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.
Very smooth, I really enjoyed dancing around to this in the house.
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.