Deeply emotional, made me think of a number of later musicians, has much love within, perfect guitar compositions as well and experimental and psychedelic stuff. The Beatles do amaze me, a remarkable masterpiece to embark on my musical journey.
Not exactly my cup of tea but it did sound professional and a couple of tracks were of some interest.
A remarkable album indeed. I am a fan of Moby sounds, however this one had some fillers I did not enjoy much. Still, the album has a number of classic tracks that I can listen for years.
Turned out not to be my genre. There was a couple of tracks that sounded perculiar, but all in all this one failed to resonate with me.
This one's a great masterpiece. Both starts and ends with 10/10 compositions. "Walk On By" turned out to be the source of the instrumental part of one of my favourute tracks. Outstanding feeling of music, deep emotion, beautiful spoken word in the last track. This recording is exceptional and it can be felt throughout the 45-munute disc that you are listening classic stuff.
This record possesses a number of purely talented and powerful songs, including the opener "Son of Sam" and "Can't Make A Sound". While sometimes it sounds protrected, the album seems to encompass both rocky songs and more subtle and tender pieces. Wouldn't re-listen it in full, but the better part of the album makes it a 3.7/10.
Considerable amount of songs that feel filler but there is a number of decent ones, plus the overall feeling thia record provides is a sort of smoothness, joy, but also light melancholy.
This record has good sides and bad ones, making it a decent but by no means an outstanding work. A few compositions do make a great use of guitar and possess much energy, while others are merely boring or mediocre. The latter mostly include 'soft' tracks. "Hit the Plane Down" and "Unfair" would be my picks for this album, while "5-4=Unity" deserves a special mention as a worthwhile instrumental. Long story short, average one with exceptions.
For the most part of the album, it was questionable if I want to continue at all. Last several tracks were better, while the overall impression of the recording is average and by no means GOAT.
The noisy style of the band turned out to be unrewarding throughout the album. All tracks sounding more or less the same, it felt more like a mess than a thoroughly crafted record. A one-time listen.
Most of the songs fade out if compared with the album's hit. I'd single out the outro song "Gold Dust Woman". However, almost all of tye other songs are forgotten once you finish them. Essentially a one-hit record.
Trippy, relaxing, good for background listening while still amusing when focusing on details. The extended length of the tracks adds up. Numerous beautiful musical decisions throughout the record. Quite possible that I will return to Future Days later.
A few tracks were of interest while the most part of the album was relaxating kind of light music which may deliver if you enter the mood but is overall by no means outstanding. 2.7/10.
An outstanding album with lots of tasteful songs. Both singing and the guitar are used in a way that makes the music enjoyable. While the exact genre varies within the record, it just makes you feel good, empowered with humanity and compassion, as well as sheer talent. Definitely a good album worth relistening.
This one receives three stars of five as a good work but not very bright throughtout its A-Side. In fact, the best moments I recall after getting to know the records are from the ending tracks.
Fav track (by far): To Have And To Hold. This one is immediately on repeat.
The album gets five stars for its impressive juicy big/break beats making each and every track energetic and reminding me of Prodigy and Fatboy Slim. Favourite track: Leave Home.
A smooth recording overall with some songs worth adding to one's collection, but can't be characterized as a truly outstanding record.
Favorite track: "'97 Bonnie & Clyde". In its genre, this records seems both historically significant and stylistically peculiar. There are some beats worth one's attention, just as there are moving lyrics. Eminem is indeed a notable hip-hop artist and this LP serves a good reminder about why the man's become such a star.
I have to rate this 1/5 (and 1/10 if we used 10 stars) but I must say that this kind of experimental music takes courage as it in fact explores the limits of what music is. Most of the album is not, but my favourite track on it, "Kollaps", not only isn't bad. In fact, I enjoyed it. This is more of a performance than a musical album, and given the tragedies of the 20th century, the German history in particular, this effort makes sense. It's bad, but I do not hate it.
I found myself surprisingly unfamiliar with Jimi's legacy. This disk is brillint rock'n'roll. Hardly has songs on it that did not surprise me with the guitar playing or his vocals. It's both smartly crafted and exceptionally pleasing to the ear. Hands down, a masterpiece album here.
Favourite song: Little Wing.
Brilliant album. I basically enjoyed every muniye of it. Highly energetic, with rapping that reminds of the RATM.
Liked how the album begins with a heavy song and then switches to more delicate tracks. Generally a high-quality one.
Impressive. The record includes much crazy stuff with the vocals, the drums, the guitar, smart use of pauses and more. The band was crearly pushing the limits of then-current music. This can be felt as late as fifty-five years later. Well-deserved five of of five here. Fav song: Child in Time.
The first half of the album is heavenly, but the second does not lose grip much.
Has some rewarding songs here and there but I couldn't say that the recording overall was very bright. That's the style of this band anyway.
Perhaps a milestone record at its time, it makes me feel not all of potential was used, with many songs on the album not too bright. 3.4/10.
Songs are elegantly connected and feel as a one long track essentially. In this sense, the record feels seamless. The mysic style feels fit for some cozy dinner at the restaurant down the street. I would not relisten this often, so the album marks a decent work appropriate for some niche uses.
Soothing one. There are certain good songs while others are just a decent background. As the 1001 list should have stricter criteria, I'll give it 3.4 thus 3 on the five-star scale. Favourite song: "Blue Skies".
The opening couple of tracks were not bad and the last called "Second Time Around" is interesting to a certain degree, but for the most of the duration, I could not feel that the record is a GOAT. I'll call "Rock Me Baby" my fav on this album and give it two stars; the punk/use of dissonance did not really deliver.
Awkwardly, the record begins with energetic and virogous sonds and has a couple at its end. The middle is very monotonous, I found nothing worth returning to it ever on future. I'm rating this 2.5 stars because the albums on the list should be the goats.
The album starts awkwardly restrained but shines later on. My favourite tracks here would be 'Go It Alone' & 'Rental Car'. The record is really diverse, and as you approach the last part, you already know it's worth relistening later. To me, it was unusual and truly delivering with some of its tracks. Nice one.
Quality soul music. I'd rate it five were it to be even more amusing and exceptional from the sound perspective. Anyway, a record worth listening.
At first, I was thinking of rating "Goodbye And Hello" higher, but Side Two did not really made it. The album is lyrics-centered, begins with energetic compositions such as No Man Can Find the War and Pleasant Street (my No. 1 pick on this album), but is not as special later on. The title song feels like a few songs incorporated in just one, to a degree which is a bit awkward. Still, I enjoyed the listen, but cannot rate it higher than 3.0.
Aight I'm rating this three out of five but in reality it is more of two-and-a-half kind of album. There is some bright stuff on the record, but some 2/3 of the material feels either monotonous or mediocre, i.e. such that I would not relisten or consider any GOAT. My picks for this one are "Children of the Korn" and "B.B.K." Also, there are parts where the voices are outrightly disgusting to a degree, but I'd consider it part of the group's style.
Frankly, the album's highly boring, monotonous, and I have no idea why it is on the 1001 list. What is ut in the music or the vocals that, accoeding to the list authors, makes it one of the best in the history of music? It is indeed not. I can hardly remember a song immediately after listening to this. I believe this is the first album among the 32 that I have listened up until now which does not have a single song I could add to my playlists. Such entries honestly make me dissappointed about choosing to listen to the list. Well, we will see how that goes further.
Not sure if it deserves 4 or 5. Yeah live albums are a genre of its own. The crowd here, which appears to have lots and lots of your girls, goes really crazy and add up to the imression. The music is fine, the guitars usage is very rewarding. "Need Your Love" is an obvious highlight here, probably the best on the album, but I believe pretty much every track of the first several ones is great. The album's 48 years old but oh boy, I wish I were there. Let it be five for its fervent energy and pretty much being a good standard for performing rock music.
I'd rate this three stars if the 1001 albums list wasn't claiming to have picked up the all-time best music. Now, the album is certainly quite energetic, and I really liked "Big Ten Inch Record" and most of the mid-album tracks, but I cannot help realising that I was just basically wait for it to finish and be thankful that it is not a one-hour record. Besides, it might have been significant at the release time, given its date of publication. But I have stricter rating policy here, so it get just two.
Wow, it's been a long time since I encountered an album on the list that deserves five stars. It's incredible how Clapton's musicianship allows this album to be so stilystically diverse and at no time boring. "Let It Grow" is an absolute masterpiece that even gave me chills. The vocals are restraint and the music is fine and fitting throughout the record. As a result, it's a great work that is sensitive, interesting, can make you smile and feel better. Definitely deserves a maximum rate of five out of five.
Sounds like a brutalism-inspired sort of music. I'd say the middle of the release is quite okay for passive listening, as a somewhat noir-fashioned record. However, the beginning and the ending felt boring. As this is far from being something either as melodic as many Daft Punk works (even the first few disks) or as crazily experimantal as the Einstürzenden Neugebaten industrial album on the 1001 list (which I rated 1/5 anyways), I'll just give it two out of five. "The Model" and "Neon Lights" are generally not bad.
Took me three attemps to finish. Cohen's album just uses his singing and a guitar, for the most part. Master Song, So Long, and Stories are the better tracks, but for the most part, the music is uninteresting and cannot capture my attention. For that reason, it's hard to listen to it outside. Sometimes Cohen is not even singing, but rather is talking, making this some sort of a spoken word. Perhaps some will enjoy the lyrics, but I am a music fan. Def not going to re-listen it apart from the selected tracks maybe. Not ugly, but sometimes not enjoyable, just two start for this one.
The Hive make lotta noise in the songs, but do lack melody. Perhaps the first track isn't bad, but for some 80% of the playtime I felt as though their sound consumed more of me than it gave. Isn't too cool; I'll rate this two because "Your New Favourite Band" is a decent one-time listen but just not something I should surely listen before I die.
As an electronic music fan, I am have a ton of prejudice in favour of this album, but it is truly great. First of all, it has an established reputation of a defining record, almost a sacred one at this point. Fatboy Slim truly goated this, and I've known the hits of the album for years. But those that are haven't are not bad either. The first half of the album is generally full of masterpieces, while I found "Acid 8000" a great track that will make one dance for sure, otherwise they must be dead. Can't rate this less than five as the album brings pure joy, is highly influantial, in fact it is an industry standard for beatmaking and sampling. To conclude, that's great, I love it and will definitely re-listen at least the most part of YCaLWB.
A cozy record, but as you progress, it sounds increasingly repetitive. My pick would be "Adam Raised a Cain".
Punk rock records that feels quite monotonous at the start but adds more fun in the second part. I'd highlight Dead, No 13 Baby, and Gouge Away. The latter is the only track I'd known prior to listening, and in many ways it's the brightest. I liked the guitar at times, while generally speaking, the album has a lot of tracks that were not too bright. That's why three: a decent listen, but by no means a GOAT album.
"Don't Stand Me Down" offers a precious blend of the acoustics, including a great piano usage, and vocals that are in place. The first few tracks are especially lovely in terms of emotion, while the later part of the album is increasingly mournful. The music is rich, well-crafted and has a great balance of gentleness and liveliness. Pretty much every track has a complex and interesting composition. I also highly enjoy the random chatting stuff accompanied by good music as in "One of the Signs". This, along with songs 1, 2, and 7, would be my picks from the record, while the others, being a bit off the mark, are still good. It isn't an easy choice between four and five, but I'll go with the latter for the delight in the nuanced music of the album. Maybe it doesn't keep the the excellence all thoughout the runtime, but the better parts truly stand out, they are rich in good music choices and vary among themselves, making this album a decent entry om the 1001 list. Sort of 4.5 but leaning to 5 on the scale used here; a marvelous work by the Runners.
A really decent jazz record with minimalistic voice usage just in the first track; this one makes a pleasant background listen, but I couldn't see, for the most part, why whis exact album is outstanding. That's why three stars.
This country album sparked some interest right at the parts where is was distracted from its main style at most. "Hot Burrito #1" and "Hippie Boy" are the highlights that use some blues inspirations, and the latter also has the chatter-instead-of-singing thing. The most of the album is quite dull and did not appear any special, though.
Wow, what an album. The Penguins delivered a highly experimental record with sweet and subtle use of the strings, as well as a variety of other instruments. Intricate melodies are never boring and bring unexpected turns pretty much all the time. So, music feels relaxed, but in a highly elegant way. Abundance of purely intrumental compositions is a huge plus here. In short, an album of talented experimental stuff that I will listen again for sure. Best tracks: "Zopf: Giles Farnaby's Dream", "The Sound Of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter", "Hugebaby". Also it's notable how fresh the "Penguin Cafe" feels given its release year.
I'll say this. "Good to me as I am to you" is the best song, and the whole album is a collection of bursting emotions from all over the spectrum with great Aretha's singing. Loved it so much.
I was going to rate this lower, but the ending of the record changed my mind. This is one of those albums that sort of make me look for the lyrics. Morrison's vocals are charming in many ways; his voice manages to sound calm and powerful at the same time. That's the first record of the band that I have listened to in full, and I must say that, considering it's 56 y.o., it sounds so original. Take Maggie M'Gill with its minimalistic music. Morrison Hotel made me feel what quality rock sounds like, and I'm glad to feel that again. There are many fav picks from this relatively short release, effectively half of the whole record. I'd highlight Queen of the Highway and Indian Summer, the two short songs from Side two that are... so poetic, brief in lyrics and purely skillful in music. Great album, my 50th on the 1001 list. Gonna listen to it again.
Jazz music is, as it was decribed numerous times, a separate realm, with its own armies of devoted fans. What this album is thankfully capable of is to make the genre more conceivable by the outsider listeners. A highly delicate collection of compositions that are ever-changing and different in many ways, but leave a feeling that you've experienced something smooth and worthwhile. "Song For Sathima", the title track and "The Mountain" are the highlights. The 12-minute-long title track is the most interesting during the first and the last few minutes. The album probably evolved into this more standard kind of jazz that you cannot perceive actively for long if not a lifetime long fan, but, as I've mentioned, it offers much beyond that, and is thus rightfully included in the 1001 list.
Blue rock done bad. I had a pretty good feeling with the opening track, but as the album goes on, music feels increasingly rough and unpleasant to a point where it is irritating actually. The instruments, the use of disharmony are unfortunate, and even the singing offers nothing to rate this higher than 1, catastrophe.
This record is so nice from pretty much all standpoints. It's a great fun to listen to this. Released in 1972, "Slayed?" is all but an outdated release. There are so many bangers among just ten songs that last a bit more than half an hour. Highlights are "I Won't Let It 'Appen Again", "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", "I Don't Mind", "Gudbuy Gudbuy", and "Let the Good Times Roll". Take the closing track—it's instrumental part is truly crazy, a word so often on the lyrics here. Every instrument delivers, and the vocals are just great for the album's style, carrying most songs. All in all, this album is good in pretty much all parts, delivers tons of emotion. Outstanding work, I'd rate it A–ish, but 5/5 with the scale we use here. I'm writing about the initial 1972 release, with no additional material, in particular that wich is on the streaming platforms with no original album published separatety, which sucks. Relisteting the songs makes you only love the album more instantly.
Did not enjoy this albom too much. Most of the first half is really meh, the band seems to try tp experiment, but to no avail. They sounded somewhat Beatles-like, but just worse. In the end, they are better tracks, like "Loneliest Person" or "Talking About the Good Times", but I am not sure if they are really good or just "not bad" as compared with the earlier on the album. An overall disappoinment, gonna rate the lowest because the list should contain the best of the best.
Alright, industrial rock is not supposed to be pleasing to the ear, isn't it? As least if you compare this to E. Neugebauten's 'Kollaps' which I heard before on the list. But this album has a lot of melodic stuff. Moreover, it is overall well done and even has moments where you could say it's ambient. That was too unexpected. Now, usually there are a few minutes on a track that are very repetitive. But they keep on changing at a certain point and offer something worth listening and even rewarding stuff. I think the opener is the most technically impressive track. There are quite many that I really liked, like "Heresy", "Ruiner", and "Reptile". For a long album, it was surprisingly diverse. So given its genre, the record is worthwhile not only by the genre's standard, but is worth listening even you usually won't express interest for this kind of music. Which makes it a decent inclusion on the 1001 list. Great industrial rock album, with great overall quality and nice details in music
Perhaps it may work as an album for relaxation but the repetitive guitar killed my interest in the majority of songs. "Things Behind the Sun" is my highlight pick, a track that offers a much more pleasing intrumantal part unlike most of the other tracks that generally use guitar just as a static background. Can't see why Pink Moon is on the list; this music is not bad, but it ain't something you can't miss.
Rating this one ain't an easy task. Basically, the album's great. But it is the beginning that shines bright with tasteful electronic stuff full of energy and beautiful overall composition. Starting from "Come Together", while the atmosphere remains vivid, the record seems to lose grip. It was, of course, deliberate, but everything just slows down, and while remaining psychedelic to a degree, Screamadelica emerges as a meditative record in the second half. Frankly, that latter part can mostly serve as a background music but cannot compete with the openers. I loved basically every piece in the start. Might have been a five star record, but I'll go with 4/5 for that tempo decline. That being sad, a good intro inro this band, they for sure know how to lace trippy beats.
An hour-long album that is so boring is quite an achievement. The title track was sort of promising, but in the end, it fails to offer anything special and lacks an idea of what it should lead to. Surprisingly, the group uses a lot of sounds and effects that are primitive. That retrofuturistic sounds that appear to be meant to invoke the images of cosmos sound fake and unconvincing. The vocals are mediocre. The album quickly starts to annoy you, eventually making you wait for it to end. It is only in the last few tracks that you start noticing some real music worth spending your time. The war and sex commentary, though, are of no depth as far as I can tell based on the parts I paid attention to. So, The Only Star in Heaven and The Power of Love are not bad (but I'd rather listen to an instrumental version of the latter). But, sadly, at this point I was already way too disappointed. A bad record, you could skip everything apart from what I've mentioned. The sound is eclectic, there is barely any musical achievement, no idea of why this is so long and what was the idea of putting it like this.
This album is in many ways weird. The very first track is exceptionally well-produced and had me feel that the album would be full of bangers. Then there were some tracks that were quite worse. "Three Days", given its duration, was promising. Now, as you are listening to it, you have an ongoing feeling that it's a slow burner that would lead to some epic chorus or a solo, as is habitually done in popular musuic including rock. It it does not really happen, only to a ceratin degree. Still, the track is very cool in terms of a complex, unpredictable composition that manages to stand out and, IMHO, is quite hard to be resembled. This is why this song along with the opening track are my picks for this record.
The later tracks were mostly a disappointment. The group's somewhat incoherent style reminded me of the Cure at times. They keep on using those repetitive patterns which at times are transformed into something more lively, but generally speaking, the ending is way worse than it could have been. Which is why this album, while containing some outstanding material, failed to use its stylistic diversity to its own benefit. Could have been a five. Three stars here.
I was hesitant to rate it the highest, but one should keep in mind how playful "3 Feet High" is. The album has this TV show-feel because of the quiz thing, it makes you smile and laugh because of how unserious and chilled it is with all those porn twist moments and gimmicks. Several tracks may be highlighted here. Ghetto Thang, Plug Tunin', D.A.I.S.Y. Age, the last track which is a version of Plug Tunin' and is criminally missing from the music streaming services version. I like hip hop with more melodic samples and instrumentals, but given this album mostly lacks that, it keeps the sound almost as good as possible. Rarely do you ever get even a bit bored. Perhaps a few tracks could be omitted from the first half, but this hour of rap was definitely worth it and it in many ways deserves high acclaim. Perhaps an A– rather than an A, but hands down, the album's great, rapping is good, you should listen in before you die.
Another album which starts out with a banger largely outshadowing the rest of the material. Gimme Shelter is something I have known for a long time, and I had to listen it on repeat when I started listening this. The Stones do combine elements of a few genres, but the first half of the record proves underwhelming, especially given the superiority of Gimme Shelter. Then you have some nice sogs. I believe the record is likely to have influenced various bands later on. Still, here on Let It Bleed much of the stuff feels just not as capturing as some rock music you are used to. It is overall nice, but lacks something for higher rates, and I am not going to give it favors due to its age. A decent rock release, but I believe the band is likely to have better ones. My picks: Live With Me, Let It Bleed, Monkey Man (cool piano use). Gimmer Shelter is perhaps better than the rest of the album combined... but still, we have to try to rate the album as a whole.
The band's name sums it all up. What is there in this to include it on the list? Did it eventually lead to punk rock or something? Anyway, the second album in a row I am rating one, as it had passed the threshold of annoying me. Seriously, the instrumental parts are literally of zero curiosity here; the vocals are below average even. When the singer at last tries to put some emotion into a song, it tends to sound cringe and fails to resonate with you. A couple of songs were better that the rest—Happy Day and The Book I Read—but even in regard to those, I'll have to consider if I wish to keep them on my playlists. A throwaway album, one could easily skip it. The album cover only adds up to lack of anything worthwhile here.
"The Black Saint..." resembles a feeling of trying to read hieroglyphs (or sinograms?). You indeed would not manage to comprehend the underlying text, but if you listen to it with attention, you may start noticing the poetry of it. That being said, the quote on the artwork is wonderfully nice. Now, the only track that I am keen on on this record is C (Group dancers). The last composition does use the same core melodies at once but just randoms switches its tone and speed which does not always achieve good results. The first two tracks are quite obscure in terms of what they try to achive. It these are impovisations, the way the instruments switch so many musical parameters is crazy. But it looks like they are not. So, the third track is pretty much a masterpiece to me; is is varied in so many ways yet not a too long composition. This is jazz that you certainly may try to understand and like. However I have to show restraint in rating this, as one track of four is not much. Still, a great work worth giving a try. I suppose jazz fans are mostly excited about the record.
The biggest problem of this record is simply that its opener "Dirge" is too good. I've loved it for many years, possibly more than a decade, and I believe will forever. It is hauntingly beautiful and definitely among the best tracks from the 50+ albums I've covered so far. Then you have some highly experimental sound that, really, did not resonate much with me. However, once you start listening to the later tracks, there are some highly decent compositions—"Lever Street", "Aladdin's Story". The last one is also very well down, great instrumental work. That being said, the way guitars are used on the record is generally unbelievable; the band manages to express tons of feelings and really make you wonder they are coming up with next. It is just that some half of the material sadly cannot compete with the genious "Dirge". I actually was going to rate this three, but thanks to the last several tracks it gets a deserved four. Dirge is something that already made me love this group long before I started listening the albums list. Given the work's originality, I'd say it is worth another try and maybe that 4 will get even more convincing.
The beginning of the second project of Cee-Lo quickly brings in the 00s nostalgia being a good representation of the hip hop of the time. An overall lighthearted record, it is by any means enjoyable. Certainly, it does not avoid having fillers and worse tracks, which tend to feel like a background radio not bringing much attention but also never really being bad. As for the good stuff, the record did surprise me several times. For an hour-long runtime, it has outstanding instrumentals here and there and even incorporates normal singing a couple of times. "Scrap Metal" is by far the best record on this sophomore, and I would also highlight the early tracks "Soul Machine" and "The Art of Noise". Perhaps not the best of its kind, the record offers much fun and resonates either with great instrumentals, cerious rapping, or both. B−.
We the music lovers tend to find special joy in dance genres. Yeah, there are many outstanding intelligent schools of sound, but dance music is something that is able to resonate with your body. Prince's 1999 is a record which definitely invites you to dance, and even if you will not, it will make your mind dance somewhere in a separate musical realm.
1999 is really diverse. The only bad part I would say is the early few track following the opener. The first track is great and sets the mood to be later developed later on the album. I changed my opinion several times as I was listening. Remarkably, once you reach the mid-part, Prince starts to spew out one banger after nother. This music makes you feel good. It makes you dance. It makes you love your life more. It uses the repetitive parts and the dance rhythm, which sometimes are the same thing and at times not, with success. The synths are not great in those few tracks I have mentioned, but still better than in most such records, and Prince even manages to make them sound warm in one of the tracks.
Horny lyrics appear throughout the album and sort of fit the dance mood. I would also highlight the lyrics of "Lady Cab Driver" which have some social commentary sentiment and remind me a little of works such as "They Don't Care About Us" by Michael. Prince also adds those real life situations briefly with music evolving right based after the former, as in the said track. The vocals are just fine, and I loved the moments with bursts of emotions. Those are really decisive and thrilling. "International Lover" is pehaps the strongest track of all; made me think 1999 should indeed be on such lists as "1001 albums" and heard by everyone for its cultural importance and the ability to demonstrate both the music of its time and the general limits and creative capabilities of music (in other words, I consider it classic).
Were it not for the last track, I would say that is a cool album with much musical vatiety and dance mood to it, but "International Lover", both thanks to it being a masterpiece and also its placement as the last track, has formed my opinion that this album is too good not to be rated the highest. A fascinating work by Prince. Retrofuturistic by title, its ability to make people dance cannot be disputed, but apart from that, it has tons of emotions and music achievements that truly make it stand out.
P.S. The artwork is of curious design. We lack it so much in mid-2020s with all those flat, corporate, liquid glass styles.
Unlike "Hot Buttered Soul", which I rated five, this soundtrack album is left destitute of a distinct sound. It also needs more vocals so much but be barely get them. The fact that it is made for a film does not help much; the music is just backround meterial that fails to deliver much. Frankly, "Shaft" is quite weak and should not be on the list.
Islamic religious music is not something I would expect from this list. The album, however, is a great collection of exotic music and, if you think of it, it is the exploration of new stuff that we are up to here. The most surprising on Devotional Songs was that the intro parts of most tracks sounded very Western, to an extent that were it not for a prior knowledge about the author, title and the content of the songs, one could easily expect it to develop as a work of mainstream Western music, and those parts sound really well. Then you have those repetitive spiritual singing parts, backing vocals, claps, and a set rhythm. Music from the album is well balanced in terms of being very moderate and never boring. Ali Khan brings some extended emotion at times, but it does not deprive the songs of that balance. Throughout the album, Ali Khan's style reminded me a lot of Indian/Hisduistic spiritual music. Still, qawwali is terra incognita to me, and I felt like this was a great introduction. I don't know what language of the album is, but I liked how the words are very short and you can recognize their spelling at times even though the only familiar word was "Allah". Favourite song: "Ali Maula Ali Maula Ali Dam Dam", but the opening "Allah Hoo Allah Hoo" is great and close to it. That being said, the record still has weaker tracks and its repetitiveness does not bring the same level of joy all the times. Still, that rhythmic approach of Ali Khan as a qawwali musician can be loosely compared with the beats as they are used in some electronic music genres. An overwall great work definitely deserving your attention to have this musical trip into realms not yet discovered.
This is arguably the single best album I have heard so far as part of the 1001 list, and to put it into a perspective, that will be the 70th review, while the album is no. 69 in my personal generated albums list. One of the best albums I have heard in my life and definitely the best punk album that I am aware of. I am no punk rock fan, there were some individual tracks I have loved, but never anything serious. And now I can only compare this with the White Album, the very first of my albums here and the one where I added a ton of songs. Here I have saved practically the whole album, minus one or maybe two tracks.
That music is just splendid. I loved pretty much every single track, but Overground is my personal fav thanks to its exceptional rhythm. The album is so stylish and has everything you would expect from a mind blowing punk record and, just to my taste, great music in general. Nicotine Stain's begining and Suburban Relapse's ending, which follows the former, gave me goosebumps. I am not sure if any album from here did so. Either way, the way the guitar, the drums, and lastly the vocals are done is just ridiculously good; also noticeable how certain features might remind one of industrial (those last few seconds of Carcass with all the equipment turning down and causing that distinctive sound). The vocals is a special topic. Neither very masculine nor too feminine, they made me wonder if the singer is male or not. My bet is that it is a woman, but this guess became final only when I was listening to the closer Switch. The band name is also a hint, but I will only know after finishing the review as my policy is not to read any additional info prior to the listening. Helter Skelter cover is great, I did not immediately recognize the song and was shocked about how different that version was, yet listening to it was epic. A notable nicety here is exactly that I have compared it with the album on which the original song was released.
Hands down, I liked every single aspect of the Scream, and that music is indeed screaming, it's body electric, and should be heard either live or in headphones at high volumes. The cherry on the cake is that the album is really short. Siouxsie And The Banshees managed to avoid any side B-tier material, making the album cosmically great all the way through. A+, a great masperpiece that I am so happy I discovered today.
Second album of theirs on my run, the 1st being the White Album. I suppose that with Beatles you might try bringing some skepticism not to rate every single thing five. However, A Hard Day's Night really offers little to lower the rating. Here we have got a dozen love songs, major key, minor key, great harmony with the vocals and back vocals, nice solo parts, really an emotional rollercoaster. The brevity of just half an hour in general and of the songs, each one a couple of minutes long or even shorten, makes this especially great. Fab Four manage to make them feel complete, while the sheer fact of such duration is a major plus to me. The record is highly rewarding. Perhaps much simpler than "the Beatles" with Rev. 9 and stuff, this is almost perfect pop music that you easily recognize. Were it not for the band name, could be a four perphaps, but come on, these are the super stars of modern music as we know itz and this album is a great snapshot of their abilities and style. As many, I have know the two hits, Can't Buy Me Love and I'll Be Back for the most of my life, but put aside, this project has quite a lot discoveries to offer. I'd highlight I'm Happy Just To Dance With You. Loved it from the very first seconds. Also gotta note I'll Cry Instead feels as a peculiar addition to the closer song (though not one of my favs on the record). Perhaps an A–, but still an outstanding record that I will listen again. Long live Paul, long live Ringo, and thank you the Beatles for this outstanding record and your art as a whole.
Much of Pink Flag's first two thirds, except for longer songs, sounds like secondary material, some demo recordongs which would be better combined into more finished works or, perhaps, the group cold make it a 2-3-track album with long 10-minute songs. But they took this approach, and honestly it somewhat ruined the listening experience.
The beginning is dominated by the guitarist, while the vocals sound underwhelming. Ex Lion Tamer, title song, Strange, along with Feeling Called Love, are the better tracks. Most of them are the longest ones, and Wire do put up some experimental or unconventional elements there wich at times really work. Later on, the songs feel more balanced and overall well done, however this feeling of incompleteness with much of material leaves Pink Flag with three stars.
Much more of a failure than it is a success, this album tries to be emotional but leaves a feeling of fake stuff. So a record about female experiences and stuff. Tori's signing is questionable: when she uses high-pitch singing, it is not even pleasing to the ear. The pre-last track with no instrumentals is a doubtful try that does not pay off. Crucify, Precious Things and Leather are the better tracks but the rest of the material generally fails to bring your attention and sound like the end credits soundtrack of your B-tier drama movie about relations or sth which you would not listen to attentively. So as much as the record is at times promising, making you feel like you can start really enjoying it, it fails to deliver every time and thus is largely a waster potential; a style that does not relly lead to anywhere.
This is a debut with good potential, especially the instrumentals are really good, making the tracks I'd say could compete for the album's best—Personality Crisis and Frankenstein—the peculiar works they are. However, the vocals are average at best throughout the album; the vocalist's singing techniques mostly fail to deliver. And then there's just too much of B-tier tracks not really worth the attention. Nearing the end, I was just witing for the album to finish, which is a really bad sign. However, the abovementioned tracks are nearing the quality of outstanding, the the record's overall liveliness makes it a C.
To me as a rather average Beatles enjoyer (meaning I really like their stuff but not a numba one fan), known Lennon's solo works is mostly just Imagine, which I enjoy very much. Perhaps it is incorrect to compare the full band's material and this solo album, but Lennon's excellence generally only extends to the stuff lossely complementing the said superhit. By that I mean that much of the better material here is either musically or thematically close to Imagine. The only exception is perhaps Isolation where John moves to a more bursting approach. Apart from that, Love, Look at Me, and God are the selected tracks just for me. Tge opener was also interesting but in the end I did not add it. So I think all the other songs just could not keep up with what you could expect from that Imagine-like John and/or the Beatles. It's at times strainght mediocre. Which is why, while this one certainly has great songs, I cannot really rate it higher than 3. Be it C+, but one would rather generally just go and listen to a full-fledged Beatles record instead of this.
