The only one talking about love is the preacher

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

#388 : Young, Gifted And Black - Aretha Franklin (1972)

Aretha Franklin was 29 at the time of Young, Gifted and Black, and she was already on her 19th album and her second record label. With her gospel-choir training and jazz chops, there was nothing she didn’t know about singing. Franklin covers (and vivifies) Paul McCartney and Elton John, not to mention Nina Simone’s title song, an anthem of the civil rights movement, and she sings the self-written hits (“Day Dreaming,” “Rock Steady”) with calm certainty, guided only by the spirit.

Yes, I had just about heard of Ms Franklin before - I'm not sure I'd ever listened to any of her albums, but I wasn't expecting to be disappointed by the skill on display.  And it won't surprise you to hear that I wasn't - the girl really could sing.  If anything the ease with which she navigates the vocals often makes you forget how difficult a lot of what she's doing is.

The albums features a surprising number of cover versions - this isn't a complaint because she does the expected good job on them (particularly with the Elton John number "Border Song"), but more a comment that it just wouldn't happen these days.  Another comment is how depressing it is that "Young, Gifted And Black" is still as relevant today as it was 50 years ago when Nina Simone wrote it.

Young, gifted and black
We must begin to tell our young
There's a world waiting for you
This is a quest that's just begun

Wikipedia has surprisingly little to say about the album ("Oh, it won a Grammy") but that might be because they used all the ink up creating her Wikipedia entry - that woman certainly lived a life!  As the Rolling Stone description points out, this album was her 19th (out of 40 in her lifetime) - I'm somewhat intrigued what made this one stand out enough for inclusion on this list (and whether there are any other of her albums on the list).  "Customers also listened to" mostly other Aretha Franklin albums it appears, so maybe they'd be able to tell me.  I'd say I'd admired it rather than enjoyed it, but it's a classy collection of tracks.

#387 : In Rainbows - Radiohead (2007)

Radiohead released In Rainbows as a surprise download in the fall of 2007, letting fans pay whatever they liked. But the real surprise was how expansive the music turned out to be, with material the band had road-tested live in the U.S. all summer. Thom Yorke gets soulful in the intense love songs “All I Need,” “House of Cards,” and “Nude.” It’s Radiohead’s warmest album, with the vibe of a communal jam session. One that’s taking place at the end of the world, of course.

Obviously, I hated "Pablo Honey" (although I liked "Creep") and loved "The Bends" and "OK Computer" - I'm not a monster, you know.  But...

...as much as I've tried, I've not been able to get into anything from "Kid A" onwards.  I've really tried (honest!) but I just don't care.  And I tried again with this album for the purposes of this list, but no luck, I'm afraid.  It all just slides past me and I'm left with a "what was that?" kinda vibe.

Wikipedia goes on and on about "pay what you want" - turns out that it didn't change the world after all though.  Wikipedia also has a lot to say about the band - they've certainly achieved quite a lot in their time and I admire them for that, but I find it hard to warm to them as a band (although Johnny Greenwood comes across as a jolly decent chap in the few interviews I've heard).  "Customers also listened to" Thom Yorke albums - I imagine they don't sound massively different, but there's no danger of me finding out.  I feel a bit of a grump for the lack of positivity here - but it's not through lack of trying on my part.

#386 : Donuts - J Dilla (2006)

Questlove of the Roots called the Detroit producer “the music god that music gods and music experts and music lovers worship.” During the Nineties and early ’00s, Dilla worked with a who’s who of hip-hop greats and helped shape the sound of albums like D’Angelo’s Voodoo [see No. 28]. Released three days before his death, Donuts is a beat head’s delight: 31 concise, wildly inventive sample-swirls (love the Frank Zappa bit on “Mash”), many of which would end up being sampled themselves in the years that followed.

I'd never heard of J Dilla (I'm guessing this means I'm not a music god - hey ho) and the description above didn't really give me a lot to go on.  And it's a peculiar one and no mistake - just a random (but no doubt well curated) selection of sounds.  It's like DJ Shadow but hip-hoppier - a piece of work that manages to be both impressive and pointless at the same time.  I didn't hate it, but conversely I didn't love it either and I struggle to imagine too many people ever bother to listen to it more than once.

Awwww - Wikipedia tells me he died 3 days after the release of this album with him working on this album during long hospital stays to deal with various medical issues.  Far and away the largest section is about the album's legacy - it's very highly regarded by those in the know.  Amusingly, when the record company were asked about the title of the album, they released the following useful press release - 'Easy explanation. Dilla likes donuts.'.  Customers also listened to a load of people I've never heard of - I struggle to imagine they sound all that similar, but I also struggle to imagine I'll bother finding out.  All in all, this was an interesting listen but not one I'll be revisiting.

Part of me feels I have to give this round to Aretha because it was the album I enjoyed the most, although it seems a little unfair because I suspect she knocked it out in an afternoon whereas the other two probably spent weeks crafting their albums.  Also, since Donuts is J Dilla's legacy and is so highly regarded, I'm giving it to him - there's more to be learned listening to this (even if I won't be doing so again).

#391-389 - I hate you so much right now!
#385-383 - Two winners?  Is that allowed?