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

Lee Newman said:
list 1

2. 1/23/2023 A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (4.41 stars)
3. 1/24/2023 Miriam Makeba - Mariam Makeba (2.8 stars)
4. 1/25/2023 Wire - Pink Flag (3.71 stars)
5. 1/26/2023 Bob Marley & the Wailers - Exodus (3.44 stars)
6. 1/27/2023 Nick Drake - Pink Moon (4.29 stars)
7. 1/30/2023 The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (4.29 stars)
8. 1/31/2023 Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid (3.38 stars)
9. 2/1/2023 Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets (2.6 stars)
10. 2/2/2023 Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (3.88 stars)
11. 2/3/2023 Little Richard - Here's Little Richard (3.93 stars)
12. 2/6/2023 Songhoy Blues - Music in Exile (3.23 stars)
13. 2/7/2023 Fiona Apple - Tidal (4.41 stars)
14. 2/8/2023 Leftfield - Leftism (3.13 stars)
15. 2/9/2023 Love - Forever Changes (3.86 stars)
16. 2/10/2023 Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow (3.08 stars)
17. 2/13/2023 Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (4.23 stars)
18. 2/14/2023 Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (3.5 stars)
19. 2/15/2023 Van Halen - 1984 (2.94 stars)
20. 2/16/2023 Michael Jackson - Thriller (3.86 stars)
21. 2/17/2023 Jeru the Damaga - The Sun Rises in the East (3.17 stars)
22. 2/20/23 The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out (4.55 Stars)
23. 2/21/23 Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas (3.5 Stars)
24. 2/22/23 Ray Price - Night Life (3.57 Stars)
25. 2/23/23 PJ Harvey - Rid of Me (3.58 Stars)
26. 2/24/23 Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker (4.14 Stars)
27. 2/27/23 Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (3.25 Stars)
28. 2/28/23 Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn & Party - Devotional Songs (3.33 Stars)
29. 3/1/23 Slint - Spiderland (3.8 Stars)
30. 3/2/23 The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers (3.23 Stars)
31. 3/3/23 Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (2.5 stars)
32. 3/6/23 Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (4.07 stars)
33. 3/7/23 Sepultura - Arise (2.8 stars)
34. 3/8/23 The Cure - Seventeen Seconds (3.33 stars)
35. 3/9/23 Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul (4.67 stars)
36. 3/10/23 Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka (3.93 stars)
37. 3/13/23 Maxwell - Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (3.42 stars)
38. 3/14/23 Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies (2.5 stars)
39. 3/15/23 Circle Jerks - Group Sex (3 Stars)
40. 3/16/23 Garbage - Garbage (3.36 Stars)
41. 3/17/23 Portishead - Dummy (4.31 Stars)
42. 3/20/23 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps (4.45 stars)
43. 3/21/23 The Divine Comedy - Casanova (1.6 stars)
44. 3/22/23 Faith No More - The Real Thing (3.5 stars)
45. 3/23/23 Willie Colon & Ruben Blades - Siembra (3.27 stars)
46. 3/24/23 Jay-Z - The Blueprint (4.11 stars)
47. 3/27/23 Machito - Kenya (2.86 stars)
48. 3/28/23 Arcade Fire - Funeral (4 stars)
49. 3/29/23 The Beatles - Rubber Soul (4.38 stars)
50. 3/30/23 Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll (2.5 stars)
51. 3/31/23 Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark (4.44 stars)
52. 4/3/23 The Chemical Brothers - Dig You Own Hole (3.18 stars)
Click to expand...
scores updated, directories will be in a minute...
 
Lee Newman said:
Directory:
Albums 1-53
Albums 53-
Click to expand...

Lee Newman said:
list 2
53. 4/4/23 Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures of an Exhibition (2.33 stars)
54. 4/5/23 LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out (2.67 stars)
55. 4/6/23 Chic - Risqué (2.38 stars)
56. 4/7/23 Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen (4.57 stars)
57. 4/10/23 Television - Marquee Moon
58. 4/11/23 Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
59. 4/12/23 AC/DC - Back in Black
60. 4/13/23 Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
61. 4/14/23 New York Dolls - New York Dolls
Click to expand...
lists and directories updated, scores updated through last friday.

As of right now, lowest score belongs to Casanova, Aretha still reigns at top.
 
Lee Newman said:
4/14/2023
ab67616d0000b273802255bd535533c0e2ba5ad2

New York Dolls - New York Dolls



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

New York Dolls - New York Dolls | Album | AllMusic

New York Dolls by New York Dolls released in 1973. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...

I never really got into the New York Dolls, they weren't really my thing.

They're not very good, are they?

Shite.

1 / 5 stars.

[edit] Could be more constructive, it just sounds so dated and derivative. I am willing to upgrade from shite to rubbish.
 
Last edited:
Lee Newman said:
4/13/2023
ab67616d0000b27338906032688bb13b135ce19a

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 - Aphex Twin | Album | AllMusic

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin released in 1992. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...

I like what I'm hearing but it's not a good album for a Friday morning at work. It's just a little to relaxing. Should have waited until I finished my coffee.
 
Lee Newman said:
4/12/23
ab67616d0000b2730b51f8d91f3a21e8426361ae

AC/DC - Back in Black



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

Back in Black - AC/DC | Album | AllMusic

Back in Black by AC/DC released in 1980. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...


It's an AC/DC album. It sounds like an AC/DC album. You know what you're getting into and you get just that. As I've said before, they're not a band I reach for, but not one I shut off either. For me, they are one of those artists I could go through their entire catalogue and make one very enjoyable compilation that would score a whole extra point in ranking above any of their albums but this damn near the definition of a 2.5/5 for me.
 
Lee Newman said:
4/14/2023
ab67616d0000b273802255bd535533c0e2ba5ad2

New York Dolls - New York Dolls



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

New York Dolls - New York Dolls | Album | AllMusic

New York Dolls by New York Dolls released in 1973. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...


I'd never listened to New York Dolls before today, or at least I thought I hadn't - but I've definitely heard "Personality Crisis" along the way somewhere. More than a couple of times, I'd say. Either way, this is definitely my jam. I'll be spending much more time with it for sure. 4/5 for now but likely to go up in time, I'm sure.
 
Lee Newman said:
4/14/2023
ab67616d0000b273802255bd535533c0e2ba5ad2

New York Dolls - New York Dolls



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

New York Dolls - New York Dolls | Album | AllMusic

New York Dolls by New York Dolls released in 1973. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...

In college I went through and listened to their stuff, but not since. It was interesting to revisit. I enjoy it but don't see me reaching for it. 3/5
 
Lee Newman said:
4/14/2023
ab67616d0000b273802255bd535533c0e2ba5ad2

New York Dolls - New York Dolls



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

New York Dolls - New York Dolls | Album | AllMusic

New York Dolls by New York Dolls released in 1973. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...

I wish I'd had some more time to really think about this, but I've been busy finishing the kitchen remodel.

It would have been interesting to have been around in '73 (I mean I was around, but I don't think my parents were listening to the New York Dolls ever, much less subjecting their 4 month old to it) when this burst on the scene. It must have seemed like Ziggy Stardust had decided to do a cover of Exile on Main Street. The British Invasion had taken rock n roll and spit back classic rock in the gutters and in sequins. Here was the sequins in the gutter. It's a bizarre coincidence to me that Rocky Horror Picture Show was being birthed around the same time as the band. The summer of 73 must have seemed like the summer of trans... too bad some 50 years later we're seeing the country push it back into the closet.

The movie (and I assume the stage version it is based on) would be campy escapism. There is camp here, but there is also a reality of being young in the city. Being different. Being ready to take on everything. This was the youth taking back the music and telling their stories, even when they were doing a cover. And I don't think it is any small wonder that they chose Didley:

She gave me pills for my heart
To put me at ease
The rock n' roll nurse
Shook me dead to my knees

Pay homage to the elders, but you know, make it your own.

"Frankenstein" plays like a call to arms:

Something must have happened over Manhattan
Who can expound all the children this time
Did they ever, could they ever
Expect such a Frankenstein, a Frankenstein

Begging for an answer to the question, "Is it a crime for you to fall in love with Frankenstein?" The band is just trying to make sense of it all.

But now your tryin' to be some, now you got to do some
Wanna be someone who cow wow wows
But you thinkin' about the times you did, they took every ounce

Johansen wails in "Personality Crisis" which seems to be a state of the union for the band.

All of this is done with an energy and a swagger that seems much too elevated for a mere debut album, it's easy to see why this one has lots of accolades even if its hard to see on the surface how the Ramones were birthed from this... The Ramones merely took all the raw energy here and funneled it into bubblegum pop for the disenchanted. This music is still struggling with its forebears... not reacting to prog... but trying to understand how to emote through the filters of Bowie and Bolan's flash and Jagger's style. And it rocks hard, you can feel the sweat hit you from flips of all that hair. You can almost hear Johansen's spit hitting the microphone as Sylvain and Thunders abuse their guitars.

I seen em travelin
Right on the
Subway Train
Ya can hear th captain shou-ow-tin
He thinks weve all gone insane

And if all of that isn't enough for you, you can the birth the Clash in "Private World".

Glam had never been so gritty and I don't really think it has happened since. This was and still is something.

4 stars
 
recently, I listened to All Mod Cons (and the Jam - to my knowledge) for the first time, this is what I said about it:
Lee Newman said:
Still slowly making my way through the Rolling Stone list. Listened to the Jam - All Mod Cons today. I don't think I had ever heard the Jam before today. The start was very The Who and The Kinks and then it slowly became more of its own thing. I very much enjoyed it. One of the better albums on this journey so far and one I look forward to revisiting.
Click to expand...
Up to Dream Time now and it's the first time they seem to be on their own thing, but it still has a Bowie edge to it. It's his singing, both his enunciation and his cadence. The music is there often too.
 
Lee Newman said:
I wish I'd had some more time to really think about this, but I've been busy finishing the kitchen remodel.

It would have been interesting to have been around in '73 (I mean I was around, but I don't think my parents were listening to the New York Dolls ever, much less subjecting their 4 month old to it) when this burst on the scene. It must have seemed like Ziggy Stardust had decided to do a cover of Exile on Main Street. The British Invasion had taken rock n roll and spit back classic rock in the gutters and in sequins. Here was the sequins in the gutter. It's a bizarre coincidence to me that Rocky Horror Picture Show was being birthed around the same time as the band. The summer of 73 must have seemed like the summer of trans... too bad some 50 years later we're seeing the country push it back into the closet.

The movie (and I assume the stage version it is based on) would be campy escapism. There is camp here, but there is also a reality of being young in the city. Being different. Being ready to take on everything. This was the youth taking back the music and telling their stories, even when they were doing a cover. And I don't think it is any small wonder that they chose Didley:

She gave me pills for my heart
To put me at ease
The rock n' roll nurse
Shook me dead to my knees

Pay homage to the elders, but you know, make it your own.

"Frankenstein" plays like a call to arms:

Something must have happened over Manhattan
Who can expound all the children this time
Did they ever, could they ever
Expect such a Frankenstein, a Frankenstein

Begging for an answer to the question, "Is it a crime for you to fall in love with Frankenstein?" The band is just trying to make sense of it all.

But now your tryin' to be some, now you got to do some
Wanna be someone who cow wow wows
But you thinkin' about the times you did, they took every ounce

Johansen wails in "Personality Crisis" which seems to be a state of the union for the band.

All of this is done with an energy and a swagger that seems much too elevated for a mere debut album, it's easy to see why this one has lots of accolades even if its hard to see on the surface how the Ramones were birthed from this... The Ramones merely took all the raw energy here and funneled it into bubblegum pop for the disenchanted. This music is still struggling with its forebears... not reacting to prog... but trying to understand how to emote through the filters of Bowie and Bolan's flash and Jagger's style. And it rocks hard, you can feel the sweat hit you from flips of all that hair. You can almost hear Johansen's spit hitting the microphone as Sylvain and Thunders abuse their guitars.

I seen em travelin
Right on the
Subway Train
Ya can hear th captain shou-ow-tin
He thinks weve all gone insane

And if all of that isn't enough for you, you can the birth the Clash in "Private World".

Glam had never been so gritty and I don't really think it has happened since. This was and still is something.

4 stars
Click to expand...
It's funny, I was trying to find where I had listened to All Mod Cons and noticed in the other thread, I had given this a five. I think that's mostly due to an evolution in my scoring. I, somewhere along the way, decided that I couldn't give something a five the first time I listened to it. I mostly stand by that. This could easily be a five a few years and 20 or 30 listens down the road. It is one of the ones that I don't have that I would very much like to get on vinyl.
 
Sound Affects is definitely peak-Jam in my opinion. At this point in his short career, Weller could do no wrong. Not sure about the Bowie @Lee Newman talks about, but this album is heavily indebted to The Kinks which is a band that heavily influenced Bowie as well.

When I rank The Jam albums, usually Sound Affects and Setting Sons are 1-2, but the order can reverse easily.

Edit - I was doing a Discogs random play and Sound Affects came up. This album is a good solid 4/5 for me
 
Last edited:
Lee Newman said:
4/17/23
ab67616d0000b27304e7372b26d27803779696f4

The Jam - Sound Affects



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

Sound Affects - The Jam | Album | AllMusic

Sound Affects by The Jam released in 1980. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...

Excellent record, I love how far forward they push the bass guitar in the mix.

Bruce Foxton is an awesome bass player.

Brilliantly crafted songs.

4 / 5 stars.
 
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