Mood/Vibe: the last of the 2000s indie rock and roll
Standout Tracks: All of them? No skip album. Sex On Fire & Use Somebody still deserve their flowers but Cold Desert & Notion have been added to the rotation.
Replay? Immediate replay to really let the album sink in. Even better the second time around.
Opening/Closing Songs: The opening track is Closer and what a great introduction. We get a clear understanding of the vibe of the album, funky synth sounds mixed with that heavy guitar that permeates the album. Solid open and a personal favourite.
The closing track is Cold Desert. I love the fade out and fade back in. A last moment, a last hurrah. A triumphant ending to a triumphant album.
Notes:
The opening song gives me Imagine Dragons vibes. This album was owned by my mother I believe? Perhaps dad, but either way it was an album that got plays in our house in the late 2000s/early 2010’s. As a result this, listening to this album was washed with brilliant nostalgia mixed in with an adult appreciation of music and what makes it so fucking good. What a brilliant album to begin this project with. 5 stars for memorable, enjoyable, nostalgic, guitar-heavy, late-2000s masterpiece.
Mood/Vibe: This is much more theatrical than I was expecting?? But then again, I don’t know what I was expecting.
Standout Tracks: Bat Out of Hell & For Crying Out Loud
Replay? Immediately. Better second time round.
Opening/Closing Songs:
Bat Out of Hell opens the album and it’s bouncy, frantic, catchy, get-up-and-move vibes. Immediate add to liked songs. For Crying Out Loud is the closing song of the album and it feels like a sad, dramatic, end to bouncy, controlled yet chaotic album. Overall perfect openers and closers and also two of my faves from the album.
Notes:
An album I’ve heard of but unfortunately for Meatloaf my number one experience with him was the 2011 AFL Grand Final. A performance that went down in history for all the wrong reasons. And remembering that moment from over a decade ago and hearing this album now, I can see the excitement followed by the subsequent dissapointment. Guitar-heavy riffs, fun, bouncy. It reminds me of some of the glam rock from that era, but more erratic and less polished in a totally intentionally creative way. It was a fun journey for sure. I can see why it makes the list. It pushes boundaries and genres the way they seemed to back there. Some new songs added to the liked list.
Mood/Vibe:
Soft rock pop folky blues mix & I’m so here for it. An iconic album for a reason
Standout Tracks:
-Come Together, duh.
-Oh! Darling is a song I didn’t really know but oh my god do I know it now. One of my absolute favourites. The screams! The high to low. The teetering on rock and soul. Sublime.
-I Want You (She’s So Heavy). Yes. Perfection
Replay?
All damn weekend & forevermore
Opening/closing song:
Ooft the first song hits SO GOOD. Come Together is such a catchy opening song and it was goddamn stuck in my head all day. That strange bass/synth/drum (?) wobbly thwack sound. I can’t get enough of it. So fucking good man. Perfect album opener.
Her Majesty the closing song was 25 seconds and I just… I don’t know.
Notes:
A few years ago I went down a Beatles rabbit hole. Listened for months on end but their catalogue is a behemoth of hits hits hits and while I knew of many songs I didn’t KNOW many songs and it made it hard to know where to start. I’m excited to cycle through each other their albums. This one is GOOD. Like really good. I love the bluesy folk moments, I love the absurdity of their lyrics and stories like Octopus’s Garden. The high-highs of Come Together, Oh! Darling and Carry That Weight are unmatched.
Mood/Vibe:
Alternative rock/punk/funk
Standout Tracks:
- Psycho Killer
Replay?
Yes, but mostly to get it all sink in, not because I loved it
Notes:
This was a funky, experimental, artsy album. Love the moments of the 70s funky beats mixed together with the more experimental beats and sounds. Stand out on this album is the penultimate Psycho Killer, the only one on the album I’m familiar with. While I liked this album, I don’t think overall, it will get many more listens from me. That being said, I enjoyed the journey and the dive into a band I know shaped many artists and musicians. This was their first studio album so not only am I glad I got this one first, I’m interested to hear how their sound evolves with another three albums on this list.
Overall vibe:
Jazzy Alanis Morissette circa Jaggad Little Pill
Standout Tracks:
- Sullen Girl
- Slow Like Honey
- Shadowboxer Replay? Yes, to soak it all in
Notes:
The first track immediately grabbed my attention. Oooh a bluesy, soulful Alanis Morissette? I could picture myself on a solo Friday night with a glass of wine/smoking a j & making pasta. I only hope the lovers of modern acts like Olivia Dean have the good fortune to stumble across Fiona Apple. Perhaps this album would’ve had more staying power/repeat power for me if I was the level of clinically depressed over a man I’d been earlier this year/last year but now I’m just depressed. Not even over a man. I think there will be definitely be songs that hit my repeat like Sullen Girl, Shadowboxer and Slow Like Honey. Can’t wait to see how her other albums on this list compare. Very enjoyable and deserving of a spot on the list for sure. 3.5
Overall vibe: LOUD NOISES!!!! Notes: It’s loud, it’s noisy and it’s seems like… well the noise just exists without intent, without cohesiveness. The only consistency is just a smattering of noise and for what? I dunno. I hate it. The drugs must’ve been next level in the 70s. Thank god it was only 35 minutes.
