The fact that this album has a Wikipedia page for EACH song speaks to how insanely important and good it is. I don’t think I need to wax poetic about it. One of the best albums with some of the best individual songs of all time. In short: it slaps.
I mean... I feel like just having Respect on here automatically gives this a 4. What is interesting to me is how many of the songs are actually covers, and moreso, how common this was back in the 1950s-1970s. One song would be done by multiple artists. You can see it here too: Respect (Otis Redding), Good Times and A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke) among others on the album. I think it's really interesting to think about: this album is considered one of the GOATs, it wasn't about HER songwriting, but her singing, music, and conceptions of these songs. It reminds me of Patti Smith and Gloria. Adding their own flair to male contemporaries' songs and revolutionizing them.
Full disclosure: I love Patti Smith. This review is less about the album itself and more about its influence so many years later. Gloria is one the best openers ever in my opinion and “Jesus died for somebody’s birthday sins but not mine” is an amazing opening line. You can tell Patti is a poet first with her lyrics. She also definitely loves to pay homage to her influences, covering My Generation and the references to other artists in songs. Particularly enjoyed Free Money and Land. We all know that I’m a lyrics first person, and so what better person to listen to than a poet. She is the godmother of punk and a paver of the path for riot grrls everywhere. I love her.
This was alright. Enjoyable but I don’t remember much of it.
I had heard of RFTC but never listened. I didn’t realize the same guy formed this band and Drive Like Jehu. This is obviously up my alley. It’s got some ska vibes on a some songs, which is usually about the amount of ska I can handle. I would probably give it a 4.5 realistically. It is a little too long. I wish it was 11-12 songs rather than 14. I don’t know which songs I’d cut, though. I tend to prefer front halves of albums to back halves anyway, not sure why.
I do not vibe with prog rock. A lot of it blended together and didn’t really keep my interest. There were some parts that were decent but I couldn’t name them specifically. I’m sure it makes sense to others but not me.
Enjoyed this one. Psychedelic rock is not usually my jam but I did enjoy this. Definitely interesting to read about and may listen to again
I enjoyed this. It was a different take on psych rock than the Love album. That one seemed very very 60s-70s to me. This one I think translates better today without seeming of an era (though it still is). I enjoyed Strange Brew immediately. Clapton was kind of a shitty dude.
Catch parts but not a fan of dance music
So good. The title track is obviously a classic and the whole album is just fantastic
It’s good background music. Didn’t like the songs with vocals as much as the ones without. Full disclosure: did not get all the way through.
It was better than I thought, but while I don't hate screaming, when it's song after song it gets grating. I preferred the songs with a little more singing. I probably should've had the lyrics up but then I wouldn't be able to work, haha.
Well this was interesting. I didn't mind it at first, and thought it was okay. Then, you guessed it, Frankie Teardrop happened. At first I was like, oh cool, a story about some dude, then the screaming happened and I was like, okay. That's enough. Then it kept happening and it got weird.
*I would give a 3.5* Dig the sound. Not sure if its because it sounds more 'familiar' in some ways than the other albums (with some song exceptions, Changes/Born to Run/etc.) Enjoyed: 'Wish I Was Skinny', 'Best Lost the Fear' 'Take the Time Around'. Did not enjoy: Spun Around, 'I've Lost the Reason'.
I enjoy VU. I knew Pale Blue Eyes (I think it got played at Starbucks for some reason??) Having Beginning to See the Light after Jesus reeled me back in. Solid album throughout, really enjoyed the aforementioned track, What Goes On, and a couple others at the end.
I had heard of RFTC but never listened. I didn’t realize the same guy formed this band and Drive Like Jehu. This is obviously up my alley. It’s got some ska vibes on a some songs, which is usually about the amount of ska I can handle. I would probably give it a 4.5 realistically. It is a little too long. I wish it was 11-12 songs rather than 14. I don’t know which songs I’d cut, though. I tend to prefer front halves of albums to back halves anyway, not sure why.
Album was pretty groovy. I went into it thinking it’d be weird soft slow stuff but it wasn’t! I had no idea he wrote Coconut. The accent is weird in today’s context but I’m sure it wasn’t in 1971. Honestly a fun album. Enjoyed Jump into the Fire the most I think.
Full disclosure: I love Patti Smith. This review is less about the album itself and more about its influence so many years later. Gloria is one the best openers ever in my opinion and “Jesus died for somebody’s birthday sins but not mine” is an amazing opening line. You can tell Patti is a poet first with her lyrics. She also definitely loves to pay homage to her influences, covering My Generation and the references to other artists in songs. Particularly enjoyed Free Money and Land. We all know that I’m a lyrics first person, and so what better person to listen to than a poet. She is the godmother of punk and a paver of the path for riot grrls everywhere. I love her.
So, I’ve never really listened to Elvis Costello before despite having heard a lot about him. This album was okay. I thought Tokyo Storm Warning was interesting and I didn’t mind the closing track either. Despite the lyrics I found it to be inoffensive generally, and I enjoy his voice. That said, if someone threw this album on, I wouldn’t mind it, and would probably pick it over some albums we’ve listened to (looking at you, Genesis). Where I struggle is what this album does that makes it so important to listen to. I wouldn’t call it bland or boring but it was very safe sounding to me. Now I’m rambling. I guess this is one of his lowest charting albums so I don’t want it to be a nail in the coffin for Elvis. I think I wanted to enjoy it more than I did.
Dudes voice is def an adjustment if you’re not ready for it. I’m not usually a post-punk fan but this wasn’t avant-garde enough for me to dislike it. As someone unfamiliar with post punk because of the aforementioned, it was interesting how I felt that all the songs were similar sounding but not in a bad/bleed together way. Album has warmed me up to JD more than I thought it would.
This is my first time listening to AD... this album is very accessible to me, which is saying something. I also know nothing about hip hop in general, and I can see why this would catch on with a wider audience. I love the song Everyday People, so I dug the reference on People Everyday. Lyrically, the social themes come through strong and resonates a lot today. It does come off as a little holier-than-thou in some songs, but at the same time they were intentionally trying to make those statements, so it makes sense that it's more straightforward. I did find myself bobbing my head along to a lot of the songs unconsciously. I liked a couple of songs in the middle, and Tennessee as well. Overall, I found in enjoyable and while I probably won't revisit it, I'm happy I listened to it.
For whatever reason, Neil young has not been my jam historically. He's someone I've always wanted to like but just hadn't really. But to be fair, his discography is so expansive that the few songs I've heard probably don't do it justice. I had to listen to this album 3 times because Tom and I kept talking through it, so I'm basing this on the 3rd listen, but the title track caught me even when we were talking over it. I liked that one. I'm not a fan of his slower songs in general.
I read on Blur’s wiki that For Tomorrow was written as a single - and that stood out to me immediately. Very strong start, in my opinion. Also a train on the cover is obviously dope. Also I’m a magical transit child as of now. Overall, I found myself taking notice of bits of songs throughout the whole album, which to me means its catching my interest enough to stick out while I’m working. My rating my also be inflated since I feel like we’ve hit a rut of albums. I could see myself really enjoying some of these songs if I spent more time with the album, which I may or may not do.
I knew the song “Off With Their Heads” prior to hearing the full album. Overall I thought it was fun. I didn’t write anything down while listening and I don’t know any of the song titles, but it was a solid listen. I think more than anything it was nice to have something more ‘modern’. I think I liked the front half more than the back, but as I’ve mentioned before that is something that happens a lot to me, even with my favorite albums. I wish I had taken more notes, haha.
My overall take with this album is that it is pretty enjoyable, with the exception of a few songs that are a little weird lyrically (Mother, Every Breath You Take, I haven’t liked EBYT like... ever). I really liked King of Pain and Miss Gradenko. Murder By Numbers was pretty good too (a ‘messed up’ song that I enjoyed). I’d give it a 3.5 but I’m going to round down this time.
I’ll admit I didn’t get through the whole thing. I enjoyed some tracks more than others. I heard some Jeff Rosenstock-esque ska and punk on a couple songs. I wish it had been half as long, even though the songs were short. Generally enjoyable and I liked it more than I thought, given I didn’t know anything about it.
I knew The Weight going into this. I really enjoyed it. I don't really have a track by track breakdown or anything specific to call out. It just felt like a really complete record where all the songs were evenly matched, with The Weight being a standout. Very happy I listened to this.
Back in the Saddle is a jam. I've never listened to a full Aerosmith album, and this was enjoyable for sure. It did feel like a stereotypical 'rock' album, for better or for worse. It did feel sort of like I've heard some of these songs before even though I haven't. Overall fun and would listen to again. Would probably give a 3.5, but rounded up.
Good Fortune - huge Patti vibes, although I guess she hadn't heard of her until people started comparing them. The middle felt like some generic 00s rock songs and honestly by the last two I was checked out.
This was really awesome to hear, and I can’t imagine actually being there. They not only sounded great, but sounded like they were having fun with it too. The quality was excellent and given that live albums can sound really bad, that makes this even better.
This should’ve been like 3 songs and maybe I could’ve stomached it as a short concept EP or something. Or maybe it could’ve just been like, without the lyrics. Maybe it just didn’t age well or something because its highly rated per Wikipedia and dude has had a crazy long career. I feel like he wants to be Sinatra, maybe. Or we’re all just jaded. Who knows.
Rent was stuck in my head for hours after listening to this album. I enjoyed the commentary + dance music combo in some songs, but I found myself drifting out of the album a lot. Maybe its because I don’t know much about music but some of it sounded sort of generic? Not sure. I think some of the songs could’ve been shorter.
I think I liked Hunky Dory more overall, but this was still a good album. The first two tracks were great. It felt more polished than HD. I don’t have a whole lot to say about it specifically but I may revisit when I’m more familiar with Bowie’s early catalog. I feel like these discographies (for a lot of artists, not just Bowie) are so massive I want to compare the albums with each other in the context of the full career. Al this to say, fine album, better than a lot of the ones we’ve listened to, worse than others.
This was a weird album to break new headphones in with. That said, wasn't really my thing but I appreciated the weirdness on it, I guess. I really did not know what was happening for most of this.
So, while listening to this album, I was interested in reading WHY U2 were so hated other than the (imo) overdramatic reaction to their album showing up in everyone's iTunes and Bono being Bono. What I learned: they started as a post-punk band, and this album seems to be around the turning point from when U2 went from darlings to hated. this album didn't seem all that great to me, but it has made me more interested in going back and listening to War/Joshua Tree. Honestly, it was fine, but I probably won't go back and listen to it. I think at this point, the mythos around U2 is larger than even the band itself (which is saying something). Some people also argued that U2 helped invent this 'generic rock' sound, which, much like Citizen Kane, makes going back and listening to (or watching) it less impressive. Lots to think about here. I also was kind of over the album about halfway through.
I mean... I feel like just having Respect on here automatically gives this a 4. What is interesting to me is how many of the songs are actually covers, and moreso, how common this was back in the 1950s-1970s. One song would be done by multiple artists. You can see it here too: Respect (Otis Redding), Good Times and A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke) among others on the album. I think it's really interesting to think about: this album is considered one of the GOATs, it wasn't about HER songwriting, but her singing, music, and conceptions of these songs. It reminds me of Patti Smith and Gloria. Adding their own flair to male contemporaries' songs and revolutionizing them.
The fact that this album has a Wikipedia page for EACH song speaks to how insanely important and good it is. I don’t think I need to wax poetic about it. One of the best albums with some of the best individual songs of all time. In short: it slaps.
I enjoyed this album. A couple tracks went a little long for me. I think overall, it sounded really cool and I liked a lot of the lyrics, features, etc. I wish I had more to say here.
I really liked this album more than I thought. You could hear the punk influence in a lot of songs, which was of course distorted and experimented with. I preferred Kim's songs, but thought Teen Age Riot was a great opener. Despite it's long songs, I was engaged the whole time. Really enjoyed this and of course, bonus points for half the name coming from Fred 'Sonic' Smith of MC5. Very cool homage.
Very fun album. Only thing I really didn’t like was the weird intro on track 2. That creeped me out. Also wish it had Hot Patootie on it.
Enjoyed this for sure. Long album but some fun songs although I couldn’t name them for sure.
Enjoyed this. Sorry for the lack of reviews - I’m trying to catch up!
This was alright. I liked some of the folksy aspects but didn’t care for others. It sounds better when you’re half listening to it.
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard the title track before, but I can’t place where. This was an enjoyable listen and perfect for having to listen to while I work! I’ve never been huge into jazz but this was a fun listen. I’ll have to remember it when I need something without lyrics to listen to.
Did not care for this or Steely Dan. It was fine. Really did not like the noises I heard on Show Biz Kids. No thanks.
Absolutely not. I would prefer this with no vocals. I made it about halfway through before just nopeing out. Sorry. The sailor song was okay. It’s like if Isaac Brock only sang drunk or something and had worse lyrics. Congrats to this album on my first 1 star!!!!!!!!
The tragic backstory of this album is more interesting than the album itself, in my opinion. Not bad by any means but not my thing. Solid 3 on the Blood and Chocolate Scale ™
I loved hearing this album and feeling like some of the songs sounded like other bands or albums I heard, just because they were so influential for so many punk and punk-adjacent bands. The Clash is great
I wonder how different my rating would be if I listened to this in the summer on a nice day with a marg. It was pretty good and catchy. Spanish songs are always fund. I also liked that someone called him more punk than Good Charlotte (not that that’s hard to do)
Bangers. The lot of them. 4.5 rounding up to five. I hate that I never fully listened before and shout out to Laura Jane for exposing me to Androgynous.
This was stellar. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in other than that I knew Janelle always had a ton of praise. Her voice was insanely beautiful and I didn’t think one track was boring. The concept is really interesting and the fact that she covered so many genres kept it engaging. Would listen again.
Like Nick said - a solid Blood & Chocolate 3. It was alright, but I remember looking up and realizing I was only on the fourth song when I thought I was like halfway through the album. I would have never guessed Marley Purt Drive was by the Bee Gees! I think the middle portion of the album was best. Didn’t really understand how it was a concept album but I also didn’t look much into the lyrics.
Really hear the Velvet Underground influence here. Sounds like 70s early punk for sure. I enjoyed this throughout. The guitars were really cool and I actually really dug his vocals - very 70s.
I much prefer my sad songs to not be so slow, which I know sounds silly. It was alright. I think the combination of his voice and the slowness of the songs got to me after a bit. Made it feel like it dragged on a bit. I also don’t like that it seems like he’s mumbling a bit. I don’t mind incomprehensible lyrics but this type of singing is not my cup of tea. All that being said, definitely not the worst album.
Was very excited to see this bad boy pop up. This was the album that introduced me to Green Day but I haven’t listened in forever. Very rewarding for us lyrics listeners ;) Kathleen Hanna should’ve sang Letterbomb though.
Actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Band on the Run is such a great track, and Iwas nervous about the first half overpowering the second, but I actually enjoyed the whole thing.
The song titles alone give this a star. I love "Do you Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth", "Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing", and "The Roar of the Masses Could be Farts". Definitely a long album, but I think i prefer the weirdly short 40 song album to a 6 song hour plus album. Fun, funky punk songs but it didn't sound overly repetitive like some punk albums can. I like that each member got to 'make' a side. Really living up to their name on this album (get it?)
Good album. Enjoyed Marr’s guitar playing a lot throughout the album. I really like and hate Morrissey’s voice at the same time. I like it on its own, but I feel like it kinda sounds the same in each song, although maybe I wasn’t listening closely enough. Wish Morrissey was a better person, I really think he could’ve been if it wasn’t for his massive ego. I think that seeps into the lyrics more than I’d like. Still a good album and would listen to again.
I’ve heard American Pie (the song) a hundred times and love it so much. I’ve never listened to the album before now. It’s really interesting that it begins with a song like American Pie and then the next four songs are all slower, ballad-y types. It sort of felt like whiplash. But at the same time, I don’t know how else you follow up a song like American Pie. It picks up with Everybody Loves Me, Baby, which was a nice change of pace. Really interesting album.
Fine. Not bad for a jam band.
I really liked the first track and a couple others. Other than that, it was alright. Wasn’t a fan of his vocals a few times, but it wasn’t as jarring as *ahem* other artists *ahem*. I can see the early punk influences and how it fits into the larger music canon but wasn’t really my thing.
I much prefer my sad songs to not be so slow, which I know sounds silly. It was alright. I think the combination of his voice and the slowness of the songs got to me after a bit. Made it feel like it dragged on a bit. I also don’t like that it seems like he’s mumbling a bit. I don’t mind incomprehensible lyrics but this type of singing is not my cup of tea. All that being said, definitely not the worst album.
Not sure how I feel about this album. There were a couple songs I enjoyed but not sure it really hit with me in the way I wanted it to.
I mean, something about Frank is really comforting in a weird way? Like warm and fuzzy even when he’s singing about weird stuff like Makin Whoopee. Like Aretha, I find it interesting that it was so common to just re-record the same songs onto albums. I don’t necessarily see it as a negative, just a product of the time. It does look like some lyrics were changed though. My lizard brain wants to rate this a 5, but I think I’ll actually go with a 4.
Album is cheesier than the Wisconsin State Fair. Decent though, first half is definitely better than the second.
Actually really enjoyed this. Some really good songs in here and found some getting stuck in my head.
This was good. I didn’t mind the spoken word stuff too much. Weird alt rock that was interesting if nothing else.
It was fun listening to My Generation in full. An iconic song on a great album. This was really enjoyable all the way through.
Live it Up made me think of Locomotion - haha. I’ll be honest, with a name like Dusty Springfield, I thought it was going to be more country sounding even though I knew deep down it wasn’t. I enjoyed this. Nothing necessarily profound but pretty fun. Given that this is her first album, I’d say pretty strong debut.
Oasis didn’t have to go this hard. But they did. For us. I know Wonderwall in particular gets meme’d on but a good joke always has a bit of the truth, right? I would definitely listen to this full album again.
Really good album all the way through.
Meh
This was alright. Enjoyable but I don’t remember much of it.
Not bad. I’m pretty sure the Bang a Gong song was on a commercial but I have no idea which one and it bothers me. I wasn’t a fan at first but it grew on me.
This wasn’t bad. I found it enjoyable but don’t know if I would revisit.
This is an 80s pop album for sure. Interesting in that it really embodies part of a decade and definitely catchy but not something I feel attached to.
Good joke, alright album. Kinda fell off at the end there.
Imagine my surprise when I learned Belle & Sebastian was not a duo consisting of Belle and Sebastian. Great album. Really reminiscent of that early indie sound like Neutral Milk Hotel (but less weird). Really solid album. Saved this one for a rainy day and happy I did.