There are two things I know to be true about ska.
1. The Specials are the greatest ska band of all time.
2. Even the greatest ska band of all time cannot make me like ska.
That said, I am adding a full star in recognition of "Do the Dog" because it is an all time banger.
A generous 3 stars
This album is a total treat, and I was sad that I'd missed out on Jurassic 5 for so long.
Power in Numbers was offered to me immediately after being assigned Straight Outta Compton, and to a music fan with limited experience with hip hop, the contrast could not be clearer: The flows are flowier, the lyrics are more intellectual, and the overall vibe and message are far more positive.
A friend pointed out to me the early 2000s were a bad time for this album, when the industry was pushing hip hop that was either far edgier or more pop-oriented. Jurassic's alt-stylings - at times very reminiscent of Tribe - would undoubtedly have been a bigger hit if released in the mid-90s.
But that's the blessing of finding albums after the fact: you can enjoy them on your own terms, and not by the whims of the market. And that's why I'll be coming back to Power in Numbers.
Standout tracks: Thin Line, A Day at the Races
Great album 4/5
More than 40 years later, Thriller is just as exciting as it was when Jackson was becoming a global phenomenon. Of course, many of these tracks have become so culturally ubiquitous that it is nearly impossible to evaluate them free of that context, but I did find that even throw away tracks like "Baby Be Mine" are still fantastic singles-in-waiting, elevated by Jackson's very presence on them.
Production is truly phenomenal: the synths lack the cloyingly cheap sounds that soon overtook all pop music, horns sound at least mostly acoustic, and the sonic bells and whistles that Quincey Jones sprinkles throughout the album (nowhere more beautifully than on the glittering "Human Nature") never sounds dated or embarrassing -- a feat that few producers would achieve in the early/mid-80s, as cheap synths seemed to lower the quality bar for everyone.
All of this having been said, the album suffers from two completely unnecessary tracks that do drag the record down: "The Lady in My Life," which feels lost and forced onto this album, unbefitting of its status as the closer; and "The Girl Is Mine," a ridiculous duet with Paul McCartney that is cute enough, but beneath both artists.
4.5 out of 5
It's difficult to know what to do with this album., It's not that I didn't like it; Adele has a gorgeous voice. She is lovable celebrity who sings deeply introspective songs that are frequently focused on emotional growth. That makes her a very inspiring artists.
And yet, this album often bored me. Too many of the songs are similar both thematically and in tempo, and almost all of them felt more familiar than they should have been. Some were obviously songs that has been lodged into my brain because of her ubiquity on the radio, but others turned out to be songs that just sounded an awful lot like the ones I knew.
I don't know how to rate an album like this. It isn't bad, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. 3/5 is the best I can do.
A gorgeous, smooth, and cool album, featuring a truly all world line up. Each and every track is a gem, but I was most drawn to Flamenco Sketches. This is one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.
It is nearly impossible to review this album without giving in to all sorts of cliches. After all, without this album, there would be no Sex Pistols, no Joy Division, and no David Bowie. There would likely also be none of Lou Reed's best material (the less said about his non-best material, the better).
Yet, all of the accolades for this album pave over how thoroughly avant garde it is...how terrible the harmonies are on Run Run Run, the screeching drones of Venus in Furs, Nico's persistently flat vocals. It is designed to offend traditional sensibilities and beat rules considered unbreakable.
And yet, there it is....seismic in its influence and perfectly wrong. It is the permission structure for punk rock, for metal, for college rock, for grunge, for everything that a record company executive has ever needed to be convinced that he or she should sign.
A perfectly imperfect album. 5/5
Like a lot of electronic music, this is sonically interesting, but compositionally lacking. While I don't know much about this genre, I do vividly remember the fervor for outfits like the Chemical Brothers and the Orb, and I especially recall that people whose taste I respected enjoyed them. Even though this isn't the genre for me, that's worth a star or two.
However, it is worth noting that the Chemical Brothers always rise to the occasion when collaborating with other artists on more straight-forward rock-and-pop songs. Alive Alone, featuring Beth Orton, stands out in this regard, harkening to other outstanding collabs with Orton as well as each of the Gallagher brothers.
Unfortunately, the reimagining of Song of the Siren is confusing to the point of irritation.
2.5/5
The late 80s and early 90s were filled with bands attempting to cross rock, funk, soul, and metal, but few did it as well (and none as successfully) as Living Colour did.
Vivid is a bold album that made an immediate mark with the lead single "Cult of Personality" -- a song I still remember hearing for the first time. And as much as I played and replayed that album in the year of its release, this was my first re-listen in decades.
It has aged quite well; like all releases from that era, there are some production choices and songwriting gimmicks that feel off today, but on balance, its still a very solid debut. Cult of Personality, Desperate People, Memories Can Wait, and Open Letter to a Landlords still reflect a far more mature band than one would expect to find on a debut. Even more impressive is how ahead of their time the message of their lyrics are, directly addressing gentrification, drug addiction, racism, and economic inequity throughout.
Despite all of that, the album does suffer somewhat from the band's legacy. LC's following albums -- especially Times Up, Stained, and the Biscuits EP -- demonstrate fantastic growth and maturation as musicians and as a band, leaving Vivid feeling undeveloped by comparison. Filler tracks like What's Your Favorite Color, and I Want to Know do little to change that perception.
Nonetheless, the album still impresses in countless ways. 3.5/5 stars.
Hey Spotify: please do whatever needs to be done in order to get Broken Hearts back on rotation.
I am unapologetically fanatical over David Bowie, but I sometimes feel that David Bowie owes me an apology for this album.
Of all of the Berlin Trilogy albums, this is the most difficult listen. Low may experiment more, and Lodger may be the more erratic, but Heroes is the album where Bowie is most focused on breaking rules just for the hell of it. And despite the fact the title track is arguably Bowie's most iconic, romanic, and earnest track, the balance of the rest of this album feels deeply pretentious and committed to busting pop music conventions that, it turns out, do serve a needed purpose.
Tracks like Joe the Lion and Beauty and the Beast are frustrating, certainly feels like Bowie had the framework of a decent rock song, but decided "hey, what if I tried to make this sound like shit by screwing around with intonation and singing with the worst possible phrasing I can imagine?"
Why, David? (We all know why: because you're David Bowie. And that's often more than enough to justify whatever strange decisions he aas making).
It would be unnecessarily cynical to overlook the bright spots on this album. The title track speaks for itself. Moss Garden is gorgeous. Sons of the Silent Age is viscerally mysterious.
In between those clusters are songs like V-2 Schneider and Blackout, where Bowie seems to have found the rare balance between focus and innovation.
I wish there was more of that throughout.
3/5
ELO is a puzzling band. Their signature sound is impressive in small doses but overwhelming and tiresome in its consistency, always harkening back to the Beatles to an downright uncomfortable extent. Moreover, Jeff Lynne too often grabs from the same bag of tricks (that's enough compression, thank you very much).
When they break with the formula, they're a much more interesting band, but Lynne doesn't allow for it very often.
None of my favorite ELO singles are on this album, and the deep cuts simply aren't moving me. I imagine if I were a greater audiophile, this would be a higher review from me, but it taps out at 2.5/5 stars.
I have often believed that shoegaze is just hippie music dressed up as noise, and I'd say that this album embodies that notion particularly well.
This album is very pretty, but it is also legendary in its sonic assault. And it works! This is an album with big, loud, rude guitars, but thy somehow never overpower vocal melodies that are disarmingly pleasant.
My only complaint is that I wish the record was more dynamic. By the end of the album, the formula felt worn out, and I was dying for a reprise of "Just Like Honey" so that we could land this plane as gently as it was launched.
3/5
Dear God, what is this?
This is what David Bowie would have sounded like if he'd never progressed past his more bizarre creations like The Bewley Brothers; in fact, there are LOT of late 60's and early 70's Bowie notes throughout this album (as well as some nods to Barrett-era Floyd, thanks, I imagine, to Nick Mason's production credit; one could also suggest Scott Walker's influence). Yet, it lacks none of the pop sensibilities that (usually) kept Bowie, Walker, or even Floyd from going off the rails.
This is a dark and weird album. I would like to think that a second or third listen would be more revelatory, but that's ot going to happen.
This is a challenging album for me. Its craft is undeniable: songwriting, musicianship, arrangements, and instrumentation are strong throughout.
Yet, I find the album generally uneven. While it is held up by a handful of truly excellent tracks (namely, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Heavy Metal Drummer, Reservations, and the deeply satisfying weirdness of Poor Places) the rest of it honestly fails to move me, often operating in the very nearly liminal space where distinctions begin to announce themselves between music that is clearly good and music that is truly emotionally engaging.
An album that is associated with greatness for good reason, but one that will never truly be "for me." 4/5 stars
This album is a real vibe. Cool flow and playful production make for an easy but interesting listen. That said, it's a bloated document that could stand to shed at least three tracks for the sake of brevity (probably more like five, to be honest). Full star deduction for that.
That said, there is plenty to like here. I still don't know what to make of Danger; in many ways its a standout track that breaks up the monotony of an overlong album, yet it also feels like it belongs to a different artist. Either way, it did inspire me to check out more of the Ms. Dynamite catalogue.
Solid 3/5
I don't think that I have the knowledge of African pop music (or more specifically of Congolese Rhumba, per Wikipedia) to make any sort of informed pronouncements about its aesthetics. That said, there is plenty to like here on the most elemental level.
To start with, Olomide has a beautiful voice that slyly hides an impressive range. Like much African music (particularly the music I tend to associate with Senegal), the songs coast upon bouncy and exuberant arpeggios that bed you to dance, or hop, or bob your head.
After a while, the language barrier does become an issue, and a sense of monotony sets it -- a charming and fun monotony, but monotonous nonetheless, leaving you very aware that you may be missing something vital within each song's lyrics.
I don't foresee myself returning to this album, but I'm glad for the chance to have heard it. 3.5/5
It's difficult to find praise for disco, a genre with a badly damaged brand, due to its proximity to a seemingly vapid white cocaine culture of the 1970s.
But a closer listen reflects that disco rests upon great rhythm sections, and Sister Sledge delivers fanatically tight drums and guitar throughout.
Vocals are a challenge; either you like this style of singing or you don't. I personally do not.
The big surprise for me, however, was how positive the lyrics are, with messages of inclusivity, unity, friendship, and love throughout the album. This is not my vapid conception of disco; if anything, these lyrics feel quite resonant to today and perhaps to all of time.
I appreciate the craft, even if the aesthetic doesn;t reach me. 3/5 stars
Musically, I have no complaints about this album. Sly is a bona fide genius, and he surrounded himself with great musicians.
Unfortunately, I have little sense for funk, which needs to be admitted up front. The album simply doesn't go anywhere, and I suspect that maybe that's the point of the genre. Maybe it's not about the album taking us somewhere. Maybe it's about the album being there with us as we do nothing but vibe with it (preferably, I suspect, with the assistance of a healthy dose of THC).
I own this album, and it's probably my fifth or sixth listen, yet somehow It's a Family Affair is the only track that he stuck with me.
It's hard to knock this album; I like Sly and I want to like the record. But it's a 2.5/5 for me.
Every decade, a classic band that we have taken for granted suddenly has their moment in the collective consciousness of tastemakers. First, it was Thin Lizzy. More recently, it was Steely Dan. Today, it seems to be CCR.
And to be frank, I think this is the band most deserving of the recognition.
It's not just the quality of the songs -- a consistency that few classic bands could ever match.
It's not just John Fogerty's vocals, which are not only gritty and occasionally frightening, but also often sung high enough to truly torture any karaoke jokester.
It's the band. Put bluntly, CCR boasts one of the greatest rhythm sections in the history of American rock. And that isn't an exaggeration in any way, shape, or form.
There will always be a debate as to who belongs on the Mt Rushmore of American rock bands (Van Halen? Metallica? The Dead? The Ramones? ZZ Top? The Allmans?).
Bayou Country should certainly enter CCR into a prominent place in that debate.
This is, without a doubt, the album I have disliked the most in this exercise.
This is self-indulgent noise, resembling nothing quite so much as an attention starved seven year old, who has decided to bleat out annoying noises until his parents pay attention to him.
Unfortunately, I remember this scene all too well: a scene that seemed to be driven and defined by bratty, fundamentally self-conscious, irony-obsessed, over-educated art school rich boys on drugs.
The best that can be hoped for this album is that a keenly-eared hip hop producer will sample it in service to a certainly superior end product to the original.
This is trash. The artists knew it, and they laughed at you for buying it.
I was happy to receive this album because for several years I've had a strong aversion to David Byrne, and I was starting to wonder if it was unjust.
It wasn't.
Make no mistake, the Heads have a phenomenal rhythm section that drives the funky-dance aesthetic of this album. And, of course, "Once in a Lifetime" is a classic. No complaints there.
But the album is otherwise overly indulgent and occasionally borderline pretentious. Certain songs are far too long, and Bryne's "I'm a funky nerd" aesthetic loses its charm over time.
I get that the Heads were enormously important and influential for a generation of fans, but this band will never move me.
God, I wish Tina Weymouth had been in a different band....
