Reviews by apollo

Highly Evolved was just a super fun album. Garage rock in general is a fun genre to listen to but this album brings out all the best parts of the genre. There is everything from amazing guitar riffs, fun, upbeat melodies, great vocals, you name it, its got it. The fun melodies of this album also helped it move at a good pace where it never felt like it was too long but still was more than able to give mem my fill. I was initially familiar with just this band's name and the fact this album exists but i don't remember ever listening to their songs in full before and due to the reasons listed above, I'm sure glad i did get to hear them now. This album was just nothing but a fun ride top to bottom.
Best Song: Outtathaway
Worst Song: Autumn Shade

All That You Can't Leave Behind is an album that was quite a bit better than i was expecting. I only ever knew this album for Beautiful Day and i did think that this was gonna be at a point where U2 has lost their luster but this album turned out to be shockingly really good. Of all the U2 albums i have heard, this one is probably the most melodic of them all, and i really did like this direction. This is another album that is feels very spearheaded by it's singles as those tracks are the most memorable tracks on the album to me. I still think that War is a little better but this one is still a pretty close second when it comes to albums by this band.
Best Song: Walk On
Worst Song: Peace On Earth
Side Note: Last U2 album, meaning:
1. War
2. All That You Can't Leave Behind
3. The Joshua Tree
4. Achtung Baby

Crooked Rain Crooked Rain is everything that Slanted And Enchanted should have been. I felt that the latter album, while it tried some good things, was let down a bit by the vocals and the noisy nature of the music. This album however, manages to strike a much better balance between a hard, gritty sound and a more melodic one. The vocals have also gotten a pretty decent step up as the vocalist didn't try to get too into the songs he was singing, i also feel like it was produced much better than that album too and is pretty well produced in general for a lo-fi album. I was thinking about giving this album 5 stars but there were a few tracks that i didn't quite vibe with but there was still enough on offer to give it a pretty high 4 star rating.
Best Song: Stop Breathin
Worst Song: 5-4=Unity

Van Halen was a super fun listen. I've only been familiar with one song of this album and that is You Really Got Me Now as that does play on the classic rock radio station i used to listen to but i still thought i wasn't gonna recognize any of these songs since i never recognized the album art. That being said this album was a really fun ride. The songs all had this super energetic, funky, almost swing like feel to them. Eddie Van Halen himself also provides some great guitar riffs and David Roth's vocals combined with those melodies make this an extremely great listen. I would have had an issue with the recording quality since i listened to it on YouTube and listened to some of the music video versions, but that's not how its supposed to sound on the regular album so i won't fault it for that. All and all, It's an amazing album.
Best Song: Little Dreamer
Worst Song: Eruption

For my final Steely Dan album, i really enjoyed Can't Buy A Thrill. This one was a little bit inconsistent when it came to good songs and meh songs but i found that the good was heavily outweighing the meh here. The jazz rock fusion on offer works very well as it does in all the other Steely Dan albums i have looked at. Some of the songs on offer were a bit forgettable but the majority of them were incredibly fun trips and felt very relaxing while still having that incredibly funky vibe. I would not say that it is completely perfect as there were still some meh songs like i mentioned but overall, i enjoyed my time with this album and i am gonna miss listening to this band for this project.
Best Song: Change of the Guard
Worst Song: Do It Again
Side note: Like i said, Last Steely Dan album, the rankings are here:
1. Countdown To Ecstasy
2. Can't Buy A Thrill
3. Aja
4. Pretzel Logic

Damaged was certainly a wild ride from start to finish. This album reminds me a lot of GI by Germs in a lot of ways. This album knows how to get right to the point as these songs are only around 3 minutes and i also like how this album doesn't take itself too seriously especially in songs like TV Party where the lyrics are hilariously stupid in the best possible ways. I thought i was gonna have a problem with the mixing of this album when i scouted ahead a bit but for what it is, it sounds fine. My only real problem is that these songs can feel quite samey and there is 15 of them so that doesn't help matters. Even so, this album was definitely a fun ride.
Best Song: TV Party
Worst Song: Spray Paint

I didn't enjoy Autobahn as much as the other two Kraftwerk albums i did on this project. This is one of the earliest electronic records and you can absolutely tell here as this album definitely felt like synth-mania. My main issue with this album is that the first three songs end up outstaying their welcome, especially that title track which went on for 22 minutes. And in general, those songs in particular just lacked the cool atmospheric vibe that this band's later records had. The last two tracks though were pretty good and had a very atmospheric vibe to them that i expect from Kraftwerk and had cool ideas with them. If it were just the first 3 songs, this album would have only been worthy of a 2 star rating but the last 2 songs were able to bump it up a half.
Best Song: Mitternacht
Worst Song: Kometenmelodie 1
Side note: Last Kraftwerk album, you know what that means:
1. The Man Machine
2. Trans Europe Express
3. Autobahn

I was honestly expecting to hate A Short Album About Love but it was surprisingly pretty good. This album pretty much says exactly what it is on the tin, its a short 31 minute album where the lyrics are about love so i will give points for honesty. This album feels like a mix between Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Morrissey and RPG town themes. The strings on offer were rather nice and the lyrics were pretty alright for the most part. I also like that this album was short just like it says in the name. I will admit that there were points where the constant orchestral instruments and the lyrics could be a bit pretentious but i don't think its really enough to tank the album too badly. Overall, it's a pretty good listen.
Best Song: Timewatching
Worst Song: In Pursuit Of Happiness

Achtung Baby is a solid album but it is weaker than the other 2 U2 albums I've looked at. In my eyes, this is one of those albums that shined the brightest during the back half because it was those songs that really showed off the best parts of U2. The first half is fine but just lacks any real stand out tracks as they all just blended together. The back half though was quite special as the songs there had plenty of great musical ideas and even some of the lyrics are really good (especially in The Fly). I still think The Joshua Tree and especially War had more stand outs in their front and back halves but i still thought that this was no doubt a solid record by these guys.
Best Song: The Fly
Worst Song: Zoo Station

The Wildest! was definitely an interesting album. I was going into this album expecting it to be nothing more than just another jazz album from the 1950s but it shocked me in so many ways with it's sheer weirdness. I'd say the one thing that shocked me the most was how wild these lyrics could get especially with (I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You like god i was not expecting you to get so violent Louie. The instrumental stuff is fine but virtually unchanging throughout the entire album as it just seems to rely on the same stuff throughout but i will say that having mixed vocals is interesting for a jazz album. Pretty good but not amazing.
Best Song: Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody
Worst Song: Whistle Stop

Boy oh boy do i love it when i get to hand out surprise 5 star reviews and Myths Of The Near Future is one such album that is getting just that. Everything about this album is exactly what i'm here for on this project. It's weird, wacky and definitely different from the rest of the crowd yet still manages to be a catchy, frenetic, fun trip throughout. Every time that i thought that the album hit it's peak and i would think it would run out of ideas, it would always hit me with a new one and also manage to do it so well regardless of how weird the song was. I genuinely don't have any complaints for this album so all i'll say is its a very fun album i'm glad i got to hear before i died.
Best Song: Isle Of Her
Worst Song: Gravity's Rainbow

Fisherman's Blues was certainly a pretty solid album. I initially went into it thinking it was gonna be a country album and i was kinda right as it is folk rock which in a lot of ways is similar to country music. There were two types of songs on this album, the fast upbeat ones and the slow ones. I do lean a bit more toward the former style but i think that they both have their merit in quite a lot of the songs. I'm not usually the biggest fan of the folk violin that is used in quite a lot of these songs but they actually work decently well here. I wouldn't really say its a super great album but for what it does, it does pretty solidly.
Best Song: World Party
Worst Song: This Land Is Your Land

I liked Joan Baez to a pretty surprising degree. It's been two days since i last did a singer-songwriter album and this one blows Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska out of the water and its all due to one thing, vocals. Baez managed to actually have a clear voice and make it an absolutely beautiful one which really helps me appreciate the songwriting here unlike Springsteen's more mumbly voice. Said songwriting is also very good here and its nice that i can appreciate it by actually being able to hear it. The music also fits very well but unfortunately it makes the songs sound quite samey which does take some of my enjoyment away from it. This album is a soft 4 but a 4 nonetheless.
Best Song: All My Trials
Worst Song: Donna Donna

For Your Pleasure is probably the weakest of the Roxy Music albums but i still think its decent. This was the last Roxy Music album with Brian Eno and his contributions to this album are on full display here. The album has a very jazz rock feel to it with a few synths here and there which i like in theory but the songs here tend to get self indulgent and try so many things that just don't work all that well, they were never really aggravating but it does tank my enjoyment somewhat, I'm also not a fan of the vocals and they certainly didn't help the self indulgent moments but i have heard worse. Overall, its an alright listen but it didn't need to be on this list when we already have both the self titled album and Country Life from these guys here.
Best Song: In Every Dream Home A Heartache
Worst Song: For Your Pleasure
Side note: All Roxy Music albums are done, you know what that means:
1. Country Life
2. Roxy Music
3. For Your Pleasure

Of the four Bruce Springsteen albums i have heard, Nebraska is his weakest one and by quite a decent margin. This album goes for a different approach than his others, Instead of having all those instruments and having a generally upbeat tone, This one just has a guitar, a harmonica and Bruce's voice and seems to rely mostly on his songwriting. Although i can't really tell if its that good here because Springsteen's vocals are so quiet and mumbly that i can't tell what he is saying at points. The other albums had this too but could be forgiven because the music did the talking there, this one tries to rely on his songwriting but the vocals just get in the way. Its not a horrible listen but it is an album that doesn't do it's job very well.
Best Song: State Trooper
Worst Song: My Father's House

Oracular Spectacular was certainly a really good listen. When i first saw the album, i thought it was just gonna be a full blown electronic album but while it has heavy electronic elements, there are also several elements of indie rock too. Personally, this is one of those albums where the singles steal the show. Time To Pretend, Electric Feel and Kids are all fantastic songs and were easily the highlights of the album. The rest of the songs are still solid but they are a bit forgettable since they don't do too much to stand out but they are still nice listening experiences. This album probably would have been a 3 star album but due to the three singles being as good as they are, i decided to push this album up to a 4.
Best Song: Time To Pretend
Worst Song: 4th Dimensional Transition
Side note: God, what was that music video for Kids?! That was one of the most insane things ever. This mother must have either let the TV raise her kid or given him LSD. Either way, she's an awful parent

At Folsom Prison was a decently fun listen. I listened to At San Quentin a while back and this album has very similar vibes to that one from things like Cash's general presence during these shows, the fact they came out a year apart from each other and they were also both recorded at prisons. I definitely like Cash's very non-serious presence as i could tell that he was having a pretty fun time doing these performances. The problem is though, none of these songs really stand out from each other. I think that this album is rather similar to Tom Waits' Nighthawks At The Diner where its more so the way it comes together that makes this album enjoyable rather than any specific songs so, definitely a good listen, just not my favorite.
Best Song: Green, Green Grass Of Home
Worst Song: I Still Miss Someone
Side note: Last Johnny Cash album which means:
1. American IV: The Man Comes Around
2. At Folsom Prison
3. At San Quentin

I quite enjoyed The Libertines. When i saw that cover art, i was expecting this to either be a punk album or an indie rock album and both ended up being correct. The album certainly had a very fun vibe throughout with each song fully playing into the garage rock vibe which i am very often a fan of. I also thought that the vocals fit these songs very well by having that British garage rock flair which fit the songs very well. I was very mixed on whether i should give this album a 3 or a 4 because it had it's mix of good tracks and meh tracks but i felt that it had enough fun tracks for me to fully decide on a 4 so it is still a win for this album.
Best Song: The Saga
Worst Song: Last Post on the Bugle

I was already expecting to love Music For The Jilted Generation and i was completely right. It definitely feels a little different from their later effort, The Fat Of The Land, being that it definitely feels like they put way more stuff into this album instead of just focusing on being a simple dance club banger. A lot is going on in this album with each song having so many elements and the way some of the songs introduce the ideas in the songs that have a lot of those feels very seamless and natural. It also helps that the songs here are all bangers and even at 78 minutes, the album never felt like it was dragging. I still lean a bit more towards The Fat Of The Land being my favorite album by these guys but i still love this one nonetheless.
Best Song: Voodoo People
Worst Song: 3 Kilos

Kick Out The Jams (Live) is definitely a really solid protopunk album. I have heard a cover of a song by these guys on that one The Damned album but this is my first time actually listening to these guys. This was honestly a pretty good live punk album especially for being a really early one in the genre's life complete with some good instrumentals, fitting vocals and a very fun stage presence. I initially did find the recording quality poor but as i continued listening it really wasn't that much of an issue. But the issue is its just good, not great and not exactly unique from a lot of other punk albums. I still enjoyed my time with it, i just think the genre would be improved later down the line.
Best Song: I Want You Right Now
Worst Song: Kick Out The Jams