Very Burt Bacharach. Good in sections when it got gospelly but overall very dirgey and slow with organs and strings. Not 'cool' at all.
Really solid second half with some great Rocky songs. First half is standard 1979 British punk. Just missed out on a 4/5
Competent upbeat British New wave. Like a less depressing Smiths or less experimental talking heads. Pretty good, but I bit forgettable. 3/5
Excellent live blues album, sensational band, excited crowd and bb king being charismatic and good at guitar. Jazzy and 60s cool. Good for a dinner party 4/5
A classic album, and one that requires more than one listen to fully appreciate. Like all shoe gaze it's a bit hard to discern one song from another but the overall vibe is fuzzy, heavy, gloomy. Would be great live. Misses out on a 5 due to a lack of variation through the album, but still a classic. 4.5/5
If 'Black Sabbath' and 'N.I.B' weren't on this album it would be a good proggy, guitar focused rock album. Enjoyable but forgettable. But they are on this album, (plus the album cover looks like it does), so 60 years later teenagers still listen to metal in their bedrooms. It's like listening to the first monkey who discovered how to make fire. 4/5 for just those songs alone.
Bright Latin jazzy reggae indie stuff. Very world music, but hasn't aged since the late 90s, shark tooth necklaces and blonde tips. Nice enough, but probably not going to listen again. Play at the beach.
Better than I expected. Big driving bass and drums, heavy riffs, some pommy bastard over the top. The Wait was a good song. Heavy, energetic, competent and keeps it up for the whole listen.
Look, I'm sure they spent a lot on guitar lessons and their mums were really proud they had an album. It's 10-odd songs that are in the same tempo, same key, same vibe, same sound, same lack of effects on the instruments. It's just uninspiring, uninteresting. It sounds like something I wrote in subelius when I was in year 10. 1977 album, already showing the limitations of rock and roll. I could go on. 2 stars
Look, Bon Jovi sucks, 80s hair metal sucks, synthersised stadium rock n roll sucks. But everyone has had that moment when they're at 1st year university and the cool older kids all know the words to Livin on a Dream and for a weird 18 months you get tricked into thinking that it's ironically cool in a daggy retro way. If you have taste you realise bon Jovi is shit around prac year, but it's a wild ride while it lasts. 3/5 based on that alone.
The production was like when you see a movie in 8k ultra HD and you can see all the people on the screen acting and reading lines. I could hear them playing instruments, not playing music. I actually like the much maligned flute, and everytime the piano came out it got into a bit of a bar room rocker. But I'm just confused about what Jethro Tull actually is, because most of the album sounds like a dance around the maypoll meeting of some Hobbits and the album never really takes off. I don't really get why half the album is the sounds of 1650. Hymn 43 was a good song. 2.51/5
This was an interesting modern relief after a run of stodgy 80s acts. Kinda weird, thin, jagged stuff. Pretty good in parts but was lacking either a folk mind or a indie pop dancefloor heart.
Bright, breezy pop folk that was recorded at the other end of a long room to the band. I liked this one, even the distant production worked. Turn it down, put it it the background. It's nice.
So doom-y and quite a bit gloomy. They're all just so genuinely affected and the music just drones on and on and somehow becomes more all encompassing. Like a hug from a demon. Real goth stuff.
One time, Ghostface Killah's manager threatened me because they didn't like how I was selling his merchandise at his concert. So I have beef with Ghostface. But he does good raps, lots of words and keeps it going. The skits are fucking lame though.
Brazillian bond themes. Not altogether interesting, a bit all over the shop.
The band is really tight and complex, they stretch out songs and keep the album chugging. Then fucking Morrissey moans all over the damn thing. Plus, 'Death for no reason is murder'? Dickhead, there is a reason for killing a cow, I make a hamburger out of it and eat it. Piss off Morrissey.
They only had 7 years to be the Beatles, so rhats why there are songs like maxwell's silver hammer on every Beatles album. This is excellent though, even with the silly Beatles stuff. Easy 4, they'll get a five on another album.
Fun fact about ZZ Top!
The drummer's name is Brain Good-At-Writing-Songs, which is so ironic because this band sucks.
I think if Dylan, the Beatles and the stones created the rock/pop sounds from the 60s to now, the Beach Boys were the last gasp of the proto rock. Falsetto voices, harmony, nothing getting out of first gear. It's well performed and exceptionally well recorded, but it's just not my jam. I suppose it's better than ZZ Top and bovine Jovi and whatever else rock turned into.
Didn't think I'd like it but then ended up enjoying it. Half Elvis, half roy or bison, which is to be expected I guess. The slow songs are a bit boring and every song has a very 50s, suburban, milk bar with my best girl and no colored people allowed vibe, but I like the rockabilly. Just wish Buddy would get a bit looser with that but I guess we had to wait for mick and John to do that for us.
I don't know why I've never listened to much radio head. Maybe ok computer was a bit slow and electronic for me. Damn this was a good album, excellent from start to finish. A rare 5 stars
This album really exposes the problem with the 5 star system. It's better than all the other 4s, but is it a stone cold classic 5/5 album? It's very silly, funny, excellently performed and recorded and is very prescient about the Hollywood casting couch 40 years before #metoo. It had me bopping and smiling the whole way through. It was fucking good. 5 stars, damn.
Meh. Phil colins sounds, organs and synth stringy fluff. We get it, it's 1980 and the keyboard synthesizer has been invented. Maybe do something more interesting than standing around in a loose linen shirt in front of a fan rubbing your nipples and singing about romance.
We all piled on Rebecca black for having no talent but Nico makes the list of albums You Must Listen To Or Else You'll Die? At least RB's song was catchy and she paid for being famous with money rather than blow jobs. A goat being vivisectioned would be more melodic and in key. If I could give this zero stars I would, Nico is the fucking worst.
We all know what to expect from queen but the early stuff is heavier, more proggy, more chaotic. The band is taking a more leading role and Freddie is signing like a power metal lead, rather than an operatic tenor. It's all good, but this stuff is good in a different way.
For whatever reason I can only access 2 songs and the bonus tracks in Spotify. Probably just as well, hippy folk music from the 60s hasn't aged fantastically. Have you heard California Dreaming? Yeah, it's that but not as catchy.
They really did just keep releasing Highway Star huh? It's kinda cute, dad rock. The guitar solos are fun, and how good was that song that went for ten minutes.
It's a masterpiece. He spends too long on the harmonica and if you're not using good speakers his voice can be nails on a chalkboard but it's song after song of depth, beauty and perfection. It's not even his best album but there are songs here that are just timeless. If you don't respect Dylan, you don't like modern music.
It's pretty queer and gender bending. I think Boy George kinda wants to be an English version Prince but he's not quite that talented.
The definition of elevator music. The headline act at elevatorfest 2021. Listening to it made me feel like I was waiting for a dentist appointment.
The thing with disco is there isn't really a reason to listen to it any more. This music is for romancing a woman with an afro, on a circular suede couch and orange shag carpet. A silk dress shirt open to the 4th button and tight flared pants. This is the music equivalent of salmon mousse, we have moved on since the seventies, we have EDM now, we don't need this cheese any more
Anyone can be Fantano. Just put this album on and say the following:
"Sure, Bruno Pernadas is a great example of MODERN Portuguese Language Jungle Jazz Funk, but of you want to truly understand the genre, you have to go back to the OG."
An extra star for the pretentiousness potential. More like this, less tired boomer rock from the 70s
If you had told me this album was recorded by Ade Edmondson and Rik Mayall as some weird companion to the show 'Bottom' I would have believed you. It sounds like they are desperately wanting to be taken seriously.
A scene that has never happened:
Doctor: I'm afraid he's going. The cancer has spread and surgery was unsuccessful. I think he has time for a few last words before he passes.
Dying Man: I wish... I wish I had... listened to more Faces albums before I died...
This list can do better. Just listen to the Rolling Stones, the Faces don't need to be here.
I've never really liked that 80s/90s east coast NYC rap style where the whole group yells the last two words of EACH LINE. To me it's always sounded PRETTY LAME. Rap has gotten better and more interesting SINCE THIS. The OGs were inventive, but they really did only have ONE FLOW.
I've spent my whole life not listening to Radiohead. Why? It's not only beautiful, complex, interesting and engaging music, it's also right in my wheelhouse genre-wise. Dynamic, relaxing, iconic with incredible energetic crescendos. At the very least this process has reminded me that Radiohead exist, that OK Computer is actually just the surface and that I'm a fool for not doing more of them. And that's a win in itself. Even better than In Rainbows, looking forward to the next one
Any music that is so distinctive to it's country of origin is always going to be judged with reference to current geopolitics. Like listening to Oohm-Pah in 1936, blasting this in my backyard in 2025 is a choice, a vibe, a statement. I looked Nanci up, she has excellent politics, I really liked the lyrics in St Olavs Gate, but fuck me, hyper American Texas Country music isn't really where the world is at the moment. 3 stars because it's objectively nice, but subjectively it's MAGA coded and I'm not really that right now.
Neil Young shouldn't work, thin falsetto, plinkly plonky songs and that weird round bass sound. His sound is as flat as an uncooked pancake, dropped on the floor.
But music isn't just about perfection, the art is in what's wrong, what's weird. If you want perfection, listen to some A.I music. If you want some strange, lonely music that will make you feel tired, old and depressed, listen to Neil Young. Specifically Harvest, but this album is good as well
It's hard to take this seriously when Let's Get It On is the soundtrack to every hacky comedy of the last 25 years when they're doing a weird sex scene. Through the whole album I got the feeling Jason Biggs was fingering and apple pie or Tom Green was jacking off a horse. It's fine, the other one is better though right? The one about social injustice and racism in the 70s. It's harder to have an embarrassing sexual incident to Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) and maybe that's what the world needs right now.
David Bowie is really bad, technically at singing. I don't really understand why Bob Dylan is the poster child for classic artists with bad voices. His is at least on key, Bowie is perpetually flat, that's almost his brand. People try to pretend it's just his accent, but you aren't really doing a good Bowie unless you're half a semitone flat on every note.
Anyway, it was good.
Wes Anderson vibes, but weirdly the vibes from the fox one, not the India one. It's very cultural but it's hard to smash this on at a dinner party without getting some side eyes. I'm not really sure what George Harrison was on, but it's not really my thing. (Oh? That much? Ahh, no wonders).
3 stars because 2 stars felt racist. If you are Indian or a white guy who uses crystal deodorant and is already appropriating his dreadlocks, go for your life.
Jimi Hendrix is so rad, it really does still feel fresh and distinctive, the Michael Jackson of guitar, inspiring generations who would ultimately be unable to replicate what he was doing. Purple Haze, Hey Joe, Fire... It's amazing stuff.
BUT
This one is his weakest. The vocal melodies aren't there yet, he hasn't mastered the recording process at EL studios and a lot of the songs aren't as interesting as they could be. I have to save my 5 for Electric Ladyland and Band of Gypsys. A strong 4, but we need somewhere to go with our mate Jimi
I appreciate Jazz more and more as I age. Punchy little 35 minute instrumental albums that set a mood rather than modern music's tendency towards simplified beat and melody. No one has ever gotten a jazz song stuck in their head like a pop song, maybe that's why it's not as popular. But it's nice to have on in the background. To dim the lights, have a cocktail and smoke a cigarette out of one of those long holders. It's all the same but it's timeless and cool, like a 3 piece suit.
I really try to like most things in this list, try to at least stick them out and get through the album. I was familiar with Gary Newman just through 'Cars' which I never really liked but had never really explored much beyond that.
God damn that synthesiser tone was awful and it never changed. That 'Cars' 'Bomp, De-Bomp' thing was in every song. It was slow, high pitched, boring and off putting. I can't imagine going to a club and trying to get a crowd to dance to that, it's just not good. Zero variation, either tonally, tempo wise or in terms of melody. Just this weird white guy, angular squealing for an hour.
That one was a slog, I've found something that I really dislike.
This is a controversial take but Nirvana aren't very good. I think the romance arounds Kurt and his death, along with their charm and humour has kept them in a very positive place in the public consciousness, seem as ground breaking and era defining, while acts from the era like Oasis or even U2 have been reconsidered as a bit derivative, bland, old man's music etc. Nirvana are the pioneers emblematic of a style that doesn't really exist anymore and if you really sit down and listen to it rather than just wear the t-shirts, the music is a bit plodding, doesn't change tempo much, same basic keys and chords. Heart shaped box re-uses Teen Spirit's famous riff for gods sake. I can hear them running on empty already and they don't have the creative or technical skill to take any chances so they hide behind teenage angst and lo-fi careless production.
I'm not buying it Nirvana, I don't think you're very good. Nice bunch of lads I'm sure, but I think the veneration is undeserved. Good listen for music history, objectively a bit dull and very dated
You can hear the influences in there, Bowie, the Ramones, Iggy. I even reckon Elton John has spun a few T. Rex albums in his day. It doesn't quite lift me and they have never really hit the same heights as the acts they influenced. The ultimate proto band, except for maybe MC5. They're not quite punky enough to be punk, not quite glammy to be glam, not quite psychedelic enough, and the blues scales sound more and more out of date every year and ties them down musically. I like who they inspired, more than I like them.
I just want to talk about 'So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright', the tender and moving testimonial to the famous architect who died 11 years before this album was released but apparently enjoyed staying up all night with Paul and/or Art, just harmonizing and laughing, laughing, so long, so much laughter with Frank Lloyd Wright. Till dawn. Laughter and laughing, so long, so long.
Did these legendary evenings occur at Taliesin? At Wingspread? Dare we imagine the harmonic laughter tumbling out of the windows at Falling Water, mixing with the sound of the stream below in a way that surely only Frank could have possibly have imagined. It's the perfect blend of classic prairie style architectural heroes and flute backed cable knit cardigan folk music!
4 Stars because The Boxer is immediately after that song and it's so farking good.
Portishead fans rejoice, they're back, instead now they're called the XX.
It's good stuff, I liked that they ended the album with the hot single instead of starting with it. I reckon they'd be better live because I did want just a couple of moments above second gear, I feel like they could have lifted and done a bit more with it. There's a song that fades out for god's sake! I think the engineer just fell asleep on the board.
'Mum, can we have Stevie Nicks?'
'No, we have Stevie Nicks at home.'
*Stevie Nicks at home*
It suffered overall from being too long, a few of those songs could have been cut. A few of them sounded like The Beatles had stayed together into the 70s and had gotten better at their instruments. Nice production, I liked the vocoder, pretty cool. Almost Daft Punky at times with the vocoder. Cool vocoder.
Jeff Lynne is more famous to me for never being in the same room as Mick Foley/Mankind than being a musician, but it was ok. Probably the 4th best Wilbury, but I'm not going to say who is lower on the ranking.
Anyho... Wow, what an album. Cool vocoder though.
Kanye West went in Alex Jones's show info wars and said the following:
"Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table. Especially Hitler."
It's the 'especially' that hits the ear hard there. It's not 'even Hitler', we could brush that off as some kind of see the humanity in everyone feel-goodery.
But it was especially. As in Hitler brought more value to the table than your average person.
It's very comically worded, and it would be hilarious of it wasn't so awful.
But I'm not going to kid myself, Kanye's first few albums, culminating with this one are masterpieces. He lets talented people sing and rap on this one. He samples actual music and melody. He uses a full vocabulary to craft his lyrics. It's not only great in isolation, it's genuinely astonishing to listen to how inventive, layered and creative this is compared to his new music. Like Michael Jackson or Frank Sinatra before him, this is an amazing album by a genuinely awful person.
He has a song called 'Heil Hitler' now as well just in case you're not convinced
The Stones only figured it out from Let It Bleed, then perfected it on Sticky Fingers, then did the obligatory 60s/70s double album that would have been their best album if it was a single album. That run of 3 is pretty unimpeachable, but it kind is the reason we think of them as the rock and roll force they are in popular culture.
The early and mid 60s stones have muted, clean guitars, no debauchery, minimal energy. It all sounds like it's recorded in black and white somehow.
Mick was finding a bit of it, but none of the band have any idea of what their iconic roles would be. Where they did get experimental, in Going Home, it didn't exactly sound authentic. Jim Morrison would do scream scatting about stupid nonsense better next year, and he didn't really do that very well.
Sticky Fingers and Exile will get a 5, this gets a 2. The only person in the world the likes this over their better stuff is Wes Anderson
I've had a few ones lately that I've been a bit uninspired by. In particular it's the 90s Pacific North West sound that Nirvana generated, that kind of infected everything. It sounds like the Portland climate. Sad and melancholy.
It's strange that 90s music was so angsty when the world was going through a pretty good time. Music from the 70s and 2020s is comparatively more upbeat in general, especially North American music and times are worse now than the 90s. I don't know what Kurt and Co were complaining about.
Early 90s French Boom Bap. Its got some nice samples and cool moments. Bit hard to get into it because it's so lyrical. I want to encourage more music from around the world. It's fine, and I'm sure it was fucking sick in the 6th Arrondissement in 1991
I don't want the overall theme of this project to be centred on my dislike of Nirvana, but it's throwing up so many competing bands that have so much more to offer it's hard to avoid.
They're just having more fun with it. They sound cool, everything is a bit more impenetrable, authentic, a bit less concerned with being demonstrable in their detachment and a bit more actually detached. It was weird and experimental and they have good control of their instruments, voices and production to the point that it sounds modern even while sounding very late 80s/early 90s. I liked the little snapshots into whatever cool conversation was happening in this little pixies world and I liked that we were eavesdropping the whole album, a kid looking through a window at a party they weren't invited to, but desperately want to be at. This is the real teenage music, it's for the cool weirdos, not the fucking dorks.
