Reviews by conorr90

Another album where I'm not sure what else can be said. This is probably my favorite Beatles album (either this or Revolver) and it's fantastic, but I think it's important to acknowledge that it isn't perfect. The Beatles were so highly and blindly acclaimed that they were able to get away with a couple of actual duds ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Oh! Darling") on what's considered one of the best albums of all time. "Octopus' Garden" is quite silly too, but I love that one. Obviously though, "Come Together", "Something", and the entire second side of the album are solid gold. I had also forgotten how much I love "I want You (She's So Heavy)"!

I had heard of this band bit don't think I had listened to them before. I enjoyed some of the songs on it but overall it sort of faded into the background for me. Instrumentally it sounded quite good but the singer's baby voice vocals were a bit grating in places. Not sure if I'd listen again, maybe it would grow on me a bit.

30-Oct-2022
Listening to this on a lazy Sunday morning, the day before Halloween feels very appropriate. I've listened to this album many times before, but I think I usually get so bowled over by the quality of the first two tracks that I don't always get the whole way through it. Pharoe's Dance and Bitches Brew could have been their own 5-star album, but there is so much more here to explore. On this listen, I noticed how much some of the other instruments shine, particularly the drums on the title track and the saxophone toward the end of Spanish Key. At times the trumpet is a little too brash, but that's important too as it whips the listener into a frenzy and takes them along for the ride through this madhouse of an album. I can only imagine what it must have been like to listen to this for the first time in 1970. It must have absolutely blown people's minds, and mortally offended some too. It's one of the most imaginative and creative albums I've ever listened to, and one of the best by far for daydreaming.

28-Oct-2022
One of my favourite albums of all time, I would give it 6 stars if I could. Glad to see that Kate is finally getting the recognition in the US she has always deserved, thanks to Stranger Things. Hoping to see a few more ladies in this list soon, it has been a bit of a sausage fest so far!

27-Oct-2022
TLDR; Aged like milk, would not listen to this one again.

I went into this album knowing Pet Shop Boys' biggest singles only. I've often heard good things about them and based on the scene and era they fit into, I vaguely assumed I would like them, but never got around to listening to them.

Surprisingly, I had a fairly visceral negative reaction to this album. I thought the first song was ok, but the songs immediately after had me cringing and squirming. I thought the second half might turn it around with the passable "My October Symphony", but alas, no. I could only listen to half of "Nervously", and I'm not usually a skipper. After that, I was dying for the album to end. Its hard to put my finger on what exactly I dislike about the album (because there were so many things), but the vocals are definitely a big part of it. I like Neil Tennant's singing in small doses, but on this I found his whiny cabaret style grating. The lyrics are also quite trite in places. Musically, I found this very repetitive, with similar drum and bass beats the whole way through. It's also very dated overall, and not in a fun nostalgic way, since I have no emotional connection to any of these songs.

I like a lot of similar music from this era (New Order, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, etc.), but this sounds like a sort of death knell of 80s synthetic pop to me now. Its interesting to read that this was heavily influenced by "Violator". I love that album and don't find it dated at all. I see some similarities I suppose, but this is definitely "Violator-lite", if anything.

26-Oct-2022
Where has this album been all my life? I knew this band for Dreadlock Holiday, but always assumed they were a bit of a one hit wonder. This album is great throughout on first listen though; well written, great performances, and quite funny in places! I enjoyed hearing the origin of J Dillas "Workinonit" samples in "The Worst Band in the World". "Silly Love" and "Clockwork Creep" were also great and reminded me of Sparks, who I only discovered recently also. The second half of the album maintains the quality and weirdness with "Sacro-illiac" and "Oh Effendi", the abrupt end of the latter left me wanting more. The only songs I didn't really enjoy were "Old Wild Men" and "Baron Samedi", but I didn't dislike them either. This is one of my best discoveries so far from this app. Far from the worst band in the world! 9/10

25-Oct-2022
Listened to this while working and enjoyed it for the most part. I'm familiar with Crowded House's big hits, but I think this is the first time I've listened to this album in full. For some reason, I used to think "Weather With You" was a Housemartins song.
Anyway, I enjoyed the first half of the album more than the second, towards the end I felt like it was starting to outstay its welcome. However that might change on a second listen, if I have the time.

I initially quite enjoyed this, but wasn't blown away really. I've been listening to a lot of Prog this year, but haven't come across Traffic. I do know of Steve Winwood though. I might give this a second listen, since I just had it on in the background on the first spin. It is quite short!

OK, so I listened to this a second time while doing the dishes and paid more attention to the vocals this time. I'm now questioning why this album is included in the book. The singing isn't great at all and the lyrics leave a lot to be desired. This pales in comparison to Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes and Jethro Tull albums from the era, so I wouldn't even argue that it was super influential or anything. Maybe people just love having an origin story for Steve Winwood? I'll give it 2 stars because the musicianship is good throughout, but I doubt I'll listen to this again.

Really enjoyed this. I was only familiar with "Television, the Drug of the Nation" and have been meaning to listen to the full album for a while now. The lyrics, beats and samples are all great. I'm surprised really that this album doesn't have the popularity of some of its contemporaries. It is quite lyricly dense in some places, so I feel like I'll need to listen too it a few more times to fully absorb them.

The only negatives I would have is that some of the songs are a bit over long, and some are a bit too derivative of Public Enemy. I actually thought I was listening to Chuck D rapping on the title track at first! Other than that though I enjoyed it. It's interesting to hear some of the lyrics and samples discussing cost of living crises and recessions at the time, some of them are exactly the same as sound bites you hear on the news today. I guess its true; the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I've tried to get into this album many times over the past decade or so, but apart from 'Terrible Love' and 'Bloodbuzz Ohio', I've always found it dull and melodramatic. This time around I did hear some instrumentation on 'Conversation 16'and 'England' that I really liked. But apart from that I wasn't moved. Maybe someday this will click with me the way 'Boxer' did - I love that album but I've always been fairly lukewarm on the rest of their stuff.

Great album. I love how the songs flow into each other, but it does mean that a couple of them get lost in the sauce. Overall, I prefer The Queen is Dead, but this is still very solid and has 4 or 5 standout tracks. Plus the cover art is 🔥

This was a nice surprise.! I'm familiar with both artists separately but had no idea they had collaborated before. I definitely preferred the first half of the album and found it tailed off a bit towards the end, bit then the last song was quite good. Overall an enjoyable album, I might check out the others in the series.

I normally think double and triple albums are ridiculously self-indulgent. This is one of the rare exceptions! All killer, No filler.

18-Oct-2020
Well, this one is a bit all over the place. Some enjoyable songs, some weird ones (You Didn't Have To Be So Nice), and some pretty questionable singing in general tbh. Pleasant enough vibes overall, but not for me. Quite dated as well, this is such a 60s album. I read "August Is Wicked Month" recently, some of these songs would have soundtracked that perfectly! For some reason the Spotify link took me to a version of the album with 5 extra songs which appear to be from the album "A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness" not sure if that's a Spotify issue or an issue with this app. I prefer the shorter 12 song version!

I listened to this a LOT when it first came out (my first/second year of college) and loved it, but got a bit tired of the songs on the first half. They were quite overplayed and popped up in all sorts of films and TV shows at the time. 'Intro' in particular was very overused. Listening to it again today though, I think enough time has passed that I can appreciate it again. This is a finely crafted album. The music is fantastic and it is atmospheric and melancholic in all the right ways imo. I can see how some might say it is a bit melodramatic, too "of its time", or that the lyrics are a little basic. It is all of those things, but overall I think it's a great album, and only has a few tracks that I find a bit underwhelming (Fantasy, Basic Space and Night Time). Maybe that's my emotional connection with the time speaking though. Nice one to round off my first 40 albums! 9/10

Not exactly an easy album to listen to but a very important one. The production really hits you, it's overwhelming in places. Revolutionary in every sense of the word, I can't really think of any other group like PE. This is probably my favourite of theirs, and my favourite 80s hip hop album, even though there are a couple of Flava Flav duds on it. It's pretty nonsensical listening to him rant about trash TV on 'She Watch Channel Zero' considering he ended up running his own reality TV show in the 00s! Chuck D is as great as ever though, Particularly on Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos and the second side of the album.

Found this just OK really. I know their hits and like them but never really got into their albums. This one didn't really grab me this time either. It is an interesting turning point from 80s rock to 90s rock and you can see how the early 90s bands were influenced by them though.

I think I listened to this years ago but never got into it. Really enjoyed it this time! I love the stripped back, intimate style of the whole album. It contrasts nicely with his more radio friendly hits I'm familiar with. This really put me in a contemplative mood and was ideal for driving to. It might not be something I'll listen too often but I will definitely come back to this when the mood is right.

I don't really know how to rate this album. On the other hand, apart from Blue Suede Shoes, I found most of it boring and unrelatable. I can't decide whether I love or loathe Blue Moon, the guy sounds like he's singing from the bottom of a well. On the other hand, it's the debut of ELVIS and was undeniably influential.

It feels a bit strange to give an album this foundational and influential anything less than 5 stars. Some of the songs are a bit basic and boring, but the album is short and punchy enough that none of them outstay their welcome. The best songs on it are pretty fantastic on the other hand. It's also surprisingly well produced for something that came out in 1957, apart from some weird/clumsy panning on a few of the songs. Having said that, it's not something I'd listen to on purpose very often.