Reviews by apollo

The Atomic Mr Basie is the best big band jazz can possibly get. I have always heard this guy's name and always heard good things about him but i never remembered any of his songs that well. However, i'm glad i did though as these songs are so good. They have that fun jazz energy that i could want without ever feeling disorganized or messy and it is all done by some great musicians from Count Basie on the piano to Eddie Jones on bass and all the trumpet, trombone and reeds players all adding to one very fun experience. This is also one of those albums where while the regular tracks don't stand out on their own but as they come together, it makes for a great listening experience. Got nothing else to say, just the best jazz album here and the best album from the 50s here.
Best Song: Fantail
Worst Song: Duet

Floodlnad was an album that i enjoyed more than i thought i was going to. The easiest band that i can compare this to is The Cure as they are both gothic rock and follow the same beats but this album does feel quite a bit darker than either of The Cure albums that i listened to. The show stealers here are the show stealers on all the best new wave records, that being the bass and the synths. Those were handled very well and gave that album the very gothic vibe that i enjoy. I initially found Andrew Eldritch's vocals a bit weird and unorthodox at first but i later on got used to it and found it similar to Dave Gahan and Martin Gore's voices. This album was quite a nice surprise.
Best Song: This Corrosion
Worst Song: 1959

Rip It Up was definitely an interesting album. This is an 80s new wave album and it definitely shows as it has all the staples that you could expect from this genre from the synths, the bass, the saxophones and pretty much everything else you can think of. This album's sound is certainly very cheesy and is most definitely a product of it's time but honestly i found some of the cheesiness with the music kinda endearing. The main thing that drags this album down though is the vocals. They started grating and remained pretty grating throughout the whole album. While the vocals are certainly an issue, i thought that the cheesy nature of this album was endearing enough for me to kinda enjoy it.
Best Song: Rip It Up
Worst Song: Breakfast Time

#1 Record certainly isn't a #1 record but i still think it is a decent one. I have not heard of this band prior to doing this as i have only heard their name mentioned a few times but i've never actually heard a song of theirs. Most of the musicianship is pretty good as the guitars and melodies sound generally pretty nice and i especially think that The Ballad of El Goodo and Don't Lie To Me are standouts. However, i think that the vocals could no doubt use work as i found that they could get fairly annoying, there are a few jarring instrumentals and some of the songs were just kinda forgettable. It is a shame since i did want to like this album more, I just don't think it's that amazing.
Best Song: The Ballad of El Goodo
Worst Song: Feel

Veckatimest was a surprisingly enjoyable album. I've never heard of this band prior to doing this so i didn't know what to expect but what i got here was something really enjoyable. The album shares that trait with a lot of 2000s pop rock albums in that it's very melodic and that was the main thing pushing a lot of these songs along. The musicianship was pretty good for the most part during this album but there are definitely some awkward moments throughout this album. However, they never really got too much for me to bear. I still thought that this was a very enjoyable album and certainly a solid addition to the list.
Best Song: Cheerleader
Worst Song: I Live With You

Superunknown was always gonna be a 5 star album and that was even before Black Hole Sun came on. I mainly just know this album for some of the singles like the aforementioned Black Hole Sun as well as Spoonman and The Day I Tried To Live. It is great to know that every single song on offer is absolutely great. The guitar riffs are some of the finest i have ever seen, Chris Cornell's vocals are absolutely amazing, the lyrics are solid and in general, this album had everything i could ever want from a grunge album. I also didn't even mind the length as the songs were all so enjoyable throughout, This is easily one of this list's best albums.
Best Song: Black Hole Sun
Worst Song: Head Down

The Blueprint is far from the best hip hop album around but i still think it holds it's own better than i thought i would have. Jay-Z is definitely a really talented rapper and this album shows it off pretty decently but still has a lot of little things that hold it back. The lyrics are definitely not the greatest in a fair bit of the songs with constant uses of the typical hip-hop buzzwords like the n-word and all the sex terms. The production was a bit lacking in the first half but when Hola' Hovito came on, it got a pretty decent step up. I was initially gonna give this album a 2 but as i kept hearing more and more good tracks, i felt that i could bump it up a star.
Best Song: Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
Worst Song: Girls, Girls, Girls

Southern Rock Opera was a surprisingly very good album. I'm not well acquainted with this band as i haven't heard much of their stuff before this but they still sounded exactly like i expected them to sound. I really do like this album for a variety of reasons. The lyrical themes are very interesting from stuff like racial politics to Lynyrd Skynyrd, The production is top notch, the guitars sound great, the vocals fit well and in general, It sounds exactly like a country rock album from 2001 should. The only thing holding it back is the fact that it is an hour and a half long which i think is a bit too long for this album, That being said though, i really enjoyed my time with it.
Best Song: Zip City
Worst Song: Days Of Graduation

1977 was an album that at first glance, i didn't think i was gonna enjoy it that much but I'm glad i got to give it this surprise 5 star review. I didn't quite know what genre it was gonna be just some kind of rock music but it ended up being the kind that i really enjoy. That grungy, heavy, kinda dark style is a common style of music i enjoy and this album has that in spades. The guitars were easily the main show stealer and the main thing that rocketed this album into being such a great one but combined with the melodies and the vocals fitting with them so well and this has pretty much become an album that i can't just not 5 star.
Best Song: Goldfinger
Worst Song: Girl From Mars

After those last two albums, Better Living Through Chemistry was certainly a very nice palette cleanser. I'm someone who always enjoys a good big beat album along the lines of The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers and this album delivered that in spades. The beats were fun, the rhythms were super catchy and the additional elements in these songs added quite a lot to them. I still think that You've Come a Long Way Baby is the better album of these two due to having some far more memorable songs as these ones kinda blended together unlike that one. That being said, I still thought that this album was a very enjoyable listen.
Best Song: First Down
Worst Song: Punk To Funk

Smile is an album that i didn't really like all that much. It definitely feels like Brian Wilson needed the rest of the Beach Boys to keep him grounded because he went way too off the rails here. The musicianship on offer is decent even if it does sound like something i would hear in something like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or some other kids show. The main issue with this album is that it just feels incredibly unfocused. It was messy, disorganized and the songs just kept changing themselves up without any rhyme or reason to it. And that is the thing that is really holding back this album because without it, it would be fine, but as it stands, This album is very flawed.
Best Song: Wonderful
Worst Song: Mrs. O'Leary's Cow

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter was an absolutely painful listen. This is one of those bands that just are incapable of writing melody to save their life. Initially i thought it sounded tolerable, a bit messy sure, but still tolerable but as it kept going, it just kept getting worse. This one just gives me a lot of Deja vu to Shivkumar Sharma's Call Of The Valley seeing as the two use similar instruments and they both get annoying really fast. I however, think that this album is worse than Call Of The Valley since at least it felt like that album had better melodies. This album was just an agonizing one to get through and i am so happy that it's over.
Best Song: Koeeoaddi There
Worst Song: Swift as the Wind

Kimono My House was definitely a very interesting listen. This is probably the glam rockiest glam rock album to ever glam rock. It has pretty much all the cheesiness and quirks that you would expect from this genre. There is all the pianos and the saxophones that you would come to expect from glam rock and all the regular rock elements too. The vocals were pretty interesting because at many points they sounded like a woman was singing and i had to remind myself that it was a man singing. While there are some songs that don't work (I'm looking at you, Equator), most of the songs here work alright and while they are cheesy, they were still alright to listen to. It is a weird album but i still think it's more than listenable.
Best Song: Complaints
Worst Song: Equator

The Last Broadcast was just a genuinely fantastic album. This one does invoke a lot of the same things i love about their prior album, Lost Souls, but improves upon it big time by having better vocals and feeling far more focused. What i love so much about this album is just how relaxing it is. Every song on offer has this incredibly chill vibe while still feeling plenty textured and layered allowing for an album that works well for a serious listen or just some simple background noise while working, gaming, driving etc. And also, every single song here was great, all having that same vibe while still feeling distinct from each other. This is just an amazing album through and through.
Best Song: Words
Worst Song: Last Broadcast

A Wizard, A True Star was certainly an interesting one. I should probably expect it to be because of the sheer number of styles because holy shit, that's a lot. The album starts off as this very ELO sounding album which makes sense as both ELO and Rundgren started their careers around the same time and those were the points where the album was most enjoyable and nearly all of the album. The one issue with this album is the parts where it is not doing ELO stuff and is instead trying to be so weird that it ends up being incomprehensible. All i'll say about this album is when it's good, it's really good but when it's bad, it's really bad.
Best Song: Medley
Worst Song: Rock & Roll Pussy

Kala was an album that i was hoping i would enjoy but after seeing all it's flaws, i just don't think i did enjoy it. I've heard snippets of these songs before but never actually heard the full songs. So many parts of this album just have at least some kind of issue that really drags it down. The production, while interesting at points, has points where they try too much and it ends up bringing the songs down. The lyrics are also insane and nonsensical for a good majority of the album. But the biggest problem is the vocals as M.I.A. herself just sounded so bored throughout the songs. It still has that strong grime vibe that i enjoy which is why this album is spared from getting a 1 but it is still not very good.
Best Song: Paper Planes
Worst Song: World Town

Let It Be was such a fun album. I kinda got the vibe that these guys would be a punk band but part of me thought that it was gonna have new wave elements too (I guess it being from 1984 did that to me) but i'm perfectly okay with them not being there, in fact, i just think they would ruin this album as it just works best as a simple punk rock album. The guitars here are just so good by having that heavy edge yet still remaining incredibly catchy. The vocals have that 80s punk charm that i adore and the lyrics are insane and even kinda progressive in all the best ways. There were some songs that did feel like they were dragging a bit but overall, this was just a really great record.
Best Song: We're Coming Out
Worst Song: Sixteen Blue

I loved every second of Vulgar Display Of Power. This is easily among the quintessential thrash metal albums and for very good reason as it was just an amazing album all throughout. Everything about this album was a plus. From the heavy guitars, aggressive vocals, insane lyrics and rough production added so much to my enjoyment of this album. I was expecting a lot of the songs to sound so samey but there were plenty of little things put into each song to help make them their own. I honestly can't think of too many bad things to say about this album as i just had so much fun with it throughout the whole thing.
Best Song: This Love
Worst Song: By Demons Be Driven

Ingenue was quite a solid album. Even though i wasn't familiar with k.d. lang's name prior to doing this project. I definitely have heard her song Constant Craving many times on the radio at the grocery store i work at because i definitely remember that vocal melody. As for the album itself, it's enjoyable. Lang's voice is very good here and i enjoy the cabaret elements this album has especially in comparison to her more country style in Shadowland. There were admittedly some points where this album felt like it was dragging itself out a bit but i never thought it made the album that painful to listen to. This is a pretty solid album but nothing more than that.
Best Song: Constant Craving
Worst Song: Wash Me Clean

Immigres is just another world album in the sea of world albums. Apparently, N'Dour's Wikipedia page says that he helped create a genre known as mblax. Well, this new genre certainly sounds a lot like all the other genres I've heard from Africa. I am a bit sad that i have to be so harsh on it because the musicianship itself is alright and that is the big reason why i can't justify a 1 star review here. But this album was still just really boring. It was just that kind of music that goes in one ear and out the other and the one that i just forgot about once i finished. The album itself doesn't sound bad and i get why people would enjoy it but its just not something that was able to keep my interest.
Best Song: Immigres / Bitim Rew
Worst Song: Taaw