The second Talking Heads album and I still don't like them, it is the bands debut album however. In my opinion the only decent song on the album is the hit single.
"Psycho Killer"
Tomorrow's Album #493 - Psychedelic Furs - Talk,Talk Talk
Back in December I listened to my first Johnny Cash album. Of course I had heard some of his music, who hasn't. I was really impressed by it and added quite a bit of his music to my music library. I didn't add this one however since it is a live album and we all know how I feel about live albums. Well this album was great for a number of reasons. First his voice is amazing. Secondly, most all of the songs are prison themed. Finally, even though it is a live album it is so good the way he entertains the inmates and interacts with them in between songs. He even sings a song written by one of the inmates as the final songs.
Usually I just highlight one or two of the songs on the album but this one was just so good here is the whole album:
Tomorrow's Album #387 Talking Heads - Talking Heads 77
This wasn't really my style of music but I was amazed by one think. For a singer that I had never heard of before, and for an album I had never heard before I was surprised by the number of songs on the album, all written or co-written by her, that are hugely popular and have been covered over and over again. I had heard many of them before but by other artists that have re-done them. In fact this album has sold over 25 million copies, making it one of the best selling of all time and it won her four Grammy Awards.
I've said previously that I am a fan of REM. I haven't, however, listened to this, their debut album, and I didn't really like it. I started listening to the band with their album "Green" and this doesn't sound much like the REM that I know and love.
So. The band Hawkwind is classified in the genre of "Space Rock". I didn't even know that that was a thing. Apparently it is a rock band that primarily writes their lyrics around science fiction themes. And boy they have done that. In total they have recorded 30 albums since 1970.
This album is a live album, which was really hard to tell cause any crowd noise was pretty much eliminated. In fact I didn't even realize it was live until well into the album when there was a bit of crowd cheering. It was o.k. A little strange at times and a lot of the songs were pretty long and drawn out. Overall it was fine to listen to one time but I'm not going to do it again.
An electronic band from England, they remind me of another band, Recoil, which I like a lot. Out of all of the electronic albums I have listened too for the 1001 this is the best one so far.
With every Elvis Costello album I hear I like his music a bit more. I think this is number four and while they haven't been in chronological order they seem to be better as I go along. I think his music is growing on me.
"Pump It Up"
Tomorrow's Album #924 Red Snapper - Our Aim is to Satisfy
A member of the band The Byrds for a couple of years he was responsible for most of their hits. Unfortunately for him his solo career never took off for him. This album was a failure when it was released and his record company didn't even bother to promote the album. I can see why. It was just not very good.
"No Other"
Tomorrow's Album #404 Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
I have had limited exposure to Kraftwerk prior to now. A friend bought their "Electric Cafe" album and I heard it a couple times. From what I remember about it it was better than this one. The songs on this album were so blah. The album is strictly instrumentals, and even at that they have no "umph" to them. They vary very little through out the songs. Think along the lines of repetative elevator music.
I love Metallica. They are my favorite heavy metal band. I had never really listened to Megadeth before now, mostly because I didn't really feel that I needed to. After listening to this album I think it was fine that I didn't. Musically it was fairly similar to Metallica, although slightly inferior. Vocally and lyrically it didn't hit the mark.
I really had no idea what was going on with this album. I had no idea who Todd Rundgren was before listening to it and I actually still don't. Other than learning that he is an American multi-instrumentalist, the album was just kind of a mess. Most of the songs were only 1 to 2 minutes long and never really got going before they ended. I just don't know what Todd was going for.
This album was actually really good. Otis Redding only records 4 or 5 albums before his untimely death in a plane crash on the way to a gig. What I liked about the album was the addition of horns to many of the songs, that gets me almost every time. The other think was that, even though Otis only wrote 3 of the songs they were all really good. He did a great job of picking songs to cover, including one of my all time favorites "Change Gonna Come". I also had no idea that Otis wrote "Respect", the song that Aretha Franklin made hugely popular.
"Change Gonna Come"
Tomorrow's Album #299 Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star
I liked this album slightly more than I expected. I don't really reggae but I do understand it's appeal. It is the genre of the peaceful protest. A lot of the lyrics have to do with oppression, protest, and encouraging people to rebel against the establishment. I definitely think the music is so mellow and peaceful because of all the weed that they smoke while recording it.
I remember that The Who played the Super Bowl half-time show in 2010, and thinking, at the time, that it was a very odd choice for a half-time performer. Usually the NFL had performers that are current or relevant, or maybe have a new album coming out that has them in the public eye. I know The Who were a huge band once upon a time but they haven't been relevant for a long time. Their last album was in 2006 and the last time they had a hit single was in 1981. Maybe the NFL figured that a lot of baby-boomers were going to be watching that particular Super Bowl.
As for this album I thought it was kind of blah. Granted it is the bands debut album and sometimes they are really good and sometimes it is really just the starting point for a band. While the album does have a very recognizable classic rock song, the rest of the album was kind of throw away to me.
"My Generation"
Tomorrow's Album #329 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Natty Dread
Essentially a live album of the band's greatest hit to that point, the album didn't really offer anything new or different from their other album on the list, Machine Head. Most of the songs are on both albums, and in my opinion a live version is rarely better than a studio recording.
An English 70's rock band, they had a bit of a rough start before gaining success. The band's first two albums were failure, and the band actually broke up for a spell. After a bit the band reformed with a couple new members and went in to the studio to record this album. It was good but not great, but did produce two very recognizable classic rock songs.
This album was similar to yesterday's album in sound and style, but lyrically it was much better. After listening to it I didn't realize that I had heard a few of these songs before, or rather I didn't know they were Van Morrison songs.
"Moondance"
"Crazy love"
"Into the Mystic" - my favorite song on the album
Tomorrow's Album #325 Supertramp - Crime of the Century
When you talk about iconic songs you have to include the song "Freebird". Included on this, their debut album, it has become the band's best know song. Overall the album was pretty good. It is a straight ahead 70's rock album.
"Freebird" - Rolling Stone lists rates the guitar solo as the #3 greatest of all time
So Taylor Swift's music is not my style. Way too geared towards teenage girls for my liking. But I can admit that she knew how to take a country music career that was pretty good and turn it into becoming one of the biggest pop stars in the planet. Her six albums, three country and three pop, since 2006 have sold, as far as I can tell, around 40 million copies total. Since her fourth album, her first pop album, she is listed as the writer of all of her songs, with some help at times, and she knows how to write a catchy pop song, that is for sure. She also seems to be really smart when it comes to the music business. At a time when album sales are pretty much in the toilet, and a good first week sales for an album release are now measured in the thousands, she refused to release her latest album to streaming services for the first two weeks it was out and that helped her to sell 1.2 million copies of the album in the first week.
"Blank Space"
"Out of the Woods"
"Shake it Off"
"Bad Blood"
Tomorrow's Album #645 De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
This album was about the same as the first Stevie Wonder album I listened to. It was decent, but didn't blow me away. Musically it was good. Lyrically it had it's moments, but was a bit weak. Vocally it was great. Stevie definitely has a great voice.
Soundgarden, and this album specifically, was my first real exposure to the Seattle Grunge scene. Even though Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten both were released in 1991, I didn't really like them all that much. So when this album came out in 1994 I was blown away. I haven't listened to it for a long time and I have forgot how great it is. Every song is amazing. Chris Cornell is a great song writer and after this album I ended up listening to, and liking a number of other grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Mad Season, Screaming trees and Temple of the Dog to name a few.
"Spoonman"
"The Day I Tried to Live"
"Black Hole Sun"
"My Wave"
"Fell On Black Days"
These were just the released singles from the album, but every song is great. Give it a listen.
Tomorrow's Album #162 Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
It's been awhile since an electronic album and I was hoping that it would be better than others or maybe that I would enjoy it more just because I hadn't listened to one for awhile. Nope. It was about the same as the others that I have listened to.
I didn't really think much of this album. Nothing about it was super exciting or captivating. Stylistically it was kind of a cross between rock and folk. I will say this though. For a first album by an artist who formed the band while in college, it is better than what most would do.
So, Kid A. Not one of my favorite Radiohead albums. Recorded as a follow up to "OK Computer" musically it radically changes direction for the band. After heavy promotion and touring for OK Computer the band was burnt out and lead singer Thom Yorke had a mental breakdown. When the band finally reconvened for recording, the band felt like they were locked in a sound and that too many other bands out there trying to imitate them, thus the change in sound. During recording the band recorded 20 songs which would become this album and the following years "Amnesia".
I think that the reason it isn't one of my favorites is because I love OK Computer and this was so different. It threw me off. Since then I have grow to like it, but not love it. It's not that it's not good. It is regarded as one of the bands finest.I just just didn't like it on my first few listens and haven't given it the attention it deserves. Having said that it does have one of my favorite Radiohead songs "The National Anthem"
"The National Anthem"
Tomorrow's Album #538 Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Rattlesnakes
For all of the 60's - 70's classic rock bands on the list I've pretty much decided that Led Zeppelin is the best of them all. This album was so good from start to finish. Jimmy Page is a great guitar player and Robert Plant is just so good and the combination of the two makes one fine album.
Only one hit song on this David Bowie album that I had heard before, and once again it was the best song on the album. The rest of the album was was decent but nothing amazing.
"Changes"
Tomorrow's Album #185 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
Having never heard of Maxwell before, I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I do really like R&B music and this was a really good example of 90's R&B. In a lot of ways if reminded me of some of my favorite R&B artists, including Stevie B, Al B. Sure and I could even hear some Michael Jackson.
When I started listening to these albums I didn't care much for The Beatles. With the albums I've heard so far I have gained more of an appreciation, and an open mind, for their music. This is the band's second album and first to be released in North America, and I was kind of let down by it. The album was about 50/50 original songs and cover versions and it just felt kind of blah. With three more of their albums to go on the list I'm sure that there is better to come.