Highlight - Little Bitch
I just don't like Ska or Reggae.
Honestly, there isn't a song on this album that isn't a highlight. This album is certainly George Michael's strongest of his discography, and each track is built well enough that it can be retooled into a club banger (because this happened already)..and the under-appreciated Part 2 of I Want Your Sex legitimately slaps, with its big horns. Monkey was a powerhouse sleeper hit followed by Kissing a Fool, with its sexy-suave swing beat.
Highlight: Break Down and Let It All Out.
This album exemplifies folk/rock, but isn't the same stuff you hear on the radio all the time, so it still feels fresh. Great stuff.
Highlight - Don't Look At My Shadow, What to Do
The Amorous Humphrey Plugg - There's a high-pitched noise throughout this song, it's irritating.
Honestly, this style just doesn't jibe with me.
This album is bad. I still don't like Bob Dylan. I listened, and I still don't like it. Also ENOUGH about Maggie, Bob, it's freakin' creepy.
Highlights: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue...Not because of the song, but it let us know this over-rated crapfest of an album is over.
Lowlights: All of it.
A lot of really familiar psychedelic, hippy cuts here
Highlights: In a Station, The Weight
Lowlights: Tears of Rage
J.Mascis' stunning ability to sling an axe is legendary...But of course, music isn't all guitars.
Highlight: Sludgefeast, In A Jar
Lolite: Tarpit
Highlight - Black Diamond
Lowlight - Answering Machine
Downtempo/Trip-Hop i dunno. It's not bad, per se, but I feel like Tricky has some stronger selections.
Absolutely, positively perfect in every way.
There's no doubt Miles Davis had profound affect on Jazz, and this is a fine showcase of his undoubted skills.
I'm just not into it.
Highlight - It's No Use
This is the music you hear when someone is nostalgic
for the 60's. It's The Wonder Years. The sweeping, melodic guitars, the chorus of vocals, the Tamborine...All of it points to the summer of 1965.
This time is gone. We aren't getting it back.
Highlights - This Is The Day, Uncertain Smile.
This album is magical from start to finish, though the opening track (I've been Waitin' for Tomorrow) is a bit tough to get through...it's long and meandering, almost pointless as verses stretch a little to far...and that's the whole point...It's the price of admission to a goofy, introspective trip that is sure to delight.
Load up the bong and take a big ol' rip, because that'll help you get through this jam band slog.
This is a competent, reasonable listen, harkening back to the days of free love, copious amounts of cocaine on the set. I'm just not really sure that holds up today.
This is a perfect glam-rock opera that highlights David Bowie's incredible talent for lyrical economy, packing as much feeling, soul, and hype into simple verses like no one else can. Five Years swells with heartfelt loss, pity, that if you aren't paying attention, you'll lose a tear. Soul Love transitions to a hope, and continues to Moonage Daydream that's light and innocent like newfound love. The entire saga of Ziggy Stardust transitions masterfully from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs, with the hardest lessons being that losing control isn't out of reach for even the most saintly of us. The album is experienced best when it's start-to-finish, but every track stands on its own, especially rock-and-roll anthem Suffragette City and it's pithy aside WHAM BAM THANK YOU, MA'AM. You just couldn't ask for a better album from a better artist.
Highlights: All The Young Dudes, Jerkin' Crocus, Soft Ground, Ready For Love/After Lights
This album is a fun romp through a a band's near-breakup (saved by an intervention staged by David Bowie) and epitomizes glam-rock with a bright mixture of hard-rock and crunchy cocksure riffs throughout.
Highlight: Butter
Big bumpin' ensemble hip-hop rap that sounds unmistakably 90's, but still echos in modern hip-hop. It's interesting to hear the roots of so many sounds.
gyah, this is a rough listen...repetitive, meandering, pointless plunking. no desire to keep listening.
Highlight: Cinnamon Girl
This is folk, exactly what you'd come to expect from Neil Young. Nothing outrageous or offensive, just good classic folk rock.
Highlights: Power of Equality, Breaking the Girl, Under The Bridge
It's the breakout album that introduced the world to California punk-pop (for better or for worse). It's uniquely obnoxious and brightly endearing, and something that most other bands couldn't get away with, especially since the grunge sound had taken hold at the same time (BSSM was released on the same day as Nirvana's Nevermind). There's something for everyone here, not all tracks will hit equally, and certainly no one should feel bad if they don't enjoy them all.
Highlight: Moonshake
Improv beatnik avant garde jazz-band serpentine musical diaries aren't really my thing, but Future Days is an all-together pleasant journey. It would be right at home at a coffee shop while writing a screenplay on a heavily-stickered Macbook, masking the clatters of coffee cups stacked high, the hissing of the steamer, the buzz-rumble of the grinder. CAN's free-flowing movements aren't impolite or particularly memorable, they're just /there/ and aren't in any way meant to intrude or divert your attention. This is good study music.
Highlights: The Sensual World, Deeper Understanding, This Woman's Work
It's easy (and frankly lazy) to compare Kate Bush to Tori Amos, but there is so much more. Both feature a strong, crystal clear vocal talent, companied with classically-trained piano...Bush's haunting, sweeping melodies intertwined with other-worldly lyrics are easily her own, comparisons be damned. She'll hook you with a pop-like progression and turn on you, shattering your expectations with the unsettling reality that this is her show, she's going to run it her way. It's great. This is a strong album from start to finish.
Highlights: F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E., Live Bed Show, I Spy
Pulp's sustained obscurity always put them in the "I should listen to that, but never got around to it" category. I'm glad I did, this was a wonderful experience from start to finish, which harkens back to David Bowie's soft-glam days and The Smiths Louder Than Bombs. The vocalist plays against a sweeping landscape of reverb and melodies skillfully eeked out of low-production value amps and synths. This less-is-more approach is where Pulp's sound contrasts to Bowie's bombastic presence. It's begging to be heard, and you aren't doing anyone (especially yourself) any favors by not answering the call.
Highlight: N.I.B. (Note: several of these tracks are not available on Spotify or Apple Music, making it difficult to judge the entirety of this album)
An early effort from who would soon be rock legends, Black Sabbath establishes their unmistakably Sabbath sound and will be built on and celebrated for decades to follow.
Highlights - Revival, Sailing, Desire Lines
Halcyon Digest piqued my curiosity from the get-go, establishing a sense of wonder. It settled on a shoegazer-like, progression of dreamy and foreboding, reverb-heavy guitars...Revival is a strong, upbeat number that can be found at home in vintage clothing shops and hipster bars that sell $8 pitchers of PBR. Sailing is an auditory achievement that obviously takes the listener on a sailing trip conveyed by samples and the artist's drifting vocals. It's clear Deerhunter draws inspiration from low-fi pop acts such as Stereolab and Lush (Is it coincidence that Lush and Deerhunter both have different songs called \"Desire Lines?\")
Highlight: Rodeo Drive
This is essential 70's funk-jazz. Pleasant to listen to, but my brain isn't wired for jazz.
Highlights: Spacelab, The Motion
Simplistic rhythms, early sci-fi synths, sequencers before sequencers existed. This is early electronic, meticulously and judiciously executed. Obviously, Kraftwerk laid the groundwork for acts such as Daft Punk and Devo to follow, but also served as inspiration for the 80's computer demo-scene composers such as Skaven and Purple Motion (and later Future Crew).
The problem with reviewing electronic music is that what was state-of-the-art then sounds primitive and dated by today's standards. Does it hold up? I dunno...You could probably put a caveman's wheel on your modern car, but it might not get you as far.
Highlights: Seven Days Too Long
Unmistakably British, raucous, and distinctively DMR is fun and bouncy. I enjoy most of this album.
Highlight: I'll Kiss You
The thing that surprised me the most about this album is that I used to think all of these songs spanned multiple albums over several years. Nope, they're all here on one album, and it's not even a "best of". The songs I've already heard a million times and some new treats "I'll Kiss You" is especially bouncy and fun. Every track a banger!
I see what they're trying to do here, and it's not the worst I've heard, but it's not particularly well-executed either. The album opens with Halfway Home, which sounds very Joy Division-esque, but somehow less exciting. The tracks sound like gray noise until you get to Red Dress which breaks out into really what reminds me of the type of rap they try to put in Anime music. It's not good.
At the very least, the songs that Spotify plays after this is filled with Arcade Fire, The Shins, and Local Natives, all of which I love. I'm just not really thrilled with this offering.
The 60's were a crazy time, man
A pleasant, AOR album. The iconic "I see good people" is represented here in its multiple incarnations, as well as other classics.
I've kind of always thought of Iggy Pop as "unrefined David Bowie", and Pop's take on China Girl is hard for me to listen to, but also illustrates this point. It's not that Iggy Pop isn't great, it's that I'd rather just listen to David Bowie.
This is old-school rap at its finest, plenty of great classic soul/funk loops and thoughtful rhymes.
This album just plain rocks, and still holds up. I don't really have anything else to add.
Highlights: Them Changes, Tokyo, Show You The Way, Captain Stupido
Lowlight: Walk On By
What the...is this Bill Wurtz? Anyways, it's silly and fun, jazz-fusion-y...thing. Just like BW, but with a much fouler mouth and a lot more warble-synths, and plenty of meme-worthy lines ("Still feel weird...beat your meat, go to sleep") and humor all around. Allowing Spotify to continue playing suggestions also introduced me to other unique acts such as Little Dragon and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
Highlights: Deacon Blues, Peg
Lowlight: Ironically...Aja
70's Jazz/Rock fusion and velvety lyrical prowess never sounded better. This isn't just a musically excellent album, it's also a sonic masterpiece; Every beat, crash, strum, pluck, and chord is deliberate and represented with crystal clear clarity, with plenty of space between to catch your breath. There is nothing overwhelming here, classics like Peg will have you tapping your toe...Even with tracks like Josie where there is more complexity, nothing is edged out or muddy. This is a well-built album.
highlights - a chicken with its head cut off, i think i need a new heart, book of love, Sweet Lovin' Man, Long-Forgotten Fairytale, bitter tears (i wanted more of this, it's too short)
lowlights - how f*ng romantic, a pretty girl is like
This "album" is like a 30 songs in 30 days challenge; when artists do this, not everything should be kept...Sometimes greatness comes out, but a lot of filler that's best left on the cutting room floor. There are certainly gems to be found, but many are tough to listen through...luckily most tracks are short (Bitter Tears was a great track I wanted MORE), but after a while fatigue sets in and I stopped caring. Some tracks were distractingly bad (how f*ing romantic)...and overall I started to feel like Book of Love (gem) is also a review of this album...Long and boring...some of it is transcendental...some of it is just really dumb.
Highlights: Laughing, Talk About The Passion, Striking Through
Before they were shiny and happy and lost their religion, before everybody hurt, before they crushed with eyeliner...it was Murmur. The breakout album by R.E.M. that reignited America's love with sweeping guitar rock that was increasingly becoming punky- metal- glammy- and loud. R.E.M. would have fallen victim to the loudness wars if not for their just getting everything right, paving the way for acts like Live and Radiohead.
Highlights - Duet and Flight of the Foo Birds, I guess?
Flight... certainly paints a picture, I can envision a gaggle of sea birds dancing about on the beach with this in the background.
Having said that, I've never been a big swing music fan, it still sounds all the same to me... loud, surprising horns, slow-walking jazz bass, piano plinks here and there, relaxed woodwinds, brushes on percussion. It's winding-down music...and not necessarily for me.
Highlights - Don't Stop..., Rock With You, Off The Wall, Burn This Disco Out
I've always appreciated the sonic clarity of Michael Jackson's work, his ability to craft truly toe-tapping melodies, his incredible vocal range...His foray into his solo act truly got off the ground when he partnered with Quincy Jones for Off The Wall. Don't Stop.. and Rock With You require no explanation, these are assured classics. It's worth noting that this album was made for record playback in mind, as such, the eponymous Off The Wall kicks off the B-side with unsettling laughter and transitions into a solid banger with a feel-good chorus. Burning This Disco Out closes out the second side with a funk-filled send off that'll have you dancing and flipping back to Track 1 over and over.
Highlights: Age of Pamparius, SelfDestructo Bust,
Probably, Zillion Dollar Sadist, Are You Ready, Prince of the Rodeo
On the surface, you'd think TN is just vulgar, trashy, rude, offensive shock-rock or garage punk...If not for the well-crafted licks, aggressive progressions, and the exquisite execution of every track here. The lyrics are silly, and they don't even matter, they're just a distraction. It'd be a shame to miss out just because the track listing contains words. like "mfer" and "anus", because every track on Apocalypse Dudes is worthy of your attention.
Highlights: Terrapin
Lowlights: Dark Globe, If It's In You
A hybrid of folk and psychadelic, nice guitar playing...Improvisational? I don't know, most of the album sounds sloppy and unrehearsed. Contains some of my least favorite tropes in music: The random conversation before/after a track is played because the artist felt it relevant to include it. I did not like this album.
Highlights: Grace, Eternal Life
Lowlight: Hallelujah
Dreamy and meandering (but not pointless), Jeff Buckley has the vocal and guitar chops to make it big, so why haven't heard more of him? Seems a shame, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. Aside from a pedestrian cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", Grace is a perfectly wonderful journey to experience.
Highlights (outside of radio hits): Liar, Submission
Lowlights: Problems
They're loud, cocky and rude. They are also skilled and worth listening to. It's not for everyone, but everyone should listen.
Highlights: Praying for Time, Waiting
Lowlight: Freedom! '90
Some genre-bending music here, but I've never been a fan of Freedom! '90. Praying for Time is probably the strongest track here, that really gets inside your head and makes you think. Everything else is pretty standard fare, not exceptional but competently executed.
Highlights - He's The Greatest Dancer, You're a friend to me
Lowlights - Somebody Loves Me (too long), We Are Family
The title track, in my opinion is the weakest of the bunch, and Somebody Loves Me is long and repetitious...But the rest of this album is fantastic, especially when you're gettin' jiggy with the Greatest Dancer. This is pure R&B/disco joy.
Highlights: Lost In The Supermarket, Clampdown
It's brash, loud, and rude...it's punk rock, what else is there to say?
Highlights: The Perfect Kiss, Sunrise, Sooner Than You Think, Sub-Cultures
Oh sure, you can think of New Order as the "Bizarre Love Triangle" band, but did you know they have other songs?! Low-Life is so much more than what you'd expect from the legacy of Joy Division and pioneers of New Wave; It's perfectly crafted in every way.
It opens with standard New Order fare with Love Vigilantes progresses into an evolution of lush synth goodness with The Perfect Kiss (or Bizarre Love Triangle Evolved)...Then crests with Sunrise, a surprising and excellent rock/synth power ballad. Sooner Than You Think floats in the middle of the b-side in a dreamy, atmospheric ghostlike presence. The layered tapestry of Sub-Culture diverges and peaks at chaos (the good kind), then immediately ties everything up in a immaculate bow. Face Up closes out with callout to previous efforts, and I imagine is there to remind us at the end, we're still listening to New Order. This is a fantastic album.
Highlights: Cry to Me, Won't You Give Him (One More Chance)
If it weren't for Dirty Dancing (and "The Scene"), we may not even know about Cry to Me...But it's a great song.
Highlights: Cindy Tells Me, Blank Frank, Dead Finks Don't Talk
Which came first? The Eno, The Iggy, or The Bowie? It doesn't matter...I don't think any of them would exist without each other. Certainly Here Come The Warm Jets is half-serious throughout but glammy goofiness and artsy irreverence throughout, referencing colorful characters (I want to meet Cindy, but probably want to avoid Blank Frank). There is a lot of experimentation going on musically, but it's sure-footed and confident. Dead Finks Don't Talk is a haunting masterpiece that I can't stop listening to. There isn't a boring moment on here until the sendoff with the eponymous track that sort of can't wait to end but gets a bit dragged out.
Highlights: Work It, Gossip Folks, Back in the Day, Play That Beat, Can You Hear Me
This might be one of the most important hip-hop albums of all time: It's prescient (Bill Gates and Donald Trump? Jay-Z for president?), it's old-school even for its own time, but it maps out the future of hip-hop ("Back in the day...Hip-hop has changed"), and it wouldn't be Missy if it wasn't also foul-mouthed and that's OK. Hip-hop isn't my style, but I can't deny that Missy Elliot is the salesperson for the genre.
Highlights: The Golden Age, Paper Tiger, Little One
This is a strong, but uncharacteristic offering from Beck, which normally you'd expect genre-stretching folk rock; Sea Change is a little more relaxed, letting Mr. Hanson stretch his legs a bit and dwell a little bit more on the details. Sandwiched between 1999's vivacious Midnight Vultures and the hand-bangin' Guero of 2005, 2002's Sea Change is a brisk 180° change in both directions...It's calm and melancholy, possibly because this was a fresh post-911 world. If Beck's mood swings make your head spin, buckle up, baby, you're gunna get plenty dizzy, because Beck is one of the most versatile musicians alive, and isn't afraid to take on new challenges.
Highlight: The Partisan
The strange mind of Leonard Cohen ranges from unlistenable to brilliant, sometimes even within the same song. I have a lot of respect for the his songwriting chops and its social commentary, but I have to be in the mood for it.
Songs From A Room is no different, with the standout for me being The Partisan. This is probably the album I'd reach for if I was in the mood to listen to Cohen.
Highlights: God Put A Smile On Your Face, The Scientist, Daylight
I've always thought of Coldplay as the alternate-universe version of Radiohead that continued to explore the Pablo Honey sound and style; and surely there is room for both versions. As such, I never understood the hate that Coldplay gets...They're one of the biggest acts in the world and every one of their albums top charts.
For good reason, too; Chris Martin's instantly-recognizable voice is the backbone of every song, accompanied by Buckland, Berry, and Champion, every song feels bigger than the sum of its parts, but not overwhelming.
God Put A Smile... is enrapturing and captivating, probably one of the band's strongest cuts, but then it's followed by The Scientist, which is almost as fantastic. Clocks and Daylight at the crest of the record keep the highs going...Near the closer is the title track which also serves as an apt description. Rush of Blood might be peak Coldplay, but it would be be a disservice to the listener to stop the journey here.
Highlights: North American Scum
I probably wasn't really aware of LCD Soundsystem outside of Us V Them from Burnout: Paradise, and that's generally a song I skip ("Us....Them....Over and over again" over and over again). I did enjoy North American Scum, and can appreciate the self-deprecating humor, it's clear that LCDSS generally doesn't take themselves too seriously. Low-fi dsynths and indie-rock vibes should be more interesting than this, but it just isn't. Not really a fan.
Highlights: Starálfur, Flugufrelsarinn, Viðrar vel til loftárása
I have no idea what they're saying, or what language (It's Icelandic, in case you were wondering) but it doesn't make any difference because Sigur Rós' moody, atmospheric downtempo transcends language, invoking a sense of wonder and serenity. I can't help but to try and connect with the music...My own interpretation is that Starálfur ("Staring Elf") transports the listener to a celebratory fireworks display so lifelike, you can almost smell the sulfur and feel the night breeze on your cheeks. Flugufrelsarinn ("The Fly's Savior") continues later in the same night, deeper in the dark, at the water's edge. My interpretations don't really matter, though...
This is right at home with the likes of Halou, Flunk, Zero 7, and Theivery Corporation, and will be including more in my downtempo playlists.
Highlights: The Wall-Street Shuffle, Somewhere in Hollywood, Baron Samedi, The Sacro-Iliac
Self-deprecation is one thing, I feel like The Worst Band In The World is just trying to get ahead of criticism that may or may not come. For what it's worth, only some is warranted...I feel like they're trying too hard to evoke a \"who cares\" image. The Wall Street Shuffle opens aggressively and legitimately rocks. Somewhere In Hollywood is a journey filled with misdirection and broken expectations, feels a bit like a Supertramp ditty. The driving beat and tom-toms of Baron Samedi are fun and bouncy. The Sacro-Iliac is silly, yet disjointed (see what I did there?) with a Bob Denver sound and clever lyrics (\"The lush on the floor isn't me anymore\"). Spoiler alert: The album ends abruptly with \"There's no more goodies in the pipeline\"
Highlights: Get on top, Make It Right
Lowlights: Hong Kong Bar
Get On Top is a funky and a quite enjoyable listen and Make It Right does just that and feels "bigger" than it should. The rest is either too spastic or "jammy" or maybe it's just too avant-garde for me. I don't really get the appeal here...Of the late Buckleys, I prefer Jeff.
Highlights: Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va
Latin-inspired jam-band aesthetics, I pretty much grew up with this album playing in the background, but I never much enjoyed it. Listening here, I still don't...I find jam bands in general to be meandering and pointless most of the time, with hints at accidental brilliance. I prefer finished music, please experiment on your own time.
Having said that, I do find Oye Como Va to be a relaxing and enjoy able track, and Black Magic Woman is definitely classic. I just can't get into the rest of the album.
Highlights: Randy Scouse Git, The Girl I Knew Somewhere, A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
Having grown up with The Monkees on TV, this album contains quite a few rarer and deeper cuts than I'm used to. They really did gel as a band and by 1967, were producing much more polished music than their introductory efforts, for better or for worse. It's nice to see they didn't take themselves too seriously, even later in their heyday, where they continued to craft short and punchy tracks that never overstayed their welcome, but also were numerous. As such, I won't go over them all, but they're all pretty good.
I'm definitely not the audience for this album.
I wanted to like this more than I did...Look, we get it...You figured out the didgeridoo, and we're all proud of you for it, but it doesn't need to be in every song.
Really ruined what could have been a much better album, because Jamiroquai is exceedingly talented.
Highlights: Heartland, Sweet Bird Of Truth, The Mercy Beat
Lowlights: Twilight Of A Champion
More reserved than 1983's Soul Mining, yet with more social commentary. Heartland opens with a machine-like manner, with a few plinks of a piano as if to say "deal with it", transitioning into a stark criticism of rampant late-stage capitalism. Twilight Of A Champion contains a weird mishmash of 80's sounds, it's discordant and hard to listen to...Almost feels like 80's Skinny Puppy, but not good. The Mercy Beat is a wild ride, dark and brooding, working its way into a bright pop experience, fades out and introduces you to an unsettling segue to close out the set list. This isn't my favorite, but there are some tracks worth keeping around.
Highlights: Stellar, Make Yourself, Drive, Pardon Me
I get the impression that when Beck said "Two turntables and a Microphone" it confirmed Incubus' decision to bring on Chris Kilmore to work the gimmick into their nu metal schtick, and boom, 3 albums later it's one of the best metal albums of all time. Next up: Linkin Park.
Highlights: Time Between, Everybody's Been Burned, My Back Pages, It happens Each Day
Lowlight: C.T.A. - 102
The biggest issue I have so far with this album is that it doesn't start becoming listenable until the 4th track, and even then there are some risks that the artists took that fell flat, detracting from what have been a good classic folk-rock album. C.T.A. - 102 should be left out entirely, it sounds like an unfunny joke where the punchline is just a minute of sheer annoyance at the end. Thoughts and Words would have been good if they didn't experiment with the reverse guitar pedal. Time Between is a bright, strummy ditty that showcases the 12-string nicely, while Everybody's Been Burned is dour and a great contrast; both are excellent. My Back Pages (both versions?) invokes nostalgic reflection with practical use of lovely 70's style hard-panning and harmony. Overall, this is pussy rock, but not the Byrds finest example of it.
I wrote a long and detailed review, but it got eaten somehow...Anyways, Out Of The Blue is a fantastic double album that has maybe 1 track worth skipping. There's a lot of technical (for the time) feats in this whole experience, and lyrics that reaffirm ELO's embrace of said technology.
Side 3 is known as Concerto for a Rainy Day, and should be listened to in its entirety, right up to the special message at the end just for LP listeners.
Hi: Midnight Cruiser, Fire In The Hole
Steely Dan was finding their footing in their debut album, but it was still a strong start...Besides the radio classics Do It Again, Dirty Work, and Reelin' in The Years (all of which are fantastic), less familiar tracks like Midnight Cruiser and Fire In The Hole really show that Steely Dan were on to and what they would become. It might be unfair to judge an artist against their later work, but this isn't my favorite Steely Dan album (That would be Aja)...It's great musically, just not as crisp and clean as later showings.
Hi: The Fear, Help The Aged
Lo: Seductive Barry
I went in to this one because I truly enjoyed A Different Class, however This is Hardcore starts off strong, but somehow devolves into just standard brit-pop. The Fear is introspective and invades your space (in a good way), Help The Aged is pleading because old folks were once just like you... but then Seductive Barry comes off as sultry, but ends up just being long and meandering, The Day After the Revolution suffers about the same fate. Like A Friend starts off meandering and ends up stronger and brighter, but isn't enough to save the B-side of this overall less-than-stellar album by Pulp. Still good, and if songs from this album appeared in my British Invasion station, I probably wouldn't skip them, but I also wouldn't seek them out.
Hi: Watch That Man, Drive-In Saturday, Time, Let's Spend The Night Together
There's literally nothing wrong with this album, but as far as Bowie albums go it isn't my favorite. It's raucous and not too moody, pretty good rock n' roll Bowie album. No bad tracks, just better tracks.
Hi: All of Me Belongs To You, Skid Row, Mixed Up Mess of a Heart
If you're tired of Johnny Cash outlaw country, get into so MERLE, you won't be disappointed. I don't think country gets better than this.
+ Valley of the Dolls, Drop the Pressure, In My Arms, Guilty of Love
- Sunworshipper, Destroy Rock & Roll
Chill and suave, relaxing, good for concentration, until it isn't...Some of the tracks feature spoken samples that are repeated OVER AND OVER ("Missing Persons, Duran Duran")...This might be acceptable in early electronic music where voice samples were a novelty, but this album is from 2004 where they have no excuse for it.
Highlights: The Killing Moon, My Kingdom
Lowlights: Ocean Rain
Highlights - One of these things first, Northern Sky
Lowlights - Hazy Jane 2
This is a skillfully-crafted album with crisp melodies...The guitar work as well as piano and flute are quite prominent but never step on each others toes (I suspect that they're all being played by Drake himself). It's not that Hazy Jane 2 isn't a good song, it's just not as good as the rest of the tracks...I get the impression that Drake isn't comfortable singing, because there aren't many vocals, which is a pity. Otherwise, this album is a keeper.
Hi: Green River, Wrote a Song for Everyone,
Lo: None, really
The twangy dive-bar staple swamp rockers CCR were at the peak of their heyday in 1969, and Green River is wall-to-wall greatness, with a well-rounded variety of honky-tonk, blues, ballad, and not a single song about rain.
The record opens with the raucous eponymous track, takes a breather around Wrote A Song for Everyone, then picks back up for Bad Moon Rising and finishes the album on a call-and-response high note with The Night Time is the Right Time.
It's a well-crafted album that's a might bit too short, which can be forgiven in that CCR dropped 6 albums of better-than-average quality in the span of 2 years.
Hi: On Sight, I Am A God, Hold My Liquor
Lo: I'm In It, Blood On The Leaves
Kanye experiments with a variety of musical textures, which the variety of are truly the highlight of this album.
Lyrically, West also makes some pointed social commentary (New Slaves, Hold My Liquor), through some well-crafted rhymes and verses that paint a vivid word picture.
A running theme throughout is the \"oh wait i\" gag where Kanye would reflect on the previous verse and try to change the narrative, which got old quick.
Any musical prowess displayed is ruined by use of autotuned vocals, an aesthetic choice that just grates on my nerves.
And at the end of the day, Kanye just sounds like an edgelord, interspersing overly offensive & racist lyrics that distract and do a disservice to the whole message. 2 stars.
I listened but it was so forgettable I couldn't discern one song from the next. Mostly just droning on and sleepy guitar plunks. Why do the reviewers think I needed to hear this?
Hi: I Love You Because, Just Because, Blue Moon
Lo: None
It's amazing how Elvis hit the ground running with this debut album; Every vocal is buttery smooth, every plunk of the piano deliberate, every strum of the guitar purposeful. Yet parents at the time hated it, thinking that the inevitable hip-swinging would bring about an immoral apocalypse of promiscuity. 65 years later, Elvis just sounds quant and wholesome enough to play in nurseries and Sunday school. Does it hold up? If you peel away all the influences and echos in today's music, this is the framework that would be left, and who knows what rock n' roll would look like today if this album had never existed.
Hi: Wicked, Dirty Mack, Who Got The Camera?, Say Hi to the Bad Guy
Lo: Ice Cube is an NFT selling anti-vaxxer now...bye Felicia...(-1 star)
It's on like Donkey Kong! Notorious and strident, Cube is an old school social commentator, interspersing segues containing recorded newscast dialogues between tracks that after almost 30 years still seem relevant. To say that Cube hasn't been influential over the years, garnering a successful music and acting career, is an understatement. Big beats and rhymes are the name of the game here, and it's an entertaining album to say the least.
Hi: Venus As a Boy, Violently Happy
Lo: There's More to Life Than This
Charming and sassy, this breakout Sugarcube front lady's signature other-worldly breathy vocals and driving beats or crooning orchestras or whatever else Bjork feels like throwing at you, because she do what she want.
It's those curveballs that make Bjork's catelog so diverse and interesting, even almost 30--*THIRTY*-- years later.
Hi: Ceiling Fan in My Spoon, Allison Is Starting to Happen
Lo: Rudderless, Frank Mills, Mrs. Robinson
Ever heard of the 90's? oh you have? Then have you heard that song with the not-too-crunchy guitar, not-too-whiny voice singing about a girl he likes or his friend that does drugs or some everyday random observation...and it's short and punchy...You know the one right? It's basically every 90's alternogrunge, Dinosaur Jr, Buffalo Tom, most of the Reality Bites soundtrack, or spinning in Rachel Greene's Discman.
I don't know if the Lemonheads invented the sound, but one listen and you know exactly what decade it is, because it perfectly encapsulates the whole decade, either because it's the template or it's just so generic. I don't know...There are some serious clunkers on this album. Rudderless sounds like a skipping record, Frank Mills is a meandering lukewarm attempt, and I have never been a fan of the Mrs. Robinson cover...On the other hand, It's a Shame About Ray isn't a shame at all, it's soulful and sappy. Alison is bouncy and enjoyable...Ceiling Fan is catchy, pointless, and fun. 3 stars.
Hi: Complication, Change
Lo: Tomorrow's World
A little bit Jane's Addiction and Fugazi, a little bit Pop Will Eat Itself and Pigface. KJ features driving machinelike rhythms and crunchy guitars, and just enough synth to set it even farther apart. This album may sound a little dated by today's standards, but it still has good bones, and we wouldn't have much of an industrial scene in the 90's if it weren't for Killing Joke.
Hi: As We Go Up We Go Down, Good Flying Bird, Little Whirl, Alright
Lo: They're Not Witches, Ex-Supermodel
Alien Lanes starts off weak, but builds as it goes on...Severely lo-fi, but in some cases (intentionally?) badly recorded...Random analog clicks, pops, connection noises, possible snoring(?), just unwelcome noise in general seemed to invade...I can appreciate lo-fi aesthetic, but there needs to be *some* polish, and I feel like Alien Lanes was recorded without much effort into cleaning up rough recordings. Maybe I've been spoiled by other lo-fi acts such as The Strokes, Pavement, and Sebadoh.
On the plus side, there are lots of short, punchy tracks that never feel drawn out, but some are blips as short as 18 seconds. The tracks blend into each other, so there isn't much time to stop and consider what you just heard. Still, it's worthwhile of sifting through some dregs to get to the gems showcased here, there are a few that I'll take with me, but it's tough to recommend this mixed bag.
Hi: Crescent Moon
Lo: Help
The Carpenters has such a definitive 70's sound that their music frequently mistaken for commercials and TV theme songs of that era; vocal harmonies, sweeping violins, mellotron, and lazily strummed guitars. It's makes you want to sway and is carefree and peaceful. Radio hits like We've Only Just Begun and Close To You are present and accounted for, but Crescent Moon is deep and brooding, absolutely the standout performance on this album.
Unfortunately, the cover of Help, however well executed just feels out of place, and I'm not a fan. There really isn't anything bad here, it's a competent, and fairly well executed album from start to finish.
Hi-Cecilia, Keep the Customer Satisfied
Lo-The Boxer
It's the S&G you all know and love.
Hi: I'm Finding It Harder To Be a Gentleman, Offend In Every Way, I Can't Wait
Lo: Little Room, I Think I Smell A Rat
The White Stripes minimalist sound is one of their strengths. Every track is well-composed and deliberate in every waveform...White Blood Cells isn't just a call back to classic rock (It has very early Led Zeppelin vibes, with crunchy Robert Plant-like guitars and powerful John Bonham-like pounding drums), it's stripped-down to the essentials. Like a house with the drywall removed, only every stud and beam are level, square, and plumb. It sounds wild, but it's deceptively precise. Having now heard the tracks that weren't in heavy rotation, I have a whole new appreciation and sense of importance about The White Stripes.
Hi: Drive, Monty Got A Raw Deal, Ignoreland, Star Me Kitten
Lo: NONE
Thanks for eating my review, generator! Anyways, this is an important album, one of the best from '92 (a year that birthed ton of excellent music) and almost 30 years later still holds up. If you don't love this album, you're an idiot.
Hi: Out on the Weekend, Heart of Gold, Old Man, Alabama, The Needle and the Damage Done
Lo: A Man Needs a Maid, There's a World
Neil Young's country-rock album is ever-so-easygoing with wispy pianos and sleepy guitars, anchored by Heart of Gold and Old Man at the center of the whole presentation. Unfortunately, these true classics are flanked by overly-dramatic clunkers like A Man Needs a Maid and There's a World...They feel so far out of place with their ensembles and harps, I can't even. Still, it's not an awful album, and the good outshines the less-than-good.
Hi: The Ballad of 32, Black Night White Light, The Only Star In Heaven, The Power of Love
Lo: Welcome to the Pleasuredome, Relax, Tag, Born to Run, San Jose
The 13-minute title track is very repetitive, alternating "Shooting stars never stop" (they disintegrate) and "There goes a supernova, what a pushover" without much progression until, I guess the performers got bored, which to their credit, they outlasted me. Everyone has heard "Relax", and it's no better sandwiched between Welcome... and War. Tag just seems to be an unnecessary segue that talks about ejaculation...Fury starts out pretty good, but it's only a minute-long segue, and it's a callback to Gerry & The Pacemakers, so it isn't even original...then it kicks off some karaoke-like covers of Born to Run and San Jose which just don't seem to fit. The Ballad of 32 is a rather pleasant instrumental track, I wish there were more of these, because the following Krisco Kisses is frankly obnoxious and annoying, but the next few tracks (Black Night White Light, The Only Star In Heaven, The Power of Love) take a turn for the better, but the best tracks being at the end of the B-side doesn't really save this album from being mostly rubbish.
Hi: Darkness Darkness, Sham
Lo: On Sir Francis Drake, Turn It Over, Black Mountain Breakdown
What if the Beatles and Steely Dan were a jam band? This is the vibe I get from The Youngbloods, with a little elevator music/adult contempo. None of it unpleasant, quite inoffensive. No real standout tracks, a few that I actively disliked. I'm glad to have heard it, but probably won't be returning.
Hi- Hidden Place, Pagan Poetry, Aurora, Unison
Weaving the hollow and empty with grandiose and dramatic, synthetic with natural, the devious with the naive, listening to Björk is like watching a crystal-clear video stream glitching out on a flaky connection; It's poetic, flowing, and jarring. This kind of evolution of Björk's tapestry of duality is interspersed throughout Vespertine, bizarre, beautiful and disastrous.
Hidden Place is an other-worldly (a term all too often associated with Björk's work) track that sets the tone for the 50 minute journey that follows, with Björk's signature struggled breathy crooning (Pagan Poetry) vs her wild belting of notes that echo off the back walls of time (Aurora), it's endearing as much as it is unsettling. Unison is both claustrophobic and expansive, just more opposites that get played off of each other which are part-and-parcel for a vacation through the strange world of Björk, a world that simply couldn't be anyone else's.
Hi- Mouth of War, A New Level, Walk, This Love, Regular People (Conceit)
It's really easy to call it "SCREAMO" or "Cookie Monster Music" but those derogatory labels lack nuance, when Vulgar... is a masterpiece. The opening act with Mouth For War, A New Level, Walk, and *** Hostile all feature killer guitar riffs, but then you're hit with This Love, which is filled with melodic and masterful guitarwork. The rest of the album is more of the same but not really the same because each track is unique and executed with masterful precision in new ways. Hatebreed, Static-X, Mudvayne owe a lot to Pantera, as it's clear they've culled much of their sound from here.
Hi: The silence between the tracks.
Lo: Tangled Up In Blue, You're a Big Girl Now, Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, pretty much the whole album
I don't get it. Every Bob Dylan song is an aimless stream of consciousness that's about 4 verses too long (or until Bob gets bored with it, usually long after everyone else has), and wraps up with about 40 seconds of screeching harmonica and fade to blissful silence. Toward the end, I started not to be able to differentiate between harmonica and tinnitus.
It's really unclear to me if this is his "style" or what, but I just don't like it and I don't see what's so appealing about his music.
Hi- Cross-Eyed Mary, My God, Locomotive Breath
Raise your flutes to the sky! Jethro Tull has a story to tell (Actually 12 of them), so gather 'round for some prog-rock goodness with a heavy dose of flute-rock. The songwriting in every track is great, but the standouts are superb. Great album.
Hi: The Glorious Land, On Battleship Hill, In The Dark Places
It's a pretty decent album, though it feels like Siouxie and the Banshees? The Glorious Land is a pretty solid track, if not for the reveille samples?
Lo: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Jocko Homo
Possibly my mood, but I couldn't get into this one. Guess I don't like Devo as much as I thought I did.
Hi- So Tough, Typical Girls, I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Lo- Everything else
Punk/Reggae-ish, cover that makes me uncomfortable to have on my screen at work...An actually kind-of enjoyable version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine...This album is mostly just obnoxious noise, but it does sound like a less-refined L7 to my ears. I like L7, though, and I don't like this.
Hi- Rocket USA
Lo- Girl, Frankie Teardrop
Feels like the roots of bands like Joy Division and other industrial acts; I can hear a lot of influences in modern music...with dark and brooding late 70's synth and electric drums. It's hideously experimental; the vocalist doesn't really sing, but rather blurts (and sometimes screams) unstructured beat poetry, trying to tell some story. Girl is just repetitive and way too long for a song that doesn't really progress....but then you get to Frankie Teardrop...I don't really call this music but some kind of interpretive performance art. Most of the tracks on this album just meander and it's unpleasant to listen to.
Hi- Box of Rain
Lots of lovely 70's style hard-pan, less swampy swamp rock than CCR, well executed folk-rock. Not bad!
Hi- Down Yonder, Can I Sleep in Your Arms, Hands on the Wheel
Minimalistic, soothing, but never downtrodden; This is an easy to listen to album
Hi- Speed of Life, What in the World, Sound and Vision, Be My Wife, Weeping Wall, Subterraneans
The first act opens up with rapid-fire ditties that we've all come to know and love from Bowie, with some fresh experiments in electronic sounds. What in the World starts off with what should be an annoying bleeping that somehow just works and wouldn't be the same without it. Be My Wife is filled with hard-hitting honky-tonk piano hits and driving beats.
The second act (right after you'd normally flip over the record or cassette) features more atmospheric, electronic tapestries; Weeping Wall features marimbas that provide the backing for a moody exploration. Subterraneans is a thickly-layered scored like you'd experience on the big screen, complimented by that classic Bowie baritone sax to remind you what you're dealing with here.
Fantastic album, just amazing, you're stupid if you don't love it.
Hi- Show Girl, Bailed Out, Starstruck
New Wave opens with a strong trio of songs, Really nice brit-pop, which is right at home in a playlist of Mansun, Blur, Manic Street Preachers, and Oasis. I'll keep this one in my back pocket!
Pretty good all around, sorry no detailed review. Just listen, you'll like it.
hi- thing called love, have a heart
Hey, shut up! Just listen to this album!
Hi- Speed Demon, Another Part of Me
Lo- Librarian Girl
One of my very favorite things about MJ's albums are how incredibly crisp and clean they sound, even if the music isn't your taste (which would be just weird, because Michael was truly a musical perfectionist) his ability to compose melodies, write catchy hooks, and fuse pop, gospel, rock, jazz, and blues is tough to match.
Hi-There Goes The Fear, Caught By The River
Lo-There Goes The Fear
Pretty OK after a few listen throughs, but not really memorable. There Goes The Fear is a really enjoyable track up until the very annoying noises at the end. N.Y. does kind of the same thing...Here's an idea, guys: When you're done with the song, just END IT, instead of devolving into aural torture. Album ends with Caught By The River, which is a good track (and pretty famous)...The rest of the tracks are more Stone Roses type of brit-pop than Manic Street Preachers and it's not really my style. It's fine, but a little moodier than I like and I probably won't be listening again.
Hi-'97 Bonnie & Clyde,
Rap's original edgelord revels in his vulgarity, though most of the humor is from the self-deprecating perspective of the title character and is an over-the-top satirical commentary on impoverished living.
'97B&C is a touching showing of vulnerability, which is a welcome change of pace for the album. There are a number of "skits" that I just dislike in albums that could better be done without...the rap trope of recorded phone calls that someone thought was funny was tired even in '99.
Overall an enjoyable album, a lot of classics that still hold up, and still manage to make me blush.
Hi-Debaser, Tame, Wave of Mutilation, Here Comes Your Man, Crackity Jones
Lo-Mr. Grieves
Probably regarded as The Pixies most famous album (this reviewer prefers Trompe le Monde), it's wall-to-wall short and sweet bangers, packed to the gills with Frank Black and Kim Deal coolness, there really isn't a bad track in the bunch, maybe some that just aren't as good as others (Mr. Grieves), but nothing offensive and they're all short that by the time you might think of skipping a track, it's already over, with the longest cut clocking in just shy of 4 minutes. Unfortunately, that means the party is over all too quickly!
Hi- Personality Crisis, Vietnamese Baby, Trash
Not bad, fun, and raucous...This is a sound that seems like it influenced The Clash and Murder City Devils.
Hi-Maybe After He's Gone, Hung Up On A Dream
Lo-Changes
Of all the hippy-dippy psychadelic music, the Zombies are mainstays that brought us the timeless Time of the Season that closes out this album. Before that, you'll get to experience the both sad and sunny Maybe After He's Gone and the equally brilliant Hung Up On A Dream. Changes is drab beat poetry, but it's worth hearing nonetheless.
you can run, you'll just die tired
Hi-Elected, No More Mr. Nice Guy
Lo-Mary Ann
Other than that appearance in Wayne's World, I never really had much exposure to Alice Cooper...This stage of AC feels like an opening band for early Black Sabbath (not a bad thing!), and hit their stride and reinvented themselves. You have some truly fun tracks like Elected and No More Mr. Nice Guy. On the other hand, while I have a soft-spot for well-executed hard-pan styles, but Mary Ann is stuck in the left channel for most of the song, and I don't really like that. Aside from that, this is a fun album and a great entry point to Alice Cooper's body of work.
Lo- Grace
This is some bluesy/psychedelic/swampy-rock, or at least that's what it presents itself as. "Electric Music" in that it's mainly guitar/organ...Nothing really sticks out as exceptional, just mainly average, except for the last track "Grace", which meanders and is kind of pointless...pretty much like the rest of the album.
