1) I Ain't The One: Strong intro track.
2) Tuesday's Gone: Very inoffensive ballad, a bit too long for what it is. Tends to feel monotonous towards the end, but works as ambient noise for working or studying.
3) Gimme Three Steps: Arguably has the most distinct "Southern US" vibes. You either like that, or you don't. Personally, I'm generally not too fond of it here.
4) Simple Man: Good (simple) song. That's about it.
5) Things Goin' On: Again, very "Southern" instrumentation, "country" vibes. Again, more of a background noise track, maybe for a bar or a diner.
6) Mississippi Kid: Heavy "rural romanticism", which always risks slipping into kitsch. But it works here.
7) Poison Whiskey: A bit of a strange one. Stronger, more interesting composition than their more popular pieces. Lyrics borderline ridiculous though.
8) Free Bird: For a soft rock ballad, it actually pretty good. The guitar solo feels a bit too stretched out and somewhat articficially tacked on to extend the runtime.
A lot about this album works really well. The interweaving of longer slower ballads with more energetic shorter songs provides a good "texture". None of the tracks are outright bad. But I don't consider any of them breathtakingly good either.
Like most debut albums, it's missing a thematic throughline, instead coming across as a rather loose assortment of songs. Which is fair enough, not every album needs to be a concept album. Nonetheless I feel that some connective tissue would have benefitted this one in particular.
Admittedly not my favourite genre, at the same time admittedly decent songwriting and really good production.
Planet Telex: Slow, rough, atmospheric. As a singular song, I'd say it's not their best. But it works great as an album opener.
The Bends: A lot of things happening in this one. Really interesting structure, clearly the most ambitious song of the album. Really nice build-up and release of tension, more relief in this one song than there is in many other albums.
High And Dry: Very 1990s. Not the most complex composition, but perhaps the most catchy.
Fake Plastic Trees: Good song, great lyrics. Melodically a slight bit too uneventful for my taste.
Bones: Decent song, but pales a bit compared to other songs on the album.
(Nice Dream): Very strong, standout song for me. The contrast between the acoustic and the grungier parts effectively underlines lyrics' meaning.
Just: Of these twelve songs, probably the one with the most mainstream appeal. And also a really good, meaningful song.
My Iron Lung: A rather hypnotic piece. Immersive, powerful. Immersively claustrophobic.
Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was: Not my favourite, but a grower. A bit slow, but surprisingly refreshing in the chorus.
Black Star: Strong, very authentic and straightforward.
Sulk: Despite the guitar solo, the drums/percussion feel like the star of this track. Decent song overall.
Street Spirit: The last song of the album noticeably breaks the flow of the other songs. A lighter, brighter melody. And lyrics that pick up on the themes so far, but ultimately offer a more peaceful and accepting perspective on them.
All of the songs are introspective and share themes of a lament of personal stagnation, isolation and the felt futility of action. Compositionally, they flow into one another nicely, making for a very rewarding holistic listening experience.
Each song proves perfectly enjoyable on its own (though some more than others), yet this album as a whole is certainly more than just the sum of its parts.
1) War Pigs: Lyrics might be a bit too on the nose, but everything else about this one is perfect.
2) Paranoid: An undisputed all-time metal classic for a good reason. It's rare that a song sports this kind of relentless energy.
3) Planet Caravan: A strange fit for this album, but what a song!
4) Iron Man: I feel that this tracks reliance on that guitar riff is both its main strength and weakness. It's so dominant that everything else seems to take a backseat.
5) Electric Funeral: Frantic. Yet also, strangely gloating? Sarcastic? A credible soundscape for a nuclear apocalypse.
6) Hand of Doom: Heavy, uncompromising. The lead guitar playing a sweet escapist high over the bass' harsh reality.
7) Rat Salad: Short, purely instrumental. The drum solo sounds outright experimental, at least by this band's standards. Adds very little to the album, but I don't mind it.
8) Fairies Wear Boots: Fun lighthearted little song to close out the whole thing.
Consistently strong from start to finish. Some of Black Sabbath's (and metal's) most defining hits, as well as some "hidden gems", all unified by the band's signature sound.
Couldn't possibly ask for more than that.
1) Blue Rondo à la Turk: Sounds like program music, doesn't it? Exotic composition in a way that other genres couldn't pull off quite as naturally as jazz can.
2) Strange Meadow Lark: The calmest, smoothest, most ambient piece of the album. Surprisingly varied.
3) Take Five: If there's any jazz tune that one can describe as having significant pop-cultural impact, it's this one.
4) Three to Get Ready: Having to follow Take Five, this one feels like a bit of a let down. Nonetheless, I do appreciate the sense of movement that the piano provides so consistently throughout.
5) Kathy's Waltz: Amusing little piece. Starts out nowhere close to being a waltz. Then, a little more than a minute in, you notice that somehow the drums have changed their rhythm. And by the end you've forgotten that it was ever anything but 3/4.
6) Everybody's Jumpin': The last two tracks are somewhat simpler in structure than the rest, but still quite interesting and enjoyable. Personally, I don't particularly like what the piano's doing in its parts here all that much.
7) Pick up Sticks: Some continuity to this one from the previous piece, not only because of their common time signature. Of the two, I do enjoy this one more.
An album that resonates on many levels: The immediate emotional, the carnal rhythmic, the intellectual academic. Music that you can feel, vibe to, analyze.
While the tracks do go along reasonably well with one another, I find myself caring more for some individual pieces than the album in its totality.
Without a doubt a very artistic endeavour. Compositions with all the technical prowess of a Bach fugue, but none of its rigidity.
But, still, maybe a bit too polished overall? Is it fair to say that it's lacking imperfections?
1) Born in the U.S.A.: Good song. You'd think the socio-political criticism and anti-nationalist sentiment was too on the nose, but apparently not blatant enough for most (US)Americans to get it. Which in itself adds a whole meta-layer of dramatic irony.
2) Cover Me: Solid song. Simple but effective.
3) Darlington County: Too formulaic and repetitive for my taste. Gets annoying past the 3-minute-mark.
4) Working on the Highway: I do like the catchy melody, but what's with the tonal dissonance between it and the subject matter?
5) Downbound Train: Interesting. Very monotonous melody, but that feels intentional given the subject matter. And the drums add a rebellious drive.
6) I'm On Fire: Rather short, quite energetic. Themes of obsession, using palpable imagery.
7) No Surrender: Strong, poetic song, albeit with a really strange introooohooohoho.
8) Bobby Jean: Not bad, but not particularly memorable either.
9) I'm Goin' Down: Strange one, in that I do enjoy the composition itself, but not so much the vocals.
10) Glory Days: Fun, upbeat, catchy. Not sure whether it's candidly revelling in nostalgia or looking at living in the past with a critical eye.
11) Dancing In the Dark: Great song. A bit poppier than the rest of the album. Solemn lyrics though, and generally relatable.
12) My Hometown: Nice track about the ups and downs of life, about how nothing stays the same, and how people still hold on to their past.
Some really good songs, some mediocre ones. But most notably, the album comes across as very disjointed. To the point where I'd argue that one of the songs coming on in a playlist or on the radio presents it more favourably than getting them back to back.
Sure, half of them are topical to living one's life in a declining environment. But the other half are most definitely not. And there's very little variety in the song-writing, for better and for worse.
Still, I have to applaud this album for producing so many high-quality commercial hits.
1) Runnin' with the Devil: Maybe the perfect showcase for Van Halen's sound. It just makes sense.
2) Eruption: Fitting title. The solo has an explosive energy and keeps escalating its motif. And every time you listen to it, it feels fresh.
3) You Really Got Me: A cover which arguably lacks the raw and dirty sound of The Kinks' original, but adds a certain playfulness that helps this version to stand on its own.
4) Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love: Almost entirely driven by the guitar riff. But, well, it is one damn legendary riff.
5) I'm the One: Quite interesting, incredible guitar play, and some good comedic spirit - particularly the acapella swingy shoobedooing intermission.
6) Jamie's Cryin': Most straightforward track. Also the softest, most easily agreeable, more pop than rock.
7) Atomic Punk: So over-the-top. Drifting into metal a bit. Why does it make me think of Troma flicks? Either way, it's fun.
8) Feel Your Love Tonight: Good, yet fairly standard rock song about buttering a girl up for sex.
9) Little Dreamer: Lovely song. Uplifting and addressing the "little dreamer" in all of us. It's calmness makes it a nice contrast to the other songs.
10) Ice Cream Man: Another cover. This time of a (frankly mediocre) blues song. Here very much transported into the classic rock genre, which works slightly better, but not well enough to save it from being the weakest song of the album.
11) On Fire: Fun. Great mood setter. I'd argue it would have worked better as an opener, but ending on it is nice as well.
This whole album is about establishing a sound. Defining a band's style. And it excels at it.
It has a bit of everything: Fast, slow. Loud, calm. Hard rock, soft rock, and anything inbetween. Sometimes blatant sexual innuendo, sometimes earnest heartfelt emotion. All of it keeps the attentive listener entertained.
There isn't much you can fault it for. Incredible debut.
Introduction: An almost overwhelmingly calm instrumental piece, at the same time burdened with a certain heaviness. Short but impactful.
Hazey Jane II: More uplifting than the lyrics would at first suggest. There is a carefree vibe to it.
At The Chime Of A City Clock: Jazzy. Full sound. The bassy harmonies make this a very entrancing listen.
One Of These Things First: This song has a very timeless quality to it. A melancholic sound and sentiment that can resonate with people of all eras.
Hazey Jane I: Works so much better as the guitar-only version that's out there. But in the full band version we find on this album, sadly the strings do overpower the vocals.
Bryter Layter: The title track originally opened the record's B-side, and like the other opener it is purely instrumental. Yet with a completely different character - more lithe and playful. Its melody is carried by a flute.
Fly: There's basically three voices in this song; the guitar, the strings, and the vocals. And each of them basically doing its own thing. I'm not even sure which I'd characterize as melody and which as counter-melody. But amazingly, they all come together in a surprisingly harmonious way.
Poor Boy: Leans very heavily into its jazz influences, fulfils all the clichés of that genre. A bit too much so for my tastes, which pains me to say, because I can see that this must have been a very personal song for Drake.
Northern Sky: An unconventional love song. Unconventional in its honesty and innocence, and in how introverted it is. Beautiful composition.
Sunday: The third instrumental track. It indeed does sound like Sunday. Laid-back, dreamy, happy.
Nick Drake is a much better songwriter than he is a singer. But that does not mean he's a particularly bad singer. Rather he's a particularly good songwriter.
He does have his very own style. English Folk, yes, but the melodic variations, harmonies and the jazzy instrumentation elevate it above just falling into the obscurity that genre.
The album ebbs and flows, goes through different motions and emotions, rests at appropriate times. Not every song hits the same, and not every song hits the the right notes for everyone. But the bigger picture it results in offers an aesthetic quality that I consider quite unique.
