Reviews by conorr90

I get that this is supposed to be satirical, and can see how it might have been somewhat funny at the time. But the humour hasn't really aged well, and a lot of it is really dumb. Some decent guitar playing, but I would much rather just listen to New York Dolls or The Ramones.

Took me a few listens to get through this one, but I actually quite enjoyed a lot of it. It is far too long though - 2 hours of DnB is a lot of DnB! I enjoyed the first disc much more, would have been happier with just that.

I expected a bit more from this one, given how much I love Papa Was A Rolling Stone. The only other songs that I found memorable were Run Charlie Run, and I Ain't Got Nothing. Overall pretty pleasant to listen to though.

A perfect album, not quite as good as DSotM in my opinion, but it's very close. Parts of Shine On was played at my friend's funeral, so I don't listen to this album as often as I used to. That's a shame though, because it was nice to think of him today. He died far too young, but squeezed a lot of living out of his 18 years. Some of my favourite guitar playing ever on this album as well. I'm starting to wonder if Gilmour is actually my favourite guitarist.

One of my favourite albums of all time. It came out around the time I turned 18, so I was the perfect age to hop on the indie folk hype train. Nothing in that scene came close to this though - it's a world away from the likes of Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, etc. There's songs on this album that genuinely sound like music from centuries ago, updated and adapted to modern times.

Now that I'm older and wiser, I see that Fleet Foxes owe quite a debt to Simon & Garfunkel (among others), but the songwriting and musicianship is so good that it does still stand as a masterpiece in its own right. They did somehow manage to top this with their second album imo, but I'm not sure if that's on this list.

I really like a lot of this album, having only discovered it about a year ago. I do find it a bit repetitive, and that it dips in quality a bit in the middle, but her songwriting is excellent. I just wish the music was a bit more interesting. The best songs are the ones with better instrumentation and melodies, like the title track, 2 Kool, and Joy. Also really enjoy Lake Charles.

I like Scott's voice a lot, but this album is just kind of boring in comparison to #3 and #4. Sounds very dated, whereas the others had a bit of experimentation, and better, more original songwriting.

I've never really clicked with the Black Keys, similar to the White Stripes (although I do marginally prefer them). On paper I should like them, and they have some great songs. But there's something a bit hollow about their music. It just doesn't stick with me. This album is also a bit too long, and fairly front-loaded.

I don't think I've ever listened to a Madness album before, but always liked most of their singles. This was much more varied and artistic than I was expecting. I enjoyed most of these songs, even though it was a bit long. No complaints really!

I only ever listened to Duality over the years, which I always had a soft spot for. I enjoyed this and All Hope Is Gone much more than I expected, and probably wouldn't have listened to them at all if not for this challenge. Neither are an easy listen though, and I would argue that one Slipknot album would have been sufficient.

There's some great songs on here, particularly (sic), Eyeless, and Only One. I found a lot of the middle tracks a bit repetitive though, and the lyrics (and the band in general) will always remind me of those "edgelord" type teenagers I knew when I was young. Great drumming overall though, lots of cool experiments with different styles.

Beautiful album. I'm surprised this isn't more well known - I had only heard The Bottle until now. You can see the roots of hip hop in this and Pieces of a Man. Lovely jazz piano and flute too. Had to listen to it on YouTube unfortunately, but I will look into getting a copy of this asap.

Absolutely love this, glad to finally have gotten around to it. Another band I have heard of a lot over the years, but the only song I knew going in was Damaged Goods (mainly from the Idles cover). I thought that Natural's Not In It and At Home He's A Tourist sounded very familiar, but I think I've just heard other more modern bands imitating their sounds. I can hear a lot of influence on US post hardcore bands like Fugazi, the Riot Grrl movement, as well as the modern post-punk revival of course. I enjoyed pretty much every other song on here too, especially Ether, Guns Before Butter, and 5.45. The band is really tight, and good political content in the lyrics. Opening an album in 1979 with a critique of the treatment of IRA prisoners in the H Blocks was very punk indeed!

Think was a bit of a surprise, I've heard good things about the Divine Comedy, but only ever knew the National Express and Songs of Love (from Father Ted of course). It's not really my preferred style of singing, but it really works well with the orchestral instrumentation. Some very clever, funny and downright weird lyrics as well. Best songs: Something for the Weekend, Alfie, Charge, Songs of Love, The Frog Princess, Sleepless Night.

I think this means I'm finally coming to the end of the Elvis Costello tunnel. I'm honestly so sick of this man. There's 3 good songs on here IMO: Alison, Less Than Zero, and Watching the Detectives. The rest is painfully mid.

Not really my style at all. Some good singing and mandolin playing but I found most of the songs kind of blurred into one. The only ones that stood out were In the Pines, Alabama, and the harrowing Kentucky Girl.

This is a great album, glad I finally listened to it! I knew Love and Affection already, just had no idea how talented she is. Great songwriting, production, and singing. Not really a bad song on here, and sounds quite ahead of it's time as well.

How have I lived this long without giving Devo a listen? A few of these sounded familiar, but the only song I knew for sure was the Satisfaction cover, which I love. It's much better than the original! So many other great songs on here, I can see as well how they would be considered very influential. Quite like Talking Heads, but with even more energy. I'm giving it a 4 for now, but could see this becoming a 5 for me over time.

It's a bit difficult to make an argument for giving this album anything less than 5 stars, unless you're a very dedicated Pink Floyd hater. Or maybe if you were born in this millennium I suppose.

At the same time, it feels wrong to give my 5th favourite Floyd album 5 stars. It's a fantastic production and has masterful production and storytelling. Very cinematic and ambitious. But it really demands the listener to be in the right mood to get through the whole thing, and is hard to listen to casually, apart from the big hitters. And if I'm in such a depressed and nihilistic mood, I'd usually rather put on Animals or Wish You Were Here. If I want the concept-heavy, meaning-of-life Pink Floyd, I'd rather Dark Side. If I want something fun and spacey, it's Meddle.

I'd also argue that you could probably just listen to In The Flesh?, Another Brick in the Wall 1-3, Hey You, Comfortably Numb, In the Flesh, and Run Like Hell, and still get a pretty complete picture of what the concept is. So I kind of agree with those who say it's bloated and indulgent. But that's also kind of the point!

I also have to deduct points for the ironicly poor grammar on Another Brick pt.2, so I'm landing on 4 stars.

Bad singing, good instrumentation, uninteresting lyrics. Only song that stood out in any way was Up With People. Everything else just washed over me. No idea why this is on the list.

Slightly dated, but found myself enjoying a lot of this. Some incentive sampling and production. Unfortunately I haven't found a good download of this yet, so had to listen on YouTube.