Not my usual vibe, but really interesting. Some of the upbeat ones are really fun. Really do enjoy his softer/slower style, maybe more than the upbeat/grittier songs. Ruby's Arms is the standout for me.
If I had to attempt to describe this album to someone I'd say it was a rougher and gruffer Van Morrison with a splash of The Pogues' Shane McGowan.
I need to see if Tom Waits has anything punkier to listen to!
Love this album. Been a while, but it's part of my growing-up soundscape.
All the classic songs are still fantastic :)
The lead single was great fun. Cant get into the rest of it
Fun, but also the 90s sounds like this feels tired to me.
Love this. It's always 5 stars from me.
Sound of trips in the car with my family.
Red Rain is really hitting me today than it ever has. Might be because I'm older and have had stranger dreams and felt stranger feelings. Sonically lush.
Don't Give Up feels like a friend's embrace, somewhere to let go of everything heavy for a time.
That Voice Again - Feels so big and inevitable. Explosive. Giant and cavernous.
Really really fun. All sounds sonically awesome too. Teenage kicks is the tits
Pretty fun. Like a punky party. Lots of teenage house party vibes. Would be the soundtrack for the night.
Very high energy throughout so couldn't finish it. Liked Pong and Abstract Plain a lot. Abstract Plain gave me some Neil Young vibes. Cool!
Faron Young is a bit of fun, but not my total vibe. Appreciate the banjo play. Very decent pop country-ish track.
Bonny is wonderful.
All the songs up to When Love Breaks Down are fantastic.
Goodbye Lucille #1 floored me. I got sad. I felt the way you do when you need to get over someone. Rough, in a good way. Will have on repeat for a while.
Hallelujah is a bit more cultured lyrically. Fancier bass fills.
Guitar playing is great. The piano is great too. Feels like more of a jam track.
Clearly, all the bigger hits are on side A, haha.
Moving the River.
Interesting "see me, mum and dad, I'm all grown up now" track. Jovial enough with a smidge of bittersweetness at childhood being over. Struggling to be an adult and keeping up with the things that are set in motion.
Horsin' Around.
Trying to be a bit Jazzier. Pretty fun. This band is fun. They like their words and duets. It works. The brass in this track is great, it gives the track an energy that bounces around.
Bass Solo at the end with big stabs! A great surprise!
Desire As.
Luscious, sonically. Moody and a little pained. Very dreamy.
"I've got 6 things on my mind, you're no longer one of them. It's perfect as it stands, so why then crush it in your perfect hands?
Desire as a sylph-figured creature who changes her mind"
I'll say this: Christ, help the man who wrote this at that moment!
Blueberry Pies is fun. Came and went.
When the Angels. It's a bass riff, but it came and went.
Lovely, lovely album. The sad songs are the best. It has to be said. Will probably become a lifetime favourite. Some tracks are up there with Spandau Ballet's best IMO. Goodbye Lucille #1 is my favourite of them all.
4/5 stars.
I've come to the conclusion that idgaf about The Smiths.
Not enough to listen to this album from start to finish again anyway.
Morrissey as a concept gets old quickly and is fatiguing at times. When he's on fire he's fantastic, but he's not God.
I already had favourites like Bigmouth, Cemetery Gates, and Some Girls. But I knew that when I was 14. And at 27 I still can't really get into this as much.
It makes me feel that bands like Prefab Sprout were and are criminally underrated by comparison. Their album Steve McQueen is lightyears ahead of this and it's from 1985.
Obviously, the bangers are bangers, but Morissey makes it harder to appreciate the rest of them and the band themselves. The songs also just feel like they're in a big hurry for him to shut up. I'd rather listen to Jonny Marr as a solo artist. A+ for effort. D- and Boo to Morissey for wailing in and out of key.
3/5 stars
Sounds amazing, and feels amazing. The bangers are timeless for a reason. You're better googling a professional review than reading my twaddle!
Pretty cool. Sounds like Autumn, Or maybe that's just what I think when I'm cold listening to music. VEry cool though. Cool guitar sounds. Vocals are really genuine. Great lyrics. A tooouch fatiguing at some points, but that's just the sonics.
Lovely and moody.
Wiz areet. Some tunes are bonnie.
Forest Fire - Ext.
Rattlesnakes.
Perfect Skin.
Tbh got a bit bored and listened to Fightstar instead
It's Def Leppard innit. It's the bollocks. Photograph and stage fright are bangers. \m/
Loved it actually. very feelgood 2000s american high school indie
This was awesome. I freaking love this concept. I love the more fledged out and simpler songs. They're just songs! No overworked production, just enough to get the point across where needed at times. Real music and thoughts by real people. I'm sure I'll come back to it <3
