A true and well-worn classic, Neil Young at one of his finest songcrafting moments.
Meh. Lennon was a douche.
No. Just no.
Muse capitalized on what made Origin of Symmetry successful : excellent musicianship, bombastic compositions, and the voice of Bellamy.
But whereas Origin of Symmetry was carefully self-restrained, making it sincere despite its self-consciousness, the leash has been loosened since Absolution, and this one was already showing worrying signs that Muse wouldn't stop their race towards a deluded sense of grandeur and epicness.
And oh boy, this album is a mess.
Muse, trying desperately to get out of Radiohead's shadow, pushes the overdrive pedals to the metal, washing everything in layers upon layers of effects and pitch-shifters, at time driving towards dance beats and New-wave synths, , with each song racing towards the most cathartic, explosive climax it can.
It feels forced, it drags on, and it's often grating. It's a kid screaming at us to look at them.
We do, not because we enjoy what they have to say, but with the faint hope that if we listen, the shrieks will stop.
They won't.
It never stop, for the duration of the entire tracklist.
Every track tries to show a new trick, but it's something we've heard before a gazillion times, from intense guitar solos to vocal performance, from upbeat dance grooves to classical music inspirations, it's a catalog of overhead, tame ideas "enhanced" with ultramodern and slick (way too slick) production.
Bellamy shrieks and wails throughout like an emo cat that just learned his parents divorced, while trying to touch on postmodern subjects such as alienation and technology, fascism and authoritarianism, paranoia and love. All subjects Radiohead also treated on Ok Computer and KidAmnesiac, in subtle and thought-provoking ways (think Paranoid Android, Fitter Happier, or any track from Kid A).
Muse approach these themes with the subtlety of a middle-class edgy teen.
And the worst part is that Muse never turned back from this path, despite evident qualities as musicians.
It's bloated ego and "oh boy are we good musicians" all along, without any depth or substance. It's an ad : alluring on the box, but a cheap plastic imitation of something better once opened. It sucks, but it's luckily forgotten fast.
On a personal note : I don't undestand why this album is listed on this site.
Good. A classic. But I'm so tired of listening to Led Zeppelin.
Wtf is this doing on this list, for real ? It's not just bad. It's bland. It's nothing memorable. Everything is washed away in wall-of-sound reverbed guitars, uninspired chord progression, taking hints from everyone from My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, some hints of Cocteau Twins, and every C-tier grunge band at the time. The album goes along and is forgotten as soon as it's finished. It's boring, it's supermarket background muzzak for depressed kids, and it's done better by so many other bands. And please don't start me up on Ashcroft nasal, whiny croon, his monotone and blasé delivery gets lost in the overwashed layers of white noise.
Each track is dull, each track sounds like another one, the pacing of the album makes you drowsy with boredom, each new song makes you wonder why you're inflicting such a shite to yourself.
It's a boiled lettuce, it's hospital food, it's a Big Mac it may fill your belly for a bit, but it doesn't have any taste, and you're left hungry right after.
Please remove this album from the list: it's never been, and never will be an essential listen, in any genre.
Verve were a low-grade, one-hit wonder, riding on the coattail of much better bands.
If 90's britpop is your thing (not judging you), there are so many better options : Pulp, Ride , Lush, Manic Street Preachers, Blur, Supergrass, hell, even fucking Kula Shaker, all these band offer much more, even in their early years; than the Verve. (not Oasis. Oasis were much, much worse, but that's a whole 'nother can of worm)
Not their best effort, but a lot of fun through and through. It's a band finding their mark on their second album, and it shows some promises. It's a bit far fetched to call that an essential album, but it's really fun, and it's a solid 3.5/5 This is indeed far better britpop than anything the Verve shat out. (had the Northern Soul album yesterday, still have a bad aftertaste.)
Full disclosure : I never could bear RHCP.
Besides some George Clinton inspired (and produced) good tracks on their first albums, a nice, if uninspired, funk-rock fusion collage. Mother Milk's chaos made it a relatively fun album Here, on their first foray into mass public recognition, they drop any pretense of being alternative. It's mainstream, full speed. It's the album that made them known and heard, for better or worse.
And it was calibrated to.
It's a mishmash of bland funk, boring and overheard bay area alt-rock, stadium-ready ballads and easy-listening radio-rock. It always sounded lazy and it's self-conscious, tongue-in-cheek winks to the listener and rad attitude from the 90's bay area get grating real fast.
While the band is composed of fantastic musicians (and Flea!),they're in service of lazy compositions and angsty lyrics, sadly written by Anthony Kiedis, one of the worst singers and writers to front a rock band.
The guy just can't sing. He wails with a nasal and robotic tone, he just can't hit the right pitch . Production can improve that on an album, but listen to a live from this era, and it's obvious the guy has no mastery over his voice.
He's also a fucking rapist and a pedophile, a bully and an idiot, and he drags an otherwise good band to the bottom of the shitpile.
It's Primus without the humour, otherworldly technical skills and crazy universe, Faith No More without the genius and the voice of Patton. It's fast-food music for californian middle-class teens.
It's the embodiment of 90's mainstream alt-rock : bombastic, but empty. Don't listen to that crap.
Yeah, we all like the Pogues.
Not my alley, but an essential album from a historic perspective
This isn't bad per se. Just generic in-your-face rock that the grrrl scene at the time was doing way more fiercely. Again, I don't understand why is this considered an "essential" album. If you've listened to punk-ish grunge is the 90's, you've already listened this album. 3 stars is a generous rating.
Meh. I grew up in the late 80's and 90's, and I precisely remember when this album came out and propelled Fatboy Slim everywhere. I kinda liked the singles, but when I listened to the whole album at the time, I was left unimpressed. Not to brag, but I was drifting away from "mainstream" music at the time, and I found so many mind-blowing small artists and indie records that this just didn't make it.
Almost 30 years later, my feelings about it haven't changed.
Bigbeat mainstream idm/soft techno, in the vein of Prodigy, but less agressive, or Chemical Brothers, but less bombastic.
It's a fun take at first, mixing old tunes, classic Detroit techno from the 80's/early 90's, 70's disco, but it sometimes feels like Fatboy threw everything at the wall to see what sticks, and by the end, the record overstay its welcome, and I felt kinda relieved when it ended.
Overall a solid effort, , sure, but in no way an "essential album".
On a personnal note : it's the fifth day in a row I'm suggested a mediocre or plain bad album that cannot be considered an essential listen. I'm wondering who is curating this list and what are the vetting processes.
Meh. Not my cup of tea, but very fine songcrafting
I see why this piss so many people off, but there's genuine goodness and creativity here, served with a heavy-dose of middle-fingers and thick british slang. A fun, if a bit long album.
