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Sun Oct 22 2023
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Not a style I'm usually a fan of, but Lauryn's voice is really fantastic in this.
Great backing vocals throughout, especially noticeable in Doo Wop and Superstar. (Superstar gets points taken off for sounding like a Megan Trainor song, especially at the beginning.)
Melodies and percussion throughout were nothing special.
Cool rapping rhythm that has that satisfying laid-back offbeat delay. Sometimes makes me feel a little on-edge though, and very difficult to focus on the lyrics when the lyrics are so deliberately and consistently off the beat by the same fraction of a second.
Many of the tracks overstay their welcome. Classroom interludes (e.g. end of Ex-Factor) are useful for breaking up the fairly repetitive music.
Love the overlapping harmonies and general verse/chorus harmony choices in I Used to Love Him. Less so in Everything is Everything. (Two chords. E and F? exhausting.)
Nothing Even Matters is just fun to listen to. Great one.
Can't Take My Eyes Off You - (I Love You Baby) - so much missed potential. If it were a ballad (piano? acoustic guitar?) it would have potential to be the best track on the album. The percussion and too-fast tempo ruin the track.
Good: Doo Wop (That Thing), To Zion, I Used to Love Him, Nothing Even Matters
3
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Sun Oct 22 2023
2112
Rush
2112: impossible to find the beat or key in the first 90 seconds (intentional). Track is immediately reminiscent of a 70s Atom Heart Mother. Huge pickup at around 3 minutes that changes the mood spectacularly. Vocals at 4:30 are unexpected and a little out of place, especially when they're replaced with Geddy's vocals soon afterward.
Something's missing from the next couple minutes. Synth, maybe? Texture is thinner than the instruments would normally indicate, and harmonies/drums are quite simple (at least comparing to Moving Pictures, which I've already listened to).
Acoustic evening-outdoors-nature sound with no transition into the section. When vocals come in, it almost reminds me of the low-energy parts of Led Zep's Ten Years Gone (this is a really good thing!). The lyrics are clearly telling a story but I chose not to follow it.
Whoa. Big hits with guitar/bass/drums leading into new, slightly more upbeat section. Adventurous, structure-wise. Rush's acoustic guitar is really fun to listen to.
13 minute mark: starting to warm up to the very simplistic repeating theme now that it's being varied throughout the piece. Guitar solo has an awesome quality to it and makes the most of the chords it's playing over. Strange non-transition to a wobbly, "churchy" acoustic sound. Geddy's voice sounds very different here.
Really energetic following section - more like the Moving Pictures Rush I'm used to. Fantastic sound, if a little unmemorable from my first listen.
Next section has a pretty incredible contrast between the reflective beginning section (repeat of the trickling water theme from earlier) and the screaming emotion that follows it. Apparently this is called the "soliloquy" section and okay wow I'm just getting to the next guitar solo. This one is stanky (9/10). Wish it could've gone on for longer and let the rhythm section build more behind it.
Around 19-minute mark: we start to see a compound time that really brings up the energy of the song. Love the drumming here - some really subtle and lightning-fast fills.
20-minute mark: alien-like, powerful, otherworldly. Great ending.
A Passage To Bangkok: immediately a very cool (but quite lengthy) riff. The higher guitar on top really bolsters it. Chorus lyrics and their enunciation are a bit silly. Great bass throughout - guitar as well. Halfway through song - guitar solo is really strong. Drums are simple and repetitive but sound awesome - very 70s-esque (what else?). The lyrics never mention the song title, which is strange considering that this is a fairly "poppy" track.
The Twilight Zone: No idea what's happening in the verse. The "chorus" is unusual - not very deviating melody and all the instruments feel further back in the mix. By the second verse I'm starting to get it, but the swing is so wacky for Rush and it's a little difficult to comprehend. Second chorus - nice whispering vocal counterpart in the left ear. Would've been more effective if my left ear worked.
Lessons: Geddy sounds really happy (perhaps high as well?) during this song. Energetic. Bass and layered acoustic create a kind of celebratory mood - love it. Bass in the chorus is rapid and groovy. Fadeout works nicely.
Tears: Nice interlude track. Strings (mellotron?) provide a fitting atmosphere. Surprised this one doesn't have more listens on Spotify - could be because it's unlike Rush to release quieter acoustics.
Something For Nothing: not much of note, except that I liked the tonal transition between Tears and the beginning of this track. Fun way to end an album.
Overall:
4
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Mon Oct 23 2023
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles
Superb. Music that's played self-assuredly and maturely, taking inspiration from several genres and turning it into a timeless, uniquely Ray Charles sound. The backing vocals are generally strong, as is the simple, quiet drumming. And, of course, Ray's vocal is heavenly and full of heart and soul. The strings are a little overdone at times, giving the album a Christmas feel that's a little exhausting on top of all the holiday music I'm forced to listen to this December. However, every track on here is great as a standalone. Seventy-four minutes is a lot to handle, and while Ray's style is freaking awesome, the style doesn't vary much. But it's darn good music.
4
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Tue Oct 24 2023
Green Onions
Booker T. & The MG's
Summary: Very simplistic – too much so. Title/opening track is iconic and played to perfection, but most of the other tracks really aren't memorable. Instrumentation and performance consistently plays it safe, to the detriment of interest in any of the tracks. Lack of vocals is fine, but it does leave a higher demand of interest in the other instruments, which just isn't there. The tracks could be ordered better as well – tracks 6/7/8 sound very similar.
Green Onions: Iconic! Warm atmosphere created with the organ. Other instruments give the head melody (played by organ) plenty of space. Guitar soloing could be better – very rhythmically repetitive, although that could be explained by this section not actually being a solo at all. (Whoops.) Organ section comes back, and it's brilliant. Fade-out is choppy.
Rinky Dink: Heart and Soul chords. Organs are at the forefront again, with a less memorable melody than the previous track. Tropical feel. Feels like it should have vocals. Love the guitar solo.
I Got a Woman: fun quick drums and guitar. Jammy. Easy to lose myself to the groove.
Mo' Onions: Discount version of the opening track. At least, I thought that at first. Would've preferred this to be the closing track or immediately follow Green Onions, but it's a perfectly fine reprise. Lots of repetition here. I think they knew the title track was their strongest – maybe a better idea to make that one longer (merge tracks?) instead of this separate one. Filler? Nice filler, for sure.
Twist and Shout: A cover of the track we all know and love. The Beatles did it better, although a shoutout to the organ for doing its darnedest. Some cool guitar fills at around 1:20 – wish they kept going with those.
Behave Yourself: first time where I found myself really enjoying the bass. Layered organ also pleasant, and swing composition is a nice change of pace. Still too simplistic for my taste. Props to the organ melody in the last minute for going ham.
Stranger on the Shore: Feels like a continuation of the previous track (same swung tempo). Reverb on guitar. Wacky chords. Otherwise, kind of boring :( I imagine this works great as a (jazz) standard, but not with this band.
Lonely Avenue: Again, same tempo+swing as the previous two tracks. Intentional? Getting hard to maintain interest at this point. Relaxed.
One Who Really Loves You: Whew - a change in pace! I enjoyed this one more than I probably should have – almost sounds video game soundtrack-esque. Production quality on guitar is muted and brings it down substantially.
You Can't Sit Down: upbeat 12-bar. Green Onions's hyperactive cousin. First piece that makes use of (relative) silence, around the 2-minute mark – and fairly successfully. One of the stronger tracks.
A Woman, a Lover, a Friend: I didn't have much to say about this one. Nothing particularly bad, just uninteresting. Solid ending.
Comin' Home Baby: Love the composition. The playing is pretty lightweight - the lower held notes on the organ could be brought forward for a substantially heavier (and, in my opinion, better) sound. Really good guitar solo. I so wish it kept going higher towards its climax.
2
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Wed Oct 25 2023
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
Summary: An incredibly solid album filled with lush harmonies, tasteful arrangements, and powerful lyrics. This is such a darn strong tracklist. You can't really go wrong. The Chain and Go Your Own Way. in particular, are in a league of their own. Fleetwood Mac masters this element of humanity that really allows you to relate to the lyrics and the sound.
Second Hand News: Soft, acoustic, energetic. Just a great, hopeful, cheerful mood. A song about wanting freedom, or regretting freedom? Title drop is catchy and climactic.
Dreams: Unusual and pretty vocal. The mixing is very radio-friendly - unfortunately, at the expense of the rhythm section (aggressively simplistic at times). Lush yet simple harmonies (three-part?) during chorus. I really like the atmosphere of this album so far - solemn yet hopeful.
Never Going Back Again: Folky. Is that only one acoustic guitar? It's really impressive playing, if so. The vocal quality is so on-point in this album - not overbearing, and giving the instrumental time to shine. Fantastic.
Don't Stop: Lyrically, the coda (or counterpart) to the Beatles' Yesterday. Lacking some harmony in the vocals - I mean, come on, the "Don't Stop" in the chorus is pretty much begging for it! Solid swing beat and great instrumental layering underneath. Shiny organ sounds especially prominent towards the end. Neat.
Go Your Own Way: Drumming is superb here. Chorus is goosebump-inducing... so damn good. Lyrically, a little depressing, but from the song's tune it seems like they're at least breaking up on good terms. Gosh, this track is so uplifting. Tasteful solo with tasteful separate of channels (acoustic vs electric guitars especially). Second solo - first extended solo in the album? Carried out beautifully. I love this track.
Songbird: I zoned out. This is a gorgeous track. Simple, yet so darn effective. Not a huge fan of the acoustic guitar fade-ins, although it makes the piano sound that much better by itself.
The Chain: Bluesier, more ominous intro. Arrangement is the strongest it's been so far. Overlap/repetition of lyrics in the chorus is catchy. Weird drum sound at 1:30. This is definitely the most varied and unpredictable track so far. Organ, guitars flowing and melting together, tambourine... ear candy. Brilliant use of build-ups and texture change throughout. Unexpected outro.
You Make Loving Fun: Even bluesier. I like the dirty guitar, although the transition to a more airy, celestial sound is a bit sudden. The second time this "chorus" shows up, I'm warming up to it, and it's more effective. Outro is very pretty and a fitting way to wrap up the song.
I Don't Want To Know: The signature Mac harmonising shows up right at the beginning, and I'm here for it. The song gets a little "monotextural", but it's such a good-sounding texture that I can't really complain. I could see this song closing the album, but of course we've got two more tracks.
Oh Daddy: Good singing and atmosphere. Possibly the most "serious"-sounding track on the album, but I can't take the track seriously daddy. Backing vocals lift moments of this song (esp. ~2:50 and ~3:05 - the subtle two-part monosyllable harmony. Oh, Daddy!).
Gold Dust Woman: You can tell there's going to be a build-up. When the chorus hits, it hits hard. The backing doesn't change much, but the harmonies are (as usual) gorgeous. Biting lyrics. The outro is lengthy and man, what a way to close an album.
5
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Thu Oct 26 2023
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
Summary: Uninteresting. Lyrics weren't relatable and I ended up subconsciously tuning them out. It didn't help that very few tracks had any kind of melody for my mind to hook onto. Rare, scattered moments of interest, mostly in the track C.R.E.A.M. (the only track that caught my attention for being slightly good). Nice underground-y production but incredibly monotonous.
Bring Da Ruckus: Out of the gate, not a sound I enjoy. Thick, bassy percussion is some of the crunchiest I've heard in hip-hop. I would almost describe the backing as hard lo-fi. Still, there's something about this style and arrangement that makes me feel empty. Absolutely nothing. It's not bad, just doesn't evoke anything in me. Lack of melody plays a big part. Hopefully later tracks are more interesting.
Shame On a: Just uninteresting. Lyrics are stupid and recited with an aggressively monotonous constant yell. Piano is nice when it shows up, which isn't often.
Clan In Da Front: Beginning to get exhausting, and we're less than 8 minutes into the album. Cool three-note bass riff, but they don't vary it in the slightest. Reintroduction of the piano, except this isn't varied either, making the only saving grace of this track another flop. (I'm trying to think of anything good to write about these songs. Seriously.)
Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber: Good transition. Non-music conversation was a welcome break at first, but a little too long.
Can It Be All So Simple / Intermission: Nothing good until 3:30 when singing starts. Jumps up from a 1-star to a 3-4 star performance during this section. Groovy.
Da Mystery of Chessboxin': no new comments.
Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F' Wit: no new comments.
C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me): Piano lick (dorian mode?) is really strong, but nothing else interesting. Oop, never mind, we got the "dollar dollar bill yall" vocal. Best track so far, but there wasn't much competition.
Method Man: This one's pretty catchy at the beginning, but nothing lasts forever.
Protect Ya Neck: nothing.
Tearz: fuzzied backing vocals at 1:50 were a welcome breath of fresh air, but otherwise nothing.
Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber - Part II: nothing.
1
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Fri Oct 27 2023
The Suburbs
Arcade Fire
Summary: The album title and cover art really describes the album better than words could. Semi-urban, semi-rock/country feel with solid playing and pretty good vocals. The lyrics are really strong. Transitions between songs are sometimes good and sometimes not. The atmospheres in each song are inoffensive and unadventurous for the most part, but because of that it's difficult to find genuine fault in the album other than the songs just being plain and uninteresting. The mixing and overall sound quality could be stronger and much more engaging at times, especially given the lush textures throughout. The melodies are consistently below average.
The Suburbs: Weird chord progression! I love it! Fun vocal, especially during the chorus. The rhythm section (particularly the drums) have a slightly muffled sound - interesting. At around 2 minutes you start hearing high string alternating with high backing vocals - this leads to a thick, ethereal texture. Only problem I have is that the melody isn't very catchy or singable, which (for the album's lead single) can't be a good thing.
Ready To Start: Transition! Gotta love it. Immediately, an energetic and slightly foreboding rhythm section. There's a strange, subtle vocal effect throughout that is either a really convincing double-track, an echo with incredibly short delay, or me imagining things. Winding-down of texture following the climax at 3:00 is effective. Again, the melody is pretty unremarkable. Nice ending.
Modern Man: Strange time signature, but only sometimes. Same vocal effect as the previous song (I wasn't imagining it). Otherwise, not much to say here. Solid, inoffensive track.
Rococo: The vocals should be put even more at the front of the mix. The lyrics, enunciation, and emotion are great, but they're held back by the loud, repetitive backing. Another good ending, but the next track shatters this too quickly.
Empty Room: The female vocal here is a great change of pace. Not much else to say.
City With No Children: This isn't a new vocalist, but it still sounds very different. Percussion (apart from hand claps) is put back in the mix, and the result is very effective, especially when the second singer starts harmonising. Some of the lines are a little clumsy ("cityy withh NO CHIL-dreninit") but it does make for a more memorable chorus. Chord progression is uninteresting.
Half Light I: Atmosphere-wise, the same pros as the previous track.
Half Light II (No Celebration): Good transition, very similar to the transition between tracks 1 and 2. Sounds suspiciously like a celebration for a track titled "No Celebration". Nice percussion that's especially noticeable around 2:30. Vocals sound really good here. Woo!
Suburban War: Not interesting until around 3:30 when the tempo and percussion change completely, reflecting the track's title.
Month Of May: Grungy. Velvet Underground-ish, but with more harmonies. Alien-like drone synths at around 2:50 are nifty.
Wasted Hours: Brought down substantially by an awkward (yet boring?) melody. Not a fan.
Deep Blue: Atmospheric! The low, distorted guitars work excellently throughout.
We Used To Wait: The backings in this track are great, if quite repetitive. The bass drum backs the synth, piano, and vocal at 1:00, which creates a nifty little texture.
Sprawl I (Flatland): Strong vocals here. Strings are very pretty, but are begging for more layering.
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains): Whoa. Completely different sound here. Powerful, pulsating bass synth notes contribute greatly to the texture. Actual emotion in the vocal (though it's hard to tell what emotion it is). ABBA-esque. The melody's the catchiest it's been so far. Repeating synth melody at 1:30 is prominent in the mix and makes it very radio-friendly.
The Suburbs (Continued): Short reprise-y track tacked onto the end. Probably not necessary. The fade-out certainly wasn't.
3
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Sat Oct 28 2023
Born In The U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen
Summary: A solid album. Consistently energetic (but relatively uninteresting) rhythm section backs an impressive vocal with occasional backing harmonies that really make some of the tracks shine. Love the style and callbacks to American (or British invasion) rock of the '50s and '60s, while staying true to the early '80s rock trends. Harmonies (chords) were very uninteresting, but I didn't actually notice this until the final track's fadeout. The production, as with many popular '80s tracks, is quite dated, and this detracts from a set of otherwise fairly strong country-pop-rock compositions.
Born in the U.S.A.: Earworm chorus and a melody that is backed steadfastly by synth and piano. Brash, confident, \"lumbering caveman\" drumming (as Rick Beato might describe it). This could really do with some vocal harmonising, but overall a pretty convincing hit song.
Cover Me: Very overblown vocal. I haven't listened to much Springsteen before, and I was secretly hoping his voice wouldn't be this... persistent. It's skillful singing, but it'll be a bit of a slog to get through the full album. Rockin' guitar backing the riff.
Darlington County: Intro reminds me of Honky Tonk Women. Very country-ish. We hear some (self-?)harmonising in the chorus, and it was a jolly good time. Impressively catchy chorus considering there aren't any words. Reduction in texture at around 3:10 is a fantastic choice, and I almost wish the two previous tracks had followed in these footsteps.
Working on the Highway: Clearly inspired by Elvis. A great fast-paced '50s American rock feel.
Downbound Train: Fairly nondescript Springsteeny track with a solid backing (nice dreamy synth sounds a little back in the mix). Weak drums.
I'm On Fire: Strange semi-electric guitar quality on this one - I dig it. The one-line chorus reminds me of Cash's Ring of Fire, although the delivery is quite different. Definitely an inspired album. Very strong track, and my favourite so far.
No Surrender: A rocking start to side 2! This song has plenty of elements that make for a good American rock song: powerful vocals, tastefully placed vocal harmonies and synths, and a confident (yet still very simplistic) bass and drumbeat. \"La-la-la, la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, la.\" (Brucey, 1984)
Bobby Jean: There's something really interesting happening in the instrumental but it's often too far back in the mix to properly appreciate.
I'm Goin' Down: A very memorable chorus that again is lacking adequate vocal harmony. Strong piano in the rhythm section.
Glory Days: Ooh, I've definitely heard this one before. The riff is very strong and easily the standout riff in the album. Effective use of synths, if slightly repetitive. The percussion has a little more emotion in it than in previous tracks, and it brings the album up spectacularly. I also notice myself slightly tuning out the lead vocal by this point in the album, not because it's necessarily bad, but because it's so similar between most tracks.
Dancing in the Dark: Keyboard is cool but could be cooler. More than three distinct melody notes, maybe. (The vocal melody doesn't have this problem.) The vocals show a little more restraint, and crack at times, which is actually a huge strength of the song. There's a definite emotional contrast between sections. Very catchy as well. It makes sense that this is the most streamed track on the album.
My Hometown: Light, tasteful keyboard and percussion. Bruce's voice is great for the second consecutive track, leaving me wondering why he placed all the songs with good vocals at the end of each side. Blend of acoustic and electric (via synth) is great. I realised as this song faded out that I hadn't heard any interesting chords in the last 45 minutes, and grew frustrated accordingly.
3
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Sun Oct 29 2023
Natty Dread
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Summary: A good album. I would rate this higher if I valued lyrics above sound. The album starts off spectacularly with the first two tracks, but tapers off significantly due to the tracks' sonic repetitiveness. The chords aren't adventurous, but the instruments sometimes are (especially percussion). Great vocals (lead and backing) throughout. The main issue is that most tracks present a specific, non-novel sound and then refuse to deviate from that sound for 4 minutes.
Lively Up Yourself: A chill reggae bop. Instrumentation is on point here. The bass is very prominent and grooves along with the light, varied percussion. Singing is emotive, confident, and (for lack of a better word) really satisfying. Vocal melodies are used tastefully and sparingly.
No Woman No Cry: The percussion is again really strong (but repetitive) and unusually modern-sounding. The modified verse/bridge at 2:10 is fantastic, as is the choruses (and the verses, for that matter). The organ and subtle, occasional keyboard are great additions too. This was the only track I'd heard before.
Them Belly Full (But We Hungry): A half-swing; wicked! Pretty backing vocals. There must be more than one bass guitar here, and they create a complex, rhythmic backing. The lyrics ("a hungry man is a angry man"? (sic)) are a bit weak.
Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock): Something about the instrumentation here just doesn't do it for me. It feels a little unmixed and thrown together randomly. Cool mesh of harmonica and organ, but it only sometimes works. This is also the first track where the vocal rhythm and melody were quite weak. Cool high notes by Marley at around 1:50. The phrase "rebel music" being sung as one of the main hooks is a weird choice - much like if Mercury sang the words "Bohemian Rhapsody" after every verse of the beloved 1975 song.
So Jar S'eh: Bringing back the unusual percussion, and it's great. Nice back-and-forth between lead and backing vocal. The horn arrangement is smooth too. At this point I'm fairly sure this is a political commentary album (not paying much attention to lyrics).
Natty Dread: The bass and especially the horns are the stars of this song. Nothing else shines much compared to some previous tracks. Too much repetition of the song title.
Bend Down Low: It's cool, but... only two chords. Every bar sounds the same.
Talkin' Blues: Ooh. The backing vocals are incredible here. Singing "talking blues" is an awkward lyrical choice, as explained previously. Lots of passion and personality in Marley's voice.
Revolution: Nifty chords in the intro! (We haven't had many nifty chords in this album.) Again, great backing vocals - strange shouted whisper at 2:20. Otherwise, not a super engaging song.
Am-A-Do: Not a fan of the echo effect on the lead vocal. This was a weak track; my ear couldn't latch onto anything I liked. Strange choice to end an album, especially with a fadeout rather than a definitive conclusion.
3
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Mon Oct 30 2023
The Stooges
The Stooges
Summary: An album that was surely ahead of its time. Monotony of chords (monoharmony?) isn't normally my jam, but it's incorporated into a sort of proto-punk/proto-grunge style here that works excellently. All tracks except the 10-minute slog "We Will Fall" are very strong. The vocal, bass, drums, and guitar (particularly the latter) all have chances to shine throughout the album, and the band is consistently a cohesive unit.
1969: Wacky panning - very distinctive. Intensely late-60s rock sound, but with an almost proto-grunge/punk feel. Progressive sound, but anthem-like in structure. The lead guitar is intense! A fantastic song.
I Wanna Be Your Dog: From the beginning, strong drumming and guitarwork. Simple riff that I'm hoping won't grow stale (it didn't). Vocal inflections are a lot like Mick Jagger (mid-60s era) and Lou Reed from the Velvet Underground. Definitely an inspired style.
We Will Fall: An unusual atmosphere - like a group of old men chanting in a cave. The percussion even sounds like water dripping onto cold, hard stone. Not sure what to think about this track, other than that it's out of place and the novelty wears off quickly and brutally. The casual, matter-of-fact "g'bye!"s near the end are pretty funny, though.
No Fun: Again, very Velvet Underground inspired (I'm Waiting For The Man!). That grungy distortion on the guitar is tasty. The singer gets strangely excited at around 2:45 and it's really entertaining. Nice guitar solo, although it being in the left ear behind the vocal going all-out "Come on!" on loop means it's easy to miss at first. The five-minute track length flies by, and it's all jolly fun. Poorly named.
Real Cool Time: The triumphant return of the wah-wah guitar. The lyrics are silly, but this can easily be forgiven because the track is just great. Adventurous bassline is especially noticeable from 1:45 onward when the vocal halts. I imagine an extended version of this would be great to play live.
Ann: A change of atmosphere that actually makes sense (unlike a certain earlier track). The vocal is fairly low in the mix and panned entirely to the left channel. Actually, the panning feels entirely wrong, and after noticing this I flipped my headphones around. It felt more normal after that. Slow, moody little song.
Not Right: The lyrics get goofy again. They're also delivered pretty slowly, with plenty of time between lines to ponder how goofy they actually are. Lead guitar with a low-resolution, slightly goopy texture that differs weirdly from lead guitars on earlier tracks. A good (albeit forgettable) track.
Little Doll: Nice repeating drum lick - absolutely the star of this track. Melody stands out as being almost too brashly rock'n'roll. It works, though. The chords aren't anything special (but still better than the 10-minute We Will Fall, which was exactly 1 chord).
4
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Tue Oct 31 2023
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
Holy paranoia. This one is brilliant. Catchy, memorable riffs played over a grungy metal sound that I would've called derivative if it was from 20 years later, but is pretty revolutionary for its time. Incredible restraint shown on all instruments, demonstrating that the most effective musician plays what's right for the song. And yet, all instruments (particularly the drums and bass) have countless outstanding moments that make for great replayability.
Intense, energetic, and impassioned. I love it.
5/5
5
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Wed Nov 01 2023
90
808 State
Summary: The first track's title sums up the album. A really solid album with some creative and very technologically-impressive (for their time) synth/electronic drum beats. The electronic percussion, in particular, stands out greatly on this album. A lot of the ideas are pretty cliched now, but at the time of release they would've been revolutionary, not only for acid house, but for all modern genres of music.
Magical Dream: Crazy drum machines. This would be an incredible event to experience while high. Rhythm is 4/4 but has an alternating 7/8-9/8 feel at times. The vocals are very weak, but this is forgivable since they clearly aren't the focus. Rave-like synths and other high-pitches sound effects I can't name. Smooth transition to the next track.
Ancodia: Reminds me of something you might hear in a 2000s/10s rhythm video game. The soundscaping is definitely ahead of its time. The drum machine is killing it again (in a good way). Vocals are better in this track than the previous one. Very jarring but fitting transition.
Cobra Bora: Normally I dislike drum machines, but the drum machine work on this album is just great. Hyper-syncopated riff at 0:45ish that is really well composed. The track could be cut down a little. Video game shooting solo at 3:10 - cool. New high-pitched synth introduced in the outro - also cool.
Pacific 202: Great intro, with a strange bird-like electric sound repeating heading into the verse. Hard to tell if the sax is real or fake, but the melody on it is solid. Jarring percussive noise at 5:00 takes us into a great percussionless synth outro.
Donkey Doctor: Solid track. Not too much to say here. Terrible transition to the next track - the music just stops. And this ain't no I Want You (She's So Heavy), so don't think you're getting away with this, 808 State.
808080808: The drum track is a little less in-your-face than the previous tracks, but this means the primary charm (and strength) of the artist's music is slightly lost. Bubbly noise throughout. Fun chords, but they never resolve because of another really badly cut ending.
Sunrise: Very repetitive rhythm, but the airy synths hovering around the mix create this awesome, mystical, spacey atmosphere that definitely makes up for any lack of interest in other parts. Synths are especially noticeable after the texture drop at 3:25.
The Fat Shadow - Pointy Head Mix: prototypic. Reminiscent of a "Seven Seas of Rhye" off Queen's debut album. Some cool synth-voices in here.
4
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Thu Nov 02 2023
Scott 4
Scott Walker
Summary: Beautiful string arrangements, tasteful acoustic guitars, and light drums (among others) accompany Walker's confident baritone vocal in this excellent album. Some unusual mixing (especially with the vocals), but brilliant and luscious textures easily make up for this. The lyrics were really pretty too. The genre was difficult to pin down; Walker's one of those musicians that creates his own signature style. This was a tossup between a 4 and a 5, but I'm reserving the latter for unquestionable masterpieces, and a few questions could be asked about this album.
The Seventh Seal: Lovely voice and dramatic, legato instrumental backing it in the intro. Either a weird vocal effect or a poor microphone setup gives it a semi-live feeling, but this mixes strangely with the studio-sounding percussion and guitars. Nice strings that only get better throughout the track. I'm finding it difficult to pin down the name of this style. Walker's powerful tenor-baritone is really something great.
On Your Own Again: A brief, beautiful ballad. Sinistra-esque. Strings are again excellent. I wish this track had been extended.
The World's Strongest Man: Not the direction I was expecting the lyrics to take based on the song's title, but it fits more with Walker's style. Something about the melody reminds me of a Billy Joel ballad, possibly in his River of Dreams era. Great stuff.
Angels Of Ashes: The vocal is much louder in this track than previous ones, and it's a bit out of place. Very pretty acoustic guitar panned to the right, and some smooth strings (and occasional very high-pitched guitars? What is that instrument?) panned to the left. This song gave me chills, especially in the second half. Beautiful.
Boy Child: We're back to the legato feel of the album intro. Another great track; not too much to comment on that hasn't already been said about previous tracks.
Hero Of The War: The prominent, deceptively simple-sounding percussion gives this track energy we haven't seen thus far. At one point he pronounces "war" so that it rhymes with "tar", even though the previous line ended with "more". (Hmm.) Loved
The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated To The Neo-Stalinist Regime): Fantastic bassline. Bluesy melody, with heavy use of the major-IV chord giving a hopeful undertone to the primarily minor key. Gosh, this song is so good... I forgot to write things about it. Fun scatting in the outro.
Duchess: A fairly nondescript but nonetheless beautiful track. (The main culprit was the very boring chords.) Love the smooth ending though.
Get Behind Me: Fun verse, but it's the chorus where things really get crazy. Some choral harmonies and a very out-of-place electric guitar back Walker's powerful melody. The later verses are strong, especially with the acoustic guitar "hook". Uplifting.
Rhymes Of Goodbye: A pretty, soaring waltz sends the album off on a good note.
4
View Album
Fri Nov 03 2023
Arular
M.I.A.
Here's a vital lesson in musicianship: don't be a vocalist if your voice is annoying. (M.I.A.'s voice is annoying.)
She does this sudden upward rise at the end of some notes (a la Freddie Mercury, early-mid-80s) which just doesn't work with her voice at all. The backing instrumentals add very little to the experience other than being repetitive and rhythmically (fairly) simple. The electric sounds create this unsatisfying liminal feel that makes it difficult to really get into the music. Many of those sounds are piercing "whines" or monotonous synths. Not ideal.
Since every other aspect is poor, the lyrics must be the intended focal point. And, for what it's worth, the lyrics are actually really badass - when they're not a little goofy ("Quit bending all my fingo/Quit beating me like you're Ringo/You wanna go/You wanna win a war/Like PLO, I don't surrendo"). But that's the thing - I place lyrics very low down on my priority list in music. Arular just doesn't sound good, so I'm judging it accordingly. That being said, it doesn't exactly sound bad. I could imagine this coming on in a supermarket or movie and I wouldn't give it much mind.
2/5
2
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Sat Nov 04 2023
Who's Next
The Who
Summary: The Who have mastered the craft of early-70s hard rock through this unquestionably great work of art. A solid lineup of songs and three particularly strong ones bookending the rest. The instruments are all played excellently, including the drums, guitar, and synth (when it appears). Also, one of my favourite-ever album covers.
Baba O'Riley: Incredible intro - one of the stadium-filling, immortal moments in rock history. Simple bass, drums, and guitar back some brilliant singing. A thrilling masterpiece. Seamless movement between the sections, showcasing variations on the iconic synth+guitar strums combo from the intro. Exciting, semi-climactic ending.
Bargain: Some excellent drumming (Keith Moon!) leads us into a driving rock beat with a mean melody. Again, a well-constructed mood change at 1:50, with some noticeably good playing on the bass. More mood changes later. Consistently engaging, and a variety of fairly memorable riffs and licks. A lengthy synth-guitar tradeoff solo section ends the song.
Love Ain't For Keeping: The acoustic guitar and soft backing vocals are most impressive here. Classic blues chords and a laid-back drumbeat. Quite a short track, which fades into the next one.
My Wife: Different vocalist. Simple melody (I feel like there's something missing here in the verses; we know this vocalist can hit some higher notes ("yeaah!"), so incorporate those into the melody!). Some slightly more adventurous chord progressions, still keeping in the heavily bluesy rock style of the previous tracks. Nice meshing of brass and synth at 1:35.
The Song Is Over: Piano intro sounds familiar. Nice chords and a wistful atmosphere. Great drop (with a strange tempo change) at 1:15. Bass fills are strong, and the song's feel gets really adventurous leading up to the 2-minute mark. Build-ups and drop-offs are used frequently, to great effect. Brilliant. Build-up similar to Baba O'Riley towards the end, for a nice climactic end to side 1.
Getting In Tune: Sounds in tune to me. Unexpected chords in the chorus create some seriously cool vibes. "Right in on you"-"ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᶦⁿ ᵒⁿ ʸᵒᵘ" makes a good back-and-forth. Harmony in the left channel at 2:15 - nifty. Long outro with the "getting in tune with the straight and narrow" line repeated over an energetic rhythm section. Note the high piano at the end; very cool.
Going Mobile: Gosh, that drum part is so fun. An almost country-ish feel at times. The selective drum breaks, acoustic guitar, and vocals (quality/melody) remind me of Fleetwood Mac. Fast and bluesy.
Behind Blue Eyes: Pretty. I can see myself listening to this a lot. The lyrics speak to me, even though I'm not nearly successful or admirable enough to relate to them. Exciting drumming and guitar work just before the final chorus. Great vocal harmonies throughout.
Won't Get Fooled Again: The synths return, and they're mesmerising. An epic to conclude an epic. The rock section hits hard and possibly overstays its welcome, but this can easily be forgiven. I'll probably change my mind through relistens. The outro, with the bare-bones synth followed by the reintroduction of other instruments, is great.
5
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Sun Nov 05 2023
The Modern Dance
Pere Ubu
Summery: One of the rare albums that's genuinely hard to listen to. Solid bass and drum playing throughout (including some undeniably good bass riffs), but the vocals are consistently garbled and grating. It gets even worse when the vocal harmonies join in. Additionally, the sound effects are really, really annoying. I can see these songs being used to extract information from foreign espionage agents.
Non-Alignment Pact: Punk, for sure. Very high drone in the right channel is annoying and unnecessary. Fantastic bassline begins to make itself known, and around 1:30 we get some really solid reduction in texture. The right channel is almost completely unlistenable - like the end of Queen's Sheer Heart Attack (the 1977 song), but for more than 3 minutes. Too irritating for my taste.
Modern Dance: The right-channel noise has been replaced by literal static noise (a bit like the sound lava makes in Minecraft when it turns into obsidian), and it's a welcome relief. The song would be much stronger without it, though. Fun vocal back-and-forths, and an overall fast-paced groove. Unfortunately, though, Pere Ubu adds these really unappealing sound effects that make these songs go directly from 3-4 stars to 2 or less.
Laughing: I sat through 125 seconds of painful, off-tune intro, before an equally out-of-tune shouting harmony ensued. At 2:50, the thinning of texture was again a welcome relief. Great bassline and decent drumming, but everything else is... not good... At least the ending was tolerable.
Street Waves: Easily the best track so far, because it lacks the incredibly grating sound effects that dominates the earlier songs. Another solid bassline that steals the show, and a garbled, technically unsound vocal that brings the song up several notches as soon as it ceases.
Chinese Radiation: It's alright until the loud-crowd section, which is bad. Strange piano-based section at the end that I can't really comment on.
Life Stinks: The singing is actually pretty funny here. However, whatever's happening at around 0:55 is unacceptable.
Real World: Pretty good, actually. Fairly nondescript. The singing is very weak.
Over My Head: Floyd-esque whale noises, but the comparison ends there. The singing is okay, particularly the backup vocals (they're especially okay). Nice and chill.
Sentimental Journey: The breaking glass probably means something. I wonder if it's a result of the vocal performance. Lots of nonsensical noises here, again reminding me of some early experimental rock piece by Pink Floyd (think Several Species from Ummagumma) or possibly Revolution 9. Not fun.
Humor Me: At this point, you'd have to give me a Bohemian Rhapsody or Stairway to Heaven to bring this album up from 1 star to 2 stars, and this song wasn't either of those. It was pretty good though, especially the bassline. Good guitar playing, but whatever effect was used on it doesn't fit the song well (too much distortion). A decent ending to an indecent album.
1
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Mon Nov 06 2023
Funeral
Arcade Fire
Summary: An all-over-the-place rock album with some hard-hitting walls of sound throughout. Sonically, it's pretty great to lose yourself in, if you can tune out the harsh vocals. Spectacular creativity, especially for its time, but that creativity only amounted to a medium amount of good. It's not really my style. Musically, close to a 4/5, but my enjoyment was a bit lower.
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels): Intense, self-assured modern rock. Thick drum-based textures underlay a passionate (and slightly crazed) delivery of some interesting lyrics that hint at a mortality theme. This'll be the only time I check the lyrics.
Neighborhood #2 (Laika): Some fantastic breakdowns throughout, but the repetitive harmonies and lead vocals can get a little grating. Still a banger and really sonically enjoyable as a wall of sound.
Une Année Sans Lumiere: Using French lyrics is a Beatles gag that I don't normally let bands get away with (especially after Billy Joel's subpar "C'etait Toi" on the otherwise stellar Glass Houses album). This song doesn't get away with it either, until around 2:50, when the previous feel is abandoned for a much more energetic one. And it kinda slaps.
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out): Such an unusual sound here: frenetic vocals, a wildly indecisive shouting melody, brash drumming, and glockenspiels. It's not really my thing, but I have to give it credit for sounding incredibly unique for its time. The rising guitars at 3:00 are pretty cool.
Neighborhood #4 (Kettles): A lower-energy track, and a welcome break from the previous songs' colossal textures. The wobbly strings (the "kettles") in the back are a little distracting, but at 1:55 we get a huge improvement and the song sounds much better after that point. The vocals are quite strong. The acoustic guitar and strings work well together.
Crown Of Love: An emotional song that feels, instrumentally, like the sequel to Kettles. Nice backing vocals at 1:35 which would've been even better if they were harmonised (with several vocalists). Same comment for 2:45. The chorus/post-chorus part at 3:00 is really strong. What the heck happened at 3:40. I love it. I-iv chord changes are the best, and the strings do them justice.
Wake Up: A riff that would be stronger if it had more than one unique note in it. Still, a strong, memorable intro. The singing in the verse is stretched out awkwardly, and the vocal inflections don't help here (he's out of tune and it sounds like he's just been crying). I can't help but like the song, though. Must be the bias of seeing 140 million streams and subconsciously believing that it has to be good. The sound wall beginning at 3:20 is pretty sick. At 3:50 we have an unnecessary tempo and textural change that adds little to the song, at least until the singing starts again. They start to hit their sonic stride again, but then the song kind of disappears without warning. A weak ending.
Haiti: The vocalist is great here. I wish she was a little more forward in the mix so that I can distinguish the lyrics from the floaty, magical instrumental. A little repetitive after the halfway point. Fantastic transition to the next track.
Rebellion (Lies): 20 seconds in and I already really like it. The kick drums are aural dopamine. Harmonically, pretty simplistic, but the chord progressions in the second half of the song are wildly popular among musicians for a good reason. Great use of muted strings, and a brilliantly thick texture that doesn't go overboard. My favourite track.
In The Backseat: The piano(? harp?) arpeggios are great with the backing guitar and strings, and the vocalist really shines here too. Until 1:15, it sounds like a completely different band playing (the electric guitar brings it back). Lengthy instrumental with a soft, harp-based ending.
3
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Tue Nov 07 2023
Odessey And Oracle
The Zombies
Summary: A summery baroque-pop collection of songs with fantastic production, vocals, and instrumentation (for the most part). There was a lot of clear inspiration taken from other mid-/late-60s artists, and it's combined beautifully into this pretty paintbox of an album. Half a star docked for the songwriting being slightly weak at times, but luckily that still rounds up.
Care Of Cell 44: A bright Summer-of-Love atmosphere. Some great singing and bass in particular, and one shouldn't shake a stick at the drummer either (pun intended). Some great, brash vocal harmonies that make for archetypal 60s rock-pop. The 2:55 drop into harmonisation is great. The only real issue here is the lack of a hook, apart from possibly the piano/harpsichord melody.
A Rose For Emily: The kind of haphazard melody one might expect from a Pet Sounds deep cut. (Likely an inspiration.) Some strong back-and-forth singing with a simple piano backing. The ending is Beatlesque; actually, the Zombies' whole sound kind of is.
Maybe After He's Gone: There's a lot of vocals trying to grab your attention in the first 60 seconds, and upon first listen it's a lot to take in. Still, brilliantly composed. Very high piano chords are very high. I've just noticed how clean the production's been so far. Another very typical 60s-pop imperfect-cadence ending.
Beechwood Park: A laid-back feel with some cool vocal and guitar effects. The chorus is well-constructed, again with very strong vocals and harmonies, but the rest is a little repetitive.
Brief Candles: Unusual vocal enunciation until the change in feel at 30 seconds, which is more Zombies-sounding. I have a huge soft spot for the chord progression used in the chorus (I-I7-IV-ivadd4-V). Great song.
Hung Up On A Dream: Whoa. Now this chord progression is interesting, and quite unpredictable. The vocalist sounds like Nico (from the Velvet Underground) here. Fantastic drumming, and unintrusive, beautiful backing vocals in the left channel that sound like a children's choir. An unexpected ending.
Changes: I was hoping this would be a Bowie cover until I remembered that wasn't really possible. The (unharmonised) singing here is a little unkempt, similar to Syd Barrett's. The flute keyboard thing (also used on Strawberry Fields Forever) is used to shadow the vocal melody, and it's fun. Unusual percussion too, but it's a great choice for the song. Solid ending with a fadeout.
I Want Her She Wants Me: The two-part harmony breakdown is great, as is the transition back to the bass-led chorus(?). Beautiful outro, but the fadeout should've been slower and been started earlier.
This Will Be Our Year: Great chord progression, and the guitar shines because of it. Earnest singing that might be the strongest it's been so far. A short, sweet track with a simple, pretty melody – but a darn good composition. Favourite track so far.
Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914): Another Barrett-esque vocal. Very simple instrumentation; apart from the foreboding intro, it's just an organ (and a brief mellotron cameo) and some occasional drumstick tapping. Solid. My [insert body part here] won't stop shaking.
Friends of Mine: Energetic guitar and drums back a vocal performance that goes all over the place texturally. These rapid changes took me most of the song to warm up to, but by the end I loved them. Silly ending.
Time of the Season: A chill atmosphere, made especially so by the vocal and bass parts. The sudden, intense harmonies in the chorus are fabulous. And that organ/keyboard solo... Gosh. It's the first really strong improvisation we've had on the album, and it's so good. "Who's your daddy" is a strange line to hear in 2023. A second organ solo (this time containing two organs fighting for the spotlight) closes out the song. A groovy, tasteful way to end the album. Also, this song has singlehandedly moved the album from a 3.5 to a 4.
4
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Wed Nov 08 2023
Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos
This album has clean, chill production with a kind of lightly ethereal atmosphere. The singing is fantastic and the choice of instruments is on-point. Piano and string arrangements work beautifully with Tori's vocals. The only things preventing this from being 5 stars are a lack of obvious "hit" tracks and the absence of guitar and (active) drums.
Favourite tracks: Silent All These Years, Winter, Happy Phantom, Tear in Your Hand
4
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Thu Nov 09 2023
Hunting High And Low
a-ha
A playful, and at times pretty hilarious, mash-up of 80s synth-pop-rock. I wasn't expecting to like any of it other than the brutally popular Take On Me. And yes, many of the tracks had an extremely dated feel to them that distracted from the compositional talent. But that's just it: if you can look past the 80s polish, you'll discover that most of the tracks are freakin' bangers. Fight me.
The Sun Always Shines On T.V. has a gritty, intoxicating riff that is played to perfection, avoiding being overused. The Blue Sky sounds exactly like its name: fresh, clean, and carefree. The title track is great.
A few tracks were forgettable, but I forgot which ones.
4
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Fri Nov 10 2023
Queen Of Denmark
John Grant
Great instrumental interplay in this album (see: acoustic guitar+piano+strings in Marz). The smooth, light harmonising in many of the choruses also makes for some great easy-listening. The harmonies and melodies are generally strong and enjoyable. That being said, nothing in this album blew me away or demonstrated some idea I'd never seen before (apart from possibly the quirky lyrics). The track "JC Hates Faggots" is pretty on-the-nose with its lyrics - just a fair warning. Sixteen incredibly solid tracks well worth a re-listen, but nothing outstanding.
Key tracks: TC & Honeybear, Marz, It's Easier, Outer Space
Huh tracks: That's The Good News, Supernatural Defibrillator, What Time?
4
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Sat Nov 11 2023
Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
Smooth. Intoxicating. Like honey. You like jazz? Then bee my guest.
It's "Kind Of Blue"-esque in its approach to album creation, with hook-heavy, solo-laden charts at the beginning and more unconventional, exotic improvisation session towards the end. All ten tracks, including the intermediary ones, are quite long, the shortest one being over 5 minutes in length. Part Of A Whole and The Big Apple are highlights.
4
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Sun Nov 12 2023
The White Album
Beatles
I mean, duh.
The first few times I listened to this album, I thought it could've done with some trimming (songs like Wild Honey Pie, Don't Pass Me By EGSTHEMAMM, Revolution 9), but I've come to seriously respect the charm these tracks add to such a disparate and diverse album. The stylistic diversity in this album is mind-blowing, and yet all (most) of the songs sound uniquely Beatlesque.
Most tracks get better on each listen (but a few, like Ob-La-Di, get significantly worse). There are countless little details to keep repeat listeners interested.
The playing is complex yet laid-back; very self-assured. The track ordering is freaking awesome, as it is in nearly all Beatles albums.
5
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Mon Nov 13 2023
Aladdin Sane
David Bowie
An eclectic mix of rock and jazz noises thrown together into a decently coherent early 70s album. Certainly, the sound is quite innovative for its time. The musicians involved are playing passionately – perhaps too much so – which creates a very full-on, almost chaotic atmosphere compared to his previous atmospheres. Too much energy and excitement, possibly from Bowie's rise to superstardom the previous year.
Most of side 1 suffers from too-complex flourishes, chord changes, and melodies that aren't quite catchy enough to justify themselves. In fact, this is a rare album where I can say definitively that one side (side 2) is stronger than the other. Time, Lady Grinning Soul, and The Jean Genie are my personal favourites (particularly the latter). In The Jean Genie, Bowie finally decides not to go overboard on the musical theatrics that greatly bring down other songs like Panic In Detroit and the title track. This creates a piece of music that not only rises to the heights of Bowie's previous album, Ziggy Stardust, but actually surpasses most of it. The other two aforementioned tracks are also like this, and easily move the otherwise 3-star album up to 4 stars.
4
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Tue Nov 14 2023
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
Summary: I've only heard their debut album prior to listening to this, and there's a marked difference in quality and professionalism with this album. The songs are mature and tightly arranged. Just an all-round incredibly solid rock album that's on par with Abbey Road for sounding like 1969's future. The majority of the tracks are fire. It's close to being 5 stars, for sure, but the weaker tracks and very questionable "experimental" choices on them hold this album back.
Candy Says: A very pretty ballad with an excellent chord progression and melody. Love the confidence on this track compared to their comparably laid-back debut album opener, Sunday Morning.
What Goes On: A stronger counterpart to the identically-named track off the Beatles' Rubber Soul. Organs are well-placed and the vocal ensemble lends it a bar-singing vibe. Distorted guitar/horn-sounding solo would be better without the piercing high organ notes over the top. Overall, the song gives a progressive early-70s underground feel.
Some Kinda Love: The spread-out mixing on this bluesy, one-chord "talky" song is really fun. A little monotonous, but a good track.
Pale Blue Eyes: I've just noticed how great the singing is on this album. Especially in this track, Reed's vocal has this quiet sadness and maturity that's difficult to describe but incredible to witness. Excellent guitar and bass playing here too. My favourite track so far. Reminiscent of Radiohead's No Surprises (which was recorded 28 years later). It's even in the same key!
Jesus: Unusual mixing in the intro, but it rebalances after the 30-second mark. A beautiful, quiet track.
Beginning To See The Light: A bombastic start to side 2. The chorus (or post-chorus? "Here we go again...") is excellent, and Reed's wild hollering heading into the next verse is pretty hilarious. A great track.
I'm Set Free: A good track with a good guitar solo, but otherwise nondescript compared to other quieter songs on the album. Fitting choice of percussion.
That's The Story Of My Life: The melody doesn't deviate much here, but interestingly the vocal still ends up shining.
The Murder Mystery: A very odd intro with a convincing guitar riff that ends up being the star of the first portion of the song. Confusing two talking vocals at the same time is confusing. These are replaced by two completely new talking vocals, again different and played over each other. It's impossible to keep track of, so the listener tends to focus more on the rhythm section, which (fortunately) is kind of fire. New section at 6:30 is fun but makes the song sound like heavily discount prog.
After Hours: Huh? Who's this vocalist? Honestly, this song bops, and it's difficult to explain why. The guitar and singing are extremely simplistic, and there's nothing else there. The lyrics are pretty but naive - and maybe that's exactly why the song shines. It's a simple, blind, naive, childish, beautiful lullaby concluding a great album.
Key tracks: Candy Says, What Goes On, Pale Blue Eyes, Jesus, Beginning To See The Light, After Hours
4
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Wed Nov 15 2023
Call of the Valley
Shivkumar Sharma
A hauntingly beautiful snapshot of Indian pastoral and musical culture in the 1960s. The blend between Eastern and Western influences (I hear you, flutes and guitars!) is immaculate and truly a sound to behold. A variety of moods are captured throughout the album diverse, lush track listing.
Really, the only thing holding this back from 5 stars is the fact that there's very little in the way of "hooks", meaning it's difficult to follow along or predict the music.
4
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Thu Nov 16 2023
I See A Darkness
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Sweet and really depressing – even more so later in the album. Lo-fi-sounding with its disheveled two-part harmonies and tentative rhythm section. The climactic moments, such as the second half of Nomadic Revery, are powerful. I See A Darkness is a stellar track that really summarises the whole album, making the tracks following it a little obsolete. Simplistic instrumentation, chord progressions, and melodies, all of which point to an emphasis on lyrics and mood. Not exactly my thing, but still easily one of my favourite post-80s albums.
Key tracks: A Minor Place, Nomadic Revery, I See a Darkness, Death to Everyone
4
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Fri Nov 17 2023
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective
A crazy, spinning, hypnotic "mess"(?) of vocals and heavy production. Probably meant to be listened to while on hallucinogens, but it was still perfectly decent without them. My Girls and Summertime Clothes are clear highlights, for having some satisfying vocal moments and non-overbearing instrumental interludes. Daily Routine, on the other hand, is one of several examples of experimental synth-pop done very, very incorrectly. It's an irritating sound.
The songs are mostly hits or "eh, it's alright"s, with a couple of these absolute honks thrown in to remind you that Animal Collective isn't perfect. That's part of the charm, though. They sound like a group of kids making a relatively organised racket with a mishmash of modern sounds at their disposal. And, honestly, it's pretty cool.
3
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Sat Nov 18 2023
Stardust
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson's takes on these covers are heartwarming, soulful, and full of softness and spirit. Nelson's voice, while taking the vibrato a little too far at times, meshes beautifully with the other instruments. The in-and-out trickling of different textures, such as harmonica, piano, horns, and strings (especially noticeable in songs such as Georgia On My Mind) is carried out fabulously.
Now for the negatives. Many of the tracks sound very, very similar, indicating a limited ability to play outside a specific style and tone. Non-vocal instruments are only very rarely given moments to shine, and other vocals (e.g. backing) are not present. Also, it's a cover album.
Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for this one. I'm bumping it up to 4 because of Nelson's happy charisma.
4
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Sun Nov 19 2023
Savane
Ali Farka Touré
The instruments mesh together well, creating a distinctive, warm, laid-back atmosphere. For such an unfamiliar musical style, I enjoyed it more than I expected to.
Now for the negatives. The songs are unadventurous and painstakingly repetitive. This makes the album really dull for close listening after the first 30 seconds or so of each track, and even a little grating in the lengthier ones. Some people might describe the songs as "chill, doin' their own thang" but I think it's very important that the musicians interact with and entertain the listener as much as possible. In my eyes, Toure's music does not accomplish this.
2
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Mon Nov 20 2023
Hearts And Bones
Paul Simon
An album that doesn't take itself too seriously. I can admire that.
The tracks are generally light-hearted and full of life. The instrumentation is fantastic and Paul's vocal is, of course, strong. The lyrics sometimes leave a lot to be desired (Allergies, When Numbers Get Serious) but I can't get too annoyed at that given the circumstances.
The problem is, the album never really wows me. Like, at all. It plays it incredibly safe, especially for Paul Simon. Also, the song Cars Are Cars exists when it has no right to do so.
For these reasons, I cannot in good conscience give it more (or less) than 3 stars.
3
View Album
Tue Nov 21 2023
Reggatta De Blanc
The Police
Summary: A really great album. Spiky, punky, semi-reggae emblazoned with Sting's signature (and sometimes unhinged) vocal. There are a couple of hits in here, mixed in with high-energy instrumentally-focused tracks and a few oddities thrown in for good luck (On Any Other Day). Shoutout to the snazzy album cover!
Message In A Bottle: a fast-paced thumper. Sting's vocals are the centre of entertainment, but the guitar, bass, and drums are all given chances to shine. The guitar riff is excellent and the chorus is laden with memorable vocal hooks. The outro could be cut down significantly, or have a guitar solo replace the repetitive four-word vocal.
Reggatta De Blanc: Has an almost reggae-ish feel, but much more energetic. The texture is high-frequency-heavy (hope you have good headphones), giving a "windy", outdoorsy atmosphere. Incomprehensible lyrics. A fun jam session.
It's Alright For You: The standout of this track was the short guitar solo at around 1:45. Strange "alien" inflections that bring life to an otherwise pretty generic pop-rock song. Also, the outro is fire.
Bring On The Night: Whew. What a freaking amazing intro, and some killer guitar arpeggios to follow. I usually condemn octave harmonies, and this is one of those circumstances. These kinds of harmonies require much lower-energy instrumental accompaniment to not sound overblown. That being said, the vocal in the higher register is great. Whatever's going on in the instrumental before 3:00 is cool, and the outro is similarly very strong.
Deathwish: A wacky track with an adventurous bassline, but only sometimes. The rest of the time, it plays one repeated note in a syncopated rhythm. The lyrics are enunciated weirdly and a little difficult to make out.
Walking On The Moon: Possibly the most "stylish" instrumental so far, on par with Roxanne from their previous album. The melody is really funny and unpredictable. The bridge is odd, and the drumming in the following mini-instrumental is stellar. Lunar, even.
On Any Other Day: Mostly entertaining lyrics (though the line "my fine young son has turned out gay" is a bit sus). The singers have American accents - does this mean something? Commentary on the gun-blazin bacon nation? Nah, probably not.
The Bed's Too Big Without You: I'm noticing a bit of fuzziness over some of the louder notes and beats here - production quality drop? Sting's singing is top-notch. Interestingly, the production quality suddenly improves at the 3-minute mark. Fun percussion and bass; actually, hang on, that bass lick is fire.
Contact: I could see this being a Bowie song from the same time period. A great, cosmic track that surely deserves more Spotify streams than it has (2.6 million). Some very high-level playing on all instruments.
Does Everyone Stare: The first track to heavily feature piano instead of guitar, and the band pulls it off. The repeating, deceptively simple instrumental is insanely catchy, and the vocals are on point. The gradual addition of harmonies seem to represent an increasing paranoia (also demonstrated through the lyrics themselves). One of my favourite tracks on the album.
No Time This Time: Okay, now here's some serious instrumental prowess. The vocal filter makes Sting sound a little unhinged.
4
View Album
Wed Nov 22 2023
Live / Dead
Grateful Dead
I realised pretty quickly that 23-minute live tracks are next to impossible to focus on for the entire duration. So, beware; this is not an album for close listening. I also imagine this would've been pretty painful to listen to live.
That being said, it's excellent background music. The jams are mellow and laid-back without sounding too egregiously noodly. The melodies are unmemorable but not bad. The instrumentation and musical skill being showcased is fairly strong.
Can I see myself giving this album a 3, on par with Hearts and Bones, Born in the USA, and Natty Dread? Sure - but no way it's getting higher than that.
3
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Thu Nov 23 2023
Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)
Bob Dylan
This one is a tough call for me. On the one hand, the lyrical storytelling is fantastic. I can tell because I found myself actively listening to the lyrics, which is extremely rare for me. On the other hand, Bob Dylan’s vocal is lazy, almost drunken-sounding in this double album, and overall the sound is less refined than the studio versions of these songs. Even with the storytelling element being a big positive, the first disc is still a slog to get through, and the highlight is Mr. Tambourine Man simply because it’s the most famous song on the disc. Disc 2 is better, incorporating some electric guitar, drums, bass, and other instruments to create a fuller, more interesting texture.
3
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Fri Nov 24 2023
Gasoline Alley
Rod Stewart
Some excellent tracks in here. Rod’s husky vocal took some time to warm up to (knowing that there was an entire album ahead of me), but once my brain accepted it, it really was a blast to listen to. Six covers that easily improve upon the originals, and three new compositions that expand on the blues-folk scene. The tracks It’s All Over Now, Cut Across Shorty, and especially You’re My Girl are the standouts; the latter is funky and rocking, approaching a perfect array of sounds that I’ve come to adore from bands like Zeppelin and the Velvet Underground (among others). The remaining tracks don’t stand out nearly as much. The rhythmically clumsy harmonies, fairly typical of the folk genre, are also really fun. The instrumentation isn’t particularly grabbing (excluding the final track) but it’s passable. This is very close to 5 stars, but there’s something missing from the sound.
4
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Sat Nov 25 2023
25
Adele
It's not the worst it could be. Adele's voice is very strong, pretty much guaranteeing the album will get more than 1 star. The vocal is subtly flourish-y, which sometimes works to its advantage but also sometimes accentuates the subtle autotuning and occasional wacky overproduction. The compositions are generally very weak, being both (lyrically) unrelatable and (musically) unadventurous, almost to the point where it's hard to take Adele's clear vocal talent seriously. The instrumentation is consistently poor, especially the percussion. A few tracks on the latter half of the album are very strong (e.g. Million Years Ago, All I Ask) but most of the songs are unconvincing.
Hello: Every time I listen to this song, I like it less than I thought I would. Verses are mediocre (piano isn't given any chance to shine or vary, and the melody is weak). Chorus is catchy and extremely memorable, but it isn't the culmination of several instruments; instead, it's Adele's slightly processed voice with scant flowery adornment. The other instruments aren't contributing enough, and I can't forgive that.
Send My Love (To Your New Lover): The harmonies in the chorus are a fantastic choice, and they almost distract from the egregiously stereotypical-pop percussion (invariant bass drum and claps). The contrasting acoustic sound of the verses is solid.
I Miss You: The percussion is really fun to focus on in this song. It seems like the drummer can't decide whether he's playing a straight syncopated rhythm or some kind of quintuplet polyrhythm. The indecisiveness actually becomes really distracting, since the rhythm keeps changing slightly each bar. At this point, I was most of the way through the song and had to think of something else to talk about. The backing vocals are nice, I guess. Good outro.
When We Were Young: Similar problems as the opening track, albeit with a more interesting verse. The chorus is odd, because Adele's voice is very powerful but the lyrics themselves are pretty bad. Picture Freddie Mercury singing Yellow Submarine. (Huh, that would actually be pretty badass.)
Remedy: This one's fine. Not much going on instrumentally, but none of it is bad (in fact, the piano playing is the most adventurous it's been). I really like the outro.
Water Under the Bridge: Generic 2010s pop instrumental and chord progression that I tried my best to ignore. Melody is solid in the verses but exactly three different notes in the chorus.
River Lea: Clumsy transition from the previous track. The build-up to the chorus is good, but the chorus itself isn't great, mostly because of the percussion. Seriously. With a proper acoustic drum kit, that chorus could actually be the strongest on the album, because the synth(?)(strings?), harmonies, and singing are fantastic here.
Love In The Dark: Again, great strings! Nothing else particularly stands out.
Million Years Ago: Hang on. This one's actually good. Some clumsy editing (0:50) but overall pretty darn solid. The acoustic guitar sounds much better with Adele's voice than the piano. Also, is that the Autumn Leaves chord progression? Sick!
All I Ask: This one's really strong too. The chorus is excellently done, with some seriously great chords complimenting Adele's singing.
Sweetest Devotion: It's passable. Bonus points for including percussion sounds that could actually be produced by a real, unprocessed drum kit.
2
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Sun Nov 26 2023
A Wizard, A True Star
Todd Rundgren
Rundgren didn’t try hard enough to make this cohesive. The textures are lush and interesting, but they also make very little sense. The lyrics are pretty confusing and sung in a strangely un-catchy way. With some of the less substantial tracks removed and other shorter ones (such as Tic-Tic-Tic and Rock & Roll Pussy) more fully realised, this could’ve been a great double album. Unfortunately, I can’t give this more than 3 stars. The ideas have a great deal of potential that just doesn’t land properly. We instead get a decent-sounding but very swift-moving, hard-to-remember set of psychedelic rock tracks.
There are definitely some highlights, including the I’m So Proud medley, Is It My Name?, and Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Feel.
3
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Mon Nov 27 2023
A Short Album About Love
The Divine Comedy
I like the use of organs, horns, and especially strings on this album. It creates a very retro feel, a la Billy Joel’s An Innocent Man, but mellower (and, in my opinion, far inferior). Unfortunately, the commitment to a 50s/60s-era sound means the percussion (and instrumentation as a whole) isn’t very interesting. The vocal is often brash when loud and very weak when quiet; it doesn’t ever find the right timbre.
They’re fun songs, but there’s plenty to fault. The main limiting factor preventing this from being higher than a 2 is that “spark” – anything exciting or inventive.
Also, the solemnly-delivered lyric “You’re a horse, I’d clean the crap out of your stable” made me take the album a lot less seriously.
Key tracks: In Pursuit of Happiness
2
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Tue Nov 28 2023
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths
Some fun sounds here, but nothing revolutionary. The singing is quirky yet unobtrusive, making for good background music. The texture is extremely monotonous, which isn't always a bad thing, but it generally limits relistenability. That being said, the texture the Smiths cooked up is pretty awesome, almost like continuous-alternative-punk. If this counts as punk, it's definitely one of my favourite albums in the genre.
Fave tracks: What She Said, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, Barbarism Begins at Home
3
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Wed Nov 29 2023
Walking Wounded
Everything But The Girl
Ultra-electronic - a little disconnected-feeling, maybe. The only obvious human elements are acoustic guitars and vocals, and the former unfortunately only appears on some of the weaker tracks. Walking Wounded and Before Today are highlights for purely atmospheric reasons (by my normal, heavily instrument-based standards, they wouldn't be standouts). The percussion in the album is about as solid as electronic drums can get, but heavily limit the songs' potential. Unfortunately, as a general rule, electronic drums suck the life out of a track, and this album is no exception.
The vocalist is clearly strong, but I feel she doesn't express as much emotion as she could. The singing is a little restrained, playing it safe in terms of both melody and range.
Alright, I've dunked on this album enough. The pros: the textures are fresh and reasonably unique for their time, the lyrics are pretty strong, and there's this indescribable warmth present. For all the sins it commits, it's surprisingly good.
3
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Thu Nov 30 2023
Here Come The Warm Jets
Brian Eno
Brilliantly detailed and crazy - almost a little too much so, relying on weirdness and "wow here's another fun bit/bob to keep your interest for the next 30 seconds" to the point where it stands more as camp than as creativity. However, there's literally nothing else bad to say about this album. The songs are so darn fun to just quietly observe, all the while thinking, "How the heck did this guy manage to make that sound good?". It's reminiscent of an early-70s Bowie record - think Aladdin Sane, but with less of David's distinctive drawl and slightly more tea and crumpets. The transitions are goofy and work really well - On Some Faraway Beach leading into Blank Frank, in particular, had me wide-eyed.
Highlights: Needles In The Camel's Eye, Baby's On Fire, Cindy Tells Me, On Some Faraway Beach
4
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Fri Dec 01 2023
The Age Of The Understatement
The Last Shadow Puppets
Great modern easy-listening music. I'd never heard of this band before, which is surprising, given their clean, catchy sound and engaging instrumentation. It's reminiscent of 60s/70s music, and merges Brit-pop-rock with hints of country, drama/cinematic, and country. An eclectic combination, for sure, but it sounds pretty good.
No tracks that stand out, although I did find myself particularly enjoying My Mistakes Were Made For You, The Age Of The Understatement, and The Meeting Place.
4
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Sat Dec 02 2023
Eliminator
ZZ Top
Such an odd listening experience. The guitars - clearly touted as ZZ Top's signature instrument and defining sound - are distorted in a very processed, controlled way, creating an atmosphere where I feel like I should be headbanging but can't quite hit the groove. The sound is too heavy to qualify as pop rock, but not heavy enough to succeed Zeppelin or other towering contemporaries. The instrumental consistency is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you view albums. It's somewhere in between for me. Many of the tracks sound extremely similar, rendering it good background fodder for a garage hangout. On the other hand, the album has zero flow or order to it, kind of tossing any vestiges of a concept album out the window.
That being said, some killer tracks in here. Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin', I Got The Six... in isolation, these are pretty great, possibly 4s or 4.5s. The album experience drops my rating down to a 3.
3
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Sun Dec 03 2023
Tarkus
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
For 1971, perhaps the most revolutionary year in modern musical history, this album just doesn't stand up against its peers. That being said: props for having one of the dumbest, awesomest album covers in prog rock.
The title track is a mind-bending soup of keyboards and indecisive time signatures. The material is complicated, and E/L/P mostly pull it off, but there are points where the band goes noticeably out of sync. The song is almost too adventurous, rarely seeming to revise earlier themes, and introducing wacky new ideas every few bars. The "singing" sections of the suite are fairly strong sonically, but the lyrics are less than compelling. The tracks on side 2 are so tonally distinct from side 1 (piano rockabilly/ragtime, compared to the stupidly indecisive organ-laden heavy rock on the flipside) that I'm also convinced E/L/P has no idea what kind of music they want to make. "The Only Way" is, well, the only way I might see myself coming back to listen to any part of side 1; the other tracks are dated rockers.
2
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Mon Dec 04 2023
Station To Station
David Bowie
Summary: A surprisingly diverse array of tracks that showcase Bowie's prowess when tackling many different musical genres. Instrumentation is fantastic throughout, and Bowie's vocal is mature yet whimsical. It's so difficult to label this music with a particular style, but of course that's the virtue of the Bowie. The only real drawback is that it's not simple music, and could take a few listens to really "get".
Station to Station: a dramatic, exotic, eclectic mix of instrumental weirdness. Also, for what it's worth, incredibly groovy. Bowie's voice is very strong here, exploring some self-harmonising that keeps the backing from getting too repetitive. At 5:20, there's a mood change with a faster tempo. You can tell that Bowie's really getting into it in the latter half of the track.
Golden Years: Bowie perfects the craft of funk here. The percussion is subtly and precisely chosen, the harmonies make masterful use of the lush dorian mode, and the guitar is just the right level of grungy. A light-hearted foot-tapper with not a single wasted moment.
Word on a Wing: Some weird chord progressions are presented here via a confidently-played piano. The lead vocal is very cutting in the mix, and the song is generally just a little louder than I feel it should be. Still, who am I to question the Thin White Duke? The section between 3 and 4 minutes balances the instruments' volumes noticeably better. A very expressive song that probably would've been more meaningful if I'd paid attention to the lyrics. He title-dropped a few times, I think. The organ fadeout is good but feels a little low-effort for ending side 1.
TVC15: Side 2 begins with a bluesy number you might expect from the Stones or rock-era Billy Joel.. The bass is quite prominent here and the lines are solid. The vocals carry those confident, swaggery inflections one would come to expect from the piano man. There really isn't anything questionable about the track, except perhaps the song title that you're forgetting even as you read it.
Stay: Whoa, that percussion. Soundscapey. The bass is even more prominent now and it's approaching "thats darn fire" territory. Everything's working together perfectly here, and it's complex yet simply groovin.
Wild Is the Wind: Probably the simplest track, instrumentally. Bowie's vocal is, again, very strong here - possibly the best it's been yet. The guitars overlaid onto each other are yummy (ear-yummy, I guess). Great track.
4
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Tue Dec 05 2023
Deep Purple In Rock
Deep Purple
An intersection between psychedelic rock, hard rock, and metal. Definitely a pioneering album for its time, and a friggin' awesome-sounding one at that. The only complaint I have is the slightly excessive screaming, but that's purely based on personal taste. The bass playing is reminiscent of the late-60s-early-70s burly psychedelic bass sound, and the guitars complement it beautifully.
4
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Wed Dec 06 2023
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
A very strong album that takes some of the best (and worst) elements of Beatles music and mushes them into a hook-laden mulch of pop rock. McCartney's ideas here are darn good, and their execution is mostly on-point. There are a few glaring issues, though, when it comes to some of the tracks noticeably losing their steam and creative spark partway through. "Mamunia", "Mrs Vandebilt", and "Picasso's Last Words" are the main offenders here. McCartney's overactive hook-imagination is prevalent in the track "Jet", which is exhausting to listen to no matter how familiar you are with it because of the overwhelming jumble of brash musical ideas. "Bluebird" is a solid lower-energy track, reminiscent of Ram-era solo Paul. The remaining tracks - "Band On The Run", "Let Me Roll It", "No Words", and especially "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" are killer, and turn an otherwise average post-Beatles McCartney album into one of his finest works.
4
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Thu Dec 07 2023
Screamadelica
Primal Scream
A fun, modern psychedelic loop-de-loop (rollercoaster isn’t quite the right word). The first two tracks are so incredibly strong that it’s almost unfair to the remainder of the album – which itself is, to be fair, also solid. Some tracks, notably Come Together, Higher Than the Sun, and Loaded, are anthem-like, paying homage to the likes of Hey Jude. Unfortunately, they’re not as good as Hey Jude, but still go on for longer. The messages of freedom, solidarity, and love are pretty clear-cut from the beginning of the songs, and I think their runtime could’ve been cut down substantially. Oddly, there seems to be a strong influence from the Beach Boys in some of these tracks. This influence is most obvious in the instrumental Inner Flight, which bears a very strong resemblance to Let’s Go Away for Awhile – albeit with more modern instrumentation and atmosphere. Also inspiration taken from the Beach Boys’ early 70s sound with I’m Comin’ Down. Good contrast between louder/”thicker” tracks (most of the album) and quieter tracks (Damaged, I’m Comin’ Down). Close to being a sonic masterpiece, but it’s just a little longer than it needs to be.
Key tracks: Movin’ on Up, Slip Inside This House, Inner Flight
4
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Fri Dec 08 2023
McCartney
Paul McCartney
An album that, under ordinary circumstances, I'd happily give a 2 or 3. There's an element of simplicity that usually grinds my gears with other artists. However, Paul McCartney makes it work with his mind-bending charm and heart he puts into his singing. The bare-bones instrumental approach to most of these tracks works excellently with his vocal. The only particularly complex arrangement, Maybe I'm Amazed, is also one of the best songs by any Beatles member. The remaining tracks, of which there are many, hit different in the context of McCartney's emotional state at the time, and there's something about them that just clicks.
4/5.
Maybe I'm delusional.
Maybe I'm amazed.
Heh.
4
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Sat Dec 09 2023
21
Adele
This album is better than 25 in just about every way. Unlike the latter, the percussion on 21 isn't obnoxiously electric, and the acoustic elements are emphasised. Use of strings is quite prominent and complements Adele's singing nicely. The production is high-quality and sounds really fresh.
On the flipside: the songs aren't very memorable or lyrically compelling (this only applies to the ones I hadn't heard previously). Additionally, Adele's vocal timbre is such that it sounds like she's constantly trying too hard. It's a little off-putting, especially in tracks like Set Fire to the Rain that have almost zero textural variation. Adele also overuses little melodic inflections, which isn't a huge issue except during close listening.
Favourite tracks: Turning Tables, Don't You Remember, I'll Be Waiting
3
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Sun Dec 10 2023
Club Classics Vol. One
Soul II Soul
Back to Life – the single version, not the album version – is fantastic, and I’m not surprised it was a huge UK hit. Keen on Movin’ is also a great track, and Holdin’ On and African Dance aren’t half bad either. The female vocals in every track that includes them are gorgeous, to the point where the carelessly-spoken male vocal is “immersion-breaking” and obstructs the otherwise very cool, hip-hoppy flow of the album. The percussion is pretty boring, predicting the upcoming decade of similarly unremarkable percussion being (somehow) a hit with the crowds. Other instruments are cool but repetitive, such as the fun horn licks decorating some of the later tracks.
3
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Mon Dec 11 2023
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
The opening track, Badlands, is executed really well, perfectly setting the mysterious, goofily-lighthearted-yet-kinda-serious tone of the rest of the album. His distinctive singing fits the songs really well, especially on the album’s first side. The sound is slightly less “commercialised” than his later album Born in the U.S.A., which I’ve already encountered on this list (and gave a 3/5 rating). Instrumentation is good, but doesn’t vary noticeably from song to song (with the exception of the piano-ballad tracks, which are arguably the weaker tracks anyway). Still, good stuff. A jolly good time.
4
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Tue Dec 12 2023
A Girl Called Dusty
Dusty Springfield
A good album. The tracks are very similar sounding to each other, and no fresh material is used (i.e. a cover album). Very typical of the early-to-mid 60s. Dusty's voice is great, and the remaining instruments complement her well.
3
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Wed Dec 13 2023
Le Tigre
Le Tigre
What an absolutely strange, liminal sound Le Tigre have got here. It's music that shouldn't exist - and that certainly shouldn't sound good - but it does. Vocals that are clear and full of emotion, yet monotonous and robot-like (in a good way), conveying some message I have yet to figure out. Lots of motif repetition and droning with synths and guitars, to a pretty good effect. The music is kind of time-defying, not in the sense that it doesn't sound dated (it does) but that it's difficult to pinpoint exactly what era or genre it's emulating. There's clearly a punk influence... but anything further than that, I'm lost.
Key tracks: Deceptacon, Hot Topic, Let's Run, Les and Ray
4
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Thu Dec 14 2023
1989
Taylor Swift
Summary: There aren't many albums from this era of music that I enjoy. That being said, this was great! Lyrical themes of lost love and a fresh new start, often involving said love. I think Taylor needs to learn to move on. The album's atmosphere is confident, positive, and fresh. It risks sounding austere or sterile at times, but Taylor's vocal is consistently very emotional (at least, compared to Midnights, the only other album of hers I've listened to) and this balances the feel out. Mostly poor electronic percussion, but the tracks that avoid this are fantastic, and the ones that don't are still pretty darn strong. A clean, modern tracklist that only Taylor could pull off.
Welcome To New York: Very fresh-sounding. The percussion isn't great, but the vocals more than make up for it. Taylor's singing is the brightest I've heard it, although the lackluster melody detracts slightly from this. Simple and fairly effective.
Blank Space: Whoo boy, now here's a good melody. Infectious. The moment when the instrumental disappears at the end of the chorus is a huge highlight - "... and I'll write your name." The percussion is distractingly electronic, much like the previous track. Hopefully at least one track will have either good percussion or none at all. "Getting bored of Walls 2, I should find a new minigame..."
Style: the intro is great. This is the kind of atmosphere where I can forgive the lazy percussive instrumentation, because it creates a clean, goosebump-inducing synth feel that just clicks with me. One thing I notice about this album is that Taylor really likes hanging onto one melodic note for several words, or even entire lines. She also uses the 6th and 9th of chords VERY frequently in her melodies, which is a little difficult to swallow since most artists don't do this. All of that aside, this is a fantastic song.
Out Of The Woods: a distinctive intro, for sure. The building-up atmosphere leading into the chorus is good, but the chorus itself is not. There's a release of tension at the beginning, but afterwards it feels like Taylor forgets both the lyrics and the melody and just repeats one line, hoping for the best. Breakdown at 2:50ish is solid.
All You Had To Do Was Stay: Ugh. I guess I'm not getting Taylor's vision. Her choruses are just... not good (excluding Blank Space, which was kinda fire). The high-pitched "stay!!" hook is the strongest part of this song, and it seemed Taylor was aware of this.
Shake It Off: Fantastic. Taylor's voice is positively bursting with excitement and enthusiasm, and the melody is the strongest one so far. The percussion is also significantly more human-sounding than previous tracks. Spoken vocal in the middle has a great lyric that really nails home song's atmosphere and message. The hooks are incredible, the backing vocals are sung to perfection... If this song isn't the winner, I'll eat my hat.
I Wish You Would: The guitary-thing far back in the mix (except during breakdowns) is the best part of this song, although the wacky syncopation in the vocals is a close second. The repetition of the song title at the halfway mark is also a great moment. However, the percussion has relapsed (sad face). I won't comment on it anymore unless it's good.
Bad Blood: This song feels like very generic Taylor Swift. There isn't much to go on. Choruses are energetic and fairly catchy.
Wildest Dreams: Oh man, this one's good. The description of the man of interest does kind of combine all the traits of a perfect man (hence the song title), and I wish it weren't the standard I was competing against. The melody is subtly brilliant, the self-harmonising (especially towards the song's conclusion) is another goosebump-inducer, and the restrained percussion is fantastic. Another highlight.
How You Get The Girl: Taylor has correctly identified that I need a lesson in this. Wait, she's telling me to... Break the girl's heart, then stand outside her house in the rain, attempting to make up? Kiss her on the cheek? Yeah, that'll get me reported for stalking and assault. Also, it absolutely only works if you follow rules 1 and 2 (be attractive; don't be unattractive). I'm good. Chorus is similar-sounding to Blank Space, but a bit worse. A Swift Standard, one might say.
This Love: Dreamy, almost ethereal atmosphere. Lots of goosebumps during this one, though it could be because I'm wearing shorts. A good track with good percussion.
I Know Places: The verses are a bit jittery and all over the place, but they hold their own. The choruses, on the other hand, are so much better than the verses that they're almost different songs - particularly the chorus at 2:15. Confident, positive, and fresh. Notably, a great song ending with the little VHS click.
Clean: I wouldn't have chosen to end the album with this track, but go off, I guess. The contrast of bumpy, staccato synths with smoother overlaid ones creates a distinctive atmosphere that's really enjoyable, but more befitting of a track near the beginning of an album. This is me being really nitpicky though. The song's message is encouraging and speaks of Swift's journey with addiction and how she overcame it. Proud of you, Taylor. <3
4
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Fri Dec 15 2023
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Not great. Some of the backing musical ideas are good for the first ten seconds, but they aren't varied or developed. Combined with the lack of melody or (cohesive) harmony, this creates a very monotonous listening experience that's only slightly improved by engaging vocal rhythm and attitude. The lyrics were probably relatable for someone, but not me. There just wasn't anything in the music to latch onto, and I felt myself unconsciously tuning out the noise. A great deal of 90s rap and hip-hop can be summarised with a description like this, and Cypress Hill is no exception.
At least the album length wasn't excessively stuffed with dull, scripted skits. It's got that going for it.
1
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Sat Dec 16 2023
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
This is very close to 5 stars for me. The playing is confident and on-point, with a near-perfect blend of grungy distortion and smooth licks. Guitar and bass are in sync for much of the album (woo!) and the vocals are rough in their usual classic hard-rock way. The riffs are reasonably catchy, though they really start to sound similar after an hour of riff-oriented songs all in the same style. (I’m glad I didn’t do a track-by-track analysis.) The audience interaction is really fun; live recordings are always improved by an engaged crowd (see: YYZ performance by Rush in Rio). Honestly, any and all of the songs may as well be highlights, but my personal ones are Dancing In The Moonlight, The Rocker, Are You Ready?, and Southbound. The band definitely knows how to effectively and satisfyingly end a song, much to my delight, but just a few of the tracks take too long to reach that ending. Still, one of my favourite-ever live albums. Thin Lizzy slaps.
4
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Sun Dec 17 2023
Floodland
Sisters Of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy knew exactly what style they were going for, and they rocked it. Dark, haunting synth rock with low, foreboding, almost monotone vocals. Memorable bass riffs and solid instrumental expertise. It's not exactly my style, though. The synths are heavily overused, creating a very dated sound a la A Momentary Lapse of Reason (which is weak for a similar reason). The choruses are often an intensified, faster version of the verses, which might bode well for live performances but not so much for album close-listening. My favourite track was This Corrosion because it sounded the least like the others: a more light-hearted, standard rock style.
3
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Mon Dec 18 2023
Abbey Road
Beatles
Abbey Road has this subtle mellowness and melancholia that can't be missed once you've noticed it. And knowing the context of this album makes it all the more beautiful. The band members were at their breaking point, all of them composing solo material and avoiding having to collaborate (especially between John and Paul). It was Paul who suggested they record an album that returned to their old Beatlesque ways: engaging song structure and melodies, breathtaking harmonies, and creativity that pushed the boundaries of rock and mainstream music. (I imagine all four members knew, in the back of their minds, that this would be the final album they ever recorded together.) The production is not to be overlooked either; it rivals Pet Sounds and Sgt Pepper with its fresh, clean audio that makes for an incredible with-headphones experience.
The result? A collection of rock classics that have easily stood the test of time and include some of music's most beloved tracks. Come Together. Here Comes The Sun. Something. Because. Octopus's Garden. Oh! Darling. I Want You (She's So Heavy). The Abbey Road Medley. (And, just like that, I've covered every track except for Maxwell's Silver Hammer, which some people consider a dud but I definitely don't. It's a banger.) Within the medley are killer moments such as the multifaceted You Never Give Me Your Money, the beautiful serenity of Sun King, the energetic and fun-packed transition between Polythene Pam and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window... and, of course, the iconic finale of Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End. What a brilliant way to end the career of the greatest band of all time.
5
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Tue Dec 19 2023
This Year's Model
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Really good. Lots of energy and poppy synths, with a cool spunkiness in Costello's vocal that reminds me of Billy Joel around the same time. (I still prefer the Piano Man's chops, though.) The compositions aren't especially memorable, but they keep the listener constantly engaged with radio-friendly instrumentation that plays it just safe enough to be universally appealing while still incorporating punk and pop sounds that would've been fresh and new at the time.
Special shoutout to Chelsea and Living In Paradise for having a sick riff, and to The Beat, No Action, Pump It Up, and Radio, Radio for just being really strong overall.
4
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Wed Dec 20 2023
The Only Ones
The Only Ones
A decent album. The vocalist's nasal, "teacher's-pet" voice quality got under my skin at first, although I warmed up to it slightly by the album's conclusion. It works decently as background music. The band sounds like very, very discount Rush mixed with some Bowie and Velvet Underground.
The second track, "Another Girl, Another Planet", is a futuristic-sounding standout. It (strangely) reminded me of the Beatles' track Let It Be, but with a power-pop, 80s spin. Guitars are solid. The opening track, "The Whole Of The Law", is also pretty good, as is the instrumental second halves of "The Immortal Story" and "Peter And The Pets". However, the track quality dips as the album continued and the songs' sounds begin to sound less unique and more derivative. Passionate playing, but the compositions aren't there. Plus, as mentioned previously, the vocal is very bad.
3
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Thu Dec 21 2023
Trio
Dolly Parton
It's alright - some good harmonising - but instrumentally it's very straightforward and doesn't give the listener much to latch onto. Extremely simple percussion appears in a couple of tracks, which end up being the highlights of the album for that reason. Most other tracks are guitars and vocals, and the songs sound quite similar to one another as a result. I guess this was meant to be a lyrics-focused album, but the lyrics aren't particularly strong either.
Still, the general vibe/mood is positive and carefree (to an extent). I can appreciate that.
Key tracks: Wildflowers, Those Memories of You
3
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Fri Dec 22 2023
3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Arrested Development
Surprisingly good. I usually dislike 90s hip hop, but this defied all expectations. Warm, uplifting, funky, spiritual album. The lyrics were enrapturing and (for the most part) relatable. And, for once, there were actual vocal melodies! Some darn sick beats rooted in blues, funk, and rock from earlier decades.
This honestly has the potential to be a 5/5. What's stopping it is the crude 1-bar repetition that defines most of the hip-hop genre.
4
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Sat Dec 23 2023
Aftermath
The Rolling Stones
Energetic and spunky. Lots of obvious blues influence even before the Stones' reputed "blues era" of the late 60s and early 70s. Under My Thumb is a fantastic, memorable number that seems to perfect the combination of lots of different mellow-rock cliches of the time. ("Ain't it true, babe?") Paint It Black is a brilliant, exotic-sounding tune that clearly takes influence from the Beatles and Eastern artists. The remaining tracks are solid, particularly "Stupid Girl", "Flight 505", and "Lady Jane", and showcase common motifs in the US/UK rock scene with utter confidence and precision.
One star has to be taken off for the lyrical ping-ponging between desire (acceptable) and misogyny (a bit less acceptable). I guess the Stones were trying to be relatable with their material, but even if it possibly was relatable at the time of release, it hasn't aged well. Still, if any album's an artefact of its time, this one definitely is.
4
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Sun Dec 24 2023
Horses
Patti Smith
Bold and almost underground-esque, with Jagger-like vocal inflections used by somebody who definitely isn't Jagger. But Patti pulls it off convincingly, and with some really inspiring compositions to go with it. I had to do some reading on Wikipedia, and it seems this album was hugely influential on the rock, punk, and female musicians' scenes. I can definitely see that in Patti's music.
Gloria is an excellent, exciting opening track, making heavy use of a three-chord power harmony. Free Money, Redondo Beach, and the title-ish track are also strong. It's not exactly punk, but that's fine. It's better than most punk anyway.
There's just something a bit unpolished about the album that's hard to pin down. It's missing something that really creates relistenable, coverable classics.
4/5
4
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Mon Dec 25 2023
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
A really good acoustic Latin record. Incredibly catchy vocal hooks, especially in the opening three tracks (Chan Chan, De camino a la vereda, El cuarto de Tula). The fact that this album was recorded in just six days only adds to its impressiveness. The guitarwork is also very solid and provides an atmospheric backdrop to the shining vocals, emphasising the band's Caribbean roots. The energy and soulful performance decreases slightly throughout the album, but this is harder to notice if you have it playing in the background. However, through close listening, this was a bit of an issue (coupled with the lyrics I couldn't follow!).
4
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Tue Dec 26 2023
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
The bands performing on this album are fantastic, and the music is high-quality. The actual songs being covered are overplayed and exhausting to give a close listen to after months of hearing them day-in-day-out at every shop in the city. Still, the charm and passion of the musicians means I can't really justify giving this less than 3 stars.
3
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Wed Dec 27 2023
Exile On Main Street
The Rolling Stones
The one time I can excuse all of an album's tracks blurring together.
The Stones are seriously glowing throughout this album. It's obvious they're having a blast, and the songs are incredibly consistent, linked together by a country-esque ecstasy that only this band could pull off. Songs such as Tumbling Dice, Shine A Light, Loving Cup, and Rocks Off are highlights, but there really isn't a bad track. I could easily see this going into my regular rotation.
5
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Thu Dec 28 2023
O.G. Original Gangster
Ice T
It's... fine. Passable for 90s hip-hop, at least. The skits are actually pretty entertaining, and come close to outshining many of the actual musical tracks - which is a bit of a no-no. There are a few musical highlights, namely the great Mind Over Matter, the raging mood of Fly By, the unexpected metal-rocker Body Count, and the chilling keyboard hooks in The Tower. Unfortunately, the album is brought down severely by its lyrics, which veer all over the place, from misogyny (Bitches 2) to narcissism (Straight Up, among others) to underwhelming sex-talk after stating in the previous track that there would be nothing of the sort (Fly By). The percussion is also generally uninspiring - very standard for 90s rap, having a kind of semi-lo-fi electronic sound that makes the production sound much worse than it should. The rhythms themselves are not interesting.
2/5
2
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Fri Dec 29 2023
The Joshua Tree
U2
Summary: Far too many I-IV chord progressions for my comfort. That being said, Bono's voice is stunning, and works for every occasion (in this case, all 11 occasions). Guitars and synths are used tastefully throughout, and the overall sound is full and satisfying. 4/5.
Where The Streets Have No Name: An 80s counterpart to Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News". Energetic rhythm section backing a soulful, heartfelt lyric about finding your place in the world.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For: Again, just a brilliant atmosphere. The chorus is a little generic, but still powerful and (probably) crowd-energising. Harmonically, not interesting – essentially one chord with heavy textures trying to convince you otherwise.
With Or Without You: The singing on this is pretty darn great (although it's easier to pull that off when the melody doesn't deviate much. Hang on, the melody's getting higher. A five-minute emotional arc? ... Yep. Whoa. This song is an anthem if I've ever heard one. Some good guitarwork in here too.
Bullet The Blue Sky: Groovy. Two chords, but the almost angsty vocal coupled with a slow, druggy metal instrumental makes up for it. Atmospheric. I think I'm starting to see the band's main strength.
Running To Stand Still: A little nondescript until halfway through, with the repeating "Ah la la la de day" lines and the following "Hoooooo!"s and verses. Lyrically: Man, this Bono guy didn't have good relationships [with drugs], did he?
Red Hill Mining Town: Okay, the number of I-IV-I-IV-... chord progressions in this album is kind of crazy. Fortunately, I was saved (partially) a few seconds after typing that sentence. A slow, powerful mourning sesh about a worker's strike. Kind of generic-sounding, but Bono's vocal once again saves it.
In God's Country: A different chord progression. Huh, actually, this one's the same. No wonder some people (especially "background-listeners") complain about all the songs on this album sounding the same. Fast-paced and possibly more intense than it needed to be.
Trip Through Your Wires: Harmonica! I-VII-IV-I is a slight change, but nothing crazy. The vocal harmonies and rhythmic choice of 6/8 time really sell this one for me.
One Tree Hill: The gold standard. Every song on the album (after the phenomenal opening trio) is trying to be like this one. The first track where I noticed how much I liked the drums. Simple-but-not-too-simple, effective, repetitive, great. "Run like a river/To the sea..." Bono's going all in on the chorus, and the backing vocals agree. As long as you're okay with the second consecutive VII-IV-I song in a row, this song is probably your jam. Interesting change in atmosphere in the final 30 seconds, almost like a departing prayer.
Exit: Kind of an homage to punk, or a tongue-and-cheek reply to the post-punk that was popular around the same time. Also clearly inspired by blues, what with the "caveman bassline" and heavily dorian-mode melody. Fun contrast between the "moody" and "rahhh!" sections. I'm pretty sure the entire song is one chord. Tasteful use of synths - not too overbearing.
Mothers Of The Disappeared: Pretty. A good choice to end the album; it wouldn't have worked anywhere else. The fadeout is a little rough.
4
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Sat Dec 30 2023
Abraxas
Santana
I came into this from the Wikipedia article expecting to give it 3 or 4 stars, and left very surprised. It's pretty darn great. I'm familiar with a couple of the tracks (Oye Como Va, Samba Pa Ti) as jazz charts, but this overall modern Latin-rock genre is quite unfamiliar to me. And Santana Latin-rocks the house down. Every song is great - even the mysterious, atmospheric Singing Winds, Crying Beasts - and the album was over as soon as it had begun. Excellent guitar work and a fitting, precise-yet-jammy vocal performance.
5
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Sun Dec 31 2023
Metal Box
Public Image Ltd.
Music, quite by definition, decorates time (much how art decorates space). This album is the music equivalent of sprawling mass of mud and rocks heaving slowly down a long mountainside. Even though it technically decorates the landscape, most people could only watch it with boredom or discomfort, and it would be a stretch to call it art.
The instruments, individually, are played well, but when put together as a band, they feel incongruent and without passion. The vocal is consistently, uncomfortably out of tune, which might be a staple of the genre but isn't working for this album.
Albatross is a slog to get through, with even the bass (which seems to be touted as the crowning sonic achievement of the album) hardly deviating from repeated tonics in an eighth-note rhythm. There's very little material to hook the listener's interest after around three minutes. The unhinged falsetto at the end is probably the best part of the song.
The tracks following Albatross are slightly better on account of simply being shorter (and having some good interplay between drums, guitar, and bass, e.g. in Poptones). The songs Poptones and Socialist are highlights because of the guitar/basswork, but the former is much too long. The Suit is very strange, almost like a Syd Barrett or Chats track with a dark bass undertone. Bad Baby is as bad as the baby. Chant is also bad, because it takes repetition to the extreme in an album already overloaded with it. The final track, Radio 4, is far and away the best track on the album, and yet it's merely a semi-good synthy instrumental.
Another reviewer stated it best: "Fair play for abandoning the Sex Pistols' sound and exploring new and interesting sonic textures, but this seems like a case of PiL crawling in a slow, ungainly manner so other post-punks could run."
1
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Mon Jan 01 2024
Tidal
Fiona Apple
My first time listening to Fiona Apple, and it was great. Ten stellar tracks, each with their own unique instrumental feel and brilliant, non-overblown piano part. The mixing is done well, allowing Fiona's beautiful and emotional vocal to shine. Fiona also incorporates a hard-to-describe theatrical element to her performance that adds drama and variation to each of the songs. The songwriting style is unadventurous but honed to near perfection. Sleep To Dream, Sullen Girl, Criminal, and Carrion are highlights.
The album cover is the only obvious thing bringing this album down (a blurry brightness filter on a poorly cropped selfie isn't ideal).
5
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Tue Jan 02 2024
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
Spectacular. Ten great compositions, executed beautifully. Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Boxer, El Condor Pasa, Baby Driver... goshdarn Cecilia. Earworms in the best way possible. The harmonies are S&G's signature, and they really shine in most of these tracks. Simon's solo vocal is always playful and conversational, which really draws the listener into the music. "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" is the only odd one out; there's something just a little unsatisfying about it, like an incomplete souvenir shoved into the middle of the album to increase runtime. Still, it's not bad, and the consistent flow of the album manages to work with the variety of moods and styles. For its time, this music is phenomenally fun and creative. This customer has been kept satisfied.
9/10
5
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Wed Jan 03 2024
Djam Leelii
Baaba Maal
There are some great melodic/instrumental hooks in these pieces, but they're hardly developed and it's easy to lose interest after the first three or so minutes of each track. And, given the five-plus-minute average length of the tracks, almost half the runtime is spent wishing the song would progress to something a little more engaging. I'm glad I listened to this album, but it's a bit too tedious for a relisten. The opening track was a highlight, if only because I didn't yet realise how thematically repetitive the future tracks would continue to be.
Cool singing voice. I was a little worried I'd tire quickly of it, but I actually really enjoyed the vocals, especially when they were harmonised.
2/5
2
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Thu Jan 04 2024
Pacific Ocean Blue
Dennis Wilson
A fresh, very pretty sound with some funky instruments. In my eyes, none of the tracks are standout classics, but you can see the heart in Wilson's compositions, as well as the inspiration from the Beach Boys.
4
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Fri Jan 05 2024
Something/Anything?
Todd Rundgren
For an album released in 1970, it was just a little underwhelming. The music felt like it was meant to be enjoyable (by myself included), and it got most of the way there. There was just something incomplete about nearly every song in this set. All of side 1 was, barring some pretty simplistic arrangements, fantastic. The harmonies were glimmering and it sounded at least five years ahead of its time. As the album progressed, the music seemed to shift into more dramatic, "proggy" territory, but never quite reached the heights of other prog rock giants around the same time. Rundgren's style is a bit indecisive at this point. Black Maria, Hello It's Me, and Slut were some later highlights, but the energy of the album had long since plateaued.
I thought I was going crazy. The Wikipedia article showed near-perfect critic reviews, and I couldn't observe that near-perfection.
That being said, it's incredibly impressive that every instrument on sides 1, 2, and 3 was played by Rundgren. That's some sick talent.
3
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Sat Jan 06 2024
Dusty In Memphis
Dusty Springfield
Moody. Cinematic. A brilliant dive into late 60s soul-light-rock, including the gorgeous hit "Son Of A Preacher Man". The other tracks are nothing to sniff at either, although they can often be difficult to tell apart from one another. Dusty's voice is pretty magical, and the other instruments (such as horns and strings) are given a chance to shine too. I think it's very important that a solo artist give equal (or close to equal) priority to their band members, even though the music is only under an individual name. The vocal harmonies are good, and should've been utilised even more. The musical harmonies (chords) are unadventurous, which I can sometimes forgive, but not quite in this case.
Note: This album is really close to 5 stars. It's delectable, but not delicious.
4
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Sun Jan 07 2024
Damaged
Black Flag
Crazy, energetic, deadly. Some tracks were actually really catchy and evidence of strong songwriting prowess (Rise Above, Six Pack, TV Party) but others were just several minutes of angry noise from all instruments who showed up to the party. In those moments (which were far from fleeting), the music wasn't exactly musical, and it was a slog to get through despite the tracks' very short average runtime. These vocals are best when performing a mini-skit or sing-talking, but not when screaming.
3
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Mon Jan 08 2024
Doggystyle
Snoop Dogg
It's decent music. The intended audience is definitely not me, so I can't appreciate the lyrics. The tracks are pretty hit-or-miss, particularly with regard to the backing instrumentals. Tracks like Gin and Juice, Ain't No Fun, and Gz and Hustlas are seriously catchy because of their intoxicating riffs, varied rhythm, and non-monotonicity. Some tracks, like the opening Bathtub, are acceptable as skits but clearly not relistenable. Most of the remaining songs are fine but pretty uninteresting and repetitive, especially compared to the incredible rock, folk, and post-prog music being released around the same time.
Snoop Dogg is, as his lyrics demonstrate, pretty narcissistic. It alienates me even further from the already uninspiring lyrics.
5/10
3
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Tue Jan 09 2024
London Calling
The Clash
The most musically impressive punk music I’ve ever experienced. Everything that punk does wrong, London Calling improves upon, and everything punk does right, London Calling gives a nod (and a half) to. Absent are the arhythmic, atonal travesties of same-era punk (such as Public Image Ltd.’s “Metal Box”, another album in this list). The tracks are short, varied, energetic, and powerful in terms of their messages. The Clash ain’t messing around here. The singing is archetypal punk-esque, not going overboard but maintaining a balance between energy and control. The guitars and drums are great, and addition of other instruments (such as horns) is tastefully done. They’ve also expanded upon the sound from their earlier albums, taking influence from blues, jazz, and Latin – among other genres – throughout the tracklist. Essentially, the White Album, but more cohesive and with fewer obvious “classic” songs.
Key tracks: London Calling, Lost in the Supermarket, Death or Glory, Train in Vain, Jimmy Jazz
5
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Wed Jan 10 2024
Vivid
Living Colour
Great guitar, great bass, great drumming. It's a bit Rush-esque, with much more conventional singing timbre to fit the late-80s "funk metal" style. The opening track, Cult of Personality, is pretty infectious, and the remaining tracks are all good, though many of them sound similar. The three live tracks tacked onto the end are unnecessary, both for runtime and for being repeats of earlier tracks. Still, a very strong showing for an album and band I'd never heard of.
4
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Thu Jan 11 2024
Risque
CHIC
Fairly good disco, but disco itself is a very dated genre that inspired many significantly better, more varied styles in future decades. It was one of the lowlights of the 70s. For what it’s worth, CHIC pulls it off very well, nailing the chill multi-harmony vocals, smooth synths/horns, and tight drum beat. It’s just a little artificial, which is an artifact of the genre rather than any fault of the band. The opening track, Good Times, has that excellent hook, but runs over twice its ideal length. What About Me is another very strong track, the harmonies especially notable here. Otherwise, the album is fairly monotone. Suitable for a soundtrack (or indeed an actual disco), but not for close listening in the modern day.
3
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Fri Jan 12 2024
Third
Soft Machine
The musical rendition of Hitchhiker's Guide. Adventurous, mind-bending, indecisive, crazy. I got lost several times.
The fact that this was recorded live is incredibly impressive. It sounds several years ahead of other bands that would themselves be considered wildly ahead of their time (e.g. Pink Floyd's Meddle and WYWH). Unfortunately, though, the music lacks riffs, hooks, and (for the most part) chord progressions and melodies, making it tough for your standard listener. One thing I will say is that it wasn't boring. It just overrepresented creativity and musicians' enjoyment, at the expense of building a connection with the audience. Because I'm part of said audience, I can't give this 5 stars.
Great synths. In fact, great instrumentation all around. The musicianship is solid and the band sounds like they're genuinely enjoying themselves without sounding too indulgent. Fun and well-executed build-ups as well. It's mostly great, in theory.
4/5
Fave track: Out-Bloody-Rageous
4
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Sat Jan 13 2024
Court And Spark
Joni Mitchell
This is a tough call for me. It’s between 4 and 5. The compositions are great yet simple (but unfortunately not memorable), and the lyrics are relatable. I’m guessing this is one which I’ll grow to love, not only as I listen to it more in the future, but as I gain more wisdom. This is an album for wise people.
Instrumentally, the songs are nothing mind-blowing, but they complement Joni’s vocal. The harmonies are gorgeous and well-placed.
Yeah. I’ll have to give it a 5. But it’s a low 5.
5
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Sun Jan 14 2024
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Dramatic. Hard-hitting. Gospel-soaked, yet utterly merciless. Avoids falling under one genre; the closest would be something like "blues gospel metal" or, more vaguely, alt-rock. Lots of minor keys, dorian modes, and V-i / i-IV chord changes. The drumming is darn fantastic, full of anger and rocking energy. The lead vocal is throaty, manly, and distinctive.
The main drawback is that it goes on far too long, and the ideas in many tracks are sometimes very similar to one another. Sure, each individual song is a blast, but as an album it's too exhausting to give 5 stars. The album's bookends are the clear highlights.
Fave tracks: Get Ready For Love, Cannibal's Hymn, Babe You Turn Me On, O Children
4
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Mon Jan 15 2024
What's Going On
Marvin Gaye
Fantastic. A collection of smooth, soulful anthems with excellent singing and percussion in particular. This album contains classics like Mercy Mercy Me and the warm-yet-earth-shattering What's Going On, but also some excellent deeper cuts such as Flyin' High, Right On, and Wholy Holy. There are no duds, and Marvin Gaye is clearly confident in this style of music. It's also such a non-grating, relistenable genre that you can't help but adore it. The transitions between tracks are smooth and unforced. Add to that the groundbreaking impact this album had at the time of release, and the clear-cut, powerful messages passionately laid bare within the music, and you have an all-time classic. Easily 5/5.
5
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Tue Jan 16 2024
At Fillmore East
The Allman Brothers Band
Impressive blending of several styles, including country, rock, jazz, and most notably blues. The band and instruments mesh well together. You can tell they've rehearsed these pieces a lot, because even live it sounds like it could be a studio recording.
The opener, Stateboro Blues, and the three longer tracks are all highlights, though at times you really start to notice their length. The extended ending to Whipping Post, with countless false finishes, is good, and would've been fantastic to hear live (without knowing the track length in advance). The guitar playing is superb but plays it safe stylistically (every excellent solo is very similar-sounding).
4/5
4
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Wed Jan 17 2024
Ray Of Light
Madonna
It's fine. Very late-90s-easy-listening-esque. Sounds a bit like Lana Del Rey's music, but leaning into bluesy melodies and harmonies more often. Madonna's music throughout this album isn't particularly exciting, but it's fun to listen to and the songs are executed smoothly and earnestly. It's inoffensive and doesn't take many risks - at least, viewing it through a retrospective lens.
The quality of the track listing is a little inconsistent. The first three tracks - Drowned World, Swim, and Ray of Light - are pretty darn great, introducing a variety of moods and instruments to the table. Candy Perfume Girl is goofy and passable. Skin is less passable, for having an uninteresting atmosphere and weird lyrics, and we run into this problem with later tracks such as Frozen and Little Star.
3
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Thu Jan 18 2024
Fever Ray
Fever Ray
Bjork-esque, but more monotonous and tedious. Very few acoustic instruments; the only frequent acoustic element (vocals) are often heavily filtered. This lack of humanity creates a huge rift between artist and listener. Sometimes that lack of connection works wonders, but not in this case. Cool textures that are difficult to really get into because there's no human element.
The opening track is the strongest, on account of being the Fever Ray equivalent of Radiohead's Everything In Its Right Place (an incredibly strong album opener from the same decade). It's still a little monotonous, but for a first listen, If I Had a Heart is solid. The remaining tracks are less engaging, except Keep the Streets Empty For Me, which has a standout atmosphere.
2
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Fri Jan 19 2024
Exit Planet Dust
The Chemical Brothers
I came in fully expecting to dislike this album, it essentially being a set of electronic dance tracks – and, worse, 90s electronic dance. However, this was actually executed pretty well. The tracks are a little repetitive and cling strongly to certain chords and rhythms, but those motifs are very catchy and manage to avoid getting irritating. Already, this lifts the album above nearly all of its annoying little brothers of the same genre. Couple that with the fantastic track transitions, high energy, and ability to be listened to both closely and in the background, and you have a really solid end result.
4
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Sat Jan 20 2024
Queen II
Queen
A prime example of glam-meets-prog rock, performed with skill, passion, and a sense of adventure. An argument could easily be made that this is Queen's greatest and most ambitious album, surpassing even the heights of Sheer Heart Attack and A Night At The Opera.
This album is also an example of how not to produce your album. The mixing is a little untidy at times, and it's very obvious when the guitar/drums max out their volume. Still, it gives the music a raw, fierce energy that doesn't really detriment from the sound.
The "concept" of this album, featuring the "White" and "Black" sides (reflecting themes of reality and fantasy respectively), is really cool. The songs are wicked, particularly March of the Black Queen, which is one of Queen's best.
5
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Sun Jan 21 2024
Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine
Cee Lo Green
For what it's worth, this definitely isn't a soul album. It's closer to soft hip-hop. A couple of the tracks stand out with their warmth and uplifting feel - Livin' Again and All Day Love Affair - but most of the other tracks are not notable, covering hardly any new ground and presenting cliched, overused hip-hop ideas. The beats are reasonably catchy but difficult to get into, partly because of the percussion (which is very simplistic), generally weak vocals throughout, and lyrics that are hard to relate to (and at times hard to hear!). The textures are generally thick and unvaried, again making the music harder to consistently engage with.
All Day Love Affair is concrete proof that this artist is much more skilled as a singer than as a rapper. Why he didn't lean into that more is beyond me.
2
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Mon Jan 22 2024
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast
This started as a promising 3-or-4-star listening experience, but it quickly became a slog to get through. Sure, there’s variety (especially if you’re a hip-hop fan), but any album longer than two hours is going to drain the listener of enjoyment regardless of content. Couple that with my not being a fan of the genre or music era, and you have a recipe for disaster. The album is somewhat salvaged by the backing vocals, horns, and relatively hit-or-miss percussion (the percussion has to be really incredible to make up for the fact that it’s non-acoustic).
The second disc is noticeably better than the first, incorporating more singing and elements of rock and jazz, but it still suffers from the overbloating problem; there are plenty of lesser songs that could be left off the record.
Cut every interlude and about half the remaining tracks on each disk, and you have a result worthy of its “classic” status. Some tracks that should be left in, primarily for their fun instrumentals and singing rather than rapping, include GhettoMusick, The Way You Move, The Rooster, Happy Valentine's Day, Love Hater, and of course the genuinely great Hey Ya!
2
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Tue Jan 23 2024
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
I struggled to find the words to describe my feelings about this album. It was really good. Hopefully I can safely steal someone else's description here:
"Haunting, majestic, uplifting - like watching the sun rise over a mountain, gradually spreading light over the rocky crags and dissipating the frigid mist."
Yeah. It's atmospheric and has a fresh, oldey-time-folk sound, almost implying a sort of medieval fantasy setting (especially given the album cover). It would've been fun to hear them lean into that idea more. The instruments are played well but not virtuosically. The choir-like harmonies are consistently gorgeous. The band's sound is good but not very distinctive.
4
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Wed Jan 24 2024
Virgin Suicides
Air
As far as soundtracks go, this one has some seriously cool sounds. The mood is brooding yet expressive, sensual, and atmospheric. There's a solid blend of electronic and acoustic sounds, possibly paying homage to Pink Floyd and other rock giants of the 70s and 80s. The only real drawback is that the lack of vocals and non-rhythm instruments creates a hook-vacuum. The tracks aren't distinct from one another.
That being said, the opening track (Playground Love) is fantastic. Love the sax. Also, Highschool Lover sounds like a vocal-less Great Gig in the Sky. Another connection to Pink Floyd.
4
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Thu Jan 25 2024
Zombie
Fela Kuti
A fun collection of jazzy jam sessions with clear Nigerian influence. The percussion (and general instrumental work) throughout is well done, and the resulting sound is clean, groovy, and deceptively simplistic. However, if you’re going to put out a full-length album with four tracks, those four tracks had better be either groundbreaking or consistently engaging. The album almost managed the latter, but the music eventually became straightforward, conventional jazz, albeit with a stylistic spin. The vocals, particularly in the opening/title track, are the most hook-like element. Everything else was background music - "bar jazz" - and, most likely, nothing more.
3
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Fri Jan 26 2024
Spiderland
Slint
The time signatures and song structures are atypical and very fun to ponder over. On the flipside, the songs drag on, giving you plenty of time to understand the strange arrangements and musical choices, think them over, grow slightly bored of them, and then frown and check how much time is left in the track (barring the opening track, Breadcrumb Trail, which is fantastic throughout). The lyrics are great, but sometimes difficult to make out. The instruments demonstrate the band's punk roots, which I'm not a huge fan of, but they make it work to an extent.
Like another reviewer commented, I listened to this whole album closely and I still can't decide whether I like it.
3
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Sat Jan 27 2024
Live At The Harlem Square Club
Sam Cooke
This album is so fun. Excited, passionate, soulful vocals by Cooke that absolutely live up to his legendary reputation as a singer and performer of the early 60s. Sure, there isn’t much variety, but this is to be expected for a live album released during this period. Tracks like Feel It (Don’t Fight It), Twistin’ The Night Away, and Chain Gang, among others, are honestly just a blast to listen to. You can definitely hear how Cooke was influenced by 50s blues/rock and how he would leave a legacy for decades to come. Really, the only thing preventing this from being 5 stars is the fact that it’s not really meant to be listened to as an album. Such is nearly always the problem with live albums. It would’ve had an even bigger, louder, prouder effect live – but as an album it loses some steam when the performers aren’t actually present.
4
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Sun Jan 28 2024
Bat Out Of Hell
Meat Loaf
I love this album. It's stupid, ridiculous, unhinged, overdramatic, and brilliant all at once. The theatric element is overdone to the point where the cheesiness and unnecessary horns and whistles end up being unironically fantastic. It's like operatic-soft-metal, with just the right level of kitschiness to convert the haters. The instrumentation is on point, and the melodies are fun and relistenable.
Maybe the most shallowly important element that pushes this to five stars for me is its utter confidence to be loud and nonsensical.
5
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Mon Jan 29 2024
Since I Left You
The Avalanches
A mess of cool-sounding but meaningless repetitive vocal licks, coupled with basic synth/percussive rhythms. It’s actually really interesting, bordering on soundscape-esque during some moments, and the music isn’t so repetitive that it gets boring. And it sounds, well, cool. However, even though the music is sometimes catchy, it’s disorganised and nonsensical to the point of (often) going in one ear and out the other. Maybe I don’t understand The Avalanches’ true genius.
Highlights: Since I Left You, Close To You, Live At Dominoes
3
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Tue Jan 30 2024
Bayou Country
Creedence Clearwater Revival
I wanted to give this more than 3/5, but couldn’t find a way to justify that. The tracks “Proud Mary” and “Born on the Bayou” are fresh, energetic, and well-played; they’re my personal favourites on the album. The remaining tracks are quite dated. While it was probably impressive (and clearly popular) for its time, the swampy, heavily-accented drawling and half-impassioned instrumental isn’t quite doing it for me.
3
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Wed Jan 31 2024
Vespertine
Björk
This album is a whirlwind of surprisingly congruous ideas, beautifully executed and (at least to me) wildly ahead of their time. Bjork is clearly a master of her craft, which incorporates heavy, ethereal textures and a smooth blend of modern, electric sounds and more "acoustic" ones.
These tracks seriously make me want to ascend to the heavens and live the remainder of my life as a mythical air spirit.
Best tracks: Cocoon, It's Not Up To You, Undo, Sun in My Mouth
5
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Thu Feb 01 2024
Eagles
Eagles
I really like this album. The vocal harmonising is incredibly distinctive for its time, creating easy-listening music like no other. The two opening tracks, "Take It Easy" and "Witchy Woman", are a brilliant one-two punch that made me immediately love the album regardless of the future tracks. The downside is that the instrumentation and harmonising is so consistent that it makes the "filler" tracks much harder to remember.
The final two tracks - especially the grand finale "Tryin'" - also kick some serious butt.
The music is simple, elegant, and does its job - but it's not quite mind-blowing.
4/5
4
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Fri Feb 02 2024
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
I'm familiar with this album already, and it's excellent. With LZ's first record, the band said, "Here's what we've got." With their sophomore record, the band said, "No, seriously. This is what we've got." And what they've got is absolutely legendary.
Nine near-faultless hard-rock/blues tracks, performed with unparalleled energy and stadium-shaking riffs. Unlike their first record, this setlist works very well both as a live performing set and a high-production album showcase. All four musicians are working in sync with each other, the musical ideas (especially for 1969) are pretty groundbreaking, and the songs are incredibly catchy. Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker (paired with Living Loving Maid), Ramble On, The Lemon Song, Bring it On Home... I can't give enough positive feedback on these tracks.
The weakest track, Moby Dick, is still a powerful, hard-hitting instrumental, with the low point being the slightly misguided drum solo that works better when performed live.
The drums are so loud and solid that they sometimes audibly clip the sound. I'm guessing that was intentional, given how esteemed Page's production is.
5
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Sat Feb 03 2024
Blackstar
David Bowie
It's haunting, dark, self-reflective... the perfect swan song for Bowie. I only really got into Bowie's music right after his passing in early 2016, and yet I avoided this album in particular. Maybe I was worried that it would be too depressing, shining in a completely different light once Bowie passed away several days after its release.
The album is, for lack of a better word, a masterpiece. All seven tracks are intense, creative, incredibly unique-sounding, and somehow both chart-topping and genre-avoidant (they definitely aren't pop songs). They're also some of Bowie's most complex compositions, delving into wacky time signatures, complicated percussive rhythms, and prog-esque multi-part experiences.
It's an experience you can't miss. 5/5
5
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Sun Feb 04 2024
Movies
Holger Czukay
A small collection of songs trying to act as multi-genre prog, but actually not really settling on any genre. It’s an odd, nondescript kind of sound, but it also jams nicely, especially in the opening track. Czukay’s German accent is also really fun across all tracks, and it’s placed tastefully (i.e. not overused). The synths are also pretty fun. The instruments generally don’t show much “flourish” or expertise, and the hooks (if there were any) aren’t memorable.
I guess it’s a little unclear what musical statement Czukay was trying to make. It sounds good, though, so I shouldn’t complain!
Key track: Cool in the Pool
3
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Mon Feb 05 2024
Public Image: First Issue
Public Image Ltd.
I'm going to put the same review I wrote for Metal Box, because I have nothing new to add. They may as well be the same album. Even the opening tracks of both albums are both horrendous slogs to get through before the slightly more palatable later tracks.
Music, quite by definition, decorates time (much how art decorates space). This album is the music equivalent of sprawling mass of mud and rocks heaving slowly down a long mountainside. Even though it technically decorates the landscape, most people could only watch it with boredom or discomfort, and it would be a stretch to call it art.
The instruments, individually, are played well, but when put together as a band, they feel incongruent and without passion. The vocal is consistently, uncomfortably out of tune, which might be a staple of the genre but isn't working for this album.
I'll give the album some credit, though: The riff in Religion II is good, if a bit poorly mixed. The title track, Annalisa, and Low Life are passable for their nicer texturing and guitar work. Unfortunately, the mixing (throughout the album) makes the nearly-droning cymbal and bass sound so harsh that it's difficult to genuinely enjoy the highlights of these tracks.
Another reviewer stated it best: "Fair play for abandoning the Sex Pistols' sound and exploring new and interesting sonic textures, but this seems like a case of PiL crawling in a slow, ungainly manner so other post-punks could run."
1
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Tue Feb 06 2024
The World is a Ghetto
War
An album that doesn't quite commit to jazz, but nor does it come anywhere near the pop/rock that was typically popular at the time of release. I'm very surprised this sold as well as it did, because the individual tracks aren't particularly memorable. Some really solid guitar, bass, percussion, and overall instrumentation, though.
"Four Cornered Room", with its dreamy hypnotic atmosphere, is probably the best track on the album, and the only lengthy track that justifies its runtime.
3
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Wed Feb 07 2024
The Specials
The Specials
Who knew a Ska revival album would be so catchy? Really, the only thing preventing this from being 5 stars is the limited complexity of the genre. Aside from that, the songs are infectious, well-played, and brimming with attitude. Elements of punk and reggae sneak their way into several tracks; the latter is particularly noticeable in the guitar riffs.
4
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Thu Feb 08 2024
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
Every year or so, I think, “Okay, time to give Coldplay another chance. Maybe this time, I’ll get it.”
I didn’t get it, but there are still a few standout tracks. In particular, Clocks, God Put a Smile upon Your Face, and A Whisper are really solid songs that honestly wouldn’t be out of place on a Greatest Hits record. The Scientist, on the other hand, does not justify its own popularity, being an incredibly nondescript piano track with very little to distinguish it from any of the thousands of highly-produced piano ballads out there. The remaining tracks fall somewhere in between. Most of the songs are slow, synthy, and awash with thick, dramatic textures that grow old surprisingly quickly, especially in the context of the 2020s where there are far better synth-based “soundscape” bands out there.
I’ll say this: the album is definitely overrated, but it isn’t bad.
3/5
3
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Fri Feb 09 2024
In The Wee Small Hours
Frank Sinatra
What a legend. Sinatra's voice is luscious, filled with emotion, and really draws you in. It also has a Christmassy vibe similar to Bing Crosby. The strings are fantastic - the best I've encountered on this list so far. The songs are not very distinct from one another, but still perfectly good as heartfelt love songs.
I really enjoyed this album. It gives you a warm, fuzzy, almost nostalgic feel.
4
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Sat Feb 10 2024
Debut
Björk
Bjork’s music has such a quirky, cool, likeable aesthetic. Her debut is no exception, though it is a little less interesting and varied than some of her subsequent albums (e.g. Vespertine, one of my previous albums on this list, received an even higher rating). Venus As A Boy vividly demonstrates Bjork’s understanding of musical hooks, and the instrumentation throughout the album is incredibly atmospheric and ethereal. Other highlights include Aeroplane (nifty percussion!), Violently Happy, and Human Behaviour. The tracks are of ideal length (runtime), and differ from one another enough to maintain good listener interest, particularly for a debut. (Debut albums can sometimes fall into the trap of every song sounding the same, under the guise of committing to a particular style – see Bowie’s first, self-titled album.) The only track that was a miss for me was The Anchor Song, whose hook was unsatisfying and a little grating. Still, a generally very good album.
4
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Sun Feb 11 2024
Foxbase Alpha
Saint Etienne
A cool sound for its time. Kind of an industrial feel, hip-hoppy without rap (for the most part). It’s pretty good, although at times it felt slightly aimless, as if the musicians had no idea what they were banging on about. The singing is typical of the genre, being light and airy in contrast to the heavy instrumental. One element of 90s hip-hop that’s included here is skits, which (thankfully) are short but still unnecessary. Some of the tracks are great, including Carnt Sleep, Stoned to Say the Least (what a fantastic atmosphere! seriously.), She’s the One, Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Most of the others are pretty forgettable, but musically still quite interesting in their own right. The album, in my eyes, hasn’t aged particularly well, but for its time it’s seriously impressive.
3
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Mon Feb 12 2024
Welcome to the Afterfuture
Mike Ladd
This album is tragically less “full of [quirky] life” than it was probably intended to be. Especially tragic, because the song names allude to something really creative that never really gets off the ground. The artist was clearly trying to showcase nifty space-rock elements (e.g. filtering vocals to emulate alien speak) to merge with some prominent hip-hop themes, but in my opinion space-rock completely fails to convince when there’s no melody, very little (real) percussion, not many contrasting “elements of humanity”… Honestly, this album isn’t that bad – in fact, it’s close to getting 3 stars on account of its fun textures – but it just doesn’t succeed at all in its goal of genre-blending. The closest the album gets to a convincing, musical, spacey atmosphere is the semi-layered synths and bluesy bass playing in To the Moon’s Contractor (which I think is the album’s strongest track). In particular, the drum sound in the last couple minutes of the album’s centrepiece is really cool, and I wish they’d leaned more into that in other tracks. The track following this, I Feel Like $100, is also pretty good.
2
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Tue Feb 13 2024
Homework
Daft Punk
I was expecting a little more variety within each song. Daft Punk are touted as “the” electronic club duo, so inevitably there would be an explosion of creativity throughout the album. The problem is, it’s a pretty long album (74 minutes), and with some tracks lasting more than 7 minutes, the one-chord, one-bar, one-idea repetition can get a little stale. Still, I thought it worked excellently as “empowerment” music. The lengthiness and repetitiveness of many of the tracks made me feel productive, like I needed to do things and do them now! Aw yeah!!
The electronic instrumentation - primarily synth-based - is honestly really cool-sounding for its time. With more solid song structures and less perpetuity, this album could easily be a 4/5 or higher.
Key tracks: Indo Silver Club, Rock’n Roll, Around the World, Da Funk
3
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Wed Feb 14 2024
Want One
Rufus Wainwright
Never heard this guy before. Very Thom York-esque. The vibe is hard to pin down, containing subtle hints of fantasy, medieval-ness, dramatic opera, and piano/music hall, all wrapped into a neat genreless package. All of the tracks sound great and are genuinely fun to listen to, with the exception of Vibrate (something about the lyrics just don't translate the way I imagine Wainwright wanted them to).
The album cover is very odd, with an unattractive colour palette and - looking at the knight's attire - allusion to just one of the many genres included in the tracklist.
Weird. 4/5
4
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Thu Feb 15 2024
High Violet
The National
This artist had so much potential with the opening track, which had a vibe of ominous building-up prelude to (presumably) an earth-shattering intro. Annoyingly, though, every track was precisely like that: build-up and no payoff. The mumbled, indistinct vocal got old fast, and the low, atmospheric instrumental present in most tracks was good in isolation but tedious when listened to for 47 minutes straight. That being said, Terrible Love was a good opener, and could’ve easily been the legendary opener to an album that made some very different decisions. The second track, Sorrow, was also good. After that, only tracks with higher energy (usually dictated by the presence of louder percussion) were enjoyable - including Afraid of Everyone, Bloodbuzz Ohio, and Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.
2/5
2
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Fri Feb 16 2024
L.A. Woman
The Doors
I adore the production on this album. It's warm, bluesy, and gives a soft jazz bar vibe. Morrison's vocal is noticeably more gravelly and mature than on the Doors' debut, but still equally strong. The compositions are strongly rooted in blues, and the band remains loyal to the genre while providing a selection of excellent, catchy compositions. The instrumentation is near perfect, suiting every song fairly well without being overly showy. The energetic-yet-simplistic piano in the title track is a good example of this; the consistent, laid-back synergy of the rhythm and bass guitars is another. (Virtuosity works in some genres, but generally not this one.) Also, it's a (somewhat) rare album where the hits, according to Spotify listens, match up with my favourite tracks: Love Her Madly, L.A. Woman, and Riders on the Storm.
Finally, it's the friggin' Doors. Wooooooooo.
5/5
5
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Sat Feb 17 2024
Murmur
R.E.M.
My first experience with a full REM album, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The instrument playing does come off a bit dated, seeing as many timbres and textures of popular 80s and early 90s bands ended up sounded very similar to this. However, speaking objectively and without regard to other musicians, this is some great stuff. Pulsating, atmospheric guitars, melodic basslines, a tight rhythm section, and solid vocals. Some forgettable tracks, and some really fun ones.
Highlights: Talk About The Passion, West Of The Fields, Radio Free Europe
4/5
4
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Sun Feb 18 2024
Apple Venus Volume 1
XTC
I was hugely surprised by just how great this album was. It has a shot at having the highest quality-to-popularity ratio on this list. The compositions and arrangements are little Beatlesque, or perhaps Brian-Wilsonian, especially in the slower, more string-oriented tracks. The strings are the album’s point of focus, along with the smooth, emotional vocals. Really, the only slightly weaker track is Your Dictionary, because of the horrendously goofy lyrics – but that can be overlooked. The rest of the album sounds really good, cementing its place as an obscure classic in the world of British baroque-pop.
Key tracks:
I Can’t Own Her – Beautiful shimmering strings and some sitar-like instrument in the back. Very cool. Takes a darker, more aggressive turn in the B-section halfway through the song.
River of Orchids – Man, that orchestration is haunting. Cool, dark, nature-overgrown alleyway. A little haunting.
Easter Theatre – Fun, poppy, well-produced.
Greenman – Hard-to-place genre. Some quasi-medieval hints – possibly mode related? Again, great use of strings – adds so much colour. (This is a consistently strong theme throughout the album.)
5
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Mon Feb 19 2024
One World
John Martyn
Small Hours is fantastic, and singlehandedly adds a star to an otherwise substandard 2-star album. The vocals are very low-energy, which works in the aforementioned track, but comes across as not trying hard enough in the other songs. The "echoey" layering effect in the album is pretty cool, though it feels flourishy at times to cover the fact that the compositions aren't very strong.
For its time - mid-to-late 70s - it's impressive. However, I still found plenty of negative points.
3
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Tue Feb 20 2024
Get Behind Me Satan
The White Stripes
Cool production and sound-panning. The vocalist reminds me of early-career Robert Plant (a la Led Zeppelin III, 1970). Tracks like The Denial Twist and Instinct Blues really capture this classic-rock energy, which is also present in other tracks with a really nifty modern spin. Some unusual instrumentation in The Nurse incorporates this modern spin especially effectively. Add to that Blue Orchid, an excellent, catchy pop-rock track, and you have a pretty darn good album. One issue that prevents this from attaining a 5th star is that the filler is noticeable (Forever For Her, Passive Manipulation, Red Rain) because you notice several weaker hooks being haphazardly thrown together to make up for the fact that they're weak (think "Jet" by Paul McCartney + Wings). The instrumentation is also a little inconsistent, making it hard to recall the band's sound other than "modern garage rock with, uh, some guitars and pianos? I think?"
Other than that, though? Fire.
Key tracks: Blue Orchid, My Doorbell, Little Ghost, The Denial Twist, Instinct Blues
4
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Wed Feb 21 2024
Back In Black
AC/DC
I’ve been looking forward to this one!
An instant classic. Roaring guitar hooks backed with precise-yet-grungy bass playing, solid drumming, and electrifying vocals that take the band that huge step further into the land of classic rock giants. This album, while not exactly exploring many genres, contains a wide array of incredibly catchy riffs that I caught onto and loved immediately each time. It felt like one track after another of pure rock energy that made me feel pumped, excited, ecstatic, and high on something illegal and unidentifiable. I would probably categorise this as a hype album; there are definitely times where it would be inappropriate to play this, but if you’re having a good time already, you can’t go wrong with some goshdarn Back In Black. (I hit the sack.)
Key tracks: Hells Bells, What Do You Do For Money Honey, Givin the Dog a Bone, Back In Black, You Shook Me All Night Long, Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution
(tl;dr: all of them are key tracks, basically)
5
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Thu Feb 22 2024
KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
It's heartening to see a modern album remaining faithful to the "album spirit", particularly adhering to the art of song transitions that lifted so many 70s and 80s albums to masterpiece level. This album doesn't quite reach the same level, though it does contain a great array of acoustic riffs, genre distortion, and meaningful lyrics that really make you question the true nature of broader society.
The blend of blues, 60s acoustic pop, rock, and lyrics that tackle modern politics and human struggle is also refreshing.
Key tracks: You Ain't The Problem, Rolling, Living In Denial, Solid Ground
4
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Fri Feb 23 2024
Cut
The Slits
For punk, it's distinctly average. Out-of-tune vocals and instruments, fairly unskilled playing, and repetitive motifs that are very much hit-or-miss. When they hit, they hit reasonably well, with stronger tracks like Instant Hit, Typical Girls, and I Heard It Through The Grapevine (which, let's be honest, is hard to do a bad cover of). Most of the other tracks were a slog and a relief to get through, which is typically a bad sign.
I will give a shoutout to the sheer boldness of an all-female punk band in a musical scene which (at the time of release) was heavily dominated by similarly hit-or-miss all-male punk bands. From what I've read, this album was also incredibly influential on the post-punk and wider music scene - possibly for that reason. This doesn't justify the music's messiness and the fact that punk, with few exceptions, is a difficult genre to enjoy through a modern lens.
2
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Sat Feb 24 2024
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (Franz Ferdinand, 2004): 3/5
Summary: First, the pros. The tracks all sound fairly different to one another, and for the most part are good pop compositions. However, the album feels a little incongruous or lost, like they band can't decide which instruments they want to sound consistently good. Sometimes it's the guitar riff, sometimes it's the vocal - but no matter the focus, all other instruments tend to get "downgraded" as a result. It's strange, really. I've never heard another album that does this. It's not quite convincing, but I'll give credit where it's due: the music is still pretty darn good.
Jacqueline: A pretty, acoustic ballad, before a jarring bassline leads into a punk-esque breakdown at 45-50 seconds in. Cool guitar riff, if a little simplistic. The vocals (and indeed all the instruments) sound slightly muffled, adding to the punky feel. Even though the vocalist seems pretty good at his craft, the actual melody and lyrics are so uncatchy that it's a mystery as to why this was chosen as the album's opening track. This track didn't do much for me.
Tell Her Tonight: Hmm, looks like that muffled production has continued into the second song. I hope this doesn't become a theme, because it's pretty distracting. The chorus is pretty good here. Slightly rockier than the previous track.
Take Me Out: Immediately, the vocal distortion works better than in the first two tracks. The relatively clear percussion and right-channel guitar helps with this. Cool tempo change leading to an entirely different sounding song just 60 seconds into the song. The multi-vocal thing is very messy sounding (single-track vocals would work much better). Chorus is pretty catchy; outro is similarly strong. Best track so far.
The Dark Of The Matinee: The intro is decent, and the vocal distortion seems to finally be absent. First time the vocals sound good, and they work well through self-harmonising(?) in the chorus. A solid track.
Auf Achse: Simple and effective bassline that easily steals the spotlight. An energetic, almost frenetic (at times) track that doesn't quite manage to be catchy, but is still really engaging. I'm not a big fan of the percussion, which would sound pretty darn nifty if it went all-out.
Cheating On You: See - this drumming is already noticeably the standout instrument. Unfortunately, nothing else really interests me. The riff is played so confidently that it's easy to miss the fact that it's... pretty terrible.
This Fire: this fire is out of control i'm gonna burn this city burn this city this fire is out of control i'm gonna burn this city burn this city this fire is out of control i'm gonna burn this city burn this city this fire is out of control i'm gonna burn this city burn this city
(tl;dr: chorus, which is meant to be the best part, is very repetitive)
Darts Of Pleasure: Thickly-textured. High energy, and a good, decisive ending. This is a good track.
Michael: Something about the vocal really stands out here. Lots of passion and an almost Elvis-like timbre that jells well with the heavy indie-punk-rock backing. Great track - probably the strongest on the album.
Come On Home: C'mon Franz Ferdinand, why'd you have to hold off on genuinely fun vocals until the final few tracks? Also, the first track to have a noticeably good chord progression. Me likey.
40': A jangly, country-sounding guitar riff steals the spotlight here, cutting its way into the post-chorus amidst smooth, slightly timid singing. I particularly enjoyed the sudden juxtaposition between the lighter and heavier textures.
3
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Sun Feb 25 2024
Rings Around The World
Super Furry Animals
Cinematic, genre-bending, emotional, and at times hard to keep up with. A few of these tracks are whirlwinds of soundscapey synths that aren't necessarily bad, but could use some cohesion. Occasionally the music will veer into a kind of electronic avant-garde (not good), e.g. in the track No Sympathy. Some of the chord progressions, especially in the key tracks below, aren't necessarily creative, but they're darn great to listen through. The band is very obviously stronger and less abrasive when they lean into their more acoustic sound.
I really like the vocals. They're not overwhelmingly the focus, which is often a problem with post-2000 pop: artists in the pop genre will tailor their music to be singable rather than high-quality/complex, and the two are often mutually exclusive. Super Furry Animals knows when to let other instruments shine, usually for the better. This does come at the cost of the lyrics and melodies being a little harder to take in and recall.
Key tracks: (Drawing) Rings Around the World, Receptacle for the Respectable, Shoot Doris Day, Juxtapozed with U
4
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Mon Feb 26 2024
Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Stereolab
The music is fine, albeit very, very repetitive at times. There are several tracks that are mostly one chord, which is always a risky move. I don't reckon that choice ever paid off (e.g. The Noise of Carpet, an otherwise fantastic rock track, is seriously marred by how harmonically monotone it is. Tomorrow Is Already Here suffers from the same issue). It's also bold to start off the album with the heavily looped electronic track Metronomic Underground - an 8-minute track that uses almost exclusively one repeated lyric - and expect the product to be likeable by wider audiences.
That being said, some of the instrumental and (especially) vocal layering in tracks like Cybele's Reverie and Les Yper-Sound is super cool. The combination of synths and more old-school rock elements in songs like The Noise of Carpet is enjoyable. Additionally, I can respect the lack of electronic percussion in an album from the mid-90s.
3
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Tue Feb 27 2024
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers
This album is fine. Highlights include Under the Bridge and (arguably) most of the first half of the album, excluding Suck My Kiss which is pretty terrible. Give It Away is also not great, being too repetitive and droning for my taste. The vocals are largely misses rather than hits, often being a kind of half-spoken-half-sung thing that definitely isn't appealing. The riffs and overall rhythm section often make up for it, especially in the opening few tracks; the band is very well-practiced and in sync with one another, making for a great sonic basis for some good tracks. However, by the latter half of the album, it's pretty clear that the Peppers are padding runtime for the sake of composing a "grand masterpiece".
Props to them for making themselves known – arguably superstars – with this album. There's some good material on here, and influence from 80s rock, pop, and (soft) metal is apparent. Shaving the album down to its stronger tracks would've been a good decision.
3
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Wed Feb 28 2024
First Band On The Moon
The Cardigans
The vocalist was a huge standout here, with her soft, airy-yet-lilting voice that brought a great atmosphere to each track. I do imagine her vocals, and the absence of any others for contrast, might get stale for listeners after a few album repeats. The 90s sound is also a little dated. And yet, every track was great (or at least good). The Cardigans managed to grab the listener immediately with cool chord changes and fresh, modern instrumentation. I think they mostly used acoustic instruments, but I wasn't paying too much attention to that. The compositions were just so fun and creative that it wasn't too hard to ignore any downfalls.
Also, that Iron Man cover shouldn't exist, and yet it does. (Why did they try to make the song seductive?) It's brilliant.
Key tracks: Iron Man, Step On Me, Lovefool, Choke
4
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Thu Feb 29 2024
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
I'm listening to this just two days after another Peppers album - Blood Sugar Sex Magik - and my opinion of the band has remained very much the same, despite 8 years of discrepancy between the albums' releases.
The vocals are largely misses rather than hits, often being a kind of half-spoken-half-sung thing that definitely isn't appealing. The riffs and overall rhythm section tend to make up for it, especially in the opening few tracks; the band is very well-practiced and in sync with one another, making for a great sonic basis for some good tracks. However, by the latter half of the album (excluding Road Trippin'), it's pretty clear that the Peppers are padding runtime for the sake of composing a (second) "masterpiece".
I have some respect for the fact that this album was (and still is) wildly popular. However, it doesn't cover any particularly new ground or invent anything interesting. It just exists, as decent, aggressively inoffensive rock that's a microcosm of its time. Like the Eagles, but two decades later. (Eh...)
Key tracks: Otherwise, Californication
3
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Fri Mar 01 2024
Jack Takes the Floor
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Albums like this are surprisingly rare on the 1001 Albums list, considering how important of a foundation they are to early 60s skiffle and pop-rock (and, by extension, pretty much all music after that). It’s reasonably enjoyable, although it uses just about the least exciting instrumentation possible: a solo vocalist (very occasionally switched out with another) and an acoustic guitar. Fun stuff, sure, but those instruments definitely limit the textures and dynamics available to the aspiring composer. Many of these tracks, if not all of them, are covers in a blues-country style, and it’s pretty boring and blurry after the first 20 or so minutes. I can acknowledge its influence, but at the same time, there really isn’t much happening. If it had taken an Elvis approach, even while incorporating the same “rambling” vocal style that Elliott sticks closely to throughout the album, it would’ve been much more engaging.
2
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Sat Mar 02 2024
The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
Oof. This was a rough listen. There are just too many un-catchy tracks, during which the only hooks are harsh electronic jingles or some 17-year-old-sounding kid doing a subpar gangster impression. The mannerisms are pretty awful, even for the time; there were frequent slurs, including (among others) the inexcusable n-slur, and the extremely tonedeaf r-d and f-g-t slurs. Considering the artist is very much white, and presumably progressive for his time, these are especially egregious. As a listener, you also receive a lot of references to "sucking my d*ck" and telling people to "f*ck off", which would be pretty irritating by itself - and then, because of Eminem's odd rapping style, it comes across as a young, overconfident dude who mistakenly thinks he's badass. (The track "Under The Influence" is the most obvious offender in this regard, being possibly the worst track on the album.) Honestly, it's kind of sad to listen to. The skits end up being some of the stronger tracks, and they're absolutely filler, no question. Tracks such as Kill You, Who Knew, I'm Back, and Kim are bottom-tier in these regards, and without convincing melody, harmony, or instrumentation to back them up, they end up being worse than throwaway.
The out-of-left-field Dre shoutouts, which appear on several tracks, are pointless and dated.
The clear standouts are the two biggest hits (by Spotify listens): "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady". Both are really catchy and capture the smooth intersection between a solid, modern backing instrumental and some great (albeit repetitive) vocal hooks. "Stan" is strongest during Dido's sung vocals, but the rest isn't half-bad either.
1
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Sun Mar 03 2024
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
An interesting atmosphere here. It’s almost like a more acoustic Coldplay record in several ways. Like Coldplay, the lyrics might be fascinating (I’m not sure), but are accompanied by such “standard” vocals that it’s very easy to not really take in what’s being sung. The vocalist is probably the band’s weak point, having a clearly limited melodic and emotional range. The instrumentation is fairly unremarkable, but really picks up in the second half of the album. My four favourite songs are actually the final four in the track listing, because the texture really starts to noticeably thicken and stir up some drama, incorporating (what sounds like) heavy synths, electric guitars, and more front-of-mix drum patterns. I’m surprised “Jesus, Etc.” is the album’s hit song, because it doesn’t sound much like a hit. Tracks like that one are flawed in that they don’t contain any obvious hooks. Still, it was enjoyable.
Key tracks: I’m the Man Who Loves You, Pot Kettle Black, Poor Places, Reservations
3
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Mon Mar 04 2024
Heaux Tales
Jazmine Sullivan
There are exactly four tracks that are legitimately good, four tracks that have bad lyrics and a bad message, and six “tales” that act as interesting interludes between the music.
I’ll start with the pros. Bodies, Pick Up Your Feelings, Lost One, and Girl Like Me are great examples of how to use themes in modern electronic pop to make well-textured, smooth, listenable R&B that appeals both to general audiences and music enthusiasts. The lyrics are fairly uninteresting but still relatable, discussing topics like love, relationship, and interpersonal conflict.
Now for the cons – and they’re some pretty serious cons. Put It Down and On It are essentially a love letter to the small population of well-endowed men, and they perpetuate an insecurity that a huge proportion of guys have about their bodies. For an album with such a commercialised sound (trying to speak to a wide audience), this ain’t gonna fly. I guarantee that any man singing or rapping about a woman’s body like Jazmine is here would be shunned, cancelled, the works – and rightfully so. In addition to how frustratingly tone-deaf and entitled the lyrics are, they’re also just poor lyrics, and they distract from the otherwise great sound.
On the topic of entitlement, the tracks Price Tags and The Other Side speak to another fairly toxic dimension of partner preferences in men: wealth. Sure, you have some oldies that commit the same offence (ABBA’s “Money, Money, Money” is an obvious example) - and I’ll admit I dislike the lyrics of that song too, but at least in isolation, it expresses a desire without trying to rationalise it. However, combined with the interlude “Precious’ Tale”, Sullivan is essentially saying that because she (and/or other women) grew up poor, and yet they’re confident in their attractiveness, they deserve to have a wealthy, hard-working, attractive man to themselves. It’s another really tone-deaf pair of tracks that expresses an ugly shallowness and sense of entitlement which take away from the rest of the music.
I’m all about social progress, but this doesn’t feel like social progress to me. (Hopefully I’m completely off the mark here and Sullivan is doing social commentary about the commodification of men, but I doubt it.)
Key tracks: Pick Up Your Feelings, Lost One, Girl Like Me
2
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Tue Mar 05 2024
Smash
The Offspring
It's like Nirvana, but slightly less overwhelmingly good. There's a sprinkle of indie mixed in with the punky, thrashy metal rock that was all the craze in the early 90s. The outcome, for what it's worth, is very consistent and pretty good. Intense, rugged, angry guitars constantly keep you on your toes, and the vocals, while not that distinctive, work well with the genre.
Key tracks: Nitro, Come Out And Play, Self Esteem, Smash
4
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Wed Mar 06 2024
Autobahn
Kraftwerk
Surprisingly great. You can definitely hear the influence this record had on Bowie's Berlin-era albums (Low, Heroes, Lodger), what with the vivid electronic quasi-soundscapes, stationary vocals, and gradual, impactful chord changes. It almost jumps on the prog-rock bandwagon that was all the craze in the early-to-mid 70s, but veers into a more slow, electronic genre. I get the point of the opening, title track, but clocking in at almost 23 minutes without too many new ideas being introduced throughout, it's just too long and repetitive to really be a masterpiece. The four tracks on Side 2 are all great (if a little unmemorable), containing some pretty synth melodies and a few extra instruments thrown into the final track. A really good album that was very much ahead of its time.
4
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Thu Mar 07 2024
Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris
A fairly anonymous and very inoffensive take on modern country-folk. Every track is noticeably strong, as is Harris's smooth, strong vocal (particularly in her lower register), but the songs are missing some key hooks that would really push my rating beyond 3 stars.
I remember thinking "This one is pretty good" during Red Dirt Girl, Bang the Drum Slowly, My Antonia, and Michelangelo - but thinking back now, I couldn't tell you much about those tracks. There were lots of major chords on acoustic guitar, some airy background strings, and of course Harris's voice at the front of the mix - but as for the rest... well... I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now. (heh.)
3
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Fri Mar 08 2024
Rapture
Anita Baker
Baker's voice, which is very "full" (particularly in the lower register), has an almost Cher-like quality to it. Coupled with the cliched heavy piano chords and light drumbeat, the album has an aggressively 80s feel.
The opening track ("Sweet Love") is very catchy, and an easy playlist-padder. It's pretty infectious. The following tracks, "You Bring Me Joy" and "Caught Up in the Rapture", are also strong. The song "Mystery" almost reads like a slow disco song, with its outspoken electric keyboards, wiggly bassline, and call-and-response backing vocals. "No One in the World" is similar, but commits the sin of distracting the ear with too many incongruous elements (possibly a failed attempt at emulating MJ). The track "Been so Long" is a slight stinker, mainly for the vocals being nonsensical and lacking any kind of hook.
Same Ole Love is almost good, although the use of lyrics with any number greater than 100 is always risky because it often just sounds clunky. Also, the phrase "365 Days a Week" is part of the song's title, but the word "week" doesn't appear anywhere in the lyrics. Strange.
I'm a sucker for iv-I chord changes, and the final track, "Watch Your Step", is drenched with them. (The entirety of every verse is just those two chords.) Not too much else stands out, except for the "you fall and hurt yourself one day" hook performed by gospel-esque backing vocals, and the cool sax solo. I'm very surprised this track has the least listens on the album, because it clears all the other tracks except "Sweet Love".
Still, the inconsistency of quality means this album gets 3 stars from me. A high 3 stars, but 3 stars nonetheless.
3
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Sat Mar 09 2024
Garbage
Garbage
Some seriously good 90s rock - a little too polished to be garage-style, but also too rough and wild to not be. Still, the band is fairly tight, with precise instrumentation and musical ideas that work very effectively. The abrupt pauses in Supervixen are just fantastic, emphasising how silence can be an integral element of music. The mixes throughout the album are dense and heavy, mostly because of the distorted lead and bass guitars that occasionally overpower the band – but then, I think that's kind of the point (exhibit A: the incredible build-up in My Lover's Box).
The vocalist is noticeably stronger in higher registers, though her lower voice does play a kind of mysterious, foreboding role in some tracks.
Do I have time to talk about Stupid Girl? No? Well, I'll keep it brief then. Stupid Girl is absolutely the best track here, at least upon a first listen, though some other tracks do come close. It's catchy, has a good chord progression, and remains true to the band's style.
Key tracks: Supervixen, Only Happy When It Rains, Stupid Girl, Dog New Tricks
4
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Sun Mar 10 2024
Berlin
Lou Reed
As a rule of thumb, I prefer albums with heavier production and less lyrical focus. I was prepared to make this album an exception, if only because Lou Reed has a reputation as a musical storyteller and for being incredibly influential on his contemporaries.
The album is decent, albeit incredibly lyrically-focused and without much melodic (or, indeed, musical) regard. There were some musical peaks, namely the brilliant horn-focused production in some of the later tracks. However, I did drift away from the lyrics a few times and found myself thinking "This music is kind of nondescript... where's the energy?" And with the exception of a few tracks on side 2 (Sad Song, Caroline Says II, The Kids), the music does feel somewhat lacking energy and emotion. Maybe that was the point. I can see someone of Reed's calibre asking his bandmates to "Play simply!" for the sake of driving home the album's concepts of introspection, lost love, and coping with hitting rock-bottom.
Perhaps as a result of this, the concepts are communicated clearly and capture a vivid image of a doomed couple's lives falling apart. Even someone as thick-headed as myself could pretty much understand what was going on. As a concept album, it's tough to fault it.
I've listened to a couple of Velvet Underground albums prior to this (their first two albums), and I do prefer them to this one. Still, I can acknowledge the influence this had on artists such as Bowie (Low-era) and some later Pink Floyd projects like The Wall and The Final Cut.
3/5
3
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Mon Mar 11 2024
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles
A whirlwind of 60s pop-rock at its finest, with an unstoppable energy that only the Beatles could really pull off in early 1964. This is an incredibly consistent album with some seriously infectious hooks and countless moments that would make musical history - starting with the very first chord in the opening track (what chord is that, anyway?). The hurried, catchy adrenaline-rock of A Hard Day's Night leads into several more "poppy" tracks with I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, and the George vocal I'm Happy Just To Dance With You. We get a pristine, flowy, Latin-influenced ballad in And I Love Her, before the band starts firing on all cylinders, blasting the listener with track after track of excitement, fun, and love (or lack thereof) - perhaps the most famous being Can't Buy Me Love. Uncharacteristically for the band, the album ends on a more mature, almost introspective note with I'll Be Back, which sees major-minor interplay and beautiful harmonising in the vocals.
The instrumentation - with excellent guitarwork, drumming, and singing - is there. The harmonies, melodies, and songwriting are there. The lyrics, however straightforward they may be, are easy to remember and insanely catchy. This is a 10/10 album if I've ever seen one.
Key tracks: all of them
5
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Tue Mar 12 2024
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
PJ Harvey
A heavily 2000s feel. Harvey's vocal is great - kind of Lana-esque. I loved "This Mess We're In", which featured Tom Yorke of Radiohead and his ethereal voice, as well as the two preceding tracks for being musically strong lead-ups to the album's centrepiece. The rest of the tracks were alternately rocking or soothing, with a few interesting time signatures. The main downfall of this album was its lack of adventurousness. Every song focused on a single particular sound (be it a nifty rhythm, a couple of unusual chords, or a guitar lick) and didn't really deviate from that sound at all. I felt that many of the tracks could've been shorter, and/or shown more intra-song variety.
Key tracks: Good Fortune, The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore, This Mess We're In, This Is Love
3
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Wed Mar 13 2024
Duck Rock
Malcolm McLaren
A haphazard approach to world music, with some beautiful-yet-simple tracks led by choruses of vocalists, mixed together with subpar takes on proto-hip-hop.
The track listing was the definition of hit-or-miss, with strong cuts like Jive My Baby (man, that hook), Punk It Up, and Double Dutch alternated with some noticeably weaker ones (Song For Chango, Legba, Buffalo Gals). I don't really get what McLaren was going for, but whatever concept might have existed was pretty messy and inconsistent.
Other notes:
- Cover artwork is great
- The context of this album and the unacknowledged theft of musical ideas must be taken into account
- 3/5
3
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Thu Mar 14 2024
Surrealistic Pillow
Jefferson Airplane
I think we've got a hit here, boys.
Surrealistic Pillow is something pretty special. All tracks on the album are great in some way or another, with very convincing hooks and a couple of excellent singles (Somebody To Love, White Rabbit). The opening track is killer, being both energetic and psychedelic, setting the mood for the rest of the album and for the Summer of Love as a whole. Embryonic Journey is an unexpected instrumental gem, featuring intermingling elements of classical, rock, and folk music. Go To Her, How Do You Feel, 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds... Just great. A really well constructed setlist with equally well constructed songs.
The vibe here is also pretty darn brilliant, if a little dated. Jefferson Airplane perfectly capture the year of 1967 in pop/rock, in all its colourful-yet-dark, flourishy, crazy, psychedelic glory – more so than any other band, even the Beatles. In fact, there's a definite chance that the two bands played off each other during the latter's Revolver- and Sgt Pepper-eras.
Key tracks: She Has Funny Cars, Somebody to Love, 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds, White Rabbit
5
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Fri Mar 15 2024
The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd
I think there's a good reason this album is the fourth-best-selling worldwide, and frequently tops (or nearly tops) album rankings. It's mind-blowingly good, and coincidentally also my current favourite album.
Pink Floyd has done something really incredible here that's harder than it sounds: musically tying a concept album together. In particular, the opening and closing tracks ("Speak To Me", "Eclipse") are respectively a teaser and an encore for all the sounds that appear throughout the album. It's an idea I've never seen repeated to the same high standard.
The lyrics are absolutely incredible. Take "Time", for example. In this one track, nearly every line is a gem:
"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day"
"No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun"
"Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines"
"Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way"
Add to that the pristine, psychedelic, soul-lifting guitar solo, backing vocals, and thematic connection to the earlier track "Breathe", and you have as close to a perfect song as one can get.
Speaking of "Breathe", its lyrics are nothing to shake a stick at. "All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be" is a mantra I could live the rest of my life by. The transition between the previous track and this one is iconic, heart-stopping, and beautiful all at once. And the song really sounds like stepping out of the frightening darkness of noise and maniacal laughter into the air. (Ahhhh.)
"On The Run", justifiably the album's weakest and most sonically dated track, is still great, incorporating an ultra-fast synth-bassline to create an agitated, restless psychedelic atmosphere. It's unnerving, which was certainly the intention.
Need I mention "The Great Gig in the Sky"? Ugh, those vocals. They're disgustingly brilliant. Clare Torry might not have been given the best instructions in the studio, but whatever improvised magic she came up with, it was incredible. Coupled with Rick Wright's insanely cool chord progression, Roger's floating bassline, and Nick's drumming, this is another perfect track. Seriously.
And yet, somehow, side 2 is every bit as good as side 1. The transitions are particularly of note, making the four-track run from "Us and Them" through "Eclipse" incredibly cohesive. "Any Colour You Like" has brilliant, rainbowy synths and guitarwork, with a classic Floydian i7-IV chord progression. "Money", popular for a reason, has an infectious bassline, a groovy 7/4 time signature, and a break into 4/4 whose instrumental is seriously one of the best you'll get in any 70s album. "Us and Them", the album's true centrepiece, is magnificent, laden with emotional sax and piano solos, nifty chord progressions, and four complementary out-of-body experiences as the song shifts effortlessly between the A- and B-sections.
"Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" are so congruent that they may as well be one track. And gosh darnit Roger, you've really done it this time. His understanding of textural shift and artistic motifs is off the charts here. It's a perfect closer to a near-perfect album.
Oh yeah, the album art. It's decent... Maybe it'll become famous someday.
5
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Sat Mar 16 2024
Melodrama
Lorde
First, the flaws:
- Lorde has this odd singing accent that sounds very... lazy? It's hard to articulate (ha-ha), but whatever's going on, it's distracting me. Reminds me of pretty much every girl during music class at my high school.
- The sound is really artificial – but honestly, I didn't mind too much. Production-wise, this worked in its favour (see below); normally, such a lack of acoustic sound would be a bigger problem to me.
Now, the neutrals:
- Sounds a lot like Lana Del Rey.
- It's fine for easy-listening – maybe a 3-star album when played in the background – but handily jumps to 4 or 4.5 stars when you put on some headphones and really key in on the lyrics and the sound. This feature can sometimes be a liability, but based on album sales, it seems the general public didn't mind much.
Finally, the pros:
- The production is seriously cool. Atmospheric, panning echoes of vocals, mixed together with a muted lo-fi bass and drum combo, backing a strong, emotive, moody vocal from Lorde herself. Everything's put together professionally, and it sounds great.
- A large number of tracks that are individually very, very strong. Green Light, Sober, Homemade Dynamite, The Louvre... And those are literally the first four consecutive tracks. Man.
- Lorde experiments with piano ballads! And they're (arguably) every bit as strong as the darker, more dramatic tracks.
Favourite track: Green Light
Honourable mentions: Sober, Hard Feelings/Loveless, Liability
4/5
4
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Sun Mar 17 2024
Protection
Massive Attack
One of the more upvoted reviews explained my feelings about this album better than I could:
"Cooooooool. Deep moody lounging. An overcast afternoon in Ibiza. The soundtrack that plays over a moody montage of parallel characters in an ensemble drama. Closing credits to a 2000s James Bond movie."
That being said, "Protection" (the album) comes with some flaws. The final track, a cover of the Doors' legendary "Light My Fire", is so far inferior to the original song that it's almost painful to listen to. None of the iconic chord changes (like, e.g., the sudden III chord in the middle of the chorus) are present, and instead a weirdly grating electronic psychedelia insists itself upon the listener.
The title track, however, is great - along with some other key tracks, listed below. The sound and production across all the songs are fairly strong, but nothing mind-blowing. The tracks that have an actual melody are (both genuinely, and as a rule of thumb) better than those without. An enjoyable listen that sits somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but drops down to 3 on behalf of its incongruous closer.
Key tracks: Protection, Weather Storm, Sly, Heat Miser
3
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Mon Mar 18 2024
My Generation
The Who
Already listened to Who's Next on this list. My Generation is an energetic, honking good ol' time, keying in on many themes of "forefront" 60s pop-rock. It's comparable to the Beatles and Stones albums coming out around the same time – the likes of Rubber Soul, Out Of Our Heads, Aftermath, ya know. The classics.
And this album is definitely a classic. Excellent vocal hooks that immediately key the listener in. Thick, boisterous harmonies which (more often than not) max out the audio and cause a blurry, distinctively 60s-quality sound. It's just so loveable, fun, rocking, [insert more adjectives here]. And the party starts quite suddenly with the opening track, Out In The Street, a fairly standard yet wildly invigorating taste of what's to come. Following that are a string of would-be classics, overshadowed only by The Who's later work; songs like The Good's Gone, La-La-La-Lies, A Legal Matter, Please Please Please...
Then, of course, the two radio tracks: My Generation and The Kids Are Alright. These are the peak of the album, and are fittingly placed as its double-centrepiece.
The whole thing's a jam. I dig it.
Key tracks: Out In The Street, The Good's Gone, My Generation, The Kids Are Alright, Please Please Please
5
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Tue Mar 19 2024
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
A shimmering, easygoing sound that's quite refreshing for its period of music. There's a solid textural approach, though often there are many tracks that sound similar. The band must've been exhilarating to experience live.
There's a heavy British accent in the vocal. For some reason it reminds me of a punk vocal (I Am the Resurrection being the primary suspect) even though it surely isn't punk music. Cross-genre? Otherwise, the album's solidly in the (80s) rock category.
Huge props to the drumming on this album – really engaging, good use of silence and some interesting rhythms. It complements the other instruments nicely. I first noticed it on She Bangs The Drums, and especially on Shoot You Down, but it's great on all tracks.
I Am the Resurrection is a mostly-instrumental epic. (Love it.) In fact, the album ends with two back-to-back "epics", which is a little exhausting as an album experience. The final track in particular could've been cut down.
The album is probably best appreciated via close listening. My rating was a high-3 at first (on account of many tracks sounding similar, e.g. Waterfall/Don't Stop, and others being lengthy), but increased to a high-4 when I went back through the track listing and paid closer attention. Good stuff.
Key tracks: She Bangs the Drums, Bye Bye Bad Man, Shoot You Down, This Is the One
4
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Wed Mar 20 2024
The Doors
The Doors
I like The Doors! Do you like The Doors?
The Doors (The Doors, 1967) is inexplicably unique-sounding, both for its time and in retrospect. Pretty interesting, really, because the instrumentation is simple (vocal, drums, organ, bass) and the genre is very in-your-face blues rock without much room for wondering. And I reckon that's entirely the point. The Doors knew their strengths and played to them.
Couple that with a string of easy classic compositions, and you start to verge into masterpiece territory. Break On Through and Light My Fire are the main radio hits, but many other tracks here are so goshdarn memorable. The Crystal Ship, Soul Kitchen, Alabama Song, Back Door Man... and, of course, the closing track that slowly and sinisterly tears at the soul: The End. You can't argue that that isn't an impressive track listing.
The lyrics (arguably) aren't exactly poetry, but Morrison delivers them with such manly, whiskey-soaked confidence that you don't really notice.
Also, the cover art is great. It's one of my personal favourites. As another reviewer wrote, "The fact that 75% of the band is standing neatly next to a massive, superimposed headshot of Jim Morrison is hilarious."
Key tracks: all of them, probably
5
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Thu Mar 21 2024
Pearl
Janis Joplin
Seriously. What a great voice. Janis Joplin has a clear vocal talent and she tailors the music to emphasise that as much as possible. It's so fun, energising, thumping, honking... really just makes you want to perpetually make the stank face.
Shoutout to the percussion and horns for complementing Joplin's vocal really well.
Unfortunately, there are a few obviously weaker tracks (alongside some really great ones), which knocks my rating down to a 4. I don't know how Me and Bobby McGee could possibly be the most popular song on the album, given how relatively uneventful and devoid of hooks it is. And soul-rock masterpieces like Half Moon are left in the (popularity) dust! Man, people have some questionable music taste.
Key tracks: A Woman Left Lonely, Half Moon, Buried Alive In the Blues, Mercedez Benz
4
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Fri Mar 22 2024
Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield
I don't have much to say, really. It's passable music with decent but unremarkable elements in pretty much every regard. Nothing is (very) memorable, it sounds exactly like it should for its time (1967), isn't groundbreaking or inventive, yet still sounds pretty good. My guess is it's on this list purely for Buffalo Springfield being the foundation for Stills' and Young's later careers.
There are a select few elements that caught my attention, such as the fleeting yet relatively complex guitarwork in Bluebird, the bluesy vigor of Mr. Soul (and indeed most of the album), and an interesting genre-blend between pop, country, blues, and rock.
Key tracks: Mr. Soul, Bluebird, Rock & Roll Woman
Enjoyment: 3/5
Does it belong in the list: 2/5
3
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Sat Mar 23 2024
Low
David Bowie
more like david lowie am i right
Here we see a tastefully confusing piece of art that's surprisingly grounded for someone recovering from drugs.
The synths and especially the drums are most notable, instrumentally, on this album. The drumming has a very loud, distorted sound that probably isn't to everyone's taste, but I think it sounds fantastic. And it's front-and-centre in every track on side 1. The tracks themselves on the record's first side are short, catchy, thoughtful, and... I can't really explain how, but they're so darn artistic. Speed of Life, the opening track, is the iconic opening to a new electronic era of rock music. Immediately following that, we get an electric, bass-driven interludey number with Breaking Glass. What In the World is a wobbly, synth-laden, two-chord ball of energy. Sound and Vision, with its simple chord I-vi-V-I progression, manages to be one of the most satisfying standalone tracks in Bowie's discography. Always Crashing In the Same Car and Be My Wife are a one-two punch of moody tracks driven primarily by synths – and both are great. Finally, we close side 1 with a return to simplicity in the fresh, upbeat instrumental track A New Career In a New Town.
Then we get to side 2 – arguably what the album is most known for. It's pretty brilliant, again incorporating several layers of synths that flow rhythmically in and out of the mix. The four tracks on this side are all quite distinct from one another, and yet share that indescribable Bowie creativity. Warszawa in particular creates a cool, yet very grim, atmosphere.
5/5
5
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Sun Mar 24 2024
It's A Shame About Ray
The Lemonheads
Nifty alt-rock. Also, respect for keeping the tracks consistently very short – an art that feels very rare nowadays. Not every track is a hit (indeed, none of them particularly are) but they are all similarly strong.
The mixing and overall sound is pretty high-quality, at the expensive of the music sounding extremely typical of 90s alt-rock.
The vocalist has a very pleasant and distinctive voice quality, but it could really do with some harmonies. Some tracks approach this, but more self-harmonising (or collaboration with other musicians!) would really boost the strength and memorability of most, if not all, of the album's tracks. As it stands currently, the tracks, while individually exciting, blend into one another – and this isn't only the fault of the singing, but the singing is the most obvious factor that could be improved upon.
Key tracks: It's A Shame About Ray, My Drug Buddy, Kitchen, Mrs. Robinson
3
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Mon Mar 25 2024
American Pie
Don McLean
Strong start with the monumental singalong title track, before the album falls into (debatably) an acoustic rut. It's just McLean and his guitar, baby. And you darn better feel emotional and all "countried out", even as you reach the fifth consecutive track with exactly the same texture. (Seriously – Till Tomorrow, Vincent, Crossroads, Winterwood, and Empty Chairs all have such similar feels that it's pretty surprisingly they were clustered so closely together, or indeed all placed on the same album to begin with.)
Following this train of thought, it really does feel like Don McLean can only write songs with two textures: the slow, acoustic ballads with little to interest the ear other than lyrics (which are admittedly pretty touching), and the semi-joyous, pessimistic country singalongs (title track and Everybody Loves Me, Baby) In fact, Everybody Loves Me, Baby feels like a thinly veiled adaptation of the verses of American Pie, with similar vocal inflections, instrumentation, chord progression, and melody. Still, it's a pretty strong track.
I won't end this review without giving a special shoutout to Babylon, the medieval-sounding closing track. Thick with self-harmonising, the track is a textbook use of canon and is honestly great. Very pretty.
The album comes across as a slightly weaker and less varied Cold Spring Harbor (Billy Joel). It's a high 3, but a 3 nonetheless.
Key tracks: American Pie, Vincent, Winterwood, Babylon
3
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Tue Mar 26 2024
Rio
Duran Duran
3/5
80s synth pop... hm... it's okay. A very boomer-esque opinion, to be sure, but what else can I say? It certainly had potential to be lower, but the tight instrumentation (particularly in that sexy, sexy bass part) made up for the overused, overhyped, overrated genre.
In fact, the bass is so integral to the album's quality that I only ended up saving tracks that (in retrospect) had great basslines: Lonely In Your Nightmare, Hold Back The Rain, and The Chauffeur, to name a few. The title track and Hungry Like The Wolf were also quite strong, presenting some pretty catchy vocals and harmonies.
The remaining instruments are either straightforward (drums, vocals) or very irritating (synths, saxophone (seriously, what is with that weirdly artificial sax sound?)).
Best track: The Chauffeur
Worst track: Last Chance On The Stairway
3
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Wed Mar 27 2024
Veckatimest
Grizzly Bear
It's not very good. (No mercy.)
Don't get me wrong – the music isn't unpleasant, like most of my 1-star ratings tend to be. It's just underwhelming; almost entirely set-up without payoff. Two Weeks and While You Wait For The Others are easily the two strongest tracks because they have some darn great hooks. Frustratingly, though, most other tracks just don't get off the ground.
It almost seems like knock-off Radiohead (note the modern soundscapeyness), or perhaps just a heavily misguided blend of generic alt-rock with something harder to describe – maybe country? Blues? Hard to pin down. However, without Yorke and the gang to back them up, Grizzly Bear is left with somewhat interesting atmospheres and pretty much nothing else. The band doesn't ever go all-out, and instead sticks to an odd, mostly quiet, half-baked feel.
Backing vocals are pretty strong. The drumming isn't incredible, but it lifts the band up texturally whenever it's used. Lots of unusual instruments seem to be used purely for novelty and don't really improve the music. Same goes for rhythms, chords, and so on – particularly in the first half of the album.
Key tracks: Two Weeks, While You Wait For The Others, I Live With You
2/5
2
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Thu Mar 28 2024
Playing With Fire
Spacemen 3
Very nifty, but also monotonous. Generally this would work much better as background sound than close-listening music, because there really isn't any variation within each of the tracks (excluding a few songs, which were the album's highlights).
An odd fusion of influences. We've got the folksy, introspective feel of Simon and Garfunkel (in tracks like Come Down Softly To My Soul and Lord Can You Hear Me, the album's strongest track). We've got a lot of wibbly-wobbly space rock with a wide range of potential influences, most likely (and famously) Pink Floyd.
Honey, So Hot, and Suicide were big highlights if you got over the overall repetitiveness.
Great bass sound – again, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd and some later prog-/space-rock in the 70s and 80s. The synths were cool, though I think they could've been made more complex, with more interesting chord progressions to better engage the listener.
Key tracks: Honey, Come Down Softly To My Soul, Lord Can You Hear Me
3/5
3
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Fri Mar 29 2024
Nevermind
Nirvana
This was a great listen. I respect the choice of (somewhat) unusual chords for the genre, and melodies that are just unorthodox enough to keep you on your toes. Reminds me of Radiohead's melodic style; it's possible that Yorke and the crew were inspired by Nirvana in that regard.
So, what exactly is the genre here? There are elements of punk, considering the heavy repetition of hooks (mostly in guitar and vocal) and the aggressive, unrestrained mood. Noticeably more punky in the track Territorial Pissings, which was fantastic. Definitely hints of early alt-rock too. And, of course, the heavy metal that takes centre stage. Cobain and Grohl's playing (and Novoselic's too) is very... synchronous? The band knows how to play together. It's clear that they're comfortable with one another and incredibly skilled on their respective instruments.
Let's talk individual tracks. Of course, there's the single that shook the music world, Smells Like Teen Spirit – renowned for its infectious guitar riff, sudden-yet-smooth texture changes, and Cobain's iconic rock wail during the chorus. It seems the band made some darn good choices for singles: Come As You Are, Lithium, and In Bloom are all heavy, instrumentally dense tracks with good riffs and longevity (i.e. they all still sound fresh and fantastic today). Something In The Way is a sort of acoustic ballad, and is also one of my favourite tracks. Really, the only track I disliked was Endless, Nameless. Its extended guitar solo was just a little too atonal and experimental (and long) for my taste. Cut out that track, and the album is honestly near-flawless.
Good music though innit.
5/5
5
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Sat Mar 30 2024
At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan
I love albums like this. Some fun banter over a few mistakes made during the live recording, and this really adds to the album's liveliness and humanity. Really great tracks, too, especially for a long-time fan of jazz singers. It's certainly a snapshot in time, and Vaughan's voice is lovely.
Cool idea to include the warning given to the audience at the beginning of the album. Really makes you feel like you're there, and the recording quality reflects that, being surprisingly high-quality for a 50s live show. The songs themselves are excellently written, as individual tracks, but perhaps not the most varied or interesting setlist when played back-to-back. Backing instruments are played well, if a little simply. The understatedness kind of works here, though.
Nifty.
4/5
4
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Sun Mar 31 2024
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Spiritualized
Very cool idea for an album cover. (Pharmaceuticals and stuff. Whoa.)
Possibly a bit bloated in terms of runtime, but why care about runtime if you're on drugs (or a pretty convincing sonic representation of drugs)? The instruments are tastefully selected and played fairly well, creating some great space-rock inspired grooves. Really, the only track that obviously falls apart – from lack of musicality – is The Individual. All other tracks are, in some way or another, fairly solid, incorporating elements of early-mid career Pink Floyd (and other artists in the space/prog/rock genre) with the clean 90s mixing and a few hip-hoppy elements. Note in particular the percussion, which heavily favours clicks, shakers, and tambourines over the more classic drum kit. Not quite my thing, but it has its place. And it makes for a nifty mixture of musical eras.
The vocalist often sounds disinterested or unemotive, which makes the singing harder to pay attention to. In other words, I feel like the singing doesn't add much substance (heh) to the music. Was there some message in the lyrics adding key political or personal contextualisation to the music? Who knows?
Great textures, and a nice variety of moods. (The final track, Cop Shoot Cop..., is an unprecedented and apocalyptic epic that showcases the texturing in action.) This is a huge plus that boosts pretty much any album to a 4 or higher.
Key tracks: Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space, Come Together, Stay with Me, Electricity, Cool Waves
4
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Mon Apr 01 2024
Rising Above Bedlam
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
This album is an example of an objectively weird combination of styles that accidentally sounded kind of good.
It's easy to hear the influence of Public Image Ltd (of which Jah Wobble was a member) in the form of brutish, ambling (yet melodic) basslines and a punk/post-punk freedom in the vocal and percussion. In fact, the basslines are some of the most impressive elements of these tracks. Mr Wobble definitely knew what he was doing in that regard. There's also a distinctive foray into world music, sort of like the very-post-punk equivalent of Paul Simon's Graceland. The world influence is butchered slightly, focusing heavily on a bright, positive, celebratory atmosphere while kind of ignoring cultural nuance. Feels kind of like cultural appropriation, almost. But it's fun music... what else could you ask for?
Well, you could ask for a male vocalist that suits the band. There are two lead vocalists – one male and one female – and while the female one, as well as the backings, are generally very strong, the male one is so incongruous that it feels like a tipsy British bloke had a stack of five quid slapped into his hand and was asked to freestyle-ramble about philosophy. I actually didn't mind it too much. It was such an odd sound that it ended up being pretty entertaining and engaging. Still, it's nowhere near a masterpiece.
The album cover is horrendous.
Key tracks: Visions of You, Relight the Flame, Bomba
3/5
3
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Tue Apr 02 2024
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie
A testament to simple, short, effective rock tracks. They can be pretty darn effective. Each song in this collection is pretty distinctive from the others, and has a fun Bowie-space-alien spin while still remaining very loyal to standard rock roots.
I also admire the concept behind the songs, even if it's a little haphazard in places. Five Years is an excellent album opener, setting the stage of an Earth that's five years away from utter destruction, and the emotional and psychological turmoil being spread as a result. Soul Love begins to introduce Ziggy Stardust as a character, focusing on his (surprisingly poetic) foreign understanding of love. Moonage Daydream takes Ziggy's alien nature up a notch, and (in combination with the next two tracks, Starman and It Ain't Easy) emphasises Ziggy's desire to understand/save the human race which is both innocent and difficult to fulfil. Lady Stardust and Star seem to be discussing Ziggy's unexpected success in the world of rock'n'roll, whereas the next three tracks – Hang on to Yourself, Ziggy Stardust, and Suffragette City – present varying outsider perspectives on his overbearingness and overconfidence. At this point, Ziggy's probably forgotten his original goal of saving the planet, and the story culminates in an epic climax with the finale, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide.
And yet, the concept isn't obvious upon a first listen unless you're really paying close attention. Because of this, whether you're a fan of concept albums or non-concept albums, this album is able to impress, since it can be considered either one. (Does that make sense?)
The key to a really great album is a plethora of iconic, memorable moments – and Ziggy Stardust definitely has plenty of those to go around. The brilliant use of climaxes and textural changes in the opening and closing tracks. The beautiful pop genius that is Starman. Mick Ronson's finesse on the guitar, especially in the outro of Moonage Daydream. The ballsiness of essentially making the main character a drag queen, as an artistic statement in the early 70s.
(wham bam thank you ma'am)
Key tracks: Five Years, Soul Love, Moonage Daydream, Starman, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (though honestly, a solid case could be made for any/all of the tracks)
5/5
5
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Wed Apr 03 2024
Happy Sad
Tim Buckley
"Do whatever you want with [...] music, just don't make it boring."
-Freddie Mercury
clearly Tim Buckley hasn't heard of Queen smh
It's passable music, but the tracks are much too long for their own good. And not in a proggy or atmospheric way. They're just... very long. And static. Even the ones with a mere 5-6 minute runtime really start to drag.
I do appreciate the elements of jazz. The marimba (or whatever percussion it's called) is a big standout, adding a chill, semi-exotic atmosphere to the already jazzy mix. There's a lot of acoustic guitar with drone-ish bass notes, which I've found to be a hit-or-miss harmonic choice in other albums. It's a miss here, since the tracks are already fairly unchanging. Buckley's vocal is generally good, though the inflections and twangy accent feel somehow forced.
Strange Feelin' and Buzzin' Fly are my two favourite tracks, although that lent more credence to their position in the tracklist rather than how good they actually were compared to the later tracks. Buzzin' Fly has an interesting country spin; Strange Feelin' doesn't.
2/5
2
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Thu Apr 04 2024
Madman Across The Water
Elton John
A fun little collection of songs, featuring Elton John's signature janky piano playing. He really doesn't vary his playing style much, so while it sounds pretty darn great (especially in combination with his voice) it makes many of the tracks sound very similar to one another. This, along with a marked decrease in songwriting quality throughout the album, explains why side 1 is much stronger than side 2.
Indian Sunset, Rotten Peaches, and All The Nasties are lyrically very odd and incongruous with the remainder of the album. And sonically, they aren't any better, replacing the emotional grandeur of Tiny Dancer and Levon with a more acoustic, country-ish style that doesn't suit Elton's singing as well. It's hard to explain.
However, the two opening tracks – Tiny Dancer and Levon – are so darn great that they very nearly justify a 5-star rating by themselves. They're essentially a one-two punch version of Bowie's "Life On Mars?" released the same year. (Dang. 1971 was fantastic for music.) Texturally, the combination of strings, light drumming, and piano playing self-described by Elton as "pound[ing]" makes for some really exhilarating accompaniment to the vocal, which is strong and unfaltering. Definitely adding these two (and a few others) to my playlist.
Key tracks: Tiny Dancer, Levon, Madman Across The Water, Holiday Inn
Side 1: 5/5
Side 2: 3/5
Total: 8/5
Adjusted total: 4/5
4
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Fri Apr 05 2024
Hotel California
Eagles
Ultra-solid songwriting wrapped in a neat 70s soft-rock package. Me likey.
There's plenty to compliment here and not much to fault. In terms of track listing, the first three (Hotel California, New Kid in Town, Life in the Fast Lane) leave little to be desired. They're so darn catchy while (importantly) not making you feel like your brain is decaying slowly. I do feel that there's some punchy, electric element missing from all three tracks (particularly Life in the Fast Lane), but then the same applies to all Eagles music. Eh, whatever. They knew what they were doing, probably. Except for that weird accent in the title track.
There aren't any major standouts in the remaining six tracks except the pretty, acoustic finale, The Last Resort. They're all inoffensive and, while still catchy and musically complex enough in their own right, aren't quite as memorable as they could be. Still, it's hard to find specific faults. Still lacking the gritty element I'm looking for, but that would be incongruous with the Eagles' style that made them so successful. (But there's a flaw - they played it safe.)
In terms of general sound, the band's firing on all cylinders here. The textures and vocal timbre/harmonies are incredibly smooth, like sonic mousse. Chocolatey, too. The guitar solos are groovy, catchy, and deceptively simple. The drumming is fairly standard but works excellently in every song.
Key tracks: Hotel California, New Kid in Town, Life in the Fast Lane, The Last Resort
5/5
5
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Sat Apr 06 2024
The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Velvet Underground
A solid collection of songs with a heavily "late 60s" musical style, but perhaps more risqué and experimental than was the norm. And yet, if you go beyond the surface, you'll realise how monumentally influential this music actually was, despite its poor sales when it was released. Yeah, sure, everyone talks about how important this album is as a landmark in music history. But there's a reason this is so universally accepted. It's because it's true.
Chronologically, one of the first-ever albums to dive headfirst into lyrical (and, in a sense, musical) themes of drug addiction, sex (addiction?), prostitution, masochism, and more. For the 60s, the Velvet Underground and Nico were light-years ahead of its peers. Pretty dang cool album cover too – instantly recognisable, mysterious, and just plain strange. One of Andy Warhol's finest contributions to music.
Plus, you just have some genuinely fantastic songs. The album moves effortlessly from the beautiful, airy, music box-like lullaby Sunday Morning to classic grungy underground rock tracks (I'm Waiting For The Man, Run Run Run, There She Goes Again) to exotic mystery (Venus In Furs) to pretty 60s ballads (Femme Fatale, I'll Be Your Mirror) to some seriously impressive experimental rock epics (Heroin, European Son). It's a versatile mix, with a couple apparent instances of new genres being created on the spot.
An otherwise 4-star experimental rock album, pushed off the charts when you consider historical context.
5/5
5
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Sun Apr 07 2024
All Things Must Pass
George Harrison
One of the most fun, laid-back, pure-joy albums I've heard. George knew his stuff, and he definitely deserves his status as the best post-Beatles Beatle (in terms of raw music quality).
There are so many tracks here that are just a blast to listen to, with the added benefit of musical complexity that keeps both music aficionados and more casual listeners engaged. Isn't It a Pity, Wah-Wah, What Is Life, Beware of Darkness, Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp, All Things Must Pass... The list goes on, and there isn't a single stinker track (except possibly It's Johnny's Birthday, but come on, it's under a minute. Give Sir Georgie a break!). Add in the monumental and iconic single My Sweet Lord, as well as the run of groovy instrumentals that conclude the track listing, and you have a near-insurmountable double album.
There's a spiritual vibe that really shines through, particularly throughout disc 1. Lots of organs, acoustic guitars, and pianos playing together, along with fun adaptations on I-IV chord progressions. It sounds pretty great. George's vocal is also well-suited to this (for lack of a better descriptor) preachy style. Not exactly comparable to any of his Beatles output, except for possibly Within You Without You (a very underrated Sgt Pepper's track).
Some excellent texturing here that's apparently underappreciated, based on Spotify listens. Let It Down, Isn't It A Pity, and Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp all have an anthem-like quality that automatically gains my approval. They're also well spread out across the album, which brings me to another point: I really like the order of tracks. Reminds me of Low (David Bowie) with its fantastic instrumental final side, and just a fun, creative, diverse mix of songs earlier in the album.
Lucky me - the third consecutive day of 5-star albums. I've living the life, truly.
5
View Album
Mon Apr 08 2024
Hypnotised
The Undertones
It's fun music, though pretty derivative of other punk bands in the same era. I don't think much new ground was covered here. Also, 15 tracks is a lot to stomach in under 40 minutes; given the high-energy sound, it would've been good to have a few longer, slower tracks for a better full-album experience.
Good instrument playing – well, as good as the punk genre allows. The issue with punk is that it's very difficult to showcase good musicianship when the genre's existence hinges on sticking it to the "music elite" by playing simply (and sometimes haphazardly). It doesn't leave as much room for creativity as other genres.
I will give The Undertones credit for having clean, fresh music production, particularly in the lead and bass guitars. The vocals also meshed well with the other instruments. It meant that all the tracks honestly sounded great – at least, in isolation. I'd be tapping my foot along to any of these tracks in the car (especially the key tracks – see below). An entire album full of tracks with very similar energy, though, is harder to stomach.
Key tracks: More Songs About Chocolate And Girls, Hypnotised, Whizz Kids, My Perfect Cousin, Wednesday Week
3
View Album
Tue Apr 09 2024
Electric Warrior
T. Rex
I came into this with very high expectations, considering the big hit "Get It On" (aka Bang A Gong). I left somewhat underwhelmed, but I'll start with the pros.
Great guitar riffs, a fun vocal performance from Marc Bolan that was extremely typical (and rightly so) for its time, and just an overall fun vibe. Comparable to Ziggy Stardust. The tracks are produced very well, almost to an 80s punk-rock standard.
Now for the cons. The tracks just aren't particularly memorable, excluding the aforementioned Get It On and a few others (Cosmic Dancer, Jeepster, The Motivator). In fact, most tracks sound like budget versions of Get It On, demonstrating a lack of musical versatility. Although I just complimented Bolan's vocal, it gets just a little grating towards the end of the album. And the comparison to Ziggy Stardust flops as a positive when you realise just how much more conceptually interesting and catchy Ziggy Stardust is.
Key tracks: Cosmic Dancer, Jeepster, Get It On, The Motivator
3
View Album
Wed Apr 10 2024
Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen
This album has a sort of grandeur that is pulled off more convincingly than in Springsteen's later albums Darkness At The Edge Of Town and Born In The U.S.A. (both of which also appear on this list). His voice still sounds like a slightly less enjoyable Roy Orbison, and it's mainly this that brings the album down from a 5. I just can't make myself enjoy Bruce's vocal, and seeing that he's the face and focus of his music, it prevents his albums from reaching masterpiece territory.
But the compositions, arrangements, and instrument playing are pretty darn great here. Jungleland is the main exhibit: a crazy, twisting multipart epic with a heavy emphasis on exotic, thick textures and an impressive sax part. The saxophone is also (nearly) front-and-centre in many other tracks on the album, which is rarely a bad thing. (Big shoutout to Clarence Clemons!) Born To Run, the title track, is of course a classic. Thunder Road is an explosive opening track that's a contender for the album's finest.
Great guitar, bass, and drums. Not much to say in terms of creativity or ambition, but they do what they need to do and it sounds good.
Admittedly, when listened to as one long musical adventure, the high energy starts to get a bit exhausting, especially with the relative lack of ballads.
Enthuastic, anthemic, and bombastic – I can see why it's popular.
4
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Thu Apr 11 2024
All Directions
The Temptations
This album was a real blast. It's that typical blues-funk-soul-band with quick, biting horn stabs, great vocals, and classic (yet very simple) chord progressions. A fun ensemble that was perhaps a little surprising for its time. The 70s aren't normally associated with such an intensely 50s/60s style - but then, the Temptations had made a big name for themselves by this point.
Interesting touch of politics, presumably, in the track Run Charlie Run. The lyrics are pretty cool, and I especially like how their grim, sarcastic message conflicts with the upbeat positivity in the music.
I've never heard the extended/album version of Papa Was A Rollin' Stone before, and it's just as good as the single. Long instrumental build-up is worth the wait. I do wish a few more tracks on the album had the courage to be longer than 3-4 minutes, because it seems like that's all it takes for the Temptations to really shine.
Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On is a medium-paced headbanger with a lot of call-and-response between several vocalists. It introduces the album's fun-filled atmosphere effectively. Do Your Thing is an interesting contrast to conclude the album: a laid-back song draped with soft bass and backing vocals.
While the remaining tracks were definitely good, they're harder to remember. All I can recall, a few hours later, is that the album didn't flow very congruously. The track listing jumped from quick, peppy funk to ballads, which isn't intrinsically a bad thing - but safe to say it didn't work here.
Rating: high 4/5
Key tracks: Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On, Papa Was A Rollin' Stone, Do Your Thing
4
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Fri Apr 12 2024
Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
This is the album you get when you confine a semi-psychotic musical genius (Brian Wilson) in a sandpit with some goats and a sizeable budget.
Pet Sounds is that rare album where I can say that nothing - absolutely nothing - sounds quite like it. I challenge you to prove me wrong. There's something so oddly gratifying about the loopy chord progressions (consisting of a lot of melancholic maj7 chords), slightly blurry orchestra sound, the angelic voice of Brian Wilson, the silky-yet-rough-around-the-edges American production sound... But the fact that it's so hard to pin down is probably why it hasn't been replicated.
The songs themselves are straight up bangers, start to finish. The trio of radio-friendly tracks - Wouldn't It Be Nice, Sloop John B, and God Only Knows - are all fantastic, incorporating pop elements from the Beach Boys' "rival" band, the Beatles, among other influences. The two instrumental tracks, particularly the first one, Let's Go Away For Awhile, are beautifully composed; the tasteful entry and dropping-out of different wacky instruments is especially noticeable.
Most of the remaining eight tracks take on an introspective vibe that's noticeably different from their previous output, and indeed from nearly all pop music up to 1966. I would list highlights, but it's so hard to choose. Don't Talk is just utterly gorgeous and a brutal reminder that, as a single person, I'm missing out on a lot. You Still Believe In Me has such an unpredictable melody and smooth, goosebump-inducing harmonies (and a car horn).
Oh yeah, I should mention the vocal harmonies. It's the Beach Boys. The harmonies are spectacular. Nothing else to say.
The bass playing is also worth pointing out. It contributes monumentally to that gorgeous sound that's so hard to pin down.
Rating: 5/5
Key tracks: all of them
Caroline: No
5
View Album
Sat Apr 13 2024
Lost In The Dream
The War On Drugs
Oh, this album is just so disappointing...
Don't get me wrong. It's not terrible (hence the 2 stars). The lyrics are pretty thought-provoking, and the sound is high-quality (particularly where synths are involved - mixing is fun and immersive). Some of the tracks are pretty good on account of their catchiness, including Red Eyes and Lost In The Dream.
The primary mistake made by The War On Drugs is a failure to deliver anything exciting, energetic, or (sonically) volatile. Nearly every track sounds exactly the same for the entire 7 minutes, and at least half of the tracks bear the additional burden of sounding identical to each other. This isn't helped by the fact that the drumming is extremely standard and uninteresting (one-a-two-a-three-a-four-a- throughout every song). The vocals aren't anything particularly interesting either. They're perhaps Dylan- or Petty-esque, especially in the title track, but this only accentuates the difference between those bands and The War On Drugs in terms of how good the rest of the music is. Oof.
The album also fails to justify the long track runtime on all of their longer songs. In general, these songs drag quite a lot, increasing the length of what should've been a 40-minute album (or less, if you remove the duplicate tracks) to roughly an hour. If the band was trying to create a slew of "epics", a la In The Court Of The Crimson King, they didn't succeed.
Key tracks: Under The Pressure, Red Eyes, Lost In The Dream
2
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Sun Apr 14 2024
Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix
A great balance between consistency and variety makes for a great album. Jimi Hendrix pretty much nails it, and casually throws in a few absolute powerhouse tracks to top it off. Even without those songs (Purple Haze, Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary, Foxey Lady) this could feasibly be a 5-star or high 4-star album, purely because of the high-energy explosion of ideas, riffs, and attitude in essentially every track.
Hendrix's vocal is pretty strong. It packs a big punch, driving home the romantic and/or political lyrical ideas with spunk. And his guitar playing, which may well be the best of all time, is the musical highlight. For its time, Hendrix's guitar tone is electrifying, in-your-face, shredding... really demonstrates his virtuosity. The other instruments are also able to shine in places.
I also love the influence from psychedelia. In fact, given the year of release (1967), this was probably one of the genre's pioneering acts.
Classic. Brilliant. 5/5
Key tracks: Purple Haze, Manic Depression, Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary, Fire, Foxey Lady, Are You Experienced?
5
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Mon Apr 15 2024
Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs
Marty Robbins
Albums before the mid-60s tended not to capture the concept of what really makes a great album. This is a collection of good songs - but when listened to in one sitting, the style isn't quite good enough to boost it to 4 stars or higher. It's at the upper end of 3 stars.
It's performed well, with a very strong vocal and simplistic backing arrangement. Big Iron, El Paso, They're Hanging Me Tonight, and Billy The Kid are highlights that could really shine as concept album material if placed in the right order. The chords definitely lack inspiration, being primarily the 3 blues chords plus the occasional minor 6 for moodier pieces. The instrumental backing the vocals also really doesn't add much to the table, being mostly bass, acoustic guitar, and light drums, all of which could be further forward in the mix and played with more energy.
Overall, good music, but not pioneering - which isn't a bad thing, but I feel it doesn't fully belong in this list.
3/5
3
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Tue Apr 16 2024
MTV Unplugged In New York
Nirvana
Pretty haunting in retrospect, given Cobain's mental state in early 1994. And yet, this is a surprisingly intimate set of songs that still remains faithful to the Nirvana spirit. It's every bit as good as the only other Nirvana album I've listened to (Nevermind), but with some interesting differences in energy. It's lower-energy, more relaxed, and has a great un-produced acoustic feel similar to the Naked version of Let It Be (which is vastly superior to the original). The banter between tracks – something I normally criticise – works much better in a live album than the more typical scripted skits of hip-hop bands.
The cover of Bowie's The Man Who Sold The World is iconic and, maybe surprisingly, outshines the original by a lot. The riff, infectious as it is, is all but lost in the track on Bowie's 1970 album – but it takes centre stage here. Love it.
The other tracks I'm familiar with are ones that also appeared on Nevermind: On A Plain, Something In The Way, Come As You Are, and Polly. They're good choices for this album because of their more introspective, low-texture feel. Even On A Plain, whose original recording was a fiery ball of pop-energy, is toned down a lot on MTV Unplugged.
About A Girl was a solid choice of opener. Hoping Nirvana's debut album, Bleach, appears on this list.
5/5
Key tracks: all of them, honestly
5
View Album
Wed Apr 17 2024
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club
I would describe this album as a large, bad mound of noise made by self-described "musical geniuses". There are a few tracks that are passable - namely, Genius Of Love (by far the strongest in the set), Lorelei, and On On On On. The remaining tracks straddle this weird balance of children's music and extraterrestrial "alien pop"-type stuff. It's not that good, but I don't hate it either. The texturing and production are pretty good for their time.
Excluding a couple short tracks, all songs on this album go on for longer than they should, failing to introduce any new compelling musical ideas after the 1-minute mark in most cases. The lyrics are also pretty uninspiring, and often the only point of the vocal seems to be to add more noise. This idea definitely has its place (vocal solos - think Robert Plant) but it's not executed very well by Tom Tom Club. Just because something is creative doesn't mean it's necessarily good.
I feel this album does not belong on this list. (Change my mind!)
2/5
Key tracks: Genius Of Love, Lorelei, On On On On...
2
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Thu Apr 18 2024
The Wildest!
Louis Prima
An album chock-full of saxy-trumpety jazz swing. It's good fun, although some of the tracks are definitely stinkers, which holds it far back from getting the coveted 5-star award. These stinkers include The Lip (a brutally narcissistic song trying its best to be coverable by other artists), Be Mine, and Body and Soul (two uninteresting tracks with few memorable moments). The remaining tracks, however, are generally better; the opener to the album, Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody, is the strongest.
The lead vocalists (of which there are several) are great. Super strong and full of personality, yet still laid-back and non-overstepping. Soft brushes play a swing beat on the drums during most tracks, creating a lovely jazz bar atmosphere. Definitely approaching the best of pre-60s "pop" music.
4/5
4
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Fri Apr 19 2024
Future Days
Can
This is the sort of weird, wacky, prog stuff I've been holding out for. It's layered, atmospheric, and (as I kept noticing throughout the album) sonically well ahead of its time. An argument could be made that the aptly-named Future Days is more musically progressive than The Dark Side Of The Moon, another 1973 album commonly touted as one of the crowning achievements of prog rock.
Only having four tracks is a little risky in a musical world where bite-sized tracks are the standard. And yet, Can definitely justifies the long runtime of some of these. Bel Air, the monstrous 20-minute epic closing the album, is a spiralling trip where synths, bass, and drum calmly take turns absolutely shredding – but in a trippy, relaxed manner. (In fact, all four tracks could probably be described like this, but Bel Air was the standout.) I wasn't particularly focused while listening to the album, but even so, I found myself drawn to the bass in particular. I'm all about it. Very post-psychedelic.
The 9-and-a-half-minute title track, Future Days, is also really strong, though I don't have much memory of it. I guess the primary flaw of the album is that none of the tracks really stand out from the others, even though the feeling of listening to them is very memorable.
4/5
Key tracks: Future Days, Bel Air
4
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Sat Apr 20 2024
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
Having listened to the Marshall Mathers LP before, and given it 1 star, I came into this with low expectations. And I was pleasantly surprised (if only a little). This album admittedly does sounds very similar, suggesting that Eminem isn't a very versatile artist. (Probably could've guessed that.) But there's a series of 4 or 5 tracks in the middle that are unironically bopping.
The skits on this album are very much focused on public opinion of Eminem and rap/hip-hop in general, as well as Eminem's controversial position in the genre as a young, overconfident white guy who's in over his head. That, I can agree with. Fun choice to include mostly guest vocalists in these skits, allowing for a break in the monotony of Eminem's irritating hip-teen vocal. I enjoyed the skits quite a lot, actually - more than I normally would with a hip-hop record.
Like his other albums, we see caution thrown to the wind as Eminem carelessly lets out a torrent of slurs, misogynistic remarks, and narcissistic, dismissive attitude. It leaves a bad taste in the listener's mouth. I really don't see how anyone can genuinely enjoy the lyrics.
The music, on the other hand, is at least hit-or-miss. And when it hits, it hits pretty well. The tracks Role Model, My Fault, Cum On Everybody, and Rock Bottom have fun, nightclub-esque atmospheres, and Eminem's vocal meshes decently in that environment. Chord progressions are also (sometimes) very cool here.
2/5
Key tracks: Public Service Announcement, If I Had, Bitch, My Fault
2
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Sun Apr 21 2024
Lady Soul
Aretha Franklin
It's truly great music. The main thing holding it back from 5 stars is the low production quality, which is impossible to ignore once you notice it. There's a fuzziness to every instrument's track during quieter moments. Could definitely do with a remaster. The songs, for the most part, also aren't super impressive. It definitely sounds like 60s music. Not a big fan of the album cover either, which is about as basic as you can make artwork containing Aretha Franklin's face.
But that's where my criticism ends. The songs are performed spectacularly. Aretha's vocal is gorgeous, soulful, and full of spirit, all while letting the other instruments shine. Chain of Fools and A Natural Woman (you make me feeeeelll!!) are 60s soul classics, and the remaining 10 or so tracks are full of great moments too. Good to Me as I Am to You, with its slow, lilting feel and prominent bass, is a highlight. Ain't No Way, a jazzy, emotional piano-based ballad, is also fantastic. In terms of actual performance (not songwriting), pretty much every single track delivers.
4/5
Key tracks: Chain of Fools, A Natural Woman, Good to Me as I Am to You, Groovin', Ain't No Way
4
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Mon Apr 22 2024
A Little Deeper
Ms. Dynamite
It's fine, though some tracks have a noticeable dip in quality when Ms. Dynamite focuses on lyrics (particularly her "I'm a badass independent black woman who's been through some shit" lyrics, which are fine in isolation but brutally unrelatable) rather than focusing on sounds and memorable hooks. The tracks Watch Over Them, Seed Will Grow, Now U Want My Love, and Gotta Let U Know, to name a few, suffer from this issue. Other songs, like the pop-track Dy-Na-Mi-Tee, lean so heavily on their hooks (dynamite-hee~!) that they become pretty annoying. It's safe to say this album is pretty hit-or-miss (most of the tracks I haven't mentioned are passable or better).
The interlude at the beginning could definitely be cut out. The run of songs from Anyway U Want It to It Takes More is pretty strong, with some really great modern synth-pop textures and basslines. Percussion is rarely, if ever, acoustic, which is generally a big criticism of mine unless it's seriously justified by creativity or something groundbreaking. (In this case, it isn't.)
The lyrical themes are, like nearly all hip-hop/rap, not relatable. I find myself subconsciously tuning out the lyrics in most tracks. In general, lyrics that reflect every human's experience (such as those on The Dark Side of the Moon, The Stranger, Aja, Blackstar...) make for much stronger music.
Close to being 3 stars. But there are a lot of places to improve.
2/5
Key tracks: Anyway U Want It, Put Him Out, Brother, A Lil Deeper / Get Up Stand Up
2
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Tue Apr 23 2024
Neon Bible
Arcade Fire
I've already listened to Funeral and The Suburbs (both by Arcade Fire) on this list, and gave them both a 3 for similar reasons. I enjoyed this album slightly more than those two, though it could be because I was listening to it with higher quality headphones.
But even so... eh. The songs aren't very catchy, which is really the band's only obvious downfall – but it's a big downfall. Otherwise, I can think of some definite pros: The tracks sound really well produced, layered with slow, contemplative synths and percussion. With good noise-cancelling headphones, I could appreciate this production more.
The opening track, Black Mirror, was actually pretty fire. If every song had been that much of a moody, mildly catchy adventure, the album could've scored 4 stars or even higher. The song Black Wave / Bad Vibrations, on the other hand, was Black Mirror's brutal antithesis: it was just uninteresting. The remaining tracks fell somewhere in between these in terms of quality, and while I liked all of them, I didn't love any of them.
The dramatic touch in this album, seen with is a fun addition that I didn't really notice in Funeral or The Suburbs. Especially liked the organs in Intervention.
Close, so close, to 4 stars. I believe in you, Arcade Fire! Just don't be so pretentious and use those musical chops to make something worth bopping to!
Key tracks: Black Mirror, Keep the Car Running, Intervention, (Antichrist Television Blues)
3
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Wed Apr 24 2024
Vanishing Point
Primal Scream
The space-rock thing Primal Scream's going for isn't terrible, but it's very undercooked. Also, it's one of the few renditions of "90s space-rock" I've heard - and there's a reason there aren't many albums in this category. Without the low-production, experimental, semi-psychedelic charm of the 60s and 70s, there's just something lacking.
Most notably, the melodies sound incredibly low-effort, as do the vocals. There's nothing in the form of catchy melodies, interesting (vocal) rhythm, emotion, drama, or really anything to hone in on in terms of singing. Instrumentally, my criticism is similar, but I'll give Primal Scream some leeway here because the mood set by the slow synths and light drumming is pretty nifty.
Something else that disappointed me was that all the best tracks on the album - the run of tracks including Jesus, Know Your Rights, 96 Tears, and Rebel Dub - aren't even on the album. They're only included in the expanded edition. The exciting hard-rock guitars and high energy in some of those tracks boosted the album to a 3, until I checked and realised they weren't actually there! (Must've been my imagination.)
2/5
Key tracks: Star, Medication, Long Life
2
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Thu Apr 25 2024
Alien Lanes
Guided By Voices
What bothered me most about this album was its lo-fi production. I'm normally pretty open to lo-fi if it's done correctly, but something about Guided by Voices's un-remastered, homemade sound is very off-putting. Another reviewer wrote it best:
"I cannot stand the mix. I get what they were going for with the dirty, fuzzy sound but I fucking HATE it. The guitar tones on this album are fantastic but I feel like that gets so muddy and hidden in the mix. This would easily be a 3 or 4 star album for me if it were a little "cleaner" sounding."
Another issue is melody. These vocalists cannot carry a tune. Add that to the factor that some of these melodies can hardly be called tunes in the first place - owing to lack of musicality and a generally improvisatory feel - and the list of tracks that could be considered catchy becomes short very quickly.
But with 28 tracks, at least a few had to stand out, and indeed I did notice some highlights. The main factor that boosted these to being "good" songs was higher energy and a solid melody. These songs, in particular, I wish could've lasted longer (nearly all 28 tracks are under 2 minutes), but I still appreciate them as they are.
Also, for what it's worth, the lyrics are pretty fun. So is the album cover.
Key tracks: A Salty Salute, Game of Pricks, A Good Flying Bird, Blimps Go 90, Alright
2
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Fri Apr 26 2024
Modern Kosmology
Jane Weaver
I tend to give post-2000 albums a pass if they were really popular on release or have since become popular, because that means they would've had a big impact on the music world (for better or worse). Modern Kosmology definitely didn't make a big splash on the music scene, looking at the Spotify listens. Because of this, I have to ask: why is Modern Kosmology included in this list?
The music itself has a mix of good and bad going for it. The good: it's chill music. Very atmospheric. Good to put on in the background while you meditate, before/after a big public speech, or during a particularly uninteresting cricket match. I liked the very out-of-place male vocal that bookended the track Ravenspoint. Also, the style is pretty consistent but still varies in terms of songwriting. There's a good creativity-consistency balance.
Now for the bad. Jane Weaver's singing is... not great. It's possible that either she or the production team knew this, and added thick layers of effects/filters in some tracks to disguise it. (This actually made her voice sound definitively worse.) But even without the filters, she doesn't have much in the way of vibrato, range, or clarity. Her voice is a little breathy and she doesn't get much volume or depth out. Another criticism I have is with the synths, which are almost too consistent/unwavering within tracks. Often, they'll either drone one note for entire songs or song sections, or repeat some simple melody relentlessly. It's exhausting for the close listener.
But yeah, I did enjoy the music. Kinda. Just not sure why it made the list.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Does the album belong on this list: 1/5
Avg: 2/5
Key tracks: Did You See Butterflies?, Modern Kosmology, Valley
2
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Sat Apr 27 2024
More Songs About Buildings And Food
Talking Heads
Talking Heads are so often touted as one of the "classics" - to be revered, reviewed, and NOT reviled. Everyone loves the Talking Heads, right?
Not this guy. David Byrne's vocal is rightly criticised by many listeners, because it just sounds plain bad. Almost to the point that it sounds like he's trying to sabotage the other instruments' sound (which is otherwise pretty solid). It's often atonal, arrhythmic, slurred, and bored-yet-strained.
That's just about the only criticism I have, but Byrne places himself so front-and-centre in the music that it very nearly destroys the entire album. Everything else is good, if a little samey in places. The opening track, Thank You for Sending Me an Angel, uses a simple yet satisfying chord progression and powerful guitar for a great start to the album. (Seriously. By the end of this track, I was thinking, "at this rate the album's getting 4 stars".) The next two tracks featured more varied guitar lines/licks, with some energetic drumming and bass playing. Unfortunately, the vocal gets more and more unappealing as the album progresses, and it's difficult to really groove as much as the other reviewers seem to be doing. I'm jealous.
2/5
Key tracks: Thank You for Sending Me an Angel, The Good Thing, Take Me to the River
2
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Sun Apr 28 2024
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Bill Callahan
Unusual genre – country prog? Most of the tracks are pretty long (though none overstay their welcome) and any instrumentation/melody changes within songs are very gradual and subtle. Bill Callahan's voice is old-fashioned, almost Johnny Cash-esque but with a less pleasant vocal quality. Sounds a bit underproduced. It's a weird juxtaposition with the otherwise fairly clean production, but still cool-sounding regardless. Also fun to hear the half-spoken half-sung vocal style that seems to be a rarity in the post-2000s era of music.
Beautiful string playing. It's quite raw-sounding; it really sounds like a string ensemble, or (at some points) an entire Romantic-era orchestra, is playing on the stage behind Callahan. And yet, it's a very thin texture. Generally I'm not a fan of thin textures unless they're placed as a contrast to much thicker, more dramatic textures in other places. That isn't really the case here; the album doesn't have much sense of "flow" or "ups and downs". It commits to one thoughtful, melancholic mood and sticks to that throughout, which definitely limits audience excitement.
The strongest instruments are the acoustic guitar and piano. Simple and pretty playing over (mostly) standard chords. The drums, during their appearances, are played lightly and tastefully.
3/5
Key tracks: Jim Cain, Too Many Birds, My Friend
3
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Mon Apr 29 2024
Porcupine
Echo And The Bunnymen
My rating here is partially a response to the album itself, and partially an artifact of having listened to far too many consecutive Britpop/post-punk albums. At a certain point, it really takes a toll, and not in a good way. Now, like just about all of these identical-sounding British 80s bands, I:
- hate the monarchy
- hate the government even more
- desire a healthy gossip about the Silent/Boomer generations while sipping a good Earl Grey
- dislike the music industry, but not quite enough to go against the brutally unvarying trends
I guess this is how Echo and the Bunnymen felt. Even so, I can't bring myself to love the music. The singing doesn't quite fully commit to the punk genre, but instead has that kind of wobbly, unpolished quality that's so commonplace in this decade of music. It's put through a sort of distant, metallic filter here, but rather than masking the poor singing, it just makes the music seem emptier and less passionate. In addition, within the tracks, there isn't much progression or change of moods. It feels a little disorganised and chaotic, yet still manages to be (energetically) monotone. Wacky. (There is a healthy variety of moods and energies throughout the album, though, so this isn't too much of a fault.)
The drumming and guitar playing is nothing incredible, but it's solid. Just about any fast drum fill will make me appreciate the percussion as a whole, and this album is no exception. The world-music gig going on in the instrumental is also pretty nifty. Not sure what a lot of these instruments are, but they add a seriously cool atmosphere that singlehandedly brings the album up to 3 stars. Well done, Bunnymen, you saved yourself.
3/5
Key tracks: Heads Will Roll, Porcupine, Back of Love
3
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Tue Apr 30 2024
Thriller
Michael Jackson
Some really solid stuff on here, even ignoring the rose-tinted lens of fame that nearly allows the album (and its monumental sales) to speak for itself. The music is crammed with little bits and bobs to keep the listener absolutely hooked. Take Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, the opening track, as an example. There are constant little flourishes in the backing vocals, electronic drums, synthy bassline, and so on, all amounting to six minutes of pure musical excitement. It's incredibly engaging – addictively so. Imagine one of those heavily edited TikToks or YouTube Shorts, but in song form, and you'll understand where I'm coming from. But, unlike TikTok, this has some pretty darn good music. Baby Be Mine, P.Y.T., and Thriller (title track) are also distinctively engaging in the same way. Obviously Michael Jackson's voice is the star here, but even if you don't like his voice, there's plenty else to lap up.
Jackson's voice is pretty cool on this album, though. A bit of an acquired taste for some because of his ultra-youthful, almost whiny timbre - but honestly, he makes it work really well here. We see a healthy mixture of ballads (The Lady in My Life, Human Nature, The Girl Is Mine), disco (Baby Be Mine, kinda Billie Jean), high-energy pop (Thriller, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', P.Y.T), and a very poppy rendition of rock (Beat It). And for all of these, Jackson manages to find a reasonably convincing vocal while sticking to his "slot in random cool noises" guns. His breathy crooning in the ballads is probably the weakest his voice gets, and it's still pretty good.
Also, to all of you saying The Girl Is Mine is cringey and that McCartney should stay out of Jackson's music: Yeah, nah. It's a fun-filled collab that's not meant to be taken seriously. Sort of the "Yellow Submarine" of the album. I dig it.
5/5
Key tracks: all of them! Reads like a greatest-hits record.
5
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Wed May 01 2024
The Rise & Fall
Madness
It's a really strange collection of songs. On the one hand, there's definite musical prowess and understanding of texturing, keeping the listener's interest, and knowledge of several genres (including blues, jazz, funk, and ska). On the other hand, it genuinely seems like Madness was trying to alienate the listener during some tracks.
Take Sunday Morning, a theoretically strong track. It tries to go for almost math-rock levels of auditory annoyance with its frequent, unorthodox pauses, off-kilter horn hits, and so on. The song That Face, later in the album, is similar. Separately: New Delhi (the track) is so caricatured that it's hard to enjoy. Also, the main vocalist has a pretty monotone British-conversational voice, reminiscent of punk. Not a big fan.
But when the album hits, it really hits. Our House, the international hit single, is really good. The eclectic nature of the band is relegated mostly to the haphazard chord changes, which honestly sound pretty great in this instance. Tomorrow's (Just Another Day), Rise and Fall, and Tiptoes are all just great jazzy/brassy tunes. The four promo video tracks, which weren't included on the original album, are some of my favourites. (Seriously – they should've been on the original! A travesty.)
Unfortunately, there's the blackface guy on the album cover. What's up with that?
3/5
Key tracks: Tiptoes, Our House, Tomorrow's (Just Another Day), Rise and Fall
3
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Thu May 02 2024
Beautiful Freak
Eels
I surprised myself here. This record is pretty great. Alt-rock nearly at its finest, with little bits of influence from jazz, funk, and classical (among others). Reminiscent of Radiohead's debut album, Pablo Honey, though I would argue Beautiful Freak is generally better and more consistent. Lots of electrical SFX, synths, and sharp/sudden editing, all of which I really enjoyed (though I understand people who don't). That editing is especially apparent in the stop-start-filled opening track, Novocaine For The Soul, which is coincidentally also my favourite song on here.
My main criticism is that the vocalist doesn't have much variety – but even so, it's still a more convincing voice than half the albums on this list, so I can't complain too much.
4/5
Key tracks: Novocaine For The Soul, Flower, Mental, Spunky, Manchild
4
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Fri May 03 2024
Calenture
The Triffids
I didn't like this album, and there's a lot of space to improve. For one, the main vocalist's voice is barely passable. It has that distinctive 80s-pop-synth-man that's trying to be embellished and theatrical, but doesn't quite get there. And yet it's obvious that the music is centred around the singing, excluding the short title track Calenture, which was a mess of orchestra and piano, attempting and failing to deliver any drama. The remaining tracks aren't exactly terrible, but they're very uninteresting. The instruments are easy enough to focus on in terms of volume and texture, but they don't vary much, instead yielding to the singing, which isn't the best idea for this band.
The strongest track was the album opener Bury Me Deep in Love, which was heavily 80s-acoustic sounding but still decent. Disney-esque. It overstayed its welcome by a minute or so, which was also true of many other tracks. Vagabond Holes was so ridiculously poorly written, mostly in terms of melody/rhythm, that (coupled with the catchy instrumental) it looped back around to being kind of fun to listen to. Save What You Can was a decent piano-driven track that ended the album on a good note. All the remaining tracks were aggressively forgettable, even while I was still listening to them. The reason behind this was most likely the poor melodies – easily the music's weakest link – and the lack of any good hooks.
Very surprised this made it onto the list. It isn't captivating, innovative, inspiring, catchy... or popular (judging by Spotify listens).
1/5
Key tracks: Bury Me Deep in Love, Vagabond Holes, Save What You Can
1