Gold school for a reason! Collection of still some of the most dark and cold gangsta rap songs. The sound is a bit dated but the lyrical content, at least some of it, could not be said on a song today (the misogyny is especially blunt). But it paints a portrait of the dregs and the hard way of living NWA was raised in. A lifestyle that scoops out vulnerability and humanity for struggle and violence in the name of survival.
Really idiosyncratic and well-penned collection of tunes. Not exactly my cup of a tea aside from a few gripping stand outs. The beginning of the record is hard to listen too as Morrisey sounds extra whiny and the affect he puts on his voice is unbearable. It’s great for the smiths, it sounds like a really solidified sound at this point in their discography not as urgent as their first 3 records but maturely produced.
Great album, there’s some tunes that are not fully fleshed out but it has a wonderfully consistent/moody aesthetic and Green Light is one of my personal favorite pop songs!
So I thought I’d hate it. But there is a surprising amount of beautiful production and songwriting here! It sounds like a combo of U2 and early Radiohead just mixed and produced to perfection, but it doesn’t exactly feel sanitized. Towards the end of the record things begin to mesh together and feel like they overstated their welcome, yet the album isn’t that long. I’d say I can respect the ability but it lands fairly middle of the road for me. Shiver rips tho and Yellows melody is beautifully classic, (added that to the playlist)
Definitely not my cup of tea going in. I’m not going to sit here and trash this though for too long, because there are redeeming qualities and Peg is a fantastic groove! The musicianship is beautiful and colorful but ultimately pretty sanitized and divorced from a real cultural center. The songwriting isn’t saying much aside from being a doomer 30-40 something in the late 70s witnessing the rise of Neo-liberal realism and the death of effective counter-culture. It’s cynical like Zappa but without the wild edge. Honestly it’s morose and depressing at times, and the length of the songs and consistent instrumentation defintely makes it feel very samey. With all that being said, the pocket is almost too good on these songs. The solos rip, the harmonies are perfection and the musical aspects of the songwriting are undeniably mature and influential. Its a bit antithetical to rock music but not devoid of meaning or quality. Aside from peg I don’t think I’d through anything into a playlist, as much as I’d like to reclaim yuppy music lol.
Beautifully produced and excellently performed. Sounds like a master of the blues at the top of his form. Something may be missing from the raw early muddy waters records but not enough to distract from all the potency going on these tunes. Nothing more to say than some really well put together hard-edged blues tracks from a legend.
I thought I’d hate it. But there are a few bangers on here and even some heady sophisti-pop vibes. There are a few moments that are hard to take and are so polished and manicured they sound like Disney animatronics singing these songs. It’s a sweet vibe and from a songwriting perspective it’s almost scientifically good:)
I loved every moment of it. It was electric and irresistible! The grooves are hypnotic and the dynamic range of the band is wide! Ginger Bakers drum solo on Ye Ye De Smell is mind-melting and Black Man’s Chris deeply moving both in body and sport. Gorgeous and important music!
A really great and worthwhile listen. Otis vocal performance is magnetic and hard to hit pause on! The deep soul style feels so influential for the second half of the 60s and early 70s. Many of the tunes are covers but the arrangement and style feel very different and more swampy than the original! Makes me want to dove into more Otis! I gravitate more to the ballads as I think he just does them with such passion that it’s hypnotizing!
I have listened to this record before, beautiful and folky. Droney at some points and not exactly any singles worth putting in a playlist but as a complete meditative work it comes together well!
It was subtle and intelligent yet bombastic and urgent. Not every song drew me in and it’s a little one-note at times but it feels completely it’s own and the musicianship is magnetic!!!
Now I have never listened to a full Neil young record so this was the first time diving into one of his complete works. I respect the song craft, the intention and the urgency but many of the tunes did not land with me! I could chalk it up to a different sociopolitical context of folk music or maybe just from a taste perspective I was not too big of a fan of his voice, I am not sure. Either way I connected more with the songs that had some tempo and a drummer, the slow folk songs while beautiful did not grab me as much as I thought they might. It did make me interested in the rest of his catalog though!
Idk I see a lot of people hating on this, and some of their criticisms made me burst out laughing like: “this record made me lose all the melanin in my skin” which there is something to be said for. But I was going in thinking it would be a bit more of a straightforward folk album than it was. When the synth bass blasts in on “Save the Life of My Child” I was immediately hooked into the psychedelic and adventurous instrumentation and ambitious concept idea. Sounds like the first side of the record could have come out today from a modern folk rocker. It’s not perfect, the last few songs on the second side were a little looser and less tied into the concept but easy listens. The whole thing doesn’t even run over a half an hour so there’s not enough self-indulgence to get annoyed over haha. Solid listen and changed my mind a bit about what simon and Garfunkel’s sound really is :)
So I have listened to this album many times and recently before being given it by the generator! It’s their magnum opus. Their most raw and natural record to date. Before they became mainstay pop acts but we’re confident enough in their musicianship and comradery as a band to churn out a wild collection of funk rock tunes. I’m not the hugest chilli peppers fan but this album is pretty rock solid front to back. Noisy unruly and impossible to contain (also heavy drug is most likely). It’s a really fun listen and it see the chilli peppers stretching the “funk” genre as far into their demented world as possible!
A Genius he is! Beautiful classic R&B, Country Western tinged pop tunes. Mostly ballads, which Ray always excelled with, because every tune continues to mount energy higher and higher until the bottom falls out and the statement made leaves you awe struck. Hard to hate on this album, but its dated and slow pace wouldn’t make it a mainstay in my rotation. But in the right mood, in the right lighting, in the correct moment this album is a perfect collection of tunes that I have no criticisms of !!!
The least shocking record I have ever heard. I can respect the artistry and mature songcraft/sound design but it could not speak to me personally any less than it did.
Ultimately it was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The albums openers are incredible! They were much more musically/conceptually ambitious than I thought a CCR record could be. Unfortunately it started to taper for me in the middle of the project. There are some bangers but there are also some real bad “CCR does Little Richard” vibes on here as well! The music is fun and hard to hate but it’s not a lot to chew on.
Definitely not my cup of tea. It sounds very dated, and takes all the main ingredients of awesome alt-metal groups like deftones and Tool but leaves out all the exciting parts. It’s not so awful that their songs are unlistenable, there’s just a bite missing!
I have listened to this record too many times to do a full listen through. But it’s great, and nothing sounds quite like it still. The weird panning is kind of annoying though. Some of the tunes are so cheeky and ghoulish they feel like a thoroughly engaging dream sequence. It also ends with “A Day In the Life” which is debatably the best Beatles song ever!
I loved it! I have never sat down and listened to a kinks record but I am so glad I did! It’s odd, funny, biting, ironic and just a whole lot of fun! Great social commentary for the time and creative instrumentation! In a way I prefer something like this over some Beatles records (could just be because the Beatles are so played out lol) A cool listen and I am looking forward to check out more of their stuff later!
Absolutely lovely record! Some jazz-infused soul/ R&B with one of the best female vocalists of all time in the cent of it all. The arrangements and songwrigting are subtle, unexpected and perfectly configured without loosing the raw swampy feel. Of course her cover of respect is iconic and impassioned but I was pleasantly surprised to see there were a lot of them tracks on this record that rivaled its energy and magnetism. A career defining album for Aretha and I loved it!
I have been getting banger after banger my goodness! My favorite Bruce record and it has been a while since I’ve given it a proper listen so I ran through the whole thing. It’s melancholic, and an authentic commiseration on the personal effects on the slow de-industrialization of the 1970. It staring down a bullet that you know is coming but it’s all you’ve know so you take it with as much hope as you can muster! Now Bruce is in top songwriting form and it holds some of his most wrenchingly unhinged vocal performances (though sometimes his vocals can be grating). Adam Raised a Cain is one of his heaviest most ferocious tunes ever and Promiseland is beautifully written and composed! Not huge fan of the Springsteen power ballads so there are a few low moments on the record, but the high points outweigh them by a mile. The death of heartland documented by one of its most potent bards.
Defined thrash metal for years to come. It rocks and it’s my favorite Metallica record because it is so driving and unpredictable. Them in top form, and their unrelenting stature throughout the record keeps me engaged throughout. Too important of a musical experience to not give a 5 lol
There were few incredible tracks and a few tracks that never really found their way with me. "Heads Will Roll" is an incredible flash in the pan piece of dance punk. Electric! Some of it feels to safe and radio ready and some of it feels like unfinished indie meandering. But here and there some of the tracks have a really powerful resonance thanks to Karen O's vocals and the bands intelligent and (sometimes)energerzied songwriting.
The bass tone of Thor himself! Destructive, loose and chaotic. You can feel that they have something to prove with how much they can push the envelope in terms of heaviness. The panning of John Entwhistle’s bombastic and gnarly swinging bass chugs on the left and Pete Townsends almost whimsical at times, composed yet blistering guitar riffs on the right are only somehow glued together by Keith moons chaotic, otherworldly rhythmic drive. It’s punk before punk. Great 5 stars to me
A psychedelic collage of the lives and minds of the west coast 90s gangster. It’s unflinching with its violent, cold and outwardly offensive lyrics and the beats provide a deep danceable backdrop formed through brilliant sample work and deft arrangement. It’s not the mega-hit laden 2001 , as it serves as more of a rawer more abstract experience. The skits are so long it’s difficult to tell whether it should be considered a skit or a song! Its a classic but it does feel bloated at times, and it can get lost in its own weed smoke as at some points I found myself losing focus on the music, but it was meant to capture an essence of a time and it does that wonderfully!
Nihilistic, minimal and ugly in all the right ways! A punk masterpiece that saw the Ramones at their most raw and authentic. If you listen close you can hear blemishes throughout the record; a missed chug of a guitar chord or a misstep on the drums. It’s crude and caveman like but not without politic! I love it but it serves more as a piece of history rather than a jump back in multiple times-kind of listen.
I am experienced. No one has ever been able to catch the sound these 3 had. It’s Made unique not just by Jimi’s electric and idiosyncratic guitar style but also by the thunderous and cloudy backdrop of the rhythm section. It was a sound so just represented by these 3 musicians that anybody making music or playing guitar in a similar way is immediately identified as a copy.
Finally I got something that is not an agreed-upon bonafide classic! There are moments on this record that I plainly did not like. Pastiche and dated: Madonna seems to be trying to set herself apart from her younger contemporaries with a blended sound that combines trance, euro-dance and electropop with "country" or "americana". The latter elements are put in quotations because the "country" moniker is mostly worn as a cheap aesthetic and not as an actual authentic sonic foundation. Some songs have kernels of hyperpop post-ironic experimentation laden within Madonna's murky, overly-earnest songwriting that sometimes meanders into utter meaninglessness. There are adventurous moments that I am sure would have piqued my interest in the year 2000 but as a retrospective listen, the production is too hollow to keep pace with the giants of that time like the bombastic and meticulously crafted beats of the likes of Britney Spears. It is neither urgent nor mature, existing somewhere blandly in the middle.
I think what makes this U2’s biggest record is balance. Not leaning too far in one direction, staying true north in search of something unfindable. They locate awe and violence in that search. From a songwriting perspective this is a phenomenal album, a look into America as a myth and as a crushing reality. Bono’s lyrics seek to square the expansive divide between the dream that America represents and the miserable amount of blood spilled to justify it. It’s intellectual but at the same time arena ready and universally captivating. Musically is where things lose some of their sheen for me. For the time, I can hear the immense influence a record like this has on rock music but the aforementioned balance that aids the songwriting seems to hinder the musical freedom. They all sound like songs trying to break out of an unbreakable box. Interminably attached to a soupy formula that at times piques the interest between Bono’s ghastly wails and the ferocity of the instrumentation but for the most part of the record the atmospheric density takes center stage which in some cases hinders the effectiveness of the songwriting and rawness the band desperately wants to present. Fantastic record, but sounds a whole lot like U2 :)
