From the first track to the last, this album did a great job of setting and maintaining a distinct atmosphere. I don't think it was something I'll be putting in heavy rotation, but I can't quite place what it is. The vibe of the album definitely has something to do with it, though. It felt like a dark fusion of Latin grooves, psychedelia, and some really solid rock. I've never been too keen on the singles from this album, but this is an album that is meant to be listened to front to back. The instrumental tracks, particularly the opener, were excellent. I have always heard Santana referenced in terms of the guitar, and Carlos Santana clearly knows what he's doing with the instrument. However, I thought the drumwork was most distinctive on this album, and is probably the reason I would come back to it. There was a lot of very intricate hand drum rhythms, and it felt like drum "riffs" rather than guitar riffs were the driving force behind a lot of the songs. Ultimately, I don't think this is the best album for me, but there's a lot to like here.

I love the simplicity and the propulsive energy in the more uptempo songs on this album, such as Radio Free Europe, 9/9, and West of the Fields. Not every song is a winner for me, and I’m still trying to figure out if the lyrics are profound but obscure, or just complete gibberish. But more important than anything else with this album is the sound. It’s striking how ahead of its time this album was. REM released this when Springsteen, Journey and Van Halen were topping the charts, and the difference is incredible. This spiritually paved the way for most of rock music’s evolution in the 90s and aughts.

Maybe I haven’t spent enough time with this album, but I’m struggling to figure out why I should want to return to it. I’ve never loved the highly distorted grunge sound, but I can appreciate what Cobain and Nirvana were doing artistically. In that case, there’s a point to the ugliness of the music. Here it feels like that point gets lost in too much of the album. There are certainly highlights in the first few songs, but this album generally retains the low points of grunge and discards a lot of what makes it worth listening to. The album is at its best when Grohl is working through the demons that remained after Cobain's suicide. This Is a Call, I'll Stick Around, and Good Grief offer hints of the anthemic power rock that Foo Fighters would grow into. While it might be more pop-forward than anything Nirvana would have put out, Big Me serves as a nice reprieve from the relentless distortion we get through most of the remaining tracks. The album takes a downward turn on the second side, lacking the standout tracks that keep the first side interesting. The only true point of departure from uptempo power chords are the verses of For All the Cows, which makes for one of the more interesting songs on the album, despite the puzzling lyrics. The rest of the side falls into a pattern of uptempo, highly distorted power chords that become fatiguing, at least to my ear. Weenie Beenie and Wattershed were particularly difficult listens for me, and by the time I came to the album's closer, "Exhausted" was how I felt. This is by no means a bad output from someone trying to right the ship after tragedy struck, but it doesn't have the qualities I usually look for in great albums. The best songs don't hit the same highs, and the deeper cuts aren't interesting enough either musically or lyrically to keep me engaged. While a technically impressive achievement for Grohl to produce this by himself, the album just doesn’t stand out to me relative to what Nirvana had released previously or what Foo Fighters ended up becoming. It's certainly noteworthy as a response to Cobain's death and in light of what Foo Fighters would become, but I'd almost always rather be listening to something else.

With the start of the first track on this album, I thought Unknown Pleasures was a winner. The sound was stripped back and minimal, energetic without the overt anger and distortion of punk, and cohered into an awesome atmosphere that you just wouldn't have heard at the time the record was released. The instrumentation was repetitive, nearly hypnotic, and it felt like a pattern that could suck me in for hours. And yet, this sound - the same, exact sound - continued to such an extent throughout the rest of the album that by the end, I found it had gone stale for me. A cohesive sound is a characteristic that distinguishes great albums from a compilation of songs, and there's no doubt that Joy Division introduced a sound that came to be incredibly influential in the following decade. The sound and atmosphere really makes this album what it is. But it's also important to strike a balance between this cohesive sound and some level of variety in the track list, and this is where this album comes up short for me. Too many songs stay in the same lane of sparse drum and guitar arrangements, with melody driven by the bass and Ian Curtis's emotional but monotonous vocals. This is an arrangement that sounds great for a few songs (Disorder, New Dawn Fades, and She's Lost Control are highlights), but it wasn't enough to carry a full album. Curtis's limitations as a vocalist also became more evident as the album progressed. His distinctive, haunting vocal style hangs over the music like a disembodied voice, fitting the sound the band is going for wonderfully, and at moments he compares to Jim Morrison's deep, booming voice. But too often the songs became stuck with 3-note vocal melodies, and his wavering when holding higher or more powerful notes makes me question whether the band would be able to expand their range. I found Curtis's contributions much more valuable as a lyricist. I look forward to spending more time with the messages in the songs, but on a first listen the themes approached in some of the songs are alarming and touching, especially in light of his death the year following this album's release. Several songs, including Disorder, New Dawn Fades, and I Remember Nothing, paint a picture of someone isolated and pushed to the brink, while others take a more explicitly political bent. The influence of the sound Joy Division established in this album on the post-punk scene can't be overstated. However, like first iterations of so many innovations, there are issues to be improved upon. With the benefit of 45 years having passed, I can find a lot of what I like in this album in more polished form from other bands like the Cure. Despite the downsides, though, there is a lot to like here. Just based on atmosphere and lyrics alone I plan to return to it.

What an absolute delight to listen to! My prior experience with Elvis Costello was with some of his more popular hits - Alison off his debut album, and Pump It Up from this follow-up. Thought those are excellent songs in their own right, two songs simply can't give a complete picture of what an artist as varied as Costello has to offer. Listening through this album started to fill in that picture. I loved how Costello blended influences and ideas so seamlessly. He incorporates punk, blues and reggae, along with vocal stylings that seem to be drawn from Springsteen and Dylan, all while cohering wonderfully into a greater whole. Somehow, especially given the lyrical content of many of the songs, Costello is able to blend the punk sensibility with music that sounds almost infectiously happy at certain points. There are certain points of outright experimentation with production, but these moments are tasteful and don't distract from the larger picture of music that does not rely too heavily on studio effects. The Attractions - particularly the bass and drums - take center stage on many of the tracks, creating a driving energy that propels the listener through the album. While Costello's guitar feels relatively muted in the mix on most tracks, his vocals and clever lyrics shine throughout. Costello addresses the personal, societal and political with biting sarcasm throughout the album, but these messages were leavened by wordplay and double entendres laced in. It seemed that Costello's vocals were quite influenced by Dylan, but he came off more snarky than sneering. This album is eclectic, clearly influential, and above all entertaining. I'll likely have it in heavy rotation for the next few weeks and I look forward to exploring more of Costello's work.

I've been a fan of Bowie's for some time now, and this album stands as one of his finest. It was released at a fascinating point in Bowie's life, as he had recently gained mainstream popularity and was experimenting radically with his public personality as well as his sound. Much as he would toy with different personas throughout his career, this album sees him "trying on" the musical styles of his influences at the time with tributes to Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Neil Young. The lyrics throughout blend the personal and universal, with references to change and transition (Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things) and greater existential questions (Life on Mars?, Quicksand). Kooks is a wonderfully vulnerable song written to his newborn son that, in today's context, could easily speak to the insecurities of those raising kids in nontraditional family structures. The true highlight of the album for me is Life on Mars? - cinematic in lyrics and production, it takes the record from a strong showing to a true classic.