Shining star is a classic, Title Track is fine but Africano and Happy Feelin' are the two best tracks, don't really care much for the rest.
I wanted more horns, more groove and for the drums to do anything interesting. Bass & guitar player rip, and I can get down with some xylophone.
I'll round up to a 3, but I feel like I'll look back on this as generous.
I could take or leave the first 3rd of this album, but I really dig the final 2/3. Love that every song has a big intro- feels like goth jam band.
Some songs the vocals absolutely hit for me, but the instrumentation & the production take this over the top.
If I listened to this album when I was 13 I may have gone through a goth phase.
I've not heard this album in years (it's 12+yrs old?!), but I knew I enjoyed it coming in.
It's a solid album and doesn't feel like an R&B album, lots of experimental aspects. Sweet Life, Pyramid & Pink Matter are standouts.
There's a few songs that I don't love, but even in those songs, I typically like the music/beat.
They really should have half & quarter stars on this. 4.5/5 so it gets rounded down, mainly because I feel weird rounding up in this instance.
I really only knew of the isley brothers as Ronald & Ernie, so it was kinda wild to learn there was other Isley Brothers and they even let a Brother-in-law in.
Somehow, I had no idea they wrote That Lady. I can't unhear it now. This is Ernies first album as a member (leas guitar) and he kills it in every song. Some songs feel a bit like Grown-Up Jackson 5, and some have a Stevie Wonder vibe with the Clavinet. There's also moments that give me 90s r&b vibes.
There's so much groove & funk in this album, killer guitar licks and solos and Mr. Biggs' voice is amazing throughout everything. There's a miss or two, so I'd call it 4.75/5. I'll round down again, since I think it's hard to rate 5/5 if it's not perfect.
If you only listened to the 4-5 remastered songs, you messed up. The original album is pretty damn good.
I've never run into anyone in my life who gives a shit about Thin Lizzy, and I guess we're all wrong?
The front man is kind of corny at times, but probably wasn't corny at the time. He's got a good voice though, so whatever.
Music wise this is great, guitar, bass & drums all find time to shine together and in their own thru solos & intros.
They're all over the place- there's some funkyness with a sax, bluesy feels with a harmonica, metal vibes with driving bass & drums, and a ballad that they abandon like 3/4 thru to rock instead.
4.5ish, The Boys are Back in Town sucks & some of the mixing is a little odd & inconsistent. Apparently some or a bunch of stuff was overdubbed, depending on who you believe- there's a few parts that are real obvious.
I'm beginning to think I'm going to like all 1001 albums, or maybe Thin Lizzy rocks
Seems like these guys influenced a lot of punk down, there's familiar guitar licks and some of the vocal choices feel like late 80s/90s punk. Got some Rancid vibes here and there.
While I can appreciate their influence, there wasn't a whole lot that grabbed me, no real reason I could see myself coming back to this album
It seems like all of our albums have been from the 70s and maybe I'm just getting a little burnt out. 3.25/5
Like the guys voice. Seems very 60s, it's fine, but everything is pretty similar. I like the guitar tone in You Won't Give Him & Hard, Ain't It. The horns coming in, in a later track gives a much needed change.
High 2s for me
Hated the first song & thought that was what I was getting into, but it turned around immediately.
There's a few songs or pieces of songs that just feel like UK- Beatles vibes. I don't know how you can hear Magic America & not think Beatles.
I like a lot of the punk leaning stuff a lot, but the odd ball stuff even more. Like we're really doing some waltz stuff with a woodwind section or some shit? They are cause it works!
End of the Century may be my favorite song we've heard so far, London Loves was a close second.
There's so much variety in this album, from the laundry list of instruments they use, guitar tones & genres they dip into. Probably my favorite album so far, 4.8, but that's still a 4.
I liked this a lot, way more than I thought. I didn't recognize anything at all on it. Everything was different but still fits together, never felt stagnant, never felt repetitive.
Felt very 60s, but in a good way. Got CCR vibes at times, didn't realize this would lean as country as it did.
I loved everything on this, a couple of long songs that I didn't want to end. I thought Down By The River was the best song, then heard Running Dry and I almost forgot about Down By The River.
Then I heard Cowgirl on the Sand, and forgot about the other two. I feel like a bunch of Indy Rock bands have been chasing this sound and feeling for my whole life. I could believe that it came out 5 years ago, instead of 50.
I think those 3 songs are all in the top 5-7 songs I've heard through this so far.
If this isn't a 5, I'm not sure what is.
I can't figure out how to say "didn't listen" after the fact. I fucking hate christmas music, so it's getting a 1.
I really enjoyed this album, there were a couple songs that were just "eh" to me, but the ones I liked, I liked a lot.
Oasis definitely has their sound figured out, but this album hardly feels repetitive. It did make me interested to listen to more Oasis to see what their range would be.
I'd give this a 4.7/5, I thought I knew what I was getting into coming in, and I was right, but I wasn't disappointed.
I had no idea what to expect coming in. I've heard a lot of current artists (Kendrick, Frank Ocean) site Sade as an inspiration. I expected maybe more of an R&B tilt to this album.
I was pleasantly surprised, its kinda funky and groovy, but I don't really know how to take this album. There's time that it feels like they set out to make the most jamming elevator music, but then there songs with a more poppy slant that end up feeling really jazzy.
At times songs feel like they're just fluff, but I'm not sure how true that is. Lyrics don't seem to completely matter, and for being sort of poppy it's wild how some of these songs are structured. Sade doesn't seem to follow the pop music: verse, hook, verse, hook, bridge(?) hook. Instead some songs feel like they have 3 different hooks, or no hooks.
Because of the atypical song structures, I'm not sure if this album is deep or just fluff. Songs flow and evolve, almost making them feel more raw, real, deep. Many listeners turn to lyrics to bring everything together, and some of the lyrics feel like they're just there to occupy the space.
The last song is good, almost doesn't feel like it completely fits, but the previous two songs are amazing- they have almost a smoky jazz club vibe to them.
I liked this way more than expected, but still don't really know how I feel about it. It was probably the most interesting thing we've heard so far. I'd rate it mid 3's, maybe higher after another listen.
Love this album, I came in thinking this was a 5 and I couldn't find a reason for it not to be. I hate skits & interludes, but these were all quick & painless. I've usually skipped Toliet Tisha, but it's really not a bad song.
Stankonia is one of the best hip hop albums of all time, but might not even be the best Outkast album.
It's fine, I can't say any of these song really crack my top 10 favorite Ray Charles songs.
I like the big band stuff way more than I like any of the ballads, but there was nothing that really hooked me. All the songs with the big string arrangements felt like they should be on a Disney soundtrack. I can't say that's a bad thing, maybe a testament to how good Disney songs usually are.
Production wise there's some spots that are harsh and distorted. Some of it happens on the vocal tracks and I think it almost adds to the recording, but it just sounds bad when it happens to the horns.
I'd call this middle of the road, completely average, 2.5/5, but I'll round up because I really like a decent amount of his music, just not much on this one.
I think I'm supposed to quote El Duderino and call it a day, but I actually gave this one a chance.
This felt like they wanted to make a safe 70s rock album, realized it was boring and looked for a new slant. There's these little country feels coming through, but it's all so polished it doesn't feel authentic to that style. I love the harmonies, but not really enough
The hits are fine, just massively overplayed, but that's not really The Eagles fault. It's probably a good thing if you were looking at it from the bands perspective.
For the amount of people that say they Hate the fuckin' Eagles, this should be bad. I'm indifferent to the Eagles... maybe that's worse?
I really enjoyed this, so much so that I feel like I've been missing out by not really listening to Dylan.
While the production is simple- dude, guitar, harmonica, it fits perfectly. There's nothing to get in the way of his words. All the more folk-y stuff is top notch. I love the Talkin Blues style and Dylan I'd one of the best I've heard do it.
There's a few songs that feel like poetry with a guitar. While I usually don't care that style, I love what Dylan does in that realm. He makes things feel like they carry more weight- fuck your rhyme scheme or rhyming at all, I got stuff to say.
Favorite song is easily Masters of War, it feels timeless. The minor chords give the song a dark and brooding feel, the lyrics and delivery are so raw- he's mad, you should be too. It reminds me of a few emo/alternative bands acoustic sets, feels so emotional.
There's nothing less than great on this album, no skips. I like the not so serious stuff, love the serious and emotional stuff. Easily a 5.
Queen is one of those bands where I don't give a shit about their studio stuff, but love all of the Live stuff I've seen/heard.
Everything is so big and grandiose, Freddie's vocals sound so perfect it feels fake/manipulated. I don't love the heavy use of effects on the harmonies and they go back to that well a little too often for my liking.
Of course, they rock, guitar player shreds, drummer and bass are perfect in the pocket together. It feels like a pre-pop album thinking about the scope and all of the time the mixing and layering had to take.
I don't really care for any of the stuff that sounds ragtime-y, but everything else is pretty damn good. I'd call this a solid 4.75
Like most of these older bands, I'm only familiar with their big songs. This is a really solid debut album by itself, but it's fun to see them trying to discover their sound. There's stuff that feels like classic rock, but other songs that sound like great versions of classic rock.
Some of the bluesy stuff kind of caught me off guard, but thinking of British Invasion days it doesn't feel out of place. Some of the vocals sound like a bad James Brown impression, but the instrumentation, mainly drums make me look past it.
I'd give it a low 4. Liked it but didn't love it.
I felt like I was in Blade or Crank for most of this album. There's a lot of weirdo techno elements throughout this album that keeps it interesting, but it's a bit long.
I think there's a good mix of samples and synths with what sounds like legit instruments. There's some cool builds and drops, that got me moving a little. I'm a sucker for synchopation, and there's a good amount in the album.
The Fat of the Land is much more of a Prodigy album I would listen to. There's cool parts in this one, and some sounds that carry over through to the next album. In a few tracks, but mainly the last track there's this crash/bass hit combo you hear all over Firestarter, Smack my Bitch Up, Breathe. It's kinda cool to see where it started.
I prefer a bit more lyrics but there's some earwigs in here for sure. I can't imagine anyone in our group going over 2, I'd call it a 3 and chang though
I don't get it. It's like no one told these guys they're a band and they're just out there playing 4 separate songs at once.
There's seconds that sound like music and then it goes back to noise. Maybe I'm just too dumb to get it.
If you love the tambourine this shit is for you. While I don't love the way this was mixed, overall I enjoyed this more than I expected.
It's a bit more gritty than I expected, I thought The Monkees would be more polished.
There's some interesting experimental tracks that I'm unsure about, but credit for taking chances. I wasn't expecting strings, banjo & steel guitars but it all fit.
This is the kind of stuff I think of, when I think 60s pop, I just usually think of better bands. It was fine, a bit boring.
I didn't expect the range shown on this album. The heavier rock and blues stuff I was completely expecting, but the folky and country stuff threw me a curveball.
I really wasn't expecting banjo and mandolin, spoons (?) and bongos (?). The steel guitars was also a surprise but didn't seem that crazy.
There's a lot of depth here, the harder stuff rocks, the slower stuff rocks, even the acoustic stuff has some experimental vibes and that all rocks.
I didn't expect how electronic this was, from drums all the way to synth and laser sound effects. There's even lots of atmospheric and textured layers throughout songs that lean more towards rock/alternative.
I've mentioned this in other reviews, but I love synchopation and atypical rhythms/polyrythms and we have some of that in a lot of these songs. There's songs that feel like they don't stay in the same time, I assume it's on purpose or I'm wrong though.
Super interesting, not really what I was expecting, low 4s because some of the electronic stuff did sorta drag on and mix together. It's made me interested to listen to more of their stuff and see how they evolved from their first few albums into this one.
There's a couple good songs on this and some really cool guitar parts, overall I like his voice. I don't really care for her voice except for a song, maybe two.
There's a decent mix of blues, folk, country vibes, but nothing that really hooks me. End of The Rainbow is solid, probably best thing on this album.
I loved this shit, Ghost is what I think about when I think New York rap. The beats are just ridiculous- there's legendary producers all over this album. There's so much swing and samples arent chopped in a way that things always feel perfect. Its right up my alley. This hits on like 2 different layers of nostalgia.
The worst parts of this album were the skits and the features. Raekwon holds his own most of the time, Method absolutely kills his one appearance, and Dirt's spot is perfect, but almost no one else could hang in the pocket on some of this weird stuff like Ghost.
Not counting the skits, I didn't love 1/3 of the songs, but I liked them, the other 2/3 I loved. There's a 5 star album in there that's maybe about 45 minutes long, but as a whole I'd give this a 4.6
Lots of this stuff feels formulaic and a little too polished. Their harmonies are solid, but still a bit of a snoozer. The songs that Dolly takes the lead are solid, Wildflowers is great, Rosewood Casket is killer. I didn't really care for much otherwise.
Lots of harmonies, takes a little while to get used to. They made a lot of songs feel floaty and dreamy. I didn't think I was going to recognize anything, but knew a few.
I really liked the dynamic or like the mood changes throughout songs, it's not something I can think of other people doing. The mood changes along with the lyrics that don't always follow traditional rhyme schemes kept things interesting.
I appreciate the experimental aspects of this album while still feeling a bit poppy.
I can never fully get into albums with the huge production and Orchestra vibe because I base it off this album.
I love the harmonies- the vocals and lyrics in general. The mixing of the vocals is amazing. There's so much going on musically in all these songs and it's not distracting, it adds to the feel. There's not a not great song on this album.
It gets funky and groovy, bass player is a killer. The lady has an awesome voice, the dude not so much.
I think my Fresh Thyme might play something from this album. Maybe it's good shopping or on hold music.
It does a good job of bleeding together, the only time it got much of a reaction from me was when the lyrics were so bad "I hope you never change, I'll call you Jimmy call you James" "Every Monday is goodbye Sunday" ... no thanks
This flew by, there was a lot of diversity in sounds and vocal delivery that helped the album never feel stagnant. I was surprised how punk-y some of the songs leaned. Their drummer is a killer, really loved a lot of what he brought to the table.
Love a lot of the 80s Dance pop feels, its like if Paula Abdul tried to tap.
It feels like she sings nonsense and I think I love that the most. "I'm in a home run, on the last stretch" "I'm in a home run, on the left foot with the right foot" what the hell does that mean? I don't care, it's such a jam.
I didn't really care for the rap other than a song or two. Felt very "rippity rippty rap", kind of cool she was bringing rap into something the feels very poppy. Some of the shit is so goofy it just doesn't feel like it fits.
It's a little long, but I'd be a liar if I didn't say I had that Buffalo Stance hook in my head the last few days.
The first track feels so different than the rest of the album, it's kind of confusing. There was cool stuff happening, but set up a weird expectation.
I love how raw and unpolished it was, guitar player shreds and drummer is awesome. It felt like a live album at first, and it feels real dirty, gritty, sort of punk- I think that fits well.
It feels like it has misrepresented itself as a live album, and the two live tracks at the end feel a little tacked on.
4.5 there were a lot of really cool elements and the shit rocks.
I tried to listen to this album like 10 years ago and turned it off after track 2 thinking that he's just not for me.
I still didn't care for those first two songs but I enjoyed most of the rest of it. I'll take Freewheelin' over this but I'm still interested into listening to more of his stuff.
This was great, his voice is amazing, the whole band is amazing. I listened to it twice cause it flew by so fast.
I dont really get it, I wasn't even sure the genre I was listening to through a lot of this. Is this like pre-ska girl punk? Dub-Jazz?
I like her voice at parts but there's a lot of stuff that feel out of time. There's moments in this album that I dig, track 5,6&7 makes sense to me and some of it gets groovy, but there's lots of just artsy weirdo shit that I can't really figure out.
I guess these are songs. The drummer and bass player did their best to salvage it, but the shitty synth textures and swells do a solid job at taking attention away from the only interesting thing going on in most these "songs"
This is Outlaw.
I'm a sucker for any of these Live from Prison albums. It's raw, Cash sounds amazing and he's got the inmates eating out the palm of his hand.
I'm kind of surprised how short this is, the abrupt ending and having a song twice, even if it's a good song. Looking at the Legacy Edition I feel like this album could be a little better, but still pretty solid.
This was dope, Watermelon Man & Chameleon are classics, but the following two tracks are solid too. All felt very different but felt tied in together.
It feels 70s with the clavinet, and it's definitely jazzy and funky. Drummer and bass were killing it, and keys/synth are the cherries on top. Plus there's just so many weird little accents throughout every song to keep it interesting.
I really enjoyed the first 3 tracks, but I felt like the album never really reached those highs again. Maybe Little Wing or Why Does Love Got to be So Sad?, got back there.
There's some good shredding and I love the passionate/intense vocal delivery in a lot of these songs, but it's just a lot. Like I don't think Layla needs the 5 minute piano outro, or some of these songs need 3 minute solos. It kinda gets to the point where I'm like "I get it, you Shred, let's go"
His voice is great, musically I enjoyed the bass, drum/percussion. Horn parts were killing it and coming in at perfect times.
It just didn't have that same feel as Superfly. I think the opening track has a bit of the Superfly feel, but a lot of it is just a little slow for my liking.
I think I'd enjoy this more if we didn't just listen to Superfly.
This came out when I was 6 and I probably heard it way too early. It's not like I had any idea what they were talking about though.
I would say about half this album are classics, it definitely solidified that West Coast G-Funk style.
Most of the features are solid, Lady of Rage killed it when she popped up. I hated the skits and they're the worst kind of skits- not on their own track, but tacked onto actual songs. I'd give it a 4.8, but I did enjoy most of the songs on this, even the few I didn't really remember
It's crazy that this album came out in 1970 and was this hard. Warpigs is a wild album starter- the sirens make you feel like we're about to get into some shit. I've heard Ironman, Paranoid and Warpigs a million times, but never really listened. Ozzy was speaking some truth 50 years ago.
Musically everything was awesome, I may have enjoyed the songs I've never heard more than the big three tracks.
Is Ironman one of the most iconic guitar riffs ever?
I think the last time i sat down and heard this whole album, I was in high school and I still somehow knew like 90% of the songs.
4-5 songs I knew the song by the opening riff, but talked myself out of it thinking it was another one of those 2000s rap rock bands.
I didn't notice it when I was younger but this album is a bit formulaic (heavy intro, stripped back + electronic verse, heavy hook- or vise versa), but I think at it's only like 30 minute run time it's easy to miss that.
I think I'd only call the DJ track filler, there's a lot of singles off of this album and the production is pretty decent. I'm not top sure this holds up, it feels VERY 2000s.
So pop and rap have kind of merged together at some point?
I always thought Taylor was more country pop and I'm not sure there's even an acoustic guitar on this album. There's a song that feels bro-country (get in a truck and get stuck in the mud), but I was surprised how not country most of it was.
There's a lot of shit on here that made me roll my eyes, some just garbage punchlines and some of the cursing feels tacked on.
There's a lot more odd choices/formats and glitchy sounds than I expected from a pop album, but I didn't care for much of it.
One of the things that I hate about Pop is that it feels so manufactured and fake. Musically some of this sounds like this, but there's no doubt she's putting some personal shit out there, so I have to give her points for that. I imagine some of the fun is learning all the gossip around these songs- who she's talking about, what she's referencing, but that's not enough to get me back into this album.
Very dreamy, ethereal almost. There's some cool synth bass and drums spots, but I don't really care for the real shoegazy stuff. The few tracks I liked had cleaner vocals and felt the more traditional/alternative rock stuff spoke to me. It was fine, felt a little repetitive at times and was that a legit 5 minute transition?
Her voice is ridiculous (in a good way), and she was definitely the focus- she was rightfully the star of the album.
I dig the stripped back instrumentation, although I would love some shredding or built up jams.
I've always thought I disliked U2, turns out it's Bono who I don't care for.
There's a lot of cool intros and interesting guitar tones and solos, but then Bono's preachy whispering vocals come in and it kind of loses me.
I imagine this is a good album if you enjoy U2, but for me it was a bit of a slug to get through
Probably the best Beatles album? Up there with Pet Sounds of one of the best albums of this time, you could make an argument one of the best albums ever.
It flies by, has so many classics, and even songs not considered classics are still rock solid. Songs flow nicely, but it's not the same feel or sound over and over.
Love Paul's bass tone, maybe Ringo's best album, vocals have cool effects but doesn't feel overdone.
The remaster is well done, everything is so clear.
This was awesome. I haven't listened to this album front to back since high school and I may like it more now than I did then.
There's so many different sounds from song to song, but also in songs themselves. Double bass and blast beats with DJ scratching and screaming into a stripped back bridge accented with keg hits? It can only be Slipknot
I love the difference in the vocal styles they use throughout this album- from screaming to singing to using a high pass filter to get the "radio voice", it kept things feeling fresh.
There's some really cool & catchy metal riffs, but I think they do a really good job creating catchy rhythms. They fall into that nu-metal formula like I noticed in Hybrid Theory, but not nearly as often as LP did.
I don't think I've given Deep Purple much of a chance, but the little I've been listening to I've enjoyed quite a bit. They get a little harder than I ever expected.
Is Smoke on the Water actually iconic or a classic, or do I think that just because I went to Clark and that was the bands bread and butter?
I didn't realize Highway Star was them and it was from the early 70s, it's a banger, maybe a little longer than it needs to be. A lot of these songs feel a little long honestly.
I really like the lead guitar tone and the drummer is a beast, bass player gets a little lost in the mix but he's doing some work. Dude has a great voice on some of those high spots.
Shit is minda interesting, feels very french. It's probably not the best way to put it, but feels circus-y at points.
I like what they do musically and with the beats and time. I don't really care for the vocals. Maybe if I knew what was happening I'd enjoy it more, or maybe it's just be some French nonsense.
It took me a few minutes to realize this wasn't a full band but samples and effects and synth and stuff, so props to them for that I guess.
This one isn't really in my wheelhouse.
I dig this, drums and bass sounds good throughout this whole album, synth is kind of all over the place- laser sounds, swells, stuff I don't even know how to describe.
This feels like a much more electronic The Cure, or maybe if Daft Punk weren't french robots but sad Brits
I loved this, I'm not the biggest Metallica fan, but damn do they have a lot of hits. I was a little turned off by the length and planned to just get through the first set, but went all the way through. It may have been a little more enjoyable because I watched this whole thing on YouTube- seemed like an awesome show to be at.
The Orchestra fits in perfect and makes some of these songs sound even larger. I'd also like to think songs ended up a little more "jammy" because they needed to give the Orchestra more to do.
Lars has such a punchable face but he's a good drummer. Hammet & Hetfield have great distinct guitar tones and are probably underrated players. They both shred and both have some really great riffs.
All the hits were great, the stuff in didn't recognize was good enough, the Orchestra felt like a flex. They leaned quite a bit on the crowd early on, but thankfully toned it back as the show went on.
It's like some dudes heard The Beatles & Bob Dylan and thought "we could do that", but then realized they weren't that talented. Some of the stuff works, other times it feels like the guitar player just goes off on his own.
It's really weird to go from a song that is kind of punk, weird, experimental, to some 60s pop rock with shitty harmonies/background vocals.
I really don't understand the addition of Nico. She's got like 3 songs, that don't really fit into the other stuff. It wasn't like she had a particularly good voice or anything either.
This is great. Disintegration is almost all I knew from The Cure but I think this blew it out of the water.
This album felt a lot more bright, less atmospheric. There's less of the underlying synth textures and more like lead synth. Drums and bass were awesome and the little bit of lead sounded great- loved that solo on the first track.
I think I appreciated the vocals a little more in this as they were kept a bit cleaner. Dude has an awesome voice and makes songs feel big, even if the music is a bit more stripped back.
It felt like a nice in & out album, length wise. Maybe only 1 song i didn't love. I might be a closeted goth- mid to high 4s on this one.
I was digging this quite a bit, but a lot of it started blending together. Decent background music for cleaning the house or something. Maybe something to throw on to try to feel a bit classier than I am.
Horn section was great, bass player was staying busy with walking basslines and the keys were shredding.
I really don't know when the album ended, since spotify kept playing Count Basie songs, I only realized it wasn't the album when I heard the same song twice in a row.
Right in the middle on this one.
I've only heard a small sample of Leonard Cohen, but this album was pretty much what I expected.
I dug about half of this album, but the other half all kind of sounded the same to me.
Not a bad album but probably nothing I'll want to relisten to.
There's a lot of rippty rap rap going on in this album. I know the times were different, but the motivational rap doesn't really do it for me.
Most of the beats felt like a sign of the times, but I did really like the guitar lick on Rock Box. Crazy that it'd take 2 more years before Walk This Way.
I don't know if we needed that closing DJ track, but it is cool that Run DMC was giving Jay a chance to shine.
Cool album, bluesy without leaning too much into the uncle jesse type blues. Always dig the stutters he adds into some of the lyrics. His guitar tone is great, his voice sounds solid throughout. Some of the background screams make it sound like they're having a blast recording this. I'd say Muddy or whoever his lead guitar player is, really shreds.
Never been a huge fan, but her voice sounds amazing throughout this album. I didn't realize that like all of their big songs are coming from this album.
They definitely have a specific sound and while I can appreciate it, it doesn't always resonate with me.
While I didn't love it, I get the appeal. Maybe if I didn't hear the hits as much as I have, I'd appreciate it more.
I've gone back and listened to only a few of these album so far, but this is one I'm gonna relisten to.
Bass is killer all over this. I don't usually do any research until after I write a review but i had to figure out who this was. Go figure it's Jaco, probably the best player that's not Victor Wooten or Bootsy.
Some of the songs felt like 80s TV Theme songs, some felt like it was smooth jazz or something almost like fast smooth jazz... is that a thing?
Bass, horns and keys/synth all get ample time to shine. Mood shifts in songs all work really well and keep things moving pretty quickly. I didn't want it to end.
If you asked me what my opinion on the Boss is, I'd say I don't really have one. Some of the hits are fine, but not my cup of tea.
After listening to this, nah this isnt even fine. This is soft rock for moms or something. I'm not sure if there's a whole lot of substance here, just feels preachy. Also I couldn't believe this came out in the early 2000s, so much of this felt very mid 90s to me.
There was a glimpse of something interesting with World's Apart, but I'm not even sure if Bruce is that involved in this song or not.
It wouldn't bother me to never hear another Bruce song again.
I wanted to like this more than I did. Musically there's lots of interesting stuff happening- cool riffs and drums and mood changes. The string sections are cool and make things feel big.
Vocally I don't really care for this, it's got a weird talking feel to it that doesn't always fit. There's a song or two where everything seems to fit together, but I think I'd enjoy this much more with a different vocalist.
A couple real classics, but I enjoyed the stuff I've not heard a lot more than I expected.
Bass is super funky and the drums are staying busy. There's some more experimental moments that I was expecting for a 70s Disco/Pop/Funk that I think worked really well. Working Day & Night was kind of wild with the scatting, and the bell chime in the back reminds me of an alarm clock or something. The horns are awesome, and the breakdown all worked so well.
Mike's vocals sound great throughout, some of the high notes are really high and while he was still young, it was still impressive.
There's a few snoozers, but it moves fast and there's a few really catchy tunes. It wasn't better than I expected, but it was good in a different way than I was expecting.
On Burn This Disco Out was that Mike on the hook saying "keep the Boogie alright" & "everybody just get on down"? Maybe he did actually have a deep man voice that he was hiding from everyone?
Pretty wild, I'm not ever sure how I feel about it honestly. It's interesting and there's cool parts, but I didn't love it by any means. I don't think I cared for the vocals and that what was giving me trouble putting it all together.
Musically I'm digging it, but not so much on the vocals - seems to be a trend with me. I like the song structures are a little out there, and there's odd rhythms, they're messing with harmonics and synchopation.
It gets a little heavier than I expected- Good Morning, Captain gives me a primus feel- bass driven with lo-fi vocals. I think vocals still end up being the weak link- I don't care for all the spoken stuff, but I did dig the singing and screaming.
This was fine, they definitely have their own sound, but by the second half I felt like I heard a lot of this already.
Nick Cave is a talented vocalist but he's just never done it for me. I've known so many people that swear by him/them, and there's a few tracks I like more than other stuff I've heard, but nothing really grabbed me.
Pretty standard irish/Scottish punk stuff. Were they the first? A few songs felt very Dropkick Murphy's or Flogging Molly - not a bad thing for a 30+ year old album.
Vocals weren't the strongest, I like that style but I'm not sure it was mixed well. Reminded me of Rancid at times. The vocals were the strongest and most clear on some of the slower stuff, but that wasnt enough to keep me completely engaged. The Instrumental and Medleys were cool and I didn't mind some of the traditional stuff.
Didn't realize all these songs were on this album. There's a good mix of vibes and genres. There's some Beach Boy & Beatles feels, western and stripped back piano stuff. Probably too much on the slow side for me, a bit of a snoozer but I guess not too bad for background music.
The songs I knew, I enjoyed, the rest were average to me.
I thought I was going to love this based on the first few tracks, but it kinda dipped into a pseudo goth 80s pop vibe and it kinda lost me.
I really enjoyed the dynamic range in the first two tracks- the do-di-das mirroring the guitar riff was cool, the huge hooks to stripped back verses and vice versa were abrupt but I loved the shift.
From there it got more poppy, but still felt like there was a grunge-y tinge to it, but they lost me when it started feeling really poppy and electronic.
There's a couple pretty decent songs on here though.
What's That Noise is pretty wild. Crazy use of space, weird sounds and cuts. I enjoy them pulling sounds that weren't just from soul/Funk but from dialogue also.
It's kinda wild that these Brits were pulling samples that Prince Paul or Public Enemy or Tupac/Johnny J were pulling for their beats.
Overall I enjoyed this a lot, the only knock I'd give this is over some of the old timey rap, but still mid to high 4's.
It's interesting, the long thing was long, but I enjoyed the rest. There's a lot of cool bass, the drums keep up and the synth/keys/organ usually added a nice touch.
Some of the sounds remind me of Primus, maybe just how bass driven and interesting some of the lines were. Other stuff feels really jazzy or prog-rock-y. It gets a little experimental and loses me at times. I don't think that the opening song needed to be that long and I got to the point where I wasnt really enjoying it, but I thought it was solid after that.
High 3 for me
It's an amazing album. I thought this was their greatest hits album until I got to high school or so. There's not a miss on the album, there's no fluff, just bangers and bars.
This is like frat rap, mixed with joke rap with a sprinkle of some Gangsta stuff, all in an old school package.
Every beat is great, but it almost feels like cheating being able to use all the samples when no one is able to do it anymore.
This album is proof that copyright laws are lame.
This is a weird genre, kinda reggae, islandy, jammy, latin(?) vibes. Lots of gang vocals. I'm not sure if Cisco Kid really fits into the vibe of this album, but it might be because I liked it least out of all of this.
Low 4s.
I'm going to have to disagree with Nick Hexum and say Roni Size does not come full range. I don't listen to a whole lot of Drum & Bass, but it felt like almost every song had the same beat.
Maybe things ended up changing on the back half, but I had to tap out on this one.
I may be an unrealized goth. I dug this quite a bit. Drums and bass were cool throughout the whole album. Vocals were a bit wild at times, but it fit well.
If your name is Dion and you look like that, you have an uphill battle to win me over. He has a good voice, but i hate the people who think their voice is so good they start be-boping and scatting stuff- it's some try hard cool guy shit I don't care for.
When hes not trying to be too cool, and when the songs have a little substance but that only happens a few times this album. Fuck him for making me listen to a bad version of a Sunday school song though.
I was expecting old man rock "how how how how" and/or Nascary southern rock. It hits some of that but they're a little more rocking then i expect.
Guitar was cool, solos were rocking. It ended up being a bit repetitive, and kind of blended together at times.
I liked this better than I expected, but I expected to absolutely hate it.
Mid 3s.
This was cool, I didn't think I was going to care about some organ jazz much, but I dug it.
This was a better version of what I was expecting from the ZZ Top album.
Did all the whites steal his/their songs, put lyrics to it and make money?
I enjoyed a lot of this but Im a sucker for some of the more "out there" stuff. I do feel like they busted their crazy nut a little early, and didn't have out there ideas for the last few tracks.
The throwback vibe and the fuzziness feels very early 2000s.
I liked it enough that ill listen to more of their stuff, but some of it got too weird and other songs got not weird at all, so ill give them a high 3 rounded up.
It's great, obviously a classic. I listen to some of these albums and get amazed that so many great songs were jammed into it. The first half is so damn good.
Standout is I Want You- its an absolute jam, that i hope some dirty hippies covered on YouTube.
I love listening to actual albums, but the remastered stream has such better production that unfortunately that's the superior version to listen to. I had some mean things to say, but the remaster really fixed most of that. Original/Vinyl version isn't a 5, but the remastered definitely is.
Cool bass is the name of this album. Otherwise it's a bit slow and kind of bleeds together. Sister has a great voice, but i need more than fat bass and good vox to really enjoy something.
Never heard of these guys but way more rocking than I expected.
High 3s
I like the mix of rough garage vibes and southern rock- a bit more bluesy than I expected too.
Feels sorta throwback, but its like everyone was doing that shit in the early 2000s.
I think im only familiar with their popular stuff, but this was solid even if it feels very 2000s to me.
Mid 3s for me
Didn't mind this, kinda made me think of proto-postal service, or maybe dancy Cure if Robert Smith wasn't so sad.
Slower stuff was a bit of a drag, but enjoyed the upbeat shit.
Not bad, kinda what i expected. His voice is great, the piano is a nice change of pace in what would be some fairly straight forward rock songs. I'm assuming he'll have a few more albums on this list and I'll be more excited to check them out than I was for this one.
Shit like this is exactly why I hate skits & interludes. I've never gotten through an album and thought "solid but it could use more yuks." How are you going to get 90s Busta Rhymes on your album and not let him rap at all?
I thought they rapped a little more, but i did enjoy the music. They get an extra star for the Andre verse that I never heard, but lose points for filler bullshit.
Flute dude fucking shreds, don't think I've ever noticed the keys in any of their songs. Singers voice is solid and I really dig the guitar tone.
Its wild that some of these songs get fairly heavy, and then this flute comes out of nowhere.
Album cover is too scary to reach for this when you're on drugs and I think that's a huge knock on this one.
High 3s
I didn't know if I was going to know anything on this album, but every song that I did know, I originally thought a Beatles song- what a loser, I know.
I was concerned with the length of the album, but it was diverse enough that it didn't feel like a complete chore. Right when I felt like I was running out of steam, we get the funky and bluesy and jammy songs to round the whole thing out.
Pleasantly surprised.
The production feels fairly ahead of it's time: the heavy use of sorta unconventional samples- rock, funk, movies, Latino, psychedelic reminds me of Madlib or Alchemist production.
It does start feeling formulaic- Hand on the Pump, Pigs, Real Estate & to a lesser extent Phuncky one & Kill a Man feel like proto Insane in the Brain. It feels cohesive, but also at the same time sorta starts to bleed together.
I enjoyed this album quite a bit, high 3s I'd say.
