More of a marketing effort than a serious investigation
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“I was expecting an enthusiastic deep dive into ALL aspects of this album. Instead I found shallow waters.
Santana’s Abraxas is a dynamic, exciting, well-edited, and beautifully-sequenced album which has maintained its vitality for five decades. Host Jill Hopkins is the opposite. There’s a sluggish quality to her presentation, which is very badly edited BTW. Personal anecdotes are fine, but five minute digressions try one’s patience. Her pacing is rather lackluster. And her “jokes” often fall flat.
Abraxas was meticulously recorded, and all instruments have audio presence. In contrast, this series really could have used better attention to the sound… especially for a podcast series which focuses on an audio art form.
The research is sloppy. And not all the expert commentators are up to the challenge. There’s a poor sense of context beyond frequent references to the Beatles, the late 60’s, San Francisco at that time, etc.
So many missed opportunities. Mati Klarwein, for example, was a fascinating figure deserving more time than he was given. Yes, he did the cover art for a couple Miles Davis albums. But how about the racial politics of the moment when he met Yusef Lateef? His role in the psychedelic movement? His friendship with Salvador Dali?
Overall, a quickly-thrown together bit of marketing which promises more than it delivers.”
Mark Kingsley via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
02/19/21
More reviews of The Opus
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“I love hearing in-depth explorations of an album. Immediately after hearing the first 2 episodes of The Opus, I went and listened to Blood on the Tracks for the first time in years.
Amazing work guys, keep it up!
Also please do Rain Dogs by Tom Waits!”
places38 via Apple Podcasts ·
Canada ·
11/23/18
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“I am excited for a podcast that features three sharp women music critics delving into classic popular music. I’ve only heard the first episode and already I can see how this departs from what has been the norm. Fricke, Wenner, Christgau, Pareles, etc. have all had their say, and I’ll cast no...”Read full review »
Alex from the North via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
01/10/19
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“The More Blood box has brought out some great new thinking and old stories about the recording process and material on that album, but none of it is here. I assume these are good writers (and at least one real artist) but the commentary is neither informed nor insightful, and there's more...”Read full review »
Renaldo Valentine III via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
12/08/18
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