Reviews by bee-york

With a name like 'The Band', I really expected this to be a lot more up it's own ass than it was.
I was only familiar with Weight & Long Black Veil (covered by other artists) before this and seeing the folk/psychedelic genre tags had me feeling like this might not be up my alley similar to a previous album covered on the list. But this surprisingly won me over as it went along.
I enjoyed the more psychedelic rock tracks here than the folk ones, not to say those are bad by any means though. On that note, while they have their own distinct sound, I liked that there was some separation between the country/folk music and the rock tracks. Rather than just merging them together for a whole album.

Highlights: To Kingdom Come, This Wheels on Fire, I Shall Be Released, The Weight

Bit of a short review today as Monday has been busier than usual. I think this is album that I respect the creation of more than the product itself, how personal it feels and the years of commitment it took to get it made. Obviously Kanye is a very controversial figure nowadays but I'd like to imagine people can appreciate the success story that this album was. All of that is not to say it's not a good album or anything either. It's such an easy listen with how goofy and fun a lot of it tries to be. I feel like a lot of artists these days use the soundscape of old soul in their hip hop as a form of window dressing. It feels insincere. In this case it was such an early case and still feels more innovative with how it was sampled and altered that it really feels like it set a new direction for rappers to take.

Practically a 5 for Side A alone. I loved that for how gaudy and eccentric the glam rock style is, it's still very well structured and well made. I was worried after hearing the first track on my discover and enjoying it back then that it would be a bit of a one trick/style over substance album. I was pleasantly surprised to find it exceeding my expectations.

I loved the guitar and keyboard in this album. In fact they would be the highlight for me if it weren't for the ridiculous vocals from singer Russel Mael. I was shocked to realize that not only were all of the vocals, both lead and backing lines performed by one person. But that it was a dude? This guy has incredible vocal range.

Side B was perhaps not as good as A in my opinion but was still pretty great, with standouts there for me being Hasta Manana, Monisuer and Complaints. I think this will definitely be a very love it or hate it album for most though. In my case however, this was a great find from this list and something I have already included a lot of in my likes/playlists on Spotify

Highlights:
Amateur Hour, Complaints, Thank God It's not Christmas, This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us, Hasta Manana Monisuer.

"Are you gonna dance or what?"
Sadly I mostly listen to these at work otherwise I would be. Maybe I'll crack off a quite 2-step when nobody's looking though.

Just as a quite aside before getting into the album. Doing this list is what motivated me to stop being a broke piece of shit and actually stick to a spotify premium subscription. and yet less than 40 albums in I manage to get an album which isn't even on the platform.

And that part's a real shame too, because I really loved this album. The collection of different elements from the synth, drum machines and different vocalists between tracks keep things very fun and fresh. The only song that I think left a bad impression was In Deep, where I was able to enjoy parts of it but was distracted by the drunkard that came in the booth and started sticking his tongue out right into the microphone. Thankfully he got it out of his system and security were able to escort him out of the studio before the next track was being done.

I imagine this had to be pretty influential at its time, I recognize a lot of these samples that were used in other electronic music later on (Theme From "Reportage" was sed as the opening for an old Japanese prank show a while ago). I'm glad our first electronic album for this list was something so funky. Now I suppose I'll just have to see if I can still put local files onto my spotfiy somehow..

Highlights
People Hold On, My Telephone, Theme from "Reportage", Stop This Crazy Thing, Smoke Dis One

This was an awesome surprise. I was initially sceptical when I was told this was early punk/protopunk and saw the global rating. I was imagining some swampy gurgling over the top mess performed by people with so many piercings they would cause a national tragedy if they stood too close to an MRI machine. What I got however was a very accessible album with was solid to good all the way through.

I don't know why my expectations went the way they did. Hearing the protopunk makes so much sense. It really sounds like a metamorphosis between 60's-70' classic Rock 'n Roll to something with a little more edge to it. The lyrics are all pretty nonsense but it fits with how silly the album feels as a whole. I really liked the lead guitar in this, especially whenever they got a moment to just shred away on their own on songs like Teengenerate and California Sun.

I'm kinda surprised with how low the global score is on this one. From what I read it seems like quite a few were from people who were not impressed with the lyrics on songs like Back to Africa and Master Race Rock. Both songs were too goofy for me to find myself offended by but I don't know how I'd feel singing the hooks to some of these songs out loud.

Also, last but not least I'd like to shoutout the bands Backup Vocalist/Poster Boy/Self Described 'Secret Weapon' Handsome Dick Manatoba. He was pretty funny in the songs he was in the back of and I liked his pro wrestling style and how he cut little promos before some of the songs he was on like The Next Big Thing and Two Tub Man. I feel like these guys would be pretty cool to see live.

So yeah, surprisingly awesome album. I feel like it's just on the cusp of being a 5 for me if it maybe had 1 or 2 super stand-out songs. The only one I wasn't a big fan of was Cars and Girls but while everything else is good I wouldn't say I was completely in awe with them. Great album nonetheless that deserves a bit more recognition for the goofiness on display

I've got some odd feelings with this one. As nasty as the subject matter is and how it ultimately tied into Amy's fate. This is musically pretty fucking fantastic. But not necessarily something I would go to frequently.

It's not that I'm put off by the subject matter or anything. But rather that I think this throwback soul kind of album really became prominent from weaker artists in no small part thanks to the success of Back to Black. I think this has partially made me feel a bit numb to these sorts of melodies in a sense, but I can definitely still appreciate what is on display here. The instrumentation and production feel sincere to the era it is trying to represent and Amy's voice is an incredible fit.

In terms of tracks that stood out to me, the album doesn't really feel lopsided but rather like there is padding between each of the good parts. I really like the opening Rehab song, as well as the middle stretch between Back to Black and Tears Dry on their Own. The final song Addicted is also quite nice even if it's not my favourite song to close on, the juxtaposition between the opening and closing songs of course being fairly grim. And foreshadowing what was to come not long after the album. I feel like the rest of the album is good to decent but does not stand out to me as much given my previous reasoning.

I find the global rating for this to be quite surprising, my rating is effectively spot on with it but I would say there are better albums than this I have seen so far that have much more middling scores. I would like to imagine this is not just the same issue that people complained about with positive posthumous reviews for Blackstar when that came out. Though I can see why this would be an album that a lot of people can feel strongly sentimentality and relatability with.

7.5 points above the BAC Limit/10

Highlights:
Rehab, Back to Black, Love is a Losing Game, Tears Dry on Their Own

It's genuinely impressive how this album stays so varied given how long it is. 1 Hour and 13 minutes including the interludes and yet I don't think I ever thought to myself that the album was feeling samey at any point.
The quality of the beats are pretty top notch throughout. And Andre/Big Boi are incredible throughout. I've already spoken about the variety in this album but it's cool how for how different the style and delivery of the vocals is between songs it's still unmistakably them.

Where I have some issues with the album are with some of the feature tracks. There are a lot of them and they range from being pretty good such as the opening Gasoline Dreams or Humble Mumble, to several that started to feel closer to being filler. Which does not feel necessary given the runtime of the album already. The interludes also bite into this a little bit but none ever go on past a minute and they are not baked into the songs so they can be easily skipped. I feel a little more inclined to give this a generous 9/10 or light 5 than push this to a 4 though.

Highlights
Red Velvet, B.O.B, Ms. Jackson, Gasoline Dreams, Humble Mumble, So Fresh So Clean, Stanklove

Really glad to see things like this get some recognition. Especially after feeling like I was being suffocated with moldy beige paint equivalent that was Shack and The La's.
I liked the tracks that used all of the elements like El Cumbanchero and Choferito Plena. The more folky tracks felt more like a chant and got a bit repetitive for their duration. even by Pop or Electronica standards I thought these got a bit samey.
That being said I think Asabache was my favourite song. They went fucking ham on that conga drum. This album was very easy to appreciate but outside of a few songs I'm not sure if it was something I would come back to outside of this list.

This is the kind of thing I want out of a live album.
I am glad to have been given two similar albums previously which can be compared to this. Because they both struggled to accomplish what the prison albums from Johnny Cash achieved. Tom Waits' simulated live diner experience was just that. A faux live performance where Waits spent too much time doing shtick without enough actual music. Bob Dylan's Royal Albert Hall album was almost the opposite. Sticking to just the music and minimizing or in some instances censoring the live audience for a live album. When you present this without these parts of the experience, while also being a bootleg album with much poorer sound quality than the studio versions of these songs it feels almost redundant.

Today's album on the other hand skips most of these shortcomings at least. Compared to his album from Folsom this is definitely more of a fun, showman style. They emphasize his banter and jokes a lot more and seem to have recorded the live audience a lot better. And you can tell this was a riot for them. The way they pop off in celebration whenever Johnny makes a gag at the expense of the prison or at the system itself. With some bits in there about the recidivism and the prisons failure to reform those it contained.

While I like a lot of the more somber songs he uses in the second half of his Folsom album. I can see why they pretty much ditched that for most of this. As not only did this selection of tracks create a more lively atmosphere but this album was also being recorded for a UK broadcast, with them trying to dictate what he should play. He would later in the set famously flip off the crew for this and for getting in the way of the crowd.

That being said. I wish the standard version of this album had more to it. It's about 15 minutes shorter than Live at Folsom, contains a lot more banter and one of the songs is a reprise of what was performed just before it. I'm not sure who made this decision but it almost makes the fun feel like it's over before it even begins. I still think the songs chosen and the energy of the live crowd carry this. But I reckon Live at Folsom has a better balance of performance and crowd interaction while also having a bigger and better variety of songs.

Highlights
A Boy Named Sue, I Walk the Line, San Quentin (Both Performances), Peace in the Valley.

Aaaaaand back to our regularly schedule britpop to make us question our reason for doing this list.

I don't even want to go into detail on this, it's not something I'll listen to again, nor is it something that has had any sort of longstanding reputation. It didn't chart well on its release and the Wikipedia article basically just says 'yeah, this album exists. Also it placed in a few ranking lists.

I'm not even giving this the courtesy of a 1 rating because for all the issues I had with some of the albums I have given a 1 so far, they did not leave me feeling bored or indifferent towards their existence. I don't even want this scarring the bottom of my summary page on the hall of shame. It would simply be better to just forget this and move on.

A welcome change of pace for our list so far. This was some of the easiest listening we have had so far. I felt like the music was going to tell me to sit down and not work so hard during my first listen on the job.
The easy nature does make some parts of the album bleed into each other without much to differentiate the tracks. But I would still say there are highlights, particularly any of the tracks including Astrud Gilberto's singing alongside the main male vocalist.

I am not sure how to aptly describe it, but everyone here feels like they are giving the appropriate level of effort to this if it makes sense. It's more of a quiet confidence that the album exudes, with all of the individuals involved getting a track where I feel they really shine.

This album really reminded me that I should probably make a Jazz/Bossa Nova playlist

Highlights
Everything (Particularly The Girl from Ipanema, both versions. Corcovado. Vovo Sonhando and So Danco Samba)

Wow, this list has frontloaded us with a lot of British Pop-Rock albums. Surely there must only be a few of them left at this point, right?
While I think this album is going to get grilled pretty harshly by our group due to britpop fatigue. I don't think there was any salvaging this one to begin with.

Maybe I'm just feeling too cynical as well. But a majority of the songs in this album feel too repetitive. I get that this is a pretty basic criticism that can be applied to pop in general. But a lot of the first half of this album just felt like a selection of 1 minute chorus loops with some basic instrumentals to feed itself together with. More than any I have heard in a while felt really desperate to create a catchy hit song. With most of them just feeling forgettable.

In my darkest moments of basic indifference to this music, just as I was hoping for something interesting to happen with the album. The monkeys paw finally curled and gave me the song 'We're not supposed to'. These guys were real innovators I tell you, doing an Alvin and the Chipmunks edit of one of their own songs back in 1995.
I also thought it was funny how they tried to do a bit of an artsy flourish by having the instrumentals of Strange Ones fade naturally into the beginning of Sitting up Straight. Because for whatever reason they thought it would be nifty if these two generic britpop songs just melded together my brain even more than they already would have.
Sofa of Lethargy was probably the closest thing on this album to something I would put on one of my play lists. That along with a few of the catchier tracks at the start are the only things making me give this a lenient 2 grade.

Highlights
Lenny
Alright
Sofa of Lethargy

13 SPOOKY/UNSETTLING AMBIENT CREEPYPASTA SONGS [ROYALTY FREE, LINK IN DESCRIPTION]

Every time I have thought about this and how they are definitely capable of creating an atmosphere with their unsettling ambient tracks, I am reminded of how I had to sit around and listen to a whole track with someone wailing hit by a rock and just get annoyed again.
And what is with this nonce cover art? Makes you wonder what one of the lead composers was doing when he died in Thailand back in 2010

Highlight:
AB/7A

I think the novelty of this album is lost on me. Without the story and the legacy attached to this event this is kind of a failure of a live album. I'd say historically I don't mind Bob Dylan, he's got a funny way of singing that is good for a laugh but I don't think I would change stations on the radio if he came on. I can see why people get annoying at the abundance of the harmonica but it never really bothered me.

But this really is a piss poor excuse for a live album. I am sure they worked the best magic they could in 1998 to salvage a live recording from 1966 to some extent but the quality is mediocre at best and feels very flippant with what audio is received/how it is balanced. During the acoustic section in the first half his voice is captured at its clearest. But the guitar is much quieter, making it feel insignificant to the performance. Then the harmonica will come in and seemingly top out whatever microphone Bob is blowing it into. If this album is what has frozen a majority of listeners into suffering PTSD from his harmonica I honestly wouldn't blame you.

Secondly, on how it feels like a failure of a live album. I don't think this is their best performances. Bob is fine during the first half, but the poor mixing of his guitar and the lack of any other performers other than him make this section feel like one long drag. The electric portion was better on average in my opinion. The addition of new elements sets the songs apart more and his band 'The Hawks' felt like they put a lot of energy into their performance. My biggest gripe with that half is the vocals, I don't know if it is the fault of the recording, or if Bob was exhausted or just pissed off (more on that in a moment) at this point in the show but he was a lot less intelligible in this half. During the final performance with 'Like a Rolling Stone' it almost felt like he was trolling the crowd with how he was dragging out the chorus.

Lastly, for a live performance. There isn't really much that is showcased outside of the songs. You get a bit of the crowds reactions between songs in the acoustic section and the jump between songs on the album seems pretty seamless, which I am not sure if it is just an editing thing which this album clearly underwent. Or that the performers were just going through their songs like a shopping list so they could get out of there.
That is until the electric section. Where the transition between songs is a lot more abrupt. You will get a small snippet of cheering at the end of a song, before a harsh cut into now crowd noise for their next song. That would be because these geniuses thought they could just carefully edit around the songs to try and hide the fact that the crowd for whatever reason turned against this concert during the electric portion. Reportedly, in the original audio there is a lot of booing and heckling between songs in the 2nd half. Were the audience misled into thinking they were just getting a traditional concert with just Bob? Was this protest against the more rock & roll focused 2nd half in contrast to his more folk music beginnings? Either way it is a bitch made thing to do, especially when trying to present this as a legacy recording of a live event.

I was initially considering being more generous and giving this a 3 considering my enjoyment of the 2nd half, but them tampering with one of the live elements of the show (which should be half the justification for why the recording sounds the way it does n the first place) doesn't sit right with me. This also has me wondering how I will enjoy Bob Dylan albums further into this list. Because while I may like him here and there I could see his style getting on my nerves if I have to sit down and listen to it for upwards of an hour.

Probably my favorite piece of British Rock encountered this far on this list. This albums thrilling and intoxicating pop-infused rock tracks definitely sped past my initial expectations, but definitely hit a speed bump or two when it comes to my faults.

Songs like How High and Only Teethin' really stood out to me, taking this album to exhilirating new speeds with their guitar riffs and piano/organ performances really breaking past the proverbial sun roof and plunging the album to new heights.

This pleasantry comes to a harsh and sudden stop when I notice the lack of said piano in the mix, what happened to that guy? Why was he only in a few tracks. This leads me to my biggest issue which seems to plague 9/10 brit rock bands being the lead singer. This was more of a 'The La's' issue than a Dexy's one. Instead of being consistently irritating, the singer was just kinda just swerving all over the place in quality. The album ends on a very nice instrumental piece titled Rob's Theme. This song is just a good vibe, the kind of thing you put on after a bit of casual daydrinking and want to go for a Sunday drive in your BMW 520i to.

The 1 and 2 ratings on this song feel like a real robbery of this bands accomplishments. I hope my modest, yet positive review can serve as a figurative getaway driver from such negativity.

Highlights
Rob's Theme 🍺🚘🛣️💈💥🚗💀

Truly a monumental accomplishment in corny dad rock. As well as being the soundtrack to the new developments in many peoples lives. We all knew that one annoying kid who thought learning the start of Smoke on the Water was the coolest shit ever, and I guarantee Highway Star was involved in a number of fatal road collisions (and one intergalactic space anomaly collision for my beltalowda).

I was honestly more interested in the lesser known tracks on this compared to the hits that I am more well versed in. The repeated motifs, mostly lifted from Highway Star were a nice bit that felt like it made the album a more complete piece (though my cynical side wonders if they just wanted to reuse parts from other songs).

The biggest surprise on this was Lazy. I liked a few of the other songs that I wasn't familiar with before like Maybe I'm a Leo and Pictures of Home. But Lazy came out of nowhere and might be my favourite song on this thing. I've never considered Deep Purples vocals to be their strong suit, I don't know if it's just the mixing but the vocals always feel like they don't take the command of a song like most others do and feel like they are usually performed in spoken word or at their most emphatic an angsty yell. Lazy doesn't really suffer from this since it practically ignores vocals for about 2 thirds of the song and just jams out, the actual singing feeling aptly lazy. It starts to feel like it takes on a blues feeling too as it moves along. Especially when they whip out the harmonica. This shit is definitely getting added to some playlists.

Damn, that shit was groovy. No wonder it went on to outshine the movie it spawned from. My biggest (and really only) issue is how frontloaded it feels, with my 3 favourites from the album being the first 3 songs. Everything after it feels more incidental and (as it very much is) backing tracks to set pieces of the movie. I think the biggest downside to these is the either lack or absence from Mayfields vocals. That being said the album has a song called Junkie Chase so what the hell am I even doing complaining about this

I was also going to review the movie itself as a little side piece but couldn't find a reliable streaming version of it.

Highlights
Little Child Running Wild
Pusherman
Freddies Dead

This was mostly serviceable, poppy rock songs that were occasionally hamstrung by an inconsistent lead singer. He has weird nasally octave he hits that was really unpleasant to hear. The one track that was a supposed hit from this album didn't really impress me that much either, honestly the bonuses at the end were my favourite parts of this whole thing.
Also, writing a song called 'Timeless Melody' and then just making a generic pop rock song is very funny

Highlights
Over (Live)
I.O.U (Alternate Version)

Imagine Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom/San Quentin albums.
Now swap the legitimate and interesting setting of a concert in prison with a fake TV studio-esqe Jazz club set with a small group invited studio audience.
Now remember Johnny's little gaffs and jokes he usually has to segue between songs? They are going to take up half the runtime of the album.
Also, they aren't going to be funny.
Also, instead of Johnny Cash we are going to get some mumbling dolt who is trying his hardest to sound like an old black soul musician, only to end up sounding like the love child of Chris Rock and Randy Newman.
Now take that down a point or two from your expectations.

The music that you can even make out over Tom's mumbling is perfectly adequate, unfortunately with how much the guy is rambling on you can't even enjoy it as simple background music.

I think this was the first time in this list that I was checking to see how much longer I had to listen to this shit.

Did someone rip ass into the microphone at the start of Kingdom of Doom? "There's a noise in the sky", No I think one of you needs to check for skidmarks.
Man, I don't know if I just wasn't vibing with this one or if my mood was off but I don't think I felt a single thing listening to this. I am aware of a few of the members of this super group and like The Clash and Gorrillaz well enough. It felt technically competent in most places, but also void of any emotional investment. Damon Albarn described it as a mystery play themed around London so perhaps being bland was the intention? If it somehow was it doesn't make for a memorable experience. I listened to this twice and don't think there was a single standout or memorable track.

There was also plenty of parts where the supergroup part felt like it might have hurt the production, a too many cooks kind of scenario where people didn't want to compromise on their vision and it just ends up sounding like the induction day for your Grade 1 music class, they even had someone smashing away at the triangle at some point.