Reviews by conorr90

I've never really been much of a Westerns (apart from Red Dead Redemption) guy, so I don't have a lot of context for the lyrics on here. Nothing to complain about here though really, some of the songs were a bit samey, but all very pleasant to listen to. Production is good, it sounded really clear coming through my Pip-Boy...anyone got any spare Rad-ex?

I get why this one is on the list, but honestly Mudhoney have never done much for me. I'd say they would have been great to see live at the time, but I don't feel like that energy translated too well to their records. However, they definitely deserve credit for paving the way for grunge in Seattle, even if they weren't technically the first. There are some good songs on here, but most are pretty forgettable.

Never listened to this before, but I have heard of Mylo. Pretty good so far, nice chilled out electronica, á la Air, Lemon Jelly, or the Orb.

Once I got to "Drop the Pressure", I realised why I recognized this; some of these songs were ubiquitous back in the day. I enjoy a good mash-up every now and then, and had a minor obsession with Girl Talk when I was in college. Some of this is really inventive. Sunworshiper and Musclecar have good instrumentals, while Drop the Pressure and In My Arms are real earworms. But overall it kind of feels like the musical equivalent of junk food - style over substance.

Never heard of this album or artist, so I'm going in blind. I don't even want to read the wiki for a change. Very unusual/atmospheric intro track, almost like a film soundtrack. I think I recognise the second track though, "Under Wraps", not sure where from.

I'm enjoying this overall, however it does fade into the background a bit. It feels a bit disjointed, like a collection of tracks from different film soundtracks. Very interesting in places though.

Ok, so after a second closer listen, I think this is actually quite cohesive. It would work very well as a soundtrack to a lot of films. I love the blend of old and new styles here; this could easily soundtrack something like Casablanca, or something like Se7en. I can hear the influence of this album on music from throughout the 90s as well - particularly David Bowie's "Outside", some elements of NIN, the Prodigy, and (especially) the jazzy drum and bass that Amon Tobin released towards the end of the 90s. Overall, this is a very interesting, unique, and experimental album. Probably one of the most interesting I've discovered from this generator so far.

This is a fantastic album. I can't believe I wrote it off when I first listened to it 10-15 years ago. I think I was put off by the first 2 songs. I still find those two a little dull, but from "Strictly Confidential" on, this album is almost perfect. Some really interesting sounds and melodies on here, inventive use of the synth and horns as well.

I can see now why they were so influential; several of these songs sound almost 10 years before their time. From what I know of Roxy Music's singles, they did get a bit less interesting after Brian Eno left, but I'll definitely be giving their earlier stuff a second chance now.

Not really my usual type of music, but enjoyable all the same. Particularly the smooth bass lines and production throughout. It's impressive how many instruments D'Angelo played himself on here! On the negative side, I did find it a bit repetitive, and the lyrics are often so to-the-point horny that they are borderline creepy. Title track is great though, as well as a few others. I prefer his later album, Black Messiah, as it has more political lyrics and is a bit more varied and jazzy. This one is mainly just about boning, which is fine too I guess. 7/10

Some really good songs on here, but I found the quality dipped a bit in the second half, and it's way too long. It's dated in strange ways as well, like some of the slang makes no sense anymore. In general I prefer Missy's hip hop stuff to her R&B. Love I can't stand the rain though!

I found this a tough listen. On the one hand, I respect Eminem's talent. But on the other, his immaturity makes him very difficult to like. This felt like listening to the class clown completely spin out in front of everyone. Sometimes he strikes gold, sometimes it's just cringe/edgelord stuff trying to offend as many people as possible. Then you have what sounds like a very serious and alarming song, Kim. Too much for me.

Thought this was a fine listen really, but struggling to see why it's considered essential. Sounds very like the Human League (or dozens of others), but with some nice jazz instrumentation added. Pretty good musically, just not super memorable.

This is the first time I had ever listened to the Damned, and I see now why they were such a big deal. There's such a great mix of styles on here, it's like this album signposted the next directions punk would take in the early 80s. Some really memorable songs on here, a few forgettable ones. Overall a great listen, but not quite as good as London Calling, which I think came out in the same year.

There are some great hits on here, and it is very stylish. Some great personality to the lead singer too. But some of the songs are a bit forgettable, and they lose some points for ripping off old punk songs. However, they did some pretty cool things with the ripped off ones.

This is another easy 5, not much that can be said about it that hasn't been said thousands of times over. I do sometimes prefer the self titled album before this one, but both are top tier. Some of the best pop/rock songwriting ever, and the drama between the group members really adds to the entertainment value. Some really incredible guitar playing too, Lyndsey Buckingham is an incredible musician.

One thing I would recommend is to give the deluxe version a listen, because they corrected their error in leaving Silver Springs off the original release. It's one of the best songs on the album, and really ties the whole thing together nicely. It should have been the closing track, hands down. If the run time was a concern, they should have dropped Oh Daddy instead, that song adds nothing!

Enjoyed this album a lot, it really cements the Kinks as great songwriters. There are a couple duds though (wtf is a Harry Rag?) and only a few of the songs are real standouts. Some really cool sounds on here though for the time - I thought Lazy Old Sun even had shades of Black Sabbath.

I think I first heard of this album via the Pitchfork 'Best albums of the 90s' list a couple years ago. If I remember right, it was in the top 10, and one of two albums in the top 10 I had never listened to. Lucinda Williams was the other one, which I listened to, but never got around to Liz Phair until now. I have to say, I'm very surprised, as I was expecting it to be overrated. It's not at all, I'm very impressed! I love the guitar tone all the way through, and the songwriting is top notch. I get that it is probably a bit too vulgar for some people, but I think to some degree songs like Flower are attempts at trolling, or something similar. Like Courtney Love was doing around the same time, Liz has put out a very "unladylike" album that was definitely on par with the best male artists of tge time.

After listening to this a third time, I was surprised to read on the wiki that most of the songs aren't about Liz herself. Most of them are so direct and confessional in nature that I assumed they were at least semi-autobiographical. That really shows how great the songwriting is on here IMO. Not to mention that there's 18 songs on here and none of them are duds!

I see why this is on the list, but it doesn't really do much for me. I've never really gotten the hype for these guys, and listening to a full album hasn't changed my mind. There's 2 or 3 songs that stand out, but the rest are very MOR, with exactly the same shouts vocal delivery in each one. Not much unique about this to my ears, probably another one where you had to be there at the time.

Thought this was fairly average as background music, not much really stuck out to me. Musically it sounds a bit dated, and I don't really have any reference points for the lyrics. Not really much to draw me back for another listen!

Found this to be pretty mediocre in general. There was a lot of similar music coming out of the UK around this time, so I'm not sure what is supposed to make this stand out. A few pretty danceable songs, but the vocals are pretty annoying. The best song on the album is "Reward", but to my ears, it sounds like a rip off of "No More Heroes" by the Stranglers. Definitely won't be revisiting this one.

I still don't really get the Beach Boys. Apart from 5 or 6 songs that are legitimately genius, they just don't click with me, and I'm starting to think they never will. They were fantastic singers, wrote great melodies and harmonies. But the rest is just like animal noises and weird sound effects. A lot of this sounds like a soundtrack to a children's cartoon.

Not that I'm opposed to that in small doses - I don't think all music needs to be taken super seriously. But it just leaves me scratching my head to think that they were pitted head to head with The Beatles at the time. It just makes me feel sorry for them; it was a contest they were never going to win. They were just fine in their own way though.

This definitely was a definitive album of the 2000s. I feel like Franz Ferdinand, along with The Stokes before them and the Arctic Monkeys, were a real driving force of the garage rock revival that determined a lot of the musical trends of the decade.
I did get a bit sick of some of the singles at the time, but only due to them being overplayed. Revisiting this album now, I can appreciate it for what it was, and I forgot how many great songs are on here! Take Me Out, Matinée, This Fire, and Michael were all brilliant singles, and the rest of the album holds up well too. Fair play to them for including a big of homoeroticism in there as well - that was fairly unusual in 2004. The only negative I have about this album is that it has a sort of detached coldness/aloofness that puts me off a bit. Apart from that though, it's great! Just not something I click with that much on an emotional level.

I've never really gotten into this one, but have always been intrigued by the critical acclaim. Listening to it again now, I can see why it's considered so influential. It has great production and samples, but the lyrics are still painfully immature in places. It's a big improvement on Licenced to Ill though. Shake Your Rump, Egg Man Shadrach and A Year And A Day are definitely the highlights for me. Hey Ladies is definitely a lowlight.

I had a second listen on my good headphones, and the quality of the production and sampling is incredible for the time, considering it would been all analogue (I think). It's amazing that they were able to secure some of these samples..."Sounds of Science" for example, contains multiple Beatles samples. The production bumps this up to a 4 for me - would be a 5 if the lyrics were less sexist and cringe.