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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Highly Evolved

The Vines

2002

Highly Evolved
Album Summary

Highly Evolved is the debut studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines. It was released on 14 July 2002 on Capitol Records. Produced by Rob Schnapf, known for his collaboration with Tom Rothrock on Elliott Smith's albums Either/Or, XO, and Figure 8, Highly Evolved was an immensely popular debut, part of a trend towards garage rock revival bands known as much for the relentless hype from the UK music press as for their music; The Vines were frequently compared to Nirvana. The debut single, "Highly Evolved", was chosen as Single of the Week by influential British music magazine NME. The magazine also voted it the 2nd best album of the year in 2002. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.06

Votes

11747

Genres

  • Rock

Reviews

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May 28 2023
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3

Not bad, but the British press might have gotten just a wee tiny bit ahead of themselves when they hailed the Vines as 'the second coming of Nirvana'.

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Jun 29 2023
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2

An absolutely nothing special alt rock/ light punk record

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Jun 05 2023
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3

Garage rock for Britpop fans. 5/10

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Mar 07 2024
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2

I mean, it's fine, but doesn't belong on this list.

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Jan 21 2024
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3

Not my favorite album. The melodies are great and have a distinctive late 90s/early 2000s sound. There's an awful screamo vocalist in this band. I don't know why he's included...to add angst? Anyway, I hate him.

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Jan 31 2024
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2

Meh. Could have gone my whole life without hearing it

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Mar 20 2024
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1

“The next Nirvana” my ass. This is one of the most flaccid, soulless rock albums I’ve ever listened too.

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Mar 27 2024
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1

This has no place here. It's derivative and so devoid of originality. What a joke to include it in the 1001 best albums.

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Jul 22 2023
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5

Suck my massive yellow dong. A mega record that smacks you round the chops and buries its dick in your cheek. My bum is twitching and it's not even time for breakfast. Fire a dog into a lamppost and watch it wee it's pants.

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Nov 09 2023
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4

Nr. 31/1001 Highly Evolved 3/5 Autumn Shade 4/5 Outtathaway 3/5 Sunshinin 3/5 Homesick 5/5 Get Free 3/5 Country Yard 4/5 Factory 3/5 In The Jungle 3/5 Mary Jane 4/5 Ain't No Room 3/5 1969 4/5 Aberage: 3,5 The influence of Nirvana on this Album could easily be heard. All around enjoyable

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Jul 05 2023
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4

Really love the sound that is somehow distinctively early 2000s and also evokes an earlier time. Good stuff. Best track: Get Free

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Jun 27 2023
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4

I really like their sound. A bit Brit-pop but not quite so pop-sounding - a bit rougher around the edges like garage rock. Sort of like Oasis with a touch of grunge. Very nice. 4 stars.

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Nov 11 2023
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2

Am I losing it, or does this kind of sound like a hair metal record in a bunch of spots?

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Jun 12 2023
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5

This was a strong contender for a 5 from the first track and it was solidified as a 5 for me as soon as I heard get free, song I’ve always heard but never really knew where it came from. I love early 2000s alternative rock like this and this was 50 pure minutes of it with 90s grunge influences galore (I don’t think this is “the second coming of nirvana” but it’s definitely heavily inspired by them). Another favorite of mine was outtathaway.

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Nov 29 2023
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4

Fun, high-energy rock that plays with a variety of sounds and does them all well. Really enjoyed this!

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May 24 2023
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4

A proper year 9 staple this! Surprised it made the list but glad it did, must be about 20 years since I heard this. Doesnt quite sound as dated as I expected, and it’s easy to forget how decent the early 00s were for garage rock! Couple of tracks tht passed by without notice which detracts a little, but a nostalgic gem nonetheless

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Nov 30 2023
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4

Really enjoyed this, a generous 4 as I reckon repeat listens would make it grow on me more as well

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Oct 16 2024
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4

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would/remembered. I think I probably lumped it in with all the other indie albums that were around at the time when it was released but listening now it sounds a lot stronger (or I just forgot about it). Some real bangers and a bit of early 2000s nostalgia.

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Jun 10 2024
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3

Great album - maybe? I had it on at work, listing to I, but... cannot recall a single song or tune.

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Apr 30 2024
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3

Highly Evolved is good in places, average in others, never bad or annoying, but frustratingly inconsistent. You get a meh track followed by a good one and back and forth; Autumn Shade, Sunshinin, Get Free and Factory are good, the tracks between less so. There's strong lead guitar work on most tracks but the vocals miss more than they hit throughout, probably a low 3 overall.

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Jun 12 2024
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2

I don't recognize any of these song titles. I don't like it. Too screamy/yell-y. I can see why Get Free is most played. It's probably the best, but I still don't like it much.

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Jun 08 2024
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2

What a bonkers track sequence in this album. I had to back and double check I didn’t have shuffle on. This is The Vines. It should be 1. Slow song is acceptable 2. Increasing intensity track 3. Lead single 4. Slower but harder rocking song 5. Quick song 6. Slower song 7. 2nd single 8. Experimental track 9. Song that starts slow and comes back around quick. Overall I was disappointed after knowing the singles for 20 years.

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Jul 05 2024
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1

I only made I through half this album before giving up.

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Mar 07 2024
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5

Yes they sound like Oasis, however unlike Oasis, they are not (to my knowledge) a bunch of pretentious jerks who think they're God's gift to music. Also I don't think they're the second coming of Nirvana. You can definitely hear Nirvana's influence on them, but they are not in the same league. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed this album. It honestly reminded me a bit of Cage the Elephant on their debut and Thank You Happy Birthday. They had nice variety on their stuff so it wasn't just 45 minutes of garage band rock. Really liked the fast hard hitting songs, they sounded great on them, but then they also sounded really good on the slower more melodic songs which was really cool to hear because normally bands on this list (at least recently) have been really good at one or the other but not both. Really liked this one a lot.

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May 19 2023
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5

primeiros trinta segundos já vê que o bgl é kentucky

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May 24 2023
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5

Great album, somehow I have about 3/4 of this in my library but enjoyed the whole thing. Get free in particular is timeless, amazing riff, sounds huge, always puts me in a good mood. Love this sort of garage rock and even though as the Vines' careers shows it does get a bit samey, one album's worth is spot on.

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Jul 22 2023
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5

this album was weirdly pivotal to me in that it was one of the first albums i got really in to that was 'heavier' than my usual musical fare. That synopsis puts this album weirdly into the category of gateway music.

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Dec 29 2023
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5

hell yeah, I liked that one 🤘🏼

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Dec 26 2023
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5

One of my favorite albums of all time. Every song on here is just an absolute banger, and there’s an exceptional amount of variety too. Such an underrated band.

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Dec 10 2023
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5

9/10 crazy good rock album absolutely adored the diversity

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Dec 08 2023
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5

I hadn't heard of The Vines before listening to this, and that's a shame

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Jun 22 2023
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5

Man, that was a delight. I didn't really know what to expect from this one. I was aware of the band but wasn't familiar with their catalog. Turns out, this was my jam. I loved the "modern garage throwback" vibe so much. It was such a groove and I was digging it already but when "Get Free" hit, I was all-in. What a freaking great track. I got nothing negative to say here. Full marks. Immediate replay.

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Nov 29 2023
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5

Excellent live album. Not only could Nirvana make great original songs, but they could make covers better than the originals, while live.

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Jul 02 2024
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5

I haven’t ever heard of The Vines. This is a great album though… really strong debut. I noted that this is one of the “demoted” albums that are no longer on the 1001 list. Has the influence or lasting impact of The Vines not played out over the last 22 years? Then again who knows how this album may be influencing artists and music in ways we will never comprehend. Regardless of these meta-questions, I loved this album’s varied styles and great solid rock performances. It’s a great album demoted or not, and I could certainly come up with a list of albums still on the 1001 list that I think could easily be displaced for Highly Evolved.

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Nov 28 2023
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5

Gritty. Distorted. Energetic. Engaging. A great debut album from The Vines. I need to explore more of their catalogue.

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Aug 26 2024
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5

Hadn’t heard of the Vines before but I loved this album! Another one introduced by the 1001 challenge that I may not have found 4.5/5

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Nov 10 2023
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5

Really enjoyed this one. Loved the energy of Highly Evolved and the harmonies in Sunshinin. There's a nice mix of fun/energetic and some tamer songs. Added to my main playlist.

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Jul 11 2024
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5

I hadn't listened to much of the Vines music, but always remembered liking it. I'm happy to say this album didn't disappoint. It's great from start to finish. On the one hand, it's unoriginal in the sense that you can hear bits of Blur, Nirvana, the Clash, Oasis, and a few others. However, they seem to have blended it all together in a unique way. Impressive debut album and one that I'll definitely come back to.

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Jul 21 2024
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5

An album I loved at the time, and still do!

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Aug 23 2024
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5

The Vines and the Hives make up the twin bastions of perfectly honed Chaos channeled into emotive magic. Perfection.

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Mar 25 2024
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5

suprisingly awesome. lotta range. 5/5

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Nov 03 2023
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5

My favorite discovery so far!! They are like psychicadelic Beatles meet Nirvana and I am here for it!

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Oct 15 2023
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5

Grungy garage rock fused with angry punk. Awesome album.

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Sep 18 2024
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5

Forgotten how amazing this is. It’s aged well.

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Mar 07 2024
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5

I could hear some Weezer in them but like current Weezer. I really liked the creepy changing tempos

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Feb 28 2024
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5

Highly Evolved by The Vines. I originally was going to decirbe this as Nivana but from Califonia and less suicidal. I have no just discovered they are Australian which is like Cali...but better. This is great, its fun, hits in the right places and is right up my ally

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Feb 08 2024
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4

Radio music, and very good all things considered. At first I was like, ugh more punk, but it quickly grew on me. I liked the deep cuts more than the singles. Stand-out: Sunshinin

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Oct 01 2023
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4

Toffe garage-rock die wat aan Nirvana doet denken

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Jun 05 2023
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4

Cañero, rockero, intenso, todo un descubrimiento. Buenas voces y con estilo directo

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Jul 12 2023
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4

Always love this period in Rock music. It was very much a coming of age time for me. I had never heard of this band, nor any of their songs WITH THE EXCEPTION of "Get Free", but weirdly I had only ever heard Weird Al's cover. Either way I was a big fan of this. A good day!

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Feb 09 2024
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4

I really liked this, and could hear a strong Stone Temple Pilots influence on many tracks. Definitely a band to further investigate.

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Jul 13 2023
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4

Was not expecting much from this band. I didn't pay attention to them when they came out and just kind of lumped them in with a huge group of bands and artists that seemed to be hitting it big and riding the wave of revival of garage rock kind of spurred by The Strokes. It's probably unfair to all of those bands to be so dismissive of them but that's how it is. This album was better than I expected, a great energy and a great sound. Production value is excellent and it's catchy and just kind of rocks. Really enjoyed listening to this.

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Feb 05 2024
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4

Exactement mon genre musical, du gros rock ben rough sur les bords.

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Feb 08 2024
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4

2002 Genre: Alternative rock, garage rock revival, post-grunge I can hear a bit of Nirvana influence, without at all being a Nirvana copy-cat band. Standouts: Get Free, Highly Evolved, Outtathaway, Homesick, Rating: 3.5

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Oct 10 2023
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4

This was an overall great listen. There was a solid amount of diversity in sound throughout the tracklist. Furthermore, I felt that the album started and finished pretty strong.

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Jan 29 2024
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4

It sounds good but it's not relevant to me if that makes any sense 👍

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Jan 22 2024
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4

Australian early 2000s garage rock revival, similar to Jet & NZ’s Datsuns. It’s a good album with some good songs but wouldn’t really say it’s an influential or important album. Feel like there’s better Australian rock from that time

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Jul 14 2023
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4

Rock and Roll, baby! A solid, grungy romp. I was not familiar with The Vines but I enjoyed this album all the way through. Not sure what puts it on this list but I did like it.

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Aug 29 2023
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4

Yeah, pretty solid stuff - I thought I'd heard this a bunch from a housemate in the early 2000s but it didn't seem that familiar - maybe it was a different one of their albums, or I've got them confused with someone else? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Almost tempted to remove a star for the awful ska stylings of "Factory", heh. Fave track - liked the psych leanings of "Country Yard" - "Ain't No Room" was also a banger.

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Jul 18 2023
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4

pretty good actually Mary Jane and homesick are my fav songs but the others don't drag them down

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Feb 01 2024
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4

psychedelia the saving grace of a lot of low down rock that would be otherwise pretty damn unremarkable

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Sep 26 2023
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4

Muy buenos recuerdos y muy buenas canciones en este disco. Empezando por "Higly evolved", "Outtathaway", "Homesick", "Country yard", la famosa "Get free" y una de mis favoritas "Factory" con un tono muy Beatle y Ska.

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Jun 15 2023
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4

Highly Evolved is my Sail Away. I'm going to think about this album a lot.

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Jan 11 2024
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4

Der er nogle virkelig fede bangers på den her plade. Jeg kan huske at høre Outtathaway & Get Free tilbage i gymnasiet - de holder sgu stadig! Resten af pladen er lidt mere grungy, der er lidt Kurt C. over vokalen i "In The Jungle"

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Jan 16 2024
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4

Surprised this album's singles have never come up before for me. I've heard them on the radio at some point. Enjoyed the two listens. Get a lot of an STP vibe circa 2001. 4/5!

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Jan 17 2024
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4

Kinda sorta reminds me of nirvana, lead singer doesn’t sound like him, but the tempo and ‘feel’ of a lot of the songs remind me of them. 3.6

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Jan 05 2024
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4

A great garage rock, sort of grunge album. The Vines are musically more interesting than Nirvana to whom they often get compared. The album starts a bit low effort wise but gets better later.

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Dec 28 2023
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4

Very different sound than what I thought it would be, other than the few tracks with 90% screaming. The rest surprised me and I quite enjoyed.

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Jul 24 2023
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4

Given what I’ve heard about them and when this album came out, I was expecting just another Strokes/Hives/White Stripes adjacent product, but I was pleased to find something more original and well executed. It’s a bit of garage rock meets Nirvana, and it works.

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Jan 17 2024
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4

Short songs, pretty cool. This was 'Get Free' where they had that surge in the early 2000s.

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May 25 2023
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4

The singer sounds drunk. Like, _ALL_ the time. I vaguely hearing "Get Free" on the radio when it first came out. I didn't realize it was that short. "Mary Jane" was probably the worst song on the album. I haven't heard a song so repetitive in a while. Comparisons to Nirvana seem a little overblown. The vocalist is raspy, but maybe it's just the way he screams, I don't know. It's a good rocker of an album, gets the blood pumping. Pretty good debut album.

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Dec 11 2023
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4

J'ai tellement écouté Break Free sans vraiment connaître le groupe! J'aurais dû m'y mettre avant. J'aime leur rock assez classique, mais exécuté avec énergie.

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Dec 13 2023
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4

I sure did love this time in music with bands like The Vines, The Strokes, The Hives playing smart catchy riff-rock.

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Dec 10 2023
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4

Listened Before? No Album opens energetically with poppy production, but there is much more of an edge here than I anticipated. Vocals borrow from a grunge tradition and there is a spunkiness about this. Really enjoy Outtathaway... I knew I recognized the band name; Get Free is a jam that I had forgotten about. Country Yard is a psych trip of an instrumental with a distant guitar that feels like it is shimmering in the breeze. Factory reminds me of some Offspring songs that I wasn't particularly fond of. Has a sort of polka plong about it that occasionally grows teeth. In The Jungle is a standout. Minor progression that makes for an uncomfortable, but cool atmosphere. Reminds me of Alice in Chains for a number of reasons. Could have done without the lugubrious ode to Mary Jane. Like its a fine song and all, but felt unnecessary even if the "Echoes" reminiscent guitar towards the closing was nice. 1969 is a drawn out jam of a song. I like it as a closer. Strong 4 / 5 for me. Great production and depth and I enjoyed all the way through. Added to Library? Yes Songs Added to Playlists: - Get Free (Driving, Skate Mix, Sunny-vibes)

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Dec 21 2023
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4

This one grew on me with each listen and I liked the lyrics but the strong British accent they sing with really annoyed me when I found out they’re actually Australian. I decided to forgive them eventually. Listens: 2 Fave Track: Highly Evolved Rating: 4

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Dec 08 2023
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4

Good garage rock album. A few duds but mostly solid.

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Aug 29 2023
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4

What a great debut. Highly Evolved really sets the tone and 1969 is a great closer. Get Free is very catchy. I think my favourite track though is In The Jungle.

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Dec 07 2023
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4

HL: "GET FREE", "Sunshinin", "In the Jungle", "1969" 🎶I’m sure, I’ve heard it all before, but I don’t really give a shit

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Jan 19 2024
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4

90 secs and 1 track into their debut, comparisons with Nirvana were not far off the mark, but The Hives added elements of acoustic psychedelia to the punk howl to take them beyond fellow Aus-Rock contemporaries such as the Datsuns and Wolfmother who emerged at the same time. Similarities to nirvana were further shared with the singer having mental health issues (being undiagnosed ADHD )which destroyed the band following a series of chaotic gigs and media interviews following the first album. A great album but not sure why you ‘must’ listen to it before you die when you could slip in utero on?

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Dec 22 2023
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4

Good, almost 4, didn't listen to them before but good rock/punk album

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May 21 2023
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4

Now The Vines, that next big thing of the early 00’s rock revival. I was whipped up enough to purchase the record on the strength of “Get Free” a typically Cobain like garage rock banger. Listening back to the whole album, some twenty years later. First impression, more varied than a care to remember. It’s not straightforward rock, Homesick and the ska-tinged Factory nuance proceedings adding a little more colour to the overall sound. But the one constant that raises this record is Craig Nicholls vocal. It’s ranges from a gentle falsetto on Mary Jane to a bludgeoning rasp on the epic “Ain’t No Room, it’s an incredible performance throughout. A very fine rock record.

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Sep 18 2023
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4

A great mix of grunge and punk. Yes

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Dec 01 2023
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4

I didn't think I ever heard of these guys before, so when Get Free came around, I first thought it was a cover version. While I don't see the justification in adding this one to the list, I did enjoy it as pretty high quality garage rock. Definitely very impressive for a debut. A bit of a weird disconnect between the first and second half of the album, which started to sound quite Beatlesque from Factory on. But both halves are very solid.

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