First off, very funny 1001 Generator, I don't know if I would've thought of doing that if I tried. Second off, fuck Morrissey. I won't be giving it a one star just for that, because I think that's unfair to the rest of the band, but fuck Morrissey. This album is excellent, not only do the notable songs actually stay enjoyable, but even the not so famous songs are enjoyable, which is an issue some albums from this era suffer from. I know some people think this just sounds sad and that's all to take away, but I think there's more to it then that.
This album grew on me as I listened to it, as my intial thoughts were more along of the lines of "they experimented so much they forgot to make an actual song". That being said, still don't think it's anything crazy. Every song is reverb effect, repeat a line for three minutes, add jungle noises. Like, I like some stuff, but even those often didn't turn into something I liked until too late, such as Bluish. Not to say the songs all sound the same, because they don't, but they do all have the same general formula that gets repetitive in one sitting. I do like how each how each song goes into the next, I'm a sucker for that stuff, but most of the songs don't stand on their own when needed.
When I saw this album I had never heard of last night my first thought was "three star at best", but alas, instead this is probably my favorite album so far. Amazing how an album I've never heard of by a band I've never heard of suddenly becomes one of my favorite things I've listened to in recent memory. Just excellent. The falsetto was a joy to listen to and the energy the album had really scratched that "weird but catchy" itch stuff like Oingo Boingo, Jack Stauber, and even David Bowie hit for me. And the fact this is almost fifty years old makes it all the more impressive.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME TWO KANYE ALBUMS IN A ROW?!! I see much more negative reviews on this one than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, yet this has the same issues that one seemed to have for me, so I suppose we'll see. Okay, just listened, and man this is a step down, at least for me. I will say the pros is songs still get you enjoying them in the moment, so he still succeeds there, but nothing here sticks with me, and the production has not increased, in fact I'd say stuff like rather than clever samples and an orchestral sound we have this screech-y electronic sound with way too much autotune. Can I hear modern rap in this album? Absolutely, but not a compliment. It also feels worse as we go. Some of these lyrics are also pretty hilariously bad. This is Eminem's level of pun cheesiness for some of these. Just as self indulgent, but I don't see why this album gets that critique and not his other albums. I just don't know what to say. This is alright at best, aggravating at worst, but at the end of the day this was just unnotable. Perhaps if I was very into rap at the time of this release I would of seen the revolution being played, but all I hear is songs made out of dog barks are the drills in the car repair shop while a sex obsessed narcissist knows he can say whatever and will get a perfect score and millions of sales. Yet, I struggle to give this a 1 star. Truly an anomaly. I think it will indeed fall into that 1 star category though. I think fleeting memories of Kanye's work I do like will suffice for me.
While an album I cannot deny as influential with its sound and design, and some of the songs are indeed classics to stand the test of time, but the album as a whole is obviously meant to be listened to as an album, never on it's own. Many songs lead directly into the next dong, which is fine for those with lyrics, but the instrumental songs that are three in a row feel strange, like they're supposed to be an intermission, but it comes at the end, just making it feel like a movie soundtrack. Iconic, but not that fun of a listen.
While blues as a genre isn't always my thing, I still found my self tapping my feet to most of this album. It started a little shakey, but in the middle I was enjoying myself quite a bit, and while I wasn't a huge fan of the ending song, I still am extremely satisfied with it.
Every single song was just such a slog. Five minutes of quiet in the beginning, then starts to build up, then either stays built up or goes back to being quiet. Now, I know that sounds like most songs, but there is a specific brand of it with U2 that makes it all just blend together. It's only getting 2 stars because while I didn't completely enjoy it, there's no denying the 1-2-3 punch that is the first few songs. Would of been better as an EP with just those and Bullet the Blue Sky
Some other review said this was weird Halloween music, and I agree, but in the best way possible. I actually quite enjoyed how weird this could get, but blues still isn't for me, so some of this album was a bit repetitive. Excited for other Tom Waits albums, though.
When listening to this album a situation would arise often where I enjoy how a song sounds, and am thoroughly enjoying it, then it goes on another three minutes. That's not to say the songs are long, because they all don't really surpass five minutes, other than the B-Sides, but they don't go anywhere. Often I'll be waiting for the song to heighten or have some sort of climax, and that just never happens, and I understand this is not necessarily something that needs that "drop", this isn't Dubstep or anything, but even comparing it to something like Fatboy Slim, it just comes off as weak, and it really loses steam in the second half, mostly being over prolonged atmospheric music. I mean, three stars is still pretty good, because I didn't dislike the album, it's just hard to praise the album when we live in an age where this style of music has only been improved. Who knows though, perhaps I'm not smart enough for it.
I almost feel as though I shouldn't be listening in to these songs because of how personal they can get, but I'm glad I can. Although I do find some songs kind of funny (such as Black Hair) I can still respect the message behind these songs, as well as the emotion. Into My Arms obviously being a standout performance that alone deserves the praise the whole album gets.
When I first started this album I really wasn't feeling it, and as such some of the early songs felt weird to listen to, but I gave it another shot with some proper earbuds rather than just my car speakers and man does this jam far better in that style! I'm also glad the version of the album I listened to had some songs twice for the singles version, because it gave me a second chance at some songs just in case I was on the fence, and this was just all around a solid album.
I think some of the reviews here saying all the songs sound exactly the same is quite the exaggeration, unless sticking to one genre constitutes as that nowadays. Songs were enjoyable if a little simple, but sometimes something more lighthearted is good. I may be bias though, my parent's showed me Lemonheads at a young age, so I may be going easy on it.
Yes sure does like their long songs, huh? Overall good but can't see myself listening to any of it again due to it's length compared to how I listen to music. I also think the later album, Fragile, is far better.
When it comes to an album such as this, a lot of thought has to be put into what you rate something like this. The early 2000s were an interesting time for music, and some of that shines through here, and we now live in an era where stuff that was tough and what the "cool kids" listened to now comes off as vulgar and childish, but that's exactly it. That's the point, an album like this isn't meant to be seen as a literal commentary where every word is someone's thoughts and opinions, it's a mash-up of a person going from rags to riches, with both themselves and a character they made up to choose to rap through, and in the process it can start to get muddy on what is supposed to be taken seriously, and what is a comment only meant for the shock. I do not think this album is for everyone, and I can understand why someone may hear some of this and decide there that its just vile, because it is, but sitting back and viewing it in the context of the world at the time and why this album was made gives it reason to really breathe and say what it says. Although admittedly some songs do go a little too far to the point where I question if there is anything being said. What cannot be denied is the ability of the rapping here. We had not yet reached Eminem's era of puns=good rhymes (window pane comes to mind), and instead got a situation where every song had a consistent flow where multiple words were rhyming in conjunction with all of the next five lines, all without question. The little small skits also really start to show that this album isn't meant to be the most serious thing in the world, but some of the rapping really does sell every single line. Do I feel bad bobbing my head to someone saying they're going to kill someone while insulting three different minorities? Absolutely, but there's something there I cannot deny that makes me enjoy this album. I will note the fiest half the album is far superior to the second half, but even the second half has songs like "Criminal" and "Bitch Please II".
This album was a weird one for me. Obviously there is an influence of an album that can be seen while looking at it, and it's obvious what this album did for this sort of rock going into the 90's. Bands such as Oasis are obviously inspired by this, and I could see why at the time this would be something big. The issue comes in to the fact that it doesn't change that I'm just not a fan of this album, or really this style of music. I mean, I enjoy some good jangle pop, but the singer's voice sometimes can go from just a little weird but okay sounding to very whiney (which ironically is a complaint I have for Oasis as well), and it makes a lot of the songs feel very repetitive. I'm not saying the songs all sound similar, because they don't, but it does start to blend together. I was honestly ready to give this a two star rating, purely pushing it up a little because of it's influence and "There She Goes", but I will push it right over to three stars purely due to the final song, "Looking Glass". I'm a sucker for long songs that get more and more frantic or "stressful" as the song goes on (see "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" by the Beatles), and this one stratched that itch pretty well.
When it comes to Billy Joel I know some people get a little sick of it, stuff like Piano Man seemingly playing wherever you go, and a lot of his other songs being so well known that they seem to be heard at least once a week, but doesn't that just show the man's talent for this sort of thing, especially when the songs you don't hear everyday have that same level of quality? That level of quality doesn't shine brighter than The Stranger. Every single song on this album is excellent, even the longer ones which any other artist of the time would have caused it to feel as though the song is a drag, but not on this album. The album even flows well from song to song, with each placement just making sense. Sure, some of Joel's songs may be a little cheesy, but the musicality and enjoyment from each song on this album gives me no other choice but to give it five stars.
I've gotten quite a few blues-y type albums now, and I'm starting to warm up to it a bit more, so my new challenge is now overcoming the next threat: live albums. That's what makes this so complicated, I understand a singer can really put their all into a live performance to make it better than any studio recording (Frampton Comes Alive! springs to mind) but often these songs just aren't as good as something with no random audience members cheering the whole time or the usually less than optimal sound quality, but I will admit, despite what the number down below may seem like it says, I did enjoy the album. It's just when it comes to something like this it's hard for me to think too much of it, and the addition of blues, which I already struggle to decide if I like or not, makes it a bit more of a mixed bag for me. I can understand why this is considered one of the best live albums of all time, I just can't fully get into it.
There is a semblance of an album that I like within this album, but all of the songs get close to doing something I like and then don't do it. I can understand why someone may not like his voice, but that isn't what bothers me, there's just something I can't fully grasp as to why I don't entirely enjoy this album, but I must be missing something, it's obviously considered a masterpiece of somesort. Perhaps I'll return to this on my own time and see if anything changes.
First off, very funny 1001 Generator, I don't know if I would've thought of doing that if I tried. Second off, fuck Morrissey. I won't be giving it a one star just for that, because I think that's unfair to the rest of the band, but fuck Morrissey. This album is excellent, not only do the notable songs actually stay enjoyable, but even the not so famous songs are enjoyable, which is an issue some albums from this era suffer from. I know some people think this just sounds sad and that's all to take away, but I think there's more to it then that.
A nice album where you can obviously see the weirder and innovative roots you would see in later Doors' albums, but the organ solo stuff, while good, does feel a little too safe and extended at times. Still though, overall very good, and still earns a four star.
When I was younger, my knowledge on David Bowie was very slim, I basically knew Space Oddity and that he was in Labyrinth, but when he sadly passed away I decided to change that, but I always kind of ignored this album because it was more rock 'n' roll than his later albums, and I had grown tired of classic rock as a genre. Boy do I regret this, that was amazing. I mean, of course Starman is great, but the rest of the album is no slouch either. It's no wonder I usually see this at the top of rankings for all his albums, and I'm super excited for his other eight on here.
This is another case of an album almost doing stuff that I like, but not quite reaching it, but this album is far better than the usual line up that does something similar. A lot of the songs just sound very manic, which has its place, but sometimes its hard to listen to, not in like a depressing way, but just like how a lot of stuff doesn't resolve how you want it to, and that's usually the whole song. Top tier album name, though. Its also weird hearing "Coconut" and realizing you knew a song off an album you had never heard of by an artist you had never heard of.
I really tried to like this. I tried getting myself into the first song, and all that jazz, but it just kept going, and going, and that's when I realized I still had two-and a-half more songs like this. The third song was fine, because at least it was normal song length, but then the beast that was the last song just never stopped, and I couldn't even get through it, for the first time on an album while doing this daily album thing. I decided perhaps I just didn't like the song itself, but I went back to the versions this song was covering, and the massive fifteen minutes of difference in length really showed me the filler this album can have. Perhaps I just don't understand soul, that seems to be the case with a lot of albums similar to this, but I really don't like this one. Only getting a two star because that third song I saw the appeal somewhat.
I admittedly don't think I get blues at all. All of these songs would start interesting and then drone on and on, not really doing anything more with the songs. It was just really boring. I liked Hooker's voice but his choice of perhaps five words to each song is underwhelming. Oh well.
I do understand a lot of O'Connor's songs are mainly built around the lyrics and what they are about, but that's only one part of a song, and sadly, I usually enjoy the sound of a song before the lyrics, in which these songs really lack for me, even "Nothing Compares 2 U", in which Prince's at least has it's own sound to it. All I could think while listening to this album is "This sounds like if Enya was the lead singer of The Cranberries, which makes sense, considering they all are from Ireland, but I still couldn't shake that feeling, and it made a lot of songs sound like nothing I've heard before. I don't sound too harsh, but literally nothing here was something I cared about, even pushing it below U2. It's just a nothing album for me. Guess I just don't like Irish singers, except the Cranberries.
I admittedly knew very little to nothing about Brian Eno before listening to this album, but I was admittedly very worried judging from what kind of music comes up when you type his name in. Luckily, this album seems to be nothing like that, and in fact, was quite enjoyable. I can see why he was very much connected to both David Bowie and David Byrne. Looking forward to the other albums by him on this list.
I saw the overall review score for this album and got a little worried, but afterwards I realize that's just because I'm guessing most aren't the biggest punk fans, and that's okay. I'm really not either, but I did generally enjoy this album. It did get a little repetitive at times but it's shortness and raw energy made up for it. I mean, I didn't find it anything super special, but it was still enjoyable.
Unlike a lot of other reviews here, I actually hadn't seen this Rolling Stones album before (somehow), so this was a whole new experience for me. That being said, it wasn't that special of one. I never was a huge fan of the Rolling Stones, as it didn't do much for me, but this album was okay. That being said it was just okay. There wasn't anything that truly stuck out to me and while it started out strong in never really went anywhere. It's a very consistent album, so those who like the Stones will probably enjoy this album quite a bit, but all this is for me is another driving force as to why I will never understand the Beatles vs. Rolling Stones comparison
First non-english speaking album, and man what a jam. Saw some comments saying all the songs sound the same and I couldn't disagree more, every song was a totally different song, just under one genre, and it was enjoyable throughout. Some songs went on a little long, but that's okay! It almost feels like something you'd hear in a game like Katamari.
An enjoyable album that flows well together. It really felt like something I would hear in something like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater or something similarly 90s. A lot of the lyrics still accurate today, but sadly a lot of lyrics are also questionable, like the entirety of "Da Bichez", but at least somewhat enjoyable to listen to. Like one ear and out the other sort of deal here, can't see myself listening again, but we'll see.
Well, it certainly isn't the sound I was expecting when I started the album. Sadly not really a sound I'm crazy about. It takes a very simple approach for a lot of the songs, but that just means a lot of the songs start out good then don't do anything to stick in my head. I will agree that the bass is very nice, and some of the songs remind me of other songs I do like (early Ministry comes to mind), but this really doesn't do it for me.
This isn't exactly what I was expecting for this album to sound like, but it did sound pretty cool. Not like, regularly music cool, more like a roller-coaster of emotions from something you can tell was made with a music video in mind to the Metroid soundtrack, but still very good.
I will not deny that the guitar on this album is obviously very ahead of it's time, but save for that, I don't really get the specialty. I think the album cover is more iconic than the music inside of it. Again though, guitar is great, and is really carrying this score itself.
This album grew on me as I listened to it, as my intial thoughts were more along of the lines of "they experimented so much they forgot to make an actual song". That being said, still don't think it's anything crazy. Every song is reverb effect, repeat a line for three minutes, add jungle noises. Like, I like some stuff, but even those often didn't turn into something I liked until too late, such as Bluish. Not to say the songs all sound the same, because they don't, but they do all have the same general formula that gets repetitive in one sitting. I do like how each how each song goes into the next, I'm a sucker for that stuff, but most of the songs don't stand on their own when needed.
I'm not exactly a fan of Van Morrison as a person, so I figured this album wouldn't be up my alley, especially since I kind of despise Brown Eyed Girl, but this album was okay. I recognized far more than I was expecting to, and the standout songs the other reviews are mentioning are as good as they say. It is mostly just "You know that guy who did Brown Eyed Girl? More of that", though.
The first album on here I've actually heard all the way through before this when I was going through all of ABBA's discography, but I'll listen to it again to freshen up my opinions. While not my favorite ABBA album, it is certainly up there. It's such a change up from usual tone of an album by the group, being far more open to minor keys and more "darker" subjects (not that the album is deeply psychological or anything), and I think it benefits from it. It certainly has that "final album" feel to it, which is why their new album, Voyage, is such a huge disappointment to me. Head Over Heels is a huge standout to me, which seems to not be the most popular song on here judging from other reviews, but I see it as a top five ABBA song easily. It's an album that shows ABBA is capable of a lot more than just generic pop like many seem to think it is. You can especially tell in the reviews who didn't bother to listen to the album (why bother rating it?) and who did. Oh well, very enjoyable. Perhaps not as good as I remember overall, as I don't return to listening to songs off this album as much as stuff like Voulez Vous, but still good.
Just enjoyable. Songs had a similar sound but changed it up enough for each song to be discernable, and the big change ups like the electronic focus in Electronic Renaissance was always nice. Nothing hugely amazing here, but would happily listen to the entire album again, and I'm looking forward to their other album on the 1001 list.
I originally knew Cornershop from Fatboy Slim's remix of "Brimful of Asha", and man was that all I ever needed of Cornershop. Every song here was just boring, with a weird mix of folky sound and dance music not meshing together really at all. It got to the point where every song I was just waiting for it to be over after like thirty seconds. Best song was Brimful of Asha, but as I said, no reason to listen to it when a better version is right there.
While I do think the album is indeed rather quite sad, I think that's hardly a reason to rank the album so sad. His voice is sometimes a tad droning, but it often works with the tune of the song, and it only heightens the emotions when his voice raises in pitch, it shows he really does view his writing as something worth sharing. I think if you view these songs as poetry first this really is an excellent album.
This is what I would think of if someone said "stereotypical rockabilly album", which isn't necessarily a good thing. I mean, I understand this type of album wasn't exactly common at the time, so I'll give it a couple bonus points there, but considering there are multiple other Costello albums to go, I'm not exactly revving to listen to more. I suppose I didn't dislike how it sounded, though, at least for now.
Man, I saw the amount of songs and that this was a punk album and got so worried I was gonna have a terrible time but boy was I wrong. This album rocks. Not every song is amazing but it all works so well together, and the amount of real topics mixed with just goofy shit makes this really enjoyable, and as others are saying, this is far funkier than any other punk I usually here. One of my favorite albums so far.
Man, this was not good. Not even anything here was interesting like the samples. I mean, they made the 007 theme boring. How?
Pretty cookie cutter rock. Well... perhaps not, as this is 1969, and I wouldn't say much rock sounded quite like this yet, just people started to sound like this. Nonetheless more interesting sounds already existed by then. The last song was pretty alright, but they ruined that by adding like five minutes that weren't necessary.
I relatively enjoyed my time with this album, but it was just pretty much 90s alternative rock, and nothing more than that. Nothing bad, but nothing absolutely remarkable either.
Just like the Neil Young I got before this, much of this album is exactly what I would expect from this. Not bad, not anything spectacular either, although I did enjoy it more than Young's solo stuff.
Well, I didn't hate this, but it really wasn't notable. Like stuff you'd hear on your local rock radio when it was feeling spicy and tired of other 90s rock.
I was suprised by how many songs I knew off of here, whether that be songs I knew as Johnny Cash songs or just didn't know were U2. Sadly, while I do like this more than Joshua Tree, still nothing I care for whatsoever. I just don't get the appeal of U2. I suppose at least everyone was right and they do sound different between albums. Not good, perse, but different, made it less monotonous.
Surprisingly good, but I should have expected that from an early 2000s rap album, they are always surprisingly good. Funky and every song flowed into the next so well. Really enjoyed my time, even if it was a little long.
Wow, this is not really soul, huh? I liked almost everything with this album except the main part, Cee-Lo's rapping. His voice just does not much what he is saying at all. The couple times he actually did sing were far better, but that was rare on this overly long album.
This album really peaked in the middle, with banger after banger, but the beginning and end felt a little same-y. Still very good though, glad to have finally listened to a full album by Jane's Addiction
When I saw this album I had never heard of last night my first thought was "three star at best", but alas, instead this is probably my favorite album so far. Amazing how an album I've never heard of by a band I've never heard of suddenly becomes one of my favorite things I've listened to in recent memory. Just excellent. The falsetto was a joy to listen to and the energy the album had really scratched that "weird but catchy" itch stuff like Oingo Boingo, Jack Stauber, and even David Bowie hit for me. And the fact this is almost fifty years old makes it all the more impressive.
I originally wasn't going to listen to this album, as it isn't available on my streaming service of choice, but I thought that was unfair to giving this a fair rating, especially after I liked the last Cohen album I got, and while I certainly don't regret listening, I don't know if this one had as much of an impact. It was hard to take some of the songs seriously with the Jaw Harp in the background, and while some songs were enjoyable (I particularly enjoyed Story of Isaac and what I believe is the most famous song from the album, The Partsian), a lot felt very similar to what I heard on the previous album of his. Obviously, for Cohen lyrics are the most important thing, as it's basically poetry, but it is hard to ignore the similarities, such as the quick picking of the guitar. It sounds good, don't get me wrong, but it's very similar. I suppose we'll see what the other Cohen albums choose to do, still got three more.
Hmm... I can't decide between 3 and 4 stars on this one. It was so incredibly haunting that it was interesting to tune into, and some songs were certainly a joy to hear for the first time, but others felt a little overly long. The last song I still can't decide if I liked or not because it would flip-flop between making me feel different things so much it's hard to pin down. I think I'm gonna give it the 4 stars purely because I can recognize the pure art behind it.
I did enjoy my time with this album, but sadly it was another case of a lot of songs almost doing what I want them to, but not quite hitting that mark. I did enjoy a lot of the actual musicality of it, and almost every instrument switching from speaker to speaker was a joy, but the lack of a lot lyrics sometimes made the songs blend together, and I have no clue how I feel about that last song.
I'd like to preface by saying I have no clue why this album is on this list. It's the most steretypical rock album I've ever heard. My only thought was that perhaps it was ahead of its time, but it's from '83, so if anything it's behind it's time, so I can only assume it's because of the former Mott the Hoople production that got it on here. Other than that the album is alright. It's not like it's a bad album, just a boring one. Like a boring early Alice Cooper album. I'm still gonna give it three stars because I did find myself sometimes bobbing my head or just enjoying it, and the vocals are different enough, I suppose. It's a very light three, though.
I started this album thinking it was gonna get a 2 star for being just kind of a standard R&B 2000s album, but god damn did this album do whatever it wanted. I really love how experimental it was. We've got rap, R&B, drum and bass, experimental techno, whatever you wanna call "!!!!!!!", and just a really experimental album. Was it perfect? No, everything that was safe wasn't that interesting, but I really love whenever it would do something weird, made it fun. That upper review that said something about hating rap obviously didn't listen to the album, because it's far more than that.
Really not a fan of live albums. I could see why this is a must listen to, but nothing really stuck out that made making it live any more important to it's musicality. Just a lot of screaming. My favorite song was the middle part of the medley for the fact that people would just let the man sing. Obviously he's having fun with the crowd, having them participate, but it's not that fun for the actual listener. Seems like I'd prefer an album by Brown that isn't live, huh?
In my experience listening to this album, it wasn't really anything all that notable. I wouldn't say the songs really sounded the same, but I wouldn't be able to tell you what any sounded like moments after the song ended. Nothing here was bad, but even the song I liked the most, "Jesus", wasn't anything too special. I can see why others may say differently, though.
I genuinely don't get it, and I tried not to let my already present disdain for Clapton bother me, as I do try to separate art from the artist when I can stomach it, but that didn't help this album. Every dong sounded like exactly what you expect it to, hardly anything stuck out, and when it did, it was because it was just notable how much worse the song was compared to the original. I just don't get it. Sucks, because 1974 was doing pretty good as a year so far, but this just felt like a compilation of songs you'd hear on the classic rock radio and forget as soon as they stopped playing. Not impressive at all, and doesn't really make me feel like "well at least his music is good".
I had obviously recognized the album cover and band name because of Smoke on the Water (which I will say right now is far too overrated when there are far better songs on this album alone), but I never knew too much past that. This was just seen in my eyes as "dad rock" through and through. This was alright, though. I mean, nothing spectacular (besides that guitar, all of the soloes were wonderful), but certainly nothing bad, save maybe Space Truckin'. There were some times where songs genuinely surprised me with their quality, and I don't regret listening in. Will I be adding Deep Purple into my band rotation? No, probably not, but I still enjoyed it, in a middle of the road, one time romp, sort of a way.
Most of this album was pretty mediocre, and felt almost like a more pop-y R.E.M., but I did enjoy some songs when they decided to change it up, and the last song was really quite good. I think the album would've benefited from more soft spoken songs such as that one. Other than that pretty middle of the road.
This album was just nothing for me. It blended into the background really well once it started, and it only had me start listening a couple times throughout the album. Did I hate it? No, but the only situation I could imagine actually liking it is in the middle of playing something like Gran Turismo, otherwise I can't imagine dancing, or just listening to this.
I can't stand most 90s alternative British rock, other than Radiohead (yes that includes Oasis), so before I heard of this album I thought it would just add to the pile, but this was pretty great. A lot are mentioning influences like Oasis and Beatles, and while I do hear that, all I could think during was actually Smashing Pumpkins. Not only in his voice, but being able to rock out then reel it back in to really give the album some nuance. Not every song is a banger or anything, but this was still really enjoyable, and the last few songs were absolutely fantastic.
The beginning of this album had me worried, as while I don't mind talk-singing, it didn't exactly sound great in the first song, and then the second song was mostly instrumental, but it wasn't interesting instrumental. Luckily, the third song, Mama Roux, was actually pretty enjoyable, and I enjoyed my time with the rest of the album. I don't know if I think it's anything all too special. Even if this was 1968, I'm sure plenty of other artists were making music such as this, as it's obviously inspired by such. Forgive my ignorance if that's not true, though. But yeah, okay. Perhaps I'll revisit this album sometime to see if my views become more positive, as I could see it doing that.
You can definitely hear Brian Eno in this album, especially in the instrumental focused second half, but that definitely isn't a negative. Considering almost every vocal focused song is an absolute delight while a lot of the non-verbal songs are good at driving emotion as well, this is a quite good album, although I will admit the second half is less interesting overall. Not the best Bowie album but still excellent, because, well, it's David Bowie. This is a high, HIGH four stars.
Starting this album, I really didn't get it, as it just seemed like Pacific Rock from the era, and not much more, but the second half of the album, starting with Thoughts of You, really changed the album into something that felt a lot more impactful. His voice seemed like it genuinely meant what it was singing, and the musicality really showed through from that forward. It felt like the first part was like "Yeah, I was the Beach Boys, but these are my true musical abilities. It's a shame that he died so young and couldn't have a flourishing career, I truly think it would've only gotten better.
While I'm not as attached to this album as some others seem to be, I cannot deny that this album is excellent, or at the very least has excellent songs. Some of it is a little steretypical rock for my taste, but stuff like Stairway to Heaven and Black Dog are famous for a reason. No, the big surprise for me was the quieter song Going To California. I've never heard anyone talk about this song before, and it's probably my favorite. It's just so nice and calming, while still definitively having that Led Zeppelin flair. Almost reminds me of what I've heard from Zeppelin III coming into one perfect song. Album was great as a whole, though, not perfect, but deserves it's recognition.
Just kind of a punk album. A lot of it blended together for me, and while I didn't dislike it, I couldn't tell you much about most of it. Some songs were definitely better than others. Pretty much a straight down the middle sort of album.
I don't think I'm much of a Prince fan. This is the first of his albums I've listened to in it's entirety, and while there were a couple songs I liked, a lot of songs felt like filler. Really the whole album felt like a filler album, and that's a shame. I thought giving Prince a proper shot would change my thoughts on his music.
I actually know this album pretty well, as my mother would play it constantly as I grew up. Despite now questioning if this was the best lineup of songs for a child to be listening to, this album is excellent. The song has a great presence of punk that a lot of folk "punk" bands miss. It certainly feels just like raw emotions, and sounds good doing it. Are the lyrics questionable? Absolutely, but I'd say not understanding that that's the point would be a major disservice to this album. Every song just knows exactly what beats to hit when needed, and ending on a slower, melancholy note really wraps it all up. Just wonderful.
Far better than expected. I'm more familiar with Chicago's later work, and while 25 or 6 to 4 is an absolutely excellent song, the more and more ballads the less and less interesting. Luckily, this album had none of that, it was just excellent Big Band/Funk/Rock all around that also had some unexpected very experimental sound. I enjoyed the first half more than the second half, but it was all good, and if Jimi Hendrix thinks the guitar sounds good, then you're doing something right. Now if only the songs didn't go on so long sometimes. Not like they're repetitive, they certainly earn there length most of the time, but it makes it hard to imagine wanting to listen to them again when half of them are twice or even three times as long as the average song.
When I first got the album I wasn't interested, then I looked into it and became interested, but being done with it I was right to be uninterested. Was it bad? No, but a lot of the songs never really went anywhere for me. I'll use Radiohead as an example as Yorke does appear on this album, but a lot of their songs build up to a climax of some sort that's satisfying. This album does not do that making a lot of songs feel similar and not notable. The songs featuring Yorke were the best and the more calm paced songs came out better than any rock heavy song, but still not really anything notable.
Van Morrison should really stick with the horns section he rarely uses. It always sounds the best of all his songs. Sadly he instead thinks aimless guitar playing a yell talking counts as music and just bad poetry with annoying sound.
Just amazing really. The album may be short with it's amount of songs, but when the "worst" song on here is better than most other songs, you know you have created something basically perfect. I just adore this.
Relaxing, and the first album I feel asleep to, which no other album has even come close when I try. Not much actually notable about each song though.
This was actually one of the first albums I ever listened to all the way through without interruption, so I suppose you could say it holds a place in my heart of some kind. I mean, obviously it's a double album, but it's crazy how many memorable songs are on this album. 1979, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Zero, We Only Come Out At Night, Lily, and many more. It's just a really fantastic grunge album that has a lot of variety. I admittedly seem to like the first part more than the second part, but both have great songs and are a joy to listen to. Getting some good albums lately, can't wait for another line of stinkers.
Yet another case of a lot of songs on one album just not quite doing what I want it to do. That may be due to its short run time for a lot of the songs, but often they'd have a good backbone (especially with that bass) then just repeat it rather than building it. I know that's kind of how punk generally goes, but it's still disappointing. It did get better as the album went on, but it was still just okay by the end.
When the album started I was gonna be one of those people going against the pack, as with the first couple songs I didn't understand the more than four star average rating, but as the album went on I understood it a whole lot more, especially the last couple songs. Obviously Franklin's voice is magnificent, but as the album went on instruments came in to compliment the voice rather than just copy it and it became a nuch fuller album. Not perfect because of those first few songs, but I do get it now.
The nicest thing I can say about this album is it certainly sounds different, but that still isn't a compliment. It sounds like they took all the Samsung ringtones no one ueses because they sound weird and made beats out of them, but squeaker and more repetitive.
Man, horny 90s R&B is gotta be one of the worst genres, so in comparison, this is... better? Still not very good... Some of this album sounds good but then I actually listen to the lyrics and I start wondering how anyone can take this seriously, or at the very least not get uncomfortable, but most of the time the songs boil down to the same thing, slow beat, and lyrics about fucking at night. Nothing much else to see here. I've also now had to listen to two different versions of "If I Was Your Girlfriend" because of this website now, and that song wasn't really worth more than the one try, didn't really need a lesser cover. Can't decide between 1 and 2 star, but gonna lean towards 2 star for the sake of not seeming overly hateful.
I'm going to just go out and say I always thought this album was far too overrated. I mean, obviously there are some excellent songs on here that defy expectations of what a "pop" song can do, but then you have songs like "Fixing A Hole" that just come off as awkwardly paced and boring. I just always felt this was the worst of latter half of The Beatles musical career, and that includes Yellow Submarine and Let It Be, and that Magical Mystery Tour was just a better version of this album. Now, it sounds like I hate this alblum, but of course, a less than average Beatles record is still better than most albums in all of the history of music, and this album is no exception. A Day In the Life is fantastic, She's Leaving Home really shows that Paul just excels in more than just "silly love songs" and the beginning of the album until Fixing A Hole is hit after hit, really showing how important this album is. I view this album as an important stepping stone as to what we would see in the future, but doesn't quite hit that mark for me to be a perfect album.
I just don't think PJ Harvey is really my style. This is now my second album by her and while I did enjoy this one more than the previous one I received, this one still felt like not quite something I was dying to encounter in my life. I don't think it digs hard enough into it's anger for my taste, but again, I did enjoy this enough, felt more grungy and less simple alternative rock. Perhaps this one will grow on me.
Picture this: I start the album, and am greeted with a sick drum and guitar combo, I'm thinking this will be another Minutemen situation where I get a funky punk album I enjoy a lot. Now picture that all being ripped away ten seconds later, when the song completely changes to some folk punk that pales in comparison to bands like R.E.M. and Violent Femmes. The album isn't awful, but it never feels like it commits to the style, which I get would be a highlight, the variety, but despite this all the songs still blend together and only when that funky sound starts to bleed out does it get a little better, but nothing ever hits that high that those first ten seconds explore.
Similar to my last Stooges album, Raw Power, I didn't think all that much of this one. It was full of manic energy and most of the songs were pretty blood pumping, but most of them also felt more like live renditions of songs, with lots of noise but not much back bone. Works in a setting where you're jamming in some sort of crowd, but not sitting and listening in an office or car, like many are when they listen. Just can't see myself choosing this over different energy filled songs when I'm in the mood.
I saw electronic album and figured I'd be in for a bad time, but the year did give me some hope, and hey, this was far better than I expected! It did something a lot of later electronic albums seem to forget as time goes on, which is to actually do something with your time. If you're going to take up ten minutes of my time, at least have it go somewhere, and this one did, at least moreso than expected. Was it a little goofy sounding at parts? Yes, but in a good way, really feeding into itself. My only wish is that some of the parts were split up a little more. Not removed, but split up, as I really enjoyed the first half of Part 5, but the second half wasn't quite my thing, and it also had a pretty big change, like it was supposed to be two parts but they kept it one to have less parts. Overall, surprisingly good, and if people are comparing this to Eno, then I have hopes when I get to his ambient stuff.
A lot of songs on this album give off the feeling like they're building up to an absolute breakdown that would be in place in the cutscene of a video game before a boss fight, but that "boss fight" music never comes. If not that than it's just basic bossa nova. None of it is bad, just elevator music with flare, and I generally like "elevator music". I also think it's funny many are saying it gets better as it goes but some of the later songs made me laugh out loud at how ridiculous they sound.
I thought this one would be a little more definitively four star than it is, but it dtill earns it. Most of the songs are high quality and enjoyable, I'd just say some of them go on a little longer than needed. I do understand why the big songs from this album like Ex-Factor are the big songs, though. The skits at the end of some of the songs are cute and don't hurt the songs they are attached to like I was led to believe. Just a more solid than average 90s R&B. This should be the album getting the praise for this genre, not crazysexycool.
It's very obvious this album is meant to be listened to with a sound system where you can hear all of the instruments and sounds blend together. The issue is that as an album, it's usually preferential to build an album out of that, but still make it good without that necessity. This album, without that help, is boring. It is not terrible by any stretch of the imagination, and I could understand liking these songs when you know them well, but nothing sticks. I wiuld struggle to tell you one thing about any of these songs once they're over. They usually have a good hook that never goes far enough to be catchy or interesting on a casual listen. Obviously an album can just be intended as a high art form where you listen from start to end with the best equipment, and that's the only way to listen, but that's hard to expect on a casual level. Again though, I did not HATE this album, there were parts I enjoyed, it just feels like something that went in one ear and out the other. I feel as though I'm being more aggressive than I am feeling, so it's gonna go right in the middle at three stars to show it is the perfect "this exists and is alright" album.
I have no clue how to feel about this album. First off, Ye, or Kanye West, is a certified crazy asshole. He always has been, and looking up to him for his personality, is questionable. That being said, after listening to this, I understand why this is some big event in rap and even in other genres. This album definitely sounds different than anything releasing at the time, and the sampling is easily the best part of the whole album in my opinion, which is actually one of my gripes with songs like Stronger from his earlier album. It has an energy to it where even songs I'm not liking get me enjoying it, it knows how to be a good album, and I cannot deny that. I do think it comes off a little egotistical, however. Both in the lyrics, which is expected, but also in the sound. A nine minute song where the beginning is single piano keys for the first bit? That doesn't come off as musically impressive, it comes off as full of yourself and thinking you can do whatever and people will call it art, and that's ehat people did. It's just so many pros and cons I gotta but it right down the middle. I will say the idea people found King Crimson through this album makes me happy.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME TWO KANYE ALBUMS IN A ROW?!! I see much more negative reviews on this one than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, yet this has the same issues that one seemed to have for me, so I suppose we'll see. Okay, just listened, and man this is a step down, at least for me. I will say the pros is songs still get you enjoying them in the moment, so he still succeeds there, but nothing here sticks with me, and the production has not increased, in fact I'd say stuff like rather than clever samples and an orchestral sound we have this screech-y electronic sound with way too much autotune. Can I hear modern rap in this album? Absolutely, but not a compliment. It also feels worse as we go. Some of these lyrics are also pretty hilariously bad. This is Eminem's level of pun cheesiness for some of these. Just as self indulgent, but I don't see why this album gets that critique and not his other albums. I just don't know what to say. This is alright at best, aggravating at worst, but at the end of the day this was just unnotable. Perhaps if I was very into rap at the time of this release I would of seen the revolution being played, but all I hear is songs made out of dog barks are the drills in the car repair shop while a sex obsessed narcissist knows he can say whatever and will get a perfect score and millions of sales. Yet, I struggle to give this a 1 star. Truly an anomaly. I think it will indeed fall into that 1 star category though. I think fleeting memories of Kanye's work I do like will suffice for me.
Wait, the album with Hungry Like the Wolf, the most overrated 80s pop song of all time, is not only good, but really fucking good? The bass is so suprisingly funky, and not at all scared to hide it, unlike a lot of other songs in pop. Everything has such a good energy to it I was tapping my fee the whole way through. Man, and I thought I disliked Duran Duran. Time to give them a chance. Only dropping it to a four because the songs do tend to go on a little long, and as I said earlier, Hungry Like the Wolf is just straight up not very good in my opinion. But it's a high 4.
Okay, I saw electronic and 2000, and braced for at best a two star, but this is nothing like other electronic music! The consistent vocals and more ambient tone really made me feel like I was listening to a calmer song in Radiohead or Muse's discography, rather than repetitive dance music with no clear goal. Songs weren't overly long and I just really enjoyed a lot of this. Songs were similar but not repetitive, and it was just excellent all around. Super shocked by this one.
Man, this has the set up to be a good album, I like the instrumentation, and this feels like something I'd like, but that voice. I understand the back story and it's "unfortunate" (although it worked out for her so I suppose it isn't all bad) but the voice rivals Springsteen in annoying. It's comparable to if Nina Simone's voice was shakey and awkward rather than powerful and soulful. It just isn't enjoyable to listen to. I mean, it could be worse, none of the songs were bad per se, but they weren't good either. The best song was the final song, as her voice far more complicated the very harsh tone, but even that tacked on one or two minutes that really didn't feel the need to be there.
Just to be safe I listened to both all of the main songs and the songs marked "(Religious Overtones)" included with the version of the album on YouTube Music. I promise you, however, that these songs do not sway my opinion of the album. This album just is not good in my opinion. Was it good in the mid-50s? Perhaps, but it isn't enjoyable now. A lot of my issue with modern country is it falls into stereotypes rather than pushing boundaries, and that's something I always liked about the country greats like Johnny Cash. Sadly, it seems this album leans more into the "falling into stereotypes" side of things. Lots of songs are tragic, so the title of the album fits, but that doesn't stop them from being repetitive and almost whiney at points. As another review pointed out, a lot of the harmonies you would expect from a duo, are near non-existent, with both brothers just singing in the same tune for a majority of the album. The guitar playing is also very ho-hum. I did enjoy the (I believe) mandolin that snuck its way in there at points, but it hardly seemed to do more than lead into said ho-hum guitar playing. At best the album was boring and inoffensive, but at worst it was hard to listen to and somehow made three minute songs feel longer than five. If these two are number four on Rolling Stones' twenty best musical duos, I hate to see what's 5-20.
Best part about these older albums is how short the songs are. Makes them far more digestible. This album seems to definitely have some iconic riffs in it, as often a song would start then I would recognize it moments later. Issue is that you never expect these riffs to be a small part of another two to three minutes. I mean, nothing overstays it's welcome, but nothing is extremely notable either, past the before mentioned riffs.
Oh Prog Rock, the only genre where I see 10 minute songs and think "Cool!". Also, I didn't expect a band I know for much poppier sounds and members who make, again, much poppier sounds, to make such a banger of a prog album. Each song is super enjoyable and always keeps you invested, long or short. I wasn't expecting to love this album so much but each song brought something to the table I thoroughly enjoyed, and brings you back in pretty quickly if it starts to slip. Shame I got this album today when I just saw a vinyl for it yesterday; would definitely of bought it had I known.
As far as Bruce Springsteen's discography is concerned, this is my favorite of his I've heard so far, but that still isn't saying it's anything special to me. His voice is still harder to enjoy than praise, and while some of the inclusions of things like saxophone do heighten the experience, a lot of it just feels like that classic rock 'n' roll your great uncle would play at the family BBQ, rather than something to actually rock out to.
This was okay. It kind of reminded me of Jack Johnson's music. You know, the guy who did that one song for Curious George. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the best part of this album was the instrumental songs, as their sound was far more up my alley. Weird that this guy was in The Jam, from what I've heard this is nothing really like that.
This is an interesting situation for me, as my streaming service of choice does not have this album in full, so I had to go out of my way to watch a YouTube video with the full thing. Sadly, this is a little disappointing. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good, but I had pretty high expectations, as I quite enjoy what I've heard from Supertramp (and that's more than just The Logical Song, I swear), but this was just an alright album. Perhaps it was my inability to listen at a higher streaming quality, but it felt often like something that was almost there, but often went in the wrong direction for my tastes. Again, still above average, but I was hoping to walk away with an eye opening prog experience, especially after the suprise that was Selling England By the Pound, but it just felt like decent music, and nothing more.
While I've never really dived into the solo career of either Simon or Garfunkel, I do have some songs from both of their times apart from each other, mostly Simon, so I was cautiously optimistic of this album, and while this does indeed sound like Paul Simon, I don't fully understand what makes this more notable than any of his other work. Perhaps because it sounds more folky than most stuff releasing in '83? I just didn't see too much from this to be more than a three star.
If I had one genre that I actually can't find much to like about it, it would be pop country, and this album is just that. It isn't as egregious as what you may hear on half of the radio stations available while you're driving in the middle of nowhere, but it still really isn't good for me. Country is built a lot on the stories the lyrics tell, but none of these songs feel any more interesting than what you could hear on something in any other song, and the instruments, while I suppose "soothing" are repetitive. That country twang can only be added to so many songs before I start to become numb to it, and then it goes from being annoying to boring, both things you don't want your music to be. Could I see why people may like this? Perhaps, and it's year of release was around the time when country music was starting to transition from more of a blues and folk focus to something more like what it is today, so this is probably for that "revolution" in music, but I just don't enjoy it. If you don't like country music, this does nothing to win you over, but it's certainly not the worst album I've gotten, and the last two songs on the album show some hint of something that could be good. Too little too late, however.
This was alright, and it was interesting to hear R.E.M.'s origins, but it wasn't super notable to me. His voice hasn't really developed into what it's recognizable for, and it makes it stand out less. There's some good songs on here, but also some that don't stand out. Basically one step forward one step back the whole time. Still good, just hoping for more from later R.E.M. albums.
This was pretty alright. I mean, the lyrics haven't aged well, and some of the back beats are a little grating. But for everything I didn't like was something I did like. The amount of featured artists was astonishing and kept it fresh, and how apmost every song flowed right into the next was a feat I don't know if I have heard to this extent outside of something like a prog rock album. I probably won't come back to this anytime soon, and the lack of it being on any proper streaming service is a pain, but I did enjoy my time. It did go on a tad long, and with other things I'm gonna put it right down the middle at a 3.
Wow, I was not expecting this! How is this from the 90s? Let alone considered pop? Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but this never what I would picture if you said that. The voice is absolutely magnificent, and the orchestral backing is gorgeous. Are some of the lyrics a little cheesy? Sure, but I don't care, it sounds amazing, and while this isn't technically an "album", so maybe it shouldn't be on this list, but I'm so glad it is. Fantastic. Reminds me a lot of Nick Cave.
Recently my partner got this album, so it's fresh in my mind. Unlike my partner, however, who didn't like it quite finish to push it into the five star category, I think it clears the bar. Each song has this feeling of what made early 2000s rock sound really good, before it became to homogenized and relatively safe by the mid-2010s, and I'll say while the lyrical content isn't usually too crazy, songs like Michael feel very ahead of their time in discussing a topic like it does. Then there is of course the crown jewel, Take Me Out. Everyone knows this song and for good reason, the slowdown with the tempo absolutely makes it a bop-and-a-half, and that technical quality is through the whole album. This album and Is This It by the Strokes really felt like they formed the alternative rock genre into something amazing, and while it may have crumbled a bit, I still can't deny this album's quality and importance. It helps that it holds up. Two 5 star albums in a row, let's keep it up generator!
I enjoyed this quite a bit, although I do find the "longer" songs near the end started to drag the feeling of the album a bit, even if they were still telling compelling enough stories. I would understand why some would not like the song structure in Mitchell's vocals, often going for whatever, whenever, but I actually really enjoy it, with the falsettos often being placed in a way that make them satisfying rather than annoying. Just a solid album, but not perfect.
A serious contender for the best album of all time. I have heard this entire album plenty of times and hear the songs present often, and while I have pages I could write about the amount of amazement this album holds within, I worry that this may have a word limit, and so I will keep it brief in saying this is just immaculately made, and while nothing here is my favorite Beatles' song, many come close. Perhaps not my favorite Beatles' album, but easily the best, and no matter what a 5 star. One of the few albums that deserves the overwhelming amount of praise it gets.
Well, I didn't expect this to be as hard to decide what to rate as it did. I figured it would either be a case where I only liked Master of Puppets and the rest was boring (I already have had run ins with Battery and Sanitarium and I still think those are boring), but the songs I had never heard are suprisingly good. In an almost cruel twist all the best songs are the long ones, while the shorter ones almost always seem too long. Basically the whole album is high highs, such as the absolute fantastic guitar, and lows such as the honestly very subpar singing, which wouldn't be that big of deal but it usually makes up half of the songs run time (seriously, Orion was a godsend and a nice break before the finale), and for whatever reason the band acts as though it's just as important as the musicality, when obviously the instruments were the most impressive. It does feel far better though then the Metallica output nowadays, where they actually seemed like they cared about the music and not just because they were THE metal band. I'm just all over the place here with thoughts, and I'm gonna smack it right down the middle of the rating system, but my thoughts here feel more conflicted than a star system can really express. All I know is that as this was Cliff Burton's last album, I wish his bass playing showed through more. Throw a bass solo in there, you were willing to back in your debut! It almost feels like they're hiding it in audio remasters, but perhaps my listening apparatus of choice for this album is at fault.
The first song was okay. For two minutes. Then the next song was okay, for one minute. It didn't recover after that until the end of the last song, which I wasn't really enjoying after the four minutes I had to get through first. He sounded like Bob Dylan, but they music was just straight boring, and at times not good.
This one is interesting because you can still hear the bluesy influence in some of these songs, something that definitely phased out as the albums went on. Sadly, that isn't a great thing in my book, as blues isn't exactly my favorite genre. This album was alright, and I think Babe I'm Gonna Leave You may be my favorite rock-centric Led Zeppelin song I've heard, but a lot of this album felt it went on quite a bit longer than needed, despite it's small amount of songs. And while the guitar and vocals were excellent, sometimes there was just too much empty space, due to the blues influence mentioned earlier. Overall an alright album, but you can definitely tell Led Zeppelin only got better with time, at least in my opinion!
I am not looking forward to this. Scumbag who already makes middling music any way? I would just skip it, but if I listened to Kanye I should probably listen to this. What, the guy who made music like this is a terrible person? Color me shocked! I was actually thinking about a two star with this one, as I didn't mind some small parts of some small songs, and the production value is pretty good. It reeks of 90s, which if that's your thing, then here you go. But then it just kept going on and on, with no song really feeling that different from each other. Whoa, he screams a bit, then at the end of the song various background noises start happening that are supposed to be eerie and uncomfortable to listen to? It judt becomes mind numbing by song number 9. Issue is the album then goes on almost double that. I also soley blame this album for the people who have "no lives matter" bumper stickers on their 2003 Honda Accord, as if they think they're edgy. All of that plus Mairlyn Mandon himself makes this a pretty definitive one star. God I hate Nu Metal.
I feel as though I'm betraying myself a little bit, but I'm actually struggling between a 4 and a 5 star on this one. Obviously those are both good scores, but I figured going in this would be an easy 5 star. However, once actually listening I do have some faults, such as despite most of the songs being relatively short, it does go on a little long, making the "oomph" of the music lose it's touch near the end, and some songs just aren't very notable and blend together. I think I'm going to have to go with the idea this is a very high 4 star, but not quite that 5 star material. Perhaps one of the other White Stripes albums on here.
Huh, I disliked this more than I thought I was going to. I knew southern rock wasn't really my thing, but even though musically it's impressive, it's also pretty boring. Non of the songs really stick out that much, other than perhaps Proud Mary (but that's because I already knew it), and the yell singing done by the singer even starts to get a little grating. None of it was BAD per se, just not interesting or my thing.
Wow, this album I have never heard of in my life sure does have a lot of accolades, huh? Guess we'll see if it lives up to it all, but I have a sneaking suspicion it won't. It indeed did not, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Perhaps on a bad day this would be getting a one star, but I didn’t particularly hate anything, and the rest of the album was so nothing for me that the bluesy sounding song, a genre I generally don't like, was actually pretty alright. No clue why this is deemed so important in the world of music though, and that first song reeks of 80s, but not in the good way like new wave, but in the bad way, like "oh this is why music changed so much in the 90s".
This album rocked pretty hard. The sampling and the back beats were extremely satisfying, and sampling themselves and news stations talking about them is a novel idea that works really well here. Plus the topics being way ahead of their times on ideals, despite the controversy one of the former members was apart of at the time, which is unfortunate. Album is only getting a 4 because it does lose the momentum it had gained as the album goes on, making the later songs feel a little unnecessary, but this album was still an absolute joy. Probably my favourite rap album I've had so far, and excited for the other Public Enemy record on the list.
Wait, I actually like Iron Maiden? Like I thoroughly enjoyed this? But this is the band your one uncle (you know the one) likes. Am I become that uncle? Oh no. Any way, this was super good, and I loved the energy. Some of the songs fell a little flat, and with an album this short that's more of a hindrance than normal, but it starts super strong and stays strong on most of the songs, making it really enjoyable. Not perfect by any means, but still shockingly good.
Man, this is extremely sexist, but I can't help but enjoy it? Perhaps it's because I know by the next album the Beastie Boys were apologizing for the lyrical content of this album, but even after listening to stuff like the Chronic and the Marshal Mathers LP, this one feels even more apparent than those, even though it definitely comes off as more delinquent-y in this album than those. Just something to note before I praise the rest of the album. The absolute joy the (albeit cheesy) lyrics, the flow between the three, and the samples/beats really bringing it all together makes it super clear why this album is so important to rap, especially for the era. I could totally see comparing this to anything modern and laughing (as I said, it's almost childlike in it's attitude), but it really adds to the whole mood. Not to mention how many lyrics here I reference without even thinking about it constantly, just because they stick in your head so easily. My only fault here as mentioned before is the lyrical content, but it's such a stellar groundwork for more Beastie Boys albums to come that it certainly won't keep me up at night. It's also extremely good at blending genres, bringing in a lot of hard rock influences that I can only assume helped the album really take off, being the first rap album to be on the billboard top 200. I don't think this is my favorite rap album (I don't think it's even my favorite Beastie Boys album), but it certainly is very good. Very, very high 4 star. Would get a 5 if not for lyrics and perhaps not changing quite enough near the end (they kind of use all of there metal influences in one fell swoop in the middle). Both of these I think will be addressed in the other albums by them on this list.
Well, this should certainly help my jazz and 50s score, as I enjoyed this quite a bit! I knew I actually quite enjoyed jazz in the right style, and this more big band approach is definitely more up my alley. Each song pops so much and it's really appreciated how Count Basie let's his whole orchestra speak rather than taking the limelight like some other jazz artists I hear, it makes it feel like a full group. It does suffer from songs being hard to differentiate, especially at the beginning, but in the middle and end it tries to fix that a bit. I also don't usually judge an album on being an "album", as not every album is meant to be a concept album, but this one also does just feel like a collection of songs taped together, which while expected of the 50s, does still drag it down a little. Just a suprisingly enjoyable album, although unsure what kind of mood I'll have to be in to listen to most of this again. Not exactly driving or chilling music, and I don't dance. The last song may be good sunny day walk music, but as it's snowy where I am, may have to wait a little on that.
Huh, this wasn't quite what I was expecting, but also exactly fits? If that makes sense. I think this album was pretty in the middle. For the pros: the way each song is connected is phenomenal, it really makes it feel like such a tightly brought together album, despite the slight change in genres every now and then. The instrumentals are also pretty incredible, and I'd almost say this would really work as an instrumental album in it's entirety, but I'm guessing that's not what got this album such a high average score. As for "negatives", while his voice is impressive, I don't find it very notable, and it actually makes a lot of tracks a bit more of a lull. I also seem to be missing what makes this so important? Yeah, it sounds good, but it just sounds like a 2019 rendition of a style many albums throughout the decades have done just as well. I also don't understand how this won "best rock album", it's not really rock whatsoever, but that isn't this list's fault. It's hard to put into words my issues, but I don't see the fantastic album here. It's alright, and I can see why it's on this list, but I don't take much away from this as a whole. More power to those who did get something from this though, it's gotta have that high score for a reason.
Okay, I'll admit, maybe I'm just uncultured and don't know what I'm talking about, but this was awful. It isn't exactly "modern" pop (over a decade old!), but it sure feels like exactly why people say they don't like modern music. The ideas behind the album are in good faith, and the messages are okay, but the songs all sound pretty same-y, both in sound and in lyrics, and an over reliance on a heavy bass sound rather than any actual instruments really drags the songs down. This album also goes on far too long, with as I said, half the songs feeling like alternate versions of previous songs. Most of the featuring artists felt useless and in the background, usually in an annoying capacity (such as Drake's feature). The last song was sweet and probably my favorite on the album, but it didn't really recover the album at all. Just like Kanye West's "Yeezus", this may have changed pop music, but that isn't necessarily a good thing.
Oh, awesome, modern pop country, my ffffaaaavvoooorrriiittteee. I'd first like to say I'm under the belief lyrics, while important to a song, are usually a backseat compared to the instrumentation, otherwise it would just be poetry. That being said, the lyrics in this are awful. When they're not cheesy they're just bad. "In Tennessee, the sun's goin' down, but in Bejing, they're headin' out to work", what the fuck does that mean? What does that have to do with this love song? Yeah, timezones exist, good job Kacey. It doesn't even rhyme within the song, which I would excuse as an artistic choice, except the very next two lines rhyme with each other, so obviously it wasn't that. There's other examples all throughout the album, but when your first song has a lyric that makes me burst out laughing, you probably don't have the keen-est sense of writing, and there's probably a reason most pop singers don't write their own music anymore. Another thing is the actual choice of genre itself. It's pop country with light sprinklings of more electronic-esque genres, but that isn't used in any interesting capacity, they just usually are either a light backing track that aren't notable enough to talk about, or start the song, hoping one of these songs will actually sound different, before switching back to pop country about five seconds later. This pop country is also aggravating. It's the worst of country, never really committing to the genre, which is fine by me because modern country is pretty awful in my mind, but I agree this is more pop music than anything. Bad pop music, that is, because none of this has the goal of pop music, which is to be catchy, and I don't remember these songs two seconds after they end. How do you make a song called "Space Cowboy" boring? Or "Velvet Elvis"? There's just really nothing here I enjoy whatsoever, and the amount of modern pop albums I could understand being on here compared to this makes this even worse. Is it as bad as a male lead vocal modern country song? No, it isn't about trucks and beer, it can attempt something more interesting, it just doesn't stick the landing whatsoever.
I've never spent the time to really listen to Rush, but my significant other considers them their favorite band, so I've been exposed to various songs by them for years now. So, after finally giving one of their albums a full listen, I've got to say I'm super impressed. I mean, it was slightly in good standings already, as I knew Tom Sawyer, YYZ, Limelight, and to a lesser extent Red Barchetta, which makes up more than half the album (number of songs wise), but I enjoyed the stuff I didn't know as well. I will say none of the songs really hit me with a strong feeling like other Prog Rock songs do (other than YYZ, that song has always, and will always, be one of my favorite instrumental pieces), but it was still all super solid and it's hard to say an album is anything but a five star when each song is good. It's a light five star, as I don't think the new songs will stick with me unless I give them a few more listens on my own time, but still a very good album I'm happy to have heard.
This was pretty good, although since it's very, VERY obviously meant to be dance music, it doesn't really jive with most of the other albums on this list and how you may listen to those. Some of the instrumental songs become background noise only a minute in, and the songs with vocals, save for one or two, are usually very simplistic. Again, this is all exactly the point in the context of the album, but I can't see myself listening to most of this in any moment of my life, other than a random shuffle. Still good enough to get into the four star range, but this is really in it's own category.
Wow, I was worried at first, but as thw album just went on I loved it more and more, then I went back and I loved the songs I was initially questioning, and the whole album really clicked for me. It's really interesting, as I hear the 60's sound people say they here, but I also hear some music that would come from the 90's britpop era, but like, not bad? It's hard to explain, but I encourage if you think this album was close to clicking with you, listen again, it was really lovely, and I think this album is great. Can be a tad whiney at times in the vocals, but it doesn't detract past a small part of a song near the beginning.
I absolutely adore Darlene Love's voice, it's magnificent, and I assume that's why of all the songs on here, hers are the ones I know the best. Sadly I'm not as crazy for the rest of the album. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), specifically this version, is one of my favorite songs. It's a shame it's produced by a murderer, but considering he doesn't actually sing in any of these (although he does talk like a weasel near the end) and it doesn't detract from the album. I think I would've adored this with just Love, but instead we'll have to keep it in the middle. Still pretty good for a Christmas album, I'd say. Also, again, very funny, giving this on Christmas. It's like the Queen Is Dead all over again.
Suprisingly good, but I did know Kendrick was this amazing rapper, and I even planned to listen to Pimp A Butterfly in my own time at some point, but since this came up before that, I get to experience this first. I think it's funny how many people say these lyrics are "offensive" in the review, as if this isn't an autobiographical album. Media literary isn't people's strong suit, I guess, but considering one of the one stars gave the Kid Rock album a 5, I don't know if that's all there is to it. Any way, I just found this to be a really good album. The flow on a lot of the raps were super satisfying, and the stories they tell are far more engaging than most other rap albums in my opinion. I don't think every song lands, and the longer songs do stretch a little thin, but things are still top notch. I will admit, I was not ready for the beginning of m.A.A.d. city to unlock memories of Vine, so that was weird.
Y'know, I look at this album after listening and think how much of an album this is in the "walk by without thinking about listening" spectrum, which is really a shame, because the contents inside are excellent. The violin's ability to go from scretching to being absolutely gorgeous at a moments notice, or the piano appearing sporadically to aid with the Vibraphone's more mellow sound, or the bandoneon really partnering with everything else to create this great album. Yes, the songs do go on a tad long, and I could understand why someone may find this more boring than anything, but just listening to the wide range of emotions really lets this one spread it's wings and be absolutely fantastic. Perhaps not music for a Sunday drive or a workout, but music for the point of listening.
Ah, yes, the album that I knew before I knew anything about rap or hip hop culture, while I didn't know it was all the way from back in 1994, I knew when seeing the album that it was important. And... it was okay. Kind of boring? Like, the flow with wach verse was crisp, but I wasn't extremely engaged with the words being said by halfway through, and a lot of the beats were simple. I could understand how this stripped down production could still be enjoyable, but this really does feel like "90's Rap Album" without much more to read into. The album is still alright, but not much more than above average.
Damn, I really am gonna become THAT uncle; first I enjoy Iron Maiden, and now I think this was pretty good too. I do have a few problems with this album to keep it from that five star, though. First, some songs do tend to blend together, especially in the middle. Axl Rose's voice, while impressive in range, can get a little annoying when he is doing his higher range, and finally Paradise City. Just in general a bad song in my opinion. So, just a pretty good album with some issues, which I suppose is exactly what I expect from late 80's hard rock. Slash's guitar playing is crazy for a (famous) debut such as this. Sure, the hits from this album are annoying now, but it's still crazy the amount of songs from this one album that get that treatment. Even the big boys don't get that
While I'm not a fan of blues as a genre, and this did not change my mind in anyway, it was more enjoyable than the average blues album for me. I really liked how snappy it was, never really lasting longer than necessary, and the crowd wasn't annoying like some other live albums. I just think this was an alright album that is dragged down by my dislike of the genre, pretty much putting it right in the middle.
I completely understand how important Buddy Holly is to music, and it is interesting to think if he would've continued to be this huge influential presence without his passing, but in the real world, he was. So, why is this album so non-interesting? I mean, it's good, don't get me wrong. Nothing here is bad, and some of it is relatively nice (extremely short and sweet), but most of it goes in one ear and out the other. It's pretty much middle of the road for it's good sound but lack of intrigue from a modern eye. It isn't like I just dislike this style of rock, there's plenty from this era that can become an earworm, but this isn't it. I think my significant other will like it way more, though.
I'll start by saying it's super smart to start the album with an explanation of the music style, that way listeners unfamiliar with the instrument and style can perhaps understand it a bit more by the first "real" song. That being said, this is kind of extremely boring. Am I missing the point? Absolutely, I was listening to him in that first song, after all, but as the top review seems to imply, I feel a boatload of substances are needed for this to be anything I'd want to go out of my way to listen to. All the songs are unnecessarily long, and nothing ever sticks in my mind after even just a minute. I feel bad saying this, as with George Harrison being my favorite Beatle, I should be living it up with this album, but I'm not. I don't hate it, none of it sounds bad, but I don't really care, and will forget I even listened to it by tomorrow's album. I can hardly even remember the album's name.
I do enjoy this album. In fact I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it took about halfway through for that enjoyment to really kick in. I mean, the first song had a such good energy to it, and then the next few songs just felt like the same level of energy? Like, to the point that everything was blending together. It wasn't until about halfway through where it felt that each song knew it's proper placement a bit more. The slower pace of a couple songs, or the rapidly changing energy is something that the early parts of the album would've really benefited from, and would've in my eyes pushed it to that 5 star range. Will just have to settle for pretty good, I suppose.
Plenty of genres in here, yet they all sound pretty similar? I suppose you could call that both a success and a failure, depending on who you ask. This was okay, but most songs fail to do much more than the surface level presented, and it makes a lot of songs just alright. Certainly not a bad album, but I don't see myself putting this on again. Certainly not what I was expecting though, I thought Adam Ant was more new wave pop-ish than this.
I've known the first two songs off this album for a solid chunk of my life, so I'm curious to see what I think of the rest. There was this fainting familiarity with some of these other songs, but it doesn't matter too much because I know them now! Man, this album was awesome. Sure it was kind of generic but the riffs were nice, the music never got grating (something a lot of classic rock causes for me) and I was jamming most of the way through. I only wish this album was more prog-ish, because you can totally hear that in there with some of the songs, but it doesn't really go for that. Amazing album regardless.
Man, I have no clue what to think of this. This is both extremely interesting for it's time period, and at times very good, then randomly they just pull the most... peculiar choices, such as cutting the audio in one speaker in a way that sounds like it's connected wrong. No matter what, I can't say I hate this? Perhaps it is indeed better on drugs, but if music is only good on drugs, I don't know if that really counts as "good".
Ah, the White Album. While it may not be the best Beatles album, it is a high contender for my favorite LP of there's, if not favorite album in general. It even sports what is perhaps my favorite song of all time, Julia. The album starts with, while not my favorite Beatles song, a great start to an album with hugh energy necessary for the ninety-three minutes ahead. It then flows perfectly into Dear Prudence, which is just super nice and calm, and I think of all things Rock Band really nailed in the visuals, adding color to the formally monochrome gameplay as the song heightens the sound. As we enter Glass Onion I remember thinking how I disliked the song for being a little to self referential, but I've grown to like it with this re-listen. Perhaps it's due to the focus on the severely underrated Magical Mystery Tour LP's songs. Next is Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, which is not that bad. I think people only hate it because John said he hated it so much, and it grew from there. It totally goes for the energy it sings about and nails it, and I think it's a great test to see if someone can just enjoy a happy song. This sentiment continues with Wild Honey Pie, which is absolutely hilarious, and is short enough where it isn't a bother. The first song that does actually irk me is The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, which chorus does grate me a little on so many repeats, and the vocals on the rest of the song doesn't help, but this is totally forgotten by the time you're getting into the opening notes on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which is a rare moment where despite being a famous song, absolutely earns it and does not lose any luster because of it. The absolute emotion coming from both the guitar and Harrison's voice speaks volumes to any listener, and is in my opinion one of the few times Clapton earns his recognition. We end the first side with Happiness Is A Warm Gun, and it's range from the beginning of the song to the end is such an impressive range of understanding how to write a song that it is an absolute joy no matter how it sounds. We start side two with a jolly song about a dog. How a song about a dog can be such a lovely tribute is astonishing, and may be the perfect example of how much McCartney truly loved things in his life with this joyful passion that sometimes other Beatles members feel too cold to take advantage of. I'm So Tired, while the weaker of the Lennon sleep duology, is really good at stripping back it's sound to let it stick in the listener, and to also build up the sound as Lennon sings "A Little Piece of Mind". Blackbird shows that McCartney once again is an excellent song writer. The guitar on this is fantastic and I've yet to hear a cover that recreates it just as well, and the vocals suit it perfectly. Not McCartney's best guitar focused song (how can you top Yesterday), but it is still amazing. We do next have a tad bit of a stinker in my mind with Piggies, which is a rarity for George, but this song has never worked for me. The harpsichord sounds too dainty, and the vocals almost sound drowned out by the orchestra at times. Perhaps a stripped down version would be up my alley more. Rocky Raccoon probably has my favorite outtake of any Beatles song, and tend to listen to more than the original, but this only makes me somewhat fresh-faced for this re-listen. I think it does an excellent job telling this simple story, something certainly not rivaling Dylan's storytelling, but just fun, which fits for once again Paul. The Old Timey piano hits this sweetspot for me that I think the harpsichord in Piggies was trying to go for. I may all be bias though, as my name is in this song. Next is Ringo's only song that he wrote himself other than Octopus's Garden (which George helped with anyway), and I should hate this, as the fiddle can come as annoying and Starr's vocal talent is less than ideal, but I don't. In fact, I quite enjoy this. It has the same energy some of the goofy Paul songs from earlier bring, while completely showing Ringo should have truly been a country music singer, and just so happened to be in the most famous rock band of all time instead. Why Don't We Do It In the Road? really shows that vocal talent I love about McCartney, and shows some of that not silly love song energy from Paul we'll see later with Helter Skelter. Paul gets a completely contrasting song right after with I Will, just a completely relaxing piece that is that silly love songs that McCartney fans, including myself, just adore. The little background instrumentation that happens is severly underrated in this piece. And then we get Julia. Dear God Julia. It's just so gorgeous. We have John just singing his soul out to his deceased mother Julia, who while their relationship is certainly... "interesting", it doesn't detract at all from the pure love in this song. The vocals, the lyrics, and the guitar playing just feel the most authentic the Beatles have ever and did ever feel, and while John has never been my favorite Beatle, he does earn my top spot for the song by a Beatle. I would write more, but I want to cut myself off now. Perfect way to end side two. Side three starts with Birthday, which I'm sorry but this song isn't that bad either. It is the perfect song for what the song is about, and Paul sounds genuinely more excited for my biethday than I have ever been. Just feels like an older Beatles tune, but if they didn't have to write about love for once. In my opinion this nails what Back in the USSR tries to capture. Which is of course why it is led up with John saying "Yes I'm Lonely, Want to Die" to really bring you back down from that pleasant high. A very bluesy number, which indeed makes this a song I'm not too crazy about, but that riff certainly sticks in your head, and those repeated lyrics I already mentioned are an excellent line to show people who don't know the lesser known Beatles discography. To pair with Julia we have McCartney's Mother Nature's Son, a very melancholic song, which feels like something you listen to while laying in the grass. Just so light and airy, and the orchestral brass giving it the weight to keep it tied down to earth. Not as emotional as Julia in my opinion, but glad this made it over of Child of Nature (especially so Jealous Guy could make to Imagine later on). What I would say is somehow the most forgettable song on the album is Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey, which other than John belting out the title, I completely forget the sound of after hearing. Not a bad track, but nothing crazy, and totally doesn't earn that ludicrous title. With Sexy Sadie I remember thinking it sounde reminiscent of a Hunky Dory era Bowie song, but I have since noted the actual influence in Radiohead's Karma Police. This used to be one of my favorite songs on the album, with it's 50's style doo-whop type sound really sticking in my mind and the piano focus only taking a backseat for the guitar in the chorus (save for that enchanting guitar ending) really feeling great to hear. Then Helter Skelter starts. Now, this song has been in my concious for years and years, so it's nothing new, but this seems so crazy for 1968. I'm not about to say the Beatles solely invented metal, because that would be really narrow-minded, but the raw power on this track is stronger than the album Raw Power. We end side three with another Harrison song, Long Long Long to really round out the semifinal part of the album, which is just a heartfelt message from Harrison, something he is quite good at doing. We start the final part of the album with a taste of what is to come in just a few songs. Luckily this one is far more casually enjoyable. While I don't like this version quite as much as the high octane rendition the original presents, this is still a good head bopper that really feels from it's era in a good way. Shoo-bops and all. Speaking of songs alluding to other songs, Honey Pie is sorely underrated, often being undermined by it's far weirder and shorter sibling, when it deserves to be a highlight of the album. The way once again Paul just shows a true love of the music he is making really presents an enjoyment rarely seen in the music industry. It's almost criminal that the show tune style this song goes for is not given a chance more often, as it really gives it this nostalgic feeling while still being thematically relevant to the lyrics presented. I like this kind of music indeed. Savoy Truffle is a track I always thought when I first went through the entire Beatles discography was a McCartney track because of how bubbly it is, with the horns really adding to the song, and the food allusions really just makes it so groovy to listen to. With Cry Baby Cry, which I was saw someone say was the most British song ever, is enjoyable on it's own, although a little simple, makes an excellent choice of adding a snippet of Can You Take Me Back at the end to have relaxed sound after a slowly building up song. Perhaps it's good to have to prepare for what's to come. Now Revolution 9 is... well, it's bad. Is it super experimental, and thus perhaps impressive for the time? Definitely, but it isn't enjoyable to listen to or even dissect, as it's been done to death. It's boring at best, and extremely uncomfortable most of the other time. It's coolest thing is how it messes with the audio channels, but the actual song presented should never be listened to as a song, and is definitely something I consider a sour point on the album, especially so close to the end. Luckily we get to end on an extremely peaceful note, with Ringo using his suprisingly soothing voice to basically sing as all a lullaby and bring us back to peace after that... experience. It's no wonder he went on to narrate Thomas the Tank Engine for a time. The sweeping orchestra really makes me adore this one too, and is a perfect placement and a perfect send off to this fantastic album. Now, this album does obviously have small issues, but there's so much fantastic stuff here that it really destroys any negatives this album may have, and makes it what I consider a near perfect album, and certainly good enough for the 5 star. I love this album, apparently enough to write something about each song, something I've never done and may never do again, and I just really appreciate getting to listen to this all again in one sitting, haven't done that in so long, and it really made me remember why I love the Beatles so much. Once again, fantastic album.
As someone who listened to Muse over Radiohead most of their life, I had always heard Muse was the rip-off band, among other things. Personally, I don't hear it that much, other than both being alternative rock bands that tend to use electronic sounds, so space rock. That being said, this album is still alright. I mean, it's nothing too crazy, and I knew most of my favorite songs off this album before starting (Subterranean Homesick Alien, No Suprises, etc), so nothing was too big of a revelation, but I still enjoyed it pretty well. It certainly is claustrophobic and hits what it's trying to do super well, almost like being stuck underwater, but in a good way.
I'm almost surprised how high of an average score this album has, and it's not really that high. Two nearly thirty minutes songs doesn't really seem like most people's cup of tea, but I suppose the beginning of the first song is an iconic theme in film, so perhaps that's what's bringing it up? As for me, I think it's crazy that this was written and played in its entirety by Oldfield at the age of just nineteen. That's a crazy age to be attempted to write something this influential, let alone succeeding. I'm not sure how to rate this album, however, as my usually rating system doesn't really work on an album so long yet with only two songs. I do really enjoy this album though. I don't think it's perfect, there are small parts that are either boring or a tad weird (what's up with the Korn-esque growling in the middle of the second part?), but I think the musicality of it is often very nice, and there were parts I genuinely would want to listen to over and over. The downside is I can't see myself listening to the songs anytime soon, due to the length of each song. Still, very nice. I think this would be really nice on a calm evening drive or laying in bed at night.
This has got to be the most severe case of so close to something I like but not quite making the mark so far, and I'm not even sure why. My only thought could be is perhaps I wanted the songs to change a bit more as they went on, but I didn't really have that issue while listening. I think it was just a simple case of a song not really doing quite what I wanted it to. It was alright, I certainly don't regret listening to this, just wonder if there's more to be had with this Jane Weaver's other work.
With less than 150 albums even generated, I have finished all of The Doors' content that is on this list of albums. This album actually had me worried at first, as it almost felt generic in the first half, save for what is perhaps my favorite song by The Doors, Love Her Madly, but similar to the Dennis Wilson album, the second half of this album came in clutch to earn it four stars. However, I thought this one would be my favorite of the three, but it's probably my least favorite, as some of the songs lack that style The Doors had in past albums. Definitely still pretty solid though.
Man, this album was not good at all. Like, Witchy Woman was alright, but the rest was either at best a poor man's America or at worst god awful country rock with no variety or depth. I would give the little bit for the small parts that were okay, but of course they're also obnoxious about music streaming and make it impossible to play the only okay song on the album within the album itself. Nah, fuck this band, I knew all they were good for was Hotel California, and this album doesn't even have that radio fodder.
Similar to David Bowie's Blackstar, this is a very fitting "final album, even if it isn't technically his last. It just feels so emotionally driven and his voice is absolutely haunting, bringing it all together is the orchestral sound. While I have enjoyed what I've heard of Leonard Cohen's guitar playing, having instead a hard hitting orchestra makes his words have so much more depth to them. I was worried I wouldn't like later Cohen due to the voice change, but if anything this may be my favorite one I've heard so far. It only misses the mark for five stars because some of the songs do go in one ear and out the other, or sound too similar to another song, but that hardly hinders this cool thirty-six minute album.
Suprisingly good, albeit pretty childish at times. The flow and the beats are super satisfying, and a lot of the songs do stick in your head. Only issue, as mentioned, is the lyrics can be so vulgar they're hard to ignore at times, but otherwise very good.
This feels like a really good idea executed very poorly. Metallica and even the crowd often overpower the orchestra in sound, causing them to become background noise you forget about. Perhaps if it wasn't live this would be a lot more impactful, but the constantly cheering crowd is never not slightly heard in the background, and really bothers the sound for me. The intro with Ecstasy of Gold really feels like the most self indulgent thing ever, too, get over yourself. None of my criticisms are towards the orchestra itself, of course, they did great for what they could, and maybe S&M 2 would sound better, but no way am I trudging myself through another two hours of a live metal album anytime soon if I can help it. I'm sure this was awesome live, but the only thing keeping it from the lower stars, despite my pretty negative reviews, is the rare moment when a song works, or when they do something original to the concert so the crowd isn't screaming all the words.
It feels and seems weird that there is a modern band on here with an album that's a compilation. What makes this any different enough from other compilations, and what makes it more "allowed" than stuff like Queen's Greatest Hits or Changesonebowie? Besides that, this album was... fine? Really generic 2000's punk. Certainly not pop punk, but the complete lack of difference between songs, and this supposedly being the "best of"? Not terrible, but not impressive.
A really awesome album that was ahead of it's time. Not much more to say about it for me. It doesn't quite hit the 5 star mark because a few songs aren't all that notable for me, but it's short, sweet, and a really high four star. We're talking super high four star.
Extremely strong start with the first few songs being all absolutely great, but the spark does seem to find a bit in the middle to near the end, with Mamunia Picasso's Last Words being pretty boring. However, the final song is a pretty great bop and ends the album on a high enough note to ensure a four star. This album was very good, but I still wish Ram was the Linda and Paul project that made it to this list.
This is a weird mix of pretty generic meh 60's rock and some absolutely great songs, such as Thoughts and Words. I was expecting this to be a little more country than it was, which was a nice change of pace, but I'm going to have to be reasonable and say that the album overall was pretty mixed, earning a three star. Seriously though, Thoughts and Words rivals the Beatles in quality.
You know, after the name of the artist and the album itself, not to mention the slightly off-putting album cover, I was expecting a much more hard to listen to album than the one I got. This was a pretty joyful album all things considered, and while a lot of it was background noise, it was pretty enjoyable music. Perhaps this is heightened musically on something like LSD, but it's still pretty nice without it. Nothing amazing, and a lot of it forgettable, but I don't regret listening. I suppose just throw it in with other 90's electronica.
A natural progression of the Beatles formula, and in my opinion the first time you can hear what is to come with albums like Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, etc. It's interesting how all over this album can be quality wise. Like, there's songs like Michelle and Girl, which while being very much like older Beatles songs, feel like a deeper understanding of that style of music. You also have songs like Drive My Car and The Word that really just feel generic and boring. Finally you have songs like Norwegian Wood and In My Life that sound like what's to come more than anything. It's just a situation where for every bad song there's three great songs, but those bad songs still sour the music, leaving to be unable to grasp that five star rating. Still a must listen for that transition period, and still has some fantastic songs (Girl being in my top three Beatles songs), but every Beatles album has good songs.
The worst parts of The White Stripes (which are rare) combined with the whiney-ness and "not knowing when to stop a song"-isms of Marilyn Manson to create an album that started out already at a two star and just got worse and worse. I had decided one star by the time we got to the nine minute song that was just a combination of the song before and after it for a twenty minute "epic" that just was repetitive and boring. Perhaps this should be a two because none of this was awful, per se, but as my partner taught me: if you find yourself turning the music DOWN as it goes on, it probably isn't your thing.
Often when listening a song would start really strong, with all the instruments hitting pretty hard and grtting you pumped, and then that mope-y voice would start singing. It's certainly not a bad voice, but it feels so dainty that it takes a way a lot of energy that the songs often try and have. Obviously there are songs that work around this, with stuff like the Scientist being actually pretty good, but most of the time it almost goes for this sound with a "get up and fight" attitude yet no actual punch, and Clocks is just awful, but that's definitely due to overplaying and it just being plain boring.
I'd like to think I like Run-D.M.C, but considering many of their songs I have are from later albums, so I was cautiously excited for this album. Sadly, a good chunk of this album is a little hollow sounding, with lots of empty space and the flow of the rapping often being choppy. Obviously that's because it was very early in the genre, and I respect it heavily for that, but albums only a couple of years later in the genre don't have that issue. There are a couple songs without this issue, such as Rock Box, but then the other issue is the length, with most of the songs opting for an instrumental for long periods of time, or just ending when it should. This is close to something that's good, but the cheesy lyrics on top of all of that makes it something I'm not crazy about.
Seemingly not available on my streaming service of choice, so YouTube it is! How is this hardcore punk album, something that is supposed to be pretty "out there", one of the most nothing albums I've gotten? It didn't even give me the honor of being short like some punk albums, just kind of being normal album length. I mean, this wasn't awful, but it sure was what it was trying to be and nothing more. I understand why it's on the list, but... yeah.
I recently saw someone call Foo Fighters "surprisingly safe radio rock" which I assume stems from the prior band Dave Grohl was apart of sounding not too similar to what Foo Fighters outputs. However, I would say it makes complete sense if you look at the music Grohl actually chooses to engage with. He may play the drums more intensely than the average band, but the man cried about the newest ABBA album, so I think he's a bit more sensitive than just "the heavy drummer should only make the heavy music". I know sensitive is a silly word to use, but you can kind of feel it here, since this album was pretty much solely made with the intention of being a sort of therapy after Kurt Cobain's passing. I think later Foo Fighters could get away with being called generic rock, but I think there's enough here for this to seem like a genuine effort. Having songs like "Weenie Beenie" sound the way they do gives off a Nirvana-esque energy, and having something like For All the Cows just two songs later, which is a completely different style tells me it's at least not all generic. I will admit there are some songs here that go in one ear and out the other, but I think this is more than just a pay check trying to be made.
An absolutely amazing voice that is sadly restricted by some pretty generic songs from the era. Certainly not bad music, but it's hard to really get into music that if anything sounds like something from the late fifties. It's a shame, because there are some musical hints of greatness and definitely would've evolved had there been time to do so.
Not only is this a situation where my streaming service of choice doesn't have this album available, but it also hits my other usual case of everything on this album being super close to something I like, but because nothing quite gets there, the whole album falls flat for me. It doesn't help I already don't like Britpop, despite what some of my favorite albums may say (why is Franz Ferdinand Britpop?), so this really just isn't anything for me. Not bad enough for a one star, certainly, but still nothing crazy.
Other than their first album, this was the only Simon & Garfunkel album that I knew nothing from going in, so I was intrigued going in to see what I would get. This is the first album in their discography on this list, so I was also intrigued to see why this made it over Sounds of Silence. In the end I think this a pretty good album with some snags. There is quite a bit of variety for something from '66, and there is quite a bit to enjoy. I think some songs here are just not very notable. Other songs, such as the final song, are very strong sounding, but aren't something I imagine wanting to go back to. Overall I enjoyed my time and will be giving this a light four. You can think of it more as a 3.5 if that helps you sleep at night, if my score seems more positive than my review.
Why is this marked as Country and that's all? There's a lot more going on here than that. This was pretty good otherwise. The starting songs were easily the best of the album, with some more good songs peppered throughout, but still pretty solid, was expecting to dislike this more than I did, though. It has this feeling of "meh" resonating from it.
Man, this really is just an "Ocean of Noise", huh? Really not good, and the addition of a member being an assaulter? Man, easy to hate this. It's pretty funny that this bad mix of Mumford & Sons and Modest Mouse is on here three times, yet nothing by either is on here. Not that I'm dying for Mumford & Sons to be on here, but all this feels like to me is indie rock with too much of a budget.
This is kind of weird to listen to after just listening to this same man coming to terms with death just a few weeks ago, so the whiplash of this 80's cheese is a little goofy. Certainly not bad, but hard to get into, as the words don't much the artificial sounding music, unlike the guitar playing of earlier albums or orchestra of later. I have to give credit that a lot of similar singers were struggling in the 80's, such as Bob Dylan, but perhaps if I looked at these albums of Cohen's all as purely poetry they would all be equals.
I sure as Hell won't become THIS kind of uncle. I draw the line here.
Well, that wasn't as bad as I was expecting my second Costello album, with me originally thinking one was enough, but this still wasn't anything special. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's alright, or it wouldn't be getting three stars, but I really don't see what some see in this album. Just was boring most of the time and a lot of the good bits were a bit covered up. Only saving grace is it feels a bit more like its own thing, where I can see where someone may start to say "I like Costello because of this!", but not totally for me. Would rate lower, but I'm feeling nice, I guess. Very low three stars.
I always had this visual of Jimi Hendrix that was endless guitar solos and pretty so-so lyrics, but after this, I was blown away. When the (pretty much) first song comes on and it's soulful the way it was, and then songs afterwards kept being different genres with their own flaire, it was just consistently enjoyable. It was a bit long winded at points, dragging the score down a little, but I'm now even more excited for the other Hendrix offerings on the list.
Well, this was an interesting listen for sure. I'm usually not a fan of the random garage rock esque playing of the more Avant Garde style of music, but there was certainly stuff here that I enjoyed. The story of "The Gift" kept me legitimately enthralled for the whole eight minutes, and stuff like John Cale's voice was very enjoyable, which was surprising after really only knowing Lou Reed from this band. I mean, this has a lot of issues, definitely, so don't mistake my praise for enjoyment, a seventeen minute song is almost always unnecessary, and this was no different, and not much was actually notable, like a case of trying to be too artsy with no real direction, but I could definitely see the enjoyment here. Gotta give it right down the middle, but I will admit this is perhaps my closest to the four stars of all my three stars? I'll have to fact check that for myself, but it seems right to say.
I'm usually not a fan of country music, and in my opinion the 80s were when the genre really started pushing that "country pop" I oh so loathe. However, Dolly Parton is a treat of a person, so I won't dismiss this instantly. While the harmonies and vocals were impressive, the album left a lot to be desired. At best, it was pretty okay but less than notable country music, but it often dipped into either hard to enjoy 50s era country, or was very generic 80s country, the exact that I figured I would not enjoy. There is enough here to keep it out of the one star, but I see nothing here to make this album notable, save for vocals that are outdone by other singers or Parton herself on this very list.
I actually just recently listened to this album for the first time a few months ago, and I loved it, so we'll see if that love sticks for this re-listen. I must admit, after re-listening to this album, I think the honeymoon era for me is over with it. Its still extremely good, don't get me wrong, but I don't find myself wanting to come back soon after this recent listen, and am satisfied with fewer of the songs overall. Once again, still a really good album, but not quite as perfect as I once thought. The songs present are really good at making your head bop around during, and the vocals hit this perfect blend of being unique without being annoying. This may have dropped from a five star to a four star album for myself, but I still enjoy it deeply, and must state this is a high four star.
Well, I always thought I vaguely liked Kiss and their weird mesh of genres, but apparently those songs I do like are flukes, because this was pretty bad. The album started pretty good with the first song, but past that it was generic and boring. It's a shame, because considering Kiss is usually seen as glam rock, I bet this will drag my score down for that sub-genre, which I figured would be my favorite by the end of this.
I am sorry to say I couldn't get as in to this as I thought I would. I mean, the hits definitely earn being the hits, but a lot of the songs aren't the most notable in the world. Like, this definitely is enjoyable in the moment, but past that I tend to forget them. Until then, its pretty middling.