I cant say i was giving it my full attention but glad to have listened - enjoyed the opening and closing tracks, Sunday especially made my put down my book to actually write something about the album i think im learning i love a woodwind but overall felt like easy but fairly forgettable listening.
Now thats sounds! Megadeath lucky i listened to that first or they mightve been worse off (are they even in the same genre (from the green or from the black)) anyway great stuff
Yea this is some interesting stuff, love the idea of saying your band name 17 times in the opening track. Also funny bone is so menacing but you must also admit quite funny. I think i’d like to give this a 3.5 so let’s round up - defs some fun stuff in there and some absolutely classics c’est as they say ‘chic’
I’d like to sit in a dark room and listen to this loud enough that it rattles my bones.
Australia mention
Admittedly got 3/4 way through but will keep listening and so far big fan of the beats sometimes the amounts/scan of lyrics was jarring but that seems like a me problem
Feels like it’ll need some listens but defs enjoyed first run through - will go into work rotation. Some bit sounded like bridgerton versions of songs id never heard but idk if thats a bad thing? Great ebbs and flows.
Hard to tell if i this is a great album cause its a classic or if its a classic coz its a great album but i guess the end result is the same - great stuff makes me feel things makes me think things makes me want to play the harmonica.
Enjoyed the production a lot and feel like there were a few songs that stood out (if you only knew i reckon) but not sure i was captured by the whole thing? Couple too many rhymes that felt like reaching for a turn of phrase because someone thought to put paracetamol in the line before. Overall p fun though!
As background music particularly for existing in spaces where noone knows you i gotta admit this is kinda incredible (keen for your review emily assuming you listened somewhere over the oceans). If i listen to what this man is trying to say to me it sounds like a school of rock parody i fear his messages only detract from this experience - also if i stop to think about the music/vibe for a minute its diminishing returns but look for cultivating an almost entirely false narrative of how one might be perceived it really works - oh no the man has started speaking again thats another star from you bucko
It feels a bit like i was being challenged to not like this album, and i guess in some ways that succeeded. I don’t know that there were any songs i really liked but there were certainly parts that struck me. Think i need to listen again with full attention but then! I don’t know if i want to! Hard to say. Interested to see what others thought….
Enjoyed this a lot, not the best to run to especially when i realised the songs were not actually 8 minutes each but the return of this lady for the last 500 metres was strong.
Just not gripping me? Again i think unjustly exposed to plane conditions but i keep turning this up hoping that volume = interest* and turning it up but its just more sound and not in a good/interesting/challenging way
Re: heartland - Im finding this w books a bit but sometimes when things feel Too american they just don’t quite jive. Like i know that place ive seen him but he’s not mine nor does he speak to me
Immediately though i am enjoying angels of deception more - sorry for the live commentary but theres little else to do…
I’d written something more disparaging but honestly i quite liked the last track, she won me round (a bit)
*holy moly guys did you know if you accidentally write e= the notes app starts doing some crazy shit
The thing is i really like country i think so the vibe of the album was conceptually tops and pretty polly in particular really scratched an itch but then overall the dissonance felt a bit much so maybe i don’t like country?? Again i fear plane listening is a disadvantage but i felt like i was desperate at times for a properly resolved cord. Still enjoyed it, would listen again defs to key songs in a terrestrial environment but overall good but hard?
First album to get a relisten so far, i think I wavered between absolutely loving it and then kinda fading out but the general vibieness is top tier and particularly the end of the album stood out. Sometimes the sound quality got a bit gristly but i genuinely couldn't tell if that was intentional or my headphones - not my favourite musical texture if that is a feature and apologies to Mr Kiwanuka if it’s not. The production really stands out and any song that showcased that was a standout - with enough of said songs that i reckon this is going in the rotation. Also just exciting to have something from the last 10 years!
I loved this a lot - felt really familiar at points and then at others genuinely felt like i was hearing new noises fresh of the presses curtesy of Mr Maal. Great stuff!
I really do not enjoy this type of singing - it’s not bad but just that kind of forced air so every line sounds like the singer is running out of breath with desperation. Made the album pretty hard listening tbh but otherwise musically inoffensive but equally not all that gripping soz
Can’t help but seperate the knowledge of how young Lorde was when writing this from the experience of listening to it. I might have just forgotten the style of 2017 but this feels a bit overwritten for me in a way that makes a lot of sense for a 20 year old - still enjoyable but not a writing style that resonates with me all that much. Some highlights though for sure i really liked Sober II in particular and overall made me want to listen to more of Lorde’s new stuff
Really enjoyed this more than i thought i would from the initial song tbh. The structure of the songs as well as the songs themselves were funny and i loved the instrumental tracks. Something something illustrated book about birds
Enjoyable but not overly memorable / nothing that made me stop what i was doing to really listen to the song. Feels like something that was once really notable for what it was doing but has since been made unremarkable by the extent of what it has inspired (idk) and not enough of my genre for me to really appreciate what makes it stand out.
Felt mixed about this one at points, excellent background music when doing other things, but when it was my sole focus i started having flashbacks to the 40 minute continuous jazz piano performance i once sat through during which i oscillated between trying as hard as i could to manifest pyrokinesis in order to trigger a fire alarm and accepting my death and new home in jazz based purgatory.
That said i think there is nothing more magical than hearing a room full of voices singing together.
What fun! The best songs were tops the other songs were also there. Idk maybe i thought it would be a bit more than it was but still v enjoyable.
The only times i really noticed this album were when it finished (so short!) and when i thought 8:05 was going to be a v interesting cover of Edelweiss but alas. Not bad by any means but not really enough of anything to push it past pretty good.
I loved every second of this -* glad i waited until it could have my full attention. Out of this world 😀
*ai can pry the em dash from my cold dead hands
Pretty good, loved early songs the middle lost me a bit but also hard to tell what was thieves in comparison ti parliament. Can’t wait for Daine’s review
Yea i liked this more than infected for sure. I really enjoy the sound of his voice which has not been true for many of these albums but i wouldnt say this has stood out massively beyond that. I’m interested coz when i told Is the album she said she loved the the but not these songs in particular but now im wondering what secret trove of great the the songs are out there. Maybe i will investigate but i’m already late on this review so odds are i will not. Anyway things to ponder…
Hmmmm i really didn’t think i was enjoying this at the start there’s a genre that just sounds like school of rock music that i have not been able to take seriously but i’ll admit i was grooving by the end (does one groove to iron maiden?). Some of the guitar solos were pretty mental as well.
Really loved this, idk why but creedence clearwater revival really only existed in my mind as the punchline to a joke i only kind of understood but turns out! They’ve done great stuff!! Excited to listen to more of this album and creedence and his clearwaters generally.
Hey so turns out Dusty Springfield might be the greatest artist of all time, who knew?
Parts of this sounded like musical theatre in kind of a crazy way but when the guitars got going it was great stuff. Disappointed to have not liked open letter (to a landlord) as much as id hoped but a great sentiment fuck those guys.
This feels so close to something great but i think my reaction is worse for the fact that it’s not quite there. It all just feels a little bit thin and to be honest i was more interested in the wikipedia page than the actual album. Also maybe im just forcing myself to have a stronger reaction to not give another 3? Who’s to say.
There’s something powerful about this. I gotta rewatch angel.
Ngl frankie was a hard listen, everything else i was kinda vibing with and look it absolutely achieved what it set out to do so you can’t fault it for that. I also do maybe not enjoy but appreciate when a song uses it’s whole production to evoke something even if that something is that picture of the guy visibly repulsed by whatever is in his headphones. I wasn’t repulsed by anything but did feel myself honestly pulling away from the sounds at points. Anyway this has been a ramble what an interesting and provocative album i dont know that i ever want to listen to it again hmmm
What a beautiful voice and also some other wild stuff happening. Loved mouth’s cradle and also generally the way she really makes you Hear That Mic.
I accidentally saw a couple of the reviews of this pre listening as is the perils of getting to an album late which i guess didn’t sway me at all just kinda tempered the way i listened to it. Lessons! Anyway all the bits of this that were instrument generated i was pretty into esp the woodwinds (maybe????) but nothing about the lyrics or vocals grabbed me. Except admittedly opening a song with ‘this song is over’ which is funny but i honestly couldnt tell if he was in on the joke.
Ok journey with this album has been:
1) god thats some good sounds
2) hmm these sounds are pretty similar to the earlier ones idk
3) i’m an idiot these are great and beautiful new sounds Gemma get it together
Really loved king of kings and beautiful rain in particular. Not such a fan of how long and hello my baby but overall just a pretty beautiful record.
I fear i didnt set dance mania up for success listening to it on the train to work but still pretty fun! The trumpets at the start i wasnt a huge fan of and i wasnt differentiating heaps between the songs but i reckon i mostly came round by the end.
Not my fave though i think i liked not the one, hard to say though. Just didnt feel like it did anything all that interesting although as i say that it appears there is 6 minutes of silence at the end of the last song… what’s going on here do we think is this supposed to be a part of it? Intriguing
More music should consist of ominous soundscapes.
In many ways i am a prude and this wa a punish. Humpty dance was pretty fun but in part just as something recognisable. It went downhill from there and it was a long descent.
Feels like the vocals arent really living up to the background in this, still enjoyable enough easy listening but got a bit samey over the course of the album. Love the brass in glasshouse tho i’d written a harsher review before they chirped up.
Country is such a good genre i have no idea if this is a good version of it but man its enjoyable to listen to.
Idk that much about George Harrison as a solo artist (or as a beatle honestly) but this was generally enjoyable. I always get nervous in these that im gonna post a 3/5 pretty good! Review and then it’ll turn out to be the greatest album of all time or something but only one way to find out…
What a lovely Thursday evening ❤️
Parts of this slightly underwhelmed but the parts that didn’t absolutely made up for it
Feels spiritually Australian
Now this is some copaganda i can get behind. Big fan of the vibe of this, didn’t necessarily stop me in my tracks but would defs listen again.
Not my fave, i don’t have any nostalgia for this kind of music and listening fresh it’s not doing anything super interesting imo. Not bad but thats kinda all there is to say.
Structure of this was so interesting i wanted the songs to be slightly moreso but its falling on the 4 side of 3.5
That was not what i expected except that it sounds exactly like what youd think a randy newman album would sounds like were you to know who he was. I loved it.
This was fun but hasnt left enough of an impression for me to have either reviewed immediately after listening or have thought enough about it since to have really anything to say. The genre is intriguing it always sounds like a joke and maybe it is?
Flynn made some compelling points about this but i think it still boils down to i would expect an MJ album to demand more of my attention. That said its still pretty incredible what he could do.
I couldnt decide if i liked this as much as i thought i would before it started, but it was certainly more than i did when the first proper song started and i couldnt hear anything and had no idea what was going on. Really liked the vibes of some songs but couldn't for the life of me tell you which ones.
Man what a ride! Absolutely loved this, every album should feature The Emcee.
This didn’t grab me that much but i also think it shouldnt be penalised for how boring my day is. Keen to listen to this again perhaps on a sunny afternoon with a bevy and nary a care in the world but let’s see if i remember should that situation occur.
This is the craziest album we’ve had what do you mean all these songs are from the same record thats mental. There was no coming back after Coconut it had to be 5 stars. Also did not appreciate the album name on first glance that’s great stuff.
Blondie is honestly unmatched. When the tone of Sunday Girl kicks in that’s just kinda the peak of music ya know. To then lead into heart of glass holy moly. If i don’t get to hear call me at any stage of this project im gonna scream*.
* it’s a single 😩
This was beautiful and sad but flynn did give context which has maybe shaped that. Some of the songs were truly heart wrenching also just good sounds in general.
This is another album where it’s hard to seperate the listening experience from the fact that she’s obviously one of the greatest singers of all time. There were points where i think the album wasn’t as much as what i expected but then how do you follow respect?
The balance of this wasn’t quite right for me. Obvs some hits but otherwise it felt like either the vocals or instruments were overpowering the other.
This felt like a joke i wasn’t in on. I couldn’t really distinguish between the songs and the vocal style did not appeal. Like at the beginning it was fine but i genuinely thought i was accidentally listening to it on repeat.
Enjoyed this honestly a lot more than i thought i would. The singing style nearly put me straight off but idk it really grew on me and i liked instrumentals/overall cheekiness.
Glad i looked up the original tracklist. I don’t think the expanded version has a strong enough intro song it was a bit jarring but ignoring that (which idk if im supposed to) i enjoyed the album a lot more. Live albums can be a bit hit or miss i think but this felt like a great one, adding to the songs rather than just assuming that the fact of it being live is inherently better.
Parts of this were so good and then also other songs happened.
I’ll try give this another listen at some point but overarching sentiment is its hard to seperate what are i think very good songs from the very particular vibe and era that they evoke and also mid oughts animated films
I don’t really understand what this is doing on this list. No individual song is that bad (mostly) but compiled into an album like this just takes away from the efficacy of any of them.
I was worried seeing the reviews for this would skew my opinion but have no fear! This is great!!!
Trying to speed run the last few days, this was fine. Felt like a mediocre version of other very good artists.
nah i wrote a bunch of other stuff but this was great, middle lost me a little but ultimately you gotta appreciate anything this Bronze adjacent.
Thoroughly enjoyable listening!
Probably suffered from being a saturday album and from the line up of the week. Enjoyable listening but nothing stand out although one bit did make me say oo.
I think the live albums have been pretty good and this should not be punished for its place in the lineup! That said some parts of it were long and not overly engaging but other parts! Were good!!
Not always my vibe but always good
The beatles are good hey, i thought initially id have something more interesting to say but the amount of variance just keeps you so engaged and even if something isnt completely your speed odds are the next one will be. Lost me with some of the lyrics but i’d sing ‘em all the same.
Angelic. I kept thinking it wasn’t holding my focus or the music wasn’t as varying as i’d like but then i’d find myself unable to do anything other than listen to her voice. Also the malevolence of one more dance was such a spooky shift i loved it.
This was good, nothing particularly gripping about it but enjoyable enough and good for some light grooving.
I didn’t enjoy this very much. The first few songs were actively offputting and then it settled to a more misc background awareness that occasionally veered into ‘how much longer is there’.
Loved the explanations tho it makes it hard to imagine listening to it again. Otherwise fun to listen to but not my fave style we’ve had introduced. The instruments have beautiful tones though.
I preferred the less funky tracks it must be said. Quite enjoyed maggot brain and the back half of the album.
Parts of this are incredible 10/10 but sometimes the lullaby quality tips over a bit too far. Will absolutely be listening again tho.
I enjoyed this! The samples and interludes were great, not one to listen to while doing much else but thoroughly enjoyable when paying attention.
The combination of her voice and the instrumentals was really something. I’ve given a lot of 4s lately which always feels boring but also surely these albums are on the list for a reason! Also love anytime this process adds another name i can look for in the record collection 🙏
No surprises just a remarkable album
I enjoyed this but don’t know that it ever fully got me, something about the varying volumes kept just making me think my headphones were broken which is not really the fault of the album but oh well. Keen to listen again though i think.
Hasn’t really held my attention that much. I’ve ended up listening over a couple sessions which i think isn’t super fair to the album but also might be a bit of a reflection.
I listened to this like 3 times today, couldn’t have come at a better moment.
I liked the bits with the instruments but i did not like the bits with the man. Mostly by the end i was neutral but the beginning put me off enough to round down.
1:09 minutes and like 6 songs hell yea. Disappointing to realise only like 40 of those minutes were the actual album but still and enjoyable if not necessarily enthralling experience. The opening tracks in particular i loved but i did struggle a bit with the chattier ones if only coz i wasn’t really listening. Sorry Isaac.
This was thoroughly enjoyable listening but the length makes it tricky to rate as a whole album. Made for a delightful evening tho!
Disc 6 not my fave, nelson i dont really know what you were doing here bud.
I enjoyed this but maybe moreso for the context of my saturday morning than the album itself. It was definitely good and my helped to heal some existing traumas regarding jazz piano but not something i’ll be revisiting outside of situations where i need background sounds.
I liked this more than i thought i would based on the first couple songs and i’d like to listen again coz it feels like there was something fun happening here i didn’t quite reach but i can’t lie i was pretty tempted to skip knowing what was next so take it all with a grain of salt.
I don’t really know what to say about this album other than i love it. It’s so silly and impressive and variable and also will sometimes make you feel something so strongly. Here are some bits i like in particular:
Astronomy will have to be revised.
Roses
It’s divine, it’s asinine, it’s depressing and it’s almost all window dressing. But it’ll do.
All of when my boy walks down the street.
World love
W ASH ING TON baby DC!
I like your questioning eyebrows
Love is like a bottle of gin but a bottle of gin is not like love
Well i shant go to Balie today i must stay home and Hoovre
What a joy to listen to the whole thing i can wait to do it again.
This was a bit of a comedown after the highs of 69 love songs. I can see that this waa definitely something i once loved and i enjoyed too afraid to love and probs some other songs as well but generally not my preferred genre or style of vocals.
Possibly in contrast to Aerosmith i enjoyed this a lot! It was fun and sorta interesting while still being pretty easy listening. Good stuff!
I don’t know that i’ll be listening again but i enjoyed my time spent with the damned.
I wasn’t paying quite enough attention to this and for that i am sorry but im too far behind to dwell. I enjoyed parts of this but the opening couple tracks were a touch too squeaky and the vocals (i think intentionally) grated in some songs. Should probably give her another listen…
There’s something v interesting about this being from a supergroup. Partly i just like the term but also at points i felt like the album lacked a distinct voice and then at other times i was listening to the most beautiful song i’d ever heard. I guess both can be true.
So this is CHVRCHES, the lady singer had big CRJ energy which i loved but the songs led by the man were not nearly as fun or energetic. Still a very enjoyable listen overall and i reckon one i would repeat (without wanting to risk sounding like a 30yr old inner west straight man) ((is that the chvrches cliche or just the inner west straight men i know??))
I think Bowie albums are always going to have a level of charisma and musical intrigue that make it hard to go below a 5. The songs here where his voice or the i guess weirder instruments came through were real faves. The rockier (?) were still very good just not as stand out. Also i can’t listen to Jean Geanie anymore but its very good.
This album triggered quite a powerful sense of dread. Some great songs but i don’t know that i could say i enjoyed listening to any of them. Undeniably evocative…
This was bad and i did not enjoy it. The vocals were actively annoying and the music felt antagonistic. I thought i liked one song but it was from the next album.
I thought i would like this A Lot but i reckon i just liked it. I wish it had leaned into the weirdness a bit more (i liked the vibe of M.E.) and idk if synth heavy is my fave genre but still hit the spot in terms of engaging enough background music while reading on the bus.
Ok. I need to think about this.
I don’t want to sound like i’m trying to be interesting but there was something about this. It’s just so interesting the way that this was music in every way except how it sounded! For so long i thought hmm but im never listening to this again but now idk! The early tracks a bit too screamy but once we got industrial things started happening.
I think on another listen i’d be more into this and i wasn’t not into it but i couldnt get over that some of them sounded like parodys (i guess theres a genre of meatloaf parody). Some very singalongable songs.
I wish these people had not sung over the nice music.
Robby some of these songs were very good and the rest were there.
I liked this a lot! Keen to give it another listen not as background music on a three hour drive but tbf it suited that perfectly.
Ok i’ve done a relisten to this not in a car (apologies for not extending that courtesy to the kinks) and i think this isn’t really my genre generally but I love the ebbs and flows of this. Something in the way is so so good and while i think i prefer said ebbs i understand they wouldn’t be nearly as effective without the contrast.
I feel like ive done these songs a disservice in the past by not listening to them within the context of the album. I think initially at Dancing Queen i was worried the bops wouldnt bop quite as hard but once we hit Dum Dum Diddle (they’ve kept her quiet!) everything felt cohesive and really just a treat to listen to.
There were definite moments where this album was a 2. A couple of the early songs i just didnt really enjoy and the first 4 minutes of revelation felt like a nail in the coffin and yet! Both it and the album won me round in the end. As a personal growth goal i need to give less 4s but not in this case coz i think a sneaky 18 minute final track is funny enough to round up.
I enjoyed this a lot, i think if i was a bit more of a lyrics girly i’d have enjoyed it even more but 100% something i wanna listen to again i liked the parts that evoked the circus.
I loved this a lot. It made me quite sad but also felt very familiar and lovely and i really enjoyed reading about the album and woody and how it all came about. ‘Way over yonder in the minor key’ is just such a good lyric.
This felt a bit thin? Not sure why it might’ve been the vocals but most songs felt a bit one note in a literal sense. Rememo a definite fave but nothing else really stood out.
Hard to know what to say! As a whole it was great with some songs that are all time. As a whole album not necessarily stopping me in my tracks but when it goes it really goes.
A prime example of the value of the exercise! I really enjoyed this and feel like its something that may well enter the rotation. How interesting!
That opening track really got my hopes up, then subsequent songs i actively thought were a joke (jurys still out) but i did appreciate the variability and the instrumental songs were all v enjoyable. Evens out to a solid ok, feels like a real 2.5 but alas.
This kinda washed over me, mostly in a good way. Nothing stood out but i enjoyed the experience.
This was very good and i’d like to listen again in a more lyrically conducive environment.
I don’t know enough about music or this genre maybe to understand why this made the list. It was fine veering toward boring and sometimes grating. Parts of it were alright but also hard to know if that’s coz i stopped really paying attention.
I really love this album. It’s so sweeping and big and also very sweet. Every time i listen to sufjan stevens i feel compelled to go and learn everything about him. A great monday public holiday album.
There’s an all time 5/5 in here but i don’t think it’s 1.5 hours long. Still great though!
Parts of this felt like a panic attack though that might have been the prolonged influence of Aleksander. I liked this more when focusing on the individual components but struggled to let it wash over me as a whole.
The two billy bragg albums we’ve had (acknowledging the roles of woody and wilco in prev) have been really the only times ive felt like i really couldnt do anything but listen. He’s done (does?) it again folks!
Disclaimer that i did talk to flynn about this album after my initial listen and i think hearing about why someone else values an album and the emotions behind it inherently shapes your response even after the fact. I wasn’t sold on first listen and i still don’t think grunge is really my genre but i did appreciate it a lot more with the wider context and also not on a bus at 730pm while trying to read pachinko. In recognition of my first response this is getting a 3 but its definitely on the 3.5 end of the scale.
This was great, it felt combative almost though i couldn’t tell you why. Just feels a bit like he’s in on something you’re not and you have to keep listening to try and get in on the bit.
This was fine, unlikely to reach for it again but an enjoyable enough commute
I gotta be listening to more neil young
A whirlwind of an album, sometimes too much so it felt like it was racing through but ultimately v enjoyable. Particularly enjoyed the shift at Bobby Mcgee and mercedez benz.
Parts of this were really interesting i loved the lighter songs (couldn’t tell ya which ones) but the rest of it was just kinda there.
Something about the mix of this felt off? I’m sure headphones that have been through the washing machine several times is not how them stones intended the music to be heard but idk the compression maybe? I liked what was happening but didn’t actually really enjoy listening to it. A collection of songs i’d prefer to hear performed by a drunk choir i think.
Not my fave genre but a very fun listen!
Hmmm, i will listen to this again. Once i settled into idk if it was matching my mood or i was matching it but that was good stuff. I’d like to hear more from the white stripes is that likely to happen?
Hmmmm i initially found this pretty boring just something to get through i’d say there’s a fairly samey section in the middle but it really grew on me.
Like a sad, tired Paul Kelly (complimentary).
