Reviews by aretzorn

Oh, Tom Waits. Every time I've listened to one of his albums, I need to get past the shock of his voice before I can appreciate the album. That first listen is always rough. But then I listen again and his voice starts to fit his music and his lyrics. With respect to his lyrics - always pay attention to his lyrics. That's where the power is - and then his voice fits. The first time I heard "On the Nickel" I noted "pretty song, weird voice." Then I listened again paying attention to the lyrics, learning that he's talking about being homeless on Skid Row ("on the nickel"). Then you hear his voice singing, "What becomes of all the little boys, who never comb their hair? They're lined up all around the block on the nickel over there." As someone with a teenage son who often seems aimless and sometimes leaves me worried about his future, that line is devastating. And Waits' voice just FITS with these portraits of the downtrodden and the seedy underbelly of life. Other great lines: "Don't you know there ain't no devil? There's just God when he's drunk" and "I'll probably get arrested when I'm in my grave." Also, I personally appreciate the line, "Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world, when you're in love with a Jersey girl." Can confirm.🙂 Overall, my advice is get past the shock of his voice (it's better than you think), pay attention to the lyrics, and enjoy the musical ride. Oh, crap. Am I becoming a Tom Waits fan??

The “big” songs off this album are fantastic: Finest Worksong, It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and The One I Love are classics for a reason. The non-hit songs on side one sound formulaic - similar guitar sound, bass line, drum beat, vocal style. It’s a good formula, don’t get me wrong, but very repetitive. The exception is Strange, but that makes sense since it’s a cover (originally by Wire). Side two gets a little less formulaic, but I don't find it all that memorable (except The One I Love, of course). Giving it a 4 because the greats are great, but not a 5 due to the fact that the others just aren't sticking with me as well.

So much to like about this album. I like B Real's unique rapping style. Lots of cool grooves. This is another example of rappers taking samples and making it their own. This is probably the closest I've gotten to a 5 for a rap album - I just still have a hard time giving a 5 when the lyrics are so coarse (gang killings, sex - and, hey, just because it's in Spanish (Tres Equis) doesn't make it better). But this is one of my favorite rap albums so far. Favorite tracks: How I Could Just Kill a Man (look for the video on YouTube where Cypress Hill played this live with Rage Against the Machine - that version is amazing), Hand on the Pump, Hole in the Head (fun little ditty about getting a hole in your motherfuckin' head), Light Another (great example of taking a direct sample - in this case, Kool & the Gang's Good Times - and clearly making it a new song), The Phunky Feel One, Real Estate, Stoned is the Way of the Walk, Latin Lingo (great drum samples on this one).

Lots of cool smooth grooves - generally one smooth groove per song repeated without much change - with Nas saying a LOT. His words are interesting but overwhelming. I know "historically" this is a key rap album, but it didn't click for me like a lot of the other seminal rap albums on the list. Not bad, but just didn't pull me in. Maybe I need more of an appreciation for how it changed rap or just need to listen more, but I'm moving on.

If I had to pick one word to describe The White Album, it would be UNEVEN. The White Album has some of the Beatles' best songs, a bunch of ok but generally uninspiring (and often derivative) songs, and then some songs they should have left on the cutting room floor (e.g., Wild Honey Pie, Piggies, and Revolution 9).

Basically, if they were to take the best songs and a few of the ok songs they'd have a great single album. Maybe the Beatles were over-convinced of their greatness, but someone needed to tell them NO on making it a double album (sounds like George Martin tried unsuccessfully).

If I were to pick which songs to turn into an amazing single album, this would be the track listing. I added Hey Jude and the single version of Revolution because they were recorded in the same sessions but only released as singles. I kept the order they used, except for adding Hey Jude. I'd probably find a different spot for Julia because it's just too mellow to have Blackbird followed by Julia. Similarly, Helter Skelter is a little stark following Mother Nature's Son:

Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (apparently a lot of people hate this, but I like it).
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Amazing song - of course, everyone should hear Prince's solo in the 2004 Rock Hall Tribute to George Harrison)
Blackbird
Julia (this is one of the ok ones I pulled in to fill up the single album)
Birthday
Mother Nature's Son (another ok one to fill the album)
Helter Skelter
Revolution (single version, but Revolution 1 is still good)
Hey Jude (not on the album, but recorded during these sessions)
Goodnight (always holds a special place for me because my son used to fall asleep listening to Jason Falkner's Bedtime with the Beatles and his version of Goodnight is magical).

Total run time = slightly under 46 minutes. One great album, boys.

Fun, classic album. I know the hits, but I'm not sure I ever listened to the entire album. The Run-DMC influence is very clear, and not just because of Paul Revere (co-written with them) or Slow and Low (Run-DMC cover). The combination of hard rock and rap is what makes the album. Run-DMC was also doing this at the same time, which could lead to questions of cultural appropriation, but it sounds like Run-DMC had mutual respect for the Beasties and they toured together, not to mention Rick Rubin was producing and co-writing for both acts. It's a great album, but I'm giving it a 4 rather than a 5 mainly for many moments of cheesiness and some homophobia and misogyny. Favorite tracks: Rhymin' and Stealin' (love the combination of When the Levee Breaks and Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf), Fight for Your Right (classic - funny to read that it was meant to parody party songs and became the ultimate part song), No Sleep Till Brooklyn (cool track + Kerry King from Slayer), Paul Revere (love the backwards groove), and Slow and Low.

I'm familiar with a lot of Bob Dylan's music and have listened to this album before, but never closely. This is an absolute classic for a reason. Every track is anywhere between really good (e.g., Tombstone Blues, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, From a Buick 6, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues) to absolutely classic (Like a Rolling Stone, Ballad of a Thin Man, Queen Jane Approximately, Highway 61 Revisited, Desolation Row). Pretty much a perfect album. Probably my only negative comment is that Desolation Row could be shorter - I don't mind long songs, but it's the exact same tune for over 11 minutes. That said, the lyrics are great, so in many ways it's just a long poem. I'd also say the siren whistle on Highway 61 is kind of dumb, but it's such a good song with such great lyrics, so who cares. Also, while I've said that Dylan's voice sometimes sounds like a parody of itself, I really liked his singing on this album. Again, an absolute classic and an easy 5.

I feel like I shouldn't like Tom Waits as much as I do. Dude's weird. But I dig it. This is an all-around very cool album. Lots of dark references to death in the middle of some really catchy but odd music. Favorite tracks: Earth Died Screaming, Dirt in the Ground, Such a Scream, All Stripped Down, Who Are You, Going West, I Don't Wanna Grow Up (I also like the well known cover by the Ramones - also check out the cover by Priscilla Ahn - thanks YouTube for that suggestion!). Too weird to call a 5, but definitely a solid 4.

I'm trying to understand this album in the context of its time - Bob Dylan, folk singer extraordinaire goes electric and his audience goes bonkers. Calls of "Judas!" and heckling fill the air. Ok, but I don't get this, because he had already released his electric Highway 61 Revisited nearly a year earlier to rave reviews. Classics on that album (performed here) include Like a Rolling Stone and Ballad of a Thin Man, both of which were originally recorded electric. So, I can't help but wonder if the audience theatrics are just a whole bunch of pretentiousness.

Either way, I found the acoustic side a little dull - I kept thinking, "this is a 3." His singing sounds like a parody of himself. The guitar lines are just the same chords over and over, with an occasional break to blow on the harmonica. Plus, for all the raving about his lyrics, sometimes they're pure cheese:

See the primitive wallflower freeze
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze
Hear the one with the mustache say,
“Jeeze I can’t find my knees”

[insert eye-roll emoji]

Now, I knew some of these acoustic tracks were pretty well-known songs and noticed that many of them were hits for others, so I went listening to other versions. I found in most cases I preferred the covers, such as the hit versions of It's All Over Now, Baby Blue by Them (i.e., Van Morrison) and Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds. Both covers led me to conclude that Dylan is an awesome songwriter who should leave the performing to others.

Then I hit the electric set. Immediate thought - Dylan can actually sing. Yeah, he still has that weird twangy inflection, but he was belting it out over the band (or I guess, technically, over The Band). But another thing was that these songs had much more character than Dylan with just a guitar. Tell Me, Momma comes across like a slap to the pretentious audience members who only want to hear folk Bob. I Don't Believe You is the first one where I thought Dylan really sang well. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Leopard-Skin Pill-Box are both rockers with great guitar work (Robbie Robertson, presumably?). Ballad of a Thin Man and Like a Rolling Stone are both classics and both sound great here.

So, the electric side brought me to a 4. I'm looking forward to hearing more - particularly Highway 61 Revisited (which I've listened to before, but never closely). This live album is probably more important as a historical recording, but it made me want to dig a lot deeper. I'm sure digging deeper will make me better appreciate the "back-story" of this apparently legendary concert.

This strikes me as one of those albums that will get dropped in a future edition. Enjoyable, but nothing I needed to hear before I die. Tracks that caught my attention: A Fan's Mail, Friend Zone, and Them Changes.

Pink Floyd was the first band I was ever obsessive about. I collected all their albums (on vinyl). I obsessed over their lyrics. I had music books for piano and would play the Wall (poorly) all the way through. Nobody Home was my favorite to play on piano. The classical guitar part at the end of Is There Anybody Out There? was the first fingerstyle song I could play entirely through on guitar. I drew bricks all over my school notebooks. I would write "Pink Floyd The Wall" in Gerald Scarfe's writing style. I had patches for the Wall and Dark Side of the Moon on my band jacket. I watched the movie of The Wall more times than I can count. I watched Roger Waters perform the Wall Live in Berlin when it was broadcast live in 1990 and, in 2010 I saw Roger Waters perform the Wall in its entirety, a concert I still consider one of the best I've ever seen. So, needless to say, this is an obvious 5 for me. That said, my view of it has changed with age. For one thing, the recording quality leaves a lot to be desired. It's very dated, much more so than albums like Dark Side of the Moon or Animals. Waters later referred to the drums as sounding "boxy" and I would tend to agree. The album lacks a certain expansiveness in its sound. Also, it's a pretty dark album and not one that I casually listen to much anymore. Not that I don't listen to dark albums as an adult...perhaps I simply had my fill of The Wall as a teenager (although I've certainly listened to it plenty of times as an adult, also). But I still view it as an absolute masterpiece. So many favorite moments: Comfortably Numb remains one of my all time favorite songs, with of course one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. To me, Another Brick in the Wall Part II always has to include Part I and The Happiest Days of Our Lives. In my head I like to replace Empty Spaces with the movie version "What Shall We Do Now?" (speaking of tracks only in the movie - When the Tigers Broke Free is a very powerful track. I like that they later included it on reissues of the Final Cut, where it probably belongs). Hey You makes me stop and listen whenever I hear it. In the Flesh, Run Like Hell, and Waiting for the Worms may be fascism in musical form, but all three are amazing. The Trial brings the story to an over-the-top theatrical close followed by Outside the Wall which brings us full circle back to the beginning. On CD I'd often just let it loop right back to the start, creating a never ending album. I know The Wall isn't for everybody (although 30 million copies sold suggests it's for a lot of people), but it will always be an absolute classic to me.

This is a fun, cool album. Great debut. I'm not a big fan of 90s britpop, but this is definitely some intelligent fun power pop I can get behind. We previously listened to their second album In It for the Money. I liked that one but none of the music was sticking in my head for some reason. This one seems a bit rawer and pulled me in more than their second album. I liked all the tracks except for "We're Not Supposed To" which was kind of annoying. I watched the video for Alright since that was the big hit - I liked the callbacks to "The Prisoner" (e.g., the Prisoner bicycle and "rover"). I'll call it a 4 - a really good album that I can see coming back to, but not at the same level as a 5 for me.

Interesting album. Not something I feel I'll need to come back for, but it definitely sets a chill, funky mood. I liked the opening track, Mama Roux, and the closing track in particular.

I've loved this album for years, so this an easy 5 for me. I love the whole rock-opera concept - I know a lot of people criticize this album as overblown. Yeah, the story is dense and weird (and the movie is even weirder!), but it holds together both musically and thematically. There's so much I love about this album. Favorite moments include all the instrumentals (Overture - love the acoustic guitar part; Sparks; Underture); the thundering bass at 3:25 of Amazing Journey particularly when performed live - John Entwistle was a BEAST; Pinball Wizard (great track); We're Not Gonna Take It including the anthemic ending (this is a week of anthemic endings - at least this one doesn't involve necrophilia like "I Love the Dead"); all the repeating motifs - "see me, feel me" "Tommy can you hear me" plus the repeating musical motifs; Keith Moon's drumming. I also love the line "You've been told many times before, Messiahs pointed to the door, but no one had the guts to leave the temple." I could go on and on. Oh, and TIL that Eyesight to the Blind was a cover. I had no idea. Go check out Sonny Boy Williamson's original. I've listened to this album more times than I can count, but it was fun to dig in again. I ended up watching clips from the movie and from the 1989 all-star performance including Billy Idol, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins, and Elton John. I remember watching that when it came out. Definitely an album worth hearing many times before I die!

I always figured Cooper was hard rock, so I was surprised to hear elements of glam (e.g., the opener Hello Hooray) and even prog (e.g., parts of Unfinished Sweet). It definitely had a somewhat dated sound, but it was pretty good overall. I'll give it a 4 because I have a tough time giving a 5 to an album that has an anthemic song about necrophilia. Oh, and the song "Raped and Freezin'" - um, Alice Cooper, are you ok? Favorite tracks: Elected, Billion Dollar Babies, No More Mr. Nice Guy.

I like his music, but it's fundamentally not much more than good background/mood music.

Basically they're a weirder version of U2. That's good, because I like weird and I like U2.

This review took me a while because I kept feeling like I was missing something. It could be generational, but I haven't been blown away by much of what I've heard. His version of Hound Dog is a sloppy non-sensical mess next to Big Mama Thornton's. I thought Elvis is Back! (our previous pick) was boring. At least I thought this debut album was better, but I still was having a hard time seeing what was GREAT. So, I did a real deep dive. I compared Elvis's versions of these songs to the previous versions (only 2 songs on the album are debuts, although Elvis didn't write anything - that wasn't a "thing" back then). I also watched some videos to compare. Here are my two main takeaways:

1) In almost all cases, Elvis's version is faster and wilder. In some cases that made the song more exciting, but it wasn't always a better thing.

2) You can't fully appreciate Elvis without the visual part. Elvis had moves and charisma and style. I watched various early performances, focusing on videos around the time this album came out. That's really what I think grabbed people. For example, Carl Perkins' original Blue Suede Shoes is a good track. Slower, but basically the same song. I watched a video of Carl Perkins and he was clearly the superior musician - great voice and really good guitar playing. But then I watched Elvis perform it and he was in a different league when it came to energy and charisma (and I guess sex appeal if that's your thing).

So, I think to understand why Elvis was considered GREAT you can't just listen, you have to watch. I'm giving this album a 4 not a 5 because the album is just the music, not the entire package. It's really enjoyable but a lot of the individual tracks are done better by others (for example, Little Richard's original Tutti Frutti is so much better. Then again, Little Richard IS rock & roll). The only track on this debut album I didn't like was Blue Moon. I listened to the first recorded version of this Rodgers & Hart standard (recorded by Ted Fio Rito and His Orchestra) and that was much better than the Elvis version (incidentally, the definitive version of Blue Moon is the later doo wop version by the Marcels with the famous doo wop line that I won't even attempt to type - just go listen).

Favorite Tracks: Blue Suede Shoes, I Got a Woman (but go listen to the Ray Charles version!), One-Sided Love Affair (Elvis's singing style on this song is very entertaining), I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You), I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin'), Money Honey.

A perfect album. Black Dog and Rock and Roll start it off rocking with everyone in top form. Plant has a great duet with Sandy Denny on the Battle of Evermore, but it's probably my least favorite song on the album. Not that it's bad - as I said, it's a perfect album. Stairway to Heaven is a perfect song, start to finish. Any time I hear it, I have to listen all the way through. The opening riff (which sounds nothing like Spirit's Taurus), the verses as the song builds and builds, that guitar solo - one of the greatest ever - and the powerful ending. Yes, it's overplayed, but for good reason. Misty Mountain Hop - another great rocker, with awesome harmonies. Four Sticks has a great unusual riff and time signature, with amazing drumming. RIP Bonzo. Going to California calms things down...great guitar and mandolin parts and fantastic vocals from Robert Plant (like all of the album). Finally, When the Levee Breaks: possibly the greatest opening drum line of any song ever, followed by a massively cool riff and bass line, harmonica, slide guitar, and moaning wails. Bottom line - this is one of the greatest bands of all time at their peak. Can I score it higher than 5?

I enjoyed the album, but it's a lot of the same song over and over (that's garage rock/punk for you). I'd listen again but wouldn't seek it out, which makes it a 3 for me.