Another tranche of 20 albums from the 1001 Albums generator. It seems that the critics that assembled this list continue to be a bit anglo-centric. Also, I'm really not clear what gets an album onto this list - popularity, sales, 'musical quality', influential?
Of this set of albums, the one that was most influential on my taste is Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. I bought my first copy of this album on release, prompted by a room-mate will impeccable post-punk taste. I had to buy a second copy after my flat was burgled as I couldn't live without it or the second Joy Division album Closer for that matter. I later recovered most of the stolen LPs albeit minus most of the mainstream LPs in the collection.
From Peter Saville's enigmatic cover design through Martin Hannett's production and especially the music and lyrics, I loved every track on this album, and still do.
For me, Unknown Pleasures ticks all the boxes - great music, great lyrics, great production, great sleeve design...and very influential on later bands.
It's sad that Joy Division only released two albums, plus the outtakes/live album Still in their time. One wonders if they'd have moved on in the direction New Order took. I have to confess that, other that a couple of singles, I never really liked New Order that much.
Disappointments on this set of albums include Blackstar, David Bowie's last album, though that maybe follows my preference for Bowie's all-conquering albums from The Man Who Sol The World through to the three Berlin albums.
| 180 | Central Reservation | Beth Orton | 3 |
3.05 |
| Well, it's not offensive but it doesn't enthuse me. Just not to my taste. | ||||
| 179 | Electric Ladyland | Jimi Hendrix | 5 |
3.96 |
| This album is one of my favourites, and I think it probably shows haw Hendrix saw his music evolving. Alternately bluesy, jazzy and heavy, it has a real mix of styles. The top tracks for me would be Voodoo Chile (slight return) and All Along The Watchtower, but really I love every track. | ||||
| 178 | Californication | Red Hot Chili Peppers | 3 |
3.77 |
| Well, I'd not really listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers before, and I found this album really quite dull. Maybe back in 1999 I'd have had a different view. It's quite a tight album with solid songs but somehow doesn't engage me. | ||||
| 177 | All Mod Cons | The Jam | 5 |
3.27 |
| This was The Jam's third album and their first truly great one. There's not a duff track here, and all originals bar one. I think my favourite track is 'Down in the Tube Station at Midnight'. | ||||
| 176 | NEU! 75 | Neu! | 5 |
3.09 |
| As others have noted, the two sides differ quite a bit in general tone. This album, along with other Neu! albums and with other German bands of the period have had a big influence on later bands, particularly in the general post-punk genre and beyond. Neu! 75 is a really absorbing album. | ||||
| 175 | 21 | Adele | 2 |
3.71 |
| It's not clear to me why this is considered a 'great album'. To me, this is pretty bland. | ||||
| 174 | Paranoid | Black Sabbath | 4 |
4.14 |
| Well this is the archetypal metal album, and pretty good at that. Massive heavy riffs complemented by surprisingly socially conscious lyrics (even if rather naive/banal at times) and a sense of humour at times. All this belies the vague satanist aura that the media surrounded the band with. Top track would be Paranoid, but really they all have their appeal, even Planet Caravan, which I used to find rather dull. Maybe I am mellowing with age. An important album that set the stage for the emergence of heavy metal. On the other hand, the rise of many imitators may not have been a great thing! | ||||
| 173 | American Pie | Don McLean | 3 |
3.28 |
| I suppose this is one of the great singer-songwriter albums of the early 1970s. But it's really not my favoured genre, and I found it a bit dull other than the title track. | ||||
| 172 | Unknown Pleasures | Joy Division | 5 |
3.45 |
| This is one of the truly great post-punk albums. The songwriting is excellent and the production by Martin Hannett exceptional (though the band weren't so keen). I love every track on this album. | ||||
| 171 | Tusk | Fleetwood Mac | 2 |
3.46 |
| Fleetwood Mac had a long and crazy history from the excellent blues band with Peter Green to the later AOR band that produced the massive Rumours (and losing several guitarists along the way). It's hard to disagree that Rumours was a massively important and well-crafted album. But Tusk must have been designed to follow Rumours with something a bit different. For this, I think the band deserves credit. But I think the end result is a double album of AOR pop/rock that is surprisingly bland. I didn't find much of this album notable. | ||||
| 170 | Songs The Lord Taught Us | The Cramps | 5 |
2.82 |
| This is a great album and massive fun to listen to. I regret never having seen The Cramps live! Standout tracks are TV Set, Garbageman and Fever, but the album as a whole is just a great listen throughout and a nice mix of covers and originals. | ||||
| 169 | The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady | Charles Mingus | 3 |
3.3 |
| Jazz isn't my thing really. The album was OK, but I'm not clear what makes this considered a great album. | ||||
| 168 | Surrealistic Pillow | Jefferson Airplane | 4 |
3.55 |
| I'd not listened to more than an occasional track by Jefferson Airplane, so I was keen to give this album a (virtual) spin. Clearly a very influential album and a significant one for the period. | ||||
| 167 | The Age Of The Understatement | The Last Shadow Puppets | 3 |
3.27 |
| Where does being influenced by prior musical style swing into pastiche? For this album, I fear it's pastiche, competently executed and arranged but for me a little hollow. | ||||
| 166 | Fear Of Music | Talking Heads | 5 |
3.45 |
| A great album and one of three where Talking Heads worked well with Brian Eno producing. | ||||
| 165 | Moon Safari | Air | 3 |
3.55 |
| Well, I wasn't familiar with this album at all, though maybe aware of the single Sexy Boy. This is nice enough but a little bland - I prefer things a bit more abrasive. | ||||
| 164 | Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) | Wu-Tang Clan | 2 |
3.63 |
| This is pretty dull stuff. I kind of like the music, but the vocals come across like a gang of loads of people contributing random violent braggadocio. Oh, and I was streaming an expanded edition. | ||||
| 163 | Ramones | Ramones | 5 |
3.57 |
| Oh a stone cold classic! This is a fabulous riposte to the excesses of early 1970s rock music that ushered in punk rock. 14 songs in 29 minutes! | ||||
| 162 | Surfer Rosa | Pixies | 5 |
3.51 |
| I was something of a latecomer to the Pixies party - while they made it big in the UK's indie/alternative scene, it wasn't until they were in one of their comebacks that I finally caught up with them. Indeed, I bought Surfer Rosa as a triple vinyl LP set only a few years ago, packaged with Come On Pilgrim and a live album. It's a cracking debut, with strange, oblique lyrics and excellently produced by the late great Steve Albini. Later, the loud-quiet-loud style of Pixies' music became something of a cliche, but here it's refreshing and exciting. | ||||
| 161 | Blackstar | David Bowie | 3 |
3.5 |
| I never listened to this album on release, and having played it, didn't find it an engaging album.I suspect many rated this highly owing to the sad circumstances of its release. | ||||