Reviews by galway_rat

As much as I relish the CanCon submitted here, I really should note my knowledge of Canadian Francophone artists is basically nil. Hence, I have heard OF Daniel but haven't heard a lick of his music.
To make up for this deficit (and to actually make good on my desire to hear more Quebecois music) I'll additionally put on Quatre saisons dans le désordre (1996), ranked higher on CBC's list of greatest Canuck albums than Songs of Leonard Cohen & Jagged Little Pill.

I'm really liking this earlier album of his so far! Still not literate enough to follow much of the lyrics, but the dynamic, lush production really suits his gentle songwriting. Quite different to the down-to-earth, 90's Canadian acts I know, such as the Hip, the Tea Party and Our Lady Peace.

Okay, now Rêver mieux is on, and I'm getting quite a different impression- we're now caught up in the folktronica sphere which we've heard in the OG list from artists like David Gray and Beth Orton.

I thought hearing two Belangers would enrich my enjoyment of both, but my bad- I think this one was overshadowed by Quatre saisons. Not because the songwriting is worse- his flair for catchy choruses is just as apparent here- I'm just not as big on the aesthetic choices this time around. I go back and forth on that lounge pop/downtempo style that was big in the late '90s and early aughts.
Maybe if I actually pull off practicing the language in the "French quarter" of my city, I can return and appreciate his lyrics as well, which from the YouTube comments are no small part of his legacy.

3.5/5

HL: "Une femme", "Un chanson pour moi", "Intouchable et immortel", title track, "Comme des amants"

June 25, 2025 (June 21 for his other album)

June 18, 2025

HL: “Good People”, “Sitting”, “If I Could”, “Constellations”

Nice

*remembers that someone rides-or-dies for this album*

Also, pretty

JJ joins the likes of John Mayer, Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones in my growing list of folky artists I wish I loved more than I did.
But I commend him for his good vibes, and his contributions to Curious George

June 16, 2025

HL: title track, "Black No. 1", "Too Late", "Blood & Fire"

Y'know, I just listened to this last year, looking for Halloween-appropriate music. I also listened to Welcome to My Nightmare by Alice Cooper (1975), which may well be my ideal Halloween album now.

Taking away the cold winds, jack-o-lanterns and skellyboys, and replacing them with direct sunlight and a high humidex, and I report that this album doesn't hit quite as hard as the first time.
Maybe the novelty of the wild genre swings and Peter Steele's theatrical vocals wore off, though I will say the album finishes better than I remember, with the proggy "Bloody Kisses" and "TOO-LATE-FOR-APOLOGIES". The thrashy "We Hate Everyone" is entertaining, but that and "Christian Woman" more closely resemble their hard rock contemporaries than the band would probably care to admit. Or they absolutely wanted that sound. I can never tell with these guys.

June 19, 2025

HL: "Beast and the Harlot", "Blinded in Chains", "Strength of the World", "Sidewinder"

Look, I'm not an arbiter of good taste, particularly when it comes to metal- but I had fun with this overlong, overblown, delightfully unserious album. Especially because it's from a band I was sure I didn't care for! Apologies to those I judged in grade seven

June 20th, 2025

HL: "Anymore Time Between", "Fort Knox, King Solomon", "Egøverride"

Copper Blue, Zen Arcade, Warehouse- now this makes the 4th album in Mould World.
More respectable 90s alt-rock, between all the projects I've heard so far I could probably compile a pretty great playlist. There's just too many songs that don't interest me as much. But, out of those four Mould-adjacent albums I can't recall a bad song, either.

late June 17, 2025

HL: "The Hard Way", "He Thinks He'll Keep Her", the "Passionate Kisses" cover, the "The Bug" cover, "I Am a Town"

My love of country music is conditional and fickle. But this is an agreeable enough listen that would be appropriate for a quiet morning.
I have to mention, however, that Carpenter & Don Schlitz seem to have written a perfect song in "He Thinks He'll Keep Her". 💐

Maybe this is a grower
3.5 overall

June 12, 2025

HL: "The One", "I Want It That Way"

Packaged on: 05/18/1999
Use by: 12/31/1999

June 6, 2025

HL: "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight", "Such Great Heights", "Recycled Air", "Natural Anthem"

First Ben Gibbard/Death Cab-adjacent album.

Certainly knew "Such Great Heights" before today, but the rest is pretty fresh to me.

Bittersweet (emphasis on “sweet”) electronica from the early 2000s that hasn't aged too much.

Molto bene

again, June 11, 2025

HL: “Animal Spirits”, “Running Away”, “Beastly”, every time Antwuan Stanley sings

Anonymous user’s favourite genres according to this website: Jazz, Funk, Soul

Also anonymous user: submits a jazzy funk & soul album :0

I am surprised that I’ve had THREE live, jammy albums so far (72 out of 247/possibly infinite albums); however as my own summary page ranks Funk and Soul at the top, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this is my favourite of the 3. It isn’t as adventurous as, say, Phish, but it is very much a crowd-pleasing, joyous affair.

June 11, 2025

HL: "Next Exit", "Corpse Pose", "Lady Elect", "For Your Entertainment"

You can really hear the sonic influence from classic post-punk/gothic rock. Especially Public Image & Gang of Four. Yet at the same time it doesn't come across as a retread of that time period at all.

You know the (admittedly imperfect) subgenres stat for the original list? Well, it turns out there are only a handful that I rated below a 3/5 average- nu metal, hardcore punk, *post-hardcore, and noise rock*. So when I say this is like a 3.5, it beats out much of the competition.

I would gladly axe one of the Sonic Youth 90s albums for Unwound to be included in the OG list.

Edit: person who submitted this album is big on Sonic Youth, so... just kidding!

June 8, 2025

favourite song: “Kerosene”

Hm, as my introduction to this band, this is pretty darn cool

With riffs this glossy and harmonies this crisp, am I even listening to punk? Yet, the breakneck tempo of some songs, as well as the deliciously unsubtle politics, does in fact convince me of its genre.

June 5, 2025

HL: "Californian Hills", "Diversion", "Baby Big Man (I Want a Mommy)"

so much FUZZ

Going into this album, I was already opining that there are too many garage rock albums in the original list- yet the wonky, DIY production and noise rock elements keep it from being too grounded in one scene or era.

The glam elements sometimes reminded me of Cindy Lee/Diamond Jubilee

Music for yearning for the sea 🌊

For me, this is good-time music in its purest form, and I don’t say that lightly. Even in its least idealistic moments: the frustration of “Nothing Out of Nothing”, the dire working conditions listed in “Process Man”- there’s a warm glow surrounding the tracks, partly due to the harmonies, the singalong choruses, and perhaps to Mr. Danny Greenspoon’s production, who also worked with similarly-Celtic inspired Canadian troubadours Spirit of the West. Though I’m really not sure how much is him, and how much is simply the performances and arrangements.

Alan Doyle (gravelly) and Séan McCann (smooth) trade off lead vocals magnificently, even if the former is more or less the face of the band. I argue this album would not be complete without the latter’s take on the traditional “Mari-Mac”, or the sweet melody of “Something to It”. McCann might have even topped those contributions on GBS’s followup Play (1997), or if you listen to Canadian radio, “the one with all the hits”.

Though I do love Up for itself, it is worth noting that this is one of the rare albums I knew front-to-back before I turned 13, aka when I started to dig into the canon classics like Wish You Were Here, Abbey Road, et al.
Would the simple pleasures of Great Big Sea hit the same if I only came across it today (my 29th birthday 🥹)? Who could tell. Not much of the lyrical content- Newfoundland, kitchen parties, black rum, sailing the salt sea- reflects my own life experience.

Since I had two albums to add for your enjoyment, I used my other spot for something that pushes the envelope a little (Leland Kirby, aka the Caretaker). I kinda envisioned this one as an apology: if you get through the sad dementia-themed ambient one, here’s the coziest album ever written. Or vice versa, if this is too dopey for your liking, boom- depressive dark ambient is headed your way.

June 1, 2025

HL: “Sunflower”, “Dinosaur Act”, “Laser Beam”, “Embrace”, “In Metal”

First Low album!

Better than I expected, quite haunting at times. I figured it would be a depressing hour, but I find my spirits picked up after listening.

The 2013 is strong with this one

"Papaoutai" was really big when I was in high school French- Stromae, ou-t'ai?

Despite not being hot on the genre, Racine carrée is a pretty good example of 2010s house. Both the music and singing style bounce around from song to song, and for a virtually unilingual listener (me with all my French classes) it’s still quite accessible.

3.5

HL: "Papaoutai", "Tous les mêmes", “Moules frites”

May 29, 2025

Not first listen. that was last year

HL: "Prison Song", "Chop Suey!", "ATWA", title track, “Aerials”

A good nu-metal band is hard to come by, but SOAD make it happen.

May 28, 2025

May 31, 2025

HL: “Untouchable Face”, “Outta Me, Onto You”, title track, “Amazing Grace”, “Going Down”

Tricky album to rate, has some electric performances but also some meandering bits in the middle that I got lost in.
DiFranco the melancholy folkie worked, DiFranco the pissed alt-rocker worked, not sure why those two elements didn’t coalesce into a satisfying hour.

3.5 for now

First listen, probably. Definitely heard part of this album in the past; songs like “Yellow Snow” and “Cosmik Debris” ring a bell.

Usually when I listen to Zappa, I lament I don’t find Zappa as funny as Zappa did.
However, Apostrophe’s absurd turns of phrase did put a smile on my face today, as did nearly all of the odd musical choices.

28 May 2025

May 30, 2025

HL: “In Circles”, “48”, “Grendel”

User Album LXIII: Revenge of the Scene Kids

A long time ago in a country far, far away…
The music critics of the BRITISH EMPIRE have launched their assault on emo fans, publishing an acclaimed list of music albums that does not contain one work in the genre (with the exception of maybe one Drive Like Jehu).
However, a small but determined group of Rebels make their own list of albums, bringing light to not just emo, but also bands of the forbidden genres of screamo and melodic hardcore, under the Empire’s nose…

🤷‍♂️ I thought it was pretty good

Oh I love it when my album lists overlap. I have taken on CBC's (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) 100 Best Canadian Albums, a frankly bizarre assortment that covers everything from classical recordings, to jazz, to mainstream smashes like Shania Twain & Sarah McLachlan, to hardcore punk. I guess not too dissimilar from the 1001 that way. And my main criticism of it, due to the way I was brought up, is "not enough 80's AOR". Give me Platinum Blonde or give me death, I say!

Anyway, Fully Completely is #13 on that list.

Even though I haven’t the whole album until today, the songs that get the most radio play over here- “Wheat Kings”, “Courage”- have become a gold standard for Canadian rock. And I say that as someone who’s been bemused by the enduring popularity of the Hip in the past.
Overrated in Canada, sorely underrated everywhere else. Anyway this is a 5

HL: “Wheat Kings”, “Fifty-Mission Cap”, “Courage”, “At the Hundredth Meridian”, “Pigeon Camera”, “The Wherewithal”

May 24, 2025