All Mod Cons
The JamReally fun and bouncy album. Wanders sometimes into clash territory, some shades of police, sometimes all their own. Nice record
Really fun and bouncy album. Wanders sometimes into clash territory, some shades of police, sometimes all their own. Nice record
Absolute classic album but feels roughly made in a way that even its contemporaries did not. Skits are fun and provide some counterpoint to what would otherwise be solidly braggadocious. The man's flow is unmatched when he is on. One of the best rappers of all time but this isn't a perfect album. It is a good album with perfect swaths. I don't mean to seem overly critical but when you have peaks as high as this album goes the low points stand out in stark relief.
An album I've heard several times. I adore Smith's voice and a great deal of his writing. For me he is at his best in faster paced songs such as the opening track "Son of Sam". The album drags in a few spots and feels like background music for a film with something more substantial to say in the moment. The arrangement of the album feels a bit hinky compared to either/or (for example). Pacing is a bit off. Figure 8 is an album that'll always be worth listening to...unless there is a livelier Smith album or compendium on hand.
Sort of like decent Elvis crash landed on Brooke Benton island. Someone To Love Me is pretty great. Opening track (at least on Spotify) is fantastic for the genre. Solomon has a lovely and expressive voice. If you're a fan of modern things like St. Paul and The Broken Bones this will pick your locks without effort. It's a decently composed album as far as track ordering. If anything it suffers from being its own sea of same. Like an Ink Spots record, if you've heard the first three tracks, the rest will simply be more of the same. It gets a 6/10 from me. better than average for sure but not really my game overall.
Well, it isn't my favorite Outkast album but it is the best one of the 2000's! Plenty of good tracks, a couple of hits, and a few misses. Love Outkast and would almost forgive them any missteps as they have tried, consistently, to reinvent what they are and can bring to the people. Really great album that I wish I could put at a 4.4.
If Tom Waits were less hatefully intoxicated and more Christmassy you'd have this album...which is a pretty good thing. It's not really for me but I feel like it occupies an important place. The man has talent.
Kind of like if you threw the Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, and Maybe a few quieter Ethyl Meatplow tracks into a blender and then smashed a button marked "super soft weiner". I mean that in the best way. Not quite a five-star but damnably close.
Love was, and I mean this, the worst front person for the band Faith No More. This was a couple of months in the later 80's. It was interesting in that the band was post-Chuck Mosley but still sounded like FNM...except Love...who insisted by sheer will on being who she is. Which is a very mediocre artist. Hole sounds like someone doing an impression of grunge/alternative. If it were not for her multiple dalliances she likely wouldn't have ascended to a fair degree of fame. I would have 50+ minutes of my life back. What I will grant this album is that it is very well laid out and quite consistent. Like some artificial nutrient paste shaped skillfully into the impression of a complete supper. The entire album I cannot find one moment of excitement. Big Yuck to this album.
Great album to wake up to in the morning if you can take things slowly. Maybe drags a touch in the middle.
It's pretty conceptual. I definitely am old enough to appreciate what ABBA is without a trace of irony. I guess that I would say it fills the role it set out to perfectly. It is generally uplifting and even when it is sad and contemplative it isn't very deep about it. It is a candy apple but the apple is a granny smith variety. I like it in small doses but it is cloying and ultimately begins to agitate like apple flesh between my molars. Patently well made but not for me...picky fuck that I am.
Ye Gods, a 2.5 hour long album is the version I listened to. Gotta say, it is so gentle and groovy and relaxing it just made my day way easier around the house. Even as an extended album every song just flows together so amazingly well. I've been a fan of Moby since I was around 13 and heard "Rain". So, while the beat and effect choices seem a little clunky and dated, the language of the music retains a charming cohesiveness that is pure Moby. Really, I hadn't ever given this (or many) of his albums a full and focused "Dark Side Of The Moon" style listen. I am so glad that I did. I'll come back to this again and again...albeit probably the regular album.
Not my bag maybe? I love flowing raps with a nice bounce. Something about the production felt kind of off? It is a good album just not a great one or one that I will ever crave?
Loungey and delicious. I'm four tracks in a it is a simply wonderful album that is outside of my normal sphere of listening. Peeping Tom feels similar. With that album Mike Patton was trying to reveal an alternate world where he was interpreting what he compose for various radio stations. While Channel Orange (so far) isn't as genre-swappy it is extremely diverse and densely packed. Alright, finished now. I'd put this up there as a modern masterpiece. Even the parts I am not fond of work as hallways to the next vista. Palette cleansers.
Today's album isn't making it easy on me. I mean, I loathe romantic pop. Aside from my disgust I was surprised at the reggae on "Soda Pop". That is maybe the soul interesting cut left on this whole album. It is mathematically crafted to sell the idea of young sexuality...which, I'm 43. so...no thank you. It was less awful of an experience than I was expecting on the whole. I was maybe a little surprised that the non-hits on the album were more listenable than their more popular counterparts. "I Will Still Love You" with Don Philip was frankly an 80's ballad. The following track was a super-soft gay dancehall bop. Maybe "Deep In My Heart" is the "best" track on the album. My life is shorter and incrementally worse but I am wiser for having embarked on this listen. Isn't that just the way of learning.
Great album. Lots of dynamic range in terms of tempo and feel. Rang life, Gold Soundz, cut your hair, silence kid, and heaven is a truck are all winners. There are a few draggy spots but they set the table for the next course. I've been a Pavement listener for years and years but never really listened to whole albums undistracted and pointedly. I think I'll work my way through the catalog now. Very enjoyable experience.
Fine album. Drags a little. Had an opportunity to improve on the best work of ratatat but is merely different.
My favorite bowie album remains in a vast minority. 1. Outside is the tops. This album is really good though. David Bowie always comes in eras. This era is simply not my favorite. I don't care for the Disco swing of it all, the mix feels muddy, and the lyrics feel despondently cynical and clever but just not as pointed as other albums. It's not for me but it's a great album!
Not my favorite queen album. Possibly my least favorite. That said it is still a good album with impressive diversity. A bad queen album is still worth hearing at least once deeply.
Great album. Oddly, I don't like the first and last tracks but everything in between is sublime. It isn't perfect but I'm going to give it 5 stars for what it is able to accomplish in terms of renovating my whole mood today. Thanks Bob and company.
A true modern classic. Haven't listened to the whole thing in order maybe ever. Feel like I've been missing out. Amy was sort of a joke culturally at the end of her life but Frank is at the zenith of her talent and she (and the Dap Kings) are amazing here. No notes. Guess I gotta Five-Star this one.
Felt a lot like Warren zevon. Very well composed album full of songs that I don't particularly like. Probably was fairly groundbreaking in its era.
It was fine. Warbly hippy goodness. Felt like what my mom liked to listen to when I was growing up.
Such a good album!
Maybe one of the best albums of all time. I'm warm on dad rock. I like a Nazareth, I like some journey...but this album is insane and basically made by one guy and a really wild singer. It's very, very good.
If you had asked me yesterday in a list of '80s since we've been if I liked New order I would have emphatically said sure! After listening to this album, I've just got to say that I don't like it. Part of it is that it is just a rudimentary area where people were focused on forcing in new technology that maybe wasn't quite ready for prime time. Part of it is that it is self-centered and kind of weenyish. I just didn't care for it. I'm not going to say it's bad.
A lot of people have made bones about the conflicting views expressed in this album. But I think that Tupac was ineffective luminary for the lifestyle. That was evident at the time. Clean order to live in such conditions, one must accept multiple conflicting truths. The album is a wonderful example of beauty in a low vocabulary. The production values are excellent and, while there weren't any real standout tracks aside from "Old School" and "Dear Mama", The album as a whole is magnificently composed In total.
This was an album I've heard a few tracks off of already. As a contiguous album. It's wonderful. I've heard a lot of praise over the years for the flaming lips but haven't really been dedicated to setting out a blessing. I will absolutely listen to this album again. Then we'll have to be in the right mood.
As much as I loved Bob Marley's legend, I really don't like this album. Feels too primitive in some ways? Like old punk. I respect it. It's the roots of a genre I adore...but I don't listen to it hardly ever. This album was a little better than I expected it to be. It's engaging. It's hard to be map listening to reggae!
Really great album that feels like a perfect synthesis between early new-wave and early punk rock. Tuneful and driving with fun lyricism. There wasn't a single song I didn't enjoy or felt was misplaced in the album order. Not sure if it'll make my desert island albums but it is pretty great. I'll give it a five-star because I simply can't find any fault with it.
Oddly boring album Has it's merits. Great music to work to.
Putting this album contextually in its place in history. It is a true masterpiece. It's not a perfect album for me because I have a little bit of trouble with instrumentals and personal relation. I have no criticisms of the type of material or the way it's deployed. I simply wasn't as moved by it as lyrical or narrative musical pieces. Not to say some of that isn't there or that it isn't evocative. Just not what I am into.
I know, I know. It's a classic. But it's really just three different songs in a trenchcoat. I like them but not for a while album.
I dislike carol king. I don't understand why she is so popular with a certain set of people. her voice is not exceptional, her playing is reasonable, It's not like she was out here smashing barriers. Maybe it's literally just me but I didn't care for a single song. This was a very difficult listen. Two stars but I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
Amazing album from an alternate universe. Not a bad track. Will spin again.
Did not like it one little bit. Felt like an a poor apeing of country. The band is quite talented but I'm just not sure what was supposed to appeal here.
What a great album. Not perfect but, separate from it being a Beatles album, it's well built. The tunes are catchy and varied. I do not like the Beatles in general but I have to hand it to them, my toes tapped a few times.
Maybe one of the best albums I never heard before on this list so far.
Better than I thought it would be and the singles, while dated, were entertaining.
Lovely.
Solid cover to cover
Jerry is cool
Loved it. Somehow so fresh then and today!
Just not for me. Nothing to say of it being bad.
If I wanted to like this artist I probably had to have been alive at the time. Lyrically quite talented and realized. Everything else is meh at best. I've seen him live and felt the same way. I wish I could see what so many others do because I have to admit that they seem to find him captivating.
Have never really listened to more than a few of their tracks. Really fun album. Really creatively punky. Loved it.
I liked it even though it was a deeply silly album. A bit amateurish feeling from a popular band somehow? Could be that it was part of the adoption of early synthesis tech into pop music? Could be that their whole thing was kind of being unserious. I'm not allergic to that. It was pretty ok. Not awesome for how many times people have mentioned the album to me. I think it stood out proud simply because it has a song about a sex dwarf.
Fun album. Great working music. Soothes my noisy mind by generating all the funk which I require. Unexpected and pleasant.
Really incredible technical album. Can't say I loved it?
Really fun and bouncy album. Wanders sometimes into clash territory, some shades of police, sometimes all their own. Nice record
I remember when these guys debuted. I thought they were so avant garde. Now the music feels somewhat primitive...still, it is a wild album and I enjoyed almost every single track.
Nice and bluesy jazz wholesomeness.
Really fun album. Tons of wins.
I've always been a fan of Metallica. Even though they can come across as a little juvenile to me now in my 40s. Still, this album is absolutely amazing. Was groundbreaking for his time and still feels fresh and interesting. This is one I will listen to again.
I tend to listen in the morning. Not an ideal time for Portishead maybe? Still, what am I interesting band for it's time. Really wasn't anything like it in popular music. Much less a somber group that has four hits on a single album.
So much better than I anticipated. I've always thought of Apex twin as being a bit difficult to listen to. Not that I didn't like it but I had to be in the mood for it. These works were incredible.
Really great. Enthusiastic and candy like while cartoonishly dark and morbid. What a fun piece of history.
It's really groundbreaking but I seem to be on a minority in that I really only like one out of five Beatles songs?
Second Cave album to come up in this process. I liked this one a good bit less. Nick Cave is undoubtedly an important musician but a bit like Tom Waits in that when he's on he's on...when he isn't he's still tom waits. For me, to truly enjoy Cave's music some stars really need to align in a way they didn't really do for abattoir blues.
Fun little detour of low-impact beauty. Really liked it.
Bjork is a wild talent. This particular album wasn't what I love in her work but it is still really, really good and interesting and pretty fun. Maybe just a bit more somber than I was in the mood for?
So rich and wonderful. Violator is an amazing album. All the teeth of early NIN but if it were a more well-adjusted person, three-dimensional person.
Interesting but not my favorite.
A weird album, a true oddity by Todd Rundgren.
Surprisingly better than I remembered...though I've never sat down and listened to the whole thing critically. It was rich and sad and weird.
Zero complaints. Not just a great album but, with cultural touchstones, impossible to listen to and not find yourself contemplating history, what might have been, and what we gained or lost. Sort of like The Wall in that way but even more accessible. More every-day. Nirvana did such an impeccable job of never feeling sold out. Always feeling like the throes of a flu fever. My mother woke me up with breakfast the day Kurt topped himself. My brother and I are came to the kitchen table and then she handed us the paper and simply said: "guys, I'm sorry. I remember how I felt when Lennon died. It's ok to be really sad." We were.
Not my typical fare. Musically it vacillates between alt country and Beth Orton style tales of the heart. It's a good representative of its ilk and I found myself enjoying several tracks. I recommended it to my wife who actually is a big Orton fan. I wouldn't change the album if I came into my house and it was on but, barring that, I probably won't critically listen to it again. All things considered I'd give it quite high praise aside from my personal preferences. The music is actually quite well realized and not merely an accompaniment to Mann's wry lyricism.
Enjoyed it. Fun album with an almost old-school rap amount of skit flavor. Which is perfect. I love how unserious it is. Her voice is great and the music is fun.
Not for me. Interesting and fairly advanced for its place in time but maybe a bit too immature in some ways? Felt like fat boy slim as a toddler?
Good fun and not nearly as dark as I remembered. Odd for sure and a challenge to listen to in spots.
I've always had mixed feelings in my limited exposure to this group. I heard only the hits. As an album it feels like a true synthesis between Wu-Tang and something more gentle like LL-Cool J's more romantic tracks. It has skits, it has some nice flows, it has great sampling, it's a fantastic and varied album. I don't know that I'll run it back again and again but I enjoyed it.