Super dark. Really liked. Going to dive into the liner notes and wikipedia. Felt like something my older brother would listen to while I was listening to Poison and Def Leopard.
Kinda just sounds like all the REM songs I've ever heard. There has never been a more REM sounding REM album.
The album is pretty amazing. I'm only halfway through but it's surprisingly modern while classically country sounding. Love.
Loved this. Even better than the last Black Sabbath album I got that was on this list.
I thought for sure I'd love this but nope. It's a bit whiney and I don't know what anyone is saying. And every song makes me think, "Is this the one from the Apple commercial"? I even listened to this a few times. This should be right up my ally b/c I liked this era of music (discovered it a little late as school took up a lot of my time). Maybe I should give it a fourth try.
This album was really good. I don't know what the history is behind it, but I'll bet Johnny hasn't committed as many murders as he likes to sing about.
Thought I'd hate this but I totally dig it. They sound just like Bell and Sebastion (or vice versa). Love that the songs are mostly 2 minutes long but also that last song, 7 o'clock news, just kinda sucks. Also, these guys clearly spend a lot of time looking at flowers.
I'm giving it five stars because I was super surprised how much I liked this. It's weird, there's polka, there are highs and lows. But it runs a little long and starts to feel a little more bluesy than I care for at the end. Never mind, I'm giving it four stars.
I thought this would be a great album, one where I knew every song even though I never knew who sang them. Maybe I heard them all parodied on the Simpsons. But nope. I knew one. And it was awful. Let's put it this way. Any album where half the lyrics are "YEAH YEAH YEAH" or "NA-NA-NAAA-NA-NAH" or "BA BA BA" or just yelling into the mic, that's a "NO-NO-NOOO" for me. Still give this two stars since there are a couple of bangers. (Not Psycho Killer.)
I knew this album would be trouble the second it wasn't on Spotify. I hunted it down and found it on Youtube, which is not an ideal way for me to listen to anything.
Anyways, it's not because this is country rock that I found it kind of mediocre. It's because when I see a song...and it's like, 10 minutes long, I know I'm entering into place where I'm going to zone out because I'm sure the band is having a blast but if you don't have anything else to say (or I'm not high) move on with it.
For the record though, I did find some of the songs genuinely great. I would listen to this again. Probably not anytime soon. Also, put it on Spotify.
I'm still finishing this album but man...I really thought I'd like this as while folk music doesn't usually top my charts, I do enjoy it. So the first song, Silver Dagger, plays, and I'm like, okay, this is cool. Then East Virginia plays, and I'm like...okay, same song, but not bad. And now I'm like, 8 songs deep and Joan just gets shriller, and shriller, and SHRILLER! You know, that 70's, high-pitched warbling sound that singers tended to do. Woof. This is a tough one to get though. But I'm close.
Did like a couple of the songs though...
I remember as a kid I really liked The Monkees. I thought they were like the funny version of the Beatles...always runnin' around, too busy singing to get down. So when I listened to this I was pretty disappointed. It was like Beatles light. Beatles straight-forward. Whiny Beatles. There are a few interesting songs, even some experiential stuff like Zilch that I thought was fun. But no, this album is not for me.
Well, it's certainly noise...
I'm sure the conversation at the time around this album went something like this.
"Holy crap! We've never heard a sound like this before! Who knew you could give a bunch of kids instruments that they've never played before, put them in a studio, and they can put something together that tangentially resembles music! Cut, print, ship!"
It's the 80's rock version of jazz. Not for me. Thanks.
The last album I got was Sonic Youth. After choking that down and moving to this album, I was like, UUUHHHHH, it's gonna be Sonic Youth, but older! But nope, this album rocks. Not sure how often I'd pick it up, but I could listen to this several times over. Solid four.
This is one of the first albums I ever downloaded from Limewire. (I got so many viruses on my computer...)
It's actually relieving to see something on the list that I've heard before. Of course, I haven't heard it in ten years, but it was a fun romp down memory lane. I remember putting this on a mix for an ex-girlfriend and thinking I was really cool. (I wasn't really cool.)
Anyways. Great album. Perfect for driving. Kids dug it. Great vibes all around. Lots of attitude.
My Mom had Queen records when I was a kid and listened to them to death. Unfortunately, she did not have this album. What a shame. This has so much fantasy stuff in it I would have gobbled it up wholesale.
Queen II could easily become my favorite Queen album. I rank it up there with some of those other metal albums like Black Sabbath (even though it's not really metal). Can't wait to sit down with this and pull out the lyrics and get to know it even better.
Tried listening to this a dozen times and wasn't feeling it. Finally, I started from the beginning and listened (mostly) straight through. I thought it was pretty good with some hits I didn't realize was CCR. But the best ones were more unexpected, like Wrote a Song for Everyone. Overall though it felt like the same song over and over. Sometimes I like that. In this case I did not. Still, that one song is okay...
Took me a few listens to get into this, but Deep Purple rocks. Someday I'm going to go back and listen to what they're actually singing about, but this felt sufficiently modern despite being from the 70's. Didn't love sitting through a 10 minute jam...I'm not high and I hate Phish, but I appreciated it for what it was. Unless the song is November Rain, i don't have the...Patience...(another good 10 minute song)...for super long songs. (Except, also, All To Well 10-minute version, GIVE TAYLOR BACK THE RED SCARF!)
I have always wanted to like Radiohead. To me, they're the kimchi of music...on paper, I should like them. I'm interested in them. Tom York seems like a cool guy! My wife loves 'em! (And kimchi.) But no matter how many times I go back expecting my tastes to have changed, I'm just reminded that I don't want to move past the first song.
Kid A though I find ever-so-slightly better than The Bends. It's just, if I was 9 and had a Casio keyboard...I too could make soundscapes and call it music. And I could sing unintelligible words that nobody can understand. And I could put a 9 minute track next to a 50 second track. But alas, I'm not that talented. So I give this two stars. Two stars more than I'd give The Bends.
Oh man. I feel like I'm running through a Looney Tune. While I generally dislike jazz (jam bands, blues, long heavy metal riffs, etc...) this is hilariously fun. It's like a bonus level in Cuphead. I put this on full blast throughout my house and chased my kids with a mallet. One of them painted a door on a wall and I ran right into it. The Weasel gang busted into my house and laughed themselves to death. Then a saucy broad walked in and my eyes literally gazoongad out of my head "The Mask" style. 5 out of 5.
Great energy, could probably put this on a running mix. Don't know what the hell anyone is actually saying though. Kind of like they have hiccups and they're trying to sing.
I really enjoy the Beatles. I literally cannot believe that this is from ANY member of that band. I have yet to skip ahead on any albums presented on this list, but this whole thing is unbearable. Repetitive, whiny, generic (maybe it was new at the time, but c'mon, The Beatles hold up). Who paid to have this schlock on the list. Even my kids were like, "Dad, why are we listening to this, it's awful, and they love Skibbidy Toilet. 1 star.
Now we're talking. This was like finally get a joke that you hear on the Simpsons...about half of the songs I've heard referenced before, and they were pretty good. Upbeat, energetic, a wide variety of genres (loved the last hillbilly ditty). This is the first album that made me want to go back and listen to more of the artist's catalogue.
Oof. I thought I was going to like this because I've listened to later PJ Harvey albums and dug them. But this really was just a bunch of wailing. I'm sure there's some deeper meaning buried within the lyrics, but it's pretty hard stuff to listen to.
This was my older brother's favorite band growing up, and I never really gave them a chance, even after learning about Neil Peart and knowing that I should have listened to them. Well, I was missing out. They rock pretty hard, and while I don't think I'll be going back to this (one of those bands where I can't understand what anyone is saying...) I do feel I missed out on some good teenage bangers.
