Overall: 2.5/5. Some catchy songs here but nothing really stuck out to me as particularly impressive or great, especially when comparing it to other indie-rock records from the same period. But it is very listenable, there was no point where I was actively irritated by it.
4/5. One of those albums where I’m just impressed that it released when it did. you can hear the blue-prints of a ton of punk and hard rock music that would rise with the late 70’s and 80’s here. perhaps it is a bit primitive, and with two separate mixes of the album on streaming it can be a bit confusing to get into, but definitely a good listen. (I listened to the Iggy Mix.)
4.5/5. Worth it for the title track alone which is one of the greatest songs of all time. When he starts screaming in the second half of the song, it just hits every time. The rest of the album is mostly great too. You get the rocking first half and the more ambient spacey back half similar to Low. The only thing really keeping this album from a 5/5 is that its just not my favorite Bowie record, I'm more partial to Low and Station to Station.
2/5. My take on this one is pretty simple. An amazing vocalist kneecapped by awful and cheesy 80’s pop production. Also none of the covers really stood out to me as particularly interesting or transformative.
4.5/5. This album just hits. Sees the beastie boys go in a much more live-band sounding direction musically where you get beats that vary between rock, jazz, punk and even some throat singing ear the end of the record. I may still prefer the insane burst of sampling creativity on Paul’s Boutique, but this is a fantastic album.
5/5. A 5/5 album on my first week, how lucky! Thousands upon thousands of pages have been written on this album about why it’s so great and a landmark achievement of 60’s pop, but to me the first thing that comes to mind is beauty. This is such a beautiful sounding album. Some of the finest production of its time mixed with heavenly harmonies, it is just so nice on the ears. plus the songs are also so damn good. A lot of fun small things too like the bicycle horns on “you still believe in me.”
An all time great and it’s a shame we lost Brian Wilson last year, one of the most interesting minds in pop history.
2.5/5.
It is a very listenable album, but there’s also so many albums from its time that do what it does better. admittedly doesn’t help that I’m a big Dylan fan so every time one of the Dylan covers came on I just wanted to listen to the original instead.
But yeah, it’s okay and pleasant, but nothing I’d return to.
3/5. Vocal performances and high intensity instrumentals are so fun that you almost forget Jerry Lee Lewis married and had children with his 13 year old cousin.
5/5. This is one of those albums that’s been with me essentially my entire life, it is part of my musical DNA. so I am definitely a bit biased. But still what a great album, it’s insane that it came out in 1983 because everything about this album sounds like the 90’s. from the rougher/unpolished vocals to the “horny in a depressing way” lyrics. Also some of the best bass playing you’ll hear on any rock album.
I got to see the Violent Femmes live in 2021 and getting to hear some of these songs live was great and made me appreciate Gordon as a vocalist even more.
1.5/5. The first album I’ve heard in this project where I question why it’s even really part of the list of “1,001 albums to hear before you die.” It doesn’t really do anything that tons of other albums from the 90’s already did significantly better. And it doesn’t really seem to have left much of a cultural impact, I never hear it talked about. An album for me that’s just in one ear and out the other.
4/5. One of the foundational pillars of heavy rock and eventually metal and it still hits hard to this day. As a child of the late 2000’s and 2010’s I grew up on the rockband and guitar hero games, and Highway Star was for a long time my go to song. Catchy riff, great solos and a fun vocal performance, so much to like on that song alone. It was one of the first songs I learned when I picked up a real guitar too. and of course there’s smoke on the water, an all time classic that’s also the nightmare of every guitar store employee. I also absolutely love the closer Space Truckin’, that song is a banger.
3/5. A pleasant surprise. Coldplay is one of those bands that has a stigma around their music, and I would agree that much of their catalogue is pretty bad. However this debut album is actually pretty alright. Some easygoing alt-rock that highlights Chris Martin’s strong vocals. Also some solid guitar parts. Quite enjoyed shiver especially.
The biggest flaw of this album is that it’s just a bit samey, which causes it to feel very front-loaded. nothing in the back half really gripped me as much.
2/5. I am admittedly not the most familiar with Big Beat as a genre. I basically only previously knew the Prodigy with the crab album (fat of the land.)
Fatboy Slim was another one of the large artists in that scene, and he was up there with the prodigy as one of the few big beat artists to make a splash in the U.S.. as for this album it’s some sample-heavy danceable electronic music. A lot of the songs I started off thinking “this is kinda catchy.” But then the biggest flaw of this album for me rears its head, and it’s that every song on here is just a minute or two too long which turns it into a slog to get through.
4/5. Not my personal favorite Sonic Youth album, but still a great burst of noisy rock/punk music. Not too much to say really, this album slaps.
4/5. First album I’ve gotten in this project that I hadn’t heard before. However I tend to love jazz-rap so this was mostly right up my alley. I unfortunately do not know any French though, so I plan on trying to find some half decent translations online for the lyrics. But musically I enjoyed my time with this one quite a bit!
2/5. I try my best to enter every album with a fully open mind. That being said Arcade Fire is just one of those bands that I’ve never been able to get into. Which is odd, I typically love indie rock, but something about their music has always just turned me away. That being said I will say I thought the opener “Black Mirror” and the closer “my body is a cage” is solid too, though I actually prefer the Peter Gabriel cover that’s featured in the season 2 finale of the show Dark.
Didn’t love it, but I can at least appreciate its place in 2000’s indie rock.
