The 1001 Album Generator Project Thread

Should we do a group project


  • Total voters
    22
  • Poll closed .
Unless one of the last three songs is some brilliant outlier, I don’t see how I would have come upon this on my own or why I would listen to it again outside of the project. It’s nice enough, but not super compelling. I have similar music in a big chunk of The Kinks catalog. And you know some Oasis cds. I’d also probably reach for about before this. I guess it’s emo outlook is different but I don’t necessarily need downer music any more.

2 stars
 
. that this came out in 1993 amid the grunge wave and still found an audience that rated it so highly is pretty impressive.

The British music scene in the early 90s was way way different to the American. Whilst the world was connected pre internet it also just wasn’t in the same way. Yes grunge did come across and yes Nirvana were huge but it wasn’t a cultural force in the same way. 1993 was around the time that blur came back off an extended tour in America and reacted to grunge by writing and releasing releasing the Kinks inspired ultra British “Modern Life Is Rubbish” and Noel Gallagher heard that the working title of the next Nirvana album was “I Hate Myself and I Want To Die” and thought fuck that and wrote Live Forever that came out the following year. The La’s, The Stone Roses and Suede had also wrote albums pointing towards this direction in the previous 3/4 years.

In that context Wild Wood came out right on the cusp of the next movement in British music and Paul Weller was kind of seen as this sorta older mod leader of it all.

Personally I always found that even the best of solo Weller was always beautifully put together and recorded but that it could also be a bit boring beyond the hits. I have the Best Of for this era and that is just about enough.
 
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29/1001
David Bowie - Young Americans

220px-Young_americans.jpg

OK, I get that this is not one of Bowie's exemplary works. Despite that, I couldn't help but enjoy a majority of the LP. Soul and funk is a different angle for Bowie, and some of it doesn't quite work out ("Can You Hear Me" and "Right" were fairly average inclusions), with the backup vocals throughout the LP being a question mark. Bowie himself assessed it as “Plastic Soul,” and his assessment is mostly correct. In most senses, this album is a poor interpretation of American soul music.
Needless to say, the title track is a fun intro, "Across the Universe" is a quality cover, and "Fame" still goes hard. I would return to this, despite enjoying it probably more than I should given Bowie's labeling of his own work.

Personal highlights: "Young Americans," "Fascination," "Fame"
Rating: 3.5/5 [Great]
 
Court and Spark was an easier sit than I expected but it still ultimately reinforces to me that Joni Mitchell isn't an artist I really gravitate to. I acknowledge she's very talented and influential and that this isn't a bad album. However in terms of my own personal enjoyment I don't think I can give this any higher than a 3. I will say that I particularly liked Free Man in Paris, Car on a Hill and Raised on Robbery (unsurprisingly three of the more uptempo cuts) but my feelings on the record as a whole reflect my feelings on its artist; good, but not for me. I'm sure this won't be the last Mitchell album on the list, so maybe we can hope that the next one is the one that makes me see the light.
 
29/1001
David Bowie - Young Americans

220px-Young_americans.jpg

OK, I get that this is not one of Bowie's exemplary works. Despite that, I couldn't help but enjoy a majority of the LP. Soul and funk is a different angle for Bowie, and some of it doesn't quite work out ("Can You Hear Me" and "Right" were fairly average inclusions), with the backup vocals throughout the LP being a question mark. Bowie himself assessed it as “Plastic Soul,” and his assessment is mostly correct. In most senses, this album is a poor interpretation of American soul music.
Needless to say, the title track is a fun intro, "Across the Universe" is a quality cover, and "Fame" still goes hard. I would return to this, despite enjoying it probably more than I should given Bowie's labeling of his own work.

Personal highlights: "Young Americans," "Fascination," "Fame"
Rating: 3.5/5 [Great]
This isn't one of Bowie's exemplary works???
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Don't know anything about this one.

View attachment 167074

I’m expecting you to hate it. Really hate it…

I like it, it’s fun. Shaun Ryder is a massively underrated lyricist.
Don't hate it. Really quite like it, although it will certainly benefit from multiple listens. I love what's happening musically on most of the tracks, but was surprised by the vocals. It seems like a bunch of britpop was influenced or flat out stole his singing style on a few of these tracks, while on others he has an almost punk sound to his style. It's more fun and varied than a lot of britpop although I realize this does not fit that categorization and was fundamental in creating the Madchester sound. Each track brought something unexpected and close listening was rewarded when I revisited it this evening instead of my superficial listen this morning. I'll definitely come back to it. 4/5

Edit: Forgot to mention, this is now the second album with random seagull noises on it.
 
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4442b942250a8439e1195308f6d692ab77b78ad6


this gets a star for sex dwarf alone. but really this album is a bit too much of the same thing. it's a fun listen but i'm not sure i'd call the whole album must-hear given its repetitiveness. that said, while tainted love is the classic, of course, there are better original songs on here like bedsitter, seedy films, and, yes, sex dwarf that are worthy of repeated listens.
 
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Beatie Boys - Paul's Boutique

Might have some notes later, but this is an alltime favorite. 5 Stars
I always expect this to sound dated (the first album too) but it never does. IT's so damn good. A blueprint of what was to come with a healthy dose of the young silly Beasties. The Dust Brothers never really reached this echelon again while the Beasties went on to make two more masterpieces.
 
30/1001
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

220px-Bitches_brew.jpg

An all timer. Maybe the best jazz fusion record ever? It's a daunting 1hr 34min for the uninitiated, and not one I'd recommend when sliding headfirst into jazz, but it is a labyrinth of wonder.

Personal highlights: "Pharaoh's Dance," "Spanish Key," "Sanctuary" but really no missteps at all.
Rating: 5/5 [Masterpiece]
 
30/1001
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

220px-Bitches_brew.jpg

An all timer. Maybe the best jazz fusion record ever? It's a daunting 1hr 34min for the uninitiated, and not one I'd recommend when sliding headfirst into jazz, but it is a labyrinth of wonder.

Personal highlights: "Pharaoh's Dance," "Spanish Key," "Sanctuary" but really no missteps at all.
Rating: 5/5 [Masterpiece]
This is my least favorite of Miles' "big" albums and my least favorite of his fusion period. I actually enjoy the stuff here better in the live recordings that exist. I'd much rather listen to Big Fun or Get Up WIth It. Give me Black Beauty over all of them though. Live Evil too.
 
I will say that Macero's work on Bitches Brew is amazing. The only other time I can think of things being that much of a patchwork quilt and not noticeable is Ramone's work on Billy Joel's The Stranger. (Another album that I should but don't hold in the esteem of its fans) Otherwise, there are usually tell tale signs to a splice. It is a lot easier for McCraven to do what he does today with software than it was for them with tape.
 
Don't hate it. Really quite like it, although it will certainly benefit from multiple listens. I love what's happening musically on most of the tracks, but was surprised by the vocals. It seems like a bunch of britpop was influenced or flat out stole his singing style on a few of these tracks, while on others he has an almost punk sound to his style. It's more fun and varied than a lot of britpop although I realize this does not fit that categorization and was fundamental in creating the Madchester sound. Each track brought something unexpected and close listening was rewarded when I revisited it this evening instead of my superficial listen this morning. I'll definitely come back to it. 4/5

Edit: Forgot to mention, this is now the second album with random seagull noises on it.

Sorry! I’m less surprised you like it.

From a distance in small on a phone you and Lees little pictures look very similar and I was thinking it was Lee that got the Mondays. I was anticipating there maybe being antithetical Coral-esque incident…
 
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