Not heard this before and it sounded like late '70s punk (although more sophisticated) for the first few tracks. Album got more interesting and grew on me more from the longest track - "No No No" - onwards. That one has vocals reminding me of Gilli Smyth from Gong - so even earlier than the '70s! Will be listening to the second half at least again without doubt. Edit: been listening to an earlier EP which has 5 tracks with even more energy and better on first listen to than this album.
You can almost smell the pot listening to this one. May have enjoyed it more if I'd been under the influence! Not really for me though and considering what else was available to listen to in '67 not surprised this passed me by at the time. Still like the two main singles though and happy they get a lot of radio play even today. So a star each just for those.
Generic pop music of its day. Nothing too objectionable but nothing exciting either. A couple of these tracks might still get me on the dance floor if I'd had a few beers but otherwise would go almost unnoticed. . The last few tracks almost wore me down but I persevered and listened to the end. Was quite glad when it was over though. Perhaps listening to it early on a dreary wet Monday morning didn't do it justice? Not that I will be listening to it again anyway.
Well, apart from Lovefool I didn’t know/remember anything else on this album. Nina’s Marilyn Monroe-esqe vocals suit the tracks I suppose which are pleasant enough to listen to but nothing catchy enough to need to hear again. Left me wondering if Black Sabbath had covered Lovefool whether I would have laughed as much as hearing this Iron Man version! Have to admit I did listen to that song once again just to make sure I hadn’t been dreaming.
Wouldn’t ever think of listening to any of her stuff as it is too much “easy listening” which for me = “why bother?”. I quite liked this album though. However, I felt that most of the songs ended before they came to a satisfactory conclusion and I kept hoping they would build into a bigger ending. Best track was the more up-tempo “Raised on Robbery”.
Great album! I could easily have given 5 stars for this as it is pretty much perfect. But then how do I rate albums I like even more? We need a 10 star system really then I could have given 9. I will justify it losing a star for track 5. I normally enjoy instrumentals but find this one, although OK, doesn't really add anything to an otherwise perfect album and I'm always waiting for it to finish to get on with the rest. I would hope/expect ‘Out of Time’ to be in this list too at some point as that is almost as good.
The first Stones album I bought and has always been my favourite. I still have a flexi-disc sampler of it given away with New Musical Express just before it's release which was the bait. From here on in I was hooked. It won't please those hoping for recognisable hits (apart from Tumbling Dice) but shows off all aspects of their music that I love. Has the feel of a live session rather than studio album for much of it too which makes it stand out from both later and earlier albums. The remastered CD edition had an extra 10 "new" tracks which I have had an excuse to listen to again today :) It includes the single released in 2010 - "Plundered My Soul" - which deserved to be on the original vinyl but was resurrected from 1971 out-takes and overdubbed with new vocals etc. in 2009.
A fun album despite so many songs of unrequited love. I'm a sucker for songs with definite endings rather than fadeouts and as there is hardly a fader in sight on this album that's a plus. Of the 2 tracks that do fade out, one is "Not Fade Away" ironically. There was a much better cover version of that song released later of course (!) but then it is good to hear the original.
Boring. One Roberta Joan Mitchell album in a week is more than enough to hear thank you. Rambling lyrics on overly long songs which could easily be interchanged with almost any other backing track. No more please!
Too late to appear on this album but "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and other singles they did - especially when they teamed up with the Supremes - were good to hear on the radio at the time. Never interested me enough to buy any though and this album would have not persuaded me either. Interesting to hear but plenty of other Motown releases were much better. What would have been side 2 was nearer the mark.
Ok, another old man rant...I suppose if I had been nearer 13 rather than 30 and never heard any real music when this lot peaked I may have been able to say "Armageddon It." I didn't then and I'm still not. They were successful enough though so it must have meant something to many. Just leaves me cold though. Have to admit this is the first album I have skipped through several tracks - I have heard (and hated) them enough before to know I would happily die without having to hear any of this again. Come back Joni, all is forgiven!
I had never heard of "noise rock" or indeed The Liars before today. I'm trying to pretend I still haven't. The only redeeming feature of this specific noise collection was the final track. I like to think that this was included as some sort of calming recompense for having endured the preceding weird nonsense.
More than "OK", this is wonderful! The first 3 tracks and the last are my favourites but having heard it through a few times now (and with headphones on it's even better), track 6 - Disser/Point.Mento.B - almost has me in tears. I just wish it wasn't so short (never satisfied!). I've heard plenty of pure Indian/Asian music which I can happily live without but the intertwining with other styles/instruments/moods here just does something and sounds exciting for me. In fact I am still trying to understand why I know that I find it difficult to listen to a lot of the individual genres on their own (dance, drum & bass, Asian beats of varying types...) but put them together and I can't get enough. I'm also pleased that persevering with a few hours of dross in recent days has its benefits if something like this can be discovered. Perhaps I should start paying attention to the Mercury prize again too if this sort of stuff appears. It passed me by at the time. Just ordered the CD of this anyway because I'm one of the few who still prefers to hear good things that way.
Good to hear again having forgotten most songs apart from the singles. Even if you don't like Paul Simon's voice you have to admire Stephane Grappelli's contribution on Hobo's Blues which was the highlight for me.
Some more good tunes on this album. Widely regarded as his best but only about half of it appeals to me. The first half mainly. Enough tracks on here to keep me interested but several I would skip if I heard it through again..
I get that he has a good voice and this was probably "wild!" at the time. If I could go back in time and be in a smoke-filled, half-lit bar listening to him perform this live I would find it more appealing I'm sure. Reading about it before listening I was hoping for something more along the lines of Spike Jones. This disappointed.
Probably a Marmite band and realise I should either love or hate them. They don't evoke any response from me at all really though. I didn't mind having this on in the background but can't say I either enjoyed hearing it or needed to switch it off. I've no need to listen again though as I hear Yellow and Trouble on the radio enough and the rest are just boring in the same way songs from other artists like Ed Sheeran are to me. Chris Martin sounded as if he had almost woken up towards the end of Everything's Not Lost. Unfortunately by that time everything was.
I don't normally like Rod Stewart's voice on his own albums or with the Faces. Here it's not quite so grating though on some tracks which was a nice surprise. Would be good to hear the whole album with a different vocalist though, someone like Peter Green from early Fleetwood Mac would suit this. Or why not just have Jeff himself sing them all? Nevertheless I enjoyed the album as another one I'd missed in my youth. (I bought and still have the Hi Ho Silver Lining single of course but that wasn't on the original album). A fairly laid back bluesy sound which always goes down well together some more heavier rockers.
Ok at the time. Heard it too much then I think. Sounds dated now though and although worth a listen is not a "must hear" again for me.
The first ELP album I bought as it satisfied my love of both classical and prog rock. It turned me into a vociferous advocate for future ELP offerings despite adverse reactions from all friends, family and even my favourite DJ. I don't care though - I love them! "Self-indulgent", "pretentious" - perhaps but with the keyboard skills of Keith Emerson and the inventive and comprehensive percussion efforts of Carl Palmer this was forgiven and in my case celebrated.
I only knew Cinnamon Girl but enjoyed most of the other tracks. Simple songs which sound ahead of their time. Would have preferred more shorter songs but may find the longer ones grow on me with further hearings. I will listen again. Once had his double "Live Rust" album which I'd forgotten. Hope that one shows up here at some point.
If nothing else, this random album thing means forcing us to listen to stuff we would never give a second look let alone hear. Sometimes, as I've already seen, this means new sounds will override past prejudices and open up opportunity for new aural pleasure. This didn't.
On first hearing I thought it was interesting and worthy of investing more ear-time. Which is perhaps why I have already heard it 3 times today. More and more in it each time I listen. I really think of him as producer and collaborator with other artists in the main but for this to be his first solo offering is incredible. So varied, weird and wonderful. On Some Faraway Beach is my favourite track but there isn't a bad one on the whole album. Clearly paving the way for a lot more to come from the man who would even later bring us https://soundbible.com/1654-Windows-95-Startup.html
A whiny, weak and wimpy voice lets this down. I really wanted to rate this higher but however many times I listened just couldn't get past that voice. On some tracks, like the latter half of 'Sunrise' especially, the vocals were so indistinct that I could only just about hear his voice let alone discern the lyrics. Bad production? Others were often off-key and 'Face Up' was positively painful to hear. Give me a good vocalist and these songs would have been so much better as the backing tracks were all pretty good. Someone like Neil Tennant would do these justice. This doesn't sound like the same man who sang on the 'Blue Monday' classic. He actually appears to sing in tune on that one! I also had high hopes for the only instrumental -' Elegia' - but it started off as if it was going to build into something good but then just fizzled out. The whole album could have been great but ended up sounding like a weak cover version of the real thing and a frustrating listening experience in all.
If hell exists and I end up there no doubt this will be played on a loop. If I could give 0 stars I would. I won't pretend I heard this through. Half the first track and dipping into 3 or 4 more was enough. It just saddens me that people do actually enjoy this offensive noise.
Perhaps if I'd been a Cockney barrow boy I may have understood the acclaim Ian Dury received at the time. Heard so many of these songs before that it almost sounds like a greatest hits album. I did listen through this lot though but won't be bothering again. Unfortunately it was never really my cup of Rosie me old china. Sorry.
Well, I started off listening to this in an optimistic frame of mind after the drivel we've been served recently. The orchestration and general production was superb and the melodies were in the main enjoyable but the lyrics and the tone were SO depressing!! The vocals near the end lost it completely but it was nevertheless an interesting taste of the first album which I hadn't heard any of before. Not surprised it had no impact on the UK charts when released after hearing it though. Happily, better was to come.
A truly deserving album to be in the list - despite the Hammond organ overkill! 'L.A. Woman' is the best Doors album for me, mainly as it contains one of my all-time favourite singles "Riders on the Storm". This is still a great listen however even if I do always stop before "The End" (too long and too much of an anti-climax after the rest of the upbeat stuff).
I tried to find something in this album to like but in the main it just seems to put me on the verge of a headache. I realise this American discordant punk noise still has its fans but I'm not one of them. It is a collection of very energetic songs but they all sound just a bit wrong and annoying (perhaps that's the point??). The energy transmitted would go down better watching live no doubt but I would only last one song! The last 3 tracks were terrible and left me feeling exhausted. I got through it though which means reluctantly it must warrant at least 1 star compared to the sickos like Kendrick Lamar. I won't need to hear any more Sonic Youth however thank you.
Not the sort of sounds I had hoped to be listening to in the car on our way home from a weekend away! For the sake of this whole venture I attempted to listen to some of this nevertheless once home. Since I couldn't get past 15 seconds of the first few tracks without being bombarded with swearing just for the sake of it and as I couldn't understand most of the other words used when dipping into several other tracks (probably fortunately!) I thought "what's the point". I'm clearly the wrong demographic for this sort of audio (I refuse to call it "music"). It gets close to making me physically ill to hear this though so please excuse another low rating and accept that for some people this is just totally off limits.
Now we're talking - at last another 5 star album! What a total contrast in sound, sentiment and sensibility to yesterday's hip-hop/rap abomination. Probably Lennon's most accessible album and on a par with Mind Games in my view. Not one bad song on it. So an excuse to get out my original 1971 vinyl with lyrics on the inner sleeve, complete with wall-sized poster of Lennon at his white piano + a photo post-card of him holding a pig which I'd forgotten! This inclusion apparentIy mocked Paul McCartney holding a ram on the cover of his album that was released in the same year. This was at the point when there was no love lost between the two of them - q.v. How Do You Sleep. Listening to this album was not all good news though as the age of my LP is showing. One track was sticking and giving an annoying repeat loop of a chord or two...argghhh! Time to get another CD I think...
Positives: Cave sings with a passion and seems to be feeling the emotions of the songs he sings. Didn't like many of these songs first time but something pulled me back to hear the album through again. Lyrics are like a poor man's Dylan but interesting enough to listen to even though they don't quite make it.
Negatives: Is the aggressive stance the norm for them? Too many negative emotions. I don't really like his voice on some of this - strained and out of tune with his band. Too much misery and overall such a depressive tone to the album makes me wonder if he ever smiles let alone laugh.
Never really listened to any Nick Cave before but overall I'm intrigued enough to keep listening. Proving the point that you often need to hear some songs a few times to appreciate them. I'm even accepting the vocals the more I hear this and probably need to hear other albums before deciding whether these are a find for me or not.
The first (and last) album I bought new on cassette when it was released to be able to hear on my car’s player which all too soon chewed the tape up! Loved this at the time but I don’t really have the patience to hear it now. Haven’t heard it all the way through before today for decades. Too many tracks are stretched out beyond acceptable and more suited to a live performance. Happy now just to hear their “greatest hits” type stuff. A few of these tracks still qualify as these but there are much better Zeppelin albums. This is probably my least favourite now.
Started off enjoying this but soon got bored and the second half just seemed to wash over me. Title track and Black Screen were the most boring. Not interesting or different enough to make me want to hear again.
Not the go to Radiohead album for me but heard it enough over the years thanks to my son playing it endlessly! Can take it or leave it tbh. Nice to hear in full on an early morning walk at least. Prefer OK Computer with the classic singles on but I’m pretty sure that will appear here at some point.
The new Rolling Stones album “Foreign Tongues” was released yesterday so I have been able to listen to that today for the umpteenth time already. If I make it to be an octogenarian with half as much energy and enthusiasm for this sort of music as Jagger, I will be SO grateful.
This is another great album (4 stars) although not sure if it’s quite as good as Hackney Diamonds which was almost 3 years ago now. Some of the tracks were ones which didn’t make it onto that release but good to hear them now. Too long to wait for another album anyway but oh so worth it.
Not sure about the cover of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” however. It was included as their tribute to her and although a good song I think I prefer the original. They could also lose Keith Richard’s lead vocals on “Some of Us” though his singing with Mick on “Covered in You” (with McCartney also guesting on bass) is a good one…
Oh sorry, were you expecting a review of another Kendrick Lamar album? Seriously!?
For the last few years I have attended a local “blues” festival which despite the name has bands few of which actually play any blues music. I would estimate that 60% of the bands playing over the days sound very similar to this group. Nothing objectionable to this but after hearing 1 or 2 songs from any of them we move on to the next band.
Not ever having listened to QotSA other than the odd track on the radio, I don’t recognise or remember any of these songs. The album was my sort of music though and if it had been released about 20 years earlier, I may have enjoyed and get hooked. Not sure I am going to search proactively for any more of this now but will happily give a listen to any others that come my way.
Most of this sounds a little too much like generic pub rock of years gone by. Competent enough musically but no original/unique spark to warrant investigating more at this stage. The last track was certainly different and weird however!
It would be hard to find an album by anyone to beat this one. Some may equal it but none will surpass it. My favourite and most played Led Zeppelin record. Each of the first four albums were great but they peaked with IV which meant unfortunately downhill hereafter for me. There were still plenty of good songs to come of course but as whole albums go, if only one of theirs was on the list this should be it.
P.S. Someone (who will remain nameless) told me today they couldn’t stand “Stairway to Heaven”. I was stunned! Thinking about it, I must have been dreaming surely as this cannot be possible in the real world??
In the day I was heavily into Steeleye Span as my main course for folk rock. Fairport Convention were too tame in comparison it seemed then. But this gentler sound revisited is now more to my taste.
I loved Maddy Prior’s voice then but think Sandy Denny probably has the edge now.
A Sailor’s Life is ridiculously too long but still has the essence of the rest of a great record.
What a voice! In the same way I would never think of putting on an Elvis Presley record, that goes for Frank Sinatra too. I like the sound when I hear it but I never feel the urge to listen to a whole album.
The name Antonio Carlos Jobim meant nothing to me before today but he certainly complements Ol’ Blue Eyes well.
This was so relaxing and generally mood-lifting. Happy to hear more and this is on my radar for listening to again now.
Never understood the acclaim this man gets. His voice always sounds to me as if he is in pain and is certainly painful for me to listen to. “Born to Run” itself is the one track I’d say was OK but probably only because I’ve heard it so many times and been anaesthetized to it. It’s still not one I would ever choose to hear.
The one positive aspect of this album was that it was mercifully short – traditional LP length. It if hadn’t been for the over-long and tedious final track it could have been even shorter. Won’t ever need to hear it again anyway thank you.
https://tinyurl.com/3chxdtsw
Disappointed with this. Not a major fan of ZZ Top by any means but did enjoy much of their output in the 80s (Eliminator was their best album). This just felt a bit boring. A couple of tracks got my foot-tapping but most of the stuff didn't excite. The slower ones were instantly forgettable, The exception for me was La Grange which had a good riff and the middle/end guitar section appealed.
I bought the Chicago V album from the mid 70s when I saw it reduced in a bin and thought "will give this a chance". I think I played it once. So I was not anticipating a good listen with this one...and God was I correct!
We do seem to have to suffer a lot playing this game!! I couldn't stomach this long album (another double) in one sitting. The tracks were far too long and tedious. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" has the first minute sounding like a drunk piano tuner in the studio whereas the whole of "Free Form Guitar" is more like a group of young teenagers messing with the instruments they found after breaking into the same studio. Certainly an effort to get through this one.
At some point I need to investigate why there was a short quote from the Beatles "I Am the Walrus" within "South California Purple" though?? The only song I knew was "I'm a Man" but from the earlier (and better) original version by the Spenser Davis Group. That one was around 3 minutes long rather than being drawn out to nearer 8 mins here.
I'm sure the band thoroughly enjoyed making this album and, although sounding as self-indulgent as you can get with jazz/jazz-rock stuff, this was clearly successful and found a receptive audience. I'm not one of them.
The funky "Superstition" and the soulful "Blame it on the Sun" sum up both sides of this man's skill. Always love hearing anything by him. Glad to be reminded of this one as not one i'd normally go for but pleased to have the opportunity to hearing it right through again.
I promised myself to listen to the next hip-hop/rap album forced on me. Not sure if this qualifies really as it is also classed as grime which perhaps makes it a bit more accessible?? The British angle helps too of course.
Incredibly, although I had never heard of Skepta and doubt I would ever listen to this again, I did manage to pay attention to it all the way through. At least I could understand about 75% of what I heard on this one; stories of a side of society I am happy to be worlds away from.
I even smiled at some of the lyrics like when he complains that he “ain’t no Chippendale” after being strip-searched after an arrest! Another good line was “I'm looking for a girl with the X factor but I don't judge like Simon does”. Fireman Sam even got a mention at some point.
“Text Me Back” is presumably the nearest to a love song we’ll get from someone like Skepta. It’s generally all so aggressive, confrontational and macho but probably tame compared to the US rap some of us have managed to endure.
All in all, still not my scene bro but I hear you.
Surprised me – expected something weirder like his later albums. I usually think of him being nearer to Frank Zappa than Tom Waits which many of these songs reminded me of. OK I suppose but nothing really stood out.
Trying to ignore the timing of this album and the adjustments made subsequent to his son’s death, still find it doesn’t stand well on its own as an album to listen to. Might have been cathartic to Nick himself but I want music to enjoy or at least entertain. The second half must be the most miserably depressing stuff I’ve ever heard. Would rather just read the lyrics (which is more or less what he was doing anyway) and listen to the background music on its own at another time. Perhaps just not in the mood for this and can’t imagine ever being so.
Album review
A few decent songs to come but no later album than this lives up to the earlier stuff. The further away from his Beatle days he got the less adventurous and inspired he became with his work. This was the last album by McCartney that was worth buying (at the time). Whatever your views of him and his music though you can’t knock his longevity and success.
This doesn’t seem as good as I remember it when I hear it now but then times have changed and the simple stuff here is weak compared to what was to come from others. But as he was to say later… “Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs - and what's wrong with that?” and having being encouraged to listen to rap for the first time in my life recently I have to agree!
Loved it! Didn’t expect this when reading that it was given the accolade of being the first punk album. Not that I’m anti-punk per se but this is fun punk with its tongue firmly in its cheek.
I’ve heard it through a couple of times already as I write this and want more. It was a good ride but too short. We have had to endure double albums which should be condensed and then get this one which fizzles out before 35 minutes. Never satisfied!
I hadn’t heard of them before but would have enjoyed The Dictators at the time if I had. The Ramones were the first US punk band that caught my attention but it seems that was also thanks to these guys.
Some funny lyrics throughout and the beats at times almost had me trying to pogo while driving! A good alternative "I Got You Babe" is included but the final track is the best one about living for “Cars and Girls” and a great parody of the Beach Boys.
Overall a great find for something I've missed out on before and will be seeking out more.
The singles from the album are OK being familiar but the rest is just pretty boring pop music of its day. No wonder I hadn’t heard them before or even if I had then must have easily forgotten them. They all seemed to blend into a background nothingness.
The only track that sounded different to the others was Debt Collector and that sounded as if it was stolen from a merry-go-round at a kid’s fairground.
Didn’t feel any extremes of negative feelings listening to it but just thought now I’ve heard this album I won’t ever need to again. Next please...
This high-volume punk rock is not really my thing. I do remember having a CD of their Americana album at some point though (not sure where that came from or went) but enjoyed the singles off it - “Why Don’t You Get A Job” and “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” - which were a bit different to the sound here.
This was an energetic sounding offering however despite almost the same drum beat throughout and that terrible voice shouting at me! Quite enjoyed the vocal announcements here and there too as a welcome novelty diversion.
I forgave them for including "Are You Ready Eddy" as it was really a tribute to their engineer, Eddy Offord but do wish they'd left out "Jeremy Bender". That just isn't ELP and ruins the rest of the LP.
Side 1 is all that's needed though as it is classic ELP and never bettered for me. If you don't like classical music influences and need to have electric guitars dominating instead of keyboards then it clearly won't impress. The genius of Keith Emerson as composer and classical trained pianist shines through more and more every time I've heard it.
I think Tarkus (that's track 1 itself) has probably impressed me more than any other piece of music since its initial release. Although I must have heard it hundreds of times over half a century it still made me shiver at certain points listening again today...and if I could do this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqTDhtJGQ04 - my life would be complete!
On hearing the first song I thought “more new-wave heavy metal noise – no thanks”. As the album went on though I supressed my inbuilt aversion to later than original “real” heavy metal and gave it a chance.
I quite liked the Transylvannia/Strange World piece but thought Phantom of the Opera sounded like a missed opportunity with weak transitions between sections and a general amateur feel about it.
I should probably hear the album a few times to do it justice really as I’ve never paid any attention to Iron Maiden putting them in the same bracket as Metallica, Def Leppard, Saxon etc etc. It just doesn’t have the same instant effect that Black Sabbath, Led Zep et al had on first hearing them – but then I was slightly younger (!) and had more time and patience perhaps.
No - I don’t think I really want to invest any more time on this lot, other than further albums which may crop up doing this thing of course. It could have been a lot worse though.
