Beyond a couple greatest hits collections, a collaboration with Frank Sinatra, and a trio record, I haven't heard a lot of music by Count Basie. This collection from 1958 consists of a set of tunes written by and arranged by Neal Hefti. I really can't argue with its inclusion in this collection. It's a really enjoyable record. It is still firmly within the swing tradition, but there are a few Ellingtonian moments on the record. The melodies are fantastic, the arrangements are good, and the playing is excellent. I would definitely pick up this record if I come across it as a record shop.
I haven't really heard a lot of the Rush catalog, but this is a record that I have heard previously. Listening to it again, the first half of this record is really good. It's a rock opera sequence that is apparently influenced by Ayn Rand and its honestly kind of gloriously silly. It's catchy and its memorable. The bad guys get the best songs. The second half of the record is a bit more of a chore to get through. The songs are... fine I guess. I might have a better view if I was a bigger fan of the genre, but these largely feel like forgettable moody hard rock with a ballad tossed in. I'll definitely go back to the first half of this record, but probably not the second half.
This is a familiar record for me. It has a couple of Iggy's best known songs, Lust For Life and The Passenger, and its probably the most respected and well known of his solo records. The first side of the lp is uniformly excellent and is a good as anything that Iggy Pop has recorded. A lot of the music was composed by Bowie, but the last track, Tonight, really sounds like a Bowie track. The second side of the record is a lot weaker. Success isn't a bad track, but it feels pretty insubstantial and Turn Blue really drags. The last two tracks are solid though.
The singles from this record were fairly inescapable when I was growing up, but I realized that I really have never sat down and listened to Thriller as an album. I often think about this record as being distinctly different than Off The Wall, but the sound of the first half of the record has more continuity with that sound than I remembered. There is the inclusion of a much more mechanical drum and percussion sound that indicates the shift in time, but the material is still working in some of the same post-disco soundscape seen on Off The Wall. It's really, really good. The weakest track is the collaboration with McCartney, but that still is a pretty good song.
The next half of the record takes a dramatic shift in sound. This feels like the dramatic shift in sound that I was expecting. It's more stripped down than the first side. Beat It apparently was supposed to be the rock song, influenced by The Knack. It's fine. Never been a favorite. It's then followed by Billy Jean, which returns to the disco influences, albeit in a far more stripped down fashion. I've always loved this song. Human Nature is the kind of ballad that I typically really don't like from this era, but it's making the most of the approach. PYT is another upbeat track in this more 80's sound. You could probably toss into a new wave/new romantic mix without jarring the listener much. It's good. Finally, the album ends on a ballad that again isn't my favorite approach, but its good for what its doing.
I always thought of this record as being somewhat inconsistent but good. That is not true. There's nothing bad on this album. It's great. It deserves the praise it gets. Definitely a five star album.
I had heard the two big singles from this record, but that was about all. It's an interesting shift from Joshua Tree, which some how manages to sound expensive because of the ornateness of its production and seems to be dead set on sounding like the most important band in the world. This feels a lot looser. The group is picking up on the synthesis of rock and dance music that was percolating up during the late 1980's and early 1990's, and you hear it here with the post-punk influenced base and guitar with dance oriented drums. The Edge's guitar is louder and the guitar sound is rawer for most of the record, with a couple breaks for ballads. I'm probably not going to rush out to buy, but its honestly a pretty good record.
I think that I will stick to a simple and very subjective evaluation of this record: it's not for me. There is some real talent on this record and clearly a lot of people love it, but I am not one of them.
This isn't the first time that I have listened to this album, and I still really like this combination of bossa nova and jazz. It's definitely a record that I will listen to again.
This band came up around the time that we saw a bit of a post-punk revival and this material largely fits within that revival. Unlike some bands who were more interested in nostalgically exploring sounds from that period, Liars seem like they were more focused on building on the experimentalism of the period. This is a record that is more focused on using sound to create a sense of texture, beat and rhythm that creating melodies. The result is a series of sounds that could be fit within the tradition of motoric rhythms found in 'Krautrock' with noisy textures placed over it, mixing traditional rock instrumentation with electronic sounds. The tracks at time build into fairly hypnotic riffs that arise out of that interaction. The lyrics over that frequently reproduce that repetition and consist of vaguely menacing nonsense phrases with emotional effect. The effect gives the record a kind ritualistic or incantatory quality. It's really fantastic overall, I really love this record.
This is another record and band that I am fairly familiar with. I really think of this record as a kind of capstone to the music the band developed in the 1980's, showing what was possible with the kind of sonic exploration it was engaged in during that decade before moving onto other musical ground. The record reflects the shift from the often quite rough experiments with tuning and guitar dynamics in the early records as those elements were smoothed out and integrated into stronger song writing as the decade went on, particular on EVOL and Sister. This expands on those shifts and all of the songs here are excellent. The guitars weave together hypnotically and the structures of the song expand in ambition. My favorite records from the band are the rougher EVOL and Sister, but I can definitely understand why this is a favorite record for many.
The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs started off firmly within the post-punk revival of the early aughts and this record reflects them moving away from that sound in a way that reflects some of the musical trends of the period. It moves away from the guitar-bass-drums sound heard earlier and is much more keyboard driven, It also moves away from the kind of angularity of the earlier material, although those qualities are not entirely absent from the record. This is something that I might have been a bit more critical of when I was younger, but honestly the shifts work well for the band and they make them in a way that holds onto their identity. It would probably be fair to also call this a more eclectic and ambitious record than the previous work. Off with their heads is a fantastic single and the work is consistently good, ranging from the upbeat material to the slower material. All in all a very good record that I will probably pick up if I get the chance.
This is the first time that I think that I listened to this record in a concentrated manner, but I have seen them live at least once. This is a really beautiful record. This record has a fairly minimalist sound pallet of voice, bass, guitar, synth, and drum machine. It also has two vocalists, who at times exchange lines in the song. You can hear indie and post punk influences throughout, but those influences cohere into something that is distinctly their own. The Intro sets up the expectation that there is going to be more of a dance influence with this record, but that influence is tamped down once the record starts. The songs are strong and there is also a strong ambiance throughout the record. I'm being presented quite a few records from the aughts recently and its been at this point, pretty uniformly good.
This is a pretty solid album. At times, it still draws from psychedelic music and folk rock, but there are moments the record points to the future of hard rock in the 1970's. There are moments it even gestures towards glam. I like the moments when it expands its sound and the use of horns is enjoyable. I will probably listen again at some point.
Overall, I thought that this is a solid album. It's labeled a country album, but a lot of this could be put into a compilation of roots rock without turning a lot of heads. You can see some of Earle's social justice views in the songwriting, but a bit more hidden than the later work. At times, the 80's production sticks out, for instance with the use of synthesizers at times, but nothing too egregious. I like some of his other records more, but this is pretty good.
Looking at some of the comments, this record looks like its a fairly divisive one. I'm definitely in the pro camp for this record. It's a record that I own and its pretty familiar to me. Someone else described this is the intersection of rock and roll and beat poetry and that feels like a very apt description for the record. You're getting a mixture of what might be called spoken word performance with traditional song structures. I really love Smith's voice, but her vocal approach isn't always conventional, which is fine by me. Smith often gets placed in the punk camp, because her involvement in the NY scene and the often incendiary quality of her performances, but it doesn't really fall under the aesthetic qualities that I associate with punk. That isn't a criticism for me. It's a great moody rock and roll record and should be a point of discussion in any list of the best records of the decade and century.
This record created quite a bit of buzz and controversy during its creation. The record company refused to release and there was quite a fight to get it out. I don't quite understand the resistance. There is certainly quite a bit of ambition in the arrangements and production. That is most evident in the very busy and demanding production of "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart' but it can be heard throughout the record. At the same time, there are a really beautiful set of songs produced by that process and a few of them feel immediately like they can be hits. A great album. As much as I love this album, I might recommend starting with Being There or Summerteeth.
It was interesting to see how big a seller this record was. I can see why. The singles really get stuck in your head and this offers a pretty accessible version of its sound, which is dominated by a slick and heavy r&b sound, with rock and gospel influences. It was a sound that a lot of bands were embracing around this time. It contains a number of fairly eclectic tracks as well, including an arrangement of a theme by Eric Satie that opens and closes the record. There are also moments where there is a strong jazz influence. Overall, it's a solid record made by very talented musicians, but there is something a little too slick about it for me. Still very listenable.
Just a small note: I am responding the orignal lp, rather than a deluxe edition. The immediate thing that struck me about this album is how catchy it is. You're getting all the starts and stops and time signatures and all of that, but it also has really immediately engaging melodies. Roundabout really is a smart way to start this process, but for the most part the other songs are as engaging. The only exceptions are two of the instrumentals. The keyboard arrangement of Brahms' 4th is kind of a genuine mystery. Wakeman is clearly a talented player and the arrangement is well played, but it just doesn't feel like it belongs on this album. The record would just be better without it. The solo guitar piece also doesn't quite fit, but feels less dramatically out place. Those are the two points that keep this from being a five star record.
This is definitely a familiar record for me. Magazine is Howard Devoto's band after leaving the Buzzcocks. It's a post punk in as far as the album is an effort to break out of the constraints of punk, but its also a reminder that those sorts of efforts often look quite different from each other. This record, while still bearing the influence of punk, has a lot of earlier influences. I can hear a bit of Roxy Music and other earlier art rock records. I really like the inclusion of the keyboards and occasional saxophone. However, there are moments such as Shot By Both Sides, which have a more traditional post punk sound to it. Overall, a very good record.
I can see why this record is included here. It's bringing in a lot of interesting influences into his production, ranging from funk and soul to reggae. At times, the downtempo music creates atmospheric moodiness, but other moments feel a little sterile. However, it gets brought into a loops oriented electronic music that feels like its designed for the background of a party that creates a vibe while largely being ignored. It's fine, but I probably won't listen to it again.
My initial point of comparison on hearing this record was AC/DC. The vocals and the lyrics in particular are similar to them, but the music is as well, although not in all cases. Ironically, this record came out years before there were any AC/DC records and it sounds more like late 70's than early 70's AC/DC. There are some exceptions like the slow burning "Look at Last Nite' and "I won't let it happen again'. They also do a pretty good cover of Janis Joplin's Move Over. A great hard rock album with touches of low glam. I'm definitely going to listen to this again and will pick up a reasonably cheap copy of the album.
This is a really fantastic record. As far as I can tell, everything that Colon put out in the 1970's is great, and this is no different. The record opens with thirty seconds of disco, but gracefully shifts to a more familiar salsa sound and really doesn't look back. What follows is a series of really engaging songs that work within those genre conventions. Ruben Blades' vocals are also really good. Although, Colon's work is pretty consistently fantastic, I can see why this is so well regarded.
Yes. The album cover does kinda look like a pampers advert.
This is another record that I know fairly well. There really isn't a bad Roxy Music, but the early records are particularly exciting. That quality is often attributed to Brian Eno who was on the first two albums, but that ambition can be seen on the two records recorded after he left. This is the last of the records made with Eno and it's really fantastic. It builds on the qualities of the excellent debut and is perhaps even better. As a high glam album, it has a foot equally in the history of rock and roll and the avant garde. I really appreciate the use of horns on this record, the romantic and post romantic melodies, and the really strong songs. It would seem that Bryan Ferry's voice is quite divisive because of its theatrical and unconventional qualities, but I really like it and its perfect for the record. I have this on CD but I really need it on lp.
I've never heard this record before the last couple of days, but the singles were fairly inescapable. Listening to it, its pretty clear that this is a product of some pretty talented musicians who have a good grasp of roots music and a production team that knows how to package and update that sound. Crow is a talented singer and fairly strong songwriter. I tended to prefer the slower songs. It's also just too slick for my tastes and I'm almost certain to listen to it again.
10 songs-30 minutes. This record certainly doesn't outstay its welcome. It's a decent rock and roll record that both sounds of its time and embraces the nostalgia that you see in rock at this time. "The Wild One Forever" wasn't great and felt a bit derivative of Springsteen, while "American Girl" really soared.
I've been listening to this album for years and its one of my favorite hip hop records. This is more or less a product of a group of teenagers raiding their parents record collections to create a world of their own. (Produce Prince Paul was a couple years older.) There are definitely moments where its clear that the songs are a product of goofing off, but most of that works for the record, with the exception of the slightly eyerolling De La Orgy. That work always returns to a set of strong songs. The record also provides a kind of narrative of skits that run throughout the record. For the most part, I really don't like the skits on hip hop records of this era, but De La Soul is the exception to this rule and the game show narrative really holds up. A genuinely unique and really fantastic record.
This one is pretty bad. The theme of the 'concept album' is fairly horrifying and doesn't seem to have the kind of critique found in Lolita. The vocals are largely spoken with a little singing every now and then. They aren't particularly engaging to me. I can see why the music was influential and why it influenced groups like Air and Portishead, but frankly they take the ideas here and use them to better effect. Also, the more interesting moments are overwhelmed by the moments where the music pulls back to not particularly interesting repetitive background music for equally uninteresting spoken word monologues. There are really some deeply tedious moments on this album. Ultimately, the back up band is fairly talented, but is wasted. This album is 28 minutes long, but it frankly feels much longer.
This is not a surprising inclusion on the list and is a record that I have listened to many times, although it has been a number of years since I last listened to it. Looking back, it's remarkable how quickly Dylan's sound changed in his early career. The classic 'folk' era really only lasted two albums. Another Side of Bob Dylan isn't as controversial as this record, but it was already moving away from that sound and certainly the political focus of the previous records. This is a definite move away from that sound and the first song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is an immediate signal of that change. The first seven songs fully embrace a full band approach, while the last four songs return to Dylan alone with his guitar.The lyrics more fully embrace the surrealistic elements seen on the earlier records and often parody some of the more sincere elements on those albums along with some more personal songs. For some reason, I always thought of this is the more tentative introduction of those elements, but listening to it again, it has more in common with Highway 61 Revisited than I remember. That album is still my favorite Dylan, but this is a very good album.
It's been quite a while since I have listened to this album in its entirety. However, I've seen most of this material live on multiple occasions far more recently. This is a really good record. It builds on the strengths of the first album and brings in more sophisticated arrangements and stronger songwriting. Murphy's vocals also have a lot more range and the amount of deadpan irony that defines the first album is reduced. The first record is quite good, but often feels a bit like a novelty product. This is no longer the case for this record. It often feels like a version of Suicide that listened to disco rather than rock and roll and had more money for instruments and techology. (LCD Soundsystem really doesn't hide its influences and a more extensive review would probably bring in a lot more names, but I think that this doesn't detract from the band producing its own sound.) The unfolding textures and patterns used to build the songs is really hypnotic and the length of the songs feel warranted. That description doesn't apply to the entire record and songs like"Someone Great" and "All My Friends" bring in more sentiment and conventional song writing to the mix. However, I'm just not a bit fan of "New York, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down." It's definitely a fan favorite and frequently is show closer, but I think I would like the record more without. I guess I'm just not interested in a LCD Soundsystem ballad.
Jazz musicians of this time period who consciously draw on elements of rock and r&b are placed within the category of fusion, but there really isn't a similar category for rock musicians like Steely Dan who bring in elements of jazz to create a different flavor of rock music. Overall, I think that this is a decent album. Steely Dan know how to write a hook and the commitment to more ambitious arrangements and playing largely complements those hooks. It really does set the band up for two audiences: on that enjoys the immediately accessible hooks and another that folks on the way those hooks are explored and reshaped through the musicianship. I think that I actually tend towards the first group with this band. This will never be one of my favorite records, but its very listenable.
This was apparently a massive hit and I can see why. The record is recorded in a few locations, from Nashville to London and Southern California. The Nashville material unsurprisingly brings a country tinged inflection to Young's sound, which works fairly well. The London tracks are with an orchestra and are probably my least favorite. "A Man Needs A Maid" is particularly overwrought, but "There's a World" works a bit better. Alabama Man's lyrics may have been a bit ill conceived as Young himself says, but it holds up pretty well as a song. The hits on this record are easily understandable as hits but don't particularly move me. That might be a product of hearing them so often, so I see this as more of a me issue. On the other hand, my favorite part of the record comes with the last two songs. "The Needle and the Damage Done" is a beautiful solo track and captures the sense of tragedy that is attempting to represent. The transition into "Words (Between the Lines of Age) is really spectacular and its almost as if the emotion of the first songs explodes into the far more dirgy sound of that last song, which is fantastic. (It might not be entirely surprising that I tend to prefer the records just after this album, based on this alone.)
This is another record that I had never heard as an album, but contains a lot of pretty familiar songs. I really don't have a lot to say. This record is really fantastic. It's a beautiful recording. The songs and performances are fantastic. It's entirely understandable why this is such a well regarded record.
