i am a known Neil hater -- or at least non-appreciator. I think it's mostly the vocals that rub me the wrong way. So I was surprised I didn't hate this! He's clearly a gifted songwriter and the Crazy Horses are holding it down, and this is close enough to CSNY that i can get into it.
top track: Down by the River
i am on record as being pro the first 3 U2 records, but i can’t remember the last time i listened to War. it’s still good! there aren’t a ton of deep cuts; this record was mercilessly mined for singles, and you know most of the bangers from rock radio. Adam and Larry are low key killing on these songs though! happy to have been prompted to revisit this one.
top track: 40
i love soul music but can’t find anything exceptional about either the music or Solomon’s vocals. what am i missing?
How do you follow Innervisions? I mean, you can't, right? And how do you stay relevant and keep making important music on album 17?? That's insane.
So, I can forgive FFF for being a little thin in the songwriting department. Stevie's vocals and Clav playing are still unassailable, but his drumming betrays him on a good number of songs. Imagine a Jim Gordon or Pretty Purdie on a track like "Heaven Is 10 Zillion..." instead of Stevie's stiff shuffle. That would be an entirely different story.
Still, there's enough cool sonic stuff and ambitious jazzy changes to make it worth your time. Even middling Stevie Wonder is better than the mean. And we even get the great James Jamerson on "Too Shy to Say." Can't be mad at that.
top track: "You Haven't Done Nothin'"
I'd call myself a passive ABBA guy; I've put some tracks on playlists and maybe owned a greatest hits comp in my day, but never sought out individual records. This one goes pretty hard! It's mostly about the singles you already know: Dancing Queen, Knowing Me, Fernando, etc., not many deep album cuts. But the singles go crazy. Special shoutout to Rutger Gunnarsson, absolutely destroying on bass throughout the record.
top track: Dancing Queen
Man, I really did not love this! I like Pink Moon, i love britfolk, and I can hear how much Belle & Sebastian was influenced by this, but it just doesn't work for me. So much of it is maudlin and treacly! Nick's voice is great but the the arrangements are weird and don't seem fully developed. He sure got a lot better over the next 3 years!
Top track: 'Cello Song
all time banger. Native Tongues forever.
top track: all of em, but for the sake of argument, let’s say Scenario.
This is not for me! What do you even call this music? I listen to a lot of different stuff and have never encountered this guy or this genre. Some interesting melodic stuff from time to time but not nearly enough to hold my interest.
I like Bjork but this is not the album. "Human Behavior" gives you a glimse of what's to come, but the rest of the album doesn't hold up. The tracks re undeveloped and Bjork hasn't quite found her thing.
top track: Human Behavior
ambitious, but fails as often as it succeeds. just made me want to listen to other early 90s rap gems
top track: Mr Wendell
This album just kinda washed over me. I know all these songs from hearing them a thousand times on rock radio in the 80s. I've transcended liking or hating them; they just are.
Obviously Entwistle is one of the greatest ever to do it, but i can't stand Keith Moon, and the others guys are adequate at best. Never need to hear any of it again.
top track: the live version of Young Man Blues on the deluxe edition
what a record! i’d only ever heard the singles, but this is DEEP. Wtf the Springsteen cover?? Trevor Horn remains undefeated.
this will be my first 5-star review. perfect album, i’ve loved it for almost 50 years.
coming across this record in 1997 was a minor mindfuck: it felt familiar but i’d never heard anything *quite* like it. is this really the guy from Kyuss?
are there too many songs? is there some unremarkable filler on here? yes, it was the late-mid-90s and that’s just what we did.
Rated R was an evolution and refinement but s/t was pure high desert witchcraft.
top track: If Only forever
Imagine hearing this in 1979. must’ve been like hot aliens landing in your backyard. absolutely terrifying.
not my go to TH record, but Tina is really ripping on this one! fun stuff.
top track: Love Goes to a Building on Fire
kinda mid! i dipped out early and put on The Last Broadcast instead
not my go to REM, and starts slow, but builds. will listen again
not for me!
maybe more important or iconic than great, but a solid representation of Cash in the late 60s. happy to revisit it.
top track: Long Black Veil
it was fine i guess? not my thing
Great to revisit this, but listening to Automator always makes me want to listen to Shadow.
top track: Bear Witness
better than i expected!
nothing but bangers
fuck this band
