The 1001 Album Generator Project Thread
- Thread starter Nee Lewman
- Start date
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Albums Rated
100Favorite Albums
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Prince - 1999
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
Worst Albums
Morrisey - Vauxhall and IDion - Born To Be With You
The Fall - The Infotainment Scan
Richard Howley - Coles Corner
The Carpenters - Close To You
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Day 101
I've been meaning to do an R.E.M. dive for a while now, so this is perfect! In high school, I had Out of Time and Automatic for the People and was reasonably familiar with Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi - I kinda lost the plot after Up, and never really dove too deeply into their earlier stuff because, pre-internet. A friend of mine got Life's Rich Pageant on cassette shortly after "Losing My Religion" blew up the world and I heard it a couple of times, but never got deeply familiar with it.
Preamble behind us, this is a fucking great album! I was familiar with the big two singles, of course, but from start to finish this is just fantastic. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" may be overplayed and joked about too often, but it's just a beastly good tune. I think the final two songs are my favourite, but I feel like my favourites may dance around this album with every listen.
Also, I don't know how it took me this long in my life to make the connection that R.E.M. and The Tragically Hip are like poetry rock cousins. It definitely would have been interesting to have Stipe and Downie collaborate. 5/5
I've been meaning to do an R.E.M. dive for a while now, so this is perfect! In high school, I had Out of Time and Automatic for the People and was reasonably familiar with Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi - I kinda lost the plot after Up, and never really dove too deeply into their earlier stuff because, pre-internet. A friend of mine got Life's Rich Pageant on cassette shortly after "Losing My Religion" blew up the world and I heard it a couple of times, but never got deeply familiar with it.
Preamble behind us, this is a fucking great album! I was familiar with the big two singles, of course, but from start to finish this is just fantastic. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" may be overplayed and joked about too often, but it's just a beastly good tune. I think the final two songs are my favourite, but I feel like my favourites may dance around this album with every listen.
Also, I don't know how it took me this long in my life to make the connection that R.E.M. and The Tragically Hip are like poetry rock cousins. It definitely would have been interesting to have Stipe and Downie collaborate. 5/5
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Day 102
This delay has been less about not having time and more about finding the right time to revisit this...
It's been damn near 20 years since I listened to this, which is particularly wild when considering the fact that it was probably the most anticipated album of my teenage years/early 20s. Thanks to the internet and RealPlayer I heard the Slim Shady EP right around the time Em got signed by Dre - nobody in my suburban corner of Canada had any idea what was coming yet, but I was all in. Hell, for about six months, thanks to either Tripod or Geocities, I hosted one of the first few Eminem fansites on the internet - scouring for any tidbits I could find and present. When The Slim Shady LP finally dropped, it was everything I hoped for and more (almost too much more with how ubiquitous "My Name Is" became so quickly!) Nineteen-year-old me could not get enough.
Now 43-year-old me is revisiting it for the first time in a couple of decades and, honestly, I still think it's absolutely brilliant. I have much less of an interest in extreme shock value these days and a far lower threshold for some of the homophobic and misogynistic language used herein but I can't deny the genius at work here. The album is brilliantly crafted and Eminem's emcee skills are absolutely undeniable over and above the shock value of the content; his flows, lyrics, and ability to work a persona were near completely unparalleled at the time. The material from The Slim Shady EP was already proven to anybody who heard it, and the new tunes continued to take the Slim Shady persona to the next level, which garnered exactly the kinds of reactions one would expect when working shock and spectacle so hard - particularly when playing a persona that blurs the line between real and imaginary.
Probably the most controversial track on the album was also my greatest disappointment with the album... "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" finds Eminem on an imaginary road trip with his infant daughter Hailie to dispose of her mother's corpse. The song was re-recorded from its original version on the EP (there called "Just the Two of Us") with a new beat and the addition of the real Hailie's voice. The inclusion of Hailie's voice unsurprisingly angered her mother and made the world at large even more uncomfortable with an already unsettling song - a lightning rod for those railing against the album upon release. My personal upset with the song didn't stem from discomfort around violence against women since I could stomach it as the gross twisted fantasy that it was (having long since experienced my own horror stories with the mother of one of my children, I feel like I understand the need for a catharsis like this even more than I ever did back then - even if my current desire to listen to something like this is quite minimal) - I was far more upset about the fact that the new beat was dark and ominous, which gave away the song too soon. The original had a very happy beat that made the deeply dark lyrics hit even harder.
I fell off the Eminem train around the release of The Eminem Show. His first couple of major releases really hit right for where I was at in life, but I became far less interested shortly thereafter. I've remained a believer that Eminem is a top-tier emcee, whether I'm interested in listening to him or not. In particular, I think he was the absolute best at background adlibs on his studio albums - so often those are some of the more genius moments in his songs. I think Eminem outdid himself on The Marshall Mathers LP, which is a pretty stellar feat after having blown up so big with this one. I really doubt I'll revisit this one very often outside of projects like this or an occasional burst of nostalgia, but I still think it's an incredible album even if I'm not so interested these days. I'm pretty glad I got to spend some time with it today. 4.5/5 (round up)
This delay has been less about not having time and more about finding the right time to revisit this...
It's been damn near 20 years since I listened to this, which is particularly wild when considering the fact that it was probably the most anticipated album of my teenage years/early 20s. Thanks to the internet and RealPlayer I heard the Slim Shady EP right around the time Em got signed by Dre - nobody in my suburban corner of Canada had any idea what was coming yet, but I was all in. Hell, for about six months, thanks to either Tripod or Geocities, I hosted one of the first few Eminem fansites on the internet - scouring for any tidbits I could find and present. When The Slim Shady LP finally dropped, it was everything I hoped for and more (almost too much more with how ubiquitous "My Name Is" became so quickly!) Nineteen-year-old me could not get enough.
Now 43-year-old me is revisiting it for the first time in a couple of decades and, honestly, I still think it's absolutely brilliant. I have much less of an interest in extreme shock value these days and a far lower threshold for some of the homophobic and misogynistic language used herein but I can't deny the genius at work here. The album is brilliantly crafted and Eminem's emcee skills are absolutely undeniable over and above the shock value of the content; his flows, lyrics, and ability to work a persona were near completely unparalleled at the time. The material from The Slim Shady EP was already proven to anybody who heard it, and the new tunes continued to take the Slim Shady persona to the next level, which garnered exactly the kinds of reactions one would expect when working shock and spectacle so hard - particularly when playing a persona that blurs the line between real and imaginary.
Probably the most controversial track on the album was also my greatest disappointment with the album... "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" finds Eminem on an imaginary road trip with his infant daughter Hailie to dispose of her mother's corpse. The song was re-recorded from its original version on the EP (there called "Just the Two of Us") with a new beat and the addition of the real Hailie's voice. The inclusion of Hailie's voice unsurprisingly angered her mother and made the world at large even more uncomfortable with an already unsettling song - a lightning rod for those railing against the album upon release. My personal upset with the song didn't stem from discomfort around violence against women since I could stomach it as the gross twisted fantasy that it was (having long since experienced my own horror stories with the mother of one of my children, I feel like I understand the need for a catharsis like this even more than I ever did back then - even if my current desire to listen to something like this is quite minimal) - I was far more upset about the fact that the new beat was dark and ominous, which gave away the song too soon. The original had a very happy beat that made the deeply dark lyrics hit even harder.
I fell off the Eminem train around the release of The Eminem Show. His first couple of major releases really hit right for where I was at in life, but I became far less interested shortly thereafter. I've remained a believer that Eminem is a top-tier emcee, whether I'm interested in listening to him or not. In particular, I think he was the absolute best at background adlibs on his studio albums - so often those are some of the more genius moments in his songs. I think Eminem outdid himself on The Marshall Mathers LP, which is a pretty stellar feat after having blown up so big with this one. I really doubt I'll revisit this one very often outside of projects like this or an occasional burst of nostalgia, but I still think it's an incredible album even if I'm not so interested these days. I'm pretty glad I got to spend some time with it today. 4.5/5 (round up)
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Eminem was too popular with kids my age growing up. I always loved Dr Dre’s production but never felt the need to own any of his albums mainly because literally every other kid my age owned his albums and played them constantly.Day 102
This delay has been less about not having time and more about finding the right time to revisit this...
It's been damn near 20 years since I listened to this, which is particularly wild when considering the fact that it was probably the most anticipated album of my teenage years/early 20s. Thanks to the internet and RealPlayer I heard the Slim Shady EP right around the time Em got signed by Dre - nobody in my suburban corner of Canada had any idea what was coming yet, but I was all in. Hell, for about six months, thanks to either Tripod or Geocities, I hosted one of the first few Eminem fansites on the internet - scouring for any tidbits I could find and present. When The Slim Shady LP finally dropped, it was everything I hoped for and more (almost too much more with how ubiquitous "My Name Is" became so quickly!) Nineteen-year-old me could not get enough.
Now 43-year-old me is revisiting it for the first time in a couple of decades and, honestly, I still think it's absolutely brilliant. I have much less of an interest in extreme shock value these days and a far lower threshold for some of the homophobic and misogynistic language used herein but I can't deny the genius at work here. The album is brilliantly crafted and Eminem's emcee skills are absolutely undeniable over and above the shock value of the content; his flows, lyrics, and ability to work a persona were near completely unparalleled at the time. The material from The Slim Shady EP was already proven to anybody who heard it, and the new tunes continued to take the Slim Shady persona to the next level, which garnered exactly the kinds of reactions one would expect when working shock and spectacle so hard - particularly when playing a persona that blurs the line between real and imaginary.
Probably the most controversial track on the album was also my greatest disappointment with the album... "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" finds Eminem on an imaginary road trip with his infant daughter Hailie to dispose of her mother's corpse. The song was re-recorded from its original version on the EP (there called "Just the Two of Us") with a new beat and the addition of the real Hailie's voice. The inclusion of Hailie's voice unsurprisingly angered her mother and made the world at large even more uncomfortable with an already unsettling song - a lightning rod for those railing against the album upon release. My personal upset with the song didn't stem from discomfort around violence against women since I could stomach it as the gross twisted fantasy that it was (having long since experienced my own horror stories with the mother of one of my children, I feel like I understand the need for a catharsis like this even more than I ever did back then - even if my current desire to listen to something like this is quite minimal) - I was far more upset about the fact that the new beat was dark and ominous, which gave away the song too soon. The original had a very happy beat that made the deeply dark lyrics hit even harder.
I fell off the Eminem train around the release of The Eminem Show. His first couple of major releases really hit right for where I was at in life, but I became far less interested shortly thereafter. I've remained a believer that Eminem is a top-tier emcee, whether I'm interested in listening to him or not. In particular, I think he was the absolute best at background adlibs on his studio albums - so often those are some of the more genius moments in his songs. I think Eminem outdid himself on The Marshall Mathers LP, which is a pretty stellar feat after having blown up so big with this one. I really doubt I'll revisit this one very often outside of projects like this or an occasional burst of nostalgia, but I still think it's an incredible album even if I'm not so interested these days. I'm pretty glad I got to spend some time with it today. 4.5/5 (round up)
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Pretty much the only "I liked______ before they were cool" moment I ever had in my life. I somewhat resented his blow-up for the fact that suddenly all these people were huge fans that hadn't spent the previous 9 months scouring the internet for any snippet or verse possible. I worked at HMV at the time and was always checking our system for any imports I could bring in that featured him on a guest verse - which is how I came into The Green and Gold EP by The Anonymous (formerly Moonshine) which is still one of my favourite 90s Cali underground releases.
I generally don't love the "I liked______ before they were cool" attitude. At all. But I can own the fact that I've been just as guilty at least once!
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Yeah, you earned that cred, that was pre-Napter/YouTube so it took effort to find MP3s or Real Audio clips on the 56K modem back then.
The first time I recall seeing Em mentioned was on an MTV News story about the reemergence of White Rappers, since pre-Eminem, the only reputable white rappers were the Beastie Boys. Vanilla Ice had destroyed any cred that white rappers had. It took a decade for reputable white rappers to start being taken seriously as artists. After that news story I started notice him popping up in Rolling Stone and Spin, him being signed to Dre’s label really help him get publicity early on; but once “My Name Is” dropped he just exploded.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
...and El-P!! But he was much more underground then than he has been for the past decade or so.
...and there's been a bunch since who've tried to destroy that cred too!
(see: Kid Rock, Machine Gun Kelly, Macklemore, Jack Harlow and SO many more)
CrazyDiamond84
Well-Known Member
Whenever I think I don't like Eminem much anymore, I go back to certain songs like 'Still Don't Give a Fuck' and remember how mind blowing he really was back in the day. I don't think I could ever take him off my top 5.Day 102
This delay has been less about not having time and more about finding the right time to revisit this...
It's been damn near 20 years since I listened to this, which is particularly wild when considering the fact that it was probably the most anticipated album of my teenage years/early 20s. Thanks to the internet and RealPlayer I heard the Slim Shady EP right around the time Em got signed by Dre - nobody in my suburban corner of Canada had any idea what was coming yet, but I was all in. Hell, for about six months, thanks to either Tripod or Geocities, I hosted one of the first few Eminem fansites on the internet - scouring for any tidbits I could find and present. When The Slim Shady LP finally dropped, it was everything I hoped for and more (almost too much more with how ubiquitous "My Name Is" became so quickly!) Nineteen-year-old me could not get enough.
Now 43-year-old me is revisiting it for the first time in a couple of decades and, honestly, I still think it's absolutely brilliant. I have much less of an interest in extreme shock value these days and a far lower threshold for some of the homophobic and misogynistic language used herein but I can't deny the genius at work here. The album is brilliantly crafted and Eminem's emcee skills are absolutely undeniable over and above the shock value of the content; his flows, lyrics, and ability to work a persona were near completely unparalleled at the time. The material from The Slim Shady EP was already proven to anybody who heard it, and the new tunes continued to take the Slim Shady persona to the next level, which garnered exactly the kinds of reactions one would expect when working shock and spectacle so hard - particularly when playing a persona that blurs the line between real and imaginary.
Probably the most controversial track on the album was also my greatest disappointment with the album... "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" finds Eminem on an imaginary road trip with his infant daughter Hailie to dispose of her mother's corpse. The song was re-recorded from its original version on the EP (there called "Just the Two of Us") with a new beat and the addition of the real Hailie's voice. The inclusion of Hailie's voice unsurprisingly angered her mother and made the world at large even more uncomfortable with an already unsettling song - a lightning rod for those railing against the album upon release. My personal upset with the song didn't stem from discomfort around violence against women since I could stomach it as the gross twisted fantasy that it was (having long since experienced my own horror stories with the mother of one of my children, I feel like I understand the need for a catharsis like this even more than I ever did back then - even if my current desire to listen to something like this is quite minimal) - I was far more upset about the fact that the new beat was dark and ominous, which gave away the song too soon. The original had a very happy beat that made the deeply dark lyrics hit even harder.
I fell off the Eminem train around the release of The Eminem Show. His first couple of major releases really hit right for where I was at in life, but I became far less interested shortly thereafter. I've remained a believer that Eminem is a top-tier emcee, whether I'm interested in listening to him or not. In particular, I think he was the absolute best at background adlibs on his studio albums - so often those are some of the more genius moments in his songs. I think Eminem outdid himself on The Marshall Mathers LP, which is a pretty stellar feat after having blown up so big with this one. I really doubt I'll revisit this one very often outside of projects like this or an occasional burst of nostalgia, but I still think it's an incredible album even if I'm not so interested these days. I'm pretty glad I got to spend some time with it today. 4.5/5 (round up)
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I wish I was cool enough to know about Company Flow back in the 90s.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Day 103
A beloved album that I've tried a few times now to come around to (the attempts have typically been 5-10 years apart) and I just can't get into it the way so many do. I feel like I can academically understand why it is so beloved and how groundbreaking it was but in the end, I'm just not feeling it. Sorry, @TenderLovingKiller®! I do love "Sloop John B" though. 2.5/5
A beloved album that I've tried a few times now to come around to (the attempts have typically been 5-10 years apart) and I just can't get into it the way so many do. I feel like I can academically understand why it is so beloved and how groundbreaking it was but in the end, I'm just not feeling it. Sorry, @TenderLovingKiller®! I do love "Sloop John B" though. 2.5/5
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
I think Eminem is a great rapper. I mostly don’t care about what he raps about.
)
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Day 106
This album came into my world because Saul Williams toured with The Mars Volta and I was thoroughly obsessed with anything he touched or orbited at the time. This sonic bombardment was nothing like I had heard before, but I loved it. And still do. I've never gone too deep on the rest of their catalog (or even heard half their albums at all, I think) but this is an album I come back to frequently - especially when I have the opportunity to play it very loud. 5/5
This album came into my world because Saul Williams toured with The Mars Volta and I was thoroughly obsessed with anything he touched or orbited at the time. This sonic bombardment was nothing like I had heard before, but I loved it. And still do. I've never gone too deep on the rest of their catalog (or even heard half their albums at all, I think) but this is an album I come back to frequently - especially when I have the opportunity to play it very loud. 5/5
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
Obligatory “which one is?” post.Day 105
5/5
Absolutely unparalleled, and not even Prince's best album.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
I'm currently of the belief that 1999 is his best, Sign 'O' the TImes is his Prince-y-est, and Around the World in a Day is my favourite.
Purple Rain would be #2 on the "best" list for me. Dirty Mind would be #2 on the "favourite" list.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
I’m a Love Symbol man myself. Princiest. Lol. I’d give that to Rainbow Children - brilliant, divisive, and self contradictory. Love Symbol is also my favorite.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
#2 is all the rest.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
And, of course, The Time's debut is Prince's best non-Prince album.