137
Albums Rated
3.61
Average Rating
13%
Complete
952 albums remaining
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The Italian Flag
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Taste Profile
1980
Favorite Decade
Punk
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
29
5-Star Albums
2
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Moss Side Story
Barry Adamson
|
5 | 2.53 | +2.47 |
|
Group Sex
Circle Jerks
|
5 | 2.75 | +2.25 |
|
Alien Lanes
Guided By Voices
|
5 | 2.75 | +2.25 |
|
What's That Noise?
Coldcut
|
5 | 2.77 | +2.23 |
|
Music Has The Right To Children
Boards of Canada
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
|
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club
|
5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
|
Double Nickels On The Dime
Minutemen
|
5 | 3.12 | +1.88 |
|
Le Tigre
Le Tigre
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Rattus Norvegicus
The Stranglers
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
|
Closer
Joy Division
|
5 | 3.22 | +1.78 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Boston
Boston
|
1 | 3.71 | -2.71 |
|
Thriller
Michael Jackson
|
2 | 4.23 | -2.23 |
|
White Ladder
David Gray
|
1 | 3.06 | -2.06 |
|
(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
|
2 | 3.85 | -1.85 |
|
Off The Wall
Michael Jackson
|
2 | 3.8 | -1.8 |
|
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
|
2 | 3.44 | -1.44 |
|
Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
|
2 | 3.38 | -1.38 |
|
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
|
2 | 3.3 | -1.3 |
|
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
|
3 | 4.25 | -1.25 |
|
Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)
Bob Dylan
|
2 | 3.14 | -1.14 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| David Bowie | 2 | 5 |
5-Star Albums (29)
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Popular Reviews
Boston · 2 likes
1/5
Me: (screams in pain)
Husband: Are you ok?
Me: I HATE THIS FUCKING RECORD
Husband: So turn it off!
Me: BUT I HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT FOR THAT ALBUMS PROJECT THAT I'M DOING
1 star
Dexys Midnight Runners · 2 likes
3/5
The faster songs on here are the kind of music that are good to hear live in a pub with several pints of beer. Of course there are millions of bar bands like that, so it's not going to be a standout for me. And the slow songs required lots of patience on my part, but that's no surprise.
It closes with their big hit "Come On Eileen," which is fun. (Of course that song always reminds me of this: https://xkcd.com/575/)
So, I feel bad not rating it higher since Kevin on the cover there looks so sad, but: 3/5.
Michael Jackson · 1 likes
2/5
Oh come on, do I really have to listen to this? I feel I have spent enough time listening to this record and seeing the video on MTV back in the day to be able to say I have heard it before I died.
2 stars - I recognize its technical quality and danceability, but I would get my coffee to go if I were someplace and they started playing this record.
The Stooges · 1 likes
5/5
If you can believe it, I've never heard this whole record before, just tracks like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on the radio.
Most of this is fun loud garage/proto-punk stuff with great fuzzy guitar bits, which I love. I was mildly baffled at first by the 10-minute psychedelic track at the end of the first side that had with Iggy singing about his usual subject matter over sitar and Hindu chanting, but let's remember that this was recorded in 1969, not 1979. The second side is great - turn it up louder. Even louder.
Thank you 1001 albums generator, it was lots of fun listening to this today. An excellent break from the standard Christmas Eve day playlist.
5/5
Duke Ellington · 1 likes
5/5
Didn't know what to expect from this
"Festival Junction" starts out with a clarinet (?) that is a great tune and goes on for quite a while; then into a very swinging tune. This goes on for a good 10 minutes and is wonderful.
There are a couple of slower pieces, but they're nice bluesy stuff that's a pleasure to listen to, still with a beat. And the end - Diminuendo and Crescendo - are frenetic and great
This isn't the kind of music I usually listen to, but the whole thing was great - hey that's why people talk about Duke Ellington. Proud to be from DC, Ellington's city!
1-Star Albums (2)
All Ratings
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
It was fun listening to "Wishing Well"; brings me back to when it was on the radio at the time.
I thought as an album that it was all kind of samey, and since stuff like this isn't really my favorite genre I ended up skipping halfway through a number of the tracks. I give it a 3 - I'm not about to buy the record, but none of it would cause me to change to a different radio station.
Michael Jackson
2/5
Oh come on, do I really have to listen to this? I feel I have spent enough time listening to this record and seeing the video on MTV back in the day to be able to say I have heard it before I died.
2 stars - I recognize its technical quality and danceability, but I would get my coffee to go if I were someplace and they started playing this record.
The Cure
4/5
Yay for this record - I've always loved "A Forest." Weirdly though, the only record I ever had by The Cure was that singles comp "Staring at the Sea," so much of this was new to me.
Fun record - I love rhythmically compelling songs with obscure lyrics and music that sounds like the soundtrack to a creepy movie. Probably won't listen to the whole thing very often, but there are some top-notch tracks here.
Neil Young
3/5
I couldn't get into this; it just didn't make me enthusiastic about listening to the whole thing because these days this kind of American folk rock isn't very interesting to me. Admittedly I've never gotten into any Neil Young since I was super into "After the Gold Rush" when I was in 9th grade. So this is well done for what it is, I think, just not for me these days.
If it were playing in a coffee shop I wouldn't leave to get away from it, but I'd probably complain about the place afterwards like "well yeah the espresso drinks are good but the last time I was there all they were playing was all this sleepy Neil Young stuff."
Three stars
Frank Zappa
5/5
Hot Rats! Riotous funk-jazz weirdness; the only Frank Zappa record I still listen to regularly. "Peaches en Regalia" started running through my head the minute I saw this cover this morning. I love that the only vocals on this record are by Captain Beefheart.
Best track: The Gumbo Variations, which should have been twice as long
If I heard this in a coffee shop I'd stick around to hear the whole thing unless I'd just played it myself recently; there's a limited amount of Zappa that I can do these days.
Five stars
3/5
Well, this was inevitable, might's well get it over with.
Yep, "Sgt Peppers" is an incredibly important record that inspired countless important bands in later years.
But do I ever want to listen to it again? No. (Aw come on, even "Day in the Life"? NO.) This record came out when I was nine years old and has been on constant rotation ever since - so yes, I have heard it, thank you.
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
I wasn't expecting to like this record this much!
I've been hearing forever how great Wu-Tang was, but have never been into this kind of stuff enough to check it out. Not something I'd play in a car with open windows because of some of the lyrics and spoken word stuff, but otherwise I really enjoyed it.
Four stars
Sebadoh
3/5
When this record popped up yesterday morning I was like "oh yeah Sebadoh, I remember them" but my next thought was "have I ever actually heard any of this or do I just know about it from reading about it in Puncture or whatever at the time?"
So ok - this is along the lines of things I like, indie rock. I'd give it more stars if it was a little more innovative. It didn't really speak to me for some reason.
Three stars because it's competent, tuneful, but for me unexciting.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
I somehow had managed to never hear of this band, so I was intrigued. I love the cover.
The best tracks reminded me a little of Sparks, that over-the-top dramatic kind of stuff. I can see that one or two of them would be fun popping up in the right sort of radio set, and Neil Hannon has a great voice. I'll bet if you liked this at the time, you probably REALLY liked it. Most of it was just a little too goofy for me, but I can see why it was included in this list.
3 stars
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
This is fun stuff - songs that those of us around at the time will remember from the radio: "Time after Time," "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," etc.
3 stars because while it was never my favorite thing at the time, it evokes a fond reaction of "aww yeah, Cyndi Lauper"
Robbie Williams
2/5
The fast songs were annoying but ok if you like music like this, I guess. But the slow songs were intolerable, like I couldn't get more than 30 seconds in before having to skip to the next track.
Parliament
4/5
Woo, Parliament! - this record is fun. I decided to listen to it while doing some weights and crunches and such but ended up mostly dancing instead.
Lyrics to "Handcuffs" didn't age particularly well, but otherwise there's not a dull moment on this record.
2/5
Ha ha this is what I get for telling someone "I like The Mekons more than Bob Dylan" yesterday. What can I say, everything by him has always sounded kind of samey to me, and then he takes out the harmonica, etc etc.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first couple tracks on this record, acoustic things that I wasn't very familiar with. But it stopped being fun around the halfway point, with a number of tracks like "Mr. Tambourine Man" that I've already heard enough times for an entire lifetime. There was also the issue that somebody in the Youtube comments brought up, that the mixing wasn't great on the electric songs so the singing was obscured by the music, fairly average blues-rock stuff.
tldr: while the first half of the record had me thinking "this is more interesting than I thought it was going to be, I'm going to give it three stars," by the midpoint it started dragging and ends with a two. Not entirely Bob's fault, but he's got a Nobel so he probably won't mind this too much.
Elliott Smith
4/5
I've heard Elliot Smith tracks here and there on the freeform/college-type stations that I tend to listen to, but haven't ever listened to an entire record of his. So I appreciated the nudge today.
I really like his voice, and there's something about the instrumentation that I also like - kind of subtle but interesting at the same time. I don't know if I'll buy this record, but I liked all of it - so, 4/5.
Morrissey
2/5
So I feel very strongly that what made The Smiths as good as they were was the music, not the vocals, and this record reinforces that opinion. Plus he's turned out to be kind of politically terrible, which I can't help but be influenced by. So yeah, obviously not a big fan here.
However, despite all the negativity in the previous paragraph, this really wasn't as irritating as I feared it might be. So, 2/5.
Coldcut
5/5
This is the first record that I've gotten on this project that was a new, wonderful discovery. I had no idea who Coldcut was, but when I saw that this record had both Mark E. Smith and Queen Latifah on it, my first reaction was "wait, what?" and then I immediately put it on.
Here we have some dance-y music incorporating lots of sampled speech and sounds, which was weirder and more interesting to me than a lot of the stuff in that genre that got airplay here in the US. (I somehow managed to miss getting into the whole techno thing, so I don't have many referents there.)
So, this was very fun; while many of the records I've been fed so far in this project have taken a bit of an effort to get through, I was sorry when this one ended. If I ever find a copy, I'll buy it. Until then, at least I have Youtube -- 5/5
Fugees
5/5
So of course I've heard individual tracks off this record, but it's mainly been in the context of those end-of-year "best 1,000 songs since 1960" type radio shows, sandwiched between Oasis and Janis Joplin or whatever. It's completely different to listen to the whole album and really pay attention to it. Lauryn Hill's voice is both strong and beautiful (I like this version of "Killing Me Softly" better than the original), and the way the three of them work together makes every track imaginative and forceful.
5/5 stars for this one. The generator is turning me into a hip-hop fan!
(I have to add that I'm happy to have finally heard the track that was sampled on that song that then ended up being redone as The Gilla Band's "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage")
The Residents
3/5
There was a time when The Residents were my favorite thing in all the world. I've seen both them and Snakefinger live multiple times, was in the Residents Usenet group, used to tell my kid that his Christmas presents were from Santa Dog... I'm sure I could think of more examples of my complete Residents-induced derangement at the time.
So I was wondering why I had to dig this record up on YouTube; I know I had a copy of it at some point. Then I listened to it, and realized that other than "Constantinople," the vocals are rather consistently irritating, aren't they. I don't know why the 1001 guy chose this particular record for the book, since there are better ones from that period like Meet the Residents, Fingerprince, and Intermission from the Mole Trilogy; any of those would have gotten 5 stars from me.
I guess the question here is "what rating do I give for a record that I don't particularly like by a band that has been important to me and that I still love other stuff by?" Which I hereby call the "Pablo Honey rule."
With that in mind, I'm giving Duck Stab/Buster and Glen a 3/5.
The Stooges
5/5
If you can believe it, I've never heard this whole record before, just tracks like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on the radio.
Most of this is fun loud garage/proto-punk stuff with great fuzzy guitar bits, which I love. I was mildly baffled at first by the 10-minute psychedelic track at the end of the first side that had with Iggy singing about his usual subject matter over sitar and Hindu chanting, but let's remember that this was recorded in 1969, not 1979. The second side is great - turn it up louder. Even louder.
Thank you 1001 albums generator, it was lots of fun listening to this today. An excellent break from the standard Christmas Eve day playlist.
5/5
Various Artists
2/5
These singers are wonderful - this is a cool choice for a Christmas record. But....
I guess for some people, no matter how many times they hear "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" in a given season they're still always filled with warm nostalgia for childhood Christmas mornings, and can't wait to hear it again. Aw, and now here's Frosty! They love that song!
But honestly, me? I really would be glad to never hear about Frosty again. And now it's the end of the season, when I'm looking forward to not hearing any of it for another 11 months. (Plus, Phil Spector, eew.)
They should have given me this record on December 1; I might have given it a 3 then.
2/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
There are a few tracks on this record that I've always liked, especially "[I Don't Want to Go to] Chelsea." Catchy tunes, cleverly rhymed lyrics.
There are a couple duds, though, and the subject matter is pretty repetitive. And I'm a little sick of "Radio, Radio."
Despite those complaints, I seem to be tapping my foot anyway - the beat is pretty irresistible. I'm leaning around 3.5 for this one, but I think I'll bump it up to 4 because I really do like "[I Don't Want to Go to] Chelsea."
The Smiths
4/5
Much of this record is great - the intense music - the guitar, the bass!, and Morrissey's often heartbreaking lyrics.
What I was most looking forward to on this record was "How Soon is Now," though, which I swear was on the US version of this record, but it isn't on the version linked here since it wasn't on the original UK release. Too bad, I really like that song.
Despite my disappointment about not getting to hear "How Soon is Now," I've given this a 4/5, since it really is quite good.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
First time hearing this record; The Flaming Lips is one of those bands that I've heard on the radio periodically but never grabbed my attention enough to get me to buy one of their records.
The music on this album is interesting - unexpectedly symphonic. A couple tracks struck me as a little too sweet-sounding, but I can see how repeated listens could make them work in context with the rest of it.
The singer has an interesting voice that sounds a lot like Neil Young to me - but it's like Neil Young did some kind of multi-year ecstatic retreat and then stumbled out into the light, inspired to have a completely different kind of sound.
4/5 that could convert to 5/5 after listening to it some more
The Doors
3/5
This record is all about "Peace Frog" for me, since it's one of only a handful of Doors songs that I still really like. So that was fun to hear again: "bloody red sun of fantastic LA"! I used to go to LA a lot for work, and I'd think of that song. But sure, it's also good to hear "Roadhouse Blues" and "Waiting for the Sun" from time to time, and even the songs that don't grab me as much are redeemed by the guitar and keyboards.
So: while I was much more inclined to listen to the Doors when I was 18 years old, today I ended up enjoying "Morrison Hotel" as a whole more than I thought I was going to.
3/5 though because for me it's mainly just about that one song
Minutemen
5/5
When I opened this up this morning I yelled "YES!"
Confession: since I wasn't really into punk at the time, I've only recently been catching up on the stuff that came out in the 80s while I was listening to New Wave and my old prog records. So, I've only had a copy of this record for a couple of years, and have come to really like it. It's great for driving around - just an all-around propulsive record, consistently good. My favorite track is "Jesus and Tequila," but the whole thing is great, 5/5
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
4/5
I love qawwali music, so I was really pleased (and surprised) when this one came up. I knew a couple of tracks already from another Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan record that I've got that I think is a comp, not sure because it's been ages since I played it! Must do that more often.
4/5 because while I wouldn't play it all the time, it's really wonderful and mesmerizing music.
Elastica
3/5
When this record came out I was very anti-Elastica. But I think I was in my Coil phase at the time, so you don't want to have to trust then-me's judgment about Elastica.
So, my impression 30 years on? I still find it pretty annoying, like most of these songs felt like blander versions of other bands' similar music. Technically they did a fine job, but by the time I was 2/3 of the way through I started wishing it would end.
But "Stutter"'s good, and a couple of the other tracks were ok too. So, 3/5
Elliott Smith
3/5
There are a couple of Elliott Smith songs that I hear now and then and really like, but sadly none of them are on this record.
I can tell that this is good for the genre, but I feel like it's more calm and ballad-y than I usually like. If we could give half points I'd say 3.5, but I think based on this one listen that I'll give it a 3.
Kanye West
2/5
I like the background music on a lot of this - the opening doomy-sounding electronics made me think that maybe this'll be another nice hip-hop surprise. But the vocals were kind of an annoying distraction for me. I'd be interested in hearing a remix of this as a purely instrumental album.
I know my opinion is affected by what Kanye is like these days, and it's certainly not uniformly terrible. But I can't get past a 2 on this one.
Nirvana
4/5
Yeah I'm sitting here singing along with "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam." This record was on constant rotation in my household when it first came out.
I never play my old Nirvana records anymore, I guess I got a little tired of them and what I like to listen to has changed a lot since then. But I really enjoyed hearing this one again today. I think it feels fresher than the others because of the mix of covers and less-played originals and of course the acoustic setting.
4/5
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Led Zeppelin II: a solid group of blues rock/metal tracks. It's an important record because of the influence it had on later work.
I don't really like Led Zeppelin the way I did once, so I found some of it (like the vocals) a little annoying. And at this point I really don't need to hear "Whole Lotta Love" again. But I did enjoy much of it, like "Ramble On."
3/5: objectively good but not really my thing these days
White Denim
3/5
Huh, I've never heard of this band. The cover art made me wonder what was going on there and I didn't have high expectations for it. But it ended up being pretty interesting.
Some of it is very jam band, kinda like Little Feat or the Dead.
Other bits are more complex, with occasional hints of Tejano and Canterbury sounds dropped in here and there. So it looks like we have a new genre here, "Texan jam-prog."
I don't see myself reaching for it again, but it was a fairly enjoyable surprise.
3/5
Basement Jaxx
4/5
Ah yes, late-90s house music. It reminds me of being in LA in the 90s, and it's pretty fun. I might get a copy of this record, it would encourage me to go to the gym more often. I was dancing around while listening to it this morning.
Sure, some of it is predictable, but there are no stupid lyrics, and the electronic effects are often interesting. I found it really fun and immersive. (I was particularly entertained by the videos.)
4/5
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Listening to this today for the first time in 20-some years. The songs "Biko" and "Games Without Frontiers" are so strong and memorable that this is an important album just based on their inclusion, and the rest of it is pretty good too, with lots of interesting people like Robert Fripp contributing to the rest of the tracks.
4/5
Coldplay
2/5
Achievement: I no longer think Coldplay is probably boring because other people say Coldplay is boring - I now think Coldplay is boring because I've finally listened to a Coldplay record, and it was boring.
It's like they took a bunch of songs and ran them through a filter to make them 50% less interesting. Maybe they don't want to upset anyone, which is nice? I prefer upsetting music.
2/5 since I'm saving 1 for something absolutely excruciating.
John Martyn
3/5
Oh hey, I remember this - "Big Muff" and "Smiling Stranger" got a lot of airplay on certain stations at the time. On this record he has some dub influences that add interest, but it's overall pretty mellow.
The final track "Small Hours" is a nice 8+-minute guitar bit with swoopy effects that approaches new-ageyness but doesn't quite get there. Good piece to use as bed music to back-announce a radio set or play in the waiting room of an acupuncture studio or something.
3/5 because it's too sleepy for my current preferences, but well done for what it is.
The The
2/5
The The is one of those 80s bands that I know existed but have no memory of listening to.
Unfortunately it seems like this is something that would have potential if only it had been done in a completely different style by different people. It's like they wanted to make angry music that was also dance music, but couldn't quite figure out how to do them both at the same time.
Even "Sweet Bird of Truth" didn't have much of a punch, which was disappointing because the wiki described it as a controversial track critiquing US imperialism. It sounded too much like Thomas Dolby or something and I couldn't take the lyrics seriously in that context.
There are records from that period with political subject matter that still sound very urgent and contemporary, but this isn't one of them.
2/5
Eminem
3/5
This stuff is really strong - the fluid way he raps is pretty amazing. I definitely can see why it's such a well-regarded album.
Would I ever go back and listen to it again, though? No, I really struggled to continue with it - a lot of the lyrics were a bit much for me. I'd probably give it a 4 if I didn't speak English.
3/5
The Stranglers
5/5
Why don't I have this record? It's great. This has lots of fun extended instrumental bits like in "Goodbye Toulouse," and of course I was delighted to hear "Get a Grip on Yourself" for the first time in quite a long time. Check out the keyboards on this record! Ha, it's nice hearing this stuff on something better than crappy 1970s car radio speakers.
(ok yes, "Peaches" is stupid, but it's funny-stupid so that's ok)
Five stars
Boston
1/5
Me: (screams in pain)
Husband: Are you ok?
Me: I HATE THIS FUCKING RECORD
Husband: So turn it off!
Me: BUT I HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT FOR THAT ALBUMS PROJECT THAT I'M DOING
1 star
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Oh right, this record. I love "The Cutter"; hard to resist singing along. Let's see what the rest of it is like - I never did end up getting any of their records at the time, just enjoyed their hits when they came on the radio.
So I think this is one of those records that grow on you with repeated listens as you start to process the lyrics. The band are doing some interesting stuff behind the vocals, like on "Heads Will Roll," "Gods Will Be Gods," and the 6-minute title track, and I'm bopping along with the consistent beat.
I like this - well, I've always enjoyed the danceable but with miserable-sounding vocals kind of New Wave that came out in those days. So: 4 stars.
4/5
Beatles
4/5
Let's say it's 1970 and you're 12 years old and you go with your saved-up allowance money to buy a Beatles album, and then you get home and are greeted with "Revolution 9." I don't have a clear memory of my initial reaction to this record, but I imagine that experience was fairly formative, considering the nonlinear stuff I like to listen to these days.
This isn't a perfect record; there are goofy bits on here like "Bungalow Bill" and "Rocky Raccoon" that I could have lived without ever hearing again. And the apolitical theme of "Revolution 1" felt off to many people on the left at the time, and feels kinda problematic now too, considering everything going on at the moment. But hey, it's a double album, so there's a lot of good stuff left to hear if you skip those.
So while my general position re the Beatles is that people need to quit playing them all the time already (and that Siouxsie and the Banshees covers of Beatles songs are better than the originals), still: 4/5 stars for the white album.
Sonic Youth
5/5
What was I doing with my life in 1990 that was more important than listening to this record? I only got this album a couple of years ago (along with Daydream Nation) because I was wondering why I didn't have any Sonic Youth records, since it seemed from what I'd heard so far that I would like them.
And that was the right decision - I love bands with this kind of searing noise and beat. The Karen Carpenter song is heartbreaking, with equivalent intensity in the music. And "Mildred Pierce"? I wish this song would go on all day.
This whole record is filled with cacophony and growling noise, which makes me happy - just the kind of thing I like to listen to when I'm the mood for noise, which seems to be most of the time these days. Love this, 5/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
The faster songs on here are the kind of music that are good to hear live in a pub with several pints of beer. Of course there are millions of bar bands like that, so it's not going to be a standout for me. And the slow songs required lots of patience on my part, but that's no surprise.
It closes with their big hit "Come On Eileen," which is fun. (Of course that song always reminds me of this: https://xkcd.com/575/)
So, I feel bad not rating it higher since Kevin on the cover there looks so sad, but: 3/5.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Woo, Black Sabbath! I know some of their other records, of course, but not this one for some reason.
It was silly of me to listen to this first thing in the morning, since what this record needs is late night and a party. But it's a good listen, especially when they get into the longer instrumental bits. Turn it up! (Oh wait no don't, the neighbors are probably still asleep.)
The final track, "Under the Sun," was my favorite; it had an interesting repeating guitar bit at the beginning, and some very nice stuff happening in the rhythm section. It felt more restrained than the rest of it, which made it more powerful for me. But I drop a star for "Changes," which - like we all love and miss you, Ozzy, but did we need to hear you singing a sad love song over drippy strings and piano? I mean maybe, but it didn't work for me.
Biggest regret: that "FX" didn't go on a little longer (they thought of it as a joke piece, but I kinda liked it).
4/5 stars
808 State
4/5
"It's 1989! It's 4:00 in the morning! We're tripping!" is what I said as the first track started up. It's a good accompaniment to the video I'm watching where somebody put a gopro on their cat and let it out to run around in the snow. Aw look at that cat, it's having fun. OK I think I'm getting a contact high from the music.
This is great stuff. A couple of the tracks had vocals that detracted a bit for me, but it's mostly lots of fun.
4/5 stars
The Specials
4/5
I've only ever had the first Specials record and a couple Fun Boy Threes, so I'm happy to have the opportunity to check this one out too. And ah yes, I recognize a couple tracks, e.g., "Enjoy Yourself." This feels a little mellower than the first record - it's the usual ska with interesting lyrics, but a couple of tracks had some unexpected dancehall-y/soundtrack-y bits, which was fun.
Only disappointment was that I'd hoped "Ghost Town" would be on this one, but I'm now reminded that that song didn't come out until 1981, so it looks like that must have been a single that came out after this album. I loved that song when it was on the radio but never tried to find a copy.
But still, enjoyed it - 4/5
Depeche Mode
3/5
I've always been pretty much a nope for Depeche Mode, so I went into this with some trepidation. But hey, this record was more fun than I thought it was going to be.
The best songs here have a tense contrast from the dancey bleep bloop and a dramatic edginess in the vocals, backing strings, and rhythm section and such, so I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of it. But then the 80s/90s dance music that I like best always has that tension.
But a whole record full of it is a bit too much! And there were a couple tracks that I really Did Not Like, mainly the slower ones that had lyrics that I guess were supposed to be moody and deep but sounded whiny and uninteresting to me.
Odd videos. Depressed-looking clowns being lectured by a Depeche Mode guy in an abandoned adobe hut? Sure, why not.
3/5
The Smiths
5/5
Here's a Smiths record that I like all of, from beginning to end. All I knew up til now were the singles, so this was fun.
What I've always enjoyed about The Smiths was the contrast between the tuneful music and the lyrics, and this one feels more sad/funny, cynical, and cliché-busting than ever. There's a lighthearted feeling to all of it until you pay attention to the lyrics and then it's like hang on what did he just say? Like if you hear "nothing's changed, I still love you," you don't expect someone to follow that with "only slightly less than I used to." My biggest issue with English-language pop music is all the predictable lyrics, so when a lyricist does something that messes with that predictability, I am primed to like it.
And of course Johnny Marr's choices for the music are always spot on, and provide that contrast that makes the lyrics work better in context. I think of Morrissey's solo material as something one is subjected to rather than enjoyed, so it's obvious to me that the music as much as the lyrics is what gives this record 5 stars for me.
5/5
Van Halen
3/5
So, I have finally heard an entire Van Halen album. The guitar playing is virtuosic for sure, but it doesn't feel all that original to me. And the lyrics don't really work for me either, it all seems to be "woo hot chicks" and such.
I think if this had come out when I hadn't already heard a ton of other music, I probably would have liked it, with nothing else to compare it to. But it's too late; this isn't going to work for me now. But I can see why people like it.
3 stars
Suede
4/5
Suede is a band that I know existed; if a crossword puzzle had a clue "UK 90s band" and Oasis didn't work, I'd try Suede next. But I only remember one or two of these songs.
This maybe sounds like what would happen if the Smiths had listened to a little more David Bowie? It's slightly overwrought; the singer got on my nerves occasionally. But a lot of the music I like teeters on the edge of irritating like that.
This is the sort of thing that I like when I'm in the mood for it; I thought it was a good listen. I'll revisit it some other time, since it seems like one of those records that benefit from listening to it a couple of times.
So, 4/5
The Go-Go's
4/5
This is the first time I've ever heard this entire album as an entire album, despite how often I've heard all of these songs over the past 40-some years!
I like this more now than I did when it first came out - it's pop music, but with a slight punk edge. I still think Fun Boy Three's "Our Lips Are Sealed" is better than the one here, but this record is a lot of fun anyway.
Favorite: "This Town"
4/5
Billy Bragg
4/5
This is a great record. I think Bragg's political sensibility made him a good match for Guthrie, and while most of these songs aren't political, still, it feels right. And though I don't really know Wilco much though I appreciate them, I like Billy Bragg, with his political British punk/folk work.
Of course I'm sure part of what I'm enjoying about it this morning is nostalgia for listening to it all the time when it first came out. I was listening to less noisy music in the late 90s, lots of British and Scandinavian folk and world music kind of stuff. And "California Stars" is still one of my favorite songs; it makes me cry for some reason.
4/5
Circle Jerks
5/5
HARDCORE PUNK YEAH
In 1980 I was still listening to lots of prog and such, so it took me a while to get a real appreciation of this kind of stuff. I didn't really get it at the time, but I love it now.
So here we have 14 tracks, none of which is more than 2 minutes long - the perfect length for songs like this. This record makes me want to jump around.
5 stars because FUCK YEAH
Isaac Hayes
4/5
I know Isaac Hayes best from "Theme from Shaft," which I've always loved since hearing it on the radio when it was a hit in the early 70s. Plus the wikipedia article says that this is one of Henry Rollins' favorite records. So hey, let's go.
This is everything that I liked about "Shaft" but stretched out, sometimes with an almost improv kind of feeling. I did not expect these instrumental bits! The crazy long end of "Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic" reminded me of Can. (Or maybe better to say that the bass on "Tago Mago" reminds me of "Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic," since this came out 3 years earlier.)
What interested me most when I first saw the tracklist was this 18-minute-long version of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." What? I didn't know what to expect with this, an 18-minute soul version of what I remember as a lightweight Glen Campbell song from when I was a kid. But damn, his long intro that created a story around why the guy in the song was doing what he was doing caused this version to be pretty heartbreaking.
4/5
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Another record that I only know from the singles, since I never had a copy and wasn't ever really into Stevie Wonder at the time.
It was great to hear "Boogie On Reggae Woman" again for the first time in a while. I love that funky bassline, it sounds kind of like an electronic tuba. And "You Haven't Done Nothin'" sadly still hits pretty hard today. A great funk track.
Some of this was more mellow than what I usually like, but hey, if you have to have mellow music, it might as well be this, right? There's not an off note in any of it; the arrangements and harmonies all work well and are all varied enough for the record to be interesting as a whole.
I have a friend who saw Stevie Wonder in England last year, and she said it was a great show. So good to see he's still at it.
Ray Charles
3/5
Ray Charles! I liked the tracks like "It Makes No Difference Now" that were mainly him singing with a horn section, and the others with him on piano. As we all already know from other stuff he recorded, he was an incredibly gifted musician.
However, I just couldn't deal with the strings and backup singers on a number of the songs. If I had a higher tolerance for the droopy music of the 50s and early 60s I'd give it 4 stars for the songs and its importance in the context of the period, but what can I say.
So, 3 stars. Looking forward to other records by him.
The Specials
5/5
Bought this record when it was new and have loved it ever since.
Yeah this is a GREAT album. A great combination of ska and punk - the guitar, the horns, the vocals, the drums, all great stuff. The songs that were on the radio a lot here ("Message to you Rudy" and "Monkey Man") are the best, of course, but really the whole thing is fun.
RIP Terry Hall.
5 stars
Metallica
4/5
I've never been into Metallica, or metal in general with some exceptions, so here we go. I'm told that this is the proggiest Metallica album, so that probably makes it a good first attempt at this band for me. And yeah, several songs had moments that made me be like "wait, is this Genesis...? (lol no, it is NOT Genesis - commence headbanging)
I really loved the music on this record, all the brutal bass lines, drum, and interesting guitar bits. There were great extended instrumental sections on quite a lot of the tracks; I especially liked the slower, heavy sludgey stuff, but the fast stuff of course was marvelous.
Unfortunately, I found the vocals to be consistently annoying. But still, looking forward to more Metallica as I get deeper into this project.
4 stars
Caetano Veloso
4/5
So sometimes I forget about tropicália and start thinking that Brazilian music is all just bossa nova, those records that my dad had in the 60s: slow, boring music for endless afternoons.
But no, there's also stuff like this. There are keyboards, guitars, drums, even a sitar on this record! And Caetano Veloso has a great voice. This record has that nice warm sultry feeling that you get from bossa nova minus the part that puts me to sleep.
The cover is interesting. Did they think there were dragons in Brazil in 1968?
4 stars
Hugh Masekela
4/5
This is nice: horn and piano, drums: jazz but always with a solid beat lurking underneath.
As always I like the faster bits the best, but even the slow parts work for me on this one. It feels like a soundtrack for a gritty, wistful movie about an imaginary city.
I like it and will revisit this record when I'm in the mood for something calm and yet also lively like this.
4 stars
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
So this is a good record, but I'm rarely in the mood to listen to Simon and Garfunkel much. I do really like "America," though. Amusingly, I heard the Yes cover of it long before this original - the original is better, more deeply felt.
However, on the subject of covers of songs on this record, I stand firm in my opinion that The Lemonheads' version of "Mrs. Robinson" is better than this original. Or at least I like it more; "better" is subjective, after all.
3 stars on this one for me because it's an old record that I've heard a whole lot of times
John Coltrane
5/5
There was a time when I experienced this record as pleasant but slightly boring background music, so I'm grateful that I've become more attuned to jazz recently so that I was able to listen more carefully to this great record this morning.
There's a reason "A Love Supreme" is considered to be one of those must-listen, classic jazz albums - Coltrane makes that sax go through and around and back and then on the other side of the rest of the melody. And the top-notch combo he's assembled here is amazing - the piano, the drumming, that long solo bass bit in Part III! Yep, I get this album now. It's sparse but deeply immersive at the same time.
5 stars
The Divine Comedy
2/5
I suffered through most of this record. The first song was interesting, at least, since about a third of it was a pleasantly discordant orchestral break. I'll admit he's an interesting lyricist, but I just can't stand syrupy music like this. At least it's only 31 minutes long.
2 stars
Scritti Politti
2/5
Hey I recognized one of these songs, "Wood Beez," an innocuous dance track that I used to hear on the radio that obviously didn't really get my attention since I wouldn't have been able to tell you what band it was at the time.
This stuff isn't terrible, just uninteresting to me, maybe a bland version of Michael Jackson.
Meh, 2 stars
Frank Ocean
3/5
What I liked best about this record were the weird little 1-minute tracks in between the actual songs. I think I would enjoy a short collection of those; that would be fun.
The rest of it? I didn't like it at the beginning, but it started growing on me with "Pyramids" and the rest of the second half. The imagery in the lyrics started to catch my attention and it all seemed to get a little more complex.
I doubt I'll revisit this album anytime soon, but I'm glad I heard it.
3 stars
Nina Simone
4/5
Nina Simone is one of the greatest vocalists of our time, and I've always admired her when I've heard individual songs. But I'll admit I was a little worried about how I'd respond to an entire record of this mid-60s material, largely voice and piano.
But on hearing it: Wow her voice, and her sense of timing as she interprets these songs. "Four Women" stands out in this collection, an incredibly affecting song.
4 stars - the romantic songs aren't my favorite, but the rest was very powerful.
Common
4/5
First track got my attention right off the bat with the bass & synth then shifting into kind of a 70s r&b sample weaving into it before he starts singing. This chill vibe continues on throughout, occasionally with gospel-y and political parts.
I thought "Testify" was particularly good, the way the different parts of the story interweave in the song. And the other song with the bit "Go! go! go! go! go! and on the count of 3" is very catchy.
I had heard of Common, but this is the first time I've heard any of his work.
Probably won't listen to it much again, but I enjoyed the whole thing - 4 stars
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Oh fun - I remember loving "Super Fly" and "Freddie's Dead" when they were on the radio back in the day. The intro to the title track is great, Mayfield has a wonderful voice, and this is solid music, all this soul stuff with little Latin touches like congas in the background.
Some of the songs sound a little too much alike to me, so as an album I think this stuff is better as singles to hear on the radio from time to time. But the songs are great.
3 stars
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
This record started out slow for me. I've always been annoyed by "My My Hey Hey": I have a thing about songs that are self-referential about "rock and roll." And a couple of the other songs had me reacting to the lyrics with "WTF is this?!" So, I lopped off a couple points for those.
But it improves in the second half with "Powderfinger," and then continues to get better: I could have mistaken "Sedan Delivery" for Television or something if I wasn't listening too closely. And the reprise of "My My Hey Hey" at the end was fun with the fuzzy noise (sure, the lyrics are still annoying, but here they're masked by lots of nice fuzzy noise, as annoying lyrics should be).
The structure of this album feels to me like it's making a point about the evolution of rock music from the beginning of the 70s into the influence of punk by the end of the decade, though Neil might argue with that.
Favorite: "Sedan Delivery," which was a BIG surprise. I ended up playing it a second time after the record was over, in fact. It is now the second song on my "Neil Young Songs That I Like" list.
3 stars
Thelonious Monk
5/5
I love how this all starts off, with some great dissonance and interesting interweaving rhythms. There are occasional smoother jazz moments, but soon enough it gets weird and complicated again, coming apart with the saxes and other good stuff before coming back to the melody.
I'm glad there are no vocals on this record, which would distract from the subtle, interesting stuff happening with all the instruments. This isn't background music, it rewards close listening, so I put on the headphones and dialed in. I've always known of Thelonious Monk and how important his work was, but I think I never paid close enough attention to it before. I was sorry when this record ended.
5 stars
2/5
I hoped that listening to an entire Oasis album would improve my opinion of them, I really did. I already knew (and disliked) "Wonderwall," of course, but I had to give the rest of the album a chance.
But sadly, no, this just wasn't interesting enough to get my attention. It wasn't even engaging enough for me to be able to describe what it is that I don't like about it other than just "it was irritating."
2 stars
Beck
4/5
Hey, I had no idea this Beck album existed. A lot of this reminds me of his earlier material - indie with little hip-hop flavored sampled bits. Maybe a little more smoothed out.
"Qué Onda Guero" is a little cheesy, but it feels right. This is making me want to listen to actual hip-hop-inflected Mexican music instead, though. "Missing" is atmospheric; I like it a lot. It might be my favorite track on the record? But I also like the song "Farewell Ride," with its interesting cowboyish guitar.
The only thing on here that I didn't really take to was "Earthquake Weather," which sounded like some band from the 70s that I can't remember the name of.
4 stars - I'd listen to it again sometime.
Madonna
2/5
So I'm not anti-Madonna in general, I know she had some fun songs back in the day. I appreciated the vaguely pro-trans language at the beginning of "What It Feels Like for a Girl," and one or two tracks had fun club music-y things going on that reminded me of Rozalla or whatever from the early 90s.
So some of this was ok? But most of it was a chore, with autotune, stupid lyrics, and as a bonus some faux-chanteusey nonsense in one of the songs.
2 stars. It would have been 1 star if I'd had to listen to the cover of "American Pie" that's on the extended version - I already despise the original, so threatening me with a cover of that song by Madonna is the kind of thing that would get me to confess in an interrogation. "Anything but that, I swear I'll talk!"
XTC
4/5
XTC is one of those quirky bands that I usually can only take so much of. There's more variety than I expected here, though.
But most importantly, this record has the great track "Dear God" on it, which I've always loved. If this whole album were as strong and angry as that song, I'd give it 5 stars. I've always loved that song.
Guided By Voices
5/5
A very large number of weird, catchy little songs that would sound like they're from 1965 except they're all obscured by a hail of fuzzy, discordant noise. And they're all just a minute or two long, so nothing drags on.
5 stars, I love this record.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Oh man this record was on CONSTANT rotation in my household when it first came out. A great collection of songs, with contributions from people like Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson, and Youssou N'Dour.
At this point I'm a little tired of "Sledgehammer," and I always thought "Big Time" was a little dumb. So 4 stars for this one
Boards of Canada
5/5
I love this record! Immediate five stars without even having to listen to it, but of course I will listen to it right now because I love this record.
I have to confess that I only heard the classic "Music Has the Right to Children" for the first time 2 or 3 years ago. We were listening to one of our usual freeform radio shows and the dj played "Aquarius." That track immediately grabbed me: the guy saying "Orange" in a quirky voice, the sampled children laughing, the woman counting.
And off to Bandcamp I went to get a copy of this record, and it's been on very frequent rotation ever since. It's a mesmerizing record that rewards close attention; headphones or a long highway drive. "Aquarius" stands out, of course, and also "Telephasic Workshop," with its stuttering sampled voices. But the whole thing is great, a nice blur of electronica with well-chosen, subtle samples, most with a constant beat.
Sixty-ten stars
Duke Ellington
5/5
Didn't know what to expect from this
"Festival Junction" starts out with a clarinet (?) that is a great tune and goes on for quite a while; then into a very swinging tune. This goes on for a good 10 minutes and is wonderful.
There are a couple of slower pieces, but they're nice bluesy stuff that's a pleasure to listen to, still with a beat. And the end - Diminuendo and Crescendo - are frenetic and great
This isn't the kind of music I usually listen to, but the whole thing was great - hey that's why people talk about Duke Ellington. Proud to be from DC, Ellington's city!
Norah Jones
2/5
Oh. Yeah, I really don't like music like this, at all. She has a lovely voice, the music is competent, but I just really don't like vocal-forward contemporary jazz-pop-whatever love music.
This whole album is like going to one of those high-end shopping malls in the 90s that had a piano and that's nice, it's fancy, there's music, but then someone starts singing and it's THIS, and you decide you really didn't need to buy a new jacket after all.
I genuinely hate this record, but I think it's me, not Norah, so I'm not going to disgrace her with the lowest rating.
David Gray
1/5
wtf, this incredibly tedious soft rock album was the fifth best-selling record in the UK in the 2000s?
1 star
3/5
I have definitely heard The Joshua Tree enough times to be able to declare that I heard it before I died. We listened to this record constantly when it first came out; it had some inspiring instrumentation and was fun to sing along with while driving around. But then I got sick of it and haven't listened to it since. So it was fun to hear it again today, but I doubt I'll go back to it anytime soon.
Of course I have to mention that hearing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" immediately called to mind the hilarious Negativland track "U2" that sampled that song and made fun of U2 a bit. At the time we thought it was absurd for Island Records to sue little Negativland over that? But they may have had a point, seeing as that's always the first thing I think of when I hear the original song.
3 stars for U2, 5 for Negativland
Le Tigre
5/5
Le Tigre! I've heard "Deceptacon" off this on the radio but never the whole thing, so let's get into it now.
And: Hooray for women doing chaotic-sounding, fun-yet-angry pop music. These are great songs, with just enough thought behind the lyrics and discordant crunching in the music to keep me happy. Extra points for the fabulous intentionally crap album cover.
5 stars
The War On Drugs
3/5
Hmm, I know I've heard songs by this band, but have no memory of what they sounded like. That's usually a bad sign, but we'll see.
So this is normal rock music, competently done. It sounds a lot like what Dire Straits would have sounded like if they were interesting; there are lots of blurry instrumental bits and pleasant, indistinct vocals. The wiki says these guys were influenced by the Spacemen 3, which I'm not really hearing, but maybe that's where the nice blurriness comes from.
I'm looking at 3 stars for this; it's not something I'm going to run out and look for a copy of since I don't really listen to normal rock music much anymore. But it didn't make me want to turn it off.
The Band
3/5
Another record that I have heard a squillion times, having known a large number of people who like Dylan and The Band in my day.
The slow songs on here drag a bit, but I like the faster tracks that sound a little honky-tonk or Cajun or whatever on here. And then there's "Chest Fever" with its memorable organ bits, and of course "Long Black Veil" - who can resist a folksong sung from beyond the grave.
3 stars - I enjoyed hearing most of this again today, but I feel like I've heard it enough times over the past decades to consider it done at this point.
U2
4/5
I've gone around saying "The one U2 album I still like is 'Achtung Baby' - I even saw them on this tour. So let's see if I'm just making that up, since to be honest it's been 30 years since the last time I listened to it.
Yeah, I still like it. "Zoo Station" opens with interesting electronic stuff, and "Until the End of the World" is a favorite since of course I loved that movie and saw it several times. And "Wild Horses" and "Acrobat" are bringing back some memories from the early 90s, hoo boy.
So yeah that listen was memorable - there are some songs on here that are important to me. However, I was also reminded that I've always been annoyed by a couple of them, like "Even Better than the Real Thing." And Bono's voice gets tiresome by the end.
But anyway, while I probably won't go back to listening to this a lot like i did in the early 90s, I'm glad I got to revisit it today.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I don't usually go for a singer with an acoustic guitar and some strings and such in the background, but Leonard Cohen is an exception. His lyrics are so strange and absorbing, and the tone of his voice and the guitar give it a an appealing edginess that I wouldn't expect from material like this.
I already knew a number of these songs, of course, but some I hadn't heard before. (Though I swear I know a different version of "Sisters of Mercy.") I don't think I'll go out of my way to hear the whole album again, but I'm glad to have heard it this evening.
Animal Collective
4/5
Hey look, a (relatively) contemporary album that we actually own and listen to from time to time! Named after a venue that I've been to a number of times! I even had lunch with a friend up near Merriweather Post Pavilion recently!
Anyway, I think this is an interesting record, thick with electronics and harmonies. But I don't listen to it very often because it sounds a little too, I don't know, wholesome? There's a near-Beach Boys level of cheerfulness in many of the vocals, and it lacks the kind of dissonance that makes me really love an album. But I appreciate how imaginative it is.
4
10cc
3/5
So I could say this was enjoyable, but it was mainly in an "I'm listening to an annoying album that combines all the worst excesses of British music from the mid-1970s in a neat little package, and isn't that quirky and entertaining" kind of way.
Annoying but bearable.
3 stars
David Bowie
5/5
This is a great record. Standout songs for me are the stories told on "Oh, You Pretty Things" and "Is There Life on Mars?," the proto-punk "Queen Bitch"; "Changes," of course; and the intriguing closer "The Bewley Brothers." And the gender ambiguity of the cover and "Pretty Things" is something I've always loved.
Not all the songs are equal to the best ones, so I'd probably give this 4.5 stars if we could get more incremental. But since we can't, I'll go with a 5.
David Bowie
5/5
One of my all-time favorite albums, easy 5 stars.
I actually only had time to listen to the first couple of these songs today, but I know this record so well that I'm confident that my rating will continue to be 5 stars after listening. So much of this record has things I like, like Fripp, Eno, shoutouts to Krautrock, and David Bowie, obviously; I saw him when he was touring on this album. And the title track always makes me cry.
Neil Young
3/5
Neil Young album #3 here.
There are a couple tracks that I like better, like "Are You Ready for the Country," with the funky piano & arrangement and obscure lyrics; "Old Man," where the guitar & banjo are more interesting than on some of the the other tracks here and is interesting hearing it now as an older person, and "Needle and the Damage Done," which is very raw and intense.
However, this one also contains one song that I actively dislike ("A Man Needs a Maid"), a song I've heard so many times that just seeing the title without listening to it now has it stuck in my head ("Heart of Gold"), and a bunch of other songs that are pleasant but not a standout. So, I probably wouldn't ever go back to it, and therefore, 3 stars.
Big Star
3/5
I've somehow always ignored Big Star, despite it always being listed in those kinds of lists that bands get listed in like that. I did have an Alex Chilton record on cassette at one point, though. But anyway, here goes.
So this is all right. It's power pop, I guess, which was never my favorite genre. This record definitely has its good points; some of the tracks are blurry and interesting. But the cover of "Femme Fatale" made me long for the VU to be playing it instead, and some of the other tracks were so sleepy that I had to skip to the next one after the first 30 seconds or so.
I guess I'm not sophisticated enough to appreciate whatever it is about Big Star that the record reviewer lists think is important about this record, so I will continue ignoring them. 3 stars
The Isley Brothers
3/5
I remember "That Lady" from the radio back in the day, and that was fun (though I kept thinking that the guy should just accept that the lady doesn't want to date him, and move on!)
Lots of this is good; as always I really like the funk part of these songs, and of course these guys are great musicians. But I don't really enjoy slow soul songs, or covers of songs when I'm not a fan of the originals (e.g., Summer Breeze). And that makes up a lot of this album.
So this is ok, but not something I'd return to.
3 stars
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
"Killing in the Name of" is beloved for a reason - the way it builds slowly and then explodes? Fantastic song. The rest of these songs mostly all sound and feel like that, but that's ok with me.
Album is recommended for those days when you've made the mistake of reading the news, or when those helicopters that are always circling over your city start to get on your fucking nerves.
5 stars
Garbage
3/5
Pleasant enough but mostly unoriginal alterna-stuff. At least it's in a genre that I usually like? The songs that verge on trip-hoppy have potential, at least, but still, nothing really grabbed me.
I thought this was going to be a fun listen because they had a catchy emo-Portishead kinda song on the radio at the time ("#1 Crush"). But nope, not on this record: it was the B-side of one of these singles.
So since the only Garbage song from that year that keeps my attention isn't on this record: 3 stars
Jack White
3/5
I've never been into the White Stripes (either pro or con), so I have no way of comparing his solo material to that, and am going into this completely cold.
So here's some blues rock - not super original, but well done for what it is. I hear this album as an updated take on the kinds of American rock music you'd hear in the 70s. Guitars sound good, some interesting vocals and keyboards, good production. But while I wouldn't turn any of this off if it was on the radio, I'm not clamoring to get a copy of it either.
I do like the Black Vulture that Jack's got on his shoulder there. Is that his pet?
3 stars... it could aim closer to 4 on a second listen, but I'm sticking with 3 for now.
Johnny Cash
5/5
I wanted to take the time to listen to these stories carefully, so I marked this "did not listen" last night and picked it back up again today.
And this is a great record. It's the emotional intensity of how much the inmates loved this concert, the sincerity and simplicity of the music itself, and how kind Johnny Cash sounds when addressing the audience. Absolutely marvelous.
5 stars
The Offspring
3/5
I've always kinda liked the single from this "Come Out and Play" - the cute little guitar lick, the way the other guy comes in with "gotta keep 'em separated." It was fun to hear on popular radio at the time, felt a little transgressive.
Unfortunately, the rest of the record doesn't do it at all for me. It all seemed kind of insincere, like they wanted to be badass but weren't able to pull it off. I think my problem with pop punk is that I'm not 14 years old.
3 stars though, because I do like that one song. Too bad the rest of it is so vacuous.
Nanci Griffith
3/5
More country! As always with stuff like this I like lively songs more than slow, sad ones, and songs with interesting stories over love songs. So I didn't love the whole thing, but a couple of them got me thinking.
"Banks of the Pontchartrain" was one that stood out; I'm a sucker for a train-riding travel song. Her cousin Libby's going to be standing by the tracks when she arrives, so obviously we're in the country now, since doing that at Penn Station would be a little more complicated.
"Love at the Five and Dime" reminds me of when I worked at a Woolworth's in the 70s and the attached luncheonette was going to be shut down by the health department, so everyone on the restaurant staff had to work overtime all night long cleaning it up. My heart goes out to those workers now, though at the time I just thanked the fates that I was in the music department and didn't have to deal with that.
And "Looking for the Time (Workin' Girl) had a good attitude - yeah, you leave that working girl alone if you're just going to waste her time, ok?
I can see why this is good and has been included in the book, though for me a whole record of it took a bit of patience. I wish there were a couple instrumental songs on here, since it sounded like the backing musicians were really good (Béla Fleck is on banjo!). But it's a vocal album, so I shouldn't complain that there are too many vocals.
3 stars
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
It's not often that my reaction to seeing what my album is first thing in the morning is "Yes! Let's listen to this RIGHT NOW!", but here we are, listening to Sly and the Family Stone and turning it up just a little too loud for early Monday morning.
Last year when Sly Stone died, I heard a lot of these songs on the radio again. They all felt so motivating and forceful that while I remember most of them from when they first came out when I was a kid, they're making a huge impression on me now because of how contemporary they feel.
And the music is wonderful too, of course. So many great singles on this record, like "Stand," "I Want to Take You Higher," and "Everyday People." And on top of all that, there's an absolutely brutal 13-minute funk instrumental.
Just a fantastic record. 5 stars.
Little Simz
4/5
I've heard that Little Simz stood out from the general hip-hop genre, but I'd never listened to her before because i really don't ever listen to this kind of music. But hey this is pretty great, especially when I was able to step back a bit and concentrate on the music. This has an interesting Caribbean feeling to it sometimes that's different from the usual folks I hear from this country. And yes she certainly can rap.
Dunno if I'm going to download a copy, but I'll give it a 4 because I think it's pretty great.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
I know about Emmylou Harris, of course; she's from here in the DC suburbs. Part of this recording was done right here in my neighborhood, in fact. But I never went to the effort of checking her out when she was making records in the 70s because she was country and I was prog, and that was that.
The faster songs on here have some really good toe-tapping guitar, fiddle, and mandolin and such, and her voice of course is great. I struggled to get through the slower material; I do like "Boulder to Birmingham," though, since I'm a sucker for a sad travel song, and of course Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors" has such touching lyrics.
I think I'm a 3 on this one. She's still pretty country, and I'm still pretty prog, so while I think this is very good for what it is, it's still a little too calm and sweet for my liking.
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
Some of these song titles ("Fall in a River," "Cause a Rockslide," etc) sound like a series of events in a disastrous camping trip. Was this the source of the melancholy that pervades this record? It's ok sweetie, come inside and we'll get you some dry clothes and a cup of tea.
Seriously though, I can't say that this is terrible - there are things in many of these songs that I like, interesting bits of guitar and strings here and there. But I couldn't get interested in the lyrics, so I got tired of it all around song #8 and there were still 10 songs to go. I think this is another one of those albums best heard one song at a time in a radio set. A whole album of it is just too monotonous.
3 stars
R.E.M.
5/5
I love this record; had great fun on a long drive listening to it today. And singing along, of course, even though I still have no idea what he's saying 80% of the time. It's a band that's stuck with me - the jangly guitar, the fun stuff happening in the rhythm section, Stipe's incomprehensible vocals, all the songs that I've continue to love since first hearing it 40 or so years ago.
I love the cover, too - it feels so much like home, vines covering everything in sight. It's not pretty, but you'll know what I mean if you've spent any time in the mid-Atlantic or southeast US.
This is an important record in terms of influence, too. We've got a jangle pop comp CD around here somewhere and a full two-thirds of the songs sound like the Murmur track "Talk About the Passion." I guess if you don't like jangle pop then REM has a lot to answer for, but that's one kind of pop that I like.
5 stars, of course
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Another sing-along record! So many songs I love on here: "North American Scum," "Someone Great," "All My Friends," "New York I Love You [etc.]"; I love this record.
There are so many memorable lyrics on this album that I feel like listing them all would make this review go to 3 pages. "Someone Great" and "All My Friends" always make me cry because they feel so true.
There are a couple songs that aren't all that compelling lyrically (e.g., Us v. Them), but they make up for it with something interesting in the drums or other instrumentation. (OK, "Watch the Tapes" is a bit of a dud that I often skip, but I think the rest of it makes up for it.)
I still listen to this record a lot, and always enjoy it: 5 stars
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Ah yes, this record. There's something about Joni Mitchell records that don't quite sit with me anymore - I think it's her swoopy her voice and that mellow 70s California jazz-rock vibe that makes me think these songs are best left in the past. But let's listen to it (again).
These songs do have excellent lyrics, though, and she has a way of singing that accentuates the important parts. I've always liked "Free Man in Paris" - it describes so well that desire to quit your stupid job and go back someplace where you'd traveled in the past and weren't held to any expectations. And the goofy "Twisted" at the end is something we all thought was hilarious in 1974, and I guess it retains some hilarity now.
3 stars
Pixies
5/5
Another record that I put on the instant it appeared in my queue despite it being 7:30 in the morning, because I love it so much.
The lyrics, the weird humor, the occasional lapse into Spanish, the inchoate screaming, the buzzy noisy layers on everything, the odd comments, the guitar. Too many good songs to list my favorite; if pressed I might say "Vamos," but that's probably just because that's what's playing as I write this.
5 stars
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Ah yes, Physical Graffiti. Back when this came out my favorite bands were Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and this was one of my favorite Led Zeppelin records.
It was fun listening to this again after who knows how long. "Kashmir" and "In the Light" were my favorite songs off this album then, and hey I still like them now. I can see how those tracks and some of the other stuff on here prepared me for the 20-minute-long prog extravaganzas that I was going to discover a year or so later, and some of the newer stuff I like now. So except for Robert Plant's voice starting to grate after a bit, I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Probably won't listen to it again anytime soon, but: 4
Joy Division
5/5
Here is where I confess that while I love immersive, percussive music with gloomy vocals, I never bought either Joy Division record back in the day. Which from my current perspective makes no sense; I suppose if I ever go back in a time machine, I will give 1980-me marching orders.
This is especially dark considering Ian Curtis' sad demise shortly before its release. And of course as always the one song you'd want to hear most from this period is "Love Will Tear Us Apart," but it was a post-album single. But still, as I said above: music combined with vocals like this always works for me, so I really enjoyed this, especially the opening track "Atrocity Exhibition."
I pondered 4 stars since this was my first listen, and I need to get into it more. However, I'm sure I'll want to listen to it again, so I'm giving it 5 stars, if nothing else than to encourage 1980-me to run out and buy a copy.
Britney Spears
2/5
Woo hoo, I've listened to a Britney Spears record.
The fast songs are catchy, but they're also kind of annoying. And the slow songs are boring and REALLY annoying. I've read that this is a revolutionary album for teen pop, but it doesn't sound very different from a lot of other things to me. But maybe that those other things came out after this? Why am I acting like I know what I'm talking about, I don't know anything about "teen pop" since I didn't even listen to it when I was a teen.
I think this is a good record, for the genre at least, right? But unfortunately, it's a genre I really can't stand.
2 stars.
Joan Armatrading
3/5
Oh right, Joan Armatrading! She has a really distinctive way of singing - I remember her on the radio, singing "down to the ground, down to the ground." And her guitar work also has some interesting bits, for example the opening part of "Like Fire."
Backing music is well done too, with musicians like Fairport's Dave Mattacks on drums. But I was never really attracted to this record enough to buy a copy and honestly still probably won't look into it again. I'm more interested in music than vocals these days, and this is a little too straightforward for my current mood. But for what it is, it's very good.
Very high 3, maybe 3.8?
Bauhaus
4/5
In the early 80s i had a housemate who was obsessed with Peter Murphy and Bauhaus, so I never had to buy any of these records (and therefore I haven't heard any of them since then). The one track I remember is "Kick in the Eye" - "Kick in the eye! Kick, kick!"
Some of this was a little dirgey, but I have no objection to a good gloomy dirge, so that's ok with me. I'm generally up for gloomy/dancey early 80s music, so this was an enjoyable listen, and I'll listen to it again.
4
Thundercat
4/5
Ok I had no idea what to expect from this. It's interesting stuff - lots of odd little tracks with really interesting chaotic jazz and funny lyrics.
Some of the tracks put me off at first because they were a little too much like smooth contemporary r&b stuff, but while he's got this beautiful smooth contemporary r&b voice, what he's singing is stuff like how high he is or "oh my god where's Captain Planet" instead of the usual boring "oooooh baby" kinda stuff.
So put all that together and I'll say this album is pretty great.
4
Michael Jackson
2/5
"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a great song; I enjoyed that one.
But issues with the problematic musician aside, a whole record of this kind of music doesn't work for me. I guess there's a reason that all the "Pop" subgenres are down in the basement in my summary bar graph.
2 stars
Barry Adamson
5/5
"You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Adamson! I promise - I won't breathe a word - to anyone"
I bought this CD when it first came out because "The Man With the Golden Arm" was getting a lot of airplay, and Barry Adamson had played with Magazine and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I listened to it ALL the time then, but I haven't heard it in quite a while because you know how it is, there's always something new to listen to; I have a short attention span. But at the time this was one of my favorite records.
On listening again today? Ha, I forgot how much I love this record. Starts off creepy and orchestral, then into the great bouncing "Under Wraps," then into what sounds like it could be a mid-60s soundtrack except... not. Thank you 1001 Albums for reminding me of this marvelously unhinged album.
(I'm laughing at the 1-star review that says "Who is this for? Who is sitting around listening to this? People who listen to this need to be on a registry." I guess that's me?)
Waylon Jennings
3/5
This record was pretty good. The slow, sad ballads required some endurance, but the rest was fun: short little songs with toe-tapping music and old-timey lyrics.
The cover is intriguing - the guys are all partying down but then there's that intense-looking hipster in the background. Dude's probably wishing these guys would finish it up so he can close up the studio and go home to bed.
3 stars
Blondie
4/5
This is the only Blondie record I ever owned (bought it after hearing "Fade Away and Radiate" on the radio). I hadn't heard it in ages, and I enjoyed it. "Fade Away," "Hanging on the Telephone," "One Way or Another," and "Heart of Glass" are classics, and the rest of it is fun.
4 stars
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
Oh yeah, the Mamas and the Papas. So many songs on here that we've all heard over the years, with their lovely harmonies and memorable tunes.
One thing I have to complain about is these apostrophes in the band's name on the album cover. I can't believe (my eyes and ears) that they would let that go through.
3 stars. I know this is objectively good, but this genre isn't for me.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Guitar: great
Bass and drums: great
Vocals: irritating
Lyrics: annoying
This is the kind of thing that convinced me that I don't like metal, even though you'd think I'd like it considering some of the other stuff that I like. I would give this record a 4 if it were all-instrumental, because it is headbanging-worthy. But then he starts singing again.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Another band that I know existed at some point in the past but have no memory of listening to.
This is ok but not exciting. They have some interesting lyrics, and I like the orchestration and guitar on some of these tracks, but most of it isn't really grabbing me. To the point where I don't even really have anything to say about it.
3
Air
4/5
I'm all in for francophone weirdness right now, so I was glad to see this. This album is very chill. I loved the one exception to that, "Sexy Boy"; I ended up playing that one twice and watching the amusing video twice, too.
4 stars
Gene Clark
3/5
Mostly countryish soft rock music with spiritual lyrics and an occasional chorus of women singing in the background. There are some interesting arrangements on here, but the consistently mellow, yearning vibe made it unappealing to me, though not enough to send it to the 2-star basement.
3 stars
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
I have all the Mag Fields' records up to and including this one, and spent several years in the late 90s listening to them obsessively and seeing them live. This was the last one I bought, though; I think it was so long that I guess that was enough Mag Fields for me.
But anyway. Some of these songs on here are still my favorites because of the cleverness of their lyrics: "Papa Was a Rodeo," "Washington, DC," "Strange Eyes." "Yeah, Oh Yeah" is particularly amusing, the way it turns the pop song convention of a verse with agreeing chorus of "yeah" to be much darker:
- What a dark and dreary life! Are you reaching for a knife? Would you really kill your wife?
- Yeah, oh yeah
As a whole, the record is a bit much, though. I think if I were more into show tunes, I'd like some of the sillier (and/or more sincere) things on here better - Merritt originally conceived it as a theatrical revue, which isn't a thing I would tend to go for. But the songs I like on here are great.
The Cars
4/5
This record came out when I was working in a record store, so I can assure you that I have heard it. Hey, I even had the 7-inch of "Just What I Needed" on red vinyl, though I think I got it for free as some kind of record store promo thing.
This is a crossing point between power pop and early New Wave. The backing music sometimes sounds like a throwback to songs from the early 60s with the twangy guitar and simple choruses, and then on other tracks you get more electronic stuff, like what would be prominent in the early 80s.
The standout track for me on here is "I'm in Touch With Your World" (the b-side of "Just What I Needed"), which is a little weirder and more restrained than the rest of it. This wasn't my favorite record at the time, but it's fun to listen to now.
4 stars
Beatles
4/5
My parents gave me the US version of this album for my birthday shortly after it came out. I'd listen to it sitting on the floor with my crappy one-speaker/turntable combo kiddy record player. Ha ha that was probably a first-pressing copy; bet it would be worth a mint now if I hadn't destroyed it with my grubby little fingers.
This original UK release is a little different from the US one, which made it more interesting to listen to today. There are some great covers of songs from that period on this version, like "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" and "Money." I appreciate that "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" isn't on this version; that's the one thing of theirs from that period that I've really heard enough of at this point.
You know what? This is a pretty darn good record; these Beatle guys knew what they were doing. I probably haven't listened to any of this since the Johnson administration, and am enjoying it a lot.
4 stars
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
Here's another record from back in the day that I used to love but later put aside when I got into other stuff, and haven't heard in ages.
So much of this is so good. “Somebody to Love" was a hit for a reason; these angry-sounding tracks are what I like best about the Airplane. The intro line "When the truth is found to be lies / and all the joy within you dies" has kind of a contemporary feel, doesn't it. The guitar instrumental "Embryonic Journey" is of course something I've heard here and there since then, which is a good thing. And who can resist "White Rabbit." Sure we've all heard it 40 million times, but hey, it's got both threatening-sounding Grace Slick vocals AND interesting acid flamenco instrumentation. Don't forget to feed your head, kids. Finally, "Plastic Fantastic Lover" is a great song - I either forgot or only just noticed the interesting stuff going on with the bass on this.
“My Best Friend" was a skip track for me back when I listened to this all the time in the 70s. I'm still not a big fan of that song; it's the part of this record that sounds the most like normal mid-60s music, which isn't very interesting to me. But while I used to skip "Today," too, I'm noticing some things with it that I didn't appreciate at the time.
4 stars
The Pretty Things
4/5
Late-60s rock opera reminiscent of early Pink Floyd that I somehow managed to never have heard of. I was intrigued by the track list, as one would be with songs named "Bracelet of Fingers" and "Death."
I'm more into this than I thought it was going to be when the generator served it to me this morning. The live performances of this at the time must have been quite... memorable, with the band pretending to be playing the music while tripping.
I'm tempted to give this a 4, I really am. It's a bit of a mess, but it's an interesting mess.
The Band
4/5
This is one of those records that I could probably sing most of without listening to it beforehand. I never had a copy, but everybody else did. I'm not a big Americana person in general, but there are a lot of toe-tapping songs with engaging lyrics on here.
Much of this is just fun; good songs for sitting on the porch and drinking beer on a hot summer night. But "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "King Harvest" stand out: both are stirring songs. "Dixie" always impressed they Yankee in me that it could make me sympathetic for somebody from the other side. And "King Harvest" is beautiful, with its evocative chorus talking about the sound of wind rippling across a flooded rice field.
The Who
3/5
Another record that I heard a lot of at the time but didn't have a copy of because I wasn't very interested in The Who.
Blistering, relentless blues rock with lots of jamming noodling guitar stuff. The best part of it is the breakdown with great drumming at the end of the 15-minute track that begins with "My Generation." I still prefer other bands from the period, and am frankly tired of hearing about my generation. But if you're going to listen to The Who, I figure you should be listening to this.
3
Love
3/5
Love's earlier "Little Red Book" is to me one of the best songs of the mid-60s, with its insistent beat and emotional vocals. So I was looking forward to more like that on here, but this one didn't quite hit like that.
The first track with its mariachi-like trumpet got my attention, the vocals throughout are good, the rhythm section is compelling, and the occasional guitar solo works. My toes are tapping.
So most of it was pretty enjoyable, but it was mostly much lighter, kinda Donovanesque, than what I'd hoped for. I'd say that "Bummer in the Summer" is the standout track on this one for me.
3 stars
The Byrds
3/5
This is a good record, though it kind of reminds me why I was never into The Byrds. We all know "Eight Miles High," of course, which is fine to hear once a year or so. It's a pleasant album; I didn't want to turn it off, but it didn't make me want to go out and find a copy either.
The one song that got my attention was "2+2=4 Lear Jet," which was amusingly weird with the air traffic chatter, airplane noises, and noodly guitar. I liked that one, though I'm now going to be muttering "gonna ride a Learjet baby, gonna ride a Learjet" to myself for the rest of the afternoon.
3 stars
The Clash
5/5
Another record that I can give a 5 to without even listening to it, but of course I'm going to listen to it. Right now!
It starts off strong with "Janie Jones" and just continues strong. A fine antidote for our miserable current timeline, with "I'm So Bored With the USA," "Police and Thieves," "Career Opportunity," "Garageland," etc. (I'll admit "White Riot" makes me slightly uncomfortable these days since all the white riots lately have been coming from the right wing, but it's a great song when you think about what the context was for it at the time.)
5 stars
Dead Kennedys
5/5
Whee another 5-star punk album. Every minute of this is great.
Compelling, rhythmic punk rock. It's got Jello's vocals, and the humorous but also strongly political lyrics (still relevant, unfortunately). "Kill the Poor," "California Uber Alles," "Drug Me," "Holiday in Cambodia," "Viva Las Vegas" - What else do I need to say. 5 stars.
5 stars
Stevie Wonder
3/5
This is a lovely record, that I haven't heard probably in decades. Stevie Wonder of course has a great voice, and these songs were already playing in my head before I even put the record on. A nice antidote to the noisy stuff I usually like to listen to.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
"Immigrant Song" is the best part of this album, well, and to me the best thing Led Zeppelin wrote. But there are a lot of other interesting songs on here, especially the ones that veer to the acoustic like "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp."
Some of this is a bit too much Robert Plant for me, but in general it's a reasonable album. "Immigrant Song" bumps it up to 4 stars.
Tom Tom Club
5/5
Tom Tom Club was my favorite record for quite a while when it first came out. The best New Wave records were things like this - dancey but also musically and lyrically interesting.
I've always preferred the oddly powerful side 2 of this record, with the ritual chant "As Above, So Below," the mesmerizing "Lorelei," "On, On, On, On," and the marvelously weird "Booming and Zooming" closing it out. Get out of there, F104.
But of course side 1 is good too. "Wordy Rappinghood" is something I'm pretty tired of at this point, but I'll admit it's fun, especially with the conga breaks that pop up in the middle and fade at the end. And of course the ubiquitous hit "Genius of Love" is fun too, especially as it slides into the percussive instrumental bit "Tom Tom Club Theme."
Great to listen to this record again this morning.
5 stars