Nov 13 2024
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The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd
Easy 5 star. This is my favorite album of all time and I think there's so much to love about it thematically and musically. The cover art is an all-time classic and was definitely a poster on my dorm room wall. Everything just flows so well together from song to song. Time and Money are everyone's favorite tracks, but there's just something hauntingly beautiful about Great Gig in the Sky that gets me every time I listen to it. Us and Them is a song that encapsulates everything Pink Floyd is about to me and it's crazy how much hasn't really changed in the world when looking at this theme. Brain Damage/Eclipse wrap up the album perfectly and I've definitely spent too much time thinking about the meaning of the final audio in Eclipse: "There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact it's all dark." Perfect album that grips your attention from start to finish. Like what has been said already, I wish I could go back and listen to this for the first time.
5
Jan 22 2025
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Your Arsenal
Morrissey
I think every Morrissey album is going to inevitably vary somewhere between a 2 or a 3. Too bad this site doesn't do half stars.
The music itself is good and I can take or leave the vocal stylings of Mr. Morrissey depending on the song. Low 3 for this album.
3
Jan 23 2025
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Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra's voice is truly timeless. This album made me want to kick back, pour a glass of whiskey, and just relax. It was such a pleasant album to listen through. I don't really know if I had a favorite track other than the opener because I wasn't paying close attention, but all the songs sounded good to me. Solid 4.
4
Jan 24 2025
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Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo
MC Solaar
I enjoyed the first half, but the last half I felt kind of over with it. I don't really know how to appropriately grade something I didn't really understand. After googling MC Solaar and seeing his impact in the French music scene, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and just give it a 3 and move on.
3
Jan 25 2025
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Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C.
Seeing as this was the debut album from Run-DMC and that this was the early days for hip-hop in general, I have to give this a 3 even though it was a fairly boring listen. Most of the beats sounded the same, but at least the lyrics were good.
3
Jan 26 2025
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Master Of Puppets
Metallica
I feel like I should've been listening to this while doing something useful like working out and not...working. But whatever, it was a kickass album. I feel like the only moments of chill were like the first 30 seconds or so of Battery before things go beserk. Master of Puppets is probably my favorite track (prob a boring take), but I also really love the instrumentals of Orion. Metallica is just the GOATed thrash metal whatever you want to brand them as rock band. Like everyone else...easy 5/5.
5
Jan 27 2025
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Achtung Baby
U2
Solid 4 here. I don't love U2 necessarily, but I respect and like a lot of what they do. This album isn't on the level of Joshua Tree though still very solid. Mysterious Ways and One are classics. Love is Blindness was a nice closing song. I enjoyed listening to this one even though most of the deeper cut songs weren't really my favorite.
4
Jan 28 2025
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Darkdancer
Les Rythmes Digitales
Honestly giving this 4 stars for Music Make You Lose Control and Disco II Disco alone. Fun, weird album
4
Jan 29 2025
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Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Don't have a strong take on this one. I listened to this while working on something and tuned out most of the singing, but I thought the instrumentals were good. Agree that Shabby Doll was the best song on the album.
2
Jan 30 2025
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Paris 1919
John Cale
Some good, some boring...that's a 3 for me. I thought the title track (Paris 1919) had a similar sound to an Electric Light Orchestra song, which I really liked. Graham Greene is a funky track. Last song sucked. Overall, pretty good classic rock album.
3
Feb 01 2025
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Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
I really did not like this on first listen, but saw some of the other positive reviews and decided to give this another run at a different time when I could focus on it more.
On second listen, I think I got it more, but still didn't like the songs where Thom is mumbling the same lyrics over and over (Sit Down Stand Up and The Gloaming come to mind) or were just straight electronic-sounding (Myoxmatosis is another example). The shit just sounds so jumbled and creates a few down points on the album.
I much preferred the songs that had that a good blend of electro with rock like There, There or 2+2=5 or Scatterbrain. Sail to the Moon and We Suck Young Blood are really haunting tracks that sounded a lot better after a relisten.
All in all, some of this album worked for me and some didn't. Strong 3, but couldn't get it quite to a 4 for me. I'm glad I relistened to it though and might come back to it once I get more Radiohead albums under my belt.
3
Feb 02 2025
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I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
Half the songs gave the vibe like it was something you'd hear in a Coen Brothers movie (like O'Brother Where Art Thou) and the other half was sad country songs. I dug some of the upbeat songs enough to give it a 3.
Also, David Bowie definitely stole this guy's "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" bit for one of his songs. I hope ol' Buck got some royalties for that...
3
Feb 03 2025
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Copper Blue
Sugar
I thought I listened to this band before when I saw the name come up, but I was really thinking of Pepper. Not too far off on the name/genre I guess. However I definitely prefer Pepper to these guys. They have decent sound and I like the track Hoover Dam, but nothing else really stood out to me. They sound very generic for 90s rock, imo.
3
Feb 04 2025
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The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
Joni Mitchell
I almost gave this one 4 stars but I felt like the 2nd half of the album drags and doesn't have the same energy as the first half. I don't think I've ever listened to a Joni Mitchell song, much less an album, but I've definitely heard the name before. I can't describe exactly why but I get why people really enjoy Joni's music just from listening to this album. Great voice paired with really easy-listening music.
3
Feb 05 2025
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Emergency On Planet Earth
Jamiroquai
Really liked the vibe on this album. Had to look them up and their Wiki page had their genre classified as "acid jazz" which I did not know existed. Good enough to get a high 3, but I can't quite give it a 4.
3
Feb 06 2025
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Heaux Tales
Jazmine Sullivan
How about the Anderson .Paak feature?! That guy is so damn good and was a pleasant surprise to show up here. Price Tags was a banger and easily my favorite song here. Pick Up Your Feelings and Put It Down were really strong tracks too. Gotta say, this was a pleasant surprise. Obviously, Jazmine really shines through the album as a great artist with her vocals and songwriting.
On top of some quality music that balances R&B and Hip-Hop very well, I appreciate the structure of this album where you had a woman telling a story followed by a song hitting on that theme. The structure reminded me somewhat of what Kendrick did with Section 80, which is one of my favorite rap albums ever. I really enjoy albums that try to tell a story and integrate music with skits or other ways that connect the songs together (in this case it was tales), and I thought it was a really well-produced album in that regard.
Lastly, Heaux Tales is an A+ name. Strong 4 from me.
4
Feb 07 2025
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Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
Very down the middle music.
3
Feb 08 2025
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Dig Your Own Hole
The Chemical Brothers
This was a pretty wild ride. I liked a lot of the beats and it was great background music while I worked, but the songs themselves were also pretty long and dragged out the whole album.
Setting Sun sounds like a cracked out version of Tomorrow Never Knows by the Beatles. Not a dig, just an observation. I really liked the songs with the groovy bass like Blockin Rockin Beats and K-Hole. Solid 3.
3
Feb 09 2025
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You Are The Quarry
Morrissey
Being new to this, I am not Morrissey-fatigued like the rest of you, but after the first 3 songs feature weirdness about America and Jesus, I get where you all are coming from.
After a not-great start, I think this does improve especially with the production and instrumentals. Morrissey's singing style can really ruin some songs, but does work elsewhere. I actually thought First of the Gang to Die was not bad, but that might've been because it was the most "pop" sounding, catchy song. Thought I wouldn't like How Can Anyone Possibly Know How I Feel based on the title, but kind of digged it.
The production value takes this from a 2 to a low 3.
3
Feb 10 2025
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The Soft Bulletin
The Flaming Lips
This was a really enjoyable listen. Definitely enjoy it's spacey/psychedelic vibe that keeps things fun and fresh through a long-ish runtime. The highlights for me were the opener Race for the Prize and Feeling Yourself Disintegrate.
Definitely a dense album that I'd really like to come back to. Feels like something you would appreciate the more times you listen to it. Solid 4.
4
Feb 11 2025
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Aja
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is one of my dad's favorite bands, but even though I do like a lot of music that my dad does, SD never really did it for me. This album changed my tune. I'm willing to say I probably enjoy these songs more now that I'm older.
I really enjoyed the smooth jazz instrumentals throughout the album. I felt like I was in the back of a 70s jazz club just vibing to these guys. Great background music.
I'm not sure I can quite give it 5 stars, but maybe like 4.5? Strong 4.
4
Feb 12 2025
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Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
For not being able to understand much of anything, this was better than I was expecting it to be. Really enjoyed the opening track. Low 3.
3
Feb 13 2025
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BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé
1st half of this album is very strong, but with over an hour runtime it does feel a bit bloated. There are a lot of good songs on here (XO, Drunk in Love, Rocket, Pretty Hurts) and obviously it's Beyonce, so the floor of this grade is high to start. Low 4 feels fair to me.
4
Feb 14 2025
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Lazer Guided Melodies
Spiritualized
Maybe I was in the wrong mindset for this one because it almost actively put me to sleep. That's not really a knock on it and maybe more of a compliment? I hope that's how it comes across. This was a good listen, but can't say I really liked it. Solidly a 3 in my book.
3
Feb 15 2025
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Odessa
Bee Gees
Haven't really forayed into the Bee Gees before, tbh. But boy this album (or I guess, double album) felt like a lot. That's the thing with concept albums (my favorites that come to mind from that era are The Wall, Sgt. Pepper's) is when they work, they can be great. When they don't, they sound a lot like this. I like to relisten to albums sometimes to get a better feel for them, but I just couldn't with this one. There might have been 1 or 2 tracks that I enjoyed and the rest felt like filler.
2
Feb 16 2025
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Electric Music For The Mind And Body
Country Joe & The Fish
It started off sounding like a knock-off Beatles album but then got worse as they went to the instrumental stuff. The 7-minute song that featured the synth and harmonica blaring sounds at the same time was rough on the ears. I literally had to skip over Section 43 and it really didn't get better after that. This shit was bad for my mind and body...
1
Feb 17 2025
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Mask
Bauhaus
I don't think the production on this was that bad, but all the music felt all over the place and erratic-sounding. Hollow Hills was a high point and didn't really like much after that. That song's baseline sounded so similar to Nirvana's Come As You Are. Low 2.
2
Feb 18 2025
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Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
I'm curious if anyone out there has a strong opinion on Tom Petty. Like if anyone has him as a S-tier musical artist. Because I feel like he's generally well-liked (like A or B tier) but don't think many people consider him as one of the great artists of his generation.
Anyway, that kind of encapsulates my feelings about this album. It was enjoyable listen at a tight 30 minutes. American Girl is a classic. Breakdown was another one I've heard quite a bit over the years. Also enjoyed Anything That's Rock n Roll and Mystery Man. Solid album all the way through.
4
Feb 19 2025
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Chore of Enchantment
Giant Sand
Stealing this from one of the global reviews: listening to this was a chore...
1
Feb 20 2025
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The Bends
Radiohead
This was easily a lot better than the previous Radiohead album. Or at least this felt more cohesive, direct, and had just plain good rock music.
The thing I liked most about this album was the balance between the upbeat, heavy-guitar rock jams and the slower ballads. Throughout I thought the guitar instrumentals were top notch, especially on the songs Just, My Iron Lung and my favorite song from this album - the last one - Street Spirit. Street Spirit is such a banger: from the opening instrumental to the haunting vocals from Thom (If you want a laugh, listen to Ali in the Jungle by The Hours and tell me that it doesn't sound eerily similar in the beginning). The back-to-back between Just/Iron Lung was kickass and up my alley. In that same vein, Planet Telex was an awesome opening song.
High and Dry was my favorite of the more subdue/slower songs. Fake Plastic Trees and (Nice Dream) grew on me after repeated listens. There was something about both songs that made me feel a mix of emotions while listening to them.
Great album and one I'll be returning to again in the future. 5 stars
5
Feb 21 2025
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New Wave
The Auteurs
I didn't actively hate any of the music by the band, but I did actively HATE the vocals. I think the best example of this is on American Guitars (ironically enough) where any absence of the lead guitar playing makes the song sound dull. I kept waiting for a song to come on that would change my mind, but it just never happened.
I don't know, if I take the vocals out of the equation, this is perfectly fine alt-rock music. Still nothing really that special though. Thought about giving it a 2 for the instrumentals alone, but I'm just left wondering why this generic album was included on the list when there is so much more interesting/better alt rock out there.
1
Feb 22 2025
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Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
WU-TANG CLAN AINT NOTHIN TO FUCK WITH
That’s it, that’s the review
5