Soul
Noah’s Barks pages relating to the soul music genre. Combine with other tags for subgenres, e.g. “pop+soul.”
-
Justin Timberlake – “The 20/20 Experience” (2013)
If you know me, you can guess that the baroque, traditional pop orchestrations on The 20/20 Experience have me pretty giddy. In particular, the album reminds of the direct influence old R&B and soul music has had on its modern variants. Justin Timberlake is much more open about that, and it’s that honesty that makes… (read more)
-
Laura Nyro – “Eli and the Thirteenth Confession”
Though the mysterious, brooding album cover may suggest otherwise, ‘Eli and the Thirteenth Confession’ is actually a swingin’, progressive soul album. (read more)
-
Stevie Wonder – “Music of My Mind” (1972)
Stevie Wonder isn’t quite there yet. Music of My Mind is his first album as a soul artist, and as you might expect, he hasn’t gotten used to it. His vocal performance isn’t as transcendent as it would become and doesn’t flow well with a lot of the backing instrumentation. Keyboard melodies haven’t become dominant… (read more)
-
Stevie Wonder – “Songs in the Key of Life”
Musicians rarely have attempted releases even larger than a double album. Rarer still is when it’s the best move in their career. Enter Stevie Wonder’s "Songs in the Key of Life". (read more)
-
Dusty Springfield – “Dusty in Memphis” (1969)
Aah, Dusty in Memphis is beautiful. Dusty Springfield’s voice is as soft as the warm air coming off a hot fire, and the string arrangements here decorate it in golden lace. The sitar at the end of “In the Land of Make Believe” is genuinely kind of innovative for soul/baroque pop music. I wish there… (read more)
-
David Bowie – “Tonight”
Tonight isn’t as bad as its reputation suggests, being only a step down from Let’s Dance, which wasn’t a particularly good album by David Bowie standards, but it certainly wasn’t terrible. The singles definitely aren’t as strong, though. “Blue Jean” is the closest thing to a hit from this album, and Bowie’s had far better… (read more)
-
David Bowie – “Diamond Dogs”
“Rebel Rebel” is so much better than every other song on this album that it’s ridiculous. Everything else is average glam rock. Average by the Bowie standard, of course. With Diamond Dogs, David Bowie has dragged the glam phase of his career out a bit too long and sees him start to run dry. The… (read more)
-
Florence + The Machine – “Ceremonials” (2011)
Another promising artist falls after a fantastic debut. Whereas Florence + the Machine‘s debut album, Lungs, was an eclectic blend of styles, Ceremonials sticks to one producer and thus only one kind of sound: Loud. Ceremonials is monotonous in its constant bombast and is simply a less engaging listen than Lungs. Imagine taking “Cosmic Love”… (read more)
-
Massive Attack – “Blue Lines” (1991)
Some days, I think Blue Lines has better album flow than Mezzanine. “Safe From Harm” hits as soon as the sun fully sets, the skies darken, the streetlights dim, and not a voice can be heard coming from the barely-lit alleyways of the city. A sense of danger approaches—you’re a stranger in a bad part… (read more)
-
David Bowie – “Black Tie White Noise”
‘Black Tie White Noise’ in its entirety defines "cheesy," and is uneventful to boot. Bowie enters the ’90s with a downtempo whimper. (read more)