Review of M83: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

For our last pick of our double-album round, Sonic Collective member Scott Gregory picked this ambient, synth-pop, adored album, M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Listen to this full review as we chat about how we enjoyed our pick for November 2020, which marks the 6th anniversary of our podcast. Have a listen to how the album impacted us and what our impressions were.

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Review of Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Please read Alain DuPuis’s pick, Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome, before reading and listening to our reviews below.

The Summary

  • Would we recommend?
  • Influence us and our tastes?
  • Overall?
2.5

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

For our 3rd selection in this round of influential double-albums, Sonic Collective member Alain Dupuis reached back to 1984 and this first Frankie Goes to Hollywood album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome. This albums contains the 6th and 20th best selling singles in the U.K., for Relax and Two Tribes. But how did this stand up as a whole album? Can we all finally relax? Well, this review didn’t go as we thought. Listen along and see why we struggled with this 80s classic. Hint: It’s the cover songs and the bi-polar sound of this album.

Perhaps the producer was over zealous, perhaps the band wasn’t in control, perhaps this lives just perfectly in 1984 and should stay there. What do you think?

Overall Scores

Overall opinion: 2.6
Would we recommend?: 2.3
Influenced our tastes: 2.5

Our Individual Review Scores
Alain Dupuis
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 2.5
Influenced my tastes: 1

Scott Gregory
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 3
Influenced my tastes: 5

Scott Coates
Overall opinion: 2
Would I recommend?: 1
Influenced my tastes: 1

Darren Scott
Overall opinion: 2.5
Would I recommend?: 2.5
Influenced my tastes: 3


Double Album Round and Our 1st Selection! (It’s Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde)

Double Album Round & 1st Selection of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde.

As we have just completed a round of album reviews that were all hip hop and rap, we thought it will be a blast to try a new concept this month. We all came up with some ideas, but an interesting one was double albums. Younger people may not even know what a double album is (or even a single album, for that matter).

Listen to my story of how we came to this concept and as to why I decided to pick Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album.

Spend the next month with us listening to this album and then come back at the beginning of September 2020 to hear our review show about this album. We will dive into the history of a double album a little more and see if releasing so many tracks at once is a good idea.

Times, they are a changin’

Darren

Other albums I considered were:

  • The Smashing Pumpkins – ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’
  • Arcade Fire — ‘Reflektor’
  • The Clash – ‘London Calling’ (But I’ve already picked a Clash album. Have a listen.)

We have also already reviewed a few double albums by chance. Check out:

The Mothers of Invention: Freak Out

The Allman Brothers Band: Live at Fillmore East

Enjoy!