Solid but unspectacular. Starts with a bang with ‘For Tomorrow’ and ‘Advert’ but then gets lost for a while and never really recovers. Suffers from the 90s album affliction that one must fill the shiny compact disc with songs, even if some of them aren’t very good. Miss America, I’m looking at you.
Or maybe it’s just that a whole album of Damon putting on that affected accent is tiresome. But that might just be me…..
Proggy. Pretty good overall, good drumming(if overly fussy at times). Geddy Lee’s voice is a bit irritating after a while.
Rush is one of those bands I’ve heard about but never listened to. Now I have. My life is not drastically changed. And on we move……
It's good, but not without filler (Fixing a Hole, Mr Kite!, Good Morning). Luckily, being the 60s, the filler songs are not overly long.
Lucy, With a Little Help from My Friends and the title track are all amazing, and there is some whimsy in Rita and 64. And A Day In The Life will always rank as one of the greatest pop songs ever, for me at least.
If some of the filler was more compelling, this would be an easy 5. But only a 4 from me, in spite of its reputation.
Blue Suede Shoes - killer opener. Then song after song of filler - not a memorable tune amongst them. A couple of (other) covers that don’t come anywhere near the originals. And finally some redemption with Money Honey. At least the middle section of the album goes by relatively quickly……
2 stars basically for Blue Suede Shoes, the rest can get lost.
This album can do no wrong in my eyes. From the opening quip about most people not owning Bleach, to the closing screams of Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, these tracks take me on a journey back to my 20s.
Whilst this is not really to my tastes, I can see it’s an important milestone in the history of music. And paved the way for a lot of the hip hop and R’n’B that was to follow.
It just all blends into one for me after a while, take a funky bass line, add some horns, maybe a synth line, Clinton talking some gibberish and/or the chorus line singing something repetitive, then keep it going for 6 minutes or so. Happy to have listened to it, but not likely to return any time soon.
Wow, that was a long 56 minutes. Whilst these guys were pioneers in industrial/noise, it doesn’t make it any easier to listen to!
Drills, clanging metallic sounds, constant screaming and yelling (in German, naturally), angle grinders and distorted electronic noises. There is some relief later in the album with the instrumental ‘dub’ pieces, which you could see as an influence of people like Trent Reznor.
As a piece of art, I’d rate it highly, but as a listening experience, hard to recommend. 1/5 stars from me.
Imagine being so self-important that you think the world nears to hear 2 hours of your uninterrupted whining. Whilst I do love some of the SP’s output, including some of the songs on this double album, there is just too much filler, too much Billy and not enough real ideas going into this opus.
If he could’ve employed some self-restraint and culled this down to a solid 45-50minute album, it could be a classic. In the end, in spite of some great tracks, I can only give it a 3/5. Can’t really see myself sitting down to listen to the full 2 hours of this again in a hurry
A few classic tracks (Timeless Melody, There She Goes) and some solid other stuff makes a good 90s album for me. A shame we never got to hear more from Lee, really
Jangly 60s guitar pop. A few good tunes, some a bit less interesting. I don't dig their version of Hey Joe, but Eight Miles High, What's Happening, Mr Spaceman and 5D are great.
Prob just short of 4 stars for me
Never understood why this was so popular at the time, and >25 years later, I still don’t. Boring bog standard R’n’B production, nothing interesting in terms of tunes, and flat delivery of unimaginative lyrics most of the time. And the interludes after several of the songs with sounds from a classroom make me feel like stabbing myself repeatedly………..
Dark, moody synths, and lots of them. Some good tracks that you could even dance to, but you’re more likely to be sitting alone in the dark by yourself contemplating your own mortality.
I recently have had this, and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which at face value may be somewhat similar. However, not so! This is so much more interesting musically, lyrically, production, the whole thing. Some of the guest spots can be a bit annoying, and the interludes and some of the songs drag a bit towards the end of the record, but I really enjoyed this.
Classic metal, with screaming falsetto vocals, shredding guitar solos and plenty of drum fills, with themes of Satan, the Occult, prisoners and gangsters. And then the classic ‘Run To The Hills’ detailing conflict between native Americans and Europeans. Whatever, it’s a cracker tune that has stood the test of time. And the rest ain’t bad either. Just don’t listen too hard to the lyrics, turn it up, bang your head and have a ball
Definitely shows off those early 80's vibes. Some good tunes in there, amongst the darker synths, and some nice instrumental breaks as well. I was a bit young still when this came out, so missed it the first time around, but I'd be happy to come back any time. I had Violator by Depeche Mode recently, and I can see this as an earlier version of the same sort of thing.
This is one of those albums which has been a staple of FM radio for years, so you think it might be a bit crap.
Actually, it's really good!! Sade had that smooth 80s sound down pat early, and cashed in with some great songs and good playing. The first 3 songs (Smooth Operator, Your Love Is King, and Hang On To Your Love) would be familiar to anyone who was anywhere near a radio in the 80s (and ever since then, to be frank), and the 2nd half of the album, whilst less familiar, is also very good.
Couldn’t really get in to this. Started brightly with Penitentiary Philosophy but after that it all blended into a mass of sameness. The vocals started to grate and the music all began to sound similar from track to track. Found myself flicking to next track in the 2nd half of the disc which is not normal for me.
Love this album. The Velvets in full noisy chaotic mode, but still managing to produce some memorable tunes along the way. Definitely a big influence on a bunch of my fav 90s bands. Recommended highly!!!
This is great. First 3 songs are up with any of Beck’s best. Slight drop in quality after that but still very good. Closing song ‘Send A Message To Her’ is also a banger. The sound of Beck having enough runs on the board that he can do basically whatever he wants
Wow, surprised this has so many haters. Cracking good guitar rock, with the distinctive scream of Greg Dulli, makes for an engaging time. The seemed to be lumped in with grunge around this time, but they actually had a lot more of interest than most around that time, and the songs still stand up today. ‘Gentlemen’, ‘Debonair’, ‘Be Sweet’ and the closing ‘Brother Woodrow’ are my highlights.
Frenetic Cuban jazz. Sounds like it should be a movie soundtrack. Great if you like that sort of thing but does tend to blend into one after a while.
In a word, inoffensive. Pleasant tunes with wordy lyrics that don’t do a whole lot for me, but clearly other people love it. She has a lovely voice but never really uses it to her full potential. And the instrumentation is nothing too exciting for mine, but then maybe I just don’t love folk rock that much.
The final song (cover of Twisted by Annie Ross) annoyed the crap out of me.
I knew the main singles, but hadn't listened to it all the way through. Consistently great songs, grand in scope but keeping to a theme throughout, Green Day have done themselves proud. Hard to believe this is the same guys who sang about masturbation losing its thrill..........
Hmm, what has the generator got for me today? Liars, band from New York, mid-2000s. Never heard of them, let's give it a whirl!
Hmm, you say this is not a 2-track bedroom demo? What!? It's actually their second album?!?!? Who the hell wrote these lyrics? Why are they so obsesses with witches?? Why the hell do the drums sound so bad??? Why are they so averse to anything resembling a melody or a tune?
Look, I get it, it’s noise rock. But the lyrics are nonsensical shit. The music is not interesting, and a total chore to listen to. I read somewhere that this is apparently one of their worst albums. I hope for their sake that is true
Great stuff from The Kinks. Starts with a bang with Victoria (one of my favourite tunes of theirs), and carries on with the theme of everything that is wrong with Britain in the 60s.
I can understand this was popular and seen as an important album on Neil Young’s discography with the loss of friends and band mates to heroin, but it doesn’t make for a very compelling listen nowadays. Lots of misery and sadness, but not a lot going on musically beyond some lovely pedal steel to make sure you know these are sad songs. Nothing that would really make me come back for a 2nd listen.
Perfectly adequate 70s rock. Nothing particularly memorable here, not sure why this gets a place in this list, to be honest. You’d easily go to your grave without having heard this and be perfectly ok!! Not that it’s bad, just not that special.
Early 70s Elton John (his 4th album already!!), with a fantastic opening track in 'Tiny Dancer'. The rest is not as amazing as that, but still has a lot to offer. Lots of lovely piano melodies, even some piano accordion and mandolin on the later tracks. Background vocals amounting to a choir, to carry these pop tunes across to the listener. Indian Sunset suffers in the modern glare of history, but the rest is mostly vidid, personal tales of characters, from Levon to Razor Face and even the Madman Across the Water.
