One Album A Day - 014
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). It's actually been a while since I posted, sorry.
So here's the next few albums I listened to:
- # - Year - Album - Artist - Rating - Global
- 125 - 1996 - Roots - Sepultura - 2 - 2.77
- 126 - 1969 - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young and Crazy Horse - 5 - 3.53
- 127 - 1982 - Thriller Michael - Jackson - 5 - 4.23
- 128 - 1969 - In A Silent Way - Miles Davis - 5 - 3.62
- 129 - 1994 - Grace Jeff Buckley - 2 - 3.68
- 130 - 1976 - Ramones - Ramones - 4 - 3.57
- 131 - 2003 - Youth And Young Manhood - Kings of Leon - 4 - 3.15
- 132 - 1969 - Kick Out The Jams (Live) - MC5 - 4 - 2.92
- 133 - 2011 - 21 - Adele - 3 - 3.7
- 134 - 1962 - Green Onions - Booker T. and The MG's - 3 - 3.41
- 135 - 1992 - Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine - 2 - 4.02
- 136 - 1986 - E.V.O.L. - Sonic Youth - 2 - 2.88
And this posting's Reviews:
136 - E.V.O.L. - Sonic Youth - 2
Sheesh. “My violence is a dream / a ‘real dream’ / a skinny arm / a crush on living sin”. … what the f- is that supposed to mean? I get it, you’re goth, you hate the world. Blah blah blah.
I looked at some of the critic’s comments on Wikipedia and I see comments like: “one of [Sonic Youth's] strangest albums", "a difficult album” and “no wave chaos." And "bring[s] form to the formless, tune to the tuneless, and … melody and composition on their trademark dissonance.”
Yeah. I can see all those descriptions here, but none of them appeal to me. I don’t suppose it sucks, but I can’t dig it either. But the further along I went, the less I liked it. Started at 3, worked down to 2
135 - Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine - 2
Rage against the machine? Well, these guys are certainly angry. The music isn’t horrible, but the lyrics are repetitive, and what passes for emotion is simply shouting. Did I mention the lyrics are repetitive. Yes, they’re repetitive. A line or phrase repeated over and over. Sometimes a pair of lines repeated, and then repeated again. With the occasional UGH thrown in. Did I mention that the words are repetitive? Maybe if I shouted it?
I know a lot of people like this…. But I got not place in my heart for it.
I’ll give the music a 3/5, there’s some interesting stuff here. -1 for the lyrics and shouting. 2/5
134 - Green Onions - Booker T. and The MG's - 3
Early 60’s instrumental groove. The title track is iconic, peaking at #3 on the US Hot 100, and topping the R&B chart. One of the great instrumental tracks, back when instrumentals were part of the hit mix.
Which leads to the downside. This is not an instrumental track, it’s an instrumental album from an instrumental band. A dozen tracks over 36 minutes. And while the song “Green Onions” is brilliant, the rest of it kind of blurs into the background. Maybe what you’d expect in the background of an early 60’s beach blanket movie.
I owned Green Onions on 45 back in the late 60’s, and I have a “Hits” album by Booker T and MGs. Their peaks are great, perfect for your oldies playlists. But the whole album wears a little thin, except as background music.
3/5
133 - 21 - Adele - 3
3.71
Global reviews
This is all very well done. Adele is certainly a talented singer. And the music is impeccably crafted, perfectly polished to a sheen. So why don’t I like it? It’s all so exacting, pretty. So… well, soulless. I felt no emotional connection to any of it. Nothing at all.
A very, VERY competent album. Which is really a letdown. I’m following it up with Dusty Springfield’s “Dusty In Memphis”…. Much better. 3/5
132 - Kick Out The Jams (Live) - MC5 - 4
From wikipedia: “critic Lester Bangs, writing his inaugural review for Rolling Stone, called Kick Out the Jams a "ridiculous, overbearing, pretentious album". And I say, yeah, so what? I’ll add that it is sloppy, and the recording is a bit muddy. But it is also raw and primal, and frankly wonderful.
Call it proto-punk, call it garage rock, call it whatever you want. But you can’t say it doesn’t rock. 4/5
131 - Youth And Young Manhood - Kings of Leon - 4
This record kicks off with a bang, the energetic “Red Morning Light”. Very fun rocker, nice clean sound. And it keeps on going in the right direction. This reminds me a little of looseness of the Stone’s “Exile on Main Street”, with a bit more Black Crowes feel. But higher energy.
Not a huge fan of the singer, but it doesn’t detract. Would like to hear a bit more bass and a bit less snare drum, but that’s just me. This’ll rate another listen. 4/5
130 - Ramones - Ramones - 4
The debut album of the Ramones, a record which shook the world. I remember my older brother playing this at high volume, and my being truly amazed. From the opening “Blitzkrieg Bop”, it starts at 100 mph and doesn’t let up. This is not virtuoso, but they play fast. The songs are short and sweet, 14 tunes in 29 minutes! Lyrically, the songs are not to be taken seriously, from “Beat on the Brat (with a baseball bat)” to “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”, this is simply fun.
Full disclosure, not only have I owned this album sine the late 70’s, I saw the Ramones live at a small club in Ohio in 1978…. And it was an experience to remember.
The only downside with the Ramones it that they are pretty much a 1-trick pony. But what a trick it is. Well worth having. 4/5
129 - Grace - Jeff Buckley - 2
All I knew of Jeff Buckley coming into this was his cover of Hallelujah, which I don’t especially like.
A bit overwrought, and a bit overblown. Faux “deep and meaningful”…. Instead of whining, we have tortured shouting. It does not ring my bell. Apparently this was really successful, and is highly regarded. I can’t fathom why. There’s a couple of songs I don’t hate, that’s something. 2/5
128 - In A Silent Way - Miles Davis - 5
Miles Davis’s “Kind Of Blue” was one of the first Jazz albums I acquired, back in the late 70’s. That, and “Bitches Brew” are long time standards in my collection. But I’d never heard this one. Wikipedia says this is “Davis's first fusion recording, following a stylistic shift toward the genre in his previous records and live performances.” And it is not a subtle shift. Starting with electric piano, then electric guitar. It features two songs, one per album side. But the horn is certainly the same.
This has the “fusion” sound for sure, the keyboards dominate. The long somewhat rambling songs. But it all works, all the pieces come together into a really nice sum. This (like the best Jazz records) is going to take several listens to really digest. But I’ll make the effort, and can tell my appreciation will grow. There’s a real good chance this’ll get added to my collection. 5/5
127 - Thriller - Michael Jackson - 5
This album dominated the early 80’s. 7 of the 9 songs were released as singles, and all 7 made top 10. It is the top selling album in the world. Helped drive the concept of “meaningful” (and big budget) music videos. Influential? Oh yeah.
This is impeccably put together, every note a perfect. Everything grooves, the melodies are memorable, the hooks are perfect. There’s a reason this album dominated the world. It’s that good. That said, it’s pop. It’s not jazz, or classical, or even prog. It’s pop, but as good as pop gets.
The only downside is the creepy factor of Michael Jackson, which didn’t really come hot until later. Easy 5
126 - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young and Crazy Horse - 5
This is the first of a trio of essential albums from Neil Young. Between 1969 and 1972 he released “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”, After The Gold Rush” and Harvest”. An amazing trifecta of outstanding albums. All of which I’ve owned for many years.
From the opening of “Cinnamon Girl” through the last strains of “Cowgirl In The Sand”, the album is outstanding. It has the loose style that Young fostered with Crazy Horse, not sloppy, but “real”. Not polished but full of texture. Cowgirl, Cinnamon Girl are iconic Neil Young songs, along with Down By The River. The title track is a classic. The others are very solid complements.
All 3 of the aforementioned songs are 5/5, and this one kicked off the run. Easy 5/5.
125 - Roots - Sepultura - 2
Well…. This is my first “metal” album here, and I simply don’t appreciate the genre. The vocals are the sound of angry puking, which seems to be a real “thing” in metal. It’s almost like every band is a parody of the style. I looked up the lyrics, and they seem benign, but the “chorus” is generally a single phrase repeated 4-6 times. The music is really driving, high energy…. Relentless…. Perhaps exhausting. And there’s not a lot of variation from song to song. By the time I was 40 minutes (10 songs) in, I was worn out and had to take a break.
There’s some moments here. The percussion / rhythms are often interesting. I almost liked Ratamahhatta, which seems to be in a foreign language (but not one that google translate could figure out).
On the other hand, Breed Apart found me thinking of a Spice-Girls-in-Hell kind of vibe…. I could almost sing along Wannabe’s “slam your body down and wind it all around”!
The instrumental Jasco and the tribal Itsari are pretty cool, but jarring it its deviation from the rest of the album. The last song is basically 12+ minutes of ambient jungle(?) sounds. It makes Beatles’ Revolution 9 seem like a pop song.
When I was in university, I went through a period where I would listen to the 1st side of Sex Pistols’ “Never Mind The Bollocks” to get pumped up before heading out to campus parties. I can see this might have a similar appeal. But that was many years ago, and was only for a few months. And only ~20 minutes at a time. I see a similar appeal here.
Not my thing, but better than a lot of stuff I’ve heard here. 2/5
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