Really up my alley, because I love a lot of 80s british indie but didn't know any Depeche Mode songs aside from Enjoy the Silence. Very atmospheric synths which I loved.
I feel like a lot of this flies right over my head (ha), because I don't really have the context for what I imagine are many references to 80s hip hop culture which are present here. Having never listened to the Beastie Boys before, I was surprised by how close this was to rock. It's very well produced and the interplay between the different members-- trading rhymes and such-- is very well done. Definitely enjoyable but I'm not sure I'll feel compelled to revisit it later on.
The only Metallica song I had listened before today was Enter Sandman, so I suppose this is as good an introduction as any. The music is about 4/5-- although I found it somewhat monotonous by the 11th song; by that point it was all blurring together to me-- and the lyrics are about 2/5, so 3/5 evens it out. I will say though that while Hetfield is not a particularly skilled lyricist, when he's working with more direct emotional expressions instead of trying to make metaphors etc I actually think the lyrics are alright-to-good, such as in Nothing Else Matters and The Unforgiven.
My first experience with Springsteen ever (aside from listening to Born in the USA-- the song-- and not really caring for it), and it was a great one! I loved his storytelling, he's able to give his characters a lot of color with just a few well-chosen lyrics. The lyrical imagery is very consistent; if you're feeling unkind, you might call it repetitive, but I for one enjoy all these references to cars and small towns and the lives of people whose existence centers the factory, and the bar, and racing in the street. It's an instant 4/5 for me, and repeated listens in the future will probably raise this one to a full 5/5. And it's the first album so far (granted, I've only listened to 3 beforehand) that made me want to dive deeper into the artist's discography.
I'd only ever listened to 3 Nirvana songs before-- Teen Spirit, Come as You Are and Heart Shaped Box-- so this was an interesting experience. This album has a truly mythic reputation-- and I guess that's why I was a little underwhelmed. It's definitely a good album and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't the seminal, life-changing experience that I feel a lot of people have with it-- granted, as a zoomer in 2025 I'm listening to this in a context that's very different from, say, a 22 year old listening to this in 1991. Perhaps because I have always existed in the world Nirvana created, its impact is somewhat dulled. I think this could grow on me with repeated listens, but for now it's a 3.5/5 (I still haven't figured out if we can do half-ratings here. If we can't, it'll probably get a 3/5). Aside from the first three tracks, my favorite song was for sure Endless Nameless. Yeah.
Well. This is certainly an album. With musical instruments such as guitar, piano and drums. And with lyrics. Which are sung. With a human voice. It glided right past me. Granted, my eyes glaze over as soon as I read the word "prog", but there's really nothing here that I found particularly interesting or memorable or noteworthy.
My first experience (sorry) with Hendrix. It was alright. Obviously they're all talented instrumentalists and Hendrix in particular was a very gifted guitarist, but the songs just aren't there. The players may be great, but the songs never quite reach greatness. It's alright-to-good but not really more than that.
Well! This was alright. I could see themes of childhood and fantasy here but I'd need a few more listens to really make something out of it. The sound isn't really my thing, but I think it's because i'm put off by the fact that mainstream rock (ie Imagine Dragons) kind of got colonized by a watered down version of this sound? MGMT of course are much better than Imagine Dragons-- their songs *sound* like something while ID songs are a big nothing-- but in the year 2025 to me it plays a little like car commercial music? I suppose? I just don't have a lot of context for late 2000s to early 2010s indie so I could be wrong. I do love Kids, though-- but its the only song that I had listened to before. I think it's a truly great song. The thing is that right now it's the only song that strikes me as truly exceptional.
I liked the punk elements but prog is just not really my thing. If I hadn't read the wikipedia I probably wouldn't have realized that this is supposed to have this running narrative; but bear in mind that I've only listened through it once, and I do suppose this could prove more rewarding upon repeated listening. The thing is, though, that I don't really feel any urge to listen to this again any time soon. I liked the last few songs a little better than the earlier portions of the album, I guess. It's not uninteresting, but in order to uncover more elements that are interesting to me I would have to revisit and I don't really see myself doing so in the near future. So I suppose this about a 2.75 that I'm rounding up to 3.
The first album so far where I already knew and loved a lot of the music-- mostly due to Mamma Mia and Mamma Mia 2. A collection of undeniable pop songs. Shout out to Tiger and Dum Dum Diddle for their gloriously, delightfully stupid lyrics. I cannot however get behind some of the production choices, to the point where I think My Love, My Life and Why Did It Have To Be Me sound better in their Mamma Mia versions. Next time I want to listen to Abba I'll probably stick to the Abba Gold compilation.
Very well-produced!
An interesting genre experience. It is quite conscious of its own "plasticness" which I find intriguing, but aside from Fame I found it just alright.
Pretty solid!
I like this. I didn't necessarily pay much attention to the lyrics, instead I decided to focus on the instrumentals-- it was right up my alley. I had a good time.