Reviews by bob

The Good: The Score had an interesting cast of Bobby DeNiro, Ed Norton, Angela Basset and the great Marlon Brando!
The Bad: Even with such a stellar cast, the movie didn’t meet expectations.
The Ugly: This album is the same…

I am no fan of hip-hop, and I try to do my best to keep an open mind when listening to any hip-hop album that appears on the list.
So, The Score shows and my thoughts are “NOOOOOOOOOOO……”

When this album originally came out, the mid-90s were going through some serious identity crisis. We had the OJ trial which divided society in half, and just like you have today, it seems that if you weren’t on the “OJ is innocent” side, well then you must be a racist pig. If you couldn’t appreciate the effort The Fugees put into the album, and how great they are, then dito, you must be a racist pig.

And that is my problem with this album. It is too political, too polarizing, too much trying to be something instead of being something.

But the album was successful across the board, even if 2 of the 3 hits were pretty much cover songs, and that is something that was impressive enough.

So, 3* as this little pig doesn’t like to squeal!

The Good: Any band where you can read the name backwards as well as forwards, deserves respect!
The Bad: In the picture, the band members are NOT sitting in the ABBA format…
The Ugly: This means that for this album they are BAAB, which is the short country version for Robbert…

Love ‘em, hate ‘em, you have to respect them!
4 HUGE hits on this album… not hits, nay, HUGE hits.
And thus, per HUGE hit, I will give a * while hummin’ to myself “knowing me, knowing you…”

So close to 5*….

The Good: Witnessing a birth is magical!
The Bad: Sometimes birthing comes with complications…
The Ugly: There were no scissors to cut umbilical chord…

Jazz. It’s its own thing. It has its own rhythms. It has its own chords. It has its own crowd.

I am still scratching my head as to what, exactly, cool jazz is all about. To me, it sounds like the jazz that is used when people like to point out how different jazz is. It is quick, it is syncopated, it is jazz…

3* because Miles deserves respect

The Good: Rolling Stones sharp as knives
The Bad: Knives can cut, and it seems we need to Let It Bleed…
The Ugly: That we are celebrating this bleeding with a cake and a record…

What is there to say, that hasn’t been said before?
One of the greatest Rock n Roll bands ever… yet, on this album, on one too many songs, they are trying to be a straight from the Mississippi Delta, and that just hasn’t aged well.

Gimme Shelter and You Can’t Always Get What You Want are on most people’s Top 50 Greatest tunes ever, which means 4*
It would be 5* if there was more cohesion and less trying to be something they are not...

The Good: People say EC = God
The Bad: Some people say the earth is flat…
The Ugly: Other people say a 1 + 1 = 3

TLDR is almost applicable to this album, as after a while you wonder what the hell the producers were thinking when they said “sure, go on for a bit more lads!”

Little Wings was terrible, several of the tunes were just WAY too long and the artist trying too hard being Blue is way too evident… guess drugs are bad after all!

Yet, one can not deny that, overall, the album is what it is, from a period that was what it was…

so, 3 1/2 * that translate to 3, as we will downgrade due to excessive trying...

The Good: Dylan applying Tesla
The Bad: Too much AC, not enough DC
The Ugly: The irony between Harmony and Harmonica…

So, yeah, another Dylan album… and sadly, again I have to give a much higher score than I would like to.

Does the man have a nice voice? No
Should the man use his voice? Up for debate.
Will the man surprise you with his craft? Absolutely!

Solid 4* which is bordering on 5* if it weren't for the length of the last track...

The Good: A self-titled album is always nice!
The Bad: you got to be into folky singer-songwriter music…
The Ugly: I don’t belong to the group that is into this kind of music…

Yes, she is important for music… but that doesn’t mean that she is important enough for me to care.
The listening experience was non-memorable, and that should say enough…

2* because I’m not evil

The Good: I’ve played this album 4 times today!
The Bad: Not a single song stood out…
The Ugly: I feel like I’ve wasted 2+ hours…

That sax…
That mood…
That je n'est-ce pas…

Gonna give them Stooges a solid 4*!

The Good: The Temptations!
The Bad: It takes them too long to explain that their father was a rolling stone..
The Ugly: Expected soul, got funk I did not like.

Imagine that the Foo Fighters release a new album which are all about covers of ‘70s evergreen songs… that’s how I felt with this album.

Yes, Papa Was A Rolling Stone is a classic, but the damn thing just takes too long to start rolling, and once it does, it seems the hill it is rolling off is never ending and not that steep…

2* because I did NOT enjoy listening to this album.

The Good: Amazing cover art!
The Bad: Not a huge fan of the female lead singer…
The Ugly: Turns out the lead singer is a he with massive falsetto…

So, I tried liking the album. Listened to it twice, while doing some simple work so that I could focus on the music, the artistry, the all… and then I realized that I never liked glam rock to begin with, so why change now?

This is just not my cup of tea… maybe tomorrow I might change my mind, but I doubt it…
Hi, this is me tomorrow, and while I am giving the album a third spin the thoughts that pop into my head are: at times this sounds like ABBA, I can also understand why people are heralding this album as being fun, as it does have “spark”… But still no fan...

3* to play safe!

The Good: we learned something new today, and that is that Rust Never Sleeps…
The Bad: if rust never sleeps, it means it just keeps expanding…
The Ugly: the whole world covered in rust, and no sleep… nightmare!

Let it be reiterated: I really don’t like Neil Young.

Let is be noted: I actually enjoyed album, maybe because it is technically speaking a live album, and there is a real good groove going on, I don’t know… but I feel conflicted.
The guitar work is awesome, the production work even better as you hardly notice it is live, and the harmonica work is eerily perfect.

So what do I give this album? Should I deduct points for Neil being Neil?
Needle is at the 3*, will give it one more listen, and see if the needle adds a point…

The Good: an Iron Butterfly, as we know it can spread its wings and not have to worry about damaging them
The Bad: Iron is a heavy metal, thus causing the butterfly to not be able to fly… like, at all…
The Ugly: watching such a butterfly try and flop its wings to get airlift…

This is a tough one, as my album yesterday was Led Zeppelin IV, thus making any album of that epoch sound like crap… still, that title song did place me smack-daddy-in-the-middle of as The Garden of Eden… and the solo… I know we all are trying to air-drum ourselves out of this one!

3* for effort...

The Good: We’ve been informed that Graffiti can be Physical…
The Bad: We can’t figure out which song really explains this concept to us…
The Ugly: This leaves us wondering if LZ is just trying to pull one over us…

When I saw the cover of the album this morning, I fist pumped the air, then played the record, and again, and again… and it dawned on me what a tremendous drummer JB is. I mean, holy crap good.

There’s a reason LZ is considered one of the best rock bands ever, and this album highlights all that is great about them!

5*

The Good: a band that is confident enough to name the record in third person reference to themselves...
The Bad: it is a misnomer, even in third person, as it should have been The No...
The Ugly: the bad prog...

Oddly enough, I was always under the impression "Good People" was a The Who song... I should apologize to them...

1 1/2 * because they do know how to play their instruments, just not in a pleasant

The Good: ‘90s indie rock!
The Bad: that I did not, for whatever reason, listen to this during the ‘90s
The Ugly: the album cover as Frank Black looks a lot like Frans Bauer…

This album substantiates my rule that all albums need to be listened to at least twice before I can rate them, as I did not like it at all during first spin.
However, by the end of the second spin I was already Bogart in Casablanca… Play it again Sam.

I am no big fan of the Pixies, something that many friends of mine don’t understand due to my massive appreciation of ‘90s college radio music, so maybe I need to listen to several Pixies albums after I am done listening to Teenager Of The Year for the 5th time in 24 hours…

4* well deserved!

The Good: Kate Bush tells us about a sensual world!!
The Bad: just whispering does not make something sensual…
The Ugly: too much whispering going on…

I recall the first time I heard “This Woman’s Work”, it was, as should be, during that dramatic moment in the He Said / She Said flick, and it always stuck to me as a song that belonged on a soundtrack.
So, decades later, I learn that a whole album was tied neatly around this tune, and that made me wonder what ever happened to the original soundtrack to the movie, as I am sure that it will be more enjoyable to listen to… for me.

I am going to have to dish out 3* to this album, not because it pains me, but because it saddens me...

The Good: THE RAMONES!!!
The Bad: their kind of repetitive…
The Ugly: Did I mention that they are kind of repetitive???

Hey, ho, let’s go! What a wonderful way to start your morning. No fist-pump, just an angry stare, and ready to go!
Just don’t pay attention to the recording quality… or the way Joey likes to “Bop” which sounds like he’s taking the piss out of all of us, instead of out of the world… or that the rest of the album really sounds more like what a lollypop band from the ‘50s would sound like, if they were man in drag…

I got tired of the record pretty darn fast, mostly as I was not able to understand if The Ramones were trying to fight the world, or give it an apple and become it’s favorite student.

Not for me…2* out of respect for the legacy

The Good: McCartney was drinking Red Bull before it even existed, and that is how he got his wings…
The Bad: Too much Red Bull is not good for you…
The Ugly: I don’t see the band running in the picture, which means we’ve been lied to!!!

You’ve got to hand it to Sir Paul, he sure knew how to write catchy tunes, ensuring more attention, adoration, or hatred, for his music.

Me, listening to this album, I was brought back to a part of my childhood, where things were all simple and wonderful, as the world was starting to present itself to me, via adventures, bumps and scraps, and glasses of lemonade.

Though for my taste the record only deserves 3*, I’ve got to add the additional one to show respect to the genius that Sir Paul is… that, and I’ve had to listen to 5 crap records in a row, so that might have clouded my judgement….

The Good: We’ve got Kung Fu sounds again!
The Bad: ‘70s sound effects where great on 36 Chambers…
The Ugly: The grill… I mean, who came up with that concept???

Of all the rap from the ‘90s I have had the (dis)pleasure of listening to on this list, I find that anything WuTang related is the only palpable stuff (except for Snoop and M&M) I can set myself to listen to, and actually enjoy.

So, here’s to the Method Man making me enjoy rap a little bit more!

3*

The Good: In your face, without getting intrusive!
The Bad: needs more cowbell…
The Ugly: that cover picture of the album does NOT invite a loving glance…

In comparison to confreres of theirs in the musical stratosphere of bands from the ‘70s that start with “The” and adhere to a 1-2-1-2-3-4-bang principle, this was actually very enjoyable experience.

I can hear a little Elvis Costello, I hear a little later New-Wave, there’s much appreciate sense of rhythm and musicality that goes past 3 chords…

Overall The Jam have won an extra star for making me enjoy a psuedo punk album! Hurray!!!

4*