Journey in Progress
Discovering music one album at a time
616
Albums Rated
3.41
Avg Rating
79
5-Star Albums
57%
Complete
473 albums remaining
Rating Speed
6.3
Per Week
688
Days Active
Reviews
519
Written
84%
Review Rate
vs Global
0.18
Avg Diff
3.41
Avg Rating
Rating Distribution
How you rate albums
Rating Timeline
Average rating over time
Ratings by Decade
Which era do you prefer?
Activity by Day
When do you listen?
Taste Profile
1980s
Favorite Decade
Rock-and-roll
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Balanced
Rater Style
8
1-Star Albums
Taste Analysis
Genre Preferences
Ratings by genre
Origin Preferences
Ratings by country
Rating Style
You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duck Stab/Buster & Glen | 5 | 2.03 | +2.97 |
| Fear and Whiskey | 5 | 2.6 | +2.4 |
| Group Sex | 5 | 2.74 | +2.26 |
| What's That Noise? | 5 | 2.78 | +2.22 |
| More Specials | 5 | 2.96 | +2.04 |
| Rhythm Nation 1814 | 5 | 2.99 | +2.01 |
| Tuesday Night Music Club | 5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
| Central Reservation | 5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
| The Modern Lovers | 5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
| Seventh Tree | 5 | 3.08 | +1.92 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Nickels On The Dime | 1 | 3.12 | -2.12 |
| Chemtrails Over The Country Club | 1 | 3.05 | -2.05 |
| Time Out | 2 | 3.84 | -1.84 |
| Histoire De Melody Nelson | 1 | 2.76 | -1.76 |
| Master Of Puppets | 2 | 3.73 | -1.73 |
| Station To Station | 2 | 3.7 | -1.7 |
| With The Beatles | 2 | 3.67 | -1.67 |
| The Queen Is Dead | 2 | 3.66 | -1.66 |
| Getz/Gilberto | 2 | 3.65 | -1.65 |
| Birth Of The Cool | 2 | 3.65 | -1.65 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and high weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pixies | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4.5 | 3.86 |
| The Doors | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Green Day | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Yeah Yeah Yeahs | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Nirvana | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Amy Winehouse | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Public Enemy | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Roxy Music | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
| R.E.M. | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and low weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Image Ltd. | 2 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
Controversial Artists
Artists you rate inconsistently - higher variance means more mixed feelings
| Artist | Albums | Variance |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce Springsteen | 3 | 1.25 |
| Radiohead | 6 | 1.12 |
| Tom Waits | 4 | 1.12 |
5-Star Albums (79)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Sepultura
3/5
I liked this more than most Death Metal. Guitars and drums were awesome. If they could just take out the vocals I would like this alot more. Really gets annoying having someone scream growling the whole time.
3 likes
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
I love this album so much. I know the first two songs. They were regular hits at the dance parties I used to have with my kiddo when they were little. And I don't really think I can play those first two songs loud enough. Cool to finally hear the rest of the album. New favorites: Skeletons, Dull Life (fucking rocks), Runaway, Hysteric. and all the other songs are good. Karen O's voice is so great. Love the music. Awesome album!
3 likes
The Thrills
2/5
Funny enough, this band is called The Thrills which is kinda opposite of the mood this singer brings. The music is not bad. The melodies are interesting, instrumentation and recording is great. Just a little too mellow & dreamy for me.
2 likes
Elliott Smith
4/5
Nothing flashy. Just good melodies and song crafting. This hits the mellow vibe just right for me.
1 likes
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
Their raps are kind of not that great.
I don't wanna spread no hate.
They won't sell out, or so they rap.
Two albums later, Adidas ads.
(probably not their best work but hey, everybody had to start somewhere. lots of love for these early Def Jam albums)
1 likes
1-Star Albums (8)
All Ratings
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
Album number one. This project kicks off with Shining Star by Earth, Wind & Fire. A great song to start with because it reminds me that all of the artists in this project are stars in their own right. Props to them for making the list! This album has great 70's soul energy. It's super groovy. Happy Feelin' bass line is awesome. I did not love All About Love but it's kind of a gem in it's own 70's soul-love kind of way. The freaky keyboard part at the end feels pretty tacked on. Africano is an absolutely fabulous get down and groove song! It might be my new favorite instrumental. See the Light makes it feel like the album ends up in heaven or something which is a pretty good way to end an album.
The Police
4/5
I like how Spotify describes The Police : "Rooted in reggae and flirting with punk, the Police also dabbled in jazz, worldbeat, and atmospheric instrumentals that nodded toward new age music..." and that is as good a description as any. They are an anomaly. Great album!
Ramones
4/5
For decades I believed my Ramones Greatest Hits CD was all I really needed. I was wrong! Awesome album! Found some new Ramones favorites that I've never heard before.
Deep Purple
3/5
WOW! I did not know that I liked Deep Purple. Good mix of hard rock, groove, and psychedelic. So many great riffs and solos but sorta feels like nothing really gels for me. I love Space Trucking but 19 minutes? damn. I love an extended live jam but 10 minutes in and I'm pretty Trucked out. The Truck really goes off the rails. I'm sure you had to be there. I'll have to check out some of their studio albums.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
James Brown
3/5
ZZ Top
3/5
Guided By Voices
2/5
Why do the drums sound so shitty? Half the songs don't even have drums. All of the songs are half songs. I do not understand this band's genius.
The Thrills
2/5
Funny enough, this band is called The Thrills which is kinda opposite of the mood this singer brings. The music is not bad. The melodies are interesting, instrumentation and recording is great. Just a little too mellow & dreamy for me.
Pixies
5/5
This used to be one of my favorite albums. Hadn't listened to it in a long time. It's still one of my favorite albums. Overall I think Doolittle, Bossanova, & Trompe le Monde are slightly better albums but I'm still giving it a 5. OH MY GOLLY!
Waylon Jennings
4/5
I liked this album alot more than I thought I would. Note: Waylon Jennings wrote the Dukes of Hazard theme song.
Beatles
3/5
What did fans say when the Beatles broke up?
Ono.
Not my favorite Beatles albums but it's got a few hits.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
Overall this isn't so much my vibe. The musicality is great. I love the different songwriters and voices & how they blend into such rich harmonies. Normally this would be a 3 for me but this band is sooooo groovy they get extra groovy points to push it up to a 4. Woodstock is probably my favorite song on this album. Let your freak flag fly!
3/5
At first listen I didn't really care for this. Not so much my vibe. They have alot to be angry about I guess. But if you take out the intro, outro, and that Hot Dog song, it's actually not a bad album. I don't understand the Hot Dog song. Are they in a gang war with Nine Inch Nails? Cool blend of rap & rawk. Recording & instrumentation is great. And after a few listens I found myself a little less angry about being angry.
Korn
2/5
This band has great sound alchemy. The music is great but I'm not a huge fan of the vocal stylings and the poetry of the lyrics doesn't really grab me. The album starts off strong. I like the first 4 songs then everything goes downhill when they start bringing in the guest rappers. Favorite song is Got the Life. Wish there were more songs like that on the album. I took a listen to Korn's first album which I did like better than this one. If I ever compile a playlist for summonsing a demon, Dead Bodies Everywhere will definitely be on it.
N.W.A.
4/5
Great rap album!
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
Monday Monday and California Dreaming are great songs but I didn't care for the rest of them. I did not know that this is the original Do You Wanna Dance. I like the Ramones version better. This band is groovy but there are many flavors of groovy. This groovy is a little too vanilla for me or something.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
When this band hits the mark, they really fucking hit it. Stop and Been Caught Stealing are awesome songs. I like the first part of the album but after 10 minutes of Three Days I'm tired of Jane and her addiction. I didn't especially like the rest of the album but they rawk out with a pretty unique sound for the first 5 songs.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
So this is Shoegaze music? So washy. So dreamy. It's OK. I prefer the songs with beats. Especially liked Only Shallow, When You Sleep, and Soon.
Radiohead
2/5
I remember OK Computer and The Bends being pretty good albums that I enjoyed. At some point I became a bit dis-enchanted with this band. Albums like this are probably part of the reason. Karma police, arrest this band.
Madness
4/5
This is the band that sings Our House (in the middle of the street) which is different than Our House (a very very fine house by C,S,N&Y) yet neither is House music. I digress. Great album! I love a band that can bring the horns and lay down some bumping bass lines.
The Slits
3/5
At first listen I thought this was just awful. Possibly my first 1!... but then they had to go and pull out that awesome cover of Heard it Through the Grapevine. And you know why I like her version better than the original? When she says she's just about to lose her mind, I fucking believe her! So I gave the album a deeper listen. This music is just really odd. The changes are totally bizarre. The more I listen, the more I can't turn away. It's really awful but in an awful way that I kinda like. Clearly nobody with good musical taste would give this album more than 2 stars.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Nothing flashy. Just good melodies and song crafting. This hits the mellow vibe just right for me.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Not a huge Chili Peppers fan but the first four songs are great. I give this album 3.5 stars and Flea is a pretty awesome bass player soo....
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
Pretty cool. Gets a little hypnotic sometimes but I like the songs that rock out (Boys Better, Every Day Should be a Holiday). I had fun playing bass to a few of the songs. I don't understand what kind of statement they are trying to make with Hard On for Jesus. I guess some people want to have sex with Jesus. OK. The song didn't especially lift to me to any spiritual climaxes. Pete International Airport is 6 minutes of ambient noise. I'm glad they enjoyed the acid. Maybe they could just save that crap for an album of all ambient noise and release it under a mystery band name like Sgt Warhols Dandy Lost Hearts Spam.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
The music is okay. Kinda weird in a way that I like but it's the poetry of his lyrics that really get me. Fuck the Jazz Police!
Fatboy Slim
4/5
right about now the funk soul brother. check it out now. the funk soul brother. right about now the funk soul brother. check it out now. the funk soul brother. right about now the funk soul brother. check it out now. the funk soul brother. right about now the funk soul brother. check it out now. the funk soul brother.
Solomon Burke
4/5
This is the kind of album you can take off the shelf and sit and listen to all by yourself. Today's music ain't got the same soul. I like that old time... something something.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
This album is called Nebraska but the second song is Atlantic City and then he's off singing about the New Jersey turnpike. We don't really know where this album takes place and neither does the E Street Band since they are not on this album. Just Bruce and his guitar and harmonica. A stripped down Springsteen. Johnny 99 is a great song. Love to hear it with a full band.
Madonna
3/5
Not bad. I can appreciate that she evolved her sound but I guess I like her earlier albums better.
The Temptations
2/5
The Temptations gave us hits like "My Girl" and "Just My Imagination". Those sho nuff ain't funky songs, so this album was kind of surprising. The Temptations are an all male vocal group. I don't feel like these songs are carrying the rich harmonies and vocals that they are famous for.
The Youngbloods
3/5
I like that they are all over the place with folk, jazz, rock. But the whole thing is steeped in a grooviness that only an album from 1969 could be. I feel like this is kinda what the Grateful Dead would sound like if they didn't suck. Especially liked Trillium.
Lou Reed
3/5
Mudhoney
3/5
If you like grungy guitaring then you would probably like Mudhoney. They are OK. Let it Slide is a pretty rock'n song. Can definitely hear how Nirvana was influenced by them and they deserve cred as one of the innovators of grunge rock. Who brought a harmonica to this party? Okay.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Jimi gets all the credit for his guitarings but the drummer, Mitch Mitchell, is incredible. Great stuff! I liked this album alot more than Electric Ladyland.
Roxy Music
4/5
They aren't weird they are "avant garde"... okay they are weird but I like it. This is when Brian Eno was still in the band.
Elbow
2/5
What in the name of Adult Contemporary is this crap? Grounds for Divorce is a good song. I've heard it before. Probably while I was looking for "Divorce Songs".... but did not care for the rest of the album (even if he does sound like a British Dave Matthews). I'm glad the last song is called lullaby because it pretty much reaffirmed how I felt about this album... SNORE!
Moby Grape
4/5
Moby Grape is soooo groovy. I dig it. No Moby Grape on spotify?! damn. breaking my heart. :(
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
Their raps are kind of not that great.
I don't wanna spread no hate.
They won't sell out, or so they rap.
Two albums later, Adidas ads.
(probably not their best work but hey, everybody had to start somewhere. lots of love for these early Def Jam albums)
Michael Jackson
4/5
I was 9 years old when this album came out. Everyone in our generation knows this album whether you love it or hate it.
1.) Wanna Be Starting Something - One of the best songs on this album. The beat and groove is so electric. I've been singing along with Michael for 40 years on this song and I still have no idea what we are singing about. It doesn't even matter. We are starting something. Too high to get over. Too low to go under. And we are starting this something for 6 damn minutes cuz this groove just keeps giving. And I always thought that “mama-say-mama-sa-mama-coosa,” meant some wise thing in an African language but it turns out it might possibly mean"dance"... we aren't really sure... and there are copyright lawsuits involved.
2.) Baby Be Mine - such a smooth love song.
3.) The Girl is Mine - no! this is so cheezey. I will take Say! Say! Say! over this crap any day. Nobody is believing that these two are gonna rassle for a girl.
4.) Thriller - Thank you Michael Jackson for inspiring generations of kids to dress up like zombies for dance recitals. They are still doing it. Thriller will never die. R.I.P. Vincent Price
5.) Beat it! - It's impossible for me to not feel 10 years old when I listen to this song. I just want to beat it so bad.
6.) Billie Jean - Even at 10 years old I knew that Billie Jean was serious business. I should take his advice and think twice before I dance in the floor in the round. The kid is not his son! We've clearly danced into a child support issue that may require a blood test but the boogie is so hot!
7.) Human Nature - smooth. very smooth.
8.) PYT - YES! This song grooves so hard. And I want to love this song but due to the suspicions about Michael's character, it's hard to dance to this song and not feel awkward. I mean... I hear Michael saying he wants to take me there but I'm not sure I wanna go there with all the TLC on the PYTs. I never heard the chipmunk at the end of this song before. Yep. That's a chipmunk. ALVIN!!!
9.) Lady in My Life - Beautiful love song. I never listened to this one as a kid. I didn't even know it was on the album. I can appreciate it alot more as an adult. Kinda got a Stevie Wonder vibe to it.
AC/DC
4/5
AC/DC. I like both the Bon Scott and the Brian Johnson years. Separate chapters and slightly different. Out of all of the Bon Scott albums, Dirty Deeds has got to be the best. Highway to Hell only has one "hit" on it but I think these are all just as good as the title track: Walk All Over You, Beating Around the Bush, Love Hungry Man, Night Prowler
Van Halen
4/5
The Atomic Punk is one of the worst Van Halen songs ever. The ruler of the nether world? Give me a break David Lee Roth. You're the ice cream man.
The rest of the album rocks. Pretty awesome first album for them.
Kelela
2/5
This is exactly what would be playing in a chic women's clothing store while my wife shops for leggings. This is probably a good album if you like R&B Electronica fusion which, I don't.
AC/DC
4/5
Earlier this week we had Highway to Hell (Bon Scott's final album before his death) now we have their next album, Back in Black (Brian Johnson's first album). Two pivotal AC/DC albums in succession. For those about to rock, we salute you.
Fugazi
4/5
I especially like this band's drum & bass. I dig it. Favorites: Turnover, Repeater, Brendan #1, Two Beats off, Reprovisional.
Kraftwerk
2/5
I'm sure this was a very influential album back in it's day.
Lorde
3/5
We all deserve the kind of passionate love that involves the cops.
The Cure
2/5
I was really disappointed in this album and wish is was only 17 seconds long. It's sad and boring. Not their best work at all.
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
Nine Inch Nails
3/5
Mr. Self Destruct, Heresy, March of the Pigs, and Closer. Really enjoy listening to those songs as loud as possible. The rest of the album was meh.
Gillian Welch
2/5
The songs are pretty and slow. I don't dislike old timey bluegrass music. It's not bad, but I can't really say that I like any of the songs. Nothing really grabs me.
Basement Jaxx
3/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
The Byrds
3/5
The Byrds are so groovy. Wasn't Born to Follow has been a favorite of mine for years.
The Incredible String Band
1/5
What in the caucasian fuck is this nightmare? Valuable lesson from this album: if you use the word "Incredible" in your band name, you aren't. Is this Wiccan music? No Wiccans I know would listen to this. I enjoy a good Minotaur song as much as the next person. Their Minotaur song sounds like a showtoon. Just wait till I play this for my Minotaur friend. He's gonna laugh his ass off. I wish Black Sabbath or NIN would've written a fucking Minotaur song. If you are into intangible melodies, erratic song structures, and love music with no rhythm, you'll be totally entranced by this album recorded live from Jim Morrison's bad trip. Jaw harp is one of my favorite string instruments. Cool sitar. Hare Krishna.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
So this is what Johnny Rotten did after the Sex Pistols.
..... not good. And by "not good" I mean it fucking sucks.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Garfunkel and Simon are great. Green Pleasure Machine was a fun surprise. I hadn't heard that one before. Coo Coo Ca Choo Ms. Robinson.
Violent Femmes
5/5
Great band! Love Brian Ritchie's acoustic bass playing. Gone Daddy Gone rocks that xylophone. This has been a favorite album of mine since forever. Add it Up & Blister are alternative classics. Prove Your Love & To The Kill are also tops. Easy 5 for me.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Julian Cope
2/5
It's OK. Instrumentation and song writing is good but none of the songs especially grabbed me. 18 songs is too long and I got bored of it.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
Prog rock can be a bit of an acquired taste. I have to put my jazz ears on when I listen to it. The album definitely has it's moments. Greg Lake has some phenomenal bass playing. I did not to expect to be listening to a boogie woogie version of Tchaikovsky. The Nutcracker was a little out of season but... okay. They kind of rocked it. It's going on the Xmas playlist.
The Modern Lovers
5/5
I love this album in a modern kind of way that makes me still in love with the old world. Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole picking up girls on the astral plane. Government Center is one of my favoritest songs ever!! (they got alot of great desks and chairs) "I go to bakeries all day long. There's a lack of sweetness in my life."
This Hippie Larry thinks the singer's straight-edge, teenage angst lyrics are somewhat annoying but Jonathan Richman is unapologetically himself. He stays home and eats health food alone. OK then. The music is odd in some of the best ways. And I like their groove. Many good musics.
NOTE: the keyboardist goes on to join Talking Heads & the drummer joins The Cars. Jonathan Richman has a solo career worth checking out. I saw him live at the castle (2008?). Great show!
I thought the 3 alternate versions of the songs were better than the originals. Recording sound was better. Lyrics are clearer. And the guitar playing lets loose a bit more. I can hear more of a Velvet Underground influence (which is another band I like).
Bob Dylan
4/5
Some of the best musicians are also poets.
I'm not much of a blues fan but Meet Me in the Morning is a damn good blues song. Tangled up in blues.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
So this is who sings Son of a Preacher Man. It's OK in a mellow AM gold kind of way.
Sparks
3/5
Daft Punk
3/5
It's pretty cool. I like the grooves and the beats and bass lines. It's good party music but not really good driving in the car music. Some parts are kind of repetitive in an annoying way that makes me wish somebody would turn off their car alarm. Da Funk is a cool song.
Blondie
5/5
Wow! Great album! I'm familiar with the hits: One Way or Another and Heart of Glass are favorites. Fun to hear the ones I hadn't heard before. Especially liked I Know but I Don't Know and Will Anything Happen.
Jerry Lee Lewis
5/5
I like Elvis. I like Little Richard. But I have a new favorite old time rock & sock-bop-a-lop-a-doo-wop-bam-a-lam-boom singer. Jerry fucking rocks these songs and I think it's his piano playing that puts him a notch above some of the other legends. He beats the hell out of that piano!! Awesome live album. A legend playing legendary songs. Would've loved to have been there but I wasn't born yet. (It doesn't look like the full album was on spotify. Found it on Youtube.)
Elliott Smith
4/5
I never listened to Elliott Smith before this project. I kinda like his songwriting. Favorites are Somebody That I Used to Know, Everything Reminds Me of Her, Easy Way Out, Better Be Quiet Now. All of which tend to be the ones with just vocals and acoustic guitar. He didn't need that Bye track at the end but that's fine. Did he record it in a cave?
The Doors
5/5
The Doors... what to say about the Doors? They are groovy. They are swingy. They are shaky. And they are strange. People are strange. I bet the Doors would've been an awesome band to jam with. I don't even like the blues but damnit I like it when they do it. Jim Morrison gets all the fame but his band is riffing out some incredible stuff!
Roadhouse is awesome and timeless.
Waiting for the Sun makes me wanna do acid and stay up all night and have an experience as epic and twangy as this sweeping song of static electricity and sunlight.
You Make Me Real shakes it up like an old time rock and boppa-loo-bop. Jerry Lee Lewis, eat your heart out. Love that one.
Peace Frog. Yes. I dig this boogie. Blood to our elbows, Jim. Don't even start about Chicago. Ribbit.
Blue Sunday - nope. Gong. If I was a 1970's C list actor who was guest judging on the Gong Show and the Doors were playing this song, I would fucking gong them.
Ship of Fools - boogie on the high seas in the key of D (for Doors).
Land Ho! - It's a journey inside a diddy. And you can dance to it. Here's what I love about the song writing here... Jim has one phrasing to the diddy on the first part.. then there's the middle part where the wind blows and several men possibly die... then they spot land (or maybe a ho) and he changes up the phrasing and melody of the lyrics but the diddy is the same. I hope he lands and marries that ho.
The rest of the album is pretty good in a weird and wonderful way.
I especially liked Maggie M'Gill.
"Well, I'm an old blues man and I think that you understand
I've been singing the blues ever since the world began, yeah"
Pavement
4/5
I like Pavement, yes I do. I have a few of their albums in my collection but this is the first time I've heard this one. It's pretty good. I like this band. I don't care what the ghost of Buddy Holly says.
Syd Barrett
2/5
I looked up the lyrics to some of the songs and it just seemed like nonsense.
I'm having some difficulty understanding or relating to the material. Is he speaking in James Joyce or something?
“Let us leave theories there and return to here's hear.”
― James Joyce, Finnegans Wake
Songwriting is okayish. A little odd, but not necessarily in a good way.
His singing is not really very good. Recording quality and instrumentation is not very great.
This is just not my cup of English tea. Sorry Syd.
Stan Getz
2/5
I understood Syd Barret's lyrics better. Is this guy singing in Portuguese? In any language Mr. Gilberto's voice is smooth and silky like a warm cocoa mocha. And so is his wife's. The whole album is smooth. But it's a little on the easy listening side for me and feels like the same cafe mocha served over and over. Can't just ONE song be a double espresso? I usually prefer my jazz: jumping, swinging, groovn or fucked up. But this is some of the best hold music that the 20th century has to offer. Your call is important to us. You are number (86) in the que. Please draw yourself a bubble bath and hold for the next available operator.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
Her name is Yoshimi. She's got a black belt in karate. HEY! HEY!
Fight Test, Yoshimi Pt 1, and Do You Realize are the standout hits.
But I also like: In the Morning of the Magicians, Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, Are You a Hypnotist?? It's Summertime is good but I mostly like the birds in that song.
Approaching Pavonis Mons & Yoshimi Pt2 are fun instrumentals. I dig a band that's not afraid to throw an instrumental or two in the mix.
Love this album. Fun to hear it again.
Stereo MC's
3/5
Beatles
5/5
It's pretty awesome how awesome the Beatles are.
Iron Maiden
3/5
What 13 year old boy doesn't want a full size poster of the Eddie demon crashing through his door? I had the poster AND several t-shirts. Then I listened to the music and I was like WTF? Is this "rock opera"? This blows worse than Queensryche. And that's pretty much where my 13 year old self left this band.
So listening to Iron Maiden 37 years later, do I have a difference of opinion?
I can appreciate it a little bit more than I did back then. It's OK. The songs I like the best are actually the 2 longer ones: 22 Acacia Avenue & Hallowed Be They Name. I just like the riffs and song changes better and maybe the longer songs give them time to riff through more changes which falls in line with their vibe which is this sort of opera-metal epicness. I just want them to release a one song album that's 30 minutes long!
Radiohead
5/5
Great album! One of their best.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
2/5
I like the music. The guitars are awesome. I like the grooves. But nothing about this music grabs me. I've never heard such great music that falls totally flat on delivery. The lyrics don't give me any poetry. Zero. The album starts with their theme song I guess. Great. I wasn't sure if I was listening to the Fun Lovin' Criminals. Yep. It's them. What's the rest of the songs about? I dunno. I should've robbed more banks for fun I guess. Why does this song start with a Pulp Fiction sample? I don't remember this song being on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Scooby Snacks? Was Scooby Doo in Pulp Fiction? I'm so confused.
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
You go, sister. This music is beautiful, haunting, & deeply emotional. The only one I can almost compare her voice to is Nina Simone with a dash of Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music). I like how bare and unaffected the music is. Good rich acoustic sounds. It's not overdone. But overall it's a bit slow and dramatic for me.
Pulp
4/5
ooo la la. This music is sexy, catchy, and pulpy. It's got a good beat and I can dance to it. Common People is a great song. One of my fav's. There is a version of William Shatner doing the vocals which is worth checking out.
Rush
3/5
Tom Sawyer & Limelight are the hits. YYZ was a fun instrumental discovery. Didn't care for the rest of the album but it was okayish.
Tom Tom Club
2/5
Radiohead
3/5
Radiohead's ok. Sometimes a bit too ethereal and hypnotic for me. Not real big on the slower songs but I liked Bodysnatchers and Jigsaw Puzzle Falling Into Place.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
The Cramps
3/5
I'll just be upfront about this. I own 6 Cramps albums. But this is not one of them. I recommend Bad Music for Bad People. It's a compilation of all of their best early stuff. The sound wasn't very good on this album. I know it's supposed to sound trashy but it felt like Lux's vocals were kinda buried. Garbageman is one of my favorite songs.
Sonic Youth
3/5
I'm just going to be upfront about this. I own 12 Sonic Youth Albums. And yes, this is one. But it's not one of my favorites. The next 3 albums: Goo, Dirty, Experimental Jet Set Trash & No Star are all better albums in my book. On those albums, they come into their own as a rock band. The songs just have better hooks & I feel like that's when the band's chops were sharpest (1990-1994). Anyway, that's all a matter of taste and today we are listening to 1988's Daydream Nation. If you are into the dissonant sound that Sonic Youth makes, then this is a pretty good one. And if you really want to hear the guitar alchemy at work, then I recommend smoking some good weed and turning it up way loud. Silver Rocket & Cross the Breeze are my favorites.
Kanye West
3/5
Wow! I've never listened to Kanye before and I don't really know that much about him but apparently he's "A Monster". I'm "So Appalled" at his incredibly innovative music. My only criticism is that it seems highly autobiographically which makes it a bit unreleatable for me and the songs didn't especially grab me enough to push it up to a 4. But I can see why people like him or used to like him or whatever.
1/5
When this album started off I was concerned about the band's safety as they were clearly falling down a flight of stairs. But as the noise continued I realized that this is a very long flight of stairs or perhaps they were just tuning up. It turned out that it totally didn't matter if they were in tune or not because this album is a noisy piece of garbage. However, I did enjoy jumping around the room like crazy to this music. I got some pretty good cardio but it could've been so much better if Richard Simmons had been asked to do some vocals.
R.E.M.
5/5
As a fan with 13 R.E.M. albums in my collection (9 of those are on cassette tapes), I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say THIS album is their absolute best. I forgot how incredible it is. I especially like Ignoreland. Can I give it a 6?
The Beta Band
3/5
The Lemonheads
5/5
This is one of my favorite albums from my younger days. Love the melodies & strong clear vocals. Great song writing and excellent guitarwork. Awesome bass & drums. Nothing is overdone. I have my CD. It has 13 songs on it. It's perfect enough as it is. Stop with all of the 30 song deluxe expanded editions. Good grief. Frank Mills has always been a secret favorite of mine and it would've been a great one to end the album on... but for an encore, they ROCK that Garfunkle & Simon song!
Yes
2/5
Overall, I'm a no on Yes. I can appreciate that their music is complex and interesting but not so much my thing. I like the Fish song. Long Distance Runaround is pretty good. Some great bass playing on that one.
I feel like my main criticism of Yes is that it's all kinda too much all over the place. Too many disjointed changes that don't really feel like they gel into cohesive songs (they have their moments).
John Grant
4/5
Beautiful, dramatic, and just odd enough to be very original. Good stuff! I especially liked Where Dreams Go to Die and Queen of Denmark.
Joy Division
3/5
This is supposed to be a really cool album. I know because I've seen this cover on a lot of t-shirts. Is this some of that 80's goth stuff? It's OK. Shadowplay is a cool song but I like The Killers version better (Sawdust - 2007). Cool to hear the original. A few other fav's: She's Lost Control & Interzone. I Remember Nothing sounds like something from Sonic Youth's Confusion is Sex (1983). And alot of this music sounds similar to Bauhaus who release their first album a year after this one (1980) so I can definitely hear how Joy Division may have influenced alot of other bands.
Ghostface Killah
3/5
Supergrass
3/5
Robbie Williams
4/5
Marvin Gaye
3/5
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
It's pretty good. I'm at about a 3.5 with this one, not sure if anything grabs me quite enough to push it up to a 4. Maybe with a few more listens but so many albums, so little time.
JAY Z
3/5
Beatles
2/5
Early Beatles. Nope. Get these guys some goddamn drugs. Mr. Postman was a number one hit by The Marvellettes in 1961. Seems weird that they are covering a song that was a hit just 2 years prior but okay. Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry did it better in 1956. Till There Was You is a beautiful song, it's also a cover. Apparently 6 of the songs on this album are covers. Not sure why it's such an influential album when they didn't even write half the songs and this is only their 2nd album.
The Specials
5/5
wut? wut is this? I like this. It's a bit peculiar in the right ways for me. favorites: Enjoy Yourself, Man at C&A, Do Nothing, Holiday Fortnight, I Can't Stand It, International Jet Set, and the Enjoy yourself reprisal was a great way to end the album. I would be into Sock It to Em more if I was a James Bond fan. This is a special kind of ska.
Marilyn Manson
3/5
It's rock'n. But I'm too old to have this much anger and angst.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
I can appreciate the talent but it's pretty straight forward blues. Not really my thing.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
It's rock'n. I'm old. My rage has turned to a seething frustration. I'm about a 3.5 with this but bonus points for being rebels with a cause.
Dr. John
3/5
Strange and spooky. I especially liked Mama Roux.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Yes! Love this band's energy when they bring it on songs like Take You Higher and Sing a Simple Song. Everyday People, Stand!, You Can Make it if You Try... all groovy greats. Music with a message.
Louis Prima
4/5
It's jumpn. It's swingin. I love jazz with this kind of energy and great horns. Long before David Lee Roth was gigaloing, Louis Prima had noooooobody. Love the super fast tempo on Marie and Be Glad When You're Dead. Gotta admit I like Louis Armstrong's version of Be Glad When U R Dead a bit better but Louis Prima throws down some great trumpet in this version. The banana split song is cute. Good mix of songs.
Eurythmics
3/5
Sweet Dreams and The Walk were good songs. The rest was sorta okayish.
Beck
5/5
"Going back to Houston
Do the hot dog dance
Going back to Houston
To get me some pants"
YES! Everything. 5!
Note: There's a song called "Readymade" which is a term coined by one of my absolute favorite artists of the 20th century, Marcel Duchamp. Can I give this a 6?
Eagles
4/5
I learned two things. It's "Eagles" not THE Eagles.
And I had no idea that I was in love with the song "Victim of Love" but it happened and I swear I am totally innocent.
Dirty Projectors
3/5
Funkadelic
4/5
5/5
I love this band and how passionate their music is. If I had a voice that great I would sing like that too.
Metallica
3/5
oh this album. I saw Metallica at the Civic Center for this tour. I was pretty close to the front. It was rock'n. There is some music that I still like from when I was a teenager. There is some music that I just do not. Partly because I listened to it so much I'm kinda done with it. And that's okay for that to happen. I like the guitar work and the music but as a 50 year old adult the lyrics don't really grab me, nor take me back to fond memories. Mostly teenage angst and misplaced outrage. But hey, James Hetfield spit beer on us at that concert and I was pretty stoked about that at the time for whatever reason.
Pretenders
5/5
Damn. I kinda love this album. Mystery Achievement has been a favorite of mine for the last couple years (such a great bass line). Cool to finally hear the album it comes from. I pretty much liked every song. There were a few songs on this album that I thought were a little odd at first listen (Phone Call, Up the Neck) but then I looked up the lyrics. Yes, definitely odd and I like it! Great songwriting. Very original with great energy.
Paul Simon
3/5
George Michael
4/5
I'm about a 3.5 with this. The hits are great and the rest are ok. His voice is soooo smooth and silky. And I like that he ends the album with a timeless beautiful piano song.
4/5
Everything from Rubber Soul onward is a 4 or 5. I like this one but maybe not quite as much as some of the other later albums.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Great band! Robert Plant's lyrics and vocals are incredible. Jimmy Page's guitar work is phenomenal. This is definitely one of their best albums. Possibly their best one. It's great start to finish.
Traffic
3/5
I like the first song, Glad. The rest was ok but not so much my thing.
Brian Wilson
2/5
I don't even know. I'm going to leave alone terms like "good" and "bad" and just say that I was very confused by this album. My ears really had a hard time hearing it. Not my thing.
Radiohead
5/5
I liked this album back in the day. Hadn’t heard it for awhile. I love it even more. Great album start to finish. The moods sweep from gentle and delicate to storming rage but always through this meloncholoy dreaminess. Phenomenal guitaring on paranoid Android.
Charles Mingus
3/5
I appreciate this as some good jazz music but jazz is something I only listen to on occasion. Have to me in the right mood I guess. But next time I'm feeling like some jazz maybe I'll explore more of Charels Mingus' work.
The Doors
5/5
Before this project, I was not much of a Doors fan. At age 50 I have discovered that I genuinely love the Doors and think they are brilliant. Jim Morrison is great but I especially love the way that keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore play together. When musicians are clicking, it's just magic and that's what I hear. Yes, I'll take that 7 minute long version of Light My Fire anyday over the 3 minute neutered radio version. Great album!
The Auteurs
2/5
This kinda sucked. Pretty unremarkable.
Green Day
5/5
If you love pop punk anthems, these guys are the kings. This is probably their best album. Appropriate to get this one on Memorial Day. 20 year's later the American Idiocy has spiraled into American Insanity.
Prince
4/5
The songs are long cuz they are dancing grooves. Or you can fuck to them. You can dance if you want.
The Avalanches
3/5
interesting
Doves
3/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
I love this album so much. I know the first two songs. They were regular hits at the dance parties I used to have with my kiddo when they were little. And I don't really think I can play those first two songs loud enough. Cool to finally hear the rest of the album. New favorites: Skeletons, Dull Life (fucking rocks), Runaway, Hysteric. and all the other songs are good. Karen O's voice is so great. Love the music. Awesome album!
Neil Young
3/5
Red Snapper
3/5
Nirvana
5/5
It's hard to put into words how influential this album was to me. Kurt Cobain's lyrics are pure visceral poetry and his guitarwork is incredible. Those other two guys are okay too. Great album!
The Fall
2/5
I liked the Slits better. This album was not live and no witches were put on trial during the making of this album.
Elton John
5/5
I've been a fan of the title track for awhile. This album really deepens my appreciation for Elton John's work. He's pretty genius. Love the instrumentation in all the songs. Love how he switches gears from an island diddy (Jamaica Jerk Off) to a fun surf'n usa rock and sock hop vibe (Your Sister Cant Twist but She Can Rock N Roll). Awesome song. Grey Seal has great energy. Dirty Little Girl (damn). Okay. I'm a fan. Hope to hear more Elton John Albums!
Amy Winehouse
5/5
She has one of the most soulful, sultry, & sensual voices ever. I think I'm in love with her classic 50's/60's soul jazz rock vibe thing. Makes her dreamy and timeless. Great instrumentation too. She's working with some talented musicians that really know how to work a song. Beautiful recording. Amy really sings about the drama. She's bold and unapologetically herself which gives the poetry alot of depth.... like I'm swimming in it and trying not to drown. Favorites: You Know I'm No Good, Back to Black, Tears Dry on Their Own, Addicted
Iggy Pop
4/5
I'm at about a 3.5 with this. I don't always love his singing and sometimes think he sounds a little ridiculous. Knowing that David Bowie is involved somehow seems to make more sense now.
Norah Jones
3/5
Janet Jackson
5/5
Gang Starr
3/5
Tom Waits
5/5
I have a couple of Tom Waits albums in my collection but this is not one of them. Loved this album. It's a great mix of some sort of bizarre junkyard soul, spiritual, new orleans circus jazz. Great album!
Def Leppard
3/5
Slipknot
3/5
Not a fan of thrash, death, or doom metal but at least this has some singing and it's not just growling the whole time. It's more creative than most music in this genre.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Wow! The tension is thick. This is some great Johnny Cash. He walks the line.
Crowded House
3/5
After reading the lyrics to the song, I think Chocolate Cake is supposed to represent greedy excesses of commercialism. And I guess maybe Andy Warhol could be laughing in his grave. With youtubes and toktiks it seems like anyone can have their 15 minutes. This album was ok. Not great. Not bad. I liked Fall at Your Feet.
Nirvana
5/5
The Kinks
3/5
Venom
3/5
I'm not a big fan of the echo effect on the vocals for every song. I thought it makes it sound like a cheap-not scary haunted house. Then this Buried Alive song comes on so yeah I guess we are in some kind of haunted house of rock. I like that many of the songs are mixed so that you can actually hear the bass & vocals and everything is not drowned out by the guitars. Teacher's Pet reminds me an awful lot of Hot for Teacher. I'm wondering if this was Van Halen's inspiration. I thought Heaven's On Fire would be a Kiss cover. It wasn't. This is probably really great metal. I dunno. I'm at about a 2.5 with this. I didn't dislike it to the point that it annoyed me. I just quickly got bored of it but I'll give it bonus points for not just growling and thrashing the whole time.
The Stooges
2/5
I like Now I Wanna Be Your Dog. It's a rock classic and Sonic Youth does a pretty good version of it. But the rest of this album kinda blows.
Dire Straits
3/5
The album starts off strong. Kinda lost me with Why Worry and Ride Across the River. Rest of the album was okayish.
Nina Simone
3/5
Love and appreciate this artist's work but prefer her more upbeat songs with more instrumentation. Nina and her piano are pretty but it's kinda slow.
Fats Domino
5/5
Yes! I love this old time rock and roll stuff. Fats Domino is especially good. Blue Monday has been a favorite of mine for years.
The Temptations
3/5
I respect the talent and the artistry but I guess The Temptations are not so much my thing. It's good. It's probably phenomenal... but none of these songs especially grabbed me.
Brian Eno
2/5
Great music for napping or meditating. I wouldn't listen to it otherwise. This might have been innovative back in it's day but there's 600 youtube videos of ambient noise I can choose to fall asleep to or cleanse my astral chi.
William Orbit
3/5
It's good electronic dance music. Pretty cool but not really my thing. Cool background music at a party.
Pixies
5/5
yes. Love this band and this is one of their best.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
Didn't care for this much. There's a term for this type of guitaring that I reserve for only when it's truly deserved. "Wankery"
Screaming Trees
3/5
It's okay. All I Know is a good tune. I always thought this was a stupid name for a band. I still do. But their music is okay.
Kate Bush
4/5
I'm about a 3.5 with this but it's very original. So I'll give it a 4 for creativity. I like the first 3 songs. Jig of Life is pretty cool. Waking the Witch has some demons in it. yikes. The rest of the songs are okay. I appreciate the artistry. I like her chaotic layering of sounds and bursts of layered vocals balanced with some beautiful instrumentation & good beats. She has a kind of surreal sound. At times hypnotizing. Also... sometimes I enjoy listening to an album as Side 1 and Side 2 (like many of them were actually produced). This is a good album for this. The first 6 songs go well together. And the last 6 go well together.
Dire Straits
3/5
Not bad. Kinda groovy. Sultans of Swing is a great song. The rest are just okayish. Sometime a little too much blues for me. I did not know that these guys are British.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Black Sabbath is kind of a weird band. But weird in a good way that makes them different than other metal bands. I know that War Pigs and Iron Man are classics but my favorites are Paranoid, Planet Caravan, & Electric Funeral.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Willie Nelson
3/5
T. Rex
4/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
I've heard of this artist for years and glad that this project got me to finally listen to him. I can get a Neil Diamond vibe on some songs. Other songs remind me more of Tom Waits or Talking Heads. He's all over the place but it's always his unique sound. I don't know that any of the songs are super catchy but they all pull me in with their melodies and unique sound. Makes me want to listen to it again. Dig it!
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
Ol timey songs about bedbugs and boowevils. Interesting stuff.
R.E.M.
5/5
Great album from one of my favorite bands. Stand and Orange Crush are the hits but I really like Turn You Inside Out and I Remember California.
Spiritualized
3/5
Tracy Chapman
4/5
David Bowie
2/5
There are 2 things that I like about this album. 1.) It has Golden Years on it. 2.) It's a short album which is good cuz the rest of it sucks.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
I went through a Belle & Sebastian phase where I sat in cafes on rainy days drinking Americanos and reading JD Salinger.
T. Rex
4/5
T Rex is great. I only knew one of their songs before this project. Now I know several. Good stuff!
2/5
no
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Paul McCartney
3/5
The Who
3/5
Patti Smith
4/5
I know that Patti Smith is a legend but I've never sunk my ears into her until this project. Glad I did! Expressive, original, creative and poetic songwriting. Especially liked Gloria and Free Money.
David Bowie
3/5
George Harrison
3/5
4/5
I'm not a huge country music fan but I kinda love Loretta Lynn. She's not shy about speaking her mind on things regarding falling in and out of love. She's just very upfront about things in a way that probably shook things up a bit in her day. Don't Come Home a Drinkin is great. I also like Get What Cha Got and Go. Some of the other songs get a little too Connie Francis for me.
Happy Mondays
3/5
The Beta Band
3/5
Bon Jovi
4/5
This album has so many hits. Are they cheezy and cliche or is it sentimental and catchy? It doesn't really matter, I'm still going to sing along to Living on a Prayer in any bar. Bon Jovi was my first rock concert (Skid Row opened).
Kid Rock
2/5
The music isn't bad. It's the poetry of the lyrics that I have a problem with. He doesn't sing about anything that I care about. His songs seem to be mostly about him and how cool he is. It's pretty ridiculous. I got annoyed with it pretty quickly.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Dig it. One of my favorites is Bob Dylan's 115th dream because it's just so ridiculous and surreal.
Talking Heads
4/5
What is this? Some kind of Spaz Rock? I like it.
Talking Heads are great. Lots of good ones on this album that I've never heard before. Cool to take in a full album.
Culture Club
3/5
Elvis Presley
4/5
I'm not a huge Elvis fan necessarily (I like his hits) and I do really like old timey rock n roll. But I don't scream like a girl when he gets sweaty. Anyway... this kinda seems like a big album. The King's first album. If you had to pick ONE album for the BIRTH of Rock and Roll.. would this be it?
Here's my favorites: Blue Suede Shoes (love playing this one on the ukulele), I'm Counting on You (great Do Wop), I Got a Woman & One Sided Love Affair... both songs have good jumping vibe. I Got a Woman is more guitar based. One Sided Love Affair is more piano. I especially like how he's playing with his vocal style in One Sided Love Affair.
Just Because (great! love it)
Tutti Fruti - okay hold up. Little Richard recorded his version a year earlier. Elvis's version is good but I'm a fan of the original. Btw, Blue Suede shoes was recorded a year earlier by rockabilly artist Carl Perkins. I Got A Woman by Ray Charles 1954. I Love You Because (don't even like this song that much), Leon Payne 1949.
WTF?! Did he write any of these songs? no. I guess not. So there's a valid criticism there but I dunno.. I guess people just played each other's songs back then?
Behind Elvis's music is alot of great guitar & piano playing. Not sure if that's him doing it or his band.
But the vocals stand out. Elvis has pretty great vocals.
There's only one other musician I've heard that is as expressive in his vocal techinque... Dave Matthews. Not just saying that cuz my wife is in love with Dave Matthews.
Blue Moon. Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart 1934.
Love Elvis's version. No one will do it better until 32 years later... The Cowboy Junkies, Blue Moon Revisited (song for Elvis) 1988.
I would give this album a 5 but try writing some original material.
Linkin Park
4/5
Overall this isn't so much my thing. Too angsty for me. I understand there's a lot to be pissed off and sad about in the world. They kind of sound like a cross between Limp Bizkit and Incubus but they sound better than either of them.
Sam Cooke
5/5
Great old timey soul music. Love that this is a live album. Such great energy!
The Saints
4/5
This is some great vintage punk rock. Never heard of these guys. They sound like a cross between Stooges & Ramones w a dash of Modern Lovers. Really liked the song writing. My favorite was Ostralia!!! Love the horns in that one and wish they had more with horns!!
The Stooges
4/5
My favorites: Search & Destroy, Shake Appeal. Overall I like the Stooges but sometimes there's a lot of Iggy Sauce. I'm not a huge fan of Iggy Pop but he's grown on me over the years. He's been kind of an acquired taste for me and I like this Stooges album better than the last one we had.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Killing Joke
4/5
George Jones
4/5
Dang gummit. This is a good ol country record to drink some beers to. Favorites: The Weatherman & Our Private Life.
Skunk Anansie
4/5
I went from a 3 to a 4 with this album and if I gave it a few more listens I'd probably be at a 5.
But I'm just going to stop there because Lately is one of the best damn songs I've heard lately (and I've heard alot of good ones). Passionate and creative with some great song writing.
The Cars
5/5
Eminem
2/5
His toxic masculinity makes him sound like a little bitch.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
yes! I like this reggae music on a Sunday morning.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Here we start off with the song called Black Sabbath on the album Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. That's hilarious. It's fine as an intro song or whatever. Mass is in session I guess? The album that follows their bell tolling painfully slow opening THEME SONG is okay but not as good as the Paranoid album. Sabbath has sort of a groovy prog rock flavor of metal. Ozzy is pretty unique as far as lead singers go. I mean he's not really a "good" singer and I don't think his lyrics are that great but it all works. It wouldn't be Black Sabbath without him but it's the guitar and bass that I like best about this band. N.I.B. is my favorite on this album and something about the guitar playing on that one sorta feels Hendrixy to me.
Joe Ely
4/5
Is this Honky Tonk music or is this some of that Masquerade imitation Honky Tonk? Sounds like the real thing to me but I'm not really experienced in the ways of the Honk and the Tonk. I especially like Boxcars, Think I'm Gonna Go Down Town, Honky Tonk Masquerade and Honky Tonk'n. I'm about a 3.5 with this album but that fucking honky tonk accordion in the last song boots it up to a 4 for me dang gummit.
Cyndi Lauper
5/5
I did not "steal" my sister's tape cassette. I was just "borrowing" it ... for like 100 listens. I loved this album then and I love it even more today. Every song on this album is great. I love her voice and the songwriting is so catchy and creative. Fabulous instrumentation. And it's recorded so well. This is an album that you can listen to really loud and it sounds fucking amazing. She's not only unusual, she's brilliant. 6 stars.
Beatles
5/5
I like late Beatles and this is some of their best. I especially like how several of the songs flow seamlessly into each other.
The Cure
4/5
I like this Cure album better than the other album we had. This has a couple of my favorite Cure songs: Pictures of You and Love Song. I also like Lullaby , Fascination Street, and Disintegration. The rest of the album isn't that "catchy" but I like it. It's sorta moody and dreamy.
Manu Chao
4/5
¡qué buena onda!
Peter Frampton
3/5
The Who
4/5
The Beau Brummels
2/5
no thanks. not for me.
Talking Heads
3/5
I liked the first Talking Heads album (Talking Heads 77) but didn't care for this one as much. I don't think it's recorded very well. The vocals are too muffled and reverby. The songs aren't as catchy as their first album. There are many parts that I like but the sum of those parts don't really gel into a good album.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3/5
I'm a graphic designer and I think this album's cover is really something. So I'm going to comment on every song.
Visions of You - mystical. groovy.
Relight the Flame - sounds sort of Leonard Cohenish
Bomba - ¿que? ... bomb?
Ungodly Kingdom - Are we on a cruise? What's happening? Why must we have courage? Does the album get worse? Oh god.
Rising Above Bedlam - (Bedlam means a scene of uproar and confusion.)
This is an art poem song with a groovy bass line. I keep waiting for it to RISE!... but it just kinda grooves down low in amongst the Bedlam. Maybe they kinda hover above Bedlam but I didn't get a rise out of it.
Erzulie - Who? Ohhh... She's the Black Madonna of Vodou. Well I'm not saying anything bad about her singing. Loved it. Great bass playing too.
Everyman's an Island - Tribal Synthy Rap Psychedelic Dance Mix. okay I'm down. Kinda sounds like Underworld when he's rapping and this song should be on the Survivor TV show soundtrack.
Soledad - it's very Spanish guitary. And then it ends in a haunted house. I dunno. yo no se.
Sweet Divinity - sounds kind of like Bauhaus (the band, not the art movement). It's pretty weird. Good job making a weird song.
Wonderful World - why is all the singing so echoey on this album? This song especially. If the world is so wonderful, come outta that cave you are singing in. This is kinda a weird little diddy. It has the melody of a kids camp song. Trying to keep the demons away, kids.
It's a wonderful world and this album's OK. I give it a 3.
Pink Floyd
5/5
One of their best. Great album!
Duran Duran
4/5
Slayer
2/5
This is probably really great Thrash metal if you are into that sort of thing. Which I am not. I can appreciate the complex guitar work but after about 20 seconds of each song I'm done with it.
Portishead
3/5
The Birthday Party
1/5
I think I like Nick Cave and his bad seeds better. This is a special kind of awful. The annoying kind. The second version of Dead Joe sounds even worse than the first. 47 minutes of Nick Cave screeching and growling like a deranged pterodactyl.
Ute Lemper
2/5
New Order
4/5
I like New Order. Great melodies. I like that the guitar work is simple and not overly complicated. My only criticism is that it's sometimes a bit formulaic because I swear a couple of these songs sound like other New Order songs. I'm about a 3.5 with this but that instrumental (Eligia) pushes this up to a 4 for me.
Pixies
5/5
One of my favorite albums by one of my favorite bands! This one is maybe not quite as good as Doolittle or Trompe le Monde. I give it a 4.5 but they start the album with an instrumental. I love a good instrumental. so... cinco.
Björk
4/5
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Turbonegro
3/5
Solid rawk'n. Except why are we rocking against ass? I like asses. It would be hard to sit without them. I liked Prince of the Rodeo, and Back to Dungaree High. Good Head was fun while it lasted but sorta petered out. My criticism of this album is that it's not that creative. Kind of repetitive but kudos for keeping up the energy. Yes, they rawk. Yes, they have fun energy but this album is kinda like a one night stand for me. Fun while it lasted but probably not anything I would come back to once I've heard it.
Air
3/5
Eminem
2/5
Eminem has made it abundantly clear that he is NOT a role model. Then tries his best to shock and offend everyone. I'm not offended. Just unimpressed and mostly feel sad for him that his life is so fucked up. Once in awhile he writes a good song but I didn't find any of those on this album. Can't wait for another Eminem song about him killing his baby mama and throwing her body in the river. or blaming his parents for his shitty life. I don't know if you can really die from eating too many shrooms but that song was ridiculous.
The Byrds
3/5
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Neil Young
4/5
First of all, a man does NOT need a maid (or a mommy). This is 2024 man! And it's just a bad song. At first listen, I didn't like this album at all. But I gave it another listen later in the evening and enjoyed it. Heart of Gold is a great song. Also liked Words (Between the Lines of Ages).
Sepultura
3/5
I liked this more than most Death Metal. Guitars and drums were awesome. If they could just take out the vocals I would like this alot more. Really gets annoying having someone scream growling the whole time.
David Bowie
4/5
I like about half the songs on this album. The other half are not bad. Favorites are Changes, Oh You Pretty Things, and Queen Bitch.
The Human League
3/5
I am the Law kinda sucked. I liked the first and the last song. Everything between was okay.
Dr. Dre
4/5
I don't listen to much rap music. Is this that gangsta shit? First time I've listened to this album. There's probably alot to be said about the cultural aspect to his music and the message... but I'm just going to let the record speak for itself and say this was some really good fucking rap music.
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
3/5
Coldplay
3/5
Pretty music. Its okay. I like Yellow and Shiver.
Miles Davis
3/5
It's okay for mood music. Not something I would normally listen to.
Elton John
3/5
I didn't care for this album as much as Yellow Brick Road. This is the more POETIC Elton John or something. The song writing is just not as catchy as Yellow Brick Road. It has two hits, Tiny Dancer and Levon. Neither of those are my favorite Elton John songs. Indian Sunset kinda comes off as a white British dude romantacising the wild west and maybe trying to make a statement about racial injustice? I would have to analyze it deeper. Rotten Peaches? Rotting in the sun? WTF? ... anyway... it would take me more than 1 or 2 listens to get into this album. Not his best.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
3/5
Interesting social commentary. This was back in the 90's when you could be mad at television.
Little Richard
5/5
YES! I love this old time rock n bop. Little Richard is one of my favorite musicians. This is the kind of piano pounding, hot sax rock n roll that makes my heart skip a beat.
Janelle Monáe
4/5
This is a pretty cool & creative fusion of different music styles. I'm not usually into symphonic music but it's woven into the music in a cool way that makes me feel like a really awesome movie is about to start.
Sexy, romantic, and groov'n.
Pere Ubu
2/5
It seems like post-punk is an entire genre of musicians making purposefully bad music. While this is not the WORST post-punk I've heard... it's still not that great.
David Bowie
2/5
This album has Heroes on it. Heroes is a really great song. I did not like the other songs on this album. I usually give a little bonus bump for having an instrumental on your album. But NOT if Brian Eno was involved. And if the entire last half of your album are instrumentals you made with Brian Eno then you actually get penalized. I was going to give this album a 3 but then I started thinking about all those people back in 1977 who spent their money to buy the album with Heroes on it, getting it home, and then listening to this shit.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Evol is backwards Love. I really like the first 3 songs: Tom Violence, Shadow of A Doubt, and Starpower. Then Lee Renaldo lays down one of his spoken word pieces and the album kinda goes downhill for me from there. I love Thurston's guitar alchemy in Tom Violence. Kim is so whispery and alluring in Shadow of a Doubt. And Starpower is as close to a rock song as you are going to get on this album. Then it gets all artsy.. or maybe too much acid. I love this band but this is not their best.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Pink Floyd takes the art of an album to a new level here. There is a literal story to the album which I didn't necessarily catch all those details just by listening to the album (you can read it on Wikipedia). The lyrics are also very poetic and metaphoric. My favorites: Hey You, Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell, The Wall pt2. Pretty epic!
Steve Winwood
3/5
ABBA
5/5
This is the first time I've listened to a full ABBA album. They write such great melodies! Everybody knows Dancing Queen but so glad I have these new ABBA favorites: My Love My Life, Knowing Me Knowing You, MoneyMoneyMoney, That's Me, Why Did it Have to be Me?, Tiger.
Great album!
(I've been to Hawaii. it IS a happy place!)
3/5
Interesting. I liked Nature's Way, Mr Skin, Street Worm, and Morning Will Come (love the horns in that one). The rest was pretty okay.
3/5
Cream
3/5
Tricky
3/5
Queens of the Stone Age
2/5
Queens of the Stone Age is one of those bands that I really want to like. They have such a cool fucking distorted heavy guitar sound. But they don't write very many GOOD songs. I couldn't find any on this album. Kind of boring.
Jeff Buckley
3/5
Foo Fighters
4/5
The album starts off strong with hits: This is a Call, I'll stick Around, Big Me. And after one listen the rest of the album was just kind of okay. But this album is totally worth a second and even a third listen. Also reading the lyrics to the songs really helped me appreciate the poetry. If you are expecting catchy rock songs, this isn't their best album but some gems for me were: Good Grief (yes!), Floaty (the lyrics are like zen poetry), For All the Cows (dig the swingy vibe), Wattershed (this song just fucking rawks!). I love that I was reading the lyrics to Wattershed on genius.com. They try to break the songs down into chorus and verse but this song is so fucking whack that it's got a verse, chorus, "hook", AND a "pre-chorus". lol. Exhausted. If I had a song called Exhausted, I would probably put it last. I mean, where else would you? Pretty cool song. Drums are awesome too on this whole album. And wikipedia says Dave Grohl recorded the whole thing by himself. damn. Sometimes you just have to grab your career by the Weenie Beenie and do it your damn self. Good job Dave!
Can
3/5
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Metallica
2/5
I'm not really into Metallica. Not my thing. There are moments when I'm like "ohh.. I like that riff and that drum beat is cool". But overall it's kind of boring.
Rod Stewart
3/5
So this is the album that Maggie May comes from. I've always liked that song. This is a peculiar album. It's a British guy mixing up 2 parts honkey tonk, 1 part country spiritual folk w a little dash of rock n roll. Heavy on the roll. Light on the rock. Plus there's mandolin and a Bob Dylan cover. Not exactly what I was expecting from Mr. "If you want my body and you think I'm sexy". He brings the rock on Losing You. Cool drum solo. I like the way they work the energy on that song and it has alot of soul. Overall, 2 great songs, the rest are okay. I like the instrumentation & thought it was an interesting listen.
Machito
3/5
I would enjoy dancing with my wife to this music, in a jazz club in Cuba.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
I was in a 90's alternative cover band about 20 years ago. Take Me Out was one of my favorite songs to play. I never listened to the full album until now cuz who listens to albums? Good stuff! It grooves and rocks.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
This is a little too much on the lite rock side for me. It's a cool sexy vibe thing. It's fine but I think I would like it more if he had named all the songs something to do with Getting it On cuz then it would be a "concept album".
1.) Let’s Get It On = same
2.) Please Don’t Stay = We Can’t Get It On if You Leave
3.) If I Should Die Tonight = If I Should Die Getting it On
4.) Keep Gettin’ It On = same
5.) Come Get To This = Come Get It On
6.) Distant Lover = Getting It On From a Distance
7.) You Sure Like to Ball = You Sure Like to Get It On
8.) Just To Keep You Satisfied = It’s Too Late To Get It On
Spiritualized
2/5
Run is pretty good except most of the lyrics are stolen from a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. Maybe could've come up with their own lyrics since it's not really a cover. Just a different song with stolen lyrics and the rest of the album is ambient and soothing but ... snore.
3/5
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Pretty cool. I might like this album more with a few more listens but no time for that.
Suzanne Vega
2/5
You should never "speak" a song cuz it makes you sound like you are just rapping really badly. This album was so exceptionally average that I found it painfully boring.
Coldcut
5/5
Fun album. cool. I like it.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
This is pretty good. Especially like Let Me Roll It.
The White Stripes
3/5
Hotel Yorba and Fell in Love w a Girl are my favorites. Dead Leaves & Offend in Every Way are pretty good. The other 3/4's of the album is okay. I appreciate that they are doing a very stripped down instrumentation thing but I think all of these songs could've been better with some bass. Pretty sure there are a lot of bass players out there. Are the White Stripes so difficult to work with that they couldn't even get a bass player?
Mekons
5/5
British Pop-Punk-Country Twang fusion thing. Cool! I like it. Sometimes reminds me a little of The Clash or maybe The Pouges (but better). Some songs have a sea chanty or maybe an Irish Trad sound. I didn't care for the two spoken word songs but the rest was great! Cool find. Never heard of them before and hope to hear more.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Too much awesomeness to break it all down. Stevie's voice is just one of the greatest. So soulful and uplifting. Great grooves. This album is incredible in it's diverse song styles, subject matter, and artful expression of a great musician.
Tears For Fears
4/5
The Darkness
3/5
Spotify mentions "Hawkins' iconic falsetto, often compared to Freddie Mercury." Hold up. Not even in the same league as Freddie. At first listen I was super annoyed by his singing style. It's sort of grating and just "too much" for me. Second listen I got a little more used to it. The song writing and music is pretty rawk'n. Not a big fan of the vocals.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
ZZ Top
3/5
The hits on this album are so overplayed, it's hard to get excited about them. Got Me Under Pressure and Thug were my favorites.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Great album! Lots to sink my ears into. This might not have that many "hits" on it but there are so many great songs that I never even heard before. It's a gem. Great song writing. Very emotional and poetic. Tusk might be my new favorite Fleetwood Mac song. Storm is a great Stevie Nicks song. So many other good ones.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Frank Sinatra has a silky smooth voice. No denying that. But this all sounds like a rehash of the Getz/Gilberto album that was recorded in 1964 (3 years earlier). It's the same samba lounge feeling. It's easy on the ears and relaxing enough but doesn't really do much for me.
The Black Keys
4/5
Black Keys. Soulful. Groovy. Aside from the hits, I've always liked Black Mud. Pretty cool instrumental.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
Great album! Love their sound. Very raw and expressive and Karen O is just a total rockstar. Date W the Night, Tick, Pin, and Maps are all great. Y Control is my favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs song of all time. They rawk in all the right ways. THIS is rock and roll.
Pentangle
3/5
Kinda sounds like Hippie Renaissance Fair music. At times it even felt a little like Christmas music or something (too soon!). Not really my thing but I appreciated the acoustic guitar playing and instrumentation. Wasn't awful but wasn't great and didn't make me want to dig deeper.
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Frank Zappa is a weird cat. This album speaks to that. I sorta categorize the songs on this album into a few different styles (if that's a way to make some sense of this).
Anti-Establishment Poetry over Whacky Jazz/60's groove rock: Hungry Freaks, I'm Not Satisfied, You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here, Trouble Everyday
Pseudo Do Wop: Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder, Wowie Zowie
Kazoo Rock???: Motherly Love
Melodramatic 60's break up songs with bad changes: Ain't Got No Heart, How Could I Be Such A Fool, You Didn't Try to Call Me, Anyway the Wind Blows
Psychedelic Potpourri: Who Are the Brain Police, Help I'm a Rock, It Can't Happen Here, Return of Son of Monster Magnet.
Out of those categories I probably like the Pseudo Do Wop the best. The Anti-Establishment songs are okay. Maybe they were more revolutionary back in the 60's but they have a pretentiousness about them. If you've ever watched a Frank Zappa interview, that remark is not far off. Regardless of what I think about Frank Zappa's personality, he is a creative musician. I liked Trouble Everyday. It sorta has a Bob Dylan vibe to it.
I'm not a fan of the Melodramatic stuff. First of all, it's pretty hard to take them seriously. Doesn't feel like genuine sorrow. I'm Not Satisfied is a total downer. wtf? Is this supposed to be a blues song or something? Might as well just sang "Nobody loves me, Everybody hates me, Guess I'll go eat worms." That's what MY Mother would tell me when I cried about shit. The psychedelic freak out songs just sound weird for weird's sake. ooo... I'm totally freaking out.
SO, overall... interesting songwriting but lacking any melodies to make "good" music. And even though it seems to have a sense of humor at times, it's kind of a pretentious mocking humor and not a FUN kind of humor. I won't call it "bad" music. I'll just leave it at "it's different".
Janis Joplin
5/5
Soulful and passionate. Janis is awesome. Her band is really groovy too. Especially love the organ playing. Bobby McGee is actually a cover. It was written by Kris Kristofferson and other people have sang it, but Janis' version is the best. Move Over is a favorite of mine and reminds me of some of her earlier stuff with Big Brother & Holding Co. This is her last album. Released 3 months after her death. A beautiful voice and a beautiful spirit that we lost too soon. Loved this album.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I especially enjoyed the first 10 songs. Sort of has an old timey rock and roll feel. And I love me some hot sax. Rocks Off, Rip this Joint, Shake Your Hips (sounds like a ZZ Top song), Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia (especially loved this one), Loving Cup, Happy... all great songs. But after that the album kind of drops off for me. It's about 8 songs too long.
U2
4/5
U2 has always had a very unique sound. Great bass and drums with atmospheric washy guitars and awesome vocals. Good stuff!
Kate Bush
4/5
The poetry of her lyrics are deeply emotional & sensual. This album took me a few listens and definitely reading the lyrics helped because it put me more in a mindset of poetry to music. I liked her previous album (Hounds of Love) because it was chaotic and edgy. This album feels more polished or something and I don't think that makes it better or worse just different.
OutKast
3/5
Bombs Over Bagdad was good. Humble Mumble was pretty good. I thought the rest was just OK. Not so much my thing I guess.
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
Van Halen
4/5
I've never understood why we are singing "Panama". Is this a song about a hot chick from Panama? Are all the songs about hot chicks? No, some of them are about jumping. Okay. Whatever. This is a great album. Don't over think it. It's only Rock n Roll. The hits are pretty overplayed for me but they are still great rock songs. I'll Wait is my favorite song on the album and you can really hear the Van Hager sound that they will grow into.
Songhoy Blues
3/5
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
X-Ray Spex
4/5
I bet they were fun to see live. What's not to like? Punk rock w a strong female lead and sax! The sax was my favorite part. My favorites were Obsessed w You and Identity. I'm about a 3.5 with this but I'll go 4 cuz of the sizzling saxamaphone.
David Crosby
3/5
Mellow. Soooo mellow. I appreciate the warm acoustics and the smooth vocal harmonies. David Crosby isn't a great lyricist but sometimes his poetry is so deep that the words just get in the way of what he wants to say (Tamalpais High, Song w/o Words) I feel you David. Go with that doobie dobbie dooo yaaa... shit man. So transcendent it becomes some kind of spiritual hippie thing. Mellow grooves.
Al Green
4/5
The soulful grooves of Al Green. Good stuff! Stay Together and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Bee Gees Cover) are my favorites. The Bee Gees version is great but Al adds more soul to it.
The xx
2/5
None of the songs have good melodies so nothing really stands out. Pretty monotonous. Sparse instrumentation is uninteresting. It's drama without passion. Aside from being boring, this also sucks.
The Fall
4/5
I was introduced to this band many years ago and they've grown on me. I don't usually go for spoken word stuff but I like his style. It's like some kind of Euro-beatnick-punk thing. I don't know what the hell he's talking about half the time but the riffs are rocking. My favorites are It's A Curse and League of Bald Headed Men. And Why are People Grudgeful? has an awesome bass line!
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
It's fun. It's dancey and has good energy. I had fun playing bass to it. Not hearing anything especially great or creative about the songwriting. Cool beats. I like the North American Scum song.
The Police
5/5
Synchronicity I and II are a couple of my favorite Police songs. This album has several hits.. Every Breath, King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger. Some hits get overplayed and get worn out but no matter how many times I hear these songs, they still really get me. The Mother song is a bit odd. The Police sometimes dip into a bit of a reggae groove (Miss Gradenko). Dig it. Great album!
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Sonic Youth
2/5
I like this band but I don't like everything they do. This is one of their worst albums.
Johnny Cash
4/5
This is pretty legendary.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
This is a pretty solid album by The Boss. Born in the USA and Glory Days are overplayed. They are fine but my favorites are Cover Me, No Surrender, Downbound Train, I'm Going Down. And Dancing in the Dark is one of my favorites of all time.
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
Some of this is ALMOST music. That's hardly anything to get excited about.
TV On The Radio
3/5
Not bad. Not good. Just kinda meh.
New Order
3/5
I like New Order but this album falls a little flat for me because the poetry doesn't feel as inspired as some of their other songs. One of the least listened to songs on this album is Guilty Partner. It's not that great of a song. But I absolutely love the melodic bass playing on that song. I have a guilty pleasure for Guilty Partner. The thing I like best about this band is their melodies and the way they weave guitar & synth. I thought Run was pretty good but the rest was just okay.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
Genius guitar riffing by Corgan balanced by phenomenal drumming by Chamberlin. Those are the two main ingredients that make this album great for me. Love the way they are able to turn a song from the most gentle beautiful softness to an absolutely raging wall of sound. Corgan's vocals are poetic and have an androgynous mystic. This album sounds best loud. VERY loud!
Nick Drake
4/5
I like the rich, warm acoustic sound. Very simple and chill vibe. It's mood music and I like it. I like his guitar playing and find his breathy voice soothing. Favorites: Place to Be and Things Behind the Sun.
John Lennon
4/5
At one point in my life I had this album on vinyl and I enjoyed it. So I'm familiar with this one. We're old friends. Favorites: Mother, I Found Out (one of my favorite Lennon solo songs), Remember, and God (he doesn't believe in Beatles, he just believes in himself). Well Well Well is not a very good song but I like when he gets screamy with it because it almost reminds me of Kurt Cobain for some reason. So I think he was ahead of his time with some of the notes he was hitting. Cool album!
Radiohead
3/5
This album has a weird sad vibe. It was okay. Nothing particularly grabbed me about it. National Anthem was good.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
This took me a few listens but I like this album, American Dream (2017), a bit more than Sound of Silver (2007). What I like best about this band is their beats and rhythms and how they fuse those with interesting electro-sound scapes. Nothing super grabbed me but all together I though it was creative and a pretty solid album with good grooves.
Robert Wyatt
2/5
He doesn't sing very well and none of the musicians play their instruments that great although I appreciate that he's got strings, keys, horns... all of it, but none of it really works together in a "good song" kind of way. I'm not sure I understand the narrative of the songs and things often seem to build to an rambling chaos rather than any kind of cohesive climax. It's different in ways that are not really that creative but more like annoying and I wish he'd stop doing that. But I didn't feel it was quite as excruciating as others in my listening group.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I know that I dislike this but I'm having a hard time gauging my level of dislike. It feels like the vocals have the spotlight for every song. I don't especially like or dislike his singing. He definitely has a style and I'm just sorta meh on that. His melodies aren't especially catchy. But he really loses me with the poetry of his lyrics. I just don't know what he's on about and seems kinda corny. Leaves me feeling like a can't really relate. I don't get it. And I don't really want it. I can't decide between a 2 or 3 so let's break it down:
Beyond Belief - 2.75
Tears Before Bedtime - 2.5
Shabby Doll - 3 (I like the bass & piano on this one)
The Long Honeymoon - 3 (nice guitaring)
Man Out of Time - 2 (the last 40 seconds of this song is great. the rest sucks.)
Almost Blue - 2
And In Every Home - 2.5
The Loved Ones - 3.5 (pretty great bass playing)
Human Hands - 3
Kid About It - 1.75
Little Savage - 3
Boy With A Problem - 1.5
Pidgin English - 1.5
You Little Fool - 2
Town Cryer - 1
Average score per song = 2.333333
Jack White
5/5
Yes! This is the best I've heard from this artist. This rocks! Loved the instrumentation. Mostly bass, guitar, drums & piano. Simple but every song is different. Creative. Pretty solid album. Great playing.
Nas
3/5
John Martyn
4/5
I like this vibe. Especially liked I'd Rather Be the Devil (live version), Man in the Station, Over the Hill. I didn't especially like Easy Blues. He's just going on and on about how his jelly is so good. I guess I'm just not really into jelly rolls as much as some people. :P
The Byrds
3/5
This album is VERY 60's. I especially liked So You Want To Be A Rock Star (great horns and bass). Also liked Time Between. My Back Pages is one of my favorite Dylan songs and they do a great job with it. It's a bit more rock'n than the original. I'm about a 3.5 with this album. It's good but not super great. They didn't need that part with the backward speaking aliens. And the song with the backward guitar was a bit too much of that.
KISS
3/5
It's okay but this album doesn't have any of their best songs. I think KISS is a greatest hits band for me. I really only need Heaven's On Fire, Lick it Up, Strutter, and I Want to Rock and Roll All Night (and Party Everyday). Those are really the best KISS songs. There are no KISS "deep tracks".
Def Leppard
4/5
Hard rock'n hits!
Blur
4/5
oohhh.. this is the band that sings that "WOO-HOO!" song. I didn't know they sang the Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys Who Like Girls song. That's a good one. They are very Britt-ish and cool. The album is a good mix of songs and doesn't feel stuck on a particular vibe. It's creative. They even do a waltz (The Debt Collector). Great harmonies with the back up singing. Especially liked End of a Century, London Loves, and Jubilee.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
In the early 2000's I was a big fan of this band. We've parted ways since then but it was fun to listen to this again. It was my "sensitive boy" music phase. Tops for me on this album are: The State I'm In, Expectations, You're Just a Baby, I Don't Love Anyone.
Hawkwind
2/5
This album has super cool cover art. As much as I like the vibe of this music, it's a bit too much of it and all sounds pretty much the same and I'm not really into the spoken word segments. Love the bass playing but the vocals never really hit on any interesting melodies to give my ears a discernable "song". And while I appreciate extended jams and instrumentals... it's all a bit much. And just putting space sounds over top of 70's jam band rocking out, isn't really that innovative.
Arcade Fire
3/5
I like this band but I've never sunk my ears into a full album. They have several hits that I like. Overall I thought it was a pretty good album but didn't super win me in a "this is what I've been missing all my life" kind of way. I liked: Keep the Car Running, Intervention, AntiChrist Television Blues. I'm about a 3.5 with this album. Could probably get to a 4 with it with a few more listens but maybe they have better albums than this one?
Bob Dylan
3/5
Most of this album is slow and sad. I appreciate the artistry, the music, & the poetry of the lyrics. But not so much my speed. He could've called this album "I Got the Tired Blues" or "Dylan Does Lullabys". I like Dirt Road Blues cuz it's more upbeat. And I love the song "Make You Feel My Love". Dylan wrote it, so he's the orginal but yikes... he doesn't really sing it that well. Adel does it better.
Various Artists
4/5
Ho Ho Ho! This album has some great ones that should be added to the Christmas Casserole. White Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Sleigh Ride, Winter Wonderland, and Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) are all tops. Others like Parade of the Wooden Soldiers and Marshmellow World are flops. But there are enough good ones on here to stuff your stocking with.
Marty Robbins
2/5
Nope. Couldn’t get into this. Not my thing.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
The hits: Sledgehammer, Big Time, and In Your Eyes are all great songs but I didn't like the other songs that much. Cool that Kate Bush made a guest appearance.
The Adverts
2/5
My primary criticism of this album is that all the songs sound too much the same. It's not that creative. I like the vibe of the music and was at a 3 with the album after one listen. Most music gets a little better with each listen as you catch new things in the song that you hadn't really picked up on before. But this music gives me nothing to come back for. I was really done with it after one listen which is a special kind of sucks.
Massive Attack
3/5
This is groovy and chill. There's nothing I dislike about it but it doesn't especially grab me either.
Steely Dan
3/5
I like the music. It's jazzy and interesting. Great instrumentation. I can appreciate it for it's musicality but the songs just don't draw me in. My favorite song by Steely Dan is "Go Back Jack and Do it Again - Wheel Turning Round and Round"... that one isn't on this album.
Duke Ellington
4/5
Sensational that this is a live album! It's a record of 1950's jazz as it's performed by talented, seasoned, passionate musicians and enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience. Seems like a fun mix of different jazz styles and moods from bright bursting big band, lots of stellar solos, sweeping blues, and much much more. This is too much great jazz to sink my ears into for the scope of this project. I'm going to bookmark this album and come back to it. If I were making a jazz collection, this would definitely go in it. The Star Spangled Banner is an interesting way to start a show. Turns out that the first couple numbers were just to kill time because the rest of the band wasn't even there yet. Funny because a couple of my favorites are the first ones: Black & Tan Fantasy and Tea for Two. But the audience really loses their shit after Diminuendo in Blue which is a pretty awesome 50's sax jazz song. After that it seems like Duke tried to calm the audience down with some slower blues numbers (not my favorites). Ending the show with a drum solo encore, Skin Deep, is a great finish to the show.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
We are starting off the new year with jazz, more jazz, and all that jazz. This music is some groovy jazz. I dig it. It's got a great smooth 70's horn sound but the afro/world fusion gives it a creative twist. Some songs are a little too slow for my speed but they are beautiful. When I listen to good jazz music, it's like the instruments are having conversations with each other and I get that from this. Inner Crisis is my favorite on this album.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
2/5
I might appreciate this album more if I had a better understanding of jazz but mostly I find this lacking in energy and just plain boring. First off... jazz without horns is like a sandwich without bread to me. I mean REAL horns... like trumpet and trombone. The alto sax doesn't cut it. I thought it was a damn clarinet. I really like the main theme parts of Blue Rondo and Take Five. I just don't really care for how they evolve it. Which leaves me feeling like the songs have "moments", but I don't really like it overall. It's boring even for background music.
Amy Winehouse
5/5
I've heard Amy Winehouse songs but never really sank my ears into her music before this project. OK. I'm hooked. I'm a fan! A brave, beautiful voice gone too soon. Love that she starts off this album giving her man a good talking to (Stronger Than Me). Great synth bass in this song and love how that trumpet just lays it out so matter of fact at the end of the song ...gives me chills. She has a great timeless vibe. Complex. Dramatic. Sexy. Great horns & acoustic guitar mix on I Heard Love is Blind... and then the flutes come in & I'm swooning. (okay. as much as I love horns, I have a weakness for some flute jazz.) Amy's music has a way of finding all my weak spots and pulling no punches. No Greater Love (again w the flutes... *swoon*). Her music is powerful without being forceful. Sensational grooves. Sometimes reminds me a little of Lauryn Hill (only groovier). Amy was a great one. Amy Amy Amy. It's complex, dramatic music with such great instrumentation and creative song writing that makes me want to listen to it over and over.
Neu!
2/5
Starts off pretty good. I like Isi. It's a feel good, happy dance instrumental. Seeland is kinda slow and boring but I like the big reverb sound. Leb Wohl sounds like some music for a deep breathing meditation or maybe good to fall asleep to. Hero is pretty rocking. His vocal sytlings are a bit cringe. OK suddenly there are vocals but I can't understand any of the words. Doesn't feel like this is the same band as the first three songs. E-Musik is unremarkable and not really experimental. Mostly annoying that it's a long song that goes nowhere. After Eight has good rocking energy. But just plods along as a washy beat with unintelligible lyrics. nah.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Jeux sans frontières? Is he not singing "She's so popluar"? Damn. My life has been a lie. I like this album. I like it more with each listen. I think it's creative & edgy. Intruder is creepy, dark, and wild. Love the beat and how herky jerky the melody is. I especially liked I Don't Remember & Games Without Frontiers. But I don't dislike any of the songs. It's a pretty solid album for me.
Alice In Chains
3/5
I was never a big Alice In Chains fan. 30 years later, my opinion hasn't changed. The music is fine and the guitar work is interesting but overall the lyrics are just too damn depressing for me to get into.
Lambchop
3/5
Most of this album is a smooth dreamy groove with washy country slide guitars and happy vibes with occasional horns to brighten things up. It's a good album to get high and think about life to. The lyrics are poetically interesting and give me more of a folk artist feel. Overall it's a little slow for my speed. What Else Could it Be is a little more up beat but I'm not a big fan of his falsetto singing. Especially on The Distance from Her to There (sorry he sounds like Miss Piggy). I like that they change up the mood with the last two songs but it's kind of too little too late because it just makes them feel tacked on and doesn't really go with the vibe of the rest of the album.
Madonna
4/5
I've never listened to this full album before so I felt a little like a virgin. Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish... all great hits! For the non-hits I like Till Death Do Us Part (great melody) and Keep It Together. Cool that she collaborated with Prince on Love Song. I didn't like that song at first because it was so minimal but after a few listens it's growing on me. I like Act of Contrition at the end. She's confessing all of her sins that she did while making this album by just cutting loose and making a wtf noise core piece. I wish more artists would end an album that way.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Driving to work in the snow today wishing I was down in Florida. I'm not a big Blues fan but when it's done right, gotdamn it's good! The energy and instrumentation of this album is great. Love the rhythms. Some of these songs just stomp so hard! I'm not surprised that loretta-marie gave this a 5. SO MUCH HARMONICA! Usually harmonicas only get bit parts in songs but this is full out harmonica. Also the musicians have a great synergy that just fucking works!
Jethro Tull
4/5
Yes! Lay that 70's flute rock on me. The instrumentation and song writing is great. I guess where it falls a bit short for me is the poetry of the lyrics just isn't that relatable to me. I'm not exactly sure what he's on about but sounds like he's mad at church & preaching some kind of gnostic shizz. It's okay. Sometimes people go through phases like that. Favorites: Aqualung, Cross-Eyed Mary, Hymn 43, Locomotive Breath
Sheryl Crow
5/5
Wow! Really enjoyed this album. Every song. Her lyrics are romantic. Sheryl strums my heart strings. Beyond just great songwriting, she mixes up the mood well. Varying styles through the album making it a great ride.
Radiohead
3/5
It was an interesting album from a song writing and sound engineering perspective. Very creative. Things get so fuzzy and static charged that it's like they are inventing a new genre of ASMR rock. I think it's not an album that I take to right away but there's a lot going on here and probably deserves quite a few more listens for me to really get my ears in it. Kind of a break through for me listening to this album cuz I started thinking about the band's music more from a jazz or art perspective than from a traditional "alt-rock" genre. Sound painting.
Alice Cooper
4/5
I don't know what I was expecting... but it wasn't this! Way more creative and musically innovative than I expected. Some great bass heavy songs that take turns that I totally didn't expect.
Herbie Hancock
3/5
I'm all for 10 minute long songs but you need to have lots to say and I found myself losing interest. Songs definitely have good moments but also some bad moments when it just feels like "wankery" (that's when you are just fucking around with your instruments without laying down anything sensational). Overall, I like the groove of the songs. Watermelon Man has a cool world music feel. Vein Melter is a great song to get high, sit back and relax to.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
This sounds and looks like jazz but doesn't feel like jazz. This feels like ballroom jazz or something. When I close my eyes I'm walking through an overpriced antique mall. Needs more soul. I did like the sax solos though.
Björk
2/5
I seriously hope this is Bjork's weirdest album.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Sade
4/5
This is so heartfelt and romantic. The grooves are sublime and I really enjoyed playing bass to it. It's not overcomplicated and the grooves just flow. Great song writing! favorites: Smooth Operator, Hang On to Your Love, Cherry Pie, I Will Be Your Friend.
Cat Stevens
4/5
I was into Cat Stevens for a hot minute at one point in my life. Great instrumentation and recording quality. Love the poetry of the lyrics. Old favorites: Where Do the Children Play?, Wild World, On the Road to Find Out. New favorites: Miles from Nowhere, Father & Son
Billy Joel
5/5
Sept 77 was a good month. <3
Billy Joel is a pretty great songwriter & poet. The first 7 out of 9 songs are all fabulous. Get it Right the First Time is kinda schlocky. Everybody Has a Dream is a nice way to sign off the album but not his best song. Other than those two this is a pretty awesome album.
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
The album starts off strong. Mr. Soul is a great song. I love it, but the album goes downhill from there. The rest of the album is a bunch of meh. It's fine but doesn't really do much for me.
Van Morrison
4/5
Van Morrison is definitely a vibe. One of those easy early morning 70's AM gold vibe. Good stuff!
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Here's what I really like about this music... Big fuzzy layered guitars lots of sweeping builds and drops. Anthem rock songs. Driving bass lines. Great melodies. I wanna sing along but here's where it falls a little short for me. I'm having trouble making out the lyrics and have no idea what we are singing about. I am the girl who wanted to be God? okay then. Our removables are transitory? ... that's deep, man. (I guess) is this song about prosthetics? Australia. Great song. Never been. I have no reason to get that excited about Australia but apparently the country moved them enough to write a song. Interiors... something about Peter Pan but he could be singing about peanut butter for all I know. It gets a little samesy by the end. My favorites were Design for Life, Everything Must Go, Australia, No Surface All Feeling.
Living Colour
4/5
"Coked Up Personality" is a late 80's classic. I heard it so many times in my youth that it's become one of those played out hits for me but I tried to listen to it with fresh ears and yes, I agree that it shreds.
I Want to Know You is cheezy and shlocky. Middle Men has some cool riffs. It's like boogie metal. Open Letter to The Landlord has a groovy bass line and I understand that they are addressing an important social issue but I kinda feel like I'm at a surreal city council meeting. Funny Vibe... awesome guitar riffs that build to a bass popping boogie. Yes! Then the lyrics kick in and I'm like... wtf? Hi, I'm not a rapist and I'm not gonna beat you up baby so why you acting funny? I totally did NOT understand what was happening. Then I remembered that I'm white. Got it. Memories Can't Wait - this is pretty innovative metal. Better than most metal w some interesting fusion. Glamour Boys... feels like I'm on a Cruise Ship. Cruise Ship Metal is slightly different than Yacht Rock. What's Your Favorite Color? - soul soul soul. Which Way to America - Great Funk Metal Fusion. Awesome album!
Thin Lizzy
4/5
The Boys are Back in Town has always been a hit that I've always been a solid "meh" with. But I like their other songs better. If you like hard driving big loud 70's guitar rock then this is a good one. I think the live aspect adds a great energy to the music. (regardless of how much re-recording they did over top of it).
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Frank Zappa is my favorite pretentious dickhead. Regardless of what I think of him, he does create some interesting music. It's not necessarily "good" music. But they don't care about making "good" music. They want to create strange and different music. I feel like he's more interested in creating unhinged song structure to express his discontent with society. I'm not exactly sure what his message is. Maybe he wrote a manifesto. I'm not sure. It was the 60's man. Frank and the Mothers were pioneers of the "counter culture" yet they were simultaneously too cool for school in a proto-hipster kind of way. "I will love the police as they kick the shit out of me on the street". He's just asking the hippie flower children, how deep is your love? I'm just going to set all of that brain junk aside and focus on the "music" of the album. This is actually one of his better albums because it's a little more "fun" than others. I especially like Bow Tie Daddy, What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body I Think it's Your Mind, and Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance. Frank and the Mothers are the Fathers of psychedelic music that paved the way for other bands like Butthole Surfers, Ween, and the Residents. Stay weird & freak out.
Primal Scream
3/5
Cool electro beat groove guitar fusion. I’m about a 3.5 with this but not quite thrilled enough to pop it up to 4. The Star song is a little cheesy but I appreciate the sentiment. Love your brothers and sisters. Next song: kill everyone that moves. Okaaaayyy then.
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
This band kinda sounds like a better than average garage band. Kinda bluesy, groovy, rockabilly, boot scoot'n, butt rock. It has it's moments. There's some pretty good guitar riffs. I liked Have You Seen My Baby? and Whiskey Woman. But by the time we get to a Buddy Holly cover and an extended jam version of Louie Louie, I'm feeling like the album has devolved to a practice session and we gotta go now.
Supergrass
5/5
I gave this one several listens. It's pretty great high energy rock and roll with a few slower dreamy grooves. Creative & catchy songwriting w great guitar riffs and fun vocal harmonies. It's a pretty solid album but my favorites: I'd Like to Know, Mansize Rooster, Lose It, Strange Ones, Sitting Up Straight, She's So Loose... all great songs. I'm a 4 but if I listen to it a few more times I could be up to a 5. (Edit: OK everytime I listen to my favorites I like them more.)
Ryan Adams
3/5
I dunno who he is calling "Nobody Girl" but I never heard of this Nobody Guy. Who? Bryan Adams? No... RYAN.. Ryan Adams. Doesn't ring a bell. Doesn't even cut like a knife. This is fine for some easy groove music. His melodies are pretty good but it doesn't really strike me as that creative or interesting. Somehow, Someday was pretty good. And I liked Tina Toledo's Street Walkin Blues. It's got some good stomp energy that most of the other songs lack.
Donovan
4/5
Sunshine Superman was definitely on one of my parent's greatest hits of the 60's albums so I feel like I've been a fan of that song my whole life but I never realized this Scottish guy sang it. This is quite the collection of poetic 60's psychdelic rock without being too far off into weirdsville. Some of it has a bit of a renaissance fair vibe. Incense and peppermint. Good instrumentation and songwriting. I especially liked Sunshine Superman, Ferris Wheel, and Celeste, a tender song about love, life's changes, and the hope of togetherness. Good song to end the album.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
Neil Young definitely has his vibe. He's okay. He cranks out a pretty good song once in awhile but mostly it's a little slow for my speed. His sound kinda drags and lacks energy. Interesting that My My, Hey has two versions. I like the electric one at the end better. The rest of the album was okay. Not really his most creative or best work.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
After one listen I wasn't sure what I just heard. Definitely had to give this one a deeper listen. It's pretty good. Grew on me after a few listens. My favorites: Everybody's Stalking, Another Pearl, Bewilderbeast (cool instrumental!), Say it Again (Horns! YES!). There's a few short songs on here that are more like filler (Bewilder & Body Rap) They seemed extraneous. Blistered Heart is a short little instrumental but it's pretty good. Not every instrumental needs to be a 5 - 7 minute long jam session. Cause A Rockslide pisses me off. They start off that song SO GOOD! It rocks in such a grooving way with these cool delicate guitar lines set against a steady distant thundering beat.... Then halfway through the song it's like somebody's fucking with the radio dial and it falls apart into some kind of synth in space hypno thing and then let's just throw in some backward vocals (of course) and tack on a totally unrelated acoustic thing at the end. WTF?! They ruined an otherwise good song, lol. Epitah was a tender little song but the overuse of chirping birds was kind of annoying and not that creative. I'm imagining him singing it in an aviary.
Jane's Addiction
5/5
This is probably my favorite Jane's Addiction album. Especially love the bass playing on this album. Up the Beach is just an awesome piece to open the album. Ocean Size is great. Ted, Just Admit it... is a weird song but I like it. It takes 3 minutes for it to start to kick in. And then at 5 minutes they take up another level and end up rocking this out so hard! Standing in the Shower... so funky. Mountain Song, probably my favorite song by this band. Idiots Rule (horns! Yes! no political commentary needed). Jane Says... I played this song in a 90's alternative cover band. I'm a little too familiar with this one but yes, it's one of their best. Love the steel drums with the acoustic. Pigs in Zen... just some really great guitar riffs. Awesome album!
MGMT
4/5
I'm familiar with the hits: Time to Pretend, Electric Feel, & Kids. "A family of trees wantin' to be haunted" I'm not sure what this song is about but I get the feeling it's some kind of Stephen King summer camp thing. The non-hits didn't super grab me but I didn't dislike them. They were pretty creative.
Queen
3/5
I got a little hung up on this album... I appreciate Queen's music but this might be more of an album for the hardcore fans. Apparently it's an epic album about the forces of good and evil and it's full of high fantasy. There's even a song called Ogre Battle. But I'm probably not going to listen to this while I play D&D. I like the song Loser in the End. They kind of sound like Led Zeppelin on that one. It's their 2nd album so maybe they haven't quite found their stride yet.
Fiona Apple
4/5
I'm a big fan of a few of Ms. Apple's songs like "Fast as You Can" and "I Want You to Love Me" but those aren't on this album. Cool to give her debut a listen. At age 18/19 she's clearly writing poetry with emotional depth and complexity well beyond her years. I had to give this several listens and really put my jazz ears on to appreciate the artistry.
Favorites: Sleep to Dream, Shadowboxer, Criminal (no matter how many times I hear this one it's still so good), The First Taste, The Child is Gone. Great instrumentation and love how her voice and piano flow together over some great beats.
Prince
4/5
I've heard that Prince is a very prolific artist but I haven't even scratched the surface of his library beyond his hits. I respect prolific artists. They aren't afraid to take chances. Not everything Prince does is gold but he has alot of ideas. Great musician. Plus he doesn't get enough credit for his awesome guitar playing.
Sign O The Times - kinda depressing but good song.
Play in the Sunshine - let's dance to this feel good song and forget about drug addiction.
Housequake - so funky. dig the horns. Shut up!
It - YES! This is a hot sexy Prince song.
Starfish & Coffee, Maple Syrup and Jam? - Is starfish on the menu? I don't think they would taste very good. This sounds sticky and kind of gross. Prince can make a song about anything.
Slow Love - romantic. it's okay but lacks a good melody.
Hot Thing - YES! I like this. Especially the horns at the end.
Forever in My Life - very romantic but kind of an unrealistic Disney version of love.
"All that is wrong in my world
Oh, you can make right
You are my savior, you are my life
Forever baby, I want you in my life, oh"
No pressure or anything. You are just the reason that I live and breathe. Okay... clingy much?
U Got the Look - a great 80's hit. probably heard it enough times though.
If I Was Your Girlfriend - so... I'm imagining Prince as my girlfriend and we go shopping for clothes. I'm sure he could give me some great wardrobe tips. We'd have breakfast in the morning (blackberry butter on toast). But then he wants to get naked and take a bath and I'm all like "Hey wait a minute Mr. Racecar... what about Slow Love"?
I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man - Great song and I love the melody but I actually like the shortened radio version better than the album version which has a drawn out instrumental ending that doesn't really seem to go anywhere.
Megadeth
3/5
80's / 90's Thrash Metal isn't so much my thing but I can appreciate the guitar and drum work of this genre. This album is probably some of the best/most interesting thrash metal I've heard with regard to music (riffs, changes, beats). But I'm just not that into it. It's always the same with this genre for me. I'm totally into the song the first minute or two and then the vocals start and I just go "meh". If I could find a thrash metal band with a vocalist that I could believe in, then I think I could actually be into it. Or maybe if I was a 14 year old boy again I would be more into it.
DJ Shadow
2/5
What does my soul look like? He asked twice so I guess it's worth an answer. My soul looks like me only taller and more disheveled. I don't really know enough about DJ music to appreciate why this album was influential. I liked that it was some bass heavy grooves but after about 10 minutes I was bored with it and generally felt the album was too long. Things I'm looking for in these albums: instrumentation, creative songwriting, and unique voice/poetry. This album is lacking in these. For DJ music I think I like more upbeat dance music. This is just a lot of lukewarm languid beats.
Ozomatli
4/5
Great energy! Fabulous instrumentation and love the Latinx beats. My spanish is not good enough to know what they are saying but that doesn't bother me. Great harmonies on the vocals. favorites: Love & Hope, Who Discovered America? (such a cool groove), Who's To Blame & Saturday Night (yaaa y'all), Dejame En Paz (means "Leave Me Alone", great energy!) Ya Viene El Sol (makes me wish I was somewhere warmer. creative song writing!), Nadie Te Tira (means "No One Throws At You", the horns especially shine on this one!), and they finish the album with Cuando Canto (When I Sing My Song). A beautiful song to close on. Good stuff!
The Beach Boys
3/5
oh the Beach Boys.... My Dad had the Endless Summer album (greatest hits compilation) and it was played OFTEN. No surfboards were waxed in the making of this album. This is their 8th album and they decided they wanted to grow beyond cars, and surfboards, and make an album entirely about girls. Way to really break out. The Beach Boys have such great vocal harmonies and the songwriting is pretty undeniably great when they really hit it (Help Me Rhonda). The only thing that gets on my nerves about them is their teenage bubble gum notions about love. Songs like Please Let Me Wonder are great musically but cringe on the cheese factor. Do You Wanna Dance is an awesome cover (Bobby Freeman 1958 wrote it). But I like the Ramones version better.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Here's Australian artist Nick Cave again. We've had Abattoir Blues (2004) which was a weird and wonderful album. And we've had his earlier band Junkyard (Birthday Party 1982) which was a big piece of shit album. So Henry's Dream is more mid-career (1992). He's an interesting songwriter. I liked the first 4 songs the best. I like the music on Jack the Ripper but sounds like a very dysfunctional relationship that I don't really want to hear about. John Finn's wife is pretty good and definitely shows his chops on storytelling. I like that his poetry and songwriting is pretty savage and has a lot of guts.
John Coltrane
3/5
My favorite Jazz song of ALL TIME EVER is Olé (1962) by John Coltrane. That said, I've listened to other albums by Coltrane and have yet to discover anything as fabulous as Olé which (sadly) is not the album we are listening to. A Love Supreme. This is really complex jazz but it's a bit over my head. I can appreciate it, but mostly it sounds like the drums are falling over themselves and the song structures don't really gel. Makes it feel sort of scattered and all over the place. If I listened to this about 20 times I think some of it might actually start to sink in. It definitely has it's moments and I enjoy his expressive sax playing.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Is this one of the best Rolling Stones album? I think it might be. Brown Sugar (great song, Sax should be louder in the mix), Wild Horses (written by the Flying Burrito Brothers), Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Bitch, I Got the Blues - All great songs!
EDIT: Oh. I read the lyrics to Brown Sugar. I never knew they were singing that. Mick supposedly wrote this for his black wife? Or one of his several black mistresses? It's not exactly a love song. It does seem to glorify racial slavery in a sexual way... but sure we can say it's about heroin.
At first listen I felt like this was a pretty mediocre album by a pretty great band. But after several listens it really started to grow on me. The poetry is a complex mix of melancholy and hope, both deeply personal (Stuck in a Moment, Kite, Walk On) and about the world we live in (Beautiful Day, When I Look at the World, New York). Peace on Earth is an interesting song because it feels BOTH very personal but also connected to the greater tragedy and heartbreak of the world. Throughout the album is The Edge's great guitar playing and I like how he crafts the sound of the guitars to fit the moods of the songs. It's kind of subtle and I like that this album works like that. It's the kind of album I can keep coming back to and the songs reveal new things. Wild Honey is another favorite. And Elevation rocks!
Tangerine Dream
3/5
It's a low 3. I'm sure this was ground breaking for the time. I didn't dislike it but it was kind of boring.
Ice Cube
4/5
"Few cared about the violence, because it didn't affect them." -- there's alot to unpack with regard to the lyrics content and context and I'd prefer to let the music speak for itself with all of that. Musically speaking, this is some of the best rap music I've heard.
The Mars Volta
2/5
What genre is this? It sounds like herky-jerky dramacore. Flipping back and forth between staccato hammering riffs and spacey tones with lots of drama wailing. Apparently this album is about a guy in a coma? I can't really pick up the poetry and don't like the songs enough to look up the lyrics so I have no idea what he's on about. Basing an album on a guy in a coma sounds like a totally awful idea. What's to say? He's in a fucking coma. I think this is a great example of the prog-mess that can be made when people overthink things. The music has it's moments but the vocals are a little hard to take and the songwriting doesn't really draw me in. I think I would have liked this album more if it were about soup.
Carpenters
3/5
This is fine for some Sunday morning, 70's gold, easy listening. But overall not so much my jam. Close to You is a great love song.
Joni Mitchell
2/5
I can imagine myself sitting in a sunny coffee shop listening to Joni sing these songs, and wishing she would stop. All the songs are the same in that it amounts to her sorta flowy washy guitar chords while she sings her poetry. The rhythms are lacking. The melodies are not catchy. Harmonies are non-existent. I didn't really care for this. It was kinda weird... and not in good ways.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
3/5
This is an interesting mix of old skool rap, dance, R&B. Sock it to me, I love my mother. Scorpio is pretty cool in an 80's robot kind of way. I like the groove when the guitar and bass are vibe'n on It's a Shame but it feels a little like a public service announcement. Kids are starving, bombs are dropping, rich people are greedy, let's scratch some records. Dreamin' : I wonder if Stevie Wonder was weirded out when he heard this song. Cuz you know he did, and I would totally be weirded out. You Are doesn't feel like it fits on this album but okay, God bless you. The Message - classic 80's rap. New York New York appears on the 2010 expanded edition and ends with a mother throwing her newborn baby in a garbage can. Overall I think this is a pretty interesting album if you are looking for old skool rap. I like the funk bass playing and the 80's synthy sounds are cool. It's a 3.5 for me but not quite a 4.
Supertramp
4/5
This is an album that's worth a few listens. I really like how they shift gears through the songs. Lots of great builds and changes. Sometimes grooving with the sax and keys, other times the drums and guitars kick in and take the front. Really great interplay between the instruments. The songs don't really grab my ear in an instant catchy way, but this is music that I can give several listens and discover new things. I like it more each time I listen to it. Especially liked Hide in Your Shell and Crime of the Century.
Eric Clapton
3/5
I've never met Eric Clapton but I believe everything that I've read about him. Just kidding, I haven't read much about him because I don't really like his music that much. I agree with Lumpkins, he's over rated. At best, it's mediocre. A few of these songs have their moments... Steady Rolling Man has a pretty good guitar solo. Mainline Florida has a decent groove. But the best song on here is Bob Marley's cover (prefer the original). Yes that is interesting and sort of ironic that Clapton helped boost Marley's career, intentionally or not (thanks Loretta).
Sebadoh
3/5
This is a band that I want to like more than I actually do. There's a lot about the music that I like. The songwriting is creative and I especially like hearing 3 piece bands. Guitar, bass, and drums. That's it. There's no keyboards or horns to hide behind. Just raw riffs. And I generally like bands that play the notes so hard that they break. So I don't mind that it's a bit chaotic and noisy. It's just a little on the emo side for me but maybe he was just going through some shit. Overall the songs just don't really add up to something that I want to listen to over and over again. Soul & Fire, Two Years Two Days, Sacred Attention are pretty good.
The Smiths
2/5
Oh Morrisey, you strange exotic bird. I heard he's vegan, that's great, maybe more people should be, but I don't like his singing. He's SOOO much rambling "la-la-la" and it gets on my nerves so bad! I'm sorry Morrisey, it's not you, it's me. I know a lot of people like him but I just can't even.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
So nice... for a relaxing Sunday listen.
Metallica
4/5
Cool. I did not know that Metallica did this. I like their music a little better with orchestra. It gives it another layer and adds more interest. But it did start to get pretty samesy half way through. Fun to hear the hits dressed up for a formal evening. It felt like video game music at times or maybe "Metallica the Ride" (in i-max). It could certainly be worse. At least they didn't write a Broadway musical to go with all of this. Metallica usually falls at about a 3 for me and with the orchestra I would go 3.5 but the fact that it's also a LIVE album... *sigh* okay Metallica take my 4!
Nico
2/5
wow... can we get Joni Mitchell back?
Common
3/5
My favorites were Heat and Cold Blooded (which looks like those are some of the least popular tracks on this album). I like the subtle funk groove behind those songs. The Light is a good rap love song (don't hear too many of those). The rest of the album gets a little too R&B for my taste. A Song for Assata ends with a thought provoking commentary about freedom. Freedom is the right to grow, to blossom, and to be truly yourself.
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
Too much sauce and not enough "special". I think the concept of rapping over jazz guitar, upright bass, and drums is interesting, but not the way they do it. Basically I don't think they are very good musicians. There were very few moments when I thought "oh hey that was a cool riff" or "that was an interesting change". And wuzzup with that accent? Brother please, you from Philly.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Leonard Cohen writes some interesting song poems. I think this is a good album for Leonard Cohen fans but overall it's kind of boring. It's one of his earlier albums (3rd I think). It has all of the elements of Leonard Cohen but it doesn't quite cook up into some fun quirky song writing like his later album, (I'm Your Man - 1988). I appreciate the artistry but I'd like to hear more of his later stuff.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
This was a great album when it came out. It's still a great album. Every song! There's not a bad song on this album. Forgiven is my favorite non-hit. But All I Really Want is still my favorite song on this album if I had to pick a favorite. It's just really great songwriting that can flow from quiet introspection to seething rage, backed up with great instrumentation, groovy beats, and stellar recording.
Bad Company
3/5
I did not know that they were British. I did not know that the bass player was from King Crimson. I did not know that they were signed by Led Zepplin's label. So I learned some things about Bad Company and Co. Typically I think of these classic rock standards as "Butt Rock". And after a deeper listen, I still do. It's fine but not that great. I like the sax & guitar solos in Don't Let Me Down. Their "theme song", Bad Company by Bad Company off their album Bad Company, is actually pretty good. Even though I've heard it too many damn times, I do like the way the piano grooves with those hard hitting guitar riffs. Movin On is pretty good. I like the bass line and the beat has a good boogie.
Gene Clark
4/5
This is some easy grooving 70's singer-songwriter stuff. It has a warm mellow feeling. The guitar & bass are fully upfront with the drums pushed back & the touches of harmonica are nice. Favorites: The Virgin, White Light, Because of You, Tears of Rage. I'm a solid 3.5 with this but I'm gonna give it a 4 because the bass is so fucking loud. I love it. You can clearly hear all the bass bumping and sliding and it's good playing!
Cornershop
4/5
"It's Indian Tobacco My Friend" ya... that's what I'm gonna tell people from now on when they ask what I'm smokin. Why do the first two songs sound like Paul Simon to me? What does Brimful of Asha mean? I tried to look it up. It has something to do with lip syncing in Indian movies and also someone named Asha which also means Hope and a 45 refers to a small vinyl record with usually one song on each side. WHAT? Now I'm just more confused but yes, "Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow" you Paul Simon love child. My only criticism is that it gets a little repetitive in parts. The songwriting isn't that great but what it lacks in songwriting it makes up for in creative instrumentation, groovy beats, creative recording, and elctro quirkiness. Fun vibes with an Indian flavor that keeps your ears on their toes.
Grateful Dead
3/5
A jam without a centering substance is a jelly. So jammy it's jelly. I appreciate the band's ideas about live music (no two shows the same, extended jams and creative approaches to songwriting) and it's cool that they created a whole counterculture following largely due to their dedication to playing so many live shows. The music has it's moments with some great playing but overall not so much my thing. I guess you had to be there.
Hanoi Rocks
4/5
This band supposedly influenced 80's hair metal. But this album is way more creative and musically interesting than any of those bands. The songs lack super catchy melodies and it took me two listens to adjust my ears to it. I think the instrumentation is great (piano and sax make appearances) and the songwriting is pretty creative with great energy.
Bob Dylan
3/5
The best song on this album is clearly Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat.
Adele
4/5
Adele sings the sad songs and she does it pretty well. I tend to like her songs better when she gets more creative with the instrumentation and has a strong beat (Send My Love, I Miss You, Water Under the Bridge). It gets a little boring for me when it's just her and the piano but even that sometimes works well (All I Ask).
Public Enemy
5/5
I'm a big fan of their first two albums. Glad I finally got around to giving this one a listen because it's a pretty awesome album. The music is creative and the message is pretty right on. Chuck D raps about the cultural issues affecting blacks in a powerful and meaningful way. The songs are powerful and angry without being violent. Still culturally relevant today. This is a pretty epic album. Fight the Power!
PJ Harvey
5/5
oh Polly Jean. Don't you wish you never met her? She is one of my favorite artists. Her voice is powerful and I love her singing... she's a classically trained opera singer which explains alot. This is one of her earlier albums. It's a little rough around the edges (brutally so). I love this album because it's very raw and seething. The guitar magic is awesome. The songs range from a throbbing whisper to a stomping roar. Everything is stripped down to bare rhythms and buzzing guitars. No fancy needed. Pure Rock n Roll alchemy.
Taylor Swift
3/5
Once upon a time, I made a D&D Fantasy realm called Evermore. So I was sad to find a lack of trolls, dwarves, and goblins in this album. I'm a fan of Taylor's hits so it was interesting to hear one of her albums without the Shake it Offs and the Blank Spaces. This album is, for the most part, a tender collection of love poems. She's a great poet but I don't feel like her best songwriting shows through on this album. Fav's: Willow, Champagne Problems, No Body No Crime. I mostly like the first half of this album. After Happiness the songwriting kinda falls off for me. And I don't know why I never like it when Taylor does a duet with a guy. Who's this National guy? I don't like his voice. Nice of Bon Iver to show up. It's like when she re-recorded Lover with a guy taking the second verse and letting him write his own lyrics. It sucked. It was a way better song with just her singing. Anyway. Stop singing with these guys Taylor, they are holding you back.
The Charlatans
3/5
It's got some good grooves. I don't dislike it but it doesn't especially grab me either.
Pink Floyd
3/5
Who are you and what have you done with the REAL Pink Floyd?!!!
I'm not a big Syd Barrett fan, specifically his singing and his melodies. I like alot of his guitar playing on this album. What I love most about Pink Floyd is the amazing synergy they have with the instruments. And it's cool to hear that starting to form in different moments of the songs. But the synergy hasn't really worked it's way into some great song writing yet. I appreciate the nod to high fantasy but that Gnome song is annoying. Sounds like some shit your fucked up friend would be singing in the back seat and it would be slightly entertaining but mostly annoying. Bike is the best song on this album. For 1 minute and 50 seconds it's probably my favorite Syd Barrett song. Then the band just suddenly leaves and there is nothing but chimey echo noise and garbage can lids rubbing together for a minute of my life that I will never get back. Wait... is that the honking of a rubber duck?
Elvis Costello
3/5
I'm trying to figure out what I don't like about Elvis Costello. I don't totally dislike it. The elements for good music are there. The instrumentation is great. The song writing is not that bad. His voice is fine. Mostly I think I just don't like his melodies and the poetry of his lyrics don't really grab me. But on the second listen through this, focusing more on the music than the vocals, there's some great music going on in the background. Does Mr. Costello have an instrumental album?
The Residents
5/5
Buster and Glen pull the mask off of high weirdness to reveal another mask. The Residents. The most effructive and the gruuvliest band in all of Universe B.
3/5
80's drama disco. It's okay. A bit overly dramatic for my tastes. Sometimes so 80's it's cringe. I like the bass playing. Lotsa boogie pop'n but not really super creative song writing. Kind of formulaic. There's a Look of Love part 1 and part 4. For some reason Parts 2 and 3 were not included on this album. Poison Arrow is a great song. The chorus is sooo disco! They hit the target on that one.
FKA twigs
2/5
This is dripping in atmosphere. Is this ASMR rock? It's beats with tweaky twittering & fluttering echoey vocals. The sonic texture is creative but the songwriting doesn't really do it for me, I think it's something I'd have to listen to several times before I "get it" because all the songs sound the same to me.
Electric Light Orchestra
5/5
I feel like they should have put "It's Over" first so that it could all just be over before it begins and the album can get on with it. But srsly... great album! Creative songwriting, great instrumentation, great melodies and vocals (love the harmonies). I listened to this 4 times and I like it more with every listen!
King Crimson
3/5
There's only 5 songs on this album so let's go.
21st Century Schizoid: I like it. It's edgy, rock'n, and I especially like how the horns get tangled up.
Talk to the Wind: it's pretty in it's melancholy way. nice flute'n.
Epitaph: a slowly plodding dirge with sweeping swells of violins and bassoon-like droning. kinda depressing as fuck but it's not bad & the poetry works.
Moonchild: a creeping mystery. mythic poetry. I like the percussion. It's a good song for the first 2.5 minutes. Then 10 minutes of wankery that sounds like they forgot they were still recording. Coulda had a decent song if you just stopped at 2.5 minutes.
The Court of the Crimson King: it's kind of an odd song but it's not bad. That chorus where the organ rises and the drums are pounding is good. Nice little Callipe organ intermission at 7:25. I also like the bass and flute parts that kick in around 4:30.
The songs are long which annoyed me at first but I have to switch gears and give the songs more patience which isn't necessarily a bad thing and there's some interesting songwriting & playing happening.
The Zutons
4/5
I love me some catchy, upbeat sax rock. It's cool that they have a few slower songs on here to mix things up but I like the more upbeat songs better. That Railroad Song is a skip. I don't believe he ever worked a day on the railroad in his life. I can't not hear Havana Gang Brawl as URBANA Gang Brawl.
Lana Del Rey
1/5
So boring it's almost painful. I didn't especially enjoy the songwriting. Instrumentation is so sparse you might as well put a few pins dropping between the verses because that would be better than these choruses that are totally void of any sort of catchy melody. Maybe I just don't get it. Sometimes an album is pretty bad but in some over the top way to give it some creativity and I'm like "well at least that was different" I'll give it a 2. I'm just saying... At least AKF twigs had interesting sound textures. This is just one boring song after another so it's a special kind of sucks.
Wild at Heart? please. this album is so tame it's one big beige lullaby.
Not All Who Wander Are Lost. ya. That's a Tolkien quote. I doubt Lana has read a single Tolkien book because none of these songs are about wizards or rings. She just saw it on Instagram. Dance Till We Die? I'd love to but none of these songs are danceable so I guess that just leaves the dieing. Songs as vapid as Chemtrails. For more information, join a Country Club.
Django Django
4/5
This album has some great beats, bass lines, and harmonies. Dig it! I especially like Wor. Heavy reverb surf rockesque guitar with air raid sirens? I'm in!
Steely Dan
3/5
The jazz-groove vibes of Steely Dan. Great musicians playing great riffs with complex song crafting in a jazzy jam sort of way. I can appreciate it for it's musicianship but the poetry of the lyrics doesn't really grab me. Peg was the only song I recognized and I didn't even know that was the name of the song. I still have no idea what he's singing about "It's your favorite foreign movie?" what? It doesn't matter cuz it's so groovy. My only criticism is that it gets kinda samesy. They don't really "break the mold" very often. But I think that's because the creativity goes into the riff writing more than raw expression.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
This is pretty chaotic. They worked very hard at making this sound as bad as possible. Well...that was different.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
This is our third Elvis Costello album and the first of his albums that actually has a song I've heard before. TWO songs actually! : Pump It Up and Radio Radio. Both are great songs but I'm disappointed that I didn't really like any of the other songs. I like the bass in Lipstick Vogue. I like the music on Night Rally. There are parts that I like but overall it just doesn't really connect with me. Songs like You Belong To Me annoy me because it's immature. Yes, in monogamous relationships there should always be a sense of ownership and entitlement. That seems healthy. Most of Elvis Costello's more "romantic" songs just come off as him being kind of a dick and lacking emotion. He should probably not write love songs. He doesn't want to go to Chelsea. Is Chelsea a girl or a place? Maybe Chelsea doesn't want him either. I'm still waiting for that Elvis Costello instrumental album.
Boston
4/5
Am I a Boston fan? Do I get excited about Boston songs? no, not really. I don't hate it. It's fine. I'm about a 3 with the music but I'm giving this a 4 because without ever listening to this album before, I've somehow heard every one of these songs. We've listened to 450 albums so far and this has NEVER happened and I doubt it will again. EVERY song on this album is a hit. This is a butt rock masterpiece.
4/5
His singing sounds like the groaning ghost of David Byrne and she sounds like a faded Courtney Love but I don't mind it. Favorites: Once Over Twice, I'm Coming Over (cuz it makes me think of Red Rover), Some Other Time, When Our Love Passed Out on the Couch (a tragic night of overdoing it). I like the music in White Girl but I don't understand why we are bringing race into this. I looked up the lyrics and I'm just more confused. I'm 3.5 with this album but after a few listens, I like the vibe enough to give it a 4. It's punk rock with a touch of rockabilly.
N.E.R.D
2/5
I'm not really into this. I'm at a 2.5 with it and gonna drop it to a 2 for over using the hidden track bit.
Soundgarden
4/5
I've always thought Soundgarden was "just okay". They have a few songs I like. 30 years later I think I have new appreciation for their music (especially the guitar work). I like it more with every listen! Cornell's vocals are powerful & poetic. Spoonman has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I figured it was either about heroin or a guy playing the spoons. Probably not some kind of spoon guy in a cape saving people from having to eat soup with a fork. Yes, it's about a guy who plays the spoons.
https://loudwire.com/what-soundgarden-spoonman-about/
Dolly Parton
4/5
I like this alot more than I thought I would. She mixes it up with 70's boogie honkey tonk style country (Traveling Man) to classic bluegrass (My Blue Tears), country spiritual (Mystery of the Mysteries), 70's folk (Early Morning Breeze - especially like the bass playing in this one). Good stuff!
Moby
4/5
Cool beats. I like how he works the piano into several of the songs & how he blends roots blues into a couple of them. All the songs after Run On kind of drop off to me and aren't as good as the rest of the album.
Miles Davis
3/5
I dig me some mad trumpet. Miles delivers on that. Overall I like Disc 1 better than Disc 2. Pharaoh's Dance, I like the beat. That beat is WORKIN! It gives the piece a frantic undercurrent. Bitches Brew is kind of eerie and I like Miles' trumpet playing best on this one & Miles Runs the Voodoo Down. With complex jazz like this I imagine the instruments having conversations. I did not care for what the keys were adding to the conversation for most of the album. Had it's moments but mostly it felt like the keys were sloppy and discordant and making a general mess of things. Spanish Key & John McLaughlin has some groovin moments. I really didn't care for Sanctuary because it felt like they were searching for something and I'm not sure if they ever found it... and the trumpet playing is boring. I didn't like Feio because that 3 note bass line is really boring.
Oasis
4/5
Oasis is okay. Never listened to one of their albums before. I really like their rocking guitar sound. This is an example of a band that has everything "right". They check all the boxes for what I want in music except it just doesn't move me the way that other bands do. I just kind of feel like I'm going through the motions with this band's songs. They don't stir me I guess but I can't point to anything particular that I don't like about it. It just tastes like alot of red food coloring and MSG to me. But still... it's way better than Elvis Costello.
John Lee Hooker
3/5
I'm not a big blues fan but it was cool to hear a legend and some authentic blues. I liked the guitar playing but I think I'd prefer to hear one of his earlier albums because this felt a little uninspired and rehashed.
David Bowie
4/5
I didn't get this album at first. Then my wife explained to me that it's a soul album. ooooooohhhh... that makes sense. Great instrumentation and playing. Dig the sax and the funky guitar riffs. Great backing vocals and I especially like Bowie's vocals on Fame. Can't "imagine" any one else singing that song.
Iggy Pop
4/5
The more I listen to this, the more I like it. This might be some of the most interesting music I've heard by Iggy. Probably because David Bowie helped him. I'm giving this album a 4 minus the song Sixteen. Let's not normalize pedo stuff.
Ice Cube
4/5
“I got a right to be hostile man, my people been persecuted for 400 years!!!” - Prophets of Rage, Public Enemy
This project is making me an Ice Cube fan. I really like his beats, music, samples, and the way he raps. I think there were lots of thought provoking sound bites tucked between the tracks talking about racism in America.
The homophobic misogyny is not cool though and those are my least favorite songs. Skip on those. It was 1992 and these artists are all reflecting the people and culture of their time and place, good and bad. I hope that more and more people of today are working towards a more harmonious society that accepts and celebrates our differences. Check yourself before you wreck yerself.
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
This is some horny British rock. I like the vibe, the songs grew on me with several listens. I'm having a hard time understanding the lyrics sometimes but I like his overly dramatic singing. Love that Trombone solo in Tell Me When My Light Turns Green. Seven Days is Too Long has some great jumpin energy. It's how I feel about every Saturday. Where have you been?! Awesome that this album has a horn heavy instrumental. Thankfully Not Living in Yorkshire is a favorite! I love it, but I have no idea what he's saying.
PJ Harvey
3/5
I like a few of PJ Harvey's albums and I remember listening to this album a long time ago. I only liked a few songs at the time and pretty much still feel the same about it as far as the music goes. With several listens and digging into the lyrics and the WWI background this could be a 4 but I'm already 2 albums behind this week... so just based on the music and songwriting I'm like a 3.5 and not really liking it enough to go 4. Not my favorite PJ album. And yes, that bugle is annoying in Glorious Land. It's so out of place. It sounds like some old man's cell phone is going off.
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
It doesn't get much more low key than this. It's slow and bluesy and I like the way they do the blues. Good instrumentation. Lots of good reverby guitar & slide guitar. I especially like the drumming on this album. It's very whispery and brushy. Walking After Midnight is interesting. You don't hear many bluesed out old country songs with an accordion solo. I love their versions of Sweet Jane and Blue Moon.
Lightning Bolt
2/5
The first thing I noticed was that you can't understand the vocals and they are kinda buried. Am I supposed to hear the vocals? It quickly became apparent that I'm not really supposed to hear the vocals or understand any lyrics. The vocals are just another noise in the soup. I like the vibe and the energy of Dracula Mountain. It rocks hard! Most of the songs get a bit repetitive. These all feel like some interesting riffs and song ideas but it's all a little too half baked. Also it's too distorted and hissy. Sorry. My ears are getting older and I'm getting so annoyed at Crown of Storms. (skip) OK Longstockings might be a decent song but could you please cut that fucking feedback mic. Is he singing through a mega phone? This whole album would've been better as instrumental. OK now Longstockings is just chaos noise. See, if I paid a cover to see this band, I'd be pretty pissed about now. 30,000 Monkies is a special kind of annoying that I can't tolerate. (skip) Duel in the Deep has a cool beat but it's not cool enough to just hammer the fuck out of it for 6 minutes.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
I especially like the first 4 songs + Xica Da Silva. Groovy beats. Great melodies. Good stuff!
David Bowie
3/5
I liked Next Day, Love is Lost, Dancing Out in Space. How Does the Grass Grow is pretty rock'n. The rest of the songs were okay.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
I like the guitar work. Especially like them when they are rocking out with some funky complex riffs like Gentlemen, Debonair, Fountain & Fairfax, Now You Know. I don't mind his screamy vocals. It's a bit much on Fountain & Fairfax but sounds like he is going through some shit. Which brings me to the lyrics. As much as I like the music on some of the songs, the poetry of the lyrics doesn't really connect with me (with what I can actually understand). Too much emo drama shit for me. Be Sweet is a therapy session inside his head that I didn't need but thanks for letting your dick brain hang out there for everybody. He tones the screamy down a bit on What Jail is Like and actually sings. That's a pretty good song. The slow songs drag & aren't that interesting to me. Brother Woodrow... wow. so much violin you can swim in it (or choke on it).
Air
3/5
I haven't read the book or seen the movie but listening to the last track kind of sums it up (seriously fucking depressing). So, trying to put all of that out of my mind and just hear the music for what it is. Mostly it's got a chill groove thing going but it's so close to ambient that it's hard to focus on so it kind of comes across as background music. Playground Love, Clouds Up, and Dead Bodies are my favorites.
Fairport Convention
4/5
This is a good mix of late 60's folk. I especially liked the accordion & washboard jam, Si tu dois partir (If You Have to Leave). Autopsy has kind of a sad cool groove. A Sailor's Life is a bit long at 11 minutes but I suppose a sailor's life should be an epic voyage and I like how they jam it out at the end. Cajun Woman is good folk boogie. And Million Dollar Bash "wooo baby woo eee!" Is that a mandolin? Cool!
Beth Orton
5/5
This album didn't grab me after the first listen but I could tell there was something special about it and I needed to sink my ears into this one. This is an album worth marinating your ears in. Beth's poetry is deep & complex. Her groove is deceptively relaxed & chill but she starts the album off by stealing a car so buckle up, it's going to be that kind of ride. Great songwriting on Stolen Car. Powerful groove. Love the harmonies. Couldn't Cause Me Harm is a slow sensual groove with... xylophone? I like the beat on Stars All Seem to Weep & has more of a pop electro groove compared to Pass In Time which is rooted more in her acoustic folk sound. It's cool how she mixes it up and blends those styles. Love Like Laughter has a melody that makes me swoon. So at this point I'm at a 4 with the album but then we get to Feel to Believe. This is one those songs that really gets me right in the heart and makes it a 5 for me. That song gives me chills. It's so powerful. It's just her and her guitar speaking her truth. She's like... oh yeah we're at the end of the album and me & my guitar got something else to say. And then she's like oh yeah... one more thing, here's that one song from earlier but it's like the dancing club mix version. YES! awesome album.
Solange
3/5
This album is fine. Mostly chill grooves. I wasn't annoyed by it but it wasn't especially my cup of tea. I like the bass playing. And I agree, being pro-black doesn't mean you are anti-white.
Fever Ray
4/5
Is this post apocalyptic tribal? It's kind of haunting with good beats. I dig it.
Ananda Shankar
4/5
This is perfect music for yoga, tai chi, meditation, the poetry of Rumi, or just spinning around in circles until you see God or barf (whichever comes first).
I especially enjoyed the Doors cover. I'm convinced that Metamorphosis is about a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The fist part is it's happy caterpillar life munching on the green things and crawling along. Then in the middle things get confusing as it goes into it's chrysalis halfway into the song. And the beat gets faster and has to break out while the notes keep stretching to expand it's wings and the rest of the song is about being driven to it's instinct to fly. But that's just my interpretation. Sitars make a beautiful sound and Ananda Shankar really makes it sing.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
There's so many good songs on this double album. It took me a few days to get through this. So many hits like Tonight Tonight, Zero (one of the best rock songs ever), Bullet w Butterfly Wings, Thirty Three, 1979. These are all great songs but there's more... Other awesome rockers: Jellybelly, Muzzle, Love, Bodies, XYU. And balancing all that with slower gentle tunes: To Forgive, Galapogos, In the Arms of Sleep, Stumbleine, By Starlight. Then you have a couple charming little songs that I can't even put in a box: Cupid De Locke, We Only Come Out at Night, Lily. The pianoriffic title track makes a perfect intro to Tonight, Tonight. The Pumpkins take their songwriting in all kinds of directions and really spread their wings on this one. Great double album that you can listen to over and over again. This is kind of a masterpiece.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
5/5
This rocks. I'm totally spellbound.
Ian Dury
4/5
I enjoyed this album way more than a decent bloke should.
Terence Trent D'Arby
4/5
Wishing Well and Sign Your Name are great songs. They both have a sort of mystical pop romance vibe that reminds me of Prince. I also like Who's Loving You, which has a soulful Sam Cooke feel to it. Rain has a pretty great beat. Seven More Days is a cool dark groove about a guy in jail that wants to get home to his woman or his man or his family or something. And he may have been wrongfully accused and this may be a social commentary but it's not exactly clear. I don't normally go for 80's R&B grooves but I like Let's Go Forward With Our Love. Dance Little Sister gives me Stevie vibes. How can you not groove to that one?! It's a pretty cool 80's album with lots of different moods to the grooves.
Public Enemy
5/5
This was one of my favorite albums as a teenager and it still is one of my favorite albums. My favorite favs are: Bring the Noise, Louder Than a Bomb, Caught Can I Get a Witness, Black Steel, Prophets of Rage, and the last song... Party for Your Right to Fight. So cool the way they did the stereo mix with Chuck D in one speaker and Flavor Flav in the other. And the message is pretty right on. Some fight for their right to party. Others are partying for their right to fight. She Watched Channel Zero is a pretty cool song but wasn't Flavor Flav on a season of The Real World?.... you're watching that garbage baby, pure garbage... just sayin.
The Jam
4/5
I like a good three piece. Guitar, drums, and bass. The music is interesting. I especially like the guitar work (both guitar and bass). The lyrics don't especially speak to me and the songs don't grab me right away but after 1 and a half listens, I'm about a 3.5 with this but I think it could grow on me with more listens.
Os Mutantes
4/5
1960's Brazilian Psychedelic Pop? OK! A Minha Menina is my favorite. Is this band sort of like a Brazilian Velvet Underground without a Lou Reed? Senhor F sounds old timey, kinda fun. Bat Macumba has a great bass line but I'm trying to decide if the totally fuzzed out static guitar is cool or annoying. I like the bass and drums but I don't really like what they did over it with the guitar and keys. Le Premier Bonheur.. total mood change w pretty cool vocals. I honestly don't know what to think of Trem Fantasma. How did David Lynch not use this song in one of his films? Not something I'd listen to often but it's pretty peculiar and definitely off the beaten path!
The Specials
3/5
I like the vibe of this album but it's too samesy for me. I'm not into ska enough to fully appreciate this album and I feel like it's lacking some of the fun, quirky creativity that their other album had. Do the Dog is playlist worthy and has kind of a 50's rock sound. The ones that have more of a reggae vibe to them are cool but not as good as authentic reggae. Stupid Marriage is pretty quirky but also kind of creepy & cynical. It doesn't really express the emotional rage that someone who is smashing up his ex-girlfriend's window would have. Too Much Too Young... even more ridiculous. Is he shaming her for having a baby? What a dick. Little Bitch... is that a Rolling Stones riff they stuck in a ska song? kay then. I think this an album I would actually like less the more that I listen to it. So we'll just stop while it's a 3.
The B-52's
4/5
Never listened to a full B-52's album before. They are odd in mostly a fun way. Sometimes annoying. My least favorite song is The Moon in a Sky called the Moon. Which is funny but that's the punchline and the rest of the lyrics just seem like Fred is doing some stream of conscious bullshit that isn't that inspired and how many planets can we name? Dance This Mess Around is interesting because I like the first part when Cindy is singing but then Fred shows up and it becomes ridiculous trying to do all 16 dances or something while we are going to a party which doesn't even feel like it was where Cindy was going with the first half of the song but... whatever. I'm sure it's a collaborative process. I would've loved to been a fly on the wall when they were writing these songs. I did like Planet Claire, 52 Girls, and of course Rock Lobster is great. My favorite thing about this album is the guitaring and the drum beats. Not something I could listen to often but it was a fun ride.
Roxy Music
5/5
Roxy Music always has sexy women on the covers of their album. They sell more albums that way. Is it an artistic statement or maybe an "in your face" comment on culture and rock n roll? I was introduced to this band about 20 years ago by a friend who had a live video of them playing in Germany. If you aren't sure about this band, it's worth checking out their live videos on Youtube. Their energy is as amazing as their fashion sense and gave me a deeper appreciation for the music. I realize that Bryan Ferry's vocals may not be everyone's cup of tea. He's a bit odd and I love it. Great instrumentation. They have such a thick, rich sound that they know how to amp up into great rock energy (Thrill of It All, All I Want is You) or bring it down to a haunting somber tone (Bitter Sweet) or some kind of weird samba-like groove (Three and Nine) or a swinging little jam with a country twang (If It Takes All Night). Triptych feels like Brian Eno wrote that one (although he had left the band by this album and this is not the best song). Overall, this album is the kind of complex songwriting that I can listen to over and over again. What else is to love about this band? HOT SAX! (although this is a more strings & keys dominated album, some of their other albums have more sax appeal.)
Ravi Shankar
3/5
The sound of the sitar is very enchanting. I lit some incense and totally grooved out. I wish more bands would explain their scales and time signatures before every song. It's cool that we are getting some world music in this project. Maybe the next album will be some Tibetan Ritual Music, Balinese Gamelan, or some Aboriginal Aussies doing didgeridoo diddies. C'mon Album Generator, hit me with that world music challenge! Don't even make me get out my Ramayana Monkey Chant album. Props, Ravi really shreds it.
Love
3/5
This is an interesting potpourri of 60's psychedelic rock. Revelation starts and ends with a harpsichord. In between some stuff happens for about 20 minutes.
Deep Purple
4/5
This band is jamm-o-riffic! They have great synergy and energy. Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, Space Truckin... all great. New favorite: Pictures of Home.
Klaxons
4/5
Talking Heads
5/5
Highly danceable! This album grooves (with exception of The Overload which just kind of ominously purrs).
Kraftwerk
2/5
I'm sure this was pretty cool for 1978. I'm not into electronic music enough to appreciate this for it's legacy. It sounds like something you could do with a couple yamaha keyboards and preset beats. I didn't think it was musically that interesting. I find these robots sadly lacking soul. Not totally awful but the boring factor puts it at a 2 for me.
Tito Puente
3/5
This is fine but gets pretty samesy and nothing especially stood out as remarkable.
Everything But The Girl
4/5
This isn't something that I would normally listen to so it took me a few listens. The lyrics convey alot of complex relationship drama but it's all done in a very subtle groove sort of way. The music is sort of minimal. I think what makes these songs work is the strong dancey electro beats and her vocals are strong but chill. The vocal melodies flow like thoughts. The music itself is very secondary and is sort of like a groove texture in the background. Pretty cool!
The Kinks
4/5
Koffi Olomide
3/5
Goldfrapp
5/5
I was feeling pretty rundown and just needed a chill album i could lay in bed and turn out the lights to. This album fit just right for that. I liked the songwriting. They do a great job at shaping and building some interesting songs with cool rises, swells, and melodic twists. Vocals were great. Strong melodies with nice layers of harmonies & lots of trippy sounds bubbling around. Highly transportive vibes. I think this album cleansed my chi.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Yes
3/5
I don't hate Yes as much as I used to. This album has it's moments but overall tastes like alot of prog soup to me. The vocals are really great on Seen All Good People.
Joan Baez
3/5
This is an interesting collection of songs. One of the things that's interesting is that most of these songs are written by anonymous. They come from traditional sources and that's pretty cool. One of my favorites is Wildwood Flower. June Carter Cash played it great but my favorite version is still Loretta Lynn's. Overall I can appreciate the artistry but this isn't so much my thing (but I liked it better than Joni Mitchell).
Giant Sand
2/5
Hi singing is slightly worse than the song writing.
Goldie
2/5
This is not very creative.
The Verve
2/5
So this is the band that sings Bitter Sweet Symphony (a pretty good song). Sometimes you can find some hidden gems besides "that one hit". And sometimes the rest of the album just sucks.
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
I thought all the love songs had been written but I guess not. They definitely have a knack for writing catchy melodies & pretty great lyrics. And the music is creative. They switch things up alot with different instrumentation, effects, and moods. I pulled 15 of these songs for playlists so that's about 22% of this collection. Slightly annoying that it's 3 discs but I get that it's part of the "concept". Overall, with exceptions of a few songs, it was pretty good and I was impressed that they could come up with that many song ideas and crank them out in some fun, quirky ways.
Minutemen
1/5
The only thing holding this band back is their inability to write a decent fucking song. Mostly it's a punk-funk fusion smeared with spoken word, recorded so effectless and lo-fi that it could be their demo tape. A FORTY FUCKING THREE song demo tape. Sure, let's put that live version of Don't Look Now on our album that we recorded with a ghetto blaster. Many of the songs just seem like they are fucking around and the idea of throwing in everything we got makes this unlistenable. In it's best moments it reminds me a little of Fugazi (but not as good... and Fugazi is not really a GREAT band). A word about spoken word songs. Few bands are able to pull them off well. Here's a few I can think of that are actually good: Detachable Penis by King Missile, The Gift by Velvet Underground, Stuart by Dead Milkmen, Pollo Asado by Ween. None of these Minutemen songs are nearly as good as any of those so when I see the title Shit from an Old Notebook, I roll my eyes and cringe. I've actually heard Political Song For Michael Jackson to Sing before. It's the only song on this album I like. I wish MJ WAS singing it because this guy's vocals are awful. The one thing I thought was decent was the bass playing and I was ready to give it a 2 but the fact that this is 43 songs long just pisses me off so it's oneseville for this.
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Very 60's loungey. Not really that innovative or super interesting. My favorite is Tristeza and that's mostly because of the jumping organ. Astrud has a lovely voice but it's all kind of the same vibe.
Simply Red
3/5
In 1985, Holding Back the Years was on the radio and I remember not really liking nor disliking the song. Probably because Run DMC's King of Rock and Motely Crue's Theater of Pain were clearly the best albums that year. And 40 years later (that's alot of years to hold back) do I feel differently about this Simply Red song? Can I relate to it now that I'm an old jaded man who's wasted all the tears and wasted all the years? Like from an adult contemporary perspective, has my appreciation for the soulful sound of Simply Red deepened through life's struggles, triumphs, and losses? Not really, nope. I'll keeeeeeep hold'n on. Come to My Aid has a good dance vibe. Sad Old Red has a few good jazz moments with the horns but maybe not blue enough on the blues lyrics over and over and over. Really milking that bass line guys. Ya. I get it, he's sad. he's old. and he's so red that he's blue. Also I don't believe that this is really a live track. I think they put that audience applause in there. It's canned applause and makes me wonder if he dyes his hair. Not really finding this album that creative but it's kind of quirky in it's own way. Heaven is a bar where nothing ever happens. Cool. Jericho seems to address some issues he has about rich people using him as a toy and he's clearly upset about not going to the ball. Money's Too Tight to Mention has a good groove but his rhymes crack me up. Mention. Pension. Unemployment Extension. Just repeat the word Money over and over. Then explain that you are TALK'N about money. wow. The struggle is real. Red Box has a great beat and I like the music but the lyrics just don't really grab me and I'm not sure he's really selling me on opening up that box. I dunno. Something good could possibly happen to me. He really cuts loose in No Direction by going in a similar direction as most of the album but a little more funky. Although his singing is soulful, he doesn't really enunciate that well in these last two songs. It's inexplicable. It's like his lips suddenly stopped working before the album could finish. I can't understand a damn word of these last two songs and it hasn't been a problem up until now. I would love to watch some misheard lyrics videos to this shit. Picture Book is the last song and the title track of this album. Can't make out a word of what he's singing. "We Beseech them by the Sigh"? By the Side? Am I the Sign of the So? Am I the Side of the the Bow? what the fuck, Red? I'm not even going to google the lyrics because I prefer the ambiguity. Watch the video for Holding Back the Years on youtube. It explains alot and he also wears suspenders.
Funkadelic
4/5
This was a great listen with headphones! It's pretty bizarre in some great ways. I don't especially enjoy the mental shit backwash. He's a little too much into the metaphor to the point that it's a little weird. I especially enjoyed the guitar playing. My favorite band is Ween. So much of the guitar work and the vibe of this really reminds me of them. Never realized before how much Ween was probably inspired by Funkadelic. Funk on & be strong with the funk all funky peoples of Funkadelica!
Eels
2/5
Kinda depressing. Kinda boring. meh. It's a 2.5 and that bad spoken word part in Susan's House is going to keep me from rounding up.
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
There's one Dinosaur Jr. song I like and it's not on this album. I'm open to liking more than one of their songs but I haven't heard any others that I like. This music is all about the guitar. I appreciate cool guitar work but I enjoy a little bit of subtlety and finesse. His approach oscillates between a sledge hammer and a chainsaw. Mega crunch distortion layered with vocals that remind me of a cross between Flaming Lips singer and Neil Young. The lazy passion-lacking vocals are sort of the antithesis to the raging guitars. It's an interesting juxtaposition. And can he turn the distortion down a little just for variety? Yes, Poledo starts with what sounds like a mildly effected acoustic guitar but he can't last more than 2 minutes before we interrupt this broadcast with pure full blast static. I think some musicians tried making music out of noise in the 90's. Turns out people mostly prefer music over noise. Just like Heaven is an interesting cover. I think I still like the original better and this is kind of a weird way to end the album. Overall this has potential and I want to like it but seems like a whole lot of "not work'n" to me.
White Denim
5/5
Who are these guys?! Dig it. What I like most about this music is the synergy between the guitars and drums. It has great energy. Really nice guitar and drum work. Great grooves and riffs but it took me a few listens to really sink my ears into it. Don't come to this expecting catchy little pop hooks. There's some nice harmonies happening with the vocals in a very low key kind of way that gives this a mostly mellow character. There's some great jazziness happening with these songs that keep me coming back. It's funny to me that Street Joy is their "hit" and it's probably the one I like the least. Can we get a guest appearance from a jazzy flute? (River to Consider). Any horns want in on this? (Bess St.) How about some Fiddle and shift gears into a Country Western beat to take us out? (Keys). Awesome Instrumentation! Great stuff! I'd like to hear more of their albums.
The Kinks
3/5
Some vintage 60's Brit Rock. The Kinks are kind of quirky. I think if I were a teenager or twenty something back in the 60's I would've been into the Kinks. But I'm not 20 anymore and this definitely is not the 60's.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
It's our old friends, Garfunkel and Simon. This is okay. Mrs. Robinson is great and I like Garfunkel and Simon's better than The Lemonheads. The Lemonheads isn't bad. They rock it out. But when it comes to Hazy Shade of Winter, I think I like The Bangles better. I don't know wuzzup with mumbling old people. I didn't like this album enough to research why Garfunkel & Simon decided to put mumbling old people on their album.
Steely Dan
4/5
1973. A very good year. I think this album is great muscially. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5 for me is that I'm not into the lyrics. What the fuck are we singing about Dan? Love the instrumentation, riffs, & songwriting. Bodhisattva has great energy. Buddha Boogie. Razor Boy is okay. Kinda weird. Clearly a Steely Dan deep cut. Boston Rag is pretty good but why are we trying to bring back 1920's era Boston piano playing? Your Gold Teeth has a great groove. Looked up the lyrics. Some strange poetry. Catherine Anahid Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6, 1983) was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy.
So what does Wikipedia have to say about it all? "Countdown to Ecstasy has similar lyrical themes to Can't Buy a Thrill.[9] It explores topics such as drug abuse, class envy, and West Coast excess.[15] "Your Gold Teeth" follows a jaded female grifter who uses her attractiveness and cunning to take advantage of others,[16] "My Old School" was inspired by a drug bust involving Walter Becker and Donald Fagen while they were students at Bard College,[13] "King of the World" explores a post-nuclear holocaust United States, and "Show Biz Kids" satirizes contemporary Los Angeles lifestyles."
My Old School is the only song I've heard before on this album. I especially like the horns in this song. King of the World is super groovy. This is probably my favorite Steely Dan album so far.
Faith No More
3/5
I know of Mike Patton (lead singer) because of Mr. Bungle which is a band that I like. So I've tried to listen to Faith No More before and I didn't especially like it. After giving this album a listen, I would say that I liked it more than I expected to. It has it's moments but not so much my thing. Also, cool cover but I still like the Black Sabbath original version of War Pigs better.
Beastie Boys
5/5
The first four Beastie Boys albums are imprinted on my soul. It's impossible for me to separate the connection I feel to their music from a subjective fresh listen. This is a great album and I love it more than mashed potatoes.
Gang Of Four
3/5
I especially liked the music. Simplistic guitar, bass, and drums with very little effects. Just raw hard hitting riffs and some great changes. I give the music a 4. But I didn't care for the vocals. The lyrics failed to draw me in and I just didn't care for his vocals. I give the vocals a 2. So average out to a 3 for me.
Saint Etienne
2/5
No thanks. Didn't especially care for this.
The Fall
4/5
This is our third album by The Fall. I didn't care for their 1979 debut, Live at the Witch Trials. 1993's Infotainment Scan was better. So bouncing back to 1985 for this one. It's funny because sometimes if I don't like a band I'll be like "I don't know what the fuck he's singing about. blah!". And then other times if I like a band I'll be like "I don't know what he's singing about but I don't care, I like it anyway". So I'm not sure if the lyrics always matter as much as the vibe of the music. I mostly have no idea what he's singing about but I like it! Favorites: Bombast, Couldn't Get Ahead, Gut of the Quantifier, My New House.
Green Day
5/5
The debut of Green Day, one of the best rock 3 pieces. From the beginning they fused pop and punk with an electric synergy. Great guitar riffs. Great harmonies. Great bass playing & drumming. All the hits on this album are great great great. A couple non-hits that I liked: Sassafras Roots and In the End. I'm about a 4.5 with this and just rounding up because it rocks.
Elvis Presley
4/5
I like early Elvis and I like late Elvis and what I love about this album is that it's the beginning of late Elvis when he sort of reinvents himself after his contracts with film companies are over. He goes to Memphis and records this album and I really enjoy the mix of vintage country, blues, honky tonk, and old skool rock n roll all done in a way that gives me some sort of 1970's trucker vibe. I love this album for it's excesses and pure Elvisness. So many people impersonate Elvis. This is Elvis impersonating himself. Giving it all he's got and going in a more passionate direction with his music. Note that Suspicious Minds, Kentucky Rain, and Mama Liked the Roses were NOT on the original album or else I would've given this a 5. Still plenty of other good ones to make it a 4 for me. Also with regard to Elvis not writing any of the songs that he sings... there's a lot to discuss about all that, but I found the following to be especially interesting regarding the "art of an album":
"the rock genre itself has an authenticity fetish that developed after major acts of the 60s came along like The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan, who all did a mix of both covers & original material. Rock fans who consider themselves gatekeepers of the genre especially got it in their head that if a rock act didn't write their own songs then they were somehow inferior, less noteworthy or insincere.
Elvis' own record company showed a clear lack of interest or respect for his recording material and Elvis's passion for performance in the recording studio clashed with his innate passivity when it came to business dealings like putting together an album. While other artists recognized albums as art forms unto themselves, Elvis came into the industry in an era when singles & EPs were more important and LPs were more of a collection of songs. Record albums used to literally be like photo albums of 4-5 78rpm records with one song apiece on each side.'
Gotan Project
4/5
This is the best accordion jazz-rock I've ever heard. This is the ONLY accordion jazz-rock I've ever heard. It's Jazzanova. And it turns out, that's not an accordion. "It's a bandoneon, a type of accordion central to tango, played by Nini Flores. A complex and unwieldy breed of accordion whose sound is crisper and less wheezy than a standard accordion." I like the blend of acoustic instruments with electric beats. It has a cool grooving energy. Interesting that Chunga's Revenge is a Zappa song. My only criticism is that it gets a little samesy. They definitely have a vibe and they don't stray from it but I would classify this as a pretty cool jazz find.
Morrissey
4/5
I didn't expect to like this album because I haven't heard any Morrissey songs that I like. But this is a side of Morissey I haven't heard before. So I've listened to it about 4 times and read all the lyrics. It starts off strong and I really like You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side and Glamorous Glue. I didn't know Morrissey could rock out like that! He mixes up the vibe pretty well throughout the album. They aren't all rockers but overall the music is pretty great although sometimes the lyrics are just too melodramatic for me. Certain People I Know has a cool laid back groove and the lyrics kind of crack me up. "I'd hate to be like certain people I know, They break their necks and can't afford to get them fixed" We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successfull is such a catchy earworm. I like it more with each listen and okay... the lyrics are pretty funny. And that's part of what's so strange to me about him. He's so deeply dramatic and over the top and then he pulls out a song like You're the One for Me, Fatty. And I just don't know what to think of him. I think he's kind of kooky but not always in a bad way. He's pretty unapologetically himself and I guess I can appreciate that. I think I've listened to SO MUCH bad music in this project that in the grand scope of things, maybe Morrissey isn't as bad as I thought.
Queen Latifah
4/5
I think 80's rap might be my favorite decade for rap. I'm old. I know. One of the things I especially liked about these songs is her use of horn samples. Also some great beats with a dash of reggae for flavor. Favorites: Latifah's Law (especially like the conga drums & horn samples), Wrath of My Madness, Ladies First, King & Queen Creation, Evil that Men Do. I'm about a 3.5 with this musically but I'll jump it up to a 4 cuz props to a strong black woman who was a pioneer in her field.
Japan
2/5
So I ALSO had the same thought. "This sounds a lot like Duran Duran". Interesting that they came first and influenced both of the Durans. Actually, his vocals sound like a cross between Duran Duran and Roxy Music.... Only not as good as either of them. He mumbles and moans too much and the songwriting doesn't grab me at all. The instrumentation features less than impressive playing (with exception to a few great bass lines). I especially did NOT enjoy the Velvet Underground cover of All Tomorrow's Parties. They butchered it. I hope they have better albums than this. Not my thing.
The Cult
3/5
This is some balls out butt rock. At first I liked it... okay yeah this is pretty cool... I guess... meh... it doesn't play well for repeat listens. It's all too samesy for me and I was pretty sick of it by the end. They just have one level of rock awesomeness and that's just what they do. 4 songs in the middle of the album were "not bad": Aprhodisiac Jacket, Electric Ocean, Bad Fun, & King Contrary Man. That cover of Born to Be Wild was awful. It felt like they were trying to bend the song in ways that it really shouldn't.
Massive Attack
3/5
So this is trip hop? It's Pretty okay. I thought Spying Glass was a pretty cool reggae vibe thing. I did NOT like the Doors cover.
The Yardbirds
4/5
I did not know that Jimmy Page was in a band with Eric Clapton. Very talented guitar playing. Good songwriting. I especially liked Hot House of Omagarashid. The album had a good variety of songs that swung from old style rock n roll, blues, rockabilly, and 60's psychedelic, and even a harmonious little piano diddy sing along (Farewell). Cool stuff!
Mariah Carey
2/5
Not so much my thing. Sorry Mariah, I'd dig into this deeper but I'm about four albums behind so if you don't grab me at first listen then it's not happening.
Marianne Faithfull
4/5
This is a pretty cool album and she seems a bit ahead of her time. Never heard this artist before. I liked the John Lennon cover. And I think the music to Why'd Ya Do It is fantastic. Her lyrics are totally vulgar but damn. I'm seriously impressed that she went for it back in 1979. rock on!
10cc
3/5
This was umm.. interesting. I think the instrumentation is great. The songwriting is creative, at times funny. But are the songs GOOD?...well... I don't know. They kind of sound like Queen's less talented cousin. There's a lot of frantic gear shifting in the songs and they don't really hold together that well. I liked Clockwork Creep and Silly Love. As an aging rocker with a bad back, I appreciate the humor of Sacro-illiac. Maybe that one cuts a little too close to the bone.
Fugees
4/5
The music is pretty minimal. It's really all about the raps and the beats. No horn samples needed. Lauryn Hill's distinctive vocals put this a cut above the rest. Not bad (for 90's rap).
The Sonics
4/5
"Here Are the Sonics" is a pretty unremarkable name for an album. It's old timey rock and roll. I like it! It has great energy. I like their upbeat take on some old classics. Especially enjoyed the sax solos. I think this is an interesting album because it was made in 1965 but the songs feel more like 50's rock. The Beatles released Rubber Soul in 1965 and signaled a shift away from this oldies style of rock.
Gil Scott-Heron
3/5
Some soulful 70's jazz singing about the struggle. The Watergate Blues was my favorite and still relevant.
Bee Gees
2/5
no thanks. pass. this is too drama sad. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart is a good song but the rest weren't that great and I prefer their disco mode.
Ash
3/5
This is some scorching guitar work. I liked Lose Control and I'd Give You Anything. The rest was mostly blistering guitar with sing-songy vocal melodies that weren't that catchy. I don't feel like the violins on Gone The Dream really meshed that well with the crunchy guitar. Is Kung Fu a racist song? I don't know. We have to have songs about something other than falling in and out of love (which is at least 85% of all modern popular music). Pretty good but didn't really win me over enough to give it foursies.
Sepultura
2/5
It has some cool guitar moments but no thanks.
Merle Haggard
3/5
This is some easy listening old timey country. It's the kind of music you can eat biscuits and gravy to. My favorites were Drink Up and Be Somebody, If You Want to Be My Woman, and Mixed Up Mess of a Heart.
Judas Priest
3/5
This album doesn't have my favorite Judas Priest song (You've Got Another Thing Coming). But it does have Breaking the Law (Beavis & Butthead's favorite song) and Living After Midnight. The rest of the songs were okay but didn't especially move me.
Caetano Veloso
3/5
Björk
3/5
This is all fine and very Bjorkish. But it doesn't especially grab me.
The Smiths
4/5
I've never heard this Smiths album before. I have heard Girlfriend in a Coma though. What's to say? He knows it's serious. I liked this album alot more than I thought I would. The first 5 songs are great! I especially like how they build Death of a Disco Dancer. Morrissey used to get on my nerves but actually these last few albums are some of the best I've heard from him. At 51 years of age a guy can still change his mind about Morrissey. Death at One's Elbow is rocking!
The Bees
3/5
This is a bit too mellow for me. No Trophy has a cool reggae vibe. The best song on here is A Minha Menina (an Os Mutantes cover).
Television
3/5
These songs have some cool guitar moments but overall, I'm not that into it. It's okay.
Animal Collective
4/5
This one took me several listens to get through because I kept ending on "what?". And then I'd listen to it again and get totally spaced out in some sort of pulsing electro psychedelic dream cloud. Bonus points for artistry. This is definitely an artistic album with incredible sound alchemy. I especially liked In the Flowers (where it really KICKS IN at 2:30ish is awesome!), My Girls, Summertime Clothes, and Lion in A Coma. Far out!
The Velvet Underground
5/5
My favorite thing about this band is how they play their instruments like they are broken. Waiting for My Man is one of my all time favorite songs. I'm in love with that pounding piano. Run Run Run has a great tempo and live feeling similar to White Light White Heat (my other favorite VU album). Heroin does not glorify drugs. Lou is giving a very personal and matter of fact account about how heroin feels to him and that song has always scared the shit out of me and made me NOT want to do heroin. Black Angel Death song is pure poetry. Venus in Furs... yes! The only song on here that I don't especially like is European Son. They draw out the jam too long. My favorite Nico songs are I'll Be Your Mirror and Femme Fatale.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Very danceable with catchy melodies.
Sex Pistols
3/5
God Save the Queen! We mean it maaaan!! I have this album on tape cassette so we go way back. I still love their energy and their style of punk. But 30 years later I don't like this quite as much as I did as a teenager. My 51 year old self tends to prefer songs that are layered with fabulous playing and interesting songwriting changes with poetic lyrics. I don't really get this from the Sex Pistols. With 3 songs left I was really ready for this album to be over. Holidays in the Sun, God Save the Queen, and Anarchy in the U.K. are all kind of similar and are the "hits". But I especially like Problems and Sub-Mission because they have a little different groove.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Black Sabbath are masters of groove metal. Props to some great guitar riffs and awesome drumming. And respect to Ozzy for his legendary voice. Overall, I especially liked the first songs of the album more than the second. With the exception of FX, which is just some wankery incindental bullshit. But only serves to function in the listening of the album as a whole by creating an intermission piece before kicking into Supernaut which is a pretty awesome song. One thing I like about Sabbath is their willingness to do something unexpected like Changes or Laguana Sunrise, a mellow guitaring instrumental. I seriously hope they opened a few shows with this song because it would be the kind of opener to give you chills. As for the second half of the album, St. Vitus Dance is pretty rocking. "The title comes from Saint Vitus (290-303), the Christian patron saint of dancing. “Saint Vitus’ Dance” or Sydenham’s chorea is a disorder brought on by bacterial infection in the brain, named after the Saint. It results in uncontrollable muscle spasms in the hands and feet." - But the lyrics are actually just Ozzy giving some friendly relationship advice about giving a girl another chance.
Arctic Monkeys
5/5
The singer is sooooo Brit-ish! Alot of singers you might not even know that they are British. Like Phil Collins. I don't think I'd know he's British just by listening to him. anyway.. Great guitar work and super creative changes. I'm a 4.5 with this and kick it up to 5 just because they groove as hard as they fucking rock!
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
The lyrics don't especially draw me in and I think they could use some back up vocals but the music is pretty awesome and lots of great bass lines. Very 80's!
Aphex Twin
3/5
Cool electro soundscapes but I was pretty bored by the end. I can appreciate that this is pretty great Ambient music... but it's still ambient music and nothing especially grabbed me.
Justice
4/5
I'm dancing in a video game of lasers and static electricity. It's an interesting fusion with some great sound alchemy and relentless dance beats. I don't quite understand the Christian references other than maybe they are trying to create a religious experience?
Brian Eno
4/5
I'm familiar with this album because Brian Eno was one of the original members of Roxy Music. It's been a long time since I've listened to it. I still like it but I think I like the songs on the last part of the album more than the first. Except I absolutely love the first song and has been one of my all time favorites since forever.
Those who know
They don't let it show
They just give you one long glance
And you go, oh oh, oh oh
Goes to show
How winds blow
The weather's fine
And I feel so so-so, so
Birds of prey
With too much to say
Oh what could be my destiny
Another rainy day
Why ask why?
For by the by and by
All mysteries are just more
Needles in the camel's eye
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
I really liked the first song, Title Music (Shalimar). It sounded like some 1970's twilight zone jazz. I also liked Mera Pyar Shalimar. The Cha Cha Cha song was pretty Chee Chee Cheezy in a very vintage campy kind of way. The rest was okay but I don't need to hear it again and I'll probably not watch the movie.
Arrested Development
3/5
Cool fusion of soul, blues, hip hop and africana. My favorites are U, Natural (moments remind me of Prince), and Washed Away just because it's a really odd piece about the evils of mankind being some kind of water snake that's going to drown out the world. I can totally appreciate this for it's positive message and creativity but mostly not so much my thing.
Missy Elliott
3/5
Musically it's pretty good. Lyrically it's okay. I like her rap style but the only song I especially liked was Izzy Izzy Ahh.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
Tortoise
4/5
Wish I had more time to spend with this. I like it and it's got some pretty interesting things going on with it musically in a proggy-jazzy kind of way. I would come back to this.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
This is some artsyness. I especially liked Heaps of Sheep. Blues in Bob Minor is an interesting nod to from one Bob to another. The rest of the songs weren't so much my cup of English tea but not horrible.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Nope. I don't think it's that interesting musically and there isn't much to distinguish one song from another. Also these songs suck too much to have so many of them on the album.
Roxy Music
4/5
Re-Make/Re-Model and Virginia Plain are a couple of my favorite Roxy Music songs. The rest of these songs have their moments but aren't some of their best stuff. Even though this is their first album, it's probably not the album I'd pick to introduce someone to their music. The first 1:40 minutes of If There is Something feels like a totally different song that they should have just left out. Then they would have a pretty good song. And even as a fan, I can say that The Bob (Medley) kinda sucks. It's just too out there. At least they warned us that it's a Medley which is more than most bands do. But I think maybe a war breaks out at some point during this song and it's just really not necessary. Overall I'm a fan of their weird sound and I understand that this isn't everybody's jam. They are kind of a guilty pleasure for me and this album has more deep cut stuff. Great instrumentation and interesting songwriting.
Burning Spear
4/5
Dig these reggae vibes. Great horns and guitar work. Vocals are strong and soulful. Yes, man!
Chicago
4/5
I'm enjoying this and it deserves a few listens. It's very "jammy" but has some great energy. The horns are awesome. The guitar is outstanding except for Free Form Guitar. Maybe that song was edgy and innovative for 1969 but that wankery don't play today.
Dead Kennedys
4/5
"Let me start by saying, I'm utterly disgusted with the former members of the Dead Kennedys."
- Jello Biafra
Never listened to this band before. I like their style of punk rock.
Pantera
2/5
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
2/5
Relax is an 80's classic that's been so overplayed it's hard to get excited about it. The War cover was awful. The Born to Run cover was okay but didn't really do anything different original with it. Might as well just bust into Do You Know the Way to San Jose. A ridiculous mix of covers. The originals sound shlocky.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
This took me about 3 or 4 listens to really sink my ears into. There's some really interesting musicality happening here with enough layers to keep me coming back for deeper listens. I think the the idea of abstract vocals is interesting. There are actually lyrics and I only looked up a couple. Don't expect answers. Just another layer of poetry and more questions. This music is kind of enigmatic. At times the washy melodies remind me a little of My Bloody Valentine. Cool stuff!
Mudhoney
4/5
The guitarwork is phenomenal. The lyrics don't especially move me but most of the songs have great rock energy and those guitar lines keep me coming back for more listens.
The Go-Go's
5/5
This is a fantastic collection of pop-rock songs. Great guitar riffs and vocals. They have a really great synergy. Interesting that they started out as a punk band. I like this more with every listen. Our Lips are Sealed and We Got the Beat are of course the hits but there are so many other good songs on here that I've never heard before. Tonight, Lust to Love, Fading Fast, Automatic. There's not a bad song on this album. Pretty awesome debut!
R.E.M.
3/5
The debut of R.E.M.! (It's not their best album) For early R.E.M albums., I like Fables of the Reconstruction and Life's Rich Pageant. Radio Free Europe is the hit and probably the best song on the album. Fans might find a few deep cuts. I like Moral Kiosk and Sitting Still. Sometimes it's reassuring when a great band's first album kind of sucks. We all start somewhere.
3/5
This has great live energy but I wasn't super into it musically. This album gets credit for starting punk rock but it sounds mostly like 70's heavy blues rock that diverges into noise.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Get down with your bad self! I like this album more with every listen. These are some laid back grooves & there's just something about Reggae that I really like. Bob & the Wailers have an interesting blues-reggae fusion. Great instrumentation and vocals. The beats are so right on. Lively Up Yourself and No Woman No Cry are the hits and those are great songs. Rebel Music has some sweet harmonica playing. Other favorites: Them Belly Full, Talk'n Blues, & Revolution (really like the horns in that one).
Paul Weller
4/5
Is this the adult contemporary middle aged white guy music that I never knew that I was missing? This is some pretty good modern blues. Some moments remind me of Blues Traveler or Black Keys. The instrumentation is great with soulful grooves. Nothing is over the top or sensational but it all holds together well for a good listen. Favorites are Sunflower, Has My Fire Really Gone Out? and 5th Season (that one is funky!)
Grateful Dead
4/5
I like this more with each listen. It's pretty chill with a bit of a country vibe. Truck'n is my favorite. Nice guitar work and vocals have great harmonies.
The xx
3/5
I would describe their musical style as minimalist, whispy, & pretty. Everything has a very light touch. It's creative and has a unique sound. When it works, it works really well VCR, Crystalized, Islands are all good songs. But when it doesn't work it just kinda comes across as listless and boring. The best songs are at the beginning and the album falls off after them. Heart Skipped a Beat isn't bad but it just doesn't have the melodic hooks that the others had. Fantasy, snore. Basic Space could work if they cut out the beginning and kept that beat going the whole time and made it more of a dancy song. Alas, "energetic" is not a word I would use to describe this band. Infinity has a cool Roy Orbison kind of feel to it but the guy is so mumbly with his vocals. I like that there is a male counterpoint to her vocals but I don't especially like the guy's vocals. He's so listless and mumbly (Oliver Sim). I like Romy Madley Croft's singing.
Bobby Womack
2/5
R&B isn't my thing so it's got to be something really special to win me over. R&B music tends to sound really formulaic and the lyrics are all very cliche. That's not to say it can't be done well... like Al Green, Barry White, or even Billie Ocean maybe? But Bobby falls short of those greats. This album is called the Poet so I was really hoping the songs would live up to that. It's hard to get next to you when you have so many sides, baby. Fried Chicken? Back rubs? okay Bobby, you're not a poet. Although I've definitely heard worse 2's, this was sooo cliche and unoriginal I'm not really sure why it's on this project. Couldn't wait for it to be over.
John Martyn
3/5
This album is pretty chill in a very unspectacular way. I had to listen to this 3 times before I felt like I heard it. Dealer almost sounds like a funkier version of ZZ Top. Smiling Stranger and Big Muff have some trippy percussion. Couldn't Love You More is sweet and sentimental but not really moving. Certain Surprise was okay until he brought in that orchestral sweep in the background which totally cheezed it out. This is a very mediocre album.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Ravey electro beats. It's pretty good for what it is but I get a little bored with it and it doesn't especially grab me. Setting Sun was pretty good.
Pink Floyd
5/5
This one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite bands. Great album from start to finish and the songs flow well from one to the other. "The Dark Side of the Moon explores themes such as conflict, greed, time, death, and mental illness." OK Pink Floyd doesn't really make happy music. Apparently you can watch The Wizard of Oz while listening to this but if you are tripping balls you can do that with any album and movie. Money and Us and Them feature a guest saxophone which is kind of unusual for Floyd. Very original and great song writing.
Jamiroquai
4/5
SO grooovy. This deserves a deeper listen but I'll have to come back to it. None of the songs especially stood out to me but it has great energy and I enjoyed dancing to it while cooked vegan jambalaya.
Hot Chip
3/5
Cool electro beats but nothing sensational. I like the first half of the album better than the second. Night and Day is my favorite because I think it's the most interesting musically but the album goes downhill for me from there.
Tom Waits
2/5
I like some Tom Waits albums but this isn't one of them. I feel like the whole thing is a joke that I don't really get which makes it a little surreal but the shtick gets old pretty fast. This album is early in his career so I get that he's maybe just trying to get a footing in his poetry but it comes across as kind of cartoonish and phony. Even when I omit all the ridiculous intros and just try to listen to the songs, it doesn't really hold up as good/interesting jazz. Very samesy and way too long. pass.
Neil Young
4/5
Tonight's the Night: great bass line & funky beat. like how they contrast heavy and light touch. Great instrumentation. Probably didn't need the second version at the end but nothing like coming full circle. Other favorites: Speakin Out, World on a String, Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown (sounds a little like Grateful Dead), Mellow My Mind (nice harmonica), Roll Another Number (sounds like an old timey country western song & soulful), Lookout Joe (like how heavy those riffs hit). Overall pretty great guitar playing and songwriting.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
This is REAL 1950's live jazz. Not that fake live jazz Tom Waits shit. This album is good in an old timey way. It's cool that it's a live album but it doesn't have great live energy except for the part that she messes up and just keeps going. Clearly these songs are played to showcase her vocals but I would've liked the background players to take a few solos and show their chops a bit. If you like Ella Fitzgerald then you'll probably like this. They are similar but true fans can probably tell you all the ways they are different. I like Thou Swell. I've never heard the word "Lalapalooza" in a song before. Interesting that the word was being used in the 50's by the swinging hep cats. I like Louis Prima's version of Just a Gigalo better.
Girls Against Boys
2/5
I liked the music. It was heavy and guitary. I didn't especially care for the vocals. The vocals were buried and distorted and I couldn't understand much of it so I have no idea what the songs are about other than that one where he wants to kill everybody in the band. Nice! Didn't really grab me enough to give this a second listen.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
My favorites are her drinking songs. Bluebird Wine and The Bottle Let Me Down (a song also done by Waylon and Merle Haggard). If I Could Only Win your love has a honky tonk spiritual feel to it. The Beetles cover was interesting. Pretty good!
The Vines
3/5
Screamy and Guitary. It's pretty rockin. Outtathaway, Get Free, and Factory are my favorites. Has it's moments but overall it didn't wow me.
Randy Newman
3/5
I don't recommend writing satirical songs. Most people don't get it. He's got an almost Ray Charles kind of vibe to him but it gets a bit samesy. Beware of the Naked Man is weird.
Meat Loaf
5/5
Nothing sounds quite like Meat Loaf. Dramatic and passionate but with just enough quirky humor to make you go .. wut? Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth, All Revved Up, Two Out of Three, and Paradise by the Dashboard are all great songs. Phenomenal song writing with great energy. Bat Out of Hell and Crying Out Loud are not my favorites but they work well as an intro song and a finale song even if they are kind of long and not as good as the others. They work in the context of the album. Heaven Can Wait is a skip for me. But other than that, it's pretty much a masterpiece of rock n roll.
Scissor Sisters
4/5
Funky beat fusion of electro dance and guitar. Sexy nu disco? They sort of remind me of a fusion between Prince, The Bee Gees, and Elton John. The disco version of Comfortably Numb was creative but I didn't especially like it. I thought other songs were better. Taking my Mama out is kind of ridiculous. You mean my mom? wtf. The album doesn't get good for me until the 5th song, Lovers in the Backseat. Filthy/Gorgeous is pretty good. I'd check out more albums by this band.
Miles Davis
2/5
This is fine as background music. I'm not annoyed with it but doesn't really thrill me. I probably don't understand the history of jazz enough to appreciate what Miles Davis is doing. For jazz lovers I'm sure this is a great album but I feel like I'm stuck listening to hold music. I don't think I like Miles Davis that much.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
Have you ever noticed that if a band's name is "The Senational" or "The Fabulous" or the "The Superterrific" they are usually not? His vocals remind me of Bon Scott (AC/DC's first singer). Some of the songs have pretty great rocking energy: Swampsnake, Gang Bang (there should be more blues boogie rock song about group sex), & Giddy Up a Ding Dong (great piano playing). They are fun but they are kind of hokey. Some of the songs are just kind of weird: Next and Faith Healer (that one has it's moments but I feel like it doesn't really go anywhere and when they bust out the slide whistle?... no.) The Last of the Teenage Idols: I don't believe for a second that he ever was or will be a teenage idol. And the songwriting on that one is just a disaster. Starts as a boring ballad then rocks out then goes into do wop.
Tom Waits
4/5
This is a Tom Waits album that I like. Earth Died Screaming is clickity clackity & some kind of surreal eco-nightmare. So that's a fun way to start things off. The percussion and instrumentation is really creative throughout the album. Also the lyrics are great. His poetry hits me like wet grass and rusted cars. It smells like black molasses and june bugs. He's like some kind of Walt Whitman junkyard medicine man. Such a Scream is one of my all time favorite Tom Waits song. It just has a really bizarre herky jerky energy & some fun horns. Jesus Gonna Be Here is genuinely soulful. This is my kind of blues and his singing is fucking great on that one. In The Colosseum = yes!! Love the way those beats are hammered out. Goin Out West is rocking and I especially like that haunting surf rock guitar sound. Black Wings isn't my most favorite song but it kind of reminds me of Leonard Cohen. I Don't Want to Grow Up = great song! I don't want to grow up either.
The Coral
4/5
This is pretty good! I especially like the vocals (lots of good harmonies) and the guitar work. Instrumentation is good. Xylophone, horns, & bongos make guest appearances but the common thread is the cool surf-rock style guitar through it all. Some songs remind me 60's psychelica (the incense and peppermint kind). Others like I Remember When and Bad Man have a kind of funky vibe. I especially like how they are able to work a song by slowing it down and then kicking it back up.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
This album took me a few listens. The songwriting is really strange in a good way but something about it is so dreamy and stream of conscious that it doesn't immediately click. I like they way they balance delicate soft sounds with really aggressive pounding rhythms. This album has a vibe and all the songs flow pretty well together. Almost so well that at times it seems like this album is one long song. I like it more each time I listen to it.
Beatles
4/5
This is an eclectic collection of songs. I like their anything goes approach to this album. Some songs are better than others. It has a few hits but most of the songs are more like interesting Beatles deep cuts. Happiness is a Warm Gun is an especially strange song. The Breeders do a cover of it that I actually like a little better than the original. The fast version of Revolution is way better. Yer Blues is a pretty great blues tune with alot of soul. Lennon is really giving 100% on that one and I especially like the guitar work. They probably could have edited this a little more and got it down to one album but maybe their dissolving creative relationship just made it easier to throw everything in the pot.
John Prine
5/5
This is a really great folk-country-blues fusion. Really enjoyed the songwriting. The poetry of his lyrics really speaks to me. Gotta listen to more John Prine!
Talk Talk
3/5
This is a cool find for 80's New Wave fans.
I'm a 3.5 with this. I like it fine but Chameleon Day is a stupid song so I can't really bump it up to 4 despite their insistence that I Give It Up.
The Crusaders
3/5
Such a groove thing. I like it fine but kind of boring in an easy listening kind of way.
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
Ya'll are so fucking weird giving this album a 5.
LOL <3
The Jam
3/5
It's OK. I think I liked the other album a little better.
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
Suede
4/5
Animal Nitrate, Moving, The Drowners, & Metal Mickey are my favorites. I like their sound & at times the vocals remind me of Siouxsie.
Cee Lo Green
4/5
Sensational fusion of soul, r&b, & rap. Enjoyed this more with each listen. Great beats, lyrics. Love his voice. Beyond just being a positive vibe, Cee Lo drops some poetic wisdom.
50 Cent
3/5
The White Stripes
3/5
Ray Price
3/5
This is some pretty good honky tonk. Night Life is a Willie Nelson classic.
Big Black
4/5
The lyrics/vocals didn't especially grab me but I really like the music. Very cool guitarwork. This is 1985? It sounds pretty ahead of it's time. This is worth a few more listens.
Kings of Leon
3/5
I like the hits but the rest of the songs didn't especially draw me in. Crawl is pretty cool.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Magazine
3/5
Scott Walker
2/5
Beach House
4/5
The Young Rascals
3/5
SAULT
3/5
De La Soul
3/5
It's okay. In it's best moments it has some creative sampling and cool scratching. Their rapping isn't that great. Sometimes seemed kind of juvenile, probably because they were young when they made this & some of it seems like they are just messing around.
Sister Sledge
4/5
Discofabulous! Some moments made me wonder if Daft Punk was influenced by them or maybe sampled them. My favorites: Lost in the Music, Easier to Love (flutes are great), One More Time (especially dig the guitar solo).
k.d. lang
2/5
meh. I've heard worse. It's fine but it definitely has a boring factor that puts it in twosville for me. Lacking in creative songwriting, the melodies aren't that catchy, the instrument playing wasn't anything great.
The Byrds
4/5
Mr. Tambourine Man was written by Bob Dylan in 1965. The Byrds released this album also in 1965. This is their debut album. And it's just blowing my mind that they even went so far as to name their album the cover of the current hit song. Different times. I like The Byrds version of Mr. Tambourine man actually a little better than Bob Dylan's. The thing that stands out to me is the guitar playing. It's really thick and they have good melodies. Sometimes the songs stray into overly sentimental teenage angst. Favorites: Feel A Whole Lot Better, The Bells of Rhymney (this one kind of reminds me of early R.E.M.), Don't Doubt Yourself, Baby (great rhythm). Chimes of Freedom kind of cracks me up. I think Freedom usually rings bells but okay I guess Chimes will work. And this one sounds like they are really trying hard to write a Bob Dylan song. They are better when they are doing their own thing but for a debut album, it's pretty good!
Circle Jerks
5/5
I've heard of the Circle Jerks before but never listened to them until now. I was not really looking forward to this album. And it turns out, THIS is the old skool 80's punk rock that I never knew I was missing! Phenomenal drumming. Great guitaring. And there are some cool recording things going on with the guitar tracks. The songwriting is pretty creative. I don't feel like it's the same song over and over like I often do with this genre. The album doesn't start that great. I'm a pass on the first two songs but it gets better with Beverly Hills, Operation, Back Against the Wall... then from World Up My Ass on out, the rest of the album is a blistering work of art. I'm not usually a fan of short songs like this because they can often seem like incomplete song ideas but these jerks pack so much intensity into a minute in a half, it feels complete. They make it work.
Adele
4/5
Adele brings the drama. It's pretty good pianowork and I like her soulful, strong voice. Favorites: Rolling in the Deep, Rumour Has It, Fire to the Rain, I'll be Waiting, and One and Only has a really nice old skool R&B feel. I didn't especially like her version of the Cure's Lovesong. I appreciate that she made it her own but it drags. Unfortunately the rest of the songs on the album feel kinda meh to me. Leaving me somewhere between a 3 and a 4 but "I'll Be Waiting" is probably my FAVORITE Adele song. Such great energy and love the horns in that one. So okay fine Adele. Take my four and all of it's heartache.
The Icarus Line
2/5
No thanks. Too noisy & couldn't get into it.
Tom Waits
3/5
Not his best album. I'm sure it fits in the evolution of his sound. The elements are there but doesn't really click into some great song writing yet that will happen a couple years later with Rain Dogs. I liked In The Neighbourhood, Swordfishtrombone, and Down Down Down. The rest were sorta meh.
Parliament
4/5
Funkadelic from way out. Cosmic grooves coming to you from the Mothership. The funkiest funk that ever did funk.
Serge Gainsbourg
1/5
I like the music. Too bad. Maybe next time you have a jam session, don't let yer pervy French friend talk about bad touching little kids the whole time.
Soft Cell
3/5
It's okay but it didn't especially grab me. Sex Dwarf is clearly the best song on this album.
Heaven 17
3/5
I want more anti-fascist dance music in my life but the music was just kind of so so.
Primal Scream
3/5
This is dancey and has some great energy. I like the music but what keeps it from being a 4 for me is the lack of a truly memorable song with creative song writing. Beats and grooves make it good background music at a party. The first song is pretty good. The rest are not bad, it's just not something I would come back to.
Arcade Fire
4/5
I like Arcade Fire. They have a really good creative energy. Sometimes kind of messy and chaotic but in a good way with interesting instrumentation. They rock out some pretty powerful jams with a unique sound. They are a band I can listen to over and over and discover new things in their songs.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
I like Siouxsie & the Banshees. We had JuJu back in May and it was a 5 for me. My favorite thing about this album is the guitars but her vocals are great too and really unique. noisy, chaotic, punk rock at it's most artistic. Sometimes they have a really raw, kinetic energy that reminds me of Pixies. Other times a dark brooding groove with hammering dissonance that reminds me of Bauhaus. I think I'm going to have to listen to ALL of this bands albums after the project is over. It's pretty awesome but not all the songs are their best. U2 stole Helter Skelter from Charles Mason and Siouxsie is stealing it back tonight. I didn't especially care for their version but props for doing it in their style. My favorites are scattered all over the album: Jigsaw Feeling, Carcass, Mirage, Suburban Relapse, The Staircase.
Sugar
3/5
Never heard of this band but they are soooo 90s. The first few songs are pretty good but overall it’s not that original or interesting to me,
The Streets
2/5
No. If this is what British people sound like when they rap, maybe they should not do that.
Van Morrison
2/5
I did not especially like this album. At his best, Van Morrison can be very jazzy. I liked one song on this album, They Way Young Lovers Do. It has a more upbeat jazzier vibe to it with horns. That song doesn't even sound like it came from the same recording session as the rest of the songs. The rest of the songs just sound like jams that don't really evolve into interesting songs. And I'm convinced that no matter what the band is playing, Van Morrison is just singing the same song. This is all so samesy. After the first listen I was a 3. After a second listen, I became more annoyed with his voice and lyrics. Half of it sounds like stuff he's just making up on the spot and repeating over and over. Sorry Van. Just not into it.
3/5
I want to like this more than I do. It's like all the right elements are there but it just doesn't click into place for me.
Les Rythmes Digitales
3/5
Lauryn Hill
3/5
My favorites are Final Hour and Everything is Everything.
Orbital
3/5
Sometimes I like to listen to techno while I'm working because it lifts my spirits and makes me feel like I'm in a video game while I'm hammering through the emails. It's something that can just be on in the background and without lyrics or catchy melodies it doesn't distract me as much. just beats and grooves.
Finley Quaye
4/5
This is a pretty groovin fusion of reggae and soul! I like it more with each listen and would give more of his albums a listen.
Billie Holiday
2/5
First... the music. I don't really like it. I'm not a fan of big band orchestral "jazz". It's so old fashioned and beige. I hardly even call it jazz because it feels so watered down and over polished. Second.. her singing. It's fine but I don't feel like she's really singing about anything that her soul wants to sing about. Compare this to Nina Simone who sings with soul and feeling. I have to separate the art and the artist with this one. Total respect for who she was as an artist and her obstacles but my little stupid opinion of her music... nah. pass.
Talking Heads
4/5
I love how funky this is without actually being funk.
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
okay then. Here's a guy from the south talking about the south and singing songs about the songs from the south. It's very southernly south.
Bill Callahan
3/5
It was pretty chill and dreamy.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
hmm.. I kind of like this band. They have a weird sound. It's pretty creative sound alchemy. This album could maybe go up to a 4 after I've had time to sink my ears into it with several listens.
The Boo Radleys
3/5
It's okay but didn't win me over enough to want to give it deeper listens.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
Sleater-Kinney
4/5
What I like most about this band: the guitars. Tucker & Brownstein have a really great synergy and a knack for meshing creative guitarings. Their song writing is pretty original and feels like a mix of Sonic Youth and the GoGos which is a pretty weird blend but seems to work. I wasn't a big fan of Tucker's vocals at first but after a few listens they are growing on me. There are some people who will say that you don't really need a bass player. Two guitars and drums will cover it fine. And those people are wrong. The sound is a little flat and could be better with bass.
Bauhaus
4/5
The bass is my favorite thing about these songs. Songwriting is pretty wild, chaotic, creative. I feel like it's a pretty solid album up until Ear Wax which is just some bullshit trippy stuff that people did back then. Harry is an interesting "diddy"? David Jay Peter Murphy.. whatever is more bullshit. Satori is a great beat but doesn't really go anywhere. A drum circle with ambient noise. My point is that they could have ended the album with In Fear of Dub and it would have been better in my opinion.