Reviews by florida-metalhead810

This is the rare Britpop album that actually had enough impact to merit inclusion. I mean, it's the one with "Wonderwall" on it. The actual album is very loud yet poppy rock music. Many songs, especially the big hits, are incredibly reminiscent of the Beatles(not inherently a bad thing). The vocals and lyrics are okay, but they're not anything phenomenal. The album's real strength comes with its hookiness and distinctly retro sounds. Although it is a good album, I do believe that it is massively overrated(and everyone knows Wonderwall is massively overplayed). It's not the 5-star all timer that the vast majority of reviewers think it is, but it is a pretty solid 3.5-4 star pop album from 1995.

I often find it hard to rate electronic music albums due to their lack of traditional pop songcraft and emphasis on beats. This is apparently one of the most influential and popular techno albums of its era, so it gets marks for that. The actual music is brisk and fast-paced, with a general mood that it has something to prove. It's mostly just bleeps and bloops, and yet I feel as if there is palpable emotion here. It feels like the lovechild of dance music and thrash metal, almost. The songs run on pretty long, probably longer than they need to, and they are pretty repetitive, but all of that is baked in to this genre. It's no masterpiece of an album, but it is actually very enjoyable techno music with definite emotion. It's not a 5 for me, but it's sure as hell a 4.

So these guys made this album and then disappeared from the music scene entirely? Yeah, that sounds about right for the list. Strangely, the music is actually pretty good. It's hooky and well-written, with catchy pop melodies that are generally enjoyable. However, this album has two strikes against it: the vocals kind of suck, and the actual songs aren't very interesting beyond being hooky. Most of them go for two to three minutes at most, and they don't leave much of an impact. The lyrics aren't that great, mostly being generic Britpop lyrics. My biggest problem with it, however, is none of these things. It's the fact that they are literally aping Big Star with worse vocals and lyrics. I get the sense that I could just listen to Big Star rather than listen to this, and they were a good 15-20 years earlier. This isn't a bad album, but it's not a particularly great one either. It's just a mediocre pop album from a band that rapidly disintegrated after making it.

Ok, I get some weird cross between Irish folk and punk. The album cover and name pretty much tell you exactly how this sounds. Lyrically, it's pretty strong with stories of the life of (I presume) those of Irish heritage in the United Kingdom and Ireland itself. Sonically, however, it's not a hit with my American ears. The instrumental sounds take some getting used to, and the vocals aren't great(though they work within this context). While this is an interesting example of cultural music, I don't think this is something I can listen to often. It's good at doing what it's trying to do, but what it's trying to do isn't something I have any particular desire to listen to.

I'm pretty bummed to be done with the Tribe albums on the list so soon, because they've been one of the most consistently great artists on the list. It's also album number 250 for me(which is hilarious because the other Tribe album was 150). This marks my last outing by Tribe, including the Q-Tip solo album. And what an outing it is! Their excellent lyricism, funky flows, and top-shelf sampling are all present in full force here. It's hard not to love the laid-back, positive, and all-around enjoyable vibes of this album, especially with the violent and aggressive gangster rap coming out in this time period. The interplays and flows are top notch, and the lyrics are both political and somewhat relatable. It's just a great album from a great band.

After the wacky, experimental, and distorted sounds of the Residents, I get an 80s easy listening pop album. I don't know if it will be good, but I do know that it won't be nearly as interesting as yesterday's album. In fact, it isn't very interesting at all. It's insanely safe sonically, so safe that you wonder why it's even on the list. The vocals and underlying songs are decent enough pop, but it's incredibly disposable. This album was made to get play on top 40 radio for a couple months and then be forgotten about, and it is very much a relic of its time. In just three years, grunge would explode and kill this dated slop in the mainstream. So yeah, this is not an essential album. The Wikipedia entry says that critics were falling over themselves to praise it, and I genuinely wonder why-until I remember that those same critics love U2(who I can't stand). It is literally music for people who hate engaging and interesting music, and that makes it-nuclear level take incoming- worse than the Residents album that sits proudly in the bottom 3 albums. In short, Bonnie Raitt sucks and I'm not going to listen to anyone who says otherwise.

This is one of the bottom 3 albums by global rating. It is now officially the lowest rated album I have had so far. I can understand why, as it sounds like music that aliens would call pop. To us, it's utterly weird and mad, but it's not entirely horrible because of it. A lot of the soundscapes are goofy, and the vocals especially so(when they show up). There is no serious attempt at pop melodies here or song structure, but it's still somewhat hooky(yes, there are hooks beneath all those weird electronic sounds). Obviously, the average listener would hate it for sounding like random noises, and it is random noises to some extent, but I can tell that these guys can write songs. They just want to make their songs sound as unique, strange, and just plain crazy as possible. This getting slammed to the bottom 3 while far worse albums by the likes of U2 stay above a 3-star average is the real travesty, not that this exists and is considered influential like most reviewers seem to think.

Ah yes, Purple Rain. Widely considered one of the best albums of the 1980s and even if all time, it is considered a highly popular and influential classic. The album is very 1980s-sounding, fusing pop, rock, and soul in a way that sounds distinct to all other artists of the time. The production didn't exactly age well, and the lyrics aren't that good, but the songs are hooky and well-written. There are a few legitimately iconic songs on here, and they're every bit as good as you'd expect, but the album isn't quite the phenomenal experience everyone says it is. It's a good pop/rock/soul record, but it's not quite masterpiece level simply because of some bad lyrics("Darling Nikki" has a terrible first verse) and poorly aged production that sounds hella dated now.

It seems that only half of the album is available on Spotify in the United States. This means that I will listen on YouTube instead. Sadly, it took me 3 months to get around to finding and listening to it. When I did listen to it, I found a pretty good 50s rock album. The album's production and Fats's singing gives it a warm, nostalgic feel that improves the listening experience. The lyrics are standard fare for the era, but they're not terrible. This album is a lovely listen when you're in the mood for 50s rock and roll. It's simple but soulful, and ultimately that's often better than soulless complexity and pretension. I just wish it were easier to find the missing second half of the album.

Well ok, list! This album is an interesting pick for inclusion. While it is influential, it's also known for sounding nothing like the subgenre of metal that shares its name. The book describes it as the "perfect parody", at least according to the album's Wikipedia article. As for the actual album, it's alright. The lyrics are dumb as hell(hence the parody bit), and the vocalist is the worst metal vocalist I've ever heard, but the majority of the album is fairly competent metal. It's not great, especially considering that the vastly superior Number of the Beast and Screaming for Vengeance(criminally not on the list) came out the same year. Being a metalhead, I want to like it, but I know that it's repetitive crap at the same time. Hell, even the riffs(the best part of any worthwhile metal song) are somehow more samey and repetitive than Motorhead, who are literally known for being repetitive. True Norwegian black metal is pretty much unlistenable, so this is at least a little better. Granted, it's offensively juvenile(Seriously, what the actual FUCK is Teacher's Pet?) and mostly terrible, but at least it's influential in some capacity.

I had Maal's other, solo album a couple hundred albums back. I didn't know what to make of it then, and I don't quite know if that's changed. The sound of the album is very expensive, almost as a perfect soundtrack to the deserts from whence its creators came. The use of familiar instruments like the guitar makes this music more easily digestible to the average American while still allowing it to retain its distinct West African flavor. The vocals work extremely well within the album's context, though lyrics are not in a language I can speak and therefore inscrutable to me. These albums tend to be the hardest to rate due to their myriad differences from Western music, but I found myself enjoying this. I recommend this for a unique experience that is unlike the vast majority of this list's albums and will help expand your cultural awareness at least somewhat.

This is a 70s funk album, which means it's probably a good time. It is a good time, but it's also pretty adept at conveying moods beyond optimistic happiness. The album is somewhat political, but not overly so. It has strong grooves that make the songs feel less lengthy then they are(Four Cornered Room didn't feel like an 8 minute song). This is necessary to this album, as the songs are very lengthy. "City, Country, City" especially felt like aimless noodling in spite of a held groove. It's not the only offender with regard to the noodling thing, but it's the biggest offender. It's still a fairly enjoyable album in spite of these extended songs filled with overlong solos that hurt, rather than help, the song. This is a strong early-70s funk album that needs some judicious editing to be a true masterpiece.

This marks my first of the band's five listed records to be generated, and it is also the first chronologically of the included records. The album's sound is very psychedelic and trippy, with heavy dream pop elements and some alt-rock/punk thrown in. Lyrics are often nonsensical, but they fit the album's vibe very well. Pop hooks and tight songwriting take a backseat on this album to washed-out psychedelia and uniquely esoteric soundscapes. The second half of the record is far weirder and less structured than the already somewhat weird first half. While this record is not for the average pop listener(many of the best records aren't), I find it to be interesting, unique, and engaging. Those qualities are pretty much exactly I want out of a record, and they're this record's strongest attributes. Even now, I find myself utterly fascinated by this record(even though it can devolve into boring, noisy bullshit that has no real structure of any kind at all), and I can only imagine what hearing this would have been like in 1986 before anybody really sounded like this. And, if nothing else, at least it isn't one of those insipid Britpop-by-the-numbers albums that are way too common on this list.

OK, another random Britpop album. As expected, it's just OK. The songs are decent, but nothing special. Lyrics are generic and uninteresting. The guitar sound is nice, but it's still nothing too distinct or interesting. The singer has a mildly annoying voice, but again it's nothing too notable. Why are these kinds of albums even on the list in the first place? I know that this isn't the first time I've complained about this, and that I'm beating a dead horse here, but goddamn if it isn't annoying. There are some great albums on this list, but there's so much cookie-cutter slop like this on here as well. For that reason, I hate this despite- or maybe because of- its mediocrity.

I had Kid A earlier in the project and thought it was great. This is an earlier album, and it's very different. It has a more guitar-based sound reminiscent of the grunge movement and even some classic rock. However, there are definitely traces of the band that Radiohead eventually became in the lyrics and song structures. Many of the songs are more traditional rock songs, but some have more distinct structures. Lyrics are of varying quality, either being profound or nonsensical. At this point, they were still developing their trademark sound; I don't think this album is all that important to listen to except for fans of the band, as it's simply a turning point for Radiohead. It's still a good album, just not one I would call essential listening for everyone (for Radiohead fans, it's a must-listen).

I've only heard "Cult of Personality" off of this album before. That song is a guitar-heavy, rhythmic stomper of a track that invites headbanging and grooving in equal measure. Most of the rest album is just straight hair metal. It's good hair metal(an oxymoron to some, but not me), with catchy riffs and nice grooves. The lyrics aren't the greatest(even for Cult of Personality), and a lot of the album is carried by the instrumental prowess of the musicians. What this is is a nice, fun AOR record from 1988 that knows what it is and does it well. Don't expect any more, and you won't be disappointed by this.

I haven't heard of this before, but the reviews scare me. It's not so much the low rating as it is the descriptions of the music that give me trepidation. He's one of the least listened-to artists on the list, being second only to the Hookworms who gave me my first album in obscurity. Immediately, as I begin the album, I learn that all the flak it gets for being "shitty theater kid music" is completely spot-on. It sounds exactly like Scott Walker being cast in some obscure musical from the era. Lyrics aren't that good and feel just as much "Off-Broadway musical" as the music. Fortunately for this album, I am a high school thespian, so I have a high tolerance for musicals. Within that context, this isn't a bad album. It's also not essential listening. It just feels like a cop-out for including an actual musical on the list, if that genre is even worth including. It would probably get just as slammed in the reviews as this if I'm being honest. So, yeah, this is a mostly forgettable- and forgotten- album with no real reason to be on the list.

This has a reputation as perhaps the greatest jazz album ever made. And it might well be. It has everything you want in a jazz album; excellent saxophone solos, a nice groove, captivating tracks that don't feel anywhere near as long as they are. In fact, there's no real reason for me to write this review, because the album's reputation speaks for itself. Pretty much everyone with the slightest bit of jazz knowledge knows that this is an excellent album, so I don't need to say it. But for the first time listeners who have never even heard a jazz song before, let me restate it: This is a great album. In fact, it might just be the best jazz album ever made. And that's saying something, given how good jazz can be when the players are at the top of their game.

I had the other Massive Attack album way earlier in the project at album #13. It was great, so I was looking forward to this. It has all of the sonic hallmarks of the other album, with hip-hop influenced beats, atmospheric electronic sounds, and beautiful singing. Lyrics aren't great, as per usual, but they aren't completely terrible either. The album is very beat driven; it all seems built around the drums and turntable scratches. It has an excellent atmospheric quality which makes it a good listen, but doesn't have anything as good as Protection(song). However, by virtue of not having a terrible cover, it's better than Protection(album).

Oh, dear. An hour-long indie rock album from 2014 with only 10 tracks sounds like an absolute borefest. Unfortunately, it was. The songs were mostly just background music with mediocre lyrics, and they often ran way too long. This album isn't good or bad, it's just nothing. There's nothing really noteworthy here, and this isn't worth the hour. An inessential album for sure.