Some highlights here and there, but mostly not my thing.
An astonishing album. The fact that it was even made amazes me. I'd be surprised if anything like this is ever done again. Added that it's one of the all-time heroes of music, this is a 5-star album.
This was a pivotal album for Bowie's career and was driven mostly by cocaine.
I had never listened to it except by proxy through the excellent "serious moonlight" live album which was a mainstay of my teens.
It's a great listen end to end.
I remember a time when it seemed like every video used "Intro" as its soundtrack, which really put me off listening to the whole album. And then when I did listen to it, the intimate production choices made me feel like I'd walked in on a pair of lovers. I've since got over all that. For me this album very much evokes a particular time. I very much like that the album ends fairly shortly after I get bored of it. "Infinity" should have been a single.
I'm quite familiar with the Cure's more popular material, so this album came as an interesting surprise. This album's release was an important step in the development of the Goth movement, as well as a turning point in the style of the band's music.
If you want to wallow in navel-gazing misery, this album is a great way to do it. In some phases of my life this has been an important activity. I'm not there right now, but will give this another listen next time I need it.
So good I listened to it twice. It's "vintage Bowie" but it's got some super familiar classic tracks interspersed with some decent less known material that holds it all together rather well.
I was expecting a bunch of good songs that I already know. What I got was a bonus punk intro followed by a bunch of good songs that I already know. Will listen again.
I am by no means a Madonna fan but this was a surprisingly pleasant listen. The well-known songs are better than I remember and the others fit well.
There was this time in the 1990s when there were too many bands that all sounded too similar. Oasis seems to have been the one that survived, but let's not forget The Charlatans (and Blur, The Verve, Suede, The Stone Roses, etc...)
There was no OG in this mix, they all bounced stuff off each other, I don't give any of the bands particular credit or blame or whatever. But 90s Britpop definitely had a particular sound.
On to this album. I had never heard any of these songs before (but I remember some of their singles). None of these songs were particularly memorable for me, it evoked the feeling of the time but I was not wowed.
Some might say it's got all their best songs on it.
Some might say it's unmemorable.
I listen to it every few years and agree on both, because to me Oasis is just meh.
The only Beatles album I ever paid for. I'm not a great fan of concept albums generally, but this one is 92% excellent (you get to guess which track I usually skip)
If you're into blues, it's good stuff. I'm not so into blues as I was before we cancelled Eric Clapton, so while I recognize the tremendous raw talent on this album it's not for me.
This is a solid album. The track ordering is wonky, since "Flutes" is my fave song on it and appears just after the middle. Thus in practice I usually don't bother listening to the last 4 tracks. They aren't bad, they're just a disappointment after what went before. 6 out of the first 7 tracks are bangers, you get to figure out which one I like least.
Music nerd fact: "Flutes" is an excellent example of polyrhythm.
I find soundtracks generally aren't good to listen to, so I had low expectations for a soundtrack for a movie that doesn't exist. I was not disappointed. I am vaguely glad I listened, because it was some kind of an experience, and it had some minor highlights here and there.
I can't tell if this album is a cry for help that we collectively ignored, or Amy declaring her stubbornness and refusing any help. Maybe it's both. It should never have been her final album. It's a masterpiece. RIP.
Also, props to Mark Ronson for making this blend of a 1960s and modern feel.
4 stars for "Without You", which is one of the best songs ever and none of the covers can do it justice.
1 stars for the general vibe of the album since it brought joy to my day.
-2 stars for "Coconut" for which I have long had an irrational dislike.
A little D&B never hurt anyone, but a whole album of it may cause adverse reactions in some.
This was OK.
A little bit techno, a little bit D&B. Not my go-to but I enjoyed it enough
Not my genre but I have heard "Freak on a Leash" a few times. Lots of shouty metal and some sweary rap. Good angry people. I am not angry people generally.
Two famous songs plus a lot of elevator music. Boomers love this sh*t.
When this was released, there was no vaccine for measles. 70 years later, measles is fashionable again.
Anyway let's talk about Frank. Amazing voice. Great performance by the band. All around good stuff and I can imagine my parents generation prancing around to it as they unwittingly filled the world with lead and asbestos, nuked Pacific islands in the name of science, etc.
Nice but I probably won't listen again.
Much shouty. Many loud. I run away.
Seriously though. This was too angry for me to listen through in one sitting. I took breaks and it still stressed me out.
Dad rock. Decent but I got bored not long before it ended. I can probably play all the sax parts and that's not a compliment to anyone involved.
Brings back happy memories of my friends at an expensive private Christian school whose idea of rebelling was to play this album pretty much continuously.
That aside, there's some very talented guitar and drum work and of course the massive hit "Run to the Hills" which got a lot of radio airplay back then and still does now, despite the spicy content.
When I get hold of a time machine, I am going to go back to 1968 to watch these performances live. I will also bring Narcan and mess up the timeline.
I'd never heard this before but it's going into my regular rotation for a while. Amazing.
This is, to me, arguably Muse's best work. It came as they were getting much of the mainstream spotlight, but comes before their descent into formulaic rehashes of their earlier sounds.
It's an over-the-top treat for the ears. "Take a Bow" isn't my fave, but everything else is fantastic.
I hadn't heard the album before but know a couple of the songs very well since they were popular on various compilations in the mid '00s. Depending on your mood and needs, this might help you focus or sleep. The chill vibe is not for everyone but I like it.
There is music that I feel I am supposed to like because it influenced bands I like. This is such music.
This seems to have been a cultural phenomenon that I missed because I was doing other things. If I'd heard it and liked it in the 1990s I would probably like rap a whole lot more. I hear echoes of this album in much of the music that's come in the 30+ years since. I enjoyed listening, but it's not my go-to genre.
I don't know why I find Jack White annoying (actually I know some pointless reasons but won't put them here). This was better than I expected, apart from a few places where some of the Jack White tropes came through too strong.
If you can bear Axl Rose's voice for the entire duration, this album rocks. The rest of you should move on.
This is just an old country boy singing folksy songs about his troubled life in Arkansas. No wait - this is Rod Stewart, of "Hot Legs" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" fame.
This is not one of his famous works, and I don't think I'd heard any of these songs before. As a snapshot of where he was in his career at the time, it's surprisingly intimate.
The title song is, while almost overplayed, still a favorite of mine. I never heard the rest of the album before. I had no idea that Jealous Guy was originally a Lennon song, having only heard the Roxy Music version.
The rest of the album is mostly decent stuff with some occasional echoes of the Beatles, unsurprisingly.
I use music as the soundtrack to whatever I am doing, rather than sitting down and listening to it deeply (I don't have much time for that)
As a result, I don't listen to Leonard Cohen very much. Doing so feels too much like work.
I made an exception with this album and listened all the way through (while walking the dog, rather than staring at the album artwork). His talent is legendary, the production is lush and I am glad I heard it. Will it more generally become part of the soundtrack to my life? No, I rather hope not.
A whole lot of Bob being his amazing self. Love it.
A few years ago on a plane to Tokyo I got chatting to a lovely Japanese fellow who was keen to practice his English. I learned of his favorite music genre, "City Pop" and promised to listen to some. Since I was on a Japanese airline, it was easy enough to find it on the in flight entertainment system. What I heard for the next few hours was clearly steeped in this album. Aja was made by super talented musicians who influenced decades of music that followed.
Here's the problem: I have an irrational dislike for this stuff. To me it's just elevator music. Sorry, Walter & Donald. It's not you, it's me.
I knew a few of these songs already, but what I didn't know was that the whole album is 100% samples. The haters may say there's no skill or creativity, and those haters are flat out wrong. Looping and cut-up work is a creative act, the haters just don't like the instrument.
This album is a textbook example of how sampling can and should be done.
Good start, meh middle, ok end
From the heyday of Christmas song recording comes this gem. The songs are on point and it's all topped off with a personal message from the manipulator and convicted murderer himself.
Love the art, hate the artist.
