I knew of the Peppers before this album, but what a game changer! Critical and commercial acclaim brought many ears to this release that might not have given them a chance. "Give It Away", "Under the Bridge", "Suck My Kiss", and "Breaking the Girl" stand out from the rest. Another Rick Rubin production I am very fond of.
My lukewarm response to this one may have more to do with my appreciation of 1995 releases by Offspring, Rancid, and Elastica. RFTC are willing and able, but didn't really appeal to me.
Not gonna lie. My taste is more funk than offered here. She's just not my bag, baby.
If someone had given this album to me for my 15th birthday, their timing would have been impeccable! That's the day it was released in the U.S. and it sounds like the neighboring Joan, Blondie, Pat, and Martha grooves spun daily on my turntable. This takes me back to my not-so-germ-free adolesence.
Five out of seven songs on this album were staples of FM radio within a year or two of being released. I really doubt anyone picked up the needle and skipped past the others, frankly. I am SO fortunate to have been such a music head, especially when I recall the wide diversity these ears have enjoyed. 40 minutes is all it takes to listen to "Aja". Do it!
Summer 1990. There was a little controversy over the cover design if memory serves me. Whatevs, Jane's was in rare form here. Rythms and riffs were awesome. Not a listen-to-every-track-repeatedly for me, but very good.
Two things surprized me about about this album. It's only seven songs covering 36 minutes, and there are more down tempo melodic numbers than disco dance anthems. Having been a club DJ in the early 80s I am a big fan of Nile Rodgers as a musician and producer.
You might not know it, but the Who recorded several shows performing "Tommy" in concert. They didn't like the recordings, so they booked a couple shows that became "Live At Leeds". Six songs in 37 minutes, three of them covers! 14 minutes of "My Generation". My favorite track is a raw and dangerous sounding "Shakin All Over".
This might be the Elton John Band at its best. The Taupin/John writing team was locked in, and even the guest musicians and vocalists made this particular double album only a very marginal risk. "Candle", "Bennie", "Goodbye", and "Saturday" are huge crowd pleasers - but deeper cuts like "Funeral" and "Alice" show Elton's closet was still full of creativity.
Love this album.
I have no doubt the Beach Boys made a huge impression on millions of teenagers around the World. That being said, I find myself moved by music from artists influenced by the Beach Boys more than the actual band. Pet Sounds is brought up as one of the landmark albums, but only two of those thirteen songs charted as hits. I enjoy "God Only Knows" better than anything else on this album. That's just me.
TNJ's Albums to Sample
Jazz, R&B, and soul music greats Joe Sample and Larry Carlton were more or less at the end of a long run of popularity in 1979 when "Street Life" was released. Personally, I think I hear their fingerprints on Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs. This album would be welcome on a lazy Sunday playlist.
Not EVEN atmospheric or background musicscapes like I've heard it might be, I found this 6 track (42 minute) collection refreshing and an easy first listen.
Blondie has been a favorite of mine for a long time. Like her friends Iggy, Bowie, and Joey - Blondie never sought to define themselves as New Wave or Punk Rock. Instead they wrote and produced songs from several genres and influences. I LOVE the album opener "Hanging On The Telephone" even today. Debbie wasn't blessed with a traditional beautiful voice like Linda Ronstadt or Pat Benatar, but you could HEAR her moxy and life experience of New Jersey/New York. There were 6 singles on this album, each another delicious flavor.
35 minutes, 14 songs. Every one of them a demonstration of how simple songwriting and recording can be if you happen to be these men at that time. "Nowhere Man" and "The Word" are my personal faves, but I knew the lyrics and the melodies like I wrote them myself.
Not my favorite Stones effort. This isn't the confident, bluesy swagger of the Rollers. It's almost like they're seeking something pop rock that their contemporaries had found. "Mother's Little Helper" and "Under My Thumb" appear here.
George Michael's follow up to "Faith" came just three years into his solo career. He was a major pop star who wanted more creative control, and with this album steered toward more emotional and soulful vocal showcases. "Praying For Time" and "Freedom 90" were here to satisfy his rabid fans, but the rest of the time George explored what was in his heart and on his mind. This is a good idea of what it sounds like when a pop star grows up.
Winwood brings a more progressive sound to this 1980 release. Electronic percussion and more synths than his back catalog gives this album an exploration feel. "While You See A Chance" and the title track are very easy to get comfortable with, and "Night Train" shows him never very far from his old friends like Clapton. An easy listen at 7 songs in 40 minutes.
I began to appreciate Nick Cave well after The Birthday Party and prefer his more gothic work to the psycho rave-up that I heard here. If you're a fan of Dallas' Reverend Heat, you may want to jump in the pool.
Where does this instrumental album from 1962 fit for me? I can hear these in a mixtape for a bar-b-q or pool party for sure. "Green Onions", "I Got A Woman", and "Comin Home Baby" all make good sense to me.
Lots of schtick before and after "I Can See For Miles". Not even a good comedy album.
Metal, funk, jazz, punk, alternative - unafraid to be who they are. 1988 was ready for "Cult of Personality", "Open Letter (to a Landlord)", and "Glamour Boys" and Living Colour STILL delivers the goods.
If you were born in 1980 or later, you might not recognize this title. This was like Alanis Morrisette's "Jagged Little Pill" in that it's a singing songwriter bringing her A game. The album won 4 Grammys, and delivered "I Feel the Earth Move", "So Far Away", "It's Too Late", "You've Got A Friend", "Where You Lead", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?", and my favorite "Smackwater Jack". I will recommend this to my granddaughters, hoping they will appreciate it as much as I have.
I don't think I can give this a fair review. It's not my bag, and the genre has been taken too lightly by most.
The two songs that lead off the album, "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love" are album rock staples and deservedly so. The remaining tracks aren't on the same level, and maybe why this group didn't have the longevity of some other so-called supergroups like Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
Bobby Womack's "The Poet" came after a self-imposed hiatus following the loss of his son and battle with drug addiction. He may not have been ready to attempt a comeback or a big hit. "If You Think You're Lonely Now" was a crowd pleaser and well received critically, but this wasn't a showstopper.
I'm still hearing the kind of middle-tempo, atmospheric, synthpop I was hearing from the 'Boys in the mid 1980s! I worked in clubs and Top 40 radio during their heyday, and they were very well received musically and lyrically. Behaviour might not have been as targeted as the earlier albums, but there was a quite a taste turnover during that time as well.
Mom always said, "If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all".
