Flawless first half, should listen to more of their full albums.
The big singles were a nice trip down memory lane. Pleasant overall but didn’t hold my attention.
Undeniably classic and genre defining, it is still hard for me to get into unfortunately.
First surprise hit of this project for me. It’s hard to even criticize this, maybe a couple dated lines and a corny skit? Lauryn Hill deserves every ounce of praise she’s gotten over the years.
What a weird and wonderful experience.
I knew of Kraftwerk in terms of their historical significance but never had interest in exploring what felt like the Stone Age of synth electronica, and a 20 min starting track length further disinterested me. I imagined it was a lot of exploring and messing about with unknown new sounds, which, well( is what they’re doing. What I was shocked by however was the beauty, warmth and emotion they manage to pull from those early analogue synths; especially in that first epic odyssey of a track. Decidedly not for everyone, but I am really glad that this project took me to this album.
In the “to be revisited” pile. The vocals are throwing me for a loop, but the songs are enjoyable and varied, and I love some of the lyrics.
I’ve loved this album for years, some of Paul’s best songs are on here, incredible production, easy 5 stars.
Personal Jesus is good, left me cold otherwise. Will maybe revisit in the future.
Jay-Z solid performance is carried by the outstanding production on this album. Boy are there some catchy hooks.
Love the guitar tone and the bass playing especially on this one.
This one caught me completely off guard, might be more 4.5 than 5 stars but whatever I loved this one. I’ve never clicked with whole albums I’d heard from this album in the past, but this album was lovely and had a driving energy to it. I need to revisit this band this band’s discography I think maybe my tastes have broadened
Ugh
Credit where credit’s due, Jet is a great single that feels distinct from the Beatles, and Let Me Roll iIt had a good groove. The closer was creative and weird (though it feels completely out of place). The instrumentation, especially the bass, is solid. But boy I am not a huge fan of this album. Band on the Run, unlike Happiness is a Warm Gun, is awkward in its three part structure, and has a cheesy chorus I hate that gets stuck in my head regardless. The rest of this weirdly sequenced album feels corny and dated, and has a lot of diluted recreation of the Beatles sound, right down to the harmonizing vocals especially in the second half. The songs just don’t grab me at all. One star felt too harsh but I’d probably give it 1.5 if I could.
He does Sinatra better than Sinatra. Beautiful.
My favorite stripes album in college. On relisten it’s still pretty great. A bit long and there’s a couple tracks I don’t love but it’s a great rock album.
Generally not a big dance music guy. Feels dated too. This is the first album we’ve done so far that I skipped tracks. Not really for me.
Nice! Loved the energy and genre hopping. Sabotage still a GOAT track.
Catchy, funny, lovely. Damn good.
Challenging. I don’t know how to rate this. I’ve never gotten into sonic youth, and the vocals here were actively, purposefully antagonizing me. If we’re going atonal I want angrier, louder, more aggressive vocals than what they offer. However, there was something undeniably compelling about the back and forth between pure noise, grunge riffs, punk, and the occasional burst of melody, and I got through the whole album having hit some weird understanding with it. Not sure I’m going to return to it though.
Finally I can dust off my hipster beret and say I completely loved this challenging, beautiful album and played it through three times today. What gorgeous, inventive use of vocal layering, and the songs underneath it all are so great! Maybe a new favorite.
Classic foundational stax soul. Amazing performance, pretty good songs. Coming so soon after Ray Charles may have done this album a disservice.
Aged wonderfully since I first heard it years and years ago. Beautiful, cathartic, classic.
I mean I can literally play the entire album in my head beginning to end I’ve listened to it so much. One of the greats.
Beautiful singing of course, loved the title track and a couple others. It was a bit saccharine as a whole album for me, but it was short enough to not wear me out too bad either.
Hmmm…
This was a frustrating one. The story behind the album is interesting. The lyrics can be striking. There’s a couple great songs in here. But 70 minutes of mid tempo late seventies funk, with somewhat uneven performance by Gaye, it ended up being too much for me and I skipped a lot. Maybe caught me on the wrong day.
Sharp catchy riffs, great bass lines, variety in beats and no bs songwriting. Really ahead of it’s time. Was gonna say it’s a bit long but the last three tracks in Spotify are bonus so minus those it’s really well paced. Maybe I’ll finally get into post-punk if more albums are as good as this one.
Mixed. Love the vocals and sax, but like with most 70’s punk I get pretty bored and worn out during the second half.
Ace of spades still rules, the rest of the album is samey, sleazy, pretty good. Jailbait was pretty cringey and gross.
Lovely, tuneful, thoroughly of its era but I enjoyed it a lot.
Given the low expectations set by the album cover and description as “funky rap rock,” it was more fun than expected. High school me would probably have been really into it.
Beautiful stuff. Really nice mini suite on the front half (minus Voices of Old People); a ton of great singles in the back half. Misses 5 just because it’s a bit disjointed as an album, but tons of good stuff
It really grew on me; listened to it twice.
Trance usually bores me but I vibed with it today. A couple annoying clunkers but made for good morning commute background.
Need another pass. Way better than I expected though, legit good late 60’s rock
To be revisited. I enjoyed the groove and truly excellent sampling , but struggled to concentrate on individual tracks or moments enough for it to sink in.
Started strong with the first three tracks, very nostalgic, the rest of the album was pretty bland. Her big hit single I’ve just heard too many times.
Actually aged really well, I think I liked it better than when I heard it in college. It loses me a little after “Do You Realize”, but still quite good.
Some great individual tracks, especially the opener, but not the worlds most dynamic or varied album.
I really liked this? Like early R.E.M jangle pop mixed with 80’s new wave vocals.
Really impressed with the energy, a lot of classic songs on here too. Suffers from double album bloat, there’s a perfect album in there watered down slightly by a few clunkers.
Probably a 4.5 but I love this album / band so….
I respect the musicianship and the experimentation for the time, but it just isn’t what I enjoy when it comes to jazz. Birdland and Havana were pretty good tracks, a Remark You Made was ok.
The singer is not doing it for me at all.
Beautiful, clean, doesn’t quite hit me like the best of the best on this list but definitely grew my appreciation for them and their legacy
Parts are pretty, parts are engaging and heavy. But the songs never seem to have a structure, the loops last too long to engage, I get bored by the heavy parts somehow. The vocals are all over the place and mixed very strangely. Maybe a revisit
Ok it’s way, way, way too much of the same thing, it gets outright tedious in its chaos, but there’s some chunky riffs in there and I’ll take this over bland dance music. I dare someone to tell me they understood the lyrics though.
Just uneven for me. Some gems, some dull tracks. A revisit maybe.
A cut above. Dylan’s voice still is a hurdle but the storytelling and song craft just can’t be denied on this one.
Undeniably influential, some bangers; more dated than I expected, got bored by the end.
The cotton candy cone of rock. No substance. Completely devoid of all edge. Way too big, way too much. Kind of nice while you’re eating it.
Delightful, smooth and interesting and sometimes unsettling.
I think I’m beginning to learn that 70’s punk is realllll hit and miss with me; and this was a miss
dreamy and pretty but hard to focus on
Classic, really really enjoyed this look into early davis.
Catchy in parts, irritating in parts, but a neat listen.
Quirky, loved the variety of instrumentation.
This one clicked with me more, the influence is undeniable too:
Pretty, great bass lines, good background music to work to.
I’ve never fully connected with this one, I love the lyrics and messages but find it hard to focus on the songs themselves.
Wasn’t feeling this one. Not into 60’s psychedelic and this didn’t change my mind.
Not quite on the level of IV but still tons of great singles and deep cuts
Didn’t like it as much as the first byrds album we did, liked the singles and more straight ahead tracks best, but still enjoyable. Closer to 3.5 than 3.
3.5 but I rounded up because the singles are definitely good. I’m always gonna prefer the earlier black keys albums tho
Constant craving good, rest of album not memorable.
Really liked some Doves tracks especially back in college; but this album was more of a chore than I was expecting, especially the back half. Maybe a revisit
Not feeling it. Cars was catchy.
