Fantastic album, thoroughly listenable from start to finish, fantastic social commentary whilst being listenable with some solid average love songs
“that’s lady” is so incredibly funky with a fantastic riff but is lacking lyrically 4*, “summer breeze” is a incredible piece of music 5* and “the highways of my life” which is a good song but lacks a little impact 3.5*. There’s also a gem in “you walk your way” and “sunshine go away today”
Overall every vocal is fantastic as are many of the riffs, whilst the lyrical content might be lacking the sheer amount of funk carries this through.
A album perfect for sunshine
This album is undoubtably good however it simply failed to grip me, “expecting to fly” is a standout single and “good time boy” is a simple but great listen. Overall the album gets stronger as it continues and the production is fantastic, I just never felt like it was really for me.
Dosent do enough to stand out as an all time classic or even a must listen, there’s some good songs here, but it remains a product of its time. Musically it’s impressive but it lacks the funk that carried over lyrically challenged albums I’ve previously heard.
Nothing here really caught me. Wouldn’t go back, but nothing here was bad either.
I c
I read somewhere that the reason behind ABBAs continued popularity was despite the lack of engaging lyrics, which can be attributed to English not being the first language, the production and layering of the songs is just so sugar. I agree this album has so many classics we have all heard a million times and someone still aren’t quite boring.
The fact this album contains at least 5 songs most people would know word for word without ever making a conscious effort to listen to, is a testament to the catchiness and popularity of ABBA,
Whilst this may not be my genre at all, this album is an absolute titan of pop music.
4.5* with the only thing stopping it being a solid 5 is it’s lacking any edge or unpredictability.
I think I understand what this album is, absurd innuendo laden lyrics over funky pop beats, the entire thing sounds like a soundtrack accompaniment to rocky horror picture show, and at times I love the camp weirdness of the whole thing, however I couldn’t find myself revisiting it as a album to sit and listen to.
The stand out track for me was “hero worship” which seemed to do the best job of combining listen ability with tongue in cheek in your face laugh out loud lyrics.
I like this album and I don’t think there’s quite anything like it I’ve listened to so far. I just probably wouldn’t listen to it again.
This album took me so long to review, partly because I really do not enjoy the opening three tracks. You’re not getting a whole lot a variety here and that’s the major criticism, there’s no edge to the music. However Beth’s vocals are haunting and beautiful and the background melodies are equally as well composed even if it can find itself sounding all very similar.
Despite this I found myself going back to this over and over again, it’s indescribable.
Yes it sounds the same and it’s not got enough edge to it, but it’s just so nice on the ears.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about this album for good or bad.
The most confused 4 stars I can give.
The opening of this album is like some sort of 60s Americana dream of a young man’s thoughts and ambitions. As deep as a puddle it stands as some sort of time capsule almost parody esque to a time that I’m not sure ever existed quite like it’s sung.
The closing 3 tracks however hit you with this wonderful multilayered impressive sound that speaks more to the beach boys legacy as artists.
If you had to listen to the back half and forget rest.
Perhaps it’s the over exposure to Brit pop through the years, but I found this album to be so painfully boring for large sections.
Here she comes is a great single if not massively repetitive, looking glass is a good tune although not remarkable, the two best songs are by far freedom song and over , the version of which I had was recorded live in a stable.
Musically there’s nothing here to write home about and it would perhaps have been a two star, if not for the above mentioned two tracks.
If your a Brit pop fan maybe give it a go otherwise leave it in 1990.
Truly an extraordinary piece of music, with the exception of jet which I think falls somewhat flat, every single song on here is amazing.
“Let me roll it is” is truly an incredible single, whilst “mamunia” feels a bit too hymn like for me it still stands as a great bit of listening.
“Piccasos last words” is a personal favourite and just undeniably a great and catchy theme.
1985 ends the album on perhaps the strongest track for just pure funk and the strongest track of the bunch, a all time classic.
A truly 5* album.
Maybe it’s because I grew up around this era of Kanye forming, but this album feels so horrendously outdated already. Much like very generic pop, rap music can age the worst especially when it’s as commercial as this.
The leather jeans and Pyrex references are as dated as the beat selection.
Kanye for me is at his best when he combines his egocentrism with some humour such as on life of pablo, however there’s no real humour to be found here.
Kanye isn’t really saying much and when he does such as on “new slaves” it’s instantly thrown away by lines like “I’d rather be a d*** than a swallower”.
Kanye works best when he’s rapping over some crazy sample or some beautifully made beat but that’s not present here with the exception of “bound 2”, which is slightly more humourless and has aged somewhat better.
Despite all this the rapping is relatively solid, I think musically it’s just aged badly.
Adele has an incredible voice, and the opening two singles from this album demonstrate that perfectly. Perhaps had “hello” and “send my love” not been so heavily played across the UK and parodied (specifically hello) they might have been more impactful.
The issue is then following this opening the album for me goes into a lull, the next four tracks seem to all talk about the same themes of love with little variation and without the impact of the opening two tracks.
“River Lea” picks up the slack and then “million years ago” carries the back end being by far the best track here. Mainly because it addresses a different theme from breakup and as such feels incredibly fresh.
The album closes strongly but the middle is too sleepy and repetitive for me.
3.8*
How do you rate a album, that’s not from a genre you like, that’s 30 years removed from the rave culture it was created for, a culture you was neither present for nor have any relatability too.
I think the fact that this is even listenable at this point in time stands to its quality as a record.
I don’t love it but I don’t hate the sound and despite being all breakbeat / techno it changes and chops the sound enough to be interesting and has some fun samples.
Powerful short burst lyrics concerning crushing capitalism that are somehow even more relevant now 40 years later, angst and reflections on the human condition, or at least that’s what music match lyrics tell me as I genuinely couldn’t understand a word this man said.
9/10 of the songs I’m sure he wasn’t even saying what the lyrics suggest.
I understand this isn’t my genre and I’m willing to cut some slack however I found this one hard to get through mainly as I couldn’t grasp a single lyric.
Musically it had points where it feels at least like your waging into war on doom on the Super Nintendo so that stops me hammering out a 1.
And the lyrics themselves are interesting provocative and relevant , again I just couldn’t get them.
The bits are there , my ears are not.
I really could not get myself to enjoy this album, it’s worth noting the non bonus track version is only 6 songs long and one of those is in French.
So of the 5 songs I was able to understand, there is no inherent flaws, the lead female vocalist has a beautiful voice and the lyrics are well done, I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy any of the songs as I found them all so boring and lack lustre.
“Million dollar bash” is the closest to enjoyment and is a quick sub 3 minute, faster in tempo and therefore more enjoyable.
This album actually makes me want to go re rate Beth ortons album. As this feels like a 30 year earlier incarnation and made me realise in reflection that I was tottaly wrong about that album and they are both equally as boring as one another.
I love “to be young” and it’s an amazing opening track, however from there things slide into a lull, “winding wheel” is an average song and “Amy” is incredibly dull.
There’s nothing then to distinguish and of the tracks untill the brilliant “come pick me up”
We then slide into another unfortunate lull untill the final track “sweet lil gal” which I don’t particularly love but sounds sonically different enough from the rest to stand out.
The writing here is good and Ryan has a nice voice, I think it’s just a bit too sleepy to rate any higher, it’s peaks are great it’s lows are incredibly forgettable.
I’m not a fan of the dad rock genre or 7 minute gutair solos,
So none of this is for me.
It almost lost a whole point for the first song being one of the most ridiculous lyrics I’ve ever heard.
I wish I could say more but it’s not my genre and not my sound.
This is the first album on this list I could not finish.
Lyrically there’s lots to unravel and that carries the two stars, however alanis seems to have a voice that was genetically engineered to hurt my ears.
I genuinely could not stand a single vocal, I actually think the opening track might be the most difficult to listen to thing I’ve ever heard, topped with the nauseating y2k sounding production (it was made in 1995, so was actually progressive) and this is my most difficult listen so far, genuine musical marmite.
I love the opening of this album,
Both “heresy” and “March of the pigs” are brilliant if a bit on the nose, Trent does this wonderful combination of noises his odd vocals, mixed with his occasional changes to a soft tone over this crazy industrial noise is so refreshing untill it’s not.
The middle of the album suffers from not being as distinct as the beginning and by the end it feels as though all momentum is lost.
Thankfully it ends on the brilliant “hurt”.
This is a super interesting concept that’s so close to a 4 but just falls short through a mediocre beginning but gets a 4 solely because I have the las a 3.
Ok so this album sounds great from a production perspective, the vocals are good, the choice of Melodie’s is good.
However it feels like there’s nothing here, maybe I missed the point of the songs but I didn’t feel like any of them were saying anything.
I couldn’t go back and really find a single track that grabbed me in any way.
Musically it’s a good listen I just didn’t think there was anything there to go back or to warrant more than the 3*
40 minutes of probably some of the best rhyming you will ever hear.
The fact has wrote this all before he was even 21 is extraordinary.
It breathes, sounds and smells like New York.
And paints pictures with clever lyrics and gives you an intense one on one guide through his life at the time.
My only criticism is sometimes there’s so much going on in each verse it can all feel rushed and as a result looses some of its impact, also makes the songs feel somewhat blended into one.
Still it’s an all time rap classic, arguably the best rap album ever made (or at least that I’ve listened too).
Had there been any change of pacing it gets a straight 5 star.
I enjoyed this album, but there’s nothing standout here. It’s well produced, the vocals are distinctive if not exactly the greatest and the subject matter covers all elements of debauchary.
But I wouldn’t find myself going back to it at any point.
It is what it is, the pinnacle of dusty dad rock, you’ve heard every song here a million times. Still it’s listenable and it deserves its acclaim.
A better more diverse piece of music than its sequel. Adele hits all the right notes here , although it remains somewhat slightly bland it’s a very strong 3/5*
A pleasant voice, interesting and fun lyrics, highlights are “the new frontier” and “Maxine”
The major issue here is you would struggle to tell any song apart and musically it’s quite dull. The jazz backgrounds almost sent me to sleep and I found many of the songs overly long and a struggle to get through.
There’s nothing bad about this but i feel one track would be enough.
Just a very deeply dull affair, which did not appeal to me at all.
In fact this album itself made me stop this journey for over 4 months.
A real piece of 80s pop history, this album starts with the single of the albums title a fantastic introduction. Followed by two less than stellar tracks and then the fantastic “hungry like the wolf” we then have two more tracks of filler and then a simply fantastic back end “last chance on the stairway”, “save a prayer” which is simple but very catchy and the highlight of the album the brooding synth pop masterpiece that is “the chauffeur”.
Overall for a pop album to have over half of its tracks be so good this album stands the test of time.
So truly out of my range of comfort,
However truly not a bad album.
Just not something I feel qualified to rate.
A solid album which has aged well, my generation is the standout track, although the goods gone and la,la lies are great, please, please, please is slighty too repetitive for my liking however and a legal matter is beyond odd.
overall sounds great for its time, is still listenable now, a solid piece of work that neither turned my head to it or away.
3.5
Almost listenable, the album sounds like a bizarre collection of noises that could be used in the background of movie scenes, then all of a sudden some sort of horrific noise will play directly into your eardrums and your snapped out of the experience.
Is it a listening experience?, yes.
Is it one i would recommend for curiosity's sake? yes.
Is it good?. No.
A great little album, with some great lyricism, It often feels like a coming of age album something it rolls with perfectly. This is demonstrated best in tracks like "welcome to the working week", "mystery dance" and Allison". Other tracks such as "sneaky feelings" add a bit more flavour and still feel fresh touching on odd subjects whilst remaining upbeat.
The albums biggest sin is there isnt enough musical variety. Often the songs bog down into one another and there isnt a clear stand out sound between tracks.
I give this album a 4 simply because the system does not allow any more nuanced of a grading.
Its stronger than a 3 but not quite strong enough to warrant a strong 4.
Bizarre, weird and fantastical.
Horror movie music in the oddest sense, theres not really a way to describe this album beyond rocky horror picture show and honestly thats a great thing.
Im giving this album such a strong score partly because theres nothing quite like it ive listened to so far, its fun its original and its bold.
Beck makes sad songs about sad things,
This is a very emotionally charged painful album, perhaps had I been at a different stage in my life id have resonated more. But as stands I found this a really difficult listen that I couldn’t finish, too many melancholy songs blended into one long continuous sad note.
Paper tiger is also genuinely an awful song.
Bland, long and sad.
Kendrick’s second full length album, I’ve always adored gkmc, in fact I consider it to be the closest to a modern illmatic if not better simply because it has the benefit of time on its side,
As a sequel Kendrick smashes this out the park, pimp a butterfly is full of incredible lyricism , fantastic beat selection and deals with a range of topics,
Kendrick is at his almost finest here and it’s a modern rap masterpiece.
Melodically a lovely listen but beyond that I can’t really draw any value from this album.
There’s moments where I think the songs are going to go somewhere interesting or a chorus catches me but it never quite hits the mark, overall I just found the experience to be very dull and routine.
This is classic early 2000s rap, something jay is great at.
This isn’t the self reflective Kendrick Lamar touching on deeper themes type of rap, instead the focus here is very much on endless bragging about jays own rightfully so lyrical ability.
Never less the album holds up well the beats are silky, jay raps well, “song cry” almost achieves some sort of higher thinking.
Overall it’s jay flexing his lyrical and musical ability and it’s a great reflection of his talent.
Fantastic album, short and punchy.
Highlights here are “wrote a song for everyone” and “bad moon rising”.
A genuinely fantastic way to spend 44 minutes of your time.
A elderly johnny cash delivers some fantastic covers including the now ultra famous rendition of “hurt”
Personal favourite here however is the opening track and album title “the man comes around”.
Great listening and would recommend a full play through on a long winters day.
Not a bad album, but not a particularly interesting one either, the lead singers voice is too monotonous to really create a diversity that allows you to pick out a particular track, it’s perfectly listenable but only once and for this list.
Nice short and punchy, catchy rock, dosent overstay its welcome and starts and ends strong with a somewhat middling middle.
A very british feeling album, queen have such a distinct sound and style.
This album really works best as a straight through listen, each song sort of blends into one another whilst retaining a clear distinct alteration in sound that it avoids becoming dull. The production throughout this entire album is also stellar and probably contributes to the seamless feeling.
I dont think there is a stand out song for me here, however as a complete listening experience i certainly have to say not to give this one a miss.
Atmospheric, moody and just a outright great listen. This whole advert sounds like the soundtrack for one of those early 2000s Bacardi adverts. MY biggest issue here is no single song stands out, instead the album feels like a piece of backing music, which is does fantastically and i find myself having on in the background constantly! But the like of a real standout song stops me from giving this a 5.
I adore it, but i adore it in the background more so than as a first choice of listens.
I think this album is a very much you had to be there experience. Personally despite the incredible amounts of good reviews, i found this album both tedious and dull.
This is definatly more heavy rock than grunge and that comes across in a lot of the riffs. The lead singers voice doesn't have the sort of distinct charm other grunge vocalists (kurt) had and as such the whole album felt like a long long slug through a forgotten period of 90s rock.
There isn't a song on here i would return too and that's a shame as other reviews would indicate this is one of the greatest albums ever.
Its not offensive, i think when taken outside of the lenses of nostalgia its just not that good either.
It’s prog rock, lots of prog rock.
This album is absolutely fine, it has no standout highs or standout lows but feels instead like a version of prog rock made to exist to avoid licensing anything recognisable from the era.
Like dr topper over Dr Pepper.
This album starts so strong, arguably two great back to back tracks in 1969 and I wanna be your dog.
But from there it looses its steam and momentum, which is a shame because I adore this opening, it’s just not really a great listen beyond the opening.
A really solid album, enjoyable start to front, quite solid poppy-ish British rock.
A definite listen
Whilst you can undoubtedly hear the massive influence nyc underground music had on all sorts of music throughout the years, it remains a sound that was (I assume) best listened to live and direct at the time, 60 years have passed however and instead I’m listening to this in my car on the motorway.
Sonically this sounds ok, the band are well put together, the music is simple but listenable, the lyrics and actual vocals however are not.
Every song sounds like a vague collection of thoughts, designed more to be heard over the sound of clinking glasses and general chit chat, than something to actually be listened to, the subject themes are tedious, lyrics uninspiring, vocals honestly quite boring.
By the time we reach “girlfriend” half of the lyrics being the letters or girlfriend being spelled out loud, I had to tap out.
There’s nothing wrong with NYC underground, but there’s plenty of examples that have aged better.
Big 80s pop with a huge sense of grandeur, feels like a massive suit with 15 buttons and 6 feet shoulder pads.
8 tracks, 6 of which are amazing.
Each one feels like it’s in exactly the right place, a real journey.
Ignoring the weak middle “mothers talk and I believe” are utterly forgettable .
This is an album that will stick in your head for a long time.
A true 4.5* if there ever was one.
But we round up.
I don’t know anything about jazz.
But this sounds great.
A a side full of nursery rhymes and bizarre noises, a b side full of much the same with some fleeting moments of enjoyment but never enough to make you thankful you are listening to this album.
Whilst this album may have been spectacular at the point of release, it’s simply not as impactful now.
There’s too much hear that I’ve since heard other bands do the same or better.
There’s some fantastic highs but a lot of really middling lows.
A album of two parts - the first half is a sickly sweet ode to love, with fantastic harmonies and beautiful if somewhat slightly uninspired lyrics.
The second half touches on the darker side of heartbreak but do so in a even less developed way and a smudge too late for you to pay real interest.
It sounds wonderful but it isnt anything that would stand out in your mind after the initial listen.
You have to really put aside any modern sensibilities or sense of morals to enjoy this album.
Killing people aside the amount of misogyny is mind blowing, to levels even someone who really enjoys rap wasn't quite used too.
Still the album has its place, theres no super complicated multi sylables here, just straight boom bap ish rap. Easy and in your face, every one of NWA gets some time with varying results.
Standout tracks include 8 ball and dopeman.
Overall its iconic and punchy and its anti establishment message is unavoidable. It does it job of being in your face and refusing to be apologetic, all whilst sounding still incredibly listenable. but falls too flat in subject matter in other areas to really be fantastic.
