I’ve never really listened to the Rolling Stones and honestly didn’t expect them to be so folky/bluesy/country as this. I have no doubt that I’d see a lot more range if I listened to their whole repertoire but this didn’t really grab me. Gimme Shelter was a banger to start but it kind of lost me after that. Would have liked more of that energy to continue.
Neil Young definitely sounds better with a stripped back instruments, maybe even just a banjo. So aside from the opening track, I think that hit the mark. Not a huge fan of his voice generally but appreciated it enough that I enjoyed two straight listen-throughs.
Firstly, I really don’t like many musicals, so anything rock opera was already at a disadvantage. It was important to listen to for general pop culture knowledge and I now understand how Meat Loaf was huge inspo for Jack Black, and why in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the guy’s dream of doing a Dracula rock opera was a clear ML reference, but no matter how much I read into Meat Loaf and tried to register to the album, the songs were too long, and never ended, and the energy was so grating. (Also I have to admit I went to go look at some other reviews and my favourite was that this was “Bruce Springsteen for theatre kids”.)
This album is excellent. It somehow manages to feel like a slice of history but also delivers the kind of sociopolitical, revolutionary energy that feels so needed/relevant now? Super invigorating. Kept turning back to it with enthusiasm all day. Show em whatcha got was an instant favourite
This was so boring. It felt like once I heard both songs I’d heard them all. I got halfway through the album and just skimmed through the rest.
Very solid album! I hadn’t properly listened to Curtis Mayfield before but clearly recognised it once it was playing. Managed to have the ability to be good background music, while also having more of a socio-political message if you listened to the lyrics. Will definitely go into my rotation
It was fine? Musically solid but a bit slow for my tastes. I always feel a bit guilty when trying to rank things that clearly have historical gravitas. But this probably sounded a bit indistinguishable because I’m either unfamiliar with the genre or because it had so much influence on the music that followed. Probably both. Either way, clearly music of its time, but not an actively enjoyable listen for me.
I really like when talented musicians don’t take themselves too seriously, and I think funk in particular is a genre that encourages humour. One Nation Under a Groove was a really fun opening track and immediately stuck in my head and I had real high hopes for it - but I the just got a bit bored. Maybe the songs were a bit too long, and could have been tightened up a bit but I think that may have been a feature of the genre at the time. Really torn been giving this a 4 and a 3. But while I might explore the rest of their music, not sure I’ll be coming back to this album, so a 3 it is!
I understand this must have been influential but it just really hasn't stood the test of time. I've also never really been able to get into the backing vocals on 2pac songs. Old School was the one song I really enjoyed and returned to on this album. Apart from that it really elicited a shrug from me.
I found it more fun to read about the album than I did to listen to it. Like, it’s a cool concept to revisit a classical Russian composer as a prog rock band, and must have been really fun to record as the band, and to experience as a fan at the time. The live recording aspect of it was distracting for me though, and it might have hit better as a studio recording.
The synth was a fun add to a classical cover, but at times ended up reminding me of video game music (clearly not their fault and a matter of future developments of course).
But overall happy to have experienced the album, and I feel slightly more pretentious for it! Win win
I never thought I’d be a prog rock fan but here we are. Having previously only known Yes for Owner of a Lonely Heart, this was not what expected. The bass on the 8min long (!!) Roundabout absolutely had me in a hold. Ditto for Heart of the Sunrise. Also loved The Fish, South Side of the Sky and Long Distance Runaround. Genuinely listened to this whole album 20 times over the weekend.
The pitfalls were some of the filler songs like Cans and Brahms, but I suppose you need some palette cleansers.
It was hard to tell when one song started and another ended, which was annoying when I wanted to parse out names of songs, but it generally lulled me into listening to the whole thing on repeat.
Given I can’t give this a 4.5, gonna just splurge and give it a 5.
Am I a fan now? Yes.
No question why Nirvana and Cobain were deemed the sound and voice of their generation. What a fucking album. This was also the most intentional listening I’ve done of Nevermind and made me really appreciate Cobain’s voice, on top of his lyrical and musical talent.
Not a challenging thing about this album. It was inoffensive, easy listening rock for the soft tune radio fans. It wasn’t a grating or terrible listen but I don’t really understand why it was on this list. Dull.
Such a fun album, I remember there was a re-release of this one in the mid-2010s and I got a bit obsessed. This one is going back into rotation.
Ugggh, I'm sorry to be that person but no thank you to a pop-punk rock opera. I can appreciate the concept, and the political message, but their sound here is way too polished, and I kept getting annoyed at the repeated tactic of completely changing up the beat/melody of the songs halfway through them. I fast forwarded/skimmed through most of this.
It was a fun listen, and maintained the same mood/sound throughout which means if you are liking the vibe it's perfect. Otherwise it's a bit repetitive. I oscillated between the two, but it's definitely a good 70's bush party album
It's a beautiful album, immediately put me at ease and made me feel like sophisticated gentleman in a dimly lit basement bar. Not something that really gives me big feels though and it's just not my personal taste but I appreciate it! Grew on me after the first listen.
I wanted to like this more than I did. The minimalist instrumentals were a bit grating for me, but it's no doubt fundamentally influential 1980s hip hop. Feel bad giving this a 3 but it just didn't lure me back.
This was so boring. Very unrequired. listening. Good name for a band though
This was really monotonous - I kept skipping songs halfway through. Felt like once you heard one, you heard them all.
The final three songs (Bigmouth Strikes Again, There is a Light That Never Goes Out, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others) are great. The rest plods along and it didn't feel like there was enough variety to warrant a 5.
One thing I noticed is how much more I liked this album when I was listening on headphones versus speakers. Part of that might be production value but there’s a lot of discordant sounds that just hit the wrong way u less I was fully plugged in.
Anyway, good beats, Fight the Power obviously a known standout on the album, and Incident on 66.6FM was absolutely an insane encapsulation of the racism at the time.
Definitely enjoyed it, but maybe it’s just too soon after the first Public Enemy record on the list, so was torn between 3 and 4.
It’s not terrible but the jangly dad rock felt very samey through the album and nothing really stood out to me as exceptional and scene setting, which I’m sure someone will want to yell at me for saying. Maybe also reminds me too much of Meatloaf. Not sure I had to listen to a whole album.
This was a tight 33min with fun melodies and harmonade me relisten easily. Steely Dan was a lot more enjoyable than I’d expected and especially after the wall of sound we endured from Springsteen, a cool and smooth reprieve
