A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various ArtistsCozy Christmas vibes all over the whole record! Also it is incredible to think about how young Spector was when he revolutionized music production.
Cozy Christmas vibes all over the whole record! Also it is incredible to think about how young Spector was when he revolutionized music production.
There are things I enjoy about this record. But it became a monotonous chore to get through. At 30 minutes, I would probably like it quite a bit more.
Some great moments, and happy to experience it. A little too corny at times for my part
I appreciate the inventiveness of the album, which bringes 80s pop/rock and the emerging 90s alternative scene. Some moments are brilliant, but it does not resonate completley with me at a deep emotional level. I am However a bigger REM fan now than a hour ago.
Really well produced and innovative, with some of my favourite Beatles tracks. However, it becomes a bit of a chore with to much Lennon-Yoko quirkiness.
A study in improvisation an sound painting. Interesting in it’s cultural context, but it has somehow lost its relevance. Also a little taxing in the long run.
It´s a collection of great grooves and cool riffs. However, grooves and riffs usually goes on for five minutes longer than they should in the longer tracks. The shorter tunes like «Good Golly Miss Molly» makes for worthwhile listening though, and «Proud Mary» is a classic for a reason.
A great little rock record! Surprisingly heavier than I thought, and I can definitively see the parallells to grunge. The guitar sound on «My My, Hey Hey» is absolutely gorgeous.
What an amazing nostalgia trip this turned out to be! I grew up with «One Way Ticket», but I never really explored The Darkness fully. This will be a staple in my «gym music» collection from now on. This is also an example that I am not a huge fan of goofy comedy music, but a rather big fan of satirical music.
A great album, with interesting ideas in its instrumentals. The vocals are not quite for me, and the lacking dynamics of the record leaves the whole record feeling a bit flat at length.
Interesting and sometimes beautiful textures with grooves that make you bop your head all over this record. The album is a wonderful example of music with a purpose: This is not a progressive artwork that opens for deep contemplation, but it is a selection of sounds that puts you into a pleasant state of mind. A great debut, but it also does lack the coherence and thoughtfulness that more mature artists usually show.
Brilliant album that never hets repetitive or boring. «When the Levee breaks» is a new favourite of mine.
Great classic rock record, with some amazing songs and great variety. The only thing holding it back is some less memorable songs towards the end of the album.
Beautiful and charming album, from wonderfully talented young artist. Not quite my cup of tea at length, but a brilliant album and clearly important historically.
Cozy Christmas vibes all over the whole record! Also it is incredible to think about how young Spector was when he revolutionized music production.
I am officially a Krautrock fan! Some of the more pop-edrue songs are a bit meh (The Sad Skinhead), but the actual Krautrock is amazing.
My First «play on repeat»-album! Right up my alley, and this will be a stater in my collection. Awesome songwriting, great musicianship, and a whole album I enjoyed from start to end.
I am not the right person to jugde this album. The whole thing felt like being in a club, and I think that is where this music fits best. If I walked into a club playing this, I would not be offended. Probably wouldn’t stay too long either. However, there are some highlights towards the end (One too many Mornings and Alive Alone.)
The genre blending of this is rather interesting, and some of the songs are good in the context of its genre. It is not really a thing I gravitate towards, but I do understand why its in this book.
Great work from the producers, and some nice used of rhythm from the rappers. However, I am not a huge fan of the overly «in your face» sexual lyrics. I know its part of the style, but the lack of subtlety makes it far less interesting than what it could have been.
A clear consize nostalgia melancholic vibe all throughout the album. But I don’t get why this album is so highly acclaimed.
This album has some of my favourite Beatles tracks on it, and very little worthy of critique. I am not the worlds biggest Beatles fan, but that doesn´t mean this is not a brilliant album. Rather, this album makes me a bigger Beatles fan every time I hear it.
A far better album than the previous Doves record — dynamic and well structured. They stayed in shape in terms of musicianship, but are growing as songwriters.
This is everything you want from a soul album and more! Amazing!
I am always fascinated when I find an album and think «so that´s what the artist I like have been listening to». This was that kind of album. A part from some charming songs that didn't really fit up my alley, this was a brilliant listening experience that I did not expect liking as much as I did.
Some good moments for sure, but I find Beck not living up to the hype. The experimental forms ends up just feeling messy, and taking away from the brilliance that at times shines through.
I like it, but I don’t really get why its such a classic.
Cool dark atmosphere! A little short on strong tunes for my part, but a great album over all.
Live records are fun and all, but this is on a whole other level! Great musicianship and BB showing why he is so highly acclaimed. This album makes me regret never joining a blues band.
Monk is Monk — not quite my cup of tea, but a legend for a reason.
This is my third Beck album, and I have disliked the two previous. This, however, is beautiful. The noise experimentation works like a charm, surrounding a gifted singer-songwriter.
Everytime I listen to Black Sabbath, I ask myself «Where did that come from?». After spending some time with this album, I do see how these four young musicians mixed their jazz and blues roots into something heavier than what the world had seen up to that point. It is, however, even clearer to see the influence they have had on what came after them. Brilliant album, that I listen to far too seldom.
Well, this is a party… No, literally!
Beautiful, down to earth and a good reason to check out more of The Boss
Beautiful songwriting, vocal performance and production! This shows that there are still ways of being experimental without losing track of form, and that RnB and Electronica can provide sublime musical beauty.
I really love funk, and got my hopes up for this. And it is not bad, just a bit boring.
I had absolutley no expectaions going into this, and I was very pleasantly surprised. This is an intriguing electronica record that encapsulates the Scandinavian winter perfectly. That is saying something, coming from a Norwegian listening to a Swedish artist. And to all my fellow musician — most of our musical pride and joys took their sound from this, some way or another (probably through Highasakite).
I thought this was going Tonje overhyped hipster stuff, but I was surprised. Great tunes, great musicianship and all over a good vibe.
This is a fun record full of brilliant use of samples, cool grooves and immature lyrics. I prefer hip hop when it has some depth to its lyrics, but I liked this one a lot more than I expected to.
Adele is one of those artists that’s better than her hits. But her hits are still great!
Experimental, but rarely in a good way. It has certain interesting moments, but not enough to make up for it being full of hiphop-clichés and annoying synths. Could have been a 3, if it hasn’t been for the obvious mismatch between the album and the to last hits that seems to have been put there to save a risky project
This is a quirky, cute and somewhat interesting 60s record, made in 2004.
Probably the most formative album for me personally, so it is next to impossible to give a neutral review. However, upon hearing it for the first time in years it’ still holds up. The songs are well written and the arrangements strike me as suprisingly interesting. What always exited me about this is the song forms. It’s not as expansive as prog, but they push a bit further beyond the verse-chorus form and it truly makes the songs Musical journeys, However cheezy that may sound
Nostalgia trip day 2! Of course I've heard all the hits from this album, but I was surprised how well the rest of it holds up. The year 2000 was not necessarily a highlight in music history for my ears. This, however, is an exciting and fresh mix of metal and hip hop without any elements feeling forced. It ain't a perfect 5 star album, but a hell of a lot closer than I expected it to be.
Great soul album, with the legendary «Papa was a Rolling Stone» on it. No bad tracks in my book, but a slightly goofy «Run Charlie Run». As opposed to other cringeworthy goofy stuff I've heard, this made me laugh a bit and has a great groove.
This is a pop record — nothing more, nothing less. Very unprovocative, quit dull but not bad in any particular way.
Classic album marked by great craft in the waiting and arrangements, as well as the genius of Ray Charles.
I like the instrumentals, and I giggled a bit. But this is just a bunch of immature white boys talking shit. I’ve been one myself, but still…
Influental and interesting in its context, but not really my thing.
There are things I enjoy about this record. But it became a monotonous chore to get through. At 30 minutes, I would probably like it quite a bit more.
Sweet 60s vibes with brilliant production, arranging and musical performances. Some songs are better than others, but the album as a whole is solid
This is a beautiful place to spend some time – three wonderfully talented musicians (and sadly proof of what we lost when Scott LaFaro died a few days later at 25). As with most standard jazz, it is not something to get into just like that. It demands focus and preparation to get the most out of this record. As an album being released, it ain't anything ground breaking. It is more an example of somebody that has mastered a tradition and a style. The cool jazz and post bop of the 50s has sort of come to its apex around this time, and this album is part of that. So it is amazing musicianship, beautifully recorded, but not anything revolutionary. Still an amazing album though, I am trying to pace myself with the 5 star reviews here.
I have a lot of predjudice towards newer rock artists due to it including some of the most uninspiring music out there. But this is awesome — a nice blend of noise, groove, catchy pop and krautrock. I didn´t think that was possible, but here we are.
Beautiful jazzy nostalgia! Would be a great lounge or bar band, but gets as a little dull recorded.
This is a vibe, but a bit too much of a novelty for me. But It’ll put it it on when I am really drunk.
I was dreading going into this, but was positively surprised. I truly can't stand RHCPs hits, and there are a lot of them. However, I have always wondered why I don't like them — I am after all a metalhead that went funkier and poppier the older I got. Listening to this whole album made me realize that there are some things that I really like. Basically, the heavier, funkier or sentimental these guys get, the more I like them. Sadly, its too little of all those things and to many zeitgeist hits.
An example of an album that is a great version of what it is. However, I don't really click with the thing that it is. But how I wish I clicked more with it, cause there are some insane highlights on this record. I have never been so horrified by a song as I was by «Kim». Some of these songs make me giggle, but sadly there is too much «come on, get over with this».
I had no clue what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. A beautiful, calm, short and sweet album blending an array of different genres. There are som jazzy brass, soul-esque chord playing on the rhodes, indie-style vocals and an overall aesthetic from electronic music.
Hip hop is by far my worst genre on here, but holy mother of something this album is absolutely insane! I've listened to it casually here and there before, but giving it a bit more attention opens up a whole new dimension. The lyrics are funny here and devastating here. The instrumentals and samples are both amazingly utilized, and the inclusion of the interview at the end is surprisingly beautiful.
I do want to like this, but lyrics alone just doesn't cut it for me. I would have bought a novel written by Cohen, but I wouldn't buy this album. It isn't particularily bad, just not something that excites me.
A straight forward rock n’ roll album — nothing more, nothing less.
The more guitar an synths there is, the more I like it. Sadly, there isn’t too much of that.
So this is the sound of cocaine and statutory rape... Sounds pretty cool (I mean the music, not the other stuff).
What I find interesting about music from non-western cultures, is that its ritual function is so much more apparent than others. Sure, you have straight pop music from these cultures. But you also have this, where the music serves a function. It is useful. Given certain views on culture and artistic craft in the west, I think it makes it obvious that we have lost something that connects us. This music isn't just for putting on in the background at a dinner party. It is clearly a musical tradition that serves to connect people in praise. Might not be something I listen to more than once, but I am extremely intrigued and very keen on checking out more albums like this.
Not super exciting, but a beautiful expression of the mainstream jazz tradition. In addition, there is something to be said about the whole blending of soul and country, which must have been pretty radical at the time. Great performances, great arrangements (its Marty Paich and strings, duh) and a nice way to start the day.
It's punk — nothing more than that! I like The Clash but had never heard this before. And I was a bit disappointed of how bland it was. Looking back, punk didn't really bring too much to music apart from some catchy tunes and an annoying mentality among youth (yes, I do prefer prog, yacht rock and disco). This just sounds like The Ramones, just more drunk.
Disclaimer: I already knew that I love this album, and its a given 5 in my book. Something I've never thought about, is the fact that these two nerds basically invented a whole new musical movement straight out of college. No, they were not the first to mix jazz with pop or rock. But there were not a lot of people implementing new elements and levels of sophistication into pop music. Whereas most people where focused on making jazz sound like progressive rock, Steely Dan starts implementing harmonies and forms that made them sound more like soul, but also a bit like country. I know people like to stamp them with jazz pop or whatever, but in reality I think they were more about stepping past genre barriers. As the yacht rock idiom developed, this album became more and more influential.
A lot better than I expected! Cool guitar riffs and an expressive vokal performance, but a bit too monotonous.
The Steely Dan album I’ve listenes to the least, but that’s about to change. This as hard rocking as they get, and I like it.
This was a surprise! Well-written and quite well-played, with two hits that deserve the hype.
I am not the biggest country fan, but this album made smile and chuckle. I recommend listening to it on a sunny winter's day on your way to the office for maximum impact.
I am so close to giving this a 5 star. I was so surprised by how beautifully sophisticated this is in regards to harmony and their ability to grasp numerous genres, while still being more contained than most artists. What draws me back is just that it's not the thing that resonate most deeply with my instinctual aesthetic taste (I deserve to be slapped for writting that). Ah, fuck it... I'll give it 5 stars!
Beautiful album! Sophisticated and well-made in all aspects. I only had time for one listen yesterday, but this one will stay with me for a while.
Once again, I find a great album that just isn't my thing! I can hear the inventive and more sophisticated take on punk, as well as the energy and well-crafted songwriting. It just doesn't resonate with me aesthetically. Some songs are great, and I like quite a bit of Talking heads. But I do think they get better later on (which may or may not have something to do with them collaborating with Brian Eno and King Crimson, who I adore). But the non-funky attempts at making punk and funk work together just sounds like a bunch of art school kids making an album that is important for the wrong reasons. They were inventive and interesting, but I don´t know if the impact they had and what came after did music much good.
This was good old fashioned rock n’ roll fun with a couple of bangers! Festing another overhyped hipster classic, I was positively surprised.
I'll take some of the songs with me into future listening, but all in all an inoffensive album that's quite similar to what I would have expected from a melancholy guitar band in 1991.
Not my favourite Prince album, but an interesting listening experience of cultural significance nonetheless.
Interesting instrumentals and at times beautiful atmospheres. But some corny tunes and the «too cool to be sincere» attitude in the vocals put me off.
Afrofuturism is fun, and this is as afrofuturism as you can get! Genrewise, it is eclectic as all hell. The production, writing and performances are all brilliant. The album felt a bit long towards the end, but a solid record that I'll be revisiting. (Who would have thought 2010s would be my best decade in here)
Sometimes cozy and sometimes groovy country music. Nothing special in my ears, but worth a listen or two.
This is basically what it would sound like if a high school garage band went into a professional studio — and I think that's the point. Not my cup of tea, but a great for what it is.
Bjørk is pushing boundaries! I wouldn’t necesarilly push all of those boundaries myself, but a great experience that I will come back to.
Why haven't I listened to this before? Buckley has a beautiful voice, and his guitar playing is a fresh take on the classic singer-songwriter guitar style. The rest of the band is equally brilliant, and the same could be said about the songwritting. If you have only heard his cover of Hallelujah, you've only scratched the surface. The only drawback is that the album is a bit on the long side. However, given Buckleys tragic faith, we should probablly just be grateful to have so much of his beatiful music with us.
Fun and trippy blues rock, with the iconic Janis Joplin on vocals. Not the most interesting thing I've heard, but I am one listening experience richer.
Nice reggae vibes and the most popular pro-cannabis campaign ever. It's not that I don't like it, but I don't need a full album of off-beat guitars, tom fills and drug-related lyrics
I did not expect to enjoy this, but what an amazing atmosphere this album brings. It is full of soulful vocals, tastefully utilised instrumentals and a dark, erotic mood. It is a bit long, but I wouldn't mind that if I was listening to a CD that I bought.
I was so tired of this album that I almost skipped out right before the OK songs. Still...
So, apparently I like Trip hop. Interesting...
Atmospheric link between the beautiful melodic of the 80s and the angsty poetic of the 90s
Intense, energetic and interesting. But for me this belongs in a club, and not on a Monday morning at the office.
This is exactly what I always hope Talking Heads to sound like — energetic and punky, but still somewhat sophisticated. I'm still no big fan of David Byrnes vocal, but this is still an album I'll be revisiting.
Just another Beatles album that don’t really deserve as much hype.
The 80s sure had better stuff to offer, but there is something there. «Sex Dwarf» made me chuckle, and «Say Hello, Wave Goodbye» is absolutely beautiful.
From a different artist this might be a four, but I am just so disappointed that I actually haven't been judgemental in not liking Taylor Swift. I so want this to be good, but its just neither interesting, listenable or inventive. Despite some glimpses of actually very good tunes, this just doesn't justify Taylor Swift being as big as she is. It's okay for background music, which is how I ended up listening to it. It kind of sound like writing a ton of pop songs, trying to be inventive with a more country-esque sound but ending up sounding like some mediocre hits from the 90s with better production. In my opinion, this is at her best when she embraces being a pop star with a more electronic image. «Gold rush» is brilliant, «Long story short» is catchy, and there are some ballads. But the whole cottagecore thing feels more like a gimmic that drags the album down.
Sign 37 that I am getting ready to reproduce: I now enjoy The Eagles. In all seriousness — this got so much! The melodic creaftmanship, great musicianship (the riff on Life in the Fast Lane is way to often overlooked), and the ability to craft a cohesive album that works as a whole. I will say that I am not huge on the title track, but listening to this proved that is probably just a result of it being excessively overplayed. Listening to this also shows why it is so overplayed, cause this is brilliant.
Why am I only now checking this out? These people manage to do more invention in 35 minutes than most do in a career. This is the First record on here that I wish was longer. Great musicianship, production that’s almost unheard of and a concise package that never falters from being a danceable call to action for enjoying life.
At times run-of-the-mill blues rock, at times psychedelic and kinda progressive. All in all good listening experience.
There is a limit to how much bad you can say about this record. It was immensely influential, and for a good reason. The modal approach to improvisation as well as the very distinct cool sound ended up affecting all jazz and a lot of other music that came after. The solos are iconic, the songs are well crafted and ALL of the musicians went on to form jazz in their own ways. The only negative is that I have heard it too many times to be blown away. This, however, gave me a chance to dig even more into the details of how great it truly is.
Weird, wild and oddly beautiful… I like it!
Police are bad, m'kay?
Beautiful at times, corny at others! I like it, but mostly because it clearly hints at what was to come from Eno.
I knew for a fact that I adore this album, but this was a great excuse to revisit it. And what an album this is. With a few longer pieces it is at the same time punchy, concise, explorative and vast in scope. The production sounds about five or so years ahead of its time. The musicianship is absolutley insane. If it hadn´t been for the strang guitar pieces in between, this could potentially be a perfect album (and those are not bad, just a bit odd). This is a blast that I need to revisit more often. Perpetual Change is a new favourite track of mine.
Decent, listenable new wave pop, but not something I’ll revisit. One of many Talking Heads copies.
I want to like Radiohead, but it’s just not for me. Allthough there are some beautiful and thought provoking Tracks on here, must of it just doesn’t resonate with me. However, I can’t deny how influental this is.
Turns out all you need to make Talking Heads my cup of tea is a bit of King Crimson in the mix. All jokes aside, I feel like they're a band were I have mixed feelings about they're sound. However, for me it comes down to me enjoying the songs on here a bit more than the two previous albums.
This is the most straight forward, and strangest album I've heard on here. In terms of concept it is a bunch of regular pop songs following the AOR philosophy of having as many bangers on a record as possible. But stylistically, this is all over the place. At times I feel like turning it off, while at others I am feeling deeply touched. The star rating reflect the album as a whole. To me, 4 stars mean I loved some and hated some of this. Also, it is pretty long, but that's just something we have to deal with as a consequence of the CD age.
Great songwriting, but sonicly stuck in the past. Based on what Else happened this year, I don’t really get the hype.
I love funk, I love rock, but can’t stand these guys music. They’re good musicians, I just disagree with their idea of what sounds good.
I don’t dislike it, but I do understand why rock n’ roll struggled with being talen seriouslly before the 60s. It’s a bunch of sexually changed 12 bar blues with sax solos, which is cool, but gets a bit much.
Just another meh album I couldn’t be bothered with finishing.
Wow! I thought Leonard Cohen wasn't for me, but I was wrong. This is so darkly atmospheric, I was happy it was raining outside while listening to it. The arrangements are sparse but it works wonderfully.
It didn't bother me to turn it off, but I didn't focus too much on it. I feel it is best that way.
Beautiful and atmospheric Americana. As a fan of musicals and modern classical music, there are some distinct harmonic influence from these places. I also love how it's not all corny story telling, but blending colourful instrumentation with sincere beauty of the musical composition. And the clarity of his lyrical delivery makes me ponder why this guy has become so forgotten.
The cloudy, dreamy blanket of sound is a great gag that I enjoy from all of my heart. I can't name the different songs or how they differ, and I don't care. I still love this.
I was one of the kids who just nodded along when everybody was obssesed with Eminem in grade 2 or 3, thinking «not quite for me». I was a wise kid. In all seroousness: It's well-produced and put together with a great delivery. It's just not something worth my time fifteen years after finishing elementary school.
Ah, meh attempt at making every rnb clichee of the 2020s sound artsy by interjecting supposedly empowering samples that is just adding to objectification of women. So it basically fails at everything it’s doing, apart from sounding not terrible. If it was only trying to be a collection of singles, it would have potential. On it and The Other Side is pretty cool, but not enough to save this mess.
This is Maiden at their best! Energetic, Melodic, lyrically epic and flat out metal.
Beautiful, nothing else to say!
A nice take on the americana singer-songwriter tradition, with beautfull arrangements and a few rockers. It did not carry my attention all the way through, but its still a good album that I'll give a re-listen.
You can´t compensate for your own mediocre musiciansship and creative imagination by hiring an arranger and a orchestra...
Obviously influenced by papa Fela, but an amazing rendition of the style. It suffers a bit under being part of the CD age's obsession with filling every single second of disk memory, but I honestly don't mind too much. I just view it as a package of energetic afrobeat, with a ton of songs that sound similar but raise different issues regarding the West African experience in a time where that was sorely needed.
This is a pretty interessting album, given that it serves as a connection between bebop and the following cool jazz. Some of it is pure bop, some of it is miles ahead of its time (ba-dum-tss).
Alternative title: The White Stripes parodies the 1960s for an hour, and creates the most obnoxious guitar riff in the process. It has a few moments of beauty, but come on…
Another album that’s better than its mediocre hits! At its best it’s grooving and beautiful — at its worst it’s Billy Corgan complaining on top of guitar noise.
I am not a huge hip hop fan but this is a brilliant example of the times when hiphop really resonates with me: Politically charged and interesting lyrics, as well as intricate beats with creative use of samples. This is brilliant!
Beautiful, Interesting, but a bit to mumbly!
The bad thing about this not being on Spotify, is I have to listen on YouTube and have it being interrupted by ads. As for the music, its atmospheric and beautiful. It becomes a bit repetitive, but at the same time being contained enough with a short runtime.
I'm Norwegian and I love music from the 1980s, but this doesn't hit me as much as I want it to. That being said, I want to judge this album objectively. All though it relies on my least favorite tropes from the eigthties (dorky synth sounds and lackluster ballads), this is still an insane leap from the other stuff going on in Norway at that time. On a world wide level, it´s still able to put a distinct period to the early synth pop movement. And the main strength of this is clearly melodies — there being three iconic singles on here, and those doesn't even include the best song in my opinion, goes to show that they wrote great songs. I just don't agree with everything they did in arranging those songs. However, The Sun Always Shines on TV and Living a Boy's Adventure Tale are pretty awesome.
Rather dull at length, but no denying this was influental as hell.
Cool, but I like the E Street Band too much.
Proto-punky acid trip… Kinda weird, kinda boring. Wouldn’t be on here if it was any other band.
This is an absolutly ridiculous album! The opening track is one of my favourites, and the remainder where no less positively surprising. Zappas guitar solos gets a bit masturbatory at times, but his eclectic composition and arranging more than makes up for it. A lot of his guitar playing is also quite tasty, which is more than can be said about many players.
King Crimson — do I need to say more?
The album art makes me cringe a bit, but these guys from Finland are right on top of the developments of Glam Metal. As someone who grew up loving Glam Metal (and still listen to it occasionally), I can't deny that this made me bop my head. Observation: When your rhythm guitarist is called Nasty Suicide, it shows how tough these guys thought they were. That's pretty funny forty years after.
I appreciate the groove, but it gets a bit monotonous. If they Could have written a few more tunes like «This Love» I wouldn’t mind
It's punk, just played by actual musicians, which is pretty cool! Sadly, I'm too young to feel nostalgic about it and too old for it to resonate with me. However, it did resonate with me when I was younger and I still get why it did.