Day 0984 - It's Blitz

 Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz!” (2009)

Whereas the YYY’s debut “Fever to Tell” (day 950) leaned on a Riot Grrl-esque art punk approach; “It’s Blitz” takes things in more of a poppy, new-wave sound, which was presumably right in the wheel-house of their producer (and TV on the Radio member) Dave Sitek.   Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ producer Nick Launay was also in the mix (so to speak).

The new sound is obvious from the off, with first track “Zero”, opening with a pulsing synth-line.  More polished than ‘Fever to Tell’ but without becoming toothless in the process.

“Soft Shock” showcases a kind of propulsive, anthemic pop, while “Skeletons” has a dreamy pop sound.  There’s a nice alt-rock groove to “Dull Life” while “Runaway” is straight-up cinematic.

Impressive that they can shift gears from their original sound like this and come up with an album that is (to my tastes) even better than what they started with.

Day 0805 - (What's the Story) Morning Glory

 Oasis “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” (1995) – got it

The band were signed to Creation records, released their successful debut “Definitely, Maybe”, fired and replaced their drummer then set about recording this, their second album.
 
The recording sessions went quickly though (as seems to be standard) not without fighting between the two Gallagher brothers.

The band have been accused of possibly wearing their influences a little two prominently on their sleeves with the Beatles being a very obvious influence, touches of David Bowie and even a possible lifting of an REM riff ("the One I love" for the song "Morning Glory").  Regardless of this, Morning Glory remains a great rock record, that takes the band's established swaggering rock ("Hello") and expands out into more melodic areas such as Lennon-esque balladry ("Wonderwall"), to vaguely psychedelic pop ("Champagne Supernova") to acoustic power ballads ("Cast no Shadow").

This album and the debut were everywhere when I was in high school.  The band have never really topped them with subsequent Oasis albums or their other projects, but these two albums are worthy enough to have stood the test of time.

Day 0267 - The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

David Bowie "The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" (1972) - got it

As with a few of the albums on the list, I didn't really need to listen to this one specifically for the 1001 albums thing, because it's indelibly printed on my synapses.  Having said that... I'll take any excuse to listen to some Bowie.

It's a lush, interesting, and immaculately crafted pop album.  All the more impressive that (aside from some sax and trumpet) it is pretty much just the standard "drums, bass, guitar, piano/keyboard and vocals".  Speaking of the vocals, they do really feel like they help to flesh out the arrangements.  Much of the shift from 'intimate' to 'grandiose' that comes when the choruses of "Starman" kick in comes from Bowie swinging between octaves in best "Somewhere over the rainbow" fashion.

Bowie's voice is sometimes gentle and confessional, sometimes brash and glammy, occasionally desperate and howling.  'Five years' has an almost Marlene Dietrich feel to it.  There's the gospel feel of 'It ain't easy', and 'Rock n roll suicide' might be the most perfect album closer ever conceived, going from a burnt out acoustic jam and building to a cathartic crescendo.

With the quality of music, it's no wonder that this album was a success in the US and UK, and lednew fans back to "Hunky Dory" and other previous releases.

Bowie reinvented himself and, with his androgynous alien persona, reinvented the idea of what a rock star could be. The black and white photo tinted after the fact just adds to the sci-fi/alien vibe that Bowie is putting out.

Day 0005 - This is Fats

Fats Domino "This is Fats!" (1957)

...not to be mistaken with his 1956 album "This is Fats Domino"

I listened to this one a few years back when I first had a look at the '1001' albums book and remember thinking it was maybe a bit samey.  Certainly, when you compare it to the albums released in the mid-late 60s sure it can seem a bit limited with similar blues basslines being the core of pretty much every song; but then you get a mix of ballads and more upbeat numbers and something like "the fat man's hop" which has an almost middle-eastern vibe to the horn arrangements!  I've come to appreciate the subtleties a bit more.

"Blueberry Hill" will always have a special place in my heart because when we'd go on family holidays my parents had these compilation albums 'Cruisin' Classics' and that song was a favourite from it. According to the book, Blueberry Hill was never successfully recorded in the studio and was plagued with issues.  They couldn't find the sheet music, then once things were underway Fats kept forgetting the lyrics so they ended up cutting and pasting several aborted takes together after the fact.