Jesus Christmas this blew. Singers who can’t sing. Musicians who can’t play. Engineers & producers who can’t engineer & produce. And the worst example of a 60’s band that “thinks it has something to say “.
Not my cup of tea. Didn’t like the voices, which were kind of all throaty altos, the music was dark & psychedelically heavy, with a lot of use of a 60’s style pedal for the guitars. Overall it just presented a dark, dated, gloomy vibe in my opinion.
Not my cup of tea. Songs aren’t catchy or tuneful for the most part, & it’s kind of cold & depressing.
About what I expected – meandering prog rock. A few catchy hooks here and there followed by endless, pointless, boring improvisational solos. Sadly, I’m just not a classic rock guy. I have now listened to three of the best albums of all time: Disraeli Gears, Station to Station & Fragile. Really didn’t have much use for any of them. Disraeli Gears was gloomy and dark and heavy, Station to Station was cold and emotionless, and Fragile is pointlessly meandering. I need some hooks and melody. I get it – I’m not a particularly sophisticated listener.
I guess the world just keeps turning, & so do I. I’m old enough that all of these classic albums are of my time. But the world moves on, musical tastes change, as have mine. That’s not to say that I’m up to date & love ‘today’s music’ - I don’t. But my tastes have moved deeply into jazz & world music as I’ve aged. So listening to these old chestnuts, my attitude is “wow, they’re dated. Some of it’s ok, but most of it doesn’t speak to me anymore”. This album is the same. Interesting for a single run through, but as a whole, not interesting enough to listen to again.
Never liked the Doors. They always seemed overly dramatic, self-absorbed & self-impressed. That said, this album was ok. Didn’t hate it as much as I figured I would. Won’t listen again, but at least I can say I listened to it.
Good album. Fun to listen to every few years. Couple of truly classic songs, but again, with the overwhelming ubiquity of the classic rock format, you only need to hear them once every few years at this point. Something I wish they hadn’t done: I think it’s great that they have a deep love of blues and country like a lot of British musicians do/did. But I just wish, as they’re trying to shine light on these songs, and honor them, that Jagger would just sing them in his regular voice. When he tries to adopt a hillbilly twang, it moves the song into the realm of parody. And I’m not really sure that that’s what they were going for.
At last we’ve gotten out of the classic rock rut & songs that've been so overplayed we never need to hear them again, no matter how earth-shaking in their original release. This list is called ‘1001 Abums To Hear Before You Die’, and so far I’d heard them all. This is the first one I’ve not heard before. Somebody else said it was really interesting to hear ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ in context with all these other songs, and I completely agree. Also, sounds a little more current even though by now it’s 25 years old than the other 40 to 50 year old tracks we’ve been listening to. Don’t know that I will listen to it on repeat like some ref reviewers have said, but I had fun listening to it once all the way through. Do absolutely get the Oasis comparison though.
Other than the hits, I’m not a traditional U2 listener. Nothing against them, but I stopped ‘following’ bands years ago. So I’d never heard most of these songs. Really enjoyed them. This is the first album that’s been sent my way I’d listen to more than once.
Another listener put it as succinctly as I ever could: “Excellent background music, but not much that drives it into the foreground for me.” The sad thing is I like this as much as a lot of the ‘true’ classics that have come my way. Guess I’m just not that deep.
Like the poppy hits. Not nuts about the rest of it.
Pretty, beautiful album. Unfortunately, I’m not quite old enough to have listened to it when it first came out and to realize how revolutionary it sounded. So at this stage of the game, to me, it sounds like a lot of other baroque pop or chamber pop issues by dozens if not, hundreds of other artists. And I have to rely on historians to tell me that this was never ever done before and that when it came out people’s jaws just fell on the floor. It really only works to be a jaw-dropping album if you were around when it first came out. I wasn’t
There was a time I considered myself ‘deeply’ into music. I would listen to an album scores, if not hundreds, of times. I would pore over lyrics, obsess over phrasing, dissect every note, all in an effort to understand the ‘truth’ the artist was trying to impart. Sadly, those days are long behind me. Now, I use music to ‘soundtrack’ my life. So music is always playing, but in the background, usually to set a mood. I really don’t have the time or inclination to approach it any differently at this point. So viewed in this context, I liked this album fine. I’ve always enjoyed Dylan’s crazy voice & weird phrasing & fun & cool lyrics & wordplay. But its historical impact was lost on me. I enjoyed it & it was a fun listen, but that’s about all. I get that an artist wants you to be moved in some way by their art, but saying it was ‘fun’ is a damn sight better than saying you hated it, in my book. But possibly not from the artists view.
Not my cup of tea. Music kinda sounds all the same. I get punk was trying to do something different. But while listening to a musical revolution in progress, before it matures into whatever it’s gonna be, may be riveting to some, and that’s fine. But for me it’s too difficult. It’s like watching kids grow up - some people love children, but I’d a lot rather interact with the adult the child will grow into. Made it through 6 of the 37 songs on this ‘collectors edition’ Spotify gave me.
I don’t know why, but the Ramones have always reminded me of speeded up ‘50s teeny-booper rock. Pretty repetitive & a bit boring, but I do appreciate that it’s the founding of a genre. As someone else said, could be fun to have on in the background of a party. Glad I heard it, but wouldn’t listen to it again. There’s a huge difference between ‘good’ music & ‘interesting’ music, & every single person gets to decide what that is for themselves. When this album abruptly ended after 20-something minutes, everyone in the room said “Huh. That was interesting.”
Jesus Christmas this blew. Singers who can’t sing. Musicians who can’t play. Engineers & producers who can’t engineer & produce. And the worst example of a 60’s band that “thinks it has something to say “.
Really enjoyed this. A good mix of genres made listening fun.
Not my style. Never did appreciate the whole hardcore/grunge/sludge thing. Could never participate in the existential anger/angst the music offered. Just was never that disaffected. Made it through 2.5 songs.
Not available on Spotify