A really great album that put me in a good mood. Easy to listen to and bop my head to, but also the instruments flow in and out of each other like a river. Has all the parts of elevator/local on the 8s music but is so much more.
Not sure if I'll have any of the tunes trapped in my head, but Miles Davis will likely land on my "need an instrumental to plug into while I work" list.
Let me preface: I am not what you would call a fan of the Beatles. They have some great songs that I quite enjoy, and I find Sgt Pepper to be a truly great album.
I had not listened to Abbey Road as an album. It has some good songs, no doubt, I would go so far to say there's not a miss on the album. But I wasn't left feeling enriched or heightened after listening. I'm not excited to roll back around to Come Together. It felt, to me, like "here's a set of songs the Beatles made."
This was a great find. I was unfamiliar with Patti Smith, and to find this album was a treat. There's an obvious Bob Dylan influence, but what I hear most is a more angry Jim Morrison. Hearing the proto punk sound come through was great.
This was such a surprise to how good it was. It made me feel like I was in a smoky basement room, having a nice scotch, while one of the greats sat on stage and read to me his own eulogy. A man at the end of his great life full of accomplishments looking at me and telling me all of his regrets.
It's an amazing album, it rewards a critical listen. And the title track is an absolute banger.
John Fogerty might've written Born on the Bayou, but in fact he was born in Berkeley.
Bayou Country, and CCR in general will always take you back to some memory where you were driving down the highway with the windows down, or they came on in some dive bar with no AC and the house started rocking.
The opening riff to Born on the Bayou absolutely defines iconism, Bootleg is that deep swamp tune in a musty bar where most the patrons are mosquitoes, Graveyard Train and Keep on Chooglin' are paying their respects to the delta greats and harkin back to Howlin Wolf through Duane Allman.
Sure, CCR might make some truly marketable music, but does that matter if you fall into that target demographic?
I really enjoy the Wailers, especially the earlier stuff. 400 years is a classic, Peter Tosh's voice is incredible.
There's some good ones on here, but man are there some snoozers. A few tracks on here felt like I was watching one of those 1950s PSAs that explained puberty and dating to 15 year olds. I had another Miles Davis album last week, In A Silent Way, that knocked my socks off. I feel like the shorter song length didn't give the artists enough time to spread their legs and explore.
I enjoyed Cars, the rest of the album is fun but it mostly sounds like "hey this sounds like Here in my Car"
I found this album to be interesting, it just misses me by a little. Its like there's a lot to identify with here, but it feels like art that isn't for me. And that's fine, there's plenty of talent on display here.
This blew me away. I've always been a "fan" of the Beastie Boys, but mostly just enjoying their hits and songs that show up on playlists. I hadn't listened to an album, maybe Licensed to Ill a couple times. The step away from their masterful sampling work, this album is the Boys flexing their mastery of their own instruments.
It's a mix of funk, punk, hip-hop, and metal. The instrumental tracks are a very welcome addition. It's absolutely a treat and had my head bopping from start to finish. Sabotage used to be one of the "meh" songs for me, and it's rocketed to my favorite from them now that I've got better context. I listened to this album four times yesterday waiting on a delayed flight. Amazing.
"Shit, if this is gonna be that kind of party,
I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes."
Really fun yacht rock with some tasty guitar licks. I had somewhat low expectations but they were exceeded.
This is the beginning of a genre, but it was still too early for that genre to really get its legs. You can hear the origins of Mezzanine and Dummy here, but its still a little bare.
This really just sounded like a bog standard 1980s singer songwriter album. It was unapologetically 1988, but it was pretty boring for my tastes. It would be good to just have on for quiet time music or if you're having a dinner party and need something gentle in the background that isn't Fleetwood Mac, Indigo Girls, or Highwomen. I've always held that all genre's of jazz, pop, blues, or rock are pretty strictly defined by the style of their drums, so its no surprise to me that an album with no actual drums is a miss for me.
This was a nice surprise, I've never was a huge fan of Green Day, and their overplayed hits got old two decades ago. But listening to those same hits in context of the album they were on makes them shine more. Billy Joe's guitar tone is killer, but Dirnt's basslines are what carries these guys.
I tried to really enjoy this, and it's good.. but I really cannot see myself going back to this album. I'm happy for other people that like it, this just isn't for me.
This was really good, I have a soft spot for that vintage hip hop from the 90s, and this album hits that on all cylinders
I love Jack and Meg, and throughout this album I'm reminded that it wasn't Jack slamming open chords through whatever Big Pi he could find that made The White Stripes great; it was Meg completely holding down the groove. I think her drum work really made The Stripes stand out, and why Jack White hasn't found the explosive popularity since they ended. Get Behind Me Satan is not my favorite offering of theirs, I was more excited when "Ball and Biscuit" came on Spotify after the album ended.
Feels like the Talking Heads wore flannel but we're also a Beatles cover band. Not a bad listen, there's some fun stuff on here.
Was more interesting than I anticipated. Not quite my cup of tea but there's good here to appreciate.
Pretty creative, an interesting listen. Had a few bops.
The Mamas & The Papas are just, to me, what the Summer of Love 1967 sounded like, and here they are in full swing.
This was genuinely a ton of fun. It's his debut album, so he's like 21 on this record. Listening to it, it started to hit me: no wonder all the ladies fell for this guy, he probably got all the 1950s housewives actually aroused for the first time in years. He genuinely has an incredible voice and presence, sure he's a marketing and industry success story, but the foundation had to be there to build on.
Man this is a formative album for me. I've been listening to Trent for 35 years now and A Downward Spiral is just so fucking good. It hits that mid 90s industrial and just kicks it in your chest. Mr Self District martial arts intro just lets you know the count early. Closer is a the obvious radio banger with the insane three minute outro, then to follow it with Ruiner. I Do Not Want This through Reptile just have that equal depression mixed with anger, only to close things out with Hurt. It feels like someone going through the stages of grief. Exquisite.
I tried. I'm somewhat of a nu metal fan, I grew up with Korn, Disturbed, Staind, and Linkin Park.. but Slipknot has never hit for me. There's no structure or bounce, just noise and yelling. The drums feel completely out of place, almost like they were mixed wrong and it takes me out of it. I was honestly excited to try to hear what made these guys so big, but it was just a miss.
And Corey Taylor kinda sucks.
James Brown is always fun. So much energy, just knocking em dead.
Paranoid is one of my favorite albums of all time. It is the first CD I bought for myself.
Every track on this is iconic. There's no out of place notes. Just the birth of heavy metal.
I don't really like the Beatles, especially not John's stuff so this is a bit of a miss for me. I can kinda see what he's trying to do here, but he doesn't really have the chops to pull off the "I've got a groove here, let's just scream over it a bit" schtick.. it's missing the groove. It's like a mix between Bob Dylan and protopunk anger, but without the raw emotion and worse poetry.
This thing fuckin slapped. In Rainbows was a bit of a letdown but this album got me back on the Radiohead train. Pulk/Pull is like a dip into Trip Hop and the album just takes off from there. Wonderful surprise.
This was one of the REM albums, unmistakeably REM in fact. The cunning ability to sing about just how awful things are but with that 1980s upbeat tone. It's a fun album, if not a little samey. End of the World is still a banger.
This is what it sounds like when I'm waiting for the Walgreens employee is bringing the key to unlock the $5 deodorant. It's noise but it's 1970s noise.
I don't like Mike Patton. I don't like his voice. I don't like his interviews. I don't like how whiny he is. I don't like how his rap songs influenced every other alt band to do rap songs.
Woodpecker from Mars is the best song here because Mike Patton doesn't open his mouth.
Mike also spent his whole life bitching about derivative guitar bands influenced by 1970s guitar bands but right here on their biggest album is a shitty note for note cover of War Pigs that's too fast.
Fuck Mike Patton.
Punkers will like this, it's raw and honest. If you're not a fan of punk it may sound like shit.
But sounding like shit, but doing it with your full chest and being honest in the emotionality, that's what makes good punk.
This is a lot more fun that I expected. Its like listening to the more modern 2020s indie electropop like you'd hear in a Life is Strange game. Squares is the standout here, just solid ethereal vibes throughout.
My favorite women vocalists are the ones that just lean into it and belt them notes out. Let me hear it ladies.
The old smoking room jazz influences are right there on the sleeve, mixed with 2000s pop ideas, its just a winning combination. There's a lot of influence from 90s trip hop or even acid jazz, like half these songs remind me of Jamiroquai but that's honestly a good thing.
This is absolutely one of my favorite albums of all time. It never misses a note, not a single song on here is out of place.
I can't listen to one song at a time. It's like I have to start from Mysterons and I can't get up until Glory Box ends. Beth's haunting vocals sprinkled over the drums and samples just hits you right and you feel yourself sinking into the cool, comfortable, dread.
Absolute 10/10, no notes. It has a permanent fixture on my listening rotation.
I really fucking hated this. Like it felt like they went around and got the 12 most boring musicians and just let them be as mediocre as humanly possible with the record light on.
IGY is an abomination of a song. Its either a cynical look back at the post-war optimism in America and how everything actually sucks, OR its a celebration of that post-war optimism. Either way, in 1982 the political landscape was absolutely fucking everything up and I was 6 years from even being alive. And now I have to hear this stupid shitty song anytime I'm waiting for the Walgreens associate to come unlock the deodorant. What a beautiful time to be free indeed.
I might've been in the wrong mood for this.
This was kinda boring, almost as if Tame Impala got really into Tom Petty and wasn't as good as either of them. Not offensive just kinda boring.
This was a great surprise. I love the harder folk sound, somewhere between The Mamas and the Papas and Jefferson Airplane.
The percussion on this record is insane. It really feels like an alternate universe where John Bonham got lost on the way to practice and ended up playing in The Mamas and the Papas. The guy's name was Martin Francis Lamble and he's only 19 on this track. Three weeks after recording he died in the band's van when it crashed on the way back from a show.
This is one you don't really wanna skip, give it a spin and you'll find something to enjoy.
Back when this released, I wasn't "into" rap. I was more on that nu metal scene with some industrial mixed in.
This is a really good record, Stan is a great bit of introspection and is contrasted by The Way I Am, which might be my favorite Eminem track. Real Slim Shady might be the most biting critique of the industry in decades as well.
Some of the bars absolutely did not age well, and I can see how people think they were juvenile. Which is fair, but this is also a really start look into how the late 90s were. People just talked like that. I am glad we all grew up, including Mr Mathers.
Johnny Cash's American series is the most raw version of Johnny Cash. These albums really embody exactly what I think of when I think Johnny Cash.
Have you ever heard someone sing their own eulogy? That's what this album sounds like to me. From the beginning of The Man Comes Around through the haunting We'll Meet Again, it just sounds like a great man singing his sole regret about a great life.
Hurt is the clear standout here, a full transformation of Reznor's song. To take the same words but inject an entirely different feeling, such a talent. The cover of Personal Jesus is a bit of a sleeper hit here too, again taking the same words and transforming them into something new.
Give this a listen, a close listen. Immerse yourself in the feelings, and by the time the full chorus enters in We'll Meet Again, you'll be reaching for the kleenex.
This was pretty good, I have a soft spot for that early 90s hip hop where things were in a transitional period between the 70s and 80s funk into the urban hip hop style.
Lyrics are a bit too preachy for me, but I'm really not part of that culture so he's not singing at me. It's also a product of its time, when inner city crime was a bit priority for a lot of people. I have complex thoughts here but its not really my place to share.
The absolute most prosperous time for white people ever, and this is the drivel they used to loosen to. Nothing really against Dusty, she's got a beautiful voice and there's a couple of tracks on here that let her really belt it out like Nothing and Don't You Know. But at the end of the day this album is the same soundtrack as that old guy down the street that was sort of creepy.
