Reviews by benc

-I really did not understand the hype around this band when this album first came out. Maybe if I was 5 years younger, this album would've excited me, but this sounded like played out, watered down post punk wannabe music to me at the time. It kinda checks the boxes of angular guitars and disco drum beats, but sands down the edges of everything that made bands like The Fall, Gang of Four, PIL, etc exciting and daring.

-That being said, they almost won me over by the end of the album upon relisten. I get why this music has *energy* behind it and they were probably a good live band.

-The instrumentalists are all mediocre EXCEPT the drummer, who is shockingly good.

-Overall, this is fine. I really don't love it or hate it.

Definitely enjoyed this more than I expected I would. Solid reggae and dub.

-this is an album that, on paper, I should hate. I don't really love heavy metal and I especially dislike shred metal. I can't stand rock machismo, especially from the 80s. But somehow I have a soft spot for VH. The songs are technically complicated but not over-produced -- this is pop music at its core.

-DLR is a totally juvenile goof, but his rizz is kinda undeniable. He's like a vaudeville character.

-EVH overplays absolutely everything, but somehow I actually enjoy listening to him. Most of the songs sound like a single guitar take with minimal overdubs and it's pretty interesting to hear him shred through a full song, jumping through different styles and techniques.

-the rhythm section is laughably mid. AVH is crazy overrated -- yeah, he's got some fancy drum tricks but he also slips out of the groove pretty regularly. Michael Anthony is a master of pedaling the same note for a full song, which is definitely a skill but it sounds pretty funny in contrast to EVH's wild gymnastics.

This definitely sounds like an album made by a band of record producers. I remember hearing Garbage a lot on modern rock radio when I was a kid, and I thought they were very cool but this was back when you needed to buy the CD if you really wanted to get into a band. If I had bought this CD any time between 5th and 8th grade, I think I would have fallen in love with Garbage. Now, as an adult, they sound like a pretty good representation of hi fidelity 90s radio rock, but I don't have the ability to fall for their angsty cool anymore. Overall, some good rock songs on here with a healthy dose of experimental special fx and drum loops -- and some plodding mid songs that don't really go anywhere.

It's hard to cut through the noise about this album -- there's so much discourse around Kendrick. Everybody's got something to say about the politics, the poetry, the production, Tupac, Drake, the Pulitzer, is it as good as Damn?, is it as good as GKMC?, Fox News, Geraldo, the Super Bowl, the Grammys, BLM, woke, post-woke, Trump, Obama, it's a masterpiece, it's overrated, yada yada yada yada. And to Kendrick's credit all these conversations revolve around his art, not some nonsense public image or PR stunts. I thought this album was brilliant when it came out, and re-listening 10+ years later I still think it's brilliant. Fuck all the hot takes, this is the sound of an artist at his creative peak, exploding with musical ideas.

more like Brilliant Album

I have very little context for this music and so I'm evaluating it entirely on the strength of NFAK's voice. So it's a testament to his musical powers I loved listening to this album. If he can move me, with little knowledge of what this music is about or for, so strongly, it must say something about his artistry. NFAK's voice is captivating. "Haq Ali Ali Haq" and "Mast Nazron Se Allah Bachae" are absolute bangers.

-I thought ZZ Top were uncool when I was younger -- this was a case of listener error. ZZ Top are very fucking cool.

-This band is TIGHT. Yeah the guitars shred, but the rhythm section is also groovy as hell. There's nothing better than a great power trio.

-ZZ Top get a lot of credit for influencing later hard rock and heavy metal bands, but I hear their fingerprints all over punk. They have a real stripped down, no bullshit aesthetic. Every song is just as long as it needs to be.

An enjoyable listen and a classic in its own right. Almost every history of sampling includes mention of this album. There's a lot of suspicious UK artists on this list who are directly copying Black styles from the US, but this album is a cut above the rest and has an authentic place in hip-hop history.

That being said, can we PLEASE include some actual Chicago house music on this list? Like many other examples, this album highlights a real problem with the list -- albums are not the ultimate work concept of recorded music. The best pioneering examples of dance music (including house) were all released as 12" singles. But still, by the early 90s a ton of Chicago innovators (Frankie Knuckles, Jamie Principle, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Steve Silk Hurley, Robert Owens, Joe Smooth, etc etc etc) had released albums worthy of hearing before you die.

Am I going crazy, or is this genuinely terrible rock music?

This sounds like a band that would place 3rd in a battle of the bands at your worst local rock venue. It's sorta grunge and it's sorta emo-ish post-hardcore, but it's played REALLY badly. Every song sounds a little off beat and a little out of tune, and not in an intentional way. This band just has a horrible sense of musical feel. And I get there's a "concept" for the album where the lead singer is (presumably) playing the role of a macho jerk, but it sounds like a pioneering influence on the worst butt rock of the 2000s, so the irony/satire is a little lost on me.

Jesus Lizard, Shellac, Jawbreaker, Rites of Spring, At the Drive-In...pick any album from any of these bands and put it on the list instead of this.

People who hate this are bad at sex

Absolutely amazing album. I could feel myself transforming into a Joni fanatic listening to this. Every song is a powerhouse performance. Unbelievably unique song craft. 1 of 1.

I enjoyed this for what it is, a nice souvenir of early 90s pop-funk. But I was definitely left with a strange taste in my mouth, affirmed after reading the reviews -- this is hip-hop for people who "don't usually like hip-hop," which gives me an unshakable ick.

I'd never heard of this artist before. I like a lot of the production -- it has that psychedelic, experimental, future bass sound that reminds of the LA Beat Scene. And he's got obvious skills. But sometimes he backpacks so hard it sound like he's rapping for his college professor. I'm happy to learn about Mike Ladd, and all respect to him, but they should take this off the list and add some Dilla.

This is an album for kids whose parents bought them a paintball gun for getting straight Cs.

He says about 10 times across this album, this is music for middle schoolers. When someone tells you who they are, listen. Through some combination of nostalgia and perceived "technical skills" as a rapper, it seems this album has had some lasting power. But I'm sorry to say this is real dumb guy shit.

The documentary "The Merchants of Cool" does a good job explaining how this kind of music was pushed to middle-class suburban kids in a calculated, coordinated way by MTV, Viacom, and their corporate allies. This brand of crude, violent, gross, sexist machismo was one piece of a larger marketing campaign that included Jackass, Tom Green, pro wrestling, nu metal, South Park (and yes, Eminem actually does a Cartman voice on this album), etc. designed not only to reach young boys, but also to reinforce their warped perceptions of masculinity and gender. Eminem constantly flexes how he clawed his way up from the trailer park through sheer force of talent, like he was somehow at a disadvantage in hip hop because he's white when the opposite is obviously true. Eminem is white privilege incarnate because the forces of racial capital hoisted him into our faces to appropriate rap's popularity and profitability while erasing any/all subversive Black elements that may have "corrupted" white America. This is music of tightly controlled and contrived controversy -- Eminem says a lot of "edgy" things and he's more than willing to make a brave stance out of beating up women and gay people, but he can't be bothered to say anything that genuinely upsets power structures.

There's a lot of money and industry power behind this album so it's unsurprising the production sounds well-made. And a lot of hay is made about Eminem's "flow" and his "wordplay" and other supposed indicators of his rap genius. I can't and won't deny he can play the instrument at a high level, and credit granted for creating the concept of the "Stan." But I still don't enjoy the sound he makes. I'm a grown adult whose listened to a lot of music, read books, watched movies -- I understand what it means for an artist to "play a character" and that not everything that comes out of Eminem's mouth is a literal or direct expression of what he believes. I think kids who listen to this music also understand, on some level, that they're listening to a comic book character. That doesn't mean I have to find that character compelling and I still think it's worthy to judge whether the juice is worth the squeeze; is Slim Shady saying or doing anything so artistic worthwhile that it warrants verse after verse of rape threats?

I give Brel and his devotees the benefit of the doubt I'm missing something about this music's aesthetic quality or historical significance because I'm not a French adult in 1964 whose never heard rock n roll before. He doesn't seem like an explosively powerful performer or have a magnetic singing voice. The songwriting and instrumentation are pretty traditional. When I heard "Le plat pays," though, I did pause at its weird beauty; I feel there's SOMETHING here on this album I'm not understanding (besides the French lyrics). I think he's handsome and has a cool demeanor, so maybe I'm actually over-enchanted despite not loving most of these songs. I dunno, I'd like to think I would have been listening to jazz or Varese or something if I were a continental European in 1964.

Fucking awesome. It's crazy how Sabbath's first 4 albums are basically perfect with no misses at all. Ozzy sounds powerful as hell here. Iommi plays like a maniac. The drums are so loud and Ward plays them like he's trying to punish his kit. Just an incredible album and I don't even like metal.

Christian rock made by sex guys

I first heard this album when I was 16 and immediately thought, "could I be a prog rock guy?" I quickly discovered most prog rock is pompous, nerdy, libertarian show-off nonsense designed to make listeners feel "smarter" than other rock fans. I absolutely despise 99% of prog rock albums but, somehow, I unabashedly love this album. Why? Maybe because KC recorded this album at the tail end of psychedelia and before prog rock had a chance to crystalize into a coherent set of conventions. This album has a distinct 60s feel to it (e.g. mellotron, acid rock guitar, Vietnam war critique lyrics) that quickly evaporated by their second album. It probably also matters that this album was the only one recorded with this lineup, which means it truly is 1 of 1 (and the drums play a HUGE stylistic role here). Despite the high-concept complexity and virtuosity on display here, there is nevertheless a "smallness" to this album -- it's five great pieces of experimental rock and it doesn't ever get over its skis. I will gladly defend this album, even (and especially) against its devotees -- I loved every moment of re-listening to this from beginning to end.

This is an album I've seen on best-of lists my entire life but never sat down and really gave it a chance. I found it difficult to evaluate because of all the mythos surrounding it and, ultimately, had mixed feelings. I found it mostly enjoyable (I especially love his performance of Lilac Wine), but it didn't stick with me in any ultra-powerful way. I can see how this directly influenced Radiohead; I'm surprised there isn't more discourse about how this influenced late 90s / early 00s emo, because it really rings the same bell. If Buckley had kept making records, he could have gone on to have a long critically-acclaimed pop career -- I could see him having occupied a similar place as Beck, for instance. Or, he could have washed away as an of-a-moment 90s adult contemporary guy, like Counting Crows or the Goo Goo Dolls. Maybe if I heard this album at the right time and place in my life it would feel "perfect," but hearing it here and now it feels "pretty good."