I feel like I've heard this album hundreds of times, although it's the first time I've ever sat and listened to the whole thing. A few times I broke into singing songs that were influenced by this.
Gets repetitive, and most of the songs are long. Easy to let the songs fade into the background as there isn't much depth to the lyrics.
Historically important, but not a terribly compelling listen. Would probably be a good album to use when I'm out walking.
I love Prince. I admit though, that I'm a fan of his later (90's era) stuff maybe more than this.
Interesting to compare to Planet Rock, which was my album yesterday. Very funky, very synth heavy, a lot of long jams, but 1999 is so much more interesting to listen to.
Hard to say a whole lot about a perfect album.
When I'm not in the mood for the 25 minutes of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" I still have 3 of my top 5 Pink Floyd songs here. That being said, that 25 minutes is nearly perfect.
Great early 70's R&B/funk/soul record. Surprised by the number and quality of the cover songs on here. Most I preferred to the original.
Only negative, the last 2 songs, a cover of "Summer Breeze" (a song I've never liked), and "The Highways of My Life" were slow, and kind of disrupted the vibe the rest of the album had built. Loved it to that point though.
I have tried many times, but I cannot do jazz. I appreciate the talent on display, but I did not enjoy this album.
Extremely fun pop album. Heard some shades of Tori Amos in there... another listen or two, and this may become a 5 star album for me. *Edit* I've listened to it more, it's a 5.
Amazing how fresh this still sounds.
I can hear so much influence on the electronic music styles I've listened to for decades now.
Weirdly enough, the title track is the only one that didn't do much for me. A little too repetitive without much variation. Otherwise, great album.
Not my thing. Messy mix of punk and reggae influences. Just a bit too esoteric for my tastes. I can certainly see how it influenced so many acts to come later.
Kind of mixed on this one.
Quite a few songs I enjoyed more than I ever did while listening to the songs driving around in the back seat as a kid.
Some of the tracks like "Marrakesh Express", "Guinnevere", and "Lady of the Island" just faded into background noise...did not care for them at all.
Amazing harmonies.
This whole album would be a 3-page long Facebook post or a 10-minute long TikTok with no context that would somehow get 10 million views anyway.
You know, maybe making an album about your divorce made WHILE GOING THROUGH SAID DIVORCE isn't the best idea.
If Marvin Gaye wasn't so talented, I think this album would be borderline unlistenable, I don't find it a classic by any stretch, but it's not that bad. I think the second half of the album is weaker than the first half.
The first time I've ever heard singing during an instrumental track...
Two Marvin Gaye albums in a row. This one is a fair bit better than "Here, My Dear" that I listened to yesterday.
That being said, a couple tracks really fell flat for me ("Save the Children" and "Wholly Holy"), and "What's Happening Brother?" felt so much like just a variation of "What's Going On?" that I thought I had accidentally hit the replay button...so it still *only* ranks as a 4/5 for me.
It seems blasphemous to say anything critical about one of the best regarded albums ever, and I don't have much bad to say.
The 2nd album starts with my least favorite Stevie Wonder song (Isn't She Lovely") even worse is that I've never heard the 6 minute version with the kid squealing noises halfway through...which made it worse.
If it were me in the producing booth, I might have pushed for a couple fewer songs, or maybe a shorter edit here or there... but for the most part, this was truly an excellent album.
Chaotic mess of an album. Tons of punk vibes, and then the saxophone shows up and the album gets weird. I think it starts to lose its way, and the last track "L.A. Blues" is just noise. Iggy Pop is a force of nature on this album. He brings the whole experience up a star.
Absolutely outstanding. Had me captivated the entire time. When it was over, and the album restarted, I didn't want to turn it off.
After all these years of hearing about this album's reputation, I finally sat down and listened to it, and... it's ok?
The big hits are all great, but the other tracks didn't do much for me. This is the perfect album for where the whole star rating system doesn't work. I think it's a 3.5... I'll give it a 4 because Stevie Nicks.
As a white 18-year old in rural Ohio, this was a foundational text for my early adulthood years.
Profane, funny, and funkier than I remembered. Doggystyle holds up quite well.
Never heard of this before. Surprised because this would have been right in my wheelhouse in the 80's.
I don't love it as much as I probably could have. Too many songs feel "samey". A few standouts. Probably one I would put on for background music..
It's fine. A couple memorable tracks, and a lot of pleasant background music.
A debut greatest hits album? 12 songs, none over 3 minutes… foundational for r&b, rock, and punk??
#Swiftie
Taylor's 1st COVID-era release is her best album, and it's not even close. One of my favorite albums ever. Listened to it twice while out walking today.
I struggle with jazz. I keep giving it a chance... maybe someday I'll get something I'll vibe with.
I'd never heard of Weather Report before. When "Birdland" started, the reference kind of flew over my head, and I thought I might be in for a funk record. Yeah, I know...
I did feel these songs were more structured than other jazz albums I've heard, and that did help me find my way through the songs. In the end though, it just didn't stick for me.
I appreciate the immense talent on display, but it's just not for me.
An album I've always heard I should listen to, but never have. I did not expect it to be so punk rock coded (I think I expected more Bob Dylan-esque singer songwriter).
Nitpick: I did find her voice get a little nasal/whiny for my tastes a couple times.
I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that I enjoyed this album, I mean, it's on this list for a reason. It was just different than I expected in a good way.
Solid 4 for me.
I don't get it. I just don't get it.
I see the word "cacophony" used a lot in reviews, both positive and negative. That's exactly what much of this felt like to me, but very much in a negative way.
This did nothing but confound me. This has been my least favorite album of this project so far. I greatly respect the talent of the musicians, but I just did not enjoy this one.
Fun early Britpop album. Surprised I never heard it back in the day, because I was all about this stuff.
Beautiful album. Not something I would have ever willingly chosen to listen to. I don't know what mood I would have to be in to want to listen to this again.
Listening to this when it was cold, dark, and wintertime was the right choice.
A couple great songs, but most of it didn't really land for me. Plus I really hate "Coconut".
Not quite a 5-star album for me, but I enjoyed every song.
Great voice, strong message, not enough variety in the music. Just an hour of mid-tempo R&B that just faded into the background. The interludes were interesting, and brought more context to the themes of the album, but don't help raise it above a middling album for me.
Undeniable talent on these songs, but I despise Christmas Music.
Very Bob Dylan / Bruce Springsteen coded. Really enjoyed my time with this album,although a couple songs did kind of wander around and overstay their welcome.
When it's at full speed though, it's unstoppable.
An excessive amount of excessiveness. I feel like I would have enjoyed this album more if they dialed everything back just a bit. But maybe it wouldn't be on this list if they had?
Can't deny that they were having fun making this. I just couldn't find my way into having as much fun listening to it.
And then there's the pirate song...
Much more fun that I would have expected. A few songs did sound a bit samey, but overall I surprisingly enjoyed this!
Grace Slick's songs 5/5. The rest was pretty underwhelming, but I've never been much of a psychedelic rock fan.
Forgettable. I didn't find the music bad for the most part, but it just didn't do much to engage me. Not a single song I would add to a playlist, or listen to again on purpose.
The version of American Pie, a song I don't care for much anyway, is criminal.
I seriously question how this album made it onto this list.
Surprisingly gentle album from someone whose more rocking music I've always appreciated. Some very nice harmonies that echo the kind of stuff he was making with CSN&Y. Liked it more than I expected, but not quite 5 stars.
Only knew them from that joke in the movie High Fidelity. I had some preconceptions about what this would sound like, and when the album started, I kind of groaned because it was EXACTLY what I was expecting.
Then, the tempos picked up, and I started getting more into the music. I did find the singer's voice a little samey and thin for some of the songs, but I enjoyed this far more than I expected.
Just a guy and his guitar. Felt like an album full of ideas and demos. Not a lot of dynamics or surprises. It was fine, but I wasn't terribly moved by it one way or another.
Normally don't like extended jams in the middle of songs. Crazy Horse is the notable exception to this rule, and this album has two incredible long jams on it ("Down By the River" and "Cowgirl In the Sand").
Plus it has "Cinnamon Girl".
A couple of the other songs don't quite rise to the levels of those three songs *cough* "The Losing End *cough*, but it's still a high 4 star album for me.
An album I actually own! This originally came out when I was 7 years old, and I didn't really get it. It sounded too sophisticated compared to the other pop music I listened to at the time. Now I just realize that it was the British accent and string section.
If I only use the track list of actual album version, I really loved this album. The Spotify version had "The Theme From Mantrap" as an 11th track - which is a slowed down, lounged up version of "Poison Arrow". That version was painful to sit through. I think I'll stick to my vinyl copy with just 10 tracks.
"All of My Heart" was the stand out song. By far my favorite track, and definitely one I will add to my work playlist.
I really love the first 5 tracks on this album.
The problem is that tracks 6-14 fell flat, sometimes cribbing lines from their other songs, and didn't keep up any of the energy from the first 5 songs.
If I hadn't been bored to numbness, "These Days" might have stirred up my emotions, and been an amazing final track. Maybe someday, I'll just listen to those 6 songs in a loop, and see if it hits they way I think it should.
Rather disappointing, because I generally like The Black Keys.
Enjoyed this more than expected. Still not a big fan of "Express Yourself", but it's not terrible.
Did not expect as much input by Prince! That was a welcome surprise to say the least.
Without knowing anything about this album before I started listening, I thought "Wow, this has a really strong David Bowie vibe". Then I read the Wikipedia page... and yeah, it all made sense.
I liked it, didn't love it. (I have the same reaction to much of Bowie's catalog as well).
