Reviews by daniel

This album is pretty plain, and even insipid at many times. The thing is, sometimes the willingness to create atmospheres kills the actual interest or joy of listening to an album. There is a very popish side too that does not favour this kind of slow indie rock, which at times even becomes contradictory with the style of some of the songs. Sure, there are some nice songs, some tracks in which the more melodic aspect of the record really matches pretty well that slow, acoustic-like sound. The good thing is that it is listenable, even enjoyable or pleasant at certain moments, even cute and with some good melodies. But there is nothing really outstanding in that collection of songs, to be honest.

Classics? Well, I guess you can call them classics, but this album really sounds dated, and not in a particularly good sense. The songs are very 90's house with not much musical interest. Sure, some of the songs are enjoyable, and very danceable, but some are really tiring, not to say to listen to with no intention to move. Sure, there is music made for dancing, and many of this music is really good, but this is not the case neither. It is just an album with repetitive music that may function at a club, but that are pretty plain even if you will to have a nice time and have it in the background. There is not much there, to be honest.

The fact that this album is well produced does not opaque that it really becomes tedious to listen to and that is too pretentious. Yes, there are some nice songs, some really interesting melodies and musical decisions. But it is too long for what it really has to offer and, as it goes on, it becomes less and less inspired until repetitiveness kills completely the flow of the album. And... well, I guess Kanye's ego can afford an album like that, but my ears hurt and my head is dizzy. The so many elements going on with that style of rapping all over the record become tiring and even stressful to listen to. It even becomes disgusting at some point. Maybe I do not understand the appeal of this music, of this album (and I am not going to talk about Kanye himself...), but, a more than a 12-minute song is too much for a guy just talking and talking over a repetitive instrumental. It is just as monumental as his ego, and as stupid as himself.

This album is really enjoyable, at least for some time. Sure, some songs are not much interesting, but it is fair to say that is not just another New Wave album. It is, overall, a very energetic record, with some really nice tracks. Some hints of experimentation with the sound, even though not much innovative or impressive, flow throughout the record, creating some dynamics that are really great. It's a very entering-the-eighties album, but it has a very nice sound, and some very catchy melodies. It's not great, but pretty remarkable. And it sure is a fun listening.

This one is a delicious psychedelic rock record, so full of different influences and blending different genres, from folk to blues. The melodies in here are excellent, and the eclectic sound makes it flow so surprisingly, but yet with so much sense and cohesiveness. It has a very dreamy sound, with many elements combined like a kind of collage throughout the songs that float around them, from organs to guitars, like links between different sections or just as pieces that help enrich the atmospheres the songs build. There is also a great mixture between textures between the instrumental sections and the sung ones. Also, I love how the voices flow from being in stereo to just sounding in one speaker in certain moments. It also creates a huger impact and helps enrich that dreamy atmospheres I have loved listening to in this album. But, if I had to choose one song, that final track, "Grace", is delightful. It is much more than a closing act, it really is a condensation of the diversity that this album breathes, but in a very tranquil way, as a meditative way of exiting it. It truly is a pretty interesting and unique record. It is not just another 60's psychedelic record, it is what psychedelia really is, and a great example of excellence in that decade. It is explosive and deeply atmospheric, it is strange and very comforting at the same time. And it is, overall, a very beautiful and exciting album to listen to.

This album is beautiful, really a wonderful record so full of interesting sounds and directions. The first half really is outstanding, and, maybe because of that, I have not enjoyed much the second half, which becomes less brilliant, even though, lyrically, this album is a delight, from beginning to end. I love how a softer rock blends with many folk elements and some other eclectic sounds that really make of this record something unique and deliciously warm. And, still, it is pretty much of a socially conscious album about war and the horror it generates. And, in that sense, it really transmits uncertainty though the songs, a certain sense of chaos, but embracing some kind of beauty in all of that, in the history and what us as humans can learn, and the dichotomy, or not that much of a dichotomy, between life and death. It really is a tremendously daring album that faces human issues and confronts us with what history should teach us, even though some people do not want to face those problems. And, PJ Harvey really does her best at delivering a wonderful and a very beautiful album that emerges from that place of horror, fear and death, a place from which life should grow.

I cannot see the appeal. Sure, the production is really good in some songs, and some instrumentals are actually great... but I just get tired by this man's rapping. At some point, it does not matter how brilliant the production can be if you lose the interest in what you are actually listening. And this album is really uninteresting, both, musically in the way it sounds and in what he is talking about. It is just a fact of not connecting at all with this album, and, I do not think it is either that good for me to not see the greatness in it. This album cannot be that good if the only good thing is the production. Mainly because, at the end, it would not matter who the artist is. And I have not seen anything else than a pretentious person with so much talk and nothing relevant to say.

This album is great. And it really has some wonderful melodies. I always love an album with transitions between songs. And, even if it is not a fully continuous one, it really feels like a very cohesive whole in which one song leads to the next one. The only issue I can find is that, talking about cohesiveness, some songs do not feel very well conected between their different sections. And that is a shame, mainly because there are really great ideas all over the album, but some deliveries are not that impressive. What are impressive are the guitars and choir sections, which sound wonderfully. So, overall, it is such a fantastic record, that is something undeniable.

This album is very stunk in the 80's, and that spacey atmosphere does not favour it to be something else. And that's not because there are no good things from the 80's, but, surely, some genres from this decade haven't aged that well. There are some pretty good songs, some really nice ideas, and a dark atmosphere that suits really well the kind of sound of the album. But, at the end, even if there are nice things on it, it is soporific. It could very well be a The Cure album, and definitely not one from their best. And, still, even if it has some original elements, it is a very classic 80's Shoegaze album, combined with New Wave, which is another genre that was too exploited. Maybe I am not liking it as much as I could because of the so repeated sound that this album also has, which doesn't take it any further than from other records I have listened to in the past. And maybe I am judging from a contemporary perspective, it is, actually, inevitable. I can find what is great in this album, but there are also many aspects that are very weak too. So, this is not much better than many other similar albums. It's enjoyable at some extent, and that's something many Shoegaze albums struggle with, so I also have to consider that it may be very mid, but it's good at the end. It has some nice songs, some catchy choruses, and it really works well at building an ethereal, dreamy and dark atmosphere that at times is even interesting and moving. So, it is nice, not great, but it really has some nice sounds.

This album is a masterpiece, such a class on how to sample and make a great, distinctive, very original record. It is not like anything else, it's a trip through music, through very different genres, blending them into one very conceptual record. I love how all the songs flow into each other, how there are many different moments in culture combined in one album. It really feels like a class on art history. It's hypnotic, it's very authentic, and it is not tiring at all. The main issue with many albums based on sampling is always the same, failing at delivering a unique atmosphere or soundscape that, at the end, becomes repetitive and uninteresting. There is no place for that in this album. The repetitiveness is there, but everything is so well constructed that there are always changes, new layers (and you can actually get lost in the immensity of layers each second of the album has), something new and beautiful to discover. Sure, there are songs I like more than others, as this album dives among a lot and very different genres and elements, but the construction of it feels more as a whole rather than a collection of songs. And that whole is wonderful, it is mesmerising. So huge and so fascinating. You cannot skip a second. It is so well constructed, as a very polished collage of sounds, that it becomes very original. The samples lose their nature to become as a new, completely different thing. And I do not usually enjoy albums based on samples, sometimes I understand their value or even consider them good, but, at some point, they tire me or become redundant. But the eclectic nature of this one, the always changing aspect, the inclusion of many different atmospheres and even its cinematic sound, so surrounded by pieces of film dialogues is truly a surreal and precise work, with such a wonderful result that I just cannot believe my ears. It has been amazing to listen to this album, it is such a fabulous one.

Some albums age like fine wine, others even gain a greater recognition in time, but this album really sounds stunk in the sixties. And that's not something necessarily bad, although it makes it feel not much interesting. The thing is, some songs are pretty great, there is a really nice sound in here between the more Californian rock that The Mamas & The Papas as well as The Beach Boys popularised back then and more folk and psychedelic hints. But some songs are not really strong, and there is a strange mixture between very well written and enjoyable tracks and some songs that are just very like everything else in the sixties. And, then, the interesting things in here are also opaqued by other bland ones. So, it's a good album, it surely is, and some songs are really catchy, but some moments become pretty monotonous and basic to really keep this album in a high level.

Great album, this second The Pogues record is so fresh in their sounds and so enjoyable that it really transmits so well the good energy and folk-based songs that characterise this band. This album has that folk, Irish influence that I love in the band, also those Celtic roots that make it feel like a sailor's tale, a kind of pirate-like story. And I love how this feeling surrounds all the record through all those great songs. Sure, at the end the songs are not that strong, and become certainly a bit less interesting, but, yet, this album has many different sounds and a very cohesive aspect that is to highlight, and an energy that drives you through the record in such a surprising and pleasant way.

This album is wonderful, such a delight of a record, not just because of the great songs it includes, but also because of the warm sensation it provokes, through the ambient of the songs and the way of singing of Carole King. This is truly a gem of great music, maybe not too extraordinary, but so well delivered and with a lot of taste. The combinations of sounds, the jazz hints in some moments, great folk influences, all of this and much more tiny elements help build this album in an extraordinary way, in a way that sounds very polished and ethereal, but at the same time with so much power. It is really a pleasure to listen to this album.

This album is such a fantastic example of great storytelling through music. The jazz music in here adapts itself so well and so beautifully to the atmosphere, being very intimate and soft, combining brilliantly with Waits' voice, most of the time spoken, but also sometimes sang in such a really powerful way. I won't lie at saying I've loved this album. There is a great balance between the songs, and their lengths really are at the exact point in which they don't become excessively long to bore, but that actually extract the potential of them in a wonderful way. This album feels very nocturnal, so warm but still pretty calming, slowing down as the record goes on, becoming the songs also longer and much more acoustic and folky. It's brilliant how it really transports you into a diner, or a kind of pub, in which the album really gets its magnificence. Such a lovely album.

This album is actually pretty enjoyable, and one great debut, to be honest. The songs are pretty good, and they flow really nicely. This album has a very balanced length and also some interesting moments. It's not excellent, but sure an album worth listening to. It feels very organic how the songs go from one to the next one, and, even though sonically there is little originality (although there are some parts that really go somewhere else, that try to explore some other sounds rather than just being an average heavy metal album), there is a great selection of songs here. So, it's not surprising, but it's still a great album. Very decent for a band's debut.

I have a mixed opinion with this record. I think it's pretty pretentious in the sense it tries to be very eclectic – which, on the other hand, is one word that could describe it so well –, but fails on delivering some songs that are not much interesting sonically. And, in a sense, that's the issue with this album, there are many ideas, some very well developed, others not much, and that makes this album feel tiring sometimes. Not because the songs are not good, which make this album, in fact, flow really well, but because they do not add much to the context or overall result. This record could be shorter, and it would make it even better. That is the main issue I find. But there are many great ideas, great atmospheres, and so many different sounds that make this album feel very rich, not just in the melodies. So, I guess I am frustrated to not love it because of, first, the lack of a clearer sound, or, at least, of a more concise delivery in the album; and, secondly, because the main direction, sonically, is not my favourite. It feels very indie and paused at times, shadowing some very interesting layers. So, I could say this album is very mid, an album with some nice ideas and a poor delivery, but it would not be completely true as there are some great moments in it that really feel very well put and delivered. So, I will say that it could have been better, but it's still pretty amazing. I have really loved some songs on it, and it really drives you through the different songs without necessarily being a conceptual album. And that is actually something I have really liked.

I could say this album is as little good as to be decent, but I could never believe my own words. It's listenable. That's what it is. It doesn't feel tiring, at least not all the time, but still it's a very bland record that combines hip-hop with contemporary rhythm & blues in a way that sounds insipid and with no clear direction. Some songs aren't bad, at least they have nice ideas. But the development of the album is very poor and it lacks of some clear direction. Not to add that it sounds like the average hip-hop album, modern in production for the time, but still pretty uninteresting. So, at least it is listenable. Because it's an album that doesn't seem any good, and one that is not memorable at all.

This is a pretty decent album, even much better than what I thought it would be. It has pretty nice guitar solos, and some great atmospheres. Some of the riffs are pretty catchy, and, overall, the album is very enjoyable. There is, although, some mixed quality. Some songs are great, others are nice... but there are a couple of songs, past a half of the record, that aren't much interesting. They are... just there, a bit bland and insipid for my taste, to be honest. But, I'm delighted to have found an album that is much better than what I thought would be, and one that I've actually liked. It has some great melodies, and I find it a very nice album to actually taste grunge music... richer in sounds and variety than what other bands of the genre like Nirvana offer.

This album is beautiful, that't the word. A great country record, full of joy and such a delicate touch. I've loved, completely loved listening to this album. It has surely been such a pleasure. The songs sound very classy, but also pretty sweet and funny. It's merely everything an album should have, some great memorable songs, beautiful melodies, some interesting arrangements and wonderful instrumental parts, so catchy and with some very lovely layers. This Pieces Of The Sky really is fantastic.

This is the blandest album I've listened to in a while. And, to be honest, of the twenty eight tracks it has, none is memorable or nearly good. Yes, some little nice melodies between all the noise. That's the most you can get out of this record. And, it doesn't feel long at all, but it's pretty uninteresting. I can get why it could have been interesting, but it feels very insipid. The guitars sound tired, the voice broken, the drums are just awful. And, the result is just a bunch of short songs that end up getting nowhere. Just an album that sounds cheap and like a joke. I won't say it's the worst thing I've ever listened to, but I just don't care.