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The one hundred thirty-seventh album: #137 Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica

I was worried about this album. I've heard bits and both its sound and the way it was created feel off putting. It doesn't sound sane, and while there can be virtue in that, I'm not sure how that would pay off.

At times it feels unpolished or unfinished - someone singing into a microphone, messing up, but not creating something that feels right to put out. At its best, this feels like passable rock - nothing that excites me, to be quite honest - at the worst an unpolished mess.

The four hundred and twenty-fifth song: (Don’t Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Starting with a famous riff, the psychedelic roots of Blue Oyster Cult come through in this haunting song, relentlessly moving on while there's a haunting sound to this song as well - ready for death rather than fearing it. It's frightening on some levle, the impact of the emotions making themselves known throughout.

The four hundred and twenty-sixth song: More Than a Feeling - Boston

Some songs really get disadvantaged by their placement on the list and More Than a Feeling pales next to The Reaper. It's a lighter piece of classic rock, a rock ballad that does well in expressing a sentiment but through overexposure feels a bit emptier as well - and with a bridge that doesn't seem quite as needed. It's a nice and sweet song.

The four hundred and twenty-seventh song: Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder

My connection to this song is a bit different from others, as I've studied performing it a capella when I actually got some singing lessons. There's something varied in the different funk parts it drifts through, with what feels like more shifts than normal, constantly moving between swing and funk. At the same time, I didn't quite appreciate the lyrics at the time, paying tribute to many different deceased musicians, and how it covers their music is probably more impressive and important.

The four hundred and twenty-eighth song: The Killing of Georgie (Parts 1 & 2) - Rod Stewart

While still a rock song, this soft rock number describes the life of Georgie, a gay man in a time where that was far more of a problem. While his death, mentioend in the song, doesn't come from his sexuality, his abandonment and the way he moves through life does and that is what really has the impact here. The second part is more longing and angry, having a more emotional impact, but it wouldn't work without the more upbeat, narrative first half to contrast against.

The four hundred and twenty-ninth song: Dancing Queen - Abba

After four quite emotional numbers, Dancing Queen makes for a real palate cleanser - no complicated emotions or lyrics, just admiration of these seventeen year olds enjoying going out and dancing. Musically it's more complex, making for a good song to dance to, and that's where its real strengths come in, reinforcing its lyrics and building on them while maintaining its joy - in a way the perfect pop song.

The four hundred and thirtieth song: Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones

This is where you're almost hoping punk to end up, and where more bands took from - not just the dark political stuff, but joy in there as well - joy with a dark undertone, but there's some enthusiasm in here as well. Apparently, bubblegum music was their inspiration, and this bubblegum punk means it's not taken too seriously - it creates a fun song, for the most part, with the title and some references showing it's not all that.

The four hundred and thirty-first song: Love Hangover - Diana Ross

This song starts off slow, an R&B song that's well performed but not that special. When the disco break starts, everything loosens up a bit and the atmosphere changes. The structure of the lyrics is lost and you get a nice tune with some improvisation on top, but at that point it seems too far gone to recover any momentum.

The four hundred and thirty-second song: Cokane in My Brain - Dillinger

I still don't know what's going on with this song. I think this is Dillinger talking to himself, while he's not very responsive. He also keeps not realizing how not to spell New York, apparently, and there are a lot of other weird references, but mostly it feels nonsensical, weird lyrics over a repetitive riff, and whatever side it's on, it's clear he was on drugs when this was written.

The four hundred and thirty-third song: Police and Thieves - Junior Murvin

In response, we get some more conventional reggae, a song sung in falsetto that has a similar repetitive melody and tries to make a political point but doesn't seem to quite pull off what it's trying to do and say. I'm still not quite sure what point it's trying to make here, although that depends on me knowing Jamaican history anyway.

The four hundred and thirty-fourth song: (I’m) Stranded - The Saints

While we've talked about punk songs before, in this batch of ten this feels like the real punk song - hard driving guitars, an angry message and while there's an attempt at a catchy chorus it's just not that type of song or band. Compared to the previous song, there's a similar dislike and distrust of the government, but it manages to articulate it better and puts in a feeling of personal loneliness

The sixty-fifth classical recording: #537 Hubert Parry - I Was Glad

Quite a short piece, with a history that shows as much, this is a choral arrangement that feels like a psalm, not too complex but quite pleasing. It's a nice piece, well put together, and while I could see it outstaying its welcome if it was longer, this feels like a solid six minutes.

The sixty-seventh book: #56 The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano - Olaudah Equiano

Some books make for a more impressive read than others. After I've complained about flowery language from previous English books, Equiano's autobiography is simple and readable, maybe a bit too peppered with bible verses, but ultimately writing an interesting story that has a point, that moves and angers you and keeps you along for the entire ride.

Being a driving force for the abolition of slavery in the UK, this work tells the story of a former slave, how he lived before he was captured, how his life progressed as a slave and how he eventually won his freedom. It also goes into the hardships of his life after that, with several threats of becoming a slave again, and losing plenty of money as his word still counted as less than a white man. There's a lot of bias that, maybe, we still see, but that was especially pronounced in this era. It shows how dire the circumstances were, but also puts a very human face on a slave, something a lot of people of the time might not have seen.

It made me think. It made me glad that we've moved on from here, and it really gave a good impression of how bad things were, even when some people tried.

The sixty-fourth classical recording: #648 Richard Strauss - Eine Alpensinfonie

Sometimes, a choice of instrument really can invoke a setting, and the bells that come into the symphony, clattering seemingly randomly, seem the best way to give the impression you're in an alpine field . Nature is present and big, it's not a quiet walk in nature but gives the impression of grander sights. There's something epic about the music, sweeping, a grandeur that works to describe the mountain range.

The settings the piece move through are quite evocative - not always quite enough to identify the piece, but close enough that you can get some idea of the feeling of it - things like a thunderstorm are still quite obvious. It's an imporessive piece and one that I wish I could have some visuals for - the landscapes that inspired it felt like they must have been breathtaking.

The one hundred tenth TV show: #891 Game of Thrones

As it was getting closer, it made sense to discuss this show as the final episode aired. As a reader of the books before I started watching - almost making a point of that - I probably watched it differently than most, down to questioning some characters more than others might have done (and so being less surprised at certain later decisions). I saw some of the shocking moments coming, and was able to speculate on them before the show only viewers did, and for me it enhanced the series.

It's hard to argue that the show was uneven in places - a few characters might have turned out a bit miscast, but so many others, especially the younger, grew so much more than we expected. The later's seasons rush to get through felt unnecessary, but the series delight in taking time with its characters, exploring them and explaining what they want and what they're like was delightful. Sure, there's some good action, but in the end that's not where this show excels. The verbal jousting, especially with some of the heavyweight actors, stands out, and in part that's because they feel like such fully realized characters.

The show doesn't, for me, focus just on the amazing moments - there are some there and I didn't see all of them coming - but works because it takes its time to explore what happens after, faltering when it doesn't take that time, and that's the lesson more shows should take from it.

The one hundred thirty-sixth album: #136 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere

One of the things I've been struggling with when doing some of these list write ups is whether "a good album" or "a good game" is enough to go with. Part of the things I expect from the list is that it isn't just the 1001 best - it's the ones you have to experience because they offer you something different. You don't add all the Beatles albums because they're the best, you offer the best of those, and focus on what other bands do well in that era.

However, you do get an album like this, which is just a good rock album. It's well written, well performed, and the long jam-like numbers are a pleasure to listen to, not wearing out their welcome despite their length (something I'm more comfortable with for an album than I would be listening to individual songs). I can't tell you what makes it unique, though, or give you a moment that stands out.

The sixty-sixth book: #55 Caleb Williams - William Godwin

Hmmm. So this novel is trying to make a point about British justice in the 18th century, how wealth and power influenced how everything went and how everyone treated you, and how the justice systems could ruin people's lives, send them into a downwards spiral as they can't get back up, and how corruption could appear easily. It's a good point, and the author is fond of making his point using flowery language that obscure the point he's trying to make - I missed several important plot points that way, because they felt buried in long speeches. It's a good effort, but ultimately I don't think the author quite gets to make the point he wants to make.

The one hundred ninth TV show: #750 Heroes

Watching the third season of Heroes for this write up - the one where I must have stopped watching originally - it's hard to see what made the show so good. I guess some of it might have been that superheroes were mostly forgotten in popular culture originally, when this brought it back, while superhero shows are more common now. At the same time, the original was a mature, grown up drama that explored the issues that would arise from this, figuring out how it all fits in. It feels like the frequency of resets was probably a big issue - it seems like time travel is an excuse to show big scenes that don't impact the plot - but at the same time, it went from being relatively small powers that need to be hidden to an escalation where everything got bigger and more action focused. Likeable characters got annoying and the reluctance to kill off people that ought to be doesn't help. I know Sylar makes for a great character, but the constant turns in the character got exhausting.

I struggle to put up with it now. The characters are gone. The spectacle and extra characters dominate too much. It's boring, and it wasn't that before. The first season is convincing and a good set piece. Just realise it won't carry on.

The sixty-third comic: #310 Yoko Tsuno

Although I grew up with Belgian adventure stories, the likes of Spirou and Suzke en Wiske, Yoko Tsuno never crossed my path. It's a bit of a surprise, as this fits in with the magazines I used to read - to the point where I think I might have just missed out on the right issues a few times.

Here, our main protagonist is Yoko Tsuno, a Japanese electrical engineer who is skilled in a remarkably large number of things. Most of the stories deal with some sci fi element - about a third covering the alien Vineans, a number of time travel stories and some elixyrs of life and the stuff. There are some more natural adventures as well, where it's merely some advanced robotics that rule the day, although the series starts to enjoy using the sci fi elements to create plots, rather than hinging as much of it. Still, the most interesting parts are the historic stories or those set in the real world, in lovely locales. The cities are well researched and the areas really look lovely.

The cast is pretty strong - early on especially, the core three work well, although the ever growing group can be a bit too much sometimes and I wish we wouldn't have as many of the later characters show up constantly. Still, it's well done, and some of the contemporary stories are great mysteries that are out there. Just, maybe, when avoiding some of the Vinean stories.