I like this but not as much as White Light / White Heat. Nico's voice is great, and I think she kinda peaked here.
First album from the Talking Heads, and I'm feeling a closer connection (music-wise) with bands like Devo or Band of Four. Lyrics are already as dorky/genius as they would be all the way to "Road to Nowhere" and some of the True Stories songs. Again, not my fave from the band, but still plenty good with this one! Pleasant to re-visit.
Maybe it'll grow on me. Felt a bit samey with the reverby guitars. Perhaps it was because I listened to this in the shower and the glass barricade's muffling effect / dysfunctional shower head spurts further obfuscated the already hazy soundscape. Perhaps I need actual lyrics to anchor my ears unto. Need to relisten w/ headphones sometime.
Is something wrong with me? I much prefer the danceable songs (Big Time Sensuality, One Day, Violently Happy) and the (admittedly very minimal) "Like Someone In Love" to the more well -renowned songs on the album. Maybe I prefer settings where Bjork's voice pierces through the instrumentation rather than lying down on a pillowy orchestral backing. That doesn't really explain why my favorite song of hers is "It's Oh So Quiet" or my favorite album is Post, which is arguably even more lush. Maybe it's personal taste.
LOVE GETZ/GILBERTO! Gateway drug to Bossa Nova / MPB / Tropicalia (to a degree). Everything here seems so deliberate and well placed... and yet so loose? I think it has to do with how well-distilled each part is -- so that only the best remain, and the dregs (see: Sergio Mendes / Verocai / Deodato / Duprat and their over-orchestration, which I personally do enjoy, but can get a bit saccharine) are filtered off. Top 10 album for me personally.
Samey? Not much of an impression on me honestly. Can appreciate using a cello bow on guitars though.
Eh... I don't know how to rate this one. Less memorable songs than the other 'classic' Heads albums, and yet still miles above whatever came after Naïve Melody. I think the Al Green cover of "Take Me To The River" still makes this a 4, though.
How did this website know that I've been going through a huge post-punk phase lately? I like very much, even if the vocals sound a bit pedo-ey. Shot By Both Sides is especially great.
Pretty darn good, reminds me of Pulp with an orchestra and more melodramatic key changes.
Good music, great arrangements, but suffers from the same problem as Ella Fitzgerald's Gershwin Songbooks. At least Ella's album had way more variety in terms of arrangements. Ray Charles is more of a singles artist, I guess?
Oh, hello! In the age of DX7 and Prophet 5's genesis, even in the realm of Rock, it's definitely refreshing to hear some 'roots' arrangements (acoustic guitar, occasional double bass, drums, sometimes a piano). Lyrics sound like a angsty teenaged Jonathan Richman, which isn't bad. Definite Mahit-Core imo, if only for the cheesy lyrics that will make him cum and shid his pants out of pure ecstasy.
Little Michael peaked in the 70's / early 80's. Or rather, Quincy Jones peaked in the 70's / early 80's. Gone are the lush (initial Quincy brilliance in the case of Off The Wall, and the Roland 808 and the Minimoog providing a weird sense of 'organic' synthetic sound in Thriller) arrangements of yesteryear, for the advent of digital synths that sound like the equivalent of spray-on cheese in retrospect. The songwriting chops are still there (See: Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Smooth Criminal), and the one Stevie Wonder contribution is quite good as well. Still, you can't help but feel that he's veered a bit towards a telecast-y style with 'Man In the Mirror', and his attempts at world music -- 'Liberian Girl' -- aren't as compelling as Ry Cooder, David Byrne, Robert Fripp, or Paul Simon's attempts (just realized these are all white men, pls dont cancel me). Unfortunately he fell off hard, in terms of music and his album covers (blech!) Can't help but feel that he would've had a late career resurgence if he was still with us today, though.
I like. If there was a 3.5 star or even 3.6 star option I'd go for that one. The hits were hits for a big reason, and the synths are real cool, as are the brief moments of 'she pulled this off?'. May change to a 4 as I listen to this more.
Between the Bars my beloved <3
The hits are hits for a reason! Shining Star especially, and the more ballad-ier tracks like That's The Way of the World or Reasons as well. Still feels very organic too, although it's missing a bit of energy as a whole compared to the albums that came later in the decade. I'm a bassist so I cam't help but be biased to bands with great basslines
The good songs are as good as Early Beatles can be, but the bad ones are BAD.
Thankfully the good ones outnumber the bad by around 11:2, so that's great
Movie's a nice time as well
