Proper classic, bluesy country rock - no doubt influential in its time but I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a musical Seinfeld - so foundational to a genre that it sounds rote and stale. Some good tunes - Lookin’ Out My Back Door gets a mention as a chugging country number, and I Heard It Through The Grapevine is easily recognised - but overall, not doing an awful lot for me…
Pleasant electropop with good energy. I recognise 'Lies' from the Tourist remix, which has been a long-time favourite. Quite like the slower pace of 'You Caught The Light' at the end of the album too.
All sounds very prog rock. Some fun moments but not the most engaging thing I've listened to.
I can see why it might have been quite influential but not really my cup of tea
Surprising amount of variety on one album, from proper bluesy and country to jazzy and soulful. Very enjoyable album and lots to go back and discover on repeat listens. One standout was the mellow, yearning vibes of Crazy Love.
A great album - coherent but not repetitive. The pacing is really quite good. Standouts: Roadhouse Blues is proper bluesy rock. Peace Frog's spoken word sections are pretty captivating and has a great energy. Really enjoyed the slower pace of Blue Sunday.
An album I grew up with. Crawling, In The End, One Step Closer... Solid album, still a good listen
It's grungy, it's noisy, it's... ok.
Peak 60s British psychedlic rock. Slightly mad but an enjoyable listen
Pleasant enough, but feels a bit forgettable to me. All quite melancholy and wispy. Enjoyed 2:45am
Yeeeeaaaah boooyee! This album is very late 80s hip hop. Clever lyrics, strong samples and beats (some surprisingly modern), and the infectious energy of Flavor Flav carried me through the album. Fun, impactful and a worthy listen.
Found it a bit samey across the whole album but I like the vibe - quite recognisable
Probably my favourite album on here so far (although it is early days). Some interesting sound design, lyricism, FKA's singing is great to listen to, good variety across the album, and good vibes all round.
Couple highlights, but there was stuff to enjoy on most tracks:
- Pendulum's chugging flow and melodic sounds, with jazzy harmonies kept me captivated
- Kicks' melodic build up to an eerie breakdown
A hip hop classic. It's fun, easy to listen to and well produced. Really enjoyed Bring The Pain, and tracks like Work It are iconic. I just wouldn't rush back to listen to the whole thing again.
It's a nice vibe, and I loved One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21, plus the title track was good fun. After a while, it all sort of washed together into a wispy blur. There's a lot I like about it, but I don't know if I'm finding it truly memorable.
Initial thoughts: abrasive and uninteresting.
Closer has a bit more to it - a heady mix of noise and shouted lyrics over squidgy synths and distorted guitars. Still not doing much for me, but I'm slightly less bored compared to the preceding tracks.
Maybe it's part of the appeal, but the production feels really rough with hard-panned vocals and noise everywhere leaving a real lack of clarity.
Surprised to say that by The Becoming, I'm actually kind of settling into it.
Having reached Reptile, and there's more to enjoy here than I expected. I could see myself coming back to it on another occasion.
The melancholy relief coming into The Downward Spiral is quite poignant given the onslaught it follows, and finishing with Hurt... Damn.
Play me any one of these tracks on its own and I'd have given it a disinterested 1 or 2, but this is the first album I've had on this list which is so much more than the sum of its parts.
It's pleasant enough to listen to but equally as forgettable.
It feels well put together and there are a couple of great tracks on here (I liked Renegade). But it did sort of fade into the background for me a lot of the time and it's an awful lot of Jay-Z rapping about how great Jay-Z is... Maybe I'd get more out of coming back to it and listening more intentionally, but I'm not feeling much so far.
*sigh*... This feels like another 'influential' album, which I'm sure was impactful at the time of its release, but to me 45 years later, I'm mostly bored.
I did find myself getting into Twenty Four Hours during the intro, until Ian Curtis piped up and I switched off again.
Not for me.
Perfect.
Joni Mitchell's writing is deeply affective, vulnerable and conflicted - it paints a vivid picture, spanning the mundane and the poigniant.
It's Joni's voice which really brings the imagery to life. Unconventional at times, but undeniably beautiful and skilfully wielded. The instrumentation is very simple, which lets her voice shine through. Suffice it to say, I'm a fan of this concoction.
Favourites are mostly the wistful and melancholy - Little Green, A Case of You, and Blue is simply devastating.
Another underwhelming one for me, despite the clear influence the band had at the time.
Some charismatic moments in the recording and I enjoyed many of the tracks (Plateau was a highlight for me).
Overall, though, I found the muted sound and Cobain's apathetic delivery a bit of a drag. Maybe one for enjoying in the right mood.
It's bluesy and dull. A nice enough sound, and I did like Standing in the Doorway, but over an hour of the same sound is too much. I thought Highlands would never end. I'm glad it did.
Aggressive, of course, but also more pop than I was expecting. Quite enjoyed listening.
Not something I'd always be in the mood for, and the aggressive schtick gets tiresome (I'm still not entirely clear what they're so angry about...), but there's definitely musicality to enjoy here.
Snuff's a bit of a rogue entry on the album - quite a welcome bit of variety. Actually, most of the back half feels more up my street.
Undeniably funky, and a good mix of tracks. Seems worth another listen with more focus as there's a lot to enjoy here. It's just not doing much for me.
It's batshit, but I love it.
Bohemian Rhapsody is obviously iconic, as is You're My Best Friend. I was less familiar with Death On Two Legs, The Prophet's Song and Love Of My Life, all of which I thought were fantastic.
I found myself less enthused with tracks like Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon and Seaside Rendezvous, but I suppose they add to the camp charm of Queen.
Overall, it's a lot of hits and none of the misses are catastrophic. A very welcome addition to the list.
This is pretty great. It's bluesy, jazzy and soulful. Ray Charles' voice is sensational. I'm not a 60s country and western aficionado, so I don't recognise most of the standards here, and can't really speak to the album's social impact, but it's enjoyable music regardless.
Enjoyed this. Obviously there are a few major hits on here, but the whole album is landing quite nicely.
Well isn't it ironic, don't you think. The album feels very much like a product of its time. It's mostly an enjoyable listen. I think it'd score higher if I came into it feeling angstier, but as I'm no longer a teenager, I'm settling on a 3.
Really enjoyed this. It's energetic, varied and goes hard. Am I following the story through the cryptic lyrics? Not really, but it's still a great album with lots to enjoy.
I've listened to a couple of these tracks quite a bit before. Very pleasant and a bit more varied than I was expecting.
