Reviews by funny_character

Now that I have heard my first Elvis Costello album through this project, all of the Elvis Costello discourse in this space is way funnier. Costello has like 6 projects on the list, and people seem to love him or hate him. But what really gets me with this whole situation is how inoffensive the music on Imperial Bedroom is. It's basically sophisticated pop, flirting with new wave, soft rock, and a little bit of post punk. It's not bad, but it's not especially interesting. And very importantly, it's not the kind of thing that people usually have strong opinions on. Like it feels like everyone's fighting over the most "perfectly fine" music here. Maybe these songs unravel over the course of several listens? Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe there are better Elvis Costello albums. There are things I like here though: little flashes of something cool. I think his singing voice has something cool to it sometimes. The arrangements have some neat surprises like the accordion on The Long Honeymoon. And the guitar has some really interesting, brief flourishes. I do like Beyond Belief, Shabby Doll, The Long Honeymoon, Almost Blue and Town Cryer. Although, stepping outside of these songs, I do think a lot of material here is a little boring. But regardless of how I feel, this is competently written and produced. And there isn't anything really offensive to my sensibilities. The better cuts do some heavy lifting and I ultimately have this sitting at a pretty low three. I am kind of interested in seeing how my relationship with Elvis Costello evolves throughout this project too. But, adieu for now.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is utterly fascinating. After 2 successful, well-received albums, Billy Corgan simply decided that the next Smashing Pumpkins album would be the most enormous, ambitious, eclectic masterpiece possible: while making it he even told the press to expect "The Wall for Generation X". This is the kind of insane, ego-serving move that usually collapses under its own weight well-before coming to fruition. The fact that all 2 hours of this album got released in a complete state was frankly improbable. The fact that Mellon Collie is fantastic from front to back is a miracle without compare in the world of 90's music. That being said, the cost of Mellon Collie's success was Billy Corgan's ensuing obsession with creating an even bigger, better album. But by that point, the ego/talent/ambition ratios were all off, and The Smashing Pumpkins never put out another truly great album again. Regardless, we do still have Mellon Collie, so we may as well enjoy it. I knew several songs here going in, but I was still waiting for a bad song, and it was truly shocking that I never found one. Let's get this out of the way early, if you can manage to release 2 consecutive hours of music without a bad song, then you're already close to the 5. But frankly, most of these songs are great to fantastic. *And* the full picture here is a cohesive piece of art. This album was made with the stated intent of stepping outside of The Smashing Pumpkins' established sound. While you do get some of the band's characteristic grunge-y fuzz rock, and and grunge balladry here, especially on singles like Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Zero, 1979 and Muzzle, a lot of this album pushes well outside of this box. We have rich, neo-classical strings, electronic textures, decidedly un-grunge balladry, and some borderline noise rock. The change is immediately noticeable. After a brief intro, we get Tonight, Tonight, a single propelled by beautiful, epic, swelling strings and commanded by the drums, whose momentum truly makes the song. Then this is followed by Jelly Belly, which couples unbelievably distorted guitars with sugary pop-rock melodies. Both of these songs overshoot The Pumpkins' earlier sound and set the stage here incredibly well before plunging back into the familiar with the *very* good Zero. Before I get too far, I would like to talk briefly about how this album is structured. This is a doubled LP with a loose conceptual focus. Disc one is the day, and disc two is the night. In a fascinating interpretation of this, both discs feature the full array of this album's sound. But Where the first disc keeps it's songs relatively digestible and welcoming no matter the sound. Disc two seems to push all of the album's ideas to out of its comfort zone. On disc one, you have songs augmented by beautiful, strange textural work like on To Forgive and Cupid De Locke, fuzzy, 3 minute long barnburners like Zero, Jelly Belly and Ode To No One, and ultra melodic, fragile balladry on Galapogos, Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans and Take Me Down. But on disc two, you have songs dominated by textural experimentation like We Only Come Out At Night and Beautiful, noise/alt-metal opuses like Tales Of A Scorched Earth, Bodies, and the brutal, searing, 7 minute long X.Y.U., and you have balladry so damaged and fragile it borders on abstraction with songs like Stumbleine, Lily and Farewell and Goodnight. This approach contributes to the album's cohesion. You get to see all of Mellon Collie's tricks and ideas on disc one, and then it subverts all of them in a way that is identifiable, but challenging on disc two. Any of the songs I've brought up before now could be considered my favorites. Like I said, the amount of truly great material here is remarkable for such a long album. The biggest complaint I have is that the pacing gets a little off during the last stretch of disc two, but the songs are still great. If the biggest issue with your *two hour* long album is a minor pacing hiccup, then you're doing pretty well. This is one of the defining albums of the '90s for good reason. This serves as a monument of what could have come after grunge if the rest of the scene was brave enough to follow. The material here plays so nicely with The Smashing Pumpkins' earlier material, but still has such a distinct, eclectic identity of it's own. I'd love to have seen what would have become of The Pumpkins if Corgan had backed away from his ill advised pursuit of perfection. But at least Mellon Collie gives us a glimpse of what a perfect Smashing Pumpkins album could look like.

On Peter Gabriel's first solo full length, he hasn't quite nailed down the songwriting; but he makes up for it by being consistently interesting. He plays with a wide variety of sounds and styles here, and it doesn't all work, but it does establish Peter Gabriel as being daring, ambitious and playful straight off the bat. I think this album even captures something almost whimsical that I see more in prog than in art-pop/rock. Although there are a lot of moments here that *do* work. Moribund The Burgermeister is a very enjoyable intro that flirts with avant garde synth-pop stuff. Solsbury Hill has a delightfully pastoral feel, and just great pop songwriting. Humdrum has a great intro that makes me think of Brian Eno. Down The Dolce Vita combines enormous symphonics with hard-driving funk in a way that *could've* been insufferable, but I think it really works. And I think Here Comes The Flood has a real beauty to it. But at the same time: Slowburn and Modern Love are kind of whatever to me, Waiting For The Big One is a slog, and Excuse Me is fucking obnoxious. That being said, I do think the full package here still deserves a tentative 3. Peter Gabriel (Car) is a portrait of an artist who was ambitious and daring out the gate, even with flaws. And I do really respect the decision to debut with something like this that doesn't give the public a *ton* of easy answers. I'd say it's worth a listen.

I will say that I'm generally lukewarm on Arctic Monkeys, but I enjoyed their debut here more than I expected to. While I mostly know Arctic Monkeys from the smooth, accessible alt/rock sound of AM, I did find some older stuff of theirs I like, in particular Brian Storm, which captures a fun, youthful, almost pop-punk energy that I just don't think their more recent work has. And I am pleased to announce that Whatever People Say I Am... is more like this older song. It feels fun, youthful and energetic, with songwriting to back the vibes up. I do think this album generally works best on its highest energy songs though, where it almost functions as particularly accessible punk. Some of the mid-tempo songs just don't do it as much for me. And while I'm talking negatives, the lyrics were kind of hit or miss for me. That being said, it doesn't put too much of a damper on things. Whatever People Say manages to be a pretty great time, even though it's by a band I don't love. And even if I'm not *convinced* that this is essential 2000s rock: it doesn't have to be. Arctic Monkeys throw a good enough indie weekend party that I can't really complain that they didn't move any mountains while doing so.

Compared to the other two Doors albums on here, Morrison Hotel sits in a weird place. I don't think this has anything *close* to the highs on the other two albums: I don't think there's a "Break On Through" here, or a "Light My Fire", or a "Riders On The Storm", Or a "The End" for that matter. But the quality floor is almost as high as the quality ceiling is relatively low. I don't know if there's anything truly amazing here, but everything *is* at least good. It doesn't feel like The Doors were really exploring outside of the blues rock, dark psych and subtle mysticism of their work before this. But they *did* manage to put out an album of 9 consecutive, enjoyable songs. This approach, coupled with the shorter run-time makes this thing feel pretty breezy and results in an album that is a pleasant, if not especially interesting listening experience. It should go without saying that I'm giving this a 3. Would Morrison Hotel be thought of much at all today if not a Doors album? I think so, but moreso in the way we remember Moby Grape than The Doors. As a well-hidden little gem as opposed to a truly important piece of art.

This is my first proper reggae album of the project *not* by Bob Marley. And while I don't know a ton about Peter Tosh, I do know that Legalize It is considered a classic reggae album, and the sound reflects that. This really feels like archetypal reggae, and I consider that a good thing. This has smooth vocal melodies, fluid grooves, and percussive guitar-work. And the lyrics about romance, politics and weed activism make perfect sense here. This album, for its focus on injustice manages to maintain a laid back, sunny vibe. And the experience of listening to this is just very positive. My favorite songs here are Legalize it, Burial, No Sympathy, and Igziabeher, but this is pretty consistent overall. I think I'm feeling a pretty strong 3 here.

While this doesn't do as much for me as Joni Mitchell's starker music before this or her stranger music after, there is a lot to like about her jazz-pop album. Her quality songwriting, and fantastic vocal performances are still here. And the lyrics are up to par with her best. Her ability of compelling, poetic storytelling is unique and used well. As I alluded to: this is not the Joni Mitchell album most for me, just on an aesthetic level. But I do definitely see why it is on this list (and why it was her best-selling project at the time). Give this a listen! It is still cool!

To be honest, going into this I wasn't all that excited. Before this, I had heard a few songs in passing, didn't think too much of it, and never really looked deeper. Besides, I think it's reasonable to be a little skeptical of a swamp rock band from California. But I was surprised by a good few things while listening to this. Firstly, I knew like 3 or 4 of these songs. Second, CCR's swamp rock is remarkably convincing. And third, this was really really good. As a CCR skeptic, I am so glad they kicked this album off with one of the better songs. Ramble Tamble has so much energy and groove, and its command over momentum is truly exciting. From here, we have the blues rock of songs like Travelin' Band and Up Around The Bend. We have dour reflections on Vietnam in Who Can Stop The Rain and the slightly ominous Run Through The Jungle. And we have the incredibly sweet sounding Lookin' Out My Back Door, a song with such innocence that it is the only other piece of music in the folder in my mind with I Think We Are Going To Be Friends by The White Stripes (which may be a really weird take, now that I'm thinking about it). These songs are all unexpectedly fantastic. The four covers here are even particularly inspired, although I do think that Ooby Dooby and Before you Accuse Me are probably the weakest songs on the album. But conversely, My Baby Left Me is strong, and I Heard It Through The Grapevine is *very* strong (and it better be, it's like 11 minutes long). Cosmo's Factory closes with Long As I Can See The Light, another very sweet cut, and a great ballad to tie it all up (with great sax to boot). I will say, being completely won over by a CCR album was not on my to-do list today, but I'll never complain about discovering more great music. They capture the sound and atmosphere of blues, southern rock, and the "swamp sound" perfectly on Cosmo's factory and a lot of the songs here are already becoming my favorites within the genre. A couple of weaker covers and some of the best songs here being criminally short are really the only complaints I have here (I would easily take an extra minute or two of Up Around The Bend, Lookin' Out My Back door, and Who Can Stop The Rain). But at the end of the day, I'd rather an album leave me wanting more than being overstuffed. This is great music.

The experience of listening to this has made me learn that the hits on (What's The Story) Morning Glory? were its best parts. Because without them, on Definitely Maybe, I'm forced to contend with the fact that I just *don't* like how The Gallagher brothers write songs. Even when they are playing with catchy melodies, loud guitars, and other cool ideas, the resultant songs still just don't grab me. Which isn't to say this is unpleasant by any means. I just think it feels a little bland and unmemorable to me. But, even if I don't see what so many do in this, I can appreciate that people love it, I am just doomed to be left in the dust on this particular one. I wish I could tell you more, but it's confusing, almost frustrating: we have a bunch of components I like, but they just don't come together for me. I will make a special note of Live Forever and Columbia though, which actually *do* work for me, and *are* pretty great in my opinion. But I have literally no idea what sets these two apart from the rest of the songs in my mind. So I will leave you with that enigma, I guess.

While this isn't my wheelhouse for jazz, and I know very little about Cape Jazz in general, this was still pretty decent. I don't know how to rate this *really*: it doesn't do a ton for me personally, and I don't see myself really returning to this, but there is an undeniable level of musicianship, and some emotive melody writing. This isn't bad, not at all, it just also isn't that interesting to me. I even think some of the longer winded passages drag on a little (even if the solos dotting these passages are usually pretty good). But I did manage to get something more out of Song For Sathima, Tuang Guru, wedding, and Sameeda. Also, parts of the title track (and others, sporadically) are really good. But it is also worth noting that my favorite song here is the shortest (Wedding). This is a situation where I'm sure that a more experienced Cape Jazz fan would get more out of this than me. At risk of feeling a little mean, I'm giving this a (pretty high) 2: it's nothing personal, and I'm sure this is of some level of objective importance, I just didn't get a whole lot out of the experience.

As someone who considers myself a fan of Bjork, I've owed this a listen for a while. Vulnicura is on the shortlist of greatest Bjork albums in the eyes of many, so I was pretty excited going in, and my expectations were well exceeded. The last Bjork album I listened to was Debut, and I've heard several projects between these two, but the distance is still pretty astounding. After Homogenic, Bjork's music seemed to largely get more and more abstract as a rule of thumb: to divisive, but generally fascinating results. And here, the experimentation is emotionally grounded to her processing the end of the long-term relationship she had with Matthew Barney. This lends the album an emotional intensity and a relatability that tethers things, even if you aren't into the aesthetic here (although, I fortunately am). The sound here consists largely of jittering, rubbery electronic elements, and gorgeous strings: and Bjork herself lives somewhere between the two. This very much follows in the tradition of Bjork's other albums of the 21st century, in which she ensures that she is constantly at the forefront of advancement in electronic music. Here she brings on Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and they deliver: the electronics here are pretty much completely alien, invoking strange, slick forms. But, when juxtaposed with the strings, a beauty greater than either emerges. This really is a beautiful album, and Bjork's phrasing plays into it. She drifts, in her own signature way, over, through and around the music here as her chilly voice takes on way more warmth than you'd think. And her lyrics are as brilliant and idiosyncratic as can be expected of Bjork at this time. For how dense this sounds, it's deceptively simple: electronics, strings, Bjork, and this palette gives the album a really impressive cohesiveness. it almost just runs as a single work. That being said, I do have favorites. Black Lake unfolds beautifully over the course of 10 minutes. Family embraces a uniquely harrowing, jagged sound. Notget features some of the album's most fascinating textures, and it has some of the most intense and emotionally stirring melodies of the album (in my opinion). And Atom Dance features a gorgeous duet with other 1001 albums inductee Anhoni. But there's nothing here that even approaches bad, or even mediocre. There is an attention to detail and level of expertise over the soundscapes that sets the level of quality here *incredibly* high. This kind of just has to be a 5, it's really astounding art.

This is just about perfect for what it is, and it's also one of the only albums that captures what I love about Talking Heads, outside of the genuine article. That being said, I don't think The Police are just "a band like Talking Heads", they very much do have their own identity that I've learned to appreciate. And this is one of their creative peaks. There really isn't a mis-step here. Sure, Mother is weird, but I've always loved that song. I actually thought the weakest point was Tea In The Sahara for a while. And while it hasn't aged the best, I do now think it's a good song. With these two out of the way, everything else is the peak of The Police. Super tight playing, eccentric, but pop-friendly writing, daring and interesting aesthetic, it's all here. And there are a bunch of cool lyrical moments here too. Walking In Your Footsteps is a really interesting reflection on the dinosaurs, their wisdom, and their end, and how it all connects to us. A less talented lyricist could have turned this song into a real mess too. Another stand-out is ultra-hit (and deeply ironic wedding favorite) Every Breath You Take. You know the trick by now: a love song grows slowly darker, until revealing itself to be about a stalker. It feels obvious, but it's very effective. In addition to these, some of my other personal favorites are King Of Pain, Synchronicity (I and II), and Murder By Numbers. But the consistency here is ultimately a strong suite here: it's not like there's a bad song. I didn't see this coming, but I honestly am feeling the 5 on this one.

I knew, and liked a few Eels songs before this, but I was really shocked at how solid this was. Honestly, one of the better late '90s alt-rock/"post-grunge" albums I've ever heard. I actually enjoyed every song on at least some level: not bad for a "one hit wonder". The songs are full of pop-hooks, but they never try to trick you. This presents itself as a rock/indie album the whole way, and makes the hooks work by tethering them to understated palettes, conversational vocals, and a sort of approachable vibe. The lyrics are also deeply important here. I haven't decided if they *always* work, but I think they are generally compelling. Mark Oliver Everett is definitely shooting for a kind of bittersweet, even depressing vibe by focusing these songs on tragedy, mental health and more. And sometimes, it's a little clunky or even crude. I'm still not sure if the very first line of the album is great writing or terrible writing. But the way it comes together, even with some off lines, creates a larger picture of someone earnestly trying to connect, and explain themselves, and cope with the world: and the inelegance works in this context. Not the absolute greatest thing ever, but shockingly good, I loved this quite a lot, and even found it sort of weirdly relatable at times. (quick note, I'm more familiar with Electro-Shock Blues by Eels, which is an album I probably owe a revisit)

Is the the worst Outkast album? Maybe? Theoretically? But I'm not even entirely sure it matters. "Is this an Outkast album at all?" may be a better question. And the answer is actually "not really". This is famously a Big Boi album, and an André 3000 album running back to back. The albums were even going to be sold separately, until The Label (TM) decided against it. Speakerboxxx is Big Boi's contribution, and it's more or less what people wanted from him. It's about an hour of funk and R&B inflected Southern Hip-Hop. His personality shows all over these tracks. He talks about the things he finds important: like fatherhood, social injustice, religion, and philosophy. And the features on Speakerboxxx are all artists that Big Boi clearly finds important (including Ludacris and a young Killer Mike, both amazing here). In short, he's in his element. The creative control Big Boi had over Speakerboxxx manifested as an album with a laser focus, and an impressive level of consistency. André 3000's The Love Below stands in stark contrast. Firstly, it was very much *not* what people wanted from him, but it might have been what they needed: after-all, we got one of the best pop songs of the 2000's out of it. It isn't really a rap album at all: he breaks free from the genre's confines and experiments with writing rock, pop, R&B, psych, and jazz. Despite the eclectic pile of styles here, André 3000 does manage to pull it together in a pretty cohesive way. I think the lyrical focus helps out a little: he stays rigidly on the topic of relationships here. The start of relationships, the end of them, the highs, the lows: André covers this topic from just about any lens you could ask for. But he definitely does have a vision here and everything *does* slot in musically too. It just gets a little messy in the process. In The Love Below's 80 minutes, André 3000 finds room for generational hit Hey Ya!: which is also one of the most interesting realizations of the themes at play here. The core song here is one of the best in the history of pop music, and the lyrics are about two individuals who are deeply unhappy in their relationship who can't bring themselves to break things off because of their fear of loneliness and social judgement. And I've always read the incredibly upbeat sound of the track as a confrontation of peoples' tendencies to try to dance through it and ignore their own pain. It's honestly really sad at its core, and I think it's part of what gives Hey Ya! really compelling staying power. On songs like Hey Ya! and some other favorites, I think The Love Below hits higher highs than Speakerboxxx, but it's way messier. Andre's half runs for 80 minutes, and it's effectively genre soup, it's gonna be a little messy. And while, the lyrics usually work really well, sometimes his sense of humor just doesn't work for me. Like I don't really like the chorus of Roses because of the lyrics: although it is a good song overall. I think the single thing most emblematic of The Love Below as a whole may be the fucking insane cover of My Favorite Things. It comes out of no-where, and damn near disrupts the flow of the project. But against all odds, it manages to be a standout. And this is a song combining improv jazz with breakbeat, which happens to be a cover of My Favorite Things. It's The Love Below at the furthest reaches of its indulgent brilliance. The worst thing I can say about the whole package is that it's extremely clear that this exists due to a kind of creative meltdown, and that, consequently, the two halves do not end up creating something that feels like an OutKast album at all. Although, I have kind of learned to love it on its own terms. Considering just how much music is here: the amount of it that is really impressive from both artists is pretty astounding. And this is a pretty great addition to modern music, even if it's kind of got a weird asterisk in Outkast's discography.

Several members of Blur have gone on the record to say that they wanted this to be their American Rock Album. And you can hear it: grunge, alternative, indie-rock, and more. I guess Pavement was a big touchstone, which tracks. This album has a lot of the lower fidelity, quirky, texturally inclined indie stuff going on. And a song like You're So Great pushes it far enough that it almost sounds like a Guided By Voices song. I'd say this was a success overall. The core of Blur's brit-pop sound is very much here, but the indie aesthetics come through very clearly too. And it doesn't sound super disingenuous or put on either. They even scored a couple of hits in Beetlebum, and more notably Song 2. Beetlebum is one of the more British songs here: I believe it's a Beatles tribute, and it sounds it. On the other end of things, Song 2 is basically grunge: it's pretty much 100% fuzz, grunge attitude, and punk songcraft by volume. After this, Blur is pretty good. A lot of unconventional song structures and experiments with texture abound here. Most of them are very successful, from the aforementioned You're So Great's lo-fi pop, to the fuzz punk of Chinese Bombs, to the songs here that get a little trip-hoppy. I do think this could've been cut down a little, and every song does not feel essential. However, the consistency is generally there. A couple of neutral notes: it's interesting that a lot of the styles Blur is lifting from American bands here is from 5-ish years before this came out. It worked with their sound well, but it kind of does feel like Blur are playing cultural catch-up a little. Also, this was marketed as their weirder, more adventurous, "scarier" comeback, and I don't fully see it. I think this lands squarely into pop-rock, even with some of the weirder ideas, and I would be interested to hear these ideas pushed farther. Which, admittedly, may be what Blur offers on 13, which I should probably check out. Even if this isn't exactly what I was looking for, it was a cool step for Blur, and it largely paid off.

This is a fantastic execution of the combination of soul, funk, jazz, rock, prog, reggae and more. From the band I only knew from Lowrider, no less. The most impressive thing about it is how coherent a sound they pull together here, and the variety they manage to drag that coherent sound to. The Cisco Kid was an unbelievably fast inductee into the "best songs ever list", taking on a South-Western affect and funk groove that sounds super unique. Where Was You At is some ingeniously composed, soulful funk music. Beetles In The Bog is a shorter take on the more abstract, jammy songs here. And speaking of the jammier songs. I think they are keeping this from a perfect 5. Don't get me wrong, they're all good, they may even all be great. But they are all a *little* overlong, and it adds up. That being said, my thoughts on this will probably change eventually, and War, and all 7 of its members at the time really pulled something off here. I am extremely impressed, and this is a very high 4.

Le Tigre, fronted by Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill merges an early '90s riot grrl/punk sound into alt-rock and electronic, ending as a kind of energetic, feminist dance punk. Perhaps more impressively, Le Tigre managed to do this without sacrificing the grit and legitimacy of earlier riot grrl. As such, Le Tigre is a joy to listen to. As catchy and infectious as they are righteously angry: there is an alternate universe in which this served as the template for punk moving into the 2000's. The electronic inspiration is really well-executed, reminding me of the sound that bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs and !!! would fall into later. Kathleen Hanna's vocals manage to shoot straight to the front of the mix no matter what's happening. She has way more vocal power than you may assume. And these songs are all pretty great. Great writing, in your face commentary, and sardonic humor run as a throughline here. And just when you start to think you've had enough barnburners, they take the sound somewhere more eclectic on songs like Friendship Station and Dude Yr So Crazy!! and keep it fresh. I also appreciate any album that celebrates queerness this boldly. This album is exciting and driving from front to end and it serves as a great continuation of the Riot Grrl sound.

This seems sort of cool on the surface, but it kind of just ends up decent. It's kind of hard to pinpoint everything that goes into this sound: there's some alt-rock and electronic and psych. But it's more helpful if I were to just say it sort of sounds like if The Flaming Lips were a little less interesting. I will say, this didn't leave a very strong impression on me, but it is pleasant while it's on. There are some neat moments, but a lot of this doesn't feel like it's executed in a particularly inventive or daring way. That being said, even if Rings Around The World is not an especially interesting album, Super Furry Animals do still seem like a kind of interesting band. Read this as a low three.

While this benefits from being a little more concise than In Rock, I also think it lacks some of that album's proto-metal muscle. But there's still penty of hard rock swagger, and the riffs and solos are great. There are 3 all time genre classics here: Highway Star, Smoke On The Water, and Space Truckin'. Smoke On The Water has one of the most iconic, recognizable riffs *ever*. But honestly, this album is pretty consistent. I don't have a lot to say, it's another Deep Purple album which added to the foundation of hard rock and heavy metal. I prefer In Rock, this this has plenty of its own merit.

I don't believe I hadn't heard of this, just on principle of its incredible popularity. Upon doing research, I have found this to be one of the most popular albums *of all time* in the UK, where it spent a cumulative 176 weeks on the top 100. It's an awfully unlikely hit too: White Ladder is a home studio folktronica album that dropped uneventfully in 1998. But two years later, it got re-released on Dave Matthews' label, and then simply became one of the most successful releases in the history of The UK. I can not fathom what would have changed in those two short years: but whatever happened, it's written into history now. And I think it's pretty good too. I have had an interest in folktronica, so I was pretty excited to delve into this. I don't get the sense that this is the perfect execution of the genre, but it *is* good execution of the genre. With the added bonus of being (seemingly by accident) the full realization of the genre's commercial potential. I thought the incorporation of electronic elements into folk music was largely effective here. And I think the atmosphere, and breezy, almost slightly ethereal sound is the main draw here. It's a great album for going on a quick autumn walk, which is exactly what I did while listening to it. Something pastoral and naturalistic is deeply rooted in the sound and it just feels right. I do think this dragged a little as it was winding down, but a lot of the positives remained throughout. It's cool stuff, I just can't see how *this* became one of the most popular albums ever.