Of the five album run that started with the River and ended with the disbanding of the E Street Band 1989 produced some of the most famous rock tracks of the 80s. A good chunk of those are on this album, still played on 80s station and movies in frequent rotation. Despite this it took me a long time to actually know who or what Bruce Springsteen was. My parents were never fans or if they were, never big enough ones to see him as an important part of my musical education. That changed somewhere in the early 2010s, a person on whom I had a crush had made me a CD with the songs she particularly carried close to her heart. Among those two songs from this album sat "I'm on Fire" and "Dancing in the Dark". I had heard both before yet seeing them through someone else's eyes allowed me space to love them greatly. I sought out the album soon after and have had the Boss in my rotation ever since. With time this no longer is my favourite of his. I think the wall of sound pop bombast is no longer the mode of Springsteen I love the most. On some nostalgic nights however it really sinks into me like an old dream half forgotten. A longing for better things and better times. I know more Springsteen awaits me on this journey and I'm excited to see him again when I come to him.
It is quite clear why this album became the generation defining record it did become. Lauryn Hill comes in with such utter confidence and the way she ties in the sounds of the classroom talking about love is deeply masterful. The neo soul sound, the moments of reggae, her lyrical power all come together into this great melange that fills the listener up with feeling. Because of the intricate work on display here I do get tiered by the end. This is not even to say the back half is weaker more that for me the 77 min runtime feels overmuch and pushes me away from the album. I think that's the reason it has not ever been in my own too albums but that doesn't mean I don't have a deep respect for it.
Eddie Vedder is certifiably an artist and one whose work is interested in themes that usually draw me in, yet this album and most other Pearl Jam album never connects for me. Somehow they always fade into the background while I'm listening, the thrumming guitar and the growl of Vedder's voice just becoming background noise for whatever I'm doing. Some of it is the usual complaint I find the words hard to decipher and at a certain point my brain just gives up on it. That isn't all of it though, the guitar work and production both just don't take hold of my brain like other grunge acts of the era. I wish I liked this more than I do but even after all these years Vedder just doesn't quite reach me like he did many of my friends and lovers.
In some ways if Tracy Chapman had only written Fast Car it would probably have been worth the whole album. Thankfully the rest is also actually quite interesting and often political. I go up and down on the folk singer songwriter style, here I mostly enjoy it though there are parts I could take or leave. If Not Now in particular I found quite boring. In general the second half feels much weaker than the first. I don't know if I will return to the full album again but I will certainly play certain tracks many times again. I think more of a 3.5 but 4 didn't feel right.
Not for me but quite good for what it is. Norah's voice is lovely and the piano is playing is nicely feelings laden. I just don't really connect with albums like this. They feel a bit too much like that type of easy listening jazz they play in restaurants and doctors waiting rooms. However I'm not mad I listened to it and on some objective level (not that any such thing exists) I do think this is well made. Really 2.5 rather than 3 but 2 felt low.
Started weak feeling like any other 70s rock album but really earned me back by the end. A Night at the Opera is still where Queen really takes off for me but there is good stuff here sandwiched between some of the more generic work. Mercury's voice is still developing that range he had later in his career. He takes less risks with his singing and much of the rest of the band do with their playing of instruments. Then suddenly tracks like Ogre Battle come hit you over the head with their uniqueness and you can see for a moment the band they are about to become.
One of my favourite albums of all time. Sinead voice here moves through so many modes, at times haunting, at others bubbling over with joyful wit and at all times singing words that carry meaning. It is easier I think to find the tracks that are weaker for me than to point out the ones I especially like. The first two tracks I have always liked less than the rest of the whole. In fact I often on relistens start the album on Three Babies. This is less because I think they are bad and more that I think the rest of the album is overall stronger. Nothing Compares 2 U is the most famous but to me Black Boys on Mopeds and Last Days of Our Acquaintance are the two that tug at me every run through. I don't know how many times I have listened to this album but it's certainly in the high double digits if not the low hundreds. I wish she had gotten to stay with us for longer. I miss her presence in the world of music and the world in general. Her use of her public fame is one that inspires me still.
Surprised I liked this one as much after the one star review my friend gave it but honestly found it excellent. This era of synth music can leave people very hot or cold but I love it. There's a way in which in this album especially you feel the influence of Kraftwerk on the medium. So many tracks here would be without the lyrics perfectly fitting 90s video game soundtracks. There's parts here that are super JRPG coded. I love the circular mirroring of the first and final track and Trans Europa Express is really fun. Pioneers at the forefront of the future taking something a little bit silly very seriously in a way that just makes me happy.
This blew my socks off. Perfect melding of hip hop and jazz with notes of ambient thrown in for spice. Each of the samples with talking in them are so well chosen. Instantly downloaded this knew I had to listen to it again as soon as I could. No standout tracks each track follows the other like a beautiful rhythm when Twin Peaks quote ended things I just knew I needed to play it back again. The best discovery of this journey so far for me.
After all the 70s rock Sade felt like a breath of fresh air. I am not deep into soul/quiet storm, but this album really works. Her voice especially is the thing that drives this forward. Sexy without it feeling forced. In no way feels like a debut album she comes fully formed with such confidence. "Why Can't We Live Together" is my favourite track here such a strong closer. I will say it did feel a bit too much at times but that is I think more down to me being too big of a soul lover.
Did not make me feel much seemed kind of generic early 70s rock to me. I had not listened to Yes before, nothing special but by no means bad. Was quite to have in the background while writing but did not ever draw me in.
Quite good filled with such a spesfic era of Boomer hope. It is funny how hard and edgy this album was seen at the time because to moder ears it does not feel that diffrent from a Beatles record. I mean that mostly as a compliment. Townshend is a great artist though a lot of this still feels stolen from much earlier and more intresting black artists. Complicated feelings for it but if I am honest to myself I still love this album a lot.
Look I always thought that U2 were overhated but man this album really damn sucked. The Edge is still an excellent guitarist but lyrically, sonically and production wise I found nothing to grab onto. Bono really is such a smarmy bastard in the way he sings the multiple "sexy" songs on here are super cringy to listen to. Will not listen to this ever again.
Good singles here and the groove is great but I did get bored. I also made a mistake of listening to the 1995 version which had three remixses of We Are Family (the song rather than the album). Did not enjoy this one as much as Earth Wind and Fire so giving this a lower rating. Do not feel I have much to say about this one, promise I am not a disco hater just felt eh about this.
I remember finding this album in the attic in our country house when I was six. The cover always facinated me, it had the depth of a Bosch painting the many shapes and colors drawing me in. I listened to it much later but that first meeting always stayed with me.
This time around I really loved the drums at work here, Michael Shrieve has such a luschious expansive sound here. Santanas guitar of corse gets well deserved credit but I do not think the rich jazz fusion would work without the rest of the band. Black Magic Woman and Oye Cómo Va might be the most famous songs here but Hope Your Feeling Better and Incident at Neshabur are my personal favorites. Overall a great album my only complaint is that it is almost too easy to listen. It is so smooth that it does not hold onto me as strongly as other albums. Still the skill here is very obvious.
Of the Eminem albums this is one of the better ones metareflections on his own fame and the oroboros of identities that are hard to disentangle. Its over the top anger and violence speaking to a very spesfic machismo cruelty that he is very entangled with. With all that said I do not really like Eminem as a rapper. His flow even here is very weak, the special thing about him and why he became popular has much more to do with his whitness than it does with his strength as an artist. Dre's production often is good but it does not take front seat putting the MCs more in focus. A mixed album for me. Stand out tracks Stan and The Way I Am.
For all my love for disco Earth, Wind & Fire has never done too much for me. I like their instrumentation and danceyness but the way that songs come together often leave me feeling decidedly neutral. Maurice White is a good vocalist he just does not grab me often. The title track feels quite bloated as does See the Light neither feeling like they earn the six minutes. Standout tracks Happy Feeling and Yearnin Learnin.
I had never heard of John Martyn before I listened to this album. His type of jazz infused funky folk I have alwalys either felt hot or cold on. This one from the title track onward really grabbed me however. The tamber of his voice is something else, there is an element of Nick Drake softness here but also some Frank Zappa weirdness. The guitar work throughout is spare but in that is a beuty I really enjoyed. The way it moved modes was also really satisfying to my musical brain. I think I will return to this one a lot or maybe I am just very high on it in the moment. Standout tracks to me Solid Air, I'd Rather Be the Devil and Dreams by the Sea (excellent drums in that track).
Really did not enjoy this one. Did not like the vocalist nor the psychadelic sound scapes which really annoyed me. Clearly an important album with how it uses production and eletronic effects all the way back in 1968 but that does not mean I enjoyed it. No stand out tracks.to me.
This used to be in my top 20 albums back when I had something as firm as that. It took me a bit to settle into it this time, at one point I was not sure I even still liked this album aside from the singles. As things continued on though something about Billies famous whiny voice won me back. There is something tgis album captures of the feelings of late teen angst and early twenties confidence that makes it still a very intresting art object for me.
I think overall I prefer the less heavier dreamy altrock version of the Pumkins but I still appreciated the heavier angry songs on this record. It is overlong as a record and there are songs I think could have been cut but so few double LPs truly earn their length so I do not hold it against him too much. Standout tracks are the obvious ones this time: Tonight Tonight, Bullet with Butterfly Wings and 1979.
This is not my favorite Cure album but even the most avrage Cure album is very strong. This is where they really start for me as a band, the first album does not really feel like the Cure for me but here the echoey vocals and new wave guitar is what goth rock is all about. The operatic sadness of it all feels like it is reaching out to you in spsesfic.
I hope there are at least one or two more Cure albums that will show up here but it was so good to return to 17 Seconds again after such a long time. Standout tracks: A Forest, At Night and Secrets.
Is there a bad Joni Mitchell album out there? If there is I have never listened to one. Just really solid work here love the infusion of Jazz to the more tradional folk sound. Joni is an all time clever lyrcist moving from cleaver funny wordplay to profound statements in the space of a few lines sometimes. No real direct favorite tracks here the whole thing works as a whole for me so hard to pry out any particular songs from this one. Anyway had a great time with it hope there is more of her in here.
Bad Brains are a band that I think got most hard done by the punk scene I was a part of as a youth. Their influence was underplayed and often only brought up to shut down any arguments about the racsim of the scene: "How can we be racsit we love Bad Brains?". What that ignores is the absolute power of the music East Coast Hardcore at its best and often better than the much more famous hardcore records like Black Flags "Damaged" and the Dead Kennedys "In God We Trust". For my money I sitll love the original cassette the most but the full album is such a pleasure to listen to. I often come to the end and just loop it over again. Favorite tracks: House of Suffering and Let Me Help
Kind of back to back bangers on this one. A really tight 34 minutes never overstays its welcome. I had a friend once on roleplaying forum whose favorite artist was Al Green this made me think of him and how I should have followed his reccomendation earlier in my life. This era of R&B and soul is a little bit of a blindspot for me aside from the big artists so excited to get more of it. Stand out tracks: Let's Stay Together, What is This Feeling and I've Never Found a Girl
Still a banger I am afraid despite Radiohead being more and more shitty politically. One of the first albums I rated here that I bought myself when it came out. Truly great album one of my favorites of the 2000s. Do not have much to say about it really because it is so primal to me that I do not have good words to talk about it.
I ussually enjoy Neil Young, but this one did not do too much for me. I can not place why exactly just did not grab me that much. It has a sort of dead middle that just faded and did not hold my attention. Might need to give this another go when I am in a different headspace.
