992. Desperate Youths, Blood Thirsty Babes

Desperate Youths, Blood Thirsty Babes
TV on the Radio
2004

Tracks
1. The Wrong Way
2. Staring At The Sun
3. Dreams
4. King Eternal
5. Ambulance
6. Poppy
7. Don't Love You
8. Bomb Yourself
9. Wear You Out

We are in the home stretch with this List! Looking ahead, there are no other albums that officially repulse me off the title or artist alone, so this might be an enjoyable farewell tour.

Based on the title of this album, I was expecting something dark and metal-y. Fortunately, I was only correct about the former. TV on the Radio blends electronica with something indefinable. Naturally, it's the something indefinable I am more interested in, as I am not the biggest electronica fan. I really liked the vocals, which fit the mood of the album perfectly, along with the minimalist lyrics. 

If I had to compare this band's sound to something we've had before, it might be Pere Ubu, but that might be a stretch and I enjoyed this a lot better.

RATING: 4/5

962. Hail to the Thief

Hail to the Thief
Radiohead
2002

Tracks
1. 2 + 2 =5
2. Sit Down. Stand Up
3. Sail to the Moon
4. Backdrifts
5. Go to Sleep
6. Where I End and You Begin
7. We Suck Young Blood
8. The Gloaming
9. There There
10. I Will
11. A Punch-up at a Wedding
12. Myxamatosis
13. Scatterbrain
14. A Wolf at the Door

This is the last Radiohead album on the List, which is sad because they continue to put out quality music, and I don't see them taking the Coldplay route anytime soon. But I can explore more of their music once I have graduated from List Academy.

This is probably less experimental than their previous entry, Amnesiac. I think I enjoyed it more because of that. Still, they maintain their unique sound and affinity for pushing boundaries while remaining accessible. 

A solid goodbye to a band I've really enjoyed getting to know through the List. 

RATING: 4/5

838. OK Computer

OK Computer
Radiohead
1997

Tracks
1. Airbag
2. Paranoid Android
3. Subterranean Homesick Alien
4. Exit Music (For A Film)
5. Let Down
6. Karma Police
7. Fitter Happier
8. Electioneering
9. Climbing Up The Walls
10. No Surprises
11. Lucky
12. The Tourist

I thought the previous Radiohead album on the List, The Bends, was the best album of 1995. I was expecting to be blown away. While this was very good, I did like their previous effort better.

I think this was due to  "Fitter Happier" which was not very accessible. But I shouldn't let one bad apple spoil the bunch, and the rest of the songs were pretty fantastic. My personal favorites were "Let Down" and "Karma Police."

So Radiohead once again proves they are more than the song "Creep." Brilliant lyrical and production quality.

RATING: 4/5

778. Dog Man Star

Dog Man Star
Suede
1994

Tracks
1. Introducing The Band
2. We Are The Pigs
3. Heroïne
4. The Wild Ones
5. Daddy's Speeding
6. The Power
7. New Generation
8. This Hollywood Life
9. The 2 Of Us
10. Black Or Blue
11. The Asphalt World
12. Still Life

I keep wanting to write Dog Star Man, which is a series of experimental films that the 1001 movie list subjected me to. I guess some wounds don't heal, no matter how much time has passed. Fortunately, this was much more enjoyable than the movie that haunts me.

I didn't really take to the previous Suede album on the List, but I think they have found their sound with this one. They clearly are influenced by prog rock, which is a nice change of pace from what we have been listening to lately.

There were a couple of misses there, but overall, a fairly decent album.

RATING: 4/5

 

506. The Dreaming

The Dreaming
Kate Bush
1982

Tracks
1. Sat In Your Lap
2. There Goes A Tenner 
3. Pull Out The Pin 
4. Suspended In Gaffa 
5. Leave It Open 
6. Dreamin' 
7. Night Of The Swallow 
8. All The Love 
9. Houdini 
10. Get Out Of My House 

Well, I knew I would like this, as I have always had fun with angsty women.  Speaking of which, I have gotten into Camp Cope lately, which is a band that I am sure was heavily influenced by Kate Bush.

Anyway, I love unusual female voices (I miss the days when Nico was on this blog) so this was quite enjoyable for me.  More than that, her lyrics were very poetic and beautiful.  I will say that I enjoyed brooding Kate more than angry Kate; I just felt that melancholy suited her voice better.  

One more album to go before Thriller.  Hold onto your butts. 

RATING: 4/5

459. Peter Gabriel III

Peter Gabriel III
Peter Gabriel
1980

Tracks
1. Intruder
2. No Self Control
3. Start
4. I Don't Remember
5. Family Snapshot
6. And Through The Wire
7. Games Without Frontiers
8. Not One Of Us
9. Lead A Normal Life
10. Biko

Any album that people refer to as "Melty Face" has got to be good, right?

It's been a long time since we had a Peter Gabriel album on the List.  I had almost forgotten if I liked him or not.  This album left me with a "meh" feeling; I will have to delve back into the archives to see if I was just as ambivalent in my previous reviews of Gabriel.  I have been complaining lately that the lyrics in these albums haven't been very good.  Lyrically, this album actually is impressive.  I particularly enjoyed "Not One of Us."  I still don't know what "Biko" means, though.  I tried to look it up and found definitions ranging from "please" to "blow job."  Maybe it's a combination of both.

In any case, yes, the lyrics are intelligent.   Still, none of the songs really grabbed me.  In my opinion, not one of the tracks had a catchy beat.  This is, of course, a very subjective barometer.  However, I still need at least one song to catch my interest to give an album a high rating.

RATING: 3/5

432. Movies

Movies
Holger Czukay
1979

Tracks
1. Cool In The Pool
2. Oh Lord Give Us More Money 
3. Persian Love 
4. Hollywood Symphony

Make that three albums that have been no good. I have putting these albums on in the background when my sister and I are just hanging out in the same room and I have been attracting increasingly nasty looks.  I might be confined to headphones if things don't shape up soon.

This is a hard album to describe, as it sounds like nothing that anyone has ever done before.  Of course, no one ever did it before because it was awful to listen to.  The album only has four tracks, each one clocking in at around ten minutes.  The whole thing reeked of pretension; it's no wonder the album was so hard to track down.

Keep your fingers crossed for 433!

RATING: 1/5

388. Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
1977

Tracks
1. Moribund The Burgermeister 
2. Solsbury Hill
3. Modern Love 
4. Excuse Me 
5. Humdrum 
6. Slowburn 
7. Waiting For The Big One 
8. Down At The Dolce Vita 
9. Here Comes The Flood

My only experience with Peter Gabriel before this was the slightly cliched song "In Your Eyes."  I guess after that I was expecting extreme mushiness with this album.  Instead, I only got mild mushiness with a hint of every genre ever.

This album was completely all over the place.  I had to look up what genre this even falls under.  "Art rock," which is apparently a thing.  Is that the most obnoxious sounding genre title or what?  Get over yourself.  I am not sure who that is addressed to but someone needs to get over themselves.

Anyway, "Excuse Me" was a damn good song.  "Moribund The Burgermeister" was a little too progressive for me, but hey, I am trying.

RATING: 3/5

387. The Idiot

The Idiot
Iggy Pop
1977

Tracks
1. Sister Midnight
2. Nightclubbing
3. Fun Time
4. Baby
5. China Girl
6. Dum Dum Boys 
7. Tiny Girls 
8. Mass Production 

After the horror that was the last album, I think I would consider an album made up solely of commercial jingles a masterpiece.  To my desperate mind, this album was quite good.  Maybe I will revisit it later and be horrified.

This album was produced by David Bowie.  Although there are no more Bowie albums on the List, he continues watch over us like a slightly punkish god.

I don't know if the title of the album is a nod to Dostoyevsky or not, although that would make the album seem a lot more pretentious than it is.  It was actually really catchy, "Sister Midnight" in particular.  A welcome reprieve. 

RATING: 3/5

384. Heroes

Heroes
David Bowie
1977

Tracks
1. Beauty And The Beast
2. Joe The Lion
3. Heroes
4. Sons Of The Silent Age
5. Black Out
6. V2 Schneider
7. Sense Of Doubt
8. Moss Garden
9. Neukoln
10. Secret Life Of Arabia

This is the last David Bowie album on the List, although he does produce a few in years to come.  I feel like we are dealing with a completely different person every time Bowie comes out with something, so I don't really feel like I am saying goodbye to anyone in particular.  Goodbye weird Andy Warhol-esque, cone-headed Space Man.  Apparently, you start to kind of suck after this.

Everyone has probably heard the song "Heroes".  I was unaware, however, that it was the story of two lovers who come together near the Berlin Wall. It has been played over and over again in advertisements, but somehow people don't seem to consider Bowie to be as much as a sell out as say, Fleetwood Mac?  Anyway, it is a great song and it is featured in one of my favorite musicals, Moulin Rouge.

The rest of the album is mostly made up of instrumental tracks.  They were enjoyable, but as we all know and hate about me at this point, I am a lyric person myself.  Still, a solid farewell to the Human Chameleon.

RATING: 3/5

378. Low

Low
David Bowie
1977

Tracks
1. Speed of Life
2. Breaking Glass 
3. What in the World 
4. Sound and Vision 
5. Always Crashing in the Same Car 
6. Be My Wife 
7. New Career in a New Town 
8. Warszawa 
9. Art Decade
10. Weeping Wall 
11. Subterraneans

I apologize for not posting in awhile, but I have been feeling quite Low.  I also apologize for saying that.  Without this blog, I haven't had an outlet for my terrible puns.  I had surgery in early February which the doctor said would have a weekend recovery time.  Translation: huge fucking nightmare and never-ending pain.  It is my fault for not being fluent in doctor-speak.  You would think I would have a lot of time to listen to albums and write but I have been too busy complaining and taking medication.  

Anyway, I finally listened to this album yesterday and it certainly reignited my interest in this project.  I am not exactly sure how many albums in The Book that Brian Eno has been involved in, but it has to be at least a hundred; his name is always cropping up everywhere. Apparently, the first half of this album is very "Bowie" while the second half has "Eno" written all over it.

In my typical plebeian fashion, I really preferred Bowie's side.  The song "What in the World" really struck a chord with me (more music humor; well, calling it humor might be a stretch).  I probably felt connected to the song since I am stuck in bed all the time and Bowie is describing someone who never leaves their room.  A little on the nose.  Anyway, the second side was a bit more...avant-garde and dare I say, offensive?  One of the tracks sounded like they were trying to do something tribal, which was a little uncomfortable.  Did anyone else feel that way?

Anyway, this album definitely deserves all of the attention it gets.  Bowie continues to impress.

RATING: 4/5

369. Before and After Science

Before and After Science
Brian Frampton
1977

Tracks
1. No One Receiving
2. Backwater
3. Kurt's Rejoinder 
4. Energy Fools The Magician
5. King's Lead Hat
6. Here He Comes
7. Julie With...
8. By This River 
9. Through Hollow Lands
10. Spider And I

WE HAVE FINALLY HIT 1977!  I think I have spent more that an actual year on 1976 which is just plain odd when you think about it.  Our first introduction into 1977 is a really pretentious ark rock album by Brian Eno!  Time to find the nearest window that unlocks.

We have had a few experiences before Brian Eno and I recall thinking that he was overrated and all over the place.  Now, with a bit more experience with experimental music, I found him to be a lot more tame and a lot less remarkable than before.

"Julie With" has absolutely beautiful lyrics but its lack of a memorable melody makes it pretty forgettable.  I actually felt that way about all of the tracks: good lyrics and good music were pretty much mutually exclusive.

So I still got the scattered feeling but none of the potential intrigue.  Thumbs down.

RATING: 2/5

327. Another Green World

Another Green World
Brian Eno
1975

Tracks
1. Sky Saw 
2. Over Fire Island 
3. St Elmo's Fire 
4. In Dark Trees 
5. Big Ship 
6. I'll Come Running 
7. Another Green World 
8. Sombre Reptiles 
9. Little Fishes 
10. Golden Hours 
11. Becalmed 
12. Zawinful/Lava 
13. Everything Merges With The Night
14. Spirits Drifting

We are officially into 1975.  I covered around two hundred years of books in the time that I have covered a decade in this blog.  However, that is part of the fun and I am looking forward to seeing any significant changes with the new year.

I have been surprised a lot lately with some of my reactions to albums and this one was no exception.  I figured Brian Eno was going to be too pretentious for my taste.  I just kind of assumed that if someone said they were creating "soundscapes" that person is most likely a major douche.  While that theory might still hold true, I enjoyed this album.

Now, this is certainly not the kind of music you can rock out to in your car.  It is actually pretty depressing and there are long stretches when Eno is not saying anything at all.  However, the music creates an atmosphere that is quite beautiful.

This is definitely not the kind of music that I would have been interested in listening to at the beginning of this journey, but I liked it quite a bit.

RATING: 4/5

318. Sheet Music

Sheet Music
10cc
1974

Tracks
1. Wall Street Shuffle
2. Worst Band In The World
3. Hotel
4. Old Wild Men
5. Clockwork Creep
6. Silly Love
7. Somewhere In Hollywood
8. Baron Samedi
9. Sacroiliac
10. Oh Effendi

So I am back from a bit of a hiatus.  I have been way more interested in watching movies lately than listening to albums.  I guess I was craving a bit more escapism than these albums were willing to give me.  But now I am back and I forge ahead with this unknown little gem.

I, for one, had never heard of 10cc.  Apparently, a lot of their songs appear in car commercials.  The Book also says that this band has written the most ironic songs of all time.  This made me a little wary, since I figured that ironic meant hugely pretentious.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised.

This album is catchy and smart, especially in songs like "Worst Band in the World." It seems to use every instrument under the sun, but blended very well.  Definitely one to check out.

RATING: 4/5

311. Country Life

Country Life
Roxy Music
1974

Tracks
1. Thrill Of It All
2. Three And Nine 
3. All I Want Is You 
4. Out Of The Blue 
5. If It Takes All Night 
6. Bittersweet 
7. Triptych 
8. Casanova 
9. Really Good Time 
10. Prairie Rose

Ah, Roxy Music we meet again.  I have been putting this off for a little while but right now I have a horrible cold and am lying in bed.  And what better way to get rid of a headache that listening to art rock?

I just don't get it.  I don't hate it, I just don't understand what the big fuss is about.  I feel the same way about The Great Gatsby and the board game Apples to Apples.  That is incredibly random but I am allowed to say whatever I want because this is my blog and I am sick.

I guess the most remarkable thing about this album is the cover; in fact, when I googled this album to learn more about the band, most of the search results were about the models.  All I thought about when I saw at the cover was how uncomfortable those women looked. God, men.

I didn't hate it and I even thought "Triptych" was a little catchy.  Still, people worship Roxy and I just don't understand why.  If anyone wants to explain it to me in the comments section, be my guest.

RATING: 2/5

Best song from the album:

301. Here Come The Warm Jets

Here Come The Warm Jets
Brian Eno
1974

Tracks
1. Needles In The Camel's Eye
2. Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch 
3. Baby's On Fire 
4. Cindy Tells Me
5. Driving Me Backwards
6. On Some Faraway Beach 
7. Blank Frank
8. Dead Finks Don't Talk
9. Some Of Them Are Old
10. Here Come The Warm Jets

So it is early Monday morning and sooner or later I am going to have face reality and begin what is sure to be a rather grueling day.  Before that happy moment, however, I am going to review this album.  I will then most likely be running late all morning and be really cranky.  Yay, foresight!

So, first of all, 1974!  Woohoo!  I am used to my movie and book blog where there is an average of like seven things per year, not forty.  Always excited to move on.

Apparently, Brian Eno is one of the most represented guys on the list.  He seems to be behind the scenes in Roxy Music, David Bowie albums, and, of course, his own solo album.  That being said, until today I had never heard of him.

This album had a couple of catchy tracks and the guitar playing was rather impressive.  Still, it just didn't grab me.  I could hardly hear what was being said.  Furthermore, none of it felt very original and it was all pretty forgettable.

Could have done without it but not offensive.

RATING: 3/5

279. Berlin

Berlin
Lou Reed
1973

Tracks
1. Berlin 
2. Lady Day 
3. Men Of Good Fortune 
4. Caroline Says 
5. How Do You Think It Feels 
6. Oh Jim 
7. Caroline Says (2) 
8. Kids
9. Bed Listen 
10. Sad Song

So I listened to this album while I was trying on clothes.  If there is a way to feel more self conscious about your body than trying on jeans I have yet to find it. Anyway, now I am back to my pajamas and everything is right with world.

So this album absolutely bombed upon its release; Rolling Stone hated it when it came out.  Now, they consider it one of the greatest albums of all time.  Of course, this is because the masses hated it and they consider themselves better than us commoners.  Damn elitists.

Anyway, I think they should have stuck to their guns in calling this album a wash.  It has a plot and I usually do not like concept album (here's looking at you, Tommy).  He is not even singing, he is merely talking.  Maybe I just don't "get it".

RATING: 2/5

277. Paris 1919

Paris 1919
John Cale
1973

Tracks
1. Child's Christmas In Wales
2. Hanky Panky Nohow
3. Endless Plain Of Fortune
4. Andalucia
5. Macbeth
6. Paris 1919
7. Graham Greene
8. Half Past France
9. Antarctica Starts Here

Well that was disappointing.  I was expecting something really classy.  I mean, Paris 1919 sounds like a trendy restaurant.  Instead I got a kind of mix between art rock and country.  Excuse me while I go vomit.

All right, so maybe I am exaggerating.  And maybe this review has more to do with me experiencing one of the worst days of my life yesterday.  But still, I didn't enjoy it.  So there.

RATING: 2/5

205. Aqualung

Aqualung
Jethro Tull
1971

Tracks
1. Aqualung
2. Cross Eyed Mary
3. Cheap Day Return
4. Mother Goose
5. Wond'ring Aloud
6. Up To Me 
7. My God 
8. Hymn 43 
9. Slipstream 
10. Locomotive Breath 
11. Wind Up


1971!!!!  This is so weird that it takes around the same time to review 70s albums as it does a century's worth of books.


I listened to this album while reading Cecelia and I have to say, it was quite a pleasant way to pass an hour.  I am apparently supposed to have heard of Jethro Tull but I haven't.  That seems like a name you would remember.  The song "Aqualung" sounded vaguely familiar, though.  The lyrics in this album are both powerful and interesting.  In my research of this album I have read about some complaints people have that the messages are too big for the songs.  True, some of the anti-religion messages seemed like they were there merely because the band wanted to at least mention it once in the album.  Still, I thought the lyrics had a certain force in themselves that I am glad that I heard them.

RATING: 4/5

104. White Light/White Heat

White Light/White Heat
Velvet Underground
1967

Tracks
1. White Light White Heat
2. Gift
3. Lady Godiva's Operation
4. Here She Comes Now
5. I Heard Her Call My Name
6. Sister Ray


Amanda: This is one of those albums that pretentious people will call "pure genius".  They will tell us (smugly of course) that it is the Velvet Underground's stance against commercialism and that it is pure art.  In reality, this album is awful.


Awhile back, we called the last track of Da Capo self indulgent because it was overly long and insignificant.  Picture an entire album of "Revelation" and you have nailed this one.  Now, I liked The Velvet Underground with Nico but without her, they are nothing.  The second track consists entirely of a spoken, boring story.  If you really listen to the lyrics, you will understand how completely pedestrian and orthodox their views on drugs and sex were in 1960s.  At least be a horrible album that is original, please!


RATING: zero