Rated 6/10
HL: "Let's Not and Say We Did", "Tennessee", "I Remember Me"
An alt-country record (and artist) I'm glad I was introduced to, though some of the songs sound a bit samey.
Maybe I'll have to let this one stew, as there's something in Berman's voice & words I quite enjoy.
3.5
July 16, 2023
Rated 10/10
HL: title track, “Funeral for a Friend”, “Candle in the Wind”, “Saturday Night…”, “Harmony”
honourable mentions: “This Song Has No Title”, “All the Girls Love Alice”
Other HL: “Bennie & the Jets” I GUESS
Except for a slight lull in the middle, a nicely paced double album with a grand intro & finale. Most of the tracks deserve their longevity (50 years, holay)
July 15, 2023
Rated 8/10
HL: “I Wanna Destroy You”, “Tonight”, title track, “Positive Vibrations”
Soft boy summer
Wasn’t too hot on “I Got The Hots”, but for the most part I had a good ol time. As soon as I read the Wiki blurb mentioning that they influenced R.E.M.’s sound I suspected that I’d enjoy it.
Some offbeat musical choices such as the sitar in “Vibrations”, the fiddle in the title track & the wonky time signature in “Sideways” enhance the experience without feeling gimmicky.
July 13, 2023
Rated 10/10
HL: everything but the “wolf with the red roses” spoken word interlude. Actually even that’s good for a chuckle
Top 3: “You Took The Words”…, “Paradise”, title track
There’s still a special place in my heart for this kind of bombastic, theatrical rock & roll. I would be surprised that this isn’t ranked higher on the website, but I have met at least one person who haaates this album
Some serious mixed messages in side 2, going from “ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you” to “Praying for the end of time so I can end my time with you”, to “You know I love you”
July 12, 2023
Rated 4/10
HL: "Rendez-Vu", "U Can't Stop Me", "Stop 4 Love".... maybe "Jump n Shout"?
I guess it deserves props for making Daft Punk want to make better music after Homework
(Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk proclaimed the album as "better than [theirs]." - Spin Magazine)
Inventive and quirky, some of the instrumentals are grating as heck, watched a couple music videos for the singles only to have the strobe-light visuals overwhelm me further.
Idk what the take away is, do I need to be on molly to wholeheartedly enjoy this?
2.5
July 11, 2023 (later)
Rated 8/10
HL: "Carrion", "Shadowboxer", "The First Taste", "Criminal"
At least 4 stars, maybe more, gets comparisons to all kinds of artists but it stands apart from most albums I've heard aside from "Fetch the Bolt Cutters". Nice to know that the offbeat, avant-garde sensibilities were there from the beginning (percussion in "Sleep to Dream", the extended instrumental outro in "Criminal")
July 11, 2023
Rated 6/10
HL: "Don't Know Why", title track, "I've Got To See You Again", "Shoot the Moon"
Nice, cosy album. Can see its broad appeal, with the jazz & folk influences mixed in small doses so it doesn't swing too far in either direction.
No one song captivated me (like Jones's song "Sunrise"), but there are no bad songs either.
3.5
July 10, 2023
(note to self, last review was a typo & was heard on July 9)
Rated 10/10
I just heard this album the other day, on vinyl! However, it was the North American version, leaving out one of my favourites, "Nowhere Man" (and inserting "I've Just Seen A Face", also one of my favourites :D - among other changes)
When I first got into the Beatles, I wasn't big on Rubber Soul (compared to other Beatles; I still heard it a lot). Yet it has two of my top 10 Beatles songs in it ("In My Life" & "Nowhere Man"), at least three others I had to learn on guitar ("I'm Looking Through You", "Norwegian Wood" & "Girl"), and even the most throwaway tracks have quite a bit of replay value to me ("The Word", "Wait", "If I Needed Someone", "Michelle" [don't @ me])
14 stars, one for every track, minus one for "Run For Your Life", so 13 stars then
July 7, 2023
Rated 8/10
HL: "Expecting to Fly", "Bluebird", "Good Time Boy", "Broken Arrow"
July 7, 2023
Rated 8/10
HL: "From Out of Nowhere", "Epic", "Zombie Eaters", "Woodpecker From Mars"
Exceeded expectations. I've come around on "Epic", it used to be one of my least favourite songs on Rock Band for the PS2
Technically it's a bonus track, but "War Pigs" is the one thing I'd cut. Decent rendition of a great song, but isn't that different from the original when done by Faith No More
July 6, 2023
Rated 6/10
HL: "In the Mouth a Desert", "Here", "Zurich is Stained", "Loretta's Scars"
The best songs outweigh the worst ones (I counted 3 tracks I actively disliked)
It's amiable enough that I understand why others love it, but the super-dry (like an overboiled egg) guitar sound isn't my favourite thing in the world.
Idk- it might grow on me too, too early to say.
2.75/5, aka 3 stars
July 5, 2023
Rated 8/10
without knowing the chronology, the earliest-sounding (or at least the most 80ish) track is "Delphium"
Sometimes pretty, sometimes spooky (Hedphelym), as it stands I think I appreciate it more than the Moby album from this list but less than the Boards of Canada one.
Definitely won't try listening to this on the bus again, but I think it might be valuable for writing/studying to in the future.
HL: “Xtal”, “Heliosphan”, “Hedphelym”, “Ageispolis”
July 4, 2023
Rated 6/10
HL: “Concrete Jungle”, “Too Hot”, “A Message To You Rudy”
Decent. More punky than I expected (tbf I knew “Ghost Town”, & nothing else)
July 3, 2023
Rated 6/10
HL: "If You Think You're Lonely Now", "Stand Up", "So Many Sides of You"
Not bad. Exists somewhere between disco, new wave & quiet storm. Not sure if I like this more or Anita Baker's "Rapture", they both kind of evoke an adult contemporary radio station I'd listen to for a couple songs then finding something else
July 2, 2023
Intense album for an emotionally intense day
July 1, 2023
Rated 2/10
the absolute worst
June 30 2023
Rated 6/10
HL: “Come Down Softly…”, “Lord Can You Hear Me”, “Honey”, “Let Me Down Gently”
Evokes a lot of the same feelings I got from “Lazer Guided Melodies”. There’s a lot about the sound/aesthetic of space rock that I enjoy, but the cyclical, droning tendencies can bore as much as they entrance me
June 29, 2023 (slightly later that day)
Tangent: when I get to #500 I was thinking of sharing albums that are 5 stars to me now, but weren’t when I first listened. My first nomination to that list is “Ladies and Gentlemen” by Spiritualized, that took the best elements that are heard in this album and emphazised the blues, gospel & heavier rock influences.
Rated 8/10
This album deserves all the love for not being Scum by Napalm Death
as well as having such a fire trombone section
HL: title track, "Buscando Guayaba", "Pedro Navaja"
June 30, 2023 (later)
Rated 6/10
HL: “Before Today”, “The Heart Remains a Child”, title track
There’s a certain dichotomy between bands that deserve to be on The List but aren’t really my jam, versus bands I can get down to but are questionable entries on The List. Guess which one this is?
There’s only one Billy Joel album on the list btw
Rated 8/10
“California Waiting”, “Red Morning Light”, “Trani”, “Talihina Sky”
Heard Kings of Leons songs on the radio for 15 yrs, accepted I’ll never understand anything he sings without a lyric sheet
It rocks and it rolls, I had a good enough time (though sometimes I got a craving for a Tom Petty song while listening)
June 29, 2023
