The inductees to the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were chosen on Dec. 20, 2016. Of the 19 nominees, 6 were inducted: Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Baez, Journey, Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur, and Yes. The induction ceremony on April 7, 2017, will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Luckily, if you are interested in watching the ceremony, it will be broadcast on HBO.

To be eligible for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a solo artist or band must have their first album released 25 years prior to their nomination. Once nominated, their musical excellence, influence, talent, career, and other factors are noted and judged by historians, members of the music industry, and other artists. Along with their judgment, people were able to vote online from the initial 19 nominees.

Because I love the majority of the artists, but have never really heard a full album by any of the newly inducted artists (except for Yes, but it was so long ago that I hardly remember any of the songs), I thought it would be best to listen to each of their debut albums in order to assess their musical significance, and review the albums for people who want to get into a new artist or band, but need an opinion beforehand. For each debut album I review, I will give an overall rating out of 10 and a link to my favorite song off of each album.

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra (also known as Jeff Lynne’s–one of the founding members–Electric Light Orchestra) is an English rock band that formed in 1970. The band was created with the intention that they would fuse modern rock and pop with a classical vibe. Their debut album, released in 1971,  was self-titled in the UK as The Electric Light Orchestra. In the US it was released as No Answer. It’s quite funny actually, but a secretary had tried to get a hold of the UK record company that had released the album, but no one answered the phone. The secretary left a note reading “No Answer” and that became the title of the album here in the US.

The album starts with the song “10538 Overture.” You can automatically hear the modern rock/pop and classical fusion that I mentioned earlier. It’s got a nice vibe to it and it’s very catchy. Great choice for an opening song.

The second song “Look At Me Now” has a Beatle-esque ring to it, reminding me slightly of “Eleanor Rigby.”

“Nellie Takes Her Bow” is not a dazzling song in terms of how it sounds, but it’s apparent there is a lot of emotion to it and the lyrics are what truly make the song. It’s the embodiment of “fake it ’til you make it” and the temporary comfort that comes with holding these beliefs, ultimately resulting in pain and the loss of oneself. “Just a lonely girl who could not face a broken world/And so she acts out all her dreams and wishes that’s how it had been/But when the audience is near, it seems as though she doesn’t even care.”

Following this song is one that keeps you curious and listening for more: “The Battle of Marston Moor.” This song occasionally has speech in it, but is, for the most part, the light orchestra part of ELO. The song is based on an actual battle that took place during the First English Civil War on July 2, 1644. This song was an attempt at channeling a Baroque-and-roll sound (a clever term, isn’t it?). The sound they were going for was definitely achieved and definitely made it one of the more interesting songs on the album!

The fifth track is “First Movement,” an instrumental piece that mixes both the electric and the light orchestra parts of ELO in such a beautiful way. It’s fast paced but sounds hesitant. It sounds classical, but it sounds like rock. It sounds playful but dramatic. The song is the perfect balance of all of these things.

“Mr. Radio” is the sixth track and starts off and ends with a classical sound (which is surprisingly played backward) before the singer is introduced and more of the rock instruments are introduced. It tells the sad story of a lonely man whose only companion is his radio because his wife left him. “Hello, Mr. Radio, you friendly station/So glad of your company, your morning music/My wife she ran away, she left our home/And though you’re here with me, I’m on my own.”

“Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre)” is another instrumental piece. It’s chilling and fast-paced sound helps the listener create the image of a massacre in their mind.

The eighth song “Queen of the Hours” is an okay song, it’s catchy enough, but nothing makes it stand out when compared to the other songs.

“Whisper in the Night” is the last song on the album and is a nice way to close out the album, because of its relaxing tone and ethereal imagery. “Night turns into gold/So the tide may turn today/Though God gave the world/It’s not mine to throw away/Daughter of your dream shine a guiding light for me/For I’ll be here till light/Whisper in the night.”

Overall rating: 7/10. I’ve already heard songs by Electric Light Orchestra that sounded much different from what I’ve heard on this album, but this experience was unlike what I’ve heard of theirs before. There was a variety of music and sounds and messages in the music from this album. It’s not something I’d feel the need to re-listen to–that’s not to say it was bad, it simply didn’t stick with me–but it’s definitely encouraged me to listen to more of their albums.

Recommended Song: “10538 Overture”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ3DOnkUtDQ

Click here to see the band’s website.

Joan Baez

Joan Baez is a folk singer whose popularity came to rise in 1960. From then on she has gained an international reputation, not only as a musician but also as an activist. Her beliefs are showcased in many of her songs that were forms of protest against the social injustice of the time. Her debut album is self-titled, released in 1960, and was recorded when she was just 19, meaning her career has lasted now an amazing 55+ years. It is even included in Robert Dimery’s musical reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, so I already have high hopes for the album! Before I review, keep in mind that all of these songs are traditional songs except for the 7th and 13th tracks!

The first song “Silver Dagger” is quite mellow and definitely sounds folksy. Baez doesn’t have an incredible voice, but it’s certainly unique and catches your attention. What I enjoyed most from this song is the story and message it tells of a girl who has been warned about love and after these warnings from her mother, she realizes that she would rather be alone her whole life. I find this particularly funny, because the song is an old traditional ballad, and in some variations, the girl realizes that because her parents are warning her about this love they are essentially denying her the love, and so like Romeo and Juliet, they commit suicide together. However, I think both versions, whether it is the one Baez sang or the other one I presented, the outcome can be interpreted in many different ways even though it seems so definite.

Following is a haunting song called “East Virginia.” Despite its melancholy tone, it is actually quite romantic. “Well in my heart you are my darling/And at my door you’re welcome in/At my gate I’ll meet you my darling/If your love I could only win.”

“Fare Thee Well (10,000 Miles)” is a song of farewell to the person someone loves. Although the lyrical content of the song would seem sad, I don’t actually get a sad feeling from this song. In fact, it sounds as if it had more of a “Don’t worry, I’ll be back” tone.

The fourth track is “House of the Rising Sun.” You may have heard ‘The Animals’ version (it’s so classic!), which I think is unparalleled and easy to ruin by anyone else. The moment the song played, just the instruments, it immediately caught my attention, so I had to check which song was playing and I was glad to see its name. Sadly, the first few notes were the only thrill for me. I guess it’s because I know the more famous version, but as I said earlier, her voice isn’t truly incredible, it’s unique, but it didn’t fit well with this song. The amazing thing about ‘The Animals’ version is all the emotion that comes from Eric Burdon’s powerful voice. As she started singing, I slowly felt my thrill dissipate. I suppose I have high standards for this song, because I love it so much, but Baez’s version really didn’t do it for me. It didn’t awe me the way I thought it would.

“All My Trials,” the fifth song on the album, starts off quite shocking with the lyrics: “Hush little baby, don’t you cry/You know your mama was born to die.” I liked that because I was not expecting it. Sadly, at this point in the album, I’m not hating it, but it all sounds about the same to me. There is no variety. She sounds sad in literally every song and I don’t see anything wrong with that, especially for people who are into the sound (trust me, pop is one of, if not the most repetitive genre ever and people LOVE that stuff! There’s nothing wrong with having a sound and repeating it). I have the feeling that her thing is more about focusing on the lyrics and telling the story rather than the fact that she sounds nearly the same in every song with no real deviation from what her norm is (and maybe I shouldn’t be judging so harshly, because this is her first album, after all), but it’s starting to annoy me. It’s not killing the album, but I hope something can wow me later down the line.

The next track is “Wildwood Flower.” This song sounds much happier than the rest and I really love how it started off energetically. She sounds a little happier in this one and as you read in the previous paragraph, I was looking for a little of this. It was a nice little song, I imagined people dancing, smiling, clapping, and singing along as the song played.

The seventh song is “Donna Donna,” originally a Yiddish song, “Dana Dana.” It has also been covered by another folk singer, Donovan. The song is about a calf led to the slaughter on the surface, but looking deeper into the lyrics, I interpreted the song to be a lesson to those who are, figuratively, calves about to be slaughtered. The song teaches people to enjoy freedom and open their minds in order to escape control because once under control, a person is only bound to hurt themselves for the corruption and decisions of those who control them. I enjoyed this song and its message. It was quite catchy and I even replayed it a few times. “Calves are easily bound and slaughtered/Never knowing the reason why/But whoever treasures freedom/Like the swallow has learned to fly.”

“John Riley,” which sounded a bit like “Silver Dagger” to me at the start, played next. As I said earlier, she has the same sound in a lot of songs, and this is no different, but I really enjoyed this song and how mellow it was. I fell in love with the story, too, especially the surprise ending (not going to spoil it, but just know, I’m a sucker for romance!).

“Rake and Rambling Boy” follows. The title of the song made me laugh a bit. This is one of the more upbeat songs with a sweet story. “Oh when I die don’t bury me at all/Place my bones in alcohol/And at my feet place a snow white dove/To let the world know I died for love.”

The tenth song is “Little Moses,” which basically tells the biblical story of Moses’s life, but in a poetic way. It was very soft, almost as if her voice caressed your soul. Definitely one of the better songs on the album.

After that song is “Mary Hamilton,” which continues to have the soft, caressing song I mentioned in the previous song. The song may sound soft and sweet, but the story behind it…not so much. The song is the story of a personal attendant to a queen, Mary Hamilton. She has an illegitimate child with a king and kills the baby. Mary is seen committing the act, convicted, and then killed herself for the crime: “Last night there were four marys/Tonight there’ll be but three/It was Mary Beaton and Mary Seton/And Mary Carmichael and me.”

“Henry Martin,” the twelfth track, also has a similar sound to “Little Moses” and “Mary Hamilton,” and I’m really enjoying it, because of the flow of each of these three songs into the other.

The final song on the album is in Spanish, “El Preso Número Nueve,” translating to “Prisoner Number Nine.” Ending the album with a song in a different language was really cool. Like many of the other songs, this song tells an amazing story, but in a way that cannot be sung in English.

Overall Rating: 7/10. The lyrics of the songs featured on the album were the best part. Of course, as I noted, it got a bit boring towards the middle because of the repetitiveness of her sound, but the beautiful lyricism and the few standout songs/their messages were enough to make up for it.

Recommended Song: “Donna Donna”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1zBEWyBJb0

Click here to see her website.

Journey

Journey is an American progressive rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1973. You may know them for their 1981 hit song, “Don’t Stop Believin.’” The band is the 25th best-selling band with 48 million albums sold in total in the United States. They also have the second most Top 40 singles without ever having a number one single on the Billboard 100 at 19. The band to hold the record is, surprisingly, Electric Light Orchestra, with 20. Their debut, released in 1975, is (AGAIN!) self-titled. This album contains 7 songs. A demo album, The Unfinished Fusion, was made in 1973 included the same songs and a few additional tracks that did not make it into the album.

The first song is “Of a Lifetime.” Few seconds in and I’m already really liking the sound it’s giving as it replays the same notes, but more instruments are layered onto each other. It’s got a nice tune as Gregg Rolie’s voice comes in. I listen to all of these albums at night and this really set the night for me. It took me to another world as I wrote this. Some songs are pure perfection, and this is one of them. “The countless visions that are drifting/The silver dreams you hate to lose/There’s no harm. We’ve all been waiting/Well keep your faith. Do what you choose/Singin’ more of a lifetime.”

Up next is “In the Morning Day.” After that first song, I’m just really dazzled and I can’t get enough of Rolie’s smooth voice. The lyrics, as in the last song, are minimal, but enough to add substance to the song with the mix of the instrumental parts. Each part is perfectly balanced and the sound is just right. There isn’t much off (unless you’re not into long instrumental solos, in which case, you might want to head off and listen to another of the albums in the article!)

The third track is “Kohoutek,” and the first thing I noticed about this piece was the name. “What a strange name? What does it mean?” were my initial thoughts, so I couldn’t help, but to look it up. Kohoutek is the name of a comet that was spotted by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek in 1973 (the year the song was first recorded in the demo album). The piece is purely instrumental. It starts off a bit strangely (not in a bad way, in a “let me pique your interest” way), then gets more into the rock instrumentals that one hears in the previous songs. When comet Kohoutek had been found it was publicized, in an exaggerated manner, as the “comet of the century,” but once Kohoutek made its appearance, it did not live up to its aggrandizement, making the name essentially the equivalent of an awesome let-down. It was awesome, but at the same time, it didn’t live up to your expectations. Putting that into context, the strange way the song starts is the same way it ends, but in the middle is the energy and build-up. We could say the beginning and ends are the let-downs, while the middle is what would be considered awesome, making this quite an intelligently written piece.

Following is “To Play Some Music,” a fun and energizing song, skillfully put in the middle of the album, so listeners won’t get bored quite yet.

The fifth track, “Topaz,” is instrumental that fluctuates between mellow and exciting sounds. The contrast is really cool, but so far, compared to the rest of the tracks, this one hasn’t been the greatest.

“In My Lonely Feeling/Conversations” is the sixth song on the album. The first couple of notes played already set a mood of loneliness. I could feel so much pain and emotion in the notes and in Rolie’s voice. It’s an intense song, truly. There are hardly any lyrics in this song, but the lack of lyrics in the nearly 5 minutes of this song add to the intensity. Every word and line only adds to the songs core feeling of loneliness and, of course, its meaning, whichever way one decides to interpret it. As I listened, I questioned life: “In my lonely feeling/From my darkest dreams/I go on through days/As I wonder/Always changing/Forever dreaming/Am I the master of my soul?” This was another one of those far-out song, like “Of A Lifetime.”

The last song is “Mystery Mountain,” which has a similar vibe to the rest of the songs on the album, but Rolie’s voice in this song almost makes it sound a bit psychedelic. I find the psychedelic aspect of the sound nice, especially considering the title of the song. Totally would fit in the 60s psychedelic rock scene for sure, and a great song to end the album on, because it has that similar sound, yet it sounds so different from the others.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10. I almost gave this a nine, because it’s definitely something I can see myself listening to on more than one occasion, but something about it was lacking and I’m not sure what. Everything about this album has me ready to listen to more Journey, but there’s still something more I want from it that I’m unable to pinpoint. Perhaps, the fact that it leaves me wanting more, is what leaves me unsatisfied.

Recommended Song: “In My Lonely Feeling/Conversations”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZikrgxCP5k

Click here to see their website.

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is an American grunge band formed in Seattle, Washington (like many other grunge bands, notably Soundgarden, Green River, and Alice in Chains) in 1990. The band formed after members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament’s previous group, Mother Love Bone disbanded. They are notable for refusing to comply with the music industry’s typical practices. Their debut album (NOT SELF-TITLED!!!), Ten, was released in 1991 containing eleven tracks, four of which were singles. Before I move on to reviewing the songs, I must mention that the album cover is one of the coolest I’ve seen. I have heard three of the songs on the album a few times prior to listening to the full album, so I might be a bit biased, but Pearl Jam has got a rad sound to it and Eddie Vedder is seriously awesome (this has nothing to do with him inducting the Doors into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 at all!).

The first song “Once” has a nice build up, but as the song progresses it’s not particularly impressive, but it is enjoyable. The lyrics are the more interesting part of this song: “Once upon a time I could control myself/Once upon a time I could lose myself.”

The second song is one of the three songs I occasionally listen to, “Even Flow.” I love the chorus, it’s catchy, but like the other song, I am more interested in the lyrics. When I listened to Pearl Jam for the first time, I never really cared about the lyrics, I had only found Vedder’s voice to be intriguing, but now that I pay attention, it’s the lyrics that shine through in Pearl Jam’s songs.

The third track, the second of the three songs I have already heard, is “Alive.” Unlike the other two songs before it, I think more of the importance of this song lies in the emotion conveyed in Vedder’s voice for this track because it is mostly repetitive with the exception of a few lines (such as the beginning) that differ from the majority of the song.

“Why Go” is the fourth song on the album illustrating the story of a young girl who is diagnosed with an illness and the pain that comes with her being stuck in an implied hospital. The song has a very rough sound to it and the story is powerful and filled with anger at what this girl has to deal with: “She seems to be stronger/But what they want her to be is weak/She could play pretend/She could join the game/She could be another clone/Why go home?”

“Black,” the following song, and the last of the three songs (also my favorite of the three) that I have already heard is 5 minutes and 43 seconds of beauty. It’s relatable because so many people have felt brokenhearted. Merely listening to it, made me sad while I was typing up this review and made me contemplative. The last set of lyrics in this song are the most painful of all: “I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life/I know you’ll be a star/In somebody else’s sky/But why…can’t it be mine.”

The sixth track, “Jeremy” has a really cool backstory, because the lyrics are based on a newspaper article Vedder had read about a boy, Jeremy Wade Delle, who shot himself in front of his English class on January 8, 1991. It is also about a classmate Vedder knew in middle school who shot up an oceanography room.

“Oceans” is the next song and it’s nice, but I’d argue it’s the most boring song on the album, but the lyrics are alright, not as interesting as other songs, however.

The eighth song is “Porch,” and it definitely shook me out of the boredom I had with the previous song. The song has a lot of energy and of course Vedder’s voice is great in this one, definitely sets the song more than the lyrics. I find that the lyrics usually compensate for the composition of the song or vice versa.

The ninth track is “Garden,” which is a calming song, but still, has a lot of the energy the other songs have. This song can be deconstructed and interpreted in various ways, but the most interesting stanza is the second: “I don’t question/Our existence/I just question/Our modern needs.” Rather than questioning existence itself, why not question what it means to be alive in the modern age? This question goes overlooked as wants are quickly becoming needs, but the lack of self-awareness makes it so people view existence as inherently materialistic rather than modernity resulting in materialism.

“Deep” follows and this time the composition shines over the lyrics. It’s not the best song on here, it’s definitely forgettable, but it’s not boring while one listens to it.

The last song, “Release” is a couple seconds over nine minutes long. The title is certainly appropriate for the last song, seeing as the listener is literally released from the album. When it comes to longer songs I am biased because I love them. I feel the longer songs are the better they are at letting the listener lose themselves in the song and really get the most substance out of the song in comparison to shorter songs. It is a great way to end the album, calming down the listener while also maintaining the high energy and emotion the album had continuously.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10. It’s a good album, but I think I’m more likely to listen to the songs I found outstanding alone rather than listen to the full album.

Recommended song: “Black”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs-XZ_dN4Hc

Click here to see their website.

Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur (also known as 2Pac and Makaveli) was an American rapper from East Harlem, New York. His music career was active from 1987-1996 until his untimely death at the age of 25. He is the first solo hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is considered to be one of the most influential rappers of all time and Rolling Stone ranked him as 8th on its list of “The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” His debut album 2Pacalypse Now (This one is semi-self-titled!) was released in 1991, consisting of 13 tracks. I have never been very attracted to rap or hip-hop music, artists I like in that genre are spare (I like Logic if that gives you a good idea of what kind of rap I’m into) and I would consider it my least favorite genre, but I am always open to trying new things, so this could be a surprising experience for me. It should be noted; however, two of the song titles have expletives, so I will only list them as their track number.

The first song is “Young Black Male.” I’m really trying to look at this with an open mind, but I already want to turn it off. I think it’ll eventually grow on me, because it is catchy, but not something I’d listen to and the messages in this type of music aren’t ones I’m fond of, so the lyrics aren’t catching my attention either, but perhaps the following songs will be better.

The second song is “Trapped” and as I had hoped for above, it is much better than the opening song. I find the lyrics are better in this one and brings up social issues in the black community, which people can still relate to today: “Cause they never talk peace in the black community/All we know is violence, do the job in silence/Walk the city streets like a rat pack of tyrants.”

The third track is “Soulja’s Story,” which also brings up social issues: “They cuttin’ off welfare/They think crime is risin’ now/You got whites killin’ blacks/Cops killin’ blacks, and blacks killin’ blacks.” As I said at the start, I don’t really enjoy this music, but it’s awesome he used his platform to bring attention to different issues that I’m sure people still look back to even to this day.

Track four brings the issue of racism and police brutality the black community faces (a reoccurring theme it seems) and shows his discontent with the problems blacks face in America. Now, I didn’t like it as I first listened, but I figured if I focused to hard on it I would never like the music, and towards the middle I actually started liking the song.

The next track is “Violent” and repeats many of the messages in the last couple of songs. Although the last paragraph of the song is questionable in terms of what message it’s trying to send, discussion and feelings about these issues from all sides is important: “They claim that I’m violent, just ’cause I refuse to be silent/These hypocrites are havin’ fits, ’cause I’m not buyin’ it/Defyin’ it, envious because I will rebel against/Any oppressor, and this is known as self defense.”

“Words of Wisdom,” the sixth song, I thought was a pretty cool song. It sounds like a speech at the beginning rather than a song, which I think made what was being said more powerful. Later it leads into a rap, but I enjoyed this one.

The seventh song, “Something Wicked,” pretty much only has one verse and the rest is repetitive. I thought it was boring in comparison to the other songs on the album.

Track 8 repeats the recurrent theme of police brutality and racism seen in other songs in the album. It’s an alright song, but I do wish at this point some new topics would be brought up in the songs.

The ninth song, “If My Homie Calls” is cool and the music is growing on me at this point.

“Brenda’s Got a Baby,” the next song, is really catchy and discusses the issue of teen pregnancy. Tupac wrote the song after reading a newspaper article that discussed a 12-year-old girl, pregnant from her cousin, who threw away her baby in a trash compactor: “She wrapped the baby up and threw him in the trash heep/I guess she thought she’d get away/Wouldn’t hear the cries/She didn’t realize/How much the the little baby had her eyes/Now the baby’s in the trash heep balling/Momma can’t help her, but it hurts ta hear her calling.”

The eleventh track “Tha’ Lunatic” is also very catchy, but the lyrics to this one don’t have much substance, detracting from the song itself.

“Rebel of the Underground” follows and I find I like this one as well, so at this point I would say the second half of the album is much better than the first half.

The last song is “Part Time Mutha.” It brings up social issues of welfare, drugs, and sexual abuse. I like the topic it brings attention to and it is one of the more memorable tracks on the album, so it was smart to put it as the last track.

Overall rating: 6/10. Honestly, the rating is merely based on what my ear likes, but I did give the music a shot and I’m glad I was able to. People who are looking to listen to an album that mostly highlights social issues will love this album, especially if they are into rap, so I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for responses to societal issues from musicians!

Recommended Song: I won’t link it here, because it does have expletives, but definitely “Brenda’s Got a Baby.”

Click here to see his website.

Yes

Yes is an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968. Over the years they have changed through numerous members (19 in total) and have had various changes in musical style, such as art rock, pop, and blues. If you aren’t familiar with the band or aren’t familiar with many of their songs, you might know what is likely their most famous song “Roundabout” (I’m looking at you JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fans!), which comes from their 1971 album, Fragile. Their debut album is (yet again…) self-titled as Yes and was released in 1969. The album consists of 8 tracks with 2 being covers.

The first song is “Beyond & Before.” The start is a little dull, making it seem even longer than it actually is. The harmony of the voices is appealing, but overall, I find the song is a little boring. Tolerable, but not a great start to the album.

The following song is “I See You” is a cover of a song by The Byrds. It doesn’t get off to an exciting start, but it is intriguing. The harmony is great once again and as the second verse starts the song becomes energized.

“Yesterday and Today” is the third track and it has such a light, airy tone to it. I immediately fell in love with it hearing the first few words. I think it can be interpreted as a love song, but also as a song of heartbreak, because it made me very sad when listening to it: “Why is there you when there are few people around making me feel good?/Why is there me when air is free, some I can see better than I should?/There’s only us simply because thinking of us makes us both happy.”

The fourth song, “Looking Around,” begins with energy and catchiness. As I listen to this and continue hearing the harmonies, I thought, “They’re like a prog rock, Beach Boys!” Despite the dull beginning, I am pleasantly surprised with how awesome the album is.

The fifth track is “Harold Land.” While the song has a nice sound to it, the lyrics are what makes this song! It is a song about war, following the life of a man named Harold Land (duh!) and the effects the war had on him: “In conversation it could be said/Well after war your heart is dead/Well it’s not hard to understand/There is no heart in Harold Land.”

Following is the second cover on the album, “Every Little Thing,” which was originally a song by the Beatles. I like what they did to the song, making it have a harder sound, rather than the softer sound the Beatles has. About two minutes in, they also add the main guitar riff from another Beatles song, “Day Tripper,” into their cover as well.

The seventh song is “Sweetness” and it does indeed have a sweet, loving tone. The best songs on this album, I’ve noticed, are the ones that deal with love! I have a long list of songs I could only dream are one day dedicated to me, and today I’m adding a new one: “She brings the sunshine to a rainy afternoon/She puts the sweetness in and stirs it with a spoon/She watches for my moods and never brings me down/She puts the sweetness in all around.”

The last song “Survival” overlaps the previous one for a few seconds. It is a soft song and a great ending for the end of the album, leaving you interested in what more of their music can be offered in other albums. I love the message the song presents, because it highlights the importance of life, while also pointing out death is inevitable: “Don’t doubt the fact there’s life within you/Yesterday’s endings will tomorrow life give you/All that dies/Dies for a reason.”

Overall rating: 8/10. It started off really dull, but I can’t say that the rest of the album had it’s downfalls because I don’t think it did. It’s not the best album I’ve ever heard nor would I listen to the whole thing regularly, but it contains many beautiful songs.

Recommended Song: “Yesterday and Today”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_dzpXGGP1Q

Click here to see their website.

For more information on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, past inductees, and more check out their website by clicking here.