941. Melody A.M.

Melody A.M.

Royksopp
2001

Tracks
1. So Easy
2. Eple
3. Sparks
4. In Space
5. Poor Leno
6. A Higher Place
7. Royksopp's Night Out
8. Remind Me
9. She's So
10. 40 Years Back/Come

So another trip hop album. This one seemed to have been created for the sole purpose of being licensed for commercials and video games. I guess it's appeared in everything from T-Mobile and Geico ads, to promoting Spongebob Squarepants.

Which makes for a pretty bland, inoffensive album. It's not danceable trip hop, it's just sounds like stock samples in Garage Band.

Entirely skippable, but you might catch snatches of it if you use Apple products.

RATING: 2/5

869. Ray of Light

Ray of Light
Madonna
1998

Tracks
1. Drowned World/Substitute For Love
2. Swim
3. Ray of Light
4. Candy Perfume Girl
5. Skin
6. Nothing Really Matters
7. Sky Fits Heaven
8. Shanti/Ashtangi
9. Frozen
10. The Power Of Good-Bye
11. To Have And Not To Hold
12. Little Star
13. Mer Girl

Madonna decided to release a trip hop album. The result is surprisingly boring, but at least she is trying to evolve her sound.

I expect to recognize nearly every song on a Madonna record, but I was only familiar with "Ray of Light" from this album. I guess this is because these songs aren't as radio friendly as her other hits have been in the past. Maybe trip hop hadn't hit the mainstream America yet, so this was mistaken for revolutionary. But this will sound stale to anybody who was keeping with other trip hop bands at the time, like Portishead for example.

Overall, I thought it was a little dull and too long, but not terrible.

RATING: 3/5

816. Endtroducing...

Endtroducing...
DJ Shadow
1996

Tracks
1. Best Foot Forward
2. Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt
3. The Number Song
4. Changeling
5. Transmission 1
6. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)
7. Untitled
8. Stem/Long Stem
9. Transmission 2
10. Mutual Slump
11. Organ Donor
12. Why Hip-Hop Sucks In '96
13. Midnight In A Perfect World
14. Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain
15. What Does Your Soul Look Like
16. Transmission 3

Here we have an album that is a musical version of a found poem. There is no original material here, only samples, and as far as I know, this is the only album on the List with that particular claim to fame. 

I think this is a good thing, I'm never as interested in samples as original music, which is one of the many reasons I struggle with hip hop so much. The arrangements were interesting as a sort of collage of sound, but I didn't think they were particularly engaging samples.

Not offensive, but not very compelling either.

RATING: 2/5

789. Maxinquaye

Maxinquaye
Tricky
1995

Tracks
1. Overcome
2. Ponderosa
3. Black Steel
4. Hell Is Around The Corner
5. Pumpkin
6. Aftermath
7. Abbaon Fat Tracks
8. Brand New You're Retro
9. Suffocated Love
10. You Don't
11. Strugglin'
12. Feed Me

So another trip hop album, and I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. I didn't even recognize "Black Steel" as a Public Enemy track, with its trip hop makeover.

I don't typically like trip hop albums, partly because they seem really dated now. But this one actually remained fairly timeless. I didn't love the lyrics, but overall, a more pleasant experience than I typically associate with the genre.

Worth a listen, for "Black Steel" alone.

RATING: 3/5

788. Smoker's Delight

Smoker's Delight
Nightmares on Wax
1995

Tracks
1. Nights Interlude
2. Dredd Overboard
3. Pipes Honour
4. Me + You
5. Stars
6. Wait A Minute
7. Prayin' (For A Jeepbeat)
8. Groove St
9. Time (To Listen)
10. Man Tha Journey
11. Bless My Soul
12. Cruise (Don't Stop)
13. Mission Venice
14. What I'm Feelin' (Good)
15. Rise
16. Rise
17. Gambia Via Vagator Beach

I have a somewhat ridiculous notion that I want to hit 800 this weekend. And yes, I fully realize that I need Milestones Anonymous. In the meantime, I will indulge my madness and celebrate Album-athon 2020.

As the album title indicates, this music is probably best enjoyed while smoking a joint and scrutinizing a fish tank. I was not engaged in such happy activities while listening to this, but as background music it was still somewhat enjoyable.

So I am not too into ambient music, but this was still fun for what it was.

RATING: 3/5

776. Protection

Protection
Massive Attack
1994

Tracks
1. Protection
2. Karmacoma
3. Three
4. Weather Storm
5. Spying Glass
6. Better Things
7. Euro Child
8. Sly
9. Heat Miser
10. Light My Fire

I had high hopes at the beginning of this album, because Protection is a really good song. But from there, the album kind of peters out. This isn't the first band to front load their album, which always makes for an awkward, top heavy experience.

The rest of this album was rather blah, and to me just sounded like music nurses play when they put you on hold. I guess it's supposed to be calming, but it always makes me fussy.

Protection was good, but overall, this was fairly skippable.

RATING: 3/5

761. Dummy

Dummy
Portishead
1994

Tracks
1. Mysterons
2. Sour Times
3. Strangers
4. It Could Be Sweet
5. Wandering Star
6. It's A Fire
7. Numb
8. Roads
9. Pedestal
10. Biscuit
11. Glory Box

We have had a lot of amazing solo female artists lately, it's nice to see some representation in the bands featured on the List as well. I really enjoyed Beth Gibbons' vocals, and for me they were the highlight of the album.

It did sound a bit more dated than some of our other entries lately; it doesn't quite possess the timelessness of Pavement or the Boo Radleys. Still, sounding very 90s isn't as reprehensible as sounding very 80s, so it's not necessarily a terrible thing.

I am not hooked on the trip hop genre as a whole, but I was still digging this. 

RATING: 3/5

704. Blue Lines

Blue Lines
Massive Attack
1991

Tracks
1. Safe From Harm
2. One Love
3. Blue Lines
4. Be Thankful For What You've Got
5. Five Man Army
6. Unfinished Sympathy
7. Daydreaming
8. Lately
9. Hymn Of The Big Wheel

I have a hard time connecting to the electronica and hip hop genres separately, and so I wasn't exactly clamoring for somebody to fuse the two. 

Not that I don't like albums that make me think "was that a humpback whale?" but this album was more an oddity than an enjoyable listen for me. It just felt very dated and not very interesting. 

Next up Primal Scream! Something tells me our fortunes will not improve with an album called Screamadelica.

RATING: 3/5