Used to spin this on vinyl often over a decade ago. It was a pleasure revisiting an album I haven’t thought about in quite some time. So many delicious melodies. Jeff Lynne bringing fun symphonic pop to the masses. This is prog rock stripped of a lot of the pretensions.
They say it ain’t as good as the best but they lie.
a collection of cleanly recorded, highly derivative Stones song-types. They can play their instruments well but they forgot to bring anything new to the table.
Better songwriting overall on Nevermind but this one has the riffs, and Albini’s raw production kicks too much arse not to deny its power.
I just don’t want to be listening to shit anymore
One of my favourite albums of all time. Every tracks works. Morrissey’s lyrics and vocal delivery are deliciously hilarious. He’s a comic genius like Marilyn Monroe and Maggie Smith.
Amazing step forward for the Beatles but it’s a few songs short of perfect, especially Doctor Robert which is such a stupid ass song imo. What a lackluster name for a drug dealing pharmacist guy lol.
Love their commitment to the gimmick! Embracing the dumb & the simple in a clever way.
Zappa is not really my thing but I think he succeeds at what he’s trying to do on this record. This collection of weirdo Prog-jazz jams is much easier for me to stomach than his juvenile lyric doo wop songs.
Perfect album to jog to. Makes paranoia fun!
Best kind of album to zone out to ☺️
The intimate production matches the warmth of willie’s voice.
a collection of cleanly recorded, highly derivative Stones song-types. They can play their instruments well but they forgot to bring anything new to the table.
Very strong entry in the “greatest rock vocalist” generic classic rock sub-genre. It’s cool when someone acknowledges they’re bad news 😎
Sometimes the voice grates but it is undeniably iconic
A few classic tracks (especially Stan which is probably his best song) but freakishly too long and repetitive in its themes, filled with filler and shitty sketches. Obviously the homophobia and misogyny are rampant, but there’s also nothing lamer than a rapper who keeps dunking on boys bands and Britney Spears. Eminem is a talented and unique voice in hip hop but supremely overrated bc white non-rap fan critics could identify with where he came from and what he was saying. Gen Z proceed to cancel Eminem. He needs to leave Christopher Reeves alone :/
I’m starting to understand the appeal of the Pogues’s brand of Celtic punk. The musicianship here is undeniable. I want to cry everytime I hear “Fairytale of New York”, it’s such a perfect blend of irreverence, schmaltz, sarcasm & heartbreak.
The more I listen to this album the more I’m in awe of his truly singular songwriting ability and performance style. His tunes are often hilarious (probably the most consistently funny non-joke-song songwriter) but also sometimes heartbreakingly beautiful, bc he is able to paint an honest (and ugly) picture of how people think, feel and treat (mistreat) one another.
This was a complete discovery for me but it was a pleasant surprise. Such fresh contagious beats. You know your humble critic was dancing hella often listening to this while completing household chores. It was a lengthy album and yet I still wanted to move my body the full duration. Think about that. No matter how unique each track started, it felt like most the songs found their way to the same joyous soukous jam by the end of it, but I actually thought that was a fun connective tissue and not a demerit for the record.
Wham! was college for George Michael. Faith was his mission statement.
Happy Halloween 🧟♂️
Not the biggest blues aficionado so half the tracks didn’t really do it for me, but g-damn do some of these jams go! “Tiger in Your Tank” won me over especially. I was like that crowd going wild by the end of it. It’s truly offensive how many mega-rich British rockstars are in total debt to Muddy and your boomer dad will never have a clue :/
Incredible intro to a band I should have known and loved for a long time now.
Polite, professional rock band not without their merits, but much too medium for my tastes. They have a knack for writing good melodies over anthemic chord progressions that are almost always ruined by superficially romantic & vague lyrics that sound intellectual when sung in a proper British accent.
Cash is a legend and this is an interesting album to come at the end of his life. Mortality is a theme that keeps popping up. This is his Lou Reed’s LULU, albeit much more critically acclaimed? The tracks that work the least for me are the stripped down covers of popular modern rock tunes like “Hurt” and “Personal Jesus.” His vocal feels kind of phoned in on those. The album cuts on which Cash puts his heart, soul, vim & vigor into the vocal performance are where it’s at. Nothing is better than a 70 year country singer repeatedly scream “damn your eyes” like a maniac.
Nick Drake, the lounge act.
I could see how this would be instrumental in the evolution of heavy metal.
The Brits still got it
I’m glad this band exists for their fans.
Relentless hostility.
A lot of filler for a classic album, but the hits are essential
Another perfect album from my favorite musical artist ❤️
Interesting voice, great articulation, groovy lyrics. A little too flower power pilled for me to swallow at times.
Effervescent grooves that go down easy. The title track is probably the only required listening but it was all enjoyable/smooth as hell.
Curious as hell. Didn’t always stick though.
I checked my work: 3 + 3 = 4 stars 😊
As a kid I found F Boy Slim’s brand of DJ dance music lame and annoying. As an adult I feel the same. Maybe that’s a reflection on me. Either way, let’s keep it moving.
It makes me mad thinking about all the actually good music this album took the spot of.
Forgive me I am sick
They really shovel out the hits
Ethereal bliss
Majestic textures. Songwriting with a painterly touch. I can only hear Van the Man bark out the same lyric over and over and over again for so long though.
Better songwriting overall on Nevermind but this one has the riffs, and Albini’s raw production kicks too much arse not to deny its power.
Not my new favorite band but this was aight
What can I say? It’s obviously good
sexy, funny and eternally cool.
When the bass player and drummer husband-wife duo get to prove their value.
Power of punk.
Joanna squeaks and yips out some of the most majestic indie folks tunes of the aughts.
Perfect album for a pizza party
Chemically-induced cerebral, surreal blues. The lyrics and the band are amazing of course but let me also shout out Dylan’s voice on this album. People always say how Dylan is a great songwriter, but I always will stand behind him being the best vocalist for his material. The acidity and passion poured into every line makes each word sting in your mind that much more.
Haunting stark magicial masterpiece.
Fab
Finally get it
One of the true indie aughts masterpieces
Overrated and headache inducing. I guess I value the Gallagher bros more as personas than I do as musicians. So many unbelievable quotes in the press. Loads of great tweets and interview clips. I thought that would translate to an enjoyable 90s rock album. Nope. Hopefully Maybe it gets better after this, but this one was packed with too many boring retreads of great British musical movements that came before, be it the Manchester sound, glam rock or the Beatles. Definitely Maybe some groups are better at being rock stars than they are at being bands.
Gets stronger with every listen
Greatest scene setter in music
Hmm
One perfect surreal punk song after another.
A little too much filler, but the songs that hit hoo boy
This shit went harder than I could ever have predicted. Blurred the lines of classic rock that is too technical and too dumb beautifully.
First Beatles album I heard and the first album in general to truly blow my mind.
Sounds like some shit my friend Brandon would like. Not for me
I see the appeal
Perfect LP to spin on meatless Monday😌
This album cements Clapton’s boring hack period, which he’s been in ever since.
Obviously
Snake attack
Lovely and relaxing
My generation’s white album (if I was born 25 to 30 years earlier).
Vocal jazz is not really my cup of tea, but since it was served to me I took sips that mostly refined my crazy little tastebuds.
These fellers sure can pluck strings
This was my favorite band and album when I was young teen. It doesn’t hit emotionally like it once did but it’s still an impressive production 50 years later.
The snap, crackle & pop of gorgeous hippies vocal harmonies.
Clearly
My first Rufus album without Chaka Khan - no jk ofc. Witty songcraft and clever arrangements, that I’m sure I would enjoy even more on further listens
Hate to be that guy but listening to this today made me very nostalgic for a time I was excited to hear a new Kanye album when it dropped.
With all due respect to the king: not-a for me!
I like that their sellout record was their first one and honestly it still is pretty darn good.
Fresh take on self-empowering soul.
He’s on to something
Truly so versatile and in a way that every type of song they do is still very much a Fishbone song first and foremost, whether it be ska, soul cover, hard funk or circus freakout. Only reason it’s not a perfect rating is because I was not into a couple of the genre excursions personally but still respect them like mad for attempting.
Great getting ready to go out album for some reason
Used to spin this on vinyl often over a decade ago. It was a pleasure revisiting an album I haven’t thought about in quite some time. So many delicious melodies. Jeff Lynne bringing fun symphonic pop to the masses. This is prog rock stripped of a lot of the pretensions.
24 years later it still sounds inventive.
I choose die
In the business of triggering dopamine
Too corny
Masterful fusion of pop and new wave.
Does not quite reach the heights of Norman efffin Rockwell but conveys a nice country-lite atmosphere. Very intimate, very lovely.
Yeah it’s a masterpiece
The British (and better?) lcd soundsystem
I was a little hesitant at first but then I got fully funked up. Started relistening to tracks immediately after the album ended.
Who knew I’d be vibing so hard to this stuff
Beautiful noise and vocal fry
Important cutting edge new wave album. My only complaint is that “Cars” goes so much harder than nearly everything else on the disc.
Every song written with such empathy and the arrangements are so cinematic and perfect
Got “too jammy” as my friend Lou would say by tracks 2 & 3, but the 2nd half really won me over with its soulful sincerity and camaraderie of sounds.
Most psychedelia albums feel so stuck in their era, this one transcends it.
Not my personal favorite Stevie but undeniably a masterpiece tour de force, etc.
Nope
Much better than F. Boy Slim. Plus he’s a certified bald icon.
Started off very strong but at a certain point kind of blended in with the most mediocre moments of their career.
Wholesome as whell
“Mother” makes so much more sense to me now that I know Andy Summers palled around with Robert Fripp.
My 2nd favorite album of all time - come on
It delivers on what it says it’s selling
Felt more live than dangerous, but I got mad love for lizzy.
Came in thinking they were a little bit corny for my tastes. What the hell was I on? Masterful combination of funk, jazz, and pop that surely lays the groundwork for Yacht Rock to come. Obsessed with whenever Maurice White lets out a “yoww/yah”.
Fantastically short album. I really cued into Art’s vocals this listen and feel strongly that he is the secret weapon here. Also need to mention that “A Simple Desultory Phillic” is truly one of the worst & unfunniest songs I’ve ever heard in my life.
Definitely more bangers than I would have guessed, there is probably another pop/r&b album of the era that could have taken its place though.
Had no idea how badly I needed the accordion-vibraphone jazz combo - fuck ya!
A simply a sucker for this sound
It’s a style that mostly holds up sonically although pretty immature and misogynistic thematically. His flow and voice are undeniable though, especially over smooth yet unnerving Dr. Dre beats.
One of Neil’s many masterpieces. Infusing the punk spirit into his music and inventing a new genre in the process. Love the post-modern yet personal lyrics and psychotic electric guitar tones.
A few of the songs go on longer then needed or wanted but boy do I love this band’s sound.
Bruce’s most epic album. Comic book imagery fused with potent 60s rock n roll operatics. A bi-curious vampire bit this album and it turned into Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell a couple years later.
They say it ain’t as good as the best but they lie.
A lot of power and excitement, but also kind of highlights the sloppiness and limitations of The Who as a live act. I’m especially thinking the long drawn-out jams where Roger Daltry yelps out horribly improvised vocal riffs.
Some enjoyable album tracks, some filler, but “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” will always be the far and away star.
This was mind blowing when I was in college, now i find it endearing, vulnerable and absolutely beautiful.
I just don’t want to be listening to shit anymore
Steely Dan as actual band and it’s not their best album but certainly their most badass.
This was the perfect album to listen the day after David Lynch dies. Noisy violent funny surreal American art that is still accessible & entertaining.
Prog rock that isn’t bloated or boring, instead it’s soulful and groovy.
Despite me not always jiving with black thought’s flow and lyricism (comes off pretty corny at times), the musicianship and songwriting are impeccable.
Probably her best album from my favorite version of Joni. No shade to Blue, which is also perfect, but this is a whole other level of genius. Every song is so structurally astounding without losing any of the personal vulnerability of her earlier folk songs. I never made the connection between jazz Joni era and 70s Steely Dan but it’s literally the same time period with many of the same session musicians.
Date went okay, probably won’t go on a second one though.
They were on a roll (pun intended)!
Wasn’t expecting to give this 5 stars but what can I do?
Maybe a couple of songs too long but we had fun
I’ve long thought I was over finding the song, “Imagine” listenable, let alone the all-timer it’s been hailed as for seemingly its entire existence. Overplayed in general, over-representative of Lennon’s solo legacy, and over-utilized for self-serious celebrity sing-alongs. That being said, my annoyance with that song skewed my feelings of this album in full, it is the Imagine LP after all. Well, after this listen-thru I softened on the song in question a tad (it’s good, just not something I want or need to hear), but more importantly realized the greatness of the other tracks even more. “Gimme Some Truth”, “It’s So Hard” and “How Do You Sleep?” are undeniable 70s mid-rock bangers. “Jealous Guy”, “Oh My Love” and “How?” are genuinely gentle gems. “Oh Yoko” is maybe my favorite Lennon song ever. Imagine I gave it 5 stars on the strength of the other material lol?
Cool
Neutered rehash of new wave. Again I choose die.
Another 5 star album from Blur? This project had revealed that I’m really into this band I only previously knew 3 songs of prior. And since this project also had me listen to an Oasis album, to which I gave 1 star, I now know who I would have rooted for in their classic feud. Shoutout to the very Belew/Fripp by way of Bowie guitar playing and the sharp & very British songwriting.
Not too shabby for a bunch of Beatles soundalikes.
Fuzz
Upbeat & quirky post-punk with emotive vocals - I love it
I was the biggest Pink Floyd fan when I was freshman in high school. This might be their best. Returning to this album 20 something years later, I’m able to hear more clearly how it ties into other musical movements throughout history. Overall it’s funkier and groovier than I remember. “Welcome to the Machine” is a Kraftwerk track. “Wish You Were Here” is country. “Shine On” has elements of Albert King and the jazz. And darn, the whole time I was marveling at the musicianship of David Gilmour and Richard Wright, and at Roger Waters’s lyrics. And the amazing engineering and production value. I got a lot of love for the eclecticism, the concept and the personal feel to the work. Great.
When they do their extended jams I can’t get into it. It sounds annoying. But sometimes I like when they play songs and I will always love Jerry Garcia’s voice. I prefer Grateful Dead, the studio band.
I kind of like this guy’s style. He’s the bridge between Jackson Browne and Stephen Bishop.
Currently going through a breakup, so thanks for the assist. Am I now of the camp that this is his best album.
They had such a definitive sound from the get-go. American new wave pop with mild punk undertones. I also hear a lot Western & cowboy song influence in there, so giddy up, too!
It’s like a whole album of awesome album cuts.
Another brilliant album by one of my “heroes”
Not sure if this is an actual album or what but either way thank you for introducing this awesome artist to me.
Come on man