I've been hearing about the brilliance of the Pixies forever. Love the speed drums and guitars and the tempo change ups, the massive energy. Not wild at all about the first half of this album, like it's serious side A, and fun side B. I'm a big fan of side B. Looking forward to checking out their other albums.
They pretty much invented punk, a massively influential band for sound and drag style. I ignored punk at the time but I'm liking it more and more these days. Really don't like the Mick Jagger with less soul singing.
At least 12 great albums in a row, I stopped listening to new Bowie albums after two duds. So many of those 12 I started by hating or at least meh ended up on my best ever list, so I was hoping a couple weeks listening would give The Next Day a higher rating, but for now it's still a 3. It's by far the darkest I've heard, which is fine, he does dark great, and I love the crash smash guitar assault right up there with Lodger and Scary Monsters, but I can't find any of the wit that's always in his work. Still, new to me Bowie is great to hear.
Love all of Eno's early albums, but if he re-recorded them today with anyone other than himself singing they'd be 5s. Absolutely worth checking his whole history, but my favorites with his hand on them are My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Talking Heads Remain in Light, and Bowie's Low, Heroes, and Lodger - plus the invention of Ambient Music as a recording category.
Blues need to be heard live, I've found often blues albums just don't catch the energy but wow, does this one catch it!
Been listening to this immaculate album for a lot of years. Band is so tight, all the songs are little gems with one spectacular Sultans of Swing stand out for all time gem right in the middle, and Mark Knopfler's guitar I could listen to forever. And yet - I think it's his growly voice that gets real boring every time I listen. I love all the parts, I don't love the album so much. 4 for the parts.
I stopped listening to new music around the end of the 80's and completely missed checking out The Jam. Love the 60's British Invasion sound, so basic, and ohhh that bass! Still, the production's pretty thick - I read that the first album was way more raw, and wow, it roars! Stripped back, immediate, teenage hunger. I think I'll be listening to more Jam.
My first trip-hop, apparently! Love the songs that sound like the James Bond, Twin Peaks, and Stranger Things themes, the others, not so much. Curious about other bands in the genre.
Gorgeous virtuosic album. I really didn't like it.
Love your dad story korirok, and I made the mistake of listening to the endless Deluxe version too whiz-kid. I have a love/hate relationship with the Who, most of the love being for the later albums. But this has my favorite Who song, one of what I consider the most perfect pop songs ever, The Kids are Alright. A beautiful portrait of a kid wanting to be with his girlfriend and his pals but torn by needing to be alone. What pop song does that? Catcher in the Rye, the 3 minute musical. See their later album Quadrophenia for the 90 minute rock opera version.
Wow. Never been a Janet Jackson, this took me by total surprise. Love the rocking production, LOVE the drum machines, not wild about the way they buried her voice in the anthems but the songs carry the weight for me. Best surprise album since joining so far.
I might like this better one day, not today.
I always thought of this as one of my top 5 favorite all timers, but playing it this time I'm sure I have listened to it more than any other album. Which I guess makes it my number one. To me it's a masterpiece - the songs, the lyrics, the playing, the hybriding. It makes me happier, every single time.
Kinda driving me crazy that they remind me of a band I like from years back with similar whiney vocals that I can't quite draw into memory. I've listened to this album multiple times, hating it one time, really starting to like it the next, then back again - it sounds a lot better to me on ear buds than full blast stereo, that's part of the back and forth I think - love the thrashy speedy wall of fuzz noisy fuck you guitar, don't love that the fuzzed out vocals and really uninteresting, so far, white-noised out lyrics. But I'm listening to Let it Ride as I write this and, damn that's good! On the fence, 3 twinkly stars.
I found them bland back when, still do. Gotta admit though there's lots of sounds that surprised me - the sudden strings, the switch up from great country pedal steel to Robert Fripp-style soaring simple dual guitars, really really nice stuff, then right back to the snoozy harmonies. Somehow this album lives in the middle of flower child Turn Turn Turn folk and glimpses of rock and synth popping out.
Amazing songwriter! I knew nothing about her except having grown up with hits I didn't know she wrote. Really don't like her singing, but love the take no prisoners full-on attack and crazy tempo switches, and the opening song sounded so much like Carole King's Tapestry songs (the songs, not the singing) that it felt familiar and easier to listen to. For a much better vocal experience, check her singing And When I Die.
My introduction to Herbie was his next album, Thrust, my favorite jazz-fusion album, it changed the direction of my listening life. Along with Headhunters they might as well be a double-album set, it shares so many sounds that are carved into my brain - Herbie's Fender Rhodes piano, his synth sounds I've never heard anywhere else, Bernie Maupin's sax, the simple but startling drums. Mmmmm good.
Wow. Heard my first MIA, MAYA, just a few months ago, loved it, and forgot about it. I find Kala just amazing. So many sounds, so many layers to explore.
Yeah, no. Syd is referenced in so many Pink Floyd songs and whole albums. I don't have much use for this album except it inspired me to check the first PF album when Syd was in charge, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - way more interesting!
Sad to say I never liked any post-Beatles McCartney, probably just because it wasn't the Beatles, and I guess I'm still not over it, I still don't like this song or this album, though I admit if he'd recorded these same songs under the Beatles I'd probably think they were genius. His first solo, McCartney, is the exception for me, it's on this list, love that album.
It's funny to know this is Miles' first all out fusion album since there's lots of electric but so little rock about it compared to what was to come. Gorgeous playing in every direction. Nearly every musician went on to play huge roles in fusion jazz for the next 10 to 20 years - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Return to Forever, Herbie Hancock being everything everywhere.
So much easier to move into culturally unfamiliar music with the help of a hybridizer like M.I.A, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Elvis. Then I watch Baaba Maal's video with Mumford and Sons and go, oh yeah, now I get it! Yeah, I'll check the Black Panther soundtrack and in a month this 3 might be a 5.
My first listen to a Nirvana album. If I had his as a teenager it would probably still be one of my favorites. Instead I just feel late to the party, not there for it. But life is long, who knows?
Gorgeous. Yes to everything classically-trained-musician said about Monk that I wouldn't know how to say, just that I love his weird way with bending piano notes and making your ears squirm. I liked every song better than the one before, just gave it a single listen because I know I'll be back to this one.
Damn gorgeous album. Still toe dipping in rap so call it a 4 sliding to 5.
Great debut album, liked it from the first song. A couple tunes in I realized the singer was reminded me of Iggy Pop on Lust for Life, but way more skill and drama. Then the track Michael rips the album open and seals the deal. If you told me this was the missing great Bowie followup to Let's Dance I'd believe it. 4 on two listens, I'm sure it'll be 5 by New Years.
Oh Yoshimi, they don't believe me, But you won't let those robots eat me
Oh come on, I'm in love.
Not such a great idea to listen to this album back to back with Miles Davis, left it sounded pretty bland, even after In a Silent Way which is a pretty laid back Miles album, Miles is never bland. Every now and then I started getting excited about some of the builds after the solo sections, but never the solos themselves. Not my day to meet Hugh Masekela.
Never expected to listen to a Def Leppard album. Agreed, the guitar tone is beautiful. So, better than I expected.
Beautiful surprise, I loved this album. So many different things going on, the drums and bass especially a stand out for me. ChatGPT says that repeated horn line going on all through the improved sections in the last song is a traditional South African thing - ChatGPT lies like a sidewalk, but it's a very cool sound.
This was an audacious album that hit huge and established a whole new form for rock. I never liked it, the Who always had a couple of really weak songs on the early albums, songs that made them sound like a folk act instead of a swaggering heavy rock band. To my ears that's what this album was filled with, excepting Pinball Wizard and the "Listening to You" build at the very end, the rest nearly all seemed written only to fill in the plot and narration, produced to sound harmless. BUT they played nearly the whole album on the road for a couple of years which was supposed to be pretty amazing. After listening again to the whole album yesterday, I realized the Super Deluxe version had the whole live recording. And yeah, it's amazing, it actually sounds like the Who. I still don't like the material, but the performance difference from the studio version is incredible.
I like a lot of albums like this, jammy, folky-rocky. Not this one though. Never liked Steve Windwood, and not liking any of the other voices or the songs.
Hearing this right after Tommy, it's amazing what the Rock Opera/concept album grew into. Also that so many of them are tragedies about the rise to fame and its costs - Tommy, The Wall, Ziggy Stardust, Jesus Christ Superstar. I think this one may be my favorite of the genre. I love the triple guitar choir on this, or however many are playing at once. I had genius.com open for the lyrics which also has excerpts from the album notes letting you know everything they were up to - a huge help. Wish I'd had this album when I was 17, it's a 4 on first listen, but going out on a limb that I think I'll be listening to it for a long time.
My wife played this a lot when it came out, so did everyone, it was massive, I found it bland, never paid attention after three tracks or so. Paying attention now, surprised to find I'm re-eavaluating, every song sounds perfect, just lovely. Still, too many of them in exactly the same vibe to pay attention to in one sitting, but maybe 3 or 4 at a time?
I like all the playing, love the organ when it shows up, and I'm a fan of singer Ian Gillian ever since Jesus Christ Superstar (If you only know the movie version, Gillian on the original Broadway leaves that poor imitation in the cave. Way better Judas and Pilate on the movie one though. I digress.) But these songs just sounds like it all occupy the same comfortable safe hard rock niche give Machine Head a listen for way more passion, fun, and range.
Yup, a song at a time it's a tour de force masterpiece, and I will never get tired of Bohemian Rhapsody and I love Brian Mayes' guitar as another voice. So why a 3? The albums hits are great and you hear them all the time. I get very tired of the soaring choral arrangements on song after song sounding more like an exquisite novelty album than something I want to listen to end to end. Humbug.
So many 80's bands had this slinky malinki vocal style, warbling wail. Some I love, others just grate my ears. Hadn't heard of Sulk before. Great elements, but I just found the 80's drums and synths operating in the same small window of possibility. Lots to love in New Wave, maybe not this.
My sister and her boyfriend were hanging around with a buddy listening to music. Buddy sez, "you know, I'm getting really tired of you two." They were, you know, what?? "Oh! not you two - the band, the band!" I feel the same way. Loved the early albums, so much electricity screaming through them. Then like a lot of artists, but definitely not all, who start raw and angry and full of passion, they just sounded to me like they got super rich, technically brilliant, and really really good at making U2 music. Gave it a couple listens, sounds great, just not compelling.
I don't hate country, I don't even dislike some of the old schoolers, but George Jones crosses all my lines. His wife, Tammy Wynette, love her. Fun fact, one of the co-writers of The Grand Tour divorce song title track married Tammy after their D-I-V-O-R-C-E.
Folk punk lives! Seriously thought about holding this album to a 4 just because I wanted to leave room for the later Pogues album on this list that eclipses this one. But that's just dumb. Rum, Sodomy, etc is a definite 5, If I Should Fall From Grace With God just goes to 11.
By the first couple songs I thought I'd hate this album. Throwback 60's pop sound, bland Byrds harmonies, big reverb on everything, throwaway lead vocals (you'd think a song called I Wanna Be Adored might have some desire in it?). But the guitar starts coming out, some really nice playing, some different production tricks, even the singer starts coming out of hiding (even just a little bit), it's like the album starts revealing itself like a movie unfolding - there's way more up out sleeves than just act one. I'm not in 4 territory with it yet, but getting interested.
First listen I thought, this is some weak ass lameness. Second listen, wow, these are a lot of great songs. 4 is on faith that I'm going to continue growing in this one.
Truckin' is one of those singular songs, like Sultans of Swing, that stands head and shoulders above everything else on the album and a highpoint in the whole damn art form. Otherwise I've never listened to a whole Grateful Dead album, just songs here and there that never really grabbed me. I'd love to hear them live but this very tame record as an unenhanced experience just doesn't do it for me.
Yeah, no. I love the form of repetition as a form of change - Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run, The Art of Fugue, looped guitar - but I didn't find any interest in the first 15 or so songs to keep up the experiment - which is actually the most interesting thing to me about this whole project we've taken on of speed listening to a thousand albums in a thousand days: I normally grow to love the music I love over repeated listenings. What happens when I force feed a thousand albums on one or two listens?
Let me add another Hell Yeah! Such a brilliant album. Everything's here, Santana's guitar that would dominate any other band is somehow just another genius sound on on this album.
So many words. Two listens, then I checked the words for the first 3 songs. These are amazing stories, multi-character voices spitting out high speed Raymond Chandler literary dialogue of drug deals, double-crosses, perfect little movie scenes pictures. 4 for now, but I'm betting taking time for going deep on more songs bump it up to a 5.
Surprised to find how much I immediately liked this in all it's slam bam wham thrashing confidence. The singing and so many ways to build a guitar-riven just kept grabbing me again and again. Now I want to go back to Bug and see if it still bugs me or have I just become a Dinosaur Jr fan?
Can't you just hear young D'Angelo as he's taking this album in with his mother's milk, thinking, that, yeah, that!
So yeah, I'm puzzling over this too, a whole over-the-top album about cheezy sleezy loungey lechery? Then Martine comes home and sez "Is this The Divine Comedy??" Sez her and some friends stumbled on them in their early 20's, and pulls up 6 songs in a row from various albums. Apparently every album has a different concept and persona, so imagine the fun ahead? I'm kinda loving his commitment, amazed a record company would stick with this. Call me Divine Comedy curious.
My first Korn album. Yeah, not for me. Great video!
I have no objectivity about this one. I bought it on a whim a couple years after it came out. The voice is odd, warm, sadly nostalgic, I've only talked with one other person who knew the album, and I love the whole thing and love love love the title track like a favorite childhood blanket. It didn't come with a lyric sheet, about half of albums had lyrics on the cover or in an insert, which usually didn't make it past the original release, so I haven't listened closely enough to the lyrics to actually know what he's singing about, or any of his other albums, or the Velvet Underground which he co-founded. Seeing it on the list is a good nudge to check into all that now. I do know 1919 was a shit year - general strikes all over the world including one of the biggest, yup, here, plus race riots started by white people all over the states, and in Paris the Peace Conference where the WW1 winners gathered to divide up the world, making Germany pay the bill for everything, and making WW2 practically inevitable, which is presumably what John's riffing on here. Really a record for our times.
I have 3 older sisters, our little Viking portable mono record player was very busy between each of them hauling it between bedrooms to play the Beatles and the Monkees. I still have their copy, same cool cover but the Canadian release was titled "Beatlemania! With the Beatles" and lists quotes from the press, which ruins it but I kind of like it. I listened to side one for the first time since then yesterday, it's the absolutely abused side because it has all the hits. Side two this morning, mostly covers and weaker originals, but they all come back. I'm by no means a Beatles purist, and these were the days when records were thrown together out of two hit singles and 10 fillers until the Beatles changed all that a couple years later with Rubber Soul. There were a lot of great rock and roll songs at the time but these still sound new, fresh, and different to me.
Got really excited with the chug a chug locomotive rock n roll opening number, but it turns out to be the only one. Really nice album, but nice isn't a great word for an album. Feels like the kind you fall in love with over a special summer or after a breakup maybe, the Brit critics seem to adore it, but for me not falling into any of those categories it just doesn't seem to hit hard or go far enough.
classically trained musician, that's my favorite review to date! Where's the like button, I can't find it on the desktop or mobile?? This is a brilliant band, brilliant album, for all the reasons ctm and wk said. I half-listened to it in the car and didn't really catch much of it, so thanks both of you, your reviews made me lean in on second listening. So much here to dig into on coming listenings, jumping the gun straight to the 5.
I like electronic music, or maybe I don't? The synth-pop side of early new wave used the alienating sounds of synths to make robotic alien music, Kraftwerk, Devo, Gary Numan and it was great. Blondie and Eurythmics and lots of others kept the synths and mixed back in the humanity and fun, plus house and techno go totally alienating but at the same time sensuous. And then it all gets mushed up together drowning in soundalike synths and processed cookie cutter singers like everyone's in daycare mixing every paint colour together and pop all turns into brown paint (I may be cutting some corners here, this is an emotional history of 80's music, still my favorite era) so that by the 90's we desperately need the revival of alt music and anything anything more real, but too late for me, I'd pretty much stopped buying new music and retreated to my high school vinyls. So that for me listening to my first MGMT album is kind of a puzzler. Thanks for the lived life background wiz-kid and korirock, that helps make sense of them. This album is full of great songs, and I know I would have loved them if I'd grown up with them. Hearing it now, it's like fuck, these are expressive songs full of passion in the writing, why is it all programmed to strip the passion right back out, I'm dying for a little analogue here to balance out the inhumanly perfect and boring beats, or just commit to the alienating sounds your making and go hard with them? Then again, I wanted to check where they've come to - the first track of Loss of Life I thought that's a perfect little childhood merry-go-round tune played with an ironic 80's midi sound -brilliant! Then they go full analogue for the next 5 songs and I practically vomited. Careful what you ask for.
I loved the video of their live Kids. That made sense of these guys and I like them again. I'll keep listening to find out how they got from there to here.
Yeah, everything everyone's saying here, except I had to experience this sound when it first came out (see my digression rant on 80s synth pop under Oracular Spectacular). I appreciate the irony of a band embracing robotic synths and singing style but never liked the results. The 80's had so much great music - both the robotic and the other direction - hope we more of what I call the good stuff soon.
ksigz - thanks for all the great factoids, I didn't about the polio source of her tunings, and especially your mom's shared name! I'm glad that instead of going straight to the review I listened to this one again, reminding me how much I love this album. For me the first 3 songs here are the warmups, the album starts at Other People's Parties as she starts stretching out into the introspection mode that really plays deeper into the jazz on the next two albums, my favorites. Here and everywhere she writes the best lyrics I know of. And I doubt there isn't an album that isn't the favorite a big chunk of Joni fans.
Another album I can't help loving as soundtrack to my life. I listened to everything Eno touched in those days. He invented ambient music, so I think of this album as one of the prototypes, soon crowded out by Windham Hill bland folk music with waves in the background. Before Spotify, every public place either had top 40 radio playing over the PA or Muzak - commercially created bland shopping music, pre-AI slop. So Eno wanted to try more interesting background music to be ignored or not. My 5 is both for my love for it, the innovation, and for the massive influence.
Another 80's band I ignored for some reason, so I didn't have any of the familiarity the rest of you grew up with and I'm so glad I listened to this album before I die. I didn't love the vocals off the top but the drums-bass-guitar are phenomenal, and by the end I was even liking the vocals. Better late than never, looking forward to growing into this one.
Seems impossible, but last week was my first time hearing Coldplay. Aggravating. Such a great songs, such a great voice, such criminal abuse of piano riffs. An entire album of soft rock versions of U2 ballads without anything included that makes U2 interesting. I would have quit halfway through but pushed on to see if they would ever vary it. Nope. First album in this list that's actually pissed me off.
This should hit one of my my sweet spots - jangle reverbed rockabilly guitar, big loud fast chords, 60's Byrd's sound that I don't much like in the Byrds, but we keep hearing bands influenced by the Byrds who sound so much better to me than the Byrds. Despite loving the sound of this album I didn't actually love any of the songs much, but the sound is so good I'm feeling like it might grow on me.
Chocolate Cake starts this off with great Carole King sounding piano chording, bam bam drums, love the vocals, love this song. I wish the album stayed in that rock and roll groove, but sadly it goes softer, more Byrds sound again but not the good kind, and instead of interesting the vocal harmonies just sounds repetitive and nasally for the next 6 songs. There Goes God gets interesting, Fame Is is not so bad, and then we're into a completely different approach to ballads for the rest of side two that I'm really kind of liking. Although side 1 is a a 2 for me I'm giving it a 4 just so I remember to check it out again for side 2.
Wait - there's hardcore punk jazz?? This album gets a 5 just for existing, but also because I think it may have changed my life. Never listened to Zorn or Ornette Coleman before, it's going to be frustrating unavailable on Spotify or Qobuz, just Youtube, but just gave me a whole new genre to investigate.. Best reviews on Reddit: "Sounds like an orchestra falling down the stairs and I absolutely love it." "Honestly having listened to it, i wish it wasn't available on any platform"
Love the guitar/drum/bass on this, such a clean sound, so driving, fantastic energy. But then there's those punk vocals, what I think of as shout style. I don't necessarily hate shout singing - love it from Devo - but Siouxsie and a lot of other punks shouted as a fuck off, and it works. 4 for the band, 1 for the vocals.
Loved the singer, the songs so much on first listen I'm just slapping a 5 on this to confirm at a later date. Zero immediately reminds me of Bjork on A Day Called Zero. Other songs the playful way she bends her really pure voice outside of a pure tone like Molly Rankin, always singing just on the edge of badly, love that. Also the bagpipe synths and military drumming on Skeletons, beautiful.
Yeah, too bad about Mother and Miss Gradenko, the two token non-Sting written songs. Everything else in here Sting is at the height of his songwriting before going all prissy precious in his solo life. Every Breath was so overplayed I can't stand hearing it any more, but Synchronicity II is my favorite police song. Murder By Numbers is a cool song added to the the Remaster I hadn't heard before, but I'd always loved that this album leaves you with the moody thoughtful slightly weird story turn on Tea in the Sahara, putting a completely different mood than the rest of the album, very cool.
Sexy, sad, gorgeous. Reminds me of the vibe on Why Can't We Live Together by Timmy Thomas, or Sade's cover of it. Hard to think of higher praise than that.
Always loved the kitchen party band sound and Come on Eileen and its timeless bros help the singer woo the girl Romeo and Juliet video, pretty much the template for the Back on 74 video and lots in between (nice surprise to see spotify shows a new video for the song, charting Kevin and the band aging as they play this song over the last 40 years, very cool, but you have to go to Youtube to revisit the classic video). This was the first time I checked the lyrics though - turns out the song goes way deeper, aside from Kevin thinking dirty thoughts for Eileen, which we would have guessed, he's also begging her to give up this dead end Irish Catholic life with all their parents' generation keeping them down with their sentimental nostalgia for Johnny Ray songs of their youth and the toora loora melodies of Irish folk music to breakaway for his ballsy optimism for the big city and opportunities together, like half of Bruce Springsteen's catalogue, and the way that story's fated to end you can see in Kevin's portrait on the album cover or the other half of Springsteeen's catalogue. Anyway, I had a good time diving deep into Come on Eileen this morning, and giving the rest of this album a second look, so the long post for a meagre 3 - I've never loved Kevin's warbling vocals, but there's about four songs here I'll come back for, a nice surprise.
Listened to the first 10 seconds of all of these, all solid genre pieces that will happily make their way into my Christmas playlist and never be heard any other time of year. Fun research question for some rainy day : I also clicked each song at about the halfway point, nearly every one of them landed in the midway instrumental break. Is that a Phil Spector standard trick or do all do-wops have the same mid-point break?
