my first time listening to an otis redding album in its entirety. actually didn't know this rendition of "respect," but i really liked it. "a change is gonna come" is simply a classic soul record and it's timelessly beautiful. of course his version of "my girl" is a pleasant surprise - i didn't know he covered that song.
overall just a sweet, soul record. not much i can say other than it's a great listen.
can't lie i thought i was going to like this a lot more, but this thing drags on. it starts off super strong; "rhyming and stealing" as an intro works so well, high energy and fun. "she's crafty" is a cool beat, not sure about the lyrics, but the song overall works. "slow ride" is probably my favorite beat on the album, but the vocals are a little annoying, with some of the intonations they use on the call and response bit. "girls" is just hilarious, couldn't help but smile listening to it. "fight for your right" is a classic revolutionary hip hop song, and that guitar riff is fucking bad ass, the solo is dope too.
after that it just goes downhill to me. "no sleep til brooklyn" has a cool ACDC sample on the refrain but other than that it doesn't do much for me. and that's pretty much the last song i can tolerate; from here it's just a no go for me unfortunately.
so despite a strong first half or middle section, this was really difficult to go through. i think it's partly because the instrumentation doesn't really diversify much, all the beats kind of start to meld together. and the yelling vocal does get a little tiring after a while.
first time listening to this album. actually first time even hearing of this band. nice discovery, glad to know about this late 90s courtney love-led grunge band. was excited to try this album out.
it starts out fantastic. the title track is a great introduction to the record and i love the progression and the vocals. "awful" is also awesome and catchy, love it. then from there the album takes a bit of a turn for me. "malibu" is also great, driving riff is great and i especially love the backing vocals on the refrain.
then from there the album takes a bit of a turn for me. the next three songs are a bit of a drag and are not really bringing anything distinct. i do like "northern star," probably my favorite singing on the album. "boys on the radio" is fun too, but other than those and the closer, the second half of the album is a dip in quality compared to the first.
it's an alright overall album, but nothing i'll likely be coming back to after this first listen.
it's like, a fine and pleasant americana-rock album to me. and i get that it's probably considered a classic, genre-defining record, so what i'm saying probably seems blasphemous, but i just don't understand the critical acclaim. his strained voice gets tiresome, the melodies/music kind of becomes samey after the first three or so songs, and i'm not really a fan of the "open road, america" vibe of the lyrics. maybe it's just not for me. the title tracks is great, though. other than that, i'm ok on good ole bruce in 2026.
i've never been a big nine inch nails fan. really not the kind of thing i usually listen to. this is abrasive, discordant at time, and not always easy to listen to. but clearly, based on how universally it is praised, there is something special here. the writing is pretty fantastic and i appreciate the experimentation. "closer" and "piggy" are probably my favorites. the drum pattern on "ruiner" is pretty neat. of course i love the closer "hurt," although i must reluctantly admit that i prefer the johnny cash version. sue me.
not sure i'll come back to this one very much, but it was a fun listening adventure. also, shout out to the album cover. that shit is cool.
this album starts out a little slow. the first few songs didn't do much for me; cool guitar riffs and neil's voice is always pleasant. then we get to "down by the river," which to me is really the center piece of this album. i get why he placed it smack in the middle. impassioned singing by neil, funky guitar plucking, good overall vibe. i love the guitar solo too.
i think if the album had more of whatever he put into that song, i would a little more excited by it. it's a good record, but it doesn't really do much for me. it's worth it basically just for that one part in the middle of the track list when "down by the river" comes up and neil goes absolutely nuts. the rest is very competent obviously and technically it's still very good music, just not that exciting to me i guess. other stand outs for me are the title track and "cowgirl in the sand".
i really was ready to come into this a hater. i really was anticipating having to negative and rude. i've heard so much about this album, read about it many times, and just had never listened to it. i thought it could never live up to the hype i built up about it in my head.
i was wrong. wow this album is fantastic. it sounds so fresh. i almost can't believe it was released 20 years ago. they really were ahead of their time; i wonder if there was anything that sounded quite like this that came out in the late 90s? this seems so prescient of what would come later in indie music towards the mid/late 2000s. this album is so innovative. it's exciting all the way through. really enjoyed that listen.
the type of music you had to grow up with to truly enjoy, i think. it's fine; can't really fault it so much as it was made pretty much as rock n roll was being invented.
it's kind of like listening to sugar hill gang in 2026, after all those amazing 90s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s hip hop/rap albums that have since been created. like, i think i'll listen to nas on "memory lane" instead of sugar hill gang "rapper's delight." or pretty much any other hop hop song.
it's the same with this buddy holly album. i can understand its importance and probably its influence, but it just doesn't work for me at all. the songs pretty much follow the same formula, and by the third song i'm already kind of over it.
i prefer this album when they stick to their alt rock sound. the punk attempt just doesn't work for me. it's a shame because there are some really good songs on here. but there are some very bad songs too. which ultimately makes for a bit of an erratic listen. very mixed bag.
it's also a pretty long album. i think it could have been cut in half basically. like, "sugar kane" is a pretty neat song, but i'm not sure it needed to be nearly 6 minutes. "youth against fascism" is a cool song title, but unfortunately, just as he sings on the chorus, it is a 'song i hate' (sorry lol). "purr" is pretty sick though. i wish they had stuck a little more to that kind of sound. maybe there's another sonic youth album that does that i would prefer.
this sounds a little dated to me. and very melodramatic. maybe just not my thing. and i usually love synth-based 80s music. just something about the vibe isn't working for me. "enjoy the silence" is great, though.
i don't know much about jazz; i'm finding it a little hard to write an interesting review, so i'm going to keep it short.
this album is a masterpiece -- even a novice like me can notice that. the musical palette on this thing is complex and layered, and generally he is able to transport you in space and time, unlike many others.
i had a great time listening to this. that album cover is bad ass, too.
i've loved this album for a long time. it think they perfected things on their next release, "midnight marauders," but this is still a fantastic, classic boom bap album. production is stellar, rapping is really good. what else can you ask for in the early 90s.
this is also clearly a super influential record. we wouldn't have hip hop or rap the way it exists now if it hadn't been for these guys.