I’ve paid basically no attention to Nelly Furtado. I was aware of her hits – and remember the hits from this record – but was otherwise utterly uninterested. Some of that has to do with my music tastes – specially my tastes when I was 19 – and some of that appears to have to …
Tag: Pop
Dirty Mind (1980) by Prince
Like so many artists’ early work, I’ve come to this Prince album backwards. And I suspect that a lot of my issues with it come from all the later Prince I’ve heard. Because, on first listen, this record just sounded like Prince in utero or, um, proto Prince.
Jordan: The Comeback (1990) by Prefab Sprout
Note: This album has nothing to do with Michael Jordan. It’s always weird coming to a critically acclaimed album by a band you’ve basically never heard a note of in your entire life. I was like 6 or 7 when Prefab Sprout had their big hit, and it was a hit in the UK. I …
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990) by George Michael
More than his debut album, this record strikes me as the work of a singer-songwriter, one who also happens to be an incredibly dynamic performer, and a multi-instrumentalist. I’ve only listened to Faith a couple of times, but this feels more personal. And I must say I like it more. As an aside: the fact …
Guilty (1980) by Barbra Streisand
I feel like I grew up with people making fun of these two. I was still an impressionable teenager when I first encountered Mecha-Streisand. And, though the only Barry Gibb impersonation I can think of is relatively recent (i.e. I was an adult when I saw it), I feel like I must have been exposed …
Sing When You’re Winning (2000) by Robbie Williams
It is one of the strangest musical careers of our time, that Robbie Williams was perhaps the biggest star in the UK, for like nearly a decade, and was just a guy with some minor hits in North America. It’s something that has happened over and over and over again – with British stars failing …
Close to You (1970) by Carpenters
I know the Carpenters by reputation and a few of their hits, only. The title track and a few other songs of theirs were big enough to find their way into pop culture. (For example, the title track has been used on The Simpsons.) Rockist orthodoxy has it that they are not very good – …
Dreaming of You (1995) by Selena
I remember the singles from the music videos and the ether, I guess, but that was a bit of a surprise to me. Frankly, all I remembered about Selena was that she died young. Like anyone who died young, there has been a lot of hagiographic “what if” since. But I’ve paid little attention to …
Mariah Carey (1990)
“Whitney Houston but hotter.”
Step by Step (1990) by New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block make subsequent boy bands sound sophisticated. Maurice Starr’s songs on their earlier records show a level of contempt for their fans that later boy band songwriters mostly avoided. (Both musically, in how unsophisticated and imitative his songs and musical ideas are and, especially, lyrically, as he realized that teens don’t …
The Game (1980) by Queen
One of the great things about Queen is also a major flaw of the band: they were a songwriting democracy and that led to both a greater diversity of sound and a lack of consistency.
Main Course (1975) by Bee Gees
This album is considered a bit of a landmark in the Bee Gees catalogue because it marks the transition (or the beginning of the transition?) from their earlier baroque pop sound to their disco sound, as well as the introduction of Barry’s falsetto. This is as far as I know one of their albums.Personally, I’m …
Ooops!…I Did It Again (2000) by Britney Spears
A lot of people think pop music is supposed to be ephemeral, disposable. I guess that’s one reason I don’t like so much of it. One of my criteria for deciding whether or not something is “great” is transcendence. And, if pop music is supposed to be disposable, it should be very hard for it …
Wilson Phillips (1990)
My memory of “Hold On” was that it was catchier than it is. I’m not saying it’s not catchy, it totally is. But I’m not sure it’s as memorable as I remembered it being. (I have some vision of somebody – in a film? – singing along to it.)
diana (1980) by Diana Ross
Diana Ross’ biggest hit, which I really had no idea about. In part, I guess, because I didn’t know “I’m Coming Out” was her song. I knew it, but I didn’t know it was her. Teaming with the creative team behind Chic seems like a pretty inspired idea, at least from a commercial standpoint. Also, …
ABBA (1975)
When I was an older teen and a young adult, I got extremely skeptical and wary of artists and bands that elevated melody above everything else. I don’t exactly know why I felt this way but some of it had to do with trying to stand out among other people at that kind of time …
No Jacket Required (1985) by Phil Collins
The more I listen to Phil Collins’ solo work – and, to a lesser extent, post-Gabriel Genesis – the more I have come to respect him, both as a performer and, especially, as a songwriter songwriter. His sense of melody is really strong and his lyrics are definitely above average. I know from Genesis that …
Whitney Houston (1985)
I read somewhere that this album was the best selling album by a woman in history. (At the time, obviously.) I don’t know whether or not that’s true but it is the best selling debut album of all time and has sold 22 million copies. Why?
Rainbow (1999) by Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey might be the best female pop singer of all time, if we go by technical ability. (I say ‘female’ not to perpetuate gender divisions but only to distinguish her from the man I consider the greatest popular music vocalist in history, who is not female.) It’s this record that has brought me to …
CrazySexyCool (1994) by TLC
I was 13 when this came out but I was already sort of aware of manufactured pop music. I already sort of got that the Monkees hadn’t evolved like the other bands I listened to, and I was sort of aware that some of the oldies music I listened wasn’t made the same way. I …
Like a Virgin (1984) by Madonna
I think I agree with the general consensus that this record isn’t quite up to the standards of her debut, even if the two most famous songs here are two of her most famous songs of the ’80s.
Make It Big (1984) by Wham!
I have paid virtually no attention to Wham! throughout my life. Yes, I was vaguely aware of their biggest hits because how could I not be? But I knew they were not for me and so I ignored them.
Living Under June (1994) by Jann Arden
Before I get to my review, I just wanted to mention that my experience of this album was disrupted. I was listening to it on Google Play but when I went back for my second listen it had just disappeared. Vanished without a trace. I assume the licensing agreement expired but I don’t know what …
Off the Wall (1979) by Michael Jackson
I was listening to this record and I was struck once again by the fact that I just don’t like Michael Jackson. I was so struck by this that I posted a crude joke about him on my podcast’s social media which I will refrain from including in this review because it’s both not the …
Millennium (1999) by Backstreet Boys
I hated the Backstreet Boys as a teenager – they representative everything I thought was wrong with modern music because they didn’t write their own music, they didn’t play any instruments, they produced music that seemed like pablum, they were successful in part because of their looks, and they seemed to have no agency because …
Bad Girls (1979) by Donna Summer
I do not like disco. I do not like disco for both intellectual reasons and emotional ones. My intellectual reasons? Disco, to me, sounds like robotic, neutered, safe funk where everything musically interesting within funk has been abandoned to emphasize repetitiveness and sameness. My emotional reasons are more complex. I am pretty self-reflective and can …
Like a Prayer (1989) by Madonna
Many years ago I was drinking at a bar in grad school, when the title track came on. A colleague of mine said it was a good song, I scoffed and we got in an argument, with everyone else siding with him and getting annoyed at me for being stupid. For my entire life I …
Footloose Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1984)
I don’t review soundtracks normally for at least two reasons: normally they are not entirely composed of original music and they are not culturally significant enough – i.e. some kids probably bought it but the rest of us likely ignored it. But this one, well it is composed of original music, to the best of …
I’ve Been Expecting You (1998)
I know basically nothing about Robbie Williams because I am Canadian. I read that he was unbelievably successful in the UK during his solo career but, like so many UK artists, he didn’t quite translate to North America. Yes, he’s had the odd hit, but nothing compared to the dominance he’s had in the UK. …
Colour by Numbers (1983) by Culture Club
I thought I hated Culture Club. And then I heard Kissing to Be Clever, which just shocked the hell out of me. Not the singles but the rest of the album, which was far more diverse and brave than I ever would have imagined from the singles.