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
