Dangerous is a maximalist album, sprawling in length and eclectic to the point of incoherence. I would describe the production style as throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Much of it does, with notable exceptions including the gauzy schmaltz of tracks like Heal The World and the hollow, almost painfully hard drums on several songs. Overall, it's considered a new jack swing album, which is fine with me; I think that's a cool sound. The songwriting is generally middling, so the record leans heavily on its strengths: Jackson's vocals and the good parts of the production. Those strengths do a solid job at carrying this, and are enough to make roughly half the album very good. My scoring system is generous by design when it comes to long, ambitious, indulgent projects, so that's my grade for Dangerous as a whole. 3.5/5.
3. Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf
6. Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) - Eagles
9. Come On Over - Shania Twain
15. Falling Into You - Celine Dion
16. Hotel California - Eagles
20. The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
21. Let’s Talk About Love - Celine Dion
31. Supernatural - Santana
34. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
35. Music Box - Mariah Carey _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
To start, this is a great live album. Bill Withers is incredible. But there's something lacking live that I can't seem to put my finger on. The live ensemble was great, with highlights from the string section and the percussionists James Gadson & Bobbye Hall (who Withers points out as a "lady drummer" in an interlude). I think the mastering was a little off, slightly favoring crowd noise more than it should have. But that could just be that I listened to an oddly (re)mastered version of this album. Withers talks a lot between songs, and he can be quite funny. He's a great speaker; some musicians are completely awkward between songs (e.g. Wilco, my last reviewed live album). Overall, album was good but a bit long and it started to get stale towards the end. However, the highlight was the "Harlem" portion of the encore medley.
2)
@baystateofheart: I think this idea is fantastic. There's lots in the most purchased albums of all time that I haven't ever listened to. I might recommend adding soundtracks into the mix however. There are 7 soundtracks out of the ~80 albums, less than the amount of greatest hits/compilation albums which you seem to be including. Out of those 7 soundtracks, I'd argue only 2 actually need the accompaniment of the film, one of which is debatable. Titanic seems to be the score (plus the Celine Dion song) which would be a bit out of place without watching the movie as well. Grease is better when watching the movie, but I'd definitely say it's solid on its own. The others are all films whose soundtracks are more famous/better than the movies they came from.
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Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf
Soundtracks or not though, I gotta go with this, one of my all time favorite albums. I love Bruce Springsteen, and some see Bat Out of Hell as either a Springsteen parody or taking Bruce's concepts and just dialing it up to the max. It's cheesy, it's corny, but it's also incredibly funny, touching, and musically impressive. It's also an incredible lineup of musicians: Todd Rundgren on guitar, Edgar Winter on sax, New York Philharmonic for backing strings, and two E Street Band members (Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg) also feature. Not to mention legendary New York Yankee player and commentator Phil Rizzuto providing the baseball play-by-play metaphor in "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". As I said, it's cheesy, so it won't be for everyone. But everything just works for me. Hope you enjoy.
3) RYM Top albums (including live, but not archival)
- Silent Hill 2 by Akira Yamaoka (soundtrack) *last chance
- Rétrospective Vol. 1 & 2 by Magma (live)
- Live by Magma (live)
- Strangers in the Night by UFO (live)
- Minecraft: Volume Alpha by C418 (soundtrack)
- Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie by Magma (live)
- MTV Unplugged by Alice in Chains (live)
- Live at Stubb's, 7/2000 by Ween (live)
- Alive in Athens by Iced Earth (live)
- "Choral Symphony" [Beethoven's Symphony No. 9] by Orchestra and Chorus of the 1951 Bayreuth Festival, William Furtwängler (cond.) with soloists Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Höngen, Hans Hopf, Otto Edelmann (classical) _________________ 51 Washington, D.C. albums!
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
This was quite the eclectic album. Lots of sounds marrying together. I think I'm too old for it though... dunno. It just passed me by and nothing really stuck even if it was solid.
2. let's do alice in chains
3. eyezayzay top 100
17. Dive by Tycho
21. Tetsuo & Youth by Lupe Fiasco
34. Rodeo by Travis Scott
41. My Woman by Angel Olsen (I guess I forgot to rate it)
45. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon
49. And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out by Yo La Tengo
61. Cupid Deluxe by Blood Orange
62. Trapsoul by Bryson Tiller
63. Brand New Eyes by Paramore
64. I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside by Earl Sweatshirt
A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals by Sweet Trip
I love Velocity Design Comfort but never bothered to dive deeper into Sweet Trip's discography, so this is only 2nd album I'm listening to. And I have to say, seeing the reviews I thought it would be much better than it is. It's lauded as a holy trinity of Sweet Trip albums, but in reality it doesn't even touch the highs of their most acclaimed release. I guess the thing I love the most about Sweet Trip is the combination of shoegaze, electronic, ambient and glitch. The dream pop parts are usually a lull, which I don't mind when the rest of the album is bombastic and great. However when you make a full album of psychedelic dream pop lull without all of the elements that made VDC work, you get a disappointment. At least to me personally. Still a very good album, don't get me wrong, but it's not one of the year's best. 7.5/10
(2)
You should probably rate My Woman otherwise you'll have to listen to it again 😁
I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside is one of several incredible Earl albums, try it.
(3)
Frankensteined lists
Lawrence - The Absence of Blight
Sadaf - History of Heat
Ataraxie - Slow Transcending Agony
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup - Mean Ol' Frisco
Can - Tago Mago (RL)
Shape of Dispair - Angels of Distress
2Pac - Me Against The World
Joe Henderson - Mode For Joe
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
Dean Blunt - Black Metal 2 _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals by Sweet Trip
I love Velocity Design Comfort but never bothered to dive deeper into Sweet Trip's discography, so this is only 2nd album I'm listening to. And I have to say, seeing the reviews I thought it would be much better than it is. It's lauded as a holy trinity of Sweet Trip albums, but in reality it doesn't even touch the highs of their most acclaimed release. I guess the thing I love the most about Sweet Trip is the combination of shoegaze, electronic, ambient and glitch. The dream pop parts are usually a lull, which I don't mind when the rest of the album is bombastic and great. However when you make a full album of psychedelic dream pop lull without all of the elements that made VDC work, you get a disappointment. At least to me personally. Still a very good album, don't get me wrong, but it's not one of the year's best. 7.5/10
I can see why you'd be disappointed if you were expecting another Velocity Design Comfort. You Will Never Know Why is very different, and this is more or less a midpoint between the two sounds. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
I can see why you'd be disappointed if you were expecting another Velocity Design Comfort. You Will Never Know Why is very different, and this is more or less a midpoint between the two sounds.
I think that's exactly what happened. Although I've noticed that in general a dream pop album has to be very specific or combined with other genres for me to like it. It's not that I dislike the genre, far from it, but I won't like everything you throw at me. Excited to hear You Will Never Know Why too. _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
Cheesiness typically doesn't work for me musically, which is why I had avoided this until now. Heavily overlapping with that disposition, I usually dislike show tunes and rock operas. So I was pleasantly surprised when I really enjoyed the leadoff title track, which I'd say is the song on the album with the heaviest Springsteen similarities, particularly to Born To Run. Unfortunately, it all unravels from there. As a whole, it's sappy, it's cheesy (more Velveeta than brie), and it's persistently horny in a very unappealing way. While some are tolerable, I'm not a fan of any song after the opener, but the nadir of the album has to be Paradise By The Dashboard Light. It's all the worst excesses of Bat Out Of Hell combined, and the addition of Phil Rizzuto makes it worse. Also, there doesn't seem to have a coherent or compelling plot tying these songs together, which is unfortunately pretty common when it comes to rock operas. Overall, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman gave us some good music, some okay music, and some bad music on this record. It all averages out to an okay album that's slightly worse than the sum of its parts and won't be sticking around in my music library. A bit confusing that it's the third most popular album ever, but then again I don't like #2 either. 2.5/5.
6. Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) - Eagles
9. Come On Over - Shania Twain
15. Falling Into You - Celine Dion
16. Hotel California - Eagles
20. The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
21. Let’s Talk About Love - Celine Dion
31. Supernatural - Santana
34. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
35. Music Box - Mariah Carey
36. Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
MTV Unplugged by Alice In Chains
Not much to say about this, never been a fan of Alice in Chains, and this didn't do much to sway my opinion. I will say they're great musicians, grunge as a genre just never really appealed to me much, and they're not exactly the best grunge band out there. MTV Unplugged was an interesting series, some of those concerts were quite good.
2)
Ooh gotta go with Shania Twain
3)
New List!
Not messing around with RYM any more, gonna try for a new list.
NPR: The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women:
28. Nina Simone Sings the Blues by Nina Simone (can't believe I haven't heard this one yet)
33. All Hail the Queen by Queen Latifah
40. It's a Mighty World by Odetta
42. Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook by Ella Fitzgerald (I think I've listened to almost all her other songbooks...)
44. Dreamboat Annie by Heart
46. Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris
47. Son Con Guaguancó by Celia Cruz
48. Etta James Rocks the House by Etta James
49. Pirates by Rickie Lee Jones
51. Sassy Swings Again by Sarah Vaughan _________________ 51 Washington, D.C. albums!
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
A bit of an up and down album but with some nice highs spread evenly throughout. Starting with the only song I've heard before from this album , the opening title track, my favourite from the album. Unsurprisingly it was the more psychedelic, almost shoegazey, jams that were the highs for me. While not every song worked I'm always comfortable with dirty alternative rock and garage rock so this was a cool, solid, feel at home listen. 7.5/10, and #51 in my top 100 of 2010.
I haven't heard a Rickie Lee Jones album before. Let's go with Pirates.
Top 66 Music Albums of 2010 by RoundTheBend (last pick)
3. Go by Jónsi
9. Omni by Minus The Bear
11. Phosphene Dream by The Black Angels
12. Pickin' Up The Pieces by Fitz And The Tantrums
14. Distant Relatives by Nas & Damian Marley
17. Astro Coast by Surfer Blood
19. How I Got Over by The Roots
22. Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. I: Songs For A Sailor by The Smashing Pumpkins
23. Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. II: The Solstice Bare by The Smashing Pumpkins
25. Option Paralysis by The Dillinger Escape Plan
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
The best-selling country album of all time (unless you count Eagles as country) and the best-selling solo album by a woman of all time. Now that I've heard it, it makes sense why both are true. This is very accessible in every way, from the lyrical content (well-worn topics, everywoman turns of phrase, and just the right amount of edge for mass appeal), to the instrumentals, to the blend of musical styles. You'll find up-tempo hits and adult contemporary ballads side by side. The breadth of its appeal leaves the record feeling a bit middle-of-the-road, but that's no reason to ignore what's good about Come On Over. Foremost, Shania Twain's vocals are great and carry the album. While there are plenty of cheesy moments, there are also a bunch of good songs, especially the mid-tempo country pop ones with lyrics about love and relationships. The songwriting is inconsistent, but on first listen there are enough positives for me to judge this as pretty good. 3/5.
6. Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) - Eagles
15. Falling Into You - Celine Dion
16. Hotel California - Eagles
20. The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
21. Let’s Talk About Love - Celine Dion
31. Supernatural - Santana
34. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
35. Music Box - Mariah Carey
36. Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park
37. The Eminem Show - Eminem _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
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RoundTheBend
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