Reviews by suspiciousnumber

What's interesting about this album is that so many of the samples sound familiar, but I can't tell if they originate here or are sampled from something famous. Certainly there is a huge P-Funk influence on this album, which fits into the context of what was happening elsewhere in West Coast hip-hop. A lot of the rap from this era doesn't age well because of the mysogeny, homophobia, and cartoonishly violent content, but this album still sounds good

4/5

This is the second Belle and Sebastian album that I've gotten on this list, and I enjoyed Tiger Milk a lot better. There wasn't anything wrong with this album, but it also felt really short and wasn't as interesting as their other work

3/5

It never ceases to amaze me how one voice can be so powerful and yet so subtle. This album goes by really quick, but each song shows off Aretha's incredible voice and range

4/5

I don't want to put more thought into this review than the band put into making this album, so I will just note that I do not think that it is very good. I look forward to next week when I will forget about its existence

2/5

I've heard most of the songs off of here, but I don't know that I've ever listened to this album before. So much of what would happen in rock in the 90s is presaged here, and yet this album doesn't sound dated. The sound quality could be a little better, as it sounds a bit lofi at times, but overall it's a really groundbreaking album with no obvious flaws

4/5

This is the second Leonard Cohen album I've gotten on this list. I will say I have have trouble distinguishing one Cohen album from another, since they tend to have a similar sound. However, I always enjoy the experience. He's both a gifted singer and a gifted songwriter

4/5

I find this album a bit tough to rate. I liked it okay, but no part of it really stood out to me. I could certainly see how it would be significant for the time, but it doesn't sound particularly fresh or distinctive listening to it now. I want to give it a 4, but ultimately I feel like this album is sorta average for this list

3/5

I'm usually not that excited when newer pop albums show up on this list because they often don't sound as interesting after even a few years have passed. This album still very much sounds like it's own thing, though. The music doesn't sound dated at all, it's such an interesting combination of different styles that wouldn't seem to fit together except for the existence of this album. There are times when the samples and sounds used in the album can be a bit grating, but the overall effect of what MIA put together here is really cool

4/5

This is kind of a weird album. The music is great and well-produced. Their voices are a bit grating, and their lyrics leave a lot to be desired. Overall it's a pretty interesting listen, but it kind of feels like the music is being wasted a bit by not having better vocal accompaniment

4/5, though very far on the low end of 4

I thought this album was cool for roughly one minute. I can see why this would have blown people's minds in 1970, but it sounds a little self indulgent today, like when Dennis from It's Always Sunny pretends to be a rock star. Seriously, Flight of the Rat is at least a minute longer than it needs to be so that the drummer can fit in a song-ending solo. That's fine for a live show, but completely unnecessary for an album. I'm only halfway through this album, and I'm mad about the fact that I'm going to listen to the whole thing

3/5

I think this album, and having listened to some Dead Kennedys earlier in the year, has given me more appreciation for hardcore punk. I've always found it a hard genre to listen to because there's often not much to latch onto except for the speed and anger. Obviously the speed and anger are the point, but that doesn't always make for an enjoyable listening experience.

The bitter sarcasm that drives this album is very interesting. The songs are a clear rejection of the world around the band, but the band is often focusing their songs around an (albeit very ungenerous) interpretation of the cultural perspectives they reject. The version of themselves that they present is one of emotional turmoil.

I like the energy of this album. I'm not sure how often I'm going to come back to it, but I can see why it was so influential to young punks in the 80s

4/5

I was honestly really surprised by this album. I'd never heard of it, which was surprising because I'm pretty familiar with 80s stuff. This is really cool. It's dramatic, like the soundtrack to an 80s movie. The music is all really fun, with great hooks.

4/5

This album started out okay. We've Only Just Begun is a more interesting song than I remember it being. I was surprised by how many of these songs I knew, though I didn't care enough to look up how many of the songs are covers. After a while, though, it just starts to feel very samey and very very saccharine. The cover of The Beatles's Help is insipid.

It's not bad, and I understand why people like this album so much, but I found it cloying. A little bit of human misery would have gone a long way toward improving this album

3/5

I haven't listened to a lot of early British ska, so this was a pleasant surprise. The music fades into the background a bit while I'm listening to it, but it's consistently good.

4/5

This album is really astonishing for the time when it was made. It sounds like a post-punk album but was made before anything but the earliest punk albums had been released. The music can be a bit much at times, but overall it's a really fun listen and sounds way ahead of its time

4/5

Hip-hop is a lot easier to listen to now that each rap album doesn't come with 15 minutes of bizarre skits interspersed throughout the songs. The Chinese restaurant skit brings this album to a full stop.

Setting that aside, this is a great album. Filled with classics. The music is diverse and interesting throughout, and each member of the group brings a lot of lyrical strength to the album, though Lauren Hill is the clear leader of the group.

This album is dense. Killing Me Softly doesn't come until halfway through the album, as if it was an afterthought among all the other great songs on the album. It's good straight through to the last song

5/5

This album starts out on an absolute tear, with Snappin & Trappin being the first song that I don't think of as an absolute classic. Honestly, though, every song on this album is good. For the most part, you could drop this album today and it would be just as impactful as it was when it was release. It's aged much better than most early 00s hip-hop

5/5

This album was a really cool change of pace. It's sound is both familiar and novel at the same time. I wouldn't have envisioned the mixture of American blues and African music to be so seamless, but this feels like it was meant to be. The intricacy of the guitar adds a lot to this album

5/5

I'd never listened to this Zep album before, though I knew several of the songs on it. I feel like the album really gets going around Houses of the Holy and Trampled Under Foot. Kashmir following those two makes side B of the record really strong.

I'm not in love with double albums, since I usually end up feeling like there's some fluff to fill out that much record time. This record felt really solid all the way through, though. One of the few double albums that I can think of that includes this much quality material

4/5

One of the things I find commonly about most of the more recent albums on this list is that they are often here more because they were/are popular than because they are meaningful artistic expressions. Not so with this album. FKA twigs feels like she's really using the technological capabilities of the moment to produce a truly innovative album. Beautiful and haunting, sexy, deliberate, deep. This album has so much going for it, and I think that it will stand the test of time

4/5