Reviews by conorr90

I didn't recognise the name of this band or album, but when "ONAROPE, ONAROPE, GOT ME HANGIN ONAROPE", kicked in I remembered it instantly! I don't think I knew any of the other songs so was excited to check the rest of the album out. I enjoyed it overall, especially the energy and the brass section, which was great throughout. At first I thought the vocals were a bit too pirate-y, but they grew on me. I do think it feels like it loses steam towards the end, so perhaps 50 mins is a bit too long for a punk album. Maybe the last few songs will grow on me too though. Overall, a nice surprise which I see myself listening to again.

It's interesting reading through some of the negative reviews on the more unusual albums on the list. It's seems like people were expecting this to be 1001 CLASSIC ROCK Albums to Hear Before You Die. Broaden your horizons, people! Albums like this are why I'm here. 8/10

I fairly stubbornly avoided nu-metal as a teenager, but I did always have a bit of a soft spot for these guys. This is the first time I've listened to this album the whole way through, and I quite enjoyed it! I do still find some of the rapping a bit cringy and the lyrics are somewhat melodramatic in places, but it's a solid album, and there's no denying it's influence on the following decade of pop/rock, for better or worse!

I hadn't heard of this band before, and I can kind of see why. It's a pleasant enough album to listen to, but none of the songs were particularly memorable or standouts. It was probably lost in the sea of other folk rock albums coming out of America in the 60s.

Wow, this is a bland album...like the definition of bland

Not my favourite Pink Floyd album, but special in it's own way. I only really enjoy 3 or 4 of these songs but do like some of the experimentation on a couple of the others. A couple of them are borderline unlistenable though.

This was a nice surprise, I've always liked Sheryl Crow's singles but maybe have underestimated her in the past. This was a really enjoyable listen, solid album!

The first half of this album is a lot of fun, the second half not so much. The singles are definitely the best songs, however I don't think they are meant to be taken too seriously! Some of the later cuts (like Bear Hug) are a bit cringy. Overall though a light hearted and unusual album, I like the fusion of rap, jazz and Latin music on here.

I thought this was a bit...meh on first listen. Might give it another go tomorrow. Her voice was fantastic but I'm not mad about how she used it at times, some of the screeching was a bit too intense. Me and Bobby McGee is a fantastic song though!

Another of my favourite albums, but I'll try and give it a closer listen to see if I hear anything fresh...

Wow, I'm really glad I did give it a full and fresh listen, because I just realised that I've been neglecting the second half of the album for a while now. I had forgotten how beautiful "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades" and "The Tallest Man..." are. Not to mention the last song, which was weirdly the first song I ever listened to from this album, on my sister's iPod shuffle if I remember correctly!

There are too many fantastic songs ( and their titles are too damn long) on this album for me to list them all here. But I will say that Jacksonville, Decatur, and Casmir Pulaski Day are some of my favourite songs ever. I often get snippets from these songs (and others from this album) randomly stuck in my head as I go about my day. The instrumentation, vocals and harmonies throughout the album are all delightful. The historical references in the lyrics are so specific that its often hard to get the full meaning without looking things up, but that just adds another element for me. Over all a perfect 10 album, in my opinion.

I like the Undertones' hits but thought this one was just OK really. Fairly basic early punk, a bit repetitive, lyrics aren't anything special. Enjoyable enough but I don't think I'd listen again. Even though I'm Irish it felt a bit too far in the past for their specific brand of teenage angst to resonate much with me. Maybe if I had been a teenager in the early 80s I would have liked it more.

Glad to have a chance to delve into this one a bit more. I'm a bit fan of Dummy but don't know their other albums as well. I really enjoy the experimentation on this one! It is a bit jarring in places, but in a good way! Beth Gibbons is an iconic vocalist, one of the all time greats. This album really sets a mood and sticks to it.

Wow what an energetic album! I'm loving the variety on this list so far. I listened to this twice and really enjoyed it, will definitely check out some of his other stuff too. The lyrics address some important themes too, although I'm not sure I agree with everything he says. I thought I caught a few homophobic lyrics in the last song but maybe I misunderstood.

I've only really discovered this in the past few years, so I don't have a huge connection with it. There are some fantastic songs on it, particularly the first three. It is quite jam rock-y and, um, space-y in places. So it's one where I find I need to be in the right mood for it. Its a relaxing sort of chill out album, but also quite emotional in places. The last song "Cop Shoot Cop" is 17 mins long, so could be seen as a bit self indulgent. But over all the album is very well produced and put together. You can tell a huge amount of work went into it with a wide range of great musicians. 8/10

Another one of my faves, and another that I'm lucky enough to have on vinyl. I think it was only pressed once, since it was released in the vinyl dark days of the 90s. The songwriting, performance and production are all perfect on this album. It almost sounds like she's in the room with you. I don't enjoy this one as much as her two later albums with ridiculously long titles. But it's still a solid 9/10 for me.

HOT TAKE: I'm a bit sick of Bob Marley. I mean I appreciate his music for what it is, but his Greatest Hits album has always been enough for me. Listening to this album the whole way through twice hasn't changed my feelings on that. I still really enjoy Exodus, Jamming, Three Little Birds, and One Love, but I can easily go months or years without intentionally listening to them again. They have become so ubiquitous that they often just fade into the background.

On the other hand, I'm really, really sick of "Waiting in Vain". I don't think that song ever did anything for me, I've always found it boring AF. The rest of the songs on the album are pleasant enough but nothing special, especially the first few preceding "Exodus". A lot of them are a bit too "church-y" for me too. Overall, none of the deep cuts really resonated with me, so I think I'll stick to the Greatest Hits.

Brilliant hip hop album, and probably Kanye's best in my (possibly controversial) opinion. It's Kanye back when he had a somewhat manageable ego! It's not a perfect album however. It's very long at 75 mins, I would have cut at least 20 of that. I normally don't like skits on albums but the School Spirt ones are quite funny. 9/10

Fave Tracks: We Don't Care, All Falls Down, Jesus Walks, Get Em High, School Spirit, Through the Wire
Least Fave: Workout Plan, Slow Jamz, Breathe In Breathe Out

I have a vinyl copy of this masterpiece, so cracked a beer and put it on. It's not one that I can just have on in the background, it demands your attention. I'm by no means a jazz connoisseur, but I think I've listened to a decent portion of the all time greats. This is by far one of the finest I've listened to. It's quite experimental and has some passages that border on "free jazz", so it's not one I'd recommend for someone new to the genre. I don't have the knowledge to fully understand the music theory, but to my ear there's nothing missing here and no fat to be trimmed at all. Other than that, I'm not sure what else I can say that hasn't already been said. 10/10.

Wow, this certainly shook the cobwebs off this morning! I've heard of Sepultura but never listened to them until now. What a great surprise! Incredible amounts of energy and anger here, but also much more melodic than I expected. I always imagined they were more in the "unintelligible-gutterally-screamed-lyrics" sort of territory. I've only listened as far as Itsári so far, this is another long album from this generator. That seemed a good place to take a break. I'd give an 8/10 so far.

Finished the rest of the album, it did not disappoint! Although the 13 minute long meditation style song at the end may have been a bit unnecessary, still a solid 8/10 for me that I will definitely come back to.

This is definitely a landmark album in Hip Hop. I don't enjoy it quite as much as "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back", and its bombastic, production can be a bit too jarring at times, but it does an excellent job of getting Public Enemy's message across. I've always felt that P.E. channelled their anger much more effectively into their music than N.W.A. It's a challenging album to listen to and they are guilty of the occasional homophobic or sexist lyric, but nothing anywhere near what turned me off "The Chronic". It helps that they actually have a clear political message to convey, and don't waste time metaphorically waving their dicks around like Dre and Snoop!

I was delighted to see this pop up, one of my favorite albums of the 80s! Put it on and went for a jog this morning, great start to the day. Maybe it's not completely perfect, more like a 9/10. But without a doubt one of the best pop albums ever released.