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Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
Wonderful way to start.
5
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Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles
* You Don’t Know Me
* Born to Lose
* Don’t Tell Me Your Troubles
3
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Nilsson Schmilsson
Harry Nilsson
*Early In The Morning
* Jump Into the Fire
Also decent Arthur Russell Iowa Dream vibes at spots.
4
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Be
Common
*Faithful
A lot more Kanye than I was expecting. Don’t know anything about this but always thought about Lupe Fiasco.
3
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Horses
Patti Smith
Fiona Apple but faster.
Some of the guitar work sounds like the Strokes.
4
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Mr. Tambourine Man
The Byrds
More modern than I was expecting. 12 string reasonably well-paced, don’t get sick of it.
* All I Want to Do
* It’s No Use - sounds like the Guess Who, the solo is insane.
4
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The Real Thing
Faith No More
The Used stole these guys’ chord progressions. Almost didn’t finish: Surprise! You’re Dead brought me back in.
3
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Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room
Dwight Yoakam
Guitar on the title track is fantastic. Nothing special as far as my exposure to country music can tell.
2
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Tical
Method Man
Groovy, not as corny as I was expecting.
*Sub Crazy
*Release Yo Delf
3
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Wild Is The Wind
Nina Simone
Always incredible.
*What More Can I Say?
*Why Keep On Breaking My Heart?
4
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Tragic Songs of Life
The Louvin Brothers
*Let Her Go, God Bless Her
2
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The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
Badly Drawn Boy
Reminded me a lot of Elliott Smith. Some modern moments and some really neat breaks.
*The Shining
*Cause a Rockslide
*Bewilderbeast
4
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Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Stereolab
Groooovy. Better than expected, but nothing too much jumped out.
*Old Lungs
3
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Bandwagonesque
Teenage Fanclub
Decent! Nothing too special.
*December
2
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Rocks
Aerosmith
Solid through and through.
*The hits, of course.
2
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Sign 'O' The Times
Prince
No interest. 4 tracks in and nothing stands out.
1
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Phrenology
The Roots
Groovy. Nice push and pull between songs.
*Sacrifice
*Thought @ Work
*Break You Off
*Water
3
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The Healer
John Lee Hooker
Better slower, better acoustic.
*Rockin’ Chair
*My Dream
2
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Vauxhall And I
Morrissey
If I never hear another Morrissey song again I will be okay.
1
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The Doors
The Doors
Immediate hit. Loses some steam with Alabama Song, but picks right back up.
5
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Nevermind
Nirvana
Fantastic. Riffs sound huge. Acoustic isn’t bad either. Joe liked it a lot.
4
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Sheet Music
10cc
Corny. Couldn’t get into it.
1
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The Joshua Tree
U2
Killer intros, great textures.
5
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Tidal
Fiona Apple
Great. Not as far away from Fetch the Bolt Cutters as I thought it would be. Lost some traction by the end but the same can be said about her new stuff. First 3 songs are hit after another.
4
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All Directions
The Temptations
Groovy start, didn’t finish.
2
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Tonight's The Night
Neil Young
Haven’t ever enjoyed his voice. Borrowed Tune was a standout.
Listened to this the last day of this being on Spotify (1/26/22) what up.
3
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The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
Can’t decide if this is the club music from The Matrix or a Tony Hawk soundtrack.
Not my taste but fun as hell.
Found out “Mindfields” was actually in The Matrix.
*Funky Shit
2
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Woodface
Crowded House
Bland. Didn’t finish.
2
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The Stranger
Billy Joel
Easy listening—nothing stood out, except maybe the guitar on “She’s Always a Woman”.
3
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Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
The Kinks
Beatles-ish at times. Pleasant.
3
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Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
Hooked right out of the gate. The hits are massive, drums sound great throughout.
5
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Manassas
Stephen Stills
Better than expected guitar work.
2
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Peace Sells...But Who's Buying
Megadeth
Couldn’t get into it. Didn’t finish.
2
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Vivid
Living Colour
Generic feeling. Bass was nice, vocals made me stop the album and go listen to Genesis.
2
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Music From Big Pink
The Band
Solid. Smooth.
*I Will Be Released
3
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Moss Side Story
Barry Adamson
Trippy, spooky, more vibraphone and it would be the Twin Peaks soundtrack.
4
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Siamese Dream
The Smashing Pumpkins
Nevermind but not as good. Great textures for the first few songs.
4
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Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division
Liars + Airborne Toxic Event + _________. Not bad, loved the guitar tones and noodly sections.
4
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Life Thru A Lens
Robbie Williams
Only half was on Spotify. That wasn’t a bad thing.
1
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Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
Started out great. Title track was a good closer. Killers-esque at times.
4
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Stardust
Willie Nelson
Fantastic. Haven’t listened to him before but classic songs done very well.
5
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Southern Rock Opera
Drive-By Truckers
Not for me.
2
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Parklife
Blur
Can really hear the connections to Gorillaz. Dynamite drums, vocals lost me some, but decent effort nonetheless.
3
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Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective
Didn’t have enough time to finish. Enjoyable but nondescript.
4
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S&M
Metallica
Strings make it sound like a regular Coheed album. Usually think that kind of thing is tacky, but the first two tracks hooked me in. Couldn’t hang for 2 hours.
3
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A Hard Day's Night
Beatles
Dynamite. Not as fleshed out, maybe simpler than their other albums but some really nice moments.
5
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The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
It’s a keeper. Futuristic, seamless.
4
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Hotel California
Eagles
Great. Worth coming back to across the board.
4
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Rattlesnakes
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
Not much here for me.
2
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Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
Guitar-driven tracks shine. Nondescript in the rest. Pleasant!
3
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Guitar Town
Steve Earle
Didn’t make it far.
2
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New Boots And Panties
Ian Dury
Not for me.
1
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Grace
Jeff Buckley
Never gave the whole album a chance. Guitar is stellar. Lilac Wine + the hits, great album.
5
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xx
The xx
Minimalist, occasionally not very interesting.
3
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Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J
Better than expected. Some good ones up front but didn’t wow me.
3
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Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield
Wonderful. Some dull moments, but otherwise great, low-key, well-performed.
5
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The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
Sounds like it was made today. Not gonna make it fully into my rotation but close.
4
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Live At The Witch Trials
The Fall
Oddball noise. Slint-lite.
2
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If I Could Only Remember My Name
David Crosby
Low-key. Pleasant. Will probably give a re-listen.
4
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World Clique
Deee-Lite
Expected to like this one more.
2
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Maggot Brain
Funkadelic
What on earth did I just listen to? Great.
4
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Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dynamite. Groovy. Raw. Fun.
4
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Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
Devo
A bit corny, but decent.
2
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Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
Decent. Too long to finish. The slower the better.
3
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Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Raekwon
Catchy, groovy, through and through. Thought I would like it after “Tical” and was happy to be right.
5
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Wild Wood
Paul Weller
Couldn’t finish.
2
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Murder Ballads
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Don’t mind his voice but not my thing otherwise.
2
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The United States Of America
The United States Of America
Trippy.
2
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I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen
Can’t get past the voice.
2
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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
Always glad to see the Beatles pop up. More theatrical, love the sitar. The wide, reverby ones are the most appealing on a first listen.
5
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Smokers Delight
Nightmares On Wax
Falls flat at times. Not expecting every second to be captivating, but some of the grooves leave something to be desired.
2
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Tusk
Fleetwood Mac
“What Makes You Think You’re the One” has Fun. vibes. All over the place track to track.
3
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Hysteria
Def Leppard
Good guitar work. Not my style.
3
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Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
More variety than I thought there would be.
3
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Surfer Rosa
Pixies
Wanted to get into this album for a while.
4
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Let It Be
The Replacements
Two punk albums in as many days. Pixies were better.
2
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Connected
Stereo MC's
Smooth, takes its time. Rapping sounds dated, but pleasant.
4
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White Light / White Heat
The Velvet Underground
Didn’t realize how much his voice sounds like Julian Casablancas at times. Biased towards live recorded albums. Noisy, fun.
4
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Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Pavement
Wilco-esque at times. Solid.
4
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Blonde On Blonde
Bob Dylan
Very nice. Dylan always takes a couple of listens for me, but this was different. More focused.
5
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Aladdin Sane
David Bowie
Pleasing tone but the voice and the character album thing don’t do it for me.
2
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Ray Of Light
Madonna
Trip hop Madonna. Who knew? Not bad, not great!
3
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No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith (Live)
Motörhead
Fast, heavy. More punk than I thought.
4
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Timeless
Goldie
Need more time to digest.
4
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The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths
Liked it more than the Morrissey solo album I had before, but not by a whole lot.
3
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Kilimanjaro
The Teardrop Explodes
Drums are great, guitar work is unexpected sometimes. Best of these British punk-ish albums so far.
5
View Album
Bright Flight
Silver Jews
Smooth, clever, well-balanced. Love the vocals and acoustic guitars.
5
View Album
Murmur
R.E.M.
Three in a row. Looking for a timeless sound and they found it. Crisp and focused.
5
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Elastica
Elastica
Pleasant. That’s about it.
3
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Brilliant Corners
Thelonious Monk
Smooooooth. Drums are impeccable.
5
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White Ladder
David Gray
Interesting, can see the influence it had.
3
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MTV Unplugged In New York
Nirvana
Dynamite. Crisp, clear. Enjoyable straight through.
5
View Album
The Pleasure Principle
Gary Numan
Kraftwerk on my mind listening to this. Felt more frantic.
2
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Ocean Rain
Echo And The Bunnymen
Didn’t finish—slowly getting weary of this genre.
1
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Country Life
Roxy Music
Couldn’t do it.
1
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Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris
Not bad not great. Like the voice a lot but songs left something to be desired.
3
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The Sun Rises In The East
Jeru The Damaja
Love the flow, the delivery. Agree with the review that said parts didn’t age well, but good stuff.
3
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Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin
Very nice. Going to California was gorgeous.
4
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Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
PJ Harvey
Eh. Was happy to hear Thom Yorke. Not great not awful.
3
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Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast
Wanted to like this more. Double albums are a huge turnoff in this project, but pushed through. Speakerboxxx felt like I couldn’t hear the vocals. The Love Below was better but mostly because of the instrumentals.
2
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Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
Guitar work and tone are immaculate.
4
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461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton
Strange to have it back to back with Bluesbreakers. Okay, not for me though.
2
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In It For The Money
Supergrass
Some parts remind me of the Strokes. That’s all I can say.
2
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Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Decent. “Blue Moon” has serious “Just You” vibes.
3
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Fishscale
Ghostface Killah
Strong Tyler the Creator influence if I can guess anything like that. Relentless.
4
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Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C.
I’m sure it’s influential, but the delivery is too dated for me. Great instrumentals though.
3
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Olympia 64
Jacques Brel
Easy listening if you want. Passionate, exciting, inspired performances.
4
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Music in Exile
Songhoy Blues
Couldn’t get into it, but not bad.
3
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Purple Rain
Prince
Dad used to play this while I waited in the car and he ran in to get cigarettes. He would restart it when he got back in. Bonus nostalgia points, not my thing, but enjoyed it more than Sign Of The Times.
4
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Diamond Life
Sade
Wish it was more compelling. Great voice, incredible bass lines. Not a whole lot more that grabbed me.
3
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The New Tango
Astor Piazzolla
Gorgeous. Cinematic. Knew Piazzolla from his guitar works, but was expecting to enjoy this. Biased towards live recordings as well, but still a great record. Vibraphone haters stay away.
4
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The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
Beats are good, the rest I could leave.
2
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The Man Who
Travis
Eh. Not much to say.
2
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Pelican West Plus
Haircut 100
Continuing the streak of new wave albums I could have skipped. Sax was perfect, though!
2
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Everything Must Go
Manic Street Preachers
Voice sounded like Nate Ruess at first glance.
2
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Urban Hymns
The Verve
Hits were all right, rest was listenable.
3
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Definitely Maybe
Oasis
Samey by the time you get to track 3.
3
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Steve McQueen
Prefab Sprout
First one of these new wave albums I finished in a while. OK GO vibes at spots.
4
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Quiet Life
Japan
No thank you. Drums were all right.
2
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The Band
The Band
Nothing super grabbed me but not so bad. Playing catch up with the albums so that’s probably skewing my impression.
3
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The Soft Bulletin
The Flaming Lips
Some really good tracks on here. Much better than expected.
4
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Hounds Of Love
Kate Bush
First couple of songs were instant hits. Couldn’t keep the pace up by the end. Great synth sounds.
3
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In Utero
Nirvana
Didn’t hit as hard as Nevermind across the board, but still has some absolute smash hits.
4
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Songs In The Key Of Life
Stevie Wonder
Was hoping to enjoy this more. Instrumentals are great, but couldn’t get into the style.
2
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Garbage
Garbage
Catching up. Only gave it a couple tracks to catch me. Didn’t work. Won’t bother making the joke.
2
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The Who Sell Out
The Who
Fine. Processed vocals were a nice surprise.
3
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Bookends
Simon & Garfunkel
Clean, smooth, love the voices and guitars.
4
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Something/Anything?
Todd Rundgren
Noise at times. Unremarkable, but not unpleasant.
2
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Your New Favourite Band
The Hives
Gets a third star for Untutored Youth.
3
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Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Already a fan, but incredible album. Instrumentation is wide and full. Songs are direct and compelling.
5
View Album
One Nation Under A Groove
Funkadelic
Didn’t listen. Not on Spotify, but not gonna hunt it down.
3
View Album
Rings Around The World
Super Furry Animals
Not sure it will make it into my rotation, but it was rich and diverse. Surprising and pleasant.
4
View Album
British Steel
Judas Priest
What I expected. Nothing more nothing less.
3
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That's The Way Of The World
Earth, Wind & Fire
Groovy, funky.
3
View Album
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
Samey. Didn’t make it through.
2
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In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
Good Lord what have I gotten into.
5
View Album
1989
Taylor Swift
Not good enough for a 5 but not far off. Easy pop, catchy, there’s a reason she has stayed the test of time.
4
View Album
Halcyon Digest
Deerhunter
Good, not great. Some really catchy bits and nice textures.
4
View Album
I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
Well done. Corny, but fun corny.
2
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Hejira
Joni Mitchell
Couldn’t get into it.
2
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The Boatman's Call
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Don’t remember if I mentioned his voice last time but can’t get into it. Choruses we’re decent throughout.
3
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Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Expected this to catch me more.
2
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Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Good, not great. Bluesy sections felt inauthentic. Any time there was an acoustic guitar was a plus. Vocals got on my nerves.
3
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Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Not my usual, but gorgeous performance.
3
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Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake
Just made me want to listen to Pink Moon. Not as good, but the instrumentation was solid.
4
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Bone Machine
Tom Waits
Used to listen to hardcore music while falling asleep, but listening to this at home in the dark morning = terrifying.
2
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All That You Can't Leave Behind
U2
Bland. Got bored listening to it.
2
View Album
Eagles
Eagles
High quality songs. Not 100% for me, but was a good listen.
4
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NEU! 75
Neu!
Back half was slightly less engaging than the first but man this was a trip. Great.
5
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The Score
Fugees
Stuff like this usually takes a couple of listens for me. Didn’t quite earn it though. No Woman, No Cry plus the Recuerdos sample were highlights.
3
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London Calling
The Clash
Fine. Never caught me. Double albums are a chore sometimes.
3
View Album
Rust In Peace
Megadeth
Heavy, clean, precise, just not for me.
2
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Born In The U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen
Very nice. Kind of repetitive but the feeling is classic and not overdone. Not as cheesy as I expected.
4
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Birth Of The Cool
Miles Davis
Will listen again for sure. Stuff like this needs to be familiar for me before I can really rate it.
4
View Album
Hunky Dory
David Bowie
Never caught me, but better than the last Bowie I heard.
3
View Album
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
Not any better or worse than I expected, but not my thing.
3
View Album
Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen
Feel like this would be a natural enjoyed record because of the Killers. Not bad, but not 5 for me.
4
View Album
Melodrama
Lorde
Was hoping to enjoy it more. Pop, nice synths, but not much in any other department.
3
View Album
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
0/3 for Nick Cave albums for me. Lead off track was fine, but the rest was more of the same. Double albums are exhausting.
2
View Album
Come Find Yourself
Fun Lovin' Criminals
Eh.
2
View Album
Revolver
Beatles
Was ready to give this a 4 until I heard the last track.
5
View Album
The Gershwin Songbook
Ella Fitzgerald
Hard to lift the slow ballad style songs like this out of background music. Incredible performance, consistent and emotional, but can’t say I’ll listen to it much more.
3
View Album
This Is Hardcore
Pulp
No thanks. Not just one starring racy covers, either.
1
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Kenya
Machito
On one listen it doesn’t transcend high quality late night TV talk show jazz. Frenzy was a highlight.
3
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Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde
Bad streak here.
2
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Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth
Listened to it on shuffle and got real impressed by the form. Not great but listenable, which is a feat for double albums for me.
4
View Album
Go Girl Crazy
The Dictators
Vocals were a turn off. I Got You Babe was the sole highlight.
2
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Mermaid Avenue
Billy Bragg
Fantastic. Unfortunate that the best song by far is the only one Wilco and Bragg didn’t perform.
4
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Private Dancer
Tina Turner
Better than expected but didn’t wow me.
3
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Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
Hard to rate. Not bad not great.
3