Reviews by drnanard

"We have Michael Jackson at home", basically. It's very derivative, which might explain why I've never heard either of the names he's used. It's hard to compete for the same spotlight as the King of Pop. He even emulates the "heehees". But it's still pretty good. Great voice, great melodies, great instrumentation. Very enjoyable to listen to, overall. But there are also a couple of songs that annoyed me. For their blandness, or their repetitiveness, or whatever the fuck "As Yet Untitled" was.

Still enjoyable, but you end up wishing you were listening to MJ instead.

Another album where the reviewers are abysmally stupid.

This was so good. Everything here is fantastic, and no two songs sound the same. It's full of creativity. And instruments. "Stephany knows who" opens with a fucking harpsichord and jazzy winds, and a flute is featured prominently on a few song starting with "Orange Sky", and there's an orgue on "¡Que Vida!", then "The Castle" brings back the harpsichord for a folksy song that sounds like some Enio Morricone western tune. Damn bro. It's a lot. In a good way. But the listener needs to breathe a little, and they know it, so they hit you with a more conventional song with "She comes in color".

Because Love is about to smack you in the face with an 18-minutes-long blues-rock-jazz-whatever chaotic masterpiece that goes everywhere, screams at you, transports you, and then ends on a sax solo; no, sorry, a drum solo; wait no, it's a harpsichord solo; fuck it, why not all three? Sure, it "lacks" direction, the same way abstract expressionism lacks structure. Who gives a shit? It's a trip. Probably the closest you can be from an out-of-body experience without LSD.

First, I'll say that, as a native French-speaker, the butchered French annoyed me (the singer is German-Swiss). But I don't want to gatekeep singing in French, especially when so many French artists desecrate English (I'm talking about you The Onirist). Just saying it made my ears cringe at times. The low-pitch singing can also be a bit much, and sometimes it doesn't really fit the music.

Aside from that, this album is amazing. Very imaginative, atmospheric, varied, fun and full of life. No instrument was deemed unfit for the music the band wanted to make. There's a lot of guitar, bass and drum, of course, but also violin, accordion, industrial-sounding percussions and all kinds of orchestral instruments (through sampling I presume). Some songs are a bit repetitive, but never for very long; they keep moving around, transporting you elsewhere.

A very surprising album, full of creativity, and the reviews here are pathetic. Seriously, if you think this sounds like Rammstein or Nine Inch Nails (whom I love btw) you have piss in your brain. Do... Do y'all even listen to the albums, or do you just click randomly on the track listing and listen for 10 seconds? Embarrassing.

"Graveyard Train" is boring, and the last song meanders a lot; as one would say, it keeps on chooglin'. Otherwise, this is a very strong album, albeit a short one, which probably stops it from becoming stale. And that's good : too many albums are stock full with filler songs that are there only to justify an LP.

Anyway, the guitar play is amazing here, which is the highlight of the album.

The presence of this album on the list is weird to me. This is the least "Beck" of Beck albums. He sure is eclectic, and his music is certainly hard to pin down, so that's a bold statement, but I guess my expectations for a Beck album is to be constantly surprised with creativity and experimentation, but this folk album, while pretty good in all the ways that matter for a folk album, is ultimately pretty standard. Very easy to enjoy, but it's too safe for 2002, and I probably won't revisit.

Even at their worst, Metallica are better than this. They have the depth, the creativity, the voice and the lyrics on their side.

Anthrax still makes good music, but their songs all sound the same through and through, it feels a bit directionless.

The singing is also weirdly off, like it doesn't belong, it's too soft. "Smash the wall, it's time to rage", they say, almost politely.

I do appreciate the themes on this album tho. It's funny how the media and politicians tried to paint heavy metal as satanic music, and meanwhile here are the metalheads, singing about the need to have compassion for Native-Americans and the need to stop desecrating our planet because we only got one. Behind the semblance of anger, there's humanity and, dare I say, wokeness!!!! However, it's often a bit cheesy, almost preachy. "Ignorance is no excuse for violence!!" they say, like a teenager who's writing an essay about Martin Luther King. It's immature, but earnest, so I'll allow it.

Let's get this out of the way : the music is great, and Serge Gainsbourg has a very soothing voice. I know him better for his "Bonnie & Clyde" song with Brigitte "Nazi" Bardot, which I really like. The narration is fun.

But, and it's a big but... Were there no other Gainsbourg album to put on the list? Seriously? Because, and I shouldn't have to say this, but no, you do not have to listen to an adult fantasizing about raping children before you die. The presence of this album on the list is proof enough that rape culture is very real.

Yes, this album is about rape and pedophilia. I will excuse the people in the reviews who don't speak French and who didn't look up anything about the album. But to the others who try to minimize what this album is about : fuck you.

The first song is the narrator meeting the so-called Melody. Second one, it's stated that she's 14 years old, and the narrator describes her as a "delicious child". In the fourth one, he asks himself what he's going to do to her. In the fifth song, he goes with her to a "Hôtel particulier", basically a mansion where they let you fuck. He describes the bedroom, the mirror on the ceiling, and then he embraces Melody. The very next song is called "Inside Melody". No fucking comment. And then she takes a plane, that crashes, and there's this whole thing about dumb, savage indigenous folks in Papua New Guinea. Anyway.

I'm not sure what's more repugnant between this album and the many people here who frame this as him being a silly provocateur, who see the album as being "romantic" or "sexy" (it's one of the most frequent key word!), who will excuse the pedophilia because it influenced Beck or whoever the fuck else.

Serge Gainsbourg isn't just a guy who liked to provoke. If he was, he would have explored plenty of other offensive themes. Yet, his two favorite themes were pedophilia and incest. The guy made a movie where he and his daughter Charlotte played a father and daughter who had an incestuous relationship. He asked his own underraged daughter to show her breast on camera. He sexually exploited his daughter. Don't tell me he didn't actually want to bang her. He very clearly did, and I wouldn't be surprised if this was more than mere desire.

There's a French guy in the reviews claiming this album isn't actually pedophilic. Brother, there is a song called "Inside Melody" where we hear him fuck a kid. Please. Be fucking real.

The comparisons with Lolita also piss me off. Nabokov wrote the book to show how twisted and horrific the mind of a pedophile was. Humbert Humbert is depicted as a monstrous predator. Lolita isn't a sexy book, it's a terrifying one. And this album is anything but that. It doesn't even try to paint statutory rape in a negative way. It tries to be funny, and sexy, and romantic, and apologetic.

In the end, the reviews here piss me off way more than the actual album. Creepy artists can't help being creepy artists, but we choose to support their disgusting behaviors by minimizing their words and actions. Serge Gainsbourg is not unique in that fashion. Gabriel Matzneff, Roman Polanski, Bastien Vivès, Woody Allen, they all have a shitload of apologists and they're all roaming free. At least Gainsbourg is dead.

It starts strong : the music is good and full of energy. But then you realize all the songs are the same. And the texts are cringe-inducing, especially the anti-abortion song.

Anyway, I'd rather listen to the Clash or even the Ramones.

I liked Disintegration, but that wasn't thanks to the voice. Here, the monotone, unmelodious singing is really grating. I also find the music here to be pretty unimaginative, unlike on Disintegration. At times, it almost sounds like Sisters of Mercy, but without the sheer energy. The songwriting is very good tho.

I was scared when I saw the "krautrock" moniker, because my experience with the genre so far hasn't been very positive. So I was surprised when it started with almost entirely instrumental tracks, and quite beautiful ones at that, culminating with "Leb' Wohl", a very relaxing, meditative composition.

But then the album had to remember to be annoying, right? First of all, they start singing, badly, moaningly, indecipherably. About nothing might I add. And the songs are repetitive as fuck. The same riff over and over and over again, going nowhere, doing nothing special. At least Kraftwerk are creative and experimental with their bullshit. Here, it's just a big load of nothingness. Except the first three songs.

I'm starting to think Germans have an inherent misunderstanding of my taste in music. Gimme more spa music smh

Edgeless, boring, generic rock with the occasional glimpse of genius (the last two songs especially).

That's some very good early rock and roll. Not to the levels of a Little Richard or Chuck Berry, there's still too much blues and RnB, but it swings and has an indisputable charm.

This isn't the most enthralling music I've heard, but it sure is an easy and pleasant listen. Randy Newman has a very peculiar voice and accent, very recognizable, which gives his songs some very needed oomph. The music takes a backseat here, but I'll circle back to that.

The focus is on the texts, which are pretty good, especially when they hit that satirical spot. "Political Science" and the titular "Sail Away" are such an interesting depiction of America, with the self-obsessed imperialism and the colonialist undertone behind the American Dream; but my favorite one has to be "God's Song". It's a dark, cynical and very much needed look at Abrahamic religions and their inherent contradictions. Quite subversive to release such a blasphemous song on an otherwise very "pop" album.

The issue, however, is the music. I have more fun reading the lyrics than I have listening to the songs. That's a shame. Some songs do stand out, the ones with that ragtime influence, but overall, this album is musically underwhelming.

This album starts strong. Yeah, it's all over the place, but every corner of that place is pretty neat. But then it's like the group went out of ideas. Starting with "Come Together", the songs begin to be incredibly repetitive. That one in particular, but also "Loaded", sound like listening to the end part of "Hey Jude", you know, the na-na-na-na-na-na-na, for 5 minutes straight. Half of "Come Together" is the same riff on repeat. A good riff, should I say, but that's not enough to make a song, and it made for an annoying second half of an album, because all the songs afterwards have the same issue.

I've been wanting to listen to this album for a long time now. I only knew the magnificent "The End", and it's still the best song on the album, but damn, everything here is phenomenal. This is genuinely one of the best thing that has blessed by ears.

I only knew "Take me on" and "The Sun always Shines on TV" from a-ha. They're absolute bangers, so I don't know why I never checked the rest of their music. I should have, because synth-pop is always a pleasure to hear and this album is pretty lit. The titular song, "Hunting High and Low", is the one that surprised me the most. It has an unexpected depth, both lyrically and musically, with that whole orchestra near the end. "I dream myself alive" is also incredible. Not all the songs reach those heights, but they're still very entertaining, and make you want to dance.

Blue is considered one of the best albums ever released, and by many, the best folk album ever released. Not without reason.

Joni Mitchell is really special. Folk is all about two things : the voice and the texts. And she nails both on a level that few would dream to. I've heard that she's rarely covered because of how hard it would be to imitate her singing; I don't know if that's true, but I wouldn't be surprised. You listen to her songs, and you think you know where it's going, and then her voice carries you elsewhere entirely. "My Old Man" encapsulates this the best I reckon, on the "We don't need no piece of paper / From the city hall / Keeping us tied and true" lines. It's eerie but she makes it work.

As for the texts, Joni is a great storyteller first and foremost, but also an incredible poet. Just listen to the titular "Blue". "Songs are like tattoos" she says. Because the great ones are carved into your skin and into your soul with a permanent ink, just like this whole sublime, soothing album is in mine.

This shit is gorgeously produced. Musically, it's banging. Remove the rap and it's still good, thanks to the funk roots. A lot of those songs (especially "Gin and Juice") reminded me of the GTA San Andreas main theme.

Snoop also has a great, often melodic voice and a perfect flow. And he's funny. That helps a lot to accept the more questionable elements of the lyrics.

But more than that, Snoop is crazy good as a storyteller. "Lodi Dodi" is a bit boring if you're not paying attention, but it's fucking hilarious. And "Murder was the case" could be a whole-ass movie.

"Ain't no fun" is genuinely one of the grossest song I've ever heard tho. Good beat, stunningly vile lyrics. But hey, it's the only song that's actually bad, that's a feat for a hip-hop album.

All-around a very enjoyable listen.

This whole album could be called "Sex: the official recording". It's sexy as fuck soul. But it's surprisingly never gross. It's passionate. Marvin Gaye doesn't want to bang, he wants to make love. Slowly, tenderly, with the skins touching, while breathing in your hair and neck. I swear I can smell this album.

This is pretty standard 50s folk, which definitely sounds more like country to a modern ear. More Johnny Cash than Bob Dylan. And a lesser Johnny Cash should I add. It's not bad music by any metric, but it is kinda dull.