The Smiths are clearly influential. Morrissey can make a good turn of phrase, and Marr and the rest of the band are very talented. That said, on the slower tracks I find myself annoyed by Morrissey's whines and moans. It is a personal preference thing, but it does limit my enjoyment. Still, the classics are classics for a reason (Queen Is Dead, Cemetry Gates, There Is a Light, Bigmouth etc.)
Catchy with a few stonecold classics. Some of the Blues Rock in the middle section gets a bit goofy though, sounding a bit like a less focussed version of the instrumentals on New Pony from Allman Brothers Band. Still, I enjoyed it, and she and the band picked a good selection of soul and blues classics to pay homage to. And Mercedes Benz has always been funny...
Roundabout is obviously pretty great. I can say that even as a self professed prog rock not getting person. It has that hypnotic circularity of the prog that actually works for me (ELP, Mike Oldfield, Hocus Pocus by Focus etc.). Unfortunately, the album has another 35 minutes to go.
It's not universally bad or anything. I quite like South Side of the Sky and The Fish for what they are. Musically they are excellent tracks, although I suspect that I would not often seek them out beyond the album. Heart of the Sunrise is very well built. Elements of Long Distance Runaround are alright, although it is far too abstract to land the message it claims to be pushing for. Still, the album is full of goofy jokes that don't quite land. . Did we need Cans and Brahms? Even Rick Wakeman doesn't think we did! Mood for a Day is clearly a skilled bit of guitar work, but lacking the emotion and musical storytelling that sets apart far better finger pickers in the folk and flamenco scenes. God knows, I listen to plenty of Davy Graham and Bert Jansch. This just doesn't have the emotion to compare.
I feel like I might have been a bit harsh... It's alright. I respect the hell out of it as a musical demo reel. But I don't think it is a fantastic work of art. Nor is it really a catchy pop record. 2, verging on a low three. If you don't have the songs beyond a couple, it is just admirable performing, not a great album
Jeff Lynne and Co. knew how to craft immaculate pop rock hooks, with plenty of unique instrumental flourishes, with the vocoder especially. I sort of get the criticism from the purists that it sounds a little sterile, but I think that might be because Lynne was approaching lab grade pop perfection
Catchy Pop Rock/Reggae fare, with some solid introspection and humour. I quite enjoyed it!
It's a brilliant bit of musicianship in the context of its release. The original compositions of Green Onions, Mo' Onions and Behave Yourself are brilliant demonstrations of what this talented group of young musicians at the forefront of crafting this sound could do. Sadly, on some of the other tracks, all of which are covers, the pure uncut Hammonding gets a bit much, and I kind of wish a vocalist was on hand to see things through. See Rinky Dink, Twist and Shout. These tracks kind of sounded like really good renditions of pop songs on a showman's fairground organ.
On the flipside, some were effortlessly groovy reinterpretations that I thoroughly enjoyed. Especially those where Steve Cropper on guitar got a bit of time in the sun alongside Booker T. For shining examples see I Got a Woman, One Who Really Loves You, I Can't Sit Down, or Comin' Home Baby.
How to rate then? It is a tough call. Part of me wants to call this a three, for some ropier tracks scattered throughout. Another part wants to call it a four for being such a unique album that does a good job of turning the organ, bass and guitar into servicable replacements for the human voice. I think today the 4 will win out. When it works, it is brilliant, and even when it doesn't you can still respect this in context.
Great stories, brilliant soundscape, genius samples, and it sounds bang up to date. Yes, all three's careers have gone off the rails since, but they are brilliant here
What I like about this album is that, for all the mental storytelling of Johnny Cash at the end of his career and life that people like to tell about this album, it is still successful on its own. I think Johnny's voice and instrumentation bring new meaning to these songs. Some of them are from songwriters from entirely different contexts (e.g. Ewan MacColl, Frederic Weatherly), and some are songs from musicians I generally am not a huge fan of (Sting, Don Henley), but each becomes something wholly unique, and uniquely applicable to the Southern Gothic old man vibe of the album. It is still a covers album, so I bristle at calling it a 5, but I cannot deny that I love each of these compositions and performances
Definitely has its moments, when they go more punk or garage. Sadly, I recognise that the stodgy bits are the important and influential ones, and the punky bits are ultimately only really as good as a Descendents or Black Flag album track. And others would do the garage revival better. So I respect it, and some songs I would come back to from time to time, but it lacks the (especially) lyrical and sonic hooks to turn it to a proper classic for me
One thing I can say is that I was never bored. I don't know if I "loved" any of the tracks particularly. But they are all solid. Each presents strange streams of consciousness, borrowing from Scottish folk (which I love) and many ""world"" sounds that they pick almost at random, several times each track. They fit far better than they should, and I can hear strains of music I do respect (like Led Zep), or more to the point, that I do like (such as Chumbawamba's Shhh and Un albums) in this. Better than I expected, but not necessarily anything brilliant or essential.
Compare this to thusfar my only prog rating on this challenge in Yes' Fragile, and I do prefer this. While nothing on here is ANYWHERE NEAR as good as Roundabout, the whole package is more consistent
It's maybe not an album of consistent quality. But it is by and large irresistably slinky, influenced in equal parts by queer house, P. Funk, Hip Hop, and rare groove soul. Most tracks worm their way into the brain, with funky beats, immaculate samples, and tonnes of charm. Good Beat, Power of Love, and of course Groove Is in the Heart, are all obvious classics, but there are far more DeeLites to be found beyond them. It just tickles the brain nicely!
I am fairly lukewarm on Adele's broader ouevre, and some of the pop rock balladeery bits on this record. But this album has a very classic soul approach of raw emotion with immaculate production. You can tell both that these are authentic and heat of the moment feelings, but also that the singer has the connections and credit in the bank to get brilliant producers and musicians in RIGHT AWAY to capture that feeling. I still think she sounds a little like she is singing with a blocked nose, but here it heightens the emotions, like singing through the tears of varyingly anger, sadness, regret, apologia etc.
So on the opening trio of tracks, as well as the likes of Set Fire..., Adele manages to make some pretty special soul revival which straddles the line of the poppy and soul crushing elements of the genre, like Amy Winehouse before her. It does weaken a little towards the back half. Not bad, but just a little less memorable. I suspect I would enjoy a song like Take It All, One and Only, or He Won't Go if they came on shuffle, but I would be hard pressed to remember their names. That gives me the dilemma of rating the album based on the 4 and 5 star singles, or the 3 star album cuts. I think it balances out to a 4. In the absence of Winehouse and Duffy from the charts for their infamous personal tragedies, Adele was not a bad, albeit far more polished, alternative for those looking for a white English woman with surprisingly strong R&B sensibilities. Fair play, she succeeded here in doing something I think she has kind of failed to do before or since, in my opinion.
They feel like the quintessential Britpop band. Unabashedly English, pulling from many great influences from previous decades and disparate genres (Beatles, Kinks, Buzzcocks, Madness, Specials, Supertramp etc.), and ultimately a bit lightweight by comparison.
Still, even if they do not really match the high highs of those aforementioned artists, I do find them a deeply entertaining band. They made this album with a lot of quick takes, full band performances, and songs written speedily and from random half ideas. In a way quite They Might Be Giantsesque. And I like TMBG. Both bands are far from perfect, but in chucking shite at the wall, 80% of it sticks, and you forgive the other 20% as the cost of writing and recording in this scattergun approach because it gives this weird live performance art vibe and is just a plain fun listen!
This is the first album in this run which I have already got a more than passing familiarity with. Dexys across their initial three album run managed to carve out a unique pop cultural position with three distinct sounds, looks, and records, each united loosely under the banner of Celtic Soul.
This is perfect fare for me! I love celtic/folk music, and I love soul. That premise sets up the first track. And my thoughts on it are adequately summed up by its subtitle. More, Please, Thank You!). It is a great statement of intent as the band moved from a blue eyed, northern soul indebted and ska adjascent (in the sense of being a punky/pub band with horns) group, into this more folksy vision (ultimately to the detriment of the band's harmony, as much of the horn section from Searching for the Young Soul Rebels had already left to form The Bureau, who are also pretty great, with their replacements then leaving to form the TKO Horns for much the same combination of Kevin Rowland's frontman antics, and the formal inclusion of the string section). It is the perfect opening statement for this era, both for its proving of the validity of the musical synthesis, its emphasis of Rowland's musical intentions for the project, despite the pushback, and for just being an irresistably catchy track. And it inspired the writing of The Commitments.
What follows is a sequence of songs which play in both musical sandboxes to produce unique and brilliant tracks. Take the ceilidhesque dancehall calls of All in All, or their Reet Petited up folk/soul cover of Van Morrison's Jackie Wilson Said, which is a song that never fails to make me smile, appropriately. Old combines soul with a mournful air(e), and the tone difference between trad and soul string sounds is made obvious, for the betterment of the musical texture, on Plan B. Until I Believe in My Soul even takes a turn into vintage jazz at one point.
I think the album does a really solid job of capturing a live sound and feel, without sounding like a gimmick. These are studio recordings, but their are little conversation interludes. They sometimes break it down and build it back up, or tag back to a previous song or part of a song, but with a new sound at the end of tracks. It keeps the album experience strong, and plays with "The Celtic Soul Brothers & The Strongly Devoted" idea.
And then there's Come On Eileen. What can you say? Pure musical bliss. Youthful innocence and cynicism together, paired with some lovely musical reviewsmanship of their own for Johnny Ray. Cannot fault it!
Yeah, I love this album, and already knew that, so it was fun to revisit it in full (plus the non album singles bundled with it on streaming. Easiest 5 stars so far
It is a good Bollywood soundtrack. Some fun tracks on here in places, but some work better in context (Naag Devta, for example), and some hardly work even having seen the movie (the quite annoying One Two Cha Cha Cha). Still alright like, but not one I will often come back to I suspect
I have never really given Metallica a chance. Metal, with two notable exceptions in Motorhead and Iron Maiden, is not a genre I've ever really gotten. And after this I kind of get the appeal, but I cannot say I enjoy it any more in broad strokes
Unlike some metal which I have a harder time getting on board with, I can understand what Metallica are saying, just as I can for Bruce or Lemmy. Sadly, nothing is so poetic, or so emotive. It just feels a bit amateur in comparison to Maiden, while being more selfserious than Motorhead. Lyrically, not really competing. What makes it quite egregious is that they have a lot of great buzzwords in there that make it feel like they are making points, but it kind of just has the effect of flicking through headlines without clicking on the articles, while maybe occasionally glancing at some comments made by other people who never actually read the news before blurting their opinion. I love political music. I even love some hyped up and less meaningful political music. But tonally the album doesn't really sell me on righteous fury, or optimism. It just chugs along. So then I don't really musically hear how Hetfield and Ulrich's statements about the environment, greed, corruption, censorship etc. are meant to make me feel. This is where a good punk or folk track can shine. Or even, to return to them, Iron Maiden. Where the Wind Blows makes me tearful for the impact of a potential nuclear war on its bystanders. Run to the Hills makes me feel angry and hyped up about European Colonialism in the Americas. And I don't even think they were fully intending it! They just knew those sounds amplified the story and lyrics.
Musically, it is quite impressive in the guitars. The blasting drum beat is fine, but wears out its welcome. Where I think it falls apart though is in the mixing. It is what everyone says about this album based on some light reading, but they are 100% right to raise it. Without a noticable bass groove the songs sound light and tinny. And then they go on too long! The title track was where it really hit me. Its almost 10 minutes long, but it is the same three riffs over and over, with little progression or change, and just blasting the same message that "justice is raped" and "it's terrible" at me for the full run time. I would much rather be listening to Bad Religion for amateur sounding but technically proficient hard rockers about politics. And I'd trust Greg Graffin to write more insightful lyrics while at it, and keep the run time under 5 minutes
One saving grace on the album. One. It is the only one which really stands out as a track I would like to hear again, with a progression, movements, and an interesting inspiration. I don't think it is a perfect song. I still think its quite lyrically on the nose, without being particularly affective, but it is decent. It's a wee bit better than the rest of the album. It's something...
