I truly cannot believe this was made in 1972 when he was 21-22 years old, and it was his 15th(!!!) album lmao. Just unreal. "You are the Sunshine of my Life" is an all-timer, what can you even say. "Maybe Your Baby" is FUNKY goodness gracious. Sorta snoozed during the first half of "You and I" but the back half brought it home, such nice chords and lyrics. All the piano and sax fills on "Tuesday Heartbreak" are just delightful. Not really a fan of "You've Got it Bad Girl" - the recorder kinda took me out of it, sounded too much like the Twitter meme vids. "Superstition" riff is iconic, just so much energy packed into this song. "Big Brother" god damn, such a based song. "Blame it on the Sun" is so simple but so substantive - he has a knack for telling simple yet profound stories. I liked the intro callback in "Lookin for Another Pure Love" to the opening track, but that's... about where it ended - major second-to-last-song energy here (good guitars tho). "I Believe" is so good and so sweet, really makes you melt - GREAT album ender.
This album has some decent energy but it sometimes feels kind of hollow. Like you're drinking a 6-pack but it's only 4% beer. There were some highlights though - Rocks Off, Rip This Joint, Tumbling Dice, and Happy were all nice, and finally Let It Loose was probably my favorite song on the album. Good energy, would probably be fun to see a live performance with extended instrumentals, but I won't revisit this album.
Such high highs on this album! When I think of Bowie I think of campy, dramatic glam and my goodness does he give us so much of it in "Time" and "Lady Grinning Soul." I love those tracks. "Let's Spend the Night Together" is another banger, a literal romp that had me dancing alone in my living room. "Drive-In Saturday" and "Cracked Actor" could fit in on Pure Comedy or really any Father John Misty album.
There were a couple too many forgettable tracks on this album, though. I appreciate that the album captures and comments on the chaotic social and political situation of the late-60s and early-70s US (and I was equally uninterested in more songs about the perils of fame, which felt really out of place next to songs about race riots - even if that's the point of it all!), but I found myself way more interested in and captivated by the quintessential Bowie-ish numbers.
I wish I could officially go 3.5 stars, but this isn't an Outback Steakhouse. There are rules. So I'll go 3.
There's just a whole lot of stuff in this album that gets in the way of the lyrics. The voice. The harmonica. His affectation. Sometimes the guitar is out of tune. Dylan is all about the words, and I really want to (and sometimes do) like the words, but I wish it wasn't so hard.
On the bright side, I'm a sucker for songs about longing, regrets, lost loves, etc. "Girl from the North Country" and especially "Bob Dylan's Dream" both did the trick for me. I've always liked "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" aside from the harmonica. Honestly man there's just way too much harmonica.
What an experience this was. Thematically there's a lot to think about with this album as well as War's other music. But it's also just so dang fun to listen to. There's a little bit of everything. Jazz? Yep. How about some Latin and reggae? Yep. What about soulful blues? Plenty of that too. And it all blends together perfectly to make each track so distinct and so unpredictably interesting.
The title track was my favorite on the album and some of the most cutting social commentaries I've heard in music (even as it ends with a somewhat hopeful outlook), but I'll definitely revisit "City, Country, City" and "Four Cornered Room" as well. Guitar solos over organs are gonna get me every time. Dueling sax solos over organs will, too. And they incorporated harmonica in a *good* way (not sorry, Dylan) along with wind chimes and even a gong to give so much more character to each musical interlude, so that by the time you return to the verse, you feel like you're in a whole new place entirely.
I wanted to love this album. The very first song has a line that goes "I don't wanna die, I'd rather dance my life away" for cryin out loud! But... I just didn't. The songs were too long. There was too much fake digital computer-sounding stuff and that's not really my jam. I don't know. I really like the Prince songs that I like, so I'll just give this a rating and keep it moving. No need to stay negative.
It's great to hear the Wailers far away from American tourist traps, when their social and political themes shine through instead of being drowned out by bros joking about blunts. Now, this album does have some fun and literally some kink in it too, but there's so much more to their music than not worrying about a thing. This was a great listen and I will absolutely revisit this soon.
I really liked "Vapour Trail" and I'll return to "Seagull" and "Dreams Burn Down" as well. All the best moments on this album came without the vocals during jams or the frenetic finish of the opening track, which I'd consider a mark against the album, but this is shoegaze after all so I don't know... Regardless, some good tunes and some skips. A solid 3.
I listened to this driving home on an empty highway at midnight on a Thursday. Was I into it? Yes. Could I hear every word? Heck no. Was I at times maybe a little spooked? Yes! "Don, Aman" in particular gave me the heebie jeebies. This whole album was so damn unsettling... and so good. Good music makes you feel, and this made me feel all sorts of ways.
Loved the instrumentals and solos as well. The mixing was awesome, the dynamics were incredible. Right when you turn the volume up too high to hear a whisper, your face gets blown off. Man this was great. I'll come back to this one.
Impressive for a debut album. This sounds like the music a band would make on their third or fourth. Cool sound, and an easy listen. But that's kind of where it ends. I didn't really feel much substance or emotion or anything else. I liked the songs more than some of my other 2-star album ratings, but I can't envision myself ever coming back to this.
I really had a hard time rating this one. On the one hand, it's extremely over-the-top, ridiculous pop with vague lyrics. I should LOVE it. But on the other, it's the most 80s synth-sounding album I've listened to in full before. The synths, the drums, the droning, the echoeyness, all the stuff distinct to that particular period... I just can't do it. It's not for me. If this album were made with technology available 5 years earlier or 5 years later, we could be cooking.
So I have no choice but to move to intent. What is this album supposed to do? What am I supposed to feel? And literally right as I'm sitting there having this existential crisis over a Depeche Mode album, completely at war with myself, second-guessing my sincerely held musical convictions, my guy taunts me by asking "What am I trying to do, what am I trying to say? I'm not trying to tell you anything you didn't know when you woke up today." I hate you for that, Depeche Mode, and I hated most of the 80s when I woke up this morning.
But I did enjoy "Never Let Me Down Again." I would enjoy the alternate timeline version of it much more, though. The rest of the album is one big skip.
I don't know how they did it. They could say they had a 20-year-long bad dream, that they had no one ever, that dying by your side would be such a heavenly way to die, and somehow it's not cringey. It's amazing.
This album is melodramatic, it's angsty and full of longing, it's packed with resignment and resentment, hopeless love and hopeless living. All the good stuff. I'd probably skip "Vicar in a Tutu" but otherwise every song is a banger. Love The Smiths. This album is incredible.
I don't know man, this album just pissed me off.
A messy, cool, and uneasy listen. It felt like I was listening to a live show. I'm just upset I couldn't be there.
"50ft. Queenie" was the star of the show but there's plenty else in here I'll enjoy moving forward. A few skips unfortunately, but even the best concerts give you time for bathroom breaks or, better yet, to grab another beer.
Kind of a weird feeling listening to this one. It's definitely Good Music, no doubt about it, but I'll probably never listen to it again.
Except "Rental Car." That's a good one.
My kind of music. They lost me there for a bit somewhere in the middle and the occasional out-of-key lines irked me, but it's just so easy to listen to. Big The xx fan.
What a damn good, extremely cool album.
Goodness this album is incredible.
Joyfully high highs on this one. "I'll Be Around" into "The One" into "My Kind of People" was so much fun, but probably my favorite song was "All Day Love Affair."
That said, I wasn't really a big fan of most of the rest. I love CeeLo the soulful singer. Not as into him rapping. But the highs. They were so high!
Some really good tracks on this one that I've enjoyed for a long time. "Sixteen Saltines," "Hypocritical Kiss," and "I'm Shakin" are among my faves. Giving this album a bonus star because it's the first one generated to me that I listened to right when it came out. These were the earliest days of Spotify and I thought it was the coolest thing that I didn't have to go sailing the seven seas with me mateys to experience new music.
