One listen all the way through and some individual tracks a few times. Still gathering my thoughts on the album as a whole (I like to listen to projects at least 4 times to digest them) but I definitely enjoy it. Some tracks feel dated, especially vocally, but I think overall there’s a lot that works even today. My least favorite moments on the record where these times that I feel played heavily into trends that aren’t as prevalent today. The overindulgent guitar solos and vocals that randomly go into a higher pitch are some examples of this that come to mind. Still, I thought that the energy was infectious and that the album had quite a few surprisingly strong melodies. This was a good first album to kick off this experience.
Favorites: Hot For Teacher, Top Jimmy, Girl Gone Bad, Jump
I don’t know this one was alright but just didn’t really do it for me. It felt too timid and safe at times, not letting it all out when it needed to. “I Just Want To See His Face” felt especially inoffensive, being so demure and muffled that it felt like nothing. After more listens, I might like this album more, but right now I feel like it was mainly just okay.
Favorites: Sweet Virginia, Shine A Light, All Down The Line
I love the title of this album, Kind Of Blue. To me that shows the tenderness and measured playing throughout the album. It’s not fully Blue, just Kind Of. Blue in Green is my favorite piece, and I love the depth of emotion that’s created through soft and small moments. Honestly, this album has just shown to me that little doesn't have to be the antithesis of big, but can be the precursor to it.
Favorites: Blue in Green, All Blues, Flamenco Sketches, So What
Solid album, I’m a big fan of Elvis’ vocals. They can be really grand and bombast, but I think the nuance of emotion is still there. Just fun to listen to.
Not Bowie at his best but enjoyable. Some parts felt too generic instead of that Bowie style of crazy expression that I like, but nothing bad.
I don’t think this one fully “clicked” with me yet (being my second listen a while after the first), but I’m beginning to appreciate The Beatles more. All across the album, there’s incredibly strong songwriting, and some killer melodies. You can tell that the band is really just having fun on this album, and the playfulness is just refreshing. Even though they don’t take themselves completely seriously, there’s serious strength behind these songs, with “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” being an especially dense listen. All in all, just a mixture of sweet and powerful tracks.
Faves: I Want You (She’s So Heavy), The End, Sun King, Come Together, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
Heavily recommend the No Dogs in Space episode on the boys. Really helps me appreciate the edge and roughness of their music. They have such a genuine approach to creation that shows a bit of their wildness. Just a great, palpable energy flowing through the album. Hearing the band enjoying themselves so much, while also tacking some subjects with emotional depth due to Paul Westerberg’s writing creates such a great experience.
Faves: Sixteen Blue, Black Diamond, Unsatisfied, Androgynous, I Will Dare, We’re Comin Out
I LOVE Tina’s voice. It’s the standout quality of the album for me, being a bit rough but also endlessly smooth. “Steel Claw” is the best example of this. She just has this strong energy about her that comes through in her vocal performance. The instrumentation is also upbeat and rhythmic, which emphasizes the strength of Tina’s voice. Great album to dance to.
Faves: Let’s Stay Together, Steel Claw, Help!, Better Be Good To Me
As someone who enjoys Curtis Mayfield but haven’t heard much outside of some of his songs, this was kinda a surprise for me. To be honest I was disappointed that the album wasn’t as dramatic as I expected, but I understood why. This is a pretty intimate record, and I really liked the tenderness on here. There were moments I felt weren’t as moving as they could have been, but when it connects, it really connects.
Faves: So in Love, Billy Jack, Jesus
Really love the first half of this album especially. Never listened to Dire Straits before and this was a great introduction. I wasn’t expecting how spacey and atmospheric some of these songs to be, but I loved that.
Faves: Money For Nothing, Your Latest Trick, Walk of Life
Unfortunately this one just didn’t do it for me gang…I didn’t dislike it but I felt like it was just alright. I was disappointed that it felt pretty textureless despite it being a live album. I’ll revisit it but it was a pretty bland experience for me 5/10
I thought it was a good mix of intensity with great rhythmic melodies. “Wormboy” especially reminded me of a NIN song, which I dug a lot. I was gonna give this four stars at first because of how much I just liked the general sound, but noticed that it became a little repetitive. Bands like Deftones and NIN both accomplished what this album tries to do better during the same time period. As much as I liked some of the songs here, I don’t feel comfortable enough listening to Marilyn Manson for further exploration.
Faves: Irresponsible Hate Anthem, The Beautiful People, 1996, The Reflecting God
This is just a ridiculously fun album. I like that it doesn’t take itself seriously. Still can’t believe there’s a song that’s just Yo Momma jokes. It’s a bit of a product of its time, especially with the instrumentation, but there’s a good amount of qualities that still hold up today. It is, in fact, a pretty bizarre ride!
Faves: Soul Flower, Passin’ Me By, Otha Fish
GREAT punk album!!! Everything I love about punk condensed into about half an hour. Pure charm, high energy, and hypnotic melodies, I just love it all.
Faves: Love Song, Machine Gun Etiquette, I Just Can’t Be Happy Today, Plan 9 Channel 7, Noise, Noise, Noise
WE GOTTA TAKE THE POWER BACK!!!!! This album is a real rage against the machine. The energy here is just so infectious. There’s such a passion fire burning across each song. It’s hard not to be motivated, or at least pumped up when listening to this album. For such an angry piece of music it’s surprisingly uplifting, it makes you feel like change is possible.
“Anger is a gift.”
Faves: Settle for Nothing, Bullet In the Head, Take the Power Back, Killing In the Name, Fistful of Steel, Know Your Enemy, Wake Up
Good album with a lot of melodic guitar riffs (I can feel Good Fortune in my soul). There’s just a nice sound here, which makes for a pleasant listen. The only thing that I didn’t really care for on a first listen was how it kinda felt repetitive/dull at moments. Thom Yorker’s collabs with PJ Harvey were a high point for me, they gave the album a level of depth that I think doesn’t really exist without it.
Faves: This Mess We’re In, You Said Something, A Place Called Home, The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore, Beautiful Feeling, Good Fortune
Wasn’t a big fan of this one, it felt drawn out and wasn’t captivating. I zoned out several times and just wasn’t interested in the sounds that I heard.
Faves: Blueski
Just some beautiful songs. There’s this feeling of tenderness throughout the album that I really love, it just draws you in so much. Had a great first listen, will take a lot of time to fully process all of it.
Faves: O Trem Azul, Nuvem Cigana, Clube Da Esquina N° 2, Trem De Doido
Definitely not bad but felt like a large majority of the album was just standard
Faves: More Than A Feeling, Rock & Roll Band, Hitch a Ride, Let Me Take You Home Tonight
Surprisingly strong. A lot of classics and they still hold up today. Some of the best 80s synth work I’ve ever heard, even if it can be overpowering at times. The execution is just 🤌. Great synthpop album.
Faves: Time After Time, Witness, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, She Bop, When You Were Mine, I’ll Kiss You
Mix of some songs I absolutely love and some I feel are just okay. Nico’s vocals are my favorite part of the album, and when they’re matched with the strings on here they’re elevated to another level. Very soft and delicate, but still vivid emotionally. A little too slow and thin for my taste at times, but overall 👍👍
Faves: These Days, The Fairest Of The Seasons, Chelsea Girls, Somewhere There’s A Feather, I’ll Keep It With Mine
“Elliott Smith could make Abbey Road but The Beatles could never make Figure 8”
Perfectly packaged emotion and tight songwriting. Powerful stuff, very moving!
Faves: Better Be Quiet Now, Can’t Make A Sound, Stupidity Tries, Bye, Son Of Sam, Somebody That I Used To Know, Easy Way Out
Utterly smooth and filled with a level of soul that really speaks to you. The pure force of this album really surprised me, and I found myself being enthralled by nearly every track. Solid stuff and is just the right length to perfectly hold your attention and then move on.
Faves: The Whole Point Of No Return, My Ever Changing Moods, Here’s One That Got Away, Me Ship Came In!, Headstart For Happiness, The Paris Match, You’re The Best Thing, Mick’s Blessings
At first I thought it was just a nice selection of songs for some easy listening. And then I heard The Ocean. The amount of pure and genuine emotion infused into that song almost brought me to tears. There are a couple other hits here that really pack a punch in a similarly expansive and beautiful way.
Faves: The Ocean, Coles Corner, Born Under A Bad Sign, Darlin’ Wait For Me, I Sleep Alone
Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, what a dynamic duo! Great lead vocals followed by great supporting vocals adding such delicious texture while great lead guitar and rhythm guitar work does the same. Such unity of thought which is also found throughout the composition as a whole. From track to track you can feel how perfect the songwriting is, with different sounds working in unison to create these rich pictures. I love the beautiful melodies and the fast-paced instrumentation, and the songs they are able to slow down and linger in their melancholy atmosphere. London Calling is able to do so much and is filled with such sporadic energy while never losing its composure. From an individual song basis to the album as a whole, it’s just so strongly held together. A wonderful album from many different angles.
Favorites: Train in Vain (Stand By Me), Lost in the Supermarket, Spanish Bombs, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, I’m Not Down, Hateful, Jimmy Jazz, Clampdown, The Card Cheat, The Right Profile, Four Horsemen
I like the tenderness of the vocals and how they often shift into a crescendo. I would say that’s the number one element of making these songs feel “big.” Sometimes, though, the drama of these moments doesn’t move me much. If I were to say why it’d be because there’s sort of a standard of expectation, and the threshold for doing something more with the drama isn’t met often. I do think more exposure will make me like the album more.
Favorites: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself, Remembering, The Greatest Man In The World
This album had a strong Dad Rock aesthetic, just a very thick sound and an unrelenting guitar. It's a very loud and in-your-face style that I thought was too harsh. Nick Cave's vocals (who I didn't know was the frontman) had some strong moments, but were too harsh. It added to the overall feeling of a strained execution that this record had. That's not to see that it was completely devoid of nuance, such as across the song She's Hit, or on some of the horns and drumming on other songs, but it felt like the positive moments on the record were just that: moments. Once you had enough time to start to follow a compelling sequence, it would lead back into a place of stagnation and forceful tones. Junkyard is an album that seemed more concerned with the appearance of being powerful rather than creating a sound that is powerful on its own merits.
Faves: n/a
Southern charm bottled in fifteen tracks. A lot of simple songs played extravagantly. I found myself expecting but not getting emotional resonance from many of the songs here, despite feeling their honesty. It’s somewhat of a paradoxical concept, but I think it’s rooted from the simplicity of the songs. I went to make it clear that they are simple but not technically dull. However, there also was not a strong tether that I could latch onto and feel heavy emotion from. I have a measure of appreciation of a song like Hands on the Wheel, but I feel like it wasn’t dynamic enough and dragged on. Despite only being slightly over thirty minutes, there are moments where you can still feel the minutes of some songs, which represents a structural problem to me. There is joy in the lightheartedness of the album, and it is something to play to make your day a little sunnier, but there was a deeper element that I found was missing.
Faves: I Couldn’t Believe It Was True, Bandera, Can I Sleep in Your Arms, Remember Me (When the Candle Lights Are Gleaming)
Energy, energy, energy!!! They must have put crack in this soundtrack. Such a vivid and uncompromising sound. There’s a spirit of excitement that grabs your attention and forces you to focus on these magnificent horns. This sense of power is emphasized with how dynamic many of these songs are, growing and swelling until it feels like the sound has no other choice but to be let out.
Faves: Pusherman, Think - Instrumental, Superfly, Little Child Runnin’ Wild
The rhythm…Sounds to DANCE to! Music that makes you MOVE! It’s a great journey listening to this album. I haven’t had a good sit down to a long song in quite some time, so this was a refresher and an energizer. I love long songs for the space that they create and how a specific sound navigates that space as a complete experience (which is also part of the overarching experience that is the full album.) These songs were dynamic and filled with so much change. For my zoomer attention span, it was also an enriching album to see as a “challenge.” Much longer than the two minute singles we’re used to, these songs really make you sit down and listen. You have to sit with and digest each parts of a song and then the song as a whole. This album is just a blessing to your ears and your brain. I will have to continue to pour over these songs and reconstruct them in my head over and over.
Faves: All of em
Just a very simple album to enjoy. Some easygoing fun. Didn’t know Dolly could slide like this though. The accent adds a surprising amount, especially the moments when she plays it up.
Faves: Coat of Many Colors, A Better Place To Live, Here I Am, If I Lose My Mind
What a sophisticated sound! A very lovely sense of tenderness that touches you. The combination of a silky smooth voice and thoroughly crafted instrumentation is nothing short of enchanted. The Intentionality of the composition hits you directly. There’s an intense emotion behind every song and so much to unpack, which I will continue to do so on subsequent listens.
Faves: August Day Song, Tanto Tempo, Bananeira, Samba Da Bencao
Once I commit to listening to an album front to back there’s almost nothing that makes me stop the process, no matter how bad the album is, or what external events are happening around me. I almost stopped listening to this album one track in. While this album does have a wide variety of sounds, there’s not much nuance. Instead, the noise is overbearing and brings a heavy weight that the album drags along. The lyrics just felt like babble, and made me more annoyed than anything when I tried to use them as an anchor. There was so much that resulted in so little. Not for me at all, very little enjoyment.
Faves: n/a
The Monks have the charisma of The Strokes and the creativity of Ween. Just seeing their approach to making music is sort of a beautiful thing. Guitarist and vocalist Gary Burger (all time name btw) later reflecting that they “were just a rock and roll band that really had a lot of fun” is also so inspiring. Their proto-punk style and ahead of their time style was born out of purity—a desire to just create. The Monks really could have been The Beach Boys of punk. It’s a shame they didn’t get the opportunity to continue to advance and develop this premier sound. I thoroughly enjoyed how sloppy the record was while remaining well put together, which is why it’s a little disappointing to have this be the complete picture, not getting to see any refinement or artistic growth. Even so, I’ll choose to be thankful to even get the opportunity to hear these songs, as well as the fact that the artists were able to see more people resonate with their music while they were living.
Faves: Monk Time, Shut Up, Complication, Oh How To Do Now, We Do Wie Du
Dad rock tendencies in the best way. Quite a later sound here I’d say, though that’s just to speak of The Rolling Stones’ timeless quality and their place as a fundamental band. The overpowering guitar and loud vocals were surprisingly not too much for me. I felt like this level of self-indulgence was truly earned. Ending with the glorious track, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, is a great example of what I mean. It’s a track that builds off itself and takes time to grow. It becomes a glorious spectacle and ends the album with a point of finality. I had to reflect and appreciate the power from the sincerity across the entire record. A classic for a reason that still holds up today.
Faves: You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rambler, Live With Me, Monkey Man, Let It Bleed
The heavy focus on the atmosphere and the ethereal bliss creates such a specific picture. There’s a lot of power that can’t be found in the noise and the intense reverb. I enjoy the richness of these wall of sounds throughout the album. I do wish there were more depth to the theme though. I feel like the live experience would create this depth that I feel like is missing, but it’s not translated fully through the studio recording. A track like Suicide exemplifies this, with there being noticeable changes, but the impact feels softer than what you would expect. I truly don’t think this would be the case when listening to the thickness of the guitar in person.
Faves: Revolution, So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears), Honey, Come Down Softly to My Soul
Wow. What an incredible comforting sadness. Very gentle and tender in a way that’s so powerfully touching. How can you not feel emotion with the beautiful vocals of Chris Martin? Those sweeping sounds take you sky-high without letting go. And the way a song like Shiver increases the intensity of its instrumentation to create this slightly harsher feeling of grandeur? Just fantastic. You just have to be romantic about an album like this.
Faves: Shiver, Sparks, Don’t Panic, Everything’s Not Lost, Yellow, High Speed
