The title track is radiant optimism and inspiration, a promise. White Winter Hymnal has unfortunately been ruined for me by TikTok, but beautiful nonetheless. I should hear Ragged Wood more often, put it on the radio now. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song is what all love songs should be actually. Quiet Houses is lovely, but indescribable. Oh, He Doesn't Know Why, you were written for me. Love Heard Them Stiring with my whole heart. Your Protector makes you think it will fall flat, but it flies close to the sun. Meadowlarks is just sad in the good way. Blue Ridge Mountains is ascension, but not necessarily to heaven, just to a different place. Oliver James though feels like a less successful reprise of all the other songs in the album.
Yay birthday album! Aretha Franklin somehow looked 33 years into the future and said let's make bangers for Mara. Respect is the song of all times,definition of music. It sets the tone for this album. I'm not gonna go into every song because I have a headache, so standouts only. The titular "I never loved a man the way I love you" should be played at my wedding (only if I happen to marry Daniel Ricciardo, as he is the only MAN I could feel all that for.) Oh, "Don't let me lose this dream" you were written for me and me only.
I still have no taste, and I still apologize
As I said before, this fucks and cums. But it's so much more complex than that. This album gets better the more you listen to it. I initially wanted to give it a 2, which climbed to a 4, and now a 5 after making a whole new profile.I Zimbra and it's opening notes show you to expect a journey, a sound that is funky, playful, groovy and transformative. Mind is calmer, but still masterfully blends different sounds, aesthetics and vibes to create an eclectic but cohesive piece. Paper is cinematic. Cities is what I wanna listen to for the rest of my life and what influences you to think about this album to give it another listen. Life during wartime again shows you this is about rebellion, resistance and history. Memories can't wait is a breath of fresh air, but also a gut punch. Need the line "there's a party in my mind and I hope it never stops" as a tramp stamp. Air feels like something profound that you can't reach yet, a hidden subtext that one day you'll discover. Also this was somehow written about Max Verstappen and you cannot convince me otherwise. Heaven is well, ethereal. Animals is a tonal shift we need, a tempo bump. Electric guitar feels personal in a weird way, gives me a deja vu, a sense I have been here before, yet I do not know what will unfold next, just how to be kept in this time loop. And the final song gives one clarity. It makes you want to wait for a moment to process before putting the needle back on this record. Need to listen to this again and again ad naseum. No words. (Bitches will say no words after well a lot of words.)
Starts off strong with Music, Impressive Instant, which is an attempt to get to somewhere that doesn't necessarily work and Runaway Lover then trails off until the behemoth and gut punch which is What It Feels Like For A Girl. Paradise (Not for Me) makes me hate it viscerally. French was a cunty choice, that could've been executed better. Gone then redeems the album. Why should I feel sad for something I never had, oh Madonna that is girlhood I fear. American Pie is confusing, but not as horrible as I anticipated.
Oh intro, you are everything to me. By all means I shouldn't like Prodigy. It has all of the elements of what to me is not good music. Long tracks. No lyrics. Just that feeling of experiencing something rather than sitting down to listen to music. And yet, "Break & Enter" is such a surreal song. It transports the listener to this dystopian, technological future. It's not just sound. It's immersion. Their law is an almost 7 minute song that you can see took a village to make or was accidentally perfect. It has such a visceral homemade vibe. You can see someone tweaked with it until they got it just right. Full throttle falls just a bit flat for me. Beautiful use of goats though. Voodoo people is okay. When I die please someone play Poison before I go. No Good, alternatively I owe my life to. Could've gone without One Love, but oh well. 3 kilos is cool. Skylined was good, but couldn't be great. Claustrophobic sting on the other hand is so good it makes you wish this never ended. Masterpiece all around.
Yay my little gay band is doing what it does best, moving me with its strange sounds. The Headmaster Ritual says "Hey bitch, you're listening to the Smiths, you know it and love it." And yk what it's right. I fear Rusholme Ruffians is what will get me out of an almost week long creative slump. Oh, I Want the One I Can't Have, you can't do this to me. What She Said is forgettable. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore is moving, but relaxing. Nowhere Fast is such an Oscar Piastri/ Mark Webber song that it makes me wish that I could edit with Capcut and make a TikTok about it. Well I Wonder could've been better. Barbarism Begins at Home fucks raw. Meat is Murder is a tonal shift a bit too late, but still enjoyable. Album's over too fast.
It's there, I guess. I can see how this inspired a lot of the genre, but ultimately did not move me.
Back in the saddle is an electrifying opener. The whole album feels comforting and nostalgic in a strange way. Like a cool person that wants to introduce you to Aerosmith, but without the songs that you've actually heard a thousand times. Keeps the spirit of the band without being too in your face about it. Favorite is Nobody's Fault.
Gotta Get Up was my hyperfixation because Russian Doll, my beloved (Natasha Lyonne if you're here I am single and ready to recreate But I'm a Cheerleader). So obviously when the album opens with such a BANGER, it's trying to relay a message. Driving Along is simple, but yet it draws you in. Also put it in F1 edits now. Early in the Morning feels like Nilsson tried everything he had and it all worked out. The Moonbeam song is just calm and relaxing. Down is a bit forgettable. Without You - better than Celine Dion, worse than the girl on Bulgarian idol. Coconut ILY AND I WOULD DIE FOR YOU. Did not care for Let the Good Times Roll. Jump Into The Fire is funky, enjoyable and drum solo on it fucks. I'll Never Leave You is so gorgeous.
Rip 7 year old me, you would've loved dancing to Bamboo Banga at a kids disco. BirdFlu is just cool, bitches today wish they could make this. By Boyz it does get a bit repetitive ngl. But Jimmy gives us such a beautiful, interesting instrumental that it is a breath of fresh air. Also beautiful sampling. Hussel fucks! Mango Pickle Down River doesn't. 20 Dollar is an experience and I wish it was looped forever. World Town works. The Turn doesn't. By XR2 I start to wonder how MIA managed to have so many good songs, and also so many bad ones. Paper planes is iconic, no words. If I spend the rest of my life only listening to Rundown it wouldn't be enough.
Oh Boy! is corny and I suspect the whole album will be. Fade away shouldn't have lasted this long. You've Got Love is fine, good even. By Maybe Baby I wanna invent a time machine just so this was never produced. Playing It's Too Late at my best friend's wedding just to feel something. I don't wanna review this anymore, get me out of the mirror dimension or whatever the Bratz meme said.
Oh! This was not the right pick to listen to in the middle of my manic episode. Are You Hung Up is creepy and unsettling. Who Needs the Peace Corps is insane, in the good way. Concentration Moon packs so much in 2 minutes it's nauseating. Mom & Dad is a tour de force. Telephone Conversation to What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body is a long terrifying blink you can't describe with words. Absolutely Free, how I love you. Flower Punk is beautiful but tiring.
Beautiful, cool, everything
To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) is what is says on the tin, and it perfectly encapsulates that experience. Gold star for it. My winding wheel is transitional. Amy is so pretty, you can feel the love that was put into writing it. Oh My Sweet Carolina was written for me. Bartering Lines, my beloved. Call Me on Your Way Back Home and Damn Sam ( I Love a Woman That Rains), can this man please stop yearning, I can't be that lesbian on a Monday, I have things to do. Come Pick Me Up, oh, oh,oh! More yearning. Very sad at Don't Ask for the Water and In My Time of Need. Overall sad, profound, makes you long for home or the person that feels most like it.
First of all, beautiful, stunning album visual. Second Gimme Shelter fucks. Love In Vain is a good surprise. I should be more in love with Country Honk. I adore Live With Me.
Surprising/ cool/ charged with energy/ unapologetic/ addictive
My dad had this on CD and he let me play it as an edgy teenager. Loved it then and love it now.
