Tag Archives: 3 stars

Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums

RS #480: Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

#480

Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

Release Date: 1994
Previously Owned: No First Time Listen: Yes
Raekwon -
Is Raekwon getting photobombed here?
Impressions:  The title of the album itself is a challenge: "Are you tough enough for this?"  I guess we'll see. Hmmm, kinda takes a while to get going... "Knuckleheadz," production boring, but bouncy. Not bad, but seems a bit ordinary for '90s hip hop. "Criminology" clicked a bit more from me. This album's vibe takes me back to college; living in a post-graduate haze back in the "slums" of Champaign, IL,  shooting hoop and … Continue Reading ››
Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums

RS #482: Steve Earle – Guitar Town

#482

Steve Earle, Guitar Town

Release Date: 1986
Previously Owned: No First Time Listen: Yes
Steve Earle, Guitar Town
Steve is going to go to town on that guitar.
Impressions:  Modern country isn't exactly my bag, but over the years I've grown to appreciate older country stars like Johnny Cash & Patsy Cline, and so-called alt-country artists like Uncle Tupelo, but the sheen of modern Nashville country still bores me. I guess lots of these newer country stars just seem to me like they are doing lame arena rock dressed up with a "country" packaging. Steve Earle seems … Continue Reading ››
Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums

RS #485: Pearl Jam, Vitalogy

#485

Pearl Jam, Vitalogy

Release Date: 1994
Previously Owned: No First Time Listen: No (I went to college that year, c'mon)
Impressions:  Let's start with this: I don't hate Pearl Jam, nor do I love them. For whatever reason, they generally fail to leave a mark, but let's give them a fair shake shall we? Album ON! The dry, unadorned production helps the songs like the opener "Last Exit" and the punk-tempoed "Spin The Black Circle" and the hits like "Not For You" "Nothingman," "Better Man." But these songs seem like they are aiming for classic rock radio rotation twenty years in the future: solidly played, lean … Continue Reading ››
Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums

#495: Bonnie Raitt – Give It Up

# 495

Bonnie Raitt/Give It Up

Release Date 1972
Previously Owned: No
First time listen? Yes
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt's for no man
Impressions: Having always heard Bonnie Raitt in the context of admirable but moderately boring blues/rock on WXRT, I was not really psyched for this one. But this record sort of hung in there as an admirable, nicely-performed California soft-rock/bluesy/folk/soul brew that went down pretty easily. The songs are short and had enough surprises to keep me interested (mostly in the form of fun New Orleans-flavored horns on tracks like "Give It … Continue Reading ››