Bob is/as the King.
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
A perfect storm of all the Dylanisms; hollering, footstomping, jangly gee-tars, piercing harmonica, stream of conscious absurdist lyrics, sprinkled with biting humour, and balanced by the most exquisite earnest love songs.
My love she speaks like silence.
Electric or acoustic fades into insignificance in the company of attitude, swagger and cool. Floats on and elevates the mediums he screams or croons along to.
I'm ready for to fade, into my own parade.
An absurdist decree, Sisyphus is happy. Raging against the dogma of delayed meaning and joy by grasping it now in the present and holding on at punishment of death.
He not busy being born is busy dying.
Essential listening for anyone with a pair of ears and a heartbeat - 5/5
Yes Bai
Verging on the ultimate in prog rock, beautifully composed if maybe not quite as refined their next two iconic albums. There's not a single low point on the album, each of the songs exist in their own sci-fi-esque world, little vignettes into the fantasy world of Yes. The mastery each member of the band has over their instruments can only be admired, but all this feeds into a feeling I've had about Yes and other hyper precise music; that is only ever adds up to the the exact sum of its parts. Never transcending to the sublime, a ceiling of intricately planned excellence.
No album has had a deeper disconnect between the album art and the feeling the music inside inspires.
And there you're standing,
Saying we have the whole world in our hands,
When all you'll see,
Deep inside the world's controlling you and me
4.5/5
Not really my thing but liked it more than anticipated. Highlights are Voodoo People and Poison.
Ahhh t'was grand sure. Nothing really grabbed me outside of the songs I already knew. 2.5/5
It drops deep as it does in my breath
I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death.
The album starts with a skit as is tradition in early 90's boom-bap, setting out the stall that these are sounds taken straight from the streets. Then facing into what is arguably THE iconic hip-hop track. NY State of Mind encapsulates everything people love about this era of rap; driving insistent rhythm, mind-blowing sampling work, lyrical excellence, and the anti-hero protagonist delivering with menace and attitude. Life's a Bitch continues in this strong vein of form with a mantra everyone can get behind. We have a nice contrast in the next song, although the world is shit at least it's your world to do with what you please, the guiding belief of gangsters justifying the hustle. First half of the album concludes with 2 very solid tracks, Halftime and Memory Lane.
One-Love a bit of a low point with a disjointed beat which never really falls into a groove.
One Time 4 Your Mind is back to form with a bass-line that's as smooth as butter, a slow burner that could go for days. For an album that is so lyrical I find it quite hard to focus on the lyrics as the instrumentals are so strong. Could take a few more listens with a lyric sheet to fully appreciate something this dense. Represent another high-point along with the closer to conclude an album that is right up there with 36 Chambers as arguably the best hip-hop album of the 90's
Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind - 4.5/5
Oh no,
Sounds like a a funk fever dream, James Brown in uncanny valley. With Our Love might be one of the worst tracks I've ever heard from a band I actually like. This has convinced me that Brian Eno as a producer is just not for me. Reading all the positive reviews and I'm convinced that anyone who calls this danceable has never actually tried.
To be fair, it picks up a little towards the middle of the album but nothing sticks out through the badly appropriated staccato guitar playing until I'm Not In Love, which is more like what I was hoping for going into this.
I actually like David Byrne's vocal delivery on the Talking Heads songs I love but when the tracks are just mediocre the grating elements really come into sharp focus.
Bleh - 2/5
Nice to find something you would never have given a chance otherwise. Love how raw this is, the ability of these musician to lay down tracks of this quality in one or two takes is jaw-dropping.
Didn't listen to the whole thing due to length and since this feels like a compilation more than a cohesive album. Will be dipping back in at a later time but this is well worth a listen.
3.5/5
Lovely. Never paid much attention to MGMT at the time this came out as they were far to mainstream for me to imagine that listening to them would make me seem cool and different. A real shame because this is very endearing, psych-synth-pop. Like early 2010s Animal Collective with all the excesses trimmed, whipped into shape in a nice clean package. Fav Tracks: Time To Pretend, The Youth, Electric Feel - 4/5
Excellent. Never heard of this band or album before, but a great surprise. Will probably require a few listens to fully appreciate. Didn't have time to get fully stuck into this but love the bridging between classic psych-pop and what would become alternative-pop/rock.
- 4/5
I refuse to believe this is coincidence lol
A classic for a reason. Fav Tracks: Cemetery Gates, Bigmouth, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, Some Girls.
Easy - 5/5
Love Brian Eno as a producer of ambient, less so for pop music. Bowie is doing his thing and I feel the ambient side comes out the better here. Of traditional Bowie songs Heroes is of course a classic and really saves Side-A for me. Patchy but the highs are very high - 3.5/5
Great blues singing. Fav tracks Blueberry Hill, Blue Monday
- 4/5
THE live rock album. Wall to wall bangers, screaming guitar solos, Phil's exquisite voice, and ENERGY.
Friday night they'll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino's bar and grill
The drink will flow, and blood will spill
And if the boys wanna fight, you better let 'em
Fav tracks: All of 'em
- 5/5
Chameleon, Watermelon Man
- 5/5
Liked it much more than other stuff I've heard from him. Needs more listens to fully appreciate.
- 3.5/5
