A monolith of an album that pretentious dweebs such as I would be quick to belittle so they can go back to glazing 'Dookie.' That desire is a fallacy however, this album is pretty cool. Chronologically this album finds its self in an transition for the genre of rock. The Strokes and other cool guy* rock bands were actively embarrassing the pop punks of yester year. All the while bands like MCR were turning pop punk into emo. In a way, this album feels like the last hurray for a genre that would fade away from the mainstream. But I mean fuck, its a good celebration.
The most iconic songs off this album are well remembered for a reason. Not many can invoke bratty swagger like Billie Joe Armstrong, and the drumming on the album is always energetic and tight. They're simultaneously hooky, danceable, and triumphant. Those adjectives do carry over into most of the songs of the album, HOWEVER, it does make it a tad stale at times. "American Idiot" and "Holiday" pulls this sound off the best and the most interesting music is afterwards, found in the departures from this sound.
"Jesus of Suburbia" and "Wake Me up When September Comes' being my favorite off the album. The former brings me great joy as pop punk rock opera is a silly statement and I enjoy reveling in that sound. The constant change in song structure and focus on story telling being the highlights. The latter is perhaps the dead dad song of all time, its not very deep, but truthfully that feels like one of it's strengths. It can be exhausting trying to make your grief feel flowery and vast in it's meaning, the comfort of sleep during such times is certifiably 'real as fuck.'
The detractors of this album are a tonally samey mid-section and guitar sound that is a lil boring on this pair of ears despite suiting the music well, please play anything but a power chord, I dare you.
its gonna be a 3.5/5
*cool guy rock bands also include bands like yeah yeah yeahs and metric, its a gender inclussive term, promise :)
The layering of folksy indie sounds both muddle and amplify the background of most songs, granting a dark ambient tone to the album that is hard not to visualize in tandem with the album cover. The instruments and vocals feel as if they're coming from vast unseen places, too far to truly focus on a single part of the sound without getting washed back into the totality of it. In it's most climactic moments the album uses this to build really impressive tension. On their subtler songs they use the sound to make a moody trance that lulls you into relaxation. Across this entire scale they prove how intentional each decision made in the production of this album was.
As a listener, I have been cursed with the inability to give much of a fuck about lyrics, SO, an album like this that holds so much emotive force in it's sound is deeply appealing.
But ya, this album fuckn rocks...4/5
Fav Songs: The Well and The Lighthouse, (Antichrist Television Blues), No Cars Go
Least Fav Songs: Windowsill
It is fucking absurd how much generational talent was on the Motown label, this is the first album of theirs to show up on this list so far, BUT I'm expecting to listen to a double digit quantity of them. okay, that aside, GOD I WISH MEN WOULD HARMONIZE WITH EACH OTHER AGAIN. Bring back belting beautifully with your boys. But seriously, their voices make me feel joy again, im soaring, the day is suddenly idyllic. I should be peddling on my bike alongside me new dad Dennis Edwards without a worry in my heart. OKAY, vocals aside, the instrumentals are top notch. ESPECIALLY the drum and bass, they're sitting in a tree k i s s i n g fr fr. The first leg of this album is probably perfect, "Runaway Child, Running Wild" being the standout. The last minutes of that song where the funk the fuck out is divine, chills man, chills.
mmmm 4/5
The visual image this album gives me is a band of weevils playing their sploinkiest songs at the hottest lounge in bug city.
This is such a fucking fun album. Thundercat feels like an artist that shares some adjacency to a band like Ween, artists that are virtuosic, but also wanna write lyrics about the stupidest shit they can think about. WHICH LETS BE CLEAR, is not every song on this album, just the vast majority lmao. Also, Thundercat's musicianship can not be understated, this dude is a monster. He manages to play his bass like a piano sometimes, setting down melodies and basslines in a single lick, setting grooves that on one end are manic and on the other soothing, fuck, sometimes they manage to be both. I think this album gets a few bonus points for how frequently Thundercat is dork-posting in his lyrics, half of these songs are about him being a lil dweeb, its deeply soothing to a terminally online whelp such as I.
Another thing I love about this album is it's structure. There's a consistent sound to the album that makes it really easy to throw on in the background and allow it to reenter focus at any moment along it's runtime. Concurrently when actively listening to it, you notice the shorter songs that feel like intermissions. Plus, these grooves usually featured at the ends of songs where everyone finds the pocket and plays like clockwork, they end up feeling like these climaxes to the songs that are not outwardly climactic, I think it's neat.
4.5/5
I'm a bit surprised that this album is included on this site, my understanding of it is that it's the b-sides of "KID A" an album I love, probably my favorite RH record. And while perhaps its unfair to judge an album as anything but an individual experience, so many of these songs feel like less complete versions of songs on "KID A." To use the most popular song off this album as an example, "Pyramid Song" feels like "How to Disappear Completely" part 2. It places in a more critical mood than I'm used to when it comes to listening to music, and as I am now in said mood, lemme spit my shit.
This might be the worst that Thom Yorke has sounded an album, which lemme be clear, he is one of my favorite rock singers. Nearly every performance feels dejected, a tone that isn't inherently bad, but one that can sound so mfing sleepy when it's not fully committed to. Like, pleaaase listen to this version of "Morning Bell" and tell me that he's trying. There are also multiple attempts at making their version of a trip-hop song that never fully click. And why is "Hunting Bears" on this album, it sounds like an attempt to start a Funkadelic song but anytime they keep practicing the first bar of the solo over and over.
Okay, and I know I just talked so much shit, but I don't think this is a bad album, maybe just a bad Radiohead album. I do like "Pyramid Song" and "You and Whose Army" though.
2/5
This album breaks my heart. Johnny Cash was obfuscated with so much persona through his career that this final moment of sincerity feels so potent. It is made even more absurd learning that every song on this album is a cover. Because truly, with the emotive force on display they all end up feeling like songs of his own making.
The most heartfelt moment for me on the album was the run from “Danny Boy” to “Bridge over Troubled Water.” The former was the first song I got to sing solo in choir, the latter, one of the songs my mom would send for bedtime. In this new form, Cash sings about him and the world he knows fucking dying. It’s a contrast, to say the least. But that is the risk/reward of a cover album, you must contend with the listeners original relationship with a song, either reinforcing its meaning, or reinterpreting it.
“Hurt” is an amazing NIN song, it’s deeply intimate, letting us look how depression can still make you feel worthless and broken even if you have so much to show for your creativity and efforts. But, to me it has always felt more personal, a song sung to an individual. The Cash version sounds like a song sung to a nation. Cash was a multi-media American Icon, a man made into a symbol for masculinity and what it meant to be American. And as such, he was also forced to be scandalized when he went against those ideals. This song feels heavy, and the weight of his status seems to fill every word.
Beyond every other reason to fell sorrow from this album, it is a reminder what a fucking pity every early loss of a great artist is. That there are so many who did not get to flaunt the talent and wisdom of an elder artist is a shame.
This album is amazing 5/5
yeah, its pretty good. In my current context it doesn't particularly speak to me on any emotional level. That being said, the musicianship is at peak performance and I am made into happy lil fella anytime the piano on this album shows up, it's utterly beautiful. "Money" is such a fucking funny song because it is fantastic single, but whenever it comes on during this album I am completely taken out of the vibe. But honestly, it probably is a necessary break from the ambience of this album so the first and second half don't blend together too much. Iconic riff though.
This is a great album, but also the least I've had to say about an album so far. 4/5 This shit probably went fucking crazy in the 70s
Weeeeoooo!!!! Weeeeeooo!!! someone sound the alarm, this is your reminder to watch the “I Feel Better” music video. GOD I FUCKING LOVE HOT CHIP!!!
This lil micro era of electronic pop that included bands like LCD Soundsytem, Hotchip, Yeasayer, and MGMT is one of my favorites. Something about millennial dorks making dance music is so soothing to my soul.
Okay but anyway, yes, we’re talking about this album. The production on it is so damn cleeeeaaan, there isn’t a single sound that isn’t given enough space to contribute to the overall sound, each note feels so deliberate and serves the beat without stepping on anybody’s lines. “Flutes” is a great example of this, that song keeps building on top of that beat and I never feel a single part of it slip from my focus.
N’ I mean cmooooon, this album is so fun. Truly, if you are not dancing, tapping your toes, or singing along while listening to this album you’re letting it be lowered by a letter grade.
4.5 STARS! GOLD MEDAL! PROUD OF YOU BOYS
Okay but it’s crazy that “The Warning” wasn’t the Hot Chip album chosen.
This album is so butt, I'm sorry Bjork, my queen....
or it would be, if it wasn't for the greatest song of all time, "Cowboy."
IM A COWBOY IN THE BIG CITY!!!
IM LOOKING FOR MY PONY!!!
A MAN'S BEST FRIEND IS HIS PONY!!!
I can not believe this song is real, by the first stanza I was sold, BUT THEN BJORK RANDOMLY APPEARS, and what does she say? What could she possibly have to say? she "The odor of his skin, it works in my head. I wanna eat him, I wanna be in him." Yet another weird horny line from my fucking goat. WE ARE SO BACK!!!
Everything else is super generic, may we all praise that Bjork went solo.
2/5
This album is a really good representation of nu metal cause it has everything I like and dislike. The record scratching and hip hop inspired approach to instruments is fucking hype. The rapping, not so much. Mike Shinoda might just make every song worse.
The negative reviews for this album are so fucking funny, half y'all are just making strawmen because you think it sounds like music a hipster would listen to??? When will we have mercy on the millennials lmao?
To me this album is at it's best when it leans into its Indian influences, especially when they pull out the tabla drum, its such a good percussion instrument. Elsewise it's a pretty standard 90's electronic album that prioritizes ethereal soundscapes and hip-hop/jazz instrumentals.
I imagine if I understood all the various languages across the album the general anti-nuclear message would be a lil more potent. Without the understanding the news report openings sounds like the memes where people try their hardest to put something emotional before a Midwest emo song.
Shoutout to "The Conference" for sounding like a katamari damacy song. Every artist who doesn't feature scatting at least once on their album is a coward.
3/5
Despite being a fan of Gorillaz for my entire career of liking music, I think this album is what made me realize what a gem Damon Albarn is. The sound he adds to a song always comes off as so charming, I think it's part of the reason he's had such success across experimenting with genre. An approach that is not missing on this album, the direction of this album swaps back and forth so frequently. "Girls and Boys" is a club song, "Bank Holiday" is a weird new-wave punk song, "Far Out" is a mix of a wiggles and earthbound song, "Parklife" is uhhhh... And while it's probably unfair to credit Albarn excessively, while ignoring the rest of the band, I do think his presence adds so much. Homie is just so versatile.
4/5
David Bowie is such a talent he got his own approaching phantom to wail on the backing of most tracks. The band on this album are a bunch of fucking monsters. The drummer and bass guitarist should get married and 'adult adopt' me so I can become a rhythmic virtuoso. And, the moody masterpieces of the saxophonist and guitarist shall damn the halls of my mausoleum when I die.
its a 2.5/5 sorry frank, sir rockaby is really good! Very few of the songs ended in a place where I felt much from them. There are a ton of moments that were great but they're scattered into songs that cherish them for far too short. I just dont think I get this album, sorry for yuckin yalls yum. It feels like a half-baked Ween album.
Noooooooooo!!! I have no fucking clue how eminem was able to get popular, this mfer makes middle schooler music (derogatory.) Every bar is either edgy, horny, or corny. Like, perhaps this dude was sounding fresh in the 90s but hip hop has come so far and this shit sounds like dookie compared to so much of modern hip hop.
JK, I listened to all of it, it's probably just fucking buttcheeks amongst 90s rap too. Brother is misogyny-maxing in every single song, does he write a single bar about women that doesn't threaten violence towards them?. HOW IS THE SONG FEATURING HIS DAUGHTER AS A SAMPLE ABOUT MURDERING HER MOM???????? ohmfg shut up...
1/5 he's trying too hard
There are a couple of tragedies that come with this album. First, is that most electronic music should really be listened to live w a bunch of other people for it to fully click. The next, electronic music has become pervasive in every genre of modern music, and thus, there is some really fucking good modern electronic music that this has to match up to.
That being said, this album is fire. It climaxes at a different pace than a lot of other albums, building it's energy across tracks rather than trying to resolve it in singular songs. The sound fonts it chooses are really fun too. I love that PLANET OF THE SHAPES starts sounding like some kid's remix of sm64's shifting sandlands. IMPACT has the really fun car horns, that flow surprisingly well into the spacey track that follows.
Granted, I dont know too much about the history of electronic music, but I would not be surprised to find out that this influenced a lot of dance music to follow.
3.5/5
It’s not really doing anything for me… I think if the singer did more than the bare minimum it’d be a fun album, many of the instrumentals are great.
It's quite possible that I've discovered I fucking adore house music.
Electronic music is such a fun genre cause you never know what yoinky sploinky ass beat they're gonna put together by the end of things, nor what ridiculous sound they'll synthesize.
There is something very generous and selfless about this album and a lot of dance music. As in, it lacks a lot of the noticeable individualism of other genres but makes up for it in an obsession in crafting an experience that'll make mfers move. It's made for us. It's not unlike punk music honestly, both genres are fundamentally about the energy of music and how to spread it across a room, they feel like genres that most have the listener in mind (or maybe I'm just their target audience lol.)
This album is so god damn fun, disc 1 its spectacular and disc 2 is remixes and demos so I ain't judging it in the final review. Beyond that, this album never had me lacking in stank face and a restless leg. Space Shanty is probably my favorite track, BUT, Inspection went really hard too.
5/5
God I bet these mfers were so tight as a live act. The coolest parts of this album are the tones that they place upon their instruments. Having three guitars on this record might be the best decision the band ever made, the songs feel so textured because of it with guitars dancing between clear echoing melodies and screeching wails. PERFECT example is on Drunken Butterfly, they make them strings sound like a mfing siren for approximately 5 seconds and it's the tightest shit ever.
4/5
I’m deeply nostalgic for this album, it came out when I was in middle school and developing my own music taste for the first time, so honestly, this is the blueprint for me. Bias will never be higher than right now. All that being said, I think this album would find its way to 5/5 even if I hadn’t been etched into slabs of my lore.
Tpab is the album people point towards when they want to explain the acclaim that Kendrick deserves. I love that album, everybody does, deservedly, but this one should be everyone’s first introduction, even if tpab is a better album. This shit is a literal bildungsroman in album form, it’s so fucking sick. Kendrick flaunts his penmanship while articulating the feeling of being young and being introduced to sex, drugs, the pressures of masculinity, and the traumas and joys that all three lead him to. There is a constant contrast between youthful swagger and grim fates as the climax of this album comes as Kendrick’s friend dies in front of him. Every song is a piece of him that informed the artist he would eventually become. It is THE foundational album.
And, I mean fuck, Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst is one of the greatest songs of all time. To turn one of your worst moments into a song where you spend the runtime empathetic to the people you’ve wronged and those who have wronged you is so powerful. It is a deceleration to try everything he can to do to be a voice for Black Americans so another generation won’t have to go through the same shit. It is beautifully followed by Real, a song all about self love and self respect. The way it his parents console him during the song works so well after hearing them be funny as fuck in every other call.
I could wax poetic about this album for hours on end, it is a masterpiece.
6/5 stars
The two tones of this album are the type of shit the devil’d play in his dive bar, and Christmas songs. Love that this album includes such banger lines as, “liar liar pants on fire,” “sticks and stones may break my bones,” and “eenie meenie minie mo”
Quite possibly the most sauceless folk album I’ve ever listened to. The vocals on this album, both lyrically, and especially musically are profoundly lazy. Folk is at its best when it’s introspective, deeply saturated in the ideology and experience of the singer and musicians behind it. So perhaps this shit is so uninspired because they’re unreleased songs by a different artist that they refuse to emulate in the slightest. It genuinely does not sound like they gave a shit, which is reductive and impossible to be true, but so much of the music comes off as flat, in message and tone.
Guthrie was a far more talented singer, guitarist, and harmonica player than anyone gave a shit to try and match in this album. THAT BEING SAID, guys, maybe big dawg didn’t put some of these lyrics on a track for a reason?
California Stars is a classic, but this shit is so limp.
1.5/5 I enjoy Wilco but this ain’t it
If anyone is familiar with pathfinder, this what I imagine the risen band of a dirge bard would sound like. Gary the Ghoul on the vocals, Bart the Bone Lich on percussion, and Vinny and his Vertebrates taking up the rest of the work.
This is the second Tom Waits album I’ve listened to on this process, I’ve seen that there’s many. That being said, this one is waaaaayyy better. He has only gotten more edgy and the instrumentals on this album are really cool. I don’t know what the hell kinda bongo they’re banging on in this album but it’s really cool. The harsher rock songs are jazzy, moody, and a little silly, but it comes together in a way I really liked. The slower piano led songs are spectacular, I really enjoy his lyrics writing on this album.
Fav songs: Dirt in the Ground, The Ocean Doesnt Want Me
4/5
Love that everyone calls this album the savior of garage rock, taking it from the edgy weirdos of grunge and placing it in the hands of its true owners, nepo-babies :)
I meeeaaaaaaaaan, it’s an instant 5. This is the second coming of JC, Julian Christ.
Casablancas has one of my favorite voices in rock, I adore the textural range he sings with, it’s got growls, it’s got croons, it’s got whines, what more can we ask from a man. He also wrote the entire composition of this album, dude is too powerful. The instrumentals are fucking fire, dueling guitars that never leave a moment of silent, pinpoint precise percussion, and the sweetest lil melodic bass playing.
One of the slickest, straight shooting rock records of all time AND it eventually gave us the arctic monkeys, fuck man… I might just shed a tear.
Fav tracks: Is This It, Hard to Explain, Trying your Luck
5/5
The part on She Wants To Move where Pharrell says, “her ass is a spaceship I want to ride,” followed by a phaser blast made me laugh so much. So mfing goofy.
Uhhhh, I don’t know, I think I respect this band and album more than I actually enjoy them. I think they paved a lot of path that would eventually lead to the alternative/poppier hip hop that I love most. I think I never really connect to most of these songs cause Pharrell’s pop sensibilities are a lil too good, they end up overpowering the other inspirations. Great example is the track w Good Charlotte, had to look up how they contributed to the track cause it sounded like they did absolutely nothing.
2.5/5 Shoutout to the K.K.Slider cameo on the start of Wonderful Place!
Beth Gibbons!!! Oh em gee, get freaking pumped!!!
Trip hop is a genre I would expect myself to like more than I actually do. On most other albums in the genre I find that the singers tend to be the largest fault, doing not much more than trying to sound ethereal. I would point to Thom Yorke as an example of this, he’s a great singer, one of my favs, but on most of the band’s attempts at trip hop he comes off as entirely uninterested, a stylistic choice for sure.
Beth Gibbons is not that, she’s fucking fantastic. She has this folksy voice that simultaneously sells the sorrow of her lyrics while riding the fuck out of the beat.
Instrumentally I find a lot of trip hop too close to IDM that it kinda breaks my heart when it’s not that. I think Portishead escapes from this really well by going for some more post-rock influences.
4/5 da album has great vibes :)
