Reviews by korb

Smoldering, sultry, raucous, and swaying back and forth between soulful and playful. The album covers a ton of ground (Rock - 'Dirty, Dirty Feeling', Do-Wop - 'Solider Boy', Soul - 'It Feels So Right', and even Blues - 'Reconsider Baby') and every single track is firmly footed in a pop sensibility.

The one track I just can't shake though is 'Fever'. Elvis' performance is breathless and breathtaking. The solitary upright bass, surrounded by the ghosts of reverbed vocals and snaps, keep this barely tethered song from flying off. Bursts of bongo fills accentuate the creeping ambiance. It's haunting and seductive.

All-up the album was considerably more enjoyable than I was expecting, made great by exemplary performances by Elvis, the Blue Moon Boys, and all of the supporting vocalists and artists. Shout out to the bass vocalist especially.

Four profoundly talented, creative, and meticulous musicians, each making it sound effortless. I appreciate that this album is extremely accessible, but that it's does that without compromising richness and complexity. You could listen to each track 10 times in a row and still discover new fills and trills with every playthrough.

So, this is the first time I have ever listened to a Rolling Stones album. I know this band is legendary but due to some indelible marks made during my formative years from being bombarded with the song 'Start Me Up', I had put a mental block on them. Now that my time had come, I was glad to find out that I had the wrong impression.

What struck me the most throughout the album, is how varied and diverse the song arrangements were. This is made loud and clear with the opening track. 'Sympathy For The Devil' is slow-to-boil perception bending tale, with a catchy piano progression, a bass guitar, a collection of utility percussionists, some people saying "woo-woo" over and over again, a couple of guitar cameos, and Mic giving it his all on top. Just brilliant.

Songs like 'No Expectations' layer and build and are constructed as they play out. Others tracks, while straight forward in their structure, flourish in that they are built on non-pop roots like delta-blues ('Dear Doctor', 'Prodigal Son') and bluegrass ('Factory Girl').

This is definitely much more than just another classic rock album, and with the one exception of 'Stray Cat Blues', doesn't align (in a great way) with what I was expecting.

Psychedelic blues rock. Yum!

The band sounds effortlessly clean and tight-knit across the entire album. They show they can still deliver some crazed energy on tracks like 'Been down so Long' and 'L'America', but where they really shine are on the cool and casual tracks like 'Cars Hiss by My Window', 'Crawling King Snake', and 'Riders on the Storm'.

"I've lost my harmonica Albert" - haha, ded!

The tracks are spatial and moody and strike me as a group doing their level best to take the harsh edges off of their nascent electronic instruments.

The vocals mostly blend into the crowded early 80's emo/electro scene, but there are moments where the singer's snaps out of the act, which I found far more sincere and engaging.

Honestly, my impressions on the album are all over the place. Tracks like 'Motion And Heart' show how bad things can get, whereas 'Extended Souvenir' and 'Of All The Things We've Made' work way better. Then there are tracks somewhere in the middle, like 'Sacred Heart', where I think the synthwave backtrack is great, but the vocal track just kills it for me.

I am curious to see where the group went from here, but I probably won't end up coming back to this album in particular.

Bad boy glam rock packed full of bluesy riffs, furious drumming, and synth fills. I can practically hear the sweat rolling off their chest hair and onto their skin tight vinyl pants!

I honestly never fully appreciated just how great a track 'Hot For Teacher' is. Each part played and sung is remarkable on it's own, and they fold and flow together so perfectly. 'Girl Gone Bad' is another impressive showing by the band, showing just how tight the band is with or without David Lee Roth.

Still walking the fine line between calm and chaotic, although maybe a bit more refined in places than prior PJ Harvey albums.

As I've said with other artists that have multiple albums on this list, I don't understand what makes this one substantially different from PJ Harvey's debut album, such that she merits double billing. It would make more sense to me to just have a shorter list, then continuing to fill it with multiple albums from the same artist that basically represent the same thing.

Normally, I'm in for this sort of album; Especially with one of the greats, such as Billie Holiday! But this album just felt like a complete production miss. The orchestral arrangements strike me as overly glossy and schmaltzy. On the other hand, Billie's vocals sound strained, especially during the line punctuating vibratos (of which there is one on nearly every single line).

Honestly, I expected something great, but after 3 attempts, I just couldn't sit through the full length album.

The album is straight forward, raw in parts and laser focused on telling the story of a woman afloat in a setting that is as ill-fitting as hand-me-down clothes.

The emotional baseline of the album isn't explosive or outraged like some of Liz's female-lead contemporaries (i.e. Alanis), but much more dry-witted and ambivalent akin to Courtney Barnett (who I really hope is on this list!)

For exemplary paired down tracks, I'd point to 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' and 'Shatter'. For songs that include the band, I enjoyed 'Never Said' and 'Divorce Song'. Floating somewhere in between the two vibes are great tracks like 'Soap Star Joe'.

A tight rock and roll set played in front of a jubilant Japanese audience. The break between each track reveals an almost beatlemania-esqe fervor amongst the crowd, which had to have been a thrill for the band as well!

I feel like the energy just exploded on 'Come On, Come On', relented a bit during 'Need Your Love', and then just hard charged all the way through to the 'Clock Strikes Ten' encore. Also, the 'Hello There' and 'Goodnight' bookend tracks on the performance were a nice touch of showmanship.

All told, this had to have been an epic show and is translated fantastically to recording, which is saying a lot for a live performance.

Bonus points for 'Surrender' starting off with a sound bite that was sampled by the Beastie Boys.

Songs that speak fondly of loves past and yet to come, played out over a mostly American roots rock stage, with occasional forays into bluegrass, gospel, country, and rock. Its sweet, refreshing, and well-rounded.

I know I'm supposed to view this group through a funk lens, but there is so much rock and jam in this album, I don't think it's right to limit my view. That idea is perfect captured both lyrically and musically in the track 'Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!"

Building from that idea, I think that spirit is a major part of why this album leaves such an indelible impression. Each track forces you to open your mind further and further, both on what you think the band is, and on various serious and nonsensical topics. But none of it comes across as heavy handed. They just want to help bring one nation together under a groove!

Highlight tracks for me would be 'One Nation Under a Groove', 'Cholly', and especially 'Maggot Brain / Chant'.

Not my speed at all.

There are moments in and amongst the eclectic variety of jams, but it's a bit too scatter shot for me to really get into. It's too bad because the first track ('Krautrock') really worked for me, so I was stoked to see where it was heading. By the time I got to 'Lauft', I was lost.

Janelle shows boundless creativity and talent across these 18 tracks and takes ample time to tip her hat to numerous inspirations. The album is a variable periodic table of musical elements; Funk, Rab, R&B, Classical, Latin, Swing, Pop, Samba, Jazz, Psychedelic, Rock, Folk, Ballads and maybe even some Broadway.

Stand out tracks for me are 'Neon Valley Street', 'Dance or Die', 'Come Alive', '57821' and 'Tightrope'.

A fine enough blend of county and rock with a touch of folks, played in a way that kind of sounds like a bunch of songs that you've heard a million times on the radio. It's ok, but I wouldn't call it gold.

I'll give'm this. They knew the sound they were aiming for and they nailed it. Not sure I'm very into it though.

A handful of classics and the clear show of the promise yet to come from this band.

It's like prog-rock, but instead of the musical parts being complicated, you just strum three chords and say every single word that comes to your mind. Bleh.