Definitive strokes sound, but starts to get tiring. The songs that stand out do stand out, but the album as a whole lacks diversity in both song writing and style. I don’t feel the urge to get lost inside the album.
Interesting album, nothing really stood out to me on first listen, found myself skipping around after a bit. Have a hard time deciding how I feel about sampling style records like this. Has a mood and style, but I find the arrangement a little piecemeal.
Often good but struggles to cohesively become great at any point. Weak point being the vocals and lyricism. Moments of instrumental jammy beauty stand out amongst mediocre vocal performances. Songs feel stagnant and lightly repetitive at times. Sax and rhythm section are the highlight.
I love Johnny Cash, but damn this record struggles to work. So many of the covers are painful, both failing to serve Cash and the original. Bridge Over Troubled Waters and Personal Jesus being two major offenders. Hurt is a saving grace, as well as the originals.
Objectively interesting arrangement and instrumentation. I just didn’t really like anything. Not one song made me want to re-listen. These guys feel like they’d be great commercial musicians.
Never been the biggest fan of Pearl Jam or Eddie in general. Can respect their impact and their song writing regardless. Classic tunes all over the album, and it’s undeniable they wrote catchy, well arranged music. Maybe some day I’ll really dig into it, but for now I leave Ten at a soft 4.
It’s got a vibe. Riding around in a shitbox smoking cigarettes as the grip tape of my skateboard rubs my forearm raw since there’s not enough room to throw it in the back. Love it when music does that. But, for better or worse, in this example, it doesn’t sound all that good. Mix is pretty atrocious, song writing is weak, and it’s lacking something substantial. Likely won’t be listening back.
Maybe it’s because I’m a guitar player but boy the guitar in this record is lacking. Eclectic is a great way to put this record, fun and interesting, but doesn’t really say much. If the instrumental aspects were other worldly I could love this, but it feels like a lesser, shitier version of funk jazz fusion, without the savant musicians.
Simultaneously great and unremarkable. Songs Alien made me sit and listen, while nearly every other one felt like forgettable, albeit well crafted music. To be frank, the bass player made the album, the fretless, odd bass lines kept me interested enough, despite the underwhelming vocals and lyricism.
Difficult album to rate. Plagued with nostalgia and a sense of comfort from a childhood of listening to Yes’ music, I immediately want to give this album a 5. Yet it’s far from perfect, particularly when facing the lyrics, most of them really make no damn sense. Moments like the clap confuse me, why is a single, mediocrely recorded live song plugged into the record? Why not record it in a studio? Regardless, musicianship is unbelievable, Howe’s guitar is incredible and Squire’s bass is definitive of the genre. Not a fan of the 5 scale, not a 10/10 but I’ll give it a 5.
Who the fuck mixed this mans voice, because they might have made the most uncomfortably “close” feeling vocals I’ve ever heard. Sounds like dude is inside of my ear canal. Music isn’t bad, gets into a bit of progressive feeling folk with experimental shit mixed around. Unfortunately any semblance of enjoyment is dispersed by the atrocious vocals. Nothing caught my ear, but instrumental aspects were fairly polished, so that bumps it to a 2.
Milk toast. Just milk toast.
Interesting album, largely enjoyable but nothing incredibly interesting. Muffled production and unremarkable vocals, yet no real bad songs per se. Girl from mars got saved, kung fu will hopefully be forgotten.
Love CSN and all the related band names/lineups they had. Still CSN’s self titled album has never been my favorite. I think of it as a time and place record, like driving up 1, watching california fly by. More of a vibe than an experience, right when it’s right.
Strong upper 4. Lots of love for this album, almost a 5 but not quite. Insane personnel, Hendrix, Clapton, Booker T., Ringo, etc. Live recordings of a number of these songs sit in my all time favorites, but the production does no favors. Great but not the best Stills has done.
What an absolute beast of a record, god damn. Super interesting concept, but indulgent is a good way to put it. I don’t love OutKast enough to really sit with this. Either way, Big Bois Speakerboxxx is awesome, maintaining a fresh take on hip hop years later. Instrumentally interesting and listenable. Solid 4. The Love Below skirts the line of dogshit a little. Not listenable at all, so much of the album takes you out of it into a moment of clarity wondering what the fuck Andre 3000 is doing. Then he plays Hey Ya and all is well. So soft 3 with moments of beauty.
Monotonous. Most of the songs lull you into a bit of trance, largely just because the vocals roll on, the beats roll on, the melody rolls on, etc. I want it to be cool, something about it is exciting and there is a unique energy in the songs, but it never actually hits or reaches the point of feeling like something I want to listen to again. Paper planes is cool but feels like someone wrote it as a single, it really doesn’t fit, and it is coincidentally the only catchy song and her only hit.
If they let this record breathe a bit I think I could love it. It desperately needs space in the arrangement. Or maybe if they did less cocaine. Maybe thats it. All jokes aside, insufferably 80s. Awesome bass and drums that suffer from overdone vocals, synths, and other bad 80s production/arrangement. Nothing stood out.
Really poor musicianship unfortunately. Only song that really stands out is one they didn’t write, which makes sense. With better direction and better song writing they could’ve been something really cool. As can be seen with grapevine, all of sudden you see the potential of the vocalist. Unfortunately that is the only shining light. Influential but not listenable.
People have a real hate for this record. I don’t think it was bad but it definitely wasn’t great. Not cohesive in the slightest and didn’t really convince me to listen to it at any point. Musically sound and clever at moments.
