#1
NAS- Illmatic
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? Yes
3. Have I listened to the album before? No
Most of my experience with rap has been N.W.A. and its
members- E, Dre, Cube, et al. So I
really didn’t know what to expect when I spun Illmatic up on Spotify. Genesis caught my ear immediately- my ears
didn’t seem to know what was happening for the first 30 seconds or so. The rest of the album just flows- it is silky smooth, the beats contribute to
the tone and texture and never overwhelm the song while still introducing
sounds and tones that make your ears perk up, the rap cadenced and fluid. There wasn’t really a stand out track to me
but I was extremely surprised to look down at one point and realize that I was
already on Track 7- each one just flies right into the next. It really reminds me of the style of a rapper
I knew in Minneapolis that went by The Quiet Dude. Just a great groove and flow.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? Yes
AM
I SURPRISED THAT I WOULD? Yes
#2
Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? No
3. Have I listened to the album before? No
It started out ok, the first three tracks are fine. It went downhill quickly after that; the
title track and Back When are cliché country schmaltz. Drugs or Jesus just made me confused. Oh listen to that now, Something’s Broken is
about his lady leaving, imagine that! If
I was Tim McGraw, I’d be bored to death singing these songs. Oh now Daddy’s sick and I gotta be a man. Do You Want Fries With That made me chuckle
at least.
Oh fuck me, Kill Myself is really about killing
himself. That’s it. I’m out of here, sorry. I made it to track 14 out of 15, but enough
is enough already.
Evidently there are 16 tracks on the album but one isn’t
available on Spotify. I’m very sorry I
missed it.
I happened to see Tim McGraw’s 35 Greatest Hits on the
Spotify screen, so I checked it out. The
only song from this album that is on that compilation is the title track. I guess I’m wondering how Live Like You Were
Dying even made it on the bucket list in the first place.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? No
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULDN’T? No, but I am a little surprised
at how bad it was
#3
Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? No
3. Have I listened to the album before? No
Oh, this is so much better, right from the opening
note. I feel old though. Did you know that the Arctic Monkeys had the
fastest selling debut album in British history?
I did not.
It’s punk with a driving tempo. The guitar is fast and fuzzy, the drum
alternates simple beats and complicated rolls.
The songs are short frenzied bursts followed by sinewy grooves that
erupt into short frenzied bursts.
There’s an urgency to the vocals.
Some of the song titles are reminiscent of Fallout Boy but not quite as
obnoxious/pretentious. I’m reminded a
little bit of The Strokes listening to this.
Riot Van is the first departure from the formula, coming 7
tracks in. It reminds me oddly of the
cadence Bowie combined with a story told by Leonard Cohen. The rest is a bit more of the same initial
pattern, although it ended on a reggae vibe that I dug.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? Absolutely
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULD? I mean, I know that I have heard
these guys before and that I thought they were fine, so I guess I will say
kinda.
#4 Kate Bush, Hounds of Love
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? No
I had an impression that Kate Bush was alternative, a la Tori Amos. This first track, Running up that hill, is really dancey and poppy, not at all what I expected. I really like it so far. Evidently Running up that hill charted in the states at #30 on Billboard, but usurped Like a Virgin in the UK for the number one position in 1985.
Hounds of Love has a cool drum track and funky backing “barking” vocals which are cooler than they sound. The Big Sky is cool.
Listening to Mother Stands For Comfort, I get where I got the Tori Amos thing from. It isn’t bad per se, but this is more what I had expected coming in. Cloudbusting continues that melodic voice with piano backing kind of motif…at least at first, before kicking in a groove after about a minute.
Waking the Witch is just fucking bizarre. Its like a combination of The Wall, Miss You by Blink 182, Thriller, and something by the Pet Shop Boys. Just odd.
The jig solo in The Jig Of Life goes about 30 seconds too long. The drugs seem to have thoroughly kicked in at this point for Kate, this is some trippy shit. Hello Earth and The Morning Fog maintain that sentiment.
I was never a Tori Amos fan; it was too melancholy for me. Kate is a similar artist but she injects some truly bizarre shit that makes it interesting.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT AGAIN? I’d like to listen to it again, just to see what I might have missed the first time
AM I SURPRISED THAT I WOULD? Yes, I thought it would be boring and uninteresting
#5 Otis Redding, Pain in my Heart
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? No
Writing this after the listen, so no stream of consciousness. It was fine?
There was nothing that stood out as exceptional; I thought that the version of Stand By Me was understated and phoned in. Same thing for Louie Louie, except you could actually understand the words in this version which will lead me to looking that up one of these days- when did the Kingsmen do their version, and why is there still discussion about what the words are when Otis so clearly articulated them?
I love me some good soul/R&B. This is good, not great. I’d like to listen to an Otis Redding Greatest Hits album now because I don’t think this is emblematic of his body of work unfortunately.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT AGAIN? No
AM I SURPRISED THAT I WOULDN’T? Yeah, I am. I thought it would be a great album by a soul master.
#4 Kate Bush, Hounds of Love
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? No
I had an impression that Kate Bush was alternative, a la Tori Amos. This first track, Running up that hill, is really dancey and poppy, not at all what I expected. I really like it so far. Evidently Running up that hill charted in the states at #30 on Billboard, but usurped Like a Virgin in the UK for the number one position in 1985.
Hounds of Love has a cool drum track and funky backing “barking” vocals which are cooler than they sound. The Big Sky is cool.
Listening to Mother Stands For Comfort, I get where I got the Tori Amos thing from. It isn’t bad per se, but this is more what I had expected coming in. Cloudbusting continues that melodic voice with piano backing kind of motif…at least at first, before kicking in a groove after about a minute.
Waking the Witch is just fucking bizarre. Its like a combination of The Wall, Miss You by Blink 182, Thriller, and something by the Pet Shop Boys. Just odd.
The jig solo in The Jig Of Life goes about 30 seconds too long. The drugs seem to have thoroughly kicked in at this point for Kate, this is some trippy shit. Hello Earth and The Morning Fog maintain that sentiment.
I was never a Tori Amos fan; it was too melancholy for me. Kate is a similar artist but she injects some truly bizarre shit that makes it interesting.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT AGAIN? I’d like to listen to it again, just to see what I might have missed the first time
AM I SURPRISED THAT I WOULD? Yes, I thought it would be boring and uninteresting
#5 Otis Redding, Pain in my Heart
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? No
Writing this after the listen, so no stream of consciousness. It was fine?
There was nothing that stood out as exceptional; I thought that the version of Stand By Me was understated and phoned in. Same thing for Louie Louie, except you could actually understand the words in this version which will lead me to looking that up one of these days- when did the Kingsmen do their version, and why is there still discussion about what the words are when Otis so clearly articulated them?
I love me some good soul/R&B. This is good, not great. I’d like to listen to an Otis Redding Greatest Hits album now because I don’t think this is emblematic of his body of work unfortunately.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT AGAIN? No
AM I SURPRISED THAT I WOULDN’T? Yeah, I am. I thought it would be a great album by a soul master.
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