Loved it for the first 3/4 before it started to drag a bit, but never exactly got boring. Super high energy, quirky, head bobbing music and felt like a more organic and stripped back version of remain in light.
The super tight choppy slap echo rhythms were my favorite part of the whole album, def plenty to learn here as a musician.
Overall a great listen with a few tracks I was indifferent to.
Can't really complain about the album. It's a sweet listen with a lot of nice production and quality hooks but that's about it for me. I don't love the arrangements and a lot of the songs were pretty forgettable for me. I did really like Words and Caught by the River for basically the same reason, that being they both pull of the concept and aesthetic of the album the best, and had a really grand production that caught my attention.
This album was lame as hell. I like ride the lightening, kill em all, and master of puppets, but this was terrible. The lyrics were corny and overly serious, and the instrumentals sounded flat and lifeless like they were recorded on GarageBand with stock sounds. Was not a fan.
This album is awesome. Yes, the weird ambient songs in the middle kind of lag, but this album has Heroes on it, which is potentially the best song of all time, so it's a 5.
This album rocks cock. The vocals are super animated, inspired, and borderline experimental sometimes. The mix on this album is incredible, nothing too fancy, all of the instruments still sound raw and alive without too much processing. This, to me, is the antithesis to that awful Metallica album. It's not too long or self-indulgent, the instruments and vocals sound natural but huge at the same time, and it delivers on a message in a way that doesn't beg to be taken too seriously.
I really don't listen to a ton of heavy music, but this will probably set me on a detour this month.
I'm sure it could grow on me if I spent some more time with it, but the album is mostly inoffensive dad rock with a few sprinkles of greatness mixed in here and there. Obviously, Sultans of Swing is a classic, but none of the other songs on this album really stick out in a similar way.
It's good fishing music.
Mostly boring, some of it was fun but the lyrics were goofy as hell and took away from the whole thing.
I've never seriously checked out the Byrds but this album definitely up my alley. It's just a well-produced short batch of folk-rock songs with some cool instrumental choices and solid songwriting. While I don't think it lives up to my favorite albums from this era/style, I'm sure I'll come back to it when I'm looking for something easy to listen to.
I loved it. I was also shocked at how good the recordings sounded considering how old they are. The songs were all simple and some of them kinda blended into each other, but there was really nothing to dislike. I'm sure I'll run this back a few times this year.
I didn't listen to the whole thing but what I heard was pretty but boring.
It's dark side of the moon cmon
I'm gay as fuck, who wanna fuck me in the ass
Cool folky rock album, I'm surprised I haven't heard it before. Kinda like a cross between country wilco and a less experimental radiohead. I'm not surprised that Up with People is the band's biggest song on streaming services by a long shot. It's super anthemic and fun, but definitely not my favorite song (that would probably be track 1). I have a feeling this band is probably popular with the older, mid thirties-ish, ex-blog-hipster crowd, so it's cool it was put in front of me off of this list.
Really loved this one. Definitely up there with peak beatles at its best, though not quite as consistent. I'm also glad this album inspired me to take a deeper dive into some deeper cuts in the Kinks' catolog, which I can't believe I've been missing all this time. Definitely gonna keep spinning this one in 2023.
I've always been a big fan of 70's soul/funk (stevie wonder is my favorite artist of all time), but I've never checked out a full album from Earth Wind & Fire. I went into this thinking it would get a solid 4 stars from me but there's literally nothing to dislike about these songs. It's perfect, the recording is pristine without sounding over-produced or flat, the songs have personality and stick out from the others, and there's never a dull moment. I really love this album and I'm glad it came on rotation.
I wish this site had a half star rating option because I'd probably give it a 3.5, but I don't want to be unfair and give it a 3. I liked it. Nothing groundbreaking or life changing but it was a nice little group of fun rock songs with a lot of personality and humor.
Really great pop rock album. Definitely proves that Paul was the real earworm king of the Beatles. The songs were catchy and sophisticated and the album ran a tight 40 minutes.
I really don't like Rush so maybe I'm biased. I'm a big prog fan but Rush just falls so flat for me compared to Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, etc.
I can't really put my finger on what I dislike so much about it, maybe it's Geddy Lee's voice or his goofy lyrics, the guitar parts are mixed weird and kinda one note, I guess Neil Peart's drums are iconic but I barely noticed them on here.
Classic - funky, tasteful, complex but accessible. Anyone can love this album and you're a dork if you don't.
It's so over the top and theatrical that i can't hate it, not a lot of people could have made an album like this and commit as hard as this man did, but sometimes it's a little too much for me.
Another album i'd like to give 3.5 stars. I honestly expected crazy bombastic big band songs based on the album cover but there were a lot of low key cuts on here which were a nice contrast to the huge moments. Count Basie's drumming was for sure the highlight, those huge big band fills and drum rolls are something you don't hear much from even the best rock drummers.
Essential singer songwriter record. The couple of blues tracks and the moments with big band horns didn't really age as well as the rest, but the straightforward folk/country rock songs are sweet, smart, and relatable. Definitely a timeless album and very nostalgic for me, reminds me of sitting around the house or riding in my mom's van as a kid.
Album had some funky moments but that was about it for me. Definitely an easy listen but I'll probably pass on it in the future.
This album is a unique listen. It's unconventional, raw, depressing, and isn't tied to any one sound or familiar template. I usually revisit this album once a year or so to get inspired and think outside the box musically. It's not perfect and there are some parts that are a little out there or straight up bad sounding, but as a whole it's a really cool album with a lot to say if you give it a chance. I love Lou Reed.
Not much about this album really resonated with me. I've never been big into folk music and this just didn't have much to keep me interested. I guess it makes sense that it influenced some iconic songwriters from the 60's and 70's, but I don't feel like this has withstood the test of time in the way of the music it might have inspired.
Classic wu-tang sound. Crazy RZA production, Method Man goes in with a ton of personality on every song, The album is super listenable and one of the best wu tang solo works.
It's funny how memed out the title track is, probably to the detriment of this album and the perception the average young person might have about Marvin Gaye. This album was an incredible listen, I almost like it better than What's Going On just based on the strength of the individual songs. Marvin is the GOAT and I'll be coming back to this project a lot.
Classic, not as good as Paranoid but almost
Not much to say, classic for a reason. Perfect archetype of getting everything right in a stripped back performance. Beautifully mixed, the perfect blend of rawness and polish, everything about this album is perfect, but you already know that.
Something about this era of edgy alt-rock just doesnt really land with me. I thought the album was kinda boring. Definitely had some highlights, I've always liked Jane Says, but who doesn't though. Won't be revisiting anytime soon.
Super cool cross between AW’s old school soul sound that she’s most known for and the neo soul/R&B of the early 2000’s. Definitely an easy listening album but the songs are also sophisticated and fun so it’s got some real depth too.
Dreamy, elegant brazillian soft rock. Sounds a lot like the yacht rock/soulful funk stuff that was also happening in the late 70's but with it's own latin twist. This probably deserves 3.5 stars, overall good listen but wasn't super memorable from song to song.
I've listened to a lot of live dead/dead & co albums in the past couple summers, usually when I'm grilling, at the beach, or jamming along to on guitar, but it's crazy how many of those live tracks come straight from this album. This is definitely a classic for a reason. The production is low key, the drums hang back in the mix, the vocals aren't overly dramatic, but it all comes together in a super nice way that's really unique to the dead.
This album was goofy but fun. Panama is a dive bar anthem and I liked the album a lot more than I remember I did when I first tried listening to Van Halen.
Cool unique album. Never been a huge house/dance music fan but I enjoyed most of this. Wasn't really sold on the jazzy ballads or some of the cookier sounding beats but overall enjoyed this.
Groovy as hell. Had the studio version of No Woman No Cry, which is the first I've ever heard it. I really enjoyed this and can't wait to play this in the summer.
Beautiful album. I'm embarrassed that I've never really listened to it until now.
Definitely high profile in its genre, and the guitar work is amazing on some of the tracks, but it's just blues rock at the end of the day. The best songs are easily the two most famous (Layla and bell bottom blues), while most of the album was kind of forgettable and didn't age as well as the hits.
Beautiful music but i don't think it's for me
I think I only like shoegaze that's drenched in fuzzy wall of sound guitars, this just wasn't holding my attention.
Corny
It was cool. I can see how it paved the way for other garage punk and grunge bands at the time, but the deluxe edition that was on spotify was 2 hours long and really couldn't hold my attention. The original ~22 minute release probably would have been a 4.
