Reviews by bob

The Good: Non-abrasive music
The Bad: makes me wonder what the point is of this album
The Ugly: having to sit through an entire album of Neil Tennant singing…

Yes, I understand that all people have their biases, and mine is that I like rock n roll related music more than pop or dance music. Which makes me wonder why I have to listen to this album, as even the wikipedia description does not give me enough reason to understand.

Is it because Mr. Tennant finally came out of the closet? Is this the same reason why people should like Queen? What does admiting being gay, which everyone already believed, have anything to do with me having to listen to this album?

Go West was okay to listen to, and all the “songs” that came before too, but they are all bland, and all pretty much sound the same to me, just like their previous musical endeavors… so, again, why do I have to listen to this?

2* because I didn’t hate it, but I refuse to give this the 3* it probably deserves… because I don’t understand why this album did make it on the list, but the album Magnolia by The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies did not...

The Good: Mr. Lenny Kravitz!
The Bad: debut albums are rarely awesome
The Ugly: Finding out that the freshman attempt at music is like being the recipient of a girl’s first blowjob attempt; kind a nice, but nothing special…

I remember listening to Let Love Rule, the song, for the first time, and being blown away by the sax solo… and to this day, it remains one of my favorite solos on a rock song. Yet, everytime I listen to the song, I wonder what the point was to have a 1 minute lead-out that totally changes the vibe of the song, and actually makes you hit the “next song” button.

Maybe once, by accident, did I listen to the entire album back in the ‘90s, we had cassette players in our cars, so finding the next song was a bit of a pain, hence listening to an entire album was normal.
I don’t recall the album leaving me speechless… today wasn’t different.
You can hear how the Beatles influenced LK on this album, and that is a good thing. However, the Beatles knew how to time a tune and drag you in and not let you go… that’s why they are the Beatles, and Lenny is Lenny.

3* for effort ***

The Good: These cars are not EV!
The Bad: People will say that this means they are bad for the environment…
The Ugly: Well… nothing really :-)

When more than 50% of the tunes on an album are ones that you’ve heard plenty of times and they still don’t tire, then you know you’ve got a great album!

Though not a 5* album in my book, this is an album that needs to be celebrated and definitely deserves to be on a Top-50 albums all people should own.

4 1/2*

The Good: pretty energetic music
The Bad: why call your band “fake diamonds”
The Ugly: the abuse of feedback sound after a while…

Plenty I have read about the great Fugazi, little I had heard… now that I have, I’m neither here nor there.

I lived the ‘90s in a different musical environment, so I can’t opine with such fervor as some other people have. I can appreciate the fact that they have/had a die-hard fanbase as the music, for the period, was pretty darn good.

Still, not an album I will have on repeat play-list anytime soon…
2 1/2* bumped up

The Good: They are Kings of Leon, not Dukes…
The Bad: It seems royalty is overrated, so they might as well have called themselves the Council
The Ugly: seems politics is overrated too…

When I first heard of KoL (as those who know refer to them) it was via the Sex is on Fire song. I recall liking it when it came out. I also recall starting to find it boring after a while…

So, with this their freshman attempt, I was hoping to hear something interesting. And I was treated to something bland.
It’s neither here nor there, fish or meat, blond or brunette.

I guess the title gave it away that this band has been trying too hard at being special, and failing in the attempt.

2* as I do not want to see rock die completely… but I could have been spared this album...

The Good: If we shorting the band name to FF, than we are forewarned about needing to fast-forward the songs…
The Bad: the fact that the band name wasn’t Singing Koalas Into Porn.
The Ugly: The look on the koala’s face…

I mean, really? This is folk? Or Indie? Or Rock?
This is none of the above.
This is shit.
This was a total waste of my time.
This is what has been wrong with society for a while, thinking it is something which it obviously isn’t…

Poor koalas deserved better…

1*

The Good: John Pine likes to sit on hay
The Bad: depending on the trousers one wears, hay can start to pinch right through
The Ugly: can’t think of anything more ugly than the bad…

So yes, a country album… and guess what? I liked it!
For me this, this is the kind of country that I like, more folk than country really. Interestingly enough, and only knowledgable by me after reading the wiki page, it seems that Bob D heralds John P as one of the greatest song and you can imagine Bob D singing several of these tunes no problem.

Also, with lyrics like this an album is worth a second, third, fourth spin for sure:
Last Monday night I saw a fight between Wednesday and Thursday about Saturday Night. Tuesday asked me what’s going on, I said “Sunday’s in the meadow, and Friday's in the corn”

Off to play the album again

4 1/2*

The Good: a Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
The Bad: One needs to enjoy a cabaret
The Ugly: Trying to figure out what a soft cell has to do with all this…

There are probably 5 emblematic ‘80s intros that have been used over and over to define that period in tv and film, and Tainted Love is one of them!
Anyone who was experiencing life in that decade appreciates the song, whether you were into that music at the time or not.

The rest of the album, in my opinion, is a spit||rinse||repeat kind a thing.

3* just because of Tainted Love and Sex Dwarf

The Good: A Teen Dream by a Beach House…
The Bad: Is it really a dream?
The Ugly: Is it really a beach?

I don’t understand why people would rave about albums like these. It is something you’d probably want to hear while sitting in the waiting room of your dentist’s office, just before your fifth root canal…

So, yeah… Not for me…

1 1/2* cause it didn’t make me want to remove the experience from my memory…

The Good: David Bowie
The Bad: Last Album
The Ugly: Nobody likes listening to a swan-song…

I am not one of those die-hard Bowie fans, so I was not aware that this was his last album till I started reading the reviews and wiki information.
Having said that, the first time I played the album, I found it hard to get through… especially the lengthy first song on the album.

I gave the album a second try, and a third, and what I noticed is that melancholy was what increased more and more, as well as me not understanding many of the lyrics.

Is Bowie a genius? What is a genius?
Is this album worthy of all its accolades? I don’t know, I would have to check the list of albums published around the same time.
What is certain is that the album grows on you bit by bit…

4*

The Good: The title of the album already points out the fact that I am a …
The Bad: If the band knew that I am a dummy, then why did they even bother publishing this album?
The Ugly: the fact that I actually listened to it twice in the hopes that I would be less dummy, and more yummy…

So, they like Ennio Morriconi’s work, so do I, but not in the sense of “hey, let’s just create an entire album that has way to slow compositions, use drum machines to create an annoying beat, and make sure we uppppppp the bass on all channels!

Trip Hop, or Indie Rock, or any of the other labels that has been thrown around to explain which genre this album should belong to, should tell you enough that if it isn’t clear to the publishers, or trade journalists, then what are we supposed to think about it?

So, here’s me, mr Dummy, enjoying the fact that I don’t have to listen to the album a third time, as I’m smart enough to realize my opinion on this album won’t change…

2* for effort...

The Good: Yacht Rock!
The Bad: What do you do if you don’t have a yacht?
The Ugly: Finding out that we’ve been lied to all our lives—Asia is spelled Aja!

Why is there so much negativity that surrounds this album, this band, or even the style of music in general? Is it because those who hate it are being confronted with the fact that they know little to nothing about what music should sound like?
You might not like the tunes, you might not like the lyrics, but one can simply NOT deny the fact that the musicianship and production value is why this album is considered one of the best ever.

Great album, great cover art, great songs.

Can’t give it 5*, but is comes real close…

Future me here… upgraded to 5*

The Good: We learn that Paul, so it seems, has a boutique!
The Bad: We never really find out why we are informed about his boutique…
The Ugly: I guess that means that I am not allowed into the secret club…

I am no fan of drum machines.
I am no fan of sampling.
I am no fan of rap music.

For me 1989 was a transition year, so I was listening to “old” records and not spending too much time listening to new product being released… for now, it seems like I did not miss out on anything.

2* because I didn’t hate it entirely

The Good: The many ways one could misinterpret the title of the album
The Bad: Considering the possibilities of misinterpretation of the title, now start misinterpreting the image on the album cover…
The Ugly: all your dirty minds!

What?

So, Paul Weller, ex The Jam, ex Style Council, raconteur of this here album that I had never heard of before. And I am liking it.
Setting aside the bithcin’ and moanin’ of plenty of people stating that this is drab, I think that this album is a clear reminder that it is time the music industry allows well produced albums to come out again, by people who actually know something about music.

I am uncertain what ranking I should give this album; 3 or 4*?

The Good: Nine Inch Nails
The Bad: Being stuck on a downward spiral
The Ugly: Trying to get out of the spiral without any of the nails puncturing you and causing pain, and blood, and anguish, and mayhem, and…

Like the music, don’t like the music, impossible to ignore the impact that this album had on putting Industrial music in the spotlight, or the soundtrack of the cult classic Se7en!

The album has put me in a slight trance all day, my wife hating the music coming from my speakers, while I just kept on keeping on with whatever I was doing. And to think that during the ‘90s I did not listen to this album ever…

A solid 4* for certain!

The Good: Horses enjoying a delightful afternoon munching on grass
The Bad: The fact that I don’t have any grass…
The Ugly: The state of my ears after having gauged them with pencils thanks to Mr. Gallahan’s “singing”

I believe that this is album 176 for me, and I am really struggling to understand what the point of the 1001 list is…
Though I am not keeping track, this is, yet again, another album where someone who should not be allowed to record his voice, is allowed to do so, and on top of that has made me waste 50 minutes of my day.

Also: country? Really? Soon DeLaSoul will be listed as Jazz I guess.

To all of you who are fans of Bill, I feel sorry for your loved ones who have to endure listening to this too.

1* because that’s the minimum I can give, if not it would be 0*

The Good: Those shoes…
The Bad: That drab purple…
The Ugly: Me still not understanding what Bryter Layter really means…

I believe that I’ve heard a couple of his songs on auto-generated playlists, or maybe even while listening to a classic rock station, but never did I sit through an entire album by Mr. Drake.

Color me interested.

3 1/2* which I am bumping into the 4 stratosphere!

The Good: Nice album art
The Bad: It’s Techno…
The Ugly: TLDL

Seriously, I have to sit through 75 minutes of bim-bam-bim-bam repeat if necessary?
I like a nice short techno tune like the next person, but an entire album, which might as well be called a double album, with tunes lasting 15 damn minutes…

I have encountered my second Waterloo on this list.

1*

The Good: We start our listening experience off by being told we will have a “Good Time”…
The Bad: The Good Time, so it seems never ends…
The Ugly: Maybe we are being fooled; it is not about my good time, but about other people’s good, and be damned my good time!

Undeniable that Good Time is a classic disco song…
Undeniable that CHIC knows how to stick to a beat / rhythm / concept
Undeniable that, as with the other damn album by CHIC on the 1001 list, I got bored, nay, BORED real fast.

While I gave the other album 2* as I was acknowledging the musicianship on the album, this time around I am going to dish out a solid 1*

Thank goodness disco died a quick death!

The Good: Who doesn’t appreciate an acronym for a band’s name?
The Bad: Such a negative album title… or was “conflict” already taken?
The Ugly: the obvious child-abuse as the poor kid had to get a bloody lip in order to be immortalized on this album cover…

When this album came out, I was into totally different music, as were most of my friends, so aside from the usual suspects on this album, it was a pleasure listening to this album with virgin ears.

Though U2 eventually turned into a carnival act, not of the good kind, this was prime stuff! Really enjoyed the album, and will play it several more times before the year is through.

A solid 4*!!!