I don’t know how many other participants here appreciated this album, but this is an album I’ve returned to time and again - and a band whose entire discography I’ve bought a couple of times over the past three decades. While not my favorite Fall album (one of the candidates for that category would be Hex Enduction Hour) it is a solid work and a quite interesting listen. Mark E. Smith is one of the most literate and well-read lyricists in post-1976 rock music and here his vocals are clear as a bell vocally- something that would sort of devolve as the years progressed. The basic formula of the band’s sound is here - the musicians (it was rare when any Fall studio album had the exact same lineup as its preceding release) vamping repetitively behind Mark’s wordy vocals - with personnel changes frequently noticeable from album to album. Look for a version of the album that also has bonus tracks that include the band’s first two singles “Bingo Master’s Break Out” and “It’s The New Thing” plus their early John Peel Sessions.

I have listened to this so many times since I first bought my LP copy (blue label Epic repress) in 1979. Neither Meat Loaf nor Jim Steinman was ever really able to match this achievement in their future career, despite some decent “comeback” albums in the early 90s from Mr. Loaf and a few Steinman-penned and produced pop hits for the adult contemporary market, of all places. Mr. Loaf allegedly had so much trouble trying to sing the songs for the original follow-up that Jim Steinman himself ended up doing it himself as the “Bad For Good” album (Basically, imagine someone with the same songwriting skills but questionable singing skills trying to write and recreate a clone of this album). Beyond that, the timeless songwriting is marred by overblown and seemingly outdated wannabe-Wagner arrangements by Steinman (Producer Todd Rundgren’s production is impeccable but he isn’t to blame for Steinman trying to create a hard-rock Beyruth Festival on wax.)

It’s been a long time since I listened to this album - usually I reach for Remain in Light or Fear of Music first as far as Heads albums go. But this was. Great snapshot of their early years.

Having heard Lamar’s name for years but never bothered to investigate his music, I wasn’t sure what to expect (you can blame the over proliferation of mumble rappers over the past ten years or so). I definitely wasn’t expecting a concept album for his major label debut!

What else is there to say about this album?

I don’t know how many other participants here appreciated this album, but this is an album I’ve returned to time and again - and a band whose entire discography I’ve bought a couple of times over the past three decades. While not my favorite Fall album (one of the candidates for that category would be Hex Enduction Hour) it is a solid work and a quite interesting listen. Mark E. Smith is one of the most literate and well-read lyricists in post-1976 rock music and here his vocals are clear as a bell vocally- something that would sort of devolve as the years progressed. The basic formula of the band’s sound is here - the musicians (it was rare when any Fall studio album had the exact same lineup as its preceding release) vamping repetitively behind Mark’s wordy vocals - with personnel changes frequently noticeable from album to album. Look for a version of the album that also has bonus tracks that include the band’s first two singles “Bingo Master’s Break Out” and “It’s The New Thing” plus their early John Peel Sessions.

This is one I’m going to have to come back to fully… one of those albums that should be listened to in full to be truly appreciated before one makes a full opinion of it. What I did hear is of its time period (especially the stereo mixing where the drums are all coming out of one side of the stereo picture) but still worth it.

Ah, the days when Kanye or whatever the fuck he’s calling himself this week wasn’t bullying women, dressing head to toe in black, declaring himself a superhero one minute and a human being the next, posting anti-Semetic garbage and selling swastika T-shirts on X, doing nitrous oxide, and mentally and verbally abusing his “wife” by making her present herself as a scantily dressed mute in public. Simply put, fuck any idea of giving this SOB any more plays on social media. Despite six good albums in a row from this one to Yeezus, he isn’t worth the time and the attention anymore and I won’t even stream his better material anymore. He needs to be in a mental institution for the rest of his natural life.

This is where the Godfather of Grunge earned his moniker, and deservedly so. Most Neil Young albums are masterpieces and rightly so, but this one is in the top five because of how naked and real it is.

There’s three ways to hear this classic: the original mono (authorized by the band), the original stereo mix (done without the band’s input as mono was still the priority back in 1967), and Giles Martin’s 2017 stereo remix. I highly recommend listening to all three versions.

Pretty cool that this came up on the anniversary of Closer’s release. This is one of the most important post-punk albums ever.

5/4 should be Dave Brubeck Day as well as Star Wars day. This album is why.

Their first album not withstanding, this was their REAL debut as far as I’m concerned. Instead of the one-day live-in-the-studio documentation of a typical Sabbath club set (complete with wanky solo-instrument solos), we get eight focused tracks that truly demonstrate what the band was capable of.

The album is a classic and a fine line successfully straddled between blues rock and synth, proving that Gibson Lee Pauls and MiniMoogs could peacefully coexist on the same record. But my favorite memory associated with this album still remains the incident in 1984 when Black Flag invaded the DJ booth at a club they were playing in London and made the DJ play this album from beginning to end before they’d even go onstage and play.