I didn't realize how many songs by MGMT I knew. Really solid album, the leads are all super fun.
Very fun record. I've been listening to this one for years now, and it's always a good time. A bit repetitive in the back half, but overall some of the band's best work!
NOTES:
Production is good, cleaner than Doolittle
Vocals are less visceral than Doolittle
Whole album is a bit less harsh
Down to the Well guitar is CRUNCHY
Hang Wire is cool
REVIEW:
While a good album, this is nowhere near as good as their last two efforts. Doolittle especially. The production being so clean does away with one of the reasons why I like their music to begin with. I absolutely love how harsh Doolittle is, and none of that really appears on Bossanova save for Down to the Well. On its own, however, it's good. Riffs are fun, the sound is good and it doesn't overstay its welcome. It's just a touch bland at times.
Despite the nature of the challenge, this one took me 3 days to get through. I'd put it on, and then something would come up and I'd have no problems turning it off.
It's not bad, but bland. Most of these tracks in a vacuum are really good, but as an album it all just blends together and does not work for me.
Rhe band is clearly very confident, and I respect that. Don't Let Me Down kind of sucks though.
Standouts include: Bad Company, Seagull, Ready for Love
Quite the surprise! I liked this a lot! Some tracks drag a little bit, but overall this is a really well done and varied record. Too bad he passed, because he had some great ideas.
Standouts: Son of Sam, Everything Means Nothing to Me, In The Lost and Found
Just so much fun. The grooves are immaculate.
Not bad at all! This works mainly as background music, but there's no shame in that. The grooves are immaculate, and I'm a fan of the airy distant vocals.
Standouts: She's the One, Nothing Can Stop Us, London Belongs to Me
Radiohead is my favorite band. Ever. No contest. So this review is far from unbiased, but that's okay. I absolutely adore The Bends. It's not reinventing the wheel or anything like that, but it's such a solid guitar rock album. The song writing and guitar work are beyond amazing. Some of the best riffs land on this record.
Being Radiohead's most accessible album (maybe besides In Rainbows), it does a great job at introducing who they are and what they're about. Playing well and intricately while delivering some kick ass songs. 5*, almost perfect.
Standouts: The Bends, Fake Plastic Trees, My Iron Lung
Not my thing. I can acknowledge that it's good, but I can't 100% get into it. There are some good tracks though.
Standouts: Coat of Many Colors, Traveling Man, She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)
Okay, listen. I don't like long albums that much. They have their place, and the music may be amazing, but I find it really hard for them to keep my attention a lot of the time.
That being said, however, this this is godlike. It is grand, personal, full of emotion, and just so so good. Not 5 stars because some tracks do feel unnecessary, and the last disc is adds a little too much nothing.
George has pretty much always been my favorite Beatle, and this album shows exactly why. The man knows how to write a good song.
It's hard to pick standouts with a track list this long, but I'll try: My Sweet Lord (obviously), Isn't it a Pity (either version), Let it Down
First time really diving into a Bob Dylan project, and just like I've been told, he's a winner. The lyrics are so colorful and vivid, it really helps paint the picture he wants. I love the instrumentation too.
A lot of people's problem with Dylan is his voice, and I get it, but it works so well for me. It really helps convey that no matter what he sounds like, he wants his songs to be heard. No better man to sing than the one who wrote the lyrics, even if he sounds a bit like shit.
Standouts: Visions of Johanna, One of Us Must Know, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
Really really good. I really loved the sound of this one. It all blends so well together to create amazing pop rock. Especially the vocals, I love the way she sings.
A lot of 4 starts lately, but they're all deserved.
Standouts: Been It, Love fool, Choke
Back in 2011, my family and I went to cuba on vacation. While there we saw street vendor selling cds. We were quite fond of the music we'd heard around the place so we decided, why not buy one.
It wasn't this album, but it sounds a lot like it, and we played it for every dinner party we hosted since.
I love thos kind of music, it's so soulful and nostalgic while also being fun groovy at the same time. This one's a winner guys.
Standouts: harder to distinguish the tracks when I listened at work and it's not in my language. Everything stood out.
This one needs more time, and a resistencia or two, but first impressions is that it's good. Not great, but good.
When the first track came on I was expecting to really love this. It just kind of lost steam near the middle. Closing track is great though.
Lyrics are clearly complex, and I need more time to think about and absorb them.
Standouts: ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart, Revol, P.C.P
Some really great tracks, but others range from okay to just good. I can see why it's a classic, though. What rocks really rocks.
Standouts: Baba O'Riley, Getting in Tune, Won't Get Fooled Again
This was just so so groovy. Every song had me moving around like crazy. Every musician here is so talented. This shit rocks.
Standouts: That Lady, Pts. 1 & 2, You Walk Your Way, Summer Breeze, Pts. 1 & 2
Wow. This album is crazy across the board. The production is so varied and unique. The features are all used so well. What an inspired album front to back. It sucks that this guy is so good at what he does, cause he really kind of sucks.
Standouts: POWER, Monster, Runaway
There's no denying that SZA is a fantastic singer, but I find this album kind of drags on at times.
Standouts: Supermodel, The Weekend, Broken Clocks
I do not like this. It's really a victim of its own ambition. It tries to do so much and doesn't excel at really any of it. Some of the instrumentation is super good, but a lot of the time it goes nowhere and the song becomes really boring and repetitive. No standouts. I do not like any of the rapping.
Fun music. Nothing special, but a good time all around. The instrumentation keeps it fun and interesting. Ahead of its time for 78.
Standouts: 11:59, Heart of Glass, Just Go Away
It sounds really good, but these songs really just do nothing for me. Really homogeneous listen. Not for me at all.
I was expecting to love this one a lot more, but it's mostly just a serviceable blues/rock album with some good guitar work and vibe. With that though, it's extremely solid and not too long a listen, so it doesn't become too samey. Quite good!
Standouts: Sunshine of Your Love, SWLABR, Outside Woman Blues
First time through this Beatles record. Just like I've heard, it's quite good. More straightforward than some of the stuff they'd do very soon after, but you can see how they've matured from their earlier records here. Very competent, and a blissful listen. It really breezes by.
Standouts: Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, In My Life
I understand Mudhoney's influence, but apart from that this isn't really doing much for me. It's very primitive sounding grunge in the same year that Nevermind and Ten came out. I like the lo-fi production here, but it doesn't add what it needs to for this album to be any less boring.
Standouts: Thorn, Pokin' Around
For the longest time, all I know from Beck was Loser. I've never liked Loser all that much, so I thought I just didn't like Beck. It's only recently through the countless reccomendations from my parents that I decided to open my mind to his music. I heard a few tracks from this album, and thought they were pretty good. I was no longer a Beck hater.
Now with listening to Odelay through this challenge, I think I'm a Beck fan.
This thing is full of fun and interesting ideas. Percussion is fantastic throughout, the sampling is incredible and the extra bits he adds all contribute wonderfully to the final product. Fantastic song writing. It's honestly such a fun time. Truly genius work here.
Standouts: The New Pollution, Jack-Ass, Sissyneck
Lennon is a good song writer, and ot shows on Imagine. The songs are tight, easy on the ears and easy to understand. My only problem is he isn't too much beyond that. It isn't all that interesting or even that memorable.
Standouts: Imagine, Jealous Man, How Do You Sleep
What else can I say? Johnny Cash already rocks, and for him to rock like this in front of an audience of prisoners is so powerful. Writing San Quentin and performing it to give these prisoners a voice when they feel they don't have one is just something else. The cheering from them must have been so cathartic. Perfect live album.
The whole performance stood out, I can't pick just a few tracks.
