Rated 8/10
Maps is an absolute monster of a song, the rest of it is really good too. Karen O is a fantastic vocalist and just when the band starts to burn out on blasted noisy punk blues garage band stuff they switch it up with No No No, Maps, Y Control, Modern Romance etc
I think this is a 7/10 for me
Rated 4/10
A collection of fairly tales, nursery rhymes, children's stories with a dash of music hall.
Had heard Smiley Smile before but this is different, feels more like a theatre performance than an album. I can see some of the appeal but it just didn't click for me.
Brian Wilson died yesterday and he gave us some brilliant music over his lifetime, which was very troubled. If anyone deserved a chance to rerecord their dream album it was him, even if I'm not a fan!
Rated 10/10
Bowie doing funk is his best era (Young Americans is underrated!!).
Side A - Strong 4, Light 5
Side B - Solid 5
No weak tracks!! Extremely tight record with no filler. Station to Station maybe a little too long...
Rated 4/10
I wanted to like it but doesn't really do anything for me - most songs have decent performances and choruses, but the songwriting just don't quite work for the full song. Album continues on like this until it fizzles out at the end.
I think I'm closer to a 5/10 than a 6/10 on this as there are a few songs I was actively disliking, so I'm going for 2.
Rated 2/10
Did not enjoy it :( It's like a weak 2 at most but the attempts at actually rocking out and the really soft MOR tracks on here were really not for me (Life in the Fast Lane, Wasted Time, Pretty Maids All in a Row are weak 1/5 for me) and so I have to go lower. New Kid in Town, Try to Love Again and The Last Resort are both highlights (close to or comfortably a 3/5) and I think they succeeded most when sticking to that kinda soft rock formula but most of these tracks just feel so disposable - even the main big title track (which isn't that overplayed for me and so can say with a clear head that I just didn't like it).
Rated 10/10
Can't decide whether this is an 8/10 or 9/10 listen, would normally be cautious but I think the two epic tracks here are incredible and the album somehow ties together nicely considering it is quite oddly structured on first glance.
Rated 4/10
I think this is a 5/10 record for me and maybe it will grow - I didn't connect to some of the tracks here and though I do like Satellite of Love and some of the music hall stuff it wasn't enough for me at first listen.
Not so big on this - I understand reading about it that it has some historical significance, but I can't help feeling that Ray's voice is quite weak on the orchestral backing tracks and the strings / group vocals feel very outdated. Overall it doesn't make a mark, is at most pleasant.
Rated 8/10
One of those cool 90s albums rooted in rock but doing pop, dance, funk, trip hop, space rock, kosmische music, jazz even on the B side! Has it all and is mostly missing the odd weak track that you'd expect on a double album, though it doesn't quite stick the landing which I think is pretty important on a double album.
I would give it a solid 8/10 but feels like it could be a 9 or even 10 with a few relistens.
Rated 8/10
A bit mixed but the highs are SO high and it feels so cohesive - 7/10
Rated 8/10
High point is Blowin' in the Wind but not many misses on this and a lot of it is very appealing to me.
Rated 6/10
I liked a lot of it :) but it's very inconsistent
Rated 4/10
I think this is a 5/10 record - I like a few songs and the issue is primarily that there a few that are really hard to listen to.
I listened in two parts and I went back again at the end to listen on headphones, wow there are a few songs on the first side which are a real slog where the vocals are rough - I like singers that aren't conventional but these are so laid back and almost feel intentionally out of tune at times.
I think the lyrics are meant to be the main draw but honestly they weren't hitting for me either - they were dry and as depressing as it gets. I quite liked some of the more country instrumentation and the instrumental track was honestly very good!
Putting this one firmly as 'not for me' and as there's no half stars I will give it a 2.
Rated 6/10
Liked it all except for At Last I Am Free which doesn't really go anywhere and is the longest track!! Probably a very strong 3
Rated 8/10
I liked it a lot! It felt like a precursor in a way for college Rock and some 90s stuff (I was hearing some Weezer at times weirdly) and not everything hit but a lot of it did.
Rated 4/10
It gets there, I struggled with it at first and I think it delights at that. After a while I really start to get it and enjoy it but maybe that's stockholm syndrome because I was desperate to stop listening in the first 3-4 tracks! Have always been intimidated by Tom Waits and so I procrastinated until 11pm to listen and that was probably the right call (for atmosphere purposes!!) thank you Tom :)
Rated 4/10
Wow what a dense psychedelic album, love all the samples and can see it growing on me over time but one listen probably isn't enough for this one.
Rated 6/10
The whole thing is really good all the way through (some of it is cheesy but in a low-key good way) - it's capped in that it's both overplayed and it's structured weirdly, none of the songs flow that well together and it's obviously backloaded in a way that is a bit off-putting. So I am torn on this but I think it's closer to a 3-star album unfortunately.
Rated 4/10
never goes past pleasant but at times his voice really gets to me. Granted it is a 2.5 or something because it comes in and out but I didn't feel like it would go up on a second listen so didn't bother and frankly I can see it going down in score as no individual song left an impression on me. I did like Viva la vida so maybe I just need them to tweak this sound a bit
Really liked this one, first time hearing it (other than Little Wing) and came away feeling very positive about it both individually and as a big piece - I think the opener ties things together thematically and it's both very listenable and challenging in places.
