105. Document - REM

105. Document - REM (1987) 87/100.  To me Document was a tale of two sides of an album.  Side one was ok.  Finest Worksong I enjoyed, the next three tracks were average.  Nothing special or spectacular, in my opinion.  Strange started to peak my interest.  Of course I had heard It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I feel Fine) and The One I Love from the radio a million times and those are both solid tracks.  The rest of the album I thoroughly enjoyed.  It would be a toss up for my favorite song on the album between Fireplace and Lightnin' Hopkins (loved that bass line).  I have always had a sweet spot in my heart for End of the World.  You can't go wrong with a good dulcimer in King of Birds.  The One I Love is always going to be a great song (even though it is a little overplayed - at least here on Chicago radio).  Listened: 2/13/2015
Favorite Tracks: Fireplace, Lightnin' Hopkins, It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine), King of Birds

104. Sister - Sonic Youth

NOTE: I realize I have taken a rather long hiatus from this project. In the interim I have done other projects, etc. but I always had this one on the back of my mind so here I am hoping to get it completed. Only 90% more to go...

 104. Sister - Sonic Youth (1987) 85/100 - I had not heard much Sonic Youth prior to this so for me it was relatively new.  My first impression was if someone took Velvet Underground and The Stooges, put them in a Yahtzee! cup, shook it around, and rolled them out - it would be two sixes, a three, and Sonic Youth.  Right off the bat, I enjoyed Schizophrenia, as it was more melodic than most the rest of the album.   (I Got A) Catholic Block was an ode to punk that I found average.  I really enjoyed the insane guitar work in Stereo Sanctity and Pipeline/Kill Time.  As a Nirvana fan I can hear the influence in Cobain's playing from tracks like these (which in turn were influenced by Velvet Underground) especially when he played live.  My favorite track was probably the most mellow of the album - Cotton Crown.  Of course, this was the one most influenced (in my humble opinion) by Velvet Underground.  This will be the one track that I will be adding to my oft-listened to playlist.  Overall, I compare me listening to this to showing the movie Halloween to a fifteen-year-old in the year 2015 - they will like it but it will be nothing new or interesting to them since they had seen so many other horror movies that ripped it off.  I liked it.  I'm not going to say I didn't by any means, it just didn't blow me away the same way that it might have if I had heard it in 1987 upon it's release.  Of course, in 1987, I was in sixth grade and listening to Bon Jovi, Poison, and Whitesnake so my tween mind may not have been able to comprehend or appreciate it then either.   Listened: 2/12/2015
Favorite Tracks: Schizophrenia, Stereo Sanctity, Cotton Crown