A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various ArtistsLove Phil Spector. That man could do no wrong.
Love Phil Spector. That man could do no wrong.
This was a new one for me. I liked it overall. Sounds like the missing link between Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode. I like those bubbling, farty-sounding synths.
Flashback to the Sweeny Sisters on SNL harmonizing on "Feeling groovy..." It can get a little too earnest and cringey ("you read your Emily Dickinson, and I read my ROBERT FROST." Like, dude, shut up.) but that is balanced out by bangers like Homeward Bound and 59th Street Bridge. For Emily and Poem on the Underground Wall are two of their prettiest ballads. Also, 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night is a regular on all my slit-your-wrist Christmas playlists.
I think we're not supposed to like Arcade Fire anymore because Win got cancelled for being a weird perv or something but whatever, I still like this album. I'm more of a Funeral and Suburbs guy so I hadn't listened to this in ages, but it has held up really well. For a while it felt like they were one of the few bands doing big, ambitious rock and roll.
Liked this one a lot. What could have been overly reverential and staid ends up being a really fun, spirited collaboration among three great artists.
It's fine. I feel like there was a lot of competent, apolitical rock and roll being made around this time that didn't advance the form in any meaningful way. As a result, the genre calcified and hasn't really evolved since then.
There's this Howard Hawks quote where he was like, a great movie is three good scenes and no bad ones. If you apply that logic to music, Innervisions would easily fit the definition of a great album. Higher Ground, Living for the City and Misstra Know It All are all peak Stevie, and there really aren't any bad songs on here.
Prince was great because he would do these undeniable party anthems like the title track, but there would be lines like "We could all die any day" and "Can't run from the revelation." Then he would transition to a romantic slow jam and throw in asides about torture and face-fucking. My dude was an absolute freak and I love him for it. 1999 finds homeboy teeing up for his magnum opus which he would deliver with his next album. In that context, it can't help but feel like a slightly lesser work. At 70+ minutes it's a bit too long, which is a conundrum for most double albums, but there is still plenty to like here.
I've been listening to this record pretty consistently for almost 30 years and it still sounds so fucking cool. Spy soundtrack guitars, Isaac Hayes samples, Beth Gibbons' haunting vocals; everything about it is perfect. I wrote a screenplay years ago called Wandering Star, partly named after the biblical verse and partly because it's my favorite song on this album.
[Ben Kenobi voice] "That is a name I've not heard in a long time." TTD was a BFD in the late 80s. Wishing Well was everywhere and people genuinely thought he was the next Prince. Mind you, Prince was still making pretty good records at this point. According to his wikipedia page, he: (1) compared this record to Sgt. Pepper's (LOL) (2) did a massive faceplant with his second album (3) is still making music under a completely different name I liked some of the songs on here, especially the more Quiet Storm-sounding stuff. I can see myself re-visiting this at some point.
Joni Mitchell was always one of my blind spots so during quarantine a few years ago I downloaded a bunch of her albums. This one and Hejira really knocked my socks off.
I was a pretty big Beck fan back in the 90s and early 2000s but by the time this album came out, I wasn't listening to a ton of new music and I just never got around to this. It feels like a synthesis of all his disparate styles into a more commercial, homogenized sound. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but I do kind of miss those rough edges.
The horniest record of all time.
Classic. One of my favorite albums to play during the Halloween season.
Haven't heard this in ages. I used to listen to Aimee Mann all the time in the early 2000s. I like I'm With Stupid a little bit more but this album has a bunch of great songs too.
Super Furry what now??
Wasn't familiar with this one at all. I looked him up on wikipedia and - he was in Longpigs, who had a song back in the 90s called On and On that I used to really like. Anyway, I thought this was really good. Definitely something I would re-visit.
LOL this is some real LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOOOOOOOOORRRR type shit.
LOL these guys were CORNY. According to the personnel section on their wikipedia page, one of the band member's role was "spiritual elder." Man, get the fuck out of here with that shit. Also, "In November 2003, the group sued the Fox network over the name of the TV show Arrested Development."
Love Phil Spector. That man could do no wrong.
British rappers be like, "Oi my name is Chauncy G and I hereby decree, Hallo, guv'nor, I fancy me a wee spot of tea."
Jimi's magnum opus. It's all here: Impressions-style R&B, traditional blues, experimental psychedelica. One of the all-time great double albums, as ambitious as it is listenable. The only real mis-step is Noel Redding's corny-ass Little Miss Strange; homeboy really thought he was on Jimi's level and Jimi gives him just enough rope to hang himself, then spends the rest of the record completely smoking his ass.
Pretty decent blues rock record from the early 60s that consists of mostly cover songs. They would go on to make better albums than this but it serves as a good introduction to the band.
Don Draper was right, this shit sucks ass. No, I'm kidding, it's Revolver, it rules. What am I gonna do, not give it five stars? I'm Only Sleeping has always been one of favorites, an anthem for sleepy little guys like myself.
Was not familiar with this guy but I really liked it.
Kiss had some pretty good records in the 70s but Destroyer is their best work from that decade. They toned down their horniness (slightly) and focused on just writing good songs. This is the first album where they sound at home in the studio and Bob Ezrin's production is top notch. Side One is four bangers in a row and for what it's worth, Great Expectations is in my top three Kiss tracks of all time. Beth is straight-up cringe, but as I've gotten older, I kind of weirdly love it (and Peter Criss's terrible singing).
Used to listen to this all the time in the early 2000s. Great soundtrack that perfectly compliments the film it was written for that also works as a standalone album.
One time when I lived in Denver I was walking downtown and I had a DSotM t-shirt on underneath my jacket and this hobo-looking guy comes up to me and is all, "Hey man, you like Dark Side? What's your favorite song on the album?" I could tell he was testing me, like I wasn't a *real* fan or something. I just shrugged and said "I like 'em all" and kept walking. Because what a stupid fucking question. Dark Side, more than any other album, is meant to be listened to as a continuous suite. But homeboy keeps on and goes, "Oh, really, you like them all? There isn't one song you like more than another?" He was kind of hostile, like he was expecting me to say "Money" and then he would point and laugh at me with all his hobo friends. So I thought about it for a second and start playing the album in my brain and was like, "Breathe." Because that was the first song I could think of (besides Money) and I really just wanted to get away the fuck away from him. And I think I caught him off guard because then he was like, "Oh, yeah, Breathe, that's a good song." And I was like, "Right on," then we went our separate ways. Anyway, Denver hobo, if you're reading this, my real favorite song is "Time."
Wanna Be Adored is one of the all-time great opening tracks.
I just downloaded this album a couple weeks ago and have been listening to it quite a bit so it's funny that this came up today.
I bought my pencil...Gimme somethin' to write on! Van Halen I is still probably their 'best' record but 1984 has always been the most fun and my personal favorite. My older brother had a copy of this when I was growing up and it was the first album I listened to in its entirety. And I listened to it A LOT. Every guitar solo, every beat of Alex's toms, every pervy DLR aside. This record is coded in my DNA.
I put off listening to this all day because I kept thinking it was Soft *Cell*. This rules though, I can definitely fuck with this. It's like if Ornette Coleman jammed with Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.
One of the all-time great prog rock albums.
Tough to pick my favorite Neil Young album but this is an easy contender. Pocahontas is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard in my life.
"World-wide party people get ready." LOL, no.
I'm not super familiar with these guys despite having seen them live on two different occasions. I thought this was pretty good though. I would definitely listen to it again.
Magisterial 70s guitar rock. Incendiary leads from Clapton and Allman, and some of Clapton's most soulful vocals to boot. On top of all that, the title track provided Scorsese with the all-time greatest needle drop in his entire filmography.
One of her best. This one was a return to form, especially after putting out a series of albums that weren't bad by any stretch, but had seemed kind of formless. She sounds reinvigorated here, more emotional and ambitious than she had been in years.
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My cousin gave me this album on cassette when I was in fifth grade and it melted my goddamned brain. One of the all-time great rock and roll records. Bodies has gotta be one of my top three favorite songs about botched abortions.
They came to my school and played a show in 1997 and I've been a fan ever since. Still an amazing album that I listen to pretty regularly to this day. Bursting with great samples and just overall creativity. Also, the rare hip-hop record with genuinely funny skits. Bonus points for introducing me to the movie Bloodsucking Freaks.
This was the first Bjork record that I didn't immediately love when it was first released. Over time though, I began to appreciate it more and more. Almost every sound on the album is produced vocally. Mike Patton from Faith No More and Rahzel from the Roots appear. Who is It, Oceania, and Triumph of a Heart are all stand outs but the whole record is so innovative and interesting.
Listened to this album hundreds of times when I was in middle school. I prefer Rust in Peace but this one is straight bangers from beginning to end.
This album fucks.
I was listening to this record a ton last spring, about a year ago, so it's funny that this came up. Really beautiful stuff. The story behind the record is really interesting too.
Elvis had a million great songs but only a handful of really great albums. When he was paired up with the right material, like he is here, he was better than anyone.
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