Favs: Cupid, Twistin' the Night Away, Bring It On Home to Me, Having a Party, Chain Gang
Mehs: Medley: It's All Right/For Sentimental Reasons
I'm usually not much for live albums, but the energy of the crowd here and his crowd-work makes this one incredible (crowd-work is especially fun on "Chain Gang," a song my mom used to sing all the time). “Having a Party” and “Cupid” just make you feel good. Cooke's raw but smooth voice is a favorite. I always sit and feel impressed that this is his voice live. Great soul; great sax.
Favs: South Side, Honey, Porcelain
Mehs: Inside, If Things Were
I don’t think Moby ages that well. It was innovative for me in 1999, when I was limited to music I/someone I knew purchased or music that got radio play. But, now that there are so many artists who do this better, it seems derivative/repetitive. But I used to skate at the roller rink to “South Side” because I’M OLD. So I gave it a 3 for fond memories. I think if I were hearing it for the first time, it would be more a 2, 2.5.
Favs: Billion Dollar Babies, I Love the Dead, Hello Hooray, No More Mr. Nice Guy
Mehs: I don't really think this one has "mehs." But Raped and Freezin' is my least favorite.
Great stuff. Essential rock. Alice Cooper! \m/(>.<)\m/
Favs: Can I Kick It?, Bonita Applebum, Ham 'N' Eggs, all of them really
Mehs: The opening bit of Push It Along isn't my favorite but, yeah, all these songs are great
Lot of fun to listen to for the first time in a couple years. Still sounds fresh and innovative. Great lyrics and song variety (STDs, breakfast food, French Cassanovas!). Fun little unexpected jazzy bits. Great sampling (always love the Lou Reed on "Can I Kick It?").
Is it just me, or did Hamilton totally rip off "Luck of Lucien" in tone and sound? Hmm.
Favs: Um. I guess "Stan." Sometimes Dido sang, and that was better
Mehs: It's beyond meh into painful
Worse than I remembered, but I only heard singles.
I did not know this had "skits." There is a skit where Shaggy and Violent Jay perform oral sex on each other. Because ha ha they are gay. Ha ha. Then mother raping, girlfriend murdering, mother throat slitting, yelling homo, yelling slut, blah blah. "Kim" in particular is enraging and his voice sucks on the bridge. Ha ha domestic abuse.
The edgelord burns. Lyrics aside, his beats and themes are damn repetitive, too. Wish I could give zero stars.
Favs: In A Gadda Da Vida
Mehs: All the rest of it blurs together. The vocals on "Most Anything You Want" annoy me
This is pretty good acid rock. But like most acid rock, it all kinda sounds like one big clump of same.
Favs: This Is Hell, You Tripped At Every Step
Mehs: Pony St.
Always enjoyed Elvis Costello. I think his voice works better on slow, coffeehouse stuff. When the songs get fast and tinkle-y, like "Pony St.," his voice grates on me. But some of his stuff like "This Is Hell" and "Everyday I Write the Book" (not on this album, but my favorite) is excellent.
Favs: Dia das roses (I Think Of You), Beach Samba
Mehs: You Didn't Have to Be So Nice
This was an interesting one. I didn't necessarily love all the selections or their set up, but I *love* her voice. And I don't think I'd ever heard any of this, except Beach Samba.
Favs: Love Will Never Do (Without You), Escapade, Rhythm Nation
Mehs: All the Interludes
Janet Jackson sounds happy on this album, and that makes me happy. Fun tween bop pop. I'm not sure I'd have it on this list, but I did enjoy listening to it again.
Favs: May This Be Love and Manic Depression are personal favorites. The Wind Cries Mary. Fire. Hey Joe. Foxey Lady. Purple Haze.
Mehs: No mehs on Jimi albums. I guess Third Stone From the Sun is my least favorite, but it's still good
Hendrix's guitar work is still a mind blowing display of blues guitar. You get that with Mitchell's great drums, and you still get the clever lyrics: "You can hear happiness staggering on down the street Footprints dressed in red." Great stuff.
Favs: C.R.E.A.M., Protect Ya Neck, Bring Da Ruckus
Mehs: The opening to Method Man. Please, please stop with the testicle torture and sewing anuses shut. What even?
Don't remember liking Cash Rules Everything Around Me much, but I really liked it this go around. Music on it is great, too.
Favs: If I Should Fall from Grace with God, Fiesta, Lullaby of London, Sit Down by the Fire, Thousands Are Sailing
Mehs: No mehs.
Irish rabble-rousing tunes: guts, soul, and dancing. Great fun. Only The Pogues sound like The Pogues.
Favs: I guess "She's So Strange"? It has a kind of Blur vibe to it, lyrics-wise. Blur, if the music was crappy.
Mehs: Annnd the rest.
I hate Why Does It Always Rain On Me. Hate. It makes me feel like Mrs. White in Clue with the flames on the side of my face. I hate that my brain heard it again.
Favs: Small, The Rip, Hunter
Mehs: Not big on the opening to Silence
This is my least favorite Portishead album, but I really love their stuff. I like this, but it's not as lush. Beth Gibbon's voice is still one of my all time favorites, even as it gets more downtempo and bleak here. Their other stuff has a hopeful aura paired with Gibbon's longing keen, but this album never soars to me like their other songs do. Small gets closest, I think.
Favs: Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury, INS
Mehs: Water Pistol Man
This is the first album we've had where I'd never heard the album or artist at all before. I liked it more than I expected. I particularly like his rapping voice and how it flows and his lyrics. "The problem has never been our political logic
but the way we enact it
We can imagine a perfect society
but can't maintain a decent relationship
The failure found in the luxuries
not in the hardships." Pretty good stuff.
Favs: Blue Jeans, Pressure on Julian, Oily Water
Mehs: Advert
Blur is good, JACOB! It has Damon Albarn! Blur is basically the acoustic Gorillaz!
Favs: Inertiatic Esp; Roulette Dares; Eriatarka
Mehs: Son et Lumiere
"Speculative fiction telling the first-person story of someone in a drug-induced coma, battling the evil side of his mind!" That's for me! With Mars Volta songs, I either really love an individual song or would skip a song each time. On songs like Inertiatic Esp, you get some really seriously great Rush-like, Muse-like, dash-of-King-Crimson prog-rock.
Favs: Halcyon And On And On, Impact
Mehs: Walk Now
I like Orbital. They remind me of Mortal Kombat, Hackers, and middle school. A lot of their music is more jangly 90s techno than I'd prefer, though.
Favs: Killing Me Softly, Fu Gee La, Ready or Not
Mehs: Chinese Restaurant Skit. Why does this time period think these dumb skits are so great? Ffs
I got very sick of this album the year it came out, but I can't deny that their voices are all fantastic. And there are some incredible hooks here.
Favs: Carry On, Helpless, Woodstock
Mehs: None
I'm a sucker for this kind of music from this time period, and I'm a sucker for Neil Young. Helpless is one of the all time best sad songs.
