Kimono My House

I’m at a 5.

I don’t know if it’s a 5 necessarily because of the music itself being a big bombastic knockout set of tracks – there are certainly standouts like “Thank God It's Not Christmas”, “Hasta Mañana, Monsieur” & “Equator”, but all in all, at a pure musical level, I wouldn’t classify this into the big top tier of any particular genre it’s going for. This is at a 5 because it’s a consistently great set of tracks, that does a fantastic job of blending a lot of musical genres (i.e. pop, glam rock, prog rock, blues, etc) & artists (i.e., Queen, Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, The Beatles, Green Day somehow, Genesis, etc) into a coherent sound that feels unlike anything else in 1974 that I’ve heard, one that vaguely transcends genres to be its own, totally unique thing, full of elements easy to pick out, but hard to put together. It fully succeeds even though it could totally have crumbled under the pressure to make it all fit together.

If I have any knocks, it’s oddly in the mixing – I could be wrong about this, but I think there’s a really subtle wall of sound effect in the mix that stopped the clarity of everything from feeling as clean as it could, and it rubbed me the wrong way throughout. It added a bit of depth, and gave the percussion a really cool feel, but it comes at the expense of… something. My best guess is that the extra “space” in the mix feels emptier, and adds a slightly cavernous feel that’s present, but never acknowledged. I can’t exactly place it, but it just bit at me that nothing felt quite as clean as it could. Perhaps that’s an intentional choice? It would certainly add to the avant-garde feel of it all – this album constantly feels like it’s one bad note away from having a track fall apart, but it balances itself throughout, and acts as a sort of triumph for complete experimentation.

So, yeah, I’m at a 5. It’s a really fun album, and perhaps with enough time, I can really appreciate these tracks more for just how technically sound they all are – this has to be a complex album to write sheet music for, and performing it is a different story, especially if they did any of these live. They all have good stories, they keep the band on their toes with all the tempo changes and pauses, and as a listener, I think the layering tricks in the mix, even with that “cavernous space”, is still pretty unique for the time. It’s a divisive album – I can totally hear how this might be a 3 for “average, weird rock that doesn’t know what genre it wants to be & nasally annoying vocals” or something, but I’m at a 5 because I admire how big of a swing it took and how well it stuck the landing. May joy and whimsy live on, I guess.

Reminds me of the circus album I got from this a little while back (The United States Of America?). It's ok, don't know the hype. 3*
Enjoyed: lost and found

It's okay, but nothing where I would say "oh, yeah, you got to listen to this"

I’ve been looking forward to a Sparks album popping up on the list, and this one did not disappoint.

"This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us" kicks things off with a bang. It’s dramatic, theatrical, and easily one of the strongest songs in Sparks’ entire catalog. That falsetto? Iconic.

After a full listen, I can confidently say this album is pure glam rock fun. It’s not weighed down by deep meaning or heavy themes, but that’s part of the charm—it’s an effortlessly enjoyable listen. Every track bursts with eccentric energy and quirky melodies.

Favorite song: This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us
Least favorite song: Nothing stood out as bad
Album artwork: Funky and fitting for the music

Fun and eclectic. Quite enjoyable.

This album reminds me a lot of Queen. There's a song or two here that would be okay to listen to again. But, like Queen, there is no way I want to listen to a whole album of it. And the highs aren't as high as Queen's are, so there's even less to want to listen to it again.

At first I had my doubts but as I got deeper the music got better. This is actually quite good!

Ein für seine Zeit sehr modernes Album mit stark avantgardistischen Elementen. Diese sind einerseits interessant, machen aber andererseits den Hörfluss kaputt. Vielleicht muss man sich mehr in das Album reinarbeiten aber bei einer Eintagesanalyse ist eher durchschnittlich als überdurchschnittlich. Mein Favorit ist „Falling in Love with myself again“.

Your favourite bands favourite band.
It's insane that this is 50 years old.

I refuse to believe that Sparks existed until that documentary came out, and then everyone *pretended* like they’ve just known about them for 40 years. I worked in a record store back home for 7 years with multiple other music snobs. Been surrounded by white hipster douchebag bandmates for 15 years. Nary a *word* of this band’s existence. Then, this documentary comes out, and all of sudden, every fucking jackass I know with a mustache is all, “Oh yeah, Sparks! OBVIOUSLY!” And before I know it, these paid fucking actors have created this elaborate hoax of a *50-year career* that everyone can point to and I DON’T BUY IT.

2.5/5

Really enjoyed this one. TTABEFTBOU is a classic but the rest of the album definitely holds its own.

The Good: Amazing cover art!
The Bad: Not a huge fan of the female lead singer…
The Ugly: Turns out the lead singer is a he with massive falsetto…

So, I tried liking the album. Listened to it twice, while doing some simple work so that I could focus on the music, the artistry, the all… and then I realized that I never liked glam rock to begin with, so why change now?

This is just not my cup of tea… maybe tomorrow I might change my mind, but I doubt it…
Hi, this is me tomorrow, and while I am giving the album a third spin the thoughts that pop into my head are: at times this sounds like ABBA, I can also understand why people are heralding this album as being fun, as it does have “spark”… But still no fan...

3* to play safe!

I was surprised. Misled by the cover, I had expected more K-pop. I found the album quite funny and cheerful. It won't appear in my daily stream, but it was fun.
3/5

Very theatrical and idiosyncratic. Seems like they inspired a lot of bands to follow.

A masterpiece!

Exuberant silly fun. Opens super strongly with "This Town" and "Amateur Hour". The rest is great, but not quite at that level. Still, into five star territory, I think.

My uncle was really into Sparks, I didn't pay much attention to them back then... I should have done, enjoyed this album a lot!
Cover artwork photo is great too!

Honestly wtf even is this. 1.83

Unhinged maximalist brilliance.

Not for me. I get it, I get the influence. I hate the vocals. I can see why it's on the list, and why it's rated reasonably highly, but not for me.