The three hundred and ninety-eighth album: #398 Elis Regina - Vento de Maio It's actually quite nice to have a different type of music to end the year's write ups on (not quite reaching the 400 album marker). It's an album of Brazilian pop music, but that description is mostly because the album covers a number of genres with a pop music bent, giving bossa nova, jazz and funk tracks, and more beyond. It's a variety that works well, with a production that supports each of them individually. Elis Regina's lovely voice supports all of them - a clear sound that feels like that of a Brazilian vocalist, if it makes sense to say so, and the tracks are clearly built around her. I don't think I would have given this album a look normally, but its variety is worth a listen.
-
Permanent link to “The three hundred and ninety-eighth album: #398 Elis Regina - Vento de…” -
The three hundred and ninety-seventh album: #397 Blondie - Parallel Lines It takes until the second track for Blondie to make their statement here - One Way or Another is such a specifically aggressive sound that it stands out and shakes you up straight away. It's a blast of power that doesn't last, but it shows the lyrical focus and specific song writing that carries through even as the songs themselves aren't always as strong - it's still a good, powerful pop rock album to listen to.
-
The three hundred and ninety-sixth album: #396 Kraftwerk - The Man Machine Let's look away from the album's place in history - Kraftwerk's futuristic stylings also predating a lot of simpler later electro pop acts - or how odd it must have seemed at the time. Just listening to the album, there's a lot to unpack on how I feel. There are some really interesting compositions in here, layering more like the works we listen to in the classical recordings than more regular pop songs. There are a lot of moments where it grabs your attention, but also enough repetition of the same elements that it lulls you in - often grabbing you with a change to suddenly remind you what you're listening to. It's never quite ambient, but it doesn't overwhelm you at any point either. And it addresses just enough to have a theme without requiring you to listen to it that much - The Model being the most lyric heavy, and standing out because of that. It is great in what it does - not excluding anything else, but…
-
The three hundred and ninety-fifth album: #395 Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance Any type of avant-garde, art rock or similar experimental music will always be more hit and miss than music following the proven formulas. It means that when you start listening, you appreciate the music rather than enjoying it. It's a weird listening, there's somethign to it, but you wouldn't add it to your rotation. It's a fascinating sound, but as many misses as hits for me, sometimes having both in the same track. It's like a piece in a museum - you look at it, appreciate it for a while, but never end up getting the print.
-
The one hundred and eighty-first TV show: #629 Takeshi's Castle It feels like Takeshi's Castle was the first of many extreme physical gameshows, followed far later by the likes of (Total) Wipeout. A lot of players start doing a bunch of challenges, often involving falling into water or mud, and the ones who reach the end have a chance to win the prize. Takeshi's Castle was the first, airing between 1986 and 1990 but made internationally famous by the episodes that aired in the UK in the late 90s with Craig Charles' voice over. It's clear that this version is the easier watch for us - it feels like it cuts out a lot of the comedy sketches and explanations, giving it a proper focus on the falls and action you're watching the show for. It's a fun watch, the difficult challenges making for great TV when they succeed (although apparently the best failures went through each round as well). With that said, there are only so many ways you can fall off rolling logs and dealw ith teh other…
-
The one hundred and eightieth TV show: #458 2point4 Children There's something weird for me watching this show - it had a Dutch remake that used the same scripts, but translated and localized. It's still pretty familiar with some of the beats being the exact same - something quite disorienting when I remembered it, with some of the translations being spot on like that. With that aside, the show is good, The concept is similar - a fairly standard sitcom family - but one that's written more as a British comedy, with less recurring gags and denser episodes with the shorter seasons. It's well acted, with some dramatic turns and a lot more continuity and carry over between episodes, without having to reset at the end. It's a lot of fun and still a great series that holds up after all these years.
-
The one hundred and fourty-second classical recording: #858 Arthur Honegger - Symphony no. 3, "Symphonie Liturgique" The heavy handed start of this symphony stands in contrast to a lot of its following, delicate sounds - according to the composer a reflection of the Second World War that had just ended and his desire for peace after. It becomes lovely, sweet and dreamlike, making for a lovely piece in general.
-
The three hundred and ninety-fourth album: #394 Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols For a lot of the album, you will know what to expect - it's the Sex Pistols, their vibe and sound are well known and God Save The Queen is defining for both their sound and the direction of punk in general. Like the band's initial career, it comes it, is loud and brash, but leaves almost as soon as it arrives, leaving its mark.
-
The three hundred and ninety-third album: #393 Ian Dury - New Boots And Panties!! Just as I thought I'd started to pin down this album, Billericay Dickie starts and we get a music hall song - complete with innuendos - that breaks the punk-leaning rock songs. It shows the depth of Dury's song writing though, complex and more layered with more of a feel of where the lyrics come from. Dury's vocals are often quite flat by comparison - intentionally, as some tracks make it clear he can mix it up, but it creates a focus on the lyrics that is underscored by the straightforward music that accompanies them in places. It's always clear he could do more - showing off in other places - but it feels like an intentional choice to keep the focus on each area as the song goes on. There's a lot of rock still, ups and downs, but it's an album that feels like it has more lurking underneath than most.
-
The one hundred and fourty-first classical recording: #136 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Idomeneo, re di Creta I try to reserve operas for days where I have the time to fully listen to them, as the three and a half hours Idomeneo takes is something I need to set aside. It's worth it, even if, as with this one, I am not really attempting to follow along. While the score has several of the big opera scene sounds, it also features a lot of the more delicate music you get from Mozart's work. It flies along, keeping its sound minimal and delicate, which helps enhance the performances.
-
The three hundred and ninety-second album: #392 Iggy Pop - Lust For Life After yesterday's meander through styles, Lust For Life's titular track starts the album. Droning on, its punk is aggressive and droning, the drum riff dominating without fail. The following tracks move to and away from that, but it keeps having this stronger voice throughout. While Bowie's hand is still in it, his influence has diminished and it feels like the album features Iggy Pop's voice more, whichsuits his strengths and makes for a stronger collection of songs than The Idiot.
-
The three hundred and ninety-first album: #391 Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True I don't think there's a track on My Aim Is True that truly stuck with me. They are incredibly well written, with a variety and skill that makes the album really intriguing and fascinating to listen to. Each song needs some time to listen to and get and it never gets boring. It's just the case that it never quite works to really grab me further either, no real identity and nothing unique. It's a really good listen, I'd just struggle to find what to come back to.
-
The one hundred and fourtieth classical recording: #245 Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in G Major, D894 Described as serene with dark moments - the latter something Schubert is known for, but kept restrained here - there's a world in this sonata that I, again, enjoy seeing conjured. There's a tenderness in the sonata that really got to me, floating through as I was listening to it.
-
The three hundred and ninetieth album: #390 Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell A big, showy rock opera base album works perfectly for me - longer, deeper tracks trying to actually tell a story through them while also having the connections between them. Bat Out Of Hell pulls it off so well - the songs feel linked, but have their own identity and stand on their own. The build and resolution in the title track works well - a great example of how it works well and could do so on stage as easily as when you're listening on headphones during work. The other, more sensitive side gets to work as well - Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad standing as a good, sensitive ballad showing off Meat Loaf's abilities as well, layering in a sensitive side without losing his power in it. It comes, of course, before the powerful Paradise by the Dashboard Light. In my mind, it's still a master piece - written so well, but also performed to perfection by two performers who gel and knowing their sketch background, making…
-
The three hundred and eighty-ninth album: #389 Television - Marquee Moon Marquee Moon is a fairly gentle rock album that managed to fade into the background a bit. It has some really good songs in it, but there's no track that really stood out to me as something I'd care to listen to again and I wouldn't be able to pick them out again if I tried. I guess it strays slightly too far into a territory that doesn't suit me as much.
-
The three hundred and eighty-eighth album: #388 Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel I While, probably due to his work on scoring Disney films, Phil Collins is the first person that comes to mind when I hear these prog rock and associated tracks, the Genesis successor that made it on the list is Peter Gabriel. It's for good reason - while it has the same sound in places, it feels more sophisticated, with a bigger mix of sounds - the jazz inspired of Waiting For the Big One leading into a longer track on one side, and the weird art rock from Moribund the Burgermeister on the other. It's the second type that really appeals to me, in a way that tells a different kind of story. The album stays interesting, straying at times into familiar territory, but it is always entertaining.
-
The three hundred and eighty-seventh album: #387 Iggy Pop - The Idiot While I've praised Bowie's work before - both his own work and that where he produces - it's a style that that doesn't always work either. While I've enjoyed Iggy Pop's punk stylings with the Stooges before, the smoother style doesn't suit him. His voice is a bit off in places, and where it isn't it sounds so much like a Bowie track that I thought he was performing at several points. It's not bad rock, but it's also not great - they're more some of Bowie's B-sides than a good Iggy Pop album.
-
The one hundred and thirty-ninth classical recording: #246 Franz Schubert - Piano Trio in B flat major As mentioned before, a lot of works like this are fairly abstract, and while I enjoy them it's hard to say something new about them. There's an energy in Schubert's work that's infectious, even the slower parts of the work have multiple things going on. They're well constructed, building well, and lovely to listen to. The three hundred and eighty-sixth album: #386 Suicide - Suicide With a heavy electronic sound, Suicide's rock stands out from its contemporaries. It doesn't go all in on the electronic sound - this is no Kraftwerk - but it presages later electronic work by leaning into that sound in a way that later works go for. It's the stronger fusion with rock music - not quite punk, not quite anything else that follows - that makes it feel a bit odd, with odd (semi-?)lyrics that don't fit anywhere else either. The album is an experience, that's for sure, but not one that's easy to…
-
The three hundred and eighty-fifth album: #385 Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue Pacific Ocean Blue sits there as a pleasant album to listen to without demanding much of you. From its Beach Boys legacy, it's more demure, not complex even if there are some parts with a big production elements to it. It's nice, not challenging, but just a happy set of songs to listen to.
-
The one hundred and seventy-ninth TV show: #181 Colditz I'm not a major fan of war dramas - there's a tone to it in British and American productions that feels naive. Colditz, to be fair, doesn't make the Germans out entirely as unapologetic monsters, and most of the escape plans out of the prison don't necessarily go as well as they should, but there's an odd worship of the British officer that feels weird. Add to that the choice to have the series start with a number of episodes that happen away from the titular Colditz, introducing a few of the characters but not really setting the stage for that much. It creates a story I don't feel as invested in, in a setting I care little for. There are some good performances, but there's nothing more there that I care about.
-
The one hundred and thirty-eighth classical recording: #794 Richard Strauss - Daphne Daphne feels different from the operas we've listened to before. Aside from being shorter - a nice boon for a busy workday - Strauss's music feels different. While still going big t times, a lot more of it feels smaller and lighter, with a more ethereal bent than the darker tones that tend to dominate other operas. It might not be too obvious - a lot of it still feels classic, with the lyrics again making the difference - but there's something in it that sounds different enough to lend a smaller feel to the opera.
-
The three hundred and eighty-fourth album: #384 David Bowie - Heroes Without trying to diminish the rest of the album, the title track of Heroes is its most powerful song. There's something inspiring about the lyrics, a reference to the possibilities that you can have for a moment, but also addressing those moments where the impact can be exaggerated - the readings work and it doesn't diminish those strengths. The rest of the songs feel more experimental and less poppy. It means that those songs - especially the instrumentals that dominate one side - feel more of a study with some classical elements in it. It's a mix that works well, but you have to be ready for the change of setting.
-
The three hundred and eighty-third album: #383 Fleetwood Mac - Rumours Rumours is a very accessible album in the best way. Tracks like Dreams and Don't Stop are famous classics that are easy to listen to and enjoyable, providing a poppy, upbeat track that sits well next to the folksier outings of other tracks, and it feels like you are able to sing along to so many of them. It makes for an incredibly strong album that is on the list for a very good reason.
-
The one hundred seventy-seventh TV show: #916 Veep It's been a couple of years since we started watching Veep - for various reasons, we took a break a few years in, but we've now made our way through the first five seasons which should give us something to go on. The show comes form the same base of The Thick of It, but with its focus shifted to US politics the tone changes in different ways. Focusing on the weirdly empty role of vice president and the succession battles it inspires in later seasons, the series is weirdly cutthroat. If anything, it feels even more aggressively bleak as rarely, people seem to get anything done, and it's all even more about wheeling and dealing than trying to a good job running the country. With that, it's excellently acted, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus switching effortlessly between the (fake) caring and underlying anger, making the exaggerated moments work. That's not to say that the rest of the cast doesn't work - there are so many highlights in there…
-
The ninety-eighth book: #381 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien I've had The Hobbit as one of the books I wanted to read most of the ones remaining on the list. The Lord of the Rings looms large in the history of fantasy, and The Hobbit is its smaller, more accessible cousin. It has the history and world building, but is also aimed at a younger audience, simpler without talking down in most places. While epic in places, it also has more sillier moments, more songs, and at least one big event gets skipped because Bilbo is knocked unconcious... a bit of a cheat, really. While clearly also aimed at children, the novel also has a lot of wordplay and linguistic tricks that stand out compared to others like it and it stays fun for those moments as much as it does for a good fantasy story without going too epic.
-
The one hundred and thirty-seventh classical recording: #309 Hector Berlioz - Le Carnaval Romain As a collection of parts from another opera, this is technically an overture even if it never opened one on its own. There's a large party feel to most of it, big and hurried along while swept up in everything. Clocking in at under ten minutes, it's short, but leaves an impression in part because it feels more focused on the single work.
-
The three hundred and eighty-second album: #382 Talking Heads - Talking Heads 77 Talking Heads 77 is intriguing. I enjoyed listening, but not in a way that I would initially seek out - but at the same time, I wanted to hear more. There were enough surprises and different ways of approaching their sound in here that I felt curious about what else they're going to do. Psycho Killer cements this, being so much more high energy than the first half of tracks that it really feels like they're able to go anywhere next, and although it can feel mellow at times, it also shows how well the album manages to build that energy. It works, while still keeping the tracks distinct.
-
The three hundred and eighty-first album: John Martyn - One World One World isn't easy to describe. It feels close to blues, is influenced by jazz, but has a poppy rock background that's ambient at times. It's listenable, a bit off putting in its weirder segments, but never something I felt I could settle into.
-
The one hundred and thirty-sixth classical recording: #489 Claude Debussy - String Quartet One of the advantages of jumping around a list like this is the differences you can spot, even if you can't see how they build to those moments. There's a lot of complexity in this string quartet and it feels like it has been refined into a sound that requires active listening and a bit more engagement to listen to and understandThey both have their place and moment, and today the sophistication is one I can take where often older pieces are there more for the energy and presence, which this lacks sometimes. It's still a lovely piece and, from what I understand, one on the road of an ongoing shift in the music.
-
The ninety-seventh book: #77 The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr - E. T. A. Hoffmann I don't think I expected the Tomcat of this novel to be a literal tomcat, even as literate and erudite as this one ends up being. It's an interesting way of looking at the work, taking the first person narrative story telling but letting an outside perspective judge it. It's not trying to really innovate that, but it makes for a nice and more whimsical look at the intrigue the work describes. Spliced together with Keisler's more human perspective, weaving in the narrative our feline comments on, it's a fun read, entertaining in a lot of places, though never quite giving you enough story before yanking you out and moving you to the other side.
-
The one hundred and thirty-fifth classical recording: #844 Oliver Messiaen - Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus In the end, not all works will give me the emotions I need. As a work written in the final months of the German occupation of Paris in 1944, the tone of this work is sombre and sad in a way that hits at that same depressed point. While still a well played piece, with the listed performance by Yvonne Loriod sounding great, there's a delicate black cloud hanging over the piece that doesn't connect to me more deeply, like other pieces have tended to do.
-
The three hundred and eightieth album: #380 Wire - Pink Flag Quick and hard, Pink Flag feels like the quintessential punk album: short tracks with just enough changes to make them stand out, an aggressive sound supported by its lyrics, acknowledgement of what came before but crystallizing into this style. Wire sticks around after this with a big post punk influence, but this already stands out as a good, inventive album that goes many more places than I would expect.
-
The three hundred and seventy-ninth album: #379 Steely Dan - Aja One thing I wasn't preferred for on a Monday morning was a helping of jazz rock. For the most part, Aja goes for a milder, simpler tone with a lot more jazz sounds and feeling. From the jazz side, the rock instruments add much needed body to the work, with a direction that works better, while the jazz makes the rock calmer and probably better for a gentle introduction. The tracks go on a bit too long, but it generally works in context.
-
The one hundred and thirty-fourth classical recording: #33 Thomas Weelkes - Anthems There's something listenable and accessible to Weelkes' Anthems that I haven't gotten before. Earlier choral works we listened to delighted in having a lot of building voices, thriving in complexity, but Weelkes keeps it simpler, focusing on fewer sounds and simpler compositions. While not as special, perhaps, it feels like it allows the music and songs to thrive more than the 'tricks'. Add to that a less sombre feeling to the works, where there's some fun to be had in some of them, and the various works come together really well.
-
The three hundred and seventy-eighth album: #378 David Bowie - Low David Bowie does what he does best, avant garde pop that builds, in this time, on Brian Eno's more electronic and ambient work, mixing in more standard pop sounds with others that fade more. It's heavy on the instrumental areas compared to what I would have expected from Bowie's work, but here it just feels like another direction to go in rather than a complete change.
-
The three hundred and seventy-seventh album: #377 The Clash - The Clash I put this album on and before I knew it I was four tracks in without noticing the difference. They're short punk songs, the guitar riffs sounding similar and everything going in hard. It's not that the sentiment is bad or there aren't nice touches in here, but it feels like it all gets overpowered by the wall of noise, which means you're basically holding out for the intros where the album sounds good. Beyond that, with the exception of the odd track where they try differently (standing out just for being different), for me it's an album that I'd put on to get some emotions out, but not for any nuance in my experience.
-
The one hundred and thirty-third classical recording: #90 Johann Sebastian Bach - Keyboard Partitas There is a certain joy to the sound of the harpsichord and they seem to fit these partitas especially well. There's a lightness to the faster movements, where it feels like play, while still getting across some more sombre moments. There's a lot of pleasant music that's good to just enjoy and I'd happily have these on in the background again - they're just great to reset your mood.
-
The three hundred and seventy-sixth album: #376 The Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus Rattus Norvegicus is one of the biggest punk albums from its era and I feel I can see why. There's the anger and frustration in the lyrics that comes in with the work, the vulgarity that appeals on a base level, but it also stays accessible, a lot of it being the daily life 'concerns' - including partying, sex and arguments with (girl)friends - that would get people interested, but also with an observational style that now seems to comment on that lifestyle a bit - the fact that there's a track about Nostradamus' predictions for Toulouse indicates that depth and whether it's the accent or the music, the sarcasm seems heavy in places. Whether my reading is intentional or not, that reading combined with the deeper concepts that some tracks explore make the album worth a listen. The ninety-sixth book: #76 Melmoth the Wanderer - Charles Maturin I felt repeatedly a step behind the novel when reading Melmoth…
-
The three hundred and seventy-fifth album: #375 Muddy Waters - Hard Again Before starting this album, I was a bit worried about the effect a blues album would have and what I'd find with it. This album delivered more than I expected though, a decade or two of rock music infusing the blues to weirdly have a more upbeat feel - the message might still be there as well, but it builds on a more powerful and active tone that makes it a joy to listen to.
-
The one hundred and thirty-second classical recording: #455 Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio Espagnol Still feeling rusty on my classical knowledge, I'm going to be brief and probably even less coherent than normal. Not entirely off the mark for a 16 minute piece, I suspect, that crams a lot in its fairly short duration. As an exploration of Spanish folk music, it goes through a lot of elements. There's not much recognition in it for me, but I love how it adapts some of the elements, with the castanets imitated by the percussion section being one stand out in a manic fifth and final movement. It doesn't leave you with a lot of room to breathe, the variations in the second movement feeling the most sedate, but the bursts of energy work to build these together.
-
The three hundred and seventy-fourth album: #374 Weather Report - Heavy Weather I've been on and off jazz throughout the blog, with more recent fusion tracks appealing to me a lot more than the original albums. That seems like it ended with Heavy Weather. While far from unlistenable, the build up didn't work for me, the effects that were introduced unnecessary and while there was a theme running throughout, I also didn't feel much cohesion for my brain to grab on to. The basic jazz sound here doesn't work for me, and the diversions and experiments don't do much to change that for me with this album.
-
The three hundred and seventy-third album: #373 Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue Rather than being able to find a standout track in Out of the Blue, I find Electric Light Orchestra's sound more interesting. At first listen, it's a pop rock album. Digging deeper, there are a number of interesting effects that add to that, but never enough to feel massively different. The presence of a violin as part of the core sound is good, but doesn't feel like it always meaningfully change the songs. It's there, but it feels like it never gets the emphasis that you want. Instead, we get some fun poppy songs with heavy vocorder use and quite different times - a fire extinguisher on Mr Blue Sky, the most recognisable track to be, as well as other surprising sounds. It works fine as a nice pop album, but I also don't feel like there's nothing I'm really going to remember about this album.
-
The three hundred and seventy-second album: #372 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus With some classic Bob Marley tracks appearing on this album, it presents the poppier version of reggae that we've heard before, possibly with more conventional production styles coming in. While on a theoretical level I could see how that would be considered a shame or betrayal, it makes it easier to listen to this album. The pop songs are nice if a bit simple, but even the ones that feel more like pure reggae are quite nice. Lyrically, at the same time, there's little to connect to - on a political level, the struggles it addresses are far enough removed, while the religious focus doesn't give me much. Marley's music is quite explicitly about this, especially when written, but it's not something appealing to me much further.
-
The three hundred and seventy-first album: #371 Billy Joel - The Stranger Billy Joel here has a good pop rock album - some good, powerful songs, with some really good lyrics to listen to. It's simple, but in most places works so well, with just the right amount of production without overwhelming it, almost a folk album in its focus while having that pop rock sound to it.
-
The one hundred and thirty-first classical recording: #107 Johann Sebastian Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier This covers book one, for anyone still following along, based on the given recording and general naming mentioned in the book. One of the biggest obstacles to overcome sometimes is the unfamiliarity with an instrument or sound. In contemporary music, electric guitars had that effect back in the day, auto tune sounds off to me sometimes and I certainly struggle a bit with more modern music these days even if it grows on me. That same effect goes the other way as well and the sound of a harpsichord is not one that I'm used to. It's a sound that I think I've mostly heard in a larger group, where it mixes in with other instruments, but on its own it has a metal sound that doesn't sit well with a modern ear that's used to a richer sound from modern pianos and such. Once past that, you get a musically inventive set of works, each a prelude and fugue. While perhaps not always as…
-
The three hundred and seventieth album: #370 Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express As I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before, Kraftwerk's oeuvre appeals to me and Trans-Europe Express is probably the best example of this I've heard so far. There's something in the electronic pop that appeals to me. This does depend on how much comes from their focus on the music, rather than the austere vocals that can lose some appeal when they're not just another instrument - the vocals often aren't strong enough for that.
-
The three hundred and sixty ninth album: #369 Brian Eno - Before and After Science In an interesting change, Brian Eno's Before and After Science isn't an ambient album. The music still is pretty gentle at times, but the first side has more upbeat tracks, often with more vocals, that are some decent pop tracks. The second side goes back to the more ambient sound, but it still has some that really work. It is simpler towards the end of the album, but compared to the other Eno albums on the list, it feels like the variety really pays off here.
-
The three hundred and sixty-eighth album: #368 Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive While I've been getting into a number of different genres for this list, seeing jazz-based music grow in a way I appreciate more for example, I think I've hit the point where certain rock albums are no longer doing it for me. Listed as one of the great live albums, Frampton Comes Alive is a bit boring to me, a rock sound that I've heard other bands do more with. There just wasn't much that I could get out of this and I'd rather have grabbed, say, something by The Who instead.
-
The three hundred and sixty-seventh album: #367 Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life Having sung Sir Duke as part of singing lessons about two decades ago, this album strikes a chord with me. The upbeat, enthusiastic sound of that track has always been infectious for me and while not all tracks are as much of a party, they do carry their emotion quite well and there's something fun about listening to the album - it does work well like that. The album is thoroughly entertaining, to an extent that I wasn't expecting before, even if its double length is exhausting.
-
The three hundred and sixty-sixth album: #366 Peter Tosh - Legalize It Although probably not entirely unexpected, this album isn't one of lyrical genius. Effective in getting its message out, that's in part because there's not too much in them. I don't think complex lyrics are really what reggae looks for anyway, but I can't say there was much there. The music works a bit better for me than Bob Marley's, the sound almost moving a bit poppier, upbeat and interesting. It's still a world that I don't have much attachment to, making it difficult to find much more in it, but it shows reggae moves in a more interesting direction to me in this era.
-
The three hundred and sixty-fifth album: #365 Fela Kuti & The Afrika 70 - Zombie There's something engaging about this set of afrobeat tracks. The bulk of the music has a jazz feel to it, energetic and exciting without repetition, but also a lot more structured than previous jazz albums were. Its impact doesn't match that of the original listeners, with the message lost on me, but it's been a decent one to listen to anyway.
-
Been a while huh? Really needed life to settle down again before picking this up. The five hundred thirty-fourth song: Master Blaster (Jammin’) - Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder doing reggae is somewhat predictable. It's a lot better taking through his filter, with the influence adding its jauntiness to a Stevie Wonder track, but I also felt done with it long before the song ended. The five hundred thirty-fifth song: Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime - The Korgis I only really know the chorus of this song, the few lines having been used more bombastically in other covers of the track. There's something thoughtful about the way it's played here, small and subdued, with the subdued vocals, the simple arrangement for the synthesizer and simple repeating motives. It's calm, but enjoyable, but it feels like later versions work better. The five hundred thirty-sixth song: I’m Coming Out - Diana Ross It's good timing that we're getting this song included around pride. It's a joyous celebration…
-
The three hundred and sixty-fourth album: #364 Ramones - Ramones Although punk rock has been lurking around the edges for a while, the Ramones' self-titled album is one that defined the sound of the genre and one of the earlier ones properly styled as such. That's not to say the sound is wholly original, but there's a consistency to it that may not always be to its favour, but works well to define itself. Lyrically, it's not as political as the genre would later become, but here it fits with the poppier music it references in a couple of tracks. Just as often, it's still raw and angry, but it feels more directed this time than what other hard rock albums have reached.
-
The three hundred and sixty-third album: #363 Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Although listed assix tracks, Oxygene feels more like a single instrumental electronic work. There is a break between the two sides and I'm sure repeat listens would throw up differences between the tracks, the fact that they are numbered sequentially shows how they all fit in as one, some weird soundscapes breaking in between them. Even in that sphere, the moods that an instrumental would normally invoke aren't present, the music feeling too alien to connect to. It is a lovely sound, but almost as much of a demonstration of how far it can be removed from our experiences.
-
The three hundred and sixty-second album: #362 The Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Music from the Penguin Cafe Some albums really don't feel complicated - just a quartet or small ensemble making music. There's no lyrics, no big themes, just a pleasant instrumental sound. Although I understand the band does more eclectic work, here it's a straightforward folk track with classical influences. It's an accessible album, good as a sound to work to while appreciating it as it's happening.
-
The three hundred and sixty-first album: #361 Parliament - Mothership Connection Mothership Connection is a bizarre funk album - by bringing in some prog elements, there's a Bowie-style influence in the lyrics while being driven still with the funk repetition. It just has a handful of long tracks, which always loses my attention partway through, but for where it comes from, the album has some good parts in it when it doesn't descend too far into that funk sound.
-
The three hundred and sixtieth album: #360 Aerosmith - Rocks The second of Aerosmith's three contributions on the list - with the third quite a distance away still - is once again my sort of rock album. There's a lot of energy to the tracks, feeling more upbeat and less heavy than their metal contemporaries without really losing the core of that sound. Sure, there's not as clear of a standout song here as before, but as a combined work it's good.
-
The three hundred and fifty-ninth album: #359 Joan Armatrading - Joan Armatrading Joan Armatrading has created a good folk rock album here - upbeat and rockier than the name implies, the guitars often feeling harder. It's got a lot to unpack in that sense, fusing gospel and harder rock into what could be a gentle folk rock album, and there are some songs here that feel like they could work in a stadium. It's a good fusion of different elements - nothing that's stood out to me as special, but it all just works really well.
-
The ninety-fifth book: #75 Ivanhoe - Walter Scott There was a point while reading this where I just struggled to ignore the casual anti semitism and misogyny - true of both the time it was written and the time it's set, but still unfamiliar and painful for a modern reader. It would otherwise be something to ignore, but in my head I found it a bit difficult not to associate with the rest of it, as combining it with the jingoisit portrayal of King Richard it includes (not entirely historically accurate from what I hear), it connects a bit more than I'd like with the modern more racist elements of society. A lot of it feels like a action focused romance novel of the day, some big fights (sometimes described), romance, the trickery we know from Robin Hood, and the villains taken down at the end. It's in parts very familiar, which is fine, but feels a bit too overwritten to really feel accessible - it feels like Walter Scott wants to Write, which sometimes distract from the point, and I…
-
The three hundred and fifty-eighth album: #358 Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil Mostly, Africa Brasil provides pleasant Brazilian pop. There's a samba root, but it has the jazzier bossa nova feel in a number of its tracks and brings in some gentle rock and funk's call and response in places to create a nice fusion. At the best, his quite simple vocals - often with the softness of a ballad - has more upbeat music behind it where it makes it more expressive. Taj Mahal for example has a famous beat in it, but his vocals are calmer than the rest of the song suggests. It's not something I would have necessarily expected, but it works well as an album.
-
The three hundred and fifty-seventh album: #257 Rush - 2112 2112 is of course dominated by its title track, a twenty minute long rock opera where the protagonist rediscovers music in a world that has lost it, ending darkly as this time it doesn't save the world - a welcome darker ending to an otherwise predictable story that's given form quite well. Then again, dystopian future imagery always does it for me, so I'll have to admit to a bias on this. It's a good work, the parts flowing well into each other for a nice consistent whole. Without that thread pulling it together, Rush's music is good, solid anthem rock, playing well, clearly, to stadiums and larger crowds. Not quite as memorable as the more evocative story of 2112, which I'd want to revisit, but it's good rock nevertheless.
-
The three hundred and fifty-sixth album: Kiss - Destroyer As Kiss's fame comes as much from its existence as an amazing live act as it does from its album, this is actually the only album on the list from the band. Said to be its most ambitious, its breadth is quite impressive. God of Thunder probably stands as its most conclusive, a massive rock anthem that really hits that dark exuberance, it's followed by Great Expectations, a hard rock twist on a ballad that is still quite produced in places, but is a more accessible, almost poppy track as well. It feels properly aimed at me, as I enjoy both the standard rock songs and the more sensitive ballads, with the variety pushing beyond the showmanship into something better and deeper. It's worth mentioning Beth here as one of the main examples of this. As an album it's well put together and well worth listening to the full range of.
-
The three hundred and fifty-fifth album: #355 ABBA - Arrival Listening to this round's ABBA album, I had an odd sensation - familiarity breeds affection. While the album has a full collection of good pop songs, the ones that I knew (Dancing Queen, Knowing Me Knowing You and Money, Money, Money for example) felt like songs that were that much better on the album. It might be self selection for the songs we know, but it feels like a track like 'Tiger' could have been as successful, but the fourth single "That's Me" just doesn't seem to have gotten as much attention. There's something about their poppy, upbeat songs where they are at their best, and combined with these songs being ones you can sing along to, they just ask for that boost. It's how they worm their way in and really make you feel best. It's a good album still, but the highlights do feel like they're that much stronger.
-
The three hundred and fifty-fourth album: #354 The Eagles - Hotel California With the title track enduring in the public consciousness for so long - for good reason - the big question listening to the album is whether it holds up after that. Lyrically, it does, with lines that need some time to unpack and feel like they're going deeper. It might not be as surreal as Hotel California, but it has its own depth. Musically, it's not quite as surreal as Hotel California feels, but they do fit in well with the feel the band is going for and repeatedly, the songs feel right in how they're put together - not in production, but from pure song writing.
-
The three hundred and fifty-third album: #353 Boston - Boston This is a solid hard rock album. No major stand outs for me, nothing's bad, it's all just at a good level that I've been enjoying listening to.
-
The three hundred and fifty-second album: #352 Joni MItchell - Hejira I'll happily admit to just not understanding the subtleties of some performers. I enjoy Joni Mitchell's albums, I find Hejira a calming and interesting influence to listen to, but I also can't really say what sets it apart from other albums by her. A bit less maudlin in places perhaps? A different feel to how they approach the subject? I struggle to say for sure, but as an album it still work swell enough and it's a welcome calm album.
-
The three hundred and fifty-first album: #351 David Bowie - Station To Station There's a less extravagant feel to Bowie's tenth album, one that's still produced but has a simpler rock sound as its core through the most of it, relying on Bowie's lyrics and vocals more to create that feeling. It's nothing big, but it feels well crafted and focused in a way that really suits me at this point.
-
The three hundred and fiftieth album: #350 Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers It feels like since my moving-related break, I've already been hitting some high points for some good rock albums. Modern Lovers aims towards punk again. It's upbeat, not trying to be deep, but hitting the right notes - not too hard, but not subdued either, staying accessible and energetic. It still feels like teenagers or someone in their early twenties working through things, but it's packaged up well enough to stay very listenable.
-
The three hundred and fourty-ninth album: #349 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Tom Petty's sound here feels like classic rock music - the upbeat driving sound, straightforward vocals, no tricks or excessive sounds, but instead harkening back slightly to older styles of music while still feeling quite modern. There are the hints at metal and punk, but on the whole it's a fun rock and roll sound that carries through really well.
-
The three hundred and fourty-eighth album: #348 Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today After my previous compliments of an R&B album, Curtis Mayfield doesn't wow me as much. It's done well, sure, the music sounds good, but aside from missing some body, the lyrics aren't very inspiring and through the seven tracks, they didn't get their hooks into me. It doesn't help that some tracks feel a minute or two too long - Jesus being one that strained my patience - and I just felt lost in the entire thing.
-
The three hundred and fourty-seventh album: #347 Earth Wind & Fire - That's the Way of the World One of the downsides of the domination of rock in the charts at this time is that it's difficult to track the changes in other genres that happen at the same time. While we have a soul and R&B album here, it feels like the same influences that created prog rock and its offshoots are here as well. Some of those no doubt originated from here as well, and there are still the long funk segments that harken back, but there are a few places where the album pushes through that style and becomes interesting. It doesn't do enough to make me a fan, but there's something nice in the album that I enjoyed.
-
The three hundred and fourty-sixth album: #346 Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger Covering fifteen tracks in just over 30 minutes of album gives us a number of short songs that never really have a chance to outstay their welcome. Willie Nelson's country music is simple, straight forward, lyrically focused with its complexities hidden. It's country in the way that I like it, simple, not overbearing, and while it's a bit slow at times Willie Nelson sells his style quite well - accessible and somewhat fresh in a genre that I've always felt quite staid.
-
The three hundred and fourty-fifth album: #345 Queen - A Night At The Opera As I think I've mentioned here before, I'm predisposed to liking Queen albums and this is no exception. The glam rock of Bohemian Rhapsody is, of course, its most famous track, but it's the journey between the different styles, telling their own stories and beats, that matter here. You see it in its most famous track for sure, but also moving ballads like Love of my Life, the raucous Death on Two Legs or the suddenly jazzy Good Company. Just as often, I just enjoy the music, not always set up to be complex, but it feels like they're experimenting and trying different things.
-
The three hundred and fourty-fourth album: #344 Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd has its history with long concept albums Wish You Were Here has its own version, the album dominated by Shiny On You Crazy Diamond, a nine-part composition whose halves bookend the album. Aside from any questions about what's going on, it is well put together, with a lead in that feels like it pays off more than it sometimes does. The other tracks works with it, longer compositions paying off with their vocals and follow ups. While I don't always like these longer tracks on albums, as it feels easy to get lost in them, Pink Floyd shows again how well it can pull them off.
-
The three hundred and fourty-third album: #343 Patti Smith - Horses Listed as early punk, Patti Smith's first studio album has a clear identity despite the number of co-writers involved. The result is an album with distinct tracks, but her voice all over it, veering between art rock, garage and what is at this point early punk. The latter is a genre coming up at this point, and some of its track are clearly punk while others stay away from it. It especially gets me in the larger epic tracks, where it has that feel of a journey, reaching the heights but having that punk tuning in the guitars. Not knowing what was coming, this was a real unexpected delight.
-
The three hundred and fourty-second album: #342 Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks Blood on the Tracks a Bob Dylan album - a number of folk rock tracks around his vocals that sound good with what they do. I don't know whether to still appreciate it at this point - his staying power as an artist is clear, his songwriting is impressive and clearly stayed strong throughout, but I wonder whether I really got anything new out of this album myself.
-
The three hundred and fourty-first album: #341 Neil Young - Tonight's the Night Tonight's the Night is an album of good country rock. It's fine - the country trappings aren't entirely my thing, but there are times when I feel I can really get into it and there are times where it's just a bit underwhelming - well performed, but I wouldn't be able to give you many highlights.
-
The three hundred and fourtieth album: #340 Rahul Dev Burman - Shalimar While the idea of a Bollywood album didn't immediately appeal to me, I was won over by the delight and joy of its second track, One Two Cha Cha Cha. It's a happy song, more poppy than you'd think, and it stands up well on its own. Other tracks don't do it as well, with tracks like Countess Caper having an ending that feel like they need the visuals to really make sense, but even then it feels like the album meets the middle ground of featuring the sounds you expect from a Bollywood album mixed with a good pop track. It's a decent album, quite surprising compared to what I was expecting, but this makes me want to go back and listen to more.
-
The three hundred and thirty-ninth album: #339 Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner Starting your week with a double album full of raw, spoken word jazz doesn't really get you going on a Monday morning. The album clearly revolves around Tom Waits' song writing, with two minute intros between songs, but his stage persona is so off putting that I found it hard to care and didn't get involved in the songs. At that point, they are jazz songs dominated by a scratchy voiced vocalist that I don't get much out of. It feels more like a drunken man's ramblings than creating an album that I actually enjoy. The ninety-fourth book: #1016 Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen Probably rather heretically, I always feel like there are two sides to Jane Austen's novels, with only one half appealing to me. I find it fascinating to read about their daily life, the adventures of people living in the era and what they found impressive. Northanger Abbey has this well, including some interesting insights in how…
-
The three hundred and thirty-eighth album: Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns Joni Mitchell's folk is pleasantly welcoming, the jazz and pop sounds feeling immediately recognisable and comfortable with her vocals shaping the music around it. While certainly not always a conventional sound, it feels incredibly familiar and warming to listen to. It's not very complex, but the jazz sound works well with the focus on the vocals and it creates an atmosphere in my mind that I really appreciate.
-
The three hundred and thirty-seventh album: #337 Dion - Born To Be With You It feels like it has been a while since we heard Phil Spector in action, but he's back with today's album - although not all tracks were produced by him and it's clear when he hasn't, as those tracks lack the effects and large production that he's so known for. The album brings a lot of big pop songs, using some new arrangements for songs and some originals, none of which I've entirely found memorable. It's decent to listen to, but I didn't really find anything in here that had staying power.
-
The three hundred and thirty-sixth album: #336 Emmylou Harris - Pieces of the Sky Pieces of the Sky feels like it's fast moving compared to the lengthy tracks most rock albums have. The ten tracks are fairly straight forward country tracks, using a variety of covers as well as original songs, and go from sensitive ballads to the standard upbeat country songs, and it sounds like really good country music. It's a genre where I do prefer female vocalists, as the gruff sound doesn't help for me, but at the same time Pieces of the Sky doesn't really have any tracks that connect with me or give me more than what the superficial sound of the music gives me.
-
The three hundred and thirty-fifth album: #335 Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run It's hard to resist the urge to dismiss this as the rock of a previous generation - it does what it sets out to do, but it doesn't exactly give me more than my dad's rock. I'm sure that it's down to everything that came later, but with hard rock and punk coming in, this album feels smaller and simpler. It sets out the core of its rock sound, doesn't vary, and it's a good base to listen to. I can't get excited about any of it, but it sends out what it wants to do well enough.
-
The one hundred and seventy-sixth TV show: #371 The Golden Girls While I enjoyed the Golden Girls when it was on when I was younger, there are plenty of shows that I enjoyed back then that haven't lasted. But while there are times where the show feels that way, for the most part the stories of older women living together works well. While at times approaching their topics with more maturity, there are as many storylines that are similar enough to ones found in sitcoms about people in their twenties. It's heartwarming and hilarious, with someo of the meandering stories working especially well. The charisma of the three leads do a lot of the work too, both in how they play off each other and how they each get the best out of their lines. It works and it's clear they all work to make it work that way, staying likeable throughout. We went from just starting it to being addicted and with how far we've come in three weeks, I wonder how long it'll take us to finish the series.
-
The three hundred and thirty-fourth album: #334 Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey For what is certainly my most high stakes birthday in years (I'll explain... some day, maybe), it's odd to move to a reggae album - something that doesn't fit my mood right now and feels odd in general. It's fine, as a decent reggae album to listen to that feels like the genre is evolving in a way that works for me.
-
The three hundred and thirty-third album: #333 David Bowie - Young Americans In the next turn for Bowie, the rockstar looks more towards soul, with an R&B inspired album - Fascination, for example, feels like a straight up funk song. It's quite a different approach for him, but the fusion creates some quite nice songs on its own. It just feels like the album lacks a bit of staying power, it doesn't feel like as many of the songs have lasted as we have with other Bowie tracks, at least in my mind, and I'm not sure I'm going to remember many after today.
-
The three hundred and thirty-second album: #332 Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic Toys in the Attic does what it sets out to do - giving you a hard rock album that hits, with some great known songs and some slightly subdued, more blues-y songs. It sounds good, it doesn't overstay its welcome and I enjoyed it for what it was, good hard rock music without any excesses, with the obvious highlight of Walk This Way, which still holds up so well.
-
The three hundred and thirty-first album: #331 Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert Showing how small the boundaries can be, this jazz album, a recording of a concert, feels like it could have ended up on the classical list as well. It might be a bit more upbeat and faster than what you'd expect from it, but as a solo piano piece it builds on that same work. It's not, of course, an album that I find myself actively listening to, but there's a bit of spirit in the track that makes it work really well for being this type of piece.