A very pleasant record. Swamp rock is the perfect description of it and I had some good time discovering this sub-genre through CCR.
It sounds precisely what you might expect - very southern, rural americana, but not flirting with country. The instrumental part is entertaining and the vocal + delivery really get you on board.
7/10
Surprisingly "millenial" album in my opinion, mixing the self-depreciating humour with genuine dark moments. Something like trauma response of the aforementioned age group.
At the same time lively, disturbing, and deadpan depressing.
Reminds me also of top form Velvet Underground.
Not my aestethics, simple as that. I'm in general not too fond of the sixties, especially the folk music (although I like bands like The Velvet Underground or The Electric Prunes).
I think that it's due to production capabilities, but a lot of folk music sounds metalic, scratchy and sharp (not in a good way), it kind of hurts my ears and annoys me.
You have to give it to Dylan that as a songwriter he's one of the best in the business, for that alone he deserves massive respect. But I don't really like his vocal much, same goes for the music (harmonica + acoustic guitar in his hands aren't too pleasing to me). There is a couple of songs that I actually enjoyed in a way, but in general it's not an album I will come back to.
Good concert album. I'm usually very demanding of live albums, I need them to be really good and entertaining for me to listen to them. I need a lot of interaction with the crowd, I want to feel like I'm there. Just listening to music from the album won't cut it (exception to S&M from Metallica, as it's just a whole new world of their music). And in terms of "Live And Dangerous" I feel like I just got very good renditions of TL songs. And it's not like they are a band I'm particularly into.
So all in all - a good album, easy to listen and quite fun. But not something I'll be going back to at any point.
6/10
Giants of hip-hop, all-time greats of the genre. White lads, waxy voices, more rascal than gangsta, but you just can't ignore them.
Also a very unique, inimitable sound, and yet reminds me of Public Enemy, if its members where white and got raised in upper-middle class artistic families.
"Paul's Boutique" is the least hit-heavy album of the band, not a single of the most popular BB songs comes from this record. Yet as a whole this is the most Beastie album of them all, and the most artsy. Samples, beats, lyrics - crème de la crème, all of it.
BB has been for a very long time one of my favourite bands, yet I listened to this album for the very first time thanks to this list. And now I know why it's such a cult classic.
Quite fun. Musically very pleasing, a lot of good instrumentalist chipped in. In that regard it is a great album.
Still, somehow it didn't really pull me in. I had fun listening to it, but I didn't miss it after it was finished. It's a very accomplished, well produced album, but just didn't hit me the way it could.
I wasn't too convinced by the lyrical side as well. Just not entirely my vibe.
I have never thought I'll ever like a reggae album, but here we are. It's enjoyable even though it is unmistakably a raggae record.
If I instantly replay the album after the first listening, it's usually because I'm not sure of what I think about it or I was not sufficiently focused on the music to actually grade it. But here I did that just because I like the record and wanted to listen to it again.
"Exodus" was the biggest surprise, as normally this kind of long and steady piece would annoy me immensely, especially in this genre. But I actually quite liked it. "Three Little Birds" and "Jamming" were my favourite songs, but I enjoyed all of them.
Very big surprise.
Interesting album, but not entirely for me. In theory it should suit me, with its experimental sound and unusual instrumentations. But somehow it just didn't touch my soul in any miningful way.
Honorable mention to "Listening Wind", by far my favourite piece on this record.
Listened to it multiple times in very different settings, but each time it was more annoying than pleasing. The music sounded plain boring with the vocals being either ok (the female ones) or irritating (male ones).
Honorary mention for "African Dance", the only piece on this album that actually interested me and gave me a couple of minutes of good experience. I really enjoyed the flute part, reminded me of flute-focused albums of Bobbi Humphrey.
Other than that forgettable for me.
What an energetic album. Skillful but raw at the same time, a great debut record showcasing both instrumental prowess and youthfull energy of the 20-25 years old members.
With very southern, American, and selfish notion of freedom at the very centre of the album, it is a child of its times, most probably inconceivable today.
Instrumentally it's a masterpiece, with the much worn out via social media "Freebird" being an obvious stand out in that regard. That riff is absolutely sick, plain and simple.
Fantastic album throughout, I listen to it a lot since it first popped out on this list.
Fascinating gimmick album. Something that started as a throw away side project became one of the cornerstones of hip-hop and sample music. Incredible story of things having their own life way past their theoretical expire date.
That being said for drum lovers such as myself, this is a great album in and of itself. Drums and percussion taking the centre stage is something I have to love and admire.
It might not be extremely listenable or enjoyable if you're not into just beats and instrumental flow. So I understand it's not for every palate. But I fully understand how it got a cult following.
Insta add to album rotation. What a pleasant and enjoyable album. Part easy listening, part crazy girl energy in the style of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, part Black Sabbath influences.
When I first heard "Heartbreaker" I thought to myself that it sounds a lot like Black Sabbath, but dismissed the thought as it was stylistically so far away from the Birmingham band. Then I missed the ending of the song which is more obvious reference. But when a full cover of "Iron Man" hit in I realised I was right after all. Fascinating blend of Sabbath's lines with a pop-rock energy. Ozzy himself gave high prise to The Cardigans for their version and what better endorsement than that?
The album is a great bled of whimsical, sarcastic, sweet energies. It's also instrumentally interesting and well orchestrated. With all the sweetness of Persson's vocals it has this creepy lining that keeps you on the toes the entire time. It felt like something sinister was hidden under all this sugar coating. And I mean it in the best possible sense.
Not yet the best record of the band (that will forever be American Idiot for me, but mostly because it got released in a very formative time for me), but the one that firmly put their name on the charts.
Still not lyrically at their best here, the songs mostly blend into one long wall of sound. But it's enjoyable and undeniably Green Day-ish. "Basket case" the most recognisable and beloved tune.
Quite generic country/roots, not my cup of tea at all. It's ok, not going to say anything else. But it's one of the albums that I will quickly forget, even if they're technically good and quite pleasant to listen to.
"Goodbye's All We've Got Left" was my favourite piece, will possibly go back to it once in a while.
I never listened to Elton John all that much, but that might change after this album. "Tiny dancer" is such a lovely song and hearing "Indian Sunset" was a revelation - I have never realised that's the sample in 2Pac's "Ghetto Gospel", a song I really liked as a kid. "Indian Sunset" is absolutely beautiful and moving to tears.
A lot of Jesus and God references quite surprised me, but after a bit of reading they make some more sense.
Glad to have listened to it, might come back once in a while, but the two aforementioned songs went straight to a "1001 album favs" playlist of mine.
Irritating, that's what I remember most from the album. I understand that the premise of the album to be quite chaotic and unsettling, but it became moany and whiny, also disharmonic. Difficult listen, not really palatable for myself.
I barely managed through the first listening, although the opening was very promising - "Supermodel" is vocally a pretty song. I think that cameos by Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar (whose solo work I respect immensely) killed the whole vibe for me.
Too much autotune and effects in this one. The tracks are simplistic and as much as SZA's voice can be beautiful I don't feel like it was done justice. Nothing really stuck with me. But I'm open to listening more of her songs somewhere in the future, as she surely knows how to use her voice.
Similarly to the other album by the band that features on this list - "Synchronicity" - "Reggatta De Blanc" is for me a curious case of an album of very high highs and quite boring lows. As far as it's normal for each album to have outstanding songs interwoven with less memorable pieces that act as a kind of filling, when I listen to The Police I don't really want to listen to those "between" songs. "Message in the Bottle" or "Walking on the Moon" are classic songs that went straight into my "Best of" playlist, but I didn't care much for most of the other songs.
I guess it might deserve a bit more love that I gave it, I feel a bit unfair giving it only 3, but it is what it is.
Great album, very pleasant to listen you, regardless if you're into the genre or not. It's eclectic, crisp and pleasant to listen to.
It has quite a few of bangers, with "Ready or Not" probably the most obvious choice for a no. 1 track. That being said, the biggest complain one might have is that some of the best tracks on the album ("Killing Me Softly" and "No Woman, No Cry") are not their original composition. Credit where credit is due though, they made those songs their own.
Fantastic alternative hip-hop album, one I will probably go back to once in a while.
After two listens yesterday I have already forgot this album ever existed. In my eyes it's completely unremarkable, with maybe one song at some point catching my attention, but can't remember which one and why.
Sometimes sounds like Ed Sheeran with a harmonica. Which is not a compliment.
Ah, Cyndi. She's indeed so unusual. I've loved parts of this album even before I stumbled upon the list, but then had a chance to listen to the entirety of this production.
Lauper has a great voice and does some very interesting things with it. It's also an album of big variety, showcasing the range of songs and styles she was capable of producing very early in her career.
Last but not least, there is nothing like the youthful, fearless energy of a debut album. You can feel the passion, the energy and the sheer pleasure of recording.
Great piece of music art.
Very pleasant album, a great listen. The scale of the undertaking was massive but it was executed perfectly. Great orchestrations, music that sprawls and winds but is never stale or boring. I've reas about many different inspirations for this album, but what caught my attention were nods to "Music for 18 musicians" by Steve Reich.
