Went into this not expecting much, but was very pleasantly surprised. The quite bare arrangements go brilliantly with Johnny’s husky voice and give the whole album a great sense of warmth. Some genuinely beautiful arrangements but sadly some rather strange choices and some songs I found rather corny held it back a bit.
A thoroughly enjoyable if rather unmemorable instrumental album. The title track starts us off with a fantastic funky groove and is a classic for a reason. Sadly the rest of the album is somewhat unable to live up to the promise of the first track. It’s all good stuff though, and there a couple other highlights, namely the more soulful “Behave Yourself”; and the energetic “One Who Really Loves You” and “You Can’t Sit Down”.
All in all, an album I think would be impossible to listen to without ending up in a better mood, but sadly not one I see myself revisiting much.
And as much as I bloody love a jazz organ I can’t quite give this album a 4, so a strong 3 it is.
My first time listening to The Verve, other than having heard Bittersweet Symphony a gajillion times. I think I disagree with the popular sentiment that the first track is the best, in general I much preferred what came after, though that could be due to hearing Bittersweet Symphony too many times.
I have to say I was really swept away by the meandering, almost lazy, flow of the album. The thick texture of the instrumentals made for a quite immersive experience that I think is maybe better than the sum of its parts.
Stand out tracks for me were “The Drugs Don’t Work”, “Weeping Willow”, and the explosive finale, “Come on”.
A difficult album to review as liked quite a lot about it. The gloomy brooding atmosphere, harsh angular sounds and driving rhythms. Sadly though I failed to connect with it the way others seem to, though I did very much enjoy “New Dawn Fades” and “Shadowplay”
Could definitely be one that grows on me in the future though.
I remember listening to this album for the first time and being shocked that it actually was as good as they say.
The thing that strikes me most about this album is the incredible variety in moods and emotions, it’s a real eclectic mix of songs. From the cool groove of “Come Together” (what a drum part), to the sombre “Something”, the darkly moody “I Want You” and the joyous “Octopus’ Garden”.
And they’re all amazing, even the much maligned “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” I think is charming in its own cute kitsch way. Same with “Octopus’ Garden” which has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. The only misstep in this regard for me is the very jarring transition from “I Want You” to “Here Comes the Sun”.
There’s just too much to really even talk about so I’ll just mention some highlights:
The rhythm section in “Come Together”; the guitar solo in “Something”; all of “She’s So Heavy”; the haunting harmonies of “Because”; the bass part in the middle of “She Comes in Through the Bathroom Window” and McCartneys incredible vocals on “Golden Slumbers”.
All in all, bloody brilliant.
I think a weak 3 for this, nothing about it particularly bad just a bit generic, and quite long for how samey it is. I think I’d be happy enough to listen to any of the tracks on their own if they came up in a playlist but all in a row is a bit much.
I did quite like “Too Afraid to Love You” and “The Only One”
Really enjoyed this album, the whole thing has a sort of joie de vivre, that makes it impossible not to be happy by the end of it.
Some incredibly hooky melodies, a tight driving rhythm section, shimmering synths and an unbelievably grooves bass throughout.
Maybe not an album that’s gonna change your life but thoroughly enjoyable, enough for a light 5.
Wouldn’t say it’s one of my top favourite albums but it is kind of perfect. I don’t think you could change anything about any of the tracks without making them worse.
Started off strong with the iconic Enter Sandman, some great heavy riffs and a catchy chorus. From then on it was kinda more of the same but not quite as good, did start to get a bit bored of it, especially with how long the album is. I found as well the vocals could be a bit cheesy at times.
I Really enjoyed the Unforgiven, kind of an Ennio Morricone vibe throughout.
Great bass at intro of The God That Failed, sadly gets a bit lost in the mix for the rest of it.
Great guitar tones for ripping solo at end of My Friend of Misery, the last two minutes of that were probably the highlight of the album for me.
Borderline 3/4 for me but despite having some strong tracks, as an album listen it’s just a bit boring.
A rollicking adventure of an album, with a great mix of fun toe-tapping grooves and more contemplative folksy ballads. The raw vocals combined with the rustic instrumentals give the album a real intimate feel that really adds to the experience.
The album starts pretty decent and then loses me a bit in the middle before finishing with an incredible 3 track run in the catchy “Jawbone” followed by a beautifully bittersweet “The Unfaithful Servant” before finishing on the funky “King Harvest” which has the stankiest rhythm section; reminded me a lot of “Can You Picture That” from the og Muppets Movie.
Strong 4
The album starts strong with a killer beat featuring an awesome bass ostinato in “Safe From Harm”. We get some lovely dreamy soulful vocals on this track but sadly the vocals on this album are the element I find the most uneven. On the next track “One Love” the vocalist is doing some really weird vibrato that I find a bit annoying. Also not a fan of the reggae style vocals in “Five Man Army” or the whole of “Hymn of The Big Wheel”. In fact Big Wheel is probably the weakest track for me which is an unfortunate way to end the album.
The instrumentals however are excellent throughout the album, slick cool trip-hop beats with enough variety to keep it interesting.
Particular standouts for me were “Blue Lines”, “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” and “Unfinished Sympathy”
Well, what a voice. A powerful raw vocal performance from Janis is the main feature of the album but the band is really great as well. A tight rhythm section, some funky guitar solos and a delightful use of keys and rock organ make for a brilliant blues rock sound.
Sadly all these great parts culminate in a rather underwhelming experience for me. Definitely some decent songs but for whatever reason none of them really stuck with me. So I’m giving this a rather reluctant 3 but it probably deserves higher.
At the risk of sounding like a square, I did not get this album. Frequently a bit boring though I will admit some parts did get me kinda hyped. I enjoyed “Genesis” and the first half of “Let There Be Light” quite a bit. Then “D.A.N.C.E.” I found the vocals to be pretty grating although the instrumentals still pretty good. The next few tracks kinda blurred together a bit for me. Then “The Party” and especially “DVNO” again had some really annoying vocals, though the bass line near the end of “DVNO” absolutely slapped. “Stress” was aptly named though I don’t really understand why anyone would want to listen to it. I think there’s some Mussorgsky reference. Then the last two tracks are pretty good.
On a second listen I liked some bits of liked the first time a bit less; but I did kinda get “Stress” a bit more.
An album which demonstrated the importance of doing a couple of listens. I was ready to give this a 2 after the first listen but after two more listens it really grew on me and I think I’m settled on a 4.
Erratic and noisy, it’s the instrumentals where this album really shines. Groovy bass lines, sick guitar solos, tight drums and some random saxophone noises, it manages to stay interesting and exciting throughout.
Sadly the vocals rather let the experience down for me, especially on the first two tracks. Whatever strange affect the singer is going for, I find it quite grating; only in the slightly goofier “Editions of You” does it kind of work in its favour.
I do also quite like “Strictly Confidential”, it’s an almost elegiac ballad with some warbling soprano(?) sax in the background.
The next two tracks are probably the highlights for me; the vocalist goes for a more creepy/unsettling sound which works really well. “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” finishes with an absolutely phenomenal instrumental section, with the guitar wailing over a kind of noisy, raucous band. “The Bogus Man” also finishes with an instrumental section, this time almost five minutes long. It’s an enjoyable meandering funky groove.
“Gray Lagoons” has some killer solos from guitar, sax and harmonica, over a great baseline and some boogie-woogie sounding keys. Sadly it too is let down by annoying vocals though.
The closing track, much like the rest, is about two minutes of annoying vocals followed by a wonderful moody atmospheric instrumental section which finishes out the album.
Very pretty voice with very pretty arrangements. The instrumentals are stripped back and sparse. Sadly the whole thing is incredibly boring, if you’d just looped any of the songs on the album 12 times I’m not sure the listening experience would have been much different. Still at least the songs are all well put together.
Only “I’ve Got to See You Again” was different enough from the others to maintain some interest.
A wonderful collection of folk rock songs. Great storytelling and very good instrumentation. Not really my thing however and whilst vaguely enjoyable I don’t really see myself coming back to it.
Highlight was probably “Sad Lisa”, loved the strings in that.
An eclectic mix of an album, 10cc are certainly not too concerned with taking themselves too seriously. The album moves at such a frenetic pace between wildly different sounds it’s impossible to be bored.
And their silliness does not get in the way of displaying their excellent musician groups, the album is chock full of catchy melodies, funky grooves and interesting harmonies.
At times it can be a bit too silly, and it’s a somewhat disorienting listen.
Highlights were: “The Wall Street Shuffle”, “Old Wild Men” and “Baron Samedi”
