I only listened to Disc 1 from the remaster.
It's alright. There's a few good songs I'd probably revisit, but for the most part, it's what I'd expect from a rock opera band.
I especially liked Killer Queen, Now I'm Here, and Stone Cold Crazy.
Bring Back That Leroy Brown felt out of place, but was fun to listen to.
The vocals of In THe Lap Of The Gods are very nice and what you'd expect from Queen. Very Bohemian Rhapsody-esque.
It's just not _really_ my style of music I tend to listen to, so it's not something I'd write home about.
I have a soft spot for cuban music as well as jazz, so this album was a treat. Something that was easy for me to listen to and opened up some memories of myself when I was younger, since this was closer to what I used to listen to before I heavily got into electronic music.
I especially liked Pueblo Nuevo and Buena Vista Social Club because of the usage of piano and specific chord progs.
Dos Gardenias and Veinte Anos were very nice treats due to their chord progs and vocals and probably one of the more interesting songs to me on the album.
Candela is also quite good. I think I've heard it somewhere before, not sure where.
It was generally pleasant to listen to. I'm sure I'd love to hear this in person played by the group or a similar ensemble. Would be quite the treat at dinner as well. I can definitely imagine myself listening to this drinking a cinnamon brown sugar latte in shorts and a shirt near the beachside.
Definitely a classic. I've heard many of the songs through other media rather than directly. Songs like Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, and Paradise City.
Anyways, the album for the most part keeps the beat going pretty quickly which is nice. The vocals have a fairly distinct pattern and tone to them which gives the music that characteristic Guns N Roses sound. The guitar work is powerful and keeps the music interesting. It all does start to sound a little repetitive however, like every song is "samey".
The chord progression of My Michelle was quite interesting and caught me a little off guard at first. I love the use of of chromatic 3rds. Melodically, probably my favorite on the album.
Sweet Child O' Mine is interesting in that it changes up the vibe of the album a bit. There's stronger usage of acoustic elements and it takes on a happier tone. The opening lead is iconic. The closing bridge is a nice change in pace in the song itself as well. Probably overall my #1 on the album, which is unsurprising given just how popular it is.
Anything Goes was fun, especially in its use of güiro for rhythm at the start.
The usage of female moans in Rocket Queen caught me off guard. Reminds me of Welcome to the Jungle and how Axl threw in a few moans.
The other songs just don't quite sound as distinct to me. The opening song maybe? Anyways, it was still enjoyable to listen to.
3.75
Prowler feels a bit familiar, maybe the riffs or the fact that it might have been played in a movie or tv show I've watched. It's a good opening song to the album.
Remember Tomorrow, while seemingly not as popular as other songs on the album was actually quite nice to listen to.
The guitar work on the album is pretty good and probably the reason I'd listen to this again if I were to want to.
Not super memorable to me otherwise. Maybe just not quite my style.
3.25
This is the first time I've listened to Radiohead by itself. I'm a new fan today. I love the heavy usage of synths and the atypical song structures. A lot of the music I like listening to today I can definitely heard echoes of this album and/or their style in general.
Everything In Its Right Place I've either heard before, or it's been sampled before in music I have listened to, so it was very familiar to me, yet at the same time, different and new.
Kid A was ok, I liked the odd usage of synths and the oddly haunting vocals via talkbox. Just wasn't as rhythmically interesting however.
The National Anthem was nice. I liked the constant bright bass running through the song. The usage of some orchestral/band instruments for some of parts of the song was quite nice too, gave a really good contrast to the synths and guitars. I assume the story the song is telling is someone who is standing for the National Anthem in a crowd at a game or something, that's the vibe I was getting at least. There's this underlying tension and distortion throughout the song though, which kind of garners this feeling of "something is not right". Could be that people don't have confidence in the country their living in, the anthem they sing holds them together, but barely.
I love the collage of instruments chosen for How to Disappear Completely. It was slow to start though so I started to lose interest. The usage of strings and synths for a little bit of sparkle towards the mid of the song brought me back though. I can see why so many people have listened to it, the lyrics are relatable to some I'm sure, aside from just how pretty the recording is, definitely emotionally evocative.
I love the mellow synths of Treefingers. The song is very peaceful.
Optimistic was alright. Liked the synth work. It really only caught my attention at the end when it started to transition to In Limbo.
In Limbo's use of triplets was nice along with the usage of sax.
Idioteque's harsher drums and cymbals reminds me of synthwork from others such as Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. It was nice to hear them pull from that style.
I like the chord prog they chose for Morning Bell, gives it a bit of a sinister tone contrasted with a slight happier segment. It's kinda funny just how haunting they've described waking up in the morning and getting ready to go about the day, describing the hectic parts of it.
Motion Picture Soundtrack was simple, yet emotionally strong. The change in instruments on the second half of the song really gave the song force too. It's a nice description of how we really expect things to be like they are in the movies, and how short of those expectations real life really is.
Untitled was really pretty. A good way to close out the album.
5
I listened to the 12 song Special Edition version with B.E.F. included. The original one linked had a few songs that were not accessible via spotify.
(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang is interesting. You can tell it's from the 80s given the usage of synths and processed drums from that era. The usage of distortion throughout was neat. It's got a pretty decent grove though and I like the message, especially given this was in the context of Reagan being a foray into fascism in the US, and look at where we're at now in 2024.
Overall the album was very mediocre, something that can definitely be assumed to have been from that era both in instrumentation as well as recording/mixing techniques. It's dated and the remaster doesn't really do it justice I'm sure.
I do like the synth work, but the vocals and chord structures are nothing to write home about I think.
I'd give it maybe a 3 or so.
I listened to the expanded remastered 2002 edition on Spotify.
I do quite like this era of music. I'm sure nowadays, unless you have some fascination with that time period (e.g. fallout games or a jazz head), people have probably heard some of the songs from tv/movies.
The band work is great as are the vocals. I liked most of the songs on the album with the exception of The Lip. The trumpets were hard to listen to at their register that were being played and I don't think the remaster made it all that much easier to listen to.
3.25
Aretha Franklin has a wonderful voice. The album has held up fairly well, but it's not really something I groove all that much with. Soul isn't much of my boat, although I do love some of the jazz and funk elements that exist throughout the music.
Maybe if I enjoyed the genre more, or was in a different mood.
Some of the songs are fairly chill however and overall I can vibe with it as decent background music.
~2.5
I'm spoiled by modern mixing practices. This album, while I don't think it compares as much to some other older albums in terms of musicality or novelty, is more tolerable and easier to listen to for me just because it's mixed well.
Don't get me wrong, this is decent rock. I'm not fond of the vocals though, just don't really like the lead vocalists' annunciation of the lyrics, nor really the lyrics that much as is.
3
I skipped the single and special mix version in the given album on Spotify.
It was a pretty good soul/funk album, albeit maybe a little strong on the "soul" part for me (I like upbeat music).
The guitar work was really fun and something you'd very much expect in that era. The vocals were phenomenal as well, loved when the rest of the band would come in as background support.
3
