1001 Albums Update: 443 and counting

So, another fortnight of great progress. There was absolutely tonnes of amazing stuff this time around, I can't remember liking so much of what I heard in one of these updates since I started this challenge.

The albums feature in the book haven't been the only albums I've been enjoying since I last brought you an update.
Thanks to a rather glowing review in The Fly I stumbled across the debut album by California X and found an absolutely brilliant balls out scuzzy rock and roll record. I can't remember the last time an album was really as air-punchingly good on first listen as this was.
I thoroughly recommend you check it out, especially since you can download it from Amazon at an absolute bargain price of £3.49. What are you waiting for? Go get it.

Oh hang on, that's right, wait come back! I've got to let you know about what else I've been listening to first!
So, in no particular order, here's the latest set of albums I can check off my list...

• Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet

Cheesy as hell but you've got to love "You Give Love A Bad Name", "Livin' On A Prayer" and "Wanted Dead Or Alive".
Going off on a tangent slightly, we had someone giving a seminar the other day about fluid droplets and he used the term "wettable". Seriously, is that actually a word? It sounds like one of those quasi-words that mathematicians would invent without realising how ridiculous it sounds, like "texify".

• Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell

Taking The Who's rock-opera concept into overdrive, Bat Out Of Hell gave Meatloaf some of his greatest moments. As a Springsteen fan I was pleasantly surprised to see Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan played on the title track, "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)" and "Paradise By The Dashboard Light".

• Ian Dury - New Boots And Panties!

I bloody love Ian Dury. Ever since I saw him and The Blockheads performing "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" on Top Of The Pops 2 when I was pretty young (like 7 or 8) he really made an impression on me. His lyrics combined with his vocal style made him a truly unique artist - the kind that you'd only find in Britain. "My Old Man" was a particular highlight.

• Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson: I never expected this guy would be the person behind "Without You" ("I caaaan't liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive..."). It was a much livelier affair besides that track though, with lots of perky, quirky pop like "Let The Good Times Roll".

• Derek & The Dominos - Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs: More Clapton-based goodness. As the title suggests though, "Layla" is really the dominant song on this record and leaves the rest of the material here in its wake.

• Sade - Diamond Life: I've been hearing "Smooth Operator" for years without realising that it was Sade's big hit. Can't say much else really stuck with me beyond that revelation.

• Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information: Really enjoyed this, such a smooth record. The title track and "XL-30" (which sounded really familiar) were really great.

• Blur - Parklife, Blur, Modern Life Is Rubbish 

 I'd always seen Blur as more of a singles band, but these three held up really well from start to finish. Blur was a lot more mellow and experimental (though it featured the quickfire "Song 2"), while Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife came at the peak of Britpop and were much jauntier with the likes of "Chemical World", "Advert" and "Girls And Boys".

• Brian Eno - Another Green World: Every Eno album I hear on this list gets progressively better, only to then fizzle out & frustrate me when it should really deliver a knock out blow that sends me head over heels in love. Grrr. 

• Isaac Hayes - Shaft OST: "Hello there, children."

• KD Lang - Ingenue: I literally spent years trying to figure out if KD Lang was a man or a woman. Turns out she's a woman. Pretty good singer too, to say the least.

• Nirvana - In Utero

I know the vast majority of the songs on here from their MTV Unplugged session, so it's slightly odd hearing the likes of "Dumb", "All Apologies" and "Pennyroyal Tea" in these arrangements. Fantastic record though, and the heavier moments like "Serve The Servants" stood out strongly for me too.

• Run DMC - Raising Hell: This was a riot, featuring the likes of "Walk This Way" (the version with Aerosmith) and "It's Tricky", an absolute genius reworking of "My Sharona" by The Knack.

• The Jam - All Mod Cons/Paul Weller - Wild Wood

A couple of delights from the mind of Paul Weller here. I expected  All Mod Cons to have one or two more "hits" (i.e. more of The Jam's most famous tracks) than it had but that didn't stop me enjoying the likes of "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" and a great version of "David Watts" by The Kinks.
Wild Wood is another case where I shouldn't have judged a book by its cover - its title and title track had me expecting a largely acoustic affair. While it was still pretty folky, I enjoyed the richer arrangements on show.

• The Sex Pistols - Nevermind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

I've mentioned in passing before how I'm not John Lydon's biggest fan, but this record is near as dammit perfect. You can see why this album, in effect, started a revolution.
Lydon's sneering "anti-singing" as Noel Gallagher put it, sounds immense on the likes of "God Save The Queen" and "Anarchy In The UK" ("I-yyyyyyyy am annnnn anti-CHRIST-AH!") while the guitar riffs on "Holiday In The Sun" and "Pretty Vacant" are just to die for. This album isn't just some historical artifact, thsi is the real deal.

• Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen: Anyone who comes up with a title like that automatically wins points from me, but I don't think this quite held up against the other albums from punk's prime I was listening to this time around.

• Wilco - Being There: Much like Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, this was another instant purchase for me upon listening. The likes of "Monday" and "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" were unexpected delights and much heavier tracks than I thought the band were capable of.

• The Undertones - The Undertones: Surprisingly enough this album didn't originally contain "Teenage Kicks", their most famous hit, but boy could it hold up on its own without it with the likes of "Here Comes The Summer" and "Jimmy Jimmy".

• The The - Soul Mining: Only knew them as one of the subjects of a pretty crap Michael McIntyre about the north, but I was left pretty impressed with this album, "This Is The Day" in particular was fantastic.

• Donovan - Sunshine Superman: Turns out the title track's on of those songs I've heard for years (almost certainly on some advert) and not been able to put a name too (I've found lots of these whilst doing this challenge).

• The Mothers Of Invention - We're Only In It For The Money 

Oh Christ, not more Frank Zappa! The frustrating think about this album is that it's quite catchy but it's in fits and starts, so you'd just be getting into one of the tracks when suddenly Zappa comes along with one of his druggie oddball interlude things. So infuriating!

• The Clash - London Calling: An undisputed classic. The title track, "Spanish Bombs", "Lost In The Supermarket" and "Rudie Can't Fail" were all arguable The Clash at their best. The Elvis-referencing sleeve design is iconic too.

• Michael Jackson - Bad

Ch'mon! The production may have dated a little poorly, but Jacko clearly still had a lot left in the tank after Thriller. "Dirty Diana" and "Smooth Criminal" are personal favourites of mine.

• The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle

Another song I can finally put a name to: "Time Of The Season". Great song, the rest of the album is almost just as good - lots of bright jangley guitar pop, a lot more full of life than the band's name suggests.

• Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine: I wasn't sure this would be my cup of tea since Waits' vocals can be a bit strange, but I really enjoyed this record, "Jersey Girl" and "Mr Siegal" especially were on the money.

• Rufus Wainwright - Want Two: A great illustration of how brilliant Rufus' voice is. "The Art Teacher" is sublime, even if hearing Rufus sing a song from a schoolgirl's perspective is a bit surreal.

Also quenching my thirst for good music were...

• Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
• XTC - Skylarking
• Blondie - Parallel Lines
• The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues
• Bob Marley & The Wailers - Catch A Fire, Exodus, Natty Drea
• The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, If I Should Fall From Grace With God
• King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

While the following left me slightly disappointed:

• Alice In Chains - Dirt
• Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
• Japan - Quiet Life
• The United States Of America - The United States Of America

1001 Albums Update: 400 and counting!

I've managed to tear myself away from the stream of Bowie's new album (which I'm pleased to say is excellent) and reading Peter Ames Carlin's pretty ace Springsteen biography to let you all know how I'm getting on with this albums challenge. So let's get cracking! These past few weeks I have mostly been listening to...

• Norah Jones - Come Away With Me: Ravi Shankar's daughter! Who'd have thunk it? This didn't send me to sleep quite as soon as I thought it would and had a mice rendition of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart".

• Joni Mitchell - Blue, Court And Spark: I think these two albums illustrate Joni at her best. Court And Spark was my favourite, although I've heard a rumour she hates it! Which I can't fathom at all, the likes of "Free Man In Paris" are classics.

• Rush - 2112 

I was rather excited to hear this. Over Christmas I read "Ready Player One", the brilliant debut novel by Ernest Cline, the premise is like Willy Wonka meets The Matrix. Anyway, one of the featured characters in that book had a big obsession with Rush and this album in particular with it's futuristic concept. In the end it proved to be a good listen, but I have to say I preferred Moving Pictures more. I'd definitely recommend the book though.

• Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!: Just as quirky as you'd expect, "Uncontrollable Urge" and "Mongoloid" were the highlights of a pretty patchy album.

• The Band - The Band: A really sure-footed follow up to Music From The Big Pink, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Up On Cripple Creek" being amongst the highlights.

• The Stooges - Funhouse: I can't quite put my finger on it, but just like their debut this didn't click with me anywhere nearly as much as Iggy's solo stuff. Must be the drugs or something.

• N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton: Everyone you hear sampling "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright has to live with the fact that what they do with the track will never hold a candle to what N.W.A. did with it, and that's a fact.

• Simply Red - Picture Book: Surprising bearable album considering it came from the mind of Mick Hucknall. I'm sorry every time I say his name in my head I can't help but think of Bo' Selecta Mick Hucknall.

• Otis Redding - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul: Oh my stars, this has to be one of the most perfect soul records I've ever heard. Every track is just a show-stopper, especially his takes on Sam Cooke's "Change Gonna Come" and "Shake" and Smokey Robinson's "My Girl".

 

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell: This takes me back to playing the original Rock Band game with a bunch of friends from school, and "Maps" would always be our go-to song because it was relatively easy to play for all of us. Those were the days...

• Peter Tosh - Legalize It: This is a bit of a curio. The title track is about as subtle as a sledgehammer about wanting marijuana to be made legal tender. Yet there are also some nice little reggae ballads like "Why Must I Cry?" in amongst the druggie stuff.

• Tangerine Dream - Phaedra: Yet another album where I've found myself wondering if I've missed the point entirely when it comes to Krautrock.

• Echo And The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain: "The Killing Moon"! Excellent.

• Sly And The Family Stone - Stand!: I found this a much more enjoyable listen than There's A Riot Goin' On. I couldn't help but think of the Canadians in South Park upon hearing "Don't Call Me N*gger, Whitey" though. (I'm not your buddy, guy!)

• Pentangle - Basket Of Light: My first taste of Bert Jansch's work on this list, and I was very impressed. Equally impressive were the vocals of Jacqui McShee.

• Goldie - Timeless: Hard to think the bloke who's been on every kind of reality show you can think of in the noughties actually popularised jungle and drum & bass.

• Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Love And Hate: Another great Cohen album, "Avalanche" and "Sing Another Song, Boys" were my favourites.

• MC5 - Kick Out The Jams 

This album simultaneously made and set back MC5's career. With songs like the title track and "Motor City Is Burning" the band helped established their reputation as one of the most primal and livewire rock acts of the next decade. However, their introduction of the title track ("right now it's time to... kick out the jams, Motherfucker!") stirred up a whirlwind of controversy that ended up with their label Elektra dropping the band. It was worth it though.

• Curtis Mayfield - Superfly: So so funky. So good it made more money than the film it was soundtracking!

"He's got a plaaaaan, to stick it to the maaaaaan!"

• The Rolling Stones - Aftermath: Another key stepping stone (oh God I  swear I didn't mean to make that pun) for the group as their first album made entirely of Jagger-Richards written songs, "Mother's Little Helper", "Lady Jane" and "Under My Thumb" being the most famous examples.

• Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Francis Albert Sinatra And Antonio Carlos Jobim: Frank may have been getting a little long in the tooth by this time, but there's no resisting his crooning over "The Girl From Ipanema".

• Sparks - Kimono My House: Most famous for "This Town Isn't Big Enough For The Both Of Us", which should give you an idea of how creative this album is (whilst having its tongue firmly in its cheek).

• Slade - Slayed?: Proving that Slade are for life, not just for Christmas. Lots of fantastic rock licks on here like "How D'You Ride?" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now".

• Beck - Sea Change: Another album buried amongst my Spotify lists I can't recall getting the whole way through until now. This is about as laid back and tender as Beck ever got, with great cuts like "Paper Tiger". This album is an obvious forefather to the likes of "Chemtrails" from Modern Guilt.

• U2 - War, All That You Can't Leave Behind

This was like a tale of two U2's. War was an absolute revelation, as I had at last found a U2 I could enjoy without any pretensions or bullshit, just pure, direct, great rock and roll like "Sunday Bloody Sunday".
On the other end of the stick, All That You Can't Leave Behind finds the band realising that the excesses of the Zooropa and Pop eras were just a bit much and thus they returned to playing to their strengths with the likes of "Beautiful Day" and "Elevation". It's a very good record, but I can't help but think it lacks the bombast of their earlier work.

• Incubus - Make Yourself

I thought at the point in their careers where they made this album Incubus were a more traditional style metal act. I had no idea that 1) they were making such perfect pop as "Drive" already and 2) they were making experimental, semi-comedic tunes like Battlestar Scralatchtica.

• Genesis - Selling England By The Pound: There's no escaping it now, I'm a full on convert to Peter Gabriel's work. This was another really interesting listen especially opener "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight".

• Portishead - Dummy: Fantastic album. The tones was set from the off with the spooky "Mysterons" promptly followed by the chilling "Sour Times". An atmospheric masterpiece.

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn: Far more enticing and absorbing than any concept album designed to replicate the sensation of driving on the motorway has any right to be.

• The Replacements - Let It Be: It takes balls to give an album THAT title, but it more than delivered. A pop-punk masterpiece, the likes of "Unsatisfied" are especially brilliant.

• Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads, Henry's Dream

Seeing as I'm going to see the band in October, I thought I ought to further delve in their back-catalogue. Murder Ballads sees Cave put his own spin on traditional tales of crimes of passion (plus some of his own), including a blistering re-invention of "Stagger Lee" and a terrific cover of Bob Dylan's "Death Is Not The End" featuring a whole heap of guest stars including PJ Harvey, Kylie Minogue (both of whom feature on earlier tracks from the album) and Shane McGowan.
Henry's Dream is just classic Bad Seeds and the likes of "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" and "Jack The Ripper" saw the band in riotous form.

• The Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter: This was a bit of a weird one. Imagine if The Mamas And The Papas took more drugs & moved to Scotland and you'd pretty much be able to picture what this album sounds like.

• Common - Like Water For Chocolate: This is my new favourite Common album. It starts off unassuming enough but then really kicks to life with the excellent "Dooinit" and "The Light". There's some great guestspots too, from Jill Scott, Macy Gray and Cee-Lo.

• Massive Attack - Protection, Blue Lines 

Two terrific genre-defining cuts from Massive Attack here. Blue Lines appropriately enough was the blueprint that set the standard for the trip-hop movement, with the classic "Unfinished Sympathy" and my personal favourite "Hymn Of The Big Wheel".
Protection meanwhile is an appropriately less intense affair, given the state of flux the band were in at the time without Tricky or Shara Nelson. But the likes of "Heat Miser" and the title track are sublime.

Other albums that were like music to my ears were

• The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday
• Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night
• Gene Clark - No Other, White Light
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced "Leh-nerd Skin-nerd"
• Love - Da Capo
• The Cars - The Cars 
• Manu Chao - Clandestino
• Joan Baez - Joan Baez
• Moby Grape - Moby Grape
• The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators

While the following weren't quite to my taste

• Country Joe And The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind And Body
• King Crimson - Larks' Tongue In Aspic
• Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
• Soft Machine - Third 
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Tarkus 
• Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

And with that I shall bid you adieu for now.