Make Yourself
IncubusI didn't listen to this shit when it came out, and I'm not listening to this shit now. Metal sucks.
I didn't listen to this shit when it came out, and I'm not listening to this shit now. Metal sucks.
Really wasnt in the mood for it. I know Wu-Tang Clan is widely respected, but I liked the Wu-Tang vs. Beatles mashup more. Hip Hop lacks melody in general, and I'm too much attached to melodies and riffs.
Really consistent. Metallica lives up to its name, no fluff here. Not my favorite genre, but I respect their commitment to the sound.
I can understand how this album became so popular. She has a great voice, and it's presented really well throughout the album. Her richly textured voice has a good crack/yodel in it, and it sounds natural and she doesn't overuse it. Reminds me of Amy Winehouse and Joss Whedon. Her cover of The Cure's \"Lovesong\" is plaintive and authentic. As with many artists, I enjoy Adele when I hear her, but I don't feel the need to seek out her stuff, as it is so easy to hear in the zeitgeist. Least favorite track: \"Rumour Has It\" for its repetitive chorus. \"Rolling in the Deep\" is a banger.
Early rock 'n' roll is tediously repetitive. Elvis appropriated country and blues (to put it politely) and I find his posturing and peculiar, affected pronunciation and singing style more annoying than the monotonous music. He sounds like a parody of himself.
Super-chill, easy background music. No standout tracks, but no clinkers either. The album plays like a continuous song.
Oh hell yes. Every song could be a single and the entire album rocks as a whole. Masterpiece!
Having heard most of these songs on the radio for as long as I can remember, it's hard to dislike this album, but just the same, once I heard it all straight through (for the first time in my life!) at 55, I must say that I can hear further evidence that 1971-1972 was a peak period for pop music, and by 1973 the tarnish was beginning to show. Pop got a little too overdone, and I hear moments of this in Macca's compositions (see also "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John). I think it's great that pop outgrew its 3-minute 3-chord adolescence (and my favorite records in my collection will reflect it), but these over-orchestrated and over-produced records in the early 1970s drip with syrup and it doesn't age well. Served better warm than 50 years cold.
I remember when this album emerged into the zeitgeist of my high school around 1984. We felt so naughty singing along to "Add It Up" and "Blister In The Sun" out of our parents' earshot. I always have appreciated the raw angst of the album, but Gordon Gano's voice was too much to endure for an entire album. Now so many years later, I don't find it as abrasive as I once did, and I hear some Gun Club hellbilly noise and junky looseness and even some Jonathan Richman outsider individuality that eluded me the first time around. (TBH, part of my resistance to them was their popularity with peers.) Refreshing to rehear the Femmes' debut anew. I suppose they were the prophets of punk and underground my young ears actually needed. The Femmes will unlikely be my new old favorite band, but now I can appreciate them more than I have for the last 35 years.
Another example of 1973 showing that pop-rock had experienced a peak in 1971-2, and now things were too overdone, over-produced, and overly serious. This album drips with strings, orchestral introductions and accompaniments. Arpeggios as though this were a soundtrack to some space opera. Elton John is undeniably a very talented songwriter, but this is too much. When his rocker side comes out (Benny and the Jets, Saturday Night's Alright), he's fun and his product fits on one side of a 45. The 11 minute intro (Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding) whacks the listener over the head to Sit Down And Listen To Something Serious. Elton John is an entertainer, and he forgets this at several points on this album and instead asks the consumer to listen to drippy sentimentality (Track 1, Candle In The Wind, title track, etc) or shitty noodling (All The Girls Love Alice).
Yes, I take Keith Richard's rather dim view of much hip-hop. Get off my lawn. With that in mind, this is the hip-hop style I like: midtempo beats, chorus vocals, and most of all, jazzy hooks and samples. No shortage of melody in these tracks.
This record's (over)production and Elvis' stylistic evolution in the 10 years or so since the debut has softened all the stuff that annoys me about Elvis. Which is not to say I love this record, but at least I can listen to it without wanting to claw my ears off. I love "Suspicious Minds" and always have, and it's in spite of his performance. His cover of Jerry Butler's "Only The Strong Survive" adds nothing and in fact is a lesser version (Butler has a far better voice). As I know "Dusty [Springfield] In Memphis" better than this record, I can't help but compare them--same sound, same year of release. The wide open soundstage, the richer orchestration, and the backing vocals is the reason artists came to Memphis and not LA, NY, or Nashville to record, just as other artists went a bit further south to Muscle Shoals to get its signature sound. All in all, this is Elvis handled well while he Elvises his way through other peoples' songs.
This is a no-rules recording, and the band throws everything into it, and somehow it all works. Listeners who only know the later version of the band and Bryan Ferry's torch-singer persona will be absolutely shocked by what a rollicking ride this album provides.
I felt l like I should be wearing a lampshade and spilling a martini all over the rug when I heard this.
Solid product, but Depeche Mode has never really been my favorite band. I don't hate it, but nothing really stands out, either, other than the sometimes over-dramatic tone in Dave Gahan's voice and the over-the-top \"Pimpf\".
Are you kidding?? One of the greatest musical recordings ever. Still, not my favorite Steely Dan album, it's undeniably an incredible recording (from a technical standpoint) with some top-rate musicians. "Home At Last" is probably my favorite track from the album, if I had to pick one.
I love Kraftwerk, but I like them for their role in music more than I do for individual songs (although many of them are very good). To think that this album is 50 years old and sounds so "ordinary" to modern ears (a complaint I have read here) shows just how groundbreaking and influential this album has been (and the entire body of work by Kraftwerk). They've influenced art rock, electronic music, EDM, and hip-hop and probably many other genres. Many imitators, but this is the source. Kraftwerk has always been ahead of their time, and this earlier work stands as a testament to that. Standouts of this album are the title track (an ambitious 22:47, an entire side of an LP when it was released), and "Mitternacht."
In my limited exposure to TV On The Radio, I have always liked Adebimpe's voice in its higher registers, but when he sings a little lower, he sounds like that guy from The National, who gets on my nerves in the first 2 bars. Interesting that both bands are on 4AD. Anyway, for the most part I like TVOTR, but nothing really stands out about this album: just indie rock from the first decade of the 21st Century. I can tell they're trying for something new and still accessible, but nothing really sticks.
If you're going to own one Sinatra Album, you probably would be satisfied with this one--all the songs he's famous for, with that swingin' Big Band sound. He's never really been one of my favorite artists, mostly because he was old and the subject of parodies and jokes by the time I came around.
I wasn't much a fan of this album when it was released--generally not a great fan of the Big Beat sound (Chemical Brothers et al). A little goes a long way. On the other hand, Prodigy isn't going to take a left turn halfway through the album and throw a slow song in. If you need a good workout album, this would probably suit your needs.
Gen-X alt-rock/alt-country rage. I bought this album in my freshman year of college, and it reflected my youthful angst about Reaganomics, neo-McCarthyism, and other forms of inhuman division. Scott Litt brought REM into a larger audience with this album, particularly "The One I Love" and "The End of The World," both good songs played. to. death. This was, in my opinion, a great work and also the beginning of the end for REM. Litt's production made a lot of hits for them, but they lost their way with Green and particularly their 1990's releases Out of Time and Automatic For The People. For for a short shining moment, this was REM bringing themselves to a larger audience, on their terms. A great, angry album.
It's hard to dislike Funkadelic--they are a genre defining band, and beyond that, they're just great fun to listen to. One Nation Under A Groove sounds a little more disco than their earlier albums, and I prefer the more pyschedelic side of the band. Of course, this album does include the incredible "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis", "Who Says A Funk Band Can't Rock?!" and the title track--all are sick bangers. If you like this album, look back in their catalog as well as more recent stuff and see what you like. There's a rich body of work to discover.
I've only known "Paper Planes" before listening to this album. The rest of the album is consistent with the eclectic samples and sounds from that hit, so M.I.A. has delivered a very consistent album. I particularly like the Eastern tones of some of the riffs in each song--it sounds like a 21st Century soundtrack to a Sri Lankan open market. Besides "Paper Planes" I really like "20 Dollar" (and the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind" reference).
As canonical this album is for any contemporary record collector, in all, it kind of disappointed me. It's not bad, but it didn't knock my socks off, either. I think "Closer" is a better Joy Division album.
I can't stand Jon Anderson's voice. The music is overwrought.
Bittersweet and melancholy, this is a great album for a rainy day. I'm not a heavy Dylan devotee, but I've grown to better appreciate his work. This and Blonde On Blonde are good albums to own if you have any appreciation for Dylan at all.
I'm familiar with a lot of Kate Bush's work; I was a big fan of her throughout her catalog up to and including Hounds Of Love and for whatever reason, she fell off my radar. This album rivals HOL and The Dreaming for what she's known for best: excellent songwriting, top-tier musicianship and arrangements, and state-of-the-art production quality. Fabulous album. Mick Karn's bass on Deeper Understanding is a real standout treat.
Fun and loud. Best Seattle grunge. All the others were too serious.
I didn't listen to this shit when it came out, and I'm not listening to this shit now. Metal sucks.
Queen playing prog is not the Queen most people think of. I found this pretty boring and dated.
It's a rocker, with a lot of recognizable songs. Hard to criticize it, but I definitely need to be in the mood for any classic rock--I heard far too much of it when I was growing up.
If you like to choose between varieties of tea and you smoke weed, you'll love this album. I could only make it through about half and had to switch over to something more modern-sounding.
Lana Del Rey is definitely refining her sound with Chemtrails Over The Country Club, and her voice has never been prettier to hear. But this album sort of goes on and on with the wistful and blank-verse lyrics, California ennui, and sparse arrangements. (Pro tip to Lana: "business conference" doesn't make a good lyric [White Dress]). Nothing really stood out for me, and after half of the album, I felt like I got what there was to take from it. Nice to see some collaborations on this album with Weyes Blood and Nikki Lane.
Quirky, upbeat, and altogether Kinks. While the Stones were playing blues and The Beatles were entering their psychedelic phase, The Kinks were making oddball pop songs (and later inventing the fuzzed out sound that Hendrix and Black Sabbath adopted). The Kinks are underappreciated, IMO, and this album shows their unique approach to songwriting. Recommended.
Disco-era depression. Terrible melodramatic schlock.
This album holds up! Every song rocks, and there's a variety in tempos. I must acknowledge how good the entire band sounds, but Chris Cornell is really the star of the record. I particularly like "Fell on Black Days" and of course, "Black Hole Sun".
Enough harmonies to give The Beach Boys a little competition and one of the legendary supergroups from the 1960s. As an album, it plays a little unevenly--the tone of the opening track (Suite Judy Blue eyes, an ode to Judy Collins) and the second track, Marrekesh Express, give this a easy hippie vibe, but not all songs keep that vibe going. CSN packed a lot of moods into this album, and the flow from song to song isn't always smooth. Undeniably ambitious and living up to the supergroup reputation, this album can be admired for a lot of different reasons.
Honestly, I loved it. I've grown to appreciate some of these old-guard country artists as I get a little older. The music may be a little simple, the lyrical themes are direct, but I love these artists, albums, and songs for their clarity (sonic as well as thematic). Merle Haggard has a great voice, particularly in his younger years, and he delivers sincerely throughout this album. The final song, "Mixed Up Mess of A Heart" sounds like it was lifted right off a Buck Owens record. (This should be only a small surprise, as Buck Owens' wife Bonnie--later Haggard's wife--sings harmony on this record.) If you have any appreciation for that old-school AM Country sound, this album will satisfy.
Ugh.
The thing about Tom Petty is that he started in a pretty good spot. It's hard to hate on him or his music. He didn't have to 'evolve as an artist' or grow into his audience. He just kept cranking out pretty much the same album over and over for 30-some years and died as a pretty well-regarded entertainer. This is a pretty good album from early in his career, and you're not going to shock your ears if you play his last album right after this one.
It's hard to listen to Kanye without having an opinion about the hype--to just hear his recordings and judge them on their own merits, without his reality-distortion field around them. Is this the work of a genius? I won't weigh in on Kanye. But this is a pretty good hip-hop album with some well-selected samples that make this album stand out in the auditory landscape. I particularly liked "Jesus Walks." Overall, the album is too long. I felt like I got the message about halfway through.
Difficult start. Standouts are the duets with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue (\"Henry Lee\" and \"Where the Wild Roses Grow\" respectively) and \"Lovely Creature\" in the first half.
Interesting as a relic of early heavy metal, but otherwise nothing to get too excited about. Basic schlocky blues-based rock. I guess the musicians were pretty good, but the album as a whole? Meh.
Absolutely brilliant. Immensely talented musicians playing a pastiche of Americana--deeply familiar and new at the same time. I never tire of this album.
I don't like Eric Clapton. I heard way too much dad rock growing up, and I'm pretty sick of it. However, I can't deny that Delaney and Bonnie were a great group, and I can't hate this album, but I have to draw the line at these wanky long jams that the classic rock years are known for. Nine-and-a-half minutes of "Key To The Highway"?! Three or four minutes makes the point. Get over yourselves.
Getting really sick of these endless "remasters" that throw in so many alternate takes and fluff that didn't make the original cut. Adam Ant was always good cheeky fun, but a little goes a long way. Love the thundering drum sound, but not for 90 minutes straight. The original was good, but more is not better.
Very hippie-60s album, with some psychedelic attempts at bent notes in the voice and a sitar-like guitar sound. Ambitious, but didn't age well. My Back Pages, Why, So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star are probably the best tracks.
Gorgeous album showcasing Dusty's great voice and an album I've owned for years. While this has the distinctive "Memphis sound", her gorgeous voice doesn't get lost in the production. As with "Elvis In Memphis" (released the same year), the soundstage is fantastic and the songs are strong. My favorite tracks here are Just A Little Lovin', Breakfast In Bed, and of course the blockbuster Son of a Preacher Man. Really, not a single clinker on the whole album. The mono release lacks a track, Willie & Laura Mae Jones, also worth seeking out. Reggie Young's guitar on Don't Forget About Me is a great example of the awesome musicianship on this entire record.
I've only been familiar with a few things by Joan Armatrading, but this album makes me want to actively seek out more of her work. The mid 1970s were the heyday of singer-songwriters, but her work, notably on this album, stands out for its varied tempos and themes. I hear some Springsteen storytelling and some British singer-songwriter, a la Richard Thompson, on this, but moreso uniquely Joan Armatrading. Definitely worth a close listen.
This is a groundbreaking album, but its flow is not as predictable as you might expect. Eno starts you with Sky Saw, with a riff intro and a jazzy bassline, but by track 2 (Over Fire Island), he's already leading the listener into a new wilderness of ambient, unstructured tracks. Once in a while you hear something more like a song (I'll Come Running and Golden Hours), but you get lost in some beautiful jungle of sounds and a dream-like atmosphere along the path of the album. What's most remarkable about this album is how this is only the beginning of Eno's genre-defining and category-defying role as a musician throughout his career. Absolutely essential listening for adventurous ears.
I really don't get the whole tortured vampire schtick of Nick Cave. Not my thing. Kurt Weil meets Anne Rice.
I was so excited to get a vinyl reissue as a birthday gift a few years ago. What wasn't there to be excited about? Well, once I unwrapped it and queued it up and started admiring the box and booklet, I realized that George's Eastern philosophy missed on this one. So much excess, so much ego, so much...everything. Pare this back to 60 minutes or less and it might have been a clear message of the monastic Beatle's real and individual voice. Instead, it's just "all too much."
After about, oh, I don't know, 59 seconds, I feel like I've heard everything Fats Domino has ever recorded. Why would I endure an entire album?
I know I know, Jeff Beck is a guitar god, but for fuck's sake stop feeding me dad-rock blues. IT'S BORING.
What a knockout. This is Queen hitting their stride. Pretty much only The Prophet's Song recalls their earlier proggy work as found on Queen II and their debut. The rest of the work absolutely wrecks what their peers in prog, Very Serious Musicians, were doing (I'm looking at you, King Crimson and ELP, to name just two). Queen leapt onto the stage disguised as jesters (Bohemian Rhapsody, an absolute runaway hit when it was released) and revealed themselves to be kings with this album. This album sounds best when it's played LOUD.
All bangers, great flow. In 1978, when The Cars broke into the scene, the Loop, the top hard-rock AOR station in Chicago, promoted this band and album heavily. Guitars, yes, but synths?! It sounded so futuristic to me, and quite uncharacteristic for a station that held Zeppelin and the Stones up as gods. It's undeniably good New Wave music, bridging a lot of stuff on the scene in 1978--post-disco, post-punk, power pop, AOR and Top 40. There's something for any fan of rock music here. Excellent mix and production all around.
Yacht rock spun in a blender with modern soul, hip-hop, and jazz. Thundercat is immensely talented but too stoned to take himself too seriously. Obviously polarizing, based on the scores other listeners have given it. Much like Steely Dan. IYKYK.
Considering this album came out in 1962--when the Motown label was only 3 years old and albums were nothing more than collections of singles--Booker T & co. made a good set of singles to put on the hi-fi and dance around the living room. Is this on par with What's Going On? No, of course not. But considering the evolution that R&B and pop music went through in 8-10 years and the expectations listeners put on an album, this is a collection of some early R&B better than most from 1962. Besides Booker T.'s relentlessly soulful organ, guitarist Steve Cropper--as described by Keith Richards--is "Perfect, man." I love Cropper for all that he doesn't do. He's never there to show off, just to support the groove.
Undeniably great funk/soul/pop/rock album. A milestone, but better than that, it's just great music that has something for everyone.
God damn it. STOP FEEDING ME DAD ROCK.
The music was good psychedelia, but man, that narrator was annoying.