Fela Live! is absolutely explosive. Fela as a vocalist is so powerful and commanding. This is sort of my first proper exploration of afrobeat and the intensity and persistence of these grooves blew me away. Track after track, their phrases are simply as infectious as they are ferocious. The playing is incredibly tight and rhythmic as one would expect, but due to the way the drums specifically were recorded, it makes you feel like you're in the room with them. The drums are the star of the show in my eyes because of their meditative rhythmic properties. One does not have to know much about Nigerian music history to appreciate this album, for the energy is immediate and potent as soon as Let's Start kicks off. The instrumentation is just fantastic on every song, with bass and horn passages that mutate and grow or deform as the tracks go on, often time giving way to other instrumental passages and opening a track up to a different but equally intense groove. Fantastic album.
This album is funky as hell. The solos alone make it a very engaging listen, for the instrumental passages have THICK atmospheres about them. Ozzy genuinely sounds like a funky ass prophet of sorts. To me this album is a bluesy soup of rhythms, rock riffs, lumbering ass riffs, meat and potato drums, and a master funk wizard wailing thru it all. Wicked world is wild for that big band vibe. Wizard has the harmonica stuff, just really was not expecting those kinds of sounds but I think the charm of this album is captured in those odd funky moments. I do really love the drums on the lengthy closer apart from the very windy solos and how they all work together to keep that thing morphin. Tight album. It's not my favorite Black Sabbath album but it certainly has it's place with the eccentricity.
Marquee Moon truly defied the conventions of what rock was really up until that point. There is a ton of melted down influences on this record, from the stones to lou reed, to the potent alumni of cbgbs. Everything that came out of that scene was more or less magic. Tom's lyrics are raw, strange and thought provoking at each turn, turning motifs and phrases inside out and outside in at the same time. The centerpiece being an otherworldly poetic jam of simultaneously linear and potent freeform expression. Next level production throughout the entirety, at least from what I can tell. Marquee Moon truly is the godfather of post punk as a genre but more importantly Television took what was going on with 'underground' rock of the time and made it proggier, a bit more vulnerable and played around with the pacing of different passages- and doing so resulted in a beautiful, brooding, timeless album. It's got seemingly endless layers and it's one of those album that will never fully reveal itself. Torn Curtain is a PERFECT closer. Thats all I got.
This is such a fun live album. They are really just jamming on all cylinders from start to end on this album. Muddy is far more than just blues and rhythm, he comes off particularly as a true rock star on this album. There is a wildness to the big band sounds on this album, horns and harmonicas just sounding off all across these jams. Each member plays with heart and character on this thing. It's got songs that make you wanna run and chase your tail in circles and others that make you wanna kick a can down the road. That's the blues; and it's got a shit-ton of energy. Firey and explosive moments too- the blues on Live at Newport is incredibly infectious.
One of my favorite talking heads albums, just behind remain in light. Every song has a lot to offer. Many of these songs are quite sweet, and some are quite freakishly and charmingly odd in their own grooves. They have always been in a lane of their own, even among their contemporaries. Tina and Chris absolutely nail the grooves on this album, Jerry as well. Tina's bass playing is truly amazing because she always seems to be playing a groove of her own; not just supporting a song but there's often a song within a song in a lot of talking head tracks. Each track has an intense driving rhythm about it, and that's why alot of these initial talking heads albums are like, proto-dance records. Cutting edge, futuristic, mesmerizing even still. Go around driving to this one.
This album is one of the quirkiest mainstream albums from the start of what alternative would soon sound like. I can hear their influence on all kinds of bands nowadays. When I first heard debaser and wave of mutilation and tried to listen to this album I couldn't really get into it. I definitely found myself liking the album a lot more after revisiting it all these years later, now aware of how truly quirky they were for the time. No 13 baby is fucking wild. I think they have a masterful rock pacing about them, and i think this album is a fantastic cornerstone for garage rock/grunge if you could even call it that. Guitars be searing. Bass and drums be keeping score. Monkey gone to heaven is based tho im glad I heard that on this one
This album was not my usual cup of tea but that doesn't make it any less beautiful or captivating. Jeff's style and voice is somewhere between a rockstar and an angel, truly. He has an incredibly soulful approach to his songwriting. No doubt, absolutely graceful too so album is pretty aptly named. Jeff's got wild power in his voice too, with soaring choruses and refranes on Grace. The instrumentation is super organic and cozy, from organs to balanced drums and guiding basslines, very pretty strings as acoustic and electrifying leads. You have Hallelujah on here which is an incredibly transcendent song and the power of that song is pretty much unprecedented. Lover, You Should've Come Over is probably a new favorite of mine, another very powerful track. Eternal Life is also sick as hell and makes me wanna go skydiving or some shit. Dream Brother is mysterious as hell, ominous ass vibe but very awesome. All in all I can see why this album is so influential, there are times I could hear a future Thom Yorke sort of phrase or other vocal patterns that would bleed into alternative music. As a first time experience this album was pretty stunning and sonically compelling just off performances alone. RIP Jeff, damn shame he died so young because he was a hell of a musician.
I knew it was gonna be a good day when this one popped up. I've been a long time listener of rave music, through various corners and pockets of internet subcultures. Crazy frog basically rave pilled me at an early age but prodigy was like, just before my time. So I only recently got into him and mostly keep to the older projects because I like the intensity and deconstructed nature of those tunes. Wild shit. While there's always been a ton of drums and acid mixed into Prodigy's work, Fat of the Land cranks it the fuck up several notches. The cover says a million words. I am a firm believer that music can alter mental states strongly and this album is an exemplary example of how something like that is possible. Not sure what chores you have to get done but if you wanna mow your lawn fast, or are getting sleepy, look no further than The Fat of the Land. The vibe is a non-stop party; and it's all about keeping the party going, keeping it intense; and there's a real beauty to that. It's a reliable ass album for that kind of need. Sonically, it's got everything rave wise from iconic and brilliantly used breaks and samples, rave horns and leads, pronounced acid phrases, searing guitars, shouted rugged vocals from Keith being an absolute madman. Firestarter is fucking world class. Incredibly influential for good reason. I love how fuel my fire speeds the pacing up even faster as the album comes to an end which honestly makes perfect sense. Absolute classic.
This album was certainly a product of the time and the mainstays of radio rock. There is a theatrical element to what Deborah brings to the table on this album, although her character is maybe not as intense throughout the whole album. There are a lot of timeless sounds on this album, driving guitars and drums all the way through, great punk-rock leads too. The songwriting was TIGHT on the best tracks, obviously the ones that have carried this album for years. I think that's where the character is the strongest, being on One Way or Heart of Glass. Hanging On The Telephone is my new favorite Blondie track, I can't remember where I heard it before. There's certainly a rock opera aspect to this album, it's just the biggest cuts stand out in their eccentricity. These songs are cute as hell and not too far off from going down to the carhop and grabbing a shake vibes on more than a few songs. Just Go Away is far too annoying compared to the rest of the tracks, especially after the previous track All in all definitely worth a spin.
I bet this album would hit up at the lake house if I had one. Neil Young is such a character and pretty much always has been. He has the grace of a back alley cat and the timbre of a creaky ass door. I mean that with respect mostly, but this album is kinda bottom heavy with the riffs and leads. He's definitely got some weird kinda swag on this one and plays the shit out of the harmonica. It's got some rockin bluesey tracks, like Speakin' Out, World on a String, Lookout Joe and Come on Baby. The rest of these tracks are quite rambly as per usual for Neil's fashion, and I think theres obviously more blues and rock on this record you can shake a stick at. The harmonica really carried it for me, give that thing a raise. Tired Eyes makes good use of the steel guitar and I almost wish I heard more of it throughout the album. Neil's stories are entertaining enough and Tired Eyes just happens to me my fav for this one, the blues is pretty alright.
This album really is something. Björk if nothing else is certainly an ephemeral transcriber of difficult, raw, and indescribable emotions on this soul-searing existential breakup album. I think her goal was to essentially turn herself inside out and let the art do the work of working through and healing the real. This album says a lot about identity and grief, and you may not be who you thought you were without that same loving relationship you've had for years. You might not be a person, but a frightening creature now. The sounds on this thing range anywhere from graceful, somewhat gentle and somber, to absolute stress, terror and emotional urgency. Horrifying leads and phrases. Absolutely otherworldly and intense, how could It not be? Beyond raw, beyond real, in the rarely explored territory of hyper-real analysis of emotion and intention.
Impressions of this on my first listen, especially knowing this came out in '77 and there were people doing similar things at much higher caliber, like Billy Joel, I am fairly underwhelmed. I understand this album is a home-grown indie blue collar effort. I can see the rockabilly appeal, Mystery Dance is a bit of a heater. Alison is a banger too. I just cannot get behind the geekiness here, the cadence, the accenting. Nope. I can see the appeal and the charm of a record like this; I am just very glad we have evolved from this. The cover might be vaguely punkish too but it is one cluster fuck of an eyesore. Saying 'I'm Not Angry" in an angry voice is maybe not as cool as it was in 77. Awkward lyrics too, I mean I get that was the vibes but yeah. Just not on board for the majority of this one. Ending the album with a dub track is a g move though, wish there was a lot more of that on this album.
What a treat. Holy shit I don't even know where to star-t. This album is stunning down to every last detail, Philip absolutely ate to his heart's content on this thing. One of the best funk albums without a doubt. Maybe I'm the cheesy one and maybe shit just hit me when I needed it too but I loved every song on this album. Wonderfully rich passages, triumphant horns, gorgeous group vocals, intimate spoken word sections to impart wisdom and love. Could just be my bias towards spiritual woowoo stuff too but this album does it right and gentle. Every song is super tight, I didn't have any that became drags or anything like that. I definitely consider myself a proper Earth, Wind & Fire fan now. The transitions are perhaps not the smoothest ever but I can forgive that because the songs themselves are super strong tunes without needing to meld too much. The vocals can be as fierce as a laser beam but if you saw the dripped out album cover I'm sure you can excuse the power on display here. Immaculate.
1968. One of the most gorgeous albums ever from a sound engineering standpoint. There is a sinister nature to this album. There's playfulness, there's a mean aggression, there's true delusion as well. It can be somewhat dissociative and maddening. It's perfect like that. It feels like being lost, it feels like a dream. You close your eyes and wake up in a new time, a new area, surrounded by weird characters, blink again, wash rinse repeat and you're in front of Rocky mothafuckin' Racoon. Its magic. It's a perfect, haunting, fucked up trip that takes you by the shoulders and rattles you the fuck around like some kind of dumb lost kid. The rock songs are impeccable on all fronts. The 'pretty' songs are truly pretty in an idealistic utopian way, like a lot of beatles songs you know. The skies are perhaps too fine, too blue. Butterflies abound. Maybe that's just the effectiveness of writing truly happy songs though, and that happiness can feel pretty damn surreal and freakish at times. What a trip. After many decades, this album is still so strange and other-wordly. The magic schizo Son of my other favorite beatles album, Sgt. Pepper. You like drugs? Bang bang shoot shoot. Goodnight. Life is but a dream?
I was an odd future kid, so I've been playing Super Rich Kids and Crack Rock for over a decade now. No stranger to Frank's vocals, as I have loved his features over the years as well. I haven't listened to channel ORANGE all the way through since college probably, and so I was definitely due to give it another spin finally. There's for sure a sense of nostalgia attached to this album now, not to mention a lot of the jazz sounds already add to that nostalgia. Frank is a A STRONG, stunning vocalist, and I feel like this album was absolutely a pivotal and necessary step for the otherworldly stunner that Blonde would be. Frank was really getting to know himself on this thing and I think this was a proper introduction to these more realized modern jazz-rnb vibes as he was never exclusively a rapper. He's just SMOOTH as fuck and that is the Ocean modus operandi. The features are fucking great. While there are not a ton of features, they are equally super strong. Production is mostly quite warm with beautiful keys, strings, percussion as well, often keeping things pretty lowkey so the vocals can really take precedent. Like are they the best instrumentals ever? Not necessarily- but they serve as a palette for Frank to bring a fresh new bag to the table and he sure did.
This album was so much fun, goddamn it. i was immediately struck with the vocals in that they really reminded me of Gerard Way, and then I had to look the lore up. Supergrass absolutely rips and I'm glad this challenge really put me on. Just casually threw it on and then Alright came on, a song I've heard like a million times before but never heard it all the way through. Corporate America LOVES that song, and I think I do too, a little more now. It is honestly pretty sweet.
This band definitely has a garage punk rock sound, there are times it sounds more punk, and at the same time INCREDIBLY jangly. Very very catchy songs, often played very fast. Incredibly tight instrumentals.
I've only gotten into britpop as I get older but I can totally appreciate the jangly nature of this band and others like The La's, even if this band has more of a punchy bite. I would consider this album Jangle Punk. She's So Loose is fantastic, giving me major proto-Turnstile vibes. Every song is incredibly solid, catchy, colorful and very fun to listen to. Wild energy, wild progressive grooves on the back end especially which were a joy to hear. I think the closer is damn near perfect and mirrored another album I just listened to, the white album from the Beatles with a very sweet send off song to a perfect mindfuck of an album. Just beautiful, one of my favs this year.
Certainly a magical funk album, i'm starting to get some more funk classics under my belt and this one was absolutely wild. While I don't have a TON of funk subtext to digest an album such as this, the sheer zaniness of this album is absolutely fucking mind blowing. It genuinely surprised me in some of the grandiosity of vision and potential and even spiritual perspectives that funk often brings to the table in wildly entertaining ways. Funkadelic were fucking stellar at that, and groove crafting like none other. The grooves themselves are quite intense and hypnotic on this album, and are for sure far rockin and bluesy than their contemporaries at the same time. I really dont even know how to start talking about the symbolism and preaching on this album, I for sure need about 10 more listens to even do it justice but it is some truly feverous legendary shit. I believe it is firmly at the intersection of heightened insight, insanity, delusion, horror, bliss and certain affirment when it comes to the spirit and the perception of humanity. FRIED ICE CREAM IS A REALITY.
The Velvet Underground often contains an intimacy and a fragility in their presentation of the "new" rock and roll, or rather new for the time. Their vision of rock was pretty expansive and inclusive, even if the sounds themselves were incredibly repetitive and hypnotic. Lou is a hell of a frontman, there's an eeriness to his swag, idk how to explain it. His vocals beat you over the head the same way the instrumentals do. Even with his insistence at times, theres a gentleness to the honesty of this record. When it comes to love, Lou is often strangely esoteric in his language, and he sort of continues that theme on a ton of his solo stuff too. This was not my fav velvet underground album simply because I find some songs a tad bit grading, and the repetitive nature of the grooves mixed with Lou's meandering style contrast eachother in unpleasant ways. It's no wonder the shortest (and best) track on this album is After Hours and also lacks Lou's vocals entirely in exchange for Maureen's, who are far sweeter. Lou's vocals are about as sweet as a rambly ol jalopy. I would say most of these songs are esoteric explorations of the self in relation to the divine. The rock sounds on this album can be quite thrilling and surprising, White Light/White Heat sure is a trip. Lou's certainly a memorable romantic doing his best to croon and seduce on this one and I'll give him that. Strange swag forever.
This album was pretty heartbreaking, but it was also very sweet. In like a father john misty, bright eyes, soul crushing or soul examining type of way. Painful as fuck but the vulnerability has a real beauty to it. Beck is growing on me. I know Beck, like most, to be the Loser guy and the Que'Onda Guero guy, which is real bad of me to be summing him up in such a way. So this kind of album was like a pretty solid gut punch. It's not like I'd put something like this on on a regular basis or anything, it is miserably potent. Overall, this group of tracks felt very relational to one another, and complimentary in that way where to me they almost sound like the same song trying to say different things. They are equally potent though and they all have unique sonic moods. Shit makes you feel cold and alone as hell. I mean if you're in the mood to wallow this is the album for you. Goddamn!
Maybe I've been exposed to too many a Cee Lo Green meme growing up on the internet but I could not for the life of me take this thing seriously, and maybe that's the whole point. He is extraordinarily himself. There's an obnoxious novelty to his demeanor. There is no possible way he could be mistaken as anybody else. His inflection is definitely southern and precise; but add in very ridiculous, goofy and gaudy bars at every opportunity as well as using his voice in a far more soulful way, and you end up with the soul machine. He is all over the place on this thing, in a very eccentric and cartoony way. It is a LOT. There's a lot of character here and I can appreciate it in a vacuum for a character study of the bling era. I can feel Cee Lo staring into my soul, and I do not like it one bit. He is a malevolent entity.
This is such a special album. Certainly a rap royalty crown jewel. It is damn NEAR flawless. Near because the skits obviously have not aged well. Otherwise a beautiful album with incredible samples, timeless beats, incredible interpolations as well. The influences this album brought together are unparalleled even to this day, it seems like an album at the center of the crossroads of black culture in the mid 90's, and times were indeed quite different back then. Iconic hooks, iconic refranes, iconic bars, and getting to appreciate this album later in life is definitely a treat. Cowboys is fucking insane, Family Business is also insane, and the title track is a classic of classics too. Lauryn is a SICKENING MC all over this thing, jesus. And she can REALLY sing too. Classic boom bap done for the most part tastefully at the highest level. Cultural riches man.
With true, otherworldly fashion this album was somehow generated for me the day after Brian passed. You could understand how that would have certainly sent chills down my spine, even more so because I was reading about the process this album went through the night before and Brian's tumultuous history. Brian was a gift to music, and this album is an exemplary demonstration as to why. Now, I have been an Animal Collective and Panda Bear fan for a long while and after listening to this album in particular I can see how this would be a catalyst for those intense, visceral psych-pop sounds later on. This album is grand, playful, blissful, rhythmic, and quite intense at times. Brian's vocals are ABSOLUTELY timeless. The way they layer over each other throughout the course of the album is truly mind melting at times. There is a theatrical element of sound effect usage that also lends itself to a woozy, surreal, mental psych-scape. Every song tells a bit of a different story or simply an appreciation of the moment, based in simple joys. Some songs are totally dizzying in the best way. Cabin Essence has thick, revolving arpeggios that speed up and slow down. Child Is Father of the Man motif is both deep and thought provoking for it being so repetitive. Blue Hawaii is pretty fucking sad given the context of this album. Makes me think about Good Vibrations with an entirely different lens as well now. Sticky, sticky refranes. Sound effects and insane mouth sounds make this album a true cornerstone of psych pop. Gorgeous stuff. Thank you Brian.
Flagship Jazz album here. Mingus is a true master of jazz orchestration. Horns wail on this thing unlike many jazz albums. Mingus uses them to communicate fiercely and in honest fashion. They meander, they trail off and squawk back into centerfold at breakneck speeds. There's so much character in each of the compositions. The supporting instruments, usually in the form of strings (including piano) are incredibly bold but never cloud the stage or take anything away from the pacing. Mingus is raw and Mingus certainly plays no games. It's a wonderful record, and one that would like to argue with you at any time of day. The closer ties it up so nicely by revisiting the instrumental themes but speeding up and playing even more intensely a 3rd or 4th time around, then slowing them down and playing it entirely differently results in a new mood. Expression is potent stuff.
Sam was an absolute rockstar. This was my first time hearing this and the power of his delivery is just incredible. The whole band has power but the character in Sam's voice is timeless, and is no doubt the true ray of sun throughout this album. I mean this was club music at the time and they went fucking hard. Swingin'. Swingin' for sure. Sam's wails are absolutely monstrous on some tracks, and if not for him then the horns are doing the wailing. His voice is certainly one of the more gravellier voices of the swing era, it could just be the strain from how he likes to shout these songs but holy shit it is powerful. Not to mention all the songs are fairly catchy and well written for their own right. The crowd and him have a chemistry that makes this an incredibly unique live album. It's a damn good time and due to the density of the recording it feels like you're in the room with them.
The Sitar is a beautiful instrument and Shankar is pretty damn masterful with it. There are other elements of sound on this album, including percussion, acoustics, vocals on the last track and so on. I love his interpolations of songs and melodies, Light My Fire was like the perfect cover; I did not expect to enjoy as much as I did. While these tracks are incredibly fun and meandering, they do come across as musical wallpaper with some psych-prog elements with traditional flair. Mamata is probably my favorite song on this album just because of how damn breezy and whimsical it sounds. Metamorphosis is psychedelic as hell and even gives me some Ashra vibes. Very psych, much prog, Sitar grooves for the mind and soul.
This album is for sure a favorite of many grandparents. It's got conservative southern charm all throughout- who's to say white people don't have culture? Loretta's voice is stunning and the main 'draw'. -no pun intended- of this album. It certainly is not the songwriting, but the songs are charming enough for the audience back then. They mosey right along. Loretta's timbre can be quite spellbinding at times, the twang is undeniably rich. The instrumentals definitely have that Cracker Barrel® gift shop vibe. This album makes me feel like an armadillo wandering in circles. Tunes from yesteryear and a truly different time. Authentic southern charm. Don't Come Home a Drinkin' was a successful conservative boppy of our heyday.
Frampton's hits for sure stand out from the rest of this album in some pretty big ways I thought. I always thought Show Me The Way was an Eagles song or something. I have not been up to par with my classic soft rock, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear this tune on here. Baby, I Love Your Way is another timeless bop, but I think these tracks stand out because Frampton's vocals are a bit more pronounced and actually take center stage on these cuts. A good deal of the rest of the album is incredibly jammy and Frampton's voice gets buried more often than not across the (very) long runtime. It is a pretty rowdy live album complete with lots of whistling, clapping, and crowd participation which is really cool to hear from '76. Wind of Change is another unexpected banger. The fills and solos are pretty enjoyable. Im sure this album sounded fantastic played live. Bit before my time but I'm sure boomers love this album. Scoobie Doobie Doo - Wah.
The beautiful thing about music is that it can bypass language barriers. The blues playing on this album is pretty incredible. It's so interesting how this rockabilly sound turned out with the influences of the Niger River sound. There's a grooving dance vibe throughout the album, a long with rock and blues elements obviously. The instrumentals stick to meat and potatoes bass and guitar, the drums really stand out as being traditionally African though, complete with multi-rhythmic drum grooves and all. The vocals on Wayei are absolutely spellbinding. This album features a lot of chant-style vocals and call-response vocals featured in more traditional African folk music. The acoustic cuts are pretty in their own way, and some of them are for sure a little stronger than the others. Overall a pretty enjoyable blues-world tinged rock album with VERY cool drum/vocal/guitar riffs. Would've liked to see a tad bit more traditional folk instrumentation throughout though.
Amy Winehouse. Goddamn what a voice. Still, theres a degree of Winehouse emulation that lingers in popular music, and obviously never replicated quite the same. Truly a jazz soul, Amy was a hell of a performer on these instrumentals. There's a big band vibe which is honestly the perfect background for her kind of character. There's obviously a sadness in a lot of her songwriting, but her pain was true to her and she wrote her story into all these tracks. Her voice is definitely graceful at points, but not in a traditional way, more of an unmistakable Amy Winehouse kind of way. One of the greats of female jazz, without a doubt.
The album lives up to the name. Iggy is absolutely fearsome on this record. Theres a ferocity to it that is pretty much unparalleled for the time and some time after honestly. I certainly consider it in it's own bag of punk and garage rock flavors, there's like a proud, fun, rowdiness to the playing one this one too. Iggy sounds like a wild animal half the time. The contrast to searing guitar rifts are often met with very sweet countermelodies and that seems to just be how The Stooges operate. Gimme Danger, Penetration for instance. Blues injected punk rock animals. Genuinely not sure how else to describe the sounds here. I could see how this is like the DNA for what acts like Tom Waits and the Cramps would go on to do. It starts with blues. There's also a bit of like, the birth of a psychobilly sound on this thing even if it largely remains proto-punk and blues infused. Talk about character.
Definitely up there with Bowies most freakish albums. It reminds me of Black Star in some ways. I think psychically it is a pretty tantalizing album, the lore of this album is met with Bowie being self destructive and living on the fringes, skeeting around of blow and playing his heart out. It is pretty freakish at times, from the funk elements, to the stuttering guitars, Bowie's wild persona and vocals wailing and cutting through the mix. Even the piano ballads are warped in their own weird fucked up Bowie ways. He is like the king of the underworld on this thing. The dirty underworld, The Thin White Duke. This album, this character, this stage of Bowie's life infused with infinite obsession and baggies..definitely took a toll on him as intense as it was, it sort of went beyond performance art and teetered into lifestyle art. He became a villain. Kinda makes sense this was the birthplace for Heroes. This album was a pressure cooker of sorts. Who knew hell could sound so fun?
This album is loud as fuck, and repetitive as fuck too. To the point where it gets a little cerebral. This is the sonic equivalent of getting hit in the head with various instruments over and over again by loud and rowdy british men. The instrumentals are incredibly weighty and have such a keen goth darkness to them, while being remarkably catchy in their simpleness. Some songs are absolutely fried to hell in the best way, take Bombast, Barmy, What You Need, Couldn't Get Ahead. There's a genius in the simplicity, the brattiness, the fun of these songs. There's some animalistic traits in Mark's vocals, often times coming through in the way of wild grunty shouts. Rollin' Dany is a true rockabilly rollercoaster of a track. Garage-Post-Punk-Blues and fried to shit amps. Love it. L.A. is probably my fav track, goth excellence.
Simply put, one of the best Jazz albums of all time. It doesn't take much to hear why either. The sonic intensity of the playing on this album is mesmerizing, and the intro "acknowledgment" sums this theme up of a burning intense love perfectly. Sporadic/unpredictable doesn't even cut the grass, it's more like thermonuclear level jazz playing. The tightness, the ferocity, spiritual jazz is an indescribable medium. Coltrane is a literal canonized saint because to some, works like this prove he was able to work in tandem with the divine. Master storyteller without saying a word, and one that stretches far beyond language at that. Merely felt. An album about love, heat, reconciliation and possibly in that carries a grand tone of redemption and triumph. Brutally perfect album. Even for 65, it sounds older and as ephemeral as time itself. Coltrane forever.
Piano rock. It's a front loaded album for sure, I think Sir Elton had a solid enough batch of songs on here. The thing is, beyond the first couple, they all kinda meander and sound the same which is per the course for this era of piano rock balladry. I think Elton has a remarkable voice and character, it's just some of the songs.. Holiday Inn, Rotten Peaches.. even All The Nasties sound like cutting floor ideas and they don't really have the same kind of compelling chords and power of the first crop of tracks. Tiny Dancer is an IMMACULATE, grand track, andI honestly think this album would be a whole lot stronger if the placement of these songs made a bit more sense. Levon is killer too, standard powerful vocal flair affair for the Rocket Man. I know the album is in part about the relationship he had with addiction so the closure is par for that, but it's short runtime makes it kinda whack because it doesn't give enough time for any kind of dread to really set in. And being such a happy go lucky album, why end it in such a dreary way? It's got Tiny Dancer though and that counts for something.
Crocodiles is for sure a benchmark in goth rock and post punk. I think it is one of the most 'tinny' sounding albums of this era, due to what they were recording on and with. Ian is totally consistent as a lead vocalist, even this early into the band's existence. The lyrics are pretty esoteric equally reflective and melancholic. The song structures are both isometric and linear, per the early post punk of the time. Obviously.. the Cure fucking exploded with this exact sound pretty much. I do think there is a more primitive nature to what Crocodiles does in particular, for the grooves are rigid and repetitive to perhaps dilution at times. Do It Clean, Stars Are Stars, Rescue and Villiers Terrace all stand out for obvious reasons, but mostly because they are a bit more compelling as full songs than the rest of the songs on this one. There are better Bunnymen albums.. I blame the sonics and songwriting on this one.
Well. This was definitely a fun buttrock album. This album is like if the L.A's made divorced dad rock. Some songs are catchier than others, I think I like A Good Idea over all the others despite how repetitive it is. Everything is fried to absolute hell on this album, the vocals included. The guitars especially, almost to a shoegaze kinda level too. There's for sure some smashing pumpkins kinda vibes throughout, just a bit more constant and rocking. There's also a bit of a Phil Collins quality to the vocals on this album, if Phil was more into distortion and guitar pedals. Jangly aggressive buttrock and I mean this in the best way. This era has grown on me a lot. The 90s was pretty sick actually man.
This is a pretty damn good modern R&B album. It brings vibes, big sensuality, bliss, and hypnotic grooves. The beats are atmospheric and spacy although sometimes the production comes in with a basic hat and takes me out of it, or a lead or something like that. It happened often enough during the almost hour long runtime to bring it to my attention. Some instrumentals are more retro, like Truth or Dare. It's a seductive burner for sure. There are some elements of future garage on here too towards the backend of the album. I think this album could be better if it was a bit shorter only because the song writing does not really carry some of the beats once you've heard a few. On vibes alone it is a fun listen though.
This album is haunting, beautiful, and incredibly liminal. The cover is so fitting for the sounds too, shit sounds like how I imagine it was in the womb. Just chillin in the embriotic fluid. It's like a low, embracing, warming kind of sound though. I do love 'hopelandic', I can't really tell the difference between hopelandic and icelandic obviously, so I kinda listen to it like I would an Elizabeth Fraser record. Absolutely otherworldly. I am a sucker for pedals, reverb, and melting into the ether and this album does all those exceedingly well. Staralfur's opening makes me tear up just from the sheer grandiosity of heavenly sounds. Really stunning atmospheric post rock with gentle nods to some very thick n rich early ambient albums. Very intense walls of sound instantly eat away at the meditative qualities and send you into a whole new loud rock space. We're only young once.. or?
I wasn't really sure what to expect, but this album is just kinda okay when it comes to being a "classic" rap album. The rhymes have not aged all that well, they seem incredibly gimmicky even if they sort of pay homage to rhyme-crafting and actually writing your own raps. Sometimes we oughta pay people or collaborate further. The beats are mostly okay as well, I heard like glimmers of potential with certain samples, and sometimes the beats are far better than the rhymes. Freedom, A Day at The Races, and What's Golden are all a bit more solid with the beats and the rhymes. Thin Line is pretty dope too. There's just something so goddamn gimmicky I can't seem to shake with a lot of flows on this album and vocal phrases. Lyrical spherical orange doorhinge kinda bars. There is some doomish like comic book samples and it does have that kind of pacing, just with much cornier bars. It's aiight.
Hip hop royalty. Few albums contain the history, the energy, the character and attitude, the rawness of gangster rap that really started a whole new chapter for music. Most of the instrumentals remain timeless, but some of them do come across a bit aged obviously some damn near 40 years or so later. The samples on Straight Outta Compton are some of the most iconic samples in all of rap, which would go on to inspire entire discographies of rap legends over time. It's not all pure rage energy, there are genuinely beautiful sentiments on this album too like Express Yourself. There's a sort of braggadocious comradery that just comes with 'hardcore gangster' albums, but N.W.A really fucking capitalized on that. There are some weirder aspects of the album, like the sexism that could for sure make people feel weird in 2025. For what it's worth, this album changed rap and the first half of this album is absolutely mint. Not every song is a classic like that tho.
This album is pretty goddamn wild. It is frenetic. The vocals are quite shrill, feverish, explosive and unpredictable. Early explorations in primal post punk and getting to a steady barebones sound for grooves. There's a sporadic improvisation to the playing of certain instruments I really like, like saxophone, adding a wild jazziness to the main driving punk sounds. The album opens incredibly strong with 'Non-Alignment Pact', by the 30 second mark we are off to a running start for a proper kickass punk track. The next few tracks exude jazz-soaked punk rock energy, with a healthy dose of freakish vocals and shrieks. 'Life Stinks' kicks the vocals up several notches in their intensity, while the band absolutely shreds. This whole album is super bold and brash, the guitars seem to warp and mutate and wander off on their own. All the instruments seem like they have their own goals- but like, I think that's mostly a good thing. Take the weirdness of 'Real World' for example. There is an Avant-Garde nature to the glass breaking, crowd sounds, talking recordings playing out over the soundscape of 'Sentimental Journey'. Freaky as fuck. Using that word a lot in this review but goddamn no other word comes close. 'Humor Me' is an awesome closer. It's just a joke, man! Color me a fan. Delightfully weird and surprising album.
I am a sucker for punchy, new-agey driving punkish albums and this one is indeed in that bag, however, it is a strange one. Labeled as neo-psychedelia and I guess I can see why with the lyrics being pretty goddamn kookie, to me it sounds far more new-wave coded. Apparently this is another prime early goth sounding kinda record, coming up with Echo and the Bunnymen.. and even though Echo ultimately became more popular, I think this album is slept on. The instrumentation alone is a lot of fun and sonically very bold, not quite in the punk sensibilities in it's contemporaries, it's definitely more poppy and they trade in the moody dejection for more pop-psychedelia sounds. 'Treason' is super jangly. A lot of the songs beyond that sound incredibly similar to each other, and they mostly bleed together because of that. It booms, it's good pop new agey fun, even if it isn't all that memorable and can be a bit grading.
Truly a classic pop punk album. Green Day reinvented the wheel a bit on this one, and by that I mean they took pop punk, revolutionized it, and made it radio friendly with the poppiness. This album was inescapable, even in the early 2000s. Billy Joe Armstrong is a true brat on this album in the best way. Funnily enough because of the way he sang, I always thought Green Day was british or some shit. California accents be like. Could just be an autistic take tho. Genuinely proper pop punk songwriting that essentially set the precedent for the genre and the example for years to come. Often imitated, never truly replicated. Fast, snappy, catchy, snotty, attitude loaded bangers. I sound like a boomer but that's what this album is. It's a really fuckin good time. The standouts are obviously better songs than the majority of the album but they're all still pretty good pop punk tracks. This is like a peak high school album. Youthful rebellious antics type shi. Memorable. Loud. Dare I say, obnoxious. Dookie was a perfect name for this album.
This album was pretty fantastic. I consider this album to be like, the crown jewel of dad rock albums. They are easily the most powerful and tasteful of all the dad rock bands. Cornell is an absolute vocal powerhouse. There's a lot of Buckley influence too, and it makes sense after learning they were incredibly close. Like listening to this album at times I was just like, "oh hey, Jeff". Blues-rock actually describes this album pretty good when the instrumentation is more nuanced. When it explodes, as it often does, I find that there's a shoegaze element to the bass and distortion on the guitars that adds to the heaviness of the riffs. It certainly gets pretty damn sludgy at times, particularly the longer it goes on towards it seems, like near the end of the album. 4th of July is fuckin SLUDGY. I do think this is the gold standard for many, many dad rock bands, and Chris's vocals are just mind blowing. And come on man Black Hole Sun is peak 90s alt.
This is a really enjoyable sound collage dystopia kinda album from Beck. It's got that perfect 90's grit, and distortion is pulled off thoroughly and immaculately. Devil's Haircut kicks off with fuzzy guitars and a super skippy beat even before the amen comes in. Very tasteful Mort Garson chord in there too, fits the fucked up dream vibe Beck really leans into with this album. Hotwax is a bit more bluesey, a bit funkier in the chip bass too. Beck's vocals are disorienting, dizzying, and extra trippy on purpose. I didn't just smoke 3 bowls but his lyrics can make you feel that way. The New Pollution takes a very comfy neo-psych direction, I mean this whole album is pretty neo-psych but especially here. And it's a bit proggy. And of course you have a very solid break that provides great structure overall. Derelict absolutely feels like wandering around in the desert for weeks. You can feel the sun on this album. Everything is fried, the sun is intense, im high and dehydrated. And then you get a breeze like Jack-Ass, what a pretty dreamy lounge jam. The sound explorations that proceed are incredible. Very strong 90s alternative album, filled with all kinds of influences but mostly big beat, desert rock and lounge, and grungy distortion. Nowadays I can hear the particular influence in Father John Misty and Viagra Boys and similar acts.
Incredible rock/jazz/blues/soul album. It is all of those things. Joplin is a fucking animal on this thing. The voice of a much older woman truly, idk if it's because of whiskey or what but she definitely has a Marge Simpson quality to her meandering, mixed with like a more fucked up Ella Fitzgerald. When I mean soul I mean like Janis is pretty damn preacher-shamanic like on this album. The band is good and tight but her voice is the real entertainment. Big Brother just keep the party going and pick it the fuck up when they need to with intense, speedy grooves like on Roadblock. There's a beautiful proglike nature to the unfolding of these tracks, prime for late 60s blues-soaked psychedelia. This album was for sure a pivotal cornerstone in that era. It's got piano ballads, sweeping cinematic passages, and a truly soulful improv quality that makes it all feel like a true live album, even if it's only partially live. Peace, love, and Marge Simpson man.
As far as T Swizzle goes, this is one of her strongest recent projects, for good reason. She's a strong songwriter first and foremost and she knows probably better than anyone else in this lane- how to resonate with her demographic. There's a lot of handcrafted charm in this album, it's quite cozy. I like the organic instruments a lot more with Taylor's songwriting. Willow kicks that off with plucked strings and soft claps through the track. I think it's the catchiest song on this one for sure. champagne problems is really good too with beautiful piano and the somber chorus. There's other somber moments on the album too, like tolerate it, but I think champagne problems is much stronger. Dorothea is another standout track, immersed in that 2010's bokeh folk-indie sound. It's got a nice dreaminess to it, as repetitive as it is. cowboy like me is fire too. what can I say I like the catchy ones. The other songs are a bit too meandery for me, they are effectively like musical wallpaper or remixes of the other elements we've heard until this point, with various storytelling motifs. antonoff sure knows how to craft those fall vibes. I want cider now.
Precursor album for a lot of handfuls of classic alternative 90s albums. I got on with Doolittle the more I listened to it but R.E.M fa sho was like the first dose of this kinda sound. Cryptic lyrics, gritty but dreamy production, theres a bit of grunge baked into the edges. I can also see how Tool appeared right after this too, I hear a bit of Maynard in Stipe's vocals or vice versa. There is a beautiful jangliness to R.E.M's songwriting, particularly out of the gate and on Welcome to the Occupation. As far as unconventional vocalists go, I always got like a Weird Al vibe from Stipe's vocals. Maybe it's the nasaliness, and he does have that happy go lucky nature about him, little jig phrases like at the end of Strange. It's The End of the World.. has been one of my favorites ever since I was a kid! I remember bumping that shit on a mail order mp3 player in 2012 on the way to my 6th grade class. I can see how Stipe's vocals can be sort of an acquired taste at times but they're mostly pretty good. The One I Love is another huge highlight for good reason, incredibly fun and solid tune. The other songs are pretty rockin but they don't really have the same appeal as the heavy hitters. Kings of Birds is great as well though, I do think it could've been a bit cleaner without the bells. Oddfellows Local 151 ends the album in true obscure goth rock fashion, absolutely weird and haunting tune. All in all a great pillar album of what would be 90s alt though.
Talk about iconic. You hear that lick and you're a kid again, no matter where you are, what you're doing. You're in a hot rod on route 66 probably. Angus has always been a firecracker and a really capable, steady frontman. It's got that fun firey nature a lot of rock albums completely fucking forget about. Electrifying really. Rock was everything back then. This album makes me wanna go shoot pool and drink beers all night. I mean as a rock band, AC/DC was everything a rock band should be-- and what they should sound like too. I like the speedier parts a bit more than the meat and potatoes bits- Beating Around the Bush being a standout for sure. A lot of this album is meat and potatoes driving drums, searing guitars and licks, Angus being Angus, and that's all good fun for the cookout. Night Prowler is for sure the blusiest on the album and It's honestly a great closer. The 80s were off to a great start. Also kinda odd that for an Australian band like, how big they got in the USA. Your parents fucking love AC/DC.
Truly the dawn of a new era in pop. I think for years now, FKA twigs has been pretty damn cutting edge when it comes to spacey pop music. She's got a baroque, chamber pop edge for sure. I guess you could pretty much call it art pop. But, it's really good art pop! All of these beats are spacey and otherworldly, FKA twigs has a certain delayed timing in her vocal lines that makes her style of pop pretty unique imo. It's almost a genre in it's own- exclusive to her, even still. Preface hauntingly leads us in, twigs is very siren like and it gives us a fitting introduction to what to expect honestly. 'Preface' IS HEAVY and FREAKY in the best way. Probably my favorite on the album funnily enough. 'Lights On' is a strong highlight, even if the instrumental is a little too inconsistent pacing wise for my liking. Two Weeks is more consistent overall, and the production is super weighty yet again. 'Hours' is another hot and heavy track with strange production. That's the FKA twigs brand tho. She shows her vocal chops quite a bit on the rest of the album, while 'Numbers' is quite Bjorkish in nature. I'm a bit indifferent to the remanding tracks but they are fine twigs tracks. Her bag is for sure intimate, delicate, passionate pop music that moves at a totally different pace. Seriously otherworldly vocals, I wish she took it further in the last half of the album because the first half is incredibly strong.
