While the Eagles are one of the best selling bands of all time, it's notable that they aren't really loved by the younger generations. Certainly not at all the way Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin or of course The Beatles are
They do almost everything very well; they all are very strong instrumentalists, the harmonies are on point, they have good musical chemistry and occasionally can churn out a strong lyric. Morever if the rest of the album was as strong as the first two songs the album would merit a really high rating, but the album decreases in quality (mostly songwritingwise) after that. And exposes the fact that The Eagles can be cheesy and boring at times. Still "New kid in town" and particularly Hotel California are fantastic songs fully deserving of being classics. Try and love are alright as well.
Would give it 3.5 stars , because the album starts out so strong. But can't bring myself to give it 4
While I really like some of REM's songs, I found to chord progressions to be relatively uninteresting, and the album doesn't have the attitude or transcendent performance to make up for it.
I have to admit though, that I don't think I gave it a deep listen, and that my opinion might change if I do
I respect the ambition to create this, but don't enjoy listening to it
Average sounding blues/rock band with a singer who stands out.
Listening to a song or 2 with can be enjoyable given the sheer power of Janis Joplin, but can't make up for songwriting and instrumentation which doesn't sound particularly good.
Listened to about half the album, before I got tired of it.
Very good storyteller, the songs are basically like short stories.
And the music is really enjoyable to listen too also
Black Sabbath are one of the central pioneers in the metal genre, while
Beatle song's such as Helter Skelter or I want you or Jimi Hendrix's Manic depression were also very heavy it's Black Sabbath that puts the whole package together. The low end heavy and at times dissonant riffs, the iconic imagery, the often times dark lyrical themes. What sets Sabbath apart though from other metal icons is their versatility, the drummer's funkiness, the authentic vulnerability of Ozzy's lyrics on songs like changes. The riffage of Tony Iommi sometimes leading the way to beautiful almost celtic sounding ballads. This is pure metal, darkness explored in a way that is meaningful and real. Not the cartoonish "edgy-ness" of later bands, nor the dick-measuring contest of who can shred faster or play louder. Heavy, funky and at times beautiful
4.5 stars
Good melodies and guitar-work, with at times clever lyrics.
Also interesting that each song is a character study.
However this nostalgia for all things traditionally english (which I and most people can't relate to at all) , and it clearly taking place in it's time gives it character but also dates it.
(The Beatles have kind of similar themes in songs like Penny Lane, but the visuals / story-telling and central themes are so good that it makes it universal and timeless)
.To me the album is imaginative and upbeat but simply sounds kind of dated, and doesn't transcend in such a way that I feel really compelled to revisit it again beyond a couple songs.
Would give it 3.5 stars as I thought it was pretty good, but not amazing
Very funky and original.
Well performed and produced, even though its at times deeply layered you can hear every element clearly and it's never overloaded.
The lyrics are fun and catchy too.
Particularly excellent guitar playing and bass playing
Lastly, making good happy music isn't easy, and they really pull it off so there's that too
Decent album, first artist I hadn't heard of at all from the generator.
When I heard "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" I thought I might be in for a banger of an album. But it turned out to be the best song on the album.
Very of it's era, both in it's production/performance and lyrical themes.
There are occasionally pretty original arrangements and Ms.Dynamite is a very good singer, I can understand why it resonated at the time it was released but can also understand why it isn't viewed as a classic album all these years.
Interesting elements, but couldn't really get into it
Somewhat inconsistent album, and sometimes to hippy-ish.
But the standout tracks are really amazing.
I love the poetry of Today and particularly of Comin Back to Me, just beautiful songwriting.
As well as the power of Grace Slick and catchiness of Somebody to Love.
Interesting production choices too, what an insane amount of reverb on the drums. Sounds like someone is playing far in the distance.
The band plays well, has two very good singers (who compliment each other perfectly) and the songwriting is at times amazing. That trascends any weaknessess the album may have
I admit I went into this with a bias against Sonic Youth.
They seemed to me to be the definition of style over substance, and they seemed like they viewed themselves as the coolest people ever. (See their interview with Nardwuar) Already in the first song I could hear that they were pretty innovative, as they sound like a 90s band despite the fact the album was made in the 80s. I could hear how the instrumentation(particularly the guitars) influenced great bands and albums (Loveless, The Bends) I would say they sound like an assortment of important 90s bands, but in reality I guess many 90s bands sound like them. Despite that, listening to the album confirmed some of my prejudices; the spoken word sections are meaningless and pretentious. The social critiques (lyrically) sound really basic and the album is excessively long. Still there are really interesting moments musically, particularly in the instrumental sections. The music sounds raw and at the same time very clear and layered. It sounds DIY but sophisticated and even when it's noisy and wild they create an interesting atmosphere.
3.5/5 because while it's innovative and interesting, it has it's drawbacks and to my ear's doesn't have that much replay value.
Bob Dylan goes electric, with a fantastic backing band (The Band)
What's interesting about Bob Dylan (from a lyrical perspective) is how the lyrics seem at once polished while simultaneously seeming like a total stream of consciousness. The lyrics sound good, the story-telling is amazing (and at many times funny) and yet something about his delivery and perhaps his willingness of veer off course narratively (though he always finds his way back) make it seems fresh.
It's an interesting contrast with Leonard Cohen, who's lyrics sound totally perfect and thought-out. Dylan instead comes across as kind of wild and unpredictable (Cohen can be unpredictable too in his words, but everything seems pre-meditated) While with Dylan it's like fuck it, "the sun's not yellow it's chicken!"
The first song is a masterpiece, just incredible story-telling. Every line is piercing, and often clever and devastating. You feel mixed about the once-rich main character who was fucked over by a diplomat with a siamese cat, yet was oblivious to inequality and suffering when they were well off.
Tombstone blues is fantastic too, so fun and stimulating.
Musically the album has it's high points but is less interesting than it's lyrics with some songs in my opinion being almost a little boring. The Band sounds better playing their own songs.
However the high points are awesome, so I think 4 stars make sense. 5 stars lyrically, 3 stars musically.
Instantly recognizable as a band.
They found their space in the scene and I understand their popularity. The songwriting is alright, and the band also sounds tight.
But I just can't tune into their music, stylistically the production sounds too crisp. Corrigan's voice is grating and the songs don't stick with me.
I appreciate the fact that the lyrical themes are dark, in a way that seems genuine. But it's easier to relate to that if you dig the music (which I experience when I listen to Alice in Chains)
By 1969, Elvis had lost a lot of his cultural relevancy.
With the Beatles and psychedelia taking over.
Just as Sinatra wasn't welcoming to Elvis, when Elvis became huge. Elvis put down the Beatles (remarking to Nixon that they were a bad influence)
His move to las vegas where his act was once too risqué is an indication that he was no longer the cool rebel but rather a symbol of times past.
Still Elvis, rather than change stylistically to keep with the times sticks to what he does well.
Vocally he sounds fantastic and the backing band sounds great too.
The album does drag a little bit though, and doesn't seem to acknowledge the incredibly interesting changes happening at the time in popular music. At times it swings but at others it sounds dated. The guitar's bass and drums sound earthy and great but the string arrangements sound cheesy.
Rather than listening to the whole album, I might re-visit specific songs.
Can't help but feel this album made the list due to the mentally unstable- genius romanticism. But this isn't Brian Wilson making Smile.
There are moments that album show's some potential, but it is so half-assed in it's production and performance that it makes it very difficult to listen to.
I don't enjoy listening to someone having a mental breakdown, it's just sad
One of the best discoveries since going on this listening journey.
Evocative and deeply personal lyrics/vocals complimented by a drummer that really grooves and plays unexpected drum patterns. The bass and the guitar playing is also excellent and together they create an enveloping (at times cinematic) atmosphere.
It all comes together to make a band that sounds ahead of it's time, and different.
Can absolutely hear how bands that I love have been influenced by them.
I appreciate his influence in South Africa as a jazz pioneer, but I didn't find the album particularly inspiring. The playing is solid and grooves, and there are high moments but I don't have the feeling that this is something I have to revisit
Really good songwriting, which in my mind is one of the most valuable and hardest things to find in music.
A very hard album to rate.
Full of dissonant chord changes and melodies, hypnotic arrangements/loops. The singer captures isolation and trauma almost uncomfortably well.
The lack of emotional diversity (it almost all sounds isolated/alienated to me) hurts the replay value of it, this is an album to listen to when in a specific mood. I also think it's a very good album to listen to in small doses. There's a ton of interesting ideas and arrangements and they certainly accomplish what it is they seemed to be going for (capturing said isolation)
3.5 stars for the many fresh interesting ideas, I don't feel good giving the album 3 stars (seems to low for such a well executed album) but 4 seems excessive given that I didn't enjoy listening to the whole album much.
Going to give it 4
Do check out individual songs though
Machine head, Nylon Smile, We Carry on
The band sounds so crisp, sharp and sexy.
So full of life, big band music at it's best
Catchy, well done pop.
The voice sounds so neutral, that it doesn't express any emotion at all to me, the music has it moments but tires fast as it doesn't swing.
Ultimately it's well done but sounds sterile to me.
Pink Floyd's greatest album.
A rare example of an album who's second half is much stronger than the first.
The Byrds are at their best when they go introspective and personal. Everybody's Been Burned is beautiful and mysterious song with a lyric that reflects on the nature of love. Crosby's odd phrasing works perfectly in the song making it sound like he has deeply meditated both emotionally/spiritually on whether it is worth it to become vulnerable in the face of love with inevitable brevity and pain that certainly comes with it. Mind Gardens is also a fantastic song with with reflects on coping mechanisms in a very fresh and different way. The song builds perfectly along with the lyric, holding you the whole time.
There are times where the Byrds can sound just pleasant and not particularly interesting or deep, but Crosby's compositions elevate the album and give it a different dimension. It's a shame the album consists mostly of other writer's compositions. Most of the album is a 3, but because it has a couple incredible songs I'm going to round up to 4
Best songs: (in order)
Everybody's been burned
Mind Gardens
My Back Pages
Renaissance Fair
Was expecting more from this, based on the couple songs I had heard in the past.
Part of the appeal of Nirvana is the fact that they combine really catchy almost pop-ish melodies with a explosive explosive instrumentation that has a genuine edge. Kurt Cobain can sing the living hell out of a song, and his voice has a yearning, an anger and delicateness which put's all of Nirvana's elements together.
The issue I have with the unplugged, is that a lot of songs don't hold up as well in the acoustic format. Songs like "Come as you Are" "I'm on a plain" lose of all their thrill factor and don't hold up well enough as compositions to excel in that context. Others though, like "All Apologies and Something in the way" lend themselves better to an acoustic format. The stand out of the show is Leadbelly's "Where do you sleep at night" where Kurt Cobain delivers an incredibly heart-felt vocal.
The album attained a legendary status, in part because seeing the top grunge icons of the day (especially one so punky) playing acoustic with a really beautiful setting was no doubt really interesting at the time, and Kurt Cobain's pre-mature death gives seeing such an intimate performance an added dimension.
If you take out Nirvana's status as grunge legends and all the mystique that exists around them, what you have is a band that doesn't sound it's best in an acoustic format. An exceptional singer delivering songs that don't hold up as well in an acoustic format
Very original, and bursting with ideas.
Although it was not always stylistically my thing, DJ Shadow is amazing at his ability to create surprising and fresh arrangements. At times the album really grooved too and created interesting atmospheres.
Love this, contains both depth and humor.
Constantly surprising and always grooving
An incredibly eclectic and ambitious album.
While the album has moments where is varies in quality, the high points are historically amazing.
Bohemian Rhapsody and Love of my Life are so original and intricate. I really liked "Lazing on a sunday Afternoon"
While it's not always my style, they do what they do perfectly. Everything is played amazing, the vocals are fantastic. The music is bombastic but in a way that has aged well (which is rare)
Going to give it 4 stars because while the best songs are all timer's. I only really liked about half the album
From the get go, it's obvious that there's a heavy Marvin Gaye influence/homage. "Have you heard the news today" "Mountain high and river deep" "When we gonna stop it going on"
I agree with the messages in the messages in the album, but the problem is that Jamiroquai lacks the depth and gravitas of Marvin Gaye or Steve Wonder when talking about these things. You really believe Marvin Gaye when he's talking about sociopolitcal issues in the world, you can hear how it affects him on a profound emotional level. With Jamiroquai that is almost totally lost. Maybe it's unfair to compare them to two of the greatest artists ever, but they invite those comparisons by sounding like them without sounding particularly fresh themselves. The question is what is Jamiroquai bringing to the table?
Well they groove, everything is well performed and executed. It's music that I'd enjoy if I walked into a party or if it was in the vaguely in the back round. That may sound like an insult but it isn't exactly, I'd rather here Jamiroquai than most of the music playing at most bars/restaurants/clubs.
But it is music to really bop your heard too? Or music to meditate to on the issues facing the earth? Certainly not. The lyrics are often vague and feel like commodified versions of the radical things they are perhaps hoping to express.
The music is decent, but it's trying hard to be things that it is not
A somewhat annoying listen, with random interesting moments.
The band sounds decent (although I don't love electric guitar tone ) and the singer obviously sings well but there is something in his tone and expression that sounds really whiney to me (and somewhat dated )
PJ Harvey sounds both fresh/original and accessible at the same time. Her voice has a warmth and an edge to it as well. So much personality, one of the best albums so far from this list that I had never listened to prior.
Love Black Sabbath, but while this album shows hints of the greatness to come it doesn't quite come together yet.
I see reviewers call this the first metal album, but a large majority of it sounds much more like heavy rock (closer Zeppelin or Hendrix than metal) They would become the Sabbath we know and love on the next album
Not essential, there's much better country
Some interesting elements sometimes, but ruined by the very (high in the mix) techno drums. I admit, super repetitive electronic beats are really not my thing so that might be a stylistic bias. All the disparate elements don't really come together even if they are at times interesting decisions separately. 2 stars, because while their is some originality hidden in the tracks it doesn't end up being enjoyable to listen or moving or interesting enough to compensate for that.
Never understood the Elvis Costello hype.
I get he has an image that goes along with his style.
And at times he can write some nice melodies with interesting lyrics. But most of it comes across as average to me. 6 Elvis Costello albums on this list is insane
Skilled musicians who make annoying music to listen to.
The guitar playing is virtuosic, everyone sounds good individually. The singing is impressive but doesn't reach me in any way. The songwriting is very average.
While Van Halen is better than a lot of hair metal bands, it commits the same sins. Superficial, macho but without the real guts to back it up. ACDC is also somewhat superficial and macho but it has some real backbone at least.
AC/DC is a band that is very good at what they do. They never try to change, and sure it's not a band that is going to stand out for it's depth.
But they rock, and this is probably their peak
Great funk album that is really versatile and grooves hard.
While it's not his best work, Paul's songwriting shines through with many of the songs containing beautiful melodies. Very Paul Mccartney-esque at times
Influences from music created in other countries is seeping into the album, but rather than taking over almost completely (like graceland) it's incorporation is generally a bit more subtle which I personally find interesting. (with the exception of the first song)
No song stands out as being totally trascendent like on other albums (like 50 ways to leave a lover or sounds of silence or bridge over troubled water)
But the album is very consistantly good
Lately I've been thinking about how hard it is to figure out how to say goodbye and end cycles in a healthy way.
Paul McCartney was really struggling emotionally after the Beatles break up, he ended up isolating himself living in "the heart of the country" and removing himself from public life. This album was born out of that situation, on him figuring out how to carve his post-Beatle path. Rather than get the greatest musicians possible to release a polished album with a huge budget, he instead recorded everything himself in his house. This gives it an early low-fi vibe, which was at once sounds wonderfully intimate but which veers sometimes into sounding unfinished. The critics hated the album when it came out, a feeling I differ with greatly but understand.
After all it would be weird in real time to hear leader of the most popular band ever releasing something which sounds so raw and under-produced.
I can imagine listening to on Valentine Day and being like "what is this half-assed shit. Some moments so demo-y it's almost amazing he put it to record. But it's also the rawness and lack of production which gives the album it's strength. You feel like you are there with him, songs like Junk are so warm/personal and understated in such a powerful way . It feels like someone singing to his friends, to the world around him.
He also attempts some experimental stuff on this album, in a way that is very interesting but doesn't feel done to it's full potential. For example Hot as sun/glasses starts as a peaceful song that makes you feel like you are on vacation with people you love , and then segway's very strangely into "glasses" an experimental track that is played with actual glasses that is very dissonant and eeary. Then Paul abruptly begins playing and singing and up-beat song on the piano for like 20 seconds before moving on the very melancholic song "junk" Each individual section of these songs are really good and the contrasts make them even more interesting but it all happens so fast.
It's like a snapshot rather than a cohesive thought-out idea.
Which is what I think is what this album is. A snapshot of Paul McCartney in this moment, brilliant sometimes a bit indulgent. Beautiful pop melodies co-existing with rockers and odd tidbits. He no longer needs to edit anything out due to being a band, and he takes you with him as he throws ideas at the wall and figures out his path after a traumatic experience in his life (the beatles break-up)
This album showcases two of Stevie Wonder's incredible skills: On one hand the ability to create some of the nastiest grooves known to man (superstition) and on the other the ability to create rich/evocative/ complex harmonic changes that fit perfectly into a pop context. Stevie Wonder's music is the opposite of music being complex for complexity sake, but rather each chord change adds to the depth of what he is singing without taking away from the catchiness/enjoyability of the melodies. Wonder also is innovative in his use of synths, playing them in such a way that has aged much better than some of contemporaries, in songs like "You and I" they add a tender and somewhat strange beauty to the piece. He did this all at the age of 21.
I've read that the vocals for Sleater-Kinney are love it or hate it.
Personally find the vocals difficult to listen to. I can get into vocals that involve a lot of yelling at times, but the heavy vibrato along with the relentlessness of it makes it sound one dimensional and grating. Instrumentally the band sounds alright, but not particularly great.
Probably a much funner band to hear live than on record
AC/DC are very good at what they do, and never deviate from the formula. Enjoyable in small doses
Strong 3 but cant quite give it a 4
Beastie Boys show here how versatile they can be.
Their best album
The legendary Stax backing band which sounds so fucking good on Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Sam and Dave tracks releases an instrumental album.
It's interesting the hear this band in the spotlight since it's always the singers who sing on their foundation who often steal the show.
The album essentially sounds like a very good band jamming on some original songs as well as some unnecessary covers without a singer. At times this results in really cool in songs like Green Onions and Mo' Onions while in others songs you miss the singer and you recognize why they are meant to be a backing band rather than recording artists themselves. Tempted to give it 4 stars because they contributed to so much music I love, and because you can tell that this would just awesome to hear live. But going to give it 3 because that's would I would give it without all the aforementioned context
Most any criticism I would have toward this album is toward Disco in general.
In my opinion they are the best thing to come out of disco, the playing is super tight and the string arrangements which are normally super cheesy in disco sounds pretty fresh here.
Their later work is better in my opinion
Went in excited to hear the album. Listening to the iconic guitar riff of "Gimme Shelter" the awesome low piano bass notes and the anthemic chorus with interesting lyrics got me more psyched. But then the album went downhill fast, more so than bad it just felt average. The Rolling Stones sound like a mediocre blues band for a big part of the album, the lyrics sound poser-ish (blues lyrics cliches delivered with a "bluesy vibe" that doesn't come across as authentic) You just don't believe that Mick Jagger has the blues. The album picks up with Monkey Man, the band does much better with faster paced rocking songs than the mid to low tempo blues. The album finishes very strong with "you can't always get what you want" which has a strong message and an original distinct arrangement as well as of course having a memorable hook. It's a bit painful to give an album with two bonafide classics a low rating, but also hard to give a decent rating to an album that I spent the majority of the time disliking
So imaginative and full of life.
Beautiful melodies
