One Album A Day - 011
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
88 - 1979 - Reggatta De Blanc - The Police - 5 - 3.44
89 - 1969 - Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago - 4 - 3.19
90 - 1989 - Raw Like Sushi - Neneh Cherry - 3 - 2.71
91 - 1974 - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard Thompson - 4 - 3.04
92 - 2005 - Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes - 3 - 3.46
93 - 1998 - Ray Of Light - Madonna - 3 - 2.96
94 - 1970 - Deep Purple In Rock - Deep Purple - 4 - 3.35
95 - 1990 - Fear Of A Black Planet - Public Enemy - 1 - 3.34
96 - 1978 - The Modern Dance - Pere Ubu - 3 - 2.54
97 - 1990 - Shake Your Money Maker - The Black Crowes - 4 - 3.29
98 - 1984 - A Walk Across The Rooftops - The Blue Nile - 3 - 2.87
99 - 2001 - Amnesiac - Radiohead - 3 - 3.44
99 - Amnesiac - Radiohead - 3
I only knew the name Radiohead, was totally ignorant on the music.
Overall, pretty decent. Well done, good sound. Don’t love the singer but not too bad. I can see why lots of people like this. But it didn’t really “wow” me either. May grow on me if I listen again. 3.5, round down to 3
98 - A Walk Across The Rooftops - The Blue Nile - 3
Hmm…. A Scottish band from 1984 that I’ve never heard of. Could be interesting. Check reviews, average rating is 2.87…. Uh oh.
It’s ok, nothing special. But then again, I never really “got” the rhythm sound of the 80’s. And especially the UK synth-pop bands. The drums are way too treble-y / compressed, there's way to much of the synth sounds that dominated the era. The songs are kind of down beat.... But it works OK, for what it is. And what it is is not what I prefer. 3/5, it wasn’t boring.
97 - Shake Your Money Maker - The Black Crowes - 4
I’ve owned this album since it was current (1990). I really liked it when it came out, and still enjoy / appreciate it. It really throws back to the blues-rock of the late 70’s, which I grew up on. Maybe reminiscent of Bad Company meets Grand Funk, with a big hat tip to the 70’s Stones and a few hints of Zeppelin. This got a lot of play on Mainstream Rock radio, that would’ve been how I discovered it. I was in my early 30’s, with a wife and 2 young kids and my job that had me on the road a lot; this was like comfort food for me.
33 years later it still gets played, but I wouldn’t call it essential. The high points are very high: Twice as Hard, Jealous Again, Hard To Handle (great Otis Redding cover), She Talks To Angels (one of the saddest songs of its time), Stare It Cold…. The rest is very solid.
There’s nothing too dramatic here, just good old fashioned straight ahead rock and roll. And there ain’t nothing wrong with that. 4/5
96 - The Modern Dance - Pere Ubu - 3
I know of Pere Ubu from back in the day, and I have the 1976 single “Final Solution” on a compilation album. But this album will be new to me. I’m pretty interested to listen to this. I “warmed up” by playing the aforementioned Final Solution, which I like (rated 3/5 stars on my iTunes). So on to the album.
I like the overall sound here, a little “unpolished”, good driving rhythms. Not a huge fan of the vocal stylings, but reminiscent of Television. And some of the more experimental passages aren’t my favorite. But this isn’t boring, it’s different, and there’s several high points that take me right back to 1978. Really, this is the kind of album I came to this project to hear. That said, this is certainly niche, and not something I expect to purchase. Solid 3/5 for being ambitious, and interesting.
95 - Fear Of A Black Planet - Public Enemy - 1
Hip Hop is my lowest rated genre, barely beating Electronica…. It is just not my thing. I’ve had on other Public Enemy album, it rated 1/5 for me.
I don’t like the lack of any sort of melody, nothing approaching a “hook”. No discernible verse-chorus type structure. I just don’t like the scratches and squeals and samples and such.
This seems to be a very well respected album, with Platinum sales, and 4x songs that were atop 11 on the Rap charts. It ranked #300 on Rolling Stone’s greatest albums list. It was certainly successful. It’s well put together. I can see where the messages resonate with a lot of people. It’s just not a style of music that I like. Similar to I don’t like Opera.
All that said, I like this one a little better than the previous one (It takes a nation…). I but I didn’t make it all the way through the 63 minutes, so I guess it’s still a 1/5
94 - Deep Purple In Rock - Deep Purple - 4
Deep Purple is an interesting beast. With 4 distinct configurations over their initial run, designated Mark I, Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV. Over those 4 configurations they released 10 studio albums in 8 years, plus 3 live albums. I've often thought their constant changes really held them back from even bigger success than they had. Smoke On The Water is one of the best known songs in rock, and Machine Head is a brilliant album. The double live Made In Japan is universally considered among the top live albums ever. All of which were the Mark II band.
In Rock is the configuration that broke the band into the stratosphere, and defined the sound that they would be instantly recognizable. This album rocks with Ritchie Blackmore's guitar, and Jon Lord's organ, which are 2 of the really defining keys to Deep Purple's sound. The album starts hard with Speed Kind and really doesn't let up. Really solid 70's hard rock, one of the bands that kicked off the entire heavy metal genre.
All of the Mark II albums are very good, but only Machine Head is essential. Well, Machine Head and Made In Japan. And In Rock isn't far behind those benchmarks.
Aside: This album is not available on Spotify, only 2 songs. And I only owned 2 songs (via an anthology collection). But it is on Youtube, which worked fine. Solid 4/5
93 - Ray Of Light - Madonna - 3
Not expecting a lot here, last Madona album to come up here didn't really wow me.
I was a little surprised just how far down she is in the mix here, I thought she was a spotlight voice. Then again, I think I had a similar comment on the last Madonna album here (Music). The sound is overall lush, certainly well produced from a music standpoint... but the vocals are too far away. Overall, I like this a little better than Music. But it's really nothing special. And LONG. If these were 3-4 minute songs, it would be better. But each songs repeats for 5-6 minutes, which is simply monotonous.
Since it exceeded my (low) expectations, I'll go 3/5
92 - Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes - 3
White Stripes are one of those bands that everyone gushed about during the early 2000's. But I know more about their image than their music. The whole Red/White/Black thing... Were they siblings? Spouses? Both!?!?! And Jack White being touted as the greatest guitarist of the millennia. The only song I could identify as their was 7 Nation Army, which is one of the most overplayed bits in ages.
Anyway, on to the music:
Overall, this is fine. Pretty good even. Not my favorite, but certainly solid.
Probably the closest I have in collection to this is Them Crooked Vultures.
The highpoint was "The Denial Twist", because I'm quite familiar with Weird Al's parody "CNR". You know how it is. or you should.
Anyway, yeah it's good. Certainly NOT boring. I'd probably go 3.5 if I could. But this one'll round down to 3 3/5
91 - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard Thompson - 4
I'm not sure what I expected here, but not what I got. Richard and Linda Thompson are one of those highly respected groups / performers that I've never heard. I mean, this made the Rolling Stone list of 500 Greatest Albums (albeit at #479), one of 2x R&L Thompson albums on that list.
Anyway, I quite like this album. It is very much English Folk, somewhat reminiscent of Steeleye Span. With what I think is a renaissance type mood. I've listened to this twice today, and I'mm sure I'll listen to this again, and I expect it to grow on me. For now it's 4/5
90 - Raw Like Sushi - Neneh Cherry - 3
Just 3 days ago, I was complaining that over 10% of my “assignments” here were Electronica, and how it is my second worst rated genre. I didn’t note then that the only genre ranked below Electronic is Hip Hop. So here we go, an album tagged both Electronica and Hip Hop. Groan. But also tagged Pop. Well let’s give it a shot….
I like this a lot more than some of the other Electronica or hip hop albums I’ve been served here. There’s songs that remind me of Madonna, and of the Spice Girls…. Maybe Paula Abdul. These are actual songs, with melody and such. Certainly dance music, but retaining the basic concepts of being music.
Overall, it’s ok, better than any of the other Electronica albums I’ve listened to. It gets a little repetitive, especially when the bonus tracks roll along. But really decent overall.
3/5
89 - Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago - 4
The debut album from Chicago is notable in a lot of ways. It is an auspicious debut, reaching #17 on the US album charts, and selling double platinum. It includes several really great songs including 2x top 10 singles (Beginnings and Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?) and another top 25 (Questions 67 &68). This was a new sound, horns like this kid had never heard (in pop music). Killer guitar, shifting soundscapes.an impressive start.
It's also a bit audacious. How many bands release a double album as a debut? And there's the rub. 32 minutes of this album are outstanding; really really great. But the album runs 76+ minutes, and a good bit of that is not compelling. I wish they had been more concise, maybe cutting a song or two (looking at you, Freeform Guitar and Poem 58). I just wish the whole thing was a bit more concise. It could've been stunning, instead it's just really good. This is early Chicago, before Tery Kath (guitar) died, and before soft rock stardom took over.
Full disclosure, I own this album. All in all 4/5
88 - Reggatta De Blanc - The Police - 5
The Police exploded onto the music scene during my freshman year of college, and dominated the airwaves over 5 albums in just under 5 years. I have all their albums on vinyl, all bought when current. They brought a different sound, new and exciting. People would stop by my dorm and ask “what is that?” When it was playing in those first couple of weeks. Of course, soon everybody knew. Looking back through the lens of 45 years, it is easy to forget just how unique this sound was at the time. The Police were one of the drivers bringing New Wave to the masses at the end of the 70’s.
It is interesting that Regatta de Blanc is the first Police album to show up here. It is actually the lowest charting (US) of the 5 releases, only making it to #25. It is a really solid album, but doesn’t have as many standout songs as their other records, but doesn’t have any real low points. It is probably my 2nd favorite of the 5 releases, only a hair below the debut. They really lean into the “White Reggae” thing here, as evidenced by the album title, but still includes a couple of straight rockers, “It’s alright for you” and “no time this time” which are both excellent.
It’s a great album that has stood the test of time. Hugely successful, influential…. 5/5
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