Couple of songs on here - Mother and Child Reunion and Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard are great. The rest just don't break through like those two do. It's his first album after breaking up with Garfunkel, so he's finding his new solo sound maybe? It's a Sunday morning kind of album. Slow, easy going.
Interesting covers and a more mature sound than a lot of what I think of when I think of early Beatles music. Given about half of this album are covers, that may be why I feel this is "grown up" versus their other early stuff. Overall - 3.5 to 4 stars? It's early in my listening, so it's hard to put this on a scale!
You can tell Yellow is going to be a hit, and several other songs stand out as well. Very impressive for their first real album and after only a couple of years together. Not a lot of range on this album in their sound, but it's still one you can put on an listen all the way through.
Quirky (complimentary) album, and a nice concept to put together songs about events, places, and people from Illinois. One song, Casimir Pulaski Day, moved me to actual tears about a woman dying from bone cancer. These are real songs about actual "things" versus the usual rhymed, shallow lines about love, romance, and heartache that it's unlikely the singer actually felt. This actually feels like a work from the songwriter's heart - his real thoughts, struggles, and feelings put into lyrics.
I have not listened to many of these songs in years, and it's surprising how silly/goofy many of the lyrics are - ones I have been able to recite since the late 80s, but never reflected on how just inane they are. But it still works years later. This is a great album.
Listened to it while sitting on the porch. Nothing really broke through. Good songs, but not a record I'd go back to.
This album gets a 5 for the first three songs alone - and the last song is just a bow on the gift of this record.
Not my kind of music.
I like the blues sound underlying some of these tracks, and the loose sound of the album in general. I can see this playing the in background at a party, but none are songs that I can really retain after listening to the record.
Reminds me of Allison Krause in many ways. I loved the sound of many of these songs - particularly the ones that aren't stereotypical honky tonk sounding.
Not my kind of music.
couple of songs that broken through a bit, but mostly just a slow listen.
Surprised how much I liked the heavy guitar riffs of these guys. Of course I know ZZ Top's style, but it was refreshing to hear very strong musical talent on top of decently constructed lyrics.
not like other albums so far (complimentary). But it's a little slow and melancholy for repeat listening for me.
Maybe I'm missing something deeper, but it's just good? Not great - strong meh?
Cover songs through and through. While I am a Willie fan, and he's one of the greatest songwriters of the past 100 years, I do not think an album of him singing covers of other artists songs is in the top 1000.
Sounds very 70s, which is a little complementary and a little negative. These aren't songs that stick with me. Probably going to go with 2 stars on this one.
4 stars...feels more like 3.5 stars if I could?
I was surprised by how much i didn't mind some of the later songs on this album. The first couple were not my style. The last one was interesting!
This is an atrocious record. I can't tell one song from another for a majority of the tracks. Not one song breaks through the noise as something original. Jesus, how is this is the top 1000???
Meh. It feels a bit like jazz, and I don't fully appreciate it.
The music is polarizing, and I'm on the love side vs. hate. I get that it'd be tough to listen to this day in day out, but it's a nice change of pace, and I like the energy and the lyrics of many of these songs. Fairytale of New York is enough to give this album a 4.
This felt too much like an over earnest Broadway singer. I cannot imagine listening to these songs a second time.
there are some great songs on this album, some I still enjoy listening to today. While it's not quite a 5 star in my book, this album has some great lyrics, great harmonies by S&G, and fun songs to sing along to. If there were a 4.5 rating, this album would get that.
I can see how this album may have had an influence on lots of artists after it came out, and it has a unique sound that I haven't heard before. That said, there didn't seem to be a lot of differentiation between the tracks, which I would like to have seen.
Fantastic record. Real meaning in the lyrics. Mature topics discussed, real life experiences recalled, and all done in an honest frame. Plus some playful lyrics, too. This is a complete album. Perfect. No notes.
A couple of good songs at the start of the album, ones that still get play today, but the rest is just middle-of-the-road stuff.
Talented singer for sure. Heartfelt songs - depth in the lyrics for many songs. But not one I'd listen to over and over again. 3 starts.
This sold 7M copies? During Napster days? While I like some of the songs on here, I just don't see how that occurred. There are some tracks where guest vocals are brought in to make the songs more interesting, but what I want are songs that I'll remember after the album is done. This album has one song in that category. Going to need more songs than that to be a great one. Three stars.
Not sure how this is the highest rated album I have heard to date (i'm only 40 albums in). There are a couple of great songs on here, but the love I see posted for this album is a bit much.
I've listened to this album twice now, and I do not understand the widespread universal appeal. Maybe it was a bigger deal in 1969 for this kind of sound to come onto the scene? But I just don't get it. More glaringly, the Dixie song, despite what appears to be years of attempted whitewashing after its release, is troubling. And that's not applying a current lens to a historical work. It was troubling when it came out at the height of the civil rights movement. Some critics call it an anti-war song, the songwriter was always a bit cagey when interviewed about it - but it feels like a Lost Cause anthem. No need to have that in my listening rotation.
