tomorrow.
60 Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme Simon and Garfunkel 4
In the late 70’s, Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits was one of 2 albums that almost everybody owned (along with Eagles’ Greatest Hits). Including me. The downside of the hits album is that I never really felt the need to dig into the deep cuts. This corrects that, at least some.
4 songs from this album carry over to the aforementioned hits album, although 3 of them show up there as live versions. Regardless, all 4 are outstanding.
This album is pretty fast paced, with 12 songs in about 28 minutes, an average length of 2:30 per song (and only one song over 3 minutes). Pretty typical for a pop record from 1966. But these songs aren’t fluff. These are Paul Simon songs, one of the great singer/songwriters of the era. And he packs a lot of meaning into these small servings.
There’s only 2 songs that I don’t think are very good to great. “Simple Desulrory Philippic” is a homage to / satire of Bob Dylan. It’s too cute by 1/2, and doesn’t really fit the rest of the album. And “7 O’Clock News / Silent Night” is a little too heavy-handed for my tastes, with the Christmas carol overlaid by a newscaster reporting the ills of society. Wikipedia says the it ‘rather bluntly makes an ironic commentary on various social ills by juxtaposing them with tenderly expressed Christmas sentiments”. Neither song sucks, nor offends. But they do detract from the whole.
So where to rate? Do the 10 gems offset the 2 that are “meh”? I will either pick up this whole album, or just the 4-5 best songs that I don’t already own. Oh, how I wish for 1/2 stars, this would be a clear 4.5/5.
After consideration, and comparing to the hits album, and 1870’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, I’m settling with a round down to 4.
59 Chirping Crickets Buddy Holly and The Crickets 4
The debut album from one of the original Rock and Rollers. I am, of course, familiar with Holly's hits, with and without the Crickets. I have 1/2 of this album from a hits collection, these are essential songs if you're interested in the roots of rock. Generally. I prefer some of the cover versions to there originals, but these are where it all started.
Some well known covers of songs from this album, that I own:
Maybe Baby -Don McLean / NGDB
Not Fade Away - Rolling Stones
It's Too Late - Derek & The Dominoes (Eric Clapton)
That'll Be The Day - Linda Ronstadt
And that's just the ones I own. Most of this album has been covered y multiple artists. That's called influential.
Really solid album, although I still prefer the hits album that swaps the "deep cuts" here from other hits. Super solid 4/5, but not quite 5.
58 Porcupine Echo And The Bunnymen 3
Wow, I really don’t like the vocal stylings here. Sort of whiney U2 vibe, very 80’s Brit-pop. The instrumentation is also very 80’s Brit-pop. Certainly a product of its time and place. That said, it’s pretty good overall. The beats are driving, the melodies are good…. Pretty much everything except those whiney, warble-y vocals. Buy the end of the album they were really bugging me. A solid 3/5, but could’ve edged higher with vocals more like what was coming out of Athens, GA at the same time.
3/5
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