idk maybe this is like the definitive version of this style but by this point I feel like I’ve already heard every guitar lick on here a before in other songs. it sounds nice and does the genre well but doesn’t do a whole lot to stand out for me.
the tremolo guitars in the chorus of “What I Don’t Know” sound really cool in headphones, I wish they had used 80s effects like that in more songs to mix with the classic country elements.
I’m about to leave for Colorado, maybe I’ll like it more when I’m out west.
this album made me reconsider my thoughts on British people.
I didn’t think I would like arctic monkeys at first based off of the singles I had heard, but after giving this a chance it ended up in my top 5 most listened to albums of last year and has become one of my favorite records of the 2000s.
Energy, musicianship, and engaging songwriting and structure really set Arctic Monkeys apart from other bands in the late 00s indie rock boom.
Most Favorite Song:
Fake Tales of San Francisco
I like the outro when he tells other bands to stop dickriding
Least Favorite Song:
Riot Van
I like the song and the lyrics and everything but it’s too much of a drop off in pace for me after the first half of the album and I often end up skipping it
If I was a divorced dad in 1977 and my teenage son started listening to this on release I would be proud of him.
I’ve heard this described as punk, but to me it doesn’t do much stylistically to set itself apart from 1950s pop songs besides having worse vocals. There are some really clever lyrics here I’m sure, but I don’t want to listen enough times to appreciate them. I’ve tried to get into this one a couple times, but I really just don’t get the hype here.
Cover art is 10/10
Favorite song: Alison
But I prefer when Pat DuBoyce sings it
Least Favorite Song: Blame it On Cain
It was the instrumental arrangements that kept this consistently engaging for me. The horns throughout the first half sound absolutely wild and in tone alter between sounding like a celebration of love and a warning of impending heartbreak. Sometimes they sound like both at once. This gives the album a more nuanced feel than you would imagine from reading the lyrics on paper.
In the second half as the energy calms down, the instrumentals stay interesting and lush instead of going for a stripped back and I’m glad.
This record feels like a conversation with call and response between Ray and his band. Ray is straightforward and heartfelt, but for me the real depth comes from interpreting the tone of the instrumental passages.
👍: Deed I Do, You Won’t Let Me Go
This style of country rock has always sounded like background music to me. Strange album experience because all songs kinda have the same vibe and a similar sound but some are clearly better than others.
Cover art would be 10/10 if they centered the logo
👍: Peaceful Easy Feeling, Take it Easy
👎: Take the Devil
Don has a very full voice that stands out from the soft airy vocals I’m used to hearing in folk music. I expected a title track and 30 minutes of filler, but I see how someone could get really into this album. Not me though I probably won’t come back to it.
Cover art: 3/10
👍: title track, everybody loves me baby(if it’s satire), babylon
👎: everybody loves me baby (if it’s not satire)
I love this one. It sounds to me like a cross between the noisiest Nirvana songs and Slint's "Spiderland." For an album this old, it sounds really good today. All of the guitar tones especially hold up, and none of the energy of the performance is lost in the recording. On first listen, I was worried that a sound this abrasive would become overwhelming on such a long album, but I have grown to appreciate it more on the second and third listen.
I had a conversation with Tom yesterday about how all of the harsh, piercing sounds on this record were clearly intentional, and the reason became clear once I started to pick up on more of the lyrics. This album is repeatedly telling the listener to fuck off. The abrasive nature is designed to support the anti-imperialist message. The band is trying to keep people out of where they don't belong. If you're on board with the message, it's a tense and exciting listen the whole way through.
Cover Art 6/10: These guys sound like they would have terrible handwriting
👍: Do You Compute, New Math, Human Interest, Hand Over Fist, Bullet Train to Vegas
👎: none really, I generally don't like long songs, but I think everything on here is justified
Steven Tyler’s vocal inflections are way to over the top for me, and I don’t think there’s anything else redeeming about this record. The instrumentals all remind me of Home Depot. Hard to ignore the sexual assault of a minor that was going on around this time when so many of they lyrics are about trying to fuck vulnerable women. Gross.
Cover Art: 5/10
👍: Sweet Emotion can be cool in some contexts
👎: everything else
🤮: the verses of walk this way
This was a really cool one. That pulsing sound on the first song holds up really well, I can see why Kendrick sampled it. The bottle is a cool change of pace, the bass goes nuts on that song.
Song for Bobby smith drags a little. I’m sure H20gate was cool at the time and it’s cool to see how that was a precursor to rap music and all but I think Hamilton, even though I never saw it, had ruined all political spoken word for me.
Overall this was a really cool listen and I’m glad to have heard it.
Cover art: 8/10
👍: Peace Go With You, Brother, The Bottle
👎: Song for Bobby Smith, H20gate
I’m happy about this pick, I have been meaning to listen to Husker Du for a while. I see them credited with having a lot of influence on melodic punk music. Guitar sounds don’t really hold up on the first song. First song reminds me of REM? Guitar tone on the second song sounds better. It’s weird how these guys were supposed to be pioneers but the melodies here sound so 80s.
Transition on the intro of ice cold ice is cool, easily my favorite song so far.
Closer way too long. Album way too long in general, this could have been like 10 songs. Even so, a lot of them feel unfinished.
Cover art: 6/10 colors are cool but what is that picture
First song instrumental kinda cool, vocals a little over dramatic for me. I can’t say I’m rocking with it. On “My Tulpa” the vocals definitely sound more at home, nvm “you can touch yourself anytime” is a weird thing to be repeating. “Shot by Both Sides” has a cool instrumental, but it’s he vocal style still ruins it for me.
Vocals can be bad in an earnest and endearing way, but the lyrics and tone here are giving pretentious. Maybe he’s trying to do like a David Bowie thing? It also sounds like a cartoon vampire voice? Is this what WLR sounds like to people who don’t like it?
Fans of this band must have been absolutely insufferable at an open mic night. Or like the edgy goth kid in a theater class that thinks being dark and moody makes something inherently more deep.
The dissonant melodies on Parade are really cool, but again I just can’t get past the vocals here. I really like a lot of the instrumentals, but that just makes me so much more frustrated with the vocals for ruining each song for me.
👍: the instrumentals
👎: the vocals
Cover art: 6/10 again the logo here seems weirdly off centered
Vocal harmonies on “zoo station” are really cool, it also has a nice driving bass line. Vocal “ahhh” harmonies give this a nostalgic, feel good sound, it’s cool they keep coming back to that. Sonically this holds up very well in general.
“One” toes the line between “change the radio station immediately” corny and “get drunk and sing along with the boys” corny.
Really the whole thing is corny, but a lot of it feels pretty good to listen to.
Cover art: 4/10
I was starting to think we were never going to get a female fronted album. “How Much More” is a really cool song, I like how the harmonies float over the driving bass and drum grooves. Three songs in, and this one is starting to win me over. After hearing the singles I thought this would all be girly pop, but the punk and new wave elements seem much more apparent on the songs I wasn’t familiar with. Lust to Love has a really cool build to it, it’s cool how they transition slowly from a stripped back verse to a huge sounding chorus.
In context, “We Got The Beat” does have a lot of cool new wave elements I hadn’t really paid attention to before, but I can’t say it completely saves the song for me. Idk maybe it was a cooler idea back then, but when I would hear it as a child, it always felt like a song made for children. Like one of those ones that tries to teach you what music is as you listen.
Fading Fast is cool though, at times they sound like a new wave version of The Supremes.
Overall this was a cool experience. After disliking the big singles on this one, I wasn’t expecting much going in, but I liked almost all of the deep cuts, and really liked a few of them. I appreciate the singles a little more after hearing them in context, but they’re still probably two of my least favorites on here.
Cover art: was a 6/10 at first but then I looked a little longer and now it’s a 7/10
What a euphoric feeling, this one was absolutely blissful. The sound palette is really cool with delicate guitars and Midwest sounding vocals over booming drums.
I was surprised I hadn’t heard anything on here before because it like the type of people who like Tame Impala now would be obsessed with this. Ig its because the flaming lips have a huge discography and it may be hard to find a starting point for some people.
Songs 4-9 do become a little one-more which holds this back from being a 5 for me, but I could see how people would like that cause it gives you some time to think before the album really grabs you again.
They should play this at stores, this makes me want to buy a cold brew and some thrifted jeans.
I think if I listened to this every morning, I would be a more carefree and happy person. But I’m not gonna do that.
Cover art: 5/10 obviously it doesn’t suit the music at all but I think I see what they were going for
I’ll preface this one by saying I haven’t listened to hardly any rap music from before like 2004 so I’m missing a lot of context here.
The storytelling on this album is very strong throughout, but my enjoyment of each song correlated with how much I enjoyed each of the instrumentals.
I love the dark bass line and then jazzy instrumentals on Excursions, but then Buggin’ Out has a similar instrumental formula with a bass line I don’t like as much as the first one.
Because the instrumentals are so minimal, they basically have to be perfect or else they get stale pretty fast.
Check the Rhime has a cool conversational dynamic that is really cool to listen to over another one of the album’s best beats.
“What?”Is another one of my favorites on here, fun clever verse over a quirky lil beat.
I could see this one going up to a 5 for me, I need a few more listens to unpack some of the lyrics.
Cover art: 8/10
David Byrne’s vocals have always been best in small doses for me. Maybe they’ll click later in life, but unfortunately not today. Maybe it would be cool over some fast songs, but I find the yelpiness and over the top style aggravating over the mid-slow temple instrumentals.
It’s a shame because the instrumentals themselves are really cool and I know people love Talking Heads, but this wasn’t for me today.
Cover Art: 5/10 this is just a worse version of their self titled cover art and loses points for the pattern over the black
The howl in the first 10 seconds did not prepare me for how soft the rest of this album would be. I think a lot of things this one does best are subtle. The production sounds really good, especially in headphones. I didn’t even notice until second listen but the bass player also goes kind of crazy the whole album which adds a lot.
Main Man is probably my favorite on here, the vocal effects are really cool and I like the idea of the lyrics.
A lot of the middle of this album just kind of ran through without standing out too much, I can see how people would have loved this if they were looking for this kind of chill vibe though.
Cover art: 6/10 I love the font and the black and white is cool with like light and trees and shit in the background but I don’t like the way he’s looking at me
The call and response at the beginning of wrap it up both gave me a jump scare and made me laugh. Jazz at the end of the walk is so cool. This album has a really cool vibe, feels like it takes me to a different place when I’m listening to it.
The production also has a lot of cool layers, and I feel like I’m picking up new sounds on repeat listens.
Sweet Dreams is a top 10 80s pop song for me.
Wtf were they thinking with the Spanish in This is the House? Took me out of the flow of the album.
Honestly, the whole album really falls apart after Jennifer. Which is a shame because the first 7 songs are an incredible run.
This brings me to a philosophical decision, 7 songs I love followed by 3 utter disappointments. 25 minutes of music I love is good enough for me, and it helps that it’s consecutive so I don’t have to skip, I can just turn it off when I’m done. I’m gonna give it a light 5.
Cover art: 9/10 did Kanye make this?
Wayyy too much vocal panning in the first song lmao. Why is every song so long?
This album was never meant to exist at the same time as Spotify.
Track 5 is kinda cool tho.
Cover art: 6/10 it’s so bad it’s good but not bad enough to be that good
I mean this one is such an obvious 5. This isn’t a style of music I normally seek out so I hadn’t listened to this album all the way through until today. I didn’t even know “don’t stop” was a Fleetwood Mac song.
Every song on here is such well written, performed, and produced. A perfect listen for a spring day.
Cover art: 9/10 they gave him balls lmao
I liked this one. Wasn’t really in the mood for this style today, but I thought it was cool and sounded well done. Some of the kind of spacey sounds on here are really trendy now. I may come back to this when I’m in the mood for something darker.
Cover art: 6/10 I really like the lettering
I guess I lied earlier when I said I didn’t listen to rap before 2004 because I played a lot of SSX Tricky back in the day so I’ve got some nostalgia swirling around this one.
This album is just a lot of fun, the chemistry between all group members shines immediately and I really like the beats on here.
Sure some of the bars would look super corny on paper today, but they’re delivered with such charisma it just feels like everyone had a good time making this.
The transition from my adidas to walk this way is super clean.
The beatboxing on hit it run is absolutely ridiculous in headphones it feels like I’m getting spit in my ear.
Cover Art: 8/10 I’m a sucker for some cool colors
Gave this one a listen yesterday in the car while running some errands and decided to re-listen today after reading all the positive reviews. There are still some mixing and production things that keep me from wanting to come back to this all the time, but I respect songwriting and there’s a lot of fun stuff on here.
Cover art: 10/10 iconic
I liked this one a lot. The first song has a funny lyrics and the entire album has really good energy. I also really like bouncing baby although the lyrics are a little goofy. Cool hidden 80s gem overall.
Cover art: 2/10 it’s not even a good photo lmao
Man Nirvana was special. I respect Mudhoney for the influence they had on the genre and I’m sure this went crazy live, but hearing these songs after hearing Nirvana makes them feel flat.
Cover Art: 8/10 both the cover art and album title are sick
This was probably really cool when it came out but a lot of the sounds seem dated today.
Cover art: 7/10
This is the first time I’ve ever actively listened to Buddy Holly so that’s cool.
“Oh Boy” has a very catchy hook and is a fun listen, even though a lot of the instrumental production is a little quiet compared to the vocals and didn’t age super well.
“Maybe Baby” is also a lot of fun, the crickets’ background vocals really make the song for me.
A little too many lovesick songs in the middle. Like it’s cool for a record to have a theme, but these all have very similar moods and it feels like they’re just trying to cash in on a formula.
“Just like this coke, my love is gone” is a funny lyric because haha cocaine, but it may be even funnier to picture buddy holly drinking soft drinks to cope with heartbreak.
Glad the run time is nice and short because this one got old fast.
Cover Art: 5/10 that is a picture of the band
original review got deleted so here’s a shorter version.
drunk scatting to open the album is crazy.
I really like the instrumental palette here, the dark bossa nova vibe is cool and the bass on “Stronger than me” is crazy.
Lyrics definitely stand out on “I heard love is blind.” Comes across as very honest.
In my Bed is an obvious banger, the instrumental really stands out here.
At times I don’t love her vocal inflections on here. I appreciate this record, but if I’m in the mood I would rather listen to back to black.
Cover art: 6/10 cool dog weird letter spacing
Ambiance on the first song is instantly haunting. This has me yearning for the mines fr.
The Sweet Jane cover was cool, they started with my favorite verse of that song so that was neat.
This album had a really cool aesthetic, but the songs themselves didn’t do much to stand out outside of that.
Cover art: 4/10
okay so I guess I'm just the big Van Morrison hater of the group.
I suppose I have two major problems enjoying this album. The first is what makes this album hard to finish for me.
Man the vocal melodies on here are boring. After reading Tim's review I guess I'm just missing the point? To me it comes off as rambling and aimless. These songs are all very long by modern standards and I don't think they have enough material to justify the length. It feels as if I am frozen in time and all I have to guide me is Van Morrsion's scruffy voice. I see people praising the lyrics on here, but it seems to me the story is being told more through emotion conveyed through vocal inflection than by lyrics. He will often hang on the same phrase over and over again and let his vocals to the work.
The second major problem I have with this record isn't Van Morrison's fault, it's more of a matter of bias from a modern listener.
I find the vocal style popularized by Van Morrison incredibly annoying. It's very "white man with an acoustic guitar showing off" but instead of showing off range or dynamics or melodies or lyrics he's just leaning 100% into vocal inflections. Any emotion conveyed by this style goes over my head and it just feels like he's showing off.
This is where the admittedly shallow Ed Sheeran comparison comes into play. "Thinking Out Loud" leans heavily into similar vocal inflections for it's appeal, this was actually just referenced in court during a recent lawsuit. Ed Sheeran's producers apparently referred to it as "the Van Morrison Song." Also Brown Eyed Girl is imo one of the most overplayed cover songs, just like Ed Sheeran's biggest hits, but that's not even on this album so end of comparison.
This vocal style also had a big resurgence in the late 90s and 2000s so maybe I have bad childhood memories around it or something.
If I was alone in a bubble this would be a 1, but I'll go ahead and bump it up to a 2 out of respect for Tim.
Cover Art: 9/10 as much as I dislike the music the cover is actually sick
kind of embarrassing i've been listening to music for like over 7 years and this is the first time I've listened through a Michael Jackson album. I get the hype, the production and vocal talent are exceptional. the style doesn't really resonate with me, but I can't help but admire the technical proficiency.
I get that lyrics aren't really the point here, but they do a lot to hold back my enjoyment of this album. The first half is all "let's dance and have fun" but like yeah i would have gotten that from the instrumental alone the lyrics here just feel too on the nose. Then in the second half when they get to the love songs it feels more like love as a relatable topic then love as an expression of emotion. It doesn't help that She's Out of My Life sounds like it could be from a Disney Movie.
cover art 6/10: like the tux, like the text, don't like the brick wall
cherub rock is such a good song. Billy Corgan has possibly my favorite guitar tone of all time. I love all the singles I've heard off this one, really rooting for it to be a 5.
The lyrics on here are so 90s. vague, edgy, dark, and kinda gross.
