the instrumentals are there. yes. and they are good. undeniably so. and yet and yet.
even on my third listen, always back to the voice. that voice.
none of my favorite Nina Simone songs are here, and to my ears, nothing really jumps out as a single. however, I think that's because of how the quality and variety combine.
thrilling. will certainly revisit, despite having mostly avoided vocal jazz since childhood.
There was a lot going against this one. Three songs ("Sledgehammer", "In Your Eyes" and "Big Time") that I never wanted to hear again under any circumstances. Another song ("Don't Give Up") so embarrassing and cheesy I couldn't make it through. And one more ("Mercy Street") so dull that I couldn't pay attention. And every single song is underwritten and far too long.
That's most of the album. So why three stars?
Production, production, production. What glorious, perfect sounds, perfectly separated. While every song was too long, the repetitive vamps in each were by far the best part.
Also I can recognize the quality of something outside my genre, and I'm good at ignoring stupid lyrics.
I'm adding at least a full star for the Laurie Anderson part on "This Is The Picture", my favorite song.
My friend told me there are no cymbal hits on the album, which made it a fun game to listen to the endlessly creative drum programming.
Finally, my kid opined that "We Do What We're Told" sounds like menu music from a horror game. It does, and it's fantastic.
Skip the singles, put on headphones and you've got yourself an interesting time.
I know someone who was an executive at K-Tel Records, the label that famously sold dull compilation albums via infomercial. Since retirement he only listens to Steely Dan. It's almost too perfect, but a true story.
These are songs for people who've given up on music: pleasantly produced, blandly competent, limply avoiding the joy of discovery.
Unlike most any other record I can think of, the more closely I pay attention to this, the less of interest I find, as though everyone involved were committed to a complete lack of curiosity.
However I will say that the keyboard solo on "Do It Again" is nifty. I can dig it.
I'm not cool. Never have been. Never will be. But while this album is playing, I feel like I could be cool. Like maybe I should drive slow with all the windows down and the speakers all the way up.
The production is slick in the best way, every song rolling along just like it should, making me forget that the album is too long. Snoop's voice is so smooth and his flow so effortless that I forget the sometimes clunky lyricism.
The spell is broken as soon as I turn it off, but while this album plays, cool is within reach.
Maybe I should have guessed this ahead of time but I'm only a few albums in and already feeling like this list is actually "1001 overplayed albums that no one on god's green earth ever needs to hear again."
I can see why Appetite For Destruction may once have had a reason to exist, but that time has long since passed. To be avoided, if only that were possible.
I hated this album when it came out, thinking it was a bland dumbing-down of somewhat more interesting music. Now I had a chance to revise my youthful opinion.
Turns out the opening run of tracks is full of lovely and clever (albeit subtle) songwriting and production choices. "Don't Panic" is gorgeous, "Shiver" pulses with emotion, and "Spies" makes a convincing case that this lite version of sounds that were popular at the time could be the better one. Most surprisingly for me, I now think the real secret to the enduring appeal of "Yellow" is that it's more or less perfect.
I should also mention that after several albums in a row of wall-to-wall misogyny, it was BEAUTIFUL to hear cheesy love lyrics without any hint of condescension, irony or secret darkness. He sounds like the boy your mom wants you to marry. Plus I honestly envy his voice.
Sadly, the rest of the album, much like the rest of Coldplay's career, treads water in an abyss of the completely forgettable. It doesn't feel bad, necessarily, just doesn't feel like much of anything at all, and all the nifty choices that filled the opening half simply vanish. It's like if "Music for Airports" was unintentional.
I'm feeling generous today and the re-listen actually surprised me, so 3 stars.
I've heard enough guitar wankery to last several lifetimes, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much actual songwriting there was to be found here. On top of that we have terrific performances from multiple vocalists and a heaping helping of fun psychedelic nonsense.
I think "Blue Condition" is the real outlier here (besides of course the dumb joke of "Mother's Lament") and I enjoy it thoroughly - funny and catchy and truly odd.
"Sunshine of Your Love" and "Strange Brew" remain untouchable, although no one needs to hear them again. My top favorite is "Tales of Brave Ulysses" - I wouldn't have guessed that over-the-top psych and Greek myth make the perfect pairing.
Everything else is fun, occasionally exciting, and very much a time capsule.
I wasn't sure I had ever heard any of this, although I had been meaning to for years. Then "Walk On" jumped out of the speakers and I recognized it within the first two chords. What a fabulous opening.
From there on in it's mostly dark and edgy blues-by-numbers, often interminable and sometimes sleepy. Although I shouldn't complain too much because the most standard issue song here ("Vampire Blues") was for me the best of the bunch.
"For The Turnstiles" gave me chills, and reminded me that this is one of Jason Molina's favorite albums. Oddly enough, I'd much rather listen to Songs:Ohia than old uncle Neil most days.
The album isn't so much uneven as it wore me down by the second listen. Very hard to rate something that starts so strong, is so influential and well beloved, but is in the end kind of meh.
I'm mostly familiar with Tina Turner's voice from her many live recordings; she's my partner's favorite singer. However I was not prepared for the variety of songs and production styles on this thrilling album. I assumed it would be heavily front loaded and all synth pop. Wrong on both counts. This is a rock album all the way, decorated to varying degrees with love- it-or-loathe it 80s synth textures. And it's a rock album with depth where Tina never fails to bring the fire song after song after song.
"I Can't Stand The Rain" is now one of my favorite songs of any decade, "1984" is simultaneously ridiculous and ominous, "Better Be Good To Me" rocked my socks off, "Help" and "When I Was Young" transformed my understanding of those songs. Even the bonus tracks on the anniversary reissue were exciting.
I'm officially a convert.
(Note on the 1001 Albums list - I was beginning to worry there was some sort of ban on female artists...)
I love garage rock. I even love garage rock revival. I even appreciate the Hives. But this "album" (it is a compilation), even though I enjoyed listening to it, is completely inessential.
Not the best of the Hives, not the best garage rock release of 2001 (that would be Ultraglide in Black by the Dirtbombs), not even the best single artist garage rock compilation (that would be Matador Singles '08 by Jay Reatard or The Mummies Play Their Own Records). Just a bunch of decent-to-great songs that don't really belong together.
Underwhelming and just doesn't belong on this list.
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. So many cool sounds and ideas, but ultimately the songs just aren't there for me. Maybe I'm more of a Graham Coxon fan rather than Damon Albarn. Maybe Blur is really more of a singles band. Maybe this is simply a lot of very promising filler.
no one involved in this project put time, effort or thought into it, so I'm not going to waste much of mine reviewing it.
boring boring boring.
not even in the top ten best uk punk albums of 1977. there are no interesting ideas.
ps. the drums sound ok and "no feelings" is kinda funny the first time through.
For me, this really cements CCR's reputation as a singles band. Their blues-by-numbers with distinctive vocals succeeds by luck and alchemy on a select few songs across their discography, but mostly falls flat.
The best thing I can say about this album is that they are one of the few bands of the era to really get the power of the two-minute song, instead of stretching one minute worth of ideas out to three-and-a-half.
But then they blow all that time savings and goodwill on two endlessly bland "jam" tracks. Snooze.
Maybe I just needed some relief after the dull ache of "I Heard It Thru the Grape Vine" but the last track was wonderful, and the keyboard parts were a much welcome touch.
If you absolutely need to listen to CCR, stick with a compilation.
Feels good to get an album that I actually like and hasn't been played to death at every grocery store and backyard bbq.
Listening more critically than I did as a teenager has dimmed a bit of the magic for me. I hear now how the arrangements are formulaic and a little crowded; sometimes it feels like the guitars keep playing because they don't know what else to do. All the little extra touches still have the same impact, though, and what's most noticeably consistent is the cleverness of the writing and the obvious delight of everyone involved. Also, my goodness heavens, is this the lightest drumming of the 90s? It sounds like they are being played by tiny elves. I love it.
Some of their best songs are found elsewhere, especially on "Tigermilk" and "The Life Pursuit", but this is easily their best front-to-back album, with the only dud being "The Boy Done Wrong Again". Even "Mayfly", which I had completely forgotten, brought me a smile this time around.
Five stars because the flaws are forgivable and the world is in desperate need of fey jangle pop now, just like it was in 1996. A pleasing antidote to so much of this list.
Usually with these reviews, I focus on figuring out how the music works, and how certain elements excite or bore me. Today, I could feel the music repel my analysis. These are songs that listen to you and judge you. Will you be considered worthy?
I'm not sure exactly what I mean except that for forty minutes at a time, the Wailers are in charge and I'm just here for the ride.
Stunning, powerhouse vocals; bloodless but competent arrangements; simple, charmingly candid songwriting. I appreciated this but didn't truly enjoy it. Rather surprised to see her debut on this list, given that the follow-up was a vast improvement in every way.
I never thought I would call something "too dumb for power pop". Maybe incel anthems were just cuter in 1980, but I was entertained the whole time, and even checked out their debut.
But, yes, the charm wears thin quickly and I can't imagine revisiting this.
