We lost our notes for this one, sorry folks
We lost our notes for this one, sorry folks
Certainly some solid hits, but the album plays out as one long thought without much variation. It's pretty mono-thematic and is very much "music I put on when I want to fuck", and there's nothing wrong with that. I also can't divorce the album from its association with sentimental white people dancing at weddings.
Hadn't listened to much Dusty before other than the uniquitous son of a preacher man. The album is much more soulful and R&B than I expected. Some great builds and swells. "Don't forget about me" has some fun little wiggling keys. Love the build-up on "Breakfast in Bed". Sounds like great energy for a great day. "Windmills of your Mind", suddenly bossa nova, where did that come from? Don't mind it though, kind of a nice change up. Ohh picking up some energy now toward the end of the track.
Much more well-rounded of an album that I was expecting. Some interesting detours.
Listening to this album makes me want to scour Craigslist for an organ, attempt to play it at a few jams, then abandon it a couple months later—much like my criminally-brief stint with the trombone. Digging the layers. Never considered how unifying of a force the humble flute can be. Jazz, rock, Middle English folklore. There's no genre those delicate winds can't touch. Occasionally getting some Steely Dan vibes, Traffic's definitely dipping their toes in the jazzy side of rock here. Steve Winwood has some pipes.
Wasn't sure who John Barleycorn was or why he had to die so I did a little research. Turns out he's a character from an old English folktale, circa 15th(?) century. Much like Rasputin some centuries later, the song chronicles the many varied and brutal methods by which the townsfolk and the nobility kill and grind John Barleycorn up, only for him to return once more in the spring—the anthropomorphized body of the crops he farms. Though it's not by a giant penis that he provides pleasure but the alcohol fermented from his barleycorn carrion.
The album certainly cycles through deaths and rebirths and is a fitting tribute to this folk hero of intoxication. The flute really ties the room together.
Didn't have a chance to write up a full review. Enjoyed listening to this, great energy, might return at some pint.
Embrace the darkness, Neil. Always thought this was an interesting album. Vacillates between pop, rock, blues, country, walks some interesting meandering paths. A sort of sorrowful anger permeates most tracks—though that cynicism is often obscured by some lightness in instrumentation. The title track is pure anthemic stoner-philosopher groove. Hope you found what you were looking for.
This is music for people to listen to while fantasizing about bench pressing 500 pounds, throwing the game winning touchdown, Eiffel-towering Pamela Anderson, and kicking some commie ass (does "Lars Ulrich" sound suspiciously European i.e. commie?). But then they open their eyes to discover they've smashed a family bucket of KFC and crushed a 12-pack of light beer while yelling at the television and telling their fat wife to try to look pretty every once in a while. If Flavortown had a soundtrack it would be this album. A goatee-fueled bomb-dot-com explosion of repressed sexuality. Lights out delicious.
Rip roarin cum guzzlin good time
Sometimes you just gotta toss your 5 stars to the wind and let Jimi take over. Genre-bending, passionate, energized, psychedelic. Incredible album from a powerful trio. Fantastic drumming, impeccable guitar work. If I wasn't wading through clouds of drywall dust while feeding a baby and keeping a barking dog at bay I'm sure I could opine for hours on how much I enjoy listening to this album. It never gets old.
It's blues, it's dirty, and it's done well. I lost interest after a couple tracks. Straight old blues tracks are great now and then but an album of them feels a bit repetitive. It's not bad, it's just not all that interesting.
The Mayonnaise really achieved peak emulsion this week. First Jimi, now Zeppelin. Banger of an album, tracks a ton of different influences, definitely ahead of its time. Here's hoping we continue this hot streak.
Interesting I guess, sort of meh for me. None of that '90s edginess.
I have to be honest here. Animal Collective has never really blown my hair back. They've made some bangers for sure, but in general it's always been just background music to throw on when chilling around the house. Definitely some solid tracks on this album, but found my mind wandering pretty quickly by track 3. Maybe I need to drop acid and expand my consciousness in order to get it, who knows. But not really liking Animal Collective has always been my dirty little secret.
What else can be said about the Eagles that hasn't already been said? Obviously the title track is great. The rest of the album is uninterestingly solid. Do you think Hotel California is the most-played radio song of all time? If I let my mind wander I could almost convince myself I had just flipped the radio on to 102.5 fm. Does anyone care about the Eagles' other albums? Does any other album than Hotel California even matter? Are we living our own lives or just trapped in a simulation? Hotel California is sign, signified, and signifier. Simulacra and simulation of a shared experience that we all never really experienced. You can never check out and you can never leave.
It's heavy in a way Metallica wishes they were. I was excited and hopeful when I clicked play, but that heaviness came at a cost of variety. I pretty quickly lost interest to the repetitiveness. Made for an interesting soundtrack as I sat in on a DE&I meeting.
I always thought the Sex Pistols' schtick was that they were talentless punks. I was pleasantly surprised by their talent. They're not the most brilliant lyricists or songwriters by any means, but that's sort of the whole point. I enjoyed this one, it felt a bit short (and maybe to be honest a bit one-dimensional at points).
I don't know if I've ever listened to an album that seemed to clash so much with that album cover's artwork. I heard that organ fire up in track one and felt myself go from 6 to 12 if you know what I mean, but then I heard that saxophone swoop in and I deflated right back down. Jazz was just not what I was in the mood for yesterday. I wonder if in context this jazz felt a bit edgier and dirtier, but it felt fairly easy listening to me. Not bad, not particularly good, though I bet if I were tuning in 60 years ago it would be a different story.
Nothing like a woman whispering "Te quiero papí". My reaction to track 1 was "oh, so that's who wrote this song". Not a huge disco fan myself, but this was certainly palatable. I can see Guillaume fucking to this for sure.
I just want to punch him in the voice box. Some catchy licks here and there. I have had a very busy work week and I am a bit miffed I had to spend my precious few minutes of free time listening to this.
Track 1: "Is this the Allman Brothers or Steely Dan? Ah, yes Steely Dan there it is." Show me the sparkle of yer 'gina. I think I've listened to this album once, maybe twice before. Really digging track two, loving this weird Hawaiian slide guitar? Powerful start to track 3. I think Donald Fagen has some of the most easily-recognizable vocal stylings of all time. I was thinking the instrumentation feels a bit more straightforward (or at least less wild) than other albums and then read that this was the only album Steely Dan wrote for a live band. This is an absolutely delightful sunny day album. Could definitely play rock bocce with a beer in hand while grooving to this. It doesn't quite stand up to other Steely albums, but who gives a shit? I'm grooving in Guillaume's old chair and having a great afternoon.
It's a 5 star album.
Guest entry for biggestjosh from AER.
My love for Bruce runs deep. One of the my most reliable self-checks of mental health is to put on the Boss, any album from his unrivaled 1970s run, and if I can feel it, I know my outlook and neurochemistry is in good shape. Bruce is a mirror. Bruce is a mirror for American men who view life as an endless struggle that must be met with generous love, empathy for those at the bottom, and extended moaning and grunting. Bruce is Steinbeck. He's a mirror for the underclass, and he's not coopting their plight for his gain. I think he's honestly trying to reach and elevate them through music, and it just so happens to resonate with a lot of people for that reason. He has no room in his 71 year old Jersey Shore body for satire.
This album before this, Nebraska, is dark, depressing, critically acclaimed, stripped down, and speaks to blue collar heartland themes, and lots of people hated it. This album is dark, depressing, critically acclaimed, and tackles blue collar heartland themes with a full E Street Band treatment, and it produced 8 huge hit singles. Sad acoustic folk doesn't speak to the middle class. Maybe they want to hear 50s rock songs blown up with a 12 piece band and a small dash of 80's synths to sound just relevant enough, but not too alienating. Music about the common man, for the common man, in the style of the common man. And then Reagan uses your songs at his convention.
Think about someone you know who loves Bruce. Maybe they're white, middle class, from an older generation, and slightly liberal. Maybe they voted Biden. Maybe find casinos delightful. Maybe they could use a raise. Maybe they're more likely to buy you a drink. Maybe they eat at Subway every now and then, but get a meatball sub.
I think some of the songs on here are great. The second half is especially strong. A-
The year is 2007. It's summer. I just turned 21, built myself a fixie, and am living in Seattle in a party house. At any time of any day or night you can find me at one of the 4 following places: Zeeks Pizza. Riding my fixie around the city. Crashing dance parties. Sitting on my front stoop drinking a bum jug of burgundy and vibing to this album. It was a summer of self discovery. Weed, mushrooms, ecstacy. I fingered strange women, parachuted envelopes of molly, turned every pair of jeans into jorts, smoked filterless Lucky Strikes in softpacks rolled into my tshirt sleeves. I had neon sunglasses. I was a huge fucking chode but was having the goddamn time of my life. And LCD Soundsystem was there every sweaty, drunk, sunny, indulgent step of the way. This album was anthemic. It played at house parties, bonfires, sunny day bike rides, dive bar patios. It fueled my self-indulgence and was a comforting backing track as I eschewed my religious upbringing and discovered there is nothing inherently sinful in the pursuit of pleasure. I don't think I'm interested in reliving 2007 but I'm glad for the memories. Thanks for helping me get laid so much, James Murphy.
If I had never heard The Replacements before I probably would have thought it was a 90s album. Can hear their influence in a lot of 90s and 00s indie rock. Weezer, Cake, I guess the Pixies too but they were only a few years later. Fun album, 4 stars.
Nice background music. Soundtrack for fishing on a summer day. Nothing too exciting going on, but maybe I'd be more interested if I were alive 70 years ago
Fun album. They're good at what they do. Great start to the weekend.
The waters are getting muddy and I'm digging it. More enjoyable album than the first this website served up. Though nowhere near as exciting as that track Matt texted us.
This and Weezer's Blue Album were the soundtrack of my high school experience. 4 stars
Another highschool banger. Blasted this in my cd player while working on the raspberry harvesters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iXJFDoKEvI&ab_channel=OxboInternational
Easily makes my top 10 list
OG gangster rap album. Definitely an important album, maybe drags on a tad long.
There's a reason Pink Floyd's albums become more enjoyable after Syd's departure. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with this album. There are a few bangers, though the rest is somewhat hokey, silly, forgettable.
I remember Massive Attack being cool, but it's sounding pretty boring to me now. Don't really have anything else to say about it.
Some people love live albums. I am not one of those people. But I think I'd make an exception just given how huge a moment in music history it was when Dylan strapped on his electric guitar. Obviously full of bangers.
Love has always popped up on my Spotify playlists as a bit of a one hit wonder, so this is probably my first go at listening to a full album. It's alright, some great moments, some forgettable parts. Not something I'd actively seek out, but probably wouldn't hit "next" when it pops up.
Had literally never heard of this band before, and the Wikipedia article says it's considered one of the greatest albums of all time. Catching some hints of Smashing Pumpkins, Cranberries, Garbage, Cardigans, New Radicals. There's something precious about those airy, delicate vocals. Feels like a vibey 90s take on hippie music, wondering if the Stone Roses really set the stage for much of that 90s poppy rocky ravey scene. Just got to track 4, that took a huge psychedelic turn. Some Jimi, some Beatles. The happy little guitar solo at 2:50 in "Made of Stone" sounds like something I'd play while standing on my tippy toes and fucking around with my phaser. I enjoyed this one, will see how that translates into my arbitrary awarding of stars tomorrow morning.
Was going to give it a 3, but then a vision of Iggy Pop's shirtless body appeared to me in a dream, guiding my hand to the 4th star.
Not their greatest album; not their worst. You can tell they are working on defining their sound, so some interesting explorations but also some boring detours.
I think I'm not cool enough to like Stevie Wonder.
Fun stuff, good background music. Good porch-sitting-beer-drinking music.
Interesting that we get Elvis as a followup to Fats. Fats was to Elvis what Chuck Berry was to John Lennon—his black predecessor and muse who could never expect to achieve the same amount of success as his white protégé. Seems like they had a real great friendship though.
This album comes from a time when albums weren't albums, but collections of tracks. It's all over the fucking place. Short and sweet, pretty fun listen.
Big swing and a miss IMO
Great listen, first time I've heard of Arrested Development
Not Isaac's greatest film soundtrack, but it had me boppin and groovin
Best hip hop album of all time? Easily top 10. 5 Stars.
I've always enjoyed this album, but generally find myself wanting MORE out of it. In some ways this is the album that birthed heavy metal, but it certainly doesn't sound like it as much as Black Sabbath just a few years later. You can hear the influence Blue Cheer had on Black Sabbath, so maybe Blue Cheer's role is as a foil to Sabbath. Blue Cheer asked "what is heavy metal and is this it?", and Ozzy replied by biting the head off a bat.
Solid album, bit more straightforward than some of their other work. Gotta say I love the album artwork. Computer graphics were just starting to become more of a mainstream thing, and this art direction totally defined my youth. From Wargames to Hackers to browsing the magazine section at Barnes and Noble in search of the latest issue of 2600. The early 90s must have been such a wild time to be an adult, seeing a mass migration of life from analog to digital, creating digital work while stuck in an analog episteme. There were so many opportunities through the 90s, 00s, and 10s to shed the shackles of an analog past, yet still we click on a floppy disk icon to save our documents, still arrange the same alphanumeric keys in the same layout on our phones. Clearly our technology advances more rapidly than our understanding of it. I give this album 2 stars; I give my nostalgia 3.
This album will always be special to me. Growing up, my dad didn't listen to ANY music, let alone any albums from previous decades. It wasn't until I moved into the Hamlin and Matt dropped the needle on Can't Buy A Thrill that I first really discovered the world of classic rock. The album's a fuckin banger, and the world it opened the door to for me is equally bangin. Thanks Matt, thanks Hamlin, thanks steam-powered dildo band.
Tuareg rock usually gets me hard, but this only gave me a semi.
Queen just doesn't do it for me
Got a decent boner for Cream. Great psych jams. Lots of fadeouts though that I know will drive Matt up the fuckin wall. 4 stars? 3 stars? I think 3.
Had never heard this album before. Hovering between 3 and 4 stars. Going with a 4.
Unrelated to this album, feeling bad my reviews are so short lately. I'm just not finding time to jot down anything substantive these days.
Can't believe this album was produced a quarter of a century ago. If I had to pick one word to describe Belle & Sebastian it would have to be "precious". There's just such a preciousness about them that would generally lead me to write them off. But I've always liked them and "stars of track and field" was my first exposure either sometime late high school or early college.
Solid soundtrack to a day of boozin' and chillin'
Fun energy, good time, would have been a fun show to go to
The Who are so goddamn hit or miss. Some massive bangers, some fucking ginormous duds. I think it's pretty telling when you look at the playcount of the songs on Spotify. Tracks 2 through 7 each have like 3 million plays. Then there are the 3 good tracks that have hundreds of millions of plays. TBH all I can think about when The Who comes on is the intro to CSI. Behind Blue Eyes and Baba O'Riley are jams for sure.
Jesus, the bar must have been set lower than I thought for what constitutes the top 1,001 albums of all time
I'm surprised Morrissey managed to keep his career afloat after recording this first solo album.
This sounds like the Flaming Lips' lesser known cousin. A little bit more delicate, a little more misunderstood. I can envision someone putting this on in an apartment in 2004, taking a massive bong rip, sinking into a couch, and fantasizing about making out with Zooey Deschanel. Take that picture, put it inside a snow globe, add a healthy dusting of glitter, and you've got yourself this album. All kidding aside, this was a quite nice surprise, especially after the garbage lineup from last week. A little too precious at moments for me, so not a full fiver, but definitely gets me as hard as a leaked Zooey Deschanel nudie.
Phew I was worried yesterday's gem was a happy blip on an otherwise trashcan radar. If yesterday's album got me imagining ripping a giant bong and sinking into a couch while jerking it to Zooey Deschanel, this album makes me imagine dressing in all black, injecting just the tiniest amount of heroin, and squeezing lemons on Nico's cheek bones. I don't know if I've ever fallen in love with a voice quite as hard as Moe Tucker's in "After Hours". She was also their drummer—Matt, maybe this is an opportunity for you to lilt a tune while drumming during our next jam. Who knows what bulges will emerge. It's hard to not feel cooool, maaaan, while vibing to the Velvet Underground. Lou Reed will swallow you whole and shit you out into Andy Warhol's Factory.
Liked it a lot. Very vibey, easy to get lost in the distortion and reverb. Some highs, some lows, some inbetweens, good for fair weather and foul.
Do you think this era of Paul McCartney humped pillows while thinking about himself? The album just oozes of self confidence that comes from global success. Some solid bangers in here. Some tracks that feel a tad overproduced IMO and dorky.
I've always loved this album, tons of nostalgia. Remember when Kanye was just a hip hop artist and not this weird cult personality?
Loved it
Pretty fun, Courtney's got great pipes. Not good enough to keep Kurt alive.
That was an interesting journey.
Ladies love Cool James, but Josh isn't the biggest fan. Some catchy tracks, but a little too sexy for my sexless sensibilities.
Had a good time listening to this while driving Costco Run around Issaquah with a kayak on my roof. I'm increasingly recognizing that any individualism of my self is purely delusion and my movements through life have already been laid out before me. I am walking the path of "Guy who enjoys listening to White Ladder while driving his midsize pickup truck with a kayak strapped to the top that he bought his wife for her birthday. When he gets home he will change his baby's diapers." What's scarier is I'm coming to accept and embrace what this all means. I just had two hardboiled eggs and half a cup of black coffee for breakfast. Went to the doctor for an annual wellness exam and some bloodwork. I had a minor heart palpitation, so we will be monitoring that. I'm looking forward to the salad I will have for lunch this afternoon. If the weather holds and no clients schedule calls with me, maybe I'll go on a bike ride this afternoon. I will play with my daughter this evening, have a sensible dinner, maybe one glass of wine, and be in bed by 9:30. This is my path; this is my Babylon.
Very reminiscent of my brother's criminally brief foray into techno. He produced one album under the moniker Captain Chad, which charted at #1 on mp3.com in the late 90s. Predictable, simple, but I keep finding my butt cheeks dancing to the beat in my seat. Feels surprising to me that this made the list, but it's still better than Anthrax.
I'm curious if Ashton's new whitewater employer has a minimum listening requirement of this album. "Ashton! How can you expect to paddle around the bend without getting in 10 'Up Around the Bend's in before 7am!". You must ponder perpetual motion to unlock that crystal day. They may be Berkeley boys cosplaying as southern swamp rats, but IDGAF, it's toe tappin' good tunes. Dip a paddle for me, Ashton.
Don McLean is a two-hit wonder. Overall boring, simple album with a couple moments of genius.
This blended so quickly and so entirely into the background as I listened while working.
Is this the sound of white guys in turtle necks sipping pinot and shedding a single tear? Is it the sound of Englishmen trying to be German? Whatever it is, it's enjoyable. Hearing some Magnetic Fields, LCD Soundsystem, Depeche Mode. It's interesting to hear an album from 1981 that so clearly reminds me of my high school and college experience. Vanity of vanities, truly there is nothing new under the sun.
Not. Too. BAD! Amirite guys???? Looks like the Jackson 5's bandleader decided to step out and attempt a solo career. The childhood trauma really shines on this one. Better than the Beatles! CHA-MONE-AH! A+
Real top shelf shit
This is just so entirely not my cup of tea. The English are so fucking hit or miss, nothing in between. Just so stupidly precious and unnecessary. 2 stars because it's more tolerable than Anthrax.
I just can't shake the image of goateed suburban dads rocking out to this while sitting in their garages and neglecting their wives while drinking cheap beer and wiping grease on their pants. They wonder why their wives don't want to fuck them. Maybe if you stopped cosplaying as a tough guy and embraced the life your career in dentistry has allotted you you might find a warmer embrace in bed. That said, it's still kinda fun. Very technical and clean. I dunno, maybe I should shave my beard into a goatee. I'm giving this three stars as I wipe my greasy hands on my pants and try to go pork my wife.
This went from spooky to weird to spoken word to god knows where else. What an entirely unexpected journey. Could certainly have benefited from some editing, the rest of the album just doesn't quite live up to the opening minutes of track 1. A weird little mystical prog rock adventure that led to an enjoyable Friday morning.
I really want to like Blondie, and I think I do, but it just feels so time bound. Have to be in the right mood for this.
I expected a lot more out of an album titled Haunted Dancehall. Certainly sounds like the most boring place in the world.
Childish lyrics, boring instrumentation, not a fan.
Modern communications technology has jaded me. Every track elicited a thought of "I have heard derivations of this on Spotify/Pandora/Sirius/Radio/YouTube/etc". Would have been such an exciting thing to discover this album back when you had to work to listen to and discover music. It's all fine music, that's about all I can say. Maybe it was over produced with all the collaborations happening. Didn't have a unified POV.
Fairly consistently good punk, a bit of rockabilly that was eh so so
You gotta like Leonard Cohen to be cool. You gotta dig his lyrics to be cool. You gotta wade through garbage bags of synth to be cool. You gotta realize that you sorta actually like the garbage bags of synth to be cool. You gotta let your eyes drift from your laptop to lazily gaze at the Rainier cherry tree outside your window while realizing you didn't understand a word he said to be cool. Being cool is a journey, not a destination, and you gotta let ol' Lenny take the wheel to be cool.
Solid album. The Smiths both do it for me and don't do it for me at the same time. I vacillate between midnight and 6 o'clock all through the album.
I never realized how much '90s Travis sounds like a Radiohead / Oasis lovechild. A bit precious, a bit tranquil, more enjoyable than I had expected. Also, do you remember when bands used to hide a bonus track on the final track of their CD just by adding a bunch of empty space in the middle of the track? I was startled when, after a few minutes of silence and thinking the album was over, some music kicked in.
Solid album, good flow, not as great as other albums coming out of Wu Tang
I don't generally go for Dylan's deep cuts, but his hits are hits. That's about all I have to say.
I went into this with very low expectations. Then I was pleasantly caught off guard by Track 1, but then quickly realized I hated everything about this album.
Very into this.
Have always thought this was good background music. Some high points, but it all blends together after a bit.
This is the Leonard Cohen we know and love. Moody and brooding, ecstasy and sorrow. It might be a bit one dimensional, but I like that dimension
Fairly fun, but blended into the background quicker than I would have hoped
Dire Straits has never been more than Sultans of Swing for me, was a great listen to hear the full album, pretty surprised with how much I enjoyed it
What a fun little gem I've never heard before. Adding this to the regular rotation.
One of my favorite Nirvana albums. I'm not generally a fan of live albums, but this one is so good
Meh
American Murder Ballads: Country Love is a Zero Sum Game.
Some great tracks muddled by some bleh
This is not the Joy Division of album-artwork-tshirt fame. This is a Joy Division without joy.
Started out strong, then got a little precious, ended fairly decent.
Queen is just forever going to be the band I listen to only under extremely rare conditions. You don't just put Queen on during a dinner party—you put Queen on during a road trip when you're trying to keep everybody awake.
Take me back so simpler, vibier times. Fill my heart with your delicate voice. Fill my tank with your 5-star album.
Meh. Some interesting bits, some boring bits, not too much to say. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a listen, was pretty distracted.
Loved this album when it came out, though I don't think SOAD really came into their own until Toxicity. Some fun stuff going on here that I think they really refine in subsequent albums.
Haven't heard this before, rather enjoyed it. Felt quite a bit ahead of its time. I heard some 90s, some 00s, some 2010s. Fun album.
I wanted to like this, but it just fell so incredibly flat for me. Too produced, too... everything.
Is Hallelujah the only reason this made the list?
Fun album, not as fun as some slightly later stuff, but certainly set the stage for a lot that followed in the 90s and 00s
Had me boppin and movin at my desk. Boogie woogie tushy for sure.
I'm just here for the album cover. Solid album, solid vibes, solid titties. Big fun.
I've always shied away from Elvis Costello, just wasn't my thing, but this had me squeezing my butt cheeks to the beat.
Just doesn't stand up to the glory of previous albums, sort of feels like he's riding the wave of Ziggy Stardust. A couple hits, definitely a solid album, but lacking some of Bowie's previous genius.
Not their greatest work, but a pleasant backdrop for wrapping up my Friday.
Wanted to give it 5 stars, but couldn't quite get there. Refreshing, fun album.
Again, I just have never been all that onboard with Michael Jackson. More enjoyable than the last album on here, but can't push my hand past 3 stars. I'm sure it deserves more but I just don't give a fuck.
Great music to drink wine and fuck to. I can't help but separate cool jazz / post-bop / whatever, from eating dinner at Vito's and leering at the waitstaff. Solid instrumentation, some generally interesting stuff going on, though doesn't grab my attention as much as other albums/tracks Miles Davis.
I looked at this album the same way Gary Numan looked at the pyramid on the album artwork. Intrigued, suspicious, unsettled, aroused. "Cars" is the only track I think most anyone has ever listened to, and it's a fun ride for sure. Overall though, the album is pretty flat. Sure, it was early synth pop and maybe paved the way for some more exciting stuff. But on its own, meh.
Solid three star album. Had high school Josh known of this album, it might have found itself on regular rotation up there with Coldplay and SOAD
Looking past the brownface on the album cover, and the fact the album isn't fully available on Spotify, I still give it a 2. It's a little too precious, a little too out there. Maybe if I put in the effort to seek out the full album it could earn more stars, but here we are.
This earns a rare 5 stars from me. Did either of you watch "Val", the new Amazon documentary about Val Kilmer? If you haven't, let me save you 1 hour, 49 minutes of your lives with a succinct recap: "I played Doc Holliday and Jim Morrison, everyone should give me all the best parts in all the best movies and it's UNFAIR that I don't get what I want and now I have cancer."
What I'm trying to say is don't watch "Val", just listen to this album, twice.
Had never listened to The Damned prior to this. Rather enjoyable punk album. First track instantly reminded me of The Offspring, and I was teleported back to junior high, frosted tips, and general angst and ennui. I've found a lot of punk to be fairly one dimensional (which maybe is the point), but I appreciated the variety and nuance here.
Hadn't really listened to Frank Ocean before, I enjoyed this album. Delivered far above my expectations. There was subtly and nuance here that was entirely unexpected. Just because something is popular doesn't mean it is derivative.
It's nice. I mean, it's great. It's Ella Fitzgerald. It's lovely. It's proficient, adept, and sets the mood. It's fantastic background music. Maybe that's the point, you take your mistress to a lounge, eat some steak, and grab her thigh while the music tries to be as unobtrusive as possible. Not sure what to rate it.
If I wasn't still feeling so ill and wasn't so exhausted from giving Frankie medicine periodically throughout the night, I might rate this higher. Enjoyed it, nonetheless.
Frantic, frenetic, smooth, vibey. I'm going to bet Matt gave this a 4, and Ashton a 3. I'm going with Matt here, 4. It's a great album, but not perfect.
If there's one thing you can say about Will, it's he looks like how his music sounds.
I'm not generally a fan of live albums, but I like this live album because it isn't trying to sound like a live album. Sure, there's some crowd noise, but on the whole it isn't trying to replicate the concert experience. I love hearing moments where they seem to sort of lose their place. Like "oh yeah, I need to stop staring at my fret board and get to the fucking bridge." Fun fluid movement through a psychedelic take on genre mashing. Not my favorite QMS album, but happy trails to you nonetheless, partner.
Goddamnit I'm so tired of listening to Jazz on here. The number of high school jazz bands I've heard play the first track is way too high. At least 6. I had to go to a lot of competitive high school jazz band performances growing up. Not to participate, but to watch because played sax in one.
This album is great. It's fine, whatever. Can I agree that it's a great album but that I also just don't give a shit? Track 2 would make for a great backing track to some type of tightly shot, more tightly focused, no speaking cooking channel on YouTube. Something where the cook hand grinds his coffee beans for his pour over coffee every morning. "I'm cultured; I'm refined; I measure all the macros of my diet; have I shown you my record collection? It's all The Beatles and jazz."
College Josh certainly thought this album would help him get laid. Was maybe even successful once or twice—though I chalk that up more to my overwhelming charisma than Marvin's buttery voice.
It's funny how such an iconic song can be so generic. "I want to fuck. Please, may we fuck now? I will literally say whatever it takes to pork you." But maybe that's why it's so iconic—it's accessible, it's relatable, it doesn't push for anything beyond porking. When your song can be used in commercials for jeans, chocolates, Applebee's, coffee, a TV channel, macaroni, condoms, as well as in an episode of The King of Queens, you know that it has to be generic enough to be so ubiquitously far reaching. It's really saying something that a song can speak so universally in a country where half of us are gorfing horse dewormer to cure ourselves of an imaginary contagion.
Beautiful lyricism, sparkling melodies, reclusive balladeer. This album is pure Joni Mitchell, dialed up to 11. A wonderful listen, a respite from treating Frankie's illness.
This sound was very much a "thing" in the mid 2000s. You continue to hear a lot of her affected singing style in contemporary vocals, so that says something about this album. I've never been super drawn by her allure, but it's still a fine album.
Fantastic album. It's got everything you want. Early blues rock. Covers. Lingering guitar solos. Heaviness. Lightness. English folklore. Rod Steward snorting lines of sailor cum offstage. Something for everyone. Who's better than us, eh guys?
If you don't enjoy this album, you can go to hell.
Pretty middle of the road album. Some solid work, though absent of any unified POV.
I'm listening to this shirtless at my desk after powering through some yard work during lunch. One of those weird sweats where your core is hot but extremities are cold from the chilly fall weather. Lil' Ritchie is cooling me down and heating me up right where I need it. I'm also browsing Taiwanese restaurants on UberEats while boogying in my seat to these jams. Talk about fusion.
My brother got suspended from our school for covering "Blister in the Sun" at a high school talent show. His band name was 4:19. "We're 4:19, anyone got a minute? Hueh hueh hueh".
Had no idea this came out in 1983, thought for sure it was late 90s. I guess they must have been important or something, huh.
The vocals sound like I'm being serenaded by a serial killer, and I'm quite smitten. Loving the acoustic bass solo in track 3. Ah there's Gordon again, ready to come flay my flesh and feed me my genitals, prepared over a nice cassoulet (but with a midwest tater tot twist).
Man, so much is derivative of this sound, I really need to revisit the Violent Femmes. Does it slap? It slaps.
I'm not fair to jazz here. It's tough to appreciate it when listening at my desk. It's either too distracting, and I have to turn it off in order to focus, or it's too smooth and blends into the background. So, here's three stars.
Some bangers, some flops, some great stuff, some low stuff.
I was dreading playing this, but there was actually some interesting stuff going on. Can definitely hear some Oh Sees in some of this. Some weird/fun/wild stuff going on. Some obnoxious stuff for sure.
Fucking horrible
Twinkle precious stardust vibes
Doesn't get me hard, but it's certainly better than the black crowes
I was excited, then I was bored.
Live laugh love, get weird, get dark, get light, get bionic
Bold move thrusting at max force erection right outta the gate. You gotta tease 'em a bit before obliterating
Missy's great, especially in a garbage bag costume
Jesus christ this got exhausting fast. I can't keep up with the laundry list of complaints
This was a real thighrubber of a good time. Wacky whaaa haaa
