Reviews by giddy

An album so microscopically lesser than its older siblings, it is hard to even justify half of a star lower, and so I will not. Perhaps the hits feel a bit more commercial, maybe the concept could be done better, but frankly, I do not care, for if this album is one thing, it is a deep cuts album, through and through. Falling Away With You, Blackout, The Small Print, Endlessly, Thoughts of a Dying Atheist, all some of the band's best, and considering the band is still in peak performance mode, they are all pulled off flawlessly. Matt's piano playing is starting to reach virtuoso levels of magnificence, the bass riffs are actually some of the best in all rock music, and the drumming is finally mixed in a way where the (much needed) subtleties found throughout the percussion only elevate the momentous theatrics this album presents. Muse knows they're at the top of the world with this album, you can feel it, but they never let it get to them for a moment, and the album is all the better for it. Even its longer length flies by as you sit there waiting for the next track, and then the next one, and then the next one, it is pure bliss! Perhaps not my favorite album of theirs (would be hard to reach the top) but still well-deserved to be seen as the Plastic Beach to OoS's Demon Days, and if that isn't the most white boy born in the early 2000s thing to say, I don't know what is.

This album probably won't end up being the worst of the new additions, but it definitely feels the most unnecessary, and that's with another Rolling Stones album being added! I just don't understand this pick at all. Brat is already here, and this is far weaker than that album. Only guess was to pull in sales, but if people wanted to see a pop album from this year to pull in sales, it wouldn't be this, especially after the reception of the movie itself. This is getting cut next edition, no questions. Music itself is fine, even good at times, but, again, why would you listen to this over most of Charli's other work?

The band Sprain if it formed over twenty years ago. Excellent and really fantastic when it starts pulling from Tom Waits' bag of tricks.

An album that nearly makes every other electronic-pop album obsolete. Its catchy, full of tracks that were the best of their time (and are still amazing today), and just has this entire vibe to it where even the strangest moments can get you pumped upon every listen, such as tracks like Short Circuit. That opening four tracks is one of the best tuns in a single album EVER, and even the deep cuts on the album keep up the pace to be high octane, funky action for its whole run time.

The only miniscule flaw I find is that Too Long is, well, too long, but its still a banger for a solid chunk of the song, and its the only dip in quality in the whole album. Otherwise, for electronic music in general you would be hard pressed to find something better, and I'd argue the same for the world of pop music. This is a masterclass of everything presented.

I FINALLY, after nearly a year of the user generator, got one of my two submitted albums. This was actually a pick I never would have thought to submit when I put N. 1 in Heaven in running for the first twenty user albums. I had hardly heard of of Montreal, and certainly didn't think I'd find one of my favorite albums on a random album binge day. I've, of course, now gone through all of of Montreal's discography, and while there are some albums of theirs that deserve this spot nearly just as much, or are at least 5/5s, this is the album of theirs I felt deserved the spotlight.

The story the album tells puts it all out there, and really pulls you in from the opening track, with its utterly addictive hooks and great vocals from Kevin Barnes as they pour their current life predicaments into the records inner workings. It's an obviously catchy album, it becomes clear why I like this when I say my favorite band is Sparks, but it's the good, bad, and the ugly this album displays that truly wins me over. Barnes is not the hero, villain, or even bystander of this story, but the overwhelming stress of it all comes to an eruption that is one of the greatest songs of all time, "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal," that seems to be the highlight for even those not loving this album. It's a twelve minute venture through the mindset of a person who is utterly at a loss of what to do, and can only express it via anxiety ridden synths. And the tonal change as Barnes seems to "snap" can be jarring on first listen, but as you come back and see how Kevin copes, it really is perfectly on brand for the band, while still fitting the MO of the album itself. Not to mention there are still some great, catchy pop songs in there. For bonus points you can add their EP "Icons, Abstract Thee" to get another few songs that stand toe-to-toe with the best on the main album, while still attaching itself to the emotions presented here.

I'm glad this album seems to be generally liked on here, that makes me glad, but if you come away from this with disdain in your bones, I don't blame you, but I think this is exactly what I love Sparks for, plus some great lyrical content that makes it the best of the best of pop, rock, and everything in-between, and I think it deserves a spot in the 1001.

The main 1001 list makes a lot of blunders, but its minimal Post-Hardcore offerings like Slint and Drive Like Jehu make every other post-hardcore album look oh so much worse. This one is not immune.

You guys have to like, talk amongst yourselves before you add an album or something. Don't mind more Sufjan Stevens, but Carrie & Lowell pretty much covers the mellow side of Sufjan Stevens, couldn't we have gotten the Age of Adz or something? Oh well, it's inoffensive, even objectively good, don't too relaxed to stick in my mind even a little bit.

I feel like my gut reaction to Mötley Crüe is disgust, but in action it's kind of just disinterest. This album isn't bad, but it really isn't good. It's corny and also sleazy, and maybe that sleaze was cool in 1983, but now all I hear is what Alice Cooper's albums sound like now, and that, my friend, is corny.

I was worried with the beginning of the first track that this would be another case of weird = good such as what is seen with Pink Floyd's early works. However, this album quickly proved to me that is not the case, with the second track containing gorgeous vocals, amazing instrumentation, and brilliant pacing, and it stayed at that level of quality from there on. Hell, I even went back to the first track and appreciated its nuances far more than I did starting out. From the beginning to end of this album your perception on folk-ish prog will change completely, and while there are parts that remind me of a more dorky renaissance faire, there is far more here in which I can do nothing but sit and adore it. Long tracks whisk you away, while the "shorter" tunes are so high energy you can't help but move a little. I'm so glad the internet has allowed albums like this get the recognition they deserve, as without it, I doubt I would've ever heard this, and that'd be a shame and a half.

Grew up with CAKE, known CAKE for years, and they have some great songs still, no matter how much they seem to be viewed as a fad by modern standards. However, they really aren't more than just "alright" most of the time, and I'd take Comfort Eagle anyday. Still, alright is alright. 3.5

This was my first proper experience with Sufjan Stevens (listened before I got Illinois on the generator) so to say I wasn't expecting something more akin to Elliott Smith than anything else would be an understatement. This album is just consistently and hauntingly bittersweet, with the looming sense of dread never taking away from the beauty of the simplistic production, allowing the listener to seep in every single lyric and pick apart what each lyric means on a deep, personal level to Stevens. Context may be necessary to fully grasp it, but with even the slightest bit of media literacy, one can grasp the weight of the album on display. It doesn't overstay its welcome, it is surface level repetitive, but wildly layered once you dive in a bit more and pick apart small production pieces and, once again, lyrical clues. It plays like a window into a gorgeous room with no one inside, and that can be humbling. It is hard for me to separate this album from its obvious influences, and admittedly that caused some distraction throughout the album, as my mind would wander to tracks from Either/Or, but this is clearly something special to a lot of people, and while I didn't break down crying (it honestly wasn't even the most emotionally devastating album I've listened to today) its somber tones and instrumentation tied with its poetic confessions of death and love do not go unnoticed, rather greatly appreciated.

This may have been my first musical experience EVER, and before that scares some of you old heads, I was two when this was released, so let THAT set in. Other than maybe a Veggie Tale song or something, I remember DARE as if it were a major theme in my life. It would play in car rides home from school, it was one of the first things downloaded onto my iPod Nano, and my dad used to sing "It's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up, it's DAD!" when coming upstairs to say good night to me and my sister. It can then be expected that the rest of the CD was also pretty intertwined with my life. I can assume I was the only kid jamming out to White Light on their own time.

So, the album has stuck with me very well. The only track I didn't really remember upon re-visit is the final, titular track, but otherwise this was like a nostalgia trip where the whole time I felt justified in my enjoyment of the album. This is perhaps one of the best showcases of blended genres in the 2000s, with every track matching the ones next to it with a flowing grace that may be unexpected looking at the genres and their influences. Danger Mouse's production is immaculate, and the whole thing is just so fluent in a way that is hard to describe. Every track could be its own major hit, and the actual hits deserve all their recognition and more. I mean, DARE is not something stuck in just my mind, but nearly everyone I know, too. And it isn't even the biggest track here! People talk of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours as an album that already doubles as a greatest hits release for the band, but I think this does have that same effect for Gorillaz and then some. Admittedly, it is held back by me just knowing every track to such an intense degree that none hit as hard as they could've been had this been my first experience with the album, but that hardly detracts, and if anything, should motivate you to check this album out if you haven't listened before. This is peak alternative 2000s pop. It takes the stereotypical decisions of that decade and twists them into their own thing, and it's pretty amazing being able to do new things with genres such as trip hop. Just a fantastic album, perhaps still Gorillaz's peak.

Let's be honest, you listen to this album for Let It Happen, everything else is just a bonus, for better or worse.

Man, I love Bloghouse stuff. While Neil Cicierega's Mouth series is mostly goofy with somw great tunes as a bonus, this is the opposite with it being one giant hour dance album, that sometimes makes you chuckle. It's awesome, and for 2008, absolutely inspired.

I'll be frank, my boyfriend added this album to the user list, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little biased here. He spent a bit of time trying to decide if he wanted to add this or black midi's Hellfire, so certainly some variation to be added. If you want a bonus album today, go listen to that one.

Despite my bias, however, I still think this album is absolutely great. I listened to this around 2 (ha) years ago and have had many of the songs stuck in my head ever since. My Kind of Woman has one of the best music videos of all time, Ode to Viceroy makes me want to smoke 500 cigarettes (in a good way?) and Freaking Out the Neighborhood is just straight up a masterpiece. The album is extremely relaxing while never being boring, like a highway drive where you're the only one on the road, and so you can just chill and cruise while going ten above. Salad Days may be more ambitious, but man if I don't have endless high praises for this one. Never too serious, this is just a "good time" album, and I love it like Hell for that.

An album I had enough interest in that I actually listened to one of these user albums for the first time in about a month, although it helps that I've wanted to listen to this one for nearly three years.

It's a good album, feels like it has earned its place as apart of the post-punk canon, and brings enough unique feelings to be interesting the whole time despite its relatively long run time. I think more heavy hitter tracks and this could've been an all timer, but I probably enjoy this more than any of the Cure albums on the list, and that's the obvious comparison, in my opinion. Doesn't quite beat out Joy Division, though, so we'll put it somewhere between those two.

Here's Where the Story Ends is one of the best songs of all time, but there's some other golden nuggets in this album, as well.

An album with such a mind-blowing first part that I had to listen to each track multiple times before finally moving on to the fourth track about three go-arounds in. Admittedly nothing really ever reaches that high, at least not yet, but it tries its hardest to enthrall the listener into a band still evolving nearly twenty years in rather than stepping into mediocrity, and its admirable at worst, but most of all its just plain a great album. I actually quite enjoyed the strange guitar-tone present, and whenever the piano or orchestra appeared it struck me as Arctic Monkey's recent shtick done just that tad better to be a fan-favorite rather than a controversial decision, and as a fan of both slightly-different styles I'm all for it. Ezra Koenig's voice still sounds unique and great all these years later, and the whole album has this fresh feeling that not only recalls music of a decade ago, but also what could be the indie sound of the future, and that is most certainly something to praise, and I'm happy that Vampire Weekend slowly but surely got the credit they deserved.

A frankly insane run with the first four tracks makes a majority of the rest of the album disappointing, but certainly not bad. Final track is great, too.

Iconic album, album title, and album cover. And it really did shape jazz for the decade following. Even if Sun Ra and others preceded this album, this put free jazz on the map. Should have been on the original list. And all of that makes me sad I'm giving this a three star, but it was sort of inevitable. I'm starting to understand jazz bit by bit as I listen to iconic record after iconic record, but that doesn't mean I can always stomach the twists and turns it provides. Still, this album has earned its flowers, and I'm glad that it has been received warmly on the user list, at least compared to the main list's tribute to Coleman.