Reviews by bt1001quest

What a terrible loss Amy Winehouse was.

To me, this record was all about Amy's potential. She dabbles in about 12 different genres, most often in this "Sarah Vaughan meets rap soul" thing that works better on her successor album. That album, too, really hits the big choruses often where this one is not as melodic.

I imagine a whole lot of Gen X babies were created while listening to "Savoir Faire-" what a smooth-ass song that is.

Of course there are several classics here- "Le Freak," "I Want Your Love." Luther Vandross appearing here was a nice touch. Everything sounds really great, honestly. I would relisten and probably still enjoy.

The dumbass who wrote the top review (also trying oh so hard to be so cleverly dismissive) claiming this is "the British [borrowing] Indian flavors" was one simple Wikipedia search away from reading the singer is Indian. The morons on this site never cease to amaze me.

As for the record itself, I think it's okay. Anything world fusion will bring something up a notch by default for me, I think, but the dated scratches and Noel Gallagher ripoff vocals are big detractors that ultimately render the experience of listening to it a great big "ho hum" overall. By the time I was hearing that one sample repeating "turkey gravy" over and over again I was done.

Once again I find very little enjoyment from these tedious sparse arrangements that highlight his extremely dull and joyless voice. Wasn't as bad as Pink Moon but still an album I can safely say I will never listen to again.

A live album that bares all: Johnny's spirit, oeuvre, attitude, and his incredible singing voice. The double "San Quentin" run is the highlight for me.

Yeah it's seemingly impenetrable artsy shit, but there's just a lot of fantastic instrumental sounds here that have aged so well. I'm glad I gave it a second chance, bc the first listen resulted in a lot of shoulder-shrugging. I like how Ian Curtis and co. synthesize a lot of influences- Bowie, the Doors, King Crimson, Iggy Pop, Gary Numan, and the Police.

Unexpectedly excellent, and seemingly an predecessor of the "chillwave" sound that become increasingly popular through the late 2000s until the mid-2010s. I enjoyed the carefree, quirky (but not twee) energy here. Lots of very catchy choruses, and nice bits of organic instrumentation. Surpasses its awful album cover.

BOOBA

Forward-thinking controlled aggression. Production kind of wavers in quality but the songs all still sound very fresh. And yes, "Where Is My Mind?" transcends its "overplayed" status many times over- that song is gigantic (no pun intended, also a good song lol).

"Take on Me" is one of the greatest songs ever and single-handedly brings this up several notches. The rest of the album is all pleasant, but I would not consider this quintessential new wave listening.

Pretty ahead-of-its-time sound, with pleasant vocals from both singers. Was sad to read they divorced a decade after making this together :(

Make no mistake, this is a pretty good record, just not one I can see myself returning to.

s/o to the oscillating fan the vocals were recorded through

Bowie and Luther Vandross with some bits and pieces of Lennon ends up being a pretty good record, all things considered, but not one I would rank as one of his all-timers. Couple of tracks here go nowhere (I'm looking at you, "Across the Universe") and there's only so much the title track and "Fame" can do.

Fun concept, a fun listen, but largely feels like the band is screwing around and the big tracks are largely distant from the album as a whole. When 80% of the record feel like one-off half-joking demos it makes songs like "Maryanne" and "I Can See For Miles" feel like they would have been better suited on an EP.

Really wanted to like this. I dig Will Oldham's vibe and the indie Americana thing he pushes, but this was just pale wallpaper music for me. No real big swings musically, lyrically, or sonically.

But you see it’s too late- I’ve already listened to the Chad Ruben “Vibe Master” Blades while you’re still listening to the Virgin Bad Bunny

I am much more interested in the female vocalists than Dave Longstreth's stuff here. The strings are cool. "Stillness is the Move" is undoubtedly a fantastic song. I find myself humming that chorus a lot (thanks NBA 2K13 for introducing me to that one). The production really cranks up the space in between the instruments and the vocals which makes it feel somewhat tense and intimate.

Liked it, did not love it.

HELL YES SYNTHPOP LET'S GO

Excellent soundscapes and equally excellent catchy melodies across the entire thing. Will easily return here many times over. The synthesizers are loud but never corny and really mesh without sounding like a blur thanks to some keen production from Shep Pettibone. Also that Ennio Morricone collab halfway through?!!! Had no idea about that, gah damn.

UB40 was once a socially-conscious bent reggae group before they were doing reggae covers of classic pop songs. I, contrary to hipster opinion, enjoy both eras of the band, and often forget how much I enjoy their stuff. It's not nearly as cornbread as a lot of "whiteboy reggae" tends to be- you can tell they came up in the new wave scene and they're not trying to sound "black" like many try to. This record is so early 80s, but the songs are all extremely easy to enjoy- "chilled out" would be an understatement- while still feeling politically-pronounced.

Iconic album, down to its cover. "I Talk to the Wind" has always been my favorite song here. The extensive jazz influence on the tracks here separates it from other prog records, most often to its success, but unfortunately to its detriment on "Moonchild," a meandering mess. I think without that clunker it would be their very best album!

Without "Games Without Frontiers" this would not have the reputation it has. Much of the album is clunky and the musicians (Fripp and Levin) are unfairly pushed to the background production-wise, making the entire thing ultimately mediocre