These songs are nostalgic for me, but feel very old fashioned for the times. This was not new and fresh music in 1984.
For instance: comparing "My Hometown" with REM's "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville." They both came out in 1984, they are both country-tinged rock songs about sleepy towns. But one is musically looking forward and the other is looking backwards
I am not the audience for this. I have never been into gangsta rap (I was a senior in high school when this came out, so I am generally familiar). But it never spoke to me. If I wasn't listening to it for this challenge, I would not finish it.
What I have learned:
1. Dre is a badass and owns guns
2. Dre hates women but thinks they should shut shut up and fuck him
3. Dre hates his former NWA bandmates and thinks they should be sucking his dick
4. Dre is (at least at the time) friends with Snoop Dogg (who's music I am somewhat more familiar with)
Nothin' But a "G" Thang is the only song I recognize (It's like this and like that)
Listen to this has made me realize I enjoy listening to the nostalgic hits off 'Can't Buy a Thrill" but that I don't actually like Steely Dan. It's not a bad album and I can see how it was doing something interesting at the time it came out. But it is just not for me.
"Paper Tiger" is the standout. Other than that, this is too sad and sleepy for me
Although I know quite few of the song on this album simply because they were everywhere in the late '90s, I have never listened to the whole album. I considered Radiohead too pretentious at the time and I just couldn't get into them. I have now realized it was the fans, not the band or the music that sucked. I really liked this.
I am not at all familiar with this album. I've never even heard of the band before. Overall, I liked it. But I don't see myself returning to it. It was pleasant, but didn't make a connection.
I like U2. Under a Blood Red Sky was one of the first CDs I bought when I was in middle school. Unforgettable Fire was just about a perfect album. But this? This is a band that is afraid of taking chances. It feels genetically engineered to make 35 year old white women feel good while driving to Starbucks. Front loading the album with the singles seems like an admission that no one is expected to listen to the whole thing.
I don't know Spanish enough to follow the lyrics, but my overwhelming feeling listening to this is sadness. A lot of the music sounds like it should be happy, but it just isn't. Good background music for dinner, but too sad to listen to at work.
I like The Smiths a lot. And I liked the first 1.5 albums Morrissey put out after the Smiths broke up. But with every passing year farther away from Johnny Marr he just gets more insufferable. This was still fairly early in his solo career, but it is still just boring.
The Who was a big part of the music of my childhood. They are clearly amazing musicians but I was just never that into them. I don't dislike The Who, but listening to this does not make me want to listen to more. "Substitute" is my favorite from this album.
I don't listen to a lot of jazz, but this was good to listen to today in the rain. I can see myself coming back to this in the future.
"Move Any Mountain" is the only song I know off of this. And because I was a teenager in 1990, I still remember most of the words. I've never listened to the whole album before and overall it was fine. "666 Edit" and "Make It Minimal" were kinda annoying, but other than that it was good background music. Not something I need to revisit.
This isn't a genre I'm into. I can tell why other people like this record, but it's not for me. Positives: the lyrics were complex and often funny; the production was very good. Negatives: a lot of songs were very repetitive. "Numbers" was my favorite song.
This album is so 2014 it's painful. I'm not a fan of this era. Generally, unoffensive background music. But then the vocals come in with that breathy/nasally thing and it is just so irritating. It's not just this band, it's that whole era of alt-folk. Also, this sounds extremely over-produced.
I thought I was going to like this one. I know "Life's What You Make It" and "It's My Life" (not on this album but it's the only other Talk Talk song I know) and will happily sing along if they come on in the car.
But listening to the whole album has forced me to ask myself: do I actually like it? And the answer is "no," I just have nostalgia for being 12.
The only reason I can see for telling someone they need to listen to this is to remind them of how fucking dour and depressing the mid-80s actually were.
One of my favorite bands of all time. Not my favorite of their albums, but still 5 stars.
Listening to this right after Talk Talk "The Colour of Spring" it's weird to see they are only 1 year apart. They are both lyrically depressing and dark, but with DM the anger cuts through and pushes for action.
It's kinda cheesy when I think about it critically, but "Sacred" is one of my favorites off this one.
I know some of these songs, but the shorter radio edits. Listening to the whole album makes me like the band less than I used to. My ears feel numb, like I'm trying to block it out as static. Jam bands are just not my thing.
A challenging listen. As a '90s art school girl, I feel pressured to like this, but it feels like homework. I admire the artistry and the risk-taking, but most of this is just unpleasant. There is a reason non of these songs became hits. I like some Kate Bush, but not this album. I guess I'm just not cool enough.
This might be my hottest take yet: this is fine.
I was a kid at the height of popularity of this album, but just could never get into it. I get why it's popular, but I find it empty and overproduced. As an adult when I gave Michael Jackson another chance I discovered I really like Off the Wall. I would give that 5 stars. But Thriller is just not something I need to listen to.
I like this more than I thought I would. But I think I'm supposed to take it seriously and I just can't do that. Dramatic crooning telling me the plot of an Ingmar Bergman film is just kinda silly. So I like this ironically but I won't be listening again. I can see it being used in a deliberately anachronistic film soundtrack.
I've heard the title track before, but I don't think I've every listened to the whole song, never mind the whole album. I liked it, very smooth. But is this a concept album about sex or just a very repetitive album? It's only a half hour long, but none of the songs really stood out for me. It started, was 30 minutes of very similar music, then ended.
This is the best 2018 had to offer? I gave up around song 5.
Since Dave Mustaine is a former member of Metallica, it's impossible not to compare the bands. And, technically, Megadeath is better in a lot of parts. But those parts just never quite add up and Megadeath is always the slightly goofier version of Metallica. He's great at playing guitar. He's not so good at writing songs that sound different from each other.
My sister was a big Paul Simon fan. I don't really recognize any of these songs. I can see why he was popular, but I'm just not into this kind of folk music.
A classic. World Leader Pretend is probably my favorite on this album. There are a few on this, like Wrong Child and Hairshirt, that I'm not a big fan of. But overall a 5/5 album.
This continues to be a genre that just doesn't resonate with me. When I compare it to Dr. Dre's The Chronic, that I listened to a week or so ago I notice a few things: 1) The production on this is much more simplistic. 2) Although they are angry at the world, NWA seems to be having fun together 3) The songs do a good job of being different from each other, but they all seem to be rather monotonous within themselves. I can see why people like it, but it is not for me
I remember liking this when it came out, but never listen to it anymore. It's impressive for only 2 band members, but rather simplistic for the same reason. And I realize I really don't like Jack White's voice; it's all screech on this record. It makes sense that "Fell in Love with a Girl" was their breakout hit because the speed and power obscures these drawbacks, but many of the songs here are much slower and highlight the lack of instrumental harmonies and untrained vocals.
I know "Gotta Get Up" from season one of "Russian Doll." "Without You" sounded vaguely familiar. I know "Coconut," of course, but I never considered it a real song. I mostly know it from the Muppet Show version (which really leans into the racist accent by adding "African" visuals).
This was not an album for me. I liked "Down" and that was about it. Most songs ranged somewhere between "fine" and "annoying."
Bouncing between 3 and 4 on this one. Some songs are classics, some are annoying. It's interesting now, in the age of autocomplete, to hear a pop star reaching to hit a note.
