I understand that certain albums are on here because of the cultural importance but that doesn't mean I need to like it. This is my truth.
His voice is glorious but this album is a snooze. When the pace picked up a bit I enjoyed it but unfortunately it was pretty slow throughout
I never did listen much to U2, and now I am vindicated as to why. Snoozefest.
I'm very surprised to see another U2 album on here. If you've heard one song, you've really heard them all.
Easy tunes, fade into the background, nothing remarkable but not awful.
I feel AI would make an excellent U2 album.
By the book xmas songs is how my better half described it, and he's not wrong.
Maybe if I liked xmas I'd rate it higher.
Quite possibly something I'll look back up when the time comes to put up the tree next year.
This album was solidly OK until the 2nd half where I was screaming along. Takes me back to my teenage years!
Depeche Mode is one of those bands that I wish I'd gotten more into. I really enjoy their music, but for some reason it's never quite made it into my regular rotation.
Sounds very 80s British music and I'm here for it. I had to actually make sure I wasn't actually listening to Morrissey by accident though he would probably be quite upset with me for thinking this given the scathing review he wrote of Depeche Mode.
I'd quite happily sit here and listen to the entire album again.
What a vibe this album is! Not my go-to genre, but absolutely loved this. I'm not usually for high pitched female voices, which is why I contemplating giving it 4* but the fact I left them on for a solid hour longer than the album makes me bump it to a 5.
Very smooth, I really enjoyed dancing around to this in the house.
What a voice and so many bangers!
Banger after banger in the 1st half of this album. Unfortunately it all goes steeply downhill after Satellite of love, otherwise it might've gotten a perfect score from me!
I had to skip the New York Telephone Conversation as it just was too awful to keep listening to.
Difficult to rate this one.
I didn't hate it, but also definitely did not enjoy it.
I appreciate that it's a concept album and so isn't just about liking individual songs but has to be seen as a whole.
I'm not sure if it's because as a non-native speaker I grew up listening to melodies rather than lyrics and am therefore less attuned to keeping stock of what is being said and therefore not understanding the deeper message. I feel like there's other ways to get meanings across, and not relying heavily on lyrics and actual sound bites of breaking glass and sirens etc. I find the 'real world' sound bites rather jarring.
I also feel that it's not because it needs to be seen as a whole with an overarching storyline that the individual songs can be weak.
My difficulty in rating this album lies in that I can feel the evolution, and appreciate the concept. I was thoroughly bored throughout a good portion of the album, but then absolute masterpieces like Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2 and Comfortably Numb come on and I feel like I need to rate it higher.
So ultimately, I feel like they could have condensed this album down more without conceding on the concept, and would have made the whole more enjoyable.
Loved this from start to finish
Interesting listen. I very much went into it expecting to hate it.
However, there's a lot of interesting things happening in this album. It took me on a journey into a culture I know nothing about, and it's intriguing. Musically, it's very good. I'm not one to usually listen to lyrics, but with this I definitely listened some and I feel like it was an eye-opening experience.
Saying that, I absolutely hate the mysogynist nature of a lot of the lyrics, and would be horrified if my children heard me listen to it or were listening themselves.
So musically, really liked this, conceptually really liked this, but have to definitely take points off for making me feel uncomfortable listening to the language.
2,5 stars from me, rounded up because of the journey it took me on, but please don't make me listen to it again.
Now where my dominos at?!
There was no escaping this album when it first came out. So much so that it very much put me off at the time, and hearing the start to 'sex on fire' still makes me roll my eyes.
It's a pretty dull album, with each song bleeding into the next. Every song has one rif that gets repeated ad infinitum, and it well and truly bores me.
If I never have to hear 'Sex on Fire' or 'Use Somebody' again it'll be too soon.
Wowee what a journey this was.
At first I was weirded out by the raspy voice that was seemingly breathing into my ear and was very turned off. Then I started reading up on the album.
You can really feel how close he is to death throughout the album, with him ultimately passing away a couple of weeks after the album was released.
After knowing this, I listened to the album again with a different lens.
I've now listened to it about 3 or 4 times, and every time I appreciate it more.
Inoffensive, my mind couldn't help but wander far away whilst listening.
I enjoy the beach boys, but this is not an album I would say is a must-listen to.
This is not bad, but very boring.
Her voice is great, but there's nothing interesting going on really.
Is that.... A goat in the background?
It's a dreary Tuesday afternoon in half term. I am working from home.
"I'm bored"
"Why don't you play a board game?"
"I don't wanna"
"Why don't you see if any of your friends want to meet up"
"Eh."
"We've got some arts and crafts supplies in the cupboard, maybe you could draw or paint?"
"I don't feel like doing that"
"Well then, tough"
That is the feeling this album conveys. Inoffensive, a bit boring, but better than going to school, probably.
If you heard one song you've heard them all. Whilst I enjoy an REM song, it's all a bit much of the same.
End of the world is a banger, and drags it up from 2 to 3 stars
Bel air does a lot of heavy lifting for this album.
It's ambient and therefore a bit different to most albums in this list. I like a bit of ambient and instrumental and so I'm inclined to like this. All tracks other than Bel air we're a bit in one ear out the other. Bel air on the other hand takes you on a journey.
Thankfully half the album is just Bel air otherwise it'd have been a measley one star.
Wow that came out of nowhere.
I was very ready to give this album a solid 3, but then the last track hit. From baroque to rock to experimental back to baroque.
Granted the last track makes for half the runtime of the album
Very cool, enjoyed it very much.
Jaques Brel is the king of French chansons. His voice is amazing and this must have been some live show, amazing. This album was all a bit much of the same.
He's getting some nostalgia points as really the album is only one star as his voice is not an excuse for a boring album.
What an absolute banger of an album.
Every tune is distinctly different and excellent in its own right, but the album still manages to be cohesive and keep the momentum.
Amazing.
Papa was a rollin' stone made me want to walk down the road and pretend to be in a spy movie. The lyrics to Run Charlie Run nearly made me spit out my coffee.
Otherwise a pleasant but entirely forgettable funky album
I see real flashes of greatness in this album.
It starts off strong with Silver, which is making use of the full orchestra very nicely and I feel like I'm in for a banger of an album.
Unfortunately the album quickly becomes very samey and uncohesive. The full orchestra doesn't seem to be utilized to the degree that I'd hoped, and despite The Killing Moon propping the album back up, this was a very disappointing listen, mainly due to the strong start.
I actually disliked this so much I had to give up halfway through.
There's nothing particularly interesting about this album. Her voice is solidly alright, but there's nothing special going on. Musically or lyrically. Lots of swearing for swearing sake which really doesn't get you very far with me.
0/10 would like to never listen to any of this again
Wowee this has aged poorly.
Tiny dancer is the only song I liked, other than that I was well bored. Except for Indian sunset, which actively made me uncomfortable.
After listening to this for about 45 minutes, I thought it had suddenly turned around for the better, but as it turns out that was the end of the album and Spotify had started shuffling in recommended songs I might actually enjoy. Good job Spotify, not so much Elton.
1 bonus star for tiny dancer, I'm being very generous here.
Rap is usually really not my vibe.
The variety in this album is impressive though, both in general vibe and in the range of instruments used.
I do really appreciate when you can so obviously see that the band is having a really nice time with it.
So when asked 'Can you dig it' -- I will answer "Yes I can"
(I do know those are not the actual lyrics, thank you)
Truly one of the worst things I've ever listened to.
I tried to scroll through the tracks and see if I could find something on there but the dissonance of some of the music and the way it was produced was really not my thing. That mixed in with the offensive wanna-be-cool-by-using-crass-language trash lyrics that seems to be most rap music makes it just plain bad.
When good kid, m.A.A.d city was on the list I rated it 3, and said "Interesting listen. I very much went into it expecting to hate it." and I was really hoping I would go into this with it being an interesting listen, but unfortunately it was just crass and horrible.
I hope there's no more Kendrik Lamar albums on this list for a while as I might start skipping them entirely.
Would rate it 0 if I could
Something about the rhythm in this is triggering my anxiety.
Some of this I really enjoy, but I'm getting a viceral bad reaction to other bits. This was a struggle
Why do something conceptual half-arsedly? The album as a whole feels like a very old-school French musician is trying to pretend to be American but is too afraid to go all the way. The background tracks sound like something Céline Dion did better years ago and the constant moaning into the microphone is not something I enjoy.
I don't rate it.
I don't understand why they've made 2 discs with exactly (but no I mean _exactly_) the same music on it but just sung in a different language. What would have been interesting could maybe have been if the English version had backing of what typically appeals to a French audience and vice versa (see what I did there?)
I didn't make it through as I didn't fancy listening to exactly the same album twice and as per my rating system, that's automatically one star.
Pretty boring listen. It's just standard French rap music. Nothing really interesting going on. Bit boring. He started doing something interesting with sampling some more interesting other music, and I can see why it is by far the most listened to track on the album.
Other than that entirely boring, not sure it deserves to be on this list.
Banger after banger on this album. This will never get old
I quite enjoyed listening to this throughout the day.
Good ol' western music. It's not something I'd put on regularly but it does what it does very very well
I really enjoyed the afro beats and the variety it brings musically.
I love it when this list brings something up I'd have never found on my own and expands my musical world view
Excellent listen, would recommend strongly!
This album is solidly OK.
I like this much better than 'My Aim is true', mainly thanks to the new wave influences the Attractions bring. This album feels pretty modern, and if you'd told me this came out a couple of years ago I'd have believed it. Is that because it's groundbreakingly new? Not really, more like it's very inoffensive and has a very classic rock n roll feel.
It's enjoyable and I wouldn't complain if someone put this on, but it's not something I'm gonna recommend to anyone. Pump it up is an absolute tune though.
There is so much going on in this album. Start to finish it keeps you on your toes, with amazing music and arrangements throughout.
Fantastic.
This is iconic.
Grunge at its best.
I never really listened to Portishead. I knew them from Glory Box which is a tune, but I never felt the need to explore their other work
And wow, turns out I've been missing out big time!
This was proper experimental, I actually went 'what the heck' out loud at one time. But it's not so experimental that I disengaged (which I tend to do).
Lots of stuff going on, plenty of variety. I enjoyed this start to finish.
Sometimes there's albums where you know one or two tracks and you think to yourself 'I can't believe I've never listened to the whole thing, it's all so good!'.
This is not one of those albums.
Apart from 'Lust for Life' and 'The Passenger', this album is entirely unremarkable, except for towards the end of the album, where it gets actively not good.
The lyrics are problematic whenever I do listen to them, musically there's nothing really pulling me in.
I will continue to enjoy the 2 songs I like, and will not be listening to the album in its entirety again.
What an absolute vibe to work to!
Really enjoyed this, had plenty of variety in it and excellent music in the background. Didn't quite have the required bop - level for the full 5*
This is nice music, but it's a bit... Well... boring. It's all in the same tone. Perfect background music for generic US rom-com about country bumpkins.
Bit too jesus-ey for me too.
There were parts of this I really enjoyed, and parts of this I was put to sleep (Leb Wohl especially made me run for another coffee)
Every track was distinctive and had an identity. I like the mix of instrumental and vocals.
Overall left me with 'Meh'
There's some proper bangers on here!
Too bad Eric Clapton has gone bananas
In case you ever forgotten who wrote this pile of garbage, she'll tell you about a million times.
I probably could have held on to the end of the album as it wasn't actively infuriating, but decided I wasn't make myself suffer any longer.
1.5 *, rounded down as I didn't make it through.
One of the best albums I've heard in a long time.
Fantastic raw grungy feel
When you think of Blues, you think of Muddy Waters (or you shoud anyway)
His voice and musical skill is unrivalled, this album is phenomenal and I can hear the fun they had recording this which makes it all the better. I particularly enjoyed "I can't be satisfied". Unfortunately the album is all very samey, and for the lack of variety I have to drop a star.
This album is very hit and miss. Granted, when it hits, it hits real good with absolute bangers like LA woman, Riders on the storm and The Changeling.
However, my active dislike for the failed attempt at being experimental in L'America loses the album a star.
I'm always pleased to hear non-anglophone music here. It's really very different from a lot of other things in this list, and that is refreshing.
Wowee what a struggle.
If I never have to listen to a single track of this album it'll be to soon.
As I was suffering through the random screeching into the microphone that is the 1st track, I thought 'well it can only get better'
Little did I know that by the end of it I'd be longing for the first track.
Fodderstompf was particularly terrible, and I could not make it through.
0/5
There's a lot of storytelling in this album. I reall enjoyed it, despite not usually being into listening to lyrics.
10/10 would listen to this again. I'm missing a bit of musical variety to give it the full 5 stars, as my mind did keep drifting off
I enjoy Willie the Pimp, and am surprised I've not listened to the rest of the album. Turns out I've been (somewhat) missing out!
I really enjoyed Peaches En Regalia, Son of
mr green genes, but started trailing off during Gumbo. It's a bit long and a bit too much of the same during Gumbo, but overall a great album.
I bet this would have been insane to listen to live.
I think this is the first time I've ever listened to a full Stones album start to finish. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that there is good amount of variety in there, but every song stands strongly on its own.
It's a shame about the lyrics in Brown Sugar. Despite them distancing themselves from it, it's still very much... out there.
Lots of variety in here. Every song has a distinct flavour to it, which makes it a very nice experience. Some of the individual tracks go on a bit too long to my liking, but as there is so much difference between the tracks it's not that big of a problem.
I can imagine putting this on as a background when working as well as listening to it live with some kind of light show going on.
I probably wouldn't _actively_ listen to it, but it feels great in a pairing with something else.
Whilst message in a bottle and walking on the moon are tunes and the soundtrack to my youth, once you've heard those songs, there's nothing really different to hear in this album.
Really enjoyed this album, with the exception of the lyrics of the 5th track. I'd written much more about this but somehow I failed to hit save so you're gonna have to do with this
What an absolute banger of an album. Love this start to finish. Lots of variety and many iconic tracks.
Gary Numan is an icon. You can't say synth pop without saying Gary Numan. I myself am partial to bit of synth pop, and so I enjoyed listening to this. There's several bangers on this, but it's all a bit too much of the same to get a perfect score. Will I listen to this album again in its entirety? Probably not. Will I listen to specific tracks for the next 50 odd years? 100%
