Reviews by bob

The Good: Someone is digging a hole!
The Bad: What if it is me having to dig my own hole?
The Ugly: Finding out we don’t have a shovel… manual labor sucks!

This one can be kept brief… EDM… HATE.

Sure, there are peeps who will totally disagree with me, and love the crap out of this. Good for you!

Me, I am going to listen to silence for a while as I believe I’ve suffered sensory overload today… maybe I should pop some X and try this album again?

1*

The Good: We get a superhero!
The Bad: Turns out that sunshine superman can’t fly…
The Ugly: I am sure there is something to comment here… just can’t come up with it…

Maybe Donovan should have stuck to his previous job; being a waiter?

Almost skipped through most of the songs on this album… almost… though I should’ve.

Did not need to listen to this before dying.. but I read the bio, so that is a bonus… I guess?

2*

The Good: Purple Rain
The Bad: That we’ve not seen an artist like Prince in a long long time…
The Ugly: Well, let’s be honest, Prince’s acting…a

I went to see this movie when it came out… sneaked into the theatre as I wasn’t 16 yet, not knowing what I was going to be exposed to… Apollonia’s boobs, for one!

5 (*) (*)

The Good: Yes
The Bad: Uhmmm… no garlic nan bread…
The Ugly: The pain in my ear from too much sitar…

I know, there’s an H somewhere in sitar… sue me.

Ravi Shankar is the goat of his style of music, I will not deny that. Also undeniable is that he influenced one too many western artist in the ‘60s who were all going through identity crisissessss Crisi… whatever.

Thanks for the lesson on classical Indian music.
Thanks for introducing the sitar to the world.
Thanks for nothing.

World music is all lovely and such, however, there is a limit to my patience… also, why aren’t there any Japanese “opera” kind of albums on here?

2*

The Good: This is the OG chain gang!
The Bad: We are missing Joseph… or is that Josef?
The Ugly: Trying to figure out why such luminary people would be spending time in the Darklands?

I could have sworn that this was the second J&MC album I’ve listened to during this voyage… but it isn’t… As a matter of fact, I am still trying to figure out how frequently I have listened to this band in my life period…

If you go by the sound of the album, the first thing that popped into my head was that I was listening to the soundtrack of a John Hughes movie. But then my head reminded me that there really weren’t any John Hughes movies which would use this kind of music in 1987…
Which leads me to ponder whether John Hughes didn’t know what music to use after Pretty In Pink… Or, that J&MC are not trendsetters, instead they stole from bands such as Psychedelic Furs…

Whatever may be the case… if you are in the mood for some downplayed ‘80s music, this is your poison.
It is perfect for an afternoon of rain, or an evening during which you slowly start to drown yourself in a bottle of scotch…

Also, shoegaze? WTF is shoegaze really? As this band has nothing to do with some of the shoegaze bands that I’ve had the displeasure of having to sit through on this journey…

4* because I can

The Good: We get some Dookie!!!
The Bad: Crap, thought we'd get nookie...
The Ugly: Green Nookie...

This album, when it came out, well, let's just say that I was not on the side who were hailing this as the next best thing.
1994... what a year... where's my time capsule?

Not on this list:
Hootie and the Blowfish: Cracked Rear View
Eric Clapton: From The Cradle
The Black Crows: Amorica
Bush: Sixteen Stones

What a time to just listen to the radio...

Anyway, we are talking about this album... Dookie... I caved in a bought it around 98-99, played the CD with frequency, really enjoyed it...

Today, I'd say, maybe I overplayed it... There are some great songs on it, but I could go on living if I don't have to listen to it again...

So, it pains me, that an album that was fresh as hell when it came out, kind bored me today...

3*

The Good: We are warned this is the last…
The Bad: What if we want more?
The Ugly: When you realize you never wanted some in the first place…

Never heard of this band before… and though they sound alright, I am not impressed. Maybe I am getting tired of all these albums? Maybe I am getting numb to things I am un-familiar, as well as familiar with…

I don’t know. I am happy this was the last broadcast… that’s for certain.

I am going to go and listen to an album that I had to listen to in the future, as I am playing catch-up on rating albums… here’s to the Jesus & Mary Chain at least peaking my interest more than these Doves…

A flat 3… could’ve been downgraded, but they are not that bad...

The Good: If you want more than 1 pack of something…
The Bad: I ran out of my six-pack…
The Ugly: The fact that I have a Norm McDonald joke running through my mind the whole time…

Don’t like Rap… we know that.
I do respect 2Pac for what he was able to do prior to getting killed…

On the Norm McDonald joke… just google which country he is most afraid of… it isn’t Iran…

2* out of respect RIP

The Good: It’s for ever!
The Bad: Sometimes things should have an end…
The Ugly: … or not b ours…

Aussie punk before punk was born… kinda.

Did I like it? Kinda.
Will I listen to it again? Dunna.
Can I tell you something special about this album? Na.

3*

The Good: It’s a debut…
The Bad: It’s Bjork…
The Ugly: Too many Bjork albums on this list…

Yeah, no.

I am certain that there are people who would die for Bjork.
I am certain that there are artists who wish they would be as creative as Bjork is…

Yet… she annoys me…

Sorry, 2*

The Good: Artist tells us straight up what he is…
The Bad: What if the extra R in his last name stands for rape…
The Ugly: Gangster Rape…

Yes, I couldn’t come up with anything better than the above.
No, I really didn’t try very hard…
See if I care.

Listened to this album while visiting the great country of Japan… I think I zoned out listening pretty fast.. hit the skip buttons and couldn’t wait to find out what the next album would… hoping it wouldn’t be a total disaster like this one.

Did not like at all 1*

The Good: Realizing that Merle isn’t selfish, so he goes on the lam alone…
The Bad: Us not understanding why such an outstanding fella like Merle would be a fugutive…
The Ugly: He’s not running from the law… he’s running from his ex-wife!

I am playing catch-up as this album was presented to me during a great trip I had to Japan, and at the time I was actually NOT enjoying this album much…
So, I thought that I would give the album some time, listen to it more attentively, to see if I would start liking it better…

Middle of the road for me… I much preferred some of the other country music that has been presented to me on this list…

2* upgraded because I can...

The Good: Zep!
The Bad: Album title that is just too close to bad…
The Ugly: Who wants to be known as “the Third”?

I really wanted to love this album… because I’ve loved all the previous LZ albums that have been presented to me on this list.
And this album should be loved… Just not by me.

I don’t know… I didn’t get that WOW feeling this time around. It’s too much… or too little…

I should give the album 3 1/2* and push it upwards, but I am almost inclined to shove if to 2*… which would be unfair… shall I give it another listen?

Damnit… 4*

The Good: We are told it isn’t anything!!!
The Bad: Having to listen to nothing...
The Ugly: Nothing… as it isn’t anything…

I do believe this is the last time I have to actively sit down and listen to a MBV album and that makes me happy.

Could have been spared this shit though.
So thanks for nothing, Mr D

1*

The Good: We get to learn a new language!
The Bad: We find out it is made up…
The Ugly: Even if we try to learn both languages, the tongue fall will still kill you…

FUCK ME! That was great!

Don’t know what to say… I could make up a language to show appreciation, but why bother?
This was a moment of “thank you Mr D, thank you for creating the list, and me getting on the list train!”
Finally an album which I would never have listened to had it not been for the list.

The listening experience has been one of the most relaxing, one of the most emotive, one of the most attentive, one of the most replayed to date…

Will I start listening to the other workd from Sigur Ros? I fear to do so, as I might end up disappointed… I am sure that I will one day… for now, I will just cherish this album. An album which my wife hates, by the way…

5*

The Good: We get to enjoy a beer!
The Bad: Cafe Blue does not serve alcohol…
The Ugly: Finding out that the Style Council is but a nom de plume… just like Bleu really isn’t…

Though I am more of a fan of their next album, which isn’t on this list, I found this one to be… well… stylish in it's ‘80s sounds!

I have to say that I do miss that jazz-influenced sound that permeated music in the mid ‘80s. Beats that shit people listen to now-a-days with the regeaton, or whatever it is called.

Still, would I add this album to a list of things that one must listen to before one dies? I am not certain… as mentioned before, I prefer the album that came after, with that great hit “walls came tumbling down”

Maybe I am going to have to buy the 1001 book, so I can read the reasoning behind the inclusion of certain albums to this list?

For now, shooting it down the middle… though the rapping almost made it drop another *

The Good: We are in the presence of royalty!
The Bad: We don’t like blue blood…
The Ugly: misreading Only By the Knights…

Let’s look at the positive here; which is that this album really placed the band in the spotlight. Good for them, and truth be told, it’s not a bad album…
What I will keep with me is that I enjoyed the drums… and the guitars too at times… but the voice… the voice is what has started to make me dislike the band.

Worse, I have found out that I am to listen to one more album by this band as Mr Dimery has deemed them good enough for THREE FUCKING entries on his list, and this can only be justified by the simple fact that most music which came out in the ‘00s is shit, allowing for three albums from a mediocre band to be included.

I will be the skipping record here, but I have to share, again, the injustices of this 1001 album list:
Bee Gees don’t have Saturday Night Fever included, because it is a soundtrack album… the two albums they do have on this list are of the more folksy kind.
Supertramp has 1 album on the list, and it isn’t Breakfast in America!
The ‘90s… missing artists like Ben Folds Five, Cracker, Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies… yet I have to listen to fucking crappy British bands from the Manchester/Liverpool kind, because they are oh so good…

My list of 1* albums is too long… and out of spite I would give this album 1* too… but the album has it’s merit… just don’t know why they have 3...

The Good: If we don’t like it, we know they will be gone, as they are…
The Bad: What if we don’t want them to sign off?
The Ugly: The value of Unemployment Benefit #40…

If you like reaggea, then you probably like this record.
If you like songs that drag on and on, then you will like this record.
If you like UB40, you will like this album.

My tally for the above is naught out of three. Guess I am UB03…

And then comes that one song that just makes the album A-Oh-Kay!
Food For Thought is, by far, one of the greatest songs of the ‘80s.

So, UB40, I will shoot this one straight down the middle.

3*

The Good: There are Babes included in this album!
The Bad: Uncertain what the desperate youth has to do with this album, or why the babes have to blood thirsty…
The Ugly: The fact that we are duped in believing that we can see Tv on the Radio…

Maybe, just maybe, if they would not have placed a focus on desperation on the thirst for blood, we would have had something more enjoyable to listen to.

Not that his album is bad… it’s just that the second half of the album is too long… makes me a desperate old-fart, who becomes blood thirsty enough to wanna kill something.
It’s a shame, because it could have been something excellent if it were more cohesive, less going on a rant, and most songs cut down to about half the length.

Should this album be on the list? Yes, because I am glad to listened to it.. more than anything because for once there is an album recorded in the new millenium that I kinda like…

But not certain if I can give this 4*…

The Good: Just some good old boys…
The Bad: Got it confused with The Dukes of Hazzard!
The Ugly: The above mentioned tv series getting the same kind of crap as the album we are about to rate…

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Today, we live in a society where too many idiots scream out of outrage about the usage of a word, or the imagery of a symbol… scream scream scream.

The opening track, the first time I remember hearing it, I almost choked on my drink when I got to the end of the song… I doubt many people get that far today, because they hear a word that only certain people are allowed to use. To those idiots, I say, get off your high horse, sit down, listen to the song again, and use your f-ing brain—that is if you have one.

I do have to be honest here and admit the fact that, frequently, I can’t be bothered to pay attention to the lyrics on many of the albums that I’ve had the displeasure to listen to. So, I too should get off my high horse…

But not before rating this album with a 5*, not because it is that special, but because, out of oh so much shit I’ve had to listen to these past couple of weeks, it shows that sometimes something that seems mediocre is actually worth it’s weight in gold.