The cultural relevance of this album is lost on me. These guys are like the shitty Clash, and I'm not big on the Clash to begin with. Ooh, the song says "abortion" in it? Who cares, it sucks.
I wanted to enjoy this more. The lyrics made me cringe, and the tempo just pushed and pulled throughout
Solid. I generally want more from a lead vocalist, but the lyrics were cheeky and interesting enough throughout to keep me engaged.
Overall, this was a fun listen. While I have some issues with its production, it clearly influenced a lot of music that followed it.
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LISTENING NOTES BELOW
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War Pigs
-my favourite War Pig is Arabella
-drum tones from this time are so FLAT and weak. Feels out of place on a "heavy metal" album. This is something that the next cohort (eg. Van Halen) did better.
-guitar tone, however, kicks ass
Paranoid
- just a tight, wicked rock song
Iron Man
- iconic intro
- the lyrics are a bit...childish? "Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind?"...woof
- the drums feel sloppy at times, lots of pushing and pulling. As was the style at the time?
Electric Funeral
- that breakdown part at 2:20 is so damn groovy. Hearing pangs from the first Wolfmother album
Rat Salad
- cool "drum solo"... same 3 fills on a loop (beginner Bonham triplets, TOM-KICK-TOM TOM-KICK-TOM, snare so fast)... it was a relief when this one was over
Really enjoyed the front half. It helped to supplement the listening with watching a live performance from this time. I found the frontman to be a sneaky strong singer. Alas, it kind of got stale for me by the end. Happy to have gone on the journey, nonetheless. I can now say with confidence that "I get it"
I didn't mind this! It was pretty inoffensive, it just didn't really grab me at any point, except for the song "Who Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring". Rounding down from 2.5 stars.
Listening notes:
- reaction upon hearing vocals... "Oh! Okay...."
- instruments remind me of early Sheepdogs
- More of "Who Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring" please
- long album! Hard to fully pin it down on first listen
*Sigh*...This did very little for me. Someone told me recently to listen to the lyrics less, which was easy to do with this album. Unfortunately the surrounding din did little to make this an enjoyable experience. A whole point more than Sex Pistols feels generous, but hey it's Friday.
Her voice gives me goosebumps. This album is cool and vulnerable. It tones down the sickening whimsy that gets in the way of my enjoyment of some of Joni’s other work. The instrumentation fits well, too.
She still loses me with her lyrics and composition at times. The “love is gone” choral part in “Down to You” is amazing.. but then it turns into a movie score for the entire second half of the song?
“Twisted” ends on a light note. Enjoyed the listen. A strong 3.
Elton at peak power. Whatta way to kick off an album - an 11 minute middle finger where the frontman doesn't utter a word until about the 6 minute mark, showcasing his composition chops and letting his bandmates cook (listen to that bass guitar!)
This album suffers from having too many bangers to be a single LP, but too many forgettably bleh tracks on Side 3 and 4 to be that elusive great double LP. Sir Reginald has never been accused of being a perfectionist with his output (I find his follow-up to this album "Caribou" to be a challenging listen.) It's a disappointing fizzle out on what is otherwise an iconic album. Still, the top-heavy first half is too good to give this anything less than 4 stars.
I enjoyed this! Great opening track. Admittedly I fell asleep while listening to this on the train.
Boy, this singer does nothing for me. It's a shame, because I really enjoyed the instrumentation on this album. The vocals were responsible for at least a full star point demerit. Shame.
This is slightly higher than a 2 for me, but not quite a 3. A little jarring lyrically at times, especially coming from the voice of Toy Story. Lots of overlap with what I like about old Elton John, but it’s missing any semblance of.. y’know.. strong singing? It’s always a relief when the backup vocals show up.
You can tell he’s writing about important subject matter. And he’s got some undeniable charm. I just don’t have an appetite for a full album of Randy.
Solid. I enjoyed this basically from start to finish, and it was nice to unearth the singles that I heard a bunch when this album came out. I'm never really excited or inspired by Arcade Fire, though, and that's what keeps this album at a 3 for me.
