Battery: I’m not sure what he’s going on about batteries (3/10). I hate guitar solos.
Master of Puppets: I know this one, it’s okay, but I hate guitar solos (5/10). Actually nvm, I thought it ended. There’s still 5 minutes left. I like it less after more guitar solo (4/10).
The Thing That Should Not Be: “Crawling chaos, underground. Cult has summoned, twisted sound”. Cringe and too long (2/10).
Welcome Home: “They keep me locked up in this cage. Can't they see it's why my brain says rage?” This one’s deep (3/10).
Disposable Heroes: I love a good anti war song, but I can’t help but feel disturbingly annoyed by Metallica. I can’t do these long ass songs and back to back guitar solos. I just don’t give a fuck how fast a guitar can be played (5/10).
Leper Messiah: I like an anti church song too. I don’t get the leper metaphor tho. Feels like a child wrote it, but I like the “lie, lie, lie…” ending (4/10).
Orion: No more lyrics here thankfully. Sadly, it’s just more guitar work. There’s a gong at the halfway point though; I wonder if they have one on stage. I prefer the song post gong (4/10).
Damage, Inc: I like the name of this song. Otherwise, I’m bored by the end of all of this (3/10).
Overall thoughts:
Cool album art
Only the coolest people are big fans
Stranger things guy
Target shirts
Walmart shirts
Pinball
Monster trucks
Long hair
No sleeves
Black
The 80’s
Lyrics deep af
Long songs
Guitar solos
My rating is an average of each individual song + 0.5 for the album art, monster trucks, and gong.
4/10
I feel like Metallica totally functions as a time piece, but the way they have managed their “brand” has completely diluted anything that may have been there for me to find. I suppose this is why people say you shouldn’t sell out.
This is not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, nor do I think it is objectively bad, but any itch I have surrounding music is left unscratched by their sound. I’m certain their influence stretches into music that I enjoy regularly, but I can’t help but find the Master of Puppets very annoying. The fact that this album is held as such a gem makes me feel dumb.
DISCLAIMER: if a song was obviously going nowhere else, I skipped the last 20 seconds or so. I get enough from the 7 and a half minutes leading up to the last few slaps at their instruments.
I have no real thoughts on Björk before listening to this album.
Human Behavior: This is kind of what I expected the album to sound like. I do not love her vocals, but the music is interesting and unsettling (4/10).
Crying: Sounds very early 90s or so. I know she was a large part of popularizing the sound. Right? Idk. The whole song sounds like Donkey Kong shit (5/10).
Venus as a Boy: I think this is one of her most played song on Spotify. This is also Donkey Kong coded. Honestly, I’m bored of this a bit. I think the lyrics are interesting and obviously poetic but I didn’t read into it. I assumed allegory, but I thought she was talking about the planet at first and I really didn’t get it. (4/10).
There’s More to Life Than This: This is more of what I expected it to sound like. Bro no way I hate the thing at 1:45. Her voice kind of annoys me. The growling is too much. Furry type beat (4/10).
Like Someone in Love: Slower one here. Sounds like a classic love song. I’m indifferent, but I doubt I’d play it back (5/10).
Big Time Sensuality: I don’t expect such a horny album. One Björk song is fine, but I don’t think I’m cut out to enjoy a whole album. I do not like the growling or grunting. Feels like MJ, which I’m kind of out on (3/10).
One Day: Almost feels like it could be a Röyksopp song. My favorite thus far (6/10).
Aeroplane: I don’t care for the vocals on this one at all (3/10).
Come to Me: Mommy ASMR song (4/10).
Violently Happy: I like this one a bit more. I’d like a remix with this vocal track. Something more electronic and faster throughout would be cool- it really works middle of the song (5/10).
The Anchor Song: More of the same (4/10).
Overall I think the album was okay, and I see its place in time. I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed by the growling and grunting mixed into the vocal tracks. The sexual nature of the album is cool in terms of sexual liberation for women and stuff, but I typically steer clear of outwardly sexual forms of media. With that being said, I don’t think anything she said in this album was in poor taste nor was it off putting. Of course the sexual themes seem vanilla through a modern lens, but I could imagine it being much more course in the early 90s, especially as a debut. Props to her for that I guess. I just wish it felt less pretentious.
The album sounded a lot like it was pulled from a Donkey Kong soundtrack, so that’s huge ups. It certainly lends itself to cool remixes, and I’m sure they’re out there. Also, after watching a few music videos, this album held a few cool ones like Human Behavior.
Bonus 0.5 for music videos…
5/10 (rounded up)
I reached out to my mom to see if she was a Björk head, but she did not reply.
Off top, I’m in a better mood today so my review of this album will likely be inflated. I’m not usually a huge fan of this genre/era of music or people singing together, but I have a feeling this will turn out to be a somewhat happy album.
I liked the format of taking the album song by song, but that amount of involvement has already begun to feel unsustainable. I’ll just speak about this one and each other as a whole from this point on.
I feel like I’ve heard all of these songs before, even though I haven’t. I appreciate the imagery and love songs, especially one early in the album talking about a girl in the garden with the fruit and stuff.
The slower songs are nice and easily blended in. Nothing too abrasive here at all.
6/10
After reviewing a couple of these albums, I think I’ve realized I have more bad to say than good about most things. That’s a shame but this album was okay for sure.
Funny silly album about beards
I haven’t listened to Nirvana in a long time, but this is undeniably a great album. Also, without Nirvana, I’m not sure that Dave Grohl would have ever made Everlong, so it would be really hard not to give this album praise.
3.5/5
I appreciate and enjoy this album.
New York, I love You but You’re Bringing Me Down is phenomenal.
I liked the sound a lot. If it were on Spotify, I’d probably listen to a few songs again.
7/10