Reviews by bt1001quest

"Cybele's Reverie" is just a nice, breezy jam, as many of these songs are, bordering on a neo-psychedelia sound, with pleasant vocal delivery and bouncy, rhythmic looping/tape editing. This is yet another album, however, that does not earn the extended length. Cut 20 minutes from this and it's a really, really great record. At 57:15, I tire out about halfway through.

A fantastic vocalist who makes some fantastic contributions to Peter Gabriel's wonderful soundtrack to the 1989 film "The Last Temptation of Christ." These songs are all really good but don't have much applicability outside of their religious context for me to give this more than an objective 3. I think some of his earlier records might be better.

"G Thang" is one of the most iconic rap songs ever, and I am impartial to the echoey hook on "Lil Ghetto Boy" but the rest of the album is GARBAGE. Especially the extremely unfunny and unimaginative skits. Overrated!

Good proto-grunge from the father of the genre. Just way too long. A few really good tracks do not make it earn its length

Made me want to rewatch Trainspotting- just saturated with 90s British club vibes. Disjointed, though, in structure (is it a transitioning DJ mix or an album of distinct tracks) and in sounds (is it dissonant or supposed to be grooving)

Love this band and the launch point for their career, “Rock Lobster,” which is a shockingly popular song for its vast experimentation and singular sound. The rest of the album is quite a bit less subversive and as such doesn’t affect me.

Solid in all aspects. Don't think I'll really remember much from it- he sounded really good doing this folk style, though.

I've always had fond memories of listening to Buck's music having been raised a stalwart Dwight Yoakam fan from an early age. I recognize his importance to the Bakersfield sound, and really love his emphasis on steel guitar slides. The songs really don't leave too much of an impact beyond being upbeat and snappy. I'll be listening to a compilation of his big tracks at some point and most likely enjoy that much more as a record.

A few years older, a few years less cutting-edge for a great band. Don't get me wrong, there's several ones to remember- "Velouria," "Cecilia Ann" at the top of that list. But a lot of what made the band special only two years earlier has been lost and really stripped of its ingenuity in favor of a slicker sound.

Staggering riffs, soaring vocals, gigantic drum hits- this is a stone-cold classic metal release. To imbue metal music with this much of a pop sound without losing what makes this band special, with this much care given to a diverse sound (from balladry, to chorus-driven bangers, to slow chuggers, to fast thrash tracks)- there is no denying the power of the Black Album. I love each and every song, and to show that, I'm going to "rank 'em all" here and give a little blurb about why each one works:

12. "The Struggle Within"- military drums at beginning firmly anchor this in the Persian Gulf-era
11. "Don't Tread On Me"- an infectious chorus
10. "Through the Never"- that riff at the end is an all-timer
9. "Enter Sandman"- a classic? yes. but there are even better tracks
8. "The God That Failed"- great bass work and lyrical content
7. "Wherever I May Roam"- sitar intro???? YES
6. "Holier Than Thou"- the pissed-off feeling/attitude permeating from this one has always stuck with me
5. "The Unforgiven"- have always been drawn to the excellent vocal perf on this and 1997's part II in the same series
4. "Sad But True"- it's just so badass- so deliberately dramatic with those drum entrances and insanely well-produced guitar solo work
3. "Of Wolf and Man"- Catchy but still heavy- this one has aged really well production-wise and essentially launched Avenged Sevenfold's entire sound
2. "My Friend of Misery"- that atmospheric section in the middle with the reverb-y guitar laid over the orchestra is just orgasmic
1. "Nothing Else Matters"- a haunting piece of legitimately epic songwriting like no other in the power ballad oeuvre

A bit too Bowie sound-alike for my taste. Good tracks and production overall, but I prefer their later records

Consistently pretty and thoughtfully-composed folk pop that provides an easily returnable listening experience. Vocally the off-kilter style really befits the light instrumentation with small flourishes of orchestral flair. Each track works and the record really reminds me of the feeling at the end of the movie "Before Sunrise-" like you've spent hours with a beautiful woman but have to leave her soon and the feeling is creeping up. A new favorite record!

A tentpole reggae release if there ever was one. So many iconic songs dot the tracklist. Marley truly excelled and brought the genre to so many new listeners because of his versatility, charm, and genuinely far-reaching lyricism. While I feel the record has some pacing issues overall, it is undeniable how important this album is to popular music history.

Kind of strange how much better "Our House" is than everything else. Not to say the rest is bad, just kind of messy and uncatchy.

Boring and unpleasant in equal measure. Production did nothing for me, felt like a corporation's attempt at recreating Sigur Ros' Agaetis Byrjun. The "Moonchild" interpolation was weird and unneccessary. The supposed "big" singles were snoozers

GOOD FOR TUBERCULOSIS

The title track is a stone-cold classic, but I find the rest of the album pretty generic by comparison. He has a ton of good songs on his other albums, though- check out "You Gotta Walk," his cover of "Johnny B Goode," and the iconic "Mystery Babylon."

Back when Iron Maiden had a punk flair and a different singer (RIP Paul), but they were still an absolutely killer (no pun intended) band. Fantastic songs abound on this thing, with exceptional guitar work on the more epic tracks, the ballads, and the hook-driven shorter songs alike. This record is amongst my favorites in their discography and I'm glad Paul seems to be getting his due for the most part in the many years since his contributions to what is perhaps the greatest metal band of all time.

Is Mike Mills rock's greatest backing vocalist? I sure think so.

This is a really good record of material from one of my favorite bands. I think side two is significantly tonally different from Side One's calming/uptempo feel- one's mileage will vary based on if that switch up to darker material on side two (announced firmly with big single "Orange Crush") works or not. I like it a lot.

A few too many lyrical cliches and stale arrangements detract from her stunning vocal chops

It's a Neil Young album. It's got guitar twanging and great songwriting aplenty, but it did not wow me.