Reviews by amanda

Yahoo! I have this album! (#4). I was never a big Radioheadhead, although I do also have "Pablo Honey" (thanks to liking 'Creep' like a million other normies, probably). My college friend Alex was super excited for this album coming out, particularly because Radiohead released it online under a "pay what you want" model (one of the first to do something like that). So I paid like a dollar and got my money's worth.
This didn't convert me to Radiohead fandom, but I like the album a lot -- I feel like it has more melodies than their other stuff; it's very chill, and although it's apparently not space rock ("art rock", says wiki), I feel it has a similar ethos (album cover included). Also they performed with the USC marching band at the Grammys later on, which was cool. Briefly considered a 5, but I really only love half the songs, so it's a 4.

Highlights: 'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi' (they had me at "fishes"), 'All I Need' (one of my top songs ever), 'House of Cards', 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place'

Yay! Modernity! I associate Franz Ferdinand with my cousin Elaine and my friend Chyna, ergo I see them as a Scottish hipster band. I didn't like them much at the time, but with some distance, they've grown on me. I actually *have* listened to this entire album before, though I don't own it. Kind of like a less good, less-distinctive version of Interpol, although I do like a couple of the tracks. A real 3.5, but I'll round up for the nostalgia.

Highlights: 'Jacqueline' (I also only work when I need the money (all the time)), 'Michael' (in many a LiveJournal fanmix)

Lowlight: 'Take Me Out' (so repetitive and so overplayed - I never want to hear it again)

This album cover *also* looks like one of my poorly rasterized middle school artworks (mixed with Spongebob). Being from the 90s, that tracks. I mostly associate Le Tigre with the alphabetically inclined hit dramas The OC and The L Word, but I never listened to them (or Bikini Kill) straight up, mainly because punk has too much yelling for me. Not my favorite genre. Lyrics are good though. And I appreciate that the songs are short. So I will round up to a 3 (although I will never listen to this again) :)

Highlights: 'Hot Topic', 'What's Yr Take on Cassavetes', 'Slideshow at Free University', 'Les and Ray' (all the non-yellers!)

I know what Rod Stewart looks like, and that he was famous at some point (before my time surely), but I guess I mentally classed him as a Fabio-type (that is, not serious). So I was mildly pleasantly surprised by this. Just sounds like generic "oldies". He's got a very raspy voice, but unlike Lorde, it isn't unpleasant. Hmmmm @ me. Nevertheless! Supposedly there are multiple covers on this album, but I couldn't tell, because they are all Old and Not Famous. One that seems to be a cover is 'You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Discuss It)', which is a hilarious song title on the surface (although somewhat insidious on a second thought). Album cover looks like one of my poorly rasterized middle school artworks. Overall this gets one big "I guess".

Maybe?

Nah. I liked the instrumentals, but the rest is too much in that Rush-Iron Maiden vocal/guitar-space.

Ooh, this has got to be the first "they're younger than me!" artist on here. I like Lorde, although I'm not convinced she's top-1001-album worthy. But as far as Jack Antonoff-produced pop girlies of the 2010s, we could do worse. 'Green Light' was already in my liked tracks playlist, but I'd never heard this album in full before. Lorde has a unique "husky falsetto whisper" voice, which ought to be a good thing, but for some reason (sexism? maybe) I find it kind of annoying. All the tracks feel samey to me because of it. This album is the rare case where I like the music a lot (pop electro) but the vocals are not my favorite! Kinda like if someone made a Macy Gray ~ Bleachers ~ Ben Folds mashup (D:).
I also thought this, from wiki (about 'Writer in the Dark') was hilarious: "the singer said she felt she made the song unique by implementing words such as "pseudoephedrine", which she said would work better in a hip hop song; she enjoyed taking standard forms and putting "spiky bits on them". Reminds me of my students trying to seem edgy :')

I realise it seems like I'm being pretty negative, but as a collection of singles, I like almost every song here. I just don't want to listen to them all at once!

Highlights: 'Green Light', 'Liability', 'Hard Feelings/Loveless', 'Supercut'

Another 70s album, but it's OK, Bowie doesn't feel like 70s to me. I have never actually heard any of these songs before, though. Kinda eclectic sound -- to me there are 50s elements (and apparently Bowie was a big fan of Elvis but never worked with him), 60s elements (at least in the sense that I'm like "oh yeah sure this is Beatlesy in terms of the backing music"), and modern elements (David Bowie still sounds basically like the David Bowie I know from my own era, even though he looks shockingly young at this time (somehow this is still his 10th album; they sure made albums fast back in the day)). Hardly any of that 70s rock here (although to be honest, there's a bit on the beginning of 'Stay', which I could do without!).
Lyrically, lots of religion & despair & girl getting eaten by a TV, which I guess are pretty eternal themes. A 6 song album seems like each song might be 20 minutes long, but they aren't. Good! Apparently he was in his pro-Fascist era during this one (ahead of the times!) but since none of that made it into the album, I continue separating the art from the artist and give it a nice 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Highlight: 'Golden Years'

Lowlight: 'Stay'

Wouldn't you know, I wrote an undeservedly long review for this one (mostly about how I didn't know there were *two* Dons in the Eagles, one being Henley (no direct relation to the shirt) and one being some guy I've never heard of, yet somehow neither is Don McLean (who I like fine, by the way)) and my computer restarted and I lost it. But that's fine because the Eagles are bad. My main points:

- This is 70s country to me and IDK why everyone (wiki) calls it straight-up rock.
- Vocalist ranking (based on these songs): Meisner > Frey > Walsh > Henley
- Hotel California is probably my favorite Eagles song, but I still dislike it very much. Perhaps if they weren't as overplayed as they are, I'd give this a 3, but it is very overplayed and I've been hating the Eagles for a long time, so I give it a 2. Maybe I'm starting to get freer with the 2s. If there's another Eagles album (god forbid), maybe it'll be a 1!!

No idea what I was in for with this one. Album cover is giving Aqua, but group name (with weird apostrophe -- is that meant to be plural or possessive?) is giving hip-hop. Wouldn't you know, it's kind of a mix of both. Electro-pop-hop? Trip hop? I've definitely heard some of these tracks before, but I didn't realise it because I was too wee and pre-internet. In retrospect, I love it. Very 90s. I actually considered giving this a 5, which is crazy for a band I've never heard of. Every song is so mellow but with a strong beat. And there's lyrics! And no slurs! I mean, if only everything could be as chill as this. On the other hand, it would fit in nicely as in-store music at a Payless ShoeSource, a store which apparently closed down 6 years ago. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Highlights: 'Connected', 'Pressure'

This album cover makes me lol. I don't know if I've ever heard an Iron Maiden song before this. They sound a lot like a lot of other bands, some of whom are on this list (Rush, maybe?). But are they the leaders or followers? (Probably leaders?) Anyway, it's not doing anything for me, but it's not actively offensive. Like Muse, while there are a lot of guitars, the guitar is so constant that it doesn't upset me. Very even coverage with their noise-making. The lyrics are just silly. I never know how seriously I'm meant to take this kind of stuff. It feels kind of like the music they'd put in the English dub of a sports anime. Actually, after framing it like that, I like it a bit more. But I would simply never sit down and listen to this, so it's a 2.5 rounded down for me.

Highlight: 'The Prisoner' (would fit right in to Sonic Adventure as a Sonic or Knuckles track!)

Oh, hooray! This is like the Californication album cover but with some dudes sitting there. It doesn't scream "Muse". But the album is great. Peak college listening. Come to find out this too is considered "space rock"!? I mean, I guess several of the song titles suggest space, but who knew that was my secret favorite genre?
Although they don't shy away from an electric guitar, Matt Bellamy has both a unique voice and a 2000s-rock-countdown-coded voice. One thing I like about Muse is that their sound is very 'thick' -- no empty spaces at all. The orange juice of music. Also, the mashup 'Teardrop Madness' is one of my all-time favorites (although 'Madness' is not on this album).

Highlights: 'Starlight' (very good), 'Supermassive Black Hole' (ruined and revitalized by Twilight the Movie and college acapella, not necessarily in that order), 'Invincible' (cringey lyrics, but I appreciate the positivity, plus it reminds me of silly MCR)

A very good pick for the last day of classes! Alas, would that school were truly out forever. It turns out Alice Cooper's views are pretty bad, but I always liked him as a vh1 talking head.

I feel like, as these things go, I didn't really dislike school, but nevertheless the song 'School's Out' always spoke to me. Also, nobody uses pencils or books anymore. Really makes you think. "School's out completely" is a wild last line. I did not expect the West Side Story interlude, but I like it. The album is cohesive and pretty good. Solid cover. To me, feels more recent than it is. It's a 3.5 -- not quite 4 territory.

Praise be. The great thing about the random album model is that just when you start to think "my god... will I ever enjoy an album again?!" they give you a classic like this. Thank you, website. Not loving the album cover, but everything else is a go. Apparently, this too is "dream pop". And unlike their later stuff, it's in Icelandic (mostly)! Ring-a-ding-ding.

I remember in the early 2000s 'Svefn-g-englar' was everywhere, and I didn't really appreciate it then, I just thought it was sad, weird, and kind of boring. Now I'm grown and I think it's sad, weird, and kind of captivating. Or maybe it's just a nostalgia boost. Either way, I like this album. Strings, piano, hardly any unpleasant electric guitar. Definitely mood music.

Highlights: 'Starálfur', 'Viðrar vel til loftárása', 'Olsen Olsen'

This is like CCR but a little more generic. Not really a win. I did, in fact, frequently mix up Jim Morrison and Morrissey in college (a lot of Jim Morrison posters in dorms, though not many Morrissey ones). Nowadays I know that one is bad* (musically) and one is bad (humanly). You can guess which this one is.

Highlights: 'Ship of Fools', 'The Spy'

*OK, obviously not bad, but really just not my style. When I think of 70s music I think of this stuff. Fine lyrics, fine human intrigue, but an awful lot of electric guitar. At least it's short and relatively non-objectionable.

Noooo. But I knew it was coming; CCR are legit famous and also right in this project's wheelhouse. This album cover is moderately compelling and nicely symmetric. These guys sure like reduplication ('ramble tamble', 'ooby dooby'). They are one of the least objectionable bands in this style, I just really don't enjoy the style. But if you do, then you must love this! Lots of hits.

Highlight: 'Up Around The Bend' (I didn't realise that's what they were saying until now!)

Yay, a second Pixies album. Surely Doolittle has got to be on here too, then? I guess we'll see. Anyway, the fact that these songs are so short makes the frequent loudness (which would otherwise bother me immensely) palatable. I like that they have so many songs with girls' names. Just some good ol' 90s nostalgia.

Highlights: 'Velouria', 'Is She Weird', 'Ana', 'All Over the World', 'Stormy Weather', 'Havalina'

Joni! This kind of looks like the Brian Eno album cover. Is that just what 1974-1975 was like? I like the Canadian vowel raising on "flags". To be honest, 'In France They Kiss on Main Street' is giving SNL's Garth & Kat. And 'The Jungle Line' Regina Spektor. But the rest is more Joni, who I like, but don't love, because it's all a bit too mellow for me (right now?).

I thought it would be hard to take this seriously (because Flavor Flav is to me a goofy vh1 personality), but actually it wasn't. He hardly even says "Flavor Flav" (although he does say it)! The worst part for me is the frequent noise that sounds like a squeaky toy making an ambulance siren. What is that? A record scratch? A modulated kazoo? I don't know, but I hate it passionately. The actual lyrics are fine, but the beats are, imho, wack.

Speaking of beats, "Beat is for Sonny Bono (Beat is for Yoko Ono)" is a line that holds multitudes.

'Don't Believe the Hype' was inspired by Noam Chomsky, but I don't think it was "Syntactic Structures" that did it.

Slur count here is low (just one carefully deployed n-word, by my estimate). Fun wordplay in the song titles too. I didn't at all enjoy listening to this but I can respect it! But, this isn't a respect ranking, so it's a 2 from me.

I have heard of Brian Eno before but had no idea what his deal was. His deal is apparently Phil Collins drumming with some electronic woobly noises mixed in and occasional uncaptivating vocals. I like the album cover -- did it inspire Conclave (2024)?

Highlight: 'The Big Ship'

Somehow, I have the stereotype that liking Beck is kind of an annoying trait. But I didn't hate this. All of the songs are like: "I'm a bit mopey, here's a sad song, look at the moon? I think I will." Basically like 'Bitter Tears' from the Magnetic Fields, but a whole album of it (there's even a song called 'Lonesome Tears'!). He's got a little bit of that Alexi Murdoch/Nick Drake voice, especially on 'It's All in Your Mind'. Certainly more my speed than the other Beck stuff I've heard.

Highlights: 'Lost Cause', 'Already Dead'