7/10 - stronger first 2/3s
I’ve known a lot of the songs forever. Great album
Pretty cool, but not my tempo. I’m not a big live album person.
3/5. I enjoyed the first 2/3 or so, but felt like it droned on
3.5-4/5. I’ve heard Maps quite a few times. I enjoyed Date with the Night and No No No and Modern Romance.
The combo of the shrieking vocals with the punchier guitar and drums is chaotic and cool at times, but I like the softer songs towards the end.
4.5/5. Very enjoyable especially when you’re driving and want to vibe out instead of thinking of the horrors of the world.
4. I’ve heard Jesus Etc. and Heavy Metal Drummer quite a bit in the past. I enjoyed War on War quite a bit. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart kinda threw me for a loop at first between its almost discord and odd lyrics.
I had this album pegged as a 3 but kept coming back to it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So many recognizable songs and the flow and energy is amazing. It’s got the ragers and the slow-ers. A totally different vibe than say Getz/Gilberto, which is a great album in its own right (certainly not a 2).
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I can imagine this was a bigger deal when it came out. Some of the beats sound a lot more fresh than I’d expect for 1989. Without knowing much about these guys, there’s seems to be a lot of passion in the album. I bet they had a blast in the recording studio.
I digged a lot of the production, but I don’t love skit-heavy hip hop albums and this leans heavily into that. The skits are sometimes weaved into the progressions of the songs well enough, but they still halfway took me out.
There are some highlights like Eye Know, Buddy, Me Myself and I, and Ghetto Thang, but some lowlights like the skits and De La Orgee (I don’t wanna listen to that shit ever again).
Without the skits this might be a 4/5 for me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I had a review typed up but it was somehow lost. I’ve listened to various Talking Heads songs over the years but never a full album.
What a weird ass experience bolstered by the unconventional vocals. I loved it though.
Standouts: The Good Thing, Take Me to the River
⭐️⭐️1/2
Never heard of this dude before. I loved the ambience and some of the bass-heavy tracks, but thought it could’ve used some judicious trimming and fleshing out of some half-baked songs - I’m not generally the biggest fan of shorter form songs in general though.
Loved the sequence from Day & Night to Show You The Way (Michael McDonald with that weirdo voice filter or whatever was a trip) to Walk on By with Kendrick. Absolutely did not expect that feature.
Not the best sound quality, but it doesn’t matter. This is Jimi at his best - sometimes raw, maybe a bit unbridled -and teetering on chaos. Some of the lack of polish adds to the feel of the record in my eyes (or ears?). I always wondered what he would’ve done musically if he was still around.
The album opens with 3 classics and has a few more peppered in as it progresses, but everything else is solid as well and not too off the rails (like his Star Spangled Banner).
⭐️⭐️1/2
I was vibing with the chill sound and then Bad Liquor came out of nowhere and changed everything - that experience was not unlike my 20s. It was hard for me to rally (I’m talking about the album here, not my 20s) and take the rest of the album as seriously.
I felt like the lyrics didn’t necessarily match the level of melancholy / somber the songs were portraying, they almost seemed too shallow. Maybe I need to give this another listen, but I wouldn’t say I’m itching to do so.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Don’t have a lot to add on this one. I love the ambience of the album and especially like the points when the vocals accompany the tracks. I get this is intentionally more of a jammy vibe with political tones (looking at Wiki), but it didn’t jive with me as much as I’d have thought. I’ll have to revisit this when I’m not zoning out / dissociating.
Feeling a strong ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 on this one, maybe a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ if I revisit it.
I listened through a couple times. The title track is a bit too drugged out and weird for me, but the back half of the album is full of some good songs. I don’t know if I knew really any of these and I’ve listened to a decent amount of Bowie.
Ok shit this is great album. I’m trying not to dole out too many 5s but I suppose this list is generally a list of amazing albums. I am trying to find reasons not to list it a 5, but I’m coming up short. I could see myself in the future playing this front to back with no skips.
I’m a big rap guy and have never heard of this dude. I read that east coast rap was getting its ass kicked around by the west around the time this was released.
Pretty sick beats and the rapping and lyrics are solid. The whole album is tight at 39 min. It’s got a slight bit of goofiness to it (like in You Can’t Stop the Prophet) but still goes hard.
