Reviews by abitfishy

This has a real nice mellow R&B border-lining some jazz fusion-y stuff. I've never heard of D'Angelo's music apart from the song he did for Red Dead Redemption 2, so it was nice to finally hear what all the craze is about him. Some songs seem like they were made to infect your ears, "Lady" is a notable culprit of this, with that bass motif doing the most damage to me.

I found this album a bit difficult for my brain to understand. This smooth soul is a bit out of my usual listening habits, though I can at least tell it's done very well.

Highlight Song/s: "Smooth" and "Lady"

Portishead's first album Dummy combines crushing hip-hop beats and hip-hop-like sampling with soft, mellow and lonesome female vocals, with jazzy moments sprinkled around. It's surprisingly a huge success of combing quite different sounds together. "Numb" and "Biscuit" seem to foreshadow a bit of the oppressive, noisy, wickedness that the self-titled album has, which they'd release a couple years later on from this one. If I had to pick one song that captures the album feel entirely I think it would be "Wandering Star," it has the shaky, vulnerable vocals with this ominous motif that repeats ad nauseum.

Highlight Song/s: "Mysterons", "Sour Times", "Strangers", "Wandering Stars", "Roads" and "Biscuit"

The Kinks album is centred around this guy called Arthur and his living predicament. It has all that classic snappy British wit and deadpan humour to attack certain things like complacency in society and war. Speaking of war I believe this has some of the best anti-war music/lyrics ever in recorded music history. The narrative takes you on a journey and allows the listener to immerse themselves into Arthur and his story. It eventually pays off so well once you get to the final song.

An example of a lyric that attacks complacency is in the song "Brainwashed":
"You've got a job and a house
And a wife and your kids and your car
Yeah, you're conditioned to think
What they want you to think and be happy to be where you are
Yes you are
Get down on your knees
Get down on your knees"
That is so punk!

I had such a good time with this album, I'd recommend it time after time.

Highlight Song/s: "Yes Sir, No Sir", "Brainwashed" and "Mr. Churchill Says"

I found this one really violating to my ears nearly unilaterally committed by the vocals. How did no one convince the lead singer maybe don't intentionally try to sing badly? The jangly instrumentation otherwise is fine/okay and is just typical of the time.

I'm not keen whatsoever if I had to listen to this album again. if I was being interrogated by the CIA - or by whoever - in Guantanamo Bay and they played this stuff? I'd tap out so, so fast.

It's a pass from me, I didn't enjoy it at all.

The album is very folk-oriented with psychedelic elements, I find it has very odd melodies and hooks, which I find charming.

Spence's vocals apart from the first song were a bit off-putting, just how bass-y it is, combined with a Bruce Springsteen-like groan vocals to words is probably what did me in (though I love Springsteen's voice, just maybe not Spence's inflection.)

How the instruments were done are quite odd and eccentric, but I find I liked it most of the time (apart from the obviously weird 60s panning choices.)

This album sold so poorly that Columbia deleted it from their archives is crazy overkill for this album. It also put Spence off of music altogether.

I'm a bit ambivalent about this one, I think its' very sweet and it's heartbreaking what Spence went through to make this and what resulted from the creation of this album. I believe 3 stars best represents my feelings.

Highlight Song/s: "Little Hands"

X are quite a figure in the early L.A. (and more specifically Hollywood) punk scene. This one is their second album. Lot of the attraction I suppose for this band would be the back-and-forth of the male and female vocals (definitely not too common in first-wave punk.) The instrumentals to me seem like what non-punk people imagine punk sounds like, boring and bland. I'm honestly not too sure what I'd change for that part.

I think this was fine, though I wouldn't want to return to this ever; just quite underwhelming and total lack of excitement.

Highlight Song/s: "I'm Coming Over" and "White Girl"

Santana, which is a band named after the virtuoso guitar player Carlos Santana he mixed Latin music with some popular 60s genres like psychedelic rock and blues. It sounds quite warm and lovely, and might I say borderline humid (probably because of the overdriven guitars.) Psychedelia is all over this album, there's no escaping it here. There were a lot more full-on instrumentals/extended instrumental sections than I was expecting but it was mostly fine.

Overall I thought this was alright, nothing fully convincing.I believe this nails the 60s vibe more than a lot of other hippie bands that are on here.

Highlight Song/s: "Incident at Neshabur"

This album mostly combines indie pop with shoegaze music. I feel apart from the first song and some straggler songs, this is mostly just indie pop rather than full-on shoegaze, but nonetheless it's good music.

This one was a real good discovery for me, very refreshing for the ears.

Highlight Song/s: "Pharmacist", "Many Mirrors" and "Velveteen"

This is Faith No More's (FNM) first album with Mike Patton. I'm not totally new to FNM, I've listened to Angel Dust but I forgot a bit how it sounded, other than I remember it being like orchestral-sounding metal.

This kind of reminds a bit of what they would do a bit of on Angel Dust. The first half seemed like it had all of the single-ready songs on it, especially that glam metal-esque song of "From Out of Nowhere." The second half is really funky, probably what I imagine Primus sounds like to a person (such as myself) who doesn't listen to them. I found Mike Patton's to be sometimes bordering on power metal levels of belting, which definitely challenged me a little bit, but his vocals were definitely overall superb. The guitar playing is also phenomenal.

I didn't realise I liked this one so much, I must give this one and Angel a needed re-listen.

Highlight Song/s: "From Out of Nowhere", "Epic", "Falling to Pieces" and "Woodpecker From Mars"

Head Hunters is a jazz album that sounds totally otherworldly and crazily futuristic for the time, well for one the album cover (prior to me listening) seemed like it was from the 2020s! It's jazz music that is very synthesiser-orientated with it also being incredibly effects-laden across the whole release. It's a really cool sound and everything (especially the production) about it is very modern-like!

This really was such a unique experience for me. I really enjoyed this all. I fully believe it deserves a place on the must-hear list.

Highlight Song/s: "Chameleon" and "Vein Melter"

This album by gothic rock pioneers Bauhaus is quite despairing and gloomy (in the best ways), It brings along a lot great imagery, like a dark forest which has the ground covered in red leaves with various creatures and critters (like a crow) making noise. It has very good texture galore, it's rhythms are quite rigid and stiff; it feels totally awkward to try and groove or dance to it.

I think this album wasn't too bad, though I think this needs a revisit. I would try and learn to like this album, as the vibe is just so incredible to me.

Highlight Song/s: "Hollow Hills" and "Mask"

This album by the Byrds is still their usual jangly folk music with psychedelic and country aspects, with Beatles-esque moments. I think this is my favourite album of theirs yet (listened to Sweet Heart and Mr. Tambourine Man) it's not amazing per se, but it's good to me. The vibe this album has is quite nice, it brings along brisk weather imagery to the mind (definitely those feelings are enhanced by the charming album cover.)

I think if there was a Byrds album I would want to return to, it would probably be this one (so far at least.) This album is just a bit short of my definition of 4 stars, so 3 stars will have to do.

Highlight Song/s: "Draft Morning"

This high-rated 70s instrumental album is quite focused on synths and has been very influential to a lot of different people and styles. The effects used on the synths makes it sound borderline oceanic and stupidly wet. I found myself only getting into and understanding it only in the last two parts of the album-lengthed song. I found it a bit challenging for majority of the runtime.

I think revisit is a must for this one to come to a concrete conclusion, so 3 stars is the rating I'm gonna go with. I think this was really well done and I can see why people rate it highly.

Highlight Song/s: "Oxygène (Part IV)"

Slade are a glam rock (Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie, T.Rex, Sweet) band from where that sound originated from, the United Kingdom. This album It's rebellious, anthemic, rock and roll grooves, snotty as all hell. The spelling of song titles is a bit quirky and eccentric, if I was kid back then I think I would've liked it, which might've added to Slades pure domination of the charts in the early 70s British charts.

I think for my own thoughts, it was not too bad. It had good hooks, solid grooves, raspy vocals (though how he says can't have been good) which are superb. I guess I might like more of the singles rather than deep cuts, which I feel the album songs are a bit more on the formulaic bland side, even a bit of the singles I suppose fit that as well.

I just find it a bit hard to return to this one apart from a single or two, I could use that time to listen to other stuff instead.

Highlight Song/s: "Move Over" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now"

Seems to me to be a indie folk album with atmospheric and introspective focuses. The colours on the album cover are beautiful, and I feel if the songs had a look to them, they'd look like this album cover (sometimes I can process audio as visuals in my head.) Just simply so colourful

For most songs I felt they weren't fully compelling - even though I liked the lyrics overall - enough to me, so I think 3 stars will have to do and is the most faithful to my rating system.

Highlight Song/s: "Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation" and "Elephant"

I already knew a little about these guys, having heard their second album because of the generator and the song "The Weight" (which I really adore a lot!) These guys were put on the radar by Bob Dylan by being his backing band which they supported his electric albums live. Then I suppose they went out on their own and started created some music, like this album here.

Musically a lot of is a bit of mix between country, folk and rock. It also has some psychedelic-like effects applied to the instruments. There's quite a few different vocalists; pretty much the entire band takes turns. Not sure if I have a favourite but if I did, it would most likely be their drummer Levon Helm (props to a singer-drummer) who sings primarily on "The Weight" except for one verse. Because there is quite a few different vocalists that harmony vocals are quite present.

I quite like the name of the album and the cover (the modern one, not original one.) Those factors take nearly as much precedence as well as the music itself to me. I also really love the descriptive lyrics that implant a lot of wonderful imagery into the brain. They're also happen to contain quite a few religious references, at least noticeable enough for a non-religious person to pick up.

I'm not sure I liked the music, I kinda wish I did though, but I respect it a lot. Just one of those albums I like the idea of 'liking' it. I however firmly believe it deserves a place on a list of albums you must-hear before dying.

Highlight Song/s: "Caledonia Mission", "The Weight" and "Long Black Veil"

This is a very influential album for the extreme metal that was yet to fully come in the 80s. Rawness and all is showcased here. To be honest, I found this one a bit lame. I find this way beyond cheesiness and it feels so predictable and a little bit derivative, though I do understand this was very pioneering for the time. I really only found the last few songs good, on the other hand most of it was subpar and specifically "Teacher's Pet" is awful.

I don't think I'd revisit, just not convinced enough. Though I think it's a must-hear, especially for all the 80s-90s extreme metal enjoyers even though what's inside is for the most part mediocre.

p.s. This is probably my most nicest 2-star or below review yet.

Highlight Song/s: "Countess Bathory" and "Don't Burn The Witch"

My second album by Randy. I felt this one was better than Good Old Boys, I can't remember why I rated that one how it is (3.0 on rateyourmusic and 3.0 for this website.) This has a lot of charm to it, and his shtick is very satirical and sarcastic combined with political and very conscious parts, and it's done to a very high degree. The instrumentation is mostly very cabaret-like and other stuff is very orchestral-heavy like you might hear on some Frank Sinatra stuff.

I really liked this album. I think it definitely deserves a place. I might definitely have to revisit Good Old Boys, perhaps this album might make me appreciate it more.

Highlight Song/s: "Lonely at the Top", "Memo to My Son" and "You Can Leave Your Hat On"

Gang Of Four's debut album mixes punk rock/post-punk with more off-kilter rhythms that you might hear in funk/disco/soul. It does this to a surprisingly good degree, in the process It creates a sound/genre called dance-punk. Themes are quite political and conscious which are more aligned with straight punk rock rather then the sub-genre of post-punk (which is more likely to feature themes of isolation, anxiety, alienation) that this album tends to be labelled as.

The vocals (by Jon and Andy) tend to be quite preachy and confrontational (like in the opening song "Ether") but there are still some moments that aren't like that (e.g. "Damaged Goods"), it's not totally predictable which I like a lot.
The guitars sound real sharp, angry and bristle-like add a lot to the aggression that is apparent in some songs, some songs I really like the guitars in are the aforementioned "Ether", "I Found That Essence Rare" and the pure noisefest and not-so-bristle of "Love Like Anthrax."
The bass guitar and drums are what gives the album (imho) it's character. Bass guitar tends to lock in whilst providing a counter-melody (typical post-punk) for the listener to get stuck in their head. Drums are totally top-notch as well, and chooses colourful choices galore throughout the runtime and is arguably probably the most important step of this dance-punk sound.

I really like this album, such a unique sound I feel that hasn't been copied to death and back. It's a nice combination pure unfiltered punk aggression, off-kilter rhythms and melodicism. This album is very, very inspiring to me and fills me with nothing but great ideas. I think just for that 5 stars is a must, but add everything I said above, it deserves it EVEN more. It fully deserves a place on the must-hear before you die list.

Highlight Song/s: "Ether", "Natural's Not in It", "Damaged Goods" and "I Found That Essence Rare"

This album was an album that was pivotal for that late 90s-2000s garage rock revival sound. The vocals kind of remind of like a Joe Strummer/Shane McGowan sort of raspiness and drawl, and that telephone and EQ it has screaming indie at us all. The bass playing is very colourful and quite active (notably in "Is This It" and "New York City Cops".) The guitar is quite jangly and flowing, sounding playful sometimes. The drums manage to serve the songs pretty well and never overpower other aspects of the album. The songwriting I believe is pretty good, even though it's mostly about cheesy topics.

I think this album is really good and should be heard by everybody. I believe this does deserve a place on the must-hear list.

Highlight Song/s: "Is This It", "Barely Legal", "Last Nite" and "Hard To Explain"