Reviews by galway_rat

T-30

HL: “King’s Cross”, “It’s a Sin”, “What Have I Done To Deserve This?”, “Shopping”, “It Couldn’t Happen Here”

Seeing as this is Pet Shop Boys #3, I’m probably not alone in saying it’s a peculiar Britishism to have that many. But it has been enjoyable to uncover these songs, however big they are in UK. Not sure why “It’s a Sin” wasn’t a hit here 🇨🇦
Definitely lighter fare than Behaviour and Very, but for 1987 pop that’s alright with me

not on Apple Music, searchin on YouTube

the title track reminded me of seeing Billy Idol in concert last year. I liked that

HOLD UP. The handy 'official' playlist on Youtube Music is WRONG. They're different Hanoi Rocks songs! "Tooting Bec Wreck" is actually a song called "Don't Never Leave Me". "Until I Get To You" is "Lost in the City". "Sailing Down the Tears" is "First Timer". Labeled as "Lick Summer Love", it's "Cheyenne". All 4 songs are from their 1981 debut!

I guess I didn't question why the song titles didn't match to the lyrics (I thought it was hilarious a tender love song, opening with "I don't wanna hurt you, I don't wanna see you cry", was titled "Lick Summer Love"), but what gave it away were the song lengths on Wikipedia.

Okay, so the real Back to Mystery City is less indebted to new wave/punk, and sounds more like the glam metal acts to come. Though I probably should revisit this down the road. I can't enjoy a party glam metal album while also stressin about the fallibility of the corporations that have the rights to this music -_-

HL: "Ice Cream Summer", "Tooting Bec Wreck", "Until I Get You"

February 24, 2025

February 22, 2025

Not first listen; I’m bending the rules a little bit, and listening to tomorrow’s album tonight. No shade to Mr Costello but I already have a soft spot for Grizzly Bear. 🐻
I think I got into them around Covid Time, and between this and Yellow House (their previous album to Veckatimest), I’d say I’m a modest fan.

“Two Weeks” is perfect indie pop to me, but the rest of the album doesn’t really share that flair for ear candy; the ethereal, drowsy “Cheerleader” is more indicativest of Veckatimest

Much like Fleet Foxes, it seems a shame I can’t enjoy this in the mountains at dawn, but in this case it’s no less alluring in a frozen prairie at night. The cinematic instrumentation and plentiful reverb are dreamy enough to be pre-bedtime, however.

HL: “Two Weeks”, “All We Ask”, “Dory”, “Ready, Able”, “While You Wait For the Others”, “I Live With You”

February 23, 2025

Album #412 was my fifth and last Elvis Costello (Imperial Bedroom), now we’re at #1056. I pretty much enjoyed them all, but he hasn’t really stayed in my regular rotation since then.
Hence I can’t really back up my opinion why I was cold on his debut, My Aim Is True, or why I markedly favoured Blood and Chocolate. It was like 3 years ago ;(

What I do know is that it doesn't press the dopamine button the same way Imperial Bedroom and This Year's Model have. Reuniting with the Attractions was a good move (the soulful lushness of "All the Rage" comes to mind), but I don't know why that isn't reflected in the album packaging. (Diva.)

The book cites this as an especially angry album of his. Maybe it's as simple as the more overtly cynical he gets, the less I enjoy the album overall

3.5

"Pony St", "This Is Hell", "Still Too Soon to Know", "13 Steps Lead Down"

Me as in “me”, kon as in “con”. I just learned that from YouTube.

Closer to a 3 now that I’ve had time to process and listen a second time, but I was having a hard time connecting with this initially. The singer and fiddle player each have their own idea of being in tune, the mix seems claustrophobic, like the studio is tiny and they’re all shoulder to shoulder recording this thing.
I did get the sense that a lot of this stuff would be super fun live.
Again 3 stars before I change my mind

HL: “Chivalry”, “Trouble Down South”, “Last Dance”

February 20, 2025

HL: “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, “Earlybird”, “Train Leaves Here This Morning”, “Witchy Woman”, “Take It Easy”

I find I don’t have much to say about the Eagles’ 1972 debut, other than I struggle to say anything bad about their music, besides that it’s among quite a few country rock albums on this list.
Someone who I’m surprised never made the cut is Jackson Browne, who cowrote the earworm “Take it Easy”. I heard For Everyman (1973) for the first time recently, and he also leads his album with that song.
Scorekeeper! Neil Young: 9, The Byrds: 5, Jackson Browne: 0

I think my uncle still resents Van Halen for going synthy with this one

When I got my first iPod, among the first songs I *acquired through legal means* were “Jump” and “I’ll Wait”. The whole album is pretty good, dumb fun but those two songs are particularly nostalgic for someone who grew up on cheesy 80s rock.
With “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher” I seem to alternate between 2 phases: 1) they’re incredible, and 2) they’re actually really annoying and overplayed. The needle today is mostly centred on #1, but could be #2 by tomorrow.
Everything else is new to me, and I suppose my favourites out of those are “Top Jimmy” and “Girl Gone Bad”.

February 19, 2025

I was a little wary of this one, but it’s not bad. I understood none of the lyrics, must be some Californian version of English I’m too Canadian to understand. The guitars are dissonant and dark, the singer screamy (not too far from At the Drive In), yet I survived unscathed.
I’ve had a (probably undeserved) disdain for any music marked “emo” for a while, but Yank Crime is surprisingly cathartic and great for a walk (which is what I was doing for the last few tracks).

February 18, 2025

A D&B album under two hours! Hooray!

-SEA OF TEARS SAMPLES My Life in the Bush of Ghosts- which I only know from starting this website

-listened to the whole thing on my computer speakers, but hearing select tracks on headphones is a much trippier experience

-Maybe I was just in a bad mood when it came to Roni Size; the other drum and bass offerings have been more enjoyable than I expected. The high pitched alarm sound in “Jah the Seventh Seal” was probably my least favourite thing about the album, but I don’t even mind the rest of that track.

HL: title track, "This is a Bad", "Still Life"

February 17, 2025

Runescape-aah beat in Pt. 5

HL: “Pt. 5”, “Pt. 4”, “Pt. 2”

February 15, 2025

February 14, 2025

HL: “Secretly”, "On My Hotel TV", "And This is Nothing That I Thought I Had, "The Skank Heads"

Album name and cover made me think this was going to be downtempo trip hop

Tempted to give it 5 stars just for showing a different side of 90s British rock than all the others.

In fact I'd bump it up to 4, despite the nu-metal influences generally not being my thing.

The Pixies is a band I like, sometimes. They've taken some time to appreciate, from my initial distaste with Surfer Rosa; hilariously, while listening to Bossanova I kept thinking I'd rather have Surfer Rosa. At some point I had to keep reminding myself one song ended and the next had begun.
Maybe some time down the road I'll put on more Pixies, and be disappointed that it isn't Bossanova :0

The fact that so many of their musical traits became mainstream in the 90s should be cause for celebration though. Just look at their introduction on Wikipedia- they lay claim to influencing Nirvana, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer! Woah

Complimented this with Pod by Kim Deal’s band the Breeders, released the same year. Definitely some shared musical DNA, it's pretty short but perhaps it could have been here instead of a 4th Frank Black showcase

HL: “Velouria”, “All Over the World”, "Ana"

February 13, 2025

February 12, 2025 (it’s nippy 🥶)

HL: “Walk Away”, “Beautiful”, “Make Over”, “Dirty”

On the one hand, I will probably never be a true fan of this era of pop (see also: Destiny's Child, Britney Spears), but on the other, some of the lyrics (“I’m OK”) evoke some real pathos, and there are just enough uptempo bits (“Dirty”, “Fighter”) to offset the many, many slow burns.

Rolling Stone’s review calling it “almost” an album for grown-ups is a hilarious backhanded compliment

I find the cheesy, retro Back to Basics much more appealing

I did the math at the end of January, and the math said that I had about an equal spread of 70s, 80s, 90s, and 21st century albums left before I'm finished with this list for good (about 11 each. oh and a couple from the 60s). Seems like I'm getting all the newest albums out of the way first, as not even two weeks later I've had seven of the 11 albums from the new millenium. Statistics is fun :)

1st time I learned of the Scissor Sisters I was aghast at their idea of a discofied "Comfortably Numb"
2nd time was when their song "I Can't Decide" was used to great effect in Doctor Who.
3rd time was when I found out they were on this list! (*Were*- they were expunged from later editions)
Sorry younger me, "Comfortably Numb" goes hard, & we still have the original. Although hearing the 'ahh-ha-ha' Bee Gees pastiche makes the lack of disco Bee Gees on this list (Saturday Night Fever/Spirits Having Flown) even more beguiling

That bassline in "Filthy/Gorgeous" sounds like the sewers in Super Mario Bros. IN A GOOD WAY

The last two songs make for a surprisingly morose ending.

HL: the Pink Floyd cover, "Mary", "Filthy/Gorgeous", "It Can't Come Quickly Enough"

February 11, 2025

After a Dylan album that was mostly unknown to me, now we have a Zeppelin I am perhaps overly familiar with.
To remedy this, and to understand their influences further, I put on the songs that Zep lovingly ripped off this time around, such as: Jake Holmes’ “Dazed and Confused” (shockingly close, for the first 30 seconds anyway), Joan Baez's "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (which is surprisingly distant from Zep's version) & Willie Dixon’s “I Can’t Quit You Baby”.
Even "How Many More Times", that bulldozer of a finale and one of my personal highlights, becomes Albert King/Booker T's "The Hunter" at one point.
At the end of the day it's still one of my favourite albums from the 60s, because at least the 'stolen' tracks- especially "Dazed and Confused"- come into their own here. With the combined talents of the members, Led Zeppelin I goes much further than simply aping the blues, showcasing them at their most direct (god I love "Good Times Bad Times") and musically curious ("Dazed", the pipe organ in "Your Time Is Gonna Come")

February 8, 2025

Me during most of Bug: :)
Me during "Don't": 😨
Me during bonus track, "Keep the Glove": :)

Dinosaur Jr. is one of those bands I've flip-flopped on the most. You're Living All Over Me (1987) was one of the earlier albums on the list, first heard in June of 2022. I was indifferent on its low-fi experiments and intense distortion then, but about a year later I put it on for a lark and was surprised how *good* it sounded. It was like finally seeing the Magic Eye picture, whereas before it was just colour and noise.
In February 2023, I listened to Sebadoh for the first time, a band that found its origins in Dinosaur Jr. through former bassist Lou Barlow. Once again I had mixed feelings on its brand of alt-rock, though roughly a year after THAT, I clearly thought fondly enough of Bubble and Scrape (1993) to buy it when I found it in a used music shop.
And now, Bug (1988) falls into my lap, and I don't have to work to appreciate it anymore :0
The downside is, I don’t expect a year-delayed revelation; the slightly cleaner guitars compared to the previous 🦖 means I could put this on in more general situations, but I haven’t really learned anything about the band that I didn’t already realize. Except that they were perhaps gunning for a real hit (“Freak Scene”)

HL: “Freak Scene”, “No Bones”, “Let it Ride”

February 7, 2025

HL: “Rolling”, “Rumour”, “Someone”, “One and Only”, the Cure cover

Album 1041/1089

Ah yes, my old friend Trout Man. I first came across you, years ago, flipping through my aunt and uncle’s copy of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums. How your colourful, surrealist cover intrigued me at the time.

I tried listening to you once, and failed. I will not fail again

Edit: Trout Mask Replica has been listened to in full.

First, before I comb the reviews to find someone else’s opinion to base my review off of (:p), I recall one of yehs* pointing out how incredibly loud the vocals are in comparison to the instrumental, and it became increasingly frustrating the longer the album went on (perhaps reaching a head at the a capella “Orange Claw Hammer”)

I do subscribe to the notion that a future listen (or listens) can be a wholly different experience- kinda like MBV’s Loveless, where there’s so much going on that your brain focuses on different elements each time. However, I can't go back and report on that. I'm not... strong enough. It seems that Captain Trout Man has once again won this round.

*Found it, it was actually a Fantano vid on TMR I watched a while ago, and now watched again tonight to be sure.

February 5, 2025

Keeping 2000s nostalgia alive 3 albums in a row… okay, besides “Before I Forget” (shout out Guitar Hero III), Slipknot isn’t exactly the band I get nostalgia for

First off, this album has a pretty strong start, leading off with "Gematria", "Sulfur" and "Psychosocial". Later on, I also didn't mind tracks like "Gehenna" and the grand finale of the title track. But like the other Slipknot I've heard (1999 self-titled), a relatively concise 60 minutes wears me down and ends up feeling quite a bit longer.
"Slipknot still sound like being trapped in a small room with nine angry bulldozers", indeed (taken from the book before they scrubbed All Hope Is Gone from future editions)

The more melodic elements are probably why this my favourite of the two albums, despite probably pissing off long-time fans.

Between getting them on this list, and associating them with edgy brats in my middle school, I fear Slipknot has made me *less* curious about their genre of music, going against almost any other artist on this list. Especially because it looks like this is the only metal album rep in the 21st century portion of this list! That's wild.
Not that I don't have ideas of where to look for a new(nu) metal band that I can really enjoy; among those I haven't yet explored are Agalloch, Gojira, Rammstein, Mastodon... Meshuggah if I'm feeling especially brave. I mean, if the internet says they're good, right?

Edit: since my feathers were still ruffled from an hour of Slipknot, I put on some Nightwish. I correctly predicted it to be more my speed

Also February 4th (keeping the 2000s nostalgia going)

If it's in any way representative of my current personal bias, Radiohead was my #1 most played artist last year on Apple Music, beating out the Beatles and Kendrick Lamar for the first time. Yet having the other 5 Radioheads on this list randomly generate first meant I let In Rainbows fall by the wayside. Rediscovering it now, I kinda see why: it doesn't have a lot of what tickled my brain in the Kid Amnesiac era, nor the anthemic cuts of Ok Computer or the Bends.
It's just an extremely nice listen

and that's okay >:0

HL: "15 Step", "Bodysnatchers", "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"*, "All I Need", "Reckoner", "House of Cards", "Jigsaw Falling Into Place", "Videotape"
*it might be my favourite song by them