Commonly seen as Coltrane's masterpiece, and one of the seminal works of modal jazz. It is much lauded for its nod to the future trend of free jazz and its sort-of-spiritual mystique. The artistry is clear, but it just doesn't seem to resonate with me like it does with its adherents. Maybe I'm just a hard-bop purist, but I've always liked Giant Steps more as a complete work. Pts. II - "Resolution" and III - "Pursuance" stand as the peak of the album to me, largely due to their tighter structure and closer adherence to hard bop norms and traditional song structure. Pt. IV - "Psalm" does well in bridging some of the freer expression seen later and the modal framework Coltrane was versed in working within. It's possible that this is why this album deserves so much respect, it makes an emotional statement that's resonated with so many while managing to tie all of the trends in this era of jazz together. There is something to be said for his signature playing style, hard, loud and fast- quoted as "sheets of sound" IIRC. It always keeps listening to his work fresh and interesting. From the accompaniments in the quartet, the playing is utilitarian and immaculate, and I think Garrison's moody bass solo at the end of Pt. III stands out as a highlight as well.
A soul classic, and a great listen. A lot of the songs themselves don't differ from one another too greatly, a lot of overlap in subject matter and general vibe, all love and heartbreak with classic sexy and lush mo-town production from a characteristically tight backing band. What I spent most of my two listens marveling at is Green's voice. They really don't make male vocalists like him any more- beautiful range of dynamics and timbre on top of his vocal range itself. That's what sets this album apart. In terms of individual tracks, the highlight of the album for me was the cover of the Bee Gee's track "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", which is one of the few instances in which a cover actually elevates a song compared to the original.
Fiona Apple, I was unfamiliar with your game.
In a lot of ways, this album is sort of antithetical to my group's listen from yesterday - Al Green's "Let's Stay Together". Green's album is one that reads within the lines of soul and R&B convention, dares not push any boundary, and makes itself interesting in it's pure dedication to the craft of its genre and vocal talent of its frontman.
Apple's album, while still immaculately produced, does all it can to buck convention for young female singer-songwriters, and feels as though it recast the mold in doing so. Truly, Apple walked so her modern juniors could run. This album dares to explore a variety of sounds that keep it from feeling stale, from sultry and mysterious on "Slow Like Honey" to more rebellious tracks like "Criminal" and "Carrion". In doing this, it doesn't sacrifice songcraft or emotional depth, which is truly amazing, having been created by an 18 year old. Through the first half of the album, I wanted to knock Apple's vocal talent, and given the second half, I cannot. While she may not be a soprano siren capable of hitting high notes requisite in a lot of female pop, she *refuses* to make that her wheelhouse, and delivers tender and vulnerable moments of her tracks with the touch they require, as well as puts her foot on the gas and gives her vocals some growling power when necessary. I can see the hype on this, it feels like a foundational album of vulnerable, lush alt-singer songwriter work that is responsible for inspiring much of what followed it.
There is something to be said for the ambition of this album. The sheer volume of sounds, genres and interesting things it tries in it's hour plus length are staggering. It's all here, to more traditional R&B tunes, psychedelia, orchestral arrangements, more hip hop adjacent tracks, some rock tinged tracks, and what feels like showtunes-lite for good measure. For a good portion of these tracks, Monae feels at home and takes advantage of strong vocal ability to bring them home.
Some, however, are huge misses- particularly tracks like "Come Alive (War of the Roses", where Monae's vocals are melodramatic and shrill and the production borders on cartoonish. The track that follows it, "Mushrooms & Roses", an attempt at Beatles-esque psychedelics is a dreary and uninspired low point on the album.
Monae clearly has talent on display on her first studio album, in terms of both her vocal and production ability, but I feel as though a lot of the grander ambitions of this album could've been checked and reigned in by a seasoned producer looking to hone this into a more focused experience. Another small thought on that front, this album front to back has variety lush, maximalist production, which is great, but this borders on it seeming sterile, in the same way a lot of work from the early 2010's does, which I don't think has aged well and helps to draw away from and render imperfect some of the attempts at Monae's expansion of her genre horizons.
Favorite Tracks: Faster, Sir Greendown, Neon Valley Street
Least Favorite Tracks: Come Alive (War of the Roses), Mushrooms & Roses, Make the Bus
This album is a masterclass in early 2000's indie rock.
It handles some light concept, a variety of textures and sounds without ever feeling like it strayed from The Flaming Lips' signature quirk-pop bent, all while being chock full of touching and meditative songwriting about love, mortality, and survival in an increasingly confusing world- all of which feels more and more apt as each day passes. Marking a turn to a more sci-fi subject matter and an associated change to more electronic instrumentation and influence by things as astray for the group as hip hop (for example, the beat on "One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21"), it manages to still feel true to the band. This album still stands the test of time as an exemplary listen for its genre.
Some of the ultimate quirked up white boy alt.
Favorite Tracks: "Yoshimi..." Pts. 1 & 2, "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell", "It's Summertime", "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" (Grammy btw)
Least Favorite Track: N/A (No skips)
Frontmen Who Look Like Alcoholic Wizards: Yes
Another soul and R&B classic with many memorable tracks, several of which have been interpolated and covered many times since. Franklin's performances are as nuanced, powerful and memorable as her frankly astonishingly consistent remaining body of work. The backing band (including purported additions by Cissy Houston/The Sweet Inspirations and Eric Clapton) are up to task for the standard R&B canon of the time. An incredibly easy and enjoyable listen, although a lot of these classic baby making music albums fail to excite me the way works pushing the boundary of the artform a little more do. A solid 4 carried by Franklin's iconic pipes.
Favorite Tracks: "Chain of Fools", "... A Natural Woman", "Since You've Been Gone", "Groovin'"
Least Favorite Tracks: All of them have their place in the album
