Reviews by bt1001quest

Cohesive and consistently engaging record where the Boss announces his oeuvre and delivers on each track with tight and thunderous instrumentation and vocals alike. Pretty much every track is a classic. "Born to Run" is a hallelujah of a rock song, and "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland" bookend the record as pillars of emotional, earnest songwriting.

Misleading cover art oh my gosh. Super upbeat sounding 80's new wave music, complete with corny (but not unlikeable) synth horns and drum sampling. I recognized a few tracks having been raised on the SiriusXM station "1st Wave" growing up and riding around in my dad's car. The vitriol on this website is way too unnecessarily harsh- this record was alright!

This relisten confirmed how amazing “Slow Jamz” is. Such a pretty song with a ALL-TIMER Twista feature that epitomizes this “chipmunk soul” thing he had going at the early stages of his career. An example of what I would call “easy-listening” hip-hop. The whole album feels like that. It’s got such a good energy and the comedy bits don’t detract at all from that. I honestly find myself singing that chant at the end of “New Workout Plan” often. The only thing I don’t care for here is Freeway’s verse on “Two Words.” Skip.

Yep, track 2 is an excellent early rap song, and the cover is beyond iconic. But the homophobia and misogyny is a little hard to justify as satirical on this one, and the songs are significantly weaker the farther you get in the tracklist. Quite overrated if you ask me. It's actually kind of hilarious how bad the album gets. The last three tracks are almost unlistenable they're so terrible

You wouldn't know it from the other music I listen to, but I am a pretty big fan of Xtina's. Her vocals are so fantastic and she clearly invests a ton of stock into hiring qualified production technicians and session musicians on her records. This one is probably her best, with its throwback sound in tandem with plenty of 2000s pop staples like scratches and sampling. It all works really well, though- the pop hooks just keep coming on this thing, including "Ain't No Other Man," a classic mid-2000s pop banger, or "Still Drrty," a sequel to her 2002 smash that "cleans it up" fitting the album's aesthetic while still staying in the lane of the original. Despite the album's length, it maintains a really strong energy for its whole runtime.

Cool futuristic-sounding record that's a bit of a complicated mess, leaning a bit cluttered in its experimentation. If it hadn't, though, I imagine it would have been a boring new age mess instead, which would have been much worse. So I don't know if I want to give this a higher score for that reason. Oh well. Still a big Eno guy regardless.

Pac was a master of flow. He always sounded good on any track. The instrumentals here are a different story- they vary quite a bit on the entire thing and make the entire experience feel a bit dull and repetitive at times. That being said, there are quite a few classic 90s hip hop tracks here. The entire thing is produced well and his excellent mc skills elevate it. I think he's better-suited for a compilation, though.

Much better than Beggars Banquet because of its better production and livelier tunes. "Tumbling Dice" is the big one everyone remembers, for good reason, with its earworm backing vocals and groovy blues guitar lick.

A serviceably energetic new wave record that maybe owes a bit too much to the Sex Pistols for me to say is anything more than just alright. A shame that I keep on 3ing my dad's favorites

Perfection.

Every instrument played on here basically sounds the best it ever sounded on an album ever. The production is to die for. The songwriting emphasizes everything in such a pristine and thoughtful way. The structure perfects the album structure, flowing naturally over its 38 minute runtime with attention given to tempo, arrangement, and keeping your attention peaked. The vocals are excellent, with beautiful harmonies and trading parts layered on top of crisp strings, lovely harp and organ, and cavernous back end percussion. Listened to this two separate times in 48 hours and was amazed both times. The best album I have heard thus far without a single doubt.

I really like Miles Davis but I am not exactly sure the point of this record. The length does not really lend itself well to the non-melodic nature of the sounds contributed. The instrumentalists are giving 110 tho, and the production is so ahead of its time. I would feel remiss without giving those aspects some credit.

I wasn't totally sold until "Garbageman" and "I Was a Teenage Werewolf." Yeah it basically is horror-movie "Be Bop a Lula" several times over and over again, but it is a pretty fun sound for 35 minutes.

DATED AF

The MC in this group just made me think of this the entire time:
"Me and me blokes got some chips and biscuits for brekkie, innit???"

When you make your music this many genres happening all at once, the music takes on a swampy, very forgettable quality it never quite surpasses.

Opener was a really great song that I thought would set the tone. It's clear that these guys don't do ballads really well. The lyrics were kind of distractingly bad, as well. The entire thing is pretty generic following that opener, too. I didn't hate what I was listening to but was very unimpressed.

As per usual, a good set of songs mixed within a whole lot of filler. Do these guys have an album that isn't like 40 minutes too long? Flea and Rick Rubin are probably the best two parts of the record for me.

One of the easier 5s to give amongst the albums I've heard through this entire journey. I'm not sure how you could give it anything but. The music here is exceptionally unique (what record by anyone else sounds like this) but it still feels so central to Bowie's catalogue and his prior works. The music is experimental and bordering on avant-garde, but melodically the album is still super strong. This time while listening I noticed how excellent the performances from the session guys are here- Donny McCaslin on sax, Ben Monder on guitar, and especially Jason Lindner's incredible contributions on the keys: touching piano arrangements, fun retro synth lines, and haunting organ alike. The idea of this being an artistic swan song, his last statement before passing, is captured perfectly here. I think the mood really reflects his real-life feelings on his impending death extremely well. There's an anxious, doom-laden mood captured throughout, along with intense sadness and distance, combined with moments of happiness, beauty, and acceptance. It puts you into his headspace and really involves you (to the point where I can understand how this record could be too much for some). But wow- every song here still sounds so fantastic, the record never has a dull or immemorable moment. It really affected me this time, nearly to the point of tears on "I Can't Give Everything Away."

I still remember the day he died. My dad was distraught. He introduced me to his favorite musician of all time when I was very young and we have shared many memories together bonding over David's artistry and contributions to not only music, but film, performance art, and aesthetics. He means a lot to me and always will. As someone online once said, it's a wonderful thing to have experienced life concurrent to such a wonderful artist making his footprint on the world, even if the overlap was brief.

RIP David Bowie.

All 4 members legitimately have a claim to have each written some of the greatest songs ever made, and all of their solo careers have something to offer. BotR is no exception. Several exceptional pop hits with still-excellent production all throughout

Pretty unimaginative beyond its two hit songs. They made better records at all stages of their career

An incredible rap album. The run on tracks 8-10 is like a six out of five set of songs. And there's other incredible songs here. Not only are the songs all memorable, well-written, and musically excellent, but the story here is immersive and paints a picture of how Kendrick aims to portray himself as an artist. He's an aesthete for Compton, a wordsmith hero for 21st century black America. The songs are legendary and will make this record endure for decades as a monument in the genre.

AH RIN KIN KIN KIN

The album opener "Dirty Boots" is actually incredible- how modern-sounding and excellently-produced! The roomy guitar and drums across the whole thing are a major contributing factor toward this record aging as well as it has. I really dig the Karen Carpenter tribute "Tunic" and the proto-grunge of "Kool Thing." The entire record has such a fiery energy, from its noisy but controlled guitar tone, energetic drum fills, and breathy vocals from Kim Gordon.