Reviews by giddy

Always love me some Polvo, althought I'll admit I like their later on, more math rock-y stuff, but this is still a great addition.

It's nice to get a sound completely absent from the main 1001 list, it really shows the benefits to user submission. Album was very pretty, and I loved the overall theme, it was always satisfying to come back to.

Very anticlimactic finale, but this generator has been life changing, and I am very thankful for that. This album, on the other hand, is just okay. Onwards to the user submitted albums!

This album feels like a perfect blend of the hard rock, prog, and glam bits of Queen all blended into one quirked up smoothie, so why is it one of my least favorite I've listened to from the group? Don't get me wrong, this album is good, Bohemian Rhapsody alone would assure that, so all the other stuff here just feels like a neat bonus; I'm especially a fan of the shorter, goofier tracks. However, that's exactly the problem, even the other hits here just don't feel all too special. You're My Best Friend just feels like it is made for commercials, and Love of My Life has a solid base, but I wish it did more with said base. It's a pleasant experience, and worth your time if you like the sillier side of rock, but it feels like they made some momentous shit, and filled out the rest of the of album quickly in order to get that/those songs out as soon as possible. I think a combination of this and its sister album, A Day at the Races, would make one of the best rock albums of all time, but for now I just feel like this is a tad half-baked. In the way where a half-baked cookie still tastes good, but it's missing something.

I'm starting to think I dislike specifically New York-style glam rock, because this thing really only had the hits for me. Otherwise, it sounded too stereotypical and of its time, feeling more like a Rolling Stones record at points than anything by Lou Reed or even Bowie. However, I liked the show tune influences at points, and when this album slowed down it actually benefitted it quite a bit. Lou Reed is great with melancholia, but once it gets straight up rock it loses me quite a bit. Y'know, now that I think about it this feels like proto-Iggy Pop, as if Bowie was testing the waters for what it is like to produce someone else already famous, and for that I think it suffers from moments of doubt. Basically, there's a reason the two biggest songs here are the ones that are the least glam, the least rock, and in turn, the most influential.

Sort of just had this in the background, so perhaps that wasn't the best environment for this album, but this thing took a WHILE before it got even somewhat interesting, and ended pretty soon after that. For a majority of the album, my main thought was shock that the voice was coming from a British white girl, and that it sounded nothing like Dusty's later albums, but otherwise the songs themselves were forgettable and repetitive. It finally started to either shape up or click in the final stretch, but the songs zoomed by so quick I didn't really process what I was listening to. Perhaps a more proper re-listen would give it the credit it deserves from me, but I don't get anything from this that I wouldn't most likely get from a different version of the songs here.

This gives off internet-age vibes, sort of like the kind of music someone mostly on Tumblr would listen to back in 2013, which is impressive considering this came out a decade prior, however that circus music-esque design just sounds goofy, especially when paired with a garage rock-lite sound. It has its moments of solid melodies where everything comes together, but then the singer will decide to make his voice sound like gravel, or they'll repeat the same lyric over and over, and it'll get tiring quickly. It isn't a bad album, it blows by pretty quickly, but there's nothing special here, or if there is, its buried under layers of mid.

I feel like I'm going crazy, but Do Kim Gordon's vocals sound different here? Not necessarily worse, but I'll admit while the punk style fits the album's tone more, I did miss her more bored delivery that's present on past albums, and I was happy to see those vocals make a return more and more as the album went on. I suppose the payoff was that I was pretty much always anticipating Thurston Moore's songs, in which the guitar playing and singing felt tighter than ever, and just showed how solid of a rockstar Moore is. Sure, this album is far more commercial than previous works (other than maybe Goo), but it's that mix of mass appeal with Sonic Youth sound that allows this album to have some fantastic moments with sheer power of will being presented in every facet of its being. Not every song is a slam dunk, but when this album gets good, it gets superb, and leads to a satisfying entry into the 90s alt-rock scene that Sonic Youth themselves helped spawn.

This album feels like pure anxiety, and that doesn't always mean it's a manic mile-a-minute, but rather a look into an individual riddled with paranoia and submerged in conspiracy. The album still has this funk, and if you've explored the album before or after it, you know this feeling is not unfamiliar to Talking Heads, but the pure disbelief happening around this album and its emotions is what drives the listener from track to track. Some of the topics here are relatively trivial, while others just seem deranged, but it's those moments of actual fear that oddly keep the band moving, and while its anxieties perhaps make for a more jittery sound, that blends incredibly well with the minimalist funk introduced in the beginning track. The whole theme of the album just feels like making complex issues simple, and vice versa, and that makes for an incredibly engaging album, one where you always wonder what Byrne will warble about next. Its loss against its fellow Talking Heads albums, in my opinion, is that while the slow descent on Remain in Light felt tonally justified, here the slowdown across the tracks doesn't feel quite as earned, nor as heavy, and can lead to a noticeable drop-off in quality in the final stretch. Still good songs, of course, but the slow-course anxiety displayed on Air is done to perfection, leading the other slow tracks to be easily cast to the side when looking for a fix. However, that does not detract on how well the band was able to not only represent the sound of the era, but also form it themselves into something heart-pounding yet groovy, and that more electronic sound found here really adds to the cold mental state. Being able to create a feeling of anxiety and translate it into music is incredible, and being able to still make it extremely dance heavy is just that much more so.

An album that sometimes suffers from the same fate as Seinfeld, of all things, as its impact, while still noted today, has been diminished to the point where I see many state that this is just the same as every other indie rock album from the time, or even that this is lesser than what came before it. I can't see it, this album has too much weight behind what it did for music to the point where, sure, much of the music spawned from it was radio fodder and even a "pleb filter," whatever that means, but this album still is like doing a complete 180 to the music that preceded it. Mainstream rock had only gotten angrier and angrier in a post-Nirvana world, and while there were calmer acts to keep the world at bay, they flew under the radar for most mainstream audiences, and Nu-Metal reigned supreme. Then, this album came along and flipped everything on its head, leading to a musical boom that some may look back as obnoxious, but I for one, quite enjoy, and even if acts like Vampire Weekend, Franz Ferdinand, or even the Killers don't do much for you, I struggle to see how there wouldn't be something to enjoy here. Julian Casablancas, instead of being an idiot hotshot, is a seemingly shy asshole with a lot on his mind, and while some of it may come off as a little whiney, it fits perfectly within the anxieties of the next generation. The world was changing, and no longer was rap rock in-charge, but rather anxiety was at the forefront of society, and this album exemplifies that perfectly. Hell, it even seemed to predict the coming war on terrorism, as the song New York City Cops was replaced by When It Started by the time of its US release for obvious reasons (and honestly, it's for the best, as NYCC is probably the weakest track here, while When It Started may be my favorite) which only proves my point more. This album was the future of indie rock, and while now for some it can come off as tired, at its release there was a reason everyone copied it.

For the music, OH MY GOD, IT'S SO GOOD. The Strokes are the masters of the chorus and bridge, nearly every one here is some of the best in its genre. They're catchy, brilliantly condensed, and don't sacrifice any amount of Julian's nonchalant tone to get their feeling across. He knows when to get angry, and he knows when to hold it back to create an incredibly charming experience where there's a satisfying tug-and-pull throughout. The riffs, both guitar and bass, are also superb. It is clear from the first track that the bass playing will always be immaculate, but paying attention to the single but raw guitar allows each song to truly blossom, and matches the deadpan tone perfectly. The whole album can only be described as concise and never a dull moment. You're hopping from one hook to the next, and not a single song suffers from overstaying its welcome. It allows for a constant, albeit subtle, change that is thoroughly great. This may not be my favorite rock album of all time or anything, but it's hard to deny its greatness, even sans context. It deserves its praise, and I only can hope in the next decade or so it will receive the mini-Renaissance it deserves.

The opener is magnificent, and the closer is great too, but hardly anyone talks about the rest of the album, save for perhaps the infamous cover of Across the Universe, which I will admit is probably the worst track here. However, the rest of the album carries that same white boy funk that Fame masters, and had me grooving along with it for the entirety of the A-side. I was actually surprised by the tone of some of these, with tracks like Right having darker undertones, which I wasn't expecting with this record. It is an extremely commercial album, and yeah, it is kind of obvious with context that this was made with tons of drugs involved, but I think it deserves the mild recognition it has garnered over time, and while it certainly isn't one of his best, this is a solid step into a genre you would think someone like Bowie would have no business in, and that's what makes it all the more impressive.

I don't think Sea Change is a great starting point in any sense of the word. It hardly represents Beck's overall discography, and when it comes to alt-country you certainly have acts better suited to ease you into the genre. This is why my first go around with Sea Change a couple years ago was something I could recognize as great, but ultimately decided was not for me. However, now I find myself liking outfits like Silver Jews or Big Thief more than ever, and it allows this album retroactively to flourish, albeit still pale in comparison to its contemporaries. Beck's monotone delivery compliments the sweeping instrumentation gorgeously, and the heavier moments pack the right serving and balance of emotion and grandeur. It can be a bit dull in its weaker moments, and as with seemingly all albums of the 2000s, it is too long, but this album deserves to be seen as one of Beck's crowning achievements, even if it isn't the best representation of his overall catalogue.

Man, that A-side is utterly fantastic, showing exactly why albums are so important, and can often triumph over a song-by-song listening experience. So much to say in one medley, and it all is not only peaceful and catchy, but thought-provoking and even devastating in modern contexts. However, the B-side is extremely ho-hum to me, to a pretty bad extent. You have two tracks too long and aimless for their own good, and a bible thumping cheese-fest sandwiched between to only lead to a lacking finale. I can see why one would like the final track, but after that glorious string of songs on the A-side, and even other Marvin Gaye tracks off other albums, I know better exists, and it deters me from it a little bit. A good album, certainly, but the best of all time just feels like a stretch.

Magnificent, incredible, indestructible. This album has some of the best musical moments I've ever heard, being the perfect balance of suave and sleazy jazz that makes me want to get up and dance while also making me want to bawl my eyes out all within seconds of each other, and it does it to such a seamless degree on top of it all. Everything fits, every player is in top form, every note means something, and this album is incredible. The hints of Spanish guitar, among other genres, are just cherries on top.

While some of the bombastic string sections are a nice surprise, I do prefer a Neil Young album that feels more tempered and personal, or at the very least something more rock-y and analogue. So, there's a little less than half this album that does not speak to me, and that does include the major hits, Heart of Gold and Old Man. However, there is a decent chunk of this album that is magnificent and worth the praise lauded upon it for the half-a-century since its release. It walks that perfect line between too cryptic and too mainstream (Neil Young is obviously mainstream, but y'know what I mean) that allows it to feel like it pulls at those old soul heartstrings and every country-esque tone and feeling are condensed into a collection of warm, cozy yet lonely tones that are perfect for introspection. Neil's voice isn't magically easy to listen to, nor is it some level of poetry on the same league as fellows like Dylan or Cohen, but it's that simplicity that makes it hit all the harder. I do wish the album was as consistent (for me) as an album like On the Beach, as I think it can come off as overproduced and a tad schlocky, but when this album hits, it really hits and is something at least worth some consideration of praise, even if Young does have better projects.

Red Hot Chili Peppers has become an artist that I used to look at with hope and intrigue, mostly because my dad liked them, and I liked the songs I did know by them. Even when discussing specifically this album, Scar Tissue was a big hit for me in my formative years, although I can't really tell you why. Basically, what I'm saying is that I used to look at people who wore RHCP shirts and wouldn't very lightly cringe at the sight. I don't really, now, either, but maybe I will after hearing this album. The hits are most definitely still strong, and I can at least see why Scar Tissue appealed to my younger self's music taste, but any deep cut on this album is pure filler. I tried latching on to any instrumentation present on the album in my hour with it, but often my brain just went, "These drums are alright... doesn't that guy kind of look like Will Ferrell? That's so silly..." then I'd tune out anything else the song did for its often bloated runtime. It isn't technically bad, but despite Anthony Kiedis' popping vocal style, the whole thing just felt very sleepy, and ironically only woke me up a bit at the very end when they took things in a softer, slower direction. Perhaps a shorter album wouldn't of suffered from this fluff issue, but considering it is an album of the 90s, alas, it must. Just something I don't consider essential listening, and even makes me consider if RHCP was a singles band this whole time.

The first track is enthralling for being such a long song, although that may be due to its hyperactive nature, being more like four or five songs in one. Then the second track is even better, instantly blasting you away only to tease you with that high for the rest of the song, and it leaves you itching for what else this album can come up with for its shorter tracks. It proceeds to, unfortunately, kind of lose me after that. The album was atmospheric and mellow background music before the drop-off, but it still felt like any moment I could tune in and find something great, but after the second track Tortoise lean into the background music nature of it all, and it becomes something more similar to acts like NEU! or Boards of Canada. Luckily, the final track ends us off on a haunting, devastating spaghetti western of a track that fills me with so much cinematic despair. It's a great closer and perhaps my favorite on the album, but the more ambient tone that takes up about ten minutes of the album does a lot of damage for my enjoyment. I think had they committed to that ambient tone more thoroughly, I would be singing a different tune, but as is it leaves me wishing we got more post-rock instrumental wonders, and less Kid A demo backing track.

Mama Cass deserved the world. The other three? Varying levels of "not so much."

In the United States there is a group of water parks in Wisconsin known as the Wisconsin Dells. This includes various massive, themed water resorts in which you'll get the "premium" water park experience. That is, to say, as little used band aids in the lazy river as possible. One of these parks is known as the Wilderness, which is vaguely jungle themed. Of course, that means cheap sounding, vaguely African music plays throughout the whole location. On repeat. All day. This album, is that music. A bare minimum, diverse selection of tropical songs that fail to sound any different from one another, being just "not American" enough to fit the oddly racist themeing, while still not scaring any visitors away with anything too different. Just like the Wilderness, this album was selected by a white guy trying his best to be open to other styles and cultures, but does the bear minimum in actually embracing these vultures and looking beyond surface level. Not helping things is of course the selection chosen is a pedophile. I'm pretty sure Wisconsin Dells at least avoids that with its selection. Maybe. Who knows. This album sucks.

I think a major reason that this album is only remembered for one or two songs is because its not Talking Heads, in fact its quite different, but I think the charm here is on par with Talking Heads, even if it is presented completely differently. Obviously the hit Genius of Love is catchy and a sampling machine, but most of the other tracks are also extremely catchy, such as Wordy Rappinghood asking "what if Blondie's rap was a whole song?" and Lorelei giving this sad edge to a still quite dance-y track, it has enough variety even in its short run time to be a really good time at points. I think the middle run on the album can tend to run too long, but the tracks at the start and finish are far too good to pass up, and Booming and Zooming is almost terrifying to me for some reason, with a eclectic yet catchy riff with dialogue just audible enough to give off a tense edge, I think its a fantastic closer. Were the album to replace some of its lesser tracks with even better runs from the time, such as Under the Boardwalk, then I could see this being a really great album from an admittedly bygone era. Unfortunately, it seems to just be remembered for the one track, and that's a shame in my eyes, because there's some great stuff here under the surface level.