Reviews by h3lios

This is an early 2010s-core album by arguably the most 2010s-band I've heard so far on this generator. The vibe of this album is "Ex's and Oh's" meets Tame Impala psych-rock meets Amy Winehouse-like vocals (3.5).

1 more solo and 3 Crazy Horse albums after this!

Compared to his other albums, the instrumentation and baroque arrangements here are a bit much. They contrast heavily with his voice. (3-3.5)

The first thing that came to mind with this album was how it sounded like the theme songs to a late 60s, early 70s TV show. Then that second song came and I was like, oh this is getting serious.

Stand! manages to balance funk's joyous spirit with the sociopolitical messages of the later half of the decade. I think it's one of those perfect albums that capture the fallout of the flower power movement and the resulting aftermath that leads into the next decade (3.5-4).

My first thoughts were, "this is the lady that did Fast Car" and "I think this is gonna be pure, acoustic folk." The first one was right, the second one, not so much. Interesting how the next few songs after Fast Car fell squarely in the 80s pop sound. I really like the vibe of the opening track and hoped for an album that had a similar vibe, but it ended up turning into that Suzanne Vega record I had a few months ago.

The more I listen to krautrock, the more I notice how their experimental sounds come across as indie movie soundtrack to modern ears. The driving beat resembles disco but is more mechanic and robot-like. It's more daring than something like "En-Tact" and I love it for that (3.5).

It's hard to rate this album w/o considering what Beyoncé was doing before this came out. This record was the start of an "artistic" period for her. But when I first listened to it, I only paid attention to how she was exploring different genres under a loose electronic vibe. I was also fascinated by how she was feeling herself in this album, how frank she was about sexuality.

There were a few songs that stood out to me like Blow for its roller skating funk, Partition and No Angel for their minimalist beats (one more energetic and the other chill), Rocket for sounding like D'Angelo's Untitled, and Haunted for its transition from spoken word to a thumping, electronic atmosphere. That said, some songs were also filler to me (Jealous, XO, Pretty Hurts). If I had to choose an album that best represented Beyonce in this decade, it'd have to be Lemonade. This is more so a taste of what was to come (3.5-4).

So starts the Byrd train 🚂

Without this album, there probably wouldn’t be the Smiths, REM, and those other 80s alt-rock bands with the jangly guitars. Wikipedia said that the Byrds combined British beats with folk sounds and I can kinda see it.

I’d say that “Mr Tambourine Man” is more of a historical relic than it is a great rock album. Most of the songs sound very similar, which makes the record sound like a 30 min track than a collection of songs. But then again, this is also the sound I like to hear from them too, just not too much. Maybe I’ve had my Byrds limit filled for today (3.5).

Poetic (prog-)punk that reminds me of the Velvet Underground's atmospheric and spoken word tracks. It's fascinating listening to this as a result of how simple chords can be experimented with. I've always wanted to listen to this based on the cover, and now I get to do so.

Opener "Gloria" was spectacular. I don't really hear that many songs that turn punk a few minutes later. As for the rest, the long songs didn't seem too lengthy; in fact the punk beats were trance-like.

I think this still reinforces the fact that I'm more of a music than lyrics-person, as the words and their meanings went through their head. Next time, I'll pay closer attention the lyrics and understand more of the poetic side of this record (3.5-4).

It's interesting that this album still has that old school hip hop sound that would turn into the G-funk only a few years later. To my modern ears, it's quite dated and presents a funny contrast: politically conscious and aggressive lyricism mixed with funky, dance beats. Same for the delivery, I find myself trying to "correct" the cadence of the raps 😭.

I was doing my chores while listening to the album, and I noticed that the songs didn't really change much. They were repetitive and long. The silver lining is that I've never heard of Malian folk before, which I wouldn't have listened to w/o this challenge.

People in funk, soul, and R&B were cooking in the 70s and 80s, and the Isley Brothers were no exception to that. This album feels more accessible than Funkadelic and resembles Stevie Wonder's golden period. There were some songs that sounded super close to disco but not really. Even so, this record has all the things I love: grooves, catchy melodies, and harmonies.

Based on the selection from the 1001 Albums, reggae artists seem to focus their songs on sociopolitical themes. Marcus Garvey sounds like an anti-colonial, political statement. But I had a hard time deciphering the rest with how similar the songs flow. It's a little too cohesive, but the longer I listened to it, the more it felt hypnotic and blended nicely (3.5-4).

One of my favourite artists! I first fell in love with this album because of "The Weekend". Then I listened to it in full and liked a lot of the songs. I'm not really sure how to describe this kind of R&B but Ctrl is committed to an introspective, laid-back vibe. It was trip hop for me before I even heard of the genre.

It does overstay its welcome a bit with the last few songs. However, I still really liked the end result. With songs like Drew Barrymore and Garden, anyone can relate to inadequate for someone you like. Much prefer SOS than this album though. (4-4.5)

The guy who kickstarted the Beatles' (and the Western world's) interest in classical Indian music. It's quite similar to jazz in that both use improvisation. The record as a whole feels more like a tutorial than a cohesive album, but I appreciate Ravi's efforts to share music from India to the world.

Listened to The Stooges' Fun House a few months ago. Raw Power by contrast has more calculated rock songs than the jam-based ones in their previous album. Their raw-sounding guitars, provocative lyrics, and Iggy's stage persona probably helped form the modern, rebellious rockstar archetype.

Not much really captivated me here, since I know how the ingredients in this album were all mixed together by other artists to create the punk "cake" I'm familiar with. Raw Power is more of a historical artifact I can listen to once and appreciate how it helped shaped a new sound in the years to come.

Based on my limited knowledge of music, I think this album represented a turn in alternative rock, where it took a more poppy, dance-rock direction. I thought from the band that they'd be more grunge/punk, but I found myself head bopping to a lot of the tracks here.

The music is like the piper heralding a spacey, quirky age.

It's interesting to hear Bowie kind of go back to his roots in art rock but mixing it with jazz styles. By the time I reached the last song, it felt like a complete finale to his career. Thanks for sharing your last work with us David! (3.5-4)

Reminds me of the Toy Story soundtrack, considering he's also the one who made "You've Got A Friend In Me". It's also giving early Elton John.

It's all over the place but also the songs form a cohesive theme. Not really sure what that is though, as not much really stood out to me.