Epitome of that 2000s pop-punk-rock-ish sound to me. Love this album and its politically charged lyrics, sick riffs, and goofy emo voice Billy. Heavy dose of nostalgia as well, soundtrack to a part of my childhood.
Just like... boring man. Devoid of uniqueness (except for his uniquely atonal voice) and creativity but nothing egregiously wrong with this album sonically. Just made my eyes glaze over and suddenly it was 45 mins later and I hardly remembered a single melody or lyric.
This album manages to simultaneously remind me of predecessorial artists like the Beatles, contemporary artists like Queen (at times), and subsequent artists like MGMT. It somehow feels both naturally derivative and incredibly influential, and to me this sort of artistic iteration is what music is all about. Taking something you love and putting your individual spin on it to create something new and unique. Man, what a soundscape. I had to double check what year this album came out. It sounds so ahead of its time and displays a surprisingly wide variety of sonic experiences across its 80 minute runtime. It often really does sound like a light orchestral piece, especially with the heavy use of grand piano and strings, but the electricity of the guitars, synths, and layered vocals all shine through bringing this project into the modern era. It succeeds in both juxtaposing musical instruments used throughout different parts of modern history and creating a harmonious blend of old and new sounds. Jeff Lynne is a visionary and this is a masterpiece. Absolutely loved!
yup, good ol zeppelin
Not a whole lot to say about this one, its pretty solid I especially like the instrumentation. Some of the songs were slightly annoying (everybody hurts) but in general I enjoyed the listening experience.
Wow her voice is incredible. There's a fun dynamic between her and the band that makes the improvisational aspect of Jazz a focal point. The fact that it's live and includes the audience noise and Sarah's banter with them between tracks added to the sense that I was listening to this in a low light smoky club as I sip on a cocktail. I'm not really familiar enough with Jazz to comment on how good of Jazz it is but to my ears it was very enjoyable. They are all clearly very talented with their respective instruments.
snoozefest
god Lion in Winter is awful
pretty good albeit a little boring at times, but I got the sense that was intended in order to make the more interesting parts more exciting.
Not quite as dramatic as I was expecting, though plenty dramatic as is. Pretty fun listen, I like some of the soundscapes created and found much of the composition interesting and engaging. Not boring for sure, though Starlight and Supermassive Black Hole are the hits for a reason in my humble opinion.
Liked a lot, like Bowie a lot
1.5/5, this is ass man, did not need to be on this list for any reason.
Good but lowkey drags
man how u take the soul out a trumpet, more like seven songs too long 1.5/5
Good but HARD listen. 3.5/5
Atmospheric and pleasant. A very enjoyable listen. 3.75/5
Great album but Mick's voice does start to grate on me after long enough.
3.5/5
Some bangers on here 4.5/5
2.75/5
3.5/5, hard to hate
3.75/5
3.5/5, probably the most I've enjoyed punk musically
Just What I Needed is leagues better than everything else on here.
come on who don't wanna feel like a cowboy for 45 mins
Why is this on this list?
3.5/5
3.5/5
4.75/5
This is the greatest hip hop album of all time hands down. Listening to this for the first time as a teenager shaped my perspective on what it means to be a Black person living in America. As a white person, this album was clearly not made with me in mind. It references niche Black American culture that I needed to look up to understand due to my upbringing. However, that does not mean there is nothing for me to gain from listening. Quite the opposite in fact, the themes and events depicted in TPAB serve as a stripped back, raw perspective on the American Black experience offering perspective that can never be matched by reading up on race politics or history books. To Pimp A Butterfly captures something real and prevalent and terrible in our society and lays it bare for all to hear in such an enjoyable manner. No other musical project has offered the same type of insight into a new perspective I have not experienced as effectively, and I almost doubt any ever will.
But TPAB is great not only because of the message of the lyrics but also the creativity in how the message is delivered, the uniqueness of the jazz-inspired beats, the mastery of the instruments being played (shout out to the goat Thundercat). The recurring poem is such an iconic device on this album that I really haven't seen utilized to this degree anywhere else in modern music. The level of meaning packed into every line just blows my mind, I'm still discovering new allusions and double entendres hidden in there upon every listen. The range of emotions that are elicited in me every time I put on this masterpiece of a project is shocking, from the euphoric highs of "Alright" and "I" to the deep darkness and anger of "The Blacker the Berry" and "u" everything is just so visceral.
Side note, I truly believe that anyone who claims to dislike this album because it is "too vulgar" or they "don't like the lyrical style" is thinly veiling deeply internalized racism, sorry not sorry. That complaint completely removes the music from its context and ignores the centuries of oppression and hate that fostered the generational resentment and ambivalence being expressed through those words. Only a purposefully ignorant or completely inept person could listen to this and ignore the entire message of the album as well as all of the history and take away "I no like too many swears 1/5." Kick your "bias against Hip Hop" and grow up. You just don't like is because it was made by a Black person.
Good instrumentation, solid melodies, overall forgettable
Foundations of something great
Almost a 3 but too long and boring
bad
Really great songwriting
3.5/5
Gets you into the psych rock groove and then once you’re comfy bam all along the watchtower
It’s good but I’m not the biggest blues guy and I’ve heard better blues
