There wasn’t anything I actively disliked from the album, but none of the songs really stood out. The most memorable songs for me were the interludes without lyrics. (edit: after looking at the album again I did like Wouldn’t It Be Nice and Sloop John B.) For what it’s worth, Little Saint Nick by The Beach Boys came on my Christmas mix later in the day and I like that way more than any of the songs from Pet Sounds. Also, I learned what the difference is between mono and stereo today.
It was just too dang repetitive, which worked when I was really vibing with the song (and I was for a couple) but got annoying when I wasn’t (which happened more). I’m pretty sure the “helloooo is anyone there” sound clip in M1 A1 will feature in a nightmare for me at some point. Clint Eastwood and the cover art were both good though.
I liked it! I was vibing with Life Has Just Begun, Soldier and Animal Zoo. I wish I would’ve payed more attention to the lyrics and storytelling, because naming a 12-song album “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus” is pretty cool. Bonus points for every time they used trumpets.
Props for making a 7 track album last an hour and 13 minutes. Loved the novelty of looking at my phone and realizing there were 15 minutes left in Halleluhwah. I was thinking the album made for good work background music but then I found Aumgn unsettling af and things didn’t really improve from there.
Didn’t love all of the vocals but I liked some of the songs.
Decidedly not garbage. I thought Queer was really catchy besides the interlude, and then Only Happy When It Rains was a good follow up. I loved acoustic guitar riff in Vow. I didn’t listen to the last couple songs until Monday morning and no big thoughts on those.
Didn’t listen to the expanded version because I didn’t realize it existed until now, but I thought the basic version was good! Loved the interlude in Wrote a Song for Everyone. I wasn’t expecting to recognize anything from the album but then Bad Moon Rising came on and surprised me.
I was listening to soft Christmas music before this and it already felt like this was going to be a hard pivot just based on the cover art.
Sure, why not start the album with what sounds like my screaming alarm clock but worse? Aside from that I actually vibed a little bit with some of the songs — I just find it hard to take all the yelling seriously. I think my problem is more with the genre than the album, but it’s a 2 nonetheless.
I was nodding my head along to some of it but nothing really grabbed me. Solid 3.
I was aware of Norah Jones previously but hadn’t listened to her much. Could’ve done without Cold Cold Heart (Elton John and Dua Lipa did it better) but I found the rest of the album pleasant. I really liked One Flight Down, the rest of the songs were easy listening, and life’s too short to not give out 5s.
I don’t listen to jazz much but I might after this album. Some of the melody themes were catchy but I was able to listen while working without getting distracted and it made for a pleasant atmosphere. I love the drums — the symbols tapping lightly in the background were awesome. 5 stars, would listen again.
Before this album I really only knew Springsteen from Born in the USA, which is catchy but not really my vibe. So listening to this I found the album surprisingly… calm? Chill? I grew up listening to tons of harmonica songs that my dad loves, so the harmonica in Mansion on the Hill was pleasantly nostalgic for me. Open All Night matched the more upbeat energy I was expecting from the album and complimented the other songs nicely. I worked during the whole album and wasn’t paying attention to lyrics, but from what I heard the storytelling has me interested in looking up lyrics later to see what the songs were about, which is also a plus. Overall very pleasantly surprised by this one.
Probably a 5 at full volume but my brother was asleep in the other room.
Better than I thought it was going to be but I had low expectations.
Christmas songs on Christmas Day? 5 stars.
There are some bops on here. Didn’t know all of these came from the same album.
I’d heard a lot of these songs before but never listened to the album all the way through. Good stuff.
There were multiple times during Paradise that I thought it was a Sound of Silence cover; there were multiple other songs I liked too. Went back and forth between 3 and 4 here, but decided on a 4.
Bonus point because “Most of us are sad” is a great name for a song.
