We all thought Madonna was ancient when this came out, but she was younger than I am now. I liked this album in 1998. It was a cool departure from her earlier work and I enjoyed the nods to trip hop and other electronic genres that I hadn't been too familiar with. This was my first listen since around that time and I found the record to be really interesting musically, even though Madonna's vocals seem a little distant and disaffected. The album has a lot of strong songs, but could use a little bit of editing. I'd give 3.5 if they'd let me, but closer to a 3.
Not a big TVotR fan, but I did find many of the arrangements on here to be very interesting. Some of these songs are quite good, but also a handful of clunkers.
More of a Bryter Layter guy myself, but all three of Nick Drake's records are great.
Yeah I love The Specials, this is fucking great.
I admit some of this is fine for a passive listen, and it's easy music to plug into a movie soundtrack or whatever. But for real, this shit sucked 25 years ago and it sucks now. The worst songs are the ones where Moby does "vocals."
I like Nick Cave just fine, but this isn't among his best. Enjoyed listening to it, though. "Let the Bells Ring" is really a standout.
Four stars for "Waiting in Vain" alone.
It's great. Gotta save the five stars for the Cure records to come, though.
Knew some of this music going in but was kind of mid on it. Got completely turned around. These reinterpretations take the songs (many of which are very good) to a whole other level. Absolutely fantastic Sunday morning music. (Have no idea why the book double-dips these two records; five stars is for the first one, which I think is a lot stronger and is the one most people think of when they think of this project)
Had never heard of them apart from "Teenage Kicks," which isn't on this record. It's fine. Kind of grew on me the more I listened, but still found myself wishing I was listening to The Buzzcocks or something instead. The "Under the Boardwalk" cover is truly terribly, though.
The highs are really high here, obviously. It's fun and innovative, and there are cool sonic experiments. But there's also some kind of run-of-the-mill prog rock on this record that can be a little too much. On balance, a very good, not great album.
I thought Muse sucked shit going into this listen, and I came away still thinking that.
The only great Coldplay album. Probably the only good Coldplay album, too.
Want One is so good! So why doesn't this one work for me at all?
It's the fucking Rolling Stones, of course it's great. "Out of Time" and "I Am Waiting" are some of Mick and Keith's best songs.
This was great. I had no knowledge of anything Clark did outside of the Byrds, but this is right there with anything Crosby, McGuinn, or even Gram Parsons ever did. Loved it. Also, fuckin' great harmonica on this record.
Not for me. I know Jeff Beck is this guitar god but there's only one good riff on the whole album (that riff drags this up from one star to two).
Every pre-1985 Heads record is at least a 4. This one came out in 1978.
Is The Soft Bulletin on this list? Because that one's a five.
I recognize this is kinda good and represents something of a movement within indie rock of the time period, but it's just not for me. The songs the main guy sings are better written, but I like the other guy's voice better.
Obviously Spector's a huge piece of shit and the world would be better off if he never existed. But also this is exactly what Christmas is supposed to sound like, so what can you do.
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards can write the hell out of a groove. "Lost in Music" is a certified banger and I want to listen to it every day.
Loved this when I was 14, then hated it for years, listened today and I think it's fine. Surprisingly well played, except for the drummer's extremely 90s habit of switching to the ride to "change things up" on every chorus.
Very pleasant listen. Nothing earth shattering here, but a cool record.
Felt like a philistine at first, because I couldn't connect with the first disc at all. The second half is full of guitar freakouts and cool electric piano stuff, and really hit. Especially loved "Spanish Key" and "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down."
Liked this more than I thought I would. Did not know this was the drummer that Vince Neil killed. He's very good on this record.
Dark as fuck, but I did listen to a podcast where chef David Chang said this album kept him alive. Let's call that a win. Good record.
One great song, a couple of other good ones.
Everything on this is fantastic. I love how the arrangements lay way back and just let her voice do all the work. It doesn't really feel like a coherent album because of the way it was cobbled together from old takes, but every song is perfect in its way.
Everything about it is great (but especially the "Let Me Roll It" riff).
Can I go ahead and state the unpopular opinion that Ian Curtis was holding this band back? There are obviously some good (great) Joy Division songs here and there, but listening to this in its entirety is a slog.
I have nothing to say about this record that hasn't already been said. Very funny reading the dumbest fucking one-star reviews on this one though.
The first Pixies album I got into, so I have a fondness for it. A lot of really great songs, but a few things that I see more as filler these days. I love it, but not as good as Surfer Rosa.
Huge gap between the best RHCP songs and the worst. Huge. I'd really rather not deal with all the worst ones.
Ok, so I'm the biggest REM fan on earth but I do not understand why this is on the 1001 list. It's by far the worst record of the Bill Berry era of the band (and worse than a couple of the ones from after he left). Obviously it's still and REM record so there's a lot of redeemable material on here. "World Leader Pretend" is great, "Orange Crush" rips, but the tone is really off for the most part, like it's got one foot in Document and one foot jumping ahead to Out of Time, both of which are superior albums.
MJ has two five-star albums, and this isn't one.
Have always had kind of a love-hate relationship with this album (O.K. Computer is pretty much perfect, then this was the start of a big falloff). I liked listening to it today, though.
God I wish I could figure out how to replicate Mark Knopfler's guitar tone. Also, "Sultans of Swing" is an absolutely perfect song. But the rest of the album is solid, not great. I'm a Brothers in Arms guy anyway.
It's great. Lots of Devo classics on here.
Yeah it's fuckin' great. Was never totally won over by "This Woman's Work" as I was hearing it in this context. Favorite part of the album is the moment when "Rocket's Tail" opens up.
Had never once heard of this person, but it's good!
If I'm being objective, this is a 2. But I loved it when I was in high school, so I'm bumping it up.
It's solid, with a bunch of good tunes and really good production. I don't really know enough about grime as a genre to explain why it sounds good to me but it does. "It Ain't Safe" is the one that'll be stuck in my head.
Love it. Some stone cold classics on here, and I really appreciate all the instrumentals, too. Definitely from the peak CD era where artists were trying to fill up the whole disc. Could use some editing.
I liked it! So much familiar stuff on here. Not the kind of thing I'd listen to every day, but fun background for a dinner party or something.
There are some bits I like in here, but it's really confounding music in a lot of places. Even if I didn't know it was all performed by one guy, those cracks really show when there are some odd tempo changes, riffs that kind of don't feel full when the movement abruptly goes somewhere else. And the calling out of instruments and some of the other vocalizations are just odd and off-putting.
Very pleasant. I would like to samba on the beach. Really could've done without "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," though. Creepy.
This is a kick ass live record. The Platonic ideal of the rock guitar sound. Last note of "Cowboy Song" right into "Boys are Back in Town" fucking rules.
Continuing my established tradition of giving four stars to vibey early Cure records.
Eels were always somewhat of a mystery to me, so I kind of avoided them. I liked having to listen to a full record of theres. I really loved a lot of this, especially "Not Ready Yet." Some of it doesn't work as well, but I got really into the groove of it as a whole. The noise gate and kind of compressed sound they always use take a little getting used to, but feel very cool in the context of a full album. It can feel a little clinical but E's voice and some of the instrumentation have a really unique human quality that makes the whole thing work.
[Only listened to the self-titled 1996 album because that's the part that's on the list] I didn't really like this, and it's not really representative of what Throwing Muses did later in their career. Appreciated hearing a 40-year-old Tanya Donnelly song I never knew existed, though! (It's the best song on the record by a lot)
Nah, dude, this sucks shit. Thanks a bunch for making me listen to "Smack My Bitch Up." I don't get why this is here. I guess maybe they've influenced some modern EDM stuff? But honestly there's just nothing fun about it musically, and it just doesn't seem to have all that much to say. I knew the singles well enough because I was alive then, but could have gotten by just fine without hearing the whole album. (Also I hope this bad cameo isn't the only time Kool Keith makes an appearance on this list)
Enjoyed it. Crazy story about what happened to this guy.
[Was wondering why this sounded familiar. I rated it already before we started our group! Original Review:] I like Nick Cave just fine, but this isn't among his best. Enjoyed listening to it, though. "Let the Bells Ring" is really a standout.
I appreciate that XTC are a very clever band, but perhaps by 1999 they'd gotten a bit too clever? "Dictionary" is super cringe. Other than that, there's an awful lot to like here sonically (and lyrically, too, sometimes). Makes me want to dive into some of the classic XTC records, but I'd file this one as just ok.
They had "Clint Eastwood" and one other Del track, and then a whole bunch of boring shit. A lot of talent in here, and yet they don't know what they want this thing to be. Kind of explains what the cartoon characters were for. Thought this would be at least a 2 based on CE alone, but there's so many songs on here that are so, so bad.
It's good. Really like the vibe of the songs without percussion. A folk album that doesn't sound too folky.
I mean, this thing is just fucking perfect, right? I have a vinyl copy, but I streamed the remastered version this time around. It might be the most impeccably produced recording I've ever heard. It's almost 50 years old, but it feels like it could have been made in a modern studio, like, yesterday. The songs are great, the playing is great, the message is great, and it's just an absolute pleasure to hear. Six fucking stars out of five idgaf.
On an album full of fuck songs, "You Sure Love to Ball" is a fuuuuuuuck song. Glad I got to hear that one for the first time. It's a short album and there's no real need to have the title track on here basically twice. Overall, this is a really entertaining record, but definitely not Marvin at his peak. Still really good, though!
Surprised how many of these songs I knew already. Really liked the whole record.
I mean, not my thing. Trying not to trash albums just because they're not my thing. This is really quite solid at doing what it's trying to do. It's not nearly as hard to listen to as a lot of other albums of its type. The playing is really solid. Very good metal guitar and some solid melodies here and there (I can't connect with the rapid kick drum shit and never will). So, not my thing, but it had some surprises and it's good for what it is.
I generally like Bryan Ferry's music, but hadn't heard this record before. Was pretty surprised and disappointed by how little I vibed with it. Just kind of dull all around.
I could be snarky about how this is the fifth best Beatle album or whatever, but it's an automatic five stars. (Listened to the 2017 Giles Martin remix which I consider the definitive stereo version. It rips so much harder because the mix has actual nuance to it and also a real fucking bass sound you couldn't get in 1967.)
