Sep 21 2023
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Get Behind Me Satan
The White Stripes
First song was pretty solid, but most of the album just has strange instrumentation that felt sporadic and out of sync and unmemorable songs. I do enjoy some other songs by The White Stripes, but this album was largely not my thing.
2
Sep 25 2023
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Horses
Patti Smith
You cannot convince me this album isn't a meme way ahead of it's time. I swear to god this is an exact replica of Oil Spill from Bob's Burgers, a woman just feeling herself up as she moan-sings into the mic. A ten minute song about horses and a man dancing? How is that not Tina and Jimmy Jr? If this wasn't released so long ago, I would definitely argue she just stole inspiration from Bob's. I wanted to refrain from using a one star so early, but for most of the album I was just waiting for it to be over.
1
Sep 26 2023
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Africa Brasil
Jorge Ben Jor
So so so fun and full of bops! Saved Ponta De Lanca Africano, Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu, and Xica Da Silva, but nearly all the songs were memorable and enjoyable to listen to. The moment the album was over I actually re-listened to about half of it. I only wish this was in English and not Portuguese so that I would be more likely to revisit it, but then perhaps I wouldn't find it as appealing. Would love to sing along to the songs though! I would give this a 3.5 if there were half ratings, but bumping up to a 4 because of how much I enjoyed my listen.
4
Sep 27 2023
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The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd
I was quite surprised to find that I recognized nearly every song on this album! I've always wanted to give Pink Floyd a real chance, but I can't say that this album sparked much interest in me. None of the songs really stood out to me as noteworthy, and I don't enjoy when songs use sound effects/random noises in their instrumentation (there are exceptions when it is well done like with Gotye, but here it is just obnoxious. Referring to Money in particular). One thing they did do incredibly well is making the entire album blend together. I always appreciate when an album feels more like an experience than a random listing of tracks, and they pulled that off perfectly here. The low rating probably reflects more on my own taste in music than it does the actual quality of the album.
2
Sep 28 2023
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At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan
Nothing noteworthy here. I can appreciate some soft jazz, but all of these tracks just sounded way too "samey." Just her singing in the same style over the same soft jazz on loop. Nothing wrong with it though, just not something that grabbed my attention or that I will ever come back to. Something I did find interesting was that this artist has a discography of nearly 100 albums over her career! Absolutely insane!
2
Sep 29 2023
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Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room
Dwight Yoakam
Generic country sound. Not a genre I enjoy so I'm obviously not about to change my mind on the genre thanks to this one album, but it wasn't the worst thing I've ever had to listen to. Would not seek out on my own ever though.
2
Oct 02 2023
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Siamese Dream
The Smashing Pumpkins
This seems so close to being an album that would jumpstart my love for this band and I would come back to again and again, but it's just missing that something for me. I recognize it's a solid album and there were definitely some standout songs, but just wasn't quite enough to grab me.
Listening to this album did raise a problem for me though. I have been rating these albums based around a loose assumption that there will likely not be many (or any at all) albums in genres or from bands that I consistently listen to in my day to day. I feel as though I have skewed my ratings accordingly (giving a country album a 2 instead of an instant 1 for instance). But now that I have hit this album, I have judged it based more so on my enjoyment of the music from a "this could actually be something I listen to in my day to day" frame of reference. If I gave a generic country album a 2, certainly this album deserves a 4/5, but I want to give it a 3 because while I do enjoy the sound and the musicianship is solid, it isn't likely something I will revisit. I think in an ideal world, I would rate everything based solely on my enjoyment OR on my willingness to revisit the music, but I don't want to end up with hundreds of 1 star ratings. No real decision made, but giving this a 3 and reconsidering my previous/future ratings.
3
Oct 03 2023
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Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
I have such deep childhood nostalgia for Tracy Chapman due to "Give Me One Reason", but nothing here really gripped me. A couple songs stood out like For You and Fast Car, which I know is an iconic song of hers, but not enough to give me reason to come back to this album.
2
Oct 04 2023
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Hard Again
Muddy Waters
The man was so influential to the genre that he was considered the "father of modern Chicago blues", only for me to come along 45 years later and call his album "bland" and "samey." Smh my damn head. Also, maybe don't be an old man singing about "little girls" in a sexual manner?
1
Oct 05 2023
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Only By The Night
Kings of Leon
A lot of the songs actually had really solid instrumentation. I found myself thinking "oh I'd love to learn this song on guitar" multiple times. Opening song had some really sick, melancholy vibes with the echoing guitar parts. Use Somebody is clearly the song everyone knows and has heard, I didn't even realize that was Kings of Leon until I got to that track in the album.
I think the real problem is just the main singers voice, it felt rather polarizing. I found myself sick of it after an album of listening, but didn't dislike it nearly as much as my friends seemed to. This feels somewhere between a 2 and a 3, but since I can't do half ratings I suppose I'll give it a 2 since I will likely never come back to it.
2
Oct 06 2023
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Paris 1919
John Cale
I can tell this album deserves a spot here, but like most, it just doesn't do much for me. Despite it not being an album I deeply enjoyed or resonated with, it was still an okay listen. One complaint I have with a lot of the other albums I've heard so far is that most of the songs feel very "samey." That is not the case here, there is so much variety within this album and I truly appreciated that on my listen! The standout song for me was definitely Paris 1919 (unsurprising that it was the favorite as it's the name of the album), but otherwise nothing else really stood out. Deserves higher I'm sure, but giving it 2 stars. Would probably be 2.5 if that was an option.
2
Oct 09 2023
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Fever To Tell
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Completely forgettable, no real stand out songs, most just droned on and relied way too heavily on distortion and vocal fry. I looooved Garbage and Paramore back in the day, and this band feels like it's trying to be some mix of the two, but just fails at both. Still more listenable than others in the list, so 2 it is.
2
Oct 10 2023
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The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
This album is the epitome of old Eminem: edgy, over the top, misogynist insanity. The skits are fun, but not something that I always love in an album. It's hard to give this album a better rating when his next two albums were just miles ahead and, in my opinion, peak Eminem.
This album really suffers from the fact that Eminem cannot write a chorus to save his life (there are definitely exceptions, but more often than not the verses are catchier than the chorus). Nearly every song on this album just has the weakest chorus imaginable, but he's just got his unique style that instantly gets you vibing so it's easy to ignore. Giving this a 3 because the excessive misogyny (which I realize is kind of his shtick) feels harder to stomach now that I'm older, and because his other albums are just straight up better. Probably a 4 if I was scaling this review with the rest of the albums I've heard so far.
3
Oct 11 2023
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Green
R.E.M.
An enjoyable listen! While I only recognized Stand, the album had this sense of nostalgia about it that reminded me of bands of this style I used to listen to when I was younger like Fastball (so underrated). Pop Song 89 was the standout for me, and the first save I've had for a number of albums now.
3