Great guitar work.
Great production. 👍🏻
Whew! Ritchie Blackmore melts all the faces on this one. Highs: double tracked solo on Highway Star and the super soft-overdrive tone on Lazy.
This one’s a masterpiece. Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, and Oscar Pettiford … I mean come on! The liner notes are a Mount Rushmore of bebop. Fun fact: even with all that talent, it took them four hours, TWENTY FIVE takes, and at least two fights to record the title track due to complexity. Monk is a genius.
Didn’t expect this album to be so groovy! Weller wrote some great tunes and all on this one, but the star of the show for me was Bruce Foxton’s bass lines.
I love this album, I’d give it 10 stars if I could. There’s just something that hits different about these 90’s dj’s before everything was done digitally. Dude took a basement full of vinyl and an mpc and changed music as we know it. Shadows sampling is super clean, and his catalogue is crazy dense, but when he strips everything back on napalm brain for a high hat solo… this dudes cut from a different cloth. Also: what does your soul look like pt 1 is one of the greatest acid jazz tracks ever produced. Those drums!
Nobody write a melody like Peter Tosh! There are so many good tunes on this one, the title track probably being the weakest point in an album with basically no holes. This is as solid a reggae record as you’ll find.
I’d never heard of the Space Rock genre and I, for one, am on board. I love that this album is designed to be so immersive. The blending and transitions are really well executed, moving from chaotic ambiance to a bright pop groove, pulling back to abstract, then hitting the gas again, all without any indication the track has changed. I’ll definitely be checking out more of Jason Pierce’s work.
Super group Friday! Had a few good tunes on this one. Personally, I couldn’t escape the feeling I was in a Tarantino movie, which is always unsettling. James Ford is in the pocket AF though on the drums. Dude was working.
Look I'm not a classic rock elitist or anything, but let's call it what it is; Led Zeppelin is the greatest band ever assembled. You can't have an honest conversation about the elite rock drummers without Joh Bonham. I'll go to bat every time for Robert Plant being on the Mount Rushmore of rock vocalists. And Jimmy Page, aside from being my favorite set of fingers to ever grace the fretboard (there's my bias), is one of the most significant musical innovators of the last century. Since the record was financed and produced by Page, he was able to showcase the creativity that would make his production as legendary as his chops. Pioneering natural reverb recording? Innovating reversed echos in 1969? Just another day at the office for this young gunslinger slapping together a record for his new band.
IMO, LZ is at their best when their blues roots are out in full force, which is why this is my favorite Zeppelin album. Bonham is showing all the power and all the swag that makes his drumming so iconic. Plant is transcending space and time with his vocal lines. Page is letting the whole world know that he is much more that Jeff Beck's sidekick with a barrage of riffs and solos that will leave guitar players striving to wrap their heads and fingers around for the next 50 years(myself included).
TLDR: This album is the shiz.
"Classical music is not for entertainment. It is to take you on a meditative journey, ye toh mehsoos karne ki cheez hai (This has to be experienced)."
Shivkumar Sharma
Truth.
I did not expect a thrash album on here! My favorite part of it was the equally unexpected wikipedia entry for Dan Spitz, who brought some MONSTER riffs to this mayhem.
"Dan Spitz is an American musician best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the thrash metal band Anthrax from 1983 to 1995 and from 2005 to 2007. Spitz also founded the Christian music group Red Lamb, which was known for lyrics on autism awareness. Spitz has earned Swiss and American degrees in luxury mechanical watchmaking and micro-mechanical engineering, certified as watchmaker instructor for the North American operations of Swiss watch company Chopard."
Thrash metal, autism awareness, and luxury mechanical watchmaking. A tale as old as time.
Come Halloween, I am blasting this record from my house. This album just begs for the accompaniment of occult imagery and dangerously sporadic flashing lights. One review I read used the phrases "Psychotic Eccentricity" and "Sinister Weirdness." Yep. That about sums it up.
It's amazing how many iconic songs are on this album, but I was equally amazed at how many incredible songs are on here that I'd never heard. It truly is the taqueria from the review matt shared the other day! What really blew me away on this album is how much work Stevie Wonder put into this. There's only 4 other people who get writing credit on this, besides that SW wrote, composed, and arranged the entirety of this monolith. I'm glad they gave us this on a friday. It took way more than a day to digest this one.
Five stars is too low of a max when dealing with the greatest vocalist these united states have ever produced. I tried to consider stand out moments, but the whole thing is amazing. All hail the queen. twenty-five million stars given.
Peter Gabriel, like cheap wine, isn’t particularly offensive to the senses, but also doesn’t really stand out to me in any meaningful way.
Justin Timberlake is a generational talent. no doubt about it. I think one of the things he does best is working with the right people. The Neptunes did the bulk of production on this album and turned out some incredible tracks like Senorita, which is a massive leap above the status quo of the pop charts in 02. Pharrell's choppy drum work and genre-bending vision makes this album still groove 20 years later.
IMO: "fi'ty" is underrated. This album is the apex of the bling era. It has all the flash and shine, with unapologetically performative bars. And of course Dre puts together some beauties to back it: see ‘if I can’t’
Extra star for doing the upside down hang at the super bowl a couple years back. and remember: y'aint bring no money, you ain't smokin in my benzo.
This is what gets lost in the age of the single: Artists with the vision to do things that are big, bold, and risky. What a cool project. And that solo on Comfortably Numb... I mean come on.
I'll be honest, there's rarely a week that goes by that I don't jam at least one track from Dropout. I think West's strength has always been in production, and it shows on his debut. Check out that big, high stepping beat with those keyed up soul samples on School Spirit for a prime example of the sound he established on this record. The impact of that vibe is still reverberating in hip hop almost 20 years later.
it's kind of bittersweet listening to this album in the time where kanye has lost his damn mind, but the dude had some great verses on this album. I'll put All Falls Down up against any 'conscious rap' tune. It seems kind of ironic listening to kanye criticizing materialism, but I respect that he has always been willing to voice his own struggles with faith, insecurity, wealth and fame.
1 star deduction for song to skit ratio being 1:5
I found i rock more with Big Star's power pop side, so like their #1 album is much more listenable to me. I can see why this one gets such rave reviews though, it's a top notch job of setting a mood. It's disjointed and melancholy and ironic which is all cool, but to me it just felt like, man i get it, you're sad. one cool part about it was all the influence that this band provided for future bands. you're listening and you just get smacked with "oh dang thats REM." or "why do i all of the sudden want to listen to elliot smith?"
I'm a sucker for a bass-led band, especially when they're locking it down like this. Fred Smith (who quit a little known band he founded - Blondie) to join up with this squad, drives the vibe-mo-bile all through this record, setting a solid stage for the the two guitars to really create some cool interplay . This album is full of great melodic hooks and some very cool understated solos. That lick on the outro solo on guiding light is a beauty.
This is a cool album to listen to because as clearly as you're hearing the influences on the band(Rolling Stones is the one clearest to me), you're hearing the influence they had on the alt scene for decades. You're hearing the cure, pixies, (rilo kiley?), and on a couple tunes, i'd swear i was listening to the strokes.
This one lands right in my wheelhouse. Will be listening to many times over.
It's a classic! It's difficult to listen to Freddie Mercury and not be amazed. Brian May is a monster, and gets one of the coolest guitar tones of that era(related reading: The Red Special - as the legend goes, May and his dad built that guitar out of a fireplace mantle.) Roger Taylor's playing is just delightful. I've listened to Bring Back That Leroy Brown like twenty times over the weekend, IDK how you keep that tricky of a song SO tight. It's also a great showcase of their backing vocal prowess, which is one of my favorite parts of what this band does.
I take a lot of comfort in the fact that Bob Dylan has proven decisively that one does not have to have a good voice in order to sing. I guess it helps if you just happen to be one of the most gifted songwriters to ever lift a pen.
typically when a band departs from their down and dirty roots, i take the grumpy old man position, pining for their glory days of "true" sound. But this turn for the white stripes away jack white's garage-blues jam sessions on their previous records is a big step forward for them, IMO. This album really broadened the scope of what they were doing artistically from their full reliance on jack white as a riff machine. (not hating on that, white blood cells still takes top position for me for white stripes albums) I dig it.
Yet another prolific songwriter for this week's listening. Have we had a better full week of albums so far? I'm having trouble keeping up this week because i just wanna keep re-listening! Anyways...
This is one of the great Texas Country Albums, which automatically makes it top tier among country albums, because as we all know,
Texas Country > nashville/pop country.
There really isn't a bad song on this record. It bristles with small-town angst and i love it for it. makes me wanna out the petal down and point it west, with nothing but the wind in my hair and dozens of great hooks to guide my way, so to speak.
My thing with New Wave is that i really dig the new wave tunes that sound less like new wave. so this one is right on the fringe for me. there's a few tracks that harken back to the punk(ish) roots of this band and their previous incarnation, Joy Division(vastly superior, IMO), and then the dancy, drum machined "new wavey" remainder gets lost on me, for the most part.
I read that they didn’t think anyone was going to listen to this, so they didn’t bother keeping track of the samples they were using until the international release became imminent. It really tickles me thinking about the team of lawyers trying to decipher what needed clearance and what they could get by with.
I'll have to revisit this one in a proper headspace. but it wasn't raining and i had no puzzle to do.
Man, these dude could write pop tunes like nobody's business. This era of the beatles the perfect example of the genius of simplicity. the tunes are straight ahead, well written, catchy, and have aged beautifully.
I also think we need to revisit the days of pop stars covering contemporary artists. That's just a delight.
this was a pleasant surprise! I thought i'd dug to the bottom of the early 2000's alt rock well, but somehow these dudes were not on my radar! I really dig the sound they were putting together. it's got the all the feel of early 00's alt rock while firmly rooted with old brit punk. the album itself felt a little front loaded to me, but they get bonus points since the band's story is riddled with rock'n'roll shenanigans. mysterious and vague love affairs, interpersonal conflict, loads of drugs.. it's all there!
wow. wow wow wow. paul simon wasn't playing with this record. well i mean, he was playing the foot out of that acoustic, but he WASNT PLAYING. the talent captured on this eclectic little record is crazy.
Ron Carter - jazz legend, played with literally everyone. ON IT
Toots and the Maytals - maybe the most important raggae band outside of the wailers. ON IT
Stéphane Grappelli - founded hot club of france with THE django reinhardt. ON IT
Charlie McCoy - Country Music hall of fame. ON IT
and again. i did not know paul simon could play like that.
I'm starting to sense a bias on this list toward punk bands. i might just go safety pin a RANCID patch on my jean jacket later.
Unsung heroes of history: The Funk Brothers was the studio band for motown records during this period where motown records was re-defining soul and r&b and basically creating the playbook for american music for the next century. Soak in James Jamerson grooving the hell out of the bassline and Uriel Jones locking down the kit with that hi hat on the title track. try not to nod your head! oh to be a fly on the wall for these recordings...
There's only one thing to do when you listen to Ill Communication, and that's listen to every other album the beastie boys ever recorded. I love the grit Caldato was able to capture while they were transitioning from the "pure" hip hop of Paul's Boutique. Although i think paul's is their best album, I'll put this up there as their most creative. the rap is elite, the funk is elite, and it rocks. if you need me, i'll be listening to sabrosa on a loop for the next 72 hours.
Blues, Rock'n'roll, Saxophones, Fats Domino ripping the keys
*chef's kiss*
This albums provides one of my favorite musical controversies: The infamous drums on when the levee breaks. you have bonham's drum groove, with all the power and authority he is famous for, carrying the song, but crank it up and you'll hear the echoes off all of those big hits - turning this song into a ravenous monster.
so they recorded this at headley grange, and old english cottage, which had a big lobby kind of entryway with a spiral staircase going upward to the higher floors. they set up a drum kit there, and according to guitarist jimmy page, who produced the album, he was struck with the genius idea of setting mics at different distances up the stairwell as well as one way down the hallway, the result of which is this full bodied drum groove with all the reverb and delay built in. genius work by a great producer, right?
unless you believe one of the other engineers who worked on the album who says page is full of it; they just used echo mics and added delay in mastering.
as with many things i can't prove, i'm going with the better story.
I didn't realize there were punk bands in the states in 69. they rocked hard! and apparently had quite the tiff with "the man" about incorporating an emphatic "motherfucker" in this album. pioneers man.. pioneers.
When some inattentive driver endangers me or my brood while we are out braving the public roadways, and I find myself in need of a proper insult to belittle the offending driver (if only to myself), i reach into my quiver of verbal brutality, and about 4/5 times, i come out with a lyric from the chronic. maybe this album has influenced me too much.
this album is the pinnacle of west coast g funk. Dre's production and Colin Wolfe's work on the basslines are outstanding. and it's been added to the recording registry in the library of congress, which mean, "deez nuts" are firmly cemented in the annals of history. a fact that will forever bring me joy.
This album, like Janelle Monae, does so much and does it all so well. you can hear all the influence from artists like Prince, Bowie, Jamiroquai, the beatles and so many more dripping through this. add to it Monae's incredible ability to weave genres with her lauryn hill-esque vocal abilities... whats not to love? Tightrope is the headliner for me, that song with of montreal is a bop, and she puts a cap on it by showcasing her jazz chops with bebopbyeya.
personally, im a little poppier and lean more toward clarity so "dirty" may be a little well, dirty for my taste, but there are a lot of cool ideas happening on this album. lee ranaldo's playing is amazing, albeit unsettling. i love kim gordon's work on it. sift through the tall overdriven grass of the guitars and she has some killer grunge basslines all through this. her dry and sultry vocals had me jonesing for a record solely led by her, and then i remembered the yeah yeah yeahs exist, so thats where i'm off to next!
if i were asked to describe what the 90's sounded like, this would be it.
God bless Angus Young for those sweet sweet guitar hooks he was put on this earth to provide us with.
I prefer my steaks meadium rare to raw.
jackson pollock and noise rock occupy the same empty space on my shelf of interest
to me, Leonard Cohen sounds like a nap. and naps dont jive with synthesizers.
Man these little english goobers could turn out a tune! Mansized rooster, time, alright, very solid tracks on a very solid debut.
hendrix is ok i guess... he's only one of the 2-3 most creative people ever to play. I'll deduct a star because i believe "the wind cries mary" should've been on album 3 times instead of 1. it's a no brainer.
ambitious? yes. a feat of arrangement and writing? yes. but man... i just feel like if you're gonna try to churn out that much music, you're gonna get a lot of tunes that are ideas as opposed to songs. i'd rather hear twenty well executed songs than 3 hours worth of cool ideas.
but could i embark on this kind of project and get anywhere remotely close to this quality? absolutely not.
it's tough when you have to compare your albums to Pet Sounds, but you have to know when to fold em. felt overproduced to me with thin vocal arrangements compared to their past.
Lamar took home a Pulitzer for DAMN, but i still contend this is his best album. The narrative arc, the storytelling, and the character development would make this a masterpiece if you just took the lyrical work by kendrick, but add in the production work (headed up by Dre) providing a setting that is instantly recognizable, and this album feels like a three act play. The teenage "goddamn i got bitches" bravado weaves through greed, addiction, vengeance and death, before folding to the albums culminating wisdom, none of that shit made me real. "real is responsibility. real is taking care of your family, real is god."
This is a desert island album for me, for sure. i could leave this one on repeat all day. and i did.
i could handle being british with music like this. give me all the angst, overcast, and pints.
there's no need for any other albums this week. i'll just keep spinning this one. see also the breeders for more of bassist Kim Deal kicking all the ass.
the genre combination you never knew you needed.
don't even act like you didn't start singing rappers delight when that first track kicked off.
I'm going soft in my old age.
Love great session players, and Elliot Randall is top notch. well worth a look through his wiki write up to see what a great career the guy had. Jeff Baxter is another legend here, playing through the 70's with steely dan, the doobie brothers, subsequently with everyone and their dog, and then apparently "stumbled into" a career as a self taught consultant for the us military and chair of the Civilian Advisory Board for Ballistic Missile Defense. because of course.
Bjork is a trip. The definition of extra. that range tho...
this list loves itself a concept album. and this guy loves himself the kinks
well look who tied LZ on the 'most albums featured so far' scoreboard.
when John Frusciante became John Frusciante.
Like taking a moonlit walk through a bog, but you’ve been shot with a tranquilizer.
no bells and whistles here. just sheer, immense, talent. IMO 19 is her best work. i highly recommend digging into that one.
