There's a great slow build to the opening track which cascades nicely into "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" The album overall hits some great notes, I get a good sense of the emotional journey here.
The band does a good job of finding a good volume balance between instruments, the guitar, bass and drums all have chances to wander center stage.
If it wasn't for the 'One Album a Day' i probably would never have looked at this album. Moby has an interesting style in this album, the vocals, while done well, take a bit of a backseat here. This leave a lot of stage room for the progressive instrumentals on many tracks, particularly porcelain.
The textural contrast between the vocals and the smooth instrumentals makes a nice wash of sound.
South Side's guitar solo is really well supported by the bass and strings, while the solo shines through, the bass and strings hit notes poignantly alongside the major expressions of the solo riff.
Regardless, this album didn't leave a huge impact for me, cool how cohesive it is but it didn't hit the message home.
15 Step was a great intro to the album, the snappy distorted percussion grabbed my attention. The smooth sound engineering on the guitar really feels pronounced when it enters stage and rounded out by the vocals makes for a wonderful soundscape when the chorus kicks in.
The album really hits a stride for me on Nude, there's a sad romanticism to the album, progressing through the songs and developing like a open ended question. Personally really intriguing.
Coming back for a second listen the lyrics start to stick out, there's a litany of metaphor underpinning the albums theme.
Whole Lotta Love immediately hits, I can distinctly hear the final not of the riff in that opening echo across the stage. I honestly have never noticed how well the sound travels around the stage, maybe its the cans I'm using or maybe its Tidal but it makes the interludes between chorus very intriguing.
While Zeppelin has always derived sound from blues riffs What is and What Should Never Be makes it more apparent to me, very much like a relaxed Blues track.
Heartbreaker, what a classic. The guitar texture is so keen to egg on the vocals i almost need to remind myself to pay attention to the lyrics, the guitar solo mid song comes up and falls so well back into the instrumental section.
Ramble On, what can I say. An |CLASSIC|, brings me back to sitting in the car as a kid on road trips with the family. This song always gets me hyped up, the crisp, leathery sounding percussion to start under that bass, guitar taking the backstage and the smooth vocals. Dropping so cleanly into the chorus.
Very rarely do i listen to an album that opens up with 5 straight BANGERS hot damn. "Five Years" sets the stage wonderfully with the vocal/instrumental contrast with the melodramatic and stretched rock themes.
"It Ain't Easy" presents a stark shift in the album, slower, drawn out lyrics over a more relaxed instrumentation hits like a cold beer after a hot day.
I've never personally liked "Hang on to Yourself" but the riff is very catchy, while the album story isn't coming together so well i can see this as a collection of performances by Ziggy and this serves as another transitional track in my ears, setting the stage for the end of the album.
"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"s horns really make the song, underpinning the slow burn in the track. The lyrics allude to a pretty gritty future but the song is oddly comforting, classic Bowie with that contrast.
As a concept album the story isn't totally coherent, maybe I need a few more listens. but the image of Ziggy Stardust is sufficiently filled by themes of the album.
This is one of those names i hear in Media and recognize then realize I've never actually listened to. Serious angsty 90's vibes, elementary school me thinking i was so cool, would've fit really into the whole "Boulevard of Broken Dreams Vibe"
Ironic, iconic but most importantly memeable. This low key just brings a flood of memes to my mind. Quite the flip from what the last generation thought of this song.
Back to the 60's, i haven't personally listened to too much material from this era but the influence of the Big Bang is definitely here in the opening track with a tinge of the psychedelic movement coming in.
I'm digging the vibe here, lots of choral sections that lay pleasantly over the instrumental composition. Swelling music dropping to silence hits the emphasis on the and of songs or transition points and the song to song changes/progression is chosen well.
The Zombies sound as a British rock band really come out in the vocals with some influence in the instruments, there's a Beatles-esque sound here and the bands careers did overlap.
Closing out with Time of the Season had really good vocal recording, you can hear the echoes in the mastering and the crisp percussion. For me this was up there with Hung on a Dream and Changes, which as classically regarded as highlights of the album.
The guitars trading the melody back and forth is a good sound in the opening track but the balance is what really strikes me here. The vocalist sounds removed from the music and the drums come out a lot more than the guitar.
I get a lot of country mixing with psychedelic vibes here.
A very orchestral opening to Expecting to fly, and the spatial audio really contributes to the track. It's also, in my opinion, where the album turns to very soft rock. Its intimate, comforting using softer tones and a voice close to the mic with distant horns.
As much as the music in the album was nice, nothing stands out particularly. The vocals are surpassed by the lyrics, the guitar at times sounds a bit too simplistic for me and the bass comes in and out of existence.
There is some redemption from the instrumentation in compositing. Pianos, horns and other feature instruments are splendid flourishes to otherwise uninteresting songs.
"The Man Comes Around" presents like the opening to a play, pretty simplistic in the instrumental and vocals but there's a story being told here. The narrative is made engaging by the music but it tips the ear towards the story to come.
"Hurt" actually reminds me of White Rabbit quite a bit, the song is entirely a crescendo right to the end. What is particularly engaging is the build up of the story. These songs are stories just as much as music.
Overall, Johnny Cash is solid. Makes me feel like i need a Horse, Ranch and sad love story
I mean, its Springsteen we know what is in this box. Banging harmonica, some good country guitar and that classic vocal. It's good but on occasion.
Solid brit punk album, the smiths seems to really hit their stride here as the vocals come out. The album itself has a great progression to it.
