One of the best rock albums of all time.
Soundtracking the iconic opening scene to Trainspotting, the intro and title track evokes powerful memories of my teenage years. It's such a good romp it takes something away from second track, Sixteen, before picking up again with Some Weird Sin and then into standout track The Passenger, its upbeat swagger, instantly recognisable riff, "La la la" chorus making it utterly timeless.
The thing that struck me most with this album is there's a lot more to Iggy Pop than what appears on the surface, which I guess is what happens when you have spent a significant amount of time as David Bowie's protege. The Bowie-esque "Tonight" and "True Blue" with their soaring harmonies, shining guitars and varying vocal styles showcase a well-rounded musical offering beyond the bare-chested punk posturing. It's up there with Lou Reed/Velvet Underground and Bowie himself (if not quite hitting the stratospheric heights of the latter, which is an unfair comparison in itself).
At 41 mins and with 9 tracks it's not an opus, but with the aforementioned Lust for Life and The Passenger, two almost culture-defining tracks, on the same album - it's hard not to love this album for this fact alone.
I _really_ wanted to love this album, I appreciate its significance and the politically charged messages and commentary are certainly on point and relevant, sadly even today.
The skills of Chuck D are obvious, and Flava Flav's work is admirable in parts too. There are a few occurrences where I find things really jarring, some of the intros perhaps... but maybe that's the point.
Enjoyed it - yes. Respect it - yes. Would I listen to it again - probably not.
Amazing album from the Queen of Soul. Couple of the classics on here such as "A Natural Woman" and "Chain of Fools", the latter of which is a personal favourite.
But it's the uptempo, Northern Soul, almost Gospel banger "Come Back Baby" which is the standout track for me, followed by the laid-back Jazz of "Ain't No Way" which showcases Aretha's unbelievable vocal talents and cements her position, not just as the "Queen" of soul, but the goddamn ruler of all she surveyed.
Great album. Plenty of variety, interesting, uplifting yet depressing melodies, and enough surrealism to keep it interesting but not clichéd.
Seminal punk album from the Dead Kennedys. Mixing a great sense of humour with serious political commentary, all delivered with a sense of malice and urgency. It's all super tight as well - the punk aesthetic slightly obscuring the chops of a band who can really play as well.
No thanks.
Another blistering album from Aretha Franklin. Because her most well-known songs are 'really' famous, I think that does some of her lesser-known ones a disservice. Kicking off with "Respect", the track that arguably defines Aretha, while it's a hugely recognisable groove with a killer hook, "Drown In My Own Tears" just pulls at your heart strings with its laid back waltz juxtaposed with the pure heartache emanating from that voice and the complex chord progressions accented by the piano line. The title track for example, is such painful, bluesy, soulful brilliance. The boogie-woogie "Good Times" is the best NYE party-starter tune you've possibly never heard. The rockier "Save Me" showcases a harder sound before segueing in to the simply beautiful "A Change Is Gonna Come"
5 stars just for Running Up That Hill and Cloudbusting....
There are some other gems such as The Morning Fog, Watching You Without Me, and of course, the title track. There's a bit of the ridiculous on here too (Waking the Witch, Jig of Life) but no-one can deny that this album is something special overall.
It's hard to be objective about this one. It was released as I was going through a bad time in my life and a lot of these songs remind me of that time.
There are a few good tracks on here, and you can't deny the obvious hook of Clocks, In My Place etc. My favourite one off here is probably Warning Sign, which seems a bit more raw than the tracks destined for the masses....
...and I think that's my main problem with this album in general. While I thought Parachutes was a genuinely well-crafted album with some great songwriting, I can imagine the pressures of writing the "difficult second album" drew them to producing something that, on the whole, is safe, bland and...beige. I'll give it 3 stars - there's some obvious songwriting quality on here, but the relentless pursuit of mega-success is what spoils it all.
I don't generally like Elvis Costello's voice, but it's hard to deny the art-punk genius of the Attractions' instrumentalism. What really, and I mean REALLY stood out for me was the bass playing of Bruce Thomas, to the point that I think this album needs to feature Bruce on the cover :D.
There are some great tracks on here - Lipstick Vogue's upbeat punk vibe, and The Beat's funky rhythm section (which is what made me sit up and take notice of the Attractions rather than Costello himself), and the more famous Pump It Up. There are undeniably catchy moments on this album such as (I Don't Want To To Go To) Chelsea.
I find that Costello is at his weakest when he's trying to do the croony ballad's (Little Triggers). He's far better suited to belting out upbeat, punkier stuff, e.g. on the Jam-esque "You Belong to Me".
Initially I gave this 3 stars, but I listened to it again and it's kind of grown on me. So it's a pretty solid 4 I think.
I 'missed' the Pixies by a couple of years in my youth - any introduction to them was via older siblings of friends of mine and I never really took much notice. Something I regret a bit on listening to this album. It's got some great songs on here - standouts for me are "Velouria", the sludgy "The Happening" - and they strike the balance between melodious choruses and spiky angular verses/intros very well.
Had I been 13-15 when I first heard this, I'd have probably given it 5 stars and worn out my tape copy...
Some great soulful vocals and funky jams on here as we'd expect - the instrumentals are by and large ignorable. The magic of Curtis Mayfield is his voice - I get it's obviously a film soundtrack, but you cannot hold a candle to Freddie's Dead and the title track with an instrumental.
Dafuq is this?
