It’s a tough listen 50+ years later. It feels like a parody of itself. Spinal Tap. Or a muddy demo by Tenacious D.
I was a bit of a Queen fan in my teens. I thought this would be very familiar, but it wasn’t. I must not have liked this album much.
It feels like they’ve over-reached. Playing music that’s beyond their skill. May isn’t yet the great guitarist he will become.
Tight. Accurate. Controlled. Creative. Occasionally melodic.
It can feel a bit robotic/relentless. There are tiny touches that inject a bit of humanity … the odd string bend, a little bit of blues influenced guitar in a solo.
I think it’s a little long.
It’s not something I’d choose to listen to, but I can appreciate it as an accomplishment.
16 songs in 40 minutes. Often feels like a Led Zeppelin demo tape … a bare bones riff driven delight.
Loved it. I’m fully aware that Cohen is a huge influence on Nick Cave, and I love Nick Cave, but I’ve just not got around to listening to his music before
I hated this. I failed to make it to the end of a single song. Is it here as some kind of joke?
Hands down the worst album so far.
I didn’t give this my full attention. Needs another listen. Knocking off a star for the zampoña.
Production and musicianship are second to none. I like a bit of Acid Jazz/70s Blaxploitation.
I can appreciate it, but I didn’t really enjoy it after a couple of tracks. I don’t think I’d call them songs. There’s not enough structure. It’s more like amazingly tight jamming which was an ultimately bit boring.
It drew me in immediately with the dissonant horns. A difficult first listen. I’m certain that repeated plays will be rewarding. Bullshit warning: It’s busy and cacophonous. Cinematic. Evocative of the dirt and grease and sweat and beauty of hot city at night.
Quite a mixed bag. I couldn’t manage it all.
Great musicians, sometimes really grooving. Sometimes the foundation they’re jamming over is really, really boring (Bongo Rock).
Kinda feels like it’s best for sampling, not listening to.
It took me a few tracks to acclimatise. The studio/room sound dominates … I’m assuming that they mixed the room and lead vocal live. Some tracks get the balance better than others.
Thankfully it’s an album of short songs, so starting again was not an issue.
From my own perspective decades later, with how I’ve been exposed to music, the soul parts are amazing and the rock parts are unremarkable … evoking Elvis/Sun.
The last track, He'll Have to Go, is the weakest here.
The lack of autotune is a joy, but the vocals often suffer from something muddying them - reverb/double tracking/chorus/buried in the mix?
The drums on Nothing Compares are awful through headphones.
Black Boys on Mopeds … oof!
Jump in the River … is like a lifeless studio punk teenage kicks, though I think I’d enjoy a Helen Love cover.
What it really needs is more sympathetic production/producer (looks up producer and it was O’Connor herself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) . I image an unplugged version would be much better.
I’m very glad to have listened to it.
