The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Velvet UndergroundIn a world without reason, this album is a hangover sober.
In a world without reason, this album is a hangover sober.
A seriously impressive debut, and another example of the criminality of not being able to give half stars.
re-listened live, the soulchild remix still slaps, fun if bit of a mixed bag, light 7
I did not realize how many songs exactly on here were 'classics', incredibly experimental at times, enjoyed but want to sit with longer.
Kind of an awkward and meandering start, really clicks in for a solid string of tracks starting from about Broken Face to Where's My Head Tonight? Cactus and Vamos were solid tracks but sort of oddly placed, weird intermissions. A lot of fun. Light 8
There are some incredible arrangements on this piece. Minawa is breath-takingly beautiful. The Big Apple is another gorgeous track. The most compelling pieces of music seem to lay in the first half, driven by the struggles of coping in a world too busy to breathe. Major themes seem to finally land in Maesha, which is an absolute gut punch. The horns howl a wailing loneliness. The keys made me forget how cold I was. Strong 8/Light 9
I remember I was gap-yearing it out in the basement of one of my best friend (at the time)'s rental houses, and we had held the yearly tradition of our summer cook-out called the 'steak and bake', where we all cooked for each other and partied like none other. My friends' dad, relatively fresh post-divorce, picked up a stack of CDs I'd brought with me, and my boombox, as I was triaging through my first time making steamed shrimp dumplings. He picked up the recently purchased 'Smash', flipped the case over, nodded, and looked at me and said, 'you got some good shit', and then proceeded to next pick up 'Because The Internet' and stare at me strangely as I bastardized a hoisin sauce. Have some angst. 8/10
This is the kind of record where you're putting on the whole thing, or not at all. A beautiful foundation record of dream pop and better than this 3 suggests. It's probably a mid 7. Very beautiful, very strange, very inspired, surprised how it ever became popular, but also instantly get it.
Fuck. This is a higher rating than I wanted to give it. I remember this record. I liked this record. It was a good record. Fuck. Why did it age like this? Was I just the one that aged? Will I ever be the same? Would I ever want to listen to this record again if so? 10, get out of my head, leave me alone.
fun, enjoyable, the bright melodic guitar twang and funk experimentation bring a lot to the vibe heavier, the back half is much stronger than the first half. Orange juice does a lot right when it comes to the fundamentals of 'Jangle Pop', that fusion of new wave, post-punk. I wouldn't've put it on the list, but I can see why it's here, and who it inspired. I never would've heard it otherwise and I'm thankful for that. Strong 6/light 7.
There's nothing I can add that you yourself did not feel.
An album that offers a shocking amount of parallel, often intentionally hypocritical, perspectives for such an autobiographical journey. Something that's interesting to revisit so many years into his career. A masterpiece borne from the inquisitive eye of a young man in a tumultuous world with more questions than answers. People talk about the career of Nas as a failure in ability to live up to his debut. I think it speaks more as the failures of a society to answer in a satisfactory way those questions so many 'Nas'es out there had from that generation. As the artist grew into the man, the impression of his words of wisdom appear to fall on the deaf ears of a world paralyzed by indecision. In a world such as this, we shouldn't have needed another one. Strong 8, Light 9
The percussive nature of skiffle gives a lot of these songs 'soundtrack syndrome'. The La's capture a sound many people around the world at different times have been chasing. The Traveling Wilburys probably loved this group. The World could've done with one or two more, but I also have the faith that's it's been able to find it elsewhere. Mid 7.
weird hearing it alone, by itself, in full, rather than bits and pieces sampled and mashed into other tracks. Really strong intro, strangely weak middle, decent ending, a somewhere 7 but closer to an 8 than a 6.
Can't really find fault with it, what was Lebowski talking about? Closer to an 8 than a 6.
In a world without reason, this album is a hangover sober.
Happy 56th Elliot. We Miss you, we Love you.
A swirling, inspirational anthem of liberation and ode to self-actualization. FKA Twigs' stunning debut is dripping with intention and aesthetic. She executes life in a way of which most artists could only dream. One of the most formative albums of my young adulthood.
Really enjoyed much of the pageantry of this record, albeit a somewhat strange mix of genres at times, the music was quality. A lot of fun. Brian Eno personally ruined this record.
Very close to a 4 and objectively a classic, her voice and much of the instrumentation just struck me the wrong way in the headspace I was in listening to it. Perhaps my favorite Marvin Gaye cover.
I could see this album failing to match a moving man in stride, but for one stuck in their own shoes, I feel struck asunder meeting its gaze. This album may've made me a Coldplay fan, and I for that I almost feel apologetic knowing what they've become. A not 3 and an almost 4. Others've done it better but perhaps not under the spotlight.
some fun quirked out white boys
Paz was right, I did like this album. Crazy that 'The Girl from Ipanema' originates from here. Para Machucar Meu Coração is such a standout.
This one was a challenging listen. It's not what I'd come to desire when expecting to hear a Miles Davis album. I'm someone who will lose themselves in 40 second beat loops I've got bookmarked on twitter working on something while the groove drives my function. There's an approach to that sonata style composition here that's novel, especially considering the modern instrumentation, that's no doubt formative of the modern media I so enjoy. It's hard to hear Davis at times. I wonder at times how much I'm actually hearing of him and not the producer, Teo Macero. It's got me wanting to revisit Bitches Brew in its entirety, I was surprised to learn he produced that as well. Perhaps contemporary critics were right, it just works better when you fully lean into the electric. Ambitious and ambient. Strange.
I jokingly called this 'the divine masculine', but It seriously does sound like a woman's response to Mac Miller's 'The Divine Feminine'. Kicking off with a strong and convincing set of openers the album's narrative is immediate and unapologetic. As it continues, generally speaking, they tend to run together along the same pleasing note until the record's completion. The low points are few, and they aren't low. In fact they did almost too complete a job on this one trimming the fat of the record, it's very lean, and you as the listener believe that Sullivan has the ability to expand outside of the walls of it. The deluxe somewhat addresses this, it opens up some space and allows for some experimentation with different styles. There's this Goldilocks situation where the original needed more and the deluxe added a little too much. If you were a fan of the original the fluffy deluxe only adds, but I'm surprised one or two tracks couldn't fight their way onto the 32 minute runtime of the original. A very good R&B album, perhaps not a culturally important one, but only time will tell.
A Summer 5, A Winter 3.
Best thing to come out of Milwaukee since string cheese... It was only 6 years but, hey, that's still a pretty good run.
pleasant, forgettable.
what's good is good, what's bad is bad, sorry paz.
I can't give this a 5 because you put Jamaican Jerk-Off on this record. What the hell Elton? Don't google this by the way, Genius is like, the 3rd page.
I dunno man. Invent a time machine and go back to 1989 to listen to this. I bet it hits.
an extended smooth refrain.
Foundational.
I remember picking this up in a 4.99 CD bin when it was the most angst per buck you could buy. I didn't like it then as much as I do now, strange. Pros: This album gave us Rick Rubin Cons: This album gave us Rick Rubin
Sinatra's greatest sin remains the largely indistinguishable number of auditions of America's Got Talent for which his legacy is responsible.
I am not beating the Eminem fan allegations with this one.
It reminds me of family I once had in a country I once knew.
I'm stuck. There's a lot that can be said using Elvis as a contemporary representative for America's complicated relationship with the world, domestic and international. You can see the roots of the very real cultural integrations in his music that have lead to a more blended, more equal America today. You can look to the King Creole riots and see unfiltered reactions to America's failures and misdeeds in the global south. You can see the modern American canonization of wealth in Elvis' pursuit of fleeting indulgences, 8,000 calorie sandwiches, televisions in limos, red-eye private jets, and creation of personal holy lands and their intrepid pursuit toward the self-immolation of white suits on white thrones. This man was America's son and he had the world happen to him, not the other way around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Tg_-LDyfg
Re-read Paz's review again instead. The singles carried, but I wanted more.
I cannot believe it took me 16 years to hear this. It's that first winter's day; the gall of the curtain to replace one canvas with another mid-stroke. Velvety void that somehow shades the gradient of a lifetime's labors to dandruff lingering amongst the trees.
gomoco
Absolutely flabbergasted. Haven't had a new musical experience like that in such a long time. THE single best discovery on this list.
This would be incredibly influential if you'd never heard any of the bands that influenced this band, or bands influenced by this band. Not happy medium and the center cannot hold; 5.00/10
He changed his name to Anikulapo (meaning "He who carries death in his pouch", with the interpretation: "I will be the master of my own destiny and will decide when it is time for death to take me").
Good to the point where I resent it being the casting mould for a million others that weren't.
Smooth, but I'd rather be listening to the Grammy Award-winning 1999 hit 'Smooth' by Santana feat. Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty off the multi-platinum album Supernatural
Slaps.
https://youtu.be/D2jVUyPq4mI
it was important, just not to me.
This is an album I would've rounded up to a 5 if I had just had to skip the day and just gave it the credit of its memory. It was formative and inescapable, but Blonde is better to the point can I cannot reconcile the two. Perhaps Endless as well, but that's a sticking point for somebody else to make. Channel Orange is slower and longer than I remember. If you forget nostalgia,ULTRA. exists it comes across about as intentional as a debut possibly could. The deeper cuts are somewhat forgettable, yet vibe-y, and the run from Crack Rock to Bad Religion still slaps.
A smattering of blue link classics I know very well and a few songs I've never really heard before for seemingly good reason. I think I prefer Nevermind.
Rounding up and taking a moment of silence for a pre-9/11 world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkySGM7gysg
⬜
I had so much fun listening to this record. I ran through it like twice, I was dancing for nearly 3 hours straight. I can't necessarily spot the influence over some of it's other contemporaries, but it sure as hell was fun.
There once was a fat man who was slim. Who lost a sampling case bankrupting him, he got really drunk. wrote down a whole lot of names that stunk, said "Arseholes, my weapon of choice is a forelimb."
Really good, really fun, disappointingly short.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bjork/comments/1d34pu7/i_am_making_a_bj%C3%B6rk_obby_in_roblox/
I was so ready to be a hater, I was soooo ready. Truly an amazing blend of sounds and styles. Not only deserving to be on the list as a soundtrack, but among the best things we've heard thus far.
One of the best albums I've ever heard.
vibes+, but too short
aggressively chill, I would feel bad rating it lower.
It had 'Superstition' on it.
perhaps a Better Man than I would enjoy it more.
A seriously impressive debut, and another example of the criminality of not being able to give half stars.
One note, but a damn good note. Better than other earlier works on a re-listen.
Cash Money. Incredible man, incredible record.
my eyes honestly just glazed over for most of this.
While the other reviews you're going to read about this record above and below this one are still going to be correct, I still contend the average ear has been overexposed to the cultural whirlwind that Adele was and perhaps to some, is still. Meant as no more a slight to either than their seemingly waned cultural irreverence; to the world Adele is as if that Susan Boyle audition leapt off the screen and lived the life it was meant to.
Pet sound? Good Vibration.
loved it.
Fleeting splendor in a deeply unfair world.
Powerful album, Powerful number
Really solid album that brings back a lot of fun hazy memories.
Woo Hoo!
It's such a different world.
Watch the film of the same title, it's genuinely incredible
never darken my doorstep again. May have driven me genuinely into a depressive episode.
dance Gavin, dance.