Reviews by alien

The top review (at time of writing) calls this the Taco Bell of punk. That's a pretty good comparison, but I'd give it a 3 for that reason. Like Taco Bell, it tastes pretty good/gets you pumped up while eating/listening to it, but when shitting/thinking about the music afterwards, you realise it wasn't that great.

Not available on UK Spotify, I listened to some of it on YouTube.

I get the idea.

Boom.

c'est chic

Another group I was only familiar with by name, and I was pleasantly surprised that this was a 4 rather than my expectation of 3. The guitar tones are great, it sounds Beatlesque at times without being a rip-off, and at other times it's its own, cool, thing.

The music rocks, but I can't take Australians seriously in general, and definitely not when they're singing like this.

This generator isn't going to change my mind on Paul Simon or Billy Joel, sorry.

I think Billy Joel rubs me the wrong way for the same reasons Paul Simon does, their American kitchen sink realism lyrics and how they position themselves. I don't know how exactly to explain it, this posture of being a wise observer chronicling scenes from Italian restaurants or wherever else.

The instrumentation doesn't work for me either, it's too Elton John. This kind of thing needs either someone with some edge (Harry Nilsson) or an absolute musical genius (Paul McCartney).

"He made Graduation, he made MBDTF..."

It's sad and pathetic what he's become, but the album is unimpeachable.

Kanye's sexual and emotional pathologies are on display here, and in hindsight it's clear he was doomed. "21st Century Schizoid Man" is perfectly apt, Kanye is finely attuned to the spirit of the age, sadly we live in degraded and stupid times.

Great craftsmanship endures, idiots like Trump and Musk will die. His regrettable later output and antics don't matter, this album rocks.

Greatest album of all time by the greatest artist of all time - at least for me today. On other days it's The Times They Are A-Changin', Bringing It All Back Home or Blood on the Tracks.

A lot of hip hop albums suffer from the increased runtime allowed by CDs, and I often can't be arsed, or simply don't have the time, to listen to 1 hour+ albums twice in a day, which I try to do for every album I rate.

This is not one of those albums. It's a real tour de force, incorporating so many different elements so masterfully. I was levitating from start to finish.

POWER MUSIC, ELECTRIC REVIVAL

Decent. I hear a lot of Stereolab and Animal Collective, two bands I got deeply into in 2024. I might come back to this, but I'll probably rather reach for the above bands or MGMT, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip etc. instead.

The allegations against the singer do dampen my enjoyment of the album, particularly for some of the self-pitying lyrics contrasted with his alleged behaviour. I might track down some of the other band members more recent projects though.

I've had a few albums from groups I love recently, like Amnesiac by Radiohead and Led Zeppelin III, which I like, but not quite as much as other albums of theirs.

Like those albums, this has some great songs, but also some strange choices which don't quite work for me. Nevertheless, I feel inclined to be generous because of who the artist is.

Oh well, that might not be fair, but I think there is value in listening to everything you can by an artist, even the not-quite-heights. This is far from the most obscure or poorly conceived Bowie album though, it's still a great listen even if it's a step down from Ziggy Stardust.

It felt wrong listening to Mr Brightside on a Monday morning and not in a sweaty student nightclub or some other place with a lot of alcohol involved.

It's quite front-loaded, but the hits really hit.

I just looked at the top review after writing the above. Judging from the use of "uni", I'm guessing they're British. Despite Brandon Flowers being American, I refuse to believe Yanks can vibe with Mr Brightside on the wavelength all British people seem to. It unlocks something in us.

I finally figured out the line in Somebody ToldnMe is "I never thought I'd lead a rumour ruin the moonlight". I hadn't consciously thought about it, as most of the times I'd hear that song I could hardly be described as conscious, but in the back of my mind I would think "what the hell is a roomaroo in the moonlight".

This album never clicked for me like The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A and In Rainbows -- those four Radiohead albums are clear 5s to me, and I've listened to those far more than this one or the others.

Giving it another shot now: I still don't love it front to back, it's a little too subdued/sedated. Still very good though.

I haven't done a deep dive into the Talking Heads, I'm mostly only familiar with their hits like Psycho Killer and Once In A Lifetime.

I quite liked most of this album, although a lot of the things I liked also strongly reminded me of other artists (David Bowie, Devo, Joy Division). I think it fizzles out towards the end, but it's still pretty good overall.

I'm going to rate this 4 rather than 3 because I suspect it will grow on me.

I'm also going to watch Stop Making Sense, that's apparently a good jumping off point for the Talking Heads.

(I watched Stop Making Sense and it was great)

Pleasant and inoffensive enough, but I didn't need an hour of it.

It certainly isn't an album you need to hear before you die, though it is representative of a lot of shit that fills up airtime on smooth radio stations and pumps noise into shops, cafés and bars.

Whatever. It was clearly meticulously and skilfully recorded and produced, so I won't give it 1 star. I'm going to listen to Einstürzende Neubauten to counteract all this bouba with some kiki.

The review "Bang bang Maxwell's Urban Hangsuite" from 6 Nov 2024 made me laugh.

It's okay, but it's "heavy but flat", like the Foo Fighters or some White Stripes. I don't love it.

I do like Maps and Y Control.

SEX!

Maybe.