Jan 17 2025
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Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears
Have been a big fan of Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, and Head Over Heels for years, but it was cool to see the context the songs appear in. Shout was one of my first music loves. It was on a tape my mom got me because I had memorized all of the snippets on the infomercial for an 80s compilation.
3
Jan 20 2025
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From Elvis In Memphis
Elvis Presley
3
Jan 21 2025
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Dummy
Portishead
This album is just so good. There is such a strong cohesion in character from song to song, with each song having it's own distinct persona. I have been listening to and loving songs like Sour Times and Glory Box for years, but this time I was able to put titles to songs that I recognized but didn't know I knew like Roads and Mysterons. I also heard at least one for the first time (It's A Fire) and it may have been the highlight of the listening experience. I'm having a hard time deciding between a 4 and a 5, which I think means I should just give it a 5.
5
Jan 27 2025
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Automatic For The People
R.E.M.
Pretty good. There a couple of classics on there. Had not heard most of the songs.
3
Jan 29 2025
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Take Me Apart
Kelela
It was a'ight. Great production. The lyrics didn't really stand out to me. I'm not big on the whole "production by committee" thing. If it had been more of a focused individual effort, I would be evaluating it completely differently.
2
Feb 03 2025
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Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
This album is so good. Suf at his best. Some real incredible songs in there and a nice cohesion to the album. I can't say much more other than I think it's wonderful.
4
Feb 04 2025
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Imagine
John Lennon
Meh. Barring the title song which is of course a classic, this was a tedious affair. The songs sound like what you hear on your buddy's EP that he recorded in his bedroom. Many of them are overwrought. I was out of the room for a minute during "Gimme Some Truth" and when I came back it was still going, repeating the same lines that had been playing when I walked out, and there was still two and a half minutes to go. Almost all of the good moments on this can be attributed to the piano playing of Nicky Hopkins.
1
Feb 05 2025
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Dusty In Memphis
Dusty Springfield
This is fine. Dusty has a wonderful voice. I'm sure she made many great songwriters happy by singing their songs.
2
Feb 06 2025
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Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel
It's a classic. Some of these songs are timeless. Love Scarborough Fair/Canticle as the opener. Homeward Bound is great. I prefer the live versions of Feelin' Groovy and For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her from the greatest hits records, but they are two of my favorite songs. There were some other cool tracks that I'm not super familiar with. The song A Simple Desultory Philippic was an interesting invocation of Bob Dylan and folk rock in general and the 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night tune was pretty haunting and poignant in light of current events. Great record.
4
Feb 11 2025
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MTV Unplugged In New York
Nirvana
This is fine. I think the fact that my favorite Nirvana songs are the covers on this album is pretty telling.
3