What you'd expect from EW&F + some prototypical party rap, wow
Night by Night and Charlie Freak are out of this world
Amazing Jazz pianist; in particular the opening track throws you into chaos and resolves to a reliable relief of assonance and consistent rhythm.
But not all tracks astound so much as the title track. This album is also notably held back by the recording quality of the day-- its very fuzzy and in some songs you can hear musicians humming or keeping the beat.
Keeping in mind the day and age this was released and the target it was released for this is near perfect. It might have difficulty holding up to modern production standards.
Solid throughout, didn't wow me outside of the few prog-metal type influences.
Was not expecting to like this at all based on the title and the first notes; was blown away by the end by how much I appreciated the blues here. Not an everyday listen still.
Slow burn is OK
Lonely weekend is not my jam
Butterflies is OK
Space Cowboy is OK
Mother is not my jam
Love is a wild thing is not my jam
Happy & Sad I didn't notice
Velvet Elvis - disgust
Wonder Woman - bored
High Horse - this is neat
Golden Hour - didn't notice
Rainbows- OK
2/5
4/5?
Cool for history, not cool for me
Its some slow jazz
This is good; its fairly aged but would have been my jam in 78 (5/5??)
A lot of sleepy songs, but the second half of the album really picks up; Father and Son is an obvious standout.
Woah 5/5!
Pretty awesome for 68; lots of depth and experimentation without sacrificing good musicality
I can't really get behind the vocals; it's chaotic and rough. Some instrumentals are similar, some use more common patterns. It's an interesting piece of art. But I'd never want to listen to it on my own or in a group even
Totally fine, but not really wowing me. Would listen again in the right environment.
Can't dig it. I'm sure it was somewhat of a new sound at the time, but it sounds like worse buddy holly to me; most songs have only one thing going on.
Do you wanna dance, Help Me Rhonda, I'm so Young are OK.
Pretty cool, groundbreaking without losing popular appeal
Starting to hear some yes-type sounds; interesting
super cool
Anti war stuff for the intro, fairly predictable now
Shangri-La surprised me (in a good way)
They seem pissed about WWII but it's not clear why (a little /s)
The album generally gets better as it goes on from a weak / stereotypical start
The Changeling - 5/5
Love Her Madly - eh
Been Down So Long - eh
Cars Hiss By My Window - eh
L.A. Woman - eh
L'America - 4/5
Hyacinth House - 5/5
Crawling King Snake - 4/5
The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat) - eh
Riders on the Storm - 3/5
This is really not my vibe; the last few songs are OK
Like a Rolling Stone is (of course) pretty good; it starts to drag quickly
In 1966, this was probably neat, and the recording quality is good and the compositions are solid; but the songs all melt together, and I don't want to sing or dance, or feel a significant emotion from listening to them.
It's all good, there aren't really any bangers for me after one listen through though
Great production and vocals; very distinct style
It's a very nicely produced album with a big emotional swing; and I can see getting lost in it. But, I don't think individual songs really work by themselves. It's a great album but I wouldn't go back to listen to any individual parts of it for entertainment, and couldn't put it on in the background either, as its too interesting for other things to be happening during it, unless you're alone and not doing anything else.
Nothing wrong with it, and I would put it on sometimes, but there's a laziness or sluggishness that kept me from being more interested or engaged. Sprawl II stood out as a good listen for me.
It's ok; giving a little bit like bowie
I Can See For Miles obviously is a standout track here; the rest is experimental but not captivating or very enjoyable in general
Totally decent; burns its best songs first then fades into (genre-defining?) punk standards
Rio, Hungry like the Wolf, hold back the rain, save a prayer are all great
Seems cool but not really enthralling for me, a little too chill and a little too intentionally weird. Probably amazing while high.
I don't get it; I could think about it and get it but I don't think I would enjoy it still
Message in a Bottle is obviously a classic and it holds up, although I can never really get used to how the Police let their songs end by fading out instead of writing an ending
Walking on the Moon and Bring on the Night are nice
What the heck is On Any Other Day doing? It's cartoon punk?
It's fine, but instrumental organ proto rock isn't my thing
Pretty nice!
Obviously a few classics on here, but the second half of the album doesn't maintain the peak of the beginning. Loses a little from the big songs being overused in commercials and movie trailers, etc.
Experimental in a way that would be refined by dozens of artists over the next decade; in isolation from its history the production of the album seems unrefined and simple; but the monotone vocals leave it a distinct style and beyond it's biggest hit (Don't You Want Me) it's listenable and several tracks are catchy.
Solid, points for having this sound in 1970; nothing sticks out as a banger though
Certainly something
Very powerful songs. Four Women (focused on the cover) might be one of the weakest songs, it sounds like something out of a musical, and it does show a lot of range but as a piece to listen to it's not giving very much.
Pretty neat; not bad music but focuses on meaning over enjoyment
Solid throughout, there is a light obviously stuck around but bigmouth and mr shankly also are quite nice
Bangers through the middle, solid through the end
Starts out a little weak with Never Going Back Again in 3rd
Not generally my style but good all the way through-- beyond the hits, surprised by Downbound Train and I'm on Fire
Obviously has some good pop songs; not terribly surprising in any of the songs which I wasn't already familiar with.
This is really nice! Nothing stands out as a bad track.
Invincible is good; Exo-politics is really good; knights of cydonia is an all time banger
A good amount of meaning but not very listenable or fun or danceable or singable
Really good start but the tail of the album really didn't need to be there?
I didn't notice this was from the 70s at first, and thought 'this is just less impactful interpol', 2/5, but flipping it around these guys deserve some credit; some tracks remind a lot of ultravox
Ace of Spaces as a song has a long cultural tail and stands out as the first song on the album, until you get to the rest of the album which is little different song-by-song from Ace of Spades.
Pretty nice; Gimme Shelter and Can't Always Get What You Want are great opening and ending tracks, legendary; the rest isn't bad, a little standard wrt the 60s rebel energy. 4/5.
5/5 clearly, somehow it is both the most punk and rebellious sound while staying completely enjoyable to listen to, even for songs like 'Rape Me'; Heart Shaped Box somehow stands out as a pop-friendly song even though its chorus is extremely discordant
Starts out really nice but sort of drags as it goes on
It's good at what it's going for, but not my jam as it's going for intentionally confusing and a little hard to listen to
It's nice, but not exciting or doing anything terribly new or interesting
Sick punk stuff, some primus sounds early on; really short and fast and in that sense a little repetitive but a good time
Fresh and varied; it starts to fade in the second half of the album; some of the repeated motifs are distracting (mainly Hill's laughing)
Extended Souvenir is very nice; everything else feels on the more experimental side with middling success, until the end of the album when the last three tracks bring back some consistency
The Ox stands out as something more unique, ahead of its time
Sounds like radiohead b-sides
This is certainly (maybe, I'm just inferring) innovative for its time. OK background music. Not something to come back to eagerly.
Rambling between genres, with many examples subpar and annoying; the opening title track is good.
The problem of time and place again; in the late 70s this was probably a little transgressive and interesting; now this type of sound has been played out so many times it's become dull. With nuance gone, the album is left with a few songs that would fit on a Tony Hawk soundtrack.
The passionate vocals push this from being just some more blues to being a good listen even today
Classics that are still evocative 60 years later
Hasta Manana, Monsieur and Complaints stand out as quite nice
Bad, Smooth Criminal, and Man in the Mirror are classics; Dirty Diana also was a surprise hit for me, but the rest of the album does drag
The singles are good; it's really something knowing the band never really came back after this first album
Certainly not bad, but most of the songs don't stick with me; might go up on relistens, generally interesting and smooth
Rip it Up is a good song, as the album goes it tries your patience; Breakfast Time is stupid? The second half gets slow and ironic (e.g. Louise Louise)
It's pretty chill electro music. Good to fall asleep to, or smoke to, maybe.
Not as strong as doolittle, but nice
When I first started the album I prepped myself for some insane, unlistenable nonsense noises; but I gave it a go and listened to the second half first; it works, it's not terribly memorable but it flows and has more than a pinch of experimentation without breaking the album
Starts out really week TBH; way too deep into country; by No Other it has completely flipped and is a great time. Fuses the ideas together by the end of side 2.
Best part; funky riffs in the middle of Lady of the North
Some songs are ok, but the album goes back and forth in style randomly, and even the OK songs go on for way too long without iteration
It's a standard blues album?
Early on it feels like, just another power metal album, but it happens to be a very good power metal album
It felt like a 2/5 for most of the songs; but American Girl really does bring the entire thing up
Good stuff, the last song kinda dragged and was a big outlier?
Most of this album doesn't do much, but a couple of standout tracks (Matty Groves, Tam Lin) bring it up
It's fine
Almost every song on the album just sounds like a worse version of born to run
There's some good parts, but it's really mixed and the vocals are just bad. A couple of songs are great.
This is probably really good if you're on the right substance and trying to hardcore chill. Otherwise its a big lazy drag.
Feels like a formative text of the genre
Good but also mostly forgettable background music.
The first half of this album, I was falling asleep. But starting with Release Yo Delf, it hit a new stride.