Underrated 60s gem, on par with classics which often appear at the top of lists.

Familiar with a lot of these songs from when it came out. Perfect production choices, very layered and obviously laboured over. Vocals outstanding as to be expected. 'Roads' a standout.

As the music and arrangements are at times pretty bland, this pretty much stands or falls with Cash's persona and the listener's buying into this outlaw schtick. I for one, find it at times contrived.

Hard to pinpoint, but an engrossing listen. As there are only two pieces around 20 minutes each, the build ups are quite rewarding - when that bassline kicks in at the 14 minute mark on the title track, or in Shhh/peaceful, when after pounding a closed hi-hat for around 9 minutes the drummer releases the pressure a bit and we get a single snare drum hit (I do not fully realize whether that was irony or not.)

First impression - not a fan of the vocal affectations. There are instances when the "cursive" singing is less prominent, which are more enjoyable to my ears. The music and arrangements are often quite enjoyable. Writer in the Dark epitomises this, the contrast between the verse and chorus - the exaggerated vocal fry and "writer" being pronounced as "roiydah" in the verse and then the lovely Kate Bush-esque chorus.

First couple of songs really show songwriters who've run out of ideas, trying to make up for it with wrapping underwritten, unfinished and ultimately uninteresting vamps in what they think are interesting or experimental arrangements (they're not) and an overinflated-ego-frontman vibin' over them. It does get better. One obviously a standout, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses pretty good. Acrobat is a favorite. But there is so much filler here - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms ... doesn't go anywhere, nor does So Cruel. The singles The Fly, Mysterious Ways are so blatantly "90s" - trying to incorporate "modern" sounds and beats, but ultimately fail - U2 is not a band that grooves. Upon research, people like David Bowie, Scott Walker, Einstürzende Neubauten, Sly & Family Stone are mentioned as inspirations & Brian Eno being in the studio, which all sound like a recipe for a brilliant outcome. But it just all sounds so forced and affected.

Has some absolute bangers, the singles obviously as well as some album cuts (All Mixed Up & You're All I've Got Tonight) make for an engrossing listen. "I'm in touch with your world" is quite silly, the dissonant riff is nice enough, but maybe not touch all of the buttons with the "sound effects" setting on, on that brand new synthesizer you just got.

Sometimes grooves, sometimes more than a bit silly, at times challenging, but always engaging in some way.

It is impossible to ignore the impact of this record on rock music. Keith Moon's drumming is undeniable, as well as My Generation. The songwriting is another story. Some of the vocal melodies are pretty bland, the riffs are not all memorable and the rhythm section simply can't do all the heavy lifting.

Lovely dream pop. Lorelei, Persephone ... standouts. Sometimes the nonsensical lyrics seem to work, but there are times where it gets a bit too cutesy (Pandora (for Cindy)).

This was all over the radio back in the day and the re-listen really transports you and ties you to a specific era. The music more than merits its ubiquity in the 90s.

A 90s blindspot for me - might have resonated more with an angstier listener back then - but, alas, lyrics like "Be Sweet" are a bit too 90s to take. I guess it's supposed to be self-abasing and not based on personal experience, but the "I behave like a d#%k, but I'm like so complicated and deep," schtick really hasn't aged well. It's not all that bad, but: "Oh baby, I realise I treated you wrong But I'm so sorry, let me come back were I belong You see I'm your fool, I lost my cool." Just isn't the the type of lyrical genius I'm in the market for. The music is fine, very much of its time, but the vocalist's extremely limited range and lack of melody gets to be quite grating after a few songs.

Overall quite nice. The 60s hippie jam-iness is offset by interesting percussion and rarely gets too indulgent. More eclectic than I'd have thought. "Incident at Neshabur" would have fitted well on jazz albums of the era, whereas others sound more like stock hippie songs, that filmmakers on a budget would use.

Music to sell stuff to.

The cult and mystery of Scott Walker are probably clouding judgement. The songwriting may not even be particularly memorable, but there's just something about the delivery and atmosphere that's undeniable, but impossible to pinpoint.

A pioneering album - must have sounded revolutionary at the time. But as with many other pioneers; the formula hasn't been perfected yet and will be improved on later albums,

Seems very much tied to the cultural landscape of its time. On a pure musical level this is good, it vibes, grooves and whatnot - but it is after all a soundtrack - to a film I haven't seen.

Some quality songwriting going on here. Lacks the immediacy of his first albums and goes on for a bit. Disliked "Shabby Doll" immensely.

I've dipped my toes in the Naked City/Torture Garden pool and know what this Zorn guy is about. Don't really get why this one makes the cut, it's not as dynamic or varied, nor does it have the "what just happened" factor as the more known releases that explore a similar concept. The "everyone overplaying all at once" gets to be a bit much after a few songs, so you get a respite in the beginning of tracks like "Enfant," but alas, after a minute we're off to the races again.

All time great. The songs, the atmosphere, the production, the legend - it's all there.

An album that he had to make, to work through what needed to be worked trough, but ultimately. The songwriting just isn't there. I realize that everyone had moved on from the Beatles, but you'd think that some of the songwriting genius would seep through. Catharsis has been mined mercilessly for musical purposes, but c'mon you can't just be yelling "Well well well" over a couple of chords for six minutes, add distortion on it and call it a day. Highlights: Love Historically and culturally an immensely important album. But on a pure musical level, not so much.

A pleasant surprise! Another blindspot from the early 2000s. An eclectic bunch of songs - hearing traces Flaming Lips, Spiritualized, Blur (vocals?), but all combined makes for one hell of an album.

Music to drink overpriced coffee to.

That's about as country as it gets and the guy's got a voice to deliver it, that's for sure. But country being country - it doesn't offer a whole lot in variety - songwriting, arrangements or lyrical content. There are times when the album honks way too much and the tonk is all over the place - and that's when non-country enthusiasts step out. There are standouts, such as The Grand Tour, She Told Me So and a few others.

Classic: Highlights - Hearing Manuel's voice for the first time in "Tears of Rage", the organ sound on Chest Fever and the free-falling feeling of "rolling down the rooooooad..."

I for one liked this one. In all the chaos there are identifiable structures, grooves and riffs. But it is of course quite abrasive and the type of music requires a very specific mindset to enjoy. Dracula Mountain a highlight.

Music to wear denim jackets, drink canned beers and giving the good ol' 🤘🤘to. Wasn't familiar with much more than the tracks played on the radio. Quite surprised by songs like "Emerald" and "Massacre" - I knew the band is sometimes mentioned as an early influence on metal to some degree (Metallica, etc.), but these song in particular sounds like the blueprint to Iron Maiden, much more so than I'd have thought.

Quite innovative arrangement with the trebly-guitar and tom-tom driven beats. As punk singers are want to, the vocals are a bit shout-y and lacks dynamic range, which gets a bit much at times.

First time listen. Very pleasant early-indie sounding pop, but not much to latch onto at first listen. Singing is at times a bit overreaching, but I suspect that repeated listens will reward listeners.

Ain't no one other than Iggy - who in time has become somewhat of a caricature of himself. Resuscitated here by Bowie, The Stooges are given the "Iggy & the..." prefix and Bowie seems intent on utilising his wild-man persona to the fullest - evident on songs like 'Penetration' where Iggy's moaning and meowing of his inane horn-dog lyrics are so far up front in the mix that the music almost seems inconsequential. Thankfully Bowie and co. called up the Asheton brothers to provide some of the spark that fuelled the first two albums. Highlights: Search and Destroy, Gimme Danger, I Need Somebody.

A rollicking fun listen - energetic and competent performances, more than a healthy slice of Englishness, memorable songwriting.

The highlights are plenty. The infectious handclaps, tambourines, piano drones, the catchy riffs, the growling and grunting. I don't mind We Will Fall as much as some others.

A breath of fresh air in 2001, which more than merits its renown. Say what you will about the chops, they come up with some great riffs, catchy songs and good ol' sense of energy and fun.

It's all just a bit too saccharine and bland. Some of these have been played to death on classic rock radio and I'd get by if that'd stop. He is the type of songwriter you get the feeling doesn't really listen to or enjoy music.

Singles are good - So Young, Animal Nitrate. The rest is fine, the arrangements are competent, but rarely innovative or particularly striking, so it mostly comes down to the quality of the songwriting (great to fine) and Bret Anderson's vocal affectations - which are sometimes well over-the-top.

Music to make serial killer films in the 1990s to. Some of this is pretty cool, and was obviously quite innovative in its time. The thing with industrial music is that for me there is a thin line between atmospheric, rhythmic sense of dread and then just repetitive intentionally abrasive droning static. Just One Fix, Scare Crow falls into the first category and Hero the second.