Not my favourite genre but original and best of it's type for a reason
Not mad keen on this but wouldn't want to join Trump in calling Bruce Springsteen overrated. Just not my thing. So don't know if there are other Springsteen albums I would find better than this one but I suspect not :/
Mr Brightside leapt out because of Trainspotting. Other tracks consistently good
Featuring Fame and Young Americans, I expected more tracks of this standard. Perhaps if I listened again they would grow on me but they felt like fillers. The production sound didn't do much for me either. Over produced on most tracks I thought but the the title track and Fame are simply perfection.
Long and not my kind of thing so found it difficult to wade through. I suspect there are some tracks that I would rate higher if I had a second run at this but don't find myself compelled to keep at it. Making belief in God a thing also a turn off for me.
Very distinctive sound, but perhaps a bit too distinctive. Almost has a novelty disc production sound going on. Enjoyable enough, liked the Father Ted moment
This is an era defining band. An amazing sound that was so new in the post punk era and was highly influential for so many indie bands.All tracks are quality.
Yes, ABBA are pop royalty. But this is not a good album. Even the singles featured vary in quality (Fernando, no thanks). The rest of the tracks are of the poor B side type. When ABBA are great they are great but sometimes the trite rhyming of lyrics demonstrates too clearly that the English language is not their forte. As to 'dum dum diddle when you play your fiddle'... this track is an abomination. Mastering pop and the singles market should be applauded for sure, but ABBA albums? No thanks.
This is truly awful. I waded through the screaming and screeching always hoping (in vain) that I might begin to hear something even vaguely tuneful. The lyrics were also meaningless nonsense. There's not a single track I could recommend. It seems to be a sort of anti-music album:(
Many tracks here are quality, but I'm not sure if I'm judging the music or am feeling nostalgic about the era they remind me of. There is probably an argument for calling some of this album 'easy listening' which is not much of a compliment. However, tracks like Wishing Well, Sign your name, If you let me stay, Dance little Sister are excellent. Terence Trent d'Arby exploded onto the music scene with this debut album. Am I using my memory of that explosion to judge this album? Maybe, but I think it still sounds pretty good.
Enjoyable pre Bohemian Rhapsody Queen showing an interesting range of work, some of which is quite unlike what you would expect if you only know them as the mega stars. Lily of the Valley is a good example.
I was all set to hate this but have to admit it's pretty good. A small number of tracks, many of which are longer than the singles version. It's a strong and distinctive sound including ballads as well as heavy rock.
This seems like pretty average Prince, but average for Prince is high quality. An enjoyable listen.
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without this album. All tracks are great, too many to list. The lesser known The Bells of St Mary stood out as one that doesn't get much airtime and should. Motown gold.
I played this album end to end and found it pleasant enough. No tracks have stayed in my mind.
I'm not much of a fan of live albums and the live aspect of this one was particularly distracting. Too much chatter from the MC for sure. The music itself is classic stuff.
This is fabulous. Wrote a long review and forgot to save it! I was saying something about not being a musician but being able to hear great composition and imaginative use of a wide range of instruments (including vocals) to create their unique sound. We might miss the genius that lies behind this if we just hear pop. Particularly enjoyed Let's Go Away for a While
This album seems like it might have been an important milestone for popular music as a very accessible hip hop sound. I'd be interested to know the assessment of people who are really knowledgeable about the 21st century music that shares roots with the Beastie Boys. Were they important or just pop? I'm pretty clueless on this so just taking this album at face value - of its time and a fun sound.
This is good, a great indie band. Somehow Into you like a train stayed with me as a strong track. Pretty in Pink is probably my least favourite track as it has been overplayed and the title is ultimately naff.
This was very popular at the time but seems very middle of the road, safe and ultimately boring. The title track is loved by many people but generally I feel that anyone who likes this is exactly the sort of person I wouldn't like. Mildly pretentious, smug and dull
I'm not familiar with Leonard Cohen beyond Hallelujah. I thought this was really good and listened more than once. I suspect I might enjoy other Leonard Cohen albums too.
I can imagine this album being well received at the time as it's probably one of the best of its type. For me, with the benefit of knowing music before and after this era, I'm not hearing anything too innovative or memorable.
The emergence of this genre is undoubtedly as significant as punk. Have not been familiar with NAS. Seems good of its type and I would defer to music historians and lovers of this album and the work of other artists inspired by it to rate it. Seems quite melodic and nuanced with some good production sounds but the whole rap thing does nothing for me unfortunately.
I liked the sampling but there was very little else I liked about this album. I only managed one listen and didn't feel inclined to listen too closely to the lyrics. Macho and quite possibly misogynistic. Musically this is not my thing at all but if it's made it to this list perhaps it is a very good example of this type of stuff.
I guess it's possible to see why Springsteen has a large fan base. If this is your kind of music then this album provides consistency which can be read as a mark of quality. Probably great of it's type but not my thing.
This is fabulous. Great to hear the well known tracks and discover some new Al Green. All compositions are his own with a glorious production sound. His voice is so distinctive and soulful with a fantastic vocal range.
Dance music is an absolute favourite and I'm sure some tracks on this album would be good for dancing. Unfortunately not my era so I wasn't inspired to get to my feet. Meantime it made perfectly acceptable background music as I went about my day. Nothing memorable.
Was surprised how much I enjoyed this, especially the instrumental tracks. It's one of those albums you need to imagine being released and how unique the sound would have been.
A distinctive sound but not one that has' aged terribly well. Vocals particularly poor really. That single - not on this album - Blue Monday is fabulous. But this album doesn't deliver that level of quality unfortunately.
Classy. Her voice is fabulous and some tracks show this off beautifully. Some songs are less good and don't do her voice justice.
Lots of screeching from vocals and electric guitars. Was expecting prog rock, stadium rock, loud rock of some sort and it duly came. Not my thing. One track was a little different - Tears - and I would enjoy hearing this again. The rest of it, no.
Such a fabulous sound. The whole two tone thing was so enjoyable and felt so very positive when it emerged. The energy and positivity remains listening to this again so many years later. Very enjoyable toe tapping stuff.
Neil Young is probably one of these artists who developed and changed quite a lot as his career developed. This early album is fine but not very memorable. Tried not to judge through the prism of later work that is really not for me.
I found one track I could rate as something other than awful, but probably because I didn't listen closely to the lyrics (Method Man). Otherwise, waded through this and kept hearing appalling lyrics and completely uninspired sounds. Not really music is it?
This one is an easy one to review as 5 stars. However, could have done without the live versions - recorded original version is all we need!
Never quite understood the appeal of Elvis but this album has proven to be a great introduction to his talent. Later Elvis is not for me but this is a great album and shows that his place in music history is massively important.
I really struggled with this. When Daft Punk are good they are great but all the repetition on each track of this album basically gave me a headache. Even something like Around the World, which I had thought I was fond of, drove me to distraction. At least I wouldn't have any problem following the lyrics if I wanted to sing along. But actually I found I just wanted to escape the relentlessness of it all. Decided to go 3 rather than 2 based on recognising the status of the band for their career overall might be warranted and the idea that I might have been having a bad day.
It's Joy Division. They can do no wrong. Good to be obliged to listen carefully and hear more musical and vocal detail than I remember hearing back in the day.
Was not familiar with PJ Harvey. She might be an artist who grows on you. On first listening this seems to be a good album. Several times of listening might produce a better review but it's not currently feeling very memorable.
Great to get the opportunity to listen to this. One of the really great artists, highly influential for the reason of being a true founding father of popular music. It is of course also intrinsically excellent. What a sound.
Mostly inoffensive, always pretty dull and often quite annoying. Just sounds like a lot of bands of this era.
The Temptations were a great group. Papa was a Rolling Stone at 11 mins is a marvelous track. Other tracks not so great but might improve on further listening.
Want to hear more female artists but PJ Harvey is not doing much for me. Ultimately, the song composition is pretty average and, sorry, but she doesn't have a very good voice. Lyrics a bit of a yawn too. Perhaps one listen is not enough to hear something more but I'm not going to be rushing back to this album.
If only the title of this album - Rid of Me - could be taken on board by the algorithm that has given us three PJ Harvey albums in a week. As is the case with these reviews and ratings, I'm trying to avoid being too influenced by the running order of the albums but I could hardly bear to listen to this artist. PJ Harvey on Saturday and PJ Harvey on Sunday made for a pretty depressing prospect . However, this offering is much better. I suppose there are many artists whose albums 15+ years on from the first are not so good. This is an early PJ Harvey and had a strength and conviction lacking in the later albums.
Only knew the single from this album - My Best Friend's Girl - and would say that it sets a standard that's pretty consistent across the whole album. Having said that, it's not a great standard. Pretty average post punk US pop, pleasant enough. Occasional reminders of bad rock guitar sounds (a bit like Rush). Not really my thing and difficult to believe anyone would get too excited about it. Good enough of it's type I suppose.
Never heard of Joe Ely but recognise this genre well. Keeping away from it was sometimes difficult in the 1970s. What we have here is an album that would have delighted the country and western fans back in the day and quite possibly still does. The lyrics provide the most entertainment. Some character couldn't tell the difference between a cow and a horse. Otherwise, the lifestyle of a cowboy and his woman provides the basic starting point for most songs. Boy, the gender roles for country and western are clearly drawn. Lots of other cliches about early in the morning, just about the break of day... This album served to remind me that I don't much like country and western. But I suppose this album is a classic of its type, easy enough on the ear if you ignore the lyrics. There may be more to say about it musically but I'll leave that to others.
I suppose I can recognise very good musicianship here and certainly a distinctive sound. Frantic guitar solos are not my thing, but the Thin Lizzy sound doesn't over rely on this cliché. I like it least when it does but there is otherwise consistency and variety here. Rock for sure, but not too heavy. The singles are strong and the ballads add something. I'm not the greatest fan of a live album but everyone on stage and in the audience seems to be having a great time.
Van Morrison inspires great loyalty but I've not been familiar with his work. This album may well be a classic from his very long career and I suspect I should listen to more Van Morrison before passing judgement. I bet this app will be giving us more. Meantime, this album has some distinctive tunes and evidence of being influenced by some important other artists and genres. However, couldn't quite escape the feeling of it being 'easy listening' with some tracks being rather dull.
I won't say this is not a good album. I'm sure there are plenty of positive reviews that are justifiable. I'm just not a fan of Joni Mitchell's voice and the piano and guitar sounds. Surprisingly, the track I liked best was This Flight Tonight because I know the Nazareth version. Nazareth as a band could not be further away from Joni Mitchell's sound so, as she wrote the song, I guess this speaks to the quality of her song writing and her versatility. She's well known and highly respected for a reason so perhaps I should give her work more of a chance and get past not much liking her voice.
