Was fully in the groove with the final three tracks. Bonus points for the relentless bass that drowned out the jerk blasting music next to me on the train.
Funereal, which I am into
Willie!! I didn't realize!! Incidentally, harmonica solos are my weakness đ
That song is called Clint Eastwood!
FIVE. What is it about the Irish?? I just canât quit âem. â â Emerald â â Southbound â â Dancing in the Moonlightâhello, sax! â â Still in Love With Youâguitar, from solo to heartrending harmony I had ordered the CD for my mother by Suicide. May just quit my day job and proselytize the gospel of Phil Lynott full timeâŚ
Iâm always up for Tracy.
My kinds of indie. Specifically the sound bath and acoustic-plinky-plonky-talking varieties. Perfectly of its time (2010), made me think of Parachutes and Eyes Open and In Rainbows and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, hinting at Coast Modern. e.g., Sailing, Desire Lines (Coldplay), Basement Scenes (Radiohead), Helicopter, He Would Have Laughed This week. Was fire.
The most infamous assignment of junior year at my high school was the spring term research paper for history class. I wrote mine about Bruce Springsteen, the man who raised me, musically. Ideally, I would locate the paper and quote from it directly, as I recall Darkness being a focal point in my incisive portrait of the dark side of the American dream. Should my mother unearth a copy, I will present excerpts at the 250th album milestone party. Anyway: in Darkness, the themes of Born to Run persist, as deflated promises. Weâre still runningânot from the banality of life in our hometown, but prolonged introspection. Iâm unhappy, my girl is unhappyâthankfully, there are still cars, and racing, and the ghosts of our ambitions to keep us company in our heads. Heady stuff. Oh, and the album rocks: sax on Badlands and Prove It All Night, harmonica on Promised Land. Bruce going toe to toe with the electric guitar in Streets of Fire. His voice is low, low as in m e l l o w. Weâre several years still from Tunnel of Love and the advent of his current (still wonderful, but different) gravelly sound.
Black Sabbath walked so Wolfmother could run
Automatic 3 for Baba. Won't Get Fooled Again is always welcome; it's giving Tommy (I saw the musical this past summerâw i l d stuff). Besides that, I liked The Song is Over.
My fan girl phase hit late, at 22, and the target of my obsession was the Killers. I played Hot Fuss back tonight because I remember thinking it was perfect then. The starting lineup is extraordinary. I really like each of the first five songs individuallyâall in a row, theyâre breathtaking. Then thereâs Change Your Mind, and Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll, and the rest of the songs, every one completely aligned, musically and thematically, with the album as a whole. Insofar as an album is greater than the sum of its parts, this is indeed a perfect album. The overall message: at a certain age, all of life is a rush, including: unrequited love, unhappiness, regret, suspicion, aimlessness, forbidden love, all Friday and Saturday nights ... and getting detained for the murder of a lady friend. Flowers for Flowers, and justice for Jenny!
Here's to hoping every slip's not a slide! The sound is excellentâbut the vocals didn't keep up. Best was Merchandise, which was giving a kind of California twist on The Clash. Blueprint was fun musically. The riffs in Reprovisional and Shut the Door were also very good.
Really, really love the folksy songs at the top. Will definitely devote some time to the rest of Calexico's oeuvre in the future.
Music inspired by the sounds of construction, what a choice. Sweat Loaf had a pretty sweet riff, though.
â Everything Is Free â â I Dream a Highway Hadnât heard of Gillian before, and itâs been a pleasure! I love her voice. Just wish the tempo were a bit fasterâmy stomach lurched slightly when I saw the 14-minute run time on I Dream a Highway. But it was extremely beautiful.
Second try with Beckâwent a tiny bit better than Odelay! Maybe we'll figure it out with Sea Change.
Like Grace, I had some difficulty getting my bearings. 2 1/2 times through, though, and Tapestry has landed.
Huh. I imagine this is a close to classical as we'll get, besides the jazz albums. Compelling, in its way!
To date, Wilco is the best artist I had heard of but never got around to listening to. The album cover is dope, tooâMarina City FTW!
"Fall mountainsâjust don't fall on me." A dazzling stance threaded throughout, equal parts tolerant, vigilant, and free.
Okay, okay! Took a minute, but three albums of Beck under the belt and we're finding common ground. â â The Golden Age â â Guess I'm Doing Fine
Oh, ya weirdosâI really, really love Animals! This, less so.
Beach Boys, but sometimes medieval battle hymnal. Nevertheless, Time of the Season is a go â
We're jammin'
A grower. Too much fun to fade into the background.
I loved this album at 14 without quite âgetting itâ, having had only a clean version, and being 14. Still luminous, now powerfully nostalgicâremember when Kanye was only known for rapping?? Simpler times.
Knew the hits but had never listened to the album from end to end. Loved the back half of Dying of Thirst and Money Trees is a perennial favorite. Sets up To Pimp a Butterfly in big ways
It's giving "I don't care if you like it." Like being immersed in carbonated water. Fun listening experience.
Incident at Neshabur â Samba Pa Ti â
In Rainbows meets White Ladder meets Mellon Collie ... and yet, didn't quite resonate. Angeles is pretty.
Though there were some stirring moments in Family Band and Midnight Carousel, I felt like I was listening to a musical theater recording. Too much emphasis/reliance on the lyrical sentimentality/profundity. Felt thematically antiquated and musically affected, even for 1972.
Darlene Love's voice! Minus 1 star for the convicted murderer's production role, and the Silent Night signoff.
â Persian Love
The Joshua Tree!!!! Here we go!!!! đ¨Core memory alertđ¨: This album was my exclusive soundtrack for playing Neopets on weekend mornings as a 12yo. 20 years ago, music videos were available on Yahoo Music (anyone else?) and I remember thinking Bono was quite sultry in I Still Havenât Found What Iâm Looking For. So much eye contact! This album kicks off with three intensely longing and, yes, completely generic love songsâperfect for tweens with no real-world relationship experience coming off complete Disney saturation. Special mention for Red Hill Mining Town, too. Scratches the same itch as All The Young Dudes and Salisbury Hill (which is more a specifically high school era itch, to be continued...) Sentimental? Yes. Basic. Yes! But sometimes music needs to meet you where you are.
The Beatles should not cover Motown hits. If I want to hear Please Me. Postman or You Really Got a Hold on Me or Money, Iâll listen to the Marvelettes, the Miracles, and Barrett Strong, respectively and respectfully. Call me when Abbey Road is up.
Ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies ... This lady is here for it, with way more fondness than when she started off, only knowing Under the Table before today
This guys rock pretty hard! Uncompromising on volume as well as sound.
The Cure-ish
Wonât be confusing these guys with The Beach Boys again! Not my preferred sound, but it was expanding.
Zany and transporting
Justice for Knoxville Girl!!!! Appalling songs of life, maybe.
I hear the opening chords over the screaming crowds and I see the album cover and I get it. That hair, those eyes! That Daft Punkesque foghorn(??) on the final track. We are mere mortalsâtake the wheel! Show us the way, Peter!
Was fully in the groove with the final three tracks. Bonus points for the relentless bass that drowned out the jerk blasting music next to me on the train.
Was seeking more of a Reelinâ in the Years electric jolt.
Automatic 3 for Sir Duke and As. Enjoyed Black Man and Another Star, too. The faster, the better for me, so the more spiritual songs were less engaging.
Pleasantly surprised. The first track was what I had expected from Kraftwerkâmonotone chanting, synthesizer. But the rest was lovely accompaniment for the walk home.
Well, well, wellâitâs the greatest rock song countdown stalwart, Hotel California! On the Jersey/Philly radio stations, it always seems to rank #4 all-time behind Stairway to Heaven, Freebird, and ⌠something much less memorable, evidently. The commentary is resonant, the metaphors incisive. Then the guitar solo! Hotel California earns its berth. Wasted Time sounded a bit like Elton Johnânice. Try and Love Again was my other favorite; these guys really make the most out of harmony.
I got halfway through Side B, then had to head home. But I hold a place for music with lyrics in languages I do not understand; they can be very meditative, like chanting or noise machines. This closed out the workweek nicely with me, and despite lack of understanding or familiarity with the music, I could detect the album's arc and through line.
Y'all, Hallowed Be Thy Name totally rocks!!!! I had wanted to join this (4-year-long) project/challenge/???? in part as encouragement to move past pre- or misconceptions of bands I knew superficially. This week, 1001 paid off big!! Hallowed is the best new rock song I've heard since joining. Generally, I thought it was musically terrific, with that hard-driving guitar. The lyrics are a little on the noseâand scream-y. But honestly I'm a bit enamored after Hallowed. The solos in Prisoner and 22 Acadia are great, too.
Woncha Come On Home has been a fave of mine for several years now. Love Joan's voice, too. All said, this album felt a bit meandering on first listen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it grew on me over time.
SparklingâI want to line dance to Double Dutch. Then I heard the Merengue/Punk It Up double play! Itâs all foryoubaby, foryoubaby, foryoubaby ⌠Though the last track was ????
My new textbook definition for concept album, for sure. Louâs an acquired taste, butâafter two attemptsâI see the vision! I liked Man of Good Fortune on first listen, and the guitar solo on How Do You Think It Feels it is really good. Oh Jim and Caroline Says II are particularly spidery, like Bowie or Kurt Cobain. Loved the steady, damning pacing of The Kids. By Sad Song, things had gotten quite orchestral, and i appreciated the fuller sound in closing.
Yes to the horns on The New Pollution! Can I have a GameCube and a copy of SSX3 to go with Derelict??
Unmemorable. The opposite of love isn't hatred, but indifference. Pay It Back was the strongest of the set, but bloodless nevertheless.
*Whispers into phone on train platform* âPlease be loud.â Cut to: Hungry Like The Wolf crescendoing as the D cruises across the Manhattan Bridge. A jolt of musical adrenaline is all I ask for these wintry mornings. Put another way: âDarken the city, night is a wire/ Steam in the subway, earth is afireâŚâ
Iâm loving Whoâs Loving You.
Chill, chill, chill, chill. Iâm hearing Modest Mouse. Is this âpunk popâ? Strong 3.
Look, the woman writes bops. Been doing it since 2008, since Love Story. The people have spoken and Iâm here for the radio singles: Blank Space .. and Style ⌠and Shake It Off ⌠and (the bridge into the chorus of) Bad Blood ⌠and Wildest Dreams. I acknowledge the rest of the slate was AI-generated genericâthough excellent house remix fodder! Anyway, keep it up, Tay-Tay! (I still will be rooting for the Eagles đŚ )
The only problem with the sheer likability of CCR, borne out of their distinctive sound (John Fogertyâs voice, hello đ), is that you will be tricked into thinking that singing Bad Moon Rising at karaoke is a good idea. It was not.
Good fun. Regine's voice adds jeuje.
Funereal, which I am into
Got a little obsessed with the riff in Bring On The Night. Is Sting man or instrument?
Took a break after Candy Perfume Girl. Turned it off for good during Shanti / Ashtangi. Itâs not me, itâs you, girl.
No lyrics necessary
A rollicking good time. Beyond Jump (jump!), I really enjoyed Drop Dead Legs, Hot For Teacher, I'll Wait (esp. the guitar solo), and Girl Gone Bad. The guitar is so distinctive, but the vocals are up to it.
That was a long hour! Kept me guessingâdo I actively dislike this, or am I merely ambivalent? The former: tiebreaker to that feedback on JC.
Pretty and poignant and groovin'
A whole album of anthems to love. Unpredictable, varied, and vibrating. The stalwart Hallelujah clinches the 5.
Yes, yes, YES to Closing Track Hall-of-Famer Bitter Sweet Symphony. The crushing desperation it triggered, the shot of Ryan Phillippe launching himself into traffic...teenage sublime. (Shout-out to fellow CTHOF for Fight Club, Where is My Mind?) I was pleasantly surprised with the album as a whole, which had immaculate packing-up-at-the-end-of-a-trip vibes. Had heard some of the other songs before, but never really placed them.
Bit conflicted about the premise. Some songs were nice.
Bookended by two longtime favorites, the classic Imagine and plaintive Oh Yoko! My upbringing in a resolutely pro-Lennon (if Beatles-indifferent) household secures the 4.
Mhmmmm Amy Amy Amy! Utterly damning, complex messaging (Stronger Than Me, I can't even) and somehow a one-of-a-kind sound to match
Elton John, de-spangled and unblinkingâfor the first half of the album, anyway. Initially quite taken with how Dion was leaving it all out on the field with that earnest, â60s belting and soaring brass, never mind the year 1976. But the album kept going ... and going ... and ultimately became easy listening, in the indistinctive sense.
They are for real
Title track is an all-time best bop, alongside several other very good ones. Potent analgesic for the Monday morning commute.
The Kinks are kinkedâlike mean-spirited Beatles. Here for it!
Another Beatles album!? What are the odds?? FWIW, Rubber Soul perfectly captures my relationship with the artist: itâs complicated. I remember exactly when and where I fell in love with Nowhere Man (8th grade, on the bus to Six Flags, universal site of rites of passage). In My Life remains irresistible, supernaturally invincible in the face of overplay. Whenever Drive My Car plays in the car in summer: no notes. And, also: I hate Norwegian Wood. Really hate it. You Wonât See Me, for some reason, personally offends. Michelle and Girl [*teeth-sucking sound*] are the two worst Beatles songs ever, thoroughly awful, and somehow both on here! Two incredible songs will usually tip the 4, but the whiplash has tired me. Which is the occupational hazard of unprecedented musical experimentation/the-Beatles-changed-everything-blah-blah-blah, I suppose.
I used to have the Scientist music video memorized shot for shot, so... Evident cohesion as a whole and standout tracks theoughout: â â â The Scientist â â Clocks â â â Warning Sign â â A Rush of Blood to the Head
Curiously bad. The leader singer has a compelling voice, and does different things with it. Knew I didnât like it from the outset, but had to solve the mystery of why and play the whole thing back. I think sound mixing may be the crux of the issueâthe guitar and drums wash her out, like live music at a restaurant not designed for live music.
đđž Ladies who punch đ¤đž
In a Little While makes it at least a 3 ⌠and Beautiful Day is on here, too ⌠but that New York song was plain insultingâguys, thatâs my home!
Although I like some songs more than others, I always listen to Mellon Collie from the very beginning to the very end. Its sneaky, spooky sparkle hinges on the interdependency of its parts. The albumiest album, as such.
Did Disney consider the Police for The Lion King soundtrack? Mother! +5 for surprise factor. Very Labyrinth. Album art note: shirtless Sting and skeleton. Multiple sightings of each. Every Breath You Take, a reflection: I now prefer stalker songs to be unequivocally menacing, i.e., #1 Zero.
This bleary-eyed listener thought the album cover was a piece of carved flint for the duration of the first three tracks. Didnât take anything from the music.
What in the James Blunt vocals? When this album appeared, I thought for a moment that this was the âBoom Boom Boom Boomâ Vengaboys. Alas!
Where is my where is my mind Pixies?
Strange fun as always from the Talking Heads. Thrilled to play back Stop Making Sense.
Seriously, think I would give every heavy metal album a 3âminimumâif they were solely instrumental. The music is that good. But I canât with the screaming.
I could draw a line to Daft Punk and Glass Animals, and thatâs beautiful
Hey, my dadâs back!!!! Had very much hoped to see Born to Run in 2025, which is 50 years old this August â¤ď¸ Bruce and the E Street Band locked in with Born to Run. Yes, of course, that sax is dissolvingâparticularly on Thunder Road and Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Born to Run and Sheâs The One and Jungleland. But credit goes, too, to the piano and the guitars and the drums and even the strings ⌠The total effect is cemented with that HOF album cover and testament to lifelong friendshipârest in power, Clarence Clemons!! To quote my favorite book, High Fidelity: âin Springsteen songs, you can either stay and rot, or you can escape and burn.â Born to Run sets itself ablaze. I, too, self-eject when I hear the opening chords of Thunder Road. I am Bruce and I am Mary and I am Wendy and I am 18 in a swaying dress and yes, letâs blow this popsicle stand! I walked down the aisle to Backstreets. Then walked out of the wedding ceremony to Jungleland. So you get it. Thank you for a wonderful morning, Bruce, and see you back here for Born in the USA! (Or Tunnel of Love, you never know with Rolling Stone âŚ)
Good weird, but no Goodbye Stranger
Tore-ee-uh!
Stones in suits! Who are these swinging cats, and where are those slight deviants who gave us things we didnât know we wanted, i.e., Under My Thumb?
Exactly what I expected an album called Among the Living by a band called Anthrax would sound like. Among the Living and Indians were good! I would describe this as a medium/medium-rare metal experience, which is đđž
Introductions are never easy with Arcade Fireâsome artists will always demand undivided attention across multiple playbacks. But do I ever love Antichrist⌠â â Ocean of Noise â â â â (Antichrist Television Blues) â No Cars Go
Aw, Basket Case! Green Day any day for the nostalgia
Backstroking in this sound bath