Reviews by declaniom

Pretty good rock album for its period. To be fair that’s damning with faint praise since it was a bad time for American rock and Mars Volta made an album that survived all that and is still quite good.

It’s not At The Drive In, however.

One of the brilliant accidents of Brit Pop is that record companies threw money at indie and alternative projects like this. Choirs, strings, Dr John would have been unthinkable in the 80’s or now. Even the cd packaging was groundbreaking.

Epic in scale and unified in concept. I’ve known this album since release but listening to it today I still find new facets.

Good psychedelic funk lp.

Pleasant but unremarkable.

Neu! 75 marks a departure from the previous 74 releases in this series. Eschewing the collection of recent pop hits for metronomik instrumentals.

Now That’s What I Call Music!

Great singing, great music. Lead singles Chain of Fools and You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman. Strong song choice in the supporting tunes, especially People Get Ready which is given a compelling arrangement.

This album is a love letter to California. Not the California in America. Nor the California of Hollywood movies or on the OC or 90210 either. Or the one of the Beach Boys, Black Flag or the Minutemen. This album is a homage to the California that only exisits in the minds of kids that grew up in cold damp towns on the banks of the Irish Sea.

I love Dinosaur Jrs guitar sound and the way he uses fx. Unusually in this world J brings a classic rock sensibility to his guitar playing but unlike most classic rock and metal influenced guitarists he doesn’t just shread. He uses his skill to enhance the song with a melodic solo that fits the meaning.

Virtually every Dinosaur Jr or J Mascis lp is at least 4 Stars. I personally prefer the debut or Bug to this, but it may just be that those were the two LPs that made me fall in love with Dinosaur Jr.

Yesterday I had an ok lp by the Cure. Dinosaur Jr’s Cover of Just Like Heaven is the best thing the Cure have ever been associated with. It’s a bonus track here.

Quite good. The textures and soundscape is strong.

Doesn’t excite me sorry. 2.5

I don’t think I’ve listened to this since I was 13. It’s very silly. Is the humour intentional? Is Bruce self-aware? His phrasing doesn’t always match the music - does he know; does he care? At least he seems to be on the side of the consistently on the side of the underdog. Guitars better than expected. 2.5 maybe?

Springsteenesque Springsteen album. Good Springsteen songs about the usual Springsteen subjects. Production and arrangement is too Springsteeny too many pianos and saxs and crescendos. Vocals are mostly Mumblespringteen which is a plus but on Adam Raised A Cain he belts it out for a bit of contrast.

There are much better Springsteen albums and much worse Springsteen albums but ultimately this remains unapologetically a Springsteen album.

Pretty pop punk tunes hampered by tendency to solo.

Let’s face it the Who’s best album is The Singles!

Desperate to catch up with the Beatles and The Stones and The Kinks, they seem to have gathered together some songs about abuse in various forms and written a half assed story to bind them all together and called it a rock opera.

I never realised Pinball Wizzard wasn’t about Pinball until I heard it in this context. It’s dimminshed as a result.

Frankly the best track is a 10 minute instrumental Underture. Overall though grim.

Fine album. Good songs, sympathetic backing. High 3 or low 4

It’s cold, wet and dark. I have a stinking cold and I’m working from home. This album captured the moment. Is that what heroin addiction feels like?

Hookworms were a great band. Great live. Their spin off project XAM is great. Their leader’s production work for others was great. Their guitarists post Hookworms work with Yard Act is great. Their first three albums are wonderful.

Then they made his album, which sounds like Hot Chip meets Tame Impala and is as bland as that implies. Got embroiled in a scandal and split.

1991 the year grunge broke big.
1992 the year grunge broke as classic rockers and metallers ditched the spandex and put on a glum expression.

What grunge lost was its independent spirit, its punk roots and sense of humour and as it imbibed more metal influence it became cheesier.

“ Did she call my name?
I think it's gonna rain
When I dIe?”

Jesus! It’s like a Fast Show sketch.

Still it’s more listenable than the sorts of music they’d have made 5, 10, 15, 20 years before.

I just wish I got the Auteurs today!

Good album. Solid performances. Lacks a great song.

90’s supergroup that’s less than the sum of its parts (Nirvana, Sunny Day Real Estate, and The Germs). LP starts well but trails off. A bit like their career as founder members were replaced by lesser players leaving Nirvana’s 4th best drummer mugging in the limelight.

This is like all the great 80’s 90’s American bands - Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, Hüsker Dü, Mudhoney and many more with the rough edges shaved off, unfortunately they also took away all the interesting bits.

Excellent lp. It reminds me of slightly less funky version of Trout Mask Replica.