Feels like a standard enough rock album from the time, but I like the way the record balances more layered, impressive musical moments against more stripped back melodic moments. In all, I don’t feel like this album is trying to make a huge show of itself and I appreciate that. Feels genuine.

Good background music. Pairs well with action scenes or fast drives.

Stylish, bouncy and at times iconic. Easy listening for any activity.

I really liked “Death on Two Legs” and enjoyed “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon” and “God Save the Queen” to a slightly lesser extent. Bohemian Rhapsody is still classic, too. The other tracks are an odd listen for me, though I’d imagine they make for a great live performance… with exception given to “‘39”…

Every track has this wonderful energy about it that drives the music forward, resulting in multiple satisfying payoffs per song. There’s a great sense of unity between the tracks too, but that doesn’t stop them from have a good mix of timbre and varied vocal approaches throughout! Songs lead into one another beautifully and with intention, lending the record a great flow between highs and lows from start to finish. It’s great, or at least it’s right up my alley.

Feels like a standard enough rock album from the time, but I like the way the record balances more layered, impressive musical moments against more stripped back melodic moments. In all, I don’t feel like this album is trying to make a huge show of itself and I appreciate that. Feels genuine.

Not good! I won’t pretend to know much if anything about punk, but if this is it, I’d rather listen to congressional hearings. Repetitive, lazy chords and lyrics in the first few tracks give the listener necessary context for the same repetitive lazy chords and lyrics experienced in later tracks. Am I crazy or do tracks 7-9 literally have the actual exact same guitar progression?? Listen to Ramones Ramones if you want 29 minutes to feel like 29 hours.

This record does a great job building towards exciting climaxes and modulations constantly, even when, like in “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets,” the direction taken is completely out of left ballpark. “School’s out,” while boasting juvenile lyrics, sets the stage for a wide sound moving forward, especially leading into “Luney Tune”, which is a surprise hit due to its instrumental and melodic variety. Going forward it becomes clear that the records greatest strength is that of its ability to seamlessly blend timbre and styles, like in the track “Blue Turk,” crashing big band energy against hard rock. The following tracks, “Public Animal #9” and “Alma Matter” provide polar ends of earlier track’s smoother blending, yet the tracks play to the strength that an extra minute or two provide, taking these ideas to a contextual extreme. “Grand Finale” wraps things up, acting as a sort of highlight reel of the many sounds that came before. It’s skippable when compared to the rest for sure, but feels like a nice bonus after the more thematic and candid ending of the previous track. A great record overall that kept me hooked from start to finish.