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21 minutes ago, C-MIL said:

This was the first CD I ever owned.

I found it outside my elementary school while I was walking home. The next day while I was telling the tale of my good fortune, another student told me that the CD actually belonged to his big brother and that his mom threw it out the car window because she was mad about the "go down on you in a theater" line. She was terrified that it was going to lead to premarital sex.

I didn't own a CD player until at least five years later. Maybe more. I lost the CD long before that. Me and that other student became best friends though.

His big brother ended up having premarital sex anyway. I guess it turns out when you lose, you actually don't learn. :P

They got teen pregnant and teen married and I'm 90% sure they're still together though.

I'm sure she would make an excellent mother. 

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Jagged Little Pill - 

Never really had a strong opinion on Alanis Morisette, and... I don't think I do now. Pleasant enough voice, somewhat interesting lyrics (though I feel like there were quite a few artists in the 90s doing similar such things). 

That probably all sounds more negative than I intended, haha.

This was a good album. Hand in My Pocket was the stand out song for me, and I don't think anything was particularly poor.  It's a 3/5 for me. I'll probs not choose to listen to the whole thing in one go again, but I'd appily listen to it if others did. 

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The 4 choices for next week are up. We listened to an album from the 60's and two albums from the 90s, so I picked an album from the 70s, 80s, 00s and 10s to listen to. I'll close the poll Sunday and we will move on from Alanis. 

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I went for Thriller. I did Kid A earlier this week as part of the Radiohead binge, and I intend to do Pink Floyd as part of a full discog run through. Prefer MJ to Kendrick Lamar generally.   However, am obviously more than happy to listen to whatever wins :)

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I went for Kendrick Lamar, because I remember being really impressed by the album on release but I don't think I've listened to it since.

I'd be happy with Thriller, though, as I've never really done a deep dive into MJ albums. Kid A and Dark Side Of The Moon I've heard way too much over the years!

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Firstly, the album cover for To Pimp A Butterfly is one of the best album covers ever. I love it. 

I listened to this album when it first came out and I have listened to it every few years since. I was also a Kendrick Lamar fan before To Pimp A Butterfly, as I really liked Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. It is interesting because Good Kid saw Kendrick getting lots of attention for sampling Twin Sister and Beach House. I remember wondering whether he would lean in that indie direction or go another direction with To Pimp A Butterfly. 

To Pimp A Butterfly is an outstanding album. The first three tracks are an outstanding rush that bounce all over the place. I remember first listening to the three songs nad just being like "what the fuck am I listening too?" It was unexpected direction for Kendrick. The tracks after all very good. These Walls is amazing. However, the highlight is for sure Alright. 

Alright is just a bomb of a track. I have a list of my top 100 favorite songs and Alright is currently my 8th favorite song all time. Kendrick is rapping so fast at times, but each word is spoken clearly. But the highlight for me is how all over the place in terms of flow and direction Kendrick goes. When all the sudden Kendrick raps "What you want you, a house? You, a car?/40 acres and a mule? A piano, a guitar?/Anything, see my name is Lucy, I'm your dog/motherfucker you can live at the mall" is the highlight of the song. The throwback to Wesley's Theory, the commentary on consumerism, the passion in Kendrick's voice. It is all fantastic. And it blending into For Sale? - Interlude is just unreal. It is beyond trippy. 

This album is exceptional. Really great stuff. 

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Album #4: To Pimp a Butterfly Thoughts:

Spoiler

I first became aware of this album, and Kendrick Lamar by extension, thanks to James Acaster's theory on the "To Pimp A Butterfly Effect" mentioned at the start of his book Perfect Sound Whatever (which is a brilliant read if you haven't yet). The theory proposed that 2016 was so high quality in music because the whole industry raised their game because of this album being so much better than what was already out there. Now, I've never actually had the impetus to go and listen to it until now, but it's a high accolade to put on the album, so I'm expecting good things.

Album cover is a brilliant image, Radiohead need to take lessons.

The album seems to start with completely organised chaos. It seems all over the place, going in every direction, but it all feels deliberate. By the time King Kunta kicks in, I was fully on board, that track is great. The beats the album uses are all great without overcomplicated anything, and the tracks all have their own individual layers that make them feel unique, which is great.

Have to say, as I approach the halfway point of the album, that I think the tracks with guest artists seem weaker than the ones where he gets sole credit. Institutionalised and These Walls were good, but King Kunta and Alright blow them out the water, and Hood Politics was really strong too. He's lyrically brilliant, and I can see why he's had the level of hype he has.

Love the little background additions on Complexion (A Zulu Love). It's probably my favourite of all the feature artist tracks.

The Blacker The Berry is a brutal lyrical onslaught of a track, another high point on an album seemingly full of them. The minute-long musical section at the end really lets the lyrics settle in the wake of the song.

i is great and almost feels like a rock track, the flow on it is brilliant. Mortal Man is a really strong end point as well, a lot of albums I've listened to recently seem to have a problem. Of ending weakly so I was glad to have a strong ending to the listen through.

I totally get why the album is as highly regarded as it is now, the narrative the whole way through is one I'll never fully appreciate but it's masterfully told with a strong voice and I definitely get Kendrick Lamar more than I did from hearing odd tracks before.

I've realised I never posted anything about Jagged Little Pill, so I'll re-listen to it tomorrow before we do the fifth album.

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Album #3: Jagged Little Pill Thoughts:

Spoiler

No idea why I forgot to post anything for this last week but we're doing it now! Before I'd first listened to it last week this was another album I'd seen loads of praise for and never bothered listening to, so let's refresh myself and see what we've got.

I like the simplicity of the album cover, but the different sized text seems odd to me. No doubt a stylistic choice but it just leaves a huge quarter of the cover empty shoving it in the middle too. Better than Radiohead but not as good as the Beatles and Kendrick Lamar.

Instantly surprised by the harmonica use, which blends really well with the guitar. Digging the rock vibe, not sold on the vocals yet but the chorus with the backing singers works better.

Okay the vocals are better on You Oughta Know, not sure what it was about the first track. Like this one more overall to the opener. The emotion in the singing comes through really well.

Following with a slower track with Perfect isn't a choice I agree with, feels to early to have toned the energy down. A good song, but really stands out by contrast at the moment rather than being particularly interesting.

Hand in my Pocket is a good bounce back, can see why it's one of the more popular tracks on the album. Liking the continued harmonica use, underutilised these days. Great guitar work on Right Through You to follow it up as well.

Head Over Feet and Ironic I definitely recognise, I must have heard them on the radio in work at some point. Very good tracks, unsurprisingly among the most listens on Spotify.

Thought the end of the album was a bit weaker, but overall I really enjoyed listening through it. Four very unique listening experiences so far.

 

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To Pimp a Butterfly - 

Broadly enjoyed this more than I expected I would. I've heard the odd track from Lamar before and he's never done much for me. 

Without much of a reference point for context (hip hop in general isn't a genre I have listened much to) this reminded me of a less zany/out there Thundercat style record (instrumentation used, the layout of the style of tracks on the album, the diversity of tracks and their juxtaposition). 

As for the songs, there were a handful that stood out for me - King Kunta, These Walls, Alright, How Much Does a Dollar Cost, The Blacker the Berry and Mortal Man. 

Main downside to me was the overall runtime. I didn't feel like quality of the album justified a 78 minute release. Whilst I was never bored, it absolutely didn't need 16 tracks. 3-5 of them could have been cut (the interludes for one) and made this a trimmer, punchier release. 

Still, I enjoyed it and it was good. 3/5. Maybe 3.5. 

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7 hours ago, DFF said:

Without much of a reference point for context (hip hop in general isn't a genre I have listened much to) this reminded me of a less zany/out there Thundercat style record (instrumentation used, the layout of the style of tracks on the album, the diversity of tracks and their juxtaposition). 

It won't surprise you then to hear he's a producer on a few of the tracks :P

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I am late, but this endeavor is not forgotten.

Previously we had To Pimp A Butterfly, which was the most recent album on the list. I decided in consideration of that - we should listen to the earliest album released on this list. You would think that with 30 albums released between 60 years, there was no possible way that the first two albums on this list would be released the exact same date. Well, Pet Sounds and Blonde on Blonde were released a month apart from each other and Pet Sounds inched out Blonde on Blonde.

So this week, we can all listen the Beach Boy's landmark album Pet Sounds, which according to critics is the greatest album of all time. It has sold over a million units. And hey, according to the fans at RateYourMusic, this is the 21st best album of all time. 

 

Also, whoever listens to the album and gets their thoughts up first can pick the next album to listen to and propose a replacement to be added to the list. 

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Pet Sounds thoughts - 

Spoiler

 

A very swift album, and a very pleasant listen. I'd say it still holds up as a throwback pop record by today's standards, but it was somewhat revolutionary at the time for the way it was engineered etc. Whilst I believe The Beatles totally outdid it with Sgt. Pepper's, this does pre-date it by a year and has rightfully earned plaudits for its aural originality. 

I've read that the album is seen as an early influence on an array of genres - Prog Rock, Art Pop/Rock... even Emo. Undeniably it was ahead of its time. 

Song wise, the highlights for me were - Wouldn't It Be Nice (classic), You Still Believe in Me, Let' Go Away for Awhile, Sloop John B, and Pet Sounds. 

Very good :) 

 

 

17 hours ago, RPS said:

Also, whoever listens to the album and gets their thoughts up first can pick the next album to listen to and propose a replacement to be added to the list. 

For the next album, I'm going to choose "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine. I know and have heard exceptionally little by them compared to vast majority of albums on the list. 

My proposed replacement album, I'm going to bend the rules somewhat and suggest an EP. I have never listened to it before, but according to Rate Your Music users it's the greatest EP of all time.

It's 'Slow Riot for Zerø Kanada' by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I know a little GY!BE so I'd guess it's Post Rock. It's average score is 4.15 from 13,604 ratings. Which is.. a very high score for RYM and from quite a lot of people (anything over 4.0 is usually considered in the 'best of all time' consideration). 

For those who may think an EP is a little short for this kind of thing, it's 28 minutes, making it only about 10 shorter than the Beach Boys album haha.  Is this ok @RPS?

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I'm going to have to actually sit down and listen to Pet Sounds because I don't think I've ever listened to a Beach Boys album in full. I know the hits, the singles, but I have never sought out a Beach Boys album.

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5 hours ago, DFF said:

For those who may think an EP is a little short for this kind of thing, it's 28 minutes, making it only about 10 shorter than the Beach Boys album haha.  Is this ok @RPS?

For sure. I think the goal is just to find something that is readily available for people to listen too. Could be an EP or an LP. I actually have no experience with Godspeed, so I am excited. 

Also, because we are three short of our full 30, I am going to pick the next three albums from Acclaimed Music, RateYourMusic and the top selling albums to add to the list, so added in to the mix are: 

  • Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (1965) (Acclaimed Music) 
  • Talking Heads - Remain In Light (1980) (RateYourMusic)
  • Celine Dion - Falling Into You (1996) (Best Selling Albums of All Time) 
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