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Thu Jan 04 2024
Ten
Pearl Jam
3
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Fri Jan 05 2024
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
GBYBR
I actually listened to it a few times not that long ago. It is a great album.
First 6 songs are great, particularly side 1 of the original vinyl, Funeral for a Friend, Candle in the Wind and Bennie and the Jets.
Really do Love FFAF and BATJ. Have heard CITW too many too many times but it is great.
Jamaica jerk off is fucking awful.
It does dip in the middle and feels a bit long, but I do like the Ballad of Danny Bailey.
Saturday Night a bit overfamiliar but still great.
The run from Saturday Night to Harmony is very nice, I like Roy Rogers a lot and Harmony is a tune.
Not my no1 Elton album, but it has some of his best songs and is really really good. It is a bit long overall though, and Jamaica Jerk off is wank.
4
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Sat Jan 06 2024
Moon Safari
Air
It’s a fucking great album
5
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Sun Jan 07 2024
Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
2
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Mon Jan 08 2024
Siamese Dream
The Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream
Listened to it first thing this morning. I know the big ones like Cherub Rock (Guitar Hero banger) and Today, but I don’t think I’ve heard the album before.
I never really got into SP, they kind of passed me by in the 90s - probably too ‘American’ sounding for my tiny teenage brain.
However I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this.
I know they are not directly analogous but for an album from the same kind of time period in the grunge/alternative rock milieu as Ten by Pearl Jam, it’s quite clear to me how much better, more interesting and enjoyable Siamese Dream is.
Not a big fan of some of the faster, noisier songs like Geek USA and Silverfuck.
Really liked Hummer, Disarm, Soma, Spaceboy, Sweet Sweet, Luna
Will definitely give it many more listens
4
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Tue Jan 09 2024
At Fillmore East
The Allman Brothers Band
At Fillmore East
Am familiar with it and aware it’s supposed to be one of the best live albums ever.
I do like the Allman Brothers and southern rock in general, and they do sound fantastic, but there is A LOT of noodling. Hot Lanta and Whipping post are great.
However apart from Get your Ya Yas Out and Live at Leeds I’m not a big fan of live albums, I’d rather listen to the recorded versions of songs or watch a video of a live performance, and on balance I think I’d rather listen to their first two albums or Eat a Peach
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
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Wed Jan 10 2024
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones
Perfect
5
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Thu Jan 11 2024
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
MC&TIS
The well known songs (Tonight, Bullet, 1979 etc) and then To Forgive, Cupid de Locke, Galapagos, Porcelina of the Dark Oceans, Thru the Eyes of Ruby, By Starlight, Farewell and Goodnight stood out
Jellybelly, Zero (terrible lyrics), An Ode to No One, Tale of a Scorched Earth - not a fan of those at all
Take me Down sounds a lot like a song from a musical, particularly the rising chorus, which kind of chimes with Dan’s Queen observation, they do have those slightly showtune/musical theatre aspects some of the melodies. We only come out a night has a similar Queen vibe too. That’s not a criticism btw.
Generally, like on SD, not a fan of the harder songs, the slower tempo ones are more interesting melodically and atmospherically, and I think his voices suits those songs better.
Lots of great musical hooks and instrumentation, I didn’t really realise what a great gift for melody he has.
I admire the ambition and genuinely earnest pretension of it, but it is A LOT of music and whether it’s me or the music that falters, his voice does start to grate on mover the course of 2 hrs.
I think I’d be likely to go back to SD more frequently than this but a very enjoyable listen none the less.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️
Prob closer to 4 but the length is why I’m prevaricating
3
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Fri Jan 12 2024
B-52's
The B-52's
B52s
I had a bit of a B52s period last year or the year before so am pretty familiar with this album.
It’s a banger, great songs, great sound. They get mischaracterised as a novelty band, which is unfair, they are a brilliant band, right in that post punk new wave sweet spot bringing in lots of influences into an angular, spiky, punky, funky, surfy sound. The organ/electric piano element I love. I can understand how Fred Schneider’s singing can be a bit of an acquired taste but like the way fits their whole look, sound and vibe. Their whole aesthetic I love too.
Mmmm, the bass in Dance this Mess Around. That song is a bang to rights, stone cold, gold certified banger
Planet Claire, Dance this Mess Around, Rock Lobster, Lava, Hero Worship are my stand outs.
This is my favourite of their albums. Wild Planet, the next album, is also superb, but thereafter, it’s diminishing returns really, despite some good tracks here and there.
So overall it’s probably just about a 5 for me Clive.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Sat Jan 13 2024
At Newport 1960
Muddy Waters
At Newport
It sounds amazing, brilliant voice, excellent band
Can really understand how influential it was, mainly cos it’s just really good.
I Got My Brand on You
Hoochie Coochie Man
Baby, Please Don’t Go - that really fizzes
I Feel So Good
Both the Got My Mojos
Listened to it this morning while making breakfast and coffee, mmm, really cookin’ dem grits, getting dat skillet hot for dem biscuits and gravy, mmmhmmm, gonna cook me some crayfish, nice’n’hot
But I genuinely really enjoyed it - think it will go in my rotation.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
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Sun Jan 14 2024
Drunk
Thundercat
Drunk
What I think I like most about it is the singular vision of it all. It brings in so many influences, classic 70s souls, video games, hip hop, films, tv, pop, jazz l, sci fi, anime etc and just sprays them across 22 tracks. The scattergun, skittish, low attention span eclecticism of it really expresses his obsessions and idiosyncrasies, and you feel as though you get a sense of who he is and that this really is the sound in his head - there’s no concession to adhering to a ‘normal’ structure
Show You the Way, what a tune and love that he bought Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins in on it. Brilliant idea.
Captain Stupido, Uh Uh, A Fan’s Mail, Walk on By, Tokyo, Them Changes
Sonically, I love it, obviously the bass playing is superb, and that squelchy sound, and the jerky, off kilter rhythms work so well together.
It’s not a perfect album, and not every song works, but it’s a such an intriguing listen and a fascinating musical vision that it makes up for the dips and lulls.
Almost certainly will get better with more listens, and when you put all the bits together (sound, influences, playing, ideas, themes, tunes and melodies) it’s a 4 for me
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
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Tue Jan 16 2024
(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)
Lynyrd Skynyrd
It’s Pronounced Lynyrd Skynyrd
Exactly what you’d expect. Solid, straight down the line. Some great guitar playing and sounds and nice organ work.
The well known ones are my stand outs - Tuesday’s Gone, Simple Man, Free Bird
Not much more to say
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
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Wed Jan 17 2024
Rocks
Aerosmith
Rocks
Don’t think I’ve listened to many Aerosmith albums. I had the early greatest hits and I had Toys in the Attic, as it was the only place to get the full length version of Sweet Emotion, and I love that song. They do have some real gems across their career but have never been interested enough to do a proper listen.
I didn’t mind this - I neither particularly liked it or actively disliked it, a couple of good tracks but a lot of samey-ness. You can hear the influence on bands like G’n’R, but I’d actually rather listen to Appetite for Destruction, which has more excitement and dynamism.
Back in the saddle I’ve always liked.
Last child is good (riff sounds a bit like Hit me with your Rhythm Stick)
Rest of it is fine, nothing stands out, but as I say nothing to actively dislike.
Hard to score overall, somewhere around a 2 or 3, but as I’m probably unlikely to listen to it again and I enjoyed Lynyrd Skynyrd more and have that 3, I’ll go for:
⭐️⭐️
2
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Thu Jan 18 2024
Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake
Five Leaves Left
Love, love, love.
All three of his albums are in heavy rotation for me and they are all top tier.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Fri Jan 19 2024
McCartney
Paul McCartney
McCartney
This is very hard to work out how to score. In the context of all his solo work? In the context of the end of the Beatles? In the context of what he was intending it to be at the time? As a stand alone album? How influential it turned out to be? The fact he did it all himself?
And, as we know, I’m also quite blinkered when it comes to Macca.
The thing is I do love love this album, even though it is a bit inconsistent and loose - but it’s those inconsistencies and that looseness that gives it so much charm and so much appeal. The sum of its parts give it a vibe that carries the whole thing past any imperfections.
Macca being Macca even the inconsistent throwaway tracks like Valentine Day, Hot as Sun/Glasses, Oo You, Kreen Akore have enough melodic inventiveness and musicality to be at the very least interesting and diverting.
Also it has some of his best solo songs
That Would Be Something
Every Night
Junk (one of my absolute favourite melodies of his)
Maybe I’m Amazed (he did play an early idea of this at, I think, the Get Back or Abbey Road sessions - imagine if this had had the full Beatles treatment)
Just those 4 songs would be enough peaks for most people in their whole careers and he just tossed them off on a farm in Scotland while the biggest musical act of all time that he was part of was disintegrating.
That’s why it’s hard to rate it as a stand-alone album, devoid of context and personal bias. I enjoy it thoroughly each time I listen to it, and despite the slightly disjointed nature of it, I think it works brilliantly as a entire listening experience - it’s one of those albums that is best listened to in one sitting.
It’s easily in my top 5 Macca solo albums. Although it has its flaws, it’s really appeals to me and always love and enjoy it when I put it on, so I think I can’t not give it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Sat Jan 20 2024
What's Going On
Marvin Gaye
What’s Going On
I remember buying it at Durham and liking it, but not really understanding why everyone thought it was so great. Listening as an older person with hopefully more of an appreciation of different types of music and more of an understanding of the lyrical and thematic scope, I can really understand how good it is. It really is fantastic.
The songs are great, the sequencing, the themes and motifs slipping in and out.
I love the sound, particularly the bass as the lead melodic instrument working with the string arrangements. And Marvin’s voice is just so so good, that mellow, mellifluous tone contrasting with the anger in the lyrics.
When I was 20, it probably would have been 3 or 4 but I’m going to give it 5 now. I do really think it’s up there with the best albums ever recorded.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Sun Jan 21 2024
Vulgar Display Of Power
Pantera
Vulgar Display of Power
Went in with an open mind and started off quite enjoying it. I’m not a metal aficionado at all but there are some songs in the genre I like. I can sometimes see a world where I get into stuff like this, but then after 3 songs I don’t want to get into it and I want to go home please. This definitely started to drag by the middle and then get quite boring quite quickly after that. I was glad when it was over.
Obviously It’s not for me, although I would assume for the genre it is good. A couple of things stood out. I liked the riff on Mouth for War, I liked Walk, that had a kind of groove and felt like a song. Hollow’s first part seemed like a superior version of a metal ballad with a decent tune, before evolving into more standard riffing.
There is an earnestness to this type of music that gets quite tiring. If you are really into metal I would guess that you can see the subtleties and nuances in the music, but to me the lack of light and shade drives a sense of monotony and stasis that ends up being frustrating and ultimately very dull.
Reluctant to to say 1, its obviously not for me, and I would never listen to it again, but if you are into metal it surely must be a very good album, so I’ll go:
⭐️⭐️
2
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Mon Jan 22 2024
Birth Of The Cool
Miles Davis
Birth of the Cool
I dunno. I’ve tried many many times to listen to and try and understand jazz, but it never sticks. I do like some vocal jazz and piano led stuff, but up tempo with trumpets and sax parping away starts to irritate me pretty quickly.
I can however appreciate its importance in the history of 20th century popular music, and the skill and virtuosity of the players. And while there are the elements of it and some songs I enjoy, I just think that I don’t really like jazz and won’t ever really like jazz, and ultimately I think no one really likes jazz, they just decide liking jazz is their personality, and that by liking jazz they have a far more sophisticated understanding of music, and therefore anyone liking any other type of music is a Luddite peasant.
With this album though, it’s not too much of a bebop up tempo parp fest, although it does wander into that area quite frequently. I couldn’t really tell many of the songs apart, and it all kind of passed me by quite unremarkably. Although I did like Moon Dreams quite a bit, the slower tempo and less frantic melody was very nice amongst the other songs.
I’ll give it a 2, based on 1 for the actual album and the 1 for its influence on 20th century music. I’m glad it exists and I’m glad I listened to it, but it’s not for me
⭐️⭐️
2
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Tue Jan 23 2024
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division
I know this is considered a classic debut, but I was confused as to why. This constantly repeats the formula that works so well in Love Will Tear us Apart, but none of the hooks are as memorable. It feels stilted and forced. The dour mood starts to get annoying when not married to anything musically memorable. My streaming service’s algorithm came up with A Forest by The Cure straight after I finished listening, it just reminded me that this sort of sixth form angst can be done so much better.
2
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Wed Jan 24 2024
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
Beauty and the Beat
I really love this little genre, that early 80s jangly post punk, new wave, power pop sweet spot - people like The Feelies, The Romantics, The Bangles, The Cars etc.
I love the harmonies on this, the melodies aren’t always top notch but the energy and vibe more than makes up for it. I love the up tempo and slightly loose, imperfect playing. That punk, do it yourself simplicity and energy in tandem with the 60s Byrds/Beatles/Who style pop melodies, harmonies and hooks - for me that is a delicious combination.
We Got the Beat is an absolute banger.
Our Lips are Sealed, Lust to Love, Automatic, You Can’t Walk in Your Sleep, Skidmarks on my Heart are my other highlights.
It’s not a perfect album, there are some dips here and there, but at 35 minutes it flies by and is such a fun, energetic, infectious, joyous listen that you soon forget about the lulls.
Not top tier but an absolute solid
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
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Thu Jan 25 2024
When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Cornershop
WIWBFTST
I had this album back when it come out, or right after the Fatboy Slim remix of Brimful of Asha came out. Would have been 1st year at Durham.
I remember liking it at the time, but I was probably a bit confused by it. I have returned to it sporadically over the years but have never truly got into it. I really really liked their next album, Handcream for a Generation, I listened to that a lot in 2002/03 when in Japan.
Listing to WIWBFTST this morning, I did enjoy it a lot. I really like how you can hear and feel the various diverse influences. It kind of reminds me of McCartney & McCartney II in it has the same lo fi bedroom noodling aspect to it. Although musically a bit different, it does have a similar electronic vibe in parts as McCartney II (it even has a song called Coming Up)
It also suffers a bit from CD bloat at nearly an hour. On the one hand I really like the sprawling nature of it and it’s mix of different music genres, often on the same song, but it could probably do with a bit of judicious editing to get it down to 40-45 mins. Some of the shorter electronica tracks like Chocolat don’t work as well for me. A bit more focus, without losing its diversity, charm and looseness and it would be a real gem.
Asha, We’re in Your Corner, Funky Days are Back Again, Good Ships, Good to be on the Road Back Home, Norwegian Wood are highlights.
Tough one to rate for me. It’s somewhere right between a 3 and 4, and I think I prefer their next album over this. But as we know I’m a generous rater so I think I’ll round up to 4
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
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Fri Jan 26 2024
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
Figure 8
Listening to this I’m not sure why I didn’t get into him when his stuff was coming out - I think at that time I would have really got into it.
However now I find it just kind of passes me by - some nice moments and the odd good song, but in the main a bit forgettable.
Some of the melodies seem a bit forced and there is a rather distracting nasal tone to his voice. It often feels like a song is about to take flight and go somewhere really good, but then kind of never gets anywhere and just levels out, which is a bit frustrating. Felt this particularly on LA, Stupidity Tries and Wouldn’t Mama be Proud.
Enjoyed the White Album/Abbey Roadvibes of Son of Sam and Junk Bond Trader is very good. I liked Colorbars and Better Be Quiet Now too, and Can’t Make a Sound builds to an impressive conclusion.
Kind of falls right in the middle for me. Didn’t dislike it and enjoyed some of the songs, but I didn’t find much to excite me or hold my interest. A pretty average
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
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Sat Jan 27 2024
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
You Want it Darker
Didn’t know much about this album before listening to it, and I couldn’t remember when he died and wasn’t sure whether this was posthumous or not. I do like Leonard Cohen but have never listened to him extensively, only really listened to his first album properly, which I think is very good.
I really liked the sparse band backing, with the simple but prominent bass giving things propulsion and momentum, against the gravelly slow and spoken word singing. I like the fiddle too, gives a country/dusty/19th century Americana feel. Great backing vocals too and some very nice string arrangements, which remind me of some of Lee Hazlewood’s albums. It all feels so well constructed around his voice, persona and the songs themselves.
Knowing now it was his last one before he died I like how it fits neatly into the bracket with the Johnny Cash American Recordings albums and The Wind by Warren Zevon.
Overall I think this is great, I really liked it and it will go in my rotation. I’ve actually already listened to it twice and I’m looking forward to listening to it more.
A very nice
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
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Sun Jan 28 2024
Back to Basics
Christina Aguilera
2
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Mon Jan 29 2024
The Cars
The Cars
The Cars
Im pretty familiar with it, but I think this is a great album. More synthy than the Go Gos and less stylised than the B-52s, they are right in that new wave power pop soft rock sweet spot that I love.
Love the production, the overall sound and the sense of pop songwriting craftsmanship alongside some post punk rough edges and attitude. Nice line in slightly detached cynical lyrics. They remind me of Television but with a kind of wry pop sensibility. Add in a bit of Bowie, a bit of Eno (Here Come the Warm Jets & Roxy Music) some sixties hand claps, some glam guitars, a splash of synths and it’s a tasty and satisfying combo.
Great little run with the first three songs, My Best Friend’s Girl and Just what I Needed are superb.
You’re all I got Tonight and Moving in Stereo are also excellent.
9 tracks 35 minutes - perfect length, doesn’t outstay it’s welcome or dip at all.
It’s a 5 for me
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
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Tue Jan 30 2024
Aqualung
Jethro Tull
Aqualung
Hey Aqualung!
I’m not much familiar with prog rock, not because I don’t like but because I never know where to start. I think I quite like it, which is probably a consequence of approaching 50.
Anyhow, I really liked this. The first 2 songs are great, particular Aqualung. Liked Mother Goose a lot too.
I wasn’t sure what to expect but I liked the folky/pastoral elements, as well as the heavier riffing. I can see why stuff like this gets parodied, but I kind of think that makes it more enjoyable.
I’m not sure where to rate it. Tempted to give it 4 as I really enjoyed it. But I think I need to give it a few more listens, it’s quite dense and will probably be a real grower. I’ll give it 3 for now and revise when we look back and change all our reviews in a year
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
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Wed Jan 31 2024
Let's Stay Together
Al Green
Lets Stay Together
I think I’ve ever only listened to his greatest hits, rather than any of his albums.
The title track is a classic for a reason. You hear it so much that it’s easy to forget how good it is.
I really love the sound of the album - the ‘minimal’ band - drums, bass, piano/organ and guitar only - augmented by female backing vocals, some lovely string arrangements and great horns.
And of course the voice is just so so good - obviously that’s what he’s known for but it really is superb, so versatile.
Overall it’s exactly what you’d expect from a classic early 70s soul record. Melodic ballads and heartache, with some uptempo gospel influenced bangers. A little bit of grit here and there to complement the honey.
Let’s Stay Together, So You’re Leaving, the cover of How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Judy, all great. It Ain’t No Fun to Me is banger.
It’s great - not necessarily groundbreaking but exactly what an album like this should be. I can see myself listening to this a lot. Already listened to it twice this morning. Makes me want to check out more of his albums from this period.
Somewhere between a 4 and a 5, probably closer to 5, so will round up.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Thu Feb 01 2024
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Dear John , Mexicola, Walkin’ on Sidewalks, Spiders and Vinegaroons, I Was a Teenage Had Model I liked a lot. Loved If Only.
I like their more groove based songs over the more just heavy or chugging songs, they have that little bit more of that hypnotic dynamism. If Only and Walkin’ on the Sidewalks over, say, Avon, for example.
I’d say that I’m only a casual fan of QOTSA and I’m not that au fait with desert/stoner rock in general, although the bits I know and hear I do like. Feels like this is a superior example of that genre. You could argue that the songs start to sound a bit samey, however I think there is a kind of ineffable quality to them, maybe that bit of groove, or a feeling they convey that differentiates them and their music.
Although having said that, at 1hr it does feel quite lengthy. I listened to the re-issue which has extra tracks, I think the original 45 minute release is probably a tighter, more cohesive listen.
I’d say a solid three, might go higher with more listens, but probably prefer Rated R over this.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Fri Feb 02 2024
This Is Hardcore
Pulp
This is Hardcore
This is great, I love Different Class, but this might sneakily be my favourite pulp album. I certainly listen to it more frequently than DC. It has that dark, melancholic atmosphere, that is very evocative of the post Britpop period.
Some great songs and great lyrics, wry, grown up but also funny. It’s not as immediate or as obviously tuneful as DC, the melodies aren’t straightforward, but they really get their hooks into you once you’ve heard them a few times. And all the songs fit so well with the feel and themes of the album.
Overall it’s such and interesting album, maybe it’s quite hard to figure out, but it rewards repeat listens.
Is it a 4 or a 5…I think it it falls just on the side of a 4, but it’s close to a 5 for me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
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Sat Feb 03 2024
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
Rumours
There’s a reason this has been the best selling vinyl in the UK in the last few years, why it’s sold so many copies over nearly 50 years and why it’s almost universally lauded - it’s fucking excellent.
Aside from the myths and stories around the bands interpersonal relationships at the time it’s just a brilliant set of 11 superbly arranged songs, not a duffer or weak track. It’s beautifully sequenced and balanced, it flows well with the different singers and songwriters lapping or striking against each other.
The songs and songwriting are so good that’s it’s easy to overlook what great musicians they are - the Fleetwood & McVie rhythm section, Christine McVie’s piano, Lindsey Buckingham’s distinctive and fantastic lead guitar and Stevie Nicks superb singing.
The legend of it all, the perspectives of the different songwriters, the songs, the playing all contribute to it being great, but I absolutely LOVE the sound of it. I think that really helps it endure after all these years. Its sound is rich, warm and deep, without being syrupy or veering into inoffensive nothingness. The sound on Dreams is exemplary, it just sounds so so good.
The blues history of McVie and Fleetwood give it a bit of soul, Buckingham’s guitar gives it a bit of edge, with Nicks and Christine McVie giving it deftness and unique character.
It’s one of my absolute favourite albums of all time, a no brainer
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Sun Feb 04 2024
Beach Samba
Astrud Gilberto
Beach Samba
I used to like those Nouvelle Vague albums of samba/bossa nova covers from about 15-20 years ago, but I don’t know a great deal about the main people other than names like Astrud Gilberto and Sergio Mended. I also know I much prefer the bossa nova end of the Latin American jazz spectrum than the salsa end
This is quite jazz flute, but not necessarily in a bad way. It’s enjoyable but very lightweight - it’s been a nice listen this morning while making breakfast. It’s very pleasant and floats along very nicely, but never quite leaves much of an imprint or memory.
Misty Roses and My Foolish Heart are both very nice. Wasn’t a fan of the circus one
I much prefer it to the other jazzy albums we’ve listened to, and really glad to have given it a go. I might not think to put it on, but if came across it somewhere I would definitely give it another listen, and I would also think about delving a bit deeper into this type of music
A nice enjoyable non threatening solid
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Mon Feb 05 2024
Nebraska
Bruce Springsteen
This is my favourite Bruce album, the most emotionally affecting and evocative to my mind. A great set of songs that coalesce around the themes of bleakness, despair, compromise and unfulfilled dreams and ambitions, the immediacy and minimalism of the demos that turned out to be the recordings give them a primacy and directness that serves the feel of the album so well. It captures so effectively in my imagination a feel of the vast empty spaces of the Midwest, with a sense of mysteriousness and creepiness. Love it.
A stone cold, undoubted classic to my mind
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Tue Feb 06 2024
Low
David Bowie
Low
Don’t look at the carpet, I drew something awful on it.
This is top 3 Bowie for me, it’s often my favourite but even if not no 1 at any particular time, t’s always up there.
The first side’s songs are all among my favourite Bowie songs, Speed of Life, What in the World, Sound & Vision, Always Crashing in the Same Car, Be my Wife. I love the band and the playing, the arrangements, the instrumentation and I love the sound of the drums and the bass.
I also love side 2. In most people hands a side of ambient music could be truly appalling, but this is is great, moody, atmospheric, occasionally sinister but never dull or ponderous. Knowing a bit about the inspiration for the 2nd side does help, but it really does evoke what I imagine 70s East and West Berlin to be like.
And the two sides complement and work along side each other, the slightly on edge ‘pop’ songs followed by the comedown and sadness of the 2nd side.
It’s a masterpiece, would be a six if I could, but of course it’s a
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Wed Feb 07 2024
Mermaid Avenue
Billy Bragg
Mermaid Avenue
Despite being a fan of Wilco and liking BIlly Bragg I’ve never listened to any of the Mermaid Avenue albums.
Has a nice barroom, loose feel, a bit like the Basement Tapes, which was probably an influence, and also with the Dylan Guthrie connection.
I like the ones with the Woody Guthrie lyrics but a lot of the Jeff Tweedy/Wilco non Guthrie lyric ones are very strong.
A couple of the Billy Bragg ones, Birds and Ships in particular, are great too.
California Stars, Way Over Yonder, Ingrid Bergman, One by One, Eisler on the Go, Another Man’s Done Gone highlights for me.
Sometimes when Billy Bragg is excessively sing/talking like Billy Bragg it gets a bit tiresome, but when he really sings on a couple of these tracks it’s very tender and affecting.
Great playing throughout, not sure what the Wilco line up at the time was, presuming it was the Being There era group, but it’s really lovely.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I expected from this, I thought it might be good, but maybe not as warm and enjoyable. I’ve listened through twice now and I think it just pushes past 3 into
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Thu Feb 08 2024
good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar
good kid, m.A.A.d city
Sherane, love the drum and bass sounds.
Backseat freestyle
Good Kid is superb
On the surface it’s easy to just hear guns’n’bitches, but there’s definitely a lot more to it than that. Has a similar lyrical feel to Illmatic, not glorifying or wallowing in gang and street life. Some good sweating too.
You know what else I like - his very clear diction. He should be applauded for that.
Great sound, particularly like the bass, drums and piano combos, and the variation of drum sound from song to song. Some great little earwormy hooks, not obvious necessarily, but found myself humming them after listening to it.
I’m not that up to speed on a lot of rap music of the last 10 or 15 years but I thought this was very good. It’s quite long but it didn’t drag too much.
It’s between a 3 & 4, and I’m really keen to listen again, so will probably plump for a 3 for now, but scope to go up to a 4
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Fri Feb 09 2024
Architecture And Morality
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Architecture & Morality
I was quite late in discovering how good OMD and their early albums are. The first 4 or 5 are excellent listens, but this is probably my favourite one.
The Bowie (Low quite obviously), Eno, Kraftwerk influences are clear, as they are for many of the late 70s/early 80s synthpop bands, but OMD take it in a slightly different direction, blending experimental sounds, textures & rhythms with more overtly pop melodies and hooks. They are one of the best of those bands at merging a cool/minimalist technological structure with a human and emotional connection.
There are no obvious bangers like Electricity or Enola Gay, but The New Stone Age, She’s Leaving (this is clearly a big inspiration for LCD Sound Systems last album), Souvenir, both Joan of Arcs are the stand outs for me. I don’t think there’s a weak moment though - it’s a full cohesive album that rewards repeated listens.
Great band, great album
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Sat Feb 10 2024
Thriller
Michael Jackson
Thriller
Wanna be Starting Somethin’, Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean (what a three track run), PYT all stone cold, copper bottomed, all time, unbelievable classics. Human Nature is the best of rest but the other songs don’t really meet that same level. I always want to skip Baby Be Mine and The Girl is Mine to get to Thriller, Beat It and Billie Jean. The Lady in my Life is pretty forgettable too I think.
Those 5 truly exceptional songs make it hard to rate for me. They surely make it worthy of a 5 star album, but their superiority to the other songs, for me, makes the whole album lose a sense of cohesion and it becomes a bit of a frustrating listen. In comparison Off the Wall doesn’t not reach the highs of Thriller but is more of an overall enjoyable listen. It might be slightly contradictory and confused logic as there are plenty of albums that I love that have are inconsistent but I would give a 5 to, but this I’m not sure about.
Maybe I’m holding it to too high a standard, or overthinking it, but it’s emblematic of his his whole catalogue, songs and moments of the highest quality, far beyond what most people can dream of, but combined with a lot of frustration.
Also the ‘I don’t belieeeve you’ bit on the Girl is Mine is so excruciating, it taints the whole thing. If this was only 6 tracks, WBSS, Thriller, BI, BJ, PYT and HN it would a 5 for sure, but as it is
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Sun Feb 11 2024
Heroes
David Bowie
Heroes
I don’t think I’ve ever really given this a proper chance compared to the Bowie albums I listen to most. It probably suffers from being so closely linked to Low and with Low being one of my all time favourites I tend to just overlook it. I also really got in Lodger a while back so I think I have just skipped over it.
Heroes, like the songs you mentioned in the Thriller reviews, is over familiar but if I listen to it and really concentrate on it I remember what a fucking amazing song it is. The story behind it of the two lovers from East and West Berlin dreaming of a life of freedom together is still genuinely affecting.
The first side definitely has a more frantic and frenetic feel than Low, particularly on Joe the Lion, with a looser less structured feel as well. It’s more like capturing a band performance rather than building songs up bit by bit. Maybe the songs aren’t quite at the same level as side 1 of Low, but they are great nonetheless
The 2nd side is truly superb, each track seemingly able to hold two different moods and feeling’s simultaneously. Sense of Doubt is pleasantly sinister, while Moss Garden is uneasily serene. Neukoln is sad but possibly hopeful. V2 Schneider is excellent. And a great finish with the groove of Secret Life of Arabia.
Listening to the whole thing properly now I don’t think I can give it anything but 5. It’s never been in my top 5 Bowie albums, and still probably wouldn’t be, but it’s not an album to overlook, and although it is structured in the same way as Low, I should try to avoid comparing it too much. Which I have done throughout! Although it might be no 3 for me in the Berlin Trilogy it is just an excellent album in its own right.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Mon Feb 12 2024
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Iron Butterfly
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
I don’t think Ive ever listened to the full 17 minute version of the title track, but I do like the song a lot - especially in that Simpsons episode - but I’ve never listened to anything else by them.
I enjoyed this though, despite it feeling very specifically of it’s time and not that distinct from a lot of other bands around then.
Having said that there are some lovely harmonies, particularly on Flowers and Beads, and the organ playing throughout is very nice.
Aside from Are You Happy and IAGDV I couldn’t quite discern the proto-metal, hard rock label it seems to get, the majority of the songs are more like typical late sixties psychedelic pop rock. IAGDV is fucking awesome though, both as a song and as signifier of a time and place.
An interesting listen but aside from IAGDV and possibly Are You Happy there’s not much I would return to, but IAGDV being such a stellar track I’ll give it a
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Tue Feb 13 2024
Guero
Beck
Guero
Im a bit behind and didn’t get to listen to this in one sitting yesterday. I’m not as familiar with this as the albums either side of it, Sea Change and The Information, and I would also generally default to listening to Odelay or Midnite Vultures when I think about Beck albums.
But I should listen to this more - I really did enjoy it. It’s got the diversity and eclecticism you might expect, with a great sound and some super songs
Probably not right in that top Beck bracket but a definite 4.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Wed Feb 14 2024
Another Green World
Brian Eno
Another Green World
I’m pretty familiar with this album, although for my Eno ambient needs I normally go to Ambient 1, Music for Films, Ambient 4 or Apollo, so know those a bit better. Generally though all his albums up to Apollo, whether ambient or not are all very good listens
This is very good though. In Dark Trees is my standout of the ambient focused tracks, while I’ll Come Running and Sky Saw are my favourites of the more ‘traditional’ songs.
Nice little hit of TV nostalgia with the title track, think it was the Arena title sequence with the bobbing bottle.
He really is very good at creating these ambient soundscapes - they manage to combine a sense of flow and movement with a sense of direction. He’s great at building little off centre melodies and hooks with interesting rhythms and structures that convey a particular emotion or feeling.
The constituent parts aren’t necessarily that crazy but he brings them together in such a great way. Obviously he’s doesn’t have the greatest voice but it adds to the atmosphere and feeling too.
Robert Fripps guitar is great throughout as well. Couple of years before Low and Heroes, you can see how Eno and Bowie took the ambient/instrumental further on those two albums. Sky Saw in particular seems to be a signpost.
It probably sits at a level below Ambient 1 for me. Despite it being very very good it does feel like a bit of a collection of tracks, whereas Ambient 1 feels conceptually very complete, so for that reason I’ll go for a nice ambient 4
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Thu Feb 15 2024
Disintegration
The Cure
Disintegration
I did a bit of a listen to the ‘classic’ cure albums not that long ago, but I do struggle a bit to differentiate their albums. I think they are a great band with some incredible songs, but I’ve never been able to really get into their catalogue. I like them when I listen but then I kind of forget about them. I think they may generally be growers though, this album
included.
Love the drum sound and the overall production. Kind of big and spacey but not too distant, with some great keyboard and guitar textures and layers.
The good songs are very good, the middling songs are by no means bad, but they do sound similar, and can feel a little flat.
Pictures of you - superb
Lovesong - great
Lullaby - superb
Fascination street - great
Untitled - great
Overall I really like the atmosphere and feel of the whole thing, but there are some undoubted dips. It’s quite long at 1hr 10, it could probably have done with a bit of editing down a bit.
It’s somewhere between a 3 and 4, I’ll go 3 for now but I will re listen and probably re-appraise
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Fri Feb 16 2024
Dirty
Sonic Youth
Dirty
I’ve only ever listened to Goo, as I love Kool Thing, (which I only really ‘discovered’ recently,) but Sonic Youth are one of those bands that passed me by as a teenager. Probably too discordant and difficult for my tiny brain to cope with.
I really enjoyed this though - as an album of noisy art rock with loads of guitars I thought it was great. Loose (in a good way) musically but uptight atmospherically, it also combines a sense of directness with sense obfuscation. I really like those tensions.
First listen I was thinking 3, but the second listen moved it closer to a 4. It’s definitely an album I will listen to more, and makes me want to dip into more of their albums. I’ll go 3 for now
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Sat Feb 17 2024
Blue Lines
Massive Attack
Blue Lines
This album is 33 years old. 33 years before it was released the South Pacific soundtrack was the best selling album of 1958 and Elvis had only been around for 2 years.
I can’t have listened to this in about 15 years, but fuck it’s a great album.
I’ve heard it so many times but I really concentrated on listening to Unfinished Sympathy today. Obviously it’s a classic but it really is an absolutely fantastic bit of music. The melody and strings are genuinely affecting and moving, while the restless percussion and rhythm contrast beautifully with that tenderness.
Safe From Harm, Five Man Army, Lately are also excellent tracks and I absolutely adore Hymn of the Big Wheel.
Sometimes the ‘englishness’ of the rapping vocals can jar a bit and sound a bit Lonely Island - I guess this must have been a bit of an influence for them
I still listen to Mezzanine pretty frequently and that is probably my fav MA album, but this really is superb. Also when I first got it in the mid 90s it sounded so different to anything else I’d ever heard before.
I’m finding it surprisingly hard to rate, it’s between a 4 and 5 for me. Mezzanine would definitely be a 5 and I think this sits a little below that. However it is excellent in it own right, and factoring in its originality and groundbreaking’ness’ I think I have to give it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Sun Feb 18 2024
461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton
461 Ocean Boulevard
I’ve never quite been able to get into with Clapton despite liking Cream, Blind Faith and Derek & the Dominoes. Something about him and his music leaves me cold, not in a boring technically proficient way, or because of his Enoch Powell or Covid stuff, I just find it a bit empty. I read his autobiography from about 15 years ago and he comes across as pretty dull and devoid of personality and I think that is reflected in a lot of his music post Derek. Obviously its not necessary for someone to be a great person to make great music and there are plenty of artists I like who are questionable, but my sense of him is reflected in his music and I find it hard to shake that off.
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting with this - probably a selection of tastefully made but ultimately soulless blues rock that feels a bit pointless. Having said that I did try to go into this with an open mind and I actually did enjoy it for the most part.
Some of the slower ones do have that tasteful banality to them but things like Motherless Children and Willie and the Hand Jive have that rootsy, Delanie & Bonnie, JJ Cale feel. Let it Grow I enjoyed too.
I can see myself listening to this again while working, maybe doing spreadsheets on a Tuesday afternoon. I expect that’s what Eric had in mind when he made it.
A basic bitch
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Mon Feb 19 2024
21
Adele
21
Rolling in the deep is a great song. Rumour has it is good too, it’s a decent start. Starts to drag after that.
I don’t think her voice is actually that great. It can be really good on certain songs but she is very pub singer in lots of ways. Her voice lacks shade and warmth and despite being powerful and mostly having a good tone, it’s always sounded a bit ersatz to me, an impression of the big soul singers rather than something more personal. Don’t You Remember is a good example, a pleasant song with some nice country and blues touches, but her vocals really don’t suit it and it’s sounds a bit of mess really (the arrangement is a bit annoying and doesn’t help either)
Set Fire to the Rain is a decent song. I’ll Be Waiting starts well, but it as it builds up it loses itself and becomes an overwrought motown pastiche.
Despite a couple of decent songs, this is pretty dull fare. The more up tempo songs work better than the slow ballads, but I don’t feel either enriched or diminished after listening to it. It probably doesn’t help that so much of it has been x-factored and reality tv montaged to death.
I do believe the sincerity of her feelings, but as a whole experience it feels inauthentic - a sense of making an album of songs and arrangements that sound like the kind of album that someone like Adele would make, rather than finding something ‘true’ (whatever the fuck that means).
I also found this album had the kind of bass playing and bass tone that I hate - supreme session playing that is tasteful and perfectly played but irritatingly dull. That goes for a lot of the playing actually, very skilled but just kind of soulless.
It’s a 2 for me. It’s not terrible but apart from a couple of songs it’s pretty boring.
⭐️⭐️
2
View Album
Tue Feb 20 2024
Blunderbuss
Jack White
Blunderbuss
It’s funny looking back at the White Blood Cells and Elephant era. I loved those albums and went back and bought their first two albums which I also enjoyed immensely. They all still hold up. But I lost interest from Get Behind Me Satan onwards and have never felt much inclination to listen to any of Jack Whites solo albums or other projects and I don’t really know why.
Some good songs and some good moments on a lot of songs. I like the fiddle and lap steel country blues touches throughout. Freedom 21, On and On and On and Take Me With You When You Go are the real standouts for me
A good solid listen but aside from those three songs I’m not sure if I’ll think to come back to it and listen through again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Wed Feb 21 2024
Trio
Dolly Parton
Trio
I’ve never heard of this despite liking all 3 of them.
Such lovely vocals and harmonies. Each voice is distinctive yet the three combine beautifully. I think I could listen to those three voices in harmony indefinitely.
Great playing and arrangements. As it was made in 1987 I was half expecting it to sound very 80s with big echoey snares etc. There are some slight elements of that with the piano on Telling Me Lies and I’ve Had Enough (the two weakest songs), but overall I love the sound. It has nice, straightforward and simple country instrumentation with a lovely warm and sympathetic sound. Simple is not a criticism, but the shuffling drums with acoustic instruments augmented by fiddle, dulcimer, mandolin etc is just great - it’s easy to ‘over musician’ this sort of thing but the restrained number of instruments works really well.
This has been a very pleasant surprise. Not sure if this is overlooked just because I’d never heard of it, but it feels like an overlooked gem. Definitely going into rotation.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Thu Feb 22 2024
Out Of The Blue
Electric Light Orchestra
Out of the Blue
I do like ELO a lot, they have some absolutely superb songs in their catalogue. I’ve given most of their albums a listen over the past few years but I’ve never been able to really latch on to any of them, despite loving a lot of the songs.
This is no exception, there are some cracking tunes on here - Turn to Stone, Night in the City, Starlight, Jungle, Big Wheels, Summer and Lightning, Birmingham Blues, as well as the classics Sweet Talkin’ Woman and Mr Blue Sky - and in fact I don’t think any of the songs are particularly weak, but there is a similarity in tone, sound, structure, arrangement and production that it becomes hard to differentiate a lot of the songs. I am a fan of their signature style and I do like the mix of pop, rock, disco and, of course, the orchestral elements, but over the course of 70 minutes it feels like might be nice to disrupt that formula from time to time. I get there is a consistency and coherence but some variation would be welcome.
I did like it, some of the subtleties became clear on repeated listens, and there are some superb songs, but the whole thing doesn’t quite settle with me for some reason that I cant quite work out.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Fri Feb 23 2024
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club
Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love are superb. Both are on a lot of my playlists (as well as the ODB remix of Mariah Carey’s Fantasy, which samples Genius of Love - ‘me and Mariah, go back like babies and pacifiers’)
Talking Heads are one of my top 10 bands and I love Tina Weymouth’s bass playing, but aside from the two big songs I don’t think I’ve ever given this album a proper go. I’ve listened to it before, but not with real intent.
L Elephant, As Above So Below, On On On On are great.
I suspected I would like this as it has many elements right up my street, part of Talking Heads doing angular new wave funk and early rap influenced pop music.
I really really enjoyed it and I think it’s great. I’m very tempted to go 5, but the only thing making me give it a 4 is that it does have a ‘side project’ slightness to it. Whether that’s because I know they are a side project or not I’m not sure.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Sat Feb 24 2024
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
I’ve never listened to this before. I actually listened to the one after this, Dig Lazarus Dig a fair bit when it came out, and I like The Boatman’s Call, mainly on the basis of Into My Arms, which I love. I also really got into the soundtracks Nick Cave did with Warren Ellis, mainly The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James. The Wind River soundtrack too. And Red Right Hand of course.
Beyond that I’ve not really delved into anything to much else. I do like, or at the very least find his stuff interesting. Even if it’s not ‘enjoyable’ it has a singularity and sense of idiosyncratic flair I really appreciate.
It wasn’t until after the first listen that I learned that it is two separate albums rather than a standard double album. They do feel like two different records so it kind of makes sense to review them separately.
Abattoir Blues
The overall sound is cool, kind of big and spacey and rocking and loud, but without being too massive or bombastic or distant.
The band do have a real litheness, even on the relatively ‘straight ahead’ rock songs they create a real groove. The bass and drums are great in that regard - not necessarily thorough musical virtuosity but through feel. The piano playing and backing vocals also stood out particularly.
Hiding All Away is great - kind of broken rhythm with a nagging groove. Pretty funny lyrics.
There She Goes, My Beautiful World - they play this a lot on 6 Music, it’s a great tune.
Nature Boy is also excellent.
I liked the sense of drama (and humour) and raucousness, and I like the wryness of his voice and manner, at turns Morrison, Dylan and Jagger-esque. He also has that great knack for really interesting little melodies and hooks.
Lyre of Orpheus
Love love the title song
Breathless - lovely melody, give this to a safe MOR band and in the pre download days I can see it being a massive hit. Someone like the Corrs or Sixpence None the Richer. But the edge he has just tips it into really interesting territory that tension elevates it beyond just a nice melody
I like the numerous mentions of and allusions to birds, and the tension between melancholy and joy, lyrically and melodically on this one.
Both albums are a 4 for me, so a 4 overall. Both close to 5 but I can’t quite work out whether I’d prefer them as two distinct albums or as the double package. I think they work together but I would probably go back to them as two separate albums. Maybe a slight preference for Lyre of Orpheus but they are both great.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Sun Feb 25 2024
Ambient 1/Music For Airports
Brian Eno
Ambient 1: Music For Airports
I love this album and after giving Another Green World 4 I can’t not give this 5. I listen to it a lot, sometimes when I’m working, sometimes commuting or driving.
The beauty of it for me is that I find it genuinely calming, and it works as background music or something I actively listen to. It’s slow and without distinctive melodies or structures, but it never feels slight or pointless. The more you listen the more you hear and connect and the better it gets.
Of the four tracks 1/1 has the closest thing to a recognisable melody, and I really think it is a beautiful piece of music. The piano is obviously very Satie influenced, but for such a simple arrangement of just synthesiser and pianos it does an incredible job of evoking a mood and a feeling, while musically holding your attention.
I like how 1/2 pulls together the piano elements from 1/1 and the vocal elements of 2/1 to create a kind of denouement or crescendo to the first two tracks before 2/2 is a kind of end credits piece, taking what’s come before and transposing the previous ideas and themes into synthesised horns.
I really do adore this album, it gets better each time I listen and it genuinely has a physical and emotional effect on me
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Mon Feb 26 2024
American Idiot
Green Day
American Idiot
I don’t mind Green Day at all and I remember enjoying this when it came out, and they were good at Reading when we saw them that same year.
I think as a concept album it does hang together well and feels like a coherent piece of work. It’s also very linked to and evocative of it’s time, 9/11, Iraq, Columbine etc. Even if it doesn’t always work for me I get a real sense that they made the album they wanted to make and I think that’s a good thing.
Musically it’s a good blend of the pop punk sound they are very good at with some slightly more sounds and instrumentation outside their normal boundaries, pushing into classic rock territory. I definitely hear A LOT of The Who in it. Aside from that additional instrumentation I did also like the ‘big’ sound of massed electric and acoustic guitars.
As well as The Who there’s a lot that sounds like a lot of other songs, Bowie and Johnny Cash noticeably.
I also appreciate the ambition of the song cycles and mini suites. Obviously that’s not an innovation in itself but I think it’s pretty cool that a band known for 3 minute pop punk songs decided to push into something a bit more interesting.
Overall I found the whole thing enjoyable and although it probably won’t go on rotation or get many revisits, I like the idea of it. I appreciate they set out to do something different, and, I think, managed do that on their own terms.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Tue Feb 27 2024
Wild Is The Wind
Nina Simone
Wild What is the Wind
Not listened to many of her albums, never know where to start. Obviously for a lot of US singers and bands of the 50s and 60s their albums were a chance for record companies to release whatever they could and make a quick buck, rather than a chance to make an artistic statement. I gather Nina falls into this boat too.
Pretty sure anything I could say about her has been said a thousand times before a thousand times more eloquently. Her voice and piano playing are so expressive that they elevate some of the more pedestrian jazz blues songs on here, but the good songs she can take it to a completely different place. Four Women, which I’ve never heard before, is absolutely superb. I love that descending piano and bass motif.
Veers into easy listening in places, not necessarily a bad thing, but she’s so incredible it feels a bit of a waste. More of the upbeat RnB of I Love Your Lovin’ Ways and jazzy folk of Black is the Colour of my True Love’s Hair would make for a great album. I get her background is more in the Jazz tradition but I think she’s at her best when she goes a bit beyond that.
What More Can I say is good too, didn’t like it much on first listen but it stood out more the second and third time. Lilac Wine (or Lilaaac Wine) is nice too.
Tricky one to rate. I’m not a fan of some of the songs, not that they are bad they just don’t speak to me, but it’s Nina Simone so even if the songs are horrendous it has a pretty high base level. And Four Women is just incredible. Ultimately it doesn’t feel like an album, more a collection of songs, so for that reason I’ll stick with a high end 3
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
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Wed Feb 28 2024
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
John Lennon
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Unsurprisingly I’m very familiar with this album, and it is my favourite of his solo albums. As a snapshot of his state of mind in 1970 it is an incredibly honest and direct document. This is fully John Lennon, the person and the musician, in the 2nd half of 1970. He may have been different before or after but in keeping with his idea that the only true art is about the artist this is a real artistic statement.
It has some of his best solo songs and is his best collection of songs on one album. Mother, Hold On, I Found Out, Isolation, Well Well Well, Look at Me and of course God, which I absolutely love. Ringo’s drumming on that song in particular is just incredible - all those different fills between all the I Don’t Believes.
I listened to the Ultimate Mix and it sounds great. POB always sounded better than Imagine but now it really sounds great.
It’s not always an easy listen, but it’s always a great listen. Just using 3 different song archetypes, piano led ‘ballads’, riff based rockers and acoustic folk style songs, he creates a mood, feeing and an emotional response. Pretty incredible really.
If McCartney is a 5 this undoubtedly a 5 too. These first two solo albums are both incredibly revealing of each’s character and response to the world around them, and they make superb complementary listening.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Thu Feb 29 2024
Let's Get Killed
David Holmes
Let’s Get Killed
I really liked his album after this, Bow Down to the Exit Sign when it came out at the end of uni. I listen d to it again a while ago and it still holds up.
Despite liking that album I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Let’s Get Killed. I think Ben may have had the CD back in Durham though.
My Mate Paul - could this BE more 90s sounding
Let’s get Killed is good
Gritty Shaker I’ve heard before and like
Don’t Die Just Yet - standout by far
I think I would have liked it a lot in 1997, and at that time it would have been right at the vanguard of this type of thing, but listening to it now it feels a bit dated, in a way that Endtroducing doesn’t. There’s a lot of lounge/jazz organ to some of it that was popular at the time but doesn’t sound that great now. Im not massively keen on the drum sound either.
When it is a bit more ‘dramatic’ like on Let’s Get Killed it works much better.
Don’t Die Just yet is excellent, the real standout. Gritty Shaker, Lets Get Killed and Radio 7 were also good I thought.
It’s not as good as Bow Down to the Exit sign which has a bit more to it and a bit more sonic variation. I think there are also other better albums in this style so I’m not sure I’ll go back to this much, although Don’t Die Just Yet is going on my ‘Best Songs I didn’t Know About From 1001 Albums I Must Hear Before I Die’ playlist.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Fri Mar 01 2024
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
Channel ORANGE
I remember there being a lot of buzz when this came out and we played it a lot for about a month at work. I listened a few times and then completely forgot about it until now. I still can’t really remember anything about it so it feels like listening for the first time
Wasn’t really into the first half much on the first listen, it definitely picked up in the second half with Pyramids, Lost and Monks. Pyramids is superb, a nice synth bass riff underpinning things before it wanders off, in a good way, into a minimalist spacey jazzy RnB thing.
Much of it did pass me by, with the minimalist production and melodies, but the moments when when I really listened to it I got quite a bit out of it.
I liked it more on the 2nd listen, I wish Fertilizer had been a proper song. Super Rich Kids was was noticeably good, as was Crack Rock. And the very George Martin strings on Bad Religion stood out.
Overall I liked it, as a slightly left of centre RnB album. It got better with each listen and I can hear how influential it was in that genre too. However some of it still felt a little forgettable and it is long. I enjoyed the production, composition and sound - quite full and rich while being simultaneously pared back and muted.
Maybe it’s an album of some good songs with some great moments within songs rather than a great album - although with more listens I think it might improve.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Sat Mar 02 2024
Endtroducing.....
DJ Shadow
Endtroducing…
It’s a five before I even listen to it. I still listen to it regularly and I haven’t forgotten how good it is.
On my first listen today I really tried to listen objectively and try and remove the knowledge/nostalgia. That was hard but it’s clear it’s a fantastic album on its own terms. It sounds fresh and exciting.
Then listening again and thinking about it as being nearly 30 years old, it is of it’s time but doesn’t sound dated or or specifically of 1996, it just reconfirms how good it still sounds. It’s also then fun thinking about the memories of listening to it a lot at uni and when I first moved to Japan. Great times.
It’s hard to pick out individual tracks as the whole thing is l one suite of music with the repeating lines and motifs, but I’ve always loved Best Foot Forward, The Number Song, Organ Donor and Midnight in a Perfect World.
Not sure I can say anything we already don’t know or think about it how good it is or how it was built but as an hourlong sonic landscape it’s just so good.
It’s 5 for its innovativeness.
It’s a 5 for its quality as an album in this genre.
It’s a 5 for it’s quality as an album in its own right
It’s s 5 for the memories.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ps, Maureen has five sisters, they all got ass
5
View Album
Sun Mar 03 2024
Africa Brasil
Jorge Ben Jor
África Brasil
Never heard of this or him. Wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I thought it might be some Afro-Brazilian jazz thing.
I purposefully didn’t read anything about it before listening, so with some trepidation/fear/excitement/anticipation I put it on, and was very happily surprised to hear the first track is a kind of funky Afrobeat groove. I love the layers of percussion propelling the rhythm, augmented by the bass and guitar riff. No idea what he’s saying but I do like the sound of Brazilian Portuguese with all the shhs and jsss.
Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu has an even more funk powered groove but with a more overtly samba/bossa nova vocal melody.
This is good!
Taj Mahal - Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?!?! I sort remember hearing about this, that Rod nicked that melody from here, and also the string line from another song, but claimed you were allowed to do that, or something. Can definitely hear elements of Barry Manilow and Copacabana in A História de Jorge too.
Really liked Camisa 10 da Gávea, I guess that’s about the Brazil no 10 shirt?
The one after, Cavaleiro Do Cavalo Imaculado is a superb groove. I was listening on my headphones while doing some housework and it made me dance around. I wouldn’t have looked out of place at the Carnival in Rio. I was already wearing the headdress and thong which helped though. Super.
I don’t want to know what he’s actually singing, I just like the sound and trying to guess what it’s all about.
What’s with the Cuckoo Clock sound on some of the tracks?
I throughly enjoyed this! Without this 1001 album thing I doubt I would ever have heard of it let alone have listened to it, so I’m very glad I did.
It was even better on the 2nd listen. The groves are excellent, and the Brazilian element takes it in a slightly different direction that is pretty novel to me.
By the 3rd listen it lands comfortably in the 4 zone. It’s got great tunes, grooves and rhythm and it’s incredibly fun and joyful.
A foot tappin’
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Mon Mar 04 2024
Os Mutantes
Os Mutantes
3
View Album
Tue Mar 05 2024
Is This It
The Strokes
Is This It
So good when it first came out. In fact I think I might have bought it in Melbourne when I came to visit you Paul. July 2001, so the timing checks out. Think I also bought the Purple Hills single by D12 at the same time.
Is this still good or is there too much nostalgia?
I love that the first track played with the idea of hype and disappointment. Obviously the hype was huge, so to open with a detached sounding song that never quite builds and then just sort of finishes is great. Super bassline hanging the whole thing together.
Banger after banger. No matter how derivative the songs might be or how self consciously cool they wanted to be the songs are excellent. For their particular style and template it really is fantastic.
No weak tracks. 35 mins. Superb.
Love the overall sound, particularly that dry drum sound and the rhythm guitars. Although Last Night is basically American Girl the rhythm guitar is Lennon-esque, not quite the triplets of All My Loving but a nice version of it.
It so heavily reminds me of early 2000s and absolutely loving it but I don’t think it sounds dated, it’s still great, unlike a lot of bands albums they followed in their slipstream.
Musically and aesthetically they had the same effect on rock music as Nirvana did a decade before, you can see clear a line before and after of how indie rock bands looked and sounded.
My only slight reservation is that sometimes I think it’s too studied a synthesis of cool influences and is it really them, is there an artifice that I can’t quite see through? But then I think I’m overthinking it and every time I listen to it I love it. So it has to be a 5, can’t be anything else.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Wed Mar 06 2024
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
Bridge Over Troubled Water
BOTW - have heard so many times and so familiar. Even though sometimes the recording can feel a little OTT, really listening to it, what a magical song. Uplifting, comforting and full of beautiful moments, ‘Sail on, silver girl…’ in particular.
Always loved El Condor Pasa, particularly the intro.
Keep the Customer Satisfied I also love. Good example of Paul Simon’s wry sardonic storytelling.
It took a while for me to see that So Long, Frank Lloyd Wight was a good song. It’s a lovely little melody with a skipping rhythm and I like the little fiddle string low in the mix
The Boxer - what a song. Sounds brilliant every time I hear it. Might be my favourite S&G song.
Baby Driver, similar to Customer. I do like these quirky upbeat songs he does , a bit like Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard from Paul Simon’s ‘first’ solo album. Kind of upbeat folky Motown with unusual rhyme patterns
I LOVE The Only Living Boy in New York. Just love it, the bass, the feel, everything.
Why Don’t You Write Me. I feel like this is the only down note on the album. Feels like an arrangement looking for a song and the whole thing doesn’t quite convince.
I’m never quite sure why Bye Bye Love is on here too. It’s a good version of a great song, but it’s always stuck out as a bit odd. Not necessarily bad but seems out of place.
Song For the Asking. I really enjoy the low key nature of this, a nice contrast to the ‘big’ opening of the title song. Lovely track.
I do love this album, I go back and forth between this and Bookends as my favourite S&G album, but they are both great. For such a great act it’s always surprising how it feels like they only really have two ‘proper’ albums. They have written some of the greatest songs though and I suppose that’s why any greatest hits of theirs is so good.
Even though it’s not quite perfect and does feel uneven towards the end with Why Don’t You Write Me and Bye Bye Love , before the lovely Song for the Asking I think this has to be a 5, it’s got two of the greatest songs ever and some of their best non ‘big’ songs.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Thu Mar 07 2024
Live / Dead
Grateful Dead
Live/Dead
Wasn’t looking forward to this.
The first song is 25 minutes. Fucking hell
If I was a kid in the late 60s SF, off my tits on acid and smoking weed all day I think I would have loved this and the Grateful Dead. Hard 55 years afterward to appreciate this.
Some decent grooves amongst all the noodling, and some nice guitar sounds. The vocals don’t sound great though.
The lyrics, earnest mystical stoner nonsense, but with a certain amount of vaguely charming guilessness.
The first listen through I didn’t mind it at all, it soundtracked doing work pleasantly enough. It started to become a bit tiresome by the 2nd listen and then I stopped halfway through the 3rd listen as the whole thing was becoming tedious. Life is too short to spend another 1hr 15 minutes listening to it. Not that’s it’s actually that bad actually it just all feels a bit futile.
I had it on loop to listen a few times and couldn’t tell what was the last track and the first track. It’s all one long noodle with some bad words.
I didn’t mind St Stephen, but struggled to pick much else out. The song Feedback. Why?
If you like the grafetful dead then I’m sure you’d love it. If not then it just passes you by.
Never listened to the Grateful Dead properly, not sure this will tempt me to, although I probably should try American Beauty one day. Don’t think I’ll start listening to their other 166 released live albums.
Some grooves here and there, some good bits, some unlistenable, but overall quite a tedious endeavour
⭐️⭐️
2
View Album
Fri Mar 08 2024
OK
Talvin Singh
OK
I have a recollection of you having this at Durham, Paul? I’m aware of him but can’t recall ever giving him a listen.
I thought this was great.
Eno-esque in places, particularly My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, but obviously filtered through his own cultural upbringing.
Obvious Indian classical influences, but quite a lot of traditional Japanese influences too. Subsequently found out some of it was recorded in Okinawa, so that makes sense.
Some of the hip hop and dance/drum n bass beats do sound quite 90s, but they are so well woven amongst the other sounds it works really well
Traveller is great, has a bit of everything that’s to follow, love the strings.
OK is great too
And I loved Light.
I’m glad this came up, I’m looking forward to listening to it some more
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Sat Mar 09 2024
At San Quentin
Johnny Cash
At San Quentin
The History of Rock Music in 500 songs has a good episode about Cash and Walk the Line, and the genesis of the Tennessee Three, basically how they weren’t really musicians but found a way of backing him that suited him but was quite unusual in its simplicity and didn’t sound like much else at the time, particularly Luther Perkins guitar lines and Marshall Grant’s extremely minimal double bass (basically he could only play every other note at the beginning as he didn’t know where the notes were on the bass and he couldn’t move his fingers quick enough). Obviously this is Carl Perkins here, which is cool, you can hear him embellishing a little on There’ll be Peace in the Valley.
I like Johnny Cash a lot, but I’ve always been a greatest hits and American Recordings man - I suppose the problem is that there isn’t necessarily a definitive early studio Cash album or set of albums, he released so many and many were just tracks put together from various recording sessions. I’m not generally a fan of live albums so I’ve kind of overlooked this and Folsom Prison, but they really are such a part of his legend that I should actually listen to them.
It is great. All the elements of Johnny Cash are there, the fantastic, resonant baritone voice, simultaneously hard and empathetic, but always full of feeling, the myth making outlaw persona and the overall charisma and presence.
It’s amazing what he can conjure out of such seemingly sparse and simple musical backing.
The Wreck of the old 97 really fizzes.
I Walk the Line is obviously superb, in whichever form. I love how each verse is in a slightly different key giving a sense of unsteadiness before resolving in the last verse.
San Quentin is great, particularly the reaction from the crowd. Carl Perkins also sounds excellent on this.
I think this is the definitive live version of A Boy Named Sue? It’s definitely the one you hear the most. Reading about it, it was a surprise in the set and was improvised by the band. Nice.
I listened to the original version, but the legacy version is meant to be very good and possibly even better.
I’d like to listen to At Folsom to compare but I thought this was great, up there with Live at Leeds and Get Your Ya Yas as the only live albums I like. A foot tappin’ rock solid 4. Keen to listen to it more
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Sun Mar 10 2024
The La's
The La's
The La’s
I wasn’t able to listen to this as much as I normally would yesterday , although I did listen to it last week.
On first listen last week I was a bit underwhelmed and I struggled to pick anything discernible out. I think I might have been expecting an album full of very melodic jangly 60s guitar pop like There She Goes, or something as polished and immediate as The Stone Roses.
The 2nd time around yesterday I listened to it sporadically throughout the day I enjoyed it more. And There She Goes is actually a bit of an outlier, not necessarily in quality but in structure and sound.
It’s definitely not the proto Britpop album it’s gets described as, it’s much less wedded to a classic 60s guitar group template, it’s a bit more sinewy and moves outside those boundaries. Liberty Ship has a kind of musical slipperiness, maybe a bit Talking Heads-ish, with a folky, she shanty-ish melody. In fact there feels like a lot of sea shanty influences on this.
There She Goes is an excellent song though. Like a lot of the overfamiliar of songs on these albums on the list, when you concentrate on them you really appreciate them.
Son of a Gun, Timeless Melody, Liberty Ship I.O.U really stood out on that second listen. Feelin’ and Way Out I didn’t much like though.
I’m not convinced by the overall sound. I know it was recorded over a lot of sessions but there is a bit of flatness on some songs and there’s a particular sound on some of the rhythm guitar that I’m not keen on. There She Goes is also a bit of an outlier in this regard as it does sound very different to the rest of the album.
Bit of a tough one to rate, I haven’t listened to it as much as have the other albums we’ve done but I did like it, and there are definitely some very good songs on here, although a couple I want keen on and the production/sound was a bit of a letdown. I’ll go 3 for now, but will definitely listen more, it’s almost certainly a grower.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Mon Mar 11 2024
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Obviously not my type of music but I don’t mind Iron Maiden. Actually I just like Run to the Hills, that’s a great song.
Didn’t know that Bruce Dickinson wasn’t an original member.
Musically it was kind of what I thought, although with more groove and variance than I expected. Definitely more melodic than I thought it would be.
All the elements are there though, aggression, speed, double bass drumming, loudness, bad lyrics and a lurid album cover
You can see the influences of the early metal bands like Black Sabbath and the classic rock bands like Led Zep, as well as the theatricality of Queen. Feels like the heavy elements of classic rock stripped out, refined and concentrated down a heavy metal path, rather than bands who take heavy metal and refine that into even more heavy metal and lose any sense of tune melody or enjoyment, eg Pantera. It feels like they want to write songs and make them heavy metal, rather than just wanting to write noise.
I like the harmonies on Phantom of the Opera and there are some nice backing vocals here and there too. Phantom probably my stand out track.
Strange World is just a straight ahead power ballad.
Although I might rarely chose to, I’d quite easily listen to this again. Heavy metal is not really my genre but if I was forced to listen one heavy metal album then I’d be happy with this.
I’ll go 3, it’s not as good as some albums I’ve given 3 to, but for a heavy metal album 3 feels like the right score.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Tue Mar 12 2024
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
I tend to forget about this album, despite Down by the River being one of my fav Neil songs. I can’t actually remember the last time I listened to this, but must be at least 10 years.
Cinnamon Girl - it’s great. The handclaps, the sense of innocence. For some reason the intro always surprises me, I always think it’s at a quicker tempo than it is. Love the little guitar breakdown in the coda
EKTIN
Always a fav and always loved the harmonies and bouncy rhythm
Round and Round
I tend to overlook this one but it’s a very sweet low key melody.
Down by the River
I love this song. I love Buddy Miles version almost as much but this is just so so good.
The Losing End
I like the loping country feel, but it’s not one of my favourites
Running Dry
The fiddle is very nice against the slightly sinister traditional folk feel. Again I tend to forget about this song, but it’s great.
Cowgirl in the Sand
Banger
I knew Down by the River was written quickly when he had a fever but I didn’t realise until today that he wrote Cinnamon Girl and Cowgirl in the Sand on the same day when he was delirious with fever too.
How does one approach rating this? Alongside the McCartney, Bowie and Lennon albums this is the one of the ‘big’ artists with extensive catalogues, and when you know their other albums so well it’s hard to divorce it from the context of, in this case, what comes after.
I think I have to rate in terms of my appreciation of the albums of his I love, so therefore it’s a 4. It’s great, and people have built entire careers on songs not nearly as good as CG, EKTIN, CITS and DBTR, but it’s just that level below my top tier Neil albums.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Wed Mar 13 2024
Transformer
Lou Reed
Transformer
I remember buying this at Uni and quite liking it, although I haven’t listened in a long time. I must have known at the time that Bowie and Ronson produced it but that felt like news to me today.
And listening to it their fingerprints are all over it. The guitar on Vicious (and throughout), the strings on Perfect Day, the bass and drums on Hangin’ Around, the tuba on Make Up. LOVE Bowie on backing vocals on the coda of Satellite of Love. Also didn’t realise Klaus Voormann played bass on some of the tracks .
Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side are more examples of those overfamiliar songs that really are superb when you properly listen to them. Iv’e always loved Vicious and Satellite of Love is a stone cold classic.
Listening through today, aside from the biggies, Andy’s Chest, Hangin’ Around, Wagon Wheel (GREAT guitar on this) and I’m so Free stood out. I wasn’t as keen on Make Up, New York Telephone Conversation and Goodnight Ladies - a bit underwhelming and feel more like exercises in production and arrangement rather than actual songs.
I do like Lou Reed and his style of songwriting and really like his vocals, but I’m not sure there are quite enough good songs on here, and without Ronson I think it would be more of a struggle to get through those weaker tracks.
I don’t know his solo work that well, but I do love the Velvet Underground and listening to this it feels like he does need some interesting collaborators to help elevate some of his more mundane moments or pick up some song writing slack.
One of those funny ones to rate - the highs are exceptional and although the lows aren’t terrible or too numerous they are a bit deflating, so it’s between a 3 and a 4.
Just because of Vicious, Perfect Day, Walk on the Wild Side, Satellite of Love and Wagon Wheel I’ll say 4.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Thu Mar 14 2024
Hot Fuss
The Killers
Hot Fuss
I’ve never really liked the Killers, so I’ve never listened to this album before. Not that I necessarily think they are bad, there’s just something I can’t quite put my finger on that I don’t really like.
I tried to put that aside and listen with an open mind. Clearly they can write some very catchy pop songs, they definitely have a knack for hooks and choruses. Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me are great examples of this. And I have always actually liked All These Things That I’ve Done. I also like the little bass hook on Jenny was a Friend of Mine. There’s some nice bass playing throughout too.
Outside of those big catchy songs though I did find it a bit dull, with a fair amount of filler. There’s a lack of dynamism and excitement and it often falls back into generic guitar pop, with some bad lyrics and not great vocals.
I’m also not a fan of the sound and production which doesn’t help. Apart from the bass tone and its place in the mix it feels very very flat.
I was hoping I’d get more out of it and it would grow on me on the 2nd and 3rd listens, but I kind of felt the same as the first listen, although I think I appreciated some of the keyboards/synths more the 2nd time around.
Maybe it’s me and just don’t get it but I don’t think this is all that good. A couple of catchy big tunes and not a great deal else. I feel like perhaps there’s an artifice and insincerity to it that turns me off. It’s not an affected cool that you might tar The Strokes with, perhaps it’s a smugness or a kind of indie showbiz-ness.
Perhaps 2 is a bit harsh considering I gave Iron Maiden 3, but I feel this is more hollow even if it’s more listenable on the surface.
⭐⭐️
2
View Album
Fri Mar 15 2024
Synchronicity
The Police
Synchronicity
Spiritus Mundi
It took me a long time to appreciate The Police fully, I think I was put off by Sting’s 90s solo stuff, all that banal adult orientated jazz and soul inflected wank. But they are a great band and alongside the big songs there are some absolute bangers in their catalogue. However this is my least favourite of their albums.
Synchronicity is a great start though, building on their reggae rock sound with some interesting synths.
Walking in your Footsteps kind of signposts where Sting was heading, I really like the first minute or so and then it teeters right on the edge of good and bad, and I’m not sure which side it falls on, I think bad by the end. I like the sequencer experimentation but for some reason I don’t think it works that well with Sting at the controls.
O My God has a nice bass line and drums but is a bit underwhelming.
Mother is not good. Not good at all. Really terrible. Woeful, and I mean woeful.
Miss Gradenko is not great either.
Synchronicity II is ok, a bit Police by numbers but at least the guitar gives it a bit of urgency.
Every Breath you Take. Undoubtedly a great song, overfamiliar and its kind of been swallowed up in I’ll be Missing You, but just listening in isolation now it is a superbly constructed pop song, that guitar riff, the single repeating piano note and little piano figure and vocals after the first chorus is so good. This very noticeably jumps out as superior to the rest of the songs on the album.
I do like King of Pain I feel like the balance of pop vs jazzy noodling is ok on this one. Wrapped Around Your Finger is ok.
Tea in the Sahara I really really dislike and Murder by Numbers is one of those pointless forgettable songs.
I really like their debut album and Zenyatta Mondatta, but this one veers too close to being an AOR MOR Sting solo album - it doesn’t have the dynamism and excitement of their earlier records. With Summers and Copeland pushed back it loses a lot of what made them great I think.
Ultimately it’s somewhere around 2-3, but there are some very good moments that I do like so I’ll go 3, although I’d listen to all their other albums ahead of this
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Sat Mar 16 2024
Lady Soul
Aretha Franklin
Lady Soul
I’m pretty familiar with this although haven’t played it in a while. It’s right in that ’67 to ’72 sweet spot for Aretha albums after she moved to Atlantic, from I’ve Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You up to Amazing Grace. Some great songs and some superb covers in there (including her fantastic version of The Weight).
Chain of Fools is rightly a classic. Money Won’t Change You carries on the fantastic start before the slowed down People Get Ready changes the tempo nicely. Great bass driving Niki Hoeky and a great vocal (although obviously every song has a great vocal) brings the tempo back up again before You Make me Feel Like a Natural Woman. Again one of those overfamiliar ones but this is just another level of brilliance.
Sweet Sweet Baby kicks off Side 2 nicely and brings more of that gritty guitar and uptempo, brilliantly propulsive soul sound. The superbly bluesy Good to Me as I am to You (with Clapton), followed by the energetic Come Back Baby is a great one-two. Groovin’ takes things down a notch with a relatively restrained vocal and arrangement before the emotional punch of Ain’t No Way ends things on a big dramatic note.
The playing on this is exceptional, as you would expect from the Muscle Shoals band and the various guests, but the rhythm section of Spooner Oldham and Tommy Cogbilll in particular stand out - tight, melodic, propulsive, sympathetic to the songs, just fantastic.
28 minutes, not a duff track or duff moment.
Combining this choice of songs, that playing, Jerry Wexler’s production and smart arranging (and great track sequencing) with Aretha’s voice and presence is always going to be a winner and this is superb. I don’t think it can be anything but 5, as an example of late 60’s southern soul it’s hard to surpass it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5
View Album
Sun Mar 17 2024
American Pie
Don McLean
American Pie
American pie is brillant, it really is. Not just the lyrical allusions but a brilliant chorus, joyful exuberant playing and a tender melancholic feels to the words. The line about dancing in the gym is always very evocative to me
Till tomorrow. Parts of this feel a lot like a Nick Drake song, particulate the verses and chorus. The middle eight not so much
I do love Vincent, even if the lyrics on occasion are a bit on the nose. Lovely meldoy
Not keen on crossroads, feels a little bit anodyne and inert. Everybody Loves Me, Baby is a bit unconvincing, not sure it quite works
The Grave is very good, although the S&G production doesn’t quite fully land.
It’s a good album, Vincent, American Pie and The Grave the obvious standouts, with some lovely melodies, but beyond that a lot of the songs do feel like variations of the same musical idea and the lyrics can be a bit lumpen and heavy handed. Production/sound wise it also feels pretty dated and a bit thin.
Somewhere between a 3 and a 4, I’ll go 3, one all time classic song, a couple of great tunes and some nice but ultimately middling songs.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Mon Mar 18 2024
Slayed?
Slade
Slayed?
I do like Slade’s greatest hits but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an actual album of theirs.
How d’ You Ride. Exactly what you might expect from the opening song to a Slade album.
The Whole Worlds Going Crazee. At their best these stomping 50s style glam rockers with big choruses seem so effortless and fun, but this one is a bit of a struggle
Look at Last Nite is great though, love the bluesy groove and the sinewy bass and it’s a nice change of tempo. The fade out is a bit abrupt though. I Won’t let it ‘Appen is nice too, again a welcome rhythmic variation with great bass.
The cover of Move Over is fine with its satisfyingly crunchy guitars.
Gudbuy T’Jane - classic Slade. I like to think Dan sings this with his guitar to Jane every time she leaves the house. Love the dynamic between the guitar and bass on the riff, very satisfying.
Gudbuy Gudbuy. Have to admire the consistency in their spellings. Has it’s moments but a bit meat and two veg.
Mama Weer All Crazee Now - more classic Slade, along with Cum on Feel the Noize this is probably the apogee of their sound. Love it.
I Don’t Mind. I don’t mind it.
I feel like every band in the 70s covered Let the Good Times Roll, and aside from the energetic performance I’m not sure what this brings.
Overall I guess it depends on whether you like Noddy’s voice and whether you like their musical template. I like both so I enjoyed this a lot. There’s is a bit more musical subtlety than might be expected, Don Powell is a very good drummer and Jim Lea is a very good all round musician - I particularly like his bass after the choruses in Gudbuy T’Jane for example. And they do move slightly out of the stomping lane from time to time, which is very welcome. It’s a very fun listen, it has no pretensions or ambitions beyond what it is, but has enough musical interest to it bear related listens. It lands somewhere between 3 and 4, but I’ll go for a very enjoyable three
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ps My Life is Natural, the first bonus track and b-side of Coz I Love You is the Led Zep/Pinball Wizzard mash up we didn’t know we needed. I think Rush might also have taken some of the melody for Tom Sawyer
3
View Album
Tue Mar 19 2024
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
(In a Brummie accent)
It’s going to be a 5, it’s one of my favourite albums. I have great memories of living in Japan when it came out and listening to it a lot at that time. I still return to it often and it still holds up, it doesn’t sound at all dated.
It wears its influences pretty clearly, but all filtered very deftly through the Wilco musical sieve. There’s less overt rock and country to it than previous albums, as they lean more into some pure pop melodies as well as more layered atmospheric soundscapes, using keyboards as textures rather than melodic drivers. They also got a new drummer around this time and he makes a big difference - there’s just a sense of more rhythmic interest and variation to it.
The shimmering keyboards, broken rhythm pattern and the discordant coda of I am Trying to Break your Heart lead brilliantly into the more conventional strum of Kamera, but still maintaining a sense of unease. Radio Cure and War on War follow a similar pattern.
The trio of Jesus, Etc, Ashes of American Flags and Heavy Metal Drummer are really the centrepiece of the album. The tenderness of Jesus, Etc, followed by the slightly uneasy of Ashes of American Flags and then the joyfulness of Heavy Metal Drummer encapsulates the whole album.
I really like the Neil Young/Crazy Horse guitar contrasting with the Motown style horns on I’m the Man who Loves You. Pot Kettle Black comes back to the feel of Kamera and War on War before Poor Places and Reservations end things on a suitably downbeat and sonically discordant note. I particularly like the layers and textures on Reservations, not so much a tune as a feeling.
I do love how the songs alternate between the slower, textured and rhythmically fractured songs and the more melodic up beat strummers, that combination is in keeping with the slightly dissonant, fragile and melancholic tone of the whole album.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️
5
View Album
Wed Mar 20 2024
Supa Dupa Fly
Missy Elliott
4
View Album
Thu Mar 21 2024
Justified
Justin Timberlake
Justified
Don’t really need to listen too many times to come to a conclusion on this.
Señorita - I like the organ and drums and the chorus is fine but ultimately all a bit forgettable. Justin’s intro is cringe.
Like I Love You - Great pop song, Neptunes to the fore here.
(Oh No) What You Got - Percussion is good, rest is a bit dull.
Take it From Here - Very poor. Musically, lyrically and melodically insipid.
Cry Me a River - Great, great pop song.
Rock Your Body - another good pop song, a nice disco pastiche.
Nothin’ Else - a Bad-era Jacko rip off and not a particularly good one. Could definitely hear Paint it Black in the outro too.
Last Night - just about elevates itself above the rest of the non singles.
Still on my Brain - just feels a bit pointless.
(And She Said) Take me Now - better, has a bit of drive and dynamism to it. (whisper it but Timbaland produced this one)
Right for Me - the melody is ordinary although I like the little flute. Justin talking sexy isn’t that convincing to me.
Let’s Take a Ride - Forgettable.
Never Again - Ditto. Really dislike the classical guitar.
Like I Love You, Rock Your Body, Cry me a River are great pop songs and stand out a mile, the rest is all a bit characterless, and there is no justification in it being over an hour long. I don’t think Justin’s voice is that great or particularly interesting and if you took the Neptunes/Timbaland production and sonic nouse away there really wouldn’t be much left. Thinking of it as a pop album if 3 or 4 tracks were trimmed off it it might make a solid 3, but there is a lot of insipid R&B in between the singles and the odd ok album track, so it’s a
⭐⭐️
2
View Album
Fri Mar 22 2024
Freak Out!
The Mothers Of Invention
Freak Out!
Suzie? Cream Cheese?
I’ve always avoided Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. I’ve given Captain Beefheart a go and, if I’m in the right mood, I’ve kind of enjoyed the bits I’ve listened to. However it’s not always what I actually want to listen to so I have just put the Mothers in the same bucket and left well alone.
It wasn’t entirely what I expected on the first listen. I thought there would be constant shifts in tempo, sounds and arrangement within each song, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so heavily rooted in garage blues rock. I kind of got into the swing of it by the 2nd half, I started to enjoy the grooves and was happy to expect any old shit to happen at any time.
Second time around I liked it a bit more, I suppose I dropped all my expectations and a bit of familiarity with the twists and turns helped.
I genuinely started to enjoy this and maybe even started to ‘get’ it after the 3rd listen. Whether you do or not I guess would depend on your expectations and appetite or tolerance for the deliberately surrealistic and avant garden elements tacked onto the slightly generic mid 60s blues rock foundations. It definitely got better and a lot more interesting with repeated listens, so much so that some of the more ‘straight’ rock songs became less appealing and the more experimental art rock aspects of it were what I wanted to hear more of.
I do think you have to listen to it in the spirit in which it was made and intended. It’s deliberately non conformist and unconventional, which I ended up really liking for some reason. It’s great that someone imagined this and then made it and built a career out of it, there’s a lot to be said for people with a singular vision that are able to realise that vision. Clearly it’s not for everyone and if you want to hear actual songs then this isn’t the place to go, but it’s given me a real interest in listening to more Zappa. I don’t think I totally get it but I’m into it - I’m glad this came up in the list, I may never have listened to it otherwise. Tempted to go 4 but will go for a high 3
⭐⭐⭐️
3
View Album
Sat Mar 23 2024
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Like everyone I love Dave Grohl, and while I do like FF, they always seem to be a band with some great songs and then a lot of middling stuff. I’ve had greatest hits and I’ve seen them live a couple of times but I don’t know if I’ve ever listened to this album.
This is a Call, really catchy, always liked this song.
I’ll Stick Around - like the verses a lot on this, the chorus I’m not as keen on. Great drumming.
Big Me, very sweet little tune, like this one.
Alone + Easy Target - enjoyed this a bit more the second and third time, pretty catchy chorus.
Good Grief, Floaty, Weenie Beenie, Oh, George - These are all a bit samey, a bit fillery and forgettable for me.
For All the Cows - I like this one a lot. A little bit of litheness and groove
X-Static - Enjoyed the tom-tom on this but apart from that not particularly memorable.
Wattershed - Fine thrashy tune, if a bit forgettable
Exhausted - I like this one, the lyrics and music complement the mood and feel. The little guitar melody underneath the heavily distorted rhythm guitar in the verses is very nice.
It’s of course not fair to compare it to Nirvana, but aside from the loud guitars and some of the drumming I can’t actually see that much commonality.
I love that he did the whole thing himself, evidently not to McCartney-esque levels of virtuosity or songwriting skill, but it is very cool. However there’s no disguising that essentially these are demos and that many of the songs are very 90s-ish rock by numbers, and without his drumming things would feel very pedestrian pretty quickly. It’s not terrible by any means, there are a handful of very good tunes but I don’t think there’s enough to pique enough long term interest to come back to and listen through again.
I like Grohl a lot and appreciate he played everything himself and he did it at a very difficult time after Kurt died, but ultimately it lacks a bit of variety and excitement, especially in the last half where it does get pretty samey. I appreciate it wasn’t supposed to be a grand artistic statement and it sounds like it was very important mentally for him to do it but it does end up feeling quite middling.
⭐⭐⭐️
3
View Album
Sun Mar 24 2024
GI
Germs
2
View Album
Mon Mar 25 2024
The Yes Album
Yes
The Yes Album
Silly Human Race
Never listened to Yes apart from Roundabout (and Owner of a Lonely Heart). Feel like I might get into prog, but I have tried some of the Genesis albums and I didn’t get on with them much.
I found this enjoyable and pretty fun though, even if I think I’m supposed to take it a bit more seriously.
Yours is no Disgrace - exactly what I would imagine a prog song would be, daft lyrics, musical cul de sacs, unendingness.
The Clap, surprised by the folkiness of this, quite a pretty little tune.
Starship trooper. See Yours is No Disgrace.
I’ve Seen All Good People - really liked a few of the parts of this, and didn’t mind the others
A Venture - not keen on this, I really didn’t like the barroom piano. More organ please
Perpetual Change. See Yours is No Disgrace and I’ve Seen All Good People.
So overall I enjoyed it, i liked a lot of the playing, some good guitar parts and a lot of great bass and organ. I think I’d listen again and I might even try more Yes.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Tue Mar 26 2024
Master Of Puppets
Metallica
Master of Puppets
Aside from Enter Sandman and Master of Puppets (the song) I’ve never really understood Metallica. Obviously they are in a genre I don’t particularly care for, so I’m not who they make music for, but of all the heavy metal/thrash metal I have ever heard they’ve always seemed the most boring. And Lars Ulrich always seems like a massive dildo.
There’s not a great deal here to change my opinion. I do really enjoy the pomposity and unintended daftness of the title song, and there are moments where some of the guitars are good in a stupid way, but the relentless pounding of it all gets pretty tiresome. Two listens through really is enough. The lyrics are also really very bad. Thematically I get it but it’s such bad teenage drivel.
I find rating these types of album really tricky and I’m pretty inconsistent with my scores as a result. On the one hand I don’t like the idea of dismissing a type of music just because I’m not into it - there are plenty of people who hate the types of music I’m into - so I try and look for the positives or merits within it’s genre and music in general. And on the other I then do wonder what that appeal and merits actually are, if you didn’t get into this music when you were 14. I get it’s a significant landmark in heavy metal and that its very popular so whether I like it or not isn’t really the point, but despite listening in good faith it’s a pretty tiring listen, particularly the 2nd time around.
So within the albums we’ve had in this style, I preferred it to Pantera, but probably found Iron Maiden more fun. So it’s somewhere between a 2 and a 3 - I’ll plump for a 2
⭐⭐️
2
View Album
Wed Mar 27 2024
If I Could Only Remember My Name
David Crosby
If I Could Only Remember my Name
Don’t think I’ve ever listened to anything by David Crosby outside of the Byrds, CS&N and CSN&Y. Which I guess is the majority of his stuff.
I loved this though, from the opening track onwards. Dreamy, languorous, slow, loose, melodic, atmospheric, warm, moving, just great. I put it on repeat and must have been through it about 5 times already.
I can’t really think of any duff moments apart from possibly the last track, but Music is Love, Laughing and What are their Names stood out everytime.
After having to work hard to find the positives in some of the recent albums it was nice to listen to something immediately enjoyable. With more time I think this could get up to 5, but for now I’ll go 4.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Thu Mar 28 2024
Black Holes and Revelations
Muse
Black Holes & Revelations
Had to listen with an open mind as I’ve never really liked anything of their’s that I’ve heard and I struggle to escape the feeling that their music is very much a 14 year old boy’s idea of what is cool. You know what’s really cool? Going to school and listening to your teachers.
Take a Bow - Liked the build up, a bit of Baba O’Riley and quite a lot of Queen.
Starlight - This one really grew on me, kind of had a kids Sci-Fi Tv show vibe to it.
Supermassive Black Hole - I like the falsetto and it’s a good pop song, but I think this tips just a bit too much into musical theatre
Map of the Problematique - great title, Depeche mode vibes. Pretty fun.
Soldier’s Poem had a bit too much Queen for my taste. Invincible, Assassin & Exo-Politics I wasn’t that into, melodically, lyrically or musically. The Sky-yyy backing vocal bugged me for ages until it clicked it was from Sweet Child O’Mine.
City of Delusion - I really liked the silly OTT fun of this one, particularly the ‘eastern’ style strings
Hoodoo - quite liked the Spanish guitar intro but it didn’t seem to go anywhere that interesting.
Knights of Cydonia - this is a great, daft pop rock song. Very enjoyable.
Great drumming and drum sound. I get the singing is deliberately histrionic and there is obviously more than a touch of Thom Yorke in the vocals, but without the emotional resonance or subtlety.
Overall I liked the silliness of it all, a kind of a knowing over the topness, even if it did get a bit too stage musical at points and I did struggle with some of the songs. When it all comes together like on Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole and Knights of Cydonia it’s enjoyable, but if it misses the mark it sometimes verges on being a bit of an overwrought mulch.
A couple of songs I really liked and lots of enjoyable pomposity. I didn’t dislike it at all but I’m not sure I’ll actually listen again or look into more Muse. So, hmm, I’ll go 3 for vibes.
⭐⭐⭐️
Now back to If I Could Only Remember My Name
3
View Album
Fri Mar 29 2024
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Spiritualized
Ladies & Gentlemen we are floating in Space
I remember Souter having this at uni and I remember borrowing and trying to like it. The only track I liked was Come Together and the rest I wasn’t sure about.
I haven’t revisited in the intervening 25 years and I was actually quite looking forward to giving it a go today, now that I’m a bit older with, hopefully, a broader musical appreciation.
I really did enjoy it a lot. The opening track’s interpolation of I Can’t Help Falling in Love I really liked, and Come Together was still as good as I remembered it, a great droning, crescendoing track.
There’s a certain blues-iness and country-ness to some of it, maybe because of the harmonica that appears regularly, as well as some of the string arrangements.
I Think I’m In Love is great, love the feel and particularly the horn arrangement and the slide guitar(?) motif. And I loved Stay With Me and Cool Waves. A lot of the horn arrangements are great, very McCartney/George Martin-esque. Cop Shoot Cop is long, but doesn’t actually feel like 17 minutes. Loved the strings on Broken Heart.
In a way it’s not about picking out each song, as they are all a kind of groove and mood layered with, noise, sounds and instrumentation, rather than distinct melodic exercises. Obviously he doesn’t have a conventionally good voice, but it does suit the whole atmosphere as the music ebbs and drifts and the different layers and instruments move in and move out.
It improved with each listen as elements of different tracks started to emerge. It is long at 1hr 10, mainly I suppose as the last song is 17 minutes, and I think there was a dip around Home of the Brave and the Individual before it picked back up again. Maybe it could have been a bit shorter but actually it felt like a long suite of songs with similar moods, textures and movements that all worked together.
Looking forward to listening to it more and uncovering little moments I’ve missed up to now.
⭐⭐⭐⭐️
4
View Album
Sat Mar 30 2024
A Girl Called Dusty
Dusty Springfield
A Girl Called Dusty
I didn’t think this was particularly good. Obviously Dusty has a superb voice and I guess it must have been pretty unusual for a British female singer to sing in such a clearly soul influenced way in 1964.
Clearly this was first step away from the Springfields to the more R’n’B style of later albums. And despite her voice never being less than great she feels a bit tentative and unsure throughout, and it lacks the control and subtlety and maturity of the Dusty in Memphis stuff a few years later.
There are some good song choices on here, Mama Said, You Don’t Own Me, Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa, Anyone Who Had a Heart, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and Within’ & Hopin’ and some really not very good song choices at all, like Do Re Mi, My Colouring Book, Mockingbird and Nothing. Despite doing a good job on those good songs none of them approach anything like a definitive version, of which you feel she should be capable.
However the big problem with all of it is the band, the arrangements and the production & sound all being uniformly bad. It sounds awful, thin and dull with that particularly distracting tom-tom sound. You realise how lucky the Beatles were to have George Martin and the engineers at Abbey Raod, and how good their early records sound compared to stuff like this (as well as the early Stones, Kinks etc records, which have some great songs but don’t sound anywhere as near as good as say A Hard Day’s Night or Beatles for Sale).
I couldn’t find out much about the band but it’s the worst kind of early 60s BBC Light Jazz Lounge Pops band sound and playing, and it really doesn’t serve her or the songs well in any way. The saccharine string arrangements and insipid parping horns really are poor.
I’m not that familiar with Definitely Dusty or Dusty in Memphis, apart from the well known songs, but I had a brief listen to a couple of tracks and it’s night and day in terms of playing, sound and also maturity in Dusty’s approach.
Feel bad giving it 2 bearing in mind Dusty’s voice, but this is not a great record and she can’t rescue it from it’s musical mediocrity.
⭐⭐️
2
View Album
Sun Mar 31 2024
Moving Pictures
Rush
Moving Pictures
Things I know about Rush:
- They’re Canadian
- The song Tom Sawyer as it features so much in I Love You man
- People cream themselves about Neil Peart’s drumming
Things I know after listening to Moving Pictures
- they’re Canadian
- Tom Sawyer is an enjoyably fun prog rock pop song
- Neil Peart clearly is a very good drummer, but he is very very busy
I did like lots of bits if this but not sure I’m totally convinced by a whole album if it. Some of the guitar lines and synth parts were good. Limelight and Tom Sawyer are very good songs and stand out, while overall the rest does get up it’s own musical virtuosity bumhole a bit too much and his voice is quite annoying, which also makes the vocal melodies a bit tough to hang on to.
It’s kind of fun though if you don’t take it too seriously. I think that’s why I don’t mind a lot of these prog records - I find the musicians seriousness quite amusing and subsequently I enjoy the music more. However I’m not sure that’s a basis for actually liking it.
Not sure where to rate, I think I enjoyed more than Yes, but not sure if I would investigate much further. Maybe as I didn’t listen to it as much as I would have liked I’ll plump for a 3?
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Mon Apr 01 2024
Strange Cargo III
William Orbit
Strange Cargo III
I liked this, although I think there are possibly better versions of this type of album. The echoey drums and synth squelches and noises do sound very 90s. And you can see what he bought to the Ray of Light album, although less so of what he bought to 13.
I liked the first track, had a nice sense of propulsion and I liked the piano holding the hook. Didn’t realise it was Beth Orton, didn’t sound like her. It made me want to listen to Trailer Park and Central Reservation again, as those are fantastic.
Listening to it, I did wonder if he’s a better producer and arranger for other peoples songs rather than his own? Nothing stood out massively and there was a similarity in sounds and noises across each track.
I can imagine putting this in to work to, but not really listening to it it properly. Not bad, but also not in the top tier of layered electronic instrumental music. Might try some of his other albums but more likely to forget to.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Tue Apr 02 2024
Surrealistic Pillow
Jefferson Airplane
Surrealistic Pillow
Hmmm.
Somebody to Love and White Rabbit are, rightfully, enduringly great 60s songs. Maybe a bit overfamiliar but undoubtedly great.
The rest I’m not so sure about. I liked Today and I liked a lot of the folky elements and I like Grace Slick’s lead and harmony vocals a lot, however the rest of the songs were very forgettable in a kind of generic mid late 60s style way. Perhaps it’s the lyrics and perhaps it’s the production but nothing really grabbed my attention or seemed that interesting.
I wanted to like it more on the basis of the two big songs, and I do like a lot of that mi late 70s San Francisco music, but the more I hear these types of albums the more I realise a good compilation of all these bands is the best thing to listen to
⭐️⭐️
2
View Album
Wed Apr 03 2024
Music From Big Pink
The Band
Music from Big Pink
One of my favourite albums, although I think I may slightly prefer The Band as a slightly tighter album.
I remember being a bit underwhelmed when I first heard it but it gradually got its hooks into me and I now I love it.
There’s a lot of density and weight to the music with a simultaneous feeling of lightness and airiness, I think due to how great each part of the band is. Levon and Danko are a great rhythm section while I always love Hudson and Manuel’s piano and organ, with the organ work a particular standout on this record, and Robertson’s superb subtle and sympathetic guitar playing. And then vocally they are such a great blend, there’s something about Levon and Richard Manuel’s voices together I love, complemented nicely by Rick Danko’s slightly jittery voice.
It’s hard to pick the stand outs but aside from The Weight I love In A Station, Caledonia Mission, Long Black Veil and Chest Fever.
It is and always was going to be a 5
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️
5
View Album
Thu Apr 04 2024
Songs The Lord Taught Us
The Cramps
Songs the Lord Taught Us
The Cramps, a band I’m aware of as being very influential and much loved, but I’m not sure I could name one of their songs. I must have heard at least one of them but not that I can recall. Pretty interested to hear this though.
I thought it might be a bit thrashy in a Germs kind of way, but actually it’s a great garage rock n roll rockabilly Carl Perkins surf punk thing. I really liked its immediacy, where the enthusiasm and attitude are more important than the musical proficiency.
The Alex Chilton production is great - exactly what the songs and band need. I really love the buzzy tone of the lead guitars and the whole echoey sound, all with the drums bashing away at the back.
The cover of Fever is excellent, the riff picked out in the guitar with loads of echo and the sharp lead parts.
You can hear how influential it was on that 2000s kind of garage revival. I bet the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hives, Raveonettes, Black Keys, White Stripes, Kills etc would all name it as an influence. I can also hear a bit of Nick Cave, particularly on Fever.
Maybe not the best from a pure musical/technical point of view, but that’s not really the point. I thought this was great - rough, loose, direct, dynamic. Just what you want from this kind of album from this kind of band.
⭐⭐⭐⭐️
4
View Album
Fri Apr 05 2024
I Should Coco
Supergrass
I Should Coco
It’s interesting looking back at Britpop bands and albums from a 25-30 year distance. While I still like bands like Cast, who were solidly in the middle of the pack, there are a few bands who were part of it all but were in hindsight a bit different and more interesting than the rest of those bands. Supergrass are definitely one of them. That may in part be because we know where their career went after this, as they escaped the clutches of the Britpop bucket and went into various different directions.
But listening to this I think you can clearly hear they had something that set them apart, whether that be a more diverse set of influences outside of the run of the mill 60s sounds people were trying to emulate, a heightened melodic sensibility or a slightly different perspective on lyrical subject matter.
The playing is also a real point of difference: Exuberant, energetic, playful, fun and with a swing and suppleness that is in contrast to a lot of their contempories. The keyboard and piano also are excellent, again setting them slightly apart. Aside from the pure exiting pop of Alright, Caught by the Fuzz and Strange Ones, songs like Time and Sofa of My Lethargy show a maturity way beyond their years.
And overall, the songs are consistently great, I can’t really think of any duffers apart from possibly We’re not Supposed to, and even that whizzes past in such a flurry it doesn’t really matter.
I think it has to be a 5. It may not be a Sgt Pepper a Rumours or a K but it’s a fantastically thrilling album of rocky punky poppy music. Maybe it’s nostalgia and familiarity but for this type of album I don’t think you can get much better.
It's mad that they were 18 when they recorded this.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️
5
View Album
Sat Apr 06 2024
The Clash
The Clash
The Clash
I haven’t listened to this for a long time. I had it on CD, but I think I had the US version with the different track listing. Some of those additions were great, like White Man in Hammersmith Palais and I Fought the Law, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like an album the way he original UK version does.
The first 6 songs are fantastic, Janie Jones, I’m So Bored with the USA, White Riot and What’s My Name in particular.
Deny isn’t great, there’s not much interesting happening musically or lyrically. It picks back up with Career Opportunities, dipping again with Cheat and Protex Blue before Police & Thieves, 48 Hours and Garageland end things back on a high.
It’s similar to I Should Coco in its exciting dynamic exuberance, everything going past at a breakneck speed. And similar to Supergrass they had an audible set of influences that pushed them beyond the majority of their peers, those rockabilly and reggae elements in particular.
Having a songwriting duo as talented as Strummer and Jones and having an arranger and musician as interesting as Jones was also a big point of difference as well. Although Simonon’s bass playing was relatively rudimentary on this he really drives the songs forward, and you can hear echoes of what his playing would evolve into when Topper Headon joined.
Listening to this really reminded me why I loved the Clash and has sent me down a Clash wormhole for the first time in ages.
It is a great album, and a great punk album, even if many of the songs aren’t actually what you might think of as punk from 45 years remove. There probably aren’t many of the first round of punk albums that can match this, along with Never Mind the Bollocks.
Perhaps musically and song-wise it’s closer to a 4 but culturally and historically it’s certainly a 5, so it pretty much is dead on between a 4 and a 5. London Calling will definitely be a 5, so should this be a 4, or should I just round up because The Clash are great - Should I 4 or Should I 5? Sod it, a snotty two fingered 5
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️
5
View Album
Sun Apr 07 2024
Tarkus
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Tarkus
I liked the pomposity of the Tarkus suite, even if musically I wasn’t as keen on it. The organ jumping around constantly is a bit irritating after a while. I did like the last part, Aquatrakus for its children’s tv show silliness, more so as it clearly was all meant in earnest.
The thing that keeps repeating with a lot of these prog rock concepts is that the stories and concepts really aren’t good at all, often incredibly naive and simplistic but dressed up with some pseudo fantastical nonsense to try and impart a sense of artistic heft. In this case an armadillo/tank called Tarkus.
Jeremy Bender is quite fun in a baroque pop kind of way. Bitches Crystal is a good title but quite a boring song. Too much church organ vibes. I like the harpsichord like piano on The Only Way, but not so much the melody or lyrics. Are You Ready Eddie is a bit of an unconvincing rock n roll song marred even more by the silly piano flourishes.
Strangely I found although most of the songs on the 2nd side are around 3 minutes they felt longer than the Tarkus Suite.
I think how I feel about a lot of these prog albums depends on my mood on the day, sometimes they’re fun and silly and then sometimes they’re a drag. This fell into the latter camp for me, despite liking some parts and the ridiculousness of the Tarkus suite.
The organ/keys/piano also got on my tits by side two. Way too much like improvised parping jazz trumpet for my taste. I get the skill but when demonstrating the skill seems to be the entire point it gets dull pretty quickly.
I definitely preferred Yes and Jethro Tull. I’ll stick to I believe in Father Christmas.
⭐️⭐️
2
View Album
Mon Apr 08 2024
So Much For The City
The Thrills
So Much for the City
First thing that struck me was his singing accent, the weirdly exaggerated rotic sounds. Actually quite off putting.
Santa Cruz is a pretty nice bit of west coast countrified pop with nice harmonies. Big Sur is a superior version of the same thing. One Horse Town is very good, a nice melody with some great little hooks and moments. The highlight for me. I liked Say it ain’t So too.
However the 3 or so good songs, and the harmonies and country touches can’t quite cover up that this is a bit boring. Plenty of MOR is great, well written and well structured pop music and some MOR is dull, where you feel the only ambition was to write something inoffensive and nice. This definitely feels too much in the latter camp to me. Songs like Big Sur and One Horse Town are clearly superior, but the rest never quite lifts off or gets out of the ‘nice’ zone, mainly as the melodies aren’t that strong, and I get a sense of them cosplaying being west coast country pop band, which is probably why the playing lacks a bit of swing and dynamism for me.
It’s somewhere between a 2 and 3 but the more I listened the more shallow and ersatz this started to feel. Perhaps it’s the earnestness in recreating a type of music so faithfully that it becomes a bit insipid. I don’t have any issue with anyone from anywhere playing any type of music from anywhere, but there just seems something a bit unreal about a lot of this, almost like it’s AI. All the elements have been inputted but the output is slightly off in an undefinable way.
⭐️⭐️
2
View Album
Tue Apr 09 2024
Imagine
John Lennon
Imagine
Imagine is again one of those overfamiliar songs, but I haven’t reached acceptance with it just yet in the way I have with some others. As a teenager I loved it but I’m just not sure I like it all that much. Nothing to do with the lyric which I think is good, and all the criticism and accusations of hypocrisy miss the point I feel, but something about the melody and piano I’m not sure about.
I’ve always enjoyed Crippled Inside’s honky tonk tick tack country style, even though it probably leans a bit too far into pastiche at times and diffuses the directness of the lyrics a bit.
Jealous Guy really is great, always been a favourite. Arrangement wise its similar to Imagine but works as a kind of antidote.
It’s so Hard - I’ve never quite been sure about the sax on this, kind of feels a bit out of place, even though I do like the bluesy groove and that string part is excellent. Definitely a grower of a song over time.
I Don’t Want to be a Soldier - Love George’s slide on this. Great groove and nice bass sound on the descending bits between verses, but George’s guitar really elevates this. Can hear quite a bit of the Stones version of Sister Morphine, which was recorded before this but not released until this was being recorded. It must have been an influence in some way.
Gimme Some Truth - superb, superb superb, great song. Again George’s slide is fantastic. Probably the song that suffers most from Spector’s ‘muddy’ production.
Oh My Love - a very nice song and another grower over time.
How Do You Sleep - I really do love this, up there with Lennon’s best solo songs. The groove, riff and the historical interest of the lyrics.
How? - Never noticed until today the echoes and similarities to The Long and Winding Road. In general I think this one has always passed me by a bit, but I really really liked it listening to it today. Superb vocal and some great little melodic hooks and moments.
Oh Yoko! - another one of my fav Lennon songs. Immediately infectious and joyous but with a slightly melancholy undertow. There’s an simultaneous directness and indirectness, closeness distance to it that I love, like he’s singing to her but she’s not there, as though he can’t find her.
This is a great album with some great songs, but it just sits that one rung below POB for me, somewhere between a 4 and a 5. It’s maybe more of a 4 than a 5 in reality, but as there is limited amounts of Lennon music and some the tracks on here are among his very best its very tricky, but the fact that it’s Lennon means a casting vote to take it to 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
View Album
Wed Apr 10 2024
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
‘Michael you're dancing like a beautiful dance whore’
I was interested to listen to this again after not having listened to it since the heady days of 04-06. I did listen to it a lot back then but aside from the big singles I can’t remember much of it.
I do like the template of chugging rhythm guitar and driving bass with catchy riffs, but it isn’t always successful, ranging from great (Take Me Out) to very good (Matinee, Darts of Pleasure, Michael) to the most of the rest, which is fine but ultimately a bit repetitive and somewhat forgettable.
There are some little additions of texture, the piano/organ on Auf Achse and the melodica on 40’. I wish there was a little more of that throughout, just to add a little more interest and colour.
Jacqueline - establishes the template, but on repeat listens one of the weaker tracks.
Tell Her Tonight - Again one of the weaker tracks, I didn’t like this one much actually
Take Me Out - This still stands up as a great great indie rock pop song and does tower above the rest of the album.
The Dark of the Matinee - This has stood up well too, a good indie pop song.
Aug Achse - I like the piano/organ here, it adds a slightly different texture which is nice, although I’m not as keen on the song in general
Cheating on you - this is pretty forgettable and another of the weaker tracks.
This Fire - Strays a bit close to Take Me Out for me
Darts of Pleasure - Another strong track, despite the overly affected German at the end.
Michael - I’ve always liked this one, it’s barely controlled frenzy works well with the lyric and in comparison to some of the studied weaker songs on the rest of the album.
Come on Home & 40’ - some nice moments but they both passed me by, I struggled to distinguish them despite listening to the album 3 times in a row.
Overall it’s fine indie pop music, there’s no stinkers, but aside from one great song and a few other good ones it does feel a bit samey and limited.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Thu Apr 11 2024
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
A Tribe Called Quest
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
‘If you need em I got crazy prophylactics’
Strangely I’ve not listened to this album. I love The Low End Theory and I listen to Midnight Marauders and Beats, Rhymes and Life pretty frequently, so it’s odd I haven’t given this a go, especially as it has three of their best know songs, Can I Kick It, I Left My Wallet in El Segundo and Bonita Applebaum.
Those three songs remain excellent. Can I Kick It is ubiquitous but is a great song with a great sample. Push it Along, Luck of Lucien, Youthful Expression and Mr Muhammed also stood out.
This is a very good record though, all the elements that make ATCQ great: excellent use of sampling, great hooks, loose jazzy beats that sound almost live, Q-Tip’s delivery and an overall laid back atmosphere. It sounds great too, with a nice depth to it sonically.
Overall a very very enjoyable 4, might get up to a 5 with more listens.
⭐⭐⭐⭐️
4
View Album
Fri Apr 12 2024
Tigermilk
Belle & Sebastian
Tigermilk
I like the song The Boy with the Arab Strap but have never given B&S a proper go, I’ve always thought of them as having too much of a studied winsomeness and tweeness.
However I’m wrong to think that - this is great! His voice does take a bit of getting used to but once you get beyond that this really opens up. There’s A LOT of Nick Drake in here, not just vocally but melodically, and some of the arrangements are very Bryter Later. That’s not a bad thing.
There is also a bit more bite than I expected, both in the wryness of the lyrics and also some of the music, like the bass and guitar on You’re Just a Baby and the guitar outro on I Could be Dreaming.
He has a real gift for melody and hooks as well, some lovely folky 60ish tunes and some very catchy instrumental moments. My Wandering Days are Over is a great example of this, a lovely vocal melody and very pretty trumpet and string arrangements. The State I’m In also, a lovely piano line, synth part and those little guitar moments. And the guitar xylophone and piano on I Don’t Love Anyone.
Electronic Renaissance is a bit of a misstep, it’s not wholly convincing although you might argue it kind of works in a wonky homemade way. I also wasn’t as keen on She’s Losing It either, I think that just tipped over into slightly too twee.
Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed this, it’s influences (Nick Drake, Donovan in particular) are clear but it’s all so well constructed, and with the sardonic lyrics it elevates its substantially from mere pastiche. Definitely going to listen to more of their stuff.
⭐⭐⭐⭐️
4
View Album
Sat Apr 13 2024
Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears
Songs From the Big Chair
Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears. They have always been pretty interchangeable. Rightly or wrongly thye live in the same big echoey 80s drum pop rock bucket in my mind - I sometimes have to stop and think which band sang Don’t You Forget About Me, Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Alive & Kicking and Seeds of Love.
Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World are rightly ubiquitous, they are both well crafted ‘big’ sounding 80s classics. EWTRTW in particular is great and still sounds good.
The Working Hour also sounds big and 80s but not in a good way. That AO jazzy sax does not sound good and melodically it feels very strained. Mother’s Talk I wasn’t keen on either, the slightly frantic and slightly jazzy synth in combination with the brass and guitar isn’t a particularly pleasant sound.
I Believe feels like a second rate Style Council knock off. I can imagine Sade rejecting this for being too insipid and dull.
Broken perks things up a bit, a bit of drive to it and no overt jazziness, segueing nicely in Head over Heels, which is another bit of classic 80s pop rock. Listen is ok, some of the backing vocals, synth and guitar elements as it builds are quite nice but there’s more of that dull jazziness to it, giving a slight sense of inertia.
Generally I’m a fan of a lot of these types of 80s bands, songs and sounds but aside from Shout, EWTRTW and Head over Heels I didn’t find this very enjoyable at all. There’s too much insipid jazz to it and I struggled with a lot of the melodies too. Maybe Don’t You Forget About Me is actually their best song.
⭐️⭐️
2
View Album
Sun Apr 14 2024
Electric Music For The Mind And Body
Country Joe & The Fish
Electric Music for the Mind and Body
I hunger for your porpoise mouth
The only things I know of CJ&TF is their Woodstock Film appearance and that they were quite a big deal in the SF / Jefferson Airplane / psychedelic scene.
I think because of the name I was expecting more of a basis country rock sound like the Flying Burrito Brothers, but with some far out 60s flourishes.
Flying High is kind of forgettable blues rock, with a very odd and abrupt fade out.
No So Sweet Martha Lorraine with the organ and time signature changes feels more like a psychedelic 60s song, I liked it, the bass was good and it had a bit of groove to it.
Death Sound Blues. As per title. Quite like the rattlesnake death rattle tambourine and percussion, but not that exciting.
Happiness Is a Porpoise Mouth - very psychedelic 60s compilation, not unenjoyable (LITOTES). It would go on a 60s psych playlist.
I liked Section 43, very Doorsy organ, great bass in the opening section, good raga/Indian guitar. Another one for the psych playlist.
Superbird
Sad and Lonely Times is good, a lovely little slice of west coast country rock.
Love slightly generic sounding, but then I guess this probably was the progenitor of this type of 60s music, so can I truly be generic.
Bass Strings. Quite liked this one
The Masked Marauder. Despite repeat listens I can’t recall this song at all
Grace. Fine
Overall it’s fine for what it is, enjoyable enough, decent etc etc, but I find it hard to summon any particular opinions either way. I neither liked or disliked it ultimately. Maybe I preferred it to Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and I. Ron Butterfly but it’s really a 2.5. I’ll go 3 as I quite like the band name
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Mon Apr 15 2024
High Violet
The National
High Violet
Listen one: I wasn’t in to this much. It’s the same song 11 times. Piano, nice drumming, lots of tom toms. Takes itself quite seriously. Not keen on the singer.
Listen two: I enjoyed it a bit more, I started to notice a few moments that I really liked, although it still felt a bit monotonous.
Listen three: I enjoyed it a bit more. A couple of songs stood out, Conversation 16 and England in particular. I liked the consistent atmosphere across the album.
It’s obviously a record that needs a few listens and is a grower. However I can’t quite shake that feeling of self importance and that they have one way of doing a song. There are lots of lovely little moments throughout but for me that doesn’t quite make up for the repetitiveness in tempo, structure and arrangement. Even the drumming, which stood out on the first listen, started to feel a bit hollow, as if being used to disguise the slightly pedestrian nature of the songs.
So I guess it comes down to how much you like The National song archetype. I can appreciate the craft and skill and there are some great touches throughout, and I definitely liked it the more I listened, but I don’t think I’m quite convinced by it or them and I’m not sure if I will actually dedicate the time for it ti grow on me.
2 feels a bit low for as it’s clearly not a terrible record so I’ll go 3:
⭐⭐⭐️
3
View Album
Tue Apr 16 2024
Parklife
Blur
Parklife
I don’t listen to this album as much as Blur, 13, Think Tank and The Magic Whip. Although I should because it is a fantastic album.
Girls and Boys is a banger of an opener and because of its ubiquity and familiarity it’s easy to forget what genuinely fantastic bit of pop music it is. The same goes for Parklife.
Never really noticed before but strings at the end of Tracy Jacks are very White Album. Great song.
I kind of forget about End of a Century but what a song, full of great guitar moments. I love the horns, the waltzer organ and it’s a great chorus too.
I’ve never been that keen on Bank Holiday, I like the lyric but not the song, although I was actually quite enjoying it today.
Badhead really is very lovely, a sweet melody and some lovely shimmering guitar and organ. Another great horn arrangement.
I do like the Wurlitzer seaside organ in The Debt Collector and Lot 105 and that it keeps popping up on the album, like a cultural touchstone among the various everyday tales of Britain that form the bulk of the themes of the album.
To the End, yet another lovely tune. For all the Girls and Boys and Bank Holidays there are 3 absolutely beautiful ‘ballads’ on Parklife; Badhead, To the End and This is a Low. This is a Low might actually be their best song, certainly in the top 5 for me Clive.
London Loves - structurally quite straightforward but its insistent bass and guitar are fantastic, a really great song. I’ve not always been keen on Trouble in the Message Centre but again listening today I really enjoyed it.
Clover over Dover - I love this song, the guitar and piano/harpsichord combination is superb and I love the harmonies. A very melancholic lyric too. Magic America and Jubilee are a great one-two before the brilliant conclusiveness of This is a Low
Obviously Blur predate Britpop but It’s interesting how prominent the bass is compared to a lot of the bands and the production style around at the time of Parklife - lots of noise and treble but very little melody or distinction in the bottom end.
Knowing how eclectic and diverse their albums and solo projects were from Blur onwards it’s easy to overlook how unlike Britpop this album is. A bit like Supergrass in that there are more influences than just 60s classic rock. There’s obviously a lot of Kinks and a lot of Beatles (particularly the use of horns and strings) but there’s disco, punk, new wave and a lot of pop.
Listening today I wonder if this might be their most concise and consistent album? Thematically the songs all sit together despite the stylistic variety and it’s an incredibly satisfying listen, brilliantly sequenced and I don’t think there is a weak song, even if Bank Holiday and Trouble in the Message Centre may not be as strong as some of the other tracks.
I liked this back in the 90s but 30 years on I appreciate it even more, it really is a great, great album. Easy, can’t be anything but
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Wed Apr 17 2024
Emergency On Planet Earth
Jamiroquai
Emergency on Planet Earth
I’ve never listened to a Jamiroquai album. Back in the 90s I really hated them, even though I’d never really listened to their music. I think my 15 year old mind found it difficult to cope with anything that wasn’t white men with guitars playing rock music.
Nowadays I do like Space Cowboy, Cosmic Girl, Virtual Insanity, Deeper Underground and Canned Heat whenever I hear them, but I have never felt compelled to try an album.
If you are going to give them a try I suppose you would start with the first album. But then you’d listen to it and think that’s a mistake.
If you take each musical element in isolation they are all good; skilled bass playing, great drumming and drum patterns, excellent string and horn arrangements. Keys and guitars also good. The didgeridoo is a bit of an affectation but it’s fine. The arrangements are also very nicely layered. But then when you put them together it so much of it becomes the worst kind of Brand New Heavies style acid jazz - boring, tuneless, insipid, dull, tedious, uninspiring. The only one that manages to escape into being a kind of fun danceable tune is Whatever it is, I Just Can’t Stop. And then the lyrics are godawful immature self important nonsense. Cringe, as the kids would say.
Clearly they have a lot of love for the music that inspired them, but in trying to recreate those sounds and instrumentation it comes across as a boring, ersatz, empty, hollow facsimile of 70s soul and jazz.
I think I might prefer the next couple of albums as they seem to lose some of the acid jazz styles and lean more into soul and disco. But I’m unlikely to actually bother.
And I shan’t be listening to this again.
⭐⭐️
2
View Album
Thu Apr 18 2024
Mothership Connection
Parliament
Mothership Connection
I’m fairly familiar with Mothership Connection although I don’t listen to it that often.
I love the concept of this album, and the whole Parliament/Funkadelic ethos/philosophy/universe.
P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up). Great opener, like the spoken word, introduces the brilliant but loopy concept. Love the Rachmaninov style piano in the outro. Mothership Connection (Star Child) carries it on with another banger.
Unfunky UFO, Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication and Handcuffs aren’t perhaps as strong as those first two songs but they are still very good, Unfunky UFO in particular is white overbite dancing good. Shades of Sex & Drugs & Rock’n’Roll in the piano in Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication.
And then Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker). Absolute all time classic banger. Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples is a great title and a nice farty way to round things out, even if the song isn’t as strong as the title.
There’s just the right blend of funk, disco, soul and jazz, the jazzy bits don’t intrude on the songs. The playing is superb. Bootsy Collins bass is so good, a great tone and simultaneously melodic and percussive, and is great in tandem with the drums. Brilliant horns too.
Trying not to compare it to yesterday’s album as it’s just a quirk of the randomness but it’s night and day. This is fun, funny and excellent, yesterday was dull and wanky.
So all in all this is a great listen, three absolute classics with the remainder very good if not quite as great as those three
It’s somewhere between 4 and 5, I’ll go 4.
⭐⭐⭐⭐️
4
View Album
Fri Apr 19 2024
Woodface
Crowded House
Woodface
‘There goes God in his sexy pants and his sausage dog’
I’ve always slightly dismissed Crowded House as a bit 90s salesman in a Mondeo driving up and down the M1 tapping his fingers on the wheel to their latest album. However I have read a lot about them as pop classicists heavily influenced by the Beatles, and I do like the craftsmanship and tune of Weather with You, so I was quite looking forward to giving this a go and hoping for a nice jangly, pop-rock album of nice tunes and playing.
First thing that stood out was that this sounded very 90s, very dated production wise. Lots of space, but without sounding very big. I think it sounds a bit cold, there’s not much warmth or intimacy to my ears. It’s got a very 90s adult rock bass sound, a bit 5 sting session player that I really dislike.
I really didn’t like Chocolate Cake, the opening chords annoyed me for some reason although I thought the lyric was very good, very dry.
It’s Only Natural, I like the riff and the verses, the chorus grates on me a bit - feels like a Sunday car journey with your parents. Fall at Your Feet is not bad either, but does have some of the same Sunday energy as It’s Only Natural.
Weather with You - great song, it really does stand out, particularly after the slightly dull Tall Trees. Nice harmonies, great chorus and I like the riff.
Whispers and Moans, I really don’t like the wah wah or the horns. Four Seasons in One Day is a nice song, I do like it but it does suffer from the sound of the album.
There Goes God, Fame Is (the heavier rocking sound is pretty unconvincing) all the way to How Will You Go are pretty unremarkable, making the 2nd half of the album a bit nothingy.
I do love the harmonies and the brothers’ vocal blend, they sound so good together in a way that only siblings do, a bit like the Everly Brothers. Despite that that though I’m not keen on the lead vocal sound.
When they use slightly different instrumentation (eg strings on All I Ask or accordion on As Sure as I am) it tends to feel slightly hollow, maybe it’s the production but it sounds a bit half hearted and at arms length, not adding any layers or texture.
It’s not quite as good as I was hoping, although there are some good tunes on it, a lot of it passed me by. By looking to be tasteful and pop classical it ends up being a bit too inoffensive and hotel lobby. I keep going on about it but I don’t think the sound and production help, and I did find a lot of it pretty bland and forgettable, particularly the 2nd half. The only saving graces are the vocal harmonies, they are uniformly excellent, and some of the lyrics, which are very wry and sardonic.
2 feels too low as it’s not terrible, so a solid middle of the road 3, mainly for the 2 or 3 good songs, the harmonies and some of the lyrics.
⭐⭐⭐️
3
View Album
Sat Apr 20 2024
Rubber Soul
Beatles
Rubber Soul
Hard to know what to write that we haven’t spoken about or has been written a million times by a million people. So, I’ve been trying to remember when I bought this album and memories of first hearing it.
My parents had the 1987 CD release of Revolver which I pinched off them some time in 94/95. They also had the red and blue albums on vinyl, which I recorded onto cassettes for my walkman and my midi hifi system. Then the Anthology TV show at the end of 1995 sent my Beatle fandom into overdrive and I started to collect their albums. I had the Anthology 1 album when it came out, and I think had that before I had any other albums. I also had a little CD sized book going through all their albums song by song, so I had read about all their songs many many times before hearing them.
I do remember getting Rubber Soul and talking about the song The Word with someone in my French A-Level class. I think it was summer, which would put it around May in 1996 or 1997, most likely from Virgin Records or HMV in Southampton (don't look for them, they're not there anymore). The red album had 6 songs from RS plus We Can Work it Out and Day Tripper and I think I might also have had Anthology 2 before RS, so I think it probably was May 97. I have very strong memories of buying The White Album and Sgt Pepper in HMV in Oxford Street in the summer of 96 in the middle of A-levels, (and reading the booklets and looking at the CDs on the train home, just desperate to be able to hear the songs I’d read about), and I think I would have bought those before Rubber Soul.
25+ years of accrued listening makes it hard to recall listening to it the first time, but I remember loving Think for Yourself and The Word when I got it, I think a lot to do with the bass, and in general the clear advances in sound, production, songs and lyrics from the pre Help era. I also thought about the line George says in Anthology about Rubber Soul and Revolver being part 1 and part 2 of the same album as not ringing true for me, (and although something like If I Needed Someone I could see on Revolver) but they are both very different. I think I remember liking I’m Looking Through You and You Won’t See Me as well. It still feels like a summer album, from buying it in the summer. I loved the cover too, I think 65/66 might be their best look, grown out Beatle cuts and cool jackets and sunglasses. I love the photos from the RS and Revolver recording sessions.
Like all their albums this has bought me so much joy over the years, and one of the beauties of Beatles albums is that you get into different songs and albums at different times. I was listening to RS a lot in February this year as I had a mini obsession with If I Needed Someone, I just kept wanting to hear it.
It’s also tricky to pick out individual songs as I love them all, but there are moments across the whole album that I love and still surprise and delight me, despite how famous, obvious or well know they are. The bass and piano on Drive My Car, the sitar and guitar doubled on Norwegian Wood, the skittish hi hat and fills on You Won’t See Me, vocal harmonies on Nowhere Man, the fuzz bass on Think For Yourself, the bass on The Word, the Gallic touches on Michelle, the jauntiness of What Goes On, the mysteriousness of Girl, the breakdown after ‘You’re not the same!’ on I’m Looking Through you (Ringo plays the Hammond on this!), Ringo’s grandfather clock drumming on In My Life, the upbeat plaintiveness of Wait, the whole of If I Needed Someone. I even like Run for Your Life despite it clearly being the weakest track and feeling like a bit of a throwback to BFS or Help
George’s guitar work is great, as usual serving the songs perfectly with little ostentatiousness, but Ringo’s drumming and Paul’s bass are really the stars (after the quality of the songs of course). There’s a bit of debate, but I’m pretty sure his is when Paul started using the Rickenbacker in the studio and probably when they recorded it directly into the mixing desk. It must be the Ric, as the bass is so much clearer in the mix and it sounds very different than previous albums. I think he’s also talked about the Ric and direct injection allowing him to write more melodic bass lines now that they could be heard and that would track with some absolutely superb lines and playing on here. As with all their albums its also brilliantly sequenced, I don't think the track order could be bettered.
The brilliance of George Martin (and Norman Smith) is also clear on here, if anyone needed any more proof. I know we have had numerous remasters of Beatles records but just listen to nearly any other album by any of their contemporaries in 1965. Kinda Kinks, The Kink Kontroversy, Rolling Stones No. 2, Out of Our Heads, My Generation - all great albums but the difference in production quality and sound is remarkable. I'd be interested if Giles Martin does Rubber Soul as the demix and remix this year. Obviously there were new mixes of the songs on the red album (plus If I Needed Someone) last year so it would make sense to do the rest of the songs too. Plus there must be some good extra stuff in the vault from the sessions.
Of course it’s a 5. Probably still behind Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road and the White Album for me but even their 5th best (or 6th or 7th etc) album is better than the best album by nearly any other band or artist.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️
5
View Album
Sun Apr 21 2024
Psychocandy
The Jesus And Mary Chain
Psychocandy
I am a fan of this album, but I can see why it might be a bit marmite, they have a template and they work some variation around the edges, occasionally speeding things up, but there’s no doubting the songs are cut from similar cloth.
But I like that cloth a lot. Phil Spector/girl group/bubblegum pop drum foundation, Velvet Underground tempos and drone, Stooges guitar, a slowed down punk noise and sensibility, lots of feedback, some Beach Boys melodies and then some 50s echoey fraternal harmonies. Mix those threads up in a garment gumbo and, to my ears, you have a tasty outfit.
What I also like is that this is one of those albums where you can simultaneously hear both the influences and who they influenced.
Just Like Heaven, have always loved it, a great tune, their best version of their song, but there are other highlights, The Hardest Walk, Cut Dead, Taste of Cindy, Never Understand, Inside Me, My Little Underground, Somethings Wrong, It’s Do Hard. Actually that’s nearly every song. Some Candy Talking is probably their second best song, really very good.
So it comes down to whether you like their template or not. As you can tell I think it’s great, so it’s an easy 4 for me. I’m tempted to go 5, but Rubber Soul’s excellence is casting a bit of a shadow today.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4
View Album
Mon Apr 22 2024
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill
_I’m consumed by the chill of solitary_
At nearly 30 years remove I have developed a bit of a soft spot for You Oughta Know, Hand in my Pocket and Head over Feet. Ironic I’m still not sure about but I was interested to give this a listen to see if there were some more catchy pop rock tunes.
There are two issues though here: her singing and the cheesy production. The overall sound, arrangements, and the guitar in particular, are very bland. I do like a bit of soft rock but this isn’t good, in that it thinks it hard edged but is actually very hammy.
I really believe her sincerity in sharing her emotional tumult, but the humdrum and inoffensive music really pulls the rug from underneath her.
She does have a good voice and it can be very sweet, and I don’t even mind some of her trademark vocal affectations but she over sings fucking everything. Forgiven is the worst of both these worlds, turgid music and 5 minutes of incessant wailing. It’s genuinely hard to listen to. There is some restraint in Mary Jane and as a result the pleasing little melody gets some room to breathe and it’s quite a nice tune.
YOK, HIMP and HOF clearly stand out with All I Really Want too in the same fun pop rock vein and Mary Jane as welcome pared back tune. You Learn and Ironic the best of the rest, which is all pretty ordinary filler drowned in overwrought wailing.
It’s between a 2 and 3, I’ll go 3 for the 3 or 4 songs I do like and also that I appreciate her emotional soul bearing and she seems a good egg all round.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Tue Apr 23 2024
Back To Black
Amy Winehouse
Back to Black
Rehab and Back to Black are absolute bangers, modern classics.
You Know I’m No Good, Love is a Losing game and Tears Dry on their Own are also superb tracks. Great lyrics, great songs.
Tears Dry on their Own & Love is a Losing Game are also great.
Me & Mr Jones and Just Friends aren’t as strong for me, the melodies never quite lift off and they do stand out as a little weaker than the rest of the songs on the album.
Wake Up Alone is a real grower, it has all those 50s elements, the doo wop chord sequence, guitar accents and backing vocals.
Some Unholy War. Love the guitar triplets (?), the drum sound and bass driving the song. Very good.
He Can Only Hold Her. Also brilliant, love the horn arrangements and intertwined backing vocals.
Addicted. Brilliant 50s sound, again the brass and backing vocals are superb. Would think this is Ronson, but it’s Remi. Excellent.
It holds together as one thing very well considering it’s half produced by Ronson and half by Salaam Remi. Ronson really is very skilled at recreating certain sounds and eras. It doesn’t always work, occasionally falling into pastiche, but on here he is great. He manages to evoke songs and time periods without nicking wholesale, often landing in that satisfying uncanny valley of familiar and new.
It’s hard to avoid comparisons with Jagged Little Pill as it only came up yesterday (and it is a bit reductive to do so, and I don’t want to be dismissive of Alanis as an angry woman), but Amy’s confessional and honest lyrics are so good, very funny but very real and authentic, with loads of everyday details and observations that really pull you in. There’s anger and sadness but humour and resignation. They are colourful and vivid whereas Alanis’ are a bit flat and one note. Again I don’t want to diminish Alanis’ honesty and directness but Amy is in a different class.
The production, the voice, the 50s/60s aesthetic, the right amount of jazziness, pop, doo wop and early rock ’n’ roll, five truly great songs with only a couple of weaker moments and a short but very sweet 35 mins make this a superb listen. Think I did 5 listens on the bounce the morning and a couple more this afternoon.
It’s probably exactly a 4.5 but surely I must round up to 5, so I will. It’s a modern classic.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Wed Apr 24 2024
Superunknown
Soundgarden
Superunkown
Don’t know a great deal about Soundgarden, other than the singer is Chris Cornell and that Black Hole Sun is a great song.
First thing I noticed that this came across as a much better version of Pearl Jam, the guitar playing is a bit looser and funkier behind the heavy distortion.
Then I noticed that it is very samey. Black Hole Sun stands out and rightly endures, Spoonman is also very good. I also liked Half as a change of instrumentation and I also liked Like Suicide and My Wave.
Aside from that I found it hard to distinguish the songs or remember what was what. I think they are good at what they do, and there are some very good guitar moments, but I couldn’t really get into it. Maybe if I was 15 or 16 when this came out in 93 I might have got into it, but it doesn’t quite do it for me in 2024. It’s also very long at 70 minutes, which didn’t help.
I’m finding it hard to muster much for this review, as ultimately I feel pretty neutral about it. Not in a negative way but I’m struggling to find any particular feelings or opinions either way. It’s fine, I neither like nor dislike it, it’s neither my thing nor not my thing. Allowing for that I can see it’s a very good example of this type of album and Black Hole Sun is a banger so I’ll go for a straight down the middle 3.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
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Thu Apr 25 2024
OK Computer
Radiohead
OK Computer
Sweet sweet memories. Fountains Hall. Mmmm.
Despite Radiohead being one of my favourite bands I don’t revisit this all that often. I absolutely love their albums from Kid A onwards, and if I fancy a bit of Radiohead I tend to gravitate to A Moon Shaped Pool, Kid A, In Rainbows or King of Limbs. Those then often lead me on to The Eraser and the Atoms for Peace album. And then there’s The Smile, I love both their albums.
That’s not to denigrate this album at all, as it is, of course, absolutely superb, without a weak track or moment. It’s undoubtedly a classic, and listening today makes me think I really should listen to it more often.
When it came out, it felt like a real leap forward from The Bends (which is also obviously a huge step forward from Pablo Honey), taking that also brilliant album and building out into more experimental and atmospheric sounds and songwriting.
Looking at it now in the wider context of their discography, it also signposted where they were going to go next, with a sense that they had exhausted their interest in the guitar being what the band and songs were based around. Things like Exit Music (For a Film) and Climbing up the Walls, although they have relatively standard instruementation, they have a rhythmic and atmospheric quality that wouldn’t be out of place on Kid A or Amnesiac. Fitter Happier also and The Tourist.
There’s not much point going through song by song, as they are all without exception great, but my highlights are Airbag with its brilliant awkward riff, Let Down with it’s lovely poppy melody, Paranoid Android because its just fucking great. Electioneering and No Surprises also. In fact give me any of these songs. Love em all.
It’s as easy a 5 as Rubber Soul.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5
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Fri Apr 26 2024
The Message
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
The Message
‘Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did
Got sent up for a eight-year bid
Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag
Spend the next two years as a undercover fag
Bein' used and abused to serve like hell
Til one day, you was found hung dead in the cell’
Obviously The Message is a classic, not just in early hip hop but in music generally, but I wasn’t expecting much else from this. Not in a bad way, I just assumed that this would be interesting from a historical perspective but would be a mixed bag musically, aside from The Message. Perhaps a lot of filler and turn tabling but not much else.
She’s Fresh is really good though. Not much rapping but musically a great bit of early hip hop party music, quite an 80s RnB sound but with a good beat. It’s Nasty (Genius of Love) is also an excellent bit of early rap. Great use of Tom Tom Club before ODB and Mariah. This is a strong start and much better than I was expecting.
Scorpio is fun too but not as strong as the first two tracks. Quite Afrika Bambaataa in its electro space sounding vocoder. The drum machine sounds I like. It’s a Shame (Mt Airy Groove). I suppose they can’t call it anything else. Nice use of the sample though and some good scratching. I like it.
Dreamin’ - what the fuck is this?! Not expecting this at all. You Are, more what the fuck? What’s happening? This is odd. Not because these two songs are bad, they are fine enough examples of early 80s soul and RnB, although they are perilously close to Sexual Chocolate territory (and if I heard Lonely Island sing them I wouldn’t be surprised), but it seems so strange that they would write and perform such conventionally structured songs. It doesn’t feel like an experiment in versatility and diversity more like we need two more tracks. And the spoken word bit about meeting Stevie is unintentionally very amusing. Maybe they are meant to be joke songs. Not sure. Just feels very strange
The Message, aside from the lines above I always like the bit where he says ‘broke my sacroiliac’. Brilliant song, rightly a classic and a landmark song.
I listened to the original UK release with The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel as the last track, rather than with the extra tracks, which is probably a good thing. TAOGFOTWOS is still a great track and brilliant but of musical history.
I think it’s probably around 3 in terms of the music itself and that it doesn’t really feel like a ‘proper’ album. But as a historically significant musical landmark and as something so influential it’s a surely a 5. I don’t think I can give it a 5 though, and even a 4 feels a touch high. I could argue to myself that The Message and TAOGFOTWOS are worthwhile enough to push it to 4, but 3 feels about right.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
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Sat Apr 27 2024
You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
You’ve Come a Long Way Baby
Oh the warm, warm piss of nostalgia on my face. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the album in its entirety but the singles are so seared into my memory. I can feel the red vinyl covers and the stickiness of the tables, I can smell the disinfectant and beer and I can see the tiny tv up in the corner of the Grey bar when I hear The Rockerfeller Skank. I can see us all standing around, waiting for the pool table and thinking about pizza.
The big singles, Rockefeller Skank, Gangster Tripping, Right Here, Right Now still sound great, brilliant bits of pop music. Kind of Moby and DJ Shadow-esque in the samples they use, with Gangster Tripping even sampling DJ Shadow of course, but with a very pop party music attitude. The fact they still get used in TV, films and adverts 26 years later shows how strong they remain and how little they have dated. And then Praise You is just a genuinely brilliant song, irrespective of genre, and it rightly endures as a pop classic.
Fucking in Heaven is fine but not as strong, the guitar part/sample/interpolation really does date it and it doesn’t really have a strong enough hook for me.
Build it Up, Tear it Down and Kalifornia are fun and stronger musically and have good hooks, but Soul Surfing and You’re Not from Brighton are similar to Fucking in Heaven, fun enough but not at the heights of the other songs. Love Island is a good dance track and Acid 8000 is a fun in a squelchy way. It feels like there are 3 tiers to the album: Great - RHRN, TRS, GT, Praise You; Good but not as good - BIUTID, Kalifornia, Love Island, Acid 800 and fine but a bit fillery - FIH, SS, YNFB.
Obviously the whole genre is based around repetition and groove, but I suppose Fatboy Slims take on it is to put that together with sampling and making it very accessible and poppy, and it works really well for the most part, but some hooks are better than others and you can’t help thinking the album format isn’t the best for this - you kind of want to hear them at a party, in a bar, club, pub at a festival. All places I frequent on the reg these days.
It also suffers from a bit of bloat, each track is long and the whole album at just over an hour feels lengthy. Some judicious editing of tracks or just losing a couple of tracks altogether to get to 45-50 mins would be good.
As an album I’m not sure it really works but then again that’s not the point. But it does have some truly great tracks and within the genre each song has it’s merits, you’d be happy to hear any of them on a night out. It’s one of those albums I’m glad to have a listen to, but ultimately it’s a ‘pick your best songs for a playlist and then probably never listen to again album’.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3
View Album
Sun Apr 28 2024
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
Clound Nine
I do like The Temptations psychedelic soul period, after David Ruffin left. Like everyone I love their earlier ‘classic’ stuff but I was interested to hear this in full as I only know Clould Nine and Run Away Child, Running Wild.
I love the excellent Cloud Nine, a brilliant bit of psychedelic pop soul. Running Away Child, Running Wild is also great, in that similar vein as Cloud Nine, Papa was a Rollin’ Stone, Psychedelic Shack, Ball of Confusion. Quite a simple electric piano riff, great bass and drums and nice guitar accents. Along with Sly and the Family Stone this really laid the groundwork for Funk and the Parliament-Funkadelic albums in the 70s. I think George Clinton worked at Motown so I’m pretty sure would have been around the Temptations and would likely have played on some of their songs.
I’m Not as keen on their version of I Heard it Through the Grapevine, obviously Marvin’s is the definitive version but I don’t think the riff on piano works, and they style in which they’ve done it makes it sound quite lounge.
The second side is almost like a completely different album. I was expecting more 9 minutes psych soul jams, but it’s 7 tracks in the traditional style of the Temptations and Motown. Even if they may not be top tier Motown tracks they are still all superior examples of the type of throwaway pop music Motown seemed to casually toss off at the time. Excellent playing, (particularly bass and particularly bass on I Need Your Lovin’), great vocal group harmonies, sympathetic production make an extremely enjoyable listening experience, especially on my final listen through this rainy Sunday morning. The last 4 tracks from I Need Your Lovin’ to Gonna Keep Trying till I Win your Love I particularly enjoyed. Again even though they aren’t top tier Motown they give you those little dopamine hits of joy in a way not much else can.
Overall it’s kind of tricky to rate as it seems like two psychedelic soul freak outs, a weird demo seeming version of I Heard I Through The Grapevine and then half a record of classic Temptation style tracks. The first side is clearly very influential and Cloud Nine is a truly great track, and then the second side is very enjoyable vocal soul. Three feels a bit low, it’s not quite a 4, but I’ll go 4 for Cloud Nine, the playing and the vocals.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4