Incredibly tender vocal performance and heavenly string arrangements. I feel like Ennio Morricone was taking notes on the choral parts. Only downside is all the songs are basically variations on the same idea so I got a little bored towards the end. 3.5
So good. Absolute fire the whole way through. When the revolution comes it should be Stevie Wonder who tells Jacob Collier to face the wall. Also SW is such an underrated drummer wtf.
This album is not horrible, but compared to Surfer Rosa it’s low key an embarrassment. Songwriting-wise its just ok. There's some standout moments in "Gouge Away," "Debaser" and maybe "There Goes My Gun." There is certainly nothing on this album that even comes close to "Where's My Mind?" Kim Deal is the best part of this band but she's the backup vocalist. If only she had her own band oh wait she does and their debut album shreds this record to pieces. Additionally, this album is so thoroughly productionmogged by Surfer Rosa, an album that cost THIRTY THOUSAND LESS dollars and took 1/3 of the time to produce, that you have to wonder if they were just sat around in the studio wiping their asses with 100 dollar bills and hunting around for the most expensive piece of equipment to do lines of blow off of. Why is everything so smoothed over with fake reverb and compression? The guitars on Surfer Rosa sound RAW AS FUCK! Why does the kick drum sound like one of those rubber pop-up toys? "Where's My Mind?" has one of the fattest drum sounds OF ALL TIME! Isn't this a punk band?? I cannot even imagine the pain that Steve Albini felt hearing this album for the first time, may his soul rest in eternal peace. Anyway this is a 5/10 I spent too much time malding while reading the Wiki page for this album at work today.
Every year since the 2008 merger that created SiriusXM, the company's executives have convened a conclave of Nothin'-But-Rock radio station DJs within the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame pyramid in Cleveland, Ohio, to determine which white rock artist artist will earn the sought-after "We're Still Keepin' The Ol' Flame Alive, That's Right, We Still Love Makin' Good Ol' Fashin' Rock n' Roll Records, Man, Nunna't Computer Shit, Strait Fuckin' Tone" trophy. In addition to the trophy, the SiriusXM executives bequeath a special honor to the victor: the coveted slot on all NBR radio stations, right after "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin and before "Black Betty" by Ram Jam, occupied by a choice cut from the most Grammy-bait rock album of the current year. Released in December 2011 and thus narrowly entering the running for the 2012 trophy, The Black Keys' "El Camino" was poised to clear the vote by a country mile. "This record saved my radio station!" cried Dick Dice of 101.01 VKROQ Nothin'-But-Rock, out of Lebanon, New Hampshire, during deliberations. "It's fuckin' mayhem out there! There's been a line of slightly older young folks foaming at the gaht damn mouth lined up outside my station fer weeks! I don't even know what they want!" declared Ken Cox of 213.25 KROW Nothin'-But-Rock, out of Bend, Oregon. Just as the conclave was about to cast their ballots, a jet black charter bus with "Romney 2012" emblazoned on the side tore into the pyramid, coming to a screeching halt in front of the cloistered DJs. The door opened, revealing an impeccably dressed Mitt, holding an LP of Jack White's debut "Blunderbuss" up to the sky like Excalibur. "Y'all gotta hear this thing, man, been tearing it up on the trail, folks dig it" he declared suavely. The record began blaring from the bus sound system, which had been custom-made for a lackluster bass response, "can't stand those cars drivin' around rattlin' my windows with their boosted subs," as Mitt and his staff walked around the room with binders full of "Blunderbuss" CDs, handing them out in stacks of ten. "This record hasn't got even a lick of soul! Gimme ten more!" screamed Chris Drong (512.34 BRIQ Nothin'-But-Rock, Wichita, Kansas). "This reminds me of how Sgt. Peppers sounded before my fuckin’ lobotomy!" declared Kyle Brick (96.2 WROK Nothin'-But-Rock, Charleston, South Carolina). By the time the record was over, The Black Keys' slopsterpiece had been all but wiped from the pyramidal hivemind, and "Blunderbuss" won the trophy by a unanimous vote. 1.5
I had a fun time listening to this. The first song is so good. I love the song “Movin On Up” by Primal Scream, I had no idea it was a Stephen Stills ripoff. The rest of the album varies a bit though. White dudes gotta be careful with their gospel choirs for real. 3.5
Fun to listen to but that was about it. Couple standout songs, Emmylou Harris kills it on the bg vox.
One of those albums that feels like a weird, perfect little world you escape to while listening. Music like this reminds me of how I felt watching Star Wars as a kid, getting lost in a book, playing Skyrim. I imagined a little penguin concert. A bunch of penguins in an ice field waddling around to their penguin music. Loved the tonal variety. Drifting from beautiful harmony to atonality always does it for me. That's what life is. It made me feel super emotional. Sometimes music just finds you at the perfect time and this was one of those days for me
Fun but probably not something I’d return to
Hell yeah. So fun. Everything sounds awesome. Made me feel like Neo from The Matrix. 3.5
Some great pop songs on here. Love the arrangements. Drums sound great. I feel like this is what I wanted from that Blondie album. Solid 3.5
Hell yes. In My Life. Oh yeah. George Harrison shoulda put down that mf sitar though, out of pocket. Ringo is the fucking best
I put it on in the car and it kinda just rolled by and didn’t really catch me. It felt a little overdone in that Nashville session player type of way. I would like to revisit it and or listen to some of her later stuff cause I’ve heard it rocks. 2.5
I'm not finishing this album it sucks
In the year 1999, Daniel Lanois kidnapped the members of U2 and brought them to his goon cave deep in the English countryside. He drugged them into a delirious haze, strapped each of them to a surgical chair, and was in the process of extracting their essence through a complex network of tubes and machinery, which hummed beautifully with hall reverb despite the cave’s highly treated sonic profile, when Brian Eno burst into the cave. “Daniel!” he cried, “what’s the meaning of all this?” “I’m done with these bastards, Brian… first they thought they could do it without me… then they thought they could do it without you. Did you hear that fucking Pop album? They’ve been playing shows under a McDonald’s arch… it's all gone too far.” His eyes gleamed with an evil pride that Eno hadn’t seen since The Edge had first introduced him to dotted eighth-note delay. Eno traced the essence-carrying tubes to their endpoint, a massive vat of embryonic fluid containing four twenty-something dudes orbiting a glowing CD that read “Coldplay - Parachutes.” At his control board, Lanois carefully distributed the essence. “Yes… we’ve reached the band’s entrance in track 3, one drop of The Edge should do it…” As the Edgessence fell into the vat, famed Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland came to life. His mouth formed an “O” shape and instantly emitted the iconic guitar line of “Spies.” “Damn, that shit is pretty good!” cried Brian. “But Daniel, this is so extreme! What are you doing to these poor lads? Can’t we just make another U2 album? Let them get back to their roots a bit?” “Nah Brian, fuck that. I’m creating something even better by jacking their swag and vital essence… and it’s too late anyways, I’ve extracted too much…” Suddenly, Brian lunged towards the control board, knocking Daniel out of his chair. He slammed the bright red reverse button, and essence began flowing back into U2. Bono opened his eyes and whispered “it's a beautiful day!” “YES!!!” screamed Eno. He worked and worked, puppeteering the reinhabited band members to create a new U2 album. After days of labor, Brian popped “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” into the cave’s CD player. As the album progressed, a wry smile crossed Daniel’s face. “It… it sucks ass… but how? I did everything right…” Eno muttered despondently. “I told you it was too late, you old fuck” said Daniel, “now do what must be done.” With great pain, Brian re-extracted the essence from his old friends and allowed Daniel to finish his sorcery. By the end of 2000, U2 had been completely chillmogged by the sexy and fresh Coldplay, their essence never to be returned. 1.5/5
This is like if the talking heads were better 3.5
Hell yeah. This shit rocks. A little over the top at points but overall just super fun and so heavy. Clearly so influential. The organ playing is awesome. The playing is sick on all fronts.
Can I just go on a quick tangent. I know that Led Zeppelin has an iconic style, but they get too much credit for this kind of music. I'm sure we'll have to listen to Led Zeppelin I at some point so I'll keep it short but damn. In Rock came out the year after Led Zeppelin I, but it has an originality and freshness that is totally lacking from significant portions of LZI. I love "Good Times Bad Times," but nothing on In Rock is nearly as embarrassing (or exploitative) as the lifted blues numbers and random tabla song on that record.
I'm gonna go on another tangent because Ian Paice's drumming on this album is awesome. I know that John Bonham is an important and influential drummer. His feel is legendary. I dream of having as much finesse as him on the kick pedal. But he gets WAY too much credit for this type of drumming. Ian Paice and Bill Ward of Black Sabbath are easily on the same level. And they were both playing more original music in 1970 than Bonham. 3.5
Isfuckingisfucjingisfucjingisfucjo 2.5
