I was waiting for the album to take off. The tracks are a bit slow; good as backdrop music. It's just not my cup of tea.
Any album opening with "Gimme Shelter" is an automatic 4 stars and up. Love in vain. Midnight Rambler. and You can't always get what you want bump this album up to 5 stars. I would get it in vinyl.
This was a good album. I had higher hopes because of the hype this band gets but this album earned a solid 3. With classics like Jump, Panama, I'll Wait, and Girl Gone Bad but some of the others left more to crave.
I may be biased on this one. I remember being a kid buying this cassette tape with my allowance and listening to it over and over. It's the reason I asked for an acoustic guitar soon there after.
This album is packed with gem after gem. There are many notable covers that make good use of Kurt's howlin' and raspsy vocals. Tracks like The Man Who Sold the World, Lake of Fire, and Where Did You Sleep Last Night. There is also enough original Nirvana tracks to satisfy any day one fanatic such as Come As You Are, Dumb, Polly, Something In the Way, and All Apologies. This is a solid album.
The last thing I was expecting from this hip hop album was hearing such a varied setlist which includes radio friendly hits such as The Way You Move, Flip Flop Rock, Hey Ya, and Roses. However throughout as you progress into the second half of the album Andre 3000 lets you take a peek into his new found love of eclectic indie vibe feels of R&B and Jazz with tracks such as Prototype, My Favorite Things, and Take Off Your Cool (feat Norah Jones). You can definitely see a switch flip on as a precursor to Andre's focus and personal projects with his flute 21 years later today. I enjoyed the trip.
This album is a true representation of what American folk is. The lyrics and storytelling are vivid and play like a cinema to the listener. Poetry at it's finest not to mention the clean heartfelt strumming of the chords on the guitar. Tracy is an artist too far overlooked. Her artistry and honesty in her music make the listener feel a bit anxious and heart broken at what she felt when composing this music, something very few artists have the capacity to do.. If you don't believe me listen closely to the mainstream hit Fast Car, or the hidden gems in Across the Lines or Behind the Wall.
This was a pretty good album; I listened to it while working and it was pleasure to listen to despite me not understanding the language. It is a good backdrop album.
This is my first time listening to Suicide and it was a trip. The beauty in this music is it's simplicity and dark undertones. Some of the lyrics are a bit shocking, case in point, Frankie Teardrop however as an artist evoking such emotions is clearly the intent. 1977 was very refreshing for me, especially considering the vast amount of overproduced tracks being released now a days. I really enjoyed this album and will listen to it again.
Not having previously been a big U2 fan before I can see how Joshua Tree may have impacted a listener on their first ever listen. The first four tracks of this album are captivating and have become iconic. To have those tracks lined up one after the other no doubt hits you straight in the face and leaves you wanting more of that drive and energy. The remaining tracks, with the Exception of Exit however, slow down considerably and have you wondering whether you were listening to the same album. All in all I really enjoyed listening to Joshua Tree. I can see why people rave about it.
I've never really been a fan of The Who and I wasn't quite sure why until now. The guitar riffs/solos, leading drums and driving bass are quite good however the lyrics and vocals are cringe. Young Man Blues, A Quick One, While He's Away are examples of this. This band would level up in my book had it had some other front man writing and singing. Halfway through this album I was ready for it to be over, I had to push through. My Generation was easily the best track largely due to the long instrumental breaks.
I can appreciate Prince's genius. I understand his influence and achievements. With that out of the way this album did not do it for me. I liked the obvious tracks Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, and Purple Rain but with the other tracks I fought the urge to hit 'next'. A great album should not bring about those urges.
This album has a number of iconic tracks such as Cry Baby, Me and Bobby McGee, and Mercedes Benz. Janis Joplin's vocals are immediately recognizable, they portray a lot of emotion and I hear her influence on much more modern artists such as Kurt Cobain and Alanis Morissette just to name a couple.
This was a good first time listen. I'm a John Lee Hooker fan and appreciate some of the tracks in this album including The Healer, That's Alright, and the mellow heartfelt No Substitute.
This is a classic album with hits that include Whole Lotta Love, What is and What Should Never Be, Heartbreaker, Ramble On, and Moby Dick. You get your money's worth on this one.
As every other Led Zeppelin album I have listened to this is great music. The high pitched vocals with the legendary guitar riffs and solos makes for an unmatched combination in musical history. I like this album. It has many notable gems such as In My Time of Dying, Houses of Holy, Templed Under Foot, Kashmir, Ten Years Gone, and a new personal favorite Black Country Woman. This album is solid.
I've realized that I'm a sucker for distorted guitars paired with female vocals. PJ Harvey falls into that realm. Listening to Rid Of Me for the first time; it is evident that PJ has influenced so many female rockers. I hear her influence in bands such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Florence + The Machine, and even the Chilean artist Camila Moreno. I enjoyed listening to this album and am definitely keeping it in my rotation.
I really wanted to enjoy this album. It's samples and production remind me of the backing tracks used by Del The Homosapien. It's lyrics and message remind me of Rage Against the Machine. However the delivery is not appeasing, it doesn't really complement the music. I appreciate the effort and am glad I got to listen to it.
Note: A friend mentioned this was Michael Franti and he has more recent projects with reggae and vocal-guitars. This new genre fits his voice and delivery a lot better than his early works in my opinion.
I enjoyed a few tracks where Duke Ellington was able to make the trumpet moan like a person, this really impressed me. The album itself was quite lengthy and I really wasn't able to distinguish between one track or another. It must be the genre itself and someone who truly loves Jazz would probably appreciate this album a lot more. All in all it was good but I was ready for it to be over about halfway through.
Although this is a heavy metal band, according to the Spotify 'About the Artist' section, I hear the punk rock elements that I can appreciate. The distorted guitar and riffs are pretty good. Despite this however I could not really get into any of the tracks. I am convinced this is more about me as a listener than it is about the band.
I'm an 80's music fan, I enjoy bands such as Billy Idol, Echo & The Bunnymen, Corey Hart, The Smiths, and the Cure. I even enjoy spanish 80's rock such as Soda Stereo and the pop band Timbiriche not to mention other mainstream acts of the decade. I mention all this to say that I did not enjoy Culture Club's Colour By Numbers. I understand it's more pop but even then I don't consider this a top 1000 album.
For the most part this album lacks structure in it's tracks. I feel as though a lot of the tracks are jam sessions with a few lyrics sprinkled in here and there or at least that's the sense I get listening to Remain in the Light. There are a few tracks that I enjoyed in Crosseyed and Painless, Once in a Lifetime, and Unison. Would I purchase this album if I were to run across it at some garage sale for a low price? No. Would I go out of my way to listen to this album in full again? No. Did I waste my time listening to it? No.
This was an easy going listen, I enjoyed the covers including, The Whole World In His Hands and The Way You Do The Things You Do. I also enjoyed the sax on Streetheart. Yet still this wasn't really up my alley. Good music just not for me.
There are few albums where the listener can sense that the artist delivered his/her heart and soul into their work. This is one of those works. Songs In the Key Of Life has many main stream hits such as Sir Duke, I Wish, and Isn't She Lovely. However for me it's the other gems that I really enjoyed such as the illustrative Village Ghetto Land, Pastime Paradise, and heartfelt Joy Inside My Tears.
What is there left to say about Jagged Little Pill that hasn't already been said. This album is iconic and timeless. This is definitely a top 1000 album.
I enjoyed listening to this album. I had never heard of the band and was surprised to hear Eric Clapton's guitar and vocals. I had heard Layla but never attributed to Derek & The Dominos. This was a good album, it had some good gems such as Have You Ever Loved A Woman?, a very good rendition of Little Wing, Layla of course, and one of my personal favorites Thorn Tree In the Garden. It was a good album.
Iconic. Filled with great tracks from start to finish. There is nothing more I can say that hasn't already been said about Abbey Road. A must listen for any music lover.
This was a pretty good listen. I enjoyed Tim's vocals, he reminds me a lot of Eric Burdon with a bit of Jim Morrison. This album was full of what seemed improvisational jam sessions where each instrument was showcased at some point such as in the track 'Devil Eyes'. I also liked the vibes in Hong Kong Bar which remind me of early delta blues but with more of a modern twist talking about being in a Hong Kong Bar reminiscing about a past love. I would listen to this album again.
What I liked most about this album was the production. The layers and vocals make for a great feel. Even when talking about somewhat dark material as in Time to Pretend the music comes out upbeat and fresh.
Hot Rats is pretty much a Jazz/ Jam Session album. I had heard of the name and am glad I now get to associate a work to the artist. One of my favorite tracks was Willie The Pimp, the solos were interesting and captivating. The saxaphone on The Gumbo Variations was also quite good. Although it's not what I'm accustomed to listening to I would have this album run in the background and could get work done. It's not one of my favorites but a good work to know of.
This was a good listen. I appreciated a few tracks such as Instant Hit, So Tough, FM, and a great cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine.
Punk music is a medium for those that don't have highly technical abilities but have a lot to express. As such the Slits used this perfect medium to layout some good music. Although I wouldn't buy this album in vinyl I'm glad I took time to listen to it.
This was a good listen. Country is a genre I appreciate but don't listen much of. I enjoyed this album. It was good for working and I can appreciate the guitar chops Joe Ely has. The lyrics and tracks were fun to listen to.
Harmony: The combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect.
This band is the best representation of harmony in physical form. This album not only has the obvious gems in 'Monday, Monday', 'Go Where You Wanna Go', or 'California Dreamin' but tracks such as 'Got a Feelin', 'Spanish Harlem' and 'The In Crowd'.
Scott 4 is an intersting album. The production of the music and arrangements are of top quality however the vocals and lyrics aren't. I tried to appreciate however to me it seems like a rough draft that the artist never went back to refine. It's almost parody-like.
This album is good backdrop music. I've noticed I like certain jazz for intentional listening and other more as background noise. This falls into the latter. It is good to listen to while being productive. The lyrics and music don't get in the way of your concentration.
Nas' debut album is a gem. The production is not over the top and allows Nas to use his lyrics to describe the backdrop of his story. You get transported to the time and place of his choosing and feel the day to day struggles of his experience.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik is filled with great track after great track from Breaking The Girl, Suck My Kiss, I Could Have Lied, Give It Away, Under The Bridge, and my newfound favorite Castles Made of Sand. I would go out of my way to buy this in vinyl.
This was an interesting work. It was entertaining enough to have as background music while working.
This was a very chill listen. It was entertaining enough to have as background music and didn't make me want to skip any tracks. It's good to listen to while working, it is somewhat therapeutic.
I enjoyed this album, especially the guitar riffs and catchy lyrics. I appreciate the music but wouldn't go out of my way to buy the album. The listen was good but I know that others would appreciate it much more than I can. I really enjoyed the energy in "Pump It Up", 'Lipstick Vogue', and 'Radio, Radio'. The organ in the tracks were a great touch.
I really liked the guitar riffs and solos, they paired nicely with Ozzy's vocals. Overall a good album. I wouldn't buy it personally since this isn't my cup of tea but I can see why people would like it.
I had never heard of the band but I have heard of it's first track, 21st Century Schizoid Man, which was sampled by Kanye West's record; Power. The guitar, drums, and wind instruments add layers that work well together. There were very tranquil, almost therapeutic, moments in the album that were quite refreshing. The Court Of The Crimson King was one of my favorite tracks. Overall this is a good album.
White Blood Cells is a great album; it's at the cross intersection of folk, shoegaze, and blues. The fact that you hear only guitar, vocals, drums, and even piano, as in This Protector, is mind blowing. The songs seem to have much more substance and layers than one realizes until you actually do.
This album includes hit after hit. A must have for any music collector. You can hear the versatility in the band from the energy driven Chuck Berry like tracks Travelin' Band and Ooby Dooby. R&B/Gospel worthy tracks such as Long As I Can See The Light and Who'll Stop The Rain. Blues is represented well with Before You Accuse Me. This doesn't even include the now renowned songs in Up Around The Bend, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, and Born On The Bayou.
It was interesting. I wouldn't gravitate towards listening to it again but it was good enough to get work done with it during the first and only listen.
I can appreciate Jazz music however this one was quite dry. The one track that lit a fire under me was Rumba Mama, I would have loved more of this.
I don't usually have to forward tracks but with this I felt the need to jump ahead to confirm that how a track started was indeed how it was ending. This would probably be appreciated by more technical listeners of Jazz.
This is the first Taylor Swift album I listen to from beginning to end. I was impressed, she is a really good story teller and uses very good imagery in her lyrics. I can understand her appeal. I am glad I listened to this album and can see why she is a star.
Even though it's not my typical choice of music I enjoyed the listen.
I am a mixed fan of The Smiths, they have some captivating songs to their name however there are many more songs that I cannot quite get behind. This album is one of those. With songs like "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Paint a Vulgar Picture" for example; it seems as though the band had a track quota and these is what they came up with. I can imagine the creative process as picking 2-3 chords to create a repeating riff then add libbing the lyrics and printing it. The only two songs I enjoyed were "Death of a Disco Dancer" and "Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me".
I know R.E.M. from it's many 90's hits which resonate with that decade however I did not know they put out albums far back as 1983 such as with Murmur. Knowing now that R.E.M. predates The Smiths and even Pearl Jam it's not so crazy to say this band may have influenced those two bands a bit. I hear a bit of the musical backtracks found on some The Smiths albums as well as some of the voicing familiar to Morrissey and Eddie Vedder.
Murmur is a good album. I wouldn't get it in vinyl but it was an easy listen, I found it interesting to see how this band evolved from this into its iconic style of the 90s.
The opening track left me awestruck! Sometimes in the right hands, less is more, less production, less tracks on a record. In the case of Brian Wilson ... he does a lot more with less. His music captivates with meticulously placed arrangements and harmonious vocals. Buckle up because single track can have many unexpected twists and turns that keep the listener engaged such as with Heroes and Villains.
This is not a mainstream album. It is an album that implements minimalism and showcases good vocals and arrangement placing. If I were to find this album in a vinyl crate at a good price I would scoop it up.
Raising hell has some good tracks ... a few well known ones. The variety of backing tracks from classic bass and drum beats to more distorted guitar riffs must have been captivating at the time. This was a good listen. I wouldn't get this in vinyl.
From it's opening track this album set the tone for the immense success and influence this group would have in the world of hip hop. I recently went to a Wu-Tang concert and perhaps I may be biased writing this but seeing almost the entire lineup of this collective live on stage performing tracks from this very album gave me goosebumps. Something about these tracks resonate with hip hop fans. Perhaps it's the gritty delivery, catchy lines, or timeless production. There is something about this album that stays with you, a "je ne sais quoi". If I were to listen to one of these tracks in my late 80s I will still be throwing up the W.
Bring da Rukus, Shame on a N***, Can It All Be So Simple, Da Mystery of Chessboxin', Wu-tang aint nothing to F* Wit, C.R.E.A.M., Method Man, Protect Ya Neck, and Tearz. What else do you want in a hip hop album? This one set the bar.
The name of the album definitely describes the music. There is tons of fuzz and big muff pedals pumping out a lot of pre-grundge tracks. I liked listening to this; especially the live version tracks. I wouldn't get it as vinyl but it's a good band and album to know.
With such a great talent as Prince I was very excited to listen to this album as I had never heard of it before. It had some good lines, some good arrangements, however it was not for me. I kept waiting for something to hit me musically but it never did. The first half of the album seem to stagnate and never really hit a peak, at least this was the feeling I got listening to this.
It wasn't until I heard the break on I Could Never Take The Place of You and The Cross that I heard songs worth listening to.
I had a couple listens to this album. It was an intriguing and captivating listen. It was great to have it play in the background, there is no real melodies, no real distractions.
The music reminds me more of the captivation I have with wind chimes. There is no real predictability to them, it's sporadic, it's susceptible to the randomness of wind gusts. Yet despite this you can listen to it in the background while still being focussed on something else. In this sense this album has some healing properties and is good if you just want something to play in the background while you knock out a deadline or pull some weeds for that matter.
If I were to find this in an album create for a low price I would pick it up to put on while doing unfettered tasks at home.
I had never heard Sigur Rós and didn't know what to expect. The arrangements and vocals on this album work very well together. This album does not require active listening to enjoy it however from time to time your ears perk up when you hear some new instrument, vocal, or change in tempo. It is very engaging even though you wouldn't expect it to be. I would go out of my way to have this gem in vinyl. It's far from mainstream and that's the point. It's fresh.
