An absolute banger of an album and I cannot wait to see The Killers live in May at Boston Calling. It can be hard to predict which songs from an album will catch on and be the most played so it is unfortunate that all the songs I enjoy the most from this album are in the front half. I don't remember the last time I listened to the album front-to-back so this was as good of a reason to do that as there is. Mr. Brightside will never fail to get me hyped and in comparison, you can feel the back half of the album fall off. I always recommend people listen to more than just Mr. Brightside off this album because they are doing themselves a disservice by not listening to the other tracks that on this album.
Most people have probably heard, or know of, Fight The Power which closes out this album. However, I have not sat and listened to this album all the way through until now. The songs contain an interesting reflection on the institutionalized racism of the era (and even to this day) and other social commentary pieces. Each song blended a bit into the next with some exceptions that utilized a hard break between the end of one and the start of the next. I don't find myself being drawn into the world of hip-hop often, but enjoyed this album as a change of pace to what I'm normally listening to and expanding my horizons.
Even after adjusting for the fact that this is not the type of music I normally gravitate towards this album feels disappointing. All the songs feel flat and over-processed (likely due to the overdubbing that happened after the live recordings) and this album does not have the energy I find most live albums do. The one exception to this is the version of The Boys Are Back In Town. This song feels energetic and fun, which sticks out on this record.
Anchored by back-to-back classics in It's The End Of The World As We Know It and The One I Love, I enjoyed this album. No songs stuck out as bad or "skippable" and the flow was nice. I wish I had listened to this one completely sooner.
I don't think I've listened to any other Dire Straights beyond Sultans of Swing so this album was a pleasant surprise. Strong on the dad rock vibes.
It was the first album of this project that I was completely unfamiliar with. However, I enjoyed the music; it was a fun listen during my morning run. The jazz and pop blend was driving enough to keep me motivated but not overly distracting from my workout. I don't think I'll return to this album after the project, but I was happy to have listened to it today!
I went through a heavy Led Zepplin rotation as a teenager so this was a fun album to return to. I had forgotten how many of my favorite Zepplin songs were all on this release. Excellent pacing between high energy and low energy songs and the album flows so well together.
Reminded me of listening to first-wave music with my dad in the car while growing up.
A very fun surprise, ended up liking this album much more than I thought I would.
Beastie Boys do one thing and one thing only, yell over a backing track. So if you like that one thing, this album is for you.
I ended up liking almost every song on this album except for "Don't" which I thought was too hard rock for my usual taste.
I was surprised by how long this album was, felt like it could've easily been two.
Birdland has been a favorite song of mine since hearing it in middle school band class.
Another RHCP album and another 5 star rating.
Reminded me of car rides with my dad growing up!
Not my go-to music style, but the upbeat tempo and the complex lyrics had me fully invested in this album. A great second studio album from Public Enemy.
What a journey of musical styles and genre-blending tracks. This album had some fun highs (I'd Rather Be the Devil) and some slow lows (Solid Air), but overall, it was a pleasant listen to kick off this Tuesday.
Holy long album, Batman
Smooth Operator
Was this jazz? Was this electronica? Was this spoken word? I don't know. I do know that I did not enjoy it one bit.
You could have told me this album was simply one long song, and I would have believed it. Everything sounded exactly the same.
