Cocaine blues is a little overrated. 25 Minutes To Go is an enjoyable song with a cool songwriting concept, but imo not done as well as it could have been and gets a little tired, which loses its replayability for me.
Top 5 (no order): Orange Blossom Special, The Green Green Grass Of Home, Give My Love To Rose, Greystone Chapel and The Long Black Veil.
Honourable mentions: Dark As The Dungeon, The Wall, Send A Picture Of Mother, I Still Miss Someone
Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog has its charm and humour but I wouldn't return to it. Same can't be said for Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart.
Overall I think it must be remembered that this album is for the prisoners, and has a lot of social cultural value for that.
7/10
Not much can be said about this album that hasn't been said before. The concept is done to perfection, it touches on so many brilliant themes with incredible beats, lyrics, flows and features. They're not exaggerating when they say that this is probably the greatest rap album of all time.
I usually have no opinion on little conversation pieces in songs, but for this album they feel so integral to the concept that I just can't skip them.
Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst is easily a greatest song of all time contender. An absolute master class of lyrics and storytelling, with a great beat to back it up. I especially love when the medium of song is taken advantage of, such as "And if I die before your album drop" or "I'll never fade away".
Top 4: SAMIDOT, Money Trees, m.A.A.d city, Real
9.5/10
Very ethereal production on most of the songs. Sounds super nice, but the thick reverb and such gets a little bit old after not too long for me.
Definitely a no skip album, but also there's not necessarily any songs that I would rate higher than a 7/10.
Top 5 (no order): Scarborough Fair/Canticle, The 59th Street Bridge Song, A Simple Desultory Philippic, The Dangling Conversation, A Poem on the Underground
Overall, it's a short, compact, high quality album that I will most likely be returning to, but even still it's nothing I haven't heard before from the folk and blues scene of its era
I wanted to like this album but really couldn't bring myself to care for it. I love prog music but this album was genuinely boring, and ONLY BARELY passes as prog at all.
It has too much of an 80s stagnancy to it. Usually when it comes to prog pop and prog rock of this era, it still sounds fresh and experimental today, just look at Yes, Rush, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, the list goes on. But this album doesn't even sound new for the 1980s, more like an artsy-fartsy take on some the generic pop of the decade (cough cough, Genesis, cough cough).
The quality and memorability of the songs barely varies throughout the album. Even Sledgehammer, upon relisten and framed in the context of the full album, sounds much more dull and my opinion of it has gone down a little.
Peter Gabriel has certainly done great work, but this album is not the magnum opus that it's lauded as. Not low quality or low effort by any means, but very forgettable. I can't see myself returning to any song, and definitely not to the album as a whole.
4/10
Definitely some envelope-pushing melodies and production. I can't really say that it's as incredible now as it was then, but the band has only continued to expand their sound since this debut.
I can definitely see the vision on the album as a whole, even when (in my opinion) that vision isn't realised as well as it could be.
Top 5 (no order): Kids, Of Moons Birds and Monsters, Time to Pretend, Electric Feel, Future Reflections
Some weaker and less impactful songs, but none that I would consider forgettable.
I think if I had become an MGMT fan when I was 14, I'd have been obsessed with this album. Even so, I have to appreciate and respect what this album does.
7/10
This album had me floating man. Willie Nelson perfectly blends his usual country and bluegrass sound with the dreamy changes of these classic jazz standards, with beautiful arrangements by Booker T. and absolutely pristine production throughout.
Top 5 (no order): All of Me, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Stardust, Georgia On My Mind
Honourable mention: Blue Skies
I did, at first, think sometimes the harmonica felt a little out of place, but it grew on me more and more. I think it gives some songs an extra mid-century feel to them.
I can't believe I'd never heard of this album before, it's easily the best works I've heard from Willie Nelson (and that is a high bar). 0 skips, and definitely an album that will have me coming back for a long time
8/10, but that could probably go up over time as I relisten to the album.
Don't really have anything to say on this album in particular, there's a lot to love and no heavily apparent flaws. I think Jeff Buckley's vocal style isn't always the most appealing to me personally, but I can still appreciate it
Lilac Wine is probably my favourite version of that standard.
Hallelujah, while fantastic, doesn't have the same impact for me as the original. I do, however, think it's the best cover of it I've heard, and one of the only covers that doesn't seem to completely miss the point of the song
No misses. Top 5(no order): Lilac Wine, Hallelujah, Lover You Should've Come Over, Dream Brother,
I know some people will hate me for this but some elements of the album get a bit grating to me. Even still, to be as unbiased as possible, I couldn't give this album less than a 7-8/10.
I'm sorry but this is such a boring album. There's hardly a single song with interesting melodies, changes, harmonies, or even rhythms. Just forgettable track after forgettable track.
It sounds like what your uncle who loves "The Blues"" would say is "REAL music", and that music nowadays has no soul or sm bs
Even the extremely famous title track sounded a lot less cool than the first time I heard it
It's not like it's completely unlistenable, but I for sure don't want to listen to it when there's music in the same genre that's 100 times better and less bland
4/10
Very solid album with fantastic songs, as to be expected from Dolly Parton.
Top 5 (no order): Coat of Many Colours, She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like), The Mystery of The Mystery, Early Morning Breeze, A Better Way to Love
To be honest I don't have much to say about this album, it didn't blow me out of the water or anything but it was definitely great.
7.5/10
Good album, I think a decent amount of the mixing's not the best but that's my only gripe really
•Watch That Man is a very typical Bowie pop/rock song, cool but not as great as something like Rebel Rebel or Suffragette City
•The title track has that Bowie art shit I love, definitely a bit reminiscent of Hunky Dory at times
•Drive-In Saturday has a clear 1950s doo-wop influence, then the chorus goes to something I'd expect from any Bowie song, all very catchy
•I fw Panic in Detroit heavy, I can't really put my finger on exactly why
•Time fits right in with the title track, plenty of discordant harmony
•The Prettiest Star sounds like a continuation of Drive-In Saturday, while straying just a little bit more from the doo-wop sound and having it's own personality
•Let's Spend the Night Together is another pretty decent pop rock song, not particularly spectacular
•The Jean Genie is ok, I didn't really care for it. I'm inclined to say it's the weakest song on the album, but it's still alright enough
•Lady Grinning Soul has a very spooky sound to it, and somehow sounds very overall outro-sounding
Lot of catchy, cool songs, but to be honest it sounds dated. I know it made waves when it was new, but listening through a modern lens it sounds a lot less special. I think there's other albums that rubbed shoulders with this one that stood the test of time much better
Thought I'd like it since these sorts of 80s English pop bands are usually right up my alley, but it was really disappointing.
Generally good instrumentals. I'm usually a big fan of weird/unconventional vocals, but this wasn't that I just hate his voice. Sounds like he's trying his hardest to sound as whiny and nasally as possible.
I have no problem with talking/monologues in songs, but these were completely rambly and pointless and just completely made me feel like they were enjoying trying to waste my time.
If not for Knowledge of Beauty, I would say there's nothing good on this album at all
Like if Sade wasn't as good
A lot of cool musical ideas, unfortunately mixed with a lot of lackluster ones.
Fantastic production, as to be expected from Pharrell, but the vocals, lyrics and most of the hooks leave a lot to be desired. The lyrics definitely being the worst offender, saying a whole lot of nothing but still trying to sound so artsy while doing so
The whole album also has a strong smell of the mid 2000s, which is definitely nostalgic for some but in my opinion tarnishes it's ability to age very well
There was definitely a lot of moments that I personally didn't like, but I can understand why someone would like them so they don't lose any points for those, but still overall a much weaker album than I was hoping for
