Another tranche of albums recommended by the 1001 abums generator. Some really excellent albums here, bust also a few that I can't really understand why they made it onto the list.
On the whole, my album ratings have quite a strong concordance with the global reviews, the main exceptions being hip-hop albums.
I've noted the third (self-titled) Velvet Underground LP as one to note. Though I've always preferred the first two LPs over this one, it's a particularly influential LP, so is worthy of note. Reed's songwriting is really strong here, with several sweet sounding but rather subversive songs.
| 160 | Songs In The Key Of Life | Stevie Wonder | 4 |
4.05 |
| This album is very long at 1h45m (double album plus an EP). It has a number of damned fine songs, but it is far too long and some of the songs don't really hold my attention. I found the lyrics rather banal. On the other hand, this is his 18th album and he was only 26. He must have been writing and recording songs at one hell of a pace! | ||||
| 159 | Who's Next | The Who | 4 |
3.92 |
| I'm not a massive fan of The Who, and this is the only Who LP in my collection. It think it's a good album, but the strongest tracks bookend some weaker ones. I'm struck by Daltrey's vocals - absolutely powerful. Also the drumming comes through well on some of the tracks. I don't think I can give this a 5 - maybe 4. I particularly liked Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again. | ||||
| 158 | xx | The xx | 3 |
3.43 |
| I've had this album in my collection for some time now, and I think I've got mixed views on it. I love its minimalist pop, but it's sparse sound is something I don't cry out to listen to terribly often. Perhaps it's a bit of its time and place. I don't think the xx ever had a long term future - the second album seemed more of the same and I'd lost interest by the third album. | ||||
| 157 | Elephant Mountain | The Youngbloods | 2 |
3.07 |
| Dull, dull, dull. | ||||
| 156 | Sunshine Superman | Donovan | 3 |
3.08 |
| This is a nice enough album, but where it sits among the great albums I'm not sure, given it was released nearly 60 years ago. There appear to be two versions of this album that were released - I listened to some expanded version at over an hour. | ||||
| 155 | 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of... | Arrested Development | 2 |
3.15 |
| Hip hop just isn't an interesting musical style for me. At least this isn't full of swearing like some others I can mention, so this album is a bit better than some hip hop that this list has passed my way. | ||||
| 154 | Gorillaz | Gorillaz | 3 |
3.53 |
| Gorillaz is conceptually amusing, but ultimately doesn't really deliver beyond pastiche. Which I guess is appropriate. It's a nice enough album. | ||||
| 153 | Nighthawks At The Diner | Tom Waits | 4 |
3.04 |
| I'd not played this before despite having quite a few Tom Waits albums in my collection. The album has a rather nice ambience with the invited crowd in the studio. Waits' voice is characteristically cracked sounding. The odd thing is that because his vocal style verges on speaking, the intro sections between songs and the songs themselves seem to merge together. On the whole I like this album and I've added it to my Qobuz favourites. Not up there with Rain Dogs and later albums, maybe, but it could be a grower. | ||||
| 152 | Homework | Daft Punk | 3 |
3.3 |
| This is a pretty good album of electronic house music. I guess it's typical for this style that the album is long and the tracks are pretty similar...but I suppose that in the correct club environment this would be a cracking sound! | ||||
| 151 | Ready To Die | The Notorious B.I.G. | 1 |
3.41 |
| Gosh I really disliked this album, partly because I dislike rapping/hiphop and partly because I found the content spectacularly irritating. | ||||
| 150 | Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | 3 |
3.4 |
| Well, this album came out just as I was starting to take an interest in records. I was aware of Tom Petty, but never really listened to this or any other record by him as we were then in the rise of the UK punk scene and then into post-punk. I guess I'd characterise this as rather old-style rock music. I don't think there's anything outstanding here, but then again, nothing here is particularly annoying. Of all the tracks, I was most familiar with Breakdown, owing to Grace Jones' version, powered by the mighty Sly and Robbie. | ||||
| 149 | Lust For Life | Iggy Pop | 4 |
3.64 |
| The second of a brace of albums recorded with David Bowie, and a real classic. The whole album is great with a slightly rougher feel than its predecessor (The Idiot), standout tracks are the title track, and of course The Passenger. This album set Iggy Pop's career back on track after his post-Stooges hiatus. | ||||
| 148 | Follow The Leader | Korn | 2 |
2.65 |
| Ugh! | ||||
| 147 | Rock 'N Soul | Solomon Burke | 3 |
3.37 |
| Not an album I'd heard before, and it had many good songs. An enjoyable listen but maybe not excellent. | ||||
| 146 | Youth And Young Manhood | Kings of Leon | 3 |
3.15 |
| I'd not really listened to Kings Of Leon before this. After playing it three times, I think it's OK, not particularly exciting, not particularly bad. The album kicks off quite well with Red Morning Light, and the momentum is maintained through the second track. On the whole, this is an enjoyable album but not particularly outstanding. | ||||
| 145 | White Blood Cells | The White Stripes | 4 |
3.71 |
| This is a fine album of blues and metal infected garage style music, though in my view possibly edged by its predecessor, De Stihl. It's one of a run of great albums by Jack and Meg White. The sleeve is rather menacing! | ||||
| 144 | Kilimanjaro | The Teardrop Explodes | 4 |
2.91 |
| The Teardrop Explodes is one of those bands which I liked but which never made it into my record collection at the time (youthful financial limitations). Somewhere along the line I acquired a copy of this LP on vinyl. It's a record I do like especially the overall feeling and Cope's vocals. There are some storming tracks here, especially Treason and Reward. As an aside, Julian Cope's enthusiasm for German and Japanese alt rock of the 1970s has opened the way to fresh music pastures for me over the years. | ||||
| 143 | Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches | Happy Mondays | 4 |
2.97 |
| I never really paid much attention to Happy Mondays at the time this album was released and nor was I much into rave culture. That said, I rather like this album despite being about 34 years late to the party. | ||||
| 142 | In The Court Of The Crimson King | King Crimson | 4 |
3.6 |
| Well for me, this is the acceptable end of the progressive rock spectrum and I have something of a soft spot for this album from my student days (when it was only 7 or 8 years after release. The cover is a classic - look at the panic in the eyes!. Anyway, I can give this a strong score not just because I kind of like it but because it was a pretty influential album. | ||||
| 141 | The Velvet Underground | The Velvet Underground | 5 |
3.55 |
| I have this album in both the Valentin and closet mixes. In many ways, The Velvet Underground lost the more experimental influence from John Cale when he left the band after the second album (White Light/White Heat), and Lou Reed's songwriting came through more clearly. While I do prefer the first two LPs, this remains a stone cold classic with a clearly influential legacy. Most of the songs here are terrific, particularly Pale Blue Eyes and Candy Says. | ||||
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