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Enjoyable, brief, feel like I'm transported into the 70s leopard-skin y-fronts of a west-coast oud-smelling lady killer. Heard the big tracks before and they are undeniably the best stuff, but they sit nicely among a general lava lamp shag pile weed cloud waterbed aesthetic. Would definitely put on in the background of an opium den.
Radio Free Europe is a bop, and I liked lots of the bass work, but I just don't think I'm a Michael Stipe man. I can see why some people might be Michael Stipe men, but the frequent vibratoless wailing delivery thing is just annoying to my ears. And the punk-inflected shout-singing nonsense on 'Catapult' is just more vocal silliness, as if there wasn't enough on this album: it sounds like he's yelling 'cat poo', which actually made me laugh. Hit the Ts, Michael, hells bells! Honestly the whole thing is too much of its era: it's constantly wrestling with the massive influence of punk on all guitar rock while still trying to be a bit different, a bit experimental, a bit late cold war and cool, but ultimately producing nothing but constant restless shuffling and wailing, like 9-9.
Enjoyable, brief, feel like I'm transported into the 70s leopard-skin y-fronts of a west-coast oud-smelling lady killer. Heard the big tracks before and they are undeniably the best stuff, but they sit nicely among a general lava lamp shag pile weed cloud waterbed aesthetic. Would definitely put on in the background of an opium den.
Can Leonard Cohen sing? Definitely not. Can he write a bleak 60s folk song or ten about young lads dying in 'nam? Hell yeah. Doesn't make for the best listening, though. Still I liked some of the delicate instrumentation. Lots of weird didgeridoo that really rustled my jimmies aussie-style.
Proof that being Artless isn't the worst thing in the world. Big small Paul delivering some jaunty early American afrobeat nonsense with some other gentle but tightly composed folk ditties. Very, very enjoyable stuff, but not as good as the later more coherent Graceland, which would (will?) be a slapping 5 from me if or whenever it appears in this godforsaken list. But I remember enjoying this album greatly in my undergrad days, and boy howdy will I listen again.
Radio Free Europe is a bop, and I liked lots of the bass work, but I just don't think I'm a Michael Stipe man. I can see why some people might be Michael Stipe men, but the frequent vibratoless wailing delivery thing is just annoying to my ears. And the punk-inflected shout-singing nonsense on 'Catapult' is just more vocal silliness, as if there wasn't enough on this album: it sounds like he's yelling 'cat poo', which actually made me laugh. Hit the Ts, Michael, hells bells! Honestly the whole thing is too much of its era: it's constantly wrestling with the massive influence of punk on all guitar rock while still trying to be a bit different, a bit experimental, a bit late cold war and cool, but ultimately producing nothing but constant restless shuffling and wailing, like 9-9.
Only 4 albums rated. Rate at least 10 to get your style.
Album origins are grouped into three buckets: US, UK, and everything else. “Other” means the artists you rate highest are from outside the US and UK.