Has that Beatles charm. The melody on certain tracks (If I Fell, And I Love Her, Things We Said) gave me a feeling of warmth and comfort. Easy listen, but you can they were just hitting their stride with storytelling and song writing as future Beatles albums are superior in both aspects.
Bowie’s voice reminds me of Bob Dylan, neither can sing. However, it does not obscure the obvious musical talent displayed in this album.
Very strong start to the album with tracks 1-7 where several tracks has its own unique moment and instrument that jumps out.
- The musical motif and the sax at the end in Changes
- The (beat drop) when the drums and bass hit in Oh! You Pretty Things,
- The slow opening and closing guitar solo in Eight Line Poem,
- The orchestral instruments and whatever the flute sounding instrument is in Life on Mars.
- The Piano & Sax in Fill Your Heart
Great variety of instruments and uniqueness of tracks. Classical, Jazz, and Rock are all constant themes throughout the album. Goes 2 for 4 to end the album with the Warhol and Queen Bitch being my least favorite tracks.
Overall an 8.5/10.
Superstition is a certified S-Tier banger. Oh Stevie the wonder you truly are. This is a solid album. Three songs suffer from my only real issue with the r&b/soul music genre, ending a song by repeating the same line over and over for a minute plus. Maybe your Baby, You’ve Got it Bad Girl, and I Believe all suffer from this despite being good songs.
Stevie writes songs that make you feel so good. Starting off with a lullaby sweet-ballad like You Are The Sunshine of My Life sets the mood for the album. I lost track of the different instruments Stevie used on this record. I love when variety is deployed and executed well.
Favorite Tracks :
- You are the sunshine of my life
- You and I
- Superstition (duhhhh)
- Big Brother (you tell em Stevie)
- Blame it on the Sun
7.5/10
Halfway through this album I was already wondering when it would end. We get a a couple fast paced tracks to kick things off. Rip this Joint took us all around the country, then the album hits a lull. From Shake Your Hips onward we get a very consistent from track to track with a couple change ups near the end. Not much variety of sound from track to track as many feel they were included just to increase the number of track. When we did get a change up I had to listen to Mick Jagger mumble. I know this is considered the Rolling Stones best album by many but with the amount of bloat and the lack of creativity I come away quite disappointed.
Lastly, wtf was Sweet Black Angel. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a full album that had such a blantantly racist track. HARD R AND ALL!! Mick you need to chill buddy.
Favorite tracks:
- Rip this Joint
- Sweet Virginia
- Loving Cup
Rating: 6/10
My first time listening to a full metal album and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The title track sets such a deep, heavy and dark tone to the album that really hits like a wave when Ozzy howls “Oh no no, please God help me” as right before the riff hits” and I was hooked at that point. Unlike the Rolling Stones, I felt this album had more variety and Tommy Iommi’s performance throughout the entire album makes this a very solid album. Wicked World was the only track I wasn’t a fan of but the rest were great.
Favorite tracks:
- Black Sabbath
-The Wizard
-Behind the Wall of Sleep
- N.I.B
- Bit of Finger
- Sleeping Village
Rating: 8/10
This album reminds me of Jesus. You either accept it into your heart or reject it.
After my first listen I hated this album with a passion. But on second listen I realized I only truly have an issue with a couple of the tracks and now it has grown on me. I was driving while listening on YT so I can’t give a detailed description of which tracks stood out. At certain points I was floating and the music reached somewhere deep within my being. Other times I felt as though I’d been violated. Maybe this type of music is better while drunk or high. After listening while stone cold sober, I can’t say I like the shoegaze genre after this because I know I won’t be seeking out more albums, but that wasn’t too bad.
I have a feeling Augie and Joey are gonna love this shit.
Rating: 5/10
I just know D’Angelo had the ladies of the 90s swooning with a buttery smooth voice that makes you feel every note as he sings it. Music for the soul indeed! The groovy and funky instrumentals paired with that voice create an an album that is perfect background music when you’re just chilling on the couch or clapping cheeks.
Where this album falls short is its painful repetition in almost every song. Write a couple sentences and repeat those lyrics for the rest of the song.
Almost every song follows this pattern which just feels like the songwriting aspect was completely ignored. The music in this album, which I do love, is also very repetitive from track to track.
This album suffers from the same issues as the Rolling Stones album. Good music, but nothing makes it stand out unless you are a complete sucker for neo-soul because it makes you feel good. But that alone doesn’t make an album great.
Favorite tracks:
- Brown Sugar
- Alright
- Me and Those Dreamin Eyes of Mine
- Higher
Rating: 6/10
This album left me exhausted and I don’t even want to do a long review. Having multiple tracks over 8 mins just makes it so difficult to stay engaged even if the guitar, drums, and organ all shined at several points throughout the album.
I enjoyed the first 18+ min track that was split into 5 songs. It felt like it belong in its own and the second half of the album was its own thing. The drums were very good throughout this record and I quite enjoyed the song writing. I like how each of the final tracks gave you something different with Tears being my favorite track on this list. Not a great album but definitely one I enjoyed.
7.5/10
I now understand what Thomas meant by this album being extremely inoffensive. Which makes this album at best unspectacular. Consistent tone throughout, even if it was quite boring, with no songs jump out at you. This album isn’t bad, but not good either.
Favorite songs
- Line Up
- Connection
Rating: 5.5/10
Em makes it very clear at the beginning of this record that you will be uncomfortable. Leading right into the intro of My Name Is which is great foreshadowing of what you are about to hear.
If you didn’t pick it up, Slim Shady is a NOT a good person and that is kind of the point. The shock value of this album likely holds today for first time listeners given how sterile today’s musical environment is. Slim Shady leans into uncomfortable topics like rape, misogyny, violence, and murder. For that reason this album cannot be perfect since no decent person should find comfort when such topics are brought up in any setting especially music. However, I will not let those tank my rating on the album because he makes it clear you are supposed to not like him. Painfully so through many of the skits and even in the track I’m Shady.
Now focusing on the other aspects, Em’s flow and cadence are close to flawless on this thing. Dr. Dre’s G-funk & the Bass brothers gritty east coast influences pair so well with Em as he’s spits rhymes and themes.
Royce kills his feature in Bad Meets Evil. Guilty Conscience is one of the more creative tracks with Dre & Em playing the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other dynamic. With Em (the devil) finally pissing the angel off prompting Dre to encourage violence ending with gunshots and the clever transition into Brain Damage. The Hillary Clinton line in Role Model had me laughing and that title is ironic because Em realizes he is the last person who you should think would fill that role.
Minus 2 pts for the message and lyrics, but the other elements that make a good hip-hop album are present in this record.
Rating: 8/10
This is more like the Beatles I know and love. I can make comparisons to Hard Day’s Night since we have listened to it already. Sgt. Pepper is flat out better. Superior song writing and more creative instrumentals. We get a what sounds like a full orchestra at some points, Violins, Cellos, wind instruments, french horns, sax, Trombones, tambourines, loops, organ and piano, and maracas. These help deliver banger after banger. I won’t go song by song because this review would be a book. I really enjoyed this album from start to finish.
- Only issues I had were the fact that for Lucy In the Sky they spent over a third of the song repeating that very line, “Lucy in the sky,” even though I loved George’s performance on the guitar’s on this song. My other is with George’s song, Within You Without You, the song itself is one of my favorite tracks but it does feel out of place on the album.
Favorite Tracks:
- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
- With A Little Help From My Friends
- She’s Leaving Home
- Within You Without You
- When I’m Sixty-Four
- Lovely Rita
- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club (Reprise)
- A Day In The Life
Rating: 9/10 (Rounding up to 5 Stars)
Enjoyed this one, but I must admit I was not completely locked in.
7/10
I had such a good time listening to this one. I don’t think there was a bad track on this record.
Favorite song notes:
So Far Away From Me as the intro as a great choice. A little blues-rock to wet the appetite before wasting no time getting into two classics.
Money For Nothing needs no explanation. You hear that iconic riff and away we go. I stand by the statement that if this track was 5 mins long rather than 8 mins it’d be a perfect no skip song, but 3 mins of repeating the same line is a strike against this record.
Walk Of Life is an irresistibly chipper ballpark anthem. A song that could lift me up and make me smile even when I’m in the angriest of moods. Dire Straits had motion wel
Your Latest Trick ughhh from now until the day I die I will be a sucker for the Sax. The transition from the happy carefree vibes of Walk of Life to the Jazzy slow dance mood of this song caught me completely off guard. I thought I was listing to Billy Joel for a hot second before the guitar re-centered me. I exposed myself during Walk of Life so this hit me right in the feels and had me so emotional. This was my favorite song in an album full of strong choices.
Why Worry coming right after is a great 1-2 punch of slow burn tracks. Similar to a lullaby with its gentle touch and comforting sound washing away any worry or sadness I felt from Latest Trick.
Ride Across the River feels like the album switched its focus and I felt like suiting up and joining George Washington as he crossed the Delaware. I love the Latin influence, feels very Santana-esque after listening to that LP just last week.
The Man’s Too Strong confirms the focus is completely shifted to calling the travesty of war, crimes, evasion of justice by those in power, etc. Emphasized by the gritty riff after the lyrics “The Man’s Too Strong”
Finishing the LP paring the funky groove of One World with Brother’s in Arms to finish things off. The former highlights the division of humanity, all these people living on one planet but isolated from each other’s reality.
The title track feel like it’s written for soldiers who went off the fight in/died in war. (Turns out that’s exactly the point of the song). Weeping guitar lines paired with the harrowing keys from the organ/keyboard really leaves you in a dark solemn mood to finish off a great album.
Final Thoughts and Rating:
This album truly takes you through peaks and valleys. First part clearly focusing on the hits before ending on a much more serious note. Setting the mood for the second half of the record with Why Worry and Latest Trick was an excellent choice so bravo. Great mix of sound (Pop, Funk, Jazz, Latin) as well. Save for the first two tracks, I think each song is aptly timed as well. Even with Ride Across the River being almost 7 mins long Latin music is so enjoyable I didn’t mind just hearing them jam out for the last couple minutes.
Rating: 9/10 (high 9 = 5 stars)
Packed with recognizable riffs, licks and grooves. Organ and guitar pack a punch on every track in the album. Groovy, funky, soulful, and jazzy. Great album to put on in the background while cooking, cleaning or just chillin.
Favorite Tracks:
- Green Onions
- Mo’ Onions
- Stranger On the Shore
- Comin’ Home Baby
Rating 8/10
It's a hip-hop classic for a reason. The only reason this is not 5 stars is because the length of the album dulls its effect in my opinion. That being said, I must give credit for the incredible consistency from track to track despite the length. You just don't hear albums like this in modern hip-hop where, the production, the features, the wordplay, and the verses are all top notch through 18 tracks as they paint this picture of the mafia lifestyle but from a streets perspective. I enjoyed the movie samples to begin many of the tracks as they foreshadow the direction of each so they precede.
Raekwon and Ghostface Killer murder every verse on every track. The true definition of iron sharpening iron comes alive with their chemistry throughout the record. GFK's delivery is so powerful and energetic, Rae's is more calculated and toned down, but every bit as lethal. RZA also was on top of his game seamlessly pairing different loops and sounds with the iconic 90s boom-bap beat.
Fav Song Notes
Knuckeheads - The flows from Rae, GFK, and U-God on each of their verses are immaculate. Rae & GFK deliver classic gangster, mafioso verses over a boom-bap beat paired with a piano loop. There are so many nasty bars I'll just put my favs from this and one other track.
Rae -"Lay on the crime scene, sipping fine wines, pulling nines on UFO's taking they fly clothes, they eyes closed.
"Yo I told you some killed, robbed and fold, the goals untold, fuck it it beats parole."
GFK - Lead singer hum dinger, flash is the aftermath, here's his photograph. Run up in his lab, take of the mask, Chas, and think fast. Don't laugh, bag the cash, grab the hash, don't forget his stash. Grab the tear gas and place it in his face at full blast."
Ice Water - Nasty nasty nasty verses from Cappadonna and Rae while painting a picture of a plan to take out a mafia boss, but this plot doesn't come to pass in the record. Oh and I must mention RZA's genius again with another ice cold beat while The Wu members shine.
GFK bar - "The God's tropical, ladies call me black fruit punch. Rainbow flavor niggas murder niggas for lunch."
Incarcerated Scarfaces - The movie sample to begin is bone chilling. Rae proceeds to deliver what I think are is best verses on the album. The flow switch up in the third verse, witty bars in the second verse. He flexes his lyricism and wordplay on this song.
Verbal Intercourse - Nas' voice is so fuckin smooth ahhhh. He spits one of the purest, intellectual, and filthy verses on this whole album which is impressive in its own right on an album dripping with elite lyricism.
Fav Tracks and Rating:
- Knuckleheads
- Criminology
- Incarcerated Scarfaces (Best)
- Guillotine
- Ice Water
-Verbal Intercourse
- Wu-Gambinos
Rating: Low 9/10
There is power in simplicity and I am of the belief that Lorde is at her best when operating in that space. I do applaud her for branching out and creating a record solidly in the scope of mainstream pop. However this album gives a square peg, round hole vibe at times, primarily in the first couple songs and the final song. Jack Antonoff’s influence is felt from the very beginning, a style so recognizable and heavily associated with Taylor Swift that it could put some people off by making this album sound “too Swifty”
Notes:
The first song begins to feel off as soon as the kick-drum and piano cords are introduced. Gives a dance pop sound that lessens the prominence of Lorde’s vocals which is her selling point. Let that voice shine!
Sober creates this tension with a subtle, groovy beat and horn. But then it just leaves you in that space without ever resolving
The Louvre with the soft guitars creating a dreamy sound paired with flirty lyrics about a love so great it should hang in the Louvre, even if it is in the back. The sound change in the middle/back half of this song is a perfect example Lorde’s style mixing with Antonoff’s pop production prowess when we get this weird, distorted sound. A stark contrast to the melody but it somehow works for me.
Liability and Writer in the Dark are similar songs. Both piano forward, Liability being a piano ballad that might be my favorite song on this album. I loved how Lorde’s lyrics are more raw and it helped me understand some of the pain she experienced with the breakup.
Favorite Tracks and Rating
- The Louvre
- Liability
- Writer in the Dark
- Supercut
Rating 6/10
This is my first 1-star. Even Elastica managed to squeeze a 2-star rating. An entire LP should not be relegated to just background music, but that is the ceiling for this album. I wouldn’t even put this on while driving because I’d find myself in a ditch after falling asleep from boredom. Maybe that’s the best way to utilize this album, put it on when I want to take a nap.
This won’t be a 0/10 because I used to listen to The intro before exams to calm my mind. The final song wasn’t so bad either, but the rest… BORING!
Rating: 2/10
