Easygoing all the way through, with a very simple draw: incredible guitar mixed with an uncharacteristically melancholic roots rock sound and very easy to listen to vocals; unquestionably one of the best standalone albums I have ever heard.
9.7/10.
Final thoughts: a very well-made, well-produced, well-played album that is waaaaay too long and it all kinda blends together in a way that isn’t the most enjoyable at the end of the day. Incredible for the most part, it’s just that albums like this are a complete slog. A good double album is a sprawling manifesto, and should serve a purpose. This is… quite good, but does not do that. There are many great songs on here (let me drown, mailman, superunknown, black hole sun, spoonman, limo wreck, the day I tried to live, etc.), but it never amounts to an experience that isn’t at best a lil bit tiring. Great but with a heavy asterisk.
8.5/10
I’ve already heard this one! I like it a lot. Some of the best PPR passages of that movement, standout songs (most notably I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and A Certain Romance, in which the latter is one of the better closers of all time), and a very cohesive style that makes it a great experience all around. Great album.
8.9/10
When this was generated for me to listen to, I decided to go through Neil’s entire discography up to this point, and while I won’t go into too much detail about my opinions on his larger discography, in case another one of them gets generated for me later down the line, what I will say is that this was by far the best one and is a certifiably tremendous musical accomplishment. Every song is beautiful, awesome, and adds something great to the greater experience of the album. Literally every song is a favorite of mine, though the best song must be Ambulance Blues, at least for me. Currently my favorite album that this site has recommended me.
10/10.
Linkin Park’s debut is kind of like the better parts of RHCP’s catelogue and the worse parts of Cage’s catelogue if you smashed them together. Songs like In The End, Points of Authority, Papercut, et cetera are all great examples of this album’s greatness, and its high points. Additionally, the very apparent Eminem influence (at least it sounds like Em’s brand of rapping, I’d have to check whether he was a direct influence though) combine with the very consistent production provides this album’s greatest strength: its consistency. The entire experience feels very cohesive, and even when it’s not great it still feels like it adds to the larger album experience. I really did not expect to like this very much but I honestly really quite like it!!! I will definitely return to this.
8.2/10.
Pretty great but suffers from a serious lack of personality. See, I thought this was pretty great, especially the first side. However, as it went on, I just started to realize that this album really isn’t… great. See, every good album has something good about it, and that’s what this album really is, good! But every great album has something interesting about it, and this album lacks anything truly interesting that sets it apart from any other glam stuff from around that time. Some of the best glam had already come out by the time that this came out, just look at New York Dolls. Every great album has something interesting about it, and every interesting quality comes from personality. This just does not have that.
7.4/10
Finally something other than white guy rock!!! And it’s incredible too!! I think I’m just doomed to give way too many jazz records really high scores, but… like. Just listen to that piano solo on the title track - my jaw dropped. Or the glockenspiel on track 3, which I initially wasn’t too crazy about, really grew on me by the time the song ended, because of how dynamic the song itself became. I love the piano solo of I Surrender, Dear, just because of how much it highlights the absolute beauty of the piano as an instrument, with those incredible tone clusters, and dynamic melodies… it’s one of my favorite songs on the album. And that absolute triumphant, bombastic closer! Perfection!!! All in all, this is some of the most incredible, innovative hard bop that I’ve heard ever. The use of the different instruments is masterful, and the album is both a masterpiece and a masterclass in jazz. What an absolute delight of an album. So so sooo good.
9.8/10
