Jason Newsted's best work arguably (sorry to And Justice for All fans), with a fairly good mix of the heavier metal you'd expect and some of the more melodic stuff I tend to prefer.
Favourites are probably Sad But True and Nothing Else Matters. Not sure if I have a least favourite but I really like how Unforgiven starts and then find the rest of the song quite nothing-y
This album has an undeniably iconic sound: this is the 1980s in a time capsule. I can't listen to it without feeling like I'm watching Back to the Future.
I don't think this is a bad thing by any means, but it's not my thing. That being said, there's a couple songs like "Hot for Teacher", "Girl Gone Bad", and "House of Pain" which are less heavy on the synth and work better for me.
An undeniably excellent tone, one of those bands that inspired so many others. Krist Novoselic does simple bass parts that do exactly what the song needs of them.
The front half of the album is pretty stacked. "In Bloom" and "Lithium" are probably my favourites; "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song I like but not one I love, hard to say why because it's undeniably good.
Polly and onwards I didn't find captured me so much, save for maybe "Something In The Way". The wall of tone thing they have going on shines in "Territorial Pissings" so honorable mention there.
I need to preface this by saying that funk is (probably) my favourite style of bass playing, and my favourite funk bassist Joe Dart was directly inspired by Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy Collins.
The album starts really awkwardly; I just didn't gel with the title track or "Groovallegiance". Something about the vocals just made it quite meh for me, exacerbated by the fact they're way too long for my tastes. Fortunately, this album is not nearly that cohesive or consistent.
I found the mishmash-ness worked to the album's favour: the rest of the album is a little stronger than the rocky start (the bass vocalist on "Into You" is phenomenal).
When I heard it I had expected "Who Said a Funk Band Can't Play Rock" to be the standout track, but I think it's completely blown out of the water by the bonus track "Maggot Brain" — clearly very Hendrix inspired and with the best playing on the whole album.
Rating the whole album in one star rating is particularly gruelling here, because as a package I'm just not sure of this album. I wouldn't ever listen to it in full again, and I actively dislike the first tracks, but the funk rock works for me when it works. Ultimately I enjoyed the album more than I didn't, and that's something. Probably 5.5/10
Hendrix is so unbelievably good. Every single part is just immaculately put together.
Picking a favourite feels sacrilegious, and I think that's a good indicator how I feel about the album.
"All Along the Watchtower" is as good as the first time I heard it and every time I try to play it I fail miserably. 10/10
The whole thing feels like what I assumed the Beatles were when I was a kid, and it's just not for me.
Best I can say for it is that it sounded like a collection of old kids TV show intros. Underground Ernie maybe.
It's well performed, well put together, and entirely not for me.
"The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" is funky
"Love Is Lost" is actively quite boring
There's some great instrumentation, and some occasional moments of great composition, but dare I say that Bowie's vocals were the weakest part of the album? Dare I might.
I have so little to say about this album otherwise.
This album doesn't really do anything for me.
Marimba with guitar stings is not something I would have expected to work, which is mainly because it doesn't.
Big plonky piano on top of drums similarly not for me.
It's so strange and discordant, and I just don't get it.
This album was long, at times samey, but overall pretty good. I think the instrumentation was by far the best thing here.
"Wah-Wah: is aptly named. I love the very thumping bass with the brass and the wah pedal on the lead guitar. Choir vocals work better here for me than in "My Sweet Lord".
Isn't it a Pity builds on itself as it goes, so while a slow start had me feeling a bit down on it I can't deny that I enjoyed the overall experience. Like most of the songs on the album it could've done with being snappier
Art of Dying is pretty phenomenal, probably my favourite? not sure.
Hard one to rate, it has a lot of tracks and they leaned generally towards good for me.
I always love when a rock band has a piano, it just always makes me happy
It's classic rock, and I like that sound. I did find that it didn't hold my attention that much but maybe that was just that I was working while listening
The tone was good, the playing was good, and the album was good even if I couldn't name you a single song
I found this album to be quite refreshing, as it's altogether quite different to what we've had thusfar
Very heavy on the lyrics, which for me is a big downside. It's sickly sweet, like eating too much sugar
Some lovely piano, in general the change in instrumentation is a welcome one even if it's just not my style of music. The more melancholic stuff like "Crescent Noon" is more interesting to me, though an honourable mention goes to "Mr Guder" for being jazzy (even if I don't like the song much)
It's far from unlistenable, but I don't think I ever would again
I love quite a lot about this album, it has such a clearly defined feel. It works well as a cohesive unit, and even though I find some songs repetitive I think each song has its own niche
"Spellbound" is pretty fun, I definitely think it's the strongest song of its ilk on the album.
"Arabian Knights" is just some wonderful songwriting and maybe my favourite on the album, very driving bass. Similarly "Sin In My Heart" is again very driven: I appreciate these kinds of songs
"Monitor" is a cool sound, though the backing vocalists sound like ghosts on a rollercoaster
Siouxie keeps reminding me what song I'm listening to which is nice
Great fun, they're a band I've just never gotten round to. I like the big driving sound and the heavy fuzz bass on stuff like "Quiet".
The bells in "Disarm" are so cool, maybe my favourite song here and I genuinely think it's just that and the strings I love weird instrumentation. I like "Mayonaise": real big fuzzy thing.
I think this album is the first I've never heard before that I'd consider listening to again.
4.5, but we'll be nice and round up.
Celtic folk punk gets points for the immaculate vibes. I suspect I liked this one more than most would
There's songs like "Metropolis" which play on my deep love for brass sections where they don't typically belong.
"Sketches of Spain" has these immaculate vibes which make me smile.
"Fairytale of New York" in April feels a little sacrilegious but it doesn't matter because it's still the best christmas song.
The folky songs work for me, slurred vocal performance and all.
Wonderfully short and to the point. Great use of a half hour
It almost feels redundant to say the saxophone was excellent, but it was. I struggle to comment on the thing beyond saying it was tremendously composed and played
Thought he was great as Hagrid
"Water From A Vine Leaf" is funky, and chilled, and I vibe very heavily with it. Best I can compare it to is the Risk of Rain soundtrack
Other songs come momentarily close to it (end of "Time To Get Wize") but don't quite match what I hoped for
It gets a little weird as it goes, and I do respect it, but I'm not super into ambient music
The crooning vocals absolutely shattered any chance I had at enjoying this
Just feels like chewing on sawdust and occasionally gravel, very nothing-y. Instrumentation is at least occasionally not boring
Not actively awful, but that's the biggest compliment it's getting
My mum is a fan of this album, certainly the title track, so I'd say I'm familiar with it but I've never sat down with it myself.
It's a kind of dramatic rock that I've never been that into, but I can't help but smile at some of its cheesiness. The whole thing has a kind of musical theatre quality to it, which gives an interesting feel to some songs. Not that surprising that it's been adapted for stage (apparently really quite badly)
I aught to enjoy the instrumentation more, particularly how much piano there is, but stuff like "Heaven Can Wait" and "For Crying Out Loud" just feels so completely stifled by the vocals for me.
"Paradise By the Dashboard Light" plays into the strengths of the album very nicely, hard to say whether I prefer it or the title track.
I can appreciate what it's doing, but it doesn't resonate with me specifically. Probably a 2.5, but I'll be kind and round up
Maiden do so much right for my tastes, which is doubtless influenced by their bass player being very involved in writing their songs
It's the first album so far where I've stopped after a song to go and try to learn it — make of that what you will
Probably a 4.5 for me, but it's likely to be among the album's I like best on this list so we round up
Blessedly only 50 minutes.
I can conceptually understand liking one or two of these, but back-to-back they're lethal tedium punctuated with harmonica.
Undeniably stylised, I like the blues-y folk thing they have going on. It's not something I'd have chosen for myself, but it didn't overstay its welcome.
"Whisperin' While Hollerin'" is probably my favourite song here, the bass is very driving.
Some solid rock. As usual I prefer the instrumental stuff over the vocals, so stuff like "Buick Mackane" plays better to my tastes
This has a lot of charm to it, and some great bass playing. I like the tone, and the playing, but the vocals leave something to be desired for me.
The title track exemplifies the best of the album, while stuff like "Spanish Bombs" is more of what I'm not that fond of.
There's some stuff like "Wrong 'Em Boyo" and "Revolution Rock" towards the back of the album which breaks the samey-ness up somewhat.
Far from bad, but not there for me.
This album has a lovely feel, the live recording really does lend it something. Sections where he talks to the audience are so wonderful
I like the gallows humour of songs like "25 Minutes to Go". The audience clearly does too.
Far from what I'd usually listen to, but I enjoyed it greatly
My favourite part of this album was the bass playing, as might be expected. It served the songs well and had such a groove.
The vocals were much better than some of the stuff we've had so far, in that they fit the music well and didn't overpower it. That being said I did find the lyrics a little distasteful at points, particularly in the way they treat women.
Not likely something I'd listen to again, but I'm glad I did which is something.
I have conflicting feelings about this album, but I think overall it works for me more than it doesn't. It's speaking to an experience that I really don't share, but the blues-y instrumentation works for me well
The vocals can sometimes lean a little too crooning for my tastes, but they fit the songs so I don't hold that against them
My favourite song was probably "Albuquerque", it's mellow in a way that I enjoy. I tended to prefer songs of its ilk to the slightly harsher stuff, but not by much
Hard one to put words to, which in my estimation is in its favour. It has a very surreal feeling, punctuated by some excellent instrumental pieces
My favourite song is probably "The Sage", but "Blues Variation" also has a wonderful feel to it
Some of the weirder stuff like "The Curse of Baba Yaga" is cool but it's definitely less my vibe
All this to say, I like bits and pieces of King Crimson, and so I also like bits and pieces of this
Some albums sound very of their time. This dates itself like a pop culture reference
It's very twee, put together well, and—was that a bicycle bell? Oh and a clown horn
Not at all my thing, which is a shame I was hoping it would be like the Beatles where I discovered they were more then I expected. The song composition is great but I just find that it sparks so little in me that I can't do much with that
Yes are among the prog bands I quite like, which I do think is in no small part because they're just a bit weird. They're very twee, I appreciate that
"Yours Is No Disgrace" has some wonderful bass parts, I really think the instrumental stuff is the best parts of this album
"A Venture" is exactly the kind of thing I like, the piano really adds something to the medley. It gives the whole thing a wonderful feel, and the opening is just stunning
If I had to criticise them I'd just say the songs are very long, and that some songs feel like they could've been sawed into two, but that's light criticism. The album is short and snappy which compensates
Yeah, classic rock. The blues-y influences are in show, and the whole thing has that very distinct feel. Listening to this album made me want to play more early rock bass, which I do think is a pretty high compliment.
No individual song stands out, but as an album it works well. It's cohesive without being too samey. I think the fact it's only 35 minutes long is so much to its favour, it does what it does and it does so concisely.
I'd rather be listening to other bands they influenced, but I appreciated this very brief sojourn.
Hard one to evaluate! I feel like I aught to like this more than I do
I'm a sucker for sampling stuff like the Apollo mission for songs, so "Rocket" had an appeal to me (I very much enjoy Public Service Broadcasting). It's a rare case where I think the drums stole the show for me
I think the glam-ness of this puts me off. There's a character to songs like "Animal", "Love Bites", and the title track "Hysteria" that make them feel like stadium fillers, but they just feel very vacant to me? Really hard feeling to nail down. Harder stuff like "Run Riot" are a little more my taste by comparison
There's some cool guitar, not so much cool bass, and I'm left overall feeling a little eh. I think this is a 2.5 for me, but if I round down I'd be putting it with some stuff I really did not like so I think it's a 3
Britpop is so weird. I don't much like their contemporaries, but I do think that this speaks to me more than most. It's quite a lot darker than I'd have generally expected
I couldn't honestly tell you anything about this album after listening to it yesterday, aside from what I wrote above while listening to it. Something that leaves no impression can't do much better than a 2 I think
So much of this feels like a big swing to me. The least I can say is that the thing stays interesting start to finish
An 11 minute prog opener is one such big swing, carried for me by that piano and the bite on that bass part. Bonus points for the synth droplets
The title track is a banger, fair play to him. Its hard to feel anything but positively about it
Their bassist is really going for it, which obviously does things for me. I think as far as the album's we've had so far go this one has most surpassed my expectations
Early 2000s contemporary jazz wasn't high on my list of expectations for this list
This definitely faded into the background on the first pass. I gave a couple of songs a second listen because it was a pleasing enough background. A second listen definitely clarified my feelings more. Some of the songs, the title track being a good example, have this character almost like acoustic pop which I just don't fuck with
The more lounge singer stuff like "Cold Cold Heart" and "I've Got To See You Again" by comparison I really liked, and I think makes up more of the album
Lots to like, a bit to be ambivalent about, which leaves me feeling conflicted. I think 3.5 rounds to 4 here
Righteous anger at the Vietnam war is a reasonable way to start your album. Unfortunately I don't much gel with what they're doing musically. Some of their bass playing is ok, but it's drowned by a lot of noise
"Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy" is probably my favourite song, but I think that Hammond organist needs to pipe down a little
I can unfortunately see why this one is relegated only to Youtube: it's a bad sign that the comments on the copy I found talk about this book
Apparently this didn't get released in the US until the 1980s, which is insane
Getting me to like a country album is an uphill battle, and it's one this album never wins
The vocal performances are the best thing about this album, but they're let down by pretty underwhelming backing tracks for the most part
My favourite song was probably "Telling Me Lies", in no small part because the backing instrumentation is comparably much more varied
I've a strong feeling that this album is better than I think it is, but it's pretty underwhelming to me
I'm not sure I would've described other albums on this list as painful, but this one is pretty close. When it calms down the melodies aren't completely awful, but that's damning with faint praise
An assault on the senses with little to no redeeming qualities: not one of my favourite geometry dash levels
