One of those that opens up more and more per listen, but it's very well put together even at first glance. Sade's voice is a huge highlight. All flows together amazingly and there's no track that I'd say is filler, at worst I could say there's little bits of dragging, I remember feeling that way a little with Cherry Pie. That said I could see it being even stronger in the right mood. I do think I prefer Love Deluxe ultimately, at least on the production side, but this one is still amazing.
i do have some nostalgia for this sorta sound but it wears down sorta quickly, which is how i feel about a number of this style's albums, idk if it's burnout from how much this sound was in indie pop at the time. i do like the crunchy percussion and splashy chords and the rhythmic density.
it was fun and i liked the kinda repetitive guitar playing, and the general bareness of it, enjoyable but idk if i have more to say
really really nice, the first track didn't hit immediately but i liked the rest of them quick, especially minor chant. some of these are standards which i want to listen to more examples of to see how they are without the hammond, as the spread of the hammond from smith seems to be one of the big draws. very nice album
i was vaguely aware of what this album was meant to be and am happy it does what it promises, it's hard to say immediately but maybe a quick favorite in this era of experimenting with electronic and tape stuff. it feels has lots of layered soundscapes and different passages but it rarely feels disjointed, and the atmosphere on a lot of the tracks is really well done. also some of the songs are just really fun too, i love The Garden of Earthly Delights. the vocals are a highlight too
i also found out later that the standard edition of the album is just up to track 10, the rest apparently were bonus tracks, some of which were written after most of the band left, but honestly they still fit pretty well with the rest if having a small quality drop, small enough that it still felt pretty fitting.
going for high 4 mainly bc i'd need to listen to it more
kind of a singles album for me i feel. first three tracks are solid, and then after it feels spotty. of the singles i'm not a fan of Set Fire to the Rain really. the rest range from boring to ok but for the most part they often remind me of other songs i'd maybe rather listen to, and the lovesong cover doesn't do much for me.
i don't think i'm necessarily disappointed, i don't usually go to adele for the albums, and her singing still does really well on the fuller tracks.
side note i always liked the trailing wobbly high note at the end of the bar in the chorus of Rumour Has It
wanted to do a haha joke about there being no pet sounds on this album but i forgot about the dogs barking at the very end
yup it's still good though, kind of an album to be in the mood for for me and the mood this time was i was very very sleepy and it was nice for that. very very lush
definitely an album i gotta parse more, very clear in its messaging but also very densely layered lyrically, there's likely lots more to dig into than I have. Pairs well with the very hard hitting production. It's a kind of production where it is easy to tell what era it's from but it still does so much interesting stuff that, at least personally, it's easy to overlook it sounding dated in spots. consistently very good throughout, definitely want to dig in more
I was excited bc the rolls haven't had a more recent dance album in a bit but idk i'm left kinda neutral on this. I'm not sure if it's a situation of this album not being as novel as it was when it released since there's so so many good sample-focused house records out there since its release and before too, it may have hit better if I found this earlier. I'm sure it had its moment, and there's some tracks that i'd be into hearing in a club, but overall few tracks stand out to me now. Still i might come back to the some songs i did like.
I feel like I need to be on a trip or out somewhere listening to this instead of in a room. Otherwise I didn't get the flow yet until Olsen Olsen (and the following tracks) which really restructured how I feel about the rest of it as kind of build up. May still drag a bit up till then but very nice, need to listen to more.
Is good! I found myself getting more into the more gradual parts like Neon Lights, has a very nice spacy feel to get into. I think I prefer TEE but I do still enjoy this. Is also one I feel that has a shadow cast on it from all the music it inspired afterward. It does sound like I'm playing some 90s European point-and-click game at times.