Reviews by ohlessergod

I could definitely feel the therapy John Lennon was undergoing behind this album. "I don't believe in Beatles" is so harsh after The Beatles made Lennon who he was. But I wasn't there to experience all his traumas and it sounds like he had many. Did it make for a good album? Hold On, I Found Out, Working Class Hero, Isolation, and God stood out for me, but the rest was kind of background noise. Maybe more listens are required. Also, I learned the album photograph was taken by the lead ape in the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is quite interesting if you think about the album's association with the primal scream therapy...

There is no denying this album's place in history. Potentially solidifying rock and roll as a musical genre and popularizing it to a level never seen before, this album essentially started it all (well... except that most of it was stolen from music that had already come before...). The hits are the hits and the other songs are slowly fading into history. I can tell. I'm not a huge Elvis fan. I know and like the hits. I ignore most of the ones that didn't make it. This kind of rock and roll is fading fast, but gave birth and evolved into what we have today so it must be recognized. Coincidentally on my Rolling Stones Rock Trivia daily calendar at work this Saturday/Sunday's question was who was the singer that Elvis disliked so much he shot his television (the answer is Robert Goulet...) and then the question for Monday was Elvis gave Richard Nixon what gift while he was president (the answer was a pistol). Elvis has a place in the history of music, but unfortunately I feel him fading quickly. Again, the hits are the hits, the rest kind of bores me at this point.

I officially hate The Band. I'll give them The Weight just because "Take a load off, Fanny," is kind of funny. Oh and the going rumor is that "Fanny" was a woman who slept with three members of The Band and gave John Belushi his lethal overdose? I no nothing about The Band and am surprised Bob Dylan made the cover artwork and they toured with Dylan before making this album. Still, this music doesn't do it for me. I was driving and it put me to sleep. A little later in the album it picks up a bit and switches from country to a more rock kind of sound - We Can Talk, Chest Fever, and This Wheel's on Fire all piqued my interest, but that's not enough to make me rate this album highly. 2 stars because I didn't hate everything but I hated more than I enjoyed.

I think I liked Rain Dogs better, but this is still an amazing precursor to that album creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere.

This is not my typical genre of music but I mostly enjoyed this album. I love how rough the recording is. It has such hazy vocals that sometimes get clipped in the peaks but it gives it this feeling like you're sitting in some hillbilly's kitchen watching him smoke a Marlboro in his Marlboro jacket next to his Marlboro ashtray and Marlboro table. You can smell this album. It smells like cigarettes and desert sand. Not sure why but that was the feeling I got from this album and if an album can transport you to a time and a place it can't be all that bad.

Everyone knows West End Girls. But this album did not seem to have the same popularity it had in the UK in the US. I could only vaguely recall hearing some of these or maybe they sounded like other PSB songs. But I did enjoy this album. Heavy subjects laid out in lyrics alongside some of the most danceable music. It just didn't have the same connection some of their more globally popular songs had. Maybe hearing them a second time will solidify them for me.

I had Mothership Connection by Parliament and was a bit iffy because it seemed like that album was more of a skit than music. Now I get Funkadelic and I have to say this blows Parliament out of the water. Funkadelic's got the funk. I'm mad this album isn't on Spotify and I had to listen on YouTube and I can't ever randomly hear these songs on Spotify again which is a shame because I actually really liked this entire album. Sorry Parliament, Funkadelic funked me up.

I love the song Moondance, but I found the album as a whole a little annoying. I can't quite put my finger on why. I think this one needs a relisten at some point.

My wife always sings Love Shack and it drives me insane so I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed this album so much. The B-52's are nothing short of quirky but the music on this album is actually really good. It sometimes reminded me more of a punk sound like the Dead Kennedys but if they were wearing beehive hairdos. I really was surprised at how much I enjoyed this because Love Shack became so popular and kind of ruined any chance of me listening to their other stuff until now. I'm glad I did.

I thought Air was a band from the 60s or 70s. I had no idea this album came out in 1998. If you go into this album thinking it came out in the 60s or 70s it will blow your mind because you will think this is one of the most ahead-of-its-time bands! But then you find out the album is from 1998 and you think woah they made it sound like this was an album from the 60s or 70s that sounded like it was from the future but it really was from the future and trying to sound like it was from the past but with a future vibe... Mind blown 🤯

Well, there have to be some albums I hate and this is one of them. I think this is my first one star album. Who thought it would be fun to have an album with lounge music mixed with Ska music mixed with jazz and then throw in a song with a fiddle reminiscent of country music and oh wait you aren't confused enough? Here's an awful rap! It's a mess. It's a bloody mess. Some of the jazz is... OK. I especially liked the title of Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse, but the jazz in that does not match that title very well. All I can say is it's a mess and I didn't like it.

That was quite a lot of gunslinger ballads. I started very interested and loved the stories but after awhile I felt like there was no way that many characters had 20 notches on their guns. The storytelling was still the most interesting part. The music itself wasn't bad per se but after a few songs it sounded a bit repetitive. The western music genre has had a resurgence of popularity due to its use in popular media, and that's a fine place for it, but I don't think I would sit and listen to this album again.

We constantly sing Who's That Lady to our dogs (but we change lady to baby). I had no idea this was by the Isley brothers. And I believe my wife and I only know this song from shampoo commercials. It is a good song and aside from that song this album as a whole is pretty good. I can't say I loved their cover of Listen to the Music, but they do a mean Summer Breeze. Some of the songs leaned a little too R&B for me but most are in the funk realm and have great bass lines and grooves. There are also some great guitar solos sprinkled throughout. For an album from 1973 the recording is crystal clear too.

Beautiful album. What a gentle but troubled voice. Pure poetry and pure music with only an acoustic guitar and his voice (and a single piano line being the only piece of the music not played by Drake). I want to dive deeper into the lyrics because they do garble a bit. Never realized Pink Moon was about the full moon in April and the depression and lunacy (lunar...) that can come with it. Every year I get another year older in April. Another year closer to death. A terrible way to feel in the spring when the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming and the rain is falling. Pink moon gonna get ye all...

I had only ever heard Once in a Lifetime and who hasn't heard that? But the rest of this album is just if not more amazing than that song. I never realized I would enjoy every song by the Talking Heads and I'm not sure why I have never listened to their entire catalog. I do think sometimes David Byrne's voice and flow can get repetitive. But as evidenced by this album, the other members actually put in a lot of work to keep the music moving in interesting directions. And in reading about this album that seemed to be the case. They were fed up with Byrne running the show and wanted to have more of a full collaborative feeling. I believe they achieved that here. The manual looping of sounds, the African influence, and the foresight that rap was going to hit it big so they should embrace the style to some extent make this album amazing.

I think I need another listen. On the first listen I almost couldn't stand Corin Tucker's voice. But on some songs it's actually catchy? Maybe I just liked the music? I couldn't understand most of the lyrics because the songs are so fast and loud and because Corin is shrieking them. I did actually like some songs but others seemed maybe too abrasive. I'm all for the feminist message, but Corin's voice kind of blew it for me a bit. On the other hand... I find myself wanting to listen again... I see the appeal.

Another amazing album by the Pumpkins. I think they got a lot of bad press once and it kind of made everyone think Billy Corgan was an asshole. And he very well might be, but damn he made some cool music. Reading about this album and how Soma has over 40 guitar overdubs, that's insane especially for a song nobody knows. Cherub Rock, Quiet, Disarm, Hummer, Silverfuck, and of course Today and Mayonaise steal the show. They are undeniably catchy and heavy as fuck when they need to be and light and airy when they don't. The loud quiet loud formula is strong here and I'm not mad about it. I saw The Smashing Pumpkins live a couple years ago at a smaller venue outside. It sounded so good and the entire show had so much energy. I was waiting for Billy to lose his shit or something. He seems the type. But it didn't happen and he even at one point brought one of his kids out on stage with ear protection and let him jam out to one of their songs. It really humanized Billy in a whole new way for me. He wasn't just the asshole musician trying to take over his band anymore. He was a dad and successful wrestling league owner. Oh wait. He's still a bit weird but seriously one of the best live shows I've ever seen. James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin also made this band what it is. Darcy is the Kim Deal of the Pumpkins unfortunately but I am sure she left some influence on the band the same as Kim.

I am pretty sure Don't Dream It's Over is the only Crowded House song I know and I am glad to have now listened to an album that does not have that song on it! I enjoyed this album. Looking at some of the track titles had me worried this would be overtly religious but it does an ok job at not going that route. There are some very tongue in cheek lyrics here. Reminds me of REM a bit. No idea they were from a land down under. I loved Four Seasons in One Day but was very sad to hear that song was used as a tribute to their drummer and founding member Paul Hester at performances after he killed himself.

Learned about the Bandoneon reading about Astor. And Burton is a mean vibraphonist. Not entirely my cup of tea but the instrumentation was varied enough to keep my interest. Vibraphones and Bandoneon's are not what I think of when I think of tango music or even jazz, and that's kind of what makes this collaboration and album special.

I did not expect to enjoy this album as much as I did. We Are Family is iconic, but the rest was unknown to me. The disco vibe is strong, the bass lines are prominent, and it was just generally a fun album to listen to. Disco is so far from what I normally listen to, but I must have been in the right mood for this album!