Air is a french electronic band and this album is the soundtrack for the 1999 film, which I have not seen, which is based on the 1993 novel. For the most part the album is instrumental for all but 2 songs. The last album on the album "Suicide Underground" was probably the best on the album, and tells the overall story of the book over top of the music.
What a great album. I had never heard of the Vines before. They are a "grunge" band out of Australia and after this, their debut album, they were exclaimed the second coming of Nirvana. A huge comparison for a new band trying to find their sound. After just one listen I really, really like this album. I really like it! It is just straight ahead alt-rock. Simple, great lyrics, and super catchy music. Just really, really good.
Although, at first, the album did not receive great reviews, it gained traction the longer it was out and ended up selling almost 3 million copies. After listening to it I was somewhere in the middle on it. At times it was pretty good, especially the singles that were released. Songs like "Driftwood" are definitely better than average, but as a whole album I felt like it was a little weak, and a couple of the songs just weren't that good.
Any band with Eric Clapton in it has to be good right? Right. Clapton is an amazing guitarist, and this album is full of some amazing playing. It also contains probably his most famous song, "Layla". Definitely worth a listen.
I've listened to a couple Who albums so far and this was far and above the best one so far. It had three hits on the album, all of which I have heard previously, and one of them, "Behind Blue Eyes" is one of my favorite songs. All around this was a good classic rock album, made much better by that fact that instead of trying to make a concept album, the band just made a rock album.
One of the members of Wu-Tang Clan, Liquid Swords, is GZA's second solo rap album. I tried to give it a listen, only 3 of the songs had explicit lyrics, but I just couldn't get through the whole album.
Starting out as a indie-alt rock back in the 80's and over the course of years the band has transformed in to more of an electronic/dance music band. This album, Screamadelica, released in '91 is the album that really gave the band their first commercial success, eventually selling 3 million copies worldwide. Overall I though it was a decent album, although one listen was enough.
The Kinks are famous for a number of hit songs, none of which happen to be on this album. I had never heard any of these songs before and I wasn't overly impressed by the album. It was an average 60's rock album at best.
I kind of enjoyed this album. It was some easy listening folk music that reminded me a lot of Simon & Garfunkel. The album wasn't amazing but it was good enough to warrant a listen. Tragically this is the last album released by Nick Drake. It was released and 2 years later after suffering from depression for most of his life he decided to commit suicide by overdosing on his depression medication.
Like the other albums that I've listened to that are in another language the music was great but because I couldn't understand the message it was hard to keep my interest.
I did not like this album very much. It is punk mixed with rock and sometimes country. It just wasn't very good in any area. The singing, the music, the lyrics, all just bad.
Gary Numan is one of the father's of New Wave music and had been an influence on many bands of the genre. His music is heavy on synthesizer and electronic beats. It's pretty catchy even if lyrically it is a bit cheesy.
I really liked the first PJ Harvey album that I listened to but this one not so much. I can't really put my finger on what I didn't like, I just didn't connect with it.
I was introduced to Run DMC with this album, in fact it was probably my first exposure to rap in general. My friend Bruce played it for me for the first time and I loved it right away and have ever since. In my mind it might be one of the best examples of 80's rap, and is a must listen for anyone that likes the genre.
Meat Loaf is one of my Mom's favorite artists. Researching him I found that he has had a huge career. He has sold more than 80 million albums and has appeared in 50+ TV shows and movies. I have never really listened to him, other than his hits when they have been on the radio. I certainly never listened to any of his albums all the way through, and this was a pleasant surprise. The songs are really good, and Meat Loaf actually has a pretty good voice. I also really enjoyed the use of a female singer on a couple of the tracks and the back and forth between them to tell a story. I'm not sure if his other albums live up to this one but I can see why this one is on the list.
Listened to this album while I was working on my yard. Normally I listen to albums in my car and can see the names of the tracks and can tell when the songs change. Listening to this on headphones I literally couldn't tell when the they changed. The album was definitely better than the last Miles Davis album I heard, it was some smooth, easy listening jazz, but every song sounded pretty much the same.
I haven't listened to any of Madonna's music in a long time. There was a time though when you couldn't not hear her music. She was a huge 80's pop star and her music was everywhere. I, however, never really listened to her music by choice, I was more into The Cure and bands like them in the 80's. I can't argue that Madonna doesn’t have some really good pop songs.
I pretty sure it was a joke adding this album to the list. It is down right bad.
I listened to the bands second album awhile ago and thought it was just o.k. This is the bands debut album and I liked it less than the other one. Compared to the other album, from what I can remember, this one has more of a reggae sound to it, which is not my favorite. Add that to the fact that this really isn't my style of music in the first place and I didn't enjoy it all that much.
Not a good album. The band and the singer are just not very good in my opinion. In fact about the only good thing about the album is that the 1986 movie "Pretty in Pink" is named after one of the songs, and is one of the best 80's movies ever.
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.
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.
No clean version available
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This album was unavailable on Apple Music
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.