As is probably the case for many, the only song I recognized before diving into this album was "Smoke on the Water", so I was pleasantly surprised (as someone who doesn't really listen to hard rock or heavy metal) to enjoy most of the songs, even adding a couple to my personal playlists. It was also cool to peak at the Wikipedia page and learn about the inspiration for "Smoke"!
Don't really have much to say. I listened all the way through, but nothing really sparked my interest. Then again, maybe I was born too late to properly appreciate 80s pop rock / synth-pop. I've always had a tough time finding music from those genres to be genuinely interesting or enjoyable; to me, the singing sounds a bit like wailing and the accompaniment makes me think of the bridge of the Enterprise.
Although I was raised partially on rock, I was born in the 90s and the Ramones never really popped up on my radar. Still, I was always aware of their name and some of their biggest hits. I was therefore sorely disappointed to discover that, after going through this entire album, I cannot count myself a Ramones fan. Apart from the music all sort of sounding the same – there were a few times where I honestly didn't realize that I'd moved on to the next track – I don't really get how this band became as big as it did. To me, their music is a PEZ dispenser of short, fast, and uninspired guitar riffs accompanied by abrupt and goofy vocals. Great for background music to silly commercials or fun film montages, maybe, but I can't imagine enjoying an entire Ramones concert...
This was unusual listening for me: not unpleasant, but somehow not outstanding, as I initially expected it to be. (A supergroup with Alex Turner? Hot diggity!) In my opinion, there were a lot of great things happening here – from impressive instrumental work to thought-provoking lyrics – but a lot of it felt disconnected, like colourful puzzle pieces not fitting together; I couldn't catch the "feel" of a lot of the tracks. Also, I thought that Turner's voice, which I would maybe describe as a grating but educated-sounding whine, and which I normally like, somehow didn't fit here.
It comes to me as no surprise that the title track has loads more plays on Spotify than anything else in this album; it's definitely a great (but not Earth-shatteringly good) song, even if one attempts to remove it from the lofty (and perhaps annoying) pedestal it's earned in pop culture. The other songs aren't really worth mentioning, I feel. Not terrible but not great, they really seem to suit the idea of a post-prime older artist experimenting with different sounds.
I've always known the name Bob Dylan as well as some of his most famous songs, but listening to this album was my first foray into Dylan fandom. That is to say, I very much enjoyed this "side" of Dylan. I find his voice goofy and not particularly beautiful, but it somehow works, and the musicality of the songs themselves isn't in question, even if they come off as laidback and carefree. For me, the type of enjoyment was similar to that of listening to Randy Newman.
As someone who likes rock, hard rock, and pop rock, this album was very easy to listen to, being a sort of combination of all three. None of the tracks really stood out (except for maybe "Pour Some Sugar On Me"), but everything sounded great. I can't see anyone disliking this music unless any of the above genres already don't appeal to them.
Despite growing up on similar genres of music, I found only a few tracks listenable (but not great). From what I gather reading about the group and listening to this album, it seems like you either had to grow up with it or you're into the sort of stage acts Iggy Pop seems to be famous for.
Based on my music genre preferences, I would have rated this 3/5, but that would have brought the rating down simply because I don't as often listen to this type of music. For what it's trying to be – techno, progressive house, etc. – I actually liked it quite a bit. Super easy to listen to while working, for example. Not too hectic.
I would say alternative rock is my favourite genre, so I was excited to see this one in my list. I was less excited when I listened to it... It wasn't bad, but nothing really stood out for me. Also, some sections of some songs got a little crazy, in my opinion, for example at the end of "Misunderstood".
For what these guys were trying to do, I think they nailed it. The variety of sounds is great, and they're woven together well, giving each track a well-polished feel.
I've always been under the impression that, without knowing too many of their songs, Simon & Garfunkel were musical greats, and this album confirmed that for me (which was somewhat of a refreshing experience using this platform so far...). A nice set of varied tracks, all sounding quite polished.
I listened to this album a few times and I ended up liking it despite myself. I would say the conditions have to be right, though. Can't imagine enjoying any sort of direct listening, but as background music, I feel this album does a good job providing a sort of edgy, grinding atmosphere. One small thing I hated: the solo backup singing. Holy crap, dude, stop.
Thinking about this review, I tried to peel the music away from the Stones' reputation, and I almost gave this one three stars because, while some of the tracks are great (Sympathy is one of my all-time favourites), many are to me little more than country rock instrumental music with mumbling or half-yelling layered on top, without a strong theme.
Not all of the tracks in this album are winners, but many of them are. To my ears, these guys have a super refined style but are still hitting some diverse sounds. Great listening.
I would have rated almost all of the songs in this album 3 or 4 stars, with the majority being 3. Still, of the 4s, I love the rock n' roll style and the strong themes. Plus, I have a soft spot for good musicians who don't have "perfect" voices.
Although I won't be adding any of these tracks to my playlists – not quite my type of listening – I have to admit that I enjoyed this album, even without trying to frame it against its own genre. True, there are better bands in this space, but a band doesn't have to be great to be good. I felt the instrumentation was good in a classic sense, and the themes were constant, if not the "best".
Great stuff. Given that I grew up on alternative rock like this, I was honestly surprised that I didn't know about this album. But I suppose I can only blame one person for that: my dad.
Overall, I enjoyed this album. I like the style of music and I felt the instrumentation was clean. Nevertheless, I can't give this a higher rating because I found the sound slightly but gratingly whiny and incessantly touched by sorrow. I think Buckley's voice was partially the cause.
Beatles are no doubt 5-worthy, but I can't say that this album features enough 5-worthy songs.
I love the Eagles, so it's hard for me to not give this a 5. For me, they are the epitome of easygoing, country rock, and even within that genre, this album demonstrates a selection of diverse sounds and strong themes. Yet, if I wanna stick to my rating guns, I have to accept that the "countryness" is maybe harped on a bit too much (in sound and lyrics), and a couple of the tracks might be a slog for some (like "Most of Us Are Sad" or "Take the Devil").
Some catchy riffs and themes as well as some clever lyrics, but overall, I found there was just too much bizarre stuff going on across most of the tracks: electronic sounds, radio clips, and so on. The result was jarring, distracting, and annoying.
Listening to this album after listening to and reviewing several other rock albums through this site has given me new appreciation for Aerosmith. I never really noticed how polished their sound is; it feels like every riff and backup vocal is done with purposeful precision. I also find the amount of layered vocals and almost rock opera-like key changes pleasantly surprising for the type of rock band Aerosmith is. Sure, a couple tracks aren't as great as the rest, but overall, this is a beautiful collection.
I like a lot of Madonna. I don't like a lot of Madonna on this album.
Listening to and reading about this album taught me that I was a fan of trip hop without even knowing what trip hop was. I already knew quite a few of the tracks, and after I got through all of them, Spotify's album radio was like 75% songs I know and love. Needless to say, this was a good experience.
Every band has to find its sound, but not all bands' sounds are as unique as others'. For me, Radiohead has one of the greatest and most unique sounds out there, and this album demonstrates that. Even the not-so-exciting tracks are a cool listen.
Tough one to rate (especially being Canadian). I feel one cannot ignore the sort of legendary statuses of Leonard Cohen and some of his songs (a few of which appear in this album), but if I'm honest, the talk-singing style is sort of difficult to listen to after a few tracks, and many of them have a very similar sound. Still, if I were to rate individual songs (assuming a nice peppering throughout a more dynamic playlist), I would probably go higher. The sound is icon, and I feel most musicians would have difficulty copying it well.
Prior to this album popping up in my list, I had heard of the band but never really checked them out. Because of my personal music preferences, I'll probably add a few of the tracks to my playlists, but I don't feel that there's anything exceptional here. Some decent punk-ish alt-rock, but that's about it.
This is a tough one for me, balancing the weight of Springsteen's legacy, my thoughts about the music, and my as-objective-as-possible approach to these ratings. The conclusion: While I don't find the music to be poor, this album makes me wonder at why Springsteen became as big as he did. Is this perhaps not his best work? Are there other factors contributing to his fame? Whatever the case, I'd have to say that this album was just "good" – with some tracks maybe reaching "great" – especially given that there is, in my opinion, much better music in the areas of folk and folk rock. If I could, I'd maybe give this one a 3.5.
Always knew the name but didn't know the music. Turns out, it's exactly my jam.
I honestly don't understand how this one made it into the book. To my ears, the album is chock-full of mediocre-at-best hip hop.
Lol, nice timing with this one. This reminded me that I used to listen to a few Smiths songs back in the day. Still like their distant and alternative sound, and there are a few bangers in this album. Unfortunately, not enough for me to reach to a 4.
I'm not super familiar with MPB or samba funk so probably not the best person to evaluate it. Nevertheless, even if I try to look beyond my own exposure and preferences (e.g. way too much cuíca for me...), I would say this is some decent, easy listening with a just a few tracks standing out from the rest.
Combining Sinatra's singing with Jobim's bossa nova was a genius move, but I feel like only 3 of the tracks make strong and innovative use of the sound, with the rest being pretty unspectacular, droning bossa nova ballad, in my opinion. I might have even given this album a 2, but those 3 tracks are really bangin'.
While nothing extraordinary, I would say that the sound is very nice and mature for its genre, if a bit too chill throughout.
I really like the funky soul sound, but I feel only a three or so of the tracks really jumped out at me.
Previously I noted Cohen's talk-singing style, and I feel it becomes perhaps too dominant and too growly in this album. I also have to wonder how much his by-then-massive popularity contributed to the critical acclaim. I mean, two or three of the songs are 4s, for sure. But the rest are solid 3s.
I wish more music was like this music. Such a smooth yet balanced sound between jazz, blues, and acoustic. Listening to this, I feel like I'm personally sharing a cup of hot chocolate with Norah in a cozy café on a snowy winter's night. I almost took away a star for personal music tastes, but then I put it back because, honestly, I don't feel there's much in this arena of music that's coming out on top.
Listening to this album made me check my earlier review of Machine Head, but sure enough, I feel this album just isn't quite as good as that one. To me, it feels more basic, with fewer defined themes and more generic metal "filler", including for example, super fast but not-necessarily-inspiring guitar segments.
Everyone knows who Pink Floyd is, but I never really listened to them prior to checking out this album. For some reason, the idea of their music (paradoxically ill-defined in my head) didn't appeal to me. How nice it was, then, to enjoy this collection. While I doubt I could do so directly and actively – the songs are somewhat slow-paced – the musicality is absolutely there. Great for indirect listening, I feel.
Nothing spectacular, I would say, but a nice collection of easy-to-listen-to poppy rock.
I have a hard time trying to objectively understand the value of ska as a music style – or at least this variety of ska. Descriptions that popped into my head as I listened to this album: too upbeat, unusual hints of Caribbean music, happy vomit, jamming that someone recorded.
CCR is without a doubt one of the best rock and roll bands of all-time, and you can hear that with this album. I feel it's hard to achieve a better sound than them in the genre, and I feel bad for other rock and roll groups who didn't have a John Fogerty.
If just a few things were slightly different, I think I would've really enjoyed this album, as the overall style of music is right up my alley. As it is, I real quick got real annoyed with the grating voice of the lead singer, and that paired with the repeating-peat-peating nature of many of the songs had me super questioning what the heck the band thought they were doing.
Huh, I didn't know the Beach Boys had even gone into the progressive/psychedelic scene. In any case, I have to say that at no point listening to this album did it "grab" me. A lot of random sounds, a lot of random lyrics; nothing super bad but nothing particularly good.
I found this album to be chill and easy to listen to, but the majority of the tracks are in my opinion small steps above the background rhythms one might find on a synthesizer organ. If not for a few decent tracks, I would have gone to 2.
There are three maybe four really good songs in this album, but the rest I'd have to chalk up to some pretty weak "blue-eyed soul". The approach to funk and pop is pretty cheap and underdeveloped in my opinion.
As I said previously, I think Radiohead has one of the greatest and most unique sounds out there. And while some might find that sound to be overly sad or dark, I think it's absolutely achieving its objective. I wouldn't call this a "perfect" album (if such a thing exists), but it certainly rounds to a 5 for me. There are a number of massive hits here, and except for maybe "Fitter Happier" (a style I'm not particularly keen on), the rest of the tracks are solid. Throughout the album, the creativity and musical maturity are strongly evident.
In my opinion, there are three really good songs in this album, and the rest are decent to... bad.
This entire album is straight-up classic blues, which is good and bad. For the genre, it's pretty good, I would say. On the other hand, there isn't a lot of diversity, neither within songs nor across the album. I love blues (and early jazz), but I don't think this album is quite killing it enough to go higher than a 3.
I don't normally listen to the punk end of the rock spectrum, so I was surprised to find myself digging many of these tunes. Could it be that they got something right? Let's say yes.
Didn't know this band before, but they were right up my alley. Excellent musicality and mature themes in many of the tracks!
I really love compositions like this, where it feels like the entire set is an adventure or a story. On top of that, this is undoubtedly some pretty amazing jazz.
I don't want to say that one shouldn't record jam sessions, but to me, most of this album sounded like unrefined or unapplied musical exploration – the kind of playing that might be helpful in creating songs or warming up for gigs. This overall impression was overcome neither by the one song I enjoyed in its entirety nor the poetic intro and outro ordering of Parts I and II.
I like the overall feel of most of the tunes, but a lot of the vocal harmonies feel strained or shaky. I also thought that many of the lyrics were too noticeable for how bizarre they were.
Despite this being one of the few albums I've actually owned and therefore easy for me to rate, I still feel that it's objectively a jewel in music history. The sound achieved in this collection is unique yet at the same time generic enough (at least as far as rock goes) that almost anyone can enjoy it. And the tracks! Almost every one a winner, but no one sounding too much like another. Putting a 5 on this one feels like putting a 5 on the world.
Well, there's no question: This is country. I would rate it higher, but I feel that, even among country fans, the album is pretty tame. The sound is pretty crisp, though!
Hmm, tough one. In general, I like the band's sound; I feel they've successfully tapped into a method of creating mood through repeated and engaging sound clips, whether riffs, spoken passages, or both. That said, it doesn't always land for me, resulting in a collection of everything from not great to great.
Tricky, tricky. I personally want to rate this one higher – because the music is very much to my tastes – but I can't deny that the style, especially of the vocals, could perhaps sound annoyingly pained, stretched, and battering. I would therefore call this one a 4 for me, a 3 otherwise.
I think I found more value here than in The Queen Is Dead, but I still have a tough time giving it a 4. I love the sound they achieve – it's hard to pull off that distant, droning vocality – but I don't find the spectrum of music to be incredibly diverse across the album, and I'm not sure how I feel about the last track.
This album splits me in two. Generally speaking, I love Newman's musical style, and I think he achieves a sort of genius with some of his lyrics and their commentary. And while I think he dominates his niche genre and there are some definite killer tracks in this album, there's also a lot of pretty meh stuff in my opinion, and that's what's keeping me from a 4.
I listened to this album a few times, and I have to say that, if the original release had only been the first disc – or maybe even the first three sides – I would have given this a 4. Stevie was indeed a wonder, and there are some absolute hits here. Unfortunately, for me at least, there's also enough not-so-great music to bring the overall average down, especially in the fourth and final side.
I'm no expert on synth music, but I feel like this is pretty darn exemplary for the genre. Great listening!
I can understand that this type of music isn't for everyone, but I partly grew up with it, and Billie Holiday practically defines it. I would give this a 5 if it weren't for some of the tracks being maybe a bit too humdrum (even for the genre).
For ambient or chill-out music, this feels pretty darn good, especially since, in my opinion at least, many of the tracks have a long-lasting theme or direction. I wasn't a huge fan of the spoken parts, but thankfully they're limited to just two tracks.
I don't listen to a lot of reggae, and what I have heard usually sounds way too mellow and unchanging. This album broke that perception, and I found that I actually enjoyed it. It would still be a 3 for me personally, but rated against its genre, I'mma go even higher.
I'm not a metal fan, but I was able to listen to this album without too much trouble.
I definitely enjoyed listening to some of these tunes, but there were also moments or complete tracks that felt a little too... plastic? overdone? circus-y? Some of that definitely had to do with Costello's unique voice, which didn't always sound great to me.
Listening to this album makes me want to listen to more disco soul.
Easy listening throughout with a few extra special morsels. These guys rose quickly for a reason.
I'm not the biggest fan of hip hop or rap, but one cannot deny that there are some good tunes here. On the other hand, one cannot deny that there's also a lot of weak tunes...
Tricky. I really like the sound, and some of the songs are fantastic, but there was also some stuff I didn't care for, like the style of the repetition in a few tracks and the alien voice(?) in "C.T.A."
I personally like Arcade Fire, and I think they have a great sound, but going through this entire album, I have to admit that the themes don't feel super established in a lot of tracks, and the vocals do leave a bit to be desired.
A great album from a great band. I love the sound achieved by this group, whose musical prowess is clearly demonstrated. Listening to the collection sends me on a tough yet laidback adventure with hardened but lovable outcasts.
Cash is obviously a legend, and you can feel it with this album, not just from his music and his voice, but also from the interaction between him and the audience. That said, the main "added value" of this being a live album seems to be to portray Cash's tough side, and I couldn't really get on board.
Once again, I can't call myself a metal fan (although I suppose the label "metal" didn't quite mean the same then as it does now), but I enjoyed this album. I like that the more "metal" aspects serve the musical ideas (which are good!), rather than the other way around, which is my (perhaps false) impression of a lot of metal.
I give this one a 3, balancing action-packed and diverse tracks against a bit of all-over-the-placeness. Nice listening.
This is sure to be good, I just can't bring myself to listen to Christmas music outside of December. Middle vote!
I used to listen to a lot of jazz, so I was surprised at not knowing this excellent album. Regarding uniqueness, I don't have much to say: The afrobeat is definitely present in some of the tracks, but otherwise, this is just some well-crafted, classic-sounding jazz. I dig it.
Well, the album is dominated by its title track, so I guess I'll stick to mostly reviewing that (especially since the other tracks have similar sounds). Wow, great track. I mean, like the rest of the world, I've of course always known it, but sitting down to evaluate it, wow, great track. I love the way the song unfolds into a solid jam sesh. I ended up reading about the history of the song, and that's damn cool, too!
I liked some of the tracks; they struck a sort of rough but laidback pop rock. The rest I felt were too mellow or just bad. Also, listening to this via Spotify, I accidentally ended up listening to the later edition (which I never rate), and boy were some of those added tracks even worse.
Definitely some good music here. I especially enjoy the unusual yet catchy vocal melodies Dylan employs in the first half. And despite the apparent criticism, I like the second half, as well. Based on the sound alone, I would have rated this more highly, but I didn't feel that this live album brought much value to the already existing songs.
Although frequent and repeated listening is liable to drive me crazy, I very much enjoyed this album, where pretty much every track has its own distinct and developed sound. A noble addition to the world glam/pop rock.
If ratings and reviews exist to inform others, it hardly seems necessary to rate or review this album, as everyone is likely to know the music! Needless to say, there are some now-legendary songs here that definitely deserve their status. Alanis properly established her own niche in the world of alternative rock with this album, which I'm so close to giving a 5.
There's obvious musicality throughout, and while a few are duds (for me), the majority of the rest ring true.
The sounds are certainly true to the genre, and there are some winners, but overall, I feel the strength of the songs falls short of a 4.
Normally, I love this kind of music, and although there were a couple songs that I liked, I ended up finding most to be unenjoyable noise.
