No thank you. Like a ‘90s version of The Doors. Perfectly competent musicians making self-serious songs that I have zero interest in listening to. The quality and affect in Vedder’s vocals that turns some people off are particularly pronounced on this album. It makes sense that most of these songs are reworked from Mother Love Bone songs - they sound like they are in tension with themselves and feel like a collision of genres that is forced rather than intentional. If someone else put this record on, I wouldn’t go so far as to ask them to turn it off. I can’t see myself ever intentionally choosing to listen to any song on this album again.
2 bangers followed by a clunker in the first half; 2 bangers and a background track for the second half. A couple must skip tracks, but more all-timers. Cohesive themes and great lyrics (mostly) throughout. Holds up 30+ years later. Don’t sleep on this one. Adding (back) to regular rotation.
Maybe it’s me, but I find the pseudo intellectual and egoistic myth making of Jim Morrison too nauseating to stomach. The music is okay, but the vocals and lyrics consistently leave me reaching for the skip button. I’m pretty sure Joe Rogan and Jim Morrison would be BFFs - if only he just had a shitty band instead of a highly influential broadcast…
Solid album all the way through. A couple of all-timers. No skips.
Coupla tracks are cringeworthy, but there are easily 8 or 9 tracks that hold up still. The musical production and performance quality are great. The rap style and content will thankfully get better in follow up records, but the seed is planted and growing even here.
I’m sure I’ve heard this before, but never really listened to it. It’s darker and deeper than it may seem. It draws from so many styles and specific artists for inspiration, yet still feels like its own thing. It somehow feels exactly of the early aughts and unstuck in time. This is going into the rotation (and it sparked nostalgia for other bands I was listening to in this genre at the time that I’ll go back to too).
Not the first album I think of from Beck, but literally every song is excellent.
Classic for a reason. People often think early hip hop had basic beats - this is the counter argument.
RIP to a legend and genuinely good person.
Highway Star is one of the best lead tracks of any hard rock album. Following with Maybe I’m a Leo, with a deep and funky groove to it, is a great one two punch. Smoke on the Water suffers from being overplayed and so often emulated, but it’s a good cut. Lazy is a favorite and Space Trucker rips. Blind Man is sappy, whiny closer - too drippy for my liking.
Wall to wall bangers. Eclectic and fearless. Has the feel of Afrofuturism while being so specifically of its time. Still as fresh and relevant as it was two and a half decades ago.
Perfect.
Technically excellent, but not an album that I connect with in any meaningful way. Extremely listenable and yet forgettable. Any track would make for a great addition to a dinner party playlist.
While it’s my favorite of their albums, I can only handle the White Stripes in small doses. Probably because I worked in a record store when they debuted and most of my coworkers had them in near-constant rotation.
Some great songs still require context. It’s hard to appreciate what these songs are really all about and commenting on without having lived through it or investing the time and effort to put them in context.i want to meet the person who says “Jamaica Jerk-Off is my favorite song” without irony.
The most “2” of two-star albums. Utterly forgettable, but some just won’t let it be forgotten.
The arrangements and production on this album are stellar. So much to hear and appreciate with each new listen. Best enjoyed with headphones or a loud, high-fidelity system. I’d put it at 4.5, but rounded up because each time I pull this out, I find more to like.
Too hard to explain. Another time, another time. 4am and wandering. Hesitation.
While I appreciate the importance and impact this album had, I prefer listening the bands and genres the Sex Pistols influenced over this.
They are clearly talented, but I struggled to get through this one. The mix of styles detracts rather than adds, for me. I like all the genres they are pulling from, but I don’t like the way they come together. I’m glad this exists and influenced a lot of artists that I love, but it’s just not to my taste after multiple plays through. I can’t imagine ever listening to this again, but I’ll round up for the musicianship and creativity.
Great lyrics, but many of the songs have quite similar, repetitive, and limited range in the melodies. I guess that's part of the folk tradition, but doesn't make for very interesting listening IMO. Some standouts: Suzanne, Sisters of Mercy, So Long Marianne, One of Us Cannot Be Wrong. I think I prefer Leonard Cohen a song at a time, rather than an album at a time.
Has some good tracks, but nothing close to the level of their absolutely essential debut. By most accounts, the divergence of artistic vision throughout the making of this album is what led to the departure of most of the band. I can see why - it feels like there's very little cohesion. Also, I get the whole thing with wanting to bookend the album, but this is probably the most glaring instance of "the first track should be the closing track" in existence.
The production is solid and there's plenty to like about their sound, but the songs are pretty forgetable background sounds. The better songs on the al;bum weren't written by the band. Happy to encounter a few of the tracks when I'm in the mood for an "AM Gold" kind of soundtrack, but I won't revisit this one.
Never need to hear that again. I'm worried it's even tainted my future enjoyment of the original tracks sampled. I'm not sure what's worse, the formulaic way all of these songs are constructed, or the lyrics (groan). Every song is about a minute too long, including the songs that are only about a minute long.
The story is better than the album. I’ve heard them both enough and I’d be happy if they were both just left on the shelf now, thanks. Improvisation is great for “finding” bits that will turn into songs or “playing with” already existing songs to draw out novelty or create surprise. I’m not a fan of improvisation like this that feels like just noodling around. Also, improvisation for an audience shouldn’t be recorded - the whole point is to “be here now” and share an experience that cannot be recreated.
