If you pitch shift Devendra Banhart and his guitar up a couple of octaves you get Tiny Tim and his Ukulele. This is no where near the brilliance of TT's opus 'Rock' (1993), maybe Devendra need to focus his vibrato on 23 minutes versions of Rebel Yell.
A bit long, could have been 15 mins shorter, and there wasn't a single 2 or 4 not smashed with both sticks on the snare, but I enjoyed it more than most 90s grunge, which is one of my least favourite genres. I liked Billy Corgan, his voice was a bit more energetic and theatrical than his contemporaries. I think the best moments was when it slowed down and got a little sparse, I'm all for the loud stuff but I could go an entire acoustic album with sweeping orchestral backing of tracks like Disarm and Spaceboy. I don't think it's a 4, just because of the vibe and time period, but it's a decent 3
I was ready to like this album, I love weird gender bending style icon figures in pop music - Madonna, Prince, Annie Lennox, recently Chappel Roan. The music is always inventive and vital, it always has something to say beyond the boring cool platitudes of artists performing down the middle of the road. Side A is excellent, she's killing it with the opener going into 'Girls'. Side B is a bit of a let down, I feel like they ran short of an idea or two and a couple of songs are skips. I'll give it a generous 4, just because she's so damn cool and still crushing it after all these years, but I think her best album is probably The Greatest Hits
This can't be a 1 because they're good at what they do, it's just what they do is really dated and has been surpassed by so much more adventurous and interesting music. Even a fan would have to admit every song is very similar. If you want to listen to a nerd play jangly guitars in a suit and tie and thick rimmed glasses, Elvis Costello is right there, you don't need to back this far. 25 mins long is a positive though, get in and out without mucking around.
I'm going to be biased and give this a 5, even though I think it is one of the weaker of Dylan's 60s albums. Blowing in the Wind is trite, but was probably incredibly deep when it was written. Masters of War is a bit too on the nose and obvious. Bob Dylan's dream is schmaltzy, although I love it and Corrina Corrina sounds out of place and will be far surpassed by stuff to come later in his career. He's still putting joke songs in like I shall be free and talking WWIII because he doesn't quite have the material.
But show me any other 22 year old this side of Mozart who can come out of the wilderness, plonk down in NYC for a year or two crashing on couches and being unemployed and then write Girl from the North Country, Hard Rain and Don't think Twice. This is when Dylan arrived, and I get that he's divisive, feel free to think he's terrible, but IYKYK.
Sea shanty Irish folk punk. Most famous song is a Christmas carol. Do the Pogues win the award for most esoteric and convoluted genre? I love bands that defy normal characterisation.
You've got to love them. I came of age in Flogging Molly mosh pits and saying there would be no FM without the Pogues is the understatement of the century. Shane McGowan might be the ugliest person ever to be famous. The Christmas Carol is a wonderful tune that only a bunch of sad Irish people could write. Irish people aren't sad enough any more, they're economy is doing too well to create good art. Everything starts to sounds very similar after a while, but that's the vibe, relax, have a Jameson's and be one with the tin whistle and the accordion
Boom bap, boom boom bap. I like it better than most modern hip hop, all the scratching is really cool. They should do more of that. Adjacent to the music, the dancing and fashion associated with this is also really cool.
It's very evocative, a really great album, but is evocative of an era and a culture that I am not a part of.
Wick wick wick wickky wick wick wick
1983, man U2 have really been U2'ing for that long huh? I liked this one more than their later stuff, which has become the example of mainstream radio rock fluff. I like the pronounced Irish-ness of this, the politics in Sunday, New Year's Day, Refugee. Irish people aren't angry enough any more after the troubles have ended. It's rawer, less produced. Bono still sounds the same, he's actually kept his voice remarkably intact over more than 40 years. Maybe it's the blue glasses. Anyway, I like these newcomers from Dublin. I wonder if one day they'll put an album on everyone's phones without asking.
Love Talking Head, love the 80s trend of having a complete raving lunatic as a front man. Love cocaine. Love songs about apartments that you want to live in that have good convenience.
But, it's a 4 because he really can't sing yet and Tina Weymouth is on of the greatest bassist in rock and pop history and the mix is so tinny you can barely hear her! It gets better for them, way better.
I got married to a sigur ros song and I put this album on at night to help my baby sleep. They such sweet, dorky, beautiful people and songs. I just want to curl up inside one and wear a thick Icelandic sweater. Sigur Ros is part of us all, a part of us all, a part of us all
I love the reviews on this and how I knew 50% of people would fucking hate it from the first second. Come on people, open your minds to a diversity of sound, John Spencer isn't real, he can't actually hurt you. Imagine being afraid of an album because the guy screams.
And the people that like that, ask yourselves, is it actually that good? JSBE live shows are all time, but the album struggles to translate the chaos in a legible way. A lot of it is just some guy screaming. It's cool to give it 5 stars to stick it to all the 1 star losers, but it's really not all that.
I'm Switzerland, 3 stars.
Plenty of funky bass lines and flared pants super style. Almost like big Bond vibes at times, with the rapid fire horns. It's pretty cool, definitely a retro sound by now but still has a hipness to it. I should see the movie. Wish his vocals were a bit more forward in the mix and I don't think his falsetto is particularly strong.
This took me ages to review, but I just can't get myself to the level required to like it. It's not fun enough. It's not particularly virtuosic. The production is bad - that bass guitar needs some distortion really bad. Ozzy is better as an icon than he is as a singer on an album.
After the album finished Spotify spun Killing in the Name Of, which is the same song as War Pigs but faster, punchier, more fun, more angry, better. It was a contrast.
The backstory to this is really cool, and some of the crowd noise was wild. Imagine being so riled up and blown away by big band that you basically riot and start tearing down the stage. Duke Ellington was the Limp Bizkit of his day.
The emcee was laughable. I would have rioted if I had to sit through that guy interrupting the music all concert.
Big band isn't my jam, small band jazz just sound more modern and evergreen. Still, a cool trip down music history.
This is a DISTINCT sound. Those electronic drums, the compressed to the point of distortion snare smashes. All of the angular beats. The lyrics raise class, race and social issues but from this weird alien lens, like the artist is aware of these things but has not actually experienced it. Not because they are rich enough to have shielded themselves from inequality, but because they have spent their entire lives in a slavery-adjacent music creation sweatshop run by their father in Gary, Indiana.
This IS late 80s to early 90s music made by the Jackson family. It cannot be from another time, another place, or even any genetic line. A... 3 I guess?
Don't do this one. Let's do Raw Power, Lust for Life or The Idiot. People might think this is what Iggy sounds like and that's not cool. This isn't fully formed, the heroin hasn't fully kicked in yet. Mid 70s, mid 70s
If these Boys are from the beach, why are they wearing knit sweaters and sitting by a pool on the album cover?
When my brother was a young boy he thought the Beatles were a children's group like the Wiggles because of the prevalence of Yellow Submarine at day care sing alongs. I actually like the Beatles version of the song, I like the salty sea dog vocal of whoever is doing that.
Credit to the post war British tax system to make a song by the world's most famous musicians complaining about paying their taxes seem sympathetic.
Nice and short, bit all over the place but has some stone cold classics.
I feel like theatre kids love this. There's some melodramatic through line for this album that I'm not quite understanding, something about werewolves? Spooky stuff.
Not as well produced as a Madonna record, Kate is a bit back in the mix which is tough. It's just weird enough to get a 3.
I always feel like Pet Shop Boys are some rude mid 90s thing like the Bloodhound Gang. They're obviously not, but the name sounds like that to me. I like a couple of these songs but the cumulative effect of the drum machines and marching beats is a bit wearing and grating. A lot of it sounds like the Village People. Go West in particular is the same exact song as In The Navy.
This is FAR too long, but there's a good album buried somewhere in here, and it's easily the most 'beachy' of any of the Beach Boys' output. Missed out on a 4 because of the length.
I don't want to give them a 1, they're doing something, just that thing isn't really my thing.
Good for them for being sober. Straight edge punk and hardcore shows must be interesting. Like moshing during church.
Bossa Nova is elevator music, so this does have a bit of that tinge to it. I don't think you'd look very cool if you put this on at a party, but there's a time and place that it fits. I like to have it in the background, it passes the time unobtrusively.
Excuse me, got to sit on a beach recliner in the hot sun while some very sexy people play keep em ups with a dog on the sand. Where did I get this caipirinha from? Ahhh, it's too hot.
Man this band is tight as a drum, and this album is so well produced. Apparently the idea that they're not musical was a myth spread by Malcolm McLaren to hype up their punk credentials. It couldn't be further from the truth. The band is super tight (apparently Sid Vicious isn't even on the album), the songs are well written and it sounds full, beasty, deep but still gross, punk, middle fingers up. Johnny Rotten is doing a lot of great work, it sounds like a high school band made a deal with the devil and retained a teenagers viewpoint while developing actual music, songwriting and production skills.
It's way ahead of its time but it's still deeply rooted in its time and place - fuck the Jubilee, don't like Thatcher, everything is shit. This is a great piece of art that speaks to England in the late 70s in a new and interesting way. No wonder it's such a classic, I've been sleeping on this.
Lots of classics here, feel like I'm in a Heuy or a PBR outside of Da Nang. Even though there's really only one song that directly addresses Vietnam. Huh.
Do you think Run Through The Jungle is more expensive for Vietnam movies, and some just cheap out with Ooby Dooby or something to approximate the vibe for people who don't read lyrics?
This was pretty great, which I didn't expect from the classic 'Murica, Southern Pride, confederate good-ole boys group. But the 70s were a different time, when the gaping political differences in a society on the other side of the world didn't really affect the day to day life of the rest of the world. So I guess it can just be fun, drinking Jack Daniels in the back of an old Ford 150 and blasting Skynyrd down by the river. Ultimately I take Neil Young's side though, but that doesn't mean Free Bird isn't an all time closer.
Side note - why are there so many people in this band?!? They've got 7 on the album cover and 9 in the modern photos. Crazy.
Had to dip into the reviews for this one. Always interesting for hip hop albums. Allegations of Misogyny are one thing, but the outrage over the profanity is a bit precious. Art is defined by it's ability to provoke a reaction, not everything is going to align with your exact moral sensibilities. Or, from a slightly less intellectual perspective of you prefer - "BECAUSE IT'S SO MUCH FUN JAN!"
It's a performance. It's all a show. A rap album about being a Baptist and doing charity work isn't very interesting so the school drug dealer exaggerates his level of gangster to give the album some reason to exist. It's not that complicated.
It glorifies a bunch of bad things, but so do Tarantino movies, video games and Frank Sinatra. It's just those things have some common theme regarding the people involved in their creation and consumption that separates it from stuff like this... Hmmmm...
Anyway, enough racial politics. The album is fun, funky, good beats. Sometimes Snoopy says the N word! I thought it was cool, good stuff to scare your parents and the news media.
One of the most modern albums on this list, it struck me how much this genre is a response to the ubiquity and portability of headphones and Spotify. This is about creating a soundtrack for the performativity cool. It's not really directly about the songs, it's about the 'vibes', the 'aesthetic', it's about 'giving' a certain mood. Us old fogies don't really get it, but the scene kids know. Whether you're standing silently in a club wearing sunglasses indoors and licking your lips at girls, or driving late at night past neon signs and an empty city, this album will give you enough to feel like you're inside the moody and esoteric Instagram post you're going to make about the night.
He knows who he is. We don't play like that.
It's an impressive debut but it's not even close to iron maiden's best and without the iconic Bruce Dickinson it's not even really a representation of what they sound like. There's still a bit of gallop bass while 3 guitars take turns to solo, but it's missing some extremely key ingredients. I hope this isn't the only Maiden on the list, if you're going to list to your first album of theirs, please listen to Number of the Beast or Powerslave instead of this.
The amount of Michael Jackson bangers on this is crazy. Better than Thriller easily. Man in the Mirror AND Smooth Criminal? That's too good.
4/5 because there was some corn on it, but overall it's undeniable.
If I was rating it on how much of a paedophile he was, I'd give it a 5/5. But this is 1001 Albums to Listen To Before You Die, not Rate 1001 Paedophiles For Some Weird Reason. Musically, it's a serious step up from Rolf Harris.
Connor Oberst called. He says to cheer the fuck up.
It was fine, probably wouldn't listen again, missing something that makes depressed music special
In good news for Peter, marijuana was decriminalised in Jamaica in 2015 for amount up to 2 ounces per person. Plus you can grow up to 5 plants at home for personal consumption. Maybe those amounts aren't enough for Peter, but they'd be more than enough for me to get socially anxious and weird.
You can hear the Bowie. 1971 is pretty crazy when you think about the difference between music of the early 60s, moving on to this and everything in the 70s being 10-20 years. It's 2026 when I'm typing this and music from 2016 still sounds current. Music in 2036 isn't going to be radically different either.
This is a bit more consistent that the Beatles albums, which I always find to be a bit of a Hodge podge of styles because they had 3 different songwriters and a Ringo. I'm not sure if it's as strong, but the bass on Mrs Vanderbilt is really cool. Production is better than the Beatles albums as well.
I've recently had a child. I dream about a dark room, a glass of extremely high quality wine, a plate of food prepared by a professional chef, Miles Davis soft in the background. The air smells expensive. There are linen hand towels in the bathroom. I'm wearing nice clothes and cologne. My wife is excited and enjoys the food. We spend, then pay without looking at the bill because we deserve it, but also because we can afford it. We go to a quiet bar for a whiskey after dinner and talk quietly. More jazz.
There's a lot of instrumentation and layers to the songs, it's cool and wasn't on my radar before. It's very reminiscent of good (early) Kanye, not sure why this isn't more well known in the mainstream. Good stuff.
Such a bad album cover though, I thought this was going to be trash looking at it. Apparently those items were things that Lupe was carrying around every day, instead of drugs and guns. Shout out to the Nintendo DS and what appears to be a small robot for keeping Lupe on the straight and narrow
If you had told me this album was recorded by Ade Edmondson and Rik Mayall as some weird companion to the show 'Bottom' I would have believed you. It sounds like they are desperately wanting to be taken seriously.
I bet Stan and João really hate The Blues Brothers. The Girl From Ipanema sounds like an actual comedy song, or some funny meme joke, rather than a real song. Its a nice tune, but it's so tied to the cliche of elevator music that it's hard to even sit in the same room as it without feeling a bit silly. It's got to be a 2, but it's not really it's fault. I just can't put this on anywhere and maintain any level of social respect
Jimi Hendrix is so rad, it really does still feel fresh and distinctive, the Michael Jackson of guitar, inspiring generations who would ultimately be unable to replicate what he was doing. Purple Haze, Hey Joe, Fire... It's amazing stuff.
BUT
This one is his weakest. The vocal melodies aren't there yet, he hasn't mastered the recording process at EL studios and a lot of the songs aren't as interesting as they could be. I have to save my 5 for Electric Ladyland and Band of Gypsys. A strong 4, but we need somewhere to go with our mate Jimi
Stuart Copeland is amazing, he's always pushing, ahead of the beat. I hadn't really listened before but he is legit. Enjoy far more than I thought I would, just listen for the drums.
It suffered overall from being too long, a few of those songs could have been cut. A few of them sounded like The Beatles had stayed together into the 70s and had gotten better at their instruments. Nice production, I liked the vocoder, pretty cool. Almost Daft Punky at times with the vocoder. Cool vocoder.
Jeff Lynne is more famous to me for never being in the same room as Mick Foley/Mankind than for being a musician, but it was ok. Probably the 4th best Wilbury, but I'm not going to say who is lower on the ranking.
Anyho... Wow, what an album. Cool vocoder though.
