As somebody who wasn't really familiar with the Pharcyde, this album kinda reminds me of old school WuTang beats, or Souls of Mischief, but far less serious lyrics. There are definitely some good songs on this album, but nothing that really stood out and wowed me, it felt a little too goofy for me to take it really seriously. Most of the songs had kind of uninspired, repetitive, and unmemorable hooks, but the diversity of rapping styles I think made this an interesting listen. Definitely a product of the time and place it was made, and while I enjoyed listening to it, nothing stood out as particularly noteworthy. Just kind of okay, 6.8/10
When this album came up, I audibly said "Fuck Yeah!" After listening to this album, I definitely was reminded of bands that came far after this was released, and it's easy to see how influential this was on the alt/punk/grunge scenes that followed in the 90's. While this album might bot be as well regarded as Doolittle, and mostly is remembered for the "Fight Club Song", I think it stands on it's own two feet as an incredible album that's worth a listen for anybody who even remotely enjoys punk. As a whole, I think this album really is carried by the instrumentals and what Joey Santiago is doing on the guitar, and somewhat held back by Black Francis' vocals. "Where is my Mind" has probably the most "normal" vocals on the album (which is saying a lot, because he was really going for it on that song, and it really worked), but I felt like on a lot of the other tracks, Francis was really trying out some things that just didn't work. That said, this album still absolutely fucks. 8.4/10
This is the Beatles, of course it's amazing. Not the greatest of their discography in my opinion, Beatles albums are like pizza, there really is no such thing as a bad one. 9.1/10, would and will listen again.
Probably one of my favorite debut albums of all time, Hot Fuss is an absolute banger of a way to kick off a career in music. Legend has it that this album was set to release in 2001, until Brandon Flowers heard "Is This It" and scrapped the album, saying they needed to do better, and they sure did. Obviously, little needs to be said about "Mr. Brightside" and "Somebody Told Me" that hasn't been said before, but there's a reason why those songs have come to define what it means to be Caucasian. They're certified suburban classics. That said, if this album were a baseball lineup, the half-of-famers aren't the only ones scoring runs on this album. "All These Things I've Done", "Smile Like You Mean It", and "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" would still be the best songs on most of their contemporary artists' albums, and the back half of the album is entirely comprised of solid to better-than-average songs. While not every song is the most memorable, there aren't really any tracks that I ever feel a strong desire to skip, and an album entirely comprised of unskippable songs is worthy of some of the highest praise a record can receive. 9.4/10
An iconic and timeless album that's incredibly worthy of all of the praise it has received over the years.
A classic album that encapsulates the emerging counterculture scene of New York in the mid 60's. Lou Reed's singing style might not be for everybody, but the weird off-kilter flavor of punk on this album holds up for me. That said, it's definitely not an album I'd recommend to everybody. If you enjoy smoking "on occasion", have ever participated in an orgy, or have 3 or more cats, this album is probably for you. On the other hand, if you decided to live in an HOA, drink light beer, or golf regularly, you may want to pass on this album and go fire up some Zac Brown Band or something.
An interesting album by an artist I've never heard of, making music in a language I don't speak, but also kind of a vibe. Nothing really struck me as particularly interesting or outstanding about the album sonically speaking, but it's also hard to judge a song with lyrics you can't understand. Probably won't revisit or recommend this to anybody, but I enjoyed it well enough.
Really upset that this guy didn't mention trucks or light beers once. A pretty excellent album with a lot of classics covered with a completely different sound. If you like big band, old school R&B, this album will definitely be for you, but personally this wasn't my favorite, mostly because of the genre. Still pretty great to listen to, and I definitely enjoyed it.
Love this album, I used to listen to a lot of the beach boys when I was a kid but never really listened to this album or any of the songs on it. I forgot how fun they are as a band to listen to. There's really nothing groundbreaking or distinctive sounding about this album compared to their other earlier works, but that's okay in my mind. The Beach Boys found a formula for making hits, with a talky, kind of nasally lead singer accompanied by a harmonizing chorus, over some catchy, simple and easy going instrumentals. It just works, and it doesn't really get old.
This album feels like a witch is casting a spell on you, but not like, a real witch. I mean like a self described "witch" who is really some white girl with a nose ring and a book on Wicca who asks to bum a cigarette off of you, but then changes her mind and says gross when she sees it's not a Green American Spirit.
I like punk, and I like some of Sonic Youth's other music, but by and large this album didn't really do it for me. I can respect the use of distortion and feedback to create a cacophonous sound that some people find appealing, but I don't think they really nailed the execution. Most of it just feels like they were fucking around and just yanking random knobs without rhyme or reason. I get that punk is about breaking rules, but if the rule you're breaking is "make music that sounds good" it kind of makes it hard to have a mainstream appeal. Kim Gordon's voice really annoyed me on just about every track on this album, and it felt like she really went out of her way to sing poorly. Maybe I'm just too much of a dweeb, but this album wasn't for me.
Morrissey sucks as a person, but this album doesn't.
This album rules. Just angry, classic punk rock that gets you amped up to do anything, feels very fitting for this day and age. Never has a band/album name lived up to it's title better, an all time classic of the genre.
Uhhhhhhhhhh...what?? I kinda like it, but this is a weird one for sure. This album is comprised entirely of vibes, it doesn't really feel musical at all, it's more like 37 minutes of the weird, rhythmic but abstract intros to songs, and one song that sounds a lot more traditional in the middle of it. Even that song, "Moonshake" takes a solid 45 second break from singing to include various children's toys like kazoos and slide-whistles. I can't even begin to imagine what the recording process for this is like. It's like if they spent the whole time they were supposed to be writing the album doing copious amounts of acid, forgot they had to make a record that day, had one song planned, and then just kinda played random, discordant nonsense for the rest of the time while they stalled. Actually insane.
But I kinda dig it.
This album is a really cool snapshot of the time period and the culture of the early 70's, and you can see how one of the all time masters of Jazz helped shape what funk and disco would eventually develop into in the coming years. This album is just so god damned smooth, just seemingly endless funky grooving and improvisation that never seems to miss a beat.
There's nothing wrong with this album per se, but for some reason I just don't quite like it. It's very slow and sentimental music, and I think I really like the Bad Seeds, it's Nick Cave I think I have a problem with. I feel like his vocals kind of just follow along with the melody of the song and like he wrote the lyrics after the rest of the song was completed. His deep voice isn't particularly remarkable, and it kind of feels starkly contrasted to the rest of the instruments without adding much. It's almost like he's a really talented karaoke singer.
Truly some baby-making music. Honestly, every song on this album was just good listening
Nile Rogers absolutely cooked here. His guitar playing can be recognized from miles away, and is as distinctively his as Carlos Santana's or Eddie Van Halen's. This album is just a fun disco record, not really trying to be anything other than what it is, and it is one of the best disco records of all time.
Some excellent, mellow indie music vibes
This album is sick, the Sonics are kinda like the Beach Boys cooler older brother. The vocals feel very much like punk before there was punk, but the instrumentals are very "Johnny B Goode". I had never heard of this band but I'll definitely be giving them another listen.
Not really for me, but I also don't like 80's/90's pop, so that completely tracks.
When I was a kid, my parents had a mix tape with "Alison" on it, and I absolutely loved that song. Later, I would sing it at my friend Allison to annoy her, even though she had never heard the song. Years later, I had completely forgotten all about "Alison", Allison, and Elvis Costello, who was one of those artists I knew of on the peripherally, but had never really explored. This is exactly what I love about this site and this project; if this album hadn't come up, I'd probably continue my life only knowing Elvis Costello for "Alison", and man, would I be missing out. This album rocks, and reminds me a lot of the music my parents would play for me when we went on road trips. I don't think many songs on here really jumped out to me except for "Welcome To The Working Week" and "Watching The Detectives" (and "Alison") of course, but I didn't really feel the need to skip any of the songs on here either.
In baseball, there's a running joke about players belonging in the "Hall of Fame", and players who belong in the "Hall of Very Good". This album belongs in the "Hall of Very Good".
When I first listened to this, I was kind of in a bad mood, and wasn't really paying too much attention to what I was listening to. I was going to leave my review, and then I was like, "you know what, let me fire this up one more time, get another sense of how it" and I really dug it the second time, it's a very slow, subtle burn that I think gets better the more you really pay attention to it. It's subtle, but it's there.
Never heard of this band before, they're kind of a run of the mill psychedelic rock group from the late 60's. Meh
A true classic and a banger front to back, RIP Ozzy
A classic with some excellent songs
How is this his first album? It still sounds incredible to this day, no notes.
Ehh, didn't really do it for me.
Okay this is the kind of shit I was hoping to find when I signed up for this site. Hell yeah!
If I'm being purely objective, this is an absolutely phenomenal album, although it always makes me sad to revisit Kanye after everything that's happened over the last 5-10 years. That said, this album is a masterpiece and is still so so easy to listen to, even after so many of this album's contemporaries sound incredibly dated. The only thing about this album that's aged poorly are the skits (which every rapper decided to do in every album for 2003-2007 for some horrible reason) and the guy singing them. Other than that, this album is incredible, especially considering that this is his FIRST ALBUM. Insane.
An absolute classic by a real, red-blooded American who loves his country so much he dedicated a whole album to it. All jokes aside, this album is still phenomenal, even coming from somebody who has no nostalgic attachment to it. I hear they call him "The Boss" because he's in charge of all white men over the age of 40, and this album is part of the reason why. It's got incredible highs, with mega-hits like Born in the USA (which isn't a song I particularly love, but I can appreciate), I'm on Fire, Glory Days and Dancing in the Dark, which is an absolute classic. What makes a great album though are the songs in between the highs, the "mediums and lows", but this album really doesn't stray far off course. It stays pretty true to it's sound the whole time and none of the songs suck, which is really, rare in my opinion, and really a sign of phenomenal talent. It also doesn't really feel like every song kind of sounds "the same", a problem lots of album suffer from, but Bruce really goes all kinds of directions on this album, and really changes everything up from song to song in a way that makes it incredibly easy listening. Just phenomenal.
This band is pretty sweet, I've never heard of anything they've made, but this album is pretty cool. I wouldn't say this is a "diamond in the rough", but it's at least a garnet or some other minor gem. The guitar riffs in this are super groovy, and the bass line absolutely rocks, and comes across super clearly as it's own distinctive harmony rather than just the base notes of the melody. As somebody who likes some early punk but gets turned off by obnoxious or shitty vocals, this band really delivered, playing some easier listening rock/punk with decisively inoffensive vocals. I wouldn't say they're great, but they certainly don't hurt.
This isn't an album I would tell anybody they have to check out, but I'll probably save a couple songs to my playlists and vibe out to them once in a while.
Another all time sex playlist inclusion by Marvin Gaye, the GOAT of making music people make babies to.
Loved "The Weight" but the rest of the album was kind of forgettable and meh for me.
Honestly not much to say, just a random, somewhat forgettable Americana album
A classic, although not quite my favorite Zeppelin.
My absolute favorite album of all time. A perfect 10/10, absolutely no skippable songs to be seen.
