The definitive mom and dad rock album of my early childhood. Those margaritaville guitar+piano riffs and blerguevuederbadoo vocals bring back so many memories. I can practically smell the old carpet. But I recently learned that The Boss is Tom Morello's rock n roll hero, so I'll try to listen to the album in its pure context. 1975. Watergate. Vietnam. Khmer Rouge. Thatcher. Jahova's Witness Armageddon. Turns out Springsteen was a counter-culture revolutionary? These lyrics are deep, almost like beat-scene poetry. Anti-war, anti-capital. Backstreets is about a secret gay teen love affair? Did our parents catch all this, or did they just hear big jams and Elvis-adjacent jibber-singing? I'm into it.

I know nothing of Cyndi Lauper, or much about the early 80s scene, but this album sounds like a direct ancestor of a lot of very familiar synth pop. I know all the iconic synths and drum machines were new at this time, and artists were seeing what they could do with them. Sounds like Cyndi helped set the mold for giddy, girly pop bangers - some of which I'm sure I've heard mixed in at Electric Feels. Cyndi walked so No Doubt, Metric, and Grimes could run.

Here's a forgettable review for a forgettable album. The proto-pop-punkish first half didn't do anything for me. I'd probably dig the lyrics, but the vocals put me off. But then the latter half takes a hit of hash, gives the vocals a break, and falls into some nice late 90s downtempo grooves, which I could see slotting in a playlist with UNKLE and Moby. But I probably won't.

It took me until a few months ago to finally watch Walk the Line, so even though I'd grown up listening to Johnny Cash, I never really appreciated his mythology until now. To listen to Folsom Prison without context seems like you're missing half the story. There's a whole meta narrative in the lyrics, set list, and banter that encapsulates Cash's anti-authority shtick and actually seems to say a lot about the prison industrial complex and predatory penal system. So that's neat.

I'm no early 90's gangsta rap expert, but OG sounds pretty un-OG and derivative. Some decent beats - pretty sure Dj Shadow sampled Midnight for Midnight in a Perfect World, which is neat. ...wait, is that actually the intro to When the Levee Breaks? Anyway, T's OG music gives me the same meh as Body Count, his rock/metal band. Superfluous and unnecessary. I'll keep my ice cubed.

The definitive mom and dad rock album of my early childhood. Those margaritaville guitar+piano riffs and blerguevuederbadoo vocals bring back so many memories. I can practically smell the old carpet. But I recently learned that The Boss is Tom Morello's rock n roll hero, so I'll try to listen to the album in its pure context. 1975. Watergate. Vietnam. Khmer Rouge. Thatcher. Jahova's Witness Armageddon. Turns out Springsteen was a counter-culture revolutionary? These lyrics are deep, almost like beat-scene poetry. Anti-war, anti-capital. Backstreets is about a secret gay teen love affair? Did our parents catch all this, or did they just hear big jams and Elvis-adjacent jibber-singing? I'm into it.

I don't hate it. Probably a lot of kids in the 60s liked it. I'll never listen to it again. I appreciate that they paved the way for David Draiman to choke on the same hairball on every Disturbed song. WAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

I used to think TMR was just a shibboleth for hipster cred. You have to pretend to like this album to be in the club, just like you have to pretend trump won 2020 to work in his administration. Jumping in fresh, it is quite a beating, what with the harsh hillbilly vocals and semi-musical horn wailing and string plucking. But like a benign carbuncle, it grew on me over the years. Harsh vocals? I listen to Meshuggah, Amon Amarath, Miley Cyrus. Challenging, even adversarial aesthetics? I listen to Autechre, Gwar, Radiohead. And now I actually appreciate TMR a lot more since getting into Tom Waits, Primus, and other impenetrable rabble. So from me, an initiated weirdo, it gets a 3.

I guess it's a feature of legitimate punk to sound like butt. That's the barrier to entry to keep the normals out. I appreciate that. But I'm not on that side of the fence yet with Black Flag.

I've been a Goldfrapp head since Strict Machine was on that commercial for Nip/Tuck. And by that I mean I liked that one song. That song slaps. This album doesn't. This album is a snooze. If Gen Z has heard of it, I'd say it's a progenitor of modern snoozecore, but I don't think they have, so it's probably just boring.

Yes. oh yes. This bangs. Space traveling falsetto screeching psych rock opera revealing the mysteries of the universe. I'm all about it.

Thanks, any excuse to listen to one of my most formative albums. It is, of course, flawless. Every lyric and every riff is iconic. This is the essential ur-language of heavy metal. Oh to be a young bloke in 1970, transcending the shadows of war and nuclear winter with righteous minor pentatonic guitar solos.

2010 was a pivotal year for Millenials. We were in our early 20s, moving out, getting money, discovering how far a tank of gas could get us. Original recipe 4lokos were 3/$6. Beer pong was a national sport. Music and culture festivals we starting to blow up. The geopolitical context? Nobody knows, we weren't paying attention. But MBDTF was the soundtrack. It was on the radio. It was in the club. It was on the homie's ipod in the garage. You'd hype up for Dark Fantasy and Who Will Survive. You'd peak through Power, All of the Lights and Monster. You'd crash out on the couch during those long ones, drifting through the strings and piano parts while the mayhem continues in the other room. You'd wake up half way into Lost in the World, spinning, questioning your life choices, lost in some citaay, lost in the wooorld, and either run to throw up or go down for the night. These were our songs.

It's amazing how much greater the four Beatles combined are than the sum of their parts. The solo projects are all somehow underwhelming, mediocre even. Imagine is Imagine, of course, but would the rest of the album still be listened to if it was made by anyone else? It probably isn't anyway tbh.

For a comedy duo, the songs weren't very funny. And I don't think I even heard Abbott.

Never heard of Tracy Chapman, but what a great discovery. I listened to the album on repeat all day. Across the Lines, Behind the Wall, Why?, In Not Now..., all great social justice songs that make think of a soft rock Marvin Gaye. And Talkin Bout a Revolution goes right on the antifa playlist.

Love this album. Such essential 1990's trip hop. Sounds like crime and drugs in grimy London undergrounds. Overcome and Black Steel are up there with the best of Massive Attack. Yeah, the vocals can be a bit shit. And yeah, like most trip hop albums, you get a few scene-defining bangers and a lot of boring sleepybeats. Okay, this is actually a lot more boring than I remember. But blokes on smack don't want any clangy clattering instrumentals or sudden tempo changes. Maybe you had to be there. On the rainy streets of London, or spun out in an opium den, or up drawing anime characters by lava lamp at 1am on a school night. That's where I go, anyway.

A nice listen. A bit like light Cream. I was feelin Feelin Alright and Medicated Goo. And some spicy guitar parts on songs like Pearly Queen had me spinning it back.

I gave it a couple listens. I think it was fine, as far as 1950s rock goes. They're tunes from another time and another place, prosaic pop the whole family could tune into. Thanks to Bioshock, the whole genre sounds like a veneer for something sinister to me. Soft singing and simple lyrics that draw attention from unseen horrors. Post-war reconstruction. Segregation. Bio-mechanical drill monsters.

I put it on a few times, got half way through and realized I hadn't heard anything. Started again and turned it up. How do they get such big fonts on festival lineups? I guess snoozecore is big with the kids. Soft rock with minimal, repetetive instrumentation and lullaby singing. I once read a review that said The XX is music for sleeping babies. I like The XX, but could not find the lie. An Ocean In Between the Waves and Burning do pick up, but most of the latter half coasts on Pink Floyd vibes. Disappearing sounds like it could be a languid cut from The Division Bell, but unfortunately David Gilmore or Roger Waters never turn up. I think theyre too quick to judge drugs.

I've never sat and listened to an Adele song. I'm aware of Hello from an SNL skit. But she's not entirely outside my wheelhouse. I like good pop and a strong female lead. Grace Slick, Florence, Amy Winehouse, etc. If it's authentic I can dig it. Highly produced pop with simple, formulaic lyrics usually rings hollow, but that's not the case here. There's plenty of good lines, hooks, and music. My criticism might be that it sounds a little over-produced. The lyrics are good, but in some cases the big room production drowns out the soul. Send My Love is catchy, but I think it would sound better without the big kickdrum in the chorus. Same with I Miss You. Sure, that's just like, my opinion, but I'm wishing each song had a 1-3 piece folk version. The production has cajones, and probably that's the appeal for people who want to sing along in the car, but does every song need to be an anthem? It does settle down toward the end with Million Years Ago and All I Ask, and I think she shines on those. They're just 'girl with a guitar' and 'girl with a piano,' but her voice is so powerful that they have all the arena-filling drama without the booming drums and layers. But maybe the bombast is just her sound. Adele is Adele and she does it well.

This is another one that's like oil on water for me. Ballads just go in one ear and out the other. The first half sounds like Christmas songs. But they sound nice and I'd put them on in the background if I was visiting an elderly relative around the holidays. You Haven't Done Nothin' and Please Don't Go do get cooking. They Won't Go When I Go is haunting, I kept going back to that one. Apparently the only song on the album not written by Stevie, according to the wiki. It's a dark dirge, way more my speed than his typical sound.

I know I should like Nick Cave. I've given his albums a few shots and only a few tracks have really stuck. Into My Arms is a great opener. It really sets the mood: a little dark, a little odd, with terse piano hooks that make you a little uncomfortable. Through the middle it gets a bit monotonous, a lot of the same mood, tempo, and tones, but he does it best on Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere? Then there's a shift for West Country Girl, which has a more driving, cinematic take that I think is one of the highlights. The second half slopes back down with more soft jazz and poetry that doesn't do much for me. I don't think his voice is that great, but he's the quintessential crooner for weirdos. He shines on the darker songs - grandiose, misanthropic lyrics paired with violin string plucks and standup bass-driven doom jazz. It's music for David Lynch movies. Listeners of Tom Waits, the Desden Dolls, or the Peculiar Pretzelmen. Steampunk enthusiasts. Taxidermied mouse parades. Hit and miss, but I appreciate.