So I must be on enough drugs to actually like it, the Lou Reed songs in particular. I had never heard anything by them going into this, so had no expectations. They reminded me of some other bands of the time that I enjoy, but they definitely made some interesting choices with the arrangements. A couple of the songs were unlistenable - looking at you Venus in Furs - but there were 4 or 5 tracks I thought were great. I’d give it a 3.5 if I could, but going with the 3.

This is an easy 5 for me. I’ve loved this album since it first came out and have listened to it countless times. It’s the rare album that I enjoy every single song on. It’s fun, it’s interesting, and was a unique departure from Simon and Garfunkel music, which I also love. I recently listened to Malcom Gladwell’s audio book, “Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon”, and they had a great segment where Paul talked about the inspiration and making of Graceland, the controversy at the time of him breaking the boycott of South Africa to make the album, and why he did it. Good listen.

At 37 minutes, this album is short and sweet and full of hits. As a teenager in the 80’s this album was still popular in my high school and always a backdrop to driving around town, keg parties, and sitting by my friend’s pool enjoying a summer day. Fun music and a bit of nostalgia makes it a 4 for me.

I’ll admit I was half distracted listening to this yesterday, but I don’t think that mattered. It was probably better as background noise. I didn’t mind some of the songs but as others have already said, it’s more high school level playing. I’ll give it a 2 purely for the fact that it inspired the birth of grunge.

For me, U2 is one of those bands that I liked a few of the hits you heard on the radio, but never enough to want to listen to more from them, so this is the first time I’ve listened to a U2 album. My original thought holds. The hits are good, my favorite is Two Hearts, but the rest was just ok.

I love live albums, prefer them in a lot of cases. They’re more authentic, more engaging, and I love to hear the audience interactions. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a Peter Frampton song that wasn’t from this album so don’t know how it compares to his studio work, but I enjoyed this overall. Maybe not enough to give it a 4, but still a good listen.