Reviews by daniel

The blandness of this record is incredibly tiring. This album should make you want to dance, or at least move... instead of just wondering why the songs feel eternal and so insipid, repetitive and uninteresting. The songs are very predictable, and so basic... and yet so hard to connect with. They are just reiterating collections of sounds, some more interesting than others, and then those house synths and pianos that have been repeated until boredom. And the drums... feel just the same in every single song. Sure, it was something back in the day... but this music has aged so poorly. Even production-wise it feels poor. I cannot find any interest in music that just tries to be fun and insubstantial and that cannot even be that. Well, it is insubstantial, but to an extent that it is just noise and moans. "What Is Love?" is the only song that can be a little interesting or enjoyable. The rest just goes from bad to worse.

This album is pretty insipid, and, actually, the sound of the songs does not favour to make them more interesting. It is more of an atmospheric kind of environment that surrounds repetitive songs, which become very tedious to listen to, as well as reiterative, with no clear direction or something else than a same idea repeated until boredom. And, I can find certain interesting aspects, but the delivery is very poor. There are no interesting melodies, nor moving rhythms, and it is not that music should become a mediocre medium to transmit aspiring poetry pretensions. It is not enjoyable at all, nor musically innovative or insightful, or even good. It is a very mediocre album, and it is what it delivers, songs that are too long for what they have to offer. I can find the appeal, what is merely nice, but the album, overall, is very disappointing.

This album is great. And that is something you know since it begins. The last track is also marvellous, so full of joy and energy. And what to say about "Stairway to Heaven", maybe one of the best songs ever made. This Led Zeppelin album is a wonderful record. But it is not flawless. And it is something that may be controversial due to how highly acclaimed this album is. It is a masterpiece, and it has many great, even magnificent songs. But others are not that work of art. For me, the follow-up, Houses of the Holy, is the real masterpiece of Led Zeppelin, although this album has some of their best songs, and two of the greatest ever made. It is fantastic, as a record, it works really well the way it is... it flows so quick yet it gives you such energy. And every song is really good at the least, do not get me wrong. The only conflict I find with this album is how great some songs are and how they opaque other less magnificent tracks. Some are very big, really outstanding, and the album does not favour every single song, at least the way the tracklist is distributed. I do not think, however, that any other order would be better, just that some songs are not very outstanding. Sure, there is a bit of an eclectic feeling that I love, how it turns semi-medieval at "The Battle of Evermore", how hard-rock "Black Dog" is, and how pastoral "Going to California" feels (also, a very Led Zeppelin sounding track). It is amazing to find such beautiful songs and that sound only Led Zeppelin delivers the way Led Zeppelin can and do... they are one of the best in music, great and wonderful musicians, so powerful and full of emotion. And that is why I would love to say that this album is flawless, but I cannot say so. What I know is that they prove they are that ten out of ten in other albums, and that this one is, still, one of the greatest rock records of all time. Not anyone can do a "Starway to Heaven" nor any band can do a Led Zeppelin IV. And, even if it is not flawless, this album is just how great they can be. Led Zeppelin doing their thing, making great music. That is all. This album is fresh and bold, and, even in those little details in which it lacks of something else, it is still an album that is a grandiose stone in the history of rock and roll.

What a fabulous album, such a beautiful and enchanting record, and even eclectic at times. It is hard to find an album from which you love every single song, where every single song is a highlight. And, extraordinarily, Cohen makes of this album an ear-warmer, a wonderful record full of sensuality and elegance, with great songwriting, marvellous arrangements, some dark sounds and a very nostalgic feeling too. This I'm Your Man is a masterpiece, a fantastic album in which everything flows really well, and really quick. The first song is maybe the most up-beat this album can be, and the final track is just a magnificent end, a melancholic and liberating song... so beautiful. This album is simply beautiful. And a very enjoyable one too.

This album is pretty plain and uninteresting. Sure, Mariah has a great voice, but this kind of popish R&B is very simplistic and formulaic, and there are much better albums of this kind that show a wider range of sounds or, at least, of better melodies. This album feels made just to show Mariah's vocal range, for her to do her best and not transmit anything. The songs lack of just a bit of sentiment. I am not asking for a heartfelt song, but at least some more movement, some more emotion. She feels very correct in most of the songs, and most of them are just pretty similar-sounding. I can find the good in this album: it is listenable, at some extent even sweet and beautiful, and her voice is really good. But is is just a good album that, at the end of the day, has nothing memorable. It is too correct for being something of actual worth, it feels cold at many moments. And I cannot find nothing about Mariah except her voice. It feels... pleasant but very unattractive. The songs are pretty bland and some even feel very uninspired. Some are just good because of Mariah's voice, but, then, the thing is, this album has nothing to do without her, and, still, I cannot find anything else than a "look at how greatly I can sing". Well, what I need then is "look what I have to say, what I want to transmit". Rather than just a bunch of songs with tiring instrumentals and easy lyrics. It is a very uninspired album that feels more like a catalog of vocals rather than a musical project worth analysing.

Peculiar is a way to describe this album. Uninteresting is another too. I find many ideas in here and a sonic direction that is a decision (which, in other words, means that it is bland and insipid). And, surely, there are good aspects, but the overall is very messy, redundant, as well as very tiring (the voice is just somniferous). I like the popish side of the record added to the strange arrangements that really complete the sound and make it something different, but it is still very indie in a bad sense. It becomes the same kind of "hey, I'm different, I'm strange!". But, rather than being different, this album is just a collection of boring songs with some strange sounds that do not add or complete anything in the songs. They are just there for the sake of it. But the songs are not even strong. There are no innovative melodies or anything else rather than those noises and effects that are over the songs, that feel put over the actual songs. And some arrangements also feel out of place, specially some strings. They do not feel to complement the songs, or to push further the emotion of them. However, some ideas work well at times. "The Buntling Song" is an example of a song that has nice effects and an original sound. It is not perfect, but it is an example of what is good in this record. It has some interesting aspects, but the whole project is simply collection of songs. Some are nicer, others are just boring. It fails at being a complete album. It is very tedious to listen to in its whole.

This album is extraordinary, such a powerful adaptation that sounds extremely unique, so virtuous, with a lot of fun, energy, so many layers and a great live recording that, at times, makes you wonder if it is still live because of the polished sound of the album. This Emerson, Lake & Palmer album is certainly delightful, not an album easy to digest, but surely one that catches you since its first notes and that evolves to be a grandiose album, so well delivered, rich in sounds and layers and with excellent arrangements. The synths in this album are insanely good. It is simply amazing, so complex yet so wonderful to listen to.

This is a really nice country-blues album, quite enjoyable, with some good melodies, nice songs too. Just not too interesting, not too innovative. But it works, and it has some really good songs too, also because of the folky sound and direction of certain songs, which are really great.

This album is probably one of the best albums I have ever listened to. Surely, one of the sweetest (but in a completely delicious way). And probably one of the best albums of all time too. It's got great melodies, such a great storytelling, some fantastic arrangements, as well as lovely and catchy songs. It is a very bold album, every song is a masterpiece, and every song is a highlight in an album that feels very fresh and so wonderfully beautiful. It almost feels cinematic (well, it feels indeed), so warm, so joyful, so sweet, so fun and such a pleasure to listen to. The instrumental part of this record is also fantastic, the pianos are wonderful, with a lot of sentiment at many times, and the guitars just sound so beautifully. It is such a delicate and yet very enjoyable album. And one that unfolds to be more eclectic than what it seems to be at first. And it is a masterpiece of an album.

This album is not flawless, but it is such a wonderful sonic experience. The duality between organic sounds and the melodic, almost whispered vocals, and electronic sounds as well as the hip-hop inspired drums is amazing. It could not work at all, but there is some great taste, and it feels very dreamy as well as futuristic. Also, this psychedelic sound is really enchanting. It drives you through the songs very softly. It almost feels cinematic, which, in some way, is the intention of the album as a conceptual piece, to become a whole. Although some elements are a bit uninteresting or reiterating, or even feel bland at times, making this album feel less grandiose than what it actually tries to be. However, it flows very well, being an album that, even though is quite experimental, very psychedelic and a bit strange at some parts (which is something I have really liked), is still very easy to listen and such a pleasant one too.

This is good-80's. Some melodic pop-rock. Great arrangements, interesting synth choices, a very theatrical atmosphere, and some memorable and fantastic songs. Sure, it is not perfect, and some songs lack of a bigger hook, or of being more innovative, but this collection of songs is really worth listening to, so enjoyable and lovely. Very 80's classic, but still a very good album. Sometimes mainstream works, and in that case, it is delicious.

This album has some good ideas, some interesting sounds but, it feels soulless. Not just soulless, it becomes tedious and uninteresting. The songs are so long they are even irritating. They just repeat the same structure over and over, without even evolving. And, even there are several layers on the songs, they feel pretty plain and insipid. There is no single song that turns to be something else, something surprising. They are just repetitive uninteresting songs. Sure, there are some ideas, but the delivery is poor, the result is tasteless and the album does not function in any way... even songs like "Wilmot" make it frustrating because of the lack of direction and, surely, of cohesion. The only cohesive aspect is its blandness and percussive repetition. And in a sense it feels uninspired. If you can say that there is inspiration, which I am not sure to find at all. Just to get to some nice melodies (in the songs you can find an actual melody) or rhythms does not make this album inspired in any way. Just less bad. Still, not memorable at all.

With this Seventeen Seconds, we are really talking about a good atmospheric album, one that is built around a very distinctive and surrounding dark-nostalgic sound. It is not great, and some songs lack of being something more. I feel like there are some good ideas, a very interesting theme around loneliness throughout the album, some brilliant melodies and great lyrics, but, still, some songs feel short, just two verses and a chorus, and that is all. It is nothing wrong, but it makes the songs feel weaker, not outshine the way they could. However, it is a pleasure to find this beautiful record, to listen to this gothic poetry with that distinctive and melancholic The Cure sound that, at the end, makes it impossible to not like, and enjoy, this album. So, sure, there are some flaws, and it could be a huger record, but it is still great, it is great.

This album is really an experience, and a very enjoyable one too. I am in love with some sounds in here, some songs are great, and there is a very surreal aura throughout the record, even phantasmagoric at moments. It is also a very funky album, with some great taste at certain arrangements and the way repetitive elements do not become overwhelming; instead, they really help build the songs and make them feel that dreamy and even futuristic at times. There is also a very nice touch at creating textures and atmospheres in this album, which becomes even a psychedelic at many moments. It is surely a pretty unique and wonderful album. So so interesting and enjoyable at the same time.

This is just pure joy, a great album with great solos, so much energy and lots of fun. Sure, there may be more interesting records, but this one is flawless the way it is, it starts so strongly and with so much energy and it does not lose any bit of this energy all throughout its ten songs. Just great song after great song. Such a masterpiece of hard rock with some moving blues moments that really give this album a great touch and sound. It is just fantastic, magnificent, such a classic of rock.

I may not understand the appeal of this genre, but, this album is actually tedious to listen to, bland and so so insipid and uninteresting. The minimalism in the production added to that kind of singing with disdain is absolutely soporific. There is not much to say about an album that is full of songs that sound the same, that feel like a very paused Contemporary RnB with hip-hop influences all over the place but with no actual sense of transmitting anything. It is a soulless album, even if the lyrics try to make it feel like something else. It is nothing else than a very polished album that has nothing to express or to move.

This album has something great at mixing latin music with rock in that psychedelic, almost-instrumental sound. It really is catchy and, sonically, very rich in textures and so full of brightness, joy and many interesting aspects, added to an even jazzy feeling. And, although it is not much impressive, it really is a very well delivered album with lots of nice sounds and wonderful melodies. There is a great use of guitar in here too, being a main element that does not feel tiring at all, it flows very well through the different songs and sounds in this album. It is such a joy, and a great album, for sure.

This album is nice, even some songs are good. And, honestly, I should have loved it. But it feels soulless for me, there are no interesting songs in here, nor captivating melodies. It is just a bunch of songs that feel pretty bland and insipid. And, I repeat it, technically, I should have really liked this album, this kind of folky, soft rock with a popish side, that plays with being alternative, or indie, but that really works well with other singers like Meredith Brooks, who, without being that interesting as a songwriter, really delivers songs that are funny enough to forget how intense sometimes this music can try to be. And, maybe, that is the issue with this album, it feels too pretentious as it goes on that it becomes irritating and even tedious to listen to. Some songs are just very long and tiring, with a very mellow and dark sound that does no good for them. It is not that they need to be mainstream or more popish, but they need to be, at least, interesting if they do not seek to be enjoyable. The music in this album does not flow well, and some songs feel like demos or unfinished ideas. Some are nice, sure, but just being repetitive and monotonous all over every single song makes this album lose any kind of interest as the songs go on. And, none of them is memorable either.

This album is extraordinarily beautiful, so full of different sounds and great songs. Some tracks are magnificent and others are good enough to be here. There is no time in which the album feels weak, it is such a surprising record... And, even when it is less enchanting, it feels fresh and full of variety on sounds, textures, as well as cohesion and talent. This is just greatness. Not perfection because of some less interesting songs that, nonetheless, do sound pretty joyful, but sure an album with no skips that has some amazing tracks and a lot of virtuosity.

This album is absolutely amazing, such a journey through different soundscapes, with some really interesting moments and melodies. It is not perfect, and some songs have potential to be even better, but is a very enjoyable album, such a magnificent record at many times, with some brilliant and very catchy songs too. It really is very interesting and, at the same time, so moving and such a pleasant album to listen to.