Very very uneven album. Understanding this was made with Bowie producing and as a bit of a passion project, I forgive some of its unpolished edges and indulgences, but overall I have to give it a solid "C" grade. It's got some bangers on it (really enjoyed China Girl and Dum Dum Boys) but also some really not fun songs (Funtime, Nightclubbing, Tiny Girls). Sorta like a knock off or so-so cover act of Bowie. (Also as it goes on, Mass Production just gets... so unlistenable... eight minutes?!)
Pretty solid record, I'm not a huge disco fan but I can appreciate the musicality and just making some groovin' tunes. Was definitely bobbing my head along.
Struggled with this one. The music is pretty great, honestly. The lyrics and all that are fine, pretty standard "angry/depressed adolescent" fare. Some I really enjoyed. Others were just fine. Honestly, I really don't love Billy's vocal styling, and if anything was "just fine" it was likely because it featured vocals over music or just had a "meh" musicality.
Good album. I dunno if it's "great" but it's definitely super listenable. Reminds me musically of early The Beatles and Beach Boys. And they're all contemporaries, so this makes sense.
I know Lou Reed is a big name in '70s and '80s rock and roll, and his guitar work is pretty solid, but listening to this felt like a chore more than any of the albums so far (even Smashing Pumpkins). He sounds like he's been forced to record this and could not care much less about any of it.
Pretty decent, not my favorite genre but I appreciate the musicality/instrumentation. 99.9% unable to understand what they're saying, which kind of makes it hard to stay invested beyond that, personally.
Really simplistic punk rock -- no real instrumentation to speak of, mostly the same handful of riffs and chords, very repetitive. Also struggled a lot with the vocals -- not very melodic, and while the vocal FX have been used to good effect for bands like Mars Volta, I found it really grating when paired with the lackluster music. Just not my jam, I guess?
What an odd and lovely little album. There's so much great music, melody, instrumentation, and vocalization on this one. Lyrically intricate and poetic. Great mix of "chill" and energetic energy, dynamic in a way that's interesting and not jarring to listen to. Loved it.
A fine album, nothing I'm going head-over-heels for but an easy listen with some familiar tunes.
Genuinely fun listen, very pop-oriented by modern standards and something I imagine influenced a lot of the alt-rock and post-punk artists of the 2000's and 2010's. Nice little flavor bursts of blues/folk influences sprinkled throughout too, which was surprising.
NIN has been and continues to be one of my favorite bands, and one of the most consistently good over their career. Downward Spiral is among my favorite albums of theirs, surprising nobody.
Mixed feelings on this one -- I do think Eminem is an incredible rapper and lyricist, but I had a hard time with some of the tracks on this album, specifically some of the really dark physical and sexual violence. I get that he's "playing a character" and a lot of this was '90s "shock value" fare, but it really didn't age well and just because it might've been boundary-pushing then doesn't mean I need to enjoy all of it now. That all said, there is some really great production on this album and the songs that aren't overly-violent are pretty great.
Well, I didn't realize how much I enjoyed funk and disco until I started listening to this album list. This album is just delightful to listen to.
Lovely lovely lovely blues album. Always knew his name, but didn't realize how much I enjoy his music. Toes the line between big band and blues, getting some real big Louisiana sound out of tracks like 'I Feel So Good' / 'Got My Mojo Working' and then settling into a more somber mood for 'I Got My Brand On You' and 'Goodbye Newport Blues'.
I'm a sucker for dark, creeping, atonal beats and this has them in abundance. Loved it thoroughly.
Pretty much fine? I enjoy CCR and the style of music in general, just not something I reach for any given day. Good music to listen to while driving or working since I don't know most of the words and the music is kind of blues-y.
This isn't doing it for me... definitely have a strong sense of the 'sound' of the genre/era but honestly I'm just shrugging my way through it.
I really don't want to be like this but... vocals are a make-or-break thing for me in a lot of these albums, and something about Gallagher's vocal style just drives me nuts in a bad way. Part of it is how much I loathe their song Wonderwall and how hearing his vocals reminds me of that song regardless of the rest of the band's contributions. But honestly, musically, I'm kinda shrugging through this album. It's not bad, but it's not a super-enjoyable listen for me, and the vocals just push it over the other side to "not something I want to listen to again."
Definitely an interesting album, very listenable but hard pressed to call it "great," I think "pretty good" would be about as far as I'd personally go. Vocals are brilliant and love the instrumentation, but as a whole it's very dated and not in a nostalgia-inducing way. Maybe I just missed the moment for this one or else I don't love NYC as much as PJ does.
