Before I heard this album I was a complete dorkus malorkus. Now, upon hearing it for the first time, I am driving through midtown Manhatten at midnight in a Lincoln Continental, shades on. I'm wearing a pinstripe suit, I have a martini in my hand and a knockout dame on my lap.
Some of the most gorgeous and evocative guitar playing of all time, and some quite lovely song writing, are crushed beneath mind numbingly boring arrangements and production.
Too long, too slow, too sparse, too spineless by half
Play this loud. Elemental, vital, no frills rock n roll played with soul, muscle and heart. For a band so woven into the fabric of our pop culture CCR still seem underrated.
Incredible album.
I listened to this album a lot when it came out, so this was tinged with nostalgia. Very 90s, well produced with a satisfying blend of teen angst and adult sophistication.
A cultural juggernaut and part of the firmament of what made the 90s the 90s, listening to this with fresh ears I'm neither blown away or disappointed, it's every bit as enjoyably extra as I remember.
Songs 3.5/5
Vocals 4/5
Atmosphere 5/5
Grooves 100/5
The best KOL album, which is an extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemley low bar.
Sloppy, obnoxious, strangely charming. The guys in this band all seem dodgy as hell but they can find a cool and unique groove. If I was 20 and on drugs when this came out it would've blown my mind.
Classic sounding without being boringly reverant, soulful and emotional but never histronic, ecclectic in it's influences but cohesive in it's vision and sound. This is a true album as a defined piece of art. Richly satisfying and my favourite new discovery so far.
There are some albums that are so influential you are able to overlook how horribly dated and boring they sound. This is not one of them.
The older I get the more I deeply enjoy listening to jazz. Not for the songs themselves, but for the thrill of hearing musicians in the real playing music of supreme quality and expression, taking me on an aural journey.
At first I found this album annoying jarring, pretensious and painfully unenjoyable. As I listtened it grew on me and I came to appreciate it's clear, singular vision and the song structure and overall tone grew on me. In the end I respect this album and never want to hear it again.
It's hard to hear this with fresh ears given how insanely influential it is, but the groove is undeniable. Not what I reach for, but I respect the technique and the stature.
The brutal, blast beating hardcore side of this blast rules and is a strong 4.
The histronic bleating emo side of this album stinks and is a weak 2.
So we'll split the difference and call it a 3.
Three supremely talented sex pests and one hilariously untalented sex pest make the most inane, annoying and ultimately gutless bullshit going. Fuck this band and fuck this album.
I don't care who you are. I don't care where you're from. I don't care how old you are, how much money you have, who you like to fuck or what you like to drink. This is some of the realest shit ever commited to wax and you need to get down to it before you make a damn fool of yourself.
Who up honkin' they tonk?
Shit rips. It's like drinking from a fire hose, but once you get in the zone this is a suprisingly cohesive, enjoyable album.
Somewhere between perfect pastiche and earnest genre piece. Absolutely reamed full of hooks and ineffably c o o l.
As an old punk I fully expected to hate this but I found myself locking into to the virtuosity, the bananas timing and arrangements and the baroque weirdness of it all. I must be getting old.
The highs on this album are fabtastic - the title track is an absolute barnstormer and their cover of Born to Run rips. Unfortunately however the lows really make the album sag.
Undoubtedly extremely influential and a remarkable achievement, subjectively speaking this is all a bit too slow and gloomy for me. Love the bass and drum sound, and some of the faster tempo numbers were fun, but all in all a bit of a slog.
God DAYUM that's funky. And when I say funky, I mean in the 'tight as a fishes booty hole, stanker than a jazz cigarette' old school cool proto funk. Soul funky groove baby, yeAHHH!
The fact that Oasis are still so beloved despite releasing nothing but shite for their final FIVE albums is testament to how beloved and fantastic their first two are. Huge, dumb, loveable choons and lightning in a bottle chemistry and charisma and chutzpah to pull them off
Music to Drunkenly Leer at Girls By
WELL NOW
Old school rap is kind of CORNY AS HECK
But that don't mean it don't DESERVE RESPECT
The 808 is POPPIN' and the rhymes are KICKIN'
And in your head these songs will be STICKIN'
This album rules and that's NO JIVE
So clap your hands and slap a FIVE
Oh how I adore this album and this artist. Tidal is an extraordinary opening salvo from one of her generations most unique, exceptional and intoxicating songwriters and performers. As incredible as this album is it is only an appetiser for a run of albums that, when the dust settles, may prove to be THE discography of all time. She is that good. 100/5.
This aural equivalent of dropping a valium and some molly and zoning out on a beanbag giggling with your best friends. Pure, unadulterated Good Vibes.
If this album consisted of just the title track alone repeated 8 times it would still stand as an almighty pop music masterpiece. 'Young Americans' (the song) is as close to a perfect song as I have heard, each tiny element tuned to absolute perfection, the track unfurls over 5 something minutes of scintilating, luxuriating, envigorating bliss.
The rest of the album does a gallant if not entirely as captivating job of following such a peerless opening act. Rich, textural production, smooth rhythms and harmonies, ineffeble sex appeal and sophistication. A sleek, stylish and satisfying cocktail shaken and served by the master Himself.
Breezy, dayglo, hyperactive and very late 90s. The late 90s were a positive time full of optimistic vibes. You didn't need to think too hard, you just need to smile and move your booty. And if this don't make your booty move your booty must be dead.
Servicable, competent, palatable and by the numbers. All adjectives that do not denote something that is unique or essential.
You do not need to hear this album before you die.
Few bands loom as large in the popular imgination as Pink Floyd. Who, apart from the Beatles and Bowie, has so many albums that have reached an almost mythical, unassailable level of reverence? All that to see that meeting albums like gif on it's own terms is something that must be done with prior intention, lest you get carried away with the towering context of it all.
So, with ears as fresh as is possible, this album is fantastic. Nothing on here seems unconsodered, not a second is wasted. Indeed every moment for the duration is utilised to it's fullest capacity in service of the albums themes and motifs. Musically the album leans clinically precise without losing a vital smeer of humanity, notably in the vocals. The epic 12 minute bookends are impressive constructions, and the three songs in between more than hold their own.
I want to give special attention to the title track. Despite half a century of over exposure it is still a shatteringly emotional experience listening to this song, especially if you are someone who has loved or lost a person suffering mental illness. Sandwiched between note perfect exercises in ice cold precision and howling ennui, it's compassion rushes over you like a balm.
It's monolithic stature is deserved, this is a towering achievement.
Along with albums from Velvet Underground and Nico, the Stooges and Black Sabbath, this is THE most influential 60s album in the development of quote unquote alternative rock n roll. You could make a list of 1001 bands from the 70s to today for whom this album's shaggy, stripped down, spaced out take on country rock is the rosetta stone.
I love this sound, it scratches such an elemental itch in my music listening brain. This album feels like being stoned to the bone rolling a smoke on a couch in a garage on a hot Wednesday afternoon. Dig it.
The zenith of a certain strain of warm, jangly, intelligent, big hearted music broadly known as alternative in the 90s, or more aptly college rock. This is an album that wraps around you like a woollen cardigan. A deserved masterpiece.
Decant a flagoon of fineste mead and embrace ye beloved maiden or lord, for verily, this slappeth.
Sophisticated country-adjacent singer songwriter music is usially my jam but I find this just ok.
Trying to pin down why this album isn't gelling with me when on paper I should love itband I think it's that overly 'aw shucks' West Coast 70s pop sheen on the production and vocals. Needs just a little more grit and it'd be a classic.
Top 3 album of all time for me. I first heard this as a teenager laying in bed home sick from school. From the first curious, careening guitar chords I was absolutely locked in, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Over the next hour or so my mind got completely blown apart.
Densely complex, technically astounding, fiercely intelligent, darkly groovy, ineffably intoxicating, depressingly prescient. What else is there to say about this towering masterpiece of modern music? A generational work of art.
I'm glad albums like these are on this list, it's unique, it's obscure, and it swings for the fences. It's two epic 7 minute plus songs are fantastic, and I genuinely love the vocals and commitment to the artistic vision. Unfortunately that vision often leaves me feeling like I need a shower, most notably in the godawful second track which overstays it's welcome about 30 seconds into it's interminable 6 minutes.
I tried with this album, I really did. I can hear some fine song craft, but the whole thing is so bloody maudlin, has such an air of cork sniffing pretentiousness, and is so painfully, dolorously slooooooooooow that I just couldn't. Maybe if I was post coital or three cocktails deep.
A bliss point is the precise, engineered amount of salt, sugar, or fat in processed food that maximizes pleasure and consumer desire, creating a "just right" taste that encourages overconsumption and repeat purchases. Coined by Howard Moskowitz, this industry strategy aims to trigger dopamine hits, making foods nearly impossible to resist.
Yes, yes, Morrissey is a royal bitch. My goal with this project is to try and leave context at the door, simply listen and ask myself if I enjoy it, and I enjoy this very much.
Arch, histronic, swaggering, dripping with invective, the songs are confident and economical and the production is crisp and punchy. As good as any mid tier 90s indie as you'll hear, I would listen again.
At first I thought this was just another goofy old school hip hop album, but as the album went on the intricate, ahead of it's time production and heady lyrical themes made me appreciate it as a much more of an important and interesting album. It does feel a little, if they'd shaved 3 or 4 tracks off this would be a bonafide classic.
An extremely stoned album. I enjoyed some of the more upbeat tunes and think the final track is probably the best, but some of the more dubbed out chillers got a little boring and Albarn's falsetto is extremely grating. Clint Eastwood is an all timer of a track. What was I talking about?
Cafe Del Mar-core snooze fest.
I was a young teenager when grunge broke, I absorbed the big 4 bands and their classic albums through cool older kids, but never heard this, apart from the singles. Courtney Love attracted so much derision from the same cool older kids that I know I would've dismissed it anyway. By the time I was a cool older kid I was in love with punk and looked down on grunge as sad sack junkie music.
On hearing this through I can now say I missed out on an incredible work, surely one of the high watermarks of grunge as a style and movement. Wow. This album floored me. The atmosphere is intensely personal, aggressive, spitting with righteous anger and detached despair. The music is soaring and dramatic without ever losing it's edge and grittiness. Like the best grunge it strikes the perfect balance between hardcore's intense dynamics and powerpop's melodic sensibilities, but crucially there is a rich, dark vein of punk rock and riot grrl running through these songs.
Special mention must be given to Love, who's lyrics, vocal performances and presence lifts this album to another level. As a huge fan of Distillers I now know where Brody Dalle took her cues from.
I have been unable to shake this album since hearing it. It is an incredibly effective and potent rock and roll album that can not and will not be denied. I wish I'd heard it when I was a young teenage boy.
Vocals? Crooning.
Drums? Swinging.
Ivories? Tinkling.
Horns? Blarting.
Must be a 50s jazz pop album! Not enjoying music like this is like not enjoying a marshmallow.
Steely Dan changed my music listening life. Not because they taught me something about myself or helped me through a tough time, but just that they showed me how richly enjoyable music can be a purely aesthetic level. This music is exceeding NICE to listen to. Gourmet music. An epicurean delight to the ears.
Of course part of the magic of Steely Dan (and they are magic) is that this sumptuous sweetness is balanced with the perfect hit of acid in the lyrical themes.
All in all the dish that comes together is a perfectly balanced, delectable and morish.
Melodramatic and rich at the same time as being brooding and ice cold, this album is deceptive. It can wash over you as a simply a classic example of baroque chamber pop, but closer listening reveals complexity and darkness.
There is something almost chilling in the calculated regal detachment of the vocals as they sing their theatrical tales of debauchery and despair above the grand, sweeping scope of the music. It is cinematic, evocative, lush and highly effective. I want more.
First two sides - "Maybe I've been wrong about prog rock all this time. This is some of the most adventurous, thrilling and fun rock music I've heard in a minute. I'm feeling a strong 4 to 5"
Second two sides - "The punks were right to want to destroy this bloated, pretentious nonsense. Light 2"
REM is a white whale of mine. Never knowing more than the hits I've always been so curious as to why exactly they are so beloved and canonised. Two albums in on the project it's becoming clear, people love them as much for what they created as for what they represent, and those two things marry beautifully- the idea of artists as craftspeople, using attainable skills to make things of beauty that speak to common truthes and concerns. The idea of a band that isn't critically lauded because of their virtuosity, or their avant-garde experimentalism, or their shocking left turns, but they did the work, and the work was good. That is a band you can believe in and feel good about living with your whole heart.
Wow. This made me rethink all the 5 stars I've already given because THIS deserves 5. An extraordinary, breathtaking masterpiece.
I saw this descibed as trip hop, it is definitely is not. What it is is very well made, extremely pleasant to listen to pop music. Which has it's place. One for when you need to lower the cortisol.
An album as remarkable and commendable for it's concept and context as much as it's content, so thankfully the content is as good as it gets. Sublimely understated compositions masterfully performed. The only thing keeping me from a 5 is the sequencing and repetition which I think will gel better for me after a few more listens.
That exceedingly rare thing - an album so fully ingrained in the firmament that you can demarcate popular culture before and after it, that does not lose an iota of it's thrill decades after it's release. I can't wait for the day I play this to my young sons, to watch their faces as they hear it all for the first time.
The sound and production on this is clean as a whistle, all the the instruments sound like they were recorded in hermetically sealed barns. The vocals have an agreeable twang, the uptempo numbers get the tows tapping, and the whole thing is pleasantly cheese laden without toppling into parody. The two songs that are directly and plainspokenly about murdering your intimate partner should she dare leave you definitely sour the experience for me however.
This music is a balm for the soul.
Music for nerdy 12 year old boys who've had far too much sugar.
This is one of my mother's favourite albums so listening again after many years evokes warm memories, as indeed does the music itself; wholesome and humanist as it is.
This has a quality I appreciate in an album wherein all the songs kind of sound just a little similar. It makes for a cohesive feel and gives the impression of an artist working in a rich creative vein.
All up it's a little twee but puts a smile on my face.
p.s This is where Vampire Weekend were born.
It makes a lot of sense when you learn that Steve Earle spent the first part of his career working as a jobbing songwriter in Nashville. He is a craftsman as much as an artist, his songs are sturdy and reliable. This album leans more into heartland rock and pop than pure country, big emotions, whole chested deliveries and a rich authenticity of voice.
This album is packed with bangers but unfortunatley for mine loses a bit of steam in the last couple of tracks. There is a lot to love here though, and Earle as a figure deserves his flowers.
Aggressively inessential.
Beguiling, elemental, ineffeble. A sound world I could spend my life uncovering.
Given their universal acclaim I'm embarrassed to say this is the first Smith's album I've listened to go to woah (singles compilations notwithstanding). Shocker - it's really good. Remarkably ahead of the game for an album released in '87, a lot of it sounds like it could be released today. Smiths, Pixies and REM really were the Ur Indie bands of the late 80s hey.
This didn't hit me as a masterpiece of a album, but a collection of very good to very very good songs. Bring on the next one, I'm sure there are more on here.
This is really fantastic. A perfect (dis)harmony of distortion and melody. Some very satisfying skronk and screams balanced with warm chords and melodies that draw you in. Equally the album is well weighted in the ratio of 3 minute bursts and longer, more slowly built up atmospheres. All while being effortlessly, effortlessly cool. Spectacular.
If you wanted to show a group of young musicians an elite example of a band as a group of musicians serving each other and the song, you could do worse than this album. Each player plays their role, takes their time and supports the groove and the vibe. The outcome is exceedingly enjoyable and deceptively simple.
I teach primary school dance and one of the first songs I play for my classes of Preps (5 and 6 year olds) in their intro to dance lesson is the title track to this album. Has never failed to get bodies moving and minds relaxed, and never will.
Goofy, candy coloured, Disneyfied rock n music. The King has no clothes.
I may be in kind of a shitty mood today but still. What the fuck is this shit?
