Reviews by dutch-point-pro

Kind of amazing how well this holds up. It’s definitely a bit one note, but it’s a really great vibe. Lesser celebrated Beatles albums like this one remind me of how good a band they actually were.

I could simply say that this shit was dope. Or I could tell you that Nas delivers a lyrical masterclass, demonstrates tremendous feel within the beats and uses intricate poetic devices (notably through variations of rhythm and cadence, internal rhyme, assonance and enjambment) to powerful effect throughout. Illmatic highlights his gifted understanding of vocal delivery and a raw but compelling vision of life in Queensbridge in the mid-90s. A stunning debut that refocused the rap game back to its roots.

The artist is appropriately named … twigs are broken pieces of something larger, small parts of a whole that used to serve a purpose. Twigs are mistakes, discards that hold no value on their own - they simply remind us that something better used to be here.

This album is strong evidence that actual music died a long time ago and no one noticed. There is no modicum of talent present: an average voice, poor songwriting and unimaginative arrangements that use sound to hide behind rather than to enhance . If this is where ‘music’ has gone for it’s next afterlife, RIP Ziggy Stardust 🪦.

What I love about this album is the audacity and the ease with which Costello moves between styles and genres without regard or concern to be typed or accepted. Now, in truth, his management was going out of their way to make that happen, but Elvis just kept ripping on his guitar and writing great songs. These aren’t all winners, but there are a hell of a lot of great tunes here, especially for a debut.

A stone-cold, straight from my youth classic and, although the lyrics haven’t exactly aged well, here are my top 5 lines from the album:

5. You're a fake wearin' sucker whose gold got rusted,
Cheaper than a hot dog with no mustard

4.. Her pants are tight and that’s okay.

3. I got a girl in the castle, one in the pagoda,
you know I got rhymes like Abe Vigoda.

2. I did it like this, I did like that, I did it with a wiffle ball bat.

1. Girls with boyfriends are the kind I like,
I’ll steal your honey like I stole your bike.

The magic of Beck is that nothing makes sense and yet everything makes sense. It’s pretty amazing and endlessly frustrating, depending on your mood or point of view. This one caught me on a good day, so I found it to be a fun listen. Tomorrow I might hear it again and think it’s terrible, pretentious shit. That’s Beck for ya!

It is a vibe albeit a little too poetic for my tastes, but there’s a lot of quality there. Solid folk offering.

When reviewing music from the 80s, everyone seems to grade on a curve. “It was fun! It was a good vibe. I liked the synths.” I call bullshit. Actual, intricate, ‘good’ music didn’t stop in 1979 and pick back up a decade later with Nirvana. There WAS great pop music in the 80s: Tears for Fears, Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson. - but Duran Duran was never part of that club and this album proves it. Everything sounds the same musically, mostly built around the same chord progressions, and lyrics that are less than gripping (“I smell like I sound? Say what?). The hits are the hits, but let’s not let our fondness for the good old 80s substitute for quality that was never really there. Like most things in that decade, it was exaggerated and extremely overdone … looking at you, everyone’s hair in my high school yearbook.

In 1979, the Surgeon General determined that listening to this album was the leading cause of erectile dysfunction in males aged 24-49. Repeated listening made you softer than the creamsicle held by Ru Paul while watching a wet t-shirt contest at a Señor Frog’s in the middle of summer. Formulaic, soulless, predictable dad rock.

Hey look, Brian Eno can make shitty loud music, too!

Most people, when their flight is delayed, pick up a magazine or grab a bite to eat. Not this asshat. He has to invent a whole new genre of music that subliminally leaves space to “resign you to the possibility of death.” Typical f’ing artist. Just get over yourself, order a drink or three, and hang out with the rest of us normal people instead of isolating into some self-important, nihilistic passion project no one else gives two shits about. It’s a lot less work, and no one will have to suffer through the results of your “art” when that plane finally lands.

In case you didn’t make it to the last lyric on the album:
“I never knew a man could tell so many lies
He had a different story for every set of eyes
How can he remember who he's talking to?
'Cause I know it ain't me, and hope it isn't you.”
Potent if he wrote it yesterday, not 50 years ago. That is why he’s a great songwriter.
This album is solid Young, kind of what you’d expect, different from what you want but still edgy and insightful enough in places to be great.

You know when a guitar solo goes on too long and you sort of feel like it’s nearing the end but you’re not there yet … a sense of impending anticipation that this is almost done … THAT was this whole album for me … except it just kept going on and never ended … every song was the same … it sounded like someone was playing a smashing pumpkins song in the background while a shitty band tried hard to drown it out … if this is shoegaze, I’m going barefoot.

Bassa No Thanks.

Music your grandparents made whoopie to. Not a lot of variety in this collection of dirges.

I loved this album when I was a freshman in college. Today, I learned that I have matured quite a bit since freshman year…

Music for the Dungeon Master’s after party. Is that dueling lutes, I hear? Fun fact - Playing this album today can keep you from getting laid just as easily as it did 500 years ago!

This is strike four from these folks. The critics love them. Nobody loves the critics. Great album to ignore in the background.

The Doors have become cliche and a punchline at this point, but there are some seriously terrific tracks in this debut. The A side here is audacious and full of attitude. It loses steam as it goes on, but this is a classic for a reason.

There is simply no reason anyone would need to listen to this ever again. Soulless nonsense that is neither innovative nor interesting. It lacks the deftness and discipline that truly inspired music in this style oozes.