Reviews by bee-york

Once again I am really stuck for what else can be said for an album like this. I suppose I could say it's definitely the folk-adjacent thing I have enjoyed the most by quite a margin, though I think the rock half of the folk rock is what was really doing that for me.
I'd also say it was the easiest listen we have had in a while. with its quality and pretty short run time I ended up listening to this about 3 times in a row initially

A very charming little album that is perfect for idle/background listening. An incredibly worthwhile listen even beyond its iconic opening/title track. The way the organ is used to essentially fill in for the absence of vocals is a real delight.

Pretty crazy that he somehow went on to become a pro wrestler like 35 years after this album came out

One of the positives you could argue for digital/streaming services is that they offer a form of digital preservation for albums like this, which would otherwise only have a life inexplicably on the shelves of hokey tourist shops, somewhere between the sunglasses carousel with eyewear which hasn't been in vogue since the early 2000's and roughly 2-5 animated kids movies like 'Space Chimps' and 'Mars Needs Moms'.

The only entertainment I got from this was the admittedly really nice instrumentals and listening to the lead singer keep slipping in and out of his black soul musician voice in the first few tracks. It momentarily felt like Steven Seagal was back in the studio following his greatest gift to humanity 'Want the Punani'

Having an irritating sounding singer who over-enunciates his american twang constantly and loading all of your decent stuff at the very end is not a good way to build goodwill with me as a listener.
The accent thing really irks me, I wasn’t a fan of it with The Flaming Lips vocals and I certainly didn’t like it on that one Regatta De Blanc song

Given the pretty standard white girl vocals that permeate a majority of the run time, I did not expect that this was a Scottish group. While the final track which was fairly sparse for vocals in general may have been a favourite, I preferred the female vocalist who thankfully covers a majority of this album. Maybe it's a little juvenille but I felt like the swearing felt a little bit at odds with the tone that the album was going for? Either way I enjoyed a good chunk of this though did feel like some tracks were a bit too samey around the middle

Feels like being mean to a kind-hearted animal to rag on this, but for a group whos production style could be described as 'a bit much', stretching that out to an hour and 20 minutes can really feel like it takes that to too much. Feels like it would be appreciated more in smaller chunks rather than raw dogging the whole thing but the more laid back instrumentals towards the latter half were a nice 'coming down' of sorts.

Genuinely annoyed that I kinda enjoyed this because a lot of the awful, distasteful and mean spirited jokes I wanted to make about Conor Clapton hinged on me writing a negative review

7 Coke Fueled Racist Tirades / 10, might have been a 4 if it didn't meander so much in the middle plus Layla (especially the latter half) is incredible in spite of how genuinely evil the songs inception was

This was like the music equivalent of drinking from a plastic water bottle that had been left out in the sun for a bit. For how bland and unmemorable as it is you can probably still think of things that were equally dull but were at least more appetizing. I'd be grasping at straws to say anything particularly standout about this album

A lot more chaotic sounding to start with than I was expecting, this really feels like it wants to go in both extreme directions of Folk and Rock. Thankfully this does calm down a bit after the first two tracks. It is pretty smooth sailing from there, all very easy listening. But there is better tracks to come

Perhaps its just a lack of exposure to the genre that had me feeling a bit refreshed with this album, but I quite enjoyed a majority of it. A bit of a tough album to rate, I was thinking about which side of 3 or 4 I would land on but I think some of the weaker tracks towards the middle let it down for me.

In what I can only assume is a result of not really having a lot to talk about with the album. the Wikipedia summary for this album mentions how Jimmy Smith wears the same red shirt for both this and his previous album on both covers. I mention this because I am in a similar position or really not having much to say. It's really easy listening and all well made. I just don't think the passive nature of the album really lends itself to much discussion. I fuck with the album name a lot though

Enjoyed more on average than Songs about Buildings and Food, also includes one of my favourite songs from the group. Really not sure what to say. I feel that the band is just going to be a love it/hate it deal for most people that mostly comes down to your feelings on David Byrne's vocal style & delivery

You know how people still make that joke about getting a speeding ticket while listening to Metal/EDM/etc? I wonder if anyone's ever gotten themselves forced into a HR meeting because they got too saucy listening to Marvin Gaye

Yeah, I got the memo for this one pretty quickly but still had a really good time with it nonetheless. Despite being over an hour long and treading very similar ground through its runtime I was never bored. That being said I was a little on edge given the subject and that cover art. With how lovesick he is I had to double check that Marble Marvin over there didn't creep out of Spotify and start lighting a few scented candles or some shit

If the energy of albums like Born to Run or Born in the USA (or god forbid the weirdness of The Rising) hook you on the idea of an absurd sense of patriotism, Darkness on the Edge of town feels more like a gritty reminder of what that ‘dream’ really entails. In a way an album feels more comforting, I feel as though instead of opting towards the ‘eat your vitamins and say your prayers like a good hulkamaniac’ this comes from a much more understanding mindset of knowing that the road ahead in life will be tough but worthwhile in the end.
While I can agree Springsteens most enjoyable songs come from his more poppier albums, I wouldn’t have minded if he had a few more albums that were congruent with this one.

Survivor And Other Assorted Girlboss Songs
I think the inclusion of this on the list is the novelty more than the album itself. The overall style and presentation is definitely very cheesy & gaudy but can't really be taken too seriously given the genre. A lot of samey tracks once it is done with its more front loaded first half. Also I get that it's pop music so it's inherently going to be more commercialized than some of stuff on this list but the Charlies Angels tie-in stuff really made this feel like more of a product than anything I think I've listened to on here so far. That being said it also made it pretty funny

Holy shit I was literally just writing about how 1 popular song can apparently land you on this list

Doesn't really have any of their big hits that would usually land something on this list (does Peace Frog count?) but was also absent of any of the really irritating shit from our last Doors album (L.A Woman), kinda balances itself out to be a nicer listening experience than the latter, but not something I think I would listen to again outside of Waiting for the Sun

mi tink dis wan bring di Chill Weed Vibes™ to a lazy day werkin fer da man. real easy to cruise wit trough the day

"Widely considered to be the best album of Ian Dury's career" In that case I hope this is the last time he shows up on this list

Given how much of their biggest tracks are on here this almost feels like a compilation album (you can feel that in the runtime as well). Unfortunately I just wasn't crazy over this one. So many of the hits in this one just blended together in a way that I didn't feel a similar album like Slippery When Wet did.
Maybe I shouldn't be looking into it like this though, given the mission statement for this genre was just 'we want to make a shitload of money and fuck groupies who all conveniently tell us they're 18'