N.W.A. delivers only the freshest of gangsta rap beats, which masterfully support the clever lyricism and deeply political themes of this album. An instant classic, even on first listen.
It's easy to see what makes this album fascinating to listeners. The production is great, and the floating feeling of the instrumentation is pretty neat. That being said, this album as a whole doesn't really leave too much of an impression on me. I find it too indulgent and drawn out. I appreciate the unique sound of this album, but it’s not something I feel compelled to return to.
Classic thrash metal album that begins to show the versatility of Metallica’s sound. As expected, there’s no shortage of blazing fast riffs and explosive thrash energy, but there’s also a lot of beautiful melodic moments and creative songwriting. The album is a bit front-loaded, but there are some late standouts such as the amazing bass feature “Orion” (which unfortunately does overstay its welcome a tiny bit). Majority of the songs are nothing short of incredible.
A nice collection of classic blues and folk rock tunes. Bob Dylan’s distinctive vocals and clever lyrics are the star, but they are supported by wonderful folk instrumentation that makes this album an instant head bopper that never feels stale. Harmonica solos rip every single time.
I really don’t get the first song at all. It’s trippy, sure, but I really just find it boring. The rest of the album is nice and groovy, with a series of wonderful jams. It’s a pretty fun listen, but not a total standout to me. The closer makes up for the first track though…fart sounds were a nice touch LOL
Any good Van Halen song has its fair share of theatrics. This albums pushes it over the top on every song, giving the whole listen a distinctive charm that only Van Halen could provide. And not to mention the mind-melting guitar playing of Eddie Van Halen, as well as the delightfully charismatic lead vocals from David Lee Roth. An obvious highlight is the dizzying “Hot for Teacher”, whose hilarious lyrics elevate what is already a mind-bending, impossibly tight instrumental. It’s all very impressive, and the band makes it look effortless.
That is, until the last three tracks bore you with their dullness.
Some nice dreamy pop songs. Nothing overly extravagant. It’s well produced and a pretty easy listen, but I don’t find it very striking or mind blowing.
There are for sure some classic moments on this album, and some serious hits outside of just the singles too. The opener “Hello” rips and starts the album off strong. What follows is a bunch of fun, jammy rock songs that only moderately show their obvious Beatles influence.
Is it a perfect album, though? Absolutely not. I really can’t stand “Wonderwall” anymore, and I find “Some Might Say” pretty annoying honestly. It all culminates with “Champagne Supernova”, thought, I think is still the strongest song by far, so at least things end on a high note.
Even on his debut, Kanye is a full fledged personality with tons of character. Not everyone will gel with this album, but the beats are super fresh, hooks are super catchy, and it’s just overall a great vibe. Very impressive album with some awesome tracks. The closer is also super cool as he tells the story of how the album happened.
This one is totally lost on me. Nico definitely succeeds at being challenging and avant-garde. She does not, however, succeed at making something enjoyable.
I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the most soulful albums I’ve ever heard. Aretha Franklin is simply electric on all of these southern soul bangers. It’s super groovy, fun, charming and an instant classic. “Respect” obviously demands its title from the listener—being an all time classic soul song for good reason. But the other tracks on here also deliver the goods, with each bringing something creatives to the table. From the dramatic and bluesy “Drown in My Own Tears” to the rocking “Save Me”, and even the samba-esque “Don’t Let Me Lose This dream”, this album never fails to impress.
Great album to fall asleep to…fails for me by any other metric, other than I guess the production is good. Did I really have to hear this one before I die?
This rating is for the French version.
The first couple songs honestly bang, but the album isn’t really anything special from there. Chris has a wonderful voice, and everything sounds super clean and funky, but it just doesn’t really do much for me.
Some neat techno bops, a rather curious album indeed. I honestly think most of the tracks are too long, but there are some nice sounds that are pretty fun and interesting. It’s not for casual listening, and I’ll probably never listen to it again, unless I’m on drugs maybe. There is something pretty hypnotic about a lot of these beats, though. If you just let it wash over you, then it’s pretty nice.
Pretty fun prog rocks, gets a little dull in some spots. I understand it’s a landmark record, and it’s definitely with listening to, it’s just not really my favourite.
I would’ve given this spot to “Hypermagic Mountain”, but “Wonderful Rainbow” certainly delivers the beautiful chaos that Lightning Bolt is known for. It’s not their best, but it’s still a jaw dropping album, and one of the most insane things that one can listen to! The thick bass pounds deep into your skull while the drums pummel away in complete pandemonium. In spite of this chaos, the band manages to find eccentric grooves and make the whole thing sound tight as hell. Most people will find this album obnoxious, but that’s what I love most about it. Crank it to 10 and drown out anyone who complains :)
M.I.A.’s attitude on this album is infectious. It’s banger after banger of badass techno hip-hop that’s as danceable as it is socially aware. Extremely creative production and beats support each and every song here. Moreover, the embrace of non-western influences on this album is eye-opening, and highly essential as these artists often don’t see “equal opportunity” in the music industry. Overall a very fun and enjoyable listen.
I’ve never been a big Steely Dan lover. This album is definitely the best I’ve heard from them, but I just kind of feel nothing while listening to it. It’s easy to groove to, and there are certainly some cool moments, but I really don’t feel the need to return to any of these songs. Like it all seems good on paper, and I can tell that some real thought went into making these songs, but they’re just not really that exciting to listen to. This is music for people who think jazz chords = good music and don’t give it a second thought.
It’s Beck. Everything you expect from a Beck album—bombastic production on a collection of tracks that aren’t sure if they want to be rock, country, or pop. I would classify a lot of the instrumentation here as pretty experimental, with varying degrees of success. It’s certainly very cool and hip, but most of the songs just aren’t really that exciting.
On the first listen I didn’t really get this one. On the second listen, I think I understand the merit of this album. It’s a pretty challenging listen (because the songs are so long), but I think the point is to just sit back and let Isaac Hayes take you on the long-haul soul train. When you accept this, the album plays beautifully and provides a very potent soul experience. It’s a slow burn (one of the slowest I’ve ever encountered), but worth sitting with. In particular, the triumphant horns on the closer (an honestly puzzling 19-minute version of “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”) are a great example of how this album pays off for the patient listener.
Edit: this album is a masterpiece in soul, and an incredible experience.
It’s fine. This kind of old-school punk rock hasn’t really aged very well because this formula has been massively improved over the last 40+ years. I recognize that The Clash was super important and groundbreaking at the time—but there’s nothing about this that I find impressive nowadays.
It’s enjoyable, but not very exciting or interesting.
I’m not a huge Black Sabbath fan, but there’s no denying that this was groundbreaking stuff for its time. Although metal nowadays is so heavy that it completely eclipses the sound of this album, the songs here are still heavy at times, and they totally hold up as classic rock tunes. That makes this still a worthwhile listen, and a pretty enjoyable one at that.
This is just an incredible roots rock album that grooves so hard. The riffing on some of these tracks is insane (Jemima Surrender comes to mind), and it’s just pretty awesome the whole way through. It’s country, it’s folk, it’s blues, and it’s (pretty much) all amazing! Overall, it’s pretty sweet.
Honestly, this is a head scratcher. It’s pretty cool in some spots, but I just don’t find it very mind blowing. I didn’t find much to keep me engaged for most this record.
Siamese dream is easily one of the best albums of the 90s—it’s a sound so potent and incredible that people are still trying to emulate it today. The Smashing Pumpkins just totally knocked it out of the park on this one. From the bright, fuzzy riffs, to the impossibly tight and funky drumming, to the dark and creative lyricism, this album is just a masterpiece from front to back. The start of this album has to be the most impressive 9 track run I’ve ever heard.
A pretty sweet collection of tunes. I understand these are mostly cover songs, but they’re performed and arranged quite nicely. There’s a lot to appreciate in the playing and singing on this album—particularly the guitar parts are really cool the way that they play with each other. Overall, a solid listen.
AC/DC is a band that cemented their sound and then just rolled with it. Is it a versatile sound? Not really, but it’s good fun and something totally unique to them.
If you’ve ever heard AC/DC before, then you already know what this album sounds like. There aren’t really any surprises on this album, other than the fact that it’s pretty good outside of just the title track. There are at least a few fun tracks that I would revisit: like “Girls got rhythm”, “if you want blood”, “shot down in flames”. The other tracks range from pretty fun to pretty boring, but none of them are really that mind-blowing to me.
This brand of their sound doesn’t suit them well. I don’t really enjoy this album at all. I miss the simply dark and mysterious beats on Dummy.
There’s something so warm and cozy about this album. Paul Simon displays a pretty minimalist ensuite of jammy blues songs that you can’t help but smile to. It’s a truly heartwarming album, and a wonderful experience.
The incredible acoustic guitar playing on this album is second to none. You can easily get lost in some of the intricacies. But above it all is Paul Simon’s warm charm that just totally irresistible. Fantastic listen, really glad I heard this before I die
Great background music, but mostly just boring techno crap that I really just don’t care for in the slightest.
