Enjoyed the hit tracks but album tracks just okay. Not sure about Mother. Sounds a bit like Sting compromising and letting someone else “have a go”! Not really for me.
Easy one for me! Loved this album right from the first listen and still remember “Where Are We Now?” being débuted on very early morning radio in 2013. What a great surprise to wake up to! 4.5 stars.
I guess it’s an important release in the revival of ska in its time but didn’t float my boat then and still doesn’t really. Curiously, it actually feels much slower than I remember it being at the time.
Quite a pleasant listen. Not something I would normally listen to. Some very soulful tracks with influences from other genres. 3.5 *
A decent set of mostly tight pop songs but probably not their best output. Lyrically a bit light but 3.5 for me.
As their debut album it’s listenable and has a few good songs but it all becomes a bit like wallpaper anthems in the end and sounds very samey. Staggering that they have > 93 million monthly listeners on Spotify!! Guess there’s no accounting for taste 😝
Hard to argue with the classic status of this album. Feels like a bit transitional with some older elements from Electric Warrior but also looking forward to the soul influences on Tanx and Zinc Alloy. Marc in full pomp! 4.5 *
Somehow managed to never hear this before! Great album in a similar vein to Fotheringay, Fairport Convention and other folk rock bands of the time. Really pleasant to listen to. Love Danny Thompson’s bass! Solid 4 *
Better than anticipated with some quite musical moments. A bit schizophrenic but that’s fine. Probably not one I’ll listen to much.
What to say about this? Probably listened to it more than 100 times over the years and it never gets tired. Miles and the ‘59 crew in great form changing the sound of jazz again. Fabulous! 5* and then some.
Quite disappointed to see this appear today! Still, let’s give it a go. Rolling in the Deep is quite a good opener. So far so good. Ho hum, then Set Fire to the Rain quite good. I’ll be Waiting has a bit of a 60’s soul vibe. Clearly has a strong and quite soulful voice. Overall not bad but not going in my collection! 3.5
Unexpectedly, really enjoyed this album. Some great tracks on here. Happy to add this to my collection. 4*
Excellent power pop. Quite raw but with very catchy melodies. Like this a lot. A good few songs on here which I’ve never heard before. Of these, “Bye bye love” and “All Mixed Up” standout. Solid 4
Excellent and unexpected album from the Beasties. Starts off well and continues from there. Started listing my favourite tracks but in the end there were too many. Good stuff! 4 *
Technically brilliant and way ahead of anything in its time. Very doomy in feel but with excellent production. A bit too noodly for me though. Favourite tracks are “Court of….” and “Schizoid”. 3.5 *
What a lead off track! Hello heavy rock! A great reinterpretation of the blues in a British stylee. As heavy as this gets there’s still room for some great sensitive playing on things like “Thank You” and Ramble On“. All wrapped up nicely with Bring it on Home. A rightful classic. Good to hear you again, old friend 🙂
Quite relaxing to listen to overall. Can’t say I’ve ever come across these guys before. Feels a bit like being in a fancy coffee shop with some pleasant ambient background music but there are better choices to listen to if I want something like this. Technically competent but a bit uninspiring. 3.5*
Not bad overall. Highly polished and the embodiment of 80’s glitter. They definitely cherry picked all the best songs for singles. 3
More 80’s! Great lead off track and single. Upbeat jangly indie pop. Hard not to like this. Not sure it’s one for the collection but very enjoyable. 4
Like this quite a bit. Some great samples. Can see why it was influential in its time. “Left my wallet…” is hilarious! Would defo listen again. 4
Hard to review this objectively after years of listening previously but a great album with some excellent songs. Grapevine cover is excellent and Who’ll Stop the Rain is an all time classic. Time in a bottle! 4
Pretty sure I’m not the target audience for this. At least I’ll never have to listen to it again. 2.5 * rounded down for overuse of MF. Next
A bit schizophrenic with 70’s punk, thrash metal, hard rock and 80’s pop! Didn’t hate it but probably wouldn’t revisit. 3
Absolute Christmas banger. Can’t be beaten, in my opinion.
Feels a bit like FM’s White Album. Coming from all directions at once. Some good tracks. Particularly like Tusk itself. Generally though, not enough to push it up another notch. 3.5
100% solid gold Soul classic! If the lyrical content was studied on every national curriculum we might have a better world some day. Probably the best ’concept’ album ever recorded.
Interesting album. Definitely has an 80’s gloss but doesn’t sound like anything else from the time. Tinseltown is the obvious standout. Great track. I can see why it would have a strong following. 4
Oh, more hip hop! Not my bag but favourite track was “Good Thang”. Glad it’s over. 3
Ground Zero of Punk. Sounds as good now as the day it was released. Blows by so quickly it’s over too soon. Fabulous melodies and some great harmonising makes this much more musical than you might expect given the lyrical content. 4.5* but pushed to the full 5 for its massive influence.
Must have been quite good as it’s the first time I’ve listened to a Smiths album and wanted to hear it again.
Interesting album that I’ve never got around to listening to before. Great vibes but it feels a bit like it’s neither fish nor fowl and ends up sounding like big band swing for much of the time. Pleasant listen and has the sound of the time but a bit below expectation given the praise it receives from critics.
Very brief but fun album to listen to, full of the charm of the mid-late 60’s. Highlights for me are I See You and 8 Miles High. 3.5
I recall the band being popular around the late 90’s but never really cared much for them. Can’t say much has changed in the meantime. All a bit too thrashy for me. Tolerated it but didn’t really enjoy it. 2
Fairly enjoyable, if brief, slice of Countrypolitan. Great singing voice and some catchy songs. Particularly like Night Life. 3.5
Great album with tons of variety. Beck uses hip hop and electronica in an interesting way that doesn’t detract from the actual musicality of what he’s doing. Like this album a lot. 4
The return of The King!! Fabulous follow up album to the comeback tour. Top notch backing band and singers and some real blue eyed soul belters. Great Muscle Shoals production - Suspicious Minds and In The Ghetto never get old. 5*
Enjoyed the opening and closing tracks and Blown a Wish. Quite dreamy and hypnotic backing but wish I could hear the vocals more. Songs with no verse chorus format get a bit tedious when you can’t really hear what else is going on. Had to skip half way through some songs as it felt like 30 seconds was enough. 3
Quite an interesting album. Worth exploring a bit more, I think. A shame that Mr Albarn sounds like he deliberately couldn’t care less. 4
Great to have this pristine document of a historic concert. Well paced and builds nicely throughout the set. 4
