I dig it, great explosive performances by Jimi
Great performances and atmosphere. Felt a little samey to other Floyd stuff I've heard in the part though
Love Radiohead but this one ain't my favourite. Some really solid singles but a lot of tracks that are just kind of filler to me
Absolutely blown away by this one, the mix of impressive performances musically with heartfelt expression and emotion is incredible
Fav tracks: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Radio Cure, War on War, Ashes of American Flags, Jesus Etc.,
Least fav tracks: I'm The Man Who Loves You (you ever give a jazz guitarist a fuzz pedal?)
Stray Thoughts While Listening
- Really like the subtle instrumental textures near the beginning of the record, gamelan??
- Heavy Metal Drummer and I'm the Man Who Loves You both having pastiche openings felt a bit repetitive
- Are they using the same vocal chain that Elliot Smith used on Pot Kettle Black?? (not a complaint)
- Tag yourself I'm Lazy Locomotives
- This album's losing me a bit in the second half ngl, Poor Places bringing me back a bit though
- Poor Places: They're saying the thing!!! (Yankee hotel foxtrot)
- Okay it came back around for me
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Would probably give it a 3.5/5, rounding it up because I respect it's influence on the wider indie rock landscape. Some great songwriting from Jeff Tweedy, really liked the vibes of the first half of the album but when it picked up the energy a bit I feel some of the uniqueness it had going on was lacking. Brings me back to that early indie twee but not in a dated way!
OVERALL THOUGHTS (2.5/5)
I think this was one of those albums where listening to it was mostly fun as a historical document to see where a bunch of different genres branched off from. I think this would have been a SICK show to see live but listening back to it only offers so much. I can't help but compare it to other rock or jazz live albums where the musicianship is on such a high level compared to this. The soundscapes and synth work here is very neat but are mostly found in the interludes of the songs. It was fun overall on a song to song basis but at almost two hours the full album wore me down a bit
STRAY THOUGHTS
- Giving King Gizz vibes
- THEY HAVE FLUTE
- It's kind of camp I dig it
- "Space does not care"
- Decent amount of power chord chuging on this record
- Always appreciate having saxophone in a jam band
- Having Lemmy play power chords on the bass while the guitar solos is good fun
- Like I don't think albums should inherently be limited by length but MY GOD IS THIS LONG
FAV TRACKS: Down Through The Night, Lord of Light, Orgone Accumulator
LEAST FAV TRACKS: Brainstorm,
OVERALL THOUGHTS - 3.25/5
Definitely enjoyed listening to this and wouldn't be mad if someone threw this album on but I don't think I'd go out of my way to listen to it. Despite how mopey the lyrics were, there were some fun lines there! I can see where they were going with the washed out sound and I found it largely effective but it could serve to be more 'lush', it often gives it the appeal of background music rather than an all encompassing bliss. Think it's another 'they did it first but not best', I would rather listen to the stuff it inspired like MBV or Slowdive.
STRAY THOUGHTS
- Softer sound than I was expecting, apparently their previous album was the more proto-shoegaze sound I associate them with and they went in a more subtle approach for this record
- "plug into her electric cool"
- Did Garbage rip off "Happy when it rains" from them???
- They liked the rain so much they got 9 million of them!
- I thought we were depressed now but they were really going through it in the 80s damn
- "Life in a sack is coming back"
- Rain as a motif on this album?? They would've loved Matt Reeves' 'The Batman'
FAV TRACKS: April Skies, Happy When It Rains, Fall,
LEAST FAV TRACKS: N/A
OVERALL THOUGHTS 2.5/5
Some cool guitar stuff (Duane Allman apparently taking a lot more lead parts then people realize) but yeah it really did feel like some white dudes trying to make compelling blues music without any of the soul and emotion that should come along with it. Not the most offensive dad rock I've heard by far though. (maybe one of the more offensive dad rockers tho, dude stinks big time)
STRAY THOUGHTS
- Beatles ass chorus on Bell Bottom Blues
- Neat that they're using a Tabla drum but kinda distracting???
- There were some compelling songs at first but mannnn they start dragging
- People hyped up Little Wing, it's fine
FAV SONGS: I Looked Away, Layla
LEAST FAV: Key To The Highway, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, It's Too Late
OVERALL THOUGHTS 3.5/5
This one occupies a really weird and cursed area of hip hop history. Ye was already a controversial figure at this point, the 'revolutionary' aspect of this album was how much he wore his flaws on his sleeves. In a sense, he used his villain status in the culture as a weapon against us, the listener.
The production on MBDTF is gritty and slick at the same time, guest features are killer, and Ye puts all of himself into these performances, for better or worse. There are thematic elements in the lyrics that make for a great throughline in the album, despite them being riddled with fantasies of libido, power and misogyny. It all paints a very vivid and honest picture of a deeply broken man, who some say was a genius. It's hard to argue that this isn't a compelling portrait, perhaps a modern day Catcher In The Rye.
I think there's a bit of a sentiment that what's become of Ye as of late tends to be partially blamed on us as a culture. He gave us this piece of art as a warning, a cry for help... but we accepted this as a masterpiece and excused his behavior, maybe not in sentiment but with our begrudging praise. It's not unlike slowing down traffic in order to get a better look at an accident. But I think that was Ye's smartest trick. This was his confession to a priest, his attempt at absolution. He put the blame and the guilt on us, and continued on a course that I now think he can't come back from. It was an incredible gambit, but it was always destined to have an expiry date.
STRAY THOUGHTS
- Oh boy here we go
- Goddamnit I gotta give to this asshole, his production is really good
- King Crimson sample goes hard ngl
- Jay-Z's verse on Monster goes hard damn
- So does Nicki's, hate that these rich assholes are talented sometimes
- Choosing this moment to gently acknowledge the misogyny in hip hop
- We really went through a phase of excusing men's toxic behavior if they were self aware about it huh
- This outro for Runaway is a bit long no?
- In hindsight Bon Iver isn't that surprising here but it was pretty crazy to see that at the time
FAV SONGS: Dark Fantasy, Power, Monster, Runaway, Lost In The World
LEAST FAV: All The Lights, Devil In A New Dress
OVERALL THOUGHTS 3/5
A good smattering of tracks, feels like one of those albums designed to get some hits out as opposed to being a cohesive project. Amy's got a great voice and really elevates these tracks. Lyrics are often fun and must have been pretty brazen for the time
FAV SONGS: F*** Me Pumps, In My Bed, I Heard Love Is Blind
LEAST FAV: Amy Amy Amy, October Song
OVERALL THOUGHTS 4.25/5
Interesting to see Smith evolve his sound with more ambitious production and instrumentation! It felt a little bit less cohesive then Either/Or but I was surprised at how well his songwriting style and voice fit into the mix of everything. Despite the higher production value there were also some neat moments of experimentation which helped ground this project in the Elliott Smith Cinematic Universe (ESCU)
STRAY THOUGHTS
- Immediately more heavy, Elliott's voice still stands out and feels unique
- The higher production almost sounds strange for him, don't hate it tho
- "The Spin of the Earth impaled a silhouette" I should get a tumblr acnt
- Drums on 'Everything Means Nothing To Me' are crazy
- I feel like 'high production' is almost a disservice here, some neat experimental stuff happening all over the place
- I thought taking crazy musical detours was a more recent emo thing but songs like 'Everything Means...' and 'In The Lost And Found' prove otherwise
FAV TRACKS: Son of Sam, Somebody I Used To Know, Everything Reminds Me Of Her, In The Lost And Found, Can't Make A Sound
LEAST FAV:
Came for the congos, stayed for the guitars 4/5
Fuck Win Butler but yeah this one holds up. Didn't have the patience for this album when I was younger but coming back to it I can really appreciate the grandeur and ambition of this project. Hate that all the most annoying people I knew growing up were right about this one 4.25/5
If someone's dad threw this on I'd be like "yeah I'm okay with this" 2.5/5
I find what they're doing here to be pretty cool, especially for the time. I'm more used to seeing the mix of jazz and rock from the jazz side of things so it was cool to see it the other way around. I thought the saxophone work was really great, the band is obviously very tight and coordinated and often has a great vibe going for it.
I think it could've used a bit of trimming down though, I have no problem with longer projects on paper but it needs to earn it's length. It felt more meandering then 'taking me on a journey'. I also think it really didn't need vocals on that third track, they were kind of weak. Also there were some ROUGH transitions between sections of the songs, especially in the first track. 3.25/5
Love this record. It's oozing with personality, great instrumentals and vocals performances, absolutely electrifying stuff. 4.75/5
Just a great collection of uplifting groovy disco tunes! Love this era of Michael Jackson, he's absolutely electric.
FAV SONGS: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Get On The Floor, Off The Wall, Burn This Disco Out
LEAST FAV: N/A
Remember liking this more when it came out. Still some standout songs though 2.75/5
I really wish I liked the first half of this album more than I do. Maybe with a few more listens it would grow on me but it feels less inspired than other Bowie stuff I've heard. Really love the Brian Eno stuff at the end, beautiful stuff 3.5/5
I like how eclectic this one was! I've had trouble getting into Tom Waits before because of his voice but I think I've gotten used to it and have come to like it at this point.