Lot of open chords. I can tell they built these songs without drums
Worth another listen at some point
Fits in the two back to back final song albums
Was this before or after maggot brain? How Bay Area is this group of musicians? Gotta contextualize it to the time… but nothing but the deluxe on streaming
Clearly a classic.
Oh this is nice. TBH my first listen thru I fell asleep but I don't think its exclusively the album's fault. I think my general listening habit of not hearing lyrics until a month or so into listening hurts this album. Is it a tad tongue in cheek? Also curious what percentage of this list is Northern California.
Wish there were half stars. Hard to rate this the same as other four stars but hard to give it just three just on the strength of its singles. Definitely benefits from being easy enough listen to ignore the lyrics. Really prefer smaller budget Coldplay.
More dynamic guitar work than expected. Feels surprisingly bounded to its time. Honestly a little miffed by lyrical content and the fact that cobain is PNW royalty
This mixing is all over the place. I can't tell if the album would benefit from a complete technical overall, with more of a studio sound and a mixing pattern that doesn't slam certain instruments in completely different sonic pockets, or if it benefits from everything sounding like its orbiting around some kind of celestial cavernous megachurch. Was it always intended to be overheard playing on Peter Quills' walkman? A distant memory of humanity trying to reconnect with a possible way to experience itself. It's also perplexing why the lifestyle was celebrated. Jimi doesn't really sound like he's having fun. I imagine what this is going to be what it's like for future generations to listen to Future.
Maybe some hometeam bias but this is a historical artifact in the best way. You can feel the hype in the opening laying out the set to come, and a normally languid B-side is bolstered by a super receptive Apollo audience. No hits but the code is there. Clearly.
Lost Someone to the Please Please Please medley solidifies the 5
Stellar. Loses steam at the end of the first side with his dream. And then man Mr tambourine man is very heard before Dylan and immediately bounced off it. But definitely going to revisit
Befuddling and heartfelt - wish there were more projects that explored this scope. If Santa Rosa allowed this same amount of room to its different musical ideas it went down it might've been an easier listen. An incredible 10 song album in here, but it changes on each listen so maybe it's right to include all 69.
Some very comforting songs on here but I'm left thinking its just for comfort, not for expression. Does he really live his raps? For all the albums so far that lack the proper context for me, I can hear every Shins, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Fleetwood Mac antecedent that went into this Sub Pop product. Might be better as an EP?
Why is the London symphony on here!!! Isn't this his first album? Were Genesis or Yes or whatever overcompensated/ing band of the 70s big enough to rent out a whole symphony??? Wonder what the fees/artist relations needed to set up that connection. Very curious of there's a Phil Collins is a Peter Gabriel rip or vice versa fanbase sect
In one twist of the prism, a gentrified Zombie, another, a spaceship in suburbia with an insistence that disco wasn't dead, it just needed more quirk, detachment and body. 80s "world music" not beating the allegations. Did they not have soft power cultural critique back then?
Or was the pull to live for our neighbors too great while still (or perhaps only when) benefiting from them materially? Angelique Kidjo's version of this album is interesting.
Raw and urgent. Some of these songs actually feel somewhat rushed and peaked. Very charming crowd work and electric room sound but I might prefer a studio "chill" version of all these song. Of course I feel like I'm missing context but I find myself preferring something like Live at the Apollo for a document of a live performance.
So much funky drummer. Sometimes 80s hip-hop can feel like it works from a very similar template but save for a few homophobic lines, the template translates to present day. Solid listen and I hope more of this kind of hip-hop comes up on this list
Same year as pixies is super interesting. Pretty sure Pearl Jam, nirvana, blind melon and most 90s alt acts are just Jane’s addiction cover bands? Also who knew Jane was gonna be talked about!
Have already spun this record many many times. Love the sound of the singles and the production credits of one of Sade's producers helps round out the sound but something's missing in the full product. Theres an infectiousness to the singles that's lost in the full product. Bedroom music can sometimes be background music. Both a compliment and an insult
I can hear music in this - melody, texture, rhythm - but it doesn’t feel like music that lives in me. I’d be in the room for a few songs, recognize that it effects others and move on.
I know this kind of music exists. I've seen photos. I've heard some of these songs at sports games, on the radio, or in clips glamorizing weapons of war. But damn nothing can prepare you for every ridiculous lick, the texture of their production, their relentless vocals, or how much melodic content there is located underneath all these power chords. They really went for this sound, this look, this attitude? Somehow both hypermasculine and beyond gender. I fell in love and out of love like 10 times. Was absolutely gonna give this my first 2, but there's something undeniable about their commitment to it all.
This twinkles! The piano trills, that guitar whine emerging from the last verse on many of the track, subtle organ pedaling under the mix, little flourishes that turn these familiar personal anthems into textured glitter bombs shimmering under the light of retrospection. Unfortunate that this album has probably sold me a car.
Meandering in a somewhat freeing way. I'd love to know how some of these instrumentations were captured. A lot of sampling? The Brian Eno collaborations make me think so. Another product of its geopolitical position. Again wish I could do half stars
Meandering. Could use an artistic director. Without a potluck and general sense of community, feels selfish
Similar to magnetic fields in that there is likely a very good like 8/9 track album in here, but different in that the extra tracks don't really expand the palette, they're just more of the same.
Further confirms I don’t like anything related to hardcore, metal or heavy rock even through a pop, indie, surfer, alternative rock songwriting prism. Clearly interesting, and clearly influential but don’t care for it. Except where is my mind - that doesn’t get old.
First round yielded some tasty layers but was left cold by the story telling. I don’t get what he has to do with Eurydice yet. The production draws me back so maybe in that time I’ll figure out what he meant
Capital m Music, her voice was impactful then grew grating and then circled back around to perfectly fine if I can turn it off. I’d love to hear her sing in her home away from a stage. Still her songs have spirit and I really gravitate towards some of the production. If this had more granular rating, would be the highest of 3s
Hey that's where that sample came from. First track nice to listen to. The rest feels like fodder for better songs.
What do you do with tech based things that are "important" but the tech still develops?
Ok I see it now. With the context of Santa Rosa, this noise becomes clearer. Still don’t fully understand each turn this album takes but the hits makes sense
Immediate vibe killer. Only to rebuild it in its image. Hard not to eventually tap ur foot to but man I felt like he was holding off on saying some racial slurs. Or calling the cops. Half star would put this higher than others
Clearly rips. Each lick seems designed to buzz out of a stadium sound system. But there’s something presentational about them - like they’re a Chuck E. Cheese version of themselves. I wanna hear play a smaller sound. Can they still hit the blues then?
Charming collection of songs. Clearly set up for more. Am I wrong in that this is their transition?
A clear predecessor to Talk Talk, Phil Collins, Lewis and James Blake. Had me in a chokehold until the last jelly tracks. Are my problems with the album problems with British music in general? Wonder how he learned the blues.
I can picture her singing this proud in legitimately any location, matched to the band.
Really sparse production that’s nice for one song but didn’t really appreciate a whole album. Might revisit if/when in the mood but it ultimately feels like a schtick
Hey Jennifer's body! Some surprising song structures. I sandwiched this listen between a Sunday's album so I didn't quite gel with the emotion of it but its absolutely worth a revisit.
So much energy. Expected this to be vegetables and instead was an old can of 4loko. Almost a live album and kinda would prefer it to be a live experience. Wore on me listening sitting down in my living room after the first 3/4 or so but really enjoyed that time regardless
Pattering in her own lyrics with deference to Ella Fitzgerald, her voice really shines through. I don’t usually like vocal jazz but this is very nice to listen to
If Def Leppard stuck to the basics. More tolerable but less fun?
Could just copy and paste my rumours review. Which came out first?
Wonderful - could think this was contemporary. Can't wait for pink moon to come up because apparently that's even better? Very auspicious this came up on the week of his death.
Thought I found an incredible new band with no massive appeal until "There She Goes" hits and it all makes sense. For some reason reminds me of Blind Melon. Also confirms that nostalgia is not a modern trend, this firmly sounds like someone in the 90s remembering the 60s and the 70s.
Indomitable, endless grooves. Wanna hear more of what Bill Summers was theorizing while recording his grace notes
Kool Keith v kool. Has me looking a little sideways at MF Doom. Especially since KK has another persona named Dr. Dooom?? Full listen is fun but damn he's concocting some piezoelectric bars on these tracks. New flows absolutely wild skits.
Some post-punk records just feel thin. Expansive and enough to create a home in but not enough for me to return to rn. Probably would rate this higher after listening to Unknown Pleasures.
I'm also tempted to start thinking about UK music as an empire. Why do w care so much about chaps that churn out like 2 albums. Or are called brilliant after like an EP. Is this music making or culture making?
Hard to track some of these stories but damn if I don't like some of these melodies. I wonder if D'Angelo listened to this while writing SDM.
An amalgam of a bunch of other 60s/70s bands. The weight is an obvious nice listen but their nondescript name really is fitting. I'd revisit when listening to other bands from the same era.
3.5?
Lyrics to revisit but production style that left me uninterested in doing just that. That last track felt like it came from a different album tho
Half stars would boost it
The groove makes it feel like a full band, pretty remarkable its him in a studio. I know these songs, whether played in another car commercial, or filling out a Khruangbin album
We have The Beatles at home
When people say music used to be about stuff is this what they had in mind. Could almost copy and paste my Dolly Parton review
That last track is way too loose for my tastes
What dress did I just stumble into
