1001 CCXV

Even if like most reggae it tends to morph into one the further in you listen, I’m inclined to say that Marcus Garvey is worthy of its namesake. The title track especially, a true spectacle of what this genre can offer past ‘it all sounds the same’ territory.

So part two of today’s reggae double bill is a large step-up from the first, but that’s probably because I’m not listening to more Marley, instead Winston Rodney delivers and delivers without ... read more

1001 CCXIV

On part one of today’s reggae double bill, it’s more of the same as far as the list goes. Another 1970s Bob Marley album. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, he is rather undisputed as the greatest to do it after all.

Which is why I don’t really have many proper comments to make about this album particularly, other than it’s some reggae done well. As was Catch a Fire, and as was Exodus. Marley is the messenger of the plight of the people, et ... read more

1001 CCXIII

This is an album that has the full essence of “Madchester”, but in that sweet spot era before it was hijacked by the rest of the country and promoted by way of that shower of wankers, Oasis.

“Baggy” still isn’t quite my bag. But Shaun Ryder knows what he’s doing. I think. He can skirt the fine line between vulgar and sensual in Bob’s Yer Uncle, not a pleasant listen per se but a respectable one, which is more than can be said for other ... read more

1001 CCXI

Do you need to hear África Brasil before you die? I’m not sure. Would you be better off for hearing it? Undoubtedly. There’s something that a lot of Brazilian music taps into that no other region seems to do nearly as well, that balance between the euphoric pop song and the more ballad-oriented slightly sadder number.

You don’t need to know Portuguese to have a lot of fun with this, which is something a lot of people pass it over for immediately. ... read more

1001 CCX

I can’t think of any other phrase to use here other than one I’ve used countless times before and probably on every other Neil Young record on this list, and that’s that it’s ‘one of those albums’. You know, one of those ones. You know?

So timeless and respected that you can hardly talk about it, let alone bring anything new to the table. It’d be pointless. What I can say though is that, again, it’s ‘one of those’ that ... read more

1001 CCIX

With both its lulling, swooping ambient sections and more vigorous high-tempo sections that put the “rock” in “Krautrock”, NEU! ‘75 is another one of those albums that serves more as a keystone to subsequent music that branched further out from what’s contained in this record.

Without this we wouldn’t have blah, blah, and of course blah. That’s how these things tend to go. So I’m grateful that this exists. And I enjoyed my ... read more

1001 CCVIII

I’m always reluctant about going into a Beatles-adjacent album, especially if it’s this long. There’s just something about that 60s / 70s ‘pop rock’ sound that puts me off. And the only song I’d really heard from this, My Sweet Lord, is one of those songs that everyone seems to like whereas I can only find a hollow template of what should be a great song. Oh George, you went to India! With your mates! Did loads of psychedelics! Haha, awesome, ... read more

1001 CCVII

It’s hard to write about these select few albums that are so incredibly popular and so incredibly fantastic. It’s nigh-on impossible to say anything new about them, so I’ll just riff on what has already been said a million times already about this album and this band.

The main point I made in my In Utero review was my marvelling at just how popular Nirvana was and is, despite their music being quite harsh, quite often. I marvelled at how it’s a great thing ... read more

1001 CCVI

You’ve got to give Queen credit I suppose for being just so incredibly popular. This came mainly from the albums that followed this - Killer Queen is the only supermassive track here - but it’s all here, really. It’s also in perhaps a much more artistic form, given that in ‘74 Queen were in the scheme of things just getting started.

It’d be nice if these first three albums (Queen, Queen II, and this) led into more expansion on certain interesting themes ... read more

1001 CCV

For all of its undeniable influence and staple in punk music and indeed popular music history, Entertainment! might have been a more enticing, or entertaining, listen.

It really does feel like something you’d hear in a middle-aged dad’s ‘man cave’, or played in an independent record shop where the walls are stacked high with 12” rave singles and the staff are passive-aggressive, peaked-in-the-90s, know-it-all wankers. But enough about my perceived ... read more

1001 CCIV

On their second outing, Massive Attack tilted the spirit level that balanced Blue Lines, and leaned far further into that underlying trip hop sound that they pioneered.

This might not make for such an outgoing release, it might not satisfy those waiting for the next masterpiece, but what it sets out to do it achieves perfectly. Listening at night with a great pair of headphones is an immensely rewarding experience; you can appreciate the layers upon layers of work that went into ... read more

1001 CCIII

The first ‘great’ progressive rock album is still revered as among the best today, a claim which remains irrefutable.

Even though Pink Floyd were doing Piper years beforehand, even though King Crimson’s band members were active in London clubs and for a few releases before coming together for this album, and even though in the eyes of many they went on to do far better work with the likes of Larks’ Tongues and Red, these five tracks, these two sides, and ... read more

1001 CCII

For all of the weirdness that Bush perfected on Hounds of Love three years later, The Dreaming has an endless supply of. It may be alienating, it may take a few listens to ‘get’, and it may just plainly not be for you. But what you cannot possibly deny is its ambition and its impact.

Starting as she means to go on, Sat in Your Lap is a no-compromises, staple ‘weird 80s’ tune that I had a phase of listening to non-stop about 2 years ago. Maybe it’ll go ... read more

1001 CCI

For what starts off as sounding like a Jerry Lee Lewis album if he left his son at six months old instead of marrying his 13 year old cousin, the quality of Greetings From L.A. improves greatly when the piano-heavy rock n’ roll is phased out for a more dynamic, funky approach.

I can’t speak too much for the lyrical content, apart from the vague themes of, incredibly surprisingly, love. Or, toxic love; Sweet Surrender opens with Timmy defending cheating because he had to ... read more

1001 CC

I am thankful for Nirvana primarily because of just how popular they were and still are - which isn’t usually a metric that I go by but in this case it is because of this band’s skirting of the line between approachability and, well, very noisy rock that somehow made them into an almost universally beloved act and helped to usher in many years of ‘mainstream’ rock afterward.

I confess that I have never listened to a full Nirvana album despite my love for very ... read more

1001 CXCIX

From the genre tags, the year of release, and the long track titles, I expected to like this a whole lot more. It’s not bad by any means - despite the large aversion that people on the 1001 generator site seem to have to anything remotely experimental.

There’s this vague theme of witch trials, which is great as I studied them for my Early Modern History A level. Images of the dark sabbats ‘neath Pendle hill and the infamous scale of Salem come to mind.

But the ... read more

1001 CXCVIII

“Just another country album” doesn’t apply here - Parsons’ second and final LP released months after his death holds all that is both lovely while still having more modern, rockin’ parts that place it firmly away from your average 50s / 60s record you’d find in a discount bin.

This is most elevated by the presence of Emmylou Harris, her backing vocals being the serene companion to Parsons’ intonations that make the two in tandem work ... read more

1001 CXCVII

What’s most impressive about this is that it was released nearly 8 years ago and has since become a bit of a modern country ‘classic’, appearing in this list of course but also on many music publications’ decade-end lists, including that one high-profile Apple music all time list.

The music itself isn’t half bad either. I’ve noted before with Willie Nelson that whilst proper bare-bones country or ‘country pop’ isn’t something I ... read more

1001 CXCVI

The list comes bearing gifts once again in the form of hour-long conscious hip hop albums; this time it’s far nicer and more listenable than what I’ve had thus far. Perhaps it’s because De La Soul weren’t looking over their shoulder for rival gangs during recording.

There really isn’t much to separate this from many other albums of its like other than its marginally earlier release date (there’s sub-minute skits, recurring motifs, and of course ... read more

1001 CXCV

It’s easy to brand this as a past-his-prime 00s ‘late era’ album from someone who peaked in the 70s. And while I’m not disputing that such classics as Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born to Run outshine this in most every way, it shouldn’t be written off.

From the runtime alone it’s clear that this is a product issued at the height of the CD era, being 7 minutes shy of the usual maximum 80 minute length. This means less of the short and snappy ... read more