Reviews by florida-metalhead810

This is the newest album I've had so far. It is way better than I expected, but I didn't expect much from one of the most overrated artists of all time. She's a good singer, and the lyrics are surprisingly good, if slightly one-note(seriously, Taylor, the whole forlorn love thing is a bit played out at this point). The album's subdued, melancholy vibe works surprisingly well. It's far less annoying and awful than pre-1989 Taylor is, which is something that I'm very thankful for. It's not flawless; no album needs to be an hour long, and the repeated lyrical content grows tiresome despite their general quality being surprisingly high for Taylor. I have listened and will listen to better albums and worse albums, but perhaps none will have changed my perspective on an artist as much as this one. If you had told me a year ago that I would listen to and enjoy a Taylor Swift album, I would have laughed in your face and called you insane. Now, here I am, enjoying one and thinking it's a good record.

Apparently, this is considered one of the more essential records of the psychedelic era. Musically, it's solid, with good guitar playing and an excellent female vocalist(the male one is alright, but doesn't hold a candle to the lady). However, the drums leave a bit to be desired. Lyrically, some tracks try for profundity and succeed somewhat, though others are more cookie-cutter. The songs are short and try for hookiness somewhat, with mixed results. Overall, I'm mostly indifferent towards this. It has some good tracks and some mediocre ones, but it lacks any truly great tracks.

It can be quite annoying when the top 5 reviews are all a movie quote from a movie I've never watched that contains little actual review of the album. Now, onto the actual review: this is a very polished, laid-back country rock album. It's not revelatory in any sense, but it does exactly what you'd expect from the Eagles. It rocks with ample pop polish and a slight country twang. It is a little weak lyrically, but I've heard worse(I gave Deep Purple's Machine Head a 5 in spite of lyrics that are worse than this). Musically, it's competent but not excellent. It's a nice, easy listen that doesn't really give that much in terms of musical rewards, but requires far less effort than most other records to get them. The intro to "Earlybird" is nowhere near as bad or annoying as many say it is. In summary, I like the record, and hate the reviews that just say "I hate the fucking Eagles, man" with no explanation of why they hate the Eagles.

This is an 80s college rock album that's 68 minutes long. The first thing I noticed when I put it on was the awful, tinny production. It's a shame, because the album is loaded with hooky, high-energy songs that are excellent. It's an excellent album, especially considering that it was a last gasp for air from a band that was rapidly imploding due to inner turmoil and drug abuse. The underlying songs are better than contemporary REM(a band that Husker Du are often likened to), but the production is far worse. I also don't think it should be anywhere near as long as it is(30-40 minutes would suffice). However, there's still an excellent album in here somewhere, it just needs a good remix with some cutting.

This is only my third album of the year. It's also my third album by an African American artist/group and second 1990s hip-hop album. It's also my 150th album of the project. Now, for the actual review: the album is excellent. It has some of the best beats and flows of any hip hop I've heard, and is lyrically excellent. The rapping is top-notch, and refreshingly free of violent content. The songs lack most of the profanity common in rap songs, as well as the misogyny. It has everything rap does well in spades without the genre's usual pitfalls.

This is a soul covers album with a few originals including the excellent "Respect". It has everything you'd want in an old-school soul record: excellent songs, excellent singing, excellent backing band. In short, it's perfect. Clocking in at a snappy 30 minutes, it doesn't suffer from any length issues, making this album stand with Sam Cooke's Live at the Harlem Square Club as one of the foremost examples of early 60s soul on the list.

And my first album of the year is...a very political 90s rap album, complete with mandatory misogyny and violence. If these rappers would just stick to political messaging (which is nearly always excellent), they would have better albums. But there's always a song like "Don't Trust 'Em" that's loaded with anti-woman sentiment, as well as violent fantasies. Admittedly, they're part of the experience, but it's still a bad look for Ice Cube and his contemporaries. Ultimately, this is a good album, but not a great one. While some songs remain prescient today, others are off-putting with violence and misogyny. The beats are consistently excellent, but I just can't give this album more than 3 stars; it's composed of some great songs, and some terrible ones that need to be cut. The album also suffers from being overlong, as is common with this era of rap.

This is very different from Ziggy Stardust. Where that was fairly standard classic rock, this is more experimental and artsy. It's perhaps very akin to Iggy Pop's The Idiot, which isn't surprising as that had Bowie all over it. Now, onto the actual album: the synth sounds are fairly interesting, and the guitar is good. However, the lyrics aren't excellent(Ziggy Stardust was only slightly better in this regard), and neither are the vocals(though Ziggy Stardust exacerbated the nasal quality of Bowie's voice to a greater extent). It's not as accessible or tuneful as Ziggy Stardust, nor is it good as an experimental record(Tago Mago by Can was better in this regard, though that's likely to be expected). "Heroes" ultimately is a fairly weak record that doesn't really do anything it tries to well. If I wanted a synth pioneer, I would listen to Can. If I wanted a Bowie record, I would pick Ziggy Stardust.

There's not much you can really say about a classic of this magnitude that hasn't already been said. Say what you will about Zeppelin being "music thieves", this album shows them at their most versatile and adventurous. Even the standard rock numbers are excellent, and the ballads are peerless, including the monolithic "Stairway to Heaven". The more blues-inflected second side is earth-rattlingly heavy, yet manages to sound excellent. Simply a perfect album.

This is a very bland, milquetoast indie rock album. There's not much to say here, it's just an over hyped, boring slog with no real substance whatsoever. All the critics hear the violins and French interjections in the lyrics and wet themselves trying to put this bland hipster drivel on a pedestal as one of the greatest records of the 2000s, but it's just a bunch of boring, vacuous drivel with no real substance to it. Get outta here with this crap!

This album isn't very good. It has weak lyrics delivered through even worse vocals and backed by a bog standard rock band. The music is easily the best part here, and it isn't particularly good, just passable. If their big album is this bad, not to mention completely inessential, then I don't have high expectations for anything else they made(including their two prior albums on the list). Also, any song about romancing a teenager ("17") can fuck right off, especially when it's on a newer album such as this(not that older ones are exempt).

This is a good 90s alternative rock record. While it doesn't hold the same status within the alternative canon as Doolittle(which I rated a 5 earlier in this project), it is still an excellent record with many of the hallmarks of the Pixies' sound. It is both abrasive and melodic in equal measure; the vocals reflect this despite their questionable quality. It is undeniable that this is still a great album, even if it doesn't hold the same status as their earlier work. I do find this a bit more accessible than Doolittle, which is perhaps strange as it's said to be the most spiritually Pixies of all the Pixies records.

Meatloaf is a strong contender for the worst stage name in classic rock. The album he made is best described as cock rock for theater kids. I can't fathom how this is compared to Bruce Springsteen; it's far too different musically and thematically for that to make sense. In the end, despite solid arrangements, it lacks the tight songs that make a truly great album, instead featuring a 10-minute pomp fest of a title track and multiple other unnecessarily long songs.

I suppose it isn't surprising that I get a Christmas album on Christmas. What's more surprising, perhaps, is that this was on the list at all. It's well made, but it's still Christmas music, and therefore not essential listening for anyone. The singing is great, and the production is also great. However, I'm not a huge fan of Christmas music, and this is Christmas music made by a literal murderer. So I have to pass on this one.

Yeah, no. This album opens with a 12 minute classically influenced instrumental that doesn't really do a whole lot for me. It them continues with a bunch of similar instrumentals featuring the vibraphone. Though he's undeniably good, the whole thing just feels like a showcase for the vibraphone rather than an album with good songs to listen to. It doesn't really do a whole lot for me.

This is an OK album. It's wildly inconsistent in terms of quality and could benefit immensely from the removal of Peking O, which is annoying bullshit noise. At best, it's groove-laden experimental rock with excellent playing and a trippy vibe. At worst, it's just random noises with no real rhyme or reason. It's an excellent album, however it loses a star for Peking O.

This is a country covers album. A very well done country covers album. The songs are all very relaxed and easy to listen to, which makes for a nice, relaxing album for the end of the day. Nelson plays these pop songs with a distinctive country twang that works very well in this context(a far cry from what modern country is, despite having a similar formula). However, an album needs to have original songs to get full marks, so -1 for being all covers.

Ok, why on earth did the generator give me this guy's other album and then this back to back? It would be fine if the other one was good, but it wasn't. Anyway, once I finally got around to listening, I found that this album was very different to Moss Side Story. It replaces the dark, shady feel of Moss Side with a hotel lounge atmosphere, with a similarly jazzy sound. It has more turntable scratches and other electronic elements than Moss Side, and is overall better. However, it's still far from a great album. The fake movie soundtrack gimmick is dumb, and I don't think either album is essential listening.

I genuinely have no idea why a fake movie soundtrack by some British dude I've never heard of is considered essential listening. There were points during this album where I genuinely couldn't tell anything was on. When it was discernible, it mostly just sounded like instrumental jazz-rock stuff with an eccentric edge to it. I can easily see this being good as a movie soundtrack, but it's far from great as an album, and even worse as an essential album to listen to before you die. It just does nothing for me.

This is a very good synthpop album with a dark vibe. Unfortunately, it stops just short of masterpiece status; while I find lots of excellent pop hooks underneath the 80s sound, and I like the sound in general, it lacks that X factor that makes an album truly great. It's almost a 5 star album, but I just can't bring myself to call it one. It's undeniably a good album, but it is by no means the best album of the era.