Reviews by galway_rat

Talking Heads 4/4

Before diving into this, I revisited More Songs About Buildings and Food, my lowest rated TH (though at a respectable 3/5). And honestly, it was better than I remember.
What probably led to me rating it below their debut, 77, came down to two things: It wasn’t as immediately fascinating as their 80s output was (aka Remain in Light, Speaking in Tongues), and also that I was still on the fence about Brian Eno’s touch.
Now, thanks to this list essentially waterboarding me with Eno-produced albums, I’m a lot more inclined to his sound than I used to be.
And I’m happy to report, not only is it immediate, the Byrne/Eno combo gets right up in yer face.
There's enough freaky, auxiliary noise to make this live up to its name, though somehow it doesn't overwhelm everything.
It can also be disarmingly beautiful at times ("Heaven", "Air")

HL: “Heaven”, “Cities”, “Air”, “Life During Wartime”, “Animals”, “I Zimbra”

March 18, 2025

St. Patrick's Day 2025

I am now in the final 10 albums, starting with No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith! And despite only sharing 3 songs with Ace of Spades, the last Motörhead album, it feels like I've heard it all before...

The live format might actually be a better case for this band's placement on the list than their studio output. Though it still didn't convert me into a fan, the sheer momentum of the 11 tracks is commendable.

HL: "Overkill", "Capricorn", "Motorhead"

I must say. I didn’t expect the guy from Gnarls Barkley to rap so much of his solo outing.
But I think it’s his unique and colourful delivery, as well as the lush, brassy backdrops that elevate this beyond the self-aggrandizing lyrics.

HL: “The Art of Noise”, “Let’s Stay Together”, “I’ll Be Around”, “The One”, “Childz Play”

HL: title track, “Badlands”, “Racing in the Street”, “The Promised Land”

Bruce Springsteen no. 5!

Trains!
I have not listened to a second of fIREHOSE (though I understand they are descended from the Minutemen), but the album cover already strikes a chord (see also: Diamond Jubilee by Cindy Lee)

HL: “Riddle of the Eighties”, “In My Mind”, “Vastopol”, “Liberty For Our Friend”, “Time With You”

My main takeaway is that I probably undervalued the musicianship of Double Nickels on the Dime (1984), since the performances here are top-notch (that bass in “Mas Cojones”).
Fromohio is somewhat inconsistent, and I haven’t yet read why exactly this is in the 1001, but- credit where credit is due. It’s a little hard to go into an album with no preconceptions this late into the journey (just over 10 albums left), but I tried my best and was rewarded with this kooky slice of altrock.
4*, Would listen again

An intense, groovy workout, and yet 2 listens didn’t even take me an hour.
I guess I know now how Minor Threat fans feel

The bonus track “Observation is a Crime” is also good, though slower paced

Finishing off the 60s section of the book, it's The Kinks!

Consistent af, also the clearest example of their influence on 90's rock/Britpop. Having similar whimsical stylings to Village Green and Face to Face makes the kitchen sink realism of "Princess Marina" especially stark.
The title track being a country hoedown was unexpected, but a fine ending to an album.

I wouldn't say I love it as much as Village Green, but I also haven't had a decade to think about it either

HL: "Victoria", "Drivin'", "Shangri-La", "Young and Innocent Days"

I saw Kacey live when she was touring for Golden Hour! During golden hour!
BUT I never properly listened to this album, although according to setlist.fm she played 12 out of 13 songs from it that evening.

Revisiting those songs some years later, despite their reliance on Laurel Canyon nostalgia, I still consider them excellent examples of pop & country music.
No doubt the refrains from “Rainbow” and “Lonely Weekend” were stuck in my head at different times, but the one song I come back to the most is the gold nugget that is “High Horse” 🐴

HL: "Slow Burn", "Oh What a World", "Velvet Elvis", "Space Cowboy", "High Horse", "Rainbow"

March 11, 2025

Mar10

HL: "Samba do Gringo Paulista", "Antropofagos", "Felicidade"

3.5

Cool, atmospheric blend of trad Brazilian music and cold downtempo. Compared to yesterday's artist, also an outsider (Frank Sinatra) doing bossanova, Suba is much more creative about co-opting that sound

March 9, 2025

HL: “Girl From Ipanema”, “How Insensitive”, “Meditation”

It’s a fine album but feels especially pointless after hearing many of the same songs done better in Getz/Gilberto not that long ago.
“Corvocado” is a prime example- it’s on *both* the Stan Getz albums, and has nothing of value added to it by Sinatra’s schmaltz.
My ears give it a 3 but if I were ranking purely on how much you NEEDED to hear this, then it’d be a 1 star for sure

He apparently made the best-selling album ever in Ireland (this one, White Ladder), a country I once lived in, but David Gray has mostly stayed off my radar.
I think my uncle recommended him last summer, so he’s not a complete unknown here. 🍁
It’s certainly easy on my ears, so I can see how it was well-received.
The synths n beats show up in various ways, but at the core there is a pretty no-frills folk record. Gray sees his influence in later songwriters like Ed Sheeran and George Ezra; I buy it.

I might as well copy straight from the 1001 book, since I can't explain why I like this so much yet have been harsher on other commercial, middle-of-the-road pop as of late:
"...White Ladder could break your heart while putting a smile on your face and a spring in your step." -- Andy Robbins

Also, closing with a Soft Cell cover is remarkable since both the songs I associate with them- “Tainted Love” and “Where Did Our Love Go”- are covers. Just as they alchemized 60s soul to camp 80s synthpop, Gray takes the synth away and turns it into a campfire singalong. And it works!

HL: "Please Forgive Me", "Babylon", "Sail Away", "We're Not Right", title track

March 8, 2025

March 7, 2025

HL: "I Will Dare", "Androgynous", "Unsatisfied", "Answering Machine"

Cool beans;
never gave the Replacements much attention, even though they keep popping up in various other people's greatest albums lists (Paste*, Rolling Stone, et al)
On paper, a buncha messy drunks from Minnesota ripping off Big Star, Kiss and the New York Dolls doesn't sound like anything I'd want to listen to once. But after listening to Let it Be twice, there's oodles of (juvenile) charm and memorable melodies that make it all worth it.

*Paste's 300 is probably the most interesting greatest albums list I've come across (aside from this one!!), not just because it balances the usual suspects (Beatles, Springsteen) with RYMcore favourites (Fishmans), but also features Asian (Fishmans) and South American artists that critics from N.A. tend to ignore. Also, 2 Replacements in the top 100. Crazy

Album #239 was the Verve. Album #1069 (nice) is the Verve.

1997: wow, there’s a hidden track on this CD! Neat!
2025: I’m not sitting in silence for 7 minutes for this album, don’t waste my FUCKIN time

On that note, what happened to the sonic experimentation on display in the final two minutes of Urban Hymns? Or even from their previous album, A Northern Soul?

Not bad by any means, but I don’t love any song on this album like I love “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. No cap that’s one of my favourite songs of the 90s, and of course they made nothing off it because of the Oldham sample that makes it so distinctive.

This is psychedelic rock if, instead of LSD, it’s one or two beers.

I think I’m especially bummed about this album because, according to the genre classifications of this website, I’ve heard every other Britpop on the list before Urban Hymns. And more often than not, it’s been a pleasant surprise (looking at you, Blur, Pulp, Super Furry Animals, and Supergrass).
Unfortunately there are no surprises here, but it’s pleasant. And sometimes emotional (“Drugs Don’t Work”)

Also am I crazy, or does “Catching the Butterfly” have the same melody as “Dancing Queen”.

HL: “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, “The Drugs Don’t Work”, “Lucky Man”, “Catching the Butterfly”

March 6, 2025

March 5, 2025 (late nite)

HL: "Señorita", 'Cry Me a River", "Rock Your Body", "Let's Take a Ride", "(Oh No) What You Got"

3.5

Caught between a 3 and a 4 with this one. There are some great cuts, and the Neptunes brought their A-game, but the second half was a bit disappointing compared to the first.
I'm looking forward to listening to FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), as just based on my age, and when I started paying attention to pop, I'll probably vibe with that more

March 4, 2025

HL: title track, “Luney Tune”, “Blue Turk”, “Alma Mater”

A.C. #3 (after Billion Dollar Babies, from this website, and Welcome to My Nightmare, which isn’t)

I definitely underrated their spin on glam rock for a long time, even though I enjoyed certain tracks as a kid like “Poison” and “Only Woman Bleed”

The album is every bit as cheesy as the title track, which I think is a positive trait

The book entry states that Frank Zappa initially signed the band to his own label, which gives some possible influence to Alice Cooper’s unconventional lyrics and nonchalance about genre.

There are a lot of popular bands from 1980's Britain that didn't make a huge splash on the radio station I grew up listening to: Pet Shop Boys, the Smiths, the Specials, the list goes on.
Def Leppard is not one of those bands. What the hell is side 1 of Hysteria: tracks 2 through 6 all get regular play on that aforementioned radio station, as does the title track.
Loudwire states that "from the start, [Mutt Lange's] goal was to help create the most commercial hard rock album of all time." That, and reading about how everything was recorded separately and meticulously processed into the sound we hear, should be reason enough to be disgusted with this project.
Yet, like Lange's earlier credit, Back in Black by AC/DC, Hysteria's one idea somehow gets repeated across every track without losing steam.

I accept that glam metal had to die, but I'm glad we got this album before grunge took over. I don't know if I've heard a Def Leppard song written post-1990, but Lange pivoted to Shania Twain and Bryan Adams to keep up his winning streak. Let's go Canada... I guess?

HL: "Animal", "Love Bites", "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "Armageddon It", "Gods of War", "Run Riot", title track

March 5, 2025

March 2, 2025

“Oh, to be a "The" band in the early 2000s...“- me, for the Zutons’ entry last month

Something I noticed during my time in Ireland were grocery items decked out in American flags, even though they weren’t American exports. - biscuits, frozen pizzas et al.
There’s a more positive connotation with USA there that doesn’t really exist here in Canada, where (now especially but also then) stars n’ stripes aren’t particularly appealing.

I guess I bring that all up because here’s a Dublin band yearning for the beaches of Cali?…

This is actually a really nice listen.
Like I get that it isn’t very essential or groundbreaking, and the lead singer has a kind of whitebread affectation a la Death Cab or Bright Eyes that I don’t LOVE, but it’s agreeable enough with the lush, throwback folky songs.
There’s an infectiousness to tracks like “Big Sur”, “Don’t Steal Our Sun” and the ”Til the Tide Creeps In” that I cannot dismiss.
And the ballads “Old Friends” and “Deckchairs” are strong as well!

March 3, 2025

was convinced I only knew "In Da Club", but then "If I Can't" and "P.I.M.P." came on, so I guess I knew more 50 than I thought.

What the hell, a 7/8 refrain? GRODT is full of surprises

Eminem's contributions work surprisingly well (especially in "Patiently Waiting"), thought his & Fiddy's styles would clash but I was wrong.

Shouldn't have been removed from later editions, as it certainly influenced the sound of the harder 2000s hip-hop. There's something nagging me about the overall sound of this album that I can't quite describe- beside my general dislike of gangsta rap. Like, the production is clean, immaculate even, yet it somehow lessens the impact of the violence and drama of the lyrics. Which is good for going multi-platinum, I guess.

HL: "What Up Gangsta", "In da Club". "If I Can't", "21 Questions", "Gotta Make it to Heaven", "Wanksta" (bonus track)

March 1, 2025 (T-27)

The last time this website gave me a Kate Bush album was in 2022. Perhaps the long wait for the second is the universe's punishment for me calling 2022 "the year of Bush"*, in reference to the Stranger Things-led renaissance of "Running Up that Hill (A Deal With God)". My curiosity and impatience led me to listen to The Hounds of Love on my own time, but I never heard this one before.

This one definitely required a second listen;
I almost docked a full star for the “turning into a mule” section, but I appreciate that building on the oddness of previous tracks like in “Sat in Your Lap” and the partly screamed “Houdini” ten tracks in couldn’t have been easy. But she did it.
“Leave it Open” is another song that made a bit more sense on the second listen. “We LeT tHe WeIrDnEsS iN!”
Having listened to Hounds of Love and The Sensual World before, knowing that we’re 3 for 3 in Kate Bush albums featuring Irish traditional elements is surprising. (Didn’t know her mother was Irish).

My thoughts on The Dreaming can be summarized as “Why? …Why not?”

HL: “Night of the Swallow”, “There Goes a Tenner”, “Pull Out the Pin”, “Suspended in Gaffa”, “Houdini”

*the title track contains the lyric “push them from the pull of the Bush”, so I don’t feel quite as weird now

February 28, 2025 (T-28)

Technically not the first time I'm seeing him on this list, as I know Carlos played on the John Lee Hooker one, but getting a bona fide Santana album this late in the process is shocking.
Definitely deserves a spot on this list.
I've heard both "Oye Como Va" and "Black Magic Woman" plenty of times (the latter plenty and plenty of times); the rest of the album is loosey-goosey and jammy, but doesn't get tiresome over 40 minutes