That's the Way of the World by Earth, Wind, & Fire. 1975. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a great pull for Day #1! You can't be unhappy with this band playing, or I can't anyway. Highlights for me: Larry Dunn's beautiful, subtle work on piano and keyboards (there's nothing showy, leaving lots of space, popping up just when needed), Phillip Bailey's vocals on "Reasons," great horns, beautiful layered background vocals. I added three songs to my music library: "Shining Star," "That's the Way of the World," and "Reasons."
Day 2! Off the Wall by Michael Jackson, 1979. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ His first solo record, I think? I knew most of these songs already and liked them. The album does drag for me toward the end, the last two tracks could be anyone doing music with Quincy Jones at the time. But when the album works, boy does it work for me. Great production obviously. The cover of Wings' "Girlfriend" is horrible, though. I added five songs from this album to my music library: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock with You," "Workin' Day and Night," "Off the Wall," and "She's Out of My Life."
Day Three - Rock 'N Soul by Solomon Burke, 1964. ⭐️⭐️ It's hard when you listen to something and you know it's important and formative, but it just doesn't hit for you. Part of it is the arrangement used for these songs, which is a little generic and a disappointing background for his very powerful voice. I knew a couple of the songs from this album, notably "Cry to Me" and "If You Need Me," but at the end of the day, for this kind of gospel-tinged soul I would prefer a female singer. I did not add any songs from this album to my library. Side note: the covers of Woody Guthrie's "Hard, Ain't It Hard" and "He'll Have to Go" popularized by Jim Reeves are so out of place here for me and lowered my review from 3 to 2. :/
Day Four - Ellington at Newport by Duke Ellington. ⭐️⭐️ I respect jazz a lot, and the musicianship here is insanely good. But I have to rate it two stars because this is not music I want to listen to on a daily basis. I feel horrible doing that! But I've decided my ratings here will be based on what I want to listen to. I didn't add any of these songs to my library.
A mixed bag here for me, one song I already knew, a couple that were new to me that I liked, and some real stinkers. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” in particular just makes me want to listen to “Ball and Chain,” the superior version of this song. The song also features perhaps the worst rock drumming I’ve ever heard. I added “Immigrant Song,” “Friends,” and “Tangerine” to my library. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
I enjoyed this more than I thought i would - a real throwback to the period when albums were king after the 50s/60s when everything was singles and albums would just be compilations of singles (just like today mostly). They're all by reputation coked out of their gourds here but there's some obvious thought on how the songs would flow together. I added three songs to my library ("Changes," "Snowblind," and "St. Vitus Dance") and gave it a 4/5, but I may listen to it again and add the whole album and give it 5/5. Who knows? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was 18 when this album came out, and loved the lead single, "Cult of Personality." You couldn't avoid it. But I didn't listen to a lot of what I would have called "guitar rock" in 1988, so I didn't buy the album. I should have. It's very of its time, and since I'm not 18 anymore, it feels like less of a surprise to me than "Cult of Personality" was when I first heard it. I can tell it's building on some things that came out right before it (Public Enemy, Bad Brains, RHCP) in that period of waning hair metal and ascending alternative. Anyway, I like this kind of big, stupid guitar/bass heavy funky rock, and I really like the vocals. I didn't add the whole album to my library though, there were some tracks I enjoyed less than others. I added "Cult of Personality," "Middle Man," "Glamour Boys," and "Which Way to America" to my library. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am only familiar with David Bowie's hits but aware of his reputational willingness to experiment and change over the years. This short album sounds to me like what it is, music made by an older Englishman who didn't stay stuck in his original time period. Which I for one am a sucker for. I have some favorite albums in my library that I always listen to in their entirety and not individual songs, because they flow together. (I'm thinking quite specifically here of "Music Has the Right to Children" by Boards of Canada, The Good, the Bad, and the Queen's eponymous album, and "Endtroducing" by DJ Shadow.) This album fits into that category for me, or I think it might eventually. So, even though I am only adding one song (the title track) to my library, I'm giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and reserving the right to come back to it.
This album is a great example of everything I didn’t like in 1994, and my opinion has not changed. Self-indulgent and lazy vocals over repetitive (but skillfully played) music that never leaves the same temperature setting. I didn’t make it all the way through. ⭐️
I can appreciate the musicianship, I can appreciate the innovative things he's doing here with new instruments brought into the jazz sphere, but it's just still not for me, I'm afraid. Improvisational jazz is never going to be something I want to sit and listen to. Does this album deserve more than 2 stars? You bet. But is it more than 2 stars for me? No. I will never sit and listen to it. ⭐️⭐️
Now see, this is where I get really hypocritical with this project. Are there individual songs I would add to my library and therefore influence my rating? Well, no. Because this album is already in my library. Is Morrissey a huge asshole? No doubt. But this album and a few others from the same time period had a huge effect on my musical tastes that stay on to this day. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sit somewhere and look moody. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Khaled is apparently a very well-known Algerian artist in the Rai genre of music. I didn't know of him prior to this, but I did mostly enjoy this album. There is a cover of "Imagine" on here, which is never a good idea for anyone to do, and the album is a little padded out - I feel like he could have taken five tracks out and it would still be comfortably sized. He has a very nice voice and the songs make me want to move when they're not too poppy. I added "Aalach Tloumouni," "Trigue Lycee," and "Derviche Tourneur" to my playlist. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Well! This is why I decided to do this project in the first place, to listen to things I probably wouldn't have picked up and didn't at the time for whatever reason. After the last song was over, I immediately put the whole album in my library and started listening to it again, no questions asked. Very emotional, very raw, very female, sign me up. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I did not make it entirely through this album, which is too long and aggressively, *deeply*, mediocre in a way that I cannot articulate. Nothing is bad here but nothing grabbed me. ⭐️
Now we're talking! A definitely well-planned album. We don't get too much "sameness" in songs in a row is what I mean. It leads off with "Invaders," which wasn't my favorite but was okay, and the transition between it and "Children of the Damned" made me sit up and think "okay, that's really well done." Which you don't often get in albums. Anyway, very solid. The songs I liked I liked a lot, and the others were okay but I didn't like them enough to add the whole album. I added "Children of the Damned," "The Prisoner," "The Number of the Beast," and "Run to the Hills" to my music library. An extremely solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reggae is not a genre of music that holds much appeal for me and tends to get too "samey" for my taste. Don't hate it, it's just not for me. ⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed this in a way I didn't anticipate, and immediately texted my father to ask if he knew this album. He didn't but I hope he listens to it because the music on this album firmly fits into where the circles of my musical tastes and his intersect on a venn diagram. Standouts to me were "The Calvary Cross" (beautiful guitar reverb) and "The Great Valerio." I added the album to my library - it has two songs that are weaker to me but if I were listening to it I wouldn't skip them. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Okay, I can't be too impartial here, I've heard all these songs too many times. I'd never in a million years describe myself as someone who likes prog rock, but I like what is on here and that makes sense because everyone calls this their most accessible album. The first side of this album is far, far stronger for me than the second side and in fact that's what I added to my music library: "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," "YYZ," and "Limelight." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Again, I can't be impartial here. This album was already in my music library, I love the New Romantics. Is it cheesy? Yes. Do I care? No. Did my friends and I make our own music video to the song "Poison Arrow?" Also yes. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Rascals are fixtures of 60s nostalgia radio, and I didn't really realize how much until listening to this album. I kept running into songs I recognized but didn't actually know by whom they were actually performed, which was funny.
The Young Rascals (right after this they'd just call themselves The Rascals) are one of many many bands that sprung up after The Beatles hit big. When you look at music from the 60s you get a lot of "after I heard Elvis" or "after I heard The Beatles," of course. The Rascals fit into a slot of kind of poppy blue-eyed soul and after doing a lot of covers, started writing their own songs to mostly success especially on this album, their third. Fun fact: The Rascals were the first white band signed to Atlantic (which makes a lot of sense when you listen to this album.) The two lead singers swap duties back and forth and they're both very strong vocalists.
I added three songs to my library: "How Can I Be Sure" (a song I've loved all my life), "A Girl Like You" (ditto), and "Groovin'" (a song you may think you don't know but has been in movies and TV all your life). I would rate this album a very solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️.
(Sidenote: I didn't realize "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar was a cover! The original is here.)
Absolutely not. If you asked me to come up with songs that the Beach Boys would be doing in 1971, I wouldn't have the comedy chops to come up with a song that makes fun of student protestors getting shot, a song about taking care of your feet, a sickly sweet nostalgic song about Disney girls, and a song from the perspective of a tree. All with sugary sweet falsettos and harmonies. I did not add any of these songs to my library. ⭐️
Look. I never claimed to not be basic. But I already had this album in my music library, and it's a well-produced, tight example of 70s arena rock that clocks in at 37 minutes, perfect for driving or getting psyched up to do basic bitch stuff. Five stars for the organ parts alone, or for the transition between Foreplay/Long Time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just pure pop nostalgia for me - there's really nothing to say about ABBA that everyone doesn't already know. I added four songs to my music library: "Dancing Queen," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Money, Money, Money," and "Fernando." As an album though, it's kind of weak. Even though I like those songs, the other ones hold no nostalgia for me and no new appreciation either, so even with four songs added, it's a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.
