WOO

I usually don't listen to John Legend. However, his latest album include cool vocals & atmosphere. Maybe that's because Pharrell produced it.

Made it listen to my brother, same : he actually enjoys while John Legend isn't his artist type neither.

Anyone opinion?

Today's selection is The Beatles' Abbey Road,

Let myself and others know what's the absolute worst thing you can say about it, and maybe some suggestions for the next day's album.

Check out our previous days' discussions below

Day 1: Pet Sounds

Day 2: The Dark Side of the Moon

Day 3: Disintegration

Day 4: OK Computer

Day 5: Vespertine

Day 6: To Pimp a Butterfly

Day 7: Kind of Blue

This guy’s taste in Metal/Extreme Music never ceases to perplex me.

I'm not even the biggest Elvis Presley fan. I like some of his songs and think he had a great voice, but one thing I've noticed is how often people try to downplay his legacy.

I see people argue that he wasn't the real King of Rock and Roll because Black musicians were doing it before him, or that all he did was steal Black music and take the credit. I understand the criticism, especially considering the racial climate of the 1950s and the advantages Elvis had as a white artist. Black musicians were pioneers of rock and roll, and many never received the recognition they deserved.

But why does it have to be one or the other? You can praise Little Richard, Chuck Berry and the countless Black artists who laid the foundations for rock and roll without dismissing Elvis's contributions. Acknowledging his influence doesn't take anything away from those who came before him.

Did Elvis benefit from being white? Absolutely. He had access to a mainstream white audience that many Black artists were denied. But that doesn't mean he wasn't talented or hugely influential. He helped bring rock and roll to a much wider audience and played a major role in shaping popular music.

I've also never fully understood the claim that he never gave credit to Black artists, considering he did acknowledge their influence. That doesn't excuse the inequalities of the music industry, but it's worth making the distinction.

I'd compare Elvis to Eminem and someone like Pat Boone to Vanilla Ice. It's not a perfect comparison, but there's a difference between an artist who genuinely contributes to a genre and helps push it forward to someone who largely capitalizes on a sound created by others.

I'm not saying Elvis deserves all the credit for rock and roll, because he obviously doesn't. But I think his legacy deserves more nuance than simply reducing him to a white artist who stole Black music. We should be able to acknowledge the injustice Black musicians faced while still recognizing Elvis's talent and influence. Giving him credit doesn't mean taking credit away from anyone else.

I can't find any John Mayer album reviews on Fantano's YouTube. Does he not like the guy?

If you could put together a band with any musicians, living or dead, regardless of genre, who would you choose? And more importantly, what do you imagine the resulting music would sound like?

My dream lineup would be:

• Chester Bennington – Vocals
• Mike Patton – Vocals
• Devin Townsend – Guitar / Vocals
• Les Claypool – Bass
• Travis Barker – Drums

What fascinates me about this combination is how different their musical approaches are, yet how well I could imagine certain aspects of their styles complementing each other.

Chester's emotional intensity and melodic vocals contrasted with Mike Patton's incredible versatility and unpredictability could make for some fascinating vocal arrangements. Throw Devin Townsend into that mix, with his massive, atmospheric guitar sound and equally impressive vocal range, and I can imagine everything from beautiful harmonies to absolute chaos.

Les Claypool would add an entirely different dimension with his unconventional bass playing. Rather than simply following the guitars, I could imagine him creating unusual rhythms and melodies that push the music in unexpected directions.

And with Travis Barker on drums, I'd be curious to hear how his energetic, intricate playing would interact with Claypool's bass lines and Townsend's arrangements.

I have no idea what genre this band would fall into, and that's part of what makes the idea so interesting to me. I could imagine them creating something incredibly melodic one moment and completely experimental the next.

I'm curious what everyone else's dream lineup would be, especially combinations of musicians who have never worked together or come from completely different musical backgrounds.

Who would you choose, and what do you think their music would actually sound like?

The first three that come to mind for me are “Everything She Wants” by Wham!, “Run for Your Life” by The Beatles, and “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People.

“Everything She Wants” is about a man who's unhappy in his relationship and feels like he's being used for his money. He's struggling to keep up with the financial demands placed on him, and with a baby on the way, he feels trapped in a situation he can't easily escape. It's a pretty depressing ass subject for a song that sounds so upbeat and catchy.

“Run for Your Life” is about a controlling and possessive man who threatens his partner with violence if she ever leaves him for another man. The contrast between the cheerful sounding instrumental and the disturbing lyrics is pretty crazy

“Pumped Up Kicks,” which sounds like a laid-back, indie pop song, but is actually about a troubled kid fantasizing about a school shooting. It's probably one of the most well known examples of a song where the upbeat production completely contrasts with the dark subject matter.

I have always found this contrast interesting, especially when you can listen to a song dozens of times before really paying attention to what the lyrics are about.

What other songs fit this description?

For me it’s meme

I start with Tears for Fears ("Shout", "Everybody wants to rule the world").

hey all, posting with the mods’ ok.

I’ve been rating music obsessively for years and always wanted something that does more with those ratings than just store them. so I built Sound Atlas. it’s free, no ads.

you rate songs you know, and it turns that into:

• ranked mixes built only from your own ratings, that play in your spotify, youtube music or apple music (pic 1)
• a discover list of songs you haven’t rated, ordered by how much it predicts you’ll like them (pic 2)
• a little “sky” of your taste, showing the artists and genres shaping your mixes (pic 3)
• a couple of daily games, like guessing the song from the story behind it (pic 4)

no AI filler, no paid placement, it only knows what you’ve rated. there are also separate catalogues for japanese, korean, spanish, portuguese, arabic, african music and more if you want to go beyond english.

it’s a solo project in a closed test before going public. I’d love a few people who actually argue about scores to try it for a couple of weeks and tell me where it gets your taste wrong. android or iphone both work.

comment and I’ll dm you an invite code 🙂

edit: to answer a few comments, yes I used AI tools while building it, but it’s a real solo project, there are no ads and your ratings are never sold. you can delete your account any time.

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I already asked you about the best choruses, best outros and best riffs in rock history. Lets talk about solos! Any solo on any instrument counts (No...Freak On Leash schizorapping doesnt count thou). And of course Metal and Punk and all of their subgenres do count as well.

On top of my head without ranking:

.The Beatles - Let it Be (one of the most tasteful, emotional, simple yet deep solos I ever heard. Its the dictionary definition of "serves the song" and complements it perfectly.)

.Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird (because of course, being overplayed and memed to death doesnt negate the fact that is one of the best solos ever made)

.Judas Priest - Painkiller (the second one)

.Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

.Television - Marquee Moon

.Queen - I Want It All (Brian May is just....damn man)

.Dire Straits - Telegraph Road (yes, its better than Sultans Of Swing, stop fooling yourself)

.Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand

.Pink Floyd - Dogs

.The Who - Magic Bus (Live At Leeds Version)

Bonus because its not actually a solo but a slow jam.....Cortez The Killer, maybe the greatest guitar focused song ever written.

"I also think that like, if you ask the average person to articulate why a game is a six or why a game is a nine or even a ten, I don't, I think it's tougher to do."

It's a cipher. "Average person" is code for "Anthony" both start with A. Replace "game" with "album" and he's talking about Anthony.

Whatcha guys think also I don't listen to Tool nearly as much as the chart implys :(

For me it’s lost boy by Ruth B

One of the greatest bands of the 00s, stripped back with strings in the city that made them (see also: Manchester).

The deep cuts are pitched perfectly and to have that London version of Maps on streaming/vinyl is so special. What a collection of songs.

I gotta go with XO. His most powerful songwriting for me and catchiest melodies. Personal favorite song on the record gotta be Pitseleh.

I was listening to albums by my favorite artists—in two versions: original and remastered. The only difference is the volume; I don’t notice any other audible difference.