Dec 21 2022
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Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
decent album, bombastic yet a bit forgettable. could have used lesser meandering but was otherwise a solid hard rock album
3
Dec 22 2022
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The Slider
T. Rex
decent glam rock album, ultimately let down by a focus on being ‘grand’, which I feel is a problem with the genre as a whole.
3
Dec 23 2022
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American Idiot
Green Day
not as good as I expected - lack of catchy hooks, lacklustre lyrics, and an uneven focus of an overarching concept (contrary to its status as a concept album). standouts were pretty great though
3
Dec 26 2022
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A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
great album, perfect for the season! can see this growing on me on multiple listens :)
3
Dec 27 2022
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A Night At The Opera
Queen
Overlong and melodramatic, but bohemian rhapsody is as good a track as any. nothing else really stood out though
3
Dec 28 2022
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Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel
great and compact album, slightly let down by a focus on intricacy vs simplicity
4
Dec 29 2022
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Kenya
Machito
looks and sounds influential but not much happens during this, and that’s pretty much about it. might have to dive deeper into the genre before judging this particular release though
3
Dec 30 2022
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Fever Ray
Fever Ray
Not re-listening, but this is one of the best albums of this era with a unique, genre-bending sound which I’ve always loved
4
Jan 02 2023
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Everything Must Go
Manic Street Preachers
one of the best Britpop albums I’ve heard, with a heady mix of great vocals and amazing instrumentals. MSP was so talented it’s not even funny!
4
Jan 03 2023
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A Hard Day's Night
Beatles
one of the worst Beatles albums - standard rock fare lying somewhere between soft and hard rock. there’s no longevity at all to this - if the beatles had stopped at this no one would have been listening to it today.
3
Jan 04 2023
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Trio
Dolly Parton
well written and sung album, almost like keening poetry at times. I've not heard projects from this trio in their capacity - but it looks like they were a force to behold in the days of yore, and I feel this was a solid introduction for all three!
3
Jan 05 2023
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Autobahn
Kraftwerk
already listened to it; I feel this is one of Kraftwerk's projects that was a letdown for me. no cohesiveness, no catchiness, and just an inane jumble of sounds that don't mesh together at all.
3
Jan 06 2023
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Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
intricate compositions (as expected from a former Genesis member), but here the focus is not so much as on intricacy/progression but rather on the vocals and melody - which I loved! definitely a great album which I’ll re-listen soon
4
Jan 09 2023
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Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
already listened, amongst the weakest Radiohead albums. RH made tightly focused concept albums at their best - this one is just purely reactionary. nothing bad with it, of course, but it’s too in-your-face to take it too seriously.
3
Jan 10 2023
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Vivid
Living Colour
Lyrics that have aged badly, music that is pleasant but just vapid if you think about it too closely - this is a typical 'classic' hard rock album alright!
not too invested in it, but would recommend it if only for the novelty of the sound alone
3
Jan 11 2023
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It's Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
This is a classic; heads will roll is the highlight of course - but that doesn't detract from the rest of the experience! I never thought YYYs could be so much fun - Maps was pretty good, but this is almost there, if a bit more snazzy for my taste. YYYs are pretty much one of my fav bands now, not just because of Karen O :)
4
Jan 12 2023
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Street Life
The Crusaders
Nothing revolutionary sounding, nothing terrible either - this record is just *there*. The first track is nice enough, after which it devolves into one of your standard thoroughfare lounge jazz albums, and of course, that's not interesting at all.
3
Jan 13 2023
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Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
decent melodic sensibilities; but there's an underlying appeal by Springsteen trying to appear genuine by trying to scream his heart out - that's the whole genre of heartland rock, to be fair
this was decent by heartland rock standards, but any rock album does need more than lyrics for me for it to be better than average - here, that was sadly not the case, with the songs merging into each other.
3
Jan 16 2023
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Fever To Tell
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
listened to this for the first time in full since covid (mid 2020), re-listening to this was a joy! consistently good album, great instrumentals, and of course Karen O was a joy as always :)
4
Jan 17 2023
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Faith
George Michael
such a horny album oh my god lol
I want your sex (parts 1 and 2) are so horny it’s almost funny, but then again the album is full of boos and George Michael has amazing range as far as the vocals go so this was a pretty nice album overall
3
Jan 18 2023
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Hunky Dory
David Bowie
pretty damn good wtf?
knowing second-hand that Bowie is good is different than listening to the actual album, as it turns out. lyrical masterpiece, amazingly catchy instrumentals, and surprisingly consistent! loved this to bits :)
4
Jan 19 2023
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3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Arrested Development
decent, but nothing outstanding! failed to capture me completely, even though some songs (like the religion one) we’re great and sounded fresh even after two or three decades. must have been a game-changer when it came out; but I suppose I’ll need to re listen before it reveals more layers to me
3
Jan 20 2023
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Destroyer
KISS
very baffling, managed to disappoint me even when I had negligible expectations. grating vocals, nonsensical lyrics and a forgettable music in the background - all combine to form a lethal cocktail of mediocrity.
2
Jan 23 2023
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Here Are the Sonics
The Sonics
One of the most fun projects I've heard due to this 1001 albums project - and that's saying something.
Searing intensity, manic (but excellent) vocals, and a cover that doesn't hint at *all* at the energy within - this record has it all. whenever WAAAAAAAAA is uttered (which is very often), it makes me want to scream the same myself :')
4
Jan 24 2023
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School's Out
Alice Cooper
middling at best - zero consistency, but then again I don’t expect anything better from hard rock albums. liked the vocalist’s energy though, and the drums - so that’s that
3
Jan 25 2023
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If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Pogues
much better than I expected, the blend of Celtic and folk rock worked well. vocals were not annoying at all, and I can see this growing on me a lot on subsequent listens
4
Feb 13 2023
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Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman
John Zorn
very mediocre experience - free jazz is fine by me as a genre, and I appreciate its value - but this is all over the place. too tame in parts, and too wild in others. there’s just so many more free jazz albums I’d rather listen to than this.
3
Feb 14 2023
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Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash
After the first track, it started on a pretty iffy note, but the second half won me over. The main thing to remember for anyone listening to this for the first time would be to let yourself *flow* with the compositions and enjoy the range/talent on display. Otherwise, it'll feel half-finished, and saying that about *this* album is a crime.
3
Feb 15 2023
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Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.
not as good as I expected. ice cube was great whenever he appeared, and I could hear the album’s influence over today’s rap albums easily - but the production has aged horribly in my opinion, and that detracts a *lot* from the album, especially in the second half. would still recommend for folks into how hip hop is the beast it is today.
3
Feb 16 2023
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Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde
Thought this was an abstract hip-hop album from the bizarre production alone - and although that’s a good way to summarise the album, it’d be doing this classic a disservice.
this album is hard as FUCK, and how! the beats, the bass, the delivery, the rhymes - everything ranges from generational at best to good at worst, and you can guess that everyone involved in this project were at their peak.
if I were to listen to one song on this album alone, though, that would be ya mama. I don’t think any ‘your mom’ jokes have anything on this song - the worst line from this song would smash the best ‘your mom’ joke straight out of the water.
4
Feb 21 2023
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Hejira
Joni Mitchell
really sublime, and this is the album that brought me around to JM.
Blue is fine, polished and good - but this has the delightful mixture of simplicity (both in the form of lyrics as well as vocals) tinged with an intricate layer of composition - which makes it heads and shoulders above Blue.
4
Feb 22 2023
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Rattlesnakes
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
decent, but not something I would listen to very often. there’s a lot of stuff in the album worth liking (the jangling, the eerie reminiscence to quite a lot of bands you would know, such as Arctic Monkeys), but a lack of energy and muddy mixing brings the album down by a lot. Ultimately it’s good but something I’ll have to re-listen to see if it sticks around.
3
Feb 23 2023
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Lady In Satin
Billie Holiday
this was decent, but the vocals left much to be desired. there's a lot that could be done on the production front, but the instrumentals are where the album shines the most! saccharine but not to the point of causing diabetes, subtle but not quiet - Lady in Satin would make for a great instrumental album.
3
Feb 24 2023
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I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Richard Thompson
instrumentals were decent, vocals were fine, mixing was your standard thoroughfare. all in all - this is the most 6/10 album I’ve ever heard.
a reviewer on RYM correctly remarked that the album looks like it was written for a songwriting course, what with all the uniformity in the chords and the slight detachment through which the vocals are sung. it doesn’t take away much from the experience, though.
3
Feb 27 2023
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The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
not re-listening, already heard.
one-note production and instrumentation, but Ms Hill’s vocals and flow is still unmatched, rarely stumbling and making the experience all the more sweeter.
all in all - could have used remastering, but is very good as it is.
3
Feb 28 2023
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Eagles
Eagles
decent soft-rock album, even if it was *too* soft for my liking. I understand that’s what the Eagles best did, but when all songs start blending into each other because they sound so alike - it’s hard not to get a bit annoyed.
3