Termination & Are You Happy were the standouts for me. Overall didn’t enjoy this album very much but I’m glad I listened. I can appreciate the historical significance and I had heard some of the title track before but not the full 17 minute version. Wow.
Was this level of mic distortion en vogue in 1994? I found the first few tracks difficult to enjoy because of this. Lyrics were impossible to hear. I actually recognized “Sabotage” but didn’t attribute it to Beastie Boys in my mind. “Sabrosa” was a cool instrumental interlude I wasn’t expecting from BB. The strings in “Eugene’s Lament” really surprised me. Other standouts for me were “Root Down”, “Get it Together”, “Do It”, and the real treat at the end (if for nothing more than uniqueness), “Shambala” & “Bodhisattva Vow”. Overall this was significantly more diverse than I was anticipating. Great listening.
Chaotic. Occasionally discordant-feeling. Improvisational vibe. Track #2… so it’s really gonna be like this the whole way through, huh? Hard to believe this was only 5 years before In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. What a diverse musical culture this country has. Track 4’s Spanish guitar was unexpected and made me smile haha! I’ve heard track 4 sampled in other songs, I’m sure of it. Around the 5:45/6 min mark. Very experimental album. Overall did not enjoy.
Favs: “Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream”, “Baby, Baby, Baby”
I didn’t necessarily dislike the album but it’s not exactly my genre of music. Glad I listened though and wow is she an amazing singer.
I think I liked Otis best when he wasn’t pushing so hard in those high energy tunes. “A Change Is Gonna Come” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” were standouts for me.
An album laser-guided toward a teenage girl’s heart. Favs: “Dancing Queen”, “Money Money Money”, “That’s me”
The whole thing in contrast to the previous two albums felt like a commercial effort and not something derived from musical passion.
Great opener. Loved the groove on “Cities”. “Life During Wartime” was very entertaining. About halfway through the album now, and I can confidently say I prefer the music to Byrne’s voice. He does some goofy shit with his voice that I realize is probably purposeful, but it just irks me. “Air” was very weird. Whole album feels very avant garde and abstract. Drugs I guess haha.
I enjoyed this. Simple, airy, conceptual, ambient. Probably foundational in the electronic music space.
Cool grooves. A little samey from time to time.
Very much enjoyed this album! rock/funk fusion goodness.
As with Otis last week, I liked her best when she wasn’t pushing so hard, as on “Like Someone In Love” I don’t know if I’ll articulate this well, but her voice doesn’t match the music. Is she off the beat on purpose maybe? I’m not sure. I liked this album a lot less than I thought I would. It’s cheezy.
EDIT: had to come back and give accolades to “Play Dead” the last track. Probably my favorite!
The whitest of white people music. “I can’t dance” stands out as a shining example of this. I liked “Brass Buttons”. Also very much enjoyed “Love Hurts”
I like the back half of the album better than the starting half.
Fantastic. Added it to some playlists on Spotify. This is the highest honor I can bestow in my limited capacity as a consumer of music 🤣
Really did not enjoy this album. “Sawdust & Diamonds” had cool instrumentation. The squeaky thing she does with her voice occasionally is grating. “Rambling” is just about the kindest thing I can say about it.
I was surprised by the folk-y sound of the back half of this album. For my personal taste it opened strong and got weaker toward the back of the album. Standouts were “Friends” and “Tangerine”
“War In Peace” was the only redeeming track on this album. (EDIT: the whistling on this track was weird, too) Weird, otherwise. 1969 Must have been an interesting time.
“Sunrise” was super great!
This was pretty good. The thing that irked me (most apparent on track #1) was the “talking” of the lyrics. Also on the last track.
Not my favorite so far but didn’t dislike it in any sense. Pretty good.
Didn’t really like it much at all.
Nonplussed. Some cool sounds. Not my style.
Opened strong, finished kinda weak.
Had some great moments. Too intense for me.
A FIRM and HEARTY 0/5. I can think of about four bars across this entire album that made me think: “I don’t want to die right now.”
Standouts for me were "Wild Horses" and "Moonlight Mile".
For being created between 1985-1992, this is AMAZING.
I really liked this, but don’t know that I’d pick it again. What an absolutely legendary vocalist!
Occasionally great, mostly a little too chaotic for me.
Her voice is iconic but I can’t listen to a lot of it.
Enjoyed, but a litttle samey
Started really strong less favorable in the backend.
Didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.
I was regular whelmed by this one.
Weird, some tracks were good but they were diamonds in the rough.
There were a couple really fun tracks on here and one or two I recognized from the era of the album’s release. Few others that did nothing for me.
Many classics. Examined as a whole, perhaps a bit samey.
Really great. The piano intro on “Inner Crisis” was beautiful.
I don’t know if ‘annoying instrumentation’ is a bug or a feature here but I’m finding it grating. Looking at you, bells on “Us V Them”
Sound & lyric repetition is also fatiguing to me here. Many of these tracks could be half their recorded length. Hearing the same sentence literally 20 times in a row feels like… lazy lyrics? I know I’m glass half full here, it’s just the vibe I get.
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. “Prom” was great.
For me it was a 2, for the fact that this was 1996 it gets a 3. Probably standout for its era, but I don’t feel like it’s aged well.
Probably my favorite album so far from this genre.
I liked much of this, but the more avant-garde tracks were unpalatable.
Interesting beats. Enjoyed the listen for the variety this 1,001 project brings but would not listen again.
Inoffensive. Sinatra-adjacent while being neighbors with Johnny Cash.
I understand the historical significance but this was a tough listen. I expect this was a thrilling show to experience live, but it does not hit right as a recording. “The same note over and over” ≠ energy and excitement for me. Lyrics difficult to understand. Manic.
I enjoyed this and it’s very out of my comfort zone.
A little avant-garde leaning for my taste at time but overall enjoyed.
Enjoyed. Wouldn’t listen again.
Struggled a little with this one. Opened strong, had a bit of a weird/weak middle and then grew stronger toward the end. I appreciate that the album is diverse. Some blues-y sounding stuff, some psychedelic, avant-garde abstract/experimental vibes too.
I didn’t dislike it but was a bit inoffensive; milquetoast generic.
Liked it less than I thought I would.
I knew I’d enjoy this album, but it’s not terribly diverse. Dolly is not in my regular listening rotation but I always enjoy her when I hear her. The arrangements and mixing are so “vocal forward” that it makes it hard not to hear the message in each of her songs.
Inoffensive lobby music. Generic. Perhaps a victim of its commercial success. Not bad in any way, just not very exciting.
Was excited for Chemical Brothers to appear but I liked this a little less than I was expecting. While a few of the tracks felt a little samey with a similar funky groove, there was enough diversity throughout the rest to keep me hooked. Standout tracks for me were: “Song to the Siren”, “Chico’s Groove”, “One Too Many Mornings”
Swingin’
Really enjoyed. Probably not a repeat listen, but it sure was fun! He imparts a sense of joy with his performances. High energy and you get the feeling they all enjoyed playing together.
I liked “Lady Grinning Soul“
I think what I appreciate about this album is that the lyrics are easy to understand. Helps so much with connecting with the vibe and the story the album is telling.
A little out of my comfort zone, but I liked it
I liked “Spellbound”, “Into the Light”, and the rest got kind of experimental and I lit started to grate on me. (Lookin’ at you “Voodoo Dolly”)
"Superbacana" was a fav. Whole thing was groovy and fun.
Good, great even but a victim of its own success that it gets ovrplayed to the degree that I’ve heard nearly all of an album I’ve never sat down to listen to.
Difficult to understand lyrics and kinda samey.
“Son et Lumiere” was great! Eriatarka also very good.
More R&B than I expected.
Cool if you consider when it was released.
"We have Queen at home."
The Queen at home:
Impeccably strange vibes with entirely too much Theremin. Forgettable with an overly synth-y aesthetic (bug, not a feature). DNF.
I didn’t dislike it but I won’t return. I love the expression and variety in Lorde’s voice, but the music itself is a bit teen angsty and focused on romance for me. It’s easy listening for the 2010’s. Inoffensive and unobtrusive.
A fusion of two genres that I enjoy and it still fell quite flat for me. Some neat grooves but it hasn’t aged well.
It’s more talking than singing and this project has revealed to me that I find that style of performance very greeting. Did not enjoy. (Edit: Oh! Walk on the Wild Side! I know this song)
Hit after hit. Fatiguing not because of the music but because of how often I’ve already heard these songs. Suffering from its own success. Decent album.
Really enjoyed. Some of the later tracks get a little too psychedelic for me.
Liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
I liked the title track the best. The rest was pretty good considering the time period.
I enjoyed: “Say Anything” and a couple other tracks but this album was not particularly my vibe.
Solidified her transition from country to pop. This was not my style at all and personally I didn’t enjoy it very much, but it’s good at what it aimed to be: a commercially successful pop album.
“You’re drifting off to sleep with your teeth in your mouth” I found this lyric to be highly relatable. Thanks R.E.M.
A bit on the soft side, but overall I enjoyed.
Enjoyed, wouldn’t return.
Had a lot more fun than I was expecting
Enjoyed, but not as much as later albums.
The sound is a little goofy, perhaps a bit “elevator music” or overly-synthesized when viewed through the lens of the 2020’s. That being said trying to consider it in the context of when it was released, I enjoyed the listen.
Loved it, 4 stars only because it felt a little samey throughout. But what was on offer was really great.
TIL I don’t like Flavor Flav.
