Reviews by magsmusic

Its mellow and chill and there are a lot of hits. But its really kind of meh. Its two siblings just signing pleasantly together. This is one of those albums that maybe you had to be there to really really appreciate it because I don't see what is so musically amazing for it to win 8 Grammy's. Would I listen again? Sure...but will it go on a playlist, probably not.

Ehhh....this was wanna be Muse or Rage Against the Machine but they do it worse. Some songs have good parts (Take the Veil) but then it became awful.

Of all the 90's rap, this is not as good or as talented as others. Ice Cube is slower and his rhymes aren't as good as others. He makes good political statements but I don't think the talent is as good as other rappers of the time. Then there is they misogyny, its really all over this album.

I feel like I am in an aquarium watching fish swim around. Or one of those 3D or Imax movies showing me giant pictures of space or the world.
Most of it is pleasant but all of it is long, far too long. I see why people got to know them through soundtracks. These songs would fit perfectly into the next Fantasia to see how others conceptualize the music. For me to just sit and listen to, I will pass.

Hmmmm...U2 in the 2000's. They did not move so farm from their original selves to feel like this was a complete 'sell out' album, but there are bits that feel like they are just keeping up with the times.
They have big themes, mental health, aging, violence, and battling evil, all these topics fall into their wheelhouse and are important topics to focus on. But something about it just doesn't have the same passion or emotional depth as their early work. Maybe the themes are too much or too varied or just trying to build it around today's lens...but it not their best.
Stuck in a moment is top for me. The hits are good, the rest aren't bad, just sort of meh for U2.

Overall solid and enjoyable. Quality Rolling Stones at their best.

Now Brown Sugar....its not okay, not right. Yes they stopped playing it, but Richards said, I don't get why they are mad its about slavery and hopefully we will get to play it again someday. So maybe it is and maybe we can bend that he is "trying" to make a political statement, but he never says that and never tries to explain the point they were trying to make. He just wants to play it again because its fun and that is the problem. Yes when this song was written it was a different time, and maybe it was more acceptable, but its not now. Say that, own up to the it, and say for that reason we choose to remove it from our sets, period...the end. I wanna give it a 4, but the response to Brown Sugar makes me take a star away.

How to rate something that I just don't enjoy....I want to, I really do, but the scattered nature of the music just doesn't jive with my brain. There are moments that I start to fall into but then the scatteredness comes in and I get distracted.
Knowing Coltrane is one of the heavy hitters in jazz I tried this time to really focus and fall into the uncomfortableness in the lack of pattern in the music but it just is still not my thing. If I pull out each piece individually they are good and great parts of the time. The piano in part 3 is beautiful and the trumpet throughout I enjoy, but it is all of them together that just don't draw me in.

I feel like we have had him before and that was enough (side point...i would argue more that one album from any band is too much, we get there voice and influence in one album). I don't get his appeal, he is obsessed with death... He is goth and trying to be shocking and against the grain. This one was more palatable then the last but still just grating. It almost feels like he is trying to hard and turning it into satire, which would make it better, but it's not... It feels like a waste of time and space on the list where I could discover someone else worthwhile

I wish the warm California sun was shining on me today! I listened to Beach Boys often growing because my parents loved them. They are really their own thing, and they do that thing well. They play surfer music in a nice layered pop way focusing on a really simple life, but they seem to realize growing up might be necessary. Lots of good hits on this one that warm the soul with some happy sunny vibes

I really enjoyed it overall and listening to the fusion between traditional latinx influence, hip hop and pop music. There were songs like Who's To Blame that had great lyrcis, but melodies were a little one note. America was another that had really good lyrics but melodies almost seemed to fun and beach party to stand up to a strong message, but pop music does that all the time so maybe reflecting, I don't mind it. Fortunate Song, Born in the USA, American Woman...they were all doing what this album does really well, make a deep message but cover it with fun catchy melodies that make them hard to not sing and dance to, so we all sing it and pass the message along.
My only criticism is sometimes the sounds varied so much that the album didn't feel cohesive (Street signs to America to Saturday Night). But the latinx essence in all songs carried it through enough to be a solid 4.

I liked the early stuff better than the later stuff on this album. The beginning felt more unique and different in the techno realm but as it went on it really started to feel much more run of the mill techno. Gotta be honest I was a little surprised this was a white guy. Wikipedia says he "revolutionized hip hop" and his "work involves manipulating samples, taking rare and seldom-heard pieces of music and reworking them into parts and phrases for his songs." Is this album just included so that we could cut out 101 other albums from the list? And who are those artists that were cut out, what messages did we miss from their music so it could be sampled and repackaged into a potentially more palatable commercially appealing album? What credit financially and professionally did those artists receive? What overall message did we miss by only sampling their music?

So its metal...honestly it all ends up sounding the same in the end. I give it a 3 only because in terms of metal this is palatable. I don't immediately want to turn it off, the singer isn't constantly hoarsly screaming, the guitar riffs are musically impressive, and the drums add to the music (not just volume). Some songs were almost okay (Poison was the Cure and Lucretia). But it is a metal 3, not a regular 3

I need a Prozac/Zolaft cocktail after that album. I get it death is the only inevitable and if we focus on that too much this is what happens. There are some musically good points like Madeline-Mary and some of the back half songs. But the overwhelming sadness and depression is just too much for me to feel great about this album.

I go super back and forth on this. Its Prince and he is really good and songs like It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night just hit really well. I also think his sexy songs are just great. The ones that fall short are the ones where he is talking about things outside of sex, which is awful to say because he is allowed to talk about other things, but he just doesn't do it as well. I hate giving Prince a 3 because some of the songs are definitely 5's but some just seem almost amateur. Sorry Prince, but this was not my favorite of yours.

Its so down, but so good. So many of us have felt all these songs and felt completely overwhelmed by life and who we are. Hearing them is so gut wrenching yet beautiful. She also has such a beautiful unique sound. Its not perfect, but that is part of what her appeal is. Her ability to story tell and share such deep emotions is intensified by her voice and he music.

Atherial, chill, and melancholy on a gloomy day. Enjoyable and a little different from what I was expecting but cool.

Cool concept, well executed but got old after a while

I like this. I feel like alt rock is so expansive and can incorporate some many things now with the influences of tech and synethizers and how they impact sound. This is an album that shows more young and modern takes on society with a new and different sound. Sometimes it gets a little whiny but overall I appreciate the newness and uniqueness this brings to music.

So I want to go back and forth from a 2 to a 3....
Jane's Addiction is different and developed a music style all of their own, mixing metal, rock, punk and electronic vibe. There are some really guitar shreds and the drums are good, and some of the lyrics are good making some great songs (Mountain Song, Jane Says). Then other times Perry sounds so whiny and repetitive and the guitar does the same and the songs don't really go anywhere for me....I really wish we could do half stars.

If I heard each of these songs separately I would highly enjoy them. But as a whole it became really blah and long. At times I didn't even realize we had moved on to a new song.