Some interesting stuff, almost meditative, repeating riffs. A lot of the tracks sound like jam sessions, I can’t imagine they ever played the same version twice. The more structured tracks remind me of Cuban jazz. For my personal taste the songs are too long for what is happening in them, not enough variation to warrant the time spent on an idea. At over an hour the album feels like it could have benefitted from a heavy edit. That said there is some nice interplay of the two guitars, and there is a lot of variation between tracks. It’s all just drawn out a little too long.
It’s beautifully mixed, every instrument is given its own space and sits comfortably in it. It’s nice indie/proto-grunge sort of stuff with a bit of synthpop influence, and it’s like it’s been rinsed in prog rock and then wrung out again. The instrumentation is very cool, I like how swells of strings will appear out of nowhere, and then they’re gone again. There’s a lot of Pixies in there. A very rewarding listen.
A wonderful slice of bossa nova, a pleasure to listen to.
The atmosphere of these tracks is immense, for some reason I’ve never listened to this album before, but I can hear it’s influence all over so much music that I love, Nine Inch Nails being a big one. The foreshadowing of the hook from Head Over Heels in the previous track, Broken, is something I really didn’t expect. I love when this sort of thing happens in an album, it makes the act of listening to an album more rewarding than listening to individual tracks. Definitely an album I’ll be coming back to.
For a start the title track has one of the best guitar solos ever written. That said I had never listened to the album as a whole, but the funny thing is the music is so entrenched in the world it was all completely familiar. It’s a beautiful slice of Americana. The guitar tones are like honey, and the drum production is a dry as the dessert. The band produce fantastic performances across the whole record. Unfortunately the album doesn’t finish as strong as it starts. The meandering The Last Resort doesn’t feel as well constructed as the rest of the songs, and it takes a bit of the shine off, after an otherwise fantastic record.
Nick Drakes guitar playing is sublime, finger plucked steel strings that sound like a babbling brook, coupled perfectly with his softly sung melodys. The strings arrangements swell and float over the tracks but aren’t over powering, there is still plenty of space for the music to breathe. The use of other instruments, piano, saxophone, adds great variation, and steps the tracks up to another level. I’ve loved his music since I first heard it as a teenager. This is a perfect album.
It took until track four to find something to enjoy, there’s a lot of crap on this record but some decent tracks. The problem is that the good tracks are surrounded by so much dross that they are lost. As an album it fails for me as it’s just a huge kitchen sink selection of stuff with no continuity. Maybe I just don’t get Prince, but it’s not for me. It’s also way too long at 80 minutes. It’s representative of 80s excess, unlimited recording budgets leading to way too much time in the studio, and resulting in quantity over quality.
It’s funny the stories you tell yourself, I saw this was today’s album and thought sarcastically oh great, Springsteen, never been a big fan. Then halfway through track one I’m 100% in! Note to self, remember Springsteen in THE BOSS!
I hadn’t ever checked out Jah Wobble, which is sad as this would have gone great in the rotation back in the days of sitting on beanbags in hazy living rooms, staring at lava lamps and talking nonsense. It’s great stuff, the varied influences going into it make it sound like crate digging trip hop, but it’s a band! It took me back to a simpler time, I can’t see myself returning to it but as a one time listen it’s been a fun ride.
I’ve never understood why they’re held in such high esteem, it sounds like some greasy record executive heard punk and put together the punk Monkees, the Punkees if you will, the difference being that the Monkees had tracks. The best thing about Ramones is the logo, the second best is how they mastered the manipulation of time itself, making 29 minutes feel like 2 hours.
I know dig your own hole a lot better, but this is just as great, I love big beat, spent a good few years in the 00s djing breakbeat which was what this stuff evolved into. It was nice when electronic artists were treated like bands, and you’d get a full album. I know it still happens to an extent but the focus seems to be more on quick fix singles. So yeah I’m a dinosaur. Anyway this is tune after tune, and it stays true to the big beat manifesto: BIG BEATS ARE THE BEST, GET HIGH ALL THE TIME!
How was this released in the 70s? Crazy! It’s like it has all the good bits of Brit pop and indie and then you’ll get smashed with a big fat psychedelic guitar solo. Loving this, a great discovery!
A really interesting and varied listen, folk/blues/prog/psychedelia and the occasional tough groove. A lot of the string arrangements sound like Sgt Pepper. Don’t feel a great urge to come back to it but an enjoyable ride all the same.
It’s indisputable that this is a stone cold classic, and I’m really happy to have been given the nudge to listen to it again. I had this on cassette as a kid, I think I bought it from a friend, back in the days of scraping together your pocket money and trying to get the most out of it as possible. Pantera really were some of the best ever to do it, RIP Dimebag & Vinnie Paul.
To be honest my only exposure to Iggy Pops music until today had been the opening scene from Trainspotting, and passenger and maybe a couple of other tracks being in the cultural ether, but I had never listened to an album. This record is brimming with energy. A nihilistic sneer delivers every line. Without the vocal delivery this could become generic rock n roll, but Iggy Pops distinctive vocal style raises the tracks up and gives them individuality. It’s easy to hear the influence he has had on music, and it’s a good listen, not a life changer for me, but good stuff.
I wasn’t a fan on Dylan before listening to this, and I’m still not. I can’t get over his terrible singing voice, it really grates on the ears, and all the songs feel like they have about three verses too many. It just goes on and on. I’ll start to enjoy a track, before he opens his mouth, and then by the end of it I’m just fed up with his whining. Sorry Dylan fans but I don’t get it. In the interest of fairness though, meet me in the morning is cool, but it’s sad that it’s the exception rather than the rule.
This is so beautiful, from what little I knew of Leonard Cohen I had no idea it would be so heartfelt. Gorgeous stripped back songs that feel like a man bearing the painful parts of his soul.
Perfect for a sunny day, unfortunately it’s November, but I think sitting in the sun with this on would work nicely. Some tracks lapse into a bit of a nursery rhyme feel which puts me off, but there’s some great stuff on here.
A masterclass in stripped down rock n roll. Riff, melody, rhythm, and that’s all you need.
I only ever heard the singles from Garbage as it didn’t really draw me in as a kid. It’s good, but it never scratched the itch for me. Still, a nice listen and brought back some 90s memories.
There’s something really familiar about this record, it may well have been in the collection of an old housemate, but I don’t have any specific memory of listening to it. Anyway, this is some high quality 90s IDM, and it’s right up my street. Super complex drum patterns with droning sitars, soaring strings and wandering flutes, as well as a lot of jungle and dub influence. It’s as if Goldie and Squarepusher had an Indian baby. I love that the tracks have so much time to breathe and evolve, there is something cinematic about it. This is what I’d have classed as a 5am album back in my partying days, mellow but with enough action to keep heads nodding and bodies moving. The album also builds and flows very nicely, it’s not top loaded at all and I found I got more and more involved as it went on. Absolutely solid 90s electronica, interesting till then very end, what a find!
Yes yes f**king yes!! Thrash up yo ass!
Man was I not expecting that! This just oozes attitude, you can smell the whiskey and cigarettes coming off these songs. It’s a group of musicians that are completely in sync with each other, and are having a lot of fun with it. It’s not serious music, just good old fashioned rock n roll played with joy. Another great find, this will definitely be being added to the rotation next time there’s a Spotify queue on the go.
