Reviews by galway_rat

July 18, 2025

HL: "Lord Grenville", "If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It", "One Stage Before", title track

Al Stewart is kind of like if Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys was born 10 yrs earlier and played soft rock.

Al Stewart's hits on the radio (mainly "Time Passages") didn't click with me like other "old gold" singer/songwriters like Cat 🐱 Stevens or Jackson Browne, but Year of the Cat 🐱 is a pleasant way to spend an hour.
Cat 🐱

🐦 heh heh, pidgey on the front cover

I for one am shocked that so many think there weren't enough live albums on the main list. The fact that it's another preppy jam band twists the knife a little.
Bonus points for the pitch-shift pedal in "Ghostbusters", I always liked its use in "Marooned" by Pink Floyd and it's cool here as well.

5/10 --> 2.5 overall

HL: "Offshoot", "Ghostbusters"

July 17, 2025

July 8, 2025

HL: "First Night", "Massive Nights", "Chillout Tent", "Teenage Liberation" (bonus)

Based on the cover, the Hold Steady does not sound like I thought they would. It looks like how "Shake It" by Metro Station sounds to me.
Anyway, solid pick! Once I got past the reverence for 80's Americana (which I thought was a crutch for another band on this list, Titus Andronicus), it had the feet tappin'.

3.5/5

edit: ohhh I should have known that name! They provided one of my favourite musical moments in Game of Thrones, covering "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" in the credits right after a particularly grisly cliffhanger.

July 13, 2025

HL: “Frank Sinatra”, “The Distance”, “I Will Survive”, “Perhaps”, “It’s Coming Down”

Once again, a fellow user selects a 90s album different from much of the book’s albums, in that it’s interesting and also aged decently.
A sloppy mélange of genres that ends up holding together in the end. I knew “Frank”, “The Distance” and “I Will Survive” before today, and the rest of it is about as charming. I’m still not entirely enamoured with tracks 3-6, but I also preferred Fashion Nugget’s second half.

Haven't checked out this band before!

Ah, putting inspirational lyrics in post-grunge. Like wrapping a pill in bacon. Or with more pills

Not a fan, occasionally threatens to become a good album but alas. I tried to ignore my usual dislike of CCM music, but it kept rising like bile.
I believe The Beautiful Letdown does the lighter pop rock sound better than the plodding altrock ("Meant to Be") which was tHe StYlE aT tHe TiMe

HL: title track, "Gone", "Monday Comes Around" (bonus)

July 17, 2025

July 2, 2025

HL: title track, "Sleep on the Floor", "Ophelia", "Long Way From Home", "Patience"

2017. The year I saw Roger Waters, The Barenaked Ladies, and the Lumineers on their *Cleopatra World Tour*, featuring Icelandic group Kaleo. That last one I was the least enthusiastic about, but my friend had a spare ticket, and who was I to refuse the chance to hear "Ho Hey" sung live.
They got "Ho Hey" out of the way three songs in. But while I wasn't particularly excited before or even during the show ('how do people know all the words to these songs?' I wondered), even though it was in a big hockey arena with shitty sound, I still recall that concert with great fondness. "Cleopatra" the song slapped, their tributes to Tom Petty and Bob Dylan were endearing, and I'm sorry but "Sleep on the Floor" cut through my attempt at cynicism with ease.

As with Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves, I guess seeing them tour in support of this album meant I felt no urgency to listen to it. And while I'm no stranger to the first half ("Sleep" through to "Angela"), the 2nd is pretty great too, with songs I haven't heard before like "Sick in the Head".

Ahh, nothing like nostalgia for my 20s while I'm still in my 20s.

HL: "Let it Happen", "Yes I'm Changing", "Eventually", "The Less I Know the Better", "Reality in Motion", "Brand New Person"

Con: this was inescapable in 2016
Pro: without this there'd be no Tame Impala/Diana Ross collab for Minions: Rise of Gru

July 7, 2025

HL: "Star Treatment", "American Sports", title track, "Four Out of Five", "Batphone"

Orbital's version of "The Saint" played after this and I completely believed it was a bonus track. Kooky 60's melody and everything.
I've never been THAT big on Arctic Monkeys, despite them having the greatest band name on Earth. However, between this, The Car and The Last Shadow Puppets, they have more range than I initially gave them credit for, back when all I knew them for was "R U Mine" and "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor".
(Also I really loved "Do I Wanna Know" in high school but that's besides the point.)
Tranquility Base doesn't really have the element of surprise if one listened to The Car first, but its flirtations with retrofuturism and languid art pop mesh really well.
Next to The Age of the Understatement and Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not- ehh, it's redundant on the list. But it's also some of the best tunes I've heard from Alex Turner & co.

Ni fu ni fa

Like One World with shorter, poppier songs. Not sure what this should add to my appreciation of John Martyn, but it’s some nice n easy jazz rock so I won’t grouse about it

HL: “Lookin On”, “Hurts in Your Heart”, “Baby Please Come Home”

July 10, 2025

Oh hello- my lists overlap again (this is #63 on CBC's best Cdn records. And Moving Pictures by Rush is #100)

First I'm actually listening to this band; I remember seeing them on TV years ago on, I assume, CBC, where they played some songs in studio & the voiceover talked about how cool and important they were as a band. Well whatever they played didn't convince me, so it wasn't until June 2025 that it turns out: they're actually good.

There's a very mid-2000s air about Set Yourself On Fire, as in The Sims 2 soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh era.
It really helps if you grew up with that sound, as I did.
It's just a neat little cross-section of the chamber pop Arcade Fire was initially known for, with concert-ready singalongs a la Metric, and an electronic flair not unlike I/we heard with the Postal Service.

HL: "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead", "Ageless Beauty", "What I'm Trying To Say", "Celebration Guns"

June 29, 2025

June 30 2025

HL: “Yamore”, “Moussolou”, “Koukou”

Sweet

I don’t know why the day/night cycle affects my music taste, but I really think hearing it at dusk-twilight enhanced Moffou.

stone 🗿 stone 🗿 stone 🗿 stone 🗿

There was a time when my Dark Side, Wish You Were Here loving self was told in high school that Animals was the superior Pink Floyd; I was unconvinced.

But also one of my all-time favourite concert moments was Rog Waters singing “Pigs” live, accompanied by winning imagery of the-then 45th president.
Waters may have embarrassed his public image since that glorious night, but his special hatred for the ppl in charge of the White House continues to be both endearing and relatable to me.

God damned pigs 🥓

June 22, 2025

Alright Daft Punk fan, you win & I'll tell you why: the revamped versions of songs I disliked in Homework, like "Rollin' and Scratchin'" and "Rock'n Roll" are redeemed here- as are Human After All tracks like "Technologic".
Or they just hit live; on that note, the crowd singing along to the wordless melodies adds to the experience, going against my usual stance of "studio version better, no audience".

"One More Time/Music Sounds Better With You" is a great finale

June 25, 2025

HL: "Storm", "Sleep"

Not first listen. :0
This is actually the only GYBE I have heard so far (maybe besides their music in 28 Days Later), and I've been meaning to dive deeper into their work, so this'll be a healthy refresher.

Why have I previously complained about other dark, noisy, disjointed, overlong projects but love this one?
'You got me. By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.'
I think the finer points of GYBE's political messaging is lost on me here, but I am still moved by the four movements all the same. "Storm" is perhaps the most aptly-titled song, since it gives me about the same feeling as watching a thunderstorm pass by.

Hair-raising, heavy, but ultimately a great musical odyssey.

Maybe the reason why Godspeed doesn't feature in the original 2005 list, even though it has *some* post-rock such as Sigur Ros and Tortoise, is that it grew in stature over time.
Or it's their contempt for any Canadian artist not named Young, Cohen or Mitchell >:0
#iloveallofthembuttheydidnotneed20albumsbetweenthethreeofthem

July 3, 2025

whoa, it's Can Con even I'm not familiar with

Entertaining lyrics, great arrangements, and a voice I do not love!

Favourite songs are probably "Amateur Rappers" and "Travel Writers"

Creative, if not my cup of tea.
I’m unabashedly a normie for preferring The Real Thing over this.

HL: “Land of Sunshine”, “Rv”, “Everything’s Ruined”

June 27, 2025

June 18, 2025

HL: “Yesterday”, “Diddy Bop”, “All I Need”, “Casket Pretty”, “Forever”

Starts out reminiscent of Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap with the gospel-y “Yesterday”, then moves to a gentler, woozier sound that compliments Noname’s half-sung/half-rapped flow.
Chose to listen to this walking through the park, and it whizzed by so fast it warranted a second listen.
Aside from her feature in the aforementioned Acid Rap, this is an artist that has stayed off my radar, so I appreciate whoever submitted this album. Especially since this is, like, the first hiphop album I’ve discovered from this list in 3 months

June 16, 2025

HL: "Sympathy Is a Knife", "Talk Talk", "Von Dutch", "Girl, So Confusing", "365"

If they ever make another edition of the book, I would be shocked if they didn’t put this in.

I still can't get over how the stark confessionals "I Think About It" and "So I" don't feel out of place with "Club Classics" or "Apple".
My own enjoyment of this album was a bit delayed (Brat summer started in like, late August for me), but the hyperpop-inspired, sometimes trashy songs sound just as good today as they did last year.
(Remind me in 5 years)

June 20, 2025

HL: "Forty Six & 2", "jimmy", title track

I'm about to say the worst thing I've said in my whole life...

I don't care much for Tool.
There's a part of my brain that shows up for the tangled time signatures and interesting atmospheres, but the rest is like TV static. Just like zero emotion going on up there.
I do think I appreciated it more than 10000 Days, as songs like the title track & "Third Eye" may have upped my heartrate just a tad.

2.5 for now

June 26, 2025

HL: “Désenchantée”, title track, “Regrets”, “Beyond My Control”

Turns out Mylène Farmer is a major cinephile.

The sultry tones of John Malkovich and John Hurt aside, there’s some pretty solid synthpop here. Kinda Pet Shop Boys in parts, a little Madonna in others.
The crow actually reflects a slight gothic tinge in the music, as heard in “Agnus Dei” and “Beyond My Control”.
Genre-wise, synthpop is pretty well-represented in the 1001, but the French sure aren’t. I’m conflicted on whether L’autre was a missed inclusion; I’m only just learning about her popularity in Europe today. But my ears love this dark, romantic, art pop stuff, so I’m rounding up to a 4 regardless.

I was surprised to see that she was brought up in Quebec before moving to France. La belle province in particular has been well represented on the generator recently, with *three* Montreal acts.