The soundtrack to an art school version of the Smurfs, leaning heavily on Gargamel as the antihero. Mostly tedious crap, with occasional brief moments where it is mildly entertaining.

2/5 Having listened to it once, I have no desire to listen to it again. Not that I could say that it was bad, just not at all suited to my personal taste. Too many songs sounded like they were designed for an over-caffeinated Canadian goose - loud, repetitive, monotonous staccato of honking/singing.

Hmmm…. She certainly does have a great voice. Rich and smooth. But there doesn’t seem to be a whole hell of a lot else going on. It sounded better in the evening, making dinner and drinking a beer, than in the morning with coffee and a crossword. But in both cases, it was sort of just hanging out in the corner, a good-looking vase or a thriving potted plant. Yep, that’s nice, but I’m not going to dwell on it. 3/5.

I wish I had aged as well as this album.

This one is not for me. Never a fan of improvisational Jazz, that was clearly a big influence for Morrison. I can understand why this was not a commercial success; while you can hear some of what made Moondance such a hit when it came out a couple of years later, the accessibility and charm of that album are absent from Astral Werks. I found it a little tedious and repetitive. I’ll bet the musicianship was top-notch, but it doesn’t do much for me. Too much harpsichord and flute.

It’s strange how some things/people loom so large in the culture, but you can easily go 50 years without actually directly experiencing them. I believe this is the first time I listened to a full Elvis album, and probably the first time hearing any of these songs. It wasn’t quite what I expected.

Listening to this, I wonder if this album was the inspiration for not one, bur two of the characters on 30 Rock: Tracy Jordan and Dr Spaceman. Good show. Good album. I’ve been a big fan of MF Doom for a long time, this album seems comparable.

What the hell? How was this ever popular?

So good. Favorite tracks include Rolling and Hero.

Not bad

Yeah, pretty good. I don’t care for the cover of “I Got You Babe”, but the rest is solid. Seems like the sort of record that if I had heard it at the right time could have been a favorite. Smart, funny, energetic.

I remember this album from when it came out, now more than 20 years ago. It still sounds pretty good, though I probably haven’t listened to it in 10 years prior to this. “Maps” and “Modern Romance” are my favorites here.

Meh.

I didn’t think I would like this. Really, I was fairly certain I would not care for it. Never would have listened to it if not for this project. But now I have listened to it, 4 or 5 times so far, and I guess I like it. I am in no way qualified to review it or offer any insight, but I was shocked at how compelling I found it. Love the bass and percussion.

“Human Behaviour” is a good song.

This was ok. I like Belle & Sebastian generally, but this album is not one of my favorites. It’s sort of just ‘there’.

Super fun. High energy, funny, irreverent, slightly smutty. I can’t believe I never heard of this band.

Enjoyable. If I had first heard this at a different time in my life, I may have been a big fan. Sounds a lot like that one La’s album, or some of Oasis. Typical Brit-Pop, I guess.

Lots of hits. I can’t do as good a job as Klosterman discussing the merits of Billy Joel.

Silly

Most dance music is just dance music. This is like most dance music.

Despite having heard “Like a Rolling Stone” hundreds of times before (not because I am a Dylan fan, just because it’s ubiquitous and I’ve been around for a while), this was the first time I really paid attention and listened to the lyrics. I appreciate so much more. This song is straight-up old-hearted and mean. I love it. Dylan”s contempt and the evident pleasure he expresses at the downfall and comeuppance of this “Miss Lonely” is great.

This album evokes no emotional response from me.

If I ever decide to go ahead with that remake of The Merv Griffin Show that I’ve dreamed about for years, waking horrified and sweat-soaked every time, I now know the music to play us into and out of commercial breaks. Hail Cthulhu.

Yeah, boyeeeee!

The soundtrack to an art school version of the Smurfs, leaning heavily on Gargamel as the antihero. Mostly tedious crap, with occasional brief moments where it is mildly entertaining.

Noodling

In the proper context, I’d guess that this is a great work of art. I don’t have the background to understand that context at this time, so purely as a listening experience for me, this was a 2.

Victoria!

Saxamaphone sounds good.

You could say it was feisty, but that would only be true if you meant it sounded like what you might get if you fed Feist a fistful of sedatives.

Jesus, man… could you change the channel? Man, c’mon, I had a rough night and I hate the fucking Eagles, man.

Not bad, but definitely not his best.

Mr. Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina.

It goes on forever.

Tiny Dancer bumps the rating up 1 spot by itself. That scene in Almost Famous was fantastic.

At 40-45 minutes this album could have been merely unappealing, two stars. Instead, it is an excruciating, repetitive 113 minutes. The name is ironic given how intensely aware it made me of the length of an hour. One star.