It seems odd to think of the band's third album as still being proto-Queen, but this is still very much that. You can hear the transition from the more proggy leanings of their first two albums to the more ostentatious Glam Rock that's really the band's signature style. Even with that, it's a pretty cohesive record, though as is standard with Queen albums, the singles stand out much more than the album tracks, so while the three-song Tenement Funster/Flick of the Wrist/Lily of the Valley is a very solid trio and Brian May's guitar solo on "Brighton Rock" does indeed rock, none of them can hold a candle to "Killer Queen."
While I was familiar with Dusty's voice due to "Son of a Preacher Man" (which isn't on this album), this album is a great reminder of just how good a singer she was.
Unfortunately, since we're in the early 60s here, this is less a coherent album than it is a collection of songs. In this case the songs are just about all covers, and because I've heard other singers perform them, Dusty just sounds wrong, especially on songs originally performed by Black artists. The exception is "Wishin' and Hopin'," which I associate with Springfield much more than I do Dionne Warwick.
I'll start off by stating that I absolutely loathe country music, and when I see "sings American pop standards" my heart sinks. That said, even I can respect the red-headed stranger, even if I've never listened to an entire album through so let's start with his 22nd. The instrumentation is pretty sparse, highlighting Willie's vocals and guitar work.
The vibe overall I'd sum up as "pleasant," and the two stand-out songs are "Georgia On My Mind," and "Unchained Melody." Of course, listening to "Georgia..." I'd much rather hear the Ray Charles version, while I think Willie's "Unchained Melody" clears the Righteous Brothers version that I'm more familiar with.
I doubt I'd ever listen to this album again, but I didn't hate it.
These guys are something of a blind spot in British indie music for me, as they hit it big not long after I left Britain for the States. They are one of those bands who I knew intellectually were a big deal within the scene they were in but never got around to listening to.
Now that I have, I'd describe them as being the Sheffield Strokes. This is especially noticeable because Alex Turner's accent is very prominent throughout.The songs on the album are a bit samey, and occasionally veer into less-belligerent Oasis territory but the album's overall a fun listen even if I wouldn't seek it out.
This is my first exposure to The War On Drugs and they're pretty decent. Listening to the album, my first thoughts were "This is what people mine when they describe something as an "indie darling," followed closely by "I bet Pitchfork loved this." Sure enough, that site rates this as 8.8 and gave it "Best New Album" back in 2014.
It sounds a lot like a modern day version of Springsteen, especially on the track "Burning," but there's also (appropriately, given the title) a dreamlike quality to the instrumentation. The standout track for me was "Suffering," which seems to be the one track none of the other reviews mention. So it goes.
It's hard to overstate how omnipresent on the radio both Sting and The Police were on the radio growing up as an 80s kid in England. From this album, "Walking On The Moon" and "Message In A Bottle" were everywhere and they do still stand out today.
I had never noticed that Sting was doing a kind of pseudo-Island accent on "Message," but now that I notice it, I cringe every time, and it's enough to dock this album an entire point. You're Geordie, Gordon!
Away from Sting, the instrumentation is great, with Stewart Copeland's drumming being pretty propulsive by genre standards.
The chill out vibe here is just immaculate. The ambient vibe is mostly relaxing and just feeling the music wash over you. It's hardly Air's fault that they're French. This doesn't really feel like an album that's conducive to listening all the way through in the nature of this project, as it's much more of a downtempo background music kind of album.
"Sexy Boy" is the stand out track for sure, and some of the latter half of the album kind of blends together into an ambient wash, but I'd definitely relisten to this one in a "come down at the end of the day" kind of way.
While hip-hop has never been my genre of choice except for a few artists, I can recognize and respect the craft of it when it's done well, and The Fugees do it very well here.
Lauryn Hill's voice remains the highlight, both when singing the hook of their cover of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song," (the undoubted highlight of the album, or getting into her flow on "The Beast" as she excoriates racist law enforcement.
Between Pras, Wyclef, and the guest contributors I'm not sure who produced which beats for which tracks, but they're all pretty propulsive, most noticeably on "Fu-Gee-La" and "Zealots."
This would be a four-star album, but I'm docking it a point because of the scourge of 1990s and 2009s rap/hip-hop albums - pointless skits. "The Beast" isn't improved by closing out with a borderline racist joke set in a Chinese restaurant.
I wasn't looking forward to listening to this because I loathe country music. I can recognize that Haggard is very good at what he's doing, but what he's doing does absolutely nothing for me. On the plus side, the songs are mercifully short. I generally like storytelling in lyrics, and this is something that Haggard is doing in just about every song. I did enjoy the mismatch between the bright music and dark lyrics on "Life In Prison" where he's singing about hoping to die to cheery instrumentation.
Even with all that, I did start singing along with "Someone Told My Story," so some of it is catchy.
This is inarguably a classic album and seems to have been more or less canonized as such, but I'd never listened to the whole thing at once before.
Folk/Folk-rock isn't really my genre but there are certainly exceptions and this album is definitely one. It's extremely well done. The title track remains a lush, supportive track and Art Garfunkel's voice is perfect for it.
I do greatly prefer "Cecilia," "The Boxer," and "The Only Living Boy In New York" though, and I think it's because they're slightly more uptempo. Lyrically, Paul Simon does a great job of communicating the feelings of loneliness, poor communication, and mocking Bob Dylan very well...
As I've mentioned when it's come up before, I really can't stand country music. I mention that not to brag or anything, but do be upfront about my biases.
I listened to this all the way through and tried to appreciate, but I couldn't get there. I HATED this album. It just did absolutely nothing for me. I can recognize that Loretta Lynn does have a very good voice for what she does, but what she does leaves me cold.
Literally the only thing I was able to appreciate about this album was that it was over in just 28 minutes.
Another one of those bands that are in the "vaguely heard of, not sure I could name one of their songs" group.
This album is what I think of as "typical indie sadboi." The instrumentation and vocals are absolutely soaked in reverb, to the point that it felt like more of a texture than a vocal. This did make it a little difficult to understand the lyrics, but the general tone of sadness, ennui, and bleakness came through.
The songs do seem to be all build up to a climax that never quite arrives, but none of them outstay their welcome.
The standout tracks for me were "Sorrow," "Bloodbuzz Ohio," and "England."
I quite liked the album, and it definitely feels like it might grow on me with further listens.
I was familiar with precisely one Leonard Cohen song before listening to this album, and it isn't even on here.
What is on here are 8 tracks of depressing story songs with sparse instrumentation and Cohen's unique rasp of a voice. It shouldn't work for me, but for some reason it absolutely does.
"Last Year's Man," and "Joan of Arc" are the highlights for me, but every song works as an ode to mankind's despair.
I do enjoy some Prog Rock when I'm in the right mood for it, but I've never been a big Rush listener outside of hearing "Tom Sawyer" and "YYZ" out in the wild. Neither of which are on this album.
What is on this album is a 20+ minute suite telling a typical dystopian story in 7 movements (only in prog...) which I enjoyed a lot, especially the driving guitar throughout.
Other than that highlight, I liked every track on the album, and can recognize the skills that Lifeson, Lee, and especially Peart have with their instruments, and lyrically it seems quite rich, but Geddy Lee's singing voice does make it difficult for me to discern what the lyrics are...
Genuinely don't know what to think about this one. Not sure it belongs on a list of 1001 essential albums.
It doesn't really sound like anything else I've ever listened to and has a pleasingly spacey vibe.
Some of the tracks, such as the nearly 12-minute opener "Krautrock" have a fantastic and propulsive muscularity about them that get me hype, but others, such as "Just A Second (Starts Like That)" were physically painful to listen to. That isn't hyperbole, something about the resonance frequencies caused a weird stabbing sensation in my eardrums.
I can't quite figure out what to make of this, its tracks are very much either love it or hate it for me, with nothing in between, so it oddly averages out to mid. - 3
I remember liking some Marilyn Manson singles when I was 15, but never wanted to listen to an entire album of it, because it would feel exhausting.
This is one of the incredibly rare times where current me agrees with 15-year-old me. Listening to an entire album was a sonic pummeling that I could do without. And the highlight is by far the lead off single "The Beautiful People," which is so much better than every other track on here combined.
Overall the music doesn't feel very dynamic, but it's still pretty decent industrial rock (presumably the influence of album co-producer Trent Reznor) but the vocals are the weak link.
I'm also mostly trying to separate the art from the artist while I'm listening and reviewing these albums, but I'm still docking it a point because Manson himself is an abusive POS.
