Hot take: extremely underwhelming given Cash's reputation. Mostly plodding tunes sung well but not as well as I've been led to believe. His voice is distinctive, and memorable, but I think his singing is not.
Sweet sentiment, nice simple storytelling, and a few impactful instrumental phrases are the highlights of a slow, forgettable album that is otherwise packed full of what I'd call "elevator music for sad people". At its best I think these are nice, wistful songs which anyone could enjoy hearing live if performed by friends or family around a bonfire or something, but I have a hard time believing anyone could consider this a culturally important album. It's all in one ear and out the other. Hated basically the whole thing.
Highlights: We'll Meet Again; I Hung My Head, and (only) the chorus to Hurt.
Lowlights: Danny Boy, Personal Jesus, Streets of Laredo, Give My Love to Rose.
Way better than I expected. I won't say it's perfect, but this album makes me appreciate music more as a medium of art overall. The songwriting is so expressive and experimental, it really put me into their heads. It feels like an anthem for the era; a signpost of youthful innocence transforming into a worrisome, unknown future with one foot anxiously and excitedly still in both worlds. There's a handful of tracks that still sound like more simple, sweet pop songs which I was not into as much, but they serve to represent the duality I appreciated nonetheless. Also Yellow Submarine sucks.
I don't think I'd have appreciated any of that if I'd heard this earlier in life, so thanks to this project coming along at the right time.
Highlights: Tomorrow Never Knows, For No One, I'm Only Sleeping
Lowlights: Yellow Submarine, Here There & Everywhere, Got to Get You Into My Life.
That was awesome. What a great, distinctive voice and vocal style. I've never heard of her before but she had me grooving the whole time. Reminds me of my dad's music collection, which for me is good praise. Fresh and nostalgic at once, since I don't tend to listen to the genre often. The slower, sweeter love songs aren't my jam but that's fine, they're still fine.
Highlights: Down to Zero, Join the Boys, Love and Affection
Lowlights: Somebody Who Loves You, Save Me
Worse than I was expecting. The jumble of instruments is interesting and the band sure can noodle on em pretty well, but often works against itself, and I wasn't a fan of the frequent choice to song in harmony. And in general the vibes just didn't click for me in a way I'm having trouble describing. Like there's awesome 70s rock & folk, and then there's lame... This was lame. Not bad per se, just lame. Like grocery store rock but with better instrumentation.
Do It Again is legendary though, and stands head and shoulders above everything else here.
Highlights: Do It Again, Only a Fool Would Say That
Lowlights: everything else. nothing else stands out as better or worse than the rest.
Legendary, raw, and energized. Chuck D can make you follow his every word and emotion- I'm ready to flip a cop car.
This record rightfully played a part in fathering a whole movement of conscious hip hop, and still stands as both endlessly listenable and just as socially relevant today. It's as much a party playlist as it is a protest anthem, as much a window into its time as it is a reflection of now. Really great stuff.
If only Flav weren't so corny, man. I think he had no business being lead for any tracks, but also find him overrated as a hype man.
Highlights: Fight the Power, Burn Hollywood Burn, Welcome to the Terrordome, 911 is a Joke (the beat, lyrics, vibe)
Lowlights: 911 is a Joke (Flav's delivery), Can't Do Nuttin For Ya Man.
This album blew its load in the first 4 tracks. After that, it stands as an impressive spectacle of a band that wholly refuses to do anything interesting while still sounding like they think they're making incredible moves. Palpable pomposity.
And even in that best front section, the band is nothing without Bono- who for that portion of the album sounds powerful and impactful. Bullet in a Blue Sky, though, is the one time on the whole record that the music, without Bono, caught my good attention.
At its best it is catchy, easy listening mall-speaker-rock, which to be clear is not exactly complimentary.
At its worst, this project succeeds in emulating the wide open desert spaces the band was in part trying to evoke- barren, tedious, and the kind of experience you pray has passed you by by the time you wake up from your nap on the roadtrip.
Some good ol' fashioned rock. Really dope instrumentation; every solo ripped and the drums at the end of Flight of the Rat give me life. The keys gave an interesting texture to the overall sound, leaning a little gospel-y in places- not sure I was ever a fan of that too much but it fit here and there.
One thing I for sure ended up not liking is Ian Gillan's voice. It sounded pretty good until Child In Time's constant ceaseless caterwauling... That really wore me out on his whole style, such that he was consistently my least favorite part of any following track. Which is a shame, because again most of the music ripped.
Highlights: Speed King, Flight of the Rats, Child In Time (the parts w/ no vocals)
Lowlights: Child in Time (the rest of it), Living Wreck, Hard Lovin' Man
That was awesome. Not just good music, but inspiring. It made me want to pick up a guitar and try my hand at this kind of honest simple expression- which I have never done. That's a feat, if you ask me.
Wonderfully evocative; I was listening while building spreadsheets in a corporate cubicle but it felt like I was strolling down that London highway right alongside him. What a breath of fresh air.
And the range of quality is really quote tight here, not much difference at all between my favorite and least favorite songs here, and I struggle to pick any as a low spot. Maybe Courting Blues is a little half baked for its length? But oh well I was still tapping my foot and nodding along happily.
Highlights: I Have No Time, Needle of Death, Do You Hear Me Now, Angie
Lowlights: Courting Blues
This one did a decent job at painting a picture of where the band was at when recording; Lost, listless, anxious and angsty. It does this by taking the common vibes of their genre peers and stretching the sound out, adding odd spacey distortion and a haunted, wailing affect. I'm hearing Nirvana in this, Smashing Pumpkins, even a little Alice in Chains- but tweaked enough to be unique. That is to say, it finds an unused sound amongst a well-read genre.
If only I liked it. That unused sound they found is basically what happens when you take their influences, mix them all up, and turn the dials way down. I found myself saying "Oh this sounds like a toothless [X]," or the "budget [Y]". I even caught myself thinking that future acts like Muse came around, took this very sound, and made it so much more complete than what's on offer here. Bit of a shame. In the shadows of all of its contemporaries, and given the band's desire to portray their own internal homelessness at the time, I can't help but call this a pyrrhic victory. It sounds like it belongs within a familiar neighborhood, but fails to establish a distinct home for itself.
Highlights: Just, My Iron Lung, Street Spirit
Lowlights: Fake Plastic Tree, High and Dry, Nice Dream.
This was sickly smooth. As though you could rightly credit cigarette tar, quaaludes, and the band's local escorts as co-producers of the album. The guy's gravely voice and that sliding, twanging guitar complement one another perfectly, the same way that mixing together just the right amounts of different kinds of garbage can end up with beautiful compost.
I do think the singing is not extraordinary, and that he's trying to do a couple more things than he's really able to with those melodies. But I also recognize that isn't really the point. If it's good enough to suit the needs of all 3-7 occupants of a dimly lit, smoke filled mobile home bedroom, it's doing exactly what it's there to do.
Highlights: In the Gallery, Down the Waterline, Sultans of Swing
Lowlights: Wild West End, Water of Love
This was quote lovely, I was pleasantly surprised by the grandiosity of some of the music here, having only known these guys up until now from Sound of Silence, I was expecting something similarly minimal, and soft. And while I'm tempted to say this sounds like a soft-boy version of the Beatles, it is definitely not minimal.
These guys really know how to tell a story, both in their lyrics and in their musical progression. Old Friends in particular was beautiful, hauntingly so, but pretty much every song was evocative and vivid. I've gained respect for these guys I never thought I'd have.
What is there to say about LET that hasn't already been said. Foundational hip hop. Smooth, soulful, insightful- eminently groovable from top to bottom.
Worst thing you could say about it is that maybe some bits and pieces lyrically have not aged well- but I don't think that's worth nitpicking over in the face of the rest of it. Phife and Tip were kings of the craft.
Awesome little collection of vibes. It feels like the granddaddy of so many staple sounds and grooves on those "24hr lo-fi chill/study" channels. I don't know enough about the genre or its history to speak confidently there but it definitely slots perfectly into the same space within my head, and I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoy those. Excellent, if somewhat subdued, music that can live comfortably in the background of the venue it's being played in, but is complex and interesting enough to call itself to your attention for its brightest parts. Some odd musical choices here and there interesting enough to make you turn your head, nod along, and go "Oh wow." Special shout-out in that department to the discordant guitar cords in A Noite Sem Fin. Bold and intriguing, I loved it.
I'm not always in the mood to just sit back and vibe, but when I am? A little of this on a rainy day, some hot tea... Brother that's living.
Atrocious. No point or component of this album gave me any joy. The ceaseless, whining affect. Vocals totally devoid of melody, barking depressive word-salad in that tedious, nasally drone. Uninspired drums & bass plodding along with the bare minimum as if the guys were held at gunpoint. Guitar washed in disgusting spacey distortion with and even more whiny sound than the vocals. God everything about it just repulses me.
They think of one riff, embellish it none, and then just hammer away at it for minutes on end. With how low energy and repetitive it is, you could almost call it drone music but the singer's angsty bullshit refuses to stop being present enough to do that.
"Oh but it's about the mood! It's gloomy dull and annoying because they felt so bad at the time" ok well fuck that mood then. Get therapy. If this art is what they needed to cope with bad times, that is perfectly valid. You need what you need. That doesn't make it worth sharing to the public.
Worst part is I can clearly hear how this band's sound went on to influence goth rock for years to come. That's a shame, I wish it hadn't. Horrid music.
Highlights: the wobbly guitar riff on 100 years.
Lowlights: everything.
I'm having a hard time coming up with much to say on this one. It wasn't bad. Groovy, nice diverse range of instruments and styles made sure it never felt boring. But it also wasn't really compelling. Like I could see myself digging it if played live. But I wouldn't probably only see them if they were an opening act. Still might pick up the merch tho.
My hottest take is that this sounds like what would happen if Donalg Glover convinced Flight of the Concords to make a serious album, and helped produce it.
Ultimately I question why it's on a list of 1001 most important albums of all time or w/e. It's just some indie rock.
Highlights: The last part of Lover's Day
Lowlight: Family Tree.
This album has a *severe* lack of focus. It's like 35-or-whatever minutes of three dudes just putting literally every idea they had into one album and refusing to tie any of them together. It is what happens when you put infinite monkeys in a room but didn't wait long enough for them to produce Shakespeare yet.
Maybe 8 more editing passes and they could have made any one of these blink-and-youll-miss-it riffs into proper grooves, but nah apparently restraint was not in these guys' recipe book.
I read that the album, or at least the insufferably noodly A Side eponymous track, is supposed to represent the futility of conflict, and that some musical phrases were chosen to illicit feelings of frustration. Very bold strategy. I've gotta say, it worked- I was frustrated listening to it, and constantly checked the runtime to see how much longer I'd need to endure it. So, maybe you could say conceptually it was a win. But is it good music?
Highlights: Bitches Crystal
Lowlights: Tarkus, Are You Ready Eddy
Damn this one took me on a ride. This guy has such an impressive knack for melody, harmony, telling narrative through instrument choice, supporting a theme, tasteful and focused embellishment, and a palpably Frank sincerity to his writing.... I could gush about this on and on.
The haunting, dramatic vocal sweeps on TC & Honeybear by both John and the operatic backing vocalist. The brilliantly tongue-in-cheek Silver Platter and its fanciful, almost cartoonish use of brass and wind to underscore a very particular mood. The beautifully heartfelt Caramel that could just as easily be interpreted to sing the praise of a lover of John's or of his own eventual self acceptance. The infectious contempt in the dark synth textures on Jesus Hates Faggots, mirroring the vitriol of John's parental figure on the chorus and surely that of his own response to such hate....
I could go on, everything seems so well considered. I vibe with all of it and relate to much of it. I love this. I will listen again, I will listen to his other records, I will see him live. Incredible.
Highlights: Caramel, TC & Honeybear, Silver Platter
Lowlights: nothing.
This is more or less a default rating.
An album full of sweet slow dance songs. Very much not my genre. This didn't convince me and I didn't find it particularly compelling to try and analyze. Was all quite same-y.
This gave me an uneasy feeling while listening. Every song seems to be an anthem to an anxious, distressed melancholy, and of living a life that is yet incomplete. There's frequent mention of desires to escape, not letting life pass you by, waiting for something good to come, encouragement to move forward, etc. But far from being the motivational kickstart it says it wants to be, it instills in me just the feeling of resigned apathy- like, oh if only something would happen to get me unstuck from this spot I find myself.
This is even reinforced musically. The lyrics are often delivered in slow, drawn out notes and barren of much motion in the melody- while completely engulfed in dreamy, optimistic, and grandiose instruments and sound effects behind. It feels like someone standing still in a crowded, bustling place, wishing they could be moving like everyone else; their own desires and expectations contributing to a paralysis they obsess on overcoming.
It is very much an album for those in the young adult phase of their life. Aware of their ambitions but no clue yet how to actualize them. It's an album that tells a story of how hard it is to live as well as you think you should be able to. I hope that for whoever relates to this, they find some peace soon.
That was.... Really hard to endure. It's entirely a showcase of this dude's near tone deaf singing voice, accompanied by tragically minimal piano and strings. I say tragically, because if there was more going on to back the singer up he probably could have hid a bit better how really out of his depth he is in what he was trying to accomplish. Half the time it honestly sounds like he strains to hit some of the notes he goes for, ultimately failing at the attempt. The other half the time he falls back on very simple, seemingly thoughtless, go-nowhere melodies sung basically in his speaking voice; the kind of thing you'd get if you asked a child to improvise a love song on the spot.
The same can be said for the lyrics. They don't fit nicely in the rhythm of the lines he's singing, making for an overall clunky and disjointed listening experience. What's more they give the vibe of someone clumsily groping around for ways to sound Quite Romantic- like these are words summoned from some foreign persona he's not quite comfortable with, but felt compelled to try on like an oversized suit. Again, a teenager's idea of longing romance.
It's a shame that some of these instrumental movements are wasted on this dude's shadow puppet performance. The church organ shouldn't have entered this album's equation, but some other things sounded alright- violin and piano passages that I wish I could have heard divorced from the frontman.
Special note; Green Eyes made me physically shudder and recoil. I've never heard a track on an apparently acclaimed project that literally, physically disgusted me, but I guess there's a first for everything.
Pretty challenging listen, for me. I knew going into this project that I hate the sound of 80's new wave & synth pop, and this is like the archetypical example thereof. It's got nothing to do with song composition, catchiness, whatever... It's just, this specific color of music, this era's timbre. It's nails on a chalkboard to me. The (relative to today) low-fi digital sound to... Well, everything. Drums, bass, guitar, even the vocals, and of course AAAALLLL that gross synth. The way it all sounds like it was run through an old, bad computer just really turns me off.
Which is a super shame because these are sharply composed, fun, catchy, upbeat danceable tracks! There's a real energizing sense of experimentation going on here and it's never boring. I wish I could make these statements and ultimately give it a higher score, but I cannot. For all its catchiness, and its anthemic climactic feeling, the ending of Hold Back the rain, for instance, just makes me want to clutch my head and hide under my desk to wait out the assault of sounds I cannot help but find ugly.
Last Chance on the Stairway and The Chauffeur break through that barrier for me though. The revulsion is still there but they are good enough aside from that that I still ended up with, at least as many positive feelings as negative.
This album is a well crafted meal made by and for a culture to which I am -starkly- not a part. I can recognize how well it is made, and politely decline from a second helping.
This was really quite good. While listening I mistakenly thought it came out in the late 90s, and said to myself "Oh yeah this is very emblematic of the era, it feels like a natural evolution of grunge and alt rock" only to be reminded afterward that it was released in 1990, predating much of what I thought it was an evolution of.
Honestly that alone bumps my respect for this project up by a lot; I'll now say it's wonderfully ahead of its time while at the same time obviously influencing so much of what will come so soon after it.
Full of attitude, experimentation- both in sound and production. It sounds like the kind of project where they don't care whether you like it, they're just doing what fascinates and excites them. Thankfully, I'm fascinated and excited right alongside them. Not to say that everything lands, of course. The vocals on Mary Christ and My Friend Goo leave a sour taste in my mouth, the back half of Mote isn't the sort of cool-down spectacle that I think fits the middle of an album, and Disappear is about twice as long as it needs to be.
But I remember the highlights more. The galloping drums in the middle & end of Cinderella's Big Score. The wild layered guitar noodling on Tunic and in between Mary Christ's verses. The wake up call that is Mildred Pierce. Overall I'm really quite impressed that a single album so fully embodies grunge, noise, & 90s alt-rock. Like, this may as well be THE quintessential entry of the era for all of those. Well done.
I was moved not by the weeping guitar twangs or the heady tenor crooning of a young Neil Young already feeling grey and world-weary by the ripe age of... *checks notes* 24.
Jokes aside, I appreciate the wistful sentiment at play, the evocation of country hillsides and sincere, rustic life. But as much as it feels like that thing, it's not a thing I particularly enjoy. I do find the contradictory wordplay in A Man Needs a Maid quite clever, the sweeping theatrics of There's a World, and the reflective critique of Alabama, however. There's good thoughts driving these tracks, a smart guy for sure. It's just a bit too stripped down (some bits like There's a World, notwithstanding) to my tastes, and overall in a flavor I wouldn't choose to listen to again, for me. I don't feel like it earns a 2 but let's just say there's a lot of other 3's I've given that I'd happily listen to over this.
As interesting as it was boring. As fun as it was dull. An album of -mostly- milquetoast background radio rock interspersed with some solid ideas, passages, and progressions- which sadly came too few and far between to end up feeling all too positively about the project.
The production is punchy and guitar-forward but I don't feel Jack White does all too much with his instrument to really make use of that spotlight. The stop-and-go riff of Expecting, the staccato stabs of I Think I Smell a Rat, and the arrhythmic flow of Aluminum are some nice, intriguing, bold highlights on that front. But most of the time, what drives each song instrumentally is a painfully ho-hum thrown together little riff. I'm not saying I could write so much better, but did the world really need another song that sounds like The Same Boy You've Always Known? Because I swear I've heard it a thousand times from a thousand others, and it's not the only track here that made me think as such. It's safe, and serviceable, but ultimately so very trite.
Jack's voice is the real distinguishing piece of this puzzle and I'm left just as mixed on him there as with his strumming. This boy is frustratingly allergic to even using his chest voice, and seems too often unconfident in his preferred head voice too. His faltering, uncertain affect left an undesirable taste in my mouth right out the gate in Dead Leaves and Dirty Ground, and that set me on a path to never quite find it quirky enough to enjoy. Maybe with a bit more oomph, it'd be different. He hits that sweet spot on Fell in Love With a Girl, good rhythm on that one too, and the intense bits in The Union Forever hit my ears nicely. When he's going hard and showing off a little vocal fry, it's memorable. But until then I more often just find it shrill, and weak sounding.
I'm not really feeling this but can't say it's bad, per se. It's something you put on a bar playlist and talk over in a crowded room full of college kids, not something you listen to end to end.
4/10 by my taste.
One more thing; what the fuck is Hotel Yorba even doing here? What a mistake of a track.
