First listen review. Overall, this kind of 90s grunge/alt rock sound is not one I’m particularly familiar with, outside of the obvious case of Nirvana. Perhaps that’s why this album didn't really click with me, although I can see that there is some quality here. I generally preferred the more melodic tracks which seemed to work better with Billy Corgan's voice. Conversely, I found the 'wall of guitar overdubs' on some tracks a bit overbearing, and his vocals rather grating/abrasive when he wasn't singing as softly. Some good moments, but this isn't one I’ll be revisiting any time soon.
Really enjoyable and also pretty funny. Standouts are the title track, 'Who Says a Funk Band Can't Rock?!', and 'Cholly', but the whole album was great. Will definitely be returning to this one, although the fact it's not on streaming services might limit that a bit. Although I certainly knew the title track, and think I have listened to this album before, it would have been so long ago that it was effectively a first listen. Of course with a funk album the rhythm section has a starring role, but I was really impressed with the guitar and vocals too.
The title track is fantastic of course, as is ‘The Passenger’. Those are the two standout tracks for sure, and the only ones I’d heard before, but I did enjoy the rest of the album as well, especially ‘Sixteen’ (unfortunate lyrics notwithstanding), and ‘Some Weird Sin’. As this suggests, I did think side one was stronger than side two, but the latter is still pretty good. Bowie’s influence is very clear on this album (especially on ‘Tonight’), not just in the production but even in how Iggy Pop’s vocals sound. Very different to how he sounded on Stooges albums!
I’m no jazz expert, but I have listened to my fair share of it. I know this album is very highly regarded by most jazz fans, but sadly it didn’t blow me away. It was fine enough, don’t get me wrong (hence the rating), but I wouldn’t take this over a lot of other jazz albums, including some of Hancock’s own earlier work. ‘Chameleon’ was cool but felt overly long to me, ‘Watermelon Man’ I liked, ‘Sly’ and ‘Vein Melter’ were just fine. Good background music for a chill party, but not an album I’d sit down to listen to.
As a big Black Sabbath fan I’ve heard this album countless times, but have always felt it’s a bit inconsistent compared to their previous work. It has some of my absolute favourite Sabbath tracks (‘Wheels of Confusion’, ‘Supernaut’, ‘Snowblind’, ‘Under the Sun’), but also some weaker material. By contrast their two previous albums are fantastic from start to finish. After this listen, I still think ‘Changes’ isn’t great (certainly a worse ‘soft song’ than ‘Planet Caravan’ or ‘Solitude’) and that ‘FX’ and ‘Laguna Sunrise’ are essentially filler. Those knock it down a star, but performance-wise they’re firing on all cylinders.
A tough album to rate. The title track is an absolute masterpiece, one of my favourite ever songs, and the rest of side one is excellent too (especially the opening two tracks). On side two I like ‘V-2 Schneider’ and ‘The Secret Life of Arabia'; however, I don't find the trilogy of almost ambient instrumentals between those tracks particularly compelling. Brian Eno’s influence is clear all over this album, and the arrangements and production are great. Nonetheless, ultimately it didn’t leave me with a particularly strong lasting impression, and seems to be somehow less than the sum of its parts.
On paper I should really like this album, as a bluesier/southern version of early-2000s garage rock in a similar vein to the Strokes. In the event, however, I thought it was pretty underwhelming. It made strangely little impact on me; there weren’t any tracks I could pick out as being obviously bad, but I wasn’t blown away by any either. I enjoyed the high energy feel of most tracks, but really didn’t get on with the lead singer’s voice (especially on ‘Trani’). This album doesn’t seem particularly groundbreaking or influential, so strikes me as an odd choice for the list.
This was a really pleasant surprise. Being almost entirely ignorant of country music, I'd never heard of Nanci Griffith before, but I rather enjoyed this. She has a great voice, and the lyrics were often pretty sharp and witty too, not to mention some beautiful melodies and vocal harmonies. The instrumentals did get a little samey, and I wouldn't say any tracks stood out as particularly brilliant, but at 35 minutes the album certainly didn't outstay its welcome. With further listens I might even be inclined to up my rating, but right now it's a very strong 3 star album.
I’d only heard ‘Black Magic Woman’ and ‘Oye Como Va’ before, and having now heard the full album I still think they’re probably the best tracks. The fusion of Latin jazz with psychedelic blues rock is well-executed, though I wasn’t completely sold on some of the instrumental tracks, and overall I was slightly underwhelmed, despite the undeniable fact that Carlos Santana is a great guitarist. Sure enough, he dominates the album instrumentally, but Gregg Rolie deserves particular praise too; his organ playing and vocals are great and the two tracks he wrote are the best original songs on the album.
A mixed bag. I really enjoyed five of the six first songs, especially ‘Human Behaviour’ and ‘Big Time Sensuality’. The exception was the harp-based cover of ‘Like Someone in Love’, which seemed really out of place, and I didn’t think her vocals were that great on it either, which is a shame as on most of the other tracks she sounded great. The second half wasn’t as strong; I don’t think any track was as good as any from the first half, and I actively disliked ‘Aeroplane’ and the album closer. Still, there’s easily enough quality here for 3 stars.
Tough to rate as I much preferred side two. Side one started off with two songs which were all right but didn’t blow me away, before concluding with the instrumental ‘City, Country, City’. This was probably my least favourite track, which is unfortunate given that it was 13 minutes long and essentially consisted of one decent groove/idea extended far beyond its welcome. Side two was much better, with ‘Four Cornered Room’ and the title track both having brooding, moody atmospheres I rather enjoyed, plus a great closing track. Overall, a decent funk/soul album. Enough there for 3 stars.
A foundational and incalculably influential record in the history of popular music, with a bit of historical imagination this album makes it easy to understand why rock and roll was seen as so exciting, even dangerous, when it first emerged. Today, nearly 70 years on, I'm still impressed by the power, feeling and conviction in Little Richard’s vocals (which are front and centre, dominating the mix), and it's this that allows an album of twelve more or less identical songs to nonetheless hold my attention right to the end. One star off for lack of stylistic variety, but wow!
I did like this album overall, and can see how in 1991 it might have been pretty groundbreaking, but it did wash over me somewhat after a while (several tracks seemed unnecessarily dragged out). There were some exceptions: ‘Safe from Harm’ was a great opener, ‘Be Thankful For What You’ve Got’ I liked a lot, and ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ is clearly the stand-out track. Funnily enough, the title track was probably my least favourite, along with ‘Five Man Army’ and ‘Daydreaming’. Basically, I didn’t enjoy Tricky’s rapping, and much preferred the Shara Nelson tracks. A textbook 3 star album for me.
Given the path Kanye has taken it’s difficult to assess this album in and of itself, but I’ll try... On the positive side, the instrumentals and ‘opulent’, ‘maximalist’ production (including the choices of samples) are excellent throughout. Some tracks in the second half are dragged out, however; the Chris Rock skit on ‘Blame Game’ is a particularly egregious example of this bloating. More problematic was that, common to lots of hip-hop, I also found many lyrics to be pretty off-putting. It’s so good musically, however, that I can’t give less than 3 stars. Won’t be listening to it again though.
An incredibly dense album musically and lyrically, I respect this more than I actually enjoy listening to it. I found it somewhat lacking in hooks/earworms, with some exceptions (e.g. ‘King Kunta’, ‘These Walls’, ‘The Blacker the Berry’, ‘I’). Like my previous album, Kanye’s MBDTF, musically it’s very strong, with influences from soul, funk and jazz, but vocally and lyrically it grates after a while and feels overlong; by the halfway point I was pretty fatigued. Given that it’s almost universally regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever made, perhaps this genre largely just isn’t for me.
This is at its core a really solid R&B/garage rock album, albeit with some pretty wacky lyrics and avant-garde influences, most notably on ‘Electricity’ and ‘Autumn’s Child’. However, most of its twelve songs are short, punchy, high-energy and riff-driven (and catchy!), especially the opening three tracks, ‘Yellow Brick Road’, and ‘Plastic Factory’. The notable exception, ‘I’m Glad’, is a genuinely beautiful, soulful ballad, and probably my pick of the bunch. Captain Beefheart’s voice was remarkable, and his gritty, bluesy vocals sound great throughout. I like this more with each listen. FYI, go for the mono mix over stereo.
Given Morrisey’s political views it’s fitting that he chose this title for his debut solo album. The music (composed by producer-bassist Stephen Street) is pretty good, and when this album succeeds it does so largely because of him rather than Morrissey. More often, however, I was simply bored. ‘Bengali in Platforms’ is excruciating. To end on a positive note, ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’, ‘Suedehead’ and ‘I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me’ are all good songs. Overall though, this album has done nothing to disabuse me of my opinion that Johnny Marr was the main reason for the Smiths’ success.
Despite the 3 star rating, I did rather enjoy this. It’s just that rapping as a vocal style isn’t really my cup of tea. That said, the heavily soul-influenced production (by Common’s fellow Chicagoan Kanye West no less) is great, especially on the title track/intro, which is probably the highlight of the album musically. I enjoyed the album lyrically for the most part as well; it has a generally positive vibe despite not shying away from discussing real social problems/issues and different aspects of the black American experience. My rating could quite possibly go up with further listens.
This initially left me somewhat cold, but it won me over more after a second listen. Perhaps I was comparing it too much to ‘Songs in the Key of Life’, and honestly I do think it's quite a bit weaker. One reason for that is that this album is pretty ballad-heavy, and I’m generally more a fan of Stevie’s funkier numbers. The ballads and softer tracks weren’t bad though, just not as much to my taste. ‘Smile Please’, ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’, ‘You Haven't Done Nothin’’ and ‘Please Don't Go’ were my highlights. Close to 4 stars but not quite.
I'm a fan of the early-70s heavy rock sound, so I enjoyed this well enough musically. That said, with the exception of ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’ which I liked a lot, the songs are mostly just decent (no particular outliers either positive or negative). The title track, ‘Unfinished Sweet’ and ‘Generation Landslide’ were probably the best of the rest. The band’s tongue-in-cheek, horror-styled shock-rock lyrics might have been transgressive at the time, but today they seem very tame, even a bit quaint. Certainly they're schlocky and gimmicky, which does limit their appeal. Still, there’s enough to merit 3 stars.
Well, it’s certainly different. Just not in a good way. Why do people so often think that ‘experimental’ necessarily means grating and unlistenable? It is possible to be both ‘avant-garde’ and musical/melodic, and they should try it some time. Even so, I might have forgiven the group somewhat for inflicting this on my ears if they were at least making an interesting artistic statement, but unfortunately I don’t think they were saying anything. I confess, at one or two moments I almost found a ‘song’ catchy, but there were nowhere near enough of these to counter the general awfulness.
Having never heard of Keith Jarrett, this was a really pleasant surprise, though the fact I had the Residents yesterday probably also helps, after which almost anything would seem transcendently beautiful… Joking aside, much of this album genuinely was beautiful, and I was amazed by Jarrett’s ability to improvise so brilliantly. Despite being classed as jazz, to my (albeit untrained) ear this seems overly simple; I hear lots of classical influences. This might also be an example of how knowing an album’s backstory can enhance my enjoyment of it (the Wikipedia article is a fun read). Definitely one I’ll revisit.
I appreciate this group’s attempt to make a ‘positive’ hip-hop album, but unfortunately the concept is much better than the execution. Lyrically it feels clunky, and their attempts to contrast themselves with gangsta rap come across as rather sanctimonious. More importantly, I was underwhelmed by both the rapping and most of the beats, which were quite repetitive. Much of the production has also dated poorly and is pretty cheesy. It’s not terrible (some tracks were decent), just largely uninteresting. It made almost zero lasting impression on me. I’m not surprised it took them a while to get a record deal.
Another musician in the ‘depressing life story folk/acoustic singer-songwriter’ category, like Nick Drake or Jackson C. Frank, only weirder. Some strange albums successfully balance on the knife-edge between genius and garbage, but unfortunately for the most part this wasn’t one of them. There were small glimpses of quality at points; some tracks were decent, and I even found the odd song quite moving, for example. There just weren’t anywhere near enough such glimpses. Spence supposedly recorded these tracks as demos, and they sound like it, especially the vocals. There’s some potential in these songs, but sadly it’s mostly unrealised.
What can I say? This is quite simply one of the greatest albums ever made. It's astonishing that he could maintain such quality not only across a sprawling main double album, but also a bonus EP for good measure. The twenty-one tracks cover a whole range of styles and subjects, and in all cases the songs are some of the best he ever wrote. Its power to move me remains undiminished after countless listens. This is truly Stevie Wonder at the absolute pinnacle of his powers, and to think that he almost quit the music business prior to recording it!
I like this album, but it’s certainly not perfect. On the positive side, the band sound fantastic (the drums, bass and guitars are killer), and there are lots of great tracks here: funky rap-rock bangers like ‘Give It Away’ and the title track, plus a few more distinctive songs like ‘Breaking the Girl’ and ‘Under the Bridge’. However, it’s too long given that many tracks sound very similar. Additionally, the lyrics on some songs are highly cringe-inducing (dishonourable mention ‘Sir Psycho Sexy’) and the vocals are merely okay. 3 feels harsh, and 4 feels generous, but I’ll be nice today.
I had Funkadelic's ‘One Nation Under a Groove’ a few weeks ago, and it’s hard not to compare the two albums given the bands’ massively overlapping memberships. Overall, I do prefer ‘One Nation’, but this is still a classic piece of mid-70s funk. Also like that album, it’s pretty funny as well as funky; it's largely a concept album about extraterrestrial funk, and I enjoy that immensely. The three tracks on side one were my standouts, but it's all good. Would rate 3.5 if I could, but I'll round up to 4, for the album cover if nothing else.
This album sounds like the result of crossing 2000s British indie with an Ennio Morricone or James Bond film score. It's an intriguing proposition, but unfortunately the album didn't meet its full potential for me. None of the songs were bad, but none of them stood out as particularly great either, just decent. ‘Standing Next to Me’, ‘Separate and Ever Deadly’ and ‘My Mistakes Were Made for You’ were some of the better tracks, but even these were only good rather than great. Overall, this album washed over me quite a bit, though it did start and end relatively strongly.
In which Steely Dan brilliantly marry their jazz-rock stylings to really catchy short songs with a great pop sensibility. I’d give this 4.5 if I could; it’s seriously good, but because I’m not as familiar with it as some definite 5 star albums I’d feel slightly uncomfortable giving it the maximum score. My other shortcoming is that there are some relatively weaker tracks (although still really good) in the back half, and the album ends rather abruptly, which was slightly jarring. Still, this is about as close to 5 without getting it as any album is likely to be.
AKA Zappa Begins. Sadly, I can’t give this album more than 3 stars, despite the fact I listen to much of it fairly often. Indeed, excepting ‘Who Are the Brain Police?’, I really like every song from sides one and two, plus ‘Trouble Every Day’. However, we then get into the long-form experimental/avant-garde stuff, and that’s where the album loses me. In fact, I’m not sure I’d ever heard the very end before. Had they taken the first twelve tracks and re-sequenced them to a single disc they’d have a really strong 4-star album. Crazy it’s from 1966 though!
I imagine this album might’ve been more impactful when it was first released, especially played live. Listening now, however, I hear pretty generic 70s British punk, with little to mark it out from myriad other (better?) bands of the era. There was also little to distinguish the songs from each other, which meant they did largely blur into one for me, and the best song, ‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’, wasn’t even on the original release. This sameness wasn’t helped by the washed-out, reverb-heavy production either. My overall impression is of a decent album that hasn’t really stood the test of time.
No surprise this started off as Steve Winwood’s first solo album; his powerful vocals and keyboard/organ-playing dominate the album, and he played all the guitars too. There’s also a healthy dose of jazzy flute (à la Jethro Tull). This is a textbook 3-star album for me; every track was perfectly pleasant/listenable, but none were really mind-blowing. Side two was certainly the stronger half: ‘Stranger to Himself’ was a fun country/folk-inflected track, the title track was a good bit of straight-up British folk-rock, and the closer was a pretty decent rocker. Overall, a reasonably good early prog-rock album.
