Sparkle In The Finish

The first song has an Fun Lovin' Criminals vibe, after that it is more straight rock. The songs are ok, not great. The production is not always very balanced and clean, but it captures the drive of the band. If the songs and performance wouldn't have this unbelievable drive and spirit, I would consider this a subpar, middle of the road and uninteresting album. Now it is a nice album to listen to.

Pure college alt rock radio from 2004

2 So damned bland

Whoa I really loved this! Great, listenable, fun. What more could I ask for?

This one really grew on me after the second listen. I Don't Want What You Got (Goin On) is a cracking opener — pure rock & roll swagger. Holiday in NY, Whatever Happened to the Girl in Me?, Garbage Day, and The Ex-Americans all caught my ear too. It's the kind of album where every track has something to offer if you give it the time. Well deserved spot on the 1001 list.

I loved this. definitely one of the more interesting discoveries through this project. Will listen again. 4 stars.

This was really very good, for pretty straight ahead rock and roll, in the Petty/Springsteen vein with a rougher edge. Never heard of this person before, and it sounds like that's kind of par for their career, which seems like a real shame. Definitely will look for more.

Yeah, this was a pleasant enough listen - very much of its time. A slightly more rocking Eels, maybe. Does it belong on a list of albums you need to hear before you die? No, probably not, but do I resent it being added to the user list? No, not at all, I had a good time. It's a solid example of a certain niche, and if it was the first such example I became familiar with, I suspect I'd have a lot of affection for it. Fave tracks - "I Don't Want What You Got (Going On)" and "It's Alright to Die"

This album is a user submission, but frankly: I've heard much, much worse among the albums that are on the official list. While the album doesn't blow me away completely, it's something I've missed much too often in the list proper: discovering interesting stuff that was not hyped by the music critics or charts. In that, it succeeds. Well done. 3.5/5

Strange album. At the same time, it's totally a 2004 album with nothing special, but it's also so enjoyable and fun to listen to. Maybe I'm a bit nostalgic for this kind of album today, but I enjoyed the discovery.

Tough call on this one, never heard of these guys before and this LP was a tossup between a 2 and a 3. The band seems pulled in way too may directions (bluegrass harmonica? straight 90s alt rock?) for this album to feel cohesive, and the vocals tested my patience more than a few times when they tended whiny and repetitive. There are a few standout tracks, though, where the band gets it together and creates some sold aughts indie like 'Girl In Me.' Going with a 3, despite its flaws I enjoyed a slight majority of tracks on the album, and it's always nice to see a new (to me and the user list) artist highlighted.

Part Springsteen / Tom Petty, part Replacements, conveyed through a canvas weaving all that was popular in the rock idiom during the mid-naughts (a whiff of White-Stripes-adjacent retro-rock flavors here, some post-Eels kitchen-sink flourishes there, streamlined to a fault at times), *Sparkle In The Finish* has some key American-grassroots-type-of-songwriting to it, suggesting Ike Reilly is as authentic a blue-collar performer as one can get. That being said, the album doesn't fully hold the promise of its title, as ironic as the latter probably is. Some vocal parts could have been handled a notch better (Reilly's timber is probably an acquired taste for quite a few listeners, even if it doesn't bother me right away, personally). The music styles that are harnessed here are varied, in spite of (budget-limited?) production values lacking depth and dynamics on a couple of patches in the tracklist. Some tonal shifts work while others don't. And a cursory listen of other releases by Ike Reilly (either under this "assassination" moniker, or under his own name) suggests that the man can get far more "organic" in his artistry than this. Don't get me wrong, you still have very good songs here, with some particularly endearing lyrics once in a while. I only wish those songs had been gathered in a bundle that looks less dated or loosely knotted. Nothing to be ashamed of in the long run -- there are even reasons to be proud of the overall result. But nothing essential in my own "book". 3/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 8/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 75 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 91 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 180 (including this one) ---- Émile, tu trouveras ma dernière réponse sous le *Inside* de Bo Burnham

I had never heard of Ike Reilly at all, and this vibe really hit this morning. Fun anthemic songs with great hooks. Sounds like it's own thing for sure. This was a great listen this morning.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: St. Joe’s band

This album is kind of all over the place. It starts out with a gritty rock doing and progresses to like a garage rock sound and then gets more poppy towards the end. Variety isn’t necessarily a bad thing but this album it was tough to get settled and enjoy it. Some of the songs were above decent but overall it just felt a bit convoluted. 6.4/10

Decent tunes

Another load of mid

Was okay, but did not leave a lasting impression on me

Folk rock, alternative rock, acoustic rock, anti-folk. Ni fu ni fa.

I've been on a run of albums that I think are fine, but just don't really get into. This was another one. Totally fine, but I listened to it twice, and I still don't know what to say about it. I have a headache, though, so I'm not going to be too harsh here 3/5

Pretty good

It's fine. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Good for him

I thought Sparkle In The Finish started well but meandered quickly and lacked substance the longer it went on, which was too long. 2/5 but not bad, just a bit boring.

It's a rock album that didn't stick to my memory at all as I write the review two days later.

useless

The musical equivalent of dying of starvation in the center of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Not too keen on this- it's a bit nothing-ey and as someone else has said it's a Fun Lovin' Criminals soundalike. Having said that there's nowt offensive about it, just bland.