Reviews by ellesnayr

Great harmonies and great tunes. I’d be curious to learn more about that Bob Dylan homage/parody, what’s the story behind that?

This was great! high energy jazz. I chose to listen to the original 1956 track listing instead of the 2+ hour rerelease. There’s a Spotify playlist someone made with that track listing.

Not bad, but not great. Didn’t mind it but there weren’t any true standouts on this album.

This guys voice bothers me. I don’t get why this is even on here. It’s a pretty bland rock album. Maybe it’s the vaguely political lyrics? Is this supposed to be an “important” album? I didn’t care for it, it was dull but try hard at the same time.

I like that they foreshadowed the Iron Man cover by playing the Black Sabbath riff at the end of an earlier song. And speaking of that cover, I love when a band really makes a cover their own, and boy did they do it. Lovefool is infectious and groovy even if it’s been overplayed at this point. Overall a pretty solid album.

So everyone at work probably thinks I’m going through a break up or something after hearing me listen to this. A lot of bummer songs on here, and I didn’t really care for her voice at times.

Buddy Holly had a ton of potential, it would have been interesting to see what he would have done with more time.

I mean, it has What’s Golden on it and that’s one of the best hip hop songs of all time. The rest is great too, J5 are always good.

I very much appreciate the uniqueness of this album while having no interest in listening to it again.

This is technically competent, but it felt a bit hollow.

Man I forgot Eminem was horrorcore adjacent at the beginning. Like a lot of these songs sound like if ICP was good at rapping. But that’s what separates Eminem from other shock artists, the dude can spit. So while not all of the subject matter appeals to me in my 30s like it would have in my younger days, this album holds up thanks to fantastic beats and Eminem’s endless bars.

A seminal hip hop album, and in my opinion, Snoop’s best work. This album was a statement, Snoop came out swinging and proved that he was more than just Dr. Dre’s protege, he was one of the best to do it. His rhyme schemes on this album are intricate, and he does it in such a laid back way you don’t even realize it. Snoop proved he was a one of a kind rapper on this album that still sounds great over 30 years later.

De La Soul made this album three years earlier and it was way better.

Very well produced. However, while the production works overall, it’s highly produced and it doesn’t sound right when the distorted guitars come in. Everything else sounds great, but the guitars are too sleek and clean even though they’re distorted. The bass, drums, and electronics sound incredible. There’s a lot of cool ideas on this album, even if the songs end up being mostly just ok. And then there’s the lyrics. The lyrics on here are bad. The metaphors and similes, of which there are more than you’d expect, range from comical to nonsensical. It would t be as big of a deal but this is a lyric heavy album. So while the musicians are technically adept, songwriting is where they still need some work.

There was so much hype around arcade fire when this album came out. I didn’t like it then, and I still don’t think it’s all that great. Their next album, The Suburbs, is solid, and Funeral was good. Everything else they’ve made, including Neon Bible, is mediocre.

I liked this, it’s impressive he made this all up on the spot. I doubt I’d listen to it very much in the future, an entire album of one instrument is not something I go out of my way for usually. But I don’t regret hearing it.

I never understood the appeal of Springsteen. I listened to this album and I just don’t like his music. It’s one of those things where there’s nothing wrong with the music, it just doesn’t click with me at all.

Brian Wilson said he prefers this version to the Smile Sessions version, but I prefer the latter. There’s something about those original recordings that the 2004 version is missing. It’s an energy, and the vocals by the original beach boys help. Either way, this is still terrific.

This did not have to be a double album. There was way too much bloat on here. All the alternate takes, instrumentals, and demos should have been on some sort of deluxe anniversary edition, but that’s just the regular album!? If he had cut this to a tight 45 minutes it could’ve been okay. Even then his voice is annoying unless he’s playing a cover in which case he puts on an accent that makes him sing better for some reason. I liked the union song, and his woody Guthrie cover was solid. Everything else was not great.

Never really got Dr. John. This album is murky and messy, and for me not in a good way. It’s extremely lo-fi, maybe they didn’t have very good equipment, or maybe it was intentional, I don’t know. But for me it was hard to even hear a lot of it.