The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project

My 3 copies of this album...

1st is the 2nd US pressing from 1969 w/ alternate cover and more hype for "Time Of The Season" - as it was a pretty big hit song.

2nd is the 1974 compilation of tracks that includes Odessey And Oracle in full on the 2nd LP

3rd is a somewhat recent pressing (~2003 pressed at Record Industry) that seems to have used a lot of artwork and credits from the 30th Anniversary Edition from 1997. It's ok.

My play copy is usually the 1969 pressing, but surprisingly, the 2nd LP in the compilation sounds pretty good, too. The newer one also sounds fine.

The 1969 copy doesn't sound all that great, but it works for the music.

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Lee Newman said:
8/10/23

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N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton



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Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A | Album | AllMusic

Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A released in 1988. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com
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I cannot listen to, nor rate, this album.

I bought it a while ago, cheap on CD because I felt it was one of those records you needed to own and managed to listen to it all the way through once since then.

This is not for me, it wasn't made for me, it is not for me to understand.

I'm sure we've all blasted a bit of 'Fuck Tha Police' and sung along with abandon, claiming that we are 'Straight Outta Compton', but after that it gets, for me, very uncomfortable.

I don't like it, I don't like the themes, I don't like the language, I don't like the attitudes.

But then, I'm not supposed to.

Did not listen / rate.

Oh, and I hate Easy E's voice.
 
I don’t know that I’ll get a full listen in before this weekend. The opening trio and Express Yourself sort of overshadow the rest of the album.

N.W.A. built on the foundation laid by Ice-T and Schooly D. Cube’s hyperbole and sense of humor combined with Dre’s beats were aided by the antics of the PRMC and a formal introduction of rap to white audiences through the unprecedented popularity of the Beastie Boys resulting in a real zeitgeist moment for the group. Without airplay, it became a big hit, made gangsta rap a viable product for the masses, and put the West Coast on the map.

Dre would go on to be a better producer (with a hell of a business acumen) and Cube would go on to add a bit of social commentary to his angry street persona (and make many a dumb comedy), but this remains the collective’s most powerful statement together or apart.

There are cringey moments.. rap more than any other genre seems to date itself not only through the prolific time stamps throughout its history but by being a record of the mentality of its auteurs.

The album would be important beyond the hype given its subtle political message- young black men in America were mad (righteously so) and this was, if nothing else, a way to express that anger without the fear of incarceration. Unfortunately, through both the mechanisms of a society that was censorshiptastic (which was oddly directed with more penalty at African Americans - systemic racism at its finest) and other’s attempts to be real (even if they weren’t), gangsta rap wasn’t a healthy or prison free outlet for very long.

They weren’t the first or even the best gangsta act, but they were the big bang and the album is a landmark for hip hop, in both positive and negative ways.
 
Straight Out Of Compton is more important due to the album’s influence over West Coast Hip-Hop than as an actual album. The hits are okay but the music that Cube and Dre would go on to create throughout the 90s was much better.

Eazy E’s raps are pretty juvenile but so am I and many of his perverse nursery rhyme rap made it onto quite a few mixes in my teens and early 20s.

The other day I was riding my Honda Ruckus to Jury Duty during the AM commute and pulled up besides an SUV at a stoplight and dude (a mid 30s white guy in a suit jacket) was bumping to “Gimme That Nutt” LOUD. It was quite a choice for 7:15 AM on a Monday.
 
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
The other day I was riding my Honda Ruckus to Jury Duty during the AM commute and at a stop light pulled up besides an SUV a a stoplight and dude (a mid 30s white guy in a suit jacket) was bumping to “Gimme That Nutt” LOUD. It was quite a choice for 7:15 AM on a Monday.
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Maybe was still his Friday night, on a coke bender
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
Maybe was still his Friday night, on a coke bender
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
Straight Out Of Compton is more important due to the album’s influence over West Coast Hip-Hop than as an actual album. The hits are okay but the music that Cube and Dre would go on to create throughout the 90s was much better.

Eazy E’s raps are pretty juvenile but so am I and many of his perverse nursery rhyme rap made it onto quite a few mixes in my teens and early 20s.

The other day I was riding my Honda Ruckus to Jury Duty during the AM commute and at a stop light pulled up besides an SUV a a stoplight and dude (a mid 30s white guy in a suit jacket) was bumping to “Gimme That Nutt” LOUD. It was quite a choice for 7:15 AM on a Monday.
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Could have been me 8 years ago (except early 40’s and in a Scion xA)
 
8/11/23
3b38416a0d303dbb3255e67d2bb03d4a1139600c

Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles



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Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic

Discover The Genius of Ray Charles by Ray Charles released in 1959. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com
 
Lee Newman said:
8/14/23
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The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Inifnite Sadness



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Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpk

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins released in 1995. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
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Everyone’s gonna say this album is alright and that the real gem of the SP catalog is Siamese Dream and that’s completely understandable though I would posit that this album could easily be pared down to something that would rival Siamese Dream. That being said, this complete album, while not perfect, is still quite exceptional and if there’s enough time enjoy the whole thing it doesn’t disappoint.
 
Lee Newman said:
8/14/23
View attachment 179955
The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness



www.allmusic.com

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpk

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins released in 1995. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com
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Part of their classic period. Still wonderful, but NOT a masterpiece like I thought in my youth.
Like @TenderLovingKiller® mentioned above, you can cut half of the tracklist and form a perfect 14. Here's what I would have in order:
  1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
  2. Tonight Tonight
  3. Zero
  4. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
  5. To Forgive
  6. An Ode to No One
  7. Galapogos
  8. Bodies
  9. Thirty-Three
  10. 1979
  11. Thru the Eyes of Ruby
  12. Stumbleine
  13. X.Y.U.
  14. Farewell and Goodnight
I want to clarify; some of the tracks that I have cut are still good. Had the album existed in a condensed form as above, this would be a masterpiece. However, we are here to evaluate it as it stands in its base form. So...

Rating: 4/5 [Excellent]
 
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