Queen is at their best when they're at their most theatrical, and there are times here when they fully commit, but other times where they don't. Songs like Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap of the Gods, and the first two tracks fulfill the genre label of "glam rock", sounding both epic and ridiculously fun. Other tracks feel a lot more dull, and like they could be made by any random 70s band. They don't go full hard rock, but they aren't particularly theatrical either, so they just don't emotionally register for me. Of course, the standout part of the album is Freddie Mercury, who more than proves why he's considered one of the greatest performers ever. The worst thing that a band like Queen can be is dull, and unfortunately on this album, they fall into that trap too many times.
The title track here is, hands down, one of the greatest country songs of all time, an absolute tearjerker of a ballad focusing on two of the genre's favorite subjects: God and poverty. I'm a sucker for songs about being happy despite difficult circumstances, and Coat of Many Colors definitely fits the bill. The rest of the songs don't quite match that song's quality, but it's still all very well done country pop. The midsection of the album can get a bit repetitive, with a stretch of songs with very similar structures and chord progressions, but Dolly is a talented enough singer and songwriter to make it work. The back half of the album starts showing off more variety, with the musicians embracing more diverse sounds without straying too far from the country pop mold. This is not the best country album, or even the best Dolly Parton album I've ever heard, but there's still a lot to like about it.
Absolutely gorgeous exploration of the intersection between folk, rock, and jazz. The arrangements here, for the most part, are stunning, subtly complex in a way that takes a truly close listen to fully appreciate. It feels like wandering along a peaceful river, not always knowing where it leads but still knowing that there's a clear path. There's a gentle playfulness that's present on a lot of Joni Mitchell albums, but is rarely as pronounced as it is here. Of course, Joni is an excellent lyricist, and while her writing doesn't explore the same depths as something like Blue, there's still plenty of insightful observations about life and love to be found here. Like the production, her songwriting style often feels unpredictable, sometime adhering to traditional pop structures only to veer unexpectedly in a new direction. This album is a bit frontloaded, with some of the jazzier tracks like Down to You or Twisted feeling a little clunky, but this is still an overall great experience.
One of the best psychedelic rock albums I've ever heard. Carlos Santana and his band really knew how to jam. I'm not familiar with the recording process of this album, but the arrangements are all so loose and adventurous that it gives the feeling that it's all been improvised. Everyone involved does an incredible job but Santana's guitar work is truly the star of the show, his playing is so emotive and driving with tons of memorable riffs. This is primarily a rock album but the flourishes of blues, jazz, and Latin music give it so much personality and color. This is primarily instrumental but the portions with vocals are excellent. The lyrics are nothing special but they don't need to be, as the vocals clearly aren't the primary focus and are more just a component of the greater ensemble. The two most famous singles, Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va, are obviously both excellent, but the deep cuts hold their own quality-wise. So many albums from this era label themselves as "psychedelic" but very few truly live up to that descriptor like this one does. It truly does feel like an acid-tinged journey through space and time, and it's easily my favorite on the list so far.
Is it possible for something to be pleasant to a fault? If it is, this album is a perfect example. Paul Simon is a rock-solid songwriter, his harmonies with Art Garfunkel sound excellent, and the songs are all beautifully arranged, but the cutesiness can get to be a bit much sometimes. I like folk music a lot, and I'm not against music sounding sweet and cozy like this, but all the nature imagery and lullaby-esque melodies and glockenspiel parts on songs like Cloudy or 59th Street Bridge feel like eating too much ice cream and getting a stomachache. My favorite aspect of this album was the sound of recording, I loved the ramshackle feeling of it. It almost sounds cavernous at times, like you're listening to them in a massive, empty concert hall with amazing acoustics. This was solid but definitely not my favorite in this style. Also, credit where credit is due, the Bob Dylan parody was pretty funny.
I don't know what the consensus is among Queen fans, but I liked this a lot more than Sheer Heart Attack. They fully leaned into their theatricality on this one, and managed to back it up with some truly stunning, mystical arrangements. This feels much proggier than what they would do on later projects, and it makes for some of their most exciting songs. I didn't expect the heavy high-fantasy theme on this project, and while it sometimes veers into corniness, it mostly works perfectly with the glam-rock aesthetic they're going for. The first half is solid, but this album truly comes alive in the second, Freddie Mercury-penned half, where they fully commit to the fantasy themes in both the lyrics and the sound. The band really focuses on creating a continuous album experience on this, and the way the songs flow together is wonderful. The real crown jewel is the multi-phased epic the March of the Black Queen, which I highly recommend to those who love what they were doing on Bohemian Rhapsody. Highly evocative imagery, wild swings in mood and tempo that feel earned rather than jarring, and an excellent performance from Mercury.
Decently fun slice of throwback synthpop. The production on this was uniformly excellent, filled with so much detail and utterly pristine. There's a variety of moods being explored in the music, all of which sounded great, but the more dance oriented cuts stood out the most to me. Chris is an excellent, very theatrical performer, sometimes reminding me of Michael Jackson at his wildest. The real draw for me was the lyrics, focusing on themes of queer love and exploration of identity. The writing can feel a bit clunky in the English language version of the album, but given that English is his second language I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I listened to both the English and French version, and while both are good, the French version is definitely better. His voice just sounds so much more natural in his native language. If there's one thing that holds this album back for me, it's how beholden to pastiche it is, but when the pastiche is this well done, it's hard to complain.
One of the most aggressively 60s albums I've ever heard: primarily a folk rock album, heavy on the psychedelia, with lyrics that split the difference between abstract surrealism and political content. Apparently this was one of the first psychedelic rock albums, and while I do think its approach is relatively simplistic compared to what would come after, I found it charming rather than dated. There's a colorfulness this album brings to the table that just makes it such a fun, easy listen. The obvious standout is Eight Miles High, which features a fantastic guitar solo from Roger McGuinn, but I also loved the lush folk instrumentation on tracks like Wild Mountain Thyme and the slightly dour tone of What's Happening. It surprised me how versatile this album was with its combinations of folk, rock, and country, but it was a welcome surprise.
The title track here is an absolute all timer, featuring an absolutely electric rhythm section and excellent interplay between the organ and the guitar. It's impossible to listen to it and not nod along. So much swagger and coolness contained in such a simple track. Everything else here ranges from "enjoyable enough" to "mostly forgettable". There isn't really a bad song on this album, but everything besides the iconic title track blends together into an easy listening mush. It's a shame because you can tell the players here are talented, and even in these other tracks there are occasional flashes of brilliance. But when everything relies on the same chords, similar structures, and similar BPMs, it's hard to feel like any of it is truly essential.
Beautifully done singer-songwriter music. Neil Young is an all-time great songwriter, and this album is littered with thoughtful and introspective takes on love and life. However, I can't talk about this album without talking about the music, an excellent mix of rock, country, and folk that's pure ear candy. The flourishes of harmonica and slide guitar give this record so much personality and color. You can tell a lot of time and effort was put into make it sound good, but it always retains a slight rough edge that prevents it from sounding too sanitized. There are some great jammy moments, particularly on the last track, where the band just lets loose and sounds like they're having a ton of fun. The one sore spot here are the orchestral moments, particularly A Man Needs a Maid. It just doesn't fit the emotions that the rest of the album is going for. Otherwise, really good stuff.
Now THIS is how you do blues. I've heard so much modern blues rock that has all the rough edges sanded off, and it's so refreshing to hear some that still has some tangible grit to it. The playing from everyone involved is excellent. It sticks very close to the standard blues formula of improvising around a consistent series of chords, but the improvising is so well done that it's hard to complain. The guitar and harmonica solos in particular are great, there's so much personality and feeling to match the technical ability. I was honestly shocked to find out that this isn't a live album. Muddy Waters himself is an excellent vocalist, bringing some incredibly passionate and soulful vocals to the table. I loved his self-depreciating, mildly raunchy sense of humor, it gave this album such a distinct personality. Highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates some hard-nosed rock and roll.
X's debut album, Los Angeles, is one of my all time favorite punk albums. This album was a slight letdown compared to that one, but it's still very good. They're known for blending punk's attitude and raw style with rockabilly arrangements, and here they lean more into the rockabilly side of their sound than on Los Angeles, which is unfortunately not my cup of tea. That being said, everything that makes this band great is still present on the more punk leaning tracks. Their lyrics and playing, while still raw and unrefined, are a bit more professionally done than other punk bands of their time. The key to X's appeal is the interplay between vocalists John Doe and Exene Cervenka, and their chemistry here is excellent. Like I said earlier, still good, but I think they've done better.
Feel very similarly about this one as I do the Booker T. album I listened to last week. Generally pleasant, with a lot of talent and raw musicianship on the way and a killer title track/lead single, but eventually blends into the background. This being a jazz album, there's a bit more going on musically, and the horn sections in particular are very good, but ultimately it does little to distinguish itself. The title track, as mentioned earlier, is great, and the vocalist in particular does an excellent job. Everything else here is good background music, but still just background music at the end of the day.
Big empty music. Attempts to sound grand and sweeping, but nothing about it ends up sticking. Everything is competently made but there's barely any standout lyrics, hooks, melodic ideas, instrumental passages. There were many instances where I assumed I was 5 minutes into a song's runtime, checked the progress, and discovered it was only 3 minutes long. It gets slightly better towards the end, I think Cornish Town, Reinstated, and Daniella are solid songs, but not enough to save the whole experience from being too boring to remember.
Bono and co. are going for a big, arena-ready sound here, and sometimes it works. The three singles that open the album are solid, and there are some great deep cuts, like the grungy Bullet the Blue Sky and the desert-tinged In God's Country, but a lot of the surrounding material doesn't live up to the grandness the band is attempting. A good portion of this album just sounds flat, and the ocassional flashes of brilliance that shine through just make those portions easy more dull in comparison. I appreciate the socio-political themes that Bono works into his lyrics, especially on the closer Mothers of the Disappeared, but lyrics without good music to back it up only get you so far.
There's a fair amount of 90s alternative rock I like, but a lot of it can feel like a slog to get through. Here, Garbage comes through with one of the most fun takes on the genre I've ever heard. They take the standard heavy guitars and snarling angst typical of the decade and make it dance-floor ready through fuzzy guitar feedback, delirious electronic effects, and driving drum beats. The drums in particular give this album a real sense of motion that makes it such a joy to listen to. I really appreciated the variety of moods that Garbage brings to the table, from the more angry tracks like As Heaven is Wide, to upbeat bangers like Stupid Girl, to lowkey, almost trip-hop adjacent cuts like Milk. Shirley Manson is an excellent vocalist, bringing a palpable simmering anger to the table that still retains the fun of the instrumentation. Her lyrics are very blunt, but that bluntness serves the tone of the album really well. This was one of the biggest surprises on this list so far, given I hadn't heard of this band before, but it won me over in a big way.
This album came so close to winning me over. I was very skeptical going into it, given the massive runtime, the child-like aesthetic of the cover, and my general dislike of Billy Corgan as a public figure. I ended up enjoying most of it, but there were some definite stumbling points. In particular, the parts where the band strays away from their grunge roots were very hit or miss, and it felt like Corgan's nasally vocals didn't match with the softer moments. Plus, while there weren't any songs that I felt were particularly bad, the two-hour runtime didn't feel justified. That being said, it was hard to deny the sheer ambition of the album and Corgan's complete sincerity with how he handles every aspect of the album. His lyrics can come across as overly melodramatic or pretentious at times, but he delivers it with such conviction and without any irony that it didn't bother me. The heavier moments on this album were when the band really shined, especially the guitar parts and how Corgan's vocals meshed with the instrumentals. This is an album I can certainly see growing on me in the future with repeated listens, especially since my primary issues are fairly surface level, but right now those issues still bother me.
I've heard a lot of praise for Alanis Morissette as a songwriter, but I didn't really understand it until I sat down and paid attention to this album. She isn't exactly subtle, and there are a few clunky moments (e.g. the infamous ten thousand spoons line), but she more than makes up for it with her raw anger and sharp sense of humor. This is primarily a breakup album, but she deals with a lot of other topics, such as Catholic guilt on Forgiven, parental expectations on Perfect, and depression on Mary Jane, and she makes all these very familiar topics feel fresh and new with how much passion she puts into the performance and the writing. I liked the combination of grungy guitars and trip-hop electronic drums that comprise the bulk of this album, it reminds me of a more restrained version of the Garbage album I recently listened to. This isn't the most revolutionary album on the planet, but it's such a well constructed and charming piece of pop rock that it ended up winning me over.
This was an extremely frustrating album to listen to. When Peter Gabriel locks in and writes a truly great pop rock song, it works wonders, like on Solsbury Hill, Slowburn, and Modern Love. Other times, it feels like he's just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. Moribund the Burgermeister is completely incoherent, Excuse Me feels like a worse version of the Beatles' more wacky songs, and tracks like Waiting for the Big One and Here Comes the Flood drag on for way longer than they should. This album is a mess on a wider structural level too, as there's no sense of progression or consistency. I respect Gabriel for wanting to try his hand at a wide variety of different style, but the execution didn't match the ambition.
