1001 Albums: 0380 - 0390 - Fixed!

That's right my tens of readers and ones of subscribers, I fixed the numbering on my blog! I also added the album art links so you can click your little fingers about, listening to music samples! FEEL THE LOVE! FEEL IT! Mrs F. Wall was kind enough to figure out where I screwed up, so she gets the prize! It shall be sent out as soon as I get a decent box! What's that? You didn't know there was a prize offered? Listen, I never said I was a great writer, sometimes I might forget to post all the information fully necessary to enjoy this mess. I'm not getting paid to suffer through this you know? Why do you think this blog looks like a 1995 geocities page eh?

Right, on to the music! This is a 1001 Album blog today after all, not a "Broken Record" or a "Lets discuss how crap Russ is with the whole blogging thing" blog. This pack of music was better then bad in that it was good. Re-reading the list, it wasn't super great, but there were some strong albums in here to balance out Suicide. So let's round 'em up!


0380 Wire – Pink Flag - This is actually a great punk album. It's not obnoxious like most punk, but it is cheeky and clever without being annoying. If you look at the wiki page, there is apparently a lot of stuff going on in this and it's refereed to as a 21 song punk suite. I have no idea what any of that means. I simply liked it for what it is- a great punk album.


0381 John Martyn – One World - Starts off as pedestrian folk, then gets peppy and jazzy and still not all that interesting. Yup, even the reggae sounding song failed to please this listener.


0382 Talking Heads – 77 - This one pleased me. I've always be partial to Byrne's weirdo whinny voice, and it fits perfectly with these early tracks. The songs sound mostly peppy new wave instead of punk, but also sinister at the same time. "Psycho Killer" is probably the best known track, but the whole album works. A great debut!


0383 Fleetwood Mac – Rumours - The album that Fleetwood Mac is best known for is pretty damned good. It's another one of those albums that I like, but never think of playing. Anyways, nothing bad to say about this one other then the chick who isn't Stevie Nicks is kind of terrible on the songs she fronts. Sadly, this album does not include the songs "Landslide" or "Rhiannon" so it's not the only Fleetwood Mac record you would need to own.


0384 David Bowie – ‘Heroes’ - After "Low" this one had to win me back. It didn't. Oh it starts out good, and the song "Heroes" is arguably one of Bowies very best songs. There too much of the annoying "Low" style instrumentals that rear their head to annoy me and diminish my liking this. So not a total loss, but it's not great either.


0385 Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue - The Beach Boys drummer steps out from behind the kit to grab the limelight with this solo outing. It's not terrible, in fact it's better then any thing the Beach Boys were doing at the time. Granted, silence was more inspired then the Beach Boys by the late seventies, perhaps I'm not saying much. Anyways, Wilsons voice is pretty much shot by this point due to coke and booze, and that roughness adds to the songs in a way the overly sweet Beach Boys sounds couldn't. In the end, it still adds up to a rather dull album. The bottom line is, The Beach Boys and the band members peaked at about 1968, and everything past that pales in comparison.


0386 Suicide – Suicide (1st Album) - The first time I listened to this was for the "Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums" project I did. I hated it then. Revisiting it, I still don't like it, but I don't all out hate it. I don't have any urge to revisit it soon, and I still think most of it is laughably awful. I do however appreciate the innovation of drum machines and keyboard loops more then I did the first time. So I get and understand it's influence, I just don't want to listen to it.


0387 Iggy Pop – The Idiot - After seeing the success that Dennis Wilson had by ditching the Beach Boys, Iggy steps away from the Stooges for this solo pop effort. Sporting cover art to accurately reflect the title, and heavily influenced by Bowie, it's actually not that bad, even seen through my Stooge coloured glasses. The Stooges are one of my all time favourites you see. Anyways, it's a solid album. Iggy debuts a strong baritone vocal style that fits the rather down beat songs. "China Girl" will prove to be a modest hit, and Bowie will cover it later on I think? I might have that backwards.


0388 Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel - Not to be outdone by those ego maniacs Dennis Wilson and Iggy Pop, Peter Gabriel ditches Genesis and also strikes out on his own! Longtime readers (bless their hearts) might recall me being pleasantly surprised by old Genesis, so you shouldn't be surprised that I liked this too since it's already been established that I find Peter Gabriel enjoyable. The album is rich in different song styles, from straight ahead rock to Randy Newman style music hall. It all works and made me pleased.


0389 Television – Marquee Moon - No one leaves any bands on this one! Instead, a band that was part of some punk movement (I think New York? I could probably wiki this...) recorded this for the sake of spreading their music instead of competing with Dennis Wilson. It's a solid album. Not all that punk sounding compared to the Clash or the Sex Pistols, but definitely raw compared to Peter Gabriel and Dennis Wilson. It's a win I guess?


0390 Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell - I think everyone on the planet has probably heard "Paradise By the Dashboard Light", and if you haven't then you lose points. The whole album sounds like this song, and that's fine by me. It's all basically a big goof, but Meat Loaf sings these songs so beautifully and heartfelt, that it really is great and deserves the classic status it has.

So there it is, Wire, Meat Loaf, Talking Heads, they all showed up and made this a good pack! Old favorites David Bowie and Iggy didn't let us down, and Dennis Wilson didn't destroy the music industry by leaving The Beach Boys. That all adds up to a pretty decent pack if I don't say so myself!

1001 Albums: 0370 - 0379: My Nightmare Came True

I knew I would screw this up, and I did. Now none of my ones of readers will realize this, but I seem to be off by a number. I think. Based on how I have these numbered in my MP3 player, and how they are listed here, I'm off by one. I'm guessing I doubled up a number somewhere on this blog, but I'll be damned where that happened. Damn it all! Anyways, I know for a fact that I haven't missed an album, so I'm still hitting this fine, and I'm going to continue on like nothing is wrong. The last post in this blog might end up being 1002, or 1000. It's just the way it's going to roll. We have to hold each others hands, and comfort each other in the knowledge that despite appearances, I am not perfect. The world is not perfect and mistakes will happen. Now lets hang our head in mutual shame and see what is in this ten pack.


0370 Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express - Krautrockers Kraftwerk are back again! Apparently it's OK to call German bands "Krautrock" since it's on Wikipedia. So I don't want to hear any complaints or accusations that I'm racist. Anyways, this one was not that good. I think the novelty that was "Autobahn" wore off, because the singing parts on this was annoying, and the bloopy beeps bits were also annoying. None of it was charming. So this one is a pass. NOTE- The album art is wrong, blame Kraftwork, they keep changing stuff.


0371 Billy Joel – The Stranger - Billy Joel has been the punchline to many a joke that I have made. And never in a positive way. Which is really unfair of me, because it ends up that this is really good. It's rather sophisticated and over produced, but I liked it. That's about it.


0372 Bob Marley & the Wailers – Exodus - Alright, Bob Marley has officially over stayed his welcome on this list. All these albums sound the same. All the songs practically sound the same. The message- ALL THE SAME! No more Bob Marley please!


0373 Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue - This is Jeff Lynn's band. You may not know who that is, but he's responsible for producing a ton of hit records (which equals one of each) by George Harrison and Tom Petty in the 80's. So it's neat to hear him making those sounds back in 77 or whatever year this list is for. The bad news though is this was a double album and it goes on to long.


0374 Weather Report – Heavy Weather - This is a jazz album, and it's the type of jazz that people who hate jazz like to point at to describe why they hate jazz music. It sounds like peppy 70's sitcom music, until it starts to go free form and really shitty. So pass on this one.


0375 Muddy Waters – Hard Again - Holy shit this was great! Really great! Muddy Waters totally owns the blues on this, the band is loud and tight, yet it all comes off incredibly loose and juicy. So if you want to know what electric blues can be like, GET THIS ALBUM!


0376 The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus - A fairly decent punk offering. This stands out from other punk in sounding rather accomplished and oddly American with songs about going to the beach. I'm guessing they are making fun of that sort of thing. Anyways, it's better then I thought it would be, but I doubt I'll ever listen to it again outside of a list.


0377 The Clash – The Clash (1st Album) - I've been a big fan of The Clash since Junior High (about 50 years.) so this one wasn't a surprise. I loved it again as I've loved it before. Joe Strummer had the best voice for punk rock. Not a bad track on here, this raw first album is dead solid. And recommended! (Note - The link on this one is for the American version, which is still pretty good)


0378 David Bowie – Low - This one was basically a bunch of droning instrumentals, and the song "Sound & Vision". It's the start of something that is called "The Berlin Trilogy" and is considered highly influential. It was boring and completely forgettable.


0379 Steely Dan – Aja - Steely Dan can fuck off.

Well that's it. Not a great list of albums admittedly. Maybe if I enjoyed the albums more I wouldn't of made a mistake somewhere in the numbering. That works for me, blame the list itself! Bwaa ha haaa!

1001 Albums: 0360 - 0369, It's Still '76, And It Sucks!

The run had to end sometime. After a few posts of nearly non-stop greatness, the list has petered out into mid 70's hell. 1976 ends with a whimper folks. The high light is "The Ramones", but it's a bit of a meh still since I'm such a big fan of the band already. Hell, I'm wearing my Ramones converse as I type this! Anyway, here's how it fizzles out. Bleh! I should also probably mention that many of these were listened too while I was sick with my annual cold and flu, so I'm probably being extra miserable instead of my usual snarky.


0360 Aerosmith – Rocks - Huh! Aerosmith show up again? It's more of the same, this one has "Back In the Saddle." That's about all I got on this one. Just not a very memorable album.


0361 Parliament – Mothership Connection - I really liked this one! It's a more dance-y album compared to "Maggot Brain", and just a ton-o-funk-fun!


0362 Penguin Café Orchestra – Music from the Penguin Café - I did not like this one! It's kind of a classical music sounding jazz thing, and it's problem was this. I would start to like it, then it would get a little too jazzy and I'd find it annoying. So this one too is a big pass.


0363 Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene - A friend asked me if I had this album, and I was all pleased to say that I did! Then I listened to it and hated it. I really hated it. It's boring ambient music. Stupid ambient music. God damn did I hate this, and now I hate my asshole friend for getting me all excited.


0364 Ramones – Ramones (1st Album) - This is the silver lining to this batch of records. The Ramones first album is perfect in every way. I've also loved it for a long time, so it's sad that this is the high light.


0365 Fela Kuti – Zombie - Not a rock concept album sadly, but a funky jazz album. Not a very good one either.


0366 Peter Tosh – Legalize It - The title track is about marijuana in case you were wondering. So this album does nothing to try to sway you into thinking there is more to the reggae lifestyle then smoking blunts. That said, I actually prefer Tosh to all the Bob Marley that has been showing up on this list. The music is a bit more bouncy, I don't know, it just works.


0367 Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life - This is a shock since I was positive when reviewing all those other Stevie Wonder albums that I already listened to this on this list! Anyways, it's still too long in my opinion, and hit and miss. I'm just not a fan of this type of sophisticated R&B. I like fast and loose soul music.


0368 Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive - This one is just fucking stupid. How it got to be so iconic is beyond me. Actually, I do know why. Frampton uses a "Talk Box" on a couple of tracks, and that was hot shit in the seventies and music clods ate it up. Aside from the talk box, all that you will find here is pedestrian white rock and blues performed by a mediocre guitarist. It's a giant bore, the acoustic part of the set is absolutely terrible. The cover art even looks idiotic (though not as bad as the follow up "I'm In You", look it up...), like he's going to come in your face any second... fuck this record and Peter Frampton. The asshole.


0369 Brian Eno – Before & After Science - I was dreading this since I didn't care for the ambient last album Eno put out on this list. So it was a nice surprise to see him return to more proper songs and what not. Not nice enough for me to be impressed though.

Actually, to be fair, that Parliament album was pretty sweet too. And Brina Eno is actually from 1977, so maybe that's a sign that the next batch of albums will be better. 1977 means The Clash and some punk faves should be showing up. Let's hold thumbs shall we?