Bruce is a good storyteller; the lyrics have lots of depth and tell a good story throughout the album (especially on Jungleland *chef's kiss*). I am not a huge fan of his voice, but I can get past it, as the production is stellar, really hitting the nail on the Phil Spector style head. Many of the songs have good hooks, and are quite catchy especially Thunder Road, Night, and the title track. None of the songs are bad, it is quite a consistent album with no real filler in my opinion, which is good since it is a compact 39 minutes.
Best Song: Thunder Road
Worst Song: Meeting Across the River
Ok so I've already heard this one and I was initially going to give it five stars. But I relistened to it because I like it so much and I started to rethink my opinion. There are no bad songs here, but the album might just go on a little too long, but I decided that's not to its deficit because most of the songs are so good. You have classics in My Sweet Lord and What is Life, but there are several underrated tunes in here too. I particularly enjoyed Let it Down and The Art of Dying. Also the Apple Jam disc is a nice addition while completely unessential, it was fun to listen too although I'll probably never go back to it. Overall, I love George, he's my favorite Beatle, and I'll always love this album 5 out of 5.
Best Song: What is Life
Worst Song (not counting Apple Jam): Apple Scruffs
This album tickles my musically inclined brain in all the right places. Radiohead are such fantastic musicians, and I can hear it in every burst of dissonance and odd time signature. Thom Yorke's vocals are certainly unique, and his style works with a lot of the songs here, especially when he harmonizes with himself (soooo good). Throughout the album, I tended to gravitate towards liking the more straightforward (although it's hard to call any of this straightforward) and rock style tracks. While I don't hate electronic music, I feel that tracks like 15 Step and Bodysnatchers were the ones I liked less, although still good, while I more enjoyed tracks like Weird Fishes and Jigsaw Falling Into Place. That's not a dig at the style though, it's fantastic and creative and unique, and territory that most other bands don't stretch their horizons into. The album isn't too short or too long, and nothing here overstays it's welcome. And the production is 👌 every sound is fantastic (although high grade production is an expectation for me with music this new. Still above average tho, didn't fall into a lot of traps that many modern artists do). Overall, I enjoyed this album more than I expected and I think 5 stars is an appropriate rating.
Favorite Song: Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
Least Favorite Song: Faust Arp
Holy Crap Jimi is an insane guitarist. There is no other like him. I really can't express enough how sad it is that someone with his skills passed away so young. The world of guitar would be so much more advanced had he lived longer. As for this album specifically, I liked the shorter songs on sides one and four particularly, but I also quite enjoyed the two longer tracks and hearing all of the technical stuff that Jimi does with his guitar. I didn't dislike a single song on this album, it isn't too long, and the songs are creative and varied enough that its length is justified. I love this album so much it's just incredible.
Favorite Song: Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Least Favorite Song: Moon, Turn the Tides...Gently Gently Away
Fantastic Glam album. This for me was almost more enjoyable than Ziggy Stardust, as I've heard that album many times (because I own it on vinyl) but never bothered to listen to this one. This is proof I need to check out more of Bowie's work because this is fantastic. The hooks and lyrics and cool instrumentation are out of this world I love everything about it. Bowie is such a creative musician and has a unique voice that I quite enjoy. Mick Ronson's guitar on this is also spectacular, I say he does a better job on this album than Ziggy, although the songwriting is not quite as good here. I don't want to compare it too much to another album though because it is fantastic in its own right. Still 5 stars too.
Favorite Song: Watch That Man
Least Favorite Song: Let's Spend the Night Together
This is the first album I've gotten that I probably wouldn't have eventually sought out on my own time, and I know many more will follow. (I'm actually shocked I got 6 rock albums in a row). For my first foray into hip-hop, this is pretty good; better than I was expecting. This album is jazz-rap, and it's from 1991, back when music was higher quality in general (in my opinion). I am not a rap fan, I tend to find it boring musically, and the sometimes really good lyrics don't save bad music. However, the thing about this album is that I quite enjoy the beats and jazz in the background, and I also don't understand a damn thing MC Solaar is saying because he's rapping in French. I think his flow is pretty good, although, as with a lot of rap for me, I tend to zone out and not let the music sink in, although if it has a good instrumental in the background I can stay engaged. I do notice a few kind of cheesy things going on in the background that I don't want to assume are '90s rap tropes, but kind of think are based on what I know (but I'm not a rap music expert so take that with a grain of salt). Overall, this was better than I was expecting, and I actually enjoyed the listen a little.
Favorite Song: La musique adoucit les mœurs
Lest Favorite Song: Ragga Jam
So I feel like this band is subject to a lot of glaze. Dancing Queen is a fine song, but everything else is coated in 70s cheese, and quite frankly gets annoying really quick. In addition, the lyrics are laughably terrible. When I Kissed the Teacher might be the worst start to an album ever. That being said, I would like Dancing Queen more if it wasn't so overplayed, and I did quite enjoy the title track as a refreshing creative instrumental free from cringe-worthy lyrics. These guys are good songwriters and instrumentalists, I just don't care for the style.
I own this one on vinyl, so it was pretty cool to listen to it again in that format. Basically, I like everything about this album that I liked about Aladdin Sane, except overall, I think it's a slightly weaker album (in my opinion). It has a good opening and closing, and the glam rock really knocks you off your feet.
Favorite Song: Suffragette City
Least Favorite Song: Hang On To Yourself
I don't see the appeal at all. I'm not a huge rap fan but these raps are not that good, the instrumentals are really basic, and I can't help but notice that he's rapping behind the beat sometimes. If you don't have good rhythm then don't rap, but I know he does because he does in some songs. I also thought that the album kind of blended together and I can't tell you how over half of the songs even go they didn't stick in my mind at all. Overall, I didn't like it at all.
Favorite Song: Waiting Patiently (I like Eminem)
Least Favorite Song: Poor Lil Rich (Idk it was kind of a blur)
This album is SO DAMN LONG. I get that's the point but I can't make it through so many songs. I understand and respect the concept, but most of these songs are not fully fleshed out, so not only does the tons of songs hurt the album because there are too many songs, but they are also of lower quality. Had this been cut to a single album and more effort had been put into the individual songs, this could be a 4 star album. As it stands, it's not that good. There are a couple of good songs on here, and if not for the random super weird tracks, this could put me to sleep.
Favorite Song: I Don't Believe in the Sun
Least Favorite Song: Experimental Music Love
I didn't really know what to expect with this one but it's pretty good. I enjoy many of the sounds they used. I also followed the loose concept pretty well and it's a good one. Overall, the music wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good, and this is a very consistent album. The vocals and instrumentation are nice and clean, and the songs are written well. Not wholly my style but still a treat to listen to.
Favorite Song: Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell
Least Favorite Song: All We Have is Now
This was a new one for me. Post punk and new-wave type stuff has never been my forte but I kinda like what the instruments are doing here. They use lots of good sounds from the keyboards, and the drums especially here are very nice. I just don't understand why it feels like bands like this have to have whiny singers. I know it's "punk" but just actually sing. Other than that this was good, but not spectacular.
Favorite Song: Motorcade
Least Favorite Song: Definitive Gaze
Idk about this one...
I haven't listened to new music in a while and this one did not stick. A lot of the songs felt disjointed and others felt like a hodgepodge of random stuff. I really liked No Intention and that's about it, because it was steady, and had a catchy guitar part. Other than that, the first 3 songs were uneven rhythmically and I wasn't a huge fan of that. Useful Chamber just felt random, and by the end, the songs were kind of uninteresting. I like the idea of having the female singers, and they are good background singers, although it got repetitive throughout all of the songs. The lyrics are good though, that is a strong point on this album.
Favorite Song: No Intention
Least Favorite Song: Useful Chamber
Overall, a really strong album. It makes me wish I had gotten into U2 earlier. I love Bono's voice, and the guitar tone used on this album. I also think that the drums and bass are strong on this album, particularly on songs like New Years Day and Surrender. It is a very good listen.
Best Song: New Year's Day
Worst Song: The Refugee
