Rated 4/10
I think the songwriting is pretty good here and an improvement on the early stuff, but I can't get behind Neil Young as a frontman at all. Was highly anticipating the last song as I've heard some good covers but it was not enjoyable to listen to. Just disappointing, I think better than the early stuff but still not there yet
Rated 8/10
Honestly such a well paced record, has such a cool sound, mixing glam tracks with folk pop, so many great hooks and vocal melodies. Big 4*
Rated 6/10
A bit of a mixed bag, do like the highlights here (I Want the One I Can't Have, Rusholme Ruffians etc) and I think the other songs are all cool to listen to for taking the jangly post-punk sound of Felt or Durutti Column and putting a pop formula on it. But aware there is honestly much better Smiths material than this even from my limited exposure
Rated 6/10
I love Blue and if you told me that Joni went into jazzy soft rock later I'd be pretty excited but unfortunately it just didn't fully click, I did like a few songs though
Rated 4/10
Not a huge fan of Iggy's presence on these tracks and the mixing is extremely intense which you have to be in the mood for (in fairness I listened to the Iggy version which I hear may not be the best move necessarily, I may revisit)
Rated 6/10
Pretty solid, do like the flute stuff but the hard rock tracks are a bit less compelling
Rated 6/10
This is mostly just fine throughout - the song length doesn't bother me until there's a mediocre song and then it is very grating. The first two tracks are honestly fantastic and maybe set the bar too high if anything
Rated 6/10
I've never really bought into the revised historical importance of this record - in fact I think it is mostly a pointless exercise to go back to the 60s (and even the 50s?) and call early rock & roll stuff proto-punk, because it reduces the roots of punk to very noisy or loud rock & roll and ignores the glam rock and other 70s movements that shaped the attitude and sound of punk.
That being said for a rock & roll album from the early 60s this is an interesting artifact, the lead singer has tons of energy and the 4 original songs are all great tracks about ghouls and witches and murder which is pretty awesome.
The covers really let this down as they don't carry the same energy or fit as well with the overall sound. But despite this it is definitely worth a listen for Psycho alone which is a 11/10 track.
Rated 8/10
Previously I've not been a fan of AC/DC, I actually agree with all the 1/2* reviews here about how simple the formula here is but here's the thing - on this record not only does it work to keep entertaining, but it doesn't get old after like 40 minutes. I think it deserves some credit for the stripped down pop metal songwriting here and I did ultimately enjoy nearly every song so 4* works well for me.
Rated 8/10
Very solid, there are some brilliant tracks here and though it didn't all connect for me can see myself revisiting this one.
Rated 8/10
Good solid jazz rap, very few misses here
Rated 8/10
Absolutely knockout record, only 27 minutes but very strong. Probably one 10/10 track from a 5
Rated 8/10
Extremely shocked at liking this, southern Rock band from the early 21st century that I'd never heard of is normally an automatic 2 but this record has brilliant theming, great music and especially great lyrics
Rated 6/10
It flows very well but weirdly inconsistent in sound / quality throughout, sympathetic to the ambient stuff but I much prefer when they rock out
Rated 8/10
Wow - I'd never really heard a full Stones record from this time and I was immediately blown away by the music on the first three tracks (although not sure how I feel about lyrics on Brown Sugar) - the record doesn't stay at the same high but it is pretty exceptional, going with 4 *s
I found it was pleasant and a cool theme (all out cowboy country/western) - maybe it's my unfortunate British sensibilities but I found it just fine really
Rated 4/10
Really dislike this but it has some ok moments, like some of the jazzy instrumentation but it's honestly really quite boring. Very low 2 for me
Rated 6/10
That last track is terrible man... the rest of it is great rap rock giving it 3*
Rated 6/10
Fun to listen to but also a bit scattered and not every song was that successful
Rated 6/10
Probably a bit too long for what it is but some great tracks here and it is a good listen
