I honestly enjoyed this album a lot more than I thought I would. I’ve known of U2 for many years, but only heard a couple of their songs (none from this album). I know they’re a divisive band, and Bono’s voice is well known to be very polarizing, so I admittedly went into it with a bit of cautious skepticism. For one, I think Bono sounded fine. Don’t really understand why some people loathe his voice so much. And the listening experience as a whole was very enjoyable.
The Joshua Tree scores a solid 4/5 from me. Would be a 5 if there was a little bit more diversity in the sound. That’s really the only complaint I have. “Exit” is easily one of its most experimental moments, and one of my favorites on the album.
In closing, I can definitely see myself returning to this album, and I’m looking forward to checking out more of U2’s catalog!
Album highlights: Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, With Or Without You, Bullet the Blue Sky, Trip Through Your Wires, Exit
Rage Against the Machine is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic bands to come out of the 90s. And it’s easy to tell why. Their self-titled debut is filled to the brim with 10 powerful, potent, heavy as fuck revolutionary anthems.
With Zack de la Rocha’s instantly recognizable vocals, Tom Morello’s innovative, one of a kind guitar style, Tim Commerford’s funky bass grooves, and Brad Wilk holding down the rhythm on the drums, Rage truly struck a special type of gold that hasn’t been replicated since.
There’s not one dull moment on this album. It gets the blood pumping and makes you wanna go out and fuck shit up! The lyrics, unfortunately, still hold true, even 30+ years later. Especially in these times we’re currently in. Just makes it all the more powerful and important to hear. This is a perfect album imo. Every song is a highlight.
Favorite song: Wake Up
Rating: 5/5
I.. did not particularly like this. I like goth music, but The Cure is a band that I just can’t seem to get into very much. This was my first time listening to a full album from them, and.. it was extremely boring to me. Maybe this wasn’t the right album to have as a first full-length Cure listen, or maybe I just had to be there in order to “get” it. Who knows, maybe I’ll revisit it another time and like it more. But I would be a liar if I said I enjoyed this listening experience. If an album has me checking to see how much longer a song has until it ends.. not a good sign. It just felt very monotonous to me.
Now, I love Robert Smith as a person and I deeply respect The Cure for how incredibly influential they were, and continue to be, in the goth scene. I can definitely see why someone might really like this album, but it failed to do much of anything for me. I’d have to give this one a 3/5. It wasn’t BAD necessarily, but.. just unremarkable.
Album highlights: In Your House, A Forest, At Night
I’m a big fan of Prince, but surprisingly only heard the title track and U Got the Look. I’m gonna be honest, this album intimidated me a bit at first. I always worry with double albums that I’m gonna feel like they drag on. Luckily, I didn’t get that feeling with this one. It honestly didn’t feel like 1hr 20min to me.
Sign "☮︎" the Times has a bunch of great, funky moments, including the live track “It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night”, which I honestly wasn’t expecting to like as much as I did. What a fun addition. And it balances out nicely with ballads like “Slow Love” and “Adore”.
I don’t know how hot of a take these are gonna be, but I found myself enjoying disc 2 more than disc 1, and I wasn’t much of a fan of the Camille tracks. But all in all, this was a really great listening experience.
Favorite tracks: Sign o’ the Times, Play in the Sunshine, Starfish and Coffee, Slow Love, U Got the Look, Strange Relationship, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, Adore
This was.. okay. I wish I liked it more than I did. “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” is obviously the album’s centerpiece, and possibly The Temptations’ magnum opus. Though, personally, I prefer the single version. The full version drags on a bit, in my opinion. “Run Charlie Run” was surprisingly socially conscious, and definitely a lyrical standout on this record. Any song that calls out racists is cool with me!
Now, side two is where I start having problems. I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of The Temptations’ ballads. And side two is packed with them. I was hoping to see more of their funky side with this album. “Love Woke Me Up This Morning” was decent, and I found myself really enjoying the more upbeat “Do Your Thing”. But the rest of side two is a pass for me.
Favorite tracks: Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, Do Your Thing
Okay.. I’m gonna be harsh with this one. I’m genuinely shocked at how good of an overall rating this album has and how popular it is in general. This is bad. There are instances in music where repetition can be effective… this is not an example of that. This album has no right being as long as it is. Even the stronger songs can be best described as dull and uninspired, and the album as a whole was a painfully mind-numbing experience. Over half of the songs follows the same formula: an old blues/soul sample repeated over and over again with some boring electronic beat behind it. It’s an insult to the actually talented people who made those samples. On this album, if you hear the first 10 seconds of a song, you’ve basically heard the whole song. No variation whatsoever. Needless to say, I was not a fan of this at all and will not be returning to it.
“Favorite” songs: Porcelain, Run On
I gotta be honest… I went into this with somewhat low expectations. Shoegaze is a genre I’m sort of familiar with, and it’s pretty hit or miss for me. This album is also a good few minutes longer than that godawful Moby album I had to suffer through yesterday. So it’s not hard to see why I was a bit scared for this one.
It was actually pretty damn good. Interesting vocal production and some catchy riffs. Nothing groundbreaking or particularly amazing, but still pretty good. Very noisy, but done in a way that still felt kinda calm and dreamy. Can definitely see myself going back to listen to some of these songs in the future. I’ll give this one a 3.7/5, rounded up to 4.
Favorite songs: Seagull, Polar Bear, Nowhere, Unfamiliar, Sennen
The Sex Pistols are easily one of the most divisive bands of all time. People love them while others absolutely despise them. Now, you could argue that they were a manufactured, one-trick pony boy band, and you wouldn’t exactly be wrong.. but Never Mind the Bollocks’ influence is undeniable, and it’s stood the test of time as a cornerstone of punk. I could go on about what a POS John Lydon, or ‘Johnny Rotten’, is now. But I’ll let you do your own research on his more recent political escapades if you’re unaware.
Normally, I would deride an album for being repetitive without any variety (hello, Moby). But I think it actually works here. It’s repetitive, but not monotonous. The songs on this album are consistently high energy, raw, scathing, and shocking (for the time), masterfully capturing a very specific window in music history. Whether you love it or hate it, this is an album that will stick with you long after the final note rings.
It loses some points for me, though, for a couple reasons. While it does work in this instance, the repetitiveness gives it less replay value. If you hear one song, you’ve kinda heard them all. Along with that, some of the lyrics have aged like milk (i.e. “Bodies” coming across as anti-abortion and dropping an f-slur on “New York”).
Favorite songs: Holidays in the Sun, Bodies (despite the lyrics. The song itself fucking rips), Liar, God Save the Queen, Anarchy in the UK, Submission
