#top tier albums

[sonarryx]

elliott smith – XO (review)

i purchased my copy of XO in pretty rough shape, with a few visible scratches on the disc and plenty of wear and tear on the case. it was definitely a risk, but i wanted to listen to this album and this was the only copy i could find (i tend to get all my CDs from local in-person sources, very rarely ordering them online). i'm lucky that the CD played with no issues, because i fell in love with this album right away and only loved it more with each listen.

there's a clear level of care and intention that went into the recording of this album. i can't help but step back and admire when everything about a record goes right. it's just incredible. i could gush about XO all day. elliott smith deserves all the hype he gets and more.

track one, "sweet adeline," is a perfect setup for everything that follows. i love a good slow burn opener that reaches its peak in the back half of the song. the one song i knew from this album, the titular waltz #2, is still a great song, but not a lot has changed on repeated listens—i like it about as much as i did before.

my one and only gripe with XO is what i can only compare to the sound of a recorder in "baby britain," an otherwise good song that was disrupted by the high-pitched, out-of-tune monotone sound in the second half of the second verse. (you can also hear the same instrument in brief isolation at the very end of the song.) the liner notes provided no hints as to what it was (unless it was a particularly unfortunate-sounding flute), and a little poking around on google didn't immediately get me any answers. it seems to sit more toward the front of the mix on the CD from my car speakers than it does on spotify/through my headphones and laptop speakers, so you won't hear it as quite so disruptive if you go test it out for yourself.

a rundown of my favorite songs on this album:

"bled white" is an upbeat little tune with a lyrical structure i just adore. 10/10 driving song. this one could very easily become a comfort song for me, and it's definitely going on my driving playlist!

i am a sucker for a good chord progression, and "amity" is where it's at! it's a short one, and it's probably the heaviest on the album, musically speaking. i just love each and every piece of this song, but especially the swell at 0:53. it's perfect.

"bottle up and explode!" wins affection on the title alone, and the song itself does not disappoint. i'm extremely pleased to have this song in my life. the bridge at 1:50 is a very smooth way of kicking the song up a notch, though it does fall short of actually exploding.

there's a fantastic horn-line groove in "a question mark" that we're prepped for at the end of "bottle up and explode!" with a silly little sax riff. i have to admit, i interpreted the opening lyric as "i've got a question, mark" about some guy named mark, not the actual punctuation, and i think i like hearing it that way better. dunno who mark is but he sounds like a dick to me.

final thoughts: most of what i've heard about elliott smith is all about how miserable his music is, and while i completely understand why that's the narrative, the music is just so well-done that it's hard for me to genuinely wallow in the misery of the lyrics. towards the end of the album it gets a little more dismal, but the main emotion i come away with is satisfaction. it's just a fantastically well-done album, start to finish.

[turtlekidddddd]

Since Bagi got added to Morning crew I finally got the excuse to do this

(I was unable to find the same font they used in the original album and it’s bugging me so much but oh well)

[pageofpenandfables]

Ben Barnes at The Troubadour in Los Angeles 1.29.24

[timechange]

MCFLY JULY ‘24 — pepsi free.

88 (1989)

1:15 AM

Sunshine Girl

Recent History

Strangerland

Erasure

Continuum

Wipe Out

In Flux

FUTURE BOY (1991)

Lightning

Goofy Foot

No Roads, All Roads

Unheard

Lost Memory

Lovestruck

Second Chance, California

City Limits

[kyunsies]

guys idk who needs to hear this but the production on the 'fatal love' album was like ............. insane like how tf did mx do that

[s0ulweed]

i haven’t been able to listen to muse the same since i got into dnp (in a good way lol)

i have an origin of symmetry cd in my car, and i totally get why they like it so much.

anyways, if you haven’t already, go listen to origin of symmetry. shit fucks.

[wexhappyxfew]

currently listening to reputation by taylor swift and putting every SB girlie with her mota man to each song and losing my mind so …. yeah if you’re interested in that i most likely will be posting something with that but i’m actually OBSESSED

[le-agent-egg]

dumbest fucking tierlist i’ve ever made

this is only for main 3 games + warriors of hope

[taylorswiftdebut]

im DRUNK in the back of the car AND i cried like a baby coming home from the BAR (Ow!) said i’m FINE 🙄 but it wasn’t TRUE 😵‍💫 I DONT WANNA KEEP SECRETS JUST TO KEEP YOU ANDi snuck in through the garden gate every night that summer *angelic backing vocal* just to seal my fate (Ow!) and i SCREAM for whatever it’s worse I LOVE YOU ain’t that the worse thing you’ve ever heard! 🤮 HE LOOKS UP GRINNING LIKE A DEVIL

[klapollo]

poptimism was such a mistake what do u mean the sabrina carpenter album is a 10/10 and worthy of an aoty nomination

[leonardcohenofficial]

i have complicated feelings about british blues generally speaking but john mayall really did that for real

[sonarryx]

billie eilish – hit me hard and soft (review)

as i mentioned in my chappell roan review, i'm a pop music bitch now. here's the proof.

i bought this album on a whim because my best friend was also buying it. i'd been meaning to give billie eilish a fair shot since i unfairly rejected her in high school for the crime of being really popular, and yeah, it took me until she made a song about having sex with girls to get into her. i won't deny that that's a big part of my motivation. but i'm here now and i gotta say, i picked a fantastic album to start with. this shit rules. i'm giving it the full detailed treatment it deserves.

"skinny" is a perfect opener, effortlessly dissecting several heavy topics at once. the lyric "people say i look happy, just because i got skinny" is a one-hit kill.

"lunch" was the only song i knew from the album going in. it's got a great beat, a seamless journey through a very simple premise, i love it. but it was quickly overshadowed by what's become one of my favorite songs of all time, a perfect storm of the right time and the right listening environment. i have no idea if anyone out there has the level of affection for "chihiro" as i do, but dear god i love this fucking song.

i didn't really crack the code on why it clicked so well with me until the third or fourth listen, which took place in the middle of the day. until that point, i'd been playing the album exclusively after dark, while working closing shifts at my pizza delivery job. those two high points in the song (calling them choruses feels inadequate, the structure of this song doesn't fit into traditional verse-chorus structure at all) hit me like a truck every time, but suddenly in the daylight, it wasn't quite so monumental. coasting through dark streets with little to no traffic to disrupt the flow of the song is an essential element to my enjoyment of the song. darkness helps, driving helps, but both at once add up to an experience you just can't get otherwise.

the way "chihiro" starts out soft and builds up to those high points, the way it transitions between at least five distinct parts, in an unexpected, unconventional but clearly deliberate order—it's all set up so perfectly it makes me want to scream. the section of the song that genius lyrics calls "verse 3" right after the line it calls an interlude, where these fuzzy, airy hi-hats come in, it's like this moment of realization, aligning perfectly with the lyrics "there's a part of me that recognizes you, do you feel it too?" it's like the whole song snaps into focus. then, everything else fades away for the return of that instrumental again (to call it a drop feels like an insult, though it's the closest comparison), this time with the vocals far in the background, nothing else to focus on but this swell of perfect intensity.

listen ok. i love this song. i put it on every night i'm working after dusk. i never want it to end. but there's 9 other songs on this album too, and a lot of them are really good too. all of them, actually. i love every single track on this entire album.

"birds of a feather" is an artfully constructed little tune, clearly intended for the radio play it's rightfully getting. "wildflower" is somber and ominous, with an echoey, lingering ending. "the greatest" is an even more dramatic increase from soft to hard (the title of this album is very literal) than chihiro, more extreme in both directions. the end of this song is the peak in energy of the entire album, and it spends the entire song getting there, stringing you along for over three minutes before the incredible, blissful payoff. it never fails to give me chills.

"l'amour de ma vie" has an elegant melody, and the switch to the second part of the song is unexpected and wonderful. "the diner" is probably my second favorite track on the album. every element is creepy as hell, which is exactly the point. the beat has the slick self-assured obsession of the stalker perspective that billie sings from, and the return of the bass at the end of both choruses is just perfect. "bittersuite" is another song that plays fast and loose with song structure to great effect. it's the perfect penultimate track with a seamless transition between it and the final track, "blue," yet another song that is actually multiple songs in a trenchcoat. there's these pitched-down vocals in the second part that i can't get out of my head.

final thoughts: hit me hard and soft is a fucking masterpiece. nothing feels out of place. the sound is very mature (especially in comparison to her breakout album—holy shit this is such a step up), and many of the tracks feature some impressive experimentation with song structure. it's all so subtle and effortless, and fits together perfectly. there's a clear love for and dedication to the craft exhibited in every element of the production. i love this album more every time i listen to it.

[vimbry]

it's a tough competition, because they always complement each other beautifully, but "memo to human resources" might have my favourite harmonies. their voices meld together perfectly.

[simpxxstan]

idk if this is a controversial take but eyes on you is my favourite song on the album

[enn0s]

m o o n c h i l d

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[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

my rubber soul tier list. if you even care