Yup an all-time classic album that one. Beach Boys were the US closest equivalent to The Beatles, genre-breaking and advancing the sophistication of pop music in leaps and bounds, and poor Brian has had lifelong mental problems. I've never not loved them, and God Only Knows is one of the greatest moments in Popular music history, a masterpiece declaration of romantic devoted love.

 

The mutual admiration rivalry between the 2 bands was creative, but also destructive for Brian personally. My first festival was the The Beach Boys reunited at Knebworth in 1980, a magical moment during a career revival.

I bought Pet Sounds about 20 years ago as I liked what I'd heard from the Beach Boys and thought it should be a album that I should listen to. It lives up to its reputation as a classic album with Brian Wilson's meticulous production throughout. Having listened to it just now,my only criticism would be the way most of the tracks abruptly fade out when each song doesn't really sound that it's about to end.

 

The next album,'Smile',was even more ambitious but was not completed because of Brian Wilson's mental breakdown. He finally finished writing Smile and re-recorded the whole album with a new group of musicians in 2004,releasing it under his own name. It was produced to sound the way it would have done if it had come out in the late 60s. I prefer Smile to Pet Sounds,it is divided into three suites of music so each track segues into the next one. I would certainly recommend you give it a listen when you have the time.

I always knew they planned a follow up that never materialised, but I'm not sure I pieced together that that was the one! I'm very interested to check that out (when I'm finished with this, almost three quarters through now!)

 

-x-

 

 

Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

 

This was the eleventh studio album by Aretha Franklin but her first with Atlantic Records. The recording sessions were fraught with fighting between her manager and her then husband so was completed across two different sessions. While she was popular before this, it was this album that saw her really enter the spotlight and become known as the Queen of Soul that she was today. Respect particularly, has become known as her signature song and helped introduce her to a new audience.

 

I have nothing but (ahem) respect for Aretha and she is certainly one of the best female vocalists of all time. This is going to be more a 'I get it, but it's not quite for me' kind of review rather than 'this is pretty terrible' one. Because her vocals are wonderful on here and she is fluent in all registers and tones, hard or soft, she still really kills it without overdoing it (well...almost, we'll get to that). It's just unfortunately, there isn't anything that's truly standout asides from, ofc., Respect, which has got to be one of the best covers and is a classic danceable anthem that reinterprets a song that could make the singer look vulnerable to one that is clearly in command and you can easily see why it was such a big civil rights and feminist anthem. But the rest of the songs don't quite match up to that innovation, except perhaps the title track, which defies your expectations in that it actually expresses her disappointment in the man she loved rather than fawning at his feet. It's kind of just the standard motown template or swing instruments and piano and voice and there just isn't enough sonic interpretation to keep me interested. Even at 33 minutes, the songs blended into each other a bit. I guess in 1967 the full extent of music was capable by the Beatles or Beach Boys, so it would've been nice to see a bit more variation, although obviously I'm aware there are various factors that came into the production of the album and it probably wasn't the aim, so it's more a selfish want. One thing that honestly really doesn't work is A Change is Gonna Come, that cover is nowhere near Sam Cooke's which I'm too used to, It's very appropriate hearing her sing it, it just...doesn't really fit that arrangement? idk.

 

I think this is a showcase for her true vocal and performance talents which it excels at, it's just not something I really personally look for in albums, I would rather hear a more sonically diverse album. So it is personal taste that ultimately makes this an album I probably won't revisit, but again, don't let my personal taste put you off, it's certainly a landmark album in soul and vocal masterclass so if that's your bag, you'll be sure to dig this~

 

6.5

I don't know the album, just the singles, but Aretha may well be the greatest female singer of all-time, inasmuch as she could take a song and make it her own, seemingly effortlessly, but it was very much down to her own arrangement of each song (Dusty Springfield, the greatest UK female vocalist, did much the same thing) but it didn't always work. When it did work (I Say A Little Prayer, Spanish Harlem, Natural Woman) the result was awesome. Her Atlantic Years Greatest Hits is the CD everyone should own, though, as it's the best of the best and chops out some of her covers that don;t work, while including a few of her own songs which are her best self-written ones.

 

Queen - A Night at the Opera

 

I imagine this one is regularly played for you, dandy :kink: Queen's fourth album was quite the trouble for them to record, they were not receiving money from their last albums from their record label so they ended their contract with them and ended up having to use their own studio space to record the album which was a lengthy and complex process w(some of this is documented in the film, Bohemian Rhapsody) experimenting with sounds, production and drawing from a large variety of genres including 1920s dancehall, music hall and their natural progressive rock sound, and it was of course that featured their magnum opus, Bohemian Rhapsody. They needn't have worried whether it would make back their money as it was a huge success, selling over six million copies worldwide and their singles being big hits against studio expectations. It is now regarded as one of their best albums

 

This album was...eclectic. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less than the album that birthed the mighty BoRhap, but some of these songs truly do sound miles apart in sound and it works sometimes and others not really, but it never loses your interest. Apart from You're My Best Friend, these aren't exactly very conventional songs and you don't tend to hear any of these songs on Best Of Queen compilations and it is actually a bit of a shame, as while I do like their later material, it certainly wasn't as adventurous as what I heard on here. This album certainly is a good indication of the eclectic genius of Freddie Mercury (which the film got so wrong). He is as showman-like as ever here, Death on Two Legs is a dramatically harsh and biting track clearly aimed at getting their frustrations at their previous label out and then you have his 1920s Music Hall takes which sound straight out of a Carry On... film, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon and Seaside Rendezvous with their jaunty piano and even using their voices as stand ins for instruments, it's impressive I guess but they're just a bit too over the top even for me, but thankfully there's some more successful experiments on here, I'm in Love With My Car is utterly stupid (it's release being the result of a bet apparently) but very fun as well. '39 however is the real surprise package here, sung by Brian May (yep I never knew he sung on any tracks), it's a low key folk number with sci-fi esque lyrics of travellers that venture on year-long voyage through space to return to find much longer has passed on Earth, it's actually very affectionate and something I really didn't expect to hear on a Queen album. I obviously can't talk about highlights without mentioning Bohemian Rhapsody, I know it's a bit love/hate these days but I'm very much in the former crowd. it's a true representation and triumph of all the bombast, creativity and experimentation of the album and that it was such a big hit and remains such a beloved classic is wonderful. There simply is no song like it. Although the album does offer an alternative song if it were stretched out too long, upped the bizarre factor and messing with song structure to eleven just made a straight out incomprehensible mess of a track with The Prophet. Listening to it was...an experience, it's interesting but I'm not sure it entirely works.

 

I didn't always enjoy this album, but I always admired it as it clearly took such a lot of work and thought and fighting with studios to make come to light and I definitely view that as a winner for creativity and artistic freedom. I really would recommend this album to those that would like to explore Queen in a bit more depth as they were so much more than just standard stadium rockers that their later work dictates and this album is a real signifier of the innovation they possessed to get them to that point. It misses a 9 as there were some songs I would be fine not hearing again, but it's an admirable and important piece of work nonetheless.

 

8.5

I Love A Night At The Opera, it's a great album, varied, ambitious and playful. '39 is a major highlight for Queen and I'll pick it over Bo Rap anyday. I appreciate BoRap is a masterpiece, I adored it in 1975/76 and still admired it in 1991/2, but OMG I'm so sick of hearing it, I know every note back to front. Hmmm now there's an idea....start with the last minute and stop there.

A Night At The Opera has always been one of my favourite albums (apart from the time before it was released of course). I've always been rather fond of '39 as a piece of whimsy and The Prophet's Song is a wonderfully OTT track that makes Bohemian Rhapsody seem positively sane :lol:

I'm another fan of this album. The Prophet's Song is almost as good as Bohemian Rhapsody and Love Of My Life is one of their best ballads and became a staple of their live concerts. I'm In Love With My Car and '39 are two more highlights along with the hit single You're My Best Friend.

The 70s magic keeps coming!

 

 

ABBA - Gold

 

Now there are many albums on the list that despite being great, it'd be understandable if the person hadn't owned it. With this album, I would honestly be surprised if anyone didn't either own it or has heard most of it unconsciously! It is ofc. ABBA's Greatest Hits album released in 1992, apparently though ABBA were ofc. wildly successful in the ten years they were active, if it weren't for Gold reminding the world of their discography, they may not have gained the worldwide recognition and continued relevance today, partly as all previous ABBA compilations were deleted. A risky move but one the record label got very right. Gold is (I believe) the second best selling album of all time in the UK behind Queen's Greatest Hits and has spent over 900 weeks in the top 100 album chart (is it still there now? It may be). It remains a definitive guide to their big hits and one that pretty much every ABBA fan owns.

 

Blame this poster for being rather inconsistent and including a Greatest Hits album amongst studio albums (and there's more to come), certainly makes it pretty hard on a rating scale. While I hadn't actually sat down and listened to the album sequentially before, I had heard everything on it at least a couple of times in my life. But on the other hand, ABBA were a great example of a singles band, some artists may have defining albums that are their main selling point and intend their music to be listened to as a part of the album (Pink Floyd being a good example), but ABBA, as far as I can tell, don't quite have that and were instead just an incredible singles band, so I suppose a Greatest Hits album with all of their singles is the best way to experience them with all killer, no filler. Anyway, I'm essentially rating ABBA's hits discography here and...yeah, it's near flawless. They were just absolute masters of an insanely catchy chorus, a vibrant instrumental to go with it, masters of cheese and camp as well as clearly being very skilled musicians, vocalists and writers as well. They shaped Scandinavian and general pop today and I feel they're that rare example that both music critics can praise and the sales figures can match. This album was pretty much wonderful from start to finish, I think my top 5 favourite songs would be: Dancing Queen / Fernando / Chiquitita / Mamma Mia / Take a Chance on Me, but it can change very easily. Voulez-Vous, The Name of the Game, Money, Money Money and Thank You for the Music are considerably less essential if I had to name least favourites, but far from unlistenable (I've famously always never got the love for Lay All Your Love On Me either, especially on this forum, but I admit, it sounded good upon relisten, I'm converted xx) The structure of this album is interesting as it was apparently fan-picked and isn't chronological, in some ways, this is a shame, as you could see the progression from happier and positive pop from Dancing Queen (although I can't argue with that being the opening track) to much more serious and sad songs echoing the tension within the bands and couples like Winner Takes It All and One of Us. I always found that interesting especially the latter given how raw and emotional it was compared to the rest of their songs and it would've been interesting.

 

This is usually the paragraph where I recommend this to people to discover this album, but something like this has probably been so widespread already, I can't see it being the case that those that want to check this out haven't yet! It's the essential in every ABBA fan or anyone even vaguely interested in them. It's just a perfect album for any occasion and you'd be challenged to find a more consistently enjoyable discography than this one and you're almost glad their career was so short lived as they never really declined in quality and their discography can be forever preserved. I will 'adjust for inflation' when rating as comparing a Greatest Hits I'm already familiar with with studio albums I'm not isn't always fair, but this is certainly up there with my favourite albums so far nonetheless!

 

9.0

I don't think I've ever listened to Abba Gold in full but, as you suggest, I know the tracks anyway. So many classic pop songs that still sound good today.

 

Not only is it still in the top 100, it's been in the top forty for most of the year. Unless they change the streaming rules, it will remain there or thereabouts for a good while yet.

Including Greatest Hits is a bit of a daft choice, there are few studio albums that can compare to hits collections by the same acts.

 

As for Abba, perfect pop, one of the 3 greatest popchartfreak acts of all-time, and their studio albums are easily worthy of being included in a top 100 list: Arrival is joyous, Voulez Vous chock a block with hits and banging, Supertrouper sophisticated, and the final album The Visitors is a mature, sad, reflective closer, bar one whimsical track which sticks out like a sore thumb.

I think if I were to pick any ABBA album to be on this list in place of Gold, I'd pick Super Trouper - some of their best hits in Lay All Your Love On Me, the title track and The Winner Takes It All, and some great album highlights like The Piper and Our Last Summer to prop it up. But any of the four John mentioned would have been good.

 

I don't think there's a track I don't love on Gold - my pick for 'once overrated' is Dancing Queen if only as a reaction to that being the first ABBA song people think of when even when rating it honestly it's certainly in the lower half of quality here.

 

(I've fallen behind on the other ones recently oops x will catch up)

I am interested in some of ABBA's lesser known material so I'll take those suggestions down, thanks. I can't believe Gold is still in the top 40 now lmao, it'll be there until the end of time probably with album sales decreasing as they are :lol:

 

 

Madonna - The Immaculate Collection

 

From one Greatest Hits to another, this one was perhaps a little bit different though as rather than her whole career it covers 1983-1990 and contained two new songs, including one of her most daring releases, Justify My Love. Additionally, every song was actually remixed and remastered using QSound to give it a substantially beefier feel and you can definitely hear not, though they are still the same songs. The title was loosely based on the Immaculate Conception, the Virgin Mary without the stain of the original sin. You might have thought that would anger the religious community, but given she'd just released Like a Prayer the year before, I'm not sure what they were expecting at this point x It has sold 31 million copies worldwide, which makes it the best selling compilation album by a solo artist.

 

I'm sure there are many classic albums Madonna has done that you can argue deserve a place over a Greatest Hits, BUT I understand this one a bit more, as this one does feel a bit more than just a straight collection of their best moments, the new material and remixing of the tracks show that, and also it definitely stands out possibly more so now as it truly covers all of her golden era in the 1980s and it actually doesn't have the same problem as Gold, in that it structures the tracks as they were released and (while there were a couple of omissions, poor Who's That Girl and True Blue) show her artistic development from fairly simple pop songs like Holiday to more social commentary related songs like Material Girl to absolute defining 80s huge hits that could only have been done with someone with her audacity, Papa Don't Preach and Like a Prayer chiefly, and she clearly wasn't finished as she closed with not only the iconic Vogue but also the uniquely trip-hop inspired Justify My Love, I wasn't all that familiar with that song and its really great. Some of these songs are best appreciated with their music videos as that was really an art form she pushed which isn't possible here, but that's fine, they're all great songs anyway regardless of how you listen. Madonna is overall fairly hit and miss for me, but listening to this album, there is VERY little filler and you can appreciate how she really pushed things forward for pop music in general and how she is one of the world's biggest stars, these are all just really timeless songs and having them all together is a good representation of just how Madonna came to be so big as well as showing artistic progression which is what Greatest Hits should do. The exceptions being Crazy for You and Open Your Heart, which hits though they were, are way to bland for what she could achieve.

 

I don't think it's too controversial a statement to say that after the early 1990s, Madonna's star faded a little (with a few exceptions) and though she certainly hasn't backed down, she still wasn't quite the controversial master of innovation she was before BUT anyone doubting her legacy should definitely have this album as it shows her mastery of getting people talking and put it all together in a great catchy pop song. I can see how this is seen as one of her best representations of her work and it's a great listen throughout. Like the last album, it's quite hard to rate a selection of songs I know very well with a handful of ones I don't to a whole album with material I don't know, but it's still one of my favourite listening experiences so far that really reminded me of how great she was. What else can you say, except this is near enough immaculate~

 

9.0

Now now Chez... an album where Crazy For You and Open Your Heart are considered the worst simply must be a 10!

 

 

ps belated yuck at Queen!

I'm still miffed by The Imac Conc. It omitted True Blue and it remixed the hits. I'm a purist, if it's a singles collection I want the singles as they were originally. I still don't own the single version of True Blue (I bought the album instead) and it's never been available since except on a pricey unavailable CD EP.

 

Madonna albums worthy? True Blue, Like A Prayer, Ray Of Light, Confessions On A Dance Floor.....

Now now Chez... an album where Crazy For You and Open Your Heart are considered the worst simply must be a 10!

ps belated yuck at Queen!

 

It probably should be, but like ABBA, I'm adjusting for inflation to make the rating scale fair compared with albums I hadn't heard before.

 

I'm still miffed by The Imac Conc. It omitted True Blue and it remixed the hits. I'm a purist, if it's a singles collection I want the singles as they were originally. I still don't own the single version of True Blue (I bought the album instead) and it's never been available since except on a pricey unavailable CD EP.

 

Madonna albums worthy? True Blue, Like A Prayer, Ray Of Light, Confessions On A Dance Floor.....

 

True Blue is a sad omission, love that one </3 I think they definitely could've included those, strange omissions but this one was great anyway.

 

Resuming this soon!

 

Van Morrison - Moondance

 

Moondance saw Van Morrison moving on from the abstract folk jazz and take more control of his own career, moving towards more formally composed songs all of which he wrote and composed. He became known for this sound for the rest of his career, it has elements of soul, folk and R'n'B along with Irish native music with lyrics centring on worldly matters like finding love and redemption from nature and the world. It was an immediate success, the songs very popular on the radio and established him as a big name which he continues to be (well, in his certain niche) to this day.

 

I was slightly dreading this album, I don't mind the little I've heard of Van Morrison or anything (Brown Eyed Girl is quite a tune), his music's a bit too stripped down for my tastes and I certainly wouldn't put listening to a full album from him high on my list of priorities. That said, this wasn't too bad. It was a very pleasant collection of songs that all sort of follow the same kind of theme and soundscape. I should say off the bat I'm really not a fan of the title track that much, It's the only one I knew and it's way too FM Radio MOR for me, I recall X Factor using it a lot as well which didn't help, but the rest of the album didn't have anything too objectionable. The songs were mixed between quite anthemic folk singalongs and more quieter moments, I did find the latter the better moments. Into the Mystic in particular is a very interesting song, it's lyrics focusing on folklore and spiritual awakening and there's an impressive orchestra behind the twanging guitar that adds a very ethereal feeling to the track, including a foghorn, and Everyone makes beautiful use of the Irish folk pipe sound that I do really love. The music is very well done here, it creates a very relaxing and soothing atmosphere and fits well with the lyrics' worldly themes, it's quietly epic. There are some great trumpets particularly in These Dreams of You and Glad Tidings. I'm less enthused with his vocals, it can be a bit shouty in places (especially Caravan) and puts me in the mind of a campfire singalong, but it's very soulful and he certainly sings with passion.

 

Overall, I think it'd be a very good album for walking through the woods, switching your mind off and taking in nature, it's certainly got a very natural and organic feel which I suppose you don't get much of these days so I can see how the sound is quite timeless. I mean ultimately this sort of stripped down poetic singer-songwriter genre is something I can take or leave in general as it's just a bit too simplistic overall especially with how much music can be experimented with, so I was never really gonna love an album like this, but I do understand why some would enjoy it as the whole thing is generally very feel-good and stress relieving. I don't regret listening to it, not sure I'll go back to it, but it's a very pleasant 40 minutes either way~

 

7.0

Immaculate Collection only gets good in the latter half, La Isla Bonita and onwards for me, to fit with Madonna's strongest years being from late 80s up to 2005.

 

Moondance is indeed very nice to listen to, Everyone is a bit of a fun folky bop. If you're in the right mood it would be great.

Moondance was from his pleasant period when he had a singing voice, 60's he was great, 70's decent, and since then I've found him unlistenable in the same way I find an entire album of Bob Dylan unlistenable, fine in small doses. Cover versions perfectly acceptable though. Brown Eyed Girl head and shoulders over everything else though.....Oops!

Funny you should say that, I've just got to Bob Dylan in the real-time list just recently! I'll share my thoughts on it when the time comes ofc. before next year hopefully

 

-x-

 

 

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

 

The second studio album released by famously troubled soul singer. Released back in 2006, this was when I was following the charts so I can recollect this one. Based predominantly on her tumultuous relationship with her on-off boyfriend, Blake Fielder-Civil, his leaving her became the background to a lot of the songs on the album (especially the title track). Produced by Mark Ronson and drawing on influences of 1960s girlgroup pop and soul, the album was a huge success, being the second best selling album of the 21st Century so far (the only one in the top 3 not by Adele), and receiving international attention and winning a then-record breaking for a female artist six grammy awards. Unfortunately, her personal and addiction issues didn't stop and only intensified with increased media coverage, leading to her being the still most recent addition to the 27 Club :'(

 

This album was kinda difficult to listen to in places for obvious reasons, all the problems and insecurities reflected in the lyrics were things she just never actually got over, but that doesn't mean it's not great. I confess back in the day I didn't really get her as I found her voice off-putting to me, but I have revisited her singles since and have grown to respect a lot of them since. Away from the person herself, I don't think I appreciated at the time that no one was quite doing what she was doing at the time, and many of the contemporary soul singers that followed, Adele, Paloma Faith, Duffy etc. were as a result of the success of this album. There's a real authentic and non-polished sound to the soul backing and a lot of these songs are extremely well composed as well as meaningful (what can you expect from Mark Ronson). The songwriting and the production as well as her unique delivery makes this very captivating listen. My favourites are probably still the singles - Back to Black the single particularly is probably her signature song and the beautiful symphonic piano and strings as well as low vocals perfectly captures the doom and unhappiness that surrounded her at the time when missing Blake and sadly, is still quite representative of what happened to her next. Love is a Losing Game is also a beautiful song I overlooked at the time and has some excellent lyrical metaphors sing very genuinely. It's not all doom and gloom, there is a wry dark humour and some up-tempo numbers throughout, Me and Mr Jones is a more light number about how she missed a Slick Rick concert but never a Nas concert (whose last time is Jones) and Rehab, though the lyrics are tragically ironic now, still has a real sense of character to the song and is a catchy number to back.

 

However much context comes in to make this a bit more of a difficult listen, it's still a very important and a very good representation of Winehouse's great talent and I'm glad I had the chance to listen as I always felt I never got into her enough when she was alive, and it perhaps sounds even better knowing the great amount of influence she had on music following her death and you feel that you have a true modern example of an immortal classic album. I'd highly recommend it if you don't already know it, and I would additionally recommend the biopic Amy as it's a beautiful, tragic exploration of her lifetime through her voice snippets and interviews.

 

8.5

 

(and speaking of difficult listens, stay tuned for the next one of these xx)