Eric goes pretty hard on the guitar solos in most songs and it becomes a bit self-indulgent. Especially "Key to the highway" is pretty much just a 10min guitar solo. The lyrics are often pretty simple, and the solos often aren't very imaginative either. As a whole the album comes across very cookie-cutter with some notable exceptions. The album gets progressively better towards the end after "Have You Ever Loved A Woman?". Layla is obviously the big draw here and is indisputably a classic
Tentative 3/5
Angry '90s hip-hop at its best. The lyrics are aggressive, unapologetic, on point and relevant as ever. The whole album is one big protest against the system and oppression of black people. FIGHT THE POWER!
4/5
I'm not really a fan of live albums, so that already puts a negative angle on this from the get-go.
I don't think a single song really stood out to me through the entire album. Mostly it was just noise or faded into the background
2/5
Turn up the tempo, let's go! Classic trash metal at its roots. It almost feels like this album is a sort of precursor to what would later become power metal. Very bombastic sound that . And some of the tracks are almost anthemic like 'United''. The lyrics are quite silly at times, but they are delivered exactly how they needed to be for exactly this moment in time and to inspire all the future albums. 'Red White & Blue' feels out of place on the album
Standouts:
Breaking The Law
Living After Midnight
"Broke The Law"/5 (4/5)
I don't think I've ever listened to this album before even though I feel like I've listened to quite a lot of Queen in my day. It's pretty clear to hear that this is the album where Queen really start to develop their trademark sound, but it's not quite the Queen we know yet. Some of the hardest/heavy Queen I've ever heard.
Standouts
The Looser In The End
The March Of The Black Queen
"That's the picture from bohemian rhapsody"/5 (4/5)
I like a lot of the ambient stuff, but of the "regular" songs only 'Heroes' stands out as a song I'd listen to on purpose.
Standouts
Heroes
Sense of Doubt
3/5
Such an iconic album. This is what I consider peak R.E.M. The album comes through as hauntingly introspective and quite melancholic and the vocal successfully sells this feeling with palpable emotion backed by tight strings that you just can't ignore. There's a lot of great alt-rock from the 90's and still this album stands out as one of the greats with music and lyrics that tackle timeless emotions.
Standouts
Man On The Moon
Everybody Hurts
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
5/5
Somehow this both sounds very much like late 60's, but also like it could have been from the 90's, and I don't know if that's a unique thing or if I've just never known that the 90's and 60's shared a lot of sound. I've never really been big on psychedelic-rock so this album which I believe is supposed to be important for the genre suffers subjectively in that. Anyway in regard to content of the album I was mostly just a bit bored a lot of the time.
Standouts
I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)
The King Is in the Counting House
Sold to the Highest Bidder
3/5
U2 is a band I always hear people say is overrated, and they have never really managed to enter my listening sphere. I don't think I can name a single song of theirs aside from 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' and only because we had to analyze the text of that one for school. I've never listened to a full U2 album, and I don't think I've been missing out. At least this album hasn't convinced me so.
"In my dream I was drowning my sorrows/But my sorrows, they learned to swim" from 'Until the End of the World' is a pretty cool line, but the delivery is just so flat, not depressed or sad. Just flat. That I can't enjoy it for what it is. I simply don't believe it. Also it doesn't seem to be an original line. Frida Kahlo said something very very similar at some point
Standouts
One
2/5
'Dookie' along with 'American Idiot' are probably the 2 top Green day albums. 'Dookie' here has a little more of a punk edge than the latter which is a bit more commercial. In my experience both have great tracks and peoples primary preference usually comes down to which one they heard growing up.
'Dookie' is a strong album with a lot of hits, and is rightly celebrated as such and have influenced many a teenager of the time and still does with it's angsty and slightly edgy lyrics shouted with emotion.
Standouts
Basket Case
When I Come Around
Welcome to Paradise
4/5
Very enjoyable listen, but I also struggle with picking any one track out. They all flow together very well and that becomes a bit of their downfall. I'd happily have it on in the background while sitting around relaxing or enjoying a good time that isn't necessarily focused on the music. It's nice jazzy and I enjoy the contrabass quite a bit. A very cohesive listen where no one track stood out to me as particularly above or below the others
Standouts
-
3/5
Stoner rock has never been a genre I've been a huge fan of. It's fine, but I find it rhythmically slow and kind of boring for the most part. Which is probably really cool if you are stoned. I'm just not a stoner and it doesn't catch me. I think the only QotSA song I know is 'No One Knows' which wouldn't come around until quite a few years later
Standouts
Regular John
I Was a Teenage Hand Model
How to Handle a Rope (A Lesson in the Lariat)
2/5
🧊 For someone with such a "cool" name he has very little "chill" on these tracks. 'When Will They Shoot?' has a little whine in the background which reminds me of the intro of Shikira's 'Hips Don't Lie', I wonder if they sampled the same original of if it's just accidental.
Standouts
It Was A Good Day
Check Yo Self
"It's on like Donkey Kong"/5 (3/5)
Pretty time appropriate indie-rock. I'm not sure why this one is on the list exactly, it doesn't really sound very different than others at the time or seem to be doing anything new. The music is decidedly _fine_ but nothing stands out as particularly special to me. The biggest sin of the album is that it feels very forgettable. I've listened through 3 times now while working, and if you played me one of the songs next week I think I'd still say I've never heard it before
Standouts
Lover's Day
2/5
I don't like live albums a ton. Most of the time I feel like they more so add noise to the tracks than anything else. I think I feel a bit different about this one specifically though. Sarah here very much evoke feelings of some kind of jazz-club-speakeasy-whiskey-in-hand-smokey-room-film-noir thing. Her voice is so smooth and comforting, and I think the "liveness" of the album almost makes the whole thing into more of an ambiance thing for me that almost transports me to this calm place. Something that a classic concert live album has never done for me which I find interesting
Standouts
Just One Of Those Things
Willow Weep For Me
3/5
Right from the get-go this album starts out on the back foot by being a live album and generally I don't enjoy those a whole lot. There's a lot of great tracks on here though 'Come As You Are' is fantastic, and the 'The Man Who Sold The World' cover is pretty much legendary. I find that I quite like how Nirvana sounds unplugged possibly even more than I do when they are "plugged". Kurt's skill and raw passionate sound really comes through when stripped bare like this. It's a shame he would end up leaving us shortly after this was recorded
Standouts
Come As You Are
The Man Who Sold The World
Pennyroyal Tea
5/5
Pretty 'meh' bluesy garage rock. I don't have much to say, least of all anything interesting, because I didn't really notice anything special. I guess that for the time they went against the mainstream some, but I don't see this album as being particularly important in music history. Or really a notable one at that. The music is fine and pleasant enough with it's rock n' roll/rockability vibes. Maybe it's just not really my genre? Either way: Not sure why it's on the list, but I don't hate it. It's unlikely that it will ever come up for me ever again though
Standouts
That'll Be the Day
2/5
Pleasent albeit a bit bland music at least to begin with. It picked up and became more interesting to me in the second half of the album
Standouts
The First Of The Gang To Die
Let Me Kiss You
All The Lazy Dykes
3/5
I can't say that I've ever listened much to Frank Ferdinand, but I have heard some, and I wouldn't object to listening to more. I don't think I have a lot of clever stuff to say about this particularly other than it's quite enjoyable
Standouts
Take Me Out
4/5
Oh wow! What a man, what an album. This album drips of sorrowful melancholy. It's old man Johnny Cash dealing with the subject of mortality, specifically it's Cash reflecting on death. It's an album about endings, and regrets that things played out the way they did, but also about when everything is stripped down you realize what's really important. Of the 15 tracks on here only 3 of them are Cash originals ('The Man Comes, Around', 'Give My Love to Rose', and 'Tear Stained Letter') the rest are reimagined covers of songs that were already great, but now applied to Cash himself, and soaked in his life experiences. Many of these covers have become almost unrecognizable, but they have all been treated with great respect and skill to convey new meaning. 'Hurt' is a masterclass in this with the original being a good song in it's own right, but the same song completely transforms and takes on new meaning through the lens of an old man looking back.
Standouts
Hurt
Give My Love to Rose
Personal Jesus
5/5
I think what I've learned by listening to this is that I like Stevie Wonder just fine, but I particularly enjoy his funky stuff.
'You Haven't Done Nothin' gives me a lot of 'Superstition' vibes, the bass line is very similar I feel, and it just grabs me in a different way than the rest
Standouts
You Haven't Done Nothin'
3/5
I think what I enjoy about Alanis Morissette is her ability to convey this kind of desperate frustrated anger you often experience when you feel powerless or that something is unfair. It shines through on a lot of the songs of this album, even the slow ones like 'Perfect' hits it towards the end. It can get a little same-y though, but it never feels like she doesn't care about what she's communicating, so it's hard to not pay attention anyway. 'You Oughta Know' is obviously one of the biggest hits of her career but I also recognize songs like 'Hand in My Pocket'
Standouts
You Oughta Know
Hand in My Pocket
4/5
Mostly I was just really bored listening to this one, and every song sounded similar enough that I never got shaken out of that feeling
Standouts
-
2/5
I don't think I've ever really sat down and just listened to Ramones, but I probably should have. I have heard some tracks before like 'Blitzkrieg Bob' and they still hold up. It's a short 30 min listen, and I don't think it overstays its welcome.
Standouts
Blitzkrieg Bop
Beat on the Brat
4/5
It's fine. I know this tries to be a huge statement and such, but for me it falls flat. There's not a ton of cohesion in the tracks, and the talky bits at the end of most tracks feel like they try to reveal some grand truth, but it's just spewing tired cliché after tired cliché. Maybe you should have been there when it was made? Maybe that's what makes it great?
Standouts
-
2/5
I was initially intrigued by 'River Man' and how epic it felt, but the the rest of the album was small cute calm songs. Not in any way unpleasant, but also a bit samey and the tracks blended together quite a bit for me in the end
Standouts
River Man
3/5
It's not hard to understand why Springsteen got the nickname "The Boss". He has presence, and a powerful voice. Some of the tracks on the album did become a bit "samey" in sound, but they always remained distinct songs and didn't flow together.
Standouts
Born In the USA
No Surrender
Dancing In the Dark
4/5
Honestly it's a bit of a new, but it feels like that is on purpose, and as long as I don't try to fight it and just go with the chaos it's not unpleasant.
Standouts
Siberian Khatru
3/5
I find this one hard to describe, it's pleasent enough, but I'm unsure what it is. And I'm unsure if it's something I'll return to in the future
Standouts
3/5
I have never listened to Mudhoney I don't think, it's not great but it's ok. The opening for 'Need' reminds me a lot of the opening to Nirvana's "Rape me". Other than that I'd describe the album as "pretty generic grunge"
Standouts
Need
3/5
Kind of gives me Simon & Garfunkel meets John Lennon vibes. I don't dislike it, but it also doesn't really keep my attention very well.
3/5
I'm giving this a 5 because I'd recommend it to others, but it's not the biggest 5 I've given. There's some pretty solid hits on here, but the tracks also sometimes get a bit same-y. There's not really a lot of bands that I know of who have a sound quite like Slipknot, so that's cool
Standouts
Sulfur
Psychosocial
5/5
