Reviews by loudwillow

Basic hard rock. So simple most novice teen bands can cover them. About as meat and potatoes as you can get. Part of every classic rock playlist.

The thing that made the Sex Pistols different from a lot of other punk bands is that they actually had musical talent. That is one thing that kept this from being the skip fest that a lot of these “must listen” albums were.

Marvin Gaye has a great voice. Aside from some brief moments this album fails to capture his best. The rhythm section was great. The sax had some rough moments. I heard a squeak or two and some strain on the high end. Thematically one dimensional overall.

I really like this album even though I don’t usually like electronic music. It’s well done. But the looping does get monotonous on a few tracks. But the use of actual instruments makes the difference. Some good acoustic guitar too. Which you don’t usually hear in electronic music.

Great high energy rock tunes. Singable lyrics with foot stomping rhythms. Distinctive John Fogerty vocals. This is a keeper.

If this were made in 1964 rather than 2004 there might be some reason to consider this innovative. Anyone with basic knowledge could record random noises into a loop and call it music. Sorry but this album on the same list as some of the best music ever limits the credibility of the whole thing.

Twangy psychedelic rock. Good listen overall. Added to favorites

The opening track was an instrumental. I was thinking this was an 80’s style upbeat synth pop album so maybe listenable. Then the next track - the vocals. When I say this sounded like my cat hacking up a furball, I’m not kidding. He actually burps into the mic in one song. That’s when I heard the most refreshing sound - the sound of the skip button. The fact that this album is 23 tracks makes it the most skipped so far in my journey. An occasional instrumental gave me a reprieve. But overall I have to say this has been one of the worst of the 50ish albums so far. What label in its right mind pays to produce such garbage? Reading the wiki article - which I always do AFTER I listen to the album - makes me think either the reviews were paid for like some 80’s version of an Amazon rating scam or the music critics were collectively insane at the time.

Good reggae album. Not a genre I know much about but it sounded good to me!

Vocal harmonies give it a haunting vibe. Classy piano melodies. Psychedelic tone throughout. Must be the keyboards. I’m hearing Beatles and Beach Boys. Won’t leave my head. Well done.

Some really remarkable moments among a mediocre garage band effort. Covers a lot of genre-ground. Vocals need help.

Not the most creative or interesting album. Some bright spots though.

Singable danceable and melodic. A refreshing change from the cacophony that’s come through this week.

Rhythm was good and much of the lyrics formed an entertaining story. But it’s too bad someone with so much influence chooses to use it to knock education, widely understood to be the best opportunity to escape poverty.

Certainly I just HAD to hear such great tunes as “I Kill Children” and “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” before my demise. They get a point for staying on tempo at such a breakneck speed, and at least the ‘songs’ are short.

Nothing original here. Seems like I’ve heard this clone before but with better execution. Repetitive and monotone. Seems like it was someone’s HS music class project. What criteria got this album on a list of ‘must listen’? I had to force myself to listen to at least part of each song on my commitment to the list.

I’ve got mixed opinions. He’s a great songwriter but just can’t get past that voice. Fortunately the band played the last half and made the album worth the bus ride it took to listen. If I had been anywhere else I would have found something worthwhile to do instead. 11 minutes of Mr Tambourine Man with a lengthy harmonica solo consisting mostly of the same 8 notes? I agree there’s a lot of creativity in his songwriting and I get that he’s been a great influence on a lot of bands that came afterwards - some who are my all-time favorites. But I would rather listen to covers of his songs instead of him.

A few brilliant moments among mediocrity.

A great effort went into writing and producing this album. Points for vocal harmonies on several tracks. Good job by the rhythm section. Still a bit limited with tracks sounding like copypasta.

A great voice is always a winner no matter what genre. Sinatra had one of the greatest.