I enjoyed this album. Some of the songs contributed to a somewhat ironic feeling that does a good job of conveying the cold war era disillusionment I associate with R.E.M. Some rock bangers on here (Orange Crush, Stand) The mandolin is kinda funny, I enjoy it on the first song it came up (You Are The Everything) on, but on Hairshirt it doesn't do as much for me. The lyrics in World Leader Pretend were enjoyable, the theme of "ahhh I'm fucking up my life damn lemme fix this" is communicated well through the imagined world leader scenario, and also highly topical for 1988.

This was very Matrix. Apparently they did the fight club soundtrack under their former name, too. Feels very representative of 90s action movies. Kinda loved it tbh

Highly enjoyable, no idea how I haven’t heard this before. A few skippers, but at least 5 certified classics and a lot of other heaters. Liked the adventurous jazzy stuff and the rap/rnb double album thing.

Diner music. Enjoyable enough when it’s just one of these songs, or in the right atmosphere, but kinda samey and tough to enjoy in 2025.

Very solid and consistent, nary a skipper in sight.

I've historically felt like I'm missing something every time I listen to Talking Heads. I think I've figured out that it's the lyrics. Their somewhat nonsensical songwriting meshes really well with the instrumentation, like a bunch of lads just having a good time and shooting the breeze. Or sitting in a circle smoking j's and going "woah dude." Life During Wartime stood out to me in its competent and emotional communication of a grim and hopeless situation despite this easygoing style. Electric Guitar stood out as being the most shameless embrace of said style.

I love this album. The bittersweet ex-loverboy themes tug at my high school heartstrings. The low end is consistently interesting on this track (Seven Nation Army 🥺) Jack White's guitar solos have a special place in my heart and this album is littered with them. Special shout outs to Ball and Biscuit as I love long ass blues songs where a dude is complaining about his miserable life, and another for There's No Home for the interesting choir-adjacent part and somewhat distinct musical movements.

I enjoyed this album. Some of the songs contributed to a somewhat ironic feeling that does a good job of conveying the cold war era disillusionment I associate with R.E.M. Some rock bangers on here (Orange Crush, Stand) The mandolin is kinda funny, I enjoy it on the first song it came up (You Are The Everything) on, but on Hairshirt it doesn't do as much for me. The lyrics in World Leader Pretend were enjoyable, the theme of "ahhh I'm fucking up my life damn lemme fix this" is communicated well through the imagined world leader scenario, and also highly topical for 1988.

Crazy pull to get this four days after speakerboxx/love below. I like the kinda goofy fun energy of the album, with the skits and jokes sprinkled about and the "BREAK" bookending some of the skits. I appreciate how they included some less known features in here from Atlanta (Killer Mike got his start on this apparently??) but some didn't land for me. We Luv Deez Hoes in particular overstays its welcome with me, and Gasoline Dreams as well, but to a lesser extent. Some certified classics in here though, and a couple surprise hits for me, like Spaghetti Junction. Some of these beats are really experimental too, Snappin & Trappin made me feel scared. Overall, an enjoyable early 2000s rap album with some character and a lot of influence.

Really enjoy this one. Extremely soulful, even captures a bit of a gospel vibe without feeling preachy. Hallelujah and Lover You Should've Come Over are both extremely solid tracks that I already had saved on Spotify. It also gets kinda hard out of nowhere on eternal life, that was a surprising transition. I have to wonder where his career could have gone if he didn't die tragically.

Some really good soft, touching songs in here. Some of the instrumentation (Flutes on Serpent) and vocalizing (like on The Conference) is pretty cool. Back half is a little weaker than the front half in my opinion. The concept is interesting but I don't really see the thematic tie between the soft chill vibe of some of the music and global thermonuclear war.

Solid, mellow, soft rock album. Feels very UK. Doesn't really feel like they're taking a lot of risks, but it's a really solid execution of the early 2000's soft rock archetype. Bonus track might be my favorite on the album, I wish it wasn't tied to a 10 minute 31 second mp3.

Perfectly captures the edgy teenage girl vibe. Really genuinely enjoyable music too, the only song I didn't like (ironic) was due to it being A. being overplayed and B. because my high school L.A. teacher dunked on it for 30 minutes for using the word ironic wrong. Giving this a four due to personal taste but I can't imagine it performing better on its premise.

More easy feeling rock-n-roll tracks than I ever would have expected from Tom Petty. Feels incredibly American youth circa 70s, makes me nostalgic for an idealized time that never existed. Two true classics in here. Fooled Again (I Don't Like It) is maybe the whiniest song I've ever heard from the pre-pop-punk era.

I can't stand this dude's voice good lord. If it weren't for Girls, fight for your right or whatever it's called, no sleep till brooklyn, and brass monkey... that's actually a lot of decent songs now that I list them. I don't know how they get away with sounding so annoying. Would never ever put this on again but if it was on at a party I think I'd regretfully kinda enjoy it.

This was very Matrix. Apparently they did the fight club soundtrack under their former name, too. Feels very representative of 90s action movies. Kinda loved it tbh

Better than I expected, always been a Beatles denier. Some of the covers on here really spoke to me, especially Till There Was You. Definitely feels like the primordial soup of rock n roll. Some of the mixing isn't made with headphones in mind, but it was last remastered in 2008 so I'll give them some slack.

They did such a good job creating new songs in the british/celtic folk style that I would never know what was based on original what was based on classics without prior knowledge. Always been a big fan of this genre, and they've done a good job. Will be revisiting and visiting more of their discography. Bonus points for having my name in a song.

Decent album. Nothing really stood out to me, just a somewhat generic 80s situation. I would've left halfway through producing this too.