Reviews by forestfly2009

Today's album is by a band I've never heard of before. Television took traditional punk, removed the power chords, and replaced them with complex jazz and rock solos. Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd were both jam guitarists, who liked to dabble quite a bit, as can be heard all through this record.

Apparently the band met with Brian Eno initially to produce the record, but demos of the album didn't sit well with them, so they scrapped Eno, and produced it themselves, with the help of Andy Johns. Thank God for that, because I am not much of a fan of Eno's style at all!

Overall, a pretty good all around record. Hell of a lot of talent in this band, and showcased on this record. Another found band that I never would have discovered had it not been for this generator!

Favourite songs: Friction, See No Evil, Venus, Marquee Moon

Least favourite song: Torn Curtain

4/5

This album is a shot of nostalgia this morning, transporting me back to middle school, watching the music video for My Name Is on Much Music. I remember the first time I heard the uncensored version of the song, I felt like such a badass.

I still have a soft spot for Eminem. I'm not much of a hip hop/rap fan, but he is one hell of a rapper, and I tend to gravitate towards him as opposed to these new rap stars who need to start their names with Lil' for some reason (Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty...wtf). Eminem has more substance than any of those "artists". Eminem's lyrics are vulger, and they are meant to be that way. It kind of shocks you into listening to his music. His topics of conversation (especially on this record) center around mysogeny, murder, rape, shitty childhoods, and drug abuse. A lot of people get mad at his themes or lyrics, but they are ironically doing exactly what he wants them to do, giving him crazy amounts of free publicity.

The simple fact that Eminem is still making good music should go a long way to proving his worth on the scene. I unapologetically enjoy his beats/samples/rap style. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed today's listen. The songs that featured Dr Dre and Royce Da 5'9" were a nice addition to the record. The one criticism I have, which I've had with every rap/hip hop record so far is why the fuck do they always feel the need to break the flow of the record with pointless skits? The record would have been stronger without them I think.

Favourite songs: My Name Is, Bad Meets Evil, Guilty Conscience, Role Model, I'm Shady, Brain Damage, If I Had, Rock Bottom, As The World Turns

Least favourite songs: Cum on Everybody, and all the dumb fuckin skits (Public Service Announcement, Paul, Bitch, Lounge, Ken Kaniff, and Soap)

4/5

This is my third Rolling Stones album reviewed on this generator (the first two being Sticky Fingers and their self titled debut). This album is their 10th American studio album released, and marks a return to their more blues rock style of music.

The album starts with an absolute jammer (Gimme Shelter). This song in and of itself is worth at least 3 stars.

I thought Country Honk's lyrics were familiar. Turns out it is a country version of their song Honky Tonk Woman, which was released a few months earlier.

Live With Me was the first song recorded with the Stones new guitarist Mick Taylor, after Brian Jones got kicked out of the band for drug abuse. Mick also played on Country Honk. Live With Me is also the first time the Stones recorded with saxophonist Bobby Keys.

The London Bach Choir was brought in to assist with the recording of You Can't Always Get What You Want, providing the intro and outro accompaniment.

Overall, this is a stellar album. I am a big fan of their more bluesy rock style. What an intro and outro to this album. Everything in the middle of the album pales in comparison, but is every bit as good in its own right. First time listening to this record cover to cover, but I will absolutely listen again!

Favourite songs: Gimme Shelter, Country Honk, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Midnight Rambler, Let It Bleed

Least favourite song: Love In Vain

4/5

When I first pulled up today's album, I was not enthusiastic about it. I had a Brian Eno record last week (Here Come the Warm Jets) and it was absolute garbage. No redeeming qualities at all. From that, I drew the assumption that this would be the same. I was wrong.

Although not my favorite album of all time, at least this one had basic song structure, and a musical direction. I actually didn't suffer listening to this album. Honestly, when the album started with the weird song No One Receiving, I thought I was doomed, but that was immediately followed by Backwater, which is a basic art rock song. The whole record kind of then settled into that art rock/psychadelica genre with the odd weird song scattered throughout. I don't mind an odd song here and there throughout an album, but when the whole thing is fucked, I just can't take it. A few songs (moreso on side 2) were completely instrumental, and kind of fit together into a sort of mini epic (the last 3 songs on the record).

Overall, an experimental album, but one more strongly rooted in traditional musical themes. For that I am thankful. Nothing jaw dropping, but a fairly average album.

Favourite songs: King's Lead Hat, Backwater

Least favourite songs: No One Receiving, Kurt's Rejoinder

3/5

Today we have a classic power pop/new wave album by the Go-Go's. Drawing influence by the likes of Blondie and The Ramones, the Go-Go's really brought pop and punk together into a super accessible package.

There is a noticeable difference between their sound on this album, and their live stuff because their record producer told them to slow down while in the recording studio. They didn't abide by this when playing live though, playing louder and faster, sounding closer to punk than pop.

Overall, an excellent album today, and one that absolutely sounds of the era (80's). Thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. Before today, the only songs I knew were We Got The Beat, and Our Lips Are Sealed. There are some hidden gems on this album for sure!

Favourite songs: We Got The Beat, Our Lips Are Sealed, How Much More, You Can't Walk In Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)

Least favourite songs: Automatic

4/5

Today's record was a hell of a surprise, given the fact that I'd never listened to Violent Femmes stuff until today. From what I've read, they are classed as folk punk, which is exactly what this is. I was struggling to give it a genre, but it is acoustic with a driving bassline on most songs.

I never thought I'd say these words, but the xylophone solo in Gone Daddy Gone is awesome! I thought that the band name sounded familiar when I started listening to the album this morning, and learned that Violent Femmes was featured in the song Gotta Get to Peekskill off of the Dropkick Murphy's new album Okemah Rising. I also learned that Blister in the Sun was used in a Wendy's commercial in 2007. The band couldn't agree on how best to set up the usage/royalties, and it ended up becoming a huge lawsuit, and resulted in the breaking up of the band until 2013.

Overall, another fantastic "found band and album". From never having heard of them, to a fan of their stuff, this is what this generator is all about. Thoroughly enjoyed today's album!

Favourite songs: Gone Daddy Gone, Blister in the Sun, Ugly, Good Feeling, Prove My Love, Add It Up, Please Do Not Go

Least favourite songs: Gimme the Car

4/5

An absolute classic of an album today! Smoke on the Water has a song riff that almost everyone who ever picks up a guitar learns early on. Apparently the recording studio that the band was to use in Switzerland burned down, leaving the band to seek out another space. The song Smoke on the Water is loosely based on that.

Overall, a phenomenal album. Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, and Space Truckin' are all powerhouses. Not my first time listening to this record, and it won't be my last!

Favourite songs: Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, Space Truckin', Maybe I'm a Leo, Pictures of Home

Least favourite songs: Lazy

5/5

This is my second Tom Waits album that I've reviewed so far. The first was Heartattack and Vine. Having very little familiarity with Tom before this exercise, I expected this album to be sludgy blues/folk, similar to the other album I'd reviewed. Boy was I wrong!

Today's album was more of a jazz number than blues. For this record, he opened his recording studio up to a small group of people, and set the studio up like a seedy jazz bar, so it is super polished, but has that live feel to it. He has hilarious preambles before most songs. His preamble before the song Better Off Without a Wife is about masturbation of all things.

Although being very different, it was equally as powerful as his other stuff. Tom Waits is a musical genius, this album is fucking great!! His rendition of Red Sovine's song Phantom 309 was awesome! That is such a powerful song!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. I've been very surprised by Tom Waits so far, having not known him before this exercise, and discovering that I love his stuff. The man is a poet! The way he weaves a story through his lyrics that places you in that seedy dive bar, or on the dirty streets of New York, he takes you on a hell of a ride! You can almost smell the whiskey and cigar smoke!

Favourite songs: Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission), Better Off Without a Wife, Big Joe and Phantom 309, Warm Beer and Cold Women, Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac With Susan Michelson), Putnam County

Least favourite songs: On a Foggy Night

4/5

Before today, the only song I ever knew of Massive Attack's was the House MD theme song (song title: Teardrop). That song is quite good, but I was unfamiliar with the songs on this album.

Massive Attack are credited with starting the trip hop genre of music (electronica music with hip hop/rap lyric delivery). This music sounds similar to Gorillaz or that Nightmares on Wax record I reviewed a while ago.

Overall, not anything special going on on this record. I listened to it this morning, and I already forget most of the songs. It was kind of hard to pick a favourite song because it all just kind of ran together. This would make good background music, but it was kind of bland and difficult to focus on and listen to. It wasn't terrible music, it just wasn't that exciting either.

Favourite songs: Daydreaming, Hymn of the Big Wheel

Least favourite songs: One Love

3/5

The summary of today's album states that it "is often characterised as her most uncommercial and experimental release." and it "initially sold less than its predecessors and was met with mixed critical reception." For fuck sakes, why are duds like this included in this fucking generator? If the album was shit then, it is shit now. I hate Kate Bush anyways, let alone an experimental album that sold poorly. I am not looking forward to this album at all.

This album is literally as irritating as nails on a chalkboard. Kate Bush's voice is so fucking annoying. If she'd just sing the songs, that'd be one thing, but she opts to scream and moan quite a bit. She also puts her vocals in a range that I can only describe as Japanese geisha pop. She sounds like a pre-pubescent Japanese girl. In that range I have no fucking idea what she is saying, it could be japanese for all I know. Not that it matters, her vocals are nonsense anyways. Nowhere on this piece of shit album was there ever anything that resembled song structure, or music at all. It was all just noise, and random screeching.

Overall, exactly what I thought it would be, pure garbage. Just because Bjork said she likes the album, doesn't mean it has any right to be on a list like this. This influenced nothing, and is just simply a huge pile of bullshit, just like everything else Kate Bush ever put to record. This was a waste of 43 minutes. Fuck Kate Bush.

Favourite songs: Houdini.... I guess

Least favourite songs: Sat In Your Lap, There Goes a Tenner, Suspended in Gaffa, Leave it Open, The Dreaming, All the Love, Night of the Swallow, Get Out of My House, Pull Out the Pin

1/5

I was first introduced to Pearl Jam in my first year of university. My then roommate was a fan of their stuff, and listened often. That summer after first year, I carpooled to my summer job with another friend of mine who was also a fan. I grew to enjoy their stuff so much, that I bought their greatest hits cd, Rearviewmirror, and played the shit out of it.

This album has so many hits on it, and for a debut album, is insanely good. The band was super tight. Even Eddie Vedder's mumbling lyrics are fantastic! A lot of the time, it's hard to tell what he is saying, but it doesn't matter. The rockin musical accompaniment more than makes up for it.

Overall, the album falls kind of flat with the last 4 songs, but who cares. An album that is a hit machine like this one is allowed to have a few duds on it. The first 3/4 of the album was hit after hit. Even Flow, Alive, Once, Jeremy, Black.... Just amazing.

Favourite songs: Even Flow, Alive, Jeremy, Black, Once, Why Go

Least favourite songs: Oceans, Garden, Release, Master/Slave

4/5

What the actual fuck is this garbage. No song structure, no tone awareness to the vocals. Just a fucking moron beating on a keyboard and guitars and calling it music.

Eno was a hugely experimental fella, but some things just shouldn't be experimented with; such as musical talent (which there is none of on this dumpster fire of a record). Making odd screeching noises isn't making music, it's fucking annoying. Eno couldn't sing himself out of a plastic bag. Lyrics are complete nonsense. The chorus of Cindy Tells Me sounds like cicadas flying past my head ffs. Most of the tones and notes that Eno gravitates to on this album may be "new notes and tones that haven't been played before", but they're new for a reason. Because hearing those notes is like hearing nails on a fucking chalkboard.

Overall, a fucking horrible album. Absolutely no redeeming qualities. When I saw that it was an Eno album, I knew it would suck, and boy was I right. What the fuck did this influence? Nothing. More horrible music that hipsters, and critics can't bring themselves to say is terrible, so they continue to pretend that it's this amazingly deep album, but it's not. It's shit.

Favourite songs: Cindy Tells Me (I guess...the closest thing to an actual fucking song on this piece of shit album)

Least favourite songs: Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch, Needles in the Camel's Eye, Baby's On Fire, Driving Me Backwards (sounds like it's played backwards...), Blank Frank, Dead Finks Don't Talk (looped Oh No's..... Just.... Why?!?), Some of Them Are Old (sounds like a 2 year old loose in a room with a keyboard), Here Come the Warm Jets (only good thing about this song, is that after you suffer through it, the album is done, thank Christ)

1/5.... Fuck this heap of shit. This brought me physical pain to listen to.

Before today I'd never heard of LCD Soundsystem. They are a 00's electronica/indie rock band. Not sure how I feel about that mash up of genres, but we will see.

The first few songs on this album didn't impress me much, but once North American Scum rolled around, I really started warming up to their style of music. It is indeed generic indie rock with a good beat.

Overall, impressed with how much I enjoyed today's album. Thought I would hate it, but it was fine. Nothing astounding, but a decent album all the same.

Favourite songs: North American Scum, All My Friends, Us V Them (MORE COWBELL!!), Watch The Tapes, Someone Great

Least favourite songs: "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down"

3/5

For fuck sakes, why are there so many shitty britpop/shoegaze artists on this fucking list. There is so much music more deserving of a spot on this list. This garbage was made by un-enthusiastic goth idiots. Sounds like they had no interest in being there.

Shitty simplistic musical accompaniment, and nasally moany singing. I could have gone my life without listening to this stupid angst filled bullshit.

Whoever put this list together needs their head examined. Fuck this album. There's 40 minutes of my life I'll never get back. No redeeming qualities. Utter trash.

Favourite songs: Subculture (They Can't Find Him) (hidden track at the end of the album), Idiot Brother, Junk Shop Clothes

Least favourite songs: Bailed Out, American Guitars, Starstruck... and others.. It was so bland I drifted off a few times

1/5

The The? This may take the cake for shittiest band name of all time. This is generic 80's synth pop.

This is minimalist garbage. Nothing happened. 40 minutes waiting for something to happen, and nothing. Just some douche with a synthesizer and a drum machine showing the different sounds he can get out of his synthesizer. The lyrics make no sense. This is just bad.

Not sure why garbage like this gets added to this list so often? It hasn't influenced anything. So often I read in the reviews: it did horribly upon its release, but is considered a classic. It probably did horrible because it blows, which is true in this case.

Overall, never heard of The The, and can't wait to forget them.

Favourite songs: This is the Day...I guess?!?

Least favourite songs: The Twilight Hour, Uncertain Smile (is there any need for a 2 minute piano outro?), Soul Mining, Giant (I didn't need a 5 minute loop of people saying "yeah yeah yeah")

1/5

My God this is a boring record. 40 minutes felt like 4 hours. I think it's because of Leonard Cohen's delivery of "spoken word" music. I feel if you are going to be a vocalist, you should do two things: 1) be excited to perform, and 2) fucking SING!! Cohen sounds almost bored to be performing, which leads to a super boring album.

Cohen sounds like a Dollarama brand of Bob Dylan, and (on the album cover) looks like an unimpressed Adam Sandler. Even in his photo shoots, Leonard looks bored and unimpressed. The musical accompaniment is super minimal (almost non-existent), which doesn't help the nature of this record.

Overall, not great. Lyrics made no sense, and Leonard sounded like he didn't want to be there. This music would be the type of irritating drivel enjoyed by hipsters in artsy coffee shops. Certainly not my type of music at all. I like folk, but I also like it to be delivered in a way that is less boring. This was 40 minutes of waiting for something to happen, and nothing did.

Favourite songs: Suzanne, I guess? Not great, but less annoying than the rest of the record.

Least favourite songs: One of Us Cannot Be Wrong (what's with the random moaning at the end of the song? Sounds like someone inhaled a kazoo and is trying to free it from their windpipe), "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" and others... I was so bored, I zoned out several times, so I don't know their names, and I'm not relistening to find out.

2/5

This will be my third Beach Boys record review (the first one being Brian Wilson's solo album, Smile). This will also be the highest rated of them to date. This album continues the path taken by the band in Pet Sounds, towards a more psychadelic sound, and also sees Brian more and more removed from the band due to his mental health issues. Brian only sings on 4 songs on this record, and wrote the last 3.

The band was taking a new socially conscious directions, as heard in songs such as Student Demonstration Time (a song about the Vietnam War), as well as environmental numbers Don't Go Near The Water, and A Day in the Life of a Tree (songs about pollution, and the damages it is causing the Earth). They also randomly have a song about feet (Take a Load Off Your Feet).

There was a documentary that was put out after their album Pet Sounds came out. In the documentary, they are interviewing Brian, and he plays an excerpt from a song he was working on. That song was Surf's Up. Fans heard it, and waited 5 years, and 6 albums before finally hearing the completed song. The only reason it was completed was because Beach Boys co-manager Jack Rieley made Brian finish the song.

The album cover is a beautiful painting based on an early 20th century sculpture called End of the Trail. It depicts a warrior on horseback who appears to be mortally wounded.

Overall, an odd helping of the Beach Boys today. Nothing like their traditional surfer rock at all, and very experimental. They played everything from psychadelica to folk to blues. I think that this departure from the surfer rock persona, along with Brian's wailing vocals taking kind of a backseat is why this album resonated more with me.

Favourite songs: Student Demonstration Time, Disney Girls, Don't Go Near the Water, Take a Load Off Your Feet, A Day in the Life of a Tree

Least favourite songs: Feel Flows, Surf's Up

4/5

Before today, I'd never heard of Scott Walker before. First thing that struck me was the nice, simple album title theme (Scott 4 being his fourth (not fifth as the review says) studio album).

Scott sounds like a cross between Nick Cave (with the dark themes and baritone voice) and Leonard Cohen (with the odd bit of crooning thrown in). Scott's lyrics are very deep and dark, but beautiful (notably The Seventh Seal and Hero of the War). I would call this musical genre baroque pop or chamber folk perhaps.

Overall, a pretty good album. Apparently this was quite the departure from his straight up pop music fare of previous albums. I think this is one of those albums not to listen to if you are depressed, because it will just make you more depressed. If you are in a good head space though, it is a beautiful record.

Favourite songs: The Seventh Seal, Get Behind Me, The World's Strongest Man, Duchess, Rhymes of Goodbye, Hero of the War, The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)

Least favourite songs: Angels of Ashes

4/5

Today's album was a Cuban rumba/jazz album by Congo player Sabu Martinez. The album is very precussion forward, with Cuban Tres, and double bass accompaniment on a few songs.

The vocals on this record range from call and response style, to random screaming/shouting styles, which were a bit jarring. In the song Simba, it sounds like they are wailing on metal pipes, and it gets a bit irritating. Such a shrill sound.

Overall, an interesting listen today. Not something I would gravitate to often, but not bad as background music.... Except for the shouty bits.

Favourite songs: Choferito-Plena, El Cumbanchero, Tribilin Cantore

Least favourite songs: Billumba-Palo Congo

3/5

This is my third The Who record to review on this generator. This is a live album, recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory in 1970. This is the only live recording released featuring the all star line up (Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, and Pete Townshend). This record is the newest of the three I've reviewed thus far, coming out after their rock opera, Tommy.

They were getting heavy into the psychadelic stuff when this record came out. A Quick One, While He's Away is a weird song. The inclusion of Amazing Journey/Sparks from their album Tommy was great to see. I guess they were having troubles with touring and promoting Tommy, because they couldn't reproduce the album in front of a live audience quite right. That is why they opted to go the route they did with this album. This album also forms the bridge between rock opera Tommy, and 70's rocker Who's Next.

Overall, this was a super tight live album. Usually live albums suffer from shitty production or sloppy playing, but this album sounds like it was made in a recording studio. The 15 minute acid induced solo in My Generation was a bit much, but other than that, a really solid album.

Favourite songs: Young Man Blues,
Summertime Blues, I Can't Explain, Tattoo, Substitute, Shakin' All Over, Happy Jack

Least favourite songs: "A Quick One, While He's Away"

3/5