This Nation’s Saving Grace
The FallYikes. This made me question if I even like music at all.
Yikes. This made me question if I even like music at all.
What's not to love about Zeppelin IV? Full of iconic rock songs, and the Tolkien inspired Battle Of Evermore. Sandy Denny provide the vocals on that song along with Plant. She was from the folk tradition of Fairport Convention, and had a short and troubled life. But she left us with some tunes, one of which is Who Knows Where The Time Goes, also recorded by Judy Collins.
A classic from beginning to end. Still amazed at his vocals on Born in the USA. My Hometown is my idea of what a great song is - like a novel written in 3 verses and a chorus, and a perfectly placed bridge. FIVE STARS!!
One of Muddy's best imo. Chicago blues with some iconic players aboard. Not too difficult to pick out Johnny Winter's guitar riffs in the mix. Solid!
It's difficult for me to listen to listening to this genre without thinking it's satirical like Spinal Tap. I do like their youthful energy and idealism. The songs are very socially conscious - anti drug, anti war, anti evangelical grifters. I appreciate why some people like it, but it's not something I would generally listen to.
You can hear the tension in this album as the Eagles were deciding what type of band they were ultimately going to be. Country, rock, country/rock, pop? They were still coming into their own as writers, and discovering their strengths and direction. Interesting the 2 of the 3 most popular songs , Take it Easy and Peaceful Easy Feeling, were not written by the band. I think this is also when they decided that Meisner was not going to be a lead singer. I give it 4 stars, based mostly on the song Take it Easy.
Amazing how much mileage Herbie Hancock got out of the opening riff on Chameleon. These guys are master improvisers, but I find the lack of melodic motifs, and unending improvising is fatigue inducing. I appreciate the creativity, but I can't imagine any circumstance where I would want to play the entire album.
Well, this certainly is a southern CA punk album. I appreciate the youthful energy, the raw rudimentary playing, the lo-fi....everything. The time and place of this album is very apparent in the sound, along with the angry youthful ranting against things they don't understand. I think this inward directed punk (poor me, life sucks, I hate you all!) doesn't resonate like the more political punk of the Sex Pistols, or the smart lyrics of Bad Religion or the Clash.
Wake me up when the music starts.
I think if I was more familiar with who he is as an artist I would have appreciated this more.
These are the complete lyrics for the first song on the album. How can anybody not love it? Multinational corporations Genocide of the starving nations I'm not sure this is what he's actually singing, but these are from a lyric site. So yeah, the cookie monster vocals are kind of campy, but the band rocks.
I really love the complete lack of pretense these boys showed during the performance. It seemed all very genuine and sincere. I didn't realize that this didn't air on mtv until months after Cobain's death. It's easy to see why he was so loved by so many from that generation. Re: Kurt's guitar sound - it's not a sound that most acoustic players would strive for. And yet, it all works very well. Really good songs, and a great performance.
Wow, some great tunes on this. I wanted to not like this lol, as TFF came along when I was anti-new wave music, and as a guitar player there was just too much synth, not enough guitar. I knew the radio songs were catchy, but I wasn't aware of the creative depth and songwriting on the album. Glad I listened to the entire thing.
A slice of my youth. I swear I bought this lp because I thought the cover art was cool. There are a few gems, but most of the tunes don't really hold up all that well. But I still like it.
I think this album had a home in the art rock of the 60's, and that probably where it should stay.
What an odd choice to open the album with the song I Kissed The Teacher, when there were 2 bonafide hits on it. ABBA's sound is worse and more contrived than I remembered. They were always the musical equivalent of empty carbs, but they were tolerable when I was young. Kinda like eating JuJuBees as an adult, like "what was I thinking?" All that said, the song Knowing Me Knowing You is a great song. My guilty pleasure I guess. I gave it a 3 because, even though it's musically equivalent to JuJuBees, they are just so adorable.
Better than I was expecting. Not exactly musical, but the boys had a nice fun vibe.
I really enjoyed the old fashioned, no frills, basic rock and roll feel of this album. Ron Wood's guitar playing is iconic, especially on Stay With Me.
You can really sense the time and place in this recording. Fuzzy guitars, creative freedom, and joy. The sound of Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead sprung from the same soil. Love the energy
This reminds me of just about every basement jam I've been in in the 70's . At least it sounded that way to my fuzzy 18 year old brain. John Cipollina is well known by guitarists of that era. He was a very creative player and had some unconventional approaches to gear. I feel like this studio recording doesn't quite capture what these boys must have sounded like live
To me this is a very pure natural album. Minimalist musically, but lyrical content that reads like literature. She has the voice to pull this off, which I dont think many artists would be able to without it sounding clumsy or cheesy. April 14 is a strange one. Apparently the wreck of the Titanic, Black Sunday (dustbowl), and the assassination of Lincoln all happened on 4/14. It's a bad day. Also interesting that this was a critically acclaimed product of Nashville in 2001. A lot has changed in 23 years.
Yikes. This made me question if I even like music at all.
Some of the tunes didn't hold up well for me, but there is enough on this album to ensure a spot in the tops of all time. Riders itself is enough to support legend status.
I get it. I think. I like the techno merged with new wave, sprinkled with funk and atmospheric roots music. I can imagine this would be a great band to see live while tripping balls. Hard to argue with poignant lyrics like: Dysmorphic in doses Imagine trying to shit out twelve red roses
Very nice. It's David Crosby doing what he did best. He had an ability to create sonic beauty, without being the most accomplished songwriter or even a very profound lyricist. Makes me glad that the other members of CSNY found each other.
Pleasant enough, and very competently performed but nothing there that piques my curiosity
It's fun, it's funky, it's got a sense of humor. Bootsy Collins wrote the book on funk
I think this is Alice's Dark Side of the Moon. His albums leading up to it were rock classics, but this is when he put it all together - hard rock, clever lyrics, with his gender bending social commentary. The song Billion Dollar Babies has a great duet with Donavan, an iconic guitar solo, and some of Alice's best vocals imo. Would listen again.
Not my jam.
Not bad. Good sound, nice dynamics.
How Bon Jovi made their bones as an arena rock band. The genre is meh for me, but no denying Jon and Richie accomplished what they set out to do.
Okay a couple things: 1. It is interesting to hear the music that Carlos Santana was so obviously influenced by. I thought half of the songs were actually the original version of oye Como va. 2. What he does on this album he does amazingly well. But he really doesn't stray far from his original formula. 3. This really makes me want to have an outdoor party with grilled shrimp and rum drinks.
I have always loved this album. 3 epic tunes 2 good ones, and some filler. Like a snapshot of Paul Simon during the period when his genius was evident, but no fully developed.
I listened to the first few tracks. I know he gets a lot of respect but it all sounded a bit pretentious to me.
Strange production choices on this album. The horns, the fuzz guitar in the middle of a country track, the out of place strings... To me it felt like they were reaching for something on every song, and never got there.
Pretty amazing album, especially considering the time period when it was created when One Bad Apple and Knock Three Times were examples of the top 10 singles of the time. Really the birth of radio friendly progressive music. It makes me miss the days when bands could still be popular while recording albums that didn't fit into cookie cutter molds.
I love the innocence the songs and the youthful exuberance from the lads. The seeds of the Lennon/McCartney songwriting chemistry are apparently
Some of Springsteen's great songs here.Not his best, but still iconic.
Not my jam
It wasn't horrible, but they're no Old 97's
The band once said they recorded the same album every time. Luckily it's a damn good one.
Not my jam. I respect he took a "do it all yourself" route, but nothing here connects with me.