Day 34 - Fat boy slim is ... ahem, in heaven

Fat Boy Slim - You've come a long way baby
I used to listen to this album quite a lot, and in fact I think I still own a copy on CD somewhere in the garage ... gathering dust now of course. I think I was going through a phase of liking "popular music" at the time, I'm confident that a copy of Play by Moby was often in the CD player in those days also. I would usually find it difficult to like an album that is largely made up of samples of other peoples music, but Norman Cook does this very well indeed, almost seamlessly, with his own spin on the drum and bass. It's pretty good stuff, kind of like electronic rock, but minus such things as guitars. After a short while (in each tune it seems) things start to get a little repetitive, or in other words you could halve each song and still get all the stuff in there that Cook is trying to achieve. But on the whole, a decent effort. Oh and on a side note, I have always loved the cover shot on this album!
Standout Tracks: Rockerfeller Skank, Kalifornia, Praise You

Day 33 - No doubt who rules the rock world

Queen - Greatest Hits
There are many albums and artists in this list that I am unfamiliar with, but this is most definitely not one of them. I have always been a huge Queen fan, the musicianship, talent for songwriting, and the ability to avoid getting pigeon-holed as a particular brand of music has always been something I have greatly admired. Simply put, this is a perfect collection of eccentric songs from four men at the very top of their game. I challenge anyone, anywhere in the world to listen to this album and NOT find a handful of tunes they are familiar with - such has been the influence of Queen on the world since their very early days. The only criticism I have of this is that while many people own a copy of this album, they are missing out on some utterly fantastic music that you don't find here, but do on the original albums these hits came from (too many songs to mention ... '39, Brighton Rock, etc, etc). So have a listen, kick back and just enjoy this fantastic selection of hits - but remember to go and revisit the albums from which these hits came!
Standout Tracks: Every single last one of them. Utter brilliance.

Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby
I'll admit to never being that big a fan of No Doubt, Stefani's former band, so a little trepidation was there when putting this record on. You get all the usual girly pop stuff, little bit of rapping, lots of harmonies, driving drum and bass lines, but with a little extra on top - a little bit of attitude, the sort of stuff that was missing from Britney Spears the other day (yes I know I keep ragging on Britney, but trust me it was truly an awful experience). I always said I liked music that either took real talent to make, or had attitude to it, and this album has the former in bucketfuls, it's not too bad. It has quite an 80s feel to the album (synthesizers abound, but lack that warmth synonymous with older synth structured music), a decade I particularly enjoyed, but by the end of the album you are left feeling a bit empty, and there is little particularly memorable about the whole experience. On the whole, not bad, but nothing I would write home about. Symptomatic of much pop music today, it threatens to flatter but ends up hollow.
Standout Tracks: Hollaback Girl, The Real Thing (bonus track)

Day 32 - Graciously back on track

Jeff Buckley - Grace
Set against the haunting qualities of Buckley's vocals, this album is at any time beautifully mellow or frenetically energetic, with some songs even mixing the two styles together. The song writing is inventive and surprising, as chord sequences are thrown together that you might not expect but, in general, work very well. This album won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I rather like it, it's a fresh sound coming from the 90s, a decade that saw a dirth of decent music (at least as far as I am concerned). In fact, the most difficult part of listening to this album is picking out the standout tracks, as they are all pretty good, although the most stunning track on the album is (and always will be) Hallelujah, Buckley's cover of a Leonard Cohen song - achingly beautiful, poignant, exquisitely performed, never bettered, one of the highlights of this journey. In all, Grace defies classification, it's impossible to pin it to a style and call it "rock" or something else, but it succeeds as, not an album, but a selection of finely crafted and inspired songwriting. What a poignant contrast to that nonsense from Britney Spears yesterday.
Standout Tracks: Grace, Lilac Wine, So Real, Hallelujah, Forget her.

Day 31 - From cool to just ... no.

Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Electronically infused yet acoustically rich, all rather epic. A band and an album with big ideas, like a poor mans Radiohead. Although thats maybe a little unfair. There are comparisons to be made, but the lead vocals are not as intensely haunting as Thom Yorke (and I have to say his American accent is vaguely irritating on words like "daughter" and "dresser"), and although the music is well written and executed it lacks the bite of Radiohead. They are from California though, so maybe the more laid back approach on this record is that image we all have of lazy Californian days in the sun. The album fuses together the acoustic, the electric and the electronic effortlessly - carefully arpeggiated synth tracks sit easily alongside indie style guitars and light and hazy vocals. It's a decent album, and there is enough about it to keep you interested, with a touch of Muse about certain tracks with the mixture of synths and guitars.
Standout Tracks: He's Simple He's Dumb He's the Pilot, The Crystal Lake, So You'll aim toward the Sky

Britney Spears - Baby One More Time
Oh baby baby, how was I supposed to know ... ah, I'd be lying if I said I'd been eagerly anticipating this one, pop music being my favourite genre after all... Oh well. No corners cut, no skipping tracks, 1000 albums or bust! Including this drivel. She's hot ... oh yes ... but listening to this is really a struggle. It's bland, cheesy pop with all the usual "I'm so misunderstood! I'm so misunderstood!" teenage arse drivel. Please make it stop. Please. Why am I putting myself through this torture? Changed the face of pop apparently this record. Cool. I DON'T CARE! I'd much rather watch the videos with the sound turned down.
Standout Tracks: Having a laugh? And no ... that's not a song name. Wait ... found one! Beat Goes On.

Day 30 - Roots, Bloody Roots!

Mose Allison - The Best of Mose Allison
This isn't the album listed in the 1000, but it was all I could find by this artist. But boy, am I glad I downloaded this. It's super cool jazz blues stuff, very minimalist with just a drummer, bassist, and pianist, with the warm smooth vocals of Allison meandering his way through each track. I suspect this is an album that even a year ago I would not have enjoyed, but since I have been playing in a band with jazz musicians I have gained a deeper appreciation of this kind of swing. It's cool, quick in places, laid back and chilled in others, but always superbly played and sung. There is more an element of the traditional 12-bar blues here than jazz, but the piano lends a very jazz feel to the blues, accentuated by the walking basslines underpinning the rest of the music.
Standout Tracks: It didn't turn out that way, Your Molecular Structure, Night Club

The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana
For those unfamiliar with this band (as I was) this is a reggae album. I think reggae is a non-marmite style of music, you either love it or hate it, or you are indifferent to it. I fall into the third category. The music has that "protest" feel to it, as if there are no frivolous songs with no meaning, but songs laden with lyrics that talk of empowering, religion, and the like. The musicianship is superb - but the constant skanking eventually gets on your nerves. Which is why I am indifferent to it, as the skanking is what makes this reggae. It also always seems to me that reggae is a "political" music, a vehicle for artists to put across their (potentially subversive) points of view ... nothing wrong with that of course, but it's largely on issues of race and religion that I really have no interest in (Rastafarianism etc. Although this is to be expected .. a quick check of Wikipedia shows The Abyssinians are a "roots reggae" group whose lyrical influences are indeed religion, politics, and the plight of the common (presumably black) man). Musically, these guys can sing, and play, but as mentioned above I am in the indifferent group when it comes to this music.
Standout Tracks: Abednigo, Satta Massagana, African Race

Day 29 - Revere the spoken word

Laurie Anderson - Big Science
This is all a bit wierd, but it has to be said not at all unlikeable. Pure experimentation with sounds and timbres abounds through the album, with a plethora of instruments being used from track to track. There are some lovely warm synth sounds rolling around the record, along with some interesting percussion. I don't quite get the meaning of much of the prose that she insists on speaking over the top of the eclectic soundscape she's creating, but it's actually a nice album, if a little odd (Perhaps the understanding of the lyrics would come with a more careful listening with no distraction). The songs themselves are very simple in nature, but they do have a way of making you listen, O Superman being the prime example of simplicity, yet compelling listening. I liked it a lot.
Standout Tracks: O Superman

Day 28 - A descent into prog madness

All Saints - All Saints
Upbeat girly pop. I quite liked Never Ever, I think largely due to the Amazing Grace connotations (a hymn which ranks amongst my favourites). This album is infuriating. I want so much to dislike it, for example when the cover of Under the Bridge by the Chilli's starts, but it keeps coming up with little things that I like and could enjoy again. I was a little skeptical when the album started with "Bootie Call", the mere name putting me off, but this is fairly chilled laid back stuff - a little too processed perhaps, but that's the nature of electronic music I suppose. There's plenty of this sort of thing on the 1000 list, and it all blends into one. The little bits and pieces that I like about this album slowly get eaten by the routine drum and bass and R&B style. Overall, it is what it is, and despite a reasonably promising start just gets a little boring as the album progresses.
Standout Tracks: Never Ever, Under the Bridge.

Aphrodites Child - 666
Wierd prog shizzle! Kind of cool though, back in the day when creating epic music was a possibility, as the music listening public was not satiated by three minute pop ditties as today's public seem to be. This is a PROPER album. The theme is the book of Revelation, and quoted scripture abounds throughout the record. The music is at times frantic and frazzled, and other times laid back and very mellow indeed as the theme weaves itself through the music (check out the intro to Aegian Sea in particular), in other places hypnotic. Super music making, with a completely care free attitude to "radio suitability" or other neat packaging, but rather an emphasis on the epic, the lengthy, and the experimental. Good stuff - even if it slightly loses the plot toward the end (Infinity.. All the Seats were Occupied)
Standout Tracks: Can't really say, you should take this album in its entirety

Day 27 - Punk funk and ... dead babies.

Hey! Back in business with some new music to explore. I sometimes wonder why I have such large gaps in this adventure, and I honestly think its because I am a forgetful type and it goes out of my head for long periods of time. I'd best get a wriggle on though, I'll be 40 next month which I figure puts me at around half time in the game of life (hopefully!), and I am not even to 100 yet in the albums list. Here we go again then ... more regular this time ... I promise!

A Certain Ratio - Early
Well, I am seriously out of practice with this, dreaming up things to say about the music. The cover promised me jazz, but it isn't, it's actually rather good bass heavy music, with wah-chicka-wah-wah guitars abounding in a nice funk style. The vocals take a little getting used to, but these guys can play for sure. The bassist/drummer are excellent, very funky indeed, and some tracks just get your head bobbing. Some excellent slapping and popping on the bass (especially in the track Waterline), with more ethereal sounding melody and vocal lines over a solid funk foundation. A bit different, I like it! Post punk funk as described by their Wiki article, and they are still going, and British - nice.
Standout Tracks: Waterline, Shack Up

Alice Cooper - Killer
I know a fair bit about Alice Cooper but I have never really taken him that seriously as a rock artist, now is perhaps the time to change that impression. This album is much more bluesy than I expected, pentatonic solos abound, with little twists on the twelve bar blues style. The music is pretty upbeat, it's pretty cool old school 70s rock. Not as bluesy as ZZ Top and not as heavy as Black Sabbath, but it's pretty inoffensive stuff. I think the reason I never got much into Alice Cooper though is becoming apparent, I don't find his vocals very appealing; they are raspy and harsh (as they should be) but have a quality to them that I don't really like. All gets a bit wierd at the end (Dead Babies? Huh?) but overall, not a bad album at all.
Standout Tracks: Halo of Flies