Objectively good and I enjoyed it, but I don't see myself returning to this on a regular basis.
Faves: When Your Lover Has Gone, Just for a Thrill
I have listened to this album once before, but I don't think I was paying very close attention. I have never been particularly into The White Stripes, and I'm still not, but I enjoyed this album a lot.
Faves: The Same Boy You've Always Known, We Are Going to Be Friends, Fell in Love With a Girl, I Can't Wait
I remember when Helplessness Blues came out, and I used to listen to it a decent amount (mostly just The Shrine/An Argument tbh) but for whatever reason I never listened to this album. I struggled listening to it because it sounds weirdly dated. This album is late 2000s/early 2010s indie folk rock, a genre I knew just from being alive at the time but didn't really seek out particularly, and I have no connection to these particular songs so all I can hear is the time period. I tried to force myself out of that when listening to this as best as I could, although idk how well that worked. It's a beautiful album!
Fave songs: White Winter Hymnal, Quiet Houses, He Doesn't Know Why
Faves: Good Times Bad Times, Communication Breakdown
Dirty Work has been a favorite of mine since I heard it on the Punch Up the Jam podcast a few years ago, but I wasn't very familiar with the rest of this album. It took me a while to get into it but I really liked it by the end. Definitely enjoyed it more musically than lyrically. Did not enjoy the song Kings at all.
Faves: Dirty
Admittedly I did come into this album with a bias of hating Red Hot Chili Peppers, but this album did nothing to change my mind. I don't hate everything about Red Hot Chili Peppers! I think the music is fun and interesting at times. I like Flea as a bassist a lot. But I don't like Anthony Kiedis's voice, and I think the lyrics are stupid to the point of distraction on every single song. I will probably regret rating this album as low as I am, because I didn't HATE it, but at the end of the album runtime my patience was almost gone.
I had heard some of the songs before (Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, Bad) but never listened to the album as a whole. Amazing pop album.
Faves: Liberian Girl, Dirty Diana, Just Good Friends
Genuinely interesting. Creepy.
I've always felt like I'm missing something when people talk about The Strokes. I find it difficult to get excited about them. I find them a bit boring lyrically and vocally. I've heard this album before, but enjoyed listening to it more closely, and a lot of the music stuck out to me more this time. I'm still not a huge fan of Julian Casablancas - even the moments when it seemed like he was trying to do something different vocally (like in Take It or Leave It) I wasn't super into it. But the songs on this album are solid.
Faves: Last Nite; Hard to Explain; Alone, Together
I can't believe Air and Daft Punk were contemporaries? If you played me Remember and said it was a Daft Punk song I would believe it. Why was France churning out duos like this in the 90s
I have heard part of this album before, but primarily I know the song Sexy Boy from the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, in the scene where the party fliers for Bogey Lowenstein's party are being dropped down the stairwell
This album is just super cool. Chill without being sleepy. There's a touch of sameyness to the songs but it all fits together amazingly as an album. The songs all cohere and blend. It just makes you want to float.
Faves: Remember, La femme d'argent, Ce matin-la
Faves: Re-Ignition, Secret 77, She's Calling You, Sacred Love (the little reversed sound in the chorus where it sounds like the air is getting sucked out...I wish I knew anything about music so I could describe that properly)
Faves: Hurt, I Hung My Head, Bridge Over Troubled Water (Fiona!!)
Faves: Son of a Preacher Man, Don't Forget About Me
I had a Nick Cave phase a few years ago but somehow never listened to this album all the way through. I love Henry Lee and Where the Wild Roses Grow very much. There are a lot of interesting parts of The Curse of Millhaven and I think the crying in The Kindness of Strangers adds a lot to the song. I think I like Nick Cave on a song level because listening to this album all in one go felt like a slog, even though there are definitely elements of this album I thought were great.
It's just not possible for me to be objective about this album. Everything Will Be Alright and Believe Me Natalie have never been heavy rotation for me, and I vastly prefer the Sawdust version of Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll to the version on this album. But even with those caveats I cannot bring myself to lower my rating of this album, which is otherwise full of perfect and amazing songs
Faves: Touch Me I'm Sick, In 'n' Out of Grace
