Reviews by brndnnll

Zappa and The Mothers of Invention I don't love by any means but certainly appreciate what they did and their contribution to music and culture. This is probably their most well known, I'm guessing. It's definitely an interesting and fun to listen to. A bit long and not something I want to listen a ton, but worth checking in on every so often.

Great debut album, weird and raw. I can't imagine what it was like hearing this when it came out. But it's still great to hear it every once in a while.

The Doors. This was to be what I expected, which is to say fine.

I have never actively listened to Parliament (or Funkadelic for that matter), but I'm sure I've heard it passively countless times playing at parties or in the background. I had kind of always written them off as something I wouldn't find that interesting. I was only partially right. It's definitely interesting and good and it grooves so hard. It's still not something that is going to get me jazzed but I guess I can say I fully understand the appeal now.

Totally unfamiliar with this and Mbalax music in general. Nothing incredible by any means, but really excellent recordings and excellent music.

Yeah the lush chamber pop is not really for me. I don't think this band needs to have one album on this list, let alone at least two. At least it is short.

Such a killer soul/funk record. This sound just kind of personifies everything I think of when I think of this genre. Great listen this morning.

French pop from the 60s. Wild and very welcome. This was a very enjoyable listen on a lazy early Sunday morning.

I have never done a deep dive into Bad Brains. Other than just the ubiquitous S/T debut, I haven’t heard much of them. So I was surprised to see something other than that record come up on this list. This is a tight and succinct listen. Earlier punk with this energy has both a looseness and ferocity that is tough to really pin down. Decent listen for sure.

An absolutely excellent and classic album. It was a nice one to draw today on a laid back Friday. It'd been a bit for sure. I remembered that the mix on this album has always bugged me, everything feels like it should be louder and it just kind of feels buried in itself. That being said, the songs are undeniably great.

I had not ever listened to this band and just assumed I wouldn't like them. After listening I can't say that that was a completely accurate assumption, but I mean this is about what I expected. I get why people love this stuff, it sounds like an amalgamation of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen to me, with some Paul Simon thrown in there. Just straight boring heartland rock tropes. Not for me at all, but it's pleasant and very safe and non-confrontational.

I have never cared to listen to this band at all. Mike Patton seems like a novelty act to me and I have never given him or his projects the benefit of the doubt--except for Lovage I guess, which is really excellent.

I did not even know that Mike Patton was not the original singer of this band, but I guess this is the first album that came out with him as the lead vocalist, it is just whatever, pretty meh middle of the road late 80s rock. It's about 10-12 minutes too long and includes a needless 8 minute cover of War Pigs. Don't feel like it's a worth inclusion on this list at all.

I have never cared much to listen to Foo Fighters, despite actually seeing them live 20 years ago. Dave Grohl just seems like a dork. This album is cool, it kind of feels more like a demo, which I guess isn't surprising given how it was recorded and everything. Nice enough to listen to, hopefully there aren't any more Foo Fighters albums on this list, but I'm sure there are.

This is better than "Born to Run" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town," but that isn't saying much because that is such a low bar to meet and surpass. I think this album probably benefits from the songs that everyone knows, and "I'm on Fire" is such a bona fide classic, although so many others have covered that song and have much better versions this than clown. Can't believe he has so many albums on this list.

Putting on an Eagles record to listen to is so fucking embarrassing. Within the first few seconds you are just instantly re-assessing what you are doing with your life, and wondering if you've really lost it. The Eagles are cheesy as everyone knows, but this has some redeeming qualities in that it's a bit more straightforward rock than their later stuff. I'll give it that but not much else.

I am not familiar with Emmylou Harris at all, and this reminds me of so many other artists. She has a tremendous voice and these songs are affective for sure. Not sure if it's something that will spark subsequent spins, but a fine album nonetheless.

This album is incredible and still just as fresh and vital today as it did when it was released 30 years ago. Truly a masterpiece.

Moby is wild, unlike what I was expecting. All I knew about Moby was that he's a bit of a dork, a bit of a creep, and that song "South Side" which seems like it's a big outlier. He is very much his own thing. This was fine.

Sparks are incredible and this album is incredible. Tight and ferocious. Truly excellent.

Teenage Fanclub is great, they kind of hit the sweet spot for me for early 90s alternative music, somewhere in the middle of complete lo-fi and more polished radio ready stuff. It's pop music for sure but has some rougher edges around it which I love. I have always dug this album.