Side A of this album has a very strong start with Born in the USA and Cover Me. These two tracks come out swinging with politically charged lyrics expressing the shortcomings of the “American Dream.” However, the real meat and potatoes of this classic record lies in side B. From “No Surrender” to “My Hometown” Bruce Springsteen brings his A game and delivers some of the greatest rock anthems that music has to offer. This 6 song run captures the spirit of the 80s. This album is a classic for a reason and will be in my listening rotation forever.
Rating: 9/10
This album was the start of the punk rock movement and it still absolutely rips 53 years after its release. Iggy Pop will forever be a punk icon.
Possibly one of the best debut albums ever made. This album perfectly encapsulates the raw emotions of the 90s grunge era. Eddie Vedder was a force to be reckoned with his hard hitting lyrics, unique vocal range, and stage presence. Mike McCready brought his A game by both composing uplifting guitar solos and face-melting riffs. This album is why I have such a soft spot for 90s hard rock.
When I think of Bruce Springsteen, I think of this album. The rocking guitar and iconic saxophone built the backbone of the “Springsteen sound.” In tracks like Born to Run you can hear the emotion in Bruce’s vocals and giving his all with this performance. This may not be my favorite record from him but it’s definitely a classic for a reason.
Wow, what an amazing live album! This record shows how underrated The Allman Brothers were as a jam band. These improvised guitar solos and drum beats are timeless. Sure, some of the jams falter off and lose some steam from time to time. But that doesn’t waver my love and nostalgia I have for this band. Growing up, my dad would play this album and countless other Allman Brother records on car rides to school. It’s safe to say my dad has great taste and set the bar high for music I listen to every day. Thanks dad
I can’t believe I’m just learning about this album. Criminally underrated record. I’ve only known Q-Tip as a legendary producer but this album truly shows his talent as a producer AND rapper. The overall vibe of this album reflects the best of 90s/early 2000s hip hop. Q-Tip’s beats and samples are sharp as hell. I love the way he blends hip-hop and R&B. It comes out to be a smooth but punchy listen. His flow is very chill but calculated. It’s clear where artists I listen to today (Logic, MF Doom, etc.) got their inspiration for their sound. I have limited knowledge about hip-hop but it’s a pleasure to listen to masterclass albums like this and finally develop an appreciation for this era of the genre.
These guys are the face of shoegaze music. A sub-genre that’s starting to have a resurgence with young listeners and a genre of music I personally adore. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but the experimentation that comes from this kind of music is so cool to listen to. My Bloody Valentine put out one of the best records I’ve ever listened to (loveless) and I constantly go back and listen to. This is the first time I’ve done a deeper listen of m b v though and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. No it doesn’t reach the heights as their magnum opus but some of the sounds they play around with are out of this world. Listening to this album I felt like I was in a trance at some points but other times my face was being melted off by the thrashing guitars. The wall of sound with unique guitar effects hit the listener constantly throughout this record. These guys are so experimental and weird. They’re easily on my bucket list of bands I need to see live.
BB KING WAS A LEGEND. Man he was so smoooooth. Wish I could’ve seen him play live
Love the album 4/5. Hate the guy
Not for me. Kind of boring/generic rock. Nothing really special.
MJ will forever be the king of pop. Every single song on this album is a bop. Yes MJ had his controversies but what he did for music is legendary.
Tries to sound like Radiohead but lacks any soul.
Not for everyone but I love it. A classic record and fantastic debut
Meh…kind of boring and the songs sound the same. They have a similar vibe as Echo and the Bunnymen which I like.
3.5/5 rounded up
I’ll start off by saying that I’m all for experimental post punk. But this album was unbearable to listen to…the directionless guitar riffs (if you can really call it that on this record) and nasally throat screaming vocals made this listen a slog to get through. I will admit that the excellent bass and drums were the only redeemable parts of this piece. I’ll return to this record if I want to end up like Van Gogh by cutting off my ears to end the suffering of listening to this garbage.
Man what a surprise of an album! This was such a fun listen. It does a fantastic job of capturing the sound of 80s new wave. It’s sad that I’m just discovering how great this band is. Sure, I’ve heard Hungry Like a Wolf a million times and I’ve always written them off as a one hit wonder because of it. But wow I was dead wrong. And I can’t emphasize enough how incredible the bassist is on this record!
Edit: I keep coming back to this record. It’s a 5/5 for me. I absolutely love it.
I have a ton of nostalgia for this one. This album was right before their shift in style and I love it. Caleb Followill’s vocals are unique and weird on this project. But it truly reflects the sound of early 2000s alternative rock. It’s not perfect but I have a lot of fun going back and listening to this record.
3.5/5 very solid baby making music
Masterpiece. These guys are fucking gods. Maybe one of the best debut records of all time.
This ain’t no Hotel California…
3.5/5
Incredibly influential album. Some of the best rap songs of all time are on here. But it falls short of perfection due to some songs aging poorly with goofy lyrics.
I’ve only known MIA for Paper Planes and Bad Girls. But damn I’m glad I finally listened to all of Kala. It’s such a cool and experimental hip hop album. I totally understand it’s not for everybody but I really enjoyed some of the weird stuff she put together for this record.
Welp…I’ll start off by saying this album had a lot of potential to be good or even great. The instrumentals are fantastic. The closing track perfectly captured the frustration and sad vibes of the entire record. And it was my favorite song off the album because it was the only song that saved my ears from hearing the terrible whiny singer. I’m all for imperfect vocal performances but it has to somewhat go well with the music. For example, Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel doesn’t have a good voice, it’s even bad at times. But it goes very well with the raw low quality recording and thrashing acoustic guitar. This band’s singer does not accomplish that at all…His vocal performance is almost as bad as the lyrics. The lyrics makes this guy seem like an incel that’s never gone through a break up before. Don’t get me wrong this is a very listenable record thanks to the great musicianship of the band. However, I would cringe a little bit whenever this guy started flapping his lips and making pitchy noises with his vocal chords.
Bad Brains is such a classic band. They have such a unique sound in the hardcore scene and I love it. Yeah this particular album isn’t my favorite by them. It doesn’t reach the level of their self-title record. But I respect the weirdness they go for with this project. It’s obvious that legendary band Mr. Bungle got heavy inspiration for their vibe from this record. If I could rate half stars I would give this a 3.5/5
Yup…this one made me tear up. Beautiful record.
Possibly the best hip hop record of all time
So simple, very depressing, but goddammit I love this record. I will love this record for the rest of my life.
So weird. So jazzy. So jammy. So great. Rest in power Zappa
Oh boy…this one stunk. Some of the tracks are so cheesy that I got second hand embarrassment just listening to it. There’s maybe 2 songs that are passable but not really anything special. But man most of the album is a boring old man reading out his lame “romantic” poetry over some half assed digitized bass/drums and cheese synths…
3.5/5
Such a classic punk record. The opening track is easily one of the best songs ever written and some of the tracks scattered throughout are great in their own right. However, this album is a little bloated in my opinion. For every good/great song there’s some “meh” or just ok songs. If they trimmed some of the fat (like they did on Combat Rock) this would’ve been a perfect record. Overall, it’s still a timeless record and pushed the boundaries of pop punk.
My dad would crank this almost every morning he drove me to school and I still. Fucking. Love. This. Record. It’s a perfect pop punk album. It’s a perfect concept album. Listening to this record always makes me so emotional and reminds me of how much I love music.
In my top 10 albums of all time. Beautiful record
Truly the best reggae record of all time. It’s a beautiful blend of a political outcry and plea for unity/love.
Man I wanted to love this record. Bjork’s unique voice goes so well with the dream pop inspired guitars. But the second half is butchered by the annoying vocal passages and god-awful singing by Einar Örn Benediktsson. No wonder why Bjork went solo after hearing the weird shit this guy wanted to adlib.
Man…what a fucking record. If you love music, you should love this record. Every single song was meticulously crafted and shows off Brian Wilson’s incredible talent. It’s so ahead of its time and changed the game of high level production. It took me a long time to fully appreciate this album but I’m so happy I finally found my love for it. It’s an all timer for a good reason.
I’d rather listen to Patrick Star attempt to play mayonnaise as instrument than this annoying printer noise music. The concept of this being tribal witchcraft music is pretty interesting. But man…the execution could’ve been so much better.
Painfully average…
Classic record that has some of the best songs of all time but it falls short of being perfect. I will always sing the praises of timeless songs like “Moonage Daydream,” “Starman,” and of course “Ziggy Stardust.” The overall story and concept of this album is super cool and unique. But for some reason I feel like there’s a few moments on this record that drags on with average to slightly above average tracks. Don’t get me wrong, I can fully understand if this is someone’s favorite album of all time. It’s very solid, just not that perfect in my opinion.
It’s a sin that I don’t have this record in my collection…
Sure, a lot of the songs sound the same but this album gets a lot of unjustified hate. There’s some banger songs on here that perfectly captured early 2000s hard rock. Another review said that this is junk food music and I would gladly dip my grubby little hands in a bag of this kind of music once in a while. I will always have a soft spot for divorced dad rock.
Beautifully weird and dark record. An all time classic
Not too bad but not too great. Kind of jarring to hear the guy that wrote the soundtrack for Toy Story sing the N word with a hard R…
Don’t know why but this album clicked with me. Im always a sucker for 90s electro-pop. Loved the ambient sound mixed with classic club beats.
