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.
If you haven't lived through the evolution of music - the 60s, 70s, 80s....- you could well come to an album like this and find it to be very good. And you wouldn't be wrong. But to come to it for the first time after a lifetime of highly distinctive and ground breaking sounds it didn't seem to have much about it that's very innovative or unique. The production sound and arrangement of each track is excellent though. Quality. And a second listen was starting to win me over for sure. Mr Harris is a great track, for example.
The The mix up genres to generate a good range of tracks here. Hasn't dated from the 1980s. Wasn't familiar with this band beyond their 1983 single Uncertain Smile with the great Jools Holland outro. Should have stuck with them after that single - this 1986 album is very good.
I'm not really familiar with Cold Play beyond the obvious tunes. True to their reputation, this is a bit of a snooze fest.
My first experience of Belle and Sebastian and very much enjoyed it. Such a unique sound layering instruments and sounds so well with strong tunes- good to hear recorders in use, that staple of primary school music education. Impressive production, some intriguing lyrics and an altogether great sound.
This is exactly the kind of band that demonstrates why punk was so desperately needed. Apparently known as space rock, it just sounds like self indulgent noise to me and very dated. I'll not score it too low though as perhaps it's important in the history of music. To me it is at one far end of the very complex era that was the 1970s. Thank goodness for Bowie, funk, disco and punk for pulling us far away from hippy nonsense like Hawkwind.
What a mish mash. Starts with a dull heavy rock track, proceeds to sound like George Michael doing reggae, then jazz funk, back to heavy rock, rockabilly... A fair smattering of dull pop sounds and horrible screeching guitar solos appear throughout. As well as George Michael, attempts are made to sound like James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne.... all dished up with sound alike instrumental performances and production sounds. Fishbone seem like a band you'd find at a wedding offering energetic dance tunes, ballads for the slow dancing, heavy brass section because somebody's dad can knock out a few covers and then, inexplicably, includes some hard rock that clears the dance floor. Sometimes they want to be The Who, Thin Lizzie, Prince and lord knows who else. It's all over the place with very little originality but I'll give them some points for effort and the sheer audacity of making an album that attempts to deliver such a range of sounds-a-like tracks. They are the band that so many teenage boys would be thrilled to be at their High School dance. They are also clearly enjoying themselves enormously - maybe for some people this is an album that condenses all sorts of genres and styles saving them the bother of listening more widely. In that case it can perhaps be seen as good value!
Music of this era can be so indistinctive. Just sounds like so many other bands. I don't like the strained voice vocals but otherwise having it on in the background was inoffensive enough
If I have to listen to this genre of music at all then this album started off sounding better than the hard core stuff. I liked the funk sound and it was good to hear some female voices. However, I can tell you that the attitude to women the album goes on to relay was NOT acceptable in the 80s and certainly isn't acceptable now. I'm not a great believer in cancelling artists but this album is offensive.
I enjoyed listening to this album but ultimately it was probably not the best introduction to Willie Nelson. Perhaps the situation was different back then and these songs were not much covered, but now as I recognised each one I immediately thought of other versions I preferred. The production sound was light and very acoustic which added to the relaxed mood. Willie Nelson's voice did not work so well for me though as most of these songs sound better to me with other voices and more interesting arrangements. Would welcome some more Willie Nelson featuring his own compositions.
Just fantastic. So good to hear this, especially to be listening to the whole album. The well known tracks are great of course but actually every track was great. Delighted to be hearing some for the first time. The production sound is distinctive and makes use of a wide range of instruments to create some of the best music ever made.
This seems to be your common or garden early 70s rock album. Less awful than many, but nothing to write home about. I'll be generous because it was presumably sounding fresh and new back in the day.
Nick Cave has a distinctive sound but once you've heard one track you've heard them all. Having had two Nick Cave albums I find them indistinguishable from one another despite being made years apart. Not my thing and the jesus stuff adds further to the thumbs down for me.
It's hard to be distinctive at this point in music history. I enjoyed this album well enough but it did seem quite derivative. Should give it another go in case I start to hear some actual innovation there.
These guys (the self appointed cream of the talent of the day) had the advantage of being first to the party with this kind of sound. It's good and was innovative but if you like this type of music there are probably some better artists who took this forward and in different (maybe better) directions. No doubt this album was an important milestone in the development of rock music.
Only listening to Neil Young because of this app and he's still not my favourite. However, I'm thinking I should give him a chance to delight me. Not quite there yet but perhaps his various albums would appeal to varying degrees. If I end up liking this kind of music..... Well, you could knock me down with a feather if it ever happens. Meantime, I'll give some credit for this being quality enough of it (not my favourite) type.
I'm confused by this album. How many different styles can one band imitate? It really does feel like they are trying to sound like a whole range of different artists in every track. I won't bother to list who they sound like - most tracks make me yawn. Perhaps this makes Super Furry Animals a good live band. The selection box of popular music.
If I have to listen to this genre (there's a lot of it on this app) I find myself able to give some credit to the early stuff. The emergence of NWA was pivotal for the development of a new music genre, but the lyrics are horrendous.
Classy stuff. The well known tracks are truly excellent and the album as a whole is first rate. Great compositions and vocals. Distinctive and quality sound. Definitely one for the desert island discs list, difficult to pick out a favourite track. So good.
Distinctive but not very exciting. I can see why Julian Cope has fans but he doesn't do much for me.
This album sounds like a bunch of musicians were locked in a room and told to come up with an album in record (excuse the pun) time. It's musically unimaginative and really just one notch up from musak.
I enjoyed this. Pictured myself sitting at a table in a smoky New York nightclub in the 1950s. Very atmospheric and musically important. Ultimately, it works for me as background music but saying that probably makes me a philistine. Warrants careful attention to all the instruments and the whole improvisation vibe.
Is this not a one hit wonder band with Groove is in the Heart? Such a great single. Actually, discovered that this album makes for pretty good listening for all the other tracks, albeit at a slightly less fabulous level than Groove is in the Heart.
I really dislike this genre of wistful, breathy, sighing 'singing'. It sounds so pathetic and downtrodden. I prefer female singers with at least a degree of strength in their voices. A shame, because this app seems to have relatively few female solo artists.
They're clearly enjoying themselves massively and if you like this genre at all you're going to love this. Unfortunately heavy metal is perhaps the genre I dislike most of all. But I'll score it relatively highly to allow for this being probably the best in it's class.
I can't face this. It was Metallica yesterday and again today. Please fix the app so that we don't have to encounter the same artist twice in the same week and certainly not two days running!
This is a 90s band I'd heard of so thought it might be good. Unfortunately it just has a general 90s sound, nothing exciting at all. Will not rate it too low though as it would perhaps improve with a second listen.
Love the production sound of this band. The brass is fabulous. Good to hear there is more to Dexys Midnight Runners than just the singles. The album is fairly consistent but the excellence is really about the hit singles. A good listen, only one step away from excellent.
This was my first ever time listening to Kanye West and I was astonished by how good it was. There's musical complexity here I really hadn't expected from a rap artist. Great production sound, actual tunes (although some probably sampled from elsewhere) and lyrics that were sometimes thoughtful. One or two tracks were less good but overall I have to say this was really impressive.
I love funk. Less so frantic guitar solos. Given the year of this album is 1971 I'm going to forgive the guitar sound - of its time - and focus on the quality of the funk which is great.
This started well. First couple of instrumental tracks were accomplished and made for good listening. However, most of the album is pretty dire - noisy and unremarkable.
This was less good than I'd hoped. It's difficult to hear this great voice and not think about where the US music industry was at when this album was released. On the one hand it's good that a black female artist could become a global superstar but on the other hand I can't help associating this music with the era that has very efficiently commodified talent based on massive sales, sell out stadium tours, image control, etc.... Just can't hear her voice without thinking about all that stuff.
If you don't like this kind of music (which I don't) it's a particularly bad version of it. Relentless and awful.
I was in exactly the right mood for this album f owing some heavy rock stuff. It was my first experience of an ambient music album so have nothing else to compare it to. But instruments and vocals seemed to be pretty expertly combined to create some great tracks.
What we have here is Elvis singing poor quality songs that would probably have sounded outdated in 1969. There were a few great numbers in the late part of Elvis' career but only one is on this album unfortunately. He ought to have been allowed access to better song writers. Suspicious Minds is the only great track, In the Ghetto and Gentle on my Mind are ok. Lots of pretty awful fillers.
Nina Simone's distinctive voice shines out. She could sing a shopping list and I'd still score her highly.
Happy to give this a go, especially with the involvement of such an interesting range of big name collaborators. Mixed results with some tracks much more successful than others. Ute Lemper's voice is strong and distinctive. The final track of the album was screaming and awful which was a shame as many other tracks were much better. It's the sort of album that warrants further listening to reveal it's depth.
Taylor Swift is good at what she does. Well done, it's an impressive album. Still not my thing though and also worry that there'll be more to listen to. This is probably as good as Taylor Swift gets.
This band sounds like a poor man's Dire Straits, imitation Bob Dylan, bad Pink Floyd sound-a-like, Bruce Springsteen substitute .... you name it. This album is dull, derivative and totally lacking in originality.
I allowed this to wash over me and it was pleasant enough. I'm going to give some credit for this as an early example of a type of female singer songwriter style that has become pretty standard now. It' sets a good standard.
This artist has a unique sound. Quite folky and with lots of harp (she's a harpist). Her voice is not my favourite type of voice but I guess she uses it well to create a signature sound. The tracks blended together for me, all sounding very similar. Perhaps the lyrics are good but I was not listening closely enough to be honest. I like artists who can manage a distinctive sound in this day and age. I'll listen again.
This is surprisingly good. Surprising perhaps because I'd never heard of them before. Otherwise, their production sound is pretty complex and perhaps masterful. I'll definitely listen again.
I don't like U2. I don't really want to think about U2, let alone listen to this album. I fear there'll be more on this. I did listen and now I can be thankful that I don't have to listen to this album again. Why the distaste? Sometimes justifying a strong dislike is something I don't want to spend energy on.
Curtis Mayfield is fabulous and this album is very enjoyable. Might have been 5 stars but not all of the material here is great. A track about Jesus particularly dragged it down. Looking forward to more Curtis Mayfield though
I'm astonished to find myself appreciating anything that can be classed as prog rock. It's one of my least favourite genres. However, my favourite tracks on this album are the instrumental tracks and the tracks that are gentle and highly creative. The range of percussion sounds work really well with the string instruments. Heavy guitar sounds much less good but perhaps I have to forgive the moments their sound is 70s prog rock cliché because this is after all a 1970s album.
Prog rock is absolutely not my favourite. In particular, I dislike self indulgent guitar solos. The voices sound so young! Which was strange to me as I associate Yes with old men. That was the case in the 1970s, even more so now of course.
