Reviews by nevele

At the first tones I really though I would dislike this album. But I kept listening, putting the album on for a second time, a third.
And it really kept growing.

Some great lyrics, some outstanding song, but also some filler. I can understand why this became a big album and artist - and not just sales wise.

Really, don't get me wrong. I like this album. I remember when it came out I adored the delicious American blues rock, delivered energetically and contagiously.

Especially a song like Howlin' For You got me nodding my head to the music and this album came out at a time when the raw and energetic seemed to be disappearing from rock and indie music - where quite a few bands turned to Synthpop around that time. This was, for that moment, a breath of fresh air, even if the music of course lends heavily from the blues from halfway of the 20th century combined with the T*Rex sounds of the 70's.

But now listening back, unfortunately, there are no truly memorable tracks besides the one previously named and there is not enough variation within the song material to keep the album captivating for the full length. After about 10 songs it slowly falls down. Was it a case of style over substance?

In 2010 this was my 4* album. Now it's a 3*

The album where it all became a bit more experimental, after Black Celebration already made it a bit darker. Not as amazing as the follow-up Violator, but with songs like Behind The Wheel, this is an amazing album and one I like to listen to every now and then.

There's not much to add to all that's been said before. Side A and B are different sides of the same story. This is a masterpiece

I will probably be one of the few people here to think this, but this for me is a major step forward after the records he made with Garfunkel. I enjoyed listening to this, both lyrically and musically.

When Trent Reznor brought the industrial sounds to a bigger audience by focusing on songwriting. It's a classic

It's not the best music ever made. It's certainly not the best produced album. The lyrics are simplistic bordering on silly. But not of that even remotely matters.

This album is 100% vibe. The mixture of samba, latin, cuban rhythms with French, Spanish, English, Portuguese and Italian lyrics about the joys of life (sex, drugs & music) make this a refreshing, open, relaxing yet danceable album. It there ever was an album that captures the spirit of backpacking, this is it.

The album lets its songs flow into one another. Like visiting a new city on the same continent, not too far away. Sometimes just changing a ska-organ for a bossanova guitar and changing languages, while letting the underlying sounds continue and all of a sudden you realise you went into a new song without noticing.

I remember the summer of 1999 when this album was everywhere on mainland Europe and probably elsewhere around the world. It captured a vibe and spirit and now, re-listening to it, I can see why. It's clever, worldly and a joy to listen to.

I can't say anything here that hasn't been said better by other people before.
This album is full of subtle sounds, incredibly atmospheric, it needs headphones and a couple dozens of listens to hear it all.
It's a marvel if you give it the time

I am not a big jazz connoisseur. I like to be guided by others who occasionally pass me an album. And now 1001 Albums brought me this one from Thelonious Monk.

And I am very happy with this recommendation.

To me this sounds like technically challenging jazz with very interesting rhythms, but played so languidly that it seems to come close to a kind of smooth jazz at times, despite the fact that the dissonant tones of the piano always keep you on your toes and make you listen a bit more intensely.

Accessible jazz, which reveals more and more the more you listen to it.

I'm reading all these immensely positive reviews and calls of 'masterpiece' and I've listened to this album 6 times over 2 days.

Apparently I'm missing something. It really is quite pleasant to listen to. The first two tracks really start the album off amazingly but this line is not followed through the rest of the album.
I duly recognise how talented the musicianship, how influential and important this album is, but it never really caught me anywhere after a while.

Not to say I dislike it and I've become quite curious what their later albums would be like, if they came to perfect their songwriting.

I'll start this off as a 3,5*

Nice and smooth Ramones-like punk rock from 1981 that clearly draws influences from rockabilly, B52's and Roy Orbison ("Adult Books").

And it's clear that the band, on the other hand, also influenced bands that came later.
Listen to songs like "We're Desperate" and "I'm Coming Over" and you clearly hear where the Pixies come from.

And even though this is really up my alley, it just doesn't click for me.

Brian Eno fills the A side with nervous funk, rock, new wave and art pop to switch completely in style and then fill the B-side with ambient songs.

And even though I keep coming back to this album, I never really jived with this album, but I've switched in my preference over time. It's now the B Side that I appreciate much more than the A side.

The A Side is a good idea where Brian Eno and David Byrne would take The Talking Heads later. Fun sidenote: King's Lead Hat is an anagram of said Talking Heads.

I'll say 3,5*

Normally I'm not a big fan of the acoustic singer/songwriter genre. Mostly because those albums lack the actual songwriting to make it good listens.

Not this album though, this was stunningly engaging from start to finish, with great lyrics.

Beautiful!

This one really blew me away and is apparently the absolute best Talk Talk have ever made, there's something new to hear in every song every time I put it on.

Definitely an album to keep revisiting

Revolutionary album of the first Grindcore band with the mixture of Punk/Hardcore/Death/Metal.

28 songs in 33 minutes. But even though I think it's great material, it has never grabbed me in the least, no matter how groundbreaking and essential it all must have been in 1987 and probably still is.

The huge transformation of a band. From the ashen dark wave in 1981 to the acid house in the late 1989's. This is what the new drugs can do and how to keep the 24 hour party people partying.
This even was recorded in Ibiza - center of house music.

Some really great songs on here, amongst some lesser ones.
'Vanishing Point' lifts this album up an entire point, and 'Fine Time,' 'Round, Round' and 'Mr. Disco' put down a solid base.

Fun, fast, juvenile, punk.

It does miss that extra spark though.

Dark, grim, intense, loud, confrontational, lyrically strong, fierce vocals, killer guitar sound.

The Holy Bible is an absolute amazing album and the best the Manic Street Preachers have released.

A country & western album that mostly steps in the western spheres.

It just makes me want to play Fallout New Vegas again, with the radio off on my pipboy.

I was about to write a similar blurb I've done with the other Leonard Cohen albums I've heard on this list. That, even though I appreciate his earlier 60's and 70's work, I'm personally a bigger fan of his later work, from the 80's onwards, and that I find 2010's songs like "You Want It Darker" and "Almost Like The Blues" the best he's made. Where it all lyrically became a bit darker and his voice got that low timbre.

But then I listened to this album a few times over. The first set of songs (Avalanche, Last Year's Man & Dress Rehearsel Rag) are the musical equivalent of pure beauty in a successful white / black photo. And where in previous two albums I found the added choirs and female vocals taking away from the beauty, on songs like Last Year's Man they add to the atmosphere.

Not all songs are as good as the rest. Diamonds in the Mine feels like a angry country song that with a burst of cynicism feels out of place.
Love calls you by your name is a lesser rendition of what was already established on Avalanche.

But then we get Famous Blue Raincoat, which is absolute beautiful. It just pours emotion without getting tacky.

After that, the album doesn't get to these heights anymore. But for his early period, this is his best