A tender good Indie Rock album for one of the bands that knew how to do it best since their inception.
It has one of my favorite songs of all time and some other great songs to remember. Not much more to say.
The Smiths are a band that never disappoint and each and every listen is usually enjoyable. This is probably their worst project, but it's still incredible.
''Strangeways, Here We Come'' is the fourth and final album by The Smiths, one of the most influential and recognizable bands of the 80s. It was released when the band had already split up, but the recordings were basically finished.
Why for me is it the worst album of theirs? Easy, it has a lot of songs that feel more poppy on purpose. You don't feel the connection that you do on their other projects. Songs like 'Unhappy Birthday' or 'Girlfriend In a Coma' are songs with pretty mediocre writing, while 'Death At One's Elbow' has one of the cheapest beats the band has ever delivered.
But hey, it's still a good album.... These low peaks it has are compensated with too many high peaks like 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before', one of the band's most intimate songs that made me get emotional. Death of a Disco Dancer' seems to me a song with a very catchy and hypnotic rhythm.
The latter is also important. The production doesn't seem to me the neatest but without a doubt one of their most hypnotic productions ever made. Each track has a catchy rhythm that will catch you in the end.
As time went by, I changed my mind about this project. There are thoughts that stayed with me, and others that changed. But here is my review of Kanye's first project.
The College Dropout' is Kanye West's first album. A Chicago artist who was already making a name for himself in the US for his production appearances on albums by artists such as Jay-Z. The latter releasing 'The Blueprint' where he shines in full.
February 10, 2004 arrived and Kanye West finally debuted. The College Dropout' was released, an album that to this day would be considered one of the best in Hip Hop. Why does it stand out so much? It came out at a time when what was most popular with the public was Gangsta Rap and guys like 50 Cent. Kanye West, on the other hand, was a normal guy who wore pink polo shirts and loved his mother. This was the key to Kanye West's success. That and his self-esteem.
What makes this project so great lyrically is that it's where Kanye West knows how to best blend his comedy with his interpretation of life. Where these two can coexist without clashing. Kanye West speaks as if he were one of us, with experiences that could happen to anyone. Songs like 'Through the Wire' stand out for how they speak of such delicate subjects with such versatility.
It is also the album where we see Kanye West having fun with his music. Having a good time. Doing what he loves. In terms of production, I think it's his most interesting album, playing a lot with samples and jazz/soul/nu soul bases. That's what catches you the most of the project, the beautiful variety of instrumentals he has.
There are some tracks that I connect with less than others, as is evident in basically any project, but overall it's a very complete album.
John Lennon is a genius, at least as an artist, and of that there is no doubt. His time with 'The Beatles' is something that will never be repeated by any artist, simply one of the most influential guys in the history of music. But was he as good in his solo career as he was with The Beatles?
Imagine is the second studio album to be released by the Beatles' pianist, writer and vocalist. This album was a total success in terms of sales due to the expectation that he had. It would be released in 1971, one year after the band's breakup. Expectations rose even higher with the release of 'Imagine' as the pre-album single, one of the most played songs in the history of music.
The album has high peaks like 'Imagine' and 'Jealous Guy', but it also has low peaks. You always end up valuing the highs more, but in this specific case I think it's the right thing to do because it's a project with a very constant structure. It doesn't have a fixed sound at any point.
It has many different styles in different parts of the project. There are songs that are Singer-Songwriter or Blues songs. This shows the variety of sounds he has.
Quite well written - as we are used to - but with a very good piano that is maintained throughout the whole album. Also noteworthy is the work of former band member George Harrison who also has a very good participation in the album.
I didn't manage to connect 100% with this project, but I liked it all the same.
My head really can't comprehend such garbage. IT IS HORRIBLE.
It's bad in every aspect. Horrible vocals, simplistic production, terribly bad lyrics (There are 46 fucks in 'Hot Dog') and on top of that, BADLY USED deluxe collaborations.
He criticizes every single thing you can't understand. He takes the luxury of criticizing Nine Inch Nails when they are not even a toe nail of theirs. He has a horrifying cover. There is no good thing I can find on this. Awful.
Very quiet album to listen to in the background. Some jazzy instrumentals that relax you a lot and something that surprised me were the good lyrics. You will find that it is a very well written project despite having 14 verses per track.
What is my problem with the album? I feel like it's a straight line, it has its little curves both up and down but, it stays straight for most of the album and doesn't surprise you at any point. I'm not saying it's bad to be consistent, but this project is very monotonous.
Hell yeah, it's a 10 for me.
From here I can see its influence on today's music, and I can confirm that there are few albums that have influenced so many genres. You can see how it influences much of today's rock, not to mention metal, but it can also influence hip hop (like JPEGMAFIA's latest album).
This project has everything you need and lacks nothing you want. The guitar riffs are simply perfect, every single song is perfectly structured, every second this album has is valuable, it knows when to have its quiet moments and it knows when to explode in energy, it is perfectly written to be devastating and it has some of the best vocal performances ever seen.
If we talk about Metal albums I think this is a must listen. It is the perfect example of a Metal album. I say it again, it has everything you need.
I'm not a big fan of the genre, but this is really one of those albums that I can't complain about in any aspect.
“1989” is the fifth studio album by the world's most famous singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift.
I think there is no doubt that it is the album that has generated the most discussion in her professional career. This is because of everything that has been generated around the album from the moment of its release. The change she has to pop, the historical change in the streaming platforms that it generates and the new audience that listens to this sound related to Synthpop are some of these things that came into discussion.
In the last few years the non-synthpop community had a rather uncontrolled hatred for this album, but why this hatred? It's simple, it broke records. Everything that breaks records in art related fields usually comes into discussion in questions of if it deserved it, if it is really good or simply from the side that they don't share at all. “1989” crushed all of its competition that year, even one of the most important albums in history such as Kendrick Lamar's ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’.
But here I am not questioning if it deserved these awards or records, I am questioning if it is really a good project. Because it is a before and after in the modern era is undeniable, but its quality is relative to its influence? I don't think so. Musically, this Taylor's album leaves much to be desired.
I consider her to be a pretty neat artist when it comes to delivering albums. I don't consider her a bad artist by any means, but I do feel that this is a project “to seize the moment”. I mean she took advantage of the Synthpop boom and her already large audience and released this album that was made for the commercial masses. You can see it in his production, a production in some cases quite boring and monotonous. I have already said it, Jack Antonoff seems to me a very mediocre producer and this is one of his projects where you can see the lack of ideas. Although he has some very well produced tracks, most of them are not.
But it is not only to blame him, Taylor's performances are not the most lucid either vocally or lyrically. There are some outstanding songs like “Style” or “Wildest Dreams”, but there are some songs where her performance is too characteristic and basic.
In short, a project that is both over-hyped and over-rated. Over-hyped by the more hip hop affiliated community and over-rated by the performing media. I say this even though these terms seem really stupid to me.
