Reviews by avoidperil

This is a tough one for me to rate because I spent a lot of time with Yoshimi and Mystics. This feels somehow lesser? It has moments of experimental brilliance, so it makes sense in the trajectory of the band for it to be so groundbreaking and well received. It's not quite profound enough to be a mainstay for me, but it is a clever album.

This is a powerful and varied collection of songs. A bit scattershot but that's not immediately a bad thing. I was ready to give this a strong 4 and move on.

And then the final track! Here Comes The Flood. What an incredible atmosphere and tone. Big drums, a guitar solo, and a soaring chorus. I'm blown away.

It's just really basic. It's 60 years old. The singing is actually largely off-key. Of course I've heard of The Who, but this really just feels like it's slapped together. The production is so muddy.

The mono original mix is so bad. I have my headphones on and I'm hearing utter trash. The stereo remix is slightly better, but there's nothing for me here. I do like how hilariously wobbly the guitar on My Generation is, like it's a real texture.

I was around when this came out, but I never listened to it. It sounds like something from circa 06-08 so at the very tail end of the post-Strokes rock revival where synths were put back in. The second New Wave essentially.

It reminds me of a simpler time when love was easy, work was cruel, responsibility was for the future and well... I don't think much has really changed. The music is still the same but I've grown older.

I was going to write this off as a product of its time, but I then I put headphones on. Hysteric is a masterpiece. This album is brilliant and I'm not sure how anyone could find this boring.

This is too much for me. An hour+ of relentless songs wailing on the same vocal range, with largely nonsense lyrics about some anime-level lore that I frankly don't care about. I need texture, I need moment to digest.

I've been familiar with this album for nearly 20 years and in all that time I've never found a moment for it in my life, and that still hasn't changed.

The first track into the second is great. After that, I really want a different texture in there. I'm exhausted.

I can see why someone might like this. I don't care for the production, the lyrics, the genre. So it's not for me, but I'm docking a point for Kanye.

Negative reviews on this from people when this is pearls before the swine. Invest in some headphones and get some taste. I'm already vastly familiar with this one. Easy 5.

Decent album. It feels a little hacked together to my modern ears. It doesn't have lush textures or polished production. But it does have an earnestness that I find enjoyable.

This is the only Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle etc) on the list I think and the most important note for myself: DEEP DIVE THIS. This album in particular I'd probably give a solid 4 stars, but it caused me dig deeper over the past 24 hours and find Mr Bungle which warrants a deeper listen. This goes against my own rules but I'm giving this a 5 based on the universe this opens up alone.

This is what I'm here for. What an unexpected fresh listen. I'd heard of XTC but couldn't place their sound on the map of music. This is the missing link between the Beatles and Blur to me - with sprinklings of Talk Talk, Ultravox, and Tears For Fears.

It's worth a few listens just to hear the different textures being presented.

Acknowledging this is the cornerstone of my taste in music - and that if it wasn't for a Cat Stevens 'Best of...' playing in the early 90s, I'd never have taken the path into indie folk and beyond. But it also strikes me just what someone could get away with in the early 70s and still have a hit record. There's always a bit of hokey jaunty filler plugging the gaps. But then he drops a song like 'Into White' or 'Father and Son'.

That said, I'm not rushing to add any of this to my frequent listening rotation or anything.

I have my headphones on. I'm ready to hear something that will quell the haters. Instead... This is 1hr33 of the most uninspired 2013 studio production drivel. Beyonce can really sing - it's just that there's no hook to be found on this thing. There's nothing iconic. It's pop music production without the pop music.

Truly sensational work of modern blues folk, with a number of songs bursting through the stratosphere into pure brilliance.

I don't like funk but this felt a bit pedestrian. Was it ahead of its time? We're not in its time, so I don't care. I'm docking a star for the final track. It knows what it did.

I would give this a pass, but - there are vocal runs where there do not deserve to be vocal runs. There are constant flat notes. It's over-long. Also censoring songs on a full album release on every streaming service is abominable.

This is fine. Gimme Shelter is fine. Monkey Man might be the best on the album. It's not bad, but not great either. Solid good album worthy of a 3.

Maybe there is something good here. I just don't have the patience to get through to it.

This is what happens when a group of men can play instruments really technically well, but don't have the ability to write a good song.

I can see why this is required listening. It's so everyone can stop idol worshipping this band and realise how mediocre they are.

This is basic. It's mostly generic blues filler songs. The only bit of joy I found was the bit where it gets all messy in Light My Fire and the guitar is noodling, then the organ cuts through in its perfect chromatic refrain before the final verse.

It's fine. If I was 16 in 1967 and this was the only music I'd ever heard, Jim would be a god to me. But also like 25% of this album is The End. And that song is embarrassingly bad.

Oh yeah, this guy again. Moss Side Story was fine to include. Why is this guy getting two albums? Parts of this are straight up cringe.