Reviews by mkaddour2001

Marvin Gaye has always been, to me, the definition of soul music. The word "soul" as it's attributed to this genre of music is so perfectly captured by this man's voice. Each vocal line, each note hit, and each lyric is delivered with so much weight. "Let's Get It On", just like many of Marvin's albums, stands as an incredible display of this exact thing.

I'd say this is his most intimate album, but like in a hotel room kind of way. A 5-star hotel room that is, one that's glossy, high-class, and shiny. The production here is glistening and sparkling where strings, bass, piano, and synth lines encompass its very moody core. It's like if an album could smell really really good. These songs are incredibly subtle, they seldom build up meaninglessly or explode into bombastic anthems. I think the closing track is the best example of this; it's a very subtle song, showing a lot of restraint. "Distant Lover" I feel very similarly about, it has one of Marvin's most killer falsetto vocal lines in the chorus, and it's beautiful.

"Let's Get It On" is as iconic as soul tracks get but "If I Should Die Tonight" is my undisputed best song on here. I love the brief yet heavy string segments that bookend the song. The vocal layering here is incredible and the set of instruments is so diverse, it is the ultimate RnB song. The writing on this song is utterly gorgeous in its depiction of finding dream-like love. Marvin expresses how lucky he is to have found his one love, to the point where he'd be content if he died at that exact point. Writing on this album is generally incredible. I love the way Marvin depicts the different angles of intimacy, including the more tragic components in the final song "Just To Keep You Satisfied".

Every song on this album exists within a very tightly curated space, so it's hard to talk about these songs separately. Not to say they blend too hard with one another, it's just that this is a holistic album experience more than anything. I'd say the really great songs overshadow maybe some of the less memorable ones. Marvin is an incredible writer as I mentioned, but for certain songs like "You Sure Love the Bell", I find the writing to just be okay. Aside from those few nitpicks, this album's a real out-of-body experience in the most easily enjoyable way possible.

My first RHCP album. I'm somewhat familiar with bassist Flea, and their big song "Californication" but aside from that, I had no idea what to expect. They've always been that incredibly popular band that I've just never gone out of my way to check out.

The opening track was certainly something. Sounds like a sick socially conscious hip-hop track of the time, something akin to Public Enemy or Beastie Boys and the bass line sticks out here (and on most of the album). Here's the thing though, I thought this was a single gimmicky thing, but quite a bit of the album is like this. It's half rap rock, with aspects of funk weaved in and half more traditional alternative rock. And honestly, I kinda liked it.

The alternative cuts are quite enjoyable, especially the gorgeous "Breaking the Girls", which has these nice flutes filling the sound in the background. It's a very varied album, with no distinct style being put on display by any of the members, they just sort of adapt their playing to whatever weird direction the song goes in. "I Could Have Lied" is another pretty good slow ballad-type song. "Under the Bridge" is a pretty famous song by them, funnily enough, I've only ever heard it from a Mos Def song that sarcastically spins it. It was a decent song, but not my favorite of these alternative tracks, I will say the vocals shine, especially in the second half.

I think the album's at its best when the guitar, bass, and drums are driving these powerful funk-rock beats. "The Greeting Song" and "Suck My Kiss" may be the best examples of this, with an incredible guitar solo thrown in on the latter. Flea's slap bass sounds great on a song like "Naked in the Rain". I have mixed thoughts on the long psychedelic penultimate track "Sir Psycho Sexy", on one hand, I enjoy its laid-back vibe but on the other hand, it doesn't justify its length. It was at a point in the album where this formula was already starting to get tired. I honestly like the brief closer quite a bit more.

Anthony Kiedis as a vocalist may be my only point of contention with this album. There are songs where his rap-rock style borders cheesy but is still generally enjoyable. His vocal riffs can range from incredibly catchy like on "Give it Away" to insufferable like on the following title track. He's pretty expressive though and adds a lot of character, fitting snuggly in this album's mix. He's a pretty entertaining lyricist, sometimes it sounds like he's rapping about utter nonsense. I like the strange imagery on "Apache Rose Peacock", one of my favorite songs here.

It does all these weird genre tropes without *really* sounding like it's parodying them. It's all quite cheesy at times but in a mostly enjoyable way. The album's also pretty long and does grow somewhat tiresome near the end, but I think it does a good enough job of maintaining its energy. Wasn't expecting this but it was a fun album with a lot of character.

This is a relisten to this Devo album. I listened to this album back when I was just getting into old-school punk many years ago. I remember not being a fan of it back then but I was wondering if it was because I was still unfamiliar with the genre. Maybe now I'd have a greater appreciation for this landmark release in the post-punk genre. Unfortunately, a lot of my issues with it are still there, albeit to a lesser degree.

The witty title of this album is pretty much what you should expect from this album, it's quite an eccentric post-punk record, maybe one of the most outwardly and shamelessly sarcastic, comedic, and unserious ones. I think that's most evident in the vocals and lyrics. Whether it works or not varies from track to track. A song like "Space Junk", I think I enjoy how outlandish its satirical story is. The song "Mongoloid", although distasteful, I still find somewhat catchy and enjoyable; it might be my favorite here song-wise. I suppose the message is somewhat uplifting, one of overcoming one's physical limitations, it's just delivered in a way that stands as questionable. I do enjoy the synths on this track too. Sometimes the eccentricity of the vocals is outright bothersome though like on "Jocko Homo", "Too Much Paranoias", and the lackluster cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

I generally don't like the synths on this album though, I think they're tacky and clash with the more typical punk instrumentation. A song like "Jocko Homo", a song I genuinely can't stand, is the worst offender. I think a lot of the punk grooves here are less than stellar, they seem watered down and sort of lifeless. The opening "Uncontrollable Urge" has easily the best groove here. The organ-backed "Come Back Jonee" is alright, if a bit generic. The vocals don't help too much on that front either, sometimes they're just too buried in the mix. For as eccentric and out there as they yearn to be, I think they lack a strong presence on this album. I was honestly surprised when I found out Brian Eno produced this album as I typically love his production work (with David Bowie, Talking Heads, and his solo stuff).

There are certainly some great moments here, namely the opening synth build-up and short switch-up of "Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mummy)" and I think the closer's alright, but it's all buried in a sea of unenjoyable disorganization. I'm not opposed to experimentation, I just think on this album it doesn't work for me. Honestly, maybe that's a sign of true experimentation or a truly weird band, so I applaud Devo on that front. I believe this is an acquired taste, one that I have yet to "get" myself.

I was expecting a very solid album here, considering how much I love the song "Fast Cars", and well that's exactly what I get from this self-titled Tracy Chapman debut.

As a vocalist, Tracy's certainly expressive, and honestly it feels like she's been ripped off quite a bit. Not sure why, but it feels like many pop and folk vocalists, especially in the 21st-century wave sorta sound very similar to her. I haven't listened to every 80s album, but from what I've heard, her style seems unique for the time. She has a deeper vocal style but with enough variation to keep it interesting while still remaining relatively subtle.

As a songwriter, Tracy's very direct with her lyricism, it's like she's trying to get her message through to the listener as clearly as possible, with no hiccups or room for misinterpretation. I think this is a good thing honestly and works wonders for this album's themes. Tracy tackles themes of poverty, racism, love, and other forms of injustice. Again it's all very direct, especially on the opener "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" and "Why?". I hate the general idea that good songwriting is almost synonymous with abstract
and symbolic writing, I find the writing here to be very powerful.

The songs themselves are really good too, just as songs. "Fast Car" may be one of the greatest folk songs ever, a tragic tale of yearning for escape and freedom from one's living situation. "For My Lover" is a great depiction of a chase of forbidden love. "Across the Lines" and the acapella "Behind the Wall" tackle the issues of police brutality, with the latter being the most haunting portrayal of it I've heard in a while.

I'd say the biggest thing that holds this album back is its lackluster production on certain songs, I just think it's tacked on and generic when extra instruments are introduced to try and fill up the sonic space. The mostly acoustic-only songs are the best here, painting melancholic images that are soft and comforting. I just think it gets sort of repetitive after a while. I don't mind it too much, after all, it spotlights Tracy's vocals more than anything.

Really enjoyed this album, pretty much just as much as I thought I would.

I've been meaning to check out The War on Drugs, specifically this album, considering the fact that this is one of the most renowned indie rock albums of the 2010s.

This is a deeply intimate album, with an infectious melancholic aura that absorbed me on my first listen. It's a soft listen, and the longer songs feel like these hypnotic voids of endless thought, sadness, and yearning. Just listen to the repetitive outro of the song "Disappearing". While not the most interesting vocalist by any means, Granduciel's a great writer, beautifully capturing the gloomier elements of nostalgia on quite a few of these songs.

With that said, I still think I'm conflicted with this album. Having listened to it front to back, it still feels like something's missing. Maybe it's because I feel like all these songs follow a similar sonic pattern, instrumentally they're composed of the same set of airy and gorgeous sounds. The album has a few more "upbeat" tracks, where the drums are driving the song and those tend to be my favorites. I specifically like the songs "Red Eyes", "In Reverse" and "Eyes to the Wind" for that reason, they feel like great standalone indie rock epics. The more meandering, slow-burner tracks, while still enjoyable, I can't see myself revisiting very often. I'd say that applies to most of the final leg of this album except the closer. I think the closer is the best song here, with some clear Bob Dylan influences, the songwriting here showcases a stagnant sense of one's existence in the presence of isolation. It's like the mixture of growing past a lost relationship all the while still grappling with the fact that you're growing past it.

I think while I enjoyed my first listen of this album, especially the start of it, I don't see myself coming back to it very often. The writing and atmosphere here are top-notch, but when it comes to the songs, most of them didn't stick with me. The songs that do land though hit the mark and are near perfect, and I'll be revisiting my favorite songs here for a long time.

Literally The Beatles 2. George Harrison always felt like the under-spoken member of the Beatles to me, but also one of the most artistically ambitious. Oddly enough, I don't think the album's really all that experimental, although it does have its odd moments here and there.

I think my experience with this album was pretty magical; it was pretty late at night and I forgot I had an album to listen to so I put it on only to see that it's a triple album that's over an hour and a half in length. Nevertheless, I listened to this entire thing from front to back in one sitting. I'll say, if it was any other triple album, I might've not been able to do it, I needed something this easy to get through.

While I feel like many albums definitively benefit from their length, I can't say this is one of those albums. There's no long-running theme, progression, or reoccurring motifs to hold this album together. Instead what you get is something sort of scattered, almost like a collection of songs from the same period. I'm saying this sounds sort of compilation-esque. This album is a series of early pop-rock songs with folk, hard-rock, psychedelic, and country drizzled in, and your enjoyment of this album rests entirely on your ratio of "liked" to "not liked" songs.

Luckily for me, I enjoyed a lot of these songs. I mean how could I not, they're so easy to like. There's no use in rambling about them, there's too much to talk about but my favs were "I'd Have You Anytime", "What is Life", "If Not For You", "Run of the Mill", "Awaiting on You All", "All Things Must Pass", and "Hear Me Lord". The playing is soft on most of these tracks, very light, with the sonic space primarily consisting of piano, guitar, drums, and of course, George's vocals. He's a great vocalist. I tend to enjoy the "louder" songs here quite a bit less, they just sound a bit too clunky. The exception is the song "Art of Dying" which has a firey psych guitar line. It's also a song that showcases George's knack of religiously inspired songwriting. Themes on this album range from love, to religion, to political human nature commentaries like the aptly named "Beware of Darkness". There's something so deeply personal about this album, both musically and thematically.

Again, I spent most of my late evening with this, and as repetitive as it seems on the surface, there wasn't a dull moment here. I think that's mainly because as the album goes on, especially near the back half, it feels like the songs get more ambitious and harder to read. I mean when you get to the final instrumental hard-rock-inspired disc "Apple Jam", it feels like the album's evolved completely from what it was when it started. I think that change-up near the end benefited this album a lot, I enjoyed those closing songs quite a bit. I do think the album could've used some sort of ongoing theme to make it a bit more cohesive but taking it for what it is, it was a really well-done triple album.

I wrote a review for this but I guess it got erased oh well (my dumbass prob just forgot to hit save). Maybe it's a sign that I should just get more to the point with these reviews. Here's the summary:
- I was conflicted at first but by the end, I really dug it.
- I was taken aback by the deeper, and smoother vocal delivery paired with the overall generic, but well-done grunge instrumentation. Grew on me though.
- Enjoyed the psychedelic and folkier elements near the back half.
- Best songs are "Witness" and "Sworn and Broken"
- I think this album works best when you're not thinking too hard about it.

Screaming Trees might have a new fan.

I do enjoy the Cure's later works, especially "Disintegration" but I find that a lot of their earlier works, this album included, pale in comparison. I find that to be true in almost every single way, the instrumentation, the mixes, and especially the vocals here all come off so bleak and one-note, which is *almost* a good thing.

Like many albums in this gothier side of New Wave, when taking this entire album as one holistic experience, I do think it excels at sounding exactly how it needs to sound. The elements here are skeletal, like winter trees without leaves, but each track has one strong melodic element, be that a synth, piano, or guitar, that brings a smidgen of warmth to these generally cold songs. Similar to many The Cure albums, this one feels incredible nocturnal. The songs are long and repetitive, but very subdued and quiet. I love the short desolate and hopeless sound of the piano-driven opener quite a lot. "At Night" nails that somber vibe. I think the basslines and guitar are really strong and groovy on tracks like "Play For Today", it's the kind of Cure vibe I like, it's such a warm song. "A Forest" I feel the same way, but maybe to a lesser extent; the groove and airy synths are just as gorgeous though and I love the guitar on the outro and the ambient intro. I do think the stretch in the middle is where the album's at its weakest and it's where I think the songs blend in with one another a bit too much.

I actually really like Robert Smith as a vocalist, at least I thought I did, he didn't do it for me on this album. He feels less expressive and his vocals are almost washed out here. It works to a certain degree, considering the very cold and lifeless vibe of this album, but there were times when I was hoping for a little more. His presence is almost limited and he just sort of pops in from time to time and leaves unnoticeably. I feel like he does the best on "Seventeen Seconds", the closer, which is probably the best whole song on the album. His part is very short here, similar to most songs, but for some reason the sadness in his voice, and his lyrics sting here more than anything.

As an experience, I think I enjoyed this The Cure album quite a bit, but if anything, it just made me want to listen to some of their later stuff. Still solid.

My first time listening to Tina Turner ever. Honestly, when I heard the first track here I rolled my eyes a little. It's about as generic 80s as you can get. I still think It's the weakest song here and is quite an underwhelming intro. I say all this just to say that everything after that, I enjoyed.

I mean yeah instrumentally speaking there's not much interesting going on, and that could've easily made this album unlistenable and just another run-of-mill poorly-aged 80s record. But the thing that makes it all stick out and so enjoyable is Tina herself. She writes some great damn songs, every song here sounds like a hit in its own right. Obviously "What's Love Got to Do with It" is incredible but I also love the guitar-backed "Let's Stay Together", this song doesn't feel like it's 5 minutes long. "Private Dancer" may be the most striking track here. A story of a woman wanting to be hired as a prostitute (or taxi dancer I guess) for a man. I'm not sure what the underlying message is here if there even is one, but I really enjoy its lengthy cinematic presentation and very intimate instrumentation. I like Tina's more fiery performance on "I Can't Stand the Rain", a tragic song about a lost relationship with a killer chorus. "Steel Claw" was very enjoyable too, it has another very catchy chorus as well with some 70s hard rock-sounding influence in the vocals.

"Thriller" by Mike is an album that I never remember for its instrumentation, but its songs. I feel very similar here, there's very little to be impressed by instrumentally speaking but Tina's a very talented, dynamic, and expressive vocalist and she practically carries this album. She has a strained and almost raspy vocal that seems occasionally buried in the mix but still manages to stand out. Her cadence blends the best aspects of both pop-rock and RnB vocal styles. The instrumentals here aren't bad or anything, they work very well with her voice and they're dynamic and varied enough across most of these songs. All-in-all I really enjoyed my time with this thing, it's just banger after banger which is all I can ask for from an album like this. RIP to this absolute talent.

I think this album might almost sound too good. I wouldn't say overproduced, just kinda "perfect". Just because it sounds perfect though doesn't mean the music itself is perfect. I've never heard of Shack and just by looking at their repertoire and popularity, I feel most people haven't either. With that said, they certainly sound ahead of their time in a weird way, so I wonder if there's some underlying influence with this album.

This album is definitely on the poppier side of indie rock, it's called Britpop for a reason. I can see why some people may roll their eyes at how cheesy some of these songs are, and many are admittedly cheesy, but for me, I enjoy it. It feels like a consistent sail through indie rock's foundation that would later be tinkered with and built upon in the 2000s. I mean there's not a single bad song here, right? And that has to count for something. I loved the songs "Comedy" and the following "Pull Together". I can't say the instrumentation was all that adventurous across this thing but I liked the slower nature of a song like "Captain's Table" and I enjoyed the theatrical strings on "Natalie's Party". The closer "Daniella" might be my favorite song here instrumentally, I love the mellower and almost haunting acoustic guitar here. The nature themes of the album come to a head in the lyrics, I love their cryptic nature. The entire record is just so peaceful and simple.

I'm shocked by how little I have to say about this thing considering how I enjoyed almost every song. I've always been a sucker for pop, growing up, and even now. Give me a catchy, simple chorus and I'm hooked, and this album is filled to the brim with them. Weirdly, it reminded me a lot of Ween's poppier songs from around this time. I think the second half is weaker than the first but overall, really dug this album.

It's been a while since I've heard Throbbing Gristle's "20 Jazz Funk Greats", but from my recollection, I don't remember it being nearly as mind-altering and proto-industrial and noisy as this album is. Aside from that, I'm familiar with TG member Peter Christopherson's later endeavors with the great post-industrial band Coil but that's about the extent of my knowledge of TG. If I had to say anything about this album, it's that I think the most mind-blowing thing about it is its release date.

I think a lot of the songs on the album blend to form one large directionless void. It's all unsettling, there's not a single earwormy or straightforward track here. The electronic, glitch, distortion effects, and sheer power electronic vibe of this album may not sound so impressive today in the era of post-industrial electronic giants, but it's not hard to pinpoint just how many artists this record could've influenced. When paired with the technological limitations of the time, this album's existence alone is quite a feat and makes it worthy of praise.

As for the individual songs, they're still pretty enjoyable and distinct. Again the drones and walls of noise are all there, most notably on "Hamburger Lady" which has these vocals drenched in bizarre vocal effects paired with these strange piercing and high-pitched shots of noise. "Dead on Arrival" may be one of the most direct tracks here, it has several facets and phases and has an electronic groove that sounds so modern it's uncanny. "Wall of Sound" is probably the most haunting and bone-chilling track here, you can probably infer why purely based on its title. The thing I love about this album is how it's influential yes, but it's not "watered-down influential"; that is, the music it inspired doesn't outshine or overshadow it, and its potency is still prevalent even in retrospect. Too many times with influential albums, you can tell that they're very much "prototypes", that's not the case here. It's not clunk or aged in any way. The more "serene" and less noisy tracks with hazy, detuned blushes of noise like "Weeping" and "Hometime" are just as enjoyable as the noisy songs. Many of these songs are paired with either bizarre singing or interesting and uncanny field recording snippets or tapes that are seemingly random, but also tell a story. The tapes on "E. Coli" are probably the most unsettling, it feels like you're listening in on some forbidden memo about some super-mutant bacteria over these uneasy string-sounding synths. "AB/7A" may be the easiest song on the ears here, with a gorgeous ambient proto-EDM groove driving the entire thing, it's a gorgeous moment on the album.

While not perfect by any means, this album's existence alone I think is worthy of praise. It's not music for everyone and I understand hating every second of this, but for my ears, I think it's a very cohesive and enjoyable electronic experience.

I don't know much about Jerry Lee Lewis aside from the fact that he was one of the pioneers of Rock N' Roll and also his terrible marriage controversy. I think the latter almost tainted his image for me, and maybe his legacy, but this album still seems highly praised and talked about so I tried to go into it without that knowledge polluting my judgments.

This is a live album adapting the sounds of classic Rock N Roll in their most rudimentary and classic forms. Rock's often associated with the guitar I'd say, at least for me, but here Jerry offers just as much, if not more viscera on the piano. When matched with the drums and his singing style, the piano playing' lightning-fast and groovy presence is only made more grand. The most standout aspect is Jerry's "boogie woogie" style of playing, it just sounds iconic and takes me back to this time. "Money" may be the best example of this, there's something so raw about the presentation but at the same time, its contents prove to be highly organized and calculated. "Great Balls of Fire", maybe more iconic, is so immediate and sounds like a perfect encapsulation of what this type of rockabilly music should be, with bouncy basslines and hilariously placed piano slides. The vocals are also over the top, in a good way. I also really enjoyed the longer closer "Whole Lotta' Shakin Goin' On" which has a pretty great guitar solo (that's still mixed very quietly under the drums).

For a 1964 live album, this album still sounds incredible as well. The piano and vocals feel like the stars here, but the drums are capable of keeping up with the tremendous pace Jerry plays at. I've seen videos of Jerry live before and have seen just how crazy he is with the piano, using all parts of his body like his feet on the instrument. I don't know if he does that here because it all sounds too organized and well done, but it's the image I had in my head the whole time.

The version of this album I listened to was very short, and because of that, I think it was super easy to enjoy it from front to back. I do think a lot of the parts sound sort of the same, which is inevitable considering the limited nature of this performance's live roster. I don't consider this to be a flaw since it still all sounds really good at the end of the day. I don't like the slower "Your Cheating Heart", but aside from that, I enjoyed my time with this thing. It's one of those oldies records that still packs a punch to this day while still sounding very much of its time.

When it comes to 60s album runs that I deem to be both influential and visceral to this day, I think of the 4 (yes only 4) The Velvet Underground albums first. "White Light/White Heat" stands as easily the most challenging of their albums though, with instrumentals, ideas, and concepts to challenge listeners even to this day. It's easily their most experimental and is one of the best examples of albums commonly deemed "Proto-punk" or "early noise".

God the opening title track. I love the way it sounds, it feels like the band's submerged many fathoms under the Pacific surface the entire time with these muffled instruments. It's like all the instruments blend into one large sub-bassy blob before devolving into utter chaos in the song's final seconds as the track keeps skipping. I think it says a lot about this album when I call it one of this album's most poppy, considering Lou Reed's vocals are about smoking meth. The second track is the most controversial, not because of its subject matter per se, but more because of how utterly self-indulgent it is. In the stereo version, you have this hypnotic, huffing piece of instrumentation that's insanely grainy and unsettling trucking along for 8 minutes in one ear. I love Moe Tucker's drumming on this album, it's so primal and drives these noisy grooves so naturally. Panned on the other ear though, is co-vocalist John Cale reciting a short story. In short, the story is about a dude mailing himself to his girlfriend to surprise her and then getting stabbed when she tries to open the package. It's unsettling and so beautifully complements this song's music.

Grainy, hypnotic, dizzying, and noisy are all perfect adjectives to describe all the sounds on this album. But it all feels unintentional which is the best part, I'm not saying it was unintentional, it just sounds like it. Thousands of artists and musicians have tried to purposefully capture uncanny aesthetics in their music, but the naturally analog and lo-fi feel of this album's recording context plays out naturally and as a result, it amplifies this effect to unrivaled levels. The sub is so fat here it's nuts. "Lady Godiva's Operation" may be the best example of all of this. It may be my favorite song here. Not only is the riff and vocal melody here gorgeous, but the entire story is quite spine-chilling. It's about a lobotomy purposefully gone wrong (speculated to be about a transgender) with all the sound effects and gore included. I know it's probably talked about to death, but I just love Lou's interjections here, they're mixed so loudly and they so harshly clash with John's smooth and soothing singing, I love it. "Here She Comes Now" may be the most easy to digest song here. It's very serene and a nice rest from the utter chaos this album has had you (and will continue to have you) endure. It sounds like something off their debut (or their follow-up to this album). "I Heard Her Call My Name" may be the best example of proto-punk on this album. I love the call and response aspects that make this song sound almost like a garage rock song off a "The Sonics" record. Easily the best thing about this song is THAT DAMN GUITAR, it's so distorted and is composed mostly of feedback and pure noise. It's the type of shit thousands of bands try to emulate but in the mix here, it sounds impeccable. It's so disgusting and ear-shattering, I love it to death.

And then there's "Sister Ray". Right when the groove kicks in, you're taken aback by the fact that it's louder than everything here. There's a subtle organ with the groove initially that only becomes more defined and prominent as the song huffs on. I love those opening seconds with the guitar. The sound, throughout the entire song, is clipping through the mix, it's blurry, it's hazy, it's utterly distorted, and disgusting. And Lou Reed's not even trying to be coherent, vocally or lyrically. He's describing an orgy that gets busted by some police, with a whole slew of colorful characters. And the best thing? This mess trudges on for 17 whole minutes and gets even messier near the end. Any semblance of a coherent groove or direction completely vanishes by the end. My favorite part about it is the synth, it's so blaring and sounds like a cheap and run-down modulated organ. This is noise music at its best, this is experimentation, and it was all done back in 1968, and I find it hard to believe. This is high art, with lyrics like "Too busy sucking on my ding dong", you can't help but gawk at its utter ridiculousness.

I think this is my favorite VU album, but when I relisten to their other ones when they (inevitably) appear here, I might reassess, they're all just so incredible. This one though, is the peak of their experimentation, and I wouldn't hesitate to call it the peak of experimentation of the 60s in general.

I don't have very much to say about this Radiohead album at all. A lot of the material here was recorded alongside their previous, more renowned, and acclaimed album "Kid A", and yeah it sounds like it.

I'll be the first to say I don't find Thom Yorke's vocals on this thing enjoyable. His crooning style I think does better to tie the entire album together than it does to make specific songs stand out. I think this album is a holistic experience and probably Radiohead's most isolated, and almost unsettling album (as far as I remember). The electronic instrumentals return here and work quite well to build atmospheric, bleak, and very damp atmospheres. Sometimes, the experimentation is at the forefront like in the song "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors". On many other songs though, the instrumentation, and music in general, feels stagnant, almost like you're floating aimlessly in a void. It's quite a soothing effect, and this album as a whole is very soothing and comforting. I think some great examples of this are the songs "Pyramid Song" and "You and Whose Army?". When it comes to the guitars, they're hypnotic like on the more direct "Knives Out", one of my personal favorites here. The string synths that appear on the song "Dollars and Cents" also nicely help paint a void-like image. The jazz-inspired closer is probably the most interesting thing here, with highly melodramatic lyrics. It's a grand closer.

So yeah I mean that's all I can say about this. Maybe I'm just not in the mood to enter this album's embrace. While I do enjoy its more daring and electronic-driven moments, I think this is one of their more milder and uninteresting albums, and I just can't jive with Thom's singing here. With that said though, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Radiohead album more pillowy, soft, and spacious.

Dr. Dre's 1992 album "The Chronic" remains one of the most influential albums in West Coast hip hop, yeah, but it also stands as one of the most ICONIC pieces of music ever. After the break-up of NWA, Dr. Dre moved his sound in a different direction, one that's more laid back in many ways, but also one that's capable of bringing all the heat, pummeling, and relentlessness of albums like "Straight Outta Compton".

But if there's one thing this album has over that one and many other hip-hop albums of the time, is an unrivaled level of absolute ridiculousness. From the intro, we have featured artist and co-rapper Snoop Doggy Dog rambling a diss over this chaotic and messy piece of synth-instrumentation. It's an incredible tone-setter with Snoop changing his vocal inflection in these absurdly over-the-top ways. This entire album comes off as almost a comedy or a satirization of its genre, it's a parody of itself...and it's incredible for it. The very first full track "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebrating)" is eerily addictive. Maybe it's the blaring synth or the bouncy bassline, or maybe it's the simple, yet smooth flows of both Dr. Dre and Snoop (including a sick back-and-forth at the end). The entire track is a diss at Eazy, homophobic yes, but it's so absurd you can't help but smile at it.

The "west-coast whistle" or "G-synth" or whatever you want to call it is the staple of this album. It makes this album a holistic experience. It captures a cruise through south central LA, in the scorching afternoon heat, and there's a blunt there of course. My favorite synth lines are on "Deez Nuts" and of course "Nuthin but a G Thang". I don't know what it is about this song but it's so addicting, I think it's the synth and bass. I also find it fascinating how simplistic Snoop's opening bars are like "1, 2, 3 and to the 4 Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr. Dre are at your door". Few rappers can pull off such a simple, almost nursery rhyme-type bar, and make it sound this smooth. Snoop's smoother delivery very nicely contrasts Dre's deeper voice all over this album, they're a great duo. "Deez Nuts" is just as ridiculous as it sounds, with a hilarious opener, and one of my favorite moments is that outro by Nate Dogg (RIP). In terms of hilarity, the skit "$20 Sack Pyramid" and the closer "The Roach" (one of two songs that interpolate Funkadelic's Mothership Connection directly) also hit the mark.

I likened this album to a comedy, but the serious and tougher moments also work just as effectively. "Lil' Getto Boy" sounds incredible instrumentally, because it's a much-needed change-up with a gorgeous flute-driven groove. Snoop and Dr. Dre detail what they've experienced and what they continue to witness with the youth in Compton. The most spine-chilling song here must be "The Day The N Took Over". This album was released around the time of the infamous 1992 LA Riots, and this song captures the angry reactions of the community at the time. With clips of reporters dubbed over these incredible layered vocals and the posse cut aspect of it, this entire song perfectly captures the heated and chaotic events that unfolded at the time. The two other posse cuts here are incredible, "Lyrical Gangbang" and my personal favorite "Stranded on Deathrow". The Deathrow label itself had a very eerie (and possibly sketchy) aura surrounding it, but this song, with epic synth leads and incredible verses, never fails to make me go crazy. Bushwick's intro is great and RBX's line "Blinded by the Light it's time to learn braille" is one of my all-time favorite hip-hop lines. The Lady of Rage verse is great too.

I think this album is so iconic that even if you've never heard any songs off it, you've still FELT this album through its influence. It sounds of the time but has also aged tremendously well. Aged well sonically at least, lyrically it stands as questionable today. I don't think it should be taken too seriously but I understand any criticisms leveled against certain lyrical moments here.

This album still sounds grand and sounds like this entire subgenre of Hip-Hop captured in one tightly packed, hilarious, and damn-near flawless experience. Easily one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.

My first listen to a Big Star album. The album title sorta sums up what this album is to me, every song here sounds like it could've been a number-one hit back in its time, for better or worse.

Like many pop-rock albums around the time, this album sounds pretty derivative to me. There aren't many new ideas or interesting instrumental bits, aside from the hypnotic backing flute instrumentation to the serene "The India Song". With that said, I think there are quite a few solid songs here, as well as a few great ones. I loved "The Ballad of El Goodo", it's such a powerful little ballad that warms my heart. The chorus here is uplifting and the backing harmonization and lead vocals are great. I honestly think lead vocalist Chris Bell sounds way better on these slower and more intimate tracks. Like on Big Star's hit "Thirteen", which is a cute ballad detailing tweenage love. I think his vocals on the opener for example, which are louder and higher pitched, come off as derivative and grating. Songs like "Watch the Sunrise", another one of my favorites, have the band filling up the space with gorgeous sounds that come off as simplistic but wholistic at the same time. I also just really like the singing, harmonies, and writing of these slower songs.

The instrumentation and playing here are generally pretty good, even on the louder songs. I like the blaring sax on the opener "Feel". The entire instrumental, and subtle instrumental switch-up of "In the Street" was very great too. It's one of the better hard tracks here. The acoustic guitar on "Watch the Sunrise" is warm and soft and nicely captures the song's mood.

I did enjoy this album, even though there wasn't much that "wowed" me. It's just solid oldies pop music that sounds like it would pop off in the time in which it was released. Sorta still pops off.

This is a first for me I don't think I've ever heard T. Rex in general (although the song "Get It On" sounds familiar). This is a glam rock record, a genre that I'm far from well-versed in, but I do think that this album is far lighter than what I expected.

I say lighter because a lot of these songs come off as super quiet, soft, and even one-note at times. All the staples of the genre are here, like the expressive lead vocals, the backing harmonies, and a very recognizable set of melodic patterns, but just minus all the extravagance I'd expect from a genre like this. Maybe that's me projecting my preconceived notions onto this album, but it feels like a lot of the songs are meant to pick up in pace, but simply don't. Nevertheless, I did enjoy a fair bit of this album still. I like the subtle space themes that run across a few of these tracks alongside the varied instrumental palette. I enjoyed the first two tracks quite a bit, and on the slower end, the horn-backed balled "Girl", I enjoyed as well. My favorite song here has to be the intimate and slower "Life's a Gas", the lyrical sentiment here really stuck with me, and the way it was performed was very charming. The more psychedelic instrumentation of this album also really shines on this song.

While not being anything too special, frontman Marc Bolan was still very enjoyable to listen to, but again he's on the more reserved end of the glam vocalist spectrum. It still works and the backing band is genuinely very solid. I find the mixing here slightly weird, everything seems almost bloated, and at times, it drowns out the vocals. It's not that big of a deal though. I also think the album gets a bit repetitive nearing the end, but overall, still dug quite a bit of what was offered here. It's a solid early 70s rock album that I think I'd get more out of on repeat listens. These are just my initial thoughts after all.

Having already heard this Le Tigre album, I knew as soon as it popped up that I'd love it. The saddest thing about Le Tigre is that one stupid song they released which was also my introduction to the band. I hate that the 2016-era internet hate bandwagon is what I most commonly associated with this band for a long time (at least back when I had no understanding of this genre or this album's significance). I was an annoying young teenager at the time so of course I fell into it. I guess I'm not helping the association by making this the first thing I mention about this album, but this is about my experience. My first actual listen to this album was under better circumstances. I had finished going through Kathleen Hanna's other releases with her other Riot Grrrl/punk band: Bikini Kills. Honestly, though, I love the Le Tigre self-titled more than anything from that band (and I still really like that band).

After all that rambling though, I can say for a fact that this is one of the most idiosyncratic post-punk albums out there. Largely attributed to the electronic and dance-punk-based production all over this thing, which is incredible. None more notable than the opening "Deceptacon", which almost sounds like an electronic punk club banger. It's far more accessible than anything Hanna has done previously, with a relentlessly catchy doo-wop-inspired chorus. I also really love the droning and hypnotic follow-up "Hot-Topic" with the awesome shout-out bit at the end (something that clearly influenced James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem later on). The bass and drum are killer throughout this thing. A few tracks near the end almost have a hip-hop-esque feel to them instrumentally, especially on the bassy, looped, and sample-driven "Slideshow at Free University".

Maybe the thing I love most about this album, aside from its incredible electro-based production, is its self-aware nature lyrically. I'm not sure why, but compared to many other punk lyricists (In a genre that is already highly self-aware), Kathleen and co-vocalist Johanna come off as more self-aware, sarcastic, and overly blunt, yet still very enjoyable lyricists. I think the best example of this is in "What's Yr Take on Cassavetes?". I love the oddity of the song "Phanta", an almost sci-fi-themed story-driven banger that almost sounds proto-pop-punk. The following love ballad "Eau D'Bedroom Dancing" is utterly gorgeous and an incredible highlight, showing Hanna taking on a more soft-spoken performance. Aside from this slower song, every other song packs an incredible punch. Some of my personal favorites are the electronic groove on "Let's Run" and the organ-driven follow-up "My My Metrocard". This song is one of the more bluntly political songs, condemning then-NY-mayor and notorious piece of shit Rudy Giuliani contrasted with images of freedom within NY.

This is one of the greatest punk albums of the 90s without a doubt. It's one of the best-sounding ones for sure and as for the entertainment factor, it excels in that from front to back. It's just such a fun album to listen to for me, be that the catchy choruses, incredible dance-punk grooves that come off grainy and uneasy, or the subject matter tackled on most of these tracks. Genuinely just incredible and an album any punk fan should check out without a doubt.

This is my first album from this legendary rock group. I was immediately drawn to two things though, this album cover that brings so much joy to me for some reason and the weird genre labeling they get of "Swamp Rock". In a way, those two things perfectly describe this album, even the "swamp" bit...

I automatically just love the sound of this album...like right away. I'm a sucker for this late 60s style that's very blues inspired and dirty with killer, round, and punchy drum beats. There are also some country-rock influences in some of these instrumentals like on the hit song "Bad Moon Rising", an absolute banger. There's a lot of dirt and distortion in the guitars, I love it, especially on the noisy outro on "Commotion" which perfectly matches the song's chaotic subject matter. I say dirty but it's nothing too crazy, I think it's just enough to match CCR's shorter and easy-to-dive into song structures.

John Fogerty perfectly complements these instrumentals vocally by drawing from the worlds of RnB and Blues (especially in the call and response on the closer "The Night Time is the Right Time"). I find the vocals on the song "Tombstone Shadow" to be very ahead of their time, they almost sound like something you'd hear come out of the 90s grunge scene. I love his gritty and guttural style, it doesn't overpower the mix and blends nicely. This entire album is mixed very cleanly. A lot of blues influence but also country influence in the slower song "Wrote a Song for Everyone", my favorite here. The sentiment is very tragic as John seems to address his lack of commitment toward his loved one and over-commitment toward making music.

I do think the final three songs are less memorable than my favorite songs, "Lodi", "Wrote a Song for Everyone" and "Bad Moon Rising", but I won't knock this album for that, those songs are still solid. It's certainly derivative at times, even for the time, but still very enjoyable and a great intro to the band. Everything here is just so easy to enjoy.

I've heard nothing but incredible things about this singer-songwriter legend Joni Mitchell, so I was certainly both intimidated and excited to dive into her catalog for the first time here with one of her "mid-era" albums. And honestly, I got exactly what I expected out of this.

To start, the instrumentation here is incredibly restrained (say for maybe the song "Black Crow"). The instrumentation is very textured and doesn't take any tangible form, it's more of a mix of gorgeous and serene bass, guitar, minimal percussion, and synth. There are hints of folk and country-inspired instrumentation scattered across a few of these songs (like the harmonica hanging in the background on "Furry Sings the Blues", courtesy of Neil Young). I can't overstate how genuinely pleasant and calming the sound of this album is, there's a hint of coldness but that only makes everything else feel like a warm blanket made to shield you from said coldness. The best example of this is "Amelia". I know Mitchell does the guitar herself on this album, and she does an incredible job.

As for Mitchell herself, on first listen, I certainly enjoy her performances as a singer. I love how off-kilter her melodic flow is in the opening "Cayote". Her melodies tend to be all over the place in a good way, but she still often returns to a common motif in many of these songs. As for the lyrics here, on first listen, I find there's a lot to take in. Albums this dense in meaning need many listens but I can still say I enjoyed most of it. Songs like "Blue Motel Room" and "Cayote" take me to particularly dream-like places. Many of the songs here tend to be story-driven in one way or another. Joni seems to be retelling the events that unfolded at certain points in her life vicariously through a character or fictional person or just anecdotally. The songs are loosely tied together through themes of separation and isolation, likely related to Joni's relationships, but I haven't taken the time to dive too deep into her personal life; I mainly took the lyrics at face value.

I do enjoy the second half slightly less than the first, finding a lot of the sounds to get repetitive, but I can attune that to the fact that this is a first listen, and on subsequent listens, I assume I'll enjoy it far more. This was a very pleasant first experience with Joni's music and I'm certainly looking forward to listening to more.