I enjoy the twee/ indie pop leanings more than I do the dub touches, but overall, it's a smooth hybrid and the vocals are always fetching.
Since I was a high school junior when this album (and, of course, the single "Smells Like Teen Spirit") rattled youth culture like an earthquake, it's hard for me to offer an objective appraisal of the music 30 years later. Songs like the aforementioned anarchy cheerleader tune-- plus "Lithium", "Come as You Are", etc.-- have become as overplayed in our collective mind as "Sweet Caroline", but you can't penalize a band for ubiquity, and deep tracks like "Lounge Act" and "On a Plain" sound as fresh as ever. Great raging punk-grunge-pop, and (I guess) as good a 90's album as you can ask for to merit a bunch of Gen Alphas to (inexplicably!) buy the t-shirts at Hot Topic and turn Kurt into a Gen X icon.
Maybe the epitome of the "separate the artist from the art" phenomenon.
What more needs to be say about this thing? It really is a Maximalist Pop/ Id Rap masterpiece.
I defy anyone to find a project with as eclectic (and brilliant) a "feat." list as this: Rhianna, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Sir Elton, etc., etc...
Not one man should have all that power.
Some great individual tunes (“Christmas”, “Pinball Wizard”, etc), but the whole rock opera/ “narrative” (those quotes are for ironic effect, btw ;) ) set up just doesn’t come together for me.
I prefer the Dan’s earlier sound: jazz-inflected rock, blues, and soul (as opposed to this rock-inflected jazz and schmaltz). “Peg” is a great tune, though.
I might like “Doolittle” more than this one by a hair, but they’re both fabuloso. Best buzzsaw-guitar-pop out there.
No one needs to write anything else about this album.
Sure, “groundbreaking” and all that, but hard to listen to. (I’ll take the more melodic/ tempered Pink Floyd stuff when I want my psychedelic fix.)
Trip Hop is not my jam, but I can see why this (and earlier Massive Attack) is considered essential listening in this genre
Maybe the best folk rock album ever? It’d be between this, peak Byrds, and Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” era.
Prob tied for first (alongside their first LP) for my favorite Doors record. This one is more… playful? I was always a bit confused by the dramatic shifts in style and mood between Doors songs (revved-up blues, psychedelic, brooding, pretty pop songs, etc…) but the jauntier songs on this one all work as nice compliments to Jim’s more “poetic” offerings.
Alas, more disco than soul or funk. I did like those ‘79 Pirates, though!
Talk-singing folk indie. (Too many nouns as adjectives, I know, but it is what it is. 😉) For this “genre”, I generally like Mt. Eerie more than Callahan, but both are similarly engaging in some spots, dull in others.
Super catchy, impeccably produced, classic “New Wave” power pop. Ocasek bests this effort ONLY in his production work on the first Weezer!
Wall of Sound+ Classic Girl Bands= Brilliant
Overplayed Christmas Songs in Dec= Pass
Catchy, campy, not quite as good as “A Night at the Opera”
Specter’s Wall of Sound meets Orbison’s voice meets Dylan’s lyricism— all a little bit hyperbolic but still a great capsule summary for this RnR masterpiece.
I think I like “Sister” a little more, but this one does contain the iconic Teenage Riot and lots of (SY trademark) guitar textures.
Liked it more than I thought I would. There’s just as much Breeders/ Belly going on (melody and 60’s vibe) as there is Mudhoney/ Nirvana.
Not as good as “Odelay” or “Mellow Gold”, but better than “Midnight Vultures”.
Beautiful 80’s synth-art-pop! A Kate Bush feat.! Who doesn’t love “In Your Eyes” and “Sledgehammer”?!
Guess what— sounds like Talking Heads minus Byrne! I do like the female (Weymouth’s?) chipper vocals, and the tunes are catchy and rhythmic, but truly miss Byrne’s one-of-a-kind lyrics.
Meh. I like “Jane Says” (who doesn’t?), but otherwise I don’t care much about the thrashy screamy stuff. Sounds like Soundgarden at times, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. (Funny how I really love Zeppelin’s metallic material, but not most of the bands that it inspired!)
I tend to admire his unique style more than actually enjoying it. Nick Cave and Tom Waits sure do appreciate Scott, though!!!
I WAS going to say that the Police are the ultimate “the Greatest Hits suffice” type of band, and that I didn’t care much about the “deep tracks” on the individual albums, but then I listened to this one in full and decided that it’s actually pretty good Clash-lite edgy pop/ reggae/ punk!
Loved this album as a high schooler in the 90’s! Haven’t listened to it in full in a quite a while (15 years?). Y’know what? It holds up well! The crunchy guitar parts (“alternative”, but not-quite-grungy) and quiet-loud-quiet sequences really build angsty vibes, and feature sneaky melodies too.
Pretty good. Def the most classic rock (ie over-wanking?) influences of any of the 90’s grunge bands, but there are some gems on here that do stand the test of time.
It’s hard to deny the earworm qualities of the big hits from this set, but overall the jammy-ness of the songs overwhelm (and leave the tread thin on) the rocking-ness. Also, I was surprised to find the recording quality a little uneven for such a celebrated live album.
I don’t listen to ska often, but when I do it’s this infectious band (or Operation Ivy, or Gville’s own The Usuals ;) ).
A pretty solid set of mostly trad. folk stylings, but I tend to enjoy the next batch of S&G albums more (“Bookends”, “Bridge over Troubled Waters”) for Simon’s expansionist musical stylings. I’d give this one a 4.5 if I could.
Babe Ruth. Michael Jordan. Tom Brady. Serena Williams. Citizen Kane. Billie Holliday. Monet. Shakespeare. “Sergeant Pepper.”
Lovely Brazilian trad music / pop / jazz. I can see how the eclectic moods and arrangements make it a seminal world music “fusion” record.
Interesting! (Discoveries like this are why I signed up for this 1001 expedition.) Maybe the Beatles at their most scewed-pop experimental? (Or Pink Floyd at their most accessible!) Given the jittery, electronically layered nature of some tunes, it can be hit or miss, but overall, I like the proggy pop melodies more often than not. (One more reference more: maybe a progenitor to a more contemporary band like black country, new road?
Just as solid as “ lowlife”, “ power, corruption, and lies” and “ republic”. Damn, this band was really consistent. Sorry for the cliché genre word soufflé, but: IT REALLY IS electro-pop-dance -postpunk-disco-Brit club music at its best. It’ll warm up the joy division fans to the idea of dance clubs, and might nudge the club kids towards some punk.
Ehhh…. Nu Metal….. in my bottom three genres. LP is prob the best at this emo-rap-electronica-rock thing, but I’ll just listen to My Chemical Romance when I have any kind of hankering for this sorta thing (and blessedly replace the rap with more punk influence).
The Apple Music bio actually says it perfectly: “…the (Britpop) movement was actually born in an explosion of glitter, androgyny, and misfit deviance—all thanks to Suede.” Great album, right up there with the best of Pulp, Blur, or Oasis.
I always read of this band being a progenitor of post-punk… but that’s a pretty wide-open subgenre (Sonic Youth, Wire, and Echo & the Bunnymen in the same bucket?!?). From this album, I hear some industrial/ goth, chugga-chugga hardcore, and maybe a dose of 80’s Brit glam. SY and Ministry (and maybe Mission of Burma?) seem like good ref points.
“The Joshua Tree” is still my favorite of theirs, but this one is rock solid. Pretty driving and intense, musically and lyrically (their punkiest album, you can say). 4.5 stars
A top 5 album from the 60’s— right up there with “Sgt Pepper” and “Village Green”.
My favorite indie folk/ “twee” album of all time. Sufjan at his best (with “Carrie & Lowell” and his most recent one right behind). “Casimir Pulaski Day” is brilliant lyricism paired with beautiful, heartbreaking folk
A surprising listen for me. Everyone knows the cheesy (but still good!) MTV and radio-friendly hits from this album, but I didn’t realize that the rest of the tunes were jammy-blues and more muted/ textured, as per Knopfler’s MO as a virtuoso guitarist and “soundscapes” guy.
I was surprised by how disappointed I was by the full album. There’s the beautiful harmonious hits (you know ‘em!) but then most of the rest leans into too much orchestrated schmaltz to overwhelm the vocal harmonious and counterculture touches. Funny how the 60’s “Baroque Pop” mode can either sound like lovely pseudo psychedelic (see: Left Banke) or veer too much into Brill Building dreck (see: this!)
4.5 stars. I prefer the “primal scream” qualities (lyrically and musically) of his first solo record to the polish of this one, but his highs are high.
Good, not great, Miles. A def bridge album b/w Hard Bop and Fusion. McLaughlin’s guitar noodling pretty well defines this one.
Nobody ever said “More sitar!”
Oh, Zappa. Impossible to sum up in a capsule review. Sometimes compelling, other times utterly annoying. About five of these tunes groove in a satisfying warped-pop way, and more than that are too snarky and “polymath” for their own good. Give me the Greatest Hits and “Overnight Sensation”!
Two Zappas in a row! The 1001 algorithm is broken! 😵💫 And I’m not enough of a Mothers fan to absorb two wacko pop and experimental—not to mention overstuffed—records in two days.
(This one does have a higher ratio of catchy/ accessible tunes, though… if only there weren’t the silly voices and skits!)
4.5 stars. Really pleasant bebop/ soothing jazz outta South Africa.
Probably their 3rd or 4th best album— so not a home run, but a solid double. Would be higher if there were more than 7 tunes (one of them being an unnecessary, jammy Little Richard cover).
Should we deduct points for Axel’s occasionally offensive lyrics, not to mention the inside cover art? If not, then we’re lookin’ at a bonafide 5-star 80’s metal/ hard rock banger.
I love The Who, and this is a sturdy live set. Concert albums don’t usually do it for me, though— gimme the polished studio versions of the tunes! (Especially with a fine-print guy like Townsend in charge.)
I never knew this funkier version of the Temptations existed! Sounds like the Motown dudes wanted to throw some Sly and the Family Stone grit into their usually polished sound. There are some good tunes here… but I still prefer the honied harmonies.
Juvenile lyrics, somehow fewer chords than even the Ramones, catchy as hell, brilliant. The gold standard for pop-punk.
Their best album. Take Velvets garage rock, add a little Stooges, extra auto tune-y vocal effects, very memorable choppy/ buzzsaw guitar licks. (Most derivative review ever, but like this band itself, all the stolen pieces add up to something special qnd unique! ;) )
Respect the early 80’s NYC Rap but the simple beats sound dated. Lacks the Dada of the Beasties or the political urgency of P.E. 3.5 stars
