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| Chez's 100 Albums Bucket List reviews, Done! Ranked list p11 |
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 6th June 2020, 06:26 PM
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#1
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 The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232 
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  I've mentioned it before on here, but my main lockdown project in these increasingly bleak times has been to finally make some progress with my many scratch off posters detailing 100 books/movies/albums/places to visit before you die. Given I'd made no progress at all on the Albums poster up until now, I figured I'd start listening to these, as I've never been a big album listener and I could really do with some brushing up on my musical knowledge (it's a good companion to my 1001 songs challenge that I completed last year). I calculated that from the time I started around Mid-April, I could finish this by the end of summer/September if I listened to an album a day (with some days breaks ofc.) so this has remained my ongoing project and as it stands at the time of writing this post, I'm 29/100 albums through. I do want to share my thoughts on these albums though, and I could start a blog but given I know you guys well and this is a good place for music discussion, I figured I could share them here and hopefully encourage discussion on these albums if we have enough fans. So this thread will be a place for my reviews of the albums, given I'm forecast to finish the poster by late August as it stands, I'm hoping to complete this thread before EOY season at least. It's essentially a millenial's view on some classic albums so if that interests you great and I'd appreciate any comments even if I respect, this may be a little more difficult than a songs countdown. I'll try and keep it updated fairly regularly, don't worry, I'm not one of those that starts something they can't finish xx A full list of albums will come in the next post. |
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6th June 2020, 06:30 PM
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#2
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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Here are the 100 albums I will be reviewing/going through over the next few months:
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon Fleetwood Mac - Rumours Metallica - Metallica AKA The Black Album Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever (Soundtrack) Miles Davies - Kind of Blue The Beatles - Abbey Road AC/DC - Back in Black Massive Attack - Blue Lines Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols Primal Scream - Screamadelica Arcade Fire - Funeral The White Stripes - Elephant The Cure - Disintegration The Streets - Original Pirate Material Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On Nirvana - Nevermind Ed Sheeran - + David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars The Clash - London Calling Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain The Doors – The Doors Pixies - Doolittle Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers John Lennon - Imagine The Eagles - Hotel California Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life Stone Roses – Stone Roses Frank Ocean - Channel ORANGE Beyoncé – Beyoncé Michael Jackson - Thriller Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Oasis - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? U2 - The Joshua Tree The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead Beach Boys - Pet Sounds Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You Queen - A Night at the Opera ABBA - Gold Madonna - The Immaculate Collection Van Morrison - Moondance Amy Winehouse - Back to Black Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction Kate Bush - Hounds of Love The Who - Quadrophenia Blur - Parklife Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Dr. Dre - The Chronic Nas - Illmatic Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge over Troubled Water Muse - Black Holes and Revelations Supertramp - Breakfast in America Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead Wu Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Green Day - American Idiot A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die The Strokes - Is This It The Spice Girls - Spice Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book Billy Joel - Glass Houses Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner Pearl Jam - Ten Santana - Supernatural Adele - 21 Garth Brooks - No Fences George Michael - Faith Tupac Shakur - Me Against the World Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying Diana Ross - Diana Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley Kanye West - The College Dropout Prodigy - The Fat of the Land Sinead O’Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got Ramones – Ramones Dolly Parton - Jolene Ray Charles - Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music Dean Martin - Dean Martin Sings Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard Phil Collins - No Jacket Required Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes Radiohead - OK Computer Luciano Pavarotti - O Holy Night The Police - Synchronicity Fatboy Slim - You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby Daft Punk - Discovery Eva Cassidy - Songbird James Brown and the Famous Flames - Live at the Apollo Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication Otis Redding - A Pain in My Heart The Jam - All Mod Cons It's very eclectic and some of these seem seriously random, but I suppose we'll see as I go along, I will write a bit about each album and score it out of 10. I will start very soon~ |
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6th June 2020, 08:01 PM
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#3
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 Buy yourself a car, and a house in Devon
Joined: 6 May 2016
Posts: 23,929 User: 23,247
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Looking forward to reading this!
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6th June 2020, 08:19 PM
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#4
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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Good to have you on board! Let's get started~
 Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon A very big one to start us off. This was one of the four albums I had heard before taking on this list in one of my many failed attempts to fill in all my gaps in my musical knowledge, I got this and The Wall from Pink Floyd. Suffice to say, I did need a slight reminder, but I recall I liked it at the time and indeed, I found I still do. There isn't much I can say about this iconic album that hasn't been said already by many music critics. It is one of the most important and influential albums in music history and it's psychedelic nature, philosophical reflections on life and death and unique recording methods like analogue synthesisers and all the tracks seguing into one another, although I never knew it was allegedly synchronised to the plot of the Wizard of Oz. It's still a strikingly unique and epic listen even to this day. Having two different sides that both focus on issues of human life like greed, the concept of time, mental illness and class battles, the lyrics are still wonderful to hear and interpret, Time in particular is a real highlight from the first side with it's existential lyrics and slow guitar build. Though the ones without lyrics are pretty epic too. A particular highlight for me is The Great Gig in the Sky which obviously references heaven and is made entirely of human dialogue snippets alongside wailing from Claire Torry (and that's still apparently her highest credit on her Wikipedia page), accompanied with a mournful piano, it's a beautiful and moving picture of the world that lays above us. The second side is a bit meatier featuring more out and our rock songs, including Money which is one of the more funky and accessible songs on the album. Us and Them is an epic that has some wonderfully profound lyrics about opposites in the world and a full fledged orchestra and choir that is slowly brought into fruition. There's also a beautiful synth-led instrumental with Any Colour You Like which is another highlight for me. It ends with the sad Brain Damage based on one of their own band member's mental health difficulties, is a beautiful yet sad listen that leads into Eclipse which ends with a human heartbeat, reflecting the start of the album and a spoken excerpt from their tour manager saying 'there is no dark side of the moon, it's all dark', which adds ambiguity to the true meaning of the album which makes it all the more fascinating It's hard to believe this became so big with something so personal, unique and experimental, I don't think it could happen these days, but the fact it still sounds so moving and profound to this day certainly speaks for how wonderful it was that it happened. I don't have much to add to the already existing conversation but a deserved classic for sure. 9.0 |
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6th June 2020, 08:25 PM
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#5
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 I wanna keep all of your charm in a canister
Pronouns: She/her
Joined: 18 January 2011 Posts: 60,304 User: 12,810 
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I feel dirty having a vinyl collection that doesn't include 'The Dark Side of the Moon' in it
 truth be told I've never heard it before  which I need to change as it has been recommended to me several times. 'The Great Gig in the Sky' sounds really familiar as a title, may have been in a NMTBJ round? 
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6th June 2020, 08:41 PM
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#6
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 3 January 2017
Posts: 10,191 User: 23,961
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I bought 'Echoes',the best of Pink Floyd double CD,in the 90s and also The Division Bell when it came out in 1994 but I didn't start listening to their other albums until they appeared on Spotify a few years ago. Tracks 4-7 from Dark Side Of The Moon are all on Echoes so I know those ones well and I've now heard the whole album in full a few times. It's certainly a great piece of work with the highlight being 'Us And Them'.
I own seven of the other albums on your list. I'll be following this thread with interest. |
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6th June 2020, 08:55 PM
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#7
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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 Fleetwood Mac - Rumours Another one that everyone should know by name at least. I've heard assorted songs from Fleetwood Mac over the years and I've always found them very pleasant and enjoyable, I wasn't sure what to expect from an album from them. But I knew this one was more famous and had a reputation for being the album that showcased the breakdown of the various relationships of the band members, and the recording sessions were fraught with issues that did end up spilling into the album itself. As a result, there is a clear tone that persists throughout the album. There were three lyricists in Fleetwood Mac - Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham and Christine McVie - as a result, all the songs alternate with lead vocalist, which is unique as it allows you to see each of the singer's own thoughts and while they were all centred on their troubled relationships, it is interesting to see the different feelings that come in. Buckingham's songs in particular have a very pessimistic edge, Second Hand News is particularly scorned and Go Your Own Way, one of the tracks I already knew, is equally pretty heartbreaking at its core. Stevie Nicks' songs are a bit more positive and have a real delicate and beautiful edge in both cases, Dreams and Gold Dust Woman lovely, and Mcvie's contributions are actually some of the more positive additions to the album (which the album certainly doesn't lack despite the tone) with Don't Stop The best song easily though is the only one that all three collaborated on and that's The Chain. My brother's a big F1 fan and they used to use this song all the time so I knew it quite well from there and it's a fantastic song, with such a complex and great structure, anthemic chorus and the moment when the low guitar comes in is a big breathtaking moment. It's very distinct from the general theme of the album and all the better for it. Music-wise, it's kind of what I expected from them in that it's a very nice, enjoyable soft-rock/pop sound that has a pretty timeless sound. It's not as groundbreaking as the last album to my ears at least (The Chain aside), but I appreciate there's still some great craft there and although it wasn't without some forgettable songs, I can't say there was many songs that I wouldn't like to hear again. Overall, a very honest and emotional listen yet weirdly nice and charming at the same time, I can certainly see how it's held up over the years. 8.0 |
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6th June 2020, 09:04 PM
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#8
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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QUOTE(Jade @ Jun 6 2020, 09:25 PM)  I feel dirty having a vinyl collection that doesn't include 'The Dark Side of the Moon' in it truth be told I've never heard it before which I need to change as it has been recommended to me several times. 'The Great Gig in the Sky' sounds really familiar as a title, may have been in a NMTBJ round? It's a pretty strange track that wouldn't really make sense outside of the album so I'd be interested if it was used there!  It's quite short and not too difficult a listen overall so I'd certainly recommend it! QUOTE(King Rollo @ Jun 6 2020, 09:41 PM) I bought 'Echoes',the best of Pink Floyd double CD,in the 90s and also The Division Bell when it came out in 1994 but I didn't start listening to their other albums until they appeared on Spotify a few years ago. Tracks 4-7 from Dark Side Of The Moon are all on Echoes so I know those ones well and I've now heard the whole album in full a few times. It's certainly a great piece of work with the highlight being 'Us And Them'. I own seven of the other albums on your list. I'll be following this thread with interest. Good to have you on board! |
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6th June 2020, 09:10 PM
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#9
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I wanna keep all of your charm in a canister
Pronouns: She/her
Joined: 18 January 2011 Posts: 60,304 User: 12,810
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QUOTE(Chez Wombat @ Jun 6 2020, 10:04 PM) It's a pretty strange track that wouldn't really make sense outside of the album so I'd be interested if it was used there! I have a Jacob round of NMTBJ in mind and I know he's a big Floyd fan so it's not completely out of the question, I'm not entirely sure though will have to dig through!~~~ Now here is an album I do know and own *.* I actually discovered it because there was a Glee episode that revolved around it in Season 2 so it genuinely was a good show for discovering classics! 'The Chain' is a brilliant choice of favourite - that does seem to pop up on TV quite a bit so the Formula 1 thing doesn't surprise me. I think 'Go Your Own Way' is probably my favourite, although at the other end of the spectrum sonically 'Songbird' is pretty stunning. What a classic album, need to revisit it soon 
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7th June 2020, 10:37 AM
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#10
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 7 September 2017
Posts: 11,921 User: 39,723
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I like the first two album reviews from you!
Two great albums! |
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7th June 2020, 10:59 AM
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#11
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 IncredibleSquirrel
Joined: 8 March 2006
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I will definitely follow this thread, and looking down the list there are a few that stick out as having never listened to myself that I probably should do. There are 14 that I own - 3 of which I'd imagine I'd put into a top 10 of all time.
From the first two, I get Pink Floyd, why they're special and so popular - I just have no desire to actually listen to them myself, there's very little that appeals to me. Fleetwood Mac are a bit of an opposite, it's an album I probably should listen to at some point but whenever I listen to anything by them I tend to think they're nice but I just don't quite get what it is about them, or the album, that makes it such a classic. I agree with The Chain being the best, I put it head and shoulders above anything else of theirs. |
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7th June 2020, 11:22 AM
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 I'm a paragon so don't perceive me
Joined: 3 February 2011
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I started using this list myself after you last posted about it as a way to listen to an album if I didn't know what to listen to! Largely because a lot of these are beloved artists that I may know one or two songs well at best when they have like 10 albums and I should at least have given their most classic ones a go. Got a fair way down it so far, though I must admit I ended up not finishing a few that really didn't appeal to me. I'll be following this.
Dark Side Of The Moon is a wonderful album, I tend to prefer Division Bell era Floyd if I'm honest but there's some excellent tracks, Money and Great Gig In The Sky certainly among them. Comes very well together as a package listen though hard to pick out any aside from 'Money' to listen outside of a full album listen. Rumours is just pretty perfect too, all the best kinds of why they did so well with that era of pop-rock, even tracks I don't tend to think much of like You Make Loving Fun come together as being this high-quality pop record. Again, they did a lot of good stuff after this album but it's such a strong one I agree with the consensus it's their best. It's really easy to listen to... a lot of times, sometimes that's useful, and that's why I always make room for classic pop like that in my playlists. Actually listening to it again made me realise I'd been overlooking one track that isn't talked about much, 'I Don't Want To Know', not really any duds. So far so good, I know I'm not going to be as complementary about all of the albums on this list, I guess you won't be either. |
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7th June 2020, 12:48 PM
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#13
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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Thanks all <3 I'm pleased so many of you are interested, I'm going to aim for about 4 or 5 a week, that should approximately allow for an October/November finish!
I do like to think I'm quite open minded to most music so you will find my rating scale quite generous, BUT there have been some I haven't been a fan of, I can assure you! -x-  Metallica - Metallica AKA The Black Album Ooh now here's a headbanging moment. This was Metallica's fifth album released in the early 1990s though it was seen as the one that really brought them into the commercial landscape, there was apparently a lot of behind the scenes issues with bringing in their new producer, but it was hugely successful in the end and really turned them into an underground thrash metal band to the world's biggest heavy metal band, I'd only been familiar with a handful of Metallica songs before (my metalhead brother is more of an expert), but I found this album was certainly what I expected and sure enough, most of what I did know from them was on here. This album really is all about one song - ENTER SANDMAN, one of the definitive anthems of the genre full stop, I get so hyped whenever those five iconic guitar chords come in before building up to explosive levels, giving way to that epic chorus and stunning guitar solo. In isolation and on this album, it's excellent. As for the rest of this album, in isolation, I feel I'd like these tracks almost as much, but together, unfortunately, they do tend to blend into one another. I guess they were fairly set on this style here, and you can easily see how this was so popular as while it's heavy, it's never so much that it would alienate someone not completely detached from what they do. There are a few interesting diversions on the album - Nothing Else Matters, the other well known single from this album, and The Unforgiven are more emotionally rooted and softer than the other heavy moments on this album as well as The God That Failed being a more heartfelt tribute to lead singer, James Hetfield's mother, and give a snapshot of the tenderness presented besides the heaviness. Needless to say, if you like massive guitar solos and headbanging, this album is for you, there's so many excellent guitar work here, some going on minutes and minutes, and you can't help but admire them all. Metallica fans are apparently split on this album, some saw it as their crowning moment while others said it marked the point where they started selling out and became too mainstream. As a neutral observer, I can see why it's seen as their signature album as it is very representative of their sound and generally enjoyable, yet it does perhaps lack that crucial experimentation and diversity that makes albums that bit more distinctive. Still, it helped them sell out arenas so I doubt they care~ 7.5 |
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7th June 2020, 01:02 PM
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#14
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Mansonette
Joined: 7 March 2006
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Interesting idea for a thread, I'll try to remember to follow!
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon Fleetwood Mac - Rumours The Beatles - Abbey Road Massive Attack - Blue Lines Primal Scream - Screamadelica Arcade Fire - Funeral The White Stripes - Elephant The Cure - Disintegration The Streets - Original Pirate Material Nirvana - Nevermind David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain The Doors – The Doors Pixies - Doolittle John Lennon - Imagine Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life Stone Roses – Stone Roses Frank Ocean - Channel ORANGE Michael Jackson - Thriller Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Oasis - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? U2 - The Joshua Tree The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead Beach Boys - Pet Sounds ABBA - Gold Madonna - The Immaculate Collection Van Morrison - Moondance Amy Winehouse - Back to Black Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction Kate Bush - Hounds of Love Blur - Parklife Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge over Troubled Water Muse - Black Holes and Revelations Green Day - American Idiot A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory The Strokes - Is This It Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner Adele - 21 Kanye West - The College Dropout Prodigy - The Fat of the Land Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard Radiohead - OK Computer Fatboy Slim - You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby Daft Punk - Discovery Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication I've heard all of the above before but the majority only once or twice so I can't claim to be that familiar with many of them. There's only a handful on there that I would consider to be albums I really love. As for the ones you've already reviewed, I like the Fleetwood Mac album but it's not quite as good as I expected it to be. Dark Side of the Moon is one that I've only listened to once but it bored me to tears so I never revisited it - I can't recall a single thing about it and found it the most overrated thing ever on first listen. |
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7th June 2020, 01:34 PM
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#15
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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D: what a shame re: Pink Floyd
-x-  Bee Gees / Various Artists - Saturday Night Fever While the poster does list Bee Gees as the main artist for this, and indeed they were the main contributors for the album, this is really the only one here that's something of a compilation album. This is the soundtrack for the film of the same name released in 1977, I've never seen that film even if I know it's seen as one of the greats, I should get round to it even though the subject matter doesn't interest me greatly. It is the second best selling film soundtrack worldwide, spending eighteen consecutive weeks at number 1 on the album charts over here. Disco was very much a 70s thing ofc. and indeed, this too is very much an album of its time to me. This is quite a long album (75 minutes), and it doesn't quite justify all those minutes even if it was obviously to accommodate all the songs used in the film, but it is fairly eclectic. Bee Gees, as suggested, do take up a lot of the songs used here, the classic Stayin' Alive opens the album and there's an additional five songs - More than a Woman, You Should Be Dancing, Jive Talkin', Night Fever & How Deep is Your Love - most of these aren't massive favourites by them, they're just a bit too Heart FM for my liking, though Jive Talkin' has a wonderful keyboard riff. There are some other 70s radio staples here including another version of More than a Woman by Tavares, If I Can't Have You (a particular Heart FM victim) and Disco Inferno, which I never realised was over ten minutes long, I think I preferred it's original form! Amongst all these, there are some really interesting scores that probably work better in the context of the film/a dancefloor, but here they are pretty funky and enjoyable, I particularly like the disco takes on Beethoven's 5th and Night on Bald Mountain as well as Manhattan Skyline. Disco very much died at the end of the 70s and to those that took part in that generation, I'd imagine this album probably means a lot more to them, to me, it's a little odd but a very interesting snapshot to that world. There was just about enough here to keep me interested (mainly the disco instrumentals) despite the length. 7.0 |
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7th June 2020, 01:44 PM
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#16
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I wanna keep all of your charm in a canister
Pronouns: She/her
Joined: 18 January 2011 Posts: 60,304 User: 12,810
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The movie fell a bit flat for me (which was a shame after being a fan of Grease) but I love the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack, it's in my vinyl collection
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7th June 2020, 02:15 PM
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#17
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I'm a paragon so don't perceive me
Joined: 3 February 2011
Posts: 37,431 User: 12,929 |
I am the sort of person who'd love Metallica but I was a bit too young for them in their heyday so I hadn't really heard anything from them aside from 'Enter Sandman' (I KNOW), so when I got to this I enjoyed so much <3 (part of the reason I started so well on this was it started with two albums I had a good opinion of and one I was hyped to have a reason to listen to), will definitely be going back to it and eventually venturing out to their other stuff. Particularly 'Wherever I Will Roam' and 'Of Wolf And Man' hit me well on first listen.
idk about Saturday Night Fever though, I'm certainly partial to soundtrack albums and there's good disco tracks on there for what it's worth, as well as some pretty decent instrumentals from not-theBeeGees, but this sort of thing is best in small doses. |
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9th June 2020, 05:02 PM
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#18
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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 Miles Davis - Kind of Blue Yep, even 1950s jazz albums aren't out of bounds here. I will confess to having to look him up when I first saw the name, but Miles Davis is apparently one of the biggest names in the jazz genre and was largely called responsible for innovating the genre and remaining at the forefront of it's development. This album was recorded by by an ensemble sextet with saxophones, piano and drums. One of the reasons this album is significant is for making a move to modal jazz than the earlier hard bop style, and what this means (I think) is that the music was more built on music modes (scales with a certain sense of melodic behaviours) rather than chords, it gave more 'space' in the music because it did not feature as much progression and allowed the musician to use other means to build textures and tones in the music. And if you don't understand a word of that, don't worry, I'm not sure I do either, long story short: it was influential in jazz music. As for the music itself, this is pretty much exactly the type of music that these days would be on in the background at a hotel in the lounge while you sip your drink and think about the long day ahead. I think the thing with this type of music is that unless you're very knowledgeable or into this, unfortunately it would be seen by many as nothing other than pleasant background music. But that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate the composition and simplicity that is so lacking nowadays in modern music. On many of the songs (I wouldn't really say there's standout track, they're all kind of on the same level, there's only five and all between nine and eleven minutes long with one five minute track, gotta send one of these to BJSC one day), there's a very chilled, slightly melancholy vibe with some seriously good saxophone and piano harmonising, the saxophone really does go all over the place but always returning to that simple core melody (which I guess is what modal jazz does?) and these do seem notable for being very set to a point and committed to a certain point, it's different to the type of jazz that seems very scattered and based on improvisation but not quite set on a mood, you can definitely get a mood here, the title's very apt in that sense. Overall, this is definitely an album I appreciate more than I actually enjoy, but it's certainly a nice listen to broaden your musical horizons and I had a good time having it on in the background while learning about the history of jazz and how this album changed the ways things were done in the genre. It might seem like mere background noise today, but back then, people were very much listening. 7.0 |
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9th June 2020, 05:50 PM
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#19
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,169 User: 9,232
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 The Beatles - Abbey Road I sense you were waiting for this one, Jade! This album pretty much needs no introduction, almost everything about it is iconic. It was their penultimate album and the sessions behind it were plagued by personal problems between the band, leading to John Lennon privately quitting the band six days before the album's release and Paul McCartney publicly announcing their split six months later, this was thus the last time all four members recorded together, but a positive was that they never sounded better as the use of a solid state transistor and Mood synthesisers mixing desk made their sound much clearer and brighter than before, this garnered mixed reviews at the time, but has been praised a lot in retrospect. Many have lauded it their best album, and while I haven't got much experience with them (oops), I'd say I can certainly see why. My dad is a big fan and has played this album on more than one occasion so I did find myself familiar with a lot of the music. This album certainly has some of the Beatles most iconic moments, and while none are amongst my absolute favourites (like, say, Eleanor Rigby or Let it Be) Come Together still sounds delicious with that riff, Something is a beautiful and introspective moment as is Here Comes the Sun, it really makes a case for how excellent George could be even in a band that had Lennon and McCartney. The latter of which is a curious case on this one as it's his moment - Maxwell's Silver Hammer - that really drags the album down, I mean it's alright in terms of a throwaway silly track but definitely doesn't stand up to the rest here, and certainly not worth the apparent massive rows that occurred because Paul was so focused on getting it right. Idk I prefer Octopus' Garden in terms of silly songs, bless Ringo. The biggest standout for me on the first side is definitely I Want You (She's So Heavy), it's really quite epic with it's constantly building and crashing guitar style and minimal duties, you can hear so many echoes of it in modern day prog-rock. The second side has the wonderful Because, which is beautifully haunting with it's use of synthesisers and somewhat empty effect, it also infamously also has a sixteen minute medley made up of lots of different parts, the sounds and lyrics greatly range but all segue into one another to make something quite baffling yet masterful which do sound very pointed at points. I wasn't so sold on the Mustard and Pam parts, but it gets really good towards the end with Golden Slumbers and Carry that Weight, the latter is beautiful hearing all their voices together, quite beautiful knowing it was one of the last times. Overall, it still sounds extremely ambitious and innovative to this day and I can't fault its classic status and see why many regard this as their best and shows that even in their dying days, they can still produce something truly excellent. 9.0 (would be a 9.5 without Maxwell's Silver Hammer x) |
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9th June 2020, 08:39 PM
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I wanna keep all of your charm in a canister
Pronouns: She/her
Joined: 18 January 2011 Posts: 60,304 User: 12,810
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I may have been waiting for 'Abbey Road' to pop up indeed
I became totally immersed with everything to do with that album in recent times due to the 50th anniversary. Constantly playing it and listening to over 50+ relevant radio shows on Radio 2 those highlights you mention are all excellent, 'Here Comes The Sun' is my favourite Beatles song overall, which may seem like a bit of a basic choice when I've delved into their entire discography, but it's irresistibly hopeful, it's popular for a reason <3 George's talents truly shine on this album as you mention (I feel the same way about 'Revolver' too as he gets a couple of great moments on there also with 'Taxman' and 'Love You To) - 'Something' also a stunner. 'Come Together' is an epic opener, I'm still salty that BuzzJack booted it out so early in the '1' survivor last year my other gigantic highlights would be 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' and 'Because' - oooooft what an album <3'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' is also my least favourite there's something really juvenile and jarring about it. I guess such a serious subject delivered in that way. It just didn't work, sorry Paul 
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