Somebody told me that this planet was small

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

#416 : Things Fall Apart - The Roots (1999)

The Nineties’ alternative-rap scene hit its high-water mark as an album-length art form with this love letter to black music in the late 20th century. That theme is most explicit on on “Act Too (The Love of My Life),” a tender dedication to hip-hop’s redemptive power, but it’s also there in the playful way Black Thought and Malik B bounce rhymes off each other and in the beats that riff affectionately on everyone from Sly Stone to Schoolly D in a kaleidoscopic celebration of musical soul.

I knew nothing about this album beforehand, and from the description above, I was expecting to enjoy it but be left with a feeling that I wasn't getting a lot of the references.  And that was mostly the case - I didn't love all of it but most of it worked for me, but I definitely didn't get the references.  I thought quite a lot of it sounded like Will Smith, which I suspect is not a comparison they're looking for - and probably just shouts out my ignorance to those in the know!

"Customers also listened to" A Tribe Called Quest who are another of my musical blackspots which I have to investigate some day.  Wikipedia tells me that The Roots are the house band for the Jimmy Fallon show and back in 2011 played a snippet of "Lying Ass Bitch" as walk-on music for a congresswoman who was a guest on the show - which got them into trouble but made me laugh (apparently, they would have got into a lot more trouble had she not proved the description to be entirely accurate a couple of days later).  Will I listen to this album again? No, but that's probably my fault more than the album's - and if 90s hip-hop is your thing, you'll probably like this.

#416 : Look-ka Py Py - The Meters (1969)

The Meters were the house band for New Orleans’ genius producer Allen Toussaint and played on Seventies landmarks such as LaBelle’s Nightbirds, while also running off a series of their own rock-solid LPs. These instrumentals — sampled by rappers including Nas and Salt-N-Pepa — are funk of the gods; tight, cutting, but also relaxed and inviting, with Art Neville’s lyrical Hammond B3 organ adding chill texture to George Porter Jr.’s monster bass and the off-the-beat Second Line swing of drummer of Ziggy Modeliste.

I can't say I'd ever heard of The Meters and I'm not saying this album is obscure, but I asked Alexa to play it and she was like "Looka Py Py?  Are you taking the piss?".  So I must admit I listened to their Greatest Hits instead and it was quite an interesting listen.  I can really feel the skill involved and can totally believe they're go-to guys for a load of rappers looking for tracks to sample - but can I envisage any scenario other than this list whereby I sit down and listen to an album of funky instrumentals?  No, I can not...

There's a lot of love for The Meters on Wikipedia (how could there not be love for a group with a drummer called Zigaboo Modeliste?) but I was most intrigued by the fact that they released 8 studio albums but 17 compilation albums, which just sounds wrong!  "Customers also listened to" Curtis Mayfield and Sly And The Family Stone which sounds very plausible to me, but I can't claim to be an expert in any of them - all in all, it's an interesting historical diversion, but nothing more to me, I'm afraid.

#415 : Risqué - Chic (1979)

Nobody thought a disco band was supposed to make a brilliant third album — but Chic always thrived on defying the odds. On Risqué, the dynamic duo of guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards fuse sleek tropical R&B, Anglophile New Wave, and NYC club flash for a sound that’s been the blueprint for pop radio ever since. “Good Times” is Chic’s most prophetic groove — the story of hip-hop on wax begins here, with the Sugarhill Gang rhyming over it for “Rapper’s Delight.”

We're on a bit of a funky roll here, aren't we?  I'd never heard the album but was pretty familiar with "Good Times" and Nile Rodgers' general style, so pretty much knew what to expect here.  And it was close, but I think it was more disco than I was expecting - "Good Times" is the opening track, but the rest of the album doesn't quite follow and whilst I like "Good Times" I'm not sure we need 8 minutes of it.  I'd also say that yes, it's all very influential stuff and you can hear similar sounds on countless albums that followed on - however, you can also hear very similar sounds on every track on this album.  It (to my uncultured ear anyway) sounds a bit samey.

"Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of, but I assume they sound the same.  There's no doubting Chic's (and Nile Rodger's) influence over the years though and Wikipedia is very keen to point this out - but that doesn't always mean you enjoy the source material.  And whilst I thought it was OK, I can't say I enjoyed it - sorry!

Tricky one to declare the winner of - none of these albums were really my sort of thing but all were well put together and I can see they would have their legions of fans.  In the end, I think The Roots sneak it through the variety they provide - but it's very much a case of horses for courses (and a lot of people would hate all 3 of them equally!)

#419-417 - Nobody saw this winner coming...
#413-411 - A winner almost as old as me