Yes, I’ve heard it before, and I own this one. But it’s been at least 5 years since i spun it. This is my first review here and I am expecting I have heard most of these before. This is a classic rock one that isn’t in my dad’s collection so I mostly heard it on classic rock radio and, being an album with a lot of bangers, I had heard every song on the radio over the years before ever listening to the album in its entirety. Something like this is hard for me to think of as an album after hearing everything by itself for so many years. The nice thing about concept albums is they are specifically meant to listen to as a complete album in the order that they play. This is like Bowie’s fifth or sixth album and maybe his second or third persona he’s acted as and he’s really firing in on all cylinders creatively. Putting aside how overplayed these songs are along with many imitations in multiple genres inspired by this, it’s a goddamn good album from start to finish and I like it more than ever after just now relistening. Solid bangers all across.
I’ve heard this before and I own it as well. I don’t remember how long it’s been since the last time I listened to it but it might have been 15 years or more, to the point I don’t remember many of the songs. I liked Radiohead a lot in the 90s but stopped following them in the 00s as I was getting into other bands and genres. So it’s nice coming back to this. Builds on what they were doing in the last 2 albums with electronics and other instrumentation but no wild departures. Altogether the album is very well put together and every song is good, but not as strong as Ok Computer or Kid A, and only 2 or 3 songs jumped out as being great. Maybe needs a second listen to fully appreciate. I went back and relistened and all in all the songs are all solid but in the end not very moving.
I’ve heard this before but I don’t own it and it’s not in my dad’s collection. I’ve always liked ELO whenever they show up on the radio and ran through all their albums a few years ago, but nothing jumped out beyond the big radio hits. I dig the production on this with the 70s version of wall of sound. The coke budget must have been astronomical but it affected the production in a 70s manner (complementary) rather than 80s style (derogatory). Listening to this by itself rather than cramming and entire discography into a few evenings gives a new perspective; there aren’t any of the real big radio hits in here, but a few recognizable singles mixed in with some deep cuts shows their range, however limited it is. Altogether it’s a well crafted album, the songs are dense but purposeful; and I feel like going rollerskating.
I have several muddy waters records but I have not heard this before. A thing to remember with Muddy Waters is he sounds like a lot of other blues musicians because they were copying him. You notice this with a lot of really influential musicians that seem to be very standard but that’s only because no one else sounded like them before and they set that standard. Especially with genres like blues that become stylistically rigid as new generations start to copy the greats in later years.
The version I pulled up has 4 studio recordings after the end of the show which are all tracks that they played live and the live set is so much more energetic, and the studio tracks are no slouch job. The studio tracks are excessive but we’re not judging the album on that. I’d give this a mid rating based on hearing it today after listening to so much that is derivative of it, but I’ll rate it as if I were hearing it in the early 60s instead.
I’ve heard it before and I own it, in fact I’m on my 3rd copy. First on tape from Columbia house for a penny, which eventually broke, second time on cd which was borrowed by a roommate and never returned, and third time from a download. It’s hard not to look at this through the lens of nostalgia because I listened to this tape a lot in high school and know all the words while not really liking them for a few songs; we didn’t have the word incel back then but the lyrics for a few songs gave off incel vibes to me when I was 15. Gano seems like the type of guy who never got over his high school crush not having sex with him freshman year. If you don’t let that color your interpretation of the more innocent sounding lyrics it doesn’t ruin anything. The songs still sound great and not dated as other early 80s stuff and none of these are filler. I can’t help but love this album. Bumping it down a point for the aforementioned incel vibes.
I’ve heard this before, and I own it. My wife loves Blur; I don’t dislike them. I am not a fan of britpop, Blur is the best of that genre at least. This album is their break from the britpop sound apparently but I still hear it in most of the songs. I liked Song #2 first time I listened to it but I could go the rest of my life without hearing it again. None of the songs here are bad, there are good melodies and some decent riffs, and some of the deep cuts are better than the radio singles, but this just doesn’t do anything for me. Surprisingly, since there’s a Graham Coxon solo album that I really like, so he must have kept the better stuff there.
I’ve heard this before and i own it too. Can’t remember the last time i listened to it but must’ve been over a decade ago, and it feels like im listening for the first time again. I didn’t realize this is a compilation and was released in the late 50s; I thought it was released in the early 50s but it was just each of these 78s was recorded in ‘49 and ‘50.
So anyway, this is the first of many times Miles changed the course of american music. It’s interesting how there’s still plenty of bebop influence in here rather than a complete stylistic break, though I’m sure someone who knows more about jazz could give me a rundown of everything new introduced here. You can also hear the roots of hard bop and modal jazz in here. And there’s plenty that fits the cool jazz style that recognize. I’ve gone back and relistened 3 times now and am still catching things I missed and now I’m going to have to go through my whole miles collection. I’m getting tired of rating everything so high but I can’t help it, this album rules.
I have not heard this before. Some songs sound familiar from when I got into Brazilian psych a few years ago, I’m pretty certain Trem De Doido is on a comp I have and several others must have come up in a tropicalia mix, although I wouldn’t consider any of these tropicalia. There’s interesting instrumentation on a lot of these that I like, but a lot of the songs seem listless and unfocused, where they pick up and then drop off to nothing. The slower acoustic only songs seem passionless, they have that quiet vocal that lots of bossa nova singers do but something seems missing. Also it could be me that’s missing something. apparently this is considered the best Brazilian album ever, but there’s only a few songs that I really like and the rest are either just decent or almost unfinished. I think this album could be helped by cutting some songs down to where it’s not a double album. Or maybe this particular album is not for me.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. The missus is a fan of Elliot Smith, I like him just fine I guess. I don’t think I’ve listened to this or Elliot Smith in almost 20 years so this will be fun. First thing I notice is these are not as depressing as I remember, I think his suicide kinda darkened my view of the songs for a while. The songs without any backing band are a little too tinny for my taste, part of that has to do with his whisper-singing which is detrimental to these songs, but also the low end seems entirely cut out of the acoustic guitar. Luckily the songs with a backing band are more full and his singing voice works perfectly fine here. Altogether, the songs and arrangements are good, production is decent, I like it just fine I guess.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. I got the blown out Iggy mix rather than the original Bowie mix, so that’s the one I’m used to, but I’ll listen to both of them. I am aware of an original Iggy mix found in bootleg form floating around but I won’t bother searching for that. The Bowie mix has been regarded as “thin” and I have to agree, the vocals and guitar leads are too high in the mix and the low end seems to be an afterthought except on a few songs where it’s cranked way up. The Iggy mix, while blown out, is Raw and has Power and definitely more fitting for this album. Anyhow every song is great and in the right spot on the album. This is my least favorite of their original 3 albums but it still rocks out hard and I love it.
I’ve heard this before and I used to own it on tape. I never replaced it after I lost the tape because I think I had gotten tired of U2 by the end of the ‘90s when I was replacing tapes with cds. U2 had a problem of really getting up their own asses as the 90s went on. This one comes before they got all the way up their own asses (although having a guitar player call himself The Edge is a good starting point to getting up your own ass). One thing I’ve heard said about him is that he is less of a guitar player than an effects pedal player, and I agree with that in a complementary way. The echoes and delays and reverb are well thought out and used with a purpose for each song here instead of being used to mask sloppy playing and there are interesting guitar parts underneath all that. The album suffers some from being front-loaded with the best songs but there are good deep cuts with no filler and it closes on a good ending. I forget that U2 used to be a good band and this album is a great example of that.
I have not heard this before. I remember hearing Wishing Well on the radio and MTV a lot and I figured he was a one hit wonder, and I don’t think I’ve heard any of his other songs.
The main thing I am noticing listening to this album is that it has that really terrible production from the mid to late 80s that drenches every instrument in a kind of synthetic sound, it’s noticeable most in the drums and keyboards which are electronic and filtered as hell, but the guitars and bass have an uncanny valley feel I guess as the best way I can describe it. This sound covers so much pop and r&b from 1986 to 1989 that made it hard for me to like anything from these genres in this era. So this is going to be a big stumbling block for me enjoying this album.
I’m recognizing other songs from the radio including Sign Your Name which I always liked. Unfortunately that one and Wishing Well are the only two songs good enough to overcome the production. I am wondering if I would like any of the rest of these songs without that ‘87 studio polish and with a better keyboard, like maybe there are a few hidden gems, but on a second listen I don’t think that’s the case.
I’ve heard this before many, many times and I own it. So, Parliament and Funkadelic had started putting together the whole p-funk mythology for a few albums before this, especially with Chocolate City, but this is the first real deep dive into the space themes and characters that came to define their aesthetic and every other p-funk spinoff going forward, and also when George Clinton started using the word “funk” in the same way the smurfs use the word “smurf”. Also it’s a kickass party record.
Every single is a classic p-funk afronaut banger and you can’t help but dance your ass off listening to this shit. Without even considering the mythology it kicked off it’s an amazing record by itself, and it only grows more amazing when you consider what it inspired both in the p-funk universe and music in general.
I have heard this before and I own it. I’ve listened to this within the past few months. It’s got a few of my favorite Lou songs on it including Walk On the Wild Side - first heard this on the really lazy sample/semi cover that marky mark and the funky bunch did and then as the better sample on Can I Kick It by Tribe Called Quest, before finally hearing an edited down version on classic rock radio. Most of the songs are bangers except for the ones with tuba, nothing against the noble tuba, but the songs that incorporate it are either lacking or have that throwback cabaret style that was popular at the time but just doesn’t hit it for me. Still, it’s one of my favorite Lou Reed solo albums, at least in the top 3.
I’ve heard this before and I owned it, but it was “borrowed” by a roommate in college and I never got around to replacing it. I’m not sure if I’ve listened to it since college, so this will be another fun one. It’s funny listening to this after just doing Parliament a few days ago and hearing some of the same beats.
This was always a fun party album despite the misogyny, but it’s making it a lot harder to enjoy today. For the most part I don’t pay attention to lyrics and can put them aside unless it’s real blatantly awful and this is one of those cases. The songs are good but I’ll knocking down my rating for the whole “bitches ain’t shit” thing. It’s international women’s day after all.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. I haven’t listened to this one in well over a decade. Honestly I barely remember what this band sounds like. There are some good riffs on here and everything is really energetic, and there are some good noise breakdowns which I always like. I am remembering when this came out when the whole garage rock and post punk revivals were happening, and there were a lot of bands with no bass player or just one guitar and these guys were one of the better ones at achieving a full sound rather than just being a novelty. I’m not a huge fan of the vocals, I think this style became kinda cliched in the ‘00s though I’m not sure if there were other vocalists aping her style or she was following the general trend. This is really bringing me back to the indie scene at the time and how exciting it was outside of the garage bands that were being overhyped.
I have not heard this before. I’ve heard Adele before of course, but I didn’t keep up with a lot of pop music during the ‘10s beyond what was playing in the background. There was a lot of bad pop music going on at the time but I’m sure I was being overly dismissive. As I’m listening to this I recognize a few songs from the radio and from grocery stores. There’s one that I like, and the rest are formulaic, maudlin, and not very catchy. She’s got a good voice and the instrumentation is nice, but nothing in here is what I like. I’m still sure I was overly dismissive of ‘10s pop but not in this case.
I haven’t heard this before, but I’ve heard almost all of the songs on this album before. At least half of these are on a reissue of the first velvet underground album i own and several others were on some mixtapes I’ve had over the years, and at least one other one was on a soundtrack album.
So listening to this feels kind of like listening to a greatest hits album with a few bonus tracks. And it also feels like listening to a velvet underground album since they were playing in the backing band. Needless to say, I really like this.
I have not heard this one before. I listened to a few Frank Ocean songs around the time this came out when some of my friends were talking him up and i was unimpressed, so it’s time for a reassessment.
The first thing i notice is that a lot of the tracks on this album seem half thought out, like he was figuring out the song as he was singing it and then stopped right before he was getting it. There are several ok songs and a lot of songs where he just didn’t feel like adding much of a beat or a melody. I feel like i was being pranked. I just don’t get it, this is not for me.
I have not heard this before. I’ve listened to both John Zorn and Ornette Coleman so I’m expecting this to be chaotic.
So, this is more chaotic than I was expecting. I was thinking it sounded like grindcore free jazz and reading up on it they say it’s free jazz from a hardcore perspective and also thrash jazz so I wasn’t too far off. This is really wild and I dig it, as someone who enjoys both free jazz and hardcore, though like with most free jazz I’ll need to be in the right mood to listen to it again.
I’ve hear this one before but I do not own it. I thought I bought this back when it came out but it doesn’t appear in my library, so either I lost it or forgot to upload it. It’s been forever since I listened to this last.
This starts off like your standard White Stripes album where there are 3 or 4 really good songs and the rest are not bad but unremarkable. However, the unremarkable songs are mostly front loaded and there aren’t many of them. Most of the deep cuts are good and have interesting things going on, where they branch out beyond the garage rock sound they stuck to in previous albums. All in all I’m pleasantly surprised.
I have not heard this before. I don’t think I’ve heard any of Robert Wyatt’s solo material, but I have heard the Soft Machine. I was expecting a lot more drums in this, considering he drummed for Soft Machine and was pretty amazing on those records, but according to the article he was paralyzed in an accident prior to recording. So, terribly sorry about my mistake, Mr. Wyatt! This starts off a little aimless but seems to coalesce midway through the second song and really picks up from there. By the final two songs it hits some real beauty.
I have not heard this one. I know i have heard Youssou N’Dour in some mixes but I don’t think he’s on any of the afrobeat comps i have. One thing that jumps out to me is the production isn’t that overly polished and shiny style that is on so many African records from the mid-80s through now. I really like 3 of the 4 songs here, but song #2 just doesn’t do it for me. That shouldn’t normally be reason to drop the rating a whole point but with only four songs, it is a quarter of the album.
I’ve heard this before and i owned it at one time, but it disappeared sometime between college and my mid-twenties. I’ve listened to it since then on streaming but it’s been a while. This is a favorite of mine so I’m gonna enjoy this. I used to be able to play Corcovado on guitar so I’ll have to give that a try this week. I love bossanova and this is a really important album in that genre and for jazz in general, not much more to say than it still slaps some 30 years after I first heard it.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. This is in my dad’s collection too, and it’s been a favorite since I was a toddler. And I love The Who as well. It will be hard to give this a fair review given my history with it, so I’ll try to approach it with an open mind. First off, I love the ad jingles they throw in, especially the brief intro at the beginning before Armenia City in the Sky and then the Heinz baked beans ad directly after. The little jingles and the songs that have ads incorporated in them tie the album together as a concept better than the other notable concept albums of the era, with the exception of The Who’s later rock operas. However the rock operas are extremely self important while Sell Out basically presents rock music as a disposable commodity. The only complaint I have is the production is really sweetened up. This is a problem with all their albums up to Who’s Next when the record company finally let them record as loud as they played. It would be nice if there was a live recording of this like they have for Tommy on the Live At Leeds box set to hear how they wanted it to sound, but that wouldn’t really work what with the jingles and all. This is their best album by far and one of the best of the 60s.
I haven’t heard this one before. I’ve heard UB40 before, but only the radio hits of uninspired cover songs in the late 80s and early 90s. It’s nice to hear some of their original music finally. This is definitely better than their radio songs but it all seems very run of the mill; all of this had been done before and done better by reggae and dub artists in the seventies and while they have their own spin on it, they don’t bring anything new to the genre and only a few of the songs really stand out. Part of this is I’m not a huge dub fan, so I’m sure someone knowledgeable about the history of dub could sort me out. Unlike their radio hits, I wouldn’t call any of this uninspired but it’s definitely uninspiring.
I’ve heard this one before. I think one of my roommates in college had this. It was a fun party record and several of these songs were inescapable throughout 1998 and 99, you’d hear them at parties and on the radio but also in grocery stores and on commercials, which is kinda wild. Everything on this still stands the test of time but it’s also pretty pedestrian compared to everything else that was happening in drum and bass and jungle and “electronica”, as mtv tried to call it, at the time. It’s a solid album but nothing special.
I’ve heard this before. I don’t own it but my dad does and it’s one that I spun more than a few times going through his record collection for stuff he didn’t listen to very much when i was in middle school and high school, and then later when going through various classic rock phases. First off, more rock bands should use flute. It shouldn’t be relegated to jazz and classical and marching bands and only show up in rock when they bring in some orchestration. You can rock out on any instrument and Jethro Tull rocks the flute. And it’s not just novelty or show-off, even if there are plenty of flute solos, it’s there in the riffs and fills. There are a lot of great riffs and hooks in here, and I always assumed it was a concept album with the repeated motifs throughout all the songs, but apparently the band says it isn’t. Anyway, every song is at least thematically and musically related, and the song order seems to follow a start to end sequence. All in all it’s a great album.
I’ve heard this one before. I think it’s in my dad’s collection but I don’t believe I listened to the vinyl. There are a few songs on here I like, especially Cripple Creek because I’m a sucker for some yodeling, but most of this is bland country rock that isn’t very interesting. I truly can’t stand The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. Some people say it’s meant to be an antiwar song but I don’t buy it. There’s a load of Lost Cause imagery in this and the song is elegiac and a Canadian of all people shouldn’t fall for this crap. Fuck Robert E Lee, fuck any type of confederate apologia, and fuck this song. Bumping this down a point for the dixie garbage.
I’ve heard this before and I used to own this on tape. It’s been a very long time since I heard this and I’m surprised to see it here because i don’t remember it being very remarkable. Listening to it again, I remembered it correctly this is just generic cock rock with some hair metal twinge to it, and it’s not the least bit innovative. I might appreciate it if they brought something new to the table but it’s just uninteresting rehashed preening.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. And I went through my Neil Young collection within the past couple of months unlike everything else on this list. Always a good reason for a relisten though. So this is a classic and is jam packed with bangers, but the two songs with orchestration in them are too melodramatic, especially A Man Needs a Maid. That song also rubs me a little wrong even though i understand it uses “maid” to refer in part to a housekeeper in current terms but in most part to a woman in old fashioned terms. It’s enough to keep it from a perfect 5 rating.
I’ve heard this before, but the last time I listened to it was in the late 90s or early 00s. This suffers from the late 80s production that was common in most major label studios of the time, and you can hear the spandex on all of the guitar solos. Putting that aside, there isn’t much filler in this album and none of the songs sound the same while still being cohesive as an album. There’s metal, rock, blues, hardcore, funk, jazz, and pop influences all over this record, each song leans more toward one of these genres without sounding derivative. Also the social commentary on these tracks still remain relevant almost 40 years later. It’s enough to look past the production and just rock out to it.
I have not heard this before. I’ve heard Hanoi Rocks but I’m not super familiar with them since I generally don’t like hair metal. These songs are much less obnoxious than other hair metal I know but they aren’t very good. They aren’t bad either, just bland run of the mill hard rock that doesn’t move me. I might appreciate this more if they were more obnoxious instead of making stuff that blends into the background noise.
I have not heard this before. I’ve only heard a few Lana del Ray songs and I barely remember what they sound like. The first thing I have to say is this mix is terrible, and it makes me wonder if Lars Ulrich was at the soundboard working his jokes on everything except the vocals and drums. Her vocals have that breathy whisper style that comes out quiet, and they try to overcome that by dropping the instrumentation to the point that you have to strain to hear it on almost every song. You can get around this by listening to it in a completely quiet space but once you hear the piano or guitar or orchestra it’s so uninteresting you may as well not hear it. She’s got a nice voice and there are some decent melodies but it’s so somber and lifeless. I’ve said before that I have been overly dismissive of 2010s pop music but I’m waiting to hear something not worth dismissing.
I’ve heard this before. Surprised to see this one show up since I think it’s their weakest album. Sorry to pull a music geek trope but I like their older stuff better. Not to say it’s a bad album. The songs are good, and they’re very clean. And the producer did some producer shit by replacing the band’s drummer with a session drummer and bringing in some other musicians, including Billy fucking Corgan, to co-write new parts to some of the songs, which is extremely insulting to any musician. Though certainly Courtney Love was involved in these decisions. So while I like this album I’ll be taking a point off for a band that came out of the 80s indie rock scene falling for this kind of studio interference.
I haven’t heard this before. I’ve listened to their first two albums and thought they were alright. There are some decent songs on here but once it starts getting some momentum, new song will start with a minute or more of talking before the music starts. There is a 7 minute long song ripping off Werewolves of London, and there is another 11 minute long song with 2 minutes of talking before going into a medley that ends with 5 minutes of a rip off of Come On Eileen. It’s overall a rambling mess.
I’ve heard this before, but it’s been a long time. I’ve loved Bikini Kill since high school but for whatever reason Le Tigre didn’t click with me when they came out. Anyway I get it now and I love this shit. I think part of my issue was that they don’t sound much like Bikini Kill and another part was the drum machine - at the time a lot of bands were bringing in drum machines and electronics to fit in with the “electronica” that MTV was pushing. The first point was me being dumb because new bands have new sounds, and the second point is also dumb, because they weren’t following trends and the drum machine works really well with their minimal sound. This album rules. Remind me to go back in time a few decades and slap some sense into young me.
I’ve heard this before, but it’s been almost 30 years. My college roommate had this one and I’m guessing every other pre 1970 jazz record on this list will have been in his collection. There’s too many versions of this album and I clicked on the 2 hour double disk one. Listened all the way through that and then found the original 40 minute version. I’m not a big fan of big band jazz but Duke Ellington is a head above the rest. Also they seem to have added some of the bebop style here instead of stagnating I dig it and I’m gonna listen to every version of this again.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. It’s been a year or two since I’ve listened to Tom Waits. This album and a lot of Tom Waits albums can best be described as alternating between Cookie Monster singing circus music and Rowlf the Dog playing a soulful piano ballad about circus people. I mean that as a compliment, though some folks will find that unappealing. Even a hauntingly beautiful song like A Little Rain includes a line about german dwarves, which is expected and would not be welcome from any other singer. Also I Don’t Want To Grow Up sounds like it was written to be covered by the Ramones, which they did (though this version is better). The haunting ballads are spaced out perfectly with the yammering hobo songs and it ends on a beautiful note.
I’ve heard this before, but haven’t listened to it since the early 00s. I love this era of hip hop in spite of the misogyny and homophobia and violence. This album came right at the time where the faster beats that Public Enemy had were giving way to the slower beats that the g-funk rappers had and it covers both pretty well. The version of Check Yo Self here uses the Sweet Inspirations version of I’m Blue, which was also sampled by Salt n Pepa in Shoop, when I remember it using The Message from Grandmaster Flash, I guess that was the single? I’m pretty sure I remember the grandmaster flash sample in the video. Anyway the album version rocks in a different way but still rocks. The whole album kicks ass. Bumping a point off for the misogyny and homophobia. For violence, it’s mostly talking about shooting cops which I’m fine with.
I’ve heard this before. I said this in a previous review but I don’t like the production on a lot of African records from the late 80s onwards where the sound is softened and sweetened to the point of being saccharine. Which is unfortunate here because these are great songs. Once you get past the production, there’s a good drone blues sound like what I’d expect John Lee hooker or Junior Kimbrough would make if they were from the Niger delta rather than the Mississippi.
I’ve heard this before. It’s been a while. Frank Sinatra isn’t someone i really care about, i don’t love him and I don’t dislike him. I like him just fine I guess. He’s got a nice voice but definitely overrated, kinda like Elvis except very much an anti racist.
So these are all fun classic songs that I’ve heard a lot of times, I enjoy listening to them but they don’t stick with me for long. I like this album just fine I guess.
I’ve heard this one before. I don’t think I’ve listened to any Peter Gabriel songs in at least a decade. I’m not a huge prog rock fan, though Peter Gabriel is more on the weird side of the genre rather than the pretentious side and I appreciate the weirdness. I’ve always liked Solsbury Hill and its cool that a song in 7:4 signature could be a big hit at one time. This album kind of jumps all around in style without being too disjointed, other than the balance between good songs and not so good songs, but there’s no stinkers here. I like it just fine.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. First of all, I love this era of soul and Aretha Franklin especially. This album is so loaded up with classics and bangers it’s almost like a greatest hits collection. The version I have has the stereo version of Respect, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You, and Do Right Woman added at the end that messes with the overall trajectory of the album since A Change Is Gonna Come is a great closing track, but I don’t mind hearing these ones again. Aretha took an already great Otis Redding song that’s just basically saying “don’t nag me when I get home from work” and turns it into a classic women’s liberation anthem to start off the record, and that sets the tone for the rest of the album so that it comes across as a declaration of independence. Maybe I am overblowing it. Needless to say I love this album.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. As I said for the last Blur album, the missus loves them, and I don’t dislike them. Also as I said earlier, I am not a big fan of britpop, although Blur is probably the best of those groups. This is kind of nostalgic for me since three or four songs from this album got played a lot on the local college rock station when I was in high school, and I remember listening to this a lot when my wife and I were first dating. All the songs are less britpop than their “departure from britpop” album and they're all pretty good, it’s probably nostalgia talking but I really enjoyed this.
I’ve heard this before. As I said before I like this era of rap even with the misogyny and violence involved in it. The dominance of a few James brown drum breaks over this period made some kickass jams. I always got a Public Enemy feel from these songs and I found out the Bomb Squad worked on this album, so that explains it. It’s a great album besides the issues I got with the lyrics. Once again I’m knocking it down a point for the misogyny.
I’ve heard this one before. First time i heard it was 4th or 5th grade, a friends older brother had the tape and we passed around a walkman listening to it at recess and being like “wow they said swears!” Anyway it goes way harder than how i understood it back then. I love the samples with the 808 layered over it that kind of went away in the 90s. Like any gangsta rap from this era I can’t stand the misogyny in the lyrics, so gotta drop a point for that on an otherwise perfect album.
I’ve heard this one before. I’m a sucker for a good vocal harmony, and I love the production on these early/mid sixties albums. The radio hits are all good and there are some nice deep cuts as well, although there’s some filler and the last song doesn’t really stick the landing. Altogether a solid album.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. I am the type of insufferable record nerd who will tell you this is not their best album and the run from Aftermath through Their Satanic Majesty’s Request is better than the run from Beggars Banquet through Exile, but I believe it and I’m not being a contrarian. I have a problem where if someone tells me something is the best ever, and then it isn’t, i end up hating it. This isn’t the best album ever, so it took me a long time to get it. This is a very good album! There are some great melodies, riffs, and hooks, the horn and key arrangements are good and not over or under used, and they pull off a double album without getting self important or turning into a rambling mess like a lot of double albums from the time.
I’ve heard this before. It was shortly after this came out and I wasn’t super impressed, and I haven’t heard it since then. So it’s about time for a reassessment. At the time I had a dumb aversion to electronic music from the oversatuation pushed by mtv and the like. I’m enjoying the minimalism here then generally chill tempo. Not a fan of the vocals which sound lazy and effected but it doesn’t ruin the songs, if anything it just blends in like another instrument and sounds fine thinking of it that way. There’s a few really good songs and mostly good stuff, and a little bit of filler.
I’ve heard this before. There are a some good songs on here but mostly it’s bland country rock by a canadian pretending to be from the south in the most effected fake accent possible. The more folk songs are better than the country rock songs but it’s not enough to save this album.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. It was a fun party album back in school but I wouldn’t consider it great by any means. I feel a lot of nostalgia listening to this which is going to bias my rating upward, but the whole “bitches ain’t shit” theme cancels that out. There are no bad songs and a couple of really good ones so it comes out as a solid 3.
I have not heard this before, but I’ve heard a number of these songs come up on mixes. This was pleasantly surprising, I was paying attention to the indie scene in the ‘10s but mostly noise and doom and other weird psych but missed out on a lot of indie electronic stuff like this. I’m digging the keyboard tones and the psychedelic elements, they really elevate the good pop songs underneath. It’s nice to hear a new recent album that I like!
I’ve heard this one before. I like Elvis just fine I guess. He’s got a lot of bangers and a lot of ok stuff and a lot of slop. This doesn’t have any of his big hits or even any of his more familiar ones from oldies radio. There’s a few bangers and everything else is pretty ok to good, with no schlock or slop, except “Fever”, which is just a bad song no matter who covers it. I like it just fine I guess.
I’ve heard this before, but I don’t believe I’ve listened to it since college. I forgot how minimal this is compared to their later records, and it’s entirely hip hop based without the rock and soul influences from the later albums. It’s a solid album, although his voice kinda irritates me. That’s forgivable because he’s from Philadelphia and they all got weird accents there. None of the songs are amazing but none are bad either. I like it just fine.
I’ve heard this before. Even after listening to this album a number of times I always just associate this band with Brass In Pocket, since that’s the only song from this that ever got played on the radio and it got played a lot. And their other radio hits really tone down the new wave/ punk sensibilities. So it’s always a pleasant surprise to hear a real good new wave band when this plays. Tattooed Love Boys is a favorite of mine from this album as well as a few cover versions. And yes, Brass In Pocket is a good song regardless of all the radio play.
I’ve heard this before, but it’s been many years. She’s doing some of the bossanova she does so well, and some loungey stuff (good in fact) and a saccharine pop song (not so good in fact) and a sousa march (kinda ok in fact). It’s an extremely chill album for having a cocktail to.
I’ve heard this before and I used to own it on tape. For some reason I never replaced my Bauhaus tape collection, which is strange because this is exactly the type of goth I like with the skronky noisy guitars and psychedelic ambient keys, and the bass lines almost having a no wave feel. Think I’ll put on an all black wardrobe, light some candles, and smoke a clove cigarette if they still make those nasty things.
I’ve heard this before but it’s been a long time, probably not since the 90s. I remember thinking it was good but not really my thing as I had finally gotten into hardcore and was looking for heavier stuff. It’s really impressive how full the songwriting is and how mature considering she must have been 17 or 18 when she wrote these. Most of the songs are really great, with 2 or 3 that are bordering on filler territory. It’s a good album altogether.
I have not heard this before. I’ve heard the Soft Boys before including a few from this album but I’m way more familiar with the Circle Jerks cover of I Wanna Destroy You. I’ve heard much more of Robyn Hitchcock who I just now learned was in this band. My first thought after listening to this is why hasn’t this been in my collection for the past 20 years and kept in regular rotation? It’s nearly perfect neo-psychedelic post punk, you can hear influences from Television, VU, Brian Eno, and the Byrds, and the influence this had on REM, Pixies, and the Replacements. This is an amazing album.
I thought I hadn’t heard this before, but listening through I’m realizing I heard this way back in 8th or 9th grade when a friend played me some tapes of good recent rap since the only thing on the radio then was MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. It was mostly Public Enemy he played me but also this album, which sounds very much like Public Enemy down to his voice sounding a lot like Chuck D. Of course now I notice the difference in their flow and rhymes but it’s easy to confuse them for someone who didn’t listen to a lot of rap. I had to check to make sure the bomb squad didn’t make the beats. Anyway this is great, nearly everything he’s talking about is still relevant today and even more pressing than when it came out, other than TV the Drug of the Nation which is pretty dated and has some corny lyrics, although this can extend to any mass media and the lyrics probably weren’t well worn tropes back in the early 90s. 4 tracks aren’t on Apple Music or Spotify (including the title track) so I had to track them down on youtube and relisten with everything in order, and it really elevates the album enough to excuse the corniness of those lyrics.
I’ve heard this before. I was not a fan of this when it came out, although I thought “Yellow” was pretty ok. I’ll go into this with an open mind and see if my opinion has changed. So my first thought is I can’t figure out if it’s the songs or the production is more lifeless. If I had synesthesia, I would be seeing beige here. It’s offensive in its inoffensiveness. I still think Yellow is ok, and Sparks is not bad. I didn’t remember Yellow being thus lifeless, but I am remembering now I played a show in 2001 with a band who did a cover of it where there was some actual dynamic range to it. So maybe I confused the two. Maybe the other less quiet songs could be improved by a cover band, I don’t know.
I’ve heard this before. I like prog sometimes and I dislike prog other times. This prog is mostly enjoyable, where the odd time signature switches and instrumental noodling serves a purpose to the song and isn’t just showing off or self indulgent. There are a few time signature changes toward the end that seem like they were thrown in just to do it that interrupts the song, but it’s a 10 minute song so things smooth out eventually. Also the opening track on side 2 seems jerky and angular designed to impress music majors, but it’s still only a minute long. One thing about prog bands is they really know how to construct an album as a whole piece, and the little reprise of We Have Heaven at the end really caps things off nicely. So this is a time when I like prog.
I’ve heard this before. I’m a bigger fan of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd than the later era after he left, and most of the songs on this album make me wonder what they would have turned out to be had he kept his shit together. There are a few songs here that seem a little incomplete and would have helped to have a backing band, and then “If It’s In You” has a false start/studio flub that really distracts from how good of a song it is. There’s some really good psychedelia here at its peak and altogether I dig it.
I’ve heard this before. I love rap from this era as I’ve said before. This differs from a lot of gangsta rap from the time in that I didn’t catch any of the blatant misogyny in most of the other gangsta rap from this time and he seems to be more making fun of it than anything. I wasn’t able to pay close attention to the lyrics and it’s a 72 minute album that I don’t have time for a close relisten, so maybe I missed some bad stuff. There’s a decent amount of cutting humor in here, and the Body Count track is great (especially with the lead in where he says rock n roll is Black music). Only complaint is that the final track is an outro rather than a song, but that’s pretty common for 90s hip hop. So I’ll excuse it and give it a 5
I haven’t heard this before, but I have heard every song off this album before. Fats Domino rules, and it is a damn shame that it’s extremely difficult to find a full album of this online. Both spotify and apple music got tracks missing from it and the only full album I can find on youtube is at like 0.8 speed, so I’m piecing it together through a couple different services. It’s worth the effort to listen to the tracks all in order because it’s a great album, short and sweet and to the point.
I’ve heard this before, but it was way before I really got into space rock and shoegaze. And for some reason Spiritualized is one of those bands I somehow missed and skipped over. The soundscapes they have in the noise breakdowns are exquisite, I counted three extended ones that each sound unique. Every song is fantastic. Even the packaging described in the wiki article sounds amazing. This is a psychedelic masterpiece.
I haven’t heard this before. I have not even heard of Christine and the Queens, so this will be very interesting.
Unfortunately it is not very interesting. This sounds exactly like it could have been on top 40 radio in 1987 or 88, which is my least favorite era of pop music besides the stomp-clap-hey era of the early 2010s. There are a few songs that sound more modern, but in a rejected from the last Taylor Swift album kind of way. I could appreciate it if it expanded on that late 80s sound in any way or pulled in some new jack swing instead of rehashing a dated aesthetic. This shows up as a double album on streaming which it really doesn’t need to be, but apparently she released both an english and a french version of the album and only shows up double on streaming and special collector’s editions. So I won’t hold that against her. Although not enough to raise the score here.
I’ve heard this before. First of all, Nina Simone is great. There is a good mix of jazz, r&b, and folk here and the album is well constructed, so it was surprising to learn these were all tracks from a few previous sessions that didn’t make it into her earlier albums. The performances are strong and themes of love, heartbreak, and the black experience interplay really well, especially “Four Women” which is an amazing and powerful song. I dig it.
I’ve heard this before. I haven’t heard it in a long time but I’ve heard their stuff from the past decade that wasn’t very good, so it’s a good time for a revisit. This is a very mid-00s indie rock album. I’m recognizing a lot of these songs from last time I heard this or being played at parties, and the rest are sounding a lot like devotchka or Sufjan Stevens or other orchestral acts from the time. And this is a good thing, I liked those acts at the time and still listen to them regularly. This is feeling extremely nostalgic for me even though I don’t really know these songs. All in all a well organized album with some pretty great songs. Il have to revisit more of their stuff.
I haven’t heard this before. Listening through this, I recognize one or two songs that came up in a mix. There’s a great 70s soul sound here that avoids sounding dated. Really well constructed album, sounds familiar but new. Needs several listens to get the full effect and then you’re hooked.
I have not heard this before. I may have heard a song off this from oldies radio at some point. There are some decent folk songs here, but a lot of this album has that mid/late 70s smooth rock sound that I really don’t care for and really ruins my enjoyment of most of it. There is one song toward the end that has some really cool guitar work, but it gets overpowered by the other instrumentation enough that it loses what it special about it. She’s got a nice voice at least.
I’ve heard this before, and I own it. Although it doesn’t have my favorite Otis Redding songs on it, this is still a classic and maybe one of his best. He sings every song here with his entire self in it and while most of the songs are covers, he makes every song his own. Listening to this you wonder what he might have accomplished if his life hadn’t been tragically cut short. Fantastic album all around.
I’ve heard this before and I own it. I’ve listened to this so many times in the past 32 years and it’s been a favorite the whole time, so it’s difficult to give this a fair review. I went through my nirvana collection this past weekend in fact. I decided to listen to the 2013 Albini mix since I still haven’t heard that one yet. And also the original release because I love this album. Maybe I will search down the original 93 Albini mix too. This is a monumental album for grunge and noise rock and rock and pop as well. The songwriting is much more mature than Nevermind and Bleach as well as the variety and range of styles they cover, you have to wonder what they would have accomplished and what heights they would have reached if Kurt had gotten the help he needed.
I’ve heard this before. There are some great performances here of classic songs. I thought Boy Named Sue was on this but that was from live at San Quentin. He works the crowd really well and the performance is extremely strong, the only downside is they bleep out cuss words which gets distracting, since there’s cussing in all the between song breaks. Also the lack of boy names sue.
I’ve heard this before and i own it. Space Truckin’ kicks ass! It is my go to karaoke song. I was forced to sing it a few weeks ago at a friends birthday karaoke party as i was getting ready to leave and it hurt my voice. This is a big dumb rock album with lots of big dumb rock songs. Half of them are bangers, including the masterpiece Space Truckin (which is dumb as hell and awesome) and half of them are good but pretty forgettable, but they’re all big and dumb and they rock. I would give this a 3 except Space Truckin’ rules so hard it gets a 4. SPACE TRUCKIN’!!!
