This is why I could never be a music critic - it's my first album on this site and I'm already abundantly conflicted about how I feel. If you like Bowie-esque vocals you'll probably have an easier time loving this album than I did. Fun fact: 10 of NME's "500 Greatest Albums" are by Bowie, so it's no surprise they love Suede as well. "The Wild Ones" and "Still Life" were genuinely pretty, and the last few minutes of "The Asphalt World" pays off with a big buildup. There were a few tracks, like "This Hollywood Life" and "Daddy's Speeding", that had captivating intros, but the actual song just kind of plodded along. At several junctures I was prepared to write off this album as boring, but then I'd hear a sequence that would pull me back in. By the end of the listen I feel more receptive than when I started...but I'm not sure I'm ready to buy Suede's full discography either.
A lot of my favorite albums are complex and layered. What's so impressive about Nick Drake's albums is that he achieves so many of those same feelings with a much more minimal set of ingredients. That's not say this is simple music, just that he makes everything count. The album kind of pulls you in slowly before it hits you with the feels with "Which Will" and "Things Behind the Sun". I could do without "Know", but overall this album is a great experience.
I remember putting together my iTunes library as a youth when that was still a hot new thing. When it came to Moving Pictures, I enthusiastically added Tom Sawyer, ambivalently added Limelight, and passed on the rest. A decade and a half later that is still pretty much the takeaway. "The Camera Eye" and "Witch Hunt" were actually kinda fun too, but nothing I fell in love with.
Sorry Isaac, I didn't get this one. "Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic" had at least a bit of life to it and was probably a challenging read, but generally I found this album to be really challenging...and not in a good way. "By The Time I Get to Phoenix" was particularly unrewarding. Ah well, I still loved you on South Park, Isaac!
This isn't an album I'm gonna go play on repeat or anything, but it was kinda catchy. I think I enjoyed it most just from a "history of music" perspective - it wasv especially interesting hearing the original versions of "Stick With Me Baby" and "Love Hurts"
Man pretty much all of these tracks were super catchy. Very listenable, complete with dulcimer. And now I finally understand that they were saying "Love in an Elevator" all this time. Makes a lot more sense than "Lovin' it in La Vida"
I'm a big Steely Dan but had never listened to any of Donald's solo stuff, so I was curious what this was sound like. Overall, it was quite pleasing - "I.G.Y" and "The Nightfly" offered a lot of those same great Steely vibes. "Ruby Baby" was kind of annoying, but I can overlook that.
I have no idea how this dude managed to produce two #1 hits in my lifetime and not ring a bell for me at all, but I enjoyed listening to this album. After a catchy opening it felt a bit slow for a while, but the album definitely grew on me once I hit "Whenever Wherever Whatever" and "Lonely's The Only Company".
At times in this album, I'd be enjoying this band's creativity and managing to make some real music out of the chaos, such as with "Freddie's Dead" and "One Day". Then at other times this album just seemed set on grating my patience, like with "Deep Inside" and "Bonin' in the Boneyard". Overall I think I'm glad I listened to this, which is worth something.
