Have listened to this a million and a half times and it never gets old. Wish I had done a proper active listen this time through since it’s been a while
More like 4.5 but this is so fun so here we are
Just really holds up. The perfect length at 34 minutes - it could have so easily been overwrought and drawn out but it isn’t
Good if you’re frantically cleaning your home, at a 90s rave, coding, or a 90s teen romcom soundtrack…and not much else
Pretty sure this would have been a case of “way more fun live” at the time it was released, but sadly I’ll never know
Also way more into the back half of this record
More like a 3.5, solidly middle of the road - only here for the hits to accompany a drive down the shore lol
Straight up not having a good time
Realizing how much respect I have for Led Zeppelin being precious about their licensing while listening to this 😂
Sweet Emotion is the only bright spot
Justice for half stars, this one is a 4.5 for me
Very fun! Not likely something I would return to repeatedly though
Peace Sells 🔥
Really enjoyed this! I know very little about Megadath but their influence on sum41 is really evident
Simon without Garfunkel just isn’t my thing; Duncan is the one redeeming track for me (I’ve always found Me and Julio completely insufferable and this listen didn’t change that 😂)
I appreciate the absurdism but this wasn’t really for me
Not memorable. Wasn’t as into this as I was Peace Sells…but also wasn’t in the mood for this vibe today so that could be part of it 😂
Was going to say no notes, 10/10, an all-time favorite (although not my favorite NY solo effort), but instead:
1. Hilary, shoutout number 2 in like less than a week to Mr. Kessler and 7th grade language arts class (will explain this more in the group chat tomorrow)
2. Extremely eerie to listen to this record today specifically (looking at you, Southern Man and Don’t Let It Bring You Down)
3. Damn does NY know how to write about love and heartbreak or what
4. Listened two times in a row because how could I not 😍 alright, Brett out
Not particularly memorable. Decidedly not music for the masses (ba dum tss)
Giving this a 3 instead of a 2 because I like “Never Let Me Down Again” and the funky music theory of “Pimpf”
Pour toi, Hilary :
C’est un groupe assez cool, j’en profite pour écouter quand je suis au boulot, mais pas beaucoup plus. Je ne sais pas si c’est un compliment ou pas, désolée Air 🙃
Comme j’ai dit dans le group chat, c’est pas mon album préféré - je préfère la bande originale de Virgin Suicides
Meditative - I listened to this as I was falling asleep so I don’t feel like I can give it a fair rating, but I’d say somewhere between 3ish and 4ish
Perfect from start to finish. As I said in the group chat, a gorgeous listening experience 🌑
Made me feel like I was 15 and ready for a show at Maxwell’s; i.e., really enjoyed this! Muuuuuch prefer it to the stuff that came after (thinking mostly the singles off the 2008 record), which I’ve always found extremely annoying. Also feel like the music supervisor for The Hills licensed the crap out of this 😂
Love Willie 🥰 such a lovely record
I liked this a lot in college, but I’m not in college anymore 😂
Ball and Chain still rips though
This is another case of .5 for me, would rather rate 3.5 but going 3 because I’m not feeling generous today
Nothing memorable for me here although I appreciate it for what it is
Was expecting to really enjoy this and instead found it tedious
Loved this. Ship me off to another galaxy, I’m ready 🌌🪐
Unsurprisingly way better on a second listen with headphones but the cheesy corn is still getting to me
Straight mid. Love “I’m A Man” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” (s/o NJ 101.5 as mentioned 😂) but unlikely to be something I revisit regularly
Beatlemania for life, baby
The only reason this doesn’t get five stars is because it was an executive mistake to have them record so many covers
Dropped off in the middle for me but overall I’m here for it because of the little bits and pieces of beautiful instrumentation - “layered and hidden at the same time” is what kept going through my head as I listened
Also big Oasis vibes on “Melody Calls” and generally a lot of late-stage Beatles influences
And last but not least I really enjoyed feeling like I was back at NYU in 2006 walking to and from class listening to “Catch the Sun”
(Why am I giving Doves so much attention when this is like a 3.5 for me?)
Listened to this too early in the day to be able to appreciate it much but I did like “The Rage”
So goofy and fun, will definitely revisit
The back half negated the front
As I said already, my flavor of weird
This is where I’d appreciate half stars again - it really starts to rip from “Come Out and Play” on
Listened to this passively so I don’t think I can give a fair rating but it’s obviously beautiful
Not my favorite from these guys but “I’m So Bored With the USA” is a whole thesis statement
Started off strong (love love “Keep On Movin’”, very motivating way to start my morning) but really lost steam as it went on with the exception of “Back to Life” - probably not something I’ll return to. Also very clear how much Jungle was influenced by this
Zero notes (pun intended)
This is a 4.5 for me, justice for half stars etc, but I love Queen Harry too much to round down here
Nothing memorable here for me
So Radiohead coded!
I found I’m way too familiar with this record to listen to it with fresh ears, but very interesting to see how the end of “Everything’s Not Lost” foreshadowed their sound from their later career. “Trouble” into “Parachutes” is also clutch. We were all always playing “Trouble” on the piano in the common room of my high school lol
Tbh can’t wait for A Rush of Blood to the Head which will surely be on this list!
Liked this more than the other Tim Buckley but didn’t listen super closely tbh (“Once I Was” is really nice though as I mentioned in the chat! 🥺)
Master lyricist
Fun fact, “This Is Hell” is used when Gilmore Girls’ (most important??) character Jess Mariano is first introduced in the series 😂
“Still Too Soon To Know” is a heartbreaking song, so is “All the Rage” in its own way (“Don’t try to touch my heart, it’s darker than you think” 👽)
Pure feel good even with the heartbreaker “Somebody Loves Me”
Torn between 4 and 5 here
Another tossup between 4 and 5 for me, and for shame, I do prefer Carole King’s version of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” because I have a soft spot for songwriters getting to perform their own work. Also really made me look forward to whenever Tapestry will show up on this list
Brash and sexy, bring on the noise
I feel foolish for not knowing how Joy Division-coded Interpol is until listening to this
I have to be in a verrryyyy specific kind of mood for this but I do really enjoy it (“Disorder”!!)
Not my favorite of theirs although “Street Fighting Man” is one of my favorite Stones songs and “Factory Girl” is a highlight. Somewhere between a 3 and 4 here
Really conscious of the misogyny/machismo of the lyrics in this in a way I wasn’t when I was younger 🫣
As discussed, couldn’t separate art from the artist on this one :( would give a 1.5 lyrically but 3-4 for production and I’m feeling generous this morning so I’ll go with 3 overall
It’s a stone cold 5 for me, even with how much I loathe “The Girl Is Mine”
Nice but probably not something I’ll revisit. The music supervisor for Grey’s Anatomy probably would have gone bananas over this record
Begrudgingly liked this a lot more than I thought I would
I just don’t care enough sorryyyyy
You all already know my thoughts in detail about this
Keep your electric eye on me, baby - one million fives out of five
This dropped off toward the end for me which is the only reason I’m giving a 4 instead of a 5, really loved the energy here
Boring and unoriginal. I’ve always found “hard to handle” extremely annoying. The more I listened the less tolerable I found this hence the 1
Not quite a 5 for me but close
I see what this is but it’s not really for me
“The O-Men” into “Kuntz” is a whole thing, let alone the final track 😨
This is another case of between 3 and 4 for me
I loved this! So fun, would definitely revisit. “Ain’t That A Shame” was a surprise, I didn’t look at the track list as I listened
Another one with Scorpio Energy, proper noun, but not necessarily my favorite
In the end…meh. Hilary got it: it’s aggressively fine
Nothing here is memorable to me among these jammy jams…got to the point where I was straight up annoyed by the noodling/posturing and didn’t want to finish, hence the 1. Sorry, Janis 🤷🏼♀️
“Bigmouth Strikes Again” is good, “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” and “Franky Mr Shankly” are grating
I want to listen to this again many more times and then write a dissertation on it
Way too long and he’s 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻 but still gets a 3 from me for “New York, New York” and a few other nice moments throughout 😬
I wanted to like this more but I was definitely not in the right mood for it, although the fish cakes song made me laugh. Their influence on Interpol and Franz Ferdinand is really evident
Made me lol multiple times, ultimate fuckboy record
Wanted to knock this down to 3 for a few reasons but it’s undeniably excellent, so here we are
The one-two punch of Longview and Welcome to Paradise rips
I know “The Loser In The End” is controversial because it interrupts the black/white May/Mercury concept but I love it. This one would get a 4.5 from me if I could. It’s not absolutely perfect but it nearly gets there, and it’s super fun to listen to knowing where their journey took them after this
Too much content about heartbreak 😭 something I need to be in a very specific headspace to listen to/revisit because a lot of it is tough to listen to
Abby put it perfectly - this record is interminable, BUT it’s also excellent and I don’t have eloquent words for how much I enjoy it beyond that it gets my Paul Hollywood handshake of a 5
Art as therapy, therapy as art
Another example of the environment where I listened impacting my vote 😂👙⛱️
Clutch. The spoken monologues are all excellent and aged really well - the only reason this doesn’t get a 5 from me is because “Pussycat” didn’t age super well 🫠
Enjoyed this more expected! Musically more often than lyrically - one or two big duds didn’t mean this was terrible on the whole
Larry’s description put it best
No Compassion is a very funny song
This one almost gets a 5!
Instant 5 for queen Siouxsie, “Arabian Nights” to “Halloween” to “Monitor” is a perfect trio
Already shared my feelings here and would consider knocking this down a star for the ASMR of it all but eh
Needed this in my life yesterday - pushing a 5 for “Shining Star”
Amazingly constructed breakup album
“The Thrill of it All” is such a killer opening. The music theory on this record in general is chef’s kiss, I love when pop music uses uncommon intervals - but knocking this down a star for the Bryan Ferry of it all 😑
I’m not saying anything novel here, but the magic of ABBA is that they mastered writing sonically cheerful music about tragic/heartbreaking topics and that dissonance is absolutely 🤌🏼
It’s always better on holiday
I think I’m one of the few people who prefers her later output to her earlier catalogue, hence the 3 here
Really enjoyed this, especially “Strength of Strings”
“Changes” is such a sad song
“Laguna Sunrise” is beautiful
The final track rippppsssss, 4.5 maybe for that alone
The diversity of songwriting here is really a pleasure to listen to - almost pushed a 5 for me
Enjoyed this a lot more than expected because I thought I’d tune out quickly - refreshing to hear a record full of someone taking accountability for apparently being a selfish jerk in their youth 😂 it’s timeless as we discussed in the group chat and “River Lea” particularly stood out to me, I hadn’t heard that one before
Validating to see from the global reviews I’m not alone in my opinion here. Bonus Star for “Da Funk” and “Rollin’ & Scratchin’”
Some CSNY vibes in some of the choruses here (The Boston Rag, King of the World)
Also lol to the lyric in “Pearl of the Quarter” that says “voulez-voulez-voulez-vous”, because this lacks a verb or noun to make it make any kind of sense
How many times did I listen to “Southern Point” on the D train home to Bensonhurst in 2009? 🥲
I heard this record described once as sounding like fragile memories, which I love and totally agree with. Tonally they do such a good job of using instrumentation to represent bitterness and subtle unease.
Also I didn’t know this until today, but Veckatimest is an uninhabited island near Martha’s Vineyard!
As mentioned I wasn’t as familiar with the B side and it rips
Sync sucked the novelty out of a lot of these tracks, but still putting it between 3 and 4
In no particular order:
The level of vulnerability and insecurity here is painful to listen to
The end of “Anything”!!
And “Pretty Little Birds”
One of the best we’ve listened to so far
What can I say, I love the Monkees
This ain’t it, although it does have its moments on the back half. Dave put it well, her vocals are too drowned out in the mix
Instant karma, instant 5
The juxtaposition of “Oh My Love” against “How Do You Sleep?” is 😳
Fun bass line in “Cross-Tie Walker”
Fun guitar and bass lines in “Sinister Purpose”
Listened to this pretty passively (sorry, Stereolab) but into it!
The only thing I’ve genuinely liked so far is The Happy End probably because there are no vocals
Fell off during the second half for me
Fun! Matched my mood today so it gets a 5 over a 4
Didn’t realize that Randy Newman gives me Van Morrison Nora Ephron movie sync energy until listening to this. Also “Marie” is surprisingly tender and heartbreaking!
OutKast are extremely singular
Fine! Not particularly memorable for me but a nice change of pace
Thrilled this record was part of this project!! The one-two punches of Independent Women Pt 1/Survivor and Happy Face/Emotion!
It’s also so interesting to hear how this was a runway for what came later, like Apple Pie à la Mode being the 2001 version of Partition
The only reason this doesn’t get 5 stars from me is because of the weird juxtaposition of Nasty Girl against everything else. It’s jarring and feels v out of place and v much like a Mathew choice re: presenting a certain image of who he wanted them to be
HELLOOOOOO BROOKLYYYYNNNNNN
I listened to this passively which maybe wasn’t the ideal choice, sorry to kill the perfect 5 y’all 😂
Liked the B-Boy Bouillabaisse tracks more than the front half! Was ready to give this a 3 but I’ll bump up
The 1-2 punch of Movin’ Out and The Stranger almost made me be more generous with my thoughts on Billy Joel - as did the totality of production value here - but the casual misogyny knocked it back down. Hard to figure out where that settles beyond a 3
An absolute delight that covers so many bases
Some good moments but on the whole eh
As established LS cooks but not enough for me to give this a mid rating
Extremely one note but extremely good at that one note. My north jersey heritage feels bad giving this a 3 but 🤷🏼♀️
Today I learned I love Tom Waits
Some really nice moments happening here! Hovers between a 3 and a 4 for me
Appreciate this for what it is but I can’t say I had particularly strong feelings about it
They massa-creed this record
Smooth but between a 3 and 4 for me
I didn’t actively dislike this enough to give it a 2 so here we are
Too lyrically repetitious to be enjoyable for me on this listen. Not feeling the teenager-y dichotomy of “love is bleak/all consuming” today. But she is an undeniable force so we’re going middle of the road here
Enjoyed this and I will be revisiting!
Millennial sleeper cell activation
Sexy as hell!! But not a 5 on this listen for me
Didn’t enjoy this as much listening with headphones but it’s always a 5 for me
Love my Fiona and this is a killer debut (the poetry!!), but it’s not something I revisit in full frequently the way I do her other records. Rating this as a standalone even though my bias wants to give it a 5
Listened to this passively but looking forward to revisiting!
An absolute delight, heartbreak in perfect harmonies
Still surprised this is on this list. Meh with some shining moments that stop me from knocking this down to a 2
