On this record Otis Redding is soul incarnate. What a voice! And what a band! This was a great listen. The album is just over half an hour long, not overburdening the listener with material. Each song belongs on this album—it’s tight. His original recording of Respect holds its own against the ubiquitous cover we’re all much more familiar with: Otis’ version provides the male perspective on the same theme. Overall, fantastic soul album. Will definitely listen again.
This is objectively a 5 star album, but I wasn’t in the mood to listen to it. I enjoyed Morrison’s vocals and his backing band nevertheless. This is a great collection of songs. Not your typical pop album—fluid song structures and performances add enough variety to keep the listener interested. A great record that I will revisit again in a different headspace.
This was my first encounter with Arcade Fire. Id heard about them for years but never heard their stuff. I was sure what to expect, I just had some vague idea of an early 00s indie, art, or whatever rock. That’s what I found—whatever rock. The songs on this record aren’t bad, but they’re not special either. I have no interest in listening again.
Finally, when people ask me if I like Bob Marley I can say something besides “I haven’t really listened to him,” which, judging from the reaction I usually get to that reply, is worse than saying you don’t like him. Anyway, was sort of “dreading” listening to this album because I have never been a big reggae fan, and I’ve always imagined that listening to a full album of reggae songs would be super tedious. Well, this album went down so smoothly I was surprised when the last song finished. I think I kind of get reggae music now—it’s just funk with the wrong beats accented. I enjoyed this record. I enjoyed the tight, funky band. And I enjoyed Bob Marley’s vocals. I’ll never understand the rich cultural background that underpins each song on this album, but I enjoyed each song. The Album is well paced, and, somehow, feels like it offers a variety of genres. This is a good album and I’d listen again.
I used to like this. I still like this.
This isn’t a bad album. In fact, the music is fascinating, the performances are impressive, and I love me some Indian percussion. While I enjoyed listening to it, it’s not something I’ll probably listen to again. Also, it’s a little on the long side for an album recorded in 1968.
A funky, dense, polyrhythmic good time. I really enjoyed this record and look forward to revisiting it and exploring more Jorge Ben Jor.
There is some good music underlying some of the songs on this album. Unfortunately, most of the songs are of standard rap themes = casual obscenities and vulgarities seasoned with enough autotune to make me lose my mind. There was some notably good drum programming on some tracks.
Classic Young album. Instead the f recording his new material in the studio, he performed it live and released that as his album. Favorite song—Pocahontas. Second side is a little weaker than the first, but overall a great album.
The antidote to Taylor Swift. Great songs with creativity and genuine edge.
The guy on piano is pretty good.
A great little UK rock album I knew nothing about.
Heaven knelt and caressed the earth.
I was ready to hate this, but it wasn’t that bad. The lyrics and their delivery are silly, but sometimes the guitars were cool. It would suck to be in a metal band and have to write metal songs all the time. I’d like to give this 2.5 stars but I can’t.
This music isn’t bad, it’s just unremarkable and generic. Americana, I think it’s called. If someone told me this was an AI generated album I would be in no position to disagree.
My first Fleetwood Mac album. Not bad. Some tracks seemed out of place. I may try to listen to this again someday.
It’s no secret I don’t care for rap, but I do appreciate when rappists have real and interesting music beneath their litanies of vulgarity and racial slurs. This album kept my attention. There are creative beats and sounds here, and yes, real melodic and harmonic content—and it’s pretty good. I even dug some of the actual rapping. For that alone I’d like to give this record a 3.5 but I can’t.
My first real listen to Kate Bush. I’ve always been aware her, and her reputation for being a little “weird” has always made me curious about her music, but I never got around to exploring it. Hounds of Love was an impressive introduction. It has just the right amount a quirkiness and experimentation to suit my tastes. All the songs are pretty solid and interesting, I even liked some of the longer outros. I’ll definitely be listening to this record again, and I look forward to hearing more of her work.
An absolute celebration of all the very worst aspects of 80 music production.
I’m not a rap fan, but I’d like to understand the genre better and find some rap I can enjoy. Illmatic is a rap album that I honestly enjoyed. The beats are minimalistic in a good way, and Nas’s rapping is impressive to me. This is a good album, but it still suffers frequently frustrating m one aspect of a lot of rap that turns me off—the glorification of the gangster lifestyle. But, although that’s not something I understand, I still feel this is a really solid, well produced album full of diverse and interesting tracks.
Never heard of Magazine before. They made me a pretty good album here chock full of New Wave/Post Punk goodness. Kept me interested the whole listen. Will absolutely listen to again.
My first time listening to Elliott Smith despite his ubiquitous proximity to me for over 20 years through my friends who were into him. I was pleasantly surprised. Each track is so interesting, especially the vocal harmonies. The lyrics are interesting and penetrating. And the arrangements were nice and organic sounding. A solid album that I’ll be listening to again.
I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised by this record, not being a fan of Joni Mitchell. I was absolutely surprised at how much I loathed this record. Her voice and lyrics are insufferable. I was so relieved when the last song was over. This just isn’t music made for me. My gut reaction was so strong that I can’t pretend to rate this one objectively.
This is a good album, but it’s not my favorite Zeppelin record. It’s not quite the record Zeppelin II is, but they more than make up for it in Zeppelin IV.
As the follow up to Talking Book, this album is both stronger and weaker in places than its predecessor. Don’t get me wrong, this album 💿 is great, you won’t find a lot of early 70s R&B as well written, performed and produced as this record. This is a solid 4 with its eye on 5 among albums in general, but among Wonder’s other offerings during this, his “golden era” which culminates in the masterwork Songs in the Key of Life, this is most accurately a 3.5, but I’ll round it up to 4 since I love Stevie.
This record is like a circle-jerk where nobody can get hard.
A pleasant surprise. I never been into the Flaming Lips. Last year I tried listening to Soft Bullet and just didn’t get it. This album made a lot more sense to me. Interesting sounds with a lot of creative production techniques. Overall, a solid concept record. Makes me want to give Soft Bullet another chance.
Another boring album by a manufactured artist.
Another album from Stevie’s “Golden Period.” There are plenty of excellent songs here, but this album does quite have the magic of Talking Book or SITKOL. However, few men have achieved the funkiness of the first 30 seconds of “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” so for that alone it’s an easy 3.5. Shit, I’ll round it up to 4 for Stevie.
I’ve never liked Elton John’s music. Cheesy, campy, annoying. Just a wasteland of silly shit. But then I heard this album . . . and it merely confirmed my opinion. This is a double album that should have been a single without a b-side. And the single would be by another artist. That would have earned this absolute phallus of an album a half star. As this site is, I can’t vote lower than one star.
This was a nice surprise. This is a well produced album with lots of interesting drum programming, catchy hooks, and great vocals. This isn’t exactly in my musical wheelhouse, but, all things being equal, it’s a pretty good record.
The third and final record Eno produced for the Talking Heads is also my favorite Talking Heads album. There is so much going on on this record: interesting world instruments and rhythms; great backing vocals; amazing guitar work by Adrian Belew. I’ve been listening to this record for over 20 years and I still hear new things on it. After this record, TH took a break then recorded Speaking in Tongues, which included the hit single Burning Down the House. But that record suffers from slick overproduction and a spotty track list. Remain in Light was the last truly exceptional Talking Heads album, and, I believe, their very best work.
Some guy that plays piano very well noodles around on a piano for over an hour, and when he’s done, the whole audience is so relieved that they applaud and cheer for like 5 minutes.
This is not an album I would normally listen to voluntarily. It’s not bad, and it’s not great either. I appreciate the attempt at a concept album with the segues. I like a lot of the drum programming. And at times there were catchy songs and hooks. I sort of enjoyed a Janet Jackson album.
So I imagine what happened here is that the band accidentally destroyed their original master for this record and tried to rerecord it on day three of a heroin binge. But then, after the heroin wore off and they could shit again, the whole band took a giant shit on their second master. They all thought it was genius and handed it in to the record company, who in turn pressed the record, shit and all, giving us this insufferable rock cognate filled with double entendres more ridiculous than Spinal Tap.
The odd numbered tracks often have interesting production bits and are okay; the even numbered tracks all sound like outtakes from a Strokes album. It’s pretty harmless, if a little self-indulgent.
This genre falls into what I call disposable music: some of it is nice, but most of it is too repetitive. This isn’t music that was meant to be enjoyed with careful listening, although there are certainly some cool beats going on here and there. I just kept losing focus because of sameness of each track. Pad washes, bits of gnarly drums, some girl singing about nothing, rinse, repeat.
Pretty good album with fantastic sounds, creative beats, and interesting songs. I found the vocal style to be a bit repetitive, but that’s not a big deal. I enjoyed this album much more than I thought I would. Will definitely listen again.
Honestly, the only thing wrong with this album is Courtney Love’s grating, relentless voice. Otherwise, some decent late 90s grunge-pop.
When the album began, I was like, “Hell yeah, some more post punk new wave whatever!” But I grew bored with the album quickly. It’s not bad, just too samey for me. It’s a little better than a 2.
I’m not a country fan, so the music on this album was not to my liking. However, Lang’s voice is fantastic—her precise control of her voice stands far above the music. For that alone, this album deserves a 3.
I went through a Dylan phase. I listened to most of his catalog. I’m no longer in a Dylan phase. This record and others on which Dylan adopted his “Dylan voice” are fairly unpleasant listening experiences now. This album, like most of his albums, if for people that think his lyrics are profound poetry. It seems more like he makes words and phrases fit based on rhymes instead of really saying anything. And does every damn song need 11 verses? It’s just not my thing.
Some fun bass lines and funky rhythm guitar. Unfortunately, this is a disco album and it sounds like one. If you’re into that, you might like this album.
Wow, I really disliked this. Every track has this extremely annoying “instrument” sound that I don’t know how to describe—an attempt at a signature sound? Anyway, it’s silly and relentless. Rubber Soul and Revolver came out the same year as this “psychedelic” album. That’s all I have to say.
I’m not sure what to make of this album. Sometimes there are cool parts, nice beats, guitar lines, etc. And then, not infrequently, the male singer uses a very high register and it’s very distracting if not unpleasant. Also, a lot of the record sounds like it was produced in the 80s. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
Better than I was expecting. Has its moments (Somebody to Love, White Rabbit), and probably a good album for 1967.
A celebration of mediocrity with some nice production here and there. I enjoyed moments of this album, but the band doesn’t have anything new to say musically or lyrically.
Exceptionally unlistenable.
Equal parts self-indulgence and bullshit, this record wants to be prog so badly, and may even come close in places, but it’s just such a meandering mess that none of the songs really work. There are some very good technical performances here, but they fail to complement their tracks.
Somehow I’ve never really listened to The Clash. I’ve seen this album’s cover all my life and assumed this was a raucous, edgy, punk band or something. It is not. It’s just a bunch of pop songs sung by a vocalist that I imagine as having Down syndrome. Many of the arrangements are cheesy as hell, but I do like the late 70s production. This was also a very long album—I was relieved when it was over.
Just a meandering wannabe art-rock album, that’s equally pretentious and boring. The vocals are generic and the lyrics are predictable.
My first time listening to Cocteau Twins. Interesting album with a lot of ethereal vocals and interesting instrumentation. It’s really a 3.5, but in this rating system I have to give it a 3.
A very brief record filled with old school bass lines, rhythm guitar, and horn arrangements. Franklin’s voice, I guess, is a matter of taste, and there were many times when it was just too much.
I was fully expecting to hate this album because, historically, I can’t stand Morrissey. But this was a slightly pleasant surprise. Morrissey “stays out of the way,” so to speak, of these tracks and his voice is totally tolerable. Not a terrible listening experience.
A pleasant surprise. An interesting album full of interesting tracks. Would listen again.
Stevie’s magnum opus. The sheer amount of great songs on this record is a bit overwhelming. One of the very best records of the 70s. Five bags of popcorn and a clavinet.
Started off kind of weird, stayed kind of weird, but not bad. Overall, a nice listen. The band incorporates an interesting mashup of genres that mostly works.
I am aware of some excellent Allman Brotherds songs; unfortunately, none are on this live album. It’s mostly long blues meanderings with moments of fusion sprinkled here and there.
Not as bad as I was expecting. Not really my thing, but a pretty decent record nonetheless. And excellent production for 1970.
This Radiohead album will always have a special place in my heart. It was released during a time of my life that was both joyous and dark. As a follow-up to Kid A and Amnesiac, I feel that HTTT goes to the only logical place Radiohead could have gone. The result is a great collection of songs that somehow feel a tiny bit less cohesive as other Radiohead albums.
A collection of well produced tracks with JT singing over them. I don’t love JT’s voice, but he can sing well. I feel like this is more of a “party album” or something than any sort of contribution to the musical arts.
Prince’s magnum opus. There’s nothing I can say about this album that hadn’t already been said. IYKYK.
A great surprise. Buckley’s voice is superb and the songs are varied and interesting. A solid cohesive album.
I wasn’t sure what to do with this record. The songs all melt together into a mess of distorted guitars, and they all sounded the same. I was relieved when the album was over.
Wonderful ambient/instrumental record with lots of character and interesting sounds. A pleasant listening experience. I’m looking forward to more Tortoise.
Little Richard’s vocals stand out on this record more than any other elements. Given its late 50s time frame, there isn’t a variety of songs on here; it’s mostly just variations on Tutti Frutti. I’m sure there was a time that this was considered devil music and adults hated it but young people loved it. I was leaning on a 2, but adjusting for aesthetic inflation, I’ll give it a 3.
WTF? This was a massive waste of my time. Just boring, trite “metal” with screaming on top. The lyrics are juvenile and silly. The closing track—the most out of place song on the album—is almost interesting, but not quite. Honestly, these guys owe me some stars for listening to this stinky doodoo.
Five bags of popcorn and an Ondes Martenot.
A sort of laidback meandering guitar and vocals kind of album. Not really my thing.
I used to not get Nick Drake—I still don’t get him, but I used to not get him too.
It’s clear from this record that even Janis Joplin’s voice didn’t bathe either.
Sort of a punk album that doesn’t grate on my soul too much.
This is a ridiculous album.
Aside from Jack Nitzche’s obnoxious orchestral arrangements on two songs, this is one of Young’s most solid albums.
Exceptionally good. Cobain’s voice hits hard on this record. Bonus: as a teen, this was my first encounter with Bowie’s Man Who Sold the World.
