"We make a mean team my Adidas and me" - incredible line
Sampling Aerosmith was cool!
Not sure if I'm just not good at listening to hip hop, or if this is an accurate critique, but every song is kinda sounding the same, I'm feeling some ear fatigue.
I'm honestly not sure if I'm listening to this/appreciating it correctly? They've referenced their own name so many times and I'm not loving that.
The guitars on the title track are fun.
"If you are cold I'll bring the heat, like I brought the world my funky beat"
After finishing the whole album: I'm glad I listened to this one, but I don't think I'll be revisiting. Favorite tracks: It's Tricky, Walk this Way, Raising Hell, My Adidas. I think the overall sound is just too similar track to track for me. Not sure if that's a typical hip hop thing, or a typical Run DMC thing, or if it's just this album.
This album is such a 70s vibe! Definitely more of an atmosphere than something I feel compelled to listen to super critically. But everything is varied enough that I can listen and enjoy and tune in and out and not feel like I've missed something.
Love Disney Girls
Looking at the track list, I'm not sure that I've heard any of these songs before, which is super fun. I feel like The Beach Boys are one of those groups that I know who they are and I can name a few songs, but I haven't listened to a very large chunk of their discography.
A Day in the Life of a Tree is a weird song.
Till I Die is also pretty weird.
Overall thoughts: I think I liked the sound of this album, but didn't actually enjoy listening to it all that much. I like the front half much better than the second half. Once again, I'm not familiar enough with The Beach Boys to know if this is typical or if this album is more the exception.
Three songs in and I'm liking it!
It kinda sounds like what everybody at Hope listened to
Ok I spoke too soon. This album feels very "background music" to me. There's some good ones, but I'm not feeling like it's super revolutionary.
Final thoughts: sounds a lot like college. Which isn't bad, but it's a bit bland/all the same. There's a definite vibe but it lacks interest.
To me, this sounds a step above garage band vibes? Even how it's mixed with being very guitar and vocals forward. Not sure I like this guys voice either. The super heavy electric guitar chords aren't my favorite.
"You can't be in love because there is no true love" - super dark???
"This blue ocean water cannot stop my heart and mind from burning"
"I hope he gives you a hand lowering my casket"
We are Gonna be Friends is such a shift after the first half of the album!
The first song has a very iconic opening to it, and the guitars are cool there.
Final thoughts: I didn't love this album sonically or lyrically, but We are Gonna be Friends is such a little gem within an otherwise dark and aggressive album.
This one was great! I already knew I liked Johnny Cash, so it was an easier listen. Did my first listen while I was baking.
Favorites were: When the Man Comes Around, We'll Meet Again, Desperado, and Bridge Over Trouble Water
I didn't really realize how much of Johnny Cash's music, on this album at least, is so emotional/intense. Lots of themes of guilt, shame, sin, darkness, death, loss, love (friendship, relationships, God). Musically it was cohesive, but not so matchy matchy that I felt bored.
DNF, what I heard was okay, but I found it really difficult to get into for some reason? I didn't like track 4, quite disturbing
America - liked it a lot! Fun road trip vibes.
The voices of old people broke stuff up, not loving it from a listening experience perspective, but "Old Friends" is a beautiful song.
"I wish I was an English muffin, 'bout to make the most out of a toaster" - Maybe the best line I've ever heard in a song?
Not sure what "Punky's Dilemma" was supposed to be about, but I loved it.
"At the Zoo" was fun too!
"Taking time to treat your friendly neighbors honestly"
This was probably one of my favorite listening experiences thus far, I'm not sure what all of the songs are saying, nor do I think there's even a super huge point/message to a lot of them, but it's a fun album and the sound is cohesive but varied. Creates a fun vibe and is easy to listen to. There's also some songs that are actually quite profound in there despite the gentle and at times upbeat tone.
Of note: I actually listened to this one through multiple times!
Before Listening: I don't think I've heard of this band before, I've certainly never heard of/seen this album before. Excited to see if I know anything from it and/or to see why it might be on this list. The artist has only about 2 million monthly listeners.
"Us V Them" - sounds like they remixed the Home Depot theme song
The whole album is giving the vibe of stuff I had to listen to for my Jazz class in college.
Not sure I loved that album as a whole. There's some fun stuff on it but it all felt a bit artsy without having a ton of substance. But it wasn't so fun that I was able to overlook the lack of depth.
Pre-Listen Thoughts: this one has very few listeners in general, some of these songs have less than 1,000,000 listens ever. Which doesn't necessarily mean that the album is bad, but looking at the track titles, cover art, and general vibe of the band's imagery/Spotify page, I'm not convinced I'm going to love this, but I am intrigued.
After reading the album description, it makes more sense! Definitely does sound a lot like movie background music, and even sound effects at times. I like that there's very few vocals. A lot of the vocals that are on here are quite strange.
Not sure I love the album, but it is way more listen-able than I had anticipated and there's some fun stuff on it. Definitely understand the movie soundtrack inspiration.
I really enjoyed this album! It felt like the guitar was the star of the show, not the singer, and there were several songs that I saved to put on other playlists. Very listenable and it was a great introduction to Jimi Hendrix.
So excited to listen to this one! Willie Nelson is one of the greatest. Also, I love this album cover, probably my favorite so far.
Perfect title track!
His voice is just so perfect.
The arrangement of Blue Skies feels so modern, but I absolutely love it for this album.
All of Me is such an adorable song! Another winner for sure. I'm loving the overall tone of the album. The title being Stardust and then singing songs about love and the sky is so perfect.
September song - "these precious days I'll spend with you"
Final Thoughts: This album is perfect! Not too long and not too short. A great mix of songs, all beautiful, easy to listen to, and full of beautiful lyrics and melodies. Willie Nelson's voice is one of the best ever. A delight!
This album reminded me a lot of stuff that I listened to in college for my jazz class. I really enjoyed it and it felt like a pretty classic jazz album in my opinion. There were some funky chords and harmonies, not everything was perfectly melodic or harmonious, but it was interesting to listen to. I also really loved the classical/Spanish guitar influence that showed up later in the album. The layout/concept was fun and created a listening experience that was enjoyable and engaging.
After listening to Detroit Rock City, I think that I may have had an incorrect view of what KISS actually sounded like. We'll see how the rest of the album goes, but I really enjoyed the guitar sound and the overall vibe of the music.
Sonically, I enjoyed this album a lot more then I thought I would, I think prior to this I was under the impression that KISS was mostly screaming. I enjoyed the guitars and drums a lot. The music was varied and interesting.
Thematically the album felt dark at times, I couldn't understand all the lyrics, but there were also some much lighter parts and I liked the introduction to the album.
Before listening to this album, I hadn't heard of the album, the band, or any of the songs on it. Wasn't sure what to expect.
I really liked the vibe/sound of the album as a whole. It was very easy to listen to and there were several interesting musical choices that I loved. I also thought that a lot of the melodies and guitar/piano lines were really beautiful. Lots of fun little moments.
Truthfully, I didn't really listen to the lyrics, I more just went with my experience listening overall for this one. Maybe I'll revisit in the future.
Pre Listening: Very excited! I know "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", so hoping to find some more bops like that on here. I haven't listened to a lot of Tears for Fears in the past. Didn't realize they were from the 1980s, I would have guessed newer based on the one song I know from them.
After listening: I didn't like this one as much as I thought I would? There were some fun songs in here, but I also felt like some were kinda bizarre. The overall listening experience, for me, wasn't it.
Pre listening: I'm not sure about this album for a lot of reasons. Not sure if I like most music from the 90s, electronica isn't really my style, and I've never heard of this artist or any of these songs. Also, the album art with the artist about to cry doesn't bode well for the vibe of this album to me. But maybe I'll be surprised! Based on the album description it sounds like the album was better received internationally than it was in the US, so I'm not thinking I'll like it from that perspective.
After listening: I actually really enjoyed the music on this album, but the singing ruined it all. The tracks all felt very jazz inspired, there was interesting instrumentation, and rhythmically the album was very interesting. But I don't think I'll listen again or go back to it because the vocals/singing was so annoying.
