Have never given Bowie a chance and not sure if I want to visit any of his other work after this as I'm not sure it could clear the bar
A fantastic album. Layers on layers of sound, beautifully produced, was really blown away by this.
It's clearly a well made album and the production is great but the music doesn't really do anything for me. Standout tracks are Rockin Chair and The Unfaithful Servant. Good listen but won't be revisiting
This, after The Band by The Band, put me on the back foot immediately but fuck me there's a gorgeous album waiting to be let out here.
Pale Blue Eyes and The Murder Mystery steal the show, with the latter's chaotic instrumentation and panned vocals remind me of Circle Takes The Square, while hearing After Hours for the first time broke me
Pleasantly surprised by this! Heard the name Janis Joplin plenty of times but never listened to anything from her and had no idea what to expect (always had the idea she was similar to Joan Jett or Debbie Harry for some reason?) but this was great - "My Baby" had me pointing at imaginary players like a conductor.
4.5
A real slog for me
Zoo Station is a good opener but nothing afterwards grabs me at all, by So Cruel I was checking to see how long was left
First of all, fuck Morrissey but the cunt can carry a tune. Coming into this, I had some expectations but was immediately humbled.
The Queen Is Dead - the toms, the wah wah (gorgeous effects on that guitar), "Her very Lowness with her head in a sling/I'm truly sorry, but it sounds like a wonderful thing", the noise of it all - what a fantastic opener (is that a xylophone toward the end?) - This might be my favourite track of this project so far (day 9?)
Frankly, Mr Shankly - the smiths wanted to write a ska song here but were too scared to use a horn section. obviously very self-deprecating with some lyrics that haven't aged well but is two minutes of a fantastic bassline
i know its over - didn't like this at all on first listen and while I still think it's the weakest track on the album, it does have it's charm! flirts with 80s ballad territory toward the end - not a fan at all of fade out as song enders
never had no one ever - the drums, the bass particularly on this are so up in the mix, feels like the first track to really bare down on the vocals, almost suffocating it, a really heavy soundscape considering the lyrical content. a slow dance for sadness (lmao wankiest thing I've ever written)
cemetery gates - standout track for me. "a dreaded sunny day" and the me vs you themes of the lyrics over the almost calypso instrumentation is just beautiful juxtaposition, great mixing for the guitar, snare and especially bass, a really great song, big smiles all around for me
bigmouth strikes again - just a really, really well written song (the hi-eq backing vocals are such a weird touch that works so well)
the boy with a thorn in his side - yeah obviously a great song but from 2.00 onwards is the real beauty of this track for me (vocals hitting that na na noo on the 3/4, great)
vicar in a tutu - sense of rockabilly about it, vocals wander over the beat trying to match the hi hats at points (but soar with range), abrupt ending i dont like though (unrelated to the music, when I was part of the church, I saw my vicar in a tutu, religion doesn't have to be so rigid)
there is a light - gorgeous, obviously iconic, will be remembered for the lyrics and vocals but the snyth/strings in this are so beautiful and really elevate the whole thing, especially a syncopated woodwind (??) bit at 1.46 "to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die" c'mon man leave some poetry for the rest of us
some girls - the fade in then fade out then fade in, lovely stuff. the riff is gorgeous (very echo beach) while the bass at 0.33 reminds us it's not a one or two man show.
4.75
there's some fuckin poetry going on here boys
on first listen, i didn't think there was much cohesion through the album but on a second/third listen, this is fuckin gorgeous - a lovely blend of funk, soul, rock, reggae, gospel and ska
bonin' in the boneyard's bassline is straight up disrespectful to me, the listener. double kicks on a late 1980s funk album? there's some disgusting triple time fills in the first 40 seconds, they do got me boning in the boneyard but i have no bone nor yard. absolutely the standout track
I can understand why this is an important album to a lot of people, but largely the album doesn't do a lot for me.
Angeles and Cupids Trick are the standouts but Rose Parade especially is a real drag.
Lyrically Smith is interesting but, other than two songs mentioned above, there's nothing overtly dynamic about him musically that really stands out to me.
I think my big issue is that I just find it kind of boring? On first listen I panned it but revisited thinking there was something I was missing - went from a 2 star to a 3 star.
Alright, once again coming into an album with some pre-conceived notions. I wanted to bin this off because of how mainstream Coldplay were while I was in my formative teenage years - they were my Dads mates favourite band if you know what I mean? They sit in the same headspace for me with Kasabian, The Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol (who I like!) etc as that kind of British, radio-friendly Dad Rock that could be a V-Festival headliner and have everyone forget the set immediately afterwards. However; This is a really really good album...
Politik is a lovely opening track - the wiki for it being "Chris Martin wrote "Politik" on 11 September 2001, having been inspired by that day's terrorist attacks" is such a funny way of framing it though
Was going to write that In My Place is a kinda British zeitgeist song but that'll also apply for The Scientist and Clocks so that's really a reflection on how well received this album was
God Put a Smile upon Your Face - yeah banger fair play
The Scientist - special place in my heart for this as we recorded a cover of it as part of our A-Level music tech course (ageing myself here) but it is a gorgeous song. Martin's lyrics are lovely - "questions of science, science and progress/do not speak as loud as my heart/but tell me you love me, come back and haunt me/oh and I rush to the start" obviously a standout track if not for the IMMEDIATE NEXT ONE
Clocks - that fucking piano intro man, i've got goosebumps and I DON'T LIKE COLDPLAY. the offbeat snare synching up to the keys later. this is some iconic arena rock. checking the wiki, it has 16 citations on various greatest songs of all time lists. yeah fair enough Coldplay, you smashed it with this one.
getting into the second half of the album, the half with zero blue links on wiki so interested to hear how this pans out
Daylight - that 2.29 dropout is so smooth, there's lots going on in the latter half of this track, the piano line is great but there's something new to pick out each time i listen - special shoutout to whoever was the studio engineer because that piano is just beaut
Green Eyes - now this is a shame, it could be a really good song but it doesn't suit Coldplay at all! it doesn't need the reverb, it doesn't need the band behind it, it doesn't need the clean guitar sound. this is a folk rock track waiting in the wings and I wouldn't be surprised to find like 50 covers of it on youtube that give more heart and soul and MEANING to this. the first real disappointment on the album for me unfortunately. admittedly the last minute does the jangly riff driven folky stuff really well (that Mumford & Sons will jump on and popularise later in the decade)
Warning Sign - revisit
A Whisper - yooo, what are we doing with the time signature here. you're telling me Coldplay made THIS? another standout for me, really really good
A Rush of Blood - revisit
Amsterdam - again, the piano is just wonderful, Martin showing off his range and while some notes seem like a struggle to hit, it adds to the charm of the song. A surprising album closer, but the organ - damn just got hit with the rest of the band lmao
something's not grabbing me here - the pharcyde are obviously very talented rappers and while the beats are great, nothing is really being said? the closest to some commentary is the ending of the 3rd track
maybe it's listening to two weeks of rock with one hip hop album; maybe it's having the entire catalogue of hip hop available in 2026 and that overshadows this album which was probably formative for a hell of a lot of people
i recognise the passin me by sample and that'll fuck my head when i come back to this review
standouts are On The DL, Passin' Me By, Return Of The B-Boy
i need to come back to this to really articulate why I find it a middle of the road album
i've fallen behind on my albums but this is really good - the SIXTH album by earth, wind & fire, proving they're more than just September
4.5
This has probably been the most inaccessible album for me so far but it is fantastic. impeccably produced, music is funky as fuck, the mixing is gorgeous, there's SO MUCH going on, it's a phenomenal album but it's just not for me! With 4 tracks totalling 41 minutes (the shortest at a mere 6 minutes 29 seconds) it's not something I'll be adding to my playlists anytime soon but that isn't to knock the music in any way.
opening with CHAMELEON - a nearly 16 minute behemoth of a track with all the bollocks to back it up - i'm sure thousands of people have written thousands of things about this opener and all I can do is add to the pile, this is an unbelievable piece of music
WATERMELON MAN - revisit
SLY - revisit
VEIN MELTER - possibly my favourite track, after the chaos of the previous half hour, this feels like sonic aftercare
i need to come back to this review - the album is obviously 5 star fantastic but I can't really think why it's not for me - i think it's the track lengths (they didn't have ADHD & the internet in the 70s)
up top, the cover art for this is just fantastic, what was happening in the 60s, you could just do anything.
going into this album blind, all i know is that it's folky - i've heard the name The Mamas & The Papas (always thought it was the punchier The Mamas & Papas) but that's all i know. surprised it's 12 tracks totalling 34 minutes so expecting some quick songs. alright lets go
Monday, Monday - immediately starting off with a lovely choral refrain, the mixing is great, vocals sitting nicely on top of the instrumentals but not blocking them out, some great harmonies going on as well. very impressed with this, a great example of an album setting out it's stall with the opening track - the standout track so far
Straight Shooter - i really like the riff, lyrically nothing impressive but again the vocals and harmonies shine through
Got A Feelin' - the music feels mechanical, but that's not meant in a bad way, very tick tock clock giving it a sense of drive while the ethereal vocals seem to float over the beat
I Call Your Name - big smiles from me, beat switches throughout keep it fresh and at 2.38 it's over too quickly (immediately replayed this one) opening piano flourish is great, the bluesy opening switch to a bebop (?) back and forth is great, the backing vocals are fantastic throughout, the whispering of "John" low in the mix is a nice touch. culminating in both vocals at the end slowing down is some good shit, really really enjoyed this track
Do You Wanna Dance - immediately giving me some R.E.M vibes from the vocals. dripping in reverb, gives a dreamlike quality
Go Where You Wanna Go - the strings (? may well be a flute) sit so well in the mix as an accompaniment to the vocals, a really powerful performance from the
California Dreamin' - got absolutely blindsided here holy shit, did NOT realise this was the mamas & the papas having heard only covers of this. a phenomenal piece of music,
Spanish Harlem - nothing gripping me here unfortunately, xylophone is the standout, possibly overshadowed by the previous track but this is the weakest song so far
Somebody Groovy & Hey Girl - fine, good, nothing spectacular
You Baby - this is like movie shit kinda love song, I'm here for it, corny as hell but sometimes we need that y'know
The "In" Crowd - organ solo, hell yeah
overall, I can't say enough about the vocal performances here, the harmonies are beautiful, the mixing is fantastic, it's a very 'warm' album, the rhythm section absolutely doing their job (not a complaint) but the flourishes from the keys, flute, strings? really shine through the album as lovely little easter eggs. Favourite track is California Dreamin', followed by Monday, Monday then I Call Your Name.
4.5
