Everything it was made out to be! At first I thought it would be 4 stars for me because it felt like a work in a genre I didn’t understand. Then I picked up on the continuity with more recent trippy stuff I like. Then I fully committed when the choir came in. And the riff of Siberian Khatru won’t be denied.
My dear old friend. No idea what I can say about it that hasn’t been said. It’s been with me about half my life. Long enough ago that I got it at a used CD shop, college I think. Its meaning has only expanded for me over the year. I have fantasies about doing a karaoke version of “Free Money” but doubt I could ever keep up. But I’ve certainly said every word many times. Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine…
Guys, I’m sorry, I hate it. I’m old enough to just come out and say I hate it. Maybe it’s just a 90s punk kid hating anything that was mainstream in the 80s. I want to tell a story about how Reagan and the right misappropriated it and all that, but in the end I just don’t care, I don’t want to listen to it. “I’m On Fire” creeps me out, “Glory Days” creeps me out. I like “Dancing in the Dark” and a few other moments, but honestly I was thrilled when it was over and I could put on Nebraska instead.
Wow, I expected to like this, but I never expected to like it as much as this. Of course I knew about Isaac Hayes from his profile in pop culture. So I was just expecting sexy slow jams. Instead I feel like this is reprogramming my priorities in life. The grooves are so great I don't know how to comment on them. The first and last songs (Walk On By, By The Time I Get to Phoenix) were already ones I enjoyed but also wondered if they contained something more... and here it is. No idea how I didn't know these versions existed. Anyway, because I'm just a white boy from Kansas I have no idea where it rates within its genre, but it's definitely a five for me.
This was the first album I've pulled that I knew pretty much nothing about. If you had asked me, I would have guessed that Can was a jam band rather than Krautrock. And that's the spirit in which I enjoyed most of the album. I can see why it's influential and can imagine listening to several of the tracks again. But man, "Ajman" and "Peking O" put me off -- I like me some crazy noises and I couldn't keep track of what was going on. If I listen more will I figure it out, or is this pretty much how everyone feels about the record? I had thought this might be three stars but re-listened to the rest of the tracks later and really liked them, which pulled it up for a 4.
Album 19 - Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - 4/5 I’m just a casual fan of them so I don’t know that I have anything to offer beyond what other reviews have said: Holy cow, imagine hearing this in 1970 when there had never been anything like it before. Huh, they were pretty bluesy on that first record. For all the greatness that is there, there is something about it that seems unfinished. As much as I enjoy “The Wizard,” after I was done I just found myself humming songs from Paranoid. But I’m glad I pulled it today… helped me get through a stressful parenting day, which I think would make Ozzy smile.