The majority of this album sounds to me like boring, directionless piano noodling, like if you gave a chimp a keyboard that was incapable of playing out of key. While Jarrett is clearly a talented pianist, the few moments on this album where he appears to be playing with intention aren't worth slogging through the rest of the aimlessness for, and truthfully I'd rather listen to elevator music. This probably hits differently while doing drugs though.
Ordinarily I'd say that if an album has at least a few bangers that are worth replaying (which this one does) then it can't possibly be anything less than good, but unfortunately the vocals/lyrics on some songs, especially on the last track are bad enough to drop this whole album into mid territory for me. I can appreciate the cultural impact this album had while also saying that I'm not a huge fan of it overall.
It's amazing how much mileage Cash can get out of the same plunkin' thunkin' bassline while at the same time making each song feel fresh and fun. I'm admittedly partial to Johnny's smooth baritone. From the lively and upbeat hoedowners to the slower and more sentimental tracks, there's truly no voice better suited to this type of music than his.
It's worth mentioning that the novelty of this album being performed at Folsom Prison is very present, and you can tell that both Johnny and the prisoners are having fun. I also loved June making an appearance as well. It's hard for me to listen to this without a smile on my face.
5/5 a hoot and a holler all the way through
No amount of dizzying effects pedals and reverb can disguise Bono's voice and how much I hate it. If you like this kind of shoegazing music, you're definitely better off listening to The Cure or just nothing at all, as some of the songs were actually painful for me to listen to.
This is the kind of shit your "cool" gen x liberal uncle puts on in hopes that you'll like it but you don't have the heart to tell him you think it sounds like shit. It doesn't sound like the U2 had any musical direction for these songs other than "let's play some disorienting nonsense with lyrics that vaguely reference peace and love", but ironically it just filled me with rage and hatred for this album.
Mysterious Ways is my favorite from the album and truthfully the only track on here that even resembles a real "song". I can't tell if it's actually that good though or if my ears are just grateful for something that isn't garbage. That being said, my personal code is that I don't give an album a 1 unless I hated it all the way through, so it barely escapes with a 2 from me.
I really enjoyed this album. The singer puts on one of the most impressive vocal performances I've heard, with a dynamic range of soft low notes and soaring high notes, as well as some angelic falsetto to sweeten things out. Perhaps my biggest complaint about this album is the fact that I had to listen to it at work and wasn't able to dance and bop to it as much as I would've liked.
Truthfully I would give this a 4.5 if it were possible, so I withheld from giving it a perfect score because there were some songs that I'd probably skip on my next listen, but overall a great album.
As someone who's fairly willing to forgive corniness in older music, this was a step too far for even me. With dated synth pads and stabs accompanied by low effort nonsense vocals, this album is certainly a product of its time and not in a good way. If someone had told me this was a parody of early 90s dance music, I would've believed them.
Also these guys apparently burned a MILLION pounds?!? Like just gathered all their money up in a pile and burned it. Wtf was wrong with them?? I understand the sentiment of being against the over commercialization of the music industry, but maybe donate the money to charity or something instead of letting it all go to waste in such a ridiculous fashion. I'm deducting a point just for that.
This album is only slightly less stupid than the idea of burning a million quid for no good reason, but still complete shit. 1/5
I wouldn't say anything in particular stood out to me while listening to the album, other than the cover, which I'm sure was quite the attention grabber when it was released. After doing some investigating of the cover art, apparently the models had to be persuaded to take part in the photo shoot that resulted in this picture, which could be pretty gross depending on what was meant by "persuaded".
Focusing on the music itself, as a fan of this genre, I should like this album more than I do. The problem for me is that, for being a 70s rock album, the vocals are quite unimpressive. I didn't necessarily dislike any of the songs, but admittedly I was quite bored by the end of the album.
The kind of music that can only be properly walloped out with the help of literal speakers full of the purest Colombian snow. It's amazing how well this record turned out given how all the band members were undoubtedly zonked out of their shaggy gourds.
All the band members put on a genuinely great performance. I was quite impressed with Ozzie's vocals throughout the whole record, and I'm not usually a big fan of his voice. On some of the songs he sounds almost Robert Plant-esque, and I actually prefer the ones where his voice is naked, without his characteristic disorienting self-harmonization effect.
Iommi's signature virtuosic guitar playing is present throughout the record, and it's a perfect example of why he's regarded as the guitar god he is today. I also quite enjoyed his performance on Laguna Sunrise, which is a soft and atmospheric orchestral arrangement accompanied by Iommi's shimmering 12 string chords.
Overall not my favorite album from them, but still very good.
Positives:
What a unique album this was! Play contains an ambitious variety of real/electronic instruments that help to keep the genre-spanning list of songs interesting, despite the length of the album. There are a lot of enjoyable moments throughout, and overall this record was an impressive listening experience, with songs ranging from ambient electronic to dance to hip-hop beats. The percussion tracks are mixed very nicely, and lend themselves to nodding/dancing along. When listening with good headphones to appreciate the top-notch production quality and layered intricacies, it becomes clear that Moby wanted the audience to FEEL this album as more of an auditory experience, instead of simply being played through a cheap speaker.
Negatives:
I did feel that some samples were occasionally overused to the point of becoming either stale or annoying, and some tracks such as "The Sky is Broken" and "Whispering Wind" were cringeworthy for me to listen to. There were also a fair share of songs that were simply "mid" to me.
Weird fact:
This guy is clearly a talented musical mind, but apparently he also lied about dating Natalie Portman, even though there was a big age gap between them? He also lied about her age when they were supposedly dating. They had only ever hung out platonically, and she was 18, not 20 like he claimed, so that's weird.
Overall: I definitely appreciate what this album had to offer, and it's inclusion in this list is certainly justified. However, I don't see myself ever listening to it again.
3.5/5
It's no secret that Dylan's voice is an acquired taste for some. It's also no secret his voice has never prevented him from having an incredibly successful career as a folk singer. This album isn't going to change anyone's opinion about Bob Dylan. If you enjoy musing sung-spoken lyrics over simple acoustic guitar chords, then chances are you'll like Blood on the Tracks. If you've always found his voice to be irritating or his songs too boring, then you probably won't enjoy it. I'm personally a sucker for poetic lines like "Flowers on the hillside bloomin' crazy, crickets talkin' back and forth in rhyme", and it's clear a lot of thought went into the lyrics.
Believe me when I say that the majority of this album sounds like if a not-at-all musically-inclined space alien were forced to make songs using only the components of its broken spaceship. It does not contain any of the atmospheric complexity you might expect in an ambient electronica album, nor does it pulse with any of the energizing rhythms of a typical 90s dancehall album. The easiest way I can describe most of the songs is a low quality imitation of a Depeche Mode beat, although some songs lack even the fundamentals of what I'd even consider to make a "beat".
I'm not sure what the producers of this record were attempting to accomplish with this strange assemblage of dissonant foolishness, but I do not like it. I think that perhaps they forgot to make music and instead attempted to make a compilation of cheap sci-fi sound effects. I would implore anyone to not waste their time listening to this.
