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.
Great noise rock.
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.
I loved every damn minute of this. It's weird and repetitive, they take you right the brink of insanity... but then hit you with a groovy little bass lick or something. It's noisy and raw and abrasive and relentless... but there's still rhythm and melody in there. This sounds like speed metal on meth. Wonderful Rainbow: brought to you by unmedicated adhd. This feels like what happens if you take pcp and then get an analog TV set stuck between channels.
This one was chill. I got a lot of Beatles vibes from it.
Abosultely incredible quality on this one. The warm tones of Jimi's guitar fill your head and float around like a fish swimming in a bowl of melted caramel for all 40 minutes of this one. I actually hadn't heard any of these from him, so this was a delight. I thought the panning of the guitar would get tiring, but I think he really nailed it tbh. Tasteful. The flute on If 6 Was 9 is a full experience just by itself. Grooves for days on every track.
The instrumentation is great, stuffed to the brim with groove and funk. There is so much talent on display. But jfc do Kiedis' lyrics and vocal stylings get on my nerves. Unfortunately Flea, Frusciante, and Smith's mastery can't quite save this one from 74 minutes of Kiedis rapping about all the sex he has. At least this one doesn't feature a song about a 14 year old girl. 2.5/5.
Favorite tracks: The Power of Equality, If You Have to Ask, Sir Psycho Sexy (for going full sludge mode)
Yes, it's long, it took me all day to get through it. Yes there are some pretty lousy songs on it (there's 59 tracks, I don't think even the esteemed innovator of albums with only hits, Michael Jackson could even make that many). But the stinkers are definitely the exception. I really thought I'd give up halfway through, but the variety or the tracks and talent these two legendary artists provide easily make this an enjoyable experience from back to front. Ella's performances are top notch, the band arrangements are great, and the quality of the recording is prestine. Will I be relistening to this in full? Probably not. But I'm glad I did. I'm also really surprised about the exclusion of Summertime, especially since she did a version of it. 4.5/5
The quality of this one is surprisingly great. I got the blues is a little slow (I literally fell asleep to it), but the strings and the keys solo are great. Honestly don't know a ton about the The 'Stones, but the song writing on this is great. Incredible performances from everyone and I enjoyed the orchestral bits, I think they added a nice flavor to everything. I don't think they're as good as The Beatles, but they do poppy blues rock so well and this is them at their absolute best.
5/5
Zuton Fever is a lot of fun, the tottering, erratic beat kind of feels like the whole thing is going to stumble over any second. The build and climax of Pressure Point is probably amazing live. This whole thing is pretty quirky and lots of fun from beginning to end. Lots of variety. Really enjoyed this one, I'm surprised I hadn't heard of them before. They are my kind of shit, especially in my late teens/early twenties.
4.5/5
I really enjoyed this. He does a great job writing these and I think every track is colorful and enjoyable. It's sad and introspective and meloncholic and I eat shit like that up. He does a great job painting emotions and feelings. Never took the time to understand it before tbh. I do think the quality is lacking a little, and I get that's the point... it feels more authentic that way. But idk, the tracking just feels so compressed together and his voice isn't incredible (conflicted about saying that because he even agrees).
I have a lot to say about All My Friends (I pared this down a bit). It's abosultely dripping with nostalgia and that really does something for me, especially in this phase of life. The build is incredible, you can feel the frustation of growing up and missing your friends and regretting not being present in it more. The lyrics just hit and it resonates immensely with me. By the last bit I'm ready to burn it down... but I feel like the climax is a bit of a let down. I want that cathartic release of saddness and meloncoly and regret, kick me right in the balls with it. It just doesn't quite get there in my opinion. But I bet it goes so hard live. Really enjoyed it, just think it could be better. Feel free to tell me I'm an idiot and that's the whole point though.
I do think the quality is a little lacking as well, every thing seems pretty compressed and there's not a ton of room between things.
Wasn't sure where to put this one tbh, I really wanted it to be a True Five... but I think I've found enough nitpicks with it that it's a 4.5/5.
stand outs: Get Innocuous!, Someone Great, All My Friends, Us V Them.
The hits hit, but the rest was pretty mid.
This was a lot of fun. Another album I'm upset I learned about so late. Younger me would have been obsessed with this. 4/5
Good, but a little too sad for me right now. I appreciate the lyricism, but after about 4 songs or so I'm pretty bored with it.
