Reviews by conorr90

Found this a little mediocre for the most part, but there are a few interesting songs (Burst, Motorcade, and The Light Pours out of Me) that signal a big shift from early punk to Post-Punk.

I like Steely Dan a lot, and I'm into the whole vibe of this record. But it's a bit too schmoozy in places. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great on a car stereo at night, and the production is fantastic. I see why it's on the list for sure, being a very early digital recording it was significant. But is it Steely Dan good? I don't think so, but maybe it will grow on me more. Not sure of it adds much to the list that the SD albums don't already.

Never listened to this one the whole way through, but I was pretty familiar with the first 2 songs. Songwriting wise, it doesn't really compare to the best Talking Heads albums, but its better than their later ones for sure. It's also super funky, lots of fun and has been sampled so many times, it's influence is clear and it was way ahead of it's time. 7/10

I expected to like this more, given how much I like Jamiroquoi's more popular singles. But I found the vocals way too derivative of Stevie Wonder; it almost sounds like a cover band. I think the band is quite talented musically (I was actually a bit surprised that this is a band, not just 1 guy with session musicians), and it's pretty telling that my favourite song was the instrumental "Music of the Mind". "Blow Your Mind" is pretty good too, but about halfway through the 10 min "Revolution 1993", I completely lost interest.

Liked this more than I expected to, considering I didn't think much of her new Deeper Well album. Interesting genre fusion, good production and some solid melodies Really enjoyed Space Cowboy, Butterflies, High Horse and Rainbow. Some of it is less memorable though, and the auto tune gets on my nerves after a while. Definitely worth a couple listens, but I won't be rushing back to it.

I wouldn't normally seek out a capella music, but I knew them from Graceland so had some frame of reference. Despite the lack of instruments, I found this really engaging. Some of the vocals they make are so unusual and inventive, it actually often sounds like instruments. The recording quality is fantastic as well. Quite a soothing listen overall.

Very enjoyable album, the only one I wasn't really into was the title track for some reason. Can see how influential this was as well, classic album. At the same time, it's not one I'd be dying to put on again. Solid 9/10

I've really liked this album for years, but it's one I rarely listen too. It just doesn't stay with me for some reason. But then every so often, I'll hear Desire Lines or Helicopter on the radio and think, "Hey, that was a really good album". So while it's not perfect, it is very interesting and imo, one of the best "Indie" records of that time period. It kind of scratches the itch that I always wanted Animal Collective to scratch for me (they never did though). I do like this sort of dreamy, shoegazy stuff in general though - can see how it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

I'm glad I finally listened to this one. I'm not super familiar with Zappa's discography, but I do love Hot Rats. This isn't exactly similar to that one, but it was very ahead of it's time - I actually had to double check the date. Kind of mind blowing that something like this came out in 1966, pre Sgt Peppers even! I appreciate what they were going for with the satirical songs in the first half, but I find them a bit boring. Probably because I find the musical styles that most of them imitate a bit hackneyed. It starts to get really interesting from around "Trouble Every Day" though, from then on I loved it. So, bit of a mixed bag, but I'll give an extra star for the sheer creativity and innovation.

I'm a Bjork fan, and this she is definitely deserving of her multiple spots in the book, but this one (along with here more recent albums) hasn't really clicked with me yet. Until now anyway. This one is very dark, so took a while to get into. After a closer listen on headphones though, I found it very moving in places; especially the 4 song run of Black Lake, Family, Notget and Atom Dance. There's some very emotional string parts that echo the best of her Homogenic album, and some really interesting production too. I haven't fully grasped the lyrics yet, but there are some great and very direct ones in there. Overall, I'd prefer Vespertine and Homogenic over this, but it may grow on me even more.

Forgot how good this album is, haven't listened to it in years. I think I used to see it as an aging artist clinging desperately to relevance, but its just a very very good late stage album. Great songwriting, singing and guitar playing. Can see how this would have had a big influence on Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene, Gomez, etc. 9/10

Haven't listened to this in quite a while. It's a bit dated, but holds up pretty well and has obviously had a major influence on hip hop since it was released. Fantastic sampling and instrumentals. "Dreamin'" and "You Are" are pretty terrible though.

I never really warmed to this one before, despite being a fan of The Queen is Dead and Meat is Murder. I'm surprised that this one was chosen over their first to be honest. I'd say 2 albums would have been sufficient really, but this isn't too bad.

There are some good songs on here, but a lot of them feel a bit like throwaways, which makes sense given the band were pretty much at the end of their rope. I enjoyed A Rush and a Push, Death of a Disco Dancer, Stop Me, and Last Night. Never got the appeal of Girlfriend in a Coma, but maybe it's popularity was due to the timing of it's release with the news of the band splitting. Paint a Vulgar Picture could be quite cutting if it wasn't immediately invalidated by the countless reissues and compilations of The Smiths' own work subsequently released. Would be a very fitting takedown of the industry today, with the padded deluxe albums on streaming sites and never ending vinyl variants.

Great album, nothing groundbreaking but very solid. I only knew Supergrass' hits previously, now I'm realizing that maybe I had under rated them before. This also reminded me how good Gaz Coombes' Matador is, gave that another listen too!

Fred Durst was 30 years old when this album was released. Let that sink in for a bit. I managed to avoid listening to this album for my whole life up to this point, despite being 10 when it came out and surrounded with Limp Bizkit superfans in my school, just at the cusp of the target demographic.

There's a few almost passable songs on here (My Way, The One, Hold On), but even those are tainted (pun intended) in some way; terrible singing, too long, derivative, or a mixture of all 3.

To the 5-star reviewers: it's not that we "don't get it", it's just fucking terrible.

I like Sonic Youth and all, but no way do they deserve a whopping 5 spots on this list. Daydream Nation, Goo and Dirty are more than enough to get the picture of them.

Hadn't listened to this one before though, so I'm not too mad. Really enjoyed "Shadow of a Doubt" and the experimental guitar sounds.

Great album, this one has my 2 favourite BB songs, Sure Shot and Sabotage (arguably 2 of the best ever hip hop songs). As an album, it's not quite as good as Paul's Boutique, but has some great standout tracks and instrumentals. The lyrics show a good bit of growth from the group as well, much more mature than their first album. Love the jazzy elements too. It is a bit too long though, and I could do without the last 5 songs in general.

Never listened to this one before, but I do know Method Man from Wu-Tang (and The Wire), so I had an idea of what to expect. Technically this is a really good rap album, he has a great flow and some really interesting rhymes. The production from RZA is great too. It also doesn't suffer from the bloat that other hip hop albums of the time were starting to have, clocking in at just over 40 mins and no skits or interludes to be seen.

I'm not normally into this really braggadocious style of rap, but the inventive production and just plain weird lyrics alwere enough to keep me interested. The misogyny is kept to a minimum too, thankfully. A song like All I Need was kind of a breath of fresh air for the mainstream at this time, even though he's not perfect in that respect. Having said all that, there's something about this album (and Wu-Tang Clan for that matter) that stops me from engaging fully with it. I'm nots sure what it is exactly, but I find a lot of these songs to be a bit dull or forgettable. Decent album overall though.

Well that's a funny coincidence. I just rated Sonic Youth's Goo, which contains the fantastic "Tunic (Song for Karen)", and now I get this. What's next, "Synchronicity" by The Police?

That aside, this is a really good pop album. Sure it's a bit cheesy, they look like evangelist homeschoolers, and they definitely weren't pushing the envelope. But there's nothing wrong with a bit of pure pop music every now and then. Karen's voice was fantastic here, and I love her drumming on the last track. The Burt Bacharach songs are definitely the strong points on here.

Haven't listened to this one in a while, looking forward to it. I always preferred Dirty overall, and found the second half of this one to be lacking. Dirty Boots is a top tier opening track though. Tunic and Kool Thing are fantastic too. One of the best album covers of all time as well.

Actually having listened to this through again, it's on par with Dirty. The 2nd half is just more experimental and noisy. Love Disappearer and Mote as well.