Like a dish that's got loads of great ingredients cooked at the wrong temperature, disappointingly slow, smug and thin-sounding in places, I should like Moby, but I don't. During the first half, I wanted to listen to better ambient music, actively bored. Some great samples of better music. Warmed to the album as it came became an ambient album proper in the second half.
Traditional rock and roll made me want to swing dance again (other than Devil in her heart, which is a fun salsa segue). Guitar occasionally takes it up a notch. I imagine it would have been great live and a bit looser. I wanna be your man is the highlight.
I loved every track on this on first listen. Another listen diminished it slightly but still a very high 4.
Great fun, an organ solo! A couple of excellent tracks, didn't have the depth to score higher though. High 3
Really liked this, chilled out hip hop, some nice base, bit of sax. Would put this on when I'm working and need to focus.
I found challenging to key into; I needed to step into listening as the first track progressed—moments of an almost estuary thom yorke. Interesting use of drone, experimental jazz was something you'd need to be in the mood for but I think I was today. Strong 3
There are great tracks on this album but I found a the transitions jarring. A glam rock power house start gives way to a a-tonal song that I'm not sure has an end. Then what follows is a fun series of rock/folk/punk tracks that I'm not sure count as any thing more than high fidelity experiments. 3 stand out tracks. I'd have kept the three good tracks and the finale and kept working. Blue Orchid, My Doorbell and The Denial Twist plus I'm Lonley as it's a solid answer to a question that wasn't quite asked.
I'm an 80s child who likes funk, saxophones, jazz, and spoken word, so this seemed very accessible. I'd happily have this on in the background. Occationally some of the lyricism/rhyme I think suffers from time passed on slower tracks, it's hard to unimagine the 35 years between then and now that telegraph what probably once sounded punchy. More uptempo tracks feel tighter/fresher. That said Princess of the Possee was great. Remixes didn't add anything imo.
Lost my original notes! Great riffs, strong beat, lots to love here. Loved the tracks as they came up, and noted a good few as they came up. I enjoyed the listen but in hind sight nothing moved me emotionally. High 3
I liked having listened to first half of this, like an immersive sound bath with all the layers of texture, some nice base and saxophone in places, lots of interesting percussion. I just can't imagine this being something you listen to all the time. The second was nice enough but nothing of note.
There is so much variation in guitar styles out of the gate all, exquisite. Then bam, Dazed and Confused, the drums, the bass, the guitar, the vocals... the little call-and-answers underneath are just lovely. The blues standards that could have just been filler they really added something to! Also just really nicely recorded and remastered.
Beautiful clean vocals a solid synth-pop album. I think if I didn't know the work on either side, I would like this even more. I want to listen to this more, though.
There are a good few excellent tracks on this where he's being vulnerable, his voice is beautiful and the lyrics are strong. Some good album tracks. Then a few where the lyrics come across as angry teenage attempts at profound political insight. Overall the tracks that already know well I enjoyed but I wouldn't rush to listen to the whole album again.
This album came out when I was 16; a lot of people at school loved it; I the contrarian, therefore thought it was naff. My assumption was going into this listen that nostalgia would override my anti-Ibiza alcopop snobbery... this didn't really play out. I liked a lot of what was going on: Build it Up, Tear It Down and Soul Surfing are great. Love Island is an absolute banger. There are loads of great samples and layering, but it's also crass and a bit lightweight in places; the big hit singles can stay at the foam parties with the WKD.
Clean pared back folk, a great listen from start to finish
Liked the rap, and the music, but the sung vocals took me away from wanting to listen to it more. Not so keen on the pet shop boys style bits.
It's very pretty, but I don't feel like I get it. Still nice tracks though "I know there's an answer" was good. I'm missing something.
Accomplished, lots to love!
What a voice! The more produced tracks with Mark Ronson are certainly punchier but the rawness on the other tracks is still great. I love the mix of jazz, big band, two tone and pop.
Catching up on yesterday's... I used to listen to a lot of punk and ska.
This was great fun but I pretty much like anything with this style of drumming 🤣
Some stuff I loved, some weaker bits. Would listen again, made me want to discover more Rush.
My review of this is very influenced by the fact that I originally listened to this over two days. I'd had to break my listen yesterday afternoon so listened to the last 3 tracks this morning. My experience was so different I ended up going back and having a second listen. First time through Liam's vocal style and stretched vowels dominated, not always grating but overpowering. Second time the music came to the front, the guitar and percussion uncovered. Both times Supersonic and Cigarettes and Alcohol stood out, Married with Children was also a nice finish, I'd have liked to have more of that.
I listened to this album quite a bit as a teen. Funky laid back hip hop with some nice trumpets and bass lines. Where there are heavy guitars I don't think they add anything, "Scooby snacks" and the very chill "I Can't get with that" were highlights for me. I don't think when I first heard this I'd have really known "we have all the time in the world" except maybe from bond so all I can think is were they trying to bring it to a new audience in a time where music was less accessible... either way it's not a great cover and didn't add anything. Towards the end of the album it drops off but it still stands up in the main.
It's just a great album from start to finish.
Not my thing, I get there's talent but I think even this more nuanced or intelligent gangster rap still fundamentally is situated in a hyper masculine point of view that I'm never going to connect with. 2
I think this is great, psychedelic and melodic. 4 for me!
So zen, I would happily have this on while doing things. Nice tracks a few little highlights, really liked the little fishes, very evocative.
I like this, it's great fun, humorous, camp, over-the-top drama. Drums are brilliant and the guitars are all excellent, this music is meant to be belted, by air guitar-wielding nerds worshipping at the feet of a 20ft tall papier mache zombie. I love the rhythm of 22 Acacia Avenue, a bouncy moshable tune. The number of the beast and Run to the Hills are genre-defining. British heavy metal doesn't need to be taken seriously just let the amped up proggy lines take you on a joy ride. 4/5
I liked it! The jazz drums are great, I liked the guitar lines, and the harmonica was beautiful. Yes, it was slow, but considered and controlled.
Not for me, occational moments I liked. But also... there was a tuba and I couldn't get over it being Randy Newman's voice.
The singles are iconic but even the less well known quieter tracks have a almost cinematic quality. Beautiful layers of texture run across the pop first half and the more experimental second. It's wild to have an album that seemlesly manages to celebrate Irish folk and push the boundaries into experimental pop. Strong 4
You can feel the sticky carpets. A whole album dedicated to the local lads living in big towns and provincial English cities and their nights out when all the uni kids have gone home. Fake tan, lager, idiotic banter. But the music is as good as this wave of indy/garage rock got. Frenetic guitars and countering bass add to the picture of a youthful summer - old enough to think you're an adult but too young to worry about the rent.
I really liked some of this, great hip hop, made me want to get up and dance, the start was electric. The second half dropped off too much for me. Strayed into macho nonsense without anything musically interesting enough to forgive it. Low 3.
80s synth-pop, quite liked having it on, but nothing stood out really. Good but forgettable. 3/5
I like this album, Big stadium rock with some Muse classics. Would listen to this loud.
What a find, how have I never listened to this before. It's like finding a room in your house you've not been into before in a dream. Sublime
Love this, looking forward to hearing where this goes next! Solid punk, then veers into new romantic—loads of negative space between elements, like the playing with pitch and pace. Great vocalisations.
I like the album, but think there's probably a more typically Motown album I'd like more. The drums on some tracks in particular are really great. Some of the Latin rhythms though weren't my cup of tea. 3 for me
I didn't really work out the band or the album's identity - stylised 70s concept, 00s rock, comic rock??? If there was one thing they'd gone all in with along the lines of the stronger songs I'd have got it's inclusion. That said a couple of the stronger songs are good - low 3
The relentlessness of the rhythm is refreshing. Really liked this. Really consistent drive carries through while the vibe of the singing is both varied and congruent. Just really good fun high 4.
Some nice bits of guitar here and there but otherwise forgettable.
I liked this, (we didn't listen to the creepy track). I liked the psychedelic folk even the Arthurian track, Sunshine Superman and season of the witch were highlights. 4
The level of nostalgia attached to this album for an elder millennial cannot be understated; this was the soundtrack to our early teens and a foundation stone in convincing us gen x would always be cooler than we were. Most things from the early 90s with that level of affection attached crumble under real inspection... This is not in that category.
Best listened to with some volume, surprisingly varied for an album where every track earns it's space, insainly energetic, still remarkable.
A laid back Sabbath on this album, melodic and lighter than the Sabbath I think of. Changes and Under the sun/Every day comes and goes are probably my highlights. Very listenable but missing the big hits that mark their best albums. 4
This was a nice listen, I don't think I'd heard of them before, but this would be something I'd put on when I'm walking about and not in a hurry. Laid back, chilled. Strong 3
This is the musical equivalent of a Jason Statham movie, yes it's loud and brash, yes the writing may not be the best, yes if there was this much cheese on a pizza I might remove it. But it's fun, cheesey, loud, brash, in your face. I like the hair metal guitars, and the loud drums, I think it's completely mad that a band could have this almost delusional level of confidence out of the gate. I will defend my memories of back to back air guitar-wielding to sweet child of mine many many times with the same level of energy I would the Beekeeper (which is worth a watch). Is this a great album no, is there great music on this album... maybe. It makes me happy.
I love how weird this is, fun, glam that stays away from Slade-esque silliness. Quite edgy elements under the humour and faultless and almost unbelievable falsetto. Might go to a 4!
I think I'm pretty tolerant of sonic exploration and mixing up different ideas, but this just seemed like the band had said yes to every idea regardless of quality. A series of bland non-sequiturs. 1
Really nice, accoustic, grunge adjacent liked it a lot.
A missing piece that takes you from 70s punk proper and assertive at the door of 80s post punk. Really enjoyed this in particular the title track. Solid 4
Lovely to listen to again, one of the best. I think this is top 10 ever
From the opening bars this was a beautiful rediscovery. Each track fitted exactly where it belongs. Wonderful.
Some tracks were fun, some I could imagine on a night out, some were... lacking in maturity. Music made up for some of the weaker lyrics 3 overall
This was good, I think I'd rate it higher if I was walking with it on headphones. Great covers, stayed the right side of schmaltz, the tracks are big which her voice demands. Solid 3, on another day could have been a 4.
Fun, synth-pop. Liked it felt like I'd like to check out other tracks.
So strong out of the gate and then nice enough but a little flat after that
I've never listened to Creedence before, but I've heard a few of these tracks, though. Great fun, a somogesboard of country, rock and roll, motown, protest rock. 4
Very high 4
Great, but not as good as LZ1. Incredible musicianship. Long solos can be taken as indulgent, but the quality is so high that I just leaned into it. Liked the bluesy bits, the psychedelic bits and the hard rock bits. Very listenable.
Beautiful, lush, expansive tracks. This album is perfectly structured you feel the big open really announces itself, the middle takes you on a sonic journey, and the end tied everything up so you knew you were on the last track. Jazz drums, 60s cinematic strings, clean - clean guitar, 90s keys and a beautiful voice come together into something both complex and simple at the same time. Easy 5
A meander through a psychedelic folk album with a surprising amount of orchestra. Quite a few tracks seemed to belong somewhere else, mexican, Dylan, 50s ballad. Some of the psychedelic lyrics were odd, I can't remember another song on snot... nice though 3/5
Really liked most of this, the cover of sweet thing with the blackbird lyrics at the end seemed maybe a little self indulgent but in the whole the album flowed nicely in a clear two parts. Low 4
I would never put on Irish folk, but enjoyed a lot of this. Loads of great musicianship. I wouldn't say it felt very coherent as an album though and occasionally lulled. 3 overall
There's a fair amount to love on this album... if you removed the words. Tiny Dancer is a great album start. There's a tiny harmonic on the guitar at the start of the title track that is just such a lovely little tone. The layers of guitar, piano, then band, then orchestra all build in the most part really nicely. The recording quality and musicality are really, really high, every instrument is lovely... and Elton's voice is great. But, most of the lyrics are absolute bobins, which wouldn't matter if they weren't quite long ballads, including a very questionable Native American epic, it just feels like a beautifully produced album about nothing much at all...
Really liked this, but it's so low energy. For me that sort of means it can only be background music or I switch off. I think that caps it at a 3.
Beautiful voice, very 90s, just gets a 4 I think. Play dead bring on it would have made that more secure...
Not my thing, if had stuck with the funk I think it would have worked better for me, bit long.
Perfect chilled out afternoon record 5
Very dull as an album but, although they're not my cup of tea, the singles are competent pop songs I'd give it 1.5 if it were possible but 1 feels harsh
An American musical smorgasbord, loved the folk and country, steel guitar was a real treat. I've never heard of Wilko but it didn't surprise me they were from Chicago. Lots of familiar elements that made it feel slightly nostalgic even on a first listen. 4
MJ Cole isn't for me, Elizabeth Troy has a beautiful voice. Occasional bits I thought sounded OK, I see was the highlight, some of the more ambient meandering keyboard parts to tracks or bits where the beat picks up and, then it just turns into more garage. Way too long.
A great album with a distinct sense of humour, not sure it's my favourite Smiths album though. Strong 4
Loved this, just faded slightly at the end
Joyous, bit punk, bit ska, all briliant and still fresh sounding. Elivs Costello's production did a good job creating something just cohesive enough, I felt if it was cleaned up you'd have lost the political tone. 5
I'm not quite sure what I make of it. It's nice, peculiar in a good way. Low 3 I think
Love this, listened the the US version which is pretty perfect.
Never heard of this group, quite like folk in general though so was looking forward to it. First track I wasn't sure on but everything after was great
I quite liked the rap rock and metal, the quieter bits I found a bit... Bland. Good in places but there's better metal. 3
Nice enough. Lovefool is a great track, but other than that most of the album lacked oomph.
This album was so big it formed a good part of the soundtrack to my early teens, I probably listened to Alanis before I heard Janis or Joni so this would have been the first female singer songwriter I really listened to. For that reason I'm probably unable to be objective in any way but this is a straightforward 5
David Grey - Not for me, bland. There are some nice moments but then he keeps singing 2
Really loved hearing this again. Loads of singles, great mix of guitar styles, great energy.
One of my favourite albums of all time
