Reviews by amanda

Like the Beatles, Oasis is currently having a major cultural renaissance in my peer group, so this is well-timed for me. Seeing 'Gary Glitter' as a writer for the first song was (yet another) 1001 albums "oh no" moment, but fear not, it was only the one song. I like the album cover. The songs themselves are fine, but I think Blur won the Britpop battle of my heart. Liam does sound remarkably John Lennon-y though, which is fun. Noel sounds more 90s to me. This has been my Oasanalysis.

Highlights: 'Wonderwall', 'Don't Look Back in Anger', 'Champagne Supernova' (duh), 'Morning Glory' (they say the album name !)

Is this the Offspring? That's my only comparison. Except they're Irish! Maybe that's why I'm somewhat compelled by this, even though the lyrics aren't doing much for me and the sound is, in some ways, generic. But they do sound to me like they're newer than they are, and there's some intriguing vowels. The 'Under the Boardwalk' cover isn't my favorite, but if I had never heard the song before, maybe I would like it.

Vague Highlights: 'Hypnotised', 'Hard Luck'

Vague Lowlights: 'What's With Terry' (just seems a bit mean, unless Terry is a famous politician I don't know about)

I'm ashamed to admit that knowing Sting is in the Police is one of those things I think I've learned at least 5 times. They're just too firmly embedded as an "pre-me-listening-to-music" band, and inexorably linked with Genesis in my mind (because of an isomorphic "wait, really?" fact with Phil Collins, and, apparently, Peter Gabriel). I wonder if there are any solo artists who make it big and then go on to be a band, or if it's only the other way around.

Anyway, I know 'Message in Bottle' already, which is a mid-level bop. I also like 'Walking on the Moon' because it sounds very similar to the other Police songs I know (and it is reggae-y). 'Contact' too.

Lowlight: 'No Time This Time' (frenetic! not in a fun way!)

Wiki says Kate Bush's next album is called "Aspects of the Sensual World". How Chomskyan!

This feels extremely of its time and extremely Kate Bush, which are not bad things, but make me smile in that way that things that are extremely how they are do. I like that she says sen[s]ual, which is apparently British.

Highlights: 'Love and Anger' (my top 2 emotions), the first part of 'The Fog' that sounds like a 90s RPG 's town music.

I'm starting to have a crisis of faith about the consistency of my ratings. But I think this was solidly "fine".

This album cover is good. I've never heard of Jimmy Smith, but based on this, he's pretty cool. I like that there is a genre called "hard bop". If it were me I'd say these are more like "chill bops" though. Nothing super captivating, but I'm not mad at it.

I always liked Nick Drake songs, from what I know of them. Which is not much, because I had no idea he died so long ago & so young (and from an amitriptyline overdose??!??!). Wikipedia never turns up good news on these [1001 album] people. So though you might think "ah, he's just famous because he died young", I had the benefit of ignorance, and point being I liked him before all that. Cheers to me.

'Hazey Jane II' has Belle & Sebastian vibes.

'At the Chime of a City Clock' does too, but it also has sweeping strings + jazzy horn*. B&S should take notes!

'Hazey Jane I' is one of the first Nick Drake songs I heard, so it feels very prototypical to me (and not at all B&Sey :)). Actually, listening now it sounds a lot like 'Orange Sky' by Alexi Murdoch.

Speaking of Sky, 'Northern Sky' is also a lot like 'Orange Sky'. Vaguely uplifiting, but not too peppy.

Nice album. Nice to hear a flute that isn't my neighbor tooting her little toots while I'm trying to sleep. Nice not to have any extraneous "bad" songs.

*I had a crisis of conscience about whether a saxophone counts as a horn, but Wiki says it does.

I was excited for this (90s British lady "electro-folk"!) but it did not particularly resonate with me. Like a country-infused Alanis Morissette at times, a slightly cheerier Sarah McLachlan at others. Maybe my problem is with (a) the tempo and (b) the drums, such as they are? I dunno.

Highlight: 'Couldn't Cause Me Harm'

Lowlight: 'Stolen Car' (gave me a very bad first impression)

This is a funny album cover. I liked this album a lot. The first song is very evocative of space, and Elvis. Two of my recent interests. The title is from a nice book quote.

I learned from reading about this album that Dr. John (neutral) is not the same person as Dr. Luke (bad). Also that "space rock" is an attested genre, and related to "shoegaze", which I always wondered about. I think I'm no closer to understanding it, but I do like space rock. The album felt very cohesive to me, which in theory is the point of albums, but in practice I rarely find to be the case.

Highlights: 'Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space', 'Stay with Me', 'Electricity' (I want a mashup of this and the Schoolhouse Rock 'Electricity, Electricity'), 'Broken Heart' (very orchestral), 'Cool Waves' (very electro-gospel)

Lowlights: 'The Individual' (most of the Noises on this album were acceptable to me, but all of the unacceptable ones were here, on this track, comprised of 4 minutes straight of BLRRRRRRZZZZ squeak squeak BLRRRRRZZZ)

This is another one that I've never listened to, not because I haven't heard of them, just because I'm not a big hip hop head. My friend Alex was a fan of these guys, though, so I do have a positive association. They sound 90s, which isn't terrible (listenable, not offensive) but doesn't compel me either (am I looking for more edge? idk). Lucien *is* a cool name. 'Bonita Applebum' is referenced or sampled in so many other songs. Thus concludes my thoughts.

Highlights: The line 'it'll take a minute rice', 'Can I Kick It?', 'Ham 'N' Eggs' (always here for the lols)

I have this album! (#2!) And I still like it just as much as I did when I got it*. After Luke Combs's's cover of 'Fast Car', I feel Tracy & this album are having a (small) renaissance, which is nice. The lyrics certainly still apply, which is not nice.

*When I first heard Fast Car on the radio, before my Internet era, it was one of those ":o I must learn what this is" songs (and luckily it wasn't too hard to find out because my parents knew what it was when I asked about it). She had such a unique voice compared to the other songs I was hearing on pop radio. It did take me a while to appreciate the non-Fast Car songs, since they're a lot more acapella (which I found boring at the time), but I got there eventually.

Highlights: 'Fast Car' (duh), 'Baby Can I Hold You', 'Why?', 'If Not Now...'

Got this one on annual "George quits the band" day! This album cover is the one that gave me the most trouble in college when I was trying to learn who was who, because hair is my major person-identifier. I think I've got it now though (Paul, Ringo, John, George, right? :p)

Unfortunately I fear my highlights are just "ones I've heard before (minus 'Roll Over Beethoven' and 'I Wanna Be Your Man')", which is all my brain can handle at this time. All the songs are relatively short and sweet though.

Highlights: 'It Won't Be Long', 'All My Loving', 'Till There Was You', 'Hold Me Tight', 'You Really Got a Hold on Me' (adverbs!)

A lot more artists started in the 60s than I'd realised. Gosh. Despite the name, this sounds more "oldies" than "country" to me, so I liked it more than I expected.

Never heard of this band before. I like the fonts on this album cover. Vocals are like Talking Heads but dialed up to 15 (and therefore pretty darn annoying). I cycled through {"I don't like this", "Wait, maybe it's OK", "I like this bit"} many times. The Sweet Home Alabama/Drunken Sailor song really took me out. '(Pa) Ubu Dance Party' was a high point, at least for a moment. What can I say? This sure is eclectic. But if I don't know if I like it, then I probably don't like it.

Lenny, we meet again! This is so old it sounds like Simon and Garfunkel. Very peaceful. Not a top album cover. Also not my favorite Leonard Cohen era, apparently, although maybe I'd change my mind if I listened a few more times. But as of now, it's a little bit boring, I fear.

Highlights: 'Sisters of Mercy' (a bit like I'm playing a 90s RPG), 'So Long, Marianne' (classic)

Weird to listen to this album now! It's almost quaint. I can definitely see its influence. The VH1 hype machine really talked it up in the 90s-00s. As a listening experience, it's mostly fine. Fewer slurs than Green Day, props for that.

Highlights: 'It's Tricky' (possibly due to SNL exposure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCUKya4gLFM ), 'You Be Illin'' (I'm always here for the lols), 'Proud to be Black' (satisfying rhyme scheme)

Aw! I feel like I manifested this one since I've been talking about it a lot lately. I don't have this album, but my mom does, so I've listened to the whole thing before. It's got a lot of qualities I like: 90s, female singer, Canadian, unique voice, it's now a musical. Fun fact: Alanis (as God in Dogma) was the very first "celeb I was told I look like" (although I don't see it, I think we both just had very long hair). Speaking of long... this album is a little bit long. A little bit samey. But it produced a lot of hits, and I still like it.

Highlights: 'You Oughta Know', 'Right Through You', 'You Learn', the line "you held your breath and the door for me" (I have a draft about these funny half-idiomatic conjunctions waiting to be published.... waiting....), 'Ironic'

Evokes the feeling of watching an old Shakespeare movie in my middle school English class. Generally pleasant. The continued proliferation of musicians on this list referencing other musicians on this list makes me smile.

Highlights: 'Cloudy', 'Homeward Bound'

The title "Southern Rock Opera" is like nightmare fuel for me. Add in "Truckers" and "1.5hr runtime" and I've really formed some rock-bottom expectations. And those expectations... were met.

The subject matter is respectable; the lyrics are engaging, but I just can't handle the presentation. They did a good job with the Lynyrd Skynyrding, but Lynyrd Skynyrding is like my anti-pizza (even when it's good, it's bad).

I haven't listened to much of this band before. They have good energy. Very "90s sitcom intro" vibe. I never noticed there's a "coo coo ca choo" in 'Mrs Robinson' before.

Highlight: 'Confetti'

Nostalgia intensifies! When The Strokes were all over the MTV2 Rock Countdown, I was 'meh' about them, but now I just like them for being on the MTV2 Rock Countdown. They have a pretty distinctive sound, which means that all the songs sound the same (aka like 'Reptilia'), but again... it's very nostalgic. And all songs are under 4 minutes, which I like.

Highlights: 'Is This It', 'Hard to Explain'