It's crazy to think this is how I find out about this album, not only did I never knew of this but it contains so many great and interesting songwriters, many of whom are my absolute faves. Initially I thought this was a covers album but... no? Like how the hell do you get two of the Divine Comedy guys, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and fucking Scott Walker in the same albums to write you songs?? They all come together in their own songs to write and work on different songs of course but I like that Ute's voice/style (or what I asume is her own direction) is not lost, this sort of modern take on grand cabaret theatrical stuff and baroque pop with different influences depending on the featured writer. It's that kind of balance of a seasoned performer who has a vision and a strong voice and incredible writers that nets an album this interesting and exciting to me, which is surprising to me because I'm not somebody who likes, let alone is even interested in cabaret theatrics most of the time they fall flat by trying too hard whereas this feels like it avoids all the worst tropes of the more theatrical genres and remains all the aspects that are fuller with attitude and gusto which I think MANY cabaret/theatrical styled albums sorely miss for me. I appreciate the range in sound and writing, but especially the final song Scope J. The closest this book has ever gotten to adding a late era Scott Walker song and immedeately its obvious how his style at the time took over the sounds, gone is the theatrics and in are the piercing drones and dissonances that transform Ute's vocals into a banshee. I really cannot get enough of it, I possibly would go as far as to give it a 5/5 on here and 9/10 on rym on future listens because I had a great time and I love whenever someone makes music I don't think works for me work for me. Awesome surprise

Its weird to parse through the complete version for the three songs included originally in the re-recording, and I think one day I want to sit down with the entire 2 Cd album but at least for the "Newport Suite", "Jeep's Blues" and "Diminuendo ans Crescendo in Blue" its all just the kind of energetic and fun jazz that just so clicks with me the most (mainly with Bebop), especially the Newport Suite which packs so many sonic emotional moments that transmit this sense of joy from all the players in the band, its always weird to describe that but those moments always make a jazz recording to me and even more with how the audience responds in turn. Wonderful stuff and totally get how this gave Duke's career a second wind

So this album is sonically and historically interesting and I'm glad Paul Simon did the bare minimum for these musicians (as well as rightfully taking a stand against apartheid) but this really is the kind of album that for me and my own taste in rock it's just so not it for me. Trying to put all these cool and interesting African music aspects into an 80s pop rock shaped whole whose production could make a lot of these sound flatter than they otherwise should is a shame because in concept I like the idea of this and in the songs like "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" really does come together but in others like the title track it really doesn't come together because they feel uneven in the inclusion of country pop melodies which never click with me and feel like they take away from the rest of the sounds in the album. There's also that some songs try to play more to Simon's musical wheelhouse while the others give more center stage to the African musicians, it's an uneven feel and generally I wound up wanting more from the African music side than I did anywhere near Paul Simon's brand of pop rock. So yeah, interesting album but not the kind I enjoy or would play again in full beyond like three songs

Its good I hate that I like it

It's not the most consistent album in the world, its got some kinda whatever songs but its also got some absolute bangers and really display the infectious chemistry of these three doofuses in the shape of just fun old hip hop. There's potential for better here and Paul's Boutique immediately shows how they eventually went onto bigger and better things (as well the few things I heard off the 90s stuff)

I think this is the kind of thing I don't get simply because I'm not a huge fan of hard rock of this type to begin with, it's the sort of bluesy, heavy thing that doesn't excite me or interest me just by virtue of having an overdriven guitar and a mean attitude. It just comes off as kind of basic and plain to me which is never interesting or fun to me. I can get how this can excite someone else but personally it really doesn't do it for me, and it's even weirder because I generally enjoy Hard Rock but I guess the way The Who does it simply isn't my cup of tea compared to other hard rock that came later

I guess if anything I figured I wasn’t going to be negative, on the contrary I felt like I was discovering some of the songs I never paid any attention to in the past like “Drive” or “Try Not to Breathe” or “Find the River”, etc, songs that I felt I had ignored over the years because I never listened to it in full again. I gravitated towards the previously mentioned “Man on the Moon” or “Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight” but that’s only a part of the album that only gives a small glimpse of what they are doing. In full though there’s just the feelings of this large, comfy alt rock album, comfy for the nostalgia but also the sound of the kind of instrumentals and moods they have in most of the album which just makes this a comforting listen when feeling lethargic or just more low energy than I would otherwise. But that’s not to say this album is just soft and sad, even the upbeat songs are probably where the album shines the most for me, I guess there’s something to the songs “Sidewinder” or “Ignoreland” whose more upbeat sound make them fun, maybe it’s the organ or how one feels so carefree while the other’s sort of “revolutionary” (I guess) sounding tone has always stood out to me. This album to me feels like one of the better things from this side of 90’s alt rock that was lighter and softer, it may be the nostalgia speaking obviously but even among things that are pop rock I rarely enjoy them unless they do more, and this one does more in the simply nice way that R.E.M. do. I guess it’s hard to encapsulate what I like about this one so much but in the end I guess it still remain one of those that I can happily return to.

Not bad but also not really interesting as far as prog goes imo, it's kinda lacking something more to make it really exciting but idk what it could be

I underrated this album in the past, maybe because I wasn't a fan of the folksier and smaller atmosphere this album brings but I think on this listen a lot more about the playing and the way Nick sings within these songs really opened up the album for me in a way I didn't really expect. I mean hell when Things Behind the Sun started playing I felt like I finally started getting this album, so yeah I think I massively underrated this one, it's a treat

Post-Hardcore is maybe top 3 genre and albums like this one is the reason

I know nothing about soul, so this is a nice little intro. It's short, it's both emotional and moody but also very animated and cool, I think I wound up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would even if it IS pretty understated.

I feel like most flaws/problems I might have with this album are mainly the length of any album from this era of music, which would stuff their length with filler songs. It often makes for inconsistent listens and this album is no exception of course, but I feel like it manages to be better thanks to the variety of beat choices, instrumentals, influences and even people that Lauryn picks on each song, it's a palette that is wide but still manages to feel homogeneous which makes me understand the people who think of this album as a whole being more than the sum of its parts because even if some songs felt like they would be too long or drag it still didn't take me out of the experience or made listening significantly worse. Even if I don't return to the entire album I would still be willing to return to many of the songs on this album

Albums like this one is why I started this challenge, discovering the music of somebody or finally giving me the push to giving them a try becasue maybe it will hit all the parts of my brain that enjoy this sort of thing. And I mean hell, here he is doing probably the version of 60s folk/singer-songwriter I didn't know I needed. Both instrumentally diverse, palletable but still hinting at more things to come, his vocals are excellent, I just listen to something like Pleasant Street and I'm wowed by his vocals, how they move across the song. Even the more middling tracks managed to be really interesting. I'll be looking into Tim's discography this was an excellent listen

Though it has some fun and wild performances, I feel like the album gets bogged down by the more pop/swing aspects compared to the jazzier big band stuff which genuinely is fun to hear him sing over and I wish it was more about that. Still Just a Gigolo is an excellent song

Sweet beats even if the rapping is a little primitive, extremely good time though and I'm curious to see where they go from here

Tracey Thorn's got an amazing voice but I swear the entire album is too deep into the sort of sophisti-pop sound that's just too smooth and chill in a way that I find very uninteresting and kinda corny. It's nice, but one note. It might also be that I'm not in the mood for this :/

I think I'm not the kind of person for this album, I don't totally get the entire concept of the album but still found the lyrics and some of the songs pretty compelling. I guess I feel mostly positive about it but I wouldn't comeback to it really

It's a cool as hell album made even more interesting by its influence. What else is there to say than put it on (the iggy mix particularly)

Sweet and nice album but in a way it makes me crave older Bossa Nova/MBP with a little more groove than this because those were clearly the best songs, the ones leaning more towards the downtempo lounge stuff just didn't do it for me sadly

The tone?? The guitar tone??? The fucking synth layered on the guitar??? It sounds crunchy in a way that I think a lot of rock should have gotten inspired by but isn't because they are silly Anyway the album's good though I'm not huge on the glammier parts of this

I think I like Lou better when he's weird on The Velvet Underground and Nico or White Light / White Heat than I do his more glammy and chill thing here. Don't get me wrong there was some great songs (Perfect Day, Make Up, Sattelite of Love, Walk on the Wild Side) and I love the gay subject matter he goes over but the ways the album can just be mid tempo pop rock or venture into more vaudville stuff towards the end really harmed the enjoyment of the album. Not bad but really not what I want from Lou yknow?

I'm generally not a fan of very traditional styles of rock, much less music that sounds super inspiring and upbeat but in this album Bruce and his band manages to make it work for me, all the optimism and joy of his sound don't sound like a cheap slogan but like a genuine emotion coming from the man and his band and I think it makes all the difference, it's joy that feels meaningful and not presented as something that IS because they feel that inspired in the studio which is something I can always have more of in older rock

I think if the album had maintained the energy and sound to the A side I would be more into this album, I think it manages to make two sides of older rock (folkier rock and power pop) that I don't care for into something that is interesting personally, perhaps because they lean into hard rock elements in some of the songs but still. The 2nd side goes for more folksy heartache which I don't like but I can imagine some people more into folksier stuff would get more out of it

I could make an essay on why I don't like this album but it boils down to: I don't think the mythos surrounding this album matches how drab and flat it is. It's a poppy album in disguise, it's a rebel yell that feels like a logo now, it's simply not compelling in any way and I've just never been more disintrested in an album that by and large I should like. Come as You Are is okay tho

Too long, sometimes repeating parts to the point of tedium. Robert Plant's vocals reaching the highest notes is like nails on a chalkboard. The only good points in this albums where the most subdued songs like Ten Years Gone or Down by the Sea Side because it didn't spend time in the same hard rock excersises the other songs did. Just not the thing I want from rock, even older rock

Too many songs that blend in together, not the worst I guess if what you want is music to set the mood to a place but I think if that's all of Frank's appeal then I have no much reason to hear his version of vocal jazz/swing, especially if most of it runs in the same sound/vibe/moods. I guess songs like Pennies from Heaven is the exception by being more distinct but how distict I couldn't tell you frankly (hah)

This is album is very long but unlike other long albums I've had to truge thru this one feels more brisk with its short songs and just general vibe that each side is just a collection of car jams the guys made, and it is quite possibly better enjoyed as a driving companion rather than something you pick up and put down. It's probably an album that is better absorbed in places where long periods of driving or just *doing something* that takes your hands elsewhere, and I think that makes it nice. The songs themselves are mosyly good though obviously with such length its not a consistent album, I think the best songs were mostly on side C of the album, more propulsive punk stuff there than in the other sides I think the more I write about it the more I like it in hindsight

Roundabout? Amazing The interludes? Whatever The other two songs? They are good but nothing I care a whole lot about even after listening to it. I used to listen to this a lot as a teen but I realize it was mostly Roundabout

Literally what else is there to say about it but just wonderful

It's crazy to think this is how I find out about this album, not only did I never knew of this but it contains so many great and interesting songwriters, many of whom are my absolute faves. Initially I thought this was a covers album but... no? Like how the hell do you get two of the Divine Comedy guys, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and fucking Scott Walker in the same albums to write you songs?? They all come together in their own songs to write and work on different songs of course but I like that Ute's voice/style (or what I asume is her own direction) is not lost, this sort of modern take on grand cabaret theatrical stuff and baroque pop with different influences depending on the featured writer. It's that kind of balance of a seasoned performer who has a vision and a strong voice and incredible writers that nets an album this interesting and exciting to me, which is surprising to me because I'm not somebody who likes, let alone is even interested in cabaret theatrics most of the time they fall flat by trying too hard whereas this feels like it avoids all the worst tropes of the more theatrical genres and remains all the aspects that are fuller with attitude and gusto which I think MANY cabaret/theatrical styled albums sorely miss for me. I appreciate the range in sound and writing, but especially the final song Scope J. The closest this book has ever gotten to adding a late era Scott Walker song and immedeately its obvious how his style at the time took over the sounds, gone is the theatrics and in are the piercing drones and dissonances that transform Ute's vocals into a banshee. I really cannot get enough of it, I possibly would go as far as to give it a 5/5 on here and 9/10 on rym on future listens because I had a great time and I love whenever someone makes music I don't think works for me work for me. Awesome surprise

It's a nice album to have on but nothing that I'm crazy about really. I think Cool Jazz is often not my favorite type of jazz, but that doesn't take away that it has a lot of great performances and sounds going on

Just like yesterday, its not like there's anything wrong with this album, it's a nice vibe as far as 00s electronic but I feel like I'm not a fan of UK garage/2-Step's take on repetition for electronic music or the way drums sound or the length. It leaves me pretty cold but I think in the right context like a party it would be the right thing

Barring some of the production quirks which can make some stuff muddy or Amy's voice crackle (idk if its the mic peaking or distortion), this album is still pretty wonderfully made. Something like this isn't my usual cup of tea and at worst I would be more critical of its throwback aesthetics, but I think it manages to pull them off in a genuine manner that doesn't leave me feeling like its boring or annoyingly evoking the past. More than anything though, Amy's voice and how she communicates her emotions and troubles really cuts through everything and it elevates it into something that makes me understand why this was such a big hit when it came out and how it made her passing such a great loss. I expected it to like it somewhat but as far as pop albums from the past decade, this one is great

I can't listen to this one a third time, just, no. Seminal punk (ish) album? Yes Do I like it? No, I do not like the ska elements or even its more punk elements, its too long and the only song I ever care to listen to again is Lost in the Supermarket because it at least sounds like a post punk song but beyond that it's just totally not my thing Just a no.

Finally getting around this one after owning the album, it's less the sound of grunge I expected and more general 90s rock with some western esque sounds? This album manages to sound pretty big without working too hard for it and its great. I might need more time listening to some of these songs but other than that its pretty cool, of the better "grunge" things

It's got some high highs but also some very middling songs which just take me off the experience. I guess I expected more upbeat funk stuff based on the songs I already heard from Stevie but this one turned out to be mellower than that, not the worst but still something I might not comeback to much besides Creepin and Please Don't Go

It sucks that this album is so long and drags so much on it's second half because the moments where this album mixes reggae/dub and downtempo it's probably where its at its best and it sounds so good I wish it was just those songs because they are awesome, but the moment it goes for the slower, pure reagge/dub this album slows to a crawl. Those songs are relaxing but they have nothing much else to them for me to be interested, sadly

I was totally expecting this album to just go in one ear and out the other like some of the few I've gotten lately, but surprisingly I wound up really enjoying this one! It almost feels like an anomaly though, you mean to tell me that a 1970s pop rock piano rock double album from Elton fucking John would be one of the few older rock albums from this list that I not only enjoy but also heavily click with? It's not common for me to enjoy any of those things but something about the way these songs have more than most pop rock things of the era, it is multifaceted emotion wise yet it manages to be convincing at its saddest songs and fun at its most playful and happy songs. Even more amazing is how incredibly consistent the album is for its whole 70 minutes and even the more middling songs like Jamaican Jerk-off or Your Sister Can't Twist are thankfully short enough not to get in the way of the other songs. Great album all around

This one might be my most listened album this year, ever since I started listening to it on February I just kept coming back to it one way or another, mainly because of how it's such a good and consistent listen all the way through, all the songs are just incredibly well crafted and produced, they are catchy but also still have edge to them, the lyrics are so earnest that yeah it can be a bit much but personally I completely feel the emotions within them and even relate to them. It's weird to explain why I like it, especially with how maligned this album was in the past and the endless memes, but looking beyond that there is an honest to god great album that really showed that Nu Metal might be as disposable as people say it was. I don't know, I like this album a lot

It's fine, enjoyable but not anything I'd comeback to. It has some interesting uses of these gospel backing vocals (weirdly reminds me of the latest Bad Seeds album) but personally it was at its best when it was aiming for more purely folk rock stuff

Can't say this is my thing but it was a nice chill time but I kind of feel out of my depth trying to analyze this one. All around, good yea

I feel so mixed about this album, the kind of album that in theory should be one of my absolute faves but its execution is not my favorite. It has a cool, dark rock sound that takes from some of older post-punk/goth as well as the better parts of hard rock, it sounds like my thing but somewhere along the way the album either fades into the background or has songs with amazing and incredible parts and other more meh that just don't quite click with me. It's almost like if I could cut some songs it would be one of the coolest things ever and don't get me wrong, it IS a good album but I feel like it hasn't quite clicked with me in the way I wish it did

It's got more pulse than most other sophisti-pop with it's funk and new wave influences, but quite frankly I rather listen to other pop of this era, this one just came off as okay but generally just whatever

Big Iron. It's a chill time, I guess if anything harms my enjoyment is that I'm not a country guy but somehow this album feels familiar with the tejano influences.

I was gonna joke that I'd rather listen to Yoko's solo (and so far listening to Fly this is more my speed) but this wasn't bad at all. Inconsistent as for me half the songs were great and sound nice and the other half are just country/blues tunes without much to add or for me to enjoy but other than that, it's a pretty nice album

Another one I heard before, mainly during the time I was extremely into techno and idm yet it never left the strongest impression in me despite having such aclaimed songs like Halcyon and On and On. It's not bad by any means but I guess while its a good listen when its on, the rest really doesn't stick with me really. There's songs whose loops and sythpads can be a bit too repetitive like Planet of Shapes or Lush 3-1 which compared to Impact or Walk Now being proper acid techno/trance songs the former just feel so weak and make the album more uneven. Again not bad, essential for the history of techno but not my favorite or most memorable thing in the genre

Most of this album just didn't interest me really, I guess I'm not super in love with Bob's choice of instrumentals or the general genre pallet, I think the more it leaned into blues or country is when I tuned out but songs like Bob Dylan's 115th Dream or It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) manage to do a lot more for me and then I realize "hey maybe I do like Bob's songs but mostly the darker or weirder ones" and if that isn't indicative of my taste then I don't know what it is

Its not bad its good, kinda weird how songs sound on the album compared to their single versions. Anyway smooth criminal is the best song ever

I don't hate it, in fact it feels familiar. I didn't grow up in the US but the melodies from their singing and their guitars reminds me of these oldies I'd hear in the radio back where I grew up. The sort of male duet playing tremolo style stuff which I would never pay attention to but it became a fixture of what I associate with some old music. Maybe it was country inspired I don't know for sure. I think because of that familiarity the album didn't feel like this alien country thing to me, the total outsider to country but instead something just nice to listen to despite the fact that it is repetitive and mood wise it isn't varied either, but this kinda thing isn't too different to having a Sinatra album in the background for ambiance, so personally I think it's pretty nice

I've tried National albums in the past and their style has never been my favorite, their take on indie rock with these chamber pop esque melodies and Matt's understated and low voice make for something that sounds pretty but becomes tiresome the longer it goes on. It helped in Boxer that it had some post punk elements that appealed more to me but on this one they transitioned into a brighter and kind of lush sound which again, I can see what they try to do with this but it ends up sounding flat and boring to me. Simply the formula for the songs of this album of mid tempo pretty songs with some nice accents and bored vocals really isn't exciting or something that I can appreciate in its own terms, it just sits there without much to catch my attention or worse sound like the worst indie cliches I've heard, even Bloodbuzz Ohio while good it bears reseamblance to a lot of boring indie that probably tried to replicate this song and failed, even the energy on it doesn't work because it just feels so restrained. It's just too stiff for its own good

It's interesting to comeback to what I thought at age 16 was my favorite PF album, back when I wasn't all that into listening to albums or judged just based on what songs were cool but I was *almost* there in listening to all the songs in an album. It's almost been a decade since (ouch) and it's weird to realize how much I still remember about this album (and also enjoy) but also how much I didn't remember like the smaller details to the instrumentals, particularly the synth work on the Shine on You Crazy Diamond suite orthe foils in Welcome to the Machine. It's the kinds of things that make me realize that there is still a lot that I can dig into these older albums that I didn't realize initially now that I'm more conscious of these things. Anyway, unlike other prog albums I heard before this one is one of the best, maybe it's how emotional and mechanical/space inspired it can be, there's no grand concept beyond being an ode to Sid Barrett and struggles with being a band but it's just really good at acompaning this instrumentals thay fit just what they wanna communicate and I love that about it I'm glad I could return to this one with a fresh outlook on it and still come out of it enjoying it a ton

Less is more would have this album under it, it's very simple guitar and vocals with some extra accompaniments here and there but what really sells this album for me is just how well Leonard can carry a song simply through its narrative. I think that's what makes his albums so especial

I'm still shocked that the only way pop rock, power pop and theatrical stuff clicks with me is still in the context of britpop, it feels like this is the only genre that has all these influences and makes them sound like good and fun alt rock with edge and not something too dorky or too revivalist of the past. Blur manage to melt the current rock sound in England (the touches of psych and noise pop are appreciated) with just incredibly catchy songwriting that doesn't feel cheap or like an annoying ear-worm. Hell It's even crazier how in its almost 70 mins it only has like ONE bad song and that was a hidden song, everything else is fantastic, how did they do it?

This album sounds so sweet and nice yet it still manages to communicate all the heartbreak and bitterness of a dissolving relationship, it's rare when it can feel like a nice but discomforting time and I think I really like it for this reason. I guess I will have to check more Marvin Gaye in the future

As per usual with me I'm not the biggest in power pop/pop rock stuff that this album leans into but the points where it goes for more obvious new wave stuff as well as the strong melodies that they have it just makes it a good time. It's the kind of bright new wave thing that I can get behind for a change

I always thought this would be one of those slam dunk albums where I'd love the sound of this one but in reality... it's just cool downtempo without much more for me to bite into, it sounds nice and the more house songs in this are great but I can't say I care much about this one on the whole. Something about the sound of these guys is just not as interesting to me as other downtempo type stuff I've heard really, it can feel a bit too measured for what would be a cool album otherwise. I think it may grow on me but I'm not entirely sure