Reviews by funny_character

For as much as I like a few R.E.M. songs, I don't think any of their albums have clicked with me from front to back. Which is kind of odd, I love a lot of '80s and '90s indie, I like sad music, and I can handle a little jangle. Side note: What the fuck even is jangle pop, I will listen to songs that I think sound "jangly" on some sensory level, but any effort I've made personally to define the genre has been largely unsuccessful, even though I can listen to something and say "yup, that jangles". Regardless, R.E.M. seems like a band I should like, and maybe I will like them in time. I enjoyed Automatic For The People a lot. While, perhaps not R.E.M.'s saddest, it may be competing for their slowest. This album consists almost entirely of largely downbeat, but nimble ballads. And I'd say it is largely engaging, even though this is a formula with a high risk of being boring. I think a lot of it comes down to the textural, dare I say, "jangly" guitar playing, and the distinct presence of Michael Stipe. He really knows how to write a melody, even when the songs lose me a little, he has a way of grounding things. Like, I don't think anyone else could've made a good song from The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight. He also, miraculously sells the pure melodrama of Everybody Hurts. This mega-hit could've been *insufferable*, but it remains a great song despite gratuitous airplay. Although I actually think this album works best on some other songs. The one-two combo of Drive, and Try Not To Breathe may be the peak to me. Monty Got A Raw Deal is also a pretty great summation of what's happening here. Also, I'd like to highlight Man On The Moon, which I *think* is a tribute to the late, great Andy Kaufman. Unfortunately, I don't think R.E.M. quite sticks the landing. I think that Star Me Kitten, Nightswimming, and Find The River start to drag a little. But it doesn't bring the artistic whole down *too* much. I do think this was a pretty great collection of songs, and a great showcase of balladry from R.E.M. I can only imagine I'll dig deeper from here.

Back in 2019, I attended a metal/metal adjacent music festival, and one of the bigger ticket acts was set to be electronic and big beat group The Prodigy. However, The Prodigy's vocalist, Keith flint tragically died a couple of months prior, so the band understandably called out. Who did the promoters and organizers settle on to replace this punky, hard-edged electronic act in the middle of a metal skewed festival? None other than The Cult. While The Cult is, in fact a hard rock, or even heavy metal band, the vibe of the festival skewed a little more modern and a little heavier. Basically, The Cult's vibe was way off. And, long story short, they played a perfectly decent ~50 minute set to a crowd that was just not into it. And ever since watching them fight for their lives up there, I've kind of rooted for The Cult as underdogs, even if I don't really listen to them much at all. But, even with my predisposition of sympathy towards The Cult, this album just doesn't do it. And it hurts even more because The Cult were actually kind of interesting before this. Their first couple albums were still, I'd say, around the hard rock pocket, but with a distinct goth rock slant that resulted in some pretty cool music. This style got them some mainstream success on Love in 1985, and it's been a while since I've checked that album out, but just after a quick refresher, it's pretty good stuff. Unfortunately, after this, The Cult pretty much threw everything unique about their sound out the window, and gave the world Electric. Which is about as boilerplate a hard rock album as I can imagine. I honestly expected to like this a little more than I did, but I just wasn't feeling it at all. I get the sense that a lot of these songs would be fine on their own, even if I'm still not convinced that they'd be great. But sequenced together, they just run into each other and create homogeneous hard rock mash. Even Love Removal Machine, a song I remember liking, was not really that exciting or interesting to me in the contest of the album, even if it *is* pretty catchy. And the Born To Be Wild cover just didn't need to happen at all. I will say, the one song I did actually like was Memphis Hip Shake, which has a really interesting, snaky, start-stop riff, punctuated by a great drum stomp. It's some great, groovy hard rock. But as the last song here, it's also too little, too late. And it can't save this album. I almost feel bad for this, but I really felt like I was waiting most of this album out, and that's never a good sign.

This is pretty cool. The Yardbirds are a band most well known for generating iconic guitarists, with links to Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and On Roger The Engineer, Jeff Beck. Due to this alone, The Yardbirds have a space carved out in rock history, but this album is also pretty interesting. I'd say that, broadly, this is another mid '60s psych band, but The Yardbirds have a slant that's just a little lo-fi and earthy, for lack of a better word. The tone is a little darker and less colorful than the '67 summer of love stuff that would follow. Although I think it's made up for through this album's focus on texture. It comes across as accessible and enjoyable rock music, but with something a little arthouse about it. And the songs are good enough to carry it. This one is at least worth a listen, even in a sea of psych records from the time.

Appetite For Destruction is the crowning achievement of a genre of music that I hate. Hair metal, glam metal, whatever you call it, Guns N' Roses kicked the genre into overdrive, bringing a heaping tablespoon of grit to the glitz and hairspray of bands like Ratt and Poison. And then glam metal pretty much immediately fell apart under the weight of shifting trends. Now that isn't to say that G N' R didn't use some hairspray themselves. Basically, while I do have good things to say about this album, it's still hair metal at the end of the day, and while I can appreciate Appetite For Destruction on some level, it will really never be "my" album. Let's start with the fact that this was an absolute hit machine. Welcome To The Jungle, Mr. Brownstone, Paradise City, and of course, Sweet Child O' Mine are mainstays in the canon of rock and metal. However, no matter how catchy, well performed, or potent these songs may be, I could live the rest of my life happily without hearing any of them again. Sweet Child O' Mine has it worst, I was almost embarrassed when I heard that fucking riff while driving today, it was a jumpscare. Paradise City is a close second place, especially because I don't think it's ever a song I ever really liked all that much to begin with. Mr. Brownstone isn't quite as overplayed as the rest, it just also happens to be a single I don't like all that much, but I still think it's firmly in the "overplayed" category. That leaves Welcome To The Jungle, which it turns out I have a little room in my heart for, even now: it's a good song, and I'll leave it at that. Escaping from the singles, this has good and bad. I actually really liked It's So Easy, it swaggers, it pummels and it's catchy too. Nightrain and Think About You also have enough momentum to keep the fun up. I'd also like to include My Michelle as a highlight, just because I think it's a pretty good song and I appreciate G N' R having the guts to drag their cool uncle party metal album somewhere a little darker for a song. As far as what's left, I could really take or leave it. There isn't a whole ton here I see myself returning to here, but there is some value to Appetite For Destruction. I understand this album on at least some level, even if I don't like it all that much. I'm gonna let G N' R pull a 3 here, but just barely.

As with Funeral, I like Neon Bible well enough, I just still don't know that I fully understand the magnitude of praise that Arcade Fire receives. Don't get me wrong, this is an album of well-produced, well-written, slick indie songs, and there is a consistent level of quality here, I just don't think Arcade Fire are really the most interesting or enjoyable indie band out there. It may just be a matter of preference, I usually prefer my more energetic indie to have some more teeth than Arcade Fire can usually show. That being said, there are moments here that achieve a more baroque, densely arranged sound that I think Arcade Fire wears well. And I do have some highlights: Intervention, Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, The Well and The Lighthouse, and No Cars Go. In particular, I think the build at the end of Black Wave/Bad Vibrations may be the finest moment on the entire album. On the other end, (Antichrist Television Blues) and Windowsill didn't do a ton for me. Overall, the consistency across this album is really what saves it. A lot of these songs have something going for them. And the front to back listen is pretty enjoyable too.

A friend of mine came to an interesting revelation about KISS some time ago. That being that KISS is a children's band. Since hearing this, I have started noticing how often stories about KISS' music and shows told by people over a certain age begin with "when I was 8...", "Back When I was 12...", "I was 10 when I first heard KISS", and now, I'm more or less on board with this theory. And it isn't really a bad thing. It honestly helps contextualize the band for me. Who better to love men in elaborate costumes making glammy pop-rock about partying and discovering the true meaning of Rock and Roll than those under the age of 15. That being said, I know as many KISS songs as anyone else, which is a good many, and I can't say the band has ever floored me. The opening salvo here is Destroyer at its best. Detroit Rock City, King of The Night Time world, and God of Thunder are fun and rockin', even if you technically have to sit through a minute or so of ambience to get there. Aside from this run, I count Shout It Out Loud among the highlights too, but I can't say I'm as thrilled about anything else here. Great Expectations and Beth are kind of non-starters. I don't do KISS ballads (with the exception of Goin' Blind, but that one is like actually somehow sort of eerie, so I don't really count it in the same world), but Beth does try at redemption in the, admittedly pretty cool, back half. Aside from these, the other songs here just don't feel as catchy, energetic, or strongly written as the better stuff here. Destroyer is a mixed bag to me, one that unfortunately has more bad than good by volume. But KISS manages to get a few good songs in, and it's enough to earn a second star.

While this may not have the highs of The Doors' self titled album, I think this may be more consistent. Unfortunately, even a Riders On The Storm or an L.A. Woman doesn't quite reach the level of a Break On Through or a The End But however you cut it, this is still an album that captures the doors at the approximate peak of their abilities. Interestingly enough this means that The Doors were operating at their strongest at only the start and end of the Jim Morrison era. And Morrison was pretty much falling apart at this point: breakdowns, legal troubles, substance abuse, the rock and roll classics. And I will say that I'm at least glad he was able to put a strong, dignifying bookend on his life and career. The material itself here, as I mentioned, is generally strong, and quite a but more even than The Self-Titled, in many ways. The Self-Titled's best was better and it's worst was worse. And it's general tone was lighter, but something like The End is the kind of dark that L.A. Woman doesn't even really aspire to achieve. Conversely, L.A. Woman's tone is a consistent moodiness, and it maintains a level of engaging quality throughout, even though I could probably live if one of the less important songs here was cut. Perhaps not as intriguing as The Doors' more daring, earlier works, this still features great writing, and remarkable performances from Morrison. And Riders On The Storm serves as a very strong end to Morrison's career: with it's foggy, mysterious atmosphere, it cements this album as worth a listen.

The Allman Brothers Band has never really been my cup of tea as far as '60s and 70's rock goes, however, I liked this a little more than I thought. Let's talk about the shorter songs first. The problem is that I just don't really gel with any of them regardless of how good the performances are. Sure, they are technically doing a great job, but I've previously mentioned that this sort of blue rock is kind of whatever to me. Now, of greater interest is the jams here. And I will say, I like a good jam, but I am kind of picky. These songs, comprising nearly 3 full sides of the album are a mixed bag to me. I don't think You Don't Love Me is really worth the 20 minute for example. However In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed is something I can connect a little more to. The playing is super emotive, and I think the pacing and instrumental phrasing makes the whole song work really well. And Whipping Post is somewhere in the middle. I think the performance is a little overlong, and the pacing is a little uneven, but there are some pretty transcendent moments of full band guitar music across the 23-ish minute piece. The highs here are interesting enough that it saves At Filmore East (a little bit) to me. However, I still don't get a ton out of the full package.

Crocodiles is kind of an interesting moment, seemingly capturing the evolution of post-punk to goth in real time. That being said, this isn't the most interesting Echo And The Bunnymen album in my opinion. They have a good sound here, but I just don't think they'd entirely carved their niche out yet. The result is a good post-punk album with some pretty great songs that I don't really think transcend the (very saturated) genre. Honestly, it's the gothier tracks that mostly do it for me here, Stars Are Stars springs to mind. But even so, there were bands pushing this sound further a couple of years earlier, like Siouxsie And The Banshees and Bauhaus. However I don't think that really discredits the material here: a good song is a good song. However, conversely there are songs here that specifically don't do it for me. Happy Death Men springs to mind. This is a good record overall, I just don't know if it stands out within it's niche, and I think Echo And The Bunnymen later surpassed it.

Violent Femmes have scored a neurotic proto-folk punk masterpiece here. I think the unlikely ultra-success of Blister In The Sun gives some people the impression that Violent Femmes were something of a one hit wonder, but this whole album captures something pretty special that Violent Femmes could never quite recapture. Not that anyone would know, no one has ever listened to another Violent Femmes album. The punk songwriting and attitude across here combined with the jangly, almost percussive acoustic instrumentation here is a match made in Heaven. This manages to feel as much like folk music as it does punk. On top of this, Gordon Gano fills in the gaps with his amazing performances and distinct lyrics. His writing is direct and bitter, often painting a visceral portrait of a certain archetype of deeply pathetic man. It's like someone starts venting about a breakup and you slowly realize that they were the problem. And even the songs that escape from this kind of character retain the wiry, nervous energy. For example, Kiss Off reads as a rant about suicide by way of angsty, alienated, nervous implosion. Kiss Off, as well as Add It Up come across as downright manic, and I think they are where this album's strengths may be clearest. Like these both may be among my favorite songs ever. The rest of the album achieves the same goals, albeit ratcheted up a little less, and the results are usually great. Confessions, Prove My Love, Promise, To The Kill and, of course Blister In The Sun are my other favorites here. Among what's left, we still don't really have any duds. Gone Daddy Gone is defined by its xylophone playing, which is incredibly strong. Good Feeling isn't a favorite of mine, but ending the album on such a comparatively earnest song does a lot for the project as a whole. If I had to choose a least favorite, it's probably Please Do Not Go, which is basically a reggae song. It's honestly still pretty good, but my biggest complaints are with some line deliveries. Gano is damn near putting on a Jamaican accent for a couple lines. My problem isn't so much that it's problematic, which on some level it probably is, but it really does just sound unnatural and distracting out of his mouth. Regardless of a few gripes, this is a classic that really holds up. The anxiety coursing through this album is palpable and it is leveraged in such a way that it makes the material here incredibly compelling.

"Industrial Music For Industrial People"
-Monte Cazazza of Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle's D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle is intentionally abrasive, frightening music, made by difficult, volatile people. Part of me does want to say this is relatively accessible, but "relatively" would carry such a large asterisk that there would hardly be a point; this is a difficult album. Frankly, I like it quite a bit: familiarity with Throbbing Gristle and their satellites is doing a lot of heavy lifting, as is my general immersion in noise music. I would urge you to give this a shot, it really isn't for everyone, but it is exceptional within it's field. This is truly a masterpiece of textural and rhythmic experimentation that, at times crawls towards sound collage. I can't tell you exactly what's going on during songs like Hit By A Rock, but I can tell you that I'm into them and their kind of intense, abstract palettes. Even on an emotional level: there's an intensity, but pinning down exactly what emotion this is trying to convey is possibly a futile effort. I'd also like to take note of a few more "accessible" tracks. Dead On Arrival is an incredible fusion of Throbbing Gristle's "deal" into a more conventional setting, it has this unstoppable groove, augmented by some of the strangest sounds ever put to record. Weeping is a similar fusion with less abstract ideas, but the execution is so bizarre, tortured and frighteningly vulnerable that it hardly reads as listenable: it honestly feels like a Jandek song. Hamburger Lady may be Throbbing Gristle's most infamous track ever. Check out the lyrics to know why. And I will say that after this point, the album becomes *extremely* abstract, but we do get one more conventional song in AB/7A, which almost just reads like an industrial synthwave song. In this song, the path from industrial like this to later stuff like Nine Inch Nails or Skinny Puppy is clearest. I will say that while I do love this album, I don't think it's getting a 5, if only because I have yet to "figure out" some of the sound collage/spoken word tracks here. However, this is utterly singular, bold, and truly frightening at times. Throbbing Gristle conjure a visceral, reptile brain reaction with their music: a rare feat, which must be celebrated.

Cheap Thrills is a unique, energetic psych/blues album. Honestly, between Janis Joplin's wailing, soulful vocals, hard-edged, noisy guitars, and a rhythm section in conversation with it all, this almost bridges the gap to the hard rock of the '70s. This is very much a darker, grittier take on psychedelia. If Sgt. Pepper is like doing acid at The Philharmonic, cheap thrills is like dropping a tab then walking down the street. This isn't an album that uses psychedelia as escape, in fact it almost seems to use it as a lens to amplify the world as it exists. This is mirrored in the confrontational, unmistakable R. Crumb album art, which honestly helped this album grab onto me. This is one of the more intense, unique rock albums of the late '60s, and it's stuff like this that cemented Janis Joplin as a rock legend in just 4 years, with as many albums.

More good jazz that I don't have a lot to say about. There's plenty of great sax and Hammond organ here. And it isn't especially difficult, this is pretty agreeable music. Like I said, it's good, but not quite to my particular taste in jazz, and I don't know enough about the era to say if I agree that this is essential or not: however, I enjoyed it.

Not an album to think too hard about, Fat Of The Land is wall to wall bangers. This is some techno that has a little crossover appeal with the metal and punk worlds, The Prodigy just approach the genre (big beat in particular) with so much visceral energy and muscle. And they manage to keep this energy through songs that could be a little repetitive or annoying. But the grooves go deep enough, the drums hit hard enough, and the vocals are powerful enough that it works. I have very few complaints: I guess Smack My Bitch Up wasn’t exactly made in the best of taste, but so little is communicated verbally that I have a hard time staying mad. Aside from that there may be a couple songs that drag a little bit, but there aren’t any skips. This is most likely the peak of it’s microgenre and pretty much essential listening.

Here, Jack White makes some good rock music, but doesn’t quite recapture the magic of The White Stripes. He largely deals in the blues rock you’d expect from Jack White, with a little country and even some big band influence on a few songs. Although, there really isn’t anything shocking on Blunderbuss. There’s also kind of a rough lyrical theme going on here, I’m pretty sure this album is more or less about Jack White’s relationship with women. Sometimes it’s compelling, but it’s not something that feels like it’s really holding this thing together. Ultimately, it’s the songs that drive Blunderbuss. It is good blues rock, and Jack White does know what he’s doing, even if this is not as interesting as the music of The White stripes.

This took me by surprise, I knew Nina Simone was talented, but I didn't expect to be so moved by this. On Wild Is The Wind, Nina Simone sounds like the warmest ghost in the jazz house. She is so human, but her presence manages to feel otherworldly and hypnotic and haunting at times. Her voice helps too, deep and intriguing. Her raw talent shows here as well, her control comes through across this record, and she hits some breathtaking runs. Also, at some point I realized the jazz piano here is also sublime: turns out, that's her too. And she wrote these arrangements (and one of the compositions) herself. Of all the records I have heard during this project that are largely interpretations, this may be my favorite. Nina Simone is just that good, she cannot be mistaken for anyone else, and I don't think anyone else could sing these like her. Check out the title track to hear what I mean. I was kind of in awe of this and I really wasn't expecting it, this is unbelievably good.

It's interesting to see people say that this album is pretentious, because even though it probably is, at least a little: it rocks too hard for me to have ever cared. And I've given this my fair share of listens. For how dense and odd and heady as Deloused veers, I do genuinely think it maintains some real accessibility. The aforementioned hard-rocking nature, the great melodies, the tasteful Latin influences: these are all little facets of this album that keep it tethered and enjoyable for a (relatively) large audience. And it's blend of these things with some really abstract ideas is where this album's magic lies in my opinion. It's really a fascinating, engaging and exciting listen. It may not be to everyone's tastes, but if you're a prog fan or an enthusiast of boundary pushing rock in general, I can't imagine you not getting something out of it. In the past, I've never considered whether or not I consider this a "5", a perfect album, whatever, but regardless, I think it's genuinely fantastic. So while I'm playing it a little safe here, Deloused is going to be subject to relistens just as I go about my life honestly, and I'm probably gonna upgrade it some day.

This sounds like Oasis tried to lift Radiohead's shtick. Like Travis are very clearly attempting to write a "sad" album here, and they won't let you forget it. This is just an onslaught of mopey alt rock/brit pop ballads that are trying a little too hard. Honestly, this reminds me of Stone Sour's ballads sometimes, which isn't *exactly* a good thing. Despite my many complaints with the broad concepts at play here and the ideas throughout this album, I will say that they manage to write a couple of good songs. I think Writing To Reach You, As You Are, and Luv are my favorites. But then you have songs like Why Does It Rain On Me, which I think are just obnoxious. Although honestly, the nicest thing I can say about The Man Who is that most of these songs are pretty good on their own, it's just that sequenced together, this is a slog.

Edit: This is why you always listen to *everything*, I feel the need to mention that after a few minutes of silence, the bonus track Blue Flashing Light may be the album's best, however walling it behind minutes of silence is obnoxious enough that I'm keeping this at a 2.

As the 70's changed to the 80's, New Wave seemed to change overnight. Was it Gary Numan's fault? I dunno, maybe. Regardless, I kind of think Rio sums up the state of New Wave in the '80s quite nicely, even if I'm not really into a lot of records with the "80's" sound. Although, honestly, this has managed to age pretty well, and I think it's because the production here serves to reinforce the very specific tone and sound that Duran Duran is very intentionally creating. And dialing "this tone" in through the medium of pop songs may be what this album is best at. This is basically a list of potent, immediate pop songs. They may not all be my thing, but I can't argue against them being successful. Like, this album very much achieves its goal. The best here are largely your singles like Rio, Hungry Like The Wolf, and Save A Prayer. Although, this album has one big curve ball. After 8 crisp pop tunes, Duran Duran gives us The Chauffeur, and frankly, at this point of the album, I didn't think they had something like The Chauffeur in the tank. No other song on the album can match its tone. It's this like sensual, ominous song slow burn that almost reads as a goth song. It just came out of no where and completely enraptured me. There's even an ocarina solo that (miraculously) works in the context of the song. Capping the album off with this thing solidifies the 3, Rio is not a personal favorite, but with one fantastic song, and a bunch of other catchy, effective tunes, it pulls it's weight.

People always say not to judge a book by its cover, and while this rings true, you're still gonna see the cover first, and the cover for Groovin' is *uniquely* ugly. And unfortunately, The Young Rascals can't really outrun this bad start. We're following the rough blueprint The Beatles laid out here, and while The Young Rascals escape to uncharted territory on several songs here, the results are mixed. Something struck here, and I realized I think a lot of these songs sound like sitcom themes, which doesn't bode well. Honestly, the best tracks usually lean into gimmicks, as well as psych, which makes the gimmicks go down a little smoother. Some songs here I actually kind of like are How Can I Be Sure, Groovin', I Don't Love You Anymore, You Better Run, and A Place In The Sun. These all have at least something going for them that keeps me happy. However, the rest of this is the "obnoxious, saccharine hippy music" side of psych. There just isn't much here to distinguish The Young Rascals from their peers, and what is here is usually not that good. There's a couple of moments that save this from a 1, but I just don't like this thing.