highway star: cool guitars sounds, and that solo goes crazy. update further into the song: second solo also goes crazy! great album opener
maybe I'm a leo: not for me even though I am, indeed, a leo
pictures of home: this is a banger, the melodies take you elsewhere. the organ then bass solo is the coolest thing i've heard so far
never before: the guitars harmonising with ian gillan's voice in the bridge were angelic, otherwise the song is alright
smoke on the water: this song gives me guitar lessons ptsd but it is a great one isn't it? my bass enhancing headphones made me listen to it from an entirely new perspective
lazy: i don't usually enjoy heavily instrumental stuff so this was a tad long for me but that intro, wow! very rhythm & blues, i liked it
space truckin': the main guitar riff is amazing but the drums really make the track. I will always enjoy songs about space
when a blind man cries: it's fine
overall: enjoyable experience while my flight was delayed at berlin airport. i loved the organ/piano solos. in the end it's dad rock so i can appreciate it for what it is but ultimately not my style of music
Ramble Tamble: liked the progressively slow drums at the end of the intro and then progressively faster drums towards the end of the song. Can really see how this influenced a lot of 70s music, i hear a lot of Eagles.
Before you accuse me: this is fine
Travelin' band: Vocals are great. I really liked this, although it felt identical to every other rock'n roll song I have ever heard.
Ooby Dooby: didn't love this. i heard it was a roy orbison cover so i went back and listened to that and I also didn't enjoy it but I think I'm just not into rockabilly
Lookin' Out My Back Door: nice enough song, some country rock was refreshing
Run Through the Jungle: didn't care that much for this but I liked the sounds in the beginning and the end. Read it's actually super famous
Up Around the Bend: This is kind of a banger!
My Baby Left Me: nothing to highlight - meh
Who'll Stop the Rain: nothing to highlight - alright
I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Still not my kind of music, but I think this band really shines in long songs like this and Ramble Tamble.
Long as I Can See the Light: lovely melody and beautiful vocals, one of my faves if not the best
Overall: this was a bit of a drag to go through. I struggle with rating things that I know are probably objectively really good but that don't resonate with me whatsoever (which I fear might become a running problem in this challenge). 2.5/5 for me but I'll give it three stars because of that and because it does have some really nice sounding stuff like Ramble Tamble and Long as I Can See the Light. My dad told me this was one of my late uncle's favourite bands so it was nice to think about him while listening.
The Boy in the Bubble: The accordion? The lyrics? This is fucking great.
Graceland: The bass-vocals in the chorus... wow.... paid special attention to the lyrics cause I love Carrie Fisher.
I Know What I Know: interesting sounds, didn't care that much for this otherwise
Gumboots: relatable. I think the fast tempo, lyrics and quick alternation between verse and chorus of this song really reflect the loopy nature of social anxiety.
Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes: The opening and closing vocals by Ladysmith Black Mambazo are lovely and set the mood for the song. Love the bass in this and also really like the concept.
You Can Call Me Al: Bass again! I could cry from how good it is. I understand this is a very famous song, I'd never heard it before. Rhythm is lovely but think it's lacking something in terms of melodies for me.
Under African Skies: Linda Rondstadt vocals are beautiful.
Homeless: nothing to note - alright
Crazy Love, Vol. II: This is nice, I like the chorus but I'm missing a bit of... groove.
That Was Your Mother: nothing to highlight - alright
Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints: I like the pop-rock-y drums and the song's message. Nice album closer.
Overall: Read about the controversies surrounding the album. Is there something that doesn't sit right with the album's overwhelming success and praise for Simon? Yeah, I guess so – as a formerly chronically-online Gen-Zer, the discourse on cultural appropriation is so ingrained in me. However, we should be free to roam and be moved and inspired by cultural exchange anywhere, and it does sound like, while not handling things perfectly, remuneration and credits for collaborating artists were sufficient. Not sure what I'd think on the break or the cultural boycott if it happened today. I'm going to leave these matters aside for my rating of the album. It's very different from what I'd usually listen to, but it has made me appreciate Paul Simon. Bass sounds were a highlight for me. I liked the first two tracks most and, based on them, I thought I would enjoy the rest of the album way more than I actually did. I'd like to revisit this album during my future mid-life crisis to see how I feel about it. It's 3.25 stars for me, rounded down to 3.
- Bookends: nothing to note
- Save the Life of my Child: bass yeah. Actually obsessed with this track. Lyrics and sound.
- America: I've always hated this song in a sort of mindless way. It gains a lot reading the lyrics and really paying attention to it and considering it within the wider context of the album.
- Overs: happy to not be able to relate as a person in love. Great song though.
- Voices of Old People: fantastic placement.
- Old Friends: the strings make this feel like the end of a movie.
- Bookends Theme - reprise: Love a transition and love a reprise.
- Fakin' It: more of a folky pop-rock sound, I really liked this. Very relatable. I love Paul Simon's moodiness.
- Punky's Dilemma: my least favourite track so far, but still really good.
- Mrs. Robinson: will always be a banger. Guitars are phenomenal and of course an iconic melody. Didn't know it was originally written about Eleanor Roosevelt.
- A Hazy Shade of Winter: this is fucking amazing... note to self to listen to the Gerard Way & Ray Toro version.
- At the Zoo: great album closer. I like how we finish with childhood.
Overall: What are the odds of me getting Paul Simon's Graceland and this right after? I have always said I hate Simon & Garfunkel without reason. I was stupid - I have no notes. Save the Life of My Child is probably my favourite song in this because of its bass and experimental mixing. 4.49/5 instead of 4.5/5 because I only want to give 5 stars to albums that really move me. Might have to watch The Graduate as a companion piece.
1. Over & Over: this is a bit boring one in my opinion.
2. The Ledge: I like this more. Very punchy cool sounding low guitar, I read that they tuned it an octave lower to achieve the sound. I like how it and the vocals get more and more intense towards the end. Great song.
3. Think About Me: the vocals in this almost remind me of Queen.
4. Save Me a Place: alright - enjoy the energy more than the overall product.
5. Sara: perfect. I had never heard this before. "He was singing / and undoing / and undoing / the laces / undoing the laces" as the instrumental intensity grows. Or the way Nicks delivers "they say it doesn't matter anymore"... chills.
6. What Makes You Think I'm the One: really good song but I read Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood wrote this together and I don't know how Stevie Nicks survived this. Hearing Sara and this right after is a whole story on its own, one couldn't make it up.
7. Storms: this is fine
8. That's All For Everyone: I love this song & whatever xylophone sounding instrument they incorporate.
9. Not That Funny: I like the song, but at this point I'd like to highlight how hilarious some Wikipedia quotes from the production of this album are – "He also insisted on recording the vocals in a replica of his own personal bathroom." Whatever they do to the guitars really works, like in the second track of the album.
10. Sisters of the Moon: the most Fleetwood Mac song so far in this record in my opinion. Sounds fucking amazing – lyrics and instrumental, how can guitars sounds this good?
11. Angel: another great song – we're due a bad one soon! I love the bass and I love the intensity and eerie feel to the lyrics and Nicks' vocals.
12. That's Enough For Me: what is it with Lindsey Buckingham and bathrooms? I also liked this.
13. Brown Eyes: this one felt a bit boring to me.
14. Never Make Me Cry: lovely and heartbreaking. We've all been there.
15. I Know I'm Not Wrong: this is alright, I liked the faster pace and the abrupt ending.
16. Honey Hi: nothing to highlight - nice enough song.
17. Beautiful Child: this song has a simple chord progression and piano melody that lets Nicks vocals shine, all throughout but specially towards the end with those vibrattos. One of my favourites if not my favourite in the album.
18. Walk a Thin Line: didn't care much for this but might have still been entranced by the previous track.
19. Tusk: this is weird and hysterical and kind of wonderful, and I will always highlight good bass lines.
20. Never Forget: hopecore – nothing to highlight except I thought it was a good album closer.
Overall: I didn't really know Fleetwood Mac well beyond the very famous songs (I didn't even know any from this album), but this has been a great introduction to their production capacity and inventiveness, especially Lindsey Buckingham's whose guitars really shine in some of the tracks. The clash of egos fascinates me – the album is full of ideas, which at times I couldn't help but think are great ideas that could have been implemented into a shorter album, combine two or three of them into a song, if they had really wanted to sit down together and collaborate, especially given that lyrically the tracks aren't too dissonant from one another. The album's length and amalgamation of styles are testament to the fractured relationships within. That all being said... some of these songs are insanely good. Songs #8 to #11 are a crazy run, and The Ledge, Sara, Beautiful Child and Tusk are other highlights. 4.25/5.
1. Alone Again, Or: this is full of something. I do wonder about the flamenco influences – where do they come from? I love this, going straight into the playlist.
2. A House Is Not a Motel: what a good song. Great vocals, melodies and amazing drumming. And that instrumental solo/outro is fantastic.
3. Andmoreagain: (When I listened to this coming home drunk last night I wrote "the perfect ballad, Actually flet sa lot with this one". I don't really know what I meant, but it's a really beautiful one).
4. The Daily Planet: drums again. I like this.
5. Old Man: really striking melody and delightful bass.
6. The Red Telephone: I have not heard anything like this before. The spoken outro is phenomenal.
7. Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale: like the first track in the album, this has some flamenco elements that sound really interesting. Sounds incredible, I love this song.
8. Live and Let Live: the bass during the first guitar solo!!!
9. The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This: no notes, really good, love the ending.
10. Bummer in the Summer: the piano works so well holding everything together in here. Once again, crazy drums.
11. You Set the Scene: "This is the time and this is the time and it is time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time," followed by those horns and drumming are an insane way to close an album. Incredible song.
Overall: I had to think of synonyms for amazing, great, phenomenal, incredible, because otherwise I would've just written the same thing for each song. This was so good I have convinced my friend to go see Love perform it beginning to end in Bristol next year for its 60th anniversary. Bass and drumming are incredible, lyrics are bleak and beautiful. I like the strange song structures. I need to do shrooms to this. I'm so happy, I started this challenge just a few years ago and I have already found something so special.
I've been commenting song by song but I think the generator has bugged because it gave me 2 albums on the same day so I'm going to keep it simple and listen while I tidy up. Finally some punk! The guitars through the entire thing are great. The title track is really good. House of Suffering I also really like. Love the bass in Secret 77, very unique tone. Love the bass in Let Me Help too. Whatever funky stuff is happening in She's Calling You is really fun. Vibrating cosmic waves – BZZZZZZZZ. HR's vocals are super impressive throughout. I reckon 3.75/5 bearing in mind I haven't paid as much attention to it as some of the other albums.
