1001 Albums - 341-360
It has occurred to me that I haven't blogged about my journey through the 1001 Albums since Christmas Eve. I've still been playing each album on a daily basis, and I'll catch up over the next few days.
This set of albums started in fine form with two albums I scored at 5, then sagged a bit later on. The first on of the 5s was Penthouse and Pavement by Heaven 17. This album followed the split from Human League and went head to head against the League's Dare. I even think they were recorded in the same studio. In contrat to Dare, Penthouse and Pavement has a distinct polical edge to its synth-pop, and it's all the better for it. Album opener (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing is an absolute stormer that was banned by the BBC. It's possibly more topical than ever.
The other 5 scoring album was Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd. That really is a stone cold classic. It was actually the first album I ever bought!
360
Jan 04 2025 |
In Utero | Nirvana | 3 |
3.83 |
I think this is the third Nirvana album I've had on this list. Whereas Nevermind blasted the band into international stardom, it's not so obvious to me why this album is so essential. | ||||
359
Jan 03 2025 |
Happy Sad | Tim Buckley | 4 |
2.78 |
This isn't my favourite musical style, but as I began to listen to this album, I did like it, though it dragged a bit. I think Buckley was quite influential even though his album sales were not great. | ||||
358
Jan 02 2025 |
Let England Shake | PJ Harvey | 4 |
3.15 |
This is a very good album, but I think there are one or two points where I thought it veered towards cliche, with one or two songs coming across as a bit gauche. | ||||
357
Jan 01 2025 |
Palo Congo | Sabu | 4 |
2.69 |
This album sounds like the soundtrack to a wild party! At times the Cuban sound seems to move into a rather African call and response feel. To me, however, the album seems a bit same-y, so while I reckon it's great party music, it's not something I'd add to my collection. | ||||
356
Dec 31 2024 |
At Folsom Prison | Johnny Cash | 2 |
3.98 |
Oh, we've already had Johnny Cash at San Quentin...which I think I preferred to this earlier recording of a prison album, which has less engagement with the audience. | ||||
355
Dec 30 2024 |
Tellin’ Stories | The Charlatans | 4 |
2.95 |
Another band I'd not really caught up with at the time. I rather enjoyed this album, which I suppose reflects a less derivative Britpop. This'll go on my Qobuz favourites and I'll listen to further Charlatans albums. | ||||
354
Dec 29 2024 |
Doolittle | Pixies | 5 |
3.74 |
I was a bit late in developing enthusiasm for the Pixies. They seemed to have singlehandedly made the soft-loud-soft pattern for alt rock into a bit of a cliche. Although I did have some Pixies albums in my collection, it took me a while to come round to appreciating them, most probably after The Breeders' first two albums were released. Anyway, now I think this album is a significant gem and quite influential. | ||||
353
Dec 28 2024 |
With The Beatles | Beatles | 3 |
3.68 |
I think it's difficult to rate this album without thinking of the later Beatles albums which had such an impact on rock and pop. While appreciating The Beatles' contributions, I've never really cared to listen to their music - maybe it's so ubiquitous. For example, I doubt I've ever played this album before, but I was familiar with every track on this album. From reading the background of this album on the Wikipedia page, I can see that The Beatles, their management and their producer were begining to flex creative muscles (over sleeve design, for example) in the face of what looks like complacency on the label's part. And while this album was part of the move into international stardom, I don't really think the songs stand out particularly to me - still too much focussed on girl-boy relationships without real subtlety. I think the strongest songs are some of the cover versions. I suppose in retrospect there's a direction of travel to be perceived. | ||||
352
Dec 27 2024 |
Post Orgasmic Chill | Skunk Anansie | 2 |
2.99 |
At the outset I thought this might be rather a good album. But as it went on it was a pretty stodgy treacly affair. Didn't really care for it. | ||||
351
Dec 26 2024 |
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector | Various Artists | 1 |
3.28 |
I do like Spector's wall of sound production style, I like some of the groups here, but I detest these Christmas songs. | ||||
350
Dec 25 2024 |
Shleep | Robert Wyatt | 3 |
2.55 |
Bit of a mixed bag, this album. I liked the first two tracks, but can take or leave many of the rest. I think this will repay more listening so I'll add it to my Qobuz favourites. | ||||
349
Dec 24 2024 |
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | Arctic Monkeys | 3 |
3.73 |
Well, this was a lively enough album, but to really be a fan you'd probably have to have been part of the big internet related publicity thing. And all credit to the band for how they managed all that. I didn't really notice any stand out tracks here. | ||||
348
Dec 23 2024 |
Arc Of A Diver | Steve Winwood | 2 |
2.89 |
So, considering what was going on in the post-punk era of the late 70s and the early 80s this is quite a dull and plodding album, and I don't think it has stood the test of time. It all seems a bit bland AOR. It's not offensive, but it comes across as a bit soul-less - maybe because it was all played by Winwood as overdubs. I liked the LP sleeve design. | ||||
347
Dec 22 2024 |
Survivor | Destiny's Child | 1 |
2.86 |
I really disliked the caterwauling vocals. | ||||
346
Dec 21 2024 |
Elephant | The White Stripes | 4 |
3.87 |
This is a great album, and one of a bunch of good albums, but is it White Stripes' best? It's very derivative of blues rock albums of the 60s and 70s, but I think the simplicity of the band makes this pretty great. | ||||
345
Dec 20 2024 |
Talking With the Taxman About Poetry | Billy Bragg | 4 |
2.95 |
Back in the day I found Billy Bragg a bit strident. Nowadays I like a bit of stridency. I am looking forward to playing this album. And after a couple of plays, this is an album I did enjoy. I'd say my preference is for the overtly political songs, and overall I did like the additional musicians compared to other 'solo' Bragg albums. | ||||
344
Dec 19 2024 |
Trio | Dolly Parton | 1 |
3.13 |
Yoicks! I don't care for country music, and I'm not a fan of any of these three ladies' music. | ||||
343
Dec 18 2024 |
The Gershwin Songbook | Ella Fitzgerald | 1 |
3.58 |
More than three hours of Ella Fitzgerald singing Gershwin! Frankly this isn't an album that I need to listen to, it's far too long. She's a great singer, but I I don't care hugely for these songs or the musical style. And did I mention this album is well over three hours long? This isn't really an album so much as a whole pile of Gershwin songs. | ||||
342
Dec 17 2024 |
The Dark Side Of The Moon | Pink Floyd | 5 |
4.42 |
This was the first album I ever bought! Back in 1977, as I was a late starter in getting interested in music, and I'd heard so much about this album when I was at school. Anyway, I think this was a bit of an achievement at the time, with its inclusion of field noises/found sound and the general assembly of songs into a coherent whole. To my modern ears it perhaps sounds a bit plodding, with (at times) clunky lyrics, but there's no mistaking this album for anything other than important. Unfortunately, touring this album to set the scene for quite a bit of introspective music later in Pink Floyd's career - I'm thinking of The Wall and beyond. | ||||
341
Dec 16 2024 |
Penthouse And Pavement | Heaven 17 | 5 |
2.62 |
This is a cracking album with excellently crafted synth-pop with judiciously added instrumentation and backing vocals - and with a political edge to it that caused the lead single to be banned by the BBC. The original vinyl finished with a lock groove - though I only have the album as a digital copy after my vinyl copy was lost in a burglary. I think most of the contemporary music critics would have backed Ware and Marsh (with new recruit Gregory) over the remaining members of The Human League but in fact both bands were very successful. |
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