A bit of an inconsistent album to me. A lot of different styles, but not all of them work equally well. Also makes the album feel a bit disjointed at times.
"Our House" is an obvious favourite, but "4+20" and "Woodstock" are also strong songs. "Helpless" is easily my least favourite song on the project, and feels like it just goes... nowhere.
Overall a solid listen, but not one of my favourites
I adore the vintage rock sound on this record. The instrumentals really take centre stage, and for good reason: both the guitars and keys on this album sound consistently great.
The only real issue I had with the album is that, because the instrumentals are so present, the vocals tend to drown out a bit.
An example of this is "Sixteen Saltines"—which is also my least favourite track on the album.
My two favourite tracks on the album are the title track, "Blunderbuss", and the album closer, "Take you with me when I go". The former is a slower-paced, emotionally charged song that contrasts well against tbe rest of the album. The latter is more intense, with very strong jazz inspirations.
Park life describes a very specific type of British working-class council estate life, that is both immediately recognisable and deeply personal to me. Poverty is often turned into a caricature, but this is not what Blur wants to do here. Instead, we get reality mirrored to us: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Picking favourite songs off' this album is a near-impossible task. Nonetheless, I want to highlight "The debt collector" here. Lord, what a song. It's a carnival-esque waltz instrumental, that becomes more eerie the longer you listen to it. I also have to give a shout-out to the gender-fuckery that is "Boys and Girls"
"Morrison Hotel" is a really solid early 70s rock album. That's it, that's the review.
In all seriousness, The Doors managed to create a project that is almost consistently sonically interesting. The bass is a recurring highlight, and the guitars are obviously really good. I also adore the use of early synth sounds!
The reason I didn't give this album five stars, is because I sometimes found myself getting a little bit bored during songs. This mostly happened on the back half of the album, which I think is a bit weaker than the first. "The spy" is the chief offender in this category, and is the only song I actively didn't enjoy.
My favourite songs, on the other hand, were the two closing tracks "Maggy M'Gill" and "Indian Summer", as well as "Peace Frog".
This one's a weird one for me. On the one hand, I can really appreciate both the lyrical and musical intricacies of the album. Sufjan Stevens is a great storyteller, and an equally good musician.
On the other hand, I just... wasn't captured by the album? Though I wouldn't turn it off, I also didn't find myself remembering a lot of what was going on. This might be a case of 'wrong place wrong time', or maybe the album just isn't for me.
My favourite song on the project was 'Calimir Pulaski days'
'A nod is as good as a wink' is een heerlijk Brits rockalbum, dat klinkt alsof Faces iets te bewijzen had tegen Amerikanen. Rod Stewart en Ronny Lane hebben fantastische zangstemmen, die ook nog eens heel fijn samengaan. Over Lane gesproken, de bas op dit album is echt héér-lijk.
'Debris' is een overduidelijke favoriet, die het ongemakkelijke gevoel van een volwassen relatie met je vader prachtig weet te vangen. 'Stay with me' is ook een banger. Gewoon een heel lekker album!
Geen hele lange review vandaag (ik zou bijgod niet weten hoe)
Gewoon een heel lekker indrustrieel album.
I really don't care for this album.
Lyrically uninteresting, which would be okay if the production could carry the project—but it can't.
DNF'd
Heel moeilijk te reviewen. "Blue Suede Shoes" is een klassieker, en "Tutti Frutti" natuurlijk ook. Ik zou het album niet uitzetten, maar ook niet zo snel aan. Het klinkt gewoon heel verouderd.
Noise isn't really my genre, but I have a certain appreciation for what this album does. It actually felt really coherent, which impressed me. At the same time, I just wasn't that engaged half the time? Solid, but not to my tastes!
This is actually my first time listening to the "White Album" in full. I get the hype now. My only criticism is that it drags on ever so slightly. Not my favourite Beatles album, but still incredibly strong.
'Blackbird' remains one of the most beautiful songs ever made
God wat een heerlijk geil album, in de breedste zin van het woord: teksten, vocals, muziek, en vibes zijn allemaal om van te glijden.
A tale of two halves, NEU! 75 had a clear vision that I think they executed on very well. The first 3 tracks are ambient, pulling you along gently like waves on a lake. Once you hit the halfway mark however, the band hits you with "hero", and the atmosphere changes entirely. Whilst this shift in style (and the ones that follow after) might be too much for some, I very much appreciated it!
El Harba wine >>
ElBab >>>
Mele H'bibti >
Leile >>
There's some really cool and interesting-sounding tracks on this album, and then there's an Imagine jumpscare.
El Bab, El Harba Wine, and Leile were my favourite tracks. Besides the obvious, C'est la Nuit (in French) was probably my least favourite—which makes for a fun contrast
This album will never not hit. This era of gangsta rap is defined by its beats, and Straight Outta Compton is no different.
Dr. Dre is one of the best producers to ever grace the scene, and it shows here. Many of the tracks contain multiple beat switches, setting each individual member up to let their flow and style of rapping shine. The title track is a prime example of this.
As for the other members, some shine more brightly than others on this album. Ice Cube is front and centre, and Eazy E's unique style stands out as well. Something I hadn't noticed before is how much airtime Ren actually gets on this project—which I am definitely a fan of.
The reason this album gets 4 stars from me, rather than 5, is because I think the second half drops off in quality just a little bit. The album peaks early, and the peaks are incredibly high, but it makes for a slightly lob-sided project.
This was a difficult album to rate. Stevie Wonder was an incredibly talented artist, and this album was consistently solid—both lyrically and musically.
At the same time, there was very little about this album that properly stood out to me. Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away, and They Won't Go When I Go are my favourite tracks on the project, but they do not reach the heights that other albums on this list (including other Stevie Wonder albums) do.
Having two Stevie Wonder albums back to back was certainly an experience. Overall, this one had higher highs, but was less consistent to me. So they get the same score!
Cult-adjacent family folk music is such a fun trip. Lyrics are based at times, absolutely insane most others. This would've been 3 stars, if it wasn't for the last handful of tracks.
Anti-minotaur propaganda (and many inaccuracies) will not be tolerated.
Heavy hitting, storytelling album. Biggie brings us along to his world, for better and for worse. The album drags on ever so slightly—the beats and his voice are slightly too similar for my taste—but it's a great project overall. One of the classics for a reason!
The intro to this album is one of the most effective I've ever heard, I was really impressed by it. The title track and Big Poppa were other obvious highlights.
What if we made the Beach Boys less interesting?
I can appreciate the story Wilson tries to tell on this album, but it just drags on forever. Instrumentals feel repetitive, the vocals muted—it just misses the mark for me.
Decent enough album, but I really don't care for the high-pitched vocals a lot of the time.
Eindelijk een keer een album van de top2000 merchants geluisterd, en was niet teleurgesteld! Gewoon een heel lekker rock album.
Alive en Black zijn natuurlijk goeie nummers, maar ik ga komend jaar ook de alert voor Jeremy maar eens aanzetten.
She is an icon.
She is the moment.
"I miss the Old Kanye" no I don't.
This album feels incredibly dated, both in lyrics and in sound. Ye is widely regarded as a great producer, but—much like his political beliefs—the direction just doesn't click with me.
On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?
Bat Out Of Hell might genuinely be my favourite album of all time. I was brought up on it by my parents, but I've been rediscovering it myself as well over the past two years. I'm very grateful to have seen it on this list, because it gave me an opportunity to critically evaluate it—and give it five stars because it is indeed thát good.
You can't talk about a Meat Loaf album and not mention the pair of lungs on that man. Throughout the album he delivers consistently great vocal performances, but what I appreciate most is how he manages to convey emotions with his voice. Both on the more stripped down tracks, such as Heaven Can Wait, and on the big bombastic songs, such as the title track.
This is the point where I have to bring up Ellen Foley, who features as the female vocal on this album. She often goes under-appreciated because she did not tour with Meat Loaf, but her performance on this album is nothing but stellar. The best example of this, of course, is the closing track on the album, Paradise By The Dashboard Light: an incredible back-and-forth duet which culminates in the two singers cursing eachother to damnation in the best possible way
Of course, no discussion of Bat Out Of Hell can be had without mentioning composer Jim Steinman. The album is often grand and theatrical (which is no suprise, given its origins), with big instrumental moments and dramatic intros and outros, but knows when to leave space and let the lyrics and vocals do the heavy lifting.
And then, finally, there are the lyrics...
Dear God the lyrics.
"I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death" is one of the single most iconic lyrics of all time!
Maybe I am indeed the faggot, America...? (How did they know??)
Marlene on the Wall God wat een nummer
She keeps challenging the future without any sense of history - banger lyric
Don't care for this. Not sonically interesting, and very repetitive. Feels like we're trying a lot of styles, but creating less inspired versions of all of them.
Some really nice prog rock. Good stuff!
Oh hell yes. Funky (duh) and with a great political message as well. What more can I ask for?
Great vibes, love the mix of influences.
Madonna says fuck situationships
Well-made album, but I fear it's a bit too slow for my personal liking.
I really liked this album! The production is intense and rough, which I think pairs very well with the overall themes of the album. Femininity is not just sunshine and rainbows, it is a lot of suffering at the hands of the world and the men that inhabit it.
Uninteresting and repetitive. This album is like all the worst habits of 90s alternative rock and poprock mashed into one.
Some of the lyrics really live up to the title of the album, being just so unbelievably simplistic and stupid.
I do think there are some interesting musical bits to the album, but unfortunately they're just wholly overshadowed by the mediocrity that surrounds it.
Wild World will always be a lovely and cute song.
Album really grows into itself. Wasn't too keen on the first few songs, but after Wild World I found myself enjoying the tracks a lot more
Been listening to this between rounds at EUIC to refocus, and really enjoyed it. A little bit overly cursive sometimes, but otherwise great!
I mean it's fine, not my favourite tho
Quite like the musical side of this album, but Young's vocals sound so strained to the point of being uncomfortable to listen to.
Piece of my Heart is such a phenomenal song. Joplin has an incredible voice, and the instrumentals still hold up despite being quite dated!
The album cover is... interesting.
Normally quite a big fan of this genre, but this album just didn't hit for me.
Clitrock is such a banger genre name. And this is a banger album!
The tracks are varied, ranging from songs that are closely Britrock-related to harder, rougher sounds.
A constant between tracks, however, are the incredible vocal performances.
An album with this many covers making it onto a list like this might seem bizarre, but I'd say it's completely justified. This album delivers gut punch after gut punch. Cash's voice has obviously seen better days, but it's exactly that broken voice that makes it so powerful. A lament for a life lived, with both love and regrets in excess.
Fiona Apple coming in on Bridge over Troubled Water was one hell of a moment.
Desperado, on the other hand, just really didn't work for me. Bit of a shame, since I love that song. Streets of Laredo and We'll Meet Again might be the perfect ending to this album.
Saying Aretha Franklin is a great vocalist feels like kicking in a door so open it's just an empty frame. The queen of soul easily lives up to her title.
What struck me on this album specifically is its theme of womanhood. Obviously, as an album from the '60s, there are some dated conceptions of a woman's role and place that find their way in. Yet, I can't help but be interested by how Franklin chooses to negotiate these positions.
The best example of this, is the track Ain't No Way. In it, Franklin struggles with a failing relationship due to the emotional unavailability of her partner. Because of this, she feels like she can't take her rightful place in supporting him. The gender dynamics here are interesting, because traditional masculinity (including that of a lot of Christian churches) rewards this emotional detachment of men. In that sense, though not directly pushing back in her own position, Franklin does challenge traditional relationship dynamics.
A lot went wrong in Thatcherite Britain, but my word was it good for music quality. This album has all the best of British prog/pop rock: a political consciousness, darker atmosphere, and varied sounds.
I'd heard the big hits (Everybody Wants to Rule the World, and Head Over Heels) on this album before, but the rest of the album was equally good. Mothers Talk is a new favourite of mine!
This is a bit of an album of two halves for me. The front end of it is good, but didn't capture me as much as I maybe expected it to.
The second half, however, is a strong contender for the best ending to an album ever. Bohemian Rhapsody is even better in the context of the album than it is on its own.
Whilst listening to this album, I couldn't help but feel like this was a worse version of Phil Collins. Is that entirely fair? Probably not. Does that make this a bad project? Definitely not.
But it does make it a solid 3-star album.
I'm not a huge metal fan, but I quite liked this one. That being said: dear God the recording quality...
Massive male manipulator lyrics...
and I can't tell if it's supposed to be or not.
Lord this album is phenomenal. Jeff Buckley the man that you were, and the music that you made.
Title track is obviously great, but everything after feels very repetitive. I'd rather have just played Highway to Hell 10 times.
Yes queen give us nothing.
The most boring tropes of '90s punk rock all blended up in a performatively edgy project.
