Reviews by directoryofbunk

Clearly highly influential and still very interesting acid squelching, but maybe has faded over the years.

I've seen a million second hand copies of this record, but have never heard it. Within 15 seconds it sounds like 10CC - which came first? As we progress it feels highly influenced by John Lennon and the Smile project by the Beach Boys. No Heroes & Villains, no Out Of The Blue.

Quite a few good songs, but instantly forgettable, plus lyrically so-so. Mr Blue Sky is still a belter, and Jungle seems to have been a very direct influence on the Rocket From The Crypt b-side Tarzan.

Overall, this feels like the purest essence of BBC Radio 2 for a 40 year spell.

Pretty unmoved by this collection of tunes. Mythologising of the Wild West is generally a bit uninteresting, but maybe it's different if you're American.

Haven't listened to this record in ages. It's still essential, but I think only partly because of the songs. The 13 Songs comp lays out more clearly the path for anti-macho hardcore, but Repeater re-emphasises it.

Not the best Fugazi LP, so not sure why it's the only one included.

Whilst I appreciate this, it's not really ticking my boxes. The very '80s production doesn't help here.

"Lynn, these are sex people".

Urgh. Perry Farrell is kind of disgusting. First 6 tracks of this are utterly tedious, just shite "funky" rock with godawful lyrics. Picks up significantly with Then She Did, which seems to have some degree of humanity to it. Of Course is kind of interesting, and there is a classic-ness to Classic Girl, natch.

Side 2 redeems Side 1 a bit, but overall this is an overrated and relatively meh listen.

A staple of my sixth form common room on release, and something that made me essentially dismiss lots of gansta rap at the time. The whole album still stands up with some excellent beats and standout rhymes. The big hit of Killing Me Softly is probably the weakest tune, and loads of the album tracks should perhaps have been singles - see Zealots, The Mask, and Cowboys. Phenomenal stuff.

Maybe it's a shame that they fell apart after this record, or maybe that keeps this intact with an unsullied recorded history.

A beautifully leftfield take on soul/r&b/whatever.

Im my memory this is the last good WS album. I think it's the last one where they remain truly distinctive and unburdened.

Obviously Seven Nation Army has been massively overplayed, but it is still decent. Most of the rest of the album is far more interesting - highlights include Ball & Biscuit, I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart, Girls You Have No Faith in Medicine, and It's True That We Love One Another.

So smooth, so sexy, so effortlessly cool.

Seem to remember this being an absolute game changer at the time, but the years/copyists seem to have diluted it a bit.

Obviously, Jay Kay is a knobhead, but I figured maybe the debut record might have some redeeming factors given the benefit of time. Kicking off with some didgeredoo instantly dispelled me of this notion.

Lots of turgid cod-hippy lyrics, and then we get into things like the ad libbing in If I Like It I Do It, which is diabolical.

So much competent but boring funk that adds nothjng to the canon. Good bassline in We're Too Young To Die. Otherwise a total waste of time.

If this had come out when I was an undergrad it probably would've soundtracked hundreds of parties and it would have a fond, familiar place in my heart. As it didn't, it just is a perfectly adequate indie-rock album but with synths instead of guitars.

Quite a conflicting listen, which is probably exactly what Em wants. So much brilliant and provocative lyrics, delivered incredibly. But, the beats are pretty varied in quality and it's not always clear the line between button pushing and basic unpleasantness.

Probably seemed quite ground-breaking at the time, but to modern ears it's a bit trite. Not unenjoyable, but feels a bit charity-shop record, which is probably unfair.

Yes please!

This is mostly just the kind of irritating "crossover" "world music" that seemed to be everywhere in the 90s. Very varied, but at least some of the tunes are actually enjoyable - Erzulie and Wonderful World were standouts. Overall, not great.

Clearly this is an influential and important recording, but listening with 21st century ears its power has been diminished/diluted by a cornucopia of copiests.

Always important to remember that Morrisey was once merely irritating rather than the modern day gobshite. Still, this is a pretty excellent album. Some of the dated production knocks it down from a 5. Call it a 4 because of modern Morrissey. Johnny Marr still seems like a good egg.

Fucking degenerate. 5 stars.

The opener is a bit mawkish, but then it really kicks up a notch. Dolly's a pretty great singer and songwriter, you know? Weird thing on the version on tidal is that the kick is in one speaker and snare the other on some of the songs.