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.
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 without any 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 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 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. This is coming up on spotify as “Introducing the Hardline According to Sananda Maitreya” so apparently he changed his name at some point, anyway that’s a little confusing.
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.
