Arular

Nah, not my thinga

Same as the other album really - somewhat annoying in parts. Ok in some parts, but for the most part almost unbearable. I listened to it twice and my opinion did not change, except for making it slightly less unbearable. Bingo was about the best. 2 stars

Sonically and musically, I found "Arular" to be a charming, fun album - by this I mean easy on the ears. There's a strong pop sensibility. In particular, I liked Maya Arulpragasam's vocals, which possess a child-like quality and carry the distinct rhythm of inner-city London speech with a casual cadence. All of this belies the serious underlying themes of her songs - yet, despite those themes, sonically, there's a lack of aggression and anger. Of course, I read up about her political views and how they have evolved; this left me puzzled, as they can be seen as somewhat contradictory. Ultimately, though, this does not make me like the music any more or less. 1 "Banana Skit" (3/5) 2 "Pull Up the People" (3/5) 3 "Bucky Done Gun" (4/5) 4 "Sunshowers" (3/5) 5 "Fire Fire" (4/5) 6 "Dash the Curry Skit" (2/5) 7 "Amazon" (3/5) 8 "Bingo" (3/5) 9 "Hombre" (3/5) 10 "One for the Head Skit" (3/5) 11 "10 Dollar" (4/5) 12 "Sunshowers" (4/5) 13 "Galang" (4/5) 14 "M.I.A." (4/5) Total - 47 Average - 3.4 451/1001 238/451 albums reviewed were new to me.

Not my cup of tea. A little too messy and disjointed-feeling.

Bajo

I liked this a lot. We had an M.I.A. album recently on here and it took me aback a bit. So, I don’t know if it’s because I’ve had time to adjust or what but, yeah, good. I’m giving it four out of five to mark it as one to return to.

Really interesting and great ideas.

not my vibe at all 1/5

Cool blend of Caribbean dance, schoolyard chant, rap.

Not for me

5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background

✅️ still bangs But less than it did in the heat of its newness. It's less interesting and more repetitive (lyrically and production--wise) than her follow-up Kala, and it's harder to forgive her shortcomings when she's no longer believably the coolest person alive but alas, the cringe comes for us all. Fav tracks: Galang U.R.A.Q.T.

Not at all my thing

Alright, creative but kinda annoying in places

Not my favorite.

good

Could imagine hearing this in a club, I did have to take a break midway through

Charming grime style synths shine throughout. Lacks singles - but I like it

While it does not quite reach the heights of M.I.A.'s second album, it is a more consistent release with plenty of pep and an exciting flow from track to track. I love her emphasis on melody and excitement, a maximalist approach to songwriting, wrangling tonnes of ideas into a single cohesive shape.

This MIA gets a high 3, i love some of it that really slaps but when it misses it grates a bit

You better listen to this Fire, Fire album, Hombre.

I saw grime. I knew what will come. It was better than expected. Doesn't say a lot good about grime, huh?

A Palestine terrorist supporter, Covid denying, Trump supporter making shitty music.

Heel zenuwachtig

Not really my jam.

Really interesting. Although I'm apparently 20 years late 🙃

Arular — MIA Pre-listening: FIFA was my precursor and warning to what I was in for and it IS much needed. Best: Bucky Done Gun Runner-up: Galang Third: Hombre Post-listening: When weird meets rhythmic and rhythmic meets experimental and experimental meets gibberish, you have MIA. This album was no different. I will always be willing to listen to MIA because they gave us $20 and Paper Planes in 2007 with their album Kala, but to call this album an easy listen is a GD lie. You gotta be in a mood for it and luckily, today, I was. Stars: 2/5 Rating: 5/10

Great beats but she’s an awful lyricist and vocalist.

The song with the Sanford and Son sample earns a 2nd start. Other than that, not too good.

disco fresco

Before this album, I knew only one song by M.I.A. After listening, that's all I needed to know.

here I was thinking MIA was modern to find this is 21 years old. bumped from the book. alright. probably wouldn't listen to again.

There is obviously talent here, it's just not my style.

weird but kinda cool even without paper planes

Awful

This is where we need negative stars

Nothing good about it

Could be great but is held back by weird production choices. What's up with these horns?

Not only do I appreciate that it’s something different on the 1001 List, this had me grooving from beginning to end. I thought I might have a hard time separating the art from the artist when I saw this album pop up, but damn this was some funky music. The kind I’m gonna turn up loud and embarrass myself with, as I dance along to it at red lights.

Not for me

A female British rapper? Ok then, I'll bite, and goddamn if this one doesn't slap. Great beats and catchy delivery, I dig it.

Jag gillade inte detta så mycket. Tyckte mest det var störigt, men det kanske berodde på Mitt humör. Oavsett ger jag det 4/10.

This is just a series of noises that are annoying yet somewhat catchy.

Her voice was off key and annoying, her bars were repetitive, and her beats were wack. Brutal listen

I was excited to listen to this album as MIA was touted a few years ago in the same league as Bjork. I gave it up after listening to(2) autotuned songs that sounded just like every other hip hop song of that era. It sucked.

This is one of those albums that are well represented by the cover: a nonsense repetitive collage that annoys your senses -and somehow, you want just a little pick once in a blue moon.

ah, é legalzinho vai

mto doido que do nada começa um funkão anos 2000. fui olhar e o produtor foi o diplo, o maior ladrão das favelas do brasil. aí descobri que ele SAMPLEOU Deize Tigrona E ELA NÃO GANHOU NADA COM ISSO, obviamente. vai tomar no cu do diplo. a m.i.a tem nada a ver com isso nao, mas infelizmente virou anti-vax. entao vai tomar no cu dela tambem. SOBRE O ÁLBUM: eh bem bomzinho, tem uns beats legais, bem dançante. pega bastante de outras culturas, mas manda bem até. eh bacana!!

Since I started this project, there haven't been many albums that I simply couldn't finish. This is one of them. I understand what she's doing, but it's just not for me.

Crap

es un álbum muy cool, es algo que te escucharía on repeat, me gusta

What the actual fuck is this? I detest Paper Planes but at least that was a crossover hit, very well known, and dare I say a little innovative. It was no surprise to see ‘Kala’ on the list, even if I didn’t enjoy it. This though? 50 minute of annoying, repetitive, childish vocal rhymes, almost like it’s designed to irritate. I can’t see any logical justification for this one, other than perhaps showing off the nonsensical precursor to Paper Planes. The more I hear of her the more apparent it is she got very, very lucky to land on a big hit.

I think I appreciate what this album represents as art in it's era more than I like the music? Maya is a challenging figure with some wild notions but she also is someone who works philanthropically and seems to, at the least, come from a place of compassion. It's hard for me to separate art from artist when they are anti-vax and a 5g conspiracist who launched a whole clothing line a wearable faraday cages. If I just discount knowing these facts then I can at least state that this is a pretty great album. It is a nice collage of layered sounds. I can't not give it a four...but I kind of want to give it a three?

Absolutely wild album, with some of the most colorful production in all of hip hop. It's actually more of a hip hop infused electronic albums, all the beats have a strong dance feel to them with massive grooves and prominent synths. They feel almost mechanical in a way, especially on Pull Up the People and Fire Fire, and while usually that would be a bad thing, here it works, makes the whole thing feel even more club oriented despite the strong political content of the lyrics. It's funny how this sounds like a party album, but in reality it's pretty dark, rebellious and politically charged. M.I.A. used to have so much aura back in the day when she actually had something interesting to say, the fall off needs to be studied. Anyway, this album is just banger after banger. Bucky Done Gun has these massive drums inspired by brazilian music, strong dance vibes again but also sounds very odd. Amazon is another breath of creativity, the way she flows over this very unorthodox beat is impressive. 10 Dollar has such a sick bassline, maybe the most dancable moment on the record. Galang is also such a good closer, the beat is so hypnotic, but it also has this addictive energy to it. The only songs I like a bit less are Hombre and Bingo, but even those expand the sonic palette of the album and provide some very interesting and experimental beats.

imagine being able to say your debut album is such a genre transcending, boundary bending work of art!

Geez, she really tries to sounds like she's from Jamaica, even though she's British/Sri Lankan?!??! Anyway, this had the distinction of having some of the most annoying sounds you are likely to hear on an album any time soon. There are moments where it rises up a bit, like the slightly sweet Sunflowers, but the rest of it I was mostly just waiting for it to end.

5/10 - I have this album from back in the day, I feel the same as back then, the sound is initially pretty cool but then it becomes too much

A bit repetitive both in each song and across the album as a hole but if you enjoy the loop there’s a good album to be had here. I was leaning toward 2 stars but when I heard her turn “Sanford and Son” into “Big Pimpin” I was sold on 3.

bucky done gun fire fire 10 dollar

A very high-energy electronic hip hop fusion album with reggae and house music influences. There’s definitely some stuff to like here, most of the beats and mixes were really cool, an easy album to dance to, and her rapping style is complex and unique. What I didn’t like was that the tracks REALLY started blending together after the first few; her cadence was the same on all the songs. Overall a fun listen, but not without issues. I’ll give it a high 3/5

Interesting album, horrible person!

I dug the funky beats and unique delivery at first, but it repeated itself so much that it wore out its welcome. The way she ends her cadences with a high whine worked for a couple of songs but she does it every time. Her street lingo and pronunciation devolves into whatever the equivalent of a valley girl is in Acton or London or wherever she’s from.

3 out of 5. Like her other album on this list her beats are pretty fun.

Alternative Hip Hop, global pop, and electronic music built from fractured beats, dancehall and grime rhythms, abrasive electronics, international samples, and assertive vocals feels like wandering through a street market where I keep being pushed toward the same stall while the same vendor shouts the same phrases at me. Unlike Kala, where every corner seemed to offer something new to discover, Arular feels more repetitive and abrasive to me. The sparse electronic beats, jagged samples and clipped vocals keep demanding my attention, but instead of making me curious about what comes next, they often make me want to move away. There is still plenty of energy and experimentation, but here the sensory overload feels less like discovery and more like being unable to escape the noise.

This shares some commonality with my previous album, Talvin Singh, in its use of electronic ethnic instrumentation, rhythms and vocals, particularly the track _OK_. The difference here is that M.I.A. keeps it consistently interesting. Much like her following album, which I’ve already had in this challenge, it’s just fantastic energy and experimentation and I can hear the lineage to Little Simz which is always going to go down well! And the influences she claims from Public Enemy, and London Posse are bang on, more-so the experimentation of the former and the sound of the latter.

Fun and energetic but woooooo pretty one note

Good if you look that kind of thing

I'm pretty neutral towards this type of music in general but where do I draw the line? If I were, say, waiting for my car to get an oil change, I think I'd rather have silence than hear this in the waiting area.

I really enjoy her samples and the rhythmic beats she uses. This album didn’t have songs that stuck out and live in my head like some of her other albums, but still really enjoyed it.

Hey, watch this. I'm going to find a way to connect today's album to 9/11. Let's see... I've got it! M.I.A. has become a crazy conspiracy theorist in recent years and some people have crazy conspiracy theories about 9/11. There is no such thing as a coincidence! Alright, let's move past the random nonsense to the actual album review. I'm not huge on this one. M.I.A. is far from the first artist that I'd think to give a second album on this list. She has her influence, sure, but I think one album is enough to kinda "get" her style, you know? But that brings us to an important question. Which of the two M.I.A. albums on the list should be the one that stays? This or Kala? Well, if you ask me, I'm definitely going with Kala. I thought that that album was much stronger than this one. That one was pretty cool at times. Arular? I don't know. I thought this one was kinda annoying. I certainly wouldn't call it bad. It has its moments. Plus, with this being her first album, Arular is something of an innovation for popular music. However, I think that everything that this album does is done better on its followup. The variety of influences are more noticeable and fleshed out better, M.I.A.'s voice sounds better, and the songs are more consistently good. Kala had a genuinely excellent pop classic with "Paper Planes." Arular? I don't think any of this album's songs are nearly as good! Even the bigger hits like "Bucky Done Gun" and "Galang" weren't really my thing. Arular is far from a bad album, but I just don't think it's an album for me. I respect this album's influence and unique qualities, and I respect M.I.A. for being somewhat of an innovator in pop music, but I just don't think that this is her best work. It just feels like a worse version of Kala for me. But hey, it's the debut. Not everyone can make a masterpiece on their first try. I mean, I don't even think Kala was a masterpiece, but it was an improvement, okay? Arular is fine, but it didn't click with me today. Light 3/5.

Why a second MIA album??

Trailblazer.

sunshowers isch de erst glaub mit sonere hook? has ghaaaasst bis etz. finds würkli extreeem extrem streng zum lose. jo sie verbindet anschinend genres und ich glaub sie produced wani mega respektiere aber s fühlt sich ah wie es müese gad. uhuere. da isch jo huere ass 1

Don’t need two from MIA

This is an awesome album, so ahead of its time! Would feel right if it came out today. M.I.A is a treasure and I hope she stops flogging conspiracy theories

Flavour of the month 20 years ago, lots of energy, as does a small puppy, which is less annoying than this. Not list worthy.

One of those whose remarkability is hard to tell because it inspired so much after it and in retrospect doesn’t stand out because of all the copiers. But then parts of it still sound so unlike anything else you’ve heard! Fav tracks: Bingo; Hombre; U.R.A.Q.T.; Galang

Not my usual thing but a really good album full of banging tunes.

One of the worst bands on this list - any album without paper planes is an auto-1

3.3

Annoyingly brilliant and very catchy

She's turned into quite the nutter but this album slaps. It's a great "Crank it up loud enough when you're in the office alone on a stat holiday and your life might not seem quite so bad if you don't stop to think about it" album.

Not for me this one. The kind of music that if a track was played on the radio I'd listen along quite happily, but find listening to an entire album of this a chore.

It’s hip hop so I naturally don’t like it. I’m proud of the fact that when I check my summary hip hop is the smallest bar on my bar graph. But wait my hip hop average is 1.1 stars. How can that be when hip hop always gets just 1 star (which does not equate to my loathing of this genre and really wish we could give 0 stars)? Turns out the last time M.I.A appeared on my list I foolishly gave it 2 stars largely because there was little or no gangster speak, misogyny or killing. So I right that wrong and give this a resounding 1 star. 1/5 3/9/26

0.5

I like this just ok. 3.5 stars

This is a cool mix of electropop, UK hip-hop, and some world music elements. While there's no "Paper Planes" here, I think it's a more consistent album than Kala. Highlights for me are "Pull Up the People", "Sunshowers", "Amazon", and "Galang". 4 stars.

Fuck this for a game of larks, I’m putting on some more Toto. The Seventh One because I listened to Toto IV yesterday. Fudge it, I’ll put on Toto IV again after Seventh One as well. In between my later Toto spins I did give this a quick skim and it is rancid and unbearable mainly because of the vocals. Maybe a better substitute album for this style would be Major Lazer Guns Don’t Kill People Lazers Do.

This sounds like ADHD. But that’s not a bad thing. When this sort of thing works, ie a mashup of different things all happening at the same time, it can go either way. But I think this really works. I imagine I’ll have to be in the mood to return to it, but I did enjoy it start to finish. I just feel like now I’ve finished, I need a quiet room to regulate myself

Still really like MIAs music, she brings together loads of influences into electronic beats in a way nobody else can do I think. This album didn't have the highs of Kala I'd say but was more consistent. Was on board all the way through but a couple of standout tracks would have pushed it to a 5. But all accounts she's as mad as a pan of crabs these days but two good albums is a decent output for anyone

I'm not sure we need two M.I.A. albums, especially not one without Paper Planes. It is fine, Hombre was my favourite track (felt the most interesting).

2 M.I.A albums seems excessive. I think I get the appeal to this, but it just isn't really my thing. Still don't think either album we have had, has had her big hits on? She can rap or whatever it is she's doing though! Wasn't aware she was British, also fairly surprised that she's 51! 2.5

No standouts

Rubbish

Not impressed, it's a lot of noise.

First, I’m telling myself that the person who made this album is not the same garbage human she later became. I bought this album when it came out and it is such a blast of energy. The beats are amazing. She has such a cool, easy flow with great hooks that are so memorable. Really enjoyed hearing this again. Added bonus, I put this on in the car and my ten year old daughter was dancing in her seat. Only a few albums on this list has received more than a “meh” from her.

This was a different kind of bad.

As of rn this is getting a 1 I don’t get it I try to have an open mind besides screamo but this isn’t doing it for me at all it’s quite boring/repetitive but simultaneously giving me a headache I find myself bobbing along but I don’t like it ; got a little better as it went on but still not great

Kurz wurde ich reingezogen und fand die Songs richtig gut, aber dann wurds mit zu eintönig und die Abwechslung fehlte.

zuviel durcheinander, hat mich nicht abgeholt