Reviews by james_mir

I have never heard about Traffic more than a few words, and I don't think I listened to more than 1 or 2 songs. Now I'm in love with this album. It started so "standard", sounding like any other rock band from the '60s/70s, but it increased and doubled the bet on a strange (and familiar at the same time) mix of blues, classic rock, and a bit of experimentalism that really catches me.

I hope to see more Traffic on the list since I got "John Barleycorn Must Die" some months ago, and it was far from the work I see here at this album.

Sometimes, I feel I like Bob Dylan's work much less than I should like. By listening to many of his albums along this list, I'm more and more convinced that I just assumed I should like him for no particular reason, even without actually listening to his songs.

Anyway, it's a good album, but maybe it's, in fact, not my cup of tea or maybe I'm not ready for it yet...

I had never heard about David Ackles before. Based on the Wikipedia page and the first songs of this album, I was ready to consider this album just another folk-like attempt to be a great album and with a final importance only for a few Americans proud of anything produced in the USA between 1970 and 1990 as the "upper" quality among all songs (which is entirely fake). For me, it was worth a maximum of 2 stars.

However, some other songs caught my attention when they sounded more like Sinatra-style, jazzy, and big-band songs I usually enjoy more. I also liked the last songs' beautiful instrumental/orchestral work, so my initial assumptions were wrong. Indeed, it can be an attempt to sound important. Still, the variety of styles and interesting instrumental work proved that if it's impossible to achieve it, the dedicated effort is worth it. Maybe it's not an essential album for everyone, but not being perfect and sounding like an honest musical attempt made this (before completely unknown) album important for me.

I love it when I get an album that does not look like any promise, and it finishes being a great album and also an influence for bands and artists I'm a fan.

Also, I'm increasingly enjoying discovering numerous bands of proto-punk (and its subgenres) together with actual punk bands I was unaware of.

4 stars, without a doubt.

Besides "American Pie," which became an anthem for a wide range of situations and the mandatory soundtrack for half of the movies/series produced in the USA, since it is indeed a great song, the rest of the album is not bad but is forgettable.

I'm more and more sure I don't like Krautrock

I'm reaching the 700 albums listened to here and was missing this kind of Hardrock. Maybe it is my mood or the fact that I got too much country and electronic music and didn't get enough glam/hard rock yet, but the energy around this album is all I enjoyed when I discovered this kind of music.

I'll surely listen to more of The cult, even knowing Wikipedia that this release is different from their previous albums. By the way, his producer's Wikipedia description of this album as a mix of AC/DC and Led Zepellin is quite accurate for reference. Nice job, mister Rick Rubin.

This is not the best Jorge Ben album, but it's still a too much strong release to do not to rate with 5 stars.

whatever. 2 stars

According to the Wikipedia page, this album has some different releases. I'm unsure if I picked the right one. I don't know if I care.

By the band name, I was expecting some interesting underground Riot grrrl, but I got generic 90s indie rock without much to serve. The first songs are good, but the album per see is dispensable.

This is hard to evaluate. At the same time, it is a timeless album and a very dated collection of songs. In 2023 I can't rate it with five stars, but its importance for the music history and my emotional link with some of these songs ensure the four stars without much effort.

The information about this album here on the site is wrong. It should indicate that this is just an Oasis album with another name and not as successful as the others.

According to the Wikipedia page, they wanted to be "distant" from the grunge movement happening in the 90s.

Yeah, it could be better to keep out this idea and just follow the flow. Some people are talented enough to oppose some trends, but it's not the case here.

This is much better than the "Aha Shake Heartbreak" I received some months ago on the 1001 list. It's still not so remarkable, and it will be lost in the history of indie rock from the 2000s, but it's unfair to rate it with three stars when compared with the "Aha Shake Heartbreak."

I'll rate it with 4 stars, but with some effort and considering the best songs, it's a 3.5 album.

The Wikipedia page really turned me on this album with a bunch of possibilities in mind. Yeah, it's good, but I was expecting too much from an album.

The great by the most significant pop singer until today is not something I can evaluate.

This is a very impressive release that really looks like a personal effort of a very dedicated (maybe obsessive) person. It sounds like a continuation of the Beach Boys' work at the same time that includes many new pieces of music highly interesting for any music fan. A mixture of styles and lyrics, and instruments that compounds a masterpiece.
Unfortunately, it sounds a bit old for 2004, but having in mind it was planned to be a BB album after Pet Sounds is enough to get all the geniality behind it.

This is very far from what I know about The Cure. I was expecting something different, and this is not exactly bad, but I guess I need some other listening sessions to evaluate it accurately, honestly.

I usually appreciate the Cure, even not being a fan of everything. This album sounds explicitly a bit more down than other of their songs but still has enough energy to help me to reach the end of the album.

I can get the historical importance of this album, and King Crimson was responsible (thanks to the 1001 list) for my discoveries on experimentalism and progressive rock. On the other hand, as expected for their first release (still starting to mix up stuff with the most basic rock lines), this album is a bit repetitive and not so easy to listen to. The song "The Court Of The Crimson King" is truly amazing, but the rest of the album could be much better, as their own proved in their later releases.