I like this album best when it doesn’t know what genre it wants to be— or, perhaps when it wants to everything all at once.
I don’t know a lot about jazz, but this album made me want to take the world by its hand and lively dance around a very small room with it, then hold it close and just let time move around me in slow, infinite circles.
This is 100% a personal failing of mine, but I cannot take British people rapping seriously. I couldn’t figure out why, but then my brother pointed out that it sounded like Big Shaq or RS and if you know their songs then you know what I mean. I don’t know how unique this album was when it came out, but I like the beats and the style, and I appreciated the lyrics. But gee… that English accent…
4/5 I like all the different aspects of it: the funk, the soul, the spoken word, the choir. I like how experimental it feels. I like the optimism it sings. I love her voice. The album isn’t reinventing the wheel nor perfecting it, but seems to be appreciating it and adding upgrades to it. That being said… it was way too long of an album. Some parts of songs felt like they were going on and on and on. Some songs felt awkward and out of place and thrown in because they sounded interesting, not because they were part of a cohesive album. There is a guy singing in two songs who doesn’t quite hit the notes he needs multiple times (or maybe he just didn’t give the notes the power they needed) and it irked me, even with the slight hearing loss I have from my cold. And for all its optimism, the album felt too preachy at times, relying on a God in almost a naive sort of way and not in a realistic sort of way that you would expect when the album starts with vary frank lyrics. Still, it was an enjoyable album and a welcome bit of sunlight amongst a lot of music that feels like it has no passion behind it, lyrically and musically.
Closer to 3.5 stars. An iconic voice with some iconic songs, and I had to keep reminding myself that she made this at 25. Why it wasn’t my favorite album: -I think Adele is at her best when she isn’t belting. I think the loveliest parts of her songs are where she sings low, and I wish there were a song where she avoided the high notes. -The songs felt repetitive and like there was no experimentation to them, like they followed a formula. They’re a few exceptions and they’re my favorite songs of the album, but for the most part the album had too much predictability for me. -I wish the songs flowed from one to another. The album itself feels like an Adele album and is cohesive sound-wise, but the transitions between songs felt more like a bunch of songs thrown together in a premeditated order of light songs, then ballads, then light, then a little edgy, then ballad, then light again that I think many pop albums follow. It felt like there wasn’t much mind towards how the songs felt side by side. All that rambling aside, Adele’s voice is beautiful and I think that’s why you listen to an Adele album, not necessarily for her experimentation. These songs are almost 10 years old and some of them I haven’t heard for years but still knew and still loved, and I think that’s the sign and the power of a good song.
4.5 could be weirder. Wish it were weirder. I like when it’s weird.
4.5ish I think the instrumentals are so experimental and unique and I think this album is a lot of fun. But I found the vocals to be kind of weak/mundane and when they weren’t I found them whiny and straining, but not enough to hate the album, just enough that it’s not gonna be my favorite album.
Where was this album during my depressive episode last year?
The Smiths sound the best when the lyrics are a little melodramatic because I think that’s the nature of Morrissey’s voice. And speaking of Morrissey’s voice, I wish there were more variation to it, but as limited as it sounds, I still enjoy it (even if it’s a bit whiny at times). I think the music has a very unique sound, but I wish there were fewer songs and that they were longer and given more time to breathe or go off the rails. It’s definitely an album I’ll listen to again in the future, and if Morrissey comes over and wants to have a listening party, he can have some of my lexapro!
I liked the beats and the lyrics, but the kind of monotone rapping didn’t do it for me. (Also: British accent.) I think background and other vocals were trying to account for this and add more dimension, but it didn’t quite work for me.
It doesn’t quite sound like The Who, but instead like a band trying to figure out their sound and borrowing from what’s popular. There are some obviously iconic tracks and I think what makes them iconic is that they sound uniquely like The Who, but the other tracks are more easily forgotten and would be better served as part of a “Best of the 60s” compilation than an original album by a band.
It felt more like a Broadway album than anything. And even for it being such a short album, I got tired of the songs about halfway through. There were some great instrumentals but it felt more like a concept that should’ve been condensed into a single song.
(Misogyny aside) I really liked this album. It did feel a little on the long side, and I think Snoop is a better rapper than Dre, but Dre has great production.
A good album to let play in the background and just chill to with many fun songs. But because the album is so long, I don’t see myself listening to this or any song in particular on the regular.
It was the same song for 30 minutes. Everyone who has ever worn a Ramones shirt owes me financial compensation for the emotional hardship I felt as I watched my expectations for this album crash into the floor in a fiery explosion. An extra star for Blitzkrieg Bop
Her voice is beautiful and insane, but the music itself didn’t feel like anything special, if anything maybe stuck in the 80s in a way that doesn’t transcend the cliches of the decade. I’m also not a fan of smooth jazz and the parts that felt like smooth jazz were only resuscitated by Anita’s vocals.
I really enjoyed this album. It was interesting to listen to it so close to The Chronic, not just in terms of East Coast-West Coast, but production styles and lyrical choices. There are a lot of pop culture references that I thought weren’t too vague, and because they were from across the decades it didn’t make it feel like this album was stuck in the 90s. I like the difference in vocals and rap styles between the three of them, and for an album that was over an hour long, it didn’t really feel like it dragged on.
Every instrument was playing a different song, and they were playing it for as long as possible. When there was the rare moment of synchronization, it was ruined by not-quite-singing-not-quite-yelling.
The lyrics are just weird enough to be interesting but not off-putting. That being said, I wasn’t sold on the vocals. They weren’t irritating, they just bordered on sounding bored/drunk. The instrumentals were fun, but didn’t really stick out to me as anything super unique or hypnotizing. I wouldn’t mind if the songs were on the radio but I’m also probably not going to go out searching for them.
Somewhere between a 4-4.5. Really liked it. I wish it did a little bit less genre hopping between songs and tried to infuse elements from all the genres they were interested in across the whole album.
4.5ish The album felt younger than it was, and I’m always a sucker for some good and heavy guitar. It was also a lot of fun and had a lot of variety. Some transitions were a little awkward, which I think works well for punk. The only parts of this album I didn’t like were the ones that felt a little more kitschy than camp (the clown song and another that sounded a little 60s to me) and when some of the songs faded out in contrast to the ones that jumped from one to another, which I thought brought the energy of such an lively album down in ways that didn’t feel wholly organic.
4-4.5ish I love 80s music (so there’s my bias) but thought this album was interesting. The vocals were a little morose for me but I liked the instrumentals. It’s an album I’d like to listen to again.
The songs from this album that have remained popular since their release are, in my opinion, masterpieces of work. While the other songs are easily dimmed by them, I still found them entertaining and well made. But because they were so easily eclipsed, it almost made them just sound like background and/or filler. (My favorite songs from this album: Purple Rain obviously, When Doves Cry, Darling Nikki.) I wonder how my approach to this album would’ve changed if I had seen the Purple Rain movie before.
The songs were fun, but I think Cee-Lo’s voice is best at soul/funk songs and not so much during rapping. Nothing really stood out to me during this album and it’s not one I feel the need to revisit.
3-3.5 It’s an album I could listen to on repeat, partially because it’s performed well, but mostly because there isn’t any part of any song that is that memorable and sticks.
3-3.5 This album felt longer than 52 minutes (and not really in a good way). I liked Beck’s experimentation, and for 1996 I feel like it was probably very unique, and even at first I thought the album was younger than it was. That being said, the album didn’t feel very cohesive, and I think Beck leaned too much into an idea of idiosyncrasy being a random sound bite thrown in. It got old quickly. However, the changed within rhythm were cool, like when the song felt like it would do a 180 in terms of genre and/or tempo. I’m also not a huge fan of Beck’s voice (I think 9 times out of ten he sounds incredibly bored) but I do think he’s a talented magician and the bored voice works sometimes. Also, I was really interested in the album in the first half but the last half kinda lost me. Nonetheless, I liked how unique it was, I just wish it didn’t fall on this trope of “ah! Bet ya didn’t expect this random quirky thing,” and was slimmed down by a few songs.
I really enjoyed this album. I think the songs feel very timeless, not stuck in a certain era of song production/sound. There were some parts that were a little goofy for me and Lou Reed’s voice sounds a tad weak in parts (which, I prefer bored-sounding Lou Reed over that) but I still think I’d like to listen to this album again.
3.5 Obviously some amazing songs, but the album did feel like they were songs written specifically for Beyoncé with no consideration of Kelly or Michelle’s strengths. And maybe it’s a symptom of the early 2000s, but most of the songs just felt like very long choruses extended over 3-4 minutes. While I appreciated the moments of empowerment, I was shocked to hear the “cover it up ladies, you look like sluts,” (paraphrasing, here) but I assume this is another symptom of early 2000s music. The album also felt very long and I’m just not the biggest fan of early 2000s pop and RnB that maybe it was never for me to appreciate. But I liked hearing clearly early influences of Beyoncé’s later solo albums, and the similarities across two decades. I probably won’t pick up this album again, but will (happily) listen to a few select songs.
I went in thinking the rest of the album following “Band on the Run” would be just meh, but I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t think the rest of the songs are at the same level as “Band on the Run” and many ‘run’ (hehe) into an issue of repetitiveness, but for an album from the early 70s, I liked that it didn’t rely on 70s tropes. Except that one sax solo (or whatever it was I can’t remember but if you know you’ll know). Even with the repetitiveness I liked the songs, and I think McCartney’s style is easily recognizable (and enjoyable for me).
3-3.5 I wish there was a bit more variety between the songs, in particular with the singing and I think the guitar style as well. I love the concept of the album and I liked that I didn’t know the words, and the songs were pleasant to listen to. I just don’t quite see myself craving this album or any particular song.
There weren’t any bad songs, though I did feel the album was a bit long. A sci-Fi theme of earth and isolation started to emerge in the second half which I found really really interesting and wished he leaned into more, in favor of some of the other songs that, while interesting, detracted from a tighter album. Still, I liked the album and would listen to it again.
I have a couple of bones to pick with this album. First, calling it psychedelic feels awfully inaccurate. It’s closer to a major depressive episode in which the only cure would be a huge spray of ketamine up the nose. I found the songs boring, and if not boring then annoying, save for a few select bits that actually were psychedelic— but these were so few and far between, so much more than the distance between the Sun and Jupiter. I don’t quite (note: at all) understand why the album had to be over an hour long. Why it had to be over 20 minutes long. It was like a guy on his first drug trip forcing you to sit in his basement while he played you ‘some tunes he’s been working on’ but you can’t get up and leave because then he might do something dangerous, like smash his head through a drum kit— or worse, make a whole album of songs from his experience. Ah, so maybe this album WAS psychedelic after all. Anyway, I didn’t enjoy this album. I gave it an extra star because of those rare moments where it was good and fun, but that star was given very, VERY reluctantly.
3.5-4 I was excited to listen to this album so close to Frank Black’s album. It was fun to compare the two and see where the Pixies begin and Frank ends. I liked the vibe of the album, but no song really stood out to me. The album felt cohesive, but to the point where I’m not sure I’d be able to distinguish the songs from each other and where each felt like a slight variation of another. It also felt like a Smashing Pumpkins album, but much more tolerable. I wanna listen to the album again to see if I missed something, but not necessarily anytime soon. Complete side note to disregard and really only meant to relieve my conscience: Alexander "Skip" Spence, I felt like I was making light of your mental illness, and please be assured I was not. (I’m talking to a dead person now, I guess.) It was more supposed to be gallows humor, punching neither up nor down but to the side. I didn’t know you had a drug problem and mental illness when I wrote my review, and I guess it speaks to how well you wrote your songs if I was able to label them depression-central without knowing they were, in fact, straight out of a depression. Still, I don’t know why your producer decided to make your experimentation an album… Anyway back to the Pixies. It was all right. I liked his solo album better and I like "Where is My Mind” so maybe I just need to listen to a different Pixies album.
I don’t think I’ll ever be objective about her music. I felt the songs best when I felt isolated and moody, but I don’t want to put them into a china cabinet and only bring them out for those special occasions. The songs make me reflective, not necessarily in a melancholic way. It made me want to push everyone away but also hold them closer.
3.5 It was fine and fun, and I enjoyed listening to it. From this genre, I prefer songs that tell a kinda extravagant story like “Folsom Prison Blues” or “El Paso” and there were glimmers of those in this album, but it felt more on the generic side. Easy listening, though, but nothing really blew my mind.
4-4.5 I enjoyed this album a lot more than I thought I would. I like the variety of the songs and the cohesion of the album, I liked the lyrics and the melodies. A minor issue for me is that I feel like there were times it was stuck in a sound of the 2000s, which is perfectly good if you like 2000s indie music. However, I am not the biggest fan of this type of music, which I think is why this album wasn’t quite perfect for me.
3.5-4 A little (okay a lot) whiny, but I liked the melancholic turn towards the end of the album. Nothing really stood out to me, but it was pleasant cooking music.
3.5: 5 stars- Catchy songs, but it’s disco. 3 stars- repetitive songs, but it’s disco.
I’ve learned that I don’t know as much about punk as I thought I did… For a punk album that came out in the mid SEVENTIES I think it’s great! However, between this album and the Ramones, I’ve also learned I’m not as big of a punk fan as I thought… My enjoyment of the album was probably a 3. But I think the album itself (if I were a punk fan) would’ve been a 4 or 5. So I’m gonna settle on 3.5-4 for the rating.
I like that the album didn’t glorify or romanticize collectivism. I did think it over referenced miscegenation a bit, and sometimes the album felt like it dragged on and many of the songs sounded the same, but I like that it took risks and crossed genres in many places.
Biased in my rating because I like this genre. There wasn’t any song I felt was a skip, but nothing really stood out to me, except “The Weight.” Even so, it’s an album I wouldn’t mind listening to again.
3.5 I feel like I should’ve liked this album more than I did. Heck, I should’ve loved this album. But something was missing for me. I think if the album focused solely on instrumentals, or maybe combined instrumentals more evenly with vocals, it would’ve felt more cohesive. A lot of the instrumental tracks stood out and were lovely whereas a lot of the tracks that included vocals didn’t really ring any bells for me. The album felt younger than 1975 within the instrumental tracks. I think the lyrics were— for the most part— interesting, but easily the weakest part of the album. There are some songs I’ll be adding to my playlist, but a lot of them felt forgettable, even within the album.
A mix between the Smiths, the Stone Roses, and Nickleback, but only if you took the weakest parts of these three. I really did not enjoy the lyrics or the singing and the instrumentation bored me, save the rare moments that felt like the guitarist was freestyling or decided to channel their inner hard rocker. The album felt too late for its time while somehow simultaneously also sounding like it predated much of the “90s sound” of whisper-whining ethereality. It didn’t really carve a name out for itself for me, but I could see how it influenced later music that I do like. Maybe I’m just not the target audience, which is fine, but because this is a review targeted towards myself, I’m gonna rate it based on the vibes: 2.5
Man knew how to write a pop song.
4-4.5 “What’s Going On” was stuck in my head all day, and I think catchy-ness wise, nothing on the album compares. But there are fantastic socially conscious songs that give this album so much depth, and of course Marvin Gaye’s voice isn’t a chore to listen to. I think if I were more into soul this would be the perfect album for me.
Some of the album was fun and across the whole it had great rhythm, but at some point it felt more like a parody. I don’t think the album has aged well in terms of both lyrics and sound (it sounds stuck in the 90s) and about half way through I was getting tired of the album. It’s maybe closer to 3 stars than 2, but for the life of me I cannot understand why this had to be an album I listened to before I died.
3.5 - 4 Atmospheric songs with great lyrics, but I wouldn’t call it a very diverse album. It’s very much about heartbreak and only heartbreak about one specific person (unless I wasn’t listening close enough, which is likely the case). So, the album felt like it was kinda going in a circle with no mountains or valleys, and eventually it was like “I’ve heard this song before,” when I actually hadn’t but it was so similar to the previous that I confused myself. That may also just be a hallmark of this particular sect of country. (Except the last song, which felt thrown in there.) I highly appreciated that it was under 40 minutes and that it did build a world for me, even if the world wasn’t in technicolor.
It’s ABBA.
A few albums ago I thought I was just a very casual punk fan. This album has proved that i am indeed not a punk fan and only enjoy a select number of punk songs. If you like punk, I think you’ll like this album. If you’re a more casual fan like I am, you might find the album excessively repetitive.
I am a David Bowie fan first and a human of earth second
There were some very fun and exciting parts, but it mostly felt like background music.
2.75 I don’t think it’s a mystery why this album failed commercially. While interesting, it feels as if it never finds a secure place to land and root itself, instead twittering from branch to branch. The result is that, while there are some aspects that are interesting and captivating (and certainly so on their own), the whole of the album feels like a bunch of leaves shaken from a tree and haphazardly assembled back together on random branches. Quite simply, there are other artists who do it better. While he’s certainly inventive, it seems superficially so. The social issues, the sound experiments, they all felt as though they barely scratched the surface. The stand out song is “Montana Song” for how much its allowed to breathe and how it seems like the kind of song Ackles was going for with the rest of them, of gorgeous instrumentals and scenic, sweeping lyrics. It feels like the album is building up to this moment, which is a disappointment because it feels like the album should’ve started with this and continue on a similar path. But instead, you’re met with half-cooked imagery and songs that sound straight out of a fair, attempting to find a more commercial footing that it never meets.
this was one of my favorite albums in high school. In college, I moved across the country to a place with winters, and this album changed for me once again. So much so, I spent weeks and weeks writing a paper about this album, about Joni’s unique instrumentation, of her gorgeous lyrics, of how she can create these mental paintings with a single color. The blues of my freezing winter skies were echoed in this album, as were the highs of my sunny skies. My fears, my desperations, my hopes, all of my love found a home here. I still love this album and I know most of it by heart. It’s an album I’ll carry (pun?) with me for the rest of my life. I’m still working on hitting those high notes though.
4.5 Another album I constantly had on repeat in high school. Revisiting it, I think it still holds up. It’s interesting to learn they decided to write more to fill out two LPs instead of one and a half, and I think the effect of that is, while the songs are wonderful, it sounds more like you’re listening to someone’s broader discography rather than a slice of it (an album). That being said, I could listen to this album on repeat.
3.5 It feels like this album so perfectly embodies youth: from the album art, to the angsty singing, to the discordant sound, to the frustrated and progressive lyrics. I’ve been in a particularly bad mood, but I found this album soothed it. Frankly, it was unpleasant to listen to, but I enjoyed it. My personal enjoyment of the album was probably a four, and for its cohesion I would also give it a 4, but it was very short and didn’t feel like it necessarily went anywhere (which I simultaneously appreciated and missed). I would definitely listen to it again, but I think I’d have to be in a specific mood, and the repetition would get to me and put me in a worse mood. It’s not going to be my favorite album, and it’s not a perfect album, but I think its downfalls make it fall a little hard, which is why I don’t think it’s quite a 4, but certainly higher than a 3.
3.5 A solid album. A little bit too blue eyed soul and plastic blues for me to fully enjoy it.
Felt like generic 70s music that was trying to appeal to every genre of the 70s without really showing anything new or interesting about any one particular genre.
3.5-4 My enjoyment of the album was closer to 3.5, but I think a jazz fan might find it a 4-5. I don’t know a lot about jazz so I can’t speak to its technicality, but compared to some of the jazz albums I’ve listened to, this one was pleasant listening. It just felt more like background/holding/elevator music to me and didn’t really evoke any emotion for me, and I wonder if jazz is just something that should be experienced in person, especially more so than other genres. (So I think I’ll rate it a 4)
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I wasn’t super fond of the parts that were venturing dangerously close to smooth-jazz territory, but I suppose it comes with the 70s. I liked the variety of songs and enjoyed her voice.
Not as experimental as Hounds of Love, but a wonderful and strange album nonetheless. I could see how someone would find her voice a little whiny and it took me a bit to get used to (over the years) but it’s so unique.
3.75 A morose album, good for rainy days. I know Neil Young doesn’t have the strongest voice, but I don’t think it’s quite at the level of Bob Dylan’s where it’s expected as part of the song— as if it’s not trying to (in great earnest) to hit the right notes. (Bob seems like he’s trying to hit some note, whether or not it’s the correct note is a different story, but it feels like Neil isn’t really trying sometimes.) I did feel like the album lost a lot of its momentum about 1/2 way through, but still comparing it to a lot of similar singer/songwriters of 70s and onwards, it’s still great musicianship.
I like how Elvis Costello crafts melodies, and I think every song is so unique not just from each other but in comparison to other artists too. That being said, I think it made this album both overwhelming and underwhelming. Overwhelming because there was just too much to focus on, and the album didn’t feel like it had a focal point, but underwhelming for almost the same reason: there wasn’t anything it was really building up to. Taken individually I enjoyed these songs and Costello’s songwriting, but I just found the album kinda lagged on when they were following each other. All that being said, it’s not a chore to listen to Elvis Costello, but I didn’t think these songs blew me out of the park like some of his other work.
3.5-4 liked when it leaned into rock, like with “Samba Pa Ti” and “Hope You’re Feeling Better,” and while the classics like “Oye Como Va” and “Black Magic Woman” are great, it feels like I was listening to two different albums. I also don’t like that dangerous territory of ‘adult-contemporary-smooth-jazz-easy-listening-in-your-uncle’s-backyard-with-a-can-of-beer-or-a-glass-of-wine’ and I thought this album crossed that line a couple times. Still, super talented.
3.75 I think if I could stomach the singing I would really love this album. I think there could’ve been a bit more variety between songs, but the album felt cohesive and a lot of it was catchy, and I was surprised by how many songs I recognized. Still, I’m a stubborn old maid and shudder at the singing and can’t get over it, even though I think it works for the songs and makes for a very distinct sound. Maybe I should blame the radio for overplaying “Blister in the Sun” when I was a kid.
I remember reading that Brian Wilson is known for creating exceptional harmonies, and I think this album really showcases that. I don’t think any of the songs really stood out to me like in some of their other albums, but it was pleasant to listen to. I could see how it could be interpreted as a bit generic and background music, but I wonder how it went over in the 60s, if it felt revolutionary. I do think the songs and their style has a tendency to blend together in this album, making it not quite as iconic for me as other albums.