Well I dunno what to say. It was all kinda OK to listen to in the background, but I am thoroughly unimpressed. Nothing really stood out to me. Some of the songs were perhaps a bit more evocative with their tones and atmosphere, but as a whole I found it boring. Barely found the strength to not click away to something else. D:
Respect the diversity of tracks and musical stylings, but did not enjoy it. Way too much funky and r&b. Liked Spaghetti Junction and Gangsta Shit as kinda more traditional rap songs, but nothing special. Ms Jackson is what it is, BOB was kinda neat, but overall not a fan.
Headmest ritual is very fun. Meat is Murder is extremely sad. As a whole, it's a pleasant listen, but mostly functions as neat background music that mostly blends together. I'd give it 3.5 stars if possible. Melancholic and soothing, until the end.
Just realized something: i was going to say that this "sounds like FIFA music to me", as in, fairly innocuous, inoffensive and unobtrusive tracks that are pleasant as background music in a FIFA video game. Considering the album's age, it's more appropriate to say that this album is the progenitor of such a style of music that was later commercialized and oft imitated by smaller bands. With all of that said, it's still pleasant music but I do think it indeed serves best as something in the background - I can easily imagine it playing during a drive, or during a movie montage featuring driving... Not trying to say it only has commercial applications, but it doesn't move me otherwise (aside from the eponymous Meat is Murder, which is suitably uncomfortable) and I think it's a respectable "use" for it.
Supervixen - nice jams, too soft, doesn't take off.
Queer - moody, nice.
OHWIR - smooth punk.
As Heaven Is Wide - PS1 futuristic game intro-ahh song, but it turns into a very interesting melody. Great for some atmospheric neo-noir or cyber-noir.
Not My Idea - the twang and tune of the song is a bit heavier/rawer, which I like.
A Stroke of Luck - continuing with peak cinematic OST-vibes. No seriously i hope the next Batman uses this song or something.
Vow - came and went.
Stupid Girl - alright, same as above.
Dog New Tricks - from the first notes, knew it was good. Didn't quite live up to my internalized hype, but still prolly the most likable.
My Lover's Box - it's aight, some nice tones in parts of the melody that stood out, not enough.
Fix Me Now - meh, although the instrumental side is interesting and nostalgic.
(extra tracks from the Super Deluxe version)
Milk - melancholic.
Subhuman - not particularly interesting. Should be edgier...
Girl Don't Come - fun instrumental track, goes down easy, timeless tunes.
Sleep - barely a song but definitely vibes, again, cinematic.
Driving Lesson - if this wasn't in some late 90s PS1 racing game then what is the point of it all?
Trip My Wire - feels like a key change from the previous song, idk, i wish it was heavier (my common reaction to most rock). Kinda catchy, but eh.
#1 Crush - the actual song has a good balance of melody, lyrics and heavier tones. Evocative. Sus noises.
Butterfly Collector - I love it when the song's mood instantly matches what I imagined from the name...
Alien Sex Fiend - definitely moody and esoteric tune, the vocals/singing/lyrics are not the most inspired tho.
Kick My Ass - works as a somber or melancholic outro song, i suppose, nothing special.
LCRW - so smooth, so fine, so hoppy, so jazzy-soul. Excellent.
Pusherman - very good.
Freddie's Dead - not as a fan of the horns and the tones here, felt a bit repetitive, but still nice.
Junkie Chase - excellent lil instrumentral, perfect for the assumed context.
Give Me Your Love - good, not obnoxious (which i value in love songs).
EYSKB - didn't really leave a mark, but not bad.
COCAINE SONG - good track, representative of the album.
Think - too whimsical? Just kinda alright.
Superfly - FUNK CITY!!
Freddie's Dead (single mix) - a bit better balanced at this shorter length.
Cinnamon Girl - 1969?? Pretty timeless in that case.
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - kinda goofy, but nice twang.
Round & Round - too melancholic-acoustic for my taste, kinda boring, but also kinda pure and beautiful. huh.
Down By The River - ain't no reason for any song to be this long. Nice tunes, fun "chorus", but like, why does it keep goin' and changing? I guess I value standard song structure, maybe even too much.
The Losing End - kinda came and went, just a nice track, didn't stand out.
Running Dry - you find me with a very Chinese intro. With that said, a very evocative and emotional song. EDIT: HOLY SHIYT
Cowgirl In The Sand - long but idk, it worked for me this time.
===
As a whole, was blown away by this. I did not expect this.
No strong feelings, but fine to listen too in the background. Not obnoxious or grating. Some nice twangs and riffs.
The first half of the album - specifically the first 3 songs - are very fun, very evocative and very moody, in a great way. The latter half of the album is a bit more esoteric, with the short track Broken working well for me, yet the last one Listen being a bit of "nothing". Despite that, entire album holds a consistent quality with no real drastic dips, and it works well as pleasant ambient music if nothing else, with just enough odd and fanciful tones to be interesting and inspiring. Although I'd usually reserve it for something in my primary genres (heavier, more modern takes on metal and its related genres), I think this album was just pleasant and "beautiful" enough to leave a mark. Objectively I don't think it's quite a 5-star album, even subjectively, but it is very good and I happened to enjoy it very much on this day.
Deeply impressive, but not that fun to listen to for me, except for maybe Spanish Castle Magic.
The opener is nice, but everything else is incredibly blend and just blends/melds together into a whole lot of nothing. Far too soft, like music you'd see in a mediocre rom-com during a montage of a character being melancholic over difficulties with their partner... Or, like, a movie parodying such tropes. Too soft, too sauceless.
Impressive and certainly relaxing. Harmless at worst. Virtuous masterwork at best. Ultimately, I only enjoy listening to it so much and can't say that I "like" it, so it feels wrong giving it higher than a 3 - the other albums so far that have been outside of my comfort zone and favorite genres still managed to "move" me for example, while this and say Hendrix are just... Impressive, so impressive, but ultimately don't make me either enjoy myself or feel anything.
I respect the storytelling and way with words. Desolation Row is the apex in that sense, I think. With that said, I barely made it through the album. It not only failed to function as music to me - to entertain me AND/OR make me feel something - but it actively aggravated me in fact. It was that annoying.
Struggling between 2 and 3 because it really didn't do much for me, but was quite a bit more pleasant than the past 2 albums. Interesting storytelling and lyricism again. Needed more flute.
Darlington County is kinda fun. Born In The U.S.A. is ofc well known. Downbound train is good. No Surrender is good. Dancing In the Dark is fun.
The interview was neat, and Eight Miles High was kinda nice. As a whole, whoever, the album was extremely uninspired (ironically) and wholly boring. Sad to say, but this is a 2 for me at best, but right now it feels like a 1.
Badlands - no comment, nadda.
Adam Raised a Cain - it yearns for a heavy af metal cover AND to be sampled for some real old-school hip-hop. Good, interesting song nonetheless.
Something in the Night - uhhh, well sung but didn't leave a mark.
Candy's Room - not that sweet.
Racing in the Street - melancholic and all that.
The Promised Land - not too impressed.
The Factory - evocative of the theme.
Streets of Fire - has a hint of edge I liked.
Prove It All Night - meh.
Darkness On the Edge of Town - the ultimate song wasn't as strong as I had hoped.
The Spotify bio describing this as being a refreshing departure from grunge/nu metal is an absolutely insane take to me. I don't know, to me this is extremely lame; "what if we took rock but made it not-cool?".
The typa music that plays in the background while you fiddle around the FIFA 12 career mode, specifically the songs you get inbetween some Ghanian r'n'b and non-descript d'n'b from, idk, Holland.
2 stars instead of 1 solely because it was a breeze to listen through and it's not aggressively annoying or bad, it's just not fun.
FUN FACT: Although this is the first time I sat down to listen to this album in full, I've previously listened to Pantera's first 3 albums (yes, the glam-hair-power metal albums) in their entirety. That was NOT fun, except for bits of the 3rd one.
Anyway: older records tend to either be too raw/underproduced or, well, feel just right - as indeed, many modern records tend to be too artificial and overproduced in contrast.
For Vulgar Display Of Power, honestly, it kinda straddles the line. Sometimes the overall audio experience isn't all that amazing, but in some meta way it does work in favor of the album - it just kinda fits the notion and "idea" of Pantera. Perchance.
Overall, I enjoyed the album, both the tracks I knew from before and the ones that were new to me (like Fucking Hostile).
With that said, I'll say something controversial and say that it's also somewhat archaic and "too raw" at the end of the day, compared to some of the more modern stuff I like. It reminds me of my experience listening to Korn's first album and being pleasantly surprised at how well it sounds, yet still finding it too raw relative to later releases. In contrast, for example, Slipknot's first album was very impressive and arguably more impressive than their follow-up.
Even more controversially, I prefer Five Finger Death Punch's cover of A New Level. In general, FFDP at their best is "Pantera 2", while at their worst being far too overproduced and commercialized... They remain one of my favorite bands, and I prefer many of their songs to the tracks from this legendary Pantera album. Sill, it's never black and white of course and can be difficult to quantify... Walk may not be my favorite but, like, c'mon... It's Walk.
EDIT: Ngl, yeah, I'm listening to FFDP's The Way of The Fist album and it's like explicitly better than Vulgar Display of Power, 1:1. Perhaps I lack some more nuanced, technical understanding or something, but yeah, for the listen and "fun" test, that's my (controversial) opinion.
No context for this one and I am certainly wowed. What an interesting... Thing?
Listening to this genuinely made me upset. These guys should be banned from making music - not that what I just listened to was music, but you know, just in case...
Neat, a bit of beep boop, a bit of mood. Strangelove stood out as a fun bop.
Fun overall, decent somberness and melancholy in the second half of the album. Feeling generous now, but, the music helped, so...
Never got around to this before and I was quite wowed. More like 4.5/5 but still, great stuff.
Pleasant surprise. 3.5 or so.
ILLMATIC 3.97
The Genesis N/A
NY State of Mind 4.8
Life's a Bitch 2.5
The World is Yours 3.3
Halftime 4.5
Memory Lane 3.9
One Love 4.2
One Time 4 Your Mind 4
Represent 4.4
It Ain't Hard to Tell 4.1
Seminal work that I respect greatly. With that said, for my personal taste, it rounds out to a 4 out of 5 I suppose. It doesn't quite "wow" me enough either to get a pure 5/5, but perhaps that's due to having to sit down and really digest the lyrics to truly appreciate it. It also fails the "Meteora Metric", wherein I can't give this a 5/5 like I would for that just for pure enjoyment, either. With that said, NY State of Mind remainds a killer song, probably top 5 ever or something.
Listen, if it's on purpose (by all accounts it is), I can kinda understand and respect the effort. Artists are usually odd and unusual, and I really don't mind expressing the storytelling through an unorthodox and purposley "mismatched" musical style.
With that said, it just wasn't fun to listen to, to an extreme extent mind you. This would probably do well on YouTube in the early 2010s, especially if clearly communicated in a comedic fashion.
I'll say that Fit but You Know It was almost kinda fun, while Dry Your Eyes was coherently composed enough to actually translate the message and emotions of the lyrics correctly.
This whole thing is weird, but not in a good way; respect to the artist for trying something liket his, but I simply do not like it, even if the lyricism and storytelling are poignant (in their own down to Earth way).
Yet... It's certainly a fascinating, different thing, that provoked genuine discussion and bewilderment.
Quintessentially solid and fun, adaptable and quite universal, just kinda listenable and breezy in most of any contexts. In a way it doesn't deserve some "best of all time" rating, but if you think about it, creating something so flexibly fun is a grand achievement in of itself. A 4 feels like a fine and appropriate rating, then, although I'm sure some would be quite unimpressed and give it a 3, while others might find it to be extremely impressive in its own right and give it a 5.
Certainly an interesting experience, very groovy all around. Mostly pleasant to listen to, though some songs perhaps overstayed their welcome. The overall audio experience was certainly creative and interesting, though, as were the lyrics and vocals. I didn't enjoy it as much as I find it interesting and respect the artistry involved. However you spin it, it's quite intriguing for me, hence why I'll give it a higher score than would befit my personal enjoyment.
Interesting ambient experience. Nothing that blew me away, and at some points it kinda dragged/felt longer than it really is, but ultimately as a whole it was pleasant to listen to and something that I do personally appreciate. I wonder if there's more to appreciate here than meets the eye (ear?) that I am not musically adept enough to comment... But it was still cool, and I do still like it, and could easily have it play for me on most days while I'm doing stuff, especially reading or writing. 3.5/5 or 7.5/10 at least, with an upside.
Very cool at moments, especially for some tracks like Twenty Four Hours and The Eternal for example. With that said, it was mostly just making me wish it was cooler than it was, with occasional odd tonal choices and unusual vocals confusing me more than anything else. It's certainly unusual at points, in a good way, it's evocative and creative, and I suppose you can tell that it's well performed, but ultimately it wasn't particularly fun or pleasant for me to listen to as a whole. Better than I can give it credit for or even perceive properly, I think, but worse than I would like to just for raw enjoyment for passive listening. I fear that the vocals are a big issue I can't quite get over...
Not unpleasant, but honestly didn't move me or pique my interest in any major way. Certainly was interesting to listen to at least, and the soul involved (pun intended) is respectable, earnest. 2.5 in my head, even though I respect it, it just wasn't particularly fun for me.
Who? I feel like I've heard of her name before, but I have no idea.
Suite II Overture - cool but I assume unrelated overall.
Dance or Die - would have done numbers in the 1980s I think. Fun song.
Faster - very fun, noice.
Locked Inside - wouldn't be a proper album without mentioning genocide, ya know?
Sir Greendown - obligatory downtempo to space things out, some tones were interesting at least.
Cold War - and we're back with something upbeat. Like the electric guitar later on, but it's a nice song altogether. Interesting lyrics from what I can pick up.
Tightrope - not as keen on this one, anything mentioning "haters" is always gonna be mid at best, and idk if I needed the rap at all, it brings down the song relative to what was previously on the album.
Neon Gumbo - for a song with such a provocative name this is SADLY just an intermission.
Oh, Maker - it's OK but didn't quite land, at least not now, didn't catch my attention.
Come Alive (War of the Roses) - SCHIZO MENTIONED?? Immediately a more evocative tune. Oh wait, no, why is she singing like that? I guess this was for her soul and/or artistry and/or to test herself, but it does lower the simple enjoyability of the song. Impressive length there I guess
Mushrooms & Roses - oh no now we're in the ephemeral zone. It's alright.
Suite III Overture - uhh yeah well uh transition.
Neon Valley Street - the album has kinda lost me now, no strong feelings here.
Make the Bus - what the hell? Figures it's a song about the bus that goes off the rails. Hah, get it? Realm of fantasy indeed.
Wondaland - quaint, but I prefer the style of the earlier tracks, they really got me grooving and moving.
57821 - lovely song, instantly made me envision a beautiful Arthurian landscape.
Say You'll Go - Uhhh Christmas-y?
BaBopByeYa - James Bond-y? But then it keeps changing and transforming in unusual ways. Fun listen, evocative.
Although not a knockout 5/5 in my book - it didn't knock my socks off, as it were - this was a fantastic and pleasant listen. Exactly the type of "moody, atmospheric" that I can appreciate. Very cinematic, strongly charismatic. The eponymous first song perfectly sets the mood and the rest mostly follows through magnificently.
Very weak 3/5 to be honest. Was expecting more based on what I knew about Heart-Shaped Box, which was the only song I actually liked or found memorable...
1st 2.5
2nd 1.5
3rd 4.5
4th 3.5
5th 3
6th 3.5
7th 2
8th 2
9th 3
10th 2.5
11th 2
12th 2.5
Huh, I figured out that this was Post-Rock all by myself! I recognized the stylings. Certain tracks specifically work as Post-Rock Ambient, which I do like. Good all around, though I'd prefer the occasional awesome riffs to happen just a tad more regularly. The latter tracks are better than the earlier ones in the listing, but it's all really right up my alley. Enjoyable, loopable.
This unknown artist's (that no one has ever heard of before) album starts of promising.
Devil's Haircut started chill, but i liked the more intense ending.
Derelict was intriguingly awesome.
Novacane helps simulate OD-ing on medication I think, all over the place, but cool.
High 5 is a weird switch-up.
The whole album I think is summarized by Novacane - some awesome jams here that are made confusingly difficult to categorize and listen to; the latter issue specifically hurts it, because the songs become erratic and experimental to an extent that is detrimental, if raw and earnest. There "needs" to be more "meat on the bones" here of some nice, uninterrupted yet nonetheless bold tracks. Thusly my logic is: "very fun, but can't quite go 5/5".
Be (Intro) - Chiptunes into horns/trumpets, ayo? Neat.
The Corner - classic moody philosophical corner stuff ya dig? I dig.
GO! - unusual, a bit more funk or w/e, not quite my jam..
Faithful - appropriately enough, gives a soul and gospel vibe, decent rap but it's not really banging for me.
Testify - interesting composition for the theme/subject matter and female vocal. Not fan of it outside of the storytelling. The QUEENPIN lol.
Love is... - too mellow for my tastes, didn't really manage to capture my attention.
Chi-City - now this is nice classic hip-hop. "so many raps about rims surprised people don't become tires" is funny.
The Food - solid track.
Real People - kinda felt like filler.
They Say - needs to be harder hittin and all that, for my taste.
It's Your World - well rap part was fine but rest is just like melancholic and moody talk, the kids and the old man and all...
This whole thing is kinda lacking in songs to be honest. It just needs more songs, a bit more consistent and straightforward, less experimental, just to have more meat on the bones. As it is, it was a big jumble of a lot of things. Trying to do messaging, storytelling, funk-y stuff with experimental tunes and beats - I just like grounded, hard-hitting rap, so I find this lacking. Could easily be rated higher if it was handled differently or if it simply landed for my personal taste.
Chei-Chei-Chain?
Didn't really resonate with me, and although it's not annoying or anything, it is a bit boring, especially near the end of the album.
Chain of Fools is at least catchy, but as a whole, I'm not particularly impressed and/or fully ignorant to the artistry involved. I feel like something called "soul" should be more impactful and easy to immediately appreciated, but I wasn't moved or made particularly emotional by these tracks.
Sunshine - solid start.
Maybe Your Baby - very bluesy, twisty, nice. Bonus "Heehee"??. Sadly, the song overstays its welcome for my taste, transforms and changes a bit too much.
You and I - more impressive than fun to listen to, man's got some pipes.
Tuesday - started interesting, was just kinda OK overall, totally fine.
Bad Girl - very smooth, like silk.
Superstition - suddenly we walking in a wide confident stance on main street.
Big Brother - what an unusual combination of tones? Kazoo and stuff. Interesting subject matter.
Blame it on the sun - Not a huge fan of this style tbh.
Pure love - kinda what i imagined most of the album to be before listening to it, not a huge fan, just kinda alright.
I Believe - the vocals, melody and instruments are a more driving and cohesive whole on this track relative to the previous few, so I do like it!
Overall pretty good, even if it's not my jam. A bit better, I think, than the other soul/jazz/funk stuff I've listened to thus far. Not sure if this is supposed to be some genuine and objective 5/5, for me it didn't blow me away, but it was very good nonetheless.
Seminal, memorable, enjoyable. Can't really go wrong with this one, but I can't say it really gets me grooving (shocking I know), and it doesn't move me emotionally. Perhaps I underestimate what it truly brings in a live setting, even if that could apply to almost anything under specific circumstances... Likewise, it is in a way quite cinematic, but I do wonder if that is just cultural osmosis talking or if the songs themselves lend themselves to visions of myriad gritty and grimy scenes.
Started in a simple jolly and upbeat way, and made me think it would be somewhere between a 3 and a 4 (for my taste). However, it just kept getting more and more quirky, unusual and subtly avant-garde. It feels weird for me to say, but in a way it became unpleasant and frustrating to listen to. Perhaps the instruments/musical arrangement is not to my liking, as it feels quite simplistic.
Amusingly, on the other hand, if it just played it safe and stayed generic, it would probably annoy me for being "FIFA rock", vapid and uninspired...
I'll settle that I respect it, but don't particularly like it. Feels harsh giving it a 2, and maybe it's just a bad day, but it took me a lot of willpower to even finish...
Highlight: "Theme from an Imaginary Film" and "Red Necks" from the Extended/Special Edition were oddly good. Of all things. What? "Alex's Song" ruined the streak tho.
Well, very chill and cool. Thought to myself "damn that's smooth" at points. Absolutely fine as background music. The significance and artistry is lost on me, though. Likewise, it didn't excite me or anything, and I'd probably listen to something else when seeking relaxation, driving, or similar. I can see the "cinematic" aspect I suppose.
Sauceless. Genren't.
The last track was kinda interesting, but this is just so... Ugh.
Context matters but this did not stand the test of any time or deserve to be on any "greatest" list.
A mighty fine 4, I think. I can't see it being a 5, but it makes me want to lower the rating of some of the previous albums to be honest - it's so much more fun and enjoyable in a simple, pure way. Fun, and it's cool to see the musical DNA for some more modern genres within these tracks. My faves are Flick of the Wrist and She Makes Me.
More important historically than impressive in a pound-for-pound measure nowadays, even if it is still completely timely and listenable. Solid all around, I think, but surprisingly didn't wow me. Would still rather listen to this than a lot of modern rap, even if the production and "aura" of stuff like trap or phonk can make them more easily appreciable on a casual level. With that said, this was still more than aight. Definitely some nice funk on the tracks.
First impression was that it was generic and uninspired, just kinda trodding along; but, as the album went, it kinda grew on me, and become more pleasant to listen to. Ultimately, though, the only thing that kinda stood out to me was the intro riff on Simple Stuff, and tbf the rest of the guitar. The rest of the songs were just kinda there. Nothing crazy overall or by some objective, "learned" metric, but I found this to be OK. For my pedestrian taste, this wins out against Joy Division's Closer and destroys Simple Mind's New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84), which I guess are fair comparisons from the albums we've had thus far.
Well sung technically from what I can tell, and nice voice color. I didn't mind the English singing tbh, tho I also do not like French too much to begin with. :D Instruments and melodies didn't really wow me or get me grooving. I can certainly tell the supposed MJ influences in places, sometimes perhaps very unsubtly. I don't mind this as a whole, but just not too exciting for me personally, especially in an office setting as I work. I suppose the rating would go anywhere from a 2 to 4 depending on my mood, and the context in which I am listening to these songs; case in point that I wanted to write a short yet scathing review when this started, but am now just kinda fine with it. Good overall, and since I never heard of this singer/band before, I'd say underrated? Perhaps too derivative of the work of the greats.
Why is this here? Not a rhetorical question, really, one must ask why this is included on a "greatest of all time" list of any kind, much less what is meant to be an universal collection if important musical artistry.
As mind-numbing jams to zone out to and supply a backdrop, sure, this works; but I really don't see where the assumed supreme and outstanding quality or indeed artistry would be found in this. I don't meant to disrespect anyone making music or mastering all kinds of instruments, but there's levels and categories to music, and this I do not quite get.
A few of the tracks stood out a bit more, in a positive sense; others were hitting me with a nasty hoinky-sploinky (negative). The last one was kinda alright.
Yet, the whole thing just dragged on and on - cut the runtime in half and perhaps this would be tolerable. Add some strong identity and atmosphere, and it could even be memorable.
Actually, it was indeed a rhetorical question.
Hot take I guess, but pop is way overrated, unless it's truly phenomenal in composition and execution. Forgot this the moment I listened to it, and before that it was mildly annoying. Really, just, like... Whatever. Give me dadrock or buttrock any day over this.
I don't actually know anything about Bowie or his discography and career, I just recognize the name as important. Thusly, I kinda had high expectations but, like, not for anything in particular.
The first half of the album was thoroughly underwhelming. Chill and a bit groovy, at least, but not particularly fun.
Then A New Career In A New Town had a hint of something interesting, but didn't go where I wanted.
Warszawa, Art Decade, Weeping Wall, Subterraneans... Now this is interesting! Very interesting. Picturesque (yes I know that doesn't make sense).
I am not sure if those last 4 songs are enough to elevate the whole album in some numerical sense, but they were what I was hoping for. Enjoyed them.
I guess a weak 4 on this odd rating system...
Tomorrow Comes Today is the first standout.
Clint Eastwood is ofc legendary, and for good reason.
Man Research (Clapper) was not necessary, in the sense, being annoying is optional, right?
Sound Check is kinda interesting.
Double Bass is smooth.
Rock the House is not the direction I like for this, too goofy, and I kinda don't want the rap with this.
19-2000 hey i know this one too! Fun beat.
Latin Simone was OK.
M1 A1 is quite good.
Pleasant, charming, in an understated yet compelling way. Sung ever so well that even a newbie listener can appreciate. The genre(s) and execution really don't leave much of anything to be desired, and then some. A very respectable 4, perhaps on a different day I'd even give this a 5, although I think it's lacking some extra-special spice for me to go "wow".
