Reviews by forestfly2009

I had heard of The Monkees before, and knew that they were America's answer to The Beatles and had a TV Show, but never delved into their stuff too much.

Apparently this was the first album where the label allowed them to create their own music instead of regurgitating music that was created for them, so with that in mind, there is some experimentation here, and some of it feels a bit unpolished.

You can hear how they were very similar to The Beatles, and can also hear inspiration from the likes of Chuck Berry and Simon & Garfunkel.

Spotify links to the Deluxe version of this album, which has a bunch of stereo remixes of songs as well as some demo stuff from the recording studio, and a few stand alone singles.

I didn't mind this album, you can see what they were driving at, but it just didn't wow me, and it wasn't refined and groundbreaking like The Beatles, more of a parody of sorts.

Favourite songs: 99 Pounds, No Time, For Pete's Sake (Closing Theme), Sunny Girlfriend, Randy Scouse Git, Mr. Webster, All of Your Toys, She Hangs Out, Nine Times Blue, Love to Love, You Can't Tie a Mustang Down

Least favourite songs: Zilch, Pillow Time, Band 6, Early Morning Blues and Greens, If I Learned to Play the Violin, Peter Gunn's Gun

3/5

I never really listened to much of Peter Frampton's stuff until today, so I was unsure of what to expect. What I got was a high energy, rockin' live album.
I knew a few of his hits off of this album, but most of it was new to me. A few things of note: 1) the stripped down bass groove in Doobie Wah is awesome, 2) the acoustic set in the middle of the concert, which included All I Want to Be (Is By Your Side) & Wind of Change was a nice touch. 3) the little guitar solo track called Penny For Your Thoughts was awesome (some amazing guitar skills showed off on this one) 4) I could have done without the 4 minute talk box solo on Do You Feel Like We Do. A talk box is cool if it just adds a flair to a song, but in a long drawn out solo, it becomes kind of annoying.

Overall, a great album. The crowd was electric, and I can only imagine how cool it would have been to be there.

Favourite songs: Show Me The Way, "Baby, I Love Your Way", (I'll Give You) Money, Something's Happening, Doobie Wah, Penny For Your Thoughts

Least favourite songs: I Wanna Go To The Sun, Wind of Change, Lines on My Face, Jumping Jack Flash

4/5

I'd never heard of Ash until today, but everything I've read about the band told me I would like them. This proved true! What a great 90's alt rock/grunge/pop rock band. I heard influence from many different sources while listening to them: (1) Goldfinger sounds quite a bit like Nirvana;
(2)the vocals on the chorus of Girl From Mars sounds like Weezer;
(3)the chord progression in I'd Give You Anything sounds like N. I. B. by Black Sabbath

A few songs on the album run into each other seamlessly (notably Girl From Mars into I'd Give You Anything, and Let It Flow into Innocent Smile)

I thoroughly enjoyed this listening experience. From the heavy distortion and sludgy guitars to the tight drums this album was great!

If I were to have any criticisms at all it would be that sometimes the vocals fall behind the wall of sound and distortion a bit, and the use of static as a backing sound in a section of Innocent Smile was a bit irritating, otherwise a great album.

Favourite songs: I'd Give You Anything, Angel Interceptor, Kung Fu, Girl From Mars, Lose Control, Goldfinger, Darkside Lightside

Least favourite songs: Lost In You, Innocent Smile

4/5

I've always written off The Doors as just another psychedelic rock band with 6 minute acid induced organ solos throughout most of their music, but after listening to this self titled debut album, boy was I wrong. They are so much more than that. Yes, those organ solos do exist (in Light My Fire for example), but there is also many songs that are less than 3 minutes long, and have funky, jazzy, bluesy feels to them with typical 60s rock overtones. The addition of an electric organ was, at the time, revolutionary to the genre of rock, and led to many other bands doing the same thing.

Jim Morrison had such a unique singing voice. Some of his vocals may make more sense when high on psychedelics, but one can definately appreciate the magnitude of this album, even when sober.

I was worried about the song The End when it started playing and I saw an almost 12 minute run time, but the solos are kept short in it, and Jim keeps the song flowing well throughout, making the time fly by (the song doesn't go on so long that it becomes stale).

Overall, impressed with this album. It has opened my eyes to more of what The Doors were.

Favourite songs: Break on Through (To The Other Side), Soul Kitchen, Back Door Man, Twentieth Century Fox, Light My Fire, The End

Least favourite songs: Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), The Crystal Ship

3/5

I know of Kid Rock's hits but never really delved into his back catalog. Kid Rock was hitting his stride when I was a "rebellious" youth listening to vulgar music. What he was doing with the country rock/rap fusion was never really done before. Some of it stuck, other things flopped. And a lot of people are quick to throw out all of Kid Rock's music because of his political leanings, unfortunate as they may be.

I didn't love everything in this album, but there was quite a bit of nostalgia tied to Bawitdaba, Cowboy, and Only God Knows Why. In some of the music, listening now as an adult, there was some needless vulgarity by times, but I'm not prudish enough to hold that against him.

I feel like I can smell the album cover.... Dank weed, wet dog, and econo cigarettes. There were a lot of songs on this record that repeated lyrics such as making note to 100 spoke wheels, hookers, being raised in Detroit, and 40s in the trunk of cars.

A lot of people hate on Only God Knows Why because of heavy auto tune usage, but then they turn around and love T-Pain or Kanye West. To me it is a choice that was made, not necessarily out of necessity, but to add a little flair to the song.

Favourite songs: Only God Knows Why, Cowboy, Bawitdaba, Devil Without a Cause, I Am The Bullgod, Wasting Time, Fuck Off

Least favourite songs : Welcome 2 The Party (Ode 2 the Old School), Where U At Rock

3/5

I've always had my preconceived notions about Talking Heads and their music, but never really delved into it much past their hit singles. At the onset of this album, I didn't really know what to expect since the first song, I Zimbra, is just nonsensical language, but after this song, it returned to the Talking Heads I had heard before. Oddly nervous lyric delivery, and experimental, spacey music. The lyric delivery always did, and continues to drive me crazy, and they make no sense most times. One song, they sing about how the air is trying to kill you, and another song they sing about how animals are morons. Overall, not my cup of tea, but I do get that Talking Heads are very influential to bands that came later, I just don't get the appeal myself. Maybe I'm just not intelligent enough for nerd rock.

Favourite songs: Life During Wartime, Animals, Heaven, I Zimbra

Least favourite songs: Drugs, Electric Guitar, Mind, Paper, Memories Can't Wait

2/5

I've heard of MGMT before, but never really paid attention to their music much, it was just background noise while Hits 1 was on the radio. Having now listened to an album of theirs, I have a bit more of an appreciation for their musical talents.

I must start by saying that newer indie pop rock is not really in my wheelhouse, but I didn't hate this album like I thought I would. The first half of the album is leaps and bounds better than the second half.

In the song Weekend Wars I can hear a bit of David Bowie influence in the vocal delivery.

Favourite songs: Kids, Electric Feel, Weekend Wars, Time to Pretend

Least favourite songs: 4th Dimensional Transition, "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters", Future Reflections, The Handshake

3/5

This is the first time so far that I've gotten a second record from a band I've already listened to in this exercise. The first record by the Eagles that I got was the classic Hotel California. This record is their self titled debut.

It has three well known and fantastic singles on it: Take It Easy, Witchy Woman, and Peaceful Easy Feeling. You can tell that this is an early album in the bands career simply because they were still experimenting, trying to find their sound (country rock/dad rock). There are some lesser known songs on here that are fantastic. Some songs are fairly rockin' compared to other songs in the Eagles catalog. The harmonies that Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon can reach is phenomenal, and creates that signature sound that is so recognizably the Eagles.

This was another great listen, so much so that I listened to it twice.

Favourite songs: Take It Easy, Witchy Woman, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Nightingale, Chug All Night, Tryin'

Least favourite songs: if forced to choose, Most Of Us Are Sad. It just didn't move me like the other songs did, but is still a great tune.

4/5

I am very familiar with Green Day. They were a big part of my formative years with music. The first cassette of theirs I ever owned was Nimrod, and I loved it. After that, I went out and bought Insomniac and Dookie.

American Idiot came out when I was in university, and got a lot of air play on both Much Music, as well as the university radio station. There were quite a few singles released off of this record: Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends, American Idiot, and Jesus of Suburbia.

The song Holiday reminds me of the movie Accepted every time I hear it.

This album is fantastic. 2 songs (Jesus of Suburbia and Homecoming) are 9 minutes long each, but there are tempo changes throughout, so really each of them is like 4-5 songs.

Overall, I love this band and this album. So great, I listened to it twice.

Favourite songs: Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends, American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, Are We the Waiting/St. Jimmy

Least favourite songs: if forced to pick one, Whatsername

5/5

I remember this album well from when I was a teenager because my sister played it on repeat. Waterfalls was a jam back then, it was on every radio station constantly. This album is super thirsty in that the dominant topic of conversation is sex. The music is a good blend of R&B, pop, and 90's hip hop. I really like the harmonies that the three women can achieve. I found that the first half of this album was better than the second half.

Favourite songs: Waterfalls, Red Light Special (great guitar solo in this porno groove sounding song), Switch, Diggin' On You, Kick Your Game, Creep

Least favourite songs: Let's Do It Again, If I Was Your Girlfriend, Take Our Time, and all the Interludes throughout (Intro-lude, CrazySexyCool - Interlude, Intermission-lude, Sexy - Interlude, and Can I Get A Witness - Interlude). These frequent interludes throughout the album remind me of Lauryn Hill's album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and like that album, I find they distract from the overall flow of the record.

3/5

This is Peter Gabriel's first solo album after the break up of Genesis. I must say I'm not very crazy about either Peter, or Genesis' music, but am familiar with both. This album started out with a very weird prog rock song, then transitioned to the very popular and familiar Solsbury Hill. Modern Love, Slowburn, and Down the Dolce Vita are rockin runes, and the rest of the album was more really weird prog rock experimentation. There were constant tempo changes and nonsensical lyrics throughout. Overall, very odd and experimental, and nothing to really captivate me, so this just affirms my dislike of Peter Gabriel's style of music. It may make more sense if I was high.

Favourite songs: Solsbury Hill, Modern Love, Down the Dolce Vita, Here Comes the Flood

Least favourite songs: Waiting for the Big One, Moribund the Burgermeister, Humdrum, Excuse Me

3/5 (Solsbury Hill alone gave it +1 point)

This was a teriffic album! Fats Domino was revolutionary at his craft. Every song on this album is awesome! I can imagine hearing this in the 50's and how different it must have sounded. To be someone credited with influencing the king of rock and roll Elvis Presley! Fats' piano playing is flawless, and his bluesy lyric delivery make him stand out as one of the greats! The piano solo in La La is fantastic!! I love The swing style feel of this record.

Favourite songs : all of them, but stand out songs include : Blueberry Hill, Blue Monday, La La, What's the Reason I'm Not Pleasing You, Poor Poor Me, Troubles of My Own

Least favourite song: if forced to pick, The Fat Man's Hop only because it is an instrumental number

5/5

I've heard of UB40, but never delved into their stuff before. This is my second reggae album in a row (yesterday I had Bob Marley). Unlike Bob's sound, this has more pop sensibilities to it, and the saxophone is a great addition to the overall feel of the album. This album deals with some pretty heavy topics about racism, politics, and poverty. I enjoyed this album, but not as much as Bob Marley's album. This record had a lot of instrumentals, experimentation, and drawn out solos throughout, whereas Bob Marley kept his album on track and tight, which is why I liked it more.

Favourite songs: Tyler, Burden of Shame, Little By Little, Food For Thought

Least favourite songs: Madam Medusa (13 minute song that just felt too long and drawn out), I Think It's Going To Rain Today

3/5

Another outstanding album!! Bob Marley was one of a kind! People have tried to emulate his sound, but have never been able to capture it just right. His music has a way of instilling hope and happiness in me every time I listen to it. I find the song No Woman No Cry almost therapeutic (I can turn it on on a bad day and feel better instantly). The part of the song where he repeats "Everything's going to be alright" just forces you to put everything in perspective. Such excellent reggae music with subtle notes of funk mixed in. Every song on this record is amazing!

Favourite songs: No Woman No Cry, Bend Down Low, Talkin' Blues, Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), Revolution, Natty Dread, Lively Up Yourself

Least favourite song: if forced to pick one, Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock). It is still a phenomenal song, it just didn't hit as hard for me as the other songs.

5/5

I am familiar with Simon & Garfunkel's hits, but never delved far into any of their records, so this was a great listening exercise today. I always had a preconceived notion that Simon & Garfunkel were a band that only the highly educated, and hipsters listened to, but man was I wrong. I love the harmonies that Paul and Art can create, and those layers of harmony laid over soft acoustic guitar make for fantastic easy listening folk. There are songs on this album that touch on hard hitting issues (the song "7 O'clock News/Silent Night" has news excerpts about hard hitting issues of 1966 (mainly the Vietnam War) laid over the Christmas carol Silent Night. The news starts low and slowly builds and builds throughout) and they also inject humour (A Simple Desultory Philippic is a comical jab at Bob Dylan and his style of music writing and delivery). All in all, a fantastic album!!

Favourite songs: A Simple Desultory Philippic, Homeward Bound, The 59th Street Bridge Song, The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine

Least favourite songs: if forced to pick, Cloudy, The Dangling Conversation

5/5

Before today I hadn't heard of Minor Threat. This was a true hardcore punk album, and it did what all good punk albums do, it came in loud, fast, and heavy, said what it had to, and got out. The whole album consisted of 9 songs, and the total album play time was only 21 minutes. The lyrical delivery was fast, raw and angry. The bass playing was stellar on this record!! It is a shame that Minor Threat didn't stay together longer to create more content, because it is easy to see the influence that just the one studio album that they made had on future bands.

Favourite songs: Betray (the part when they slow the tempo down in the middle of this song is awesome), "Look, Back & Laugh" , Sob Story

Least favourite song: if forced to pick one, Cashing In (I just didn't like the lyrical delivery as much, but it is still a teriffic song)

4/5

Thank God that album is done. I must preface this by saying electronica/techno isn't my favourite music, but this album was very dull and almost painful to listen to. I am not one for long drawn out songs with no lyrics, I find I tend to loose focus. A few weeks ago I got the album Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, which is two instrumental songs, ranging around 22 mins each, and that album managed to keep my interest because Mike kept changing tempos, and adding in layers of sound and different instruments. All Orbital did was maintain the same slow shuffling beat throughout the whole 1hr 15min album and changed up a few spacey sounds and bangs/pops. The vocal samples that are looped throughout the album sound like they were taped from late night documentaries and infomercials. Maybe if I was tripping on ecstasy I may be able to tolerate this droning nonsense, but I doubt it.

Favourite song: if forced to pick one, Crash and Carry. It had a not bad beat (the first song to actually have one on the album), and it only droned on for 4mins

Least favourite songs: Forever, I Wish I Had Duck Feet (the end of Forever, into the start of I Wish I Had Duck Feet there is this God awful wet rustling/rain sound that is awful to listen to), Philosophy by Numbers, Are We Here?, Attached

1/5

I've never heard of Suede before today, so I entered into this listening session not knowing what to expect. What I heard was notes of brit pop/ alt rock of the 90s. Vocal delivery is very similar to The Smiths. Not a stand out album for me, but not terrible either. I'm glad I listened to it, but it isn't something I will put in frequent rotation.

Favourite songs : Moving, Animal Nitrate, Metal Mickey

Least favourite songs : The Next Life, Breakdown, So Young

3/5

This whole album sounds like you are listening to it underwater. There are so many layers of muddy guitar, and the vocals are just out of focus so you can't really destinguish what they are saying at all, so you just end up hearing moaning mostly. I can hear how My Bloody Valentine influenced shoegazers of the late 90s-early 00s though such as Smashing Pumpkins or Hole, but this album was definately not my favorite. It all just ended up being noise and caused me to loose focus quite a bit.

Favourite songs: Sometimes, When You Sleep

Least favourite song: Touched

1/5

I've heard of Miles Davis, but never listened to any of his stuff before today. I must say that jazz is not my favourite, and just instrumental music even less so. This music is beautiful in its own right though, and would be perfect for setting ambiance in a coffee shop or restaurant.

Favourite songs: Budo, Darn That Dream, Moon Dreams, Jeru

Least favourite songs: Venus De Milo, Deception

2/5