Journey in Progress
Discovering music one album at a time
251
Albums Rated
3.28
Avg Rating
27
5-Star Albums
23%
Complete
838 albums remaining
Rating Speed
2.8
Per Week
620
Days Active
Reviews
67
Written
27%
Review Rate
vs Global
-0.04
Avg Diff
3.28
Avg Rating
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Rating Timeline
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Which era do you prefer?
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Taste Profile
1960s
Favorite Decade
Psychedelic-rock
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Balanced
Rater Style
12
1-Star Albums
Taste Analysis
Genre Preferences
Ratings by genre
Origin Preferences
Ratings by country
Rating Style
You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Music From The Penguin Cafe | 5 | 3 | +2 |
| Ritual De Lo Habitual | 5 | 3.19 | +1.81 |
| Forever Changes | 5 | 3.23 | +1.77 |
| Rum Sodomy & The Lash | 5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
| Music From Big Pink | 5 | 3.36 | +1.64 |
| Coat Of Many Colors | 5 | 3.42 | +1.58 |
| Stand! | 5 | 3.43 | +1.57 |
| Imagine | 5 | 3.45 | +1.55 |
| Queen II | 5 | 3.49 | +1.51 |
| Straight Outta Compton | 5 | 3.51 | +1.49 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad | 1 | 3.81 | -2.81 |
| Out Of The Blue | 1 | 3.64 | -2.64 |
| good kid, m.A.A.d city | 1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
| Crime Of The Century | 1 | 3.41 | -2.41 |
| Channel Orange | 1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
| Something Else By The Kinks | 1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
| The Libertines | 1 | 3.01 | -2.01 |
| The Nightfly | 1 | 3 | -2 |
| Kala | 1 | 2.91 | -1.91 |
| Music Has The Right To Children | 1 | 2.91 | -1.91 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and high weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 5 | 4.6 | 4 |
| David Bowie | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Queen | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
5-Star Albums (27)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Mariah Carey
1/5
There have always been great vocalists - but traditionally it's understood the vocals serve the song by complimenting the music or telling a story. Ideally both.
There were vacuous warblers before Mariah, who treated the vocal track like a 1980's hair metal guitar solo. (Whitney turned to the dark side on Bodyguard, for example). But Mariah really nailed that "listen to the notes I can hit - and praise me!"
Sadly it really connected. Girls across the world sang her songs into their hairbrushes, and her influence is still obvious at every singing talent show anywhere across the world.
Her voice is a beautiful and powerful force. If only it could be used for good.
5 likes
4/5
Feels churlish knocking this as it's amazing, but too many Paul tracks and a weak George contribution make this feel unbalanced.
Just imagine if they hadn't been under pressure to put a single out, so Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were on here instead of Within you Without you and Lovely Rita. Then I think less than a 5 would sounds stupid.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (12)
All Ratings
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
The Stooges
3/5
Little Simz
4/5
Great surprise. Was aware of a couple of tracks - but this album is so consistently good. Staying on playlist!
Elvis Costello
4/5
N.W.A.
5/5
The Cardigans
3/5
Nanci Griffith
3/5
Hugh Masekela
2/5
Lenny Kravitz
4/5
Soundgarden
4/5
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Lorde
3/5
Cream
3/5
Brian Eno
3/5
Guns N' Roses
4/5
4/5
John Grant
4/5
Lyrics and delivery - 10/10!
Chilled and ethereal - but with a sense of humour.
Bob Dylan
5/5
5 star album
Pixies
3/5
The Sonics
4/5
Beatles
5/5
Koffi Olomide
2/5
Prince
4/5
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Talking Heads
3/5
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Alice In Chains
4/5
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
George Harrison
5/5
Otis Redding
4/5
5/5
Talking Heads
2/5
Deep Purple
4/5
Eminem
3/5
Stephen Stills
3/5
Travis
3/5
Thin Lizzy
4/5
Funkadelic
3/5
Anthrax
3/5
Alanis Morissette
3/5
Wilco
3/5
Madonna
3/5
Van Morrison
4/5
Kate Bush
4/5
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Dr. Dre
3/5
Pulp
2/5
Kendrick Lamar
1/5
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
John Lennon
5/5
4/5
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Spiritualized
4/5
Suzanne Vega
4/5
The Doors
4/5
Sabu
2/5
The Doors
4/5
The Slits
3/5
Nirvana
5/5
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Willie Nelson
3/5
David Bowie
4/5
Weather Report
2/5
Minutemen
4/5
Robbie Williams
2/5
The Cure
4/5
Billie Holiday
4/5
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Frank Ocean
1/5
The Smiths
4/5
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
ZZ Top
3/5
James Brown
3/5
The Libertines
1/5
Various Artists
4/5
The Fall
2/5
Mekons
4/5
Buzzcocks
2/5
Depeche Mode
2/5
1/5
The xx
4/5
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
4/5
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
Janis Joplin
4/5
The Flaming Lips
3/5
The Black Crowes
4/5
Love
5/5
Crowded House
3/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Bert Jansch
3/5
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
Paul Simon
4/5
Saint Etienne
4/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Fever Ray
4/5
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Kelela
2/5
Moby Grape
2/5
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Tom Tom Club
4/5
Liz Phair
3/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
Supertramp
1/5
Gorillaz
4/5
Carpenters
2/5
OutKast
4/5
Elvis Presley
3/5
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Beck
4/5
Adele
3/5
The Band
5/5
Circle Jerks
4/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
The Isley Brothers
4/5
Snoop Dogg
4/5
This was playing in the background at every party in 1993 and sounded perfect. Still does if you're not listening to the lyrics.
The cartoon gansta schtick has not aged well. Sounds like 12 year olds showing off. But Snoop's delivery is smooth and the vibe is still cool. A version with the verse vocals removed would be an improvement.
Music/vibe - 5
Lyrics -1
M.I.A.
1/5
I'm guessing M.I.A. would love how marmite the reviews on 1001 are - mostly 5 or a 1. And there is something cool about that. But I'm going to have to side with the guys voting 1. I just don't see it.
I only knew Paper Planes, and I wish that were still true. There are so many good ideas in Paper Planes, and then one idea per track after that. Repetitive and annoying. Jimmy was listenable, and that's the best I can do.
Neil Young
3/5
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
Bonnie Raitt
2/5
Too much like a session band on autopilot. The musical competence oozes out the speakers.
David Bowie
5/5
I was always a greatest hits kind of Bowie fan. Then I got into Ziggy, Diamond Dogs and it felt good in an easy to access kind of way. Low took a few more listens, but I'm glad I stuck with it. And Heroes is the same. It keeps getting a bit better each time, and feels right to consume as a whole album. Gonna give Station to Station another try now.
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
effortless class.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Sheryl Crow
2/5
The Smiths
3/5
Marr 5+
Morrisey -5
Songs - 3-4
Korn
2/5
Must have hit a very specific age of teenagers because there's nothing here that's new or better than can be found in a thousand other bands. Bit whiny and samey.
Nick Drake
2/5
I've tried so hard. Freinds said listen to Nick Drake. BBC radio docs with Brad Pitt- listen to Nick Drake. Spotify adds him to every playlist I make. Everything points to me liking Nick, but I just don't get it. I tried again - listening to the whole album in order. The high points are average. Maybe he's been copied too much, but I just didn't hear anything special.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Voodoo Chile and All Along the Watchtower are perfection, obviously. The rest of the album is baggy by comparison, but it's Jimi. He'd earned it by this point.
Paul Weller
2/5
The Jam were a great band. Weller after/without the Jam is embarassing and dull. I don't get the reverence. I can't imagine him getting signed if this was a demo. Pants.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
I can tell this is good, and they were way ahead of thier time. Just in a genre that leaves me cold.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Removing the title track it's a solid 3. All nice and groovy while it's playing, but doesn't stick with you.
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
This almub refused to give up. The consistent originality and quality and flood of ideas is just amazing.
Patti Smith
2/5
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Dire Straits
3/5
The Police
3/5
Synchronicity I, King of Pain and Wrapped around your finger still sound good - especially King of Pain. Every Breath is what it is. Then a lot of average/interesting filler.
Ms Gradenko and Mother though! Horrific. Take those two tracks of the album and it's a 4.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Didn't really know his stuff. Very chilled feel that feels good doing it's thing in the background. The songs have depth though. I can see myself coming back to this and getting more out of it with each play.
4/5
Feels churlish knocking this as it's amazing, but too many Paul tracks and a weak George contribution make this feel unbalanced.
Just imagine if they hadn't been under pressure to put a single out, so Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were on here instead of Within you Without you and Lovely Rita. Then I think less than a 5 would sounds stupid.
N.E.R.D
4/5
No bad tracks. Great sound overall. She Wants to Move the only standout track on a solid album. 3.5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I've listened to zep before and never really got the hype. Always dismissed their success as \"good for the time.\" Perhaps I was kicking against the fawning adulation they seem to inspire. And there have been so many imitators some of their uniqueness gets lost. But listening to all 4 sides of this double album in order I've absolutely loved it. The variety and constant quality. I thought before listening I'd give this a 3, maybe a 4. But dang it...
Johnny Cash
5/5
The songs, the band, Johnny - a solid 4 without the audience, perhaps a 3 if country isn't your bag. But the atmosphere is unlike any live album. The electricity is tanglible. Johnny delivering the song stories, playing the crowd, the humour, the darkness. June Carter coming on to sing Jackson. Has to be a 5, whoever you are?
Elvis Presley
2/5
Only 28 minutes long, but I would cut 26 of them. Blue Suede Shoes comes out of the block strongly, but after that I was amazed how twee it all sounded. I've Got A Woman was especially watered down. The 'Elvis made black music accessible to easily frightened white folk' is an old trope, but listening to this album it's difficult to see it as anything but a cynical money grab. Elvis is in there trying to get out, but he's being compromised from the start.
Cat Stevens
5/5
Van Halen
2/5
It feels like the end is nigh. The grit has gone and they're coasting on the wave of guitar wank Eddie started in the 70s and the 80s od-ed on. David Lee Roth seems very happy with the "hey, aren't girls hot, let's party" schtick, you can tell Eddie isn't.
Even the good songs are laboured. You can hear Eddie get bored when the verse hits for Panama. He just holds a chord, probably turning the page of the want ads looking for available singers.
When Eddie does turn in some decent guitar stuff, Dave gurns tired, sexist gibberish over it on "Girl Gone Bad," "Drop Dead Legs" and "Hot for Teacher".
Roxy Music
2/5
Eno makes a bad lounge act sound like they might be interesting. But even he has limits. Ferry isn't even a good crooner. He's a pretentionus, slimy git. We can all agree they make good almbum covers though.
Donald Fagen
1/5
someone else on here described this as yacht rock. I can't bettter that description.
Steely Dan
2/5
Like CSN, it's fine/tolerable when it's on. But my god it's bland.
Queen Latifah
3/5
inevitably sounds dated, but still quality and a good listen.
Dr. John
4/5
inventive, trippy, fun. Funkier and more mellow than I was expecting. Will be exploring more of his stuff.
Judas Priest
2/5
Much imitated.
Living after Midnight remains a solid tune. Rapid Fire and Steeler had good energy.
Feels repetitive and formulaic now. Bet they were good to see live.
Queen
5/5
Yesterday my album was Judas Priest, 1980. I made allowances/excuses for it sounding dated. Today I listen to a 1974 Queen rip through Stone Cold Crazy packing more metal and muscle into one track than the whole Priest album. Then they have a banjo on Leroy Brown, piano sprinkled throughout, huge guitar riffs with cheezy witty vocal harmonies. It shouldn't work.
We all know the hits, but Queen make even more sense when you hear an album. They made music for themselves. Diverse, funny, unafraid, unique. Loved it.
The Pogues
5/5
k.d. lang
2/5
Sometimes a great talent can put a twist on an old theme and it feels fresh - like Amy Whinehouse. It might have felt like this is what KD Lang was doing back in the late 80s, but it's justa covers band with a nice singer.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Good to hear Creedence as an album rather than a greatest hits list, although 33 minutes with 7 songs feels like they lost some master tapes or something.
And last track Keep On Chooglin' is an indulgent, pointless 7 and a half minute make-weight. If you're going to have a jam at least pick a good riff or groove for your paint-by-numbers guitar and harmonica solos.
So 6 decent tracks - a great side 1.
Alice Cooper
4/5
Much more textured than I thought it would be. Could be a musical theatre soundtrack, if that musical was a freaky, sleazy blues-rock musical set in a haunted high school.
The musicality is impressive too. Rather unfairly I was expecting a 12 bar blues bar room kind of feel, but they throw in Blue Turk - a jazzy, saxy bordello vibe, then go into My Stars which is an operatic opus with more changes than a Jim Steinbeck song. Alma Mater sounds like McCartney.
And it's a tight 9 songs in 37 minutes. A lesser band would have had made a couple of these songs 8 minute numbers to pad it out.
Track 3 (Gutter Rat vs The Jets) was a bit dull and I nearly gave up on this, thinking I had got the gist of the album after Schools Out and a good fun rock number Luney Tune. Glad I stuck with it.
The Beach Boys
3/5
I'm going to have to come back to this album sometime. It's obviously got something interesting going on but I'm just not connecting with it.
Sometimes it feels a bit too much like teenage poetry "I feel like a cork on the ocean," etc.... The music is complex and beuatifully arranged, which you'd expect. But it just didn't work for me. It might on another day.
Lana Del Rey
4/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Metallica
4/5
This was ridiculous. Full Spinal Tap. Loved it.
Van Morrison
4/5
Foo Fighters
2/5
it is amazing Dave was able to make this album on his own to this level of performance and production. Doesn't make it good though.
The Cult
3/5
Storms out of the gates with 3 crunchy, OTT, winning tracks - Wild Flower, Peace Dogs, Li'l Devil.
Followed by 4 bland, underwhelming songs that never needed to be recorded.
Track 8 -Love Removal Machine- offers a moment of hope. Can they rally and pull this back? But then a disappointing cover of Born to Be Wild and 2 more tracks that aren't even worthy of being called filler finish off an album that feels like it could have been so much better.
The production is great - vocals, guitars, drums and bass clearly separated out letting the band sound tight and focussed. A simple approach that Rick Rubin did very well with at a time when bands were mushing everything together in a distortion-pedal wall of sound to try to sound like Led Zep..
It works great for the Cult on tracks 1,2,3,8 - This was a cracking EP.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
The Stooges
3/5
Beatles
5/5
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
Daft Punk
4/5
3/5
MC Solaar
4/5
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
This was my introduction to Bruce, and I liked it at the time. But through it I found Born to Run and Nebraska, and this all felt a bit 2D. Every song is strong Althought I always felt I'm on Fire was creepy. And Working on the Highway is worse - ran away with an underage girl, brothers caught him and he's tried and sent prison to work on the chain gang - all told like he's the everyday hero that just can't catch a break. Is it satire? I want it to be satire.
I liked the reviews on here describing the album as a road trip that gets more complex, which I can totally see now. And there are quality Bruce numbers in No Surrender and My Hometown.
It all adds up to a 5 really, but something makes me not want to give it that.
Soft Cell
2/5
didn't like this music when it was new and still don't. Tainted Love is one of the best cover versions ever, and Say hello, wave goodbye is a decent song. The rest was quite hard work.
Radiohead
2/5
Randy Newman
2/5
a-ha
3/5
I'd never heard an AHA album track before. Or maybe I had and just couldn't remember them, becaues it's 1 minute since the album finished and I can't tell you about a single track outside the big 3 singles.
Sun always shines on TV and the title track are decent songs. Take on Me is it's own universe. The others were a background noise I dimly remember. 2.5 - 3.
Nas
3/5
Boards of Canada
1/5
The Byrds
2/5
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3/5
Public Enemy
3/5
Tina Turner
2/5
One of the best voices every recorded trapped in '80s purgatory.
Orbital
4/5
Black Sabbath
5/5
The Only Ones
3/5
Ministry
4/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Pulp
4/5
Muddy Waters
3/5
Ozomatli
4/5
Fred Neil
2/5
Rush
2/5
It's a great sound, they're obviously amazing players. I like it when it's on, but when it's finished I don't feel any need to recall it or listen again.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Megadeth
4/5
I loved this at the time but haven't heard it for years, so was expecting it to sound dated. It does sound repetitive at times. They hang on a riff for too long - but live that will have been awesome, especially when it a new sound. Ultimately it's a 3 star album with Peace Sells.... on it, which is a great track. Wake up Dead still stands up too.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
beautifully observed stories, told with an amazing voice - delicate or powerful as needed.
Deerhunter
2/5
The Young Gods
3/5
T. Rex
2/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
Beatles
5/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
2/5
The Byrds
3/5
Prefab Sprout
2/5
Blondie
4/5
Five stonewall classic 5 star tracks
Seven forgetable filler 2-3 star tracks.
Willie Nelson
2/5
Mariah Carey
1/5
There have always been great vocalists - but traditionally it's understood the vocals serve the song by complimenting the music or telling a story. Ideally both.
There were vacuous warblers before Mariah, who treated the vocal track like a 1980's hair metal guitar solo. (Whitney turned to the dark side on Bodyguard, for example). But Mariah really nailed that "listen to the notes I can hit - and praise me!"
Sadly it really connected. Girls across the world sang her songs into their hairbrushes, and her influence is still obvious at every singing talent show anywhere across the world.
Her voice is a beautiful and powerful force. If only it could be used for good.
Michael Jackson
1/5
I was 18 when this came out and into thrash meta. So I looked on the noncing King of Pop with disdain.
In later years I've realised just how talented he was. Off the Wall is incredible. So in the spirit of this enterprise I did listen to this as an album.
It's horrible.
The electronic sound is plastic and grating. The bass is especially awful.
The songs are surprisngly poor quality too. Bad could be a decent pop song but Michael's affected vocals ruin it, IMO. Smooth Criminal is the best song on here, but we've all heard better covers of it. I think it can still be done better, it's a top song. Dirty Diana is the only song that stands up, for me.
If we remove the not insignificant issue of his personal life, it's still just a 2-3 star album. The songs are average (apart from Liberian Girl which should be wiped from the face of the earth and would remove stars from any album). And the production, weirdly, is incredibly dated.
It's sad to look back and think he only got worse from this point on.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Frank Black
3/5
Beatles
4/5
The Beta Band
3/5
Love the Beta Band. Their Live a Shepherds Bush set is a 5 star album -a farewell live set that took the best songs and wiped out all the maddening variability and inconsistencies of their studio stuff and amde something perfect.
This has some tunes, but in classic Beta Band style their experimental nature leads to patchiness and it doesn't quite gel. Still love it.
The Dictators
2/5
A fun, shambolic rock band. Bet they were good live. (I live for) Cars and Girls was the best track.
2/5
I'm exactly the right age for this album to be a 5, but I never got into U2. They always felt like they were overthinking it. Tunes made to a formula. Much like Coldplay, but Bono makes them sond even less sincere.
There's no denying this album has an epic, soundscape feel. Any track on this album would make great background music for a 8mm film shot out of a car window as you drive through Idaho.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For is a good song. There's a heartfelt ballad in there somewhere, but the U2 boys drown it in pointless layers of gloss.
I'm taking a star off for Bono.
Pink Floyd
3/5
Unlike many experimental albums the quality of production and musicianship hasn't dated, and there are quality songs on offer. On the Run is the only track that hasn't aged well and feels at odds with the epic, sweeping rock band sound. But there's too much noodling, atmos music and muttering dialogue - which at the time made it an experience, but now sounds a bit tiresome. Strip out the greatest hits (which I know is not the point here) and it's a 3 star album. As an album experience, I suppose it still stands up. But I got bored. Wish You Were Here is a better album.
The Kinks
1/5
It's like someone found a tape in the loft of Paul McCartney songs he didn't rate enough to bring in to the Beatles. Waterloo Sunset is decent. David Watts is quite good but shows what a limited band. It should have some punch to it, but the band lacks any edge whatsoever. The Davies brothers were meant to argue all the time. It would have been nice to hear that come through on this one. The rest are pointless.
Stereo MC's
3/5
4/5
Aretha Franklin
3/5
This a 2 star album, dragged into respectablility, and occassionally brilliance, by Aretha. She is so badly let down by the band, the arrangements, the production and most of the song choices that it's amazing this is listenable. The producer obviously had no idea how to cope with her voice. It feels like the mic is somewhere in the band, next to the backing singers (who are way too loud and average). Aretha's voice is coming from somewhere over the other side of the stage/studio.
I can see how this album marked her arrival. There's no denying she is something special. But compared to the amazing bands and production on Motown, this sounds amatuerish. She deserved better. Listen for her and you won't be disappointed. Tune the rest out if you can.
Drive-By Truckers
4/5
Well this is a weird one.
First few songs in an I think I've got what's going on. It's a southern rock band doing a concept album, a spawling, overlong bunch of songs that sound good while they're on but are pretty much forgettable - and I'm thinking of how they could learn from Alice Cooper's School's Out - a really tight, creative and varied rock opera.
But then Southern Rock Opera kind of gets under my skin, and when it eventually ends I start it again. It's really nice having it doing it's grungy, funky thing. The lyrics take turns being smart/funny/demented.
Excited I've found a new band to get into I look them up on Wiki and see this is an early album . So I dive into some of their other stuff, but it seems like they get more and more country. I liked this lo-fi, grungy Lynard Skynard vibe. I wish there was a version of Southern Rock Opera with better songs. I won't put any of these in a playlist, but I'll probably put it on again soon.
Like I said - weird.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
Nice. A bit too 'lounge jazz' for me. I never got the feeling the band was trying to tell me anything, just show me their chops. And it was just a little bit too pleased with itself. High quality easy listening.
Electric Light Orchestra
1/5
My heart sank when this came up. I came close to not listening, but in the spirit of this thing.....
I'm a George Harrison fan and respect him as a human being, but it always amazed me that he actually wanted Jeff Lynne to produce for him. He let Jeff ruin two half decent Beatles Singles because of this cloth-eared blind spot.
But Jeff's dabbling with George and the Travelling Wilburys is one thing. Pure Jeff like this album is just fekkin' awful. I made it 5 songs in and had to quit.
The mushy, one level sound, the horrible, forced cheerful-ness of the backing vocals -constantly interjecting - mistaking multi-tracking for harmonising. I think that's waht bothers me - the layers and layers of the same stuff. It's not clever. It's not a Wall of Sound - not in a good way. It's just lots and lots of tracks all playing the same stuff at the same time.
The songs buried under the layers of one-tone sound are OK-good. But I struggle to concentrate on them as the production is just too hamfisted.
Stan Getz
4/5
Paul Simon
3/5
A nice Paul Simon album that is moving on from S&A and feels like it's on it's way to Graceland, which was 2-3 years later.
Some lovely story songs. Some songs that are purest filler. Cars are Cars. Really Paul? You pushed past demo with that?
Solomon Burke
3/5
Opening track "Cry to Me" 5 stars. Rock n' Soul. Bring it!
Track 2 - sudden switch to Elvis impression doing a very dull country song. What's going on?
It does pick up a bit after that (how could it not), but nothing comes close to the opening track. All a bit generic. Nice enough. And his voice is gorgeous. But overall, a bit meh.
Tom Waits
4/5
Beck
4/5
Jane's Addiction
5/5
This album has dated so well. Their full on opening set follwed by a chilled acoustic set really hits it's stride. There are better songs on Nothing's Shocking, but this feels like they're really evolving. Shame they fell apart for a few years after this album as another couple of albums straight after this would have been great.
Prince
3/5
I was excited when this came up as I kind of lost track of Prince albums after Paisely Park for some reason, despite loving him. It's fair to say I found this underwhelming.
Starts with Title track, which is cool.
Next track was straight up pointless.
Track 3 - \"Housequake\" - sounded like a jokey song from an animated film that doesn't quite work. Would have sat well in Shark Tales.
Tracks 4-9 are OK. Defintely average by Prince standards. All a bit like AI being asked to do Prince - especially \"Hot Thing\" which shows there's a fine line between the genius of the effortlessly sexy \"Cream\" and a creepy piece of crap.
U Got The Look - great pop song. Sounds dropped in from a height by record execs.
Back to the AI songs after that for a while including a live track that was pretty dull. (\"I Would Never Take the Place of Your Man\" is fun)
Ends with the sprawling, soulful \"Adore\" which sounds like it's going for a place on \"What's Going on\". It's one of the stronger tracks on the album, and a decent finale. But I don't feel like I've just listened to a Prince album.
I shouldn't feel this bored.
Dolly Parton
5/5
Country music can be OK. I get why it's so huge. A country music station while driving in the states can be fun for a while. But there's a lot of average stuff, and it grates pretty quickly. If all Country music were like this though you might never change the channel. Dolly transcends her genre, and this is just solid gold. Polished performances but never needing to be showy. Good production. Sweet sounding, clever, funny, self aware, humble but knows how good she is.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
5/5
Odd and lovely.
Serious but doesn't take itself seriously.
Confident but never arrogant.
Fun but not wacky,
It feels like a score that should have more motifs to latch onto, but is too happy creating a delicious atmosphere to care what you think.
Gorgeous and unique.
Muddy Waters
5/5
I was expecting a half decent album by a legend past his prime, some blues standards well delivered. But this is next level awesome. Johnny Winter has done a brilliant job. Muddy, the band, the production - all on point. This is not resting on nostalgia, it's vibrant and current.
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Elliott Smith
4/5
B.B. King
3/5
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Elton John
3/5
Like many - I know the hits, some of which I like. And I can tell he's obviously an amazing musician/composer. I really liked the biopic Rocketman, and was amazed at just how big he was in the 1970s. 2% of records sold worldwide were his around the time this album came out. Madness.
So I was interested to hear an Elton album as it was meant to be heard. It starts with 11 minutes of a band being fucking pleased with itself.
Track 2 - Candle in the Wind - not my thing but everyone can tell it's a solid gold song, gorgeous, classic, etc....
Benny and the Jets - I won't mind never hearing that again. US number 1, apparently!
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - finally! Great track, lots going on - surprisingly short (3:12).
Sadly 9 tracks of purest shit follow until Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.
There were three songs after that, which was a pity.
I don't know how to rate this - some obvious all time greats, but overall I found this tedious and smug.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Radiohead
4/5
I remember when this came out thinking it was good, but I preferred The Bends. I haven't heard it in ages, and it was better than I thought. It's all strong and the last track The Tourist is excellent. I listened to The Bends afterwards and I still prefer it. I guess OK Computer was the album where they began turning away from more mainstream fans like me and were embracing the more miserable and abstract side of their natures - actively rejecting the more commercial sound. Fair play to them. Although they lost me eventually I'd rather a band did this than became Coldplay.
Al Green
3/5
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
4/5
GZA
4/5
So much purpose in every song. Tunes and atmosphere strong. I can take or leave hip-hop, but this has depth and class. Will listen again.
Sam Cooke
3/5
Arcade Fire
3/5
The Band
4/5
Public Enemy
3/5
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
Dwight Yoakam
2/5
Queen
5/5