Aretha can do no wrong and this album is full of bops. A couple of forgettable tracks in there, but I guess that's why they weren't singles.
I fear Janis Joplin's voice has been permanently ruined for me by Jenna Maroney's impression of her in 30 Rock, but there's some really good material on this album. Most of the musical breaks show a lot of impressive musicianship and there's a lot of obvious blues influence that comes out in a pleasing way.
I think Turtle Blues and Oh, Sweet Mary ended up being my favorite tracks.
Last note is I don't really understand why they apparently artificially added in the crowd noises in most of the tracks to make it sound like a live album despite most of it being done in a studio. I feel like I'd rather just have a normal studio album.
Gonna be that guy: I thought this was just okay! I believed I was pretty familiar with Neil Young but apparently I didn't realize how high pitched his voice was, and to be honest I just never really got that into it. There's some good song-writing and lyricism but nothing that particularly wowed me.
I think the hype around this band and the people I knew growing up who hyped them up had soured my taste to the point that I just didn't allow myself to like them. Obviously I had heard some of their songs and knew the general vibe but had never listened to a full album.
Hate to admit it, but I reallllly enjoyed this album. Immigrant Song gets the energy going right out of the gate, but Since I've Been Loving You really stole the show for me.
The vocalist's voice irked me at times, but that was mostly made up for by everything else going on. I may have to listen to Led Zeppelins 1 and 2 next.
Not sure what to say about this one except that it's basically all bangers. I feel like I know Elvis's hits but haven't done a lot of deep listening to get a real feel for his work. His singing comes across as really soulful in this album and there's energy throughout that's just infectious.
It's also wild to me that this was a live album when there's basically no audience audio, which is a start contrast to the dubbed-in audience noise from the Janis Joplin album.
This album is very much Bob Dylan just being Bob Dylan. Great song-writing, weird voice that somehow works with the style, and just a fun energy. I could really do without some of the added sound effects on the title track though.
Not sure why but this one hit harder than the previous day's Dylan album for me. More energy in this one or something. I feel like there's not much I'd be able to say about this record or Bob Dylan that hasn't been said before. The guy's a master of his craft, full stop.
I was unfamiliar with Sinead's work except for the viral moment on SNL. Turns out I sort of knew "Nothing Compares 2 U" because its chorus gets sample on a Girl Talk song (immediately followed by the line "I was gettin' some head - gettin' gettin' some head" which changes the tone a lot).
Anyway, it's a good record. Some of the songs sound a little dated now, but that's to be expected for something that came out in 1990. Some tracks also sounded more modern than I expected for 1990 and there's some neat experimentation going on. "I am Stretched On Your Grave" goes so hard with the Irish jig situation going on in the bridge.
All in all, this album evokes some heavy feelings, and you can feel the pain of the singer in a lot of it. Not all of the audio kept me hooked, but the emotions conveyed kept me interested.
Gotta be honest this album didn't do much for me. I didn't necessarily dislike it, but it's also just very forgettable for me compared to other albums on this list.
I appreciate the 5/4 time on Tribal Gathering as I'm writing this, and there are some other cool aspects of the album but as a whole I don't think I'll be revisiting it.
I had some more notes that apparently didn't save. Overall I still enjoyed the album more than not listening to any music at all so it still gets 3 stars.
I liked this album a LOT more than I expected. There were some dull moments to be sure, but most of it had an energy I ended up being obsessed with.
The bassline in Love and Anger rules so hard, along with the rest of the song. Heads We're Dancing steals the show for me though with its strange dissonance and overall tonal structure while still having the energy of a Saturday Night Fever style song.
I think the low points on the album will knock it down to a 4-star for me but there are definitely some 5-star tracks on here.
This album evoked no real strong feelings from me. There are some good songs and there were also some forgettable ones.
Incidentally my favorite song off this album was I'll Cry Instead, which seems to have the second-least listens on Spotify among the tracklist, so idk what other people are doing.
I knew Hungry Like the Wolf going into this, but the rest of Duran Duran's repertoire is pretty unknown to me. That said, it ended up sounding pretty much just like what I would've imagined, which is sort of like Devo but less subversive.
I really like Devo, but I feel like they have more of a unique artistic vision that gives the music some more personality. This album was lacking a little bit of that for me, but I still really enjoyed the sound as a whole. I think I'll probably end up giving it 4 stars.
Trying really hard to be objective here despite my inclination to try to find and focus on positive aspects of the music, but I have to admit that I frankly do not care for or about this album.
I'm sure it's good if you're into the genre since it's on this list (and the musicians were talented), but listening to it for me was such a slog that I finally broke my rule about listening to everything all the way through. The energy and overall tone was consistent to a fault, which made the long track times feel like a chore. A few minutes into Maria Lionza I decided I'd give each song an honest attempt for 60+ seconds, but it was obvious based on the rest of the album that if I didn't care for the first minute I wouldn't care for the rest of the track so I gave myself permission to skip at that point. I ended up skipping each of the remaining songs after that attempt.
And honestly I typically like this sort of thing, but I just wasn't getting hooked by any of it. Unfortunately it's gonna be a one-star for me.
I had zero clue what to expect with this album as I had never heard of it or the band. Surprisingly enough, I quite enjoyed the 2004 post-hardcore album on this list. I swear I've heard this vocalist before, but according to the internet he's not in any other bands so he must just sound like someone.
Regardless, this album ruled. I'm surprised to learn at this moment that despite its critical acclaim, the band apparently has 1500 monthly listeners on Spotify. I listen to what I thought was some much more obscure shit with far more monthly listeners than that.
This album is so strange but I dig it, mostly. Some tracks are a little on the boring side and are skippable, but it's got such a neat energy. I've definitely heard Only Love Can Break Your Heart somewhere before but without really focusing on it until now.
Some of the hip-hop sounds thrown in here feel very out of place, but I also don't hate it? I think Stoned to Say the Least is my favorite track here though.
What a strange but fun album. Didn't really feel much about the first two songs, but the title track pulled me right back in and I was hooked from there. Things then got very weird and experimental at V-2 Schneider and I continued to dig it. Sense of Doubt was mesmerizing and then I enjoyed how we ended it on a more traditional musical sound with Secret Life of Arabia.
Good stuff all in all for an album I apparently didn't know a single track on.
It's amazing what used to be considered heavy. That's no knock against the album, but more so recording capabilities. Put this up against a modern metal album and the sound just isn't quite as full or something. The drumming is also much more jazzy than what you'll hear today as well.
Anyway, that said it's a good album. I was familiar with a few tracks, but listening to it today I realized I don't think I had ever actually heard Iron Man from start to finish before, and it has some weird parts lol. It's weird how jazzy some parts of this album are even beyond just the drumming mentioned above. More metal bands should do that these days.
I'll be the first to say it: lotta duds on here!
I love Stevie and need to be clear I enjoyed the album as a whole, but I would argue about half these songs are skippable, which is a shame because the ones that hit, hit.
Superstition is an obvious banger. The standout hit I hadn't heard before is Maybe Your Baby though. The funky bass and synth lines go so hard and it just sucked me right in. Luckily the album also ends on a high note with I Believe.
It's below Innervisions in his catalog for me, but Stevie rarely misses.
Wasn't expecting a reggae album when I saw the cover today but I dig it.
I don't think I have much to say but that the vibe was solid and there were some bops. I'm not itching to put it on again though. 3-4 stars, unsure how I'll feel when it comes time to actually rate it tomorrow.
I begrudgingly enjoyed this album a lot more than I expected. I get it, Jack White is a talented and intelligent musician who draws from a lot of genres to make cool shit. The hype is deserved in spite of my own contrarianism making me want to dislike it.
The rest of the day will have me repeating the words "Sitting on a park bench... I don't know the words except park bench" in my head endlessly as 30 Rock continues to bleed into this activity for me.
Anyway, I thought this album was fine. I was familiar with some of it from when my friend and fellow band geek Josh Wilson got super into the concept of a rock band with a flute in high school. I thought it was much cooler then.
By the end of the album I was just waiting for it to be over because I was getting bored with it. There are still some really fun parts on here but overall it left me feeling pretty meh.
Oh hell yeah, I love Otis but apparently I haven't heard a lot of stuff off this particular album. Did you know he died in our lake?
Anyway now after having actually listened to it, turns out I had heard probably half of these tracks before. I like how in this era they just had everyone on their label record vocals for some songs and just see what sticks. Imagine if Aretha had never gotten her hands on Respect and Otis's version was all we had.
I'm also such a huge fan of his take on Satisfaction, especially knowing that he didn't know any of the words or what the song sounded like so he's just riffing the entire time and it works so well. I think the worst song on this album is still 4 stars and most are 5, so this will be getting a 5-star rating once it's available.
