Raising Hell
Run-D.M.C."Walk this way" collaboration with Aerosmith and "You be illin'" are standouts.
"Walk this way" collaboration with Aerosmith and "You be illin'" are standouts.
I hated all of this. Most of all why is "Asia" spelt "Aja", you cynically ironic blue-eyed white yacht jazz-rocker motherfuckers?
Chill
3.5 stars rounded up. "One day like this" is great.
"Papa was a rolling stone" the long play version is great.
4.5 stars rounded up. I love the concept and almost all the tracks work. My only gripe is that I have to listen all the way through. Everything is solid and coheres. Nothing stands on its own as an isolated track.
Masterpiece, always ready to revisit
"Suspicious Minds" and "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road" are standouts. "In the Ghetto" is embarrassing and of its time. By turns great and mawkish. 3.5 rounded up all for those first two tracks.
"Walk this way" collaboration with Aerosmith and "You be illin'" are standouts.
"Since I Left You", "A Different Feeling", "Electricity" are beautiful. I was previously familiar with "Frontier Psychiatrist", but not The Avalanches themselves. "Flight Tonight" and "Diners Only" are repetitive to the point of annoying. The back half of this album is surprising the better than the A side. This would be a shoo-in for 5 stars if there weren't a few irritating tracks throughout the album. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Orchestral backed rock music. Nothing stuck with me.
Good new wave, new romantic album. "The Look of Love" parts 1 and 4 are the standouts and the former is necessarily a big 80s hit. The rest is of its time.
"Something 4 the Weekend" and "Hometown Unicorn" are stand out tracks. Punky, psychedelic and nonsensical lyrics. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Oh fuck yes!
"Girlfriend in a coma" is the standout.
"Rip it up," "A million pleading faces" and "Flesh of my flesh" are the singles. Quirky early indie rock from Scotland. 3.7 stars rounded up.
Quintessential singer-song writer vaseline-lensed folk music. My mom and some former colleagues love this album.
The concept album and the George Clinton samples drag a bit, but I will always love this album and the follow-up "Sons of the P" album for being unabashedly sexy, goofy and funny. 4.5 stars rounded up.
While I respect the historical milestone of a key alternative rap crew, I prefer the work of De La Soul and Digable Planets. Even then, some of the jazz-infused (i.e., heavy jazz sampling) sounds from all of these groups sound dated and of the early 90s.
The entire A-side (i.e., the initial six tracks) are consistently stellar pop songs. The latter four tracks are ok but forgettable. Not a perfect album but five stars based firmly on Side A.
"Cold War" is the only standout for me. Janelle Monáe is talented and the dedication to craft is top-notch. Nothing else stuck with me though, and I wasn't eager for a relisten.
3.4 rounded down. Well-known grunge, pivotal grunge album with equally well-known singles. My favourite album of theirs remains "Badmotorfinger."
I enjoyed "Germ Free Adolescents" and "Warrior in Woolworths". X-Ray Spex is punk shot through with wry humour rather than raw (and tedious) aggression. Some of tracks approached SKA with its use of back up brass instrumentation. Unfortunately there was not a lot of variation between songs so the entire album sounds rather same-y. 3.2 rounded down.
"Red Eyes" is the single that I had previously heard and the clear standout, though "Under the Pressure" is almost a longer version of it. Both are solid tracks. This quiet album as a whole made me quite sad and lonely, which unsurprisingly was the mood of the frontman, Adam Granduciel, while making the record. The War on Drugs sound reminds me of what little I have heard from Bon Iver and The National. I also think of a comment made by an old classmate: "When did alternative become adult contemporary?" Probably when all the grunge enthusiasts hit their mid-40s.
"American Girl" and "Breakdown" were the singles that I previously knew. The rest was serviceable and decent Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers tracks that were a bit slow and not memorable.
"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is my favourite long track by Bob Dylan. "Tangled up in blue" and "Simple Twist of the Fate" are the other classic tracks on this album.
"The Shining", "Everybody's Stalking", "Stone on the Water", and "Once around the block" are all great tracks. A great neo-folk singer-songwriter album with electronica elements. I had totally forgotten about this talented guy. 3.5 stars rounded up.
I don't like Neil Young's whiny, thin voice. Though, I will admit he generally has strong lyric-writing chops. This album seemed stream of consciousness and off the cuff. "Borrowed Tune" was the track that stood out for me and is emblematic of this album, which I did not like.
Nice soft art rock.
"White Winter Hymnal" and "Ragged Wood" are beautiful singles. The whole album is a wonderful mix of folk and traditional singing in rounds. Lovely, relaxing but not sleepy music.
3.5 stars rounded up. "Last Child" is a new favourite.
Super horny. I knew the singles. Definitely a record to play for getting down with a new partner. 3.3 stars rounded down.
Insular and unique. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Wife likes this guy. Elliot Smith obviously can write songs, but he is so maudlin and self-pitying. All of his albums are in the key of woe is me. Not eager for a re-listen.
"North American Scum", "Someone Great", and "All My Friends" are the standout tracks. Cheeky alternative rock married to somewhat frenetic dance music.
The singles "What have I done to deserve this?" and "It is a sin" are the key tracks. "I want to wake up" is also good. I don't think I gained much by listening to the original album, but it was pleasant enough. 3.4 stars rounded down.
3.5 stars rounded up. "[A] Touch Sensitive" was the best track. Some of the Super Furry Animals' songs are a kaleidoscopic melding of psychedelia, pop, rock and electronica, similar to Primal Scream but more accessible and fun. Some of the tracks sound like vintage Britpop that never made it across the pond, which from my perspective, it is.
While I intensely love the Peter Saville cover art and "Disorder", Joy Division's reputation rests on 4-6 songs and the fact that the remaining members became New Order. "She's lost control" and "New Dawn Fades" are ok and could be part of those 4-6 songs or not depending on one's subjective judgment of the band. That said, their two albums are dour, robotic and rough. Factory issue indeed.
I enjoyed it, and periodically relisten to Elvis C's albums 1-3. Great sound, but the singles don't stand out to me. 3.4 stars rounded down. I also think I enjoyed the Spanish version of this album, "Spanish Model", more than the original.
Great sound.
Breezy, fun. 3.5 rounded up.
"Penguin Café Single" is the best track. Enjoyable but a bit staid and self-seriously absurd. 3.2 stars rounded down.
The A-side is the stronger side, but the entire album is compulsively listenable with the Hammond organ and the soulful rocking out. Classic (rightfully).
3.5 stars rounded up.
Meh. the rapping is embarrassing over 20 years later, but the metal grinding levels that out a bit, but does not save it.
Very relaxing and accomplished. Sounds and feels like cool but dated lounge music. 3.3 stars rounded down.
Beautiful sibling band of the Flaming Lips that I hadn't heard about until now. Both bands seem to have a similar trajectory: psychedelic and goofy experimental rock beginnings, then maturing into bittersweet existential indie rock. This album is from their mature stage. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Definitely the Christmas gold standard for these track as far as Hollywood film needle drops go.
“Thing called love” was the stand out track. Very pop country. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would have. 3.5 stars rounded up.
2.5 rounded up. "Weird fishes/Arpeggi" and "House of Cards" are the stand out tracks. This is easy listening Radiohead.
Title track is the standout. The album sounds like a series of alternate tracks and very same-y. I didn't gain much by hearing the title track in the album context.
3.3 stars rounded down. Better as an influence. "Holidays in the Sun", "God Save the Queen", "Anarchy in the UK", and "Pretty Vacant" are best tracks and mostly the singles of the band's only real album.
"Holding back the years" is the standout and previously known single. This was gentle soft rock. Well done, but I prefer encountering it as I did previously as an unknown-to-me some hits wonder. Also the lead singer seems to be a bit of a narcissist about being a ginger. The band's name and several tracks are "simply" references to him being a redhead. Perhaps he is just a guy and not a narcissist, but the constant references to him and his ginger hair are overdone.
3.5 stars rounded up. Wildly inventive. Reminded of late era Flaming Lips: solid pop rock mixed with psychedelia. A bit too inventive in that nothing in particular stood out, but I will definitely re-listen.
Really well done, but always makes me sleepy because I find the album so relaxing.
Ok I guess as the stoner edgy extension of Grunge. Nothing stuck.
I enjoyed it, and see why it is the Citizen Kane of alternative music, but nothing stood out for me.
Fucking great.
"The Model" is the standout. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Foundational R&B. The talent is clear even though the subject is invariably "Baby, I won't cheat anymore" ad nauseum. She doth protest waaay too much.
The title track is best track. “Live through this” is still the best Hole album.
"These days" and "The Fairest of the Seasons" are the standout tracks.
The disco album. Better as an influence than as itself.
3.5 stars rounded up. Solid entry by the Rolling Stones at the moment when they transitioned from off-brand Beatles who do blues standards to the Rolling Stones as they are now known: brash, snarling, bluesy, tough, vaguely sadomasochistic and certainly darker than the fab four.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Sophisticated arrangements, but generally not interesting.
"Guided by Pricks" is the standout. So many tracks that Guided by Voices outstays its welcome. 3.2 stars rounded down.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Snoop and Dr. Dre digests Parliament-Funkadelic samples in layers to enhance gangster rap with a relaxing oddball tone. Not quite as silly as Digital Underground who also based their albums on Parliament-Funkadelic samples. However, Snoop and Dr. Dre more thoroughly mix their influences and these samples to create party tracks that exude calm menace.
Twelve-year-old me thought these guys, especially Axl, were so badass. Over-forty-year-old me thinks they are talented though theatrically (and actually) trashy, and that Axl Rose, has through the years, remained a petulant manchild. I played this cassette, any singles and GNR Lies on repeat back in the late 80s/early 90s, because I, an actual petulant child, found a kindred soul with dirtbag adult Axl Rose. It is no wonder that Trump's favourite music video is reportedly "November Rain." Guns N' Roses speaks to the petulant dirtbag kid in us all.
“Tiny Dancer” is great. The rest was beautifully arranged but quickly forgotten.
Beautiful. Relentless in its bleakness.
3.5 stars rounded up. The singles are all well known. Bowie does glam, hard rock and lounge music or some mixture of the three for each track. Enjoyable mostly for the singles, but the deep cuts are worth a listen or two.
Bob Dylan's Dylan and Johnny Cash's Cash. The folk-rock-country musicians' musician that is accessible, wry, funny and a great story teller. John Prine should be more well known that he is.
"Building Steam with a Grain of Salt", "Stem / Long Stem - Medley" and "Mutual Slump" are the standout tracks.
3.5 rounded up.
"And It Stoned Me", "Moondance", "Crazy Love", "These Dreams of You" and "Glad Tidings" are standout tracks. Top-tier soft rock.
3.4 stars rounded down. "All my loving" and "Money (That's What I Want)" are the standout tracks.
Shimmery and soothing but mostly forgettable. "Sway" is a nice track though.
3.4 stars rounded down. “Buffalo Stance” and “Kisses on the Wind” are the stand out tracks.
I hated all of this. Most of all why is "Asia" spelt "Aja", you cynically ironic blue-eyed white yacht jazz-rocker motherfuckers?
3.5 stars rounded up. Great first US punk album.
Smoky, sad pub music.
3.2 rounded down. Funny and engaging, and they clearly love hair metal, though it does feel like one long winking joke.
4.4 stars rounded down. Full of bangers and the closest U2 ever got to punk. Dark and angry but ends on the light and Psalm "40." "Red Light" and "Surrender" are forgettable. Almost every track is worth while.
3.4 stars rounded down. "Them changes" and "Lava lamp" are the stand out tracks.
3.4 stars rounded down. "Lust for Life" and "The Passenger" are standouts. "Some Weird Sin" and "Fall in Love With Me" are also solid tracks.
3.5 stars rounded up.
3.5 stars rounded up.
3.3 stars rounded down. "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" are beautiful masterpieces. Even second string singles like "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" and "Zero" are great. It is unfortunate these tracks are embedded in 2 hours of mediocre filler.
“Sunken Treasure” and “The Lonely 1” are brilliant tracks. Sedately pleasant.
"You can't always get what you want" and "Midnight Rambler" are masterpieces. "Gimme Shelter" and the title track are good. That said, the album is quite uneven. The blues covers/adaptations are mostly bad. 3.3 stars rounded down I suppose.
"Take Me Out" is the single and stand out track.
4.5 stars rounded up.
3.5 stars rounded up
3.5 stars rounded up. Great voice and lyrics laced with black humour.
"Pyramids" and "Pink Matter" are the stand out tracks.
"Sleep to Dream", "Shadow Boxer", "Criminal", and "Never is a promise" are the best singles and best tracks. The rest is very good but less memorable.
"Outer Space" is the standout track.
3.3 stars rounded down. "Breaking the law", "Living after midnight", and "Steeler" are the standout tracks. Basically the singles are great. The rest is decent metal filler, but filler nonetheless.
Rad.
3.6 stars rounded up. Heroin chic.
3.3 stars rounded down. The first three tracks are the strongest but it is a rather sedate Pet Shop Boys album.
The title track and "The Boxer" are standouts.
Cool, sophisticated but not memorable except for "Smooth Operator." I enjoyed this album but nothing stuck with me. 3.2 stars rounded down.
"Me Ship Came In!" and "My Ever Changing Moods" are the standout tracks. Paul Weller's soul stuff is much better than the jazz tracks. Wildly uneven.
3.3 stars rounded down.