Patti Smith makes me feel strong. Incredible lyrics, this fury inside her, she is so fucking cool. The world she paints in Horses is entirely her own, confident, and integrity. Psychedelic, bluesy, but the highlight is her. Her voice is not traditionally great but that's not the point. The point is her delivery, half spoken-word and half singing.
Phenomenal sampling, super super smooth, early trip-hop and DnB emerging.
Life-affirming, big, tight band. I like the boss better when he is a little softer and sadder, but this is full of absolute bangers
Groovy, conscious, stylish, critique. I really like this. I think it can sound a bit same-y and is perhaps not my exact genre but this is masterful
Surprisingly, I love this. Songs are tight, voice is unreal, audience interaction and theme of the record work.
Undeniably tight and well-made songs but do not make me feel. I think genre problem for rockabilly. Great voice and instrumentation
This rocks. I did not expect glam from this period and would have guessed this was made 10 years later if I did not know. Campy, great lyrics, funny, cynical.
Modern classic. Warm and rich production. Great voice and sense of melody and groove, great percussion. Has a sensitivity that reveals throughout, takes a while to open up its heart. Incredibly tastefully made
Ambient, moody, has this referential quality to classic rock but reinterprets it in a tasteful way. Problem is, this album is very same-y. Same progressions and drums, very repetitve. Has one trick and does it well, but it is one trick
I am shocked I like this. Melodic, beautifully constructed, exceptional singing, sensitive, sad. It is a bit dated in terms of lyrical content but hey this is country. It does not make me cringe as badly as I thought it would, but it does somewhat. It is a bit repetitive toward the middle third
On the upside, this has ambition and mood. It also made me significantly less insecure about singing because I can't do Billy Corgan's voice. On the downside, the mixing feels off (voice way down mby because it sucks). Doesn’t hit like genres it draws on, punk, mid-west, grunge- no thanks. Feels derivative
Fun. This whole album rips. Insane debut. Fun interplay of snarling lead vocals and sweet backing vocals. Time capsule to feeling like you’re young and cool in the 70s in London. Simple but effective playing, esp. guitar. Political in a way that hits without being obnoxious
Moody and dark, sounds really really good. Production quality is unreal even without remastering. To me comes across as a bit depressy and slightly self-absorbed, but I got into it more as I listened. Temperamentally this is far from me but I appreciate it
Dark, groovy, super smooth in parts and then howling nihilism. Early experimentation with electronica visible here. This is so bumpy and just cool as fuck. Socially conscious, depressing then moments of brightness. It’s not glossing over anger and struggle
Holy shit this is good. Smooth rap all-time high, bumps along jazz-like and quirky, playful, self-aware. Sick production, warm, right amount of grit. This is above all really fun to listen to (e.g. frog sounds?? <3) . Feels like you are living your best life
Pretensious. Like if a "well actually" college dude downed the canterbury tales and decided to tell everybody he was into jazz. The playing and musicianship is actually reallly good, it is musically dense just not to my taste. Drumming slaps, some beautiful moments
If the beach boys were British and psychedelic. This is glowing warm with youth and life, has this vintage quality and medieval references that work. Soundtrack to youth, autumnal quality
Great guitar riffs when they’re not on the mandolin. Put down the fucking mandolin. The singing in a super heavy American twang and mandolin throws me off though. Don’t care for this. Doesn’t make me feel much; occasional great riffs offset by aside annoyance at singing and mandolin
George Michael undoubtedly has an amazing voice. Problem is the songwriting is a bit dull and the voice is drenched in so much reverb the audio engineer must have answered yes to how much reverb do you want. Perfectly pleasant but aside some great vocals just lacks lyrics, hooks, something memorable.
It should be illegal to have so many classics on one album. Her voice is astonishing, the instrumentation is tight and groovy and funky. The way she sings is so emotive it makes you want to cry or laugh, it makes me feel strong. Has this explosive energy throughout.
The concept album part of this, about life, is I think really moving. Some really really gorgeous songs (old friends, america). The second side I think isn’t really for me- sounds almost like michael franks brunch music or general folk rock noodling. I like how there you can hear them trying out electronic aspects in first half
She has a cool voice between Lauryn Hill and Nelly Furtado, starts with production more interesting than what I would have thought for early 2000s hip hop but loses steam and is ultimately fine but not great. Some very average 2000s some interesting
This has all that is good about coldplay (politik), and the warning signs of what later went wrong (amsterdam). Here they have a kind of radiohead sound full of emotion, it is edgier than their earlier efforts, and some of the songs aged well. It is simple music but at times works. Nostalgia factor also kicks hard
This comes out the gate storming. The percussion from Moon is unreal, the bass is so tight. I am not sure how I feel about live albums unless they're as good/cohesive/themed as folsom prison. But that being said this absolutely rips. Being in the crowd must have been insane
Anglo-indian beats. I did not expect this. It's groovy, weird, lo-fi, well-produced, uses found sounds I really like, and has some bops. I flows well the whole way through, has great anti-racist lyrics. Surprising good find!Could be leaner and a bit shorter but still good
Plug the 80s straight into my veins! The first track had instrumentation that weirdly reminded me of Jai Paul, the rest was more straightforwardly 80s but just extremely well executed. Then realised that a lot of what i think of as iconically 80s is from this. Detached electro-dance-pop, geat melodic sensitivity, real sense of irony detachment and boredom. Self-aware album. Good!!
Listen… I get they were pioneers of radio rock nu metal, but this is neither good by standards of rap or metal. There are iconic songs on this culturally but they are SO on the nose it's painful. Lyrics are esp painful. Overproduced, too smooth, overblown. Really lacks taste. This does not have to be bad if it was done with more feeling. Sounds like what 11y/o boy thinks is heavy and cool music
Doesn't really do it for me. Does not have the sample talent of public enemy in instrumentation, or the taste and lyrical playfulness they seem to borrow from tribe. Fairly corny, bragging is boring here. Some nice breakbeat production but this didn't grab me. Some MCs better than others
Krautrock energy for the 2010s. This is sonically interesting but not breakthrough for the time and I am not sure why this was on the 1001 albums list over kanye, bon iver. Builds a distinct vibe and flow across the album but nothing particularly stands out. Plays with contrast of whisper vocal with electronic shifting over darker bass instrumentation but I feel others do tht better
Imaginative and confessional songs, interesting lilting singing that plays across shifting acoustics. Has a sense of melancholy, darkness, cutting acerbic humour but also compassion delivered in sing-song format that is unusual and cool. Has a swung feel to the instrumentation. Great guitar by Marr.
Well produced. Beautiful harmonies, creative instrumentation. This bops along. No stand out tracks particularly but very consistent. Definitely darker than other efforts given everybody for divorced just before. It just doesn't do for me that peak abba does
Fun wall of noise- kind of chaotic but with massive bass riffs, frenzy drumming, the whole thing hanging together by a great sense of mischief. The bass has the lead quality of a guitar and h is SHREDDING my god. Chaotic but the whole thing is coherent and also just fun, even if a bit of an assaulkt on the senses. Very mood dependent how this hits
Very pleasant old-timey jazz arrangements that show off his gorgeous voice. Feels like being in a NY lounge and slowly getting drunker and more melancholic on cocktails while watching other people dancing
I may be in the minority but this to me isn't very appealing. Quite same-y, simple songs that all sound the same. Not much variation. Doesn;t really do much. Sounds very hard like you're trying to be cool and make very stylised vintage music out of a private school.
Platonic idea 80s plastic synth yacht rock to the point where I wonder if he actually invented that particular sound... considering he played every instrument on this he probably did. I like this dad rock genre tbh, maybe I am a dad inside really. Great lyrics, a gentle kind of groove, writing isn't exceptional but it is super well executed. Some songs do make me cringe though
Weird, experimental, huge fusion list of influences but somehow does not come together in a way that is particularly pleasing to my ears. It is silly, lyrics are silly, music is silly, and that's fun but it doesn't make me feel much aside from slight annoyance mixed with interest. I am intrigued though, I kind of also like it, and wish pop had the guts to be so weird today
Lush warm instrumentals, sad vocals, delivery is off-guard. Unexpected moments or rock and big folk harmony. This is sad like a rainy day after saying goodbye
Campy, operatic, super 80s from the synths to the female vocals and snares good god. His voice is great. I think this may be too much of a period piece for me to listen to unironically. It is good but not quite for me.
Deserves the hype it gets. Insanely well made and produced, musically DENSE in a good way (mad fusion of genres from shoegaze to folk and electronic bits coming through), lyrically captures something about the alienation and dystopia of britain changing in the 90s. This is impressive but I do think the bends has more of an emotional punch to it
This is weird but really compelling. Sounds like a nightmare that emerges from moments of pleasant dreams. It's super moody, concept heavy, wildly skilled production stitching together a dizzying array of genres. It feels at times detached and then downright menacing, whispering insane shit in your ear. I dont know if you would listen to this for pleasure but it's strong. Guitar tracks on this sound v much like frusciante so points for that too
The funkiest thing that's probaly ever been recorded. This is an absolute joy to listen to. Unbelievable guitar playing. Instrumentation is so tight, lively, inventive and just really really fun. There is so much joy in this and range, from upbeat to slower and more pensive. Wild lyirics. I would genuinely give a kidney to be at a George Clinton gig in the 70s
Opener and closer are so good, the middle isn't quite as strong but it has held up extremely well over time. It still sounds really good, warm, well-mixed, the groove and guitar playing is extremely well chosen. When it's good it absolutely rips
Same confessional flavour of Carole king but does not quite have the same sense of pace, space, and letting songs breathe. She is doing too much I think and the music never really folds out into what it could be. It pushes into showtune in a way I don't like. Mostly pleasant instrumentation but sometimes annoying singing that seems a little precarious
Really really good. Fantastic guitar playing, instrumentation is warm and lush and organic and just sounds cool. The singing is a 70s harmony relic that sometimes adds to the psychedelic hippie feeling that comes out of this, sometimes is a bit annoying. Less enjoyable when leaning country rather than rock, but this is really great esp Neil Young contributions
Classic and sweet riffs, warm and groovy instrumentation that's tight and folky without being a meme (unlike saving england by the pound). Has a sweetness to it and you can just see the mods on little scoots zooming around. Has that trying hard 60s cool about it from this kind of folk rock
Weird AF, sounds like you got halfway through listening to folk and then dropped something psychedelic. Musicianship is a little sloppy and can get a bit too self-consciously concepty. Some of it's not bad some of it is embarassing. The medieval stuff needs to go into the bin.
Exactly what you expect from 1992 indie rock. There are tons of bands and sounds like this. It's annoying. Very similar songs, jangly indie pop and lacking the emotional centre of grunge. Sounds like depressed suburbs teenagers. Best song is a cover which is always a yikes
So much soul, softness, wonderfully created songs that hide this sadness while being deeply cool, beautiful, and warm. Has a delightful analogue sound. Great guitar lines and introduction of proto-punk heaviness. Has some incredible stand-alone singles but the album itself is super cohesive and creates this very particulr image of being cool and young in NY in the 70s
If steely Dan was psychedelic. This rocks. It’s variable, trippy, big vision, phenomenal instrumentation and almost a little punky sometimes. This might be the only prog I actually like so far because it’s more rocky and not medieval and sounds like you’re COOKED levels of high
Excellent. Rich and a lot going on in the soundscapes, off-beat and inventive but super well produced and clear musical skill. Mix of amazing melody, voice, trippy rhythm section, shifting through interchanging beautiful and creepy scenes this brings to mind
I absolutely hate this. Everything in me hates this. I hate the fiddle, I hate the singing, I hate the doodlydoooo songs. I don't think any volume of alcohol could make me like this sea shanty punk irish ballad shit. I can't. Please make it stop. At least they seem to really have fun making this which lifts it above TS and Linkin Park
Doesn't hold much charm for me. Has the same "I can't really play" quality of earlier punk with precarious and annoying vocals. Shoehorning in all sorts of other genres into a noise soup that sounds muddy. I guess it could be campy but it's just so not to my taste. At least they have a female guitarist but even that can't do much to improve this
At first this is so derivative 90s overblown mega period piece indie rock that I cannot stand it. Sounds like a melodramatic and poorly made highschool movie soundtrack inside of the brain of a super hormonal teenager with a lack of taste who thinks they are going through somthing. Booringg and generic. When I listen more I can hear this is british and has hints of oasis in it, but moments where it could be more do not break through.
Super high instrumental skill, smooth, groovy, insane production. Big sweeping survey of the different aspects of being black with both optimism and real darkness. This slaps. The vocals from cleo sol are disarming, both vulnerable.childlike but have this huge gospel quality. Big fusion of different communities from London shows up here
This is her best album by a comfortable margin. At the time this made such a splash and brought back british soul in a big way, but this is blended at times with some stomp-clap 2000s country energy that I forgot was there. Her voice is impressive but also all there is to it as the instrumntaiton is pretty lackluster and boring. Because it;s so voice forward it sounds quite busy vocally. There is something about dynamics missing here. It's fine, I actually know all these songs immdiately, but leaves me a bit meh not feeling much
I hate nu metal. It's so overblown, has the feel of stuff that 14 year old boys think is hard. Hysterical and really annoying vocals. Insane drumming in a good way, everything else seems perfectly engineered for keeping people awake at 2am in detention centres. Just not to my taste at all but it executes its genre well- unfortunately the genre fucking sucks. At least they seem to be genuinely having fun making so this is marginaly better than LP. Mixing is terrible.
Same sample style production as Public Enemy, but does not have the same insight and wittiness in delivery or the interjections of flavour flav that keep it variable. It's landing some heavy messages in old school style, production is good but not quite to the heights as public enemy again. Sounds dated now
Bright, cheerful, very tight instrumentation that brings out a different more pop friendly and early side of southern rock. Short and cute with little licks spicing it up. Sometimes annoying
Warm and surprisingly I like this. I was not sure I would! It is very meticulously made, and somehow the emotion can never really explode out as a result. Some of the tunes do hit, and have aged well with extra reverb late at night for a pleasant vintage feel. but this will never really hit me where I live despite being decent. Imporant in Rock and Roll for a reason but now sounds very tame
Messy, trying to find his sound and clearly at his best on Solisbury hill. When he leans into 'world music' and art pop, he is better. The rest is fine but not particualrly memorable or inventive. It is musically well made but does not really cohere, and the prog elements are really annoying to my ears
Again fuck nu metal, but this is campy and they're actually having a good time. I think I just like Serj Tankian, by association via the love he gets in NZ. This sounds a lot better than the other nu metal here, actually mixed properly, massive blown out guitars,punk heritage is clear. The variety within the album is also notable improvement from other genre offerings
Surprisingly I like this. It has energy, ambition, the songs are punky in their instrumentation but tell a good sweeping story and when they get political are particularly strong.
Beautiful and sounds effortless in its grace. Musically moves and flows, gorgeous moving melody and astonishing instrumentation of a liquid jazz, shines and glows, is wistful and reflective and shines with life's hurt and love. She is caught in between, moving between connections, searching and fuck I feel that. The way she sings over this is stunning, esp with her lower register that really tugs at me. She is at her absolute best
Perplexing. I like this though it sounds like it's been made by several different bands. Needs more listens to get to the bottom but this does rip. The synths sound dated at times, but the beats are huge and bumpy. Has this sweetness to it that is very 80s and ranges from acid house to pop to something that sounds like the Smiths. A lot going on in 50 shades of 80s but genuinely innovative
He shines here, incredible voice, croony and a little cheeky, instrumentation is fun. This makes you want to dance. It feels like he is putting something of himself out there, a little vulnerable and enthusiastic. If you were very cool in the 50s you would have been going out to this
The energy on this is wild. Theatrical, overblown, live energy goes hard. This is such a mess in terms of people not being particularly good at their instruments and the singer all over but it has insane charm and just rips. You can hear them making mistakes but that literally does not matter
The contrast between the soft/whispery vocals and the wall of noise behind it is interesting (overdrive is cranked to 500000 and gets a bit grating), but the content of the songs themselves don't really do it for me or make me feel much. It is cool sounding, songs are simple poppy numbers but the delivery throws you. This is so clearly a precursor to shoegaze. A bit same-y
Beautifully played, warm, intuitive and smooth funky tunes with gospel flavour. This makes my ears really really happy and heart warm, made with real feeling. Great variety of musicla styles and inventiveness in how this is constructed, but it all fits so cohesively with a sense of effortless musicality. An exceptional album but he has made better which is testament to an INSANE career
This absolutely slaps. Incredible guitar, can so clearly see the contribution they made to metal and heavy rock later on. Quality of musicianship is astonishing, recording is excellent (incl remaster), it flows, riffs and grooves are deadly. Vocal performance is unreal, so much control while going nuts. early use of effects and elevtronics is tasteful and psychedelic. Percussion is so tight.
I think I’ve discovered a new hatred alongside nu metal. It’s honky Tonk country rock. This is well made in the sense of production, vocals, instrumentation is simple but well executed. But fuck me this has no taste (esp the fucking harmonica oh my god). Some tasty guitar and nasty slides but buried under so much corny country shit and old school 50s grooves that do nothing for me apart from annoy. Percussion is particularly irritating
Slaps. Some turns carry this, some are mid, but overall smouldering smooth, sensual, well produced, great low voice. It’s heavy on style and more rather than less backs it with substance. So 80s with the sax and keys but in this case it’s aged well. Can be prone to background musicitis, but nonetheless likeable
Annoying and extremely mid britpop, the dude cannot sing, instrumentation is boring and uninspired. This ain't it. Lacks the je ne sais qoi of oasis, the strings in the background suck, the lyrics suck, it's not even good when drunk. Guitar solos also suck, basically pentatonic scale runs
Dark electronic sounds and synths manipulated with pedals, but sounds rather simplistic now. Drumming is so tight it sounds like a machine but isn’t. Has a clear sense of groove but sounds like a lot of other things- kraftwerk and krautrock especially. It’s pretty good- some great songs, but overall a bit same-y.
This is bad. Not interesting, time capsule of britpop sounds drowning in averageness. Playing is mid at best, songwriting bad, singing is shit. Then I found out what a pretentious prick luke haines is and had to downgrade from meh not good to fuck this. To have that much ambition and be so average makes you fucking awful and insufferable to boot. Boo
Her voice is fragile but strong, a little rough, has this unhewn tenderness and vulnerability. These songs have various effects on me- some really work for me, some less. The ones that hit are deeply romantic and yearning, they glow from the inside and lift you out yourself.
Fruityyyyy. This works so well, disco rock let’s go. Campy, fun, some stone cold originals and covers. It’s joyous and clearly is living its best life. Some belly flops but I can forgive them for the glorious gay peaks. In absolute terms the quality isn’t Beethoven but they nail what they are going for. Comfortably numb cover is so strange but also so compelling- bless them
This is bad. Not interesting, time capsule of britpop sounds drowning in averageness. Playing is mid at best, songwriting bad, singing is shit. Then I found out what a pretentious prick luke haines is and had to downgrade from meh not good to fuck this. To have that much ambition and be so average makes you fucking awful and insufferable to boot. Boo
Stadium-sized ambition in a debut record probably made in a basement. This has massive bangers, distinctive sound- the playing isn't mythically good but it's greater than the sum of its parts. For the number of bangers alone and fully formed sound it deserves respect
sounds like the sort of music you listen to at a very expensive tapas restaurant where the bill is fucking robbery. It’s not bad in terms of production and playing, very well mixed, smooth, deffo tango made ambient electronic background noise. Not my thing. Fairly obnoxious and seems very pretentious. Gives me the ick as they say. Jazz brunch becomes jazz small plates.
Spector aside, this is a banging Christmas album. Cheerful renderings of classic tunes, lush and big sound. Wonderful mixing and layering of great vocal performances. Darlene love kills it (not as much as Phil though oof, fuck him it’s deeply unfortunate this is very good)
Divorced dad energy strong here. Has some ripping guitar lead and the vocals (though I can’t really do the accent) are kind of excellent once I got over myself about a third of the way in. Playing is quite simple and a bit derivative of other earlier grunge bands, but it’s got a strong vibe that’s very self serious. Annoying somewhat. Big anthem sound, very distinctive. Not to my taste but fair game
Welp, hard to say wtf this is. Sounds like a caveman stumbled into a metal band and started banging shit together- the singing is giving neanderthal, but the playing tbh kind of rips. It's very very noisy esp percussion but not at all messy. I don't hate this but it's also REALLY not my thing. It seems to execute grindcore or whatever the fuck this is rather well, has a sense of fun, I could see getting down to this when extremely smashed
Jesus this is boring. Has the personality of slightly to soggy cereal, saccharine and dull instrumentation, rip off from grunge sound but has the life drained out of it via pop fusion. Does absolutely nothing for me apart from annoy quite seriously. It has immense ability to annoy across its range. Fuck this
Astonishingly good. This is my perfect pop. Huge, creative, romantic, dramatic, beautiful orchestra production and vocals that are campy and operatic. I adore this so much. The opening tracks are an insane start to the album. The vibe is so strong, softness mixed with drama and huge feeling that explodes, the way these songs build is a masterclass. Jig of life sounds like teenage engineering medieval sampler, earth song sounds like LOTR elf ambience.
There is arguably nothing wrong with these songs, how they are written and produced, the guitar playing, the vocals, but I just really really do not like it. I find the music kind of bland as fuck, and the vocals and lyrics pretensions and so fucking annoying. REM is just not for me. This is less annoying than automatic for the people though
Single best thing I think made by a beatle. I love this. Beautiful heartfelt songs, great rough but sweet vocals, exceptionally tasteful guitar playing. Has a feeling of youth and romance and summer of love innocence, but while aware that the world can be dark and hard. He knows all things pass, good and bad, but celebrates life so beautifully. Extended jam quality of the playing is lush and orchestral and beautifully remastered.
