Britney Spears - Baby One More Time

Decade - 1990's




Label - Jive
Producer - Per Magnasson, Max Martine, Eric Foster White
Country - US

Tracklisting (* indicates best tracks)

1. . . . .Baby One More Time*	Listen	Listen
2. (You Drive Me) Crazy	Listen	Listen
3. Sometimes	Listen	Listen
4. Soda Pop	Listen	Listen
5. Born To Make You Happy	Listen	Listen
6. From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart*	Listen	Listen
7. I Will Be There	Listen	Listen
8. I Will Still Love You	Listen	Listen
9. Thinkin' About You	Listen	Listen
10. E-Mail My Heart	Listen	Listen
11. The Beat Goes On	Listen	Listen

Britney Spears - Baby One More Time (1999)

The fact this is on the list just annoys the crap out of me. It shouldn't be "1001 albums that may potentially have influenced even worse artists to copy this already pretty shit one"! Britney was popular, no one is doubting that, but she only had SOME influence over a genre that was already strong. If she is included, then what about New Kids on the Block and Take That, who both heavily influenced the pop and boyband scene, with Take That pretty much ruling the european/UK pop scene in the 90's.

There's not much to review here. It's unapologetic mindles bubblebum pop. Not even great pop at that really. There are a lot of filler songs, and the best tracks ARE the singles. Britney's voice is one of the weakest of her contemporaries (at the time), and she hasn't really gotten any better.

I apologise to all the better albums who got left out because of this one! (Except The White Stripes :P)

Score - 3/10

Genre - Pop

Recommended? No

Rufus Wainwright - Want Two

Decade - 2000's





Label: Dreamworks
Producer - Marius De Vries/Rufus Wainwright
Country - USA

Tracklisting (* indicates best tracks)

1. Agnus Dei*	Listen	Listen
2. The One You Love**	Listen	Listen
3. Peach Trees	Listen	Listen
4. Little Sister	Listen	Listen
5. The Art Teacher*	Listen	Listen
6. Hometown Waltz	Listen	Listen
7. This Love AFfair	Listen	Listen
8. Gay Messiah	Listen	Listen
9. Memphis Skyline*	Listen	Listen
10. Waiting For A Dream	Listen	Listen
11. Crumb By Crumb	Listen	Listen
12. Old Whore's Diet

Rufus Wainwright - Want Two (2004)


Like Leonard Cohen, Rufus is another songwriter I have only listened to sporadically, never full albums. A shame I now think, because this is a pretty solid album with some nice, surprising highs.

Rufus is a 34 year old Canadian-American singer/songwriter who has been involved with music since he was a tiny tot. This is his latest album (another due out this year I think) out of his five solo LPs.

Lets start with his voice. I can understand why people wouldn't like it, because it has a rather harsh tone to it (and this accounts for his unemotional rendition of Hallelujah - in my opinion of course), but I really enjoyed it. His voice is expressive, uses vibrato quite traditionally but still has a far more emotionally believable edge than someone like Scott Walker. He tends to mutter sometimes but given that my favourite artist is Thom Yorke, I'm not going to quibble with that am I? After 12 tracks I was kind of hoping he'd vary his vocal style a bit more, but no. Maybe a tiny bit more vulnerability too, he always sounds kind of sardonic rather than sensitive even when he needs to be.

As for the songs, the album is a bit up and down. There are definite stand outs. The One You Love has a highly addictive melody and the frank, clever lyrics work well within the very radio friendly tune. The Art Teacher is typical of the dark, bitter sweet edge to the album, and his arrangement on Memphis Skyline (written about Jeff Buckley) is very effective, the last minute being the best 60 seconds on the album.

Some of the songs are just downright mediocre to me though - Peach Trees, Little Sister and Hometown Waltz. These tracks just seem to plod along.

Overall, strong album and I'm a sucker for his tendency to use strings and overdone arrangements.

Score - 8/10

Genre - Baroque Pop

Recommended - Yes