ABBA is a quintessential "singles" band- undoubtedly fantastic band but the album provides an overall good experience where a studio album cannot do them justice like a compilation can. Some of the stuff is really great- the odd time signatured "Soldiers" or hit single "One of Us," and nothing here is rough. It's just nothing more than pleasant as a record.
Too many songs feel like pastiches of better artists' songs: I hear Paul McCartney, (lots of) Led Zeppelin, and even Tom Waits- lending the record an identity crisis. Just go full alt rock, or full blues, or full "marimba rock" or whatever those first few songs were. Blue Orchid makes for a great opener, though. This is ultimately Greta Van Fleet-core with better production.
Really solid- not a bad song here, makes for an easy listen with excellent instrumentation and production alike, sounding very mid-90s for being a 1989 record. "She Bangs the Drums" is the clear best but everything is very good.
Super chilled-out and smooth. Not a single moment where I'm not enjoying what I'm listening to. I think the organ kind of outclasses every other instrument here, though. Would definitely vibe out to this again- actually super calming.
Iconic stuff. Super ahead of its time when it's great, and kinda sappy when it's not. Overall a pretty good listen though.
Very solid listen. Pleasant voice and instrumentation, pleasant experience. Sounded like a 90s record, in all honesty.
Really great album of top-notch early 70s psychedelia on top of its iconic cover. Blah blah blah Student Demonstration Time sucks.
At first, I was disappointed in its kind of lackluster sound. I do think it won me over a bit by the end. That one spoken word about the maiden was pretty funny and I thought a few tracks here were actually really great. Its main issue is its genre-leaping. It's hard to feel invested in the sound when at any moment it breaks its own cohesion song to song.
It's alright. She's got a pretty voice, and I dug their blend of British folk and old-timey American folk, but I did not get much out of it beyond being calmed a bit while listening
Not a dull moment to be found on this impeccably recorded, excellently presented, approachable yet artful piece of art. Incredibly impressive stuff that I will be relistening to as soon as possible.
A celebrated artist that I do not "get." I don't find his voice interesting at all, and his lyrics are not nearly ear-catching for me to get the appeal. The songs all sound the same to me, too, though I appreciated the orchestral aspects here
Might be the most obnoxious rapping I've ever heard. The same staccato, slurred flow on every track. Illustrative because it shows not every album here is redeemable and that the early 90s had some hot garbage music amidst an excellent string of years in music history. Plus it's nearly an hour long?! Why?
Not bad- but everything here is secondhand in comparison to the big single "Back 2 Life"
Probably my 100th listen. Every song is fantastic- even the interludes! Ian Anderson remains one of my favorite musicians of all time and this is my favorite project of his.
Every song is so powerful, so composed. The features are all deliberate, and the album's flow from song to song thoughtfully presented (although "Christian Dior Denim Flow" should have replaced "Blame Game" 100%). A reasonable contender for greatest hip hop album of all time. "Runaway" is my all-time favorite, but this re-listen solidified that "Monster" is one of his greatest songs across his career
I prefer Coldplay a little more punchy; Viva La Vida is one of my all-time favorite albums. This record is a lot more low-key, sometimes to its detriment, albeit with some exceptions- "Yellow" and "Don't Panic" are excellent.
I wish this site could let me give half star ratings, as three does not do this justice. Not a bad song here and his classic voice really elevates some of the more filler-y tracks in comparison to the massive title track and the standout "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart"
One really great song, a couple decent songs, and a lot of very forgettable 90s bubblegum pop. Particularly rough was that dated duet with Generic McAverage
Trimming like 4 songs off this would have resulted in a four-star rating. Some really great tracks up front, good production, variety, and instrumentation. Does not sound dated at all.
Everything here feels intentional and layered. Production sounds pretty great. Funky songs were really great. So why am I so lukewarm about it? Maybe not melodic enough for me?
Noticed this time how important Slash was to their sound, as much as Axl, honestly. Aggressive but not overly so- still super smooth and approachable sound. Every song hits. Fantastic instrumental performances pretty much from top to bottom. Really expected this to age poorly but it has held up since being amazed by this as a kid. No snobby RYM-brain is gonna tell me that "Sweet Child O' Mine" isn't a fantastic song.
Spectacular sonic atmospheres from track to track as per usual from MBV. My favorite was "New You." Reminded me most of the stuff I've most enjoyed from Loveless.
Important album but it's hard to listen to the same "My name is ____ and I'm hear to say, I like to rap in a major way" flow over and over again. "The Message" is pretty great, tho
Solid, but not outstanding overall. Liked the Philip Glass feature though
Nothingburger. His vocals are so bland. At least Bryter Layter had some nice orchestral instrumentals
So many classics. Another one of the all-time debuts in music history
Lots of really great songs here, but the length is not justified so I gotta give a 3, unfortunately
Difficult to rate, as the album was not made for me. It seems like people on this site are way too hard to please. This was really nice record to listen to and the reviews unnecessarily harsh
Funky from beginning to end. Check the Rhime is easily the best song here but not a bad moment
A fookin' quality album
While the songs overall aren't as strong as some of his other records, the creativity and talent still shines through, both in strong vocals and the overall songwriting.
Two Weeks and Ready, Able outshine the bulk of this. But it's a high 3/5 fs
Kind of a slog because it's just way too long. Iconic group but Chuck D is so much more interesting than Flavor Flav that it's not even funny
Perry Farrell sucks, dude. The music is pretty great but his constant yelping and whining kills the entire experience. "Then She Did" was my favorite track
Song after song on this thing hit. The iconic vocal harmonies, the dated but warm production. Classic
Songwriting isn't super strong, but Dolly's charisma makes up for that to provide a pretty good listening experience
Super smooth. 80s without sounding dated. Songs are all really easy to enjoy. I don't know why people don't like Mark Hollis' voice. Super unique and adds to the smoothness
Legitimately has a claim to be the greatest record of the 1980s. Incredible lyricism, production, and orgasmic African instrumentation and genre exploration (introduced me to mbaqanga, soukous, and township jive alike) plus to hear some of the greatest world musicians ever gathered here (Los Lobos, Bakithi Kumalo, West Nkosi, Ray Phiri, Boyoyo Boys, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Youssou N'Dour)- it's like 45 minutes of heaven every time I listen to it. Some of my favorite moments are the sax breaks on "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," the beautiful accompanying vocal performance from Linda Ronstadt on "African Skies," or the iconic fretless bass run on "You Can Call Me Al." It's an album that has had a tremendous impact on my life and I will continue to love it throughout the rest of it.
It's probably the 200th time someone's said this but Mezzanine should have been the representative album for this group. Blue Lines is fine but immemorable
Lovely production. Great mixture of funky shit and really soulful love ballads that are equal in hitting the sweet spot. Reverb-y guitar sound does a lot for that. Love you Curtis
Dated production, esp on the rough-hewn vocals and the scratchy, borderline annoying guitar tone. Despite some good tracks (Wish I Was Skinny, Thinking of Ways) the entire thing is too long and mixed so poorly (way too loud) that I did not like it overall.
The sheer amount of great songs on this thing is so impressive. Incredibly influential on punk and punk-adjacent genres for decades following its release. Hard to find hour-long projects this re-listenable, well-conceptualized, and universally likable. Part of the reason why it's so strong throughout is that the Clash are so deft at switching between genres. New Wave, Ska, Reggae, Punk, maybe a mixture of a couple or even all of those? They make all of them sound good.
Album should have just started with "Tomorrow Comes Today" and it would have been much improved. Just kind of unfocused and uneven. "Clint Eastwood" is by far the best track here- is there a soul on Earth who doesn't love that song? Demon Days and Plastic Beach are much better records than this, unfortunately.
Classic. If I was a drummer, this might be the Holy Grail.
Composed super well, but does not strike me any particular way where I am impacted beyond finding the experience of listening pleasant
Instrumentals are class, pretty fantastic production, but the skits are so awful and a couple of the songs are so corny that both break up the flow so much that I can't recommend this.
Super ahead-of-its-time in sound. Experimental 70s stuff is very cool. David Byrne obviously really loved this group. I think I prefer the late 70s early 80s AOR stuff from them though
"Mother" is the ultimate pleb filter song as evidenced by the hilariously out-of-touch reviews all over this page
Upbeat Beck is best Beck. This stuff is just boring
Pretty much every track here is memorable. One of the better rock albums of the decade in every capacity- musicianship, production, hooks, and sound (while not the most unique, its still very recognizable.) Did not realize how great this album was until sitting down to listen to it. Super great stuff that instantaneously has become a classic for me
Dated production and aesthetic, with some eyeball roll-worthy lyrics. And the instrumental on "Afraid 2 Fly" is one of the worst I've ever heard. Feels like listening to a P!nk album, but without the hooks that made her worth listening to, so essentially, I'm saying she's just a poor man's P!nk. Yep.
Sounds like a home run on paper (world music mixed with late-60s psychedelia) but in practice it's more like a bloop single. Rather unimpressive but serviceable.
Your favorite bassist's favorite bassist kills it here. Pretty nice jazz to listen to. Liked side A quite a bit. Wished I could give it an extra half star.
Slick, well-produced sleaze. The hits heavily outswing the deep tracks ("I Got the Six" pales in comparison to "Got Me Under Pressure")
Always thought this was the weakest of the Berlin trilogy despite having arguably the best song of all time on it- now I can see I am probably wrong (although I do remember Lodger being pretty good). The three song ambient run on Side 2 is super underrated.
While the singles here are masterpieces, I don't think they quite make up for some of the filler tracks here which really break up the flow of the entire thing.
Repetitive, but never dull. Well-produced, charming, and fun. But not something I'd ever really think to listen to again.
Ultimately a fairly good rap record. No tracks that were nearly as good as anything off ITANOMTHUB except Shut 'Em Down (in particular the Pete Rock remix), which is top 5.
"CAUTION POLICE LINE YOU BETTER NOT CROSS"
What more needs to be said about the single greatest pop album ever made? The production paved the way for basically every commercially-produced record for the next several decades, the songs are all classic (7 TOP TEN SINGLES ON ONE ALBUM?!) and the performances, vocal and instrumental, are top-notch. Every song is worth the price of admission here. Even the supposed "weak" songs as their reputation suggests ("The Girl is Mine" and "The Lady in My Life") are excellent- with the former being Jacko's experiment with AOR, complete with Toto "Rosanna"-esque percussion and bass, but a lovely vocal duet with McCartney provides the song added meaning as a "passing of the baton" from one pop god to the next. The latter in that category is a funk soul track with a fantastic keyboard sound and a deservedly chilled-out conclusion to an all-timer album.
Not super interesting. The hits are all pretty great though. And there was one song ("Nightingale") which sounded exactly like a Kiss song lol