Keep an open mind .... keep an open mind. It's "R&B" again. It's getting to the point that I know exactly what I am going to get when kicking off an album labelled R&B. Plenty of R, absolutely no B. In fact, I am not even sure why they call this R&B unless the acronym implies something other than rhythm and blues. Anyway, for the genre it isn't bad - samples galore, lots of hip hop and rappers erm... rapping. Blige's voice is pretty sweet, but the music is the same as every other bloody R&B record I have listened to, is obssessed with love, self, love of self, and quite frankly, boring. Presumably it'll be over soon, although as I type this, a nice little guitar solo in "Seven Days" catches my attention, bright spot in an otherwise dark hour.
Standout Tracks: Round and Round, Seven Days
I'm not going to be able to listen to this in its entirety - the only album Google Play has is a "greatest hits" sort of affair, 1972-1979, but I can get most of the tunes that were on this LP off that album. Jangly guitars and harmonised vocals abound, more reminiscent of 1960s pop fare than 1970s stuff. I have managed to listen to most of the tracks, and they are all 60s pop, not much in the way of variety from track to track, so I don't think I need the whole thing to get the idea. It's fairly pleasant stuff, just a little uninteresting and dull.
Standout Tracks: Meh
I wish, I truly do, that I hadn't made a promise to myself to listen to each of these albums in their entirety. This is utter, utter tripe. I can put up with most types of music, but this schmoozing, falsetto laced, symphonic rubbish is really poisoning my ears. How anyone can listen to this and enjoy it is quite beyond me. Personal taste, I know, but honestly. The only tracks I didn't hate are listed in the standouts, they had a decent disco vibe to them, and aren't in truth bad efforts when stacked up next to the rest of the album. There's a decent bit of slap bass in the final track, but nowhere near enough to redeem this drivel, thank heavens this is nearly over.
Standout Tracks: Welcome to the club, Freak-N-Stein
80s pop, but I will admit to rather enjoying this album. A Scottish band, they follow the footsteps of Simple Minds and the like with that 1980s vibe, but not quite so ... massive. The songs are very well crafted, melancholy in places, and very uplifting in others. In contrast to a lot of synthesiser based 1980s stuff, it sounds genuine and real. Enjoyable album, but not one that I would go back to in a great hurry, as there are plenty of bands out there that did this sort of thing (the one The Blue Nile remind me of the most is Deacon Blue, and I certainly had enough of that in my teenage years!). Overall though, good effort, and a good listen.
Standout Tracks: Easter Parade
Admittedly not one I have been looking forward to, but here goes. A friend and I once went to a festival where Blur were playing on the mainstage, so we turned up to watch, stayed as long as we could stand it. Almost an entire song! Went off and watched Hundred Reasons instead. I am going to have to grudgingly admit that this album is really very good - highly inventive, musically diverse and interesting. Albarn's irritating Essex boy thing is still as grating as ever, but I'm willing to forgive that in favour of the music. Perhaps I am in a more mature place now than 20 years ago (like to think so!) and able to appreciate the album for what it is - a pleasant journey through 1990s southern Britain. Certain tunes are reminiscent of British psychedelia (Kevin Ayers, early Floyd for example), such as Magic America. All in all, enjoyable, 20 years on.
Standout Tracks: End of the Century, Parklife, To the End,
