Reviews by galway_rat

5 glasses of eggnog out of 5

Think the worst thing that could have happened to this album was being released in the late 1980s; dated production aside, I don’t know why I liked this as much as I did (up to “The Great Seal”; I haven’t heard the last 4, CD-only tracks yet). The incorporation of bugles, chanting & very loud drums makes this feel like less of an album & more of a soundtrack to a dark fantasy movie.

I caught the cover of “One Vision” by Queen but didn’t recognize the Opus track; knowing how the original sounds makes this album funnier as a whole. One of my favourite bands is Muse, which might explain my tolerance for the bombast & theatrics brought to this album, and in *both* versions of “Live is Life”.

HL: “Opus Dei”, “The Great Seal”, “Trans-National”*

*What is it about the weird loops & drum machines here that appealed to me tonight, when I struggled to get thru Big Black’s “Atomizer”

December 24, 2022

December 23 2022

HL: "Radio Radio", "Lipstick Vogue", "No Action", "Pump It Up"

Could complain again about the excess of EC&tA here, but I enjoyed this one pretty much all the way through. Was reading about this album’s debt to the Rolling Stones, ca. Aftermath era. It has both the infectious riffs/choruses, as well as lyrics that make you go “Man, Costello\Jagger kinda sounds like an asshole here!”
The driving punk tempo energizes the tracks without getting obnoxious.

HL: “Country Home”, “Over and Over”, “Mansion on the Hill”, “Mother Earth”

—Now that I’m back on Apple Music, time to give this a proper listen.
—I’ve noticed that for quite a few albums I’m biased towards the opener & closer- as is the case for Ragged Glory.
—As much as I could criticize it for its long-windedness, something about its simplicity was satisfying; like a tool that does one thing really well.

January 24, 2023

Maybe one drawback to this list is realizing I don’t like Run-DMC as much as I thought.
I’d easily rather listen to this in full than their self-titled debut. There’s more variety between songs, and the “Walk This Way”/“It’s Tricky” combo alone makes this a classic in my ears.

3.5

HL: “It’s Tricky” (a 5 star song), “Walk This Way”, “Raising Hell”, “You Be Illin”, “Proud to Be Black”

December 22, 2022

HL: "Parchment Farm", "Summertime Blues", "Second Time Around"

On one hand, almost the whole album has this muddy, gross quality to it, which started to feel one-note. Even its breakthrough cover of "Summertime Blues" (which I've listened to a couple of times earlier this year) is something I can only enjoy in small doses.
I did however, start to groove to this album by the final drum + bass solos, turning off my brain, not trying to measure its influence on later metal & punk albums. Y'know, just enjoying 3 musicians shredding in the studio.

December 21 2022, the frigid winter solstice

HL: Islands, Fantasy, Basic Space, VCR, Intro

I like to split albums into two categories, "Day" & "Night". This is definitely closer to the 2nd, but I could probably listen to it any time of day.
VCR reminds me strongly of two older songs ("Geraldine" by Glasvegas & "Heroes" by Bowie), but I can't help but enjoy it as well.

December 20, 2022

Twas nice to listen to in the moment

December 19, 2022

HL: "Bomba", "Every Man Is An Island", "Visions of You"

Hard to rate, somewhere between 1 and 4 stars :p
Pro: très éclectique
Con: It's like Graceland without the memorable songs
Pro: Inspired instrumentals
Con: Wobble's singing voice
Con: I'm not feeling too hot tonight, so that might affect my enjoyment too

January 3 2023

December 19 2022

Another new discovery for me; beautiful, sometimes harrowing.

HL: "Crucify", "Girl", "Leather", "Winter", "Tear in Your Hand"

"I listen to grown-up music!"- Peppa Pig on UK sophisti-pop in the early 1980's

HL: "The Paris Match", "Headstart for Happiness", "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse", "The Whole Point of No Return"

December 16, 2022

Closest to dark ambient music/hauntology in this list so far (I don’t see many others arousing a similar comparison).
The day before I heard this I happened to be scrolling through the worst-rated albums on this list, so that might have affected how I perceived this one. There’s definitely a common theme of non-musical, avant-garde elements in those albums, and this is no exception; where did they get those bizarre, metallic sounds for Bubble & Slide? Yet if they wanted to evoke rain dripping through a decaying discotheque’s ceiling, then sure, they pulled it off.

HL: “Haunted Dancehall”, “Duke of Earlsfield”, “Wilmot”, “Planet D (Portishead Remix)”

This is some spicy jazz
I like it very much

December 15, 2022

Skipped ahead to make this the 250th rating. Not first listen; I've returned to this little slice of Cuban folk a few times when I need a pick-me-up. (Also I've found it pretty easy where I'm from to find this CD in a thrift shop, so it wound up playing in my car earlier this year)
Between this, the concert, & the weed cookie that I took in later, consider me picked up. *maracas*

December 12, 2022

It's been a week of re-listening, as about 4/7 albums are ones I'm already pretty familiar with. So it is with Tapestry, one of the best selling albums in my immediate family (There's probably more than one copy of Tapestry in my family house) and also the world.
Not much to say; can't find a weak link in the tracklist, the piano in this album makes my ears smile. Maybe this bored me when I was younger, but I've come around.

HL: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "You've Got a Friend", "I Feel the Earth Move"

December 13, 2022

December 14, 2022

It’s been over a year since I’ve last heard this album :/ Too long a time

HL:
Changes
Oh! You Pretty Things
Life on Mars?
Kooks
Quicksand
Queen Bitch

Not 1st listen.
Probably one of my favourite albums from the 2000s, the opening track still gets to me 10 yrs after the 1st time I heard it (didn’t know it when it was new).

HL: “Tunnels”, “Wake Up”, “7 Kettles”, “Crown of Love”, “Rebellion”, “In the Backseat”

Dec 10 2022

HL: "Buffalo Stance", "Manchild", "Inna City Mamma", "Love Ghetto", "Outré Risqué Locomotive"

1st instinct was to say I've never listened or heard of this artist before, but a lil Spotify sleuthing says she was featured in "We Will Always Love You" by the Avalanches (one of my favourite lockdown finds). For one track, but still.
I didn't anticipate to enjoy this as much as I did, after all, what other new jack swing have I listened to?- Michael Jackson?
That is probably bc this is music for moving, and not sitting & contemplating. Good thing I was walking home from work when I heard this.
"Manchild" is probably #1 for me on this album. "Locomotive" near the end is a really fun track as well.

December 11, 2022

December 13, 2022

HL: "Jane Says", "Summertime Rolls", "Mountain Song"

I have never had this many recommendations for a contemporary album from people in my life. First it was songs like “Alright” & “King Kunta”, then more in-depth remarks about the album’s scope & themes.
I listened to the whole thing eventually, after a Grammy award & Obama praised it or something, but I think the catalyst was learning that David Bowie took inspiration from TPAB for his final album. And I re-listened several times, concluding that the hype was for good reason.
I think hearing it now, after getting albums by NWA & 2pac on this website, makes me appreciate Kendrick more for taking the best from those sounds/eras (plus all the soul & jazz), and for making something both more emotionally complex & analytical.
the songs are good too.

December 7, 2022