Once again an album primarily in another language. In fact multiple languages, the can actually speak 8 different one. Manu is a Spanish guitar player born in France, and he is definitely talented, but it was hard to stay interested in it.
This is probably my favorite led Zeppelin album so far. I have liked them all to be honest, and listening to them have changed my opinion of the band. This album has a number of great songs on it and arguably their most popular song of all time "Stairway to Heaven". Two more Led Zeppelin albums and I'm excited to hear them.
This album was nothing I would listen to, but it had a lot of interesting elements to it. It combined world music sound, dance, electronic and Hip-hop sounds.
In 1988 and 89 Underworld released their first two albums, "Underneath the Radar" and "Change the Weather", both of which I really, really liked. In fact I they are still two of my favorite albums. imagine my surprise, that when I purchased their 1994 album "Dubnobasswithmyheadman", the band had completely re-tooled their sound and were now a techno/house band, a sound I have never been able to get into. Since then the band has released six more albums all in the same genre. I haven't attempted to listen to any of them until now, and I think I'll just stick to the albums that I like.
Jimi Hendrix is another member of the 27 club. Another musician who tragically died at the age of 27, after overdosing. During his short life, and career, he only released three albums, but from those albums and his live performances, his has become know as one of the best guitar players ever. Do I agree? He is up there, but I also think there are better. Over all the album was pretty good, even if it isn't my style of music. It has some pretty great songs on it but what I am totally amazed by is the fact that for a guy that only recorded three studio albums there have been more than 50 albums released since his death, mostly live albums of the same material repackaged over and over. His estate has definitely capitalized on his music, too bad he didn't live to see any of it.
I don't know much about rap, and I don't know anything about Kendrick Lamar. There was a clean version of the album however, so I was able to give it a listen, and it wasn't to bad actually. it had a lot of interesting elements to it, and it didn't sound like run of the mill rap. I am definitely not an expert on rap by any stretch, but it was good enough that I didn't want to shut it off, which is probably more than I expected.
I first learned about Joy Division after starting to listen to New Order, one of my favorite 80's bands. You see New Order was once Joy Division. In the late 70's joy Division was gaining in popularity. They had just released this album, their second, and were on the verge of their first North American tour. On the eve of their leaving for North America, Ian Curtis, the bands singer hung himself in his kitchen and committed suicide. Ian had been suffering from epilepsy his entire life, and was now facing a failed marriage and decided he couldn't take it any longer. After a short break the band reformed as New Order, with Joy Divisions guitarist as their new singer/song writer.
Being Canadian I almost feel like it is my duty to like Rush. I have never, however, listened to any of their albums before now. Mostly because they are before my time, also because 70's classic rock is not my favorite genre and lastly because the few songs that I have heard I didn't really like all that much. Geddy Lee's voice is a bit too much on the side of squelching for my taste. I will admit though, Neil Peart is a phenomenal drummer, possibly one of the best ever.
This album was terrible. Everything about it. The music, the lyrics, the singing, I have no idea how it got released or how it made it on to this list. It was just bad.
For a punk band this album was pretty tame. I expected a loud fast paced album and it wasn't that at all. Overall I though it was just average, nothing really stuck out to me as a great song.
This album was not good. I remember it from when it came out and the two singles that were released. The were definitely huge at the time, but as for the rest of the album it was just not very good. It's no wonder she is pretty much just a one hit wonder.
So if I didn't know who I was listening to I would swear this is a Duran Duran album. Japan is an English new-wave band that had most of their success in the late 70's and early 80's. Their sound is very very similar to Duran Duran, the lead singers even sound pretty much the same. Now I'm not saying one band copied the other, they both formed around the same time, they just both
The second Marvin Gaye album and I didn't find it as good as "What's Going On". In fact the only song on the album that I liked was the title track, which just might be his most famous and responsible for a lot of babies being born over the years 😖
I have been overly critical of the last couple Stevie Wonder albums I have listened to. They had a couple good songs on them but the rest of the albums were average at best, and I got the impression that everyone puts him on a pedestal that maybe isn't deserved. Well that opinion changed with this album. It was amazing. From start to finish I enjoyed the whole thing. Released as a double album if there is a weak part I would have to say it is the second album, but even they it was pretty darn good. Now I know what all the fuss is about.
One and done as a band I can see why. This album was terrible. I'm not sure if the band broke up before recording a second, if their label dropped them or if people simply begged them to never record again.
Who doesn't love them some Aerosmith. They are the 70's rock band. They have had a very long and very successful career, pumping out album after album, hit after hit, and this album is one of their best that's for sure. It has two of their biggest hits on it and all of the rest of the songs are really solid. Great album.
Now this is what I'm talking about. This is a great jazz album. Duke Ellington was a pianist and band leader for over 50 years and has made a ton of albums, and if they are all as good as this one then he had an amazing career.
I wasn't "Thrilled" with this haha. Actually, honestly, it wasn't terrible, and the band actually has a novel approach to basic rock and roll by adding elements of country like slide guitar and harmonica. Overall it was average at best but they do get a couple bonus points for their originality.
I loved the first Frank Sinatra album that I listened to so I was happy to have another to give a listen, and I was not disappointed. It was different than the other album in sound. The last was the big band sound through and through, and while this one also was, it was done with a Spanish flare, musically and vocally. While, in my opinion, it probably wasn't quite as good as the first it was still enjoyable to listen to.
One of Bob Dylan's "later" works, released in 1994, and many many albums into his career, his 30th in fact, I didn't really love it. I didn't really love his older albums that I have released, but with those at least I had heard a couple of those songs, and could appreciate his song writing, if nothing else. With this album I hadn't heard any of the songs, and nothing really struck me as being amazing, and I still think the guy can not sing.
David Crosby of Crosby & Nash or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and this his solo work. Primarily folk music while playing with the others, he continued that genre with this album. I guess stick with what you know. It wasn't terrible I guess, just not the type of music that I like to listen to.
Another opportunity to try and like a Rolling Stones album, and I just don't.
Elton John has released a ton of albums, both studio, live and compilation, and has had more success than more than probably 99% of the artists that have ever released an album. I however have never really been a fan of his music. I can appreciate that the songs that I have heard, mostly his hits, are usually very well written, composed and sung. He definitely is an amazing piano player, one of the best and can sing for sure. I had only heard one song on the album and it was worthy of being a hit song, as for the other they were good, but once again not really my style.
The debut album from Californian punk-rock band Black Flag was much harder than most of the other puck albums I have listened to so far. It was almost a cross between puck and metal. I did like it although I wouldn't listen to it again.
Belle & Sebastian are a Scottish pop band formed in 1994. They have released a number of albums and although they have received critical acclaim they have never received much commercial success. After listening to this, their second album, I can understand why. It was the equivalent of a movie that wins best picture and all the critics love it so you watch it and you go "what the crap was that". This album was just like that. I can see why critics would think it was amazing but it did nothing for me. And a lot of the time the lyrics just plain terrible.
I only know a few things about Peter Gabriel. He was once the lead singer for the band Genesis, I didn't really like the one album I reviewed with him as the singer. I know a few of his songs from his mid-80's albums "So" and "Us", he was pretty huge for a couple years. And I know that the lead singer of my favorite band, Blue October, has often mentioned that Peter Gabriel is one of the artists that he loves and counts as a major influence to his music.
An electronic band from Australia, the band has only released 2 albums. One in 2000 and one in 2016. This album is their first and it was created using more than 3500 samples from songs from various genres. So literally none the music is their own or original to them. While it's a neat idea for me it was another electronic album where the songs all run together and pretty much sound the same.
No clean version of the album to listen to.
Way back when I started this blog the first time, I reviewed New Order's Technique album. Here is the link to that post: New Order - Technique In that post I wrote that Technique was my favorite New Order album. Seven years later that still holds true. The band hasn't been super prolific with their album production. In their 38 years as a band they have only released 9 albums of new material. They have also released 9 compilation albums, but in my opinion, for a true fan, they are a waste of money. It is just repackaging of hits in different ways, with the occasional new song or mix added in to entice you to buy it.
Air is a french electronic band and this album is the soundtrack for the 1999 film, which I have not seen, which is based on the 1993 novel. For the most part the album is instrumental for all but 2 songs. The last album on the album "Suicide Underground" was probably the best on the album, and tells the overall story of the book over top of the music.
What a great album. I had never heard of the Vines before. They are a "grunge" band out of Australia and after this, their debut album, they were exclaimed the second coming of Nirvana. A huge comparison for a new band trying to find their sound. After just one listen I really, really like this album. I really like it! It is just straight ahead alt-rock. Simple, great lyrics, and super catchy music. Just really, really good.
Although, at first, the album did not receive great reviews, it gained traction the longer it was out and ended up selling almost 3 million copies. After listening to it I was somewhere in the middle on it. At times it was pretty good, especially the singles that were released. Songs like "Driftwood" are definitely better than average, but as a whole album I felt like it was a little weak, and a couple of the songs just weren't that good.
Any band with Eric Clapton in it has to be good right? Right. Clapton is an amazing guitarist, and this album is full of some amazing playing. It also contains probably his most famous song, "Layla". Definitely worth a listen.
I've listened to a couple Who albums so far and this was far and above the best one so far. It had three hits on the album, all of which I have heard previously, and one of them, "Behind Blue Eyes" is one of my favorite songs. All around this was a good classic rock album, made much better by that fact that instead of trying to make a concept album, the band just made a rock album.
One of the members of Wu-Tang Clan, Liquid Swords, is GZA's second solo rap album. I tried to give it a listen, only 3 of the songs had explicit lyrics, but I just couldn't get through the whole album.
Starting out as a indie-alt rock back in the 80's and over the course of years the band has transformed in to more of an electronic/dance music band. This album, Screamadelica, released in '91 is the album that really gave the band their first commercial success, eventually selling 3 million copies worldwide. Overall I though it was a decent album, although one listen was enough.
The Kinks are famous for a number of hit songs, none of which happen to be on this album. I had never heard any of these songs before and I wasn't overly impressed by the album. It was an average 60's rock album at best.
I kind of enjoyed this album. It was some easy listening folk music that reminded me a lot of Simon & Garfunkel. The album wasn't amazing but it was good enough to warrant a listen. Tragically this is the last album released by Nick Drake. It was released and 2 years later after suffering from depression for most of his life he decided to commit suicide by overdosing on his depression medication.
Like the other albums that I've listened to that are in another language the music was great but because I couldn't understand the message it was hard to keep my interest.
I did not like this album very much. It is punk mixed with rock and sometimes country. It just wasn't very good in any area. The singing, the music, the lyrics, all just bad.
Gary Numan is one of the father's of New Wave music and had been an influence on many bands of the genre. His music is heavy on synthesizer and electronic beats. It's pretty catchy even if lyrically it is a bit cheesy.
I really liked the first PJ Harvey album that I listened to but this one not so much. I can't really put my finger on what I didn't like, I just didn't connect with it.
I was introduced to Run DMC with this album, in fact it was probably my first exposure to rap in general. My friend Bruce played it for me for the first time and I loved it right away and have ever since. In my mind it might be one of the best examples of 80's rap, and is a must listen for anyone that likes the genre.
Meat Loaf is one of my Mom's favorite artists. Researching him I found that he has had a huge career. He has sold more than 80 million albums and has appeared in 50+ TV shows and movies. I have never really listened to him, other than his hits when they have been on the radio. I certainly never listened to any of his albums all the way through, and this was a pleasant surprise. The songs are really good, and Meat Loaf actually has a pretty good voice. I also really enjoyed the use of a female singer on a couple of the tracks and the back and forth between them to tell a story. I'm not sure if his other albums live up to this one but I can see why this one is on the list.
Listened to this album while I was working on my yard. Normally I listen to albums in my car and can see the names of the tracks and can tell when the songs change. Listening to this on headphones I literally couldn't tell when the they changed. The album was definitely better than the last Miles Davis album I heard, it was some smooth, easy listening jazz, but every song sounded pretty much the same.
I haven't listened to any of Madonna's music in a long time. There was a time though when you couldn't not hear her music. She was a huge 80's pop star and her music was everywhere. I, however, never really listened to her music by choice, I was more into The Cure and bands like them in the 80's. I can't argue that Madonna doesn’t have some really good pop songs.
I pretty sure it was a joke adding this album to the list. It is down right bad.
I listened to the bands second album awhile ago and thought it was just o.k. This is the bands debut album and I liked it less than the other one. Compared to the other album, from what I can remember, this one has more of a reggae sound to it, which is not my favorite. Add that to the fact that this really isn't my style of music in the first place and I didn't enjoy it all that much.
Not a good album. The band and the singer are just not very good in my opinion. In fact about the only good thing about the album is that the 1986 movie "Pretty in Pink" is named after one of the songs, and is one of the best 80's movies ever.