1028
Albums Rated
3.48
Average Rating
94%
Complete
61 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010s
Favorite Decade
Grunge
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
206
5-Star Albums
37
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kollaps
Einstürzende Neubauten
|
5 | 1.9 | +3.1 |
|
Metal Box
Public Image Ltd.
|
5 | 2.41 | +2.59 |
|
Kenza
Khaled
|
5 | 2.58 | +2.42 |
|
Orbital 2
Orbital
|
5 | 2.7 | +2.3 |
|
Atomizer
Big Black
|
5 | 2.72 | +2.28 |
|
Vulnicura
Björk
|
5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
|
Scott 4
Scott Walker
|
5 | 2.8 | +2.2 |
|
I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
|
5 | 2.81 | +2.19 |
|
A Walk Across The Rooftops
The Blue Nile
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
Rock 'N Soul
Solomon Burke
|
1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
|
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
|
1 | 3.25 | -2.25 |
|
American Beauty
Grateful Dead
|
1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
|
Lady In Satin
Billie Holiday
|
1 | 3.23 | -2.23 |
|
Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
|
1 | 3.16 | -2.16 |
|
Honky Tonk Heroes
Waylon Jennings
|
1 | 3.14 | -2.14 |
|
Time (The Revelator)
Gillian Welch
|
1 | 3.06 | -2.06 |
|
Electric
The Cult
|
1 | 3.02 | -2.02 |
|
The Nightfly
Donald Fagen
|
1 | 3.01 | -2.01 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic Youth | 5 | 5 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 4.8 |
| Bruce Springsteen | 5 | 4.6 |
| Beatles | 7 | 4.29 |
| Steely Dan | 4 | 4.5 |
| Aerosmith | 3 | 4.67 |
| Prince | 3 | 4.67 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.67 |
| Public Enemy | 3 | 4.67 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Smiths | 3 | 4.67 |
| Marvin Gaye | 3 | 4.67 |
| Billy Bragg | 2 | 5 |
| Joy Division | 2 | 5 |
| Wilco | 2 | 5 |
| Eminem | 2 | 5 |
| Oasis | 2 | 5 |
| Pulp | 2 | 5 |
| Dire Straits | 2 | 5 |
| LCD Soundsystem | 2 | 5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | 2 | 5 |
| Kraftwerk | 2 | 5 |
| Green Day | 2 | 5 |
| R.E.M. | 4 | 4.25 |
| Metallica | 4 | 4.25 |
| Joni Mitchell | 4 | 4.25 |
| Radiohead | 6 | 4 |
| Echo And The Bunnymen | 3 | 4.33 |
| Pet Shop Boys | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kings of Leon | 3 | 4.33 |
| Michael Jackson | 3 | 4.33 |
| Pink Floyd | 3 | 4.33 |
| Arcade Fire | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Happy Mondays | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| The Rolling Stones | 5, 4, 3, 1, 5 |
| Primal Scream | 4, 1 |
| Elliott Smith | 2, 5 |
| King Crimson | 5, 2 |
| Funkadelic | 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (206)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
4/5
I've never heard of Alex Harvey before, so I had no idea what I was in for with this album. This was an absolute hidden gem. Fusing elements of hard rock, glam rock, and a little bit of blues, this album has a really unique sound. And with songs ranging from the jangly "Swampsnake" to the absurd "Gang Bang," this album was fun with a some dashes of humor too. There was so much going on musically, and I loved the use of harmonica, piano, and horns throughout the course of the album. Vocally, Alex Harvey reminds me of Bon Scott, Billy Squire, and Paul Stanley. Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I can't believe this band didn't find a wider audience.
7 likes
Ryan Adams
5/5
Back in 2017, before we knew that Ryan Adams was a nasty man, I listened to his album Prisoner, and I loved it. Thankfully though, I never listened to anything else of his, and I think that I only listened to Prisoner that one time. I debated even pulling up this album in my Spotify, and once I had it pulled up, I really wrestled with if I wanted to listen to it or not. Knowing what I know about Ryan's behavior, how could I look the women in my life in the eye and tell them that I listened to this? I eventually settled on listening to it, because I started this project with a desire to experience every album on this list, and I wanted to keep this journey going all the way. Besides, I've already listened to both Eminem albums on this list, and while they were both great, they were both unpleasant experiences. Also, there are other creeps on this list (Steven Tyler, Phil Spector), likely creeps (David Bowie, Prince), and creeps we don't or may never know about. The worst thing about this album is that Ryan Adams was a manipulative monster to several women in his life, and he got away with it for a really long time. The second worst thing about this album is that I thought it was really good. Even though I thought it was good, I hated myself the entire time I was listening to it, and I'll probably hate myself for the next week or two for having listened to it. Usually in my reviews, I'll mention what I liked about the music, but I'm not going to do that on this review, because now that my listening experience is over, I don't want to go back through it. I hate that we live in a world where people in positions of power do things like Ryan did, and I hate that we as consumers of art are stuck in sticky positions, trying to navigate how we feel about art we loved at one time, when we learn that the artist did disgusting and cruel things. This is a five star album, but it's sad that it was made by a one-star human being, who's so small, that he felt the need to wreak havoc on the lives of others.
6 likes
Happy Mondays
1/5
Woof. This was my second, and thankfully last Happy Mondays album on the list. I can't think of a single positive thing to say about this album. I didn't care for the vocals, lyrics, or music on this album. Nothing about this stood out to me at all, and it was a chore to get through. I'm really curious as to how either Happy Mondays album made it on this list.
5 likes
New Order
5/5
I love Joy Division, and though I'm not horribly familiar with a lot of New Order's broader catalog, I love the songs of theirs that I know ("Ceremony," "True Faith," "Temptation," etc.). Sadly, this was my first time listening to a full New Order album.
This album was outstanding from start to finish because every song was outstanding in its own unique way. I loved that New Order kept their post-punk sound while also continuing to develop their use of synthesizers. The guitars on this album were really great. I loved that the guitar parts didn't take the lead on the overall sound of the album, but still helped to flesh out the moody sound that New Order is known for. Bernard Sumner's vocals were great here too; there's just something about his voice that has a distinct Manchester sound to it. I thought that this album worked really well as a whole, but "Love Vigilante" and "Sunrise" were absolute masterpieces in their own right. I will definitely be returning to this album in the future.
5 likes
Van Halen
5/5
I think it would be prudent to lead off my review by mentioning that I love this album. It's one of my favorite albums of the eighties, and one of my favorite classic rock albums as well. I've actually been listening to it pretty frequently the last few weeks, and I was delighted that it came up for me today.
I've loved Van Halen for good portion of my life. As a kid, their songs would play frequently on local classic rock stations, and in my latter teenage years and twenties, I would listen to their Best of Both Worlds compilation pretty frequently. I'd never listened to all of 1984 or any Van Halen album for that matter, until I got a copy of this on vinyl for Christmas one year. To me, this album is the perfect example of what it took for rock music to survive and reach a wide audience in the eighties. Having established themselves as a premiere hard rock act, Van Halen relied on synthesizers to evolve their sound, which probably led to their separation with David Lee Roth, ushering in the "Van Hagar" era, which picked up where 1984's sound left off. Frankly, I think this transition to more synth heavy music worked heavily in the band's favor. Their earlier catalog is still fantastic, but 1984 is just a different kind of fun, and reflective of what rock bands were doing in the eighties to stay relevant (like ZZ Top on Eliminator, which oddly enough, I was assigned just prior to 1984).
The singles on this album are fantastic. They’re full of Eddie’s great guitar playing and synth lines, Alex’s fun drum fills, and Diamond Dave’s over the top vocals. I've loved "Jump" since I was a kid. I had a tough childhood, but music was something that could always make me happy. There's just something about the synthesizers in "Jump" that always made me extremely happy. It was always one of those songs that made me want to dance around. As an adult, I still love it. It's one of those songs never fails to get my blood pumping, and I always included it on my workout mixes. If it comes up when I'm driving, I'll always sing along to the words and the synthesizer notes too, all while doing my best to keep up with those fun drum fills on my steering wheel. “Panama” is fantastic too, and the actual sounds of engine revving during the bridge work really well. The synth parts on “I’ll Wait” go a bit darker than the ones on Jump, but they provide a nice contrast and show that the band was willing to committed to their changing sound. The drumming on “Hot for Teacher” is some of my favorite in all of classic rock, and the guitar licks are a perfect compliment. Granted, the songs about drooling over women haven’t aged particularly well, but they’re unfortunately pretty tame compared to what was coming as hair metal started to take off shortly after this album’s release (I’m looking at you, Warrant).
I love this album, and I think it’s a perfect snapshot of eighties rock. It’s fun and it’s got great synthesizer and guitar parts. The only criticism I can level against 1984 is that only one of the nine tracks is “Jump.”
4 likes
1-Star Albums (37)
All Ratings
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Great listen. Never listened to a Bob Marley album before, but really enjoyed this. It's a cold and dreary day, and the instrumentation definitely didn't match the weather.
Elvis Presley
3/5
'Fever' was far and away my favorite song on the album. I'm not a huge Elvis fan, but this was a really good album.
Miles Davis
4/5
First Miles Davis album I listened to. Really enjoyed this, and in a weird way, it makes me ready for the Christmas season. Looking forward to more Miles Davis music.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
I have never listened to a salsa album before, but this was really great. Shameful that a Texan hadn't listened to a salsa album before.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
Loved this. I love electronic music, and I can't believe I've never listened to The Chemical Brothers before.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I probably haven't listened to this album since college, but it's still one of my favorites. I wouldn't list every track as one of my favorites, but I can appreciate how wonderful each song on here is. Going to California is probably still my favorite Led Zeppelin song. Listening to this makes me want to go back through their discography.
The Go-Go's
4/5
I think I've maybe listened to this from start to finish once before, but I'm definitely more familiar with the Go-Go's singles than their whole albums. They're all very talented musicians, and it's mind-blowing that they were breaking so many barriers as late as the 80's. You can really hear the punk influences, and they definitely have that Los Angeles sound to them too. Solid album.
David Bowie
4/5
Another artist where I'm more familiar with their singles than their albums. And other than listening to Blackstar once, I don't really have any experience with Bowie's more recent work. Really enjoyed this album, especially the beginning and ending tracks.
The Electric Prunes
3/5
Never heard of this band or album before. Normally, I'm a fan of psychedelic music, but this wasn't really my jam. It was really weird, even for a psychedelic album. I didn't care for the vocals or lyrics, and the instrumentation wasn't exactly mind-blowing to me.
The Modern Lovers
3/5
I've never heard of this band or album before, but I really liked the vocals a lot, because they reminded me of other artists I like: Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, etc. You can hear the early punk influences, and this album sounds very much ahead of its time.
Air
4/5
This was right up my alley. I can't believe I've never heard of this album or Air before. I really liked the instrumentation and vocals of each song. It was really enjoyable to listen to.
Genesis
5/5
This was my first Peter Gabriel fronted Genesis album that I've listened to. I love Abacab and Invisible Touch, and I really loved this album. The instrumentation is phenomenal, and I really like how everything is arranged. Peter Gabriel's vocals really shine on this album, and I look forward to more albums from this part of Genesis's history.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Outside of "Everybody's Talkin'", I'm not very familiar with Harry Nilsson's work, but I really enjoyed this album. They lyrics and instrumentation were both great, and the songs were really well arranged. This isn't the type of music I typically gravitate towards, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
The xx
5/5
I love this album. It's easily one of my favorite things to re-listen to. The vocals are great, it's well produced, and the instrumentation is great too. Just a wonderful album from start to finish.
Billy Bragg
5/5
What a fun album! Wilco is very hit or miss for me (I think they're great, I just don't always enjoy their stuff), but this was fantastic. I'm not terribly familiar with Woody Guthrie's work, but judging from this, I'd say he's a great songwriter. I really loved the vocals and instrumentation on this album, and "Walt Whitman's Niece" was the perfect opening track.
Fiona Apple
4/5
What a great album! The lyrics were raw, but the vocals were polished and refined. I loved the instrumentation as well. Just a solid, beautiful album.
Throwing Muses
2/5
I wasn't terribly impressed by this album. I thought the rhythms were great, but there wasn't anything else that stood out to me from it. When I think of great works in alternative rock from this era, I think of Sonic Youth, Pixies, REM, and The Smiths, but this album just didn't hold a candle to the albums that those bands were putting out around the same time. Maybe I'm just missing something, but nothing on this album was very memorable to me.
The Style Council
3/5
Jazzy and snazzy! This was a really fun listen, and it really oozed Sophisti-pop. I've never listened to The Style Council before, and I enjoyed this album. There were definitely some odd tracks on here that felt like they didn't fit, but overall, this was a pretty solid album.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
4/5
While this isn't exactly the type of music I really enjoy, I can appreciate the talent of the people that put it together. I really enjoyed learning about why the album was made, and it's truly a remarkable achievement and concept.
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Another band that I've heard of, but never listened to. My experience with Britpop is pretty limited (when I was 13 or 14, I bought The Verve's 'Urban Hymns' solely for Bittersweet Symphony, and when I was fresh out of college, I bought Oasis's 'What's the Story Morning Glory', thanks to Rock Band), but I enjoyed this album. It's very unique from a lot of the stuff I listen to from the nineties, and I really liked the guitar parts on all of the songs. This isn't the sort of thing that I typically listen to, but I can definitely appreciate how good it is.
Garbage
4/5
Wow! I really enjoyed this album. I'm slightly familiar with Garbage (When I Grow Up is one of my favorite jams), but this is my first time to listen to a whole album of theirs. Shirley Manson is a great vocalist, and the band did a wonderful job producing this album. The instrumentation is so wild and unique, that it almost transcends what I think of when I'm mentally trying to place an album in a particular decade. I think this album is going to go into my regular rotation of things I listen to.
Pavement
3/5
I first heard of Pavement earlier this year (shout out to '60 Songs That Explain the 90's), so this was my first time listening to an album of theirs. It had some good songs on it, but nothing really stuck out to me as really memorable about it.
Rush
3/5
I got introduced to Rush by a coworker of mine in 2003. I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock, because my parents listened to a lot of it during my early childhood. But since my parents didn't listen to Rush, I was never exposed to them. After discovering them, I really liked them, and immediately bought a greatest hits album from them. Over the next couple of years, I even obtained vinyl copies of Moving Pictures and Hemispheres, and in 2007, I saw Rush live. I say all of this, because this was my first time listening to a Rush album from start to finish, and well, I was really underwhelmed buy this album. Don't get me wrong, Peart, Lifeson, and Lee are all insanely talented musicians, and I think this album is a good showcase of their mastery of their instruments, but that's kind of it for me with this album. I didn't find the lyrics really great, and for a concept album, it really didn't feel all that cohesive to me.
Talking Heads
4/5
I'm pretty sure I've listened to this album in its entirety once before, and on the first listen, I wasn't terribly impressed. However, this time through, I have a newfound appreciation for it. I'm always a fan of David Byrne's vocals, but this time, I really noticed how similar this album is to the works of LCD Soundsystem (the longer songs, the looping beats, the complex layering of sounds, etc.). Talking Heads were just on a completely different level than most of their peers in the 80's, and this album shows that. Once in a Lifetime is one of the best songs of the decades, but I think that Houses in Motion really shines on this album too.
Various Artists
4/5
Baby boomers remember Phil Spector as one of the most influential people in the history of modern music. Me? I remember him as the wild-haired, wide-eyed guy whose murder trial lasted what felt like at least five years. I've heard a majority of the songs on this album before, and they're all exactly what I want in a Christmas song: bopp-y, fun, and featuring vocals that don't hold back. Darlene Love goes so damn hard on Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), and it's the best track on an album full of great performances. This is going to be part of my holiday tradition from here on out.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
My favorite teacher of all time taught me World History and World Area Studies in high school. He loved U2, who I was very familiar with, but he also really loved Echo & The Bunnymen, who I'd never heard of (if my parents didn't listen to them, or if they didn't get any airplay on the local classic rock or modern rock station, my chances of hearing them was very slim). A couple of years ago, an Echo & The Bunnymen song came up on some random Spotify mix that I was listening to (I'm pretty sure it was 'The Killing Moon'), and I really liked it. I'm pretty sure I stopped right then and listened to all of Ocean Rain. I really loved Ian McCulloch's vocals, and I felt like Echo & The Bunnymen sounded like a better version of early U2, and I could see why my teacher loved both U2 and Echo & The Bunnymen. I love the ethereal quality of their instruments; it almost sounds like their songs were recorded in this cavern that's somehow massive and open. On this listen-through, I'd definitely say that 'The Killing Moon' is my favorite track, but 'Nocturnal Me' is fantastic as well. This is a great album, and I hate that I discovered it so late in my life.
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
I'm pretty familiar with Eric Clapton's music; my dad listened to his unplugged album quite a bit when I was a kid, and when I was in college, I listened to his solo stuff and Cream a fair amount. I even read his autobiography at some point in my twenties, and I really enjoyed. Now, in the year of our Lord 2022, Eric Clapton has shown his ass to the whole world, and everyone knows what a xenophobic jerk he is. It seems like no one wants to listen to his music anymore, with the exception of people who say things like "my pronouns are meat/eater."
I'd always meant to listen to this album back when I classic rock was pretty much the only thing I ever listened to, but somehow I never did. Due to Clapton's current reputation, I really didn't have high hopes for this album, but I have to begrudgingly admit that I thought it was okay. I don't know much about blues music (are the Black Keys blues?), but I thought this album was pretty good lyrically and instrumentally. I've always had a liking for 'Layla,' and I still think it's a great song, but I thought that 'Keep on Growing' and 'Bell Bottom Blues' are really good too. But even with 'Layla' and a couple of 'really good' songs, I don't think this album as a whole is anything noteworthy. If I look at some of my favorite albums from the seventies (Wish You Were Here, Rumors, Who's Next), this album doesn't even come close to those. Other than some talented folks who worked on it, it really doesn't have a lot to show off.
In closing, I'll leave my favorite anecdote about Eric Clapton. I used to listed to a sports podcast, and on a particular episode, they were talking about Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay taking his music memorabilia collection on the road to showcase it to the public. The hosts joked that Irsay thinks that a guitar previously owned by Clapton still contained his notes in it. One of the hosts asked if the guitar also had Clapton's hatred for immigrants in it, and the other host replied that it did, along with his parenting skills.
Fuck Eric Clapton with a Fender Stratocaster.
Mariah Carey
2/5
I spent most of the 90's listening to classic rock, 80's rock and pop, and some current mainstream rock. Pop music at that time was pretty much completely off my radar, especially once artists like Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, and Britney Spears started gaining a lot of momentum. During the 2010's however, I started listening to more current pop music (Robyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, Katy Perry, etc.), and that gave me a better appreciation for the pop music of the 90's.
Over the last couple of years, I started to appreciate artists like Mariah Carey a lot more, especially the songs off of Daydream. This was my first time listening to Butterfly, and I was really excited when it came up in my feed today. But after listening to it, I was pretty underwhelmed. I didn't find any of the songs particularly catchy or well written, and nothing really showed off Mariah's vocal abilities as well as certain tracks on Daydream did. 'Breakdown' is the bright spot of this album in my opinion, as it shows Mariah's ability to record great duets and work well with other artists. Other than that, I can't say I as terribly impressed by anything else on this album.
The Shamen
1/5
It's technically music?
On paper, this album is completely up my alley. I love music that has electronic elements to it, so despite the negative user reviews, I thought I would enjoy this. Each song started off with a lot of promise, but none of them really went anywhere beyond cycling the opening parts over and over again. No song really stood out to me, and I'll probably forget about this album by tomorrow. I'm really miffed as to how this made the 1001 albums list, but the show goes on.
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
I don't think I've ever heard of Badly Drawn Boy before. I thought this album was pretty good. I liked the vocals and lyrics; they reminded me of the things that I like about bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco. Even though I thought this album was pretty good, I'm not sure that I get why it was on the 1001 albums list. It was pleasant to listen to, but nothing was particularly memorable about it, and nothing about it really stood out to me.
The Byrds
3/5
When I was a kid, Turn! Turn! Turn! got quite a bit of play on the local oldies radio station (both in Dallas and later on when I moved to Houston). I loved the melody, and there was something in the guitars that I loved too. Over the course of my life, I've seen Turn! Turn! Turn! used in countless shows and movies, and it always brings back memories of being the backseat of our 1987 Honda Accord.
This was the first Byrds record that I've ever listened to, and it was about what I expected: lots of jangly percusion, psychedelic guitar chords, and lyrics that reflected the turbulence of the '60's.
I enjoyed listening to this album, but I didn't find it particularly remarkable. I folk rock bands like this in the 60's are fascinating, because as much as they wanted to be like The Beatles, no one else could come close to duplicating that success. Even though I wasn't blown away by this album, I hope there's more 60's folk rock on this list.
Nas
4/5
This is my second time listening to this album, and it's incredibly good. I'm not very well versed with a lot of hip hop, but before I listened to this album, I knew it had a reputation as one of the best hip hop albums of all time.
I absolutely love the beats, and Nas raps with an incredible amount of force. His rhymes are outstanding too, and this album really shows just how great Nas is at his craft.
The Everly Brothers
2/5
I grew up listening to fair amount of oldies on FM radio, so I know a couple of Everly Brothers songs: 'Wake Up Little Susie' and 'Bye Bye Love' (which is a really solid jam). This was my first time listening to this album, and I don't think I've ever heard any of the songs on it (unless you count Nazareth's version of 'Love Hurts').
I'd say this album is what I would expect for the time: songs about love with simple and catchy instrumentation, topped with a few sprinkles of casual misogyny. But for what it is, I think it's really good. The harmonies are great, and even though the instrumentation certainly isn't lighting the world on fire, it really works well with the lyrics. 'Love Hurts' is probably the best song on the album, and in a way, I'm glad that I had only heard the Nazareth version up until now.
Alternative title for this album: Aw, Shucks: White People Problems
Traffic
2/5
I listened to a lot of classic rock when up until I was in college, but Traffic was a band that I wanted to listen to, but never got around to checking out. I love Steve Winwood's solo stuff from the eighties, and it was nice to hear him on this album. However, overall, there's really nothing on this album that stuck out to me. The instrumentation was fine, the vocals and lyrics were fine, and it's not a bad album, it's just not going to be something that I'll probably ever think back on.
Little Simz
3/5
I listened to "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert" back in 2021, and I enjoyed it, but that's been my only exposure to Little Simz. I thought this album was good too; her rhyming and rapping skills are really great, and the beats on each track are really catchy too. But when it comes down to it, I can't say that I'll remember much about this album after a week passes. Little Simz is clearly talented, but I just don't think this album is up my alley.
Nick Drake
4/5
I've never heard of Nick Drake before, but I really enjoyed this album. The guitar is absolutely beautiful, and the simplicity really matches the rawness of the lyrics. I'm pretty sure that I've heard his music in movies or a television show at some point, because "Horn" sounded really familiar (and oddly enough that was my favorite track on this album). Listening to Pink Moon makes me want to check out some of Nick Drake's other albums.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
I think I listened to this album back in 2021 when it came out, and if I remember correctly, I enjoyed it.
Listening to it today, I really liked it. I thought it was well made, and lyrically, I don't think I've ever heard a female artist sing about things like that before. I found it subversive in the best way, and I would be open to listening to Jazmine Sullivan's next album.
Parliament
5/5
We want the funk! I'm only vaguely familiar with the music of Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton, but I really loved this album. Lyrically, it definitely lived up to the name Mothership Connection. Instrumentally, this is definitely the type of music that I gravitate towards. I love synths and keyboards, and it's hard to imagine the synth pop of the eighties and 2010's existing without these folks paving the way. When George Clinton was The Masked Singer last year (and I correctly guessed it was him before the panel said anything), I was delighted, and wanted to listen to some of his music, but I completely forgot. Glad this was in my rotation today to remind me!
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
I've loved Fleetwood Mac since I was a kid, and I listen to Rumors and Tango in the Night regularly as an adult (TitN is incredible, and one of the best albums of the eighties in my opinion), but I've never listened to all of Tusk before.
I thought Tusk was outstanding. It's very different from Rumors and TitN, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. I love that it has so many varied sounds on it, and that in branches out from the Fleetwood Mac albums that I'm most familiar with. It would have been foolish for Fleetwood Mac to try and duplicate Rumors, and it's clear that wasn't their aim here, but somehow, they managed to be even more ambitious here. I love that the songs are written and sung by a wide variety of members of the band, and I think that speaks to how divided they were after making Rumors.
I didn't think I could love Fleetwood Mac any more than I already did, but now this album will be in my regular rotation as well.
Willie Nelson
4/5
I'm not familiar with Willie Nelson's music, other than "On the Road Again" and his version of "Always on My Mind." I thought this album was really good. Willie is a great singer, and I love how gentle his voice is. His simple melodies really pair well with his voice, and I thought all the songs on this album were catchy and nice to listen to. It's not the sort of thing that I typically listen to, but I can appreciate it for what it is. Also, shoutout to Willie for pissing off conservatives when he vocally supports liberal causes.
Beatles
5/5
The Beatles were a staple of the music played in our house when I was growing up. My parents had quite a few of their albums on vinyl (my dad had an opportunity to purchase The White Album on white vinyl, but passed because the person selling it wanted like $20 for it. But yet he and my mom spent thousands on Thomas Kinkade paintings...), we would play "Birthday" on every birthday, and Beatles' lyrics were often quoted in conversation.
I still listen to The Beatles every now and then, but I don't think I've ever listened to an entire album of theirs from start to finish (maybe I've listened to all of Revolver or The White Album). I definitely prefer their later works (everyone makes better music when they're on drugs, and I will not be swayed from this), but I really enjoyed sitting back and giving this album a thorough listen.
John and Paul really did a great job of writing this album. The lyrics are incredibly catchy and fun to sing along too, and the instrumentation is great too. I love that you can hear so much going on instrumentally; at times it sounds like there's closer to eight people in the studio, rather than a quartet. It's easy to see how these guys started off making "typical pop music," but then evolved so much artistically over their career. Even though the instrumentation may seem rudimentary, every note is executed with perfection, and it all blends together seamlessly to make a sound that was often imitated, but never duplicated.
Recently, it seems like The Beatles have been labeled as 'overrated' by a lot of people, but that's utter bullshit. No one has had the career that these guys had, and the sheer volume and quality of their catalog over less than a decade is a marvel and will never be duplicated.
The Cure
3/5
I've listened to a lot of The Cure's singles throughout the years, but this was my first time listening to a whole album of theirs. I love what they did instrumentally; it reminds me a lot about what I like about Echo & The Bunnymen. The Cure do an exceptional job of establishing a mood, even without lyrics. I love how their bass lines make everything so big, yet so empty.
Lyrically though, this album just wasn't doing it for me. I wish I could pinpoint why that is, but I can't. I guess that explains why "Three" was one of my favorite tracks on the album.
By the way, if you like The Cure, Robert Smith recently appeared on the song "How Not to Drown" with Chvrches, and that song is great. Also, check out the first two albums from White Lies (does anyone even read my reviews, or am I just making recommendations into the void?)
Hookworms
4/5
I've never heard of Hookworms before, but this album reminded me in parts of some of my favorite music from the Indie Sleaze era of the 2010's. I thought the instrumentation was great, and all of the songs were really catchy and well written. I enjoyed the lyrics as well, especially on 'Negative Space.' Even though I enjoyed listening to it, I don't know if it's something that I'll necessarily seek out again, but I'm glad I can appreciate it for being a really well made album.
Lightning Bolt
3/5
I've never heard of Lightning Bolt before, but I thought this album was pretty good. Apparently I'm not very familiar with noise rock as a whole; I did a quick google search for the best noise rock bands, and the only band I even recognized was Sonic Youth (who I happen to be fairly familiar with). I thought the music worked really well on this album, and even though it's 'just noise rock,' everything felt really complex and deep. Even though I enjoyed this album, I can't see myself seeking out any other Lightning Bolt albums any time soon.
Soundgarden
5/5
The first time I ever heard a Soundgarden song was when Weird Al used a snippet of 'Black Hole Sun' in 'Alternative Polka' on his 1996 album Bad Hair Day. That would be my only exposure to them until probably later in the 90's when I would hear 'Black Hole Sun' on the local alternative rock radio station. I thought 'Black Hole Sun' was a great song, and I enjoyed how it was heavy but also slow and beautifully belted out by Chris Cornell.
Fast forward to 2003. One morning, my parents found two CD cases (you know, the kind where you could stash a few dozen CD's and keep it in your car) in our yard. We had no idea where they came from, and we really didn't have a reasonable way to try to track down the owner. We figured a pissed off girlfriend had probably tossed her boyfriend's music collection out of the window as a means of revenge. Since we had no way of tracking down the owner, my parents let my brother and I keep whatever CD's we wanted, and one of the CD's I kept was Soundgarden's Superunknown.
I can't remember the circumstances that led to my first listening of it, but I was blown away. I remember that this was the first time I had ever listened to an album and thought "I don't want to skip a single track on here. All of these songs are great." I remember being particularly blown away by 'Spoonman' and its insane drumming and use of spoons as percussion.
Almost exactly 20 years after my first listen, I was delighted when this album came up for me today. I haven't intentionally listened to any songs on this album in several years, but it still holds up. Chris Cornell's ability to croon in a brooding manner still solidifies him as one of the best rock vocalists of all time, and his suicide makes the music on here about 10x heavier than when it was first released. Each song manages to have that heavy, grungy feel, but in its own unique way. The singles from this album still hold up, but 'Limo Wreck' and 'Let Me Drown' are gems too. This album is just expertly crafted in every way, and it's still wonderful to listen to.
Joy Division
5/5
About 14 years ago or so, I learned about the 1001 Albums book. I found a list of all the albums somewhere online, and decided to try and start branching out and listening to some of them. One of the first albums I decided to check out was Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. I was instantly hooked. I loved the broody sound, the drums, the keyboards, and Ian Curtis's deep vocals and dark lyrics. Shortly afterwards, I checked out Closer, and I loved it as well.
This was my first time listening to this album in several years, and I'm so glad I had an excuse to re-listen to it. I still love everything about it: the dark mood, the way the instrumentals manage to sound massive yet lonely, Ian Curtis's vocals, and the dark lyrics. This was my first time to really spend some time looking into the lyrics, and I love all the imagery in them: religion, family strife, failed relationships. Knowing how Ian Curtis's life ended adds another deep layer of sadness to all of these songs, and it just makes me wonder if suicide had been something he had obsessed over for the greater part of his life. I think this album is fantastic, and without it, some of my favorite albums of the eighties and onward probably wouldn't exist.
I hate that Joy Division was only around for a short time, but I do love that New Order came about from Joy Division's end, building on the sound that they had established.
PJ Harvey
5/5
Before listening to this album, I think the only PJ Harvey album I've listened to is "Let England Shake," but I really enjoyed "Rid of Me." I thought the sound was raw and energetic, and it sounded like nothing else that was being released at that time. I loved how well this album was produced; even though the sound was raw and full of chaos and emotion, it was clearly well arranged to create its unique sound.
I really enjoyed the lyrics as well. I'm not sure if any of the things talked about were autobiographical, but the sexual energy contained in them is something that I don't think anyone else was doing at this point in time. I know PJ Harvey has said that she didn't write this album as a feminist manifesto, but the way she discusses sexuality is still edgy and brilliant, event 30 years after it was recorded. I can see this album becoming a part of my regular rotation.
Fiona Apple
5/5
This is the second Fiona Apple album that I've gotten on this list, and just like 'Tidal,' I really enjoyed this album as well.
I had just gotten PJ Harvey's 'Rid of Me' on the previous day, and I felt like it was a beautiful coincidence to get 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters' immediately afterwards. I love that the lyrics had a theme of detachment to them, but each song still felt like it addressed that detachment in a different way. Fiona Apple's vocals are always so raw, yet she conveys so much emotion through her singing.
I loved the instrumentation on this album was brilliant as well. I've heard "Criminal" so many times throughout my life, that I always think of Fiona Apple as a pianist, but she really breaks away from that here with all of the different percussion she was using.
The three track run of "Newspaper," "Ladies," and "Heavy Balloon" might be one of my favorite trio of consecutive songs ever, and I really thought the last half of the album was incredibly strong.
Wilco
5/5
Several years ago, I bought Wilco's 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' on CD. I can't remember what led me to buy it (maybe hearing their name a lot?), but I remember really enjoying it on my first listen. Sadly, I never listened to it very often. I think I just wasn't ever in the mood for it once I got past "I am Trying to Break Your Heart."
This is now the second Wilco album I've listened to from start to finish (unless you count 'Mermaid Avenue,' which I also loved). I was blown away by how much I liked this album. Jeff Tweedy is an incredibly talented vocalist, and this album really showcases that. I love the jagnly-er songs that are banjo-heavy, and the songs where the banjo takes a back seat, or isn't present at all too (I mean, I think it's not there on certain songs). Instrumentally, I don't think there's much more that I can say, other than I thought the flow of the album really worked, and it was fun to listen to.
I did a shallow dive into the Wikipedia article for this album, and read that Tweedy had become a father between recording their first album and this album. As a new father myself, I really identified with the lyrical themes here: self doubt, wondering if you're good enough for your partner, hating yourself for thinking about running away (at least that's how I interpreted some of the songs). But the more you push on, the more some things get easier, while other things get harder. People always talk about how physically hard it is to have a new child, but the emotional and mental challenges are just as big, and I think Tweedy shows how those emotional challenges collide into the other areas of your life.
I will definitely be listening to this album again, along with other Wilco albums. My favorite tracks on here were "Monday," "I Got You," and "Outtasite."
Dusty Springfield
3/5
I'm familiar with a couple of Dusty Springfield songs (the use of "Son of a Preacher Man" in Pulp Fiction is perfection), but this was my first time listening to one of her albums from start to finish. In my mind, Dusty is one of the best singers of all time. Her vocals are smooth, yet powerful, and it almost seems to me like she sings like she's trying to restrain herself from unleashing the full power of her voice, and I feel like her vocals leave me wanting more, in a way that I'm hanging on to every note she sings. Today, I learned that she's the one singing with the Pet Shop Boys on "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" As a Pet Shop Boys fan, I'm ashamed that I didn't notice this.
Now to actually discuss 'A Girl Called Dusty.' While Dusty's vocals are amazing, this album just isn't that great in my opinion. Dusty didn't write any of the songs on here (and that doesn't detract from her skills as a vocalist), and I think that kind of robs the music of some depth. I think of these songs as soul-adjacent, but with them all being essentially covers, they're kind of robbed of some added depth. And with a collection of songwriters' works being performed here, the album just doesn't feel very cohesive in my opinion. There's just not much here setting this work apart from similar works that had been released prior to it nor during the time it was released. Dusty has amazing vocals, but that's kind of all this album has.
R.E.M.
4/5
I've loved R.E.M. since I was kid, but sadly, this was my first time listening to one of their albums from start to finish. I've always enjoyed their songs that got a lot of radio play in the early nineties ("Stand," "Losing My Religion," "The One I Love"), and I've owned 'Document' since my late teens.
'Murmur' sounded very different from the R.E.M. that I'm most familiar with, but I really enjoyed it. The instrumentation was great, with it's jangly guitars, great drum beats, and piano melodies. It's wild to listen to an album like this and being able to hear how its sound influenced alternative rock's development throughout the rest of the eighties, and how it still influences bands today (I'm looking at you, The National).
I didn't pay too closely to the lyrics, sadly, and I didn't have time to go back and read them before writing this review, but I definitely want to give this album another listen, and when I do, I'll be a lot more attentive to the lyrics. All in all though, I thought this was a great album, and I can't wait to listen to more stuff from R.E.M.
The Zombies
4/5
Before listening to this album, the only song I'd ever heard by The Zombies was "Time of the Season," so I was pretty unfamiliar with their body of work.
I really enjoyed this album. It was exactly what I'd expect for a late 60's psychedelic album: jangly guitars and great keyboard riffs. And as a bonus, their harmonies are incredible. All of the songs were terrific, but "Care of Cell 44" and "Time of the Season" were the standouts to me.
2/5
I've never heard of Suba before, and honestly, I'll probably never think of them again. This album was fine, and I thought the first thirty seconds or so of the first track showed some promise, but things didn't ever really take off for me. I didn't find this album bad, but there was nothing about it that stood out to me as an album of importance.
Beatles
3/5
This is the second Beatles album I've been given from this list (the first being 'A Hard Day's Night,' and I didn't enjoy 'With The Beatles' nearly as much as I enjoyed the other one. The Beatles' pop prowess is still on display here, but it just doesn't resonate as deeply with me when they're not performing their own songs. The guitars, drums, and vocals are all still great, but this album just didn't have the complete feel to it that 'A Hard Day's Night' has.
John Prine
5/5
Before today, the only John Prine album I'd listened to was 'Tree of Forgiveness,' which I'm pretty sure I listened to in the year of its release. I remember thinking it was really good, but it also wasn't exactly my cup of tea, so I never listened to any more of his work, even after his passing a few years ago.
That was a mistake. This album is insanely good. I don't think I've ever heard lyrics like this before. I love that Prine doesn't sugarcoat anything, and there's no room to guess as to what message he's trying to convey. While his messages are straightforward, the imagery and language he uses are a little more "elevated," (that's the best way I could think to phrase it) and it completely works here. The instrumentation isn't anything extravagant, and it doesn't need to be. The main attraction here is the message, and the music is the conduit that Prine uses to convey his message. This is an amazing album, and I look forward to listening to more of Prine's work.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
I've never listened to a full Yeah Yeah Yeahs album before, and I thought 'Fever To Tell' was okay. The instrumentation was really good, but I didn't think that most of the lyrics were all that great. I'm not really sure what sets this album apart from what The Strokes or Franz Ferdinand were putting out around the same time. "Black Tongue," "Maps," and "Y Control" were definitely the stand-outs on this album, but other than those, I don't think I'll give much of a thought to anything else that was on here.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
I've listened to this album before, when I was making my way through Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best albums of the 2010's. The first time I listened to it, I had no idea what had gone on in Nick Cave's life leading up to the recording of this album, but it's plain as day that this is the work of someone who's going through an immense amount of pain. Spiritually, it I've listened to this album before, when I was making my way through Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best albums of the 2010's. The first time I listened to it, I had no idea what had gone on in Nick Cave's life leading up to the recording of this album, but it's plain as day that this is the work of someone who's going through an immense amount of pain. Spiritually, it reminds me a lot of the Nick Drake album I listened to several weeks ago (in fact, Spotify launched into a Nick Drake song immediately after this album's last song, as if to say "aww, here you go, you sad little fella"). The stripped down instrumentation and bare-bones production really help the lyrics shine through on this album. Even though the subject matter is crushingly sad, I found this album incredibly beautiful.
Alice Cooper
2/5
When I was a kid, our local amusement park had a massive Alice Cooper's "Welcome to my Nightmare" themed haunted house as part of their Halloween attractions one year. My parents went and had a blast. The only specific that I remember them talking about was a scene where 'Alice Cooper' was beheaded by a guillotine. Fast forward to high school, when my friend let me Dazed and Confused, and I had my first real exposure to Alice Cooper, when I heard "No More Mr. Nice Guy" during the infamous hazing scene (fun fact: a girl I went to high school with said that her mom was part of the freshman class at Huntsville High School the year after the movie took place, and hazing had basically been banned). I wound up purchasing both of the soundtrack discs for Dazed, and I always enjoyed "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "School's Out," but that was the extent of my exposure to Alice Cooper (I take that back, someone I went to church with said she used to babysit for him when their family lived in Arizona. Weird.)
I was pretty excited to listen to this album, since I'd never listened to a full Alice Cooper album before. After listening to it though, I was pretty disappointed. Culturally, Alice Cooper were (that's the name of the band, so it's plural, right?) doing things that were pretty wild and novel. I know their live shows were supposed to be out of this world, with crazy theatrics, and I can't think of anyone else doing anything even remotely like this until White Zombie and Manson came on the scene. But musically, I just wasn't that impressed with what's going on here. Alice Cooper the man isn't a particularly talented vocalist in my opinion, and none of the instrumentation on this album was unique or memorable to me. Lyrically, there are a few songs here that I thought were opening some new doors ("No More Mr. Nice Guy," "Billion Dollar Babies," and "Generation Landslide"), but other than that, nothing here was that great. I can appreciate what this album and the band as a whole did for the music scene, but beyond that, this album didn't do much for me.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
I've never listened to any Frank Zappa albums before (solo or otherwise), but I enjoyed this album. I thought the doo-wop songs were great, especially "Wowie Zowie," and I was cracking up at the lyrics to all of them. I also thought "Hungry Freaks" was great too, and had some really great social commentary. A lot of this album sounded way ahead of its time, but somehow it also felt like it felt right at home in the sixties. My biggest criticism of this album is that the songs that didn't land with me, really missed by a wide margin. Closing the album out with the twelve and half minutes "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" should be a war crime. But overall, I think I'd listen to this album again, as long as I bail before the last song.
Eminem
5/5
Hoo boy. I'll never forget the first time I heard a song by Eminem. A friend of mine in my geometry class let me listen to "My Name Is" on his Discman, and my head practically exploded. I'd never heard anyone use language like that, and I was cracking up at the crass things Eminem was spitting out at lightning speed.
This was my first time listening to this particular album, and it's amazing. Eminem's rhymes and flow are absolutely insane. I just can't fathom what it takes to be able to rap like he does. The subject matter on this album is insanely dark, but Eminem has so many different ways that he uses to convey these themes. The beats on this album are incredible as well, and it's insanely well produced. I don't listen to a lot of rap, but Eminem's beats are instantly recognizable to me, and I think that takes an immense talent.
Since most of the other reviews mention it to some degree, I guess I can't talk about this album without mentioning the homophobic, misogynistic, and violent content of the lyrics. A lot of the lyrical content here is pretty uncomfortable to listen to. I think a lot of the more offensive content is spouted off by characters/personas that Eminem has invented, but that doesn't take any of the edge off of it. Is it okay to play the role of a character who says words and phrases like this? I don't know. When we have visual movies about cultural tumult (World War II, The Civil Rights movement in the U.S. etc.), people being represented on screen often spout hateful rhetoric, and we generally accept it, because it's historically accurate, and history is often a long road of terrible deeds that come from terrible thoughts and words. Is it okay in this sense too? Homophobia and misogyny were clearly alive and well at the time this album was recorded, and people who held these types of views were certainly thriving as well, and in my view, that gives these lyrics an unfortunate realism. But what does it mean when someone can create personas like this? Ultimately, I don't know how to feel about art like this. I think this album is incredible as a piece of music, but I don't enjoy listening to things as dark as this.
De La Soul
5/5
I've never listened to any De La Soul before, but this album was great. The rapping was awesome, some of the lyrics were humorous, and the sampling was out of this world. I was humming "Eye Know" to myself for several hours before I realized they sampled Steely Dan's "Peg" in it. To me, that shows that these guys are incredibly talented at making songs. To take a song that I know, and sample it in a way that makes it something entirely new is a remarkable skill. Also, Trugoy just died yesterday? What a wacky coincidence. I hope the man rests in peace, and I hope to get to listen to more De La Soul.
The Charlatans
4/5
I had pretty low expectations going into this album, but it was really fun, and I enjoyed it. When it popped up for me today, my first thought was "hooray, another album by Great Value Oasis." I'm glad that I was wrong. I loved that that the songs here had such a wide variance in sounds, especially the blues-ier songs like "How High." I love good keyboard parts, and this album definitely delivered on that, especially with "Get On It" and "Only Teething," both of which reminded me of Primal Scream (after reading about the album on Wikipedia, I was blown away to learn that Primal Scream's keyboardist helped finish the album after the original keyboardist died in a car accident. Sometimes my ears surprise me with what they can pick up). I loved "With No Shoes" and "Tellin' Stories" as well. The instrumentation and vocals on this album were really great, and while the sound here definitely has the 90's BritPop feel, this album manages to remain unique. I will definitely listen to this album again.
Sparks
3/5
I first heard of Sparks last year when Edgar Wright's documentary came out. The trailer claimed something along the lines of "your favorite band that you've never heard of!" I made a mental note to check them out, but life got in the way, and that mental note got tossed in the mental garbage can. After listening to this album, I can say that I'm glad I didn't go out of my way to listen to Sparks before now. Instrumentally, the album was great. It's crazy to me that this was recorded in the '70's, because it sounds like the new wave music that was coming out in the early '80's. But I just couldn't get past the vocals on this album. I didn't like the falsetto singing at all, and I wish I had something more concrete to say about why I didn't like it, but I just didn't. I understand why this album and Sparks as a whole are so important to music, but it just wasn't for me.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
I've been listening to Pet Shop Boys' singles from the '80's for as long as I can remember. I love "West End Girls" and "Opportunities," but their rendition of "Always on my Mind" is my absolute favorite of theirs. I've never listened to a whole album of theirs, and I'm completely unfamiliar with their work from 1990 and on. That should suffice as an lead-in to the fact that this album was completely different from what I expected to hear. Gone are the synth pop dance tunes of their earlier discography, replaced with a smoother and more subdued sound that was becoming present as the eighties became the nineties. Gone are the dancey beats, replaced with silky synth-pop ballads. The vocals on this album are great, and Tennant still shines as one of the best singers of his synth-forward contemporaries. Musically, Pet Shop Boys do a great job of keeping the uniqueness of their sound, while changing with the times. This isn't the sort of album I would listen to again (their dance hits will still stay in heavy rotation for me), but I can appreciate this album as being a great work.
Björk
4/5
Before listening to this album, the only Bjork song I'd ever heard was "Hyperballad," thanks to 60 Songs That Explain the 90's. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be in for, but I really enjoyed this album. The first half didn't really blow me away that much, but the second half more than made up for it. Even though I didn't enjoy the first half as much, I still thought that the album as a whole was incredibly pleasant to listen to. Bjork's vocals are outstanding, and her ability to arrange beautiful music is on full display here. I can't imagine what it must have been like for people to listen to this album when it came out. Personally, my head would have probably exploded. I imagine that Bjork's work probably influenced some other artists that I really liked: MGMT, Sigur Ros, and Miike Snow. And if she didn't influence them, don't tell me, and just let me believe the lie I invented.
The Lemonheads
2/5
Before listening to this album, I'd only ever heard The Lemonheads' cover of "Mrs. Robinson," which is a really great cover. With only that to go off of, I wasn't sure what to expect out of this album. If I had to summarize my experience in one word, it would be 'underwhelming.' Nothing here really stood out to me. I wouldn't say this was an unpleasant album to listen to, but I definitely don't understand why this album made the list. I'll admit that the lyrics to the title track were really great, and their version of "Mrs. Robinson" really holds up, but that's it.
The Cardigans
3/5
As a kid, I absolutely hated it when "Lovefool" came on the radio. There was just something about that song that I absolutely hated. Thankfully, I can fully appreciate it now. I wasn't wowed by this album, but it was a fun listen. The vocals were really great, and the instrumentation was really unique. It's not something I'd probably rush to listen to again, but overall a decent experience.
Aerosmith
4/5
For transparency's sake, I'll admit that I'm heavily biased against Aerosmith. I listened to a lot of classic rock up until I was in my mid-twenties, and I listened to Aerosmith quite a bit (I think I still have their double disc greatest hits). But as time has gone on, I've really soured on them. I personally think they're the most overrated classic rock band of all time, and their catalog only has a couple of songs I still enjoy. Worst of all, it seems like Steven Tyler might be a dirtbag.
I groaned when I was given this album today, and this started off as my first hate-listen of this list. However, much to my surprise, I really enjoyed this album. "F.I.N.E." was really catchy, and after that, I stopped my hate-listen. I don't like Steven Tyler's vocals at all, but musically, I really liked what the band did here. There's something about their drumming that I really liked on this album. I loved the little instrumental interludes leading into the songs, which is something that was left off of these songs when I've heard them previously. Even when I liked listening to Aerosmith, I hated "Janie's Got a Gun," but I even though I still don't like it, I think it's lyrically the band's best song. "What it Takes" is another standout to me on this album.
I'm not sure what to make of the overt sexual tones of some of the songs on here. I can't tell if Aerosmith is pulling a Spinal Tap, and embracing the stereotype of the groupie-banging rockstar with a bit of a wink, or if they really think they're God's gift to their throngs of female fans. These recent allegations against Steven Tyler make me lean towards the latter, which makes me feel like these songs are kinda gross, even if they're a bit tongue in cheek.
Overall though, I enjoyed this album, and I can see why it brought Aerosmith back into the spotlight.
The Doors
4/5
I've listened to The Doors quite a bit, but this was my first time listening to one of their albums from start to finish. I love Jim Morrison's voice; it always has a haunting quality to it, even on songs with less haunting titles, like "Waiting for the Sun." I love the keyboards and how the band seamlessly fuses blues and psychedelic rock. The only strike against these guys for me is that some of their lyrics are a tad too far 'out there' for me (I'm looking at you, "Peace Frog"). Overall though, this is a wonderful album, and a great showcase for the music coming out of California in the 1960's.
Amy Winehouse
4/5
I've actively avoided Amy Winehouse's music for nearly twenty years (I think I just hate "Rehab"? Or maybe she reminds me of someone that I don't like? I'm not entirely sure to be honest), so this was my first experience with one of her albums. I really enjoyed listening to this. Amy's vocals are great, and while the songwriting might be 'juvenile' in a topical sense, I thought that the tracks felt really cohesive. "Fuck Me Pumps" might be the first jazz diss track that I've ever heard, and it absolutely ruled. I'm really looking forward to when I get assigned 'Back to Black.'
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
I've never heard of Teenage Fanclub before, so this was a new experience for me. This was an enjoyable album to listen to, but I'm not sure I would have included it on this list. I really enjoyed the guitars and the drums, but lyrically and vocally, there wasn't a lot going on for me. "Satan," "Star Sign," "Metal Baby," "Guiding Star," and "Is This Music?" were the best tracks of the album in my opinion, but nothing else was really that noteworthy for me. I was hoping that this album would impress me, like The Charlatans did, but it just wasn't meant to be.
5/5
Time to admit another bias: I've been given a lot of Britpop albums so far, and each time I get another Britpop album, I've just longed for this one. Today was finally my day (the day after my birthday, oddly enough).
I absolutely love this album. Every track is just brilliant. This is the perfect album to pop on some headphones for, so that you can hear every little guitar strum and every drum hit. The instrumentation on this album is just so rich, that it's almost beyond words for me to describe. This is exactly what I want in a Britpop album: it sounds like The Beatles in a sense, but it also sounds like something completely removed from them as well (that might be the lamest thing I've ever written, but it was the best I could come up with).
Liam's vocals are great, and Noel's vocals on "Don't Look Back in Anger" are superb as well. I wonder what could have been if those two could have managed to not be complete dickbags.
I don't think I could pick a favorite track off of this album. It's genuinely a 'no skips' record, and one of my favorite albums from the 90's.
Gang Of Four
5/5
I don't think I've heard of Gang Of Four before, and that's a shame, because I really loved this album. I'm a big fan of post-punk, and this is everything I could have wanted in a post-punk album. I loved the instrumentation and how Gang of Four managed to differentiate themselves from the rest of the post-punk field of the time. I really loved the anger they sang with when discussing social issues of the time (also, is it just me, or were the English way ahead of their time when talking about the plight of the working class?). "Not Great Men," "Damaged Goods," and "Guns Before Butter" were my favorite tracks on here, and I will definitely be listening to this album again in the future.
Eels
4/5
I've heard of Eels before, and I could have sworn that I'd never heard their music before, but after listening to this album today, I think maybe I've heard some of their songs? I dunno, and I guess it isn't important.
I really enjoyed this album. I thought all of the songs were really good and well made. Each song had its own feel, but felt very much rooted in the post grunge era of the 90's. Every song really pulled me in with its unique instrumentation. I can't say that the lyrics did much for me, but this was still very enjoyable to listen to, and I would listen to it again.
Screaming Trees
4/5
I don't think I've ever heard of Screaming Trees before, which is a shame, because I think I would have really enjoyed a lot of the songs on here when if I had listened to it when it came out. I listened to a lot of classic rock as a kid, with psychedelic rock being some of my favorite stuff, and I really love how this album incorporates that sound. The vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation are all really great. 'Halo of Ashes,' 'All I Know,' and 'Sworn and Broken' were my favorite tracks. I think this a standout for the grunge or post-grunge genre, and I would definitely listen to it again.
John Coltrane
4/5
I don't think I've ever listened to a jazz album before, so I really have no frame of reference for what's considered a good jazz album. I did enjoy listening to this though, and it seemed like everyone involved with making it was a master of their instrument.
50 Cent
3/5
I went in to this with really low expectations, but I came away with a mild appreciation for this album. I don't think 50 Cent is a particularly great rapper, but I thought a lot of the songs on here were catchy and decent to listen to. I think of gangsta rap as being a bit on the niche side of things, so I find it impressive that 50 Cent was able to have some songs like "In Da Club" and "P.I.M.P." that are really well known across popular culture. I thought "Heat" and "If I Can't" were really good and catchy as well. My biggest complaint, other than the fact that 50 Cent just isn't that great of a rapper, is that the songs were really self-aggrandizing. Granted, that might just be a facet of gangsta rap that comes with the territory. Overall, this was a pretty good album, and I think it's a good representation of what gangsta rap was like in the aughts, but it's not something I'm keen to listen to again.
Sinead O'Connor
5/5
Wow! What an album. I've been familiar with Sinead's version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" for most of my life, but this was my first time hearing any of her other music, and I was blown away. Her unique and powerful vocals punctuate every word of her emotional lyrics. The instrumentation on these songs is varied, but each song is gorgeous and beautifully arranged. I figured this would be a good album, but I did not count on it being incredible. I will definitely be listening to this again some day soon.
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
Heading into this album, the only Earth, Wind & Fire songs that I was familiar with were "Shining Star" and "September" (shoutout 'Superbad' and Demi Adejuyigbe). Funk and soul music are genres that I don't gravitate towards very often, but I thought this was a great album. The songs were all fun to listen to, and I think this album is a standout of funk and soul. As the late seventies were approaching, it feels like a lot of bands that were trying to embrace funk, soul, and eventually disco, didn't have a lot that set them apart from the crowd. However, Earth, Wind & Fire really were in a class of their own, and I think a lot of that is due to Philip Bailey's vocals (for what it's worth, it's become a huge pet peeve of mine that "Easy Lover" is often touted as a Phil Collins song, when it appeared on Philip Bailey's album. I love Phil, but that's a Philip Bailey song that happens to feature Phil Collins). Even though Philip Bailey's vocals are great, the band still finds a way to let the instruments pack a punch when they need to. I love that this album had some longer songs, especially the synth-heavy outro of "All About Love." This is a great album, and a master class on soul and funk.
Muddy Waters
4/5
I've never listened to a true blues album before, but I enjoyed listening to this album. Muddy Waters's voice is fantastic, and I love how simple the instrumentation is, and how it complements the rich and emotional lyrics. When I heard the guitar riff kick in on "Mannish Boy," I knew that I was going enjoy my experience. I hope I get more blues like this as I keep working through this list.
Miles Davis
4/5
Jazz is not a genre that I know a lot about, and I've never listened to a Miles Davis album before, but this was very enjoyable. I'm hoping there's more Miles Davis coming up on this list!
Steely Dan
5/5
I'm pretty sure that all boomer-dads were issued a copy of Steely Dan's greatest hits during the 90's, so I'm pretty familiar with some of their catalogue. Growing up, I found their songs like "Reelin' In The Years" and "Do It Again" to be pretty inoffensive, but they weren't my favorite. Several months ago, I listened to Aja from start to finish on a whim, and I really enjoyed it. I found this album very enjoyable as well. I think the jazz-adjacent sound works here, and I liked the longer songs. The only song on this album that I had listened to prior to today was "Bodhisattva," which used to kick my ass on some iteration of Rock Band or Guitar Hero (I was mediocre at those games at best). I've never heard any of the guys in Steely Dan mentioned as being the best at their instruments, but I think that's a mistake. Everyone here seems to be a master of their instrument, hitting each note with precision. Sure, there aren't any Bonham's or Van Halen's here, but that's fine, because these guys know how to craft great songs. I thought the lyrics and vocals were great too, with "My Old School" being a standout song. Overall, this was a great album, and I think Steely Dan's work deserves more recognition as some of the best music of the 70's.
Sheryl Crow
5/5
I listened to a lot of top 40 radio in the 90's, so I'm pretty familiar with Sheryl Crow's singles, but this is my first time listening to a whole album of hers. I've always found her music pretty inoffensive, but it's never been something I've gravitated towards. I was underwhelmed to be assigned this album today, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. All of these songs are really well written, from the more reflective "Leaving Las Vegas," to the lighthearted "All I Wanna Do." The instrumentation on this album is great too, and I never noticed until today that there's a great use of a vibraslap (at least I think that's what I heard) on "All I Wanna Do." I really enjoyed the funky hook on "Solidify" and the rap-like flow of "The Na-Na Song." I often think of Sheryl Crow as primarily acoustic music, but this album proves that she can do it all. This album was completely under the radar for me, but I thought it was great. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fire up a doobie, attend a political rally, and blast "Soak Up the Sun."
Primal Scream
4/5
Before listening to this album, I'd only ever listened to "Movin' On Up" (which I absolutely love), and "Loaded," so I had pretty high hopes for this album.
I enjoyed the longer songs, and I thought that the longer song structure really gives Primal Scream more space to really lean into the dance and psychedelic elements that are present here, especially on "Slip Inside This House" and "Don't Fight It, Feel It," the latter of which reminded me of some of my favorite elements of LCD Soundsystem's music. The psychedelic piano and keyboard playing on "Come Together," combined with the horns, was my favorite track outside of "Movin' On Up."
I didn't really listen to a lot of music from the UK during the 90's, and I'm always so bummed that I'm discovering a lot of these bands later in life. I think I would have loved some of the tracks here as a kid. I didn't love this album as much as I thought I would, but I still think it's great, and I think the unique sounds that Primal Scream put together here really showcase their talent.
Prince
5/5
Purple Rain is the perfect representation of eighties culture: ambitious, over-the top, and filled to the brim with just about everything imaginable. The drum beats are thundering, the guitar solos are screeching and long, and there's enough moaning and falsetto to make Barry Gibb jealous. "Let's Go Crazy" kicks off with a spoken word intro that any other artist would have sounded silly reciting, but Prince's serious commitment to the fun pays off. The remainder of the album is filled with other raw emotions as well: the lusty "When Doves Cry" pushes the envelope with its sexual imagery, while "Darling Nikki" pushes it with raw lyrics of nymphomania. The album has great instrumentation too: "I Would Die 4 U" has some of my favorite use of synthesizer in all of music, and the keyboards on "Computer Blue" and "Baby I'm a Star" are perfection as well. And to top it all off, the album ends with its nearly nine minute long, self-titled masterpiece. Every time I hear "Purple Rain," I always picture Prince stroking his guitar like a phallus during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLI, ending what is arguably the best halftime show since Michael Jackson rocked the Rose Bowl.
In the end, everything on this album is massive, but anything less than that would have been a misfire. This is easily one of the best albums of the eighties, if not all time.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
I asked for the Stones' compilation Forty Licks for Christmas and my birthday for two years, and never got it. Then, one Christmas, I received their Four Flicks concert DVD (I did watch some of it, and my 19 year-old jaw about hit the floor when I saw them play "Honky Tonk Woman" while an animation of topless woman riding the tongue logo was blasting across the screen). I had to wait another two months for my birthday, before I was finally able to get what I wanted (ironically, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was the main reason I wanted this compilation, as it wasn't on the "Through the Past Darkly" compilation that we had when I was growing up).
My parents were big Rolling Stones fans when I was a kid (they took my older cousin to go see a concert film of theirs that was playing on an IMAX screen), so I'm very familiar with the popular songs in their catalog. However, this is my first time listening to one of their albums from start to finish.
The album's lead track, "Gimme Shelter" is one of rock's best songs. Its simple, yet precise drumming is the perfect backing for the slowburn guitar intro, poignant lyrics, and Merry Clayton's superb backing vocals. The album then launches into the Stones' bluesiest songs, which they execute well, without coming across as cheesy or disingenuous (the same can't be said for Derek and The Dominos). "Country Honk" and "Midnight Rambler" show how well the Stones can perform outside of generic rock music. As if the album couldn't get any better, they close it out with the magnificent "You Can't Always Get What You Want." The choir's falsetto sets the perfect tone, as the song gets off to a bluesy start, before the jangly piano and upbeat percussion carry the album off into the sunset.
For my first full Stones album, I couldn't have asked for anything better. I can't wait to be assigned more of their catalog later on.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Finally, someone who admits they made their album while under the influence of psychedelic drugs. Thank you, Todd Rundgren.
My only exposure to Todd Rundgren before now was his song "Bang the Drum All Day." Our local adult contemporary station used to play it every Friday at 5:00, and I would tune in religiously every week to listen to it. This album was... different than that.
I liked a lot of the instrumentation on this album, and I enjoyed that each song flowed right into the next. The first four songs were really great, and had me hooked, but after that, the album pretty much lost me until "Is It My Name?", which was my favorite track. I appreciate what Todd Rundgren was trying to do here, but the album just didn't feel cohesive. Even with songs transitioning one right into the other, it felt kind of all over the place, without anything holding the album together as a whole. Overall, this was a good album, but not a great album, but I'd be willing to listen to more of Todd Rundgren's catalog.
Massive Attack
4/5
Other than hearing the opening theme song for "House" for 3 seasons, I've never listened to Massive Attack before today, but I enjoyed this album. It's hard to believe that this was released in 1991, because it sounds like it could have easily come out in the 2010's. I loved the instrumentation, and I was surprised by how much I liked the vocals too. I would definitely listen to more Massive Attack in the future.
Joe Ely
3/5
I've never heard of Joe Ely before, but this was a decently fun album to listen to. It definitely oozes the feeling of Texas country from that time period, with sounds of rock and rockabilly mixed in. "Cornbread Moon," "Fingernails," and the title track are the standout songs here, but everything else feels a bit like filler. It's not bad filler, but it definitely pales in comparison to the rest of the album in my opinion. Even though I wasn't blown away by this, I'd still give Joe Ely another listen.
Moby
5/5
In the summer of 2001, I was working my first job at the last vestige of American culture: a store that was both a Dunkin Donuts and a Baskin Robbins. On Saturday's, the radio was always tuned to the local top 40 station, and as I spent 8+ hours of my day serving ice cream, the best part of my day was hearing "South Side" by Moby and Gwen Stefani come over the radio in the kitchen. Twenty-two years later, I still think "South Side" is a really fun jam, but I can't say that I reflect on my time at DD/BR with the same nostalgia.
"South Side" is my only experience with Moby up to now (unless you count the Eminem lyric where he disses him), and I had no clue what to expect when I listened to this album, but from the first track, I was hooked. Every song was different, but each one was a joy to listen to. I wish I had more to offer about what I heard on this album, but I don't; I just found every song to be very pleasurable and pleasant. If I had to summarize it, I guess I just think it worked really well melodically for me. I like electronic music, but I was shocked at how much I liked this album. "Porcelain" was probably my favorite track, and it's such a bummer that the album version of "South Side" doesn't feature Gwen Stefani.
Fleet Foxes
3/5
I'm 95% sure I listened to this album before seeing Fleet Foxes perform at Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2011. I don't remember a lot about my first listen to this album, or their set at ACL (I went through a good amount of weed that weekend).
This time around, I think that this was a beautiful and pleasant album to listen to. The vocals take center stage here, and I think that's to be expected for a folk album. There wasn't anything spectacular going on with the instrumentation, but it still complimented the vocals quite nicely.
However, listening to this album again, I'd say that one word remains true: unmemorable. As nice as this album was, I didn't think there was a lot here to remark about. I can't recall any particular song sticking out to me as being my favorite one, and nothing lyrically stood out to me either. Honestly, I'll probably forget about this experience entirely in about ten days. It's a nice album, but I guess it's just not my jam.
The Gun Club
2/5
I've never heard of The Gun Club before, but based on the fact that they're early 80's post-punk, I expected that I would enjoy this album. Sadly though, that was not the case.
As I was listening to this album, I thought about other post-punk works from that period that I enjoy: Gang of Four's "Entertainment!", Talking Heads, Joy Division, and Echo & The Bunnymen. This album just didn't come close to any of that. All of the songs sounded mostly the same, and instrumentally, the only interesting thing happening here is that I could hear a smidge of blues influence on a couple of songs. Lyrically, there were a couple of songs that I thought were interesting: "Promise Me" and "Jack on Fire," but that was it.
As much as I was underwhelmed by this album though, I'd be willing to give it another shot someday down the road.
Tom Waits
5/5
Dear reader, when I saw that my album today was "Rain Dogs" by Mystery Men star Tom Waits, I was less than enthused. I tried to listen to a Tom Waits song a few years ago ("Chelsea Hotel?" Is that a Tom Waits song? An album? Was it on some sort of Christmas song list? Hmm, I should Google that), and I hated it. His gravelly voice was an immediate turnoff for me. But I listened to this album anyway, and I gotta say, I was a fan. I really love what Waits was doing with this album: a concept album about the "urban dispossessed" of New York City. From my adolescence on, New York City has been a major tourist destination, a major city that even the most suburban family can enjoy and feel safe in. But before it became that city, it was dirty, grimy, and dangerous. I remember seeing New York City in movies like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Big, and Home Alone 2, and the place looked depressing and grim. And that's exactly what Waits captures here. The music is raw and the lyrics are weird, but everything is incredibly well executed. The natural sounds that Waits uses really transport you to the New York that he knew and experienced. If anything, this feels like a New York City version of a folk album. "Hang Down Your Head," "Time," "Midtown", and "Rain Dogs" were all outstanding. I grew up listening to Rod Stewart's version of "Downtown Train," and I was ecstatic to see that Tom Waits's original version was on this album, and his gravelly voice really gave a desperate feel to the song, a complete shift in tone from Stewart's cover (fun fact: my grandfather always said that Rod Stewart sounded like he got his voice from a bottle of Drano). It's safe to say that I loved this album, and my opinion on Tom Waits has completely shifted (okay, so "Chelsea Hotel" is Leonard Cohen. What the hell Tom Waits song did I listen to?).
Kacey Musgraves
5/5
I was incredibly excited to see this as my album for today. My parents went through a country phase in the nineties. Much to my disappointment, the classic rock and eighties music that they used to listen to didn't get anymore time on the stereo system in our living room, and they were replaced by Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, and Trisha Yearwood. I hated it. Thankfully, I have an appreciation for those artists now, but at the time that my parents listened to them, I hated it.
Post 9/11, most country music has been filled with faux patriotism, but thankfully this album is a stark contrast to that. Filled with vulnerable lyrics, excellent instrumentation, and experimentation with other genres, Kacey Musgraves shows that country music can still showcase all the things I like about older country music: emotional vulnerability, empowerment of women, and the complicated feelings of love. Every song on this album is distinct in sound and in tone, and it's one of those rare albums that I love to listen to all the way through. From the disco-infused "High Horse" to the witty word play of "Space Cowboy," Kacey Musgraves shows that she can do it all. Songs like "Wonder Woman," manage to show a certain vulnerability that I think female country artists abandoned for a time, when those thoughts of introspection were replaced with ballads of keying the cars of unfaithful lovers. While she may not be Wonder Woman, this album shows that Kacey Musgraves can do a lot, and she can do it really well.
Ice Cube
5/5
I've never listened to an Ice Cube album before, but having listened to NWA, and the fact that Ice Cube seems to permeate every corner of pop culture, I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. It's crazy and also sad that several of the social and political topics on this album are still hot topics today: police violence, the brutality and far reaching scope of the American prison system, segregation, and so on. When it comes to rapping about political and social issues, Ice Cube can channel raw anger in a way that few others can; his lyrics have the candor of a man-on-the-street interview, but delivered with the fierceness of someone hosting a rally. The beats behind the lyrics are really well done too; "It Was a Good Day" and "Check Yo Self" are some of the catchiest, and therefore most recognizable songs in hip hop. The spoken interludes fit really well here too, and "The First Day of School" really unnerved me, which served as a great way to prepare for this album. Ice Cube really executes his vision well on this album, and his work is cornerstone for rap and hip hop.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
Whenever I think of Grandmaster Flash, I think of the episode of The Leftovers, where Meg and Tommy are driving down the road late at night blasting "White Lines" (well what about Shaun of the Dead? I think that was supposed to be a reference to the Duran Duran version, and also, when I first saw Shaun of the Dead, I had no idea what that joke was referencing, hence my association with The Leftovers).
This album is a technical masterpiece. The funk bass lines, the sampling, the scratching... it's incredibly impressive and very fun to listen to. The use of Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" on "It's Nasty" is absolute perfection; it's an incredible backbeat for the band to rap to. The way that "The Message" has permeated our culture speaks to how much influence Grandmaster Flash has had on music throughout his life (coincidentally, I had Ice Cube's 'The Predator' the day before, and I love the "Check Yo Self" remix).
My only beef with this album is that the lyrics were kinda cheesy at times. For a song called "It's Nasty," the lyrics were pretty tame (maybe there's an irony in that since this song was addressing criticisms against the band?), and the Stevie Wonder tribute was pretty odd too. I have no beef with paying tribute to Stevie, but the structure of the lyrics is almost like an ode, and it just felt off to me.
Still, this is a fantastic album, and I think that Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five were very deserving to be the first rap/hip hop artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Also, it was a huge treat to see Grandmaster Flash on The Masked Singer this season, and apologies if that was a spoiler.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Several years ago, I asked for 'This Year's Model' for Christmas, which I mostly wanted for "Pump It Up." I did wind up receiving it, but I can't remember if I ever listened to the whole album, so this was probably my first time listening to an entire Elvis Costello album. I enjoy a lot of late seventies and early eighties new wave, and this album was no exception to that. I really enjoyed the groovy bass lines and the energetic keyboard riffs, and I like Elvis Costello's vocals too (my wife hates his voice, and when I told her I listened to this album today, she immediately launched into her Elvis Costello impersonation/mockery). I wasn't super into the lyrics here, but I'd say that "Green Shirt," "Good Squad," and "Sunday's Best" (despite its... interesting word choice) were my favorite songs here. I enjoyed this album, but I think I'd rather listen to The Cars' debut instead.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
My first experience listening to Cocteau Twins was in the past year or so. I can't remember if I sought them out intentionally, or if one of their songs came up randomly for me on Spotify, but I've listened to all of 'Heaven or Las Vegas,' and I really love it.
I enjoyed this album too, albeit a little less than 'Heaven or Las Vegas.' I'm a huge fan of dream pop, so this was right up my alley. I love the icy, ethereal feel of the instrumentation, and that they achieve this not just with keyboards, but with percussive sounds too. I also love that Elizabeth Fraser's voice acts as an instrument on these songs as well. The band really created a beautiful piece of music from start to finish on this album, and I really want to listen to even more of their work.
I hesitate to give this album five stars, and it's only because I feel like 'Heaven or Las Vegas' is a showcase of what they can really do, and that the band was still crafting some of their sound on 'Treasure.' I know that sounds kind of shitty of me, but it's just the way I feel. This is still a wonderful album, but it's just not a five star one to me.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
This is the second Bob Marley & The Wailers album I've gotten on this list (the first being Natty Dread, which was actually my first album here), and I enjoyed Catch A Fire more. The instrumentation was great throughout the album; the bass lines really stood out to me, and I always like the clavinet use in reggae too. I've heard "Stir It Up" before, but I didn't realize how great the guitar solo in it is until now.
The real star on this album is they lyrics; I love how the words express so much pain and anger, but the vocals and instrumentation are soft and peaceful. I'm not sure what message Bob Marley was trying to convey with that contrast in tone between the two, but to me, I felt like it made me more empathetic with the issues that were being sung about.
I'm not a very big reggae fan, but I thought this album was great, and it's a stark contrast to the typical music from the seventies that I tend to gravitate towards.
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Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
My parents were big Simon & Garfunkel fans when I was a kid, owning copies of their greatest hits and The Concert In Central Park on vinyl. They loved The Graduate as well, which I made the mistake of watching with them when I was in high school, an experience that was made even more awkward by the fact that my dad had an affair with one of his married high school teachers when he was in his early twenties, but before he met my mom (there's so much more about that story that I wish I could share, but it's sadly irrelevant to the topic at hand).
This was my first time listening to an entire album of theirs, and I absolutely loved it. The title track is wonderful, and stands as a sad analogy for the duo's tense relationship, and eventual dissolution after the release of this album. 'The Boxer' is fantastic too, with its sad lyrics of self reflection and haunting chorus of 'lie-la-lie's.' I had completely forgotten about 'Cecilia,' and I was delighted to see it on this record; it's one of those songs that you can't help but smile to as you sing along and sway in time with the beat. The inclusion of their live cover of "Bye Bye Love" is fantastic as well, and Simon & Garfunkel really put their own unique spin on it with their fantastic harmonies and folksy guitar sounds. "Keep the Customer Satisfied" with its great bass line, and the addition of some powerful brass instruments.
This whole album is just fantastic from start to finish: the highs are high, the lows are low, the vocals are amazing, every note of every instrument is perfectly placed, and the production is immaculate. I had completely forgotten just how big Simon & Garfunkel were at the height of their career. I mean, good grief, a half a million people showed up for their concert in Central Park. A half a million people went to see two guys who hadn't put out any music in over a decade. I hate that I hadn't listened to this album sooner. This album will be firmly in my regular rotation. I can't wait to get assigned Graceland, and if that's not on this list, I will riot.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
"Mister I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man." If I could summarize this album with one line, that would be it. Bruce Springsteen's follow up to 'Born to Run' expands on his themes of disillusionment and unfulfilled promises with added maturity. Bruce Springsteen is one of my favorite artists, but this was my first time listening to this album in its entirety.
Where 'Born to Run' has a title track that speaks of an optimistic love, 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' has "Prove It All Night," where the narrator and his love have to make things work between them, just to survive. Springsteen sings with the emotions of a man who had optimism, but now just has himself to rely on, in a world where the down-on-their-luck are left behind, unable to reap the benefits of a society whose collective wealth grows.
The lyrics on this album are great, and the instrumentation and stripped down production gives it a much more raw feel than its predecessor.
Eminem
5/5
This is my second time listening to this album (I think my first time listening to it was last year, before I started this project), and the second Eminem album I've listened to on this list (the first being The Marshall Mathers LP). "My Name Is" happens to be the first Eminem song I ever heard, and at 15 years old, I thought it was hilarious and brilliant, but it also blew my mind that someone would make music as profane as that.
Listening to this in my late thirties is a different ballgame. While the lyrics are still brilliant, clever, and profane, this album is about as dark as they come. I'm married, and my wife and I have a young daughter of our own, and listening to "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" just about made me want to throw up. I can't even imagine what experiences in Eminem's life could lead him to create a story like that. I suppose I could say the same thing about every song on this album, whether the topic is drugs, parental abandonment, or violent bullying. Even though the lyrics are dark, I appreciate their ability to make me feel horror, and disgust so intensely, but at the same time, I feel an such empathy to anyone who grew up under the same circumstances that Eminem did.
The beats on this album are great too; you can tell that so much work went into the production and studio work. All the elements of the music blends together to tell vivid stories, and there's nothing here that feels like it doesn't belong.
This album and its successor are still incredibly controversial, so I've copied my thoughts from my review of the MM LP:
Since most of the other reviews mention it to some degree, I guess I can't talk about this album without mentioning the homophobic, misogynistic, and violent content of the lyrics. A lot of the lyrical content here is pretty uncomfortable to listen to. I think a lot of the more offensive content is spouted off by characters/personas that Eminem has invented, but that doesn't take any of the edge off of it. Is it okay to play the role of a character who says words and phrases like this? I don't know. When we have visual movies about cultural tumult (World War II, The Civil Rights movement in the U.S. etc.), people being represented on screen often spout hateful rhetoric, and we generally accept it, because it's historically accurate, and history is often a long road of terrible deeds that come from terrible thoughts and words. Is it okay in this sense too? Homophobia and misogyny were clearly alive and well at the time this album was recorded, and people who held these types of views were certainly thriving as well, and in my view, that gives these lyrics an unfortunate realism. But what does it mean when someone can create personas like this? Ultimately, I don't know how to feel about art like this. I think this album is incredible as a piece of music, but I don't enjoy listening to things as dark as this.
Gil Scott-Heron
5/5
I've never heard of Gil Scott-Heron before, but I really enjoyed this album. Musically, it was really fun to listen to; the flute usage throughout, and the piano arrangements really meshed to create a sound that was rooted in soul and blues, but still its own. For an album about such heavy subject matter, it really had some fun grooves, and I caught myself bobbing my head along throughout most of the album.
As great as the music was here, the lyrics are the real standout to me. I really enjoyed when spoken word was used in some of the songs, and it felt very apt, since a lot of civil rights leaders used spoken word and poetry when they would orate. "The Bottle" and "H20 Gate Blues" were my two favorite tracks, and their lyrics are still incredibly relevant in today's political discourse (I had never heard of Frank Rizzo before, but wow, that guy sounds like a real piece of shit).
Overall, I think this album set out to deliver a message about America in the seventies, and with its great music, it achieves that goal.
Butthole Surfers
4/5
Growing up in Houston, I've probably heard Butthole Surfers' "Pepper" at least a few hundred times (I'd bet a large sum of money that The Buzz still plays it at least daily), but this was my first time listening to one of their albums from start to finish.
I'm really glad to see some Texas rockers land an album on this list and... well yeah, that's about as glad as I got during this album. Butthole Surfers are great musicians, and their guitar riffs and drum fills are fantastic, but the lyrics on this album were just a little too out there for me. "Human Cannonball" was the highlight here for me, and I enjoyed the second half of the album more than the first.
Even though this album wasn't really my taste, it's not without its merits. Butthole Surfers set out to make an album that showcased their unique psychedelic and noise-rock sound, and they succeed. They're talented musicians and songwriters, but they are a tad niche. I'm giving this album four stars, but I wish I could give it 3.5.
Beatles
4/5
Whenever it was someone's birthday in our household, my parents would throw side 3 of the Beatles' 1968 self-titled album on to the turntable, and blast "Birthday." It was a fun tradition, albeit a strange one for a household that was normally full of anger and abuse most days of the year. Even though we had this album on vinyl (my dad would always lament that he had passed up the opportunity to purchase a copy of it on white vinyl for $20), "Birthday" and the first five seconds or so of "Yer Blues" were the only songs I had ever heard off of it until I was an adult. I can't remember when it was, but at some point, my brother was looking at the track listing on this album and pointed out some of the more eclectic titles of "Happiness is a Warm Gun" and "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for me and my Monkey" to me, and we were both incredibly confused as to what was going on on this album, but I don't remember our curiosity ever taking us further than that.
This is my third Beatles album that I've gotten on this list, and I had really high expectations going into it. This album has some of my favorite Beatles songs on it ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Dear Prudence," "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da," and "Birthday") but I'm pretty sure this was my first time listening to it from start to finish.
Just like the other Beatles albums I've listened to on this list (A Hard Day's Night and With The Beatles), this album is a masterpiece when it comes to the instrumentation. Every note is perfectly placed, and there's all sorts of wonderful things going on in the background that elevate the overall sound of the album. Each member of the band really seems to be at the height of their craft here, with George Harrison's guitar playing on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" as the shining example of this.
But as a whole, I don't think my expectations of this album were met. I can appreciate the ambition that went into crafting a record with so many different sounds and genres, but it just feels overblown and and self-indulgent. Hell, the whole band only performed on just over half the songs here, and it kind of shows. And at a total running time just over an hour and a half, it was a lot to get through this album in one sitting. I did enjoy the folk-inspired songs quite a bit though; it was really interesting to hear The Beatles put their own spin on the genre, and I thought they executed those songs really well, both in musical style and in lyrical content.
I appreciate how ambitious this album was, how great some of the songs are, and how influential it was on music, but as a whole work it just fell a little bit short for me.
The Residents
4/5
Well, that was certainly an experience. I've never heard of The Residents before, but I don't think I'll be forgetting about this album for a long time. This album really wasn't my taste, but I did enjoy "The Booker Tease" and "Hello Skinny," and "Laughing Song" really made me think of Les Claypool's vocals on "My Name is Mud." Overall though, I didn't care too much for the odd song structure or lyrics. The instrumentation was good though, I can definitely see why this is an important album in the scope of popular music. I would be willing to bet that Ween and Primus were heavily influenced by The Residents, and I'd be that other bands like Devo and Talking Heads were influenced by them to a degree as well. Even though this album wasn't my jam, I think it's worthy of four stars. It sets out to be avant garde, and it hits the mark square on.
2/5
Well, that was certainly an experience. I've never heard of John Zorn or Ornette Coleman before, and I'm not a big jazz listener, so this album was pretty much lost on me. I did enjoy a few of the songs though: "Good Old Days," "Feet Music," and "Broad Way Blues" were the standouts to me, and everything else pretty much sounded the same. This album was different from the few other jazz albums I've encountered on this list, but it just wasn't for me.
Happy Mondays
2/5
I've never heard of Happy Mondays before, but based on my reading about them before listening to the album, I figured I'd enjoy it. Unfortunately, I was pretty underwhelmed by this album. It was inoffensive, and I enjoyed the instrumentation, but lyrically and vocally, this album wasn't really doing it for me. I thought the second half of the album was definitely better than the first, but it still wasn't enough to hook me in.
Pearl Jam
5/5
Do I often understand what Eddie Vedder is singing? No. Do I care? Also no. I bought Pearl Jam's Rearview Mirror back in 2004 when it came out, but this was my first time listening to a whole Pearl Jam album. It's wild to me to take a look at the Billboard Hot 100 Singles from 1988-1992 and see the music that's on there. Pop music had pretty much taken over by 1992, with R&B, Hip Hop, and a few other smaller genres filling out the rest of the charts. Despite that, some of the best rock music of all time was being made in the early nineties as hair metal faded away and grunge music started to take over.
As great as Nirvana was (Dave Grohl is one of my favorite musicians of all time), I'd prefer to listen to Pearl Jam any day. This album is stuffed to the brim with great songs: "Even Flow," "Jeremy," "Once," "Black," and my personal favorite, "Alive" are the standouts here, but "Garden" and "Deep" are just as good as well.
The wailing guitars on "Alive" start off with a bang, building to one of the best guitar solos of all time. The drums crash at all the right moments, and Eddie Vedder's voice warbles and bellows in the most beautiful way possible. The lyrics here are a wild journey themselves too, telling the Oedipus-adjacent story of a man who learns the truth of his parentage. "Even Flow" has amazing guitar riffs as well, pouding your eardrums right out the gates. "Jeremy" is fantastic too, with Vedder's haunting vocals bringing a physical chill to the story of a young man who kills himself in front of his class.
This album is absolutely fantastic from start to finish, and it's definitely going to be a part of my regular listening rotation. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to "Better Man" and sob into my pillow.
4/5
This was my second PJ Harvey album to listen to on this list, the first, being 'Rid of Me.' I enjoyed this album, albeit not as much as I enjoyed 'Rid of Me.' I thought the vocals here were fantastic, as were the guitars and drums. The songs featuring Thom Yorke were really great too. "Big Exit" and "You Said Something" were my favorite tracks here.
The Kinks
3/5
I'm familiar with a few of The Kinks' songs, but this was my first time listening to an album of theirs from start to finish. I thought this album was fine; it didn't wow me in any sense, but it wasn't terrible to listen to. Instrumentally, it wasn't too far off from the songs of theirs that I enjoy ("Lola," "All Day and All of the Night," and "You Really Got Me"). I liked the use of the harpsichord, and the drumming was tight and precise, which I think fits their overall musical style nicely. "Sunny Afternoon" was definitely my favorite track; I liked how the title stood in stark contrast to the dark melodies and cynical lyrics. "Fancy" and "You're Looking Fine" were really good too. I think I'd prefer to belt out "Lola" though.
Brian Wilson
5/5
I grew up hearing a lot of the Beach Boys' "surf music," which I enjoyed. At some point in my late twenties, I asked for 'Pet Sounds' for Christmas, and I was blown away that the same guys who sang "Surfin' Safari" and "409" could make an album like that.
I've never listened to any of Brian Wilson's solo work, but I consider him to be the one that led The Beach Boys into their post "surf music" era, so I had high expectations for this album. I was not let down. This album is incredible. Wilson's ability to create beautiful harmonies is showcased throughout this album. The experimental and varied instrumentation is showcased here too; there's plenty of strings, keyboards, guitars, whistles, and Christ-knows-what-else to go around on this album. But even with all of the different instrumental sounds, the album never feels bloated or busy; everything is in its rightful place to create an incredible experience.
I don't know much about the history of how this project evolved from its foundations in the sixties to what Wilson put together over 35 years later, but this album reminded me of what I loved about my first time listening to 'Pet Sounds.' I wish that I would have had time to listen to this album a second time today, so that I could put together some thoughts on individual songs, but it just wasn't meant to be. However, I'll definitely be revisiting this album soon.
Hole
3/5
I'm not very familiar with Hole's music, so this was my first time listening to an album of theirs. This was a good album, with a few solid songs on it. I enjoyed the slower and more melodic songs the most, with "Doll Parts," "Miss World," and "Asking for It" being my favorites. Lyrically, "Asking for It" is probably the best track here, and it's pretty sad that a topic like victim blaming in sexual assault is still so prevalent almost thirty years later. Courtney Love has been such an interesting public figure these last thirty plus years, but she and the rest of the band really paved the way for other female musicians with their work. Even though this album wasn't my favorite, Hole is a talented band who really made their own way in the grunge scene. I wish I could give this album 3.5 stars instead of just 3.
Antony and the Johnsons
4/5
I've never heard of Antony and the Johnsons before, but this was a really beautiful album. The vocals and instrumentation went together beautifully, and the lyrics were incredibly deep and poignant. This isn't the sort of thing that I'd seek out again, but I still think that it was beautiful music.
Yes
3/5
I happen to have a vinyl copy of The Yes Album, but I probably haven't listened to it in about twenty years, if I've ever even listened to it in its entirety at all. And that's a shame, because I think that Yes is one of the most underrated bands in prog rock and classic rock as a whole. Granted, I think their music tends to work better as whole albums than as singles, which might make them a little less accessible (oh, and song length too).
I this is a really good album, and I was happy to see it on this list since it has my favorite Yes song, "I've Seen All Good People" on it (for the record, I would have preferred to see Fragile on this list, but whatever). This was their first album to feature Steve Howe on guitar, but in my opinion their lineup was at their best with Rick Wakeman on keyboard and synth. Despite not having Wakeman in the lineup, Bill Bruford does a superb job of creating drum fills that blend perfectly with the keyboard-heavy music of this album. Musically, this album ticks all the boxes for me: each member of the band feels like an expert of their instrument, creating a sound that's incredibly unique. The lyrics are definitely kind of 'out there,' but that's on brand for these guys and prog rock in general. Still, "I've Seen All Good People" is incredibly fun to sing along with.
Overall, this is a great album, even though it's not Yes's best work in my opinion. Still, anything beats "Owner of a Lonely Heart." Woof.
4/5
I just had The Yes Album on Friday, and after I submitted my review this morning, I thought the same album popped up, but it was just Close to the Edge (it still baffles me that both The Yes Album and Close to the Edge are on here but not Fragile). What the heck are the odds that I would get these back to back? No, that's not rhetorical, someone please tell me the odds, I'm not a big statistics guy.
I enjoyed this album a lot more than The Yes album. Even though the longer songs may make it less accessible, I think Yes really utilized their best lineup to create a great album here. I love that each song starts off with more guitar, allowing both the lead and bass guitars to set the tone before the keyboard and synth drive the tone of the songs. This album is a much better showcase of John Anderson's vocals, especially on "And You And I," and the backing vocals on "Siberian Khatru" were really great as well.
I mentioned in my review for The Yes Album that I thought that Yes is one of the most underrated bands in classic rock, and this album only made me more sure of my opinion on the matter. I love that their three best albums (The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge) all manage to highlight their talents in different ways. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fire up Fragile while burning a cassingle of "Owner of a Lonely Heart."
Kings of Leon
5/5
Oh man, I hadn't listened to this album in probably ten years or so, and I forgot how much I loved it. My first exposure to KoL was probably when "Sex is on Fire" was getting played non-stop on the local alternative rock station. I hated that song so much, but my cousin persuaded me to check out some of KoL's older catalog, so I bought Aha Shake Heartbreak, and absolutely fell in love. The first three tracks are just absolute perfection, closing out their incredible run with "Taper Jean Girl," which has my favorite drumming of the whole album. The guitar on "Taper Jean Girl" is perfect too, and I can't help but bob my head along each time I listen. As much as I love the first three tracks, "The Bucket" is my favorite track on the album; the drum fills during the chorus, combined with the high-pitched guitars provide the perfect contrast to their counterparts during the verses. I feel like KoL set the perfect blueprint for other established Indie rock artists like The Black Keys and Portugal. The Man to break into the mainstream. I know that Caleb Followill's vocals aren't for everyone, but I really love his singing on this album, especially on "Day Old Blues;" there's just such a unique timbre to his voice that I really enjoy. For me, this album is the picture perfect example of Indie Rock from the aughts, right up there with "Is This It" and "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning."
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
Yesterday, I got one of my all-time favorite albums. Today, the law of averages caught back up with me.
I don't have many positive things to say about this album. The only track that I thought wasn't completely cheesy was "Rosemary," with "I Build This Garden For Us" in a close second. Musically, this album wasn't terrible. It was pretty inoffensive, but also completely forgettable. Lyrically, it felt forced and hacky. I think it's awesome that Lenny Kravitz wanted to record some socially aware music, but he just really misses the mark here, and nothing feels very genuine.
It's still impressive that Lenny Kravitz pretty much created and recorded this whole album by himself, but it's a shame that there's not a whole lot here to write home about.
Cream
4/5
In college, I really liked Eric Clapton. I read his memoir, I listened to a fair amount of his solo work, and I really wanted to get into the music that he had made as a part of different groups (Cream, The Yardbirds, Blind Faith, etc.). The furthest I made it was purchasing that 20th Century Masters greatest hits for Cream, of which I listened to "White Room," "Crossroads," and "Sunshine of Your Love." I always wanted to listen to some of their whole albums, but never got around to it.
Now, I finally have no excuse not to listen to an entire Cream album. I really enjoyed listening to this, and I hate that it took me this long (this was infinitely better than Derek and The Dominoes, which I still don't think I've ever recovered from). Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and even England's best xenophobic guitarist, Eric Clapton really show off their talents here. I love that there's a good mix of vocals from both Bruce and Clapton. When he's not spewing racist garbage, Clapton really does have a voice that's enjoyable to listen to. I really enjoyed the psychedelic sounds here; "Sunshine of Your Love," "Strange Brew," and "Tales of Brave Ulysses" were my favorite tracks here.
Overall, this was a great album, and I'll probably listen to it again soon.
Missy Elliott
5/5
I don't think I've ever listened to any of Missy Elliott's albums before (maybe Supa Dupa Fly if I have), but I thought this album was fantastic. The beats were catchy, the rapping was great, and the lyrical content was outstanding. "Gossip Folks" and "Work It" are both so much fun, but they still feel like they belong on an album with a bit more serious of a tone. Is it gimmicky that she raps backwards in "Work It?" If that's what you think, keep it to yourself, because I think it's genius. I loved that Missy Elliott talked about loss (both personal grief and collective grief in a post 9/11 world), how her vision of hip hop shapes how she makes music, and criticisms of women in music. The duets were really great, especially "Nothing Out There for Me" with Beyonce. Missy Elliott raps with a personal brand of swagger that I don't think I've ever heard before; if I had to summarize it, I'd say it's a 'powerful confidence with a the perfect sprinkle of realistic humility.' I've been trying to stay away from albums on this list that I haven't listened to before, but I'm really tempted to listen to Supa Dupa Fly tonight, because this album has been rattling around my brain all weekend.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
With the exception of "All I Really Want," I've heard all of the singles off of this album countless times, but I've never gone through it from start to finish. For my money, this is one of the best albums of the nineties, and in an era full of incredible albums from female solo artists, that's really saying something. As many other reviewers have pointed out, the tone of the guitar parts and percussion on this album are really distinct to the nineties (the best example is on "You Oughtta Know," and the best way I can think to describe it is almost like a shimmering quality), but you could still pick out any part of these songs and easily identify them as Alanis Morissette songs, and I think that's part of what makes them so great. Alanis's vocals are fantastic on this album, and I love how her backing vocals wrap around the main vocals on tracks like "All I Really Want" and "You Learn." Even though every song on this album is great in its own way, from the feminine confidence of "Right Through You," to the soft power of "Mary Jane," the singles are the star of the show here. From the vividly shocking "You Oughtta Know" to the harmonica heavy "Head Over Feet," these songs are incredibly fun to sing along to, and they still haven't lost their power over 25 years later. I know "Ironic" has become kind of a punching bag over the last decade or so, but I'll be damned if there isn't something about that it still makes me feel a sense of shared anxiety with 'Mister-play-it-safe.' "Hand In My Pocket" might be my least favorite of the singles on this album, but I love that it elicits a mental image of Alanis hanging out in Haight Ashbury in the late sixties from me. My favorite track is "You Learn," and I could listen to that backing vocal of 'what a jagged little pill' every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. This is such a fantastic album, and I'm glad I got to start my week with it!
Syd Barrett
1/5
I know Syd Barrett's name from Pink Floyd, but I've never listened to any of his music before (not even Piper at the Gates of Dawn). I know the man was going through some pretty heavy stuff when he made this album, and I feel a tad guilty being critical of it, but woof, this was not my cup of tea. All of the songs just kind of blended together. Nothing really stood out to me, and there was nothing about this album that even separates it from other psychedelic music of the era. It honestly sounds like someone was making a movie about England in the late sixties, and just as they were wrapping production, they realized they forgot to have a soundtrack, but they only had $400 left in the budget to put towards the music, and this was the result. I listened to about 30 minutes of this on my drive to work, and when I got out of the car, I went to check how many more songs were left, and when I saw that I was only about halfway done with the album, I fell to my knees and cried out to God, demanding to know why he would make me suffer more than Job. I'm going to listen to Spoon's Hot Thoughts to cleanse my palette.
Björk
2/5
This is my second Bjork album that I've gotten on this list, but I didn't care for this one too much. It was pleasant to listen to, but no particular track stood out to me. Bjork's vocals and arrangements are generally really great, but something on this album just didn't click for me.
Cornershop
3/5
I've never heard of Cornershop before, but this was a nice surprise. I think it's cool that two guys of Indian descent made a Brit Pop album, because they clearly had something really unique to add to the genre. There was a great mix of funk and traditional Indian influence here, making for a very enjoyable listen. I enjoyed the dance elements featured here too, and Cornershop did a fantastic job taking those dance elements and spinning them into something new.
Frank Ocean
4/5
I've listened to this album before, but for some reason, during my first listen, it didn't really stick out to me. However, this time, this album really stuck the landing with me. The music is beautiful, Frank Ocean's vocals are fantastic, and the lyrical content is deep and meaningful. This is a great album from start to finish, and I really enjoyed listening to it. "Sweet Life" and "Pyramids" were my favorite tracks, and I'm looking forward to listening to this again soon.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
This is the third album by Bob Marley & The Wailers that I've gotten on this list, and it was my least favorite of the bunch. Before I listened to it, I read the other user reviews, and I assumed it would wind up being my favorite, but I just wasn't as into it as I was Natty Dread and Catch a Fire. The lyrics were really good, and I enjoyed the horn arrangements that were used. "Three Little Birds" and "One Love/People Get Ready" were my favorite tracks, and they're the only tracks that I was familiar before listening to this album. Again, it's a good album, but I prefer Natty Dread and Catch a Fire.
Megadeth
4/5
I've never listened to a Megadeth album before, but I'm slightly familiar with the band's founding. I don't listen to a lot of thrash metal, but I do enjoy it from time to time. I enjoyed this album, and it was a very interesting slice of rock history to listen to something that has influenced hard rock for nearly forty years. The guitar riffs are absolutely incredible, and it's evident just how talented these guys are as musicians. I can't imagine how physically demanding it must be to make music like this, much less play it in a live show. I imagine you'd have to have the power of a sprinter with the stamina of a distance runner. But I digress. The songs on here that land really land ("Wake Up Dead," "Peace Sells," the "I Ain't Superstitious" cover, and "My Last Words), but for me, everything else just kind of blended together. This is still a great album, but based on what I've heard, I'm looking forward to Rust in Peace more.
The Sonics
4/5
I've never heard of The Sonics, so I was relying on user reviews to give me an expectation of what I was in for. The reviews are pretty polarizing, so I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this a lot, or think that it was overrated. To my pleasant surprise, I really enjoyed this album. You can definitely hear the punk influences that are present here: the fast and sometimes chaotic drum fills, cymbal crashes, buzzing guitars, and raw vocals. I'm usually not a big fan of albums that have a lot of covers (I'm looking at you, A Girl Called Dusty), but this really landed with me. A lot of it reminded me of Iggy and The Stooges' Raw Power, and I really love that album. I think this album has solidly earned its place on this list!
Metallica
4/5
I'm pretty familiar with a lot of Metallica's singles, but this was my first time listening to one of their albums from start to finish. I'm not very big into live albums, but this album was great. I knew a little less than half the tracks on here, and it was great to be able to listen to those songs in a new light. I don't know what all went into the process of converting these songs into being playable with a symphony orchestra, but the end result works really well. The band still sounds great, and Hetfield's growling vocals sound as powerfully brooding as ever. The only drawback here is that I didn't really get a lot from the songs that I didn't already know. They sounded fine, but as someone who's not a huge Metallica fan, I didn't have anything to compare them to. My favorite tracks here were "Nothing Else Matters" and "One."
A few random thoughts about Metallica in general:
I find it funny in a sad way that a lot of people my age hate James Hetfield for getting Napster shut down. He came off like a villain in that story while the real villains are the asshole record company executives.
On my review for Megadeth's Peace Sells... But Who's Buying earlier this week, I said that thrash metal musicians are athletes first and musicians second, because of the physicality of their music, and Metallica is living proof of this. These guys just put out a new record this year, and they look fit as hell. The guys from Motley Crue, however, look like they spent the night in the gutter, and they sound like these days too.
It's incredibly impressive to me that Metallica has had so much mainstream success as a thrash metal band, and they've managed to survive the rise and fall of hair metal, grunge, and mainstream alternative rock.
Scissor Sisters
5/5
I own this album, but this is my first time listening to it from start to finish (I'm pretty sure I bought it just for their cover of "Comfortably Numb," but I eventually also fell in love with "Take Your Mama"). I'm so mad at myself for not having listened to all of this album sooner, because I really enjoyed it. Every song has so much going on lyrically, but every song is also really fun instrumentally. I'm a big fan of keyboards and synthesizers, and the keyboards here are fantastic, giving each song a familiarity of disco, while still managing to create a very unique sound. "Take Your Mama" is my favorite track on this album, and lyrically, it's just absolutely brilliant; the band does a great job of taking such a serious topic as coming out to a family member, but stripping away all of the anxiety, and just jumping in with both feet. Pure mastery as far as I'm concerned. "Filthy/Gorgeous," "Comfortably Numb," "Laura," and "It Can't Come Quickly Enough" are also fantastic tracks.
Fela Kuti
4/5
I've never heard of Fela Kuti before, and I'm not terribly familiar with this type of music (is William Onyeabor considered similar? I've listened to one of his albums), but I enjoyed this album. The music was very different than what I typically listen to, but I thought the instrumentation was fantastic, and it was cool to hear Ginger Baker working outside of Cream. I wish I had something profound to mention here, but all I can say is that I enjoyed listening to this.
Ryan Adams
5/5
Back in 2017, before we knew that Ryan Adams was a nasty man, I listened to his album Prisoner, and I loved it. Thankfully though, I never listened to anything else of his, and I think that I only listened to Prisoner that one time. I debated even pulling up this album in my Spotify, and once I had it pulled up, I really wrestled with if I wanted to listen to it or not. Knowing what I know about Ryan's behavior, how could I look the women in my life in the eye and tell them that I listened to this? I eventually settled on listening to it, because I started this project with a desire to experience every album on this list, and I wanted to keep this journey going all the way. Besides, I've already listened to both Eminem albums on this list, and while they were both great, they were both unpleasant experiences. Also, there are other creeps on this list (Steven Tyler, Phil Spector), likely creeps (David Bowie, Prince), and creeps we don't or may never know about. The worst thing about this album is that Ryan Adams was a manipulative monster to several women in his life, and he got away with it for a really long time. The second worst thing about this album is that I thought it was really good. Even though I thought it was good, I hated myself the entire time I was listening to it, and I'll probably hate myself for the next week or two for having listened to it. Usually in my reviews, I'll mention what I liked about the music, but I'm not going to do that on this review, because now that my listening experience is over, I don't want to go back through it. I hate that we live in a world where people in positions of power do things like Ryan did, and I hate that we as consumers of art are stuck in sticky positions, trying to navigate how we feel about art we loved at one time, when we learn that the artist did disgusting and cruel things. This is a five star album, but it's sad that it was made by a one-star human being, who's so small, that he felt the need to wreak havoc on the lives of others.
The Blue Nile
5/5
I love eighties music, but until recently, I really hadn't heard much Sophisti-pop, minus a few singles here and there (Spandau Ballet, Level 42, and ABC). But a year or so ago, a friend of mine who knows my love for eighties music and synths made me a Sophisti-pop playlist on Spotify, and I really enjoyed it.
I've never heard of The Blue Nile before, but this album was absolutely fantastic. Every song was great, and the album as a whole had a really unique feel and vibe to it. I have a few notes on my favorite tracks:
"Tinseltown in the Rain" has such great piano and guitar riffs. I think there was a part where a synth was playing stringed instrument sounds, and I loved that too; in my opinion, something like that is what Sophisti-pop is all about.
The looping synthesizers in the background on "From Rags to Riches" were really great.
The saxophone on "Heatwave" was fantastic; that's another Sophisti-pop element that I enjoy.
The vocals really reminded me of Peter Gabriel, and I was shocked to learn that he really promoted the band, and even recorded a song with them later. However, when I played this album for my wife, she was getting Bowie vibes from the vocals, and I can hear that too. Either way, this album was great, and I can't wait to get more music like it.
The Beach Boys
4/5
I love The Beach Boys, but I've never heard of this album, or any of the songs on it. With a name like Surf's Up, I had certain expectations, but those expectations were quickly dashed. It was really different to hear The Beach Boys sing about social and political issues, but I feel like it worked really well. As with a lot of Beach Boys work, the harmonies here were great, and the production work of layering so many elements together to create beautiful sounds. While I think that this was a really good album, I don't think it's the band's best work. While the political and social commentary worked, and it was musically great, it just kind of lacked a total cohesiveness in my opinion. The best way I can describe it is that it just didn't feel quite as full as something like Pet Sounds. I wish I could rate it 3.5 stars, but I always find myself rounding up.
Talking Heads
5/5
This is the second Talking Heads album that I've gotten on this list (the first being Remain in Light), and I absolutely loved this album. I loved the rhythm-heavy sound of this album, both for the bass and lead guitar parts. The rhythm focused sound worked well regardless of whether the song was a faster tempo, like the lead track "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel," or a slower tempo, like the cover of "Take Me to the River." And speaking of the title track, "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" was the perfect way to start this album off. There were some wonderful piano, organ, and synthesizer parts on this album as well, especially on "Artists Only," "Stay Hungry," and the "Take Me to the River." This album had the perfect amount of funk influence, and even a little rockabilly in my opinion. Every track on here was fantastic, with "I'm Not in Love" being my favorite of the bunch. I don't know if the sound of this album was due completely to Brian Eno's production, or if it was just the direction the band decided to take, but either way, this is a masterpiece of late 70's post punk music.
The Temptations
3/5
I'm not terribly familiar with a lot of The Temptations' work (I know "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"), so this was my first time listening to an album of theirs from start to finish. I wasn't really sure what to expect, since their only songs that I knew going into this were a couple of pop hits from the 60's. I thought this was a great funk and soul album, and it was fun to listen to. "Run Charlie Run" was my favorite track on here, and I was completely caught off guard by how serious its tone and message about white flight were (it blows my mind that a lot of these albums from the 60's and 70's were discussing social and political issues that are still incredibly relevant today). "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" was fantastic too. I grew up hearing white people criticize 'absentee black fathers,' but I don't think I've ever heard black people talk about/respond to the things that white people say about the subject (I don't even know if it's a real issue, or if it's just something evangelical white people love to say when they talk about food stamps or other 'welfare programs.' I'm not quite sure what The Temptations' message was with this song, but it definitely made me reflect on how often I heard suburban white people make generalizations and create stereotypes about the black community when I was growing up. Overall, the musical arrangements on each song were great, and the vocals were spectacular as well.
Metallica
5/5
Sometime during the spring semester of my senior year in high school, my parents found two CD cases tossed into our yard (long story). One of the CDs in the cas was Metallica's Master of Puppets, which I happily kept. I used to listen to the title track pretty regularly, even trying to make it from my house to my job before the track ended (I can't remember if I was ever successful, but at least there were never any negative outcomes from this stunt). However, I don't think I've ever listened to this album in its entirety until today.
This album is thrash metal perfection. The lyrics are sharp and poignant, from the criticisms of American militarism on "Disposable Heroes," to the criticisms of the false prophets of evangelicals on "Leper Messiah," this album doesn't pull any punches. Musically, it's exactly what I want from Metallica as well: fast when it needs to be, loud when it needs to be, and yet melodic enough that you realize just how talented these guys are as songwriters. Hetfield's vocals are outstanding here as well, even though he only gets better on later albums.
This is a fantastic album, and I'm ashamed that I've owned it for nearly two decades, but never listened to all of it until today.
Public Enemy
4/5
Rap music was pretty much forbidden in my house growing up, so my first exposure to Public Enemy was hearing "Bring Tha Noize" with Anthrax while playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, and I thought it was a great song. A few years ago, I wanted to seek out the best rap music of the nineties, so I listened to Fear Of A Black Planet, and I absolutely loved it.
I enjoyed this album too, but not as much as Fear Of A Black Planet. Chuck D is probably my favorite rapper. His voice just has a certain authority and rich tone to it that sets it apart from his contemporaries. I love Public Enemy's political messages too; "Nighttrain," "By The Time I Get To Arizona," and "1 Million Bottlebags" containing my favorite lyrics on this album.
Musically, I was probably only a fan of half the tracks on this album. Some of the beats and sampling here just weren't my style, especially on "Loss At Birth" and "Rebirth." However, "Bring Tha Noize" with Anthrax more than makes up for those two tracks. Anthrax's instrumentation takes a great song and makes it even more powerful; I love that the scratching and other original elements are still present though.
Overall, this is a great album, and the rapping and lyrics are the stars of the show here.
Favorite lyric: "'Cause now the KKK wears three-piece suits." I wonder if they knew how relevant that line would be almost three decades later.
Carpenters
5/5
I was incredibly excited to get this album today. I enjoy a lot of soft rock, but somehow, I've never listened to this album. I've heard "We've Only Just Begun" and "Close To You," but I've never really kicked back and actually listened to them.
I've heard that Karen Carpenter has one of the best voices of all time, and after listening to this album, I would strongly agree with that statement. Her vocals were absolutely perfection on every track, and each song here was a joy to listen to. Richard Carpenter's vocals, when they seldom appear, are also really nice, but he definitely can't compete with his sister. The instrumentation here may not be much, but that's exactly what this album needed, so that Karen's vocals could shine. I usually like it better when people write their own music, but that didn't bother me here.
This isn't the type of album that I'm likely to listen to frequently, but when I'm in the mood for something gentle and pleasant, I'll have no problem firing this up. I had a wonderful time listening to this.
Pulp
5/5
Before today, the only Pulp song I'd heard was "Common People," courtesy of 60 Songs That Explain the 90's. I held off on listening to Different Class because I knew it was on this list, but I was probably only going to hold off until 200 albums into this project, at the latest.
Thankfully, it was well the worth the wait to listen to this album, because I absolutely loved it. From the opening words and guitar riff of "Mis-Shapes," to the slower "Bar Italia," I loved every track on this album. I loved that the theme of class struggle managed to permeate the whole album; even the songs where Jarvis Cocker was lusting after some married woman were oozing with disdain for the social hierarchy. The instrumentation on this album was great too; the faster tracks are insanely fun and catchy, and the slower tracks add a tone that prevents the album from feeling tongue-in-cheek. Jarvis's vocals are great too, and he sings his best on "Feeling Called Love."
I was thankfully able to listen to this album twice, and the second listen just solidified that I found a new album to add to my regular rotation. "Common People" is my favorite track, but "Disco 2000" is a close second. I may not wait to be assigned another Pulp album before checking out the rest of their discography.
Supergrass
4/5
I've only heard one Supergrass song, "Alright," which was in Clueless (I did also listen to Gaz Coombes's new album earlier this year though, which I enjoyed), so this was my first time listening to a Supergrass album.
I thought this album was another solid Britpop entry on this list. I loved the unique guitar-forward punk sound here, especially on "Caught By the Fuzz." Even the songs that were a little less punk-ish, like "Alright" and "Time" were great, and they still felt at home on this album.
"Alright" was easily my favorite track; I love the jangly piano riff that plays throughout the song, and the lyrics and vocals are incredibly fun.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
4/5
I've never heard of Alex Harvey before, so I had no idea what I was in for with this album. This was an absolute hidden gem. Fusing elements of hard rock, glam rock, and a little bit of blues, this album has a really unique sound. And with songs ranging from the jangly "Swampsnake" to the absurd "Gang Bang," this album was fun with a some dashes of humor too. There was so much going on musically, and I loved the use of harmonica, piano, and horns throughout the course of the album. Vocally, Alex Harvey reminds me of Bon Scott, Billy Squire, and Paul Stanley. Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I can't believe this band didn't find a wider audience.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I used to listen to a lot of Led Zeppelin when I was in college, and when I did, I was more partial to IV and Houses of the Holy than I was to I and II. It's definitely been over 15 years since I last fired up this album.
I don't know why I didn't like this album as much as IV or Houses of the Holy back in the day, but listening to this for the first time in so long was almost like experiencing it for the first time. This album perfectly utilizes elements of blues, hard rock, and folk to create one of the era's most unique sounds. Each track is absolutely fantastic, layered with complex sounds played by some of the best rock musicians of all time. The most impressive thing about this album to me, is that it's ambitious in its scope, but still manages to sound like a cohesive, singular body of work, as each track blends seamlessly into the next.
I could probably write a paragraph about what I love about each track, but it's late, and I'm not good enough of a writer to make that worth anyone else's time. This album is fantastic from start to finish, and I'm so happy that I got to rediscover it today.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
Sometime back in the mid-aughts, I bought this album, because I loved "Take Me Out," and I'd heard that the album as a whole was supposed to be incredible. I listened through it once, but it wasn't really my jam back then, so I've never revisited it until now.
While this may not have been completely my jam back when I bought it, I really enjoyed listening to it today. Franz Ferdinand manages to create an incredibly unique sound on this album, with guitars that range from jangling to slamming with power, sometimes in the same song. The drumming is crisp and tight, the bass provides the perfect punch, and Alex Kapranos's vocals are smooth and rich. "Take Me Out" is still my favorite track on this album, but "In The Dark of The Matinee" and "Michael" are also fantastic.
This is a great album, and I'm glad I got to give it another listen today.
Elliott Smith
2/5
I had good friend in high school who really loved Elliott Smith, and that lead me to eventually buy Figure 8, which I really enjoyed. I eventually bought Either/Or as well, which I didn't care for as much when I first listened to it. I hadn't listened to Either/Or since then, so I was excited to revisit it today. I had really high hopes that my feelings on it would have changed over time, but sadly they didn't. It's not that this is a bad album; Elliott's multitrack vocals are incredible, and he sings his songs with such conviction, but I think that his vocals on this album just don't do it for me. His guitar playing is beautifully melodic, but the instrumentation on this album only serves the vocals and the lyrics. And lyrically, there's just something here that feels so inaccessible to me. I have nothing against depressing music, but the lyrics here just don't land with me, and I think it's because his language is a little too figurative for me. I wanted to love this album, I truly did, but it's just a miss for me.
Additional footnote:
For what it's worth, I fired up a few tracks from Figure 8 just to make sure I wasn't out of my mind, and I can confirm that I still love that album, even though I probably haven't listened to it in well over a decade. Immediately, I realized that there really isn't much percussion on Either/Or, and maybe that's why I don't like it very much.
Depeche Mode
4/5
I've heard a lot of Depeche Mode's singles over the years, and I think I may have listened to all of Violator at some point last year, but this was my first time to listen to the whole album with directed attention.
This album is a great follow up to Music for the Masses, where Depeche Mode cemented their sound, and really hit their stride. Filled with awesome synth sounds, great drum machines, gloomy keyboards, and David Gahan's rich vocals, this album captures the spirit of the eighties, while still moving the band forward into the nineties. "Enjoy the Silence" and "Policy of Truth" are my favorite tracks on this album, but "World In My Eyes" is the only song that could be the opening track, setting the tone for the sounds and lyrical elements to come. "Personal Jesus" is a great song as well, but it's been overplayed and overused to the point where I don't even really want to listen to it anymore (I don't hold the band at fault for that). As great as the singles on this album are, I wasn't terribly impressed by the rest of the tracks on it. However, the album works really well as a whole, and its influence on the future of music is wide in scope.
Deep Purple
3/5
I used to listen to a ton of classic rock, so I've heard a few of the songs on this album a lot over the years. I have a copy of this album on vinyl as well, but this was my first time listening to this album in its entirety.
Overall, this is a really good album, and and it's easy to see how it influenced a number of hard rock and metal bands that came after its release. I love the heavy use of lower notes on the guitars that are present on a lot of songs, and I love that there's also some fast tempo guitar playing here too, like on "Highway Star" (perfect opening track for this album in my opinion). The drums are fast and manic, but also manage to be tight and clean as well. I also love the way that the keyboard and organ are utilized here; sometimes it's to provide a contrasting higher sound to the deeper guitars, and sometimes it's deeper as well to compliment them. Ritchie Blackmore is a great guitar player, and his talent is really on full display here. "Smoke on the Water," "Highway Star," and "Space Truckin" are my favorite tracks here, but everything else wasn't terribly memorable to me. The album works well as a whole, but in my opinion, the most important thing here is the influence that this album would go on to have.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
5/5
I've never listened to any Siouxsie and The Banshees' music before, but based on what I've heard about them, I had an idea of what to expect. I'm happy to say that my expectations were met and exceeded with this album. I imagined that S&TB would sound like some sort of hybrid of The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, and not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'd say my imagination was pretty spot on. This album reminded me of what I love about both of those bands (cavernous and complex sounds with haunting lyrics and vocals), but still managed to sound completely unique. Just like The Cure, S&TB manages to produce their distinct sound in several different ways; sometimes its with guitar riffs, like on "Into The Light," or sometimes it's with percussion, like the booming bass drums and cymbal riding on "Arabian Knights." Other times, the band uses something else entirely to produce their haunting sound, like the building tempo of "Sin In My Heart." No matter how they do it, S&TB does it well. I love their use of distortion and sounds like breaking glass to create such a sense of unease and dread with their music. Siouxsie Sioux's vocals are absolutely incredible, and it's a nice change to hear a female voice in a post punk band. I think this album was probably a huge influence on several artists, especially Chvrches, who are probably my favorite currently active band, and that just makes me love this album even more. I'm so glad I got to experience this album today, and I know it'll be in my permanent rotation, especially in October.
UB40
2/5
The only UB40 album I've ever listened to is Labour Of Love, which, aside from "Red, Red Wine," I wasn't terribly into, so I didn't have high hopes that I would enjoy this album either. I hate to say that my intuition about this album was correct. Musically, there just wasn't a lot going on here for me. While I found it inoffensive, all of the songs really sounded alike to me, and there wasn't anything memorable about them. Lyrically however, I think this album brought a lot to the table. "Tyler" was really great, and I can't believe that I had never heard of this story before (some of my wife's family lives in Destrehan, Louisiana, and I've been there a few times). I thought "Burden of Shame" was really powerful too, especially since the colonial history of Great Britain has been a hot topic recently. But my favorite song lyrically was "Madam Medusa," which bashes Margaret Thatcher into oblivion. I can't understand why people still romanticize her and Ronald Reagan, when we know that their basic domestic policy was "fuck poor people." Great stuff on that song. Even though those songs had some great lyrics, it wasn't enough to overcome the pretty bland musical aspects of the album, and when it comes to UB40, I think I'll stick to "Red, Red Wine."
White Denim
4/5
I heard of White Denim several years ago, because my sister-in-law's best friend is really into them (or maybe a guy she was dating was), but this was my first time listening to them. This album was a really great surprise. I didn't really know what to expect from this album, but the flow and pacing of the first four tracks really sucked me in. I loved that the songs were all varied in sound, but the album still felt really cohesive. There sounds were complex and layered, but they all had really great rhythm sections as well. The vocals here were really great as well; at times they reminded me of Foals. Overall, this was a really good album, and it caught me by surprise. Also, it's always nice to see another Texas band make the list.
David Bowie
2/5
I really love the song "Heroes," but I've never listened to this album before. I had pretty high hopes for this going into it, but this was a really big let down for me. The album started off strong, with "Beauty and the Beast," which had really great instrumentals. The sound was complicated and almost bordering on overzealous, but the synthesizers and production really worked for me. "Joe the Lion" was fine, but "Heroes" is far and away the best song on the album, and is probably a top five David Bowie song for me (I now associate it with JoJo Rabbit, and it makes me tear up these days). But that's where the album took a turn for me; most of the songs after "Heroes" were pretty lackluster in my opinion. I wasn't a big fan of the two instrumental tracks on the last half of the album; they were pleasant enough to listen to, but David Bowie is a great vocalist, and I almost felt kind of cheated that two of the ten songs on this album didn't feature him singing. I think my biggest disappointment with this album is that the title track is such a wonderful centerpiece to build an album around, but I feel like that didn't happen here. I hope that the other 50 Bowie albums on this list won't let me down like this one did.
Supertramp
4/5
I absolutely love Supertramp, but I've never listened to any of their albums from start to finish. I'm most familiar with a lot of songs off of Breakfast in America, but I do know a few songs off of Crime Of The Century. Thankfully, I was able to listen to this album twice today. On my first listen, I noticed all of the things that I love about Supertramp: Hodgson and Davies's vocals, great piano riffs, and catchy pop melodies. I enjoyed my first listen, but I wasn't terribly impressed. During my second time going through it, I was able to pay a lot more attention to the lyrics, and that's what really elevated my second listen. I know that Supertramp has claimed that this album isn't a concept album, but I think there's at minimum a story that weaves its way through the songs: the story of someone who goes through what they think are the normal progressions of life, only to find out that the end result wasn't what was promised to them, and that they're just left with feelings of disillusionment and loneliness. As much as I thought this was a good album, I still heavily prefer Breakfast in America, but I can appreciate Crime Of The Century for what it is.
Thin Lizzy
3/5
The only Thin Lizzy song I'd heard before today was "Emerald," the b-side to a song that I believe is titled "The Fellas Are Here In Our City Again." I kid, I'd only ever heard "The Boys Are Back in Town," which, for the record, is a very fun song. However, with that tiny sample of their catalog, and with the help of some user reviews, I had a pretty good idea of what I was in for: some okay '70's rock. And I think that's exactly what I got. Aside from Phil Lynott's vocals, not much else stuck out to me on this album. The guitar hooks were fun but unremarkable, the rhythm instruments were just kind of there, and the lyrical content was about what I'd expect from a band whose big hit sounds like it's talking about Danny Zuko and the rest of the T-Birds coming back after serving two years for larceny. I will say that the segue from "Cowboy Song" to "The Boys Are Back in Town" was really slick, which is an admittedly weird thing to admire, but I kind of had to take what I was given here. I don't think this album is bad, but it just takes a back seat to all of the other great things that were coming out in the '70's.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I think I may have listened to parts of this album back when it came out, because some of it sounded familiar to me today. Either way, I thought this album was great. Lyrically, it definitely lives up to its name, and after reading about the context in which it was recorded, it makes sense why Leonard Cohen would make this album. I really loved the themes that Leonard Cohen explored here; the lyrics are full of imagery of death, mortality, religion, and love. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him to watch his body essentially fail him as his health declined over his final days.
The instrumentals, while bare and stripped down, did a perfect job of complimenting the dark tone of the lyrics, and I think the instrumentals on this album would still be beautiful without the lyrics.
My favorite songs here were "Traveling Light" and "It Seemed the Better Way." I love the way that they sound like poems read over music. "On the Level" had some awesome backing vocals, and I also loved the way that "Steer Your Way" built to a quiet crescendo at the end.
Overall, this was a really solid album, and I'm excited for the other Leonard Cohen album on this list.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
I listened to a lot of classic rock when I was in high school and college, but I never listened any Jimi Hendrix albums. I'm familiar with a few of his songs, but I wasn't sure what to expect from one of his full albums. I thought that Are You Experienced was great, and in addition to showing off Hendrix's guitar playing skills, it showed off his abilities as a songwriter too. Whether it was a faster tempo song like "Fire" or "Foxy Lady," or a slower tempo song like "Hey Joe" or "Third Stone From The Sun," Hendrix plays great guitar riffs for a whole spectrum of sound. This was a great listen from start to finish, and Hendrix is easily one of the most influential guitar players to ever pick up the instrument.
Jurassic 5
4/5
The first time I hear of Jurassic 5 was some time in the early aughts; I think they were coming to town as part of a tour with a few other artists that I wanted to see (maybe Lollapooza 2003). I thought about checking them out at the time, because they sounded cool, but I never listened to them until today. This album was great, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The rapping was great, the beats and other musical elements were fantastic, and the lyrics were savvy and political. Chali 2na was easily my favorite rapper of the group; his vocals are so rich and unique, and I thought he had a great flow as well. The run of "Remember His Name," "What's Golden," and "Thin Line" is absolute perfection. "Thin Line" is the best track on the album though; those lyrics about attraction between friends are absolutely brilliant.
Brian Eno
3/5
I've listened to plenty of albums that Brian Eno has worked on (The Joshua Tree, Heroes, More Songs About Buildings and Food) and even a song about Brian Eno (MGMT's "Brian Eno"), but I've never listened to an album that he recorded as a musician. Heading into this, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I figured I'd really like this album, and as soon as "Needles In The Camel's Eye" started, I really expected that I was going to love this album. Unfortunately, after the lead track, this album didn't live up to my expectations. The guitar parts were really good, and so were some of the more 'avant garde' sound elements (like on "Baby's On Fire" and "Some Of Them Are Old"), but the lyrics as a whole, and a few of the songs were just a little too 'out there' for my tastes. But the songs that worked, really worked well ("Needles In The Camel's Eye," "Baby's On Fire," "Some Of Them Are Old," and "Here Come The Warm Jets"). I still think Brian Eno is an influential genius, but I think I'll stick to his production work.
Michael Jackson
5/5
I've heard plenty of Michael Jackson's music throughout my life, but I believe this was the first time I've listened to an album of his from start to finish (I may have listened to all of Thriller when I was a kid). I was already familiar with the first two songs on this album, but everything else was new for me. The first thing that struck me on this album was the production. Hats off to Quincy Jones for making such a big sound that manages to still sound clean, crisp, and not too busy. The session musicians here sound like they've been working with Jackson and Quincy for years; their instruments manage to seamlessly meld with Jackson's vocal style. In my opinion, Quincy and the other musicians do the heavy lifting on this album, but that dynamic would totally flip on Thriller, where Jackson establishes himself as the biggest pop culture figure since The Beatles. And that's what makes this album so great: knowing what comes next. Listening to this album almost 45 years after its release and knowing that it's the origin story for a God-like figure who has seen countless imitators but no predecessors helps this album earn its place on this list.
The late 70's were such a strange time for pop music in my opinion; funk and soul had a lot of influence, and disco was rising and crashing during this time as well. Rock was dominated by glam rock, while post punk, new wave, and hard rock were coming onto the scene as well. This album fits into that pop era very well, because of its varied influences, and Jackson and Quincy manage to meld Jackson's vocal talent into each song. Again, knowing that this was just the fuel for the fire that Jackson was going to unleash on pop music a mere three years later gives it that much more weight. The music here is really good, but its chronological place in culture is what elevates it to legendary status. When I get assigned Thriller, I'm going to listen to Off The Wall first, knowing full well that the combined experience could give me an aneurysm. Frankly, it's worth the risk.
Lambchop
3/5
I've never heard of Lambchop before, but I thought this was a pretty good album. The string arrangements, the horns, and the vibraphone all combined to make some really beautiful sounds. The lyrics and vocals were great too, especially on "Grumpus." Unfortunately, things took a turn for me on "What Else Could It Be?" I wasn't a big fan of the falsetto singing on that song, and I thought the album's second half was noticeably not as good as the first half. When things worked on this album, they worked well, but when they didn't, they were a big miss for me. I don't think I'll be carving out any time for more of Lambchop's albums in the future.
Favorite track: Up With People
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
I've listened to plenty of Tom Petty songs in my life (it's no fault of Tom Petty's, but "Free Fallin'" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" are two of the most overplayed songs in the history of music), but I've never listened to one of his albums from start to finish before. I didn't have particularly high hopes for this one, because I don't think of Tom Petty as having made great albums, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Frankly, the thing that makes this album work is its uniqueness. I think of Tom Petty as southern rock, and there were already quite a few established bands that were utilizing that sound when this album came out. But Tom Petty's balance of smooth guitar playing, tight drum fills, and his unique slow vocals kept him from sounding like other acts. There wasn't the keyboard-heavy sound of Lynyrd Skynyrd, nor the finger picking licks of The Allman Brothers, nor the country-adjacent sound of The Eagles. This was a really good album, and I'm glad I finally listened to an entire Tom Petty album. Best track: "American Girl," by a landslide.
Janelle Monáe
4/5
I could have sworn that I'd listened to this before, but I think I was remembering listening to Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer. Regardless, I thought this was a really good album, and I really enjoyed the rock opera structure (I'm not sure if this is technically a rock opera, but I don't know what else to call it). I'm not very familiar with the movie Metropolis, but I was still able to follow the story arc of this album. The music was just overall beautiful and pleasant to listen to, and Janelle has a great voice. I loved that this album was able to utilize a wide variety of sounds and instruments, but it still managed to sound cohesive from start to finish. Some of my favorite moments on this album:
-"Locked Inside" was beautiful and melodic, and I loved when the guitar kicked in towards the end of the song.
-"Cold War" was awesome, and I loved the drumming, lyrics, and the guitar outro. The drumming actually reminded me of Outkast's "B.O.B.", and as fate would have it, the next song, "Tightrope," features Big Boi.
-Speaking of "Tightrope," that was probably my favorite song on the album. I couldn't help but bob my head along to the great beat, and Janelle sings incredibly well on this song. Big Boi's rapping was fun as usual, and in an album full of great lyrics, this song still manages to stand out with its theme of balancing the the opposing forces in life.
In summary, this was a solid album, and Janelle Monae is an incredibly talented artist.
Johnny Cash
4/5
With today being the Fourth of July, I was really hoping for Springsteen's Born In the USA, but I'll settle for Folsom Prison. After all, what's more American than our abysmal penal system? I haven't listened to a lot of Johnny Cash in my life, but I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from this album. I really enjoyed listening to this, and it's probably the most interesting live album that I've ever listened to. I really loved how raw and true it felt, with Cash joking with the inmates, and the announcements coming from the prison staff. The inmates were almost like an instrument themselves, as their reactions to Cash's lyrics added a realness to the stories that Cash was telling in his songs. The instrumentation here was pretty bare, but that's fine, because the star of the show in Cash's music is his lyrics and storytelling. Cash does such a good job of portraying loneliness ("I Still Miss Someone" and "Send a Picture of Mother") and hopelessness ("The Wall") in his songs, but the next minute, he's giving a masterclass in gallows humor ("25 Minutes to Go"). His ability to effectively switch gears like that is pretty remarkable. Johnny Cash isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I can appreciate how great this record is, and its importance in music.
Best song: a tie between "The Wall" and "25 Minutes to Go"
The Replacements
4/5
The only Replacements album I'd listened to before today was Pleased to Meet Me, which I thought was pretty solid. However, I'd heard that Please to Meet Me was when their sound started to divert more from their punk rock sound, so I wasn't completely sure what Let It Be was going to sound like.
Let It Be definitely has more of a punk sound that Pleased to Meet Me, but I feel like both albums have a very low-fi sound to them. I really love Paul Westerberg's vocals, and I think his voice is the perfect fit for The Replacements' DIY sound. The lyrics range from sophomoric humor to reflections of teenage angst and uncertainty, but no song feels out of place. I really enjoyed a lot of the guitar parts on this album too, and I loved that they ranged from punk thrashing to melodic. For a long time, my only exposure to eighties music was mostly top 40 pop and rock, but as I dive deeper into music that wasn't played on the radio constantly, I'm always so surprised to hear that there was music like this being recorded in the eighties, and it's always such a pleasant surprise to hear albums like this.
Favorite song: "Unsatisfied." This had my favorite guitar playing on the album, and I loved the use of the lapsteel. The lyrics on "Unsatisfied" really resonated with me too; I had a tough home life as an adolescent, and I often find myself pondering the 'what-if's' of my life back then.
Beach House
5/5
I've listened to Beach House's Teen Dream many times since 2010, so this is an easy five star review for me (man, what a year 2010 was for music). This album is perfectly dreamy and melodic; every song on this album is unique, and Victoria Legrand's vocals are like a pillow that's always the right temperature. As much as I love this album, I wish I had more insightful things to say about it, but all I can say is that it's an incredibly pleasurable experience every time that I listen to it.
Jimmy Smith
2/5
Other than a couple of guys who had marginal success in the NFL, I've never heard of Jimmy Smith before. I'm not a big jazz guy, and this album just wasn't my cup of tea. Sure, the instrumentation was fine, and it was pleasant enough to listen to, but there's really not much for me to remark on.
George Harrison
4/5
I've listened to plenty of The Beatles' music throughout my life, but I've never listened to any of their solo albums before. However, I'll admit that George Harrison's "Got My Mind Set On You" is an absolute jam. I mean, come on, that sax solo is fantastic. And the music video where he's in that study with all the moving knick-knacks? Priceless.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this album, but I was definitely less than enthused to see that this thing was over two hours long. However, I really enjoyed this album. I like George Harrison's singing, guitar playing, and song writing, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Combining Harrison's abilities and musical influences with Phil Spector's production capabilities helps to create an album that's big and ambitious without being overblown and self aggrandizing. I even enjoyed the Apple Jam tracks too. Sure, not every song here is a winner, but the songs that succeed are wonderful. Even though Harrison relies on several influences and sounds on this album, it always feels like a cohesive album. This is album is really good, and I'm glad I got to listen to it.
Favorite track: "What Is Life"
Black Flag
3/5
I don't think I've ever listened to any hardcore punk before, so I've definitely never listened to Black Flag, but I was really excited to get this album today. After listening to this, I don't think hardcore punk is exactly my cup of tea. I did enjoy the fast tempo, but I could barely understand the lyrics. I know that Black Flag's lyrics usually filled with social and political commentary, so I was kind of bummed that I had to google the lyrics to each song. While I didn't really enjoy this album a lot, its influence on rock music is abundantly clear after listening to it, and I think it's a really important album.
Favorite track: "TV Party," by a mile.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
This is the second Jimi Hendrix album that I've gotten on this list, the first being Are You Experienced (I love that this means that I'll get to experience all three of Jimi Hendrix's albums in their release order). I really enjoyed listening to this album. All of the elements that I enjoyed on Are You Experienced are present here too: great guitar playing, great song writing, and a unique psychedelic sound. However, I think Axis is the slightly better album of the two. I know that this album was released merely seven months after Experienced, but somehow the band's sound is more complete on this album. I don't know if it's just better songwriting, or if everyone just gelled better on this album. Sure, this album doesn't have a "Purple Haze" or a "Fire," but the album as a complete work is just a better experience.
Favorite track: If 6 Was 9
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
I first heard of Rage Against The Machine when I was in high school, when I'd see some of my classmates wearing shirts with the Evil Empire album cover on them. I didn't know anything about the band, but the students who wore the Evil Empire shirts were usually not to be fucked with, so I figured it wasn't anything I had any business listening to. However, over the years, I've heard a small handful of their songs, and I've become pretty well acquainted with their political views. This was my first time listening to one of their albums from start to finish, and I thought it was really great. Zack de la Rocha's vocals and Tom Morello's guitar playing are a match made in heaven. I love the heavy guitar distortion, and the fact that each song had a unique musical sound to it. I really enjoyed the politically charged lyrics on this album too. Once again, another album that's over thirty years old is talking about things that are still hot-button issues today. Kind of makes me wonder if this country is just doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes until the effects of climate change finally cook us all alive. All in all, this is a solid album, that sounds way ahead of its time, both musically and lyrically.
Favorite Track: Take the Power Back
Hugh Masekela
4/5
I've never heard of Hugh Masekela before, but I really enjoyed this album. I don't know much about jazz music, so I don't have anything to say about this album from a technical aspect. But, it was really pleasant to listen to, and I can easily see myself listening to it again some day when I want something good to listen to while I'm work.
Johnny Cash
3/5
This is the second Johnny Cash album I've gotten on this list, the first of which was At Folsom Prison. This album was a shift in tone from Folsom, but I still enjoyed it. I'm usually not into cover albums (I know this one isn't all covers, but it mostly is), but Johnny Cash really does a great job of adding something new to each of the songs on here. The changes to the instrumentation on these songs really complement Cash as a singer as well, and I love that so many great musicians contributed to this album (Henley, Frusciante, Mike Campbell, etc.). Knowing that Cash would live for less than a year after the release of this album gives more depth to a few of the songs here, most notably "Hurt." Overall, I thought this was a good album, and I enjoyed hearing Cash's version of some songs that I'm already familiar with.
Favorite track: Bridge Over Troubled Water with Fiona Apple
Britney Spears
3/5
When this album was released in January of my eighth grade year, I had nothing but disdain for pop music of this period. Young female pop stars and boy bands permeated the airwaves, and their popularity made me feel even more out of place amongst my peers who loved this type of music. Now, almost a quarter of a century later, my disdain has softened quite a bit. I find a lot of the pop songs that were being churned out back then pretty enjoyable these days, and I'm likely to sing along with them should they be playing on the car radio or in public settings. This album is no exception to that rule.
The first three songs on this album are easily the most fun, and with "Oops!... I Did It Again," are probably the best example of Britney Spears's early career. The rest of the album is okay, and features a few other decent pop tunes. The musical aspects of this album are just backdrops for Spears's 'baby talk' vocals and her dance moves on music videos and during live performances. The lyrics are all pretty much teenage love songs, ranging from the cheesy on "E-Mail My Heart" (this song had to inspire at least one Robin Sparkles moment), to somewhat uncomfortable innuendos on the title track. Nothing on this album is high art, but it wasn't intended to be. This album was recorded to sell copies, and in the process of becoming the highest selling debut album for a female recording artist (14x Platinum, holy shit), it created one of the biggest pop culture icons since Michael Jackson. Spears's vocal talents aren't spectacular, but her talents as an artist and performer are magnificent. It's difficult to succinctly communicate just how she and her music were everywhere during her peak popularity. Not only did she sell crap loads of albums and concert tickets, but she managed to have an award-winning four year residency in Las Vegas, and I don't think I can overstate the cultural significance of this album.
Of course, Britney's legacy is beyond complicated. In the last several years, we've learned just how poorly she was treated by multitudes of people in the music industry and her own father. I could go on and on about the abuses she suffered, but I think I'll just summarize by saying that some of the things that were done to her should be considered criminal in my opinion, and my heart goes out to her and her kids.
While this album is musically three stars for me (it's pretty good compared to its peers), it's a must-listen for any music lover. On the timeline of popular music, this album is a point of massive significance and consequence. Britney Spears paved the way for and influenced so many female artists, and by speaking out, she's also made the music industry a safer place for women.
Favorite track: "Crazy"
Favorite track not in the first three songs: "I Will Be There"
Ravi Shankar
3/5
I've never heard of Ravi Shankar before, but listening to this album was a very unique experience. I don't know much about eastern music, but the sitar and other instruments were incredibly pleasant to listen to, and I appreciate that Ravi gave some explanations of each song and its structure. Not only is Ravi a skilled musician, but it's awesome that he was able to leave his fingerprint on popular western music via George Harrison. I think that the next time that I need to relax, I'll try another one of Ravi's albums.
Pavement
4/5
Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was one of my first 25 albums on this list, and at the time, I gave it two stars. I eventually went back and listened to it again, because I couldn't remember why I didn't like it that much, and over the past few months, I've listened to it probably a half a dozen times, and it's really grown on me, so I was really happy to get Slanted And Enchanted today.
I really enjoyed Slanted and Enchanted, mostly for the same reasons that Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain has managed to grow on me: great guitar parts and Stephen Malkmus's vocals. Pavement's lyrics are a little too abstract for my liking, but their overall sound more than makes up for that. I wish I had something more enlightening to say about why I enjoyed this album, but the fact is that I just enjoy listening to Pavement.
The Strokes
5/5
I had a friend in high school and college who absolutely loved The Strokes, but it took me until the very late aughts to start listening to them. I wish I had started listening to them when I was in high school, because I think I would have really liked them. I eventually bought some of their albums, and even saw them at ACL in 2010. Over the last decade and a half or so, I've gotten pretty familiar with this album, and I was really excited to be assigned it today.
I was listening to a fair amount of alternative rock radio when this came out, but I don't remember ever hearing any of the songs off of it. That's really a shame, although not surprising for our local alternative station, who still plays Evanescence pretty regularly. I can't think of anyone else who was making rock music like this at that time. A lot of the bands topping the rock charts kind of had 'their own gimmick,' but The Strokes were pretty gimmick-less; they just played great guitar rock and tight drum beats with great vocals and lyrics. In my opinion, nothing they were doing was rocket science, but they were in the minority of people doing it, and they did it really well. Out of their whole catalog, this album best exemplifies their talents at mastering simplicity while crafting a truly original sound. Every song on this album is great, and the singles are exceptional. In addition to being great music, this album kicked the door open for indie rock's explosion in the aughts. This album is still amazing almost two decades later, and remains one of the most fun albums in my usual rotation.
Favorite track: Last Nite, by a hair over Someday
The White Stripes
4/5
In 2003, after jamming out to "Seven Nation Army" on the radio for what was probably the fiftieth time, I'd heard that the album Elephant was really great as a whole, so I went out and bought it. I listened to it in its entirety once, and it wasn't for me, but I'd still listen to "Seven Nation Army" pretty regularly. Later in the aughts, I got turned onto Jack White's side project, The Dead Weather, whom I really enjoyed listening to. I got to see them from the front row at a small-ish venue right before Horehound came out, and it kicked ass. I also listened to Blunderbuss when it came out, and I loved it, but I haven't gotten around to revisiting it. TLDR: I didn't care for the one White Stripes album that I'd listened to, but I've enjoyed other projects from Jack White.
I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel about this album, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the varied blues-influenced sounds, and this album is full of really fun songs. Just like The Strokes' Is This It, The White Stripes aren't exactly reinventing the wheel here, but they excel at executing their vision. The guitar playing is fantastic, and the crashing cymbals and drum beats are their perfect companion. Jack White's voice can go from screechy and manic to slow and melodic at a moment's notice, and that helps him and Meg craft an album that has a cohesive sound without sounding repetitive. It's clear that Jack and Meg really have a passion for their sound, and that they know how to turn that passion into fun. This is a great album, and it was a perfect one to come up right after Is This It in my rotation.
Favorite track: a dead heat between "Hotel Yorba" and "We're Going to be Friends."
Public Enemy
5/5
This is my second Public Enemy album that I've gotten on this list, the first being Apocalypse 91. Apocalypse 91 is great, but It Takes a Nation is better (but not better than Fear of Black Planet, but whatever). This album has all of the things that I love about Public Enemy: Chuck D's powerful voice, hard-driving beats, and lyrics that evoke the most eloquent anger I've ever heard. The songs here are serious, angry and sincere, and in my opinion, Public Enemy is the best in the business at railing against social injustices and systemic oppression. Chuck D makes the listener take an incredibly uncomfortable walk in his shoes when he raps, and it's a talent that I've yet to see be duplicated. In the aughts, when I wasn't familiar with Public Enemy's music, I thought that Flava Flav was kind of a weirdo, and that his personality was a bit cheesy, but I can see now that he was the absolute perfect hype man for this group. This album is fantastic, and it's getting added to my regular rotation.
Favorite track: "Party for Your Right to Fight." What an unbelievably awesome final track.
Dire Straits
5/5
I love Dire Straits, but I've never listened to this whole album before. As I expected, this album was fantastic. It had everything that I could want in a Dire Straits album: Mark Knopfler's vocals, and Mark Knopfler's guitar playing. I love Mark's bluesy guitar picking, and this album was chock a block full of it. As blues-inspired as his guitar playing is, there's just something about it that has a flamenco-like quality to it as well that I just find incredibly pleasant to listen to. "Sultans of Swing" is not only one of the most beautiful classic rock songs of all time, it easily has one of the best guitar solos of all time too. Mark Knopfler's voice is fantastic too; sure, his singing is a tad monotone, but I still think his voice is incredibly rich. His pattern of speak-singing reminds me of the pacing of Bob Dylan's singing, which I absolutely love. This album is fantastic, and I really loved it.
Favorite track: I mean, come on...
Favorite track that isn't "Sultans of Swing": "Setting Me Up"
Taylor Swift
4/5
Like a cup of coffee on gray afternoon in January.
I wouldn't call myself a Swiftie; I think that 1989 is a pop masterpiece, but the other Taylor Swift albums I've listened to range from "good" to "eh, not my thing." For me, Evermore established a notch above "good" for Taylor's non-1989 albums. I loved that this album relied heavily on various stringed instruments and the piano; it really helped create a sound that I think Taylor Swift excels at. The minimal percussion worked well for me as well, which I was surprised by, because I normally don't enjoy minimal percussion (I'm looking at you, Either/Or). As far as low points go, "no body, no crime" really stuck out like a sore thumb to me. I love Haim, but this song's sound and vibe felt really out of place. I liked the other duets though (I'm big fan of The National). A few other tracks, like "dorothea" and "marjorie" weren't that great, but in general, I thought this album was great, and it makes me want to listen to Folklore.
Favorite track: "champagne problems"
ZZ Top
4/5
Growing up, my parents had a copy of Eliminator on vinyl (the damn thing sold over 10 million copies, so I'm sure a lot of people my age would say the same thing), but I'd never listened to in its entirety until today. I like ZZ Top's music, and this album was no exception. The songs here are a ton of fun, and the guys made a transition into the eighties that still kept their signature boogie-rock sound. Sure, their southwest flare fades away on this album as they transition into a sound that's more solidly southern rock, but the sweet guitar licks are here to stay, along with some new drum machine and synthesizer sounds. I'm sure the guys lost some fans back in the day with this updated sound, but I think it works incredibly well. Lyrically though, the music hasn't changed much since the seventies, but I never realized how much these guys liked cocaine (and TV dinners, apparently). I find it really impressive that an established act like ZZ Top was able to launch themselves into superstardom in the MTV age. Speaking of MTV, the music videos from this album were fantastic too; the Eliminator car and fuzzy guitars are some of the most iconic images from eighties rock. Overall, this is a great album, and not only some of the best rock of the decade, but some of the best rock from this great Texan trio.
Favorite track: "Legs," by a slim margin over "Gimmie All Your Lovin'"
Favorite non-single track: "I Need You Tonight"
Van Halen
5/5
I think it would be prudent to lead off my review by mentioning that I love this album. It's one of my favorite albums of the eighties, and one of my favorite classic rock albums as well. I've actually been listening to it pretty frequently the last few weeks, and I was delighted that it came up for me today.
I've loved Van Halen for good portion of my life. As a kid, their songs would play frequently on local classic rock stations, and in my latter teenage years and twenties, I would listen to their Best of Both Worlds compilation pretty frequently. I'd never listened to all of 1984 or any Van Halen album for that matter, until I got a copy of this on vinyl for Christmas one year. To me, this album is the perfect example of what it took for rock music to survive and reach a wide audience in the eighties. Having established themselves as a premiere hard rock act, Van Halen relied on synthesizers to evolve their sound, which probably led to their separation with David Lee Roth, ushering in the "Van Hagar" era, which picked up where 1984's sound left off. Frankly, I think this transition to more synth heavy music worked heavily in the band's favor. Their earlier catalog is still fantastic, but 1984 is just a different kind of fun, and reflective of what rock bands were doing in the eighties to stay relevant (like ZZ Top on Eliminator, which oddly enough, I was assigned just prior to 1984).
The singles on this album are fantastic. They’re full of Eddie’s great guitar playing and synth lines, Alex’s fun drum fills, and Diamond Dave’s over the top vocals. I've loved "Jump" since I was a kid. I had a tough childhood, but music was something that could always make me happy. There's just something about the synthesizers in "Jump" that always made me extremely happy. It was always one of those songs that made me want to dance around. As an adult, I still love it. It's one of those songs never fails to get my blood pumping, and I always included it on my workout mixes. If it comes up when I'm driving, I'll always sing along to the words and the synthesizer notes too, all while doing my best to keep up with those fun drum fills on my steering wheel. “Panama” is fantastic too, and the actual sounds of engine revving during the bridge work really well. The synth parts on “I’ll Wait” go a bit darker than the ones on Jump, but they provide a nice contrast and show that the band was willing to committed to their changing sound. The drumming on “Hot for Teacher” is some of my favorite in all of classic rock, and the guitar licks are a perfect compliment. Granted, the songs about drooling over women haven’t aged particularly well, but they’re unfortunately pretty tame compared to what was coming as hair metal started to take off shortly after this album’s release (I’m looking at you, Warrant).
I love this album, and I think it’s a perfect snapshot of eighties rock. It’s fun and it’s got great synthesizer and guitar parts. The only criticism I can level against 1984 is that only one of the nine tracks is “Jump.”
Pixies
4/5
I bought this album back when I first heard of the 1001 Albums list, mostly because I was already familiar with "Where Is My Mind?" being played at the end of Fight Club. For better or worse, the rest of the album wasn't really like "Where Is My Mind?", and I didn't care for the album too much. Over the years though, The Pixies have grown on me quite a bit. I love the heavily distorted guitars, Black Francis's vocals, and the sometimes manic weirdness of the majority of the songs ("Tony's Theme" nearly broke my brain when I first heard this album). It's hard to imagine nineties alternative rock without the influence of this album. This is a fantastic album that had a significant impact on alternative rock.
Tina Turner
4/5
I grew up listening to Ike and Tina Turner's version of "Proud Mary" pretty regularly, but this was my first time listening to an entire album of Tina's. I'll be honest that I didn't have super high hopes that I would enjoy this album, mostly because her songs are pretty hit or miss with me. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed listening to this. The songs here were really great (I know Tina didn't write any of them, but that's fine by me), and they really showcased Tina's unique vocals and her ability to carry an entire pop-rock album. These songs all felt like they were perfect for her, especially the Mark Knopfler-penned title track, which still managed to have his sound all over it. I pretty much only know the Cliff's Notes from Tina's life, but I can easily see how this album was a pivotal point in her career, and the fame and attention she received from here on out was well deserved.
Favorite track: "Better Be Good To Me," which I actually heard for the first time last week when I was listening to Eighties on Eight on Sirius.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
This was my second Nick Cave album on this list, and I thought it was pretty good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Ghosteen. The minimal instrumentation worked pretty well to go along with the more straightforward lyrics. The songs were pleasant, and I like Nick Cave's voice. The biggest factor that makes this a middle-of-the-road album for me is that nothing here really stood out. "Into My Arms" was my favorite track, but nothing else after it really came close to being as good.
Nick Drake
4/5
This is my second Nick Drake album that I've gotten on this list, and like Pink Moon, I really enjoyed Bryter Layter. Nick Drake's lyrics are dark and melancholy, but they come from the heart. The arrangements are beautiful as well, and I liked that these songs were less stripped down than the ones on Pink Moon. This is definitely an album that I would listen to again.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I've listened to a lot of songs from The Rolling Stones through the years, but I'd never listened to any of their whole albums until I started the 1001 Albums list. This is my second Rolling Stones album that I've gotten on this list, the first being Let It Bleed, which I really loved. Beggars Banquet was really good as well, but a notch below Let It Bleed in my opinion. "Sympathy for the Devil" is one of the best rock songs of all time, and it's a great first track for this blues-infused album. After that, other than "Jigsaw Puzzle," I thought the rest of side one was just okay. Thankfully, things picked up quite a bit on side two, with the booming drums and the jangling of the sitar and tamboura of "Street Fighting Man." The rest of the album was really good, and I think that the Stones do a really know their way around the blues. Overall, this was a good album with two tracks that stand tall above the rest of the album. I'm excited for the rest of The Rolling Stones' catalog that's on this list.
Pet Shop Boys
5/5
Oh yes, this is absolutely what I want out of a Pet Shop Boys album. Lyrically as serious as Behaviour, Very goes back to the Pet Shop Boys synth heavy sounds, but with a more dance-heavy sound. Each song here is a winner, bookended by the strong "Can You Forgive Her?" and the gentle "Go West." The Pet Shop Boys are masters of synth pop, and this album shows that they were far from being done with their musical ingenuity, even as the world of music changed at rapid fire pace around them. I absolutely loved listening to this, and I can't wait to the third and final Pet Shop Boys album on this list.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Led Zeppelin II was always my least favorite of their first six albums when I listened to a lot of classic rock, but revisiting it for the first time in probably a decade was a treat. Picking right up where their first album left off, Led Zeppelin further solidifies their hard-rocking, blues-infused sound. Everyone is playing at an exceptionally high level, again, picking right up where their debut album left off. The band seems to be in perfect harmony as lead guitar, bass, and drums are all in perfect sync. Musically, Led Zeppelin II is the second hit in a career that was almost all wins.
The individual songs here are great as well. For me, the low points are "Whole Lotta Love" and "Living Loving Maid," and it's not because they're bad songs; the worst thing that I can say about them is that they're just not my cup of tea. The last three tracks are one of the best three-run tracks in all of classic rock. I see that quite a few user reviews hate on "Moby Dick" (my second favorite track on the album), for just being a John Bonham jerk-session. Frankly, if John Bonham wanted to pleasure himself behind his drum kit, he earned that right.
Even though I'm much more likely to reach for Led Zeppelin IV or Houses of the Holy, I think that this is a fantastic album from start to finish.
Favorite Track: "Ramble On"
Stereo MC's
2/5
I had high hopes for this album; it starts off with an incredibly catchy and unique title track, and then goes into the socially conscious "Ground Level" and "Everything." But after that point, things just feel like they're stuck in a loop musically and lyrically. While the percussion, sax, and keyboards are initially interesting, they never really stick the landing because they don't go beyond their initial catchiness. Lyrically, this album feels like you're trying to get away from someone trying to get you to sign a petition; you feel yourself nodding along for the first minute of their spiel, but then they keep repeating themselves and they can't really tell you what tangible thing they're trying to achieve. The worst part about this album is that the songs, like the album as a whole, tend to go on and on, never really achieving anything by extending their length. This album probably had some significant influence on alternative hip hop, but listening to it is like trying to run a 10K on sand.
Paul Simon
5/5
I bought this album several years ago, when I first heard about the 1001 albums list. I'd heard "You Can Call Me Al" quite a bit when I was a kid, but I'd had no idea how great Graceland was supposed to be. I remember immediately falling in love with this album from the first moment that I listened to it. I've loved eighties pop music for all of my life, but Graceland is an incredibly unique addition to eighties pop, but still manages to contain the types of sounds that I love. Graceland is one of those rare albums that I can listen to without wanting to skip a single song. Even though I love the whole album, my favorite tracks are the ones that have more of a zydeco influence, with "The Boy In the Bubble" and "All Around the World" being my favorite tracks aside from "You Can Call Me Al." Overall, this is an outstanding album, and one of my favorites of all time.
Personally, I think a lot of the scrutiny surrounding this album is unwarranted. While the criticisms of violating the apartheid boycott seem to have faded somewhat, the accusations of cultural appropriation seem to have grown over the years. Personally, I think that Paul Simon had the best intentions when he recorded this album. Yes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but this isn't Ryan Adams or Phil Spector that we're talking about here. It's impossible to say whether this album was a net negative or positive for apartheid, but it is possible to appreciate this album for being an incredibly beautiful piece of music that gave a lot of people the opportunity to be exposed to African-influenced music and African musicians, and I think that's a universal net positive.
King Crimson
5/5
If I had a dollar for every time I've seen this album cover, I wouldn't have been listening to this on my way to work this morning. However, even though I've seen this album countless times, this was my first time listening to it. I know this album is supposed to be the first prog rock album, but I wasn't sure if I'd like it; I like Pink Floyd, Rush, Supertramp, and Yes, but I don't really consider myself a prog rock fan. Well, after listening to In The Court Of The Crimson King, I guess I can consider myself at least a casual fan of prog rock. I really enjoyed this album from start to finish. The jazz influences were easy to hear right from the start, and I loved these long, orchestral songs. This album is incredibly ambitious, and it blows my mind that it was released in 1969. It's easy to hear that this album had a major influence on all of psychedelic rock that came after it, especially Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" songs. As much as I enjoyed the strings and woodwinds, the drumming was probably my favorite aspect of this album. I loved the cymbal crashes in "Epitaph" and the jazz-adjacent fills on "21st Century Schizoid Man." This album isn't the type of thing that I like to listen to regularly, but it was fantastic, and its importance and influence on rock music can't be understated.
Van Halen
4/5
As much as I've enjoyed Van Halen for nearly all of my life, I've never listened to all of their debut album. I adore Eddie's guitar playing, and I can't imagine what it must have been like for people to experience him for the first time when this album came out. His talent is on full display on this album, showcasing his skills at fast-as-lightning strumming and tapping on "Eruption" to the loud and heavy distortion of "Jamie's Crying." The rest of the band is at a peak level too; Alex's drum playing is tight but doesn't take away from Eddie, and Michael Anthony's bass compliments his brother perfectly. And who could forget David Lee Roth? Fully embracing his usual cheesy bravado, David Lee Roth cements himself as one of the most memorable frontmen in rock, hitting his peak on the poorly aged "Ice Cream Man." The songs here are all uniquely memorable, but the guitar playing upstages all other aspects of the album. Granted, I can't think of another band that seemed to be having this much fun playing hard rock. This was a great album, and its influence would be felt throughout the eighties and beyond.
Gotan Project
2/5
I've never heard of this band before, but this album was okay. It was pleasant enough to listen to, but nothing here really stood out at all.
The Icarus Line
2/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but when I looked over the track listing and saw song titles like "Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers" and "Meatmaker," my expectations were pretty low. Overall, I'd say this album was okay. The vocals reminded me of early U2 and Echo & The Bunnymen, which I enjoyed. The instrumentation was very unique, especially when compared to mainstream rock of this era. The middle of the album was my favorite part; "Spike Island" through "Big Sleep" were my favorite songs, but everything else was just okay.
Black Sabbath
5/5
This was my first time listening to an entire Black Sabbath album, and Paranoid was fantastic. The songs all manage to stand alone on their own, but they all feel cohesive with the rest of the songs on the album. I really enjoyed that there was such a diversity of sounds on this album; not everything had the tempo of the title track, but not every song had the slow heaviness of "Iron Man" either. Black Sabbath really earns their place as founders and pioneers of heavy metal and hard rock. Instrumentally, the guitars take center stage, but the drumming is tight and compliments the guitars perfectly. Hell, I think Ozzy sounds great on this album too, and I know he's not known as a great vocalist. "War Pigs" is far and away the best track on the album in my opinion. With its great guitar parts and politically charged lyrics, it's the perfect opening track for this album, and does a great job of establishing the tone. I've never been into Black Sabbath very much, so I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this album.
DJ Shadow
4/5
I've heard a lot of buzz about this album on the 1001 albums subreddit, so I had really high hopes for this. I tend to enjoy music that employs a lot of sampling, and this album was no different. These songs were incredibly pleasant to listen to, and I thought they were incredibly well produced. It's really impressive that DJ Shadow built this entire album almost completely off of sampling and that he used minimal equipment to do it. I'll definitely listen to this album again soon.
Duke Ellington
4/5
I'm not very knowledgeable about what makes good jazz music, but out of all the jazz albums I've been given (I think this was the fourth or fifth), I think I've liked this one the best. There's just something about the music here that feels really familiar and accessible. I'm not sure what about it makes it that way for me, but I'd definitely listen to this again.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Other than playing along to "Feel the Pain" in Rock Band (or was it Guitar Hero?), I've never listened to Dinosaur Jr. before. I figured there was a good chance that I'd like this album, but I only enjoyed about half the songs. I liked the guitar-forward sound, and the heavy distortion, but some of the songs felt like they weren't very distinct from one another. "Don't" was easily the lowest point for me on this album; I wasn't into the screaming at all. As lukewarm as I was on this album, I can appreciate how influential Dinosaur Jr. was on alternative rock. I can't imagine how different rock music in the nineties would have been without these guys paving the way.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Folk and singer/songwriter albums from this era can be pretty hit or miss with me, but this wound up being pretty middle of the road. I loved the use of the vibraphone, and Tim's voice is great, but most of these songs were a little too long and meandering for my taste. This album is fine to have on in the background, and it was pleasant enough to listen to, but I'd be hard pressed to recognize much of this album again if I were to hear it out in the wild.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
I don't have much experience with Curtis Mayfield's music, but this was a great way to reach my 200th album milestone. Instrumentally, this album was a great blend of funk and soul, with great guitars, drums, and trombone playing. Mayfield's singing is great too, with his falsetto bringing an earnestness to the album, something that works especially well on "Little Child Runnin' Wild." As good as the instrumentation and singing were, the lyrics were the hero of this album. Lamenting urban poverty, drugs, and crime, Mayfield managed to create a visual of 1970's Harlem just through music. This was a great album, and after listening to this, I really want to see the movie.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
I have a friend who loves Dave Brubeck, so I was really excited to be assigned this album. However, I've never listened to much jazz before, so this album was probably lost on me for the most part. I did enjoy listening to it, but I can't really offer any deep insights as to why I liked it. I've found all of the jazz albums on this list very pleasant and enjoyable to listen to, and this was no different.
Common
2/5
I'm not familiar with Common's work, but I've enjoyed most of the rap albums that I've been assigned so far, so I figured I'd enjoy this album. Right off the bat, the album cover gave me the impression that this album would be pretty socially conscious and political in nature, so that was a mark in favor of me potentially enjoying this album. As I listened to it, I felt like the songs were really long and meandering, and I just wasn't a big fan of the rapping. The beats and production were above average, but most of the songs lost their shine with me before I reached the end of them. Even though I wasn't the biggest fan of this album, I did enjoy "A Film Called (PIMP)," "Geto Heaven Part Two," and "A Song For Assata." I don't think I'll be in a rush to listen to more of Common's albums.
Foo Fighters
5/5
The Foo Fighters hold a very special place in my heart, so I apologize in advance for the dissertation that's incoming.
My first exposure to the Foo Fighters' music was through the Weird Al polka medley on his Bad Hair Day album, where he featured "I'll Stick Around." Over the years, I probably heard some of their songs, but never realized who the artist was. In the spring semester of my senior year of high school, I heard an advertisement on the local alternative rock radio station that the Foo Fighters were coming to town. I'd heard some of the tracks off of their new album, One by One, so I decided to buy a ticket and go to my first adult concert. I paid $35 for a floor ticket at Reliant Arena, and on the night of the show, I was about fifty feet from the stage. I still can't believe that my parents let me drive all the way from our suburban neighborhood to the show, during evening rush hour traffic. I had an amazing time at the show, and from that point forward, the Foo Fighters were 'my band,' and I spent the next several years listening to them religiously. I'd buy their new albums the day they came out, and I spent a lot of time listening to this album, The Color and The Shape, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, and One by One as well. In 2009, I was lucky enough to see Them Crooked Vultures at ACL, and it was an absolute treat to see Dave play drums live. But in the early 2010's, I stopped listening to them as much. It's not because I hated them, but their music just wasn't really what I wanted to listen to anymore. I'd still count Dave Grohl as one of my favorite musicians though; I read his memoir late last year, and I absolutely loved it. I think Dave is a genuinely great human being, and I hold him in very high regards. Now, on to my review of the actual album at hand...
I haven't listened to this album in years, but I loved it at my first listen, and I still love it today. I'm still blown away that Dave Grohl pretty much recorded this album completely on his own. The drumming is outstanding on every track; whether it's an intense sound like on "I'll Stick Around," or something slower and more melodic like "Big Me," Dave put together the perfect percussion. The guitar playing and vocals aren't anything stellar, but they don't need to be. Dave Grohl knows his strengths as a musician, and he lets the drumming steal the show. My favorite songs on the album are the first four tracks, but the album is still great all the way through. In an era where a lot of radio rock blended together, Dave Grohl really created something special and unique with this album. Culturally, this album would end up being a milestone in the history of popular music. If Dave Grohl hadn't made this album, perhaps he would have joined Danzig or Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, and we would never have had what turned out to be one of the biggest rock bands of the last quarter of a century. This album is absolutely fantastic, and a must-listen for any fan of rock music.
PS: If you get the chance, I highly recommend the Foo Fighters' newest album, Here We Are. It's beautiful and heartbreaking at times, and in my opinion, their best work this century.
Magazine
5/5
I've never heard of Magazine before, but this album was fantastic. The instrumentation was kooky and strange, and while it reminded me of Siouxsie and The Banshees, it was still distinctly unique in its sound. I can definitely see how this album is seen as the first in the post punk genre, but I loved how there were still some elements of punk music present, especially the 'sneering vocals' that were present on a few songs. I loved the guitar playing, and the keyboards were fantastic as well. This is an album that will definitely make its way into my regular rotation.
David Bowie
5/5
This is the third David Bowie album I've gotten on this list, and my favorite of the bunch so far, by a wide margin. Everything really clicked for me on this album; the vocals really showcase Bowie's unique tone and range, the bass lines are funky, and the piano playing was jazzy. Each song stood alone really on their own, but they built something really cohesive altogether on this album. Before I listened to this album, I was familiar with and really liked "Golden Years," but I'd have to say that "Stay" was my favorite song on this album. Since this was a Friday album for me, I was able to listen to it three times over the weekend, and I felt like I just kept finding new things to appreciate each time. I will definitely be returning to this album in the future.
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
A genre-defying masterpiece. I've never heard of Michael Kiwanuka, but this album blew me away. Every track was outstanding, and I loved how each one segued into the next. As unique and different as each song was, the album still managed to feel incredibly cohesive. Instrumentally, each song was incredibly complex and beautiful, and Michael's rich voice fit perfectly into each song. This is an album that I will definitely be visiting again soon.
The Pretty Things
2/5
I didn't know what to expect heading into this album, but it was pretty middle of the road for me. There were some things that I thought worked well; the overarching rock opera element and story were interesting, and I enjoyed some parts of the instrumentation. Overall though, this album kind of dragged on for me. Plus, it felt like someone told these guys to make an album that sounded like The Beatles. I really felt like this sound was completely borrowed. It's one thing to draw on influences of a band, but something else entirely to try to duplicate their sound. It's cool that this was one of the first rock operas, but this album was just okay in my book.
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
I've listened to "Something to Talk About" for over thirty years now, but that's really the only song of Bonnie Raitt's that I'm familiar with. However, thanks to the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the 90's, I know the background to the recording of this album (Raitt being dropped by Warner Bros., becoming depressed and struggling with alcoholism, almost signing with Prince, then signing with Capitol). I was really excited to get assigned this album today, and I thought it was a good album. Right from the first note, I was struck by how "un-country" this album sounded. The lyrical content of this album was very much not what I expected, but knowing where Raitt was in her life at this time, these songs had a very genuine quality to them. Raitt has a great voice, and this album really showcased her talent as a singer. The title track absolutely blew me away, and "Have a Heart" was great too.
All day though, the lyrics to "Nick of Time" have been replaying constantly in my head. I'm 38 years old, and my wife and I have an almost two year-old daughter, and another child due next spring. Time is something that I think about a lot, especially as a new dad. I struggled to adjust to fatherhood during the first several months of my daughter's life, and finally started to get therapy for some unaddressed trauma from my childhood. Last fall, I lost a grandmother whom my parents kept me away from throughout my childhood. She was a wonderful woman, and despite the emotional distance, I miss her dearly, and I regret that she never got to meet my child, who was her only great granddaughter. Time is such a thief, especially during these last several years, as we grappled with a global pandemic. "Nick of Time" illustrated the heartbreaking fragility of the short time we all have on this earth with a beautiful simplicity. The simple melody was beautiful as well, and served as a perfect compliment to the poetry of the song. "Nick of Time" is the type of song that I will probably remember where I was the first time I heard if for the rest of my life. "Nick of Time" good album, but a timeless song.
Pere Ubu
1/5
I really enjoy post-punk music, but this album was not my jam. I've never heard of this artist or album before, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying several "new-to-me" post-punk albums and artists on this list, so I figured that I'd probably like this album. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The thing that I disliked the most about this album was the vocals. Most of the lyrics were completely unintelligible to me, and I found the lead singer's voice absolutely grating. Musically, I could pick out little elements here and there that reminded me of Talking Heads, but the overall sound was very unpleasant to me. This album might be important to post-punk music, but I didn't enjoy listening to it.
U2
5/5
I listened to a lot of U2's singles as a teenager and into my twenties, but the only album of there's that I've listened to in its entirety before today was Achtung Baby, which I love. My favorite U2 songs have always been from The Unforgettable Fire through the previously mentioned Achtung Baby, but I'll also admit that I think that "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" is a banger. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this album, since the singles off this album aren't the U2 songs that I typically gravitate towards.
However, getting to listen to this album at a deeper level really made me discover a new appreciation for some of U2's songs that I wasn't the biggest fan of in the past. I never realized that "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" had such a militaristic sound to it; the time signature, drums, and guitars give it a feel like a battle hymn. Ironically though, the lyrics are not militaristic, and instead issue a plea to ordinary people to take a stand in their communities and demand an end to sectarian violence. Also, I'd never really given much thought to the lyric "when fact is fiction and TV reality," but it's almost a nice bit of foreshadowing for the criticisms against media that U2 would use as a theme for their Zoo TV tour in the 90's. The thing that's really stuck with me the most after listening to this album, is the piano and guitar on "New Year's Day." The piano melody is so haunting, and it really evokes a feeling of a gray morning on January 1, when the air is cold, wet, and filled with the lingering stench and smoke of fireworks. The scratching, distorted guitar manages to heighten the beauty of the piano's melody, but also further deepen the sense of unease. Lyrically, I think this song points out that even though New Year's Day is a day that's supposed to symbolize rebirth and hope, it can actually be kind of crummy, as it means the end of the holiday season, and a return to life's regular routines. On a grander scale, even though the calendar starts anew, the same wars still wage, and multiple injustices inflict suffering on countless people. SInce I spent so much time writing about those two songs, I'll briefly mention a couple of other songs that I really liked: I loved the bass line on "Seconds," and the message about how quickly and on a grand scale that life can be snuffed out in our modern world. "Two Hearts Beat As One" was fantastic as well, with it's powerful chorus and great guitar playing.
Overall, this was a fantastic album, and it gave me a new appreciation for this era of U2's music, which before now was not really my taste. I loved the political and social messages in the lyrics, and the instrumentation is great, as U2 starts to shift away from their earlier post-punk sound, and more towards their very own unique brand of "pop arena rock" that they've built a solid career on.
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
I listened to The Beatles quite a bit as a child, but I don't remember hearing any Paul McCartney and Wings songs until I was working Saturday afternoons at the campus radio station in college. "Jet" came up in the rotation during one of my shifts, and I really liked it; in fact, I'm pretty sure I downloaded it on Limewire later that week. However, this was my first time listening to this album.
I thought that this was a good piece of seventies guitar rock. I really like Paul McCartney as a songwriter, and I enjoy his precise guitar playing too. The guitar playing that Paul showcased during his time with The Beatles was present here, as were some of the experimental elements introduced later in The Beatles' catalog. "Jet" was far and away my favorite song on the album; the vocals are fun, and the saxophone and synthesizer added some depth to the overall sound. The title track and "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" were really good too. As for the rest of the album, I found it to be just fine. There wasn't anything I hated, but nothing really set the world on fire either. Overall, this was a good album, and I think it carries some cultural importance as one of Paul McCartney's biggest commercial successes after The Beatles.
PJ Harvey
4/5
I remember listening to this album when it came out. I had seen it on a list of the best albums of the year, and even though I had never heard of PJ Harvey before, I listened to it, and I really enjoyed it. I've meant to come back to this album, but I'd never gotten around to listening to it again until today.
I didn't enjoy it this time as much as I remember enjoying it the first time that I listened to it, but I still really liked it. I thought the folk lyrics worked really well, the instrumentation was great, and I usually tend to enjoy PJ Harvey's vocals. I really wanted to listen to this album twice today, but unfortunately, I didn't get around to it, so I don't have anything more to add.
The Saints
3/5
I've never heard of The Saints before, so I was really curious to see what this album would be like. Things started off strong with "Know Your Product." I really liked the guitar parts, and the brass arrangements punched things up and added some depth to the sound. I would have loved to hear more of the brass sound in the later tracks, but alas, I guess it wasn't to be. I thought the lyrics were really great throughout the album, minus a choice word that got repeated on "Memories Are Made of This," and the overall musical sound of the album was good too. This album managed to have the punk feel, while still feeling really well played and thought out from a musical standpoint. The biggest detractor for me is that the album started off really great, but never managed to hit that same level of greatness anywhere else on the album.
Snoop Dogg
4/5
I've heard several Snoop Dogg songs over the years, but this was my first time listening to one of his albums. Overall, I thought this album was pretty good. Snoop's rapping was pretty good; I thought he had pretty good flow, and there's just something so distinct about his voice that makes his rapping enjoyable to listen to. I think it's that he sounds so relaxed, but so precise in his pronunciation that makes him stand out. I'm ashamed to admit that I laughed really hard at a lot of the interludes; the "W Balls" bit was particularly hilarious in my opinion. However, I thought the real winners here were the beats and production. I loved the psychedelic sound that was present on several tracks because it just meshes so well with Snoop's rapping and West Coast style. Overall, I thought this was great album. In addition to launching the career of a pop culture megasar, this album has had an enormous influence on popular music over the last thirty years.
New Order
5/5
I love Joy Division, and though I'm not horribly familiar with a lot of New Order's broader catalog, I love the songs of theirs that I know ("Ceremony," "True Faith," "Temptation," etc.). Sadly, this was my first time listening to a full New Order album.
This album was outstanding from start to finish because every song was outstanding in its own unique way. I loved that New Order kept their post-punk sound while also continuing to develop their use of synthesizers. The guitars on this album were really great. I loved that the guitar parts didn't take the lead on the overall sound of the album, but still helped to flesh out the moody sound that New Order is known for. Bernard Sumner's vocals were great here too; there's just something about his voice that has a distinct Manchester sound to it. I thought that this album worked really well as a whole, but "Love Vigilante" and "Sunrise" were absolute masterpieces in their own right. I will definitely be returning to this album in the future.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
I listened to this album a little over a decade ago, and this was my first time revisiting it. I can't remember how I felt about this album after my first time listening to it, but after listening to it today, I thought it was really good. The songs were varied, but they didn't create an inconsistent overall feel for the album. Some of the song were great ("Mojo Pin" and "Last Goodbye"), some were good, ("Lover, You Should've Come Over," and "Grace") and the rest were fine. Jeff's version of "Hallelujah," however, is in a category of its own. Jeff's vocals on this track were fantastic, and the instrumentation added a lot of depth as well. There was just so much raw emotion in this recording that it gave me a physical reaction. Overall, this was a beautiful album, and it's a shame that it's the only complete LP we got from Jeff Buckley.
The Smiths
4/5
I can't remember if I bought this album because it was on the 1001 albums list, or because "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" was featured in 500 Days of Summer. Either way, I've owned this album for a little over a decade, but this was my first time revisiting it in several years.
I remember really liking this album the first time I listened to it. I've loved eighties music since I was a kid, but I had never listened to The Smiths before that. Listening to it now, I think my opinion of it has gone down slightly. I still thought it was a really good album, but the second half of it is much stronger than the first half. I really liked the overall sound of the album; I enjoyed Morrissey's vocals, and I loved the jangly guitar sounds. Lyrically, it was kind of hit or miss with me, but I still thought that even the misses were pleasant to listen to. This is the only Smiths album I've ever listened to, so I'm hoping to get another one soon.
Mudhoney
3/5
This was my first time listening to a Mudhoney album, and I enjoyed it. I thought the guitar playing and drumming were fantastic. Lyrically and vocally, I wasn't terribly impressed, and a lot of the songs kind of ran together for me. This album was no Ten, but it was still fairly enjoyable. This is the type of album that I'd enjoy listening to while I'm at the gym.
Underworld
4/5
I've never heard of Underworld before (although I'm pretty sure I've heard their song "Born Slippy"), and I don't think I've ever listened to a full techno/house album before either (is Moby's Play considered techno?). I really enjoyed listening to this album. It was really pleasant to listen to, and I loved that the longer songs would establish a few musical elements, and then build on them. I know there's more techno albums on this list, and I'm excited to be assigned more of them.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
I've seen the Flaming Lips at music festivals three times (I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of theirs, it just so happened that their set times made it easy for me to catch them, and plus, their live shows are an absolute trip), but this was my first time listening to this album. I've listened to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots several times, and I'm familiar with "Race for the Prize," so I had a pretty good idea of what I was in for with this album. The Soft Bulletin was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Musically, it was incredibly fun to listen to. There was a lot going on, but it never felt busy or convoluted, and the overall sound was just very pleasant. The keyboards and theremin kept things weird and experimental, but they complimented the great guitar playing and drumming really well. The booming drums were great, especially on "Buggin.'" Wayne Coyne isn't what I'd consider an exceptional vocalist, but he plays to his strengths, and that helps the overall experimental and psychedelic sound of the band. Lyrically, I loved that some of the songs were deep and existential, while others were somewhat goofy and nonsensical. Overall, this was a fantastic album, and it's one that I plan to listen to again.
Elton John
5/5
I've loved Elton John since I was a kid, but this was my first time listening to one of his albums from start to finish. I was only familiar with a small handful of the songs on this album, so most of these songs were new to me.
I thought this album was fantastic from start to finish. Starting off with the ambitious "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding," and concluding with the beautiful "Harmony," this album never let up with its beautiful piano playing and brilliant lyrics. I thought the lyrical themes of nostalgia for youth were fantastic, and Elton John managed to bring depth to Bernie Taupin's lyrics with his glitzy compositions and unique voice. This album had it all, from the slower ballad "Candle in the Wind" to the adrenaline-filled glam rock of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," Elton John really can do it all. I was worried that the 76 minute runtime of this album would wind up feeling overblown and eventually drag on, but I think the the album length was needed in order to effectively create this epic.
"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is one of my favorite songs in Elton's catalog, and it was my favorite song on the album, just ahead of the title track. But I was also really enjoyed "Grey Seal," "Dirty Little Girl," "Your Sister Can't Twist," and "Roy Rogers" as well, all of which were new songs to me.
This was a fantastic album, and I hate that I waited this long to explore a complete album of Elton John's.
The Undertones
4/5
I've never heard of The Undertones before, but I really enjoyed listening to this album. This album was a great combination of punk and new wave. The songs were driving, fast paced, and succinct in their lyrical messages. I loved that The Undertones made their point in each song, and then moved on, refusing to beat around the bush and drag their songs on longer than necessary. The drumming and guitar playing were fantastic, the vocals were unique, and the lyrics were the perfect combination of sometimes serious, and sometimes funny. Highlights: "Family Entertainment," "I Gotta Getta," "Here Comes the Summer," "Get Over You," and "I Know a Girl."
Sonic Youth
5/5
Finally, I get my first Sonic Youth album on this list! My first exposure to Sonic Youth was through Daydream Nation. I had heard about the 1001 albums list, and saw that Sonic Youth was had several albums on the list, so I bought Daydream Nation and gave it a go. I grew up listening to a lot of popular music from the eighties, so my brain had been hardwired for over twenty years to think of synth pop, arena rock, and hair metal as the defining sounds of the eighties. When I listened to Daydream Nation, it completely blew my mind and shattered my assertions about music in the eighties. I had absolutely no idea that people were making music like this back then.
This was my first time listening to Sister, and it gave me the same feelings that I had when I first listened to Daydream Nation. I loved the dissonant guitars, the rapid-fire drumming, and Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's unique vocals. Sonic Youth created a sound that was distinctly their own, and this album cemented their presence as a shifting force in rock music. I loved that the album starts off with the more melodic "Schizophrenia," before descending into the controlled chaos that became synonymous with Sonic Youth's own brand of post-punk sounds. This was a fantastic listen from start to finish. Bring on more Sonic Youth albums!
Pretenders
5/5
I've heard a small handful of the Pretenders songs, but this was my first experience with one of their whole albums.
This album was a perfect blend of New Wave and Punk. Knowing the Pretenders' radio hits, I was caught off guard by some of the lyrical content of some of the songs on this album. I don't mean to say that any of that subject matter was out of place on this album, because I think it fit perfectly with the Pretenders punk leanings. Chrissie Hynde was the perfect frontwoman to tackle lyrics like this, and this album laid the foundations that acts like Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, and The Go-Go's were able to build their success on (okay, Joan Jett got her start before the Pretenders were around, but her solo stuff had much further reach than her stuff with The Runaways).
Musically, this album had some fantastic guitar licks. The songs here were varied in their sound, and that allowed James Honeyman-Scott to show off his skills. From the furious solo of "Tattooed Love Boys" to the riffs on "Brass in Pocket," he could really do it all. The rest of the band's playing was fantastic too; it really felt like all the instrumentals were perfectly placed on this album. I've always enjoyed the few Pretenders songs that I'd heard, but this gave me a new appreciation for how talented and influential they were.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
I'll admit that I'm coming into this album with a bit of bias against it; I listened to Led Zeppelin a lot when I was in college, and this was always one of my least favorite albums of theirs. Unfortunately, that still seems to be the case with me. I can't remember what turned me off of it so much back then, but this listen, I just wasn't that into the first half of the album. Sure, "Immigrant Song" is great, but it honestly feels very out of place to me on this album. I thought the album really started to get good and interesting with "Gallows Pole;" I really loved the folk-y lyrics and the acoustic guitar. "Tangerine" was fantastic too; I loved the use of acoustic and pedal steel guitar together. But for me, the highlight of this album has always been "Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp;" the guitar intro is absolutely perfect, and when the percussion kicks in, I can't help but tap my foot along with the beat. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad album, it just doesn't land with me in the same way that IV or I does.
The Verve
5/5
I owned this CD as a young teenager, but I only ever listened to "Bittersweet Symphony." Even if I had listened to all of the album, I don't think I would have really appreciated it back then. Around 2001, I think I sold this to CD Warehouse or some similar type of establishment, and I'm pretty sure I got a whopping $1 for it. Wonderful return, considering I probably paid over $15 for it originally. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think that $1 went towards a new Lego Bionicle figure at Target next door. I was a weird teenager.
Anyway, it's now the year of our lord 2023, and this was my first time listening to this album from start to finish. I really enjoyed listening to this album. Over two-and-a-half decades later, "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is still very much the star of the show here. But the rest of the album is really good to. Sure, there are a handful of songs here that sound a lot like Achtung Baby era U2, but "The Rolling People" and "Catching the Butterfly" are both good songs. But The Verve are at their best when they sound like... well, themselves. The from "Weeping Willow" to "This Time" is great, and honestly the strongest part of the album apart from the opening track. The instrumentation on this album is great, and The Verve really did a great job of establishing their own identity in the wide sea of Britpop. These songs are beautiful, and they still sound great to this day. This is definitely an album that I'll be returning to. I just wish I had appreciated it when I was younger.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
I had never heard of LCD Soundsystem until the lineup for Austin City Limits in 2010 was announced. People seemed to be really excited for them to be on the lineup, so I decided to check them out. I looked them up on YouTube and found the video for "All My Friends," and I was immediately hooked. I bought this album and This is Happening, and I wound up enjoying This is Happening more. However, over the years, I've grown to consider Sound of Silver the band's best work. Every track is deep and rich in sound, and I feel like I hear some new detail every time I listen to this album. James Murphy's low-key vocals provide a perfect contrast to the fast-paced dance rhythms, and his lyrics are the perfect combination of punk rebellion mixed with Gen X apathy and nihilism. "All My Friends" is one of my all-time favorite songs, and its catchy piano loop still entrances me every time I hear it. To me, this album is absolutely perfect, and remains one of my all-time favorites. Long live Indie Sleaze.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
1/5
I've never heard of Alexander Spence before, but holy Macaulay Culkin's doppelganger, Batman. This album was incredibly underwhelming. I listened to it earlier today, and if I hadn't taken a few notes during my listen, I don't think I'd have anything to say about it. The music wasn't really anything outstanding, nor were the vocals. The lyrics were pretty nonsensical and didn't do much for me either. However, I did like the reverb effect on "Grey/Afro," which was one of the better songs on this album. I also thought the rain sounds on "Books of Moses" were nice too, and that wound up being the best song on the album, although that isn't saying much. The songs were short, which was nice, but an hour's worth of these songs was like torture. I did read about what led to this album's recording, which was really interesting, but just because the lead-up and process were interesting, doesn't mean that the finished product was interesting too. What a shame that the tape ran out at the end...
Pink Floyd
3/5
FINALLY, a Pink Floyd album. I've listened to a lot of Pink Floyd over the years, well, "Dark Side of the Moon," "Wish You Were Here," and "The Wall," but this is my first time listening to this album. I knew going into it that it was different than their work that I was familiar with, but having already suffered through Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs, I approached this album with somewhat low expectations.
Thankfully, this album was better than what I expected. The vocals were good, and the overall sound was experimental and unique. This was a great album to listen to over headphones, as there was so much going on instrumentally. I'd still prefer to fire up "Wish You Were Here" any day of the week, but I'd be willing to give this one another listen since I know there are some things that I missed this time around.
Going into this list, I really thought I liked psychedelic rock. Now, I think I had just managed to find a handful of psychedelic rock songs that I'd liked, and those were the only ones I'd listen to.
Coldplay
4/5
I'm familiar with a handful of Coldplay's singles, but this was my first experience with one of their full albums (even though I own Parachutes on CD).
This album is a really good piece of pop rock. The melodies are beautiful, the piano playing is great, and Chris Martin's vocals are perfect for the sound that Coldplay wants to create. Most of the songs on this album were really good: "Politik," "In My Place," "God Put a Smile upon Your Face," and "Daylight" were among the best songs here. But "The Scientist" and "Clocks" were in a class of their own. On "The Scientist," the somber lyrics, Martin's voice, and the increasing tempo of the guitar strumming created a beautifully distinct song. However, "Clocks" was easily my favorite track on the album. The lyrics about a lost love were fantastic, but the piano melody steals the show here.
Coldplay isn't really my jam for the most part, but this was a really good record. I think I should go dust off my copy of Parachutes now.
Little Richard
3/5
I don't think I've listened to any Little Richard songs since my history of rock and roll class in college. I've probably only heard three or four songs of his over the course of my life, so most of the songs on here were new to me. This album doesn't seem like much by today's standards, but I would imagine that when it came out, it blew people's' minds. "Tutti Fruitti" is iconic, and it still sounds wild and electric almost seventy years after it was recorded. The rest of the album was fine, but nothing else really stood out that much from the rest of the songs.
Even though this album wasn't really my jam musically, I can appreciate its cultural significance. I'm no musical historian, but I'm pretty sure no one else at the time was playing at the tempo that Little Richard played at, nor did anyone belt their vocals like he did. Little Richard really earns the name "the architect of rock and roll." He directly influenced so many artists, and those artists went on influence countless others; it's like a pyramid scheme that didn't rob people blind. You can't help but wonder what music would have been like had Little Richard not stopped making music and gone off to study theology.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
I've been really excited to listen to this album ever since I saw the cover. I've loved the socially conscious albums of the seventies that I've listened to so far, and after enjoying Winter in America, I thought this album would be right up there with it.
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy this album as much as I thought I would. The music and lyrics were good, but I think the slower tempo of the songs wasn't what I expected, and it threw me off. Thankfully though, I was able to listen to it a second time, and I appreciated it more on that second listen. The blend of funk and R&B was really unique and beautiful, and it complimented Mayfield's falsetto singing really well. The political messaging still didn't resonate very strongly with me, even on the second listen, but the album still had a unique and rich sound.
Steely Dan
5/5
This was my second Steely Dan album to be assigned. My first was Countdown to Ecstasy, which I gave five stars.
I liked this album, and I thought it was great, although I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Countdown to Ecstasy. Overall, I missed the lengthier songs, and I missed the more meandering instrumental jamming that was present on the previous album. Several of the songs on here really stuck out to me:
-the guitar on "Night by Night" was fantastic, and I loved the way it has that kind of stutter sound to it about 2/3 of the way through the song
-as much as I missed the jamming on this album, East St. Louis Toodle-Oo was great, with its wah-wah guitar and gloomy piano
-I really enjoyed the varied guitar sounds the band utilized as well; the bluesy sound of "Night by Night" goes right into the softer strumming of "Any Major Dude Will Tell You," and neither song feels out of place
-the best part of this album though was "Barrytown." I thought the lyrics about fearing change and the unknown were great, and the rhyming structure of rhyming carry with barry was absolutely brilliant. The lyric "Don't believe I'm taken in by stories I have heard. I just read the Daily News and swear by every word" was absolute genius
-the piano and strings on "Through With Buzz" were awesome too
-"With a Gun" was probably my second favorite song; its bluesy sound was perfect for the lyrics, and really felt like the band's take on western ballad
Hell, now that I typed this out, I realize how much I liked this album. I was going to give it four stars, but I think it's worthy of five. I can't wait for Aja and Can't Buy a Thrill.
Anthrax
4/5
When I first heard about the 1001 Albums book, this was one of several albums that I bought from the list. I'd heard of Anthrax before, thanks to their collaboration with Public Enemy appearing in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, and seeing Scott Ian on several of those VH1 I Love the... shows, but I'd never listened to any of their albums (wait, I think "Caught in a Mosh" was on a Guitar Hero game). I remember appreciating it back when I first listened to it, but it wasn't the sort of album that I would revisit often.
Listening to it today, I still feel the same way. I think it's a great album, and I appreciate its significance in the history of music, but it's not something I'd listen to a lot. Thrash metal is not something I enjoy often, but man, Anthrax can indeed thrash. The guitars are loud, abrasive, and fast, and the drums come at you like a mortar shells fired from a machine gun. I loved the use of fierce vocals and politically charged lyrics that are typically found in hardcore. At a time when thrash metal was peaking in popularity, Anthrax managed to stand out, even when bands like Metallica were finding a wider audience. I didn't come away from this album with a favorite song, but I still thought it was a great and valuable listen.
Coldplay
4/5
Last Friday, I reviewed A Rush of Blood to the Head, which I had never listened to from start to finish. I enjoyed it, so afterwards, I thought I'd listen to Parachutes, which I had also not listened to from start to finish, despite owning a copy of it on CD. Funny that I should get to review it a week later.
I enjoyed Parachutes as much as A Rush of Blood to the Head, but for different reasons. Parachutes feels less poppy to me, and the instrumentation feels a little bit darker tonally, which I think is a nice contrast to the sound of A Rush of Blood to the Head. The guitar playing on this album is really good, especially on "Don't Panic" and "Shiver." The piano playing on "Trouble" is fantastic as well, and even though it shifts away from the guitar-heavy tracks on this album, it still fits into the rest of the album perfectly. "Everything's Not Lost" was a perfect closer to the album, with more great piano work by Chris Martin, and a great guitar riff. As good as the songs that I mentioned above are, "Yellow" is this album's "Clocks," and it completely steals the show. The acoustic opening shifts beautifully into the driving melody that makes this song such a standout. Martin's vocals are fantastic too, creating a crooning sound that would make Coldplay stand out from other pop acts of the time. The lyrics on this album are fine, but for my money, it's Coldplay's overall sound that makes them enjoyable to listen to. I have a feeling that I'll be revisiting this album and its successor soon.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
The crooniest of crooners. I've been looking forward to reviewing this album; not only is it chronologically first on the list, but I've never really listened to any music from the Rat Pack or similar artists, but I know they're all incredibly talented.
This album was really pleasant to listen to. Frank Sinatra's voice is just fantastic, and the orchestra's playing was great as well. Sinatra's crooning was perfect for these melancholy love songs, and while the this may not be the most lyrically diverse album, I still found each song enjoyable. This is definitely an album that I'll be revisiting.
Eagles
3/5
I've been listening to the Eagles on and off for most of my life, but I don't think I've ever listened to any of their whole albums. However, I did lose my virginity to "Take It Easy," but only because I didn't have my copy of Bush's Sixteen Stone with me (she really wanted to listen to "Comedown," which she loved because it was used in the movie Fear, which was clue number one that it was a bad idea to have sex with her).
I thought this album was fine. The band has a decent country rock sound, but this album doesn't really set them apart from other acts that were big in country rock at the time. "Witchy Woman" is the closest they get to their signature southwest flair, but the main guitar riff and the drumming feel derivative of stereotypes of indigenous drum circles. Also, the bird noises on "Earlybird" were incredibly annoying; the song would have been much better without it. Outside of the banjo and guitar on "Take It Easy," there's nothing too remarkable about the instrumentation on this album. However, I absolutely love the Eagles' vocals. Glenn Frey and Don Henley are fantastic singers, and the band sounds great when they harmonize as a group.
I know I levied a lot of criticism at this album, but I truly did think it was fine. This was my first time trying to listen to the Eagles with a critical ear, and I was able to really put some attention into some music that I've been listening to since I was a kid. I think this album has a handful of great songs, but the rest of it is kind of lackluster. And for everyone who quoted The Big Lebowski in their review: grow up and watch a real Coen Brothers movie.
CHIC
5/5
A few weeks ago at work, I needed something to listen to, so I picked this off the list, but before that, I'd never intentionally listened to Chic (I'm sure a lot of people have heard "Le Freak" and "Good Times" to some degree in their lives).
This album is a lot of fun, and I found myself nodding along to the beat with every song. Nile Rodgers' guitar playing is fantastic, Tony Thompson's drumming is clean and precise, and Bernard Edwards' bass playing is funky and fun. Disco is not something I gravitate towards, but this album was a treat for the ears. I loved the tracks that featured strings, and the bells on "I Want Your Love" were great too. Chic is so talented and influential, and this album definitely deserves its place on this list. I just learned that Nile Rodgers has an autobiography, and that's definitely going on my list of books to read.
The Thrills
2/5
I've never heard of The Thrills before, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this album. The first few tracks were somewhat enjoyable, but after "Say It Ain't So," the album fell off a pretty sharp cliff. The banjo playing was a nice and unique touch, which is difficult to admit in a post-Mumford era. I enjoyed some of the vocals as well, and there were a few nice harmonies sprinkled in here and there. "Big Sur" started off with some nice psychedelic sounds, but never built upon it. The best thing going for this album was the cohesive theme of places that the band longed for. This album did a few things well, but the band didn't leverage those things very well. I'm really confused as to why this was on this list. I'd much rather listen to Guster, Built to Spill, or Dawes, all of whom do a much better job of what I think The Thrills were trying to do here.
Isaac Hayes
5/5
Gun to my head, I don't think I could have named an Isaac Hayes song other than the theme song to Shaft. But holy hell, this album was amazing. Isaac Hayes's voice is so smooth but powerful; there's a certain truth to his singing, and I can't help but wonder how much of these songs are some sort of memoir for him. The musical arrangements were outstanding as well. I loved the string arrangements, and the guitar playing was great too. This album was such a surprise hit for me, and now I want to watch Shaft.
Elis Regina
2/5
This was my first time listening to Elis Regina, and this album was okay. I'm not very knowledgeable about jazz music, so I always have a hard time assessing albums like this. Elis's voice was nice, and there were some arrangements on some of the songs that were good, but this wasn't really my cup of my tea.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Heading into this project, I would have said "I love Bruce Springsteen," but after Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born to Run, I think I'd say "I really like some of Bruce Springsteen's work." I could have sworn that I'd listened to this album before, but if I did, I think I just had it on in the background, because the title track was the only song that felt familiar. The lyrics and storytelling are the star of the show on this album, backed up by some great piano and saxophone playing. The other elements on this album are fine, but a lot of Bruce's singing is really mumbly, and that's a shame since the lyrics are so brilliant. "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland" are great, but for my money, the title track is far and away the best song on this album. It's one of those songs that makes me wish I could sing well, because it's just an absolute blast. Overall, this is a great album, but I prefer Nebraska and Born in the USA.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
5/5
When I saw that this album was on the list, I laughed. I hate "Relax." It's the most generic eighties pop song ever, and its sole purpose is to be used in film and television to establish that it's the eighties; just pure drivel.
Well, now it's time for me to eat my words. I absolutely loved this. Lyrically, this album was political and fierce, taking shot after shot at Thatcher's England, extolling the fears of nuclear war, and criticizing the oil industry. Musically, it was rich and diverse in sound. From pulsing keyboards, to string arrangements, I was delighted by every song. I absolutely loved their guitar heavy version of "Born To Run" (which I was assigned yesterday), and I have a newfound appreciation for "Relax." The dark and brooding "Two Tribes" was fantastic as well; the guitar, string arrangements, and crashing percussion were a perfect mix.
This is an album that I'll definitely recommend and revisit often. I wish I had known how awesome this album was before today.
Rush
4/5
I listened to a lot of classic rock from childhood through my teenage years, but I didn't hear about Rush until a coworker introduced me to them some time in the early aughts. I took a shine to them, but I never spent any time listening to whole albums of theirs, even though I have a couple of different ones on vinyl, including this one.
The members of Rush are master instrumentalists, and their talent is on full display here. Neil Peart's drumming and percussion work creates a world of sound all on its own, and Geddy Lee's and Alex Lifeson's guitar playing are fantastic in their own right as well. The keyboards are fantastic too, and Rush really embraces the sound of the eighties, while putting their own thumbprint on it. Each song is full of great sounds, and while each song is distinct and stands alone well, the album feels like one complete work. My biggest gripe is that the lyrics on this album are kind of cheesy. I know the band was heavily influenced by Ayn Rand for a while, and this album unfortunately fell victim to that influence. However, this is a really good album, and a unique blend of hard rock and prog rock.
I struggled whether to rate this album four or five stars, and I think I'll have to go with four stars. I stand by the fact that it's a very good album, but the cheesy lyrics take it down a notch for me. Also, most of the things that I rate five stars, I'm usually really excited to listen to again. I can't really say that for this album. Sure, I'll fire up Limelight and YYZ again, but I'd be okay never hearing Tom Sawyer again.
Norah Jones
2/5
I've never sat down and listened to Norah Jones before, but I assumed that I would recognize some of the songs on this album as I listened to it. That turned out to not be the case. I guess I wasn't in Starbucks very much in 2002. This album was okay. I know the early aughts saw the emergence of a lot of acoustic pop performed by singer-songwriters, and this album managed to go diamond during a time when Napster was wreaking havoc on the music industry, which is really impressive. Norah Jones has a great voice and plays the piano well, but she didn't write a lot of these songs. I'm not quite sure how this album is different than the music of her contemporaries at the time, other than its massive sales numbers. Honestly, a sound like this was a dime a dozen at the time. Just because something has wide reach doesn't make it great. This album is kind of bottom-tier for me, but to each their own.
Dolly Parton
4/5
I know a couple of Dolly Parton songs, but this was my first experience with one of her whole albums. This album was really good; the songs ranged from gut-wrenchingly sad to heartfelt to hilarious and absurd. I really loved Dolly Parton's singing, especially on the second half of the album. The instrumentation was simple, but it created a nice backdrop for Dolly's storytelling, which was the standout feature of this album. I did really enjoy the bass line and drumming on "Early Morning Breeze," which was one of the best songs on the album. However, the crowning achievement of this album was the title track. It's beautiful, and has a heartbreaking innocence that's incomparable to any other song that I've heard before. What a wonderful illustration of Dolly's mom's love for her children. The song called to mind an intersection I pass on my way home from work, where I usually see a lady with a small child, selling flowers. This scene always breaks my heart, and I wonder what I would do for my daughter if I ever found myself in a similar situation. I hope and pray that I would be as lovingly tough as Dolly's mom was, and that I would do everything I can to provide for my daughter, while shielding her from the harshness of our situation. Hopefully though, Dolly's vision on the final track can come closer to fruition, and we can all make A Better Place To Live.
Guided By Voices
1/5
I think I may have heard the name Guided By Voices talked about before, but I was completely unfamiliar with their work. This album was not my speed at all. I tend to enjoy things that are different and experimental, but I didn't enjoy listening to this, not could I find anything that stood out to me as important or influential. I'll take a hard pass on GBV.
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
I've heard of G Love and Special Sauce, but I've never listened to them (maybe they were on the bill for a festival I went to). Honestly, I thought they came about in the late aughts, I had no idea that they'd been around since the nineties. Also, I had no idea that they'd sound like this. Surprises all around I guess.
On to the matter at hand: this album wasn't really up my alley. The instrumentation felt repetitive, and it felt like a chore to get through the entire hour of this album. The rapping, or singing, or whatever you want to call the vocals, wasn't really to my taste either. I've read some reviews that compare this band to Beastie Boys or Beck, but Beastie Boys lyrics carry some tremendous punch, and Beck may not be a powerful vocalist, but he knows how to create some truly unique sounds. My point is, I'd take Beastie Boys or Beck any day of the week over G. Love and Special Sauce.
Even though this album wasn't to my liking, I can understand why it made the list. There's something about the sound that made me think "yeah, this album probably found a pretty good-sized audience in the nineties." I also think they did an interesting job of taking the Philadelphia-soul sound, and doing their own thing with it.
The Smiths
5/5
This is my second Smiths album to be assigned, the first of which was The Queen is Dead. I went into this album, never having listened to it before, but I absolutely loved it.
The guitar playing on this album was absolutely fantastic. The sounds and influences were incredibly varied, but Johnny Marr played them all with expertise, and Morrissey's vocals were great, as usual. The lyrics were fantastic as well, going from social critiques to exaggerated heartbreaks and back again. I thoroughly enjoyed this album from start to finish, and I'll definitely be revisiting it soon.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
I was just reading about Ananda Shankar earlier this week after I was assigned Nora Jones's album, but before then, I'd never heard of him or this album. This album was a nice listen, with the two cover songs being my favorite tracks. Ananda's goal with this album is printed right on the cover, and I think he succeeded in that aim. Even though only two of the songs were covers of already popular songs, when I was listening to the other songs, my brain was trying to convince me that there was something familiar with them too. I'm not the biggest fan of the sitar's sound, but I still enjoyed listening to this album, especially since it was a unique combination of western and eastern music.
Tito Puente
3/5
I've never heard of Tito Puente or this album, but this was an interesting listen. I'm not familiar with the mambo genre, so I don't really have much to judge this album by. The arrangements were fun and upbeat, and I especially enjoyed the drumming. One of the best things about doing this list is the exposure to genres and artists that I probably never would have been exposed to otherwise, and this album was no exception.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
I haven't listened to a lot of CSNY, but the few songs of theirs that I've heard, I've enjoyed for the most part.
I thought this was a good album. It was about what I would expect from CSNY: the instrumentation was fine, but the harmonies were out of this world. Each one of these guys is a great singer in their own right, but nothing can beat their harmonizing.
As far as individual songs go, "Country Girl" is the best song on the album in my opinion. The organ playing is fantastic, and the way that it swells and fades throughout the song creates a really great sound.
Overall, this was a pleasant album to listen to, but it's not high on my list to revisit.
The Band
2/5
The only song from The Band that I'm familiar with is "The Weight," so this album was new territory for me for the most part. I can't say that I got much from listening to this. The songs were alright, but nothing really stood out to me. The vocals weren't anything special, the instrumentation was okay, and the vocals and lyrics weren't anything to write home about. There was some nice organ playing on a few tracks, specifically "Chest Fever," but other than "The Weight," I think the majority of this album was pretty forgettable. I see so many five star reviews for this album, but I guess I'm missing what all these other folks are hearing. This album was pleasant enough, but I definitely won't be revisiting it.
Talking Heads
3/5
I generally like the Talking Heads, but this album wasn't as enjoyable to me as most of their other work. I was only familiar with "Psycho Killer," and that was easily my favorite track on the album. The guitar playing was fantastic throughout the entire album, and I love David Byrne's vocals too. Several songs had elements that I liked: the steel pan on "Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town," the fluctuating tempo of "No Compassion," and the percussion on "First Week/Last Week... Carefree." Overall though, without those little elements, most of the songs on this album were pretty middle of the road for me. I still enjoyed listening to this album, but it's not a part of the Talking Heads' discography that I'll revisit.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
This is my third and final Hendrix album to review, and it looks like I saved the best for last. Just like on his other albums, Hendrix's guitar playing and songwriting are the stars of the show here. This album flies highest when the tempo is fast. Songs like "Crosstown Traffic," "Little Miss Strange," and "Gypsy Eyes" were among my favorites. Hendrix also did a great job of crafting his own psychedelic sound, like on "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" and "House Burning Down." Those two songs were an absolute delight through my headphones. But the best track on this album was easily Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower." Hendrix's takes Dylan's song, and makes it his own, with defiant vocals, and guitar sounds and percussion that build their own massive landscape.
As much as I think that this is Hendrix's best album, it did have its downsides. I loved the faster tempo songs, but the slower ones felt like a drag, only offering brief glimpses of Hendrix's talent with the guitar. My biggest complaint though is that the album was just too long, and I really didn't enjoy the two longest tracks, which essentially made up about 40% of the entire album.
This was a great listen, and I'm glad that I've checked all three Jimi Hendrix albums off the list.
Aerosmith
5/5
In high school and college, I almost exclusively listened to classic rock and eighties music. I enjoyed Aerosmith back then, but over the past few years, I've really soured on them. I'm not sure if it's the sexual assault allegations against Steven Tyler (another incident literally came out today), or if their sound hand just grown old on me. Either way, I wasn't looking forward to any of the three Aerosmith albums on this list (I've already gotten Pump, which I surprisingly enjoyed).
But just like Pump, I enjoyed Toys in the Attic. I'd always heard that this was a great classic rock album, but I never got around to listening to all of it during my heavy classic rock days. The guitar riffs are absolutely fantastic; Joe Perry's guitar playing has such a distinct sound, and it's present throughout this album. There are moments of brilliance for other bits of instrumentation on this album as well: the bassline on "Sweet Emotion" coupled with the vibraphone helps to create a unique blues rock sound, and the piano parts on "Round and Round" and "You See Me Crying" were fantastic as well. "Sweet Emotion" is my favorite song by Aerosmith, and one of my favorite classic rock songs overall. I've already mentioned my love for the bassline, but the guitar riff after each verse is incredible as well. I'm not a big fan of "Walk This Way," but I'll admit that it's catchy, and I certainly can't deny its influence in the grand scheme of popular music. "Uncle Salty" felt like a thematic predecessor to Pump's "Janie's Got A Gun," with its story of abuse perpetrated by a child's guardian; it's kind of odd hearing Aerosmith sing about something so serious and taboo in a way, but I think this song really sticks the landing.
Sure, the sexual crudeness "Big Ten Inch Record" and "Adam's Apple" are probably not going to land with a lot of people, especially with the allegations against Steven Tyler these days. However, I'll take crude double entendres over lyrics with overt misogyny or unwanted sexual advances any day of the week.
I think one of my favorite things about listening to the two Aerosmith albums that I've heard so far, is that the band can do upbeat, loud, and fast paced songs really well, but they can also slow things down and get serious just as well. They did such a great job of taking blues rock and making their own distinct version of it. This isn't an album that I'll be itching to listen to in its entirety again, but I think it's worthy of a five star rating, because I believe it's genuinely good piece of music, and it's had a lasting impact on popular music and culture. Steven Tyler, though: you get one star.
Otis Redding
4/5
This was my first time listening to an Otis Redding album, and I thought this was a really good album. The horn playing was great, and Otis Reading's singing was fantastic. Even though most of these songs were covers, I thought that Otis Reading did a great job of performing each one in his own unique way, adding something that wasn't there before, but without taking anything away from it.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
Sometime in high school, or maybe even shortly after (early aughts), I bought a Smashing Pumpkins greatest hits CD. I listened to the shit out of that CD for several years, especially the singles that got heavy airplay on our local alternative rock station. I never got around to listening to an entire Smashing Pumpkins album, and other than catching the stray song of theirs on Sirius XM, I haven't really listened to them in quite a while.
This album was an absolute treat. I was already very familiar with "Cherub Rock," "Today," and "Disarm," but I'd never really given much thought to why I liked these songs until now. The guitar playing is fantastic on all three of these songs, and I love the distorted and fuzzy sound they have. I'd never really noticed before that The Smashing Pumpkins take so many different elements and blend them all together to make their signature sound; there's bits of hard rock, grunge, and shoegaze all represented heavily here (granted, I didn't hear the term shoegaze until I saw The Killers in 2009, and M83 opened for them, but that's a story for another time). I love Billy Corgan's voice on these tracks too. His singing is perfect for the heavy and darker tone of the lyrics featured on this album, and I think "Disarm" is the perfect example of this.
I really enjoyed revisiting the tracks that I already knew, but the songs that I'd never listened to were fantastic too. The fuzzy and distorted guitars were present throughout the album, but those sounds took a backseat at times when they needed to, like the finger-picking on the guitar towards the end of "Hummer," and the light strumming at the beginning of "Soma."
This album did all of the big things really well: great instrumentation, moody lyrics, and fantastic production, but there were a lot of other little things that stuck out to me too: the thundering drum intro on "Silverfuck," the drum fills on "Hummer," and the strange little guitar chords that interrupted the main melody on "Mayonnaise," all added some depth and detail to these tracks.
The thing that sticks out to me the most about this album is that its a melodic and beautiful piece of hard rock. There's so many sonically pleasing elements peppered throughout the entire album: the string arrangements on several tracks, the bell on "Disarm," and the amazing denouement of "Sweet Sweet" and "Luna" to close out the album. The Smashing Pumpkins really knocked it out of the park with this one, and I'll be listening to this album regularly from here on out.
Radiohead
5/5
I think the only Radiohead album I'd listened to in its entirety before today was 2016's A Moon Shaped Pool, which I remember enjoying. I've heard for years and years how great Radiohead's albums are, but today was the first time that I've listened to one of their earlier albums.
I really enjoyed listening to The Bends. Yesterday, I had the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, and this album was the perfect thing to listen to the next day. This album was absolutely beautiful from start to finish. I really enjoyed the guitar forward sound of this album, but the overall sound was so rich and deep; there were so many little bits of instrumentation that were peppered into each song, like the little chimes and strings on "Street Spirit." The keyboard playing was fantastic too, especially on "Fake Plastic Trees," and I really enjoyed Thom Yorke's vocals throughout the album. The production work was fantastic too; I can't imagine the work it took to get this rich sound. My only complaint is that things kind of dragged on "My Iron Lung" and "Bulletproof," but things picked right back up from "Black Star" to the end of the album. The first four tracks were probably my favorite part, but the whole album was great. Not only did I love and enjoy this album, but it was just a beautiful piece of music, and I think it's just objectively great. I wouldn't even know how to categorize this album, other than just tossing it under the generic umbrella of "alternative rock," but it feels like it stands outside of that label. I can't wait to be assigned the other Radiohead albums that are on this list.
Metallica
4/5
I've never listened to this album from start to finish, but I'm very familiar with all of the singles from it. When it comes to the singles, "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters" are tied for my favorites. I love their slower pace, and they both feature some of my favorite guitar playing from Metallica. I really enjoy James Hetfield's growling vocals, and he shines on those songs. "Enter Sandman" would be my next favorite, with its fantastic cymbal crashes and screeching and wailing guitar solo. As for "Sad But True" and "Wherever I May Roam," well, those are unfortunately two of my least favorite Metallica singles. The guitar playing is pretty ho-hum to me, and they don't offer Hetfield anything unique to perform vocally.
The other songs on this album are good, but the singles are what stand out. As a whole, the album sounds great and cohesive, with memorable guitar playing, great vocals, and a good mixture of lyrics. I think this album has earned an important place in the history of music and popular culture. For a band like Metallica to create something that stays true to themselves, but that has also been accessible to so many people for the last thirty plus years is absolutely incredible. This album brought metal into the mainstream, and has managed to keep it there. I grew up in a household where metal was definitely not allowed, but Metallica still managed to make into my ears quite a bit throughout my childhood and teenage years. This album firmly earns its place on this list for the impact that it's had.
The B-52's
3/5
Holy New Wave Batman. I know a few of the B-52's songs, but this was my first time listening to an album of theirs. I thought this was a good album, but I wouldn't say that I particularly liked it. The guitar playing was really good, but the vocals were pretty hit or miss for me. I liked the songs where Kate Pierson was doing most of the singing, but Fred Schneider's sprechgesang just wasn't doing it for me on this album. "Rock Lobster" is the biggest single on this album, but I honestly find it to be pretty grating; the main hook is kind of annoying, and it's pretty long. Despite not liking this album all that much, I recognize that it had a major impact on other new wave albums that came after it, and they helped turn Athens, Georgia into a haven for great music.
Tom Waits
4/5
This is the second Tom Waits album that I've been assigned, the first being Rain Dogs. I was completely unfamiliar with his music before starting this list, but I've quickly become a fan of his.
I really enjoyed this album. I loved the melancholy lyrics, the piano playing, and the percussion. I know Tom Waits's voice isn't for everyone, but I really enjoy his singing. His gravely and gruff singing is absolutely perfect for his lyrics. I thought the pacing of this album was really good too; I liked that the majority of the album was slower and more melodic, with some more chaotic and experimental songs popping up every so often to change the pace.
As much as I enjoyed the changes in pace throughout the album, the more experimental songs were not my favorite. I'd just rather hear Tom Waits be slow and gravely than disorderly and wild. Still, this was a great album, and I can't wait to listen to more of Tom Waits's discography.
Santana
5/5
l know a handful of Santana songs, but this was my first time listening to one of their albums (even though someone gifted me a copy of this on vinyl, whoops).
This was pretty much everything I could want in an album: the instrumentation was great, the vocals were good, and the album had an incredibly unique and cohesive sound. This album was part jazz, part funk, and part mystical desert seance. And yet, everything came together really well to make a beautiful album.
I loved the percussion, the keyboard parts, the piano melodies, and the guitar playing. Each song seemed to have a few simple elements that really stuck out to me that helped elevate them from good to great.
This album was fantastic from start to finish, and it's an album that I'll be quick to revisit.
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
This album was a bit like a warm slab of Oscar Meyer bologna between two pieces of artisan bread, a proverbial shit sandwich if you will: the first two and last two tracks were the best parts of the album, and everything in between was a bland hodgepodge of some of the worst bits of musical elements.
One of the first albums I was assigned was The Chemical Brothers' Exit Planet Dust, which I thought was really inventive and enjoyable. I had high hopes for this follow-up effort, but it really fell short for me. "Block Rockin' Beats" and "Dig Your Own Hole" had some pretty great bass parts, but after that, the songs became too long, too repetitive, and too bland. Nothing about tracks three through nine stood out to me at all. But "Where Do I Begin" was the best track on the album, and it completely outshined every other song on the album. Musically, it was incredibly catchy and unique, and Beth Orton's vocals were fantastic (appropriately enough, my favorite track on Exit Planet Dust was "Alive Alone," which also featured her vocals). "The Private Psychedelic Reel" was also fantastic, and provided a great conclusion to a completely lackluster album. If the middle of the album had been half as interesting as the last two tracks, this album could have probably been four stars for me, but unfortunately, The Chemical Brothers just didn't pull it off on this one.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
Before starting this list, I'd seen this album cover around, but I didn't know anything about it. Since starting this list, I've heard a lot chatter about it, and I can't say that any of that chatter was good. Listening to this was certainly an adventure, and I'm happy to say that I survived the trip.
Subjectively, I didn't like this album at all. It was a chore to get through, it wasn't particularly pleasant to listen to, and it was just really bizarre and nonsensical. I'll admit that I kinda liked "Ella Guru" and "Pachuco Cadaver" though.
But from a critical standpoint, I think it takes a certain kind of musicianship to go out and intentionally create something as arhythmic, experimental, and and discordant as this album. I think that this is about as avant garde as you can get, and Captain Beefheart deserves some credit for taking a change and making something like this. Or maybe it was all a big joke to him, and he just wanted to see what people would buy and listen to. Whatever the case may be, I think this album earned its place on this list, even though it's not going to get a lot of love.
Cat Stevens
5/5
Heading into this album, the only Cat Stevens song that I was familiar with was "Wild World," which I was delighted to see was on Tea for the Tillerman. Even though I was unfamiliar with most of this album, I was immediately blown away by its beauty. The guitar, piano, strings, and percussion were in perfect harmony, and Cat Stevens's singing was fantastic too. I loved how so many songs built to these booming crescendos, and sometimes multiple crescendos, and Stevens's singing matched each rise and fall perfectly. The lyrics were full of raw emotion, and I love that Stevens drew on multiple things for inspiration for these songs. As it turns out, I had actually heard "Father and Son" before today; I think I've heard it several times (or maybe I've just listened to The Flaming Lips' "Fight Test" a lot), but I know that I recently heard it during the finale of Ted Lasso, and hearing it today, just made me want to bawl. What a wonderful album this was. I really need to get a copy of it on vinyl to have around the house.
Grizzly Bear
3/5
This album came out right when I was starting to get into Indie RockI may have listened to this when it came out; I remember it being on a lot of best of lists for 2009. Listening to it today, I can say I've definitely heard "Two Weeks" before.
Listening to this today, I really enjoyed "Southern Point" and "Two Weeks," but the rest of the album didn't live up to those first two tracks. I think the thing that made me enjoy the first two tracks was the unique way they constructed their rhythms. "Ready, Able" and "About Face" were really good too. Overall, the album sounded pleasant, had some unique and interesting instrumentals, and had some good harmonies. The only song on the album that I really hated awas "Hold Still." However, I the biggest thing holding this album back from being great is that it just didn't stand out against its peers very much. The first two tracks really grabbed me, but the rest of the album just kind of coasted off of that momentum without creating any other unique or interesting sounds. I'm still glad I got the chance to listen to this, but it just wasn't remarkable.
Adele
5/5
I first listened to this album a few years ago, when I was going through Rolling Stone's best albums of the 2010's list. I was really shocked how much I enjoyed it then, and I still loved it on this relisten. Adele's voice is absolutely incredible. She manages to hit every note with absolute perfection, and I found myself listening to her every word with rapt attention. I'm completely spellbound by her vocal talent.
The singles off this album, for the most part, are incredible (more on that in a bit). "Rolling in the Deep" has its fantastic call-and-response chorus, "Set Fire to the Rain" conveys an actual atmosphere of embers falling from the sky, and "Someone Like You" is the perfect heartbreaker to close out this album. Outside of the singles, "Waiting For You" was my favorite track, with its driving chorus, jangly guitar riff, and fantastic backing vocals. Lyrically, this album perfectly captures the range of emotions that come after a breakup. It's deep, soulful, and feels authentic throughout its eleven tracks. The musical arrangements are beautiful too; whether the music is driven by piano, strings, or guitar, every song is captivating and beautiful in its own way.
My only beef with this album, is that I hate the repetitive chorus of "Rumor Has It." There's just something that song that I find really grating, and I can't quite put my finger completely on it. Still, this is easily a five-star album for me, and I think it's objectively fantastic.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
I'm familiar with "Casimir Pulaski Day," but other than that, I haven't listened to any of Sufjan Stevens' music. This album has been on my list to listen to for a while, but this was my first time getting around to it. This album was pretty middle of the road in my opinion. It was pleasant to listen to, but I didn't feel like anything here was lighting the world on fire. Sufjan's singing is nice, and the musical arrangements are nice and pleasant as well, especially the horns and strings that were present throughout the album. The lyrics and overall theme were very creative as well, but they weren't really enough to really captivate me. This was a nice piece of music, but I don't think it's something I'll revisit.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
I have a Stevie Wonder greatest hits CD, but I've never listened to one of his complete albums before. This album didn't have any songs that I recognized, so I wasn't really sure what I was in for. Musically, I was really underwhelmed by the first three tracks. I enjoyed the lyrics, but the overall sound of the songs wasn't really to my liking. But as soon as "Boogie On Reggae Woman" kicked in, the album had my full attention, when the sound shifted more towards funk. From that point on, I enjoyed the album a lot more. I feel like Stevie sang in a much lower register on the first three tracks too, but I like his singing better when it's in a higher register, which he did more on the second half of the album. I think Stevie Wonder is a fantastic song writer, and he puts together beautiful musical arrangements too. His singing is great, and so is his playing of the Fender Rhodes. I just wish this album featured more of the things that I love about his music.
Giant Sand
1/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, and that's probably the most positive thing I can say about listening to this album. This album was definitely not my cup of tea. I didn't care much for the vocals, and it was pretty dull musically too. Maybe under the right circumstances (a cold, rainy day, with a cup up of coffee in my hand and no responsibilities) I would have enjoyed this album, but this just wasn't anything that I would want to listen to again.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
I used to listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers quite a bit when I was in high school and college, but this is my first time listening to this album from start to finish. I remember this album being a pretty big deal when it came out, since it marked John Frusciante's return to the band.
Twenty four years later though, I think this album is pretty middle of the road. The Chili Peppers tried to go in a more serious direction lyrically and a more melodic direction musically, and in my opinion, the results are pretty mixed. The shift in tone and melody have some small wins in "Scar Tissue," "Otherside," and "Californication," but even those wins are deflated some by some nonsensical lyrics and Anthony Kiedis's vocals. My favorite songs were when the band didn't take themselves too seriously, like on "Around the World," "Get on Top," and "Right on Time." The best thing that this album has going for it is the return of Frusciante's guitar playing, coupled with Flea's funky bass licks. I don't know if it's because I've been so inundated with their music for most of my life, or if because this album is just objectively 'meh,' but Californication just fell flat with me.
The Doors
5/5
I used to listen to listen to a lot of classic rock from my childhood through college years, The Doors included, but I'd never listened to a full album by The Doors until starting this list (this is my second album of theirs I've been assigned, the first of which was Morrison Hotel). This album was great, and I can't believe it was the band's debut album; this album sounds like it was made by a band who'd spent several years crafting their sound. Jim Morrison's vocals are powerful, yet somehow dreamy and ethereal as well. The keyboard playing really shines on this album, especially on "Break on Through" and "Light My Fire," which are two of the best songs of the late sixties, and perfect examples of west coast psychedelic music. The band does a great job of applying their own sound to other artists' work as well, with their covers of "Alabama Song," and "Back Door Man." The Doors' version of "Alabama Song" sounds like they absorbed a polka band, and on "Back Door Man," they give their own interpretation of the blues, letting the keyboard take lead over the guitar. "The Crystal Ship" is a gem as well, where the band shows that they can do slow and melodic just as well as they can do loud and up-tempo. The album closes out with the epic "The End," which today feels eerily prophetic for the few short years that would proceed Jim Morrison's death. One of the most impressive aspects of this album is that the longer songs never feel tiresome or repetitive; they're just as interesting and engaging as the shorter songs. This album is great from start to finish, and is a shining example of how great psychedelic rock can be.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
I've never heard of this band or album, but I really liked this album. On my first listen, I wasn't terribly impressed, but after listening to it a second time, I appreciated it a lot more. For some reason, this album is listed as New Wave and Rock on here, and I think that altered my expectations on my first listen. Going through it a second time, I knew it was much closer to Sophisti-pop, or some sort of folk-pop. The musical arrangements on this album were really great. I loved the string arrangements and the guitar playing, and the lyrics were great too. My biggest beef with this album is that at times, it sounds like Lloyd Cole is ripping off The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, and The The. All three of those bands had pretty big albums released before Rattlesnakes, and honestly, it felt like their presence on this album was more than just an influence. Thankfully, it wasn't every song that felt this way, but it was enough that I noticed it pretty quickly. Even though I enjoyed listening to this, I'm not sure it really earned a spot on this list.
Radiohead
4/5
Before I started this project, the only Radiohead album I'd ever listened to was A Moon Shaped Pool. A few weeks ago, I was assigned The Bends, which I absolutely loved. Reading about this album, I knew that it would be nothing like The Bends, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.
Kid A was definitely a far cry from The Bends, but I still enjoyed listening to it. The synth arrangements were really beautiful, as were the string arrangements. Thom Yorke's vocals were fantastic here as well. Even though I liked this album and I thought it sounded great, I don't think it's something I'll revisit. I enjoy the use of synthesizers, but for some reason, this just didn't register as much with me.
Happy Mondays
1/5
Woof. This was my second, and thankfully last Happy Mondays album on the list. I can't think of a single positive thing to say about this album. I didn't care for the vocals, lyrics, or music on this album. Nothing about this stood out to me at all, and it was a chore to get through. I'm really curious as to how either Happy Mondays album made it on this list.
Violent Femmes
3/5
The only Violent Femmes song I've heard is "Blister in the Sun," which I really don't care for, so I had very low expectations for this album. I always hear people speak very positively about this album and the band, and after listening to this album, I definitely have a greater appreciation for the Violent Femmes' music. I don't think I've listened to much punk music from the eighties, but I enjoyed this stripped down sound. The guitar playing, bass playing, and drumming were all pretty simple, but they were all executed well. The lyrics were a tad... on the horny side, but they fit the vocals really well. There was almost a rockabilly or surf rock feel to a lot of the music on this album, especially on "Gone Daddy Gone," with its jangly xylophone sound. I won't be revisiting this album or the Violent Femmes any time soon, but I can appreciate this album's legacy.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
I've never heard of this artist or album before, but this was a nice listen. I really enjoyed the "fantasy feel" that this album had, with its use of the harpsichord, strings, and its own unique percussion. At times, this album felt Dylan-adjacent, and at other times, it felt late Beatles-adjacent. The lyrics were unique, and the vocals were good too. I wasn't blown away by this album, but its most impressive feature was the way it drew on well known influences, but didn't feel like a copy of someone else's work.
Carole King
5/5
I'm pretty sure my mom had a copy of this record on vinyl, and I've seen it countless times in other places throughout my life, but this was my first time listening to Tapestry. Based on what I've heard about this album, I was really excited to listen to it.
I'm pretty sure I'd heard some of the songs on this album before, but even the ones I hadn't heard sounded so accessible and familiar, and even the songs that I felt like I recognized sounded comfortably familiar as well. Carole King's voice is absolutely fantastic, and her talent for singing and songwriting was on full display on this album. The musical arrangements were great too; the piano playing, guitar playing, and other various string arrangements were beautiful, and wonderfully complimented Carole King's sound. The lyrics were poetic and yet softly powerful as well, and Carole King's singing delivered each line perfectly. This album was one continuously great piece of music, and even though it's not something that I'll gravitate back to, I recognize how incredibly well made it is, and its impact on popular culture continues to be tremendous, even over fifty years later. This album stands the test of time, and easily deserves to be on this list.
Pink Floyd
5/5
I will preface my review by saying that I think this is one of the best albums ever recorded, and when people ask me what my favorite album is, this album is usually my response.
This is the part of my review where I mention that I grew up listening to quite a bit of classic rock. My parents listened to quite a bit of classic rock, therefore I did throughout my childhood, and I kept listening to it throughout my high school and college years. I mostly knew Pink Floyd from "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2," but at some point in high school, I heard the title track off this album on the radio, and I loved it. In the mid aughts, I was in the process of transferring from community college to a four year university, and as a parting gift, one of my coworkers gave me this album on CD. I'll never forget my first time listening to it. I was driving home from the dentist in rush hour traffic when I popped this album in. I was pretty much blow away immediately by the sound of this album. It was raining at a pretty good clip as I drove home, which provided the perfect atmosphere for this album. I fell in love with this album that day, and I still love this album to this day.
I think that everything about this album is perfect: the production, the lyrics, the vocals, the synths, the guitars, the piano playing, the drums... everything on this album comes together to make a beautiful forty-five minute piece of music. Listening to this album is like having a wonderful dream: I'm never quite ready for it to end. Even though the opening and closing tracks are over twelve minutes long each, I never find them boring. Usually, I'm rapt with attention, straining my ears and brain to take in every note, even though I know this album like the back of my hand. I don't think I'll ever get tired of listening to this album, especially the title track. When I'm finished with this list, I assume that this is what I'll be listing as my favorite album.
Queen
4/5
Once again, I have to admit that I own this album on vinyl, but I've never listened to all of it, even though I've listened to a lot of Queen's music. I know this is widely regarded as their best album, so I had high hopes heading into it.
This album is great, but it falls short of five stars for me. The singing and production are absolutely fantastic, and listening to it with a good set of headphones really enhanced the experience. "You're My Best Friend" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" were the only two songs that I was familiar with from this album. "You're My Best Friend" is fantastic, with its sweet lyrics and the use of the Wurlitzer piano; it's one of my favorite sounding songs in Queen's discography. Over the years, "Bohemian Rhapsody" has kind of worn thin on me, but listening to it today, I can really appreciate its vocals and unique structure. The fact that it became such a hit, despite being almost six minutes long is quite a feat. I also liked "Death on Two Legs," but the biggest surprise for me was "'39." I loved the lyrics, and the guitar playing with the thumping bass and drums created a really unique sound that I'm not used to from Queen. To top it all off, the vocals on this song were great too.
I was really hoping that this would be a five star album for me, but it fell a little bit short. Several of the songs weren't very interesting, and the album just didn't have a very cohesive feel to it for me.
Morrissey
4/5
This was my first time listening to a Morrissey solo album, and I hate to admit that I enjoyed it. I like Morrissey's vocals (I've listened to two Smiths albums), and I thought the lyrics on this album were really deep and personal. I don't know if Morrissey has ever explicitly stated what the lyrics to these songs mean, but I have a hunch that they're mostly about struggling with the social ramifications of being non-heterosexual. The musical arrangements were really good too. This album didn't blow me away, but I thought it was well made, and I enjoyed listening to it.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
I've been meaning to listen to this album from start to finish for a long time, so I'm happy this came up for me today. I bought Nothing's Shocking a long time ago after first hearing about the 1001 albums book, even though this album had two songs that I knew, opposed to the one song I knew on Nothing's Shocking.
I thought this album was pretty good. "Stop" and "Been Caught Stealing" were easily my two favorite tracks. They both have great guitar playing, and are absolutely manic, in the most fun way possible. After all these years, I still don't know why there's the sound of a dog barking on "Been Caught Stealing," but it somehow manages to not be annoying. I found the songs in between "Stop" and "Been Caught Stealing" kind of boring; the parts of this album that are great are mostly great due to the guitar playing, but those three songs sound pretty run-of-the-mill, and they didn't add anything to the album. After "Been Caught Stealing," the album did get better, but the band never found the same footing that they established on "Stop" or "Been Caught Stealing." Even though this album was pretty middle of the road for me, I think Jane's Addiction were incredibly influential on popular music. When I think of the OG's of alternative rock, I think of Jane's Addition, The Pixies, and Sonic Youth. Their style influenced several rock artists, and that earns this album a spot on this list.
5/5
This is my fourth David Bowie album that I've gotten, and while it wasn't my favorite of the bunch so far, I think it might be the best in terms of objective and critical quality. The Ziggy Stardust storyline and concept was absolutely brilliant, and it honestly sounded to me like Bowie sang differently on this album to further solidify the Ziggy Stardust character. Heavily incorporating gender androgyny into an album in 1972 is pretty out there, but also really bold, and this album is just another feather in Bowie's cap when it comes to tearing down gender stereotypes. Musically, I was really impressed by the production. Every track sounded great, but nothing sounded overly polished. I loved that there was a lot of subtle sounds throughout the album; guitars or other stringed instruments would be playing quietly in the background before fading out, Bowie's voice would be looped to sing multiple parts, and there were other great backing vocals as well. The guitar and piano playing were fantastic, and Bowie leveraged them to create his own unique sound that felt like it exists outside of other genres. "Ziggy Stardust" and "Suffragette City" are my two favorite tracks on the album, and I thought they both had the best guitar playing on the album. I wasn't necessarily in love with this album, but it's an incredibly impressive musical feat, and easily belongs on this list.
Mike Oldfield
3/5
I was bored at work a few months ago, and went combing through the list for something to listen to and settled on this album, but that's the only reason I've listened to it before today.
I think this album ambitious, experimental, and incredibly unique. But does a bold vision make a great listening experience on this album? At times.
"Tubular Bells Pt. 1" starts off with a haunting melody that builds and swarms over four minutes, before the song starts to add in more guitar parts. Some of the guitar playing is great, but most of the guitar parts are incredibly jarring and take away from the overall feel of the song. The middle fifteen minutes or so of the song really took me out of it. I actually liked the part at the end, when the different instruments are announced, and play the same melody. I thought it was really interesting to hear the different sound that each instrument added, and the announcing of each instrument didn't take me out of the moment.
"Tubular Bells Pt. 2" started off great, with some fantastic guitar playing, and I thought Mike Oldfield did a great job of building some great arrangements throughout the first nine minutes or so, until the intensity of the melody starts ratcheting up, and then things really went off the rails when that guttural singing started, which lasted about six minutes or so. the song was great for about another five minutes, until it all of a sudden kicks into a rendition of The Sailor's Hornpipe, which was a really odd choice. Mike Oldfield played it really well, but it just completely tore down what he'd been building in the song until that point.
Overall, this album was incredibly impressive in its scope, and the sheer work that Mike Oldfield put into creating it. The early seventies were a wild time in music, and the fact that Mike was able to make a popular album out of only two prog rock marathon songs is incredibly impressive. There are moments of absolute brilliance, but those moments come screeching to a halt throughout the album, and that really takes away from the experience. However, I'm still glad that I got to listen to this album, and I think it's worthy of being on this list.
Dolly Parton
4/5
I'd never heard of this album until looking over the full 1001 albums list, and I've been anxiously waiting to have it assigned to me, because it sounded like an awesome concept. I was really hoping that this would be a five star album for me, but unfortunately, it fell a little short.
Right off the bat, "The Pain of Loving You" was fantastic, with its banjo riff and amazing harmonies. Musically, that was easily the best track on the album. The vocals were outstanding throughout the album, and the lyrics were great too. I loved that each of the featured artists got the chance to sing lead vocals, and all three of them sounded fantastic together. As great as the vocals and lyrics were, for me, the album just never came close to reaching that high that kicked it off. This was really good album, and I'm glad I got to listen to it, but it just fell short of being great for me.
Elvis Costello
4/5
This is my second Elvis Costello album to get on this list, and I enjoyed this one as much as I did Armed Forces, which I gave four stars to. I love late seventies and early eighties new wave, and My Aim is True was no exception. I know Elvis Costello's voice can be a big turn off to people, but I really love the unique way in which he sings. The guitar, piano, and organ playing were all fantastic, which I've come to expect from Elvis Costello. While his sound is distinctly new wave, he does a great job of creating his own unique tone, drawing influences from R&B and rockabilly, and I loved being able to pick out different elements throughout the album. The songs with the misogynistic lyrics were a little strange, and I hope that he's singing these songs from the point of view of a character he's created. I choose to believe that he is, because if he really held those views himself, I don't think he'd have had a career as long and successful as he has. I still enjoyed those songs, but I preferred it when the lyrics were more political in theme, like "Blame it on Cain" and "Less Than Zero." I don't know what it is about Elvis Costello, but I think his music is really fun to listen to. I'm looking forward to my next album of his.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4/5
I think I might have seen this album cover before, but I was completely unfamiliar with the artist or the sound of this album. This was very pleasant to listen to, and some of the songs sounded somewhat familiar; maybe I've heard some of them in a movie. I thought the arrangements on this album were fantastic. None of the songs were boring, and even the longer songs managed to keep my attention.
I spent a good amount to time today wondering why this album made the list. Sure, it's a good album, and it's nice to listen to, but these albums all have some sort of cultural impact or significance, and I couldn't for the life of me think about how this album was influential. I don't think this album caused an explosion in popularity of bands that played mostly instrumental music. Hell, the only other band I can think of that is anything close to this is Explosions in the Sky, and that's honestly kind of a stretch. However, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered about this album's influence on popular music. And then it hit me: I think this album probably had a huge influence on new wave artists in the eighties, especially sophisti-pop artists. A good number of artists in the eighties started incorporating more strings and more orchestral sounds into their music to give them a more 'elevated' feel, and I would imagine that this album made that idea more palatable. I'm not sure why I included this thought, other than the fact that thinking about this after listening to this album was fun in a way.
Now that I'm done rambling, I thought this album was really well made and full of great musical arrangements. It wasn't my absolute favorite, but I'll definitely revisit it, since it's just a nice album to have on.
Dirty Projectors
4/5
I listened to a ton of indie rock back in the late aughts and early 2010's, but I never made it around to this album. This album was a pleasant surprise. After reading the reviews, I was afraid this album might just sound like generic Indie Sleaze music, but I think this album had its own distinct feel. I thought the guitar playing, vocals, and odd rhythms were fantastic, and they really gave this album a unique sound. The string arrangements were really great too, especially on "Fluorescent Half Dome." I think my biggest gripe with this album being on this list is that there are other albums from this era that I think are more deserving of a spot (how in the hell is there not a Vampire Weekend album on this list?). But other than that, I enjoyed listening to this, and it's something I might return to some day.
John Lennon
2/5
I've listened to a lot of the Beatles' music over the years, but the only song of John Lennon's I'd heard before today was the title track off of this album. Based off of "Imagine," I figured this album would be full of sappy songs about dreaming of peace and building a better tomorrow. Thankfully I was mostly wrong, but regardless, I wasn't very into this album. Musically, it was fine. There was some nice guitar and piano playing, and the songs sounded fine, but overall, this album felt like getting a C- on a term paper: sure, you passed, but it doesn't feel great. This album feels like most of the songs are just riding the coattails of the title track, and frankly, those coattails aren't strong enough for anything to hang on to. My biggest gripe against this album is that, knowing what we know about John Lennon now (wife beater, deadbeat dad, general asshole, etc.), everything on this album just feels disingenuous, like it's all a cheap facade used to create this image that John Lennon is a peace-loving intellectual hippie. I try to judge these albums based on the music itself, but it's really hard to filter out John Lennon the person from this album. Even if I didn't have strong feelings about John Lennon as a person, I can't see this album being more than three stars.
Taylor Swift
5/5
I was watching the 2015 NBA Finals, and as the game went to commercial, there was this song playing. The song had this amazing guitar riff, a sick bass line, and killer electronic drum beats. I kept rewinding the game and sitting as close as I could to the speaker, so I could catch some of the lyrics and google the song. I don't remember what lyrics I was able to discern, but I remember looking them up, and learning it was Taylor Swift's "Style." Huh? Wasn't she a country music artist? I listened to all of Style, and became obsessed. I started listening to other songs on the album, and immediately fell in love with it and bought a copy.
I've been listening to this album regularly for eight years now, and I still love it. It's big, it's bold, and it somehow never feels derivative of the decade that inspired it. Each song has its own bold sound, and the music is fantastic, whether the song is peppy and upbeat, or slower and more thoughtful. The synthesizers and other electronic elements are absolutely fantastic, and I love that they're used in such a wide variety of ways. From the 'pseudo-strings' on "Welcome to New York" to the dreamy sounds of "Wildest Dreams," this album is crammed full of great synth sounds. The drum machines are fantastic too. The reverb on "Blank Space" calls back to eighties pop, while the booming drums of "I Wish You Would" and "Bad Blood" feel loud enough to make The Cult jealous. Lyrically and emotionally, this album covers a wide swath of territory from the highs of awe, optimism, and young love to the lows of dreams of escape and wrecked friendships.
This album is a masterpiece from start to finish, and it's one of my favorite pop albums of all time. I always have a blast listening to it, and I firmly believe that it more than earns its place on this list.
Spiritualized
4/5
I've never heard of this artist or album before, but I really enjoyed this album. The arrangements were fantastic, and they had a really unique dream-like feel. I'm not super familiar with the shoegaze genre, but this album had a different feel than the few shoegaze albums that I'm familiar with. The guitar playing did most of the heavy lifting on this album, but the overall sound was great. I'll definitely revisit this album some day, because it would be something great to have on while I work out or while I'm at work.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
This is my third Nick Cave album to be assigned, and all three albums have been very different. The Abattoir Blues album was far superior in my mind. I loved the blues rock sound of the songs, and they suited Nick Cave's voice really well. The backing vocals were fantastic as well, and they really kicked the blues sound up a notch. The three song run of "Messiah Ward," "There She Goes, My Beautiful World," and "Nature Boy" were absolutely fantastic. If I were rating the album just on those three songs, this would easily be a five-star album. The two tracks before these songs were great, but after the title track, I lost interest in the last two songs of Abattoir Blues. I wasn't terribly in to The Lyre of Orpheus album. After the hard driving sounds of Abattoir Blues, I just wasn't ready for a comedown. The songs were okay, but outside of "Supernaturally," nothing really snagged my attention. Lyrically, I thought the album was solid all the way through. I love the imagery that Nick Cave uses in his music, and I enjoyed the fact that the meaning of these songs was very open to interpretation. The Biblical references in the lyrics were great too, and just furthered the mystery of what these songs were about. I appreciate the ambition of this double album, but it the second half just didn't land with me.
Neil Young
3/5
I've listened to a couple of Neil Young's solo albums, but this was my first time listening to Harvest. I'm familiar with "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man," but the rest of the songs on this album were new to me. I've liked Neil Young's singing on other albums of his, and this album was no exception to that. This album was well written and sounded great; I liked that there wasn't a lot going on instrumentally (with a couple of well known exceptions), but it was still well executed and sounded like it was really well produced. Lyrically, this is about what I would expect from Neil Young: songs that are pretty sad and pessimistic. But on this album, I felt like the lyrics lacked the punch and depth that I've found on other albums of his. The biggest thing working against this album is that "A Man Needs a Maid" and "There's A World" stick out like a sore thumb, with their complex sounds. The rest of the album feels cohesive, and while these are good songs, they feel really out of place on this album. "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" are the highlights of this album, but unfortunately, nothing else really comes close to them. Overall, this was a pretty middle of the road album.
Neneh Cherry
2/5
Earlier this year, I was combing through the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles charts for the late 80's and early 90's. I was wondering what the top singles were throughout that era, because I couldn't think of a specific way to categorize that era. I think it was such an interesting time, as what type of music was popular was changing at a really rapid pace through those years. I made a Spotify playlist of my favorites from those charts, and I've been listening to it off and on this year. However, I'm unfamiliar with Neneh Cherry's music, so "Buffalo Stance" didn't make my playlist. As I started listening to this album, I really loved the chaotic sound of "Buffalo Stance." It's definitely a product of its time, but I think that's what makes it so great. There was so many different sounds coming in and out throughout the course of the song, and I loved all of the electronic elements that contributed to the music. The vocals were fine, and the song had some great ebbs and flows as different sounds were utilized and then swapped out. After that first track, I had high hopes for the rest of the album. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed. The beats throughout the rest of the album were okay, but nothing else on the album lived up to the energy of "Buffalo Stance." Overall, I thought Neneh's flow was not that great. I hate to be harsh, but it reminded me of "Top That!" in the movie Teen Witch. There were some clever lyrics sprinkled throughout the album, but their frequency was too sparse to keep me engaged. "Buffalo Stance" is an incredible song, but overall, this album was pretty much a snooze.
Youssou N'Dour
2/5
I don't know much about African music, so I've never heard of this album or artist before (I just learned that he did the percussion on Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," so shame on me, because I love that album). I had pretty high hopes for this album based on what I'd read, but this fell pretty flat for me. The percussion was really good, but that was the only interesting thing about this album. The songs were all pretty long, and none of them really went anywhere. This album wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't good. I get that Youssou is pretty influential, especially in Senegal, but I'm still not sure why this album is on the list.
Run-D.M.C.
5/5
A few months ago, I was bored at work, and decided to check out this album since I knew it was on the list, but before that, I was only familiar with a small handful of Run-D.M.C.'s songs.
This album was absolutely fantastic. This is easily some of the best rapping that I've ever heard. The lyrics are unique and sometimes witty, and everyone has incredible flow. The beats and samples are simple, but that's exactly what this album needed, so that the rapping could be the star of the show. Jam Master Jay's turntable work is incredible as well. His work syncs up with the rapping in all the right places, and his skills really help make this album what it is. I wouldn't say that I really love this album, but listening to it, I can't help but recognize how incredibly great it is, and just how well done each element is and how those elements all add up to become this amazing whole. This album is easily one of the most influential albums on this list. Run-D.M.C.'s team-up with Aerosmith to remake "Walk This Way" is probably single handedly responsible for catapulting rap music into the mainstream. This album smashed through multiple barriers, and helped rap and hip hop receive the credit they deserve as a musical art form.
5/5
When I was a teenager, I had a brief obsession with "With a Little Help From My Friends." I loved the Beatles and Joe Cocker versions of this song, but the only version that was accessible for me to listen to repeatedly was the Beatles version. My parents had Sgt. Pepper's on vinyl, and they wouldn't let me try to set the needle on the record player down on a certain song, so I'd listen to the title track, and then go right into "With a Little Help From My Friends." That was as far as I'd make it, so this was my first time listening to this whole album.
This is my fourth Beatles album to get, and I didn't have incredibly high hopes. My most recent album of theirs was The White Album, which I liked, but I thought was very overrated; I view this album to be in the same vain in that it's experimental, so I thought I might be in for another letdown. Thankfully, that didn't wind up being the case.
It took me a few listens today, but I like this album, and I think it's incredibly well made. The thing I like about the Beatles' earlier work is that it's very well made. Nothing is too crazy and over the top, but the singing, guitar playing, and drum playing are all executed to perfection. Those elements still exist here, with the added layer of some great psychedelic instrumentation via organ and sitar playing. To top it off, the production work is some of the best work that George Martin did with the Beatles, if not in all of rock history. The sounds are varied, but this album still feels coherent, something that The White Album lacks.
One of my favorite things about this album are a few little details in some of the sounds:
-The echo or distorted effect that you can hear in the guitar during the chorus of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" (that's the best way I can describe it)
-The pianet melody on "Getting Better" (at least that's what I assume it is)
-The plucking of the viola on "She's Leaving Home" (or maybe that's the harp? Look, I'm clearly no expert, but I just hope that the average person can read this review and know what I'm talking about)
This is a fantastic album, and it's one I'll revisit often.
Marianne Faithfull
4/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I really enjoyed listening to this. The title track really stood out to me; I loved the bass playing and the synthesizer sounds that were utilized, and the lyrics had a really powerful political message. The guitar playing and synthesizer sounds were strong throughout the rest of the album, and the lyrics felt incredibly personal, as they ranged from painful to thoughtful and then to outright rage-filled and crass on the album's final track, "Why'd Ya Do It?" Marianne's vocals were incredibly unique as well, and gave this album its own distinct post-punk feel. "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" was an incredibly strong song too; its jittery synth line was a perfect compliment to the story of a disillusioned suburban housewife. This was a really strong album, and I look forward to revisiting it soon.
Neil Young
2/5
This was my second Neil Young album to get this week, and second Neil Young album overall. I've never listened to this album before, and I didn't care for it too much. The circumstances that lead Neil Young to write this are devastatingly sad (the death of two very close friends/collaborators via heroin overdose), and the the lyrics are wonderfully written. But musically, most of the songs on this album sounded incredibly similar to me, and they just kind of melded together. I tend to enjoy Neil Young, but this album didn't really land with me.
The Police
5/5
We had this album on cassette tape when I was a kid. I remember a church camping trip that our family went on to local state park, where I brought along this tape, and listened to it on my yellow Sony Walkman. I was obsessed with side 2, and listened to it several times during that trip. I was especially drawn in by "King of Pain," whose lyrics were unlike anything I'd heard at that point ("there's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out" was some pretty vivid imagery for my little ten-year-old brain). Fast forward to when I graduated from college in the winter of 2007. I had recently lost three close family members, gotten dumped, and had no idea what to do with my life post-graduation. In the midst of all my angst, I changed the profile name on MySpace to "King of Pain," and I don't think I ever changed it from that name before abandoning my page for eternity. Good times.
Anyway, I absolutely love this album, and it's easily one of my favorites from the 80's. "King of Pain," "Wrapped Around Your Finger," "Synchronicity II," and "Every Breath You Take" are all fantastic. I love Sting's vocals, and try as I might to sing along to these songs in the car, I'm always frustrated that I can never come close to how great he sounds. The instrumentation is incredible as well. In earlier classic rock discourse, I don't Stewart Copeland got the recognition he deserved as a drummer, but I think that his work is starting to be appropriately appreciated these days. His drumming on this album is incredibly tight and precise; on the faster tempo songs, his drumming is best described as manic but controlled, and on the slower songs, his drumming is almost hidden, peeking through just enough to let you know it's there. Andy Summers' guitar is outstanding too. That quiet little jangling riff on "Every Breath You Take" is perfect. Sting's bass playing is great too, and it really helps solidify the band's unique sound that's half new wave and half post punk. The Police's work before this album is great, but they knock it out of the park with this album, and I think a lot of why I enjoy the sound here so much is their use of synthesizers. I love the songs on this album so much. I don't know what it is about "Every Breath You Take," but that song just awakens this overwhelming nostalgia in me every time I hear it. I know, it's a creepy stalker anthem and whatnot, but damn, I love that song. Speaking of the songs on this album... "Mother"... Andy Summers, blink twice if you need help!
Also, I love that the whole tantric sex thing has become the first thing we associate with Sting these days. In reality, there was probably one time where he said "I'd like to not immediately nut" and the rest of us just collectively lost our minds, and now it's the only quality we've assigned to him.
Emmylou Harris
5/5
I've heard Emmylou Harris's name before, but I was unfamiliar with her work as a musician before starting this project (I did review Trio a few weeks ago, and in the summer, I randomly checked out Gram Parsons' Grievous Angel, and read about how Gram's widow basically tried to remove as many traces of Emmylou from the album as possible. Gretchen seems lovely).
Based on the reviews, I didn't expect to like this album, but I was really surprised by it, because it turned out to be an all-around joy to listen to. Emmylou's singing was incredible, and I loved the unique country-folk sound to the album. The music was fantastic, especially the piano and guitar playing. None of the songs sounded too alike, but the album still felt very cohesive. The lyrics were great too, and I enjoyed that some of the song meanings were very straightforward, while others were very much left open to interpretation. On those merits alone, I can't deny this album a five star rating. When it comes to the cultural importance of this album, and why it's on this list, I think it's a great representation of a larger trend that we've seen this century, where older artists continue to write and record new music, often to positive reviews from critics; Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball and Leonard Cohen's You Want it Darker come to mind when I think about this trend. Some older artists seem to still draw on their old hits, and many a joke has been made about washed-up bands playing county fairs and single day festivals sponsored by FM classic rock stations. But some artists buck that trend, and continue to hone their creative skills. I think this album is a prime example of that, and deserves a spot on this list.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
When I was a kid, my mom wanted to get my dad a copy of John Fogerty's Centerfield on vinyl. We went around to every record shop in town trying to find a copy. One shop we tried to go to had a sign on the door that said "no minors," which my mom thought was an incredibly confusing and stupid policy, and she held a grudge about that incident for several years. That story really doesn't have a lot to do with this album, but I always think about it when I listen to CCR.
I've listened to quite a bit of CCR over the years. They were never one of my favorite classic rock acts, but they got a ton of radio play on the local classic rock station. It's not that I think they're bad, there's just other stuff I'd rather listen to when it comes to classic rock. Needless to say, this was my first time listening to one of their albums in its entirety. I'm familiar with a few of the songs on this album, and "Up Around the Bend" is easily my favorite CCR song.
Outside of the songs I knew, this was about what I'd expect for a CCR album: a southern rock album with touches of psychedelica, blues, and rockabilly. Most of the songs were good, with "Ramble Tamble" being my favorite of the songs that I didn't know. John Fogerty has one of the most recognizable voices in classic rock, and his vocals on this album were really good. His voice really helps create the band's unique swamp rock sound. "Up Around the Bend" is easily the best track on the album in my opinion. That high pitched guitar riff is just incredible, and the song does a fantastic job of making me feel like I'm driving down an old country road, headed to a backyard cookout. This song always puts a smile on my face, and listening to it today was no exception. CCR's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is really good too, and they really succeed at making the song their own. Outside of those tracks though, the album was just kind of boring to me, and that makes this album pretty middle of the road overall in my book. Again, I don't think it's bad, but it's just not my cup of tea.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
2/5
I've never heard of this band or album before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed by this album. The music that played under the rapping was fine, but it wasn't particularly interesting. It definitely worked better on certain tracks, like the title track, and "Scooby Snacks." However, the Tarantino dialogue samples on "Scooby Snacks" was pretty jarring and felt out of place. As for the rapping, I didn't think the flow, rhymes, or lyrics were that great; things felt pretty lazy and haphazard. As far as this album's importance and significance, I don't know if it had an impact on any rap rock acts that came after it, but I'm just glad that most of the rap rock I've heard has been better than this album.
Joy Division
5/5
When I first learned of the 1001 albums book, this was one of the first albums I bought solely because it was on the list. I remember listening to it for the first time, and being completely blown away that something like this had been recorded in the late seventies. I fell in love with this album from that first time I experienced it, and I've listened to it again several times over the last fifteen years or so.
Every song on this album is its own unique journey into lyrical darkness. From that first whooshing on "Disorder" through the last clanging on "I Remember Nothing," Ian Curtis takes you through his feelings of withdrawal, isolation, and general disillusionment with life. Musically, this album matches Curtis's words perfectly. The guitar is clanging, the bass is brooding, the keyboard is haunting, and the pacing of the drums adds to the general unease and dark tone. When I think of post punk music, this is always the first album that comes to mind. The influence of this album spread through the late seventies and early eighties, and its ripple effects can even be felt this century, through bands like Interpol, Chvrches, and Crystal Castles. I think my favorite aspect of this album is how it flirts with contradictions: it's dissonant yet harmonious, enormous but intimate, and its ugly lyrics are sung beautifully.
I love this album, and it was such a treat to listen to it today. I think it's one of the best albums ever recorded, and it's a massive piece of rock history.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
3/5
I didn't really start actively seeking out rap and hip hop from the nineties until a few years ago, so I've never heard of this album or artist before. Rap was pretty much forbidden when I was a kid, so it's something that I've been trying to make up for as an adult. I've really gotten into Public Enemy the last several years; I love their socially conscious lyrics, and I also really enjoy Chuck D's rapping. As a lot of other reviews have pointed out, this album is about as close as you can get to Public Enemy without actually listening to a Public Enemy album. Michael Franti's voice is incredibly similar to Chuck D's, although his flow and rhymes frankly aren't nearly as good. The lyrics on this album are incredibly reminiscent of Public Enemy as well. The lyrics offer poignant criticisms of policing, the government's handling of AIDS, Operation Desert Storm, poverty and broader economics, and the stalling and sometimes backwards movement of civil rights. I was born in 1985, so while I was acutely aware of some of the things going on in this country when this album came out, I always find it fascinating to look at those issues now as an adult. I was raised in a conservative household, so these types of criticisms of America in the late eighties and early nineties didn't reach my ears until maybe eight years ago or so. I really appreciate being able to listen to music like this to see what life was like for people of color during a time that a lot of middle class white people tend to idealize as being harmonious and prosperous. Also, it's wild for me to imagine a republican governor in California after Reagan, because of I've always thought of California as being very liberal during most of my lifetime. However, I enjoyed the cover of "California Uber Alles," and it's criticisms of former governor Pete Wilson.
As much as I liked some of the lyrics on this album, overall, it's pretty middle of the road for me. The musical hooks weren't that great, and they really didn't add much to the overall sound of the album. Lyrically, the hooks tended to be pretty repetitive, and sometimes the lyrical choices felt kind of odd, like the hook in "Everyday Life Has Become A Health Risk." Still, I think this album earns its place on this list, for what it contributes to early nineties hip hop.
Aphex Twin
4/5
I've never listened to Aphex Twin before, but I love electronica music, so this was right up my alley. This album was really pleasant to listen to, and I enjoyed just relaxing and letting each track kind of wash over me as I went through this album. This album didn't exactly blow me away, and I don't think any particular song will stick with me, but it was just a fun listen. The only song that I didn't like was "Green Calx," which was really abrasive, and felt like it didn't belong on the album. It took a few minutes after that one for me to able to get back into the flow of the album. I do think that this album belongs on this list though; I can't imagine some of my favorite albums (Random Access Memories, Discovery, Crystal Castles I, Hurry Up We're Dreaming, Zonoscope, Epoch, The Bones of What You Believe, and Ice on the Dune, just to name a few) existing without its influence.
The Police
3/5
The only Police album that I've listened to in its entirety is Synchronicity, which I reviewed exactly a week ago. I was only familiar with "Message In A Bottle" and "Walking On the Moon" from this album. I went in to this album knowing that The Police's earlier work was influenced by reggae, so I was excited to hear something from them that was different from Synchronicity (which I love, by the way). This album had some good moments, but I wasn't that impressed by it. "Message In A Bottle" is fantastic, and has some great guitar playing, the title track had some vocals from Sting that I enjoyed and more good guitar playing from Andy Summers, and "Deathwish" had a groovy bass line and tight drumming from Stewart Copeland. The other songs on the album were just okay. I don't think The Police sound great when they're relying on reggae and punk; those songs were frankly pretty boring, and did nothing to showcase how talented these guys are. This album wasn't bad, and I understand its significance in the history of rock music, but these three are capable of so much more.
The White Stripes
2/5
This is my second White Stripes album to review, after White Blood Cells. The only song I was familiar with before listening to this album was "Blue Orchid," which I thought was fantastic. I loved Jack White's falsetto singing, the crashing cymbals, and the heavier-than-a-ton-of-bricks guitar riff. I also enjoyed "My Doorbell," with its chorus of up-tempo vocals and the bluesy "Little Ghost" with its tambourine and mandolin playing. Other than those songs though, I thought this album was pretty boring. The other songs felt like filler, and they didn't offer anything unique and they didn't expand on the sound established by the stronger songs. I think The White Stripes are talented, but their albums just don't hit the mark for me.
Arcade Fire
4/5
This is an album that I have listened to many times, but that I haven't listened to recently. I never really gave much thought to the lyrics of this album on previous listens, but it was really nice to go through this album with a more critical ear, and try to decipher what the lyrics mean. I thought the lyrics were an absolute homerun; I loved the themes of growing up, loss, and the evolution of familial relationships over time. This album is really beautiful as well; the arrangements are unique, and no one else in 2004 was putting out music that sounded like this (at least not that I can think of). Also, there are a few of songs on this album that are so great and massive that they stand alone on their own really well: "Neighborhood #3," "Wake Up," and "Rebellion (Lies)." Those three songs are easily the highlight of this album for me. For the longest time, "Wake Up" was my favorite track; I love its fantastic opening guitar riff, booming drums, and great synthesizer sounds that fill in the background. But eventually, "Rebellion (Lies)" took over as my favorite, and two things influenced that:
1) There was an episode of 6 Feet Under where Nate and Brenda are having an argument and this song plays in the background. As the argument escalates and intensifies, the song gets louder and more intense as well. It was just a perfect way to use it
2) Arcade Fire closed out ACL in 2011 with "Rebellion (Lies)," and the energy from that as the closing song was absolutely perfect, and it gave me a new appreciation for it.
Going into this album today, I assumed it was going to be an easy five star review for me, but I don't think I love this album as much as I used to. Some of the songs are pretty boring and drag on for too long, and the production is pretty lacking as well. This is a self-produced debut album on an independent record label, and it sounds like it. The lyrics are hard to make out for most of the album, because the vocals are so drowned out by everything else, and that's a bummer, because the lyrics are great. However, this album is massive in terms of its influence. When this came out, FM radio still pretty much ruled the roost, and there was nothing like Arcade Fire being played to a wide radio audience back then (at least not that I can remember). But this album created a large fan base for Arcade Fire, showing that people were interested in this kooky band comprised of a gaggle of hipsters, and I think it helped indie rock reach a larger audience. Sometimes the critics and the masses align, and popular music scored a big win that this album was popular and also well reviewed.
Muddy Waters
3/5
I don't know much about blues music, but I thought this was a pretty good album. I enjoyed the piano playing, and Muddy Waters's vocals are great as well. The songs were a great mixture of different tempos, and the audience noise added an additional layer to the energy of the performance. Both parts of "I've Got My Mojo Working" were the high point of the album for me, and I liked the ebb and flow of the tempo and energy throughout both parts of the song. The other songs were fine, but not knowing blues music very well, they just kind of all ran together for me.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
I've listened to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, but this my first time listening to this album.
I was immediately blown away by the title track. I've heard "Let's Get It On" countless times, but usually when I hear it, I'm trying to make sex jokes and sing the 'wah-wah' guitar parts. But this song is incredible. The singing is passionate and oozes sex, and the musical arrangements are incredibly rich and full of little details that add to the depth of the sound. The album kept it up on the next track,"Please Don't Stay," with some excellent percussion, and even more fantastic signing. The opening strings on "If I Should Die Tonight" provide a sharp contrast to what the album had sounded like so far, but the song brilliantly shifts into a slower jam. "Keep Gettin' It On" was a brilliant reprise of the title track, and I liked the political lyrics featured in it. I loved the bongos and cymbals on "Come Get To This," and "Distant Lover" had a great bass line and some great distorted guitar sounds as well. To close out the album, there were some great saxophone parts on "You Sure Love To Ball" and the slow "Just To Keep You Satisfied." This album was fantastic from start to finish, and I really loved listening to it. Let's Get It On is a shining example of soul, and shows why Marvin Gaye was of the best singers and songwriters of the seventies.
The Kinks
3/5
Before I started this project, I only knew a few songs by The Kinks, but I really liked the songs I knew, and I expected to really like their albums. This is the second album by The Kinks that I've gotten to review, and much like Face to Face, I thought this album was pretty middle of the road. The first three songs were easily the highlight of the album, especially "Two Sisters," but after that, the songs were at best, mildly interesting ("Love Me Till The Sun Shines" and "Situation Vacant") and at worst, boring ("Lazy Old Sun" and "Funny Face"). Thankfully, the album did close on a strong note with "Waterloo Sunset." They lyrics were the strongest aspect of this album, and "Two Sisters" and "David Watts" are the shining examples of that. Musically though, the album just didn't have much to offer, other than some decent organ and guitar playing. A year after Pet Sounds, and in the same year that we got Sgt. Pepper's, this album just doesn't really hold much of a candle to the things that The Kinks' peers were putting out.
Al Green
3/5
I've never listened to Al Green before, but I thought this was a pretty good album. Oddly enough, I reviewed Let's Get It On two days ago, so it was a nice coincidence to get another soul album from the same era so soon. I want to make a joke about these two albums being spiritual sequels, but I can't come up with anything clever.
Anyway, on to the record at hand: Al Green's singing is easily the star of the show on Let's Stay Together, and his falsetto really sets him apart from other soul singers that were active in the seventies. Even with his falsetto, there's a raw power in his voice, and he easily goes from softer singing to louder singing within the same breath, all while keeping this smooth texture to his voice. The title track is fantastic, and I loved how the horn, rhythm, and string arrangements created such a rich sound. Al's version of "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" was fantastic as well, and his voice really draws you in as the listener, and you can't help but feel that his rendition of this song is autobiographical. Everything else on the album was pretty good; the overall sound is incredibly cohesive, bound together by Al Green's voice and some nice musical arrangements.
The Prodigy
4/5
I've heard "Firestarter" and "Smack My Bitch Up" before, but this was my first time listening to an album by Prodigy. I wasn't terribly impressed with the first three tracks, but "Funky Shit" kicked off a string of songs that I really enjoyed, all the way through "Firestarter." Speaking of "Firestarter," the segue into it from "Narayan" was absolutely fantastic. At the expense of sounding like an absolute lunatic, I love a good segue from one song into another. "Climbatize" was great too, and I loved its use of a sample from The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again." I really liked the beats on this song from "Funky Shit" onward; the lyrics and vocals weren't really my jam, but it was easy to ignore them. This album isn't the type of thing I'd listen to just to listen to, but I can definitely fuck with this during a workout. Overall, this wound up being a great album, despite its rocky start.
Bad Company
2/5
I'm familiar with a handful of Bad Company songs, and two of them are on this album ("Can't Get Enough" and the title track). I'm honestly bummed that "Shooting Star" isn't on this album, but I'm definitely not bummed that I didn't get to hear "Feel Like Makin' Love" for what has to be the 4,000,000th time in my life. God bless Clear Channel classic rock stations for blasting that gem at least half a dozen times a day.
I've always thought of Bad Company as being in the same vein as Kansas or Bachman Turner Overdrive: a band who made enough hits in their heyday to still be touring and selling tickets to boomers with too much money and free time. This album pretty much confirmed that feeling. As I mentioned above, classic rock radio staples "Can't Get Enough" and "Bad Company" are on this album, and they're just as mediocre and tired as I remember. While they're familiar songs, that doesn't mean they're catchy or particularly unique. The blandness of these two songs is representative of the majority of the rest of the album: passable guitar playing and drumming, and moderately horny lyrics. However, I will give credit where credit is due: Paul Rodgers can sing really well, and his singing talents are on display on this album. Oddly enough, for a band known for 'hard rock,' they sure do a better job at the slower and more melodic songs than they do their so-called specialty: I thought "Don't Let Me Down" and "Seagull" were easily the best tracks on this album, with the saxophone melody on the "Don't Let Me Down" being particularly good.
If you want some generic classic rock, then you've certainly found it in this album.
One last parting shot that I almost forgot to mention: shoutout to probable MAGA sympathizers Five Finger Death Punch for taking "Bad Company" and somehow making it worse.
Dwight Yoakam
4/5
I'm only familiar with a couple of Dwight Yoakam songs, and neither one of them is on this album, sadly. I'm pretty picky about my country music, so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this album.
I really loved the arrangements on this album. While the lyrics tend to maintain the same bleak tone throughout the album, the overall sound varies from song to song, which keeps things interesting from start to finish. There was plenty of guitar twang, fiddle, piano, and pedal steel guitar that helped create this album's unique sound. I loved the addition of the accordion on a few tracks as well, to add some tejano flare. To top it all off, Dwight's voice was the icing on the cake. His unique twang has such a sincere quality to it, and nothing about his singing feels phoned in.
The lyrics on this album were incredibly unique as well. The album started off with the honky tonk humor of "I Got You," where Dwight bemoans financial misfortunes with some seriously redneck hyperbole and 'bless-your-heart-isms' (I made that phrase up). As funny as that song was, I really hope there was nothing meant by "a little man whose name is Saul," because it sure reeks of antisemitism. From there though, the album doesn't really return to anything humorous, as the lyrics delve into heartbreak, infidelity, and a shocking murderous twist at the end of the title track. Maybe it's just the fact that racism seems to be going mainstream again these days, but "I Sang Dixie" sure hasn't aged well, and the idea of honoring anyone with "rebel spirit" is pretty off-putting.
Overall, despite some questionable lyrics, this album was really great. It's exactly what I want in a country album: authenticity, great twang, and a good mix of influences. It was really interesting to read up about Dwight Yoakam being spurned by Nashville and the country music industrial complex, and I really dig his mentality, and I can see why this album made the list. It seems like the divide between Nashville (aka, post-9/11 faux-patriotic bullshit) and the rest of country music is still raging today, making this album even more relevant.
Lauryn Hill
5/5
I know I’ve listened to this album before, but I don’t remember what made me seek it out. It’s probably been at least five years since then, and this is my first time revisiting it. I was 13 when this album came out, heading in to my eighth-grade year, and even though it was everywhere at the time, it was only a blip on the radar for me. For starters, any music released by a black artist after 1990, was considered rap by my parents, and if my parents had caught me listening to any rap music or anything rap adjacent, I feel certain they would have shipped me off to a religious boarding school. Even if my parents would have let me listen to music like this, I didn’t like R&B as a teenager. However, I do remember hearing “Doo Wop (That Thing)” when this album came out; I’m not sure if I heard it on the bus, or if it got some play on the local Clear Channel adult contemporary station in my hometown (did every city have one of those ‘Mix’ stations in the nineties?), but it’s the only song on this album that I know fairly well.
Still to this day, this album isn’t the sort of thing that I typically gravitate towards. However, I do think it’s pretty much a masterpiece. The overall sound of the album is nothing short of incredible. It’s intricately arranged and well produced, but the album doesn’t sound over produced, and the richness of its sound can still be felt in every song. There are so many awesome details of instrumentation sprinkled throughout the album too: horns, organs, strings, and woodwinds. It’s almost tough to notice these little details though, because the whole of the sound is greater than the parts. But when you seek out those parts, they outweigh the whole. The bass guitar on Ex Factor, and Carlos Santana’s guitar playing on To Zion are outstanding as well.
Vocally, there’s nothing that Lauryn Hill can’t do. She raps with delicate force and purpose, but she can still sing beautifully too. The backing vocals throughout the album are fantastic and perfectly placed as well. I absolutely love the way that Lauryn raps the word ‘champion’ on “Lost Ones,” and the way she sings ‘reciprocity’ on “Ex Factor”. Like the musical arrangements, the details in the vocals are fantastic too.
I love the lyrics on this album too. The subject matter covers betrayal and regret, choosing to keep an unplanned pregnancy, lost love, and issues that affect black communities. No matter the subject, each topic is sung about a certain finesse and poetry that add to the album’s beautiful sound. The way that the line ‘See, no one loves you more than me and no one ever will,’ changes to ’Cause no one’s hurt me more than you, and no one ever will’ on “Ex Factor” is brutal, but somehow never makes the song feel any less delicate.
This album is fantastic from start to finish, and as one of the objectively best albums of the nineties, it more than earns its place on this list. It's incredible to me that Lauryn Hill made one of the biggest albums of all time, and then said “that’s the only solo album you’re going to get from me,” and she’s stuck by that decision. It may go down in music history as one of the boldest and bravest decisions an artist has ever made.
The Avalanches
2/5
I've never heard of this band or album before, but since I enjoy electronica music, I figured there was a high chance I'd like this album. After listening to it though, this album was pretty middle of the road for me. The album was pretty long, and even though only two of the songs were over five minutes, a lot of the songs felt much longer than their actual run times. I liked the way that The Avalanches used samples to build their arrangements, but some of the songs just got repetitive and uninteresting really quickly, and a few of them were just downright grating after about a minute. I think The Avalanches have a unique way of approaching electronica music, but the end result just wasn't that great to listen to.
Fats Domino
3/5
I'm familiar with a couple of Fats Domino songs, but I've never listened to one of his albums before. Fats Domino is one of the best, if not the outright best, of the early R&B artists. These songs do a great job of showcasing his songwriting, piano playing, and singing skills. His songs are catchy, and their influence on popular music has been monumental. This type of music isn't really my cup of tea, but this is a solid album by one of the most influential musicians of all time, and it definitely deserves to be on the list.
4/5
I'm wasn't familiar with any of Blur's work, other than "Song 2," but I tend to like Britpop, so I had some high hopes heading into this album.
I thought this was a great album, with excellent song writing, great guitar sounds, and a few other nice musical details (piano, organ, horns, etc.) that helped enrich the overall sound.
The best thing this album had going for it was the overall theme of Modern Life is Rubbish. I thought Blur did an excellent job of exploring this theme across work and daily routines, leisure, suburban life, and even love and relationships. I really liked how they explored the boredom of everyday life in relationships on "Blue Jeans." This song is incredibly relevant today, and I know my wife and I can easily succumb to the phenomenon of sitting on the couch next to each other and scrolling on our phones. Is it because we're burned out from work and home life? Or did COVID make us so used to staying at home that we're kind of in a rut? Who knows, but it's interesting that this song still strikes a chord.
"Colin Zeal" and "Star Shaped"were really great explorations of work and how workers tend to be exploited by unfettered capitalism. Just like in the early nineties, workers are busting their ass at work, helping enrich shareholders and executives, while their income stays flat, or goes down as they cycle through layoffs and firings, all while cost of living continues to rise.
Aside from the lyrics and themes, I thought this album was some solid guitar rock. I really loved the distortion on "Chemical World" and "Pressure on Julian," and the guitar playing on "Villa Rosie" was particularly great as well.
This albums biggest drawbacks for me were the vocals, and the fact that some of the songs were somewhat boring musically. Outside of that though, this was a really good album, and I look forward to listening to more of Blur's music.
Meat Loaf
3/5
Listening to this the first time, I couldn't imagine how the hell this was one of the best selling albums of all time in several major markets. My first impression was that this album was silly and overblown, and that while it has some great arrangements and awesome piano playing, it was just too weird, too meandering, and comprised of too many long songs.
But, after reading more user reviews, I decided to give it another listen. Yes, it's still weird, and no, it's still not really my cup of tea, but at least I have more of an understanding of how this album took off like a rocket upon its release and how it's had quite a bit of staying power in rock music. The arrangements are pretty awesome, and the piano playing is absolutely fantastic. The title track is far and away my favorite song on the album. This was one of the few times where the length of the song didn't bother me. The piano playing on this song was great, and the guitar parts later on complimented the established sound really well. I also enjoyed how the tempo fluctuated throughout the song, and while I don't think Meat Loaf is a particularly great singer, he was the singer this song needed, and he brought the perfect energy to those tempo changes. The rest of the album managed to keep the cheesy and glitzy tone, and I can definitely hear the influence of the E. Street Band performers. Additionally, this album had the feel of Rocky Horror's b-movie tributes.
While this album wasn't really my speed, I can appreciate its inherent weirdness that I honestly think could only have succeeded in the late seventies.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
I always struggle with how to approach albums like this. I've never heard of this album or artist before, and I'm not very familiar with world music, so I don't really have much of a frame of reference. This album was fine to listen to though. The musical arrangements and singing sounded good together, but that's about all I have for notes. Once again, I'm giving a jazz and/or world music album a solid three stars. Once I'm done with this list, I'm going to go back through all of the world music albums again, so that I can have a better appreciation and understanding of them.
Turbonegro
2/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, so I had no idea what I was in for with this album.
As the first track started, I thought there was a good chance that I was going to love this album. I loved the piano intro and how the heavy guitar riff was slowly worked in over it. Unfortunately, that was about as much of the album as I enjoyed. I'll admit that I enjoyed a lot of the guitar playing throughout the album, but there still really isn't that much of a unique sound from song to song, and there's really nothing interesting happening with the other instruments. The lyrics are... well, odd to say the least. At their best, they're nonsensical, and at their worst, they're nonsense with the occasional swear word tossed in to no effect.
I think the only other nice thing that I can say about this album is that it probably wouldn't be terrible to work out to, but then again, there's about 1000 other things I'd rather listen to while working out. Overall, there's just nothing of note happening on this album, and I have no idea how the author of the 1001 Albums book came across this and decided to include it.
Fun fact: I said "Turbonegro" out loud five times, and now I'm a GOP Senator.
Michael Jackson
4/5
As a kid, I had this idea that you were either a "Beat It" fan or a "Bad" fan, when it came to Michael Jackson's music. Maybe it's because Weird Al parodied both of them? Either way, if forced to choose between "Beat It" and "Bad," I'd always choose "Beat It." There's just something about "Bad" that I've never enjoyed listening to.
But really listening to "Bad," instead of just hearing it on the radio or on a playlist of some kind, I can appreciate it, and the whole album. I really like the sound of the title track, especially those little synthesizer notes that kick in at the end of each line of the verse, and they synthesizer notes during the build up to the chorus. "Dirty Diana" is fantastic as well; I love the audience cheers that are interspersed throughout the song, the guitar playing, the rhythm of the lyrics, and Jackson's powerful singing during the chorus (belting out "Dirty Di-Anna" along to this song is a blast). I enjoyed "Smooth Criminal" as well. As a teenager, I became familiar with Alien Ant Farm's version, and I'm not even sure at what point in my life I learned that it was a cover (I actually got to see Alien Ant Farm at the Engine Room in Houston about 20 years ago. Fun times). Just like the other songs that I enjoyed on this album, "Smooth Criminal" has some fantastic synthesizer parts, some simple but effective percussion, and an excellent falsetto from Jackson during the chorus. The "Just Good Friends" duet with Stevie Wonder was really enjoyable as well, simply for the fact that we get to hear two of the most talented musicians of all time sing together. "Man in the Mirror" is great too, and has some fantastic lyrics and vocals.
But my favorite track of all on this album, and possibly my favorite Michael Jackson song of all time, is "The Way You Make Me Feel." What an apt name, because this song makes me feel fantastic. I love the opening 'woo-ing' and exclamations by Jackson, the amazing synthesizer parts, and the percussion that sounds like pipes banging, which really add to the whole 'Bad' aesthetic of this album. Jackson's vocals are amazing on this song, and I always try and fail miserably to sing along. The trumpet and saxophone playing are outstanding as well, and they really give this song the punch and feel that make it so great.
The rest of the album is good, but the other songs that I didn't mention just kind of feel like filler. It's good filler, but I felt like they're noticeably not as good as the other songs. As a whole, this is still a great album though. Quincy Jones knocks it out of the park once again with his fantastic production work, and Michael Jackson lives up to his title of the King of Pop. I liked that this album shows that Michael Jackson was changing and adapting as music was changing during the late eighties. His sound is still great, even as he utilizes more synthesizers and drum machines, and the overall 'Bad' mood of the album clicks really well. A great listen, but short of five stars for me.
Gorillaz
2/5
I'm familiar with a few Gorillaz songs, but I've never listened to one of their whole albums before. I seem to remember that Plastic Beach was on a lot of best of lists in 2010, and I know the band has a pretty solid following, so I had pretty high hopes for this album.
Unfortunately, this album wasn't really my speed. It wasn't terrible to listen to, but it was just kind of boring. Only a few songs stood out from the rest of the album ("Clint Eastwood," "Rock the House," "Slow Country," and "M1 A1"), and even those songs weren't super interesting, they mostly stood out because they were a little change of pace from the rest of the album.
I can understand why this album is on this list though. It was a groundbreaking concept to have a band made up of fictional members, and it still feels relevant, as AI and the debate about AI art has been heating up in the last year or so. Hopefully, Gorillaz don't become an excuse for people to let AI create 'art.' Gorillaz may not be my cup of tea, but at least they were created by real artists.
Sex Pistols
4/5
I bought this album back in the late aughts, after learning about the 1001 Albums book. I listened to the whole thing after I bought it, but it wasn’t really my speed, so I haven’t revisited it until now.
The thing that struck me the most about listening to this album today was the guitar playing. If you would have asked me yesterday to describe how the guitar on this album sounds, I would have told you that it was loud, fast, and discordant. I think that ‘loud’ is the only one of those three words that actually describes the guitar playing. But something about the Sex Pistols’ sound makes them feel fast and frantic, even though their rhythms aren’t at an incredibly high tempo. I think the best thing this album has going for it musically is the simplicity and rawness. As much love as "Anarchy In The U.K. gets, "Liar," "Pretty Vacant," and "No Feelings" are all just as good, if not better at their core.
Lyrically, this album is fantastic. The subject matter covers so many social and political topics: abortion, worker disillusionment and exploitation, criticisms of unfettered capitalism, and the British monarchy. I think my favorite lyrics though are on "Pretty Vacant." Most of the lyrics on this album are incredibly straightforward, but I think "Pretty Vacant's" lyrics are a bit deeper; on the surface, it seems like Johnny Rotten is singing about his feelings, but to me, I think he's singing the establishment's view of punks back to them (maybe that's actually the obvious meaning, I have no idea).
This album's influence is massive, and it's something that any music fan should listen to. The sound, lyrics and attitude, and DIY methods of this album are still driving every form of popular music today in some way, shape, or form. This isn't an album that I particularly enjoy listening to, but I still think it's really great overall.
Roxy Music
3/5
I first heard of Roxy Music a few years ago. I think that one of their songs off of Flesh and Blood or Avalon came up for me on Spotify, and I really liked it. Since then, I've listened to all of Avalon and a few other songs off of Flesh and Blood. This was my first time listening to one of their albums from the seventies, and my first album of theirs to feature Brian Eno.
I had pretty high hopes for this album, but it wound up being pretty middle of the road for me. I loved Bryan Ferry's vocals and the unique sound they provided for the album. Musically though, this album was really hit or miss with me. I enjoyed the overall art rock sound, but the parts that made up that whole weren't blowing me over. On "Do The Strand," I really hated the piano and saxophone during the verses, but it sounded so much better to me when the drums kicked in more during the chorus. On "Beauty Queen," I enjoyed the first half of the song, when the tempo was slower, and the drums, keyboard, and synthesizer felt like they shared control of the sound, but when the synthesizer took over halfway through, I didn't care for it. I thought "Strictly Confidential" and "Editions Of You" were much better. "Strictly Confidential" gave Bryan Ferry's vocals a chance to shine, and "Editions Of You" had some fantastic keyboard playing that was supplemented nicely with some up-tempo drums.
The masterpiece of this album is easily "In Every Dream Home A Heartache," which happened to be the only song on the album that I recognized. Yes, the lyrics are incredibly weird and uncomfortable, but I love the haunting melody. Everything on this song clicks, from the psychedelic organ and synthesizer parts to Bryan Ferry's slow and precise singing. And then the song hits the tempo change, and cranks up the intensity, while still keeping the overall mood that was established in the first half.
The rest of the album wasn't that great though; "The Bogus Man" was long and boring, "Grey Lagoons" was a bright spot, but then the album finishes with the clunker self titled track, which drags the album to a lackluster finish.
Overall, this album was fine, but I think I'll stick to the stuff that Roxy Music put out in the eighties.
The Temptations
3/5
This is my second Temptations album to review, and side one of this album was similar to All Directions, and for that reason, I enjoyed side one more than side two. I thought the soul sound and lyrical content were really well executed. I enjoyed that the songs on side one were a direct contradiction of the album's title; the subject matter of those first three tracks is anything but 'cloud nine.' Poverty, domestic abuse, and competing for survival and limited resources are pretty much hell, but The Temptations do an excellent job of making those ugly lyrics sound beautiful. I didn't really care for their version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine, but it did suit their style and the overall sound of the album. "Runaway Child, Running Wild" was a great way to close side one, and it's funky sounds and epic storytelling are hallmarks of what I enjoy in soul music. The lyrics painted a panicked scene, and the music really helped to add to that feeling and move the lyrical story forward. Musically, I really enjoyed the great bass lines and funky guitar playing on side one.
The second side of the album was a hard left turn, and featured the type of romantic pop songs that I think of when I think of The Temptations. These songs weren't bad, but they were just kind of boring and shallow when compared to the first side of the album. The vocals and arrangements were still great, but it just lacked that soul punch that was present on the first side.
Overall, this album was fine. The serious soul songs on side one were the star of the show here, while side two was filled with generic Motown pop songs. If I'm in the mood for some soul, I think I'll stick with Isaac Hayes or Marvin Gaye.
Circle Jerks
4/5
Back in high school, I had a Red Hot Chili Peppers poster in my bedroom. One day, my dad angrily notices that there's a sticker on Flea's guitar that says "Circle Jerks." Not knowing that Circle Jerks were a band, and not knowing the meaning of the term, I was clueless as to why he was so pissed. I can't remember if there was any more to the interaction than that, but since my parents always assumed the worst in me, I'm sure my dad thought that I got that poster solely to piss him off with the presence of the words "Circle Jerks."
Enough about my crappy dad. One of the things I was most excited to listen to on this was hardcore punk: Bad Brains, Black Flag, Minor Threat, etc. This is only my second hardcore album, after Black Flag's Damaged. Group Sex felt pretty akin to Damaged: short, fast-tempo songs, with angry screamed lyrics. Overall, I enjoyed this album. One of my favorite thing about hardcore albums is that the songs tend to be short and to the point, and this album was no exception to that. The lyrics were full of anger and disillusionment, and I liked the fact that they covered a wide swath of topics like vasectomies and reproduction, police brutality, nuclear war, and sex. Musically, I loved that the songs segued smoothly from one to another, without the songs all sounding identical to one another. The guitar playing, drumming, and vocals all came together to create a really unique and great hardcore punk sound. This was a really solid album, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I thought this album was pretty good. I enjoyed that the sound from song to song was diverse, but it never made the album feel like it wasn't cohesive. The guitar forward sound was really enjoyable to listen to, but the album did a great job of drawing upon various influences (particularly glam rock and psychedelic rock) to construct its sound. The piano, keyboard, Hammond, Rhodes, horns, and additional strings all added depth to the sound throughout the album. Super Furry Animals did a great job of utilizing those sounds to separate themselves from the Britpop that was dominating the sound of the UK at the time. The singing was really unique on this album too, and I really liked the backing vocals that were sprinkled throughout it. I felt like the more upbeat songs were the best parts of the album. They were fun, and sometimes slightly frantic. I tended to find the slower songs a bit tedious; it's not that they were terrible, but they just weren't as interesting or fun as the rest of the album. "Something for the Weekend" was far and away my favorite song on the album. I listened to the original UK recording of the song, and I'm glad I did, because I thought it was fantastic. The back-and-forth between the verse and the chorus felt like a throwback to seventies rock, and it sounded great. Overall, this was a pretty good album, but some songs were a lot more enjoyable than others, and I don't know that I'd listen to the whole album again.
N.W.A.
5/5
A few years ago, I wanted to get more exposure to rap music, so I searched for a list of the best rap albums of the eighties and nineties. Straight Outta Compton was one of the albums that was recommended, so I gave it a listen.
Among all the eighties and nineties rap albums that I listened to, Straight Outta Compton was one of my favorites, and it’s an album that I’ll listen to somewhat regularly during my workouts. Going back through it today, I still count it among my favorite rap albums. I’m usually not a fan of gangsta rap, but I do enjoy militant hip hop, like Public Enemy, and N.W.A. blends a lot of those militant elements into their brand of gangsta rap. Being a west coast group gives N.W.A. a unique sound and a different perspective to add to their music. Ice Cube’s rapping is my favorite out of everyone in the group, but I still enjoy MC Ren and Eazy-E’s rapping too. There’s just something about the anger and hostility in Ice Cube’s voice that I think makes him my favorite.
I enjoy N.W.A.’s lyrics on this album too. While a lot of their lyrics are dark and violent (and of course xenophobic and sexist), those lyrics help paint the hyperbolic picture of street life that N.W.A. is trying to convey. But even among those dark lyrics, there’s still some lines that are so outrageous that they’re funny. A couple of my favorite examples are “Forty ounce in my lap and it's freezin' my balls” and “Like a tortoise full of rigor mortis.” It’s incredibly jarring to hear lyrics like that and start laughing during one of these serious songs. As I mentioned earlier, there are some lyrics that are xenophobic and sexist throughout this album. However, I think those lyrics are just one of the tools that N.W.A. uses to create the exaggerated tone of the album. I don’t doubt that talk like that is present in street life, but I don’t think that using lyrics like that is N.W.A. condoning it. I could be wrong (and Dr. Dre’s behavior seems to disprove my point), but that’s just how I see this album.
Musically, I love the use of samples on this album. N.W.A. managed to build their sound. Even though they use a lot of popular songs for samples, it never detracts from the dark and serious tone of the album. The drum machines, turntables, and other instruments used help to shape that tone as well.
Overall, I think this a fantastic album, and an incredibly important one in the scope of popular music. This album gave west coast hip hop a front row seat at a show that had been dominated by the New York scene, and it sent gangsta rap out to the masses, opening up a new avenue to the world of rap and hip hop.
Alice In Chains
4/5
Best guitar playing in grunge? Pearl Jam's "Alive." Second best guitar playing in grunge? Alice in Chains' "Them Bones." I've listened to a fair amount of Alice in Chains' music, but this is my first time listening to one of their albums from start to finish.
Honestly, I find Alice in Chains' music incredibly unpleasant to listen to, so I had to mentally prepare myself for the hour long run time of this album. And sure enough, this was a tough album to get through, but not because it was a bad album. Alice in Chains' brand of grunge is somehow grungier than regular grunge. Their overall sound is incredibly dark, but it definitely matches the tone of their lyrics. About half the songs on this album are about heroin addiction, which is depressing enough, but knowing that Layne Staley would die eventually die from that addiction makes it even more difficult to get through those songs. And if that wasn't enough, there's the Vietnam War POW story of "Rooster," which might actually be the most brutal and depressing song of the whole album. Even though the songs are depressing, they're incredibly well written; the lyrics create such a vivid imagery, that as the listener, I really found myself being pulled down with the band.
Musically, this album is fantastic as well. Even though the grunge scene was packed to the gills when this album came out, it's incredibly easy to recognize an Alice in Chains song, even if you take away Layne Staley's haunting voice. Jerry Cantrell's guitar playing is unmistakable, and the guitar parts he wrote for this album were unique, but gave the album a cohesive feel.
My biggest complaint with this album is that it overstays its welcome pretty often. The overall album run time is long and drags on, and the individual songs can drag on as well. "Them Bones" is my favorite Alice in Chains song, and it's no coincidence that it's also one of their shortest. This album is still really good though, and any music fan should give it a listen.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I tend to enjoy electronica, so I had decently high hopes for it.
The album's overall theme of nuclear proliferation was interesting, and I liked how the songs started with the present day (well, 1999, but present day for the album's release), and then worked backwards. It worked well, in that it had a sense of "well, this is where we are, but how did we exactly arrive here?" The songs that dealt with Indian diaspora felt a tad out of place, but I did like that they tied back to the first song, and how India was now in a new phase as a nation, having developed nuclear weaponry. I really loved "Tides" and the way it used water sounds while discussing the French island nuclear tests. "Immigrant" was great too, and had the best melodies and vocals of the whole album. Conversely, "Pilgrim" was my least favorite track to listen to; its song-spoken chorus was just really grating and annoying, and it felt like it made up about 75% of the song.
Overall, this album does just enough to distinguish itself from its peers. Sometimes that's a good thing, other times, it's not such a good thing. There was so much electronica music coming out at the time, and what this album did thematically and lyrically makes it stand out, but musically, it really doesn't set itself apart. Sure, the arrangements are pleasant to listen to, but I feel like I can say that about a lot of this album's peers. I would be down to listen to this album when I just want something nice to listen to, but there are so many other albums that I'd rather throw on.
Tricky
2/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I reviewed a Massive Attack album a few months ago, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.
Overall, there really wasn't much that I liked about this album. The vocals and arrangements were fine, but I didn't feel like there was anything on this album to set it apart from all of the other trip-hop albums that were coming out at the time. "Hell Is Round The Corner" makes good use of sampling Portishead's "Glory Box," but no other songs really stood out to me. Just like Nitin Sawhney's Beyond Skin, this album would be okay to have on in the background, but there are so many other things I'd rather throw on.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
I first listened to this album when I was going through Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best albums of the 2010's. I’ve listened to several of Kendrick Lamar’s albums, but I've always found his music incredibly tough to stomach because of its dark subject matter, dark melodies, and his fierce rapping. Because of that, I’ve never relistened to any of his whole albums, so this was my first time to listen to one of his albums a second time.
Just as I remembered, this album is dark, almost to the point of being menacing. Not that Kendrick Lamar is a menace, but that his music is like going through a haunted house. Like a strobe light, you’re hit with barrages of expertly enunciated words at a lightning quick pace. Musically, this album creates an atmosphere of dread and unease. Utilizing the darker tones of funk and soul, while being structurally akin to jazz, helps keep the listener on their toes. Lyrically, this album takes you through the horrors of black life in America. Much like the Black Lives Matter movement that was starting to become more widely known, Kendrick Lamar drags social issues out of the shadows, bringing them into the light to expose their ugliness and the way that they’ve embedded themselves into our society.
I don’t enjoy listening to Kendrick Lamar’s music, but I think this album is really good. The rapping is fantastic, the music is varied and unique, and the lyrics are poignant thought-provoking, creating a haunting experience that I don’t really want to revisit again.
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
I'd never heard of this artist or album before until I saw it on a list of the 1001 albums. Everytime I look at the list and scroll past this one, I'm always intrigued by it, so I was excited to be able to review it today.
My level of excitement wasn't matched, but this album was okay. This album had a unique approach to hard rock, and I heard a lot of New Wave influences in the sound. "Malibu Beach Nightmare" was my favorite song on the album, and I enjoyed its guitar playing, and there were some nice keyboard sounds in the later half of the song. From there, the album came close to that early peak a few other times. "Until I Get You" marked a return to the guitar sounds that made "Malibu Beach Nightmare" one of the better songs on the album. The drumming on "Until I Get You" reminded me of ZZ Top's "Tube Snake Boogie," and it was a nice compliment to the guitar playing. "Sailing Down the Tears" and "Lick Summer Love" felt like early New Wave, á la the B-52's and Elvis Costello, respectively, and while neither song really blew me away, they were unique.
Overall, this album was fine to listen to, but its best parts don't really stack up to a lot of other rock music from this era in my opinion, and half the songs were kind of forgettable. I'm still glad I got to listen to this, and now I can obsess over wondering what the hell Duck Rock by Malcolm McLaren is like.
Sugar
4/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, so I had no idea what to expect. When "The Act We Act" kicked off, I wasn't a fan at first, but when the chorus kicked in, I really started enjoying it. The guitar was fantastic, and the overall melody was just really enjoyable and fun. It hit me pretty quickly that this album reminded me of a lot of the 'radio alternative' that I liked in the mid to late nineties: The Wallflowers, Gin Blossoms, Matchbox 20, and the many other acts who had a hit or two in the top 40. Sugar, just like those other bands that this album reminded me of, were all branded as rock bands, but they all had some really good pop sensibilities. I can't believe that I never heard "The Act We Act" on the radio as a kid, and it's a shame I didn't, because I would have loved it. The rest of the album was really good too, with "Helpless," "Hoover Dam," and "Fortune Teller" being my other favorite songs on the album. "A Good Idea" wasn't one of my favorite songs on the album, but I liked its Pixies-inspired sound and flow. I found this album to be really enjoyable, and it's definitely something I'd consider returning to some day. Sugar manages to create a really unique alternative rock sound, made even more fun by some really melodic pop influences.
George Michael
3/5
What a coincidence! Yesterday, 60 Songs That Explain the '90's covered "Freedom! '90," and today, I get this album. I'm relatively familiar with some of George Michael's work, but the aforementioned "Freedom! '90" is the only song on this album that I knew going into it.
I find the late eighties and early nineties to be such an interesting time for pop music, because so many thing were changing: rap and hip hop were gaining a wider audience, hair metal was waning, and grunge was starting to emerge from Seattle. If you take a random sample of the Billboard Top 40 from this era, you can see all of this happening, and you can hear all of this change impacting popular music. What makes this album so interesting to me, is that it doesn’t seem to be influenced by all of this change. To me, George Michael exists outside of all of that during this time. He’s wrestling with his past, present, and future, and this album is his expression of that moment in his life; it’s almost like this album exists in a vacuum of its own creation.
I found the overall listening experience for this album to be pretty enjoyable. George Michael knows how to write some great pop music, and he sure as hell knows how to sing it, putting the right pitch and power in all the right places. Whether there’s a lot going on instrumentally, like on “Freedom! ’90,” or the sound is a bit more stripped down, like on “Something To Save,” George Michael can sing it all, letting his vocals command the sound. As great as the vocals are, the storytelling and introspective lyrics are fantastic too. Personally, I prefer George Michael’s music when it’s up-tempo and fun, so “Freedom! ‘90” is the high point of this album for me, but the album never really goes back to that type of sound again. However, I still think this is a solid pop album, and I appreciate the message of this album and what it meant for George Michael’s life and career.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
This is my second of the two Frank Sinatra albums to review, and just like In the Wee Small Hours, I thought this was fine. Frank Sinatra is a great singer and entertainer, and the orchestra that backs him up is great as well. The arrangements are really well done, and I liked that all of the songs went really well with the name of the album. Overall, this is a pretty good album, but I think I'd rather listen to In the Wee Small Hours if I were in the mood for some Sinatra.
Thelonious Monk
2/5
I think my first time hearing about Thelonious Monk was in The Terminal (every time I say "bite to eat," no one ever gets the reference. I can't be the only person who's seen that movie), but I've never listened to any of his music before today.
Jazz is one of the genres that I'm the least familiar with, and most jazz albums that I've reviewed have gotten three stars from me, mostly because I don't really know how to gauge them. However, now that I have little bit more experience with jazz under my belt, I think I can honestly say that I found this album pretty underwhelming. It was pleasant to listen to, but there just wasn't a lot going on that captivated my interest. Most of the arrangements were pretty bland, and I don't think I would have been able to identify any music from this album again, even if I had just listened to it five minutes ago. A pretty underwhelming experience.
Pink Floyd
5/5
My first interaction with this album was hearing “Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2” when I was in elementary school or so. I loved the dark and moody sound, and I thought it was badass that included a chorus of kids signing the line “we don’t need no education.” As a child who often clashed with his parents, I thought this song was incredibly badass, and I loved when it came on the radio. I kept listening to classic rock as I got older, and I eventually became familiar with other songs on The Wall: “Hey You,” “Young Lust,” the amazing “Comfortably Numb,” and the criminally underrated “Run Like Hell,” were all some of my favorite songs to hear on classic rock radio. I eventually bought the CD of The Wall, which came in one those awesome cases that was like two individual jewel cases fused together.
The Wall is my second favorite Pink Floyd album, albeit by a small margin, just behind Wish You Were Here. If I could only listen to one Pink Floyd album the rest of my life, it would be Wish You Were Here, but if I could only listen to one Pink Floyd song for the rest of my life, it would be “Comfortably Numb.” The Wall is full of great songs, and those songs form an incredible album that functions incredibly well as a larger piece of work. The lyrics of this album cover a wide variety of topics (stardom, tyranny, isolation, abandonment, war and nuclear annihilation, to name a few), and these themes contribute to the larger picture of collectivism versus individualism. In a world that was only growing more connected, how can someone embrace and value their individuality while still contributing to the collective good that the world needs in order to survive? It’s something that still fuels debates, not just between major political schools of thought, but within those schools of thought as well.
Musically, this album has Pink Floyd’s sound, but it manages to evolve past both Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. Every song is unique, but they all fit together brilliantly, like a puzzle. Even though the songs flow wonderfully from one to the next with outstanding segues (I love a good segue by the way), the way they fit together feels like it goes beyond the linear. The musical arrangements are outstanding, and even though there’s so much to take in, it never feels jumbled or too busy. This album is fantastic, and it’s a must listen for any music fan.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Depeche Mode is one of those bands that I’d consider myself a casual fan of. I really like their radio hits, but before going through this list, I don’t think I’d listened to one of their whole albums.
Like Violator, which I reviewed a few months ago, Music for the Masses has some great songs on it. Right as the album opens, “Never Let Me Down Again” is like an earthquake. The synthesizers, drums and vocals all blend to create that mythic Depeche Mode sound, and that line of “I’m taking a ride…” is perfectly symbolic of the journey into the unknown that this album goes on. The melody of the chorus is perfect, with the tone of the bell sounds somehow darkening the sound even further. “Strangelove” is great too; the ambient pulsing that starts the song, punctuated by percussive tinkling sounds gives way to one of Depeche Mode’s most infamous synth lines. The rhythm of the lyrics during the verse do a great job of keeping the listener off balance, and hanging on for the next line.
The other songs are really good too, but in my opinion, few of them come close to matching the greatness “Never Let Me Down Again” or “Strangelove.” “Sacred,” “Little 15,” and “I Want You Now” do the heavy lifting after “Strangelove,” each one contributing managing to contribute something unique to the album (shoutout to those awesome backing vocals/grunts on “I Want You Now”). To me, this album’s legacy and influence comes from the overall sound that Depeche Mode creates. There’s a mood that manages to permeate the whole album, almost like a fog or a mist. Hidden within that fog, there are so many little details that help make the overall sound richer and deeper, making you want to hang on to every note so that you don’t miss anything. It’s a heck of a feat that Depeche Mode was able to take this dark, moody album, and attract a wide audience. When they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020, I really enjoyed watching other musicians rave about them. Depeche Mode has influenced some of my favorite bands (Chvrches and Crystal Castles come to mind first), and for that, I’ll always be grateful. This is a great album, and its importance in the history of rock music solidifies its place on this list.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
1/5
I'm not the type of person to throw this phrase around lightly, but I think this album should have been called Now That's What I Call Cultural Appropriation. I think that Jah Wobble and company (Sinead O'Connor sings on this album, neato!) had some pretty big aspirations in making this album, but unfortunately those aspirations didn't play out very well in practice. This album is pretty much a mess: there's Spanish singing, without elements of latin music, there's political messaging without any teeth or meaning, and there's a lack of overall cohesion from track to track. This album feels pretty empty in all aspects, and it was a chore to get through. Sinead O'Connor's vocals were nice, but overall, her talents are pretty much relegated to the background, which is incredibly unfortunate. I'm glad this is the only Jah Wobble album on this list, but now I'm dreading the Public Image Ltd albums.
Adele
3/5
I've never listened to this whole album before, but I'm familiar with the singles that came from it. 25 as a whole isn't as good as 21, but that's okay, because "Hello" is twice as good as any one song on 21. Even after all the times I've heard "Hello," it still has a physical effect on me, sending a wave across my whole body whenever Adele hits that first word of the chorus. Knowing this song well makes it even better, because the anticipation of that chorus kicking in every time is one of the best adrenaline rushes in popular music. As the song goes on, it rewards your ears with an additional treat: the booming but sparse drum kicks in during the first chorus, the strings get louder during the second verse, and the backing vocals kick in on the second chorus. "Hello" might be one of the most played pop songs of the 2010's, but it's also one of the best.
The other singles on this album, while nowhere near as earth shattering as "Hello," are still great. "Send My Love" has an incredibly catchy rhythm, punctuated by what I assume to be some great finger picking on the guitar. The lyrics to "When We Were Young" really capture that nostalgia of past love, while channeling the anxieties that arise when that love resurfaces. "Water Under the Bridge" is the second best song on the album, with a great, driving beat, great lyrics, fantastic vocals, and a crashing chorus. There's something off-kilter about the pace of the lyrics in the chorus that I absolutely love.
The other songs on the album are fine; they're not filler per se, but they definitely don't stand out, nor are they very memorable. This is a good album, but it falls short because we know that Adele can do more.
Love
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but wow, what an album cover. Maybe I can convince my wife that our family Christmas card this year should mimic a famous album cover. I probably won't be able to, but a man can dream.
Anyway, I thought this album was pretty good. I've found a lot of these sixties psychedelic albums to be pretty middle of the road, but I thought this album was a little better than most if its contemporaries. The garage rock sound reminded me of that Sonics record, and while the album had that punk rock 'do it yourself' feel to it, I thought it still managed to have a clean and controlled sound. I liked the flute, harpsichord, and organ playing, and I think that helped create a sound that sets this album apart from a lot of what was coming out at the time. Lyrically, this album was pretty much the standard fare. The love songs were alright, and the abstract songs were... well, pretty abstract.
The first six songs on the album were pretty good. But "Revelation"... that song is about getting a blowjob, right? From someone that he refers to as 'child?' Yeah, hard pass. Before I go pour bleach into my eyes and ears, I guess I'll give this thing three stars.
David Bowie
3/5
I've always considered myself a casual David Bowie fan, but before this project, the only album of his that I'd listened to in its entirety was Blackstar. Over the course of this project, I've learned that I tend to prefer David Bowie's singles over his albums. This is now fifth album of his to review, and I found this to be pretty middle of the road. Bowie's soul and funk inspired sound on this album is a nice departure from the other albums of his that I've listened to. Bowie's vocals are fantastic as always, and he's supported by some nice backing vocals on several tracks. The arrangements are fine; there are some good piano and saxophone parts on the title track, and "Fascination" blends the saxophone and bass really well. "Fame" gets a lot of love, and it has some nice and funky guitar playing, but it's probably one of my least favorite of Bowie's singles. Overall, I think this album is fine, and it's a mildly interesting piece of Bowie's catalog, but I'd rather fire up some Hot Buttered Soul.
Gary Numan
4/5
The only Gary Numan song that I’m familiar with is “Cars,” which I assume is probably the case for most people who review this album. I’ve heard “Cars” countless times throughout my life, and I’m not a big fan of it, so I wasn’t super excited to review this album.
Once I started listening, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. The overall sound was really unique, and even though I’ve listened to a lot of new wave and synth pop music, this album really didn’t sound like anything else that I’ve listened to before. I think my favorite thing about it was that it sounded so rich, and there was a lot of depth to the sound, but nothing sounded complicated or overdone. The lyrics were really different, and I think it’s an interesting concept that Gary Numan took these pretty basic ideas and just ruminated on them in his lyrics. The simplicity of this concept goes along brilliantly with the musical arrangements. The biggest turnoff for me on this album was Gary Numan’s vocals. I understand that his vocal style is probably meant to go along with the futuristic sound he pioneered, but I just don’t care for it.
I really appreciate artists like Gary Numan, because these early pioneers of synthesizers set the stage for some of my favorite music during the eighties, and also some of my favorite music today as well. Without the success of “Cars,” I can’t imagine what music throughout the rest of the eighties would sound like. I think this album is a must listen for any fan of music.
Stan Getz
3/5
I'm not familiar with this artist or album, or samba music for that matter, but this has probably been my favorite album from Central and South America that I've gotten to review so far. The arrangements were really nice, especially the horns, and Astrud Gilberto's vocals on a few of the tracks were fantastic. This is the type of album that would be perfect to listen to on a slightly warm Saturday in spring; a day full of sunlight, but a day where you have the freedom to relax and take in everything. This isn't the type of album that I'd normally listen to, but I'm considering getting a copy, because it would be nice to have around.
OutKast
4/5
When this album came out, I had just started my first semester of community college. I was living at home while going to school and working, and I have many fond memories of listening to “Hey Ya!” with the friends that I hung out with at the time. Someone that was a year behind me in high school did a physics project about Newton’s first law set to the tune of “Hey Ya!”, editing himself into the music video (it’s insanely impressive for having been done in 2003 or 2004; search Youtube for “first law hey ya” if you have five minutes to kill).
But enough reminiscing. I would have sworn that I’d listened to this album in its entirety at some point, but after listening to it today, I don’t think that’s the case (it’s in my Apple Music library, so I bought it at some point). I really thought this was going to be an instant five star review for me, but this album falls a little short. I respect the ambition of this project, but at over two hours, this project just didn’t have enough gas overall to really support the union of these two separate projects.
Speakerboxxx is easily the stronger half of this album. Big Boi is a fantastic rapper, spitting out rhymes with a clarity and ferocity that’s uniquely his own. The beats and samples on Speakerboxxx are great, the featured guests are fantastic, and Big Boi’s socially conscious lyrics land really well a couple of years into a post 9/11 United States. I always forget that “The Way You Move” is on this album, and as much fun as “Hey Ya!” is, “The Way You Move” is incredible. The beat, Big Boi’s rapping, and the main chorus all combine to create an incredibly melodic sound. I got to see Big Boi at two separate festivals back in 2011, and he was fantastic. My brother summed up his skills perfectly: “Big Boi makes you wonder how Slim Thug has a job.”
As great as Speakerboxxx is, The Love Below just doesn’t hold a candle to it. I appreciate Andre 3000’s creative vision and experimentation, but his lack of singing and rapping skills hold his half back. “Hey Ya!” and “Roses” are fantastic, but the rest of this half of the project is kind of a jumbled mess. I think that Andre’s creativity is stifled by his lack of ability to execute a cohesive vision.
I respect the ambition of the project, and it’s definitely one of the most influential albums this century, but the end result is that Big Boi’s half shines, while Andre’s half can’t keep up.
Arcade Fire
5/5
I wasn’t a big fan of this album when it came out. I’d been listening to Arcade Fire for maybe a year or two, after my brother had gotten me to listen to Funeral and Neon Bible. I was really into indie music at the time, and as great as 2010 was for the genre, I was pretty underwhelmed by The Suburbs. But as time has gone by, this album has really grown on me. This was my first time to revisit it in a long time, and I think this might be Arcade Fire’s best album.
The overall sound of this album is incredible. There’re so many different elements to appreciate: from the urgent guitar sounds of “Ready to Start,” to the dreamy synth line on “Sprawl II,” the arrangements on this album are fantastic. There are so many songs on this album that can easily stand on their own, but the sum of the parts creates a larger work that’s beautiful to listen to. The production work on this album really stands out to me too; it's a huge improvement over Funeral, and it’s a relief that the things that make this album great are put front and center.
Lyrically, this album does a fantastic job of exploring life in the suburbs, and all the things that make it unique, claustrophobic, and nostalgic. Like Win and Will Butler, I grew up in suburban Houston (not in The Woodlands, but in a ‘planned community’ that’s similar, but on a much smaller scale), and the things they sing about hit really close to home for me. Most of the people I went to school with felt the pull to leave our community to start their lives, but a good number of those people wound up coming back. I love that this album explores those forces that pull us back to our childhood communities: safety, family, and predictability in an ever-changing world. “Sprawl II” really hits the nail on the head though. Houston is known for its ridiculous levels of suburban sprawl, and while that sprawl may provide opportunities for some people (home ownership, safe communities, communities full of resources), what do we lose when we live in a sea of always expanding concrete? I could ruminate on these themes for several more paragraphs, but I’ll stop here.
This is a beautiful album, and it’s an absolute joy to listen to, but the lyrics and the themes explored within this album make it something that still stands out over a decade later.
The Who
3/5
After hearing "Baba O'Riley" on the radio in my late teens, I got really into The Who for a while. I loved their music, and I developed an appreciation for each band member's musicianship, but I developed a particular fondness for Keith Moon's drumming. His ability to be an absolute maniac on the drums, while still sounding so precise completely blew my mind, and he grew to become my favorite drummer in classic rock. The stories of his crazy drunken antics didn't hurt either. As much as I love The Who, the only album of theirs that I've listened to in its entirety before today is Who's Next.
I didn't have high hopes for this albums since the reviews for it weren't terribly favorable, but I thought it was pretty good. The 'selling out' concept was really interesting and well done; I liked the jingles, the humorous elements, and the overall clean and precise sound of the album. The band sounded fantastic, and I love that The Who never tried to imitate The Beatles or The Rolling Stones in their sound. The guitar playing and keyboard playing were great, and the rhythm section was fantastic as always, with Keith Moon's drumming stealing the show. I love Roger Daltrey's voice, and his singing was perfect for the psychedelic pop sound of this album. "I Can See For Miles" is easily the best track on the album, but unfortunately, it's also the only song that I feel can stand on its own outside of the album. Overall, this was a nice album, but the sum is far greater than most of the parts.
Bob Dylan
2/5
The only Bob Dylan albums that I've listened to are Blonde on Blonde, and Highway 61 Revisited, which I both enjoy, so this was my first time listening to something from later in Bob Dylan's catalog. Overall, this album was pretty underwhelming. It was interesting at times to hear a more a straightforward blues sound from Dylan, but the overall result was pretty boring. There were some flashes of brilliance with some of the piano and organ arrangements, but the songs and the overall album were just too long for my liking. "Tryin' to Get to Heaven" was nice, but it was the only song that I kind of enjoyed. This album wasn't terrible, but it definitely wasn't my speed.
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
I know I've listened to an Arctic Monkeys album before, but I don't remember if it was this one or AM. Either way, I remember not really caring for it, and I was not super enthused to listen to this today. After listening to this though, I can understand why it's so highly regarded and why it's on this list. When I think of rock music in the aughts, I think of the myriad of stuff that was getting tons of airplay on Clear Channel alternative rock stations: Three Days Grace, Nickelback, Godsmack, Buckcherry, etc. I don't speak for everyone, but for me, I think that stuff mostly sucked, so to hear this album is pretty refreshing. Arctic Monkeys showcase some serious guitar rock skills on this album. Nearly every song is a solid jam, full of driving rhythms, tight drum playing, and some funky bass lines. The slower songs work really well too, and give the album some added depth and versatility. I'm not the biggest fan of the vocals, but the lyrics bring the English club and pub scene to life with great detail and tone.
This was a fun album to listen to, and while it's not the type of album that I'd typically gravitate to, I think it's really solid, and it definitely belongs on this list. On my tastes alone, I'd probably give this a solid three stars, but on it's own merits and influence, I think it deserves four stars.
Steely Dan
4/5
This is my third Steely Dan album to review, after Pretzel Logic and Countdown to Ecstasy (both of which I gave five stars), and I didn't enjoy this one quite as much, even though I think it's better lyrically, and it does have three fantastic singles on it.
I really enjoyed the lyrics of the songs on this album. It seems to me that there's a common thread of apathy towards life's promises that runs through all of the songs. From the empty pleasure seeking of "Do It Again," to the slow (although somewhat cheery) desperation of "Reelin' In The Years," Steely Dan sings of the disappointment when things don't live up to the expectations we put forward. Like King John succeeding King Richard, sometimes things don't change much deep down, even when they change on the surface.
I enjoyed the varied musical arrangements on this album too. "Do It Again" has a great latin feel to it, "Dirty Work" has some fantastic Wurlitzer and organ parts, and "Reelin' In The Years" has some of Steely Dan's best guitar playing. The rest of the songs were fine, and featured plenty of Steely Dan's signature soft-rock-jazz sound, but a lot of the songs aside from the singles weren't terribly memorable. This was a really good album, but it's just not Steely Dan's top tier work.
The Smiths
5/5
Well, here it is, my third and final Smiths album to review, and Strangeways might be their best work. The overall sound is bigger than their previous releases, with some great string and horn arrangements, but the album still maintains that signature pop sound that The Smiths crafted. The lyrics are just as deep and slightly ambiguous as always, full of political and social commentary and themes that explore relationships. Every song was great, and the end result is a strong album from start to finish:
“A Rush and a Push” has an urgency to it, and I wonder how much the impending breakup of the band contributed to that sound. I loved the guitar at the beginning, and the ‘love as colonialism’ allegory in the lyrics.
“I Started Something” has some great horn arrangements, and the lyrical theme about putting yourself out there as a gay person was great, and something that anyone can probably relate to.
“Death of a Disco Dancer” has some great guitar work at the beginning; it really gives the song a haunting sound to match the dark lyrics about the AIDS crisis. The song has a great outro too, with the organ/synth and piano and booming drums.
“Girlfriend in a Coma” might be my favorite song on the album. Great vocals, great strings arrangements leading into the chorus, and fantastic guitar playing.
“Stop Me” has some great guitars, and I really like the tinkling percussion sounds.
“Last Night I Dreamt” has a great dream like feel to it. The opening piano and screaming, coupled with the distorted whooshing sound really sets the tone.
“Unhappy Birthday” is so joyful sounding, but contrast so strongly with the hateful and mean lyrics. Usually, Morrisey’s digs at people are a bit more roundabout, but I love the directness here.
“Paint a Vulgar Picture” has great, biting lyrics, and great criticisms of the record industry and how predatory it can be. The horn arrangements in the background are really great too.
“Death at One’s Elbow” has some great bass playing, and I really enjoyed the upbeat sound. I loved that this song had a bit of a rockabilly sound to it.
“I Won’t Share You” has great guitar playing, and it was a great way to close out the album, and essentially shut the door on The Smiths’ time together as a band.
This was a fantastic album, and I’m sad that this is my last Smiths album to review. I’ll definitely be returning to this album.
Beastie Boys
3/5
I'm pretty neutral towards the Beastie Boys, but I'm familiar with some of their more popular songs, and I might have even listened to a couple of their albums in their entirety, but I'm not 100% on that. They were supposed to play Friday night at ACL in 2009, and I was really excited to see them, but they dropped out due to Adam Yauch's cancer diagnosis. The summer of Yauch's passing, I was at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they had a very touching tribute to him that made me cry when I read it.
On to the album at hand though. I really wanted to love this album, but I thought it was just okay. I love "Sabotage," and it was easily the highlight of the album. The bass line is iconic, the guitar playing is frantic and piercing, and the drumming is tight and provides a booming sound that makes this one of the most fun songs of the nineties. "Sure Shot" is a great leadoff track, and establishes the jazz and funk sound that's going to dominate the musical aspects of the album. This is a far more mature effort from the band, but unfortunately, it's not as fun as their earlier work. The jazz and funk influences are great and unique, but the music drowns out the lyrics and the band's distinctive rapping style. The album is really long too, and despite the fact that it succeeds musically, it overstays its welcome by quite a bit. This isn't a bad album, but I didn't think it was great either.
Metallica
4/5
This will be my final Metallica album to review. I’ve enjoyed reviewing their albums so far, (five stars for Master of Puppets, four stars for the other two) so I had high hopes going into this one. Of the Metallica albums on the list, ..And Justice For All is the one that I’m the least familiar with.
It’s really interesting to listen to this album from the perspective of it being a bridge between Puppets and the Black Album. Justice has all of the things that made Puppets so great: driving, thrashing guitar arrangements complimented with pounding, frantic drumming. The lyrics are just as socially conscious, if not more so than what was present on Puppets, but the overall sound of the album feels like it’s moving toward the more accessible and melodic elements that made the Black Album such an important moment in metal.
The highlight of this album is easily “One.” The lone guitar comes in so cleanly, with a slow sound that establishes the haunting tone of the song, before adding another guitar and some drumming. I love that the original guitar sound stays present throughout most of the song, establishing a really awesome melody throughout the first half of the song. The drumming and guitar that come in together when the song reaches its crescendo are absolutely perfect. The machine gun pace takes the song from slow haunting to a frantic nightmare. Lyrically, I love the narrative that “One” establishes as well. Come to think of it, I can’t think of any other Metallica songs that really have a narrative structure similar to “One.” This song does an incredible job of bringing the story of its tortured veteran to life, and I think it’s easily one of Metallica’s best songs.
I think this is a great album, but the overall length and the length of some of the songs is a bit of a deterrent for me. I have nothing against longer songs or albums (Master of Puppets is almost just as long), but some of the songs just don’t use that length to go to any new places or build on their concepts. It’s a great piece of Metallica’s discography, and a great moment in the history of metal, but I can’t see myself listening to the whole album again.
David Bowie
4/5
I listened to this album shortly after it came out. I've been a casual fan of David Bowie's hits since around high school, but this was the first time I listened to one of his full albums. I remember being sad that he had passed away, but I also remember being hit with the regret that I didn't see him in concert in 2004 when he came through town.
This is my sixth Bowie album to review, and I've been all over the map with how I've felt about his albums. Blackstar is really good, and while it's not a five star album for me, I think it's one of his better albums. It's weird and experimental, but the sound is still incredibly accessible, because of its overall beauty and haunting melodies. The instrumentation is all fantastic. There's great guitar playing, great drumming (I love James Murphy), and of course Bowie's fantastic vocals. The string, saxophone, and piano arrangements are great too, and they really enhance the deathly mood of this album, while still giving it a "trademark Bowie" sound.
The lyrics on this album are haunting, and it's really sombre to listen to what are essentially David Bowie's last words for the world, even eight years after this album's release and his passing. "I Can't Give Everything Away" is a perfect closer to this album, giving us a bittersweet hint that if it weren't for his illness, Bowie felt like he still had more in the tank.
While this isn't my favorite album from Bowie, I still think it's really good. As the last effort from one of popular music's biggest forces, I think it's a fantastic listen for any fan of music.
Black Sabbath
5/5
This is my second Black Sabbath album to review, the first being Paranoid. I thought Paranoid was fantastic (I was familiar with a few songs going into it), so I had high hopes for this album too.
Thankfully, my expectations were exceeded listening to this album. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to hear this for the first time when it came out. I’d wager a guess that Black Sabbath was the leading cause of shit-fits in 1970. The first track does a fantastic job of setting the tone for the rest of the album. The mood is dark, brooding, and Ozzy’s wails and pleas for help create a really unsettling sound. The guitar work on the opening track is fantastic too, and I loved how the slow and deep tone shifted to a faster pace towards the end of the song. That might be one of the best lead-off tracks of all time.
“The Wizard” was fantastic too, and I loved how it showed the shared sound of blues and early hard rock. The harmonica playing really caught me off guard, but it never felt out of place. However, my favorite song on this album was “N.I.B.” I used to hear this song on the local hard rock station back in the early aughts (rest in peace, KLOL), and I loved it so much back then. I hadn’t thought about this song in almost two decades, so I was delighted when it came up on this album. I love Ozzy’s singing on this song, especially during the chorus. He's not a great vocalist, but man, his voice is perfect on “N.I.B.” The repeating guitar riff is my favorite part of the song though, and I love how it combines with the drum as the song build towards the chorus. The guitar solo(s?) is fantastic too.
The rest of the album is fantastic too, especially the guitar playing, but I’ve run out of steam gushing about the opening track and “N.I.B.” to comment much further. Overall, this is a great album from start to finish. This album is dark and brooding, but also an absolute joy to listen to. Black Sabbath knocked it out of the park with this one.
Jethro Tull
2/5
In my late teens, I had a friend who was really into Jethro Tull. So much so, that his Myspace profile name was "Thick as a Brick" (I just pulled up Thick as a Brick to listen to it, and holy shit, part 1 is over 22 minutes long, and part 2 is almost as long. Holy Tubular Bells, I think I'll pass). Heading into this album, the only song that I was familiar with was the title track, but I'm very familiar with the fact that Jethro Tull is known for being the 'flute rock' band.
This album wasn't really my speed at all. The usage of the flute really feels like a gimmick, as it really doesn't add a whole lot to the music, and none of the songs are any better for its usage. The title track is fine, but it wears out its welcome about halfway through. I'm guessing the lyrics on the side 1 songs are about a peeping Tom watching a young girl, which is also not my cup of tea, so this album never really stood much of a chance with me. I liked the side 2 songs a little bit more, but that's not saying much. "Hymn 43" was my favorite track on the album, and it really highlights the few things that I liked on this album: some good piano riffs, and some bluesy guitar riffs. Lyrically, I liked the side 2 songs better as well, but again, that's not really saying a whole lot. I really didn't care much for this album, and it's definitely not something that I'd ever revisit.
Justin Timberlake
3/5
I know a handful of Justin Timberlake's songs, but this is my first time listening to a full album of his. I wasn't excited to have this album come up today, but it wound up being a little bit better than my expectations.
I don't think that JT is a particularly great singer, but his vocal chops are just enough to get by on this album. Lyrically though, this album sound like it was written by a sentient Ryan Gosling 'Hey Girl' meme. "Hey girl, I saw you from across the club, and I think you're fine. Would you like to come back to this suite of mine?" See? I could easily write 60-70% of the lyrics on this album. However, "Cry Me A River" is absolutely fantastic. It's sultry, the rain sounds in the intro really establish the mood, and the horn sounds couple with the rhythm section and JT's falsetto create a perfect R&B pop sound. This is the one song on the album where everything really comes together perfectly. On the rest of the album, it's Pharrell and Chad's production work that do all the heavy lifting. Musically, this album is pretty good, and it has a wide variety of arrangements that kept me somewhat engaged. Culturally, I can see how this album made the list. Like him or not, JT has been a massive force in music and pop culture in general. Sure, he might be a gaslighting piece of shit, but it hardly feels like his reputation has taken any damage at all these last few years, despite what Britney Spears has alleged about him. But I digress. This album is fine, and as easily the most successful former boy band member of the nineties to launch their own career, JT's solo debut is worth one listen, but maybe not more than that.
Devendra Banhart
3/5
I'm not familiar with this album or artist, but my first impression as I listened to it was that I may have heard one of these songs on TV or in a movie at some point. As I kept listening to it, this album definitely sounded like a folk album from the aughts; Devandra's vocals are unique, and the stripped down instrumentation is well executed, creating a sound that's different, but still accessible. Overall, this album was pretty good. The vocals were nice, and the arrangements were really pleasant to listen to. The worst thing about it is that it didn't stand out to me. A few months from now, I'll probably have forgotten about this album, and when I see it in my history, the thing that'll stick out the most is that the artist was born in my hometown of Houston. I can't really understand why this album is on the list. Sure, it was well received when it came out, but that can be said about a lot of albums that aren't on the list. I wouldn't mind listening to it again, but there are just so many more folk albums that are worth my time more than this one is.
Lou Reed
3/5
The only Lou Reed song I was familiar with before listening to this album was "Walk On The Wildside," which I was glad to see was on this album. I know this album is supposed to be very influential, and based on the reviews, it looked like it was going to be pretty good. Unfortunately though, this album didn't really land with me. Lou Reed isn't a name that I think of when I think of great vocalists in rock music, but his voice is incredibly recognizable, both in tone and cadence. Even though he's not a great vocalist, his style works well for his music on this album, especially when there are backing vocals to accompany him.
Overall, I thought the arrangements on this album were okay. Some songs were definitely much stronger than others, and the songs that I didn't like stuck out like a sore thumb ("Make Up," "I'm So Free," and "Goodnight Ladies"). "Perfect Day" was absolutely fantastic though. The piano playing on it was great, and this was the song where Lou Reed's vocals worked the best ("Walk On The Wild Side" is a close second). "Walk On The Wild Side" is great too, and the saxophone playing, background vocals, and light percussion all blend together perfectly.
I know this album is regarded as an important piece of glam rock, but to me, it felt like glam rock in the same way that La Croix is flavored. Sure, there are hints of glam rock on this album, but you really have to strain to find them. This album is distinct, but I think my biggest gripe with it is that other than a couple of stand out songs, the other songs range from 'okay' to 'I can't hit skip fast enough.' Hopefully I won't feel this way about The Velvet Underground when I get to review them.
LTJ Bukem
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, and damn, it was a sonofabitch to track this album down (if you're having trouble finding it, disc 1: https://soundcloud.com/dj-jo-public/ltj-presents-logical-progression-cd-a-mixed-by-jopublic-1996-intelligent-dnb
disc 2: https://soundcloud.com/dj-jo-public/ltj-bukem-presents-logical-progression-cd-b-mixed-set-original-1996-version-intelligent-dnb ). I was trying to pull this album up last night, and when I finally found it, my wife said, "that's your album tomorrow? I'm so sorry." I told her I don't mind music like this, and she waited a moment before saying "we are very different people."
Anyway, I don't have a lot to say about this album, other than I enjoyed listening to it. Granted, I had it playing while I was grinding away on some pretty mindless tasks at work, so it made for a nice soundtrack to my day. I have no idea of the impact or cultural significance of this album, but it was a nice listen, despite its length.
Boards of Canada
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but this is my second electronica album in a row, and as much as I tend to enjoy electronica music, I've had three hours of it in two days (thank you LTJ Bukem).
I thought this album was pretty good, and I really liked the beats they used. Even though the album was long, I never found it boring, and it was overall pleasant to listen to. Even though I like electronica music, I can't really pinpoint what makes me like certain albums more than others, other than being able to say whether or not I enjoyed listening to it. I felt like this album was the pretty standard fare.
The Libertines
2/5
I'm not familiar with this band or this album, and the review for this album seem to be a pretty mixed bag, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Things started off on the right foot; I really loved the guitar playing on "Can't Stand Me Now. But from there, the album didn't really go anywhere interesting, and all of the songs were pretty bland. I really don't see the appeal of this album at all. At a time when bands like Interpol, The Strokes, and Arctic Monkeys were putting out some great work, why would anyone opt for this album?
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
I'm vaguely familiar with Jerry Lee Lewis, but I've never listened to one of his albums. This album was about what I expected in terms of the musicianship: the energy was high, and Jerry's piano playing was his personal brand of manic precision. I'm typically not a big fan of live albums, but it was really cool to hear Jerry whip the crowd up into a frenzy with each song. Other than the piano playing though, there wasn't a whole lot going on. The vocals, drumming, and guitar playing were present, but that's about it. I don't know if Jerry's other albums feature a lot of other people's songs, but I think he was able to leave his own fingerprint on each song that wasn't his. This album didn't light the world on fire, but it was pretty enjoyable to listen to.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
1/5
I'm not familiar with this album or artist, but judging by the cover, I assumed this album was country our country-adjacent, and I was excited for something a little different.
Well, I got something different, but not in the way that I'd hoped. I was not expecting this album to be psychedelic rock. Psychedelic rock is pretty hit or miss with me, and this album was a pretty big miss. I'm not a big fan of George Thorogood, but I much prefer his rendition of "Who Do You Love?" to the suite that the band has on this album. It was completely drawn out, and not even that interesting to listen to. The side two songs weren't much better, but at least "Calvary" was somewhat interesting. I really don't understand why this album is on the list, and I can't find any redeeming qualities in it. Pretty much a bore from start to finish.
The Clash
4/5
The only Clash album I've listened to before today is London Calling (which I bought because of the 1001 albums book), but it's been a hot minute since I've listened to it.
This self titled effort from The Clash is pretty good. The best thing that this album has going for it is it's distinctly The Clash; the band never tries to be The Ramones or The Sex Pistols, and they do a great job of crafting their own unique sound. The guitar playing is pretty straightforward, but there's something unique in the tone that really sets The Clash apart. I enjoy both Jones's and Strummer's vocals, and I was glad that they both got some time on lead vocals on this album.
My favorite thing about this album was the lyrics. For what feels like the hundredth time on this list, it's yet another album singing about things that still plague the world today: racial tension and inequality, the slog of working life, the neverending funding of war, and on and on. The band does such a great job of channeling anger and disillusionment into their lyrics, and their own brand of punk politics further differentiates them from other punk acts of the time.
Overall, this isn't my favorite album by any stretch, but it's really well done, and it's an important moment in the history of rock music.
Willie Nelson
3/5
This is my second, and therefore last Willie Nelson album to review. I liked The Red Headed Stranger, but I'm also not super into Willie's music (nothing against him, it's just not what I gravitate towards), so I wasn't sure what I'd feel about this album.
I think the overall concept of performing pop and jazz standards is really great, and I love that Willie basically told his record label to kick rocks when they expressed hesitation at the idea, and then the album went on to perform really well and win a Grammy. Are record company executives even human, or are they just sentient piles of garbage? I digress. I'm not terribly familiar with many of these songs, but I thought Willie did a great job of singing them, and putting his own musical touch on each one of them. Willie's voice is great, and I love the gentleness and smoothness that he brings to each song. "Unchained Melody," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and "Moonlight in Vermont" were my favorite tracks on here, and I think I prefer Willie's version of "Unchained Melody" to the Righteous Brothers version.
Overall, I thought this album was fine. It's well done and and it's a unique and enjoyable listen. It's not the sort of thing I gravitate towards, but I'm glad I got to experience it.
Ministry
3/5
I've heard of Ministry before, but I've never listened to one of their albums, and industrial metal isn't really a genre that I'm familiar with. Overall though, I thought this album was pretty good. The album starts off with a bang, with blazing drumming and a fuzzy, driving guitar rhythm, which really snagged my attention. The synthesized sounds are incredibly unique too, and add a really great depth to the sound. This is easily one of the most unique metal albums I've ever listened to, and I imagine this influenced countless other bands in the nineties (White Zombie, Korn, Marilyn Manson, etc.). As unique as I thought this album was, it was pretty repetitive, and apart from "Jesus Built My Hotrod," it doesn't really go anywhere interesting. This isn't the type of album I'd go back to, but I'm glad I got to branch out and listen to it.
Germs
1/5
I've heard of Germs before, mostly because of Pat Smear, who I know about from Foo Fighters, but I've never listened to any of their music before. As far as hardcore albums go, I thought this was pretty meh. The guitar tones and playing didn't really change much from song to song, and the vocals were nearly impossible to decipher. If you're going to make an album that's politically charged, for the love of God, please make it to where the average listener can understand what's being said. I love some good hardcore punk lyrics, but it sucks if I have to go and look them up for every song. This just wasn't a very enjoyable album for me.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
I'm not very familiar with Sly & The Family Stone's music, but I was happy to see that "Everyday People" was on this album. Based on how much I've liked exploring funk and soul albums from this list, I really expected to enjoy Stand! I think this album was objectively good, but I didn't care for it all too much. The funk and soul sound was really unique, the vocals were great, and the musical arrangements were deep and rich. I enjoyed the lyrics too. I expected that the lyrics would be a little more biting in their social commentary, but only... uh... "track 2"... fit that bill. Even though the lyrics weren't what I expected, I still enjoyed their overall uplifting message. I can definitely see how Sly & The Family Stone were a hit at Woodstock. "Everyday People" was easily my favorite song on the album. I love the piano and horn arrangements, the percussion is incredibly catchy, and it's an incredibly fun song to sing along to. "I Want To Take You Higher" was really good too, and I recognized it from its use in David Fincher's Zodiac (one of the best movies ever made in my opinion). I think my biggest beef with this album is that some of the songs felt kind of repetitive, and that their structure kind of kept them contained in way that prevented them from going anywhere. Still, this was a good album, and I'm glad I got to review it today.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
I’m not familiar with any of Joni Mitchell’s music, so I only had a vague idea of what to expect with this album (I imagined it would be somewhat similar to Carole King’s Tapestry).
I thought this album was really beautiful, and I enjoyed listening to it. Joni Mitchell’s voice and lyrics are fantastic, and she created some really great piano and guitar arrangements to create a great overall sound. I enjoyed the second half of the album more than the first half, and “Raised on Robbery” was my favorite track on the album. I loved that “Raised on Robbery” was the most fun song, and I loved that it was a little bit different than the other songs, but it still relied on the elements that made the album as a whole successful: great guitar playing, great lyrics, and beautiful vocals with some sweet harmonies. The saxophone playing was what really elevated this song for me, and I thought it complimented the other elements in the song really well. “Down To You” was a close second for me; I really loved the opening piano melody, and the woodwind arrangements were incredible.
Overall, this was a really good album, and I’m looking forward to getting to review more of Joni Mitchell’s work.
John Grant
3/5
I'm not familiar with John Grant, or this album, but I enjoyed its overall sound. The songs were varied in style, but they all had a softness to them that I liked. The vocals were really good, and the arrangements were unique and fun. The songs were a strange blend of pop and folk music, but it worked really well. The lyrics were strange at times, but really well written, and I especially liked “Sigourney Weaver.” I think my biggest gripe against this album is that it was a bit of drag at times, and there are other albums from this era of indie music that I’d rather listen to. This album is well made, and I can see how it got so much critical recognition, but I can also see how it may not land with everyone.
KISS
2/5
I'm not huge KISS fan, but that doesn't stop me from having a lot of opinions about them. I've heard quite a few of their songs over the years; a few on classic rock radio, and some others in movies or on TV shows. I'd never listened to one of their whole albums until a few months ago when I threw this one on for something to listen to. I guess my overall opinion of KISS is that they're fine. Their studio recordings are kinda meh to me, but their theatrics and live performances are what set KISS apart and what have given them such long careers. I saw them live back in the aughts and it was a total blast. I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that this album is pretty meh, and I assume all KISS studio albums are pretty meh. "Detroit Rock City" and "Shout It Out Loud" are both good, and they're both good examples of what makes KISS work and what makes them fun. "Beth" is good too, but because it shows the band can branch out and do ballads and do them well. Everything else on this album though was not great and pretty forgettable. KISS can be fun and entertaining, but they don't really showcase a lot of that on this album.
Talking Heads
3/5
This is my fourth and final Talking Heads album to review. I've really enjoyed their albums so far (5 stars for More Songs, and 4 stars for Remain and '77), so I had high hopes going into this album. Overall, this album was my least favorite of the Talking Heads albums that I've listened to. It's a good album, but it just lacks the punch that their other albums had. The originality, manic vocals, and odd guitar sounds are all here, but this album can be a bit of a chore at times to get through. "I Zimbra" starts the album off on a strong note, but from there it just kind of plods along until "Life During Wartime" and "Memories Can't Wait." This album wasn't really up my alley, but as much as I love Talking Heads, I wouldn't be opposed to revisiting it some day to see if my initial reaction was wrong.
David Bowie
3/5
This is my seventh David Bowie album to review, and like several of his albums, I found this one to be fine. The only song I was familiar with on this album prior to listening to it was "The Jean Genie," which I think is one of Bowie's better songs. It's interesting listening to this album as a follow-up to Ziggy Stardust, because I liked how this album picked up the rock and roll sounds of Ziggy Stardust, and took them in a different direction. I enjoyed the blues and jazz elements that were used throughout the album, and I think those influences helped Bowie add some depth to an album that was more pure rock and roll. The guitar playing was good, especially on "Watch That Man," and I love the harmonica on "The Jean Genie." The biggest detractor for me on this album is that the sum is far greater than the individual parts. Some of the songs were really forgettable, and there was some really discordant piano playing on a couple of the songs that really turned me off. Still, this is album was an interesting part of Bowie's career, and a pretty well executed rock album.
Dennis Wilson
4/5
I’m familiar with some of the Beach Boys’ catalog (I’ve reviewed Surf’s Up and Brian Wilson’s Smile), but I’ve never listened to this album before. Overall, I thought it was a really good album, and it was really unique.
“River Song” was absolutely fantastic, and it immediately drew me in with its beautiful harmonies and excellent piano playing. Dennis’s raspy voice was a fantastic contrast to the bright sound and light harmonies. The theatrical nature of the song reminded me of Elton John, and I loved it.
The rest of the album was really good, but it never quite hit that high point of “River Song” again. Musically, this album felt like it drew inspiration from a host of sources: The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and the aforementioned Elton John. Dennis’s vocals reminded me a lot of Billy Gibbons’s singing for ZZ Top, and I loved how the beautiful melodies of the album really softened his gravely tone. “Friday Night” and “Dreamer” were some of my other favorite songs, and musically, they really reminded me of Pink Floyd’s The Wall at times. I loved the guitar playing on “Friday Night” and the saxophone on “Dreamer.”
Overall, this was a great album, and I loved that it seemed to draw on so many different influences. It’s a shame that this was the only album that Dennis ever put out, because it seems like he had plenty of creative juice to make more music on his own.
The Byrds
3/5
This is my second Byrds album to review, after their debut, Mr. Tambourine Man. I'm not incredibly familiar with a lot of their music, but I always think of the Byrds' music as being folk rock or psychedelic rock, and this album definitely went against my preconceived notions of their music. Overall, I thought the album was pretty good, and it was interesting to listen to it, knowing that it was one of the first country rock albums. I enjoyed the fact that most of the songs weren't written by The Byrds, and it's just now dawning on me that most of the songs that they covered for this album are folk songs, which suits The Byrds perfectly. While I enjoyed this album, I certainly wasn't blown away by it. I liked the country sound and the lyrics of the songs that they chose to cover (inject "some'll rob you with a six-gun and some with a fountain pen" directly into my veins), but not a lot stood out to me on this album. It was nice enough to listen to, and it's definitely an influential album, but I don't think it's something I'll go back to anytime soon.
Funkadelic
2/5
This is my first Funkadlelic album to review, but I did review Parliament's Mothership Connection (which I loved) early on in my journey.
I wasn't terribly impressed by this album. The guitar playing was great, and there were some pretty good moments sprinkled throughout the album, but the songs were way too long, and they never really managed to go anywhere interesting. "Who Says A Funk Band Can't Play Rock" was easily the bright spot on the album for me; it was really the only song on the album that made me want to groove along with it. The song were really repetitive, but "Who Says A Funk Band Can't Play Rock" was the one song where I didn't mind the repetition. I'm hoping that I'll enjoy Maggot Brain more than I enjoyed this.
Manu Chao
3/5
I've heard of Manu Chao before, but I'm unfamiliar with his music. Overall though, I thought this was a fine album. I wish I had the time to look up translated lyrics for all of the songs, but I don't have time for that today. Hopefully I can do that in the future though.
The first half of the album wasn't really my speed, but I felt like things picked up for me at "Luna y sol," and I enjoyed the album more from that point on, with the exception of "Welcome to Tijuana," which I really didn't care for. The vocals on this album weren't anything to write home about, but the musical arrangements were fine. "La vie á 2" was easily my favorite song on the whole album; I really loved its unique sound.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
4/5
I've reviewed Deja Vu back in the fall, and I'm familiar with "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from this album. I wasn't blown away by this on my first listen, but I went back through a few songs, and developed more of an appreciation for it. While this album isn't anything that I'd gravitate towards, "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is an absolute masterpiece of a song. The guitar playing is fantastic, the harmonies are some of the best harmonies in all of rock music, and the outro is fantastic, and a treat to sing along to. The rest of the album is really good too, complete with more harmonies, more great guitar playing, and some nice hammond organ playing. I think this album was really well written and recorded, and even though it's probably not something I'd go back to, I can completely understand how CSN developed a robust following.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
I recognize this album cover, but I’ve never listened to a Velvet Underground album before. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to even one song of theirs. Needless to say, I went into this album not really knowing what to expect.
The lead-off song “Sunday Morning” really hooked me in with Lou Reed’s vocals and the tinkling of the celeste. “I’m Waiting for the Man” was good too; I liked the change in tempo from “Sunday Morning” and the fuzzy guitar distortion. “Femme Fatale” was good too, and a good introduction to Nico’s vocals. “Venus in Furs” and “Run Run Run” had some really good guitar playing too.
But my favorite songs on the album were “All Tomorrow's Parties” and “Heroin.” “All Tomorrow’s Parties” is exactly what I want in a psychedelic rock song: weird and abstract lyrics, guitars tuned to almost sound like a sitar, and jangling piano playing. “Heroin” on the other hand, was fantastic because of the way the frantic ebb and flow of the music matched the story being told in the lyrics. The structure of “Heroin” was so obvious in a way, but the way the song was written never made it feel like the band was phoning it in or just trying to take a free ride by singing about a taboo topic.
“There She Goes Again” and “I’ll Be Your Mirror” were great, and I especially liked Nico’s singing on the latter. Unfortunately, the album ended on a whimper for me, because the last two songs were far and away my least favorites on the album. There was a grating, repeating sound on “The Black Angel’s Death Song” that really annoyed me, and “European Son” had some really sharp high-pitched sounds that I didn’t care for, even though I liked the manic guitar playing.
Overall though, I think this album is fantastic. It’s wild to me to think about how this was recorded in the late sixties, but you can hear how it influenced post punk and early alternative rock. I can’t imagine Sonic Youth or Pixies existing without this album’s influence. I wasn’t blown away by this album on my first listen, but I listened to it a couple more times, and it really grew on me. This isn’t an album that I’m likely to be drawn back to, but it’s incredibly influential, and I think it’s just an objectively good album, but I can see how it may not land with everyone.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
I've reviewed Harvest and Tonight's the Night, and I've listened to Psychedelic Pill on my own, but this is my first time listening to this album.
Neil Young is pretty hit or miss with me, so my expectations for this album were pretty middle of the road. I wasn't wowed by Harvest or Tonight's the Night, but I do love Freedom (I'm so pissed it's not on the list), and I thought Psychedelic Pill was pretty good. Overall, I thought this album was fine. I know Neil Young's voice isn't a lot of people's favorite, but I like his voice, and there were some nice backing harmonies on this album too, which is something I love about CSNY. I liked the garage rock sound of the album, although it did feel like there wasn't a lot of variation in sound from song to song. Granted, most of the songs were fine, so it wasn't a huge detractor. "Country Home" and "Over and Over" were my favorite songs on the album, and they had some of my favorite guitar playing on the album as well. That's three Neil Young albums down, so I think I only have 15 or so of his albums left.
Motörhead
2/5
Yesterday, I was bemoaning the fact that I hadn't gotten any eighties albums in a while, and today, I was rewarded with this. Caveat emptor I guess.
The only Motörhead song I know is "Ace of Spades," and it was a bit of a bummer that it was the only song on this live album that I was familiar with. It was even more of a bummer that it was the first song, and that after it ended, I was left with over 35 minutes of unfamiliar, live heavy-metal that basically all sounded the same to me. I'm not a huge fan of live albums, and this experience only solidified that feeling for me. I don't understand how an album that's so high energy and full of blasting guitars and pounding drums can still find a way to be so boring. Outside of "Ace of Spades," this album didn't really have a lot going on. I liked that the songs were short, but I hated that these songs weren't all from the same performance, because it stripped away the context of these songs being live in a sense. I really thought I would have enjoyed this more, but this album was a bit of a snooze, and I don't understand why it made this list.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
I'm not familiar with Count Basie's music, or this album, but I thought this was fine to listen to. I don't know much about swing, big band, or jazz music, so it's hard for me to come up with anything objective to say about this album. I enjoyed the more piano forward sound of the first song, but the rest of the album didn't really rely on that sound, which was kind of a bummer, because I thought this might be the first jazz-ish album that I was going to really have a strong love for. The album turned out to be fine, but there just wasn't anything noteworthy about it for me.
Stan Getz
3/5
I reviewed Getz/Gilberto not very long ago, but outside of that, I'm not familiar with Stan Getz, and I've never heard of Charlie Byrd before. I'm not very well acquainted with Bossa nova music, so I don't have much to say about this album, other than it was very relaxing and pleasant to listen to. I always hate that I don't have much to say about albums like this (I just had Count Basie yesterday), but once I'm done with this project, I'm going to go back through all of the jazz, samba, and other niche genre albums so that I can be more familiar with them.
OutKast
5/5
Rap and hip hop music were pretty much not allowed in our house when I was growing up, but I remember being vaguely aware of a couple of songs on this album when I was in high school. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below came out right after I graduated, and I had much more exposure to the singles off that album than Stankonia. After that, Outkast was pretty much off my radar for several years. But in 2011, Big Boi was playing at a local music festival, and my brother had recently seen him in concert and said that he was fantastic. I watched Big Boi's set, not expecting him to throw some Outkast songs into the mix, but he did, and that wound up igniting my interest in this album, which I bought shortly afterwards (I'm 99% sure this was the first hip hop album I owned).
I listened to this album all the way through after buying it, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. At the time, I don't think I was aware of how critically acclaimed it was, and just how important it was for southern hip hop. Today was my first time revisiting the whole album, and I had high hopes that I would still think very highly of it.
I really thought this album would be an easy five star for me, and I thought the same thing about Speakerboxxx/The Love Below when I rated it several weeks ago. Stankonia passes the five-star test for me, but just by the skin of its teeth. The parts of this album that I loved, I really loved: the experimental and varied sounds that are still grounded in southern hip hop, Big Boi’s rapping, and the social commentary in the lyrics.
This album also has some great individual songs on it, with “B.O.B.” being my favorite one. I love its high-speed tempo, the screeching guitars and organ, and the gospel vocal outro. The song feels like a funk song on speed and LSD, and I love every minute of it. “Miss Jackson” and “So Fresh and So Clean” are fantastic too; they’re both insanely catchy and fun. “Gasoline Dreams,” “Red Velvet,” and “Xplosion” were the best songs on this album that weren’t singles, with “Red Velvet” being my favorite of the bunch.
Stankonia is pretty long, but to me, it never felt like it dragged on, which is not the case for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The biggest weakness that Stankonia has is that I feel like it doesn’t utilize the talents of its guests very well. “Humble Mumble” needed more Erykah Badu, and “Slum Beautiful” needed more Cee-Lo, which I can’t believe I’m saying, because Cee-Lo sucks, but I would have liked more of his vocals. Still, I think this is a really good album overall. It has fantastic beats and musical elements, it has an incredibly experimental sound that stays true to its southern roots, and it has fantastic lyrics and rapping. I’m glad I finally revisited this album in its entirety.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
This is my second Leonard Cohen album to review, after You Want it Darker. I listened to You Want It Darker before starting this project, but I’m unfamiliar with any of Leonard Cohen’s other albums.
This album was fine overall. It definitely felt like it was written and performed by a poet. They lyrics were deep and well written, and the musical arrangements were simple and melodic. The lead-off track, “Suzanne,” was one of my favorite songs on the album. It had some great additional strings to accompany the guitar playing, and I enjoyed the yearning heartbreak of the lyrics. “Sisters of Mercy” also had some really nice arrangements of other instruments, which gave the song a nice depth of sound. “So Long, Marianne” was really nice too, and I enjoyed the backing vocals that were present on the chorus. Cohen’s vocals aren’t anything remarkable, but it works really well, as his voice fits well with the overall tone of the album.
Overall, this album was fine. The lyrics are far and away the star of the show, but the music is pleasant and accompanies the lyrics well. I think my biggest complaint about this album is that a majority of it just wasn’t very memorable, and some of the songs felt like they dragged on.
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
I don't think I've ever heard of the Bill Evans Trio, but I'm not very familiar with jazz music, so I'm not surprised. Like pretty much all of the other jazz albums I've reviewed, this album was fine. I don't really have any objective ways to judge it, but it was fine to listen to. I did like that it was a bit more stripped down in terms of the number of instruments present, but I think that the simplicity really showcased how the form of the songs was structured through the interactions between bass, piano, and drums. Overall, this album was fine, and I wouldn't be opposed to revisiting it some day.
Neil Young
3/5
This is my third Neil Young solo album to review, and like his other albums, I thought this was fine. I liked how the lyrics explored loneliness and disillusionment, with a little bit of cultural and societal critiques as well. I think these are emotions that Neil Young explores really well, and I think that this album is an interesting follow up to Harvest, and the things Neil Young was experiencing in his career and life at the time. Musically, this album was pleasant to listen to, but nothing really stood out to me, and I think the album was weighed down some by the longer songs. Overall though, this was a good album, and I'm looking forward to when I get to review After the Gold Rush.
Finley Quaye
2/5
I'm not familiar with this album or artist, and since I'm not a big reggae fan, I didn't have high hopes for this album.
This album certainly wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The lyrics and singing were the biggest weaknesses of the album by far. It felt like Finley wasn't singing with any conviction, and the lyrics just felt completely disingenuous. Maybe the vocals created that feeling, but either way, for a reggae album, this album felt pretty devoid of meaning and depth.
Musically though, I thought this album had quite a few bright spots. On those bright spots, the arrangements were simple, but they sound great. Every element that Finley uses sounds great and placed really well. However, not being a big reggae fan, that wasn't enough for me to find this album really interesting or enjoyable. Overall, this was pretty below average for me, but people who like reggae might be able to get more out of it.
D'Angelo
3/5
I’m vaguely familiar with who D’Angelo is and his influence in the 90’s, but I’ve never listened to any of his music before. I’m not a big R&B fan, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this album.
Overall, this album was fine. The singing and the arrangements were really beautiful, and I can see how this album sold really well when it came out. It’s pretty impressive that this was D’Angelo’s debut album, because musically and vocally, it sounds like it was made by an industry veteran. However, lyrically, it felt pretty juvenile in a sense. Instead of love songs, this album felt like it had songs about cheesy teenage lust. Additionally, the songs couldn’t really justify their length, as most of them were pretty boring. As pleasant and well composed as the musical arrangements were, they were somewhat boring and unmemorable, but maybe that was exacerbated by the length of the songs. Still, D’Angelo is a talented musician who’s had a successful career. Even though I’m not too hot on this album, I think it’s a big part of nineties R&B music.
Duran Duran
5/5
I’ve listened to a lot of Duran Duran’s music throughout my life, but I can’t remember if I’ve ever listened to Rio all the way through. If I have, I only did it once, and that’s a shame, because this album is fantastic from start to finish.
Duran Duran is one of the first bands I think of when I think of eighties music, and for good reason. Their music and music videos received a lot of deserved airplay back when it came out, and it’s been popular and well received after the eighties as well. I was born in ’85, and I remember hearing their music frequently in the nineties on our local “Mix” radio station, and on a few other radio stations that would play eighties music. I think my favorite thing about Duran Duran is how unique their music is. Despite being popular in the early eighties, I don’t consider them new wave or post punk. Sure, they relied on synthesizers a lot, but the way they blended their synth parts with slick guitar riffs just doesn’t really sound like anything else from that era.
I loved Rio for a host of reasons: the aforementioned meshing of synthesizers with great guitar riffs, Simon Le Bon’s vocals, and a slew of catchy songs that are really fun to sing along to. The singles on this album (the title track, “Hungry Like The Wolf,” and “Say A Prayer”) are all fantastic, but every song on this album is really good. Speaking of the singles on this album, I can’t believe that there were only three of them. I’m not saying every song on this album is worthy of being a single, but how was “Hold Back The Rain” not released as a single? The repeating synth line, the main guitar riff, the booming drum hits during the chorus, and the pleading backing vocals make this song one of the strongest on the album, and that’s saying something on an album with “Rio” and “Hungry Like The Wolf.” Speaking of those two songs, I’ve always enjoyed them, but I never realized how rich in sound they are, and how the details in each one’s sound really make them stand out. The synthesizer and keyboard parts in both of them are outstanding, and they both have great outro’s as well. Maybe I was never super into them because I only ever heard the US versions? And why did this album need to be remixed for American audiences? Did we not get good cocaine over here until ’84? Since I’ve been rambling on for a while here, I’ll wrap up by talking about how much I love “Save A Prayer.” The whole album does a great job of merging synth, keyboards, and guitars, but “Save A Prayer” does the best job of the whole lot. That wailing keyboard note that plays at the end of the chorus is just perfect, and I love the song’s dreamlike feel.
Rio is fantastic from start to finish, and from now on, it will always be in my list of the best albums of the eighties.
John Lennon
3/5
Other than reviewing John Lennon's Imagine a few months ago, I'm not familiar with much of John Lennon's work after The Beatles. What little I do know about John Lennon, makes me view him as a bit of an asshole and an aloof and disingenuous doofus. I recently read a little about his song "Give Peace a Chance" in Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute, which only furthered these notions for me (I highly recommend that book by the way; it's a bit more history than music in its content, but it's still super interesting, and it covers a lot of music that's on this list). Given all of that, and how much I didn't like Imagine, I didn't think I'd care for this album very much.
However, I was bit pleasantly surprised. While Imagine felt phony to me, this album felt a lot more genuine. I think Lennon really nailed the tone of this album by singing more about personal issues. "Mother" was really fantastic, and even if it wasn't completely autobiographical, it was really heartbreaking. "Working Class Hero" was really good too, and it felt like it came from a place of experience. Lennon's critique of social classes was really on point in this song, and it still feels incredibly relevant today. It felt like the songs on this album were either more piano driven or guitar driven in their melodies, but both were done well.
I think my biggest criticism of this album is that even though the songs were done well, some of them were boring, and others just weren't memorable. A lot of it feels very akin to The White Album, but unfortunately, it's akin to the parts of The White Album that I don't really like. Still, this album was fine overall, but it's not an album that I'd seek out again.
k.d. lang
2/5
I've heard of K.D. Lang before, but I don't think I've ever listened to any of her music before. Overall, I thought this album wasn't that great. K.D. is a really good vocalist, but good vocals just weren't enough to make this album interesting for me. I enjoyed "Miss Chatelaine" and "Still Thrives This Town" because they had some great arrangements, and they really stood out from the rest of the album. However, "Constant Craving" was far and away the best song on the album. Come to think of it, is this album solely on the list because of "Constant Craving?" I guess I can't be too mad about that. K.D. Lang is clearly a talented musician, but this album misses a lot more than it lands with me. There just aren't that many songs that have great arrangements to go along with Lang's great vocals.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
This is my second Creedence album to review, after Cosmo's Factory. I wouldn't call myself a big CCR fan, but I'm pretty familiar with a lot of their hits, a couple of which were on this album.
Like Cosmo's Factory, I thought this album was fine. CCR's music is pretty hit or miss with me, and this album was no exception. "Born On The Bayou" is fantastic, and "Proud Mary" is really good too. I don't understand how it does it, but those first notes of "Born On The Bayou" always manage to make me feel like I'm standing outside in August, with the air literally clinging to me from humidity. I love the simplicity of "Proud Mary"'s sound, with its steady rhythm, the nice guitar solo full of twang, and the lyrics that paint an idealized southern hospitality.
The rest of the album wavered between good and boring. "Bootleg," "Keep On Chooglin'," and "Penthouse Pauper" were good, and I felt like they felt aligned with the rest of the album's sound while still feeling unique. The other few songs were pretty boring though. I think CCR's sound can be somewhat limiting, and that's what made the low parts of this album really drag.
CCR's does a really great job of crafting their own southern rock sound, but sometimes they struggle to do much within the confines of what they created. This album was fine overall, but I'd rather just stick to CCR's hits.
Burning Spear
2/5
I've never heard of Burning Spear before, but I've enjoyed getting to become more acquainted with reggae music through this list, so I was excited to give this a listen.
This album was pretty ho-hum in my opinion, especially compared to the other reggae albums I've listened to on this list. By 'other reggae albums,' I mean 'the three Bob Marley albums,' but whatever.
My favorite thing about reggae music is the radical lyrics, and this album started off really strong lyrically. I loved that the first few songs had a tone that was more reflective, and asked the listener to not forget the tragedies and racial traumas of the past. I thought it was a really effective way to start off the album. After those first few songs though, the I felt like the album lost its way lyrically, as it just didn't feel as powerful in its call to action.
Musically, I thought this album wasn't nearly as good as its peers. One of the elements that I like the most in reggae music is the use of the clavinet, but I didn't think the clavinet usage on this album was that good. There was some nice flute playing on one of the songs (I'm too lazy to and figure out which one it was), but that was really the only thing that stood out to me musically.
I didn't really enjoy this album much, and it was kind of a let down, especially for my 400th album.
Morrissey
4/5
This is my second Morrissey album to review, after Vauxhall and I (I’ve already reviewed all three Smiths albums). As much as I don't care for Morrissey the person, I’ve really enjoyed every album of his that I’ve listened to, so I had high hopes for this album.
Thankfully, this album didn’t fall short of my expectations, and I enjoyed it a little more than I enjoyed Vauxhall and I. The first three tracks were absolutely fantastic. “America Is Not the World” had me cracking up. Is this song supposed to be funny? Morrissey’s message on this song was relevant in 2004, and it’s still relevant today, but it’s kind of silly in a way, and I don’t mind that at all. I loved the way the frantic guitar contrasted with Morrissey’s vocals on “Irish Blood, English Heart.” I loved when the chorus would kick in, and yes Morrissey, fuck Oliver Cromwell. “I Have Forgiven Jesus” was probably my favorite song on the album. Growing up in an evangelical household, religion was often used as a weapon against my brother and I, and I’ve had a strange relationship with my faith as an adult, so I really related to this song.
The middle of the album was probably my least favorite part, but it still had some really good guitar playing, great vocals, and really interesting lyrics. The last three tracks pulled me right back in though, and I really loved the more experimental nature on those songs. The guitar distortion and keyboard sounds were not what I was expecting, but they were both incredibly well utilized.
This was a really good album, and it’s always through gritted teeth that I have to admit how much I like Morrissey’s music, whether it’s with The Smiths or his work as a solo artist. I wish I had come across this in 2004 when it came out, because I think I would really have enjoyed it then as well. I’m looking forward to the last two Morrissey solo albums that I’ll get to review.
Funkadelic
5/5
Early on in my reviews, I got Parliament's Mothership Connection, and I loved it. A few weeks ago, I got Funkadelic's One Nation Under A Groove, and I didn't care for it much. I was really bummed that I didn't like ONUAG, because I knew that Maggot Brain had good reviews, and I was worried I wouldn't like it either. I'm delighted that those fears were dashed by the funky psychedelic sandwich that was Maggot Brain.
The title track hooked my attention right away with its spoken word intro, and I loved the extended guitar solo that made up the rest of the song. But "Can You Get To That" absolutely blew my mind. In 2009, my brother got me a copy of MGMT's Oracular Spectacular and Vampire Weekend's self titled album. Those two albums completely changed the trajectory of the music that I listened to. In 2010, Sleigh Bell's Treats came out, and like a lot of people, I was fully on their hype train. When "Can You Get To That" kicked in, I froze. Did Sleigh Bells sample this for "Rill Rill," or was my brain just trying to connect to this album? As the song went on for a few more seconds, I realized that it had to have been sampled by Sleigh Bells, and I couldn't believe I was learning that fact almost 14 years after Treats' release. With music, I feel like I'm always chasing that high you feel when you hear a song for the first time and immediately fall in love with it. Hearing "Can You Get To That" was the closest I'll ever get to being able to hear "Rill Rill" again for the first time again, and it delighted me in a way that I don't think I can put into words. I literally teared up because I was so happy. Indie music in the early 2010's is so special to me because it's symbolic of the start of my "real adult life" after college, and it was great to have that connection with this album.
Now that I've written a dissertation on my weepy sense of nostalgia, I'll try to be more succinct in discussing the rest of the album. I loved that this album had longer and more experimental songs to lead off and close the album. "Wars of Armageddon" was weird and dissonant at times, but I liked the sense of unease that it was able to build with its frantic pace and odd (see also: farting) sounds. The songs in the middle of this funky sandwich were fantastic too. The guitar arrangements were fantastic, the keyboards were groovy as hell, and the vocals rounded out the sound perfectly. Unlike One Nation Under A Groove, these songs made me want to dance. There was a really great bass and drum sound on "You and Your Folks, Me And My Folks" that I'm having a tough time describing; it sounds like an echo from those dollar store microphone toys, and I loved the way that it thumped along to the bright keyboard melody.
This album was fantastic from start to finish. This is exactly what I wanted from Funkadelic, and then some. Not only was listening to this really enjoyable, it's a treat to listen to something that was so influential and groundbreaking.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
This is my second and subsequently last Run-D.M.C. to review. I really enjoyed Raising Hell, so I had really high hopes for this album.
Side 1 of this album was nothing short of fantastic. I loved the beats and backing music, the rapping was great, and the lyrics provided some really good social commentary. "Hard Times" and "Rock Box" were really great, and I can't imagine how game changing those songs must have been for popular music when this album came out. "Rock Box"'s guitar based sound is especially great, and Run-D.M.C. uses the sound perfectly to achieve something incredibly unique.
Unfortunately, Side 2 wore a little thin on me. The songs were too long, and by this point in the album, Run-D.M.C.'s "you-go-I-go" rapping started to wear thin on me. By that point, it felt like the album was confined to a certain structure and formula, and the album started to suffer from those limitations.
Even though Side 2 was a bit of a letdown, this was still a great album, and an incredibly influential one to boot. Run-D.M.C.'s sound on this album feels simple compared to a lot of hip hop music today, but the group does all of the fundamentals so well that their music is fun to listen to. The way that Run-D.M.C. perfectly balances the relationship between MC and DJ allows them to craft some great songs, and it makes their messaging even more effective and powerful. This is a must listen for any fan of popular music.
Tears For Fears
5/5
A few weeks ago, I was lamenting that I hadn’t gotten to review an eighties album in a while. A couple of days later, I was given Motörhead’s No Sleep Till Hammersmith, which was not what I’d had in mind at all. Last weekend, I was very excited to review Duran Duran’s Rio. When I saw that on the docket today was Songs From The Big Chair, I was ecstatic. I’ve loved Tears for Fears since I was a kid, and as an adult, I’ve listened to this album in its entirety, and I think it’s a masterpiece.
Most of my love for this album is due to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” When I think of a song that captures the mood of the decade, this is the first song I think of. I love everything about its sound: the tinkling synths, the dreamy keyboards, and the perfect guitar playing that accompanies the airy atmosphere. Curt Smith’s vocals do an excellent job of keeping the overall sound light, while still singing with the passion to convey the song’s warning of the dangers of power-hungry political administrations. I’ve heard this song countless times throughout my life, and I never get tired of it. Every time I hear those opening notes, I can just visualize going to the mall, or turning on the cable box in our wood-paneled living room. For my money, this is one of the best songs of the eighties.
As much as I love “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” I’ve spent a lot of time being let down by this album’s opening track, “Shout.” Every time I hear “Shout,” I’m let down that I’m not hearing “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” instead, and that’s incredibly unfair to this song. I love its low, droning bass sound combined with the lighter tinkling percussion sounds, and the synth sound that starts during the pre-chorus is fantastic too. “Shout” does a fantastic job of subtlety building in intensity until its great outro closes out the song. “Head Over Heels” is incredible too, with its distinct piano intro, and screeching guitar notes. I love the falsetto that Curt Smith uses at the end of each line; it serves as such a great contrast to the rest of his singing.
The rest of the songs on this album are fantastic too, especially “The Working Hour” and “Mothers Talk.” This album is fantastic from start to finish, and it’s a masterpiece of eighties pop. So many bands tried to duplicate the sound that Tears for Fears created on this album, but no one can hold a candle to the sounds here. As much as I might joke that this album’s weakness is that it’s not 42 minutes of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” that’s actually where its strengths lie, because each song showcases impressively distinct pop sounds. Songs from the Big Chair is fantastic, and completely worthy of being on this list.
The Stranglers
4/5
I’ve never heard of this album or artist before, but this was a really pleasant surprise. I love late seventies and early eighties new wave music, so this album was right up my alley. I really enjoyed the keyboard playing and how it melded with the guitars to create a really unique sound. This album’s sound utilized some of my favorite elements of post punk and new wave to create something really unique. The lyrics weren’t my favorite, but I the vocals were really good, and fit the lyrical style really well. This album felt like a mash up of Gang of Four’s Entertainment and Magazine’s Real Life, and I thought it worked really well. I think any fan of new wave or post punk from the same era will probably enjoy this album as well.
B.B. King
3/5
I'm ashamed to say that the B. B. King work that I'm most familiar with is that commercial that he did for the diabetes test strips. You know, the one where he talks about how pricking his finger all the time impacts his ability to play the guitar. And then he says something about how a guitar can't play the blues unless it's been in a pawn shop. Good stuff. By the way, how do I remember stuff as inconsequential as commercials?
Anyway, on to the album. I feel like it's tough to accurately judge a live album when you're unfamiliar with the artist, but I thought this album was pretty good. King is a fantastic guitarist, and he and his band were playing their hearts out on these songs. I read in my brief research that King only wrote four of these tracks, but he played and sang them all as if he had lived them. I loved the way he worked the crowd, and the crowd reactions felt like their own instrument in a way. The album sounded great too, just in terms of pure recording quality, which was nice for a live album from this era. I think my biggest complaint is that some of the songs were a tad boring, and not being familiar with the artist's music kind of took me out of the live aspect a bit. This was still a good album though, and I'd go back and revisit B. B. King's music some day.
Traffic
3/5
I listened to a lot of classic rock in my teens and early twenties, but I'd never listened to Traffic until starting this list. I'd always meant to check them out, but never made it around to them. I reviewed John Barleycorn Must Die about a year ago, and I didn't care for it much, so I didn't have high hopes for this album.
This album was a little bit better than John Barleycorn Must Die, but not by much. As far as late sixties rock goes, this was a pretty standard affair, with some folk and jazz influences tossed in. The keyboard playing was pretty good, and punched up some of the songs, but the rest of the arrangements weren't anything noteworthy. Some of the songs were pretty good, but the rest were pretty bland. I did enjoy "Vagabond Virgin" though; it had some echoey vocal effects that I really liked. "Feelin' Alright?" was pretty good too, but I think the Joe Cocker version runs circles around this one. I like Steve Winwood's pop songs from the eighties, but I feel like his singing talents aren't really showcased well on either of the Traffic albums that I've listened to.
Overall, this album was fine. It wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was particularly good or noteworthy either. I don't think I'll be seeking out any more Traffic albums.
Iggy Pop
5/5
The only Iggy Pop album I've ever listened to is The Stooges' Raw Power, but aside from cranking up "Search and Destroy" every now and again, I haven't listened to that album in probably 15 years or so. Given the good reviews for this album, I had pretty high hopes heading into it.
I didn't think I was familiar with any of the songs on this album, but right away, I recognized the title track... from a Carnival Cruise commercial... that's not very punk rock! But hey, a man's gotta eat, and "Lust for Life" is a complete banger, so I won't deduct any style points for that. That song really has it all: tambourine playing, bluesy guitar playing, a great bass line, and David Bowie on piano. "Sixteen," "Some Weird Sin," and the passenger were great too; they had a lot of the same elements as the title track, but each had a different vocal style that made them really unique. "Tonight" and "Success" were where I could really feel David Bowie's influence in the writing of the music. They both had that touch of 'David Bowie' glam to them, without feeling derivative. "Turn Blue" was the low point of the album for me; the first time I listened to it, I really felt every second of its run time. But the album closed out really strong with "Neighborhood Threat" and "Fall In Love With Me." There was something really familiar about "Fall In Love With Me," but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it reminds me of Arctic Monkeys or The Strokes? Oh well, it doesn't matter, because I loved the vocals and guitar playing on it.
This was a fantastic album, and I really loved its garage rock sound, coupled with David Bowie's music writing skills. I wouldn't say that I loved this album, but I think it's objectively good, which is how I felt about The Velvet Underground and Nico. Iggy Pop is a tremendous influence on music, and it's wild to me that this album came out in the seventies, because it sounds like it could have come out in the early aughts. This album has definitely held up, and deserves a spot on this list.
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
I'm not familiar with this artist or album, but then again, I'm not super familiar with 90's hip hop, so take that with a grain of salt. I thought this album was pretty good overall. The beats were really great (I especially enjoyed the piano parts, as they felt very east coast), the lyrics were good, and the rapping was pretty good too. Some of my favorite parts of the album were:
-"D. Original": I loved the piano used in the beat. The discordant sound really gave the song that 'pre-Giuliani New York' feel, before New York became a 'safe' tourist attraction. The lyrics were great too. I loved the reference to Mortal Kombat and the rhyming of "sewer" with "manure."
-"Mental Stamina": well this song references Blanka from Street Fighter II. Does this guy have any loyalties with his 2-D fighting games?
-"You Can't Stop the Prophet": I enjoyed the way this song wove its dark narrative, especially with the 'villain' having his own lines of dialogue.
-"Ain't The Devil Happy": thematically, I thought this might have been the best song on the album. The lyrics felt like traditional gangsta rap with some sprinkles of self reflection.
I don't think I'd listen to this album again, but it was interesting to listen to something from 90's hip hop that's a little less well-known.
The Slits
3/5
I've only heard of The Slits because I reviewed Neneh Cherry's album several months ago. I was looking forward to this album, but lukewarm reviews dashed my hopes a bit.
I thought this album was pretty good, and a little bit better than user reviews suggest it is. The lyrics were the star of the show here, and were really the only thing about this album that felt punk. "Spend, Spend, Spend" and "FM" were probably the best songs when it came to lyrics, and I thought that FM standing for 'frequent mutilation' was pretty clever. Musically though, this album was pretty middle of the road. There were some really good moments (I liked the drumming, and the ska and reggae influences were unique), but it seemed like none of these parts ever came together to create a whole that attracted my interest. I really loved the scratchy guitars on "Newtown" and the piano on "Love Und Romance." Ari Up's German accent gave the album a nice touch as well, and I'm glad she didn't hide her uniqueness in her singing.
Even though this album was pretty middle of the road for me, I can understand why it's on this list. The ideas here are big, even though the end result couldn't cash in, and you can hear this album's influence in so many other artists' work. This was an interesting journey, but I don't think I'd go back down that road.
Sigur Rós
5/5
I've listened to a few Sigur Rós albums (I think I've listened to ( ) and Taak all the way through), and I even managed to see them live several years ago, but I've never listened to this album before. I'm pretty familiar with the band, but I wouldn't classify myself as a big Rós-Head (that's what fans of the band call themselves, right?).
It's been a long time since I've listened to any Sigur Rós music, but from what I can remember, this album feels and sounds very different from ( ) and Taak. I often think of Sigur Rós albums as best being looked at as one large work, but this album feels like each track can stand on its own, in addition to being part of a larger and more complete work. Also, I tend to think of Sigur Rós's music as being pretty light and airy in sound and mood, but this album is able to shift from those lighter and more airy moods to darker and more serious moods, and then back again, all while every song still feels connected to the larger work. To me, this is best illustrated by how tracks 5-7 flow. Lastly, I feel like this album contains a wider variety of sounds and moods compared to other Sigur Rós albums, and I think it works to this album's advantage.
This album is beautiful from start to finish, and contains some fantastic musical arrangements. The songs are long, but they're never boring, and just when I would think that one of them would start to wear on me, the arrangement evolves and adds something new. I thought this album was fantastic, and it makes me want to go back and listen to Taak and ( ) again.
Lucinda Williams
1/5
I think I've heard of Lucinda Williams before, but I didn't think I was familiar with any of her music. After a little bit of reading, it turns out I know her song "Passionate Kisses," but I'm not sure if I grew up hearing her version or Mary Chapin Carpenter's. Regardless, I'm pretty picky about my country music, so this was going to be a coin flip heading into this album, but at least it's not Post-9/11 Country.
I thought this album was a dud. The vocals and music weren't that great, and the lyrics felt completely uninspired. This album felt like someone looked up a bunch of cities and stereotypical southern things and just tried to write songs by repeating things like "Jackson" and "screen door," and hoping that it would land with people. And apparently it landed with quite a few people. Enough people to win a Grammy. The professional reviews that I read over said that the songs on here were great storytelling, and that they build to crushingly sad conclusions. Maybe they do, but I was so disengaged that I couldn't find one interesting thing to latch on to keep my interest on this album. As completely forgettable as this album was, at least it wasn't Pere Ubu's Dub Housing bad.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
This is an album I own, and that I'm very familiar with. I grew up hearing "Sledgehammer," "Big Time," and "In Your Eyes" pretty frequently on the radio, but I didn't listen to this album all the way through until maybe ten years ago, give or take.
This is easily one of my favorite albums from the eighties, and I was really excited to see it pop up for me to review today. The album has a massive sound, and every song is full of rich tones. Despite drawing on a multitude of influences, this album somehow manages to be Peter Gabriel's most accessible album, while also being one of his most ambitious and experimental. The personnel listing on this album is gargantuan as well; from instrumentals by Nile Rodgers and Stewart Copeland to vocals by Kate Bush and Youssou N'Dour, these songs feature some of the best musicians in rock music. Also present are Peter Gabriel's frequent session musicians David Rhodes and Tony Levin, providing some of the best guitar playing in eighties pop music.
The album establishes its big sound with the moody and dreamlike lead off track "Red Rain," before launching into the pop-rock "Sledgehammer" with its beautiful synthesizer and dance worthy horn playing. "Don't Give Up" is a beautiful, dreamy duet with the aforementioned Kate Bush, and "Big Time" is another dancy pop-rock jam, punctuated by a groovy bass line. However, the most recognizable number off of this album would have to be "In Your Eyes" (despite only reaching number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Sledgehammer" managed to top the chart). The slow, melodic ballad is one of the most beautiful song of the decade, made even more memorable and ever-present by its appearance in Cameron Crowe's Say Anything. By the way, I watched Say Anything for the first time a couple of months ago, and I was blown away that the "In Your Eyes" scene was not the final scene in the movie. As many times as I've seen that clip of Lloyd Dobler holding up the boombox, I always believed that the next thing you saw was Diane Court running outside to jump into Lloyd's arms. I don't know how I crafted that false image in my mind, but I was blown away to learn I was wrong. Also, Diane's dad goes to prison for fleecing old people? Didn't see that coming either.
Enough of my rambling. This album is fantastic from start to finish, and it's incredibly fun to revisit. An absolute pop-art masterpiece, worthy of its notoriety.
Yes
4/5
This is my third and final Yes album to review. I've listened to this album from start to finish before, but this is my first time to really give it more than a casual listen.
Outside of "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (woof), I'd wager that "Roundabout" is the Yes song that most people are familiar with. The keyboards often get the recognition on this song, and rightfully so; they're played with blistering speed and precision, but they're also arranged beautifully. They're easily most fun part of the song, but Jon Anderson's vocals and Chris Squire's bass guitar deserve some love too. Anderson's lead vocals match the pace of the keyboards perfectly, and the group's harmonies add some rich depth. Squire's bass solo matches the tempo of the rest of the song, while providing a nice contrasting tone. "Roundabout" is not only an S-tier Yes song, it's also an S-tier classic rock song as well.
It'd be easy to call it a day on Fragile after "Roundabout," but the rest of the album is really solid as well. Rick Wakeman's keyboards are still present, but not as dominant, as Steve Howe's guitars get some moments to shine, especially on "Long Distance Runaround." The guitar solo that leads into the aforementioned song harkens back to the spirit of the keyboard playing on "Roundabout" with bright tones and a fast tempo. Bill Bruford's drumming never really gets more than some glimpses in the limelight, but his skill is more than enough to provide some great rhythms on this album. While they might seem to be an odd choice stylistically, the shorter interludes are an interesting touch to break up the longer songs on this album. "We Have Heaven" is brilliant, and I honestly wouldn't have been opposed to this being a longer piece of the album; it takes me back to "I've Seen All Good People" in all the best ways.
The thing that holds this album back is the closing track "Heart of the Sunrise." This song takes you to a lot of different places in Yes's sound, but I felt every second of its ten minute plus runtime. I'm not even sure if this song would have been better served by being broken into smaller songs, because a good portion of it feels unnecessary, even though it is pleasant and somewhat interesting.
Still, this album is bold and adventurous, a feeling well represented by the image on its cover. I'm not the biggest fan of prog rock, but if I'm going to listen to something prog rock that's not Pink Floyd, Fragile would be something that I'd be happy to throw on.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
I don't think I've listened to any Rufus Wainwright music before, but I want to say I've heard him being talked about lately, but I can't remember in what capacity that was. Anywho.
I thought this album was okay. Rufus is an incredibly talented vocalist, and this album had some really pretty arrangements on it, but it just felt like the album relied heavily on being 'high art' without much substance to back it up. "The One You Love" and "Little Sister" were my favorite tracks on the album. I loved the guitar and vocals on "The One You Love," and the baroque feel of "Little Sister" really set it apart from the rest of the album. The other songs on the album were fine for the most part; only "Peach Trees" and the closing "Old Whore's Diet" were really off-putting to me. Rufus Wainwright is clearly talented, but this album was pretty boring, and it's not something I'd listen to again.
Air
3/5
This is my second Air album to review. I've never listened to this album before, nor I have seen The Virgin Suicides, but I loved Moon Safari (I have no idea why I gave it four stars instead of five), so I'm excited to kick back and listen to this album.
I thought this album was good, but I feel like that without being familiar with the movie, it was just a nice album to listen to. Air's arrangements are really nice, and I enjoyed that this score was meant to convey a wide variety of emotions, but I wish I had more context in listening to it. I think it's an odd choice to put a film score on this list, considering that having seen the movie or not seems to influence a lot of the reviews. I love the score to Requiem for a Dream, but without having seen the movie, it just wouldn't resonate with me. I've only seen the movie once, but that's all it takes for me to forever have a visceral reaction any time I hear "Summer Overture." I'm going to watch The Virgin Suicides this weekend, and I'm sure it will change my feelings towards this album.
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
I've heard of Belle and Sebastian, but I don't think I've ever listened to any of their music before. I’m glad I did a little bit of quick research before diving into this album; I had the misconception that Belle and Sebastian were eponymously named. For some reason, I thought this band was a male-female duo, in the vein of She & Him. Look at me, learning things on a Friday.
This album was absolutely fantastic. I think I expected something heavily folky, but instead, I got some fantastic indie rock. I love how most of the songs started off with less instrumentation, and then slowly added additional instruments to evolve the sound. The arrangements on each song were incredibly beautiful and really fun to listen to. I was pleasantly by the richness of sound on each song, and how nothing ever felt repetitive or got stale, and I think that’s due in part to some fantastic production work. Also, the vocals were great, and the lyrics had a feeling of air sentimentality that never felt overly sappy or fake. I loved every bit of this album, and I’d listen to it again in a heartbeat.
Doves
5/5
I wasn’t familiar with this band or album, but I thought this album was fantastic. “Words” hooked me right from the start, and there until the last track, this album was full of beautiful melodies. There were so many great sounds to take in on every song: great guitar playing, light and airy percussion, beautiful synthesizers, and hypnotic string arrangements. This album reminded me of The Bends, with a dashes of Beach House, My Bloody Valentine, and The Charlatans sprinkled throughout. One of my favorite things about Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain is that the album feels both massive and intimate at the same time, and this album’s vocals really achieved that affect too, through some clever echo effects. Even though this album reminded me of work by other musicians, I thought the overall sound was incredibly unique, and it never felt like it was just trying to copy and paste someone else’s sound. This was beautiful from start to finish, and I’m excited to review the other Doves album on this list.
Slade
3/5
I don't think I've ever heard of Slade before, but this was a pretty fun album. These guys have some decent chops when it comes to hard rock. The guitars and drumming were good, and I liked Noddy Holder's vocals. As much as the purposeful misspelling of the song titles and album title were a unique touch, they weren't really enough to make this album a memorable listen. In the crowded field of 70's hard rock, Slade doesn't really stand out to me. This album was kind of like a roller coaster: sure, it was fun while it was happening, but when you're not on the ride, it's hard to feel that sensation again. I guess it's more succinct to say that this album just isn't terribly memorable. Other seventies hard rock acts Kiss and AC/DC have some absolute ear worms, and that's what's missing from this album. I'm still glad I got to branch out and listen to this album, but it was pretty middle of the road.
The Offspring
5/5
This is my 420th album to review, and while not as on the nose as Peter Tosh's Legalize it would have been, The Offspring's Smash is still a good fit.
I'm pretty familiar with a lot of The Offspring's work from the nineties (and some of their hits from the aughts); I had a burned copy of Americana that I listened to a lot in high school, and The Offspring was played quite a bit on the local alternative rock station. I also had their song "Want You Bad" as my girlfriend's ringtone at some point in college or my mid-twenties. I still love that song, but Christ, that was cringe-worthy. Punk and pop-punk music were some of my favorite alternative rock to listen to in high school. Blink 182, Green Day, and Sum 41 were probably my favorites, but The Offspring would have been right up there too. I didn't have any CD's by any of these bands (other than the burned copy of Americana), because my parents were very strict about any music that I bought, but that just made hearing songs by these bands on the radio that more special. In the late aughts, I got really into indie rock, and at that point, I had the belief that alternative rock was 'beneath me' (hey, we all have a period in our lives where we act kinda douchey), but I'm excited to listen to these guys for the first time in a while.
I was not expecting to enjoy this album as much as I did. I thought this was fantastic from start to finish. The drumming and guitar playing were absolutely fantastic; I loved the fast tempo of most of the songs, but the slower songs like "Gotta Get Away" and "Self Esteem" hit just as hard. I love that some of the guitar playing has a Spanish/Mexican sound to it. I don't know how they came up with the idea to use that sound, but it's shocking to me how well it works on a nineties punk album. Dexter Holland's vocals are great, and there's just something about his voice that I love; I think he does a great job of conveying anger and disillusionment without having to yell or resort to gimmicks. Dexter's voice is really unique, and it's one of the things that makes The Offspring's music stand out from their contemporaries.
Lyrically, this album is fantastic as well. These songs tackle so many topics: homelessness, militarism, mental health, relationships, etc. The political commentary is absolutely fantastic. I think a lot of people my age look at America in the nineties as having been a pretty docile time, but there was still so much going on: the public acknowledgment of the AIDS crisis, civil wars and uprisings taking place across the globe, gay rights moving to the forefront of the national conversation, and rises in gun violence. The nineties were a time of prosperity in our country, and culture tended to be more monolithic before the rise of the internet, so it's easy to ignore or forget about people who were suffering during that time. The Offspring manages to address all of the issues that they sing about in a way that feels really genuine.
I really loved listening to this today, and this album has given me a new appreciation for The Offspring. This album is a work of genius, and despite its heavy tone, it's really fun to listen to, and it holds up really well thirty years (fuck me) later. The punk sound that The Offspring created on this album is really unique and perfectly captures the spirit of the decade. I wish I had owned a copy of this as a teeanger, but I'm certainly tempted to pick one up now.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
3/5
I've heard of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (which will abbreviated as LBM for the remainder of this review), but only because Paul Simon's Graceland is one of my favorite albums of all time. It was interesting to get to hear LBM on their own, and this album featured some really great singing, but it was difficult to give direct attention to it since it was only acapella singing with a lot of that in a foreign language. This album was nice to listen to, and I'm happy for the experience to branch out, but this didn't exactly light the world on fire for me.
Radiohead
4/5
This is my third Radiohead album to review, after The Bends (5 stars) and Kid A (4 stars). Before starting this project, I'd only listened to A Moon Shaped Pool, which I thought was fine. I was pleasantly surprised by my first two Radiohead albums that I reviewed, and given the word of mouth on this one, I had pretty high expectations going in.
In Rainbows is definitely more in line with Kid A, both in terms of overall sound, and how I feel about the album. I enjoyed listening to this album, mostly because it just sounded beautiful. The musical arrangements on each song were all deep and dark, and I felt like they grew better as the album went on. Each song was unique, but they all still managed to fit in with the overall mood and feeling of the album as a whole. As much as I loved the overall sound of the album, it was also full of little details that I’d find myself reacting with verbal ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s. Also, I didn’t have a lot of familiarity with Radiohead before I started this project, but I’ve really grown to like Thom Yorke’s singing, and this album was no exception to that. If I’m in the mood for Radiohead, I’m more likely to gravitate towards The Bends, because I like its more traditional guitar rock sound, but I like that there were some flashes of that sound present on this album as well. Overall, I liked this album, and I can understand why so many people say that this is their favorite Radiohead album.
Suzanne Vega
4/5
I'm familiar with a couple of Suzanne Vega songs: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner." Fun fact: some classmates of mine did a kickass lip sync of "Tom's Diner" at speech competitions in middle school. I'm pretty sure they won some trophies at some of these competitions with this performance, and rightfully so, because they crushed it. This was in the late 90's too, so I have no idea where they came up with the idea to do this particular song. By the way, did anyone else go to competitions like this in middle school? We'd compete in lip sync, prose, poetry, reader's theater, improv... maybe this was just a regional thing. I digress.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this album since I only know a couple of Suzanne Vega songs, but I was really impressed by this album. The lyrics were really great, and Vega did a great job alternating between singing and sing-speaking on these songs. These lyrics cover a wide range of topics, from loss of childhood innocence to suicide, and all of these topics are covered with a poetic beauty. I really liked that there was a theme of winter and coldness throughout the lyrics too, and a lot of the musical elements matched that theme.
Musically, this album was beautiful as well. I loved the guitar parts and the synthesizers and how they sounded together; it dates the music in a sense, but in a way that really sounds great. This album sounded like a folk singer from the sixties hopped in a time machine and went to 1984, and I think it's a really unique sound that I've never heard before. I loved the cold sound of the instrumentals as well. The acoustic guitar had an almost metallic quality to it at times, and it coupled well with the high-range synthesizer parts. The bass blends perfectly into the background to allow those higher-range instrumentals to be front and center. A lot of those 'colder' sounds remind me of what I love about Cocteau Twins albums.
I thought this album was really good, and I had a good time listening to it. I would have never expected this from Suzanne Vega, but this was incredibly unique, and I hope future reviewers give it a fair shake.
The Vines
3/5
I may have heard of The Vines in passing, but I'm not familiar with any of their music. I listened to a lot of alternative rock radio around the time this album came out, so as I listened to this album, I found myself comparing it to that sort of music. The Vines are clearly pretty talented instrumentalists; the guitars playing and drumming is pretty solid, and the songs that feature piano or organ playing sound good too. I thought Craig Nicholls's vocals were unique, and his singing was pretty good throughout the album. There are a few pretty interesting songs scattered throughout this album ("Homesick," "Into The Jungle," "Mary Jane," and "Ain't No Room" were probably my favorites), but the majority of the songs here felt pretty generic to me, and weren't far removed from the sound that was all over FM alternative stations in the early aughts. This album wasn't bad, but I don't think I'd be able to pick out many songs from it if I ever heard them again. I think The Vines are a talented group, but this album just didn't land with me.
Madness
2/5
The only Madness song that I’m familiar with is “Our House,” which I was happy to see was on this album. However, other than “Our House,” I didn’t care of this album very much. I know the band said that they went into this album with the plan of making in a concept album about the nostalgia of childhood, and that they abandoned that plan, but honestly, it doesn’t sound like they strayed from it too much. Lyrically, the album felt really cohesive, even with the few songs that didn’t really delve into childhood nostalgia, like “Blue Skinned Beast” and “Mr. Speaker.” Musically though, this album wasn’t much to my liking. I enjoyed the title track and “Tomorrow’s Just Another Day,” but after that, the album turned away from the things that I enjoyed. I didn’t really care for the way that the bass instruments sounded with the piano and string parts. I know that’s really nitpicky, but for an album that feels nostalgic in lyrical tone, I felt like the musical sound had an anxious sound to it that I didn’t care for. I also didn’t like how a lot of songs would start off with a more traditional pop sound, and then shift to something with a jazzier sound. However, “Our House” is fantastic. I love how upbeat it is, and it’s musically great. The lighter strings and brass sounds really create a feel of nostalgia that matches the lyrics really well. I typically love early eighties new wave music, so I was pretty let down by this album.
Röyksopp
4/5
I’ve never heard of this album or artist before, but my wife, who is apparently cool than me, had heard of them. As I was listening to this last night, I told her my album of the day was “some Norwegian band called… Roik-sopp?” and she knew them from their collaborations with Robyn (it’s a crime that there are not Robyn albums on this list by the way). My cool wife’s knowledge aside, I tend to enjoy electronica music and Scandinavian music, so I had high hopes going into this album.
Of the electronica albums I’ve reviewed so far, this has been one of my favorites. I really loved the variety of sounds that were present, and each song was interesting and entertaining. I definitely preferred the faster and more upbeat songs to the slower ones, but even songs like “Sparks” were still nice to listen to, due to the vocals. The arrangements were really beautiful, and I enjoyed the overall sound of the album.
“So Easy” and “A Higher Place” were my favorite songs off the album. “So Easy” was a great leadoff track, and got me in a good head-bobbing mood to start off the album. “So Easy” featured a lot of interesting sound elements, and there was some sort of crackling effect that made me feel like I was eating Pop Rocks, which I absolutely loved. “So Easy” reminded me of some of the songs on Jamie XX’s solo album, which I really love. Also, it turned out that I was familiar with “Remind Me” from its use in a Geico caveman commercial (kudos to Geico for making a commercial that I can still remember almost two decades later), which was a nice little surprise.
Overall, this was a really good album, and I enjoyed listening to it. The wide variety of sounds on this album create a wide range of moods and emotions, and the end result is really enjoyable.
Christina Aguilera
4/5
I haven't spent a lot of time listening to Christina Aguilera's music, but I know a handful of her songs, and I have a vague recollection of her possibly having a feud or two with some other pop artists in the late nineties and early aughts. When this album came out, I was in high school, and I absolutely hated pop music like this. But more than two decades later, I appreciate Christina's vocal talent, so I'm excited to give this a shot.
As expected, the singing on the album is phenomenal. Even though this isn't the sort of album I'd seek out, it was nice to listen to, just due to Christina's vocal ability alone. Most of the songs weren't to my liking musically, with a few exceptions. "Walk Away," "Fighter," "Underappreciated," "Beautiful," and "Soar" were my favorite tracks. I think the thing that made these songs stand out is that they either have arrangements that are more orchestral and sting-based. "Underappreciated" wasn't heavy on the strings, but I really liked its funk sound. Also, the segue from "Walk Away" to "Fighter" was an absolute masterpiece. I know that's such a small detail, but man, I love a good segue. I wasn't super attentive to the lyrics, but "Can't Hold Us Down" was really clever, and "I'm OK" was absolutely heartbreaking. As someone who survived childhood abuses, "I'm OK" really resonated with me, and you could really hear the hurt in her voice, but you could also hear the healing as well. It was probably the best written song on the album, and it gave me a new appreciation for Christina as a person.
Overall, this was a good album. This is not my favorite period of pop music, but this album soundly beats its contemporaries that I've listened to so far. Britney might be a bit more fun, but Christina has a lot more musical talent. I hope her dad has explosive diarrhea every night at 2am.
The Adverts
2/5
I'm not familiar with this album or artist, but I tend to enjoy punk music from this period, so I had high hopes going into this. Unfortunately though, I didn't care much for this album. "One Chord Wonders" really hooked me in, with its pulsing drum beat and fast-paced guitars, but as the album went on, it felt repetitive and predictable. Musically, there wasn't a lot to latch on to, and the lyrics felt like pretty standard fare for punk music (teenage disillusionment, criticisms of religion, commentary on war and destruction, etc.) without adding any new ideas. This album wasn't bad per se, but it got to be kind of a chore to listen to the longer it went on. There might have been some bigger ideas that went into this album, but the execution just fell flat to me.
The Incredible String Band
2/5
I'm not familiar with this band or album, but a psychedelic folk album with a user score of 2.14 and a song that's over 13 minutes? This is going to be an adventure!
This album turned out to be about what I expected based on what I knew heading into it. I can't think of anything painful I'd rather have inflicted on my anus than listening to this album, but I'd definitely say I didn't enjoy this. I can appreciate the ambition that went into dreaming up this album, and the work that went into crafting these uniquely strange folk songs. I think the songwriting here is a little above average when it comes to the lyrics; sure, some of it is pretty goofy, but I imagine that Robin Williamson intended it to be goofy in parts.
Musically though, I thought this album was a mess. With lyrics like this, I would have imagined that the sound would have been a bit more dream-like and softer, but this album really didn't have any good melodies that matched the feeling of the lyrics. I think the sitar was used way too much, and that this album would have benefited from some softer string sounds, like a harp or a lute, or just an acoustic guitar. I really hated the usage of the jaw harp too; it felt completely out of place to have its twang peppered throughout this album. The only parts of this album that I enjoyed musically were the first and last movements of "A Very Cellular Song."
While this album wasn't to my liking, I'm still glad that I can say I got to experience it and form my own opinion. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a few things that this album made me think of as I was listening to it:
-You could have told me that this album was made as part of a Christopher Guest movie, and I would have believed you without even looking it up.
-This album sounds like something Bob Belcher of Bob's Burgers would have in his collection, and there'd be an episode where he somehow finds himself trying to mend relationships in the band so they can put on a reunion show.
-I half expected this album to feature the Tom Bombadil song from Portlandia.
The Bees
3/5
I'm not familiar with this artist, but the album cover does look pretty familiar for some reason. I thought this album was fine. I wasn't a fan of the songs that relied more heavily on reggae influences, like "No Trophy" or "Binnel Bay," but the other songs on the album were okay. I like the percussion and drumming throughout the album, especially on the first two songs. On "Punchbag," the percussion went really well with the keyboard/organ and horn parts, and combined with the bass, it gave the song a really nice groove. On "Angryman," I liked how the maracas sounded with the main guitar part, and the organ parts were good too. "Angryman" probably had my favorite vocals on the album as well. Conversely, the vocals prevented me from enjoying "A Minha Menina" as much. I thought that "Lying In The Snow" was the best song on the album. The arrangements were beautiful, and it felt like there was a lot of emotion in the overall sound of the song. I was especially fond of the piano playing on that song as well. "Zia" was nice as well, and a really well-placed follow up to "Lying In the Snow." This album was nice to listen to, but it's not the sort of thing that I gravitate towards.
Fatboy Slim
4/5
I'm familiar with a few Fatboy Slim songs, but I've never listened to one of his full albums before.
I tend to enjoy electronic music, and this album was no exception. I really enjoyed how energetic this album was from start to finish; it was really easy to stay engaged with this album, and I feel like that made it really interesting to listen to. This album felt like it had a certain depth to its sound that I really appreciated as well. I also liked how certain elements in each song would drop out at certain points, but come back in to the mix to blend in with new elements. I don't really understand a lot of the mechanics of music like this, but I still enjoyed listening to it, and I'm looking forward to reviewing Fatboy Slim's other record.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
I'm familiar with some of QOTSA's music (Songs for the Deaf and Like Clockwork), but I've never listened to this album of theirs. "Regular John" hooked me in right away. The guitar playing was great, and I loved its fuzzy sound. Josh Homme's vocals sounded a little softer than what I'm used to on later QOTSA albums, but I still enjoyed his singing. After that lead-off track though, the album didn't really go anywhere interesting. Sure, this was a fine hard rock/stoner rock album, but there are plenty of other, better albums from this genre out there, and several of them by the same artist. This album really lacks the hooks and punch that later QOTSA albums have. There just aren't any memorable hits on this album, and it really suffers for it. An album doesn't necessarily have to have hits in order to be good, but QOTSA are so talented as musicians and songwriters, but none of that is showcased here. Even without the context of their other works, I don't think this album belongs on the list. This isn't a bad album, but there's nothing on here that would ever draw me back to it.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
This is my third Leonard Cohen album to review, after You Want It Darker (4 stars) and his debut album (3 stars). I figured I knew what to expect heading into this album, but those expectations were immediately dashed within the first two seconds of this album. I was not expecting Leonard Cohen to go full send on the eighties, but he absolutely smashed it with “First We Take Manhattan.” I loved the synth heavy sound of this song, and the backing vocals were outstanding. Cohen’s lyrics and vocals really shone on this track too. “Ain’t No Cure For Love” was really good too, and the sound reminded me a lot of some songs on Alex Cameron’s album Forced Witness. I loved the jazzy sound, and the background vocals were perfect once more. “Everybody Knows” was another brooding tune, and I thought the cynicism in the lyrics was really well done.
I really enjoyed the first three songs, but the rest of the album was just fine. The title track had some interesting horn sounds, and I liked that the sounds of the late eighties were still present via some drum machines and more synthesizers. The backing vocals didn’t shine as much on the latter half of the album to me, but Cohen’s vocals and songwriting were still good. This album was pretty good, and it was really interesting to hear Cohen adopt this sound that’s very different than what I’ve heard from him previously. Outside of the first three tracks, I can’t see myself firing up this album again, but it was worth my time to listen to it today.
3/5
I think I may have heard of XTC in passing before (I love eighties music, and I think I've heard people talk about Skylarking), but I'm completely unfamiliar with their music. I wasn't sure what to expect from this album, but I thought this album okay. Parts of it were mildly interesting, and had some really nice string and horn arrangements, but other parts of it were pretty dull and felt like they dragged on.
"River of Orchids" was didn't really pull me in immediately; I initially found the repetition of the arrangements to be kind of annoying, but as the song went on, I enjoyed it more. The lyrics about wanting nature to reclaim what we've built (at least that's how I interpreted it), were really well served by the bright tones of the music. I didn't care for the verse on "Easter Theatre," but the chorus had some really bright arrangements that I liked, and I liked how the bridge slowed down and provided a softer sound than the bright chorus and anxious-sounding strings of the verse. "Greenman" was the point on the album where I started to come around and appreciate the album's overall sound more. I loved the string arrangements and percussion; they really created this feel that sounded like renaissance meets eighties sophisti-pop.
Even though I grew to like the sound of this album, the love songs were my least favorite part. "I'd Like That" had some nice lyrics and a great sound, but "Your Dictionary" felt really out of place, with its cheesy angst, and "I Can't Own Her" felt like enlightened-pop schlock.
This album was fine, and I definitely enjoyed certain parts of it more than others, but I'm scratching my head as to why it was included on this list. It's not something I think I'd return to. Hopefully Skylarking is better.
Doves
3/5
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Doves' The Last Broadcast, which I really enjoyed, so I had high hopes for Lost Souls. As much as I loved The Last Broadcast, I wasn't as wild about Lost Souls. There were a few songs on this album that I liked: Rise, Catch The Sun, and The Cedar Room were my favorites, but the songs that weren't my favorites tended to kind of blend into the background of my consciousness. I still liked the overall atmosphere of this album; I enjoyed the shoegaze sound, but most of this album was just something pleasant to listen to, and it really didn't pull me in the way The Last Broadcast did. I hate comparing this album to their other work, but this album just doesn't have the feel and punch that The Last Broadcast does. In my opinion, this album just lacked a uniqueness to the overall sound. One of the things that The Last Broadcast did so well was creating an atmosphere in a sense, and that's missing from this album. I don't think this is a bad album, but given the choice between this and The Last Broadcast, I'll always choose the latter.
Korn
2/5
Oh, Korn. I've never spent much time listening to these guys, but I know "Freak On A Leash." The cover to this album is much more memorable to me. and seeing this artwork takes me back to middle school and high school, where the 'scary' kids wore shirts emblazoned with this picture. I listened to a fair amount of alternative rock when this came out, and I used to hear this song on the radio that had the lyrics "so follow the leader down, and swallow your pride and drown." I assumed this must be the title track from this album. Nope, that was "Seein Red" by Unwritten Law, and there is no title track on this album. Anyway, on to the album at hand.
I'll admit right off the bat that I was never a huge nu metal fan at the peak of its popularity. I owned a Linkin Park's Reanimation, and I still enjoy Limp Bizkit's "Rearranged" and "Take A Look Around" (look, they're not particularly good songs, but they're fun jams. The lyrics to "Take A Look Around" are so bad, but I love them in the worst way. "I don't even know what I should say, 'Cause I'm an idiot, a loser, a microphone abuser." That just rolls off the tongue so well). I don't mind dark music, but this stuff is dark to the point of where it's dirty, like the darkness has made it mildew. The distortion, with it's screeches and wavering, is just unpleasant to listen to in my opinion. And maybe that's the point, but if so, it's lost on me. The drumming on this album is really good though, and I love how it can go from slower and softer to chaotic and booming in about half a second. The same thing can be said about Jonathan Davis's voice. I'll never understand how he can go from singing to screaming to growling and then back to singing so quickly.
"Freak On A Leash" is easily the standout song from this album, with its iconic singing, and the well-known... scream scatting? by Davis towards the end of the song. Most of the songs sounded pretty similar to me, but the album was livened up a bit by guest appearances by Ice Cube, Fred Durst, and Tre Hardson. Durst's appearance on the crass "All in the Family" was particularly fun. I'm a fan of the occasional intentionally filthy song, and this didn't disappoint. Aside from the homophobic lyrics (not that it makes it right, but lyrics like that weren't very rare in the nineties, sadly), the song is pretty hilarious as Durst and Davis take turns dissing each other in increasingly filthy ways. Also, shoutout to the bagpipes on "My Gift to You."
This album isn't up my alley at all, but I appreciate its influence. Korn helped push hard rock in a new direction, and popular music would look much different without their influence.
Elliott Smith
5/5
I’ve owned Figure 8 for about fifteen years, so I’m pretty familiar with this album. I can’t remember if I bought it because I heard about it through the 1001 albums book, or if I bought it because a friend of mine from high school really loved Elliott Smith. Maybe it was a little bit of both. I haven’t listened to this album in years, so I’m really excited to dig into it.
Of Smith’s discography, I’ve only listened to this and Either/Or, which I don’t particularly care for. I knew heading into this review that I preferred this album, and that definitely hasn’t changed with time. The album kicks off with the excellent “Son of Sam,” full of wonderful piano playing with perfectly matching guitar playing, Smith’s trademark hushed vocals, and some great organ arrangements underneath it all. The songwriting contains some of Smith’s more abstract and mysterious lyrics, and it’s a great leadoff track for an album that really fires well on all cylinders. From there, the album winds through some other fantastic songs: the bitter and sombre “Somebody That I Used To Know” and the piano driven, heroin allegory “Junk Bond Trader,” before getting to my favorite song on the album, “L.A.” I absolutely love the guitar playing on this song, and how the main melody is interspersed with the twang of some additional guitar notes, but the best part for me are those clicking strums that occur during the chorus. The drumming on this song is great too, and it evokes a sense of shuffling through the streets of a busy city.
The first half of the album is my favorite part, mostly because I really love the arrangements. However, the second half of the album really let’s Smith’s songwriting abilities shine. His lyrics range from on-the-nose and obvious to mysterious and subtle, but he always seems to hit the mark. Even though I don’t like the arrangements on the second half of the album as much, they’re still exceptionally done and beautiful. In my opinion, this album is so much richer in sound that Either/Or, and it’s a much more enjoyable listen. There are so many subtle musical elements that this album warrants multiple listens. This album might not be my favorite thing to listen to, but it’s an absolute masterpiece of songwriting and musical production. Full of haunting lyrics, and melodies that fluctuate between infectiously toe-tapping, and melancholy, this is worth a listen for any music lover.
The Waterboys
4/5
I've heard of The Waterboys, but the only song of theirs that I'm familiar with is "The Whole Of The Moon" from the album that came out before this one (it's a badass jam, and The Killers covered it live, and that version kicks ass too). This album was a really pleasant surprise. The first half of the album was definitely better than the second half, but it was still great overall. The musical arrangements were beautiful, and I loved how the band was able to create an album that has a solid folk rock feel, but the album still has several hallmarks of music from the late eighties (ethereal backing vocals, sophisti-pop adjacent/art pop string and piano arrangements, and a few songs that were more in the vein of pop-rock). The lyrics were great, and I loved that the album ended with their brief cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." I loved the fiddle playing and other string arrangements throughout the album. Those elements really set this album apart from other art-pop-esque albums from the same period. All of the songs were really unique, but the album still felt very cohesive from start to finish. This was a fun surprise, and I'd probably revisit this album.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
This is my second, and subsequently last Manic Street Preachers album to review. I enjoyed Everything Must Go, so I had high hopes going into this album as well. Overall, I didn’t enjoy The Holy Bible as much as Everything Must Go. The Holy Bible had some pretty solid guitar rock, but the lyrics were the main star of the show. The songwriting on this album was spectacular, and I thought the lyrics provided some great political and social commentary and critiques that were well in line with the theme of The Holy Bible. The spoken word introductions worked really well to set the mood when they were used, and the frantic pace of the lyrics were effective in conveying frustration and leveling criticisms at conservative policies. I know Manic Street Preachers are Welsh, but this album really resonated with me as an American. I often think of the nineties as a time of liberal politics and progressivism, but in reality, the amount of progress that was made was pretty minimal, and things like mandatory sentencing minimums were being enacted by what was supposed to be a left-leaning administration. This album really resonates today, as more and more people look back on the nineties through a more objective lens. Musically though, this album was pretty middle of the road. I enjoyed the songs that leaned towards strongly towards stronger melodies, like “Yes” and “This is Yesterday.” The other songs were fine, but they didn’t really stand out to me, and most of them kind of relied on the same sound. If I remember correctly, Everything Must Go had some more varied sounds and relied a lot more on different arrangements, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it more. I wanted to like this more than I did, but it wound up being a pretty middle of the road album for me.
Super Furry Animals
2/5
This is my second and last Super Furry Animals album to review. I thought Fuzzy Logic was okay, and I expected more of the same on this album. However, I really didn’t care for this album much. Like Fuzzy Logic, this album was pretty diverse in its sound, but Rings just didn’t have the cohesiveness that Fuzzy Logic did. Musically, I just didn’t enjoy listening to this album very much. The highlight for me was the title track; it reminded me of something you’d find on Pet Sounds. It was experimental and strange, but it was still melodic and pleasant to listen to, and I thought the phone sounds at the end were a nice touch. The lyrics were fine, but again, there was a real lack of cohesion from song to song. Sidewalk Serfer Girl’s lyrics and the title track were probably the best of the bunch, the rest of the songs felt like they were weird just for the sake of being weird, and it came off as pretentious. This album just didn’t do it for me, and I think I’ve had my fill of this band.
The Beach Boys
3/5
This will be my second Beach Boys album to review, after Surf's Up (I've also reviewed Smile and Pacific Ocean Blue). I'm pretty familiar with The Beach Boys' pre-Pet Sounds hits, but this is my first time to listen to an album from that era.
I thought this album was fine. The harmonies were fantastic as usual, but the songwriting and arrangements were more often so-so than noteworthy. I found the side one songs to be more enjoyable than side two. "Do You Wanna Dance?" had some great guitar playing, and I enjoyed the piano playing as well. The overall sound was rich, and the lyrics, although not particularly noteworthy, were really fun and enriched by the harmonies. "When I Grow Up" was probably my favorite song on the album. I loved the lyrics, and how it explored the thoughts that can swim through your head as you enter adulthood. Even as a man nearing forty, these themes are still things I think about. The overall song structure and the counting up of the backing vocals were fantastic, and really drove the theme of the song home. "Help Me, Rhonda" was great too, and I loved the way the song faded in and out during the outro. The harmonies on the chorus are some of my favorite in all of the Beach Boys' discography. That song always reminds me of a pastor at the church I went to as a teenager, who used to say "Help Me, Rhonda" as an expression of mild exasperation. While that church overall sucked, that always made me laugh. The second half of the album was a bit dull in my opinion. The harmonies were still great, and there were some nice arrangements, but there really wasn't anything else that stuck out to me. Even though this album was pretty middle of the road, it was nice to listen to it in the context of being the immediate predecessor to Pet Sounds, and for that reason, I can understand why it's on this list.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Ugh, Dinosaur Jr. And by "ugh," I mean "I really want to like these guys, but I wish I were listening to Sonic Youth instead." I gave Bug a pretty lukewarm review a while ago, so I didn't have super high hopes for this album. Suffice to say, my middle of the road expectations were met. This album is full of noisy guitars, good drum fills, and plenty of time changes. These guys are great at what they do, and it's really obvious that their influence has been felt in alternative rock and shoegaze, but their sound just wears thin on me after a while. I don't mind noisy and distorted music, but I like tend to like things that are more melodically driven. Did I like this album? Not really. Can I understand why it's on this list and why people like it? Absolutely.
Joan Baez
3/5
I know a little bit about Joan Baez, but other than her version of "Blowin' in the Wind," I can't recall ever having listened to her music. I'm not really big into folk music, but this album was pretty good. Joan Baez has an incredible voice, and she's able to put her own unique touch on each of these traditional folk songs. Even the songs that are traditionally from the point of view of man still carry an earnestness as Baez performs them. While I appreciate the vocal talent that's on display here, this album wasn't really easy for me to engage with, and the overall length of the album really wore on me. However, I really did love her version of "House of the Rising Sun." The Animals' version is one of my favorite songs from the sixties, but Baez's version is great in its own right as well. Even though I didn't love this album, I know this album is incredibly important in the context of music history, not only for launching Baez's career, but for its influence on folk music. The folk music of this era was the spark that lit the powder keg of the social revolution of the sixties, and it's overwhelming to think about all the music that evolved out of that folk era. This album earns its place on this list, but I understand that it's not going to land with everyone.
Dr. Dre
3/5
I've never listened to this album before, and thanks to it being turned into an NFT (thanks, Snoop!), I had to go to YouTube to listen to it. I'm pretty sure I tried to listen to this several years ago, but it wasn't on streaming, so I just never bothered tracking it down. Anyway, moving on. I really expected to be blown away by this album, due to all the hype that it gets, but it turned out to just be okay. The beats are easily the best part of this album. The g-funk sound that Snoop and Dre established on this album would become one of the most influential elements in the history of hip-hop. I loved the use of synthesizers on this album, and it really gave this album a laid-back, easy feeling. I didn't find the rapping on this album to be anything great, and for the most part, only a couple of songs really stood out to me lyrically: "The Day the N***** Took Over" and "Lil' Ghetto Boy" were two of the best songs on the album, and their social commentary really made them stand out. "Nothin' but a 'G' Thang" was really good too, and its sound has become the shining example of west coast hip hop in the nineties. Yes, this album contains plenty of misogyny and homophobia, but that seems to be the norm for a lot of hip hop from this era unfortunately. It doesn't make it right, but it is what is. Also, I think Dre is scumbag, given his long history of violence towards women. I enjoyed this album's sound, and I appreciate its influence, but it's not something I'd come back to.
5/5
I know of Loretta Lynn, but I'm completely unfamiliar with her music. First things first: this album title. 10/10, no notes. Post 9/11 country could never do this. The bar has been set pretty high.
The star of the show on this album is the songwriting. From the title track to the bitter end, this album is filled with clever and succinct lyrics. I loved the subtlety contained in these lyrics. Take the title track, for example. Lynn tells her lover not to expect her to reciprocate his advances after he's left her alone all night to go out drinking with his friends. She never states her emotions, she only laments his actions and that he leaves her all alone. But we can tell through her singing just how unwanted and used she feels. Through so few words, Lynn manages to paint a vivid picture of this interaction. "I Really Don't Want To Know" is outstanding as well. I loved that I wasn't sure whether she was wondering about her lover's past flings, or if she was wondering about the women he's been seeing behind her back in the present. Or maybe both. The things left unsaid are powerful, and Lynn's voice really adds to the heartache. The last song I'll mention is "The Shoe Goes On The Other Foot Tonight." I love how it's vindictive without being angry; the emotion that led to the vengeful action of the narrator isn't what's important, and it doesn't even need to be stated, because it would be redundant. This song is all about actions, and Lynn sings it to perfection.
This isn't the type of album I'd normally gravitate towards, but the songwriting is outstanding, and it's just an incredibly well made album, worthy of five stars.
Brian Eno
5/5
This is my second Brian Eno album to review, after Here Come The Warm Jets (3 stars). I’m not terribly familiar with Eno’s work as a musician, so I wasn’t sure what to expect on this album. This album wound up being a really pleasant surprise. I enjoyed the Avant-pop sound of this album, and I felt like it was really accessible and easy to listen to. The album was musically varied, but still had a very cohesive sound. There was a little bit of everything here: funkier songs with more emphasis on percussion and bass, up-tempo songs with more focus on pop-driven synthesizer melodies, and even some guitar playing that sounded like a preview of what was to come with new wave music. I enjoyed the songs that focused more on synthesizer melodies, like “Backwater,” but “No One Receiving” and “King’s Lead Hat” were fantastic as well. Brian Eno’s talent as a producer and arranger is really evident on this album, but he’s also incredibly proficient at all the instruments that he plays on this album as well. Eno’s vocals are really great too, and I especially loved his style of rhyming on “Backwater.” This album was really great from start to finish, and it’s going to be an album that I’ll revisit several times, and I know that each time I do, I'll discover something new about it.
Joanna Newsom
2/5
I’ve never heard of Joanna Newsom before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this album. I found this album to be really beautiful musically, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. The arrangements were absolutely beautiful (RIP Steve Albini), and every element of the instrumentals was really well done. There were plenty of emotions conveyed just through the music alone. The songwriting was really beautiful as well, and there was a lot to unpack lyrically. There’s plenty of vivid imagery and allusions to mythological stories to turn over in your mind, and I imagine that this would be a great album to revisit numerous times. However, I really hated the vocals on this album. There’s something about Joanna Newsom’s voice that I just can’t stand. I think it’s because her voice sounds like it’s constantly on the verge of being scratchy, and it just drives me insane. Hearing those vocals over the course of five very long songs was not a fun listening experience. I can understand why this album would be on this list, but it really wasn’t for me.
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
I’ve never heard of this album or artist before, but this was a fun and unique album. It took me a minute, but I eventually realized that I’ve heard “Apache” sampled numerous times in other works, with a lot of those works being albums that I’ve reviewed. I loved how the main melody was repeated with different instruments throughout the song. “Let There Be Drums” was great too. The guitar playing on this song was probably my favorite on the whole album. It sounded like a funky Led Zeppelin tune. I liked the more varied sounds on “Last Bongo in Belgium,” “Raunchy ’73,” and the band’s take on “In A Gadda Da Vida” as well. The horns, woodwinds, and organ playing really opened up the overall sound of the album on these three tracks. Overall, this was a decently fun funk album. I think my biggest complaint about it is that the songs would kind of wear on me by the time they ended. By that point, the bongos felt like a gimmick. At times, they provided a unique flair, but they would eventually just blend into the background. This album was a lot like Tubular Bells to me: it was unique and interesting at times, and I'm glad I listened to it, but I can't see myself getting drawn back to this album at any point.
Missy Elliott
3/5
This is my second and final Missy Elliott album to review. I listened to this for the first time a few years ago, and I wasn't wowed by it, and after listening to it today, my opinion really hasn't changed. I'll start by saying that the production work on this album is fantastic. The beats are great too, and Timbaland deserves credit for his work here. There are moments where it sounds like Missy had more creative control and freedom over this album, and those moments are the best parts. Missy is a great rapper, and I love how her voice just oozes with her personality. My biggest beef with this album is that there's not enough moments where I felt like Missy was in the driver's seat. If I remember correctly from Under Construction, I think she alludes to the fact that she lacked some confidence in the early days of her career, and this album suffers from that. There's too many featured artists on here for my taste, and it feels like Missy is a sidekick on her own project. "The Rain" and "Don't Be Comin'" were my favorite tracks. I love when Missy talks shit about crappy men, and she really delivered on "Don't Be Comin'." She does a great job of empowering other women, which she also highlights on "Best Friends" with Aaliyah. "Best Friends" was easily the best song on the album to feature another artist. In terms of influence though, this album is massive for paving the way for other female rappers, and it's a huge moment in hip-hop history. This album is fine, but I'd much rather listen to Under Construction.
5/5
Ah, my 450th album, and it’s one that I’m familiar with. I bought this on CD about fifteen years or so ago because I saw it on the 1001 albums list. Back then, I listened to it once, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea, so I’ve never revisited it until today.
I would still say that this album isn’t really something that I really enjoy listening to, but I think it’s a fantastic album. Driven by frantic rhythms (both on guitar and drums), peppered with otherworldly synthesizers, and some really wild lyrical themes delivered in Mark Allen Mothersbaugh’s unique vocal style. The guitar work on this album is really outstanding, and helped shape what New Wave music would become in the eighties. Despite relying more on rhythm than melodic structure (at least in my opinion), Devo manages to create a variety of sounds across these eleven tracks. Lyrically, this album’s theme of de-evolution is conveyed across the album, covering topics ranging from giving into compulsions, masturbation, and the constant barrage of consumer culture. Devo’s take on The Rolling Stone’s “Satisfaction” takes the song from an ‘aw shucks, I don’t fit in no matter how hard I try’ anthem to an ‘I’m going to lose my mind from people trying to sell me crap’ panic attack. On its surface, “Mongoloid” hasn’t aged particularly well, but the critiques of dumbing one’s self down to fit in with the current culture still resonate as true. “Uncontrollable Urge” is my favorite track on the album, with its driving guitar rhythms and pounding drums on the chorus. The backing vocals really give the song a deeper sound, and the little synthesizer chirps and whirring guitars towards the end of the song create a great atmosphere for the rest of the album.
While this isn’t the type of album that I’d gravitate towards, I do think it’s outstanding. The songwriting is great, the guitar arrangements are perfectly executed, and Devo’s overall vision and image really shine through on this brilliantly weird album. I think this a must listen for anyone who really loves New Wave music, but I can understand why it may miss the mark with a lot of people.
The Band
3/5
This is my second and final album by The Band to review. I really didn't care for Music From Big Pink, so I didn't have high hopes heading into this one.
I thought this self-titled effort was fine, and I enjoyed it more than Music From Big Pink. Musically, I thought this album was pretty well made. I enjoyed the clavinet and organ playing, and I felt like they both gave this album a distinct feeling. The sounds of the clavinet and organ really helped give this album a unifying feel, and it really helped create a physical setting through sound. The songwriting on this album was pretty good as well, and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Across The Great Divide," and "King Harvest" were among the best tracks on the album. "Look Out Cleveland" was pretty good too, and I liked how it alternated between piano and guitars driving the melody. Also, it's hard not to like any song that mentions my hometown of Houston. The biggest detractors on this album for me were the vocals and the fact that a good stretch of the album was pretty boring. There were times where I felt like the vocals worked well, but most of the time, I really didn't care for them. I think the singing just felt flat to me. The middle part of the album really dragged for me, and I felt like a lot of those songs just felt like generic folk rock. Still, this album was fine, but it's definitely not something I'd revisit.
Ride
4/5
I’m not familiar with this album or artist, but I thought this was a really good shoegaze album, and I enjoyed listening to it. The guitar playing really helped give this album a cohesive feel, but I loved that the songs all had really unique guitar parts, giving each song it’s own distinct sound. The album started off fine, but it really took off for me at “Polar Bear,” which I absolutely loved. The distorted guitar and the more melodic guitar blended together perfectly, and I thought this song featured some of the best vocals on the album. “Dreams Burn Down,” “Vapour Trail,” “Taste,” and “Here and Now” were some of my other favorite songs on the album. The harmonica on “Here and Now” worked really well, and that element helped keep this album interesting even well into the later tracks. I wasn’t wowed by the vocals on my first listen, but after skipping around through the album again, they really grew on me. This is an album that I want to listen to more, and I have a feeling that it’s really going to grow on me if I’m able to revisit it. This was a really nice discovery today.
Mercury Rev
3/5
I’ve never heard of this band or album before, and I thought this album was okay. The overall sound of the album had a dreamlike quality to it, which I thought was fine, but certainly not earth-shattering. However, I did like the way the lyrics flowed, especially from “Holes” through “Endlessly.” The lyrics were mostly pretty melancholy, and I felt like that pattern of the lyrics helped enhance that melancholic mood. Musically, I loved the odd little elements that were peppered throughout the album. I thought that a theremin was being used on some of the songs, but after doing some reading, I think that was a musical saw. There were several other instruments that I liked, but I can’t identify what they were. “Endlessly” had some of my favorite arrangements on the entire album; I loved the way the musical saw was used. “Opus 40” was really good too, and I liked the background vocals. I enjoyed “Hudson Line” as well. The saxophone, woodwinds, and guitar parts were really different, but still felt like they fit really well with the dreamlike feel of the album. After that though, I didn’t really enjoy the album as much until the final track. I loved whatever instrument it was that was playing during the beginning of “Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp.” I think it was a clavinet, but I’m not sure. But I loved how it took a background to the strings as the song went on, and the overall sound of the song was really enhanced by the deep bass drum sound. The second half of the song really lost me though, and felt like a strange way to end the album. My biggest complaints against this album are that I didn’t care too much for the second half of the album, I wasn’t as a huge fan of most of the vocals. Still, this was an interesting album, and I enjoyed the quirkier musical elements that were used.
Songhoy Blues
4/5
I’ve never heard of this band or album before, but this album was an unexpected treat. Right from the start, I was hooked by the guitar playing on this album. I loved the bluesy sound that this album had, but I really liked that the tempo was much faster than the traditional American blues. This is easily one of the most unique albums that I’ve ever listened to, and probably one of my favorite world music albums that I’ve gotten to review. I enjoyed learning about Songhoy Blues’s story; their background is sad, but the band’s resilience is incredible. I don’t know much about Mali, but I do hate religious zealots who run governments, so I can relate to the band in that way. In addition to the guitar playing, the percussive elements on this album were really good too, and they really helped add some depth to this unique sound. Even though I didn’t understand a word of the lyrics, there was so much emotion in the vocals that it didn’t matter too much. The vocal parts where multiple people were singing really created a shared sense of longing and collective pain. I didn’t have time to look up the lyrics today, but that’s definitely something I want to do in the future. This is an album I’d be keen to revisit, and I hope I can find a physical copy to keep around the house.
Stereolab
4/5
I’ve never heard of this artist or album before, but this was a very good album. The overall sound was really unique, and I really loved the vocals. The way that the vocals were layered throughout the album was really fantastic. I really enjoyed that this album had a really cohesive sound and feel, even though the individual songs were really unique. Some songs had a more relaxed feel, while others had more of a traditional rock sound to them, but both styles were well executed. The musical arrangements were really fun, and it didn’t bother me at all that a lot of the vocals were in French. I loved that there were so many little things to take in while listening to this album; things like that really make an album enjoyable to re-listen to for me. Overall, this was a fun and unique album, and it’s on my list of works that I want to revisit.
Kanye West
3/5
I’ve listened to a few Kanye West albums, but I’ve never listened to The College Dropout before. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was one of the albums that really opened me up to hip hop, so I had high hopes going into this album.
Overall, I thought this album was pretty good. It does manage to bring a lot to the table: great production work, some solid rapping, and a unique sound whose influence can still be felt today in hip hop and pop today. I didn’t listen to much hip hop growing up, but in my mid-twenties, exposure to Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy really opened up the genre to me. I’ve always loved eighties pop music, and the experimental elements and more pop forward sounds of those albums made hip hop more accessible to me, and was a good way to ease me into the genre. Those elements that made me love MBDTF can be felt on this album too, especially on “We Don’t Care,” “All Falls Down,” and “Never Let Me Down.” The lyrics and overall themes were really great too; Kanye’s experience growing up in Chicago gives him a unique perspective to bring to hip hop, different from the usual New York and Los Angeles hip hop albums. Kanye’s experience as a producer and songwriter really shine on this album, and he’s supported well by guest appearances from Jay-Z and several others. While this album had a lot going for it, the overall result was not earth-shattering. This album’s best moments are really good, while its worst moments are pretty dull. Kanye is at his best when he’s over-the-top with his experimentation, and there’s not a lot of those moments on this album. Still, this is an important piece of hip hop music, but it’s not something I’d be quick to come back to. Remember when Kanye said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on live TV? That feels like a lifetime ago.
Neil Young
4/5
This is my fourth Neil Young album to review (not counting one with Crazy Horse and one with CSNY). So far, I’ve been found the albums of his that I’ve reviewed to be pretty middle of the road, but I had really high hopes for this one, since it’s so well-reviewed. Unfortunately, this was yet another Neil Young album that landed middle-of-the-road with me. Neil Young is a talented songwriter, and those skills really shine on this album, just like plenty of his other works. The lyrics on this album cover so many topics, and a lot of them still feel relevant today. I think my favorite lyrics though are on “Southern Man.” Living in Texas, these lyrics really hit home, as the war on “critical race theory” rages on. When Neil isn’t singing about the political landscape of the late seventies, his songs of heartache and lost love convey emotional pain and loneliness in his unique way. The music on this album supplements the songwriting well; there’s nothing too crazy here, but the simple arrangements are pleasant to listen to. The title track was probably my favorite off the album when it comes to the music. I loved the piano melody, and the flugelhorn coming in towards the end of the song added some great depth. I really enjoyed the vocal harmonies throughout the album as well.
I wrote this review the day after having been assigned the album, and as I wrote this, I skipped back through the album, and since yesterday, it’s grown on me quite a bit. Yesterday, I just didn’t really enjoy listening to it much, even though I could appreciate it, but today, it’s really hitting home with me. I was going to give this three stars, but I think it deserves four stars.
Kate Bush
2/5
The only Kate Bush album that I'm familiar with is Hounds of Love, which I really like. This is my first album of hers to review for this project, and I was really excited to see it pop up for me today. Unfortunately though, I didn't really care for this much. This album is certainly ambitious; Kate Bush really went out on a limb with her avant-pop sound, but the result feels like a mess. I found the overall sound pretty jarring and not really enjoyable to listen to. There were small musical elements here and there that I enjoyed, but nothing could soften the overall sound of this album for me. Lyrically, the album was all over the place as well. The subject matter of these songs range from humanity's quest for knowledge to Houdini, without any themes that tie everything together. The individual songs are well written, and incredibly creative, but I didn't care for how this album felt like a patchwork of lyrics and music. I know that Kate Bush is incredibly underrated and influential, but this album just wasn't for me.
The Hives
2/5
I seem to remember there being a song by The Hives in a Rock Band or Guitar Hero video game, but other than that, I can't say I'm familiar with them.
As it turns out, I've heard "Hate To Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender" (maybe that was on Rock Band?) before, but the rest of this album was new to me. Anyway, I guess I'll start with the things I liked about this album. The guitar riffs were pretty infectious, and fun to tap along with, especially the first three tracks. I liked that these songs came fast, hit hard, and then moved along. It's a minor note, but I also enjoyed "The Hives Are Law, You Are Crime." There was some distortion that I really liked, and there was a part towards the end of the song where the main guitar riff faded really low, but everything else stayed the same. That guitar riff was so low that it was barely detectable, but it created a really cool effect.
As for the things that I didn't like about this album, there was a lot of shine, but no substance. The guitar riffs were fun and infectious for the first three songs, but after that, the album sounded really repetitive. The Hives aren't really doing anything on this album that hadn't been done before, and this album certainly doesn't break any new ground in my opinion. I got pretty bored with it after "Supply and Demand," and the last track pulled me back in a little bit, but it was too late by that point. There are a couple of catchy tunes on this album, but that's pretty much the only thing it has going for it.
Pentangle
2/5
I’m not familiar with this artist or album, and folk music can be pretty hit or miss with me, so I knew this album would be a roll of the dice.
I didn’t really enjoy this album that much. There were some pleasant arrangements and nice harmonies throughout this, but it was somewhat boring at times, and there wasn’t a lot of variation musically. There were a few songs that had some different sounds, like “Lyke-Wake Dirge” and “Hunting Song,” but even as the high points of the album, I think they were only slightly above average. This album was better than The Incredible String Band, but not by much. My favorite thing about this album was that I could hear how it influenced Nick Drake’s music. This album might have some cultural significance, but it’s not something I’d return to.
The Dictators
3/5
I’m not familiar with The Dictators, but that’s’ certainly some interesting cover art. I might need to look into a jacket like that for myself.
This album didn’t really blow me away, but it was pretty fun, and it carries a lot of weight culturally as a part of early punk rock. The guitar licks and drumming are simple and not particularly memorable, but they’re serviceable enough for the sarcastic and humorous lyrics. There’s plenty of early adulthood apathy and disillusionment to go around in the original songs on this album, and there’s still room for a couple of fun covers in “I Got You Babe” and “California Sun.” This album might not light the world on fire, but its simple hooks and fun lyrics are a perfect encapsulation of how punk rock evolved from garage rock.
Tom Tom Club
3/5
I love Talking Heads, but I’ve never listened to this album before. I really like “Genius of Love” though, so I’m really excited to jump into this one.
“Wordy Rappinghood” was certainly not what I expected when I jumped into this album, but I loved the typewriter sounds, the drum beats, and the funky synthesizers. Tina Weymouth’s rapping is fantastic, and this song is really weird but incredibly catchy. The segue from the opening track into “Genius of Love” is absolutely brilliant. The leap from one catchy song to one of the catchiest beats in all of music history was perfectly executed. Both of these first two songs are incredibly catchy, funky, and groovy, but they both manage to pull of those feats in completely different ways. I love the guitar and airy vocals on “Genius of Love.” The tinny drumming that kicks in later on the song is perfect as well. From there, the album keeps its overall reggae and African influenced sound, but it dives into some really different territory musically that really didn’t land with me. The vocals and lyrics from this point forward in the album weren’t my favorite, and the beats and rhythms just weren’t as fun and catchy as earlier in the album. However, I did really like “On, On, On, On..” The vocals on the chorus were fantastic, and the I liked the more guitar-forward sound. “Booming and Zooming,” while interesting in its theme of the thin line between danger and excitement, was probably my least favorite song on the album. I really wanted to love this album, and while I can appreciate its experimentation and the legacy of “Genius of Love,” this wasn’t really my cup of tea.
Beyoncé
4/5
As a Houstonian for over thirty years now, I believe I'm legally obligated to write a lengthy review of this album. I don't have a lot of experience with Houston's patron saint, but I'm pretty sure I listened to this album a few years ago when I was working through Rolling Stone's best albums of the 2010's, but I haven't revisited it since then. I did check out Cowboy Carter a few weeks ago, and I intend to revisit it soon. I may lose my Houstonian card for saying this, but I've always found Beyoncé's music to be fine. Outside of "Schoolin' Life," (that song is on my workout playlist because it is a J-A-M) I don't really seek out her music a lot. I think she's a great performer who's certainly cranked out some hits, her projects are inventive and ambitious, but I'm just not big on R&B.
As for the album at hand, I'd compare this to The Beatles' White Album. This album is massive, its overall sound is an evolution of Beyoncé's sound, and the lyrical themes are massive as well. But unlike the White Album, this album is much more cohesive and not weighed down by a bunch of weird shit. The explorations of feminism and black feminism are really powerful, and as a white guy, this album is a reminder that women, and especially black women live a completely different existence than I do. Beyoncé dives deep into motherhood, beauty standards, sexuality, and her own personal insecurities, and she weaves her own personal experiences into these topics expertly. I really loved the overall sound of this album, especially the use of more electronic elements that allowed this album to explore the pop music sphere really well. The more upbeat songs were fantastic, and the production work here creates a sound that's incredibly accessible and enjoyable to listen to. What kept this album from being a five-star album for me was the slower songs that relied on more traditional R&B. Those songs weren't bad, but amidst a slew of songs that relied more on traditional pop music, they kind of stuck out like a sore thumb, and were kind of a drag on the pace of the album. I really didn't care for the over six-minute tracks "Rocket" and "Mine." It probably doesn't help that I don't care for Drake. Overall though, this album is really good, and it's a big moment in Beyoncé's career and popular music.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
I listened to this album for the first time a few years ago, when I was trying to get better acquainted with hip hop music, but this is my first time revisiting it.
This album is absolutely fantastic. A piece of pure hip-hop, Enter the Wu-Tang has fantastic rapping, catchy rhymes, and a talented group of artists who elevate this album to a unique tier of greatness. The production is minimal, but I didn’t mind at all; this album doesn’t need anything to take away from its hard-hitting rapping and lyrics. RZA somehow manages to take bright samples from soul music and create sounds that match the menacing tone of this album. With its gritty imagery, Enter the Wu-Tang is a masterclass in gangsta rap and hardcore hip-hop. This album somehow manages to elevate both the talents of the individuals and the incredible result of their collaboration. I love how this album never feels weighed down by the number of people that were involved with its creation and recording. Too often, albums are weighed down by a grand vision that doesn’t translate to an end result that isn’t overblown and overwhelming, but this album avoids that trap. Ol’ Dirty Bastard is my favorite rapper of the original members of the group; the distinct growl of his voice is the perfect addition to this group. “C.R.E.A.M.” is my favorite track on the album, with its tinkling piano sample and a beat that feels like riding a series of waves. This album is a masterpiece from start to finish, and I loved revisiting it today.
Paul McCartney
2/5
Other than Band on The Run, I've never listened to a Paul McCartney solo album (and I don't count that one anyway, since it was with Wings). But hey, this is Paul McCartney, and I love Paul McCartney, so this has to be good, right? Well, unfortunately not. Aside from the fantastic "Maybe I'm Amazed," this album was pretty much a bore from start to finish. I didn't care much for the instrumental tracks, and the tracks with vocals weren't a lot better. I was really pretty stunned by how much I didn't like this, because I really love Paul's singing. I appreciate the fact that Paul recorded all of this on his own, but the end result sounds like a rough demo instead of something crafted by someone working on transitioning from being in a band to launching a solo career. I think this was my first time hearing the album version of "Maybe I'm Amazed," and I enjoyed this version much more than the live version. The emotion in the vocals and the guitar playing on the album version sound so much better than the live version that I've come to know. I did like the bluesy guitars and and cowbell on "Oo You" as well, but no other songs stuck out to me. I appreciate this album's place in music history, but I don't think I'd ever come back to it.
Portishead
5/5
I've never listened to Portishead before, but on the "Glory Box" episode of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the 90's, I learned that I'd heard "Sour Times" sampled by Girl Talk. I love that sample, and ever since I learned that was a Portishead song, I've been looking forward to reviewing this album.
On my first listen, I wasn’t really blown away by this album. The high points on it are fantastic; “Sour Times” and “Glory Box” are fantastic, and really stood out to me on my first time going through the album, but some a lot of other songs felt too repetitive to me. But I knew that this would be the type of album that I’d appreciate more with each listen, and I was right. After getting a good feel for the album as a whole, I became a lot more receptive to it. The overall sound of this album is incredibly unique. Even though there’s a very dark atmosphere that permeates the whole album, there are still some songs that manage to add some brightness, like “It’s A Fire,” “It Could Be Sweet,” and “Roads.” The arrangements on this album are fantastic, and Beth Gibbons’ vocals add a hauntingly beautiful depth to the album. Listening to this album is almost like being put into a trance; the beats and rhythms do a great job of driving the overall sound, but the scratching, samples, strings, and other elements fill out the rest of the sound really well. The production work on this album is fantastic as well; even though there’s a distinct sound that penetrates this album, I didn’t feel like the songs all sounded the same. This album is so unique, and I wish I’d had access to music like this as a teenager. The nineties were such a fantastic time for music, and Dummy stands out as one of the most original albums from that time. This album really reminds me of the things I like about The xx and other dream pop artists, and I think it’s a must listen for any music fan.
TLC
5/5
I was nine years old when this album came out, and sadly, this is my first time listening to this from start to finish. R&B and Hip Hop were pretty much forbidden in my household when I was growing up (if you were to sneak up behind my parents and whisper "Antifa" at them, they'd probably drop dead of fright), but this album was so omnipresent in popular culture that even a sheltered kid like me knew "Waterfalls" and "Creep." It always blows my mind that this album came out in 1994, because "Waterfalls" was in heavy rotation on the radio for what felt like five years.
R&B is probably one of my least favorite genres, but I thought this album was really good. It's incredibly well produced, features some great lyrics, and has some great arrangements. Not every track is a winner, but the songs that stand out are rich in sound; the arrangements are simple, but incredibly catchy and melodic. The horns on “Creep,” the guitar on “Red Light Special,” and the soulful synthesizers on “Diggin’ On You” are fantastic and set these songs apart as some of the best work on the album. As good as those songs are though, “Waterfalls” is easily the crowning achievement of this album. The wah-wah synthesizers, the horn interludes, and the incredibly catchy lyrics make this one of the best songs on the decade. The drums and bassline make this song an absolute delight to groove to, creating a stark contrast to the dark themes of the lyrics. This album is soulful, mature, and sexy, making it a standout of the decade. I was going to give this album four stars, because a few songs are duds, and I wasn’t wild about the vocals, but after sitting down to write this review, I’ve changed my mind, and I think that this album is worthy of five stars from me. I had a really fun time going through this, and it’s an album I’d put on again.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
I'd never listened to Siouxsie and The Banshees until I reviewed Juju some time last year. I was completely blown away by Juju, so I had really high expectations going into this album.
I thought The Scream was pretty good. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Juju, but it was still enjoyable to listen to. The first three songs were a bit of a chore to get through for me, but I really loved "Carcass." The tone of the guitar and the driving rhythms were absolutely fantastic; this song had a really great punk feel to it, but it still had the S&TB sound. The band's cover of "Helter Skelter" was great too. The Beatles' version is not something I've listened to a lot, so I didn't enjoy it by comparison, but just on its own merits. The opening bass tones were perfect, and I really liked how the song took off from there, with a manic pace and booming drums. I really enjoyed the guitar on "Mirage" as well, and the haunting "Switch" was a great closing track. This album had some great guitar playing, and I love Siouxsie Sue's vocals. The biggest thing holding this album back for me is that a lot of the songs sound the same, and there are some stretches of the album where there's not a lot of variation. I can look past that if there's a better overall theme or atmosphere, but I felt like that was missing here. This album is an important moment in popular music, and it's incredibly influential, but there are other post-punk works that I'd gravitate towards first. I'd listen to this album again, but just because I've really grown to love this band.
Lana Del Rey
3/5
I think I've listened to a couple of Lana Del Rey albums before (I'm pretty certain I've listened to Ready To Die, and maybe I listened to Norman Fuckign Rockwell!), but I've not listened to this one. I was curious to see if this album would make me a fan of Lana.
Overall, I thought this album was fine. The songwriting was good, but I expected better from Jack Antonoff. The arrangements were nice as well, but again, nothing here impressed me that much. Lana's vocals are nice, and the tone of her voice really helped carry the mood of this album. One of the biggest letdowns for me on this album is that there's not really much here to separate it from other similar works. My favorite thing about this album was the mood and atmosphere throughout it. This album felt like a beautiful and warm day, but with an air of something being slightly off, like a bright dream with a nightmare on the horizon. The lyrics cover a wide variety of topics, but I enjoyed that nostalgia and denial of present troubles seemed to be the common themes that tied everything together. "White Dress" was my favorite single, with the title track and "Let Me Love You Like A Woman" tied for a close second. However, "Dance Till We Die" was a hidden gem; I really loved the light horns that were used throughout it. Even though this album was just fine, it was still pleasant to listen to, and I wouldn't be opposed to returning to it for another listen.
Weather Report
3/5
I don't think I've ever heard of this band before, but I know of Jaco Pastorius from a presentation a classmate of mine gave in my music appreciation class in college. That's a hell of an album cover though, so I'm excited to see what this album has to offer.
"Birdland" was a fantastic opening track. I loved the aforementioned Jaco's bassline throughout the song, and the bright tones that were utilized throughout the rest of the song. I loved how the sound evolved over the course of the song, utilizing a wide variety of instruments to develop the bright tone. The next song, “A Remark You Made” was a stark shift in tone, slowing down the tempo and using some deeper tones. While not as fun as “Birdland,” it was a nice listen, and I liked the fluttering synthesizers that came in later. The rest of the album was fine, but “Birdland” was easily the high point for me. Jaco’s bass playing was my favorite part of the arrangements, and the album really succeeded in those moments when it felt like the bass was in the driver’s seat. “Rumba Mama” was my least favorite part of the album. I felt like its sound stuck out like a sore thumb, and I was glad that it was the shortest track on the album. This album didn’t really set the world on fire for me, but it was certainly unique and interesting. This album utilized a unique fusion of sounds, and it gave me a greater appreciation for how diverse jazz can be.
Jungle Brothers
3/5
I’m not familiar with the Jungle Brothers, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of the hip hop albums that I’ve gotten to review, and people’s opinions of this album seem to be pretty favorable, so let’s get to it!
I really enjoyed the album’s opening track “Beyond This World,” and it gave me high hopes for the rest of the album. The samples on this track were great (especially the use of “White Lines”), and I loved the Afro-centric lyrics. As the album went on, I thought it was fine, but it didn’t blow me away. Musically, there were plenty of great samples, and incredibly fun beats, and I loved the elements of house music that were woven into the album. The socially conscious and generally upbeat lyrics and tone were nice as well, and it was an interesting contrast to the growing popularity of gangsta rap at the time. “Acknowledge Your Own History” was far and away my favorite track. The lyrics about the white washing of history are still incredibly relevant today, as people in power are still trying to promote a vision of the past that ignores the atrocities committed against people from Africa while also diminishing their accomplishments. As much as I enjoyed those things about the album, there were still a few detractors that held this album back in my opinion. I didn’t think the rapping was noteworthy, and it never felt like any members of the group established their own vocal style. Also, the production wasn’t great, and there were a few tracks that were severely muted compared to the rest of the album. Maybe that’s a Spotify issue, but I don’t know. In the end, there were some elements to this album that really worked, but if I’m in the mood for hip hop, there are other things I’d rather listen to.
Meat Puppets
4/5
I’ve heard of Meat Puppets before, usually in the context of bands who influenced Kurt Cobain, but I’ve never listened to them before. How does one make a meat puppet though? I’m envisioning a sock puppet made of ground beef, but a sausage on a stick would probably be a lot more practical since it would be less messy. Plus, with a sausage, you can make dick jokes. I digress.
I can’t believe that this album came out in 1984. I don’t recall having ever heard guitar playing quite like this before. The rhythms on this album may have been in the driver’s seat, but there was still a wide variety of guitar tones, with plenty of distortion and fuzziness to go around. I really loved how this album took some sounds and influences that were clearly from country music, but changed them around to create something so new and different. It’s like taking the parts from a sewing machine and building a microwave. The vocals and lyrics were really quirky, but they fit the overall sound of the album really well. Kurt Cobain’s inspiration comes through loud and clear on this album. The guitar playing and lyrics laid the foundation for Nirvana to build on several years later, but Nirvana still managed to create something completely new from their inspiration on this album. There weren’t any songs that really stood out to me as my favorites, I just enjoyed the album as a whole. Even though I enjoyed listening to this, it’s not the sort of thing I gravitate towards, and it felt a little tedious in some stretches. Still, this album’s importance and influence can’t be understated, and it’s definitely worthy of being on this list.
The Associates
1/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I do love eighties music, so I'm excited to give this a listen.
This album was certainly... something. I went into this expecting something more pop-forward, but got something frantic and echo-y instead. I really didn't care for this album. There were moments here and there that I enjoyed, specifically the synthesizers and keyboards on some of the songs. But that enjoyment was often ruined by the vocals, which I hated. The overall sound of the album was really muddled by the echoing effects, and it was hard for me to pick up on anything melodic on most of the songs. These songs weren't insanely long, but they felt like they droned on and on. I think I felt like most of the songs didn't go anywhere musically. The little snippets that I did enjoy often faded away or weren't really built upon throughout the song. "nothinginsomethingparticular" was probably my favorite song. It was bolstered by its short length and lack of vocals, which easily made it stand out from the rest of the album. I can't really find anything noteworthy or influential on this album, and I'm really confused as to why it's on the list.
Radiohead
4/5
Before starting this project, “A Moon Shaped Pool” was the only Radiohead album that I’d listened to. My first album of theirs to review was The Bends, which I absolutely loved. I liked Kid A and In Rainbows as well, but just not as much as The Bends. I’m interested to dive into this one, because I remember hearing about it when it came out, mostly because its title was a diss to then President George W. Bush.
Hail to the Thief was pretty much in line with the other post OK Computer Radiohead albums that I’ve listened to. I enjoyed the overall dark sound, but the addition of some more guitar playing was a nice departure from Kid A. I really enjoy Radiohead’s ability to create sounds that are beautifully deep. There’s so much to take in during each song that it makes their albums great for repeat listening, because I’m always finding new things to appreciate that I didn’t pick up on during my first listen. I like Thom Yorke’s signing, because his voice feels like an instrument in how it adds to the depth of sound. There was a lot to take in lyrically on this album as well. The themes of societal regression, the rise of extremism, and the disillusionment of young people still feel incredibly relevant today, especially as the U.S. heads into another election that feels do-or-die for our democratic processes. It’s wild and sad to think about how the powder keg of our current times has been burning for the better part of two decades. On top of that, there’s plenty of things in the lyrics that are open to interpretation: the search for meaning and God, shattered relationships, and distrust seem to be heavy on Thom’s mind on this album as well. My favorite tracks on the album were “Backdrifts,” “Go To Sleep,” “We Suck Young Blood,” and “There, There.” I really enjoyed the songs with more guitar in the melody, but the songs with more piano were great too. This was a great album, but some parts of it were a little dull, and there wasn’t a whole lot that separates this album’s whole sound from Kid A and In Rainbows. Still, I’d consider myself won over as a Radiohead fan, and I’m looking forward to going back through all their albums on this list once I’ve wrapped things up.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
This is my second album of Neil Young with Crazy Horse to review, and my sixth solo Neil Young album overall. I’ve been a tad lukewarm on everything of Neil’s that I’ve reviewed; I don’t mind listening to him, but a lot of his albums are things that I wouldn’t really actively listen to again, but that I could have on while I do other things. I’m not sure where this album will land with me, but I’m looking forward to getting into it.
I was pleasantly surprised by this, and along with After the Gold Rush, I think it’s one of the best albums in Neil Young’s solo catalog. As usual with Neil Young, the lyrics are absolutely fantastic, and cover a wide swath of topics, from the experience of Native Americans, the consequences of changes in the agriculture industry, criticisms of the free love movement, and even a song about French and English settlers in Canada, which I found to be particularly interesting. Musically, I wasn’t incredibly into the first side of the album. Neil Young is a fine guitar player and writes some good melodies, but there wasn’t really anything particularly interesting about any of those songs musically. They were pleasant, but that’s about it. I really enjoyed the second side of the album though, as the tempo increased, and the music grew more complex. “Sedan Delivery” was probably my favorite song on the album musically, and I loved the ebb and flow of the lead guitar parts. I could have done without “Hey Hey, My My” as the closing track though. The grungy sound was cool, but I didn’t think this album really needed a reprisal of the opening track. After typing that sentence though, I guess I can appreciate it thematically. I guess I’ll have to let that thought marinate a bit. Either way though, I liked this album, especially the lyrics and songwriting. I can’t believe I only have one more Neil Young solo album to go.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
This is my second Joni Mitchell album to review, after Court and Spark, which I gave four stars. I'm expect this album will probably fall in that range as well.
Like Court and Spark, this album features some brilliant song writing and fantastic vocals from Joni Mitchell. Feminism seemed to be the main theme that ran through this album, and I loved the many facets of this topic that Joni sang about. "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" was really great, and I loved its references to Gone With the Wind, even going as far as quoting Scarlett's feeling about how women have to be frail and delicate in a world that also demands their toughness. I appreciated how the song was soft in its sound, despite being empowering in its lyrical tone. "Harry's House/Centerpiece" was probably my favorite track on the album. Its examination of a souring marriage from two points of view was really well done. The shifting in musical tone between the two points of view was really well done. I found it really interesting how Harry still had his career and life outside the home despite his crumbling home life, yet his wife longed for the time when there was still passion and romance in their life. Musically, I wasn't wild about this album, and I found parts of it pleasant but a little bland. I did enjoy the more rock and roll sound of "In France They Kiss on Main Street," and "Shadows and Light" had my favorite arrangements of the whole album. Even after looking up the album on Wikipedia, I'm not sure what instrument created the really the fuzzy sounds or the sounds that were akin to a keyboard or organ. I did like the horns that were utilized throughout the album as well. This was a really good album, and I'm looking forward to the other two Joni Mitchell albums that I have left to review.
Don McLean
3/5
My dad had this album on CD when I was a kid, but other than the title track and "Vincent," I've never listened to it. My parents purged their CD collection many years ago, giving everything to my brother and I, but I can't remember if this one made it home with me or him, so I may actually own this album.
I remember hearing the title track quite a bit as a kid on classic rock radio, and I seem to remember it making a bit of a comeback when I was a teenager and Weird Al released "The Saga Begins," and I think it made a bit of another comeback in the early aughts, when universities began to more broadly offer history of rock and roll classes. These days, I think people tend to crap on it as a bit of cheap nostalgia, cheapened by boomers who bemoan the state of the modern world. After all, "'remember when' is the lowest form of conversation" according to Tony Soprano. But I don't really see McLean being nostalgic on this song. I think he's mourning a legitimate tragedy, but he knows that even as art and artists come and go, culture moves on and evolves. Even loss and tragedy can shape our world, and while we may wonder about what could have been, others will come along and fill the voids. Personally, I think "American Pie" is still a fantastic song. The overtly obvious symbolism is still fun, and the jangly piano melody is incredibly catchy, making this song a timeless singalong. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the rest of the album as well. The songwriting was really good, and I loved how the themes of solitude and loneliness were woven throughout the album. The musical arrangements were enjoyable as well, and I thought the piano parts stood out as being some of the best parts. There were plenty of other soft instrumental elements that filled out the sound as well. To top it all off, McLean has a great voice, and his vocals are strong throughout the album. One final note about an individual song: I found "Everybody Loves Me, Baby" to be particularly interesting, especially since McLean's family have said that he was a bit of tyrant as a husband and father. Was this song an admission, or a piece of tone deaf projection? We'll never know, but this song has certainly gotten more interesting in the last several years.
I enjoyed this album more than I thought I would, but the first half definitely felt stronger than the second half. The musical arrangements on the second half didn't feel as rich, even though the songwriting didn't drop off much. Still, nothing really blew me away, and I think this album isn't as good as other folk or folk adjacent albums that were coming out around the same time. I don't know that I'd go back to this album, because I'd prefer something by Joni Mitchell or Nick Drake.
Tom Waits
3/5
This is my third Tom Waits album to review, but it's been a little over 200 albums since my last one by him. I loved Rain Dogs and enjoyed Bone Machine, so I was happy to get the chance to go down another gravely-voiced road with Mr. Waits.
Even though this album has some absolute gems in "On The Nickel" and "Jersey Girl," this has been my least favorite Tom Waits album so far. Aside from the two aforementioned songs, I found the rest of the musical arrangements to be pretty good. I enjoyed the strings on "Saving All My Love For You" and "Ruby's Arms", and the gritty sound of the title track and "Downtown" complimented the lyrics really well. I wasn't that big a fan of the rest of the songs on the album.
Now to discuss the best parts of the album. I loved the softer crooning of "Jersey Girl," complimented by the strings that ebbed and flowed in intensity. The minimal percussion was great too, and I think I heard a little bit of Hammond organ as well, which I really liked. The lyrics on this song were fantastic as well, and Tom's voice carried such a great sense of love and longing. The best part of this album though has to be "On The Nickel." The strings comprise a beautiful lullaby sound, and the piano compliments them nicely. The sound of this song is so soft and gentle, which contrasts starkly with the lyrics. To me, this song discusses the fact that everyone who winds up homeless or drug addicted or in jail, starts their life off as a child at some point. I'm reminded of a line from Bright Eyes' "Road To Joy": "no one ever plans to sleep out in the gutter, sometimes that's just the most comfortable place." No one chooses a life of hardship, but hardship manages to find people anyway. I really connected with this song on a personal level too. As a child, my home life was incredibly tumultuous. My mother, a victim of abuse from her father, inflicted that same trauma on my brother and I. Her father ruled her house with an iron fist, which kept her in line, and she expected the same tactic to work on her children as well, but it didn't. She was always angered by what she perceived to be my lack of effort on my school work, and would often warn me that if I didn't make good grades, I'd wind up on the street. Thankfully, that didn't happen, but those words still haunt me. When I see someone suffering from poverty or homelessness, I can't help but wonder if there's some alternate timeline where I'm in their place. Oftentimes, I feel like their fate is what I deserve. There's so much to address with things like poverty and drug addiction, but "On The Nickel" perfectly captured the innocence and humanity of conditions like this.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good album. I like how Tom Waits tends to examine the uglier things in our world, but he does so with such grace and gentleness. While this album wasn't my favorite of his, I'm still glad I got to listen to it.
The Stooges
4/5
I listened to Raw Power on my own several years ago, but this will be my first Stooges album to review. It's been a while since I've listened to Raw Power, so I'm excited to jump into this earlier Stooges album.
I was really blown away by the guitar work on this album. Each song was just a non-stop assault of great lead guitar playing. There was some great bass playing as well, especially on "T.V. Eye," (the best track on the album) "Loose," and "1970." The saxophone on the last three tracks was really interesting as well, and gave the album a really unique sound, especially for a hard rock album. It absolutely blows my mind that this album came out in 1970; it sounds like it was at least ten years ahead of its time.
Even though I was blown away by the guitar playing on this album, I wasn't wowed by much else musically. The drumming was sufficient, and the vocals weren't vocals weren't really my jam, but they were certainly unique. Also, some of the songs were pretty long, and a few of them felt pretty repetitive. Still, this was a really good album overall, and it was massively influential. I'm looking forward to reviewing the other two Stooges albums on this list.
The Kinks
4/5
This will be my third Kinks album to review. I've mentioned this on my other reviews for their albums, but heading into this project, I would have assumed that I would have loved their albums, even though I was only familiar with a few of their songs. That has not been the case so far, because as it turns out, the Kinks songs that I was familiar with and enjoyed were pretty much nothing like their albums that are on the list. I was not super thrilled to see this pop up today, but I'd prefer it to the second Pere Ubu album I still have left. Here goes nothing.
Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I enjoyed it much more than Something Else By The Kinks and Face to Face. I felt like the overall sound of this album was a lot more accessible, and a lot more enjoyable as well. The jangly guitar playing, string arrangements, and keyboard playing were all great, and gave this album a really unique feel. I enjoyed the various sounds that the band employed as well (calypso, blues, music hall, etc), but all of the songs still felt like they fit with the overall sound of the album. This album's sound was really fun to groove to, and the arrangements fit the concept of the lyrics really well. The nostalgia for the village green was a unique concept, although in today's political landscape of rising populism, it almost has an anti-immigrant feel. I don't think that's what The Kinks intended, but it's interesting how thin the line between nostalgia and an Eric Clapton get-out-of-my-country rant can feel these days. Still, this was a really good album, and the best Kinks album I've listened to so far. God save Donald Duck, indeed.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
I first heard of Emerson, Lake & Palmer in my history of rock and roll class in college, and honestly, I don't think I've heard them mentioned since then. Their song "Karn Evil 9" was covered as an example of art rock in that class, and I had completely forgotten about that song until today. Prog rock can be pretty hit or miss with me, so I'm interested to see where this will land with me.
I thought this album was fine. "Tarkus" was interesting, both in the concept of its lyrical concept and in its musical arrangements. I tend to enjoy keyboards and synthesizers, and I thought those elements were fine on this song. The bass playing rounded out the overall sound of the song really well, and there were spots where I thought the drumming was really good too. For a really long song, I was surprised at how interesting I found it. I was never bored, but most of the song just felt really busy for the sake of being busy. The opening and closing segments were my favorite parts of the song, and I really liked their dark tone.
The second side of the album was decent as well. “Are You Ready Eddy?” was really fun, and even though I felt like it stuck out like a sore thumb on this album, the jazzy piano playing and faster tempo were really fun. This song also had some really slick bass playing too that helped make this song a fun bop. My favorite song on the album though was “The Only Way.” I loved the hymn-like quality of the organ playing that opened the song, the darker organ tones that took over once the lyrics started, and the light piano playing that closed the song. The evolution of tones throughout the song went really well with the religious themes of the lyrics. It reminded me of how a church service can flow; brighter themes during praise and worship time, an intense sermon, and then a brighter tone during a closing hymn and a call to fulfill the Great Commission. The other songs on this side of the album weren’t really noteworthy to me, but they weren’t necessarily bad, they just weren’t really my jam.
Overall, this album was fine, but I can’t see myself returning to it. Still, it was a unique experience to listen to this, and I’m curious to see what E,L &P’s other album on this list will be like.
The Prodigy
3/5
This is my second and final album to review by The Prodigy. I really enjoyed The Fat of the Land, so I have high hopes heading into this album.
Overall, I thought this album was fine. The best songs were interesting and kept me wanting more, but most of the songs were a tad bland, and felt really repetitive. So many of the songs on here were too long, and there were only one or two songs that I wanted to listen to for over five minutes. The songs that I didn’t care for didn’t really add anything or develop over the course of their runtimes, and that made them a bit of a drag. “Voodoo People” was the first song on the album that really hooked me in. I loved the pulsing beats, and the way that the main melody would fade in and out, allowing that strange alarm-blare sound to drive the pace of the song at times. “The Heat” was really good too, and I enjoyed the softer moments during the first half of the song, because they showcased how big beat music can still be melodic. I enjoyed “No Good” as well; I liked the female vocals and the dance-y rhythms. I hate to compare this album to TFotL, but I felt this album really suffered from a lack of Keith Flint. His personality and vocals really brought a lot to TFotL, and while this album was fun and mostly enjoyable, it felt more like a showcase of big beat, instead of an album with its own personality and mood. I’d still throw down on this album again, but I’d have to be in the right mood.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
This is my first My Bloody Valentine album to review, but not my first album of theirs to listen to. A while ago, I was looking for something off of the list to listen to, and settled on Loveless, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Fun fact: I'd heard the band's name mentioned several times before listening to Loveless, but I never knew they were shoegaze. I thought they were a 2000's emo band, but I think I got them mixed up with Bullet for My Valentine. Regardless, I've been looking forward to getting to review a My Bloody Valentine album, and I was excited to see this album come up for me today.
Unfortunately though, this album didn't live up to my expectations. I found the first half of the album to be pretty boring. I don't mind fuzzy guitars and distortion, but there just wasn't much going on in terms the sound of the album, and it felt like these first several songs were just 'cut-and-paste shoegaze' without offering anything unique. I really didn't like the softer vocals on the first couple of songs either. Thankfully though, the album turned a corner for me with "new you." I really loved the echo of the guitar and the brighter sound of the overall melody. The drums were really great as well. "in another way" was probably my favorite song on the album. The pulsing guitar and the brighter tone that played underneath it were great. The songs after that were really good too; the pulsing drum on "nothing is" and the faster pace of "wonder 2" were really unique, and these songs gave the album more depth and a better overall feel. I certainly didn't hate this album, but if I were to listen to it again, I'd skip the first several tracks.
Method Man
3/5
I've never listened to any of Method Man's solo work before, but I did love reviewing Enter the Wu-Tang a few weeks ago, so I have high expectations for my first solo album from a Wu-Tang member.
I didn't love this album, but I thought it was pretty good. The beats, production work, and sample use were the highlights on this album for me. I'm not a big fan Method Man's rapping, but the rhymes were good, and the lyrics were pretty clever and witty. On the title track, I liked the use of the music from Superman and the reference to Superman later on in the lyrics. The opening lyrics to "Biscuits," while vulgar, were incredibly funny. I don't think I've ever heard a song say "Yo momma don't wear no drawers" and then reference the Human Torch later on. "All I Need" and "Release Yo' Delf" were my favorite tracks on the album, mostly for their brilliant use of samples. "Meth Vs. Chef" was in a close third, with its great back-and-forth between Method Man and Raekwon. Other than the rapping that I wasn't the biggest fan of, a lot of this album felt like filler, and I didn't think it really added anything significant to east coast hip hop. While it was fine, it just didn't stand out much to me.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
This is my second Emmylou Harris solo album to review. I loved Red Dirt Girl, so I have really high hopes heading into this album.
Like Red Dirt Girl, this album is an excellent showcase of Emmylou Harris's voice. Each song is a great example of her beautiful voice, and she pours raw emotion into every ounce of her singing. There's also some solid work from other musicians that helps solidify this album's sad and sombre tone. "Boulder to Birmingham," Harris's sole writing contribution to the album is beautiful, yet devastating. Having lost her mentor and collaborator Gram Parsons could have easily crushed Harris's career, but she carried, despite the sadness brought on by Parsons's passing. Her rendition of "The Bottle Let Me Down" is an interesting inclusion on this album, especially considering how Parsons passed away, but it's unique to hear a song like this sung from the perspective of a female, and Harris's soft tone provides vulnerability to the demons of alcoholism.
Overall, this is a beautiful album. I do wish this album had more songs written by Harris, but it's a solid collection of songs that express heartbreak and grief, with the exception of her rendition of Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors," which I found to be an unnecessary inclusion. Still, reviewing this album has given me more appreciation for Emmylou Harris's work.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
This is my second Simon & Garfunkel album to review, after Bridge Over Troubled Water, which I absolutely loved. I have high expectations for this album, and can't wait to dive into it.
I was immediately surprised and hooked in by the synthesizer parts on "Save the Life of My Child." This was not a sound I was expecting on this album, but I really loved it. The lyrics were great too, and this song was a great addition to the Bookends theme. The rest of the first side of the album was more in line with what I'd expect from Simon & Garfunkel. The songs were beautiful musically, and the songwriting was great, but nothing else really stood out to me. "Voices of Old People" fit with the theme of the album, but was certainly an odd choice.
I enjoyed the second side of the album a bit more than the first side. "Mrs. Robinson" might be one of the best songs ever written. The guitar melody, Paul Simon's vocals, and the light percussion have made this song such a staple for over fifty years now. The lyrics are fantastic as well, and every time I hear it, I feel the emotions that I associate with The Graduate. It's just a perfect song in every way. Heading into this album, I wasn't a big fan of the original version of "Hazy Shade of Winter," but I've now been won over to see how great it is. I'm pretty sure I heard The Bangles' version first, which I absolutely loved, with it's nervous dread portrayed through the alternating pounding of the drums and blistering guitar melody. Simon & Garfunkel's version conveys dread as well, but it's not so much a nervous dread, but more of a sense of a fate that can't be avoided, like a criminal awaiting sentencing. The tambourine getting a bigger role in the percussion really adds to the mood, and the less frantic guitar playing puts more emphasis on each note, which I really enjoyed. The rest of the songs on side 2 were really good too, and I felt like this side of the album didn't feel as one-dimensional.
I didn't enjoy Bookends as much as I enjoyed Bridge Over Troubled Water, but I still really liked it, and I think it's a great album. I used to listen to a lot of classic rock when I was younger, and I regret that I didn't spend more time listening to these two.
Cowboy Junkies
2/5
I've heard of Cowboy Junkies before, but I've never heard any of their music before, so I have no idea what I'm in for on this album. But I see that there are covers of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline on this album, so I'm excited to give it a listen.
As interesting as this album was on paper, it didn't live up to my expectations. The concept behind the recording of this album is incredibly unique, and the vocals were really great throughout it, but this album fell flat with me. I was pretty bored listening to this, and I didn't find any of the songs particularly memorable. I was really hoping that the band would add something new to their renditions of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and "Walkin' After Midnight," but I was let down by what I heard. I wasn't familiar with Velvet Underground's version of "Sweet Jane," so while the song was fine, I can't compare it back to the original. The original songs on this album weren't much better than the covers in my opinion. "Blue Moon Revisited" was interesting, but I didn't have any other strong feelings about it.
This album wasn't without merit, but it's definitely not my thing, and I'm confused as to why it was included on this list. Great vocals, but there wasn't really much else going on.
SZA
3/5
I’ve listened to this album before, when I went through Rolling Stone’s best albums of the 2010’s. I honestly don’t remember much about it, but I was excited to see this one pop up for me today.
Overall, this was a pretty good album. The soul-inspired instrumentals were really unique and enjoyable (especially the horns), and the production work was really solid as well. I loved the vulnerability of the lyrics. SZA did a great job conveying feelings of insecurity and youthful inexperience, and I liked how everything still tied back into the theme of control. “Drew Barrymore” and “Prom” were easily my favorite tracks on the album. The vocals on “Drew Barry” more were some of the best on the album, and I really enjoyed the wavering string instruments. “Prom” had a really awesome dream pop sound, and I could honestly picture a slow dance at a prom in the nineties, complete with blue-hued lighting as I listened to this song. I wasn’t a big fan of the Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar appearances. Their presence was really rough on an otherwise smooth album, and they didn’t really add anything with their appearance. I’d be inclined to go back to this album, not because I was in love with it, but because it was enjoyable to listen to, and because there’s so much to unpack lyrically.
Culture Club
3/5
Growing up, my parents had this album on vinyl. I don’t remember them ever putting it on, but I was familiar with “Karma Chameleon,” a song which I still enjoy today. At some point, I became familiar with “Church of the Poison Mind” as well, which I also like. Even though I like those two songs, I don’t have high hopes for the rest of this album, but I’ve been surprised before, so we’ll see.
I wound up liking this album more than I thought I would. There’s a little bit of everything on here as far as eighties pop music is concerned: upbeat earworms, synthesizers, touches of world music, and some pretty decent ballads. Boy George’s vocals are fantastic throughout the album, and Helen Terry provides some fantastic backing vocals. The musical arrangements are best on “Karma Chameleon,” “Church of the Poison Mind,” and “It’s a Miracle,” but with the exception of some great bass grooves throughout the album, a lot of the songs were a touch boring to me musically. Still, there’s a lot of deep emotions conveyed by Boy George’s singing, and his persona as a pop star was massive during Culture Club’s peak popularity. This is a pretty good and fun album, where the vocals and emotional lyrics really shine. I can’t see myself listening to the whole album again, but “Karma Chameleon” is still an absolute blast, and it barely beats “Church of the Poison Mind” as the best song on the album.
Paul Weller
3/5
I've heard of Paul Weller, mostly from reading about his activism in Dorian Lynskey's book 33 Revolutions Per Minute. I've reviewed Style Council's Café Bleu, but this will be my first solo album of Paul's to listen to. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm curious dive into this one.
I didn't love this album, but it was interesting. I'm a sucker for some good keyboard playing, and this album had a nice variety of keyboard parts, and some good guitar playing as well. Paul's vocals were nice as well, and they filled out the overall sound of this album nicely. It was really accessible and comfortable to listen to, and I can definitely hear Traffic's influence on this album, but I enjoyed this album more than I did either of the Traffic albums that I've reviewed. This album is well-made, but it's not without its flaws. As nice as it was to listen to, this album doesn't really push any boundaries or bring anything new to the table. I listened to a quite a bit of adult contemporary music in the nineties, and this album felt like it would fall in nicely in between some Hootie and the Blowfish and Alanis Morissette, but it would be overshadowed by both of them. As much as Paul Weller was a voice for change back in the seventies and eighties, I feel like this album is an allegory for an aging radical giving up on making the world better, and settling for internal happiness instead. And not there's anything unusual with that; a lot of the leftist rabble rousers of the seventies and eighties stopped championing their causes as they aged, and Paul Weller is a member of that club as well. This album was slightly better than average in my opinion, but I don't think I'd ever come back to it.
Best tracks: "Sunflower," "Can You Heal Us," "Wild Wood," and "Shadow Of The Sun"
Goldfrapp
4/5
I'm familiar with a couple of Goldfrapp songs, "Ooh La La" and "Number One," but I've never listened to an album of theirs before. I love those aforementioned songs, but I know this album has a different sound than Goldfrapp's earlier work, so I'm curious to see how I'll feel about this album.
This album was really good. There were a few songs on this album that I thought stood out above the rest (more on those later), but I enjoyed the overall sound. Alison Goldfrapp's vocals are great, and I enjoyed that this album had some dream pop elements woven into it. The production work was well done, and I enjoyed the contributions from the additional musicians.
"Caravan Girl" was my favorite song on the album, by a slim margin. I loved the guitar on the chorus, and the bright synth tones rounded out the sound really well. Alison's vocals on this song really reminded me of Neko Case's vocals on The New Pornographers' album Whiteout Conditions, which I absolutely love. "Little Bird" was really good too; its shimmering melody and the drumming made it stand out quite a bit. The outro was particularly good as well. "A&E" was my second favorite songs on the album, worthy of being the lead sing from the album. I loved the horns and acoustic strings, and how the song built ever so slightly over the course of its runtime, adding more layers to the sound. "Monster Love" was a great closing track; I liked how it alternated between acoustic sounds on the verse and letting synthesizers drive the melody on the chorus.
As billed, this album was not as dance-y as the Goldfrapp songs I know, but that didn't take away from it. The biggest detractor for me was that a sizable chunk of the album was somewhat forgettable. Even the songs that I really enjoyed were a blast while I was listening to them, but they didn't stick in my brain when they ended. This album is probably closer to a three-and-a-half star for me, but its deep, often heartbreaking lyrics and the fact that I'd definitely listen to it again make me round it up to four stars. I'm looking forward to reviewing Goldfrapp's first album when it comes up for me. Also, shout out to Alison for including the word 'titties' in "Clown." That's my favorite word to use when I want to annoy my wife.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
I’m only familiar with one song by the Jesus and Mary Chain, “Head On,” but I really like that song, and I was really excited to see Darklands pop up for me to review today. If this album is anything like “Head On,” I think I’m going to have a good time with this one.
I really wanted to fall in love with this album, but sadly, that didn’t happen. I thought Darklands was really good, but it’s the type of album where I’m much more likely to only revisit certain songs instead of the whole album. I did enjoy the overall sound of the album, which was really well defined by some great guitar parts. I loved the shimmery, echoey sound that was utilized, and I thought the drum machines did a great job of adding some darkness that contrasted with the bright guitar tones. This album reminded me of Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain, in the sense that the sound was big, but everything about the album managed to feel really intimate. I enjoyed the songwriting, and the vocals did a great job of carrying the melancholy lyrics. “Happy When it Rains” was my favorite song on the album, but “Darklands” and “April Skies” were almost just as good. I also liked “Deep One Perfect Morning” and “Cherry Came Too.” Even though I didn’t fall in love with this album, I enjoyed it, and I thought it was objectively a really good and unique album. I’m looking forward to reviewing Psychocandy some day.
4/5
I'm very familiar with this album, but I haven't listened to it in ages. I spent quite a bit of time listening to Muse in the late aughts and early 2010's, even seeing them live when they were touring for The Resistance (fantastic show btw, even though it was in an arena). I heard "Starlight" just yesterday while I was at a work conference, so it's perfect timing that I'd get this album today.
Musically, this album was as fun today as it was for me when I first heard "Knights of Cydonia" on Guitar Hero 2. This album's sound is massive, and it's full of great songs, like "Starlight," "Supermassive Black Hole," "Assassin," and the aforementioned "Knights of Cydonia." From start to finish, there are blistering guitar riffs, beautiful synthesizers, awesome string arrangements, and even some great horns thrown in for good measure. Matthew Bellamy's singing is great throughout the album, and his unique voice adds to the space-like feel of this album. When I listened to Muse more regularly, I really enjoyed trying to imitate Bellamy’s falsetto on “Supermassive Black Hole,” and today was no exception to that. He showcases a wide range of other vocal talents as well, from light crooning on “Starlight” to hard rock influences on “Knights of Cydonia.” As much as I enjoyed the music on this album, there were a lot of instances where I felt the lyrics didn’t quite hold up. The lyrics about love and longing were great, but anything to do with warnings about the new world order or conspiracies just fell flat to me. Muse’s next album, The Resistance, really relied on those tropes, but they were foreshadowed quite a bit on this album. I’m not sure if it’s the rise in far-right populism that’s fueled my distaste for these lyrics, or if it’s a shift in my own personal politics over the last several years that makes me roll my eyes at some of the songwriting on this album. Even with a host of really great and fun songs, the album did drag a bit in the middle, but even the songs that I didn’t enjoy as much managed to have some redeeming quality about them. This is far from a perfect album, and it’s not going to work its way back into my regular rotation, but I still enjoyed getting to revisit it. Muse really hit their stride on this album, with a work that’s really unique and a treat for the ears.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
I’d never listened to a Smashing Pumpkins album from start to finish until I started this project. I’m very familiar with their singles, but listening to Siamese Dream late last year was the first time I’d listened to one of their albums. Siamese Dream blew me away, and has been one of my favorite albums from this project. I have really high expectations for Mellon Collie, since it has my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song, “1979” (“Tonight, Tonight” is a close second).
Mellon Collie managed to completely live up to my expectations. I was blown away by its wonderful guitar playing, brilliant string arrangements, and great songwriting. A lot of the double albums that I’ve reviewed have fallen a bit short with me, often because they’re just too much. However, Mellon Collie was able to hit the mark of its big ambitions. The album really did a fantastic job of keeping in line with its darker themes of sadness that were woven throughout the songs. Sadness is such a broad emotion, and I loved how sadness was explored through other themes of loneliness, disillusionment, and anger.
Dawn to Dusk was my favorite part of the album. I loved the orchestral instrumental that kicked off the album, and it segued beautifully into “Tonight, Tonight.” “Tonight, Tonight” is such a beautiful song, and I love its sweeping string arrangements and precise drumming. “Jelly Belly” shifts this part of the album into more hard rock influences, but the beauty in the arrangements is still there. I love the fuzzy guitar sounds that take over on the songs that have more hard rock influences; it’s the perfect blend of hard rock and shoegaze. “Love” was probably my favorite discovery on this first half of the album. I absolutely loved the guitar playing, and the keyboards or maybe autoharp that were on this song were fantastic as well. Dawn to Dusk was just beautiful from start to finish, and I absolutely loved it.
I didn’t enjoy Twilight to Starlight as much, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the album. This part of the album featured more songs that were stripped down and slower, but they were just as beautiful.. “1979” is still my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song. I love that it features acoustic guitar, but there are still some other instruments that round out the sound of the song really well. “Thru The Eyes of Ruby” was my favorite discovery on this part of the album. The guitar playing was fantastic, and I loved the ebb and flow of the tempo.
My favorite thing about Smashing Pumpkins’ music is that there’s so much to take in. The main guitar melodies and strings are aways great, but there are so many little sounds sprinkled throughout their work that makes their music so enjoyable and rich. Mellon Collie was fantastic from start to finish, and I really loved it. I’ve always enjoyed Smashing Pumpkins’ music, but I now have an appreciation for their albums as a whole.
Faust
4/5
I’ve never heard of Faust before, so I have no idea of what to expect from this album. I studied German for three years in high school, and two years in college, but I know embarrassingly little about German pop culture, especially music. I read a little bit about Krautrock before jumping into this album, and I think there’s a good chance I’ll enjoy it.
My inclinations were correct, and I really enjoyed this album. It certainly fit the bill of experimental, and it’s an interesting bridge between the psychedelic music of the sixties and the more electronically heavy music of the eighties. I really enjoyed the fuzzy and distorted guitars, and there were some great synthesizer, keyboard, and organ arrangements that filled in the experimental sound nicely. I’m always leery of longer songs, because I often find them really repetitive, but Faust’s longer songs were always changing and evolving the sound throughout their runtime, and I found myself rapt with attention for what would come next. I really appreciated that the band used a lot of subtle things here and there in the music, like little beeps, or wavering synthesizer notes. This album was great, and I appreciate how unique and different it was. I’m excited to review some of the other Krautrock albums that are on this list.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
I’ve never heard of this band or album before, but I’m a little familiar with Arctic Monkeys, so I have a rough idea of what this album might be like.
Overall, this album was fine. I believe one review described this album as Arctic Monkeys meets 60’s mod rock, and that assessment was spot on. Alex Turner has such a unique vocal style that gives Arctic Monkeys a very distinct sound, and I enjoyed his singing on this album. Musically, this album fluctuated between standard aughts rock music and interesting symphonic pop. The songs that relied more on the symphonic sounds were the best on the album in my opinion, and everything else just kind of fell by the wayside. Nothing on this album sounded terrible, but very little stood out as well. The album started off on a really strong note with the title track, but it could never quite get back to that point, where the music was really catchy and unique. It came close a few times on the second half of the album, but there’s not enough here that would draw me back to this album.
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
I know of Country Joe & The Fish from reading about "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" in Dorain Lynskey's 33 Revolutions per minute. Heading into this project, I assumed that I loved psychedelica, but that hasn't been the case with the albums that I've reviewed, so I don't have high hopes that I'll enjoy this album.
As I feared, I was pretty underwhelmed by this album. The music itself was fine, but there wasn't anything on this album that I thought was new or surprising. I enjoyed some of the organ playing, and I caught myself really getting into the groove of "Section 43," but that song was really the only time I felt that way. The stripped down and raw sound gave the album an authentic feel musically, but the lyrics detracted from that authenticity. Lyrically, this album felt like it was full of self-serving hippie-isms, being preached from people who think they know best. There's no anger or emotion in anything, and I felt like the radical ideas that were sung about only served the purpose of propelling the egos of the band members (conversely, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" feels very authentic to me, in the way that it oozes angry sarcasm, so I know these guys are capable of authenticity to some degree). When I listen to Bob Marley, I can hear the conviction and emotion in his voice, and that was missing here. To top it off, I just felt that this album was pretty boring. Country Joe & The Fish may have been an integral part of the late sixties, but like The Summer of Love, they're a one-and-done with me.
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
I'm sure I'm not in the minority when I say that the only Dexy's Midnight Runners song I know is "Come On Eileen." I always thought Dexy's were just a one-hit-wonder; I had no idea until I started this project that their music is pretty well thought of amongst critics and music historians. I do love eighties music, so I think there's a pretty good chance that I'll enjoy this album.
I really enjoyed listening to this album. I've mentioned this quite a bit in my recent reviews, but I've been reading through Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute this year, where Lynskey talks about the history of protest songs. I've learned a lot about the political landscape of England in the late seventies and eighties, which gave me a lot of context for this album. Also, last year, I read a book about the history of The Troubles, which gave me even more context about the lyrical content of this album. I guess all of that is to say that I really loved the songwriting on this album. The lyrics touch on things like class and social standing with first hand insight, which gives a lot of authenticity to the album. The album even ends with Rowland calling out other bands who sing about political issues, but don't do anything to back up their words.
I enjoyed this album musically as well. The trombone and saxophone playing really shine on this album, giving it a unique feeling that sets it apart from other new wave music that was coming out at the time. Dexys utilizes these African and Caribbean sounds in a way that never feels like appropriation, but in a way that fleshes out the punk-sounding simplicity of the guitar and percussion. I assume that the rich textures on this album had an influence on the sophisti-pop sound that came out of England in the late eighties as well.
Parts of this album dragged a bit, and I wasn't always a big fan of the vocals, but this is a great album, especially when you look at its place in history and culture in England at the time. This album was a fun treat, and I look forward to the other Dexys albums on the list.
Jacques Brel
4/5
I'm completely unfamiliar with Jacques Brel, but I've seen the album cover for this on one of the list websites for this challenge, and I've always wondered what kind of music it was. Now, I shall wonder no more!
I thought this album was really great. I don't speak French, so I had to look up English translations of the lyrics, and I thought these songs were really well written. Obviously, some context is going to be missing due to running the lyrics through some janky-ass AI, but I still enjoyed the themes Brel sung about. The one thing that was not lost across a language barrier was Brel's emotion. I was really blown away by how passionately he sings, and how he manages to convey a wide variety of emotions just with the tone of his voice. The musical arrangements were nice, but they weren't really the focal point of this album.
I don't know that I'd rush to listen to this again, but I found it enriching to listen to an album from another country in a different language to experience something that I know nothing about. This is the type of album I will be tempted to play for my kids some day, and tell them that I'm making them 'cultured.'
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Well, today is July 4th and also my 500th album. I was really hoping for Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A., but, here we are with my second and final Christina Aguilera album. The randomness of the universe does not appear to care about my hopes. As much as I didn't want to see something like this come up today, I'll give it a fair shot. I thought Stripped was very good, so this album might surprise me too.
Just like Stripped, this album was full of Christina's excellent vocal talents. As I mentioned on my review for Stripped, this isn't my favorite era of pop music, but man, the singing on this album just blows away its contemporaries. To top it off, this album featured some great production that really bolstered the 'back to basics' theme. However, that theme really held the album back on the first half. I felt like the sound was really repetitive on the first half, and Christina really didn't do a lot with the album's theme. The whole name dropping section of "Back in the Day" is probably the best example of the lackluster nature of the first half of the album. "Ain't No Other Man" was one of the few songs I recognized off of this album, but it's a fun song, worthy of being easily recognizable. "Oh Mother" was also great. I liked that it was similar to "I'm O.K." off of Stripped, but with the focus shifting to Christina's mother.
When the second half of the album started with "Enter the Circus," I was afraid that the album was going to take a weird turn. However, as soon as Christina's vocals started, that fear was put to bed. The second half of the album didn't feel as confined by the back to basics theme, and had more exploration of sounds and themes. "Candyman" was the second song off of this album that I recognized, and it instantly evoked a visual of that old LG 2 Chocolate commercial from the aughts. Man, phones have come a long way since then. I enjoyed the sexual energy and lyrics of "Candyman," and it was the most fun song on the second half of the album. "Hurt" was the last song that I recognized, and I enjoyed its lyrics and epic sound.
Overall, this album was fine. The biggest downside of this album is that it was restrained by its theme, and a good portion of the tracks felt like filler. It's a long album, especially for something that feels a little one-dimensional for a good portion of its run time. Still, Christina Aguilera is an amazing vocal talent, and there's some solid production work on this album as well. Back To Basics isn't as good as Stripped, and that's okay.
The Fall
2/5
I've never heard of The Fall before, but I tend to like post punk music, so I had high hopes heading into this review. Unfortunately, I didn't care for this album very much. Musically, this album felt pretty one dimensional to me. The guitar tones were interesting and gave them album a unique feel, but they felt repetitive over the course of the album. The overall sound was really raw, but it didn't offer anything new or divergent from the punk sounds of the late seventies in my opinion. In general, I wasn't a big fan of the off-kilter keyboards, but there were some keyboard parts on the latter half of the album that weren't as off-putting to me. Lyrically, this album had some flashes of brilliance, especially on "No Xmas for John Quays." Overall though, I didn't really feel like this album offered anything new or exciting for post punk. It wasn't as bad as Pere Ubu, but it certainly fell short of Gang of Four and Magazine.
Ice Cube
4/5
Ah, here we are, my second and final Ice Cube solo album. I really enjoyed The Predator, and given the title of this album, I think I'm going to enjoy this one as well.
Right off the bat, this album snagged my full attention. The beats and samples are fantastic. The use of predominantly funk beats and samples serve a stark contrast to the dark lyrical tone of the album, and I felt like it made the lyrics really stand out. Granted, the lyrics to funk songs can be political and dark as well, so maybe this album just picked up the funk torch and ran with it in a way. Speaking of running with things, Ice Cube takes his reputation as an asshole, and doubles down on his rough reputation on this album. His voice is as fierce as ever, and his lyrics are incredibly raw. The cheerful backing chorus of 'Fuck you, Ice Cube!' on "The N**** You Love To Hate" was my second favorite part of the album, falling just behind the lyric 'You ask me, did I like Arsenio? About as much as the Bicentennial.' A dig at Arsenio Hall and the black experience in America in the same breath? Perfection. When I was looking up some of the lyrics to these songs, one of the lyrics websites featured an ad for Jack in the Box, starring none other that Ice Cube. Outstanding.
The production work by The Bomb Squad was great, although the sound was a little bit too busy at times. In other ties to Public Enemy, the guest appearances by Flavor Flav and Chuck D were great as well.
While this album's political themes are handled expertly, with the sneering anger I've come to expect (and appreciate) from Ice Cube, there's certainly a bit of misogyny on here that I don't recall being on The Predator. Surely Ice Cube addresses the misogyny on this album in the future? Oh, he does? And does he allay my fears that he's an actual misogynist in real life? Ah, he basically doubles down on it. Well then, that's pretty unfortunate.
I did mostly enjoy this album, but it did become a one trick pony over the course of its run time. However, I think it's a solid example of gangsta rap, while not being as good as The Predator.
Bon Jovi
4/5
Oh, Bon Jovi. I have a complicated relationship with Bon Jovi's music. There are a couple Bon Jovi songs that I really enjoy: "Run Away" and "Bad Medicine," neither of which appears on this album. I used to listen to a lot of classic rock and eighties music on the radio, and those two songs never got as much airplay as the singles from this album. I've never listened to this album from start to finish before, but I know those four singles really well. And that's where my complicated relationship with Bon Jovi emerges. These songs got tons of airplay when I listened to a lot of classic rock and eighties on the radio. I assume they still do. I usually have no desire to listen to the singles off of this album, especially "You Give Love a Bad Name." But the only reason that I'll usually avoid those songs is because I've heard them so much, which is no fault of Bon Jovi, and honestly speaks to the lasting popularity of this album. I'll still fuck with "Livin' on a Prayer" if I'm in the right mood, but that's it. Well, enough chit chat, let's get into the album.
For starters, I liked this album a lot more than I thought I would. Yes, I'm still not really into the singles on this album, but some of the other songs, especially those on Side B, were surprisingly fun. The guitar playing on "Raise Your Hands" was some of my favorite on the whole album, and the backing vocals gave the song a massive sound. "Without Love" and "I'd Die For You" had some fantastic keyboard playing, which really set them apart from the rest of the album. "I'd Die For You" has a really gritty feel to it (okay, gritty for Bon Jovi) that I really enjoyed. It feels like it could have been used in a movie that took place at night in a major city in the eighties. "Wild In The Streets" had some great keyboard playing too, although I could have done without the cheesy sexual lyrics. For the record, the line 'remember when we lost the keys, and you lost more than that in my backseat baby' has to be one of the most cringeworthy lines in all of popular music. Woof. I did enjoy the ballad-y guitar playing though. Speaking of ballads, "Wanted Dead Or Alive" is pretty fun as well. The song really kicks into another gear about half way through, and it hits its stride, thankful to some excellent backing vocals. I still don't care for "You Give Love A Bad Name" though. I can't tell if it's my over-familiarity with the song, or if it's just legitimately bland and predictable. Last, but not least, there's "Livin' On A Prayer." That opening bass line and the talk box are awesome, and the when the keyboard kicks in, it just perfects the sound. I think my problem with this song is that I hate hearing other people sing along to it, and good luck hearing this song in a setting where there aren't other people around. Jesus, this song really does attract the most insufferable people.
Alright, this is really good album. I had a lot of fun listening to it, and I really appreciated the keyboard playing on it. That's enough to set Bon Jovi ahead in a crowded field of one-hit wonders that were cranking out hair metal jams during the late eighties. This album isn't without its faults, but in terms of its place in pop culture history, it's definitely worthy of this list. It was a smash hit when it came out, and it's had some incredible staying power over the years. I never thought I'd write a full-blown essay on a Bon Jovi album, but here we are.
Elvis Presley
3/5
This is my second Elvis Presley album to review, after Elvis is Back. Elvis is Back was fine, but it certainly didn't set my world on fire, and I expect more of the same from this album.
I think I can safely say that this album pretty much nailed my expectations. I'm not a big Elvis fan, but this album was fine. I personally find it really tough to judge albums like this. Rock music has come so far since this album was released, so this album is naturally going to sound a little bare bones compared to most of the music that I listen to. I'm sure that it caused a hell of a stir back when it came out though. I did enjoy Elvis's singing on this album more than I did on Elvis is Back, but hearing cover a bunch of songs was a tad dull. However, I appreciate how he was able to create a unique sound at the crossroads of rhythm and blues and country music. Was that sound stolen and appropriated? Yep. Other than acknowledge it, I'm afraid there's not much we can do about it though. When it comes to impact and legacy however, this album simply can't be overlooked. This album was the tremor before the explosion, and basically set decades worth of pop culture in motion. This album isn't really my cup of tea, but I appreciate the gravity of it.
Sepultura
2/5
I'm not familiar with Sepultura, but the description of this album seems really interesting, so I'm curious how I'm going to feel about it.
Well, Roots is definitely an experience. Based on the description of this album, I expected something more Brazilian-influenced in the sound, but in my opinion, this was pretty much just another metal album. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but I felt like it didn't really fit the bill of how it was sold to me. There were some Latin and Brazilian influences, but I felt like they were few and far between. Over the course of this album's 72 minute run time (just under an hour if you don't count the 13 minute "Canyon Jam"), this album's sound just wore down on me. I was pretty bored with this about halfway through, and I never managed to get interested again. I really wasn't a fan of the guttural vocals, and there wasn't really anything musically that kept my attention either. Again, I don't think this is a bad album, but it's definitely not my taste. I hope the other Sepultura album that's still waiting for me is more up my alley.
Kraftwerk
5/5
I've never listened to Kraftwerk before, and that's a shame, because they influenced so many bands that I love. I was really excited to see this come up today, and I expect that I'll really enjoy it.
As I expected, I really enjoyed this album. The thing that surprised me the most is the range of emotions that Kraftwerk was able to evoke with a sound that's fairly minimalist. From the nostalgia of "Europe Endless", to the sarcasm of "Showroom Dummies," this album is broad in sound and mood. "Europe Endless" was easily my favorite track on the album. I loved its bright tones and the way that more layers were added to the sound as the song progressed. The first three tracks on side B of the album were great too, and I loved the way the rhythms sounded like a train chugging along. This album was really brilliant from start to finish, and I loved how unique it was. I'm really excited to review the other two Kraftwerk albums on this list.
Everything But The Girl
5/5
I've never heard of this band or album before, but I'm very intrigued based on the description of the album.
Oh, I really like this first song, "Before Today." What a great, chill sound. I love the beats, and those vocals are fantastic. "Wrong" is really great too, for all the same reasons. That voice sounds familiar though. This reminds me of The XX, maybe that's it? No, I've heard this voice before. Oh wait, do these people sing that 'I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain' song? Oh wow, I had no idea that was them. I haven't heard that in a long time. I always thought it was kind of boring when it first came out, but I dig it now. Who did I think sang that? Some sort of Paula Cole or Sophie B. Hawkins type? I digress...
I a had great time listening to this album. The overall sound is really enjoyable, and in addition to the overall sound, there are plenty of wonderful little details too take in as well. There's definitely a mood that permeates the whole album, but I never felt like things were repetitive or boring. The musical arrangements were fantastic, and I loved how EBtG put their own stamp on the trip hop sound. The vocals were great as well, and Tracey Thorn will now be on my mind when I think of vocalists that I really like. This was a great discovery, and another reminder of how much fun it is to go through all of these albums.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
I'd never listened to Belle and Sebastian before until I got to review If You're Feeling Sinister a few months ago. I absolutely loved If You're Feeling Sinister, so I have really high hopes that I'm going to enjoy Tigermilk as well.
While I really enjoyed this album, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I enjoyed If You're Feeling Sinister. This album was full of really pleasant arrangements, and I especially enjoyed the trumpet and string arrangements throughout the album. The vocals were great, and I liked the lyrical content and themes as well. I liked that the album had a really cohesive sound without any parts of it sounding repetitive. This album was a great example of solid songwriting and really good musicianship, and I'd listen to it again.
The Cult
1/5
I’m familiar with a handful of songs by The Cult, but I’ve never listened to one of their full albums before. I like their sound though, so I think there’s a good chance that I’m going to enjoy this album.
Unfortunately, I can’t think of many positive things to say about this album. The Cult songs that I’m familiar with have a really distinct sound, featuring some guitar effects that I really enjoy. However, Electric was full of unremarkable and generic rock songs. This album reminds me a lot of Bad Company, in the way that there was really nothing unique about it. The guitar playing, the drumming, and the vocals were all incredibly bland. It’s really a shame that this album wasn’t good, because I know The Cult can write great songs. I’m really miffed as to why this album made the list.
Os Mutantes
5/5
I’ve never heard of this artist before, but based on the description of the album, this is exactly the reason that I signed up for this project. I’m excited to give this a listen.
Heading into this project, I thought I liked 60’s psychedelic music, but that hasn’t really been the case as much as I go through a lot of these albums. This album, however, was right up my alley. It’s different without being really weird and unique while still feeling really accessible (other than the fact I don’t speak Portuguese, but thank thankfully Chat GPT could give me some insight to the lyrical content of the songs). Musically, this album is incredibly diverse, but still feels cohesive, a feat that I feel can be difficult to achieve. The fuzzy guitar tones and distortion sound really great in combination with the rhythms and percussion (I assume that’s where a lot of the Brazilian influences in this album lie). Reading up on this album, I see that a lot of the lyrical content is protesting dictatorial military rule in Brazil at the time, which I can always get behind (by the way, super fun to raise two young kids in America right now, especially with a presidential candidate getting shot at over the weekend). Back to the musical content though: I’ve heard The Bees’ version of “A Minha Menina” when I reviewed their album, but this version was far better. I loved the playful tone, upbeat tempo, and dance worthy percussion. One thing that I think this album did really well, is that the song structures are really unique. “O Relógio” was a prime example of this. I liked how the song started off with a dreamy tone, before shifting to more traditional psychedelic sounds, and then shifting back to the dreamy tone to close. I really enjoyed “Ave Genghis Khan” as well. The piano riff was fantastic, and the jazzy percussion combined with the electronic elements gave it a really fun sound.
This was a really great album and it was a really awesome experience to listen something so different. This isn’t necessarily the type of album that I’d gravitate towards, but I can understand and appreciate why it was on this list.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
Last year, I read a history of The Mamas & The Papas (All the Leaves Are Brown), and that was the first time I'd heard of Big Brother & The Holding Company. The book chronicled quite a bit about the Monterey Pop festival, so I know this album has a lot of significance when it comes to rock music. Janis Joplin is a fellow Texan (I think my mother in law has a friend who knew Janis growing up), but I've never really listened to much of her music, so I'm interested to see what's in store on this album.
I thought this album was pretty good for the most part. While I'm not the biggest fan of Janis's gravely singing, she has so much power and energy in her voice, and that really made some of these songs more enjoyable. The combination of blues and psychedelica created a really unique sound. "Oh, Sweet Mary" is probably the best example of this sound; there's a really heavy bass line that gives the song a good groove, but the frantic guitar playing and fast paced drumming give the song a heavier boogie-feel. "Piece of My Heart" was my favorite song on the album. I always thought this was a solo song from Janis, so I was surprised to find it on here. Janis's singing and the ebb and flow to the song make this one of best songs to come from San Francisco in the late sixties. While there were some songs that I enjoyed, most of the album wasn't too remarkable in my opinion. Granted, I'm not really fond of blues rock for the most part, and psychedelic rock can be pretty hit-or-miss with me. Both of those genres can be a bit dull and repetitive to me, and parts of this album fell into that category. Still, I know this album is incredibly influential, and I understand why it's on this list.
Liz Phair
5/5
I can’t remember when I first heard of Liz Phair, but I know it was sometime in the last ten years or so. I don’t remember ever hearing about her or any of her songs when this album came out. My only exposure to Liz’s music was through the 60 Songs That Explain the Nineties podcast that talked about “Fuck and Run,” but other than that, I’ve never heard one of her songs. But I’ve heard that this album is supposed to be fantastic, so I’ve been looking forward to this one, and I’ve resisted the urge to listen to it before it came up for me to review.
I think this album absolutely lived up to the hype I’ve heard surrounding it. The songwriting is some of the best I’ve ever heard. I loved the rawness of the lyrics and that no topic seemed to be too taboo to be covered on this album. There’s so much to unpack in the lyrics of this album. I found myself really focusing on the music and Liz’s voice, but when I would pay attention to what she was actually singing, it was like a jolt that shook me awake. And even with the unfiltered quality of her lyrics, I had a hard time deciphering what was literal and what was hyperbole, trying to decide what was Liz’s real pain and what parts were her emotional reactions. The instrumentation was also raw and simplistic, but provided the perfect contrast and often distraction from the themes being sung about. The guitar playing was fantastic throughout, whether the melodies were faster and louder, or whether they were slower and softer. One thing that blew me away about this album was how strong it was from start to finish. The second half is still incredibly powerful and contains plenty of punches and surprises, and I found my jaw dropping open countless times over the whole runtime. I wish I had more time to go into individual songs, but I’ll just list my favorites: “6’1”,” “Help Me Mary,” “Never Said,” “Canary,” “Fuck and Run,” and “Flower.”
This album was fantastic, and I think I’ll only enjoy it more with repeated listening. Exile in Guyville delivered on its hype, and is easily one of the best albums from the nineties that I’ve heard so far.
Suede
5/5
I only heard of Suede after I started this project, and this is my first album of theirs to review. I know they’re Brit Pop, but that’s all I know about their sound. Generally speaking, I’ve really enjoyed the Brit Pop albums on this list so far, so I have pretty high hopes that I’m going to enjoy this album.
My intuition was correct, and I really liked this album. The overall sound was incredibly dense and deep throughout the album, even on the slower songs. The cavernous sound reminded me a lot of Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain. The arrangements on this album were great. I loved the guitar melodies, the horn playing, the string arrangements, and the piano melodies throughout the album. I really enjoyed how “Still Life” felt like a crescendo for the end of the album, and the orchestra playing was a perfect way to end this deep album. Lyrically, I enjoyed this album as well, especially “Heroine,” “This Hollywood Life,” and “Black or Blue.” I felt like the themes of drugs, strained relationships, and isolation all tied together brilliantly with the moody sound. Listening to this for the first time was great. I liked not knowing where the songs were going to go musically, like on “Daddy’s Speeding.” The song felt like it was building to a crescendo, but it never came, but I loved the way the song built up the anticipation any way.
I really enjoyed this album. The musicianship was great, and I loved the unique, dense sound. The songwriting was great as well, which made this a well-rounded and great album to listen to.
Talk Talk
3/5
The only Talk Talk song I'm familiar with is "It's My Life." Reading up on this album, it seems like there won't be anything akin to that here, and that's okay. I love eighties pop music, and based on a very small sample, I like Mark Hollis's vocals, so I think there's a good chance that I'll enjoy this album.
I really wanted to love this album, but I had some pretty mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, this album was great musically. The sound was big, and the arrangements were deep, moody, and just all-around pleasant to listen to. There weren't any particular individual elements that I felt stood out, but the overall sound was just really enjoyable. Granted, a couple of songs did overstay their welcome a bit towards the end of their run time, but it wasn't anything egregious. As I expected, I did enjoy Hollis's vocals. He has such a unique timbre to his voice, and he used his voice really well to fill in the big sound of the music.
From a songwriting perspective though, this album fell flat with me. I felt like these songs didn't really say anything while still saying a lot. It felt like someone was trying to fulfill a minimum page requirement on a writing assignment by finding longer words, shrinking the margins, and increasing the font. It felt like this album was a lot of fluff with little substance.
Overall, this album was fine, but it was completely carried by the music. It's not something I'd return to, but I enjoyed listening to something new from my favorite decade of music.
Aretha Franklin
3/5
I'm familiar with a few Aretha Franklin songs, but this will be my first time listening to one of her albums from start to finish. Soul has been one of my favorite genres so far on this project, so I have high hopes that I'll enjoy this album.
Overall, I found this album to be pretty middle of the road. Aretha Franklin is undoubtedly one of the best vocalists in music history, and she showcases a wide range of vocal abilities on this album. She harmonizes, she croons, and she can wails at the top of her lungs, all with a level of control that few singers can duplicate. On top of that, this album has some simple but well executed musical arrangements. The bass line on "Niki Hoeky" is fantastic, and "Money Won't Change You" and "Come Back Baby" have some fantastic horns. But rarely did the vocals and music combine to create something new and interesting. It's not that this album is bad, but I just wasn't wowed by it.
Of course, the shining exception to this is "Natural Woman." Aretha delicately sings the verse before delivering the powerful chorus. Her intensity picks up perfectly over the course of the song, as she lets her emotion steer the song. The orchestral arrangements compliment her perfectly, and even though the strings and horns are beautiful, they never once steal the spotlight from Aretha's singing. As much as I love the Carole King version of this song, Aretha's version is something else entirely, worthy of all the praise it gets.
Even though this album wasn't really my jam, I know it represents a watershed moment for Aretha Franklin, and it's a massive influence on soul music. Aretha opened the door for so many black women to be able to shine on their own, and her influence as a vocalist still reaches into popular music today.
Machito
3/5
I’m not familiar with this artist or album, not can I recall having listened to Afro-Cuban jazz before. Now that I’m close to the half-way mark on this project, I’ve reviewed a good number of jazz albums, but I honestly don’t think I know what to listen for with jazz or what makes a good jazz album. All the jazz albums I’ve reviewed have been fine, but I haven’t had much to say about them. I’m hoping this album breaks that trend.
This album came up for me on a Saturday, and I got the chance to casually listen to it a couple of times as I ran some errands around town, but now on Monday, I finally had the chance to give it some proper attention, and I really enjoyed it. I don’t know if all Afro-Cuban jazz is tends to be more ‘horn-forward,’ but I really enjoyed that sound on this album. The percussion was great too, and combined with the horns, this album had a great Latin feel to it. The up-tempo songs were easily my favorite, but the slower tempo songs were great too. I still don’t ‘get jazz,’ but this was pleasant to listen to, and out of all the jazz albums I’ve listened to so far, this would be one of the first ones I’d go back to.
Tortoise
3/5
I’ve never heard of this album or artist before, but based on the description, I think there’s a good chance I’m going to enjoy this album. It should make a for a stark contrast to Machito’s Kenya, which I just wrapped up.
Overall, this album was fine. As far as post-rock goes, it definitely wasn’t my favorite, but it was pleasant to listen to. I did like that this album had a very jazz-adjacent in terms of song structure and flow (great follow up to Kenya, actually). “Djed” was my favorite song on the album, which really surprised me, give its 20 minute-plus run time. I really enjoyed the sounds that were utilized and how the song evolved, and I liked the use of contrasting musical sounds, like when the xylophone kicked played over the low-frequency humming sound. There was a moment in “Djed” where some heavy distortion was used, and it was really jarring, but I loved the affect it had on me. “Glass Museum” was really great as well. The song started off with a bit of a shoegaze sound, before shifting to something more frantic. I liked the xylophone melody, especially when the song became more frantic in its pacing; it provided an interesting balance to the deeper guitar melody.
After the third track though, the album lost some steam with me. It didn’t feel like the album was doing anything new or exciting after that point, and I was pretty bored with the last three songs. They weren’t bad, but they certainly weren’t interesting. I enjoyed the experience of branching out and listening to an artist I’d never heard of, and I think this album is objectively pretty good. However, I don’t think I’d come back to it, mostly because if I were craving a sound like this, there are other things I’d gravitate towards first.
Sister Sledge
3/5
I know the title track off of this album, but I think that's the only Sister Sledge song I'm familiar with. However, earlier this year, I read Nile Rodgers's memoir, so I know a fair amount about the background and composition of this album. I loved Chic's C'est Chic, and I love Nile Rodgers' work as a producer and musician, so I have high hopes for this album.
This album fell a little flat of my expectations. Overall, it has what I would expect from a disco album: funky bass lines, glamorous string arrangements, and airy vocals. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards's fingerprints are all over this album, both in the songwriting, and in the musicianship. Nile's guitar playing is really great, and Bernard's signature bass lines are infectious and dance-inducing. The Sledge sisters sing well, and their vocals are a good match for this Chic-adjacent sound. The highs on this album are really high, with songs that are catchy and infectious, but the lows are dull and tedious, without adding a lot to add to the genre. "He's The Greatest Dancer" was a great leadoff track for the album, with a great bass line, dreamy vocals, and some great string arrangements to round out the sound. The lyrics ooze with late seventies disco aesthetic, and this was one of the most fun songs on the album. The title track was great too (the 1995 remaster on Spotify doesn't have the full version of this song, which was frustrating), and was really engaging for a longer disco song. "Thinking of You" featured my favorite piece of Nile's guitar playing on the album, the soft vocals were excellent, and I loved the drum solo towards the end.
The rest of the album was a bit of a snooze though, with some sappy love songs that didn't land with me. These songs tended to rely more heavily on piano melodies, but they just weren't as fun and infectious as the songs that relied more on guitar playing. Still, this album was pretty good, but I had higher hopes for Nile and Bernard.
Van Morrison
2/5
When this album came up for me, I was trying to think about what Van Morrison songs I know. I was racking my brain, but all I could come up with was "Brown Eyed Girl." I figured that there was no way that could be the only one, so I looked at his discography on Wikipedia, and I'll be damned, that's the only song of his I know (not counting his appearance on Roger Waters's "Comfortably Numb" on the soundtrack for The Departed). Other than Metallica's S&M, I haven't really enjoyed the live albums I've reviewed, but hopefully this album breaks that trend.
I didn't think that this album was bad, but it certainly didn't interest me much. Van Morrison is a good vocalist, the band played really well, and the arrangements were solid, but I didn't find anything about this album that justifies its place on this list to me. The recording quality was great, which I was really shocked by, but this album plods along for an hour and a half, and I can't think of any moment where I felt particularly engaged with it. Maybe my unfamiliarity with his music worked against me, but I was really bored by this album. I'm hoping I get more enjoyment out of the other two Van Morrison albums I'll be reviewing at some point.
Mylo
3/5
I've never heard of Mylo or this album before, but the description makes it sound like this is the type of album I'd enjoy, so I'm excited to give this a go.
Overall, this album was fine. I liked what Mylo was trying to do, taking soft rock songs he liked as a kid and turning them into house music songs. I have a nostalgic feeling towards some of the same music, so the overall concept of the album was easy to relate to for me. I felt that the songs that stood out to me were really great: "Valley of the Dolls," "In My Arms," "Guilty of Love," and "Need You Tonite." I really enjoyed the way these songs utilized samples. These songs never felt like they were over reliant on the samples, and used them as another musical element. I'm a big sucker for "Bette Davis Eyes" and "Waiting For A Star to Fall," so "In My Arms" was far and away my favorite track on the album.
The majority of the album though was just fine, and I didn't find anything particularly noteworthy about the songs that weren't my favorites. However, I do appreciate that the songs didn't meander along for a really long time. I did like the concept of the title track though; I thought it was a really unique idea to use a speech denouncing popular music to craft a song (who would denounce Weird Al?), and the end result was catchy and weirdly unsettling. Overall, this album was pretty middle of the road for me, and its inclusion on this list is a little bit of a head scratcher in my opinion.
R.E.M.
5/5
This will be my second R.E.M. album to review, after Murmur, which was way back at album number 51 for me (this is album number 521). I like R.E.M. quite a bit, but working through this project is the first time I'm listening to their whole albums. Green features "Stand," which is my favorite R.E.M. song, and I've been looking forward to reviewing this.
I really loved this album. I don't know what it is about R.E.M. that I love so much, but I just find them a joy to listen to. I really enjoy Michael Stipe's vocals, the musical arrangements on their songs, and the excellent songwriting. This album has the band firing on all cylinders, creating a rock album that's infectious to listen to. The lyrics are fantastic, with songs lamenting deep personal reflection, calls to action to preserve the future, and political and social commentary. The band strikes a great balance of introspection and activism that carries an air of authenticity, thanks to Stipe's vocal talents.
I really loved the musical arrangements on this album as well. The use of the mandolin really stuck out to me; it gave Green a sound that I found incredibly different than the R.E.M. albums that came before it. My favorite song on the album is still "Stand." I love the keyboard intro and the guitar playing, but the drumming towards the end of the song is my favorite part. There's a little drum fill right before the final chorus that's absolutely perfect, and during the final chorus, the snare drum hits sound like shotgun blasts, providing a perfect contrast to the poppy vocals. What a perfect song.
I hate that I hadn't listened to this whole album until today. Every part of it is absolute perfection, and I can't wait to review the other two R.E.M. albums that I still have left.
The Beta Band
3/5
I've never heard of the Beta Band before, but based on this description, I'm imagining that this album will be in the same vein as Doves (I loved The Last Broadcast) or Everything But The Girl (I loved Walking Wounded). Regardless, my curiosity is piqued, and I'm hoping this album will be a good fit for this rainy day.
I thought this album was fine overall. There were some moments on it that were really good, and others that were pretty middle of the road. I felt that the album worked best when it relied more heavily on elements of hip hop, with a heavier emphasis on drums and bass tones. There were some moments where I could hear a more straightforward rock influence on the sound, and those moments worked as well ("Broke" is the best example of this). The other songs that tended to be more geared towards traditional electronic music were pleasant to listen to, but I didn't think they really offered anything new or unique.
Overall, this album was pretty middle of the road for me. I think one of the best things that this album had going for it was its uniqueness. At the tail end of trip-hop's popularity, and as more bands started using electronic influences, this album doesn't try to make itself a copy of anyone else's sound, and stands on its own two feet.
Janis Joplin
5/5
I’ve never really had much of an interest in Janis Joplin’s music, which is a shame since we’re both Gulf Coast Texans. A few weeks ago, I listened to Big Brother and the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills, and I thought it was fine, but I certainly wasn’t blown away by it. I imagine I’ll probably feel the same way about this album.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this album. I’m not usually a fan of blues rock, but this album was great. I loved that the sound was mostly driven by the piano and Hammond organ, with guitar playing filling things out when needed. This album had a much better sound from a technical aspect than Cheap Thrills, and that also helps set Pearl apart in my opinion. Janis’s singing is fantastic, and the full range of her vocal abilities is on display on this album. She can wail, she can croon, and everything in between. “Cry Baby” had my favorite vocals. The Hammond organ backed up her wailing on the chorus incredibly well. Take me to church, indeed. Janis’s softer vocals on “A Woman Left Lonely” were fantastic as well, and I loved that her singing was always in the spotlight. The instrumentals on this album were great too, and like the vocals, “Cry Baby” was my favorite track on the album, but the boogie sound of “Half Moon” was great too. The piano and organ playing sounded great with Janis’s vocals, creating one of the most unique and original blues rock albums I’ve ever heard. “My Baby” and “Me and Bobby McGee” started off side B with a bang. I really loved the lyrics to “Me and Bobby McGee,” which I know Janis didn’t write, but she sang it to perfection. I loved that each song on this album felt unique and fresh, but the distinct blues sound was still present throughout. This album was excellent from start to finish, and it’s a shining example of Janis Joplin’s vocal abilities. I had a great time listening to it, and it undoubtedly belongs on this list.
5/5
This will be my second U2 album to review, after War, which was over 300 albums ago. That was my first time listening to all of War, and I loved it, but I’ve listened to The Joshua Tree before, and it’s probably my favorite U2 album. I was delighted to see this pop up today, and I’m excited to kick back and listen to it.
As much as I loved War, there’s just something about this album that draws me to it. The first three songs on this album are probably the U2 songs I heard the most when I was younger, so there’s definitely a nostalgia factor playing into my enjoyment of this album. Those first three songs are one of the best three song runs in all of popular music in my opinion. I love the opening to “Where the Streets Have No Name;” when that first sliding note of the bass guitar kicks in, I could run through a brick wall. I love the dreamy opening, but when the guitar playing kicks in, it just makes me feel lighter than air. The drumming is perfect too, and this song is the perfect opening for an album that has a huge and open sound. I’ve heard “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” so many times that it’s almost lost its shine, but the opening guitar playing is fantastic here too, and it’s once again accompanied by a fantastic bass line and some great drumming. I love the structure of “With Or Without You” for the opposite reasons that I love the first two songs. The opening whine of the synthesizer creates a haunting sound, and I love how the song builds to a crashing crescendo, with Bono’s “oooooh-ooooh-ooooh-ooooh’s” and my favorite drumming on the album, before going to back to letting the haunting synthesizer take over the sound. Until I was reading another review, I had forgotten that this song was used in the finale of The Americans. I can still see that train ride in my mind, but for some reason I had forgotten about the music, but I know that song’s use stuck out to me when I watched that scene.
While I do love those first three songs a lot, the rest of the album is fantastic too. Gone are the pessimism, loneliness, and cold disillusionment of War, replaced by a yearning, yet realistic optimism. “In God’s Country” sounds like an immigrant longing for an America they know is imperfect, and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” sings the hopes of someone who’s faced struggles, but knows that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Hell, the Joshua Tree itself is a symbol of standing tall amidst harsh conditions, and these songs reflect that resiliency very well. “In God’s Country and “One Tree Hill” are probably my favorite songs on this album, outside of the ‘Big Three,’ but there’s honestly not a bad song here in my opinion.
I really love this album, and I’m glad I got to listen to it again today. The big warm sound is like a comforting blanket to me, and it’s one of my favorite albums of the eighties. I know Bono comes across as preachy and insincere to a lot of people, and I get that, but I find his songwriting to be genuine. I understand how this album might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love the unique rock sound that U2 created on this album.
Def Leppard
4/5
Oh, Def Leppard. I've listened to plenty of Def Leppard's music in my life. I've never listened to one of their albums from start to finish, but I own one of their greatest hits CD's, which I used to listen to quite a bit. I've definitely soured on them though over the years; if I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Pour Some Sugar On Me," I'd be able to afford a physical copy of every album on this list in multiple formats. These days, I associate Def Leppard with the worst kind of people. Nothing is worse than seeing some boomer dance along to Def Leppard when some shitty cover band plays one of their songs twice a night at some hell-hole bar in the suburbs. These people would know more of the band's lyrics if they weren't too busy parroting the latest garbage they saw on Fox News. But I digress. I guess it's time to fire this one up and see if I hate it as much as I think I will.
Well, I come to you now, hat in hand, to ask for forgiveness for my words above. I actually had a good time listening to this album, and I think it’s a great piece of eighties hard rock. I’m not a big fan of Joe Elliott’s vocals on a lot of this album, but the guitar melodies are really great, and Def Leppard has a sound that’s unique and also incredibly accessible. This album reminds of Metallica’s self-titled album, in that it took a somewhat niche sound to a wide audience, without sacrificing too much of its own roots.
I was already familiar with “Photograph,” “Too Late for Love,” “Foolin’,” and “Rock of Ages,” but “Stagefright,” “Die Hard the Hunter,” and “Billy’s Got a Gun” were new to me, and I really enjoyed them. “Stagefright” had some great playing, especially leading into the chorus. The keyboards that played alongside them were great too (I had no idea Thomas Dolby was on this album). “Rock of Ages” had some great keyboards too, and “Photograph” had what was probably my favorite guitar parts on the album. There were a lot of little details that I’d never paid attention to before, like the flame crackling at the end of “Rock of Ages,” and the wind sounds on “Too Late for Love.” The backing vocals were great throughout the album, and they really helped create the band’s massive arena-rock sound. “Die Hard the Hunter” and “Billy’s Got a Gun” had the best lyrics on the album, and the instrumentals gave both of those songs a really haunting and dark tone that I’d never expect from Def Leppard.
However, one of the biggest detractors for me on this album were the vocals. “Rock of Ages” and “Rock! Rock!” just feel like generic filler lyrically, especially when you compare them to “Die Hard the Hunter” and “Billy’s Got a Gun.” Also, some of the choruses on these songs just drive me bonkers, especially “Foolin’.” Every time that “F-f-f-foolin’” kicks in, I just want to scream. But the prechorus on that song is outstanding, with some great guitar playing, lyrics, and vocals.
Overall though, this is a great album, and it was really fun to listen to through a pair of headphones. I really think FM radio ruined a lot of classic rock by playing the same damn songs over and over again, and it’s unfortunate that Def Leppard fell victim to that, at least for me. Mutt Lange’s production work on this album is fantastic, and this album is a perfect example of why Def Leppard was selling out arenas in the eighties, and why they still have a sizeable following to this day.
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
I'm not familiar with this artist or album, nor am I terribly familiar with tango music, but this sounds new and interesting, so I'm excited to dive into it.
Overall, this was fine to listen to. Even with what felt like a fairly restrictive group of instruments to work with, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of sounds on this album. The vibraphone, piano, and bandoneon all combined to make some great sounds. I don't know if all tango music has a bit of an Italian feel to it, but I enjoyed how the bandoneon gave a Mediterranean flair to these arrangements. Even though these songs were pleasant and interesting, the length of them was a bit off-putting for me. That might be due to my unfamiliarity with this type of music, but I tend to be pretty critical of longer songs in general. I also didn't like the sharp plucking of the violin that was present on most of the songs. However, on "Operation Tango," I really enjoyed the violin parts. My biggest criticism of this album though is that all the songs felt anxious in tone. I don't know if it was that violin plucking that made me feel that way, or the tempo of the songs, but either way, I would have enjoyed a little bit more range of emotions from the music. Still, this was a unique experience, and I enjoyed listening to this album.
Paul Simon
4/5
This will be my second Paul Simon album to review, after Graceland, which is one of my favorite albums of all time. At a quick glance, I don't think I'm familiar with any of these songs, but I'm excited listen to this.
One thing I’ve learned about my musical tastes over the course of this project, is that I really enjoy certain people as songwriters, and Paul Simon is one of those people. I’ve had a love of Graceland for a long time, thanks to the original 1001 albums book, and I’ve listened to a couple of Paul Simon’s more recent albums as well. I thought this album was great, especially from a songwriting perspective. I loved the exploration of heart verses mind, and how that impacts our relationships and our views of the world around us. The two “Think Too Much” songs stood out to me as being the best songs on the album from a songwriting perspective, and the title track wasn’t that far behind.
Musically, I could feel the rumblings of the sounds of Graceland, and I loved the use of the vibraphone and marimba, along with the synthesizers, Fender Rhodes, and Synclavier. I think Paul Simon does a great job at utilizing Caribbean and African influences in his music.
For my money, the album was at its peak musically when the melody got carried away and experimental, like in "When Numbers Get Serious," or in "Cars Are Cars.” Paul Simon is excellent at layering sounds to create rich textures, and there was plenty of that to go around on this album.
I really enjoyed listening to this album, and the only drawback in my opinion was that a few of the songs were a tad boring. Still, this album was fun to listen to, and the overall theme lent itself to some outstanding songwriting.
Megadeth
3/5
This will be my second and final Megadeth album to review. I enjoyed Peace Sells, but based on what my metal-head friends say about Megadeth's music, I expect to enjoy this one more. Regardless, I could use a dose of thrash metal today, so I'm looking forward to firing up this one today.
As much as I wanted to enjoy this album, I thought it was fine. The guitar playing was incredible, but I really didn't care for Dave Mustaine's vocals at all. Lyrically, the album worked best when the songs kept with the overall theme of the album, which wound up being less than half the songs. "Hangar 18" is an absolute gem, and stood head and shoulders above the rest of the album. If you're looking for some of the best thrash metal guitar playing ever, you've definitely come to the right place, but if you're looking for something with a little more depth, I think there's better stuff out there.
ABBA
3/5
I know a small handful of ABBA songs, but this will be my first time listening to one of their albums. I don't really have any strong opinions about ABBA, other than that I think the Erasure version of "Take a Chance On Me" is far better than ABBA's version. People seem to be pretty high on this album, so I'm excited to immerse myself in some Scandinavian pop.
Musically, this album is pure pop bliss. The arrangements are bright, wonderfully layered, and full of kick-ass harmonies. Theses songs were a blast to listen to, and they're really easy to bop along too. No two songs sounded the same, and each song was fresh and felt really original. The only song that was a total clunker to me was "My Love, My Life," which just wrecked the pace of the album in my opinion. Thankfully it was early enough in the album to where I wasn't able to enjoy the rest of it.
As much as I enjoyed this album musically, the lyrics were... not my favorite. No offense to ABBA, but I don't think they're exactly known for great songwriting, and that's pretty evident from this album. The lyrics were pretty nonsensical ("Dum Dum Diddle") and on one occasion, really weird and cringe-worthy ("When I Kissed The Teacher"). Structurally, these songs were pretty bland as well. As much as fun as the music was, these songs never really developed much. I know that might be a bit nitpicky, but I know pop music can be deep and experimental, and this album is very much stuck in its time. Again, this isn't a bad album, but I found it to be just fine overall.
Skunk Anansie
4/5
I’m not familiar with this artist or album, but based on the description of it, I’m definitely curious as to how I’ll feel about this.
This album was a very pleasant surprise. The very first song on the album reminded me of The Prodigy, which I really liked. Musically, this album was really great. The sound was varied, and the band never relied on one element to create their sound. However, musically, the string arrangements were far and away my favorite part of this album. “Lately,” “Secretly,” and “You’ll Follow Me Down” were the best songs on this album in my opinion. As much as I enjoyed the softer and more melodic songs, the songs that were more straightforward hard rock were fantastic too. Skin’s vocals were consistently great throughout the album, but this band really knows how to put together some great musical arrangements. In my opinion, the late nineties and early aughts were a generally crappy time for rock music. The radio airwaves in the states were full of bands who all sounded incredibly similar, but I would have loved to hear something like this when it came out. My biggest complaint with this album is that a lot of the songs felt too long, even the ones with the shorter run times. However, this is still a great album, and I really enjoyed listening to it.
The Who
5/5
My parents listened to a lot of classic rock when I was growing up, but there were no Who albums in our music library. I don’t think I really became aware of them until CSI came out when I was a teenager. From that point, I started hearing more of their music, and I really grew to love them, especially Keith Moon. There was a time in my life where I'd have counted Who's Next as one of my favorite albums of all time. But before going through this list, I hadn't really been listening to any classic rock for several years. However, I still think that Who's Next is easily one of the most iconic albums of all time, and it features "Baba O'Riley," which will always be one of my favorite songs. I can't remember the last time I listened to this album from start to finish, but I'm currently stuck in bed with a nasty case of COVID, so I was delighted to see this album pop up in my feed today.
Sure enough, "Baba O'Riley" still hits like a semi-truck as this album's opener. Those opening synthesizer notes always put a smile on my face, and their repetition throughout the song create the perfect backdrop for Pete Townshend's powerful chords, and Keith Moon's tightly chaotic drumming. John Entwistle's bass plucking is perfect as well, all while Roger Daltrey croons a warning not to let youthful disillusionment put a damper on the future.
When I listened to The Who regularly, I thought “Bargain” was one of their weakest efforts, probably because I associated it with its use in car commercials. But listening to it today, I can appreciate its songwriting, fantastic guitar playing, and its slick synthesizer arrangements.
“Behind Blue Eyes” has grown on me more than any other song by The Who throughout my life. The vocals are great, and I love the song’s structure, starting off slow, before building to a crashing conclusion. Lyrically, the first part is a solemn plea for help before the singer’s pleas turn to anger that his that his basic human needs have gone unmet.
Has there ever been a better conclusion to an album that “Won’t Get Fooled Again?” Keeping in line with the opening track’s themes, The Who lament that revolutions come and go, society repeats mistakes, and yet, we still have lessons to learn and grow from. The blistering guitars and drums are backed perfectly by a piercing synth arrangement that pulsates throughout the song. It’s a satisfying conclusion to the album, but it always leaves me wanting more.
The other songs on the album are great as well, but I just don’t feel like diving into them. Every member of the band is at the peak of their game on Who’s Next, and the band’s overall sound is firing on all cylinders. While this might not be the type of album that I gravitate towards these days, I still think it’s an incredible achievement in rock music, and this album deserves all the praise it gets.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I own this album on CD, but looking at my Apple Music records, it looks I only listened to it in its entirety one time, and I don't remember much about it. However, I do remember asking for it for Christmas because I'd heard "Pump It Up" and thought I'd give Elvis Costello a try. Well, a try was all I gave him. I never really listened to him much until I started this project. This will be my third album of his to review, after Armed Forces and My Aim Is True. I'm expecting to enjoy this album as well.
Hmm, well, now I understand why I only listened to this album once and only came back for additional helpings of "Pump It Up." This album was really boring. Musically, it felt like there was way to much restraint in the arrangements. In Costello's other works, I really enjoy the tension between chaos and order that tends to permeate his sound. There really wasn't much that was fun on this album. I like Elvis Costello's singing, but even his vocals sound a tad dull here too. "Pump It Up" is easily the biggest winner off this album, and "Lip Service" and "Lipstick Vogue" were pretty good too. All in all though, there's just too little to enjoy on this album. Everything that's not those three songs just runs together to me. This was a major letdown for me, but now that I've reviewed all of Elvis Costello's albums from the seventies, I'm really curious as to how I'll feel about his later work.
Frank Zappa
3/5
I knew Frank Zappa's name before starting this project, but I didn't know anything about his music. I've reviewed one Mother's of Invention album so far, but this will be my first Frank Zappa solo album to listen to. I enjoyed Freak Out!, so I expect I'll like this album as well.
Overall, this album was pretty good. I liked the jazz structure to the songs, and the musical arrangements were varied and interesting to listen to. These songs had an experimental feel to them, but they still managed to feel accessible. I enjoyed the first half of the album a bit more than the second half; I felt like the second half was a bit more restricted in terms of structure and sound than the first half, and the overall sound suffered from that. I wasn't really expecting something like this from Frank Zappa, but I don't think this is the type of album I'd listen to again. It's not that it was bad, but it's just not really my style.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
I've already reviewed Isaac Hayes's Hot Buttered Soul, which I absolutely loved, so I've been looking forward to having this pop up on my feed for a while. I know the main theme to Shaft, but I've never seen the movie, so the rest of the album will be a new experience for me. I'm ready to dive into this album.
Overall, I thought this was fine. The main theme is absolutely fantastic, and overflowing with soul and funk. The main guitar riff is incredibly catchy, and its sound is perfected by rhythm of the hi-hat and the string arrangements that add an exclamation point every now and then. The call-and-response vocals are great too, even adding a touch of humor to the serious sound.
The rest of the album was a touch boring. The arrangements were nice, but they really didn't feel like they fit the soundtrack of an action movie; they felt more like something you'd hear at JC Penny in the nineties. "Soulsville" was pretty good though, and it was nice to hear Hayes's vocals again on the album. "Do Your Thing" was my second favorite song on the album. Despite its length, it was really fun to listen to, and I loved the way that the sound developed over the course of the run time. I loved the longer songs on Hot Buttered Soul as well, so I enjoyed seeing something really ambitious like this on this album as well.
Overall, this was fine, but the songs that didn't feature any singing were pretty bland. I'm happy for the experience of listening to this album, but I don't think I'd go back to it.
Lupe Fiasco
3/5
The only Lupe Fiasco song I know is "The Show Goes On" off of Lasers. I love that song, and it's on my workout playlist, but I've never checked out any of Lupe Fiasco's other music. I think there's a good chance that I'll enjoy this album, so I'm excited to listen to it.
Overall, I thought this album was pretty good. I didn't listen to much hip-hop growing up, but I started listening to it some after I graduated from college in the late aughts. When Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Came Out, that was the first hip-hop album that I really loved from start to finish. The sound of MBDTF was really accessible, and I felt that this album was accessible in some of the same ways. I really loved the arrangements, and I thought this album was really well produced. The beats and samples used were great too. I don't really have any strong feelings towards Fiasco's rapping; I wasn't blown away by it, but it certainly didn't drag the album down either. The album didn't really grab my attention fully until "The Instrumental," and from that point on, I felt it was pretty strong. The lyrics were great throughout the album. I loved the social and political commentary, especially on "American Terrorist." As much as I liked the later part of the album more than I liked the first several tracks, I really didn't care for the long and meandering "Outro." Still, this was a pretty good album, and I think it's an important piece of alternative hip-hop.
The Isley Brothers
2/5
I'm familiar with a handful of Isley Brothers songs (I've loved the Rod Stewart version of "This Old Heart of Mine" since I was a kid), but this will be my first time listening to one of their albums. I don't have incredibly high hopes for this album, but I've been wrong plenty of times during this project, so I'm curious to see what this album has to offer.
Well, my low expectations of this album were unfortunately met. This album had some fun guitar riffs, some good organ playing, and some really good vocals, but the some of those parts was pretty much a snooze for me. The cover of The Doobie Brothers' "Listen to the Music" was interesting, but the rest of these songs just didn't bring any new perspective to funk music for me. This album wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't good either.
Kate Bush
5/5
My toxic trait is pointing out that I listened to this album before Stranger Things caused "Running Up That Hill" to have a (admittedly cool and deserved resurgence). I reviewed Kate's The Dreaming a few months ago, and did not care for it at all, which has only made me look forward to reviewing this album even more. Let's dig into this pop masterpiece from my favorite decade of music.
"Running Up That Hill" is a fantastic lead-off track for this album. It perfectly establishes the dream-like feel that's going to permeate the rest of the album, and even though it's not structured like a traditional pop song, it's still incredibly accessible, due to the atmosphere it creates to tell the story of a woman who wants to trade places with her lover so she can better understand his point of view. As great as "Running Up That Hill" is though, nothing tops the title track. Musically, this song is about as good as it gets. The booming drums help bolster the narrative of the lyrics, while the synthesizers keep the album's dreamlike feel. The cello parts during the chorus are perfection, especially as a compliment to Kate's wailing "throoooowwww themmmmm in the lake" vocals. "The Big Sky" is perfect too, with its bright piano melody and deep guitar tones. I know I've already rambled on about the first three songs on this album, but "Cloudbursting" is fantastic too. I love the string arrangements, and the dreamy sound is the perfect backdrop for the lyrics' storytelling. It's a perfect closing for the first side of the album.
The second side of the album is just as great as the first, although for slightly different reasons. The Ninth Wave story bridges the entire length of the second side of the album, and further showcases Kate's abilities as a poet and a songwriter. Just like the first side of the album, The Ninth Wave is beautiful from start to finish, and feels very much in line with the sound and atmosphere of the first side of the album. I think this album is absolute perfection from start to finish, and it's always a joy to revisit it. As it shakes out, I'll get to review all of Kate Bush's albums in chronological order, and I'm excited for when that third album of hers pops up for me.
Elastica
3/5
I’d never heard of Elastica until I started going through this list. I tend to enjoy Britpop though, so I think there’s a really good chance that I’ll enjoy this album.
Overall, I thought this album was pretty good. The guitar playing and the high-energy sound stuck out to me as the best parts of the album. I found it refreshing that the album was pretty consistent throughout in terms of the quality of the sound and the songwriting; there really weren’t any songs that stood out to me as being filler at any part of the album. “Connection,” “Hold Me Now,” “Stutter,” and “Vaseline” were my favorite songs on the album, with “Stutter probably being my favorite. “Line Up” wasn’t my favorite, but I thought it was a really good choice for a leadoff track, especially with its gagging/barfing vocal sounds. From an objective or critical standpoint, I thought this album was really good. But based on my own tastes, it was pretty middle of the road, mostly because I don’t think it really stands out a lot from its peers at the time. I don’t think this album really did a lot for alternative music, and even though it’s well made, I probably won’t think about it much in the greater context of nineties rock music.
Aimee Mann
2/5
I've only heard of Aimee Mann because of Connor Ratliff's Dead Eyes podcast. If I remember correctly, he interviewed her because 1) he really likes her music 2) she had an anecdote about coping with rejection that fit really well into the overall theme of the podcast. I think Connor may have played a few of her songs during the closing of a few episodes, but I don't remember much about those songs. I listened to a lot of adult contemporary music when I was a kid, but I don't remember ever hearing Aimee Mann's music back then. I tend to enjoy "Lilith Fair" type artists, so I'm interested to see what this album is like.
Overall, this album was okay. The songwriting, arrangements, and production were nice, and Aimee Mann's vocals were pretty good too. This album was a fairly enjoyable listen, but it lacks a lot of the punch that its contemporaries have. While the vocals are well done, there's really a lack of emotion in them, which is a shame since a lot of the songwriting is pretty clever. I also felt like the album was far too long, and I really lost interest in it the deeper into it that I got. This album is pleasant enough to listen to, but the lack of emotion makes it kind of boring. With things like Jagged Little Pill or Exile In Guyville out there, I can't think of any reason that I'd listen to this album again. This one just doesn't live up to the sum of its parts.
Beth Orton
2/5
I'd never heard of Beth Orton before starting this project, but somehow (I can't remember when or how), I heard about this album, and based on what I heard, I got really excited to listen to it. I saw Beth's name come up again yesterday when I was reading about Lilith Fair lineups in the nineties (my album yesterday was Aimee Mann's Whatever), so it's wonderfully appropriate that this would come up today.
Unfortunately, this album didn't live up to my high hopes for it. This album does have a couple of things working to its advantage: a unique sound that's well executed through beautiful melodies complimented by some great vocals. But like Aimee Mann yesterday, the sum of the parts just didn't result in anything of substance for me. While those melodies are nice, they don't really do anything over the course of the songs. I could be wrong about that, but to me, it sounded like the main melody of each song just repeated over the course of the song without changing at all. As good as the vocals were, they really didn't carry any emotion behind them. Each song just felt like Beth was saying a lot of words without really saying anything of substance; it felt like she took more and somehow turned it into less. It didn't help that this album was on the longer side, as were some of the songs. I applaud Beth Orton's ambition, and even though this album was pleasant to listen to, it just felt like a lot of fluff.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
Oh wow, my first Public Image Ltd. album. I only know one song by these guys, "Rise," off of one of their albums from the eighties. It came up for me on Spotify shuffle one time, and it still pops up for me from time to time. It's a fine song, but it never really inspired me to check out more music from PiL. I don't think I ever knew that John Lyndon was involved in PiL until after I saw him on The Masked Singer. I got curious about him and glanced over his Wikipedia page and learned that he was in this band after The Sex Pistols. I also learned that he really likes Donald Trump, which, gross. His performance on The Masked Singer was dedicated to his wife who was very ill at the time, and I know she passed away due to that illness somewhat recently, which is really sad. Enough rambling. I really like a lot of post punk music, so despite this album's unfavorable reviews, I'm excited to formulate my own thoughts on it.
I'm really torn on how I feel about this album. I certainly didn't love it, but I did appreciate that this album represents an incredibly important piece of post-punk music. I didn't mind the noisy lead-off track of "Theme," with its heavily distorted guitars, but I can't fault anyone who would be completely put-off by it. The "Religion" tracks were fine, but certainly not groundbreaking to me. I thought they were an interesting bridge from the songwriting and themes of The Sex Pistols' music, and for that reason, the heavy message of the lyrics didn't feel forced or fake. For my money, "Public Image" and "Low Life" were far and away the best songs on the album. I loved the guitar playing on both songs, and while the songs had a high energy to them, they had a lot more restraint than typical punk music. "Fodderstompf" was easily the worst part of the album though. I can't think of a single redeeming quality in that song, and I couldn't wait for it to end. Now that I've processed my thoughts on this album a bit more, I'd say I'm pretty lukewarm on this one. I didn't hate it, but I can't see myself listening to it again. The biggest thing this album has going for it is its place in music history as a major influence on post-punk music. It certainly pushed late seventies rock in a new direction, and having some familiarity with The Sex Pistols' music makes it more enjoyable and interesting to listen to.
The Pharcyde
2/5
I’ve heard of The Pharcyde before, but I’m completely unfamiliar with their music. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed the hip-hop albums on this list that I’ve reviewed, and based on the reviews for this album, I have pretty high hopes that I’ll enjoy it.
Unfortunately, for the third time this week, my hopes for an album have been dashed. I really wanted to like this album, but I just didn’t like it much. Don’t get me wrong, the rapping is great, and I enjoyed the juvenile and crass lyrics, but I couldn’t get into the overall sound of the album. I think I really hated the way this album was mixed and engineered. The elements that I wanted to hear more prominently felt turned down, and certain parts of the beats and samples that I wanted to hear more of wound up being sparser. A lot of the songs felt like they dragged on for too long as well, which I’m assuming was only compounded by the fact that I didn’t like this album musically. I appreciate the talent of the The Pharcyde and the influence that this album had on hip-hop, but it’s just not for me.
Pere Ubu
3/5
A little less than a year ago, I reviewed Pere Ubu's Dub Housing, and I hated it with every ounce of my being. I really hated David Thomas's vocals, and I just could appreciate anything about the album. And then I found out that I would have to review another Pere Ubu album at some point, and I've been dreading it ever since. I've had a week full of albums that I haven't really enjoyed much, so I guess this is a pretty fitting album for this Friday. Well, no since in delaying the inevitable I guess...
This was actually much better than I could have hoped for. I still hated David Thomas's singing, but I really liked the guitar playing and the overall chaotic energy of the album. That initial screeching feedback on "Non-Alignment Pact" nearly made me want to punch a wall, but once the song got going, I enjoyed it. I can really appreciate this album as an important part of post-punk music, and I found it really interesting that Pere Ubu took pieces of traditional punk rock, but used them to build something completely different. It's like taking a Lego set of a house, but using the pieces to build a boat instead. The odd song structures were really great too, and lent themselves to some really out-there experimentation. This isn't the type of album I'd probably be quick to listen to again, but it's made me want to revisit Dub Housing, which is a hell of an achievement. I appreciate what this album means to rock music and how it earned a place on this list.
Hot Chip
3/5
I’ve never listened to this album before, but I vaguely remember listening to Hot Chip's Made In The Dark sometime close to when it was released. If I recall correctly, I didn't care for it too much, because I think I just found it kind of boring. Regardless, I'm curious as to how I'll like this album, and I excited to give it a listen.
I thought this album was pretty good. It was fun to listen to, and I liked how easy it was to dance along to. The first few songs were the best on the album. I enjoyed how the main melodies were really bright in tone, but the deep bass grooves provided a really great contrast. The album started to drag for me when I got to “Night and Day,” which was probably my least favorite song on the album. Even though “Night and Day” and “Now There Is Nothing” were the only two songs on the album that I had a strong dislike for, after “Night and Day,” the album never got close to matching the peak of the first three songs again. This album was fun while I was listening to it, but nothing was memorable enough to hang around in my mind after I finished listening to it. This album wasn’t bad, but I didn’t find it particularly noteworthy, especially when I think of it in the greater context of other synth-driven albums from the same time period that I really like.
CHIC
3/5
First things first: this is my 545th album to review, which officially puts me past the halfway point for all 1089 albums on this list. I was hoping for something great to pop up today, and I was excited to see Chic's Risqué be a milestone album for me. I loved reviewing C'est Chic several months ago, and I read Nile Rodgers' autobiography earlier this year, so I have really high hopes for Risqué.
Unfortunately, I didn't love this album as much as I loved C'est Chic. Edwards and Rodgers' songwriting, producing, and musicianship are still great on this album, but the album's shortcomings are due to the success of "Good Times." Risqué starts off with one of the most dance-inducing songs of all time, but the rest of the album feels like it has tickets to a different party. The bass playing on "Good Times" is absolutely out of this world, and even with a run time clocking in over eight minutes, those eight minutes don't feel long enough. The piano, string arrangements, and lead guitar are fantastic as well, making this one of the best songs of the decade. "A Warm Summer Night" delves more into soul influences, with lyrics and a bass line that are equally sultry, but from this point on, the funk driven party is mostly over. "My Feet Keep Dancing" kicks things back up a notch with another great, yet distinctly unique, bass line, accompanied by some great keyboards. Like "Good Times," this song kept me wanting more, despite its long run time. The songs on side 2 of the album are well written, feature more great musical arrangements, and give the album more diverse sounds, utilizing a sound that's closer to soul than traditional disco. However, I think that most people would agree that side 1 is the clear winner on this album.
Overall, Risqué is good, but I didn't think it lived up to what I expected from Chic. Still, I could listen to Edwards and Rodgers' guitar mastery all day, and this album's biggest weakness is that it's not just 40 minutes of "Good Times."
Keith Jarrett
4/5
I'm not familiar with Keith Jarrett or this album, but I do love some good piano playing, so I expect to enjoy this album. I always have a hard time with how to rate these jazz albums, since I'm not really familiar with jazz music, but I'm hoping that since this album is only piano music, it might be easier for me to take in.
I thought this album was really good. The piano playing was absolutely fantastic, and it's incredibly impressive that everything was completely improvised by Jarrett. The entire album was beautiful from start to finish, and I really enjoyed that it was easy for me to pick up on the main melody that was being built upon and riffed on as each song continued. I never grew bored with the songs, and they never felt bogged down by their run times. For most of the jazz albums that I've reviewed, I've felt pretty neutral towards them; they're nice to listen to, but I didn't feel like I was 'hearing what I was supposed to hear' in a sense. With this album, I didn't feel that way at all. Yes, it was beautiful to listen to, but the simplicity of it only being a piano really helped me appreciate the form and structure of the songs. This is an album I'd be likely to return to, and it makes me want to revisit the Miles Davis albums that I've reviewed.
Drive-By Truckers
2/5
I'm not familiar with Drive-By Truckers' music, and I don't think I've ever heard of this album. What really strikes me as odd is that I don't think I've ever heard any of my friends ever mention being fans of DBT. Living in Texas my whole life, and going to college in a small town in-state, I've known plenty of country music fans, but I really don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about these guys before. I'm really picky about my country music, and with a run-time of 90 minutes, I'm not so sure about this album, but I'm willing to give it a shot.
Well, this album certainly wasn't to my liking, and the fact that it ate up an hour and a half of my day certainly didn't help. I guess I'll start with the things that I thought this album did well. I appreciate the vision behind this project, even though on paper, it's not really my kind of jam. It's a hell of an interesting concept, and it's even more interesting when you consider that this album was released in late September of 2001. I assume that current events may have played a part in this album's inability to find a wider audience. Still, even in the ten years leading up to 9/11, I can't think of any other country albums that were doing something similar to this. There are some pretty bold criticisms about the history and culture of the south on this album, and just as many questions about how to reconcile with something that's permeated your own personal past. The second half of the album is a lot more fun, especially musically, with some catchy songs like "Life In The Factory," "Shut Up And Get On The Plane," and "Greenville To Baton Rouge." Thematically, the second half of the album was much better than the first, as the band looks towards their present and future, and how their past plays a role.
When it comes to the things that I didn't like about this album... well, there are many. Musically, it's pretty boring. I typically don't think of country music as being particularly great musically, but for something a little bit more country-rock, I'd expect something a little bit more unique. The guitar playing is competent, and even though there's plenty of it to go around, the riffs aren't memorable, and they're not doing anything new or profound. For an album that leans towards country music, I'd expect much better vocals than what was on this album. This album really lacks anything noteworthy when it comes to its sound, and that's a bummer, because the band clearly has some talent. The songwriting is fine, but first half of the album feels like someone took a Lynyrd Skynyrd biography, a term paper for AP American History, and a road trip memoir, and stapled some pages from each one together, in an attempt to create a single work. The multiple tones of each of those elements just didn't land with me. I think this album would have been much better if some of the fat could have been trimmed off, and if it wasn't trying to pull the listener in so many directions at once. I just couldn't get into this album, and it's definitely not something I'd return to.
Skepta
1/5
I've never heard of Skepta or this album before, and based on the reviews for this album, I have no idea how I'm going to feel about this. I reviewed Drive-By Truckers yesterday, so this is probably going to be a pretty hard left turn today. Let's get into it.
Well, this album was definitely not my taste. I think the positive things that I can say about it are that it's very unique from the things I typically listen to, and the flow of the rapping was pretty good. As for the negatives, well, there's quite a few of them. I really didn't enjoy this album musically. Most of the production work (beats? samples? I'm not really sure what the proper terminology is for elements of Grime music) just wasn't very interesting to listen to. It didn't feel very melodic, and it was honestly pretty grating at times. It didn't feel like there was a lot of variation from song to song, both in sound or in structure and composition. Lyrically, the songs felt pretty muddled. Skepta would often sing about social issues and brag about his own skills in the same breath, and it was hard to choose what to focus on. I did like some of the social commentary though. Left-leaning Americans (such as myself) tend to look at Europe and say "ah, those guys know how to do it" when we're examining our own political landscape, but I think we often forget that every society has their own ills to contend with, and Skepta's lyrics provided a good reminder of that. I hate to be so negative about this album, but I really didn't like listening to it, and it definitely doesn't inspire me to seek out more Grime music.
TLDR: This sounds like Isaac from Ted Lasso gave up on football, and pursued a career in music instead.
Ash
2/5
I've never heard of Ash or this album before, but I've enjoyed a lot of the albums from Europe that came out in the nineties, so I expect to enjoy this album.
Overall, I found this album pretty bland and forgettable. The guitar playing is good, but for me, it wasn't enough to really garner my interest. The songwriting wasn't particularly interesting to me either. I felt that the album worked more as it branched out later on, from "Innocent Smile" to the final track. But by that time, I'd already listened to eight other songs that were fairly run of the mill as far as rock songs go. I felt like those last four songs worked because they kept the punk influences, but added some other sounds that added a lot of depth and uniqueness to things. This album wasn't bad, but I don't think it's necessarily worthy of being one of the 1001 albums I needed to listen to before I died. Also, I made it about two minutes into the hidden track "Sick Party" before I had to shut it off. I feel like I deserve a medal for that.
Soft Machine
4/5
I've never heard of Soft Machine before, but based on the description and the user reviews, it looks like I'm in for mind-bending journey on this wonderful Friday. Let's fire this monstrosity up!
Man, what a journey this album was. I don't know what I expected this album to sound like, but I really enjoyed what I heard. Each song really felt like its own unique composition, but the album still felt really cohesive. I liked how the instrumentation had a little bit of everything, but I enjoyed the saxophone, flute, and synthesizer more than most of the other musical elements. My favorite bit of instrumentation though was the bass playing on "Facelift." I thought that bass line made it easier to hear all the other elements of the song, and I thought it was brilliant how that worked out. Structurally, I loved how this album felt like chaos, but it was also really evident that the band was fully in control of the sound, directing the overall flow of the music, and deciding what was going to be played where. I wish I had taken better notes about what I liked in each individual song, but it was tough to really keep up with everything that was happening. I think this album is worthy of repeat listening because there's so much to take in, but clocking in at over an hour makes it tough to listen to this album enough to where you can become familiar enough with it to pick apart more individual elements. Still, this album was a fun journey, and I'm really glad I got to experience something so unique and groundbreaking.
Lorde
5/5
I remember listening to this album close to when it came out, and really loving it. However, outside of “Green Light,” I don’t think I’ve seriously revisited this album. I’ve been looking forward to giving this album another listen, so I was excited to see this pop up for me to review today. Let’s let the aforementioned “Green Light” kick off this journey, shall we?
Relistening to this today, I see why I was blown away by it. This album has such a great atmosphere that permeates every sound, and that atmosphere creates a mood that holds the whole album together really well. When I first listened to this album, I had no idea that Jack Antonoff produced it, but listening to it now, I think his production work is one of the reasons that I really like it. I enjoy a lot of the music Jack has written or produced, and I love fun.’s Aim and Ignite, as well as a lot of music by Bleachers. For me, when an album kicks off with an adrenaline rush as intense as “Green Light,” I find myself listening to the rest of the album with the expectation that I’ll experience that feeling again throughout the album. That doesn’t happen for me on Melodrama, but I’m fine with it, because I still think it’s a fantastic album. I own Lorde’s debut, Pure Heroine, but I don’t think I ever listened to the whole thing. I found myself gravitating back towards “Team” every time I’d pop in the CD. And that’s my first inclination with this album to, to listen to “Green Light,” and then move on to something else. Even though I don’t get that ‘run-through-a-brick-wall’ feeling anywhere else on the album like I do when “Green Light’s” chorus kicks in, I love that Lorde shifted to a sound that utilizes more synthesizers and traditional hooks, instead of relying on more hip-hop inspired sounds. She still uses her unique vocal style and songwriting, but I the sound on Melodrama is so much more rich and more interesting that Pure Heroine. It’s a gamble to start off a pop record the way this one does, but it pays off, as the subject matter and intensity of the sound shifts throughout the album. But Jack Antonoff’s production work helps the album maintain its cohesiveness, building a sound that harkens back to the eighties but still sounds new and inventive. I struggled with how to rate this album, but after about three trips through it, I’m solidly in the camp of this album being five stars. Yes, I’m more likely to gravitate towards Chvrches, Taylor Swift’s 1989, or Carly Rae Jepsen to scratch my pop music itch, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this album is beautiful, rich, and brilliantly paced. It was a treat to revisit this album, and to get to focus on it with a more critical ear.
Portishead
3/5
I reviewed Dummy a few months ago, and I really loved it, but that was my first exposure to Portishead, so I’ve never listened to this album before. With as much as I enjoyed Dummy, I’ve been excited to review this album. I’m curious to see how this album sounds, especially since it came out 14 years after Dummy.
Overall, Third was fine. This album has a very different sound than Dummy, but like Dummy, it manages to have a specific atmosphere and mood that slips into every crevice of the album. I really loved the trip-hop sound of Dummy, and I knew not to expect that same sound going into Third, but musically, Third was really hit or miss for me. The highs on Third were great, but the lows felt dull and unnecessary in a sense. I really didn’t enjoy the first three songs on the album, but with “The Rip,” I started to be a lot more interested in it musically. The more grating and experimental the sound got, the more I enjoyed it. I felt like the more grating and jarring sounds created a better mood that meshed really well with the darker lyrical themes of the album. While Dummy had a more laid-back sound, I liked the anxious energy of Third quite a bit. I enjoyed the darker lyrical tone of this album, and Beth Gibbons’s vocals were a great vehicle for those lyrics. Her singing didn’t have much emotion on this album, but it I thought it worked well, because it gave her the quality of being an observer to the narrator’s emotions and experiences, and that detachment made the mood even more pervasive. As much as I loved Dummy, I could take or leave this album. It’s certainly not bad, but it doesn’t feel as essential as Dummy does.
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
I've never heard of this band or album before, but I've seen this cover on the checklist website, and I've been curious as to what this album would be like. Post hardcore? Sure, why not! Seems like a good way to spend a Monday.
I thought this album was pretty good, and I was surprised by its sound. The guitar playing was fantastic throughout the album, and for an album that heavily relies on one thing, it was really interesting. I really loved the manic energy that this album had, but it never felt like that energy was completely driving the album at the expense of the overall sound. The songs were a touch long, but I didn't feel like the album suffered any due to the song length. In fact, the length of the songs allowed the band to go to some really interesting places structurally, breaking down the guitar parts, twisting them around, and building something new out of them. As much as I liked the guitar playing, it was really all this album had to offer me; the lyrics and the vocals weren't really my jam. Still, this is the type of album I'd probably never discover on my own, and I'm glad it's on this list so that I had a reason to listen to it.
Scott Walker
3/5
I've never listened to Scott Walker's music before, and I only learned of him recently, but I can't remember the context in which I heard about him. Maybe it was when I reviewed Jacques Brel? Beats the hell out of me. Regardless, the reviews for this album make it sound pretty interesting. The sixties have been one of my lowest rated decades, so maybe Scott Walker can pull that average up!
Scott Walker isn't pulling up that average for the sixties, but this album was still pretty enjoyable. The orchestra's playing is absolutely fantastic throughout the album. Whether the song has a faster tempo, like "Jackie," or slower, like "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg," they provide crisp and interesting arrangements to accompany Scott Walker's singing. Other than the beautiful arrangements, the lyrics of the songs written by Walker were one of the brightest spots on this album. Walker's songwriting is more like poetry, and I found the imagery and ambiguity of his lyrics really interesting. Of the songs that Walker didn't write, his covers of Jacques Brel's songs were my favorites on the album, particularly "Jackie" and "Next." I wasn't expecting these songs to have such unconventional and dark lyrics, but it was a breath of fresh air to hear something from this time period that wasn't afraid to pull any punches. I think my biggest gripe with the album is that I found the second side of it really paled in comparison with the first. I'm not sure if the overall sound and composition just wore on me, or if I just felt like the second half of the album didn't have as much variation as the first half. Either way, this was still an interesting experience, and I'm curious to see what Scott Walker's other album on this list is going to be like.
The Auteurs
2/5
I've never heard of the Auteurs, or this album before, but I've enjoyed a majority of the Britpop albums on this list, so I feel confident that I'll like this album.
Well, I wouldn't say I particularly liked this album, but I didn't hate it either. I think it's a good album, especially the songwriting, but the music itself is like cloud on a summer day afternoon, in that it disappears from your mind quickly. The arrangements are nice, especially the piano playing on "Bailed Out," and there were some other nice little moments, like the harmonica on "Housebreaker" and the xylophone on "Valet Parking." But overall, musically, this album just wasn't doing anything that sets it apart or pushes things in a new direction. The songwriting was really solid from start to finish though, and I really liked "Junk Shop Clothes" and "Don't Trust the Stars." Overall though, this album just kind of plodded along, and I don't really see a lot of value in it, outside of the songwriting.
Buck Owens
5/5
I've lived in Texas my whole life, so I've been exposed to a lot of country music, often against my own will. My parents went on a big country music kick in the mid-nineties, and I hated it, but I've since grown to appreciate country music from that era. I still can't stand the post-9/11 jingoistic bullshit though, and frankly all of that stuff should be launched into the sun. However, I've wanted to listen to more country music from the sixties and seventies, since I'm not familiar with a lot of it, and I know nothing about Buck Owens, so I'm really keen to listen to this album.
I thought this album was absolutely fantastic. The songwriting was my favorite part of the album, but I loved the 'Bakersfield sound' aspect of the arrangements as well. The songwriting was simple, but I loved its succinctness and clever lyrics. The lyrical themes of love and heartbreak were what I would expect from a country music album from this era, but I enjoyed the way they were sung about. This sort of emotion and realism is what I love about albums like this. "Wham Bam" is certainly a bit crass, even by today's standards, but it's hilarious, and I loved it. "Trouble and Me" was great too, and serves as some great foreshadowing for the outlaw country music that would emerge in the next decade. Musically, this album was great as well. I loved the twang of the guitars, the fiddle playing, and the pedal steel guitar. The instrumentation on this album managed to compliment the mood of the lyrics perfectly, especially on the sad and sombre songs. "Memphis" was the opposite though, but I loved the upbeat sound that really leaned into that rockabilly sound.
I don't understand the hate this album gets, because I thought it was amazing, and I had a blast listening to it. I loved it for a lot of the same reasons that I loved the Loretta Lynn album that I reviewed, and I'm looking forward to the few other country albums that are left for me to review. If you're reading this review, give this album a chance, and I think you'll enjoy it too.
Bert Jansch
3/5
I reviewed Pentangle's Basket of Light three months ago (love that I can see the date I reviewed it in my history), and I didn't care for it, but I'm willing to give this solo effort from Bert Jansch a fair shot. As a fun note, this is my second album in a row from 1965, and I don't think I've ever had consecutive albums from the same year before, and I'm over half way through this list. Also, even though I'm over half way done with my project, I've only reviewed 45% of the albums from the 1960's, so I know I'll have plenty more albums from that decade the rest of the way. Enough numbers, let's get into it!
Eh, based on a little bit of research and what I heard on that Pentangle album, I'd say this was about what I expected from this album: some fantastic songwriting with some really nice guitar playing. This album was certainly pleasant to listen to, and it's pretty impressive for something that really didn't have a lot of prep work and planning put into it. I liked the overall "hippie gypsy" feel to the album, and the lyrics seemed to all be tied to the theme of being a free-spirited wanderer who's trying to strike out on their own and find their place in the world. Lyrically, these songs each felt like their own chapter in a journey of self discovery, and I liked the cohesiveness that this created. My biggest complaint is that the album wound up being boring a touch repetitive in its sound, even though it had a mangeable runtime. This is album is good, but for me, being good for a folk album means it's pretty middle of the road. Is it influential? Sure, but it's not the sort of thing that draws me in.
Rod Stewart
4/5
I love Rod Stewart. His music has been in my life since my childhood, and I still love listening to his songs. In the late eighties, we had his Out of Order album on cassette, and I'd demand to hear his version of "Forever Young" on the way to being dropped off at Mother's Day Out. I remember watching the music video to "The Motown Song" on VH1. In 2001, he was playing the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and I begged my parents to take us on a family outing to see him, even though it was a school night. My grandfather said he sounded like he got his voice from a bottle of Drano, but I didn't care. I was super excited to see this album come up for me today, even though I'm not familiar with any of the songs on it (I'm more familiar with the songs on his next album, but I've yet to review that one). Let's see what Gasoline Alley has to offer!
I wound up enjoying this album quite a bit. I knew that I'd enjoy Rod Stewart's vocals, and he didn't disappoint on this album. There's something about his voice that gives his singing a sense of authenticity. On the songs where Rod sings about lovers who've wronged him, Rod's voice is almost optimistic, giving his heartbreak an 'aw, shucks' feeling. Some of the songs on this album felt like a more upbeat version of the blues, and I thought it worked really well. The songs that had more of folk feel to them were really great to, especially "Only a Hobo," where Rod's sympathy and sadness perfectly permeate the mood. Musically, I loved how the strings were layered, especially the use of the mandolin. The hammond organ and piano playing were great too. For a rock album from the early seventies, this album had a really unique sound and feel to it that sets it apart from a lot of its contemporaries. My biggest complaint on this album is that "Lady Day" and "Jo's Lament" were pretty big misfires to me. They were really boring, and just didn't fit into the rest of the album in my opinion. I like a lot of Rod Stewart's music, but I really wanted to skip those songs. Overall though, this was still a really good album, but I'm looking forward to Every Picture Tells a Story a bit more. Hopefully I'll be able to review it in, oh, let's say... late September.
Can
4/5
I’d never heard of Can until after I started this project, which is a shame, because I studied German for three years in high school, and two years in college, but I know so very little about popular German music. However, I’ve already reviewed Faust IV and Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express, both of which I enjoyed, so I have high expectations for this album.
Overall, I thought this album was very good, and I enjoyed listening to it. The first thing I noticed on this album, was how surprised I was by the relaxed sound. There were so many things for the ear to take in, but at the same time, the arrangements felt really simple. The drumming was fantastic throughout the album, and I really liked how those rhythms were so prominent in the overall sound. Those rhythms were really precise, and I think that’s what might have contributed to the arrangements sounding simple, despite their complexity. The electronic elements on “Spray” were really great, and I loved how this song was soft yet frantic in its pacing. The bass playing on “Moonshake” was fantastic, and it really helped add a deeper layer to a sound that was already very proficient rhythmically. “Bel Air” was really good too; it felt like I was being taken on a cosmic journey during this last part of the album, and even with a twenty-minute runtime, I never got bored or felt that the song was dull.
This album was really enjoyable to listen to, and I think Can were incredibly competent at how to be experimental while still creating a sound that’s pretty accessible and very pleasant to take in. This isn’t the type of album I’d normally listen to, but I appreciate the opportunity I had to branch out and listen to it.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I wasn’t terribly familiar with a lot of Elvis Costello’s music before I started this project, but this will be my fourth album of his to review (I’ve already reviewed the three albums that came before this one chronologically). I enjoyed Armed Forces and My Aim is True, but I really didn’t care for This Year’s Model. Based on what I’ve read about this album though, I’m hoping that it will be my first five-star album from Elvis Costello.
While this didn’t make the five-star grade, I still enjoyed this album, and I thought it was really well made. I found the first half of the album to be pretty underwhelming, but when I got to the second half, I started to enjoy it a lot more. The songwriting was pretty brilliant across the whole album, and I liked the themes of love and relationships (very fitting for an album called Imperial Bedroom). It was a nice change from Elvis Costello’s previous albums, and I thought the lyrics here were incredibly clever.
Elvis Costello is one of the artists on this list who gets a lot of hate for his voice, but I really like his singing. Neil Young and Rod Stewart tend to get a lot of hate as well, but I love their singing too. Costello’s singing is probably never going to come up in conversations about the best vocalists, but I love a distinct voice, and he fits that bill perfectly.
Musically, I loved the piano and organ arrangements on this album. Imperial Bedroom had much more of a pop feel to it than previous Elvis Costello works, and I have to imagine that this album had quite the impact on the sophistipop sound that was to emerge later in the decade. There were some great string and horn arrangements on this album too, and I enjoyed the varied styles and interesting song structures. “Beyond Belief,” “Man Out of Time,” “The Loved Ones,” “Human Hands,” “Pidgin English,” “You Little Fool,” and “Town Cryer” were my favorite songs on the album.
I didn’t fall in love with this album, but I think it’s objectively really good, and I would be quick to revisit it.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
I've heard of John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, but I've never listened to their music before. Back when I listened to a lot of classic rock, I had every intention of checking these guys out, but I never got around to it. Now that I vomit every time I hear the word "Clapton," I have had no desire to listen to this, but I guess there's no avoiding it now. Despite my distaste for Clapton, I'll try to give this a fair shake.
I swear I tried to give this album a chance, but man, I really didn't care for this at all. This has to be the most uninspired blues album I've ever heard. Yes, the guitar playing on it is really great, but there's just no emotion in the singing, the lyrics on the songs that aren't covers are really bland, and the apart from the guitars, there's nothing much of interest happening musically (the saxophone playing on "Key To Love" is one small exception to this). The album did get a little better from "Have You Heard" through the last track, but the thing that made those last four songs a little bit better than the rest of the album was that they had some emotion to them, and they varied a little bit more in structure than the other songs. Still, the nicest thing I can say about the best songs on this album is that they weren't as bad as the rest of the songs. I swear that if I close my eyes while listening to this, I can just see the band standing on stage listlessly, while a small crowd of older dudes stand in the audience, politely applauding at the end of each song. This may have helped reacquaint people with the blues when it came out, but now, I think most people will listen to this and dream of hearing Muddy Waters instead.
Gene Clark
1/5
Heading into this project, I was really excited that I'd get to hear some albums by bands like The Byrds, The Kinks, and Cream. There are a host of classic rock artists from the sixties and seventies whom I knew a few of their songs, but had never listened to one of their albums. I've reviewed three albums by The Byrds so far, and I've been really underwhelmed by them, so I don't have high hopes for this Gene Clark album, but I'm going into it with an open mind.
Unfortunately, I didn't care for this album at all. The musical arrangements, while nice, were pretty bland. There were some nice organ parts, but that was all I really cared for. Gene Clark's vocals felt like he was trying to copy Bob Dylan's style of delivery, but it didn't work for me at all. Gene broke with that style on "Because Of You," which had the best vocals on the whole album in my opinion. I know the songwriting is supposed to be the shining star of this album, but I didn't care for that either. There was something about the structure of the lyrics that just drove me up a wall, and I felt like I couldn't make heads or tails out of the narratives of these songs. I'm really miffed as to why this album is on the list, when it's so bland and forgettable. It might be competently made, but I hardly think that criteria is enough to land an album on this list. I hate to be so critical, but this was a big miss for me.
Herbie Hancock
3/5
I was watching The Grammy Awards at my parents' house some time in the late aughts, and at the end of the ceremony, Herbie Hancock won the award for Album of the Year. When he was announced as the winner my dad turned to me and asked "isn't that the guy who did the music video with all the mannequin parts back in the eighties?" And that's all I know about Herbie Hancock. I've been pretty lukewarm on most of the jazz albums I've reviewed, because I'm not super familiar with jazz, and I have no clue what to listen for, but this album sounds like it might be more aligned with my musical tastes. There's only one way to find out!
Well, I really wanted to love this album, but I thought it was just fine. The blending of funk and jazz created a really unique sound, and the whole album was really interesting. The arrangements were really good, and all of the instruments and funky sounds worked really well together. The thing that made me not enjoy this album so much is that it was A LOT to take in. I'm not averse to longer songs on principal, but this album was just tough to digest because so much was happening on each song. There were parts of each song that I liked, and I enjoyed the structure of the songs, but the songs felt like they stretched themselves too thin in a sense. Still, this was an interesting album, it just wasn't my cup of tea. We'll always have "Rockit" though, Herbie.
Nirvana
5/5
563 albums reviewed, and now I get my first Nirvana album. I own a copy of their greatest hits on CD, and honestly, I don't remember why I bought it. I have nothing against Nirvana, but I wouldn't call myself a fan. I do like Dave Grohl though, and I went through a big Foo Fighters phase in my late teens and early twenties (his memoir is fantastic by the way). A couple of years ago, my wife and I went with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law on a trip to Ireland, and we brought along our daughter who was seven months old at the time (it was a wonderful trip, but if you're ever wondering if you should take a seven month on a trip from Texas to Ireland, I'd say proceed with caution, especially if you're going through Heathrow). As we drove across Ireland, we'd often use the version of "The Man Who Sold The World" off of this album to soothe my daughter to sleep. It didn't always work, but it worked often enough that I heard that song probably ten times a day during that trip. I recognize a few other songs on this album, and I'm very curious to hear the Meat Puppets covers, since I've already reviewed Meat Puppets II. Enough reminiscing I suppose, let's get on with the (acoustic) show.
I haven't really loved any of the live albums I've reviewed so far, and I was really skeptical as to why this album has such a high average rating. After listening to it though, I get it. Out of all the live albums on this list, this is the first one that I've encountered that has a really great mood and atmosphere to it. I was really shocked how well Nirvana's music translated to an unplugged set, but everything sounded great, and it gave me a new appreciation for Kurt's songwriting abilities and and his skill at arranging music. I was really struck by the cello playing on this album too; it adds so much to the mood of the songs and really bolsters the unplugged sound. Hearing these songs in an unplugged set gave me a new appreciation for them, but "All Apologies" really takes home the crown as my favorite of the bunch. Kurt's wailing of "buried, married," contrasts so well with the acoustic sound. The covers on this album are great too, and it was a really big treat to hear Kurt sings songs by Meat Puppets. Listening to the original versions of those songs, it's incredibly evident how influential they were on Kurt as a songwriter and performer, and hearing him pay homage to them was fantastic. Using "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" as the album's closing song was a great choice. Kurt's unique touch makes this song feel like it belongs in the nineties. Knowing what we know now about Kurt's relationship with fame adds another complex layer to this album's feel. His remarks before opening the set with "About a Girl," might be seen as a dig at the audience, but I think it's more Kurt coming to grips with how far his star had risen in the last few years.
I really enjoyed listening to this album, and I think it's worthy of its reputation. The sound is beautiful, and these songs all get a unique life in this acoustic set. The producers and engineers deserve some love for their work on this album too; the sound is incredibly clean, and the audience noises pop up at all the right moments. My only beef with this album is that "Lithium" isn't in the setlist (now that I think of it, "Lithium" might have been what lead me to buy their greatest hits album), but that's the gamble of live music I suppose.
Iron Butterfly
2/5
I’m somewhat familiar with the song “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it in its entirety, and I’ve definitely never heard any other Iron Butterfly songs. However, I’m pretty sure I have realistic expectation of this album heading into it. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon that tripping audio balls?
This album was pretty much what I expected it to be in terms of its sound: heavy organ usage and heavily distorted guitars. The first side of the album was pretty unremarkable. The arrangements were decent, and I enjoyed some of the vocal techniques utilized on “Flowers and Beads,” but lyrically, these songs were all just a bunch of sixties ‘hey girl, I love you’ songs, which I found to be pretty bland. On top of that, calling any female ‘girl’ these days tends to come with heavy implications that she’s underage, so… yeah, that’s not my favorite thing to hear. As for the title track, well, if you’re going to write a seventeen-minute-long song that’s feels like doing drugs, that’s certainly how you do it. The opening and closing organ riff are absolute perfection, and the fuzzy guitar balances it out really well. The somewhat mumbled vocals are great too, and help to create the dark and trippy atmosphere of the song. Can you imagine going over to a friend’s house, and they tell you there’s a song you have to hear, and they throw on “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” for you? I imagine the awkwardness in that room would be so present, that you could cut it with a knife. It’s still a great song, but that’s not a journey I’m itching to go on several times.
I can appreciate the influence and importance of this album, but for me, the title track is easily the main attraction. Still, the album as a whole isn’t that impressive to me, and that’s why it’s getting a lower rating.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
This will be my second Captain Beefheart album to review after... well, you know. I certainly didn't love Trout Mask Replica, but I can respect the work that went into making something so ridiculously avant garde that people quit listening to it thirty seconds into it. It seems like this album is a lot more accessible than Trout Mask Replica, so I'm interested to see what this has in store.
I'm not wild about this album, but I did enjoy the blues-y garage rock sound. Those two elements came together really well to form something new and unique, but still accessible. I don't particularly care for the vocals on this album either, but they never got to the point of where they completely derailed my experience. Like Trout Mask, this album has an air of controlled chaos about it as well; the sound isn't exactly jarring, but there's a certain uneasiness that I felt in listening to this, yet it's evident that Don and Herb did everything with intent and purpose. I'm really glad I got to listen to Trout Mask first, because this album foreshadows what wast to come on Trout Mask. I don't know that any particular song stood out to me on this album, because each song really had something to offer me in one way or another. I don't know that I'd be quick to return to this album, but I can appreciate how it pushed the envelope for rock music.
Eric Clapton
4/5
Ah, come on man. I had to listen to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers last week, and now I'm starting off this week with a Clapton solo effort? At least I think this will be my last album that has Clapton on it. I'll be forthcoming and admit that I can't stand Clapton the person, but like Bluesbreakers last week, I'll do my best to give the king of dad-rock xenophobes a fair shake on this album.
Uggggggghhhhhh, I enjoyed this album, and I absolutely hate that I enjoyed it. I expected to at least enjoy the guitar playing, which I did, but it didn't steal the spotlight from the musical arrangements as a whole. I really enjoyed the organ playing throughout the album, and I liked that a lot of the album was slower and had a more tender feel to it. This album doesn't really showcase Clapton's ability to pluck away on the guitar, but it does show his talents at arranging music, and his ability to perform songs in a thoughtful way. Yvonne Elliman's co-lead vocals on "Get Ready" and her backing vocals elsewhere on the album were really great too. "Let It Grow" was easily the best original contribution from Clapton, but "Get Ready" was no slouch either. As far as the covers go, I think I'd have to pick "Mainline Florida" as my favorite. I can't stand the singing on "I Shot The Sheriff," but I do like the organ playing, and while I liked the arrangements on "Motherless Children," I think the upbeat tone is wildly inappropriate for a song of such heavy themes that was based on a lived experience by the original songwriter. That was certainly a choice. Still, this was a good album, and it felt like it had a lot more originality and feeling in it than the other Clapton involved blues albums I've reviewed.
Django Django
4/5
I've never heard of Django Django before, but I was big into indie rock when this came out, so I'm not sure how I missed it, especially since it was on the Rolling Stone list of best albums for 2012. Regardless, I'm heading into this album blind, and I have absolutely no expectations for what I'm about to hear.
Wow, I'm really impressed by this album. It's not really my jam, but I think Django Django has an incredibly unique sound, and it's an objectively good album. This album did a great job of taking things that are opposites and blending them together. I liked how the acoustic and digital elements were blended together in a way that was really smooth and seamless; sometimes sounds like that can be chaotic or muddled, but this album really avoided it. Also, this album seemed to draw on both western and eastern influences in terms of the arrangements, and the band managed to blend those together really well. The whole album was really interesting and full of diverse tracks, but every song felt well connected to the overall sound of the album. I didn't find any particular part of the album to be stronger than any other part, and I was really impressed by that balance. While this album really isn't the sort of thing I'd listen to again, I can definitely see why it got so much praise from critics, and why it has so many fans in the user reviews. At a time when the Indie scene was particularly crowded, this album stands out as a unique entry in the genre.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Before starting this project, the only album by Nick Cave that I had listened to was Ghosteen, which I really enjoyed. I gave Ghosteen five stars when I reviewed it, and the other two Nick Cave albums have gotten three stars from me. I'm interested to give this fourth album from Nick a listen and see what it has in store.
I thought this album was really good, and while it wasn't better than Ghosteen, I thought it eclipsed The Boatman's Call and Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. This album started off really strong with "Papa Won't Leave You Henry." I loved the thundering backing vocals, the guitar arrangements, and the way the song started off slowly before kicking off with frantic percussion and an eerie violin arrangement. "I Had a Dream, Joe" kept the energy high, and I enjoyed the organ playing that kept the haunting sound established on the first song. The album was really well paced with some slower ballads and up-tempo songs as well. I enjoyed hearing something from Nick Cave that was based in more traditional rock sounds that relied on a lot of guitar playing, and I thought the arrangements were all really well done. The whole album had a great haunting atmosphere to it, which melded really well with Nick Cave's usual vivid and cryptic lyrics. Nick typically does such an excellent job controlling the mood of his music with his words and the tone of his vocals, and this album was no exception to that. This album isn't really something that I'd come back to, but I still thought it was incredibly well made, and it's another example of Nick Cave's ability to create great music.
The Byrds
4/5
I have been less than impressed with the works by The Byrds that I have reviewed so far (this will be my third, and I was also not a fan of Gene Clark's White Light), so I don't have high expectations for this album. But hey, it's less than thirty minutes long, so that's a plus! Let's get into it.
This album wound up being much better than I anticipated. The sound drew upon a wide variety of influences, but the album still felt really cohesive. The blending of folk, psychedelic, and country elements created a unique sound that really set The Byrds apart from other artists of the sixties. I enjoyed this album the most when it was getting experimental and weird, like on "C.T.A.-102." The guitar playing was fantastic throughout the album, and there were some really good vocals too. I liked the second half of the album better than the first half; the guitars on "Thoughts and Words" created a really great sound, and the song went back and forth from a traditional sixties rock sound to something more experimental. "My Back Pages" was one of the best songs on the album too, and I really loved the vocals on the chorus.
This was a really good album, and it definitely gives me more of an appreciation for The Byrds than their other albums that I've reviewed. The uniqueness of the sound and the guitar playing really set this album apart from other artists' experimental work at the same time.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
Like death and taxes, Ella Fitzgerald’s The Gershwin Songbook awaits us all. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to any of Ella Fitzgerald’s work before, and I honestly don’t know much about her (oops, I do know her version of “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve.” My wife and I got married in December of 2020, and we were planning on having that as our first dance at our reception, but COVID dashed our reception plans, so I played it and we danced to it on our first New Year’s Eve together as a married couple). As far as the Gershwin’s go, I’m familiar with “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess, but I think that’s it. When I found out about this album, I’d decided that I was going to listen to the whole thing, and not an abridged version. I won’t have time to listen to it all in one go, so my review is going to be broken up into sections by disc, as they’re separated on Spotify. I’m just going to list a few bullet points for each disc, and then have an overall summary at the end.
Disc 1
-The vocals are great, and the orchestra playing is incredibly rich. The balance between her voice and the arrangements is fantastic, no one is upstaging the other.
-It turns out I know “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” I love the way she sings this. It’s playful, but sophisticated.
-The strings on “Oh, Lady Be Good” are fantastic, just beautifully arranged.
-“Things Are Looking Up” was a lot of fun. The horns are great, and the band hits those loud notes at the perfect time.
-I wanted to hate “Just Another Rhumba” because when it started off, it was really jarring because of how different it sounded from the other songs, but it was actually really good.
-So far, I’m really digging this. I’m plugging away on some tasks at work and pounding coffee. My will to live is currently very high.
Disc 2
-Alright, I took care of the aftereffects of my coffee, had lunch, made some phone calls, and now I’m back at it.
-Three songs into this second disc, and while the singing is still great, it feels like the arrangements aren’t as rich on these songs so far, and it’s a touch boring.
-“By Strauss” broke up the monotony of the first three songs a bit. I love how clearly Ella sings, and her precision on her pronunciation.
-Oh wow, “The Real American Folk Song” is great. I love how this song starts off like the rest of these songs, and then goes full-tilt into a ragtime sound. I was completely caught off-guard by that shift.
-“They All Laughed” is great, those Gershwins sure know how to write a song.
-I didn’t enjoy this disc as much as disc 1. I don’t think it was a drop off in quality, but a lot of the songs were pretty similar in terms of sound and lyrical content. My will to live is still high, but that’s enough for today.
Disc 3
-Alright, it’s been almost a week, and I’m getting back on this train.
-After the first four songs, I’m not really wowed, and while these songs are nice, there’s not really much going on yet, and all the songs are pretty much the same in tone and overall sound.
-The lyrics of “Boy Wanted” were fun and clever.
-My final assessment of disc 3 is that it’s pretty bland. The singing and orchestra are still great, but not much here stood out to me. My will to live is still high, and I’m soldiering on to disc 4.
Disc 4
-This disc is off to a much better start. It might just be me, but these songs feel a lot jazzier than the previous disc.
-The lyrics on “Love Is Sweeping the Country” and “Treat Me Rough” are great. I love that there’s a little bit of innuendo to both of them.
-Oh wow, “Love Is Here To Stay” is great. I love the singing here, and they lyrics are really good too.
-“Slap That Bass” was kind of a letdown. The bass part was good, but I expected something a little more upbeat and higher tempo.
-“Shall We Dance?” and “Love Walked In” somewhat made up for my disappointment on “Slap That Bass.”
-Not a strong finish to this disc, but overall, it was more enjoyable than discs 2 and 3. I think this is a good stopping point, and maybe I can finish this bad boy up tomorrow. The will to live is still strong.
Disc 5
-It’s now officially a week since I was assigned this album, and I’m going to try to wrap it up today. We’ll see if I succeed.
-I really like the orchestra playing on “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” Beautifully arranged.
-I like the songwriting on this disc. The Gershwins are incredibly clever when it comes to their lyrics. The tempo of Ella’s singing is great, there’s pauses in all the right places.
-Things kind of fell off from “Lorelei” to “Let’s Kiss and Make Up.” It’s not bad, but it’s just kind of bland and sounds a lot like the rest of the album.
-I had really high hopes for “I Got Rhythm,” but it was just okay.
-This disc was fine overall. It started off strong, and then petered out a bit. My will to live is still high, and I’m going to move on to the last disc.
Disc 6
-Oh, this is just a few instrumentals. This is a nice little way to end this album.
Overall
Well, I managed to listen to all of this in a week, and I think that’s a pretty decent accomplishment. It was tough not to burn myself out on this album. It’s really good, but it’s the sort of thing I’d prefer to listen to while kicking it around the house. This album reminds me of things that my wife loves, like old movies, and in a way, it makes me want to slow down life for a bit, to appreciate the simple things. I think it’s really cool that Ella Fitzgerald recorded all of this, and that all of these songs exist in one place like this. I don’t know that it necessarily belongs on this list, since it’s a compilation, but it is a cool badge of honor to say that I’ve listened to it. The orchestra and Ella’s singing are both really great, and this was a nice listen.
Shuggie Otis
2/5
I've never heard of Shuggie Otis before, but this sounds like an interesting album, and it should make for some good Saturday afternoon listening while my kids nap.
Well, this album would be more suited for my nap than my kids' naptime. Reading about this album, I was impressed Shuggie's resumé, and the fact that he did so much of the work that went into this album (I love that fact about the first Foo Fighters' album as well. I guess Dave Grohl had more time for quality music when he wasn't busy impregnating women half his age). But while the concept is great, the execution just wasn't that interesting to me. Shuggie clearly knows how to craft good musical arrangements, but musically, this album just didn't go anywhere interesting or unique. I kept waiting to hear something new and exciting, but this album felt like it could have just faded into obscurity amongst all the other soft rock that was being put out in the seventies. Only one song really stood out to me, "Aht Uh Mi Hed," because it was the only song where Shuggie did something unique. I loved the bass and rhythm forward sound, and things were rounded out nicely by some sparse guitar playing, some nice organ sounds, and some really great woodwinds and horns. The atmosphere of this song felt dense and dark, even with the flute and horns. This album wasn't bad, but I found it pretty bland, and it's not the sort of things I'd seek out again.
The Stooges
3/5
Raw Power was one of several albums I bought when I first heard about the 1001 albums book. I was already familiar with "Search and Destroy," so I figured I'd check out the rest of the album. I remember feeling pretty lukewarm towards this album, and I think I've only listened to it in its entirety one time. I liked Fun House, and really loved Iggy Pop's solo effort Lust For Life, so I'm excited to revisit this album, now that I have more music knowledge under my belt.
Well, I really wanted to have more love for this album while listening to it today, but that sadly wasn't the case. I think this is a good album, and it's certainly influential, but I still feel pretty lukewarm towards it in terms of my personal enjoyment. I do like the overall sound of the album (I listened to both the Iggy and David Bowie versions, but since Bowie's version is what I understand to be the only version that was available upon its release), and I especially like how you can hear the early beginnings of punk rock in how the sound was structured. The guitar work on this album is great; I loved how fuzzy and distorted the guitars sounded, but you can still make out the notes and chord progressions really easily. As much as I'm not wild about the album as a whole, "Search and Destroy" is a masterpiece. I love Iggy Pop's vocals, the intro and outro guitar solos, and the chaotic drumming.
Overall, while this album isn't really my jam, I appreciate its influence and the overall sound of it. Part of me wonders though, if I had reviewed this before Fun House, would I have enjoyed this album more and Fun House less? I know there's not exactly a ton of Iggy Pop on this list, but six total albums representing his music might be a bit too much for me to appreciate.
N.E.R.D
4/5
I don't think I've ever heard of N.E.R.D. before, but I'm familiar with Pharrell's production work. This sounds like it could be an interesting album, so I'm excited to jump into it.
This album was a pleasant surprise. I didn't listen to a lot of current music when this came out, and this isn't the type of thing I'd gravitate towards today, so I was shocked that I enjoyed this. I think Pharrell is an excellent producer, and his skills were on display here. This album had a really unique style, and the deeper I got into the album, the more I enjoyed it. I wasn't a big fan of the lyrics, but musically, the songs were really catchy, and I never found myself getting bored with it. This isn't the type of album that I'd probably go back to, but I appreciate its unique sound and the quality of the production work.
Fugees
4/5
Ah, The Score, an album I've listened to a handful of times. This album came out when I was in fifth grade, and I remember "Killing Me Softly" being a massive hit. I wasn't really allowed to listen to hip hop when I was a kid, but "Killing Me Softly" was so massive that it got plenty of airplay on the local top 40 station that wasn't barred in our household. I know I listened to this within the last year at some point, but I'm excited to fire it back up today.
The Score isn't one of my favorite albums, but I still think it's really good. The lyrics are great (I love all of the references to politicians and pop culture figures), the vocals are fantastic, and the production is out of this world (I would expect nothing less from Lauryn Hill). "Ready Or Not" and "Killing Me Softly" stand head and shoulders above the rest of the album, but the other songs are good too. This album does an excellent job at showcasing hip hop as an art that's just as serious and beautiful as other forms of popular music. Where this album gets weighed down is its pacing. I know skits are a part of hip hop music, but the ones on this album just slow things down to a snail's pace, and I found it difficult to get back into the album after the skits. This album is great because of the music and its dark atmosphere, but the skits bring both of those to a screeching halt. Some of the songs are a tad long as well, and a couple of songs felt a little unnecessary to me, particularly "Cowboys." Still, this album is really good, and it showcases the collaborative talents of Hill, Jean, and Pras. The Score is an achievement, but there are other hip hop albums from the era that I'd rather listen to.
Jean-Michel Jarre
4/5
I've seen this album's cover on the list challenges page where I log the albums I've listened to, and this cover was so intriguing that I had to pull up the Wikipedia page for the album. I read that it was an electronic/ambient album, and since then, I've been really excited to get to review this album. I'm hoping it can live up to the lofty expectations that I've set for it!
Unfortunately, this album didn't live up to the expectations I had for it, and that's on me for building up anticipation for it for probably over a year. Oops. Even though this album wasn't a five-star album for me, I really enjoyed it, and it was great to listen to for the impact and influence its had on popular music. I really love synth pop music, and I imagine that if it weren't for this album, some of my favorite pieces of music may not exist. Each song felt like its own little journey, and those little journeys added up to a pilgrimage through electronic music. This album was beautiful, and after listening to it twice today, I think it's worthy of even more repeat listens. My biggest beef with it is that it left me wanting more elements to be present to the overall sound, and at more than a few occasions, some of it felt like background music. This was still a great album though, and I'm glad I finally got to check it off of my list.
CHVRCHES
5/5
Ah, Chvrches! I had no idea this album was included in one of the more recent editions of the book until I saw it listed on the List Challenges page. I've had a healthy obsession with Chvrches since I first heard the sweet synth notes of "Recover" on an Austin radio station back in 2013. I bought a copy of this album on preorder, and I own a copy of the 10th anniversary edition as well. I've gotten to see Chvrches live twice, and I've gotten to meet the band on both of those occasions (they're wonderful people). I've easily listened to this album more than any other album, and once I'm done with this list, I imagine that this will be what I list as my favorite album. Like I said, it's a healthy obsession. Now that the details are out of the way, let's jump into the music!
Those opening 'oh-oh-oh's' of "The Mother We Share" are absolute perfection. You know right away what this album is going to be, and the rest of the album makes good on delivering on that promise of beautiful synth arrangements and perfect drum machines. I went on a solo trip to Germany in October of 2013, and I would listen to this album every day while I was there. Listening to this song reminds me of the crisp autumn air on my face as I walked to the train station every morning. "We Sink" is a perfect follow up to the opening track. The synths are a little bit deeper in tone, but they pulse at a pace that keeps the momentum going. "Gun" slows things down a bit and allows Lauren Mayberry to be in the driver's seat for the emotional tone. I love that amongst all the brightness of the synthesizers, songs like "Gun" can still pack a punch. I love how "Tether" starts off as one of the more stripped-down songs on the album, but the crescendo it builds to is perfect. Knowing that the blistering synthesizers are coming makes the song even better on repeat listens. "Lies" is probably one of my least favorite songs on the album, but I still love it. To me, it's a great bridge between the first four songs on the album and "Under the Tide." "Under the Tide" is the most underrated song on the album in my opinion. One of two songs on the album where Lauren Mayberry doesn't sing lead vocals, Martin Doherty gets to take over, and he crushes it. Another song that builds to an epic crescendo, "Under the Tide" is the perfect lead-in to "Recover," one of the strongest tracks on the album. I don't know what it is about "Recover" that I love so much. Yes, it was my first exposure to Chvrches and their brand of synth pop perfection, but it still holds its magic for me, over eleven years after I first heard it. I think it's something in the pacing of the song that draws me in. The song never really builds to a peak, but somehow, the anticipation of some sort of peak is there, waiting to be uncovered. I think "Recover" always makes me want to listen to more Chvrches, and that's what I love about it. "Night Sky" and "Science/Visions" are a shift away from the brighter tones of "Recover," but nothing about that shift feels unnatural or forced. "Lungs" shifts back to the brighter sound, and features some of my favorite drum machine parts on the album. The rhythm of the drums matches the pacing of the vocals perfectly, and that pacing is perfect for the lyrics of this song too. "By the Throat" and "You Caught the Light" are great closing tracks, letting the album flex its emotional muscles, instead of hitting with more blissful synth sounds. To me, it's perfectly fitting that the album closes with these two tracks, because while this album has so many great synth pop sounds, the emotion and the lyrics are great too.
I love this album so much, and I'm so glad I got to write about it today. If you somehow made it to the end of this review, and you like Chvrches, I highly recommend their second album, Every Open Eye, and their most recent album, Screen Violence. Listening to Chvrches always makes my day better, and I'm so glad that this wonderful trio has shared their talents with the world.
Mekons
3/5
I've never heard of Mekons before, but this is an interesting album cover. The description of this album on Wikipedia makes it sound interesting, but the user reviews sound like it's a bit of a dud. I guess I'll have to listen to it and see what this is all about!
Well, I think that this album was fine overall. The historical context that led Mekons to write this album is certainly interesting, but the execution of this idea fell a little flat to me on the first half of the album. The vocals were pretty rough throughout the whole album, but the music on the second half of the album does a good job of covering that up. I found the first half of the album pretty boring overall, even when I'm not considering the vocals.
This album had a very English feel to it that I liked, and the album felt really cohesive. Even though I felt pretty lukewarm towards this album, I wouldn't mind checking it out again. It's different in its sound, and as an American, I think it contains some really interesting social and political commentary on English life in the eighties.
The KLF
4/5
I'm not familiar with KLF, or electronica music for that matter. I tend to like music with electronic elements though, so this should be right up my alley.
This album was a lot of fun. When I was a kid, I loved any eighties music with synthesizers and keyboards, and while this wasn't the same thing, it made heavy usage of musical elements that I tend to love, but in a new way. I've been reading a lot of music nonfiction this year, and the Britpop book I'm currently working on talked about acid house music and how it led to Britpop, so I really enjoyed hearing this album and getting to appreciate its place in music history. My favorite part of the album was "Church of the KLF" and "Last Train to Trancentral." Both of these songs felt like they relied heavily on eighties sounds, and I loved their energy. "Church of the KLF" used some elements that sounded like a church organ, and certain parts of it reminded me of "Silent Running" by Mike + The Mechanics, which I really loved. I liked the first half of the album more than the second half, mostly because I liked the more intense and chaotic songs on this album better than the slower ones. The slower songs weren't bad, but they just left me wanting more. Overall though, this was a really good album, and I enjoyed listening to it.
The The
4/5
Ah, The The! Several years ago, I bought a copy of Soul Mining because of the 1001 Albums book. I'm pretty sure I only listened to it once and didn't love it, so I've never checked out any of the band's other work. I don't have particularly high hopes that I'll enjoy this album, but I'm excited for the chance to check these guys out again.
This was a really pleasant surprise. Musically, this album was great. I really enjoyed the guitar playing, the string arrangements, the horns, and the percussion. The guitar playing on the title track reminded me of some of the elements on Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance,” and low and behold, Neneh Cherry did the backing vocals on “Slow Train To Dawn.” “Out Of The Blue” had some really great synthesizers, and they sounded great with the horn playing. The ebb and flow to the energy of this album was really great too, and I felt like the whole album flowed really well and was very consistent. The best part of this album though was the songwriting. I loved the social and political commentary of these songs, especially on “Heartland.” Every song fit really well into the theme of ‘Infected’ as it pertains to the ills of society. Matt Johnson delivered his vocals in such a way that the message of this album didn’t feel forced or disingenuous. While I enjoyed this album, it’s not the type of thing that I typically gravitate towards. I’m giving it four stars, but it’s easily one of the strongest four-star ratings that I’ve given out. I’m really looking forward to revisiting Soul Mining soon.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Oh man, this will be my last Black Sabbath album to review. I was really surprised by how much I loved their self-titled album and Paranoid, which both got five stars from me. I have pretty high expectations for Vol. 4 as well, so let's get this Metal Monday started!
I thought Vol. 4 was a bit of a step down from the other Black Sabbath albums I've reviewed, but it was still really good. It seemed to me that this album had a bit more emphasis on rhythms that the previous Sabbath albums, and that made it really fun to groove to as I listened to it.
Really fun to groove to. This album felt more like a traditional hard rock album than a heavy metal album, and while Sabbath excels at any hard rock, I think they're at their best when they're darker and more chaotic. Despite that, I really enjoyed "Changes," because I think it shows the band's talent and range as musicians and songwriters. "Laguna Sunrise" fell into the same boat, as far as being really different that the other songs on the album, and while it was good, I liked "Changes" better. On the other Sabbath albums I've reviewed, I really loved the drumming, but on Vol.4, "Supernaut" was really the only one that stood out to me when it came to the drumming. The additional percussion elements used on "Supernaut" were great too. One of the other miscues for me on Vol. 4 is that the more traditional metal songs (like "Cornucopia" and "Wheels of Confusion") just didn't have that special 'Sabbath touch' like their other songs typically do. Overall, this was a really good album, it just fell a little short with me.
Van Morrison
4/5
A couple of months ago, I reviewed Van Morrison's It's Too Late To Stop Now. I was only familiar with a couple of his songs, neither of which were on that album. I really didn't care for It's Too Late To Stop Now, and that experience has really lowered my expectations for this album. I'll do my best to give this a fair shot, with hopes that my low expectations will be dashed.
Thankfully, I enjoyed this album significantly more than It's Too Late To Stop Now. This album was beautiful from start to finish, a wonderful combination of the best elements of folk music from America and The UK. The string arrangements on this album were fantastic from start to finish, and they brought a lot of life to this album. Van Morrison has such a unique voice, and I really enjoyed hearing him sing some songs that I'm not familiar with. There's a really cohesive atmosphere throughout the album, and the music matches the dreamlike lyrics really well. The use of so much figurative language leaves this album open to a lot of interpretation, and in my opinion, that makes it worthy of multiple re-listens. As for my favorite song on the album, it's a tough call for me, between "Sweet Thing" and "Cyprus Avenue." They both have some of my favorite string playing on the album, and they're both really beautiful to listen to. I really love how he stutters when he sings 'my tongue gets tied every time I try to speak' on "Cyprus Avenue." I think that line really showcases Van Morrison's attention to detail.
My only gripe with this album is that quite a few songs overstay their welcome quite a bit, especially the ones with the repetitive vocals, like "Beside You." Oddly enough though, I thought the two shortest songs were the weakest ones on the album. Even though this isn't the sort of thing that I typically gravitate towards, I thought it was beautiful to listen to, and featured some really great songwriting. I hope that I'm going to enjoy Moondance as much as or more than I enjoyed Astral Weeks.
Beatles
3/5
Wow, it's been almost 300 albums since I've had anything by The Beatles. My last album of theirs to review was Sgt. Pepper's at number 298, and here I am on the cusp of 600. I don't think I've ever listened to this album from start to finish before, but I'm familiar with a few songs on here. I remember my professor for history of rock and roll spending a lot of time talking about this album and its influences, so I'm excited to jump into this.
I went into this album with really high hopes. Rubber Soul is regarded as a turning point in The Beatles’ career; a moment when they really began to push the boundaries of what pop music and mainstream rock and roll could be. I can see how this album earned that reputation, but to me, it’s just a good pop and rock record. Rubber Soul still has plenty of the building blocks that The Beatles are known for: great guitar playing, tight drumming, excellent vocal harmonies, and George Martin’s fantastic production work. For a splash of new, there’s sitar playing on several songs, an excellent harpsichord part on the fantastic “In My Life,” and fuzzy bass lines. There’s nothing on this album that really stands out as a single, and while that shows how the band put the same attention and dedication into every song, the end result is something that can be a tad bland sometimes. I wasn’t wowed by the songwriting on this album, and it feels that the band took themselves too seriously on this effort. The French singing on Michelle came across as pretentious, and other than the goofy
“Drive My Car”, Rubber Soul just wasn’t that fun. I appreciate what Rubber Soul means to The Beatles’ career and popular music, but I wasn’t wowed by it.
The Stone Roses
5/5
I can't remember if I'd heard of The Stone Roses and this album before I started this project, but I know that since starting this, I've heard a lot of praise for this album. Several months ago, I was looking for something to listen to, and decided to check this out. I was immediately blown away by this album, and I was kicking myself that I had never listened to it before. I fired it back up on a drive home from work a few weeks ago, and I'm certainly not opposed to listening to it again today.
This album is fantastic from start to finish. The guitars are bright and shimmering in tone, and the drumming compliments the sound incredibly well. Ian Brown's vocals are great, and he and John Squire's songwriting is excellent as well. The guitar playing on this album has glimpses of shoegaze, but the overall sound of the album is incredibly unique, serving almost as a halfway point between The Smiths and Britpop. The band uses a lot of elements from eighties music, but they use them in ways that are completely new and novel. "Waterfall" and its brilliantly backwards counterpart "Don't Stop" are my favorite part of the album, but other than that, there's nothing that really stands out to me on this album, because the whole thing is just perfect from start to finish. This album is delightful to listen to, and this will certainly not be the last time that I listen to it.
R.E.M.
4/5
Document is the only R.E.M. LP that I own, but it's been a hot minute since I've listened to all of it from start to finish. I've already reviewed Murmur (meh) and Green (loved it), so I'm excited to hit up my third R.E.M. album for this project.
I wanted to really love this album, and while I think it's really good, it fell a little short of five stars for me. Document starts off with the criminally underrated "Finest Worksong," a stirring rock anthem that sets the tone for the album's themes of resistance, individual empowerment, and political corruption. "Welcome to the Occupation" slows things down a bit musically, but "Exhuming McCarthy" shifts back to a more upbeat song, with lyrics blisteringly critical of Reagan era politics set to a jangly pop rock sound that's almost impossible to not to tap your foot along too. Side 1 ends with one of the band's most well-known (and in my opinion, one of their best) songs, "It's The End of The World As We Know It." I love the opening drum blast, and the blistering pace of Michael Stipe's vocals make this one of the best rock songs of the decade. Bill Berry's backing vocals of "it's time I had some time alone" are absolutely perfect, and his vocal presence is a huge boon to the whole album. "The One I Love" is not one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, but it's a solid ballad, despite feeling a little out of place on this album. The rest of side 2 is good, and while I always enjoy R.E.M.'s music, there's not a lot on side 2 that I really love. I think it's objectively good (excellent songwriting, great guitars, and solid drumming), but it's just not something I really enjoy listening to, especially when you take all of R.E.M.'s catalog into consideration. This is a really good album, but it falls a bit short of greatness with me.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
I’ve reviewed the two albums by Frank Sinatra, and I enjoyed both of them, but I’m not familiar with Francis Albert Sinatra. Must be a fancy cousin of Frank’s.
This album was interesting and different, but I’d say it was only fine. The first three songs were the best part of the album, and I enjoyed hearing Frank Sinatra sing along to some Bossa nova songs. After that though, most of the album sounded pretty much the same to me. The orchestra sounded great, and I enjoy Sinatra’s singing, but the novelty wore off on this album pretty quickly. “Change Partners” was probably my favorite song on the album. The lyrics were really clever, and Sinatra does really well when he’s singing a song that lends itself more towards storytelling and narration. I wouldn’t mind having this on during a lazy Saturday morning around the house, but it’s not the sort of thing I’d seek out often.
Billy Bragg
5/5
I’d never heard of Billy Bragg until I started this project. However, one of my first several albums to review was his collaboration with Wilco on Mermaid Avenue, which I absolutely loved (and have been meaning to revisit). I’ve been reading quite a bit of music nonfiction this year, and through that, I’ve learned a bit more about Billy Bragg. From what I’ve read, he seems like a really awesome guy: hated Thatcher, loves unions, stands against racism, etc. I’m really excited to check out this album and see what it’s like.
Lyrically, this album was exactly what I thought it would be, but it also far exceeded my expectations. The political tone of the lyrics was exactly what I expected, but they still packed an incredible punch. “Ideology” was really great, and I loved how Bragg criticized the British government for only furthering their own interests instead of serving the people they’re supposed to represent. The lyrics of “There Is Power in a Union” were incredibly stirring, and this pro-union song is the perfect anthem for British workers in the eighties. “Help Save the Youth of America” was probably my favorite song on the album lyrically, especially the lines ‘And the cities of Europe have burned before, and they may yet burn again. And if they do I hope you understand that Washington will burn with them’ in the closing verse. As we see the rise of far-right politics around the world, this closing was incredibly haunting. “The Home Front” was great too, and I thought its theme of the passing of generations was the perfect way to close the album.
I really loved this album from a musical standpoint as well. Johnny Marr’s guitar playing on “Greetings to the New Brunette” was fantastic, as was his appearance on “The Passion.” The trumpet and flugelhorn arrangements that were used on several songs as well, especially on “The Home Front.” The music definitely had a distinct feel of the eighties, but it never made the album feel dated, nor did it take away from the message. I really enjoyed Billy Bragg’s vocals as well. His voice is so distinct, and I’m glad he kept his English dialect, as it helped create an authentic feel for this album. Kristy MacColl’s backing vocals were really good too, and I was happy to see that she was featured on this album.
This album was really great, and I felt like I got a lot out of listening to it. I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed it necessarily, due to themes discussed on it, but it felt like an important part of history. I know Billy Bragg has been incredibly influential to the intersection of art and politics, and it was really interesting to listen to an album from an artist and a political landscape that I’ve read a lot about recently. I don’t know that I’d be quick to listen to this again since it’s not a particularly fun album, but I thought it was really great and noteworthy.
Soft Cell
3/5
I'm assuming that like most people taking part in completing this list, the only Soft Cell song I know is their version of "Tainted Love," which I personally thank is fantastic (although I prefer the 12" single version, but whatever). I'm really not sure what to expect from the rest of this album though. I think I'll either love it or hate it, and I'd be really surprised if it winds up somewhere in the middle for me. What better way to start a Monday morning than with a trip to the non-stop erotic cabaret?
After the lead-off track "Frustration," I figured I'd probably hate this album. The vocals were awful, and I didn't care for the deep synthesizer horn sounds layered with the higher synthesizer sounds that sounded like a xylophone. The saxophone playing later on in the song wasn't much better either. But the aforementioned "Tainted Love" cover is great, and Soft Cell did a fantastic job with the synthesizer arrangements on this song. It feels incredibly unique, and I love the dark, grimy tone that the song has been given in this iteration. "Seedy Films," was great too, and I enjoyed that it didn't rely on the same sounds as the first two tracks. The rest of side 1 was really good too, and while the tone and sleaze of the lyrics stayed the same, none of the songs sounded the same. Choices were certainly made on "Sex Dwarf," but the continuation of the theme is great. Side 1 also featured some great segues, which I really love to see, especially on a synth-pop record.
With the exception of "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye," I really didn't care much for side 2 of this album. Musically, the tone shifted to be much brighter, which really took away from the dark and erotic tone that had been established on side 1. The tempo felt chaotic, and the sound was dominated by higher pitches. I thought the vocals on side 2 were overall better, but I really didn't care for the backing vocals on "Chips On My Shoulder." Lyrically, the tone didn't change much, but the lyrics didn't pack the same punch with the shift in sound. However, the closing track was great, and I loved the orchestral synthesizer sounds of the chorus.
Overall, this album was fine. The strength of side 1 made this worth listening to, but other than "Tainted Love," I don't know that I'd come back to it.
Fishbone
4/5
I know that Fishbone is ska/reggae music, but I've never listened to them before. I think I remember hearing or reading that they influenced Sublime (ugh) quite a bit, so I think that gives me a good idea of what to expect on this album. Let's get to it!
I enjoyed this album a lot more than I thought I would. I expected this album to be a straightforward ska album, and while ska and reggae are the foundations that this album was built on, the overall sound didn't really fit neatly into any box, and in my opinion, the album is better for it. I was really hooked when this album kicked off with a cover of “Freddie’s Dead” from Super Fly. The hard rock guitars really reminded me of Living Color, and they created a sound that went well with the lyrical themes of the song. “Ma and Pa” was a bit more in line with what I expected from this album, with a sound more rooted in ska and reggae. The lyrics were great, I loved the fun beat and the keyboard riff in the chorus. “Question of Life” was really good too, and I loved its fun and funky sound. I was really hooked from these first three tracks, but “Pouring Rain” knocked the album off its rhythm in my opinion. It’s not a bad song, but its slower tempo felt pretty jarring after the first three songs. “Deep Inside” returned the album back to the sound that was established earlier in the album, and kicked off another run of fun and upbeat songs. From “One Day” to the end of the album, the songwriting took a more serious tone, as the album covered topics of racial violence and struggles of urban life. I’ve seen Do The Right Thing before, but I was completely unfamiliar with the attack on Michael Griffith until I listened to “Slow Bus Movin’.” I thought these songs did a great job of addressing these social issues, and the band’s upbeat sound brought a ‘you-attract-more-flies-with-honey’ approach to discussing these issues, and I think their method worked really well.
This album was a pleasant surprise for me, and I thought the overall sound was really unique, and gave the band a great avenue for bringing social and political issues of the late eighties to life.
Blur
2/5
I reviewed Modern Life Is Rubbish earlier this year, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Outside of "Song 2," I had never heard any of Blur's music before starting this project, so I'm heading into their discography pretty blind. I've heard good things about this album though, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it as much as or more than Modern Life Is Rubbish.
Well, the verdict is in, and I didn't care for Parklife very much. I appreciate the theme of everyday life that binds these songs together, but to me, the end result was pretty dull (maybe that's the point of this album). The songwriting was fine, but outside of the unifying theme, it didn't really do much for me. Musically, there wasn't much that I enjoyed either. I didn't care for a majority of the songs, and the few songs that didn't fall into that category, were fairly middle of the road. I didn't care for the musical styles that were used on this album either. On first listen, I really hated "Girls & Boys" (it eventually grew on me a little), but the synthesizer really stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of the album. There weren't really any hooks, melodies, or rhythms that I liked, so I found myself just trudging through this album, and it was a long trudge. Parklife might be critically acclaimed, but it's a miss in my book.
Orbital
4/5
I’ve never heard of Orbital before, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of the electronica music that I’ve reviewed so far, so I expect I’ll probably enjoy this album too.
I enjoyed this album quite a bit, and it’s definitely in the upper tier of electronica albums I’ve listened to, especially from the nineties. I was a bit daunted by this album’s run time when I was reading about it, but the 75 minutes that I spent listening to it really flew by. The music was really varied, and I liked all of the elements that went into it. A few notes on some specific songs I liked:
-The flame noises at the end of “Forever” were really cool, and they went along perfectly with the speech about condemnation.
-“I Wish I Had Duck Feet” reminded me of Crystal Castles (I love their music, don’t like Ethan Kath), with the vibrating effect that they used on the vocals (I think “Magic Spells” is the song it reminded me of)
-“Science Friction” was probably my favorite song on the album. I loved the lighter musical tones that were used.
-I loved the piano on "Kein Trink Wasser,” it added a really great eighties vibe to the overall sound.
-Even though it was the shortest part of the album, "Quality Seconds" was awesome, with its heavy rock sound
This was a really good album overall. It’s not something I’d listen to every day, but I’ll definitely come back to it at some point.
Tim Buckley
4/5
I reviewed Happy Sad a little over a year ago, and I wasn't wowed by it, but I didn't hate it either. I'm curious if I'll like this album more.
I really enjoyed listening to this album, and I thought it was a lot better than Happy Sad. This album had a serious tone to the lyrics and the music, and that seriousness gave this album a sense of authenticity that I think is hard to find in a lot of folk music. There's something ominous in the serious songs on this album, and it works really well, no matter what the topic of the song is. This album showcases Tim Buckley's vocal capabilities really well. His voice doesn't really stand out to me, but I found his singing on this album to be fantastic. His control over his vocals allowed him to steer the emotions of this album in all the right directions. The arrangements on this album were great too, and I liked that this album had a great folk sound without being avant garde or sounding derivative. "No Man Can Find the War" and "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" were two songs that really stood out to me, but "Pleasant Street" was easily my favorite of the album. The vocals were outstanding, the organ playing was beautiful, and the percussion rounded out the sound of the song really nicely. The album dragged a bit in a few places, and I didn't really care much for the title track, but I still thought it was really good, and it's easily one of the best folk rock albums I've gotten to review. I'm really looking forward to my last Tim Buckley album.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
The first time I remember hearing a Tracy Chapman song was in the mid-nineties, when "Give Me One Reason" stormed up the charts. That song felt like it was everywhere for a solid year or so. I don't remember having heard "Fast Song" until around the same time, and for years and years, I assumed they both came from the same album. I can't remember when I first learned about the chronological distance between those songs, but it blew my mind. I hate that I've never listened to this album before, especially now that I'm seeing a lot of rave reviews for it. I guess there's no time like the present to fire this one up!
I was worried that this album would lead-off with a few strong tracks, and then have a steep drop off in quality, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Yes, “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” and “Fast Car” are the best part of this album, but the songwriting is incredible throughout the whole album. I’m always caught off guard when an album from the eighties really pushes the envelope with social and political issues (especially a pop album), because I think there’s been some revisionist history that’s sanitized a lot of what was going on in the U.S. during that time. This album really manages to tackle those issues in a sincere and tangible way. I love that this album really harkens back to some of the folk rock of the sixties in terms of lyrical tone, but the music is soft, and blends in well with popular sounds from the era. There arrangements on these songs are really great, and I like the variation, but the bouncing back and forth between acoustic guitar songs and songs with more African influences was a little jarring to me. On top of that, there were some moments later on in the album that dragged a bit, but this album certainly never lacked for quality of songwriting and vocals. But, overall, this is a great album, and “Fast Car” is an absolute masterpiece, which still carries all of its emotional weight over 35 years later.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Ah, finally, I get to review Daydream Nation! After I graduated from college in the late aughts, I heard about the 1001 albums book. I found a list of the albums in it online somewhere, and started picking out things to buy and listen to. Daydream Nation was one of the first albums I went for, and I remember how much it blew my mind. I had always thought of alternative rock as something that started in the nineties, but Sonic Youth blew the doors off those expectations. This isn’t an album I’ve gone back to a frequently, and aside from “Teenage Riot,” I couldn’t tell you the last time I listened to it in its entirety (holy shit, this is 70 minutes long? No wonder I haven’t listened to it in a while), but I’m excited for the chance to revisit it today.
Man, this album is *a lot*. It’s brilliant, but hot damn, that was like getting my ass kicked for the length of an HBO drama. I guess I’ll start my talking about “Teenage Riot,” which might be in the running for best lead-off track of all time. The way those guitars start with a shoegaze shimmer, and then everything turns into a distorted madhouse is nothing short of brilliant. The drumming is fantastic too, and my mind is always blown at just how great the drumming sounds from the first click of the drumsticks until the last note.
I don’t know that I really want to dig into the other songs on this album, mostly because I don’t have the time, but also because I think Daydream Nation works so well in its sprawling entirety. This album is chaotic and noisy, but there’s a precision to all the chaos. I love that, in spite of the noise and distortion, each song has something melodic and accessible to it. Daydream Nation is an absolute masterclass in alternative rock, and its influence can be felt throughout the nineties, as alternative rock grew in popularity. This album takes the listener on a journey, and at times, it can be too much, but I don’t know that there’s any fat to trim from this album, because every part of every song feels necessary to the album as a whole. I’d love to say that this is one of my favorite albums, but that’s not the case. However, I think it’s a brilliant work of music, and it’s worthy of the reputation it has as one of the best rock albums of all time.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I grew up listening to a lot of Rolling Stones songs, but I’d never listened to one of their full albums until I started this project. This will be my third album of theirs to review, after Beggars Banquet (4 stars) and Let It Bleed (5 stars). I’m excited to listen to Exile though, since it’s supposed to be one of their best albums. As an added bonus, I’ve listened to Exile In Guyville, so I’m interested to see if I can connect the dots between that album and this one (I probably won’t be able to, but it’s fun to dream).
For a Rolling Stones album that’s supposed to be the cream of the crop, I thought this was fine. When this album is at its best, it’s fun and bluesy, but at its worst, it’s repetitive and dull. The essentials of guitars, drums, and vocals are competent, but the supplemental instruments, like piano, saxophone, and horns really spice up parts of this album. It’s a small detail, but I think the Rolling Stones always have great backing vocals, and Exile is no exception to that rule. I think my biggest gripe with this album is that there just weren’t really any fun hooks or catchy riffs. “Tumbling Dice” is supposed to be the crown jewel of this album, but I felt like it didn’t stand out at all. The guitar playing on it is competent, but I didn’t find anything about it that set it apart from the other songs on the album. “Rocks Off,” “Loving Cup,” and “Shine A Light” were my favorites off of this album, mostly because they branched out more from the traditional blues-rock sound of the album. Give me Let It Bleed any day of the week, but I’ll probably pass up another opportunity to listen to Exile on Main St.
Nightmares On Wax
2/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I've seen the album cover, and I assumed that it was reggae or hip-hop, but it's a trip-hop/electronica album? I didn't see that one coming. I tend to like electronica, so I'm excited to jump into this one.
This album wasn’t really my speed. It was fine to listen to and I enjoyed the relaxed mood, but nothing really stood out to me. I didn’t find any individual songs to be particularly interesting, and there weren’t any hooks or melodies that really gave me something to latch on to. I found myself just zoning out while I listened to this, and it was overall pretty boring.
Common
3/5
This will be my second, and subsequently last, Common album to review. I really didn't care for Like Water for Chocolate, so I don't have high hopes for this Be. However, I see that Be clocks in at just over 40 minutes, which is considerably shorter than Like Water for Chocolate's runtime, so that's already a big positive. Let's see what this is all about.
Well, I'm not a STEM guy, but this album wasn't really my jam. From an objective standpoint, I think it's good, but I didn't really enjoy listening to it. The album has a really cohesive feel to it, and the production work and beats were really good, but nothing really hooked me in. The songwriting was pretty good, and there were some clever lyrics, but I'm just not a big fan of Common's rapping. I don't think he's bad, he's just not my cup of tea, and I wish that wasn't the case. This album was fine, but it's not the sort of thing I'd listen to again.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
I’ve never heard of this album or artist before, but I’ve heard of Ry Cooder before, although I wouldn’t say that I’m familiar with his music. I’ve had mixed reactions to a lot of the world music on this list, but I tend to favor African music, so I’m excited to see what this album is all about.
I really enjoyed listening to this. The musical sound was in line with what I expected, and I thought the guitar playing was great. Even with what felt like minimal instruments, the songs on this album were pretty varied and unique, and even with some longer songs and a longer runtime, I never felt bored by this. I enjoyed that these songs used really accessible melodies, but with an overall structure that was freer and more open. Overall, this was a really good album and a fun and unique experience.
Kid Rock
2/5
Well, this isn't really how I wanted to spend a beautiful Friday in October, but my date with Kid Rock is finally here. I know the first two songs off of this album, but the rest of it will be new for me. This album came out right as I was starting eighth grade, but I don't remember really being very aware of it until maybe a year later. In the summer of 1999, I went on a trip to New York with my middle school theater group, and while we were there, I saw a strip club called the Playpen near Times Square, and it cracked me up, so I snapped a picture of it. Some time later, I was looking at a friend's copy of the booklet from this CD, and low and behold, there was the Playpen again. What a wonderful time to be a young teenager. Anyway, let's get after it!
Eh, this was about what I expected, and while I didn't enjoy it, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The mashup of different styles is pretty unique, and I honestly don't mind Kid Rock's rapping; his enunciation and flow work really well with the music from the backing band (Uncle Cracker? I had no idea he was on this album, although looking at his personal life section on Wikipedia, I guess he fits well with Kid). The samples used on this album were pretty good too, especially on "Wasting Time," which samples Fleetwood Mac's "Secondhand News" (one of my favorite songs). "Cowboy" has to be one of the dumbest songs I've ever heard, but damn, I do enjoy listening to it, because it's got a great groove, and the lyrics are incredibly catchy. The biggest thing working against this album, other than Kid Rock's personality, is that the lyrical content and themes are just really off-putting. I almost feel like a hypocrite for saying that, because I've enjoyed the gangsta rap albums I've reviewed, but there's an air of trying too hard and phoniness that permeates everything Kid Rock is saying. Is some of that due to what we know about his personality in the present? Sure, but I think even in 1998 that most of this had to feel pretty forced and performative. This isn't the worst thing I've ever heard, but I don't have any desire to come back to this. However, if "Cowboy" starts playing, I won't be hitting 'skip,' unless my kids are around.
Green Day
5/5
Well, here we are, at my 600th album, and I get an absolute winner in Dookie. I've listened to Dookie in its entirety, but not before I started this project. My first memory of hearing Green Day's music was through Weird Al's use of "Basket Case" on his medley "The Alternative Polka" off of Bad Hair Day. For years, I wanted so badly to listen to "Basket Case," but it never came on the radio, and this certainly wasn't the type of album my parents would have let me buy. But throughout the nineties and early aughts, I heard plenty of Green Day's songs, so I'm fairly familiar with some of their more popular work. I'm excited to fire Dookie up today, so let's get after it!
Dookie is a fantastic album from start to finish. From the opening track "Burnout" to the hidden track "All by Myself," this album is the perfect nineties punk album. Yes, I see a lot of reviews saying that this isn't punk, and while it certainly doesn't sound like the punk albums that came before it, I think its attitude and sound are perfectly punk. Dookie isn't full of straight-forward political critiques, but its themes of disillusionment, boredom, loneliness, mental health, and growing up, served as apt social commentary for teens and young adults in the nineties. Fresh off the economic downturn of the eighties, the worst days of the AIDS crisis, and the Gulf War, 1994 was a pretty calm time in America (not counting the previous year's Waco siege), so what better way to rebel than through complacency?
Musically, this album is fantastic too. I love the guitar hooks and riffs, the drumming is machine-gun like in speed and intensity, and Billy Joe Armstrong's vocals are the perfect sneering whine for the lyrics. Green Day makes this album's punk sound fun and accessible. Slower songs like when "Longview" and "When I Come Around" place the focus on catchy melodies and fun lyrics (you can't beat the line 'When masturbation's lost its fun, you're fucking lazy' from "Longview") while the frantic "Basket Case" and "Welcome To Paradise" shift the focus to driving tempos and frantic energy. The singles from this album definitely stand out, but the whole album is great, with brilliant pacing. Dookie never gets bogged down by any of it elements, and while 38 minutes can feel like an eternity for a punk record, Dookie manages to make that time fly by. I think this album is fantastic, and I'm glad I got to listen to it for my 600th album. Side note: this is the fourth album from 1994 that I've had this month (as of October 12, 2024). I wonder what the odds of that are?
Ian Dury
3/5
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of Ian Dury before, but I can’t remember the context (I read his Wikipedia page, and that didn’t give me any clues sadly). I’m completely unfamiliar with his music though, but this sounds like an interesting album, so I’m excited to listen to it.
This was a pretty fun album. I know it’s not classified as new wave album by the generator, or even Wikipedia, but it feels like an early new wave album to me. The guitars, keyboards, and synthesizers were great, and the rhythms were full of energy too. Even though this album feels like early new wave, there’s still plenty of chaotic punk sounds and the goofy lyrics are full of the same devil-may-care attitude from the punk scene. I really enjoyed that Ian Dury didn’t try to mask his English accent in his singing. This album isn’t really something that I’d gravitate towards, but it’s incredibly unique, and I really enjoyed the wild lyrics and the chaotic energy. This album sounds like Captain Beefheart meets Pere Ubu, and I never thought such a pairing of sounds could work as well as this does. This album is weird in all the right ways, but still accessible enough to be a pretty fun listen.
Marilyn Manson
4/5
Oh, Marilyn Manson. I was raised in an evangelical Christian household in the nineties, so Marilyn Manson was among the top ten scariest things in the world when I was in middle school and most of high school. I remember there was a guy in one of my classes in seventh grade who said he thought Marilyn Manson was ‘neat,’ and I was pretty much aghast, and wondered if I should associate with him. He was a super nice guy and really funny, so my fear of Mr. Manson was overridden. Later on in high school, I scooped up a copy of the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack, and I listened to Manson’s cover of “Tainted Love” quite a bit. Other than that, I vaguely know “Dope Show” and “Beautiful People,” but that’s it. At almost 80 minutes, this should be an adventure. Side note: how lucky am I to get Kid Rock and Marilyn Manson in the same week?
I thought this was actually a good album. It’s not really my jam, but I enjoyed the industrial metal sound, and it was surprisingly easy to listen to. I wasn’t terribly impressed by the lead-off track “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” but after that, I think the album found its groove a bit. “The Beautiful People” and “Tourniquet” were really good, but “Cryptorchid” and “Mister Superstar” were probably my favorite songs on the album. “Cryptorchid” had some really great synthesizers, and I liked the vocal distorted vocals as well. “Man That You Fear” was great too; I loved those backing vocal sounds, and the overall mood and sound of the song was great. The overall narrative of the rock opera was ambitious and well written through the songs, but I was much more focused on the music. There were some songs where the swearing felt excessive and performative, but that’s the business of shock rock, I guess. Marilyn Manson’s legacy has definitely taken hit since he’s been exposed as a creep and sexually violent, but his polarizing music was a hallmark of nineties culture and rock music, and this album deserves to be on this list. If Manson wasn’t such an awful person, I’d probably be more inclined to listen to this again, but I don’t want to be pumping more chump change into his bank account via Spotify.
The Yardbirds
5/5
When I listened to a lot of classic rock, I always meant to check out this album, but I never got around to it. I’m not familiar with Jeff Beck’s music at all, so I’m excited that The Yardbirds album that’s on this list is one that features his guitar playing, rather than Clapton or Page.
There have been a handful of albums on this list that fall under ‘classic rock staples that I never got around to’ (2112 and Disraeli Gears stand out the most to me), and most have them have been pretty blah, but Roger the Engineer has definitely been one of the best of them. I really enjoyed the unique melding of psychedelia and blues that The Yardbirds put together on this album. The guitar playing is really solid, and it’s bolstered well by some really good bass playing and drumming. There are some spurts of other percussive instruments that I really enjoyed too, like on “He’s Always There,” which was one of my favorite songs on the album. A lot of the blues rock albums on this list feel kind of dull and uninspired, but the melding with psychedelic elements gave this album a unique and fun sound that really set it apart from other blues rock efforts. Additionally, the psychedelic sounds never felt cheesy or off-putting, and only enhanced the sound. I listened to the stereo version of this album on Spotify, and I thought it was incredibly well engineered. This isn’t the type of album that I’d listen to regularly, but I think it’s incredibly well made, and it was really enjoyable to listen to.
Steve Earle
4/5
I don’t think I’d heard of Steve Earle until I started reading Dorian Lynskey’s 33 Revolutions Per Minute. However, I’ve line danced to “Copperhead Road” countless times in my life, but I just never knew who sang it, or if I did, it never stuck in my memory. Regardless, based on what I know about Steve Earle, I’ve been looking forward to listening to this album, so I hope it lives up to my expectations for it.
While this wasn’t a five-star album for me, I still thought it was really good. I’m not terribly familiar with a lot of country music from before 1990, but I’ve enjoyed the few country albums that I’ve listened to that came out before the nineties. This album had a really great ‘honky-tonk’ sound, combined with a few elements of eighties pop music. The guitar playing was great, and I enjoyed Steve Earle’s singing, and I really loved the songs that featured organ playing. I really love when country music uses an organ, so “Guitar Town” and “Goodbye’s All We’ve Got Left” were a couple of my favorite songs on the album. However, the pedal steel guitar on “Fearless Heart” was my favorite part of this album musically. The songwriting on this album was pretty good too, but some of the love songs were a bit drab and unoriginal in my opinion. One of the things that excited me the most about this album was knowing Steve Earle’s political positions, but I was a little bummed that there were only two songs that featured any social commentary. They were good songs, but I would have loved more of them. Maybe I just wanted a conduit for my distaste for Donald Trump and the GOP now that the 2024 election is only a few weeks away. I digress. I really enjoyed the overall sound of this album, and it definitely has a mood that feels pretty distinct to the eighties that I’m struggling to put into words. I guess it feels like it was driven by songwriting and not by some producer trying to sell records, and I think that’s something that’s definitely missing from post 9/11 country music. While I wasn’t blown away by Guitar Town, I still thought it was really good, and I’d be inclined to listen to this album again some day, especially on a road trip.
Iggy Pop
3/5
This is my last Iggy Pop solo album to review, but I'll still have The Stooges' self-titled album to review at some point. I really enjoyed Lust for Life, and Fun House and Raw Power were pretty good too, so I expect to enjoy this album quite a bit. Based on what I've read about it, it sounds pretty interesting.
I didn't enjoy this album nearly as much as I enjoyed Lust for Life, but it was still fine. The first side of the album was really great, and "Sister Midnight" really hooked me in. Even with reading a little bit about this album before listening to it, I wasn't prepared for that sound. Iggy Pop's gravely vocals were awesome, and I loved hearing them utilized for something that wasn't his typical garage rock sound. The fuzzy guitars and keyboards and synthesizers were fantastic. "Nightclubbing" was really great too, with its pulsing synthesizers and bass sounds. "Funtime" and "Baby" were good too, but not really noteworthy to me. However, "China Girl" was great. I'd completely forgotten that Iggy Pop performed this song before Bowie did, and I was shocked by how much I liked his version. It fit really well with the darker sound of the album, and I loved the synthesizer and guitar playing on it. As much as I liked the first side of the album, I was pretty bored by the second side. The first and last songs on this side were long, and felt like they droned on for most of their runtimes. Still, it didn't manage to sink the whole album for me, and I enjoyed listening to something that was so influential on goth and post punk music. The early industrial rock sounds were great too, and I feel like being a few days removed from reviewing Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar gave me a better appreciation for that influence. This isn't my favorite of Iggy Pop's work, but it was still worth a listen.
George Jones
3/5
I don't know that I've ever heard of George Jones, but I've really enjoyed the older country albums that I've listened to so far on this list, so I expect I'll probably like this album.
I enjoyed this album a fair amount. I'm a sucker for that old school honky-tonk sound, and this album delivered on that. The pedal steel guitar playing was fantastic, and George Jones's crooning was an excellent vehicle for these melancholy songs. The songs were well written, and there was some clever word play on some of them that I really liked. The biggest thing that I didn't like on this album is that almost all of it was melancholy, slower songs, and I would have enjoyed more up-tempo songs like "The Weatherman" and "Our Private Life." Still, this was a pretty good album, but if it's old school country I'm in the mood for, I'd probably reach for something else.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
This is my second, and therefore, last Marvin Gaye album to review. I listened to this album at some point before starting this project, but that’s the only time I listened to it. I loved Let’s Get It On, so I’m assuming I’m really going to love listening to this album again.
Like Let’s Get It On, What’s Going On is fantastic. The orchestral arrangements were beautiful and served as the perfect background to Marvin Gaye’s smooth voice. Even though the strings and woodwinds were at the forefront of the sound, the bass and percussion provided a really great rhythm section that was fun to groove to. I loved the lyrics on this album as well, the social and political commentary they provided really captures the societal ills of the late sixties, while also capturing the forward motion of the seventies that looked to fix these societal problems. The old feel of the orchestral arrangements and the forward-looking lyrics stood in contrast to one another, but that contrast was absolutely beautiful, and made this a great sounding album. “Mercy Mercy Me” was my favorite song on the album. I loved the lyrics, and it had my favorite grooves of the whole album. What’s Going on is a piece of pure soul, executed to perfection by Marvin Gaye.
Slipknot
1/5
Wow, in the span of nine days, I’ve reviewed Marilyn Manson, Kid Rock, and now Slipknot. Go big, or go home, I guess. I’ve never listened to Slipknot before, but I’m well aware of who they are, especially from a visual standpoint. I’m not expecting to enjoy this very much, but Marilyn Manson surprised me, so there’s always a chance!
Well, unfortunately, my prediction was right, and I really didn’t like this album. My reviews are usually a little longer than most peoples’, but I think I can keep this one short and sweet. Every song pretty much sounded the same to me, and it all sounded like a bunch of angry shouting, drowned out by guitars and the occasional turntable or other electronic element. The drumming was really good, but that’s about all this album had to offer in my opinion. I understand the cultural significance of Slipknot, but this wasn’t enjoyable at all.
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
I've never heard of Flamin' Groovies before, but Teenage Head is certainly a choice when it comes to album names. I see that this album has gotten some comparisons to The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, which I haven't reviewed yet, so I'm curious to see how I'll feel about this album. Blues rock can be pretty hit or miss with me, so it's a toss-up as to how much I'll enjoy this.
I really enjoyed the opening guitar riff of “High Flyin’ Baby,” but once the vocals started, I was a bit turned off. The guitar playing sounded so clean, but the vocals were a bit fuzzy, which was not really my speed. I know that’s an odd way to start a review, but it’s indicative of how I felt about the album as a whole. There were things that I enjoyed, and other things that were a bit off-putting, and the end result was an album that I felt pretty lukewarm towards. I think this album is good; the band knows their way around the blue and the guitar playing was fun. The faster tempo songs were really good, but I felt like the slower songs sucked the energy out of the album. As a whole, I wasn’t a big fan of the vocals, but I did like them on “Evil Hearted Ada,” when the lead singer put on his best Elvis voice, to great effect. This album is fine, and I enjoyed getting to listen to an artist who I wasn’t familiar with, but I don’t think I’ll be coming back for more Flamin’ Groovies.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Ah, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I listened to quite a bit of the Chili Peppers when I was younger, and this was actually the first album with a parental advisory label that I ever bought (I bought it in 2003 when I was 18 and didn't need my parents' permission). I think I've only listened to this album from start to finish one time, but I know the singles on this album really well (as I'm sure most people do). I've already reviewed Californication, which I thought was fine. I have a feeling that I'm going to feel the same way about this album, which makes me a little sad. The Chili Peppers seem to get a lot of hate from people my age these days, and I hate to jump on that bandwagon, but I fear my tastes have changed a bit from my adolescence. I guess there's only one to find out if I'm turning into an old man who hates fun...
Well, Red Hot Chili Peppers don't really scratch any itches for me these days. Is Blood Sugar Sex Magik culturally significant and worthy of being on this list? Without a doubt. But listening to over seventy minutes of these guys is not my idea of a good time. This album is good, but it's also a bit of a mess and a chore to get through. There are some great moments on it, but there's also a lot of repetitiveness. Flea's bass lines are great, but Kiedis's vocals didn't take long to wear me down, nor did the more nonsensical lyrics.
As much as I don’t care for the album as a whole, most of the singles from it are great. “Give It Away,” “Under The Bridge,” and “Breaking The Girl” are fantastic, and “If You Have to Ask” is pretty good too. Other than the bass line and drum fills, I can’t stand “Suck My Kiss,” which is far and away the worst single from the album. “Give It Away” is an absolute blast and the best track on the album (but by a slim margin); the lead and bass guitar parts are fantastic, and Kiedis’s vocal style is the perfect fit for this song’s infectious energy. “Breaking The Girl” is the second best track on the album, but by the slimmest of margins. The Mellotron really gives the sound a haunting depth, but the drum fills give it a groove that makes it still fit in on the album. “Under The Bridge” is great too. I love the guitar playing during the intro, the lyrics are great, and the soft percussion rounds out the mellow sound really well. Other than the singles, the other songs that I really liked were “Funky Monks” and “I Could Have Lied.”
While I’m not a big fan of this album, the best parts of it are great, and I think it’s pretty good from an objective standpoint. It deserves its place on this list, but I can’t see myself firing up the whole album again.
Bad Brains
4/5
I first heard of Bad Brains when I was reading a knock-off biography of Dave Grohl when I was in college. I didn’t anything about the DC music scene, so I had no frame of reference for who they were, but as I’ve learned more about music, I’ve wanted to check them out since they’re so influential. I’ve been looking forward to this album for a bit, so I’m excited to fire this one up!
This album wound up not being what I really expected, but I still enjoyed it. I was expecting a more straightforward hardcore punk album, but this album was a really unique blending of several styles. Merging reggae philosophy with and eighties hard rock sound made this album really enjoyable to listen to. The guitar playing was great, and I’m a sucker for that echoing guitar effect that was popular in the eighties, and this album utilized that sound to perfection. “Secret 77,” “She’s Calling You,” and “Sacred Love” were my favorite songs on the album, but I thought that the album worked really well as a whole. I could see myself listening to this again some day, and it makes me want to check out other Bad Brains albums.
John Martyn
4/5
I've never heard of John Martyn before, but this album cover definitely gives off a vibe that I like, and based on what I've read about this album, I think I'm going to enjoy it. Let's fire it up!
I enjoyed this album quite a bit. It felt like a folk album, but with a lot more experimentation in the arrangements. I read that the title track was dedicated to the memory of Nick Drake, and that makes sense, because this album's overall mood and sound reminded me of Nick Drake quite a bit, but without feeling derivative. I really enjoyed the piano and clavinet playing on this album, and the guitar playing was really good too. "Over the Hill" and "May You Never" were my favorite songs on the album, but other than "The Easy Blues," there wasn't really anything that I didn't enjoy. This was a really enjoyable album, and I liked listening to how John Martyn put his own stamp on early seventies folk music.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
This will be my third Joni Mitchell album to review, and I’m really looking forward to it. I gave four stars to both Court and Spark and The Hissing of Summer Lawns, the latter of which I should have given five stars to. I wasn’t familiar with any of Joni Mitchell’s music before starting this project, but she’s quickly become an artist that I keep going back to. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday than listening to one of her most popular albums.
This album is great, and I can see why it has a reputation as Joni Mitchell’s best work. It’s intimate, beautiful, and features great songwriting. The whole album is poetry set to music, and it works wonderfully well. I feel like other artists struggle to be accessible when they focus so much on the songwriting, but not Joni. The instrumentation might be somewhat sparse, but it’s a treat to listen to. I love the guitar and piano playing, and no matter which one she’s using, it’s soothing to listen to. Colors came up as a theme several times throughout the album, but that theme was subtle, and I liked how the cooler tones of those colors drove the mood of the album. Joni’s singing was absolutely fantastic, and her voice fills in every corner of this album to perfection. “My Old Man” and “Carey” are neck-and-neck for being my favorite song on the album. The backing vocals and carefree spirit of “Carey” are so much fun, and on “My Old Man,”
I love that key change about a minute into the song (at least I think it’s a key change, I’m not very well versed in music theory). That change shifts the mood of the song before right before the lyrical tone shifts as well, and I thought it was brilliant. From a songwriting standpoint, “Little Green” might be the best song on the album. The story of the child that Joni gave up for adoption is absolutely heartbreaking, and as man, I will never understand the bond between a mother and her child, but this song is about as close as I’ll ever get. There were some moments on this album that weren’t my favorite, but the singing and arrangements were so beautiful that it I always had something to enjoy in each song. This album is great, and it earns its reputation as one of the best albums of all time.
James Brown
2/5
I know a few James Brown songs, but I’ve never listened to any of his full albums. When I saw this album on the list, it piqued my interest quite a bit. However, most of the live albums on this list have been pretty underwhelming to me, and I don’t think I’m familiar with any of these songs, so this album might be a bit of a coin flip.
Well, this was incredibly underwhelming. I’ll give James Brown credit, he certainly knows how to work a crowd, and this album does evoke that visual of him dancing around, and singing into his microphone wile sweat pours down his face, but musically, this album was pretty boring and forgettable. James Brown and The Apollo are both legends, but their reputations far outshine the end result of this album. “Lost Someone” was shockingly the best song on the album, and the thing that makes it stand out is Brown’s crowd work. For an album with so many musicians, the music was pretty hollow, and I felt like there was no energy to the sound. And with that many instruments, the music still managed to sound pretty flat and empty. The crowd work was the best part of this album, but other than that, there’s not much to hear on this one.
The Specials
4/5
I don’t think I’d heard of The Specials before starting this project, but I learned a little about them from Dorian Lynskey’s 33 Revolutions Per Minute, where there’s a chapter about their song “Nelson Mandela.” I’m not very knowledgeable about ska music, and certainly not about second wave ska music (the only ska I know is stuff like No Doubt, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Save Ferris, and Reel Big Fish). I’m interested to see what this album is like.
While this album isn’t the type of thing I’d gravitate towards, I thought it was good. The songs on this album have a good groove to them, but I definitely preferred the more up-tempo songs to the slower ones. I thought the song writing on this album was one of the best parts of it. The political messaging was really great, and from a historical context, I think it’s really interesting that far-right groups in England tried to hijack the songs that were pro-working class, in an attempt to stoke racial tensions. Some of the things that stood out to me on this album:
-I loved the keyboard and drumming on “Do the Dog”
-The ambient bar sounds during the opening of “Nite Klub” were really great, and I liked how they came back in other parts of the song
-“Doesn’t Make It Alright” had some of my favorite lyrics on the album, and it was the best of the slower songs
-“Concrete Jungle” was my favorite song on the album, and I really liked the keyboards and drumming that sounded like trash can lids
-The structure of “Stupid Marriage” was great, and I loved the courtroom narrative
Overall, this was a solid album, but it’s not really my vibe, and if I get the itch for some ska, I’m more likely to fire up some ska-punk instead.
The Mars Volta
3/5
I'm pretty sure I listened to this album before, but I don't remember anything about it or why I would have sought it out. But maybe I'm wrong, and I've never listened to it before. Either way, I know very little about The Mars Volta, other than they're my fellow Texans and their music is prog rock. I don't really have many expectations for this album, but I know it will be different from what I usually listen to, so I'm interested to jump in.
This album was fine. It's not the sort of music that I'd seek out, but I thought it was pretty good from an objective standpoint. I really didn't care much for the first few songs, but at "Drunkship of Lanterns," I thought it got much better. The guitar playing and effects and sound manipulation made this album really unique, and I felt like the second half of the album used those techniques in a much more interesting way than the first half of the album. The hard rock-influenced sound of the album was really good, and the band did a great job of putting their own unique stamp on the genre. The biggest turn off to me was the vocals; I really can't stand that whiny quality to the lead singer's voice, and the album worked best when there were other aspects to focus my attention on. I was also a bit turned off by the length of the songs, especially on the earlier part of the album. I'd be inclined to check this out again some day to see if it managed to grow on me, but I also wouldn't be terribly sad if I never got around to it. I think this album reminds me of the parts of Muse and Coheed and Cambria that I don't like, and that's why I'm a little underwhelmed by it.
TV On The Radio
5/5
I've heard of TV on the Radio, and I’ve seen this album listed on several best of lists, both for 2008, and for the 2000’s, and despite getting into Indie Rock at the time this came out, I’ve never listened to it. I really don’t have any idea what to expect, but I’m cautiously optimistic about this album.
This album was fantastic, and I’m kicking myself that I never listened to it until today. I loved the unique sound, and the band does a fantastic job of blending horns, strings, and guitars with various electronic elements. The arrangements are beautiful, and on songs like “Crying,” the rhythms make these songs incredibly infectious and fun. You can hear the influences that made this album what it is, but it’s never derivative, and it has no problem standing on its own two feet. Some of the songs start off a little jarring and bare, like “Stork & Owl,” before cascading into a sweeping blend of strings and synthesizers. I was hooked from the first notes of “Halfway Home,” but I was afraid that the rest of the album wasn’t going to live up to that moment, but this album was fantastic from start to finish, and I listened to it three times. The more familiar I got with this album, the more I loved it. It’s hard to pick a favorite moment, but “Halfway Home,” “Crying,” “Golden Age,” and “Red Dress” are all fantastic. This album reminds me of some of my favorite bands from this era: Yeasayer, Miike Snow, Arcade Fire, and others, but it’s so unique that I can’t broadly compare this to anything else. This album is going into my regular rotation, and I’m so happy I got to listen to it today.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
This is my second Velvet Underground album to review. I really enjoyed their album with Nico, so I have some pretty high hopes for this album. I’ll get to review all of the Velvet Underground albums on this list in reverse chronological order, and I wonder if that will have any impact on how I feel about their albums.
I thought this effort from The Velvet Underground was fine. With the exception of “The Murder Mystery,” it was a pretty straightforward rock album from the sixties, but it was still well executed. Most of the instrumentation was pretty simplistic, but the guitar playing was crisp and clean, and I enjoy Lou Reed’s unique vocals. Even though this album was well made, I found a good portion of it to be fairly boring. However, I thought “I’m Set Free” was really great. I loved the booming drums, the guitar playing was great, and I really enjoyed the backing vocals. “The Murder Mystery” was great too. I really enjoyed the ‘dueling’ lead vocals, Maureen Tucker’s vocals were great (they reminded me of Stereolab), and the guitar and piano playing gave this album a great psychedelic sound. Other those two songs, I didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy about this album, but it certainly wasn’t bad, just not really my cup of tea.
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
I’ve never heard of Ms. Dynamite before, and I haven’t been terribly impressed with the other hip-hop albums from the UK that I’ve listened to so far, so I don’t have high hopes for this album. I’m a little turned off by the runtime as well, but I’m willing to give this album a fair shake.
This album was fine, which was a little better than I’d hoped for. Most of the songs were fine, but a few of them were really good. Ms. Dynamite’s flow and vocals were good, and the songwriting was pretty good too. Musically, this album sounded like pretty standard fare for hip-hop from this era, and while it was well done, I didn’t think it was anything new or novel. “Put Him Out” was probably my favorite song on the album. The lyrics were great, and provided an interesting perspective on female empowerment. The beats and backing music were great too, and they gave the song a punchy, but fun sound. “Brother” was great too, and was probably the best written song on the album. The overall story was incredibly sad, and the talk of suicidal ideation gave the song a lot of emotional weight too. However, right after “Brother,” “It Takes More” was a drastic shift in tone that felt really out of place, and that was a microcosm for how I felt about the overall tone of the album. One last positive note: I did like “Krazy Krush”; the beats were great, and I loved Ms. Dynamite’s flow quite a bit on this song. I didn’t hate this album, but I’d be hard pressed to find a reason to listen to it again.
Ray Price
2/5
I've never heard of Ray Price before, but I'm a little familiar with Willie Nelson, and I know of Johnny Paycheck and Floyd Cramer. I've enjoyed a lot of the older country music that I've reviewed so far, so I have pretty high hopes for this album.
Well, even though this album had a distinct honky tonk sound (which I tend to enjoy), I found this album pretty dull overall. The songwriting was good, and I enjoyed that all of the songs felt very tied to the theme of night life, but there just wasn't much going on for me musically on this album. The arrangements, while well done, were pretty bland, and I didn't think they were particularly unique or noteworthy. The singing was pretty good, but there wasn't anything particularly novel about Ray Price's voice. While I respect and like the idea of this album, the actual result just wasn't that good in my opinion.
The Crusaders
3/5
I've never heard of The Crusaders before, but I tend to enjoy albums from this era, so I have pretty decent expectations for this album.
This album was fine, but I didn’t think it was particularly novel or noteworthy. The arrangements were well crafted and pleasant to listen to, but I didn’t really find much about it that stuck out to me. I did like that the whole album had a nice groove to it, and it flowed really nicely from song to song. I thought the title track was easily the best part of the album. The string and horn arrangements were great, and I loved the vocals. For a song with a really long run time, it did a great job at not wearing out its welcome. The whole album is smooth and pretty enjoyable, but that’s about it. Street Life isn’t a bad effort, but it’s not really for me.
The Cure
4/5
This will be my second album by The Cure to review, after Seventeen Seconds, which I thought was fine. I know a handful of songs by The Cure, but most of their songs that I know are from later in their career, when their songs didn’t have such a dark tone. I’m hoping that I’ll enjoy this album a bit more than Seventeen Seconds.
This album was really good. It’s exactly what I wanted from an album by The Cure’s early days, when their sound was more driven by post-punk. The mood and sound that permeates the whole album is fantastic, and I love how big the sound is. That big sound creates a really unique atmosphere, and it’s one of my favorite things about The Cure’s darker music. The drumming and bass playing were particularly great across the album, and I felt like this really set this album apart from some of my favorite post-punk albums from this era. I enjoyed Robert Smith’s vocals as well, and his lyrics were very well written, albeit incredibly dark in subject matter. A few parts of the album dragged a bit for me, but as a whole work, the album really excels. “One Hundred Years” and “Cold” were my favorite songs on the album. They both had haunting melodies that I really loved, and the keyboard parts on both of them were excellent. I enjoyed listening to this, and I’m excited for when I’ll finally get to listen to Disintegration.
The National
5/5
This is an album I know pretty well. A friend of mine tried getting me into The National for a bit back in the late aughts, and in 2011, he finally succeeded. I bought this album in the late spring of that year, at a time when I was still reeling from a breakup, and generally feeling like a piece of shit. I remember listening to this on my way to a Manchester Orchestra/Cage The Elephant concert, which was either a great or a terrible way to mentally prepare myself for Manchester Orchestra. I’ve liked this album and the band for over a decade, but I usually reach for Trouble Will Find Me when I’m in the mood for The National, so this is my first time to revisit High Violet in a little while.
While this is not my favorite album by The National, it’s absolutely fantastic. Matt Berninger’s baritone voice seeps into every corner of this album, creating a mood that oscillates between haunting, achingly sad, and reflective. The arrangements throughout the album are beautiful as well. There are way too many great uses of instruments to list out on this album, but the sound is never too busy or muddled, and it’s surprisingly cohesive from start to finish. On top of that, there’s not a bad moment on this album at all. Every song is fantastic, and they all fit wonderfully into this album. I’d go with “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and “Terrible Love” as my favorite songs on this album, but after that, it’s impossible to choose what’s the best. I know this album pretty well, but each time I listen to it, there’s something new that sticks out to me that I hadn’t noticed before. High Violet is an absolute masterpiece, and it’s a perfect showcase for why so many artists want to work with these guys. The songwriting is raw and full of emotion, and while I tend to be pretty selective about the melancholy music that I listen to, I’m always in the mood for The National.
Björk
3/5
This is my third Björk album to review, after Vespertine (4 stars) and Medúlla (2 stars). I really have no idea what to expect from this album, but I think Björk is incredibly talented, so at least I know I'm going to hear something interesting and unique. As an added bonus, I think this will be something nice to listen to on Election Day here in the states, as I resist the urge to eat my weight in cookies and ice cream to ease my anxiety.
I thought this album was pretty good. My opinions of Björk as a musician are still very much positive. This album is 100% her creative vision, and for a debut solo album, she took a lot of stylistic risks, which I applaud. Those risks didn't always pay off for me personally though; I enjoyed the songs that were more heavily influenced by dance music than the songs that were more art pop in their sound. Songs like "Crying" and "Big Time Sensuality" were really fun to bop along too; their melodies were really infectious, and Björk's vocal style gave them a unique sound. "There's More to Life Than This" was my favorite song on the album. I loved the crowd noises, and the way the music would fade in and out was absolutely brilliant. It felt like being taken on a journey, and I loved every minute of it. Songs like "Aeroplane," "Violently Happy," and "Venus as a Boy" weren't really my jam; I think I got so used to the other songs that were driven more by traditional hooks that it was tough to enjoy songs that were a less structured. Still, this was a nice album to listen to, and I'm curious as to how I'll feel about the last Björk album that I'll get to review.
The Young Gods
3/5
I've never heard of The Young Gods before, but based on these reviews, I have no idea what I'm in for. I guess there's no better way to tackle post-election dread than to jump right into this album.
Well, this was certainly a unique experience. I didn’t care much for the calliope sound of the first track, and its eight-minute runtime certainly didn’t help it either, but after that, the album was much more enjoyable. Infusing hard rock with sampling created a dense and textured sound that I enjoyed. It was really easy to turn off my brain and get lost in the wild melodies of these songs. The drum machines were used really well, especially in conjunction with the guitars, like on “Ville Norte” and “Crier les chiens.” I’m a fan of a big sound, and The Young Gods delivered on that with this album. Outside of some cool arrangements though, this album didn’t offer me much. I was able to look up English translations of some of the lyrics, and I thought they were fine, but not particularly earth-shattering. I’m not really into industrial metal, but I don’t think it’s a reach to say that this album had a massive influence on the genre, and probably other branches of hard rock as well. This wasn’t completely my cup of tea, but it was worth my time to listen to this today, and I appreciate the unique experience.
Queen
2/5
I’ve listened to my fair share of Queen’s music over the years (mostly ‘greatest hits’ type material), and this will be my second album of theirs to review, after A Night At The Opera (4 stars). I was a little underwhelmed by ANATO, so I’m curious as to how I’ll feel about this album.
This album was pretty meh to me. There were some great vocals and some good guitar playing, but overall, this album felt pretty dull and uninspired. This blend of hard rock and glam rock doesn’t feel particularly novel to me, and while the arrangements might be interesting in small spurts, overall, I couldn’t find much on this album to latch on to. “Killer Queen” and “Flick of the Wrist” were the two best tracks to me on this album, but they’re not in the upper echelon of seventies rock in my opinion. This was a letdown, but maybe Queen II will be more my speed.
Justice
4/5
I’ve never listened to a Justice album before, but I did see them in concert back in 2012, and it was a fantastic show. I bought tickets to see them because I like electronic music, and I thought it would be a fun time. The show was close to Halloween though, and there was a couple dressed as the freaky versions of Gena Davis and Alec Baldwin’s characters in Beetlejuice (you know, when they have those really exaggerated features and shit). Anyway, these two assholes had on giant papier-mâché heads that blocked my blocked my view for a little bit. Fuck those two idiots. Anyway, I have high hopes for this album, and it should be perfect for this Friday!
I wanted to fall in love with this album, and while I thought it was great, it fell a little short of five stars in my book. I love these arrangements, and the highs on this album absolutely soar. Collectively, this album has a dark mood to it that I really love, which I found to be an interesting contrast to some of the Biblical song names. The bass sounds really punch things up, and the overall electronic sounds are fantastic. I enjoyed the structure of these songs as well; the main riffs would repeat in a way that still kept me engaged and wanting more. The album started off incredibly strong, but the tail end was somehow even better; I thought “Stress,” “Waters of Nazareth,” and “One Minute To Midnight” were the best songs on the album.
Thankfully, I have few things to complain about on this album, but those few things were really off-putting to me. There were some moments where the glitching sounds were really grating, particularly when the beat just completely dropped off. Also, “The Party” felt really out of place on this album. The light vocals really took away from the dark mood of the album, and for that song’s placement on the album killed some of the momentum for me. Honestly, you could probably remove “The Party” and “DVNO” from this album, and it would be immensely better as a whole work. I know those might seem like some nitpicky details, but they really did affect how much I enjoyed the album. Still, this album is really good, and I’d definitely throw it on again in the future.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Well, at 628 albums, I have reached my fifth and final Nick Cave album to review. Ghosteen has easily been my favorite album of theirs so far (5 stars), followed by Henry’s Dream (4 stars), with The Boatman’s Call and AB/TLoO rounding out the back end (both 3 stars). Based on what I’ve read about this album, I have pretty high hopes for it. This sounds really interesting, so I’m excited to give it a listen.
I thought Murder Ballads was good, but not great. If an album of murder ballads falls into anyone’s wheelhouse, it’s Nick Cave. His deep and brooding voice was perfect for the dark tone of this album, and even though I’m not familiar with the source material that he used, it was pretty easy to distinguish what parts of these songs featured more of his own influence. I really love Nick Cave’s piano playing, and I was glad that it was front and center on this album. The duets with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue were really great, but I think that “Death Is Not The End” was the best song on the album. Knowing that Nick Cave would eventually lose his son almost twenty years after this song was recorded really added some emotional gravity that made it even better. I really enjoyed the songwriting on this album as well, and it showcases how talented Nick Cave is as a storyteller. My biggest gripe with this album is that it was a bit too long, and a few of the songs really overstayed their welcome with me. I also wasn’t a fan of the barrage of f-bombs on some of the songs, because I felt like it was a cheap way show anger and strong emotions. I don’t have a problem with swearing in songs, but it really felt like some of Nick Cave’s word choices took a power drill to the folky atmosphere of the album. Still, I’ve enjoyed exploring Nick Cave’s discography, and I’d be quick to return to his music once I’m done with this project.
The Byrds
3/5
This is only my fourth album by The Byrds to review, but it honestly feels like my tenth. Just yesterday, I reviewed my fifth and final Nick Cave album, so I guess the theme of this weekend is ‘artists with a ton of representation on this list.’ My most recent Byrds album to review was Younger Than Yesterday, which has been my favorite of theirs so far. I’m excited to take a step back from that and listen to the album that started the band on their journey into psychedelic music.
This album started off really strong. “5D” and “Wild Mountain Thyme” were both really great songs. For psychedelic albums from the sixties, I usually expect some heavy organ or Mellotron usage, but this album relied heavily on the guitar playing to create the psychedelic sound, and “5D” did a great job of that. “Wild Mountain Thyme” was easily my favorite song on the whole album. I loved the string arrangements that were used. Their sweeping sound complimented the guitar playing really well, and felt very tethered to The Byrds’ past as a band who focused more on folk music. “John Riley” was really good too, and I enjoyed the string arrangements that were used. I usually think of harmonies when I think of The Byrds, and while this album featured some harmonies that were really well done, they were pretty sparsely used, which I thought was an interesting shift.
After those first two songs (with the exception of “John Riley), the album was just fine. I really expected to be impressed by “Eight Miles High,” and while it might be an influential song, it didn’t really land with me. I really didn’t like The Byrds’ interpretation of “Hey Joe;” the frantic pace didn’t feel like it fit the tone of the song, but maybe that’s because I’m used to the Jimi Hendrix version. Overall though, this album was fine, but I did appreciate listening to this album for its impact and historical significance.
John Cale
3/5
I'd never heard of John Cale before I started this project, but I enjoyed The Velvet Underground and Nico more than I enjoyed their self-titled album they put out after John left, so I think there's a good chance I'll enjoy this album. I really don't know what to expect, but it's a tight thirty minutes, so if it's painful, at least it will be over quickly!
I thought this album was fairly enjoyable. There was something about its sound that really reminded me of another artist, but I can't quite put my finger on who it that artist is. I think it's something about the vocals and how they're mixed that feels really familiar. Whatever the case is, I enjoyed the orchestral sounds of this album, and I liked John Cale's vocals too. The songwriting was a little too abstract for my tastes, but I was mostly focused on the arrangements, so it didn't take away from my enjoyment. "Child's Christmas In Wales" and "Paris 1919" were my favorite songs on the album, with the latter of those taking the cake for my overall favorite. "Adalucia" and "Half Past France" were pretty good too, but nothing else really held a candle to the title track on this album. The other songs that didn't stand out to me weren't bad; I thought they were fine, but they felt pretty standard for seventies art pop, and I didn't think there was anything particularly noteworthy about them. Overall, this album was fine, and it was interesting to listen to something from a member of Velvet Underground who isn't Lou Reed.
Killing Joke
3/5
I've never listened to Killing Joke before, but I know they had a heavy influence on Dave Grohl, so I've really been looking forward to listening to this album. For some reason, I thought this was a hardcore punk album, but I'm delighted to see that it's actually post-punk.
I really wanted to love this album, but I thought it was just okay. I think this album is a really great example for what post-punk music is. The sound here is experimental, but the band definitely took the 'do-it-yourself' approach during the making of this album. I thought the guitar playing was really great on this album, and the overall sound was really unique. A lot of the sound was pretty weird and experimental, but I thought that the guitar playing kept the album really accessible and easy to listen to. I won't question this album's importance and influence, but outside of that, I didn't find it particularly enjoyable to listen to.
Fairport Convention
3/5
I think I've heard of Fairport Convention before, but I can't remember the context in which I've heard about them. Folk music can be a bit of a mixed bag for me, and I'm not entirely sure I know what characteristics differentiate British and American folk music, but I'm interested to see what this album has in store.
Overall, this album was fine. There were a handful of songs that I enjoyed more than the others, but the ones that I didn't particularly enjoy were still fine. I don't think this album did anything particularly novel or noteworthy, but I thought that "A Sailor's Life" was the best song on the album. I really enjoyed the long format of the song, and the melancholy lyrics were great. The instrumental portion at the end of the song was really good too, and I think it was the band's best showcase of their talent. The lyrics to "Cajun Woman" were some of my favorite on the album as well. Given the results of the recent election here in the U.S., I thought the lyrics were incredibly relevant. "Percy's Song" was pretty good too, and I'm not sure where I land on its meaning, but I did like the vocals on it quite a bit. The other songs on the album were fine, but pretty forgettable on the whole. This album was interesting, but it's not the sort of thing I'd listen to again.
Donald Fagen
1/5
I've really enjoyed reviewing three Steely Dan albums so far, so I've really been looking forward to this album. I have pretty high hopes for this album, and I'm excited to fire it up!
Well, those high hopes were dashed. I thought this album was a complete snooze. I was so bored by it, I had to go back and listen to Pretzel Logic to make sure I wasn't an idiot for enjoying Steely Dan (Pretzel Logic still kicks ass, whew). This album is just absolutely bland from start to finish. I think I could listen to it a dozen times in a row and not be able to recognize a single song a week later. I appreciate the 'Nightfly' theme, but everything here has been smoothed out so much that it lacks any texture and depth. The arrangements weren't particularly interesting, and only the opening and title tracks really came close to being anything of substance. I'll take some Steely Dan any day, but this album was a dud.
The Specials
4/5
I reviewed the first Specials album a few weeks ago, and I thought it was really good and gave it four stars. I have a pretty good idea of what to expect on this album, and I’m looking forward to reviewing this.
I thought this album was a little bit better than the first Specials album, but I think this is also a four-star effort. The biggest difference to me between this album and their first album, is that I think the band does a better job of striking a balance between fun songs and songs with a more serious tone. This album felt like it was easier to groove to, and I think it did a great job of blending ska and reggae in a way that was pretty accessible. The arrangements on this album were really good, but I do think the first Specials album had better songwriting. As far as downsides go, the longer songs on this album felt a little tedious, and the album as a whole didn’t really fill its runtime with enough substance. “Sock It to ‘Em J.B.” and “I Can’t Stand It” were the only two songs that really stood out to me. This album worked really well as a whole, but some of the parts don’t really stand on their own very well. Overall, this was still a good album, and I would have probably never sought out The Specials if it weren’t for doing this project.
Can
4/5
I reviewed Can’s Future Days a few months ago, and I really enjoyed it, and wound up giving it four stars. I’m excited to listen to Tago Mago today, and I have pretty high hopes for it.
Tago Mago was really good, but I liked Future Days more. There wasn’t one particular musical element that I really enjoyed on this album, but I thought the overall sound was incredibly dense and interesting. At the expense of sounding like a hippie, each song really did feel like a journey, and I enjoyed not knowing what little auditory surprises were waiting for me around each corner. “Paperhouse” and “Mushroom” were my favorite songs on the album, and I really loved how seamlessly the former segued into the latter, even though both songs were really different in sound. The album started to lose me at “Aumgn,” and it really lost me on “Peking O.” I appreciate something different and a little avant-garde, but “Peking O” was really grating to listen to. I respect Can’s willingness to push boundaries and experiment, but that was a little too much for me. Other than though, this album was fantastic. After two Can albums, I’m very inclined to check out more of their work.
ZZ Top
4/5
I’ve lived in Texas all my life, so I’ve been familiar with ZZ Top from a pretty early age. I can’t remember how old I was when my mom told me about this, but she said the biggest joint she’d ever seen in her life was being passed around at a ZZ Top concert. And somehow the baby boomers turned out to be the worst generation of all time. Wild. Anyway, I love ZZ Top’s stuff from the Eighties, and I gave Eliminator 4 stars when I reviewed it. Looking at the track listing for this album, I think I only know “La Grange.” Regardless, I’m pretty excited to review this album.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this album, and also by the fact that I actually knew “Waitin’ for the Bus” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago.” I still prefer Eliminator, but by a pretty slim margin over this album. The thing I like most about ZZ Top is how unique their brand of blues rock is. This album showcases that they can slow it down, like on the first two tracks of the album, but they can also rock out, like on “La Grange.” The guitar playing is outstanding, the drumming is precise, and I love Billy Gibbons’ singing. Gibbons’ laughs and other little vocal fills on “La Grange” have been something that I’ve enjoyed since I was a kid, and even when listening to this album today, I couldn’t help but try (and fail) to imitate them. I think the thing that makes ZZ Top’s sound so unique is the southwestern flair that their sound has; who knew that someone could write a song about Chicago that sounds like it was recorded in a dusty saloon in Arizona? This was a fun album with a really great sound that manages to permeate each track on the album. The only downside of this album to me is that some of the songs sound pretty similar and just kind of fade into the background. Other than that, I have no complaints, and this album is a great piece of Texas rock.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
I reviewed ELP’s Tarkus a while ago, and I thought it was fine. A lot of prog rock is pretty hit or miss with me, and I expect that I’ll probably think this album is fine as well. However, I really haven’t cared much for a lot of the live albums on this list, so a live prog rock album is a pretty big gamble with my tastes. I guess it’s time to jump in!
As I expected, I thought this album was fine. It was pleasant to listen to, but with the exception of the “Promenade” pieces, “The Great Gates of Kiev,” and “Nut Rocker,” I didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy about this album. I like listening to synthesizers and keyboards, and Carl Palmer is a really great drummer, but to me, this album didn’t really live up to the ambitious vision the band had. As I listened to most of it, I just thought to myself “okay, that’s some nice synth and organ playing,” but that was about all that I felt. For a live album, it didn’t feel like there was a ton of energy from the music itself, with the exception of “Nut Rocker.” As for “The Great Gates of Kiev,” I liked that it felt more like a ballad, and it felt like it had quite a bit of emotion to it. Other than though, this album was just a showcase for some pretty talented musicians. A lot of flash without much substance.
Gram Parsons
3/5
I'm not familiar with Gram Parsons, but I have reviewed The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and I thought it was fine. I've also reviewed two Emmylou Harris albums (and Trio), which I really enjoyed. I think I have a little bit of an idea as to what to expect from this album, and based on what I've read about, I'm excited to give it a listen.
Overall, I thought this album was fine. I think the songwriting and Emmylou Harris's vocals were the best things about it, and it was pleasant enough to listen to, but this album wasn't really my speed. I understand the historical significance of this album as a cornerstone of country rock, but this album's sound just didn't land with me, and I wish I could pinpoint more specific reasons why. I'll reiterate that Emmylou Harris's singing is phenomenal, and I really loved her singing on the duet of "Love Hurts," which is infinitely better than the Nazareth version that seems to be more popular. As far as the songwriting goes, "$1000 Wedding," "In My Hour of Darkness," and "Brass Buttons" were all fantastic. The somber mood of those songs was really great, and I think Gram Parsons's premature death gave those songs some additional weight. Musically, this album was fine, and I thought there was some decent pedal steel guitar playing, but nothing really wowed me. While I consider this album worth my time to listen to once, I can't really see myself firing it up again.
The Cars
5/5
I absolutely love The Cars, and I've been anxiously waiting for this album to pop up for me. I know this album really well from start to finish, and since I own it on vinyl, I love throwing it on pretty regularly. What a perfect way to spend a Wednesday, let's get into it!
This album is absolutely fantastic from start to finish. With guitars driving the overall sound, keyboards filling out the sound, and simple but catchy lyrics, The Cars' self-titled debut is the pinnacle of late seventies new wave albums. The guitar hooks sound so simple, but the way the lead, rhythm, and bass guitars are layered adds incredible depth to the overall sound. The Cars have such a signature sound, but each song on this album is unique and instantly recognizable. In my opinion, no other new wave artist has guitars that sound anything like this. Going back to the keyboards, I love how they don't drown out or take over the overall sound of this album. This is guitar music, and the album never lets you forget that. The way that everything on this album is layered makes it one of the most accessible new wave albums of all time.
As far as the individual songs go... I guess I'll just have to go track by track.
"Good Times Roll" is such an interesting lead-off track to me. The song's title elicits a sense of something really up-tempo, but the song takes its time, adding layers to the sound as it progresses. The bright keyboard riff that kicks in about halfway through the song is pure genius.
"My Best Friend's Girl" has some of my favorite guitar playing on the album, especially the lick at the end of the chorus. In conjunction with the handclaps at the beginning, this song has a retro feel that harkens back to fifties doo-wop or rockabilly. I imagine this is what the woman on the cover is listening to.
"Just What I Needed" has my favorite keyboard playing on the album. That sawtooth sound is perfect, but it fills in the sound perfectly, still allowing the guitars to stay front and center.
"I'm in Touch with Your World" is my least favorite song on the album, but it's still great. With Ric Ocasek's echo-y vocals, excellent vibraphone usage, and a space-like keyboard riff, it's easily the most experimental song on the album.
"Don't Cha Stop" lives up to its name, with a fast tempo, great rhythms, and some superbly distorted guitar playing, accompanied by a great keyboard riff.
"You're All I've Got Tonight" is an excellent blend of some of the best elements from the first three tracks, all with a great rhythm section.
"Bye Bye Love" features an excellent blend of guitars and keyboard playing. This song is one of the best examples of this album's superb mixing.
"Moving In Stereo" is my favorite track on the album, but by a slim margin. The guitar distortion, the opening vocals, and the simple drum beat give this song a haunting sound that sets it apart from the more pop-forward songs on the album. It doesn't hurt that I associate this song with Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
"All Mixed Up" is a great closer, and I love the saxophone and keyboard arrangements on it. With a darker tone similar to "Moving In Stereo," it's a great closing track, and possibly the most underrated song on the album.
Overall, this album is perfect. Every song is brilliant, and there's enough diversity to keep this album interesting. The Cars are a fantastic band, and it's honestly a shame that Heartbeat City hasn't made it into any edition of the list.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
It's been over a year since I last reviewed a Led Zeppelin album, but here its, my fifth and final album of theirs to review. I own this album on CD, and I've listened to it in its entirety before, but it's not an album I've ever come back to. I know "Kashmir" really well, but I imagine a lot of these songs will sound pretty unfamiliar to me. Either way, I'm excited to listen to this today, and I'm curious as to how I'll feel about it.
Based on the description of this album, it shouldn’t work. A lot of these songs didn’t make it on to other albums, and found their way to Physical Graffiti. A wide variety of styles are utilized on these songs. John Paul Jones was considering quitting the band. This album should sound like a patchwork of songs that had been left on the scrap heap. But instead, it sounds like a culmination of the five albums that came before it. Physical Graffiti is a magnum opus to musicianship, held together by the common thread of hard rock, and it’s really enjoyable to listen to. Led Zeppelin were fully committed to their craft, and you can feel that in every part of this album. Yes, some of the longer songs overstay their welcome a bit, but in the end, it didn’t take away too much from my enjoyment. I went into this, thinking I wouldn’t like it very much, and I think some of that feeling is because I feel like House of the Holy should be on the list, but that this album took its place. As far as my favorite songs on this album, I’m torn between “Trampled Under Foot,” “The Wanton Song,” and “The Rover.” The clavinet on “Trampled Under Foot” is excellent, and the funk elements make it one of the most unique songs in Led Zeppelin’s catalogue. The guitar riff on “The Wanton Song” is great, and I love how infectious it is. “The Rover” has my favorite guitar playing on the album. The guitar part during the chorus is fantastic, and it’s the perfect contrast to the main guitar riff of the song.
Physical Graffiti, while not my favorite Led Zeppelin album (that distinction still belongs to IV), is a fantastic testament to the band’s career. While this was not their last album, it still manages to serve as a swan song to their career. Full of ambition and meticulous execution, Physical Graffiti is a journey worth taking.
Basement Jaxx
3/5
I’ve never heard of Basement Jaxx or this album before, but I tend to rate electronica albums higher than other users, so I have pretty decent expectations for this album. Remedy should be a pretty good way to start my weekend!
Overall, this album was fine. I wasn’t particularly wowed by the first several songs on the album, but it grew on me as I listened to more of it. The first two songs had a darker, bass heavy sound that I liked, but the vocals on both of them were a bit off-putting to me. I started to enjoy the album more at “Red Alert,” which was one of my favorite songs on the album. The main melody reminded me of Daft Punk, but what the band did with that melody was really unique, especially with the use of the squealing sound and the telephone ringing sound, which really gave it a nineties feel. The vocals were some of the best on the album as well. “Always Be There” was really good too, and I really liked the vocals because they reminded me of The XX. “Stop 4 Love” was really good too, and I enjoyed the ambient main melody. The album finished pretty strong as well, with “Don’t Give Up” and “Being With U.” I felt that the band did a really good job with those last three songs, which felt slower and less chaotic than the other songs on the album. I read that Basement Jaxx set out to make an electronic album that was less repetitive than what was currently being put out by their contemporaries, and I felt they somewhat succeeded on that front. The songs that weren’t really to my liking though definitely fell into the repetitive category, and they tended to feature elements that I found pretty grating. All in all though, this was a fine album, but I don’t think it’s something I’d be quick to go back to.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
I’ve never heard of Jack Elliott before, and I’m not terribly familiar with folk music from this era, so I’m not sure what to expect from this album. However, this is why I signed up to do this project, so I’m excited to broaden my horizons a little today!
I thought this album was pretty good. I wasn’t familiar with any of the songs, but I enjoyed them, and I enjoyed Jack Elliott’s unique vocal style. “San Francisco Bay Blues” and “Boll Weevil” were my favorite songs on the album, but I liked “Ol’ Riley” and “Dink’s Song” too. I read quite a few reviews that comment on Jack being from Brooklyn, and how that made the album feel inauthentic to them, but to me, folk music is about believing in certain ideals. In my opinion, anyone who ran off from a comfortable life to join a rodeo and then hung around Woody Guthrie probably embodies folk ideals. This isn’t the type of album I’d typically pop in for a casual listen, but it was interesting and fairly enjoyable.
The 13th Floor Elevators
1/5
I've never heard of this band or album before, but I've seen this album cover on the list site, and it's certainly eye catching. The psychedelic albums from the sixties that I've reviewed so far have been pretty underwhelming in my opinion, so I don't have incredibly high hopes for this album. I guess it's time to hop on the 13th Floor Elevator!
I really didn't care much for this album. This might be an influential album, but I didn't enjoy listening to it. That electric jug drove me up the wall the entire album, and the only place I could hide from it was on "Splash 1," which really was a fine song. That electric jug completely hijacked the sound in my opinion. Granted, I didn't think there was a lot of noteworthy things going on outside of the jug sounds, but it certainly didn't help anything. I respect the vision that went into crafting this album, but this is a big miss in my opinion.
Jorge Ben Jor
5/5
I've never heard of Jorge Ben Jor before, and I'm very familiar with Brazilian music, so I'm not incredibly sure what to expect on this album. I've had a tough time rating albums from some of the more 'niche' genres like samba; I think a lot of the non-traditional albums that I've reviewed so far have been nice enough to listen to, but I don't really have a way to place them, other than saying 'that was nice to listen to, and really different.' Maybe this will be the 'world music' album that finally lands with me!
Well, that that last sentence of my introduction turned out to be quite prophetic, because I really enjoyed this album. I think that I've gotten enough exposure to African and Brazilian music from this project, that I was able to have a better understanding of how this album blended different musical elements. I really loved the varied percussion on this album, especially the cucia. I don't think I'd ever heard of a cucia until today, but I'm sure I've heard one played before. The use of funk elements to enhance the beats made this album really fun to listen to, and I found myself dancing along to this album while I listened to it. The guitar playing was great, and even though I didn't understand the lyrics, I really liked the vocals as well. As far as my favorite songs go, I'd have to choose "O Filósofo," "O Plebeu," and "Taj Mahal." Granted, I thought the whole album was really great. The songs were varied in sound, but all very much rooted in the same unique style. This album was really great, and I'd be quick to listen to it again.
M.I.A.
3/5
It's been a minute since I've listened to some M.I.A., but I've never listened to this album. I've listened to Kala and Maya, and I even got the chance to see her perform at Austin City Limits in 2011. It seems to me like she dropped out of the limelight a bit after Kala, but made a resurgence after her anti-vax takes in the last couple of years, so I'm curious as to how this album will have aged (side note, she endorsed Trump this year. Gag). Well, time to fire this up I suppose.
I thought this album was fine. The energy of the music did a great job of matching the social and political commentary of the lyrics, especially when the lyrics were more militant in nature. Over the course of the album though, the music wore a bit thin on me, and felt pretty repetitive. Some of beats could be pretty jarring at times, but they did give the album a unique sound that makes it stand out from a lot of the more polished hip-hop music that was coming out around this time. "Sunshowers" was my favorite song on the album, and I really liked the melody of the chorus. I'm not a huge fan of the lyrical style of British hip-hop, but M.I.A. does a great job of using that style to get her message across. While I wasn't incredibly keen on this album, I'm looking forward to reviewing Kala soon.
Rod Stewart
5/5
This is my second and final Rod Stewart album to review, although I will get to hear him again on the Faces album that’s on this list. I mentioned in my review for Gasoline Alley just how much I love Rod Stewart, but I’d always just listened to his singles, and never a full album of his. I thought Gasoline Alley was really good, and I rated it four stars, but with “Maggie May,” “Mandolin Wind,” and “Reason To Believe,” I have a touch higher expectations for this album. Although it’s late November and not late September, I’m excited to crank up some Sir Roderick today!
This album was a little short of five stars for me, but I did like it a little bit better than Gasoline Alley. However, I’m always going to enjoy listening to Rod Stewart, and this album was no exception to that. As for the songs on this album that I’m already familiar with, I still think they’re all great. “Maggie May” is easily one of the best songs of the seventies, but I tend to forget about it until I’m in the mood for Rod Stewart. I think it’s because I don’t think of it as a traditional classic rock song in a sense, as it’s not really straight-up rock and roll. However, every instrument on it is played with perfection, and Rod’s singing is outstanding. His gravely voice has a certain earnestness to it that I really love, and it shines on this song. I love the heartbreak that shines through as he cries “Oh Maggie, I wished I’d never seen your face” towards the end of the song. Each repetition of that line builds to that moment, and I love it. “Mandolin Wind” is excellent too. The guitar and mandolin playing are fantastic, and the bluesy sound feels authentic without feeling like it’s appropriating anything. The last half of the song, when the mandolin really takes over is incredibly beautiful. I really love Rod’s version of “Reason To Believe” as well. He executes that slow start to the song with perfection, and I love how much emotion he puts into the chorus. The organ makes this song feel like a hymn, and I think it’s a perfect fit for the overall sound of the album while contributing a flair that’s a little different.
As for the songs that I was hearing for the first time, I was really blown away by the title track. It had more of a traditional rock and roll sound than I’m used to from Rod, but I really loved it. His singing still had that earnestness, but I liked the energy his vocals brought to this song. The backing vocals from Maggie Bell were an outstanding addition, adding some additional punch as the song built to its conclusion. Rod’s version of “I’m Losing You” was great too. I’m not familiar with The Temptations’ version of this song, but I loved the up-tempo energy of this song, and its positioning on the album was perfect. The drumming on this song was the best on the album (not that there was anything wrong with the drumming on the other songs), and it showcases how great Rod is at creating his own interpretations of other artists’ work. Speaking of that, his version of “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” was really great too, and I loved the violin work on it. As much as I love Rod Stewart’s singing, man, hats off to Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane on this album. The guitar playing was amazing from start to finish on this album. Ronnie Wood isn’t on my favorite Rolling Stones albums, but it was great to hear him shine on this album. You know what, screw what I said earlier, this is a five-star album. Going through it again as I wrote this review gave me even more appreciation for it, and I think it’s fantastic. Rod Stewart has been one of my favorite artists since I was a kid, and I’m really glad I got to listen to a couple of his early albums. Long live Sir Roderick Stewart!
Kraftwerk
5/5
This is my second Kraftwerk album to review, after Trans Europe Express, which I really enjoyed, and gave a five-star rating to. Given how I felt about Trans Europe Express, and my general love of synthesizers, I have pretty high hopes for this album. I’m excited to fire this up!
As I expected, I really enjoyed The Man Machine (I hope that’s the only time I’ll ever type that phrase). It was a little different in tone and sound than Trans Europe Express, but I liked The Man Machine a little better (barely side-stepped it there). The overall sound was really great, but the individual songs were fantastic as well. I listened to this twice, and I honestly wish I’d had time to listen to it more than that. Even on two listens, there were more sounds that I was able to pick up on during my second go-through. Kraftwerk’s music sounds so simple, but it’s executed brilliantly, and their albums are mixed and engineered incredibly well, giving their albums a rich sound. “Spacelab” was my favorite song on the album. I loved its operatic, otherworldly sound. The main synthesizer melody was fantastic, and the other sounds that were added in only added to its beauty. I didn’t want this song to end either time that I listened to it. The other songs were really good too, but I felt like “Spacelab” stood above the crowd. This album really does a great job at showcasing how well Kraftwerk understood sound and music. Without their influence, some of my favorite bands probably wouldn’t exist, at least not in the same capacity. I really wish I had known about Kraftwerk when I was a teenager, because I think I would have loved this album then too. I can’t wait to review Autobahn when it comes up.
Dr. John
4/5
The only song of Dr. John’s I know is “Right Place, Wrong Time,” which I know from its use in Dazed and Confused. I don’t have any strong feelings towards that song, but I’d usually skip over it when I was listening to the soundtrack, mostly because there were other songs I wanted to hear more. I haven’t been that high on a lot of the psychedelic albums from the sixties that I’ve reviewed so far, so I don’t have particularly high hopes for this album, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised!
This album was a pleasant surprise. While it’s not a five-star album for me, I still thought it was really good. I enjoyed the overall vibe of the album, and I loved how it really leaned into the whole southern voodoo aesthetic, which I thought worked really well. There weren’t really any particular songs that stood out to me, but that was okay since the album sounded great as a whole. Dr. John’s spoken vocals fit the album’s tone really well, allowing him to really embrace the persona he crafted. His voice and style elevated this album into something beyond typical blues, but the sound never felt like a gimmick. The percussion was really solid throughout the album as well, which helped give even more shape to the southern voodoo sound of the album. This isn’t something I’d typically gravitate towards, but it was a fun and unique experience, and I’m glad it’s on the list.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
It's been over a year since I reviewed Stand!, but I've been looking forward to this album quite a bit. Stand! wasn't really my jam, but I thought it was a really good album from a critical standpoint, and I gave it four stars. I know that this album is supposed to be even better, so I have pretty high expectations. Let's get political and militant on a Saturday morning!
This album was a pretty big letdown for me. Musically, it was fine; the funk sound was done well, and it was pleasant enough to listen to. However, it did get pretty boring and repetitive, especially on the two longer songs. Also, the I felt every minute of this album's 45 minute plus runtime. This album felt like it just limped along the whole time, which was really disappointing given its reputation. For an album with riot in the title, it felt more like a campfire sing-along. Lyrically, I expected something with a straightforward approach to social and political issues, but the lyrics on this album were pretty abstract and didn't really say much in my opinion. For all of the hype surrounding this album, I was pretty disappointed and bored.
Moby Grape
4/5
I've heard of Moby Grape, but I've never listened to them. They're one of those bands that I meant to check out at some point, but never got around to. I don't know anything about them, so I'm going into this album completely blind.
This album was a very pleasant surprise. It's short of five stars for me, but I thought it was really good. The songs were short, but they all had a really great sound. These songs were really unique, and the band's blending of different styles gave this album an upbeat, and overall very fun sound. The guitar playing was really great, and for an album with some psychedelic elements to it, the overall sound was really accessible. The vocals were really great too, especially the harmonies, which reminded me of Crosby, Stills, & Nash. It's a shame these guys encountered so many roadblocks to their success, because this was a great debut album, and I'm glad I finally got to listen to it. Favorite song: "Fall On You."
Roni Size
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but the cover screams "electronica" to me, and based on the reviews of this album, the vibe I got from the cover is correct. I don't think I've ever heard of drum and bass as a music genre before, but I'm guessing its defining characteristics are in the name. I tend to like electronica, so this album... HOLY CRAP, THIS IS OVER TWO HOURS LONG?!?!?!? Well, this is certainly a choice for the Monday after Thanksgiving. Might as well dive in!
Overall, this album was fine. I would have liked to have spent more time listening to it, so that I could have really picked up on some of the more subtle elements of the music, but at that runtime, that wasn’t an option today. However, even with clocking in at over 2 hours, I never found this album to be boring, and I enjoyed the overall sound. I think one the biggest letdowns with this album was that even with this much material, there wasn’t a lot about it that stood out to me. “Let’s Get It On” was probably my favorite song on the album. I loved the cymbal riding on the drums, and the main bass line was awesome. The ending segue into “Digital” was really great too. “Share The Fall” had a great bass line as well, as did “Brown Paper Bag.” “Down” was probably my second favorite song on the album, and I really loved the drumming on it. I definitely wasn’t blown away by this album, but I’d be willing to give it another go some day.
Spiritualized
3/5
Ah, my last Spiritualized album. When I went to check Roni Size's New Forms off the list yesterday, this album was right next to it, and I thought it was cool that both albums had some similarities in the artwork, and low and behold, this is my album today. I gave four stars to Lazer Guided Melodies, so I have pretty high expectations for this album.
I thought this album was fine. It was really interesting to listen to, and I enjoyed the overall sound, but not a lot really stood out to me. The musical arrangements were really nice and fun, but the vocals and lyrics were pretty run of the mill to me. Also, some of the songs went on for too long for my taste. I'm not against longer songs, but some of these songs didn't feel like they went anywhere interesting over the course of their runtimes. Only a few songs really stood out to me on this album. "Electricity," had a really fun energy to it, and the guitar playing was really great. "Broken Heart" was really beautiful, and I loved its haunting melody.
This album was cool to listen to because it's a good album, but in my opinion, it's the sort of thing that's just kind of nice to have on in the background.
Elton John
4/5
Oh man, my last Elton John album to review. I really loved Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, so I'm heading into this with high expectations. I love Elton John, but before starting this project, I'd only listened to his greatest hits. Granted, I'd listened to them quite a bit. Looking at the tracklist, I see "Tiny Dancer" but I also see my Elton John song, "Levon" (I was always partial to "Crocodile Rock" as a kid, but since college, "Levon" has been my go-to). Let's jump in!
This album was really good, but it was a little short of five stars for me. The first two songs on the album were easily the best part, and while the rest of the album couldn't quite match that peak again, the other songs were still really good.
"Tiny Dancer," while not my favorite song on the album, is fantastic. I love the opening piano melody, and the guitars and orchestral arrangements that kick in throughout the course of the song are great. The lyrics are wonderful, and the rich arrangements are the perfect backdrop for the love story that the song tells.
As I already mentioned, I love "Levon." It's one of my all-time favorite songs to sing along to, and even though the music is so rich, Elton's singing shines through, and takes center stage. The string section after the chorus just fills me with an energy that's impossible to describe. For a song that has so many elements to it, it's mixed incredibly well, and each instrument has the perfect intensity at the perfect time.
The rest of the album is really good, but there's just nothing else on here that could match the straight-out-of-a-cannon intensity of the first two songs. But each song is arranged really well, just like the first two, and I really enjoy listening to Elton's piano playing, and the rich orchestral arrangements. Bernie and Elton work together so well, and while this album isn't perfect, it's still a great piece of pop rock and another jewel in Elton and Bernie's crowns.
Blur
3/5
The day for my final Blur review has finally come. I liked Modern Life is Rubbish (4 stars), but didn't really care for Parklife very much (2 stars). I'm familiar with "Song 2," but other than that, I have no idea what to expect on this album. It looks like it's time to "woohoo" my way into another Britpop album.
Overall, I thought this album was fine. The sound was markedly different from the other Blur albums that I've heard, but the songwriting was still really good. I did enjoy the guitar playing in a general sense, but I didn't think that there was anything particularly new or noteworthy about the sound of this album, other than the fact that it marked a shift for Blur. "Song 2" is a fun bump of adrenaline, and the irony that a song making fun of American music is Blur's highest charting song in the states is pretty funny in my opinion. I'm about halfway done with John Harris's book Britpop!, and I'd have to say that "Song 2" nicely summarizes Britpop's view of American rock. "On Your Own" was my favorite song on the album. I really loved the distorted electronic sounds, the guitars, and the percussion. Its rich sound really made it stand out from the rest of the album. "Look Inside America" was really good too, and I thought the string arrangements were done really well. Other than that, there wasn't too much on this album to comment on for me. After all is said and done, I think Modern Life is Rubbish is pretty easily the best Blur album on this list.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
I’ve never heard of this album or artist before, but I’ve seen the cover on the list website, and every time I see it, I’m intrigued by it. I love how on the list website has Britney Spears’s Baby One More Time wedged between Turbonegro’s Apocalypse Dudes and this album. The pink cover of Spears’s album wedged between two black album covers, one of which is emblazoned with a skull that looks like it came from an x-ray machine with a static problem, is quite the juxtaposition. Anyway, enough rambling, it’s time to see about this darkness that Bonnie “Prince” Billy is seeing (can you really see darkness?).
This album was quite the pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the stripped-down instrumentation, the soft vocals, and the songwriting. The melodies on each song, while simple, were really beautiful and pleasant to listen to. A few notes on some individual songs:
-“A Minor Place” was one of my favorite songs on the album. I loved the piano and guitar playing, and the main melody was really great.
-I didn’t enjoy how “Nomadic Revery” started, but when the tone shifted into something darker and more intense about halfway through, I really enjoyed it.
-The title track was another one of my favorite songs on the album. The piano melody was really dark and haunting, and I loved the lyrics.
-I loved the muted backing vocals on “Another Day Full of Dread.” Those backing vocals really gave the song a haunting feeling, and it was one of the most unique techniques on the album to establish that mood.
-The guitar playing on “Death to Everyone” was some of my favorite on the album. I loved the use of distortion, and the percussion was great too.
-“Madeleine-Mary” was my favorite song on the album. I loved the bluesy guitars and the urgency of the vocals.
Overall, this was a great album, and something really unique for the late nineties, when boy bands and pop divas dominated the radio. My only complaint against this album is that it was a bit of a one-trick-pony in terms of sound and mood, but it was still done really well. I’d listen to this album again some day, and I’d probably even consider buying a copy of it since it’s not on Spotify.
Linkin Park
4/5
If you would have asked me five years ago to listen to this album and write a review of it, I probably wouldn’t have even listened to it. Instead, I would have just written a diatribe about how Linkin Park is for trailer park losers, and how all their music is shit. Thankfully, I’ve grown a bit as a person, and thanks to undertaking this project, I’m going to give this album a fair shake, even though Linkin Park is not really my jam. To further soften my attitude towards Linkin Park, the newest episode of 60 Songs That Explain the 90’s: The 2000’s covered “In the End,” which really gave me a better appreciation for this album. As a teenager, I honestly liked Linkin Park (I owned Reanimation), so I know a handful of songs on this album. However, at some point in the later part of my time in high school, the popular consensus was that Linkin Park was lame, and as someone who was desperate to be liked and accepted, I abandoned my like for them. I guess it’s time for Linkin Park to try to earn some redemption with me, now that it’s been over twenty years. I’m ready to go one step closer (and hopefully not break)!
This album was much better than I would have ever thought. Yes, it’s not really my style, but I think it’s really well done, and I think it would be foolish to discount the fact that this album sold over 12 million copies in the States. The overall sound is incredibly catchy, and I especially enjoyed how the electronic elements were used throughout the album. While the lyrics are a little too ‘teen angst’ for my taste, I did enjoy Mike Shinoda’s rapping swapping out with Chester Bennington’s signing. I don’t know how Chester would go between screaming and singing like that; if I were to try to scream like that, I’d last about thirty seconds before my throat would be irreparably damaged. As far as the individual songs go, the songs that had heavier use of electronic elements were my favorites: “Papercut,” “Crawling,” and “Runaway” were the best songs on the album in my opinion. The rest of the songs ranged from ‘fine’ to ‘pretty good,’ and there wasn’t really anything that I found to be too off-putting. Some songs did feel a bit like filler, and the sound did get a bit repetitive at times, but the members of Linkin Park have some pretty decent musical chops, and they know how to write catchy songs. This isn’t the type of album that I’d come back to, but I still think it’s pretty good, and I definitely prefer it to a lot of the other hard rock albums from this era that I’ve reviewed so far.
Motörhead
2/5
I’ve already reviewed Motörhead’s live album, which I did not care for. Granted, it’s hard to appreciate a live album when you only know one of the songs, but still, No Sleep Till Hammersmith? More like… wake me up… when we leave Hammersmith. I’ll workshop that. As far as this album goes, I’m familiar with the title track, but that’s it. However, I see that there’s a song on here called “Jailbait,” so that should be fun and not at all problematic. I guess it’s time to fire this one up!
Well, as I expected, outside of the title track, this album was a bit of a snooze. I suppose I’ll start with the things that I liked about this album. “Ace of Spades” is awesome. It’s got an absolutely frantic energy to it, but everything still sounds tight and precise. The main guitar riff is fantastic, the drumming comes at a blistering pace, and Lemmy’s growling vocals are fantastic. The guitar playing across the album is pretty good, and I like the heaviness of the sound. As for the things I didn’t like about this album… the overall sound feels lazy and uninspired. It feels like everything after the title track was just cobbled together without any forethought. These songs all sound incredibly similar to me; they’re just fast and loud, but there’s nothing else of note about them. And on the note of “Jailbait,” the lyrics are somehow even worse than I could have imagined. Holy hell, that was gross. For a band that’s so well known in the history of metal, there’s nothing particularly unique about the overall sound of this album, and it’s pretty dull. Maybe it was earth shattering when it came out, but I think other bands have improved so much on this speed metal sound, that this album just falls flat. Ace of Spades may have been incredibly influential in its time, but to me, it just doesn’t hold up.
Grant Lee Buffalo
4/5
I’ve never heard of this album or artist before, and I haven’t done any research into what this album is like, so I’m going in completely blind, with zero expectations.
This was a really good album, and a fun discovery. The guitar playing, piano, and vocals on “The Shining Hour” really hooked me in right off the bat. I loved how the backing vocals were really muted, and I enjoyed how the guitar picked up intensity about a minute into the song. The piano playing was great too. “Jupiter and Teardrop” was great too, and I loved that it had that shimmering nineties guitar sound. I enjoyed the title track quite a bit as well, and the first three songs really took me back to that period of adult alternative that was popular on the radio during this time. I see that this album is classified as alternative country, but it had more of a rock sound to me, but I’m no expert. The whole album had a really unique sound that I really enjoyed, and it was bolstered by some guitar playing that was incredibly catchy and fun to listen to. I enjoyed the first half of the album a little more than the second half; “Dixie Drug Store” was kind of grating in my opinion, and it stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest of the album. The next person I hear say ‘jambalaya’ is going to get pistol whipped. Overall though, this was a really great discovery, and I’m enjoying getting to listen to all of these albums from the nineties that were never on my radar before.
My Bloody Valentine
5/5
This is an album that I've really been looking forward to reviewing. This is the only My Bloody Valentine album that I've listened to before starting this project (at least I'm pretty sure I listened to this before starting this). I listen to this album fairly regularly, and I absolutely love it. For the longest time, I thought My Bloody Valentine was an emo band (I think I had them confused with Bullet For My Valentine), and I think Spotify just started playing one of the songs from this album after I finished listening to some other album, and I was instantly hooked on this. I've already reviewed m b v, which I thought was fine, but I know that I love this album. Let's get into it!
I love listening to this album. Loveless is perfect from start to finish, and contains a wide array of the most insanely distorted and fuzzed out guitar sounds you've ever heard. My Bloody Valentine exists on their own plane of sound, complete with its own loudness and softness, its own melodic and chaotic. It should be impossible for a band to construct an album as varied and melodic as this with, when most of their sound is crafted around guitar distortion, but somehow, they managed to do it. Every song on this album is an absolute journey, and it's completely mesmerizing to me that the last song on the album, "Soon," is easily in contention for one of the best songs on the album (thinking about it, this might have been the first MBV song I heard). Every time I listen to this album, the opening drum notes of "Only Shallow" grab hold of me and never let me go. I just love how this album is stuffed to the brim with sound, but it never feels bloated; it just carves its own path the whole way. I don't know that I can pick a favorite song on this album, but "Only Shallow," "To Here Knows When," "When You Sleep," "I Only Said," "What You Want," and "Soon" are all incredible. I understand that this album isn't for everyone, but I love it so much, and it's one of my favorite albums to listen to regularly.
Donovan
2/5
I know a few of Donovan's songs, but only "Season of the Witch" is on this album (the use of "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in David Fincher's Zodiac is perfect, but alas, it's not on this album). A lot of the psychedelic music from the 60's on this list has been really hit or miss with me, so I have no idea how this will land with me. Time to get after it!
Well, unfortunately, this album wasn't really my cup of tea. "Season of the Witch" was really great, and the title track was fine, but the rest of the album was mostly 'renaissance-faire-meets-Summer-of-Love,' which wore me down over the course of the album. I think Donovan is a good songwriter, and the album was pleasant enough to listen to, but it was just kind of boring to me. Donovan showed some more traditional folk rock chops on "Season the Witch," but that was really the only song that fell into that category. I wish I had enjoyed this album, because Donovan does have some songs in his broader catalog that I enjoy, but this album wasn't for me.
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I've enjoyed the Indian music that I've gotten to review so far. Given the other albums from India that I've reviewed, I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect. However, I have no idea how the story of the day in the life of a shepherd will unfold across this music. This should be an interesting journey!
I thought this album was fine, and as far as other Indian music that I've listened to, this album was probably among my least favorite. I found the first movement kind of rough to listen to at times; I wasn't a big fan of the santoor playing on that particular part of the album. However, later on in the album, I really enjoyed the flute and bansuri playing. While listening to this album, I tried to picture a day in the life of a shepherd in my head, to go along with the narrative of the music. I'm not sure I succeeded much on that front, but it was fun and unique to try. Musically, this was fine, but I don't think I'd come back to this album.
Beastie Boys
4/5
This will be my second Beastie Boys album to review, after Ill Communication, which I rated three stars. I think I might have listened to this album at some point, as it's in my Spotify library, but I can't be sure about that. However, it's definitely the Beastie Boys album with the most songs that I'm familiar with. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about this album as a whole, but it looks like it's time to fight for my right to party on this Friday!
I thought this album was really good. It definitely has a different sound and feel to it than Ill Communication, and frankly this album is a lot more fun. This album has a very stripped down, 'do-it-yourself' feel to it, and I think it works really well. The fact that all three of the guys rap over the course of the songs is really unique, but that structure tends to grate on me after a while, as if the songs are completely boxed in by the pace of this three-tiered attack at the lyrics. But when it's not grating, it's excellent, like on "Fight For Your Right," which is easily the best song on the album. "Fight For Your Right" is an absolute blast, with the instantly recognizable "yeah!" that belts out before the equally instantly recognizable guitar kicks in. This song captures that feeling of being a teenager in pre-9/11 America so well, capturing the feelings of teenage life from the mid-eighties to the late nineties. I really like "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" too. The guitar playing and drums are great, and they compliment the rapping really well. As far as the more stripped down songs go, "Paul Revere" would have to be my favorite. The rapping, while juvenile, is really fun and goofy, and the line "I did it like this, I did it like that, I did it with a wiffle ball bat" will live in my head until the day I die. As far as the other well known songs on this album go, "Brass Monkey" is good, but "Girls" certainly didn't age well, but kudos to the guys for addressing the songs in their early catalog that had some pretty misogynistic lyrics. As for the rest of the album, I like the sample usage throughout the album, especially on "Slow Ride" and "Time To Get Ill." My biggest critique of this album is that it tends to be held back by its own structure of having all three guys rap interchangeably, and some of the more stripped down songs feel a little less inspired than some of the more energetic tracks. Still, this album is massively influential and huge part of music history, and while it's not my favorite thing to listen to, it certainly earns a place on this list.
Bob Dylan
3/5
I'm over 660 albums into this project, and this will only be my second Bob Dylan album to review, after Time Out Of Mind, which I really didn't care for (2 stars). Heading into this project, I'd only listened to Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, so I've never listened to this album before, but I do know "Tangled Up in Blue," thanks to the Rock Band video game. Dylan's music can be pretty hit or miss with me, so I'm not quite sure where this will land. I guess there's only one way to find out!
Blood on the Tracks was fine, which was a little disappointing to me, since this album seems to be really well received. Musically, I thought it was great, but I didn't care for Dylan's vocals on this particular album. The guitar playing was great throughout the album, with "Tangled Up in Blue" representing my favorite guitar playing on the album. I really loved the organ playing too, as it reminded me more of Dylan's earlier work that I enjoy. The songwriting was great too, and I liked how vulnerable Dylan was about this particularly tumultuous time in his life. I know he says this album isn't autobiographical, but come on, man, it's pretty obvious that this album was pretty much all about the dissolving relationship with his wife at the time. Dylan expresses his heartache in so many different ways, and I enjoyed all the different figurative language he used throughout the album. Dylan really excelled at painting visual pictures with his words on this album, despite all of the figurative language, and I think that really shows off his skills as a songwriter. I mentioned it briefly before, but I really didn't like the shift away from Dylan's nasal singing on his earlier work. However, the rhythm of his vocal delivery was typical to what I'm used to, which I always enjoy. Additionally, some of the songs on this album were really long, and I found myself getting pretty bored with them. This album was fine, but I can't see myself seeking it out again.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Ah, the other Rufus Wainwright album. I reviewed Want Two earlier this year, and didn’t care for it very much. I enjoyed the vocals, but I found the album to be pretty boring overall. I don’t have high hopes for this one, but I’m willing to give it a fair shot. Let’s jump in!
Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve been pleasantly surprised by an album, and I hope it won’t be the last. I thought this album was really good. As with Want Two, I really enjoyed the vocals on this album, but Want One also had some really rich arrangements and beautiful melodies that were a joy to listen to. Additionally, there was a good mix of songs on here, with quite a few lively and up-tempo songs to keep things varied. I really enjoyed how “Oh What A World” started off with some humming, but it threw me for a loop when the tuba started playing. However, as the song went on, it really grew on me. I thought the next song, “I Don’t Know What It Is” was really good too, and the string arrangements were particularly great. The album kept on rolling along with beautiful songs; “Movies of Myself” was really fun to bop along too, and I loved the backing vocals. I really enjoyed how “Go Or Go Ahead” started off slowly, and then built in intensity; the second half of the song was fantastic, making the whole song worth its long runtime. “14th Street” had some great horn playing, and the backing vocals were some of the best on the entire album. “Beautiful Child” had my favorite vocals on the entire album, and this song really reminded me of Doves’ The Last Broadcast, which I absolutely love.
This was a really good album, and it completely shifted the opinion I built of Rufus Wainwright after listening to Want Two. Some of the slower songs on this album were a bit boring and just blended into the background, but this was still a beautiful album, full of great singing and rich arrangements.
Small Faces
3/5
I've heard of Small Faces before, but I've never heard any of their music. I know a couple of Faces songs, but from what I've read, Faces' work is a bit different than this album, so I'm not sure what I'm about to be in for. Sixties psychedelic music has been pretty hit-or-miss with me over the course of the 660-plus albums I've reviewed so far, so it's anyone's guess as to how this will go! As a note, I'll be listening to the stereo version of this album.
I thought this album started off with a bang. I loved the instrumentals of the title track, especially the hammond organ playing. The string section was great too, and it felt like this song was really building up to something with a sense of urgency. The rest of the first side of the album was good too. While I enjoyed the psychedelic-infused sound, I didn't find anything incredibly noteworthy about it, and I missed the richness of the opening track. I wasn't a big fan of the vocals either, but the album definitely had a very British feel to it. The piano and organ playing were definitely highlights of the first side of the album.
The second side of the album was quite an adventure. The story of Happiness Stan was interesting, and definitely quite different. Having narration of this story that spanned the second side of the album was an interesting choice, and I was surprised that I wasn't completely put off by the narrator's use of nonsensical words. Somehow, it managed to fit in pretty well. The instrumentation was pretty good on the second side of the album, and I enjoyed the more upbeat sound. Nothing really stood out, but it was nice enough to listen to.
Overall, I'd have to say that this album was fine. It's definitely a different slice of sixties psychedelic music, but while it's not really my cup of tea, I applaud the band's vision and willingness to push boundaries.
King Crimson
2/5
I've been looking forward to reviewing this album ever since I reviewed In The Court of The Crimson King. I'd never listened to King Crimson before starting this list, and I was blown away by ITCOTCK, so I have really high hopes for this album. I've read that each King Crimson album is pretty different, but I won't let that deter my hype for this album!
Well, unfortunately, I didn't care for this album too much. The first and last songs were the brightest spots to me, but everything in between those songs was pretty boring to me. I really had high hopes for this album since Bill Bruford drummed on it, but even his drumming couldn't pull me out of the dullness of this album. I don't really have anything against prog rock, but I've noticed that I tend to not enjoy prog rock that feels 'formless' to me. There weren't really any hooks or melodies that captured my attention, and the things that were the most interesting and unusual tended to be pretty jarring to listen to. I did like the hard rock influences on this album, and I think that's why I enjoyed the first and last songs the most. This album was definitely different and competently made, but it was pretty unremarkable to me, and it I think it represents the things that turn most people off from prog rock.
Merle Haggard
2/5
I know of Merle Haggard, but I don't think I could tell you a single song of his. Growing up, whenever the topic of Merle Haggard or concerts were brought up, my parents would lament about the time they went to go see him at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth, but he was drunk as hell and only played for thirty minutes. I don't talk to my parents anymore (long story), but I'm sure they're still mad about it. Even though that story is the first thing I think about when I hear his name, I always associate him with the 'good country music' before country music became synonymous with faux patriotism after 9/11. I've enjoyed a lot of the older country albums that I've reviewed so far, so I have high expectations for this album. Here's hoping it doesn't leave me bitter for forty years!
Unfortunately, I wasn't that impressed by this album. I love a good pedal steel guitar, which this album had plenty of, but other than that and a few bits of clever songwriting, I thought this album was a touch dull. I went into this expecting a bit more 'outlaw country,' but I think this album predates that subgenre by a few years. Instead, this album has some fairly generic songs about heartbreak, love, and being a drunken degenerate. Musically, this album was competent, but other than the slightly more upbeat songs like "Drink Up And Be Somebody," "If You Want To Be My Woman," and "Skid Row," I found myself pretty bored. The songs that had the best songwriting tended to be a bit boring to listen to, while the songs that were the most fun to listen to weren't nearly as well written. It's like getting a bag of Chex Mix without any rye chips. Despite not really enjoying this album, I can hear the influence it had on country music, and it reminded me a lot of the popular radio hits of nineties country music. "Skid Row" could easily be an Alan Jackson song, and it was definitely my favorite song on the album. Even though this album was a bit of a letdown, it's TBD to see if I'm bitter about it for the rest of my life.
Beck
3/5
I'm over 650 albums into this project, and this will be my first Beck album to review (still no sign of any of the Madonna albums though). I know a handful of Beck's songs, but the only whole album of his that I've listened to is Colors, which I really enjoyed. Based on the reviews for this album, I'm expecting to enjoy it, so let's get this party started!
This album wasn’t really my jam, but from an objective standpoint, I thought it was good. The songwriting, while pretty abstract at times, had a level of sincerity and vulnerability to it that I wasn’t expecting from Beck. Musically, the arrangements were great, and I loved the orchestra playing that was present throughout the album. Beck clearly knows his stuff when it comes to making music, and this album showcases his skills really well. I think I went into this expecting something that had the more upbeat pop sounds of Colors, but with deeper lyrics, but this album was definitely more melancholy in its sound. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn’t really expect it. “Sunday Sun” was my favorite song on the album. I loved the dreamy sound, and the piano and guitar sounded great together. I wish I would have had the opportunity to listen to this album again, but unfortunately, I didn’t. Had I had the chance, I might have ranked this album a little higher, because I think my expectations for this album were so far from reality that it threw me off. I’m still looking forward to more of Beck’s music, and I’d be open to revisiting this one someday as well.
Simple Minds
3/5
I know a couple of Simple Minds songs, but I've never listened to a whole album of theirs before. I enjoy "Alive and Kicking" quite a bit, and "Don't You Forget About Me" is really good as well, although I think its presence in The Breakfast Club really helps bolster it quite a bit. I love music from the eighties, especially things with a healthy amount of synthesizers, so I have high hopes for this album.
I was really blown away by the opening track, "Someone Somewhere." I loved the dark and moody atmosphere. The synthesizers enhanced the sound perfectly, and the bass playing was great too. After this opening song, I really thought I was going to love this album. The next song, "Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel" was really good too, keeping the moody atmosphere up with another great bass line. From there, the album still had some really strong bass playing, but I felt the overall sound over the rest of the album wasn't really noteworthy, and it certainly never reached that high of "Someone Somewhere" again. For a synthpop album that's supposed to be the cream of the crop, I'd expect more memorable hooks, but I don't feel like this album had that. To top it off, the vocals sounded like they were really drowned out by reverb, which I found pretty annoying. I thought the album was fine as a whole, due to its moody atmosphere, but the individual songs were fairly weak. It's okay though Simple Minds, we'll always have "Alive and Kicking."
Nanci Griffith
5/5
I’ve never heard of Nanci Griffith before, but I tend to enjoy country music from this era, so I have some decently high expectations for this album. Granted, I had high hopes for Merle Haggard last week as well, and his album didn’t land with me. Let’s see what this album is all about!
This album was a really pleasant surprise. The vocals were really great throughout the album, and were probably my favorite part of listening to this. I’m not exactly an expert on vocals, but it sounds to me like Nanci Griffith has a pretty good range to her voice, and I loved how she was able to sing softly but also with intensity when the moment called for it. On the title track, I loved the way she belted out the line “Comin’ up around the bend” towards the end of the song, but then she shifts right back to her soft and melodic singing for the rest of the song. The vocal harmonies were great too, but I’m glad that the album used them sparingly enough to where they were able to provide a little unexpected punch. The musical arrangements on this album were great too, and I enjoyed how this album had a lot of folk influences in its sound. The mandolin playing really stood out to me as well, but the other string instruments were great as well. The more up-tempo song were probably my favorites, like the title track, “Banks of the Pontchartrain,” “Fly By Night,” and “Lookin’ For The Time,” but the whole album was really great. I thought this album was really outstanding, and I’m really surprised that something as beautiful as this never found a really wide audience. This definitely beats the pants off of a lot of the country music this century, and I’d be quick to go back to this album in the future.
Hawkwind
4/5
I’ve never heard of Hawkwind before, but I’ve come across this album cover quite a few times when marking my progress on the album checklist site. It’s a pretty striking album cover, and I always wonder what this album sounds like. Well, I guess today is my day to finally solve the mystery of this naked space lady and her space panthers!
I thought this album was really good, and I had a great time listening to it. I was promised space rock, and Hawkwind delivered on that promise. The overall atmosphere of the album was great, and I really enjoyed how the guitars and synthesizers were layered to create a really unique sound. The use of the flute was great too, and I liked that it wasn’t used in a way that felt gimmicky. Early on in the album, I was afraid that things would get repetitive, but the songs were really unique and varied in sound, and each song was like its own fun little journey. The lyrics were kind of goofy, but they were incredibly fun; it was refreshing to see a band really commit to a niche sound on every front. One of the only elements that didn’t land with me was the spoken interludes. I don’t mind them in theory, but in practice, they were kind of jarring compared to the smooth and peaceful atmosphere of the album. Granted, the shorter songs in general were the worst part of this album, and most of them felt kind of jarring compared to the longer songs that made up the bulk of the album. Maybe that was the point of them, to create a more solid interlude between the epic longer songs, but it was a miss for me. I’m not a big Motörhead fan, but it was a really cool surprise that Lemmy was on this album. As far as the individual songs go, “Space is Deep” was really great, and “Orgone Accumulator” was probably the most fun song on the album. This was a really fun and unique experience, and I wouldn’t be opposed to adding this album to my vinyl collection.
Iron Maiden
4/5
I know a few Iron Maiden songs, and a few weeks ago, I listened to their album Somewhere In Time after a coworker who's a fan of them recommended it (I thought it was really good). I know "Run to the Hills" and the title track from this album, but I don't believe I've ever listened to it in its entirety. I have pretty high expectations for this album, and honestly I think listening to Iron Maiden will be a pretty good way to spend the day before Christmas Eve!
I wasn't blown away by the first side of this album, but the second side was incredibly strong, and overall, it's an excellent heavy metal album. I love Bruce Dickinson's singing, and his operatic voice was firing on all cylinders on this album. His singing on "The Number of The Beast" was great, but his vocals on the chorus for "Run to the Hills" are some of my favorite of any metal song. He blasts every word, and I think he does an excellent job of holding notes and hitting those high notes. The guitar playing and drumming were really great too, but they were definitely at their peak on the second side of the album. "Run to the Hills" is still my favorite song on this album, and probably my favorite of any Iron Maiden song that I've heard. I love the message of the lyrics, and the frantic energy of the song is outstanding. The biggest downside to this album for me is the first side, which didn't really provide anything noteworthy in my opinion, and it was easily overshadowed by the second side of the album. Still, this was really good, and it's an album I'm open to revisiting.
Big Star
3/5
I know very little about Big Star. In fact, I think the only thing I know about them is from The Replacements’ “Alex Chilton,” which is an all-time banger (also, how is Pleased To Meet Me not on this list? Way better than Let It Be). I know that their debut album is supposed to be really good, but I’ve never heard about this one. I’m excited to check it out and see what Big Star is all about! (I listened to the Aura Records UK LP from 1978)
I thought this album was pretty bland. I went into this album pretty blind, but reading that Big Star was a big influence on power pop, I expected something with really catchy hooks and mass appeal, but I thought this album was a bit of a snooze for the most part. The thing that Big Star did best on this album was the slower, moodier songs, like “Holocaust,” “Nighttime,” and “Kanga Roo.” Those songs all had some really great string arrangements, and I would have loved to have heard more stuff like that on this album. I didn’t find the songwriting or singing to be particularly noteworthy, with the exception of the three songs that I already mentioned. I did think their version of Lou Reed’s “Femme Fatale” was pretty good though, and they did a good job of keeping the original feel to the song, while still putting their own touch on it. Maybe their debut album will be better, but if this is any indicator, I can’t see myself becoming a fan of Big Star. This album is a three for me, but it’s probably the lowest three I’ve given out, and all of those stars were earned by the songs on side 2 of the version that I listened to.
Destiny's Child
3/5
I’ve lived in Houston for a majority of my life, but I’ve never listened to this album, which I guess might make me a shitty Houstonian. I remember Destiny’s Child really starting to get big maybe a year or so before this album came out, and I know the title track really well (it still slaps over two decades later). I’m not a Beyoncé superfan by any means, but she does have some stuff that I like. Also, how great is it that I get this album on Christmas day, when Beyoncé is playing the halftime show at the Texans game today?
I’m not huge on R&B or pop music from this era, but I thought this album was fine. Yes, its impact on culture and music as a whole was monumental, but in my opinion, a lot of the R&B albums from this era are just too damn long, and somewhat boring as a result. The overall sound is okay, and I think Beyoncé, Kelly, and Michelle work really well together. All three of these ladies have really great voices and the performance chops that really made Destiny’s Child soar. Musically, there just wasn’t a lot about this album that I found that noteworthy. The obvious exceptions to this were the title track and “Bootylicious,” which uses the guitar riff from “Edge of Seventeen” in a really brilliant way. There were some other moments that were fine, but some of the songs felt really out of place with the majority of what was going on. Lyrically, “Nasty Girl” was the best song on the album. I was reading that this song caused some controversy when it came out, but I think it’s brilliant, and I love it when female artists push back on the ridiculous standards that women are held to. This album certainly wasn’t my favorite, but it deserves to be on this list due to its influence and cultural impact. I don’t think I’d listen to it again, but “Survivor” and “Bootylicious” are really fun jams.
David Ackles
3/5
I’ve never heard of David Ackles before, but from my brief reading about him, if he influenced Elton John and Phil Collins, I think he’s going to be right up my alley. And this album was produced by Bernie Taupin? Sign me up. It does make me nervous that this album has pretty poor reviews, but I won’t let the haters dampen my good time!
Well, maybe there was a kernel of truth to what the haters have said about this album. I thought this album was fine, but I don’t think it deserves its reputation as an underground gem. This album started off really strong; I loved the opening track, and I wished that the whole album would have had the same vibe. The ragtime-sounding piano was great, and there was an anxiousness to the sound and that matched the lyrics really well. Ackles’s singing was really good throughout the album, but on the opening track, he really reminded me of Nick Cave’s singing. The second song, “Love’s Enough” was really good too. The lyrics were great, the piano melody was beautiful, and this song definitely felt like it was produced by Bernie Taupin, which is a great thing. “Ballad of the Ship of State,” “Oh, California,” and “Midnight Carousel” were pretty different though, and their different structure and odd elements were a sharp contrast to the first two songs. The rest of the album was fine, but nothing really captured that feeling of the title track that I really loved. The piano playing and singing were really good, but for me, this was just another fine singer-songwriter effort from the seventies.
Haircut 100
2/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I do tend to like new wave music from this era, so I think there's a good chance that I'll enjoy this album. The user reviews do make me a little cautious, but I'm hopeful that these sweater clad gents will give me a new undiscovered favorite album!
Well, fashion sensibilities aside, I didn't care for this album too much. There were some good rhythms on this album, and the percussion and horns gave it a little unique touch, but this was a bit of a chore to get through due to its repetitiveness. It wasn't terrible to listen to, but very little about this album jumped out to me. This album does have a couple of fun songs like "Love Plus One" and "Fantastic Day," but when you plug them into the whole album, they just fade away, like puzzle pieces where the picture is just a blue sky. I can see how this album may have influenced the likes of Culture Club or Talking Heads, but I definitely don't think this is required listening.
AC/DC
3/5
My parents listened to a lot of classic rock when I was a kid, and that trend rubbed off on me quite a bit. For a while, I stuck with things that they had played a lot: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, and a handful of others. As I got to be an older teenager though, I started branching out into some other artists that they never really listened to, and one of those artists was AC/DC. I bought their live album when I was maybe a senior in high school, and I listened to it constantly. As much as I loved that album, I’ve never listened to one of AC/DC’s studio albums in full, but I’m glad that the day has arrived for me to break that trend!
This was fun to listen to, and I’d say it was fine overall. The title track is an absolute masterpiece, and honestly, that song alone may have landed this album on the list, and if that’s truly the case, I can understand that. The guitar riff on that song is one of the few classic rock guitar riffs that I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of. It’s simple, but man, it’s catchy. And when the drumming kicks in? I can’t help but nod along and attempt some really terrible air guitar playing. As someone who grew up in an evangelical household, “Highway to Hell” and AC/DC were so off-limits that no one ever had to say they were off-limits; it was just understood that listening to a song called “Highway to Hell” would surely summon Satan himself. Somehow though, this song still carries a bit of that mystique and forbidden fruit quality with me; it always feels like it’s something I shouldn’t be listening to, and of course that makes it all the more enjoyable. “If You Want Blood,” is easily my second favorite song on the album. The guitar riff is just as simple as the title track, and so is the drumming, but Bon Scott’s vocals really carry this song and make it great. The backing vocals are fantastic too, making this song incredibly fun, and one of the most underrated songs in the band’s catalog. “Love Hungry Man” was good too, and lyrically, it reminds me of the brilliance of “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” The bass playing on this song was easily my favorite on the album as well, and it gave the song a great groove that complimented the lead guitar really well. As for the rest of the album… well, it’s AC/DC. If you came here for a varied sound, you came to the wrong place. But if you came here for some hard rock that you can turn your brain off while you listen to, then you’ll go home happy. As for me? Aside from the three songs I dove into, the rest of the album was fine, but nothing else really grabbed me. A good portion of this album left my brain as soon as it left my ears, but while I was listening to it, it was fine. I hope I get to review Back in Black soon!
Death In Vegas
3/5
I think I’ve heard the name Death In Vegas before, but I’m not super confident about that. Taking a quick peak at this album, I see that it’s a British electronica album, so I estimate that at worst, I’ll probably think that this is something nice to have on in the background. What a pivot this is from AC/DC’s Highway to Hell yesterday. Anywho, time for some Death In Vegas!
As I guessed, I thought this album was fine. Nothing really jumped out at me all that much, and I’d say that this is something pleasant to have on in the background. The rhythmic elements of it were pretty good though, and I enjoyed feeling the groove of these songs. It was cool to hear some other 1001 albums adjacent artists provide the vocal work on this album; Bobby Gillespie and Jim Reid were really good, but I loved Iggy Pop’s weird contributions on “Aisha.” I thought the songs that had deeper sounds were the best parts of this album (“Dirge,” “Death Threat,” and the aforementioned “Aisha” fit this bill), but the songs with some shoegaze elements were pretty good too (“Flying” and “Neptune City”). This album was fine, but with a dearth of British electronica music already on this list, I’m not quite sure why this made the cut, but to each their own I guess.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
I could have sworn that there were only two Marvin Gaye albums on the list, so seeing a third album of his pop up for me today was quite the shock. However, I loved What’s Going On and Let’s Get It On, so I’m assuming that I’m going to love this album too.
Well, this was a pretty complex album. Granted, divorce and love are complex as well, so it’s pretty fitting. I didn’t enjoy this album as much as I did the other Marvin Gaye albums I’ve reviewed, but I still thought Here, My Dear was really good. The things that I loved about Marvin Gaye’s other albums were all present on this one as well: great vocals, poetic songwriting, and beautiful arrangements. I know this album is mostly about Gaye’s divorce, but some of the lyrics are a touch cheesy, and a few songs feel really out of place on this album as well. And to top it all off, at a runtime of over 70 minutes, this album was a lot to get through as a whole. Despite all of that though, I still had a really good experience listening to it. The lyrics went through all the stages of grief, and I loved it when Gaye’s songwriting was in the anger stage. He came across as snide and bitter, but I loved it, because whom amongst us hasn’t been bitter after a breakup? The arrangements were great too, and I really loved the Rhodes piano playing, especially on “Time To Get It Together” and “Anna’s Song.” This was a good album, but it was my least favorite of Gaye’s works that are on this list, and I’d be much quicker to relisten to his other two albums than this one.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
This will be my second Echo and The Bunnymen album to review, after Ocean Rain. I gave Ocean Rain four stars, and after reading my short review, I didn’t say anything negative about it that would explain to me why I gave it four stars instead of five. But alas, here we are. I did get to see these guys in concert back in May (it was sadly not a great show, but such is life), and in the weeks leading up to the show, I checked out a few songs off this album so I would be familiar with more of their catalog. Still, I’m not terribly familiar with this album, and I’m excited for the chance to listen to it.
I didn’t enjoy Crocodiles as much as I enjoy listening to Ocean Rain, but I still thought it was a really good album. Crocodiles had everything I’d expect from E&TB: Ian McCulloch’s great vocals, excellent guitar playing, and an atmosphere so thick that you could cut it with a knife. The rhythm section on this album is fantastic as well, which adds a unique element to the sound of the album, and sets E&TB apart from other post-punk bands at this time. I hear a lot of Joy Division in the music of this album, which isn’t a bad thing, because it never feels derivative, but McCulloch’s vocal style is so different than Ian Curtis’s, and that further helps separate E&TB from the bands that influenced them. Crocodiles gets better as it goes along and you familiarize yourself with its sound; “Rescue,” “Pictures on My Wall,” and “All That Jazz” were my favorites on the album, with “Monkeys” and the title track also standing out to me. There were a few songs on the album that sounded like filler, but with a fairly concise run time, I didn’t feel like they dragged the album down too much. I’m excited for Porcupine when it comes up, and I hope by then that I’ll have a good Crocodiles/Porcupine joke for the occasion.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
I’ve loved Bruce Springsteen since I was a kid, but aside from “Streets of Philadelphia,” I haven’t listened to anything of his that came out after Born In The USA. When it comes to artists that I loved as a kid, I’m always hesitant about their later work, and I typically shy away from it. I think there’s a part of me that’s afraid that their new work might replace my love for the music that’s been a part of my life for so long, and I don’t want to risk losing those memories that I associate with that music. My childhood was pretty rough, but music always made me happy, and I think that clinging to Born In The USA is how I cling to those few moments of innocence that my childhood had. But enough trauma dumping. I know this album is supposed to be really good, so I’m excited to listen to it today!
This was a great album, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. There’s just something about listening to Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band that I really love. I love Springsteen’s vocals, and The E Street Band just brings his lyrics to life in a beautiful and incredibly enjoyable way. This album was true to the sound that I expected, but the songwriting was wonderfully representative of a post 9/11 America. We were all full of fear and devastation after 9/11, and this album captures that feeling really well. Additionally, there’s a lot of reflection and optimism present in these lyrics, which is a thousand times better than the jingoistic garbage that was pumped out of Nashville at the same time. Springsteen’s music has always had a ‘heartland’ feel to it, and The Rising was no different. The arrangements were outstanding, and there was a great blend of instruments used, which the E Street Band played to perfection. As far as the individual songs go, I really loved the first five songs. “Lonesome Day” really grabbed my attention from the start, and it made me really excited for the rest of the album. The guitars, keyboards, mellotron, and synthesizers were all fantastic. “Nothing Man” was really beautiful too, and I loved the horn and string arrangements (I think they were done with synthesizers, or maybe they weren’t horns and strings at all, who knows, but I loved what I heard). This was just a very enjoyable and beautiful album to listen to, and listening to this has made me want to check out more of Springsteen’s later albums.
Boston
5/5
I've been looking forward to reviewing this album for a long time. It's an album that I know well, and album whose songs I've loved since childhood. I remember hearing "More Than A Feeling" on the radio when I was probably ten or so, and being mesmerized by its beautiful guitar melodies and insanely fun chorus. I was fortunate enough to see Boston in 2003, and they put on an excellent show, and if memory serves, they played for three hours straight without an intermission. But enough of my backstory, let's fire up the turntable and jam out to one of the best classic rock albums of all time!
Well, I’m actually feeling pretty on this album, and my declaration of it being one of the best classic rock albums of all time, while fairly accurate, might also be a bit hyperbolic in a way. Boston is no Rumors or Wish You Were Here, but just because it lacks the emotional depth of some of my favorite albums from the seventies doesn’t detract from the fact that it’s an incredibly well made and fun album full of solid guitar rock. “More Than A Feeling” and “Foreplay/Longtime” are fantastic songs which stand head and shoulders above the rest of the album. Both of these songs are perfect examples of Tom Scholz’s understanding and love of classical music, and contain beautiful and complex melodies fleshed out with fantastic guitar playing. Brad Delp’s vocals are outstanding, and I’m always jealous of how well he hits the notes on “More Than A Feeling.” The rest of the album is great too, and even though “Peace of Mind” is the only other single from the album, the five songs on the second side could have easily been singles as well. While I think this album is ambitious, bold, melodic, and perfectly arranged, it’s just not what I want to listen to a lot these days (I’ll always be in the mood for “More Than A Feeling” though), and I think that’s what’s weighing on me when considering what to rate this album. However, from an execution standpoint, I can’t really find many faults, and I think this is worthy of a five-star rating. Even if it’s just ‘Dad Rock,’ its impact and influence is massive, and it certainly deserves a place on this list.
The Jam
4/5
I don’t think I’ve ever listened to The Jam before, but I’ve already reviewed Style Council’s Café Bleu and Paul Weller’s Wild Wood, both of which I thought were pretty good (three stars for each one). Also, I read a couple of music history books this past year (one about protest songs, the other about Britpop) that talked a fair amount about Paul Weller, so I feel like I have a pretty decent grasp on what this album is going to be like. I tend to enjoy new wave music, so this should be a fun listen on the first Friday of 2025!
Sound Affects was a really unique new wave album infused with plenty of punk rock elements, and I thought it was really good and a fun listen. “Pretty Green” hooked me in right away, and I was blown away by its awesome bass line. The lead guitar was excellent too, and the percussion fit perfectly with the bass line. I didn’t care for “Monday” as much, but the bass playing was still fantastic, and there was a nice little keyboard riff during the chorus too. “But I’m Different Now” picked the tempo back up, and I loved its bass line and blistering percussion. The rest of the album was really good, but “Pretty Green” was far and away my favorite song on the album. “Music For The Last Couple” and “Boy About Town” were the best songs on the second side of the album, and they were both really fun. The bass playing was consistently awesome on this album, and I loved the really British feel that it had in the overall sound and the songwriting. A few songs felt a little flat and repetitive, but the ones that didn’t fit that bill were really good. This was a really good album, and very unique as far as new wave music goes, and I’m looking forward to reviewing All Mod Cons soon.
Einstürzende Neubauten
5/5
I’ve never heard of Einstrüzende Neubauten before, but their reputation on this list certainly precedes them (you know some poor sap got this as their first album and then bailed on this project, cursing the day they were born). I studied German for three years in high school and two years in college, and I’m honestly shocked that I managed to go this long without hearing about them. Even after reading a few reviews, I still don’t think I really know what I’m in for, but I signed up for this project to be challenged and experience new things, so I’m ready to dive into this.
I can easily understand how this album isn’t for everyone, but I thought listening to Kollaps was a fantastic experience. I was really hooked from the start by “Tanz Debil” and its pounding rhythms (I’m not even going to try to ballpark what instruments were used on this album). I would have though that pulsing would have gotten repetitive throughout the song, but paired with what I assume was a bass guitar, it made a really unique pairing, and it built an incredible sense of anxiety and dread that permeated any language barriers. “Steh auf Berlin” was great too; I loved the pulsing percussion and the other jarring noises that were used in the song. There were a couple of songs that really tricked me on this album; “Negativ Nein” and “Sehnsucht” both started off in a way that made me think they were going to be more melodic, almost like Bauhaus, but they both went off the rails eventually, and I thought that was some really brilliant song structure. The whole album was really great, and I was surprised that I enjoyed something that was so rhythmically driven and didn’t rely much on melodies. This is the type of thing that pushes boundaries in a way that I really enjoyed and appreciated. I didn’t care much for the other notoriously poorly received album on this list, Trout Mask Replica, but this album had a cohesiveness to it that really made it a fun experience to listen to. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I would honestly listen to this again. If you’re reading this review, my advice is to just turn off your brain and let the chaos of Kollaps wash over you. You may not enjoy it, but I think it’ll help you appreciate the experience more.
The Boo Radleys
4/5
I've heard of The Boo Radleys before, but I'm completely unfamiliar with their music. After some brief reading, I see that these guys are shoegaze and also Britpop, and I tend to enjoy both of those genres, so I imagine that I'll enjoy this album.
This album was pretty good, but I wouldn't say that I loved it. Giant Steps had a really good sound overall, and it nice to listen to. The Boo Radley's unique blend of shoegaze and Britpop allowed them to achieve that sense of place that Britpop strives for, but in a way that sets them apart from the likes of Blur, Oasis, and Pulp. As far as individual songs go, I really loved "Barney and Me." The main guitar melody was really great, and the flugel horn and other horn parts were outstanding. There were some really great electronic elements on this song too, and it was easily the best and most fun song on the album. "Spun Around" had some really great shoegaze elements to it, and it really left me wanting more of that type of sound on this album. The other songs on the album were really good, and there weren't any songs on the album that I had a strong dislike for. My biggest beef with this album was that its sound meandered around quite a bit, and I think the overall experience suffered from that overall lack of direction. The length of this album only exacerbated that problem in my opinion, and when it was over, I had reached my fill of it. It was a really good album, but there were too many things that held it back from being great. However, I'm definitely interested in checking out some more albums from The Boo Radleys that are more firmly cemented in shoegaze.
MGMT
5/5
Ah, Oracular Spectacular, an album I know well. This album, in conjunction with Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut, are the reason that I got heavily into indie music in the late aughts through the mid 2010's. It must have been in late 2008 when my brother gave me a burned CD of this album, and I instantly fell in love. I had been out of college for about a year, and throughout my life, I had listened to a lot classic rock and eighties music. Those opening synthesizer sounds on "Time To Pretend" hooked me in from the start; I had no idea that bands were still making music that harkened back to the synthesizers that dominated pop music in the eighties. I still follow MGMT's music (Loss of Life was my favorite album in 2024), but I haven't listened to this album in a while, because I knew it would come up for me eventually on this list. I can't think of a better way to spend a Monday than to try to feel like I'm 24 again!
Well, I didn’t feel like I was 24 again, but I sure as hell enjoyed listening to this today. Oracular Spectacular is outstanding from start to finish, and is a shining jewel in the crown of the indie sleaze era. It always blows me away that OS came out in 2007, because it feels like the perfect bridge from the Bush administration to the Obama administration. The themes of disillusionment on this album wound up being incredibly prophetic for the impending financial crisis of 2008, but I guess that’s because some themes are always relevant. The singles off of this album carry a lot of weight in the court of public opinion, and for good reason; all three of them are an absolute blast of pulsing synths, fuzzy guitars, and vivid imagery. Even almost eighteen years later, “Time to Pretend,” “Electric Feel,” and “Kids” all make me want to dance. I’d never noticed before that there are some really subtle background vocals on “Electric Feel” that are absolutely fantastic. “Time to Pretend” will always hold a special place in my heart because it’s the first MGMT song I ever heard, but “Kids” is my favorite off of this album by a slim margin. I know the rest of this album tends to lose people a little bit, but I honestly think the other songs are just as good as the singles. Yes, they don’t have as much of a pop song feel to them, but this is a psychedelic album, through and through. The rest of the songs may not have that pop song structure, but they’re still full of wonderful electronic elements that are perfectly layered that creates a cohesive atmosphere on the album. “Pieces of What” is my favorite of the non-singles from this album. I love that it starts off with just an acoustic guitar, but the song gets denser and more beautiful as it goes along, and the string arrangements at the end are fantastic. I got to see MGMT live back in 2010 when they were touring for Congratulations (Tame Impala opened for them), and if I could go back and relive any day from my life, that day is at the top of the list. Listening to this album today really deepened my love for MGMT, and I spent a lot of time listening to Loss of Life last year. If you like this album, I highly encourage you to check out Congratulations as well. These guys are musical geniuses, and this is easily one of the best albums of the 2000’s.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Two days in a row, I've gotten albums from the same decade, and they both happen to be albums that I've listened to before. I should go buy a lottery ticket. I've already reviewed the Soft Bulletin (it was my first time listening to it, and I absolutely loved it), but I haven't listened to Yoshimi in a hot minute. I own a copy of this album though, and I think it was word of mouth from friends that persuaded me to buy it. Or maybe it was the fact that I was about to see them at a festival? Or maybe I bought it after that festival? I don't remember, but whatever the case, I'm excited to jump back into this album!
Jumping back into this album today made me realize why I don't really revisit it very often. It's a very good album, but it can be kind of a chore to get through at times. The songwriting is excellent, but some of these songs don't really have a lot of lyrics to them, and they tend to meander with long instrumental sections until they conclude. They're not bad songs to listen to, but they can make this album a bit tedious. The overall work here is impressive, and themes of man's relationships with technology are still relevant today, and maybe even more so, as AI threatens to give the rich a way to hijack creative processes. There's a lot to take in with your ears on this album, but "Fight Test" and "Do You Realize??" are easily the best songs on the album. "Fight Test" heavily borrows its sound from Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam's "Father and Son" (I love reading Wayne Coyne's response to the whole kerfuffle), but the Flaming Lips heavily infuse Islam's chords with their own psychedelic sound. "Do You Realize??" has a chaotically majestic sound that evokes images in my mind of a choir singing it; I picture Tom Delaughter dancing around while the rest of the Polyphonic Spree sings behind him as confetti rains down from the sky. I find the lyrics to "Do You Realize??" incredibly poetic and beautiful. As I approach middle age and start to realize how little time I have left with my older loved ones, the mantra of this song provides a beautiful center where I can acknowledge how brief life is, while being spurred on to cherish the time I've had and make the best use of the time I have left. While this album isn't a five star for me, I still think it's really good, and it easily deserves a place on this list.
Miles Davis
2/5
This will be my third Miles Davis album to review, and while I've never listened to it before, I've seen this album cover countless times. I gave both Birth of The Cool and Kind of Blue 4 stars. I went back to see what I wrote about them, but they both came up for me really early on in this project, and I was writing really short reviews then, so I didn't say much more than the fact that I liked it. I see that this album is more experimental that Miles's earlier work, but I'm not very familiar with jazz, so I have no idea how that will translate to my listening experience.
I don't know if it was the experimental nature of this album, or just the fact that I'm not very familiar with jazz, but I really couldn't get into this album. It was incredibly long, and the length of the individual songs didn't help my enjoyment. It's not that it was unpleasant to listen to, but it kind of felt like a meal of chicken and rice; it served a purpose, but it didn't offer me anything beyond its pure elements. However, it did grow on me a little bit as it went on, with “John McLaughlin” being my favorite track. I have a few bullet points on each song, but it’s not much:
-I liked the piano playing on “Pharaoh's Dance,” but nothing else is jumping out at me. I wish there had been more piano playing
-I enjoyed the way the trumpet would pulse in and out on “Bitches Brew.”
-The tempo of “Spanish Key” was really good and a nice change of pace
-The guitar and bass guitar playing on “John McLaughlin” was really good, and I liked how they interacted with one another.
-“Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” has an overall sound that I like. I enjoyed the trumpet and guitar playing off of each other.
-The trumpet playing on “Sanctuary” was nice, but there wasn’t much else going on for me.
I keep hoping that one of these jazz albums will land with me, and I thought that this might be the one, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I do want to go back through the Miles Davis albums once I finish this list, but we’ll see if this album gets a re-evaluation someday.
Crowded House
2/5
As is probably the case with most people, the only Crowded House song I know is "Don't Dream It's Over." I think that's a fantastic song, but with such a small sample size, I have no idea what to expect from this album. I have soft spot for music from the late eighties and early nineties, so I'm hoping that I'll really love this, so let's jump in!
Well, at least I still have "Don't Dream It's Over." I thought this album was pretty dull. Parts of it did tap into the nostalgia I have for nineties pop rock, but it was only surface level. Overall, I didn't find anything particularly remarkable about Woodface. This album sounds like something that would have played on an adult contemporary radio station in the states when it came out. But despite some good vocals, and a really good song in "Fall At Your Feet," this album just doesn't have much to offer up, especially at a time when music like this was really plentiful. In my opinion, albums like this should be driven by catchy hooks and melodies, but I didn't find any of that on this album. The music and songwriting here aren't bad, but Crowded House didn't manage to capture my attention here.
Jack White
4/5
Each year, I try to comb through the best reviewed albums and check out ones that appeal to me. Blunderbuss was on quite a few best of 2012 lists, and I really enjoyed Jack White’s work with The Deadweather, so I decided to check it out. I remember really enjoying it, and I've been meaning to listen to it again for a really long time, so it looks like that day has finally come! Also, I just had a realization about the cover of this album: that’s a vulture on Jack's shoulder, and not him reaching his hand towards his back. Don't know how I never saw that before. Anyway, I'm really hoping that I'll enjoy Blunderbuss today as much as I remember enjoying it all those years ago!
I didn’t enjoy this album as much as I remember enjoying it back when it came out, but I still thought it was really good. Jack White has such an interesting take on blues music. When I think of the blues, I think of really sparse arrangements, but Jack creates that blues feeling with such a dense atmosphere, and I think that really works for him. Jack White creates a sound that’s well layered, and full of interesting elements, but the sound never feels busy or saturated. There’s some really good use of stereophonic sound on “Freedom at 21” that I really loved. Throughout Blunderbuss, the guitar playing is really unique, and each song has its own distinct sound. I really loved the guitar work throughout “Sixteen Saltines,” especially towards the end of the song. In addition to the guitar work, there was some great Rhodes piano on “Missing Pieces,” a haunting pedal steel melody on “Blunderbuss,” and some beautiful folkier elements on “Love Interruption.” I’m not the biggest fan of Jack White’s vocals, but I really loved the background singers on “I’m Shakin’.” The background singing really added to the atmosphere of the album. The songwriting on this album wasn’t really my taste, but I thought that “Missing Pieces” was really brilliant. This album isn’t really the type of thing that I’d revisit often, but I thought it was beautiful and really well made.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
I reviewed EBTG's Walking Wounded some time last year, and I really loved it. I went into it thinking I didn't know any of their songs, but by the second song, I'd realized that I knew their song "Miss You." Since I loved Walking Wounded so much, I've really been looking forward to Idlewild, especially since I love pop music from the late eighties and early nineties. This should be a great way to spend my Saturday!
I thought Idlewild was fine, but it certainly can't hold a candle to Walking Wounded. Of all the things that I loved about Walking Wounded, the only thing that was present on Idlewild were Tracey Thorn's fantastic vocals. The songwriting was good, but I really missed the atmosphere that EBTG created on Walking Wounded. The more straightforward pop ballads were fine, but I think EBTG is at their best when they’re branching out and going against the grain. I really enjoyed the songs on this album that relied heavily on synthesizers. “These Early Days” was really good, and the synthesizer worked really well with the percussion and guitar. “I Always Was Your Girl” was really good too. The synthesizer arrangement was really beautiful and exactly what I would want from a pop album from this era. While I didn’t necessarily like “Apron Strings” from a musical standpoint, I thought it had the best songwriting on the album, and it was incredibly moving. Idlewild was nice to listen to, and a great showcase for Tracey Thorn’s singing, but it really fails to show how talented EBTG are at crafting great music, and most of this album just blends in with a lot of other pop albums from this era.
k.d. lang
3/5
I reviewed k.d. lang's Ingenue last spring, and I didn't particularly care for it. I knew that I'd still have one more of her albums to review, and I wasn't particularly excited to see Shadowland come up for me today (although it's interesting that I got Everything But The Girl's Idlewild yesterday, which is also from 1988). Even though I'm not jazzed about listening to this album, I'm still willing to give it a fair shot!
Shadowland wasn't really my jam, but I thought it was better than Ingenue. One of the few things that I liked on Ingenue was k.d.'s vocals, and they were great on this album. Who could have guessed that a Canadian lesbian would have a voice so well suited for country music? I felt like the album got better as it went along; that might be due to me becoming more comfortable with it as I got deeper into it, but I think it's because it opened up more stylistically on the second side of the album. "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" had a really good southwestern flair to it, and I loved how the pedal steel was utilized in a different way than it had been up until that point. "I'm Down to My Last Cigarette" had a wonderful honky tonk sound to it, and some of the best pedal steel playing on the album. The songwriting was really great on this album, as it was on Ingenue, but this album was definitely more enjoyable to listen to, mostly due to it having more variation in the sound. If it weren't for the weaker first half of the album, I'd probably give this album four stars, but this lands more middle of the road for me.
Adam & The Ants
4/5
I don't know any Adam & The Ants songs, but I do know Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes," which I think is pretty fun. Reading up on this band, I'm amazed that Adam & The Ants eventually led to Bow Wow Wow and Culture Club, via Malcolm McLaren. I don't know much about McLaren, other than the fact that he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of London. Regardless, I wouldn't say that I have high hopes for this album, and I'm blaming Haircut 100 for that. Here's hoping I'm wrong!
I'm happy to report that I enjoyed this album quite a bit. Before I started this project, I would have said that New Wave was one of my favorite genres, but I've come to realize that I'm pretty picky about the genre. However, Kings Of The Wild Frontier was really unique, making it a really fun experience. "Dog Eat Dog" grabbed my attention right from the start. The percussion immediately reminded me of Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy," which I've now learned is something called Burundi Beat. Is there anything more English than stealing something from Africa and pretending it's yours? Possible cultural theft aside, the Burundi Beat was easily my favorite element of this album. I was shocked that it never wore thin on me, but I think that's because there was plenty of variation in sound throughout the album, and the guitar playing worked really well with this unique style. Also, I think it made the weird vocals a bit less 'exotic' than they would have been had this album relied more on guitars for its musical sound. Speaking of the vocals, I really enjoyed the backing vocals on this album, especially on "Feed Me to the Lions." I dove into a bit more of Adam Ant's solo discography after listening to this album, and I think he sings pretty well, but this album doesn't really showcase his lead vocal talents, which is a shame. This album sounded a bit chaotic at several points, but I felt like that chaos was converted into some great energy, and it worked really well on this album. "Dog Eat Dog," "Antmusic," and "Los Rancheros" were my favorite songs on the album, but there weren't really many tracks that I didn't care for. Overall, this was a really fun and unique album, and it's really made me want to check out more of Adam Ant's solo work.
R.E.M.
4/5
Ah, my last R.E.M. album to review, and it happens to be their last one chronologically on the list. I listened to a fair amount of R.E.M.'s music in my teens and early twenties, but other than Document, I'd never listened to one of their full albums before starting this project. I've enjoyed reviewing their albums so far (Murmur and Document were both 4 stars, and Green was 5 stars), and I expect great things from Automatic For The People as well. I'm ready to let R.E.M. go out with a bang (and blame)!
I really wanted to fall in love with Automatic For the People, and while there moments of if that I absolutely loved, I think it falls a little short of a five star album for me. However, I do understand how this album has a reputation for possibly being the band’s best work. My favorite moments on this album were easily “Everybody Hurts” and “Nightswimming.” “Everybody Hurts” is absolutely beautiful, and the lyrics are incredibly powerful. I’ve struggled with my mental health throughout my life, and I’ve found “Everybody Hurts” to be really cathartic when I’m struggling. The way the song swell to a beautiful conclusion is incredibly representative of how it feels to come out of a funk and to fight another day. The strings are so incredibly well arranged on this song, and I can’t believe that today was when I learned that John Paul Jones was responsible for the arrangement. “Stand” is my favorite R.E.M. song, but “Nightswimming” has been giving it a run for its money these last several years. The piano melody is absolutely beautiful, and I love the way that the strings compliment that melody. Michael Stipe’s vocals are absolutely perfect, and this is probably my favorite singing of his. Even thought “Nightswimming” is incredibly symbolic and figurative, it still manages to paint a beautiful visual image. I’ve never been a big fan of “Man on the Moon,” but I have a newfound appreciation for it after listening to this album today. As one of the few guitar driven tracks on the album, it really stands out, and from a songwriting standpoint, the lyrical theme of sorting reality from a comedic bit is incredibly relevant today. The album as a whole is fantastic when it comes to the songwriting, and I loved that it explored some darker thematic elements and how those elements are the building blocks of grief throughout life. My biggest complaint with Automatic For The People was that there were some boring stretches; other than “Everybody Hurts,” I wasn’t that big of a fan of the first half of the album. However, after “New Orleans Instrumental No. 1,” it does pick up quite a bit of steam that it carries through the end of the album. Still, I thought this album was really good, and it was a perfect way to cap off my final review for an R.E.M. album.
Patti Smith
4/5
I know of Patti Smith and this album, but I’ve never listened to any of Patti Smith’s work before. I know Horses is supposed to be incredibly influential and groundbreaking, so I’ve been looking forward to the chance to review it. Here’s hoping that it will blow my socks off!
Well, my socks are still firmly on my feet, but I did enjoy this album. I think Horses did a great job of pushing against the preconceived notions of what punk rock can be, and it was really interesting to listen to. The two longer songs, “Birdland” and “Land,” were really well written, and it was really cool to see longform storytelling be adapted to punk music in this way. Even though the songs were long, I didn’t find them boring. I think Patti Smith’s usage of creating peaks and valleys in the tempo of the music really helped keep these longer songs interesting and engaging. I really loved how “Gloria” built to a really chaotic crescendo towards its end. The backing vocals and Patti’s chants of ‘G-L-O-R-I-A’ were incredibly energetic and one of my favorite parts of the whole album. Patti’s ability to control the energy and tempo was probably her biggest asset on Horses, and she used it well throughout the course of the album. In my opinion, Horses is one of those albums where the sum of the parts works much better than the individual pieces; it would be hard for me to enjoy a lot of these songs without having the context of the sound of the whole album. While I wasn’t blown away by this, I thought that it was really good from an objective standpoint. I don’t know that I’d be quick to return to this album, but I wouldn’t mind checking out more of Patti Smith’s work.
5/5
Well, I just had my final R.E.M. album this week, and now it's time for my final Kinks album. I was pretty underwhelmed by Face to Face and Something Else, but I enjoyed The Village Green Preservation Society, so maybe I'll enjoy this later entry as well.
Arthur was outstanding, and easily the best Kinks album that I got to review. I didn't think they'd outdo The Village Green Preservation Society with me, but this album was incredible. The songwriting on Aurthur is outstanding. The social commentary is incredibly biting, and I love the way that the whole album has a feeling of "hey, we can say these things because we're English." The lyrics had such a sense of place to them, and they really transported me to England in the sixties, with the use of some great visual imagery. Musically, I really enjoyed this album as well. Arthur was some solid sixties guitar rock, with a really unique sound. It felt like The Kinks didn't try to do anything weird or avant gardé, opting to use more traditional rock sounds that helped further establish the sense of place established by the lyrics. The accessible arrangements really lured me in as a listener, making the sharp social critiques of the lyrics pack that much more punch due to the contrast. Arthur was a brilliant album, and I'm delighted that my last Kinks album to review wound up being my favorite of the bunch.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Man, I've been waiting to review Born In The U.S.A. for what feels like an eternity. I'd hoped that this would pop up for me on July 4, but getting to review it the Friday before TFG gets inaugurated again on Monday feels sadly appropriate too. On my drive home yesterday, I was thinking about how many of my favorite albums I haven't gotten to review yet, and this one definitely crossed my mind, so maybe I willed it to happen. Regardless, I'm excited to jump into this today, and hopefully this isn't indicative of American democracy's last hurrah!
Ugh, I love this album so much. This is my fourth album of The Boss’s to review (I only have Nebraska left now), and it’s easily my favorite. I went into Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town, thinking I’d love them, and while I did like them, they just don’t pack the same punch as Born In The U.S.A. for me. I love that this album has so much raw emotion packed into its politically conscious lyrics, but its pop sensibilities really make it land in a broadly appealing way. This album’s arrangements draw on some European influences, giving it a really midwestern feel. The heartland sound of Born In The U.S.A. always makes me forget that Bruce Springsteen is from New Jersey, because this album sounds so much like it could have been recorded in Iowa or Nebraska. I really enjoyed how some of the songs intertwined love song lyrics with lamenting about the death of the American Dream. Those two themes combined in a way that I wouldn’t have thought would work, but Springsteen’s brilliant songwriting pulled it off. One of my favorite things about this album is how every song is brilliant, and could easily stand on its own. It blows my mind that there were seven singles released from this album, but any of these songs would have made a great single.
When it comes to the songs on this album, “Glory Days” is my favorite, but by a very slim margin. I love the opening guitar riff that starts the song, but the keyboard and organ playing really steal the show for me here. The booming drums are fantastic too, and give the perfect rock and roll punch to this song with excellent pop sensibilities. The lyrics are fantastic too, and I love their theme about not getting lost in the good feelings of nostalgia so that you don’t miss the present. The title track is my second favorite on the album, and easily one of the best rock songs of all time. I love that Bruce’s voice is all over the place on his singing on this song, and I think it’s because he’s singing with a raw anger, that his voice can’t help but break several times. The keyboards are great here too, and just like on “Glory Days,” Max Weinberg’s drums add enough of a boom to give this song a great rock and roll sound. “Dancing in the Dark” is another favorite of mine off of this album. I love the singing, and the keyboards and saxophone give it a really great eighties feel. “No Surrender” is my favorite non-single off of this album. I love the guitars, and the singing is some of my favorite on the whole album. “No Surrender” has such an anthemic feeling to it that makes it swell with a contagious energy. Despite the criticism it gets, I think “I’m On Fire” is fantastic as well. I love its slower pace and darker tone, and it really stands out from the other songs. One last thing before I close, I thought the Hammond organ playing on “Darlington County” was fantastic.
I really love Born In The U.S.A. From the opening keyboards of its title track, to the closing somber notes of “My Hometown,” this album is absolutely perfect. I loved listening to this today, and I was reminded of why this is one of my favorite albums of the eighties, and one of my favorite albums of all time.
Silver Jews
2/5
I’ve never heard of Silver Jews before, nor this album, so I have no idea of what to expect when I listen to this. I see the reviews for Bright Flight are… shall we say, less than favorable? Outside of this project, I don’t really have a lot of experience with indie rock from this era, and the things I’ve listened to so far have been pretty hit or miss with me, so I’m heading into this album with middle-of-the-road expectations.
As I listened to Bright Flight, I waffled back and forth between not liking it and finding it okay. It took me a minute to get used to the vocals, but once I did, I was able to appreciate them more. The stripped-down arrangements were done well, but aside from a few songs, I didn’t find anything particularly interesting or enjoyable about this album. However, I thought the songwriting was pretty good, and there were some fairly clever lyrics. The line “Everybody's going down on themselves, No ‘pardon me's’ or ‘fare thee well’s’ in the end” was probably my favorite line on the whole album. “Transylvania Blue” was my favorite song on the album. I really enjoyed the moodiness and atmosphere to the sound, and it really stood out from the rest of the songs. “Let’s Not and Say We Did” stood out too; I enjoyed its upbeat tempo, the percussion, and the piano melody. Other than that, though, I really wasn’t into this album very much. I didn’t think Bright Flight was bad per se, but it’s definitely different than the type of music that I tend to gravitate towards, and it didn’t do enough to stand out.
Marty Robbins
5/5
I've been patiently waiting to review this album, and now, on the eve of my 700th album, I'll finally get my chance. The title of this album, combined with the cover, paints a pretty vivid image with a small canvas, and that's what's made me so excited to listen to it. I'm not sure if I'll love or hate this album, but at least I'll have a unique experience!
This album definitely lived up to the hype that I built for it in my head. Every aspect of it was done exceptionally well: the songwriting, the singing, and the guitar playing were all top-notch. I wasn't expecting for most of these songs to be such downers, but all of the sadder songs carried their emotional weight exceptionally well. I really loved the songs that had backing vocals, like "Big Iron," because they really fulfilled that stereotype of a trail song. The guitar playing was really great too, especially on "El Paso." The instrumentals on this album were sparse, but they were all done exceptionally well. The thing that really outshone the guitar playing though was the singing. I really loved Marty Robbins's voice on all of these songs, and I thought he sang everything really well. This was a really fun album to listen to, and certainly a unique experience. I'm glad it lived up to my expectations!
Spacemen 3
2/5
I've never heard of Spacemen 3 or this album before, but if this album is anything like some of the other things coming out of England at this time (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Stone Roses), I think I'll enjoy it. This is certainly an interesting album cover though. Let's see if the music is as interesting as that cover! Side note: this album came out on my fourth birthday. That's kind of cool I guess.
I wasn't really impressed by Playing With Fire. This album wasn't bad to listen to, but it really didn't bring anything unique or interesting to the table. The overall sound was fine, but it felt like Spacemen 3 weren't really committed to owning their sound. The bands that I mentioned in my introductory paragraph do an excellent job of really living in the unique sound that they created, but it felt like Spacemen 3 were just kind of drifting through various influences. I guess if I had to summarize what I don't like about the overall sound of this album, I'd say Spacemen 3 really doesn't have a unique way of blending their guitars with the electronic elements that they're using. I expected something that played with the layering of the sound to create more of an atmosphere, but that just wasn't present here. As a result, I just kind of drifted through these songs, and most of them dragged on. However, there were a couple of bright spots on this album. "Revolution" really grabbed my attention. I loved the heavy guitar tone, and the distortion sounded great with the heavier use of percussion. "Suicide" was really good too. It was really the only song that I felt took me on a journey as I listened to it. In contrast with a lot of the other stuff on this album, it really flew by as I listened to it, and I couldn't believe it was over 11 minutes long when it wrapped up. Other than those two songs though, I wasn't that impressed by this album. When it comes to the late eighties and early nineties, I think I'll stick to my shoegaze and shy away from Spacemen 3.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Ah, my third Bob Dylan album, and finally it’s one that I’m familiar with. I can’t remember when I first got this album, but I’m pretty sure it was at the recommendation of a friend of mine who was a big Bob Dylan fan. Bob Dylan is one of those artists that I say that I like, but I never know if I genuinely like him, or I just feel like I should because of how much I love music. I haven’t listened to Highway 61 Revisited from start to finish in quite a while; I usually just listen to “Like a Rolling Stone” and then call it quits, because I know that’s my favorite song on the album. However, I’m excited to revisit this today, especially since I’ve been underwhelmed by the Bob Dylan albums I’ve reviewed so far.
This is easily the best Dylan album I’ve reviewed so far, but it was a little short of a five-star album for me. I really love Bob Dylan’s nasally tone on this album, something that was sadly missing from Blood on the Tracks. I love the pacing of his singing as well, and the way he works his way through each line of his songs. Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits and Adam Granduciel from The War on Drugs are some of my favorite vocalists because of their ability to channel Bob Dylan in their voices, and it was so great to be reminded of that while listening to this album. Dylan’s songwriting is incredible, and Highway 61 Revisited is a shining example of his talent. However, at over 50 minutes, I find it really tiresome to be flooded with a non-stop barrage of idioms, parables, and figurative language. I don’t mind lyrics that require a deeper dive, but this album is just too much for me on that front. Musically though, I really love the guitar, piano, and organ that were used on this album. Even though the lyrics can be a bit much for me at times, Highway 61 Revisited is a treat on the ears. The tone of the guitar is fantastic, and Dylan does a great job of blending the blues with folk music. “Like a Rolling Stone” is still my favorite song on the album. Musically, it’s a feast for the ears, Dylan’s vocals are perfect, and the allegorical lyrics are straightforward enough to not be cumbersome. I really love “Tombstone Blues” and “Queen Jane Approximately” as well; they both have some great guitar playing. “Tombstone Blues” has a great upbeat tempo, but at the other end of the spectrum, I love “Queen Jane Approximately” for being a bit more like a ballad, with a fantastic organ arrangement during its chorus. While I don’t think Highway 61 Revisited is perfect, I still think it’s a great album, and it more than earns its inclusion on this list.
Paul Simon
3/5
Well, here it is, my last Paul Simon album to review. My wife and I actually have this on CD, but I’ve never listened to all of it. The CD was mistakenly delivered to us by in an Amazon package, and we could never track down the rightful owner. Even though I’ve never listened to this album in its entirety, I do love “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.” I’ve loved Graceland since the first time I listened to it many years ago, and I thought Hearts and Bones was pretty good, so I have some high hopes for this album as well. The cover to this album suits the weather outside perfectly, so let’s get after it!
As much as I wanted to love this album, I thought it was just fine. Paul Simon is a great songwriter, and that talent was on display on this album, but I didn’t find it that interesting to listen to. This album featured plenty of that signature folk sound that Paul Simon built with Art Garfunkel, but there was also some of the African and world music influences that Paul would utilize on later albums. The appearance of both of those styles wasn’t bad necessarily, but it just wasn’t something that I enjoyed. From a musical standpoint, I was a much bigger fan of songs like “Mother and Child Reunion” and the aforementioned “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.” The cuica on “Me and Julio” was fantastic, and I love the guitar playing as well. There’s such an infectious energy on “Me and Julio” that makes it a blast to listen to. “Mother and Child Reunion” has a lot of those African music influences that I love too, especially the way the organ and bass guitar sound together. From a songwriting perspective, “Peace Like a River,” “Run That Body Down,” and “Armistice Day” were my favorites. “Peace Like a River” was particularly great, because Paul Simon took his folk writing roots from the sixties, but gave it that pessimism from the seventies. Overall though, this album just doesn’t feel terribly cohesive to me, and there were too many moments on it that were a little bland for my taste, and that’s why it lands in the middle of the road for me.
Ramones
3/5
Hey, ho, let's go! I know a small handful of Ramones songs, and some of those songs happen to be on this album. Even though I find some of their songs to be pretty fun, I've never been inclined to check out an album of theirs. I'm excited to check this album off my list today!
As much as I wanted to love this self titled effort from The Ramones, I thought it was pretty middle of the road. The first three tracks were outstanding, and I had a blast listening to them, but from there, the album was pretty stale and repetitive in my opinion. The Ramones didn't have a lot to say on this album, and after a short while, they ran out of fun ways to say those things. I did enjoy the high energy of this album, and the simplicity of the sound was fantastic, but the repetitiveness of this album after the first three songs really killed its momentum for me. However, those first three songs are outstanding. "Blitzkrieg Bop" sets the tone for the album in a great way, I'd be hard pressed to think of a more influential and important punk some from the states. "Beat on the Brat" is great too, and the heavier bass playing makes it stand out from the rest of the album. "Judy Is a Punk" is almost as infectious as "Blitzkrieg Bop," and its chorus of 'perhaps they'll die' is a perfect encapsulation of punk's devil-may-care attitude. This album is closer to a two-star for me, but its influence and importance moves it up to a three-star.
David Gray
3/5
I've never heard of David Gray or this album before, but being Folktronica, I think there's a good chance that I'll enjoy this album. What better way to spend a Friday than going back to the late nineties?
I really enjoyed the first song, "Please Forgive Me." The piano playing was great, and the rapid but soft percussion really enhanced the sound. The song only got better as it went on, as the base and strings were added, and then later on when it added some electronica elements. David Gray's singing was great too. I thought I didn't know any songs on this album, but it turns out that I knew "Babylon." I hadn't heard "Babylon" in probably over twenty years, but it had a great sound that really took me back to the late nineties, when adult contemporary was still a genre on the radio. I really enjoyed the first two songs, and it gave me a lot of hope that I'd wind up loving this album. However, after those first two songs, I didn't enjoy the album as much until the "This Year's Love," which I also recognized. I loved the vocals and the lyrics, and the piano and string arrangements were excellent. "Sail Away" was really good too; just like the other songs on this album that I enjoyed, "Sail Away" had some piano playing that I really enjoyed, and the vocals were really good too. Even though there were some songs on this album that I really enjoyed, the album as a whole was just alright. The sound was nice, and the vocals were really good, but a lot of the songs dragged on for a long time, reducing them to just pleasant background music. After listening to White Ladder, I think David Gray is a talented artist, but I probably wouldn't listen to another whole album of his; I'd opt to cherry pick through his songs instead.
Goldfrapp
1/5
It’s finally time for the other Goldfrapp album! I came into this project with a very vague familiarity with Goldfrapp, but the songs I know by them aren’t on either of the albums on the list. I really enjoyed listening to Seventh Tree, giving it four stars. However, if I were to rate it today, I think I’d be more inclined to rate it as five stars. Either way, I’ve been looking forward to listening to Felt Mountain, and now I’ll finally get my chance!
Well, for all the hype I built up for this album, I really didn’t care for it at all. I really wasn’t expecting this album to be filled with songs that were really slow. Yes, Seventh Tree had some slower songs on it, but it also had some up-tempo songs as well, and those moments were nowhere to be found on Felt Mountain. Goldfrapp also have plenty of songs that are full of great electronic hooks, but this album didn’t have any of that either. My biggest beef with this album is that it was just boring from start to finish. The songs on it were nice and pleasant, but I didn’t feel like any of them did anything interesting musically, nor did they have anything interesting to say lyrically. I still think Seventh Tree is great, but man, this was a huge miss for me, and I was not expecting it at all.
Dire Straits
5/5
As I make it further and further into this list of albums, I keep checking off some of my favorites that are featured on the list, and today brings me another one of my favorites, and one of my last remaining favorites from my favorite decade, Brothers in Arms. I’m very familiar with this album, and one of my crowning achievements as a father has been getting my three-year-old to sing along to “Walk of Life.” I’m really excited to listen to this today, and if I weren’t taking care of my kids by myself today, I’d fire up the vinyl of it, but I’ll have to settle for Spotify and some headphones while the kids nap.
Listening to this album today reaffirmed my love for it, but I was shocked that I came out the other side of this album thinking that Dire Straits’ self-titled album might be a better album. Regardless, I love listening to Mark Knopfler sing and play guitar, and Brothers in Arms does a great job of showcasing the breadth of Knopfler’s talent as a musician. The album isn’t terribly cohesive, and features quite a few different styles, but I think it still works because it all sounds really incredible. I read that this was one of the first albums to use a digital tape machine, and I was impressed that it doesn’t sound over-produced or too busy. Musically, I enjoy the first side of the album a bit more, but I think the second side of the album is stronger from a songwriting perspective. “Walk of Life” is hands down my favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite songs from the eighties. The keyboard riff from “Walk of Life” will always lift my spirits, and it meshes so well with the guitar playing and lyrics of the song. “Money for Nothing” is great too; songs that get a lot of air time on classic rock radio tend to not hold up with me, but this song still does. I really love Sting’s vocals on “Money for Nothing,” and I think his voice contrasts with Knopfler’s in a really great way. The guitar playing is fantastic too, and the opening minutes of this song are incredibly fun. Other tracks from this album that I really enjoy are “So Far Away,” “Your Latest Trick,” “The Man’s Too Strong,” and “Brothers in Arms.” This is a fantastic album from start to finish, and I’m delighted that I got to listen to it today.
Rahul Dev Burman
4/5
I've never heard of this film or the composer of its soundtrack, but I've seen this album cover on the visual list of albums, and I've been curious as to what it would sound like. I'm looking forward to experiencing something new and unknown on this dreary Monday morning!
I enjoyed listening to this soundtrack a bit more than I thought I would. I find it difficult to appreciate a soundtrack or score if you haven't seen the movie; even something as well known as the soundtrack to Shaft was somewhat difficult to appreciate the context of the film. This was even more difficult to appreciate since I have no idea what this movie is about, but after listening to it, I read about the plot of the movie, and I have to say that I think this soundtrack probably captures the visual feeling of this movie pretty well based on what I read. The main title theme had a very 'James Bond' feel to it that really hooked me in. The arrangements on this album were really rich and deep, and I thought the composers made great use of stereo sound to make the depth much more immersive. There were some pretty unusual instruments used as well, but they were used in such a way that made the sound exotic but still accessible. I figured that there would be some songs that were Bollywood dance numbers, and I didn't expect to enjoy those songs, but I found them pretty fun, despite my expectations. This was an enjoyable album to listen to, and I certainly wouldn't be opposed to checking out the movie.
Beatles
5/5
My penultimate Beatles album to review, and also the only Beatles album that I think I'd listened to from start to finish before starting this project. I'm familiar with quite a few songs on Revolver, and I've been looking forward to reviewing it. Here's hoping that I love this as much as I think I will!
Well, I wouldn't say that I absolutely love Revolver, but from a critical standpoint, I do think it's fantastic. One of my favorite things about The Beatles' music is how technically sound all of the bare elements are. The bass, drums, and rhythm and lead guitars are all executed flawlessly, and every note feels intentionally placed. That was present here on Revolver, and those well executed basics allowed the experimental elements to really flourish in a way that's still accessible. In my opinion, this album accomplished what Rubber Soul failed to do: it pushed pop music to stratospheric new heights, where no idea was too far-flung or off-limits. One of my biggest complaints with this album is that its mish-mash of various styles can be a bit much, but every song is quality, and nothing feels forced in or like it was added as filler. I'm not a big fan of The Beatles' incorporation of eastern sounds, and it's not that it's bad, it's just that I'm not a fan of how they incorporate it into their music. Unfortunately, I can't explain it any further than that, because it's just a matter of my personal taste. However, none of the songs on here were off-putting to me, and due to the basic elements of each song being done so well, I was still able to enjoy parts of those songs. I've always thought that "Yellow Submarine" was just a cheese-ball song, but listening to it today, I discovered an appreciation for its allegorical lyrics and the unusual sounds that it was able to incorporate. My favorite song on the album though is "Eleanor Rigby." The strings really capture the atmosphere of loneliness that the lyrics are trying to convey, and it's just a beautiful song all around. "Good Day Sunshine" is great too, and I love its upbeat piano melody. While I'd rather throw on Sgt. Pepper's, Revolver is still an excellent album, and worthy of its reputation as a game-changer in rock and roll history.
Napalm Death
3/5
This is the beauty of doing this project: one day, you're singing along to "Good Day Sunshine" while you review The Beatles' Revolver, the next day, you're reviewing the infamous Scum by Napalm Death. Life truly is beautiful in strange ways. I don't think I've ever listened to grindcore music before, so I don't have any funny anecdotes about sexual misdeeds in Dresden bathrooms. However, I did have sex with a pregnant coworker in the back of my Honda Civic one time, but that was after seeing the Owen Wilson flick Drillbit Taylor, so it's not really the same thing (I was going through some shit, and this was not my brightest hour). Anyway, let's crank up the Scum!
First of all, this album cover absolutely rules. In the year of our lord 2025, this needs to be everywhere. Throw a Meta and Tesla logo on there, and you're good to go. Also, the guy in the very center is clearly DJT. As far as listening to this album goes, this was certainly an adventure. I like the shorter songs that are prevalent in hardocre punk, and I thought that structure was used really well by Napalm Death on this album. I enjoyed the driving pulse of the songs on this album too, and I thought the heavy metal elements of this album were used really well. I liked the lyrics to these songs as well; they really embodied the direct and angry themes that are present in the lyrics to hardcore punk songs. My biggest beef with this album is that it was really repetitive, and I couldn't really distinguish that many dividing lines from song to song. To top that off, I thought these lyrics deserved to be more intelligible, because they were really great, and I was bummed that I had to look up the words to every song. I know this album is one of the more poorly received entries on this list, but I thought it was pretty decent, and it's definitely influential. I'd be down to give another Napalm Death album a listen, but I there's not a whole lot that would bring me back to Scum.
The Only Ones
2/5
I'm not familiar with this album or artist, but I'm definitely getting Cheap Trick vibes from the album cover. I haven't been wowed by any of the power pop albums I've reviewed so far on this list, so I'm heading into this with pretty muted expectations. Here's hoping that The Only Ones will be the first ones of their genre to blow my socks off!
When “The Whole of the Law” first started, I was not impressed. I thought it was really boring, and I was dreading listening to the rest of the album. However, my fortunes quickly changed when “Another Girl, Another Planet” started. I’m familiar with Blink 182’s version of this song, and I had no idea that it was a cover. The lyrics were fun, and I really enjoyed the unique guitar playing. The vocals really fit the tone of the song as well, and this was easily the best song on the album. I wasn’t blown away by the rest of the first side of the album, but I did like “City of Fun.” Its guitar riff was great, and I liked the energy of the music. I found the second side of the album to be a little better than the first side. The keyboards on “The Immortal Story” were really great, and the guitar playing and percussion blended with them nicely. Overall, I thought this album was okay. The song structures were interesting, and the band sounded like they’re pretty proficient musicians, but I just didn’t enjoy the overall sound. However, I can see how this album influenced other artists into the early eighties. In the grand scheme of late seventies power pop though, The Only Ones just kind of fade into the pool of other similar artists like The Saints, The Stranglers, and The Undertones.
Robert Wyatt
2/5
I've never heard of Robert Wyatt or this album before, but I'm hoping Shleep is not an omen that this album will bore me to sleep, although I could use some additional rest. It's Friday, and it looks like I'll be catching up on some Shleep this weekend...
"Heaps of Sheeps" snagged my attention right off the bat. I loved the blending of synthesizers and guitars; the song had a great sound, and the vocals and percussion melded really well with the main melody. However, I found the next song, "The Duchess," really off-putting. "Heaps of Sheeps" sounded like a dream, but "The Duchess" sounded like waking up to piss every hour. I didn't care for the weird sound, and the vocals were a big turn off for me as well. From that point forward, the album was comprised of songs that were well made, but mostly bland and forgettable. There were a couple of exceptions to that though. I enjoyed the synthesizers on "Was A Friend," and "Blues in Bob Minor" had an urgent tone that I really liked. Aside from those moments though, I didn't care much for this album, and it's definitely not something I'd come back to.
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
I’ve never heard of Serge Gainsbourg before, but I’ve seen this album on the visual checklist, and its cover is certainly eye-catching. Oh wait, the woman on the cover is supposed to be a fifteen-year-old girl? Oh, woof, that’s certainly a choice. It kinda tracks with what I imagine a French musician would churn out around this time though, so good on Serge for meeting expectations. However, I’ve enjoyed the French artists that I’ve reviewed so far, so maybe I’ll be able to appreciate this album as a piece of art.
Despite the Lolita vibes of this album’s lyrics, I enjoyed listening to it, and I thought it was really well made. The overall sound was really well crafted, and I particularly enjoyed the string arrangements. The sound of the album did a great job of crafting the story, and since I don’t understand French, this really enhanced my enjoyment of the album. I loved how the narrative of the story was told and how it unfolded across the album. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an album that had such a straightforward approach to storytelling like this, and I thought it worked splendidly. This album felt like a French arthouse film from the same period, and it oozed a sort of debonair atmosphere (just for clarity, there’s nothing cool or debonair about having sex with underage girls). The most fun part of listening to this album was hearing the influence it would have on trip hop and electronic music in the nineties. It blows my mind that someone was crafting sounds like this in the early seventies. I wouldn’t be opposed to checking out more music from Serge Gainsbourg or his contemporaries, but I’d prefer some different subject matter in the future.
Jane Weaver
4/5
I've never heard of Jane Weaver or this album before, but I tend to enjoy electronic music from this era, so I have high hopes that I'll enjoy Modern Kosmology. Here's hoping that this can hold a candle to Chvrches!
I didn't love Modern Kosmology as much as I love Chvrches (an almost impossible standard to hold an album to), but I thought this was really good, and I enjoyed listening to it. Jane Weaver has a solid voice, and she clearly knows how to build some good electronic arrangements. The thing that I enjoyed the most about this album was its overall vibe and mood. This album was really chill and pleasant to listen to, and then "Architect" hit, which completely mixed things up in the best way possible. I loved the main riff of "Architect," and the pulsating, high-pitched sounds on the chorus added so much to the overall sound. The high energy of this song came out of nowhere, but I loved it, and I thought the album was better from that point through the end. I wasn't blown away by this album, but its overall sound is good enough that I wouldn't mind listening to it again. It's unique, and Jane Weaver has some great vocal chops. The biggest detractor for me on this album is that the first half is pretty weak; I prefer my electronic music to rely more on catchy hooks and riffs, and Modern Kosmology didn't really make much use of that until about the halfway point.
Girls Against Boys
1/5
I've never heard of Girls Against Boys or this album before. I've reviewed a small handful of early nineties alternative and post hardcore albums already, and for the most part, I've thought they were fine. I don't have particularly high hopes for this album, but here's hoping for a pleasant surprise on this Monday morning!
Well, a surprise wasn't in store for me today; I didn't care for this album very much. While the crunchy and distorted guitars were well done, their sound got really repetitive over the course of this album, and I really couldn't pin down anything that made this album unique or noteworthy. I didn't particularly care for the vocals, which is a shame, because the lyrics were fairly interesting, although quite dark. "Bullet Proof Cupid" was easily the best song on the album; in my opinion, it was the only song on the album that crafted a unique atmosphere from the dark sound of the album. This album isn't something I'd return to, and it was a pretty tedious and boring listen in my opinion.
Bill Callahan
5/5
This will be the seventh day in a row where I've had an album from an artist I'd never heard of until starting this project. I'm pretty picky about my country music, so I'm not sure how I'll feel about this album. However, my maternal grandmother's maiden name is Callahan, so maybe that's a positive sign? Let's see!
This album was a really pleasant surprise. I thought the songwriting was superb, and the arrangements were fantastic as well. Bill Callahan did a fantastic job of creating some really vivid settings with his music, and the sound complemented the lyrics really well. “Rococo Zephyr” is a prime example of how Bill did this; the strings and the tinkling of the piano created an atmosphere that perfectly matched the theme of water in the lyrics. I enjoyed the album’s cohesive sound, but each song really brought something different to the table, in terms of sounds and themes. If I had to pick a favorite song off of this album, I think I’d have to go with “All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beast.” The guitar playing and percussion were fantastic, and the horns and strings just added to the beauty and of the sound. “Eid Ma Clack Shaw” was great too; the bass was terrific, and it went well with the confusing and frantic mood of the song’s lyrics. All in all, there wasn’t a bad song on the album. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Bill’s vocals, but this album was still beautiful, and I can understand how it received so much praise from music critics.
JAY Z
4/5
Ah, another artist who might be having a downfall in 2025! I swear, by the time I'm done with this list, half the artists on it are going to be credibly accused of sexual assault or have shown their ass a Trump supporter or bootlicker. Or maybe even both! Now when it comes to the substance of The Blueprint, I'm 90% sure I've listened to all of this before. I like Jay-Z as a rapper; his voice just hits a certain sweet spot for me, kind of like Chuck D (Jay is no Chuck D though). Let's jump in!
The Blueprint is a really good album. The production and beats are solid, the lyrics are sharp and clever, and Jay-Z's flow and voice are fantastic. While I liked listening to this, it's a bit short of five stars for me, mostly because thematically it's pretty one dimensional. Jay-Z can be deep and serious, but there really weren't many songs that showcased his ability to be emotional, and most of the album was a lot of self-fellation, which got tiresome to me. I don't mind Jay-Z being braggadocious, because he's earned the right to toot his own horn, but I just wanted more.
There were some really clever lyrics and great pop culture references on The Blueprint, and here were some of my favorite lines:
'Your reign on the top was shorter than Leprechauns'
'What you eat don't make me shit'
'Got fiends throwin' up on themself like Willie Beaman'
'The ghetto's Billy Blanks'
'I'm like a dog, I never speak, but I understand'
'I ball for real, y'all niggaz is Sam Bowie'
As far as the best musical moments on this album go, I really love "Izzo." The strings really great, and I love how the way they complement the bass-driven sound. I really loved the "Fame" interpolation that as used on "Takeover." I thought the way it was used was really brilliant and fit the song perfectly. "Heart of the City" is great too, and it's a Jay-Z song that I always forget about. It makes such great use of Bobby Bland's song, and the sample goes along perfectly with Jay-Z's rapping.
The Blueprint is a great east coast hip-hop album. It has a fantastic sound, but it's lacking the emotional gravity that some of the best east coast hip hop albums have.
The Fall
4/5
Ah, my second album by The Fall. I reviewed Live At the Witch Trials about a year ago, and I didn't care for it very much, which surprised me, since I usually like post punk music. I don't have high hopes for this, but I'm willing to give it a shot.
Well, I certainly enjoyed this a lot more than Live At the Witch Trials. I will say right off the bat though that I hated the vocals. I didn't even bother paying attention to the lyrics, that's how much I hated them. Other than that, my only gripe with this album is that there were a couple of songs that were clunkers. Now that I'm done griping, I have to heap a ton of praise on this album's musical elements. I loved the guitar playing on this album. The guitars on Live At the Witch Trails were good, but there just wasn’t any variation from song to song. The Infotainment Scan had a wide variety of guitar arrangements, and the electronic elements that were used only added to the unique sound of this album. Every song brought something different to the table, and I found myself really enjoying listening to the musical elements throughout this album. While I enjoyed a majority of the songs on this album, The Fall’s version of “Lost in Music” was my favorite on the entire album. It was chaotic in in the best way, and I loved the main guitar riff and the dense atmosphere of the song. Aside from the vocals, this album was really fun to listen to, and I’m pretty excited to review my third album by The Fall soon!
Björk
5/5
Ah, my final Björk album, and also my final album from 2015. The three Björk albums I’ve reviewed so far have run a pretty wide gamut. Medúlla was 2 stars, Debut was 3 stars, and Vespertine was 4 stars. I think that Björk makes some incredibly unique music, but it doesn’t always land with me. I have no idea what to expect on this album, but I’m excited to see what it has in store!
I thought Vulnicura was really great, and easily the best Björk album that I’ve gotten to review. I loved that the sound was really consistent and cohesive throughout the album. Having the string arrangements as the dominant sound on this album worked really well. Björk knows how to create strange and beautiful arrangements, and in my opinion, the music on this album is her most accessible work that I’ve listened to. I really loved that the album was thematically tied to a breakup that she went through, and there was such a wide variety of emotions that Björk explored over the course of these songs. I didn’t really have a favorite song on this album. Granted, I didn’t really take a lot of notes as I listened to it, but one of the few things I wrote down about an individual song was that I liked the lightness of the strings in contrast to the deep bass and percussion on “Stonemilker.” I’d normally go back through an album to snag some more notes on individual songs, but with this album’s length, and the length of the individual songs, I’ll have to pass on that this time around. Even though I don’t have a ton of notes on this album, I’m giving it five stars because I think it really stuck the landing from its bold vision. While this album isn’t the sort of thing I’d actively listen to again, I thought it was incredibly beautiful, and full of rich, meaningful songwriting. What a way to wrap up Björk’s albums on this list!
Kate Bush
5/5
This will be my final Kate Bush album to review. I didn’t care for The Dreaming very much, but Hounds of Love is one of the best albums of the eighties in my opinion, and I listen to it pretty often. I’ve never listened to The Sensual World before, but I’m hoping I’ll love this as much as I love Hounds of Love!
This album was fantastic, and I absolutely loved it. Granted, the reasons I loved The Sensual World were completely different from the reasons I love Hounds of Love. Jesus, this was absolutely beautiful from start to finish. Kate Bush knows how to craft some fantastic arrangements, and that talent was on full display here. I love keyboards and synthesizers, so this album was right up my alley musically. There’s also some fantastic guitar playing from David Gilmour, and some beautiful strings too. I could listen to music like this all day long. I find the late eighties and early nineties are such an interesting time in popular music, due to the wide variety of influences that were leaving their thumbprint on music, and this album feels both of that time but also timeless. Kate Bush’s singing is fantastic too, and her voice fills out these beautiful melodies perfectly. I loved the songwriting on this album too, and I thought the moods and themes tied all of these songs together perfectly. There was a ton of emotion in every song, but the closing “This Woman’s Work” was the song I identified with the most. In my opinion, it was about a man watching his partner give birth to their child, and as a father of two little girls, I thought it captured the experience of birth from a father’s perspective incredibly well. I really loved everything about this album, and I will be buying a copy of it immediately. Well done, Kate Bush!
Brian Eno
4/5
This will be my third Brian Eno album to review, after Here Come The Warm Jets (3 stars) and Before and After Science (5 stars). I really loved Before and After Science, and based on the description of this album, I think I’m going to really like it. Here’s to a relaxing Sunday of ambient music!
I didn’t fall in love with this, but I really enjoyed listening to it, and it’s an album that I would listen to again. The arrangements were absolutely beautiful, and I loved how the music really both put me at ease but also demanded my attention as I listened to it. It was a really strange experience to listen to something both actively and passively at the same time. I don’t think I could pick out a favorite part of this album, but I also couldn’t pick out a least favorite part either. The album moved seamlessly from song to song, and even though each song brought something unique to the table, this album was really cohesive. My only complaint with this album is that I think it would have been better to shorten these songs and add a couple more songs. While this music was beautiful and easy to take in, the length of these songs made them pretty tedious after a while.
The Who
4/5
This will be my third album to review by The Who. I gave three stars to The Who Sell Out and five stars to Who's Next (which is one of the best rock albums of all time), so I have pretty high hopes that I'll enjoy this, even though it doesn't really have any of my favorite songs of theirs on it. Let's get live on a Monday!
I've been pretty lukewarm on a lot of the live albums on this list, but The Who Live at Leeds definitely feels like a cut above the other live albums I've reviewed so far. Granted, I enjoy The Who's music, so I'm a little biased. I thought the energy on this album was really great, which is pretty unusual, given that there isn't much crowd noise on this album. However, the recording and production on this album sound incredibly clean, which made this album stand out even more for something from this era. The thing that struck me the most on this album was the bass playing. Out of all the guys in The Who, Entwistle never gets mentioned as one of the best of his craft, but on this live album, you can really hear his talent on full display. His bass playing fits snugly between the lead guitar and drums and shines just enough to really round out the hard rock and blues sound of this album. I was also impressed by how cohesively all of these songs fit together into a setlist, especially since three of these songs are covers. My only complaint with this album is that these aren't really my favorite Who songs, and having them stretched out for a live performance felt tedious at several points, but the band still knocked it out of the park. I'm not a big fan of live albums, but this is something I wouldn't mind having in my collection.
Public Enemy
5/5
My last Public Enemy album, and my favorite of the bunch! I didn't get exposed to much rap music when I was a kid, so several years ago, I started going through some of the best rap and hip hop albums from the nineties. Fear of a Black Planet absolutely blew me away, and I fell in love with Chuck D's vocal style and the militant lyrics of this album. I haven't listened to this in a minute, because I knew it would eventually come up for me, so I'm really excited to revisit this album today.
As much as I love the lyrics and rapping on this album, I love it musically too. Every song hits like a freight train; the samples, beats, and instrumentals are all incredible. This music hits as hard as any rock album that was coming out at the time, and it's an absolute treat for the ears. Chuck D's rapping is fantastic (it is on every PE album I've heard), and his voice booms on every track. The songwriting is fantastic too; the issues discussed weighed heavily on black America at the time of this album's release, and they still weigh just as heavy today. The songs about race relations really resonate well in the present day, as more and more people in America are starting to realize that the financial elite in this country are taking more than their fare share from Americans of every creed and color. That's not to say that the playing field between black and white Americans has become even in the last 35 years, because it certainly hasn't, but there seems to be more cause now for people of every race to band together and fight for a fair share of the country's wealth. One track that really stood out to me today was "Pollywanacraka." I'd never realized how brilliant is; to me, the lyrics address the flack and disrespect that black women who marry white men face from the black community. As black women continually get left behind in this country, who could fault someone for seeking financial and social safety to better guarantee their own future? And tying this song back to the title track, the child of any black woman and white man would still be black, so what criticisms of this woman would even be valid? I loved diving into this album again today, and I really appreciate the new thoughts it left me with this time. Fear of a Black Planet is a masterpiece, and even though it's dense, I'd have to say it's my favorite hip hop album.
Massive Attack
3/5
This will be my second and subsequently last Massive Attack album to review. I gave four stars to Blue Lines, but my notes on it were pretty minimal (it was about two years ago, so if I didn't take notes, and it didn't blow my socks off, I'm not going to remember squat), so I'm not sure exactly what I enjoyed about it. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm in for with this album though, so I'm excited to listen to it!
Well the title track sure knows how to win me over. I love Tracey Thorn's vocals, and her singing added a lot to the sound of "Protection." I wasn't really blown away, but this song definitely gave me high hopes for the rest of the album. However, I wasn't a fan of "Karmacoma" or "Three." They weren't bad songs, but they just felt like background music to me. However, I thought "Weather Storm" was much better; I really loved the sparse piano playing, and it was beautifully arranged. "Spying Glass" was really good too. I liked how the electronic elements interacted with each other and the vocals. The sound was mellow, but it was also deep, with a lot of smaller elements layered really well to craft a unique sound. I was happy to see another Tracey Thorn track with "Better Things," but I preferred "Perfection." "Euro Child was pretty unremarkable to me, but I loved the strings on "Sly." I'd have to say that my favorite track though was "Heat Miser." I really loved the piano melody and the pulsating bass sounds. This was easily the most atmospheric song on the album, and more in line with what I'd expect from Massive Attack. I wasn't a big fan of the cover of "Light My Fire" that ended the album. It really stuck out like a sore thumb, and I didn't think it was particularly good.
While Protection had some moments that I appreciated, overall I thought it was just fine. These songs were enjoyable to listen to, but none of them really left an impression on me, and I didn't find any of them to be particularly memorable. The songs with Tracey Thorn were a nice touch, and "Heat Miser" was great, but there's not enough here to bring me back to this album.
The Pogues
4/5
Today officially starts my last year of this project. On one hand, I can't believe I've reviewed 724 albums so far, but on the other hand, having only 365 albums left to review feels like such a small number. Anywho, on to the album on hand: I've heard of The Pogues before, but I don't think I've ever listened to any of their music. I tend to enjoy different takes on folk music, so I have a feeling that I'll enjoy this album.
I don't know why I didn't think of Flogging Molly when I was reading the description for this album, but that was immediately what I thought of when this album first started up. I had a period of about a year or so after college where I was listening to Flogging Molly quite a bit, and I really loved them during that time. Even though this album reminded me of Flogging Molly, I thought the Pogues were much better. The songwriting on this album was really good, and it was a unique contrast to have such somber and serious lyrics alongside such upbeat and uptempo musical arrangements. As far as the music goes, I thought these songs were really diverse in sound, but without sacrificing the overall sound of the album. The only mark against this album is that it's not really my personal taste, but objectively, I think it's very good, and I'm curious how I'll feel about the other Pogues album that I have yet to review.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
I’ve never heard of Bebel Gilberto or this album before. However, reading about the recording of this album, that absolutely tragic what happened to Suba, who died saving this recording. I can’t imagine what the release of this album must have felt like to Bebel. I’m not familiar with bosa nova music either, but I’m definitely willing to give this album a fair shot and see what it has to offer.
I don’t have many strong feelings towards this album, but it was pleasant to listen to. I enjoyed the relaxed mood, and I thought the vocals were really fantastic. The sense of ease I felt listening to this reminded me of how I felt listening To Serge Gainsbourg’s album. The rhythms were enjoyable too, and I think they really contributed a lot to this album’s laid-back feel. “August Day Song” was great, and I’d say that it was my favorite song on the album. I loved how the signers went back and forth and even had some sparse harmonies. “Mais Feliz,” “Alguém,” and “So Nice” were good as well. Overall, this album was fine, and I enjoyed the overall sound, but there were quite a few songs on it that I thought were a touch boring.
Koffi Olomide
2/5
I’ve never heard of Koffi Olomide before, but I tend to enjoy modern music from Africa, so I have some pretty high hopes for this album.
Despite going into this album with some high hopes and an open mind, I wasn’t really impressed by it. My biggest complaint is that this album was pretty boring, and none of the songs really went anywhere interesting. Some songs had some synthesizer arrangements that I enjoyed, but those sounds wound up being pretty sparse in the songs where they popped up. This album wasn’t bad, but it was just bland. I don’t understand this is on this list when an artist like William Onyeabor isn’t represented at all.
Charles Mingus
3/5
I don't think I've ever heard of Charles Mingus before. Granted, I'm not very well versed when it comes to jazz music, so take that with a grain of salt. I haven't found a jazz album on this list that really resonates with me yet, but I'm hoping that this will be the first one!
I didn't enjoy this in the way that I was hoping to, but this was still a fine album. I did enjoy the brass and reed instrument arrangements on this album, and this album felt to me as if those instruments were what drove the overall sound. The double bass playing was really good too, but my favorite part was the flute playing on Track C. That flute arrangement was absolutely fantastic, and I was delighted when it popped back up on the medley on the second side of the album. Other than that, I don't have much to say on this album, but it was a nice listening experience overall.
XTC
3/5
Ah, it's finally Skylarking day! I'd never listened to XTC until I reviewed Apple Venus Vol. 1 last year. I wasn't wowed by Apple Venus, but I could appreciate what XTC was trying to achieve. I know that Skylarking is supposed to be fantastic, so I'm excited to fire up this album today!
Unfortunately, like Apple Venus, I appreciate the vision and artistry of Skylarking, but it's just not for me. XTC are clearly talented musicians, but there's just something about the sound of this album that I don't really care for on a personal level. I do like that Skylarking feels akin to Sophistipop, but with more focus, and with a sound that feels unique and unforced. There were a few songs that I did like though: "Summer's Cauldron," "Earn Enough For Us," and "Dear God" were really good. Their sound was really accessible to me, and they all had some additional musical elements that I liked. "Dear God" really resonated with me; watching the US slip towards a fascist dictatorship lately has really shaken my faith in humanity and a higher power, and as a husband and a father, I feel so powerless to do anything for fear of putting myself at risk. Sometimes I just want to scream, and "Dear God" was really cathartic.
I think XTC just isn't for me, even though I really wanted to like them. I respect their unique sound and their artistry, but this isn't an album I'd come back to.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Here we are, at my final Simon and Garfunkel album to review. As luck would have it, I will wind up reviewing their contributions to this list in reverse chronological order. Also, I gave five stars to Bridge Over Troubled Water, and four stars to Bookends, so I'm hoping that this contribution isn't destined to be three stars. It's time to get folky!
Thankfully, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was not a three star album. I thought this album was fantastic, filled with beautiful songs from start to finish. When it comes to S&G's catalog, I wouldn't count "Scarborough Fair" as one of my favorite songs of theirs, but I gained a new appreciation for it today. The harpsichord playing is fantastic, and captures the folk mood of the sixties perfectly. I loved the percussion and bass on "Patterns," which really surprised me, since I can't think of any other S&G song where the percussion stands out to me. "Homeward Bound" is probably my favorite song on the album though. The lyrics perfectly capture a feeling of homesickness, and the vocals on the chorus are fantastic. The guitar melody is great too, and the light organ playing rounds out the sound really well. I could write more about the individual songs, but I'll spare you my rambling, but summarize by saying that musically, this album was a treat for the ears.
When it comes to the songwriting, PSR&T was another reminder of just how talented Paul Simon is as a songwriter. Last night, as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I was thinking about how I wish I liked Bob Dylan more, but his lyrics are just too figurative for me, and at times, listening to his lyrics can feel like translating Beowulf, and it becomes a chore. However, Paul Simon's lyrics contain the perfect balance of straightforward storytelling and figurative language to me. And speaking of Dylan, I thought "A Simple Desultory Philippic" was brilliant and pretty funny.
Overall, this is another brilliant album from Simon and Garfunkel. Not only is this my last S&G album, it's my last Paul Simon album as well. PSR&T was a fitting way to wrap up my contributions from this duo.
Grateful Dead
1/5
Outside of "Touch of Grey," "Truckin'," and that Roseanne episode where Jerry Garcia's ghost appears, I don't really know much about the Grateful Dead. I'm not really big on psychedelic rock from this era, so I don't have really high hopes for this album (the negative reviews are hilarious). Here's hoping my expectations will be defied!
Well, the Grateful Dead isn't really for me, or at least this album isn't. This album was pretty boring in my opinion, and I didn't think the Grateful Dead did anything particularly well on this album. The music was bland and completely devoid of anything unique, and the songwriting felt generic and uninspired. I don't understand how these guys developed such a devoted following; their live shows must be completely out of this world, because this effort was a chore to make it through.
The Afghan Whigs
5/5
I've heard of The Afghan Whigs before, but I don't think I've ever heard any of their music before, and I certainly couldn't tell you what they sound like. I tend to enjoy rock music from this era though, so I have moderately high expectations for this album. Let's jump into it!
This album snagged my attention from the first song, and never let go of it over the course of its eleven songs. I really loved the guitar playing on every song, and the band's sound was really unique. This album sounded like nothing else I've ever listened to from this era. I'm usually big on hooks and melodies in the music that I listen to, but I enjoyed this album despite its lack of reliance on those elements to construct its sound. The guitar playing and other instruments did a great job of crafting a dark mood that matched the lyrical tone. Speaking of other instruments, I really enjoyed the piano and mellotron arrangements utilized on this album as well; they really added a lot of depth to the sound. The cello playing on "Fountain and Fairfax" was amazing as well, and I'd have to rank this song as my favorite on the whole album. As much as I enjoyed "Fountain and Fairfax" though, the whole album was really strong from start to finish, and there wasn't a single song I didn't enjoy. I thought the songwriting was really strong on this album too. These lyrics were certainly full of heartbreak, rage, and dead-end despair, but I thought they captured those feelings in a meaningful way. This album really caught me surprise today, and I can see why it has a reputation as one of the best rock albums of the nineties.
Frank Black
4/5
It's finally Teenager of the Year day! No, this isn't a favorite album of mine, in fact I have no idea what to expect from this album. I saw this cover on the visual list a while ago, and looked it up on Wikipedia to see that it was a solo album from a member of The Pixies. Alternative rock album covers in the nineties were their own unique art form (I'm talking to you, Clumsy by Our Lady Peace), and I guess when I first saw this album, I was surprised I never saw it in any of my friends' CD binders when I was growing up. The Pixies are one of those bands that I want so desperately to love, but while I appreciate their influence and talent, they're just not for me. Maybe this solo effort from Frank Black will be the thing that breaks through to me!
I really enjoyed listening to this album. Teenager of the Year was just a solid rock album, with great guitar playing, some good synthesizer and piano arrangements, and some really weird lyrics and themes. There was a lot of variation in sound on this album, which really helped this album justify its hour-plus runtime. Even with a lot of variation in sound, this album still felt really cohesive, and I liked that the songs weren’t terribly long, because it helped the album move along at a really good pace. There weren’t really any individual songs that jumped out to me, and nothing from this album is going to be bouncing around my head the rest of the day, but I still had fun listening to this, and I thought it was really well made. I might actually start referring to this as my favorite Pixies album from now on…
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
One of the worst things about being so far into this project is that I keep getting the final album by a lot of artists, and today is no exception, with the final My Bloody Valentine album on this list. I wound up going in reverse chronological order with these folks, giving three stars to MBV, and five stars to Loveless (an album that I had a profound love for before starting this project). I’ve never listened to this album before, but I have really high hopes for it!
Well, I was certainly underwhelmed by Isn’t Anything. I try to treat each album by an artist as its own entity, and not judge it by the artist’s other work, but I’m human and not a music critic, so it was really tough to do that on this album. While I listened to this, I found myself just yearning for Loveless, and its packed-to-the-gills sound. Don’t get me wrong, “Isn’t Anything” isn’t a bad album, and it’s definitely influential, but I couldn’t help but want more while listening to it. I thought it had a great atmosphere that permeated all of the songs, but there wasn’t really much about this album that stood out to me and grabbed me. I didn’t care for the vocals very much, and I thought their elevated presence on this album compared to Loveless did some disservice to the sound. As far as highlights go, “Lose My Breath,” “You’re Still in a Dream,” and “No More Sorry” were my favorite songs on the album, due to the guitar playing.
Overall, this album is fine, and it wasn’t a bad experience, but I certainly… love it less… than the other My Bloody Valentine albums. I’ll see myself out.
William Orbit
3/5
I’ve never heard of this artist or album before, I’m excited to give this album a listen. At its best, I tend to enjoy electronica, but even at its worst, I usually feel pretty neutral towards it. Let’s get lost in some electronica!
Overall, I’d say this album was okay. Not much really stood out to me about it, but it was pleasant to listen. The overall sound was really relaxing, and I thought the sounds were layered really well. Despite the length of the album overall and the length of the individual songs, I never really got bored, but I just wished for some catchier hooks and melodies. No particular song stood out to me as bad per se, but the lyrics on “Time To Get Wize” were splendidly cheesy, even by nineties standards. What was about the nineties that made people think we were going to solve the world’s problems with hugs? As for my favorite songs on the album, I thought “Harry Flowers” and “A Hazy Shade of Random” stood out a bit more as the better songs. While I wasn’t blown away by this album, I could see it growing on me with repeat listens.
Faith No More
4/5
I first heard Faith No More when I started hearing "Epic" on the radio when I was about to graduate high school, in 2003. I listened to our local alternative rock station quite a bit growing up, and I swear I'd never heard it before then. Did it get added to their rotation for the first time around then, or had it just managed to pass me by for several years? I'll never know, I guess. Anyway, I remember becoming really obsessed with "Epic" for a several months, but the only other Faith No More song I know is "We Care A Lot," which was on one of the Rock Band video games. I've been holding off on listening to this album, since I knew it would come up for me eventually, and I'm glad that day is finally here!
I wasn’t blown away by The Real Thing, but I thought it was unique, and overall, really good. The thing that really grabbed about this album was the keyboard playing. The keyboards added a lot of depth to the sound, and added to the dark atmosphere of the album. A lot the lyrical themes were pretty dark and depressing, and the musical arrangements enhanced those themes quite a bit. I know Mike Patton’s voice is pretty divisive, but I enjoyed his nasally singing and the power behind his spoken/rapped lyrics. The bass playing on this album was really good too, but I wish it would have been at forefront more often that it was. “Epic” was my favorite song on the album, but I really enjoyed “From Out of Nowhere” as well. The guitar playing and Mike Patton’s vocals make “Epic” so much fun, even though I’ve heard it countless times. The keyboard playing on “From Out of Nowhere” was my favorite on the album, and it was a perfect opening track that established the overall sound of the album. My biggest complaint with The Real Thing is that it felt a bit bloated when it came to its length; even with only listening to the LP version, I thought that it could have stood to drop about ten minutes or so. Still, this was an enjoyable album, and it would serve as a really good soundtrack for a workout session.
3/5
I’ve heard of X, but I’ve never heard of this album before. I’m familiar with the cover of X’s album Los Angeles, and I’ve been meaning to listen to it, but I’ve never gotten around to it. I think I always assumed that X was hardcore punk (I blame the burning X on the cover of Los Angeles), but now that I know they’re not, I really don’t know what to expect from this album. I guess it’s time to open this Wild Gift!
If I were rating this album based on just one listen, it would probably be a one-star rating. I was completely unimpressed and bored by my first listen to this album. I thought the songs all sounded the same, and while I appreciated the new wave influence in their sound, it just wasn’t enough to keep me interested. On a second listen, I found myself much more able to appreciate the uniqueness of the guitar playing; it was cool to notice that “Beyond and Back” had some rockabilly influences, and “Adult Books” had some reggae influence, and “White Girl” sounded like Sonic Youth. I still wasn’t in love with this album, but my second listen was much more enjoyable, mostly because I realized that it wasn’t as one-dimensional as I originally thought. I’m not in love with this album by any means, but now I’m not as opposed to the idea of checking out Los Angeles. I think this album is influential and important, but it’s just not really my cup of tea.
Raekwon
4/5
I’ve never listened to any of Raekwon’s solo work before, but I do love Enter the Wu Tang. I wasn’t blown away by Method Man’s solo entry on this list, but I’m hoping I’ll connect more with this album.
I wasn’t blown away by this, but I thought Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was really good. Just like Enter the Wu Tang, the beats on this album were fantastic, and I loved the samples that were used as well. The beats in samples are used in subtle way that really creates a unique atmosphere on this album. Those beats create a sound that reminds me of the simplicity of punk rock in a way; Raekwon exhibits his own sense of that ‘do-it-yourself’ ethos that sets punk apart. Enter the Wu Tang has a distinct New York feel to it, and I felt that this album was able to duplicate that feeling really well. Other than the rhyme schemes, I wasn’t too blown away by the rapping, but I’ll admit that I’m really picky when it comes to the vocals that I like on hip hop albums. “Criminology” was my favorite song on the album. The sample that was used was really hard-driving, and I thought it emphasized this album’s grittiness in an effective way. I don’t know that I would come back to this album; it didn’t really earn its hour-plus run time in my opinion, and there are just other hip-hop albums I’d rather listen to. Still, this is a really good album, punctuated by some fantastic beats and samples, but it’s just not completely my taste.
Fairport Convention
3/5
This will be my second and subsequently final Fairport Convention album to review. I thought that Unhalfbricking was fine, but I didn’t really find anything too remarkable about it. I imagine that I’ll probably feel the same way towards this album. It’s time to jump into another folky February album!
As I expected, I thought this album was pretty middle of the road. Sandy Denny’s vocals were fantastic, and there were some great string arrangements, but overall, this album was fairly bland, and most of that is just due to my personal preferences. I’m not opposed to music that’s more focused on storytelling, but I’m not wild about this particular style of folk music. It’s nice to listen to, but it’s just not something I’d reach for on my own. I thought that the arrangements did a good job of balancing a sound that was both modern and also gentle and simplistic in a way that stays true to the traditional roots of these folk standards. When it comes to my personal musical preferences, I love catchy hooks and riffs, so while I appreciate the musicianship, this album just isn’t my speed. I liked “The Deserter” quite a bit though; the string arrangements had a twang to them that I really liked, and I loved how the song built in intensity over the last half. I didn’t think this album was bad, but it’s not the sort of thing I’d come back to.
David Bowie
4/5
Well good morning, David Bowie! This will be my 8th David Bowie album to review, but my first album of his to review in almost a year. Before starting this project, I was mostly only familiar with Bowie's singles, and not any of his whole albums. I've had pretty mixed reactions to his work, but I'm excited to give this a listen!
I wasn’t wowed by this album, but I thought it was really good. I thought the name Hunky Dory suited this album pretty well, because a lot of the piano arrangements gave this album a bit of ragtime/blues feel. “Changes” was a great leadoff track. The piano, guitar and saxophone playing were all fantastic, and I really love the lyrics and vocals too. “Oh! You Pretty Things” was great too. The piano playing was my favorite on the whole album, and I loved how the song built up in intensity about halfway through. The backing vocals were fantastic too, and this was a really fun song to groove to. My favorite song on the album was “Life on Mars?” The vocals were my favorite on the album, and the strings and piano playing are incredible as well. I love how the verse and chorus have differing intensities as well. For a song that’s not terribly long, “Life on Mars?” still manages to be sweeping and epic in its sound. “Fill Your Hear” was really good too. Like some of my other favorite songs on the album, it had some really jazzy piano playing and some nice, subtle strings as well. “Queen Bitch” was really great too, and I loved the guitar sound that was used. All the other songs on the album were fine, but they weren’t too remarkable to me. Overall, this was a solid album, but not my favorite Bowie offering that I’ve experienced so far.
Kanye West
5/5
Oh Kanye. This will be my second Kanye album to review, and it’s his contribution to the list that I’m most familiar with. I was really blown away by this album when it came out, and it really shattered my ideas of what a hip-hop album could be. I got to see Kanye play at ACL in 2011, and I hate to admit it, but it was one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen in my life. The setlist was heavy on songs from this album, and the show was absolutely epic and grandiose in every way. I haven’t listened to this album in a while, mostly due to… *gestures at the general existence of Kanye in 2025* but I’m still excited to fire this album up today, because I know how much I like listening to this.
It should be a crime for someone who’s as big of an asshole as Kanye to make an album this great. Seriously, what a waste of talent to make something like this and choose to be a Nazi scumbag. It’s infuriating. MBDTF is one of the most epic and bombastic albums I’ve ever listened to, and it sadly holds up incredibly well, almost fifteen years later. The production is my favorite aspect of this album. The beats, samples, and over-the-top musical arrangements are just a joy to listen to. I like the lyrics and rapping too, but the music is what hooked me on this album when it came out. “All of the Lights” is still my favorite song off of this album, if not one of my favorite songs of the 2010’s. Whenever that beat drops, I could run through a brick wall. I can’t think of many songs that are as pure of an adrenaline rush as this one. Those horns, the drums, Rihanna’s hook… everything about this song is fantastic. “Runaway” is in a close second to “All of the Lights” for my favorite song on the album. The opening piano riff sets the tone for the song so incredibly well, the beat is great, and the lyrics are fantastic. Granted, the self-reflection that Kanye seemed to exhibit in the lyrics don’t really seem so genuine these days, but at the time that this album came out, they really packed a punch. I still think they’re well written, even if they haven’t aged well. I’ll stop myself from writing more about the songs on this album, and wrap up by reiterating how much I love the music and production. Now I’m pissed off again that Kanye is a waste of talent. Even though I think this album is great, it’s not something I’ll listen to often, given who the artist is. Favorite line: “Too many Urkels, that’s why you’re wins low.”
Stevie Wonder
3/5
This will be my second Stevie Wonder album to review, after Fulfillingness’ First Finale, which I gave three stars to. Unlike FFF, I see that this album has one song that I know already: “Higher Ground.” I tend to enjoy Stevie Wonder’s music, so hopefully Innervisions will inspire me to add a copy to my collection.
Well, like FFF, I thought Innervisions was pretty good. There were two songs that really wowed me, one song that I thought was really good, and the rest of the album was just fine. “Living for the City” was hands down the best song on the album. I loved the epic storytelling of the lyrics, and since I just finished reading The Warmth of Other Suns (about the 2nd Great Migration), this song really resonated with me. The scene in the middle of the song was great, and only added to the tragedy of the song’s story. The Fender Rhodes playing was fantastic, as was the synthesizer. Stevie’s vocals were fantastic too, and the pacing of his delivery really punctuated the funky beat. “Higher Ground” was my second favorite song on the album, by a very slim margin. The first version of “Higher Ground” I ever heard was the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ version, but hot damn, it’s really nice to hear Stevie sing it, because you can actually hear the lyrics clearly (and they’re incredibly powerful lyrics). I love the main clavinet hook, and the synthesized bass is fantastic too. “Higher Ground” has such a funky sound that I really love, and it stands out from the rest of the funk sounds of the album. I thought “He’s Misstra Know-It-All” was really good too. I loved the softness of the piano, and the rhythm of the vocals on the verse. But on the chorus later on in the song, I really love the intensity Stevie sings with. I love it when Stevie sings in a higher register, and he knocks it out of the park on this song. As for the rest of the album, it was sounded really good, but it was a touch boring. I don’t think the other songs on this album really showcased Stevie’s abilities at creating great hooks and riffs, and that’s a shame. I don’t know that I’d come back to this album, but I’m still excited for the other two Stevie Wonder albums I have left to review.
Thundercat
2/5
I’m not familiar with Thundercat or this album, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this album cover several times. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but I’m a young and hip 40-year-old, so I think there’s a good chance that I’ll enjoy this album. Time to get Drunk on a Monday!
I admire this album’s unique sound, but it really wasn’t for me. Musically, some songs would start off in a way that I thought would interest me, but then the sound would change, and the elements that hooked me in would either disappear or be replaced by something else that I didn’t care for. The best example of this was on “Bus In The Streets;” I liked the tinkling melody that was used in the beginning of the song, but that sound faded away and was replaced by more drums and bass. I wasn’t a big fan of the vocals either, and since I wasn’t interested in the music or the singing, I didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics. However, I did enjoy “Lava Lamp.” I really liked the chill atmosphere, and the music and vocals were really pleasant. The guest appearances by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins on “Show You The Way” were really cool too. Those guys really fit the funky and jazzy vibe of the song. If Thundercat could have gotten Donald Fagen too, this album might have been included as a free gift when you purchased a pair of white New Balance shoes. Overall though, this album really wasn’t for me. For an album filled with fairly short songs, it felt pretty tedious and failed to really grab my attention. I respect the vision, but the execution was just something that I wasn’t interested in.
James Taylor
3/5
My wife has told me on a few occasions that her late father enjoyed listening to James Taylor. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard any his music before, but I’m fairly familiar with singer-songwriters from the seventies, so I have a good idea of what to expect from this album. Here’s to Sweet Baby James!
I thought this album was fine overall. James Taylor has a great voice, and I think he’s a good songwriter and musician, but this album didn’t really grab my attention very much. The worst songs on Sweet Baby James were dull, but most of the best ones were only pretty good. Granted, as far as singer-songwriter material from the early seventies goes, I can see how this landed well with critics and listeners. When it comes to the things on this album that I enjoyed, I thought “Fire and Rain” was the best song on the album. The double bass playing was great, and I really enjoyed the guitar playing. Everything really came together on “Fire and Rain” to create a beautiful song. The title track, while not as good as “Fire and Rain,” was pretty good. I liked the steel guitar playing, and I wish there would have been more of it, instead of the blues-inspired songs. “Blossom” was pretty good too; I liked the guitar and piano playing, but I wasn’t very into the lyrics and singing. My feelings about “Blossom” are pretty indicative of how I felt about most of the album; there would be things here and there that I liked, but it was incredibly rare for a song to put all the pieces together into a better whole. This album would be pleasant to have playing while hanging around the house, but it’s not something I’d really actively listen to again.
Sam Cooke
4/5
I know a handful of Sam Cooke songs, but I’ve never really sought out any of his music before. I haven’t really enjoyed many of the live albums on this list, but I’m hoping Sam Cooke can be the first person to blow me away. Let’s go down to the Harlem Square Club!
I wasn’t blown away by this album, but I thought it was really good. I enjoyed how raw and unpolished it sounded, because it’s not the type of sound that I associate with Sam Cooke. In my opinion, a lot of black artists in the early sixties had to maintain a clean-cut image in order to attract white listeners, but the energy of this album really defies that image, and it gave this album an air of authenticity that worked really well. I never thought of Sam Cooke as having an easily recognizable voice, but as I went through this album, it gave me a new appreciation for his singing. The deeper I went into this album, the more I was able to recall songs that I’ve heard before, and correctly identify them as Sam Cooke songs. As far as individual songs go, I really liked “Chain Gang,” “Cupid,” and “Twistin’ The Night Away.” I had no idea that “Chain Gang” was a Sam Cooke song. As a kid, we had an album by The Nylons on vinyl that had their version of “Chain Gang” on it, and I’ve known for quite a while that it was a cover, but I don’t recall ever having heard the original artist. “Cupid” showcases Sam Cooke’s voice really well, and just how soulful his singing is. “Twistin’ The Night Away” was just a lot of fun and easy to groove along to. This album isn’t completely my cup of tea, but I loved the energy and Sam Cooke’s singing was fantastic. As far as live albums go, this was definitely in the upper echelon.
Caetano Veloso
1/5
I’ve never heard of this artist or album before, but I really loved Os Mutantes, so I’m hoping that I’ll feel the same way about this album. Let’s get psychedelic!
I’m trying to find a way to describe how I felt about this album that isn’t rude or demeaning, but I’m struggling to find the right words, so I’ll just say that this album wasn’t for me. I really didn’t care for the vocals at any point on this album, and there wasn’t really anything in the arrangements that I enjoyed much either. The string arrangements were okay, but they weren’t really that unique or noteworthy. The overall sound of this album was a bit of a mess; I think Caetano Veloso wanted to do create something interesting and unique, but I don’t think he ever really found his footing here. This is definitely not something I’d come back to, and with Os Mutantes on this list, I struggle to understand why this is on there as well.
2/5
I know a couple of songs by War ("Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends"), but this will be my first time listening to an album of theirs. I've been looking forward to this album, because based on its cover, I assume it's got some pretty great social commentary. Hopefully this album can satisfy my expectations!
Unfortunately, I thought The World Is A Ghetto was a bit of a dud. Musically, this album had some promise, but it never really fully took off for me. It didn’t help that this album started off with “The Cisco Kid,” a song that I actually know, but unfortunately, it’s also a song I hate. The Latin elements that are woven into the instrumentals are pretty good, but I hate the vocals and lyrics, which just so happen to be really repetitive in a way that I find incredibly grating. “Where Was You At” was okay, but I wasn’t really into the organ melody, and the lyrics were pretty repetitive here too. “City, Country, City” wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t very interesting either, and it felt like it just plodded along for its entire 13-minute run time. The second side of the album didn’t fare much better with me; the instrumentals were fine, but the first two songs were pretty long, and just like the first side of the album, these songs didn’t really go anywhere interesting for me. I don’t think this album was bad, but it just didn’t really bring much to the table. I expected this to pack a bit more of a punch, but unfortunately, it just fell flat.
2/5
I've heard of MC5, but I've never listened to any of their music before. I know this is supposed to be a really influential album, so I'm excited to listen to it today. I'm hoping it can live up to my expectations for it!
Unfortunately, I thought Kick Out The Jams was a bit of a dud. I can appreciate this album for the influence that it had on other artists, and I enjoyed the raw energy of it, but it felt like a one-trick-pony. The guitar playing, drumming, and singing all felt really run-of-the-mill, and I can't recall a single riff or melody that really stuck out to me. I listened to this album twice, and other than the energy and the stage banter, nothing about it was particularly memorable to me. I thought "Boderline" was fairly good, as was "Starship," but honestly, I think the only reason I liked "Starship" was because it was really weird and stuck out as something different on this album. I was really surprised to see such a low average rating for this album, but now I know why. I guess it's possible to be both influential and underwhelming, and MC5 is the prime example of how to do that.
Saint Etienne
4/5
I’ve never heard of Saint Etienne before, but I’ve seen this album cover on the online checklist, and I’m really curious to see what this album is like. I don’t know why, but this album cover is giving me Sleater-Kinney vibes (I don’t know much about Sleater-Kinney, so I’m not sure why my brain is making the association). I’m excited to fire up this album and see what it’s like!
Foxbase Alpha was a really nice surprise. I didn’t fall in love with this album, but there are quite a few gems on it, and it was very enjoyable to listen to. The electronic elements were really interesting and well made, and I thought the vocals were excellent throughout the album. There’s a nice variety of sounds on this album too, but everything still feels really cohesive. It’s kind of a bummer though that two of the best tracks on the American release, “People Get Real” and “Kiss and Make Up” weren’t even on the original UK edition, but even without those songs, this is still a solid and fun album. Saint Etienne know their way around arranging nice melodies, and I’m sure they had a hand in influencing the deluge of electronica music that was about to come pouring out of the UK. Foxbase Alpha is a great album, and I’d be down to revisit it soon.
The Birthday Party
4/5
Ah, the infamous Junkyard, another one of the lowest rated albums. I enjoyed Nick Cave's offerings on this list, but I know this album is... very different than say... Ghosteen. I like post punk music from this era (I'm working my way through Simon Reynolds's Rip It Up And Start Again), but I know this album is supposed to be similar to Pere Ubu, which isn't my favorite. Still, I'm more than willing to give this album a fair shake. Let's go to Junkyard!
I understand that this album isn't for everyone, but I thought this was a really good album. It's not the sort of thing that I'd listen to often, but I thought Nick Cave's vocals were perfect for this sort of raw, post-punk music. For something really rough and raw, I found this album pretty accessible. The guitar playing was great, but I thought the bass playing really set this album apart from other post-punk albums from the same era. I see a lot of users said that "Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow)" was their favorite song on the album, but for my money, "Dead Joe" blew every other song out of the water. I loved the pulsing drums and the throbbing bass, and Nick Cave's "oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh's" at the beginning of the song were the perfect touch. "Dead Joe" was an insane blast of energy, and I loved every second of it. My only gripe with this album is that the stripped down and echo-y sound of the album could be a bit grating at times, but this was still a really good album, and I really enjoyed getting this glimpse into a pre-Bad Seeds Nick Cave.
Mike Ladd
4/5
I’ve never heard of Mike Ladd before, and I’m not terribly familiar with hip-hop from this era, so I’m not entirely sure of what to expect from this album. I enjoyed both Eminem albums on this list (which I know this album will *not* be), but I didn’t enjoy both Common albums I reviewed (I’m expecting this album to be more in line with those). Either way, I’m interested to see what Mike Ladd has to offer,.
This album was a really pleasant surprise. The beats were incredible, and I loved just how thick and heavy they were. The thickness of the beats was in direct contrast with the sleek and stylish vision we often have of the future. Instead, the beats served the lyrics, which expressed disappointment with the state of the world in 2000, a year that often served the point on our timeline that humanity collectively envisioned as when the future would become the present. I really enjoyed how the themes of Afrofuturism were woven into themes consistent with science fiction in popular culture. It was a unique approach to hip-hop, and I think it worked really well. As much as I liked the beats and the lyrics, not every song was a winner. The album started off really strong, then the middle dragged a bit, but then the closing of the album was really strong. I wasn’t a huge fan of the rapping either, but it wasn’t enough to detract much from the experience of the album. Overall, this album was really good, and it makes me want to explore some similar artists (one reviewer mentioned that this is similar to MF Doom, who I’ve sadly never listened to before). In closing have two favorite lyrics from this album that I’d like to highlight. From “Bladerunners”: “Style gunners flip shit amazin', Till death call me Deckard, I've seen slave ships off the shores of Orion fire blazin'...” From “The Animist”: “Go toe to toe with Bob Dole in battle, I leave 'em dead if it's head to head, Use his brains as sandwich spread, Not a man-wich, that crack is too racist, So I guess it'd be a Klan-wich.”
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
I've never heard of The Teardrop Explodes, but I tend to like post-punk music from this era, so I have decently high hopes for this album. I reviewed The Birthday Party's Junkyard earlier this week, and I'm currently reading Simon Reynolds's Rip It Up And Start Again, so I'm getting my fill of post-punk lately. Time to scale Kilimanjaro!
I thought Kilimanjaro was really great. It’s easily one of the most unique and distinct post-punk albums I’ve listened to before. The synthesizer created horns were really awesome; they were the perfect touch to give this album a really cavernous atmosphere. One of the things I really love about Echo and The Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain is the cavernous atmosphere on the album, and while Echo and The Bunnymen achieve that sound with guitars, The Teardrop Explodes manages to create it with their horn sounds. In addition to the horn-synths, the organ playing on this album was really good too. It felt to me like the band wove some new wave influences into their sound, while still keeping Kilimanjaro’s distinctly post-punk feel. I really enjoyed Julian Cope’s vocals too (I’ve heard of him before, but I have no idea where I’ve his name come up). I don’t think I have a favorite song on this album, and there really weren’t any songs that I disliked either. While I thought this was a great album, it’s not five stars for me. I guess the reason that none of these songs stick out me is that they’re not really that easily discernable from each other after only a couple of listens. Still, this is a really solid album, and I’m glad I got to listen to it today.
Prefab Sprout
5/5
I've heard of Prefab Sprout before, but I don't think I've ever heard any of their songs before. It honestly surprises me that I've never heard any of their music before, because I love eighties music. Granted, I'm betting this didn't get a lot of radio play where I live, and my parents didn't listen to Prefab Sprout, so that's probably how I've managed to dodge this. I'm excited to listen to this since it's turning 40 years old this year, just like I did a couple of weeks ago. Let's have a midlife crisis, Steve McQueen!
I didn't fall in love with this album, but it's definitely going to be one of the best four star albums I've ever listened to. The earlier part of the album was chock-full of beautiful pop music, that oftentimes bordered on dream pop. I loved the atmosphere that the band created on this album; even though it's a bright and sunny day here, this album created a sense of a chilly and foggy day that I absolutely loved. The guitar playing was really unique, and the keyboards gave this album a sound that I really loved. I thought the vocals were really great too, and the backing vocals were sprinkled in at the perfect moments. I'm pretty sure that I've actually heard "When Love Breaks Down" before; I think it might be on a sophisti-pop playlist that a friend of mine made for me. Either way, it's a great song, and I love its unusual structure. "Bonny" was fantastic too. The vocals were great, and the arrangements were beautiful and perfectly layered. "Appetite" had my favorite backing vocals on the album. I loved that how they matched the pitch of the keyboard riff. This album did lose me a bit during the last few tracks, but it didn't affect how much I enjoyed this album. And I as typed out that sentence, I realized that this is a five star album for me. It may not be perfect, but man, I really enjoyed listening to it. Steve McQueen is a really unique pop album, and I think I'm going to try to find a vinyl copy of it this weekend.
Deep Purple
2/5
I gotta be honest, I'm not jazzed to see a 75 minute Deep Purple live album pop up today. Deep Purple is fine, and I think they have some good songs, but I don't really want to listen to them play live for over an hour. If this album had a live version of their best song, "Woman From Tokyo," maybe I'd be a bit more excited. Regardless, I'll do my best to give this album a fair shake.
Well, I didn’t care for this album very much. I guess I’ll start with the things I did like. I think the members of Deep Purple are talented musicians. They’re all really proficient, and they know enough to be able to turn their studio songs into live renditions of epic lengths. I’ve heard “Smoke On The Water” countless times throughout my life, but man, it sounded great on this album. The guitar playing, the drumming, and the vocals on it were all fantastic, and I didn’t mind listening to it for close to eight minutes. “Highway Star” however, was the highlight of this album. With its blistering guitar solo and the driving main guitar riff, “Highway Star” hits you like a muscle car on the open road, and every minute of it was fantastic. Unfortunately, that was all I liked about this album. I found the other songs on this album to be really boring, especially the 20-minute rendition of “Space Truckin’.” Woof, that’s not a song I want to listen to for that long. Hell, removing “Space Truckin’” would have moved this album up to three stars. Adding “Hush” and “Woman From Tokyo” in its place would have probably moved it up to four stars. I’d never heard “Strange Kind of Woman” before, and this wasn’t probably wasn’t the best way to be introduced to it. I absolutely hated how Ian Gillian sang along to the high-pitched wailing of the guitar. That was like nails on a chalk board to me, and it’s the only thing I remember about that song. Absolutely awful. This album just wasn’t for me. I respect Deep Purple and what they mean to hard rock, but this album had too much of what I don’t like, and not enough of what I do like.
The Soft Boys
3/5
I’ve never heard of The Soft Boys before, but I’ve seen this album cover on the List Challenges website, and I’m really curious as to what this album is like. I tend to love the eighties when it comes to music, so I have high hopes for this. Let’s jump in!
I thought this album was pretty good. It was a really unique slice of new wave, blended with some energetic rhythms and punk rock social commentary. The guitar playing was good, especially on the up-tempo songs like “I Wanna Destroy You,” “Tonight,” and “Positive Vibrations.” There was some really solid bass playing later on in the album too, from “Insanely Jealous” through “You’ll Have to Go Sideways.” I found the vocals to be pretty solid throughout the album, and the violin playing on the title track was really good too. As much as I enjoyed some of the guitar playing, some of the slower and more rhythmically driven songs bored me a bit. Even with some good guitar playing, there weren’t that many memorable hooks or melodies; the songs were enjoyable in the moment, but I don’t think this album is going to stick with me. This was a fun listen, and I can see how it influenced other bands, but I don’t think it’s something I’d go back to.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
I’ve heard of Hüsker Dü before, but I’ve never listened to one of their albums. However, I’ve listened to the solo album that Bob Mould put out earlier this year, and I’ve reviewed Copper Blue by Sugar, so I think I have a decent idea of what to expect on this. I gave Copper Blue four stars, but I wish I had given if five stars, because I really enjoyed it when I reviewed it, and I’ve relistened to it many times since then. If this album has the same sort of melodic rock, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it!
This album was fine, but it definitely didn’t live up to my expectations for it. As a general rule, I enjoyed the songs Bob Mould wrote and sang lead vocals on more than the other songs. I read about how this album had songs written by all three band members, and I feel like there was a lack of cohesion that stemmed from this. Or maybe it was the tension in the band during the recording process that created that lack of cohesion. Who knows. I did like the overall sound though, and the melodic guitar playing that was present on Copper Blue was also present here. I didn’t really make note of many songs that I particularly liked, but that was because I found myself just generally enjoying the sound of this album as I listened to it. However, I will say that I thought “Turn It Around” was particularly great. There was a keyboard riff that was played throughout the song that I really loved. Even though I liked this album, the length was a bit of a turnoff as I listened to it, mostly because it bounced around between various songwriters and lead vocalists. Even though I wasn’t wowed by this album, I’d be willing to listen to it again now that I know what to expect. This album was just a lot to digest on one run-through, and I might enjoy it more on repeat listen.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Ah, my second and last Kendrick Lamar album to review. I’m 95% sure that I’ve listened to this before, but if that’s true, I’ve only listened to it once. I think Kendrick Lamar is incredibly talented, but his music isn’t really something I enjoy listening to, mostly because it just has a very dark aura to it that I find personally unsettling. Granted, that’s probably the point of some of his music, but it’s just not something I find particularly enjoyable. Still, I’m interested to revisit this album today, and see if my memory of it serves me well.
Well, my memory of this album being dark still holds true, but unlike my first time listening to this album, I did enjoy listening to good kid, m.A.A.d. city today. The production on this album is incredibly clean, and I love the beats and samples that were used. Kendrick has an incredibly unique voice, and his rapping is incredibly crisp and clean. The songwriting on this album is fantastic too, and the songwriters did an amazing job of weaving this tale about life in Compton. “M.A.A.D. City” was probably my favorite song on the track. Kendrick’s ability to rap with that incredibly anxious tone in his voice is insanely impressive; it’s like he transforms into an entirely new person on that song. I think what made my listening experience so much more enjoyable this time around, is that I was able to become immersed within the world of this album. And that’s what this album does so well; it doesn’t just create an atmosphere, it pulls you into the world it creates, making you walk the streets of Compton, seeing everything Kendrick is rapping about firsthand. “Swimming Pools” is a prime example of this album’s ability to do that; this song always makes me uncomfortable, and it’s because the atmosphere is so dense, that I feel like I’m getting hammered from drinking shots of straight liquor. I was listening to this album through my headphones while I did some housework late in the evening, and on “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst,” there was a gunshot sound that scared the absolute shit out of me. I literally spun around to look in the kitchen to see if there was someone there with a gun. Every two minutes after that, I was looking over my shoulder. While this album isn’t something I would listen to often, I think it’s an incredible work of art, and I’m glad that I got to experience it again today.
System Of A Down
3/5
I think "Chop Suey" is the only System Of A Down song that I know, but it's a good song, so I'm curious to see how I'll feel about this album. Hard rock from the late nineties and early aughts seem to be a pretty mixed bag with me. I don't listen to a lot of hard rock, but I know a little bit about SOAD from an episode of 60 Songs That Explain the '90's: The 2000's, and they seem like a really interesting band, so maybe I'll find some new additions to my workout playlist from this.
This album wasn't really my jam, but I still thought it was pretty good. Serj Tankian's voice and the guitar work on this album really set SOAD apart from their peers. I really enjoyed the ferocious energy that was present from start to finish on this album. "Soil" was probably my favorite song on the album; it had my favorite guitar playing on the album, and I loved the blistering drums. "Mind" was good too. When I was looking at the track listing for this album, I was worried that a six-minute song might kill the momentum, but it was a nice break from the furious pace of the album up to that point. The guitar playing on "Mind" was really good too, and it was interesting to hear Serj's vocals on a song that had a softer section to it. Other than that though, nothing on this album really stood out to me, and even though this album was only forty minutes long, it felt a lot longer than that to me, mostly because a lot of hard rock sounds pretty similar to me. I think this album is fine in an objective sense, but it's not something I'd be inclined to go back to.
The Jam
3/5
I’d never heard of The Jam until I started this project, but they’ve been mentioned in some books that I’ve read the last couple of years. Based on what I’ve read about them, I’ve was looking forward to All Mod Cons more than Sound Affects, but when I reviewed Sound Affects earlier this year, I enjoyed it, and gave it four stars. Now, the pressure is on for All Mod Cons!
I didn’t enjoy All Mod Cons as much as I enjoyed Sound Affects, but I still thought it was pretty good. The guitar playing and vocals were pretty solid throughout the album, and I thought The Jam did a good job of creating a consistent sound throughout the album. Whether the song was slower and more ‘mod,’ or whether it was faster and relied more on punk influences, it was always well executed. Even though there was a good mix of new wave and punk on this album, a lot of it did sound the same, and I’d be hard pressed to differentiate a lot of these songs from one another, despite listening to this album twice. Plus, for something that falls squarely between new wave and punk, it wasn’t a particularly fun album to listen to; the energy The Jam exuded was okay, but there weren’t really any catchy hooks or melodies to latch on to. Despite that though, this album had a distinctly British feeling to it that I liked that was really well reflected in the lyrics. “Fly” was my favorite song on the album; I really liked the acoustic guitar intro, and how the song kept returning to that guitar riff, even as more instruments were added. It was a really sincere and beautiful song, and it really stood out from the rest of the album. Overall, All Mod Cons was fine, but I don’t think I’d come back to it.
Solomon Burke
1/5
I've never heard of Solomon Burke before, but I tend to like soul music, so I'm hopeful that I'll enjoy this album!
Well, unfortunately, I thought this album was pretty boring, and it really missed the mark with me. I thought Solomon Burke's singing was good and that he had a unique and interesting approach to soul music, but I found this album pretty flat and dull. The songwriting wasn't particularly sharp, which wasn't Solomon's fault since he didn't write any of the songs, but I felt like all of these songs followed the borning format of stereotypical late fifties and early sixties R&B and pop. Musically, there wasn't much going on either, and Solomon's vocals just weren't enough to interest me and keep me engaged.
Slint
4/5
I’d never heard of Slint until I started this project, but I think I’ve heard them briefly mentioned in one of the music books that I’ve read in the past couple of years. Granted, I can’t remember what book it was where they might have been mentioned, so maybe I’m wrong about that. Regardless, I don’t really know what to expect on this album, but the cover is definitely intriguing. Time to find out what Spiderland is all about!
Spiderland is easily one of the most unique albums I’ve encountered on this list so far. I figured that this album would be a little on the experimental side, but I wasn’t expecting the spoken-word vocals. I didn’t fall in love with this album, but it was still very enjoyable to listen to, and quite an interesting experience. I loved that each song felt like its own self-contained world, with the lyrics telling various bizarre stories. The music did a great job of building these ‘worlds’ in a way that allowed the storytelling of the lyrics to fill these worlds with characters and specific settings. I found it really mind-blowing how well the music and lyrics served each other in such a unique way. The guitar playing felt massive, as if each note just blew away the boundaries of these little worlds in the stories. Spiderland created a sense of unease and dread within me as I listened to it, but it was fun to let myself be immersed in those feelings, and the music did a great job of creating a space where you don’t mind feeling uncomfortable. This isn’t something I’d listen to regularly, and I can’t see myself listening to any of the songs on their own, but I still thought this album was really good and definitely worthy of my time.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
I’ve loved OMD’s “If You Leave” since I was a kid, but I’ve never listened to an album of theirs. I’ve always loved those pounding drums on “If You Leave,” and the synthesizers are absolutely to die for. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen Pretty In Pink, which is a damn shame, because I love the eighties. As for other OMD songs, I got to know “Enola Gay” as an adult, and while it’s a good song, it’s no “If You Leave.” I know my brain and heart are going to want to hear thirty minutes of “If You Leave” on this album, but I’ll do my best to push those expectations down so that I can enjoy Architecture and Morality!
Well, for my money, Architecture and Morality wasn’t on par with “If You Leave,” but hey, who’s painted the Mona Lisa twice in their life? Even though I wasn’t wowed by this, it had some very good moments, and it was pretty enjoyable to listen to. When this album was at its best, the synthesizers were fantastic. But when it wasn’t at its best moments, Architecture and Morality was a bit boring, and the album as a whole felt pretty uneven. “The New Stone Age” wasn’t what I was expecting in a leadoff track from OMD, but I thought the song did a great job of capturing a feeling of anxiety and dread. The percussive elements gave it a bit of a militaristic feeling, as did the helicopter-esque sounds towards the end, and the main synthesizers were beautifully haunting. “She’s Leaving” was really up my alley. I loved the vocals and lyrics, and they main synthesizer riff burrowed its way fully into my ear. It was easily my favorite song on the album, and a song I’d be quick to listen to again. “Souvenir” was pretty good too, and I enjoyed its softer synthesizer sounds and different vocals. “Sealand” was the lowest point on the album to me. I felt like it plodded along for far too long, and there wasn’t really any payoff at any point in the song. It stinks that the worst part of this album was also the longest. The two “Joan of Arc” songs were good though, which was nice, especially since the first side of the album ended in a dud. After that though, the album felt like it limped along to the finish line. “Georgia” was nice, but it felt kind of strange between the title track and “The Beginning And The End.” All in all, this album was fine. It had some really good moments, but parts of it dragged it down and made the album as a whole a fairly uneven experience for me.
Dead Kennedys
5/5
I bought a copy of this album back in 2008 or 2009 after seeing it in listed in the first edition of the 1001 albums book. I knew “Holiday in Cambodia” from one of the Guitar Hero games, and I thought it was an excellent song, so I thought it would be worth my time to check out Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. I wasn’t blown away by it back then, but “Holiday in Cambodia” and “Viva Las Vegas” are songs that I’ve been quick to return to. I’ve been reading quite a bit of music non-fiction lately, and “Holiday in Cambodia” was discussed in a book about protest songs I read last year, so I’m excited to revisit this album with a little more knowledge and context under my belt.
Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables is a great album, full of blistering guitars, intelligently angry lyrics, and precise rhythms that tie everything together. However, it’s a short of five stars for me, and I think that just boils down to my personal taste. Most punk albums feel really repetitive to me in terms of the overall sound, and this album was no different. I know that punk music is supposed to be raw and stripped down, but even a short album like this feels tedious after a while. Now that my complaint is out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. The guitars on this album are fantastic. I really like the blistering speed and crunchy sound that the Dead Kennedys use on here. “Kill The Poor,” “When Ya Get Drafted,” “Let’s Lynch The Landlord,” and “Drug Me” are all fantastic, and they all have their own distinct sounds that I really enjoyed. I really loved the songwriting on this album too. Sadly, it seems like war and poverty are always affecting society, and I love how the Dead Kennedys don’t hold back in any of their criticisms. The highlight of this album though is “Holiday In Cambodia.” The guitar playing is some of the best in all of punk rock, and Jello Biafra’s vocals are perfect. The best songs on this album pulse with anger, but this song erupts with a sneering disgust that I love. The drums are absolutely perfect here too, and I love how much the high-hat is used. “Viva Las Vegas” is fantastic too, and I love the bass playing on it. It’s really fun to hear the band’s energy channeled into something light-hearted. Damn, now that I’ve come to the end of my review, I think I’ve convinced myself that this a five-star album. It’s not something I’d listen to often, but damn, it’s really well made, and for something 45 years old, it still packs a hell of a punch. Even if I had wound up only rating this album four stars, I still think it’s a must-listen for any music fan.
Suicide
3/5
I don’t think I’d heard of Suicide before I started this project, but I learned a little bit about them a couple of weeks ago when I started reading Simon Reynolds’ Rip It Up and Start Again. Based on what I’ve read about them, their music seems right up my alley, but I’m a little skeptical since the user reviews aren’t so flattering. Either way, I’m excited to fire this up today!
This album was certainly an adventure. I can see how this album was incredibly influential on a wide range of artists, but for my tastes, I’d say it was just fine. I thought “Ghost Rider” was fine, but I found “Rocket USA” to be pretty tedious. However, this album started to click with me a bit more on “Cheree.” I think the lighter tone of “Cheree” made it much more enjoyable for me. I loved the synthesizer arrangement that sounded like an organ, and the lighter chime sounds were really great too. “Cheree” reminded me a lot of Velvet Underground, which I found really enjoyable. When I was looking through the track listing for this album, I groaned when I saw that “Frankie Teardrop” was over ten minutes long, but to my surprise, it wound up being the best song on the album. I loved the sprawling epic of the lyrics, and music and screams really created a tense experience. Those screams were incredibly unsettling and almost made me want to skip the song, but that discomfort was totally worth it. Even though “Cheree” reminded me of Velvet Underground, most of this album reminded me of Stereolab, which was a really cool connection to see. This album didn’t live up to my expectations, but it was definitely an experience, and “Frankie Teardrop” will probably stick with me for a while.
Aerosmith
5/5
Ah, my final Aerosmith album to review. I used to listen to a fair amount of Aerosmith when I was in high school and college, but I’ve really soured on them since then (it doesn’t help that Steven Tyler is a creep). However, I really enjoyed Pump and Toys in The Attic. I actually own a copy of Rocks on vinyl, but I’ve never listened to it. Back when I listened to more classic rock, I really wanted Toys in The Attic on vinyl, but I could never find it, and Rocks was begrudgingly the consolation prize for my collection. I know the first two songs on here, but I believe the rest of the album will be new for me. Let’s fire this up!
Man, I was not expecting to love this as much as I did, but I thought Rocks was fantastic. This is just a solidly fun 70’s rock album from start to finish. The star of the show here is the guitar playing. The guitar riffs are bluesy and raw, but each song is incredibly unique, and nothing on the album feels stale or repetitive. The drums and bass might not feel like anything special, but I think they do a great job of staying in their lane so that the guitar playing can shine. As far as the individual songs go, I think “Back In the Saddle” is the best of the bunch. I love how this song feels like a country rock song in terms of lyrics and vocals, but the sound is purely a blues driven hard rock sound. I don’t think I’d ever heard the full album version of this song before, because I’d never heard those added ‘cowboy sounds’ at the end. “Back In the Saddle” is what Bon Jovi wishes “Dead or Alive” had been, and I have a new appreciation for it as one of Aerosmith’s best songs. “Last Child” is great too; I love how the guitar riff changes between the verse and the chorus. “Last Child” keeps that same country rock feeling as “Back In the Saddle,” but with a bit more of a blues based sound. The segue between “Sick As A Dog” and “Nobody’s Fault” is fantastic. I know that’s a small detail, but man, I love a good segue. I love the unique hard rock sound of “Nobody’s Fault.” It feels like a cousin to Led Zeppelin, but its raw sound makes it feel like it’s not even on the same family tree. “Lick And A Promise” is great too, and I really love the vocals and guitar riff on the chorus. I hate that I never listened to this album before today, because it’s great. This is some solidly unique guitar rock, and a really fun album. I wondered why the hell this was on the list, but now I get it.
Kings of Leon
4/5
When this album first came out, I absolutely hated hearing "Sex on Fire" on the radio all the time. I absolutely detested that song, and it made me never want to check out Kings of Leon. I can't remember how I wound up checking out Aha Shake Heartbreak, but that was when I really fell in love with these guys. I think I own their first five albums, but Aha Shake Heartbreak is the one that I've listened to the most. I haven't listened to anything on this album in a while, but I'm excited to revisit it today!
Only By The Night is a little bit short of a five star album for me, but it’s a really good album, and I thought it was enjoyable to listen to again. There are a few songs that feel like filler, and the two massive singles are a bit disappointing to me, but the songs that I liked were really good. The music and the lyrics on “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody,” feel a little incongruous to me. There’s so much passion in the singing and lyrics, but something about the music, particularly the guitar playing, feels restrained to me. And that’s a shame, because both of these songs bring a lot to the table in terms of accessibility, but they just lack the punch that I think they should pack. However, “Closer,” “Revelry,” and “Notion” absolutely crush it. I love the distorted guitar melody on “Closer,” and its dark tone feels like a natural starting point for this album, picking up right where KOL’s previous album, Because of The Times, left off. “Revelry” and “Notion” both have a slower tempo that lean into KOL’s southern rock roots, and songs like that helped set the bad apart in the late aughts when most alternative rock all sounded the same to me. The songwriting on this album was really good too, and there’s a lot of raw emotion that fills the forty minutes of this album. While this isn’t my favorite effort from KOL, I still think it’s an enjoyable listen, and I’m glad I got to experience it again today.
The Rolling Stones
1/5
Ah, my fourth Rolling Stones album to review. I'd consider myself a casual Rolling Stones fan, and I've rated their three albums so far at 5 stars (Let It Bleed), 4 stars (Beggars Banquet), and 3 stars (Exile On Main Street). I'll be listening to the UK release of this album today, and looking at the track listing, I don't think I've heard the Stones' version of any of these songs (I know their version of "Not Fade Away," but I'll miss out on that one today sadly). I'm typically not a fan of a bunch of covers, but I know that's not unusual for the early sixties, so I'll try to keep that bias in check! (Oh wow, this will be my last album from 1964!)
No amount of open-mindedness about albums of cover songs could save this album. I found this to be a completely forgettable snoozefest from start to finish. I didn't find anything noteworthy about the band's musicianship on this album, and outside of Mick Jagger's vocals, they really didn't leave a distinct mark on any of these songs. This album wasn't unlistenable or anything, but it was completely forgettable and bland. With this debut, it's truly astounding to me that these guys went on to establish a long career comprised of incredible songs.
Pulp
5/5
I wasn’t familiar with Pulp before starting this list, but I reviewed Different Class over 600 albums ago, and I absolutely loved it. I bought a copy of Different Class, and I’ve listened to it quite a bit over the last couple of years or so. I’ve really been looking forward to This Is Hardcore, and I’m honestly shocked that I didn’t just listen to it on my own before it was assigned to me. I don’t know any of the songs on here, but I’m really excited to give this a listen!
I really enjoyed listening to this album, and I thought it was incredibly well made. This Is Hardcore definitely has a different Vibe to it than Different Class, but I enjoyed this album’s darker and moodier tone. I thought this album was incredibly strong from start to finish, and while there were definitely some songs that I liked more than others, I didn’t think the quality sagged at all during any part of the album. I find Pulp’s musical sound to be really big and bold without being self-indulgent, and that was on full display here. The piano playing and string arrangements gave this album a sense of being really well-refined, but it did it in a way that never felt pretentious. I loved Jarvis Cocker’s singing on this album as well, and I thought his voice was really well suited to the themes of disillusionment, fame, and getting older. Cocker and company explore these themes in a variety of ways, with a good mix of poppy ballads and upbeat rock. I was a bigger fan of the upbeat rock songs, like “The Fear,” “Party Hard,” and “Glory Days,” but tracks like “A Little Soul” and “I’m A Man” were fantastic too. This was a fantastic album, and it takes the listener on a really emotional journey over the course of its one-hour runtime. I would definitely listen to this again, and I’ll probably buy a copy of it very soon.
Living Colour
3/5
The only Living Color song that I'm familiar with is "Cult of Personality," which I think is a really great song. If “Cult of Personality” is any indication as to how the rest of Vivid will be, then I have really high hopes that I’ll enjoy this.
Overall, this album was fine. I thought Vivid was at its best when Living Color had some social or political commentary, like on “Cult of Personality,” “Open Letter,” and “Funny Vibe.” Sometimes the delivery of that commentary could be a little bit cheesy, but the critiques that the band vocalized sill had plenty of merit. The guitar playing on this album was really great and enjoyable to listen to, and there was a wide variety of sounds and influences to take in. I enjoyed the vocals as well, and it was a nice surprise to hear Chuck D and Flavor Flav pop up on “Funny Vibe.” Vivid has that distinct late eighties sound, where various influences are melded together, and while a lot of the songs on here didn’t make a lasting impression on me, there’s a fair amount of fun to be had here. “Cult of Personality” is the standout track on this album. Out of everything on Vivid, it’s the one song that’s weathered almost forty years to still be a notable moment in rock music history. This isn’t the type of album I’d listen to again often, but it would be fun to have on by the pool on a hot summer day.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Ah, my last Pet Shop Boys album to review. Before starting this project, I considered myself a casual fan of these guys, but I only knew a handful of their singles. I thought Behavior was really good, and gave it four stars, but I absolutely fell in love with Very, and gave it five stars. I've listened to Very a few times a month over the last couple of years, and I've gotten to know it like the back of my hand. I know a couple of songs from this album, but I'm excited for the chance to listen to the only eighties Pet Shop Boys album that's on the list.
I didn’t love this album, but I still thought it was really good. I think I had this preconceived notion that the Pet Shop Boys’ music was all really dancey, and while a good portion of this album is dancey, there are some songs on here that are a bit more low-key. I still really enjoy the synth-pop sound of this album, but now that I’m done with the Pet Shop Boys albums on this list, Very is going to wind up being my favorite one (I never would have imagined that my favorite album from these gents would be from the mid-nineties). Before listening to this, I was already familiar with “What Have I Done To Deserve This” and “It’s a Sin.” “What Have I Done To Deserve This” is fantastic, and the guest vocals from Dusty Springfield are really great. However, “It’s a Sin” is far and away the best song on the album, and it might even be a top three Pet Shop Boys song for me. I really love the synthesizer arrangements, and the vocals are incredible as well. The lyrics on this album are pretty strong, and I love the critiques of Thatcher-era Britain, and the lyrics and theme of “It’s a Sin” might be the best on the album. In addition to those two singles, I also enjoyed “Rent” and “King’s Cross.” The whole album is good, but some some songs dragged on a little too long for my tastes. I wouldn’t be opposed to firing up this album again, and it’s definitely a high point for late eighties pop music.
Ray Charles
2/5
I know a small handful of Ray Charles songs, but I've never listened to an album of his. Reading about this album, I'm really interested to hear Ray Charles's interpretation of these songs. Let's fire up some Ray Charles on a Monday morning!
Ah, this really wasn’t my cup of tea sadly. Ray Charles is a great singer, and this album sounds really good, but I found it to be boring. Other than “Bye Bye Love” and “Hey, Good Lookin’,” I’m not familiar with any other artists’ versions of these songs, so maybe if I had something to compare Ray’s versions to, I might have enjoyed this album more. The arrangements sound great, and the musicians who play along with Ray Charles are clearly talented, but I’m just not into the ‘big band’ sound of this album. Ray Charles is clearly talented, but there are other songs from his catalog that I would have much rather listened to.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
This will be my final Bruce Springsteen album to review. I wasn’t sure if I’d listened to this album before, but after skipping around the songs a bit, I don’t think I have (I think I’ve listened to The River though, for what it’s worth). I love Bruce Springsteen, and I gave four stars to Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born to Run, and five stars to The Rising and Born in The U.S.A. Looking at this album on Wikipedia, I see the E Street Band wasn’t involved in the recording of this album, so I have no idea how I’ll feel about Nebraska. Here’s hoping The Boss will go out with a bang for me!
This was definitely different than what I’m used to hearing from Bruce Springsteen, but I thought it was fantastic. The sound was stripped down and raw, but I thought it was a appropriate way to represent the emptiness of the American Dream in the post-Vietnam War era. This album feels distinctly folk, but it sounds right at home in the early eighties, before new pop started driving the sound of the majority of music. The songwriting on this album was fantastic, and I loved how the songs were all tied together by the theme of people who fought to get ahead in life, but ultimately failed. One thing that I like about Springsteen’s ability to connect to the listener. On “Highway Patrolman,” he sings about a police officer who’s always helping his brother avoid scrapes with the law. I’ve never had to help my brother out of a jam that serious, but I can still relate to the lyrics through my own bond with my brother. And on “My Father’s House,” while I’ve never had that exact experience, I happen to be estranged from my dad, and I could easily relate to the narrator’s emotions as he tried to reconcile with his dad, but found out it was too late. This album was beautiful and haunting, and while listening to it wasn’t an uplifting experience, it was still an experience that I enjoyed. I hope I can add a copy of this album to my collection soon!
Throbbing Gristle
3/5
My day with Throbbing Gristle has finally arrived! I've already listened to three of the lowest rated albums just this year, but this will be my 13th of the bottom 20 albums to listen to. Of those basement dwellers, I really loved Kollaps (5 stars), and I also enjoyed Junkyard (4 stars). I just finished up Simon Reynolds's book on post-punk music, so even though I'd never heard of Throbbing Gristle before this project, I feel like I have a decent idea of what to expect on this album. Here's hoping that I'll enjoy this album as much as Kollaps!
Well, Throbbing Gristle is no Einstürzende Neubauten, but I thought this album was pretty good. When "I.B.M." started, I thought this album was destined for the 1-star pile, but it grew on me more as I went through it. D.O.A. was weird and haunting, but in a way that I enjoyed. Songs like "Dead on Arrival" and "AB/7A" were really enjoyable, and I loved how they were melodically abrasive. I enjoyed the songs that had spoken word bits as well, like "Valley of the Shadow of the Death." Listening to those spoken word parts was really unsettling. If felt like I was hiding in a room, and overhearing a conversation that I wasn't supposed to be privy to. It reminded me of those weird AI backrooms videos on Facebook in the best possible way. My biggest complaint with this album is that I found some parts of it pretty boring. If you had made me guess how long "Hamburger Lady" was, I would have wagered it was eight minutes long, because I felt like I lived every second of that song twice. Regardless of how I felt about this album, I can understand why it's on this list. One of the top reviews mentioned that this album is what punk wishes it could have been, and after listening to Never Mind the Bollocks, I can't help but agree with that sentiment.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
This will be my third Stevie Wonder album to review, after Innervisions and Fulfillingness’ First Finale. I was a bit underwhelmed by both of those albums, and gave each of them three stars. I can name a lot of Stevie Wonder songs that I really like, but so far, none of his albums have really landed with me. I'm hoping Talking Book will be the one that finally breaks through to me!
This is easily the best Stevie Wonder album I’ve encountered so far. Let’s start with the good. “Superstition” should be in running for best song of the seventies. Everything about “Superstition” is perfection. Stevie’s vocals perfectly match the tone of the lyrics, the drums in the introduction are iconic, the main guitar riff oozes the funkiest beat I’ve ever heard in my life, and the horns add a perfect level of extra funkiness. I love the way the song just gets better and better as it goes along. “Superstition” segues perfectly into “Big Brother,” one of the best pieces of social and political commentary that I’ve heard from Stevie Wonder. On the heels of a second Donald Trump term, this song feels even more relevant, especially as a criticism of the Democratic Party. The rest of the second side of the album is great, as each song beautifully connects into the next. As much as I loved the second side of the album, I wasn’t a big fan of the first side. Musically, the first side is great, with plenty of funk-inspired synthesizers and great vocals from Stevie Wonder. But the songwriting on the love songs feels overly saccharine and cheesy to me. Even though the second side of the album has some love songs, I felt like the songwriting on something like “Blame It on the Sun” was much stronger. Still, this is a really good album, and it makes me excited for when I’ll finally get to review Songs in the Key of Life.
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
I've never heard of the Louvin Brothers before, but I do love some old-school melancholy ballads, so this album might be right up my alley! The stock market is crashing, the southern US is being ravaged by springtime storms, and civil liberties are under increasing peril. What better time for some Tragic Songs of Life?
I was pretty underwhelmed by this album. Musically, the mandolin and the sibling harmonies were the only bright spots here. The guitar playing felt like background filler, and despite the harmonies, there just wasn't a lot of emotion in the singing of these truly sad songs. The lyrical content of these songs was really good, and it was interesting to hear all of these songs all in one place, but this album was a bit on the dull side when it came to the overall listening experience. This album is a nice concept, but the execution was lacking for me.
The Doors
3/5
I honestly forgot that I still had another Doors album awaiting me. I gave four stars to Morrison Hotel and five stars to their self-titled album, so I have decently high expectations for this album. Looking at the track list, I’m familiar with the title track and “Riders on the Storm,” but these other songs will all be new for me. Let’s take a journey with Jim Morrison and company!
L.A. Woman was fine overall, but it will definitely be my least favorite Doors album that I’ve reviewed. I’ll admit that I’m not a big fan of blues rock, and this album only reinforced my feelings towards the genre. However, there were a couple of really bright spots on this album. As luck would have it, “L.A. Woman” and “Riders on the Storm” were my favorite songs on the album. I really enjoy Jim Morrison’s vocals, and I liked how his voice created such a vivid atmosphere on those two songs, especially on “Riders on the Storm.” I tend to enjoy songs by the Doors that lean more into psychedelic rock, and even though this album didn’t rely on those psychedelic sounds as much, those two songs leaned on that element a bit more, with great results. I enjoyed “Love Her Madly” as well, which I had completely forgotten that I knew. “Love Her Madly” did the best job of blending blues and psychedelic elements, and I thought the piano and guitar playing melded together really well. The rest of the album was fine, but outside of my two favorite songs, there wasn’t a whole lot that I enjoyed from a musical aspect. I thought the guitar playing was pretty bland, and I would have loved more keyboards and organ playing, Just like on Morrison Hotel, some of the lyrics on this album were too weird for my taste. “Crawling King Snake” reminded me too much of the whole ‘Lizard King’ thing of Morrison’s that I absolutely despise, and “The WASP” was a little too out there for me as well. I don’t think this is an album I’d revisit, but I certainly won’t ever skip over “Riders on the Storm."
10cc
1/5
I've heard of 10cc before, but I don't think I've ever heard any of their music before. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but here's hoping that I'll enjoy it!
Well, that was certainly a bizarre experience, and not in a good way. After listening to this, I can't believe that the top review for this album isn't "more like shit music." This album sounded like it wanted to be competent power pop, but each song was a strange potpourri of influences and sounds. "The Wall Street Shuffle" starts off with bluesy guitar riffs, before switching gears to 10cc's stab at what sounds like baroque pop for the chorus. Choices were certainly made on this album. The songs that had a consistent sound were bland or just unpleasant to listen to. I didn't find anything particularly musically competent on this album; this was a mess from start to finish. I definitely wouldn't come back to this album, and I'm glad I'm finished with it.
Klaxons
2/5
I've never heard of Klaxons before, but after listening to 10cc's Sheet Music yesterday, this album cover is giving me some really off-putting vibes. I'll do my best to give this album a fair shot, but I'm going to come unglued if this is another crummy and weird pop album.
I don't think it would be fair to call this album crummy, but it was certainly underwhelming and not really my jam. This album started off pretty strong, with "Two Receivers," which happened to be my favorite song on the album. I really enjoyed the energy and the piano on this leadoff track. There were some other little sound elements that were great too, and this was easily the most unique song on the album. But from there, this album lost me. For an electronic and dance album, Myths of the Near Future was really lacking when it comes to catchy hooks or memorable melodies. This album had some good energy, but the overall sound of it kind of felt like the band was throwing things at the wall to see what would stick, and sadly, nothing really did. "Golden Skans" and "Totem On The Timeline" were okay, but they were ultimately forgettable once I was done listening to them. This album had some promise from the leadoff track, but the payoff never came.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
2/5
I've heard of The Flying Burrito Brothers, and this album cover is familiar to me, but I don't think I've ever heard a song by these gents before. I've reviewed Gram Parsons's Grievous Angel, and most The Byrds' albums, so I have a decent idea of what to expect on this album. Let's get country rockin' on a Tuesday!
The Gilded Palace of Sin was pretty underwhelming to me. For an album that was supposed to be a blend of country rock with psychedelic elements, all I heard was country and western music. Being country and western music isn't what made this album underwhelming though. Nothing on this album really stood out to me as being particularly well done. The vocals were pretty flat, the songwriting wasn't consistently strong, and it wasn't very unique musically either. The album did get a bit better as it went along, with the oddly titled "Hot Burrito" songs being the strongest part of the album to me, due to some pretty good song writing and some nice piano playing. I enjoy hearing the pedal steel guitar, but the pedal steel wasn't really prominently featured on this album, which was a bummer. This album was a bit of a chore to get through, and I spent my time listening to it hoping to hear or feel something that made it stand out, only to be left empty-handed by the end.
Prince
4/5
I've owned a copy of 1999 on vinyl for close to twenty years, but I've never listened to all of it. this will be my second Prince album to review, after Purple Rain, which I gave five stars. I'm familiar with the first three songs off of this album (Girl Talk uses a fantastic sample of "Delirious" in one of the songs on his album All Day), but I don't think I've heard any of these other songs. I would call myself a casual Prince fan, so I'm excited to listen to this today!
I thought 1999 was really good, but it was a bit too much for me. I love synthesizers, so I found the overall sound really enjoyable, but some of the songs on this album just felt incredibly laborious, and I would find myself pretty bored by the time some of them wrapped up. I have no problem with longer songs, but I just want the journey to be worth it. “Purple Rain” goes on for over eight minutes, but it holds you in its grip the entire time, and in the end, it pays off in spades, as you’re rewarded with one of the most beautiful guitar solos of all time. I can’t say that for “Automatic” and “Lady Cab Driver” though. This album still does a lot really well though. “1999” is a fantastic lead-off track. The synthesizers are bright and fun, and even though the lyrics are about nuclear annihilation, “1999” has an infectious energy. The song’s structure is great too, and I love the disco dance feeling of the song’s last two minutes. The vocals are fantastic too, and the multiple singers really brings the party atmosphere to life. “Little Red Corvette” is my favorite song on the album though. The blending of guitars and synthesizers is perfect, and creates a sound that just oozes sexiness. The guitar solo is fantastic, and I love the echoing vocals on the bridge. “Little Red Corvette” feels like a battle between restraint and sexual release, and if any song on this album was going to be nine minutes long, it should have been this one. “Delirious” is great too, and I love its funky rhythms, bopping bass line, and screechy synthesizer tones. The intro reminds me of the Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” but the Pointer Sisters were nowhere near this funky. Prince does a great job on this album of crafting a really unique sound, full of funk, groovy bass lines, fantastic guitars, and shining synthesizers. My biggest beef is that this album is too big and too long in places where it shouldn’t be. 1999 is a really good album, and without it, we certainly wouldn’t have had his masterpiece, Purple Rain.
AC/DC
5/5
Finally, I get to review Back In Black! I have a copy of this album on vinyl, but I'm not sure I've actually sat down and actively listened to all of it; I'm sure I know I've thrown it on a few times while doing things around the house, but I'm excited to go through it with a more discerning ear. I know the singles off of this album really well, and I know I'll enjoy listening to them again today. Let's get after it!
I'm really struggling how to rate this album, and I probably won't arrive at my rating until I'm done typing out this review. For starters, I definitely prefer the second side of Back in Black to the first. The title track is fantastic. Those opening drum hits and the opening guitar riff are just classic. "Back in Black"'s guitar playing is simple, but it's insanely catchy, and every other aspect of the song just makes the guitar playing that much better. "You Shook Me All Night Long" is another classic with an instantly recognizable guitar riff. The drums hit perfectly throughout the song, and the guitar solo is incredible too. "Have a Drink on Me" is bluesy, but still has that quintessential AC/DC sound. The same goes for "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution." "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" is the perfect closing track for Back in Black. The bluesy and slower guitar playing puts the perfect bow on the closing of one of rock's most fun parties. That's what I love about the second side of this album: it's just an immense amount of fun.
The first side of Back in Black is good, but it just feels like a warmup for the awesomeness that's to come on the second side. "Hells Bells" is great, and as recognizable as some of the guitar playing is later on in the album, the main guitar riff here is still an instant classic as well. The bells in the intro do a good job of setting the tone for this song, but they don't really do a good job of setting the tone for the whole album. "Shoot to Thrill" is really underrated in my book. The drumming and guitar playing are great, and the vocals are really fun too, especially on the chorus. The bridge to "Shoot to Thrill" is the main star though; I love the screeching guitar and how it almost plays like a call-and-response with the vocals. As for the rest of side one... the double entendres and innuendos are clever, the guitar riffs are good, the drumming is tight, and the vocals are great, but these songs fell a bit like filler to me. They fit the sound of the album really well, but for my money, they just don't bring a lot to the table.
As far as this album's legacy and impact go... I mean come on, Back in Black was and still is a massive landmark in rock and roll. These guys should have been done for after Bon Scott died, but they came back with the strongest album of their entire discography, and kicked off the decade with one of the best selling albums of all time. I was born five years after this album came out, but the songs on here were a massive part of my life in my late teens and early twenties. As much as I've heard "Back in Black" and "You Shook Me All Night Long," they're still a blast to listen to. This album is just a lot of fun to listen to, and even though I'd probably be inclined to skip some songs if I were to fire it up again in a week, I still think it's fantastic. I think this album deserves five stars, and it's definitely worthy of its reputation as one of the best rock albums of all time.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
I completely forgot that I had more Leondard Cohen albums to review. This will be my fourth album of his to review, with only Songs of Love and Hate left. My favorite Cohen album so far has been You Want it Darker, which I gave four stars to. I gave three stars to his other two albums, so I’d say Cohen lands pretty squarely in the ‘I appreciate his music’ category for me. Maybe this album will be the one that blows me away!
This album really solidifies my overall opinion of Leonard Cohen. He’s an amazing songwriter, but musically, his albums just leave me wanting more, and rarely does everything come together for me when it comes to his songs. Cohen’s vocal delivery is very hit or miss with me; I tend to enjoy it more when his vocals feature more of a spoken word sound, and his vocals were pretty mixed on this album as well. One thing that did stand out to me on this album was what sounded like a jaw harp, which I absolutely hated. As for what I did like about this album, I thought there were some good string arrangements sprinkled throughout these songs, like on “Bird on the Wire,” “Story of Isaac,” and “A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes.” I really enjoyed the backing vocals and the guitar picking on “The Partisan” as well; the music matched the dark tone of the lyrics really well, creating an unsettling atmosphere. “Story of Isaac” and “The Partisan” were my favorite songs on the album. I really loved the sound of “Story of Isaac,” and the songwriting was great. This song reminded me of Tom Waits in the way that it takes the perspective of someone who wouldn’t normally be the focus of the story. I loved the story of “The Partisan,” which sadly feels incredibly culturally relevant today. All things considered, I think Songs From a Room is very good, but it’s just not my taste. Leonard Cohen is a fantastic songwriter, but I don’t often love his musicianship.
Soul II Soul
2/5
The only Soul II Soul song I know is “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me),” which sadly isn’t on this album. However, if that’s any indication for how this album is going to sound, then I think I’m going to be in for a pretty fun experience on Club Classics.
Well, that was certainly an experience. There really wasn’t much that I enjoyed on this album. The beats and production work weren’t really very interesting or unique in my opinion. The rhythm was somewhat fun to groove along to, but I didn’t feel like Soul II Soul left much of a unique fingerprint on these sounds. These songs were a bit on the longer side, and I felt like most of the songs just dragged on for too long. I couldn’t find any personnel credits for this album (I didn’t put a ton of effort into that search), but I really didn’t care for the male vocalist at all. I thought I was going to enjoy “Holdin’ On,” but as soon as the vocals kicked in, I lost interest. The album did have a few bright spots though: “Feel Free,” “Happiness,” and “Back To Life.” “Feel Free” had a good rhythm to it, and it was one of the more fun songs to groove along to. The bass line was fun, and the vocals were good too. The piano on “Happiness” was excellent, and it was one of the few songs on this album that I thought justified its runtime. The vocals and atmosphere on “Back to Life” were great. Even though I’m not familiar with this version of the song, I thought it was really good. The echo on the vocals created an icy atmosphere that made it really stand above these other songs. I loved when the bass and percussion kicked in towards the end of the song. Even though there were three songs that I thought were good, the rest of the album was enough of a clunker to earn a two-star rating from me. This album may have been big for dance music, but it’s not for me.
The Dandy Warhols
5/5
I’ve heard of the Dandy Warhols before, but I couldn’t tell you a single thing about them. I listened to a fair amount of radio alternative rock in the late nineties, but there are so many artists that I’ve never been exposed to. I’ve really enjoyed getting to listen to a lot of these rock albums from the nineties that I didn’t get exposed to at the time, so I’m hoping this album joins the ranks of Suede and The Afghan Whigs!
I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed this album. The overall sound was really unique, and I loved how they infused shoegaze and psychedelic sounds into alternative rock. This album was incredibly strong from start to finish, bolstered by some great guitar playing, solid keyboard riffs, and strong songwriting. This album sounded British to me, and I was shocked to see that the band is actually from Portland, Oregon. There were some songs that I didn’t enjoy as much as the rest of the album (“Orange,” “I Love You,” and “Whipping Tree”), but while those songs weren’t my particular taste, I thought they were still good, and they didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the album. “Be-In” really snagged my attention from the start. I loved the distortion and fuzzy guitar sounds, and there was a lazy vibe to the sound that matched the lyrics really well. The segue into “Boys Better” was fantastic, and this second song was just as strong as the first. My favorite track on the album was “Every Day Should Be A Holiday.” The guitar effects were outstanding, the keyboard playing and electronic effects added a beautiful depth, and they rhythms were incredibly groovy and fun. I really enjoyed the last two instrumental tracks as well. For an album over an hour long, this really flew by. When I’m done with this project, I definitely want to check out more albums by The Dandy Warhols.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2/5
One of my many great shames as a Texan, is that I can only name two Buddy Holly songs, and both of them happen to be on this album. I listened to a fair amount of oldies when I was growing up in the late eighties and early nineties, but I don't really remember hearing much of Buddy's music. I'm looking forward to fixing that blindspot today!
Well, maybe calling my unfamiliarity with Buddy Holly a 'great shame' was a bit of an overreaction. I understand the cultural and historical significance of this album, but listening to it has been one of the weakest lessons I've ever received in music history. There were only three songs that I thought were noteworthy: "Not Fade Away," "That'll Be The Day," and "Rock Me My Baby." Buddy Holly and his band were at their best and most unique on those songs. Buddy Holly's singing on those songs brought a '50's rock and roll touch to his Texas timbre, and the guitar playing was really solid on those songs as well. The rest of the album felt like typical late '50's fare: sappy guitar songs that felt closer to the pop music of the time, and not really in the same ballpark as rock and roll music. One more upside of this album was that it was short, which I really appreciated since this album fell on the boring side of things for me. It's nice to check this album off the list, but it's definitely not something I'd go back to.
David Holmes
2/5
I've never heard of David Holmes or this album before, and I'm not terribly familiar with a lot of electronica music. Before starting this project, I would have thought that I would love a lot of the electronica albums on this list. I love synthesizers, keyboards, and drum machines, so I thought this genre would be right up my alley, but that hasn't really been the case unfortunately. Maybe this album will be the first electronica album to blow me away!
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this album very much. The overall sound was fine, but I found it to be pretty boring overall. Most of the songs didn't really go anywhere interesting, and there weren't many hooks, riffs, or melodies that caught my ear and made me want to hear more. Oddly enough, two of the songs that I enjoyed, "Radio 7," and "Don't Die Just Yet," happened to use samples of songs that I already knew (the James Bond theme and Serge Gainsbourg's "Historie de Melody Nelson"). Both of those songs feel very rooted in the time that they were recorded, but David Holmes managed to use them in a way that felt right at home in nineties electronica. I enjoyed "Caddell Returns" as well; I liked the slower pace of the song, and electronic sounds created a really cool atmosphere. Other than those songs though, this album really fell flat with me, with the songs about New York feeling especially out of place. If the overall theme of this album was about New York, or about urban life, I could see these songs fitting in better. This album wasn't unlistenable, but it certainly wasn't for me.
I only know a couple of Faces songs, and one of them, "Stay With Me," happens to be on this album. However, I really love Rod Stewart, and I've been listening to his solo work since I was a kid in the eighties and nineties. I enjoyed both of Rod Stewart's solo albums that are on this list, so I'm hoping that I'll really enjoy this album too. Let's boogie with Rod and Ronnie!
I'm sad to say that I thought this album was a bit of a dud. The overall sound of the album was fine, but there just wasn't anything particularly noteworthy or catchy about this blues rock affair. It seems to me that Faces didn't really utilize Rod Stewart's talents as a vocalist that well on this album. The thing I really enjoy about Rod Stewart's solo music, is that he leans into this 'down-on-his-luck, hopeless romantic' type of lover. And then he can turn on a dime and just ooze charisma, confidence, and sexiness. The only song where he leaned into that was on the fantastic "Stay With Me." In addition to Stewart's great vocals, Ronnie Wood's guitar playing just oozes the blues, and the Wurlitzer piano adds some great groove. "Too Bad" was a pretty fun blues rocker as well, showcasing some more of Ronnie Wood's great guitar playing. "That's All You Need" had some more great guitar playing, but I wasn't a fan of the song overall. Other than that, there wasn't much that I really liked on this album. I'm not a big fan of Ronnie Lane's singing on this album, and it just left me wanting more Rod Stewart. But the songwriting on this album wasn't particularly strong, and I don't think this album really showcased Ronnie Wood's full talents until the second half of the album. I'll always love Rod Stewart, but when it comes to Faces, I might just stick to a few hits.
Nirvana
3/5
I'm almost 800 albums into this project, and I'm just now getting my second Nirvana album (I still haven't had a Madonna album yet). I wouldn't call myself a huge Nirvana fan, but for a significant portion on my adult life, I considered myself a huge Dave Grohl fan. However, Grohl has fallen out of my graces lately since his 'nice guy dad' routine has been blown up by his infidelity. There went my hero... Anyway, I really loved Nirvana's Unplugged, so I have some high hopes for this album!
Overall, I thought this album was pretty good. The star of the show to me was the songwriting. The lyrics were really good, and I enjoyed how Kurt Cobain drew from several different influences to write these songs. They’re all dark and really haunting, and there’s definitely an added layer of darkness to these lyrics now that we’re over thirty years removed from Kurt’s death. Musically though, I wasn’t as into this album as I’d hoped to be. The high points were incredibly high, but the rest of the album was a bit bland to me. It felt like a fair amount of the songs were loud just for the sake of being heavy and distorted. There were a few high points on this album though: “Heart-Shaped Box,” “Dumb,” and “All Apologies” were really good. I love the strings that were utilized on “Dumb” and “All Apologies.” Those strings really added a haunting quality that was missing from most of the album. “Heart-Shaped Box” has the best song structure of the whole album in my opinion. I love the shifting between the slow and melodic verses to the heavy and screeching chorus. I felt like you got the best of both sides of Nirvana on that track. But the best song on the album, if not the best Nirvana song overall, is “All Apologies.” Kurt’s vocals are absolutely fantastic, and the guitar playing is great too. The strings compliment the sound incredibly well. The rest of the songs on this album are fine, but most of them just weren’t my style. Even though In Utero didn’t hit my expectations, I’m still looking forward to Nevermind, but my expectations for that one might be a bit more muted.
Blue Cheer
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but if there's any truth to the Black Sabbath comparisons in the user reviews, then I think this album might be a pleasant surprise. Let's rock out!
I thought this album was pretty good. I liked the overall sound of this, especially the guitar playing. The guitars were fuzzy and distorted, loud, and hit really hard on each song. The bluesy and hard rock sound of this album was pretty unique, and it was really interesting to listen to something that was really influential, but not as well-known as its contemporaries. “Summertime Blues” and “Second Time Around” were my favorite songs on the album. I really loved the energy that the band brought with their version of “Summertime Blues.” Adding in some hard rock sounds really added some bite and attitude to this version. The disillusionment in the tone of the lyrics due to this change in instrumentation made this song sound like it was from an angry Gen-Xer in the eighties. The guitar playing on “Second Time Around” was some of my favorite on the album, but the star of the show on that song was the drum solo halfway through. I could have listened to that solo for five minutes, but I really loved the guitar playing that was on the other side of it. The rest of the songs ranged from ‘that’s not my cup of tea’ to ‘that was okay.’ Some of these songs meandered along for too long, and while I enjoyed the guitar playing, the songwriting and vocals were pretty subpar. I probably wouldn’t listen to this again, but it was still fine.
The War On Drugs
5/5
At some point in the 2010's, a friend of mine told me to listen to this album. He described The War on Drugs to me as 'your new favorite band.' He'd said the same thing to me about The National a couple of years before this, and he was spot on, so I decided to listen to this album. I immediately fell in love with this album, and it's an album that I return to very often. I know this album like the back of my hand, and I'd easily list as one of my favorites of all time. But enough of my introductory rambling. Let’s get lost in the dream!
I’m always struck by just how beautiful this album is. From those opening clicks and piano notes of “Under The Pressure” to the closing notes of “In Reverse,” I’m just in love with every part of this album. Listening to The War on Drugs reminds me of Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, and Bob Dylan, and on this particular album, it reminds me of Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks.” I always find myself completely consumed by the dreamlike atmosphere of this album, and it’s a feeling that’s truly a treat to embrace. The guitar playing, various pianos and synths, and vocals are all perfect on this album. The songwriting is fantastic too. This album is full of songs that I love, but even the ones that I enjoy a little bit less still have a perfect home on this album. Take “Suffering” for example: it’s sandwiched between “Red Eyes” and “An Ocean Between the Waves,” two of the best songs on the album. “Suffering doesn’t have the blending of pianos and guitars or the restrained energy of the two songs on either side of it, but it has beautiful horns and piano playing that fit perfectly between those two faster paced songs. Back to those vocals though. Adam Granduciel’s singing is absolutely perfect on this album (and every War on Drugs album I’ve listened to). I know his voice is reminiscent of Bob Dylan, but to my ear, it’s more of a combination of Dylan and Mark Knopfler. I love the way he paces out his words, creating gaps in his singing while the arrangements are almost always full of beautiful sounds. That contrast works so well for me. As much as I love the first half of the album, the second half is incredible too. “Eyes to the Wind” is another beautiful, slow ballad, with some fantastic piano playing, and the instrumental “The Haunting Idle” is a perfect lead-in to “Buring.” “Burning” reminds me so much of Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks,” but “Burning” still feels incredibly unique on its own. “Burning” just creates a sense of longing and nostalgia in me that I really love. I could go on and on about how much I love this album, but I’ll close by saying that I listened to this three times before writing my review, and I enjoyed every second of it. Lost in the Dream is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I’m so glad I got to revisit it today.
The Undertones
3/5
When I reviewed The Undertones' self-titled album, I had no idea that they had another album on the list. Granted, that was over 500 albums ago, so it's been a minute since I've listened to these guys. I gave that first Undertones album four stars, so I've got decently high hopes that I'll enjoy this one as well. I have to say, this is quite the album cover...
I didn't enjoy this album as much as I enjoyed the first Undertones album, but I still thought this was pretty good. The guitar playing and vocals were really good across the album, and there was some pretty fun songwriting too. The leadoff track, "More Songs About Chocolate and Girls," really hooked me in with its unique guitar sounds, and "There Goes Norman" was really fun and weird. From there, the album lost me a little bit, but I really loved the cover of "Under the Boardwalk." The Undertones' version had a really fun energy that still kept some of the original sixties pop sound. I thought the second side of the album was stronger, although not by much. "My Perfect Cousin" had some fantastic rhythms, and the vocals and lyrics were really fun. "Wednesday Week" had some really unique guitar playing that I enjoyed, and the same goes for "Girls That Don't Talk" and "What's With Terry?" Overall though, the album felt a bit uneven, and there was something about these songs that felt like the band was holding back a bit. Still, this was an enjoyable album, and I'm glad I had an excuse to check out The Undertones again.
The Clash
5/5
I bought a copy of London Calling after seeing it listed in the original 1001 Albums book. I think I may have only listened to it in its entirety one time, but I’ve listened to “Train In Vain” more times than I can count. I enjoyed the first Clash album, so I’m hoping that I’ll enjoy revisiting London Calling today.
I gotta be honest, I went into this with pretty muted expectations. When I first listened to this album so many years ago, I think I went into it with the expectation that it was going to sound like their version of “I Fought The Law;” I expected just blistering guitars and drums, punctuated by sneering vocals. And this album isn’t that, but it’s all the better because it’s not. I was afraid that this was going to be another one of those ‘I should love this album, but I just can’t get into it’ experiences, but thankfully it wasn’t. I fully understand now why London Calling is in the conversation for the best album of all time. The whole album sounds great, and I love how it embraces the ska roots of punk music. The songwriting is great, and I love the social and political commentary that’s woven throughout the album. The Clash really show off their skills as musicians, and there’s a wide variety of sounds on this sprawling album, but everything still feels cohesive, and each thread wonderfully connects to each other. The rhythms and bass playing really stood out to me, but I really loved how this album was punctuated by great organ and piano playing, some fantastic horns, and some wonderful harmonica on “Train in Vain.” There were so many songs that I loved throughout the album:
-I loved the ska roots of “Rudie Can’t Fail”
-“Spanish Bombs” proves that you can indeed have some fun with the Spanish Civil War
-The saxophone on “The Right Profile” was great, and gave the song a really fun sound
-“Lost in the Supermarket” was one of my favorite songs on the album. The guitar tones were awesome, the bass playing was outstanding, and the critiques of consumerism were great
-“Clampdown” had some of my favorite drumming on the album, and I really loved the growly vocals too.
-“The Card Cheat” was a great piece of storytelling, and I loved the ragtime feel of the piano and horns. Great bass playing too.
-“Train In Vain” is such a fun bop, and it’s still my favorite song on the album. The harmonica gives it a great rockabilly feel, and I love the lyrics too.
London Calling is fantastic from start to finish, and while it might be a bit to sprawling to work its way into my regular listening rotation, I still think it’s fantastic. Revisiting this today was certainly a treat.
fIREHOSE
3/5
I've never heard of this album or the artist before, but that's quite a unique album cover, although I have to admit that it's a bit on the ugly side. Early alternative rock has been pretty hit-or-miss with me as I've made my way through this list. I really enjoy Sonic Youth, but for some reason, bands like Jane's Addiction and Dinosaur Jr. haven't really landed with me. I have no idea what to expect from fIREHOSE, but let's go to Ohio!
I connected with this a little bit more than I did either Dinosaur Jr. album. The first two songs were really great, but the album never did match that high again over the rest of its run time. "Riddle Of the Eighties" had some great guitar playing and vocals, and I really liked how it would stop and start throughout the song. It was a really fun and hooky opening track. "In My Mind" was great too. I loved the calypso feeling of the lead and bass guitar playing. It was an excellent follow up to the opening track. From there though, the album was a bit on the boring side. The guitar playing was really good throughout the album, but there was very little over the last 12 tracks of the album that stood out to me. However, "Time With You" was really good. The guitar playing was fantastic, and I loved the tone of the vocals. Even though I wasn't wowed by this, I still thought it was an interesting listen, and I'm glad I got to experience something a little different today.
Beck
5/5
This will be my second Beck album to review, after Sea Change. I wasn’t really into Sea Change, but I thought it was objectively a good album. I know “E-Pro” and “Girl” off of this album, and I really like both of those songs, so I have decently high hopes that I’m going to enjoy Guero!
Guero was really good. The songs were all varied, but they were connected by the funky grooves that permeated the whole album. I think it takes a lot of talent and vision to create an album that’s so varied and yet incredibly cohesive. Each song’s sound feels incredibly rich and full of texture. I really enjoyed how the different musical elements were layered, so that certain sounds are barely audible in the background. It created an interesting atmosphere that I really enjoyed. There are too many instruments to name that were used in the creation of this album, but the bass playing and beats were by far my favorite element. There really wasn’t a bad song on this album. The more serious and somber songs like “Earthquake Weather” and “Go It Alone” are just as good as the more fun songs like “Girl” and “Black Tambourine.” If I had to pick a favorite song off of Guero, I’d probably have to with “Girl” or “E-Pro.” That feels like a cop-out since I’m already familiar with them, but they’re so good. That Beastie Boy’s sample on “E-Pro” is fantastic, and coupled with the guitar, it creates an incredibly fun and groovy sound. The synthesizers and vocals on “Girl” are an absolute blast, and the beats and slide guitar just kick so much ass. This isn’t the type of album I’d typically gravitate towards, but it’s incredibly well made. Guero is a really fun technical triumph from Beck!
The Byrds
4/5
I can't believe this will be my final Byrds album to review. For some reason, I feel like I've listened to a dozen or so of their albums, but maybe that's because there's also solo albums from several of their members. But I digress. So far, Younger Than Yesterday has been my favorite album of theirs, earning a four-star rating from me; their other efforts have all gotten a three-star rating. I knew very few Byrds songs before starting this project, and it's been nice getting more acquainted with their music these last few years. My final Kinks and Björk albums to review were the only five-star albums of each of their multiple submissions, so maybe The Byrds will fall into that pattern as well!
I thought this was a really good and beautiful album, but it's a bit short of five stars from me. As with other albums by The Byrds, the band is at their best when they're harmonizing, and when their guitars are creating rich and deep sounds. Thankfully, there was plenty of that on this album. However, there were some times where the band deviated from that formula, and I felt the album suffered a bit when that happened. But the songs on this album that were good were really beautiful. I was really struck by "Goin' Back." I loved the vocals and guitar playing, and I thought The Byrds did a fantastic job of making this Carole King song their own. “Wasn’t Born to Follow” was fantastic too. I loved the whooshing of the guitar towards the end of the song, and the finger-picking guitar playing throughout the song was great too. There were some really great string arrangements on this album too, like on “Get To You.” The overall country folk sound of this album was great, and it’s an impressive feat to put out an album like this while a band is experiencing so much inner turmoil. This album isn’t the sort of thing I’d typically gravitate towards, but I enjoyed listening to it today, and I think it beats out Younger Than Yesterday as my favorite Byrds album.
John Martyn
3/5
Ah, the other John Martyn album. I gave four stars to Solid Air, but I hate to admit that I don't remember a lot about listening to it. Regardless, I think this should be a pretty interesting album, and I'm excited to listen to this today.
As excited as I was to listen to this album, I thought it was quite a bit more style than substance. It was fine to listen to, but it didn't feel particularly cohesive to me. The first side of the album felt like it had more jazz and funk inspired sounds to it, while the second side of the album felt like it was more influenced by ambient sounds and soft rock. It was interesting to see what John Martyn could do to achieve his unique sounds, but I felt like a lot of these songs were just a showcase for his technical prowess. This album was still interesting to listen to, but it didn't really leave me feeling anything. I enjoyed the first side of the album more on a second listen, but I really liked "Dancing" and "Small Hours" on the second side of the album the most. I thought they were both really beautifully arranged, and they were a joy to listen to. Even though I didn't care for the first side of the album as much, I thought "Big Muff" was the best song on that side. While I thought this album was interesting, I can't see myself returning to it. I appreciate John Martyn as an artist, but this album was just fine in my opinion.
Grateful Dead
3/5
I try really hard to go into each album with an open mind. I make a good faith effort to try to connect with each album, and to listen for things that make my ears and brain happy. I don't think I'm going to be able to do that today. The Grateful Dead were at the bottom of my list of bands I wanted to see pop up today. After accepting my fate, I headed to Wikipedia to do a little light reading about this album, and I saw that this album is SEVENTY MINUTES long. I don't want Jerry Garcia and his merry band of hippies taking up seventy minutes of my Saturday. I got home from breakfast with my family and pulled this album up on Spotify to find out that it was ONLY SEVEN SONGS! Every fact I learn about his album is worse than the last one. Next, I'm going to learn that this album was pressed out of the bones of orphans who died in The Blitz. Ugh, let's get into this one I guess.
So, uh... turns out that this album wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Granted, "Dark Star" was a really terrible first song. I hated that it went on for what felt like an eternity, and it never went anywhere interesting. The guitar playing wasn't particularly good, and it felt like each member of the band decided to just do their own thing for nearly half an hour. Thankfully though, the lowest point of the album was out of the way early. “St. Stephen,” “The Eleven,” and “Turn on Your Love Light” were all good songs. They were a touch on the long side, but I was really happy to hear some really good organ playing, which is one of my favorite things to hear in sixties psychedelic music. The guitar playing was much better on those songs as well, and I enjoyed the overall sound on that stretch of the album. “Feedback” was good too, and even though it didn’t have the organ playing that I typically like, I enjoyed its experimental sound. Overall, this album wound up being fine, but getting through “Dark Star” was certainly rough. I can now personally vouch for the fact that the Grateful Dead were better live than they were in the studio.
FKA twigs
2/5
I've never heard of FKA twigs before, but based on what I'm reading about this album, I think there's a good chance that I'll enjoy this. Let's jump into my last album of 2014!
Overall, I didn't think this album was very good. I did like the overall ethereal sound that was present on a lot of this album, but it felt like LP1 was mostly full of big ideas that just didn't land. The production work and beats were really good, but the vocals and songwriting were just fine. When it comes to electronic pop music, I really want something that has some memorable hooks or melodies, but that wasn't really present on this album at all. Even though the album was pleasant to listen to, I didn't think LP1 did anything to expand the boundaries of alternative hip-hop or electronic music. This album was some decent background music to me, but nothing more.
Erykah Badu
4/5
I've heard of Erykah Badu, but the only song of hers that I've heard is "Tyrone," and I only heard that because it was discussed on a podcast that I listen to regularly. I'm not a huge R&B fan (shut up, nerd, Neo Soul is a branch of R&B), and the R&B albums from the nineties and aughts that I've reviewed have been pretty hit-or-miss with me. However, I'm excited to experience something new and different today, so let's load up Mama's Gun!
I wasn’t in love with this album, but I still thought it was really good. The production, songwriting, and musical arrangements were all top notch. “Penitentiary Philosophy” really hooked me right from the start, with its great Rhodes playing and fantastic bass line. From there, the album went on this great segue-less run of really beautiful and great songs. I thought the whole album felt really seamless as it went from song to song, and the quality never really dipped. There were only a handful of songs that really stood out to me, but I thought “Penitentiary Philosophy,” “Kiss Me On My Neck,” and “A.D. 2000” were the best songs on the album. The Rhodes playing on “A.D. 2000” was just as good as it was on “Penitentiary Philosophy,” and I loved the overall funky sound of the song. As good as I thought this album was, I wasn’t wowed by the vocal work, and there were some stretches where I felt the album was a bit tedious, and I found myself getting bored. Still, this was a really good album, and I’m glad I got to experience something outside of my normal tastes.
The Black Crowes
5/5
I own a copy of this album, but I haven't listened to it in a hot minute. When I remember liking this album quite a bit when I used to listen to it regularly, but reading the reviews for it made me feel like this album might have soured on me over time. However, looking at the track listing makes me really excited to fire this up. Will The Black Crowes become another personal Red Hot Chili Peppers, devolving into a gimmicky sound that was better appreciated by my younger years? There's only one way to find out!
For me, this album holds up incredibly well. It's exactly what I want in a blues rock album: excellent piano and organ melodies, distinct vocals, and great rhythm and lead guitar parts. The album sounds great as a whole, and it's brilliantly paced, with slower ballads and upbeat jams. This album knows how to rock really well from start to finish. When I was looking at the track listing for this album, I'd completely forgotten about "Jealous Again." I love that whole song, but the bridge is an straight up killer. The guitar riff, and that vocal part of "don't you think I want to, don't you think I would?" is just perfect. The drums coming out of that bridge into the last chorus are perfect too. Damn, what an amazing song. "Twice As Hard" is fantastic too. That guitar intro is just perfect, and the drums give it an excellent punch. I really love "She Talks To Angels" too; the guitar playing on the intro is fantastic, the songwriting is great, and the organ that kicks in with the drums gives it the perfect southern rock sound. "Hard to Handle" is probably my least favorite of the singles off of this album, but it's still a really fun jam. I really don't think there's a bad song on this album, and in rock scene that was brimming over with grunge, it stands out quite well. Even thirty five years later (holy shit), Shake Your Money Maker is a fantastic southern blues rock record.
The Verve
4/5
My 800th album, and it’s my second Verve album to review. I don’t know any of the songs off of A Northern Soul, but I really loved Urban Hymns, so I’ve really been looking forward to reviewing this. Here’s hoping that I love this one just as much or more!
I didn’t love A Northern Soul, but I still thought it was a really good album, and I enjoyed listening to it. I thought The Verve sounded a bit like U2 on some of the songs on Urban Hymns (it didn’t detract from my enjoyment any), but I felt like that similarity was a lot more pronounced on A Northern Soul, especially on the first two tracks. The only song that stuck out to me as unenjoyable was “No Knock on My Door,” where the vocals had a quality to them that I really didn’t enjoy. The rest of the album was really good, but the songs that featured an acoustic guitar or were a bit softer (and consequently less U2-esque) were my favorites on this album. “History” really stood out to me as the best song on the album. I loved the strings (a feature that was more prominent on Urban Hymns, and also a feature that I loved), and I thought it was easily the most beautiful and complete song on the album. The title track was really good too, and I felt like it featured some of the best vocals on the album, and it was my favorite of the songs that were a little bit rougher and more rock-based. The songwriting on this album was good as well, and it felt very cohesive. However, some of the songs were a little too long for my tastes, and the album as a whole dragged a bit at times. Overall though, I enjoyed listening to this album, but I definitely enjoyed Urban Hymns more.
Wire
2/5
I love a good post punk album, so I’ve been looking forward to Wire’s Pink Flag for a while. I’ve never listened to any of Wire’s music before, but this album’s reputation precedes itself. Here’s hoping I’ll find a new album that I’ll want to add to my collection!
Sadly, I thought this album was a bit of a letdown. After listening to this album, I completely understand its significance and impact on music. The do-it-yourself ethos, the raw sound, the great guitar work… Wire embraced all of these elements in a way that helped them craft their own sound that’s certainly not The Ramones or The Clash. Most of these songs are short and to the point, and that serves this album well. Listening to this album was a bit of a chore though. Other than the guitar playing, I wasn’t really a fan of anything else going on musically on this album. The vocals and drumming felt restrained and simple. I don’t know if that was done intentionally or not, but for me, it just made the sound of the album flat and boring after a while. I thought the second side of the album was a bit stronger than the first though; “106 Beats That” and “Strange” were probably my favorite songs on the album. “Reuters” and “Lowdown” were pretty good too though. Even though I didn’t like this album that much, I think it could be the type of album that would grow on me over time. But I listened to this twice today, just desperately hoping that I would connect with it, but to no avail.
The Pogues
3/5
I reviewed The Pogues' other album back on Valentine's Day this year, and I gave it four stars. I liked the overall sound of it, and I thought the songwriting was strong too. One quick note about this album title before I jump in: I had to look up the meaning of the title, because without commas, it reads as "rum sodomy" which sound incredibly unappealing. But enough about my punctuation nitpicks, let's fire up another album that's turning 40 with me this year!
I didn’t care for this effort from The Pogues as much as I enjoyed If I Should Fall From Grace With God. The songwriting on this album was good, and the overall sound was enjoyable, with a good mixture of upbeat, rocking songs and slower ballads, but I felt like this album relied too heavily on Shane MacGowan’s vocals and on the accordion and tin whistle. The accordion and tin whistle really wore me down over the course of the album, and I would have liked to hear more songs that were guitar or banjo based in their sound. I really liked Spider Stacy’s vocals on “Jesse James,” and I would have liked to hear more of his singing. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of this album, I still thought it was well made and featured a unique sound. It’s not the sort of thing I’d come back to, but it was an enjoyable experience.
Janet Jackson
3/5
I’ve really been looking forward to reviewing this album. I’ve known “Escapade” since I was a kid, and it’s been one of my favorite songs of the 80’s for over 35 years, and I know this is supposed to be a really good album. I hadn’t really given much thought to Janet Jackson’s music until a few years ago when I heard a podcast episode that talked about her song “Together Again.” I went through some of her big hits, and I’d completely forgotten just how many great songs she’s had. In addition to that, I have a soft spot for pop music from the late 80’s. I think it’s such an interesting time for music, when so many different things were influencing popular acts. Let’s become citizens of Rhythm Nation!
Well, I didn’t love this album like I was hoping to. I think it’s a very ambitious record with some really good songs on it, but the overall experience is a bit on the bland side. Based on “Escapade,” I wanted a sound that was bigger and bolder, but as I started listening to this, it felt like Janet Jackson was using a lot of restraint in her sound. Granted, as the album went on, those production and musical choices made more sense when I was able to take in more of the album. However, Rhythm Nation feels really dated, and not in a way that I find endearing. It feels over-polished, and this wound up being some nice pop songs. Again, I think the concept was great, and there’s definitely a bit of a futuristic feeling to this album, which goes along well with the lyrical themes of reckoning with social justice issues and building a better world. But to me, the overall message feels less like a call to action, and more like a work of ‘music and art will save the world if we all just love one another.’ Granted, pop music at this time was largely falling short in meaningful and serious political and social messaging, a fact that was only exacerbated by punk and hip-hop’s ability to check that box really well.
Despite my criticisms, there are some really great songs on this album: “Miss You Much,” “Alright,” and “Escapade” are definitely some of the standouts on Rhythm Nation. “Livin’ In A World” was really great too, and featured my favorite songwriting on the album. That burst of gunfire sound effects scared the hell out of me. But back to “Escapade.” It’s easily my favorite song on the album, especially in terms of musical sound. The synthesizers and vocals are absolutely fantastic. The drumbeats give it the perfect punch, and it’s always a fun song to sing along to in the car. As much as I loved those songs, I felt like the interludes on the early part of the album really killed the pace and felt unnecessary. And even though I appreciated this album more as it went along, I felt like the last few songs were a touch too long.
This album was a bit of a letdown for me, but if it sounds like I'm being overly critical, I think it's just because I had really high hopes for this. Despite my fondness for some of the songs, I wouldn’t listen to this in its entirety again.
Roxy Music
3/5
It's been a minute since I've reviewed a Roxy Music album! The only Roxy Music album I've reviewed is For Your Pleasure, which I gave three stars to. I really wanted to love that album, but here's hoping Country Life is more my speed!
Overall, I thought this album was fine. I've always (possibly erroneously) thought of Roxy Music as pioneers in electronic composition, so every time I fire up one of their albums, I expect something with more synthesizers, but this album felt more like glam rock with some touches of early new wave. I liked the guitar playing and drumming, and I really liked Bryan Ferry's signing too. Overall though, this album felt a bit uneven. There were some fun glam rock songs like "The Thrill of It All" and "All I Want Is You," but songs like "Three and Nine" and "Bitter Sweet" were a bit of a drag. "Prairie Rose" was probably my favorite song on the album. I really enjoyed the guitar playing, and the rhythms and bass playing were really great too. The piano rounded out all of these elements really well, and gave the song a really fun glam rock sound. While I wasn't blown away by this, I'm still holding out hope that the last Roxy Music album I get to review will be the one that hooks me in and makes me a big fan!
a-ha
3/5
As someone who turned 40 earlier this year, I'm excited to get another album from the wonderful year of 1985. I think this is my third album of 1985 so far this year. I know a couple of songs off of this album: "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." and "Take On Me" (naturally). I love "Take On Me" (who doesn't?) and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." is really great too. Based on those two songs, I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this album's sound. Let's hunt high and low for some great synth pop!
I thought this album was pretty good. A-ha is no Duran Duran or Tears for Fears, and that's okay. I appreciate their unique approach to synth pop, completing their sound with a little bit of new wave and dream pop sounds. I didn't find the songwriting to be particularly strong, and I don't know if that's because these guys are Norwegian or if songwriting just isn't their strong suit. The best songs on this album have some great song structure and memorable hooks, but the other songs on this album are pretty forgettable, even though they're enjoyable in the moment. As far at the stand-out songs go, “Take On Me” is clearly the jewel of this album. A-ha created one of the most memorable synth melodies of the ‘80’s, and no matter how many times I hear “Take On Me,” I always love it. The vocals are fantastic too, and no matter how much I try, I can never hit those high notes when I sing along. Every aspect of “Take On Me” is incredible, and it deserves its reputation as one of the best songs on the decade. “The Sun Always Shines on TV” is great too though. It has something so quintessentially mid-'80's in the brightness of its sound that I really enjoy. I love the synthesizers and programming of the main riff, and it’s just a sweeping epic of a song. The opening piano playing and echoing vocals are absolutely fantastic; I don’t understand how this song didn’t make it higher than 20 on the American charts. In addition to those two songs, I also enjoyed “Train of Thought,” “Hunting High and Low,” and “Love Is Reason.” Other than though, this album felt like filler. It was filler made with delicious synthesizers, but filler nonetheless. This album was better than I thought it would be, and it was nice to listen to some eighties pop that came from somewhere other than the UK or America.
Elbow
3/5
I could have sworn that I've listened to an album by Elbow before, but after looking at their discography, I don't think that I have. But now that I'm pulling up this album on Spotify, I see that I've added "One Day Like This" to my liked songs. I'm gonna say that I've never listened to an Elbow album before, and I'm curious to see if "One Day Like This" is going to be familiar to me.
I think I can definitively say that other than "One Day Like This," I've never listened to Elbow before. This album wasn't really my jam, but I still thought it was well made. The songwriting was fantastic and brimming with emotion, and the arrangements were really beautiful. Despite those factors though, this album was a bit boring at times, and it felt a bit tedious and overwrought at times. Once I got to "One Day Like This," I immediately remembered it. I don't know where I first heard it, but I think it's an incredible song. The vocals are incredibly uplifting, and the strings create an atmosphere that's like walking outside on a bright day after spending two hours in a movie theater. I feel like I just want to float away when listening to "One Day Like This." I thought "Starlings" was good too. The bright blasts of sound were great and really punched up the overall song. The guitar on "Grounds for Divorce" was great, and it really stood out from the rest of the album. Other than that, The Seldom Seen Kid was good, but I didn't think it was anything to write home about.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Fever to Tell was my 56th album to review, and now, I get their second album for my 807th. This is the longest gap I’ve had between albums from the same artist, so I don’t remember much about Fever to Tell. I gave it three stars, but I haven’t listened to any of it since then. I know “Heads Will Roll” off of It’s Blitz!, but everything else on here will be new for me. However, I’m ready to rock!
I really enjoyed It’s Blitz!, and I thought it was much more memorable than Fever to Tell. The overall sound of the album was great, and I loved that it was heavily synthesizer driven. The songs were really fun, and this album had a really unique rock sound to it. Further adding to that uniqueness were Karen O.’s vocals, which sounded great. There are some really great songs on It’s Blitz!: I thought “Zero,” “Heads Will Roll,” “Skeletons,” “Dull Life,” and “Hysteric” were really good. “Zero” was an excellent lead-off track, and I was instantly grabbed by its pulsing synth line. “Heads Will Roll” is fantastic too, and I love its dance worthy beat. The synth melody during the verses is haunting, and I also love the frantic synth blips during the chorus. “Skeletons” was easily the best of the slower songs on the album, and I thought it was the most beautiful song too. “Dull Life” had more of a pure rock sound that I really loved, and the guitar playing was fantastic. “Hysteric” was really beautiful too, and I liked its ethereal atmosphere. The thing that I liked most about this album was that it used a wide variety of synthesizer sounds, but the album still sounded really cohesive. My only complaint against It’s Blitz! Is that some songs were a bit boring. Still, this was a really good album, and it’s something I’d come back to.
Queen
4/5
The day has finally come for my third and final Queen album to review. I gave four stars to A Night At The Opera, but two stars to Sheer Heart Attack, so I think anything is possible on this album. I used to listen to Queen's greatest hits quite a bit back when I was in college, so I'm shocked that I haven't fallen in love with any of their studio albums on this list yet, but maybe Queen II will be more my jam!
First things first: whoever mixed this album did a terrible job and I hope their poor performance haunts them to this day. This album could have been much better if the damn guitars hadn't been so muted. Despite that though, I thought Queen II was really good. Side Black of the album (the second side) was much better than the first in my opinion, and I enjoyed how it felt like one longer movement, moving from song to song with some pretty brilliant segues. The energy on Side Black was great too, and I loved the medieval fantasy themes that permeated the songs. They were a touch goofy, but they were really fun and it allowed Queen to show off their unique merging of glam and hard rock. “Seven Seas of Rhye” is the only song on this album that I was familiar with, and I thought it was a perfect closing track. I love that piano melody, and the drumming is fantastic too. The first side of the album was a touch boring, but I did like the use of acoustic guitars on “Some Day One Day” and “The Loser in the End.” I really liked how “Some Day One Day,” utilized not only acoustic guitar, but that ‘semi-screeching’ sound that Brian May’s known for on the electric guitar. As far as the album as a whole is concerned, the over-dubbing and harmonies were great, and I thought the band used them really well, crafting their own unique sound. This album is probably closer to a 3.5 for me, but I’m rounding up to a 4. It could have been solidly a 4 if the mixing was better, but take that with a grain of salt I suppose. After all, I’m sitting at a computer, and not in a recording studio.
Dagmar Krause
2/5
I've never heard of Dagmar Krause before, and that's a shame, considering I took three years of German in high school, and two years in college. Reading about this album, it sounds interesting, but I think I still don't know completely what to expect out of it. I'm excited to experience something new and out of my comfort zone today!
I appreciate the experience of listening to something different, but Tank Battles wasn't really my jam. I didn't really enjoying the singing, and while the arrangements were interesting, it wasn't something that I really wanted to listen to for close to an hour. However, I did like the lyrics, and it was really interesting to read about Hanns Eisler's political beliefs, and his family's communist party affiliations. These songs felt like old-school lounge singing brought into the modern age, and it was an interesting melding of two different eras. While I can appreciate some of the uniqueness of this album, it's not something I'll be coming back to.
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
I’m completely unfamiliar with Abdullah Ibrahim, but based on this album cover, I would never have expected this album to be jazz; that looks like a background that Vic Rattlehead would be standing in front of. I never really listened to much jazz before I started this project, and it’s one of the genres I’ve struggled to connect with. I’m hoping this will be the first jazz album that I really love!
While I didn’t love this album, it’s one of the jazz albums that I’ve liked the most from this list. I liked the instruments that were used, especially the flute and the bass. The piano and saxophone were really good too, but the songs that featured more flute playing were definitely my favorite. There seemed to be a good mix of emotions portrayed through this music; some songs felt hopeful and upbeat, while some felt more sad and solemn. Despite that though, the album still really cohesive in its sound. I thought that “The Wedding” was the best song on the album. I really loved the saxophone and piano playing, and it truly felt like a song about a new stage of love. The title track was probably my least favorite on the album, and of course it was also the longest song. It felt like it just droned on without going anywhere interesting, and it really didn’t keep me engaged. Overall, this album was fine, but I’ve come to learn that no matter how much I want to love jazz, it’s just not my favorite thing to listen to.
The Triffids
3/5
I’ve never heard of The Triffids before, but based on the description of this album, it sounds pretty interesting. I don’t know many Australian artists, but I’m excited to see what these guys bring to the table!
I don’t think this album was much to write home about. I had some pretty high hopes for it while I was listening to the leadoff track, but those hopes were dashed pretty quickly. I really enjoyed “Bury Me Deep in Love.” I loved all of the reverb, the booming drums, the shimmering guitar playing, the piano, and the string arrangements. The sound was really unique, but also distinctly late eighties. The lyrics were a bit on the cheesy side, but they matched the big sound. I didn’t like “Kelly’s Blues” as much musically, but I thought the songwriting was pretty good, and the music matched the atmosphere of the lyrics really well. “A Trick of the Light” was good too, and I really enjoyed the backing vocals and the keyboard playing. Over the rest of the album, I enjoyed “Holy Water” and “Vagabond Holes” as well, but most of the album after the first three tracks felt like it relied heavily on the sound that had already been established, but without doing anything particularly interesting with those elements. This was still a fairly enjoyable album to listen to, but I wanted more memorable melodies and explorations of that big, echoing sound, but I didn’t get it. I could have looked past that more if I thought the songwriting was stronger than it was, but I didn’t find that part of the album to be particularly noteworthy. Still, it was interesting to listen to an Australian artist that I wasn’t familiar with, but I don’t think I’d go back to this.
T. Rex
2/5
I'm sure I'm not in the minority when I say this, but the only T. Rex song I know is "Bang a Gong," which is a fantastic song (for what it's worth, The Power Station version is great too). I know T. Rex are pioneers in British glam rock, so while I think I have a decent idea of what to expect from this album, I'm not sure if I'm going to like it or not. There's only one way to find out!
While I can appreciate the influence of this album, I didn't really enjoy listening to it. At first, I really liked the sultry and hushed vocals, but as the album went on, that singing started to wear on me. The guitar playing was pretty good, but it really didn't vary much over the course of the album, and the drumming and bass didn't really add much to the sound. The more this album went on, the more of a chore it felt like, as I didn't really feel like T. Rex explored the space they were creating with their sound. "Bang a Gong," is still great, and it definitely stands out on this album. I love the saxophone playing and Marc Bolan's vocals are perfectly suited for it. Other than "Bang a Gong," I thought "Jeepster" was pretty good; it had a rockabilly sound to it that I thought worked really well, and it stood out from the rest of these songs. Even though I didn't care for this album that much, I'm hoping that The Slider is much better.
Sonic Youth
5/5
I went into this project with a slight familiarity of Sonic Youth, and this will now be my third album of theirs to review. I gave five stars to both Sister and Daydream Nation, and despite already being familiar with Daydream Nation, Sister really blew me away. I’d consider myself a Sonic Youth fan, not because I listen to their music a lot, but because I enjoy them, and I think their music is incredibly interesting and influential. I’m not sure what to expect from EVOL, but I’m excited to fire it up!
Like Sister and Daydream Nation, EVOL is another five-star album for me. I think I’ve come to realize that I just enjoy listening to Sonic Youth, but not for the same reasons that I enjoy other favorite artists of mine. Most of my favorite music, I like to listen to because I like to sing along to it, or because I just love having my ears full of beautiful melodies, but that’s not why I like Sonic Youth. I love them because I really enjoy their guitar playing, and I especially love how their albums are full of distinct and unique guitar sounds from song to song. On EVOL, I really loved how the electronic and synthesizer elements complimented the guitar playing so well. This album has such a sense of controlled chaos that I really loved. It’s chaotic to me because it’s not very melodically driven, but it feels controlled, because I know Sonic Youth meticulously crafted this sound to elicit certain feelings from the listener. These folks are just absolute masters of noise rock, and it really shows on this album. EVOL also had good balance of vocal contributions from both Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, but I also loved Lee Ranaldo’s spoken word vocals on “In the Kingdom #19.” Also, unlike most of my favorite albums, I don’t know that I have a favorite song off of this one. Each song really brought something unique to the table, and I liked how each song found new ways to hook me into its sound right off the bat. I still have Dirty and Goo to review, and I can’t wait for those to pop up for me.
Suede
4/5
I’d never heard of Suede before I started this project, but I really loved Dog Man Star when I reviewed it. I know Bernard Butler left Suede before recording was completed on that second record, so I’m really curious to see what his presence will do for a full album recording. I’m hoping that I’ll enjoy Suede’s debut as much as I enjoyed their sophomore album!
I really enjoyed this album, but it’s a little short of five stars for me. The guitar playing and songwriting were outstanding, and I loved how the production gave this album a unique sound and atmosphere that was also present on Dog Man Star. Not only was the guitar playing great, but no song sounded alike, and the album was still very cohesive in its sound and mood. The first half of the album was a bit stronger in my opinion, and I really loved “So Young,” “Animal Nitrate,” “Pantomime Horse,” and “Sleeping Pills.” Just like on Dog Man Star, the first song was really strong, and managed to completely hook me in to the album. My biggest complaint against this album is that some of the songs felt like they dragged on for too long, ending in what felt like a minute of unnecessarily drawn-out vocal refrains. Even though the guitar playing and production were great, the album’s sound did feel a little one-dimensional by the end of it. However, I think some of that was due to the fact that I was constantly comparing this album to Dog Man Star, which felt like it didn’t depend on the guitar playing as much. I wasn’t wild about the vocals on this album either, and I can’t quite pinpoint why. Still, this was a really good album, but I definitely enjoyed its follow up more.
Wilco
5/5
I've owned a copy of this album for several years, but I can't remember when or why I bought it. I remember that I really enjoyed listening to this album the first time I listened to it, but I think I've only listened to it in its entirety once or twice. I've tried to fire it up several times, but I'm just never in the mood for it, and I don't know why. I loved Mermaid Avenue and Being There, so I've really been looking forward to revisiting this album. I have no idea if I'm going to love this or hate this today, but here goes nothing!
I was honestly worried that I wasn’t going to care for this album very much upon revisiting it, but I can brush that worry aside, because this was fantastic. Whenever I think of this album, I think of “I am Trying to Break Your Heart,” but Yankee Hotel Foxtrot so much more than that; it’s eleven songs of indie rock bliss. I enjoy Jeff Tweedy’s singing, but I really love the musical arrangements on this album too. The guitar playing is great, and the little effects peppered in throughout the album give the sound a unique touch that sets Wilco apart from other indie rock artists. This album feels incredibly cohesive, a factor that’s boosted by some excellent songwriting. Jeff Tweedy’s lyrics cover a wide range of topics and emotions, and even though it’s pure coincidence, some of these lyrics are perfect for the immediate aftermath of 9/11. As far as the individual songs go, I’d have to pick “Heavy Metal Drummer” as my favorite. It’s got such a folky sound to it that I really love, and the piano melody is fantastic. I love the contradiction of hearing a song about a heavy metal drummer with a sound akin to Simon and Garfunkel. “Kamera” is awesome too. The guitar playing is great, but the xylophone-like sounds and little electronic sound effects bolster the sound really well. However, there isn’t a bad song on this album in my opinion. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot might not be an album that I’m in the mood for often, but it’s an excellent album, and I loved revisiting it today.
Baaba Maal
4/5
I’ve never heard of Baaba Maal before, but I tend to enjoy African music, so I have high hopes that I’ll enjoy this album. I think my most recent African album that I reviewed was by Koffi Olomide, and I didn’t care for that at all, so here’s hoping that Baaba Maal will wash that from my memory!
I thought Djam Leelii was a great album. The first track, “Lam Tooro” was fantastic, and its hypnotic guitar melody really hooked me in. “Loodo” was really good too, but I really loved the percussion elements on “Muudo Hormo.” There was something that sounded like a xylophone on “Bibbe Leydy” that I really enjoyed as well. Even though only half of the songs stood out to me, I thought this whole album had a fantastic sound that I really enjoyed. The melodies were a bit repetitive, but I didn’t mind, because they were all incredibly beautiful. The only thing about this album that I didn’t really care for was the vocals, but they weren’t enough to detract from the music. I do wish I had gotten something from the lyrics on this album as well, but that’s the drawback from not speaking Senegalese I suppose. All in all, this was a great album with a really unique and refreshing sound.
Peter Tosh
4/5
I’ve never heard of Peter Tosh before, which isn’t surprising, because I’m not a huge reggae fan. However, it’s a damn shame that I’m getting to review this album four weeks after 4/20. I don’t have particularly high hopes for this album, but I’ll try my best to approach it with a high… er… open mind.
Legalize it was a very pleasant surprise. This album had a good mix of sounds and lyrical themes, the vocals were good, and there was an overall atmosphere to the album that I enjoyed. There were several songs on this album that I liked, and only a handful that I would skip over if I listened to this again. The lyrics for the opening title track read like a Wikipedia article for marijuana, and I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a touch on the cheesy side, but I didn’t find it bad, and I enjoyed its unintentional silliness. The guitar on “Burial” was really good, and I enjoyed the guitar playing and the keyboards that sounded like horns during the opening. “Whatcha Gonna Do” was really good too; the harmonica playing caught be a bit off guard, but it was really unique to hear something a bit bluesy on this album. The blues sound fit really well with the overall atmosphere of the album, and it went really well with the guitar playing too. The backing vocals on “Why Must I Cry” were outstanding. I tend to enjoy backing vocals in reggae music, but these were just on a different level. However, my favorite song on the album was easily “Till Your Well Runs Dry.” The verses sounded like reggae honkytonk, and I absolutely loved it. Peter Tosh’s singing was great, and the guitar sounded like it was crying along to the lyrics. The harmonica was fantastic too, and I loved how the song oscillated back to a more traditional reggae sound during the chorus. My only complaint with this album is that some of the songs were a big miss with me, like “No Sympathy,” “Igziabeher,” but Legalize It was a great album, and something I’d consider listening to again.
Guns N' Roses
4/5
Oh man, Guns N’ Roses. I’m pretty sure I listened to all of this album at some point, but there are definitely songs on this album that I’m more partial to than others. I don’t really intentionally listen to GnR much these days, so I’m curious as to how I’ll feel about this album with a more critical ear. I’m approaching Appetite for Destruction with a bit of trepidation, but I’m excited as hell to blast “Paradise City” over my headphones. Break out the hairspray, skunky beer, and cigarettes, it’s time to hit the Sunset Strip!
I wouldn’t say that I love Appetite for Destruction, but it’s still fun to listen to, and I think it’s a really good hard rock album. I love how gritty and dirty the lyrics are, and the guitar playing really elevates the overall sound of the album. For an album that’s as lyrically dark and grimy as it is, its hard rock sound is really well polished, and the guys in GnR show off a lot of talent here. As far as the individual songs are concerned:
-I went into this album not really caring for “Welcome to the Jungle.” I think most of that feeling comes from wanting to hear “Paradise City” whenever this comes on, but I can appreciate how mind-blowing it must have been to hear it for the first time back in 1987. The guitars and Axl’s wailing during the introduction are fantastic, and they really set the tone for this album.
-“It’s So Easy” and “Nightrain” establish the lyrical grittiness of this album really well. GnR leans hard into songs about the Sunset Strip lifestyle, but they do it in a really fun way. I really loved the cowbell on “Nightrain” too.
-I’d completely forgotten about “Mr. Brownstone,” but I love the guitar playing on the intro, and the song has a certain boogie sound that I really like. It shouldn’t be this easy to rock along to a song about heroin.
-“Paradise City” is absolutely perfect. The opening of the song, with the twang of the guitar tone, the pulsing drum beats, and excellent vocals get me amped up every time I hear it. The meat of the song is great too: the main guitar riff is excellent, the drum fills kick ass, and Axl’s wailing vocals are outstanding. The outro is pure chaos, but completely fitting for this romp of a song.
-The acoustic backing guitar they use on “Think About You” is excellent, and is a great way for GnR to show that they’re not just a one-trick-pony when it comes to their guitar sounds.
-I know “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is ridiculously overplayed, but I still love it. That opening guitar solo is fantastic, and the rhythm guitar is great too. I always find it a blast to sing along to this song, and it’s easily one of the most beautiful hard rock songs I’ve ever heard. It gets played a lot because it’s fantastic, and I’m okay with that.
The rest of the album is fine, but some of the songs here on Appetite feel like filler. It’s good filler, and those songs compliment the overall flow and sound of the album really well, but those songs just aren’t very memorable, and that’s a shame on an album that’s full of some of the most memorable songs of the decade. This isn’t an album I’m quick to throw on, but I it’s really good, and it more than deserves its place on this list.
Amy Winehouse
4/5
When Amy Winehouse’s Frank came up for me to review, I was less than excited. I’d carried a distaste for her for, mostly because I associated her music with people I didn’t like. However, I really enjoyed Frank, and my opinion on Amy has shifted drastically since then. I’m heading into this album with high expectations, and I’m excited to see if Back to Black can top Frank!
Back to Black didn’t top Frank, but it came pretty damn close. In my opinion, Back to Black is a stronger album as a whole work, but I enjoyed more of the individual songs on Frank. Back to Black is a great soul album, with plenty of pop sensibilities to craft an enjoyable and accessible sound. The production work and songwriting are both great. The sound is polished and classy, but the lyrics are clever, raw, and occasionally crass, creating a contrast that’s quite fun. “Rehab” was probably the song that kickstarted my dislike for Amy Winehouse’s music, but it’s a great song. Every musical element is fantastic; the backing vocals, the bells, the horns, and the bass are all perfect together. Amy’s defiant attitude on this leadoff track is incredibly cheeky and fun. “Back to Black” is fantastic too. I love how the song fades down and then comes back. The strings arrangement is great, and I loved hearing more bells on this song too. “Tears Dry On Their Own” made great use of its sampling of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” putting a modern spin on a classic melody. “He Can Only Hold Her” was great too, and I loved its laidback and smooth sound. My only complaint with this album is that it’s a lot of the same things I heard on Frank. Listening to both of Amy’s albums is like going to Disneyland twice in the span of year. Yes, it’s a great place to visit, but if there’s been no updates or additions to the park in that time, are you making new memories or just revisiting the old ones? Still, this is a really good album, and I’m happy that my views on Amy Winehouse’s music have been reversed.
Femi Kuti
3/5
I’ve heard of Fela Kuti before, but I didn’t know that he had a son who’s also a musician. This will be my third African album to review in the last ten days, and I tend to enjoy African music, especially from Nigeria, so I’m excited to see what Fela Kuti has in store!
Femi Kuti’s self-titled album didn’t blow me away, but I thought it was pretty good. This album had some really fun and danceable songs, full of rich arrangements, and I enjoyed his political and social commentary as well. A good number of the songs didn’t justify their epic length in my opinion, but nothing on this album was grating or annoying. The leadoff track, “Wonder Wonder” was okay, but it wore thin and felt repetitive after a bit, which made me wonder wonder if I had gotten my hopes up for this album. However, the next song, “Survival” was my favorite off of the album. The opening absolutely hooked me in with the guitar and saxophone, and then some really bright brass arrangements and percussion kicked in. The xylophone was outstanding too, and on an album full of great dance beats, this was the danc-iest of them all. I thought “Nawa” was great too, and the introduction did a fantastic job of teeing up the punchiest song on the album. “Subbor Problems” also stood out to me; I loved how Femi talked about a conversation with his dad. “Stubbor Problems” felt like it was reaching back through time to bring Fela Kuti into the present, and I thought it worked really well. The bass and guitar playing were excellent too, and I liked how the horns kicked in more later on in the song. This album’s best moments really shone through, but the lowest moments on it were a bit boring and dragged this album down a bit, making its hour-plus run time a bit of a drag at times. Still, this effort from Femi Kuti was enjoyable enough to be worth a listen.
The Who
3/5
Back when I was in college, I considered myself a fan of The Who, but I’ve never listened to this whole album before. This will be my fourth album of theirs to review, and I’m excited to listen to this debut. I’m more familiar with The Who’s later music, but I’m always down to listen to these gentlemen.
My Generation isn’t going to dethrone Who’s Next as my favorite album by The Who, but I really enjoyed this glimpse into their early career. There’s a rawness and an edge to The Who’s sound that I enjoyed. The first side of the album was a bit hit-or-miss with me. I loved “The Good’s Gone” and the title track, but I really wasn’t into “I Don’t Mind,” “La-La-La Lies,” or “I Don’t Mind.” “The Good’s Gone” had some excellent guitar playing and drumming, and I enjoyed the drone of Roger Daltrey’s voice, which was really unexpected. “My Generation” is easily the best song on the album though. Everything absolutely clicks here: Daltrey’s vocal stutters, Entwistle’s bass line, Moon’s manic drumming, and Townsend’s guitar are all perfect here, and everyone gets a chance to shine. This song is quintessentially sixties to me, and I absolutely love it. “The Kids Are Alright” is fantastic too. I love how it manages to blend mod and blues sounds. I loved the piano playing on “It’s Not True,” and I wish there had been more piano playing included in this album. I really loved “A Legal Matter” too; the guitar hook in the intro was excellent, and the guitar and piano playing throughout the rest of the song were great as well. Overall, this album was pretty good, but some of the songs were duds to me. I think that if I had never heard The Stooges or The Sonics, I might have felt more favorable towards this album, but some of it just felt a bit bland to me. Even though some of this album wasn’t really in line with my tastes, I think it’s objectively good, and certainly a major influence on rock music.
Julian Cope
4/5
I'd heard of Julian Cope before starting this project, but I can't remember the context in which I'd heard of him. However, I reviewed The Teardrop Explodes' Kilimanjaro earlier this year, and I thought it was a really good. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about this album though; the user reviews aren't very favorable, and it's pretty long too. However, I'm going to keep an open mind, and hopefully I'll be surprised!
This album wound up being a pleasant surprise, and I enjoyed listening to it. It did go on a bit too long for my tastes, but it had a really great rock sound that was fun to listen to. There was a lot to take in terms of the total sound, but the guitar playing provided a great foundation, and the other musical elements, like the keyboards and synthesizers, did a great job of building on top of that foundation. This album felt experimental, especially for the early nineties, and while not everything landed with me, the majority of it felt really accessible to me. When I was listening to the leadoff track, “Pristine,” I wasn’t wowed (I think the vocals were a bit of a turnoff), but I could feel that this album was probably going to go places that I would enjoy. There were some great songs peppered throughout the album: “East Easy Rider,” “Safesurfer,” “Beautiful Love,” and "Hung Up & Hanging Out to Dry” were among my favorites on the album. Even the worst songs on the album were still okay, and nothing on here stood out to me as bad or grating. I wound up listening to this album about three times before writing this review, because I wasn’t sure what all I wanted to mention, but I’ll wrap things up and by saying that this was a really good album, and I don’t think I would have found it without going through this list. If you like some unique guitar rock built upon some postpunk roots, then you’ll probably appreciate this album.
Sabu
3/5
My final album of 1957 has arrived, leaving me just four albums to go from the decade as a whole. I've never heard of Sabu before, but I think it's safe to say that this album will be Latin music to some degree, with a heavy dose of conga drums. Most of this type of music has been pretty middle of the road for me, but I'm hoping this album might blow me away!
Like most of the albums I've reviewed from Latin America, I thought Palo Congo was fine. There were songs where I was sucked into the beautiful rhythms, but there were also songs that I thought were really repetitive, and I found myself tuning out. The first track, "El Cumbanchero," immediately grabbed my attention, and I was hooked on the conga drums that were playing. However, the next song, "Billumba-Palo Congo," was a bit grating to my ears. The call-and-response vocals were really repetitive and took away from the drumming. In fact, the whole song was really repetitive, and I didn't care for it much. The album lost my attention for a couple of songs after that, but I really loved "Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso," with its beautiful guitar playing. "Tribilin Cantore" was really great too; it had a really nice tropical sound to it that I really enjoyed. I loved the bright tone of the guitar on "Tribilin Cantore" as well. Overall, this album was pretty middle of the road. It was pretty enjoyable to listen to, and I appreciated getting to listen to another album that broadened my horizons.
Eagles
4/5
Ah, at long last, I get to review Hotel California. My parents listened to The Eagles quite a bit when I was a kid, and I kept that tradition going through most of my college years. However, I don't think I've ever listened to all of this album. Other than reviewing The Eagles' debut album a while back, I haven't listened to them much since college (about twenty years ago, yikes). I have higher expectations for Hotel California than I did The Eagles self-titled album, so I'm hoping I'll really enjoy listening to this today.
I thought Hotel California was really good overall. There were definitely parts that I enjoyed more than others, but as a whole, this is a solid album. I’ve had a soft spot for the title track on this album since I was a kid. The guitar playing is absolutely fantastic throughout the song, the bass playing is great, and I love Don Henley’s vocals. The songwriting here is fantastic as well, and I love how the theme of addiction on this song can be applied to so many different things in life. As a kid, it drove me wild that this song’s story wasn’t completed by the lyrics, but as an adult, I feel like the solo at the end completes the story. “Hotel California” more than earns its reputation as one of the best classic rock songs of all time. Even though I love the title track, I don’t particularly care for “New Kid in Town.” It’s a fine song, but after the high of “Hotel California,” “New Kid in Town” feels like such a bore to me. However, “Life in the Fast Lane” is great. The bass is groovy, the lead guitar has a perfect desert flair to it, and the lyrics tell a captivating story of a couple whose life has been taken over by their desire for material excess. I love the piano and Don Henley’s vocals on “Wasted Time,” and even though its sound is a far cry from the songs I like the most on this album, it’s absolutely beautiful. The strings that kick in about halfway through are great too. I really love how the second side of the album starts with the reprise, opting to continue with the beautiful string arrangement that kicked in on the second half of the song. Even for a short reprise, I love the mini-crescendo the song builds to. “Victim of Love” goes back to the guitar rock with the southwest flare that I love on this album. This is far from my favorite Eagles song, but listening to it reminded me just how much I love Don Henley’s singing. “Pretty Maids All in a Row” and “Try and Love Again” are fine songs, and I don’t mind Joe Walsh’s or Randy Meisner’s vocals, but they just don’t hold a candle to Don Henley. Even though I’m not crazy about either of those songs, they do both bring a good sound to the album. “The Last Resort” isn’t a favorite of mine either, but I love the synthesizer that’s used towards the end of the song. Even though I’m not fan of it, it’s a nice song, and it’s a great closing track.
I was really hoping that this would be a five-star album for me, but it falls a bit short. “Hotel California,” “Life in the Fast Lane,” and “Victim of Love” are all stand-outs on here, but I feel like they blow everything else out of the water, and I wish more of this album kept with the rock sound that was prevalent on those songs. Still, this is a really good album, and I can understand why it was so well received by critics and why fans of The Eagles really love it. However, I can also see why Rumors took home the Grammy award while Hotel California didn’t.
The Stooges
3/5
The Stooges will be my final Stooges and also my final Iggy Pop album to review. My experience with both the Stooges and Iggy Pop's solo material has been pretty positive. The only Stooges album I'd listened to before starting this project was Raw Power, but I was shocked that I liked Fun House more. As far as Mr. Pop's solo material goes, The Idiot was fine, but I really loved Lust For Life. I'm expecting that I'll enjoy this album as well, and it should be the perfect thing to listen to on this hot Memorial Day weekend.
Overall,. I thought this self-titled effort from The Stooges was fine. The lead guitar and bass playing were great, but I wasn't really wowed by a lot of the songs on here, especially on the second side of the album. I liked that this album blended garage rock with psychedelic elements and song structures, but the second side of the album just kind of ran together to my ears. It was cool to listen to, but nothing special. The ten minutes of "We Will Fall" really lost me as well. I can tolerate some weird and experimental stuff, but ten minutes of that was just too much.
As for the songs that I did like, "1969" grabbed a hold of me right away with its outstanding guitar playing. I loved the fuzziness of the guitar, the drone of the bass, and punchiness of the handclaps. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" was awesome too. The drumming provided a great groove, and the main guitar riff was hypnotic. Iggy Pop's vocals were a perfect match for the instrumentation.
All in all, this album was fine, but I found it more enjoyable as a piece of music history than as a piece of pure music to enjoy.
Morrissey
4/5
Viva Hate will be my penultimate Morrissey album on this list. I really enjoyed all three Smiths albums on this list (only The Queen is Dead didn’t get five stars), and the two Morrissey solo albums I’ve reviewed so far have both gotten four stars from me. I love Morrissey’s singing, and even though Johnny Marr isn’t on this album, I have a hunch I’ll still enjoy the music on this album as well. Let’s jump in!
Keeping with my trend of Morrissey solo works, Viva Hate is another four-star album for me. Once again, I really enjoyed the songwriting, and the music sounded great as well. Morrissey does an excellent job of capturing moods really well with his music and lyrics, and Viva Hate was no exception to this. Viva hate was full of great guitar playing, solid drumming, beautiful string arrangements, and an overall sound that was that I felt worked really well on this album. The album started off really strong with “Alsatian Cousin” and “Everyday Is Like Sunday,” and there were other great songs peppered throughout the album as well. I thought the first half of the album was a bit stronger than the second half, although I really enjoyed the anti-Thatcher lyrics of “Margaret on the Guillotine” quite a bit. “Everyday Is Like Sunday” was probably my favorite song on the album though; I thought the lyrics and music did a fantastic job of transporting me to this unnamed seaside town, and the feelings of depression that can envelope every aspect of a place that you feel like you’re stuck in. “Late Night, Maudlin Street” was fantastic as well. The piano playing was excellent, and the drumming and bass were great too. Overall, this was a really good album, although some parts of it were definitely quite a bit better than others.
GZA
4/5
Liquid Swords will be my third Wu Tang solo project to review. I gave three stars to Tical and four stars to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, so at worst, I'm expecting this effort from GZA to at least as good as Tical. However, based on what I've heard about Liquid Swords, I'm hoping that I'll fall in love with it!
I thought Liquid Swords was very good, and I can understand why it has a reputation as one of the best hip hop albums of all time. I really enjoyed the beats and rhymes on this album, and I liked hearing some guest verses from various members of Wu Tang. "Liquid Swords," "Duel of the Iron Mic," "4th Chamber," "Shadowboxin," and "I Gotcha Back" were my favorite tracks on the album. The title track really grabbed hold of me, and I was immediately sucked into the world that GZA created on this album. I liked how GZA used Shogun Assassin to create a dark atmosphere on this album, and I thought the theme of being an outcast fit well with the world of hip hop artists. In my opinion, the only drawback of this album is that the best tracks completely dwarfed the rest of the album in terms of sound. As great as the beats were on my favorite tracks, they made the other beats sound vastly inferior. Still, this was an enjoyable album to listen to, and it was great to crank up during my workout tonight for a second listen.
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
It's been a really long time since I first listened to Ready To Die, and I've been anxiously waiting for it to come up for me to review. Yesterday, I reviewed Liquid Swords, and today, I finally get The Notorious B.I.G. (still no 2Pac though). I remember being blown away by this album the first time I listened to it. It was one of the first rap albums I'd listened to from start to finish, and I remember being shocked by the sexual content in some of the skits. It's probably been about 16 years or so since then, so I'm really excited to fire this up today!
I don't know if it's that I've been exposed to more hip-hop music over the last 16 years, or maybe being fresh off the heels of Liquid Swords, but listening to Ready To Die today did not live up to the expectations I had for it. Biggie still has one of the best voices in all of hip-hop, and his ability to spit rhymes is still incredibly impressive almost three decades after his death, but this was a bit of a chore to get through today. The biggest shock to my ears upon relistening to this album was just how bland I found most of the beats. Yes, "Juicy" and "Big Poppa" are great, but the rest of the album sounded pretty bland to me when it comes to the musical aspects. The album did get better as it went along, but after over half an hour of not being impressed, the last half of the album wasn’t enough to move it from good to great for me. As vulgar and crass as “One More Chance” is, I thought the lyrics were genius, and the rhyming and word play were outstanding. “I got the meanest, cleanest penis” is better than 75% of anything Shakespeare ever wrote. While we’re on the subject of the crude elements on this album, the blowjob foley work on “Fuck Me” was excellent. While this album wasn’t completely my jam, it still has some great songs, and it’s a showcase of some of the best rhyming and flow I’ve ever heard on a hip-hop album.
The Mamas & The Papas
5/5
A couple of years ago, I read Scott G. Shea's All the Leaves Are Brown, which was a pretty extensive history of the Mamas and the Papas. I really didn't know a lot about the band before reading that book, but reading it gave me two things: one, a better understanding of the folk scene of the sixties, and two, the opinion that John Phillips was a massive piece of shit. I didn't listen to this album after reading the book though, because I knew I'd get to review it at some point. I know "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'", but I think the rest of this album will be new to me. I'm looking forward to firing up some beautiful harmonies!
I really enjoyed listening to If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears. As I expected, the harmonies and vocals in general on this album were outstanding. The arrangements were excellent as well, and having read about John Phillips gave me a lot of insight as to how much of himself he poured into this album. “Monday, Monday” was an outstanding leadoff song, immediately hitting your ears with a taste of the beautiful harmonies and vocals that filled this album. The string arrangements were excellent as well. This song is exactly the sort of thing I think of when I think of folk rock from the sixties. The guitars on “Straight Shooter” instantly reminded me of The Beatles, and felt less folky than “Monday, Monday.” Still, it’s a fun song, and I think it shows that The Mamas and the Papas can do more than just textbook hippie sounds in their music. “Got A Feelin’” had some really good vocals, but I found it a touch boring compared to the two songs before it. I really didn’t care for “I Call Your Name.” It’s not that it’s a bad song, but it felt really out of place compared to the rest of the album. “Do You Wanna Dance” had some great arrangements, and I thought the drums and strings sounded great together. This song felt like a throwback to fifties pop music, which felt a touch out of place, but the vocals were great. “Go Where You Wanna Go” was sneakily one of the best songs on the album. The opening vocals and strings were outstanding, and it’s one of those rare songs that you don’t want to end while you’re listening to it oscillate between its beautiful verses and chorus. Even though I really like “Monday, Monday” and “Go Where You Wanna Go,” “California Dreamin’” is the best song on this album. The cold and moody atmosphere is what puts this song above all the others on the album. The vocals are incredible and the arrangements are fantastic. I swear they could make college music courses solely about “California Dreamin’”, because every aspect of it is perfect. “Spanish Harlem” is nice, but it’s just a bit boring for my taste, and as the follow up to “California Dreamin’”, it sticks out like a sore thumb. “Somebody Groovy” is a really fun bop, with more great vocals. “Hey Girl” was pretty good too, and I really enjoyed the bass playing. “You Baby” was another fun bop like “Somebody Groovy,” but I thought the guitar riff on the bridge stood out as the best part of the song. “The ‘In’ Crowd” was a fine, but the keyboard playing was the best part of the song.
I was planning on giving this album four stars, since there were some parts of it that I didn’t care for too much, but writing out this review really drove home just how good this album is. I’m not huge on folk music, but The Mamas and The Papas had a really unique sound and easily had some of the best vocals of the decade. It’s really a shame that John Phillips was such a prick; if he’d not been such an ass, maybe this band would have put out another album that could have matched this debut.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Green River will be my final CCR album to review. I like quite a few of CCR's songs, but so far, I haven't really loved listening to any of their whole albums. I gave three stars to each of their other two albums, and I expect that I'll probably feel the same about this effort as well. I know a couple of songs on here, but everything else will be new to me. Let's go do down to Green River!
As I expected, Green River was a fine album. I like CCR's overall sound on their albums, and this album was no exception to that. CCR's guitar playing is really unique, and creates an atmosphere that's so reminiscent of the gulf coast, that I almost feel humidity on my skin when I listen to them. I'm really fond of John Fogerty's vocals as well, which has held true on all three of their albums that I've reviewed. However, outside of the title track and "Bad Moon Rising", Green River doesn't offer anything else other than a general vibe that I find pleasant and enjoyable. I didn't find the songwriting on this album particularly noteworthy, and outside of the guitars and vocals, the music was pretty ho-hum. But the two tracks I mentioned earlier are absolutely fantastic. "Green River" starts off with an excellent guitar riff, and John Fogerty's opening 'weeeeelllll' sets the tone for this album perfectly. There's just something ominous in Fogerty's vocals that I love. The same goes for "Bad Moon Rising." That guitar riff is instantly recognizable, and Fogerty's vocals are perfect. For a song about impending disaster, it's awfully jaunty and optimistic in its sound, serving as an apt metaphor for the end of the sixties and the start of the Nixon years. I'll always associate "Bad Moon Rising" with An American Werewolf in London, which isn't a bad thing at all, because it was the perfect song for that transformation scene.
If I had to pick a favorite CCR album from the ones I've reviewed, I'd give a slight edge to Cosmo's Factory, which has my favorite CCR song on it, "Up Around The Bend." And the fact the appearance of one song would determine my favorite CCR song is appropriate, because for my money, I'd rather listen to their greatest hits than any of their regular albums.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
2/5
I’ve never heard of The Good, The Bad & The Queen before, but over the course of 800 plus albums, I’ve become fairly familiar with Damon Albarn. I have also discovered over the course of 800 plus albums that I’m not a big Blur or Damon Albarn guy. Sure, he’s talented, but he’s just not my cup of tea. I don’t have super high expectations for this album, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised by what Damon and Co. have to offer me!
Man, this is a tough album for me to rate. My gut reaction is to slap it with a two-star rating, because I found it overall bland and forgettable, and I also find it hard to connect with ambiguous songwriting like this, after only one or two listens. On the other hand, I didn’t think this was particularly bad. Listening to this was nowhere near as torturous as listening to something like Sulk by The Associates. From a musical standpoint, I didn’t mind listening to this, and there were a few songs that I thought stood out a little bit from the rest of the album, and the overall sound of the album was cohesive and unique. I enjoyed the electronic elements that were used on this album, and I thought the vocals were pretty good too. I really enjoyed when there were little vocal accompaniments that were used on some songs. If I had to pick a favorite song off of this, I’d probably go with “80s Life” or maybe “Northern Whale.” Those two songs had some of my favorite vocals on the album, and also some unique electronic elements that I thought worked well. Now that I’m at the end of my review, I think I’ve landed on a two star for this album, and that’s just based on the fact that it didn’t land with me. I just want to reiterate that I don’t think that this is a bad album, it’s just not for me.
Joan Armatrading
4/5
I’ve never heard of Joan Armatrading before, but based on what some of the top reviews for this album say, I think there’s a good change that I’ll enjoy this album. There’s only one way to find out!
This album by Joan Armatrading was a very pleasant surprise. The vocals were full of emotion, the musical arrangements were beautiful, and the songwriting was top-notch. This was a very enjoyable album to listen to, and I liked that the lyrical content of the songs covered a wide range of emotions and topics. “Love and Affection” was probably my favorite song on the album. The guitar playing was outstanding, and that deep backing vocal really caught me by surprise. This song had a great vibe, and I loved how its sound developed and evolved over its runtime. The saxophone and strings were great too, and this was just a fantastic song in every way. I really enjoyed “Down to Zero” as well. The beautiful guitar, piano, and vocals captured my attention really well, which is always so refreshing in a leadoff track on an album. The steel guitar that came in later on the song was great too. “Help Yourself” had some really great lyrics of female empowerment, and even though a lot of this album reminded me of the music of female singer-songwriters in the nineties, this song felt the most ahead of its time on the album. “Join the Boys” and “People” had some funky vibes that I really liked, and Joan’s vocal style on the former was really unique, and it was cool to hear her branch out with some rougher vocals. When this album grabbed my attention, it grabbed it fully, but there were some moments where I wasn’t as in to it. The songs that I didn’t like weren’t bad, but they just weren’t interesting, and they didn’t capture me the way the other songs did. It wasn’t enough to diminish my enjoyment that much, but it was enough to keep this from being a five star album for me.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
It’s time to put a pin in another artist with multiple albums on the list. I think Stevie Wonder is brilliant, and he has so many songs that I love, but so far, none of his albums have gotten five stars from me. I know that Songs in the Key of Life is typically regarded as his best album, so I’m hoping that the generator wound up saving the best of his work for last!
Well, I won’t go against popular opinion on this album. Yes, Songs in the Key of Life is a bold and ambitious album, but it completely sticks the landing. Stevie Wonder is one of the best musicians of our time, and he makes this double album completely worth it. He plays the keyboards like no one else on earth, and his arrangements are not only interesting and boundary pushing, but they’re beautiful as well. His voice is fantastic, and he does an excellent job on every song on this album. One of my favorite things that he does with his singing is when he drops his voice into that really low register, almost to a growl. But even when he does that, his voice just exudes a deep passion. I love his vocal fills as well, and it’s almost an insult to call them a ‘fill,’ because it feels to me like it’s just another instrument, adding more beauty and depth to his sound. I wound up listening to this twice, and on my first listen, I was thinking that I would rate this album four stars. But after going through this again, I’ve changed my mind, and I think it’s worthy of a five-star rating. Its length makes it difficult to listen to in its entirety often, but if time weren’t a factor, I could listen to this many times over. I did want to point out some of my favorite songs:
-“Sir Duke” is excellent. I’ve heard this song quite a few times over the years, but I never think about it when I think about my favorite Stevie Wonder songs. It’s got a great sound, and I really love how funky the chorus is, especially compared to the verses. It’s some brilliant song structure.
-“Wish” had my favorite bass playing on the album. Pure funk bliss.
“Village Ghetto Land” had my favorite lyrics on the album, and awesome string arrangements as well.
-I just learned a few weeks ago that Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise interpolated Stevie’s “Pastime Paradise.” The synthesized strings are beautiful and haunting, and I loved how the words changed on the second chorus. Another great example of some excellent song structure.
-I love the funkiness and backing vocals of “Ordinary Pain.” I can’t think of another Stevie Wonder song where his vocals dip out for so long, but it worked really well.
-“Have a Talk With God” has some great funk sound as well, and I loved the bells in the percussion too.
Overall, this is a fantastic album. It’s massive and bold, and a complete testament to Stevie Wonder’s incredible talent as a musician, arranger, vocalist, and visionary. It’s astounding to me that this was his 18th album to record. The man has more ideas and creativity in one of his fingernails than I have in my entire body. What an album, and what an artist!
Morrissey
3/5
Yesterday, I reviewed my final Stevie Wonder album, and I'll review my final Morrissey album. I guess that's what happens when you're 830-something albums into this list. I've given the other three Morrissey albums on this list five stars (there's just always something missing from them), but based on what I'm reading about Your Arsenal, I'm thinking this might be the Morrissey solo album that finally gets five stars from me. With no more Smiths albums to review either, this will be my last album from the Mope from Manchester.
Sadly, Morrissey is going out with a bit of a meh from me. Your Arsenal was fine, but I thought it was the weakest solo entry from Morrissey that I've reviewed. The fuzzed out guitars on "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side" and "Glamorous Glue" really caught me off guard; I wasn't expecting a heavier rock sound from Morrissey, but it was a good preview for the mix of styles that would be present on this album. I wasn't blown away by those first two songs, but I thought they were interesting. However, I thought "We'll Let You Know" was pretty lackluster. The songwriting was good, but the sound felt flat and uninspired to me. I know that "The National Front Disco" created quite a stir when it came out, but I love the guitars in it, and the drumming gives it a really fun beat. Personally, I think Morrissey was taking the piss out of the National Front with this song, but I can understand that other people might not share that opinion. I personally don't understand why Morrissey won't be straightforward and condemn racism when pressed on the issue, but I think his arrogance just makes him act like he's too good to answer the question. Whatever, I digress. I also loved "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful". The pop rock sounds work well here, and I think Morrissey is at his best when he's working with great melodies. "You're the One for Me, Fatty" sounded great, but the lyrics were a little off-putting to me, even if there was a good message about body positivity behind it. The closing track, "Tomorrow" was also really strong. I really enjoyed the bass and lead guitar on it, and the drums were really good too. It's the kind of sound I love from Morrissey. Overall though, I think the mix of sounds didn't suit Morrissey very well. His lyrics always have a bit of snark and cheek to them, and even though the songwriting was really good, the music didn't serve his style very well on a lot of this album. This album wasn't great to me, but I applaud Morrissey's willingness to branch out on this effort.
Fred Neil
4/5
I’ve never heard of Fred Neil before, but from what I’m reading about him, it seems like he was in the orbit of a lot of big-name artists of his time, and he had an influence on a pretty wide variety of artists. I’m not completely sure what to expect from this album, but I’m hoping that this will be a new and noteworthy discovery for me!
Fred Neil’s self-titled album was a really pleasant surprise. The vocals were fantastic throughout the album, and the guitar playing and songwriting were excellent as well. These songs were really great from start to finish, and I enjoyed the social and political messages in the lyrics as well. It seemed to me that the emphasis on this album was on the vocals and lyrics, and I think that’s what made it so successful with me. “The Dolphins” was an excellent lead-off track. I loved the wavering sound of the guitar, and the bold twang of the vocals reminded me of Orville Peck, which I really loved. The vocals on “Faretheewell” also gave me Orville Peck vibes, and I loved that this song was a bit of a slower ballad. I think Fred’s version of “Everybody’s Talkin’” is superior to Harry Nilson’s version. This version feels more adjacent to country music, and I thought that mood suited the lyrics really well. This version felt like it was telling the story of a lone gunslinger, leaving one town and heading somewhere else, where he won’t be known or recognized. Love That’s the bag I’m in. The doom of the present woven into a future pessimism. Brilliant. Love the guitar and harmonica. My favorite song on the album though was “That’s The Bag I’m In.” I loved how well the harmonica paired with the wavering guitar playing, and I loved the way the lyrics lamented the small troubles of daily life, while the world burns around the narrator. It was an apt commentary for how even in the worst of times, we still have our daily troubles, and life has to go on. My biggest critique of this album is that it felt like a one-trick-pony (it’s a hell of a trick though, if it’s the only one you’ve got), and it got a little boring at times. I didn’t care for the last song that much either. At over seven minutes long, it didn’t justify its own length, and it felt like a cheat that it didn’t feature Fred Neil’s vocals. Still, this was a really good album, and it makes me want to check out more of Fred Neil’s music.
The La's
2/5
I’m familiar with The La’s “There She Goes,” and I’ve seen this album cover countless times, but I’ve never listened to anything other than The La’s most famous song. These early nineties albums have been extremely hit-or-miss with me (hooray for Ride and The Cocteau Twins! Boo The Shamen and Happy Mondays), so this album will probably fall at one extreme end of the spectrum for me. If the rest of it is anything like “There She Goes,” The La’s will probably find themselves in the company of Ride in my book!
Hmm, The La’s will be landing closer to Happy Mondays for me. As far as the positives of this album are concerned, “There She Goes” is an absolute delight. I’ve heard this song used in tons of shows and movies, but I’d never actually sat down and listened to it before. It’s an absolutely beautiful song, with some amazing guitar playing that was perfectly layered. The main melody is so simple, but so catchy. The falsetto vocals are incredible too, and they’re a perfect conduit for the lyrics to this song. “Song of a Gun” was good as well, although it was not in the same orbit as “There She Goes.” I liked the guitar playing and the clopping percussion sound, but as the opening track, the vocals were not what I expected, because they were nothing like the falsetto on “There She Goes.” I also enjoyed “Timeless Melody,” where the vocals were a bit reminiscent of Morrissey. The closing track, “Looking Glass” was very good too. It had a really unique and pleasant sound that I enjoyed, and I didn’t mind that it went on for close to eight minutes. As for the rest of the album, I found it to be pretty bland. The guitar playing was fine, but I didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy about the other eight songs on this album. “Freedom Song” was the only one that I thought was particularly bad though; its tempo, vocals, and guitar melody were all pretty unpleasant, and it stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest of the album. I didn’t think this was a bad album, but I didn’t think it met the qualifications of something I had to listen to before I die. It’s interesting as a bridge between The Smiths and Brit Pop, and it has one smash song, but other than that, it doesn’t bring a lot to the table.
Nico
3/5
I know of Nico from the album she did with The Velvet Underground (a five-star album for me), but I’ve never heard any of her solo work before. If Chelsea Girl is anything like that, I think I’ll be in for a good time!
Overall, I think Chelsea Girl was pretty good. The arrangements were really beautiful and fun to listen to, and Nico’s unique vocals worked really well with the music in my opinion. While the arrangements were nice and enjoyable, they weren’t particularly earth-shattering or game-changing in my opinion, but I didn’t mind listening to it. There wasn’t a lot of variation in the sound of this album, but I felt like Nico played to her strengths, which kept this album pretty accessible in my opinion. I don’t really have any strong opinions about the songwriting, but it’s cool that Jackson Browne did some of the songwriting on this album, not to mention playing guitar on it. As far as individual songs go, “Little Sister” was easily the best of the bunch. The organ and flute sounded fantastic, and I loved when the strings kicked in. Nico’s vocals were perfect for the lyrics. I’m not 100% sure what this song was about, but it sounded to me like it was someone giving their sister advice as she left home, and I thought it was really beautiful. “I’ll Keep It With Mine” was great too. The strings were so bright; they felt like sunshine coming in through the blinds on a Sunday afternoon. The guitar rounded out the sound really well, and it was just a very enjoyable song to listen to. While I wasn’t wowed by this album, it was really pleasant, and it wasn’t what I’d typically gravitate towards, so I appreciated experiencing something different.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
This will be my final Neil Young album to review. Well, my final Neil Young solo or Neil Young & Crazy Horse album to review; I still have that Buffalo Springfield album waiting for me. I’ve mostly enjoyed Neil’s albums so far. His albums have gotten a smattering of three and four-star ratings from me, with only Tonight’s the Night coming in at a two-star rating. I have pretty moderate expectations for this album, but I’m holding out hope that this will be my first five-star album from Neil!
I thought Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere was fine. The guitar playing was really solid throughout the album, and I thought the vocals were pretty good too. Other than that, though, there wasn’t a lot about this album’s music that stood out to me. I didn’t find the songwriting to be particularly strong on this album; I don’t know if that’s because a lot of these songs didn’t have a lot of lyrics, or if I just didn’t care for the subject matter. As far as individual songs go, I liked the first half of the album a bit more than the second half. I think that’s because I got kind of bored with this by the time the second side started up. I enjoyed “Cinnamon Girl,” specifically the guitar playing and the hand claps. The guitar sounded fuzzy, which I really liked, and I thought Neil’s vocals were good too. The backing vocals on the title track were great, and I liked the rhythm that the main vocals followed. The guitar playing was strong too, just like on the lead-off track. The acoustic guitar on “Round & Round” was really beautiful, and it was a nice change of pace from the fuzzier electric guitar on the first two songs. Other than that, I don’t have much to add about this album. It was enjoyable to listen to, but there really wasn’t that much remarkable about it to me.
Sebadoh
2/5
I've never heard of Sebadoh before, but I'm getting Dinosaur Jr. Vibes from this album cover, especially the font of the band name. Alternative and indie rock from this period can be such a mixed bag with me; Sonic Youth? Love 'em. The aforementioned Dinosaur Jr.? I know I should love them, but they're just fine. The Auteurs and Guided by Voices? Throw them on the trash heap. I have no idea which of those categories Sebadoh will fall into, but I'm excited to find out!
Bubble and Scrape started off on decent footing with me; "Soul And Fire" had some decent guitar playing to start off, but it piqued my interest when the guitar sound got really fuzzy about a minute into it. It didn't wow me, but I was still left with a fair amount of promise for this album. The second track didn't wow me either, but I started to dislike this album on "Telecosmic Alchemy." I didn't care for the vocals or discordant guitar playing, and the song never really went anywhere that I thought was interesting. I started to hate this album when the harmonica kicked on "Fantastic Disaster." The vocals started to get really grating, and the out of tune sound felt like Sebadoh just wanted to be a weirder Dinosaur Jr. Thankfully, there weren't any other songs that I didn't care for as much as "Telecosmic Alchemy" or "Fantastic Disaster," but Bubble & Scrape just couldn't fully pull me out of the distaste I had developed. Most of this album wasn't bad, but it was just bland and uninteresting to me. Every now and then, a song like "Sacred Attention" would come along and lull me into a false sense of security that this album would turn the corner, but then I'd be let down again on the next song. On "Sacred Attention," the band made great use of the multi-track guitars, and I did like the multiple vocal tracks too. The guitars and vocals came together really well to give this album a deep and rich atmosphere. "Cliche" also featured a lot of what I liked about "Sacred Attention." "Think" was very good too. I enjoyed the acoustic guitar and stripped down vocals. The sound was really haunting, and it was a very well written song. Other than those few songs though, this album was a chore to get through for me. I feel like Sebadoh was on the cusp of something good, but they didn't make the best use of their talents on this album.
I loved reviewing War and The Joshua Tree, but I've always had a bit of negative opinion of U2's music post Achtung Baby. However, "Beautiful Day" has grown on me quite a bit over the last several years. I think I've always avoided this album because I just don't like a lot of pop rock from this era. Now that I have a bit more U2 listening expertise under my belt, maybe I'll wind up loving this!
Welp, my bias for post-Achtung Baby U2 music lives to see another day. Everything That You Can't Leave Behind felt really bland and uninspired when it came to the lyrics and songwriting, and while the sound was fine, there wasn’t really anything new or novel about U2’s first album of the new millennium. Honestly, if you could send ChatGPT back to the year 2000 and make a new U2 album, this would probably be the result. Nearly everything about it is predictable, and Bono’s leaning into religious themes on this album feels like he’s giving himself a pass for not including much social critique into this album. I did enjoy a few songs on this album though. “Beautiful Day” is a blast, and feels like U2’s biggest effort on this album to do anything substantial. The drums and bass have a great pulse, and the bright and shimmering guitar is beautiful and fun. The sound of "Stuck in a Moment" was pretty good too. The vocals on the chorus have a rhythm to them that I really like, and I loved the synthesizers at the end. “Walk On” has a nice message of support for democracy and Aung San Suu Kyi, but it’s also pretty easy to stand up for someone whose false imprisonment is so blatant. There might have been some good songs later on in the album, but if there were, I didn’t notice them, because I became pretty disengaged with this after “Walk On.” I’m just glad this didn’t wind up being my final U2 album to review, and that I still have Achtung Baby left to go.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
I've never heard of Nursat Fateh Ali Khan or this album, but I'm always down to experience something new. I've reviewed a few albums from south central Asia, but I don't think any of them were Qawwali music. I'm curious to see what this album has in store!
I found Devotional Songs to be fine overall. I think if I had a better understanding of music theory and composition, I might be able to better appreciate the sound of this album. However, I still thought this album was enjoyable and interesting to listen to. Much like the cuica in Brazilian music, I was really drawn to the sound of the sound of the tabla on these songs. There's just something about its sound that I really enjoyed on this album. I obviously didn't understand the lyrics on this album, but I thought the singing was full of passion, and it's impressive that NFAK is able to sing with that kind of intensity for long periods of time. The only song that really stood out to me was "Ali Maula Ali Maula Ali Dam Dam." I loved the hand claps and the rhythm of the instruments, and there was a really great melody under the hand claps as well. After that, I felt that I appreciated the album more, as I was able to get more of an understanding of what to listen to. I wasn't blown away by this album, but it sounds like the sort of thing that would grow on me if I became more familiar with it.
John Lee Hooker
2/5
I’ve heard of John Lee Hooker before, but I’m completely unfamiliar with his music. Blues music tends to be a miss with me, especially if it’s something blues-derivative, but with John Lee Hooker, being a legend of blues music, I have higher expectations for this album. I see that Bonnie Raitt is on a song on this album as well, so that’s a major plus too. Let’s go visit The Healer!
Unfortunately, The Healer wasn’t really my jam. There was a lot of sameness to the sound, and I found myself pretty bored listening to this. I don’t know if it was due to the guest musicians, or if there was something else about this album that just didn’t sound great to me. The first track with Santana was interesting, especially with the eighties keyboard playing. The lyrics were good too, and it gave me hope for the rest of the album. As I expected, I liked hearing Bonnie Raitt’s vocals on the second song, and her voice was a good contrast with Hooker’s. Other than that though, there wasn’t anything else I enjoyed on that song. The rest of the album just kept plodding along towards the end for me, but I did like the harmonica on “Cuttin’ Out” and the zydeco sound that was present on “Think Twice Before You Go” with Los Lobos. Even though I liked those little bits, I wouldn’t say that I was blown away by either of those songs. Unfortunately, I thought the best part of the album was the last two songs. “My Dream” was really great, and I loved the slower tempo and painfully wistful lyrics. Hooker’s vocals were really great on that song too. “No Substitute” was great too. I loved the guitar playing, and the slower tempo and stripped-down instrumentation had me hyper focused on the lyrics. Even though I liked those last two songs, this album as a whole wasn’t really to my liking. I’d be willing to give John Lee Hooker another shot, but just not this album.
The Beach Boys
5/5
Now that I'm well into the 800's for albums I've reviewed, I've been taking mental bets with myself about what my last album would wind up being. Something in my mind was telling me it would be Rumors, Dark Side of the Moon, or Pet Sounds. All are highly rated, and albums that I've listened to before, so I was wondering if the universe was saving one of those until the end for me. However, yesterday, after learning that Brian Wilson had passed, I knew that I would be getting my last Beach Boys album today. Many years ago, I asked for Pet Sounds on CD. I'd never listened to it before, but I asked for a copy since it was so highly regarded by music aficionados. I grew up hearing plenty of Beach Boys songs like "Help Me, Rhonda," "Barabara Ann," and "Kokomo," but Pet Sounds was like nothing I'd ever heard, and it blew me away ("Kokomo" holds a special place in my heart. We had the Cocktail soundtrack on cassette when I was a kid, and I will always love that song). I haven't listened to Pet Sounds in a while, so I think I'll write a few blurbs as I listen to it.
Man I love those harmonies on "Wouldn't It Be Nice." The big bass drum hits are just superb. I can't imagine what it was like to hear this when it first came out. This song should sound like a complete cacophony, but it's just beautiful to listen to. I love how there's an ebb and flow to the music as well. What an amazing leadoff track.
"You Still Believe in Me" and "That's Not Me" aren't as great as "Wouldn't It Be Nice," but they still have that same rich sound, complete with some great harmonies.
I don't remember "I'm Waiting For The Day," but what a great song. That percussion and those strings are fantastic. It's amazing that the sound isn't overwhelming, just a rich sound to be enveloped in. The segue into the instrumental "Let's Go Away For A While" is fantastic. I don't even mind that there's an instrumental track.
"Sloop John B" is insanely beautiful. Those tinkling sounds, the woodwinds, the harmonies... man, this song is just such a blast. What a fantastic closing track for the first side of the album. Everything is so meticulously put together on this album, but it never feels like you're listening to something carefully assembled.
"God Only Knows" is perfect too. That harpsichord, the French horn, the strings, the lead vocals, the harmonies... It's an insanely beautiful song, completely awash in amazing sounds. The lyrics are fantastic too. There's just so much to take in with your ears on every song, and I love it.
"I Know There's An Answer" is amazing. I love the bass drum, the horns, and of course the vocals are great too.
Okay, I'm done with notes on individual songs, because I'm just tired of writing, and I'm sure if you're reading this, you're tired too. I just think this is a perfect album, and I wish I could experience it for the first time again. It's so rich with sound, and the lyrics are great too. Brian Wilson set out to make an incredible pop album, and he succeeded on every front. RIP to a an absolute genius of an artist.
4/5
Yesterday, I had one of the highest rated albums on this list, with Pet Sounds, and today, I get one of the lowest rated albums. However, there have been a few low-rated albums on this list that I’ve enjoyed, like Kollaps and Junkyard. Others like Scum and Wonderful Rainbow have been more middle-of-the-road. I’m not terribly sure what to expect on this effort from Liars, but a little bit of noise rock never scared me!
I enjoyed listening to this album, and I thought it had a unique sound that I found entertaining and fresh. I liked the overall lyrical concept, about witchcraft on The Brocken, and it sounded like Liars really allowed the concept to completely consume the album, and it worked really well. My favorite songs on the album tended to have a really strong, pulsing bass that I thought was fantastic. This album could have sounded like a jumbled mess, but the production gave it an atmosphere that I found really cool. For an album that I would describe as dissonant, it was still pretty accessible, and I think that’s due to how the sounds were layered in a way that somewhat resembled typical song structure. There was quite a bit of variation in the sound on this album as well, but everything still felt incredibly cohesive. As far as favorite songs from this are concerned, I really enjoyed "There's Always Room On The Broom,”
"We Fenced Other Gardens With The Bones Of Our Own," and “They Don’t Want Your Corn, They Want Your Kids” (good God, these song titles are a pain to write out). This isn’t the type of album that I’d probably come back to, but I still enjoyed listening to it, because it was fun to branch out and get weird for a bit.
2Pac
2/5
I only know a couple of 2Pac songs, but I’ve really been looking forward to reviewing this album. I don’t know that I could pick a favorite between west coast and east coast hip-hop, because I think both offer things that I like. I reviewed Biggie’s Ready To Die a few weeks ago, which I had listened to before starting this project. I remembered enjoying that album, but when I re-listened to it a few weeks ago, I wasn’t that into it. I’m curious to see if 2Pac will supplant Biggie after I listen to this.
Well, even though I wasn’t wowed by Ready To Die, I liked 2Pac’s Me Against The World even less. I liked the beats and production, I thought this album was mostly pretty boring. Even though I thought this album was fairly enjoyable from a music standpoint, the sound got pretty stale after a while. There was some sample usage that I liked on this album (the Stevie Wonder sample on “So Many Tears” was outstanding), and I don’t know why there wasn’t more sampling, since it seemed to work well when it was used. A lot of the songs felt like they dragged on to me too, and I think that’s because I don’t think there’s anything special about 2Pac’s rapping. His voice has a quality that I like, but he’s not a very good storyteller in my opinion. I know that west coast hip-hop tends to be a bit more laid back, but I just didn’t really feel any emotion at all in this album. The beats and production work make this album accessible to listen to, and I think that helped 2Pac find a wide audience, but there wasn’t enough on this album to interest me or draw me in.
3/5
Oh, Limp Bizkit. Man, these guys were at their peak when I was in late middle school and early high school. I wanted to listen to them back then, but there was no way in hell that my parents would have let me watch them on MTV or buy one of their albums. I only know a handful of Limp Bizkit songs, but I'll admit that I really like listening to "Rearranged" and "Take A Look Around." I think I recognize four songs on here, and I'm honestly a little excited to check this album out today. I'm not a big nu metal guy, but I honestly don't mine Fred Durst's voice, and I think Wes Borland is a pretty good guitar player. Let's let 'er rip!
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (CS&HDFW from here on out) exceeded my expectations a little bit. I mentioned earlier that I’m not a big nu metal guy, and this album didn’t do anything to change that, but I had a fairly good time listening to this. I enjoyed this more than I did the Korn album on the list, and I think it’s because I enjoyed Limp Bizkit’s guitar playing, turntables, and sample usage more than Korn’s. Also, I like Fred Durst’s vocals more than Jonathan Davies’s, and I’m not sure what that says about me as a person. Overall, I think Limp Bizkit’s song structure is a bit more accessible to me, and their songs tend to have more melodic elements during the verses, before descending into chaos during the chorus. “Livin’ It Up,” “It’ll Be OK,” “Boiler,” and “Hold On” had some of my favorite guitar playing on the album. I wasn’t familiar with those songs at all before listening to this album, and I was a bit surprised that I enjoyed some ‘new to me’ songs on this album. There was also some keyboard playing that I liked on this album as well, like on “Rollin’” and “The One.” The latter of those two reminded be a bit of Hawkwind, and I liked the psychedelic elements that “The One” brought to the album. The guest vocals by Scott Weiland on “It’ll Be OK” were great, but I can’t say the same about the other guest vocalists on this album. I really didn’t care Xzibit’s part on “Getcha Groove On,” and I really hated “Rollin’ (Urban Assault Vehicle).” Neither one of those songs added anything to the album, and honestly, they took away from it, especially the latter of the two. Speaking of “Rollin’,” it’s just a really fun song in my opinion. The guitars are great and loud, and Durst’s vocal refrain of the song title is great. “My Way” is great too; Durst’s whiny vocals are perfect for the lyrics, and I love the vocal effects as well. The main guitar riff is great too. My favorite song on the album though is “Take A Look Around,” which didn’t surprise me at all. I love Limp Bizkit’s interpretation of the classic Mission Impossible theme is awesome. The slower pace of the verses and the more manic choruses work really together to create a really fun song. Also, the lyric “I don't even know what I should say, Cause I'm an idiot, a loser, a microphone abuser. I analyze every second I exist, Beatin' up my mind every second with my fist” is pure poetry. That line hits like crack every time I hear it. While I liked this album more than I was expecting to, I thought it was fine overall. The best parts of it were a bit too few and far between, and the worst parts of it really sucked. But when it comes to Limp Bizkit, if you’re of a certain age, you pretty much know what you’re going to get. I think if you’re willing to let go of your inhibitions and have some fun, this album can be fairly enjoyable.
Kelela
3/5
I’ve never heard of Kelea or this album before, but based on what I’m reading about this album, I think it’s going to be right up my alley. This sounds like a unique album, and I’m excited to fire it up!
While I expected to like this album, it fell a little bit shy of my expectations. I enjoyed the overall sound of the album, and I thought the production work was really outstanding. The sound of this album really enveloped me, which I really liked. Musically, this reminded me a lot of The XX, due to the sound of the production and the way that the sound just put me at ease. Even though I liked the sound, I didn’t find it particularly novel or noteworthy. I think I would have liked it more if it would have had some songs in major keys (at least I think that’s what I mean to say, I’m not very well versed in music theory). Granted, musically, this album’s sound supported the lyrics and songwriting quite well, but it came at the expense of any variation in the sound. I thought “Better” and “LMK” were two of the strongest songs on the album, because I really enjoyed their main melodies. I wasn’t really into the vocals that much on this album, but they also didn’t do anything to detract from my experience either. I wouldn’t mind firing this album up again some time; it was nice to listen to today while I did some admin stuff at work, and I think this is the type of album that could possibly grow on me with repeat listens. My initial impression of this album though is that it’s fine and enjoyable.
Slayer
2/5
I’ve heard of Slayer, but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to any of their songs before. Somehow though, if you’d ask me to name a Slayer song, the only one I’d be able to name is “Raining Blood,” but I’d be hard pressed to identify it if I heard it. Regardless, I think thrash metal is fun, but so far, Master of Puppets has stood out as the gold standard of thrash metal albums I’ve enjoyed. I expect this album to probably land in the three-star range with me, where Rust in Peace Landed with me.
I didn’t care for this Reign in Blood very much. My biggest complaint is that most of this album sounded the same from song to song, and the lyrics weren’t really something that I connected with. The guitar playing and drumming were really good from a technical standpoint, but there wasn’t enough on this album to reel me in, and it’s certainly not something that I’d listen to again. I think it was well executed, but it’s just not interesting to me. Sadly, the last two tracks, “Postmortem” and “Raining Blood” were my favorite songs on the album, but that’s not saying a whole lot. They were the only two songs that had any semblance of a unique sound to them, and I thought their guitar riffs were pretty good. The segue from “Postmortem” into “Raining Blood” was really good though, and I liked the rain and thunder sounds that were used. I thought it was pretty to see why “Raining Blood” is the most notable song on this album, because it really outshone every other song on here. This was my last album from the big four of thrash, and sadly, the big four will be going out with a whimper in my book.
The Human League
3/5
Oh man, Dare has been one of the albums I've been really looking forward to reviewing. The only Human League album I've listened to is Fascination!, and I remember liking it. Looking at the track listing for Dare!, I think I only know the first and last songs. I'm really interested in this album, because I know it marks Human League's shift from post-punk to purely being a new wave and synth pop band. Even if I'm not wowed by this album, I'm at least expecting to hear something that's interesting from a standpoint of cultural importance. No need to Dare me, I'm ready for some Human League!
I wasn’t wowed by Dare, but I thought it was okay. The synthesizers were the best element about this album, and from a music history standpoint, it was interesting hearing The Human League evolve from a post-punk outfit to a new wave and synth pop band. I wasn’t a big fan of most of Phil Oakey’s vocals on this album (the man can sing really well, as evidenced on songs like “Human” and “Together in Electric Dreams”), but I understand why he opted for a flatter delivery style on a lot of this album. Most of the songs that relied more on lower register sounds (“The Sound of the Crowd,” “Do Or Die,” and “I Am The Law”) were a bit boring to me. The biggest exception to that was “Darkness,” where I was really drawn in by the main synthesizer arrangement. As for the songs that I liked, I thought “Open Your Heart” was great. Those backing vocals are fantastic, and the whistle sounds are awesome. The upbeat sound of the music suited the lyrics perfectly. “Seconds” wound up being my favorite song on the album. I loved how the main synthesizer arrangement and the backing beat sounded together. The sound was really rich, and it was fantastic to listen to. Even though I liked “Seconds” the best, “Don’t You Want Me” is still fantastic. I was surprised by how different it sounds from the rest of the album. This was the only song on the album that unfolded as a narrative, but I love how Phil Oakey and Susan Ann Sulley sing back and forth to each other. The synthesizers are perfectly layered, and it’s such a fun song. There’s a reason that “Don’t You Want Me” is such an important song in the history of new wave music, and even though I’ve heard it countless times throughout my life, it still sounds incredible. I wasn’t wowed by Dare, but overall, it’s still a good album, and it had a tremendous impact on the landscape of pop music in the eighties.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
This will be my fifth and final Leonard Cohen album to review. Every album from him so far has gotten three stars, with the exception of You Want It Darker, which got four stars. I'm expecting this album to probably fall in with the other three star albums from him, but I'm open to the possibility that this might even eclipse You Want It Darker. Let's jump in!
As with most Leonard Cohen albums, I thought Songs of Love and Hate was good, but I didn't love it. Cohen is incredibly talented as a songwriter, and he has some beautiful arrangements to go along with his singing, but his albums don't have a lot of variation in the sound, and even though his albums are pleasant, I find myself getting a little bored and disconnected at times. That makes it harder for me to focus on and connect with the lyrics, even though I usually enjoy what I'm hearing. I do like that there's a tangible haunting feeling that tends to permeate Cohen's albums, and that feeling was certainly present on this album. Of the songs on this album, I enjoyed "Avalanche," "Famous Blue Raincoat," and "Diamonds in the Mine" the most. I loved the pace of the guitar playing on "Avalanche;" its frantic pace was a really great contrast to the pace of the vocals. The string arrangements were really great too. "Famous Blue Raincoat" had a haunting sound that I really enjoyed, particularly in the strings. However, "Diamonds in the Mine" was probably my favorite song on the album; its faster tempo and bluesy guitar really caught me off guard. The backing vocals were great, and I love how Cohen sang with more of a growling tone as the song went on.
Now that I've wrapped up Leonard Cohen's albums, I think that while his music may not be my favorite, I think he makes some really good music, and his songwriting abilities are really fantastic. Over the five albums of his that I reviewed, his voice and style managed to grow on me. You Want It Darker is still my favorite of his albums that I reviewed, and I'm glad I got to experience five albums from his career.
Louis Prima
3/5
I’ve never heard of Louis Prima before, but reading some user reviews, I see that he was the voice of King Louie in The Jungle Book, so I’m very excited to see what this album is like. I’m not very familiar with swing music, or albums from the 1950’s, so I’m very curious to see if The Wildest! will be as fun as I’m anticipating.
I thought The Wildest! was a good album. It’s not the sort of thing I typically gravitate towards, but it was unique and interesting. I thought Louis Prima’s voice had a really unique tone, and I enjoyed listening to his singing on these songs. I didn’t think there was anything truly special about the arrangements or musicianship on this album, but it didn’t do anything to take away from my enjoyment. The song that jumped out the most to me was easily “Jump, Jive, an’ Wail.” I’ve maybe heard Prima’s version of this, but I’m definitely more familiar with the version by The Brian Setzer Orchestra that was big in the late nineties. Even though Prima’s version isn’t as up-tempo and loud as the BSO version, it still manages to be really fun in its own way (by the way, how crazy was the swing revival of the nineties? I was reading about this song, and of course The Gap used it to sell khakis in 1998. We really did peak as a society then). The other songs on this album were just fine, and nothing else really stood out to me as great or bad. While The Wildest! didn’t knock my socks off, it was a fun and enjoyable album.
The Damned
5/5
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of The Damned before, but from what I’m reading about this album, I think there’s a really good chance that I’m going to like it. I’m not quite sure what to expect about The Damned’s particular brand of punk rock, but here’s hoping that I’m about to find a new band to love!
This album was excellent from start to finish. Right off the bat, I was hooked in by the energy of “Love Song.” The guitars and drumming were outstanding, and the vocals had a lower register to them that reminded me a lot of Ian Curtis. The Damned immediately reminded me of The Clash; they’re a punk band, but they know how to play their instruments well, and they know how to write and arrange some great songs. The title track felt like it was probably really influential on hardcore punk. I loved the screaming of the backing vocals, and the excellent guitar playing and drum fills. I really loved the songs that had great keyboard playing too, like on “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today.” The keyboards created a great pulse to compliment the guitar and drum. The spoken word section about a minute into the song was spectacular, and the keyboard playing just got better and better as the song went on. This was probably my favorite song on the album, but there were so many great songs to choose from. “Melody Lee” was really fun too, and I loved how it started off with a beautiful keyboard arrangement, before descending into pure punk chaos. “Anti-Pope” was another contender for my favorite song on the album. The lyrics were fantastic, and I really loved the guitar playing too. I loved the atmosphere of “Plan 9 Channel 7.” Once again, the keyboards and guitar were excellent, and I loved the haunting sound they created together. Halfway through the song, the guitar really took over, and I loved it. The first guitar arrangement on “Smash It Up” reminded me a lot of Sonic Youth. I loved the echoing quality to it, and I loved how the bass and lead guitar sounded together. What an excellent final song to the album. The only song on the album that I didn’t like was “These Hands;” the whole circus vibe just wasn’t working for me, and it felt a bit out of place. But everything else on the album was incredible. This album was fantastic, and it even managed to stand out compared to other great punk albums from this era (like London Calling and Gang of Four’s Entertainment). This is an album that I’ll definitely be coming back to, and I’m going to try to find a copy on vinyl immediately.
MC Solaar
2/5
I’ve never heard of MC Solaar or this album before, but I’ve enjoyed a decent amount of hip-hop from the nineties that I’ve reviewed so far. Granted, I can’t say I’ve ever listened to a French hip-hop album before, so I really have no idea what I’m in for on this album. Let’s fire it up!
This album left a little to be desired in my opinion. The brightest spot on this album was MC Solaar’s rapping. His skills with language kicked down any language barriers, and I thought he had a really good flow to his rapping. He cloud keep things simple and laid back, but he could also rap with speed and precision. I don’t know French, but it’s cool that his rapping still has a style that’s so clean that I can pick up on his rhythms and the way he enunciated words and syllables. Musically, this album was fine, but it didn’t really pull me in. The backing beats were relaxed and simple, which allowed the lyrics and rapping to do the heavy lifting, but it came at the expense of creating a sound that just plodded along in my opinion. The only song that really stood out to me was “Caroline.” I really liked the strings that were used in the backing music, and the song had a really haunting and beautiful sound. While I appreciate being able to branch out and listen to something different, this album just wasn’t for me.
Fugazi
3/5
Repeater was another album that I bought after seeing it listed in the initial 1001 albums book. It sounded like it was right up my alley, so I scooped up a copy, and gave it a listen. I’d love to tell you that I fell in love with Fugazi on that day, but that’s not the case. I don’t remember hating Repeater, but I’ve never listened to it since then, even though I’ve been meaning to give it another shot. I’m happy that Repeater repeat day is finally upon me, and I’m hoping that I’ll discover a new appreciation for it, now that I’m considerably older, but only slightly wiser.
As much as I respect Fugazi for their dedication to their art and their cause, Repeater just isn’t really my jam. I love the lyrics (easily the most hardcore part of their post-hardcore label), but musically, I just like things a bit more melodic. And if traditional melodic structures aren’t there, then I want something weird and wild, like Einstürzende Neubauten. However, neither of those were really present on this album. I’ll do think the rhythms on this album were excellent, almost to the point where the band sounds so cohesive, as if they’re one singular organism, which is an impressive feat. For a post hardcore album, I don’t think Fugazi’s sound is inaccessible, but most people will probably find it a touch boring. Naming this album Repeater, as a contrast to Revolver and revolutions is incredibly brilliant, and I enjoyed how a lot of the songwriting fell in line with that theme. One thing that did surprise me about this album is that enjoyed Guy Picciotto’s vocals much more than Ian MacKaye’s. I’ve always had the impression that MacKaye was the heart and soul of Fugazi, so I was shocked that his vocals weren’t my favorite. I can’t say that I had a favorite song on this album, but there also wasn’t anything that I had a strong dislike for either. Repeater is an interesting album, and a blistering social critique, but it’s not something I’m incredibly fond of listening to.
Radiohead
4/5
It’s been over a year since my last review for a Radiohead album, but today will be my fifth, and ultimately penultimate album of theirs to review. So far, I’ve given four stars to Kid A, In Rainbows, and Hail to the Thief, but The Bends has easily been my favorite Radiohead album so far, and the only one of theirs to get five stars from me. It looks like OK Computer is their highest rated album on this list, and I know its sound is closer to The Bends than any of their other work, so I’m really excited to listen to this. This will be the only Radiohead album that I know songs off of before listening to it, so that adds to the excitement some as well.
I didn’t fall in love with OK Computer, but I thought it was just as good as every Radiohead album not named The Bends that I’ve listened to so far. Just like other Radiohead albums, I really enjoyed Thom Yorke’s vocals, although his singing felt a lot more mumbling on this album. Also, I just realized today that Matthew Bellamy from Muse sounds quite similar to Thom Yorke in terms of his falsetto singing style. Interesting. Radiohead does such a great job of creating beautifully complicated arrangements, and that skill was on full display on OK Computer. Having heard both The Bends and Kid A, I thought OK Computer built a really interesting bridge between those two albums, and a really interesting Bridge from Radiohead’s guitar rock sound to the more experimental sound. I figured this album’s lyrics would probably fall into the themes of technology and society, and my hunch was definitely correct. OK Computer’s lyrics have aged incredibly well, and they feel just as relevant during today’s AI revolution as they did during the internet revolution of the nineties. As far as my favorite songs on this album are concerned, I really enjoyed “Paranoid Android,” “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” “Let Down,” “Karma Police,” and “Electioneering.” “Paranoid Android” took me a couple of listens to appreciate, but I enjoyed that there were so many musical elements that came and went throughout the course of the song. I loved how each of those elements took a turn at the same chord progression, but my favorite were the chimes towards the beginning of the song. “Subterranean Homesick Alien” was really great too. It had a very ethereal and otherworldly quality to its sound that created a fantastic atmosphere, and I thought the shimmering guitar playing was fantastic. While The Bends wasn’t supplanted as my favorite Radiohead album, I still thought OK Computer was really good, and it managed to blend ‘guitar rock Radiohead’ and ‘experimental Radiohead’ in a way that was really fun and interesting.
Sleater-Kinney
5/5
The only Sleater-Kinney album I've ever listened to was Little Rope, which came out last year. I was really shocked by how much I enjoyed Little Rope, but I didn't listen to Dig Me Out, because I knew it'd come up for me to review at some point. I can't remember if I had any expectations for SK before I listened to Little Rope, but I expect a lot of great guitar rock on this album. I'm ready to be dug out! Also, this will be my fourth nineties album in a row, and the second in a row from 1997. Neato!
Dig Me Out was excellent from start to finish. I figured I'd like the guitar playing on this album, which I did, but the thing that struck me the most was Corin Tucker's vocals. She sounded like an angrier Belinda Carlile, and I absolutely loved it. I don't remember hearing that quality in her voice on Little Rope, but it really stood out to me here. Back to the guitar playing though. The lack of a bass guitar really allowed SK to layer lead and rhythm guitars in a way that was simple, but still textured and deep. I thought the drumming was fantastic too, giving the album a blast of tight energy. For an album with a ton of punk rock energy and sound, the production was insanely clean, and the SK sounded perfectly in sync with one another. I really enjoyed the lyrics too; the themes of heartbreak and climbing out of that heartbreak were portrayed really well through the songwriting. As far as any favorite songs on the album, I'd have to go with "One More Hour." The guitar playing was excellent, and there were so many great riffs bundled up in the sound. I really loved how Corin and Carrie's vocals sounded together as well. Dig Me Out is a fantastic rock record, and it's inspired me to listen to Little Rope again later tonight.
The Streets
2/5
I've never heard of The Streets or this album before, but that's definitely an intriguing cover. Before taking a peek at the reviews, I had no idea what genre this album was, but now I feel a bit foolish that I didn't guess that it was rap; The Streets would certainly be a weird name for a jazz ensemble or a bluegrass band. Speaking of the reviews, they don't give me much hope that I'll enjoy this album, but I'll do my best to give this a fair shake!
Right off the bat, I really hated this album. If the whole album was going to be like this, then these reviews really undersold how bad this album was. I hated the beats, I hated his accent, and I hated his storytelling. The flow felt like some sort of fibonacci sequence or something; there was no pattern to the bars at all, and the vocal overdubs were abysmal. What did I do to deserve this?
Thankfully though, the second song was infinitely better. The piano, drum, and bass were all solid, and I liked the backing vocals too. But on the third song, this album was back on the downswing. I couldn't stand the robotic vocal delivery, and the beeping in the background is really annoying. The fourth song put me back on the love-hate seesaw. I liked the pulsing beat and the backing vocals. There was an atmosphere to this song that I enjoyed; it matched the cover art really well, which I liked. From there, the album more or less evened out in terms of quality. There was definitely still some stuff that I didn't like ("Fit But You Know It" was really annoying, the whole 'roach and a spliff' bit on "Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way" felt juvenile), but there was also some stuff that I enjoyed (the strings on the last two tracks were really good). The overall concept of this album was really interesting, but I just wasn't drawn in enough to this album to care about the characters or the story, and I found myself pretty disinterested in it over the last half. While this album was built on a unique idea, the final product was very uneven in terms of overall quality.
Ghostface Killah
5/5
I believe this will be my final Wu Tang solo album to review. I’ve never listened to any of Ghostface Killah’s solo work before, but I love 36 Chambers, and I haven’t rated any of the other solo Wu Tang albums lower than three stars, so I think this album will be something that I’ll enjoy. Let’s close out the work week with some east coast hip-hop!
Fishscale caught me completely off guard. This was an excellent album, and I found it incredibly enjoyable to listen to. Fishscale was full of catchy songs from beginning to end. Ghostface Killah’s rapping was fantastic, the production was incredibly rich, and there was a wide variety of sounds and moods that kept me engaged the entire time. The samples and beats felt like they were pulled right out of the seventies, and given a nice new shine that updated their sound for the 2000’s. Since cocaine was a big theme of this album, that funky sound was absolutely perfect for this album. I thought Ghostface Killah’s rapping was fantastic too. His flow was great, and his voice meshed perfectly with the beats and samples that were used. I feel like I missed so much of the lyrics on this album, but the things I was able to catch were great. Rhyming ‘hysterectomy’ with ‘penitentiary’ on “The Champ” was probably my favorite set of lyrics on the album. As far as favorite songs go, I really loved “The Champ,” “9 Milli Bros,” and “Jellyfish.” However, I don’t think there was a single bad track on the album. Fishscale was terrific, and it’s an album that I’d listen to again in a heartbeat.
Digital Underground
3/5
My first exposure to Digital Underground was Weird Al’s use of “The Humpty Dance” in one of his polka medleys. If I remember correctly, that medley also contained Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” and The Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself.” Great stuff for an eleven-year-old boy. I don’t think I gave that song much thought until it was referenced in a Homestar Runner Halloween cartoon, where Coach Z was dressed as Humpty Hump. When I finally heard the full version of the song around that time, I was in laughing fits at the crass lyrics. I have no idea what the rest of this album is going to be like, but I’d wager a guess that it’s going to sound incredibly dated. Whether or not that’s a bad thing remains to be seen!
Sex Packets is a bit of a mess, but it’s a fun mess. Despite the length of the overall album and the individual songs, the beats and samples kept me pretty interested, while the lyrics were more hit-and-miss. As I expected, the overall sound was a bit dated, with looped samples and tons of scratching, but I didn’t mind it. This album was at its best when it was horny, goofy, or a mix of both. It was at its worst when it was just talking about rapping. As a result, the album felt a bit uneven in terms of tone, especially on “The Danger Zone.” “The Danger Zone” was a pretty good song, but it was hard to take its message seriously when it’s on an album that talks about Humpty Hump’s large nose tickling a woman’s anus while 69ing. And that’s a damn shame, because these guys can do a serious song pretty well. On some songs, like “The Way We Swing,” “Rhymin’ on the Funk,” and “Gutfest ’89,” the rapping felt pretty lazy and uninspired. It was really disappointing on “Gutfest ’89,” which had some clever lyrics and fun beats and samples. “The Humpty Dance” is the crown jewel of Sex Packets. The lyrics are crass, hilarious, and tacky, but it’s an incredibly fun song, full of some of the most juvenile rap lyrics I’ve ever heard. “hey yo fat girl, c'mere--are ya ticklish?” is incredibly cringe-worthy, but it cracks me up every time I hear it. That whole first verse is pure poetry. Shakespeare could never write anything like that. The beats on “The Humpty Dance” are great too, and for a song that’s over six minutes long, I thought it stayed really engaging. “Underwater Rimes” was a nice change of pace from the two songs before it. It was goofy, and the beats and samples felt fresh. I did hate that the 1920’s gangster voice that was used on “The Way We Swing” reared its ugly head again, but other than that, “Underwater Rimes” was excellent. ‘I’ll call my homie Moby Dick’ was a nice allusion (take that, high school English lit class). “Freaks of the Industry was incredibly crass and tacky as well, but I thought it was funny and enjoyable. “Packet Man” was a fun closing track, and like my other favorite songs on the album, it was crass but funny as well. Even though this album was a bit ridiculous, I thought it was mildly enjoyable, and it’s a unique slice of early nineties hip-hop.
Ali Farka Touré
2/5
This will be my second Ali Farka Touré album to review, and also my last album from the year 2006 to review. I thought Ali Farka Touré’s album with Ry Cooder was fine, but I didn’t think there was anything particularly noteworthy about it. I expect to feel the same way about this album from him, but I’m hoping that maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Unfortunately, I was unpleasantly surprised by this album. Yes, the guitar playing was really good, and the album was pleasant to listen to. However, it was incredibly boring. The songs were just the same melodies repeated over and over again, and there wasn’t a lot of variation in sound from song to song. Some songs would start off strong with a nice melody that I enjoyed, but then nothing of interest would happen the rest of the song. The songs themselves were too long for what they were, and the album itself was too long for what it was as well. There’s some nice guitar playing on this album, but I just didn’t find it very interesting.
Calexico
3/5
I’ve never heard of Calexico or this album before, and I have no idea what this album is going to sound like. The album cover is intriguing, and makes me think that this will have some Tejano or southwestern flare to it. I can’t wait to see what’s in store!
I wasn’t wowed by Feast of Wire, but I thought it was a unique rock album, and it was pretty enjoyable to listen to. The sound was really varied, but the album still felt very cohesive, and it never once got to wrapped up in trying to sound like one particular genre more than another. The gentle vocals and solid musicianship helped this album to be enjoyable, and I liked that the music sounded open, which allowed these songs to develop and blossom. I was shocked to read that the guys in the band were once with Giant Sand, whose Chore of Enchantment I absolutely hated. I wouldn’t say that I had a favorite song on this album, but I did think that the songs that leaned more heavily on the mariachi sound, like “Close Behind” and “Across the Wire” sounded great, and they really stood out from the rest of the album. I don’t know that I would listen to this album again, but I appreciate the unique listening experience that it was.
Coldcut
1/5
I’ve never heard of Coldcut or this album before, but I’ve seen the album cover on the visual list website, and it’s certainly eye-catching. I see that this album is electronica/house music, and as a lover of synths and keyboards, I feel that this is a genre that I should love. However, the electronic and house music albums that I’ve reviewed so far (especially ones from the late eighties and early nineties) have been pretty lackluster. Maybe Coldcut will be the first house music album to really win me over! (For the record, I listened to the US release of this album)
Unfortunately, Coldcut did not win me over to Team House and Electronica. While there were some moments on this album that I enjoyed, overall, I found this album to be pretty tedious and boring to listen to, and it mostly sounded repetitive to my ears. On top of that, there were some samples and elements to some songs that I found pretty grating and annoying to listen to. The first track, “People Hold On,” was pretty decent. This song (as did most of the album) had a very late eighties/early nineties sound to it, but Lisa Stansfield’s vocals worked well with the sound. I liked the samples and synthesizers, but the bass really stood out to me the most. On “Fat,” the bass was still great, but I missed the live vocals, and I found the sampled vocals to skew more towards irritating. However, on “In Deep,” I really hated the live vocals, and I was craving the sampled vocals of the second track (I think Mark E. Smith is pretty talented, but this was a miss for him). “In Deep” was pretty bland musically too, and this is where I started to lose hope that I would enjoy this album. “My Telephone” was my favorite song on the album. I was glad to hear Lisa Stansfield again, and the combination of her singing with the spoken samples sounded great. The phone sounds that were utilized were really great, and I’m surprised I didn’t find them annoying. After “My Telephone” though, I thought this album was really boring and bland, and nothing else really stood out to me. I was intrigued by Queen Latifah’s vocals on “Smoke Dis One” though, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard her rapping before. Her voice had a power to it that I really liked, but unfortunately, the lyrics were pretty hokey, and the music was bland. Overall, this album was a dud. The tracks with Lisa Stansfield were the best part of this album, but it wasn’t enough to lift Coldcut out of the depths of one-star albums.
The xx
4/5
The xx’s self-titled album was my 14th album to review, and 849 albums later, I finally get to review their other album on the list. I love their aforementioned self-titled album, and I also own their second album, but somehow, I completely missed that this album existed. However, I do love Jamie xx’s In Color, which I sadly have not listened to in a hot minute. Either way, I’m very excited to listen to I See You today, and I’m hoping I’ll love it just as much as The xx’s first album.
I didn’t love I See You as much as I love xx, but I still think it’s a very good album. As a whole, I See You is beautiful, hauntingly melodic, and full of excellent vocals. The xx are a band that I could enjoy listening to no matter what mood I’m in, and I See You falls squarely into that category. But from song to song, I See You feels a little uneven in terms of quality of sound. The highs on this album are incredible, but the moments in between those highs quietly fade into the background, too polished and stripped down to make any impact on me. The xx’s sound is still beautiful on this album, but some of it just leaves me wanting more. Would I still feel this way if I had never heard their self-titled album? I have no idea, and unfortunately, there’s no way to know. I thought the best songs on this album were “Say Something,” “A Violent Noise,” “On Hold,” and “I Dare You.” Each one of them really utilized the lighter sound on this album in a way that was absolutely beautiful, and they all showed how great of musicians The xx are. The rest of the album, while good, just wasn’t as noteworthy to me. Still, I See You is a solid album, and a beautiful addition to the post indie sleaze era.
Kings of Leon
4/5
I arrived to the Kings of Leon party as they were ascending to popularity with "Sex on Fire." I hated that song, but my cousin persuaded me to check out their earlier work, and I wound up falling in love with Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times. I snatched up this album too, and I know I listened to it at least once, but I can't remember how I felt towards it, but I know I've never felt compelled to listen to it again. Granted, with Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times to reach for when I need to scratch that KoL itch, who could blame me? I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about listening to this today, but I honestly don't have high expectations. Here's hoping that I just forgot that this is a great album!
I didn't love Youth & Young Manhood as much as I love Aha Shake Heartbreak, but this album is definitely better than I remember. I love KoL's general sound, and this album was no exception to that. I know Caleb Followill's vocals are a big turnoff for a lot of people, but I love his unique voice. The guitar playing was really good on this album too, and I really loved the drumming too. The drumming isn't particularly complex, but its simplicity and tightness rounds out the overall sound really well.
There were quite a few songs on here that I really enjoyed. I wasn't blown away by "Red Morning Light," but "Happy Alone" kicked off the sound that I love from these guys. That simple percussion I mentioned really punches this song up; that simple rhythm just meshes with the guitar tone so well. To top it off, the chorus kicks up the intensity, making this a fun song. I really loved the guitar and the bass on "Joe's Head." It's so simple but so well done. The lyrics are great too, and I assume this is a response to Hendrix's "Hey Joe." The bluesy piano at the end was a perfect closing. The guitar on "Trani" was great too. I loved how it matched the pace of the story in the lyrics. The whole song was a brilliant slowburn. "California Waiting" had my favorite bass playing on the album, and I really loved the guitar melody coming out of the bridge. "Genius" had my favorite guitar riff on the album. Once again, the simple percussion did wonders for the overall sound of this song. The other songs on this album were fine, but not particularly noteworthy to me. This was still a really good album though, bolstered by a great garage rock sound. Now that I'm done reviewing KoL albums, I'd put Youth & Young Manhood squarely between Aha Shake Heartbreak and Only by the Night.
LL Cool J
2/5
I only know a couple of LL Cool J songs, “Going Back To Cali,” and the title track off of this album. Both songs are pretty good, but neither one of them has ever inspired me to check out an album by LL Cool J. However, I saw on Reddit this morning that Mr. Cool J was supposed to play a show today, July 4, but some workers involved with the venue were on strike, and LL decided to not be a scab, and backed out of his performance. Good for him. Anyway, I expect this album to be pretty dated in its sound, but I hope the whole thing hits as hard as the title track.
LL Cool J didn’t knock me out, but he almost put me to sleep with this album. LL’s rapping is super crisp and clean, like a freshly pressed shirt, but listening to this album was like having a closet with 14 of the same freshly pressed shirts. Despite the crispness of his rapping, LL’s voice isn’t that great in my opinion. The rhymes and flow were fine, but there just wasn’t anything about the subject matter of the lyrics that I found particularly interesting. Even though I didn’t care much for this album, there were a few songs that I liked:
-The production on “Around The Way Girl was dated and cheesy, but I loved it. There’s something in early nineties hip-hop that just hits my ears in a way that awakens my sense of nostalgia. The opening really hooked me in, and the beats and backing music were great. The backing vocals were super smooth, and I liked the distorted refrain too.
-“Murdergram” was really good. I loved the energy that the beats and samples brought to this song, and LL’s flow was really strong. There were some parts of this song where he was rapping with a machinegun-like pace, and he absolutely crushed it. The lines ‘I boost a party like jumper cables’ and ‘save the beat and put it on layaway’ were awesome.
-The title track is absolutely fantastic. I wish this type of energy and intensity had been present on the whole album, because LL Cool J absolutely crushes this song. The production is great, the rapping is fantastic, and the chorus really hypes me up.
-“6 Minutes of Pleasure” sounded great; I loved how the beats and trumpet sounded together.
Despite the great title track, Mama Said Knock You Out was a chore to get through. Most of this album was pretty bland, and I can’t see myself seeking this album out again, or listening to any other LL Cool J albums.
Orange Juice
3/5
I’d never heard of Orange Juice before starting this project, but the title track off of this album inspired the title of Simon Reynolds’s love letter to post-punk, Rip It Up And Start Again. I tend to enjoy post-punk albums from the late seventies and early eighties, but there have certainly been some exceptions to that. I’m hoping that Rip It Up will become a new favorite of mine!
While I didn’t fall in love with this album, I thought it was a really unique post-punk album with some new wave elements sprinkled throughout. The guitar playing was really great and interesting, there was some fantastic keyboard playing, and I can definitely hear how this album probably inspired other new wave acts and sophisti-pop artists. The melodies on this album were really catchy, and each song felt like it brought something new to the table. Each song really explored the its own unique sound, and even though there was a lot of variation to the songs, the album felt very cohesive, bound together by the exploration of those melodies and hooks. The title track was really great. I loved the guitar playing, and the bass was really funky. My favorite song on the album though was “I Can’t Help Myself.” The keyboard, synthesizer, and saxophone playing were all fantastic, and it was easily the most fun song on the album. While I appreciate the musicianship on this album, it wasn’t something that I would say I fell in love with listening to; it really reminds me of Tom Tom Club in that way. Still, this album was good, and I can understand why it made this list. I’d probably revisit this some day, because I can see it being the type of album that grows on me.
Roxy Music
2/5
My third and final Roxy Music album is finally here. I’ve really wanted to love the Roxy Music albums that I’ve reviewed, but they just haven’t really clicked with me, and I gave three stars to Country Life and For Your Pleasure. I like Avalon and Flesh and Blood, but alas, neither of those albums are on this list. I’m hoping that this self-titled effort from Roxy Music will finally break through for me!
Try as I might have to love this album, this had to be my least favorite Roxy Music entry on the list. I don’t get it. I like Bryan Ferry’s vocals, and I think Brian Eno is a genius, so this should be right up my alley. There were elements here and there that I enjoyed, but there were only a couple of complete songs that I liked on this album. The songs that I didn’t like felt disjointed, lacked catchy hooks and melodies, and tended to drag on too long for my tastes. “Virginia Plain” was one of the few songs I enjoyed. It was one of the few songs that I thought had a catchy melody, and even though there were some weird elements to it, the song worked really well overall. The weird bits made the more melodic parts of the song stand out, which I really enjoyed. “If There Is Something” had a fantastic narrative to the lyrics, and I loved how the electronic elements, piano, and guitar all melded together. The electronic elements evolved and developed in a way that I found really interesting, and I loved the wavering quality to Ferry’s vocals. You could draw a straight line through Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, and David Byrne. I don’t know where I was going with that remark, I think it was just an observation that I had, and I like making connections like that. But other than those two songs, this album just couldn’t put it together for me. Roxy music is incredibly influential, but I’ll take their poppier sound from the eighties over their earlier work.
Judas Priest
3/5
I only know three Judas Priest songs, and lo and behold, two of them are on this album. The metal albums I've reviewed so far have been really hit-or-miss with me. Metallica and Black Sabbath have been my favorite metal artists so far, but Slayer and Motörhead were really disappointing. I own a copy of Screaming for Vengeance on vinyl, but sadly, this will be my first time listening to a Judas Priest album. I'm hoping that this album will land pass up Motörhead, and land amongst Metallica and Sabbath. I'm ready to break the law with Rob Halford and company!
I enjoyed British Steel more than I did Motörhead and Slayer, but this fell short of Metallica and Sabbath. Overall, it was a fine album with some bright moments, but the moments that didn't stand out felt like standard heavy metal music. Judas Priest are all very good musicians, especially Rob Halford, but not all of this album landed with me. I do understand what some reviews pointed out about the drumming though; it never took center stage, but it served as a steady and stable road for the guitars and vocals to drive on. As for the songs that I enjoyed:
-I loved the guitar on "Metal Gods," and that backing vocal on the chorus was great. I see why the drumming on this album is noteworthy: it's tight and clean, and it allows the guitars to do their thing while completing the sound. That metal marching sound at the end kicks ass, and it was the perfect exclamation point on this song.
-"Breaking the Law" is a classic. I love Halford's vocals, and how he goes from a lower register to those high notes with such ease. That guitar riff on the chorus is so excellent, and the sirens are an awesome touch too. I love the slamming of the drums and rhythm guitar coming out of the bridge, giving this song even more of a hard sound.
-"United" had some unique guitar playing that I really enjoyed. I loved Halford's vocals too; there was a dated sound to the tone of them, but I love it.
-"Living After Midnight" doesn't have a lot of depth, but what it lacks in depth, it more than makes up for with its incredibly fun chorus.
There might not be a lot of meat to British Steel, but it's a decent album, and I think it's a good showcase of Rob Halford's talents as a vocalist, and the rest of the band's solid musicianship.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
4/5
Up until last week, I’d never heard of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion outside of the context of this list. I was listening to an episode of a podcast that talked about Yeah Yeah Yeahs’s “Maps,” and the podcast mentioned that Yeah Yeah Yeahs had toured with JSBE in their early days. In reading some background information on this album, I see that it’s described as blues punk, which I didn’t even know was a thing. I have no clue what this album is going to sound like, but here goes nothing!
Now I Got Worry started off incredibly rough. The first four songs were an absolute mess in my opinion. The sound felt cacophonous in way that made me feel like JSBE were trying to imitate Trout Mask Replica, and the fourth song, “Fuck Shit Up,” felt like the band was trying to be edgy in a way that a 12-year-old would appreciate. After that though, I really got into this album in a way that I was not expecting. I’m usually more drawn to hooks and melodies, but the rhythms on this album were really catchy, and for a trio (minus some sparse guest musicians), I thought these guys created a really deep and interesting sound. I didn’t care for Jon’s vocals that much, but the guitar playing was really great. After those first four tracks, I found the album a lot more accessible, and I really enjoyed grooving along to the rest of the album. The last two tracks were not my speed, but everything else in the middle was really solid. A few notes on some songs that stood out to me:
“2Kindsa Love”- the guitar playing was great. The distortion was melodic, and the hard-driving rhythm that gave the song a great groove. The vocals were bluesy and also punky in a way that hit just right for me.
“Chicken Dog” – the guitar playing was great, and there was a good groove to the rhythm. The guest vocals from Rufus Thomas were awesome, and a welcome reprieve from Jon’s singing.
“Rocketship” and “Dynamite Love”- both of these songs had some good guitar playing that I enjoyed. These two songs were when I noticed that it was the rhythm of the album that was really drawing me in. I thought the distortion on the guitar was great too.
“Hot Shit”- this was the only song where I liked Jon’s vocals.
“Can’t Stop”- this was my favorite song on the album. I loved the piano playing, and I wish there had been more piano melodies like this on the other songs.
“Firefly Child”- this had some of the best guitar playing on the album.
“Eyeballin”- I loved the guitar breakdown halfway through. One of the best ‘small moments’ on the album.
“R. L. Got Soul”- the main guitar riff was excellent, and I loved the distortion that kicked in about halfway through the song.
All in all, this was a surprisingly solid album. This isn’t the sort of thing I’m usually drawn to, but I thought this album was really unique, and despite the rocky start, it managed to hook me in.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
This will be my last LCD Soundsystem album to review, and also my last album from 2017 to review. I got on the LCD Soundsystem hype train relatively late; they were on the lineup for ACL in 2010, and my cousin suggested checking them out since I was going. I think the first song of theirs I listened to was “All My Friends,” which I immediately fell in love with. I bought Sound of Silver and This is Happening, and I listened to both really frequently. I wound up seeing LCD’s set at ACL that fall, and it was fantastic. I was really bummed when they called it quits the next year, but I still listened to their last two albums quite a bit. When I found out that they were reuniting and releasing a new album in 2017, I was incredibly excited. I remember listening to this immediately after it came out, but I don’t remember my initial reaction to it. Looking at the track list, the only thing that I can recollect hearing is “Oh Baby,” which is a fantastic song. I’m guessing I thought this was fine when I listened to it, but that I just gravitated back towards Sound of Silver and This is Happening when I needed to scratch that LCD itch. However, I’m really pumped to listen to this today, and I’m hoping I really enjoy it!
American Dream was so much better than I remembered. Listening to this today reminded me why I got hooked on LCD Soundsystem to begin with: James Murphy and crew create music that’s beautiful, weird, and epic in scope. This album doesn’t lean as much into the dance-ability of their earlier run of albums, but LCD Soundsystem still managed to create a great album that pays homage to other musical acts, while still sounding completely unique to them. As I listened to this album, several songs that I’d forgotten about came rushing back to me as soon as they fired up. I thought American Dream was fantastic from start to finish, and even though a couple of tracks on the first half of the album weren’t as good as the rest of the album, the high parts more than make up for those bumps in the road. A few notes on the songs I loved the most:
-“oh baby” is incredible. Those looped melodies are so great, and the bass playing is fantastic as well. James Murphy can do softer songs so well, and I love that this album leads off with such a beautiful and melodic song. It definitely sets a different tone than “Dance Yrself Clean” did on This Is Happening, but it works so well.
-“How Do You Sleep” is great. The way it develops and evolves reminds me of “Dance Yrself Clean”. The bass playing is excellent, I loved the vocals, and the strings were fantastic. There was so much to take in on this song, and I wish I could have listened to it even more than I did.
-I can’t believe I’d forgotten about “tonite.” Man, this song has such a great groove. Like “How Do You Sleep,” it just keeps getting better as it goes on. The backing vocals were fantastic, and the I loved the guitar playing that came in about halfway through the song.
-I’m ashamed to admit that I’d forgotten “call the police” as well. I wish I could bottle the feeling I feel when the drums kick in after the introduction. There are so many great melodies on this song; the guitar and synthesizer playing are both fantastic. No song can make me feel like “All My Friends” does, but this comes close.
-Ah, the title track to this album is the third track I’d forgotten about. I love that trembling sound of the main melody combined with the bright synth sounds that come in and out. James Murphy’s vocal delivery is great too, and I think this might be his most emotional delivery on the album.
American Dream is fantastic, and personally, it’s another reminder of why I love LCD Soundsystem. This album feels more serious and darker in tone than the two albums that immediately preceded it, but even in the throes of that emotional weight, this is a beautiful and fun album that I absolutely loved rediscovering today.
Travis
3/5
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but allow me to reflect on the fact that there's a Scottish band called Travis. What an interesting band name. Where did they get the idea to call the band Travis? I don't imagine that there are a lot of folks named Travis roaming around Scotland. Would the American equivalent be naming your band Eòghann? I remain mystified by this choice. Anyway, I really have no idea what to expect from this album, but I'm happy to listen to another new album and artist!
The Man Who was a pretty pleasant surprise. I wasn’t blown away by this effort from Travis, but I thought this album had some pretty good songwriting, and the sound was really accessible. The music on this album wasn’t as catchy as someone like Coldplay, but there were some glimpses of The Bends era Radiohead on this album that I enjoyed. I can understand why some people found this album to be pretty bland, but I enjoyed the pleasant melodies here. Some notes on songs that stood out to me:
-I absolutely loved the guitar playing on “Writing To Reach You.” It did such a good job of establishing the melancholy mood of the lyrics. I really loved that soft twang of the lead guitar that was in the background on the chorus.
-“As You Are” was the track that reminded me the most of The Bends. I thought the vocals were great, especially on the chorus. The tone of the guitar was really great too, and I loved the shimmering distortion.
-“Driftwood” was great. Once again, I loved the guitar tone, and I loved how the bright sound of the music contrasted so starkly with the criticism of the lyrics. This song reminded of Vampire Weekend’s “Taxi Cab,” which I really loved.
-“Why Does It Always Rain On Me” is fantastic, and I found the lyrics really relatable. That feeling of trying to assign meaning or reasoning to the bad things that happen to us in life really landed with me; last night I was super sick, and that was the first thing that went through my head was trying to figure out what I’d done to deserve the awful headache I’d had.
Overall, this was a pretty solid album. The biggest weakness this album had is that it was a bit of a one-trick-pony, and there wasn’t a lot of variation in the sound. I understand why this album was favorably viewed by critics, but I also understand how Travis got left in the dust by acts like Radiohead and Coldplay.
5/5
Several years ago, for reasons I don't recall, I searched for a list of the best new wave albums. The Lexicon of Love happened to be on that list, so I decided to check it out. I knew a handful of ABC songs at that point, but I didn't really have a strong opinion of their work. Listening to this album really made me a fan of ABC, and I've been looking forward to reviewing this album. I don't think I've listened to all of it since that first listen, so I'm hoping that my fond memories of listening to it will still hold up!
My fond memories of this album did not lead me astray. The Lexicon of Love is pop perfection. Every song on it is great, bolstered by funky bass hooks, Martin Fry's seductive crooning, and some beautiful keyboards and synths. The cover for this album looks like something out of golden era Hollywood, and the songs on this album do such a great job of crafting that atmosphere. I can understand why some people might find this album cheesy, but for me, the seriousness that Martin Fry put into this album really hits the artistic mark that he was going for. I could go on and on about this album as a whole, because I think it’s a pop masterpiece, and I think it’s incredibly fun and enjoyable to listen to. But I’ll stop here and talk about a few of my favorite songs:
-“Show Me” sets the tone of the album so well, with its string introduction, but when the horns kick in, and then the bass, you know you better buckle up for pop perfection. This is an excellent lead off track, because it establishes the sound of the album so well, but without showing all of the tricks that ABC has up their sleeves. The synthesizer riff towards the end of the song is fantastic, and this song is indicative of how every song on this album has so many treats for the ears.
-“Poison Arrow” has such a fantastic pre-chorus. I love the little call-and-response that Martin Fry does with himself. Once again, the bass playing is great, and “Poison Arrow” has some great synths and keyboards.
-The bass playing on this album draws a ton of comparisons to Nile Rodgers, but “Tears Are Not Enough” feels like the closest thing you can get to an homage to Chic on this album. The way the horns and bass play off of each other is pure disco, but an amazing synth arrangement kicks in during the last minute of the song that really cranks things up to 11.
-“The Look Of Love, Pt. 1” feels like the emotional focal point of the album. The Lexicon of Love has a very cinematic feel to it, but this song feels like the anchor of that theme. Martin Fry’s vocals are at their best, and the backing vocals sprinkled throughout the song make it feel like the biggest ensemble performance of the album. Once again, the bass guitar is fantastic, but so are the programmed strings. “The Look Of Love” really shows how much ABC can do with synthesizers and programming.
-If this album truly were a movie, “All Of My Heart” would be that sad moment in a love story, right when someone realizes that they pushed away the love they truly wanted, leading to a dramatic reconciliation. And it’s not just this song’s position on the album that makes this song feel this way, but the mood that ABC establishes with the ebb and flow of the song’s verses and chorus.
-“4 Ever 2 Gether” was the biggest surprise to me on this album. I’ve listened to this before, but for some reason, I’d forgotten about this song. Every musical element on this song just hits perfectly to my ears. The programmed strings on the chorus are absolutely perfect, and their bright sound contrasts so well with the deep bass and drums. It delights me that this absolute bop is one of the longest songs on the album.
The Lexicon Of Love is a joy to listen to. I went through this three times before writing my review, and I wish I could have gone through it a fourth time. Every song here is a winner, and there are no low points. The Lexicon Of Love deserves to be in every conversation about the best pop albums of all time.
Genesis
4/5
My twelfth album to review was Genesis’s Selling England by the Pound. I’ve been a big fan of Genesis’s work in the eighties since I was a kid, but that was my first time listening to one of their albums from the Peter Gabriel era. I wouldn’t call myself a big prog rock guy, but I wound up really loving that album, and so I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this album for a long time.
I didn’t enjoy The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway as much as I enjoyed its predecessor, but I still thought it was a very good album, and a unique listening experience. Like SEbtP, TLLDoB was full of rich and dense arrangements, completed by some excellent vocals from Peter Gabriel. The synthesizers and keyboards drive a lot of the sound on this album, but there’s still some excellent guitars and percussion work as well. The fullness of the sound made it a bit difficult for me to take notes on this album, because I wasn’t always sure what I was hearing. However, I do know that that I found the music on this album to be really well arranged, and despite the richness of the sound, it never felt like certain elements were competing to try to steal the show. Even though I like Peter Gabriel’s vocals, I’m a huge Phil Collins fan, and it was great to hear him sing on a few songs as well. I don’t know that I can pick out a favorite song from this album, but “In the Cage,” “Back in N.Y.C.,” “Counting Out Time,” “Carpet Crawl,” and “The Colony of Slippermen” all stood out to me. The biggest drawback about this album for me was that I didn’t give two shits about the story. I’m not usually turned off by weird rock operas (I really enjoy Fucked Up’s David Comes to Life), but this really didn’t land with me at all. Thankfully though, the music was enough to carry this album along for me.
Elvis Costello
3/5
Ah, my fifth Elvis Costello album has arrived. I gave four stars to Armed Forces, My Aim Is True, and Imperial Bedroom, but two stars to This Year’s Model. I like Elvis Costello’s voice, and I really like his approach to the new wave sound. Six albums from him on this list feels like overkill, but whatever. I don’t know what to expect from an Elvis Costello album from 1994, but my curiosity is definitely piqued!
Overall, Brutal Youth was okay. Some things worked for me, and other things completely missed the mark, so I found this album to be a pretty muddled experience. There just weren’t a lot of times where everything clicked for me. The songwriting was really strong, and I liked the idea of a more stripped-down sound for Elvis Costello, but there were several moments where I was wanting more out of this album. Having only listened to Elvis Costello albums from the seventies and eighties, it was interesting to hear the evolution in his sound for a new decade. The emphasis on the strong songwriting made this album fit in with singer-songwriters who were prominent at this time, like Sheryl Crow and Jeff Buckley. Despite the strong songwriting, this album didn’t pull me in musically in the way that I’d hoped it would, and I don’t think this album does anything noteworthy for Elvis Costello’s career, nor for music in the nineties.
Despite the fact that I found this album to be pretty middle of the road, there were some songs I liked:
-“Pony St.” was a great lead-off track, and it did a good job of hooking me in. I loved the guitar, vocals, and organ playing. This is the sort of thing I love from Elvis Costello.
-I loved that guitar on “13 Steps Lead Down.” There was a polished grittiness to the sound that I really liked.
-“20% Amnesia” was really good. I liked the guitar and piano playing, and I loved the way the guitar built up in tempo and intensity during the chorus.
-“Rocking Hourse Road was my favorite song on the album. The stripped-down sound worked the best for me here, and the organ playing was great. This song reminded me of The Wallflowers in the best way possible.
I enjoy listening to Elvis Costello, but this was definitely one of the weaker efforts of his albums that I’ve heard so far. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to blast “Pump It Up” and “Radio, Radio.”
George Michael
3/5
This will be my second, and naturally last George Michael album to review. I gave three stars to Listen Without Prejudice, but I know a few more songs on this album, and as an eighties fan, I'm expecting to enjoy Faith more than its follow-up effort. I know the first three songs on this album, and all three of them are great, but the rest of this album will be new to me. Here's hoping that I've been missing out on some great tunes on the rest of this album!
Despite my relatively high hopes, Faith was only slightly better than Listen Without Prejudice. I still love the first three songs on this album quite a bit, but after that, I felt like this album was just a generic pop/R&B album, albeit with a great vocalist. George Michael was a great pop musician and pop culture icon, but I felt like this album lost a lot of momentum early on, and failed to gain it back.
Despite my feelings about the album as a whole, it does have a few excellent songs. The album's title track is excellent as a lead-off song. The organ intro is fantastic, and the bass playing and multitrack vocals are outstanding. Everything about this song is incredibly fun, and it's an outstanding pop song. "Father Figure" is fantastic too. Yes, the lyrics feel a bit dirty, but it has an atmosphere that I absolutely love. Everything echoes in a way that makes it feel like this song was recorded in an empty church, which works so thematically as a second track after "Faith." The bass and vocals are once again fantastic, but I love when the piano kicks in. "Father Figure" builds and gets better as it goes along, like the musical version of edging. The horns should be cheesy, but to me, I think they sounded great. "I Want Your Sex" is where Faith starts to dip a little, but only because this song overstays its welcome a bit. I love the sex positive message, the backing vocals, and the percussion, but this song doesn't bring enough to the table to justify going on for nine minutes. It's still a good song, but it doesn't compete with the two songs before it. "One More Try" had some excellent vocals and organ playing, but other than that, it didn't garner much interest from me. The best song after the first three tracks was "Hand To Mouth. The keyboard and bass playing were excellent, and I loved the mood of the intro. Lyrically, "Hand To Mouth" was excellent, and I loved its critique of the crumbling of American standards of living.
Even though this album had some high points, it falls pretty middle of the road for me. I think George Michael is an excellent vocalist and fantastic pop musician, but I'd rather stick to the hits when it comes to his catalog.
New York Dolls
4/5
I know of The New York Dolls, but I’ve never listened to them, and I don’t think I could tell you a single song of theirs. I am however familiar with Buster Poindexter’s “Hot, Hot, Hot,” and I have fond memories of my elementary school music teacher playing it in music class (shoutout to David Kastor, one of the best educators I’ve ever known). I have a vague idea of what to expect from this album, and I’m hoping that I love it!
I didn’t wind up loving this album, but it was fun and an interesting piece of music history. One of the top reviews called The New York Dolls “band who the bands you like, like,” and that’s a perfect description of this album. You can hear the influence that this album had on the likes of The Ramones, Kiss, Aerosmith, and the countless hair metal bands of the late eighties. While I wouldn’t put this album in my regular rotation, I do love hearing albums that laid the groundwork for things to come, and The New York Dolls certainly falls into that category. Musically, this album didn’t light my world on fire, but The Dolls are good enough to put together some pretty fun guitar licks over the course of these forty minutes. For an early proto-punk album, there’s quite a bit of variance and depth to this album, and I liked that they drew from the wells of blues, psychedelic music, and early hard rock. This album definitely got better on a second listen. Despite enjoying this, I do have to mention the criticisms I had. Some of the songs dragged on too long for my tastes. I don’t mind a longer song, but I want there to be some sort of evolution or development to the sound, or a pay-off, like the incorporation of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” at the end of “Subway Train.” I also wish there had been a bit more of the bluesy piano playing that was used on “Personality Crisis,” because it really punched things up a bit, and gave this album a unique flair. Still, this was a solid album, and I’m glad I finally got to listen to it today.
Best songs: “Personality Crisis,” “Vietnamese Baby,” “Lonely Planet Boy,” “Trash,” and “Subway Train”
Ryan Adams
4/5
Once again gracing us with his presence is abusive scumbag Ryan Adams. Man, I don’t like this guy. But what I don’t like even more, is that I think he’s a great musician. Back before we the lid got blown off his scumbaggery, I’d listened to Prisoner and loved it. I had always meant to check out more of his music, but never did. I rated Heartbreaker 5 stars, but in my review, I refused to discuss the album, because I deemed Ryan Adams unworthy of any praise. While that fact remains true, I won’t be doing that for this album, because I didn’t do it for any of the other low-lives who landed albums on this list. This is one of the few times I’m glad Spotify screws over artists, so here goes nothing!
Just like I felt while listening to Heartbreaker, I was pissed off listening to Gold. Not because I ‘had to’ listen to one a Ryan Adams album, but because someone with his talents as a musician made the conscious choice to sexually manipulate and harass women. If I were this talented, I would simply choose not to be an asshole. But here we are. Gold is a bit short of five stars for me, but not from lack of effort. I do like Ryan Adams’s voice, and he creates musical arrangements that I really enjoy listening to. The instrumentation on this album was wonderful, and the songwriting was really good too. Granted, knowing what we know about him now, it does damage the authenticity and vulnerability of his song writing in my opinion. I really loved the Hammond organ playing that was used throughout the album. It never really steered the overall sound, but it blended in with the guitar in a way that I really loved. As soon as “New York, New York” started playing, I felt like there was a good chance that I was going to like this album, and I swore loudly. The Hammond, vocals, and bass all sounded great, crafting a beautiful sound that I really enjoyed. I understand why people call Ryan Adams a Dime Store Springsteen, but I disagree with those sentiments. I can see the influence, but I think they both take a different approach to creating music, and you can feel it in the atmospheres they create. “Firecracker” was great too, and it made me realize that I just love the way he arranges his music. I really noticed how the organ and the harmonica sounded fantastic together on that song. “La Cienega Just Smiled” was my favorite song on the album. It reminded me of David Gray in the way that it was gentle and beautiful. “Nobody Girl” was great too. I loved the Bluesy guitar, and the backing vocals were awesome. I really enjoyed how hard it leaned into the blues sound towards the end. For a nine-minute song, it never once lost my attention. My only beef with this album (other than my disdain for the artist) is that some of the songs felt like filler. I know Adams intended for this to be a double album, but some songs were pretty forgettable to me. The songs that were memorable were fantastic, but I felt like this album could have been shortened quite a bit.
The Coral
1/5
I've never heard of The Coral or this album before. I really don't know what to expect from this album based on what I'm reading about it in user reviews, and Wikipedia isn't much help either. However, Spotify says that fans of The Coral also like The Libertines (meh) and The Dandy Warhols (cool), so maybe this will be right up my alley!
This is one Coral I wouldn't mind going extinct. There's a lot happening on this album when it comes to the inspirations for their sound. The sound that stood out the most to me is what I can only describe as 'maritime/pirate,' which really didn't land with me. Granted, they didn't really go whole-hog into that sound, but I don't think doing that would have saved this album either. The musicianship was fine, but it just wasn't much there that I really wanted to hear. The unique parts of The Coral's sound was pretty undesirable to me, and the parts that weren't that unique weren't very attention grabbing. This album is indicative of what happens when you do a lot of different things, and you don't do any of those things particularly well. The singles off this album were easily the best songs, but while I enjoyed them in the moment, I found them pretty forgettable, and I don't think I'd recognize them if I heard them again. I don't really understand why this album was on the list at one point, but I'm happy to see that it was removed in future editions.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Goo will be my fourth Sonic Youth album to review, and also my second and last of their albums that I was already familiar with before starting this project. I bought Goo after listening to and being blown away by Daydream Nation. I chose Goo, because it was also in the first edition of the 1001 Albums book, and I knew “Kool Thing” from one of the Guitar Hero games (say what you want about Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but those games introduced me to some great music). I remember not being terribly blown away by Goo when I first listened to it (probably because it didn’t have its own “Teenage Riot” on it), but I’m happy for the chance to reexamine it, now that it’s been over 15 years since my first listen. Here’s hoping that Sonic Youth will go a perfect four-for-four on five-star albums with me!
Sonic Youth is one of those bands that I say that I like, but then I wonder if I really do like them, or if I just think that I should like them, and therefore I’ve tricked my brain into thinking that I like their music. Well, for the fourth time with one of their albums, as soon as Goo started up, I mumbled ‘oh hell yeah’ to myself when those opening guitar notes of “Dirty Boots” started playing. I think I can safely say that I like these guys and that I’m not trying to gaslight myself. Yeah, Goo doesn’t have a sweeping epic like “Teenage Riot,” nor is it as melodious as Sister, but it's still an incredible album, full of wonderfully layered guitars, tight percussion, and some really great songwriting. Goo’s sound was constantly varied, but stayed cohesive, due to how the songs were structured and how the guitar playing was arranged. The only negative thing that I have to say about this album is that “My Friend Goo” is incredibly weird, and not in a way that I found good or interesting. However, after that brief 200 seconds, the album picked right back up in quality. The mixture of vocals from Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore kept things interesting too, because each of them really brings something different to the table in terms of their songwriting and vocal abilities. Lee Ronaldo’s vocals on “Mote” were really good too. The first four songs on Goo were my favorite part, but “Disappearer,” “Mildred Pierce,” and “Cinderella’s Big Score” were all great too. “Kool Thing” stands out as one of the best songs on the album, with Gordon’s droning vocals matching the guitar tones perfectly. The drum fills were fantastic too, and who’s that voice I hear? Is that my favorite rapper, Chuck D? Why, it most certainly is! Fantastic. “Cinderella’s Big Score” showcases how great Sonic Youth are at writing guitar parts that change and evolve over the course of a song. Every little twist and turn in the sound of that song is perfect. “Tunic” is probably my favorite song on the album though. The lyrics and vocals are excellent, and I love the mood and atmosphere that this song has. There are so many little guitar hooks buried within this song, and they all sound great.
Goo is yet another fantastic effort from Sonic Youth. I hadn’t listened to this album in a really long time, but going through this list has really made me fall in love with Sonic Youth again.
Stephen Stills
3/5
I know of Stephen Stills, because of Buffalo Springfield and CSNY, but I’ve never listened to any of his solo work before (editor’s note: I stand corrected, I know “Love The One You’re With,” which I bet before the decade is over, that song will be used in GOP-run propaganda to persuade people to have kids). Based on what I’ve heard with CSNY, I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this album. That being said though, I wasn’t really that big of a fan of CSN or Déjà Vu, but maybe I’ll enjoy this solo effort more than the group project!
Overall, I thought Manassas was fine. I thought the album was at its best when there were vocal harmonies, and when there was something more than just the guitar driving the melody of the song. I didn’t find the guitar playing bad, but it just didn’t really garner my interest very much, and I didn’t think it was particularly novel or noteworthy. I didn’t think that there was enough interesting material here to justify this as a double album. I found the three songs to be pretty boring, but things started to pick up more on “Anyway.” “Both of Us” was the first song where I really started to notice the vocal harmonies, and it had a mood and atmosphere that I really enjoyed. The key change toward the end was really good too. The Wilderness and Consider were my favorite parts of this album, and I think it was risky to shift to a bluegrass sound on “Fallen Eagle,” but it worked really well for me. Again, though, the harmonies were what really stood out to me. “Jesus Gave Love Away For Free” and “Colorado” were both really good too, and I liked their songwriting in addition to their sound. “Johnny’s Garden” and “Bound to Fall” both had some melodies that I enjoyed as well. However, “Move Around” was my favorite song on the album. It had my favorite guitar playing, and the Moog synthesizer parts were incredible.
When all is said and done, Manassas is a pleasant and nice album, but it never really drew me fully into its sound or songwriting. It’d be a nice thing to have playing in the background on a warm spring day, but that’s about it.
SAULT
3/5
This will be my final album from the 2020's to review, and it happens to be an album that I've listened to before. I can't remember what list I saw this album on (probably on Metacritic or Rolling Stone), but I remember checking it out and thinking it was pretty good. I haven't listened to it since that first listen, but I'm excited to dive back into this today!
I thought this was a good album overall. There were some songs that weren't my taste musically, but the songs that were my taste were really good. From a songwriting standpoint, I thought this album did a great job of diving into several different themes, all of which were tied back to the black experience. These themes really resonated with me on a personal level, even as a white guy. I was raised by two parents who were overtly racist, much like how their parents raised them, and I've spent a good amount of energy as an adult, trying to unlearn the ugly things they taught me. I enjoy hearing firsthand accounts of the black experience, because for so long, everything I heard about it came from my prejudiced parents. But back to the music: I really loved the vibe of "Wildfires." The bass and percussion were awesome, and I really enjoyed the soft vocals. Sault used something that sounded like a spring echoing, like those cheap toy microphones, that I really enjoyed. I also thought this song created a great sense of place, that really sucked you into the atmosphere of the song. "Sorry Ain’t Enough" had some great keyboard or synth playing that I really liked. The bass playing was great too, giving this song a great soul-like feel. On "Bow," I really loved what sounded like a wah pedal. The song got even better when the percussion kicked in, and then it got kicked up another notch when the guitar started. I also loved how this song segued into "This Generation." "Eternal Life" was my favorite song on the album. I love synthesizers, and this song had a perfect synthesizer arrangement. Overall, Black Is was a pretty good album. Some songs were a bit of a bore, but the songs that weren't sounded great. The real star of the show here though is the songwriting, which dove into some really great themes.
Queen Latifah
3/5
I tend to think of Queen Latifah as an actor first and foremost, and I usually forget that she’s also a rapper. Gun to my head, I don’t think I could name a single song that she sings. Even though I’m not familiar with her music career, I’m excited to listen to this album, because I imagine it’s incredibly influential on hip-hop, especially for female artists. For what it’s worth, I love this album cover. That’s a powerful pose from Queen Latifah, and it’s in stark contrast to the comedic film roles that I think of when I hear her name. I’m curious to see how she’s going to lean into that image on this album!
I wasn’t blown away by All Hail the Queen, but it was fun album to listen to, and I imagine that from a historical context, this album had to have been a massive game-changer for female musicians, especially those in hip-hop. I really enjoyed Queen Latifah’s rapping. She has a great voice, and she sounds so incredibly young here. Her flow is crisp, her voice has power behind it, and I love that she leans into not swearing on this album, instead focusing her attention on messages of power for black women. The beats and samples were really good, and yes, they do sound dated, but it feels like opening a time capsule that transports the listener back to 1989. There were quite a few songs that stood out to me:
-“Dance for Me” had an excellent groove that sucked me into this album right away. The samples were great, and Queen Latifah’s rapping was great too.
-Whoever decided to include De La Soul on this song deserves a raise. They sounded great with Queen Latifah. I wasn’t a huge fan of the little kid voices, but this song was still really good. The vibraslap was awesome too.
-I loved the house music beats used on “Come into My House.” This album had a lot of good grooves on it, but this song was one of the most fun grooves on the whole album.
-“Ladies First” was outstanding. I loved the duet aspect with Monie Love, and the beats and production were fantastic. The message of the lyrics was outstanding too.
-Queen Latifah tried to warn us about men, and yet here we are: with a pants-shitting conman back in the White House, and young white dudes on youtube debates bragging about being fascists, and then creating successful Go Fund Me’s when they get fired. Time is indeed a flat circle. “Evil that Men Do” had my favorite songwriting on the album, and it’s infuriating that this song is still so relevant over 35 years later.
While those songs were great, the rest of the album was a bit ho-hum in my opinion. The beats and rapping were solid, but only a handful of songs really stood out to me. Still, the album as a whole works well, and from a standpoint of cultural significance, this album absolutely deserves a place on this list.
Holger Czukay
3/5
I’ve reviewed both Can albums on this list, but that’s the only reason I’ve heard of Holger Czukay. I want to be on record in acknowledging that Holger is an excellent name. My high school German textbook, Komm mit, featured German teenagers as part of the lessons, and if my memory serves me correctly, one of them in the very first section was named Holger. Fun times, high school German class, and I mean that sincerely. Anyway, I enjoyed both Can albums, as I’ve enjoyed most of the Krautrock that I’ve been exposed to on this list. I’m curious to see what Holger has in store on this solo effort!
I didn’t enjoy Movies as much as I enjoyed Can’s Future Days, and it’s probably more in line with Can’s Tago Mago for me. Movies was quite the strange journey, especially on the first side of the album, and I found myself enjoying the second side more. Movies is really interesting as a whole, because I found all the songs to be very different from one another, and the only thread that was holding them together was the strange and experimental sound. I appreciate the experimentation from Holger, but parts of this were just too weird and jarring for my tastes.
My initial reaction to “Cool in the Pool” was an audible ‘whoa.’ I found the vocals and lyrics incredibly weird, and the blend of musical elements and samples felt like hodgepodge of sounds with the only thread holding them together being a slightly funky sound. I enjoyed that funkiness, but I just couldn’t get past the vocals and lyrics of this song.
I loved the way that “Oh Lord, Give Us More Money” started off, with its keyboards and synths, and I found the sample usage pretty interesting too. The guitar that was utilized towards the end sounded great, especially in combination with the synthesizers. All the musical elements of this song sounded good individually, but when they were combined, it was a little too busy and disjointed for me. If there was a main melody tying this song together, my ears couldn’t find it, and it really took me out of this song. Shoutout to the bass groove towards the end though.
I really loved the guitar on “Persian Love. Its sound was otherworldly, but it sounded incredible. The trilling sounds of the keyboard worked really well for me too. This song definitely lived up to the Persian part of its name, and it was really enjoyable to listen to.
I was really hooked in by the opening of “Hollywood Symphony”. The darker sound created at atmosphere that I really loved, and that feeling was missing from the other songs on this album. I loved the synthesized string arrangements, especially towards the end of the song. The vocal samples weren’t my favorite, but they weren’t odd enough to lessen my enjoyment of this song.
Overall, Movies is a fine album, although a very strange one. It was certainly a unique experience, but it’s not the sort of thing that I would be itching to listen to again.
Malcolm McLaren
4/5
I know a little bit about Malcolm McLaren from reading about his involvement with Sex Pistols, Bow Wow Wow, and Adam & The Ants. I have to say, I don't have a very favorable opinion of the man; he seems to steal rather than borrow, and his treatment of Annabella Lwin seems predatory and pedophilic. I don't McLaren's music, and I'm willing to try to give him a fair shot, but I already think he sucks as a person. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but let's dive in!
I enjoyed this album a lot more than I expected to. I really loved the percussion, synthesizers, and keyboards. The parallels between the sound of this album and Paul Simon’s Graceland are numerous, although this album cannot hold a candle to Graceland. I really enjoyed the overall sound of this album, and I thought it was really well produced and arranged. It goes without saying that it’s cruel that the some of the musicians who worked on this album weren’t given any credit, which was on my mind while I was listening to this. The fusion of world music with elements of hip-hop was really interesting, and while the radio DJ bits fit in a thematic sense of the album, I found those segments annoying. A few notes on songs that I enjoyed:
-“Obatala” really hooked me in, and completely defied my expectations. I loved the main melodies, and the percussion was great too.
-“Buffalo Gals” was really great. You could feel The Art of Noise’s fingerprint all over this song, and I loved the Grandmaster Flash sounding rap at the end. I had no idea that Neneh Cherry sampled this on “Buffalo Stance,” but this song has a great beat and groove to it, so it makes sense that it would make for a great sample. This definitely felt like a novelty song, but it fit well with the overall sound of the album.
-“Double Dutch” was one of the songs that really reminded me of Graceland. I loved the bass and synthesizers, and the backing vocals were outstanding. I really loved the rich strings towards the end of the song as well. The lyrics that kept referencing high school girls definitely gave me the ick, but musically, this song was a blast.
-The African sounds of “Punk It Up” were really great. I loved the guitar playing and string arrangements, and the vocals were great too.
-I loved the synthesizers and percussion on “Legba.” I loved how the main melody changed and evolved over the course of the song.
-The rhythms on “Jive My Baby” were fantastic. It was a really fun song, and I loved its upbeat sound.
-I loved the overall sound of “Soweto.” The vocals and the synthesized strings sound fantastic together. This might have been my favorite song on the album. It was just really beautiful to listen to.
There were a few songs I didn’t care for on this album; “Duck For The Oyster” in particular stuck out like a sore thumb, and I’m really confused as to why it was included on this album. There were some songs too where McLaren’s vocals weren’t very good, and he was easily outshone by the backing vocals. Overall, though, this album was really good, bolstered by some really fun and rich musical arrangements. It’s crazy to hear how this album influenced music throughout the rest of the eighties and well into the nineties. Malcolm McLaren wasn’t the nicest of people, but he was certainly very good at his job.
Scott Walker
5/5
I reviewed Scott 2 a little less than a year ago, and I thought it was fine. I don’t think I really have any strong feelings or opinions going into Scott 4, but I’m curious to see where this album takes me!
This album was a really outstanding discovery. “The Seventh Seal” really grabbed hold of me, and from there, the album never let go. Scott Walker’s vocals were fantastic, and he sang each song with such passion and intensity. The arrangements throughout this album were incredibly rich, and each song brought a new treat to my ears. I thought the songwriting was really great too, and each song’s lyrics were elevated by Scott Walker’s singing. Some notes on songs that stood out to me:
-The Spanish guitar on “The Seventh Seal” was fantastic. The horns were great too, and the strings really elevated the sound. This was such an interesting sound to go along with the story of Ingmar Bergman’s film of the same name, but it did such a great job of creating that setting.
-“Boy Child” was really great. Those opening guitar notes sucked me right in to this song. The sweeping strings, combined with the guitar plucking and those echoing vocals were incredibly beautiful. I think I’d say this was my favorite song on the album.
-“Hero of the War” was great too. I loved how it started off with a typical folk-rock sound with that fantastic guitar melody, and gradually, more elements were added. The strings and percussion were really outstanding on this song.
-I loved the mood and atmosphere of “The Old Man’s Back Again.” I adored the Gregorian-chants that were used on the chorus. The bass playing was fantastic as well. Another incredibly beautiful song.
I was really blown away by how beautiful this album was. This absolutely blows Scott 2 out of the water, and I think this will wind up being one of my favorite albums of the sixties.
Bob Dylan
5/5
This will be my fourth Bob Dylan album to review, and also my last album from 1963. I've given my previous three Bob Dylan albums two stars (Time Out of Mind), three stars (Blood on the Tracks), and four stars (Highway 61 Revisited), and I have no idea where this early effort from Mr. Dylan is going to land with me. Before starting this project, I'd listened to HIghway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde (I own copies of both), and I'd always meant to listen to them more, but never got around to it. I'd considered myself a fan of his, but now that I'm further into this project, I think I conned myself into thinking I was a fan, because I felt like I should be a fan of his. Whatever the case may be, I'm ready to start this Freewheelin' Friday!
I won't be gaslighting myself when it comes to the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, because I loved this album. It felt a lot more bare musically, but it worked really well to mostly rely on the guitar and harmonica for this album. There's a seriousness and an urgency to this album that I really loved. On Highway 61 Revisited, I absolutely loathe the acme siren on the title track. It feels so silly and stupid compared to a lot of the rest of the album, but the tone here was much more even and consistent. The political and social commentary on this album carried a lot of weight, and those songs really met me where I'm at presently when it comes to American politics. The lyrics on this album were a lot more straightforward as well; I enjoyed the simplicity of not having to decipher line after line of metaphors. I love Dyan's nasally tone on his other albums, but his vocals here are outstanding as well. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan was fantastic from start to finish, and I didn't think there was a single song on here that stood out as weak or filler. I don't know that I could pick out a favorite song here, but "Masters of War," "Oxford Town," and "Talkin' World War III Blues" are all strong contenders for the best song on the album. "Blowin' in the Wind" is fantastic too, but I already knew that going into this album. This has been the first Bob Dylan album I've reviewed that I would listen to again in a heartbeat.
Green Day
5/5
Ah, American Idiot. When this came out, I was staunchly politically conservative, so I had very mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I loved hearing songs like “Basket Case” and “Brain Stew” and about a dozen other Green Day songs on the radio (my parents would have never let me buy one of their CD’s), but this album definitely felt like a gut punch. “How could anyone be against the war on terror and the Iraq war? We’re protecting our country! And we’re liberating oppressed people!” Really, “Holiday” was the only single that gave my conservative brain the ick. I certainly didn’t think the title track applied to me, a learned young man who listened to Michael Save and read books by Bill “fuck it, we’ll do it live” O’Reilly. Even though I slowly abandoned my conservative ideals from 2004 until about 2016, when the MAGA movement gave them the final death blow, I still never listened to all of this album. I think Dookie is absolutely fantastic, so I have high hopes for American Idiot.
I expected this album to be great (a 3.76 average as of July 2025 is pretty insane), but my expectations were surpassed. American Idiot is fantastic in every way possible. The narrative/rock opera is great (I don’t think I fully digested everything, as I was only able to listen to it once), the music is fantastic, and in my opinion, it managed to hit every emotion that it was going for. The overall narrative of Jesus of Suburbia, and his journey away from his hometown is great. I thought the additional characters served a great purpose, allowing Jesus to explore ‘rage versus love’ as he searches for how to deal with his disillusionment. The title track does such a great job of establishing the mood of this album right from the start. Not every track on this album is an all-out punk rock jam, but Green Day mixes up their sound and moods on this album with incredible expertise. I’ve always thought that Green Day were good musicians, both as instrumentalists, and in their ability to create and layer sounds, but American Idiot showcases their abilities in ways that had never really demonstrated. For an album that relies heavily guitars and drums, there’s so much diversity in the sound on this album. Back to the title track though, I love how there are glimpses of that main guitar melody sprinkled throughout the album. You never fully hear it again, but it’s familiar enough that you know what’s going on. I also loved how these songs were paired together and segued into one another. As a band who traditionally wrote songs in a typical verse-chorus-verse structure, Green Day was able to shed that, and really lean into some song structures that weren’t typical of their music. As for my favorite songs on this album, man, it’s tough to choose. “Jesus of Suburbia” was incredible. I loved the storytelling, and it was really engaging for such a behemoth of a song. The guitar playing was great (I especially loved the main melody), the drumming was tight, and the piano interspersed throughout the song was fantastic. The closing section was probably my favorite part. “Holiday” is a banger, just like the title track. Musically, it just gets me amped up, and I love that there was no sugar-coating of the anger in the lyrics. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is great too. It’s not what I typically gravitate towards from Green Day, but the emotional pull works incredibly well. The same thing goes for “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” I love how the song builds to its crescendo. The multitrack vocals on “Homecoming” were outstanding. It really reminded me of the Beach Boys in how the sounds were layered. The “Rock and Roll Girlfriend” section was really outstanding, even though it was so short. The military-esque drumroll was particularly awesome, and I loved the guitar and saxophone together. But I think my favorite song was “Are We the Waiting.” I loved the slow, booming drums, the melodic guitar, and the vocals were the best on the album. I loved how the line “are we, we are” kept repeating. There was an echo effect on that vocal that I loved so much. The multitrack vocals towards the end were fantastic as well. Just a beautiful song.
I didn’t intend to write a dissertation on this album, but I was really blown away by how awesome this was. I really need to get a copy for my home, because this warrants repeat listens.
Slipknot
3/5
I’d honestly forgotten that I had another Slipknot album to review. But sure enough, it was lurking in the shadows, waiting for me. Sitting there, with its dumb little mask, looking for the perfect opportunity to pop out and spook me with some guttural growling, or a noisy-ass guitar, or a blasting drum beat. I’d had three five-star albums in a row, which I think was a first for me, even close to 900 albums into this project. Well, the boys from Iowa decided that was an opportune time to come out of hiding and hit me with All Hope Is Gone. I really hated listening to their self-titled album when I had to review it, so I’m not looking forward to this album either. All hope is indeed gone on this Sunday morning, but this album isn’t going anywhere unless I fire it up…
I will have to eat a small slice of humble pie, because this album was actually pretty good. I’m really picky when it comes to hard rock, but I enjoyed this album a whole lot more than I did Slipknot’s self-titled album. I could be misremembering, but I feel like the vocals on the whole first album were just guttural growling, but Corey Taylor showed a lot more range on All Hope Is Gone. Lyrically, I felt like this album had quite a bit of range as well, and allowing Corey Taylor to actually sing helped those lyrics carry a bit more weight on this album. The drumming was particularly excellent on this album, just as it was on the self-titled Slipknot album. “Gematria,” “Sulfur,” “Psychosocial,” and “Dead Memories” were all really good songs. Listening to these really helped me understand the appeal that Slipknot has with their audience. These songs reminded me a lot of what was playing on alternative rock radio stations around this time, but these songs sounded a lot better, due to some really good vocals, and songs that were really well arranged and produced. After “Dead Memories” though, I felt like the album didn’t offer much in terms of unique elements or interesting arrangements. That middle chunk of the album wasn’t bad, but I just didn’t find it particularly engaging. However, “Snuff” was my favorite song on All Hope Is Gone. The acoustic guitar was fantastic, the vocals were awesome, and there was some sort of sample or digital effect that sounded like pulsing that really made this song sound even better. This isn’t the sort of album that I’d rush back to, but in the right circumstances, like a workout, I could see myself throwing this on again.
Buzzcocks
2/5
I've heard of Buzzcocks before, but I've never listened to them. With a few exceptions, I haven't really been that big of a fan of most of the late seventies punk albums that I've reviewed. I consider myself a fan of late seventies post-punk, but for some reason, albums like this tend to miss the mark with me. I don't have high expectations for Buzzcocks, but I'm going to keep an open mind as I dive into this one.
Unfortunately, my prediction about this album held true, and I didn't care for it too much. The guitar playing on "Fast Cars" was nice, and it gave me home hope for the rest of the album, but I thought "No Reply" and "You Tear Me Up" were pretty boring, and neither one of those songs offered anything unique or interesting to my ears. I liked the energy of those first three songs, but that was about it. I enjoyed the guitar solo on "Get on Our Own," but other than that, I didn't find anything particularly noteworthy about it. The rest of the first side of the album plodded along for me, but things did pick up a bit once I got to the second side. The backing vocals on "I Don't Mind" mixed things up again, and the guitar work felt a bit more varied than what was on the first side of the album. "Autonomy" had some of my favorite guitar playing on the album, and the bass line was really good too. The drumming on "Moving Away from the Pulsebeat" was really good, and I liked the screeching guitar playing that was utilized. Even though those few songs on the second side stood out to me, most of my enjoyment of them came from them breaking up the monotony of the rest of the album. I didn't think there was anything special about Buzzcocks' approach to punk, and this album really didn't do much for me. When it comes to seventies punk, I think I'll stick to the Clash.
Orbital
5/5
I reviewed Orbital's Snivilisation about ten months ago, and I thought it was very good. I'd never heard of them before, but I tend to like electronic music, and Snivilisation happened to be right up my alley. I imagine that I'll probably enjoy this one too.
I thought Orbital 2 was excellent from start to finish. Every song was layered in a way that I really enjoyed, and the way that higher and lower pitched sounds were combined was one of my favorite details that I noticed about this album. I was really pulled into every song, and I felt like the whole album had an atmosphere that really pulled me in, filling the space with beautiful sounds. I thought "Planet of the Shapes" was pretty good as the album kicked off, but it wound up being my least favorite song on the album, minus "Time Becomes" and "Input Out," which really don't count in my opinion. Once "Lush 3.1" started, I was really hooked and fully immersed in this album. The songs transitioned from one song to the next really well, but each song was still very unique in its sound and structure. I'm probably not alone in saying this, but I thought "Halcyon + On + On" was the best song on the album, narrowly beating out "Lush 3.1." This is easily the best techno/dance album that I've reviewed so far, and it's definitely one that I'll be listening to again soon.
Bee Gees
1/5
I honestly had no idea that the Bee Gees were recording music in the sixties. Until today, I thought they primarily made disco music, and for some reason, I thought they were from Scandinavia. I'm not sure how 90% of the things I 'knew' about them were total bullshit, but at least I can say I learned a few things today. I know this album won't be anything like the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, so I have no idea what this is going to sound like. The reviews for this album don't give me a lot of hope, but I've disagreed with the reviewers' consensus plenty of times before, and maybe this album will fall into that category as well!
Oof, Odessa was not for me. Reading about this album, the original idea behind it sounded interesting. The ship horn that was used on the first track gave me quite a bit of hope that this album was going to at least partially dive into the original theme about a missing ship, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I really didn’t care for the vocals on this album, especially the vibrato (I think that’s mostly Robin who does, that right?). I thought the arrangements were pretty good, but the longer this album went on, the more I felt like there wasn’t anything special about those arty arrangements, and the whole album felt pretty soulless. I know that baroque pop tends to not rely on traditional pop melodies and hooks, but it felt like the music on this album was really bland. Side two of the album was probably the best part of this project, but even then, it felt like the Bee Gees were just trying to imitate The Beatles (speaking of, are the Bee Gees The Shitty Beatles from Wayne’s World?), and they did so poorly. What made side two better for me is that musically, it relied more on traditional guitars, sounding more like sixties art rock. But there still weren’t any songs that really hooked me in, and there wasn’t anything about the album as a complete work that I thought was interesting or novel. I can’t remember what song it was that really dove into the country sound, and I can’t be bothered to go back and find out which song it was, but that song really solidified this album as a one-star effort for me. I guess the Bee Gees just aren’t really my thing, and I’m not looking forward to Trafalgar.
Radiohead
3/5
Album 892, my sixth and final Radiohead album. I've enjoyed the five Radiohead albums I've reviewed so far, but The Bends has stood out as my clear favorite of the bunch. I gave it five stars, bought a copy of it on CD, and I listen to it pretty regularly. All their other albums got four stars from me; there's something about Radiohead's way of arranging their music that I find incredibly pleasant. I believe this might be their lowest rated album on this list, but I'm still looking forward to reviewing it.
Ah, I can see why this is the lowest rated Radiohead album on this list. It’s fine, but it doesn’t really do anything to further bolster Radiohead’s reputation as one of the greatest bands of this century, and it also doesn’t do anything for influential or groundbreaking for popular music. Musically, it has some bursts of genius, and the songwriting is solid, but Amnesiac didn’t really create much of a spark with me. Even though I wasn’t wowed by Amnesiac, it did have some songs that I enjoyed. “Packt Like Sardines In a Crushd Tin Box” had a sound that I really enjoyed, bolstered by the electronic pulsing, bass playing, and tinny percussion. “I Might Be Wrong” was my favorite song on the album. The opening guitar riff was fantastic, and the percussion gave it a fantastic punch. The song just kept getting better as it went on. “Knives Out” was really good too. I loved the tone of the guitar, and the soft cymbals sounded great. “Knives Out” had my favorite vocals on the album too. The rest of the album was fine, and I didn’t mind listening to it, but I just didn’t feel like Amnesiac really brought a lot to the table. Maybe I just have Radiohead fatigue.
Gillian Welch
1/5
I'd never heard of Gillian Welch until last week. She was mentioned on a podcast that I listen to, and a snippet of a song of hers was played. From that small sample, I was really impressed by her singing, so I've been looking forward to reviewing this album. Also, this will be my second album in a row from 2001, and also my last album from 2001. Here's hoping that Gillian Welch will build upon the great first impression she made with me!
Unfortunately, my hopes for this album were dashed. I think the biggest letdown for me was that I was expecting some really fantastic vocals, and the vocals just didn’t live up to that expectation. I can’t remember what song I heard a snippet of, and I’m too lazy to go and look right now, but I can’t help but wonder if I somehow tricked myself. The vocals weren’t bad, but they just weren’t this awesome voice that I was expecting. Additionally, the music on this album wasn’t particularly noteworthy either. I expect a country music album to really suck me into the world of the lyrics, but that just didn’t happen on this album. Since I wasn’t hooked in by the music, I really didn’t pay much attention to the songwriting. Even if I hadn’t built up this album in my head (even though it was only for a week), I don’t think I would have cared for it much. I wouldn’t be opposed to checking out more of Gillian Welch’s music, just to see if I’m insane or not, but this album wasn’t for me.
Shack
3/5
I’ve seen this album cover before on the visual checklist, but I’ve never heard of Shack before. Looking at the album cover, I’d assume that Shack sounds like Flogging Molly, with more focus on the accordion and the concertina. I truly have no idea what I’m in for on this album, but I’m excited to find out what this album sounds like.
I could never have predicted what I’d hear on this album, but I enjoyed it. Listening to this reminded me of what I felt when I first listened to Copper Blue by Sugar. Like Copper Blue, HMS Fable is a solid and fun rock album, with a heavy emphasis on some beautiful melodies. The thing that I found most striking about this album were the strings, but the guitar playing and vocals were good too. My biggest complaint about this album is that it didn’t lean on its strengths enough, and as a result, some of the songs were a bit bland in comparison to the standout tracks on the album. But when this album was firing on all cylinders, it sounded really good. I thought “Pull Together,” “Beautiful,” and “Natalie’s Party” were the best songs on the album. “Natalie’s Party” was a great lead-off track, and I really loved the depth of sound created by the strings and guitars. The vocals and piano on “Pull Together” were great. The echoing effect on the vocals was really great, and the strings went along perfectly with them on the chorus. The strings on “Beautiful” were excellent. I especially loved the way that they built in pitch across the lines of the chorus, making each chorus feel like a mini-crescendo. All in all, this was a fine album, with some really good high points on it, but I don’t know that I’d come back to it again.
PJ Harvey
3/5
As fate would have it, PJ Harvey’s debut album will wind up being my final album of hers to review. Heading into this project, I had only listened to Let England Shake, and her other three albums were first-time listens for me. Rid of Me really blew me away, earning five stars from me, and her other two albums earned four stars each. I’m expecting to enjoy this album as well.
Dry will wind up being my least favorite PJ Harvey album that I’ve reviewed, but it was still pretty good. On all of her albums, I love PJ Harvey’s vocals and her guitar playing. Her sound is raw, and I love that the tone and emotions of her lyrics match that raw sound really well. The thing that I find most impressive about that raw sound is that it’s not achieved through crummy production, or a lack of technical finesse, but through vivid and often shocking imagery. I didn’t find any of this album to be unenjoyable, but it just didn’t create the reaction from me that PJ’s other albums did. Most of the songs were just fine in my opinion, although there were some songs that stood out to me:
-“Happy and Bleeding” was really good. The harmonium in particular was really great. I thought this was the most unique song on the album, and even with a more eastern influence in the sound, it still had that raw sound that fit in well with the album as a whole.
-I loved the guitar and strings on “Dress.” The rhythms on this song were really great, and I loved the different pace of the chorus and the verse. The violin had a screeching sound to it that I really loved, and it sounded great with the twang of the guitar.
-The distorted guitar and pulsing drums sounded great together on “Joe.” I loved how the song started off a bit softer, before those drums started, and the heavily distorted guitar added some depth to the sound that I really loved.
Even though this was my least favorite PJ Harvey album, I’ve really come to appreciate her as an artist, and I can’t see myself passing up an opportunity to listen to her music again in the future.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
I’ve never heard of The Divine Comedy or this album before, and I have no idea what this is going to sound like. I’ll admit that the average score for this album doesn’t really bode well, but after close to 900 albums, I’ve yelled “what the hell were these people thinking?” enough times to know that I might find a diamond in the rough. I guess it’s time to spend some time with this Casanova, and find out what he’s all about.
This album was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I thought the first few tracks were fine, but it was tough for me to get into this. The arrangements were nice but not unique, with the strings standing out more than the other elements, the lyrics were clever and funny, but the vocals were a tad bland for me. I thought the album picked up quite a bit in quality from “Songs of Love.” I really enjoyed the strings and Wurlitzer (or maybe it was the Hammond organ? I don’t know, there’s like a feature length film’s worth of credits listed on the personnel) together. This was the first point that the instrumentation sounded unique to me. I really enjoyed the strings and horns towards the end of “The Frog Princess” as well. The horns towards the end of “A Woman of the “World” were pretty good too, and punched up the sound nicely. “Through a Long & Sleepless Night” was my favorite song on the album. I really liked the horns and bass, and the strings were great as well. I thought the structure of the songs was really good too, and I liked how the song evolved, building to a great crescendo.
Overall, I thought this album was clever and interesting at times, but at what point does something cross the line from being inspired by another artist to lifting their style and sound? To me, it really felt like this album fell into the latter category. The themes of sex in the lyrics and Neil Hannon’s vocals felt very derivative of Jarvis Cocker, and the music sounds quite a bit like Scott Walker, especially on “The Dogs and Horses.” To top it all off, this album was a bit boring in stretches, made worse by its long run time, and long songs. I think I can see what The Divine Comedy were going for, but it didn’t stick the landing with me.
TV On The Radio
3/5
I’d heard of TV On The Radio before I started this project, but I’d never listened to them before. I want to say that I reviewed Dear Science earlier this year (nope, apparently it was October of last year), and I was completely blown away by it. I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this album ever since that day, and my time has finally come!
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes was fine, but it fell short of the high hopes I had for it. Overall, the album sounded good, and I liked the sound that TV On The Radio utilized across the course of the album. However, very few songs really grabbed my attention, and I found myself really longing for the complex melodies of Dear Science. I really try to approach each album without consideration for the artist’s other works, but I couldn’t help but have the thought that DYBTB felt a little bare in comparison to Dear Science. It’s not that this album was bad, but it just left me wanting more from its sound. However, there were some songs that stood out to me:
-I Really enjoyed "Staring at the sun." The vocals were awesome, and I loved the pulsing of the looped sounds. The claps that came in towards the end were really cool too, and even though they were only a small part of the song, it left me wanting more of this song as a whole.
-"Dreams" was really good too, and the screeching looped sound added a lot to the overall sound of the song.
-“Poppy” was my favorite song on the album, mostly because it felt like it foreshadowed the sound of Dear Science. The guitar playing was excellent, and the vocal fills kicked ass too.
Even though I was a bit underwhelmed by this album, it certainly won’t dissuade me from checking out more of TV On The Radio’s discography.
808 State
4/5
Today is my 898th album to review, so this album appeared 90 days too late. I've never heard of 808 State before, but I'm guessing that this is an electronic album, and that 808 refers to the Roland 808, or whatever it's called. That will always remind me about that Aziz Ansari joke where he saw Kanye listening to 808's & Heartbreak. Remember that, when Kanye wasn't insane, and when everyone loved Aziz Ansari? Man, we didn't know how good we had it back then. Anyway, I'm really intrigued to see what this album is going to sound like, and I'm excited to fire it up!
Overall, I thought 90 was a very good album, but it was a little bit short of five stars for me. Each song had a very unique sound and feeling to it, but everything was tied together nicely by the drum machines that were used throughout the album. I didn’t really enjoy the vocals and vocal samples on the first two songs (although I did like the initial ‘chiming’ melody on “Magical Dream”), but after that, I really got into this album. “Cobra Bora” was excellent. I thought the synthesizer and keyboard melodies were outstanding, and the drums are great too. It really made great use of stereo sound, pulling the listener right into the awesome synths and keyboard, and eventually going completely rapid fire with sound. “Pacific 202” was great too. The melodies and drums were once again really awesome. I really loved the wildlife sounds in the background, because they matched the overall tone of the song really well. I also loved how the tempo kicked up a bit before the outro. “Cora Bora” and “Pacific 202” were my favorite songs on the album, but everything after that was really good too. I could see myself listening to this again, and I’d be down to check out more albums from 808 State.
Gang Starr
3/5
I've never heard of Gang Starr or this album, but I generally enjoy hip-hop from the early nineties, so I'm excited to see what this album is all about. The reviews from people who like hip-hop paint a very positive picture of this album, and I see that one member of Gang Starr, DJ Premier, was born in Houston, so I'm excited to see some representation from my hometown. I'm ready to step in the arena with these guys!
I thought Step In The Arena was fine overall. The rapping was fine, but I the production and beats were excellent. Lyrically, I’m not a big fan of the whole boasting schtick that was present on this album. I know that’s a staple of early hip-hop, but I felt like it was really overplayed here. I really enjoy hip-hop lyrics that tell good stories or churn out social and political critiques, but that wasn’t really present here. I thought Guru’s technique of emphasizing his rhymes was really unique, but I thought his voice was a bit bland. However, I did like the overall sound of this album. There was a gritty and muted, or buffed down quality to the sound that I really liked. It reminded me a lot of Enter The Wu Tang. The bass and piano sounded great together on “Execution of a Chump.” “Who’s Gonna Take The Weight” was really good too. I loved the high-pitched whine that they used, and the record scratching was excellent too. I loved how that high-pitched whine changed up towards the end of the song. I thought the best stretch of the album was from “Check the Technique” to “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.” The sample usage during that stretch really stood out to me. “Check the Technique” was my favorite song on the album. I really loved the brighter sound, and I wished that Gang Starr would have used more sounds like that on the album, because I thought they made great usage of that brighter tone. This album wasn’t completely to my liking, but I can understand why it’s on this list, and I can see why plenty of people really love it.
Rocket From The Crypt
4/5
Today is my 900th album, and I was hoping for something universally beloved, like Dark Side of the Moon, Rumors, or Abbey Road to mark the occasion. I'd have also settled for a personal favorite, like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual, or Cocteau Twins' Heaven or Las Vegas. But it wasn't meant to be. I've never heard of Rocket From The Crypt before, but I was pretty bummed to get this album, and even more bummed when I saw that it's rated pretty poorly by other users. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but I guess it's time to give this one a go!
Scream, Dracula, Scream! was a very pleasant surprise. This album was a bit short of five stars from me, but it was still a fun album, and I thought Rocket From The Crypt had a really unique sound here. The opening track, “The Middle,” did a great job of capturing my interest right off the bat. I loved the bass playing, and there were some elements of hardcore punk that I enjoyed. “The Middle” solidly established what was to come on this album. “On A Rope” and “Young Livers” both had some great guitar playing, and I loved how the horns rounded out the band’s sound really well. The bells during the opening of “Young Livers” were really great too. The vocal harmonies in the background on “Used” were awesome, and I loved the non-traditional percussion that they used as well. From there, I enjoyed “Ball Lightning,” “Fat Lip,” and “Come See, Come Saw” quite a bit as well. This album worked best when the sound was up tempo and the guitars and horns were playing off of one-another’s sound. The thing that kept this album from being five stars for me is that there was a fair amount of material on this album that felt like filler to me, and those songs didn’t really fit the overall sound of the album. This was still a fun album though, but there are a few songs that I’ll be inclined to skip on any future listens.
Peter Frampton
3/5
I saw Peter Frampton live at Arrowfest at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion back in 2005 (those luscious locks were gone by this point), and even though I know the singles off of this album, I’ve never listened to it in its entirety. I’ve never really had any strong opinions on Peter Frampton. If you asked me to describe him, I’d probably say that he’s ‘the okay-est classic rock’ musician of the seventies. I’m expecting to not have any strong feelings about this album, but here's hoping I’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Well, a pleasant surprise was not waiting for me in the wings on Frampton Comes Alive. When this album is at its best, it’s really fun and memorable. But when it’s not at its best, I found it really bland and boring. For a live album, I thought this felt way too polished and way too low energy. I imagine that the audience was stoned out of their minds, and honestly, that’s the best way to listen to Peter Frampton in my opinion. It would have loved to hear more of the Fender Rhodes and Hammond Organ on this album, because I feel like it could have really punched up the overall sound, and made it something more than generic guitar rock. However, the hits on this album are really great. “Show Me The Way” is a lot of fun, with great guitar playing, an awesome bass line, and some of the best vocals on the album. The talk box is really fun too, and I’m glad it was only used on a couple of songs on this album, so that it didn’t become a gimmick. I was really surprised that I didn’t hate “Baby, I Love Your Way.” On the surface, it’s so cheesy, but I love the keyboards on it (see? This album needed more of that), and it’s got a really chill vibe that I love. But the best part of this album is saved for last. “Do You Feel Like We Do” is an absolute blast. The opening guitar and keyboards are fantastic, and I love when the vocals kick in with that “Well, woke up this morning with a wine glass in my hand.” The audience adds so much to this song too, from the handclaps to their interspersed cheering, they really feel like an additional instrument, and it works well. And the talk box here rules. On paper, it sounds like pure cheese, but in practice, it’s just cool as hell. I absolutely love the call and response of “Do you feel like we do” mixed with the audience cheers. I wish the whole album could be as fun as those last 15 minutes. I was prepared to give this album two stars, but hell, after writing about the singles from this album, I think it’s barely eked out three stars from me. I can’t begrudge Robert Dimery for including this album on the list, because it’s massively impactful, but it’s not completely my cup of tea.
Prince
5/5
Sign O’ The Times will be my third and final Prince album to review. So far, I gave five stars to Purple Rain (an instant classic) and four stars to 1999 (it’s a bit much, and collapses under its own weight at times). I consider myself a Prince fan, but I’m not incredibly certain what to expect from this album. Looking at the track listing, I think I only know a couple of songs here, and they’re not songs I know particularly well. I’ll be honest that I’m a little daunted by the fact that this is a double album, because I feel like that was one of the things that weighed down 1999 so much. Hopefully this will be 80 minutes of funky bliss!
Man, I’m really struggling with how to rate this album. On the one hand, I loved the synthesizers and drum machines, and I thought the album sounded amazing overall. Sign O’ The Times really is a testament to Prince’s abilities to create incredibly rich sounds that pull the listener into the worlds that he creates. On the other hand, though, it was a little bit boring in parts. Some songs went on a little too long, and a few others felt like they could have been cut from the album, and I wouldn’t have missed them. But now that I’ve written that sentence down, I immediately disagree with it. I think trimming this album down would have taken away from the work as a whole, cutting the knees out from under Prince’s vision in a way. Part of the fun of this album for me was not knowing what was coming next, and getting hit with some really wonderful surprises for my ears along the way. I found myself audibly going ‘ooh!’ whenever a song would start, and I’d hear that particular synthesizer arrangement for the first time. I don’t think this is an album I’d listen to again, but that’s a personal preference, and it doesn’t take away from how fun it was to experience this album for the first time. Now that I’ve talked through the conundrum of whether this album gets four or five stars (it’s getting five), I’ll go through my reactions as I went through these songs.
-I love the sound of the title track. It’s funky, and I love how Prince paces the vocals. This is album is really starting off great.
-“Play In the Sunshine” sounds great too. I love the timbre of the vocals, and that synth intro is great. The backing vocals are awesome too. I love the screeching guitars and the percussion. The outro feels like an homage to “Aquarius” by The Fifth Dimension. I dig it.
-The homage to Joni Mitchell on “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker” was really great. I loved the slower and more relaxed vibe to this song.
-“It” is incredibly weird, but I do love the synths and drum machines, even though I don’t care much for the vocals.
-“Starfish and Coffee” is really unique. I’m not quite sure what to make of the lyrics, but I think it’s about how limitless our imaginations can be if we let them. Really cool and whimsical.
-“Hot Thing sounds awesome.” I love those synths and the drum machine.
-“U Got The Look” is exactly what I want from Prince. Sexy guitar, awesome vocals, killer drum machines, awesome synths. This is the only song I knew on this album, and it rocks hard.
-I really love the synths on “Strange Relationship”
-I love the synths on “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.” The guitars sound amazing too, and I love the vocals.
What I realized in typing out this review, is that this album is great because of the journey it took me on. Prince is an incredible musician, and while I love jamming out to Purple Rain, in my opinion, Sign O’ The Times is more about the discoveries of pushing the boundaries of music with drum machines and synthesizers, than it is about kicking out the jams.
Afrika Bambaataa
2/5
I’ve never heard of Afrika Bambaataa or Soulsonic Force before, but wow, this is quite the album cover. Even though I’ve never heard of this artist before, a quick glance on Wikipedia shows that Mr. Bambaataa is allegedly a pedophile. Neat. We need a bracket for “best album by a scumbag.” What a competition that would be. My money would be on My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy. I digress. I’m curious to experience this slice of early hip-hop. Hopefully it can make this August Monday a bit more bearable.
I didn’t enjoy my journey to Planet Rock very much. The overall sound of the album was solid; I liked the samples and beats that were used, and some of these songs were really fun. However, I didn’t find the rapping particularly good, and I wasn’t too into the lyrics either. Even though I liked the samples and beats, these songs felt really repetitive, and they went on for too long without really doing anything of substance. The end result is an album that’s an overall mess, with songs that feel tedious by their halfway point. The only song that didn’t go stale with me over the course of its run time was “Go Go Pop.” I loved the tin-can beats, the bass sounds were funky and groovy, and the synthesizers oozed pure eighties sounds. This album might be influential, but I didn’t find it particularly enjoyable or interesting to listen to.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
I had to wait for album number 904 to finally get Rumours, but I know it's going to be worth the wait. I absolutely love this album, and I think it's a masterpiece from start to finish. I know that I'll be giving this album five stars, but I'm still really excited to write a review about it. Let's jump into one of the best albums of all time!
"Secondhand News" is easily one of the most underrated Fleetwood Mac songs ever. The vocal fills on the chorus are pure heaven to my ears, and it's a blast to sing along to. The lead guitar, bass, organ, and drums all sound incredible. It's a simple song, but every element is combined perfectly. I'd like to give a special shoutout to that guitar solo on the outro. I legitimately hate it when this song ends, but that solo makes it worth it.
"Dreams" isn't at the top of my personal list of favorite Fleetwood Mac songs, but I still think it's incredible. The songwriting and vocals are the star of the show here, but man, that bass line is incredible too. I had no idea that Stevie Nicks's vocals were multi-tracked on this song until just now. Damn, it sounds incredible. The timing of the cymbal crash on the line "thunder only happens when it's raining" is pure perfection. What a beautiful song.
"Never Going Back Again" is underrated too. I love the fingerpicking of the guitar, and Lindsey Buckingham's vocals are fantastic. I prefer the more 'rocking' songs on this album, but I can't deny the simplistic beauty of this song.
"Don't Stop" is one of my favorite songs of all time. This song never fails to put a smile on my face. I love the piano in the intro, the drumming is fantastic, and that little "ba-na-na-na-now" that the guitar does as the vocals start is absolute perfection. Man, what a fun song. The guitar solo is perfect too, it's a wonderful lead in to that last verse. Perfect outro too. God, what a jam.
"Go Your Own Way" is another one of my favorite songs of all time. It should be emotionally jarring to go from "Don't Stop" to this, but somehow it works really well. Best drumming and percussion on the album in my opinion, and another killer guitar solo. "Packin' up, shackin' up's all you wanna do" is a killer lyric. Back to the emotional shift from "Don't Stop" to this song, I think it works, because that's how tumultuous the relationships in the band were at the time. Emotions were changing at the drop of a hat, and that's how you can go from something so upbeat to something so full of heartbreak so quickly.
"Songbird" is a fantastic closing track to this side of this album. With such a wide range of emotions over the first half of this album, closing it out with a beautiful piano ballad is wonderfully fitting before firing up all of those emotions again on the second half.
I love "The Chain" so much. The acoustic guitar, the jangle of the tambourine, the pulse of the bass, the backing vocals. It all creates such an urgent and haunting sound. The atmosphere on this song is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. It's so tense, and I think it's the perfect representation of the mood of the whole band while this was being recorded. I wish I could bottle the crescendo that this song builds to. What a perfect song.
"You Make Loving Fun" is another mood shift, but again, it still works so well. That calvinet is so perfect, and I love the lead and backing vocals. Another beautiful song.
"I Don't Want to Know" is fantastic too. I love the co-lead vocals from Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Those hand claps are fantastic too. I love the folky vibe. The Wurlitzer is a nice addition here too. I love how Fleetwood Mac was able to incorporate so many different keyboards on this album.
"Oh Daddy" is my least favorite song on the album. If there's one thing I hate about classic rock, it's the use of the word 'daddy.' Man, I hate that. However, I do like the Hammond, piano, and synthesizers on this song, and the castanets are a great addition too.
"Gold Dust Woman" is a perfect closing track to Rumours. It captures the urgency and heartbreak that were prevalent throughout the album, and it does it with a great sound. The percussion sets the mood perfectly. That anxious ticking is a great way to ask what lies down the road for this band after one of the most conflict-filled albums of all time.
Man, I love listening to Rumours so much. Musically, you get these incredibly rich tapestries of sound, and despite the diversity of the sound from song to song, it all feels so connected and whole, because of the emotions of the songwriting. This will forever be a top-ten album for me, and listening to it today was an absolute treat.
Steve Winwood
4/5
Steve Winwood has five songs that I enjoy. In ascending order, they are "The Finer Things," "Roll With It," "Back In The High Life Again," "Higher Love," and "Valerie." Unfortunately, none of those songs are on this album, and I don't think I've heard anything off of this album before. I don't know what to expect from Arc of a Diver, but I'm hoping I'll discover some more Steve Winwood songs to add to my regular rotation.
I thought Arc of a Diver was pretty good. I’d always wondered if I’d been missing out on not listening to any of Steve’s whole albums, and while there were some good songs on here, I think Steve Winwood is more of a ‘greatest hits’ artist for me. I think this album showcases his ability create some great arrangements with synthesizers, and think he’s particularly adept at combining synths and bass guitars. I’m honestly shocked that I’d never managed to hear any of these songs before. Nothing on here can touch the Chronicles remix of “Valerie,” but “While You See a Chance” is fantastic. Those synthesized horns are exactly what I love to hear from Steve Winwood. The main melody is fantastic, and I love the lyrics too. “Arc of a Diver” was really good too. I loved that the percussion was a bit different than what’s used on the rest of the album. I love a good power pop jam from Steve, but this slower tune sounded great. “Second-Hand Woman” went back closer to the power pop sounds I really loved the bass guitar. The drumming was really tight too, and it complimented the bass groove perfectly. The bright synthesizer melodies were great too. “Spanish Dancer” was great too. It did a great job of showing how Steve can create such diverse sounds with his synthesizers. The bass guitar sounded great here too. I enjoyed listening to this album, and it was cool to finally listen to a full album from an artist that I’ve been a casual fan of for a long time. I was initially going to give this album three stars, but now that I’ve gone back through it and really reflected on it, I think it’s worth four stars. Even though not everything on here is my taste, I think it’s really well made, and it’s a good showcase of Steve Winwood’s talents as a musician (I completely forgot to mention that I love that he played all the instruments himself).
Bauhaus
4/5
The only Bauhaus song I’m familiar with is “Bela Lugosi Is Dead,” so this will be my first album of theirs to listen to. I like “Bela Lugosi Is Dead,” and I have it on a Halloween playlist that I listen to every October, so I have a pretty decent idea of what to expect from this album. It may only be August, but I’m always down for some goth rock!
I didn’t fall in love with Mask, but I thought it was really good. I loved how Bauhaus used guitar effects to craft a really unique sound. In a crowded field of other post punk artists, Bauhaus did an excellent job of setting themselves apart from their contemporaries. In addition to the guitars, I really enjoyed the keyboards and drumming as well. I wasn’t particularly fond of the vocals or songwriting, but the unique and haunting arrangements made up for it. “The Passion of Lovers” and “Mask” were my favorite songs on the album. I thought both of these songs had some really great melodies. The closing of “Mask” is particularly excellent, and it was an excellent choice as the closing track on this album. Even though there weren’t many songs that stood out to me, I thought Mask worked incredibly well as a whole album. The sound is incredibly cohesive, due to the dense atmosphere that Bauhaus creates, but each song brings something different to the table. I will definitely revisit Mask, especially with October only six short (hopefully) weeks away.
Anita Baker
2/5
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Anita Baker before, but I’ve thought that about other artists, and then wound up recognizing their work (David Gray and Everything But The Girl). I love listening to eighties music, so maybe I’ll recognize a song or two off of this album. Either way, I’m excited to listen to a new artist today!
I think Anita Baker is a talented singer, but this album wasn’t really up my alley. There were some great bass lines throughout Rapture, but there wasn’t much variety in the sound, and the keyboard and synthesizer arrangements were pretty forgettable. For a soul album, this album didn’t feel like there was any emotional weight to it. I’ll admit that there are plenty of soft rock songs from the eighties that I enjoy, but an album full of feather-weight pop tunes without any catchy melodies isn’t really my thing. The last three songs of the album the best part of the album, but even then, those songs were relatively forgettable. I can understand how this album won a couple of Grammy awards, but Rapture isn’t an album I’ll be coming back to.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Blonde on Blonde is one of two Bob Dylan albums I’d listened to before starting this project, the other being Highway 61 Revisited. I have a CD of Blonde on Blonde, and I think I bought it because a friend of mine told me that I should listen to it since I liked Highway 61 Revisited. I’m pretty sure I only listened to it once, mostly because I absolutely hated “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” I know I’ve heard some of these songs on their own since then, but I’ve never been inclined to listen to the whole album again. My most recent Bob Dylan album to review was The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, which I absolutely loved, but I don’t have as high of hopes for this re-listen of Blonde on Blonde. At least I’ll get “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” out of the way first.
Re-listening to this today didn’t sway me to becoming a Blonde on Blonde fan, but this album was a lot better than I remembered. First things first, though, “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” Man, I still hate that song. It sounds like Bert from Mary Poppins on an acid trip, or like the worst thing you could possibly hear while walking through Jackson Square in the French Quarter. It’s so damn goofy sounding, and its cacophonous sound sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the album. I hate that shouting and whooping in the background too. It’s just the worst. Thankfully though, the rest of the album ranges from ‘fine’ to ‘really good,’ although the ‘really good’ parts are scarcer in my opinion. Side 3 was my favorite side of the album. I enjoyed the succinctness of the songs on that side, and it felt like I got more bang for my buck in a way, with five songs with differing lyrical themes and sounds. “Absolutely Sweet Marie” was my favorite song from that side, with excellent rhythms, and some great guitar and organ arrangements as well. However, my favorite song on the whole album was “I Want You.” The harmonica, guitar, bass, organ, and piano all sounded great together, creating the most beautiful song on the album. The longing in the lyrics and vocals is fantastic, and I love the simplicity of it. “Visions of Johanna” and “One Of Us Most Know” had the best songwriting on the album in my opinion. They both sound fine musically, but I really liked how the gist of both songs were pretty clear and simple, but the majority of the lyrics were really poetic and symbolic. The latter of the two had some really great organ playing as well. “4th Time Around” was also really good. I enjoyed the guitar arrangement quite a bit, and I thought it suited the pacing of Dylan’s vocals really well. All in all, Blonde on Blonde is a fine album, and while I can’t see myself actively listening to it again, it’s something that I wouldn’t mind having on around the house on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Heaven 17
4/5
I’ve read about Heaven 17 in a book about protest songs, but I’ve never listened to any of their music before. Based on the little that I know about them, and the fact that I enjoy some of Human League’s music, I think there’s a high likelihood that I’ll like this album.
I didn’t fall in love with Penthouse and Pavement, but I thought it was a solid new wave album, and it was enjoyable to listen to. There was some excellent songwriting throughout the album, with plenty of social and political commentary (bashing Ronald Reagan is one of my love languages), and the bass grooves were consistently excellent. The first half of the album felt more rhythmically driven, but the second half had some synthesizer and piano melodies that I really enjoyed. “Fascist Groove Thang” was a very bold choice as an opening track. I loved the percussion, and the lyrics were awesome. The frantic guitar playing really added to the mood. I loved the bass and lead guitars on the title track, and the percussion was really good too. The lyrics really captured the whole ‘yuppie aesthetic’ really well. I really loved the synthesizers on “Geisha Boys and Temple Girls.” The overall sound of this song was really out there, but I the chorus was fantastic. That backing vocal fill was particularly excellent. “Let’s All Make A Bomb” was my favorite song on the album. The bass drum sounds were excellent, and the synthesizer melodies were fantastic. Lyrically, this song wasn’t as good as “Fascist Groove Thang,” but it was still awesome.
Overall, this was a really unique album, and I thought Heaven 17 crafted a really unique new wave sound on this album.
Khaled
5/5
I’ve never heard of Khaled, or this album before, but I’ve seen the cover on the checklist, and I’ve been curious as to what the story is with this album. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to any Algerian music before, so I have no idea what I’m going to be in for. There’s no time like the present to dive into Kenza!
I thought this album was excellent, and I had a blast listening to it. Every song felt like a beautifully crafted pop song, and even though I have no idea what the lyrics were about, the sound on Kenza was so well crafted that I found it incredibly accessible to listen to. The bass playing was fantastic throughout the album, and the bass grooves gave me something to immediately focus my attention on during each song, which really helped me have something to latch on to with my ears. The sound on Kenza was varied, but those bass grooves really held everything together, creating a really cohesive sound. The beats, hooks, and melodies were incredibly enjoyable, and I was really excited to hear what was coming next. There was a good mixture of tempos on this album as well, and I thought that Khaled did a great job with both the slower ballads, and the more upbeat, dance-y songs as well. The only complaint that I have with this album is that it was a bit long, but “Raba-Raba” was the only song that bored me. As for picking a favorite song from this album, I think I’d have to go with “El Bab,” with its booming bass, funky synths, and high-energy vocals. Kenza was a really fun discovery, and yet another reminder of why I started this project.
Aretha Franklin
2/5
I reviewed Aretha Franklin's Lady Soul a little over a year ago, and I thought it was fine. I think she's an incredibly talented singer, but that album just wasn't up my alley. However, I'm excited to give her another one of her albums a listen today, and I'm hoping that I'll enjoy this earlier effort more than I did Lady Soul.
Unfortunately, I enjoyed this album less than I did Lady Soul. Aretha Franklin is an incredibly talented singer, but I think I just don’t enjoy her approach to soul music. I don’t know if it was the selection of songs she decided to record, or something else, but this album just didn’t pack a lot of punch for me. Musically, I didn’t find anything remarkable or enticing about this album, and I really didn’t care for the way it was mixed. I felt like the backing vocals took away from Aretha’s performance, and I wonder what the thought process was in having backing vocals when you have one the most talented signers of all-time leading the charge. However, there were a couple of positives on this album, aside from Aretha’s vocals. Her version of “Respect” is one of the best songs of the sixties, and she completely rips this song away from Otis Redding, and makes it her own anthem of black female empowerment. The same can almost be said about her rendition of “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Aretha doesn’t snatch this one away from Sam Cooke, but her version does a great job of merging past pain and present pain with muted optimism for a better future. Other than that, this album just didn’t do it for me, and it pains me to have so much criticism for an album from a legend. Aretha Franklin is a great artist, but I’d just rather hear her belt out her hits.
Blondie
4/5
I know quite a few Blondie songs, but I've never listened to a whole album of theirs before. My mom had a Blondie greatest hits CD when I was a kid, and I didn't particularly care for them back then. Blondie has grown on me in my adult years, but I feel like I approach them with some trepidation for some reason (however, I do love "Maria" from later in their career). I know a few songs on this album, and I'm excited to listen to it today, because I expect it to be a solid new wave jam. Here's hoping my expectations are correct!
I didn't fall in love with Parallel Lines, but I thought it was a really good album, with some excellent vocals, great guitar rhythms, and solid keyboard riffs as well. I felt like this album was at its best when Blondie leaned more on punk influences, and some songs, while good on their own, felt a little out of place on this album top me ("Fade Away and Radiate," "Sunday Girl," and "Heart of Glass"). Still, Parallel Lines is a solid new wave album, and other than "Fade Away and Radiate," there weren't any songs that I didn't like. As for my favorite songs:
-"Hanging on the Telephone" is so damn good. It's perfectly arranged, with excellent rhythms, and outstanding guitar and keyboard playing. It's an incredibly fun jam, and an excellent lead-off track.
-I really hated "One Way Or Another" as a kid, but I think that's because my mom would start singing it out of nowhere sometimes, and I just hated that. As an adult, it's really grown on me though. The bridge is absolutely killer, and I love the guitar playing. "Picture This" wasn't as good as "One Way Or Another," but it also had a bridge that I loved.
-I loved the multitrack vocals on "Pretty Baby." I thought this was one of the weaker tracks on the album, but those vocals were excellent.
-"I'm Gonna Love You Too" is fantastic. Blondie managed to keep the original rockabilly feel to it, even after adding a faster rhythm and keyboards. I thought this was the second best song on the album after "Hanging On The Telephone."
Parallel Lines is a bit short of five stars for me, but I thought it was really good, and it had some bright spots that really shone. Blondie added another album to the pantheon of the best new wave albums of the late seventies.
Miles Davis
4/5
In A Silent Way will be my final Miles Davis album to review. My most recent album of his to review was Bitches Brew, which I listened to in January, and pretty much hated. His other two albums got four stars from me, and I had high hopes for Bitches Brew, but I found it to be a complete slog to get through. Jazz music is a big blind spot for me, but I'm hoping that Miles Davis will go out with a bang on this one.
I can’t say that I understood this album, or that it really tracked with me, but it was pleasant to listen to, and I think it’s safe to say that this is the closest I’ve gotten to ‘getting it’ when it comes to jazz music. I enjoyed the piano and organ playing on both sides of this album, and I liked how each of the two songs had their own unique movements that still fit together with the song as a whole. I thought the music was really well arranged too, and even though I enjoyed the piano and organ parts best, it never felt like any particular instrument was trying to wrest away control from the ensemble. I liked the second side of the album a bit more than the first, just because it felt a bit more unique. I’d be down to listen to this album again, and I think it’d be something worth owning a physical copy of.
Primal Scream
1/5
The only Primal Scream song I knew before starting this project was "Movin' On Up," so I had high hopes when I reviewed Screamadelica. I wound up thinking that Screamadelica was just fine, so I'm heading into this second effort from Primal Scream with a bit more reservations. I don't really know what to expect from this album, but I'm curious to find out what's in store.
Well, this is going to be a pretty brief review, because I really didn't care for this album much at all. I thought that only "Star" and "Motörhead" were the only remotely listenable songs on this album, and everything else sounded like bland electronica to me. And calling this album electronica feels a bit like a stretch, because this album didn't really follow any particular style to me. I have no problem with an album branching out and defying the boundaries of categories, but this album felt like the Jack In The Box menu: it was so full of a so many different things, that it didn't do anything particularly well. There were no hooks or melodies or even rhythms that enticed my ears, and I found myself incredibly bored by this album. A week from now, I'll probably forget about this album entirely, and that's truly a blessing. Hopefully The Stone Roses can help me expedite that forgetting.
Madonna
2/5
It only took until album 915 for me to get my first Madonna album to review, and it’s her classic album True Blue… er, Music. Neato. I consider myself a causal Madonna fan, but I’m not familiar with anything she put out after Ray of Light. I think her stuff from the eighties and early nineties is fantastic, but I’m not sure what to make of her in this western getup that she’s sporting on the cover of this album. I have no idea what I’m going to hear on this album, but here goes nothing!
The booming bass of the title/leadoff track got my full attention, but that was one of the few moments where I was engaged with this album. Musically, I mostly enjoyed the dance sounds on this album, but lyrically and vocally, I just could not have cared less. I’ve heard worse things on this list (yesterday’s effort from Primal Scream comes to mind), but I’ve heard so much better, especially when it comes to pop and dance music from this era. Most of this album just felt robotic and uninspired. If Madonna had anything to say on this album, it certainly didn’t land with me. I did wind up recognizing “Don’t Tell Me,” which was the best song on the album, by a slim margin. I loved the stutter-step of the guitar, and the bass beat was excellent too. “What It Feels Like for a Girl” was pretty good too. I liked the dream-like sound of the electronic elements, and I thought the lyrics were pretty good too (strike what I said earlier, but this is the only instance where this album has anything meaningful to say). While this wasn’t really my speed, I have high hopes for the other Madonna albums on this list, but I still think it’s a crime that this album made the cut, while True Blue didn’t.
Love
4/5
I reviewed Love’s Da Capo about 18 months ago, giving it three stars. Reading my review, there were some things I enjoyed about that album, but I found most of the songs to be pretty middle-of-the-road. You could probably play that album for me again, and I don’t think I’d recognize a single song off of it. I see that this album has some pretty strong reviews, so I’m curious if I’ll enjoy this one more than Da Capo.
I thought Forever Changes was a good album, coming in a notch above Da Capo. The strings, horns, and vocals were consistently great throughout the album, and the songwriting was solid as well. Love’s blend of psychedelic and folk rock was really unique, and I enjoyed how different they sounded from their peers. The album was really beautiful from start to finish, but I found some songs to be a bit dull. In my opinion, the album was at its best when it utilized faster tempos and veered closer to traditional rock and roll sounds, like on “Alone Again Or” and “A House Is Not a Motel.” This isn’t the sort of album that I’d gravitate towards, but it was enjoyable to listen to, and I can see why Love has such a big following amongst other musicians.
Barry Adamson
1/5
I’d never heard of Barry Adamson before starting this project, but I learned who he was after reviewing Magazine’s Real Life a few years ago (that album has been one of my absolute favorite discoveries during this project). After doing a bit of light research, Moss Side Story sounds like a pretty interesting concept. If Barry’s other work with Magazine is any indication, I think I’ll enjoy this album!
Huh. Well, that was conceptually adventurous. Moss Side Story was a big swing and miss with me. I think the concept of a soundtrack album without a movie is a bold idea, but to me, this album was mostly generic music that feels completely unnecessary. I want a movie soundtrack to tell a story or convey a mood, but this album didn’t do either of those things. Act One was pretty bland, but I had high hopes when Act Two started with “Sounds from the Big House.” The metallic percussion and reverb sounded like cell doors slamming, evoking the feeling of walking through a prison to interview a suspect, but any narrative or emotion that was established on that song was immediately lost on the next track. “Autodestruction” had an industrial sound that I liked, but it failed to establish any mood or tell any part of a story. Moss Side Story just felt like a mess to me, and I can’t think of any rhyme or reason for it to exist. I’m hoping Barry’s other album that I still need to review will be better.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Melt will be my second Peter Gabriel album to listen to, and the only album of his on this list that I haven't listened to before. Looking at the track listing, I think the only song I know is "Biko," but I honestly can't remember the last time I heard it. However, I really like listening to Peter Gabriel, and even though I'm not sure what to expect from this album, I have high hopes that I'm going to enjoy it.
I love and appreciate Peter Gabriel as an artist, and I really wanted to fall in love with this album, and while I think it was really good, it’s just not a five-star album for me. The most impressive thing about this album to me was the moods and emotions it was able to convey on each song. I know Peter Gabriel has said that he doesn’t think of this album as a concept album, but lyrically, that’s what I felt like was going on for most of these songs. Musically, I loved the depth of sound that Peter Gabriel was able to create. Every album of his that I’ve listened to is just full of rich and beautiful sounds. He has such a distinctly unique style when it comes to arranging his music and crafting these sounds that completely pull you in. I loved seeing how many wonderful artists played on this album, from Phil Collins to Kate Bush, this album is brimming with additional talent. There weren’t any particular songs that jumped out to me as exceptional on this album, but each song managed to bring something unique to the table. And I think that’s why this album is only four stars for me; it’s really good, but there’s nothing that really pulls me back into it, or stays with me after I’m done listening to it. Any time I think about So, I want to fire it up, even if I don’t have enough time to make it all the way through. Melt was a really good album though, and I appreciate getting to experience another period of Peter Gabriel’s career that I’d never gotten to experience before.
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
I first found out about Nine Inch Nails in 1996, when Weird Al used “Closer” in the polka medley on his album Bad Hair Day. From there though, Nine Inch Nails only existed in this otherworldly mystique. The kids who wore their shirts to school were often labeled the goth or headbangers, and they were the type of kids we were warned about in Wednesday night youth group at church. I had no idea what their music sounded like, I just knew that they had a song that said “I want to fuck you like an animal,” and to admit that I knew the existence of that song would generate a barrage of questions from my parents, none of which I wanted to answer. As an adult though, the closest I’ve ever gotten to listening to Nine Inch Nails is watching movies where the score was composed by Trent Reznor. However, I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this album. I don’t think it’s really going to be up my alley, but I imagine I’ll at least appreciate it for its significance and impact.
It took a few songs for this album to get going for me, but once I got sucked in to the sound of The Downward Spiral, I found myself really absorbed by the music. Heading into this album, I thought that a lot of it would wind up sounding the same, but there was a lot of variation over the course of this album, but everything was held together really well by the dense atmosphere. I had no idea that Trent Reznor did almost everything on this album, which is really impressive on such a rich album. I guess that’s why this came out five years after Pretty Hate Machine. I really enjoyed that despite being heavy and rough, this album had plenty of beautiful melodies throughout. This album is really a great showcase of Trent Reznor’s talent as a musician, songwriter, and instrumentalist. “Heresy” wound up being my favorite song on the album, barely beating out “Closer.” The pulsing bass sound underneath the main sound really kicked ass. The drumming and guitar were excellent too. As for “Closer,” it’s such an excellent journey in industrial rock. The overall melody is excellent, but what seals it for me is that last two minutes, and I loved hearing that melody pop up again on the title track. “March of the Pigs” was really great too. The programming and piano were exceptionally noteworthy. And speaking of industrial music, I loved the drums on “Piggy,” mostly because they reminded me of Neubauten. As for other songs on the album that I really enjoyed, I thought “Becoming,” “A Warm Place,” and “Hurt” were all exceptional as well. I was thinking about giving this album four stars, but as I typed out my review, I think The Downward Spiral is worthy of five stars. A dark journey into the depths of what rock music can be, this album was incredibly enjoyable, and very well made.
Michael Jackson
4/5
And here it is, quite possibly the biggest album of all time, waiting for me at album number 920. I've already reviewed Michael Jackson's other two albums on this list, giving five stars to Off the Wall, and four stars to Bad. We had Thriller on vinyl when I was a kid, and though I remember looking at this album sleeve many, many times, I don't think I've ever listened to the whole thing. I know five songs on this album really well, but the other four tracks should be knew to me, unless I've forgotten them. My gut tells me this is going to be a five-star album, but nothing is set in stone, not even Thriller!
Thriller wasn't quite the five-star masterpiece that I thought it was going to be, but it was still really good. My high hopes felt immediately justified, when I got sucked in the minute "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" kicked off. The production and arrangements on that song were just perfect. Those horns, the bass line, and the drums all sounded perfect, and then ton top of that, you get Michael Jackson's vocals. I could see him in my head, just putting his whole body into his singing, dancing, and letting himself be consumed by the music. The disco remnants on this lead-off track were excellent, and I was glad to see them carry over to "Baby Be Mine," which was the first song on the album I wasn't familiar with. "Baby Be Mine" sounded so smooth, and I loved the bass groove, the punchy horns, and the rich synthesizers. "The Girl Is Mine" was another song I wasn't familiar with, and it wound up being my least favorite song on the album. The dreamy sound didn't really land with me, and it felt like it sucked the oxygen out of the room, and the lyric "the doggone girl is mine" is terrible. Who uses the word 'doggone?' What an awful choice. I love Sir Paul McCartney, but his presence on this song just didn't do anything for me. "Thriller" isn't one of my favorites on this album, but the production, guitars, synthesizers, and drum machines are great. For some reason, I just don't love the vocals and lyrics on this song. Still, it's really fun, but even though it's one of Michael Jackson's most popular songs, it's just not one of my favorites. "Beat It" is really good too, and my favorite thing about it is that Michael Jackson shows just how versatile of a performer he is. As the King of Pop, he can throw down on a rock song too. The main guitar riff is excellent, but Eddie Vedder's solo steals the show. For my money, "Billie Jean" is the best song on the album. That string arrangement is excellent, and the bass and percussion are perfect. Michael Jackson's vocals are at the top of their game on this song, and "Billie Jean" just oozes his personality as a performer. It's just an awesome sound, with tons of little treats for your ears, snuck in behind the overall melody. What a great song. "Human Nature" was another song that I wasn't familiar with, but I really loved the synthesizer arrangements. "P.Y.T." is really excellent. Those synthesized backing vocals are awesome, the lead and bass guitars are excellent, the overall beat is insanely catchy, and the synthesizers punch things up in all the right places. With "The Lady in My Life," I felt like Thriller went out with a whimper. For such a fun album, the slower songs on this album were mostly a snooze to me. But even with a few duds, Thriller is still a really good album, and I can't believe it took me this long to listen to all of it.
Nirvana
4/5
Even though I know a handful of songs off of this album, this will be my first time listening to all of Nevermind. I was blown away by Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged album when I reviewed it, but I thought In Utero was just fine. I think Nevermind will probably fall into one of those two buckets for me, and I’m hoping that this lands closer to Unplugged.
Now that I’ve listened to all three Nirvana albums on the list, Nevermind lands squarely between the other two. Nevermind is really good, but it’s strongest at the beginning and end, with a middle that sagged quite a bit to me. It was interesting to give this album a listen today, because I’ve heard four of the first five songs on it so many times, but I’d never really actively listened to them. When I was able to kick back and really pay attention to those songs, I was really enraptured by the guitar playing. There was so much depth to the sound of those guitars that I’d never noticed before. I’d never really given much thought to the bass playing before today either, but I found it pretty exceptional. The guitars on “Smells Like Teen Spirit” really stood out to me today. I’d never noticed that background shimmering effect of the guitars at end of the verse, nor the beeps on the chorus, but even those small elements show how much thought and intentionality went into one of the most popularly chaotic songs of all time. The drumming is fantastic too, especially during the introduction. The bass on “In Bloom” was fantastic, and I think the fact that it managed to stand out on a song with a really excellent guitar riff shows just how good it is. The guitar tones on “Come As You Are” are fantastic as well. Nirvana did a great job of crafting so many different sounds while operating under the somewhat limiting umbrella of grunge. The guitar on the bridge is truly exceptional, and some of the best guitar playing on the album. “Lithium” is one of my favorite Nirvana songs, second to only “All Apologies.” I love the contrast in sound between the verse and chorus, and despite the serious tone of the lyrics, it’s an incredibly fun song to sing along and rock out to. “On A Plain” was the best song that I wasn’t familiar with beforehand. I loved the guitar, and the multitrack vocals were especially awesome, particularly during the closing. “Something In The Way” is so incredibly haunting, and I loved how much the cello added to the atmosphere. It’s wild to me that this was the only song to feature an additional musician. Nevermind’s sound is even more impressive when you take into account that it’s only a trio making this album. As much as those songs stood out to me, the rest of the album really felt like filler that didn’t do much for me. I think Unplugged showcases just how great Nirvana was, but a bit of the emotion and weight of the songwriting on Nevermind just wasn’t there on some of the weaker tracks. Even though I’ve heard some of the songs on this album countless times, they still hold up really well. I wouldn’t consider Nevermind one of the best albums of all time, but it’s certainly one of the most important, and I’m glad I finally got to experience all of it today.
Fatboy Slim
4/5
I reviewed Fatboy Slim’s Better Living Through Chemistry about a year and a half ago, and I thought it was good (I gave it four stars). However, I’ve been looking forward to this one quite a bit, because I know three of the songs off of it, and all three of them are incredibly fun. I’ll stop my introduction here, because I’m ready to jump into this one!
The three songs that I know off of this album still hold up really well: “Right Here, Right Now,” “Rockafeller Skank,” and “Praise You.” The rest of the album ran the gamut from really good (“Soul Surfing” and “Love Island”) to good (“Gangster Trippin”) to grating (“In Heaven”). Overall, I found You’ve Come A Long Way Baby to be good album, with a lot of enjoyable songs and a fun sound. The samples and beats sounded great, and I really enjoyed how all of the musical elements came together. I love the darker and more serious tone of “Right Here, Right Now.” The synthesizers had such a sweeping sound that I really loved, and the beats punched up the overall sound really well. “Rockefeller Skank” is incredibly goofy, but I always find it really fun. The vocal refrain is excellent (unlike on “In Heaven”), and I love that guitar sound that repeats throughout the song before the cymbals crash. The fake slowdown and fade out halfway through the song is perfect. It gives the song a chance to change and evolve in a really unique way. But the gem of this album is easily “Praise You.” I love that keyboard melody, and the bright sound is incredibly fun. The pulsing and scratching on the vocals are awesome, and the drum machine beats and bass give it just enough punch while allowing the keyboards to drive the melody. There were other songs that I enjoyed, but nothing on this album is nearly as memorable as the three songs I highlighted. This isn’t the type of thing I listen to often, but I really enjoyed getting to listen to another album from Fatboy Slim.
Deerhunter
3/5
I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a Deerhunter album before, but I remember this album being on several best of 2010 lists. I listened to a lot of indie music in the 2010’s, but Halcyon Digest somehow passed me by. I’m not quite sure what to expect from this album, but I’m hoping that I’ll find a new favorite discovery.
Halcyon Digest was pretty uneven in my opinion, but the best songs on this album made it a pretty good experience overall. I thought the album was at its best when the guitar tones were unique, and when the percussion contrasted with the shimmering guitar playing. I found this album was at its weakest when the guitar playing was bland and the percussion was minimal. The best melodies on this album were nice, and I enjoyed the overall relaxing vibe. I really enjoyed the percussion on “Earthquake.” It sounded harsh to me, but it created a really great contrast with the beauty of the main melody. “Memory Boy” was really good too. I liked the punchiness of the percussion and the upbeat sound. The guitar playing was some of my favorite on the whole album. The drums on “Desire Lines” reminded me a lot of Funeral-era Arcade Fire, and it had more guitar tones that I enjoyed, specifically during the outro. I loved the echoing effect on “Fountain Stairs.” I thought this song had a great rhythm that went well with the shimmering guitar. The guitar playing on “He Would Have Laughed” was incredibly unique. I loved that shimmering effect, and the heavy bass and percussion rounded out the sound nicely. While this album did have some nice songs on it, the rest of it was pretty forgettable to me. I can’t see myself seeking this album out again, just because it was so uneven, and if I were in the mood for a vibe like Halcyon Digest, there are plenty of other albums out there that do the same thing, but better.
Mott The Hoople
3/5
The only Mott the Hoople song I know is “All the Young Dudes,” which I think is fine. I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this album, but the reviews don’t look incredibly favorable. Glam rock can be pretty hit or miss with me, so Mott could go either way. Let’s jump in!
Wow, this was a really odd album. I found parts of this album to be pretty generic, and the vocals felt like store-brand Bowie, but it managed to be pretty damn fun at times. The opening track, “All the Way from Memphis,” really threw me for a loop. The instrumentals in the intro were up-tempo and full of energy, and I felt like the song was building to something, but the vocals kind of sucked all the energy out of everything. After that song, I wasn’t expecting much from this album, but the guitar playing on “Whizz Kid” was fantastic, especially the spacey-sounding guitars towards the end. The guitar on the intro for “Hymn for the Dudes” was really good too, and I especially liked the backing vocals towards the end of the song. “Honaloochie Boogie” had a really fun vibe to it. The saxophone and backing vocals were really great. “Violence” was a bit weird for my tastes, especially those strings (I see that it’s an “insane violin” on the personnel notes on Wikipedia, and man, that’s aptly named). Also, what the hell is a ‘poolroom stink?’ Is that related to a lounge lizard? “Drivin’ Sister” was pretty cool too, and that shift in sound (no pun intended) with that middle section was really fun. “I Wish I Was Your Mother” was my favorite song on the album. The harmonica and mandolins were excellent, and it was the most unique song on the album. Overall, this was a pretty decent album. The vocals weren’t my favorite, but the guitar playing was really good at parts. The overall sound was a tad mediocre, but it still managed to be fun.
The White Stripes
4/5
Elephant is the only White Stripes album that I've listened to in its entirety before starting this project. I bought it on CD close to when it was released, because I liked "Seven Nation Army," and because I'd heard that the whole album was excellent (3.86 average rating? Damn, I was not expecting that). However, after spending $15 and listening to this whole album, I was not impressed. I can't remember what exactly I didn't like about this, but it just wasn't for me. I'm excited to listen to this today though, to see if my feelings will change.
I didn't fall in love with Elephant on this re-listen, but it was much better than I remember, and I enjoyed it more than the other two White Stripes albums I reviewed. The overall sound is really great, fusing blues and garage rock in a really appealing and fantastic way. The simplicity of Elephant doesn't stop it from rocking, and I think it gave Meg and Jack White the ability to focus on quality in every riff, melody, and rhythm on this album. There were a few songs that sounded very similar to me, and some parts were a touch boring, but the overall album was a pretty fun experience. I was really surprised by how much I still enjoyed "Seven Nation Army." The guitar reverb is excellent, and the precision of the drumming was fantastic. Even with this simpler composition, the chorus still manages to be one of the best face-melters this century. I really loved the drums on "There's No Home For You Here," and the vocals were fantastic too. Meg's vocals on "In The Cold, Cold Night" were really exceptional, making this one of the most unique songs on the album. Speaking of unique, I really loved the piano on "I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart," and it made me wish there had been more songs with piano playing. When I was looking at the track listing for this album, I was worried that the seven minute "Ball and Biscuit" would be really boring and self indulgent, but it wound up being one of the best songs on the album. The more traditional blues guitar riff was awesome, and I loved the vocals too. The atmosphere of this song was so dense, and I really loved it. Elephant is a really great album, and it reminded me that Jack and Meg White are excellent musicians. Listening to this really makes me want to listen to The Dead Weather and The Black Keys' Magic Potion.
Solange
3/5
I think I've listened to this album before, but I'm not completely certain. I went through Rolling Stone's best albums of the 2010's, and I seem to remember this being on that list, but I'm not sure, and I don't feel like looking that up right now (I lied, I looked it up, and it's on there, but maybe I didn't make it through the whole list?). Whatever, I'm gonna pretend like I've never listened to this before. I'm not a big neo soul or R&B guy, so it's going to take a lot for Solange to wow me, but if anyone is up to the challenge, I'm sure it's her!
A Seat at the Table, was fine, but I certainly wasn't wowed by it. The biggest asset that Solange brings... er, to the table on this album is her songwriting. She has a real knack for taking her own personal struggles, feelings, and thoughts, and tying them to the bigger things going on in the world around us. I can't imagine what it must be like to be the sister of one of the biggest and most influential artists of all time, but Solange is quite the songwriter. Musically though, this album was a bit of a bore. I didn't mind the softness of the sound, and I thought the production work was good, but I just wanted something to pull me in musically, and this album didn't really have many catchy hooks or melodies. However, the songs that did pull me in musically were really fantastic. "Cranes in the Sky," "Don't Touch My Hair," "Junie," and "Don't Wish Me Well" were all great. On "Cranes in the Sky," I thought the percussion, bass, and strings were awesome. The melodies and vocals were really beautiful. I loved that organ-ish sound on "Don't Touch My Hair," and horns at the end were excellent. "Junie" was really poppy and funky, but it still kept the overall neo-soul sound of the album intact with its gentleness. The synth melody of "Don't Wish Me Well" was amazing. I wish the whole album had more hooks and melodies like this song did. A Seat at the Table was fine, but other than the few standout tracks, it's not something I'd feel drawn back to.
Mudhoney
2/5
I reviewed Mudhoney’s Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge about 700 albums ago, and based on my review (I had to look it up, because I don’t remember the album very well), I thought it was fine. My expectations for Superfuzz Bigmuff aren’t incredibly high, but I’m hoping that I’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.
I wasn’t that impressed by Superfuzz Bigmuff. The overall sound of the album was okay, and I did like how despite the fuzzed-out guitars, the overall production was clean and crisp, but this album just didn’t do anything to capture my attention. This album wasn’t bad by any stretch, but I just didn’t find it that interesting. I know that Mudhoney paved the way for alternative rock as the nineties dawned, but the overall listening experience wasn’t what I tend to gravitate towards.
Beatles
5/5
In the past ten days, I’ve gotten to review Thriller and Nevermind, and now Abbey Road. I was thinking that it would be cool if any of those albums would wind up being my final album to review, but here they are, all within fairly quick succession. However, this will be my final Beatles to review. Looking at the track list, I only know a few of these songs. I like The Beatles, but in a weird way, I feel a lot of pressure to really love Abbey Road, and I think a lot of that stems from the fact that I didn’t really love The White Album. I’m excited to listen to this though, and to close the book on The Beatles’ discography on this list.
Abbey Road isn’t going to wind up as my favorite Beatles album, but it’s going to be at least top three. I know that Let It Be was their last release, but since this was their last recording, I’m going to say this was a fantastic way for these gents to go out. I loved that this was a much more straightforward rock album. Yes, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” and “Octopus’s Garden” are whimsical and odd, but only lyrically. Every song on this album is really beautiful, and for an album that’s more straightforward and traditional in its sound, you get quite a bit of variety in the sound. Folk, blues, country, and pop all make an impression on the sound of this album, and each influence is used just the right amount. Some notes on individual songs:
I went into this album with a hatred for “Come Together.” I had a strong dislike for the vocals and lyrics (I still don’t care for either one of those elements, but I certainly didn’t hate them on this listen), but the music here is amazing. This is one of the best bass lines I think I’ve ever heard. On top of that, the Rhodes piano contrasts with the bass really well, and I like the minimal lead and rhythm guitar. What an awesome rock sound.
The chorus on "Something" is outstanding; I love the string arrangement so much. I think I've only ever heard the opening of this song before today, so I was really taken aback by the beauty in the sound. That increase in intensity halfway through was really unexpected, but it worked so well.
"Oh! Darling" is fantastic. I loved the bluesy rock sound. The piano and drumming are fantastic.
"Octopus's Garden" is weird lyrically, but musically, it's really quite down to earth and accessible. I loved the twang to the sound, and the main guitar riff is excellent. The piano is outstanding too; it’s got a ragtime sound to it that really elevates the whimsy of the lyrics.
"I Want You" is excellent. Another song with some blues, and I love how the guitar sings along with the vocals.
"Here Comes the Sun" is one of my favorite Beatles songs. It's just so much fun. The strings are great, and it’s a blast to sing along to. The bridge is amazing, and I loved the little bird whistling sounds.
I loved the synthesizer on “Because.” It’s a bit out there in terms of its sound, but it’s also really grounded and accessible.
"Sun King" is excellent. I loved how gentle the overall sound was, and it was a perfect way to go into the medley of the last seven songs.
The medley is an outstanding closer to Abbey Road. I love how beautiful each song is, and even though the tracks are short, nothing felt rushed. “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” and “Carry That Weight” were the best parts.
I hate to be sappy and sentimental, but the closing of “The End” really hit me like a ton of bricks: ‘And in the end, The love you take, Is equal to the love you make.’ What an outstanding way to end an incredible album, and to essentially end The Beatles. I really enjoyed listening to Abbey Road, and it’s an album I will undoubtedly listen to again.
Public Image Ltd.
5/5
I call myself a fan of post punk music, but I wasn’t a big fan of PiL’s First Edition, so I wasn’t incredibly excited to see this album pop up for me today. To add to my trepidation, I see that Metal Box clocks in at one hour. I’m going to give this album a fair shot, but I’m not going to get my hopes up!
Well touché, PiL, because Metal Box was incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an album with such amazing bass playing like this from start to finish. Every track had an incredible bass line, but each bass line was distinct and unique. On top of that, the guitar playing was fantastic too. I loved the screeching and angular guitar playing on each song, and for such a dark and moody album, the guitar playing was really varied too. Metal Box had an incredibly cohesive sound, but each song was its own dark and moody journey. PiL really shows how versatile post punk can be. When it comes to post punk from the late seventies, I’ve loved Joy Division, Magazine, and Gang of Four, but Metal Box is so different from those albums, and I loved it for entirely different reasons than why I loved those other albums. I’m really in awe at how awesome this was, especially since I didn’t care for First Edition all that much, and I absolutely hated Jah Wobble’s solo album. If I ever become independently wealthy, I’m going to snag an original pressing of this on vinyl. Some notes on the songs themselves:
“Albatross” immediately snagged my attention. The bass was fantastic, and so was the screeching guitar. The vocals weren’t my jam, but they fit the overall vibe and sound of the song.
“Memories” was excellent. The bass was awesome, and there were some shifts in sound that I can’t quite put my finger on that I really loved. I think it was the tempo that changed a few times? I don’t know for sure, but it ruled.
That guitar on “Swan Lake” was fantastic. Probably some of the best rhythms on the album.
I loved the jangling of the guitar on “Poptones,” and the cymbal crashes were outstanding too. Easily one of the best songs on the album.
“Careering” was awesome. The bass was fantastic, the rhythm was awesome, and I loved the vocals and lyrics. The gun-like sounds were an excellent touch. This is in contention with “Poptones” for best song on the album.
The synthesizers on “Socialist” were awesome. It had such an alien feeling, which is probably what being a socialist felt like under Reagan and Thatcher.
“Graveyard” is so dark. The guitar has such a haunting sound to it, and the bass accentuates everything perfectly.
“Radio 4” was the perfect closing track. The synths were bright, but still managed to fit the dark, deep sound of the album. Truly mesmerizing stuff. This was in contention with “Poptones” and “Careering” for best song on the album.
I’m going to be thinking about this album for days. It’s dark and brooding, but there’s so much going on, just with the guitars and bass. What an incredible work of post punk music. I can understand that this isn’t up everyone’s alley, but damn, what an incredible experience.
Steely Dan
4/5
Aja was the only complete Steely Dan album I’d listened to before starting this project. I’ve already reviewed their other three albums on this list, and I’ve been waiting for almost 600 days to review this one. My dad loved Steely Dan when I was a kid, but I always thought they were boring. I can’t remember who told me to check out Aja, but I did several years ago, and I loved it. I don’t think I’ve gone through it all again since that first listen, but I’ve really been looking forward to the day that this would pop up for me. I really enjoyed Pretzel Logic and Countdown to Ecstasy (both five stars), and Can’t Buy a Thrill was good too (four stars). My knee-jerk reaction is that this will easily be another five star album.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy Aja as much as I was hoping I would. I remember really loving the production on it the first time I listened to it, but now that I’m trying to think back, I can’t remember what else I loved about listening to it. I still think Aja is a really good album with precise and outstanding production work, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Aja doesn’t have much soul or spark to it, and it feels like Steely Dan approached this album with the mindset of an architect, putting everything in its precise place. But instead of the process being about the end result, it was about checking every box on a list. Sure, the finished building is a marvel, but no one has moved into it. Musically, the bass, horns, brass, and piano give this album a fun and jazzy feeling, but not every song has an enjoyable jazz groove to it. “Peg” is easily the best song on the album, and I love the bass, clavinet, and Rhodes piano. Even though this is a softer song, the groove is incredibly fun. Those backing vocals from Michael McDonald are great too. “Deacon Blues” is really good too, with some great synthesizers and Rhodes piano. Aja is a great sounding album, but its lack of soul is really noticeable.
Ozomatli
4/5
I'm not familiar with Ozomatli or this album, but that's a really interesting album cover. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but I'm excited to dive into this and find out what it's all about!
Street Signs was a very pleasant surprise. The album’s sound was really unique, with excellent guitars, strings, and percussion throughout every track. Other than Santana, I can’t think of anything else I’ve ever heard that has such a fusion of Latin elements and contemporary rock music. As much as I enjoyed the instrumentation, I wasn’t a big fan of the songs that featured rapping vocals. This isn’t the type of album that I normally gravitate towards, and it’s not the sort of thing that I’d fire up again, but it was a fun experience to listen to something so new and otherworldly to my ears. Some notes on individual songs:
I loved that opening guitar on "Believe." The strings complimented the guitar really well, and the bass groove was excellent. I really dug this sound, and after hearing that opening track, I was hoping that this unique fusion would continue.
The strings made another appearance on "Love and Hope," and I really dug it. Excellent vocals and energy, and I liked the trumpet too.
“America" was pretty good too. I liked the horns and guitar playing, and the songwriting was excellent
"Saturday Night" sounded incredibly familiar, but I can't put my finger on where I've heard it. I loved the harder and deeper sound, and the percussive elements were excellent. I don't mind the rapping here as much, mostly because the music is so good.
The percussion on "Dejame En Paz" was excellent, and I liked the turntable scratching too.
I loved the strings and percussion on “Cuando Canto.” This might be my favorite track on the album, and I thought it was a beautiful way to close this album.
Listening to Street Signs was a really fun and unique experience. It’s not completely my cup of tea, but it was well worth my time today.
Electric Light Orchestra
5/5
I’ve personally declared ELO to be the most underrated classic rock band of all time. Is this take correct? Is it stupid? Was it accurate at one point in time? Honestly, I have so many silly takes when it comes to pop culture, that it probably doesn’t matter. I consider myself a casual ELO fan, and they have plenty of songs throughout their career that I really love. The only album of theirs that I’ve probably listened to all the way through is Out of the Blue’s predecessor, A New World Record, which I have on vinyl (I assume I fired it up at one point, because what kind of psycho would own this particular album without listening to it). I know three of the songs off Out of the Blue, and they happen to be the first three singles. I’m really excited to listen to this today, because I’m always in the mood to listen to Jeff Lynne. After all, he was Otis *and* Clayton Wilbury…
Out of the Blue kicked so much ass. I knew this album would be full of awesome vocals and beautiful string arrangements, but I was really shocked at how varied the string arrangements were. Despite that variation, this album was incredibly cohesive, and all four sides of it were fantastic (side four was the weakest part, but to the be the weakest part of this album is still a hell of an accomplishment). The more rock-oriented songs on this album were incredibly fun, but the songs that were ballads were really beautiful, and kept this album interesting across its entire run time. Just when I was afraid that a song was going to be bland, there would be a change in tempo, or an additional musical element added in, and then I’d be sucked right in once again.
Side one was my favorite part of the album. I’ve heard “Turn to Stone” so many times, but I’d never noticed how fuzzed out that bass is, and I loved it. The backing falsetto is perfect as well. The strings, keyboards, pianos, and synths all combine to make an amazing and rich sound. I loved that little vocal echo effect on “It’s Over,” and the strings and the main vocals are outstanding. “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” is great too, and I loved how the vocals reminded me of doo-wop music. It’s such an incredibly fun way to harken back to rock and roll’s roots. “Across the Border” was a great closing track to side one. The strings were awesome, and they’re utilized in such a different way than on the previous three songs. The synths were excellent too, making this a fun and rocking song.
The thing that jumped out to me the most on side two was “Jungle.” It had a somewhat goofy and novelty song sound to it, but it was really excellent. I loved the percussion, guitar, and piano.
The concerto on side three was excellent. “Summer and Lightning” really rocked. I loved those synthesizers, strings, and storm effects. It had such a bright sound that I loved, and the chorus was the brightest, most shimmering part of the song. Just when I thought I couldn’t have enjoyed this song any more, that shift during the last minute and a half was amazing. What an incredible song. “Mr. Blue Sky” isn’t my favorite ELO song, but it has such an awesome sound, that it’s easy to see why it’s one of ELO’s most popular songs. The little radio announcer in the intro is perfect, and the string arrangements are absolutely infectious. Just an excellent song.
I loved the way the strings sounded on “Sweet Is the Night”, especially coming out of the chorus. It was just another example of how varied the string arrangements were on this album. I also loved the guitar on “Birmingham Blues.” Another fun and rocking song as this album comes to a close.
Out of the Blue is a fantastic art rock album, full of beautiful strings, excellent vocals, and a fun rock and roll energy. For me, ELO can do no wrong, and I just love listening to their music.
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Ah, Heaven or Las Vegas. I wouldn't say that I know this album like the back of my hand, but I've listened to it before, and I love it. I randomly came across Cocteau Twins on Spotify several years ago. "Iceblink Luck" popped up on shuffle, and I fell in love with it and immediately listened to this album. I haven't listened to all of this in a while, but only because I've been waiting for it to come up for me on the generator. And finally, at 933 albums, I'm getting to review this. I can't wait to slip into the dreamy sound of Cocteau Twins today!
Man, this album is somehow even better than I remembered. Every song is a pillow wrapped in a dream, and yet, the sound and moods of every song are so unique. The fact that Cocteau Twins did all of this with guitar pedals and effects completely blows my mind. To achieve something so otherworldly without keyboards or synthesizers is beyond amazing. I’ve noticed lately that bass playing has been really standing out to me on the albums I’m reviewing, and that held true on this album as well. As great as the guitars and effects were, the bass did a great job of giving a sense of solid substance to the overall dreamy sound. This album is a complete masterpiece from start to finish. Some notes on individual songs:
“Iceblink Luck” is still my favorite song on the album. I think I’ll always have a soft spot for it, since it’s the first Cocteau Twins song I heard. I love how that opening guitar note leads you into the song, and the drum machines are perfect. The vocals feel like another instrument on their own, and the bass adds a fantastic contrast to the shimmering lead guitar. This is one of those songs that I don’t want to end while I’m listening to it, because I will never get tired of that main melody. Even though it’s only about twenty seconds long, that instrumental bridge is incredible.
I really loved the main melody of “Fifty-fifty Clown.” It’s another example of how incredible it is that this album didn’t use keyboards or synthesizers.
The title track is fantastic. I love the drum machines a lot on this one, and there’s more excellent guitar work. The vocals are really great here too. I love the way Elizabeth Fraser sings “am I in heaven or Las Vegas?” Her pacing on the vocal delivery of that line is perfection. This song just gets better and better as it goes on.
“I Wear Your Ring” is fantastic too. It’s still dreamy, but a different kind of dreamy. It’s like a dream where you’re walking through the mist of a forest, and you can’t really see well, so each sound feels new and novel.
“Fotzepolitic” had a renaissance faire sound to it that I really enjoyed, both in the higher register sounds and in the pacing of the melodies. Yet another example of how many different sounds the band was able to create on this album.
Heaven or Las Vegas is more than dream pop bliss; it’s a pop album that pulls the listener in with beautiful melodies and fantastic drum machines. This is an album that always a treat to listen to, and I fell even deeper in love with it today.
Madonna
5/5
Like a Prayer will be my second Madonna album to review, after Music, which I didn’t care for much at all. However, I really love Madonna’s music from the eighties and early nineties, so I have a strong inkling that I’m going to enjoy this album, even though I only know three songs from it. The title track is one of my favorite songs from the eighties, and it always reminds me of hanging out with my best friend, who I initially bonded with over a shared love of eighties music. Enough with the chit chat, it’s time to go to Church with Madonna!
I really enjoyed listening to Like a Prayer. It’s an incredibly strong pop album from start to finish, full of a wide range of themes: self-empowerment, love and sexuality, religion, and familial relationships. Musically, it’s a treat for the ears, with perfectly crafted pop jams and some emotional ballads as well. Keyboards and synthesizers are used heavily on this album with great results. The bass playing is really great too, creating some fun grooves on each song. I can’t believe that Randy “that’s a no for me dawg” Jackson played some of those bass parts. And Prince is here too! He may not have ever been a judge on American Idol, but hey, not everyone gets the privilege of sharing a stage with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. Even though I think this album is fantastic, it’s not without a few faults (none of which sink the album, thankfully). The emotions on this album shifted quite over the course of the album, sometimes feeling like whiplash (more on that later), and the duet with Prince was a bit of a dud to me (more on that later as well). Some notes on individual songs:
I love the organ on the opening/title track, it’s such a bop. The bass and drums are incredible, and the vocal effects and choir immediately transport you inside an empty church. There’s such great imagery with the lyrics, and it really takes you to a different world. The song doesn’t change in intensity in the sound until the additional choral vocals, but it *feels* like it does even before that point. The bass just gets better and better as the song goes on, and the handclaps towards the end punch things up perfectly. This is one of the best pop songs ever.
The mood shift from “Like a Prayer” to “Express Yourself” is wild. Don’t get it twisted, “Express Yourself” is an absolute banger, but going from a more somber tone to this celebration of self-worth and is like whiplash. But man, those horns and the vocals smash. The backing voclas are amazing as well. There’s also a badass bass note at three minutes in that doesn’t pop up anywhere else in the song. That was awesome.
The duet with Prince definitely feels like a Prince song, but unfortunately, I thought it was really bland. I liked the guitar, but there wasn’t much room for Prince or Madonna to show off their vocal talents, which is a shame.
“Till Death Do Us Part” is awesome. I loved the guitar and bass, and the tempo is really fun. What a great pop jam. The fact that this song can stand out on an album with “Like a Prayer” and “Express Yourself” is a testament to Madonna’s talents. I can’t tell if that main melody is a guitar or synthesizer, but I love it regardless. Man, I love hearing Madonna sing.
I loved the piano and strings on “Promise to Try.” It was a really beautiful song with an excellent sound, especially on the bridge. The raw emotion that Madonna expresses on this song is great. Madonna can sing with exuberance, but she can sing with vulnerability just as well.
“Cherish” is great. I loved the gentler pop sound, and the synths and percussion were excellent. I loved the lyrics and vocals on this song too. I loved the way the synths sang along with Madonna on the chorus.
“Dear Jessie” is awesome. I loved the fairytale sound, and the music is incredibly rich. Its sound feels a little out of place on this album, but it’s still a great song.
The emotional intensity of “Oh Father” really caught me off guard. The sound reminded me of Kate Bush, but not in a derivative or cheap way.
“Keep it Together” was probably the second weakest song on the album, but I loved the synths and bass. Thematically, it felt a bit like whiplash again coming right after “Oh Father,” but it was still a fun song.
“Spanish Eyes” was really awesome, especially the horn arrangements. Madonna can write a heck of a love song, and throughout her career, all of her love songs feel so unique and different from one another. I really loved the guitar playing on this song too.
“Act of Contrition” caught me off guard quite a bit. I was not expecting something so wild and intense for a closing track on this album. However, I loved that it brought things full circle from the opening track.
Like a Prayer isn’t a perfect pop album, but its few flaws aren’t enough to sink it. This album is Madonna at her peak, and this album is full of awesome melodies, great songwriting, and vocals from a true pop diva at the top of her game.
The Monkees
2/5
I only know a couple of Monkees songs, but I do have a personal anecdote about one of the fellows in the band. Over twenty years ago, I briefly chatted with Mickey Dolenz, when I called into a local AM talk radio show. He was a guest on the show that day, and I called in as part of a weekly trivia contest, and was able to score two tickets to see Boston. So shoutout to Mickey Dolenz for not knowing who Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon from. But back to the album at hand: I remember The Monkees TV show airing on Nick at Nite when I was a kid, and I thought they were kind of a parody of The Beatles. I know now that there’s sort of a partial-truth in that, but a lot of folks have a fondness for their music. I have a pretty decent idea of what to expect from this album, but whether or not it lands with me remains to be seen!
Sorry Mickey, Michael, Peter, and Davy, but this is a Headquarters I could have done without touring. This album wasn’t bad, per se, but I certainly didn’t think it was good or memorable either. I’m sure Headquarters’ legacy suffers some, as a result of being compared to its peers, which might seem unfair at first, but that’s just how art works. There were some cool musical choices sprinkled throughout this album, and the vocals were nice, but the sound and moods were really scattershot, with nothing tying this album together. To me, Headquarters felt like an uneven and jumbled mess. I think these guys are talented, and some of the songs were good, but this album was mostly full of forgettable clunkers to me. As for the few things that I did enjoy, I liked the usage of the pedal steel guitar on “Shades of Gray” and “Mr. Webster.” “No Time” was pretty fun, and I enjoyed it’s old-school rock sound with the piano. “Sunny Girlfriend” had an overall sound that I enjoyed, and the guitar playing stood out to me as well. But even with those few things that I did enjoy, it wasn’t enough to really elevate this album much.
T. Rex
2/5
I reviewed T. Rex’s Electric Warrior back in May, and I wasn’t a very big fan of it. I appreciated its influence, but overall, there just wasn’t much there for me to like. I do have higher hopes for The Slider though, since it came after Electric Warrior, and I’m hoping T. Rex added more to their sound as time went on. Time to slide into some more glam rock!
Unfortunately, I enjoyed The Slider about as much as I enjoyed Electric Warrior. The album started off a good note with “Metal Guru” and “Mystic Lady,” but from there, the album mostly limped along to its conclusion. Like Electric Warrior, The Slider just couldn’t do anything more than some unique vocals from Marc Bolan and some fuzzy guitars occasionally mixed with some cool string arrangements. For the most part, I didn’t think the guitar playing was particularly noteworthy, and I barely even noticed the drums and bass on most of the songs. Overall, there just wasn’t anything on this album that really pulled me in. I liked Marc Bolan’s vocals better on this album, and T. Rex’s overall sound is alright, but I wished they just did more with it in terms of musicianship. As for the few highlights this album had:
I enjoyed the heavy and fuzzy guitars of “Metal Guru,” and for some weird reason, I really liked the way that Marc Bolan pronounced “Metal Guru.” There was a cool rhythm to his vocals that just stood out to me.
I liked the strings on “Mystic Lady,” and I wish there had been more pronounced strings on some other songs.
“The Slider” had a really cool vibe to it. The vocals were good, the guitar playing was great, and the rhythms really stood out too. The strings really elevated the sound as well.
“Buick McCane” had great rhythms to it, and the drumming was good too. This was one of the few instances on the album where the drumming really stood out.
I think I’ve come to understand that I just don’t care for glam rock all that much. T. Rex is certainly influential, but their music just isn’t my speed. At least we’ll always have “Get It On.”
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Ah, my final Joni Mitchell album to review. Sad day. I’d never listened to any of Joni Mitchell’s music before starting this project, but I’ve really fallen in love with her as an artist over the course of the first three albums of hers that I reviewed. I gave five stars to Blue and four stars to the Court and Spark and The Hissing of Summer Lawns, the latter of which definitely deserved five stars. Oh well, live and learn. Each album of hers has offered me something different, and I expect Hejira to do the same. Here’s to my last hurrah with Joni!
Hejira definitely offered something different than the three Joni albums I’ve already reviewed, and I’d put it a little above Court and Spark for my official rankings. I loved that this album told stories of Joni’s time on the road, and even though this wasn’t really a concept album, it felt like all the tracks were tied together really well, with the title track of the album serving as the tethering point for those threads. As with the other Joni albums on this list, her songwriting, vocals, and ability to tell narratives is second-to-none. I loved how some of these songs took bigger ideas or figurative concepts, and tied them to Joni’s real-world experiences, making them so much more concrete and real. The guitar playing was great on this album, and I loved how rich each song was. Jaco Pastorius’s bass playing was truly exceptional, and his musicianship gave this album a really great sound. A few notes on some individual songs:
The storytelling on “Coyote” is excellent. I loved the metaphor of the coyote as a ladies’ man and as a predator in nature. The vocals and guitar playing created an excellent vibe for the story.
“Amelia” had a really rich sound, with more fantastic guitar playing, and the vibes (the instrument) added a wonderfully unique touch. The weaving of Amelia Earhart’s story into Joni’s personal experience was done perfectly, and I loved the parallels between the two stories.
I loved the darker sound of the title track, and I loved how it was the song that tied together these other stories. I loved how the bass playing changed and developed over the course of the song as well.
“Black Crow” had a really great sound to it, and I loved the unique rhythm of the guitar strumming.
While this wasn’t my favorite Joni Mitchell album, I still really enjoyed it, and I can understand why it’s often regarded as her best work. Joni Mitchell is an incredible talent, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her music.
M.I.A.
3/5
I reviewed M.I.A.'s Arular about 300 albums ago, and I thought it was fine. However, I own a copy of Kala, but it's been a hot minute since I've listened to all of it. I don't really remember much about it, outside of "Paper Planes," but I never chucked my copy in the trash, so I must have found something on it worth keeping. Let's catch a paper plane back to the aughts!
I don't regret my decision to hang on to my CD of Kala, but I also wouldn't shed many tears if I'd manage to lose it somehow in the last decade. There were some things about Kala that were great, but it a few negatives as well. A for the positive, the bass beats stood out to me as really great on this album, there were some excellent samples and added sounds on some tracks, and the production was consistently good. However, M.I.A.'s rapping and vocals were pretty sub-par to me, and she relied too much on the bass to drive the sound of this album, and didn't branch out much, creating an album that could be bland for stretches. Kala started off pretty good, with "Bamboo Banga," "BirdFlu," and "Boyz" being carried by some excellent bass elements. Of that initial run though, "Boyz" was easily the best, with the added horns and cheering sounds elevating its overall sound, and giving it a fun vibe. "Jimmy," though, was awesome. It had a great dance beat, and the string samples kicked ass. Hearing this song was the strongest factor outside of "Paper Planes" for owning this album. The humming bass on "Mango Pickle Down River" was really unique, and I liked the song structure of M.I.A. adding her own rap in between verses from the group she sampled. "20 Dollar" made excellent usage of sampling The Pixies, and I enjoyed the slower tempo to the main melody. "World Town" was a solid jam as well, with some excellent bass and percussion elements. But the crown jewel of Kala is still "Paper Planes." The sample usage, pulsing bass sounds, and sound effects all combine to make this song incredibly fun and memorable. I will never pass up a chance to listen to "Paper Planes." Even though there was plenty of stuff on this album that I liked, it wasn't really enough to make me want to listen to this regularly. Kala is a bit of a one-trick pony, and I feel like it could have been more if M.I.A. had been willing to experiment a bit more.
Beck
3/5
I somehow made it to 668 albums before I reviewed my first Beck album, and now I'm reviewing my final album of his on this list. I thought Sea Change was pretty good, but I really loved Guero. Looking at the track listing for this album, I think I only know two of these songs, but I'm excited to see what's in store for me here. Odelay!
Odelay was a fine album, and I enjoyed it a little bit more than Sea Change. I think Beck is a really good musician, and I admire his drive to experiment and push boundaries with his music. Odelay had a laid-back vibe that I enjoyed, bolstered by some unique and unconventional rhythms. Beck isn’t lighting the world on fire with his vocals, but I like his half-spoken delivery style. The songs on this album were always interesting, but they weren’t always something that I really wanted to listen to, and some of them went on a little too long for my tastes. I liked that there were a couple of softer ballads on this album as well, “Jack-Ass” and “Ramshackle.” Both of those songs were among my favorites on the album, and I thought they both had beautiful melodies. “Devils Haircut” was really good too, especially the guitars and drum samples. I liked the country and bluesy sound of “Hotwax” as well. Beck brings a lot of influences to his music, and I think he does a great job of keeping his sound fresh and unique. “Where It’s At” was incredibly fun, and I loved that the verse and the chorus each brought something so different to the song’s sound. Odelay was a good album, and I liked the overall sound and use of quirky elements, but it was pretty much a coin flip if I was going to like an individual song or not. Some things worked, some things didn’t, but there was always something new waiting around the corner.
Ice T
2/5
I don’t think I can name a single song by Ice-T. Come to think of it, I think the only thing I know about his entertainment career is that he’s on Law and Order SVU. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I’m excited to see what’s in store.
I wasn’t really wowed by Original Gangster. This album had a few tracks that I thought were really good, but most of it was bland and boring. I didn’t find Ice-T’s rapping to be that great, and I didn’t think the production work or beats were anything to write home about either. At just over an hour and ten minutes long, OG was a chore to get through for me, and I felt like it was an incredibly uneven experience. I just wanted this album to be punchier and have more edge to it, but few things here really hit the way that I wanted them to. “New Jack Hustler” was the first track that I came across that I didn’t fully hate. The rapping wasn’t very good in my opinion, but at least the beats were okay. “Bitches 2” was much better though, and I really enjoyed the raw lyrics and the storytelling. “Straight Up N****” was my favorite song on the album. The lyrics were excellent, the message was outstanding, and the rapping was really good too. Everything really came together on this song. When it comes to wanting more, I really wished that “The House” had been fleshed out in to a full song. It felt like Ice-T had a lot to say on the issue of child abuse, and it would have been really great if this song had been expanded upon. “Midnight” was good too, and I enjoyed how it sounded like horror core. The sense of dread and unease I felt while listening to it was really tangible. “The Tower” was good too. I enjoyed its more straightforward horror core sound with the sampling of the Halloween theme, but the tone of Ice-T’s voice and the lyrics helped craft the atmosphere too. “Body Count” was my second favorite song on the album. I loved the hardcore punk sound, and the lyrics and songwriting were great too. Even though there were a few songs that I enjoyed on OG, the overall experience was pretty lackluster for me, and it felt like this album went on for twice its actual run time.
Christine and the Queens
3/5
I’ve only heard of Christine and the Queens because he was on MGMT’s “Dancing in Babylon” that came out last year. Loss of Life was my favorite album released in 2024, so even though I don’t know any other songs by C&tQ, I have pretty high hopes for this album. I love electronic pop music, so this album should be right up my alley.
I thought this album was fine. When it comes to pop music, I want something that’s dance-y, has hooky melodies, or has some lyrics that are really great to sing along too. While this album was fairly enjoyable to listen to, it didn’t check any of those personal boxes. The arrangements were beautiful at times, but I didn’t find anything about this album’s sound to be particularly memorable. There were some individual parts of this album that I liked, but it was rare that multiple elements really clicked for me. “Comme Si” started off the album on a decent not. It didn’t light my world on fire, but the overall sound was really nice, and the drum machines were excellent, leading me to believe that there was still a good chance I’d enjoy the album overall. The next song, “Girlfriend” was a bit better. I loved the keyboard melody, and the bass and lead guitars filled out the sound nicely. There was quite a bit of good stuff from the guitar underneath the keyboards and synths at times, and there was an interesting rhythm to the vocals. After that though, my interest started to wane a bit. “Doesn’t matter” and “5 dollars” were pretty good, and the bass on “Goya Soda” was excellent, but again, I just wasn’t wowed. Maybe other pop-heads will enjoy this more, but if I want to hear Christine and the Queens, I’m firing up their appearance on MGMT’s album.
Simply Red
3/5
I know a couple of Simply Red songs, and one of them, "Holding Back the Years," happens to be on this album. What good luck! Based on that song, and "If You Don't Know Me By Now," I expect this album to be pretty chill pop music. I tend to enjoy eighties music though, so maybe this will be a pleasant surprise.
Picture Book didn’t blow me away, but it was better than I expected. This album had a unique sophistipop sound, rounded out with good vocals, smooth keyboards, and good songwriting on some of the songs. I expected this album to have really smooth and laid-back sound, but there were some songs that leaned more into pop music that really caught me off guard. “Come to My Aid” really grabbed my attention right off the bat. I loved the keyboards and the horns, and the vocals and congas were excellent too. The lyrics were good, and I thought the overall sound was deep and rich. The next track, "Sad Old Red" was more in line with my expectations of what this album would be. The vocals on this song were nice, but the decrease in energy from the previous song really was really jarring. It did get punched up a bit about halfway through, but I wasn't as into this as I was “Come to My Aid.” However, "Look at You Now" picked right up where "Come To My Aid" left off. I enjoyed the punchy guitar, groovy bass, and bright keyboard tones. The repetitive lyrics and vocals wore on me a bit, but I enjoyed the instrumentation. “Money’s Too Tight” had some keyboard melodies that I really loved, a solid beat, and some great lyrics too. I thought that “Holding Back the Years” was the best song on the album though. The emotional weight of the lyrics was great, the main keyboard melody was smooth and memorable, and the trumpet added a perfectly gentle touch. Mick Hucknall’s vocals were at their peak here as well, and for a song with a pretty simple melody, this song is impressively beautiful. Even though there were some songs on this album that I enjoyed, some of them were a touch too long for my liking, and some of them had some boring or repetitive musical elements. Picture Book was fine to listen to, but it just left me wanting more.
Pixies
4/5
It’s been about 750 albums since I reviewed Surfer Rosa, the only Pixies album I’ve reviewed so far (4 stars, although the review I wrote was short, and didn’t make much sense). I know a couple of songs off of Doolittle, and I’m curious to hear what the whole album is like, especially since it’s the follow up to the aforementioned Surfer Rosa.
Doolittle was a bit shy of five stars for me, but I thought it was a really good album. The guitar playing was fresh and exciting on each track, the drumming was sharp, and there was a good mixture of accessible pop-oriented songs, along with some stuff that was a bit more out there. I tended to enjoy the more accessible songs on this album, but the more traditional alternative rock songs were good too. A few notes on some individual songs:
“Debaser” grabbed my attention right away. I loved the guitar playing, the lead vocals were excellent, and Kim Deal’s backing vocals at the end were awesome. What an excellent song, and a superb lead-off track.
“Wave of Mutilation” kicked ass too. I loved that drumming so much, and I enjoyed hearing Frank Black shift into softer vocals. Another really solid song.
“I Bleed” was probably my favorite of the more chaotic songs on Doolittle. The backing vocals were excellent, and added a ton of depth to the sound. The guitars were excellent once again.
I loved the surf rock tone of “Here Comes Your Man.” The tone of the guitar was fantastic, and the drumming was great too. There’s such a shift between the chorus and the verse, but it works so well.
The guitars on “Monkey Gone to Heaven” were really great, and the strings made the sound even better. This was easily one of the best songs on the album. Kim Deal’s backing vocals really punch up every song she sings on.
“Mr. Grieves” was great too. I loved the shift in sound after the introduction and opening verse. The guitars and vocals were outstanding. What a fun rockabilly sound.
“La La Love You” had some really unique guitar playing, and I enjoyed David Lovering’s baritone voice. The crooning style of this song was great.
Doolittle is a really solid alternative rock album, and it’s easy to hear why it’s held in such high regard by other alternative bands from the nineties.
Bob Dylan
4/5
My sixth and penultimate Bob Dylan album has finally arrived. My most recent album of his to review was Blonde on Blonde, which I gave three stars to. Bob Dylan’s discography has been fairly mixed with me, but I did absolutely love The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. With this album coming out as Dylan transitioned from a traditional folk sound to electric, I’m not sure how this album will land with me. Regardless, I’m excited to listen to this and see what it has in store!
Bringing It All Back Home isn’t going to replace Freewheelin’ as my favorite Bob Dylan album, but I think it’s a strong contender for second place as far as his albums go. I enjoyed that we got a bit of the best of both worlds with Dylan’s music, with one side of the album being electric, and the other side being more traditional folk sounds. The songwriting on this album was really outstanding. With Dylan, like there’s always a deeper meaning to his songs, and sometimes his more nonsensical and figurative lyrics tend to grate on me. On this album though, there was a good number of songs that had great storytelling, even without trying to dig into the meaning of the lyrics, and I felt like this album was better for it. Musically, the album sounded really good, but it felt a bit one dimensional to me, with mostly guitar playing filling out each song. A few notes on some individual songs:
“Subterranean Homesick Blues” was really good. I loved the pacing of the vocal delivery, and there were so many great lines in the lyrics. ‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows’ has been bouncing around my head all day.
I loved the gentle guitars of “She Belongs To Me.” The vocals and lyrics were really good too, and it was just a really beautiful song.
“Maggie’s Farm” was fine from a standpoint of the music, but the songwriting was excellent. I’m not 100% certain what the lyrics were referring to, but even at the surface level they told a great story, which I really enjoyed.
“Outlaw Blues” was really fun. The vocals, guitars, and harmonica were all great, creating a fun and bluesy sound. There was some sort of tinny quality to the guitar that I really loved.
“115th Dream” was really great. The lyrics were incredibly figurative, but in a way that still tells a good story, which I really enjoyed.
“Mr. Tambourine Man” was so beautiful. This was the only song on this album that I was already familiar with, but I’d never noticed how perfectly written and arranged it was. It had such a weight of loneliness to it, like a rudderless ship on the ocean. The guitars were perfect, and the harmonica added the perfect little details to fill in the gaps.
While not my favorite Bob Dylan album, I really enjoyed Bringing It All Back Home. Dylan’s abilities as a songwriter are on full display here, and there were some really beautiful and fun songs on this album.
The Cramps
4/5
I’ve heard of The Cramps before, but other than hearing one of their songs on the show Wednesday, I’ve never listened to their music before. I’m not quite sure what to expect out of this album, but I’m betting it’s going to be incredibly unique and weird, and I’m here for it!
Songs The Lord Taught Us was really fun, and I loved its unique psychobilly sound. I was expecting this album to be more along the lines of Bauhaus or Siouxsie and the Banshees, but I was pleasantly surprised the raw, guitar driven sound. This album was bursting with energy, but the vocals gave it a campy fifties vibe that I found really enjoyable. The songwriting was kooky and strange, and the cover songs were really well performed as well. This album did have one big weakness in my opinion though, and that was the vocal mixing. I felt like I had water in my ears while I listened to this, and it about drove me insane. Everything else was great though, but that factor was enough to keep this album at four stars for me. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how each song had really unique guitar playing. The lack of a bass guitar allowed the Cramps to create some really unique sounds, and I think it worked to their advantage. As far as my favorite songs on this album, I thought “Garbageman,” “Sunglasses After Dark,” and “Mystery Plane” were all great. Their closing cover of “Fever” was fantastic as well, its chill vibe was the perfect way to conclude this album. I had a blast listening to this album, and with October starting next week, I think I’ll be paying this album another visit really soon.
The United States Of America
2/5
I’ve never heard of this band or album before, but that guy on the bottom left on the album cover looks a bit like Thurston Moore. I wonder what his story is. But the bigger question is, will I enjoy this album? Before I started this project, I would have emphatically said that I love sixties psychedelic rock. And I think that’s because I imagined that most of it sounded like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” or “Incense and Peppermints.” But as I’ve learned these last few years, that’s not really the case, and I really haven’t enjoyed many of the psychedelic albums on this list. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I’m interested to find out what’s in store.
Unfortunately, this album wasn’t really my speed, because a lot of it was just too weird for my liking. Musically, I found this album to be a bit all over the place. Some songs were cacophonous and chaotic, others were slower and more melodic. It felt like whiplash, how quickly this album would move between these two sounds. I enjoyed the slower and more melodic songs quite a bit more than the more experimental songs on this album, but even the best songs on this album were just okay. Some of the songs on this album would have elements that I enjoyed, like the vocals, or the electronic elements, but rarely would all the elements combine to create something that I enjoyed. The vocals were pretty consistently good, but I wasn’t really into the lyrics that often. I appreciate the band’s ability to get creative with their electronic elements, but most of the time, the end result wasn’t my speed. “Where Is Yesterday” was probably my favorite song on the album. I enjoyed the vocal chanting, the backing vocals, and the deeper bass sound of the music. Other than that song though, this isn’t an album I’d come back to.
The Go-Betweens
4/5
I’ve never heard of the Go-Betweens before, and other than the usual suspects (INXS, Men at Work, Crowded House, etc.), I’m not very familiar with many Australian artists from this era. Based on what I’m reading about this album though, it sounds like it’s going to be right up my alley. I’m looking forward to my trip to 16 Lovers Lane!
I found this album really enjoyable to listen to. I usually fall in love with great hooks and catchy melodies, and while those weren’t really a staple of this album, I loved the way the guitars and strings were arranged together, making this a beautiful, dreamy album to listen to. The songwriting and lyrics on this album were strong too, and I enjoyed hearing an album that was directly about the highs and lows of love, romance, and relationships. I wish I would have found this album when I was a kid, because I think I would have really enjoyed listening to it. “Love Goes On!” was an excellent opening track. The guitar playing and strings sounded great together, and the vocals were really good too. It was simply a beautiful song. “Streets of Your Town” was really strong too. There was an excellent vibe and atmosphere to this song that I was a complete sucker for. The sound was really beautiful, and even though I’d never heard this song before to my knowledge, there was something really familiar about it, like a picture of a childhood toy you’d forgotten about. “Clouds” was probably my favorite song on the album though. I loved the bass playing and vocals, and the drumming was subtle, but provided the perfect punch to the sound. Even though I enjoyed this album, it wasn’t without its faults. The vocals were bit of a miss for me on a few songs, like “Love Is a Sign” and “You Can’t Say No Forever.” It was a shame that I didn’t enjoy the vocals on those songs, because the music was still strong. Also, on “Quiet Heart,” I really hated the harmonica that came in at the halfway point. This was such a beautiful song, but that harmonica felt so out of place amongst the gentle strings. Other than that though, this was a really solid album, and I really enjoyed listening to it.
The Killers
5/5
Oh, The Killers. When this album first came out, I hated “Mr. Brightside” and “Somebody Told Me.” I can’t even remember why I hated them, but I was definitely not into this album. And then a few years later, “When You Were Young” was on one of the Guitar Hero games, and I fell in love these guys. After getting hooked on Sam’s Town, I gave Hot Fuss a shot, and I really loved it. I haven’t listened to all of Hot Fuss in quite a while though. I knew I was going to get to review it at some point, and I also tend to gravitate towards Sam’s Town when I want to listen to The Killers (that might wind up being my addition to the list when I’m done). I’m really pumped to fire this album up today!
I’ll admit, I was worried that this album had possibly soured on me since the last time I listened to it. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case at all, because Hot Fuss absolutely rules. With the exception of “Everything Will Be Alright,” every song on this album is incredible. The guitars, the synths, the drumming, the bass, the vocals, the songwriting. Every aspect of this album is incredible, and each song offers something new and unique, and despite that, Hot Fuss is an incredibly cohesive album. This is everything I could want in an album, and I hate that I went so long without listening to it, because I didn’t want to spoil my review. Oh well, live and learn. Now I can listen to this all the damn time, and I intend to. And because I love this album so much, here’s my notes on each song:
“Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine” is a hell of an opening track. The intro is fantastic, and the bass and synths are incredible. The guitar on the chorus is fantastic, I just love that chord progression so much.
“Mr. Brightside” is still an all-time jam, even 21 years later. The guitar and synth are just perfect. The lyrics are great too, and the little tweaks to how Brandon Flowers does his vocals throughout the song are incredible. This is just an amazing song in every way. Those lead-in guitar notes are perfect, and the drumming kicks so much ass. Just a masterpiece of a song. The outro is perfect too, and it makes me wish this song would never end.
“Smile Like You Mean It” has more incredible synths. The bridge is wonderful too, with stellar guitar playing and awesome vocal effects.
“Somebody Told Me” has more amazing guitars and synths. The lyrics and vocals are great too, and so is the bass. What I really love on this song though, is that double kick drum on the lead-in to the chorus. Inject that straight into my veins.
As amazing as these first four songs are, “All These Things That I’ve Done” is probably my favorite Killers song. I love the drumming coming out of the intro into the first verse, because it always gets my blood flowing. This is easily my favorite Killers song to sing along to. The guitar playing is great, and so is the drumming. The song gets better and better as it goes along. Fantastic lyrics too. Man, this song makes me want to run through a brick wall. That choir section at the end is absolute perfection.
“Andy You’re A Star” is good, but it’s at its best at the end of the song. I love those choral vocals making another appearance here too. The distortion on the guitar playing is great.
The synths used for “On Top” are some of my favorite on the album; they go so well with the guitar playing. The lyrics and vocals are excellent too, and I just love the way the song flows. There’s another awesome bridge on this song too. That line ‘It’s like a cigarette in the mouth or a handshake in the doorway’ is so awesome. I love the way Brandon sings it.
I love the bass and synths on “Change Your Mind.” It’s such a different vibe from the other songs, and I love how bright and fun it is. The lyrics and vocals are excellent too.
The drumming and bass on “Believe Me Natalie” are amazing, and the synths are great too. I love that the synths are underneath everything and not in the driver’s seat for most of this one, but when they take over towards the end, it’s incredible.
The bass and guitar on “Midnight Show” are fantastic. Another really unique song on this album. I love how the musical elements are used in such different ways throughout the album.
“Everything Will Be Alright” is my least favorite song on the album. The vocal effects are a big turn-off, but the synths are still really strong.
Hot Fuss is an amazing album, and I had a total blast listening to it today. This is easily one of my favorite albums of the aughts, and one of my favorite albums of all time. What a debut from The Killers.
Big Black
5/5
I've never heard of Big Black before, but this is a really interesting album cover. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but in my quick jaunt to Wikipedia, I see that this album was influential on industrial music, and as one of the wackos who gave five stars to Kollaps, I have high hopes for this album. Ooh, and Steve Albini was the guitarist for this band? Neato, now I'm doubly excited!
I really loved this album. It didn't sound exactly like Kollaps, but I'd say these albums are at least cousins. The guitar playing and drumming on this album were excellent throughout, and even though this album has a fairly narrow scope, each song really offered something different in terms of sounds. Listening to this was like riding in the back of a cement mixer with a bunch of scrap metal, and I loved it. The rhythms were excellent as well, bolstered by some excellent drum machines. Some notes on individual songs:
I loved that reverb effect of the guitars and the drums on "Jordan, Minnesota." The sound matched the tone of the song's lyrics and theme really well.
"Passing Complexion" was great too. There were more awesome guitars and drums, and now some sweet vocal effects were thrown in for good measure too. Deliciously chaotic.
"Big Money" toned down the effects a bit, but I loved the blistering drumming.
"Kerosene" was wild. I have no idea how they made those sounds, but it kicked ass. I enjoyed every second of those six minutes.
"Bad Houses" was great. I enjoyed how the energy was slowed down a bit, but this song still kept the overall industrial sound.
"Fists of Love" was excellent. The guitars were simply awesome.
The guitars on "Stinking Drunk" were great. There's something that sounds like a weird vocal being looped, but I can't be sure. Regardless, I love it. The guitars are excellent too. I loved that little pause where it was mostly drums.
"Bazooka Joe" was crazy. I loved how unsettled I felt listening to it.
Atomizer was fantastic from start to finish, with excellent guitar playing, and an overall unique and wild sound. At 949 albums into this project, I keep worrying that there's no way I'll keep finding new albums to love, but I'm glad that I keep getting proven wrong about that. Atomizer isn't every day listening for me, but I really enjoyed it.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Blood & Chocolate will be my last Elvis Costello album, as well as my last album from 1986 to review. As luck would have it, yesterday was my penultimate album from 1986, and now, a day later, I bid goodbye to that year. I really hoped that I would fall in love with at least one of EC’s albums, but so far, I’ve only had a few four-stars. Let’s give New Wave Elvis one last chance to blow me away!
Alas, Blood & Chocolate won’t be getting five stars from me, meaning EC peaked at a few four-star ratings. B&C was fine, and I’d rank it in the middle of the pack as far as his albums that I’ve reviewed go. On some of EC’s better efforts, I’ve really loved his signature guitar and keyboard playing, but to me, it felt like that particular flair was missing from most of this album. On top of that, it felt like the keyboards didn’t play as prominent a role in the music on this album either, which was a bit of a letdown to me. On top of that, a lot of the songs on this album felt a little too long, which to me, watered down the message in the lyrics a bit. As far as the positives on this album, the songwriting was strong, and there were some pretty clever lyrics. And even though this wasn’t really what I wanted from EC musically, it was still a good album, and fairly enjoyable to listen to. Some songs that stood out to me:
I liked the guitar on “Uncomplicated,” and the organ playing was organ too. The overall sound was interesting, and the bass and drums rounded out things nicely
The organ on “I Hope You’re Happy Now” was good, and the bass rounded it out nicely. The lyric “you make him sound like frozen food, his love will last forever” was excellent. I loved the overall spiteful and angry tone of the lyrics.
“Blue Chair” was one of the strongest songs on the album. The rhythms were excellent, and I couldn’t help but sway along as this song played. The chiming sound that was used was really great too.
“Battled Old Bird” was really beautiful, despite the story in the lyrics being incredibly uncomfortable.
“Crimes of Paris” and “Poor Napoleon” were the best part of this album. Ioved the backing vocals from Cait O’Riordan on both songs, and the guitar and bass playing was really solid too. The tambourine on “Poor Napoleon” was a nice touch too.
After reviewing six of EC’s albums, I think he’s one of those artists who I’d just prefer to listen to his hits. His albums are fine, but I can survive on just the highlights of his career.
Van Morrison
4/5
Moondance will be my final Van Morrison album to review, and based on its reputation, I have pretty high hopes for it. I went into this project only knowing a couple of Van Morrison songs, and I was unfortunate enough to review his live album before any of his studio recordings. However, I enjoyed Astral Weeks quite a bit more, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I wound up liking this album even more.
Moondance won’t be getting five stars from me, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I found it to be a really solid, beautiful album. Nothing about the music was incredibly complicated, but everything was arranged really well and sounded great. The simplicity of the sound really created a sense of place, and I get why people hold this album in such high regard. There wasn’t really anything consistently great about this album (like great guitar playing or something along those lines), but I thought a lot of the songs were pretty good. My only complaint about Moondance is that some of it was a bit boring, and some songs felt like filler. As far as filler goes, it was pretty good filler, but filler nonetheless. Some notes on the songs I enjoyed:
I loved the groove of Moondance. It was jazzy and sexy, I felt like I was in a club with a big band playing. It gave off the aura of dim lights with a blue tint, making me want to go out dancing. The bass playing was excellent, but I like how it wasn’t overpowering, like it was steering from the passenger seat.
“Crazy Love” was a pure and simple excellent love song. Those backing vocals were great, and I loved the guitar playing.
“Into the Mystic” was outstanding, and I think it might be VM’s best song. The vocals and music are perfect together. I loved how it all built over the course of its runtime. I have no idea what the lyrics meant, but I don't care, because this was just a wonderful song.
The bass on “Come Running” was great, and the backing vocals were excellent as well. The saxophone playing added just the right punch to the sound.
“Glad Tidings” was insanely catchy. I loved how the bass, guitar, and sax sounded together. The ‘la la la’ vocal fills were perfect too. An excellent closing track.
If I had to choose a VM album to come back to, I think it would definitely be this one. Not every song was a winner, but the best songs on this album were pretty remarkable.
Richard Hawley
3/5
I’ve never heard of Richard Hawley before, but I see that he’s played with Pulp some over the course of his career, so anyone who has that on their resume has to be a pretty decent musician in my estimation. Granted, I’m not too big on chamber on pop, so this album could go either way with me. I guess it’s time to go on down to Coles Corner!
I thought Cole’s Corner was fine overall. The album started off with a couple of really strong tracks, but I felt like most of the rest of the album didn’t keep my attention as much. The arrangements on this album were beautiful, and it’s evident that Richard Hawley is a solid musician and songwriter, but to me, the final product of this album is that it’s something that just kind of exists. If I wanted to listen to something with a focus on songwriting and atmosphere, I’d much rather listen to Ghosteen by Nick Cave. Even though I’d feel awful after listening to it, at least I’d feel something. A few notes on the songs that stood out to me:
The title track really snagged my attention with its amazing strings. The music was beautiful, and the vocals were great too. I liked how the sound got a bit darker before the chorus. The lyrics are excellent, and I loved how they conveyed a sense of hopeful loneliness.
“Just Like the Rain” was good too, but a step down from the first track. The guitar playing and lyrics were really strong. The bass drum was subtle, but its presence added a lot to the overall sound.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Hawaiian lap steel guitar before, and I assume that’s what I was hearing on “Hotel Room.” Whatever that instrument was, it sounded a lot like a pedal steel, and it was great. The other elements of the song were just fine.
I enjoyed the way “The Ocean” started off with bare instrumentation, but then added this soft, but really lush arrangement. That main guitar riff was really catchy too.
The bluegrass sound of “I Sleep Alone” felt like it didn’t fit in very well with the album, but if you don’t account for the sound of the rest of the album, it was really good. The bass playing was excellent too.
This rendition of “Who’s Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet” made me want to drive home and immediately hug my kids. There was something palpably dreadful about this song, and I thought Hawley did a great job of putting his own spin on this song.
Cole’s Corner didn’t wow me, but it was a pretty good album, although it’s not something I’d see myself returning to.
The Fall
3/5
If you listen to The Fall three times, stand up four. I’m sorry, I was really reaching with that one, but I promise I tried. Anyway, TNSG will be my third and final album by The Fall to review. I didn’t care much for Live at The Witch Trials, but I found The Infotainment Scan to be pretty enjoyable. Given those mixed results, I have no idea how I’ll feel about this album, but I’m ready to jump in!
I’d put TNSG squarely between the other two albums of theirs. The overall sound on this album was pretty enjoyable, and I did like the way that The Fall would use one main riff on each song, and build everything else around it. In a few instances, those riffs were really great and incredibly catchy, but most of the time, they were just fine. It was an interesting way to construct this album musically, and it’s a shame that the standout songs were harder to come by. Speaking of things that repeated, I enjoyed the opening track, “Mansion,” and the same musical motif was used again on the closing track. One of the things that I didn’t enjoy on this album was the way the vocals were mostly mumbled and difficult to decipher. I like post punk music that has a political message, but it drives me insane when the lyrics are practically indecipherable. As far as favorite tracks on this album are concerned, I enjoyed “Barmy,” “L.A.,” and “My New House” the most. The main guitar riff on “Barmy” was excellent, and I loved that tinkling keyboard sound too. “L.A.” was my favorite song on the album though. I loved that pulsing sound that was looped throughout the song, and the guitar playing was great too. It was everything I’d want in a post punk song. I really liked the guitar playing on “My New House.” That twangy, metallic guitar sound was awesome, and it made this song really unique. Overall, this album was fine, but I just wish it had been a bit more interesting and unique.
Sade
3/5
The only Sade song I’m familiar with is “Smooth Operator,” which I’m happy to see is on this album. I expect the rest of the songs on this album to have a sound similar to “Smooth Operator,” which I’m sure will be fine. If Sade Adu’s vocals on the rest of the album are as good as her vocals on “Smooth Operator,” I’m sure this album will be tolerable.
Diamond Life was fine. I enjoyed that this album had a really cohesive sound throughout, and I thought it was expertly produced and arranged. The instrumentals were all really good, and Sade’s vocals were excellent. However, I wasn’t really captivated by much of the songwriting, and while the sound was nice, it’s not what I want to listen to for over forty minutes. A lot of the songs on Diamond Life went on a little too long for me, and the sound grew stale during several songs. This album is definitely a one-and-done for me, but I can understand the appeal it might have with other people. Some notes about individual songs:
“Smooth Operator” is a really great bop, and I like how it achieves that while having a relaxed and chill vibe. Musically, it’s incredibly smooth, and the vocals are excellent. I liked the subtle way that some of the musical elements were added in, making it worth it to pay close attention to everything you can hear.
The bass on “Hang On Your Love” was really outstanding. The jazzy keyboards that came in during the middle of the song were excellent as well.
I liked the brighter sound on “When Am I Going to Make a Living.” I loved the lyrics and the songwriting too, and the guitar playing had just the right amount of funk to it.
The keyboards on “Cherry Pie” were good, and I really liked the spurned attitude of the vocals.
Diamond Life was a nice album to listen to, but it didn’t tick a lot of boxes for me.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
I know TTD’s “Wishing Well,” but I don’t know any of his other songs. However, yesterday, I had Sade’s Diamond Life, and I think this album might make a good spiritual companion. I find the late eighties to be such an interesting time for pop music. As hip-hop reached a wider audience, some pop artists embraced its influences, while others tried to stay more traditional in their sound. Due to that, I find that when it comes to late eighties pop artists that I’m not terribly familiar with, I never really know what I’m going to get. If this album is as bop-infused as “Wishing Well,” I think I’ll be in for a treat!
As much as I enjoyed “Wishing Well,” I didn’t care too much for this album. There were a few songs on this album that stood out to me as pretty strong pop songs, but overall, I felt like TTD was throwing all of the popular sounds and production techniques at the wall to see what stuck, and for me, it resulted in an album that sounded really dated, and I got pretty bored with it. On the songs that I did enjoy, it was the musical sound that drove my enjoyment, and I didn’t really find the lyrics to be particularly interesting or well-written. I know I criticized this album for sounding dated, but there were times when that dated sound was really fun. “Wishing Well” is great because of its dance-worthy rhythms and TTD’s unique vocals. The drums sound great, and the keyboards and bass guitars are excellent too, and even that little whistling sound on the chorus is fun. It’s just a great pop jam. “If You All Get to Heaven” was good too. The keyboards and the drumming were outstanding, and I loved the lower register of the overall sound. It felt like something that Quincy Jones could have produced, and I mean that as a high compliment. “If You Let Me Stay” had some great keyboards and vocals, making the first three tracks of this alum really strong. After those first three songs though, the only thing that really stood out to me was the keyboards on “Let’s Go Forward.” It reminded me of that early nineties R&B sound of groups like Boyz II Men, and I thought it was a beautiful song. Now that I’m thinking about it, “Sign Your Name” was pretty good too, and I enjoyed its softer sound. Before I typed out this review, I thought I’d be giving this album two-stars, but I’m realizing that the even though this album had some glaring weak spots, its best moments were really strong and enjoyable, and it probably sits more middle-of-the-road with me, and I think it deserves a three-star rating. This album was an interesting slice of late eighties pop music, and even though not all of it lands, it’s very unique and well produced.
Sepultura
2/5
I really didn’t care much for Sepultura’s Roots, and I’ve been kinda dreading listening to Arise. Granted, I see that this album is less than fifty minutes long, so I’m glad that I won’t have to go on another hour-plus ride with these guys. I guess it’s time to get this over with. Sorry in advance, ear drums.
As I feared, I didn’t really care much for Arise. These songs sounded pretty similar to one another to my ears, and while I thought the drumming was excellent, there just wasn’t a lot on this album that drew me in. For a metal album, the guitars sounded thin and watered down in my opinion. The only song that really stood out to me was “Under Siege,” which had a unique structure to it, with its more melodic intro, and some really awesome drumming rhythms on the outro. Other than though, I really didn’t care for any songs on this album. The two stars that this album is getting is due to the drumming, which was really top-notch.
Red Snapper
3/5
I’ve never heard of Red Snapper before, and now that I’m over 950 albums into this project, I’ve found myself growing more and more leery of electronica music. I think I came into this project with a really narrow view of electronica music, and its thrown me for a loop when I’ve come across albums that don’t fit the definition that I’d had in my head for so long. Hopefully though, Red Snapper will win me over!
Our Aim is to Satisfy was a unique, but very uneven experience. The use of so many keyboards and different bass elements helped craft this album’s unique sound, but I found a lot of the looped vocal refrains to be a bit annoying. Some of the songs were smooth, but I found some of the songs to be a bit abrasive, and I felt like the album switched between the two at a moment’s notice. “Keeping Pigs Together” had a really good groove to it, with some great bass playing, and a very catchy main melody. However, the very next track, “Some Kind of Kink” started off with a bass riff that reminded me of Seinfeld, which was really jarring and goofy. To top it off, I didn’t care much for the vocal elements on that song either. The percussion and bass on “Shellback” sounded great together, and it had some excellent keyboards as well, but once again, I really didn’t like the vocals at all. Those first three tracks were pretty much a microcosm of the whole album for me. There would be a track that I liked, but the next two wouldn’t really be my speed, and some would be pretty good musically, but feature vocals that I didn’t like. However, the last three tracks of the album were fantastic, and easily the best part of the whole experience. “Alaska Street” had a cold feeling to it that I liked, and it segued perfectly into “Belladonna,” which was a really gentle and beautiful song. The album’s last track, “They’re Hanging Me Tonight” was really beautiful too, and an excellent way to close out the album. If the whole album would have been more like those last three tracks, this would have probably been a five-star album for me. Before I finish up my review, I think I need to talk about “The Rough and the Quick.” I was probably about halfway through the song before I realized what this song was about when I heard the line “lick my clit, rub a little bit of your spit.” I’m not a prude or anything, but that came out of nowhere, and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Kudos to Red Snapper for making my eyes bug out as I listened to that song. When it comes to electronic music, I think I’ll stick to my comfort Daft Punk albums and pass on the Red Snapper.
The Magnetic Fields
2/5
Oh boy, my last of the epically long albums has finally arrived. I only know one song by The Magnetic Fields, so this is going to be a very new experience for me. I honestly have no idea of what to expect from the other 68 songs that I’ve never heard, but hopefully this album will be able to justify the three hours it’s going to take up! I’ll break each volume down individually, and then summarize the whole album at the end.
Volume 1
This first volume was certainly something. It started off with “Absolutely Cuckoo,” which, definitely lived up to its name in its sound. The rest of the first volume was pretty uneven. Some songs were really beautiful, and some were really jarring. There were some interesting production choices, like vocal distortions and sounds that I could best describe as annoying. I did appreciate that there were some additional vocalists, other than Stephen Merritt, because his singing was really hit-or-miss with me. Even though there were some really nice sounding songs on this first volume, a lot of what was here was kind of forgettable, and sometimes the lyrics felt generic and bland. My favorite tracks on this disc were “All My Little Words,” “Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits,” “I Think I Need a New Heart,” “Sweet-Lovin’ Man,” and “The Book of Love.” Out of all of those, “The Book of Love” was my favorite. I loved how gentle the strings were, and the lyrics were fantastic. This song always makes me think of Scrubs, no matter whose version I’m hearing. So far, I’d probably give this album two stars, but I’ll keep an open mind for the rest of it.
Volume 2
After a rocky start with “Love Like Jazz,” this volume was much better than the first one. I really liked the melodies created by the electronic instruments on this volume much more than volume one. There were some really strong stretches of songs on this part of the album, complete with beautiful music and great lyrics. This section of the album felt much more even, and the songs moved at a much faster pace for me, even though it was the same amount of songs, and roughly the same length in terms of time. “Love Like Jazz” and “I Shatter” were the lowest points of this volume. “Love Like Jazz” felt like it thought it was clever, but I found it to just be pretty annoying and disjointed. The vocals on “I Shatter” felt really gimmicky, and I found this song to be unenjoyable as a whole. There were a smattering of songs that were just okay to start off this volume, but once “Grand Canyon” started, this section of the album took off, and didn’t look back. “Long-Forgotten Fairytale” was my favorite song on this section of the album. The vocals, main melody, and lyrics were all incredible. The percussion and bass complimented the light electronic elements really well. This song felt like early Depeche Mode merging with Violator era Depeche Mode. Other highlights from this part of the album were “No One Will Ever Love You,” “If You Don’t Cry,” “You’re My Only Home,” and “Abigail, Belle of Kilronan.” After this, I’m really excited for the last part of this album.
Disc 3
Like the first two parts of this album, this third and final volume also started off with a song that I didn’t care for, “Underwear.” And like the first volume of this album, I really didn’t care for this final section, as 69 Love Songs plodded toward the finish line. I didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy about the music on this volume, nor I was I very impressed by the lyrics. Moreso than the other two volumes, this final volume had several songs that I thought were pretty grating or annoying, like “I Can’t Touch You Anymore,” “Strange Eyes,” “Xylophone Track,” and “Zebra.” However, “It’s a Crime,” “I’m Sorry I Love You,” “Yeah! Oh, Yeah!,” and “The Night You Can’t Remember were the best parts of this volume. “I’m Sorry I Love You” was my favorite of those good songs. The rhythmic elements were great, and I loved the tinny sound of the overall production. The vocals were excellent too, and it had a folk vibe that I really enjoyed. All the other songs were pretty unremarkable though, and this volume didn’t come close to volume 2.
Overall, 69 Love Songs was a bloated and uneven journey. The concept is great, but The Magnetic Fields just couldn’t justify their vision in my opinion. There were some really good moments on the second volume, but the rest of the album paled in comparison to that middle section. Maybe 25 or 30 love songs would have been more palatable.
Oasis
5/5
It's been almost 900 albums since I reviewed What's the Story, an album that I really love. I don't think I really discovered Oasis until I was in college in the mid aughts, and by then, the cat was out of the bag that the Gallagher brothers were assholes. However, between reviewing these two albums of theirs, I read John Harris's Britpop, and I learned that they're not run-of-the-mill assholes, they're mega-assholes. I still enjoy their music, but every time I hear a song of theirs, I just shake my head, and wonder how can anyone believe in God when talented people can also be such massive dicks. But I digress. I think I only know a couple of songs off of this album, and if I do know those songs, I don't know them terribly well. I'm expecting that I'll enjoy this album, but I don't expect it to come close to What's the Story.
Alas, it appears my doubts in the existence of God have only deepened, because I really loved listening to yet another album from these twats. The guitar playing on this album was outstanding, and each song really brought something unique to the table in terms of sound, all while comprising a rollicking and cohesive album. The lyrics were great too, and I just enjoyed this album so much from start to finish. As for my prediction that this album wouldn’t come close to What’s the Story? I think this album is just as good, but I enjoyed this album for completely different reasons. Some notes on some individual songs:
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” was one of the two songs on this album that I wound up knowing, but hearing it as the leadoff track to this album was perfect. The guitar playing was excellent, as was the drumming, and I was completely bought into this album from the moment it started.
“Live Forever” was the other song on this album that I knew, and it’s fantastic too. The lyrics were perfect for the pure guitar rock sound of Definitely Maybe, and the drumming on this song was great too.
The bass line on “Up In The Sky” was really great, adding some nice depth to the sound. The lead guitar was great too. I really loved it later on in the song when the bass dropped out and then came back. It really emphasized how great that bass playing was.
“Columbia” was sneakily one of the best songs on the album, just as good as “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” and “Live Forever.” The drumming was outstanding, giving this song the perfect punch. The guitar riff and guitar solo towards the end of the song were fantastic, and I really wished this song wouldn’t end.
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I loved the energy on “Bring It On Down.” The drumming was fantastic, and I loved the vocal distortion that kicked in at the halfway point.
The guitar intro on “Digsy's Diner” was excellent. I loved the way the drum rumbled, resembling an earthquake. The piano playing was perfect too.
Definitely Maybe was another excellent entry from Oasis, and easily one of the top tier Britpop albums featured on this list. I’d listen to it again in a heartbeat, but it can’t make me forget that the Gallaghers are complete knobheads.
Nina Simone
4/5
I know a little bit about Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam” from a book I read, but I’ve never listened to any of her music before. Jazz and soul albums have been a bit of a mixed bag for me, so I could either love or hate this album. However, seeing these user reviews, I’m leaning more towards this album being right up my alley.
I didn’t fall in love with Nina Simone on this album, but I thought Wild is the Wind was really good. The best thing about this album was the vocals, which were absolutely incredible over the course of the album. Nina Simone’s voice managed to convey so many emotions on these songs. Her tone was so serious and stern, but also incredibly beautiful. The instrumentation was mostly pretty sparse on this album, but it didn’t bother me too much, because Nina’s vocals were the best musical element on the album. The only thing I didn’t like about this album was that everything hinged on the vocals. When there were songs where the vocals weren’t as captivating as other songs, I found myself losing interest. Thankfully, that only happened on three or so songs though. On top of that, this just isn’t the type of album I’d naturally gravitate towards, and even though I thought the vocals were really good, I only found a small handful of songs truly captivating. As for the songs that I really enjoyed, “Four Women,” “Lilac Wine,” “What More Can I Say,” and “Break Down and Let It All Out” were the cream of the crop on this album. I loved the way that Nina’s vocals built to a powerful crescendo on “What More Can I Say,” and the vocals on the chorus of “Break Down and Let It All Out” was just full of raw power. The best of these songs though was “Four Women,” and of course it’s the only song on here that Nina wrote. The lyrics are incredibly powerful, and I loved how vivid the figurative imagery in them was. The vocals were top notch, and the piano and percussion sounded great too. Wild is the Wind wasn’t perfect, but it was great to listen to, and it definitely deserves a place on this list.
Echo And The Bunnymen
5/5
Porcupine will be my final E&tB album to review. I gave four stars to both Ocean Rain and Crocodiles, and honestly, I think I should have given both of them five stars, especially Ocean Rain. I really like listening to these guys, so I have some really high hopes for this album.
Porcupine turned out to be another wonderful entry from E&tB’s catalog, and I really enjoyed listening to it. E&tB do such a great job of crafting a unique atmosphere with their music, and their sound is always beautifully dense. Ian McCulloch’s vocals were once again excellent, and in a crowded field of post punk artists, E&tB really sets themselves apart. The guitar playing was excellent on this album, and I really loved the strings that were used too. The lyrics were often dark and cryptic, and it was enjoyable to try to parse meaning out of these songs. E&tB has become one of my favorite bands with multiple entries on this list, and I’m delighted that I got to familiarize myself with three of their albums. Some notes on the songs that stood out to me:
“The Cutter” was an outstanding opening track. It set the tone for this album perfectly, with its eerie opening guitar riff, and some excellent bass and drumming as well. The sound of this song really opened up at about the halfway mark with some really bright string arrangements.
“Back of Love” had some excellent drumming and bass as well, and the main guitar riff was really good too.
I loved the percussion on “My White Devil.” I think it was a xylophone that was being used, but whatever it was, it had a skeleton-like sound to it that was really excellent.
The wordplay in the cryptic lyrics on “Clay” were outstanding. I’d have to say that this was my favorite songwriting on the album.
The title track was really wild, in the best way possible. The guitar playing was excellent, and this was the perfect example of how E&tB create such a lush atmosphere on their albums.
“Heads Will Roll” had some great strings, and I loved the brighter sounds that were peppered in as well.
The tone of the guitar on “Gods Will Be Gods” was fantastic. The frantic crescendo was particularly excellent.
Porcupine is a great album, full of dense atmosphere and excellent songwriting. The strings from Shankar help give this album a really unique sound, crafting one of the early eighties’ best post punk albums.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
Oh fuck me running, I have absolutely zero desire to listen to a CeeLo Green album. I listened to one of his albums several years ago, and I absolutely hated it. It may have even been this one, but I'm not sure, because whatever it was, I deleted it out of my iTunes library. CeeLo is the most disappointing thing to come out of Atlanta since the 2016 Falcons, so I have incredibly low expectations for this album. I guess I'll get this over with...
Well, maybe I overreacted to this album just a bit. It was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The first couple of tracks after the intro were not my jam at all. “Soul Machine” was incredibly busy in the worst way, and the rapping was indecipherable. I find CeeLo’s voice pretty grating in large doses, and “Soul Machine” was a brutal reminder of why. “The Art of Noise” was pretty bland, which was disappointing since The Neptunes were involved. However, the next couple of songs were really good. The softer vocals on “Living Again” were good, and the beats and instrumentation were excellent. The piano and saxophone were awesome, and this song had an infectious groove that I really loved. “I’ll Be Around” was really good too. Timbaland’s voice balanced out CeeLo’s really well, and the choral vocals were excellent. The beat was excellent, and the horns were really good too. The rest of the album was really bland to me, and the only other song worth mentioning was “Scrap Metal.” I really enjoyed the bass and the horns, and Big Rube and G-Rock provided some good guest rapping to break up the monotony of CeeLo’s voice. I’m mostly grateful that this album is over with, but now I really want to watch that video of Gnarls Barkley performing “Crazy” dressed in Star Wars costumes.
David Bowie
3/5
Low will be my ninth (ninth! There are *nine* David Bowie albums on this list! If I could insert a gif of Jeffery Jones as Principal Rooney saying 'nine times' into my review, I would) and final David Bowie album to review. Look, I like David Bowie, but nine albums is a ton. A couple of them have been great (Station to Station and Ziggy Stardust), one has been a dud (Heroes, don't come at me), and the rest have been fine. The man was one of the best musicians to ever live, and he was an icon, but Jesus, he's over represented on this list. I have no idea if I'll love or hate this album, but based on the fact that I didn't like the only other album from the Berlin Trilogy that I've heard, I'm approaching this with... *low* expectations.
Another Bowie album, another middle-of-the-road result. Low wasn’t really my cup of tea. I appreciate what it meant for David Bowie’s career, and it was cool to hear more of his work with Brian Eno, but in a general sense, I thought that Low was just fine. I felt like Low was an uneven experience, mostly due to the more traditional songs that were peppered in with the avant-garde and experimental songs. I didn’t mind the avant-garde songs, but they’re not the type of things that I would want to listen to again, especially when I can fire up other works of Bowie’s. My enjoyment of the guitar playing and synthesizers ebbed and flowed quite a bit over the course of this album, and it was pretty rare that everything clicked for me. I think I enjoyed the second side of Low more than the first side, mostly because it was a more even experience. It was weird, but most of it was beautiful in its own strange way. “Sound and Vision” and “Be My Wife” were my favorite songs on the album. On “Sound and Vision,” I really loved that steam hiss percussion sound, and the guitars were excellent. The vocals were great, and there was a great groove to the song as well. I really liked the bluesy sound of “Be My Wife,” and the bass groove was really excellent too. Low was an interesting experience, but I think it’s a one-and-done for me.
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
Album 964, and I finally get one of the two albums from A Tribe Called Quest. I’m about 95% sure that I’ve listened to one of their albums at some point, but I think it was The Low End Theory (this is why I log everything I listen to these days). I seem to remember think that it was a good album, but that it just wasn’t really to my liking. I’m not quite sure what to expect out of this album, but most of the hip-hop on this list has been really good, so I have high hopes that I’ll enjoy this.
PIT&POR (I’m way too lazy to type this album’s full title out) wasn’t totally up my alley, but I still thought it was a really good album, and well worth a listen. The rapping was great, regardless of who was performing. I thought that all of the guys in Tribe had an excellent flow, their rapping was crisp yet relaxed, and they all seemed to work together incredibly well. I really love when someone has a distinct voice when it comes to rapping, and I felt like that was missing on this album, but the sum of all the members was better than the individual voices. The production was simple, but the beats were solid, and Tribe’s way of using samples is incredibly unique. I don’t know this album particularly well, but there were so many parts of it that my ears immediately recognized from their use in other songs. PIT&POR flows seamlessly from one track to the next, crafting a really cohesive sound. My favorite songs on the album were “After Hours,” “Footprints,” “Can I Kick It,” “Youthful Expression,” “Rhythm,” and “Mr. Muhammad.” All of these songs were really unique, with great rapping, wonderful beats and samples, and excellent production. I was going to give this album four stars, mostly because it’s just not what I gravitate towards in hip-hop music, but after listening to it, parts of it were playing in my head over and over again, and I found myself being drawn in to listen to it again. On my second time through it, I was really hooked, and I could easily imagine myself listening to this album again and again. I had a lot of fun with this album, and I’m looking forward to reviewing The Low End Theory.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
I’ve heard of Paul Revere & The Raiders, but the only song of theirs I know is “Steppin’ Stone,” which I’m grateful to see on this album’s track listing. I’ve found myself pretty underwhelmed with a lot of the albums I’ve reviewed from the sixties, so I don’t really have high hopes for this album. However, I’m trying to approach this with an open mind, and I’ll remain hopeful that I’ll find something that I really enjoy here.
My trepidation with this album was well warranted in my opinion. PR&TR didn’t really provide much substance on this album. There were a few fun tracks, when the band really leaned into the garage rock sound, but the rest of the album felt like run-of-the mill pop rock. Even the best parts of the album, save a couple of tracks, were pretty forgettable. These guys sound like pretty competent musicians, but it feels like this album is something the record shop would try to push on customers when Beatles or Stones albums were sold out. “I don’t have Revolver, but you might like this. It also happens to be music, like The Beatles!” I searched some of the top reviews, and no one mentioned the similarities between the guitar on “Louie, Go Home” and “Daytripper,” so maybe the similarities I heard were just me. I got the impression that PR&TR were pretty competent musicians, but when it comes to songwriting and composition, they mis the mark. When it comes to the things on this album that I liked, “Get It On,” Take A Look At Yourself,” and “Kicks” were pretty good, with some solid rhythms and guitar playing. However, “Steppin’ Stone” was easily the best song on the album, and the only song I found memorable. The growling vocals and the garage-y breakdowns were really excellent, and the organ gave a nice psychedelic feel to the song as well. As an entire work though, this album fell pretty flat with me.
The Darkness
4/5
The only Darkness song I’m acquainted with is “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” I’m guessing that song is a pretty good indicator of what I can expect with this album, and if that’s the case, I think I’m about to be in for a pretty good time!
Permission to Land was pretty fun to listen to, but it definitely had its peaks and valleys. The peaks were fun, and blasted with solid guitar riffs, while the valleys were mostly forgettable. The Darkness might only have one trick up their sleeve, but they seem to have a lot of fun with that trick, and their energy was pretty infectious at times. “Black Shuck” set the tone for the album really well, with some great guitar playing and fun energy. “Growing on Me” had an eighties pop rock vibe to it that I really liked. The guitar licks, and vocals were great, and the lyrics were infectious. This song sounded like it would have fit right in on a soundtrack in the mid-eighties. “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” was definitely one of the high points on the album. The guitar playing and vocals were excellent, and everything was mixed perfectly. The pre-chorus is my favorite part of the song, with some of the best falsettos on the album. I really enjoyed the slower tempo and more ballad-y sound of “Love Is Only a Feeling.” For an album that relies a lot on tongue-in-cheek innuendo, this song felt really sincere and worked well. I loved the higher register of the guitar playing on the chorus, and the acoustic guitar sounds on the verses were great too. “Friday Night” fell into this category as well, and I loved the hopeless romantic and puppy love feeling to the lyrics. It reminded me of that optimism you feel when you have a crush on someone. “Holding My Own” was one of the cleverest songs on the album. I enjoyed the contrast between the softer sound and the bawdy lyrics. The main guitar riff was really great, and the vocals sounded really good too. While Permission to Land isn’t without its faults, its peaks far outstrip the songs that feel like filler, creating an album that’s really solid and fun.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
I’ve never heard of Booker T. & the M.G.’s before, but kudos to them for calling this album Green Onions, and not Scallions, because the latter sounds more like a Primus album title. I’m not quite sure what to expect from this album, but I’m certainly intrigued!
As soon as this album started, I felt like an idiot for not realizing that I knew the title track. I know I’ve heard “Green Onions” countless times throughout my life, but it was cool to hear it as part of an album. The composition is simple, but its sound creates such a vivid atmosphere. The Hammond organ sounds great, and the guitar playing provides a great groove for the southern soul sound. “Rinky Dink” was good too. The Hammond organ really shone again, and I loved the guitar picking. I had no idea that this song’s riff was sampled in “Love Is Strange,” which I know from Dirty Dancing. As memorable and good as the first two songs on the album were, the rest of it was just fine. I enjoyed how the Hammond organ and guitar sounded together, but there just wasn’t much that stood out to me on these other (cover) songs. However, I did like the cover of “Twist and Shout,” but if I wasn’t already familiar with that song, I doubt it would have made much of an impression on me. I think Green Onions is interesting for its influence on soul music in the sixties, and it was enjoyable to listen to, but I can’t see myself listening to it again.
U2
4/5
I've been patiently waiting to review Achtung Baby, as it's the only U2 album I own, and I think it's some of their best work. I haven't listened to all of this album in a long time, but the times that I have listened to it, I've really enjoyed it. Now that I've listened to the other three U2 albums on this list, I'm curious if I'll still hold this in higher regard than The Joshua Tree and War.
While I enjoyed listening to Achtung Baby, it’s a bit short of five stars for me. Now that I’ve listened to more of U2’s discography, it was really interesting to listen to this album as their follow-up to The Joshua Tree, and the band’s attempt to reinvent their sound a bit. I enjoyed hearing U2 incorporate elements of alternative rock, shoegaze, and dance music into their sound. Even with that new approach, they still sound like themselves, with their trademark arena rock sound. I think that moody melodies were a part of what made War and The Joshua Tree so great, but this album seems to have more emphasis on rhythms and broader sounds. The thing that holds Achtung Baby back for me, is that I felt like U2 recycled a lot of guitar sounds and lyrical themes over the course of this album. There were more than a couple of songs that dealt with difficult romantic relationships, and I just don’t think that’s something that the band was able to emotionalize through their music, and I got tired of hearing them sing about it. Achtung Baby is still fun to listen to, but I don’t think it can justify its nearly hour-long runtime. As far as individual songs are concerned:
I loved the crunchiness of the guitars on Zoo Station, and the tin-pan drumming sounds. I've knew heading into this album that it was a shift for U2, but I'd never picked up on the influences of late eighties shoegaze and dance music before today. This leadoff track felt like it was ushering in a new Europe, post Berlin Wall. The overall sound is industrial, but it still has that shimmering guitar that U2 is known for. I loved that ticking sound that they incorporated into this song too, and I thought the rhythms were excellent.
The guitar on “Even Better Than the Real Thing” is great too, as was the bass line. Songs like this are a reminder that I just enjoy listening to U2.
I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of “One.” I do like the soft crescendo it builds to, and the lyrics and sound are good, but it's just not super high on my list of U2 songs. Something about it just feels insincere to me in a way, but I felt that way about a lot of the love and relationship songs on this album.
I loved the guitar on “Until The End Of The World,” and the bass groove was excellent too.
“Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” is one of my favorite U2 songs, and I think it’s one of their most underrated songs too. I loved guitar playing and the drumming. The sound creates this wide-open atmosphere, that goes along perfectly with the imagery of riding horses.
“So Cruel” was the best song on the album about relationships. The lyrics are incredibly brutal, which is not something I’m used to from U2. I loved the piano, and the strings were incredible too. It’s such a beautiful song, and the sound contrasts really well the dark lyrics.
I love the vocal distortions on “The Fly.” It's like a preview of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,” which I really love. I liked the industrial sound of the guitar and drums too.
“Mysterious Ways” is another one of my favorite U2 songs. I love that it’s really rhythmically driven, and it has such a great groove to it. The guitar playing is excellent, and it’s very effective as supplementary to the percussion and bass. The vocals are great too, and I love singing along to this song.
I enjoyed revisiting Achtung Baby today, but now that I’ve reviewed all four U2 albums on this list, I’ll have to go with War as my overall favorite.
The Beta Band
3/5
I reviewed Beta Band’s Hot Shots II a while ago, but I don’t remember much about it. My review said that it was fine, and I gave it three stars, so I’m expecting more of the same on Heroes to Zeros. This is an interesting album cover though, and quite an artistic departure from Hot Shots II. I wonder if the music will follow suit.
Like Hot Shots II, Heroes to Zeros was fine. It was entertaining enough to listen to, but I’d react to songs with a ‘meh’ or ‘oh, that’s kinda nice.’ The opening track, “Assessment,” reminded me a lot of U2. Granted, I just reviewed Achtung Baby yesterday, so maybe it’s recency bias making me think that. The guitar playing on “Assessment” was pretty good, and I liked the horns at the end. “Lion Thief” was good too, and I liked how the gentle guitar tone was supplemented by some darker sounds. The drumming on “Lion Thief” was particularly good, as were the rhythms as a whole. “Out-Side” was the first track that really snagged my attention. The main guitar riff was really good, and the added effects were really good too. “Space Beatle” was good too, and I liked how it started off with a really chill sound before adding some really beautiful layered melodies. “Liquid Bird” was probably my favorite song on the album though. The sampling of Siouxsie and the Banshees was great, and I loved the darker tone and pounding drums and bass. Even though this album had some good songs on it, it’s one of those albums that I forget about as soon as I shut it off. The Beta Band has a unique sound, but to me, they never really don’t really leveraged their strengths much on this album.
Pantera
1/5
I was only vaguely aware of Pantera in the nineties, and I don't remember learning much about them until maybe a year or two before Dimebag Darrell was murdered. Oddly enough though, I lived in Arlington until I was about eight years old, and had I stayed in the same house and not moved to Houston, I would have gone to Dimebag Darrell's alma mater, Arlington High School. I only know a couple of Pantera songs, one of them being "Walk," which is on this album. I associate "Walk" with the boot-licking 'Blue Lives Matter' crowd, so it's fair to say that I already have a negative view of this album. I'm really not looking forward to listening to this, and even though I try to be objective about most of the things I review, I'm willing to throw that out the window today. Time to throw on a Punisher logo shirt and get down and dirty with the boys!
After a somewhat promising opening track, Vulgar Display of Power fell apart pretty quickly for me. When "Mouth for War" kicked off, I thought I would have a decent time with this album. The guitars and drums were driving, and I could feel myself begrudgingly getting into this album. But "A New Level" didn't do much for me, and even though "Walk" wound up being one of the better songs on the album, it didn't do much for me either. I felt like I was just trudging through an hour's worth of the same growling, the same throbbing drum beats, and the same guitar chord structures. There just wasn't anything on this album for me to latch on to. Back to "Walk" though. As annoying as I find this song, I like its structure, and the vocals are kinda catchy to yell along to. The best song on the album though was the closing track, "Hollow." I thought this was the only song on the album that had some emotional depth to it, and I liked that it actually had some guitar playing that wasn't power chords and some vocals that weren't yelled. Pantera can clearly do more than just the same thing over and over again, so why didn't they show more range on this album? I guess this sort of thing just isn't for me.
Eurythmics
3/5
Having been born in 1985, I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that I’ve been hearing the song “Sweet Dreams” all of my life. That’s not a complaint, because I think it’s an incredible song, and I think it helped foster a love for synthesizers in me at an early age, and synthesizers and keyboards are still some of my favorite instruments. But when it comes to Eurythmics’ broader discography, I only know a couple of their songs, and I’ve never listened to a full album of theirs (I did, however, listen to Annie Lennox’s Medusa, after hearing her version of “No More ‘I Love Yous’” on A Murder At The End of The World. Also, “Walking On Broken Glass” is an all-time banger). I’ve really been looking forward to this album, and I hope it manages to deliver!
I really wanted to love this album, and while the title track is one of my favorite pop songs of all time, the album as a whole is kinda thin. I listened to this joker four times, because I thought I had to be missing something. And while a few songs managed to grow on me during those four listens, I still think this album is just fine. I think the title track is what really sinks this album for me. “Sweet Dreams” shows what Dave and Annie are capable of. They crafted a song with incredibly few and simple lyrics, but the atmosphere of sound in the song is so rich and deep. They manage to create such a haunting mood in a very minimalist way, and this song absolutely knocks it out of the park, especially as the lead track to the second side of the vinyl album. Every small detail of that song is perfect: from the ‘ooohhhhs’ and ‘hey-ey-eys’ to the keyboard solo coming out of the bridge. That stripped down final verse is great too, making me wish this song wouldn’t end. But the rest of the album just can’t live up to that. There are some catchy hooks and melodies, but nothing else really has that same sense of atmosphere to it. The songs are fine to listen to for the most part, but most of them just sound like a collection of electronic hooks, without building something bigger. I think Annie Lennox is a great singer, and she and Dave Stewart work well together, but this album just feels like a bit of a gimmick. “Love Is A Stranger” and “Wrap It Up” were both good songs though. “Love Is a Stranger” was a good choice for an opening track, and I really liked the brighter tones that were used. That little riff that played at the end of each line of the verse was really good, and the grunts from Dave Stewart worked really well for me too. “Wrap It Up” had the best dance beats on the album, and the bass and bright synth tones contrasted each other really nicely. I liked the little odd noises that were peppered in as well. Even with one smash hit, a couple of other nice songs, I found Sweet Dreams to be pretty underwhelming. A tip of that hat to Annie and Dave for blazing a trail, but I wouldn’t come back to this album.
Bobby Womack
3/5
I’ve never heard of Bobby Womack before, but a quick glance at his Wikipedia page says that he played guitar for Sam Cooke (cool!) and also a cocaine addiction (I could have deduced this from the album cover, because apologies to Mr. Womack, but that suit and those glasses scream cocaine use). I’m not big on soul music from the eighties, but maybe my problem was not listening to someone who played guitar for Sam Cooke.
The Poet wasn’t really my jam, but I thought it was fine. There was a really consistent vibe and sound to the album, the production was really good, and the bass riffs added a smooth groove to each song. I can see this album doing really well when it came out, but I thought it sounded really dated, the lyrics were pretty cheesy for the most part, and I didn’t find anything meaningful or impactful about this album. I thought The Poet was a unique way to make a soul album in the eighties, but a lot of these songs dragged on too long for my tastes, and I found myself a bit bored for some stretches. Some notes on songs that I enjoyed:
“So Many Sides of You” was a strong opening track, with an excellent beat and additional rhythmic elements. Those backing vocals were excellent too.
The lyrics on “Secrets” were really good. I loved the verse about cookies and KFC. Bobby’s delivery of those lines was perfection.
“Just My Imagination” had a unique country vibe to it that I thought worked well. The bass was great, and I really enjoyed what I assume was a keyboard tuned to sound like a pedal steel.
“Stand Up” was a really solid jam. It reminded me a lot of Funkadelic, and it sounded like something that should have been playing during the house party scene in Trading Places. This was my favorite song on the album, mostly because it was so fun.
The Poet is a well-made album, but this sort of sound is just not really my jam, and it’s not the sort of thing I’d come back to.
Talvin Singh
2/5
I’ve never heard of Talvin Singh before, but naming this album OK is a bold choice, because you know the smartass critics are going to have a field day with that. Reading about this album, it seems like an interesting concept to combine electronic elements with elements of traditional Indian music. I’m not sure if this is going to land with me, but there’s only one way to find out!
I wasn’t that into OK. I like the idea of this album, but in practice, I found it pretty tedious to get through. Nothing on this album was abrasive or annoying to listen to, but these songs weren’t very memorable, and even with their longer run times, the melodies never went anywhere interesting. It didn’t feel like there was a unifying tone or atmosphere to the whole album, and as a result, I found myself just passively letting these songs pass through my brain.
Minutemen
3/5
I’ve never heard of Minutemen before, but I’ve generally enjoyed the punk albums from the eighties that I’ve reviewed so far, so there’s a good chance this album will land with me. Looking at the track listing, at 45 songs in a little over eighty minutes, this should be a pretty interesting ride.
Double Nickels on the Dime is fine, and while it wasn’t really my cup of tea, I think that Minutemen achieved a couple of really noteworthy things on this album. First, the overall sound of the album is incredibly cohesive, even with its four somewhat separate parts. With all of the influences that Minutemen draw on, I was really surprised at just how consistent this album sounded. Their use of jazz to craft their song structures wasn’t really what I like hearing in music, but I thought it was interesting, and it kept things fresh over the course of this album. Secondly, I thought that Minutemen did a great job showing that punk isn’t as narrow of a genre as some people make it out to be. You can tell that the sound was crafted by the band, and not by the producer, keeping with the do-it-yourself ethos. Lastly, I thought that Minutemen all worked together really well as musicians. There was just something about their arrangements that had a certain harmony, despite the chaos that their sound conveys. There weren’t really any songs that stood out to me (although I recognized “Corona” from Jackass), but the album worked well as a whole. This isn’t the sort of thing I gravitate towards when it comes to music, but I appreciate what Minutemen achieved on this album.
Deep Purple
4/5
I started my other two Deep Purple reviews by saying that I think Deep Purple is fine, and I'm going to start this review the same way. Deep Purple is a fine classic rock band. Do I really want to listen to full albums from them? Eh, not really. Throw me some greatest hits, and I'll survive. I will say that this is the best album cover out of their three albums on the list though. Damn, that goes hard. Brits cosplaying on Mount Rushmore? Fuck yes. We need more non-Americans editing themselves onto Mount Rushmore in 2025. Better yet, if you throw some indigenous folks on there, I bet you could kill off 10% of Fox News's audience. But I digress. It's time to send Deep Purple off into the sunset with my final review of theirs.
Like Machine Head, Deep Purple in Rock was fine. I mentioned in my review for Machine Head that I like the way that these guys utilize the organ and guitar together, and that held true on this album as well. These guys have a really unique sound that blends hard rock and prog rock together, and their influence on the former can't be understated. Like Machine Head, in Rock has a few standout songs, and the rest of the album is just fine. "Speed King" was one of the songs that fell into the 'just fine' category, but I thought it was a good choice for a lead-off track, because it hit hard right away. Deep Purple wastes absolutely no time on this album, having literally one drum hit before the heavy guitars and theatrical vocals kick in. For me, "Child in Time" was easily the best song on the album. It's the only song on the album I knew beforehand, and it's not one I've listened to a lot, but I know that organ intro really well, and it kicks ass. Every element gets a chance to shine on this song, and the solos are outstanding. For a song that's over ten minutes long, it's really engaging, and worth paying attention to the whole thing. "Flight of the Rat" was really good too. The vocals reminded me a lot of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, which I really liked. The main guitar riff was really good, and the subtle bass line added a lot of depth to the sound. I thought "Living Wreck" was good too. There was a drum fill at the beginning that I really loved (a shame it didn't pop up again), and I liked the guitar riffs and organ playing. The closing track, "Hard Lovin' Man" was good too. I like the chugging rhythm of the guitars, and the drumming was good too. Overall, I'd have to give a slight edge to in Rock over Machine Head. I think Deep Purple played to their strengths on this album, leaning on the merging of prog and hard rock to craft a unique sound. I wasn't blown away by this album, but I think it's an important piece of music for showing how much depth hard rock can have.
4/5
I've never heard of Spirit nor this album before, so I have no idea what I'm in for here. The cover to this album is pretty wild though, and it's giving me some Captain Beefheart vibes, which makes me a bit leery. Hopefully my time with Dr. Sardonicus doesn't make me want to visit Dr. Kevorkian.
I’m really shocked that I’ve never heard of Spirit before, because this album was really good. The sound was really consistent across the album, but there was enough variation to keep me interested and entertained. For a psychedelic rock album, I thought Twelve Dreams was really accessible. There were some weird and experimental elements to this album, but the musicianship was really good, and the vocals were excellent as well. Lyrically, this album’s social and political commentary felt more akin to a folk album, but it still worked well with the band’s psychedelic sound. The opening track, “Prelude” really threw me for a loop when its soft opening quickly shifted into a more traditional rock sound. I love it when an album can throw me off balance in the opening track, and Spirit did that in a very satisfying way. Some notes on the individual songs:
“Nature's Way” was awesome. I loved that guitar and those vocal harmonies. I liked how it had a folky vibe to it, but the sound was firmly rooted in psychedelic rock.
“Animal Zoo” was terrific. I loved how it started off with some great rhythms, and then the sound just opened up, with lots of fun riffs and melodies.
“Love Has Found a Way” was so weird and busy, but underneath all of that business, the individual elements sounded great. The vocals at the end are incredible, and the segue into “Why Can't I Be Free” was superb. It shouldn't work to go from that wild of a song to something more traditional, but that shift was perfect.
"When I Touch You" was really great. I loved the main guitar melody, and the song just sounded awesome overall.
The percussion on "Street Worm" was excellent, and I liked the piano and the call-and-response rhythm of the guitar and vocals on the verses. The percussion on the bridge was particularly awesome.
“Morning Will Come” sounded great. I loved those horns, the keyboards were great, and I loved the mini-crescendos that built across the song.
Twelve Dreams was a really good album, and for a crowded field of psychedelic rock in the seventies, Spirit crafted something really unique and pleasant on this album. This was another pleasant surprise on this list.
2/5
Live 1966 will be my seventh and final Bob Dylan album to review. I like Bob Dylan in small doses, so 90 minutes of live material from him isn't something I'm incredibly excited to listen to. I do see that some of my favorite songs of his are on here though, and I'm really curious to see how these live versions will sound.
Live 1966 was pretty underwhelming to me. The first half of this album was nice, and I enjoyed the intimate sound of just Bob Dylan performing with a guitar and a harmonica. But speaking of that harmonica, it felt really loud to me in the mixing of this album. On top of that, Dylan's vocals sounded really mumbly, almost as if he had something in his mouth. As much as I enjoyed the intimacy of this part of the album, I didn't think the live versions of these songs really did much for them. "Mr. Tambourine Man" is one of my favorite songs of Dylan's, but do I want to listen to a nine minute version of it that's mostly him wailing the same sequence of notes on the harmonica over and over again? No, I do not.
The second part of this album sounded really poorly mixed, and there was a really tinny quality to the audio that drove me nuts. Again, I don't think these songs were done any particular service from these live versions. "Like a Rolling Stone" is one of my favorite songs of Dylan's, and this version didn't sound particularly good. I really love the studio version of this song, mostly because of the sense of wandering that it creates in its sound, and that felt totally stripped away on this version.
This album had a few nice moments, but I was mostly pretty bored by it. It's a shame that this had to be my last album of Dylan's to review.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Dirty will be my fifth and final Sonic Youth album to review. Before starting this project, I’d listened to Daydream Nation and Goo, and I really liked both of them. I considered myself a casual Sonic Youth fan; I thought their two albums that I’d listened to were really good, but their sound wasn’t something that I wanted to listen to often. Now, however, I’d consider myself a big fan of them. I’ve given every album of theirs five stars, and even added Sister to my CD collection because I loved it so much. I’ve never listened to anything off of Dirty before, but I have high hopes, mixed with trepidation. High hopes, because I’ve grown to really love Sonic Youth, but trepidation, because even some of my favorite artists have had albums on this list that I wasn’t that big of a fan of. Can Sonic Youth make it a sweep with five five-star albums?
It is with pleasure that I can officially declare that Sonic Youth has achieved the improbable, and achieved a fifth and final five-star rating. I always have doubts with Sonic Youth, wondering if I’ve gaslit myself into liking their music, convincing myself that I like them, solely because I feel like I should. But every time I listen to one of their albums, I’m completely engrossed with the moods and atmospheres that they create with their guitar playing. It honestly defies logic that they would be able to craft five albums with such a distinct sound, but with each album sounds so distinctly different, and creates its moods in different ways. I really loved that so many of the songs on this album had choruses and verses that were so different from one another, but the songs still felt really cohesive. I love Sonic Youth’s use of multiple guitars as well. The sound is so dense, but there are always some really beautiful melodies in their music. From a lyrical standpoint, I thought this album was really strong as well. “Swimsuit Issue,” “Shoot,” “Youth Against Fascism,” and “JC” were particularly good. I loved that line at the end of “Swimsuit Issue” that could have been ‘us women’ or ‘I’m swimmin’. I thought that was particularly clever wordplay. Some notes on individual songs:
I loved the tone of the guitars on “Theresa’s Sound-World.” This was the type of thing I love that Sonic Youth does: they set the atmosphere of the song before even singing a single word is sung. The first Sonic Youth song I ever heard was “Teenage Riot,” and I’ve been chasing that high ever since. This song was incredibly close in terms of having a melody that’s just as beautiful.
The crunchiness of the guitars on “Drunken Butterfly” was great. There was so much going on in terms of sound, but everything still clicked really well.
“Shoot” was so dark, both lyrically and sonically. What a dark and depressing song. Yet again, the mood and atmosphere were set before the lyrics even began. Kim Gordon’s vocals were insanely good, and I loved how growly and guttural she got at the end.
I loved the guitars on “Wish Fulfillment.” The melodic verses were so beautiful and haunting.
“Sugar Kane” is a lot like “Theresa’s Sound-World” to me in terms of what I like to hear from Sonic Youth. There was just so much atmosphere from the guitars alone. I loved how the melodies were buried under the distortion of the other guitars, and the guitar on the chorus was particularly excellent. I thought this felt right at home in the early nineties.
The lyrics were the best part of “Youth Against Fascism,” but the sound was great too. Excellent guitar playing.
The guitar on “Chapel Hill” was really melodic, and the drumming was great too. I particularly loved the guitar on the intro and bridge. The outro was great too, with more awesome guitars and drums.
On an album full of haunting songs, “JC” might have been the most haunting of them all. I remember seeing an Unsolved Mysteries episode about the murder of Joe Cole, and this song really captures just how I felt watching that segment.
Dirty was fantastic from start to finish, with plenty of the excellent guitar work that Sonic Youth is known for. Sonic Youth has grown from a band that I appreciate into a band that I really love to listen to and lose myself in their sound.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
I’ve never heard of X-Ray Spex before, but this is quite a cool album cover, and a very interesting album title as well. I don’t really know what to expect from this album, but I’m curious to see what’s in store.
Germfree Adolescents was a really fun surprise. X-Ray Spex built a concrete foundation of punk rock, then plopped a neon house of new wave on top, creating a really unique and enjoyable album. The band’s punk energy oozed from Poly Styrene’s Johnny Rotten inspired vocals, and in the lyrics filled with critiques of culture and class in late seventies England. But on top of that, the band filled this album with some great new wave guitar tones and saxophone playing. The highs on this album really soared, and I enjoyed the quick pace of the album. The album’s lead-off track, “Art-I-Ficial” hooked me in from the start, and while not every track was a winner to me, I had a great time with these songs. My favorite songs on the album were “Identity,” “Genetic Engineering,” and “Germfree Adolescents,” with the title track being my favorite of the bunch. “Germfree Adolescents” had an excellent bass groove, and great guitar effects too. The guitar playing just got better and better as the song went on. Germfree Adolescents was a really fun album, and it’s something that I could see myself coming back to.
Japan
4/5
I’ve never heard of this band or album before, but that album cover is really interesting. I tend to enjoy a lot of new wave music from this era, so I think there’s a good chance that I’m going to enjoy this album.
This was a really tough album for me to rate. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the musical arrangements on this album. The fretless bass, the keyboard playing, and the synthesizers were all fantastic, and there were some truly beautiful melodies across this album’s eight tracks. I also loved being able to listen to something that influenced Duran Duran so heavily. But on the other hand, some of these songs felt like they went on for twice as long as their listen run times. For an album that had some great pop sensibilities, I felt that these songs lacked the hooks and punchiness of pop music. One of the things that makes Duran Duran so fun to me is that their songs are incredibly fun to sing along to, and I just didn’t care much about the lyrics on this album. The moodiness of Quiet Life was executed really well, but I think the longer songs just wore me down a bit. I still think this is a really good album, but I just had a hard time putting all of my thoughts about it into words. Some notes on individual songs:
I loved the guitar and synthesizer playing on the title track. Those melodies together sounded so distinctly eighties, and it blew my mind that this album came out in 1979. The influence that this album had on Duran Duran can be felt immediately. I really loved the bridge of this song as well.
I loved that whistling tone on “In Vogue.” The keyboard playing was really great too, and I thought the synthesized strings sounded awesome. Japan did a great job of using a variety of elements and methods to craft their moody sound, and “In Vogue” is a prime example of that particular skill.
I loved those tones on “All Tomorrow’s Parties.” The futuristic beeps and boops at the beginning were really excellent, and I liked how the song shifted away from that into something more guitar driven. The keyboard and guitar work were great on this song.
Quiet Life is a really good album, and while I enjoy music that’s more focused on catchy hooks and riffs, I thought this album was really beautiful musically. It’s not catchiness that would bring me back to this album, but a sense of intrigue to let the moodiness and weird sounds wash over me.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
I’m not familiar with Miriam Makeba, and while a lot of the world music albums on this list haven’t really been my cup of tea, they’ve been really enriching and eye-opening experiences. I don’t have any expectations of this album, but I’m interested to see what it’s in store here.
Miriam Makeba’s self-titled debut was pretty good. The beauty and power of her voice hit like a freight train on the first track, and every song afterwards was a further exploration of her singing abilities. I enjoyed that this album had a mixture of her singing in English and in native African languages. No matter what language she was singing in, her voice always sounded great. I wish there had been more musical arrangements accompanying her singing, but I guess that would have taken away the main focus of this album. I found a fair amount of the songs on this album a touch boring, and some of the songs just didn’t really add much to the album as a whole, as I found them to be a pretty similar to what I had already heard on other songs, in terms of sounds and emotions. However, “The Click Song,” “Mbube,” and “The Naughty Little Flea” were really great. I loved that Miriam used traditional clicks on “The Click Song,” and I thought this was a really interesting glimpse into traditional African music. “Mbube” was really beautiful, and I enjoyed hearing the basis for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” “The Naughty Little Flea” was my favorite song on the album though. I loved the narrative of the lyrics, which I found really fun, and Miriam’s voice added a level of playfulness to the song that I thought worked really well. This isn’t the type of album I’d go back to, but it was still fun and interesting to listen to this today.
Dr. Octagon
2/5
I’d never heard of Dr. Octagon until I started this project, but I know that this is one of the lowest rated albums on the site. Granted, I assume that calling your album Dr. Octagonecologyst is probably going to trim down your target audience quite considerably. However, the only thing I know about this album is that it’s not very well liked; I don’t even know what genre it is, but with a cover like that, I’d peg this as some sort of weird noise rock. I guess it’s time to visit the doctor!
Ah, so this is a rap album by Kool Keith, interesting. I’ve heard Kool Keith’s name before, but I couldn’t tell you a thing about him. This visit to the Octagonecologyst was certainly a unique experience, and while I appreciate the strange vision that Kool Keith had while making this album, this just wasn’t for me. My initial impression of this album from “3000” was not a good one. I didn’t care for the odd rhythm to Keith’s flow, and his unusual rhyming scheme threw me off too. However, I thought the beats, music, and production were pretty good. I tend to enjoy east coast hip hop more than west coast, because I like that darker production sound on albums like 36 Chambers or Illmatic. Keith was able to take that east coast sound and morph it into this strange and alien-like album in a way that worked pretty well. As much as the first track threw me off, the rapping on the rest of the album didn’t feel as odd with the flow and rhyming structure. The beats and production were consistently pretty good throughout the whole album, but I just wasn’t into the weird lyrics, and I found Keith’s vocal tone to be really flat and unexpressive, which bored me a bit. The Dr. Octagon-ness of this album just wasn’t interesting enough to me to keep me engaged with this album for just over an hour. I respect the vision and the execution of that vision, but I didn’t particularly care for this album. However, the skit with the voicemail cracked me up. ‘1-800PP51-doo-doo’ will be burned into my brain forever, and I think this was the first time in my forty years of life that I’ve heard someone say ‘doo-doo’ while Pachelbel’s Canon played in the background.
Billie Holiday
1/5
I’ve heard of Billie Holiday before, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of her songs. I read about her version of “Strange Fruit” in Dorian Lynskey’s 33 Revolutions per Minute, but I never wound up checking out the song. I know it’s selfish, but I was afraid listening to it would have made me depressed or angry or both. I know “Strange Fruit” isn’t on this album, but I’m excited to listen to it, and see what Billie Holiday has in store.
Well, Lady in Satin wasn’t really my cup of tea. I was pretty taken aback by Billie’s voice right off the bat. It wasn’t raspy, but it had a certain unpolished quality to it that I wasn’t expecting. Having reviewed a lot of similar albums from this era, I expected her singing to be pretty close to Ella Fitzgerald, but that wasn’t the case. I found this album to be pretty boring. I didn’t think there was anything particularly noteworthy about the musical arrangements, and every song had a very similar theme or mood to it, which I found pretty monotonous. Even though I didn’t like Billie Holiday’s voice, it would have been nice to hear her explore other emotions than heartache and love. This album just wasn’t for me, and I found it to be a chore to get through. Given Billie Holiday’s reputation, I expected way more out of this album.
Bee Gees
3/5
Ah man, come on, it's Halloween, and you're gonna throw me the second Bee Gees album on this list? For crying out loud. I really hated Odessa, and I had honestly forgotten that I still had a second album to review by these fools. At least Trafalgar clocks in at under fitty minutes, so that’s a plus. Welp, time to get after it I suppose.
Trafalgar wound up being much better than I expected. I liked how the album explored the themes of love and loss, and tied them back to warfare. After all, Pat Benatar did say that love is a battlefield. This album felt a lot more coherent than Odessa, and the themes were much more obvious, which I thought worked really well. I thought the arrangements on Trafalgar were really good too. There were plenty of gentle melodies and great strings. On top of that, musically, I thought this album did a nice job of tying this album together. My main critique of this album is a matter of personal taste. I’m really picky about soft rock. When it comes to soft rock, you better bring something really unique to the table, like Karen Carpenter’s vocals, or Joni Mitchell’s incredible lyrics. This album, while nice, didn’t have anything that really snagged my attention. Trafalgar was fine, but it’s not something I’d seek out again. My favorite track was “Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself.” The heartbreak was really palpable, and I really liked the piano playing. Easily the most beautiful song on the album.
Chicago
3/5
Other than "25 or 6 to 4," I'm not really a big Chicago fan. My parents really liked them, but I always thought of their music as pretty boring. And let’s be honest: Peter Cetera’s “Glory of Love” might be the worst song to hit number one in the eighties. What a sappy piece of crap, I don’t care if it was on the soundtrack for the Karate Kid II. Granted, this album coming earlier in Chicago’s career does give me hope. When I think about their discography, I believe it’s their songs in the eighties that I really don’t care for. I’m not excited for an hour of Chicago, but here goes nothing.
This album was better than I expected, but overall it was just fine. Chicago Transit Authority started off really strong, with a great side one and a good side two, but from there, I felt like this album lost a lot of steam. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the thing that made this album drop in quality the longer it went on is that the horns played less of a part in the sound. Why would you guys ditch the horns? That’s what you do well! You’re not good at guitar noodling, don’t do that! Put more horns, dammit! That’d be like Prince deciding that getting laid is overrated, and writing songs about balancing the federal budget instead. But I digress. “Introduction,” while it had cheesy lyrics, had an excellent bass line, and I loved the way the song developed over time. It definitely didn’t feel like it was over six minutes long. I’ve heard “Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is" countless times, but this was my first time really listening to this song, and it honestly ruled. The horns were excellent, and that introduction is fantastic, especially the piano playing. I’m not big on Robert Lamm’s vocals, but I loved the little harmonies that were sprinkled throughout this song. It was jazzy in a way that felt accessible and really cool. “Beginnings” was another song that I was familiar with, but hadn’t really given much attention to when I’d heard it before. I loved how the pace of the song increased over time, especially with more percussive elements added in. The horns and bass line were great, and the vocals were good too, especially during the outro. “Questions 67 and 68” was really good as well, and I felt like it kept the sound that made the first part of the album so successful. The rest of side 2 of the album was just fine though, and unfortunately, it was the last stretch of the album that I really liked. There’s no way around it, but “Free Form Guitar” really stinks. Side 2 was already letting this album slip a bit, and man, this song did nothing to right the ship. It was just incredibly grating. It’s not jazzy, it’s not rock, it’s just incredibly cacophonous noise. Woof. The rest of side 3 wasn’t really noteworthy, but I did like how side 4 started with a song that felt really political and weighty in tone. There wasn’t really anything spectacular about the music, but I really enjoyed the lyrics on “Someday.” “Liberation” was a pretty weak ending to the album unfortunately. I wasn’t a big fan of this song musically, until close to the end, when there was more horn playing. I don’t know why those horns weren’t utilized more on this song, but whatever. Overall, this album is fine, but it was a letdown that it ended with a whimper when it started so strong. The best parts of this soar, but you could chuck the worst parts of it in the garbage and forget about them.
Supergrass
2/5
Ah, it’s been a hot minute since I reviewed I Should Coco, but I’m excited to finally see the second Supergrass album on this list. I was completely unfamiliar with Supergrass before starting this list, but it turned out that I knew “Alright” off of I Should Coco. I gave that first album four stars, and I have pretty similar hopes for In It For The Money as well.
This second effort from was not really my jam. In It For The Money started off really strong, with a few really unique tracks, and a darker tone and sound than their first album, but I kept waiting for Supergrass to do more with that new direction, and they never really did. The guitars really drowned this album out, and despite some good horn arrangements and some well-placed theremin use, this album wound up feeling and sounding pretty bland to me. The guitars, effects, and lyrics on the first track made me feel like this album were really great, and I thought we were going to get a more pessimistic and jaded Supergrass (like Pulp), who were coming down off of the high of Britpop’s massive explosion in popularity. But the songs on this album wound up being pretty standard fair in my opinion, and while the melodies on the best songs on this album were fun and somewhat memorable, most of this album was forgettable to my ears. The last two tracks were pretty massive clunkers to me, with some of the most annoying and out of place musical arrangements on the album. “In It For The Money,” “Richard III,” and “Sun Hits the Sky,” were all pretty good, but as a whole, this album felt pretty unnecessary to me.
Kanye West
3/5
Oh man, I’ve been absolutely dreading Yeezus, and it’s finally here, at album number 987. At least this one didn’t get to be album number 1000, or my final album. I really loved My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy when it came out, and I was really hyped that Yeezus was getting glowing reviews as its follow-up. But when I listened to it myself, I absolutely hated it, and I never listened to another new Kanye album after that, which turned out to be a massive blessing. I don’t think twelve years will have done this album any favors, so it’s time to hold my nose and get this over with.
I have to admit, Yeezus was a lot better than I remembered. It doesn’t hold a candle to MBDTF, but that’s a pretty high standard to hit anyway. I think that I when I listened to this when it first came out, I wanted that sweeping, orchestral production that was on MBDTF, but that was an unrealistic expectation. I liked the production on this listen. There were some good beats, good samples, and pulsing electronic arrangements. There were times when the sound was too busy, but thankfully those moments weren’t terribly often. Kanye’s rapping was good on this album as well, and I enjoyed his smooth delivery style. There’s a lot to take in lyrically on every song, and that makes Kanye’s albums pretty fun for additional listens. One of the biggest things that I didn’t care for on this album was that some of the songs had bridge sections that would completely disrupt the established sound of the song. Like during “On Sight,” when the electronic pulses pause, and there’s the little kids singing. One of the other things I hated was when Kanye’s lyrics were all about ego stroking, like on “I Am A God.” He does do some light ego stroking on “On Sight,” but it’s not the main thematic driver of the song. Speaking of “On Sight,” that opening track easily had some of the most clever lines on the album: “Don’t judge ‘em Joe Brown,” “Got more n***** off than Cochran,” and “We get this bitch shaking like Parkinson’s” all had me cracking up, although I felt guilty about laughing about the Parkinson’s one. While we’re talking about lyrics, I thought “New Slaves” really hit the mark with its social commentary, as did “Black Skinhead.” Who in 2013 would have thought that Black Skinhead would eventually become self-referential for Kanye? Not me. On a similar note, the Nina Simone sample on “Blood on the Leaves” was really interesting. I didn’t care for the sound of the song, but using “Strange Fruit” to talk about lost love was really bold and interesting. When it came to production, I thought “On Sight” was really great. It was a bold choice for a lead-off track, especially on the heels of MBDTF, but I loved the beat and the electronic pulses. There was a strange ebb and flow of sound and silence that was disorienting, but I really loved the feeling it created. “Hold My Liquor” had great production too. The main melody was awesome, and I loved the pulsing sounds too. Before summarizing, I have to say that the worst thing on this album, other than its artist, is that “uh-huh honey” vocal sample on “Bound 2.” It’s absolutely annoying, and adds nothing to the song. I’d forgotten about this song completely until today. “Bound 2” could have been great without that shitty sample. It reminds me of the vocals on “Dance Monkey,” another song that completely blows. Overall, Yeezus is fine. The highs are pretty good, the lows are annoying and jarring, and everything else is passable.
Mj Cole
1/5
I’ve never heard of MJ Cole before, but I’m guessing he’s not associated with J. Cole. I’ll be honest, I’m not digging the vibe of this album cover. I’m not sure if it’s a criticism of high-end lifestyles or an endorsement of it. I see that this yet another electronic/house album, and I haven’t been wowed by many albums from that genre so far. I’ll give this album a… sincere chance though.
I don’t know if my brain has been ruined by other electronic artists or what, but Sincere was another clunker of album to me. When I think of electronic music, I think of Daft Punk, Tycho, or Justice. Or I think of artists in electronic adjacent genres, like Chvrches, The XX, or Depeche Mode. All of those artists really excel at using electronic elements to create lush and memorable melodies, and melodies like that are what I’ve grown to associate with electronic music. But albums like Sincere just haven’t delivered on that notion. When I listen to Tycho’s Epoch, I know those arrangements like the back of my had, even if I haven’t listened to it in a year or so. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that this album, and others like it, just don’t deliver what I enjoy, and my preconceived notions of what these albums should be like might be making my experience even worse. I guess I’m just miffed that I haven’t enjoyed albums like this. But back to what I actually heard on Sincere. I didn’t hate this album initially. “Introduction” was a pretty good song. I liked that looped piano melody, and the song really developed as more elements were added. The vocals felt cheesy and dated to me, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. But as the album went on, I felt like there wasn’t much depth to these songs. They were all sleek and stylish, but I felt like there was nothing of substance to them. These songs didn’t create any atmosphere, and the arrangements weren’t particularly catchy or memorable. I just felt nothing listening to this album. Even though this album was a dud, “Crazy Love” and “Strung Out” were okay. “Crazy Love” felt really dated, but in a fun and nostalgic way. I enjoyed the silky vocals and the string arrangements. “Strung Out” had laid-back vibe that I enjoyed, and it had a good beat and awesome strings too. Other than that though, I… sincerely didn’t enjoy this album. I’ll see myself out.
Cypress Hill
2/5
I know of Cypress Hill, but the only song of theirs I know is "Insane in the Brain." Well, you know what, maybe I know "How I Could Just Kill a Man" too, but I'll wait until I listen to the album to find out for sure. I think I have a decent idea of what to expect from this album's sound, and I'm curious to see how I'll feel about this.
I didn't really care for this self-titled debut from Cypress Hill. It wasn't a bad album, but my dislike for it was just a matter of personal preference. This album had a unique sound, with good samples, interesting Latin influences, and some funny lyrics. But for the most part, this album just wasn't interesting to me musically. I didn't care for the stripped down production style, with the static and how the album was mixed, and the overall sound got a bit repetitive as the album went on. Again, it's just my personal taste that I didn't care for those production choices, and that's something that's held true for me with most of the west coast hip-hop albums I've reviewed. But there were some things that did work for me. I know it's a small detail, but I really liked those hand claps on "Light Another." That sort of punchier sound on the beat worked really well for me, and I don't know why Cypress Hill didn't use that sort of sound more often. Also, I liked the more funk reliant sound on "Real Estate," "Psychobetabuckdown," and "Something for the Blunted." Those songs were easily the best on the album, and I would have loved to hear more funk samples utilized like that on this album. Cypress Hill's debut is impactful, but it's just not my style.
ABBA
4/5
I reviewed ABBA’s Arrival a little over a year ago, and I thought it was fine. It had some solid pop songs on it, but nothing really blew me away. The reviews for this album mention that it’s a bit different than Arrival, and I’m not sure if that’s going to make it better or worse. I guess the only way to find out is to gimmie, gimmie, gimmie The Visitors.
I enjoyed The Visitors quite a bit more than I did Arrival. This album, while a bit uneven, had some really incredible pop songs on it. The vocals were consistently fantastic throughout the album, and I really loved the synthesizer-heavy sound. The sound oscillated between lighter and darker tones, but the overall feeling was pretty consistent throughout the album. Right off the bat, I was hooked by “The Visitors.” The vocals were excellent, the synthesizers were fantastic, and that shift out of the introduction into the body of the song was amazing. I loved how the sound developed over the course of the song, and I’m amazed that this only peaked at number 63 in the U.S. What the hell were people doing in 1981? Do cocaine and stonewashed denim damage your eardrums? I was really worried that this album wouldn’t get any better than this lead off track, but those fears were laid to rest by “When All Is Said And Done.” This was an absolutely perfect pop song, and it gave me literal chills as the music washed over me. I loved the bright sounds, and the song just got better and better over the course of its runtime. When the bass and drums kicked in, it really started to cook. “Soldiers” had the best bass line on the whole album, and I really loved the dark synthesizer tones. “One of Us” had some fantastic vocals, and I loved the brighter sounding parts of the song. “Two For The Price Of One” felt a little out of place on this album, but it was a great song. I loved how the funny story unfolded, and the use of phone sounds worked really well. Overall, The Visitors was a really solid pop album. Some of the songs felt a bit like filler, and a few others felt out of place tonally, but the best parts of this album truly soared. This makes me want to check out more ABBA albums.
Waylon Jennings
1/5
Other than the Dukes of Hazzard theme, I don't think I could name a single song by Waylon Jennings (well scratch that, I know of "Luckenbach," but I don't think I've ever actually listened to it. As a Texan, don't tell anyone I said that). I've enjoyed a fair amount of the country albums on this list, and the words Honky Tonk appearing in the title up the chances of my enjoyment even more. Time for a little outlaw country!
As much as I wanted to enjoy this album, I found it pretty underwhelming. I thought Waylon’s singing was good, and the guitar playing was nice, but I was really bored by this album. When it comes to country music, I really love hearing raw emotions, like Emmylou Harris, or something lighthearted and silly, like Buck Owens. Honky Tonk Heroes was just kind of bland to me, because it didn’t make me feel anything. There weren’t any particular songs that stood out to me, and there wasn’t anything particularly unique about this musically or lyrically. I was really hoping that I would enjoy this album, but this was a swing and a miss.
Big Star
3/5
I reviewed Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers about 350 albums ago, and I thought it was okay. I had really high hopes for that album, and I was a bit let down by it. I had even higher hopes for this album before listening to Third/Sister Lovers, but now those expectations have been tempered a bit. I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about #1 Record, but I’m hoping this experience is better than Third/Sister Lovers was.
Just like their other album on this list, Big Star’s #1 Record was fine, but I enjoyed this one a little bit more. Like Third, the slower and more melodic songs on this album were better than the other songs. Also just like Third, I really expected catchier hooks and riffs on an album that most people classify as power pop. While this album didn’t have that catchiness, the slower songs did have some beautiful guitar work, and I thought the album was pretty well produced. It was interesting to hear The Byrds’ influence on Big Star as well, and even though that influence was obvious, their sound never felt like it was trying to copy The Byrds. Alex Chilton’s vocals were pretty solid throughout the album, but to my ears, there’s not really anything unique about his voice, which is a bummer. I thought that “Thirteen,” “Give Me Another Chance,” “Try Again,” and “Watch the Sunrise” were the best songs on the album. None of them really blew me away, but they all sounded good, and they had some good emotional weight to the lyrics and singing. The rest of the album wasn’t bad, but it was just kind of bland to me. I guess Big Star isn’t for me, but I can see how others would find their work appealing.
Madonna
3/5
I managed to make it 915 albums into this project before I got my first Madonna album, and so far, her work has been a mixed bag to me. I gave Music 2 stars, but Like a Prayer was an absolute banger, and I gave it five stars. I think I only know the title track off of this, so I’m not really sure what the rest of the album is going to sound like. As long as it’s far off from what Music was like, I think I might wind up liking this.
Ray of Light wasn’t in the same ballpark as Like A Prayer, but thankfully it was still better than Music. I’m definitely more partial to Madonna’s pop hits from the eighties and early nineties, but it was still cool to listen to this, just to hear what else she’s capable of doing. I thought Ray of Light was well produced, and I liked that each song brought something different to the table in terms of sound. For someone who’s not an electronica artist, I think it shows Madonna’s talent that she was able to create an album with so much variation. When it comes to the lyrics though, I just don’t care about Madonna’s ‘spiritual journey’ with Kabbalah. What a terrible time that was in the late nineties, when every celebrity was dabbling with Kabbalah. As much as I like Madonna as an artist, I think she’s a bit of a narcist, so this album’s lyrics feel like a late career rebrand disguised as a spiritual awakening. P.T. Barnum would be proud though. While this album does have a few excellent songs on it, most of it is just fine, and only “Shanti/Ashtangi” was truly putrid. “Drowned World/Substitute For Love” was a great opening track, and it did a great job of establishing where this album was going to go musically. The guitar, bass, percussion, and vocals all sounded really good, and I wasn’t expecting something so gentle. “Ray of Light” is excellent as well. I love how it maintains the overall gentle sound of the album, but it still has a truly dance-worthy sound to it. The beats are never overpowering, but they do a great job of driving the sound of the song. I really liked that piano melody on “Sky Fits Heaven” as well. This song didn’t have the same dance music sound as the title track, but it was still really beautiful. “Frozen” was excellent as well, and possibly my favorite song on the album. It’s a beautiful song, and every musical element comes together really well. The softer sound was really haunting, and even with a pretty long run time, every second of it was worth listening to. I loved the atmosphere that “Frozen” created, and “The Power of Good-Bye” was an excellent follow-up to it, keeping that same sense of atmosphere. From there though, the album mostly limped along to the finish line. I think I would have enjoyed this album a bit more had it shaved off three songs or so. I wasn’t wowed by this, but it made for a pretty enjoyable listen.
Tori Amos
5/5
I have some close friends who really love Tori Amos, but that love never managed to rub off on me. I know I’ve heard her music in passing before, but I’ve never listened to an album of hers. I tend to enjoy female singer-songwriter albums from this era, and I love some good piano playing, so I think this album might be right up my alley.
My inclinations were correct, and I really loved Little Earthquakes. Everything about this album was excellent: the vocals, the piano playing, the musical arrangements, and the songwriting were all top tier. I could kick myself for never having listened to this album until now. I wouldn’t say that Little Earthquakes was a fun listen, due to the emotional weight of these songs, but Tori Amos is a compelling storyteller with her music. How has Tori Amos never won a Grammy? The older I get, the more I realize what a sham these awards are. But I digress. Little Earthquakes was excellent, and I need a physical copy of it yesterday. Some notes on the individual songs:
I loved the piano, vocal effects, and percussion on “Crucify.” I got big Kate Bush vibes from this song, but not in way that was derivative. I loved the way that the vocals were layered. Such a big and beautiful sound that’s still super intimate.
I loved the strings on “Girl.” The piano was excellent too, and I loved that little crescendo that the song built to, where more vocals were mixed in. Fantastic.
Whoa, “Silent All These Years” was brutal lyrically, but so gentle in its sound. That little tinkling percussion element is really excellent. It’s such a small detail, but I loved it. I really loved when the multi-track vocals kicked in.
The drumming on “Precious Things” was awesome. These songs have been so gentle so far, and this one is too, but those drums really add some serious pop to the chorus.
The strings on “Winter” were incredible. Each song on this album is so beautiful musically, but there’s so much variation. The piano is usually driving the sound, but the other elements add so much richness to things. I love the way her songs flow. Some songs are quiet and then loud, but the way she structures things makes so much sense. The shifts in energy never feel unnatural.
There’s some sort of deep whooshing element on “Happy Phantom” that I love, but I have no idea what it is. It’s gotta be some sort of percussion instrument, or maybe a keyboard effect. The piano was excellent too.
The bass on “China” was excellent, and I read that the guy who did the bass was in The Soft Boys and Thompson Twins. What a career that guy had, and then COVID took his life. Jesus, that’s awful. Excellent lyrics on this song though.
I really loved the sound of “Tear In Your Hand.” The piano and guitar sounded fantastic together. The percussion was really tight and neat, and sounded excellent as well. And of course there’s multitrack vocals too that come in later.
Little Earthquakes was an outstanding album. If this is what it’s like to listen to a musical prodigy, then sign me up for more.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Ah, my second and final Jane’s Addiction album to review, and it’s one that I’ve actually listened to before. I bought this album back in the late aughts, after seeing it on the original 1001 Albums list. I wanted to branch out from all the classic rock I listened to in college, and so I started checking out a lot of early alternative rock. I honestly don’t remember what I thought about this album, but I know that I still really like “Mountain Song” and “Jane Says.” I’m excited to dive into this album again today!
I can’t believe that I haven’t revisited this album in so long. Nothing’s Shocking isn’t a five-star album for me, but it’s still really good. Everything on here sounds great, but man, the guitar work is really on another level. The drumming and bass playing are fine, but on most of the songs, Dave Navarro’s guitar playing far outshines everyone else’s contributions. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I like Perry Farrell’s vocals. His style and voice are unconventional, but I love some really unique vocals, and he delivers on that. I enjoyed that there was so much diversity in the sound from song to song on this album as well. My biggest critique of this album is that I underwhelmed by the lyrical portion of the songwriting, and there were a few songs that felt like filler. Despite those flaws, I would still come back to this album, although I’d maybe skip a few parts. A few notes on some individual songs:
“Up the Beach” was an excellent lead off track. The booming drums and echoing effects compliment the guitar playing really well. Perry’s little vocal fills were excellent too. “Ocean Size” was a great follow up to this song, with the multiple guitars keeping pace with the big sound of “Up the Beach.”
“Ted, Just Admit It…” is such a journey. The guitar playing was great, and I loved those madcap drums towards the end of the song.
“Mountain Song” is absolutely iconic. The bass playing on the introduction is fantastic, and the main guitar riff is incredibly catchy. The drum fills towards the end of the chorus each time are great, and for a song that has a slower tempo, “Mountain Song” is bursting with energy.
“Idiots Rule” is sneakily one of the best songs on the album. I love the variation that the horns provide on this song, and the lyrics are really great.
Like “Mountain Song,” “Jane Says” is iconic as well. The guitar playing is so simple, but that guitar riff is instantly recognizable. I really love the gentleness of the steel drums, and Perry’s vocals are at their best on this song. The story of the lyrics is so dark and sad, and I love how they contrast with the song’s bright sound.
Nothing’s Shocking is a really solid album. Jane’s Addiction changed the game with this one, and it’s hard to imagine the direction alternative rock would have taken without this album’s contributions.
The Young Rascals
2/5
I only know a couple of songs by The Young Rascals ("Groovin'" and "Good Lovin'"), and thankfully, one of those happens to be on this album. I've had some pretty mixed feelings about sixties psychedelic music, so it's a coin flip as to whether or not I'm going to enjoy this album. Time to get groovin'!
Well, I didn't do much groovin' to this album. There were some songs that were okay, but most of this album was really boring to me. Musically, I didn't think there was really anything noteworthy on this album. The guitars, drums, and vocals were all fine, but I didn't think The Rascals did anything particularly noteworthy or unique when it came to their musicianship. I did like the horns on the first couple of songs, and I liked the keyboards and flute on "It's Love," but other than that, I just wasn't attached to anything on here. I didn't care for most of the lyrics on this album either; most of these songs felt like generic sixties pop songs about love, and I didn't think these lyrics had anything interesting to say. The title track was pretty good though, as was the aforementioned "It's Love," but they couldn't do enough on their own to lift this album above two stars. Sorry Rascals, but when it comes to the sixties, there are just far better options than you guys.
Laibach
3/5
Ah, finally, I get Laibach’s Opus Dei. I’d never heard of this band or album before I started this project, but I know this album has quite the reputation amongst other users on this project. I know this list isn’t exactly flush with industrial albums, but I’ve mostly enjoyed the ones that are on here. However, I have no clue about what to expect from a Slovenian album. Whether I love this or hate this, I’m sure Opus Dei is sure to be a unique and interesting experience.
As with most of the lowest rated albums on this list, I didn’t find Opus Dei to be that bad, and I thought it was a pretty fun album. I thought Laibach’s approach to industrial music was really unique, and I really enjoyed how they utilized synthesizers in their music. I tend to enjoy when music can have contrasts between light and dark, and this album really capitalized on that technique. Even though I found Opus Dei pretty enjoyable, this album was pretty uneven in its sound. This album felt more like a greatest hits compilation than an LP, with some songs sounding really stripped down or much heavier than the rest of the album. Some songs were pretty repetitive lyrically, even though the music changed and evolved over the course of the song. Some notes on the songs that stood out to me:
“Leben Heißt Leben” hit really hard for an opening track. The pouding drums, the booming vocals, and the horns all sounded great together, and did a great job of establishing this album’s sound. I loved the bright synthesizers too. This song made me feel like I was attending Catholic mass in Carlsbad Caverns.
“Geburt Einer Nation” was really good too. Like the first track, this song did a great job of using both lighter and darker sounds to create a really unique environment.
Fourth track is cool too. I liked that intro, and I like the spoken vocals. Everything that's made this album click so far is still here: dark atmosphere, unique arrangements
“Trans-National” felt like a more traditional industrial song, like something off of Kollaps. The song itself was good, but it stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the album.
I liked the horns on “The Great Seal,” and this song had a really epic sound to it that made it the perfect closing track.
While Opus Dei was an uneven experience, it was fun and interesting to listen to, and I could see myself checking out some more Opus Dei music in the future.
Incubus
3/5
Ah, Incubus. I owned a copy of Morning View, back when I was in high school. I think I wound up giving it some Mormon kid I worked with, because I just didn't listen to it anymore (I just know that kid had to keep it hidden from his parents). But then in college, I kinda came back around on them when "Dig" came out and when "Stellar" was on one of the Guitar Hero games. They're not a band that I really listen to, but I appreciate their hits. I actually took my wife to see them in concert a couple of years ago, and Brandon Boyd sounded great. Enough with the backstory though, time to make myself!
Eh, Make Yourself was fine. It felt like this album was more based on vibes that any sort of melodies or hooks, and while I liked the vibes that this album had, it was pretty boring for some stretches. Incubus has a unique sound, and Brandon Boyd was definitely one of the best singers of this era of rock music, but there's just not a lot of substance to this album. It's like eating a whole bag of Pirate Booty; you know you ate all of it, because the empty bag is there, and the crumbs are all over your shirt, but once you chuck the bag and dust yourself off, there's nothing left of your experience. However, this album's singles are really great, and they show how much talent Incubus has for making great songs. "Stellar" is the first song on the album that manages to do more than just coast on vibes. The guitar and the ambient elements mesh really well here, and the ebb and flow between the gentle verses and heavier choruses works really well. The guitar work on "Stellar" is some of the best on the album. "Drive" is easily one of Incubus's best songs. The simple but catchy guitar playing shows that these guys can write great songs, and Brandon Boyd's vocals are hauntingly beautiful on this song. Like "Stellar," "Drive"manages to meld the ethereal vibes of the album with some good musicianship. "Pardon Me" is probably my favorite song on the album. The turntables and scratching really add a lot to the sound here, instead of just filling the space with more sound. Brandon Boyd's fast paced semi-rapping is good, but his vocals on the more intense chorus are absolutely fantastic. "Pardon Me" is just a really fun song. In addition to those three songs, "Make Yourself" and "I Miss You" are pretty good too, but the rest of the album feels like filler. However, this album did make me appreciate just how unique Incubus was, and how refreshing their songs were on alternative rock radio back in the early aughts. I can't see myself ever firing up this whole album again, but Incubus's hits will always be welcome in my ears.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
It’s been over 900 albums since I reviewed Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, a True Star, and here we are with its predecessor. I don’t remember much about AWaTS, but I gave it three stars, and my review says that I thought it was fine (for some reason, I remember picking up some dry cleaning on the day I listened to it, but that could be a bullshit memory; there’s a mural close to my dry cleaner’s that has a similar color scheme to AWaTS’s cover, so maybe that’s where the association comes from. Isn’t the mind a bizarre thing?). I’m curious to see what this album is like, but I’ll admit that I’m not super keen on the idea of listening to Todd Rundgren for 90 minutes.
Unfortunately, Something/Anything wasn’t really my cup of tea. Yes, the amount of work that Todd Rundgren put into this album himself is impressive, and he’s a talented musician, but Something/Anything is bloated, and pretty uneven across its four sides. There were a few good songs on this album, but there were also large swaths of it that I really didn’t care for. I think Todd Rundgren is one of those artists who falls under the category of “your favorite musician’s musician,” but his work just doesn’t wow me, because I don’t find it particularly unique, and it’s not the type of music I gravitate towards. I have some notes on each section of the album:
Side one of the album was pretty good. “I Saw the Light” was definitely the most notable song on the whole record. I thought it was just a really good, beautiful pop song. Its sound was really well-layered, and there was a lot of emotion in the softer sound of the vocals. “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” was good too, but not as good as “I Saw the Light.” There were some good little details in the arrangements, like the tinkling of the cymbals. I thought the bridge was pretty strong too. “Wolfman Jack” sounded great, and it was really fun. I loved the backing vocals and the horns, and this song had a strong bridge too.
Side two of the album definitely lived up to the name “the cerebral side.” I really hate calliope sounding music, so “The Night the Carousel Burned Down” was not my speed. Also, I hated that garbled intro on “Saving Grace,” and this song had a melody very similar to “Carousel,” which I didn’t care for. I was glad there was no calliope involved on “Saving Grace,” but man, I wanted to move really far away from “Carousel,” and this song didn’t deliver on that. The only song on this part of the album that I remotely cared for was “I Went to the Mirror.” I didn’t care for it when it started, but I liked the bluesy sound it developed into.
The third side of the album was my favorite part. “Black Maria” was pretty good, and I liked that it kept that blues vibe from the end of “I Went to the Mirror.” “One More Day” was really nice too, and I liked its soft sound. Todd’s vocals went along with the music really well. “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” had a great foot-tapping rhythm that I really enjoyed, and I thought the overall rock sound was really good.
On the last side of the album, only a couple of songs stood out to me. “Dust in the Wind” was good, and I was glad that this wasn’t related to the Kansas song in any way. The lyrics were good, as was the overall sound, and I liked the backing vocals and the saxophone. “Piss Aaron,” while feeling pretty out of place on this album, was pretty entertaining. The lyrics felt like something off of a Primus or Ween album.
While Something/Anything had some good moments, most of the album just wasn’t my speed. A lot of these songs failed to do anything that I thought was unique or interesting, and side two of the album was really grating to me. Sorry Todd Rundgren, but at least we’ll always have “Bang the Drum All Day.”
Tim Buckley
4/5
It’s been over a year since I reviewed a Tim Buckley album (Goodbye and Hello), and over two years since I reviewed Happy Sad (that review that says “Crappy/Bad” will randomly pop into my head and make me chuckle). I thought Happy Sad was fine, but I liked Goodbye and Hello quite a bit more. I’m hoping that I’ll enjoy Greetings From L.A. just as much as I enjoyed Goodbye and Hello, if not more.
I’d place Greetings From L.A. between Tim’s other two albums on this list, but it’s closer to Goodbye and Hello in terms of quality. Like Goodbye and Hello, I thought Tim Buckley’s vocals on this album were great, and there were some excellent arrangements on this album as well. Of the eight songs here, I only thought one of them was a dud, and even though these songs all brought something unique and different to the table in terms of their sound, the psychedelic rock sound tied them all together nicely (Wikipedia says this album is closer to funk, which I strongly disagree with). Lyrically though, this album wasn’t nearly as good as Goodbye and Hello. There were some interesting themes to some of the lyrics on this album (more on that below) that just weren’t my jam. Those lyrics weren’t enough to take away from my enjoyment of the musical components, but enough to drag the overall album down a bit for me. I’ve included my notes for each individual song below:
“Move With Me” started off fine, but I really liked it when the backing vocals kicked in. Tim’s vocals were great, and the piano and saxophone sounded really good too. Apparently, Tim enjoyed life’s carnal pleasures quite a bit though, and he’s not afraid to sing about his love for black women. That’s certainly an artistic choice to include in your lyrics.
Is this whole album going to be about sex? Man, Tim guy loves to get laid and then sing about it. I do like the percussion and the organ on “Get On Top,” and it’s got a very fun sound overall. The vocals are great once more, and the bass line is slick. I love Tim’s little vocal fills are really fun too.
We’re at “Sweet Surrender,” and Tim is batting a perfect 1.000 on sex songs on this album. His vocals are great once again though, and the string arrangement is excellent. Despite this variation in sound, this is still a really cohesive album.
Second side of the album starts off with a big shift from the end of the first side, and I think that “Nighthawkin’” was the weakest song on the album. The vocals are good, but that’s it.
Thankfully, “Devil Eyes” as better than Nighthawkin’. I liked the chord progression that was used, and the percussion was good too. The vocals and organ playing were great as well, and I was happy to hear more of those weird vocal fills.
“Hong Kong Bar” was awesome. I loved the little blues guitar riff, and the handclaps add a raw feeling to the song that I enjoyed.
And to close out the album, we’re back with another sex song. Well played Tim, I thought you’d gotten that out of your system on side one of this album. I do like the sound of this song though, and when the strings kick in, it sounded really great. There’s another batch of really good vocals to close this album out as well.
Greetings From L.A. was short of five stars for me, but musically, it was great, and I really enjoyed Tim Buckley’s vocals. I’d never heard of Tim before I started this project, but I’m glad that I got to listen to three of his albums that all brought different things to the table.
Dion
3/5
I listened to a fair amount of oldies when I was growing up in the late eighties and early nineties (shout-out to 98.7 K-LUV in FW), so I have some fond memories of hearing songs like Dion’s “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer” while sitting in the backseat of our 1987 Honda Accord. Other than those two songs though, I don’t think I’m familiar with anything else Dion sings. I see that Phil Spector produced this album, so I’m curious to see how the recording industry’s most notorious murderer melded with Dion’s sound.
Born to Be with You was fine overall. Dion’s singing was good, and there were some really good arrangements on these eight songs. The raw emotion of Dion’s singing, paired with Phil Spector’s lavish production created a really interesting contrast. Sometimes, those production techniques worked really well, and elevated the album, and other times, those techniques created some head-scratching results. I thought this album was pretty even and cohesive, but towards the end, it started to wear on me, as I felt that these songs were doing the same thing musically and emotionally, but not doing it any better than the earlier songs on the album. Additionally, a couple of songs felt pretty long and somewhat repetitive. Overall, though, this was a pretty good seventies pop record. Some notes on some individual songs:
The title track really threw me for a loop. When it first started, I thought this album was going to have a bit of a country sound to it, and then it shifted into that big and bold Phil Spector sound. I liked the saxophone playing, and the strings were really good too. The sound was beautiful overall, and I enjoyed the vocals. My only beef with this song is that over the course of nearly seven minutes, it didn’t really say much.
The storytelling in the lyrics of “Your Own Backyard” was really great. The music was good too, but not as good as the first two songs.
The strings on “The Whole World in His Hands” were great, but I really didn’t care for the echoing effect on the vocals. The overall sound was a bit too muddled for me, and it doesn’t fit the tone of the song in my opinion. However, the backing vocals were really great.
“Only You Know” had a doo-wop touch to the lyrics and the vocals, but musically, you could definitely feel Phil Spector’s touch. It was really interesting to hear the raw emotion of the vocals and the elaborate production working together.
Goldie
3/5
I’ve never heard of Goldie before, but I see that this is yet another nineties electronica (okay, specifically drum and bass, for all the taxonomy sticklers out there) album from the UK. Also, much to my dismay, I see that this album clocks in at just under two hours. I’m definitely too mature to be stewing over that fact as I type this. I don’t hate listening to stuff like this on principle, but like jazz music, I feel I have no frame of reference other than “okay, that was fine to listen to, and it was definitely music.” Maybe Timeless will be the album that finally breaks through to me.
Timeless wasn’t really my speed. I didn’t think this was necessarily a bad album, and I didn’t find anything grating about the music, but it was just tough to get into, and then get through. The title track was a slog to me. There were some distinct segments to it, but those segments that broke away from the main flow of the music just weren’t interesting to me, and when the main flow of the song came back, my ears couldn’t discern anything that had changed or evolved with the melodies. Diane Charlemagne’s vocals were really nice though, and they definitely added a distinctly nineties feeling to the songs that she was featured on. I enjoyed the next song, “Saint Angel” a bit more, but like the opening track, it just didn’t justify its run time to me. I did like “State of Mind” more than the first two tracks. I liked the gentler melody that wasn’t as reliant on rapid fire drum machines, and Diane Charlemagne’s vocals were very welcome again. “State of Mind” is when I started to get more into this album and finding more things about it that I enjoyed. “Sea of Tears” was probably my favorite song on the album. I liked the way that the song developed (which, at twelve minutes long, was a welcome thing to hear), and each different segment of the song felt like it was building on the previous segment, and adding more emotions to the sound. I really enjoyed the bass sounds on “A Sense of Rage.” I felt like this was one of the more unique songs on the album, especially with how the bass was utilized. “Angel” was really nice too, mostly due to more of Diane Charlemagne’s singing. All the other songs that I didn’t mention were fine, but they just didn’t bring anything to the table that I found noteworthy. This isn’t the type of album that I’d sit down and actively listen to again, but I wouldn’t mind having it on in the background while I take care of some tedious computer work.
Neu!
5/5
I’ve never heard of Neu before, but so far, I’ve really enjoyed the German bands that I’ve gotten to review on this list (still waiting on that final Kraftwerk album though). I studied German for three years in high school and two years in college, but other than Kraftwerk, I’d never heard of any of these German bands before, and that’s a damn shame. I have no idea what to expect from Neu, but I’m excited to fire this album up.
Neu! 75 was absolutely outstanding, and I loved every minute of it. Each side of the album had its own distinct feeling, but the album as a whole still felt really cohesive, because everything was rooted in Neu’s experimental sounds and epic song structures. As soon as I heard those opening notes of “Isi,” I had a really strong feeling that I was going to really love this album, and I was so happy that each song on this album had such lush melodies and wonderful rhythms. Neu! 75 sounded like a wonderful mix of Kraftwerk, Can, and Suicide, and even though the influences were easy to pick out, Neu never sounded like a carbon copy of any of their influences. I’ve already listened to this album three or four times, and I will be buying a physical copy of it as well. Some notes on the individual tracks:
I loved “Isi” right off the bag. The melodies were beautiful, and in an instrumental sense, I had zero clue how Neu was doing what they were doing. My ears hung on to every note, unsure of what to expect next. The drumming was really excellent as well, and I loved how tight the rhythms were.
“Seeland” was amazing too. I loved how the sound changed and developed over the course of those wonderful seven minutes. The clacking percussion was awesome, and it I liked the beautiful tones with a deeper register. The guitar was great, and I loved the rain sounds at the end.
I really loved how the rain sounds at the end of “Seeland” segued into the ocean sounds on “Leb’ Wohl.” The gentle piano and percussion were really great.
I loved the rocking sound of “Hero.” The guitar playing and drumming were excellent, and every second of this seven-minute song was really fun.
“E-Musik” was fantastic, and for a song that was almost ten minutes long, it was really interesting, and I was completely enraptured by it. The guitar effects were excellent, and the drumming was awesome again too. The rhythms were excellent too, and added the perfect touch to the overall sound. I loved how the guitar effects faded in and out, allowing the melodies to come in constant waves. I love how each song on this album has its own unique outro.
“After Eight” was excellent as well. The drumming on this album was perfect from start to finish. The second side of this album was a really cool protopunk journey. Neu really knows how to lean into the things that make their sound unique.
Neu! 75 was an excellent discovery that completely took me by surprise. This album was full of wonderful melodies, outstanding drumming, and great guitar effects. I’d listen to this album again in heartbeat.
The Roots
4/5
I know I’ve listened to an album by The Roots before, but I think it was Things Fall Apart. I remember enjoying it, but I don’t remember what I enjoyed about it. It’s a shame that I haven’t listened to more of their albums, because I read Questlove’s memoir, and I really liked it. I have no idea how I’m going to feel about this album, but I think there’s a good chance that I’m going to enjoy Phrenology.
I didn’t fall in love with Phrenology, but I thought it was a good album, and I enjoyed listening to it today. I guess I’ll get my gripes out of the way first. Phrenology pulled from a lot of different influences, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I felt like the album was a bit uneven. I’m not a huge fan of neo-soul, and I found the really long tracks towards the end of the album to be a bit tedious to get through. Most importantly though, I just couldn’t get into the lyrics on this album. Some songs had some good social commentary, but there were quite a few songs that I felt didn’t really say anything noteworthy. Now that my criticisms have been dealt with, on to the things that I liked here. The things that were most consistent about this album were the drumming and the production work. Questlove’s drumming was downright hypnotic throughout this album, and he did so many different things with his rhythms. His talent was on full display on Phrenology, and I really loved what he added to the album’s sound. Secondly, the production was fantastic. Even with the songs that weren’t really my jam, I was able to sit back and appreciate how good they sounded. Even my least favorite songs on the album had at least one musical element that I appreciated. As for the individual songs:
I loved how this album started off, with “Rock You” and “!!!!!!!”. The beat on “Rock You” was really driving, and the synthesizers and drumming were excellent. I wasn’t expecting that sort of sound from this album. The follow up to “Rock You,” “!!!!!!!,” was excellent as well, despite its short run time. It felt like the perfect second track, and I love how well it segued into “Sacrifice.”
Speaking of, I thought “Sacrifice” was excellent. I loved the gentler sound, but the beat was great too. The synthesizers and keyboards added a lot of richness to the sound, and I enjoyed Nelly Furtado’s guest vocals.
The percussion on “Thought @ Work” was really great, and I loved how the sample from The Incredible Bongo Band was used.
The bass playing on “The Seed” was excellent. The song had a great overall sound, bolstered by some good guitar playing and vocals. This was one of the few songs where I really liked the lyrics. I loved the double meaning of the progression of life and the merging of musical styles.
I loved the first several minutes of water, with its excellent lead and bass guitar parts. Rhythmically, those first several minutes were awesome. When the song went off the rails, I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much, but it did have a good segue into “Quills.”
Phrenology was enjoyable to listen to. The Roots showcased their talents and uniqueness really well on this album. This isn’t the type of album I’d probably fire up again, but I appreciate the artistry that went into it.
Tom Waits
3/5
It’s been a minute since I’ve had a Tom Waits album, and here is my fourth album of his to review (also, this is my third album from 1975 this week). My most recent Tom Waits album was Heartattack and Vine, which I reviewed over 500 albums ago. I thought Heartattack and Vine was fine, I thought Bone Machine was really good, but I absolutely loved Rain Dogs. Reading the description and reviews of this album does give me some pause though. I enjoy hearing Tom Waits sing, and it doesn’t sound like he does much of that on this album, instead opting to deliver spoken words over jazz music. Hmm. Well, I guess it’s time to go to Tom’s Diner… er… Nighthawks at the Diner/Studio.
I have a lot of feelings about this album. I really thought I was going to hate listening to this, and is it got started, I could feel the bitter hater inside me start to come out. But as I got settled in, I kinda enjoyed Nighthawks at the Diner. The live audience was a mixed bag for me. There were times that they laughed at things that weren’t really that funny, and it felt really awkward. But the presence of the audience really gave this album an excellent atmosphere. Before listening to this, I read that it was recorded in a studio, but part of the way through this album, I thought to myself “man, it’s really cool that he recorded this in a diner.” I don’t know how this album managed to gaslight me so heavily, but it did. As for the spoken word element of this album, that was a mixed bag as well. I think Tom Waits is a great storyteller, so even though I was bummed that he only sang once on this album, I didn’t wind up minding the fact that most of this album was spoken. However, some of the longer songs just went on too long for my taste, and I felt kind of bored listening to them. However, I did really love “Big Joe and Phantom 309.” The only song that Tom Waits sang on, “Better Off Without A Wife” was easily my favorite song on the album. One of the things that drove me nuts on this album was when Tom would throw in phrases like “with my disconcerting, precarious emotional situation” or “used car salesmen dressed up in Purina Checkerboard slacks and Foster Grant wrap-around.” Seriously Tom, shut up. You sound like an asshole sometimes on this album. Musically, I thought this album sounded good. I thought the bass playing was the best part of the music, and it seems like the guy who played bass has quite an impressive list of career credits to his name. The piano playing was really good too, and I tended to really enjoy the songs the featured the piano more prominently. Nighthawks at the diner was a bit of mixed bag, but I could see myself firing this album up again on a cold night with a nice beer in my hand.
Leftfield
3/5
I've never heard of Leftfield before, but this will be my last album from 1995 to review. I see that this is yet another British house music album. I really thought I was going to enjoy the majority of these dance and electronic albums on this list, but most of these albums have been just fine. This is certainly a unique album cover though. I'm not sure if this shark jaw and camera lens will have anything to do with this album, but I'm hopeful that this album can join the ranks of Orbital 2 as my second five-star dance/techno/house album.
Unfortunately, it's looking more and more likely that Orbital 2 will be my only five-star dance/techno/house album once I'm done with this list. Leftism was fine, but there wasn't a lot on this album that really grabbed me. I was reading about the critical reception of this album on Wikipedia, and a reviewer said that without "Open Up" and "Release the Pressure," this album wouldn't have made much a of a blip, and I think that statement summarizes things nicely. As I went through Leftism, I realized that I mostly didn't care for it when Leftfield used lower register sounds to craft their melodies, and there were quite a few songs that were crafted in those lower registers. Also, I wouldn't describe this album as uneven, but there wasn't really anything that tied the sound together really well. Despite those criticisms, there were some good songs on Leftism:
I really liked the atmosphere "Release the Pressure" built. It sounded like being in a jungle, but without using elements that were designed to sound exactly like animal sounds. I liked it when the vocals kicked in, and I thought the beat was great, and I couldn't help but groove along.
"Melt" was my favorite track on the whole album. The elements during the intro had this kind of call-and-response pattern that I really loved. This was the only song on the album where I really found myself completely hooked, waiting to see what was coming next. "Melt" was really beautiful, and I enjoyed it from start to finish.
"Space Shanty" was an exception to my dislike for the deeper register songs on this album. I really liked those chiming sounds that were looped during the beginning, but I really enjoyed it when the song started utilizing those 'spacey' musical elements. When the beat softened out about halfway during the song, I started liking it even more.
I really liked the beat on "Inspection." It was really groove worthy, and the other elements sounded great too. I thought it was a complete song with plenty of awesome elements for my ears to take in. I'm not super into the vocals, but they couldn't take away from that excellent beat.
"Open Up" was really good as well. I would have never guessed that's John Lydon singing, even though it's clearly him. The beat was awesome, and the melodies were great as well. Lydon's vocals worked really well on this song, crafting a fun and unique atmosphere.
Overall, Leftism was fine. There were some songs on there that I enjoyed, but a little more than half the album felt pretty forgettable to me. I can't see myself going back to Leftfield again, but if some of the songs that I liked from this album popped up on a playlist, I certainly wouldn't skip them.
Wild Beasts
2/5
I'm not familiar with Wild Beasts, but I tend to enjoy indie rock albums from this era, so I think there's a good chance that I'll like this album. Reading some of these reviews, I see that the vocals are a bit of a turnoff for some people, but I enjoy some of the most reviled vocalists on this list (Neil Young, Tom Waits, etc.), so it'll take more than kooky singing to scare me!
Well, unfortunately, people were right about those vocals. I really didn't care for the falsettos that cycled through this album. I didn't mind the lower register singing though, and it actually reminded me of the vocals on Elbow's album, which was a plus. Vocals aside, I wasn't really into this album. For about the first three or four songs, I thought Two Dancers had some really solid rhythms, and there were some percussive elements that I really enjoyed. The rest of the musical elements were fine, but I didn't think that most of these songs were anything special. I really expected some catchy hooks and melodies on this album, but that just wound up not being the case. There was so much great music coming out around this time, and Two Dancers definitely gets overshadowed by albums the XX and Tourist History. Even though the first few tracks were pretty good, this album just didn't do anything for me as it went on. I wasn't that into the lyrics, and the vocals just grated on me as this album didn't do anything for me musically. However, I thought "Hooting & Howling" was really good. I loved the gentle keyboard melody, and the guitar sounded great when it came in. The bass provided a really good groove, and this was easily the most fun song on the album.
Minor Threat
4/5
I’ve heard of Minor Threat before, but I’ve never listened to any of their music before. When I started this project, hardcore punk was one of the genres that I was really excited that I was going to get to explore, but so far, these albums have been a pretty mixed bag for me (today I learned that Dead Kennedy’s Fresh Fruit is considered hardcore punk).
Out of Step wasn’t a five-star album for me, but it’s one of my favorite hardcore punk albums that I’ve gotten to review so far. I thought the guitar playing, drumming, and vocals were all really good. The lyrics were interesting too, and I enjoyed that they provided an insight into how Ian MacKaye felt about the DC hardcore scene at the time. The main thing keeping this album from getting five-stars from me is a matter of personal preference. I tend to enjoy music that has catchy hooks, riffs, and melodies, and hardcore punk just doesn’t scratch that itch for me. Also, I was a bit bummed that this album didn’t have as much social and political commentary as other hardcore punk albums tend to. Some notes on the individual songs:
I loved the way that the drums on “Betray” hit like a freight train right out of the gates. I thought it was incredibly effective work. It’s a small detail, but I also loved the little pauses in the music. It’s like Minor Threat was pulling back their fist, getting ready to hit you in the gut again.
The guitar riff that opened “Think Again” was excellent. Th guitar work during the bridge was really great too, as was the bass playing towards the end of the song.
“Look Back & Laugh” had an excellent opening guitar riff as well, and throughout the whole song. I really loved the drumming too.
I loved the biting sarcasm to the lyrics on “Sob Story.” This song was in my top three for favorite lyrics on the album, and I loved the ending ‘boo fucking hoo.’
The opening bass line on “No Reason” was excellent, and I wish the bass guitar had been featured a bit more on this album. The multiple vocal tracks were great too, and I loved the way they made a sound that was just short of an echo.
The title track was great, and I loved getting a glimpse into the ethos of the straight edge movement. Ian’s spoken word bit in the middle was really good too.
“Cashing In” had my favorite lyrics on the album. I loved Ian’s vocals as well. ‘You had us pegged all along. Damn’ was absolutely brilliant. What a way to end an album.
Even though this wasn’t a five-star album for me, I could see myself revisiting Out of Step. This would be an excellent album to listen to while doing some squats or deadlifts. I bet Henry Rollins would agree with that last statement.
Laura Nyro
5/5
I’ve never heard of Laura Nyro before, but this is a really interesting album cover. It’s kind of shocking to me that Laura Nyro is an American, because this album cover really screams France or England to me. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but I’m really curious to see how this album fits in with the music scene in the late sixties.
I thought this was a fantastic album. I was immediately drawn to Laura’s voice, and her vocal style reminded me a lot of Carole King. I found it mind-blowing that this album came out a full three years before Tapestry, and EATTC sounded like it came from the seventies, and not the sixties. I thought the arrangements on this album were lush and beautiful, and there was a wide variety sounds explored on this album. EATTC was incredibly well produced, making it a joy to listen to. So many songs on this album had abrupt changes in style and tempo, but those changes were done in a way that never felt jarring. In fact, those changes kept me hanging on every note, because I never knew what was coming next, and I didn’t want to miss anything. In addition to those changes in tempo and style, Laura was also able to shift moods and feelings just as quickly as the music changed, going from one emotion seamlessly into another. I’m truly shocked that I’ve never heard of this album or Laura Nyro before, because this album is absolutely beautiful and well made. I have to imagine that countless other artists were influenced by this album, not just around the time that this was released, but also in the nineties and today as well. All of the songs on this album were really good, but to me, “Eli’s Comin’” stood out as the best song. Before today, I’ve only known the version by Three Dog Night, which no shame to those guys, but hot damn, Laura’s version is electric. I love the urgency in her singing and the instrumentation. I love the way the song gets more chaotic as it goes along, but the instrumentation is constantly changing, as some instruments come in, and others drop out. It’s a blast of soul-filled adrenaline. As I get closer and closer to the finish line on this project, I keep thinking that there can’t be that many surprises still waiting for me, and this album proves that I couldn’t be more wrong.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Dusty Springfield’s A Girl Called Dusty was my fiftieth album to review, and here at album number 1010 is Dusty in Memphis. I think this is my largest gap between albums by the same artist, but Dusty could still be unseated by Hole by the time I’m done with this project. Looking back at my review for a A Girl Called Dusty, I think I was a bit harsh. I gave it three stars, but my written review basically says that the only thing that I enjoyed about the album was Dusty’s vocals. I see that “Son of a Preacher Man” is on this album, so that’s a good sign in my book. Let’s go to Memphis with Dusty!
Well, in an odd twist, the vocals were one of my least favorite things about Dusty in Memphis, but I thought the album was fine overall, because it was bolstered my some really great arrangements. My biggest beef with the vocals on this album is that I felt like Dusty was pulling punches, and that her singing was too soft at times, making it feel like it didn’t line up with the themes or emotions of the lyrics. Dusty can sing well, but I felt like this album didn’t really showcase her talents very well. However, this album’s brightest moments really stood out, like “Son of a Preacher Man,” “I Don’t Wanna Hear It Anymore,” and “Breakfast in Bed.” On those songs, I thought Dusty’s voice fit the mood of the songs really well. On “Son of a Preacher Man,” her soft voice conveys the longing of the lyrics incredibly well. Even as the music builds and swells at times, Dusty’s singing stays steady and even, and I think it works really well. I love the horns and backing vocals on this song as well, it’s just an excellent, soulful song. I really loved the vocal storytelling on “I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore.” Dusty’s voice conveys hurt and pain so well. It would have been easy to channel a wounded meekness on this song, but Dusty’s vocals express a desire to move on from the heartache of the narrator’s life. She sings with an exhaustion that never sounds weak. “Breakfast in Bed” was not the type of song I was expecting to hear on this album. Dusty’s voice exudes seduction so well, and the horns were really great. Dusty in Memphis is a fine album, but I felt like the vocals weren’t often in line with the themes and emotions of the lyrics.
Les Rythmes Digitales
3/5
I've never heard of LRD or this album before, but man, that's certainly an album cover from 1999 if I've ever seen one. It looks like the guy is opening a can of Pepsi, and that can better have a character from Star Wars Episode I printed on it. I never played the Dreamcast before, but looking at this picture makes me want to play Jet Set Radio. I see that this is an electronica album, and with a cover like this, yeah, no shit. I thought that Leftism was going to wind up being my last UK electronica album, but here we are. I have no idea how I'm going to feel about this album, but what a way to spend Thanksgiving!
I'm surprised to say it, but I thought Darkdancer was pretty good. I really enjoyed the synthesizer arrangements on this album, and there were some really good bass lines on here too. Some songs were really good, some were forgettable, and a few were annoying. But for the most part, I enjoyed how these songs were arranged, and even though they could be a bit repetitive at times, I didn't mind, because they were pretty fun. Some notes on individual songs:
I really liked the way the music filled the space on "Music Makes You Lose Control." The depth of sound was really interesting, and I liked how the vocals surrounded you on all sides. At a little bit past the one minute mark, there was some sort of fade that created a really trippy effect.
The vocals on "Soft Machine" were really good. I liked how it was a good rock song spliced with electronica. The soft melody that was underneath everything provided some good depth to the song.
"Hypnotize" was my favorite song on the album. I loved the synthesizer arrangements, and the drum and bass parts were excellent too. This was a really fun song to bob along to.
"Disco II disco" was the worst song on the album. I hated the vocals, and that electronic whine that kicked in later was terrible. That element sounded like an electric trap from Turtles in Time, and I hated it.
I liked the guitar playing and energy on "Jacques." The bass was great, and the synthesizer elements were really funky and fun.
Nik Kershaw's appearance on "Sometimes" was really good. I loved the darker sound to this song, and Nik's vocals were excellent. This was another song that was just really fun to bob along to.
Overall, Darkdancer was a pretty fun album. I don't think it's something I'd come back to, but it was a cool glimpse into late nineties electronic music, and it was fairly unique too.
Tom Waits
4/5
Swordfishtrombones will be my final Tom Waits album to review, and it’s my second Tom Waits album to review this week (the other one being Nighthawks at the Diner, which I thought was fine). So far, Rain Dogs has been my favorite Tom Waits album, and I see that this album is supposed to be fairly similar to it. Will Swordfishtrombones knock Rain Dogs off as the king of Tom Waits albums?
I liked Swordfishtrombones, but Rain Dogs will remain my favorite Tom Waits album from this list. I enjoyed the experimental nature of this album, but I felt it was pretty uneven. As with other Tom Waits albums, his excellent storytelling abilities are on display on this album, as are his abilities to build some really strange arrangements, and his ability to create some really beautiful melodies. However, the flow of this album was a bit strange to me, as Tom Waits shifts between styles, throws in some instrumental tracks that are nice but feel unnecessary, and tosses in a spoken word track that, while funny, somewhat kills the momentum that was being built by the latter part of the first side of this album. “Underground” really made me think that this album was going to be really strange and out there, which I was excited for, but then the album wound up going a fairly traditional route as far as Tom Waits albums go. Still, there were enough good songs on this album for me to enjoy it. Some notes about the individual songs:
I got really excited as soon as I heard Tom’s guttural growling on “Underground.” It sounded like the world’s worst circus, which was exactly what I expected this album to sound like based on what I’d read about it. I really loved the percussion, which helped craft the uneasy atmosphere.
There was more of that hollow sounding percussion that I enjoyed on “Shore Leave.” I enjoyed that the verses on this song were spoken word, with sung choruses. This song had some of my favorite lyrics on the album, and I really enjoyed how the story unfolded.
“16 Shells From a 30.6” was great. I loved the guitar, and that sharp metallic percussion was awesome. This song sounded like the blues on PCP. I really liked the lyrics too, which to me, represented the how the dread from anticipating something bad that’s coming can actually be worse than the thing you’re dreading.
“Town With No Cheer” had a sound that I really enjoyed. The soft harmonium was really unique, and I thought it sounded great in conjunction with the lyrics.
I really loved the main melody on “In the Neighborhood.” I thought it provided a really great contrast with Tom Waits’s voice.
I loved the bluesy sound of “Down, Down, Down.” I loved the rhythm, and the organ playing was excellent.
I loved the piano on “Soldier’s Things.” This was another haunting song that I really enjoyed, and I really enjoyed the lyrics as well.
I loved the bluesy sound of Gin Soaked Boy. The bluesy songs on this album were really excellent, and I wish that sound had been used as more of a through-line between all these songs.
Swordfishtrombones, while a bit uneven, was still a good album. I know Tom Waits isn’t for everyone, but I like his approach to making music, and he’s easily one of the most unique artists I’ve gotten to experience on this list.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
I keep forgetting that I still have two Rolling Stones albums to review during this home stretch, but here we are with my fifth album of theirs to review, the infamous Sticky Fingers. I know a few songs off of the first side of this album, but the rest of this will all be new to me. My most recent Stones album to review was their debut album, which I didn’t enjoy at all. My favorite album so far of theirs so far has been Let It Bleed. I can’t see Sticky Fingers unseating Let It Bleed as my favorite Stones album, but I think it has a better chance than Aftermath does. Time to unzip... er, unwind with some more Rolling Stones.
Sticky Fingers didn’t top Let It Bleed in my hierarchy of Rollings Stones albums, but I can definitely see why this album is regarded as some of their best work. This album has what I like best about the Stones: excellent guitar playing, incredibly catchy hooks and riffs, and a bluesy sound that’s completely their own. Sprinkle in some fun saxophone playing, jangly piano parts, and a couple of emotional ballads, and you’ve got a fantastic album. My only nitpick with this album is that the lyrics are a mixed bag; some songs have some great depth and emotion, and some songs feel like gibberish. But even the songs with wacky lyrics are still fun, so I can’t complain too much. The Wikipedia article for this album has a link to a separate page for each song, and while I don’t have notes on every song, I did want to pick out the highlights for me:
“Brown Sugar” is the perfect lead-off track for this album. I love when the Rolling Stones kick out some blues rock, and this song fully delivers. Those opening guitar licks combined with the castanets set the tone for this album. The saxophone hangs out in the background until it’s time for it to shine, which I thought worked perfectly. I have no idea what this song is about lyrically, and I’ve seen some really interesting theories online, especially in the aftermath of the Altamont Free Concert, but I have no clue if there’s anything deeper to lyrics.
I’d never heard of “Sway” before, but I loved this slower ballad. The piano and guitar sounded great together, and the string arrangement was excellent too.
My parents loved the Rolling Stones when I was a kid, so I got to listen to them quite a bit too. I was always drawn to their more traditional rock songs, but as an adult, I’ve really grown to love “Wild Horses.” I love the guitar and piano playing, and as far as lyrics by Mick and Keith go, this song is top notch.
“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” is a fun and bluesy romp. The drumming really punches up the guitar playing, and I love how you can hear Keith and Mick working off of each other on this song.
I’d never heard “Bitch” before, but I really loved the trumpet playing on this song. “Bitch” feels like a blend of blues and roots rock, but it’s sneakily one of the strongest songs on the album.
I really loved the twangy guitar on “Dead Flowers,” and I thought the lyrics were really good too. Mick’s vocals were excellent on this song too, and I loved how he exaggerated a drawl on the verses.
“Moonlight Mile” was an excellent closing track. It was one of the most beautiful songs on the album, and I really loved the string arrangement it had. I thought it was a really great stylistic choice to not have the string arrangement be present for the whole song, and it was really emotionally effective to have it kick in later on in the song.
Sticky Fingers is the Stones doing what they do best: cranking out the blues. There’s a really great mix of rocking blues and blues ballads on this album, and I think it works very well. It’s not my favorite Stones album, but I certainly can’t deny its greatness.
Gene Clark
4/5
I've known that there was another Gene Clark album waiting for me to review, and here it is, with one of the stupidest and ugliest album covers I've ever seen. Woof. I reviewed White Light a little over a year ago, and as you can probably guess, I didn't care for it at all. I don't have high hopes for No Other, but I'm ready to get this one over with and send Gene Clark packing.
Thankfully, No Other was a far cry from White Light, and I enjoyed listening to it. The arrangements on this album were really great, and I thought the lyrics were emotionally raw and vulnerable. On top of that, the Gene Clark’s vocals were really good, and there were also some excellent backing vocals as well. Each song really brought something different to the table in terms of sound, but despite the variation, this album felt very cohesive. Not every song was a winner to me, but even the two songs that were my least favorites were still fine. However, it’s unfortunate that the longest song on the album was my least favorite. While No Other wasn’t a five-star album for me, I thought it was really good. Some notes on the individual songs:
I really liked the rhythms of the chorus on "Life's Greatest Fool," and the backing vocals were excellent too. I liked the upbeat sound, and the guitar playing and vocals were really good.
"Silver Raven" was nice, and I liked the atmosphere of it. It was a really rich sound for a song that pretty much only features guitars and drums. The lyrics were interesting too; I'm not sure what they meant, but I liked the mysterious air of them.
The title track was my favorite song on the album. The guitar effects were insane, and I absolutely loved them. The percussion was excellent too, and I loved the vocals and lyrics. “No Other” had an excellent groove that I loved. I was delighted that this song was five minutes long, because I didn't want it to end. Like “Silver Raven,” I liked that the lyrics were open to interpretation. The tempo shift on the chorus was excellent, and added another really great layer to the song. I really loved the guitar solo as well, especially for the percussion that was used.
“Strength of Strings” was great too. I loved the twangy sound, and the keyboard was excellent too. The backing vocals really kicked the song up a notch, and gave it a really great and haunting sound. This was another song on this album with a great atmosphere.
"From a Silver Phial" was nice. I thought the piano playing was beautiful, which suited the gentle tempo really well. On top of that, the lyrics were well really well written.
"Some Misunderstanding" was one of my least favorite songs on the album, but it was still pleasant to listen to. I enjoyed the emotional journey that these songs went on.
I really liked the pedal steel guitar on "True One." I liked how this album has a couple of brushes with country music, but never really jumped fully into that sound. The lyric 'The longer you're in one place, the harder it is to leave' was probably my favorite line on the entire album. I’ve essentially lived in the same city my entire life, so that line really resonated with me.
The piano playing on "Lady of the North" was really nice, but along with "Some Misunderstanding," this was one of the weakest songs on the album.
I really enjoyed listening to No Other, and I’m glad that it was so different from White Light.
Alice Cooper
2/5
It’s been 957 albums since I reviewed Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies, and here we are, on December 1, with School’s Out, an album that couldn’t possibly be more seasonably inappropriate. Looking back at my review for Billion Dollar Babies, I feel like I was too harsh, giving it only two stars. Maybe I was having an off day when I wrote that review, but I don’t expect to feel the same way about School’s Out.
Well, I guess I wasn’t being that much of a grump when I reviewed Billion Dollar Babies, because I didn’t care much for School’s Out either. Before I get into my reasons why I didn’t care for this, I’ll give Alice Cooper their flowers. These guys have obviously had a massive impact on music, and not just on glam rock or hard rock. Alice Cooper have built a very unique style of over-the-top showmanship without becoming some kind of hacky merchandising outfit (I’m looking at you, Kiss). They’ve shown how important it is to have an identity, and that you can craft an identity in way that’s fun and exciting. Alice Cooper does have some songs that I enjoy, although I’d have to say that “Poison” is my favorite one, even though that’s a solo effort from Alice the man and not Alice the band. I think that “Poison” being my favorite Alice Cooper song says a lot about why these two Alice Cooper albums haven’t really been my speed. I love that “Poison” has such a sense of atmosphere to it, and I love the way the keyboards and guitars sound together. It’s a distinctly eighties way to craft a song, but my ears love it. While the title track from School’s Out is excellent, the rest of the album just didn’t have anything distinct about it in my opinion. The other songs weren’t bad to listen to, but they didn’t really have any fun hooks, catchy melodies, or hard rock punch to them. I don’t know if that’s because of how this album was produced, or because that’s just how Alice Cooper arranged their music, but I just didn’t care for it. I enjoyed the keyboard and bass playing on “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets,” but the lyrics really took me out of it, because they were silly and nonsensical. I wasn’t sure if this was some sort of blend of Cats and West Side Story or not. But back to “School’s Out” for a minute here. This is easily the best song on the album. It has a catchy and instantly recognizable hook, vocals with a snarling attitude, a killer bridge, and just the right amount of added sound effects so as to create a sense of place, without making the song feel like it came from a Broadway show. I guess that’s something else I don’t care for about this album: it tried to create a sense of place, but isn’t very effective at it. Again, this wasn’t an unlistenable album, but my low rating for it just a reflection of my personal tastes.
Scritti Politti
3/5
I only know one Scritti Politti song, “Perfect Way,” but I know a little bit about their history as a band, especially about their Marxist origins. I know that this is one of the lowest rated albums, but I really love eighties pop, so I might be deviating from the crowd a bit on this one.
I’ll be deviating from the crowd on Cupid & Psyche, but not by much. This album was a pure pop donut, frosted in synths and keyboards and blasted with overly sweet vocals. I enjoyed SP’s approach to crafting their arrangements, because their sound was so light but also incredibly dense. Each song really brought something new to the table, and I never knew what to expect from song to song. Even though I enjoyed SP’s approach to their arrangements, most of these songs had parts that were better than the sum of those parts. There were plenty of keyboard riffs that were really good, and several great bass lines, but sometimes, those things just didn’t sound that great together. The only element that I consistently didn’t care for was the vocals. I get that the vocals were supposed to be as saccharine as the synths and keyboards, but the way they were sung felt like they were sanded down to nothing, polished so much that the meaning of the lyrics just slid away. I found myself tuning out the vocals a fair amount on this album, and I think that’s why I was able to somewhat enjoy it. As far as the individual songs go, a few stood out to me:
I really loved the keyboards on “The Word Girl,” and the bass groove was really good too. The vocals were off putting, and I just didn’t care for how gentle they were. But thankfully, the keyboards really carried this song, and the chorus had several fun little riffs.
“Small Talk” was good too. It was a bit wilder and looser than “The Word Girl,” but it kept that same vibe and sound, but with a touch of funk.
Once the drums and guitars kicked in, I started to enjoy “Absolute.” There were so many melodies and riffs layered throughout this song. The bridge was great, and the guitars were fun too.
“Perfect Way” was excellent, and I thought it was easily the most complete song on the album. The bass was awesome, the synths and keyboards were great, and the vocals matched the sound and energy of the instruments really well. If Scritti Politti could have made all of their songs as cohesive as this, the whole album would have been much better.
Cupid & Psyche was a really interesting album to listen to, and while it wasn’t completely my cup of tea, I enjoyed experiencing something a bit different than the eighties pop music that I usually listen to.
David Crosby
2/5
Just when I thought I was done with CSN, CSNY, and The Byrds, here comes David Crosby, with his goofy little mustache, to drop a Lee Corso "not so fast my friend" on me. I'm not familiar with any of DC's solo work, but I'd wager that this album will fall somewhere between 'meh' and 'fine' on my rating scale.
I'd put this solo effort from David Crosby squarely in the 'meh' camp. This album had some nice guitar playing and some good harmonies, but nothing on here really jumped out at me. I literally just finished listening to this, and I've pretty much all but forgotten what I just heard. I didn't find the songwriting particularly great, and even though the guitar playing and harmonies were nice, nothing evoked any sort of feeling or reaction from me. I'm not big on CSN (with or without Y), but man, you hit me with a 'doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-de-doo-doo-doo' and I can instantly hear the guitar of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" in my head. This album definitely doesn't have anything close to that. It's a shame that this album is such a snooze, because some really talented folks worked on it. I'm giving this album two stars, mostly for the guitar playing on "Music Is Love" (the vocals were not my jam), the gentle harmonies on "Tamalpais High," and the pedal steel guitar playing on "Laughing." This album was pretty pleasant to listen to, but I found it pretty bland and forgettable, and I'm not sure it's stood the test of time to earn a place on this list.
The Youngbloods
2/5
I’ve never heard of The Youngbloods before, but Elephant Mountain definitely sounds like an album that Bob Belcher would say that he had on vinyl when he was in his twenties. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I’ve been getting some pretty good albums from the late sixties lately, so hopefully, The Youngbloods can keep that trend going.
All things must come to an end at some point, and my streak of good albums from the late sixties ends today with this uneven album from The Youngbloods. As soon as “Darkness, Darkness” started, I had high hopes that I had stumbled upon another hidden gem. I loved the rich atmosphere that was created on this song. The guitar and electric piano playing were outstanding, and I loved the echoing effect on the vocals. This song sounded so clean and intimate, and I loved how the vocals were mixed to be in the forefront of the overall sound. But from there, the album managed to slowly lose me. “Smug” was quite the vibe shift from “Darkness, Darkness,” but I thought that like the track before it, it showed how good The Youngbloods could be at crafting their sound and building their arrangements. The guitar playing was really good, and I really loved the trumpet playing too. But from there, this album became a hodgepodge of various styles, and it felt like the songs on this album weren’t really connected to one another. After “Smug,” the only song that I felt was noteworthy was “Quicksand.” I enjoyed the gentle vocals, and the arrangement was beautiful. The saxophone solo was really great too. But the other songs on this album just didn’t create that mood and atmosphere that “Darkness, Darkness” had, and nothing else on the album sounded remotely close to it. I didn’t think there was anything particularly unique about this album outside of that first track. Elephant Mountain pulled me in quickly, but lost my interest just as fast.
The Zutons
2/5
I've never heard of The Zutons before, but these reviews making fun of the album's name are pretty great. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but one the reviews says "This is like if the Black Keys wrote interesting songs," and as someone who owns seven or eight Black Keys albums, I take offense to that. Regardless, I'm interested to see what my last album from 2004 has in store for me.
Well, I don't think I'll be checking out any more albums by The Zutons anytime soon, because I was pretty underwhelmed by this album. There were a few fun moments on this album, but I thought this album was pretty forgettable. The saxophone was a nice touch on some songs, but other than that, I didn't think there was anything particularly unique about The Zutons' sound. I don't understand why you have someone in your band dedicated to the saxophone if you're not going to utilize them that often. The other aspects of The Zutons' music was pretty bland in my opinon. The vocals were pretty middle of the road, the guitar playing wasn't that interesting, and the bass and percussion rarely made their presence felt. I really don't get how this album made an impact when other rock bands like The Killers, The White Stripes, Arcade Fire, and Green Day were all putting out some great work at the same time. Even though this album wasn't my jam, there were a few decent songs on here:
"Pressure Point" was fine overall, but the bridge was particularly excellent. The cowbell percussion was excellent, and it really sucked me into the groove of the song.
"You Will You Won't" was really fun, and easily the best song on the album. The vocals were really catchy, and the main guitar riff was infectious. The a capella bridge was really fun too.
"Confusion" was pretty good, and like the other two songs I've already mentioned, this song also had a great bridge, punctuated by some good saxophone playing.
I think my biggest problem with this album is that The Zutons don't really establish any sort of identity on this debut album of theirs. They tried to do a lot on this album, but they didn't do anything particularly well.
Arcade Fire
4/5
Ah, Neon Bible, my final Arcade Fire album to review (and my final album of 2007), and also my favorite album by Arcade Fire. Before starting this project, I hadn’t listened to an Arcade Fire album from start to finish in a really long time. It’s not because I stopped liking them, but they had a string of albums that weren’t really my style, and other bands that I liked were putting out albums that I loved, so they just moved to the back burner for me. I’ve been holding off on listening to this album, since I knew it was coming up at some point for me to review, and now that it’s finally here, I’m really excited to fire it up today.
After listening to Neon Bible today, it might still be my favorite album, but I don’t know that I’d consider it Arcade Fire’s best album (I think that honor belongs to The Suburbs). Heading into this project, I thought Funeral and Neon Bible would undoubtedly get five stars from me, and that The Suburbs would probably get four stars. Now that all three of these albums are done and dusted for me, the reverse has actually come true. I really like Neon Bible’s darker sound, and the complex arrangements that make up these songs, but I think the themes of The Suburbs resonate with me more at this point in my life that Neon Bible. I do like the lyrics and themes of this album, but it’s just tough for me to get into musically. Neon Bible hits an incredible high point on its second song, “Keep the Car Running,” but it never really gets back to that emotional high until “No Cars Go.” It comes close on “Intervention” and “The Well and the Lighthouse,” but Neon Bible just doesn’t resonate as much with me as it goes on. I think it’s a beautiful album to listen to, but there’s just too big of a valley between the two peaks for my tastes. Some notes on the individual songs:
“Black Mirror” is such an interesting lead-off track in my opinion, but I think a lot of that is because I know “Keep the Car Running” (my favorite Arcade Fire song) is next. I like the darker sound of this song though, and it really sets the tone for the album, in terms of the sounds and themes that the album is going to explore. The orchestral strings that kick in about halfway through were really great, and they sweep the song along to its conclusion.
“Keep the Car Running” is my favorite song on this album, and my favorite Arcade Fire song. I love those strings in the intro, and when that guitar (banjo? Mandolin?) plucking starts, it’s pure bliss to my ears. Then the drums kick in, and that rhythm is so simple, but so effective because of how catchy and pulsing it is. The entire song just has an incredibly rich sound, and I love the lyrics and the vocals. There’s always some new, subtle thing to hear as the song goes on, and it's just an absolutely beautiful song from start to finish.
I love that pipe organ on “Intervention.” The Percussion that kicks in a little short of halfway through is great too. But I love how the pipe organ fades to the back a bit for a while, allowing the strings and percussion to really drive the sound.
“The Well and The Lighthouse” is really excellent. The rhythm of the guitar is great, and I love the alternating vocals from Win and Régine. I’m not quite sure what instruments are being used, but I love whatever kicks in during that first part of the chorus each time. I’m guessing it’s a keyboard or synth, but regardless, it sounds great. It’s bright, yet it doesn’t take away from the darker sound of the album.
“No Cars Go” is my second favorite song on Neon Bible. It’s weird how the second and second to last songs on the album are my two favorites. To me, they’re the emotional high points of the album, so maybe it’s intentional that they bookend Neon Bible in a way. Like “Keep the Car Running,” the drumming here is simple, but outstanding too. The vocals and lyrics are great, and I love the crescendos that this song builds to. It’s an interesting choice structurally to have that instrumental section just before the halfway mark, but it works really well, especially with the other instrumental section just after the halfway mark. The outro is really great here too.
Neon Bible isn’t perfect, but it’s a really beautiful album, and it showcases all that Arcade Fire was doing during the commercial peak of their career. The darker tones on this album are done really well, and while the lyrical themes may not be my favorite, they’re executed well. Arcade Fire was one of my favorite indie rock bands from this era, and it was really great to visit this album again.
Beastie Boys
5/5
Paul’s Boutique will be my final Beastie Boys album to review, and looking at the track listing, I don’t think I’m familiar with any songs on here. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it on my other reviews, but I think the only Beastie Boys album I had listened to in its entirety before starting this project was Hot Sauce Committee Part II, which I wasn’t really wowed by. I was really hoping I’d fall in love with at least one of the Beastie Boys albums that I was going to review, but that has yet to happen. I like the Beastie Boys, and I think their music is fun and clever, but I think I’ve learned that they’re one of those artists who I love certain songs of theirs, but their whole albums just aren’t my thing. I don’t have high hopes that Paul’s Boutique is going to break this trend, but I’ll keep an open mind.
I wouldn’t say I fell in love with Paul’s Boutique, but I can definitely say that this was a fantastic album, and it’s easily the best Beastie Boys album that I’ve listened to. With other Beastie Boys albums, I would find myself getting bored for stretches, with their vocal delivery eventually just wearing me down. That wasn’t the case here though, as this album was full of some really incredible samples that kept this album incredibly fun and interesting. The funk and soul samples worked particularly well, and hats off to The Dust Brothers for some excellent production work on this album. One of my favorite things about Beastie Boys songs is their catchy and clever lyrics that are often filled with some great pop culture references, and I was delighted to hear some of that on this album as well. I think my favorite lyrics on this album were either “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair, So I can climb up and get into your underwear” or “I got more flavor than Fruit Stripe gum.” The Rapunzel line is a bit misogynistic, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t crack me up. As far as the Fruit Stripe gum reference, I guess it’s technically true, since they didn’t mention how quickly that flavor dissipates. There were a lot of other references and lines that I liked, and I’m sure I missed quite a few as well. Oh, I almost forgot about the Donald Trump reference on “Johnny Ryall.” I really hate living in a world where that guy is still relevant, and I’m sure Ad-Rock and Mike D probably hate it too. I had some notes on the individual songs, but I think I’ll skip posting that, because there really wasn’t a bad song on the album. The mooing cow toy sample on “The Sounds of Science” was a low point, because that was annoying as hell, but it was still pretty brilliant and clever. As far as my favorite sogns on this album go, I’d have to go with “Shake Your Rump,” “Egg Man,” “High Plains Drifter,” “Hey Ladies,” and “Shadrach.” Again though, there’s really not a bad track on here. I don’t know that I’d listen to this album again, because it’s not really the type of thing that would draw me back, but Paul’s Boutique is a masterclass on fun and inventive hip hop.
Richard Thompson
2/5
I’ve never heard of Richard and Linda Thompson before, but this album cover certainly is intriguing. I see that this album is listed as folk, which I never would have guessed, based on the aforementioned cover. The folk albums that I’ve reviewed so far have been a pretty mixed bag for me, and I see that Richard here was in Fairport Convention, whose two albums each earned three stars from me. I’m not expecting to be wowed by this album, but some of the reviews I’m reading are giving me hope! I hope I can see some bright lights tonight too.
Despite a really strong start from this album, I wasn’t really impressed by it. “When I Get To The Border” and “The Calvary Cross” were both really great songs, but after that initial stretch, I thought this album was pretty bland, and that it didn’t offer anything unique. Yes, the songs were fine, and nothing on here was unlistenable, but I wasn’t really intrigued by the arrangements or the lyrics. I thought the vocals were consistently above average throughout this album (Linda’s singing at times reminded me of Natalie Merchant, which I mean as a compliment), but I can honestly say that about hundreds of albums I’ve reviewed. What hooked me on the first two songs was the unique blend of country and folk rock, but that sound seemed to be abandoned after those first two songs, which I was really bummed by. On the bright side though, those two songs show that Richard and Linda are very capable songwriters and musicians. The title track was pretty good as well, and seemed to shift back closer to a country-infused sound, but I wished that the horns had been more prominent. This album may be influential, but I found that it just really wasn’t my speed.
Arrested Development
4/5
The only Arrested Development song I know is “People Everyday,” and I’m delighted to see that it’s on this album. I can’t say that I know much about Arrested Development, other than that they’re from Atlanta, and I’m happy to see some representation for southern rap on this list. I’m not quite sure what to expect from this album, but I’m guessing that even if it sounds dated, it’ll still be pretty fun.
I thought this 3Y5M2D was a really good album, and I enjoyed listening to it. Arrested Development had a lot to offer on this album: excellent sample usage, powerful and socially conscious lyrics, and excellent production. The combination of samples and instruments worked really well on this album, and I really enjoyed the way Arrested Development utilized those samples, crafting a fun and catchy sound. As for the lyrics, they tackled some subjects that I would expect a socially conscious rap album to tackle, like homelessness, poverty, and abortion. But they also tackled some subjects that caught me by surprise, like black Americans’ relationship with Christianity, and the pains of slavery that still exist in the south. Arrested Development took on these issues head-on, skipping past allegories and figurative language, but I thought this approach worked really well for themes of positivity and empowerment. I really enjoyed the way this album was produced too. The vocals were always in the forefront of the mix, with a clean and crisp sound, but the music was still able to do a lot of punching in the overall sound. As much as I enjoyed this album, some songs felt a bit repetitive musically, and some songs were a bit on the boring side, but even the worst parts of this album were still pretty good. As far as my favorite songs on this album are concerned, I really enjoyed “Mr. Wendal,” “Fishin’ 4 Religion,” “Natural,” and “Tennessee.” 3Y5M2D is a really solid album, and as much as I love jamming to something like Straight Outta Compton, this album was a great alternative to something like NWA.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
Ever since I hit the 1000 albums milestone, I’ve been trying to predict what album I’d receive next. As luck would have it, Buena Vista Social Club was my (incorrect) guess for yesterday. This must be what it felt like for Gary Hobson on Early Edition. I’d never heard of Buena Vista Social Club before I started this list, but I’m encouraged by the positive reviews that I’ve read. I’m not very knowledgeable about jazz or Cuban music, but I tend to enjoy the guitars and percussion used in Latin music, so I can’t imagine that I’ll hate this album.
I found BVSC to be pretty fun to listen to, despite the fact that I’m not a Spanish speaker and that I don’t really have an ear for jazz music. As I expected, this album had some really good guitar playing and a variety of percussion instruments. I liked the conga and bongo drums quite a bit, but the udu drum was my favorite percussion instrument. I felt like I got into a groove pretty early on with this album, but the deeper I got into it, the less I was able to discern differences and style shifts, and the more things started to sound a bit repetitive to me. I still enjoyed this to a degree, but I didn’t get as much out of this as I got out of something like Kiwanuka. My plan going into this album was to pause the album after each song, and write down a few quick notes about what I’d just heard, but as the album progressed, I found myself with less and less to say. However, I do have some notes on three of the songs, which I have below:
Chan Chan: The guitars and drums were excellent. It was a simple melody, but it was really beautiful. The trumpet kicking in took me by surprise, but in the best way.
De camino a la vereda: The guitar tone reminds me of what I’ve heard in a lot of Latin music. It does a great job of creating a sense of place that I associate with Latin America. The lead and backing vocals sound really good together too, and I love that the trumpet made another appearance. There’s something that gently kicks in about halfway through the song (I think it’s the mbira) that really adds a nice touch to the song.
Pueblo Nuevo: I was not expecting to hear piano on this album, but the intro of this song has me intrigued. There’s something very familiar about the main piano melody, but I can’t put my finger on it. I like listening to it though. I think it’s got a similar chord progression to Twist and Shout, but maybe I’m way off base with that.
I enjoyed listening to BVSC, and although it wasn’t really the sort of thing I tend to gravitate towards, it did have some great guitar playing and non-traditional percussion elements that I thought were nice. Someone with a bit more musical knowledge than me will probably enjoy this more than I did, but that’s what makes this project so enjoyable.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
I mentioned the following in my review yesterday, but it’s relevant again today:
Ever since I hit the 1000 albums milestone, I’ve been trying to predict what album I’d receive next. Yesterday, I guessed that I would get Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom, but I wound up getting it today. That’s the second day in a row that I’ve gotten an album the day after I guessed I’d get it. Spooky. Anyway, this is my second Robert Wyatt solo album to review, after the aptly named Shleep, which nearly put me to shleep. I haven’t been looking forward to reviewing this album, but hey, at least it’s only forty minutes long!
This album was quite a bit better than Shleep, and even though I’m not a huge art/prog rock guy, I enjoyed a good amount of Rock Bottom. I didn’t care much for the vocals throughout the album, but the arrangements were really unique, and the keyboard playing was consistently really good throughout the whole album. Even though not every song landed with me, I was certainly never bored while listening to this. The only song that I really didn’t care for was Alife, where I really didn’t like the vocals at all, and I couldn’t find anything enjoyable about that particular song. Some notes on a few of the individual songs:
On “Sea Song,” my immediate reaction was that I didn’t care for the vocals. However, the keyboard playing was outstanding, and it was enough to make me forget about the singing. When the keyboard playing shifted into that bit that was a bit more freeform, it made me feel really uneasy all of a sudden. I don’t know if that was the purpose of that section of the song, but if it was, kudos to Mr. Wyatt, because it was incredibly effective. The vocals got even weirder as the song went on, but those keyboard bits at the end were awesome.
“A Last Straw” was interesting too. The vocals still weren’t my jam, especially the ‘wah-wahing’ that was going on, but the keyboard playing was good enough to allow me to tune the vocals out.
“Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road” had some great keyboard parts too, but I really liked the horns and percussion as well. The sound was a bit chaotic, but I thought this was still a really beautiful song.
For an art/prog rock album with only six songs, Rock Bottom was pretty enjoyable. Even though the songs were a bit longer, they were all pretty interesting, and I thought this album was really unique. I probably wouldn’t go back to this album, but I can appreciate why it made the list.
Sarah Vaughan
1/5
I’ve never heard of Sarah Vaughn before, and I’m not the biggest fan of jazz music, but this album sounds like it should be pretty fun to listen to. I haven’t really had that many strong opinions on albums like this that I’ve already reviewed, but I’m hoping that At Mister Kelly’s will be the first album like this to really wow me.
Unfortunately, I didn’t care for this album that much. Sarah Vaughn is a good vocalist, but I didn’t find anything particularly interesting or unique about her performance on this album. The music itself wasn’t that interesting to me either, and I didn’t think that they did anything to uplift the vocals either. These songs weren’t the most interesting choices either, so if Sarah Vaughn’s singing had more to offer, this wasn’t the setlist to showcase her talent. I wish I had some more insightful things to say about why I didn’t care for this album, but it simply just wasn’t my speed.
Stephen Stills
2/5
I reviewed David Crosby's solo album a few days ago, and I didn't particularly care for it, so his bandmate won't have to do a lot on this album to win me over. I didn't think that I would be familiar with any of the songs on this album, but as it turns out, I know "Love the One You're With," and I think it's an awesome song. However, I had no idea that it was a Stephen Stills solo song, and I've spent the last 20-some-odd years of my life under the belief that it was a CSN song. Either way, if “Love the One You’re With” is any indication of how this album will sound, I think I might be in for a treat!
“Love the One You’re With” is still a fantastic song in my book, but other than that leadoff song, I thought this Stephen Stills album was pretty ho-hum. After a really strong start, this album has some fine songs, but it never comes close to achieving anything as emotional or beautiful as “Love the One You’re With.” I didn’t find the lyrics on this album to be particularly interesting, and thematically, I didn’t think Stephen Stills had much to say either. The arrangements on this album were fine, and I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but “Love the One You’re With” was the only song that really managed to draw me in with its sound. When all was said and done here, I found myself left with a pretty generic early seventies rock album that left my brain as quickly as it entered my ears. While this album may not be my speed, I do have to elaborate on why I love that opening track so much. I love how the sound gently fades in, as the guitar, percussion, and organ all kick in. I love how the organ takes on a more prominent role as the song goes on. Stephen Stills’s vocals are great, and the backing vocals are excellent. The main melody is so bright and infectious, and I love the organ playing on the bridge. The ‘doo-doo-doo’s are so much fun to sing along with, and I always feel like this song ends way too soon. Sorry that I didn’t like your album much, Mr. Stills, but I’ll see you on Buffalo Springfield Again very soon.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Peter Gabriel’s self-titled debut is another album that I bought after I originally learned about the 1001 Albums list. I picked it out because I loved “Solsbury Hill,” and I was a fan of Peter Gabriel’s So. I know that I listened to it from start to finish when I first bought it, but other than “Solsbury Hill,” there wasn’t much on this album that I wanted to come back and listen to. Now, over 15 years after buying this album, I’m excited to listen to it again to see if my opinion will change. I really like Peter Gabriel as an artist, so now that I’m better acquainted with his music, I’ll enjoy this album more.
I’d say my opinion of this album has improved a bit since my first time listening to it. There’s one amazing song on here, and a handful of pretty good ones, but the rest of the songs are either too weird for my liking, or just don’t do anything else that the other songs already do, but better. You can definitely feel Peter Gabriel’s prog rock background on this album, and he does a fine job of blending elements of prog with pop music, creating some beautiful arrangements in the process. But the album as a whole feels uneven, as the pop elements tend to wane at inopportune moments. I think this album is certainly influential in terms of what it meant for pop music, but also in terms of exposing audiences to the fact that prog music isn’t always weird. Some notes on the individual song:
There’s so much of Peter’s Genesis persona and sound on the “Moribund.” I think it’s pretty accessible for a prog sound, but the album doesn’t stay this ‘prog-forward’ forever. This song has that distinct Gabriel prog sound, but it sounds like its evolved since his Genesis days. It’s grandiose and has sudden shifts, but it’s packaged into a pop friendly four-minutes. It’s weird, but it has enough melodic moments that you can see how this guy went on to record “In Your Eyes” ten years later.
“Solsbury Hill” is the gem of this album. That gentle melody is so beautiful, and then you get some woodwinds tossed in, along with Gabriel’s great vocals. The sound builds and evolves so wonderfully, that you really get a sense of Gabriel’s talents as an arranger. Here, he showcases how he can use those weird elements to make something truly unique and beautiful.
I like the prog sounding keyboards of “Modern Love,” but it’s also got a good pop sound to it, with some really great vocals. It’s just a solid where sound of prog meets pop. There were some excellent guitar riffs too.
“Excuse Me” is a prime example of why this album feels so disjointed. I’m not sure there was much purpose behind this song. It’s weird, and it feels out of place on an album that fused prog and pop. This song feels like it goes full-tilt into the theatrics and flash that Gabriel was known for with Genesis, but it also sounds like a Randy Newman number, and it just doesn’t fit here in my opinion.
“Humdrum” took a bit to get going, but once it hit the halfway mark, it was really pretty beautiful. But I thought those nice arrangements ultimately got bogged down by how tedious the first half of the song was.
“Slowburn” went firmly back to that prog inspired sound, but it didn’t do anything that other songs on this album haven’t already done.
“Waiting For The Big One” leaned pretty far away from the pop sounds that had been used up to this point. It’s not bad a bad song, but it doesn’t really add anything to the album. It gets better as it goes along, but by the time it gets better, it’s a bit too late.
“Down the Dolce Vita” was really good. I really liked the funky guitar playing, and the keyboards were really great as well. I liked how big and bold the sound was.
I loved the epic sound of “Here Comes the Flood.” The ebb and flow to the intensity was great. Songs like this show how talented Peter Gabriel is when it comes to crafting some really beautiful songs.
While this album isn’t something I’d be quick to listen to again, it’s still pretty good. The best moments on this album lift it up, but the worst parts of it are a bit tedious and unnecessary. I really hope no one stands outside my window playing “Excuse Me” on a boombox.