Listed below are the overall rankings for the best albums in history as determined by their aggregate positions in over 59,000 different greatest album charts on BestEverAlbums.com! (Chart last updated: 2 hours ago).
"The production is definitely the strong point of the album, reminds of his earlier work but still far from conventional hip-hop. In contrast to his most acclaimed album up to that date (that would be Labor Days), where he produced only 4 tracks, here he is in full charge, which definitely helps t...""The production is definitely the strong point of the album, reminds of his earlier work but still far from conventional hip-hop. In contrast to his most acclaimed album up to that date (that would be Labor Days), where he produced only 4 tracks, here he is in full charge, which definitely helps the cohesion of the album. Considering he followed the same route for his next album, being again the producer, we can safely assume he was also happy with the outcome. One could argue that it hurts variety, but I don’t think that’s the case here, there are songs like Ruby ‘81 which signify a welcome change of pace. Moreover, as his name already suggests, rock music has been an influence (“Led Zep staring daggers down page mill”), something that is apparent on songs like 1,000 O'Clock, Grace, or Saturn Missiles, which help spice things up.
Despite running so smooth, I have to point out that you can tell it's 17 tracks, especially after repeated listenings. On the other hand, there is no track I would consider skippable or too long, so I can’t quite put my finger on what bothers me. 55 minutes isn't that long for a hip hop album anyway. Also, not sure how I'm feeling about the female vocals in Crows 1 , in theory you'd expect them to fit the overall sound and spirit of the album like a glove, but I can't say they do it for me. However she delivers one of the most memorable quotes “And they call to let you know your friend is dead in a box The crows have the tools to get the meat out of the box”. In Tetra it’s even worse, they are distracting and sound somewhat out of context. Finishing with the downsides, I’ m not a fan of the outro of Cycles to Gehenna, without it I would consider this a candidate for best song of the album.
Being a producer also helps when it comes to rapping. His delivery is neither spectacular nor below par, it’s dictated mainly by the beat, which is no easy task when you have to fit so many words, but it works just fine.
The lyrics are what I like to call "randomly sophisticated", at times leaning more towards randomness and at times towards sophistication. Even when the former is the case, it still works. It can be because it helps approach some deeper themes in a lighter way, for example in Fryerstarter spirituality and donuts go together ( “Picture if you will a witching hour on a weak night in the trenches Where paranoia dead-ends in a bright florescent heaven With sprinkles, I know right yum”) or in “Racing Stripes”, where there’s more to a visit to the barber shop than having your hair cut (“Crudely, some say to praise the lord I say you wanna feel saved baby shape the orb And I will see you all in Helven Read he fled a panic room pissed”). After all, some silliness balances out the overall dark tone. Or it simply provides some great storytelling (for example in Grace, who can’t relate to being forced to vegetables as a child) or contribute to some funny wordplay (see the second verse of Homemade mummy), that along with the production and the delivery save the day.
Best song: I would go with Zero Dark Thirty and Racing Stripes would be a close second. Other highlights include the first verse of Fryerstarter, the third verse of Leistureforce (“Grace of a misled teen who prefers his scenes with a little Wilhelm scream”), the wordplay – or dare I say letterplay – in ZZ Top and the outro of Gopher Guts, no matter if I’m prepared, I never see it coming.
Favorite line: “The scarf thank Mom's new hobby, kssssht! Copy”
All in all, an album that can be appreciated and enjoyed by pretty much anyone no matter your general attitude towards hip-hop."[+]Reply
"I'm a big fan of her old man's work and this album proves the apple doesn't fall far from the tree It's only her 3rd album but what an accomplished piece of art 'IRM' (A french derivation for MRI Brain Scanner) is with wonderful tracks from top to bottom There's the slow groove of "Master's Hand"...""I'm a big fan of her old man's work and this album proves the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
It's only her 3rd album but what an accomplished piece of art 'IRM' (A french derivation for MRI Brain Scanner) is with wonderful tracks from top to bottom
There's the slow groove of "Master's Hand" , the techno feel of title track "IRM" and "Greenwich Mean Time" , the sexy all french "Le Chat du Cafe" and "La Collectionneuse", the Beatle-esque "In The End" , the pop sensibilities of "Heaven Can Wait" , "Me And Jane Doe" and "Time Of The Assassins" have an Indy feel to them , the lush strings of "Vanities" , "Trick Pony" is sensual to a tee and "Dandelion" could have been Marc Bolan.
One of the previous poster's states this is the greatest record ever , I wouldn't go that far but I do simply adore this album , it's an under appreciated masterpiece "[+]Reply
""For Certain Because" marked the beginning of probably the most creative period in the career of the Hollies. It was also the album that introduced Tonys Hicks' banjo which is very prominent on the big single hit "Stop Stop Stop". "Butterfly" is often regarded the strongest album by the Hollies. ..."""For Certain Because" marked the beginning of probably the most creative period in the career of the Hollies. It was also the album that introduced Tonys Hicks' banjo which is very prominent on the big single hit "Stop Stop Stop".
"Butterfly" is often regarded the strongest album by the Hollies. Released in 1967 it was to be last to feature high-pitch vocalist Graham Nash, who left in late 1968 to join David Crosby and Steve Stills. Sadly the Hollies were never quite the same after his departure - they did record some fine album later, but some of the magic somehow had gone.
With the "For Certain Because" (1966) the Holles had begun to write all their material for their albums, and the this continued on the following two albums "Evolution" and "Butterfly". All 3 album contains some of the finest songwriting the Hollies ever did. Their playing and singing is impeccable like on most of their recordings - some might say that their lyrics at times tend to be a little too naive or silly.
"Butterfly" is their most adventurous album and the closest the Hollies ever came to psychedelia. Apart from "Dear Eloise" which was released as a single in some countries it is very much an "album" - not just a collection of songs built up around 3 or 4 hit singles.
It seems the Nash was the dominating force at this point, taking the lead vocal on more songs than usual lead-singer Clarke. Nash abilities as lead-singer are obvíous here, but it's usually a pleasure to listen to all singer, not least when they change lead-vocals or join in on harmonies.
It's hard to bring forward particular tracks, because all are great. Tony Hicks cute "Pegasus" was always a favourite, but the songs like "Try it", "Would You Believe" and "Dear Eloise" with Allan Clarke up-front are all classic Hollies. Nash's laid back-songs like "Wish You a Wish" are "Postcard" are close to the sound of Simon & Garfunkel. On the instrumental side, there is a lot experimenting with various instruments like citar, different keyboards and several tracks feature string-arrangements.
The Hollies actually recorded at least an album's worth of material before Nash finally left. With strong material like "Wings", "Open Up Your Eyes" , "Tomorrow When it Comes", "Man With No Expression", "Do the Best You" and the two fine singles "Listen to Me" and Jennifer Eccles" another fine Hollies album (with Nash) could have been made; insted they gave us the deeply disappointing "Hollies Sing Dylan" "Butterfly" is probably their finest moment.
Here we have as bonus-tracks most of these potential final-album songs. The Nash version of "Blowing in the Wind" was another possible inclusion. A song called "Ashes to Ashes" is also said to have been recorded.
https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDhollies.html"[+]Reply