Best Ever Albums

Re: February SRE Week 1

Fergenaprido — Wed, 8 Feb 2012 20:26:55 GMT

Author: Fergenaprido

Posted: 02/09/2012 01:26

Fergenaprido wrote:

an_outlaw wrote:

And Fergenaprido, don't forget to rate the tracks on the site. I think your idea turned out well this round!

I will. 😄 I'll likely do it all at once later this week after I sort out my internet issues. :(

So I finally rated the songs on the four albums I listened to last week. I also managed to get my internet working in my new place.

I finished Quality Control, and my opinion stayed the same. I did reload my computer, however, and in reopening the browser and the tabs I had opened to load the Nightwish youtube videos, the first 5 seconds or so that I heard didn't sound so bad, so maybe it will turn out to be more enjoyable than I had thought... as long as they don't going into their growling.

When voting, I noticed that a number of other people had been voting as well, not just for the albums, but for the songs too. I'm going to wait until the end of the month to collect and compile the new statistics for each album, to give people time to catch up if they started late, and they we can see just how much of an impact, if any, this month's project will have had.

I agree, outlaw, it seems that in spite of a few hiccoughs, things went fairly well for Week 1. Now let's get rolling on Week 2! 😁

Re: February SRE Week 1

Norman Bates — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 17:01:06 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 02/06/2012 22:01

Manic Street Preachers, Postcards...

WARNING : Prior to this listening, everything I have ever heard from this band, I have hated. Just saying.

1. (It's Not War) Just The End of Love: Awful voice. I generally don't like guitar solos. Overall it could be OK without those two details, but it's pompous. 40.
2. Postcards From A Young Man: Better. Somehow the voice is bearable here. there's a Queen touch towards the end that's funny. 55.
3. Some Kind of Nothingness: It's all starting to sound samey. The voice is mixed way too much upfront. Some sort of gospel addition to this one. The whole really lacks subtlety. 40.
4. The Descent (Pages 1 & 2): Sounds like Robbie Williams, which is good news. Deceptive though, this is not his last descent actually. 60 all the same, honorable. Best so far.
5. Hazelton Avenue: If I find nothing to say here. I did not suffer while listening to it, but I don't remember it at all. 50.
6. Auto-Intoxication : A welcome change after 5 very similar tracks. Here is MSP doing some American rock. It's on par with Foo Fighters or something. 60.
7. Golden Platitudes: I really don't like this, and I'm getting a bit exhausted by the whole record. Too much of everything. The 60s pop tinge can't really save this. 40
8. I Think I Found It: As much as I enjoy my occasional mandoline, this song is really too much. God this singer annoys me. 20. Still 4 to go, I'm getting nervous.
9. A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun: Almost unbearable. I'm tempted to skip, but no! I must be brave and hold on. EDIT: Argh! There goes the solo. -5 for this. 10.
10. All We Make Is Entertainment: Generic FM hard-rock, nothing to be ashamed of but it's not my cup of tea. Not at all. 30
11. The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever: I don't have anything to say about this, er... it's better than the previous one. 50.
12. Don't Be Evil: The chorus is bearable, the rest isn't, I think it's because the voice is doubled on the chorus. Another haunting solo. 40.

All in all, a totally unenjoyable listen. Talk about elephant in China shop. I really don't like the singing, I think it really brings down what could be okay in this. Overall 39, I'll bring it down to 35-30 for the sheer fatigue the whole left me into.

Re: February SRE Week 1

Anonymous — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 15:54:16 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 02/06/2012 20:54

Norman Bates wrote:

an_outlaw wrote:

Hey Norman, try the title track off the Manic's Street Preachers one. Tell me that doesn't raise your spirits up 😜

Link

Tell you what: I'm watching a movie right now (Truffaut's Vivement Dimanche!), and after that I'll try THE WHOLE MANIC STREET PREACHERS album. Yes, you heard me right. I'll stop at nothing.

Sounds good 😜

Re: February SRE Week 1

Fergenaprido — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 15:50:48 GMT

Author: Fergenaprido

Posted: 02/06/2012 20:50

an_outlaw wrote:

And Fergenaprido, don't forget to rate the tracks on the site. I think your idea turned out well this round!

I will. 😄 I'll likely do it all at once later this week after I sort out my internet issues. 🙁

Re: February SRE Week 1

Norman Bates — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:50:11 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 02/06/2012 19:50

an_outlaw wrote:

Hey Norman, try the title track off the Manic's Street Preachers one. Tell me that doesn't raise your spirits up 😜

Link

Tell you what: I'm watching a movie right now (Truffaut's Vivement Dimanche!), and after that I'll try THE WHOLE MANIC STREET PREACHERS album. Yes, you heard me right. I'll stop at nothing.

Re: February SRE Week 1

Anonymous — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:45:28 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 02/06/2012 19:45

Hey Norman, try the title track off the Manic's Street Preachers one. Tell me that doesn't raise your spirits up 😜

Link

And Fergenaprido, don't forget to rate the tracks on the site. I think your idea turned out well this round!

Re: February SRE Week 1

Norman Bates — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:22:32 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 02/06/2012 19:22

I'll start with the albums I know well.

Grant Lee Buffalo, Fuzzy.

1. The Shining Hour: 90 Great song. Tension, good voice.
2. Jupiter and Teardrop: 70 A little bit on the bland side.
3. Fuzzy: 95. Best song on the album. Great falsetto.
4. Wish You Well: 85. Classic material. Maybe a bit ordinary on the chorus.
5. The Hook: 75. Enjoyable, not special.
6. Soft Wolf Tread: 55 Weakest track on the album, not very appealing melodically.
7. Stars N'Stripes: 85 Once again, the falsetto makes this a winner.
8. Dixie Drug Store: 85 Afghan Whig-ish stuff, I'm a good customer of these.
9. America Snoring: 60 Too heavy for me.
10. Grace: 60 A bit bland really, and too long.
11. You Just Have To Be Crazy: 55 Disappointing closing track.

Overall: 75. Good album, at times very good, at times on the just OK side of good. As I had rated the whole 70 beforehand, I suppose I'm consistent 😄

Re: February SRE Week 1

Fergenaprido — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:01:59 GMT

Author: Fergenaprido

Posted: 02/06/2012 19:01

So today I was able to finish a few more albums. Shout out to gussteivi for the Grooveshark recommendation; definitely helped to fill the gaps that youtube left.

Postcards from a Young Man was okay. Best two songs for me were (It's Not War) Just the End of Love and Red Rubber (bonus track). Everything else was okay. My only real knowledge of MSP prior was Motorcycle Emptiness from one of their first albums, a song which I simply adore, but which is quite different from this album. Overall, not bad, but not particularly stellar. 75, perhaps the best album of this week's bunch for me.

Fuzzy was... fuzzy. Some of the songs seemed to just ramble on endlessly, and I just couldn't connect to them. The best out of the bunch would be Dixie Drug Store or Wish You Well, but I won't be rushing to listen to them again any time soon. The album as a whole bounces around a lot for me; sometimes pseudo-hard rock, sometimes folksy americana. It's been said that Mighty Joe Moon is the better GLP album, so maybe I'll give that one a try. 70

I'm halfway through Quality Control, and I will finish now (thanks again to Grooveshark, though the tracklisting here seems a bit off), but I don't think it will be that stellar. I'm not sure what I thought of Jurassic 5 before, but I don't think I realized they were quite so hip-hoppy. I like The Influence and Swing Set, and I could listen to them again, but the others are varying shades of meh. It will probably end up around a 70.

I'm beginning to think that if a 70 is just meh, I'm being to generous with my ratings.

I haven't gotten around to Nightwish, but I've got a couple of songs loaded and waiting. Given my lack of love for metal, however, I predice this will be the bottom of this week's bunch for me. But, I do like Within Temptation, so maybe they'll surprise me.

This week's thread coming up within the hour.

Re: February SRE Week 1

Charicature — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 06:38:16 GMT

Author: Charicature

Posted: 02/06/2012 11:38

Jhereko wrote:

FUZZY by Grant Lee Buffalo
The type of jangly guitar rockpop that I find bland and don't typically respond to very well. I thought it was... pleasant enough.

This brings up an interesting question I've had...when you're listening to music, what exactly are you listening for? It's seemed to me for a while now that a number of people only hear the guitar portions of the music and it's all that really matters to them, and perhaps for some others they listen to just beats or just vocals...

Because frankly I don't understand a review like this for Fuzzy...some of the songs are a tad bland but not because they're "jangly guitar rockpop". It's because there aren't many shifts in the music and they tend to drone a bit. But frankly the best song on the album is hands-down Dixie Drug Store and not one of you has been impressed by it at all. It's not exactly a masterpiece of guitar rock, but it's an excellently sung story song with a catchy piano-based rhythym. Indeed, it can't really be called "jangly guitar rockpop" because there's very little guitar in it.

I guess this is why there's no real agreement on a top 10 on this site, let alone a top 100 - everyone hears something different when they listen to music 🤣

Re: February SRE Week 1

GARY — Sun, 5 Feb 2012 10:45:56 GMT

Author: GARY

Posted: 02/05/2012 15:45

gussteivi wrote:

My Internet went down, so until that changes I'm not able to participate in
(or watch any porn 🙁 🙁 🙁 )

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Re: February SRE Week 1

gussteivi — Sun, 5 Feb 2012 10:19:29 GMT

Author: gussteivi

Posted: 02/05/2012 15:19

My Internet went down, so until that changes I'm not able to participate in the SRE any more 🙁
(or watch any porn 🙁 🙁 🙁 )

Re: February SRE Week 1

19loveless91 — Sat, 4 Feb 2012 12:39:40 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 02/04/2012 17:39

My favourite Aquemini song was Da Art of Storytellin' (part 1)
So I gave it a 100... Haven't heard other 4 albums, and I'm really not in the mood to go listen to any of them (or Aquemini), so... 😐
Yeah, a useless post, I know. Sorry

Re: February SRE Week 1

Hayden — Sat, 4 Feb 2012 12:15:42 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 02/04/2012 17:15

Jhereko wrote:

100 for: Spottieottiedopalicious (one of the best songs of the 90's. So fairly disappointed at the rating it's received so far 🙁 )

Yeah 🙁 I have no clue why it's always ignored. Great song. Probably Outkast's second best, next to B.O.B.

Has anyone ever noticed how little credit Outkast actually gets? 🤔 With their credentials & likeability, they really should be considered one of the best groups ever.

Re: February SRE Week 1

junodog4 — Sat, 4 Feb 2012 12:14:07 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 02/04/2012 17:14

Jhereko wrote:

haha sorry, I wanted to listen to all 5 before rating them.

So in the order I listend to them in

FUZZY by Grant Lee Buffalo
The type of jangly guitar rockpop that I find bland and don't typically respond to very well. I thought it was... pleasant enough.

75-80 for: The Shining Hour, Jupiter and Teardrop, Stars 'n' Stripes
55-70 for everything else.

QUALITY CONTROL by Jurrasic 5
Easily my favourite new discovery opf the group. I don't know why it's taken me so long to listen to a J5 album but I'm glad I finally have. funky, pumping production and great lyrics (like my favourite rap group De La Soul they seem to perpetually have smirks on their faces) great record.

85-95 for: Influence, Great Expectations, W.O.E. is Me, Monkey Bars, Improvise, Swing Set
75-85 for: everything else

CENTURY CHILD by Nightwish
Similar to what gussteivi said above, I've heard Nightwish songs and even an album before that I've liked and enjoyed but there was just nothing on this that I remotely engaged with and it was all just a lot of mehness. Even the epic ender didn't grab me (and I love epic endings!)

60-65 for: Bless This Child, Ocean Soul
50-60 for everything else

POSTCARDS FROM A YOUNG MAN by Manic Street Preachers
My biggest obstacle with MSP has always been James Bradfield's vocals, I just find them indescribably grating. I liked one of their albums before but unfortunately this will sit with the rest that I've heard. Apparently this was supposed to be their "get our music on the radio" album but to me it just sounds like a whole bunch of unbearably bad and cheesy charity singles.

70-80 for: It's Not War Just The End Of Love, A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun, All We Make Is Entertainment, The Future Has Been Here Forever
45-60 for everything else

AQUEMINI by Outkast *re-listen*
Okay so the one I entered. Of course I love it, I love it as much as the first time I heard it. It's a big sexy mothership coming down to cuddle us (awww yea). The production on this albuim is so sleek and chill and basically to die for. Andre and Big Boi are at their best here and I don't think they've been as good since (still waiting on that next lp guys!)

100 for: Spottieottiedopalicious (one of the best songs of the 90's. So fairly disappointed at the rating it's received so far 🙁 )
90-95 for: Return Of The 'G', Rosa Parks, Aquemini, Synthesizer, Liberation, Chonkyfire
80-85 for everything else

Glad you liked J5...

I just finished listening to Grant Lee Buffalo - you echoed my thoughts exactly. Nice enough, but nothing really stood out for me. I'll give 'er another try, but I feel like something's missing, or I'm missing something.

I thought MSP were trying something new on this one - is it just me, or do they sound different? A little more upbeat, a little more driven, almost arena-rock? It's nice to see them try something new, but I`m not sure I`m sold on it.

I`m going to give Grant Lee Buffalo and MSP another listen. Sorry, but Nightwish isn`t my taste.

Re: February SRE Week 1

Fergenaprido — Sat, 4 Feb 2012 12:11:36 GMT

Author: Fergenaprido

Posted: 02/04/2012 17:11

I just moved this week into a student dorm without internet, so I apologize if I haven't been keeping up to date with this.

I just finished Aquemini. It was... okay. Overall, I'd give it a 70, which is definitely at the low end of the albums I've rated so far. I've rated the individual songs (well, on my computer, not on the site yet), 60-75, with Liberation being the highest. Wikipedia tells me that Erykah Badu and Cee-Lo guest on that track, which is a plus for me. I also just found out that Cee-Lo Green = Gnarls Barkley... nearly blew my mind, but of course it makes perfect sense in retrospect. Strange how someone can be working steadily in the business for over a decade before they're all of a sudden considered the "best new thing".

That being said, I think I prefer OutKast's newer stuff, so I'll have to have a proper listen to Speakerboxx & Stankonia soon.

I've got Postcards loaded up in my browser for when I leave the internet cafe, so I'll probably listen to that album tomorrow. If I can find them, I'm going to try and load the Jurassic 5 songs as well, as I think that's the next album I'd enjoy.

I don't know if I'll get a chance to get to the internet tomorrow, so I might not post the next week's thread until Monday morning, but you can still see the list in the original thread. 😄

Glad to see this taking off, and thank you all for sharing your thoughts on these albums!

Re: February SRE Week 1

Anonymous — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:59:28 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 02/03/2012 21:59

haha sorry, I wanted to listen to all 5 before rating them.

So in the order I listend to them in

FUZZY by Grant Lee Buffalo
The type of jangly guitar rockpop that I find bland and don't typically respond to very well. I thought it was... pleasant enough.

75-80 for: The Shining Hour, Jupiter and Teardrop, Stars 'n' Stripes
55-70 for everything else.

QUALITY CONTROL by Jurrasic 5
Easily my favourite new discovery opf the group. I don't know why it's taken me so long to listen to a J5 album but I'm glad I finally have. funky, pumping production and great lyrics (like my favourite rap group De La Soul they seem to perpetually have smirks on their faces) great record.

85-95 for: Influence, Great Expectations, W.O.E. is Me, Monkey Bars, Improvise, Swing Set
75-85 for: everything else

CENTURY CHILD by Nightwish
Similar to what gussteivi said above, I've heard Nightwish songs and even an album before that I've liked and enjoyed but there was just nothing on this that I remotely engaged with and it was all just a lot of mehness. Even the epic ender didn't grab me (and I love epic endings!)

60-65 for: Bless This Child, Ocean Soul
50-60 for everything else

POSTCARDS FROM A YOUNG MAN by Manic Street Preachers
My biggest obstacle with MSP has always been James Bradfield's vocals, I just find them indescribably grating. I liked one of their albums before but unfortunately this will sit with the rest that I've heard. Apparently this was supposed to be their "get our music on the radio" album but to me it just sounds like a whole bunch of unbearably bad and cheesy charity singles.

70-80 for: It's Not War Just The End Of Love, A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun, All We Make Is Entertainment, The Future Has Been Here Forever
45-60 for everything else

AQUEMINI by Outkast *re-listen*
Okay so the one I entered. Of course I love it, I love it as much as the first time I heard it. It's a big sexy mothership coming down to cuddle us (awww yea). The production on this albuim is so sleek and chill and basically to die for. Andre and Big Boi are at their best here and I don't think they've been as good since (still waiting on that next lp guys!)

100 for: Spottieottiedopalicious (one of the best songs of the 90's. So fairly disappointed at the rating it's received so far 🙁 )
90-95 for: Return Of The 'G', Rosa Parks, Aquemini, Synthesizer, Liberation, Chonkyfire
80-85 for everything else

Re: February SRE Week 1

gussteivi — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:56:55 GMT

Author: gussteivi

Posted: 02/03/2012 21:56

junodog4 wrote:

gussteivi wrote:

I have now listened through the entire album "Century Child", by Nightwish, and all I can say is... never again.
Maybe it's good for the genre (progressive goth/opera metal?), but I simply cannot bring myself to listen to it again.
I have actually listened to some songs by Nightwish that i sort of liked, but on this album I found none.

Btw, am I the only one doing this?
I'd expect someone like Jhereko to take part, since he was defending The SRE so valiantly the other day :wink:

I've been doing it...

I already know Aquemini and Quality Control - I've rated them with stars on their page.

Listening to Husker Du further... will rate shortly.

Oh, ok...

And I just saw that Jhereko rated the Nightwish album. Sorry Jhereko 🫢

Re: February SRE Week 1

gussteivi — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:45:05 GMT

Author: gussteivi

Posted: 02/03/2012 21:45

gussteivi wrote:

If you're having problems listening to the albums, I can recommend either Spotify, or, if you don't have that: Grooveshark. http://grooveshark.com/ Grooveshark is for completely free and you don't have to register or anything if you don't want to. And I believe most of the albums in the extravaganza are available. The only downside is that there might be a few tracks missing and/or duplicate tracks. Still, it beats the crap out of youtube.

Re: February SRE Week 1

junodog4 — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:44:45 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 02/03/2012 21:44

gussteivi wrote:

I've been doing it...

I already know Aquemini and Quality Control - I've rated them with stars on their page.

Listening to Husker Du further... will rate shortly.

Re: February SRE Week 1

gussteivi — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:28:47 GMT

Author: gussteivi

Posted: 02/03/2012 21:28

I have now listened through the entire album "Century Child", by Nightwish, and all I can say is... never again.
Maybe it's good for the genre (progressive goth/opera metal?), but I simply cannot bring myself to listen to it again.
I have actually listened to some songs by Nightwish that i sort of liked, but on this album I found none.

Btw, am I the only one doing this?
I'd expect someone like Jhereko to take part, since he was defending The SRE so valiantly the other day 😉