Overall vibes: This album reminds me of when I was in my late teens/early 20's, would go to the sketchy part of Baltimore to a basement show, and there would always be that one solo electronica act. There would be at least one person in the crowd like, "Yea dude, I can totally feel his internal struggle between good and evil through that F#minor chord he's holding."
Anyway, this isn't personally my cup of tea, but I'm happy I got the chance to break out of my musical comfort zone and hear something I would've never listened to otherwise. I think all the songs dragged on a bit too long and could've probably been about 30 seconds to a minute shorter.
I wouldn't say I had any favorite songs, but the most tolerable songs to me were The National Anthem (probably ranked highest for me), Optimistic, and Idioteque. Honorable mention here would be that I liked that one discordant chord that was held throughout How to Disappear Completely, in contrast to the rest of the song.
I feel like I understand Tom Petty's musical influences more now.
I had actually never listened to Bob Dylan before this, this is my first time. Gotta say, I understand the hype now. This is a great acoustic vibe. Just sit back and listen to everything flow together. I'll add this to my normal listening rotation for sure.
It's making me super passionate about not working on Maggie's farm anymore. I've never worked on her farm before, but I'm definitely gonna start.
The laughing at the beginning of Bob Dylan's 115th Dream? UGH. So good. I love stuff like that, where that veil goes away and you get a peak into a person just playing music and enjoying what they do.
Only reason I'm not giving a full 5 stars is because I do think some of it drags just a tad - some of the cadence/tonality stays too similar for just a bit too long. Not enough to turn me off from the music, but enough for me to not give a whole 5 stars.
Overall: Love the multi-genre influence that you hear throughout the tracks, but admittedly the horns did take me out of the vibes just a little bit. Which is odd, because I normally love horn sections. I'm not sure what it was about this album where it seemed just slightly distracting to me. Could hear the album again and be cool with it, but probably wouldn't seek it out.
Favorite tracks: And It Stoned Me, Everyone, Glad Tidings
Moondance brought me back to junior year HS jazz ensemble.
Into the Mystic is a solid track, but the entire time couldn't help but think about some dude talking about, "but girrrrrrrrrrrrrl, I just wanna rock your gypsy soul" in the absolute greasiest way possible.
Overall: Can we shout out the DRUMMER? Drummer brought it when he needed, switched it like a boss, that drummer was INSANE. Also (and this may be because some of the songs were remastered? But not all) props to whoever did the mixing. As much as I love a good horn section, it can get shrill if not mixed properly. I was listening to this with airpods in, and didn't get the shrill. Which is insanely impressive for this era (but again, could've been due to the remaster). I loved the simplicity and pure joy of everything, with a pure "I wanna play around and see where we go" vibe. Would definitely relisten.
Favorite songs:
Body and Soul
Night Train
Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days
Overall: Okay, LOVE the intro song. Those first few measures coming in? How powerful. What a way to start an album. You ever hear an album and think "this is good, but is probably way more powerful live?" That's the vibe I get.
Favorite songs: Mother's Little Helper, Under My Thumb, High and Dry
Pretty happy for the opportunity to hear classic albums that I would've never listened to. Probably wouldn't seek this album out, but it was nice to listen to while working.
Straight banger. Drums drive everything. Will repeat.
Average album. Nothing bad or good stood out.
Definitely get the vibes of - I can see this going IN live.
Elvis has always been interesting to me in a cultural standpoint as well. I could write a whole ethnomusicological essay on Elvis and the history of rock, but I'll spare everyone. :)
I'm sure my mom is making her morning coffee right now sensing a happiness and not knowing that it's because her daughter is listening to Elvis (she's an Elvis FANATIC). Which then makes me wanna tell this only slightly related story:
My mom is number 8 of 11 children, and grew up dirt poor. She shared an attic with all her 6 sisters (the boys all shared another room), everything was communal, she didn't have anything to herself, etc. Anyway, on her 16th birthday, she came down the stairs KNOWING she was hot stuff and no one was gonna take that away from her. Well, she came down the stairs and heard on the radio that Elvis had died. Her favorite. On her 16th birthday. She laughs telling the story to this day, saying she really couldn't have ANYTHING.
Pre-Listen: I have never heard of this band, and can't tell by the cover art what I'm about to get into. But I'm excited to get into it.
Overview: AHHHH, so THIS is who influenced Evanescence. This would be something I would play on a road trip about an hour and a half in when the nostalgic/emotional vibes start to kick in. Instrumentally, it plays around within a similar vibe but expresses it in different ways. Her voice is beautiful. The rasp in Tracy's Flaw? Ahhhhh so good.
Favorite songs: We Don't Need Who You Think You Are, Lately, Secretly, Good Things Always Come To You (that bass thoooooooooo), Cheap Honesty
Oddly, Charlie Big Potato (being the first song on the album) was my least favorite, but still crankable.
Overall: Pretty chill. Singer's voice took me a second to get used to. I like the instrumentation of it.
Favorite songs: Another Girl, Another Planet, Creature of Doom
It's a solid 3.5 to me, but since I can't give half stars, I'll put it as a 4.
I don't think people recognize how talented Pharrell is. Would definitely repeat this album.
Favorite songs: She Wants To Move, Breakout, Wonderful Place, Drill Sergeant, Thrasher, Maybe (honestly, I feel like I'm listing all the songs. This album is a banger.)
