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Thu Nov 02 2023
(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
Whiny and loud, often kind of cacophonous and definitely overstimulating. Most of them blend together for me, though I recognize Wonderwall, of course. It's really obvious listening to them all in one go how incredibly nasal-y the lead singer's voice is, which is putting me off. However, I didn't hate She's Electric or Some Might Say!
2
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Fri Nov 03 2023
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
Otis Redding
I have a strong bent towards upbeat, "peppier" music, and can quickly grow bored by anything too languid and smooth, no matter how beautiful. So some of this is just a little too slow for me, even though Redding's voice is objectively gorgeous and rich and the band is excellent. But on the whole, I enjoyed it, and really loved the cover of "My Girl."
4
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Sat Nov 04 2023
With The Beatles
Beatles
I would consider myself to have about average knowledge of The Beatles and I was pretty unfamiliar with this album. The only one I really recognized for sure was All My Loving, which I feel is the obvious standout of the album. But I also enjoyed Don't Bother Me, which I've definitely never heard before. The rest was very easy listening for me, even if not super memorable.
4
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Sun Nov 05 2023
The Downward Spiral
Nine Inch Nails
Very much not for me. I am just not interested in deliberately unpleasant sounding music (even if I theoretically understand how it might be cathartic and emotional) and I found this a struggle to listen to. Every so often, in one of these songs, there'd be a tiny snatch of something actually melodic and interesting, which would get my hopes up, and then they'd immediately go back to screaming. However, because of this, A Warm Place, which I'm sure is a beautiful reprieve for anyone listening to the album, was actually borderline transcendent and completely unexpected to me, so that was really lovely.
1
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Mon Nov 06 2023
Pearl
Janis Joplin
Not a genre of music that particularly speaks to me, but Joplin clearly had a phenomenal voice. The standout of the album for me was definitely Me and Bobby McGee, which is much more folky than the rest and therefore much more to my taste.
3
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Tue Nov 07 2023
Lust For Life
Iggy Pop
I honestly had only the vaguest idea of who Iggy Pop is and I had never heard any of the songs on this album. But I'm a fan! I found myself bouncing my foot along to the beat, always a good sign. On the whole, catchy and peppy in just the way I like. Standouts were Lust for Life and The Passenger and it seems that I am not unique in thinking so.
4
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Wed Nov 08 2023
Legalize It
Peter Tosh
Honestly enjoyed this more than I thought I would, I've never really listened to Reggae before. So catchy and so soothing and pleasant at the same time. I especially liked Watcha Gonna Do and Igziabeher, but I'll admit that it was Legalize It that was stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
4
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Thu Nov 09 2023
3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Arrested Development
What an unexpected, fun album! I am not very familiar with hip hop, but I really enjoyed how upbeat and positive these songs are. It's not actually so much about the lyrics themselves (in fact, many of the lyrics lean a little too spiritual/Christian for my personal taste). It's more that you can just hear the lightness in their voices and I found it wonderfully contagious. I was especially fond of the beginning of the album, "Man's Final Frontier," "Mama's Always On Stage," and "Mr. Wendel," though I liked the last few songs as well.
4
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Fri Nov 10 2023
Truth And Soul
Fishbone
I enjoyed listening to this album as background music, but practically nothing in it stuck out to me. I definitely appreciated the upbeat, catchy beats and I honestly rather like the goofy, whimsical ska elements. But still, it just sounded like background music to me. Maybe if I listened to more it would stick with me?
3
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Sat Nov 11 2023
The Stooges
The Stooges
I really enjoyed Lust for Life last week, so I was hopeful for this one once I realized that it's also Iggy Pop. But I was unfortunately not a fan. I found a lot of this to be pretty grating and way too long and repetitive. This really deserves a 1.5 — I'm not repulsed by it, but I do find it generally unpleasant to listen to and not a single track made it onto my "would listen to again" list.
2
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Sun Nov 12 2023
Whatever
Aimee Mann
Loved this — my first 5 star album of the project! I only knew one Aimee Mann song (Labrador), but I'm not surprised at all that I'm into this. I'm such a sucker for upbeat melodies with sad lyrics and female harmonies. A few of these were a little two slow to be top favorites, but I loved "Fifty Years After the Fair," "Put Me On Top," and "Stupid Thing." Also hilarious that she's got a song about Jacob Marley, I love A Christmas Carol.
5
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Mon Nov 13 2023
Your Arsenal
Morrissey
I don't know exactly what I thought I knew about Morrissey that made me think I wasn't going to like this. Whiny and depressing, maybe? Well, color me shocked, but apparently I'm a fan. There was nothing here I didn't like and several I loved: "Certain People I Know," "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful," "Tomorrow."
5
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Tue Nov 14 2023
Funeral
Arcade Fire
I like this indie rock sound, so this was easy listening for me. Nothing transcendent, but definitely enjoyable, with a few tracks that I saved: Rebellion (Lies) and Neighborhood #1. Every so often there'd be some of that grating instrumentation that I'm not a fan of, though.
4
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Sat Dec 09 2023
Mott
Mott The Hoople
This wasn't bad, but I don't have very strong feelings about it either. I will say that I actually kind of like the half speaking/half singing sound here, it reminds me of Jonathan Richman. My favorite was I Wish I Was Your Mother, which I actually really like, but it has a really different sound than the rest of the album.
3
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Sun Dec 10 2023
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
I love folk music and so I expected to wholeheartedly love this and I didn't quite. There were a few I liked a lot (Ragged Wood, Sun It Rises), but I think this leaned a little more pop than I wanted it to. Folk music usually feels very emotionally and musically rich to me, and this didn't quite reach that. But I did enjoy listening to it as a whole.
4
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Mon Dec 11 2023
The Man Who
Travis
I was open to this at the beginning, I like the soft rock sound even if the lyrics aren't the most inspired. But this album gets progressively more whiny and woe-is-me as it goes and it's really just too much. I saved The Fear and Driftwood.
2
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Tue Dec 12 2023
Automatic For The People
R.E.M.
The first album I've encountered so far that was already a favorite! I love REM and I've listened to this album many times, though it's actually been awhile since I've listened to it straight through. It surprised me how moody and slow it is as a whole, as I tend to prefer more upbeat stuff, but it still works so well for me. I already had about half these songs saved to my favorites (Sweetness Follows, Try Not to Breathe, Man On The Moon were top favorites), but I went ahead and added the rest as well.
5