Reviews by nevele

All the songs on this album just come at you like a wave of echoey voices, surfing on another wave of additional choirs, bells, string quartets, horn sections on top of another wave of perfectly aligned maracas and other percussion shaking and rattling underneath.

Because where in these days Phil Spectors multi-layered, orchestrated, muddy wall of sounds just tires me out, it really did work well on these old mono recordings with the 1960's girl groups where the songs were the focus, not the musicians.

This makes this album quite a joy to listen to and is justifiably regarded as the best Christmas album of all time. And the only album I would put on if I absolutely had to listen to any of its music during it.

I know this album quite well from my youth, and the main reason I never listen to this album is due to the immensely overplayed ànd overrated title track. I could never again go past the first track. Now I've listened to it again and with one exception, Life In The Fast Lane, this entire album to me tries to balance the line between emotion and kitsch. But too many times falls over to the latter (Pretty Maids All In A Row, Wasted Time, The Last Resort) that this is an unlistenable mess.

It's just really not for me. Glad I did the re-listen though.

When folk, punk and whisky came together, something brilliant happened.

It starts with the rousing title track, after which the musical journey continues through various landscapes. A modern version of the Irish traditional The Broad Majestic Shannon is effortlessly alternated with the dreamy Lullaby of London and the uptempo carnavalesque Fiesta, which again is very different from the melancholy of (Christmas) single Fairytale of New York, in which the late Kirsty MacColl sings.

An absolute masterpiece

I find Nixon is a highly uneven album, with a strange combination of country and soul.

Sometimes it really works out, like on the song 'Up With People,' but other times the falsetto and half-hearted soul just really don't do it for me.

Gave it a couple of listens, but it never hit anywhere.

It really is quite a good album, but that first song just starts it off on the wrong foot for me.

I started listening to this album fully thinking that this would be an instant 5* for me.
I absolutely adore Gary Numans sound that almost feels trademarked. The low droning Vox Humana synth sounds, superb melodies with the Polygoog over the top of simple structured songs.

I'm a bit more acquainted with his later work and what I've found during my several listens of this album over the last two days is that Numan has become a much better songwriter over the years.

I really enjoyed this, but not all songs are of the highest caliber like Metal, ME, Cars; or than a lot of his later albums.

Vepsertine might just be Björk's Magnum Opus. Where the albums before fell on occasion more into clubby style electro, this album is organic, warm, subdued, dreamy and mysterious.

And every time I hear it I'm amazed at how beautifully everything falls into place. The sudden background chorus in Undo. The incoming bass at Pagan Poetry. The strings that come in to enhance things very tastefully. So there is more than enough to hear.
And with every listen I pick something new up. A musical detail or even an atmosphere some song will make me float towards. Details, but also a beautiful tranquility in the songs, even though the electronics simmer happily under the skin. Exciting and restful at the same time.

Björk uses her voice in line with the songs as well, so with a lot less reverb.

There's no miss on this album. 5*

Teenage angsty straightforward lyrics on music that was the bridge between grunge and alternative rock. With dark over and undertones, superb guitarriffs. A classic from the 90's

Interesting to have a bootleg on the 1001 album list

Now besides Dylan being overzealous on the harmonica, this is a great time piece of Dylan live.

What is there to say about this that hasn't been said yet in 1000's of articles, hundreds of documentaries and dozens of books on just this album?

Mainly my opinion that it's not the Beatles' best work. That would be Revolver.

This one is just a bit too much. A bit too much filler, a bit too much extra sounds, a bit too much drumloops.

It really is an album that jumps between two ideas. The older Britpop era of Blur combined with the more adventurous new era about to come. It makes the album feel a bit disjointed, and not all songs are strong.

On the other hand, Beetlebum might be the best song Blur has ever released.

There are a few albums in this world that make you shout "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS?" every time you hear it. Chicago's 'Transit Authority' and Live's 'Throwing Copper' spring to mind.

Parachutes by Coldplay is another one. Do you just enjoy the music, get a little smile when that guitar in 'Don't Panic' starts building up, and sing along with the classic 'Yellow'? Or do you get sad that a band who showcase so much talent and songwriting skills on this debut became what they have become later in their career?

Because no matter what comes afterwards, this first Coldplay album is still rock solid, even 20 years afterwards. Listen to songs like 'Shiver' or 'Spies' and there's no denying how incredibly good this is.
And anyone can understand why this album became such a hit, with the masses as well as the indie crowds.

This is an album where I really enjoyed the music much much than I enjoyed the vocals. It's the same reason I can't seem to enjoy Anthony and the Johnsons.
The music, especially rhythmically, is really good, but the falsetto voice, in my humble opinion, takes too much away from it, stands too much in the foreground and is starting to annoy quite quickly.
The few songs where it doesn't happen are my favourites.

This is just not really my thing. I appreciate it for the quality though

Westernized Sitar Music.

I can't believe of all the amazing world music there is, this album that has been built on the western poppy influences made the list.

'Metamorphosis' is the only real positive on this album. It's the only song where barriers get broken and Shankar dares to take it a bit further.

It really has some amazing highlights, like "Right Here, Right Now" (especially with video clip) "The Rockafeller Skank," and "Love Island"
I know this album well and after absolutely adoring it for quite a few years, I now find this album to be dragging on a bit.

This 2 hour long triple LP has a five star album in here, but is surrounded in a thick layer of 4 star songs, enclosed by a 2 star jam session.

Another great band that used to be a blindspot of me. I was aware of their existence, and even though they seem to fully fit in my music tastes, I never listened to it.

Luckily that's now changed and I've fully enjoyed this.

TAAAAAAAAAAMMMEEEEE