Reviews by conorr90

Not a bad album, I didn't find it too engaging though. However, the influence he would have had on acts like Bob Dylan is very clear.

I see the appeal obviously, but GnR have never really done much for me. Apart from a couple of songs (Welcome to the Jungle and Patience) they mostly bore me. There is some good guitar playing on here and they certainly have energy, but nothing on this album changed my mind.

Fantastic album. I thought I had listened to this in full before, but a few of the songs sounded new to me. I found the strange bass/synth(?) instrumentation on "Save the Life of My Child" very interesting. Seems like it would have been very ahead of its time in 1968.

Not really my cup of tea. I found her voice a bit grating and many of the songs too similar. But I can appreciate why this is on the list.

This is definitely worth a listen, but ultimately not really my type of music. The songs are very well written and Meatloaf's singing is great, but the whole thing is just too theatrical and melodramatic for me.

This is a really solid album, and the two singles are especially great. I'm not a huge fan of Costello and think he is over represented in this book, but this is definitely the best I've heard from him so far. His band sounds fantastic and the production is great too. Nice album cover as well, overall a very good project. 8/10

This album is an absolute masterpiece, and in my opinion the high point of The Cure's discography by far. The production is fantastic, wonderfully blending warm bass tones with icy synths and melancholy guitars. The sound throughout gives a really accurate representation of how depression can weirdly feel comfortable and warm at times, but also isolating. A feeling I don't often see depicted in media. Lyricly, Robert Smith touches on a lot of similar themes, particularly the growth and catharsis that comes after letting go and coming to terms with loss. However the real genius of this album is that you don't even have to have experienced these things yourself to relate to the songs, because they are so well written and performed.

I'm not really sure where this lands with me. On the one hand, it's mostly ridiculous testosterone fueled crap. But on the other, it has some of the most interesting and revolutionary guitar playing of it's time. Ain't Talking About Love in particular has to be one of the best riffs I've ever heard. But many of the songs on the second half are quite forgettable. Not something I would listen to often, but I think it is marginally better than 1984, so I'll bump it up to a 7/10.

Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. Its a really interesting fusion of genres and cultures that I suppose would make some cringe, but I think it worked. I much prefer the Rolling Stones cover to the Doors cover, but I don't really care much for the original Doors song to begin with. Found myself getting fairly meditative during "Sagar". Not sure how often I'll revist this, but I would gladly give it another listen.

Some great songs on here, I enjoyed this one much more than Catch a Fire. I still somewhat stand by my opinion that the "Legend" compilation is all the BM one needs, but this album is deserving enough of this list.

Enjoyed most of this, but not as much as Juju, which I got last year. Some great songs, others forgettable. The cover of Helter Skelter is weird, I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

This was a nice surprise, an artist I've heard of but never actually listened to. I recognized the first song when I heard it, but everything else was new to me. There is great variety on here, and a good bit of experimentation with different styles. I like that he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously as well, given the funny voice note about a quarter of the way in. I actually recognised that from "Shake A Fist" by Hot Chip, but never knew it was a sample until now.

It's quite a long album, and I maybe could have done without the rock opera bit at the end, bit given I only listened to it once, I could see it growing on me. Everything else on here though was near perfect. This is exactly the type of album I was hoping to find by doing this challenge, unfortunately they are rare! 9/10

I made a few starts at listening to this while on holiday in the UK, but it seemed like a bit too much of a downer, so I abandoned it. The excellent title track kept coming back to me though, and I decided to listen to it again on the plane home. Listening to Coen declaring "I'm ready, my Lord" as the plane lifted off was a surprisingly calming experience.

However, I found the following tracks to be a bit weaker, and was resigning myself to giving this a 3 and moving on, when "Travelling Light" started and moved me. The following song, "It Seemed a Better Way" also gave me pause. I'll definitely give it another listen now.

It's hard not to compare this to Blackstar, given the subject matter and the year it was released. I definitely prefer Blackstar as an overall artistic statement, but this album is making me want to re-appraise Leonard Coen's earlier work too.

After the first third of this album, I was marvelling at how overlooked it is. However, then there is a real lull of mediocre songs between Clint Eastwood and 19-2000. Overall its a very inventive project, especially due to the genre fusion and "virtual band" idea. It's somewhere between an 3 and a 4 for me, overshadowed by Demon Days (rightly so). I'll say a 4 based on the strength and impact of the singles.

This was relatively pleasant to listen to, but almost instantly forgettable. Very hard to find the full version of the album too. It doesn't seem to be on Tidal at all, and Spotify has several songs as "unavailable".

Not sure why this was included in the book at all. Drive is a fantastic song, but the rest are very ordinary and had little cultural impact that I remember. I've mentioned it before in other reviews, but the amount of crappy 90s albums that are on this list is astonishing, given NOT SINGLE TOOL ALBUM WAS INCLUDED

Enjoyed the overall sound of this album, but apart from A Forest none of the songs particularly stood out to me. You can see the beginnings of their darker sound here, but they hadn't reached the highs of the later albums yet.

I've listened to this album numerous times, but it's one I'm definitely guilty of putting on "in the background" and not really listening properly. So it was nice to give this a couple of closer listens. It's an incredibly unique album, and definitely one I would recommend to people looking to get into electronic music. There's so much to delve into here, and many of the layers will only peel back with repeat listens. It occupies that interesting niche of music (along with Boards of Canada and Cocteau Twins) which makes me feel nostalgia for things that I may or may not have experienced in the past. I do think it is a little long, and there are a couple of tracks in the middle that I wouldn't miss if they were left off. However, it's still a solid 9/10.

I enjoy this album, but there's something I can't really put my finger on that stop it from being a 5 star for me. Maybe it's just too long. I also feel like Lauren comes off as quite preachy in a few songs, which makes a lot more sense when you learn a bit more about her. Still though, some fantastic songs and great performances on here.

Had only heard of this group before, glad to finally get to check them out. This is a great hip hop record, very smooth and thoughtful lyrics. There are a couple instances of the "gold digger" trope, but I'll forgive them since they are kept to a minimum and are not particularly offensive. Overall, this album kinda feels like a more chilled out Public Enemy.