Surprisingly tender like Napoleon’s eulogy for Marshal Lannes.

Initially somewhat underwhelming but elevated by a surprisingly dynamic and energetic second half. Highlights are Alone/Easy Target, Good Grief, For All the Cows, This is a Call, Big Me.

Having also listened to a lot of oldies falling asleep, I apparently loved Dion without knowing it. This album ruins my childhood memories. Stone this man to death* already. *this is not a serious threat to any authorities reading this

I’ve never listened to anything like this, very much into it. Difficult to pull off STX without sounding hokey, but its a additive here.

Great pop writer, YMMV on this era of music. For me, I was done by Look at Your Hands.

YMMV. Some songs run too long and there is a general “jam band vibe”. I found this album really captivating, some new riff, scale or time signature/arrangement change always felt right around the corner. Ear candy.

Bizarre. I don’t understand how this could be repeated listening…or even enjoyable listening. This is probably what silence sounds like for Stephen Miller.

I have never really liked the Beastie Boys, except for Sabotage (on this record — but not representative of the album as a whole) and No Sleep Till Brooklyn. I fully expected to give this album a 1. Then, I was pleasantly surprised by the range over the first couple of songs. The lead singer’s voice is pretty grating, but surprisingly (and refreshingly) there are large portions of this record that are solely instrumental. By itself the fact that there are large sections without lyrics elevates the album. This is really a soul-funk-jazz album quasi-masquerading as a Beastie Boys album.

Let it be said: Syd Barrett can write one hell of a pop song hook. Arnold Layne, See Emily Play, Baby Lemonade are lovely melodies full of his trademark whimsy married with pop arrangements explored in other bands like the Byrds, Beatles, etc. Here on The Madcap Laughs there are flashes of his brilliance. The album is kind of a mess though, the songs scattered all over with little coherence — unsurprising given its production history and Barrett’s state of mind in 1970. He was a beautiful person whose vision is not totally realized here, but those flashes when they are realized are poignant. 4 stars.

Meh.