Reviews by oldmancthc

It's something I'd probably never listen to again. I do find some of the experimentation on it to be really fun. The vocal melodies are interesting enough that I want to pay attention. I don't hate it, but it does not rock and its seems wildly incohesive

Tried to go into this with an open mind. I've hated the Dead most of my life, based mostly on how much I despised the deadheads in high school and college I had to endure, and honestly NOT based much on the very limited amount of their music I had heard. Box of Rain was actually a really solid track! Maybe this will be OK... Well, that was short lived. This just takes a huge nosedive after the opener. I hate the harmonies and I hate the easy-country feel. Nothing about this rocks and I feel justified in my 40 years of dismissing this band and everyone who worships them.

Well, it's better than the last Cohen album I listened to... but not by a hell of a lot. This feels like outsider art, in all the wrong ways. Songs are drawn out MUCH longer than they should be, and it's tough to tolerate. HIs voice is terrible and he prefers to talk sing, which sucks. Music is so... "skim-milk", for lack of a better analogy. After a single song, it all seems to simply drone on endlessly. Similar tempos, similar keys, similar vocal style; the repetitious feeling is like I'm going crazy. I can barely tell where one song ends and the next begins. Is that his point?

More country I can get behind. This is a rock-solid album! All the classics (even those that are new at the time) played live. Much of the between song banter left in here to appreciate. Doesn't get more outlaw country than singing to prisoners in San Quentin.

Always thought I hated Cat Stevens. Turns out, this wasn't bad. It wasn't good either, but I didn't mind listening to it. Probably never will again though.

Another Nile Rodgers production. Damn, this guy might be responsible for ALL the disco I actually like. Everything you expect from Chic is here but add 5 sisters with incredible range and vocal talent. Nothing but good vibes here. Dancing my ass off instead of working today.

I’m a known hater folk. And I don’t know if it’s nostalgia (Tracy Chapman’s music was everywhere when it was released) or not but something about the combination of her voice and guitar work is just captivating. Her lyrics are powerful and moving without ever seeming forced or contrived. Her ability to impart desperation as well as hope feels unique.

Respect the studio work for sure, but the Beach Boys saccharine harmonies are like an eject button to the moon for me. While listening, it's hard not to get lost in a fantasy about a gang of rockers beating their asses and stealing their equipment

Wild ride (no pun intended) on this album. Opens up straight into Kicks. I love the energy here, a little garage rock, a little psych. A similar formula is used throughout at least half of the album and it just works. There's Always Tomorrow takes on a weird trip into twangy upbeat country, but somehow works in a chorus that is pure '60's pop. Weird, but it works. The only times they really lose me are on the slow burners; Little Girl in The Fourth Row and Melody for an Unknown Girl. Im just not a ballad guy.

So different from Purple Rain. So much synth and so little guitar. I thought that was going to influence things badly for me, but once again Prince shows that his particular brand of pop is something I actually like. Felt a few little nods to electro throughout this one which also rocked.

It’s Miles Davis! If there were 6 stars, I’d award it.

Bowie is one of those artists I've never found myself interested enough to really immerse myself in. I recognize the hits and I appreciate what I know of his catalog, but this is the first time I've sat down to listen to a full album. From the initial textured white noise intro, I'm sold. Station To Station starts off with a singular bass line and slowly builds the instrumentation into the complete melody before Bowie's signature vocals are injected. New Wave sensibilities are strong here! The opening track AND Golden Years both sound so much like Talking Heads songs to me. Stay brings that funk, in such a uniquely Bowie way I literally giggled. Wild in the Wind is an interesting choice for a closer. I feel it lacks the emotional power of the versions we've received from both Johnny Mathis and Nina Simone, but again it is arranged and performed in a way that is undeniably David Bowie.

I shamelessly love this band, but this is not an album I have a lot of experience with. Previous albums were schizophrenic; jumping from one sound to another as tracks change. Here, the band seems to have a clearer idea of direction. The prog is still front and center, the rock is undeniable, but gone are the classical compositions that felt so out of place on earlier releases. This is Yes defining what will make them so unique but instantly recognizable going forward. Worth noting that the dynamic range on the vinyl rip I listened to was far beyond any modern recording I've ever heard. Truly phenomenal range.

Once in a while, a pop album impresses me. This is one of those times. I think the main difference is I view most pop music as being produced within a predefined, rigid framework, and designed specifically to use that to maximize its sales. Prince, on the other hand, while aware of this framework, not only refuses to let it control him or his work, but actually innovates within it, pushing the boundaries and almost comfortably redefining what other artists will need to do in the future to keep up.

Well here's something I listened to quite a lot as a youth, but don't think I've heard in over 30 years. There's some great material here, and it's another one that is hard for me to separate myself from opinions I formed long ago. I do find this a little pretentious, and definitely too long. This would feel like less of a slog boiled down to a single LP.

Not my favorite Police album (that's Synchronicity) but still great in its own right. This one's got a couple memorable hits, but also contains some great deeper cuts that never got the attention they deserve. The big surprise, and it's a pleasant one, 3 Copeland writing credits here (plus another shared with Sting)! I feel like later albums reduce Stu and Andy's writing credits to just a single song each, toward the end of the b-side. Sure, Sting seems to write those pieces that got the most pop attention, but there's just something about the Copeland written tracks that I respond to, so it's great to have multiple here. The only downside is no totally unhinged addition from Andy Summers on this album. Minor cringe-factor for Sting's white-boy Caribbean patois on The Bed's Too Big Without You, but the '80s were a different time I suppose.

If, like me, you lived through the '90s you probably hate ska too. Every high school honors student with a trombone started wearing checkerboard slip-on Van's and put together a shitty ska band and hoped they'd be the next Bosstones. It really did a lot for pushing me completely away from that sound. BUT... There is a reason The Specials kicked off enough excitement to start a new 2nd wave of ska. They are a solid band, and this is a great album.

I still hate country I guess. This sounds like the caterwauling that spews from the bandstand at a county fair. Makes my teeth itch. Twangy harmonies ain't for me.

Hated this when it was released. Haven't changed my mind in the slightest almost 40 years later. Crappy danceable canned rhythms? Check. Grossly overused synth-imitated instruments? Check. "Controversial" lyrics about fucking that will garner some media attention? Check. This is formulaic, throwaway, '80s pop music-industry garbage.

Opens up straight away into something that sounds like it should be in a musical... not a good sign for me. The simple vocal over a reverb-drenched organ definitely creates a cool vibe on Early In The Morning though. Down starts cooking, but still just feels like something is being held back. Oh right... Without You... Followed up directly with Coconut. I feel like this album has officially been weaponized against me now. Hey Harry, did ANYONE ask for a honky tonk version of Let The Good Times Roll? I'm guessing 'No'. Jump In The Fire makes a very solid attempt to redeem this whole affair, complete with a bitchin' drum solo. Definitely the standout banger on here. Probably should have closed out the album with it, instead of the banjo-tinged funeral dirge that was given that honor.