What a great album to start this project with
I love Ray Charles' voice and piano playing but I'm not a huge fan of big band. I do really like the jazz chord progressions but would prefer if they weren't being absolutely blasted into my ear holes by a thousand horns. Just not my thing, but I can appreciate it.
Highlights: it had to be you, just for a thrill, am I blue, come rain or come shine (so, the less big band ones)
Pre listening thought: this album is 2 hours long so it better be really fucking good to justify the length
Post listening thought: it was not good enough to justify the length
I never listened to smashing pumpkins in their heyday, they just kind of passed me by.
On the whole I like what the instruments are doing. I do not like billy corgan's voice. It is definitely an acquired taste that I have not acquired.
I feel like I would have given this an extra star if they had a different vocalist (it's so completely distracting how much he sounds like a muppet) and maybe another star if it had been 40 minutes long. So much of what I like about this period in music is here, so it's weird this is getting a 2. But right now it's a 2. Not so unlistenable that it's a 1 but I probably won't be listening again.
Very nostalgic for me so it's difficult to be objective or imagine I'm listening with fresh ears, but I think it definitely holds up.
Some highlights mixed with some forgettable and boring filler tracks. Plus Mother, which does not belong on this album but I definitely could not describe as boring.
Highlights: Synchronicity I, Mother?? (can't really decide if I love or hate it), Synchronicity II, king of pain. I also quite like every breath you take but it's so overplayed that I don't know if it's a genuine like or just familiarity.
Influential and enjoyable. A precursor to a lot of the music I listened to growing up.
I don't really know enough about jazz to understand why this album is considered groundbreaking. But I do really enjoy it and I enjoy this kind of jazz. It feels effortless and relaxed even though it's underpinned by a lot of very technical and exact playing. I like that it's both precise and spontaneous. I like that you can just sit back and let it wash over you, or you can pay close attention and really appreciate what each part is doing. I like how the instruments have the back and forth with the solo parts, which feels like a conversation. It feels like it does a lot with relatively sparse arrangements (compared to say, big band jazz which feels like someone is trying to stuff the jazz into my ears by force). I like that it is exactly 45 minutes long, the correct and perfect length for an album.
Two Miles Davis albums in a row!
There are things about this album I like a lot. The rhythms and grooves and instrumentation is wonderful. There were times it all felt so floaty. There's no doubt everyone on this album is phenomenally talented. I'm always in love with these kinds of jazz chords and changes, it's always a journey and even though you don't know where it's going next it still feels right when you get there.
I think my issue is with this style of soloing which more often than not just feels dissonant to me. There is a lot of modal stuff which is really interesting to listen to
But it feels like there is a bit too much tension and not enough release. I'm also not the biggest fan of the trumpet which is already so insistent as an instrument. Adding in long loud sections of blasting the same (to my ears at least) dissonant notes over and over just makes for a bit of a strange experience. It's harder to just let this album wash over you pleasantly compared to Kind of Blue.
But also maybe the strange experience is the point, I don't exactly get the impression they were going for normal and relaxing. I was kinda vibing with the weirdness so even though maybe it's not 100% my thing (and even though it's far too long) I still had a good time.
Don't even really have to listen to this to give it 5 stars (but will happily do so), it is one of my favourite albums of all time.
