One of the best intros to an album oat. This was the first album of the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list and it definitely started out with a banger. It's that classic rock sound that everybody loves. From Bon Scott's satisfying yet raspy and gritty vocals, to every amazing electric guitar riff, this album is just so much fun. It does get a bit repetitive at points, and the drum lines were very simple. But you can't deny how catchy it is and the band is definitely a great introduction into hard rock.
Such an interesting album. I had never heard of Elliott Smith so I went in completely blind and immediately got hit with a great track. "Son Of Sam" was a standout on the project with its amazing guitar and piano playing. While listening to this album, it seemed to contain a lot of Indie Rock, Folk/Singer-Songwriter sounds, and Chamber rock. "Everything Remind Me Of Her" expecially reminded me of Bob Dylan's folk songs. But the sound I heard the most throughout my listen was the Beatles, specifically their more psychedelic era from "Revolver" to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". It had that similar psychedelic sound, but combined it with indie rock or folk.
Although the album contained many different sounds as mentioned before, the project was able to tie them all together through a common melancholy and gloomy vibe. Definitely a project I'll be listening to again.
A deeply soulful album by one of the greatest to ever do it. Beautiful jazz production accompanied by one of the best vocals in soul.
This does not sound like an album from 2007. Nothing about this project feels familiar. It truly is an avant-garde product. Definitely need to listen to it a couple more times.
Humans pretending to be robots, pretending to be humans.
One of the first electronic dance music projects that has a mesmerizing dark undertone to it. Known as the father of synth-pop and electro-pop, it sounds very futuristic even today despite originally releasing in 1978. While listening to it, you can definitely hear how its soul echos throughout electro-music even to this day, allowing us to really feel the impact it had. I think one of the groups they impacted the most was likely Daft Punk as their sound and theme of robots seem to be heavily influenced.
Although sonically this project is very impressive and its historic value definitely needs to be appreciated, I didn't enjoy it too much from a musical standpoint. The long tracks and their repetitiveness made it pretty bland and I don't think I'll find myself revisiting this project too often.
Such an abstract and humorous album that truly sounds unique. The beats sounded like they were from television shows back in the day and the witty rapping by De La Soul complimented them perfectly. I wasn't a huge fan of all the interludes going on in the album with "De La Orgee" definitely being the weirdest. But many of the songs would be what I would introduce a child to hip hop with. Well enunciated rapping with direct and witty rhymes.
This is exactly what coke should do to a musician. A jumbled and messy assortment of love songs by Bobby Womack. Some are soulful, some are dance songs and the only common trait is that they're all bangers.
Definitely one of the best folk/singer-songwriter albums I’ve listened to. The simple production helps to highlight the emotional vocals of Joni Mitchell. Such a raw experience.
Definitely one of the strangest albums I have ever listened to. It sounded like exploring the swamps of Louisiana in the middle of the night. The references to voodoo help create this immersive experience rooted in African culture.
Whether this is your style or not, you can't argue how amazing the production is. Q-Tip was able to create such a soothing project. Something about his music is always so effortless and cool. In this project, he evolves his jazzy boom-bap sound from ATCQ into something that sounds modern, clean, and crisp. RIP to J Dilla and D'Angelo as both their contributions helped elevate the project, especially to the former as you can hear his signature sampling style throughout the project.
Do the Everly Brothers count as industry plants? It's very obvious what they were going for with this album, even 66 years into the future. They seem to be two good looking brothers, targeting the teenage girl demographic with love ballads and 50/60's rock&roll, two genres that were very popular at the time. I don't hate this album as I do like the sharp guitar tone, a staple in he music of this era and the two singers have great vocals, stacking their harmonies very well. But at the same time, it's very obvious how generic and unoriginal they are. It honestly just sounds like a soundtrack for an old teenage heart throb rom com, well made but very shallow.
The biggest issue with this project is that it's too short.
I've recently started to listen to a lot of jazz and Miles Davis is definitely one of my favorite artists. His music is just so effortless.
An emotional album with lyrics that are touching at times and freaky at others. Most of the singer-songwriter albums I've heard up to this point were performed with acoustic guitars, so it was very fresh to listen to Nick Cave's piano melodies.
Also, Nick Cave kind of looks like a Thneedville character from the Lorax.
Astor Piazzolla happens to be my favorite bandoneon player, as he is the only bandoneon player I know. Jokes aside, from the more jazz heavy first half to the tango oriented second half, this album showcased a soothing mix of the two genres through Gary Burton & Astor Piazzolla's mastery of each genre. From the emotional tone of the bandoneon to the brightness of the vibraphone, each instrument brought a unique sound to complement the other. In terms of my personal taste, I did prefer the more tango oriented pieces. Still, each track was arranged beautifully and it is even more impressive that they were executed live on stage.
BEST: Little Italy; Nuevo Tango; Operation Tango
Unironically one of the best album covers ever.
A strange blend of hip hop and electronic dance music. It's unconventional in every sense, but somehow still works and makes you want to dance.
Ngl, I didn't get this. It sounded interesting but I just don't understand post-punk and new wave like that ig.
SZA's vocals are definitely the focal point of the album. She creates a sexual and calm tone for the entirety of the project, making it very soothing and easy to listen. The Deluxe is also worth a listen
A star studded line up from great producers such as Pete Rock, J Dilla, and MF to solid feautures from Wu-Tang Clan members, Trife da god, and even Biggie. Ghostface is able to execute a messy yet interesting collage of stories relating to drugs, women, and his alter ego as Tony Stark (Iron Man). He attempts to grab the attention of both the general public and hardcore hiphop fans, and I believe he was able to succeed in that through both his rapping and layout of the album itself. Although I am usually not a huge fan of interludes in general, there were definitely a couple fun ones in this album and they did help in the story telling of the album as well.
An unpolished, raw sounding album. It's very easy to see why this was the template for garage rock in the 00's from its sound to its topics and mood. While the genre itself is not normally what I enjoy to listen to, it definitely was a sound that even I find familiar. Also, it must've been very uncomfortable to record and tour despite going through a divorce.
A strange experience of an album. It is truly a work that breaks down the stereotype that folk music is musically simple and minimalistic through its chamber composition. Joanna has a truly unique voice that might not conventionally be the most pleasing, but it truly shines with her story telling in this album. Another beautiful detail in this album is her harp playing as it definitely aids in creating that medieval-folk ambience.
