Muddy Water - Hard Again 1977
I like the tones, the performances and the energy. I understand completely why this is included in the list. I get how foundational MW is to rock n roll and you'll never catch me being dismissive of him.
That said, the blues bores the shit out of me. I've been playing music for 30 years and like any good rock n roller, I started with the blues, Muddy Waters included. I seem to remember having a Jimi Hendrix album where he just covered MW. I'm not going to claim I could join a blues jam and be amazing, but the mechanics of this style are so familiar, there's nothing that surprises me.
I'll still give this three stars because the overdriven harmonica is pretty rad and MW will always get my respect.
It's really interesting to hear Nirvana stripped back. You can make out the foundation of their sound, and something that I think is common to their grunge peers, which is a sense of ugliness. Cobain held up a mirror and while he was a great percentage of what was reflected back, he also captured the casual disregard of nature and humanity.
I was 16 when this came out. I remember exactly where I was when I first hear Nevermind. That album was profoundly influential to who I am. I'd slipped away from Nirvana for this and In Utero, even though Nirvana dominated MTV. Revisiting this brings back a ton of memories and I'm grateful for that. Hearing the nuts and bolts of what made this band with the added context of 30 years of being a musician myself is incredible.
Ugh. It's well done. But it's just sad bastard music for middle aged English ladies. I have my own particular brand of sad bastard music and I don't want to listen to that shit anymore. Glad for the impetus to listen but won't be revisiting.
I love this album. I love that it's recorded like heavy jazz. I love that Tony was obviously influenced by CSN&Y in his solo for Planet Caravan. I love how many iconic songs are on this album. Such a great album and my first five star since starting this project!
There are some interesting textures and time signatures on this album. Stevens is pretty clearly a creative songwriter and I appreciate that. The album is way to long and he lingers on some ideas for too long as s well.
Pretty good. The Kinks are interesting songwriters. But when I want to listen to the snark that they always have, I'd rather put on Lola Vs Powerman.
Great album for the time. Easy to understand why this is such an important record. Not really something that I would put on all the time. Not a fan of David Byrne's vocal style.
It's pretty incredible that I'm so far into life without focused listening to Sonic Youth. That said, I'm confident with every time I've tried and found them not really matching my personal aesthetic. I could see myself trying to emulate some of the elements of their sound.
I love the bass tones. Drummer is interesting. Vocals are where I disconnect. I can see myself putting this on under various conditions but it's not a favorite.
Double album of this is TOO much. I hate how out of tune the last song is.
Didn't make it very far into the album. It's funny how often my bandwidth for something new relies on the vocals. I'm starting to get the feeling that the footing that this project takes, that I HAVE to listen and appreciate these albums is making me a little more resistant to getting through them than I might otherwise be. Also all of the albums have been insanely long
Great album. I've listened to this before as it's on a lot of lists. I love the intro and the outro, the songs keep your head moving constantly. When I imagine what things were like in the early 70s in American cities, this is a great soundtrack for that. Don't know if that's influenced by or genuinely reflecting the reality of that. But it still transports me to a place that may have existed when I didn't.
Yep it's pretty good. The production makes me want to listen to 80s Bruce Springsteen which makes me want to listen to 70s Bruce Springsteen. I won't be spending a ton of time with this one.
Good stuff. I struggle to separate the art from the artist and I think Mustaine is a huge douchebag but this album is a fun listen and I'm going to try to keep it in rotation for a bit.
Nope. I'm done with Johnny Cash.
Saccharine. Players are pretty great. Songwriting sounds like the band knew what they were doing. Lyrics are pretty whack.
I've heard this referred to as jazz rap. Glad to listen to this.
Fun listen. I remember a guy who was a year older than me when I was a teenager who liked this band a lot and I thought he was really cool. It's funny how I can recall him emulating this in his mannerisms. Life is weird.
So good and so important. I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this album. 30+ years later and it still gets me going. So glad to put it on. 5 out of 5 all day.
Ehhhhhh I tried. I promise I tried. I got pretty far into this album before every instinct I've ever developed as someone who loves music started to rebel. This well-executed. It doesn't sound like shit. The "shredding" on I Don't Mind is fucking obnoxious. This whole record just reeks of someone who wants something to say but can't come up with anything worth hearing.
This is good stuff. The baby doll voices are a little off-putting but holy shit does she have pipes.
It gives me super Tom Petty vibes somehow. Like, she listened to a lot the Heartbreaker's and brought a synth to the party. That's high praise.
Interesting songwriting. Interesting voice that swings into grating at times. It's funny how there's a vibe to lyrics from this time that I can only describe as Boomer. Probably won't listen again but glad I got to.
Genuinely enjoyed it. Twelve bar blues songs get stale for me really quickly but the mix of different song structures keeps the album moving.
I used to love the Doors as a teenager and it's easy for me to forget that. I love how feral Jim Morrison seems at times on this album and the playing and tones are all great. So grateful to be reminded.
I'm sure this vibes for someone but I'm not one of those people.
I respect what's going on here but the relentless vibrato was too much for me.
