Had no idea that this album was almost straight up blues music. Plant and Page are as stirring as advertised. A little too much griping about women for my taste.
Disc 1: As a Minnesotan I feel guilty that this cocktail on disc 1 just doesn’t work for me. Most of the tracks remind me of Saturday morning cartoon themes, but if cocaine was in the breakfast cereal (not derogatory). 30 seconds of every song are heavenly, and I can see how the “what the fuck is going on” vibe could be fun at a concert. At worst some of the tracks remind me of the “RZA unironically cooks up a trash beat” (derogatory).
Disc 2: Melodies slap harder on this disk. Much more intelligible and focused on this side. ‘It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night’ is fucking awesome. I might need to dig for the best Prince live album to find what I’m looking for from him.
Disc 1 is a 2, disc 2 is a 4, so 3 overall.
Tough for me to evaluate objectively because I hope to never need another breakup album in my life, and it makes me sad to even try and put myself in that headspace! It’s astounding how far away 1971 sounds on this album — this is a sound for a different generation that I can’t quite connect with since I can’t connect with Joni Mitchell the person during this time. I hate to say that some of her vocal runs feel pretty self-indulgent and don’t carry emotion for me, it’s more like a songbird doing math rock. I was able to connect with some of the more straightforward songs with simple, beautiful stories (Little Green, River, A Case of You)
Absolute heaven-sent music.
Not my cup of tea. Between this and the Led Zepp album I listened to the other day, a picture has been painted of what white guys in 1970 were complaining about and I don’t find it very flattering or self-reflective. I’d probably like this better as an instrumental album bc the singing guitars are obviously impressive. But even the guitars grew a bit grating for me by the second side of the album.
Maybe I’m just too much of a yankee to get it, but albums like these age worse for me with each passing year. I remember some of my friends playing these tracks in college and finding them charming, but now, not so much. Not something I’m interested in listening to again.
I just love this guy’s voice, man. Feels as summertime fresh as the first time I heard it my sophomore year of college. Stevie Wonder through a fishbowl. In love with the earl sweatshirt feature — the king of assonance. Felt like it overstayed its welcome in the back half after Pyramids, but still a great record I’ll always come back to. And ends strong with Forrest Gump, such a sweet sweet song.
The type of surprise I crave from this project — never heard of this record and I love it! Does NOT sound like it was recorded in 1973, so inventive while remaining straightforwardly beautiful at the same time, and I really enjoy both of their voices. Has me staring out the window wistfully when I meant to do some work. Going to keep my eye out for this at record stores.
I acknowledge the cultural significance of this record and can hear its influence on other artists I love. I didn’t find it offensive to listen to, but I just wasn’t incredibly moved by the experience outside of a live setting. I’m glad that the deluxe album I was listening to had Singles versions of the tracks because I found those mixes a lot punchier.
Never listened to them before! Makes me instinctively want to turn it up to 11 in a good way. I’m not overly enamored with Staley’s voice or many of the choruses, though I love it when the guitar absolutely rips into the bridges or interstitials. The lead guitar is amazing. At first I feared each song would feel too samey, but it sometimes surprised me. The sludge is truly deep but when I’m (rarely) in the mood for that this record will be one I turn to now.
Wow what a vibe!! Feels like a record that influenced a lot of music I listened to as a teenager in the 00s without me knowing it, both pop music and tv show music. Let alone stuff I’m into now like 100 Gecs. Feels like riding a fucking wave! Didn’t realize I had heard Praise Me before until I got to it near the end of the album. Definitely need to be in a specific mood to enjoy the repetition but I do not believe that repetition in music is a bad thing.
This album had the fascinating quality for me of deflecting my sustained attention — I kept getting lost in thought. It certainly captures the sound of this era of big band in perfect clarity, and I can’t imagine many people could complain about hearing it given that it is just so straight down the middle. Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue in itself took this to a 4 for me, that shit was insane. And then I thought the slower songs near the end of the set were really beautiful with complex chords composed of all the different instruments. The drum solo on Skin Deep is a reminder of how deeply connected jazz and 80s/90s hip hop DJs are.
I….don’t think I get this album. It feels impossible to understand this art outside of being deeply immersed in its full cultural context. A couple of bangers though, it gets a 2 just for I Can See For Miles. Still don’t think I can ever not associate The Who with my high school English teachers being gaga for them.
Definitely never heard of this band. It’s much more exuberant than I expected given the grunge label. I will say it didn’t really take me on a journey anywhere, personally — it feels so in-the-garage it kind of feels like you’re just sitting in a chair listening to them in said garage. Clearly an influence on the 2005-2015 indie rock I grew up on, some of which I’m not sure has aged tremendously well. I don’t really love his voice. The album art is very cute.
Fav tracks: Thorn, Broken Hands, Shoot the Moon
Some gorgeous harmonies here! I’d heard of The Byrds before but never listened to them. The newly electric guitars have a really pretty sound as they experiment with the technology. The basic song structures eventually lost my attention, but if I want to spin some true oldies I could see myself turning back this way. I have a feeling I would have been really into them if I was a teenager in 1965
I was ready to throw this music under the bus (while acknowledging how much it means to the people who listened to it beyond the notes and chords, with the fashion and the camp and such), but a lot of the songs sang by Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson were actually kinda sick. When it started with Planet Claire I was like okay this is all gonna be Rock Lobster bs, but then 52 Girls into Dance This Mess Around I was like oh this is actually kinda menacing and fun. I’ll even go so far as to say Rock Lobster is more enjoyable in the context of the entire album. I can’t truly say I enjoy Fred Schneider’s shtick but the ladies really carry this thing even with their background vocals. The way they swap between unison and crunchy harmonies is chef’s kiss.
I don’t expect I’ll seek this record out front-to-back again, but I’m leaving with a more open mind about this group and what they were doing.
Easily one of the prettiest male voices I’ll hear in my god-damned life. The energy and tension of this recording sounds like there are lit firecrackers all over the room waiting to go off. Boy Named Sue is kind of a weird listen nowadays, but his prison songs cut as deep now as they did in 69.
The looseness and humility of the delivery feels like one of the record’s strengths, but also holds it back from being timeless because it can sound immature if you listen to it with a certain angle. It sounds like “young man’s music” (I say at the ripe age of 34). This record is good and it is for someone, but it’s not for me. Hard to appreciate not coming out of a car’s tape deck. I think you had to be there.
Drive still holds up as a pop gem, but it’s not like the rest of the record.
If I could give this six stars I would.
I’ve never heard of this woman — this music is fucking incredible! Super similar to the Persona 5 soundtrack tbh which is my fav VGM soundtrack ever. This will firmly enter the rotation. Type of music that will meaningfully improve any day by listening to it while you cook. Seems to be one of those talents that worked hard but also had a divine gift, as I read that many of her recordings were put down on the first take. This compilation is wall-to-wall bangers. O Trem Azul is my absolute favorite.
FYI for Apple Music, you can get most of the tracks from the comp album this links to. The tracks Vento de Maio and O Que Foi.. can be found elsewhere on the streaming catalog, and Saudade Eterna appears to just be on YT which is too bad bc it’s super groovy.
I wanted to like this but the pretentiousness of the lyrics made me uncomfortable. And the keyboard playing is just banging me over the head. It feels like he’s holding your hand and running down the sidewalk with you, pulling you behind him and you keep running face first into lamppoles but he keeps running anyways and you can’t let go.
