I don’t mind admitting that I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I thought I would have to sit through airy fairy wailing songs, but instead there were fantastic 90’s dance beats, strong vocals and top production and arrangements.
Started strong and got better. Really struggled deciding between 4 or 5 star rating.
I love The Who. Who's Next is one of my favourite albums. But, somehow Tommy just leaves me cold. I don't know if it's because I have to listen to it in full to get the full experience, and 75 minutes is too much to give it undivded attention, but I just never 'get' it.
To me, Pete Townshend, is one of the all-time greats for songwriting and guitar playing. I've read about how technically difficult it is to correctly play the chords on Pinball Wizard, and this goes to show how much went in to creating this album, yet I still find myself longing for a 'Won't Get Fooled Again' track.
Perhaps I need to sit in a darkened room, consume some illicit substance and be totally mesmerised by it, then I will eventually understand it fully, but until then, it gets a middle-of-the-road three stars.
Standout track - Pinball Wizard (obviously)
Didn’t mind this. It was nice background. Won’t be in a rush to play it again but won’t be turning it off if I start listening to it again.
Good mix of songs and was just about the right length
I haven't listened to a full Fleetwood Mac album in its entirety before, just the odd song here and there on the radio, so this was a nice chance to do that.
Having read notes about how this album was made, I was intrigued to see how it played out, and I liked the chopping and changing of styles between tracks. The switch from the chilled out Sara to the Sgt. Pepper-esque (in my opinion) What Makes You Think You're the One was interesting.
I wouldn't say I'm a die-hard Fleetwood Mac fan, but I'm never adverse to hearing their music. I think four stars is probably just about right for this. When Rumours comes round, I'm sure I will revisit Tusk afterwards.
Standout track - Tusk
Chilled easy listening, and when one of Frank’s songs comes on, you can’t help but get drawn into it. BUT, a whole album of songs all starting to sound the same, is a bit too much. Giving this three stars is about fair in my view
Paul McCartney... my second favourite solo Beatle after George Harrison. This is the only solo album of his I have listened to fully, but is a fairly standard early 70's offering.
Perhaps it was the initial recording in an under-equipped studio in Nigeria that makes it feel slightly empty and lacking a punch. Maybe it's just me, but thinking about it now, for someone at the level of Paul McCartney, I would expect more 'bangers', and not so many of the filler tracks such as Mrs. Vandebilt.
Still, I enjoyed revisiting this album, and feel it's worthy of four stars
Standout tracks - Jet & Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
The mid to late 90’s for me was when I was really getting into bands. It was the middle of the Britpop era, and I was playing Urban Hymns and Be Here Now on repeat. I missed out on A Northern Soul and never really got round to listening it back then. So I was glad I finally got a chance to listen to it now…
And for 50 minutes, I was taken back in time to being 13 again. Richard Ashcroft’s vocals. Nick McCabe’s guitar. It stirred memories. It’s very rare for an album to do that for me. But I’m sitting here reminiscing about times gone by.
I can’t rate this album any less than five stars. It’s stirred something in me. I will probably listen to it again countless times, and I’m grateful it came up as my pick.
Standout tracks - I can’t pick all of them, so I’ll go with A New Decade & Brainstorm Interlude
I mean, it’s the White Album. ‘Nuff said. It was always going to be five stars. Just happy to have the chance to listen to it in full.
Standout tracks - Dear Prudence, Blackbird, & Helter Skelter
