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DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
4th July 2024 (fuck it hasn't been 24 hours since my last thread)

Parannoul - After the Magic
Shoegaze, South Korean, 2023


I've been quite a big fan of shoegaze despite barely listening to any of it. Yet, this artist has found itself on my radar, through a random youtube recommendation.

I liked this album compared to Parannoul's previous album (which I have not covered in this thread but I will one day). While their previous album felt like more straightforward shoegaze, this album really feels like Parannoul is coming into their own, with a sound that is not shoegaze, but Parannoul. A lot of this was to do with the more expansive range of instrumentation, and the songs which felt more fresh and creative. Outside of the 3rd song 도착 (Arrival) which sounded a bit awkward there wasn't any real lul in the album, which is something I can't say about their previous album.

I listened to Parannoul's previous album, To See the Next Part of the Dream, a lot while I was in Korea, during the winter. I remember taking long walks through the cold streets and parks, watching people walk by and live their lives, while bathing in the sounds of the music. I think it defined a lot of my experience while I was there, and the reason I bring this up is that this album also touches me in a similar way, and brings back the memories and feelings of those walks.

Adding to this, I found myself connecting to some of the lyrics, especially the during the explosion in Parade at 25:52, because that's literally just me walking around Korea lol. I think that this album is really cool in the way it's something in the present that feels so relevant to me personally, something I don't think I could've had with this album had it come out at a different time or I had listened to it sometime in the future. The introspection about growing up, especially as someone who is not a kid anymore but an adult, is something that I've experienced (and I'm guessing not just me lol), which I found is beautifully expressed in this album.

Though I will say I didn't pay too much attention to the lyrics, I had my eyes closed while listening to a lot of this, and I barely ever take much stock of lyrics when I listen to music anyway. Also the whole thing about dreams and stuff I didn't really care about. Also they mentioned "tunnels" several times, dunno what that's about, but I kinda wanted to mention it.

(Note from the future: The rating was changed to an 8/10 but the rhetoric behind the rating still stands because the 9/10 rating was kinda shifted to 8/10)

Overall I think I'll put this as a 9/10. I feel like according to my rating scale this should be 10/10 because it's technically one of my top 10 favourite albums I've rated so far, but I do know at least one album which is a 10/10 for me, and I think that and this are on different levels for me. Who knows, maybe the nostalgia plus a future perspective bumps this up to a 10/10 later, or maybe it gets bumped down to 8/10 because I find albums that I like even more.

9/10

(Note from the future: I listened to it a bit more and it's really grown on me, it's now a 10/10)

This is a very unsmooth transition but I also want to reflect a bit about the process of writing this entry. I feel like I wrote a lot because I had quite a lot to say, and if I'm going to be doing this every day I don't really want to be writing essays for every album I listen to. Maybe this is actually pretty brief for an album review type of thing, idk. I also know that it's pretty common to rate and talk about individual songs, but I'm probably not gonna bother going that far unless I want to point out particular songs for whatever reason, like how I pointed out 도착 (Arrival) was my least favourite. However, maybe I'll make an effort to point out my favourite song/s. For this album I wasn't really thinking about what my favourite song was, so I can't say it with conviction. However, I'd say it was Parade, but it's 100% gonna change once I listen to these songs more and get a real feel for them.
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 11 times in total.
MangaGrumpy
351 posts
Joined May 2022
MangaGrumpy
Lol imagine your first review being 0/10

I put in Radiohead-Ok Computer
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

MaxIsABigKaiju wrote:

Lol imagine your first review being 0/10

I put in Radiohead-Ok Computer
I'll need to have a reaction so bad that I get hospitalised for me to put something as 0/10 lol
Karmine
983 posts
Joined November 2015
Karmine
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Winnyace
761 posts
Joined June 2016
Winnyace
To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
lostsilver
3,748 posts
Joined November 2022
lostsilver
do american idiot - green day and one-x - three days grace, please!
if you don't do both, then just to american idiot - green day <33
IAMACROBA
342 posts
Joined January 2023
IAMACROBA
honestly, I want to know your opinion on

Small Steps, Heavy Hooves by Dear and the Headlights
Yoisaki Kanade
92 posts
Joined October 2020
Yoisaki Kanade
Moff-p - High Collar Record
Corne2Plum3
Global Moderator
1,847 posts
Joined November 2019
Corne2Plum3
Camellia UUFO
Polyspora
473 posts
Joined September 2019
Polyspora
Patatitta
1,324 posts
Joined February 2020
Patatitta
I hope you can keep this thread alive
Kobold84
Global Moderator
1,398 posts
Joined September 2013
Kobold84
MALIKLIYA - 誄:Condolence
anaxii
15,086 posts
Joined December 2022
anaxii
This thread will probably die, but here's my album

After Hours by The Weeknd
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
5th July 2024

Radiohead - OK Computer
Alt-Rock, British, 1997


(This is just the first track, I don't want to link non-official uploads here. This is the link to the playlist I listened to.)

I've never really listened to Radiohead, but I've always thought that I would really like them if I ever did. And uh yeah this album was fucking incredible holy shit.

I feel like it's pretty rare for me to come across an album where each track doesn't blend together into one amorphous blob with maybe a few standouts, while also having all the tracks mesh with each other into a holistic experience, but this was one of these albums. Somehow every track felt new and fresh and distinct, while still feeling "connected" with each other (there's a better word, but I can't think of it), and part of the same wider experience. One thing that probably helped with this was the fact that I looked up the lyrics for each track and read along, which probably made me more focussed.

In fact, it's crazy how fresh an album from 1997 sounds. The sounds and melodies Radiohead are able to create are just feel timeless. One thing that does feel dated are the lyrics for some of the songs, and I feel like this created a really cool effect of transporting the listener to that time and making it feel modern.

Again, there wasn't really a dull moment (outside of maybe Electioneering, wasn't the biggest fan of that song). I usually find that when I listen to an album I'll lose focus while doing so, and maybe go on reddit or something, and suddenly I've passed a portion of a song which I didn't pay attention to. But this album was kind of the opposite, the longer I listened to it the more enthralled I was. In fact, after the latter end of Climbing Up the Walls, I felt this emotion, which lasted throughout the rest of the album. You know, the emotion that you feel just as an emotion, even though you can't really name what it is. Maybe this was a feeling of catharsis? Idk, but it was an emotional experience.

My favourite tracks were probably Paranoid Android and No Surprises. No Surprises was the one Radiohead songs I knew of before listening to this album, and that probably helped me in liking the song more. I'm not sure if this is what other people experience, but I find that often I have to listen to something multiple times to really come to like it or feel a strong way about it, and because of this I'm not even sure if I should be rating the new albums I listen to without listening to the songs more than once because it might not be representative of how I feel about the songs in the future. But I like rating things so imma keep going.

I also wanted to point out the track Fitter Happier. I don't think you can call this track a song, at least not in a conventional sense. It's definitely not something you'd listen to outside of this album. However, in this album, it fits perfectly. Smack bang in the middle to maybe grab your attention if you've been lulling off, with it carrying the emotions and ideas of the album. The way it's not really a song but just a robot voice talking over a backing track is a perfect way to portray the feeling of an emotionless society while still keeping all the emotions of the album. I love stuff like this, it really feels like something that helps take an album from just a collection of songs to a holistic piece of art.

So yeah expect more Radiohead albums here in the future. Thanks for the recommendation, I'm a fan.

9/10
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 9 times in total.
[ Rynn ]
216 posts
Joined November 2020
[ Rynn ]
5 star by stray kids
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
6th July 2024

wowaka - Unhappy Refrain
J-Rock, Vocaloid, Japanese, 2011


(Don't think wowaka ever officially released all these songs on youtube, so this is an unofficial upload)

OMG HATSUNE MIKU OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay now that I have your attention we can talk about this amazing album.

This is the first album here where it's not my first time listening. I'm pretty sure I was made aware of this album through some random online comment which mentioned this together with Mikgazer, which piqued my interest. Unlike the other albums I've talked about, I've actually had the chance to become familiar with this one. However, the first time I listened to this was pretty recently, so I can still talk about the first impressions that I remember.

I think the thing that struck me most about this album is how it immediately felt like a "classic" of sorts. Like a sort of precursor, or something that is the foundation of everything else. I'm not sure how true this is because I'm not that knowledgeable, but what I can say was that that is the overwhelming impression this album gives.

First thing, it was crazy how many songs I recognised from osu. And I realised that most of the songs I recognised from osu were slightly different versions. Assuming that this album is entirely original, it means that wowaka has actually unknowingly defined a lot of my osu experience, indirectly through different versions of these songs, whether by wowaka themselves or covers from other artists. I don't think any ordinary artist could have this type of subtle, outstretched reach.

Another thing was that this really feels like the raw version of the super high-energy, layered, riff-heavy, chaotic j-rock that we hear a lot today. You can hear the rawness leaking out of the timbre of the sounds. Compared to more modern songs, it's unabashedly tinny (not sure how much this is because of the second-hand uploader) and electronically generated, down to the vocaloid singer, yet it uses these qualities to pack a punch more sharp and intense than lots of actually recorded stuff.

The best modern example of this type of music I can think of is Zutomayo, who is is the exact same subgenre of j-rock wowaka is in. Not sure if wowaka was the first to do this, or popularised this or whatever, but this really feels like a precursor to a lot of modern j-rock.

Yet through everything, the osu music, the j-rock precursor, and even through Hatsune Miku, this album manages to fully stand on it's own. Not as anything I just mentioned, but as Unhappy refrain by wowaka. I don't see these songs as just osu songs or miku songs any more, they've gone beyond that and turned into wowaka songs.

Top to bottom this album doesn't really lull (except maybe a tiny bit from tracks 10-12). Many of the songs are so high energy that you feel dizzy from headbanging, and the lower energy songs feel perfect to just sit back and take a break while soaking in the sounds.

My favourites are probably Nichijou to chikyuu no gakubuchi, Toosenbo and Ura-omote lovers, three headbangers of the highest degree. My least favourite was probably Prism cube, the last track, because it didn't feel that special with the usual chaos of wowaka toned down. However, I still liked it and it's amazing as a closer to the album, like this is the most anime ed sounding song I've ever heard.

All in all, this album is an incredible experience.

9/10



Rest in peace wowaka.
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 6 times in total.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
hi marco
- Marco -
7,600 posts
Joined December 2011
- Marco -

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

6th July 2024

wowaka - Unhappy refrain
J-Rock, Vocaloid, Japanese


(Don't think wowaka ever officially released all these songs on youtube, so this is an unofficial upload)

OMG HATSUNE MIKU OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU MIKU


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay now that I have your attention we can talk about this amazing album.

This is the first album here where it's not my first time listening. I'm pretty sure I was made aware of this album through some random online comment which mentioned this together with Mikgazer, which piqued my interest. Unlike the other albums I've talked about, I've actually had the chance to become familiar with this one. However, the first time I listened to this was pretty recently, so I can still talk about the first impressions that I remember.

I think the thing that struck me most about this album is how it immediately felt like a "classic" of sorts. Like a sort of precursor, or something that is the foundation of everything else. I'm not sure how true this is because I'm not that knowledgeable, but what I can say was that that is the overwhelming impression this album gives.

First thing, it was crazy how many songs I recognised from osu. And I realised that most of the songs I recognised from osu were slightly different versions. Assuming that this album is entirely original, it means that wowaka has actually unknowingly defined a lot of my osu experience, indirectly through different versions of these songs, whether by wowaka themselves or covers from other artists. I don't think any ordinary artist could have this type of subtle, outstretched reach.

Another thing was that this really feels like the raw version of the super high-energy, layered, riff-heavy, chaotic j-rock that we hear a lot today. You can hear the rawness leaking out of the timbre of the sounds. Compared to more modern songs, it's unabashedly tinny (not sure how much this is because of the second-hand uploader) and electronically generated, down to the vocaloid singer, yet it uses these qualities to pack a punch more sharp and intense than lots of actually recorded stuff.

The best modern example of this type of music I can think of is Zutomayo, who is is the exact same subgenre of j-rock wowaka is in. Not sure if wowaka was the first to do this, or popularised this or whatever, but this really feels like a precursor to a lot of modern j-rock.

Yet through everything, the osu music, the j-rock precursor, and even through Hatsune Miku, this album manages to fully stand on it's own. Not as anything I just mentioned, but as Unhappy refrain by wowaka. I don't see these songs as just osu songs or miku songs any more, they've gone beyond that and turned into wowaka songs.

Top to bottom this album doesn't really lull (I'm pretty sure I've said this like 3 times now, maybe I'll just stop mentioning this). Many of the songs are so high energy that you feel dizzy from headbanging, and the lower energy songs feel perfect to just sit back and take a break while soaking in the sounds.

My favourites are probably Nichijou to chikyuu no gakubuchi, Toosenbo and Ura-omote lovers, three headbangers of the highest degree. My least favourite was probably Prism cube, the last track, because it didn't feel that special with the usual chaos of wowaka toned down. However, I still liked it and it's amazing as a closer to the album, like this is the most anime ed sounding song I've ever heard.

All in all, this album is an incredible experience.

9/10



Rest in peace wowaka.
WOWAKA 😭😭😭 O7
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
What do you guys think is the best way to categorise these albums into genres? Should I just give each album 1 or 2 main genres/categories as I've been doing now, or should I copy the genres/styles off of a website? I'm generally not too well versed in genres. I also feel like I could give Unhappy Refrain a more specific genre than J-Rock, but idk what.

Edit: I've thought about it and I think I'm just going to keep going off of what I feel.
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 4 times in total.
Patatitta
1,324 posts
Joined February 2020
Patatitta

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

What do you guys think is the best way to categorise these albums into genres? Should I just give each album 1 or 2 main genres/categories as I've been doing now, or should I copy the genres/styles off of a website? I'm generally not too well versed in genres. I also feel like I could give Unhappy Refrain a more specific genre than J-Rock, but idk what.

Edit: I've thought about it and I think I'm just going to keep going off of what I feel.
just copy whatever appears on wikipedia or whatever IMO

also hyper omega specific subgenres suck ass
Last edited by Patatitta , edited 1 time in total.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Patatitta wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

What do you guys think is the best way to categorise these albums into genres? Should I just give each album 1 or 2 main genres/categories as I've been doing now, or should I copy the genres/styles off of a website? I'm generally not too well versed in genres. I also feel like I could give Unhappy Refrain a more specific genre than J-Rock, but idk what.

Edit: I've thought about it and I think I'm just going to keep going off of what I feel.
just copy whatever appears on wikipedia or whatever IMO

also hyper omega specific subgenres suck ass
The thing is every site has a different list of genres, and some of them will have a gazillion of them. Allmusic.com says Parannoul - After the Magic is "Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, Shoegaze, Dream Pop, Emo, Noise Pop, Post-Rock, Indie Electronic" for it's "styles" and "pop/rock" for it's "genre". I have no idea what half of these are, and when I look the genre up and listen to some music the genres sometimes feel very tenuous. I think I'll just say that After the Magic is shoegaze and leave it at that.
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 1 time in total.
Patatitta
1,324 posts
Joined February 2020
Patatitta

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Patatitta wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

What do you guys think is the best way to categorise these albums into genres? Should I just give each album 1 or 2 main genres/categories as I've been doing now, or should I copy the genres/styles off of a website? I'm generally not too well versed in genres. I also feel like I could give Unhappy Refrain a more specific genre than J-Rock, but idk what.

Edit: I've thought about it and I think I'm just going to keep going off of what I feel.
just copy whatever appears on wikipedia or whatever IMO

also hyper omega specific subgenres suck ass
The thing is every site has a different list of genres, and some of them will have a gazillion of them. Allmusic.com says Parannoul - After the Magic is "Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, Shoegaze, Dream Pop, Emo, Noise Pop, Post-Rock, Indie Electronic" for it's "styles" and "pop/rock" for it's "genre". I have no idea what half of these are, and when I look the genre up and listen to some music the genres sometimes feel very tenuous. I think I'll just say that After the Magic is shoegaze and leave it at that.
that is why I said hyper specific genres suck ass LMAO
lostsilver
3,748 posts
Joined November 2022
lostsilver
i shall wait patiently for mine to be rated
Joon Yorigami
1,009 posts
Joined September 2020
Joon Yorigami

what about my AOTY (for now)
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Joon Yorigami wrote:


what about my AOTY (for now)
ok I'll listen to it in like 24 days
Kolon Dee
172 posts
Joined August 2021
Kolon Dee
digilogue

digilogue (i think its better to listen to it on spotify)
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Before I get into my thoughts on todays album, after some thinking I've decided to change my personal rating scale to better reflect how I want to rate these albums. Here it is:

10 - Top 10 favourite albums
9 - One of my favourites, I want to listen to it again and again
8 - It was cool and I liked the whole album but not as much as a 9/10
7 - It was cool, but I didn't like it as much as an 8/10
6 - Between a 7 and an 5 lol
5 - It was ok, I kinda enjoyed it sometimes maybe
4 - It left no impression, I was uninterested
3 - It left a slightly sour taste in my mouth
2 - I have a straight up negative impression of this
1 - Top 5 least favourite albums

This scale focusses more on how much I enjoyed/liked an album, and is mostly relational in nature, with me comparing albums in higher and lower tiers to see where I think an album fits for me. Maybe for this style of rating there's too much possible ratings and I should have a more concise rating scale, but I want to keep it as 1-10 because it's very common to rate things out of 10, it'll be more consistent with other things I've rated, and 10 is a really satisfying round number.

Also, because I don't have much albums right now to compare new albums I listen to with, I will definitely be shuffling around the album ratings in the future as I get a better sense of what each rating number is to me.

7th July 2024

Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Trip-Hop, British, 1998


(This is just the first track, this is the playlist I listened to)

This is the first album since I started this thing that I went into completely blind. I literally didn't know if the artist's name was "Mezzanine" or "Massive Attack" before I looked it up.

This is also the first album that I would say doesn't exactly match my music taste. Not really sure how to explain my taste in music, but this style of music isn't really it.

Nevertheless, this album was pretty cool. It really felt like a way of exploring all these different sounds to create this guttural, hypnotic atmosphere. Although I had no idea what "Trip-Hop" was before listening to this, the atmosphere and sounds of this album really reminded me of trance music, and I felt a similar way listening to this album as when I listen to trance music.

The first few track of this album had me absolutely captivated, especially with the bass and percussion in Angel, and the beauty of Teardrop, my favourite track. It was fascinating to hear the angelic vocals contrasting with the darker sounds of the instrumentals, coming together in an absolutely mesmerising mesh of sounds.

Speaking of the vocals, I liked the vocals in general. There were a ton of different vocalists, like 5 or 6 maybe, and each one brought something new to the table with their own style. I didn't really care for the lyrics though, even though I was following along with the lyrics for each song.

I found myself losing interest in the album during the latter half though, I think the atmosphere and vibe kind of wore off for me after like 30 minutes. I still enjoyed my time with the entire album though.

In the end though, I don't really think this music is something I'd revisit or particularly want to listen to in the future. Who knows, maybe my tastes will change.

8/10

(might be downgraded to 7 in the future)

(Note from the future: It's a 6 now lmao, I haven't changed my opinion on it though, it just ended up getting shifted down a lot.)
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 5 times in total.
Ashton
2,009 posts
Joined February 2016
Ashton
Company (2018 London Cast Recording) by Stephen Sondheim
Karmine
983 posts
Joined November 2015
Karmine
Mezzanine isn't my favourite album from Massive Attack but it's the most well known.
Kinda sad you didn't like it too much but hey at least you didn't hate it. :D

Anyway here's a new album if you ever get through all the other suggestions: Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
DeletedUser_2024727
DeletedUser_2024727
there's a man that live next door
eeeeeee my neighbor
eeeeeee my neighbor
Karmine
983 posts
Joined November 2015
Karmine

xch00F wrote:

there's a man that live next door
eeeeeee my neighbor
eeeeeee my neighbor
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Karmine wrote:

xch00F wrote:

there's a man that live next door
eeeeeee my neighbor
eeeeeee my neighbor
huh
MangaGrumpy
351 posts
Joined May 2022
MangaGrumpy
Gorillaz- Gorillaz
ClevelandsMyBro
864 posts
Joined April 2018
ClevelandsMyBro
SECONDWALL - Beautiful Lie

ill post more idk this is probably not gonna get picked up
Corne2Plum3
Global Moderator
1,847 posts
Joined November 2019
Corne2Plum3
bump
Patatitta
1,324 posts
Joined February 2020
Patatitta

Corne2Plum3 wrote:

bump
it's been 19 hours, also, like my thread, they will bump naturally as they write their next review, no need to bump
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Patatitta wrote:

Corne2Plum3 wrote:

bump
it's been 19 hours, also, like my thread, they will bump naturally as they write their next review, no need to bump
nah i procrastinated too much today lol
ClevelandsMyBro
864 posts
Joined April 2018
ClevelandsMyBro

Patatitta wrote:

Corne2Plum3 wrote:

bump
it's been 19 hours, also, like my thread, they will bump naturally as they write their next review, no need to bump
its been 19 hours because i posted
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
8th July 2024 (actually 9th now oops)

Lamp - ゆめ (Yume)
Shibuya-Kei, Japanese, 2014


(Link to the rest of the album)

If you read my review of Parannoul - After the Rain, you'd remember that I was hesitant to give it a 9/10 because there was an album that was a 10/10 which was on a different level for me. This is that album.

(Note from the future: 2 albums before this was upgraded to 10/10)

Just give me one minute of your time. One minute. Turn up the volume as loud as you can without it being uncomfortable (be careful of loud sound jumpscare if you turn it up too high before the music starts), and listen to the first minute of the first song, the one above.

If that isn't the most orgasmic one minute of music ever then idk what is. And yeah that's how this album starts.

If you had asked me at any point in the past few years what my favourite album was, I would've said it was this. And even though I haven't listened to it in a while, after listening to it again today, yeah it's still my favourite album. Like if someone else made this thread looking for album recommendations, this is the album I would've sent first.

I honestly don't have too many words that I want to say to describe this album. One thing I noticed listening to it today was how throughout the album Lamp tries to change things up. First was their song structures. None of them felt like the common song structures we are used to today, most of the songs felt like they were constantly doing new things as the song went on, and even if the song were to go back to something it did previously it would put a fresh new spin on it. In this way, none of the songs got boring midway through. Either the whole song was interesting or the whole song was boring (none of the songs were boring). Another thing that they changed up a lot was the instrumentation. Every song had different instrumentation from the last, and pretty much all of them would blast you with a unique flavour of instruments immediately so your interest is immediately piqued.

Speaking of instrumentation, the ways the instruments played over each other all doing their own thing kinda reminded me of wowaka. There was that same, full feeling in the sound with everything going on at once. A good example of this was the third song ため息の行方. In the middle there's this instrumental section which mostly utilised physical classical instruments (strings, brass, woodwind, percussion instead of electronic sounds). There's like 15 different instruments, no two of them playing the same line, all flitting in and out all over the place. I also really liked how different instruments sounded like they were playing in different places (like how you can get sounds of your left/right headphone to make it sound like it's coming from a specific direction). It was really nice to help distinguish all different things happening, although I'm guessing this was probably just because of how the musicians were seated while recording this.

Ok I want to try and be negative about my favourite album now. Uhh I guess if I listen to too much Lamp everything gets kinda boring and samey? I mean there's 0 artists that I know of that could buck this trend, and the only album to buck this trend for me that I can think of was OK Computer. So yeah actually this isn't that negative when you compare it to how much more pronounced it was with Mezzanine for example. Uhhh I guess the names of all the songs being Japanese is kinda annoying because it makes it harder to distinuguish them? Uhhh my left earbud kept cutting out if I moved too much which was annoying. Oh I know, I guess the tracks maybe did feel a bit more randomly created and placed compared to other albums I've listened to in this thread? But then if you listen to other Lamp albums, you'll each album actually has their own unique carefully curated vibe to it. God I love Lamp.

What was the vibe of this album? It felt like it had a bossa nova influence. It kinda was like the vibe of a really chill cafe, but like really intense lmao.

Uhhh my favourite song, idk probably the first one? And my least favourite? None of them, I liked all of them. With other albums I can pick out favourites and least favourites, but with this I honestly can't.

Whenever I'm feeling down, I know this album is there for me to make me feel like the world is a good place.

Looks like I did have a lot of words to say. Goated album.

10/10

I really hope that I can find more 10/10 albums on this level, but I'm afraid that it might take a while. Right now, I can literally only think of one other album that I've listened to before which is also maybe a 10/10, although I'm not as sure it will be as this one was. Outside of that, the only album I've listened to in this thread that maybe has a chance is OK Computer, I really need to give the songs there another go.

(Note from the future: I lowered my standards slightly so now I have a bunch of 10/10s)

I hope the album cover is ok for OT lol.
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 4 times in total.
Achromalia
364 posts
Joined November 2016
Achromalia

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

8th July 2024 (actually 9th now oops)

Lamp - ゆめ (Yume)
Shibuya-Kei, Japanese, 2014


(Link to the rest of the album)

10/10
If you read my review of Parannoul - After the Rain, you'd remember that I was hesitant to give it a 9/10 because there was an album that was a 10/10 which was on a different level for me. This is that album.

Just give me one minute of your time. One minute. Turn up the volume as loud as you can without it being uncomfortable (be careful of loud sound jumpscare if you turn it up too high before the music starts), and listen to the first minute of the first song, the one above.

If that isn't the most orgasmic one minute of music ever then idk what is. And yeah that's how this album starts.

If you had asked me at any point in the past few years what my favourite album was, I would've said it was this. And even though I haven't listened to it in a while, after listening to it again today, yeah it's still my favourite album. Like if someone else made this thread looking for album recommendations, this is the album I would've sent first.

I honestly don't have too many words that I want to say to describe this album. One thing I noticed listening to it today was how throughout the album Lamp tries to change things up. First was their song structures. None of them felt like the common song structures we are used to today, most of the songs felt like they were constantly doing new things as the song went on, and even if the song were to go back to something it did previously it would put a fresh new spin on it. In this way, none of the songs got boring midway through. Either the whole song was interesting or the whole song was boring (none of the songs were boring). Another thing that they changed up a lot was the instrumentation. Every song had different instrumentation from the last, and pretty much all of them would blast you with a unique flavour of instruments immediately so your interest is immediately piqued.

Speaking of instrumentation, the ways the instruments played over each other all doing their own thing kinda reminded me of wowaka. There was that same, full feeling in the sound with everything going on at once. A good example of this was the third song ため息の行方. In the middle there's this instrumental section which mostly utilised physical classical instruments (strings, brass, woodwind, percussion instead of electronic sounds). There's like 15 different instruments, no two of them playing the same line, all flitting in and out all over the place. I also really liked how different instruments sounded like they were playing in different places (like how you can get sounds of your left/right headphone to make it sound like it's coming from a specific direction). It was really nice to help distinguish all different things happening, although I'm guessing this was probably just because of how the musicians were seated while recording this.

Ok I want to try and be negative about my favourite album now. Uhh I guess if I listen to too much Lamp everything gets kinda boring and samey? I mean there's 0 artists that I know of that could buck this trend, and the only album to buck this trend for me that I can think of was OK Computer. So yeah actually this isn't that negative when you compare it to how much more pronounced it was with Mezzanine for example. Uhhh I guess the names of all the songs being Japanese is kinda annoying because it makes it harder to distinuguish them? Uhhh my left earbud kept cutting out if I moved too much which was annoying. Oh I know, I guess the tracks maybe did feel a bit more randomly created and placed compared to other albums I've listened to in this thread? But then if you listen to other Lamp albums, you'll each album actually has their own unique carefully curated vibe to it. God I love Lamp.

What was the vibe of this album? It felt like it had a bossa nova influence. It kinda was like the vibe of a really chill cafe, but like really intense lmao.

Uhhh my favourite song, idk probably the first one? And my least favourite? None of them, I liked all of them. With other albums I can pick out favourites and least favourites, but with this I honestly can't.

Whenever I'm feeling down, I know this album is there for me to make me feel like the world is a good place.

Looks like I did have a lot of words to say. Goated album.

10/10

I really hope that I can find more 10/10 albums on this level, but I'm afraid that it might take a while. Right now, I can literally only think of one other album that I've listened to before which is also maybe a 10/10, although I'm not as sure it will be as this one was. Outside of that, the only album I've listened to in this thread that maybe has a chance is OK Computer, I really need to give the songs there another go.

I hope the album cover is ok for OT lol.
i feel like i could've grown up with this song. its emotive/sentimental qualities for me feel kind of like my experience with this one group i've known called "the carpenters" but it has a little more texture and it has a different kind of... something like a more savory flavor

this is like an extremely cozy childhood i almost actually could've had, give or take a different place and town to have very distinct summers in very specific kinds of moderately-sized immigrant market stores, with specific ornaments and industrial fans and lighting, settled in pulsing oppressive breathless heat

but at the same time it's a cool fan-cradled master bedroom of parents i haven't had, as they play this exact first song on a moderately-aged stereo system manufactured during the early 1990s, carpeted floor with a rug, lounging and rolling in a bed as fictional parents prepare in the background for an event they'll be taking me on a trip to

i'm not reviewing the album for now, but for me, the song itself is something like...

˚✩₊✻° ( 8.39 / 10.00 ) °✻₊✩˚
Last edited by Achromalia , edited 7 times in total.
DeletedUser_2024727
DeletedUser_2024727
recommending one of these (all of these are personal 10/10s):
william basinski - melancholia
xanopticon - liminal space
autechre - confield

the first one is very tangibly sad but beautiful loop based ambient music
the second and third are both experimental electronic albums from artists considered "pioneers" in breakcore and idm respectively. liminal space is more about sheer ferocity and the absolute mangling of drum loops, confield is more about sound design and atmosphere. if you pick one of these recs I'd go for melancholia first, much easier listen. the other two are definitely worth checking out tho, for anyone who's into rhythm games really. they're kinda like the "endgame of rhythms" for electronic music that has never had to make concessions for rhythm games.


DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

What do you guys think is the best way to categorise these albums into genres? Should I just give each album 1 or 2 main genres/categories as I've been doing now, or should I copy the genres/styles off of a website? I'm generally not too well versed in genres. I also feel like I could give Unhappy Refrain a more specific genre than J-Rock, but idk what.

Edit: I've thought about it and I think I'm just going to keep going off of what I feel.
honestly nowadays if I need to use genre labels with a high level of specificity I'll just pull the genres off of the album's rateyourmusic page if it has one lol. genres are basically a hierarchical category system so as long as you stay up near the more generalized ones like rock, rap, country, etc it'll never be contentious, and genre arguments are so old hat at this point. hearing more and more music and engaging in discourse about it will naturally enlighten you to what the more granular genres labels sound like.

that said, if you see anyone using "electronica" you should bully them.
Last edited by DeletedUser_2024727 , edited 1 time in total.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
9th July 2024

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Rap, American, 2015


(Link to the rest of the album)

Rap has never really been my thing. As a genre of music, it kind of stands opposite to the things I enjoy about music, I feel. I like interesting sounds, I like strong melodies, I like things that make me feel certain ways, and rap doesn't really do any of this.

It's not that I dislike rap, it's just never been my thing. It's never really given me what I want out of music.

And this album was no different. I didn't really find any of the music particularly interesting, yeah it was cool but nothing particularly grabbed me and made me go whoa (outside of Wesley's Theory, that song was actually pretty epic now that I listen to it again).

However, what I was really enjoyed were reading the lyrics. What I've done with every English album so far was to look up the lyrics on Genius, and read along to them with the vocals. Doing that really enhanced the experience of this album, as I'm usually really bad at distinguishing what people are saying when there are other sounds happening.

I think it was around the song Institutionalised when I had an epiphany. What if I changed my perspective. Instead of listening to this as music, how about listening to this as poetry, musical poetry. Instead of listening to the sounds, I would listen in and take in the words, with the sounds adding to the experience. It was then when it felt like something really clicked.

Never thought I would do this for an album but spoiler warning I guess
As a work of art, out of all the albums I've listened to in this thread, To Pimp a Butterfly is probably the best. I've never seen a narrative done like this in a regular album. It felt like I wasn't listening to music but experiencing a straight up musical, with Lamar, his 46 different voices, and all the other vocalists as actors up on stage.

With the poem to Tupac as the framing device, each song detailing Lamar's thoughts and experiences, the negativity, the evil, and even the good. All leading up to the final track Mortal Man, where we learn of why Lamar wrote this album. To share his wisdom from his experiences and to send a message. Through tackling the social issues of the African American community, combing through and exploring each one, he ultimately says that everyone should be together to face greater injustices.

But even more, this felt like an extremely introspective, self reflective work about Lamar himself. Not only did this album feel like it was written to say what Lamar wanted to say, but to also deal with his own feelings and doubts, and to explore who he is as a person and what was his purpose. We see that the reason for the messages he tells the black youth listening is because he feels like he has a responsibility to do so as the next one up.

This is not something I come across often, but when someone's own life is expressed as well as this, it is one of the most incredible things.

Compared all of this, me not liking rap really feels like a really insignificant thing.

Yet sadly the music is the thing that holds the album back for me. As incredible as it was, I don't really want to listen to it again, and so it can't be a 9. It does feel a bit wrong to rate this album in this way, when I feel like it was trying to do something else.

7/10

(Note from the future: I like rap now so it's a 9/10)

(Also this album is downgrading Mezzanine to a 7 rip)
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 6 times in total.
Patatitta
1,324 posts
Joined February 2020
Patatitta
btw I may steal your total counter for my thread
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Patatitta wrote:

btw I may steal your total counter for my thread
I already stole your tier list so go ahead
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
I talked to my friend about rap and he told me about the realisation that in rap the rhythms and flow are analogous to melodies and harmonies, so I'm interested in listening to rap in this way to see what it's like
Winnyace
761 posts
Joined June 2016
Winnyace

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

9th July 2024

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Hip-Hop, Rap, American, 2015


(Link to the rest of the album)

Rap has never really been my thing. As a genre of music, it kind of stands opposite to the things I enjoy about music, I feel. I like interesting sounds, I like strong melodies, I like things that make me feel certain ways, and rap doesn't really do any of this.

It's not that I dislike rap, it's just never been my thing. It's never really given me what I want out of music.

And this album was no different. I didn't really find any of the music particularly interesting, yeah it was cool but nothing particularly grabbed me and made me go whoa (outside of Wesley's Theory, that song was actually pretty epic now that I listen to it again).

However, what I was really enjoyed were reading the lyrics. What I've done with every English album so far was to look up the lyrics on Genius, and read along to them with the vocals. Doing that really enhanced the experience of this album, as I'm usually really bad at distinguishing what people are saying when there are other sounds happening.

I think it was around the song Institutionalised when I had an epiphany. What if I changed my perspective. Instead of listening to this as music, how about listening to this as poetry, musical poetry. Instead of listening to the sounds, I would listen in and take in the words, with the sounds adding to the experience. It was then when it felt like something really clicked.

Never thought I would do this for an album but spoiler warning I guess
As a work of literary art, out of all the albums I've listened to in this thread, To Pimp a Butterfly is probably the best. I've never seen a narrative done like this in a regular album. It felt like I wasn't listening to music but experiencing a straight up musical, with Lamar, his 46 different voices, and all the other vocalists as actors up on stage.

With the poem to Tupac as the framing device, each song detailing Lamar's thoughts and experiences, the negativity, the evil, and even the good. All leading up to the final track Mortal Man, where we learn of why Lamar wrote this album. To share his wisdom from his experiences and to send a message. Through tackling the social issues of the African American community, combing through and exploring each one, he ultimately says that everyone should be together to face greater injustices.

But even more, this felt like an extremely introspective, self reflective work about Lamar himself. Not only did this album feel like it was written to say what Lamar wanted to say, but to also deal with his own feelings and doubts, and to explore who he is as a person and what was his purpose. We see that the reason for the messages he tells the black youth listening is because he feels like he has a responsibility to do so as the next one up.

This is not something I come across often, but when someone's own life is expressed as well as this, it is one of the most incredible things.

Compared all of this, me not liking rap really feels like a really insignificant thing.

Yet sadly the music is the thing that holds the album back for me. As incredible as it was, I don't really want to listen to it again, and so it can't be a 9. It does feel a bit wrong to rate this album in this way, when I feel like it was trying to do something else.

8/10

(Also this album is downgrading Mezzanine to a 7 rip)
I'm glad you liked it as much as you did! I do enjoy it myself too, though since I'm not a black person, I can't relate to it as hard as someone who is. Either way, it is fantastically written IMO.

I wanna see what you think of Melt Your Eyez See Your Future by Denzel Curry.
Last edited by Winnyace , edited 1 time in total.
Lapizote
121 posts
Joined January 2016
Lapizote

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

9th July 2024

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Hip-Hop, Rap, American, 2015


(Link to the rest of the album)

Rap has never really been my thing. As a genre of music, it kind of stands opposite to the things I enjoy about music, I feel. I like interesting sounds, I like strong melodies, I like things that make me feel certain ways, and rap doesn't really do any of this.

It's not that I dislike rap, it's just never been my thing. It's never really given me what I want out of music.

And this album was no different. I didn't really find any of the music particularly interesting, yeah it was cool but nothing particularly grabbed me and made me go whoa (outside of Wesley's Theory, that song was actually pretty epic now that I listen to it again).

However, what I was really enjoyed were reading the lyrics. What I've done with every English album so far was to look up the lyrics on Genius, and read along to them with the vocals. Doing that really enhanced the experience of this album, as I'm usually really bad at distinguishing what people are saying when there are other sounds happening.

I think it was around the song Institutionalised when I had an epiphany. What if I changed my perspective. Instead of listening to this as music, how about listening to this as poetry, musical poetry. Instead of listening to the sounds, I would listen in and take in the words, with the sounds adding to the experience. It was then when it felt like something really clicked.

Never thought I would do this for an album but spoiler warning I guess
As a work of literary art, out of all the albums I've listened to in this thread, To Pimp a Butterfly is probably the best. I've never seen a narrative done like this in a regular album. It felt like I wasn't listening to music but experiencing a straight up musical, with Lamar, his 46 different voices, and all the other vocalists as actors up on stage.

With the poem to Tupac as the framing device, each song detailing Lamar's thoughts and experiences, the negativity, the evil, and even the good. All leading up to the final track Mortal Man, where we learn of why Lamar wrote this album. To share his wisdom from his experiences and to send a message. Through tackling the social issues of the African American community, combing through and exploring each one, he ultimately says that everyone should be together to face greater injustices.

But even more, this felt like an extremely introspective, self reflective work about Lamar himself. Not only did this album feel like it was written to say what Lamar wanted to say, but to also deal with his own feelings and doubts, and to explore who he is as a person and what was his purpose. We see that the reason for the messages he tells the black youth listening is because he feels like he has a responsibility to do so as the next one up.

This is not something I come across often, but when someone's own life is expressed as well as this, it is one of the most incredible things.

Compared all of this, me not liking rap really feels like a really insignificant thing.

Yet sadly the music is the thing that holds the album back for me. As incredible as it was, I don't really want to listen to it again, and so it can't be a 9. It does feel a bit wrong to rate this album in this way, when I feel like it was trying to do something else.

8/10

(Also this album is downgrading Mezzanine to a 7 rip)
considering your gripes about rap and hip hop, i'd like to suggest a post-Graduation Kanye album

either My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Life of Pablo, or Yeezus (the latter is cool if you like "aggressive and noisy" music)

ye also works if you want a shorter album
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Lapizote wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

9th July 2024

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Hip-Hop, Rap, American, 2015


(Link to the rest of the album)

Rap has never really been my thing. As a genre of music, it kind of stands opposite to the things I enjoy about music, I feel. I like interesting sounds, I like strong melodies, I like things that make me feel certain ways, and rap doesn't really do any of this.

It's not that I dislike rap, it's just never been my thing. It's never really given me what I want out of music.

And this album was no different. I didn't really find any of the music particularly interesting, yeah it was cool but nothing particularly grabbed me and made me go whoa (outside of Wesley's Theory, that song was actually pretty epic now that I listen to it again).

However, what I was really enjoyed were reading the lyrics. What I've done with every English album so far was to look up the lyrics on Genius, and read along to them with the vocals. Doing that really enhanced the experience of this album, as I'm usually really bad at distinguishing what people are saying when there are other sounds happening.

I think it was around the song Institutionalised when I had an epiphany. What if I changed my perspective. Instead of listening to this as music, how about listening to this as poetry, musical poetry. Instead of listening to the sounds, I would listen in and take in the words, with the sounds adding to the experience. It was then when it felt like something really clicked.

Never thought I would do this for an album but spoiler warning I guess
As a work of literary art, out of all the albums I've listened to in this thread, To Pimp a Butterfly is probably the best. I've never seen a narrative done like this in a regular album. It felt like I wasn't listening to music but experiencing a straight up musical, with Lamar, his 46 different voices, and all the other vocalists as actors up on stage.

With the poem to Tupac as the framing device, each song detailing Lamar's thoughts and experiences, the negativity, the evil, and even the good. All leading up to the final track Mortal Man, where we learn of why Lamar wrote this album. To share his wisdom from his experiences and to send a message. Through tackling the social issues of the African American community, combing through and exploring each one, he ultimately says that everyone should be together to face greater injustices.

But even more, this felt like an extremely introspective, self reflective work about Lamar himself. Not only did this album feel like it was written to say what Lamar wanted to say, but to also deal with his own feelings and doubts, and to explore who he is as a person and what was his purpose. We see that the reason for the messages he tells the black youth listening is because he feels like he has a responsibility to do so as the next one up.

This is not something I come across often, but when someone's own life is expressed as well as this, it is one of the most incredible things.

Compared all of this, me not liking rap really feels like a really insignificant thing.

Yet sadly the music is the thing that holds the album back for me. As incredible as it was, I don't really want to listen to it again, and so it can't be a 9. It does feel a bit wrong to rate this album in this way, when I feel like it was trying to do something else.

8/10

(Also this album is downgrading Mezzanine to a 7 rip)
considering your gripes about rap and hip hop, i'd like to suggest a post-Graduation Kanye album

either My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Life of Pablo, or Yeezus (the latter is cool if you like "aggressive and noisy" music)

ye also works if you want a shorter album
Ok I'll listen to the first one, unless you want me to listen to all 3
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 1 time in total.
Lapizote
121 posts
Joined January 2016
Lapizote

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Lapizote wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

9th July 2024

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Hip-Hop, Rap, American, 2015


(Link to the rest of the album)

Rap has never really been my thing. As a genre of music, it kind of stands opposite to the things I enjoy about music, I feel. I like interesting sounds, I like strong melodies, I like things that make me feel certain ways, and rap doesn't really do any of this.

It's not that I dislike rap, it's just never been my thing. It's never really given me what I want out of music.

And this album was no different. I didn't really find any of the music particularly interesting, yeah it was cool but nothing particularly grabbed me and made me go whoa (outside of Wesley's Theory, that song was actually pretty epic now that I listen to it again).

However, what I was really enjoyed were reading the lyrics. What I've done with every English album so far was to look up the lyrics on Genius, and read along to them with the vocals. Doing that really enhanced the experience of this album, as I'm usually really bad at distinguishing what people are saying when there are other sounds happening.

I think it was around the song Institutionalised when I had an epiphany. What if I changed my perspective. Instead of listening to this as music, how about listening to this as poetry, musical poetry. Instead of listening to the sounds, I would listen in and take in the words, with the sounds adding to the experience. It was then when it felt like something really clicked.

Never thought I would do this for an album but spoiler warning I guess
As a work of literary art, out of all the albums I've listened to in this thread, To Pimp a Butterfly is probably the best. I've never seen a narrative done like this in a regular album. It felt like I wasn't listening to music but experiencing a straight up musical, with Lamar, his 46 different voices, and all the other vocalists as actors up on stage.

With the poem to Tupac as the framing device, each song detailing Lamar's thoughts and experiences, the negativity, the evil, and even the good. All leading up to the final track Mortal Man, where we learn of why Lamar wrote this album. To share his wisdom from his experiences and to send a message. Through tackling the social issues of the African American community, combing through and exploring each one, he ultimately says that everyone should be together to face greater injustices.

But even more, this felt like an extremely introspective, self reflective work about Lamar himself. Not only did this album feel like it was written to say what Lamar wanted to say, but to also deal with his own feelings and doubts, and to explore who he is as a person and what was his purpose. We see that the reason for the messages he tells the black youth listening is because he feels like he has a responsibility to do so as the next one up.

This is not something I come across often, but when someone's own life is expressed as well as this, it is one of the most incredible things.

Compared all of this, me not liking rap really feels like a really insignificant thing.

Yet sadly the music is the thing that holds the album back for me. As incredible as it was, I don't really want to listen to it again, and so it can't be a 9. It does feel a bit wrong to rate this album in this way, when I feel like it was trying to do something else.

8/10

(Also this album is downgrading Mezzanine to a 7 rip)
considering your gripes about rap and hip hop, i'd like to suggest a post-Graduation Kanye album

either My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Life of Pablo, or Yeezus (the latter is cool if you like "aggressive and noisy" music)

ye also works if you want a shorter album
Ok I'll listen to the first one, unless you want me to listen to all 3
nah i dont wanna subject you to listening to all if it turns out you dont like his music

pick any
Last edited by Lapizote , edited 1 time in total.
IAMACROBA
342 posts
Joined January 2023
IAMACROBA
aough this is a such a good thread I can’t wait for the 4-6 you put on Small Steps Heavy Hooves RAAAAAAH
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

cr0w wrote:

aough this is a such a good thread I can’t wait for the 4-6 you put on Small Steps Heavy Hooves RAAAAAAH
nah 10/10 album trust
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
10th July 2024

Taylor Swift - 1989 (Deluxe)
Synth-pop, American, 2014


(Link to the rest of the album)

I feel like I've been listening to too much stuff I've actually enjoyed, I need to fill up the lower ratings of my tier list at some point.

I thought about how I should go about accomplishing this, and I thought it would be a good idea to listen to some Taylor Swift. This was for two reasons. 1: She's currently the most popular artist in the world, so I feel like I should probably give her a proper go at some point. 2: A few weeks ago I was listening to some One Direction and they were kinda going hard (I'm pretty sure I made a thread lol). But then I started to listen to a Taylor Swift playlist of her "biggest hits" or something, and I found myself not really enjoying it much and wanting to go back to 1D. So yeah I knew I probably wouldn't enjoy Taylor Swift much, so I decided to listen to her stuff.

For what album I should listen to, I went with 1989 because it was seemed like the most popular/iconic one. Reading up on the lore, apparently this album was kinda a turning point for Taylor where she was leaving her country roots and fully adopting a new synth-pop sound and vibe. This was shown with the first track, Welcome to New York, a song about this change.

I think it's important to note that this is the first album in this thread that I'm listening to coming in with a more negative perspective, while with every other album I came in expecting to enjoy it. However, I tried to keep my mind open to be pleasantly surprised.

And honestly I was. I found myself grooving along to the first few songs. Especially Style, my favourite song of the album, which had a nice synthwave aesthetic. However around halfway through the album I kinda peaced out mentally and couldn't be bothered to lock back in, so it just became pleasant background sounds to exist to while I was rocking my chair back and forth. I honestly can't say much about the latter half of the album because I wasn't really paying attention (although the chorus of New Romantics did get me grooving again).

One thing that stood out for me was the simplicity of the songs of this album. Each song had a fairly simple and straightforward backing track with straightforward chord progressions. Every song also had the same song structure of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus with maybe a few other sections thrown in between, but overall sticking to this structure. All the tracks were around the same length as well. I don't think this simplicity was a bad thing, it certainly made everything easy and digestible to listen to, but I felt like it didn't really add anything either because nothing really interesting was going on.

Another thing that felt pretty simple/straightforward were the lyrics which I didn't really care for this time around. Maybe this was because I was listening to this album coming off of To Pimp a Butterfly, but the lyrics felt kinda vapid and whatever. I think this also had to do with the fact I couldn't really relate to anything at all, because I'm not the target audience nor have I ever been in a relationship lmao.

Pretty much every song outside of the first one was about romance, with especially the first half being a lot about breakups. It was kinda funny to see Swift alternating between 😊😡😊😡😊 for her songs about breakups. It felt kinda like these breakup songs were undermining each other with different messages, but maybe this was a poignant example of how tumultuous and fickle feelings and perspectives about relationships can be, idk, I've never been in a relationship lmao.

Another thing was that seemingly a lot of these songs seem to be based off of specific relationships, whether hers or someone else's. I can see how Taylor Swift lore could be a pretty compelling thing to explore, figuring out which relationship each song is talking about, but I personally don't really care about Swift herself or stuff like this. I did pick up on a few songs specifically calling out "green eyes" though.

So yeah it was fun, although not really my thing. I think I might be the type of person who doesn't have any "dislikes" in music outside of stuff which is badly produced or literally made to sound unpleasant. Instead, I just have things I enjoy more and things I enjoy less. I might legitimately never rank anything below a 5 unless I try and actively look for something that makes me want to throw up.

5/10

First album to not be my album of the year rip.
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 6 times in total.
Scyla
69 posts
Joined February 2022
Scyla
omg swiftie here!
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
Scyla
69 posts
Joined February 2022
Scyla

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
yes!! You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
yes!! You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
idk what that means but yay
Scyla
69 posts
Joined February 2022
Scyla

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
yes!! You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
idk what that means but yay
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
sametdze
363 posts
Joined July 2021
sametdze
wasnt it long haired slick back white t shirt or something
Scyla
69 posts
Joined February 2022
Scyla

sametdze wrote:

wasnt it long haired slick back white t shirt or something
on the later part of the song
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
yes!! You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
idk what that means but yay
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
Omg I get it it's the lyrics to my favourite Taylor Swift song!!!! How tf did I not realise, I am an embarrassment of a Swiftie I am sorry
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 1 time in total.
Scyla
69 posts
Joined February 2022
Scyla

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
yes!! You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
idk what that means but yay
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
Omg i get it it's the lyrics to my favourite Taylor Swift song!!!! How tf did I not realise
there's 3 swifies here now, same you and me
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
yes!! You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
idk what that means but yay
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
Omg i get it it's the lyrics to my favourite Taylor Swift song!!!! How tf did I not realise
there's 3 swifies here now, same you and me
we will create an army
sametdze
363 posts
Joined July 2021
sametdze

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Scyla wrote:

omg swiftie here!
am I a swiftie now
yes!! You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
idk what that means but yay
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
Omg i get it it's the lyrics to my favourite Taylor Swift song!!!! How tf did I not realise
there's 3 swifies here now, same you and me
we will create an army
oh ok i guess im roped into this now
Dilly_P
156 posts
Joined August 2018
Dilly_P
Come through brat pfp
[ Rynn ]
216 posts
Joined November 2020
[ Rynn ]
honestly her songs are good for a once in a while listening but it gets boring when you play it often


i enjoy enchanted and cruel summer tho
sametdze
363 posts
Joined July 2021
sametdze

Dilly_P wrote:

Come through brat pfp
wasnt expecting someone to make the connection
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
11th July 2024

Green Day - American Idiot
Punk Rock, American, 2004


(Link to the rest of the album. These videos aren't official but for some reason this is the only one that has all of the tracks, in the right order, without the random extra stuff that happens in the music videos, that is also not the deluxe edition, so yeah this is somehow the best playlist for this album on Youtube I could find.)

The music wasn't fully to my taste, but I overall had a good time with the album.

On one hand a lot of the music sounded pretty similar outside of a few moments because the instrumentation/vocals pretty much always sounded the same and was utilised in the same straightforward ways, but on the other I also appreciated how at certain moments the music really captured the vibe behind the lyrics. A good example of this was the song Give Me Novacaine, where the music during the verse felt like a pleasant, drugged state while the music during the chorus felt like it was expressing the undrugged feelings that made the protagonist want to take drugs in the first place.

I say protagonist because this album has a narrative. After an opening which sets the stage for the album with the concept of the "American Idiot", we meet our protagonist "Jesus of Suburbia", a representation of the disillusioned American youth during the time the album was made. Yeah more stuff happens but I don't really feel like going through and summarising the entirety of it. I guess a spoiler warning for the story of this album because I will mention some more stuff, but honestly I don't think knowing spoilers will really change much because the story wasn't that interesting honestly.

I think the most interesting aspect of this album is it's edgy cultural criticism of America. It kinda feels like the "America bad" type of vibe you read on the internet from young people but from 2004 with the punk style of the rebellious youth back then. In this way it feels like a pretty cool time capsule of the culture back then. I also read that this album was also culturally massive, but I don't really get much from that being being too young and also not American.

However, even though this album started off as edgy and that was pretty cool, the later parts of the story mellow out and loses it's punk edge for me. Maybe that was the point of the album, at the end they do say the protagonist became the "American Idiot" they were so against at the start of the album, and maybe that's just the progression of life, but this made album a lot less interesting/entertaining for me. Overall if you look at the narrative in isolation from the music, I don't think it's very compelling or good. Or maybe I just give 0 shits about romance in music.

Funnily there's also this one song in the album Wake Me Up When September Ends which is just a random song they put into the album with 0 relevance to the rest of the album. It does fit in though, and you can interpret it as a breakup song as part of the story. But it's also maybe my favourite song?

I also really liked Boulevard of Broken Dreams, I felt like those were the two standouts musically. This probably also has to do with these two songs being the ones I was familiar with before listening to the album, but them being the two of the most popular songs is probably due to these being the most standout ones.

In the end, I do see the appeal of this album and why so many people like it, but I personally didn't like it that much.

I feel like my review/thoughts on the album this time were pretty negative, but I did still enjoy the album, just not to a massive degree, nor did it leave a strong impression.

6/10
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 5 times in total.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
69
lostsilver
3,748 posts
Joined November 2022
lostsilver
i fully understand your opinion, and im glad you kind of liked it!
i think the difference between holiday/boulevard of broken dreams is funny (the songs intertwine, which is why holiday ends so abruptly. it's supposed to fade into boulevard of broken dreams), because holiday is just like "YEAAHH LETS OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT!!! WOOHOOO" and then boulevard of broken dreams is just "aw frick, we failed. well, time to walk down a lonely street" lol

also, one more request from me!!
hello kitty scrapbook - milk in the microwave!
Aireunaeus
3,105 posts
Joined December 2021
Aireunaeus
Tf why is my song in the list lol 😭😭

Btw im suggesting u to listen to “Music has the Right to Children” by Boards of Canada
Last edited by Aireunaeus , edited 1 time in total.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

Aireunaeus wrote:

Tf why is my song in the list lol 😭😭
Wait I thought you were the one that recommended it but it wasn't you lmao
sametdze
363 posts
Joined July 2021
sametdze
review this album
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Before I spend a fuckton of time doing a writeup would you guys consider this an album



I'm pretty interested in listening to orchestral stuff but I feel like it's relevency to this album a day thing is really questionable.

First I feel like it has the spirit of an album because like an album it's a longform musical experience (or at least that's how I'm treating albums on this thread), and I feel like I can look at it the same way.

However, it's clearly not an album right? Spoiler, this is probably a 10/10 maybe a 9/10, but can I really say that Dvorak Symphony No 9 is one of my top 10 favourite albums? And that's something I really want this thread to be, that is to be a collection of albums I've listened to specifically that I can say stuff about, not just music in general.

Maybe I can pick a specific recording of this which is a literal album, but then like there's a bajillion of these and because of that I'd have to just pick one of them arbitrarily and pretend the rest aren't eligible to be rated here because I picked one of them arbitrarily.

But if I do that then yeah I am rating an album?

What do you guys think, should I cover stuff like this in this thread or stick to more conventional albums?

And on that note what do you think of stuff that isn't like a proper album but an EP? And also albums that are like compilation albums like a "greatest hits" album or something? Any other potential edge cases for this thread?

I feel like the easiest/simplest solution is to just say "no" for anything in a grey area but idk if that's the best.

Still kinda ended up writing a lot bruh

Might skip writing about an album today if we decide not to count stuff like this, because I just listened to this so I'm not really in the mood to completely switch over to something else, and it's kinda late, and I'm guessing I'm not gonna get responses in an extremely timely fashion because this is OT. Maybe I'll do 2 tomorrow to catch up.




sametdze wrote:

review this album
This album has an extremely threatening aura
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 3 times in total.
Duck o-o
1,394 posts
Joined November 2021
Duck o-o
Symphonies arent albums as they arent a collection of songs

U should still cover them tho
Better than a lot of music

Anyway i recommend dis
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Ok I made up my mind

I'll cover edge cases like this the same way I cover albums, but I'll make it clear that the thing I covered isn't an album on the original post, and so it won't go on the tier list or count towards my top 10 favourite albums or whatever
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
12th July 2024

Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World"
Symphony, Romantic, Czech, 1893


I didn't lie, this isn't an album.

I've had a mild interest in exploring classical music, mostly symphonies and concertos, because I like things that are big and complicated and epic.

I haven't listened to many symphonies, but this one has historically been my favourite. This is also like the only one I remember ever listening to, probably because I haven't really listened to others fully from start to back (while I've listened to this multiple times). The fact that this is the only symphony to have ever made an impression on me speaks a lot to how much I enjoy it.

If you've never listened to something like this before, I implore you, give this a try. Max volume, full screen, and bang you're in a concert hall. Except unlike a concert you don't have to sit there like 😐 for an entire hour, you can actually vibe along and make weird faces and stuff.

I feel like a lot of the stuff I'm gonna say is stuff that's more general to this type of music instead of specific to this piece, but whatever here are my thoughts.

What really stood out was how detailed and intentional everything felt. Every single moment of the piece, every instrumental part, the articulation, the volume, the instruments used, the tempo, the tune, every chord resolution, every fucking musical idea, literally everything at every moment felt like it was doing something very intentional and you could get something interesting out of it. And with that, it's incredible just how many different moods are created, how many different ways tension is created and released, how much is happening overall, it's like experiencing a story, but pure music. Outside of someone of the slower parts and some of the more repetitive parts this shit had me enraptured.

Another thing that stood out was how this entire thing is literally one really long song. Like yeah some of the albums I've listened to have continuity, but very rarely is that continuity musically. But here, ideas from earlier movements will pop up in later movements in interesting ways. Not only that, but movements exploring their own ideas in different ways is a massive part of each movement. I'm not sure if I talked about this before but I think a big part of the music listening experience actually comes from when you already know the music and so can really put your all into listening to it, but this symphony utilises this aspect of music to not to just enhance your experience on the second/third listen, but to play with your experience during the piece itself by playing with ideas differently. It's pretty cool.

Finishing this and listening to the applause at the end really made me feel like I'd watched an entire movie at a theatre, that's the kinda experience that listening to this symphony gives.

Because I always talk about my favourite and least favourite songs and stuff, these are the movements ordered from most to least favourite for me: 1, 4, 2, 3.

Also this specific performance of this symphony is my favourite performance, but it's not like I've really gone out of my way to listen to other performances. I think I just listened to this one first, and it's become the familiar, go to performance for me.

I think going forward this is gonna be my point of comparison to how I view longform classical music, at least until I get more used to this type of music.

10/10

Apparently writing this took 45 minutes. And because this is on the shorter side of the stuff I wrote, I feel like it's pretty fair to say it's a commitment of around 2 hours to fully listen to and album and post my thoughts on it here. Important info for when I actually get busy.
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 1 time in total.
IAMACROBA
342 posts
Joined January 2023
IAMACROBA
SOMEHOW YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE HUMAN. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

cr0w wrote:

SOMEHOW YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE HUMAN. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
What does this mean

Was I not human before
IAMACROBA
342 posts
Joined January 2023
IAMACROBA

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

cr0w wrote:

SOMEHOW YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE HUMAN. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
What does this mean

Was I not human before
nah, i view you more as an NPC, or chatgpt esque
Last edited by IAMACROBA , edited 1 time in total.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
13th July 2024

Three Days Grace - One-X
Alt-Metal, Canadian, 2006


(Link to the rest of the album)

I don't really have much to say about this album, it didn't leave much of an impression on me nor did I find it very interesting.

I find it quite strange that I'm a big fan of the more fast paced styles of metal that are popular on osu, but not stuff like this. Not too sure why, but metal in this style really doesn't do anything for me.

I feel like I can draw quite a few parallels with what I thought about the Taylor Swift album and this album, except it's metal and the lyrics are generic edgy lyrics instead of generic relationship lyrics. Lyrics really didn't do anything for me either, maybe I'm just not depressed enough to really feel this type of music.

I thought the last part of the last song was cool, it was really empowering and uplifting which was an amazing way to end such an edgy album.

I don't really have a favourite song, nor a least favourite song.

I did headbang through some of it though.

5/10
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 4 times in total.
sametdze
363 posts
Joined July 2021
sametdze
listen to the brat album pretty pleaseee (actually the album i get my avatar from)
Last edited by sametdze , edited 1 time in total.
NicNock
50 posts
Joined June 2023
NicNock
you choose

68747470733a2f2f692e6962622e636f2f6e364c597350642f4f736167652d6368616e2d727062702e706e67

you can actually do both i just wanted to put this somewhere
Last edited by NicNock , edited 3 times in total.
sametdze
363 posts
Joined July 2021
sametdze
wait wtf the black pencil song actually counts as one
Cerno
169 posts
Joined November 2019
Cerno
Em's new album is out, it's pretty good

https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/album/3kjHLu1pL7tdY88GFwEkl6?si=74TCkNTMTxeUN72ykKxKpQ
ClevelandsMyBro
864 posts
Joined April 2018
ClevelandsMyBro

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

11th July 2024

Green Day - American Idiot
Punk Rock, American, 2004


(Link to the rest of the album. These videos aren't official but for some reason this is the only one that has all of the tracks, in the right order, without the random extra stuff that happens in the music videos, that is also not the deluxe edition, so yeah this is somehow the best playlist for this album on Youtube I could find.)

The music wasn't fully to my taste, but I overall had a good time with the album.

On one hand a lot of the music sounded pretty similar outside of a few moments because the instrumentation/vocals pretty much always sounded the same and was utilised in the same straightforward ways, but on the other I also appreciated how at certain moments the music really captured the vibe behind the lyrics. A good example of this was the song Give Me Novacaine, where the music during the verse felt like a pleasant, drugged state while the music during the chorus felt like it was expressing the undrugged feelings that made the protagonist want to take drugs in the first place.

I say protagonist because this album has a narrative. After an opening which sets the stage for the album with the concept of the "American Idiot", we meet our protagonist "Jesus of Suburbia", a representation of the disillusioned American youth during the time the album was made. Yeah more stuff happens but I don't really feel like going through and summarising the entirety of it. I guess a spoiler warning for the story of this album because I will mention some more stuff, but honestly I don't think knowing spoilers will really change much because the story wasn't that interesting honestly.

I think the most interesting aspect of this album is it's edgy cultural criticism of America. It kinda feels like the "America bad" type of vibe you read on the internet from young people but from 2004 with the punk style of the rebellious youth back then. In this way it feels like a pretty cool time capsule of the culture back then. I also read that this album was also culturally massive, but I don't really get much from that being being too young and also not American.

However, even though this album started off as edgy and that was pretty cool, the later parts of the story mellow out and loses it's punk edge for me. Maybe that was the point of the album, at the end they do say the protagonist became the "American Idiot" they were so against at the start of the album, and maybe that's just the progression of life, but this made album a lot less interesting/entertaining for me. Overall if you look at the narrative in isolation from the music, I don't think it's very compelling or good. Or maybe I just give 0 shits about romance in music.

Funnily there's also this one song in the album Wake Me Up When September Ends which is just a random song they put into the album with 0 relevance to the rest of the album. It does fit in though, and you can interpret it as a breakup song as part of the story. But it's also maybe my favourite song?

I also really liked Boulevard of Broken Dreams, I felt like those were the two standouts musically. This probably also has to do with these two songs being the ones I was familiar with before listening to the album, but them being the two of the most popular songs is probably due to these being the most standout ones.

In the end, I do see the appeal of this album and why so many people like it, but I personally didn't like it that much.

I feel like my review/thoughts on the album this time were pretty negative, but I did still enjoy the album, just not to a massive degree, nor did it leave a strong impression.

6/10
giving 6/10 to green day is kinda generous lol
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

NicNock wrote:

you choose

68747470733a2f2f63646e2e646973636f72646170702e636f6d2f6174746163686d656e74732f313235393039363431393636333630393930372f313236303935363737383431343437373339322f6f736167652d6368616e5f727062702e706e673f65783d36363931333530332669733d363638666533383326686d3d3537643663303664363262666361333033653361313833666464633234303763346665326166316130623835626635393236373831386531333533616163303726

you can actually do both i just wanted to put this somewhere
I think this is broken but I'll choose the first one I guess




sametdze wrote:

wait wtf the black pencil song actually counts as one
I don't check recommendations beforehand because I want to go in spoiler free lol

3/10

congrats new record
sametdze
363 posts
Joined July 2021
sametdze
fuck yeah new record bitch try beating that
DeletedUser_2024727
DeletedUser_2024727

ClevelandsMyBro wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

11th July 2024

Green Day - American Idiot
Punk Rock, American, 2004


(Link to the rest of the album. These videos aren't official but for some reason this is the only one that has all of the tracks, in the right order, without the random extra stuff that happens in the music videos, that is also not the deluxe edition, so yeah this is somehow the best playlist for this album on Youtube I could find.)

The music wasn't fully to my taste, but I overall had a good time with the album.

On one hand a lot of the music sounded pretty similar outside of a few moments because the instrumentation/vocals pretty much always sounded the same and was utilised in the same straightforward ways, but on the other I also appreciated how at certain moments the music really captured the vibe behind the lyrics. A good example of this was the song Give Me Novacaine, where the music during the verse felt like a pleasant, drugged state while the music during the chorus felt like it was expressing the undrugged feelings that made the protagonist want to take drugs in the first place.

I say protagonist because this album has a narrative. After an opening which sets the stage for the album with the concept of the "American Idiot", we meet our protagonist "Jesus of Suburbia", a representation of the disillusioned American youth during the time the album was made. Yeah more stuff happens but I don't really feel like going through and summarising the entirety of it. I guess a spoiler warning for the story of this album because I will mention some more stuff, but honestly I don't think knowing spoilers will really change much because the story wasn't that interesting honestly.

I think the most interesting aspect of this album is it's edgy cultural criticism of America. It kinda feels like the "America bad" type of vibe you read on the internet from young people but from 2004 with the punk style of the rebellious youth back then. In this way it feels like a pretty cool time capsule of the culture back then. I also read that this album was also culturally massive, but I don't really get much from that being being too young and also not American.

However, even though this album started off as edgy and that was pretty cool, the later parts of the story mellow out and loses it's punk edge for me. Maybe that was the point of the album, at the end they do say the protagonist became the "American Idiot" they were so against at the start of the album, and maybe that's just the progression of life, but this made album a lot less interesting/entertaining for me. Overall if you look at the narrative in isolation from the music, I don't think it's very compelling or good. Or maybe I just give 0 shits about romance in music.

Funnily there's also this one song in the album Wake Me Up When September Ends which is just a random song they put into the album with 0 relevance to the rest of the album. It does fit in though, and you can interpret it as a breakup song as part of the story. But it's also maybe my favourite song?

I also really liked Boulevard of Broken Dreams, I felt like those were the two standouts musically. This probably also has to do with these two songs being the ones I was familiar with before listening to the album, but them being the two of the most popular songs is probably due to these being the most standout ones.

In the end, I do see the appeal of this album and why so many people like it, but I personally didn't like it that much.

I feel like my review/thoughts on the album this time were pretty negative, but I did still enjoy the album, just not to a massive degree, nor did it leave a strong impression.

6/10
giving 6/10 to green day is kinda generous lol
american idiot is also their best, if any album of theirs warrants a mid score it's that one
NicNock
50 posts
Joined June 2023
NicNock

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

NicNock wrote:

you choose

68747470733a2f2f63646e2e646973636f72646170702e636f6d2f6174746163686d656e74732f313235393039363431393636333630393930372f313236303935363737383431343437373339322f6f736167652d6368616e5f727062702e706e673f65783d36363931333530332669733d363638666533383326686d3d3537643663303664363262666361333033653361313833666464633234303763346665326166316130623835626635393236373831386531333533616163303726

you can actually do both i just wanted to put this somewhere
I think this is broken but I'll choose the first one I guess
crap fixed now (i'm gonna have to start changing image links)
Last edited by NicNock , edited 3 times in total.
lostsilver
3,748 posts
Joined November 2022
lostsilver

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

13th July 2024

Three Days Grace - One-X
Alt-Metal, Canadian, 2006


(Link to the rest of the album)

I don't really have much to say about this album, it didn't leave much of an impression on me nor did I find it very interesting.

I find it quite strange that I'm a big fan of the more fast paced styles of metal that are popular on osu, but not stuff like this. Not too sure why, but metal in this style really doesn't do anything for me.

I feel like I can draw quite a few parallels with what I thought about the Taylor Swift album and this album, except it's metal and the lyrics are generic edgy lyrics instead of generic relationship lyrics. Lyrics really didn't do anything for me either, maybe I'm just not depressed enough to really feel this type of music.

I thought the last part of the last song was cool, it was really empowering and uplifting which was an amazing way to end such an edgy album.

I don't really have a favourite song, nor a least favourite song.

I did headbang through some of it though.

5/10
noice

xch00F wrote:

ClevelandsMyBro wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

11th July 2024

Green Day - American Idiot
Punk Rock, American, 2004


(Link to the rest of the album. These videos aren't official but for some reason this is the only one that has all of the tracks, in the right order, without the random extra stuff that happens in the music videos, that is also not the deluxe edition, so yeah this is somehow the best playlist for this album on Youtube I could find.)

The music wasn't fully to my taste, but I overall had a good time with the album.

On one hand a lot of the music sounded pretty similar outside of a few moments because the instrumentation/vocals pretty much always sounded the same and was utilised in the same straightforward ways, but on the other I also appreciated how at certain moments the music really captured the vibe behind the lyrics. A good example of this was the song Give Me Novacaine, where the music during the verse felt like a pleasant, drugged state while the music during the chorus felt like it was expressing the undrugged feelings that made the protagonist want to take drugs in the first place.

I say protagonist because this album has a narrative. After an opening which sets the stage for the album with the concept of the "American Idiot", we meet our protagonist "Jesus of Suburbia", a representation of the disillusioned American youth during the time the album was made. Yeah more stuff happens but I don't really feel like going through and summarising the entirety of it. I guess a spoiler warning for the story of this album because I will mention some more stuff, but honestly I don't think knowing spoilers will really change much because the story wasn't that interesting honestly.

I think the most interesting aspect of this album is it's edgy cultural criticism of America. It kinda feels like the "America bad" type of vibe you read on the internet from young people but from 2004 with the punk style of the rebellious youth back then. In this way it feels like a pretty cool time capsule of the culture back then. I also read that this album was also culturally massive, but I don't really get much from that being being too young and also not American.

However, even though this album started off as edgy and that was pretty cool, the later parts of the story mellow out and loses it's punk edge for me. Maybe that was the point of the album, at the end they do say the protagonist became the "American Idiot" they were so against at the start of the album, and maybe that's just the progression of life, but this made album a lot less interesting/entertaining for me. Overall if you look at the narrative in isolation from the music, I don't think it's very compelling or good. Or maybe I just give 0 shits about romance in music.

Funnily there's also this one song in the album Wake Me Up When September Ends which is just a random song they put into the album with 0 relevance to the rest of the album. It does fit in though, and you can interpret it as a breakup song as part of the story. But it's also maybe my favourite song?

I also really liked Boulevard of Broken Dreams, I felt like those were the two standouts musically. This probably also has to do with these two songs being the ones I was familiar with before listening to the album, but them being the two of the most popular songs is probably due to these being the most standout ones.

In the end, I do see the appeal of this album and why so many people like it, but I personally didn't like it that much.

I feel like my review/thoughts on the album this time were pretty negative, but I did still enjoy the album, just not to a massive degree, nor did it leave a strong impression.

6/10
giving 6/10 to green day is kinda generous lol
american idiot is also their best, if any album of theirs warrants a mid score it's that one
i love green day, so yeahh
have your opinions though!! i dont mind what you think
because im happy bout liking them <3
Last edited by lostsilver , edited 1 time in total.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
14th July 2024

Parannoul - To See the Next Part of the Dream
Shoegaze, South Korean, 2021


Funnily enough, this is not only the first time I'm listening to an artist for the second time in this thread, but the first time I'm listening to an album which is the same genre as an album I've previously listened to in this thread.

The take from my very first review in this thread still stands, I think After The Magic is better.

Interestingly, another take which still stands is what I wrote about this album in another thread months back when I first listened to it. Here it is:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

파란노을 (Parannoul) - To See the Next Part of the Dream

8/10

Really cool shoegaze album, brings you to that place where good shoegaze brings you to. A lot of it sounds kinda samey, but it comes together very cohesively. The drum solo in Youth Rebellion is crazy. Does the funny shoegaze vocal thing where he sounds like he's singing karaoke with a bunch of effects layered on top. My favourite songs are probably Beautiful World and Analog Sentimentalism. Overall 8/10 I enjoyed gazing at my shoe
Do I need to say more?

Damn, past me was super brief with these review/thought things, I feel like every time a write something for an album I have to write an entire essay, when I could just do this lol. Do any of you guys read these, or do you just skip to the rating after giving the first song a brief listen? I'd personally just skip to the rating lmao.

I do have a few more things to add though. First, since then I've listened to this album many times, particularly during a period when I was in Korea. Interestingly, I don't think this effected my listening experience much outside of the massive blast of nostalgia that is Beautiful World, by far my favourite track on the album.

I feel another thing that contributed to past listening experiences not really effecting my listening experience much this time around was that outside of Beautiful World with its amazing guitar tone and catchy melodies, none of the songs are really that memorable. They kinda all blend together into a massive wave of loud guitar sounds.

Yet, somehow this album manages to never feel boring. Not really sure how, maybe it's more to do with the fact that I really like this style of music rather than anything the album does, idk.

Another thing I wanted to talk a bit more about were the vocals. They're probably my least favourite part of this album. Sometimes they feel jarring, especially when the instrumentals that feel so well tuned and perfectly mixed clash with the out of tune singing that you can sometimes barely make out. And a big reason I can be so harsh on the vocals here is because they're done so much better in After the Magic. I have 0 complaints about them there, while upping the production value of their albums Parannoul also upped the production value of their vocals which is very cool.

Enough hating, back to glazing. I genuinely really like this album. It's an album where you can just sit back and lose yourself in the sounds as this album takes you through a ride through it's dreamlike atmosphere. Finishing this album even felt like waking up from a dream, the silence after the album being harsh and disorientating, because of the place this album transports you to.

Also yeah the rating hasn't changed either.

8/10
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Winnyace
761 posts
Joined June 2016
Winnyace
yo, listen to Lupe Fiasco's Samurai. It's jazz hip hop.

Here's my favorite track from the album:
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Do any of you guys read these, or do you just skip to the rating after giving the first song a brief listen?
lmao 😭

This isn't gonna stop me from writing essays though
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
15th July 2024

Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
Indie Rock, American, 2007


(Link to the rest of the album)

I don't have much to say about this album, it was delightful to listen to.

One thing that really stands out is how modern this album sounds. I'm no indie rock connoisseur so maybe this style of music and these sounds dates way back, but this sounds like it was made in the last 5-10 years maybe, not 2007, it's kinda crazy. Maybe this is a testament to how Dear and the Headlights were truly onto something back in the day.

Another thing that I noticed was it felt very raw and rough around the edges. There were quite a few moments where I felt things sounded awkward, kinda like an inexperienced songwriter was being experimental, but this lended itself really well to the overall rough, "indie" vibe. And it's not like this was the entire album, they had even more pretty cool moments.

Didn't really have a favourite song nor a least favourite song or anything, maybe if I listen to the songs more I'll end up with some but idk if this is something I'll listen to often.

7/10
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 4 times in total.
Karmine
983 posts
Joined November 2015
Karmine

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Do any of you guys read these, or do you just skip to the rating after giving the first song a brief listen?
lmao 😭

This isn't gonna stop me from writing essays though
I read the ones for the albums/artists I know, which is less than half of them. :D
ClevelandsMyBro
864 posts
Joined April 2018
ClevelandsMyBro

xch00F wrote:

ClevelandsMyBro wrote:

giving 6/10 to green day is kinda generous lol
american idiot is also their best, if any album of theirs warrants a mid score it's that one
really? i like the raw-er sounds on dookie more tho but maybe thats just me
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Btw what do you guys think about OSTs? Do they count as albums? If they've been released as a disc or something, should I listen to the songs in that order? What if the OST spans multiple disks, do I do them separately or all at once? I'm asking this because OSTs, particularly video game OSTs, have been a huge part of what music I listen to, and I want to acknowledge them here. If they don't count as albums I'll probably still listen to them for this thread but not treat them as an album.

Also how have the views on this thread increased by like 100 over the past 3 hours? Are Dear and the Headlights that popular?
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 4 times in total.
Karmine
983 posts
Joined November 2015
Karmine
I assumed OSTs don't count because they aren't really albums. Also most of them are way longer than an album and sometimes include jingles that aren't really meant to be listened to.

There are some games that have albums with game music that isn't the complete OST though, like Ar Tonelico.
DM FOR MUTUAL
609 posts
Joined March 2021
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
100th post


Karmine wrote:

I assumed OSTs don't count because they aren't really albums. Also most of them are way longer than an album and sometimes include jingles that aren't really meant to be listened to.

There are some games that have albums with game music that isn't the complete OST though, like Ar Tonelico.
Would you say that an OST with a CD release counts as an album if I listen to the tracks on the CD in the order they are on the CD?

Edit: +200 views now, am I tripping? Hello who are you people?
Last edited by DM FOR MUTUAL , edited 2 times in total.
lostsilver
3,748 posts
Joined November 2022
lostsilver
hmmmm.......
maybe do metallica's self titled album?
and uhhhm.... alsoo.. paranore's riot! album
sorry if i'm bombarding you :<
Last edited by lostsilver , edited 1 time in total.
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