Reviews by mkaddour2001

I think there are two versions of this album? I listened to the version without 'Paint it Black' because of this album cover...which bummed me out at first because I really like that particular song - but the alternative opener here 'Mother's Little Helper' was honestly great and easily the best song here. It has that subtly ominous vocal and riff combo that reminds me a lot of 'Paint it Black' - it's almost like the same song from a different universe or something.

I think this is a cool album: but it dips in quality really fast - to the point where I'd say the first three tracks including the bitter 'Stupid Girl' and tranquil 'Lady Jane' are where this album peaks. I wasn't a huge fan of the long song off this album 'Going Home', it felt sort of hollow despite the addictive jam direction it goes into in its second half. 'Out of Time' is another highlight here...it has probably the sickest bassline on the whole album and also contains this album's closest thing to actual "harmonies". Which is funny, because while it's certainly Rock N' Roll in essence, this album's sounds and structures are quite poppy sounding and accessible. I really liked 'I Am Waiting' for that exact reason - it's super catchy and melodically sweet.

While I do think it picks up some steam in its final few songs, the entire album comes off as pretty directionless to me. I think that's how I feel about the Rolling Stones' sound in general, but I think this sort of messy and all-over-the-place country-pop-rock presentation goes over way better on later releases like 'Sticky Fingers'.

For as much as I've heard his name thrown around, I know very little about Alice Cooper. Surface-level research leads me to believe the guy had a very shocking stage persona (one supposedly inspired by Arthur Brown) - so I decided to scope it out for myself on YouTube while listening to this. To me at least, it seems he moreso conjured up the image of being shocking rather than actually being shocking if that makes sense (but then again I "researched" this for 5-minutes tops). In a way, it mirrors the way I felt about this album.

For a "hard-rock" record it sure isn't very "hard", and it's quite messy. Alice Cooper himself, as a vocalist and lyricist, while not super special, is the standout here. His voice was built for this time and sound, and lyrically, while it doesn't quite live up to the already loose description "shock rock" (say for maybe the imagery of a school blowing up on the title track), is at least somewhat interesting. Quite a few songs are "anti-school" in their sentiments, thematically this whole thing is quite consistent and plays out almost like some sort of teenage flick. I quite liked 'Public Animal #9' which follows the false promises offered by the schooling system and I interpreted 'My Stars' in a similar fashion.

I just wish I enjoyed the music here more. The album uses a wide array of instruments, and I mostly enjoyed the cinematic closing instrumental 'Grande Finale', but there are some tacky-as-all-hell moments here. With that said, the saving grace of this album is just how much character it has.

I'll be the first to say that aside from heavy hitters like Slow Dive and MBV, '90s shoegaze has always been very hit-or-miss for me. Sadly, I was on the milder side for 'Nowhere'. I just started phasing out after the song 'Polar Bear'. The individual songs just weren't gripping me in any way, and the washed-out vocals, a shoegaze staple, started to take their toll on my mind. It's just so background-y, not bad at all but trying to stay focused here was a challenge. The songs are very static, and they all sound very similar to one another. For as much as I didn't like the vocals, the lyrics did fit quite snuggly into this atmosphere - constantly projecting these dream-like images onto the music - I especially liked the morbidity of the song 'Decay'. I also really liked 'In a Different Place', the almost metal-sounding opening guitars to 'Paralyzed', and the gorgeous final minute or so of 'Vapour Trail' that leads into this sole violin, sending the album off. Aside from that though, I didn't really get much out of this listen.

wtf, why'd no one tell me about this album - this was GORGEOUS. Admittedly, I've always been a sucker for dusty, Spector-esque wall-of-sound backed '60s pop-music - groups like the Ronettes for example. And this scratches every single itch in that particular book - helped by the hefty serving of soulful Aretha Franklin-inspired vocals. For starters, the string arrangements here, especially on songs like 'In The Land Of Make Believe' and 'The Windmills Of Your Mind', are so unbelievably intricate and lush, but also in a plane of their own, one quite distant from the vocals. And god the vocals and melodies here are flawless - not super unique or anything, but just super well done.

It's weird that the song 'Son Of A Preacher Man' is so much more popular than any other song here (I looked it up, the song is in 'Pulp Fiction' apparently, which I don't even remember) - it's a bit more upbeat, groovy, and immediate than most of the songs here - I quite enjoyed it, but not as much as the string-backed ballads. My favorite has to be 'So Much Love', I've listened to this one song like four times while writing this review. I love that string melody at the beginning and those harmonized vocals are everything I love about this type of music. This entire record is also the perfect length...like I was perfectly content with my listening experience by the time the final track 'I Can't Make It Alone' ended. For an album that constantly revisits similar sounds (NOT a bad thing), it would've risked sounding repetitive if it had gone on any longer. Or maybe I'm completely wrong in making that assumption - I did enjoy like every single song after all.

I mean this is just perfect '60s pop - nothing more to say. It's so blissful and brightened up the otherwise dismal day I've been having. It takes a pretty special album to do that.

You know what's funny, as soon as this thing started I thought the lead singer, Ian Astbury, sounded a lot like Jim Morrison revived in the '80s hair metal scene. Well turns out the guy fronted a The Doors tribute band with some of the Doors' core members. Pretty cool - I haven't listened to that tribute band but I can only assume he does a good enough job.

As for 'The Cult' and this album in particular, it's pretty good all things considered. I mean this sound has gotten kind of stale for me - but I genuinely have no complaints when it comes to the vocals, playing, and song structures here...it's just they're nothing really special either. I did like the song 'Lil Devil' quite a bit.

Probably the most "krautrock" a single krautrock album can sound. It's extraordinarily strange, though not entirely the type of "strange" I enjoy - I guess "kooky" is the right word. Some parts haven't aged all that well either, while others still sound sick today. I liked the choppy falsetto vocal samples on 'Cool in the Pool'. Come to think of it, the vocal sampling here was the most impressive part - I quite enjoyed the inclusion of Farsi (I think?) vocals on 'Persian Love'.

In isolation, the sounds here sound pretty cool, be it the string segments, the basslines, or the groovy final minutes to 'Hollywood Symphony' - but everything sounds so incoherent - constantly jumping around and switching tone so frantically without any distinct structure. Instruments and ideas fade in and out like nothing. Overall though, I still dug what I heard here - it's not bad at all.

I dread reviewing this thing, because no matter what, I'll never be able to do this special album justice. As I've gone on listening to more and more hip-hop over the years, this particular record has crawled its way to the top of my "favorite albums of all time" list. And I wouldn't hesitate to call it my favorite hip-hop album of all time. And I'll tell you why.

Public Enemy's 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' (and '80s hip-hop in general), gets a uniquely unfortunate rep. That "rep" being: unanimous critical acclaim - with 10s across the board, but a mild reception post-translation to younger hip-hop heads. You'll get the occasional "This album is essential!" or... "It's one of the greatest in hip-hop!" paired with, of course, the "But I wouldn't put it on willingly - this is an album I respect more than I enjoy". And I'm not here to shit on other people's opinions, but for once, I'm with the critics on this one - all the way through.

It wouldn't really help my case to reduce this album to its significance in hip-hop history - that aspect has been well-documented by every self-proclaimed "music historian" - individuals who are way more qualified to describe this record more objectively in its historical context than I. And of course, you have the testimonies of the people who actually witnessed this thing firsthand in the late '80s. I, on the other hand, was born in 2001 so all I have is the occasional documentary, and of course, my ears to try and shoot me back to this time and era. With all that said, you'd be hard-pressed to find a hip-hop album that was as politically fueled as this one around that time...PE drew heavily from the worlds of punk after all (with the Anthrax reference here right off the bat). But also, their whole "persona" just screamed "rebellious" - you have this image of Chuck D and Flav behind bars, you've got their logo being a black man seen through a sniper crosshair, and of course you have their name being Public Enemy (#1). Maybe describing this album and its ideas as angry is in of itself reductive, because this album's more passionate than anything, and with the closing song, you're getting something genuinely anthemic. Though maybe no song here is quite as anthemic as their seminal song 'Fight the Power' that would come out of their (nearly as good) follow-up 'Fear of a Black Planet' - a staple when it comes to movements resisting racial oppression in the modern era (and also a core sonic motif in my favorite Spike Lee movie 'Do the Right Thing').

Okay time to talk about the music, I think the best way to go about this is to break this group down into its four distinct pillars:

First, let's talk about Chuck D. Every word the guy says sounds like it's coming out of the loudest PA system you can find in the center of some benign yet passionate conglomerate of militants. His deep voice is assertive, yet welcoming and the man does not shy away from tackling the most hot-button of topics from the '80s. His constant repping of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam can be seen as contentious and/or problematic even today though its importance in hip-hop culture can not be understated - it again adds to this album's historical value. 'Don't Believe the Hype' might have his best rapping here, with him constantly telling the listeners to "Not believe the hype" when it comes to the media and press' close-minded opinions and portrayals of Public Enemy, the black community, and hip-hop in general. 'Louder Than A Bomb' has D voicing his grievances with the FBI and the CIA referencing Malcolm X and MLK's assassinations directly and linking them to those shady U.S. agencies. That paired with the bomb imagery of the track and his whispered "Louder than a Bomb" makes this one of the more striking tracks here. 'Caught, Can We Get A Witness' has him coming at individuals who devalue the art of sampling, 'She Watch Channel Zero?!' deals with the disconnection from reality and unrealistic standards that come with obsessive media consumption (a message made only more relevant with the social media age). 'Night of the Living Baseheads' deals with drug addiction and 'Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos' may be my favorite song here lyrically. Likely inspired by Muhammad Ali's arrest following his refusal to fight in Vietnam, the song follows Chuck D's prison time for committing a similar "crime" and his posse's attempt to break him out. "I got a letter from the government" is such an iconic opening line (I also really like "Bass!! How low can you go" off the opener 'Bring the Noise'). 'Rebel Without a Pause' is nice in the sense that it just encapsulates all of this album's attitudes into one explosive track - it's another timeless classic off of this album.

Secondly, we have Flavour Flav...the man with a clock on his chest to make sure EVERYONE knows what time it is. Like it's not even close, Flav IS the best hype man of all time. I get nightmares imagining a world where he didn't get into the group - I mean he almost didn't; producer Rick Rubin thought Flavour Flav would detract from the album's serious tone. And I guess he was sort of right? But like Flav makes this album so unique and gives it so much character, his interjections all over this thing are undeniably impactful. And no he's not just the "Yeah Boy" guy - he really does make Public Enemy feel like a group. And just like Ringo, he gets one song on each Public Enemy album - his one here being tied with '911 is a Joke' for my favorite. It's certainly less meaningful than that song because like what the fuck is he talking about half the time on 'Cold Lampin' With Flavor'? I'm not too sure but I love it to death.

Third is Terminator X. The guy has an ominous and looming presence on this album - this tall mysterious dude with sunglasses who's hyped up like no one else on this record. I mean what's an old-school hip-hop album without record scratches? Okay maybe that's a dismissive question but record-scratching here adds a lot to the chaotic nature of this album. He makes quite the "entrance" too with his titular song 'Terminator X At the Edge of Panic' by absolutely fucking up that Queen sample.

Now, I don't know who's responsible for this ONE noise on this record, but I'll credit it to both Terminator X and the Bomb Squad (more on them in a bit). This ONE sound may be the biggest "hate it or love it" thing on any hip-hop album I've heard. Of course, I'm talking about that squealing and screeching, high-pitched saxophone sample that is used very liberally here. And when I say "liberally", I mean it, on 'Don't Believe The Hype', it pops in like every single bar. And on 'Terminator X...' and 'Rebel Without A Pause' it IS the beat (I think they use the same sound too? Just chromatically ascending on Rebel and descending on Terminator). Anyways, I bet you can guess already...but I'm on the love-it side of things. Like Flav, this one sound gives this album its character. It sounds like a siren, or a bomb about to go off, or like a kettle whistling as the heat furiously shoots out of it. I think a lot of people hate how incessantly grating it can sound and I wouldn't blame them - but the boldness of adding a sound that Public Enemy KNEW would likely polarize listeners on this album and then also using it so freely is something I will forever respect. It certainly grows on you too.

Finally, though, we have the Bomb Squad. Just their name...Bomb Squad...holy shit. I mean the samples on this album are all hip-hop staples, the amount of times the samples of this record have been used (or re-used I guess) in hip-hop is ridiculous. The drums are fat and punchy, constantly pummeling and thumping, and while the bass isn't very present (I guess it does go "very low" as Chuck D himself admits), I almost don't mind at all - the mix is busy enough as is. For people who call this album outdated, I NEED you to sit down, get some good headphones, and absorb the intricacies of the production here. The beats are so well done. You have horn samples here, a lot of them, but digging deep you'll find some unique and strange noises that can easily slip by you. Let's take the full opener 'Bring the Noise' for example. On the surface, it's a horn sample, with a large chunk of it being only drum, but listen to that weird high-pitched horn-sounding thing that sort of morphs as Chuck D gets closer to the instrumental break here - or that strange fluttering noise that sounds like record scratching, but I don't think quite is? Or on 'Louder Than a Bomb' with the weird crowd cheering or screaming in the background. The piano, an Isaac Hayes sample, on 'Black Steel In The House of Chaos' is beyond iconic and brilliant, it works perfectly to soundtrack the song's very epic yet unsettling premise. I also love the wall of horns that blasts the listener on 'Prophet of Rage' with that low-mixed guitar sample hovering over the verses. I also cannot ignore the Slayer sample on 'She Watch Channel Zero?!' one of the most striking sample usages of the '80s and one that demands a reaction from the listener.

But, by far the best production here is 'Night of the Living Baseheads'. This is my favorite song here and it also has one of my favorite music videos of all time. I beg you to look up the sample list for this song, it's long and nuts, sampling everyone from Aretha Franklin to David Bowie. It's so chaotic as you're just constantly being hit with sample after sample. It really does sound like something off their follow-up - a proto-plunderphonics record if you will. And holy shit that instrumental breakdown after the halfway mark...the horn sample, the "How Low Can you Go" record scratching, (of course) that high-pitched noise, the drums, and the way it transitions back into the verse with that 'Ain't No Half-Stepping'-associated Big Daddy Kane sample (I looked it up out of curiosity seeing as both songs came out in June 1988 - this 'UFO' sample was used twice within the span of like 7 days which is crazy). I don't think anyone will be able to do what The Bomb Squad did in those 20 seconds, ever, and don't even try to prove me wrong.

I think about one paragraph in, this "review" stopped being a review and just turned to me gushing over this album. So I didn't do it justice I guess. I think over the years, I've just grown obsessed with this one album - more than any other album out there. If I ever was to do music it'd have to sound like this, not literally sound like this, but just sound like the idea of how this sounds...y'know. What an album...one so bold, powerful, prevalent, iconic, and one-of-a-kind. Public Enemy's 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' really is THE best hip-hop album ever.

I can understand why this is many people's favorite Coldplay album - it's so comforting and embracing. But the soft acoustic and piano-driven sound, Martin's warm, held-back vocal performances, and straightforward lyricism have always held it back for me compared to some of their later 2000s works. I personally never liked the song 'Sparks' all that much but 'Yellow' may be one of my favorite Coldplay songs - it's tear-jerkingly nostalgic for me and always hits a beautiful melancholic spot. I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of the greatest love songs of all time.

I also like the opener 'Don't Panic' quite a lot but yeah overall not the biggest fan of this one. It's nice to vibe to in the background though.

Words cannot describe how much I love Brian Eno and his music. Not only did the man cultivate an entirely unique sound in the '70s, but he's widely considered a forefather of one of my favorite music genres, ambient. I've always enjoyed the precursor to this album 'Another Green World' for that exact reason with its bold fusions of art rock and slow transition into pure ambient in its second half. This album however ditches most of those ambient sounds in favor of these lyrically cryptic and kooky art rock tracks. Admittedly this "regression" in sound turned me off this record initially, but 'Before and After Science' has done nothing but grow on me in the past few years. It even grew on me just a liiiitle bit more with this most recent listen.

This album, like many of Eno's works, is beyond life itself. It doesn't feel of this planet. The percussion is so wayward, the songs violently shift in tone and atmosphere blasting you into these textured environments that may very well re-structure your brain matter or what have you and give you a new-found perspective on life. And no, I'm definitely not exaggerating! The song 'Backwater' is the grooviest thing here and is unabashedly catchy - and I have no idea what it's even about! 'King's Lead Hat', an anagram for "Talking Heads", is another catchy highlight that sounds a bit too much like David Byrne and company on the 1980 Eno-produced 'Remain in Light'...another absolute classic. I love the cacophonous and glitchy keyboard sounds that send this track off - that particular portion does not sound like something from '87...let alone '77. The best song here has to be 'By This River', but god it's so sad. I almost hate listening to it because it makes me picture the happiest place I can ever be in only to realize, usually once the song is over, that I'll never get there, as this painting is too perfect to manifest in this miserable world. And that humming at the end always gets me.

I mentioned Eno sort of strays from the ambient sounds of his previous record here but a song like 'Through Hollow Lands' is one of his greatest ambient works and I love the way it seamlessly fades out and then into the closer 'Spider and I'. I don't know what it is about this closer but the image of Eno and his little spider friend sailing away paired with those towering synth waves moves me like very few songs do - IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.

God, I love this album. Eno's '70s works in general reignite this child-like wonder and sense of hope within me. And this is not even Eno's best...in fact, I'd go as far as to say there are two of his albums that are better than this - if you can even believe that.

I've never seen the movie 'Shaft' but I get the impression that the titular protagonist is one bad motherfucker! For as goofy and cheesy as the opening track to this is, I fucked with Isaac's small spoken word bit and it's probably my favorite song on here - it's weirdly addictive.

I'm quite familiar with Isaac Haye's music, primarily with 'Hot Buttered Soul' which is one of my favorite soul albums of all time, compositionally and lyrically with the closing 'By the Time I Get to Pheonix' - but I'll talk more about that when the time comes. The production on that album feels orchestral and larger than soul, and there are certainly still crumbs of those sounds here starting from the second track 'Bumpy's Lament'. However, the biggest issue for me here is it does feel like a soundtrack. The songs sound great as little snippets, but they just come off as underdeveloped on a good chunk of the album. It's solid in the background but the songs don't play like songs, but scenic backdrops, it's almost like an ambient record in that sense. 'Cafe Regio's' perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards this record in song form, pleasant but sort of mild structurally speaking. There are still some highlights however: 'Soulville' is a great standalone soul track and I'd go as far as to say the 20-minute 'Do Your Thing' is the saving grace of this album. I've always been a sucker for incredibly long and hypnotically repetitive, groovy soul cuts and this one more than fits the bill - it's the typa shit that could've been on that 'Hot Buttered Soul' album. The blaring distorted record scratch at the end of it scared the shit outta me though.

Didn't love this thing but maybe I can't fully judge it without watching this 'Shaft' movie and seeing how well it fits in there. By the looks of it (based on this album), the movie sounds epic as all hell. Maybe that's the only real way to judge a soundtrack, by experiencing its associated media piece...who knows (though I've heard better things about Curtis Mayfield's 'Superfly' soundtrack, so maybe I'll hold off on concluding till' I reach that record).

Now this is more like it! While I enjoyed the desolate and lonely paintings of Young's 'On the Beach', this album trumps it with just how much more personable it is. The 35 minutes here flew by, with every song boasting its own set of highlights. The piano ballad 'Birds' is one of my favorites here, with its lyrics offering a positive outlook on a crumbling relationship. 'After the Gold Rush', like 'Birds', evokes images of nature with Neil detailing his intricate connections to it. But, I cannot talk about this album without mentioning the undisputed highlight, and my new favorite Neil Young song, 'Southern Man'. It's a weird song for Lynyrd Skynyrd to feel the need to respond to with 'Sweet Home, Alabama', considering Neil's clear criticisms of the racist aspects of the South. You can still be prideful of your particular region without getting angry at rightful criticisms of its muddy history and conservative attitudes leading to continuing rejections of growth and change. Heck, Randy Newman on a recent listen was able to do it while also being a Southerner himself. Anyways, this particular song also sounds quite different than most songs here, except maybe 'When You Dance I Can Really Love' which also goes in a more outwardly rock direction. It was an unexpected sonic switch-up here - one that I dug.

All the more traditional country-folk tracks are just so enjoyable - I loved 'Tell Me Why', 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', and 'Oh, Lonesome Me'. I've only listened to two Neil Young records thus far, but I'm not sure if he'll be able to top this one for me - it's too damn good.

A truly cool and unique-sounding album - though its cinematic tone and aesthetic didn't do much for me when we're talking start-to-finish. Some epic highlights though, like the saxophone-driven 'Sounds From The Big House'. 'The Swinging Detective' was an ominous track here that sounds like it could soundtrack a James Bond movie or something - especially when that horn ensemble kicks in. It's one of my favorites here.

Again cool stuff especially to throw on in the background - though it does just feel like a soundtrack, and like a piece is missing. Sounds good but isn't ideal for active listening.

Y'know the more I've gone through this list, the more I've realized that I actually really like country rock. I was familiar with Wilco before this album (I love the song 'Jesus etc.'), but this was a first for me regarding Billy Bragg. He seems like a pretty cool guy when reading up on him - and that certainly shows on this record. Billy and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco take turns doing the lead vocals on these songs - though I can't decide who I like more with Billy's more outwardly country accentuations or Jeff's more streamlined indie rock flow. What I do know is that every song was a bop, with my favorites being 'She Came Along To Me' and the somber closer 'The Unwelcome Guest'.

Instrumentally you're getting the easily digestible sounds and motifs that you'd typically associate with country rock; though it never really comes off as generic - likely due to just how great the songwriting is here. Dug this thing a lot - more than I ever thought I would in fact.

I fucking love this album cover, it's the literal definition of "metal as fuck". Despite it being one of the most critically acclaimed debuts in heavy metal, I'm only now tapping into Black Sabbath's self-titled. I knew for certain that I would enjoy it though...and I did...a lot. It's super bluesy and less conventionally heavy which I expected considering it's a debut - It leans more into its hard-rock sounds. It's still unquestionably heavy at moments though like with those distorted guitar hits driving the insatiably groovy 'The Wizard'. And also that riff that comes in after the bass solo in that four-part song. 'N.I.B' particularly has one of the best final few seconds I've heard in a Sabbath song - it's so chaotic! I love that twinkling guitar solo on 'Wicked World' as well; it sounds well ahead of its time. Also, the drumming all over this record is top-notch, and the way the songs progress is so satisfying.

It's weird - if it weren't for Iommi's aggressive down-tuning and other guitar sorceries, this would sound like many other hard-rock records. But a combination of those dark chords, this unsettling album cover, and Ozzy's hellish lyricism shifts it into those uncharted heavy metal territories of the time. If anything this album was a cool insight into Sabbath's slightly less-developed, albeit still incredible sound. They really are an incredible band.

I think I unfairly dismissed Nick Drake's landmark folk release 'Pink Moon' upon first hearing it years back. Everything about it was just so...**small** - be it the intimate recording, limited sonic palate, repetitive and simplistic songwriting, hushed vocals, or even less than thirty-minute runtime. I find it juxtaposes its colorful, whimsical, and downright intangible album art in many ways. Though I've known, for years, that I HAD to relisten this thing eventually. And before even hitting play, I knew I would get more out of it now, considering the headspace I'm in. This album **is** small, evoking no more than the image of a directionless man sitting under a tree at dawn with his acoustic guitar - rhyming up whatever comes to his head. It's a raw record in that sense. And yeah it's pretty damn sad too. You can interpret a "Pink Moon" however you like but the idea of this all-encompassing entity inevitably "getting" everyone regardless of class is quite frightening...on paper. But Nick's way of delivering this "news" makes it seem more sad than scary, with him sounding almost unbothered by it. Maybe "unbothered" isn't the right way of putting it - a song like 'Things Behind The Sun' sort of builds on this idea of an ever-looming presence that facilitates human life's endless cycle of despair, and here, Nick leans into this notion that there's nothing that can be done about it. In the second half, Nick sort of goes into this idea of trying to connect with others because, ultimately, our only real purpose is to exist for those who care about and will remember us. 'Harvest Breed' has Drake falling through his years trying to form any sort of connection, regardless of whether it's superfluous or not (as a song like 'Free Ride' indicates). 'Parasite' may be the most tragic song here - it's one thing to want to be ignored, like a bug, but parasites aren't often ignored but rather loathed and despised - despite being a part of nature themselves. Parasites are the lowest of the low, having to cling onto and leech off their host's resources just to survive. Drake's depression was no secret, especially since he would go on to overdose and pass away from anti-depressants after this album was released. I'd say a song like this offers the most striking image of that.

I'm almost thankful that this album closes on a hopeful note, with Nick essentially implying that the only thing that's "real" is the nature around us and that the life we choose to live is nothing but a game we choose to participate in every morning. There's something so pure about the way he implores the listener to see the world in its purest form through nature - it's a tear-jerking conclusion to both the record and his career. While this song makes me sad that Nick never got to overcome his struggles, it's a very strong message to leave the world with.

Oh yeah, the music and singing are pretty great too - they form a tight, warm atmosphere that perfectly complements the writing, which is what ultimately gripped me this time around. Without a doubt, it's a very impactful record for many, and one I'll be sure to revisit periodically just because of how pure it is.

This album is honestly a mess in many aspects with its fusions of contemporary Blues Rock, ala The White Stripes, country rock, and some classic hard rock. With that said, it does still sound pretty damn good in its best moments, and I quite enjoyed the lead vocalist's very personable style. The arpeggiated guitar driving the song 'Havana Gang Brawl' caught me off guard with just how nice it is on the ears - this entire song has a pretty killer groove. Given the album's image, there really is something super cartoony and action-movie-soundtrack'ish about the way the songs are constructed and the instruments played, but not really in a bad way - it's charming more times than not. 'Not A Lot To Do' was probably my favorite song from a lyrical standpoint, it follows a very lethargic and hollow character and is backed by a nice ensemble of somber strings.

I had a lot of fun with this thing, especially as the album went on and in its final moments. I was kinda sad when it ended tbh. There's a lot of personality here - something that always manages to win me over.

I've been getting into a lot of ambient dub and techno lately, so I was eager to check this album out. Ultimately, I'd say this is an album best enjoyed when you're not paying too much attention to it - in fact, I listened to a good chunk of this thing in my car while running errands around town. I find certain percussive elements to be dated, and the vocals that crop up on certain songs are flat-out tacky. There's still good work here though, like the opener 'Water From A Vine Leaf', 'Harry Flowers', and 'A Touch Of The Night'. I found the ambient portions of 'A Hazy Shade of Random' gorgeous but wasn't as much of a fan of the percussive portions. This effect is amplified in the following track, 'Best Friend, Paranoia,' where I feel that the percussive and spoken-word portions disrupt the beautifully textured ambient opener, which could have been a great track on its own

I feel like calling a musical piece "background music" can come off as condescending but I really do believe that certain albums and artists thrive in that particular context. And it's not entirely a bad thing.

Should everyone hate 'The Turtles'? Or were they well within their rights to get mad at De La Soul for sampling 'You Showed Me' (without permission) on an interlude here? Well, I've always gravitated towards the former opinion. The sheer amount of sampling in this record, alongside other '80s hip-hop records, forever makes me yearn for the days when clearing samples was simply seen as an act of appreciation. It also really sucks that the infamous lawsuit greatly limited De La Soul's music's availability on streaming - 'cause this album is gorgeous, not in the traditional sense but in a way that is not unlike ATCQ's debut for example. Samples make colors and worlds and Prince Paul's production on this album has both of those things in spades. But it's not endlessly overwhelming you with samples like say Public Enemy's 'Fear of a Black Planet' - I mean you have a song like 'Take It Off' which is nothing but a repeating drum machine pattern driving its short runtime. The opener, and one of my favorite songs 'The Magic Number' has the chunkiest drum beat on the album that's undercut by this timid yet undeniably playful bass loop. The verses are great on this but it's Trugoy's (RIP) verse that takes the cake ultimately. 'Tread Water' follows a similar instrumental formula and is paired with surrealist imagery in the verses, where talking animals offer reassuring life advice to the passerby. My favorite song without a doubt though is 'Eye Know' with the Steely Dan and Otis Redding "whistling" 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay' samples making this one of the most wholesome hip-hop songs we'd end up getting out of the '80s. Lyrically speaking, it could bring a tear to my eyes just 'cause of how meditatively positive it paints these ideas of love and lust. Some other great production moments are those subtle piano keys on 'Potholes in My Lawn', the brief vocal (I think?) sample transitioning the verses on 'Say No Go', the distorted and overblown drum sample on 'D.A.I.S.Y Age', and the entirety of 'Me Myself and I', a real landmark song off this album.

The production here is superb, but the rapping is admittedly rudimentary even for this group - I mean just listen to the complex rhyme schemes and flows on their song 'Stakes Is High' which would be released years later, and compare it to a song like 'Potholes in My Lawn' off this album. I like it though, it's of the time and if anything, it fits the charming production here. The album's also wittingly hilarious with the slew of interludes timelining a satirical game show night. Songs like 'Jenifa Taught Me' and 'Buddy' with Q-tip and the Jungle Brothers are forever fun to listen to. It's not all fun and games though, 'Say No Go' is an undoubtedly sobering moment in the track listing here about the dangers of drug abuse, with Posdnuos' opening verse being my favorite. This song also showcases the trio's best rapping on the album from a sheer flow perspective.

If you hate fun you'll hate this album. If you associate hip-hop with grit, speed, and competition you'll hate this album. But if you broaden your horizons a bit it's not difficult to understand what the appeal of an album like this. The group was determined to stick to their DAISY (Da Inner' Sound Y'all) motif - constantly reinforcing these ideas of positivity, soul, and strong character from start to finish. Hip Hop hasn't sounded this fun since '3 Feet High and Rising' - and for that, I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of the greatest of the '80s.

For as much as I enjoyed this album on the surface level, I couldn't help but wish that it was a bit more varied by the end of it. This album is tagged as Britpop, but this cover made me think there was more to the story. I was right. Songs like 'Blue' and especially 'Connection' sound like the kind of alternative rock songs that would (and did) easily blow up during the genre's peak while I'd say a song like 'All-Nighter' leans more towards typical Britpop in its lead melody and background vocals. Instrumentally though, you're still getting unfiltered punk throughout this thing. Some parts reminded me a lot of PJ Harvey's earlier works and also Blur who I know were close affiliates with the band (with Damon having dated Justine). My favorite song might be 'Waking Up' which is driven by the densest wall of guitars on the album. Lyrically it paints this image of someone living an unfulfilled life and refusing to continue if things don't change.

Again I do wish it was all a bit more varied but there were too many great songs, riffs, and lyrics here for that to be a real negative. Justine is such a great front-lady and she certainly gives this album a unique charm that wouldn't have been present otherwise.

My relationship with this album is bizarre. Upon first hearing it years back, I saw absolutely nothing special in it - like at all. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to say it bored me with just how boilerplate it sounded in some of its bluesier moments and how painfully tacky a song like 'Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)' came off to me. In my defense, this album's brilliance is well hidden (so well hidden that it eludes me to this day), as it shamelessly masquerades behind these cliche '60s blues rock tropes. But it's those subtleties kept drawing me back to this thing - I didn't know what they were, but SOMETHING made me return to this thing repeatedly. Fast forward to today and it's one of my favorite albums of all time, and I still have no idea why.

I almost don't take this album as seriously as I should. The impeccable follow-up 'Strange Days' is certainly more unique sounding in its takes on psychedelic, and the band would only get more defined and bluesy with their sounds on later releases like 'Waiting for the Sun' and, especially, 'Morrison Hotel'. But the roughly recorded, grainy, mindlessly meshed together beginning of the band with this self-titled release always had this unsettling aura that none of their follow-ups were quite able to capture.

Historically speaking, were 'The Doors' treading any new waters? Or were they just doing these oversaturated sounds much better than all their contemporaries? I still don't know how to answer that - I mean the psychedelic labyrinth that is the closer gives proto-post-rock vibes (mainly Swans with Morrison sounding a lot like Gira here). And Morrison's lyrics, when the "FUCKS!"'s on 'The End' and "She Get High"'s on 'Break on Through (To the Other Side)' weren't being censored, were spurring quite the negative reaction from mainstream '60s audiences - like with the infamous Sulivan Show performance of 'Light My Fire' where Morrison says the word "Higher" and the guy cancels the rest of their shows. It sucks but it was also a defining moment for the band (and popular music in general) that shot them into the mainstream.

Jim Morrison. I honestly don't know much about that guy. I know his dad was a CIA agent (or so the internet tells me) and he died way too soon after his tumultuous final years with the band. But he is, above all else, a poet with an incredible voice. Taking the term at face value he may be the best front-man in rock history, be it with his shattering screams on the disgusting blues track (and Howlin' Wolf cover) 'Back Door Man', the incredible walking melody of 'Soul Kitchen', the angelic and almost beyond-life chorus of 'Light My Fire', or the horrifying cries that send off the Oedipian passage of 'The End'. 'Take It as It Comes' and 'I Looked at You' also prove the guy can write incredibly catchy choruses and, in the case of the latter, pop songs. Thematically, love and drug imagery that were so common in the '60s scene are what you get here. Seems generic at first but the heavy caveat is that these themes take an undeniably ominous tone here, like a bad trip spirling you to the brink of death with the song 'The End' as its crux. But it's also wholesome at times; I love Morrison's ode to soul food diners on the aptly named 'Soul Kitchen', it's one of my favorite songs here.

Now let's talk about the music. Again, it's not boundary-pushing for the majority of this album, but it sounds too damn good for that to even matter. Robby and John. on guitar and drums respectively, do a great job of bringing those bluesy moments to life on songs like the opener and 'Back Door Man'. I also love Robby's bright and twangy guitar tone on 'End of the Night', a particular sound that would, thankfully, be more present in their follow-up. But it's ultimately Ray Manzarek on piano and organ that gives this album a genuinely unique sound. 'Light My Fire' is, without a doubt, one of the greatest songs ever - and the keyboard solo is dangerous in just how easily it slithers into your head and then refuses to leave. It's really on 'Light My Fire' and the underrated and potent 'Take it as it Comes' where it sounds like Ray's trying to start a fire with the sole power of his fingertips and some keys. The piano solo on 'The Crystal Ship' is another genuinely gorgeous moment here evoking the feeling that you're sailing away on this vast crystal ocean in the dead of night, completely directionless.

I don't know...maybe I'm tricking myself into thinking this album is better than it is because of just how many times I've listened to it. Going back to my opening paragraph I don't know what it is about this thing. It's just so damn cool - like the idea of it is awesome and it has an undeniably strong presence that's just impossible to shake. Anyways...I think I'm gonna go listen to it thing again now.