Personally, I find this album to be phenomenal but I can understand why Americans might not find it as appealing. For me, this is one of (if not the) best grime albums of all time and absolutely warrants a spot on this list.
I came in with high hopes and an open mind. This album is an hour-long snooze fest with most tracks being twice as long as they should be. Water drags on for almost 11 minutes, seriously!?? Thirsty is a decent, tight, and energetic closer after the auditory swamp I’d just finished wading through. From an objective point of view, the album is quite well arranged. However, there are certainly better conscious rap albums out there, and I have heard good things about The Roots previous album Things Fall Apart, but Phrenology just isn’t it for me. 2/10
Not really into Neil young but this was a decent listen overall. Alabama was a highlight
The best Sabbath album I’ve listened to so far. It starts with two great tracks, Wheels of Confusion and Tomorrows Dream, before the unbearable dirge that is Changes begins playing. Changes appears to be the most popular track on the album and I’m not entirely sure why - who listens to Sabbath for ballads? The song doesn’t fit Ozzy’s voice or style at all and sticks out like a sore thumb in the midst of the rest of the heavy riffs present on essentially every other track. Thankfully, the album improves drastically on Side 2, with the crazy run of Cornucopia, with a quintessentially Sabbathesque dark and moody sound, through to the album closer, Under the Sun. Overall, it was an album I incredibly enjoyed listening to and definitely see myself coming back to in the future. 8/10
A mediocre album overall. It’s fine to listen to but it’s obvious that the hunger and energy The Police had shown in their earlier albums had largely dissipated by ‘83. There are some standout tracks on here such as the two Synchronicity tracks and, of course, Every Breath You Take. Murder by Numbers makes for a decent album closer. By far the worst (and most baffling) track has to be Mother, a song horrible at first listen and I imagine will continue to be horrible in any subsequent re-listens. Honourable mention goes to Walking in your Footsteps, a song about dinosaurs (Why???). 5/10
Absolutely gorgeous album, I’ve got to get this on vinyl some day
Great britpop
I do see the vision. I see why people like Kate Bush, and she is a very talented composer and songwriter, but I just cannot stand her singing
A great cohesive album
Background noise. Yes, it is arguably ahead of its time, but in terms of the actual listening experience it is just an hour and a quarter of meaningless noise
Perhaps not as ambitious as most other albums on the list, but while primitive it is still a very pleasant listen. There’s a certain innocence in a lot of the music of the 1950s and early 60s, which I honestly adore
Coming into this I only knew Roundabout from this record, and dreaded listening to prog rock for its pompousness and the fact that the only people that seemed to enjoy it were constantly high. The album is fine, the band is undeniably talented, but it doesn’t leave me wanting to listen to more prog. Roundabout is a good track, as is parts of Long Distance Runaround, and the solo at the end of Mood for a Day is pretty, but too much of this album just isn’t engaging for me. 4/10
I can only stand a small amount of raspy vocals and angsty lyrics, and this album overdid it for me. The first few tracks were quite good though
Groovy. A nice album to listen to but not very remarkable. Not sure if it should be classified as an album 'you must hear before you die' though.
Personally, I find this album to be phenomenal but I can understand why Americans might not find it as appealing. For me, this is one of (if not the) best grime albums of all time and absolutely warrants a spot on this list.