Rated 8/10
Woo, Parliament! - this record is fun. I decided to listen to it while doing some weights and crunches and such but ended up mostly dancing instead.
Lyrics to "Handcuffs" didn't age particularly well, but otherwise there's not a dull moment on this record.
Rated 4/10
The fast songs were annoying but ok if you like music like this, I guess. But the slow songs were intolerable, like I couldn't get more than 30 seconds in before having to skip to the next track.
Rated 6/10
This is fun stuff - songs that those of us around at the time will remember from the radio: "Time after Time," "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," etc.
3 stars because while it was never my favorite thing at the time, it evokes a fond reaction of "aww yeah, Cyndi Lauper"
Rated 6/10
I somehow had managed to never hear of this band, so I was intrigued. I love the cover.
The best tracks reminded me a little of Sparks, that over-the-top dramatic kind of stuff. I can see that one or two of them would be fun popping up in the right sort of radio set, and Neil Hannon has a great voice. I'll bet if you liked this at the time, you probably REALLY liked it. Most of it was just a little too goofy for me, but I can see why it was included in this list.
3 stars
Rated 6/10
When this record popped up yesterday morning I was like "oh yeah Sebadoh, I remember them" but my next thought was "have I ever actually heard any of this or do I just know about it from reading about it in Puncture or whatever at the time?"
So ok - this is along the lines of things I like, indie rock. I'd give it more stars if it was a little more innovative. It didn't really speak to me for some reason.
Three stars because it's competent, tuneful, but for me unexciting.
Rated 8/10
I wasn't expecting to like this record this much!
I've been hearing forever how great Wu-Tang was, but have never been into this kind of stuff enough to check it out. Not something I'd play in a car with open windows because of some of the lyrics and spoken word stuff, but otherwise I really enjoyed it.
Four stars
Well, this was inevitable, might's well get it over with.
Yep, "Sgt Peppers" is an incredibly important record that inspired countless important bands in later years.
But do I ever want to listen to it again? No. (Aw come on, even "Day in the Life"? NO.) This record came out when I was nine years old and has been on constant rotation ever since - so yes, I have heard it, thank you.
Rated 10/10
Hot Rats! Riotous funk-jazz weirdness; the only Frank Zappa record I still listen to regularly. "Peaches en Regalia" started running through my head the minute I saw this cover this morning. I love that the only vocals on this record are by Captain Beefheart.
Best track: The Gumbo Variations, which should have been twice as long
If I heard this in a coffee shop I'd stick around to hear the whole thing unless I'd just played it myself recently; there's a limited amount of Zappa that I can do these days.
Five stars
Rated 6/10
I couldn't get into this; it just didn't make me enthusiastic about listening to the whole thing because these days this kind of American folk rock isn't very interesting to me. Admittedly I've never gotten into any Neil Young since I was super into "After the Gold Rush" when I was in 9th grade. So this is well done for what it is, I think, just not for me these days.
If it were playing in a coffee shop I wouldn't leave to get away from it, but I'd probably complain about the place afterwards like "well yeah the espresso drinks are good but the last time I was there all they were playing was all this sleepy Neil Young stuff."
Three stars
Rated 8/10
Yay for this record - I've always loved "A Forest." Weirdly though, the only record I ever had by The Cure was that singles comp "Staring at the Sea," so much of this was new to me.
Fun record - I love rhythmically compelling songs with obscure lyrics and music that sounds like the soundtrack to a creepy movie. Probably won't listen to the whole thing very often, but there are some top-notch tracks here.
Rated 4/10
Oh come on, do I really have to listen to this? I feel I have spent enough time listening to this record and seeing the video on MTV back in the day to be able to say I have heard it before I died.
2 stars - I recognize its technical quality and danceability, but I would get my coffee to go if I were someplace and they started playing this record.
It was fun listening to "Wishing Well"; brings me back to when it was on the radio at the time.
I thought as an album that it was all kind of samey, and since stuff like this isn't really my favorite genre I ended up skipping halfway through a number of the tracks. I give it a 3 - I'm not about to buy the record, but none of it would cause me to change to a different radio station.
