Excellent early work by the bois. Enjoyed it front to back. George Harrison's track might be my least favorite. It's pretty interesting in retrospect to see how well he develops from here.
Second half of this album is a complete snoozefest. Big meh all around. Just too corny for me, but I can understand how people enjoy it.
Goes so hard. It would have been hard for me to not give this a 5 even if I'd hated every track, the influence this has had makes it a 5 almost by itself.
Hadn't heard a couple of these, but goddamn do they all hit. Love Fogerty's soul-filled crooning. Graveyard train went on a little long.
I don't think I knew they were from California, which makes the decision to pioneer "Swamp Rock" interesting to me. I can't find much on why this is. It's also interesting to me that John and Doug essentially dodged the draft for the Vietnam war and then went on to write on of the greatest Anti-war songs of all time.
I don't think was ever not going to be a 5
They take their symphonic/orchestral-esque sound from Funeral and seem to have perfected it here. Though I don't think they have any tracks on The Suburbs that are quite as iconic as the best tracks from Funeral. Really enjoy the soundscapes they create here, lots of layers. It's not quite as raw emotionally as Funeral, but it's still very melancholic and introspective (which is 100% my shit, goddamn do I love me some sadboi indie bullshit).
Really enjoyed this one, but the weather was pretty damn perfect for it. A perfect chill album for some rainy day introspection. I think pitchfork's "timeless" certification is very apt, it doesn't show its age much imo.
This album fuckin RIPS. Pedal to metal all the way through. The riffs fuck, the solos are face melting. The whole band is so goddamn tight. It's hard to top Roth-era Van Halen and this was the very pinnacle of it. Incredible ride front to back. Yes it's corny, yes it's shallow, yes it's misogynistic... but I can't help myself, this is 80s hair metal at it's finest
Technically excellent and seemingly effortlessly so. Every sax lick rips. Whole band is tight AF. Deserves to be a classic.
I enjoyed almost every track on this except Sally, which was a complete snooze-fest. Vocals were great on everything else.
Really enjoyed the first half of this one. The sounds scapes were amazing plus when do you hear a bass clarinet solo? It did start to lose me in the second half a little. Overall really enjoyed it, lots of variety and I enjoyed the experimentalness of it.
It is hard to listen to any Michael Jackson track without bringing the in baggage of his character. But solely as a pop album, this is a masterpiece. 5/5
Absolute masterpiece. The bass line: iconic. That sax riff: orgasmic. Yes it's 15 minutes long, but every damn second is a joy. The whole band is so tight. Incredible. And that's just the first track. Then you're greeted by Bill Summers playing a beer bottle Watermelon Man, are you kidding? What an absolute banger. That's to say nothing of Sly and Vein Melter, both of which are awesome tracks on their own. But damn, those first two. I hear something I've never heard before every time I listen to this one. So many layers and little riffs to catch. I love it. Possibly my favorite album we've listened to yet. Incredible. Timeless. Perfection
Overall enjoyed this one. The highs were VERY high. The rest was pretty mid, but not bad. I did enjoy the honky tonk vibes on Setting Me Up and overall bluesiness of the guitar solos on everything.
That french horn on After the Goldrush is awesome. Only Love Can Break Your Heart and Southern man are awesome. I did find Neil's voice a little grating on some of the tracks. The song writing is still excellent, though.
Some nice r&b vibes on this. Lots of lovely sounds and textures and I enjoyed the reggae influences... None of the tracks really stuck with me though.
Some really nice moments in this. I really enjoyed Avalanche and Joan of Arc. Probably just me and my 3rd grade reading comprehension level, but it felt a little slow. Especially on a sleepy Tuesday morning the day after one of the greatest thrash metal albums (Master of Puppets).
I'm not too familiar with Mr. Yoakam, but that 80s honkey tonk stirs something in me for some reason. But this one is pretty corny in hindsight, particularly I Sang Dixie. It doesn't seem like the entire Country music scene really moved on from themes like this. His story telling saves the album for me slightly, though there are better country artists in that regard imo. I did enjoy the tejano fusions on Bakersfield and Buenas Noches From A Lonely Heart. Unfortunately as much as I wanted to enjoy it, the themes really just killed me (like Dwight would apparently have done to his partner if they cheated). The more I think about it, the more I don't understand the inclusion of this album on the list. 2/5
I liked the idea of this album more than I think I liked it itself. I didn't hate it, but I don't think this needed to happen. I think an orchestra-only arrangement would have been better and more interesting. I appreciate they at least tried in Master Of Puppets to let the orchestra do orchestra things... but I don't think it worked. The rest of the album felt like "Metallica, while an orchestra played" Not "Metallica and an orchestra playing together" (maybe that was the point though), I just didn't feel like the orchestra added much. It was a slog towards the end though, geez man. Two hours and 13 minutes was way too much for this.
I honestly wasn't very familiar with most of the tracks he covered here, so I looked to the originals (or a popular cover) and listened to those after my first listen through this album. I really enjoyed Willie's versions. I thought the folksy, bluegrass arrangements along with Willie's soulful, melancholic crooning really brought the best out of them. Don't Get Around Much Anymore was probably the only miss imo. It's hard to improve on The Duke though. This does feel like an odd addition to include from Willie on the list, but I'm not complaining.
I enjoy Celtic punk... in moderation. This felt a little too long for me. There were some bangers though.
