The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project (aka Preachin’ about the Preachers if today’s selection sucks)

This has been a weird but fun week in the project.

Really enjoyed Jorge Ben (4 stars), although Sabu was not really my thing (yeah, congas is great but not "I'll listen to half an album of nothing but congas"-great). I can't really rate it either, as I just can't dechifre its quality.

I've never really gotten into Joni Mitchell, but I warmed up a lot to her with Court and Spark a while back. This album was even better though, with great storytelling and experimental but easily accessible song structures. 4 stars!

The third latin pick of the week, Elis Regina, was not really my thing. She has a beautiful voice, but I just can't relate at all to this kind of jazz. Hard to rate, but I'll give it 3 stars, as I can hear the quality here.

Fatboy Slim is one of the few electronic albums that I've actually listened to quite a lot, and still is a huge fan of. Seminal for the sound of the late 90s/early 00s. 4 stars.
 
Last edited:
Lee Newman said:
6/16/23
View attachment 175258

Fatboy Slim - You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby



www.allmusic.com

You've Come a Long Way, Baby - Fatboy Slim | A... | AllMusic

You've Come a Long Way, Baby by Fatboy Slim released in 1998. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com
Click to expand...

The first two tracks and 'Praise You' were all over the Radio and TV when they were released.

ALL OVER.

They're not terrible, but I am utterly sick of them now.

I have never heard the other tracks on this album.

Blimey, 'The Rockafeller Skank' does drag on a bit, doesn't it?!

Oh, I remember this one too, terrible.

Christ.

This one! I remember everything!

Did every single song from this record get a release?

Perhaps I have secretly listened to this album before?

I'm bored now, sorry.

2 / 5 stars.
 
I feel like You've Come A Long Way, Baby is music nerd music made by a music nerd. What's better is it makes your butt shake. Can't find fault with it, it does its job well. Unlike Dig Your Own Hole, the other Big Beat record we have reviewed, this one is not fatiguing in the home setting. It feels like an album, I'm not sure if that is because of the interstitial pieces, fades, better programing. I feel like it is a little of all. Like the Chems, Fatboy Slim came up doing dj sets, he applies that knowledge to his first two albums. The Chems never really got that their albums should flow until Surrender, which interestingly enough was after they released a dj style set mixtape (Brothers Gonna Work It Out). 5 stars
 
To add to the above, I think the Chems made better songs, Fatboy (at least initially) made better albums. One of the reasons I gravitated towards the ambient electronic stuff was because it played better at home (The Orb, Orbital, Aphex Twin). Dubtribe, Drum Club, and Fatboy really changed the way an album worked for electronic dance music and looked at it more like a rock band did. For the more sweat on the dancefloor stuff I've always been partial to mixtapes like the above mentioned Brothers Gonna Work It Out (which I think is superior to any of the Chems albums) or the United DJs of America or Urbal Mix series. Drum N Bass (especially Goldie and that whole Metalheadz crew) also had a more album like approach to their music sooner than later. One of the cool things about that Leftfield album was that it was all stuff they released as a single but they made it work as an album as well.
 
Last edited:
Lee Newman said:
list 2

69. 4/26/23 Tom Waits - Bone Machine (4.22 stars)
70. 4/27/23 Anita Baker - Rapture (2.33 stars)
71. 4/28/23 Gene Clark - No Other (3.33 stars)
72. 5/1/23 Roxy Music - Country Life (3 stars)
73. 5/2/23 Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson (3.29 stars)
74. 5/3/23 The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs (4 stars)
75. 5/4/23 The Icarus Line - Penance Soiree (2 stars)
76. 5/5/23 David Bowie - "Heroes" (3.67 stars)
77. 5/8/23 Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express (4.25 stars)
78. 5/9/23 The Fall - The Nation’s Saving Grace (2.83 stars)
79. 5/10/23 Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert (3.83 stars)
80. 5/11/23 Peter Tosh - Legalize It (3.4 stars)
81. 5/12/23 The Doors - The Doors (3.71 stars)
82. 5/15/23 Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again (3.25 stars)
83. 5/16/23 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (3.25 stars)
84. 5/17/23 k.d. lang - Ingenue (4 stars)
85. 5/18/23 Parliament - Mothership Connection (4.14 stars)
86. 5/19/23 Green Day - American Idiot (3.88 stars)
87. 5/22/23 Sarah Vaughan and Her Trio - Live at Mister Kelly's (4.43 stars)
88. 5/23/23 Moby - Play (3.5 stars)
89. 5/24/23 Radiohead - The Bends (5 stars)
90. 5/25/23 Thundercat - Drunk (3.14 stars)
91. 5/26/23 Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (4.2 stars)
92. 5/29/23 Air - Moon Safari (4.57 stars)
93. 5/30/23 AC/DC - Highway to Hell (3.38 stars)
94. 5/31/23 Genesis - Selling England by the Pound (2.71 stars)
95. 6/1/23 Ash - 1977 (2.57 stars)
96. 6/2/23 R.E.M. - Document (4.44 stars)
97. 6/5/23 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (3.67 stars)
98. 6/6/23 Robbie Williams - Life Through a Lens (1/5 stars)
99. 6/7/23 Bad Company - Bad Company (2.5 stars)
100. 6/8/23 Adam & the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier (2 stars)
101. 6/9/23 Radiohead - OK Computer (4.88 stars)
102. 6/12/23 Jorge Ben Jor - Africa Brasil
103. 6/13/23 Sabu - Palo Congo
Click to expand...
updated scores through 6.9.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
Their first Great album.
Click to expand...
Kinda agree, but I also agree with (the kinda weird 5 star) AllMusic review though. It has a few standout tracks, and some pretty anonymous blues rock stuff. Haven't listened to it in a while though, so will reassess after today's listen

EDIT: A bit of confusion though. Are we reviewing the UK or US version? I mean, we're talking two signficantly different experiences here!
 
Lee Newman said:
6/19/23
View attachment 175481
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath



www.allmusic.com

Aftermath - The Rolling Stones | Album | AllMusic

Aftermath by The Rolling Stones released in 1966. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com
Click to expand...

I can't say that I really know that much about The Rolling Stones to be honest. I obviously know that Keith Richards sold his soul somewhere along the line and will never ever die, and that Charlie Watts was a great drummer. One of 'em was a bit dodgy and married someone who was very young?

Ronnie Wood is in the band! He was in Faces!

'Paint It Black' was in that film about war...

...' Full Metal Jacket'!

I only know one more song on this record.

Outside their hits, there really isn't much to The Stones, is there?

It's just second rate blues/rock/pop, isn't it?!

The Beatles were definitely doing more interesting things than this lot.

1.5 / 5 stars.
 
dbarila said:
I've never really been able to get into the Rolling Stones. This album is a reminder of why. Some strong singles otherwise not terribly memorable. 2/5.
Click to expand...

Yeah bar the five album burst from Beggars Banquet to Goats Head Soup that’s a fair call. You wouldn’t be missing enormous amounts just owning the two hot rocks and honk. And that’s from someone who owns almost every stones album.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah bar the five album burst from Beggars Banquet to Goats Head Soup that’s a fair call. You wouldn’t be missing enormous amounts just owning the two hot rocks and honk. And that’s from someone who owns almost every stones album.
Click to expand...
I should give those proper listens. This might be the first RS album I've listened to in full. I didn't really get into the Beatles until like 5 years ago so there's still time for bands like this. This album just wasn't a good introduction. (I also don't really like Mick Jagger's voice over long periods of time)
 
dbarila said:
I should give those proper listens. This might be the first RS album I've listened to in full. I didn't really get into the Beatles until like 5 years ago so there's still time for bands like this. This album just wasn't a good introduction. (I also don't really like Mick Jagger's voice over long periods of time)
Click to expand...

For me, Exile on Main Street is the strongest. It has probably the most really strong “non single” tracks. It is long and sprawling at 18 tracks and 2LPs, but very little isn’t essential on it. It isn’t a beautiful recording, it’s raw and a bit dirty but then also, that’s the stones. Beggars Banquet is the strongest of the whole blues leaning stones stuff and has two all timer singles on it. Let it Bleed is a good one too and is a bit more varied style wise. Sticky Fingers is probably the second strongest of that run and then goats head soup is actually just a fun record with 2 or 3 stones classics on it.
 
Joe Mac said:
For me, Exile on Main Street is the strongest. It has probably the most really strong “non single” tracks. It is long and sprawling at 18 tracks and 2LPs, but very little isn’t essential on it. It isn’t a beautiful recording, it’s raw and a bit dirty but then also, that’s the stones. Beggars Banquet is the strongest of the whole blues leaning stones stuff and has two all timer singles on it. Let it Bleed is a good one too and is a bit more varied style wise. Sticky Fingers is probably the second strongest of that run and then goats head soup is actually just a fun record with 2 or 3 stones classics on it.
Click to expand...
I agree you for the most part. I think late 60s to early to mid 70s Stones is by far their peak and when compared with that Aftermath is a step down but when compared with their contemporaries, this record was better than most; it’s not Revolver or Pet Sounds or Blonde On Blonde buts it’s a cut above albums that The Who and The Kinks were releasing at the time.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I agree you for the most part. I think late 60s to early to mid 70s Stones is by far their peak and when compared with that Aftermath is a step down but when compared with their contemporaries, this record was better than most; it’s not Revolver or Pet Sounds or Blonde On Blonde buts it’s a cut above albums that The Who and The Kinks were releasing at the time.
Click to expand...

I’m not sure I agree. Face to Face is a similar quality album but in Sunny Afternoon, it’s lead single, is a level above anything on this one (even Paint It Black which was tacked onto the later US reorganised release). The Who were still a bit off getting going being still a relatively new act at this point, wouldn’t argue with them.

What I’d say is that this was an evolution in their songwriting from previous efforts but that they still weren’t there by a bit, it would take another 2 years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top