Oh hey, my third-favorite Yes album! Probably the best of their work with Tony Kaye. We've got Steve Howe on the record before he started going all crazy with his lame-ass solos like he would in later years.
Overall a very stripped-back kind of album, especially compared to later works, but there's a real nice folk-ish quality to a lot of these songs that combine prog rock ideas without all the overblown theatrics. One weak song, which I still like, is A Venture, which is honestly just unremarkable, but with so few songs it is definitely a bit of an odd spot.
Man, what a performance. Kurt is both incredibly low-key and absolutely electrifying here, giving out such a soulful, beautiful performance that must've run his throat ragged. The more acoustic covers of both Nirvana songs and also others' tracks are also great (even if you can tell Kurt and co. snuck a few amplifiers onstage) and there's just so a dry, "no fucks given" kinda attitude amongst everyone onstage. Favorite tracks on here were their covers of Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World" and Lead Belly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night."
honorable mention goes to that brief cover of sweet home alabama
Okay, let me preface this with something: I'm not particularly a country type of person, modern or classic. So this album probably wasn't going to appeal to me anyway.
Still, I gave it a listen. Really neat to hear three powerhouses of country legend singing together, though I felt the songs as a whole kinda blended together sound-wise, there wasn't a lot of energy here and the songs were just often very slow, which is a shame when you have Dolly Parton on here, arguably one of the more exciting people on the country scene at that point.
Overall a nice idea for a big collaboration album, but all in all it's just not very ambitious, and certainly not one I could super get into.
Shoutouts to Dolly though. True goat.
In the interest of being charitable towards a genre and album I didn't really get, I'll give it a 3 instead of a 2. I think there's *something* there for someone.
Never listened to an Adele album before, or Adele in general outside of in passing. Now I get it.
She's got such a beautiful, soulful voice here, and the songs are so rich and varied! I do think the production sounds a touch dated here and there towards the start of the album in terms of sounding like many early 2010's stuff, though I honestly can't fault it because I feel this album set those trends in the first place.
This is one of those albums that really keeps up the pace towards the end, and each song here just kinda clicked with me. Definitely will revisit sometime, and will probably dig into her other albums at a later date.
This was... an album I have some mixed thoughts on.
I think some tracks have some absolutely killer grooves, and Martina Topley-Bird's vocals are beautiful here, but there's some pretty big issues I had with this album.
Number one: Tricky's vocals. Jesus Christ man, for your own album, you would've thought you would've mixed your vocals to a level audible over all those instrumentals, but alas, his voice is a mere whisper buried beneath the wall of sound. Perhaps I would've remembered his verses more. And when he *is* able to be heard, it's usually doing his lamest vocals, just sorta mumbling and stuttering and doing weird vocalizations.
Number two: The length. Christ, the songs on here can get long. I'd say the average on here is 4 minutes, with one track clocking in at a little over 7.5 minutes. Now, this wouldn't be a huge issue, but so many tracks on here just consist of the instrumentals repeating as well as the vocals, which is fine in the shorter ones, but can just become a slog to get through in the tracks where the groove just isn't really there or appealing. I can't in good conscience put it above 2 stars, but it's spared from a one star thanks to the tracks I *did* gel with, and Topley-Bird's vocals.
Favorite verse: I fuck you in the ass, just for a laugh
With the quick speed I'll make your nose-bleed
I ride the premenstrual cycle
Some pretty solid drum n' bass, all things considered. Perhaps a bit boring and overlong to some, but I found some enjoyment. Very well-produced on the whole.
It’s Songs From The Big Chair.
Great production, great songs, great flow and vibe, and the eternal classic that is Everybody Wants To Rule The World.
A fantastic Dylan album, taking less of a folk-oriented sound and more of a rock n’ roll one instead. Dylan’s lyricism remains as rock-solid as ever, revitalized by the very blues-y tracks and rocking energy. I’m gonna bump it down a star because I feel some of them really started to blend together, but overall solid album.
It’s fucking Abbey Road.
What an album. It’s one I’ve listened to countless times but am still not tired of it. So many great songs, with one (honestly completely harmless) dud, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, though even that’s a bit of goofy fun about a guy going around killing people with a hammer.
From that bumpin, smooth, sleazy groove of Come Together, to the bittersweet Something, to the cacophonous I Want You, to the revelatory brightness of Here Comes The Sun, the intricate choir on Because, or that immaculate final medley which sees a wide range of things, with its melancholic ballads about the band’s late-stage management troubles, energetic rock-n-roll numbers, tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross, and heartfelt goodbye featuring solos by all members (yes, including Ringo), this album truly is immaculately put together, incredibly diverse, *so* well-produced, and such a brilliant way to close out a legacy as insane as the Beatles left behind.
You’re gonna carry that weight, a long time.
Pretty solid blend of more folksy sounds with a very like, jazz fusion-y structure to its songs. In general the songs can go on for a bit longer than I think they really needed to, and the vocals are just kinda eh. Still an enjoyable listen, and those instrumental soundscapes are lush and wonderful. 3/5 i guess.
I’m honestly sort of unfamiliar with the Beatles’ early albums, at least as an album experience. I’d consider myself a Beatles fan, though I was always moreso infatuated with the “latter era experimental studio Beatles” than I was “fun boy band at the top of the world Beatles”.
That said, this one’s pretty good! It’s got a great selection of tracks, pretty much every one excellent and fun, and even if I haven’t heard them for years and certainly not as much as the others, you bet your ass I was singing along.
At 34 minutes, it’s a breezy album and the songs never overstay their welcome. I give it a 4, it’s just a very good listen.
