Reviews by john

I listened to this literally the day before this for the first time because it was on apples top 100 💀

Surely the frat boys at the time ATE this up

Hope There’s Someone was lifted/covered by Avicii and it’s just as beautiful as it is here. I was so excited to hear the original here opening the album. And it’s consistently as raw and emotional throughout. Lots of great messaging about identity and self-discovery in the singers journey of finding a true self

Pulling the CCR album last week with Looking Out My Backdoor, which mentions Buck Owens, was a summoning ritual for him to appear this week.

There’s nothing like a good ol steel guitar. Which made me realize that people our age might like the steel guitar because of…SpongeBob. Of all things. Anyways this was surprisingly enjoyable front to back. Simple, compact, easy country listening

What I wish for from more rock albums of its time. Ambitious and focused, some generational singles to come out of this one. The British had rockestra down, I can point to this and all of ELO’s greatest hits as evidence

It’s American Gorillaz! Same sort of lofi drum loop sampling with some twangy vocal noodling at its best, waffles out a little too long at its worst towards the end. Might hit a lot harder smoking weed on a porch in the middle of nowhere

You shouldn’t be allowed to be this horny and this weird

Milquetoast at best. Forgettable delivery of almost every song

It is STRIKING how powerful the tom drums and other floor drums just PUNCH through your headphones. Especially since they’re being banged on so constantly. I would love to know how one ends up liking this music as casual listening, how many holes you have to go through. Very interesting, very frenetic

Haven’t and won’t do a deep dive on CCR’s discography, but I’m willing to bet this is their best album. It feels the most directed and concise, not just one folksy honkeytonk song after another. When I was like 5-6, I used to LOVE the song Traveling Band. I’d scream the screaming part and everything

He was cookin
The band was cookin
Even the crowd was cookin

They made a sizzlin dish 🤌

It’s like if No Doubt was a new wave band!
-wildly strong, unique female lead vocalist (who is just a little quirky)
-mostly faceless male instrumentalists who keep it tight in the backing tracks
-a dynamic that produced some of the most spunky pop tracks of its respective time

I’m calling this “One Tree Hill Core”.

First half of the album or so is easy on the ears, with a slight influence of post rock. A little melodramatic at times, like this is so clearly made for 2000’s dramas. There is a weird point in the album, from “Catch The Sun” onward there’s a consistant need to sound like a British foo fighters ripoff?
A hilarious shot of nostalgia for turn of the century tv series enjoyers.

I love me a good horn section but this can be a bit excessive at times. Fun, easy listening, but it always sounds like they’re falling a little short of a pop hit they’re aiming for. Meanders around a lot

What the Cold War does to a mf 💀💀💀

I’m assuming they’re repeating Germanic phrases that center around social issues? Truly the Death Grips of their time, except this made a bit more sense than death grips do tbh. Never listening to this again, but I get it and respect it

I don’t hate this album as much as I used to, even if morissey is still way too whiney. This probably hit super hard if you were a British teen back then. The instrumental composition is really good. The fact that this got a 3 out of me is saying a lot. It just makes me want to listen to Brand New. Similar amounts of whiney crooning

For better or worse, this is one of the most American albums I’ve heard. Honkeytonk and blues as far as the eye can see. But this shouldn’t be on here. I don’t care that ABB is tight in a live setting. It just isn’t pertinent enough to be anywhere near this list - we as millennials/genz must overthrow the makers of it.
You wanna actually learn something from ABB? Whatever you do, don’t ride your motorcycle in Macon, Georgia. There. That’s more interesting than the umpteenth classic rock live album on here

Fun musical ideas turned into whole journeys. Well ahead of its time and aside from everything else that was coming out around then, with the exception of maybe Brian Eno. Great way to start my morning with this album

Elite r&b. The Wurlitzer-rhodsy chords just glide through this whole album creating a masterclass in atmosphere. Perfect amount of crooning. Punchy yet subtle basslines. Wonderful

Radical for its time, but a time we are so far removed from that it doesn’t shake any modern musical conventions

While impressive for it’s time, is this album really that unique when you strip it of it’s psychedelic presentation? Clapton doesn’t even carry it