Not interested in sitting through nearly an hour and a half of this directionally-and-sonically confused drivel. Reminds me of the shit your lame uncle would put on while reeking of bad weed, insistent that being intoxicated was key to appreciating it. No doubt he was correct. Give up the fucking divorced organ anthems and the phaser on the vocals already. The most grating part about this is that one can tell everything on the record was intentional and not just an awful novice musician's mistake. Production is interesting, so it gets a star.

A concept album done right. Most are bloated, meandering, or lack cohesion even if their ideas are novel, but The ArchAndroid--particularly for 2010--is focused, streamlined, and tight in the ways that concept albums often fail to capture. Monáe sacrifices very little, if any, of her intention in the pursuit of crafting a sonically diverse, engaging, thoughtful record. Perhaps most striking to me is the ease with which Monáe inhabits and transitions between multiple genres and vocal styles. It isn't often that an artist is limited not by their talent but by the scope of their vision, and the fact that this vision doesn't seem compromised at all speaks to her skill and the skill of the musicians that work with her. Listen to this.

Meandering early 00's indie pop. Gets much more interesting and musically experimental in the latter half of the record, with "Pot Kettle Black" being a particular standout for me. Refreshing, novel, and profound for the time period, but Jeff Tweedy has the ignoble distinction of being copied ad infinitum because of this record. I still think Uncle Tupelo was better.

Don't think anyone who wrote the gay little synth line in Walk of Life should be calling anyone else a faggot derogatorily, personally, much less attempt to use the literary vehicle of a "character" to do so. Most hokey 1980's guitar tone since Elvis. No thanks.

Long, warm, lush, and veering on melodramatic even for the Cure, but still a great record. It's one of their earlier ones that I don't own, however. Stick to the singles. Lovesong makes me cry.

Maybe it would have been more impressive in the '90's, but as it stands in the present, it's four chord alt-rock played by art students -- neither innovative nor particularly groundbreaking, but just self-involved enough to believe it's both. High and Dry stinks of manufactured shit like Three Doors Down and James Blunt. Grossly reminiscent of a montage in a spring break movie department-store-core. I've heard better from Radiohead. Do better.