It doesn't photograph well, but, man, is that a cool idea for packaging or what? METAL. BOX.
#461
P.I.L., Metal Box
Release Date: 1979
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: As a budding young graphic designer/music fan, I loved the branding of Public Image Limited. The logo, the generic "Album" conceit and even the name all seemed to be vaguely underground, but not obviously punk with stereotypical ransom lettering (like the Sex Pistols.) A nice bonus was that I even enjoyed their music. P.I.L. was still aggressive but more textured than the straight-forward assault … Continue Reading ››
R.E.M's album covers always looked like a the work of a really amazing graphic design student who actually got a paying gig.
#462
R.E.M., Document
Release Date: 1987
Previously Owned: Yes. On vinyl.
Impressions: I started liked R.E.M back in junior high when my cool music friend Matt, who hipped me to Hüsker Dü and The Clash, also got me into R.E.M.'s Life's Rich Pageant. Michael Stipe's mumbly, cryptic singing took me a while to get warmed up to, but I started to enjoy their and catchy Big … Continue Reading ››
Release Date: 1981
Previously Owned: Yes. On vinyl.
Impressions: Looking back at some of these entries, I'm gonna have to try to be more succinct if I want a shot at finishing all 500. Haven't listened to this one in a while. Let's throw it on... The opening bunch of songs "Show Of Strength," "With a Hip," and "Over The Wall" meld together and set up a dark, uneasy tone not unlike a John Carpenter film for Goths for the rest of the … Continue Reading ››
You'd scream too if you were trapped inside of the cover of a terrible album for all eternity.
#464
Def Leppard, Hysteria
Release Date: 1987
Previously Owned: No. Unless I have a record hiding in my collection somewhere.
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: The path not taken. When I first was getting into music in the early '80s, Def Leppard's Pyromania was out. I was trying out a lot of different things and their hit single "Rock of Ages" momentarily intrigued me-- with that goofy count off at the beginning ("Unta glebin gloutin globin,)" … Continue Reading ››
I thought that was a dirty joke, but no, this album actually contains sixty-nine songs about love.
#465
The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
Release Date: 1999
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: I know almost nothing of these guys/this guy. Let's listen...Quirky, jaunty opener "Absolutely Cuckoo" then leads into the dour, but funny "I Don't Believe in the Sun." Kind of cynical, but affecting, interesting instrumentation. Sometimes the sound with rinky-dink keyboards, banjos, and ukuleles seems a bit too indie-cute, like something you'd see in a hipster movie or commercial, but still winning me over. Nifty songs with … Continue Reading ››
"The album cover will be done by next Friday. Oh, you need it today?"
#466
Coldplay, A Rush of Blood To The Head
Release Date: 2002
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: Ah, Coldplay. I find these guys very hard to get worked up about one way or the other. Listenable. Tasteful. Agreeable. Radiohead with the edges sanded off. Even the name, Coldplay, sounds like an apt description of their chilly post-U2 arena rock. Well, enough chatter, let's listen... From the beginning, "Politik" is listenable, tasteful, and agreeable. … Continue Reading ››
Impressions: Let's get this straight: I like Bruce. But, I'm not too knowledgable. I recall this album seeming like a weird deal at the time because it followed up Born In The USA, (which in hindsight seems impossible.) It still sold well, but sort of seemed like a disappointment. Let's fire up the Spotify and give this album a listen... Oddly, the spare, Bo-Diddleyish ditty "Ain't Got You" starts off the album a lot … Continue Reading ››
That typeface really makes it look like "Paul Buggerfield," which would probably be the name of the band in "A Bug's Life."
#468
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Release Date: 1965
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: Completely never heard of these fellas. Paul Butterfield is a blue-eyed leader of this blues/rock combo. Mid '60s. Loaded with blues standards. Sure. Let's put it on... Hmm, sounds kind of proto-Cream? "Born In Chicago" sets up the sound. Lots of energy, looseness, and has a gritty Chess records atmosophere that makes it almost sound … Continue Reading ››
Lauryn Hill must be like volleyball-player tall.
#469
Fugees, The Score
Release Date: 1996
Previously Owned: Yes
Impressions: Haven't give this one a spin in a while. Let's go... After the obligatory opening skit, "How Many Mics" kicks off with a nice off-kilter beat and, weird that I didn't remember this, but tons of crazy references (Seal, Crazy Baldheads, Stevie Wonder, Last Tango In Paris, Jefferson Airplane, movies, tv, sports, heck, even the cover is a Godfather theme.) like almost at a Beastie Boy level. Many of the tracks ("Zealots," "No Woman, No Cry") have a great … Continue Reading ››
Impressions: Before he was doing the NCIS thing or battling sharks, L.L. (along with Run DMC) was one of the first big crossover rap stars that moved hip-hop from the secret mix tapes and 12" records we passed around at school to the mainstream. I haven't listened to this album since way back when. Let's take it for a spin... From the get-go, the sound is classic boom-bap minimal Rick Rubin production. "I Can't Live Without … Continue Reading ››
A guy tries to listen to every album on the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of all time list, and some other stuff
