Reviews by sterry2289

Black Dog is what led me to learn the guitar. I would listen to that song on repeat before middle school, as if to internalize it or satiate myself enough to get through the day and get back to LZ4.

6/5.

This has been said, but I think this music and a lot of grunge was a direct response to pop music in the 80’s. Without that context it’s hard to appreciate. The noise rock is kinda cool at moments. The guitar sound and variance in how it’s used is very good. I liked Sugar Kane for that reason.

Most of this is unlistenable though.

There’s that fucking sitar again! Shankar!!!!! I don’t think I need anymore straightforward rock/grunge. There may have been more of an appetite for this in 1996, but I’m good. They mixed it up a bit on the second half. Cool reading up on the band and their other projects. Heard a little Queens of the Stone Age and turns out one of these guys, Lanegan, was in the band for 15 years. Also collaborated with… PJ Harvey.

The lack of commitment to the concept here has always bothered me. Obviously this is one of the all time great albums so any complaint is nitpicking. I’ve considered Sgt Pepper somewhere in the middle of the pack of Beatles albums. I greatly prefer the edge of a Lennon song, as well as his vocals to Paul’s, and this feels like 75% Paul. A Day In The Life might be the best song ever recorded.

One unexpected outcome of this exercise is that I now resent the Shankar family.

Last note is this listen through I noticed the bass is way up in the mix.

Oh PJ you’re sOoOoO cool. That album cover is atrocious! I see that lady I’m walking the other direction. The Patti Smith thing is irritating when it comes from Patti, never mind PJ Harvey. I think I preferred Let England Shake.

I’ve been a Beatles stan since the day I brought Rubber Soul to show and tell in 2nd grade. This being the first Beatles album we’ve gotten has put me in a bit of a spot.

On the one hand, I believe The Beatles were sent from God and are by a significant margin the best band ever. On the other, I can see how this album can come across as fairly rudimentary and irritating to some.

Their raw talent does shine through but it’s only a glimpse of their potential, which was realized at lightspeed. A few things stand out:

- John’s vocals and charisma
- The Beatles ability to arrange a simple song with a small but unconventional change or section that elevates it above any normal pop song.
- Till There Was You is a crazy cover for a 22 year old. A show tune they composed in a bossa nova style.
- Some of the covers are bad, by their standards, and the Beatles playing 50’s rock is not good.

At this age it’s already clear they’re music fanatics and phenoms. What I’ve never understood is how they did all this without any kind of formal musical training. I think they all must have had a freakish ear and poured over records trying to figure out changes and melodies.

That’s neither here nor there. Giving a 4 here, even though I feel all Beatles records deserve a 5. I think I’m making a new Beatles scale. On the Beatles scale it’s a 2 or 3 but adding 1-2 because it’s the Beatles.

Pretty fun listen. First time through it was sort of a blur, somewhat indistinguishable songs. Second time through the production stood out, a few songs and moments. The intro to Milk Film was pretty cool, like Vampire Weekend. The outro to King Size was pretty sick too. It sounds like these guys were into jamming and they had to sort of work to get their songs organized. I bet they were great live in a small bar. Some British terms and lyrics that can take you out of the groove, like “you’re my little fab one”

Some pretty bad tunes as well. 35 minutes would have been more appropriate.

The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite in a great song, which has me wondering what the differece is between that song and the rest of the album. I chose Drive as a comp.

Sidewinder...
- Interesting progression that keeps you guessing.
- Soulful
- Its a bop - the snare is driving things - rythym guitar playing the off-beat
- Stipes delivering the vocals with conviction
- His vocal delivery is also adding to the overall rythm of the song, occasionally aligning to the driving organ.
- Somewhat vague but song about loss
- Perfect bridge

Drive (fucking awful song)
- Downer finger picking minor chords
- Lame halfway spoken word lyrics (echo to pick them up a bit)
- Boring predictable chord changes
- When it does resolve to an upbeat "chorus" it immediately fades back into nothing
- Could be the theme music to True Detective
- Extremely vague meaning

In my review of Murmur I noted that the drums and bass combo were key to the REM sound, and this album is a departure from that, with the exception of The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite. I think you can make a downer, minor chord, finger picking, predictable song but something needs to carry it. Most times it's really compelling lyrics or maybe a couple of chord changes that throw you. R.E.M were making an effort to move away from their alt rock sound and get more serious and introspective with this record, but in the case of Drive, and most of the other songs, it didn't work.

Everybody Hurts and Nightswimming are hits, and at one point in my life I liked them so I need to give them credit for those. Frank and I played in a HS band and at some point added Everybody Hurts, a terrible decision I'm blaming on our temp keyboard player Pat, though I could very well be the culprit.

Boston's own! I was surprised how well I knew all but two of these songs. Growing up MA I think we had an unusual amount of The Cars played on our only good radio station (ZLX). Very unique sound - super clean production. Only comp I could think of was Joe Jackson, maybe Devo for some of the vocals, Boston for some of the bigger solo's. Despite having a very unique sound theres a lot of variance in the songs. Never really sought out the Cars, despite hearing all these songs 1000 times, and probobaly won't seek them out going forward, but when I hear a Cars song I'll turn it up.

I remember loving Bittersweet Symphony as a kid, so I'm sure its just been overplayed... but god damn it did I hate this. I spent a few minutes trying to find a review that explained what is good about this but could not find anything analytical just that they were taking the Brit Pop scene to a new level (via a hijacked sample). I don't like Oasis and from what i gather this is a less interesting Oasis?

I do feel bad for them, sounds like they got screwed with the royalties on BSS, but theres no feelings in 1001 world, only harsh truths. And in this case the truth is The Verve suck.

When I graduated college I moved into a place with my cousin and some friends. We all had similar musical tastes and at some point we went into a collective manic obsession with 70’s R&B and Soul and Curtis Mayfield was our North Star. We were constantly exchanging songs and the closer we could get to Mayfield, the better. We had a gigantic Superfly poster on the wall, which we didn’t contemplate the optics of (4 white guys with a blaxploitation movie poster) I still don’t think I know if that’s cool?

Looking back I’m not sure exactly how we all landed at the same conclusion at the same time: Curtis Mayfield rules and was cool as hell.

This time through I’m really astounded with how great this album is. There really isn’t a bad moment. This time through Little Child Running Wild and the instrumentals stood out. I also hadn't contemplated how seriously he took this, but in many ways its a lot like What's Going On. Mayfields concept album (concept album boys stand up!) I just learned Mayfield wrote the music largely as a critique to the film (glorifying drug use and culture).

I'm less interested in that and more so just appreciative of how great his songs and this album sounds. It starts with the grooves (Pusherman for example) but it goes beyond that to consistently engaging songs and moments that are incredibly "cool". Curtis was a wise choice for a movie called "Super Fly". One of my favorite Impressions songs is "It's Alright" and I wouldn't say that's cool, but it does make you feel good and has a great groove.

Quick retraction on RHCP: I said I don't like music that makes me feel sad, which is too broad. I just don't like RHCP and trying to understand why.

Great opening track, showcasing my favorite aspects of the RHCP (punk funk?). For reference, Give it Away is my favorite song of theirs. What i don't like about RHCP are the songs that really put them over the top and are the hits off this album. Something about those minor key's and sad lyrics I can't latch onto. Shutting down emotionally when i know the artist wants me to reflect. Like Will Hunting resisting Robin Williams... it's not your fault!!! I wasn't abused, I just don't like sad feelings.

I also do feel a lot of these songs are structured in a very similar way - many starting with a distinct minor chord riff or chord on guitar.

Another thought I keep coming back to in this exercise is that many of these bands and albums stand out because they are blending genre's - in this case there are a few but I would say hip-hop, rock and funk stand out. I've been contemplating the future of music as we run out of distict genres. A lot less low hanging fruit to create a unique sound. Has anyone blended blue grass and metal?

There are many HITS on this album, but a lot of dead weight on the second half. As is often the case, deserving of more stars but two for my taste.

I really disliked this. The overwrought singing style reminds me of some combination of Hunter, Jan from the Offices former assistant, and the kid on the stairs in Animal House who has his guitar destroyed by Bluto.

The progressions and melodies aren't particularly interesting, the production sounds good. Wouldn't say this offended me - i could understand how someone may enjoy it. Despite all this, I'm not sure i can argue with Michael Stipe saying it was the best album of 1993... pretty rough year for music.

What a strange delight! Totally original sound (a touch of the cranberries on one song). Had no expectations but listened to this one a few times through. I could barely understand a word they were saying and it’s unclear to me if that’s the Scottish accent or another language? Ahead of their time, sounds like modern indie.

Always been intrigued by WAR and truly love some of their hit songs. Cisco Kid has always been the rotation but had never done the full listen through. Really enjoyed it but nothing jumped out at me. Would not have guessed this was a #1 album just based on the genre but they must have blended funk and soul with pop pretty effectively.

Borderline but i think i need more stand outs for a 4. Good album, no complaints. Boring review.

Coffee house Jazz may be near the bottom of my genre preferences, and this is the epitome of that genre. Can't explain why.

I was very excited to learn shes Ravi Shankar kid, not sure how I'm just learning that now.

I'm walking down the street and I can hear a commotion. It's a party in a giant purple mansion. Loud music playing, people fucking everywhere.
Everyone is screaming and crying for Prince. PRINCE, PRINCE, PRINCE!!!! Prince sees me and seductively asks if I'd like to come in. I do. I want to be in the Prince party. I've always wanted to be in the Prince party! But I just can't. Too buttoned up maybe? Not horny enough?

I get that Prince is great but for some reason I have never fully understood or connected to the music. There will be a song here or there I keep in the rotation, I think mainly from his self titled album. I asked my Mom what they thought of him when he was coming up and her answer was simple, "Pervert". After hearing "I want to fuck the taste out of your mouth" I get it.

I'm glad that Prince existed and maybe some day I'll make it to the party.

Love Alice Coopers moxie. Was very familiar with a few of these but had never done the full listen. I think my favorite new track was Raped and Freezin…

Elected was also new to me and apparently a single. To my ear it sounds like the descending scale/melody towards the end of the song and the chord progression are completely clashing. Pretty sure they are in completely different keys. I will investigate.

Overall, I’m a fan of the vibe and the sound. I would probably skip the fucking dead people song, but that comes with the territory I suppose.

As a recently declared ‘concept album guy’ I am conflicted with Bat Out of Hell. I may not like operatic concept albums? Or maybe the concept is too dumb?

This was a worthwhile listen and Meatloaf has a lot more to offer than I would have guessed. Cool story behind it as well. My immediate thought was this sounds A LOT like Thunder Road, which I’ve learned is a common thought, although one the Steinman was (somehow) confused by. Overall, happy to have listened but probably won’t be back.

Lotttta B Boys. Kind of cool to listen to these so close to one another - one of the more impressive progressions of a band we've seen. This is the rawest/most intesnse album of the three. Feels more like art compared to the other two. Considerable improvement over their first album and feels like the purest form of the their sound. It is impressive this was made in 1989 and it really shows the possibilities of hip-hop. It also makes we wonder why more artist didn't push the boundaries . We have a few, but compared to this 90% of hip-hop feels lazy. As much as I've enjoyed our Beastie Boys journey I'm ready for a new deep dive.