A bit more mellow than I was expecting, but the instrumentals are tight and make for an easy listen. Funk has a high place in my heart so it was always going to be an enjoyable album for me.
This is an album that you must read the lyrics alongside listening. You can almost hear the forthcoming funk albums from other artists that this one inspired. It is not traditional funk, and that adds a lot to why this album stands out.
I read that this album was made during a period of heavy drug use by the members of the group, and influenced by increasing tension from the Black Panthers to create more overtly political music. On the drug use side, you can kind of "hear" it. Funk is repetitive to a certain extent, but there are portions of this album that loop in a way that feels similar to the way a thought gets stuck in your mind when under the influence.
Spaced Cowboy was the standout track for me. Both lyrically and sonically, it is the best representation of the goals of the album as a whole.
Always wondered why this album pops up for every classic rock fan. Excited to get into it.
What a way to start an album. I love psych rock so I'm having a lot of fun already. The layers of yelling, and chaos that are foreshadowed !!
Very much a "we live in a society" kind of album, but it's chill - not in a bad way
Interesting how all the smothering forces in this character's life are women (mother, wife) in interviews he talks about how his lack of a father figure led him to have warped relationships with women...(his 1984 interview with the BBC where he talks about not understanding why women have issues with objectification...)
Sonically I enjoy the album, a very forward sounding body of work - highly experimental but also grounds itself with the way it tells a story (very much a trait of the rock scene) the darks sound incredibly dark, and put you in the shoes of the character. But the piece is really colored by whom the character views as the problem. Many men can probably relate to this, as American society sells sex but still has issues explicitly talking about it or portraying it. This creates a complex. The parallels with war that the album draws on center themselves with a lack of power that war brings. This lack of power is seen in the character's interpersonal relationship as well.
If not for nothing, the layers this album is able to build upon are impressive if flawed. Mostly agree with thefilmobsessive.com analysis, that over the course of the piece the theme gets confused as it wrestles with this escalation of authority and power. It cannot clearly speak to whether it wants to identify with or reject it.
Anyway, here's Wonderwall. (Feels like it is the strongest of the first 3 songs, Hello and Roll With it sort of meld into each other)
Sometimes I enjoy yell/singing, but so far I feel more irritated with the style than moved by it. I could see how it could be cathartic for someone to sing along to these songs in a crowd, but beyond that? Meh.
The highs are high, and the lows are pretty mediocre. The album gets better the deeper you get into it - by the time you hit the eponymous track, it's easier to digest what the album is trying to say. Not sure if it is as timeless as many would say - but it adds to the charm of the album.
Feels like it's one of those "you had to be there" albums. The impact is lost on me as the era it existed in is unfamiliar to me. I saw another review describe this as "competent but boring." I have to agree. Production is solid, and is able to conjure up an image of the mid-90s UK rock scene, but just doesn't move me.
There's a reason this album is in every hip-hop head's top 20. It's not an easy feat to be able to rhyme without it feeling forced - Nas is able to do it in a way that almost feels conversational. The essence of raps storytelling trait is found here.
The World is Yours was my favorite track on this album, the looping sample doesn't feel gratingly repetitive but lets the rhymes breathe, and the ad-libs feel more like another layer of instrumentation to the whole piece.
These days, "lo-fi" hip-hop still feels like a sad mimicry of hip-hop as a whole - easy to consume and not saying much of anything at all. This album serves as a reminder that you can keep things simple AND say a whole lot.
I love a skit in a Rap Album. Researching the efforts behind this album's creation is where I learned the term "sampledelia," which is still one of my favorite traits in music. It's like an audible collage (which also happens to be one of my favorite physical art mediums.)
The amount of fun they're having on the album is just fun to hear. Feels like the pinnacle of late 80s/early 90s rap, where charisma was just as important as rhyme. Tracks like Jenifa Taught Me, and Do as De La Does shows the lasting impact disco has had on hip-hop, such fun danceable tracks.
It's a challenge to review music that you can tell inspired so many later artists, because it sounds so familiar it's almost boring, immediately this album reminded me of The Pharcyde's later album Bizarre Ride II (and that album is more confrontational in its sound - it is very much of this sampledelia era) so in a way it played like something I had already heard 100s of times before.
Albums like this remind me of how old "modern" is if that makes sense. Current shoegaze/dream & ethereal wave artists are still trying to capture what Cocteau Twins did here. Playing this as the weather has started to cool down, and the leaves fall adds another element to the experience, Fall is a nostalgic season and this is pure nostalgia.
On the note of nostalgia, I've been reading the late Mark Fisher's work on Post Punk and Modernism. This album is a great example of what Fisher was theorizing around hauntology and our cultures' fixation on nostalgia and newness. This is what makes the 90s so exceptional for so many - it was an innovative time that successfully built on the foundations of the past but conceptualized new futures. This idea of modern hauntology is why the 90s is able to successfully sound new - even today.
Elizabeth Fraser's vocals, are mixed into the track in a powerful way. They come to the forefront of the instrumentals, but also build out this dream-like soundscape that the percussion solidifies. Its accessible as most pop songs are, and structured in the same way, but also feels so outside of traditional pop.
Even if its not for me, I can at least respect the talent and recognize the blueprint it was drawing out. That being said, it's really not for me. Calmer songs like She Makes Me were enjoyable to listen to - and that's what made me realize I'm just not a fan of the theatrical crooning in combination with the bombastic riffs.
It executes what it tries to do well, very in-your-face. I just really want it to get out of my face. They aren't a bad band whatsoever, I just cannot get with the program and have 0 desire to try.
If I'm rating this on pure artistic quality: It's a strong 4. the album knows its campy and leans into it heavily without coming across as kitsch. The skill does not take a backseat to the concept. However, if I'm rating this purely on personal taste? a 2.5
I had never heard of this artist before this recommendation. The album has a calm sound, but the topics it covers are incredibly heavy. A downtempo album covering the anxiety around nuclear testing is ambitious. Letting the lyrics come to the forefront of the songs was a successful choice to allow the words to sit with the listener, but the instrumentals were a bit boring.
There is a meditative quality to the album that makes it feel more like poetry than traditional music - but then that begs the questions if there is a relevant difference between poetry and music - so I can appreciate the exploration Sawhney offers. Homelands stands out on this album due to the rhythmic vocals. Everything in that track plays off of each other well, and the percussion was by far my favorite off of the whole album.
Pilgrim was a pretty weak track in my eyes - it tries to come off poignant but feels very "lyrical miracle spiritual." It wants to come off vulnerable and thoughtful, but says a lot of nothing. The entire album's goal is to use repetition to create a meditative quality - but using that idea with rap makes the lyricism come off grating and confused.
Would I listen to this again? Probably not, as it just didn't engage me. I respect why the album was made to be simplistic, but it also felt like the easiest interpretation one could have gone with. Mixing "traditional" instruments, with orchestral sounding strings and audio samples from news bites is the most straightforward use of juxtaposition one could go with.
It is incredibly hard to sing about sex in a truly sensual way. This album is a gem on exactly how to do it. Learning that this album was an outlet for Gaye to cope with childhood abuse adds another dimension to the joy expressed in this album. You can hear through his vocals his vulnerabilities around love and sex.
There's just something really sonically gorgeous about an artist laying it all on a track. It is raw, but far from unpolished. It is well produced, but almost doesn't need such tight production to be good. Gaye's vocals very clearly drive every track and elevate them to hits. I've consistently held the belief that any artist inspired by jazz will prove to be a wonderful musician because they're able to hold a contradiction between chaos and order. Gaye is one of the best examples of this.
No notes. I love Jazz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wiki: "Yorke said that the lyrics were based on "that anonymous fear thing, sitting in traffic, thinking, 'I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something else'"
Man. The feeling of monotony, like life is passing you by - but you're not exactly sure what to do to catch up. How do you begin to put that into an album without it sounding like a white picket fence? The distorted guitar building up cutting through a very basic beat on 15 Step was sign enough that Radiohead could capture the feeling. Droning on without really droning.
This feeling is heightened with the lyrics in Bodysnatchers "Pale imitation/with the edges sawn off" and "Has the light gone out for you?/Because the lights' gone out for me." Just brutal.
I already have half of these songs in my "favorites" playlist. This is the pinnacle of 60's rock for me, the composition still sounds so modern - but not necessarily "new." It has all the standard components of 60s Psychedelic rock, but its Blues influences make this album stand out like no other.
I had no idea the Bee Gees could sound like this - being only familiar with their hit singles. This album felt like a movie.
Sometimes I get really annoyed by "sing-talking," but something about the lyricism here makes it less obnoxious and more honest. Simple.
FELA KUTI IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MUSICIANS OF ALL TIME.
My dad used to play "Zombie" on the family computer. He claimed he hated jazz, but for Kuti he could always make an exception. He'd reminisce on how he'd dance with his classmates to the lyrics - trying to do each move as fast as Kuti sang it. Jazz gets stereotyped as a stuffy pretentious genre sometimes but there is so much life within it. The controlled chaos it embodies challenges a listener, and creates a small section of participation from the audience.
A lovely album to start the day with - Nina Simone's voice is clear and strong. Cuts to your core. Lilac Wine is songwriting excellence, the song knows when to allow you to sit with the previous verse, letting Simone's vocals hang in the air. Takes you on an experience.
Its interesting! Plays with the soundscape, very quirky. Probably wouldn't listen through it again though. I very much enjoyed Giles Farnaby's Dream
Drakes vocals sometimes get lost in the instrumental - which adds a haunting quality to the album. He sings a bit like a man walking through a large forest, mostly to himself, with passersby only catching a few notes. This however doesn't imply that he has no control of his voice, with River Man showing a fantastic control of volume - starting out soft and foggy, then building up to a direct projection.
It's nice to hear an album that isn't too produced. The studio is a useful tool, but it hits the heart when things get stripped back. Listening to this in October makes the melancholy hit even harder. Folk is a genre that requires so much vulnerability to be successful - to the point you feel as if you understand the mind of a folk artist a bit better after a listen. It was a pleasure to get to know Nick Drake.
Another experimental jazzy piece - lots of fun to listen to!
This is IT. There is a bright energy that this album carries straight out the gate. Bossa Nova roots with an electric guitar works extremely well. A very "pop" sounding set of songs - makes for a very danceable album. You can really hear the passion in the lyrics during the final song Africa Brasil - where he references Zumbi a key figure in Afro-Brazilian resistance. A very powerful album.
Short sweet, and packs a punch. You can hear how Marvin Gaye was inspired by this album, and how it laid the groundwork for later soul Albums
It's hard to believe people got tear-gassed over this album, but that's the hard part about looking at albums through a modern lens. Rock has gotten so much harder and abrasive - but considering when this album came out, and the dominant cultural attitudes surrounding it I could see how young adults of the 60s would go wild over it.
This album is just as much against the dominant culture as it is *of* it. Songs like "Stupid Girl" don't challenge any wider attitudes about the perception of women at the time, but it is hilarious to listen to that song followed by the much more "loving" song "Lady Jane." (Continuing the tradition of weed being personified as a woman)
This album really makes you think about what gets called "counterculture." It certainly sits in contrast to the popular crooners of the time, but what is countercultrual about hypermasculinity? Its interesting when counterculture is looked at during this time it is particularly centered around class, but gender and race are relagated to their own categories of rebellion.
Sonically, the album is very interesting - no two songs sound alike but they are still cohesive together. You can hear the band experimenting with different sounds , and the heavy blues influence can be heard especially on songs like "Doncha Bother Me," but they feel a bit bland compared to their inspirations. Songs like "Goin Home" kind of drone on, but eventually get interesting.
It is funny to read about band members using "strange" instruments like a sitar or marimbas. This might be particularly harsh but this feels like the Ed Sheeran method - taking "strange" instruments from around the world to serve as seasoning for pretty basic pop tracks, but not doing much else.
This is...something!
Post punk meets country - I can appreciate the experimentation, but I'm just not convinced. Vocals are too punk and instrumental is severely country. They aren't really in dialogue with each other. The contrast is fun, but not something I'd play through again.
Foundational storytelling. The ability to keep a listener engaged from track to track, without sounding repetitive, is a rare skill. The vulnerability expressed on this album adds to why it's such a gem. Biggie Smalls is upfront about his lack of self-preservation - but not for a lack of trying on his part. His mother has cancer, his friends continue to die, he is at a point of doing whatever it takes to survive. It's honest, bold, well produced and takes you on a journey without overstaying its welcome.
You can tell many rappers later on tried to emulate this sound. However, they were often playing personas or playing into what an industry expected of the genre. Even at the time of the album, the culture of rap had a lot of "posers," with Biggie calling them out on the track Machine Gun Funk. Rap is at its best when it is vulnerable, and when it defies previous waves - reinventing itself for every decade.
The inevitable arrival point of hip-hops many influences are found here. The lyrics tell a story, but also flex skill in performance and rhyme. The beats are regionally distinct without sounding dated, and has evident roots in Black genres - funk, jazz, rock and of course modern digital production elements (the sampled sound effects).
Masterclass of an album.
I had never heard of David Gray previously, but I wish I had. A soft but impactful piece. This is the sound a lot more "pop" acts replicated around 2016 (older Ed Sheeran, James Blunt) They may not list Gray as an influence, but the comparisons are there. Straightforward vocals and instrumentals. I quite enjoyed the lyrics too
I feel like after "Z" this was the natural progression of her sound - SZA has such lovely vocals and paired with well composed instrumentals it makes for a very cohesive album. R&B needed something fresh and SZA gave it. Its poetic, with the lyrics sounding like a message left in a voicemail inbox - but there's still an ability to sing along.
Speaking of "Z" there was some electronic influence on that EP that I wish other R&B artists would take note of. Tracks like "Julia" on Z became "Drew Barrymore." (Can you tell I really liked Z) Her growth as an artist is a pleasure to listen to.
90s Grunge in essence, simple and straightforward. It is very much of its time - and I mean that as a compliment, this is the blueprint for what 90s alt-rock was trying to sound like. Catchy, fun lyrics, abrasive but not punishing.
There are points where it feels repetitive, like if I was listening to this at a bar I'd be thoroughly enjoying myself, but I'd probably grab a shot around "Smile." It's far from a bad song, but drags a bit (which I very much appreciate that it's only a minute and 40 seconds)
There are other points where the album feels shy "S.O.F.T" builds up instrumentally but the vocals stay at this same sleepy yell that I'm left a bit disappointed.
3.5
What can I say about this album that hasn't already been said. People don't often categorize rap as an "alternative" genre - it typically gets shoehorned into its own category, and new boundaries get redrawn around it. I think this album exemplifies the best of rap as an alternative genre. It defied the mainstream, caused controversy, and was the best of the genre pre capitalist recuperation.
Black art always has had the burden of becoming representative of Black people as a whole. It's refreshing to have art that didn't concern itself with optics, and focused on craft and what it wanted to say. It wasn't worried about how white America would take it, and rather took it to task. You create a society that subjugates a group of people for CENTURIES, then create narratives out of the actions they take having to survive said conditions.
N.W.A said all this with style, and the best beats of the era.
"Express Yourself" is still one of my favorite tracks off this album, a simple but good use of a sample, and punchy lyrics. DJ Yella really is one of the greatest producers of all time. It's hard to pick a standout track on this whole piece, though. Back-to-back hits that work together well. Obviously some regressive attitudes and mindsets, but as said on "Gangsta, Gangsta"
"Do I look like a motherfucking Role Model?"
The pacific northwest has birthed a few bands that capture exactly what it's like to live there. Mellow, with a sharp and dark undertone.
I'm already charmed by this album just from the title. The first track was a lot more groovy than I expected, and made me quite excited for what was to come. The album has a lot of energy, and doesn't sound completely polished, which makes the energy a little more relatable/accessible.
"I'm Partial To Your Abracadabra" is my favorite track off the album - it has good riffs, and a really catchy beat.
Another genre that I'm biased positively towards. Psychedelic rock is great when it's both trying really hard and not trying at all. The King of it - Jimi Hendrix's influence can be felt through this album (Sunshine of your Love being written after Jack Bruce went to a Hendrix concert) and I mean that as a positive. It's relaxed, but far from lazy.
For me personally, however, I'm not sure if I would return to this specific album. I admire it for its success in execution, but don't find myself drawn to it.
#JazzRock
not as many words today, but this was enjoyable. I'd love to listen to this on a really nice sound system, there are a lot of layers
Good instrumentals and very relevant lyrics. The album as a whole is very cohesive - the songs aren't repetitive but they blend into each other well. It was really ahead of its time - it has a sound that many bands would follow throughout the 90s.
This sounds like it could have released today. Groundbreaking stuff.
A lot of fun riffs, and very high energy. Metal has come a long, long way since Deep Purple's time - but the foundations of what makes metal so great are all here. There is a grungy sound across the album, but it doesn't take away from how precise the instruments are being played. It's clearer to see the link between Blues > Rock > Metal with songs like "Maybe I'm A Leo," which sounds insanely groovy but still heavy.
Very danceable. Enjoyed the layering of different sounds after tracks got a little repetitive
Clean vocals, and really well constructed songs. Not much else you could really ask for.
Tracey Thorn has a clear and powerful voice. Very pleasant to listen to. I'm not sure why it conjures images of quiet shopping malls, or being in the clearance section of a Macy's - maybe it played over the speakers while I was waiting for my mom to finish trying on shoes. The album sounds like one long memory. Very dreamy.
You can really hear the Fela Kuti influences with the staccato guitar riffs, and looping percussion. Its enjoyable! But makes want to listen to more Fela instead. Even the vocals on the very first track feel like the typical call and response fond in Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian jazz.
Maybe I'm biased. This isn't to say someone from a cominant culture can never be inspired. Byrne and Eno were very loud and public about wher thir influnces came from, and gave credit where it was due. I guess I'm moreso reacting to how the grater public recives music like this. It typcally never leads to deeper investigation of the source or the continent, and stays a footnote in someone elses journey.
I did like the way the influences were transformed, Its groovy, well produced, very bright. It works. It shouldn't be downplayed the difficulty in hearing something you like, and being able to mimic it without outright copying. I enjoyed it, there's just a feeling in the back of my mind.....
Strong blues influences, the issue with influence sometimes is it just reminds you of a better artist you could be listening to. Very of its era, though. I can understand why 2009 local-coffee shop-indie-fanatics went wild over this sound - you can almost hear the milk steamer going off over the sound of this album. Not inherently a negative, just not my scene.
Should I resent this album for bring in a wave of stomp-clap artists after it? No. Will I anyway? Yes.
A bit sleepy, but not bad
I really love how Willie Nelsons voice is clear and strong. I'm not the biggest country fan, but talent is talent!
Felt like a drum circle in the best way, a good reminder of the ways that music is poetry
I was hoping to like this more than I did. I understand how it was groundbreaking for the time, but I just found the whole thing very grating. Works better live where you can see and hear Bowie's energy - but on its own it was not a pleasant listen.
Very abrasive in a good way.
I was born a little late to understand the impact the Beatles had - My parents also didn't listen to them, so my first exposure was through references in TV shows and movies.
That aside, this album has a lot of really catchy songs, back in the U.S.S.R was a strong start to the album, and I've heard ol-la-di, ob-la-da previously (and loved it) It was fun to hear how playful this album got.
I understand completely how a whole genre of music spawned after this. It feels so fresh, and Siouxie's voice is perfect. The guitar has a haunting quality to it, and everything blends together well. It sounds "loose" but that is what makes it such a gem, to play at this level takes a certain level of restraint.
I really enjoy what was going on with pop in the early 2000s, and Christina Aguilera has a very strong and precise voice. That being said, it feels like a lot of artists just pull from historically Black genres when they're out of ideas on how to be different. The power behind her voice is sometimes too much, like on the track "Understand," which comes across less like passionate singing and more like yelling. "Oh Mother" is a successful example of the power behind her vocals.
I much preferred tracks like "Without you" where she shows a level of restraint, and allows the instrumental to work with her, rather than her rising above them. The intro to disc 2 worked much better for me, Aguilera's vocals deserve more bombastic and dramatic backing. The orchestral quality works very well. As it went along, however, it got a bit cheesy. I think she leaned too far into the retro sound (proto Meghan Trainor?) By the time I got to "Naughty Naughty Boy," I was fully over the 30s cosplay.
This is very 2009.
I don't think I am the target audience - but I'm sure the indie/emo hipsters back then had a great time with this.
There is a nostalgic quality to John Lee Hookers voice that feels comforting and commands focus. This isn't an album one can easily passively listen to. There is a difficulty in digesting this album, however. I admire the roots of the songs, but I cannot find myself listening to them again on my own. I can hear the riffs that are foundational to starting new genres, but I can't shake the feeling of how "old" it all sounds. I think I will need some more exposures to Blues music in order to really understand what is successful here and what isn't
