Fascinating album—you can hear a lot of new wave influence on here. There are parts that sound as if someone lifted The Talking Heads and dropped them in the UK. Is it the best album? No, but if you go into it with a curious mind you’ll get a good bit out of it.
This is one of the first major albums I can recall hearing where The Beatles had a noticeable impact on the generation of music makers who came up after them in Britain. The group shines here on their second album—all their most notable hits are here, along with a few songs that come in and surround you like a warm hug.
Honestly, this album is like greeting an old friend at times. Hello there, “She’s Electric!” Ah yes, “Morning Glory,” how could I forget about you? And here’s good old “Wonderwall”, whose signature guitar progression carries us through the album.
There’s a reason this album is noteworthy—and a reason it reinvigorated Brit Pop for the decade following its release. Absolute gem of a listen.
Really fun start with Evenflow as the second song. By the end of this album, I too was begging for someone to release me. All the songs (aside from the ones that became big hits, like Evenflow and Jeremy) all sound the same.
This is a beautiful album, one that overcame me with emotion listening to it. It felt perfect for the end of summer, that melancholy departure of warm days on the beach in favor of an approaching autumn chill. Honestly makes me wish I had a convertible, so I could play this while driving with the top down along a coastal highway. I think I’ll have to listen to this one again soon.
This album felt very ahead of its time, and yet very influenced by the twenty years that came before it. A lot of fun, even if Costello has some weird views about women in some of these lyrics.
This was the wrong album to put on before going to bed. Sweet Loaf is pretty decent, if a little chaotic. Never heard of an album where I was dreading each song as it started, but if I have nightmares tonight I’m gonna blame the Butthole Surfers.
This must have sounded so alien to listeners in 1978! I knew a little about the history of Kraftwerk going into this album (it’s hard to manage a radio show that plays 80s music and NOT know Kraftwerk), but this was my first listening experience—and a pretty good one overall! Yes, it’s a little repetitive, but given that this was a brand new medium for music-making, I’m not too surprised. Definitely a fun listen!
A soulful, funky album through and through. Loved the orchestral arrangements on the opener!
One, two three to the fo’,
This album isn’t with the times any mo’,
All the homophobia and misogyny,
Just undercuts the music’s philosophy,
The beats are electric with those West Coast vibes,
But the lyrics give me trouble with the gangsta lives,
This album I guess isn’t made for me,
So I hope you don’t mind if I give it a three!
Phenomenal rhymes here—at times hilarious, but always powerful and ready to spread a deeper message. The mixing is lovely all around and really helps to elevate the rhythm and flow. I particularly liked the shout-outs to and samples of other songs! Enya on “Ready or Not” was a pleasant surprise, but hearing the opening to “Nights in White Satin” at the end of “The Mask” floored me.
There’s a reason the Fugees are regarded as a legendary group in hip-hop, and that reason is clear as day with this album.
I feel like Deep Purple gave the game away when they wrote a song called “Space Trucking”, as that’s EXACTLY what their music sounds like to me! Definitely sounds like something you’d hear on a galactic FM station as you’re drifting through the asteroid belt. This live album gets off to a roaring start with Highway Star—it must have been amazing to see that guitar solo live. We slow to enjoy a short rest stop on Child of Time, to take in the sights before picking back up on the road with some sick drumwork. Smoke on the Water chugs along merrily to deliver us to an exceptional drum solo on The Mule! I think I blacked out during Strange Kind of Woman because I don’t remember anything there. Lazy sounds like I’m trying to talk to Gaster. But the band brings it all home on Space Trucking, closing off an enjoyable (if long) journey!
I’m a sucker for instrumental works like this, so this album was right up my alley! Loved the samples and lo-fi beats, and how they changed from track to track. I can see why this album is so influential!!
When I was a freshman in university, I once went to a mixer for incoming English majors early into the semester. One of the professors decided to bring their mandolin and play Scarborough Fair for the assembled students (truly the most English Lit professor action I’ve ever seen). Up to that point, I knew the name Scarborough Fair but had never heard the song—to hear it now brings me back to that night, and actually makes me a little misty. The mixing, the dual and layered verses...it’s wonderful again.
That professor, with his quiet voice and beautiful mandolin, passed away unexpectedly last year. To hear this album, with its warmth and gentleness, brings me back to that night again when we all stood and listened to him play, and the joy we felt at our new camaraderie. And for this one moment, the professor lives again.
“So I’ll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end
And flowers never bend with the rainfall”
This is an artist whose biography surprised me greatly—I hadn’t heard of Baaba Maal before now, but he’s played an influential role in several things I am familiar with! I enjoy how the music becomes a backing, rhythmic track for Maal’s voice, while still having these little elements that stand out. They all have little moments of peeking through, whether it’s the electric burble of a guitar or a drum beat shift for a bar or two. A great discovery all around!
Somebody needs to put Prince in solitary confinement in horny jail. Man is a little freak but he makes good beats on the electronic drum machine so I can’t be too mad. The album has its fun moments but I felt like I had to take a cold shower after some of these tracks.
This album was fun, but looking back I can’t remember a single song off of it aside from Connection, which I already knew going in. An overall alright post punk album, and a decent intro to the genre, but not one I’d seek out again.
What an unexpected treat of an album! I was familiar with the titular track, but after that the whole thing opened up to waltz through different genres. This one is going to get played again for sure!
Look, you don’t get the nickname “The Queen of Soul” without good reason! These are great tracks that really show off Franklin’s vocal skills and range, especially on the classic opener “Respect”. The closer of “A Change is Gonna Come” is so lush and gorgeous too, capping off an incredible album.
“Gimme Shelter” is one of not just my favorite Stones songs, but one of my favorite songs in general…so to say I was primed for this album is an understatement. After that phenomenal opening comes Love in Vain, which produced such a negative physical response that I had to check and make sure that I was still listening to the correct album. Things improved from there.
I was pleasantly surprise to find that this album clicked for me! I might be a bigger New Wave fan than I originally thought…or much like The The, I also despise Thatcher.
It’s good music, but it’s sad boi music for sure. I enjoyed it but thank goodness I didn’t listen to this as a teenager or I would’ve been INSUFFERABLE.
Phenomenal album, with messages that have continued to resonate thirty years later.
A lush album of timeless covers. Lang’s voice lends themselves well to these songs, especially “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes”. While country isn’t my favorite genre, this was still a good listen!
Ohhhhh yes it’s time for my British Rubicks Cube album. I used to listen to this one all the time in high school, and it still holds up marvelously. “Grounds for Divorce” is a classic, but man, The Bones of You is a gorgeous song.
I was on a plane for the first bit of this album, and “Weather to Fly” actually picked up right as we approached the runway. Couldn’t have timed that better if I’d tried.
In 2011, Adele burst onto the scene with this album and some absolutely killer tracks—many of which would go on to be her most notable songs. My mom at the time was of the mind that if you liked one song, you had to buy the CD it came from (despite iTunes very much being a thing at that point, but I digress). So as a teenager, anytime my mom and I would go anywhere in her car, she’d have this CD ready to go.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Adele is a great singer. I wish I could have the musical success she found at 21–heck, I’d settle for 25 at this point! And some of these tracks were big for a reason (Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You, Set Fire to the Rain), that reason being they’re phenomenal. THAT BEING SAID, I dreaded this CD coming on when I was a teenager, because aside from those songs + Rumor Has It, I HATED this CD. I found the other tracks to be boring, ESPECIALLY Turning Tables—Someone Like You coming at the end is a great closer, but you have to slog through the most forgettable sad songs in your life to get there.
Eventually my mom learned to stop buying full CDs when she picked up a Ce-Lo Green album and we all learned the hard way that the song Forget You was NOT what that song was called on the album…
Going to come back to this one
Badlands is a fantastic opening song, and has always been one of my faves. However, maybe my view is colored by having to listen to the Bruce Springsteen Greatest Hits CD my dad played over and over again in the car growing up, but the other songs didn’t click with me on this listen. They’re good songs and the messages are powerful, but nothing hit me like a ton of bricks the way Born to Run did.
There are some albums out there that are so iconic that they define an artist’s entire career—Bat Out of Hell is perhaps the pinnacle of that rule. This is an album that KNOWS it’s a silly romp (Meat Loaf being a member of National Lampoon tipped me off immediately), and delivers an absolutely fun and thrilling romp. The title track kicks the door into a theatrical journey, with the crowning jewel of Paradise by the Dashboard Light delivering us the most high-stakes petting the world has ever seen. The perfect album to drive to, and one of the funniest rock albums to ever exist.
Smooth, soulful covers of some classic soul songs. Having already heard Aretha Franklin’s album, listening to the arrangement Redding picks on these tracks is fascinating, especially when my only exposure to him has been his breakthrough class “Dock of the Bay”. Makes me wonder what other songs we would’ve heard had he lived past the age of 26.
…Honestly it’s incredible that he had the voice that he did for as young as he was. Talented, and definitely taken too soon.
A lovely album—reminds me of The Beatles, mixed with a little bit of Chicago! I wasn’t familiar with the Zombies’s discography but I really enjoyed this album’s songs! Great harmonies and mixing!!
Having never heard of any of these Depeche Mode songs, I wasn’t sure what I’d get going into this album. But man, this just solidifies how much I enjoy the Gothic, dark electronic music of Depeche Mode. Is it up there with Enjoy the Silence or Personal Jesus? No, but it was a good accompaniment to being in a plane for a while.
Can you respect an album for what it does, but dislike the music? The lyricism and the playing is great. John Finn’s Wife is a FANTASTIC song. But the rest just didn’t click with me this time. Maybe another listen will help.
I’ve talked before about legendary albums, or albums that came to define a band or even a specific sound. This is sort of similar—a band with a specific sound who takes their music and does something completely different in style and presentation. Unplugged sees Nirvana redefine not only their existing catalog in an acoustic style, but presents their take on some classic songs as well. Colbain takes a tender, almost vulnerable approach to these tracks, an opposite sound to the usual grunge flavor Nirvana operates in. It’s interesting to think about what the band could have done with another acoustic album, had the trajectory of Kurt’s life changed in 1994. If it were anything like this, it would be a success.
I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this one, but what a pleasant surprise! Turns out I really dig the 60s sound that this album weaves throughout—not surprised to find that the Arctic Monkeys played a part of this one! I’m definitely going to have to give this a relisten too.
Frank Zappa was always an artist I had a vague knowledge about, but if you were to ask me who he was the best I could muster up would be “He said Mercedes-Benz weird once”. So this was going to be a time. That being said, this is a fun record! A very long record, but a fun one nonetheless.
I actually found myself laughing aloud at “Peaches en Regalia”—something about it just made me smile.
“Willie the Pimp” was interesting, but not for over nine straight minutes.
“Son of Mr Green Genes” however, is exciting and upbeat, with enough changes to the music that kept it fresh and entertaining as the minutes passed by.
…Halfway through this album I remembered that Frank is indirectly responsible for “Smoke on the Water”. Thankfully he didn’t die in that fire.
I have a confession to make: this is not my favorite Kendrick album. It’s hard to go back and listen to this one, because you can see the little kernels that Kendrick expands upon in later albums, and you WANT it to expand now! And in some respects, it does expand. You hear the narrative throughout that Kendrick weaves, as he tells a beautiful and tragic story of growing up amid violence and poverty. But alas, we’re not at TPAB yet. It’s still a great album, but it doesn’t reach the heights of his later work.
This one was alright. Not much to say tbh.
Oh god I think this album proved once and for all that I love big band music. Just an absolute blast!
No joke, when I saw this album my first thought was “Wait, isn’t this the ‘get myself connected’ group? The song from the Android commercials?” Sure enough, first song is that legendary earworm. The beats kept me engaged throughout—I don’t remember any of the songs but it was a great ride!
I’d also like a little more Irish in me.
Forgive me CHVRCHES, I wasn’t familiar with your game. And wow, what a game it is! No wonder this is one of Kojima’s favorite bands—this is a fantastic debut album! The synths feel timeless, yet I wasn’t surprised to find out this album came out in 2013. Will have to look into this band’s catalog more after this.
When I was a child, my mom had two or three “Best of Disco” CDs that she would play repeatedly in the car, leading me to believe this was how music sounded in general in the year 2000. Out of all the songs she’d play, “He’s the Greatest Dancer” was my all-time favorite—my joy of hearing it again to open this album actually made me a little teary-eyed.
This album is wonderful and warm to the senses. Nile Rodgers’ touch is all over the tracks, from the funky bass lines to the lush string arrangements. Not only are some of the well-known Sister Sledge tracks on here, but there’s songs that I haven’t heard before and now really like. Just incredible all around tbh.
I’m gonna be honest…I only knew Black Hole Sun, and the only reason that song stuck out is because we are banned from singing it in our DnD campaign. Maybe we should’ve banned the rest of the album it’s from too…
This was a really fun album—it’s wild to realize that Cream was only together for two years, and yet their sound made such an impact on the rock scene. There’s a lot of genres I can hear in this album, from psychedelic rock to blues. And then to end with a vaudeville song? Absolutely wild.
Maybe it’s for the best that I-T has stuck to acting…
Yep, that’s green onions alright
…Look, it’s Purple Rain, what more do you want me to say?
Somewhat hot take here: This is Pink Floyd’s best album. Yes, I know “The Wall” and “Dark Side of the Moon” exist, and they’re exceptional albums too! But there’s just something about this album in particular that gets me. Maybe it’s the gorgeous instrumental opening in “Shine On”, and the raw pain in the vocals. Maybe it’s the industrial sound of “Welcome to the Machine”, a sound that would crop up again a few years later with “The Wall”. Maybe it’s the funky, sleezy sound of “Have a Cigar”. Maybe it’s my favorite Floyd song, “Wish You Were Here”, a song that’s beautiful and equally melancholic. Or, maybe, it’s the eulogy that “Shine On” enacts again at the closer.
I think the last part is as close as I can get to my explanation. There’s a tenderness to this album, which serves as an act of mourning to the former band member Syd Barret. It’s an album that explores how you can lose someone who is still alive, and how the circumstances of that loss came about. This is, in essence, an album of grief, an album where the band has to carry on despite missing someone they treasured and loved deeply. And for that raw emotion which dwells within each track, I can say this is the best Pink Floyd album.
In the 2007 video game “Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock”, there is a sequence where your band plays a gig at a prison. The prisoners (and even the warden) are thrilled to watch your band play “La Grange”, and even more thrilled when Slash shows up to battle you and then play “Welcome to the Jungle”.
Unfortunately this album does not contain Slash, but it’s pretty clear here where Guitar Hero took their prison level from as inspiration. This is the kind of live album where the crowd adds to the recording—especially with the announcements from the warden, Cash’s calls for water, and the whoops of the prisoners. It makes me wonder why GH3 had no Cash songs for this section of the game, as Folsom Prison Blues would have been very fun to play on plastic guitar.
I wrote a whole thing about how impactful this album was, and how it does a phenomenal job of showcasing Queen’s range beyond their greatest hits. Alas, it has somehow disappeared into the pale of the internet.
5 stars for the Seas of Rhye reference in Lily of the Valley.
This is such a lovely and sweet album! It’s a collection of covers I was vaguely familiar with, but all of them are so gentle and soft. It kind of reminded me of a grandparent in a way? Like a nice little old man who sat you down in his house and is showing you pictures of him and his wife traveling in their youth.
I’m going to have to revisit this one again here soon.
“Madman Across the Water” might be Elton John’s best song. Every single element is brought in at the perfect moment, from the gentle acoustic guitar that leads us in, to the blare of horns that comes to back the chorus, to the rush of strings that softens and gives way again to the piano and returns us to the verses. It builds so slowly, so deliberately, so that when the ending comes in a torrent of every element, it feels like the ultimate pinnacle.
The rest of the album has some absolute gems as well—Tiny Dancer, Leavon—but nothing comes close to the title track. The orchestral inclusion on some of these tracks is excellent, and compliments John’s piano playing well.
I tried with this one, I really did. I went into this album knowing the backstory of the band, and the tragedy that befell the lead singer. I went in knowing the style of this album, on an overcast day that seemed perfect for the downcast nature of the songs. But man, Berman’s voice did not click with me. Everything else is very nice, but yeah, I couldn’t get over the vocals.
“Beauty and the Beat” is an album that was MADE for summer. Driven by the bass line, it evokes days on the beach in surf and sand, as well as warm summer nights with darker songs such as “Lust to Love” and “Automatic”. The two biggest singles — “Our Lips are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat” — helped to lock in the California new wave sound for the 80s in a way that no other band quite could. If this album isn’t playing at your next summer BBQ or trip to the beach, you’re missing out!
This is a very peaceful and relaxing album—I like it! Good for a rainy morning like today.
“Small Hours” ended just as the sky cleared up and the sun came out. There’s something transcendent about that being accompanied by gentle guitar and keyboard and bells.
Easy music to listen to, but nothing super memorable.
I’ve always loved the song “Moondance”, so being able to come back to it here is a delight. The jazzy arrangement, the flute, the little beat pauses in the chorus—it’s just so warm and fuzzy! But I never paid attention to the lyrics…holy hell is this a horny song.
The rest of the album is a calm, laid-back experience—I’ve called this type of album “Sunday Morning Music” before, and that definitely applies here! It’s nice to have on in the background with a cup of coffee.
I am convinced this band is deeply dehydrated, or made up of mermaids. The first two songs have “water” in the name…“Southbound Again” talks about the River Tyne…even “Sultans of Swing” talks about being “south of the river”. Heck, the band and the album is named Dire STRAITS! Like Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, someone needs to give these guys a cup of water.
Having only heard the “Disney Channel edit” of Angel of Death before now, the opening track of this album felt like getting kicked in the teeth. But Slayer pairs absolutely heinous topics with some absolutely incredible technical work here. The playing is tight, ESPECIALLY for the drums, across multiple time signature switches over and over again. It almost serves as a guide to the rest of the players and the lead singer, to keep them on time throughout each song.
…that being said, I can see why boomers were freaked out by 80s metal. There’s a LOT happening here. I came into this album thinking I would enjoy it as a fan of Metallica and of Ghost, and I did do a little bit of thrashing! But aside from the opening track and the closer I couldn’t tell you anything about the other songs on here.
Still thinking about the drums though.
There’s a whole song on here devoted to a pager!
Imagine being 24 years old and putting out this album, where you singehandedly change how rock music sounds. Absolutely phenomenal, and one of the most iconic albums in rock history. Someone else’s review referred to it as a “line in the sand” for rock music, and I have to agree—there’s so many bands that have taken influence from these songs and you can hear them come across in bits and pieces. It’s bluesy, it’s fun, and it’s absolutely a classic that’s stood the test of time.
There’s something quietly beautiful about this album…it feels like I’m watching one of those flowers that only blooms one night every century. It struck me on “A Man Needs a Maid,” a song that I wasn’t the biggest fan of at first. Suddenly though, in comes the orchestra to lift Young’s voice and elevate the song into something beautiful and dramatic. From here the album hits its stride in full—Heart of Gold, Old Man and Alabama come in to buoy up the sound Young is trying to convey. Perfect album for a fall day!
There’s something weirdly funny about getting both Elton John albums three weeks apart…
I said in my review of “Madman Across the Water” that that album was Elton’s best, and I stand by that declaration. But man, this is a VERY close second. “Funeral for a Friend” is my favorite track after “Madman Across the Water”—the way it builds so skillfully while weaving in different instruments and John’s piano is explosive and hooks you immediately. And then off we go into “Love Lies Bleeding”!
The first four tracks of this album are some of the best in John’s catalog, and there’s a lot of fun to be had as it chugs along. All in all, a successful record!
This was alright—definition of a “three star album”. What’s funniest to me is that this album has members of Jefferson Airplane on it. I’ve never seen a band where there’s so much weird lore and facts and spinoffs/iterations around them…you can’t escape them in any decade.
Yes, yes, this is exactly why I started this project: to discover new music from artists I’d never heard before now. I LOVE the jazz riff on the opening track.
The notes on Spotify mention the influence Kuti had on the Talking Heads, and I can hear it!! And man, in comes that horn again to close out the title track.
…I think what this project has shown me is that I just love jazz…
It appears that the beach has been replaced by acid…
Oh god I love prog rock. I love prog rock so much. I have no clue what this album is about but the instrumentation and the vibes are incredible.
When I was a child, I was convinced that Billy Joel was Italian-American. My mom played the Greatest Hits album all the time, and she was Italian, so I guess that’s where this assumption came from? He’s not Italian though, but somehow he still is good Italian-American representation. Can make a fantastic album. My husband was listening on this one and liked the “ACK ACK ACK”s on Moving Out.
This is a lovely album—perfect for a chill evening or a sleepy weekend morning. Very little to critique here to be honest. The playing is phenomenal, the ensemble jazz band is great, and the arrangements are divine.
Sometimes in life, we’re going to have moments where we do things we don’t want to do. I refer to these as “vegetable moments”, as much like eating your veggies as a child, you’re going to come out the other side with the experience under your belt.
While eating your veggies is beneficial for you in the long run, listening to this album is not going to provide you with the same health benefits. It’s loud, it’s crass, and it KNOWS it’s both of these things while going out of the way to give nu metal a bad name.
There’s one song I adore on here, and that’s Rollin’. Everything else was good to listen to in the sense that I gained exposure to new things, and am now glad to say I don’t have to listen to Fred Durst again.
It’s funny, up until now I was only familiar with the Foo Fighters’ greatest hits…none of which are on this album. My dad is a fan of Foo Fighters, but hates Nirvana, which has to be the funniest combo I’ve ever seen. That aside, this album surprised me! It’s not half bad—I was a little worried it would be mediocre. You can sort of see the leap from Nirvana grunge to rock here on the first few tracks. It’s drum-heavy, but that makes perfect sense because it’s Dave Grohl.
I cannot put into words how excited I became when this album popped up. I LOVE ska music, and the Specials are a classic group. What a great debut album too! There’s just something about the upbeat brass and the biting lyrics that works SO well.
By all accounts, I should love this album. I love storytelling songs, where vivid pictures are painted, and I love a good murder ballad. But then Nick Cave comes in and it just doesn’t do it for me. Nick Cave feels like the kind of guy I would meet in high school theater class, who would tell me he has a movie “too screwed up for the general masses” and then proceed to show me Repo! The Genetic Opera.
I may not be a punk fan, but I can respect the craft and the messaging. 21 minutes is the perfect length for this album—just enough to enjoy it but it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Guitar work is good, and I like the driving force of the drums.
