Back in May of 2016, I had the pleasure of seeing King Gizzard, on tour for this record, at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan. I had been a fan of theirs for about a year at that point and this record had only come out a few weeks prior. It was, hands down, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen and as I describe the show, I’m going to try not to sound like the type of guy who is like “you missed out on something special if you didn’t see this era of the band”, but I’m afraid it might come off like that. Apologies in advance, I still think they are a great live band, but I’ve never seen another band play with the intensity they had on this tour. They came out, started with Robot Stop and then continued through their set, song after song, with hyper-focused intensity and barely a break in between songs. The way the songs go from one right into the next on this record, they were doing that onstage, but also incorporating songs from their other albums as well. They were an unstoppable juggernaut in this era, channeling NEU! and Hawkwind’s propulsive energy into their high octane garage-psych. They were intent on bowling you over and unless you didn’t have a pulse, it knocked you right on your ass. It was, pardon the pun, like getting hit by a train. The only time they took a break for more than 30 seconds or so that night was when they paused the show in the middle of The River to stop a security guard from ejecting a fan from the show for vaping. They stopped playing, asked the guard why the guy was being tossed out, and then told him bring the fan back in. The guard acquiesced, let the fan back in and then got on stage, bowed before the band, in an effort to make peace with the band and the crowd. (Video here: https://youtu.be/3Xxkac158Bg?si=KpNKK3ERQbtZQ3mv) Like I said, no one was getting in their way that night. For the next 3 years, whenever they came to New York, I was there to see them and they did not disappoint. Their show at Central Park in 2019 during the Infest the Rats Nest tour was the peak of the hyper-focused live energy I first saw in 2016. During that time, they were absolutely the greatest live band I’ve ever seen, though I know King Gizzard will argue that they’ve only gotten better live since then. For me, I’ve begun to sour on them as they’ve embraced a more “jammy” sound and their albums have become, to my ears, less memorable. They are still a great live band, I’ll often watch their live streams to keep up and see what the shows are like these days, but as they’ve grown more exploratory in the live setting, I feel like they may have lost some of the intensity that drew me in a decade ago. …and that’s ok. Bands change, people’s taste change. It’s the way of the world. It’s just that for me, from 2014 - 2019 (during which they released 11 albums, I think), this band felt unstoppable, like they consistently hit the mark and couldn’t miss.

This is a record that I’ve seen talked about a lot, but never really bothered to check out because I’m not a big Reggae fan, but as I’m listening to it now (and loving it) all I can think is: How is this record not on the original list? It seems like a pretty egregious omission, if you take into account influence and the excellent music here. Kudos to the user who submitted it, an excellent choice.

How on earth did we get to the point where music that sounds like fucking Phil Collins is considered “Alternative”?

Yeah, this should probably be on the list, I remember it being massive when I was a kid in late 80’s. Need You Tonight and New Sensation were everywhere. On the other hand, is that enough to warrant inclusion on the list? When compared to other entries on the official list, it’s more than enough, especially considering some of the odd choices that were made (the Triffids record, for instance). But also, then, why not include Huey Lewis and the News’ “SPORTS” which was wildly successful and contained a ton of hits…? From my personal perspective, I’m not sure “Kick” is the most groundbreaking or influential record, and it feels very much tied to its era. All the songs are good, though, and there’s a definite variety of styles/sounds here, so I’m going to give it some points for that. I can see the arguments for including it on the list and also get why it might not have been included. I’m gonna split the difference with a 3.