Reviews by abitfishy

Oh my goodness gracious me was this a bore. To be honest there are SOME cool parts but mostly this was just straight bland and boring. There aren't too many things to comment on other than it sounds like U2's other stuff from the 90s. Seems like I just can't get with it.

Highlight Song/s: "Walk On" and "Wild Honey Pie"

The first album of the Berlin Trilogy. This takes place in a challenging period for David Bowie's life, he had recently quit cocaine even though he was a full-on addict he still managed to see how badly it was affecting him (especially during the previous album, Station to Station) he also decided to leave the U.S. on top of quitting. Which I'm sure the withdrawal symptoms had a heavy influence on the sombreness present.
He brought some friends along, like for instance Brian Eno who had a big hand in the creation of this album, mainly the ambient stuff.

For the A-side has these simple-minded rock and pop songs with new wave, krautrock and electronic elements and it even has instrumentals, which I'm sure was very shocking for contemporary casual listeners of Bowie as well as for the critics.
For the B-side it focuses more on instrumental, wordless vocals (if there are ANY vocals present,) full on ambient music, stuff that you might hear in a soundtrack album and not something you would expect from a big name rockstar like David Bowie.

Literally everything about this album I love, the tone, the emotions, the bleakness, the execution, etc. Definitely safe to say this is my favourite album ever. Possibly because it exemplifies Bowie's left-field nature and him always trying to re-invent himself, which I like the mentality of and all of the above which I just mentioned.

Highlight Song/s: "Breaking Glass", "Sound and Vision, "Warszawa" and "Subterraneans"

A double album of this sort of music is frankly just way too much, just one album would've been enough. I just can't dig it with the Bee Gee's I suppose. Well at least this has better songs than Trafalgar - my first Bee Gee's album on this list - that's about the only saving grace. The first couple songs are so not good so I thought this was an clear and cut 2 star, but the B-side pushed into a 3.

Conclusion: It would've been a lot better album if it was trimmed down around half of the current runtime, and that overall it was an alright one.

Highlight Song/s: "Marley Purt Drive" and "Sound Of Love"

This is an album that straight class to it. The album is quite heavy with dreamy backgrounds, which are simply breathtaking. It's quite a light album meaning, it's very airy and has space galore, feels like I'm soaring high above the clouds. For my first listen it was great, they managed to have singing about robots (first half of album) which is totally nerdy and sick. I believe my true appreciation of this album will take fruition after a handful amount of re-listens, as I don't always fully 'get' an album on a first listen, but nonetheless it made a good impression.

Highlight Song/s: "Fight Test" and "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell"

Throwing Muses from my little research of them is cut from a similar cloth to the Pixies, I can for sure hear it. If you like the Pixies this one should come easy, it has the jangley guitars, prominent bassline, manic vocals, macabre lyrics, punk mentality etc.

Another thing that is noticeable major thing that stands to me is the lead vocalists shaky, unstable voice that sounds like it's gonna break at any moment, but most of the time manages to keep composure. She manages to sound quite a lot like John Lydon/Johnny Rotten especially during early Public Image Ltd.. Or alternatively she sounds like a widow who's really preparing curses and a dish of revenge after a group killed her husband. Straight evil witch stuff.

Highlight Song/s: "Green" and "Hate My Way"

I thought for a split moment this was the 90s alternative band of a very similar name, but no this is the country not the president, so don't get it twisted now. It has a really unique sound for a psychedelic release. It combines sound collages, electronic noises, whimsical vocals, and some other experimental elements, it succeeds in managing to sound like nothing like it's contemporary albums. Really refreshing album.

Highlight Song/s: "Hard Coming Love"

This is really a positive sounding album, just about everything bad and wrong can wait at the door whilst this is on. The album is filled with infectious earworms left right and centre, only bad thing is that I'm having a real hard time getting the infectious worm/s into my ear, I can hear them and recognise them but they're not in my ear! Which totally breaks my heart because it's such a positive one. It's just one of those ones where I wished I liked a lot more, mostly because of how fanatic and raving people are about the Cars self-titled album and also because I can see why people like it. O WELL.

Highlight Song/s: "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Just What I Needed"

This is an album that popularised quiet and calm verses with loud and energetic choruses. It's quite a noisy one at times though it is complimented heavily by pop-leaning hooks. One of the most obvious thing someone listens to a Pixies record or song is the charming frontman of the band Black Francis, who is a lot of the reason for the oddities very much present here, like the macabre lyrics, weird singing styles, and just general un-hingedness littered throughout this album. It's quite scattered with different styles, and some songs are so short which are closer to fragments but all in all it's still very rewarding to listen to.

Highlight Song/s: "Debaser", "Wave Of Mutilation", "I Bleed" and "Here Comes Your Man"

Not too bad of an album for a first listen. The mannerisms and singing from LCD's frontman gives me heavy Franz Ferdinand vibes, especially with the overly aware lyrics. This album had a nice variety of sounds, but some of the more dance-focused songs were quite repetitive which was a negative. So it kind of evened each other out. Just yet another one of the albums that a re-listen might help with, it's not whatsoever a completely lost album which I see no hope in.

Highlight Song/s: "Someone Great", "All My Friends" and "New York..."

When I started listening to this I was just NOT into this whatsoever. It was heading straight to a 2 star, but it really picked itself up by the time the B-side started. I suppose I just started to understand it a lot more. I didn't like the first couple songs which reminded of the wimpy rock whiny vocals aka Led Zeppelin's first two albums. It has a really nice variety of songs, which I appreciate a lot.

I suppose the lesson I learnt from this album, is that you should believe in the album as much you can and keep an open mind always. Especially even if you're on a semi-bad album streak. I feel the album is just right on the cusp of the 4 star, but I believe 3 star is closer to what my heart wants.

Highlight Song/s: "Blue Moon" and "O, Dana"

This is a pretty cool-sounding album. It fuses traditional alternative rock with pop and noise elements and tad bit of industrial music. Shirley Manson's vocals are top notch even if some of the songs instrumentally are a bit boring. I am fan of noisy music with solid pop hooks, so this one was easier than most new music to listen to. I believe this just yet another of those albums where it will grow on you.

Highlight Song/s: "Supervixen", "As Heaven is Wide", "Not My Idea" and "Vow"

I remember listening to this prior to here because I really liked the songs "America" and "Mrs Robinson." I vehemently understood then why just because an album has some killer singles does not mean the rest is great and this is a exceptional example. Just mind numbing material, that's what it is. A 30 minute album dragging hard is completely crazy to me but It can happen I suppose. I also think Simon & Garfunkel stuff isn't for me, just to add to the negativity train. My reasoning is that because this album and the critically-acclaimed Bridge Over Troubled Water was miss.

Some positive things to leave on a semi-good note is that, the aforementioned "America" Is a god-tier song. I first listened to that song from the Yes cover, which I didn't like, I then stumbled across the original not knowing at first it was the same song, and fell in love with it. Oh and "A Hazy Shade of Winter" isn't half-bad I s'pose. AND last but not least of the note-worthy songs is "Mrs. Robinson" which I don't need to state how good that classic is because it's just THAT good.

Highlight Song/s: "America" and "Mrs Robinson"

Punk fused with Irish folk music goes together so well, it's as if they were meant for each other. Shane's vocals are quite perfect with his punk-ish slurring, half-talking/singing, singing traditional Irish music melodies. I've heard a fair bit about this band but never listened to a song of theirs, very unique sound for sure. So it was quite a delight to listen to.

Highlight Song/s: "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" and "Bottle of Smoke"

This was a lot more relaxed comparatively with Deep Purple In Rock, but still energetic and anthemic nonetheless. Just like ...In Rock it has some of the most unique guitar riffs I've ever heard in my life, Ritchie Blackmore must worship the devil or something to come up with all these riffs. This album had a lot more consistent high than ...In Rock, but that album had more drastic highs and lows.

Highlight Song/s: "Maybe, I'm a Leo", "Highway Star" and "Smoke on the Water"

I liked this one a lot more than my other CCR album I've listened to on the list (Bayou Country.) Even though I do like this one more than Bayou Country, I just still see CCR more as a singles band rather than a band that has deep album cuts. This definitely has their trademarked swamp rock sound littered all over. I do have to say that John Fogerty is pretty good at writing absolute anthems.

Highlight Song/s: "Lookin' Out My Back Door", "Up Around The Bend" and "Who'll Stop the Rain"

Pink Floyd's hippie-era debut is for sure one of a kind with its uniqueness. Their then-frontman Syd Barrett was a fairly big reason for its quirks, some examples of the said quirks are the songwriting, lullaby-like melodies and guitar playing. This was before he totally lost his mind and people turned his story into a myth.

It has a good atmosphere to it, lots of space. Mix-wise and tone-wise. The dissonance is done really well and is contrasted by the whimsical melodies. Some examples of what I just mentioned that have elements of that are "Astronomy Domine", "Lucifer Sam" Pow R. Toc H." and "Interstellar Overdrive."

Some of the refrains are really weird, like in "Flaming" it has "Yippee, you can't see me / but I can you." At first It just feels so wrong and off-putting but it is said in such a charming way that I feel compelled to like it. Another refrain I like is in "Lucifer Sam" - which sounds like a TV show intro by the way - "The cat is something I can't explain." My favourite refrain of the album is in "Bike" which has "You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world / I'll give you anything, everything if you want things." That song is just filled with the most original, best and quotable lyrics ever.

The opening line in "The Gnome" "I want to tell you a story / about a little man If I can / a gnome named Grimble Crumble" is an un-matched line in the history of music, everything about it is amazing. The words themselves and how it's delivered - Syd's monotonous voice makes it more hilarious than it actually is.

People who overly hate this album shouldn't be trusted, this is the most light-hearted music ever and doesn't take itself serious. There must be something wrong at play if you dislike this album. 5 Star album every time!

Highlight Song/s "Lucifer Sam", "The Gnome" and "Bike"

Probably one of the better synth-pop albums I've heard. This album and some particular songs was pretty controversial for referencing an un-shamed gay-focused lifestyle. Nowadays it doesn't seem too bad, perhaps maybe hip-hop lyrics have desensitised me, or the lyrics were never bad and just newspaper editors and readers have always been easy to offend. The styles as I mentioned earlier are quite synth-poppy, there isn't a crazy variety, but that's sometimes just fine. Definitely the first ever synth pop double album I've heard, and as an afterthought it could've been shortened, shaving portions off of the third and fourth side would suffice.

Highlight Song/s: "Relax", "Two Tribes", "Born to Run" "Including the Ballad of 32" and "The Power of Love"

Definitely listening to their self-titled (no Nico) without listening to their other stuff is a bit unconventional, but this was a good one. It's very whimsical with the guitar and vocal melodies, sounds like blissful hippie acoustic music. I think this is an album that would be good one to put on during a rainy day. I sense this album is one of those ones that I will come around to rather than totally get straight away.

Highlight Song/s: "What Goes on", "Some Kinda Love", "That's The Story of My Life" and "Afterhours"

Another bloomin' 80 minute techno album, to hell with all of its kind! That melting/squeezing sound at the end of the first track and start of the second track, it was just one of those sounds that seems so common in techno albums on this list, that always never fails to make me act irrationally and see complete red. Which is completely out of character, not at all a hothead.

Just can't really dig electronic music intended for dancing, and that sort of music tends to be insanely repetitive. At times it's literally the same 2 bars going for 4 minutes, which is beyond ludicrous. Though the only 'good' thing about the album is probably the ambient elements.

Highlight Song/s: "Forever" and "Philosophy by Numbers"

Blur's second album is another one of THOSE albums that I've been meaning to take a listen to, and unlike some other Blur albums and other musicians on the album listen list, this was good! Not my first run with Blur having liked self-titled and 13, and not liking Parklife apart from a couple songs. Modern Life is Rubbish themes are mostly about British everyday living and heavy emphasis on positivity and not anything American, which is what they were trying to do at the time.

Damon Albarn (Blur's frontman) really did not like much things American, more specifically Grunge. It started because of their first tour of America went poorly and Grunge was popular at the time with Albarn saying along of the lines on how if punk was getting rid of the hippies, then he's getting rid of Grunge. So this album was a reaction against depressing, slacker, American rock and because their first album did poorly so they were also under pressure to change the sound by their label.

Some songs are fairly energetic than what I was expecting, as I only knew the song "Blue Jeans" prior so I thought all songs would be in the style of that, but no, not at all! There is a nice contrast of punk-adjacent stuff (like "Chemical World") to the aforementioned "Blue Jeans" which is more like sleepy-sounding pop rock you'd hear on the next album. There are some weird stuff to compliment the rest such as "Intermission", "Commercial Break" and "Oily Water."

The album cover gives off great imagery and does a good job at highlighting the point of the album. This is a good album for sure.

Highlight Song/s: "Colin Zeal", "Blue Jeans" and "Chemical World"