Great tones (drums!) and interesting textures, but songwriting is less focused.
Love the vibe, the general casual-ness and I hear threads of this style all throughout modern indie. Songwriting and arranging are very strong, and the guitar work is great (Mick Ronson?). HATE Lou's vocals
Nearly flawless. Energy flags a bit in the latter 1/3rd, but otherwise no notes.
Great polished pop record. A shame Mr Brightside was so overexposed as to make it unenjoyable now, but the rest of the album is very strong.
Great individual performances and vibe. Less focused in the songwriting than Machine Head
It's Zeppelin IV. Flawless no notes.
I understand where this comes from and where it's going, but it's a style that's just not for me. Great energy, fun guitar licks, but the vocals kill it. There's nothing happening here that The Clash doesn't do better.
Phantom Pt II is the standout so far. Otherwise this album is good but not quite as refined or mature as their contemporaries Air and Daft Punk. A little aggressive in it's sonics for me, but I bet it works better in a club setting.
Not my absolute favorite by Bob, but still a pretty great one through and through
First side is SUPER strong. Chameleon might be the jam to end all jams. Back half however meanders for me. Sly is unfocused until 6 mins in and Vein Melter the opposite
This album makes more sense in historical context. The shift in sound from previous work is notable and it's got some great pop hooks and cool synthy production, but sounds a little bit flat or surface-level on its own.
Fantastic front to back. I like garage rock a lot more than I think I do
This is a fun one. Songs and total play length are nice and tight and the vibe is energetic and upbeat. Elvis's voice is an acquired taste that I've acquired. Saves the best song for last
I miss this Foo Fighters. The record comes out of the gate with strong songwriting and arrangements. I do wish he had hired the band to record this instead of doing it all himself though, it misses a little bit of the "band in a room" energy that the songs deserve. Energy lags a bit through the back half.
Meh. I get it but I do not love John Lennon's solo output as a general rule.
This was a nice surprise! songwriting and vocals are great and it's clearly the progenitor of the 2000s Americana resurge. The production is a little clean, thin, and 90s for my taste on some tunes.
Not a huge fan of this one. Side A is decent but I just don't love this style of 60s pop. The production is weak and performances loose. Side B being an extended jam doesn't help
As a whole this is an uneven album, The highs are high and the singles and a few other tracks fantastic. Generally loving the orchestration. There are more filler tracks than I'd prefer and the production on those seems uneven.
This early Petty shows shades of what would come but is a mixed bag overall. Breakdown (especially) and American Girl show flashes of higher level songwriting but the rest of the album is more middle of the road "Rock and Roll" without as much to say or deviation from the formula. The performances are consistently great as they would be for many years after.
Loved this. The Bowie influence is obviously present but less overbearing than on The Idiot. Vibes here are impeccable. RocknRoll, sense of humor, pacing all great.
Masterclass in sampling, but I don't love the final product. It's a shame Humpty Dance opens the album as it's easily the weakest track. I don't resonate a lot with this style but more importantly there's not a lot of ebb and flow with these tracks. They seem pretty same-y overall.
I hated this. Overwrought Morrissey-on-Broadway vibes. It's just not for me.
Good songwriting and performances, though the production is a little "90s thin" for me. Great debut but I think there's more depth later in Steve's career.
This album isn't to my personal taste, but the artistry and place in pop history are easy to see. The threads that became synth-pop and new wave are all here, and you can hear everything from Depeche Mode to Taylor Swift to Daft Punk all over this record.
Outstanding. Total masterclass in layered, literate sampling by the Dust Brothers. The vocals bring slightly less energy but so much more art than Licence to Ill. This is their first "grown up" record.
I hated every second of this. The subversive subject matter of the lyrics was newish at the time, but other than that I simply don't like/get Lou Reed's oeuvre. This sounds like the output of heroin-addled narcissists, which it is.
Hard not to like this one. There's no substance at all to the lyrical content, but that's not why we're here. One could maybe argue that the performances lack some level of passion or authenticity, but this is impeccably constructed pop music. The arrangements and production are top notch, and it's hard to deny the catchy moments consistent throughout the whole album
I'd never heard (or even heard of) this one before! It was a pleasant surprise. The vocals are much more gruff than anything in the Beach Boys but I feel that it really works for the songs which seem much more personal. Great production and a really nice sonic palette all around, with some shades of George Harrison thrown in there. The tracks are maybe a little uneven, but the standouts are great.
I was actually surprised by how middle of the road I felt about this one. Green Onions and Mo' Onions are standouts and bring the vibe the best, along with Behave Yourself and Comin' Over Baby. The playing is generally tasteful all around the but arrangements are more basic blues 1-4-5 jams than I expected.
Hard not to like this one. Some 80s sexy cheese in the lyrics but the arrangements and production are so on point. Less focused on singles than I expected, very jammy especially in the back half
This was great. Perfect balance of noise rock and song structure to keep me interested, and the guitar and drum sounds from Butch Vig are top notch. A couple too many throwaway tunes though, and the vocals are nothing to write home about but that wasn't a surprise.
Did not care for this one. Songwriting is unfocused, production is weak, and runtime is bloated. This feels like an amateur basement project
Did not like this at all. No polish to the production or songwriting. Sounds like a high school band screwing around in the garage.
This was nice! A more intimate entry with hints at Paul's fondness for world music that would manifest more strongly later. This feels like a "close" album.
Pretty cool. Reminds me of Portishead a bit, but less "cool" smoky jazz club and more James Bond soundtrack. Nothing particularly novel here, but it's a sexy listen.
this was weirder than I expected. The production is super glossy 80s pop but the songs take some twists and turns esp as the album progresses. Some tonal ideas that would pop up later in a lot of 90s indie. I don't like how "Dear God" is just tacked on at the end though. Sounds like it's from a totally different project.
Nearly perfect, what a great album. The variety of texture in the production combined with a huge range of tempo and mood makes this an engaging listen all the way through. Lyrically clever and musically diverse, you can hear everything from Prince to Parliament as influences here. I don't love the interludes, but that's every hip hop album for me.
