It's quite good, though it is a little on the slow side for my personal tastes. That said, there were several songs here that even I enjoyed - the titular song, and Ms Vanderbilt were my personal highlights. I'd give 3.5 if I could.
There's some extremely important issues here. As a person, I couldn't be any more different from the artist. But the stories of community to fight against marginalisation still resonate strong. But outside of that, I'm not much of a fan. It's too slow, I almost fell asleep in the middle.
I quite like this one. It really does feel like the most 1970s thing to ever exist. The tracks are smooth, relaxed, confident and cool. Listening to it as an album, the themes here tend to feel a bit repetitive. However I won't mark it down for that - it can be forgiven as I believe the songs are intended to be scattered around a film? And not played back-to-back. I've not seen the film to be certain though.
I enjoyed Think the most - it stands out from the others. Not to say the others are bad by any means.
AHHH! This is wonderful! Caribbean music isn't a thing that I've had an enormous amount of exposure to - media like films and games set there being the prime source. I've always loved that music, but lacked the leads to find more. Until now. These tracks are excellent, clearly the works of masters in their fields.
An enjoyable time. Some familiar favourites, and some covers. The covers strike me as somewhat weird choices though, and kind of break me out of the music. That said, Cobain's vocals are incredible.
A massive dichotomy. Fun music, deeply disturbing themes. I like the instrumental tracks the best, and Pinball Wizard is a classic. But overall not a fun time due to the themes dealt with.
A confusing experience. I come into this not being a fan of hip hop in the slightest. But there's some beats and themes here that make listening quite enjoyable. The comedic elements also make for a fun time.
But there's one giant elephant in the room. What on earth is De La Orgee doing here? It is so out of place, that it actively makes the rest of the album worse.
I liked this, but listening to it was quite the trip. The electronic noises are fun, but occasionally off-putting. Sea of Tears, and State of Mind are two extremely beautiful tracks, I loved them both. Jah the 7th seal has a really fun effect, playing with the audio channels. The computer I was listening on crashed during one of the sci fi sounding sections, which really freaked me out too.
Good fun, but I'll give my computer a break for now!
A thoroughly weird, off putting, disconcerting experience. A confounding cacophony. Variable volume blasting out my ear drums. An unpleasant time was had listening to this - it sounded like an anxiety attack in audio form.
Starting out, I didn't really know what to expect. At the end, I'm somehow completely unsurprised by what I got. How those two can coexist, I don't know, but they did it. The end product is an interesting mix of fun, eclectic, "substances", relaxation, and love. I generally enjoyed my time with this album, though a handful of moments either grossed me out, or got a little too trippy.
An extremely pretty, perhaps relatable story of loneliness, falling in love, being turned down, coming to terms with rejection. And then a side story at the end, with themes about mental health and acceptance of neuro-diversity, which would have been extremely forward thinking for the time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time listening to this, relating to the themes very strongly.
Generally, this embodies my typical experience with hip hop. It's overwhelmingly masculine. Overwhelmingly sexualised. It's crude, sexist, loud, and repetitive. Disappointing to learn that S/TLB's Roses and Hey Ya are likely just the exceptions to the rule. That said, Toilet Tisha hit like a truck. I have to praise it, for having the courage, or perhaps self-awareness to address an issue as heavy as teen pregnancy, leading to suicide.
Is it hypocrisy, not connecting the dots between the hyper-masculine culture the album endorses and the social outcomes which result? Or is it setting the listener up, showing them all these themes and acts they might think of as "fun" (though I think of them as disgusting), before smashing them in the face with the consequences of their actions? That's not a question that I feel I can answer definitively.
Though even the most masterful of plot twists cannot fully forgive what came before. 2/10.
Having no idea about the language, I really only have the choice to look at this one through a similar lens to BVSC, just judging purely from the vibes the music give. Overall, I had a quite fun time listening to this. The tracks are generally quite bouncy and fun, offering something worthwhile, even to a person who does not speak a word of Arabic.
There's some vibes here, musical motifs perhaps, that draw parallels from the 70s and 80s in the West. Things like the synths, and a cover of an extremely well known song. Adapting a foreign movement like that, and putting a local cultural spin on it acts as a bridge, making the foreign culture more accessible to a Western audience (read: me).
Would I listen again: Maybe. Honestly, it's pretty unlikely. But possible all the same.
This might be a controversial opinion, but I feel like the skills of guitar and vocals are quite mismatched on this one. The guitar is amazing, some of the best you'll hear anywhere. The vocals though? I feel like the main singer is stretching his voice a bit too far, and it kind of detracts from the experience. Also, there's some problems with pacing and timing - two of the tracks seem to go on a bit too long for my preferences, knocking the listener out of the groove, so to speak.
Overall, I feel like this is quite a good album, albeit with a few flaws which prevent it from evolving into the great album, that tracks like "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Proud Mary" indicate that it had to potential to be. I don't want that to sound like I didn't enjoy my time listening (I absolutely did), but more that it could have been better.
I feel as though this one as a whole is meant to be taken through a Marxist lens? At least, that's what my inner pol-sci graduate is telling me. That said, I never really wrapped my head around old Karl. There's a vibe here of despair at the state of the world, the way that the economic powers that be exploit the worker, and leave them alienated from the products of their own labour. People are forced to toil, with little hope of salvation. Even if they want to jump the border to a place of more opportunity, they may well just be moving somewhere worse.
I quite liked the instrumentals in this album - it's a real shame that the one hiding in track zero really does seem to be lost to us. (I looked a little too, and found nothing, not even a rubbish quality YouTube rip) I feel they do quite a wonderful job of showing the sense of hopelessness which pervades the album. The manufactured, synthetic vibe captures the story of alienation from life and products of labour.
Would I listen again: Unlikely. Even though it's very well made, the themes don't exactly make for an entertaining time. The instrumentals are perhaps an exception.
Very well done, thank you for making me feel depressed at the state of the world.
Well. this one was quite the roller coaster. I guess if I expected anything, that would be just about it.
I'm not loving what I presume is a stylistic choice to lower the audio quality of the vocals in some of the tracks. Perhaps it's a me thing, but it just makes it extremely difficult to discern what is actually being said here. It essentially detracts from the excellent quality music that the foggy voice is being imposed over the top of. But this was only really a problem on the first two of the tracks. The rest - they're great. Instruments, voice, tempo, tone. Everything came straight from the heart in these tracks.
Would I listen again: To the whole thing? probably not. But to individual tracks? Yep. There's five here that are going on my "new favourites" playlist, so that's a pretty solid performance.
Overall, this way more chill than I came into it expecting. I know I'm usually a fan of the more energetic works, but I actually quite like this one.
I enjoyed the recurring theme of "having the sunshine". I'm not certain, but I'm taking from it a message of having destiny in your own hands, being able to make of your life whatever you choose. Personal freedom. A theme that resonates quite strongly with me.
Also, there's a lot of interesting juxtaposition going on here. Modern vs Traditional is well explored - coming out when it did, a time of technological revolution, makes this especially relevant. There's also cultural comparisons going on, Latin Simone being a key here. Slow Country brings the Rural vs Urban. All the choices to be made reinforce the idea of self determination the early tracks in the album propose. songs
Would I listen again: To some, maybe. Unlikely to the whole album.
Rating: I had a fun time listening along to this, grooving, and some interesting themes that can make you think. It's quite good on the whole, and didn't have any glaring weak points, in my opinion anyway. It feels like the definition of a high 4 star to me.
