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!