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.
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
This is the most background music album to ever background music. The first half was mediocre, but not unlistenable. The second half was just a drag. Some of these songs have no right to be as long as they are… I’m looking at you, “Why Worry”. That song was one of the most boring musical experiences of my life, and “Ride Across the River” wasn’t much better.
“Money for Nothing” was by far the best track. And that’s saying a lot because even that was just.. decent. Somewhat catchy, but still just.. meh. And while I can understand the reason behind the homophobic slurs being used, it’s still in extremely poor taste.
Overall, this album is aggressively unremarkable. Nothing I can see myself going back to, or even being able to remember what it sounds like. Is this really an album I had to listen to this before I die?
This would be a FANTASTIC album to listen to in the back seat of a car, riding during an afternoon rainstorm. Incredibly soothing, but also fills you with an undeniable sense of melancholy. I decided after the first song to turn on background noise in my phone’s settings to have the sound of a gentle rain playing quietly behind the album. It enhanced the experience tenfold and made the songs feel even more intimate and gloomy.
It almost feels like I’m not supposed to hear this. It’s a similar feeling I get when listening to the Kurt Cobain home recordings. It feels unfinished, but I think that was intentional. It’s very stripped back, unpolished, imperfect, and emotionally raw, just a voice and a guitar. This is the swan song of a young artist who took his own life only two years after the album’s release. And it feels like it.
Is this something I’ll run to revisit any time soon? Not particularly. But it’ll be perfect when I find myself neck deep in a depressive episode. I’ll rate it a 3.7/5, rounding up to 4.
Favorite songs: Pink Moon, Which Will, Things Behind the Sun
I’m gonna start this off with the obligatory fuck Morrissey.
This album lands in a weird middle area for me. It’s nothing incredible, but also not terrible? I will say, I don’t particularly understand the hate for Morrissey’s voice. He sounds fine to me on this record. Now, that’s also coming from someone who’s wildly inexperienced in The Smiths’ and Morrissey’s work, so take what I say with a grain of salt…
Something that’s not a good sign is that it’s hard for me to pick out some standout tracks… Nothing was particularly amazing to me. After a while, it starts to sound pretty samey, which, in turn, makes it all relatively forgettable in the end.
Will I return to it? … Uh… Maybe? I don’t know. I might spin a few songs again here and there, but it’s honestly not something I can see myself regularly coming back to.
Favorite songs: A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours, Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Honorable mention: Death at One’s Elbow (I’m on the fence about whether I like this one or not)
This Year’s Model is my first of six(!!) Costello albums on this list. And, according to many, the best.
Now, do I like it? .. Sorta. But not really. I was cool with his voice for the first few songs, then it got old. Man, that’s a bad voice… “Little Triggers” was such a drag, easily the worst song on the album. I like a good ballad here and there, but goddamn this guy is not cut out for them.
New wave is a very hit or miss genre for me. I love some of it, but others make me wanna dig in my ears and rip my eardrums out. I think Elvis Costello is somewhere in the middle there. The album’s not the worst thing ever, and it’s listenable most of the time, but I can only take so much of it.
Will I return to it? Probably won’t ever sit through it front to back again. But I can see myself coming back to a few songs when I’m in the mood for some mild, inoffensive new wave.
Favorite songs: Pump It Up, Hand In Hand, Radio Radio
