Exceptional early post punk. It has the stripped down, primal, and rough around the edges aesthetics of other punk of the era, but is also shockingly technical. The experimental aspects of this album sneak up on you. At first, the more intricate elements bubble away in the background with very textural basslines and guitar work buried in the mix, but they eventually burst forwards like fireworks. The compositions grow a lot more complex throughout, with quite structurally basic punk songs giving way to 10 minute long monsters which absolutely earn that run time. Probably the most interesting aspect of this album compared to later post punk records is that the more atmospheric and textural sounds are the result of highly technical guitar work rather than effects, which makes this still quite a unique album even though it is extremely early for its genre.
It's kinda boring. Sympathy For The Devil is a classic and seeing it was the opening track had me excited for this, but the second track lost me and while there are a couple of mild bangers like Street Fighting Man, most of this album went straight into one ear and out the other. Bluesy Americana infused rock but doesn't have a lot of flavour to it
While the music on this album is mostly very good, I am not sure it coheres as an album very well. The album opens with a really tender and melancholic folk ballad about gender dysphoria (easily the highlight of the album), which is followed by a blues rock banger, which is followed by a very laid back bluesy-country type song, which is followed by a couple more ballads. These songs are great in isolation, but there is a lot of whiplash here.
The second to last song (A Murder Mystery) veers hard into experimental territory with a 9 minute spoken word song with overlapping vocals that are panned hard left and right (I respect it, but there is not 9 minutes of ideas here). Kind of a mess as an album, but I'm glad I listened to it and there are absolutely songs I am going to go back to
Highly innovative, highly influential, and still holds up today. Hendrix was an early pioneer of effects pedals and was one of the first to make use of feedback as a musical element. Nearly 60 years have passed and his mastery of such techniques is still impressive to this day. All of this is in service of a record where the tunes themselves are still fantastic. Not much else to say, easy 5 stars
Probably not one of Bowie's best albums, but that doesn't mean much because Bowie has released a tonne of incredible music. This is more of a transitional album where Bowie is begining to play around with a more artsy and experimental sound while still having some of the glam of his earlier work. While the end result doesn't quite reach the heights of the best of his glam work such as Ziggy Stardust or the proto post-rock excellence of his next album, this is still a great album. I especially like the title track
A fantastic album, especially given that it is a debut from a very young artist. The instrumentals are lush and elegant. Fiona is an incredible singer. She has done better and I still think she is coming into her own as an artist a bit here, but this is still a very good record
I hate to be that nerd that goes "oh, but the production 🤓" to some punk music, but the guitars are very loud in the mix and sound like they were recorded on tin cans. Apparently the lyrics are very dry, snarky, and political beat poetry type stuff but I wouldn't know because I think the only lyrics I could make out were the la-la-la's on Mannequin.
The album does have a lot of interesting ideas, the songs are really tight, I do kind of enjoy it, and it sounds like it would go hard live, but oh the production... 🤓
Oh boy, time for some big songs, bigger emotions, and even bigger cheese. I love Jim Steinman's brand of bombastic camp, but listening to this as an album, I think I can only handle so much of it in one sitting. While this album is only like 45 minutes, it sometimes feels like 70. This isn't helped by some of slower and less over the top tracks like Heaven Can Wait (which feels like it can drag a bit even though it is one of the shortest songs on the album). With that being said though, I can't be in a bad mood listening to songs like Bat Out Of Hell and I do have to give the album it's flowers for that.
Also, Meat Loaf is fantastic here and probably the reason that these songs don't just collapse on themselves. An album with emotions this big requires a voice to match, and he certainly delivers here.
Absolutely stellar. A dream marriage of Bush's fantastic pop chops and her more experimental side, there is nothing else quite like this album.
I knew Bee Gees had an extensive career before their pivot to disco, but I had never heard anyone actually talk about their pre-disco era. Having now listened to this, I understand why. The vocal harmonies are nice and it sounds pretty, but otherwise this is just really boring, schmaltzy, and thouroughly unremarkable soft rock
At its best, this is phenomenal, but lot of it feels like filler. Filler from talented musicians, but filler nonetheless. This album has an impressive legacy and is foundational to hip-hop, but only a few songs are worth going back to. Glad I listened to it though
It shouldn't be surprising that the album that gave us Fast Car is incredible, but I have been doing this list long enough to know one fantastic song doesn't equal fantastic album. Chapman deftly balances folk and pop in an album that is accessible without sacrificing any of the gravitas and soul. Just simply an immaculate record that is sadly as relevant as it is today as the day it came out.
The lyrics are extremely corny, a lot of the orchestral instruments sound like midi, and I am genuinely not sure why this is in this list. At the same time though, I kinda like it. Musically, it is ambitious and quite adventurous, but still solid artsy pop. It is just a lyricist and an actual orchestra away from being great.
I was not expecting to hear so many slurs from the "You've Got A Friend In Me" guy. I did try to put that aside considering the satire here and how none of it felt mean spirited, but that was hard because of how frequent it is. Randy sure has gravitas and panache, but him saying the n word for the nth time torpedoes it. Leaving the fact that this album hasn't aged well aside, it's fine. I think saying the name of southern states with a solemn voice would hit harder if I was from the US so it did little for me. Glad I listened to it, but I am unlikely to go back to it or check out the rest of Randy's back catalogue
An absolutely gorgeous and haunting record from an absolutely stunning singer and a truly phenomenal debut. Buckley's untimely death was a real tragedy, but at least he was able to give us an all time great while he was here.
My heart wants to give this album a 5 purely for Battlestar Scralatchtica. My head wants to give this album a 3 as it is otherwise pretty boring, it's very sedate nu-metal.
This is a reluctant 3, but know that if I were making a list like this, I would put this record on it just so people listen to Battlestar Scralatchtica.
To paraphrase everyone's favourite shadowy youtuber, this album was when Springsteen decided that he didn't want to just be the best artist out there, he also wanted to be the biggest. This album is a great collection of rock songs, but the emphasis on producing hits does mean the album can feel a little one note.
This is one of those albums that I had been meaning to listen to, but never got around to it. Glad that I have heard it now though, moody yet experimental.
I can hear the influence that this had on a lot of musicians that I really like (Bon Iver, Sufjan, The National etc). I do think I like the works of those other artists more though. Part of it may be just how sedate the vocals are, but I also think it may just be that I haven't spent a lot of time with this album yet and my appreciation may grow over time. At this stage, this is a 4, but that may become a 5 in the future.
Bob Dylan is a generational talent as both a musician and lyricist, but his nasal voice and harmonica can grate after a while. The electric folk is innovative and it manages to both have the weight of folk, and the fun of rock. I can't give this a 5 star rating though just because listening to a whole album of this dude's voice does become a chore.
A mixed bag of a (mostly) cover album. Cash approaches these covers with a sparse and melancholic sound, mostly guitar and piano with the odd other instrument where appropriate. When it works, such as his cover of Hurt (which is one of the best covers in pop history) and Bridge Over Troubled Water, it works really well. A lot of these songs though just feel like Johnny Cash covering a song. He isn't really adding anything, which is an issue when these covers are so stripped back. The original character is gone and there isn't much to replace it. Overall, it's fine, but I am unlikely to return to most of it.
Beautiful vocal harmonies in a collection of great folk songs, with just enough teeth to not be cloying. What is not to love? Neil Young's contributions do kinda overshadow the others, but this is still an excellent folk rock record
Prior to listening to this album, I hadn't heard a lot of Fatboy Slim and was familiar with just the hits. Turns out a lot of those came from this album, almost felt like a greatest hits. It mostly holds up, even if The Rockafeller Skank has Dreamworks trailer stink all over it. As an album, it is quite long, is very repetitive, and is as a result a bit of a chore to listen to. I like this, but I cannot see myself listening to it as a whole album again any time soon, but it is excellent playlist fodder and I reckon it would still go down well on the dancefloor.
It's a solid little punk album. I can hear the inspiration that this had on the hardcore scene and I believe that it inspired better things, but this is still pretty good
I don't know if it is an issue of the book releasing when it did or something else, but having this album on the list and not Demon Days is odd. While their next couple of albums are classics, this one is just fine. You can hear what Gorillaz would become in some of these songs, but it does feel like they are still finding their direction a bit. This album contains a lot of little experiments and some are definitely more successful than others. Not a bad album by any means, but I think it is mostly worth listening to as a whole to hear where Gorillaz came from rather than the kind of album you have to hear before you die.
