So I've had this album since the day it was released in the States, so I am very familiar with it. I think the Strokes comparisons are pretty apt, as it has that "sound"/"voice" of a generation going on. Iconic black and white cover art and infectious singles.
How does it hold up 16 years later? Separated from the hype, I think it's still a strong rock album, but I don't have it in my top 10 or so of the decade. To me, it's always been a half step behind the classics of the decade like Is This It, Turn On The Bright Lights, and others as I felt that it was a little unbalanced at times. The singles/best songs are absolute killer, but there's a few too many weak tracks for a perfect score.
I was but a small child when this was released (9 to be precise) and really would have only heard this from the environment around me. In discovering Tribe in college, I spent more times with Midnight Marauders than this one, but always thought this was a classic. Nowadays, I think it is a matter of my mood as to which one I prefer. Regardless, a classic album without really any weak points. An album that's certainly among my 20 favorite hip-hop albums of all time, this is an easy one to score and rate.
So this is a change of pace. I've never heard of this artist or album, unlike the first two which I know really well. Funnily enough, the first two were VMP Essentials and after listening to this, I'm surprised this hasn't been a VMP Classics pick. It seems right up their alley.
With that being said, if it was a Classics pick, it would be more along the lines of those I listen to once and never reach for again. As others have commented, the material is a little all over the map between African and more Western Jazz standards. The strongest material is the more African material that is unique and shows off her chops, but there's just not enough of it. Some of the other tunes on this like The Naughty Little Flea and One More Dance are dated and I don't need to ever hear again. She's a talented artist for sure, but I just don't find this album all that strong.
So we're now back to familiar territory for me. Have had this album for years and I love it. An absolute punk classic, with its deconstructed songs and bursts of ideas and energy. It is extremely influential on the next generation or two of alternative music. There isn't much to say other than that, so in honor of Pink Flag itself, this will be a short review.
Another album I'm very familiar with and have regularly listened to since college. It's not my favorite Marley album as I prefer the fiery older material (Burnin'/Natty Dread), but there's some absolute classics on here and the album as a whole is never less than very good. I prefer the "romantic" side to the "religious" side for sure as I think all of side B is the highlight here for me. I'd give Side A a 4.0 and Side B a 5.0, so that naturally leads to:
I remember listening to this album a few times about 20 years ago, but I haven't really returned to it since. It is a beautiful album, but I do agree that it kind of meanders along nicely and gets kind of samey over the course of its 28 minutes. I get why people love it and I get why some may find it boring. I'm kind of in between those two positions.
So for whatever reason, we keep getting albums I know really, really well. There's some absolute classic tunes on here, such as Fight Test, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, and Do You Realize??. There's no real weak points as everything blends together nicely even if not everything stands out above the general atmosphere of the album. I just think it's a half-step behind the Soft Bulletin and many of the other great albums of this year. If you ever look at a list of 2002 albums, that year is stacked and this album has never broken through into my top 5 of the year. But that ain't half bad for sure.
I had only heard a few of these songs before, so I appreciate the impetus to give it a full go. In terms of influence, this to me sounds like a natural extension of what André 3000 was doing with The Love Below mixed with Prince at his most futuristic. Not surprisingly, it shares the strengths and weakness common to both, which means when it’s firing on all cylinders, it’s brilliant and when it’s not, it’s a bit of a mess. It also goes on way too long and while individual tracks are still good at the end, I was fatigued by the end even with breaking up the listens. A hard album to assess to be honest as it probably rewards repeat listens, but that’s not going to happen today.
So here's one I've never listened to before despite being a big Roxy Music fan and liking a lot of his ambient and production work. This is a definitely an out there listen, but it is never short of interesting. Eno will never be mistaken for an ideal rock vocalist, but I do think his vocals mix well with the bizarre but musical pop tunes. I love the collage of sounds and how one minute we have a freak out, then a pretty melody and then a mix of strange and exciting sounds. Influence-wise, I can hear how a heck of a lot of alternative/rock music of the late 70s, 80s, and 90s was influenced by this work. This is quite in my wheelhouse and I'm here for it.
Back on familiar territory (I've heard this album a bunch) and I will reiterate what has been said elsewhere here that between 1970-1975, Elton's run of albums is pretty much untouchable in terms of quality. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, as stated in the allmusic reivew, is designed to be an absolute blockbuster and it is. The run of hits on this album are among the top pop songs of the era (Candle In The Wind, Bennie and the Jets, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting) and there's a lot more under the surface. The 11 minute epic "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" to start the album is just a ballsy and kickass move for Elton at this point in his career and it works perfectly. Lots of great album tracks and I can find something to enjoy in all of them. An utter classic.
Going into the wayback machine here. One of my struggles in my amateur music criticism is how to treat pre-Beatles/Dylan/Beach Boys rock music as i respect it more than like it (with the exception proving the rule being Jerry Lee Lewis’ Live at the Star Club album). With the 50s, I do better with jazz, country (Hank Williams) and pop (Frank Sinatra) than I do with rock. To some extent, I recognize that rock fans in the 50s just didn’t listen to music the way I do. The context of listening to an album such as this as an A-side/B-side exercise is more palatable than 30 minutes in a row, where just about anything from this era is skeletal and samey when compared to the revolution in sound about to come. For what it’s worth, this is the problem with early hip hop for me as well, where it really isn’t until Paul’s Boutique/3 Feet High/It Takes A Nation of Millions that I’m locked in and loaded.
That’s a long-winded lead in to simply state I recognize the importance and influence, but this isn’t really for me. Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, and Rip It Up absolutely rock. And the other tunes I’d bop my head to at the local diner. But as a digestible album, this is short yet still tiring. A case where the parts are greater than the sum. Some of those parts are damn good though, which is why this gets a 3.
So I have never heard of them or this album, so this is completely new to me. I generally like African music (I know painting with a broad brush here) and this is no exception. It is a very pleasant listen, even if I doubt it will stick with me long term. I don't know if I have a whole lot to add to that other than the instrumentation and singing are both quality. One that I'll definitely make a point to revisit when I'm in the mood for some Malian music.
If I'm being honest, my first exposure to this album was the Criminal music video when I was a teenager. I didn't hear the full album until I was an adult and I definitely think it would have been lost on me in my younger years. This is a fantastic album and the performances are very strong. Criminal does seem a little out of place compared to the rest of the album, and it's particularly noticeable coming after Shadowboxer, which might be my favorite Fiona track. An album I'm really glad I've gotten into as it is definitely one that rewards repeat listens and is a classic.
Never heard of this album prior to this challenge, so once again, props to this challenge. Familiar with this era of electronic music (Bjork, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Tricky, Underworld, etc.) so this does sound familiar in context, sound, and vibes. My favorite tracks are "Release the Pressure," "Melt," and “Open Up.” With that being said, I don't necessarily think this is as strong of an album or one meant for listening to as a whole as contemporary albums like "Music for the Jilted Generation" or "Maxinquaye." So it’s not a 5 star album, but there’s enough bangers on here to qualify it as a healthy and hearty…
So I know this album pretty well, I first heard it in college and have read the 33 1/3 about it. It is a classic in my opinion and as far as vibes go, this is 1967 in my eyes. I don’t think an album better summarizes the Summer of Love better musically than this - a fine balance of psychedelia, folk, and pop with just a tinge of the darkness to come. There’s no weak spots on the album even if it perhaps never hits the highest highs of Alone Again Or. But few albums do. A classic.
This one is new to me. Never heard of them or this album, so I didn't know what really to expect. Boy, this is unique for sure. It's a form of aural assault from the get-go. The best description I can give that at least made sense to me is that it is like a hard/Indie rock version of some of the freakout moments from the Grateful Dead's live Dark Stars or Playing In The Bands just without the eventual payoff of a killer melody or mind-blowing improv. One song of this sounds kind of cool, an entire album is tedious. I get why it was picked, but it didn't do a whole lot for me. It's not a 1 as I did find redemptive qualities in a lot of it. But it's a solid 2 for me.
Known this one since high school. One of the most important albums in rock history. And more importantly, one of the best. This is foundational stuff right here. I'd give it a 6 out of 5 if I could.
So I'm quite familiar with Funkadelic/Parliament; however, I had never sat down and listened to this album in full. This is some real foundational rock meets funk meets R&B just meets out there kind of stuff. Not having this on streaming sucks as I had to listen to it on youtube. There's real genius hear and I'd love to hear this not on a shitty youtube feed. But even then its genius shines through.
My first concert ever was Van Halen (the Gary Cherone edition), so I have a soft spot for this band. What gets lost in some of the presentation and reputation is that VH was a killer pop band with great hooks and they could write killer tunes. And this is their intentional blockbuster. The 1-2 punch of Jump and Panama is undeniable and if you're not rocking by the engine roars you need to check your pulse. I'll Wait is a favorite deeper cut of mine, Hot For Teacher is so stupid it brings a smile to my face and the remaining songs all have their moments. I love this album.
Maybe the most ubiquitous album of all time, I found this one hard to really judge. Like a lot of posters here, I've known a lot of these songs since my childhood and have varying views of them today. The 1-2 punch of Beat It and Billie Jean are still wonderful and top songs of the era, Wanna Be Startin Somethin is still a great kick off and rocks, and I even kind of like Human Nature and PYT as great come-downs from the middle of the album. Now for the bad, Thriller as a song really doesn't hold up for me, The Girl is Mine brings together the worst of both MJ and McCartney in one shmaltzy package, and the other album tracks are kind of forgettable. And yes, the baggage with MJ probably makes me less accepting of this album's obvious faults.
I am of the opinion that rap is perhaps the hardest genre of music to adequately judge once it has aged and once the music no longer is "current." Sure, there are undeniable classics of every era that stand above. This is not it. This sounds horribly dated, particularly when compared to the classics that are contemporaries. Jeru is a talented rapper for sure, but the production is so-so and the lyrical content is dated and contains slurs that just don't fly in 2023. I get why this is on the list and I didn't necessarily dislike anything here, but on the other hand, I didn't really want to hit repeat on any of the tracks either. An album I doubt I return to.
The 2nd Jazz album I ever listened to in full (Kind of Blue was first), this is an undeniable classic and while it has become considered more traditional, Side A of this record is untouchable in its quality. After having listened to a lot of jazz since I first heard it, Side B is a bit more pedestrian and didn't hold my attention the same way as the first 3 tracks. As to import and influence, this gets a 5, but for this exercise of my enjoyment and listenability, I'm docking the score slightly for Side B. But 4.5 is still damn good.
A group that I knew more on reputation and influence than their actual music, this was my first listen to an album of theirs and I have to say I enjoyed it. Just an all around nice listen and clearly so much of modern Indie music plays off this blueprint. A solid 4.0 for me, and one I look forward to revisiting (and I could see the score going higher upon repeat listens).
