It's country, rock-country if that's even a genre? The 'New Kid in Town' started playing and I went 'That's a country song!' - same goes for majority of the tracklist. The storytelling structure is very reminiscent of that of a country song and the rock songs like 'Life in The Fast Lane' - well, they're not rocking much, are they? Very safe, dull, boring... Even at the time I guess it wasn't innovative at all. It sounds dated to me. The concept is clear and strong throughout the album's duration but is it saying anything interesting about California and American Dream? Again, even for the time being, it's not investigative enough of its topic. There are some glimpses, a few lines hinting at something behind the courtain, and almost grasping it, before retreating quickly into safe surface-level observation. Listening to the lyrics, not much changed after 50 years, huh? Songs about CA, LA, American Dream are always onto the same shit and after listening to bajillion of them, I look for a deeper cut. The storytelling on this album is also, in general, not very compelling. Onto the highlights - 'Hotel California' is a great, haunting song. Overplayed? Sure, but I still love it every time it comes on. Eagles really caught a lightning in a bottle with this one - there's something so compelling here about the writing, vocals, production, guitars... I'd love to put it on when I'm in California someday. Must be amazing to listen to it while driving through the West Coast at sunset (call it cliche, I want it!!). I like the metaphor here and I like the enitre 'mythology' of this song. Other song I also like (much less then the title track but still) is 'Victim of Love'. I checked writing credits and what these 2 songs have in common that others don't is Don Felder - I'm not suggesting Felder is a great songwriter and others suck, I actually haven't yet heard the rest of Eagles discography (and any other songs written by Felder), just an observation. The production is nice overall. The closing track has a beautiful piano melody but it stretches for much longer than I think it needed to - again, I see writing issue with not being concise enough and not painting a compelling picture of what you want to convey. I really like the closing line, thesis statment of this concept album I'd say, 'You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye'.
I must say I went into this album knowing only 'Mr. Brightside' (of course!) and 'Somebody Told Me'. I expected similar sound, nonsensical lyrics, and that euphoric feeling of wanting to jump and sing along. The first 2 expectations are surely met but the joy I experience while listening to 'Mr. Brightside' cannot be replicated. Other songs lack that 'it' factor to me and I find them to be just okay. Individual songs are pretty inoffensive to me but once I had to listen to the full album (and I did a few times before writing my review), it became very fatiguing. It's continuously flashy, leaves no space to breath, and doesn't have the emotional payoff of 'Mr. Brightside'. I think this album would benefit from better storytelling and more clever writing... for me it's pretty meaningless for the most part. I assume the lyrics in this project are only means to create a catchy banger and the goal was to write an interesting hook and add nicely sounding gibberish around it but for me it contributes to the fatigue I feel after spending more time with this album - there's really nothing to hold onto when you get tired from numerous iterations of the same song that never match the lead single's appeal.
The album is smooth, polished, and Stevie's voice is a pleasure to listen to. The production on this record is very impressive for the 70s - clear and rich. However, I am simply not the target audience. I tent to not appreciate albums that are on one hand well-crafted, flow nicely and show impressive musicianship but on the other are simply just that, without any 'friction', something intriguing to dig deeper for. There are sweet songs about love, 'Maybe Your Baby' about potential cheating (that I must admit is surprisingly annoying and drags on amongst otherwise smooth tracklist), groovy 'Superstitious', and 'Big Brother' that is a very straightforward political song referencing Orwell's '1984' novel. Songs on this record go into one ear and out the other, even after many re-listens I did today. Everything kind of blends into one in my mind and I have trouble picking any highlight or melodies that would stick with me (and I usually don't have this issue and I am quick to hum a new melody). Besides, of course, the hit single 'Superstitious'. I also really liked and may be revisiting 'You've Got It Bad Girl'. I listened to only a small portion of Stevie's impressive discography but I notice I tend to like his later works. This album is a (good) background music for me.
I liked the album, I have a soft spot for Britpop and it brought memories from my time living in the UK. The record has so much personality and energy but is not draining. For now I'll leave it as 3/5 as I wasn't enthralled by it and haven't had enough time today to really sit with it but I'll be coming back.
I really love Radiohead's 'The Bands', 'OK Computer', and 'Kid A' but I never listened to any other album of theirs in full. Today's the day and I must say I don't love 'Hail To the Thief' as much as the other ones but I still find the record entrancing and moving. It is sadly as relevant today, if not more, as it was when it came out. Very well encapsulates the feeling of anxiety, uncertainty, and helplessness - the tone especially feels rather resigned than a call to action. There are great highlights (such as '2+2=5', 'There, There', 'A Wolf At the Door') but also noticeable lows ('Sit Down. Stand up', 'Backdrifts', and 'We Suck Young Blood' stick out to me the most). I think cutting a little off the tracklist would benefit the record.
I was pleasantly surprised. The album flows beautifully and you start to hum the melodies almost immediately. I will be coming back to that record.
Smooth, funky, consistent front to back. The story flows and I don't feel like I need to watch the movie anymore (no wonder it was more successful than the film itself).
Soulful and full of emotions, I'm just not personally a fan of his tone and much prefer the original versions of covered song but nevertheless solid record.
I must say it was a hard listen overall (the production on this record is baffling and SO LOUD) and I cannot take the lead vocal's mannerism seriously. I like the (most popular?) track 'Californication' but I wasn't crazy about anything else I've heard.
I don't get the appeal, hard to listen to. I'm guess I'm not a fan of Jay-Z's rapping. The lyrics aren't all that either.
Boring is worse than bad and it was soooooo dull.
