Reviews by giddy

It is evident listening to this album, despite how much he may have despised me saying so, that this had a huge influence on Jeff Buckley's sole album, and his musical style in general. Perhaps not as many medieval castle references as his father, but the wistful, guitar heavy tracks have this same energy to them as the tracks presented here, especially as they ramp up in the emotion presented, such as on tracks like Pleasant Street. So, it comes as no surprise that I do enjoy this. Perhaps it is no Grace, because nothing really is, but it has that same simple beauty to it that I appreciate in the latter Buckley's work, and it makes me happy. That, and Tim's more androgynous vocal delivery here really striking a chord (heh) as well. It can breeze by without you gathering much from the songs at points, and that titular eight minute track really didn't earn its run time, but as a whole package it is something that I find earns its place among other famous psychedelic folk records, and I'll be looking forward to listening to Buckley's other records, even if it seems this higher voice is not a mainstay.

This starts promising, but I find it to be really generic sounding. Like if you asked someone to make punk rock with no strings attached, this would be the outcome. Its fine, but hardly notable in my eyes, save for the intrigue of a shared lead singer position between a girl and boy, but Sonic Youth pulls that dynamic off far better.

I made a mistake with my Minutemen album, and that was giving it a 5 because I liked many of the songs, missing the idea that I found much of the rest of the album forgettable. Well, I won't make that same mistake here, as I once again like a lot of tracks here, enough where I get why this would be here, but it is far too long, and much of it comes off as filler at best. It makes the good tracks stand out all the more, yes, but it leaves a good disc-and-a-half worth of songs feeling unnecessary, and it leads to an album that is definitively good, but could be better, such as what could've been an amazing video game only be good because it is open world. His voice is really impressive, but the female singer got on my nerves sometimes. In that way it is also right down the middle, but I'd say its quality overall is high enough to bump it up a bit.

I've regretted giving Here Come the Warm Jets a 4 initially for a while now, and while it is at a 4.5 now, it sitting on my 1001 Album profile in the 4 category hurts my soul. Luckily, this album comes in clutch to at least make me look like I have some intelligence. This album is gorgeous, with so many moments where just sitting back and letting the music swallow you will do wonders. I mean, this is 1975, yet it sounds light years ahead of even now. I can picture a whole film from the very music that pours from this album, and still enjoy it on an average drive to and from work. Those moments of contemplation from the instrumental tracks make the vocal tracks even more gorgeous, with Eno still showing he can write a banger of a pop diddy. I could see why one would find this boring if you were expecting something more exciting, but I urge you to let this record play whilst you are laying in bed in the dark, and let everything wash over you. You don't need drugs to feel transcendent, you need In Dark Trees and The Big Ship.

I see this album as the good ending of a band like Bon Jovi. It still isn't anything special, but at least there are some competent tracks present on this album to make it stand out a little bit. Stuff like Rock of Ages and Photograph are at the very least enjoyable in the moment, and there are some solid hooks for hair metal. Again, it isn't something worth going out of your way to listen to, but I can only assume this is on the positive side of the glam metal movement. The fact that said positive side only reaches a 2.5 for me is not a great sign, however.

This sort of feels like the evil version of Sparks. I mean, you got high register, goofy songs that take some getting used to, especially when it comes to this album. However, the Residents are not here to make pop masterpieces, but rather avant garde art that can be hard to stomach for the average person. Me liking this album does not mean those who don't are dumb, because of course not, this is just straight weird. I'm just intrigued and pulled in by the shock of it all, so when you get something that actually rocks, it really does rock. If anything I'd say the amount of songs makes it repetitive to listen to, not so much strange, although that is certainly there. I don't know man, I just think this is a neat collection of the anti-mainstream and macabre, and it scratches some itches doing so.

I know Iggy Pop wanted David Bowit to have less of a grip on this album, but I feel if anything this just feels like if David Bowie had continued his glam-ish hard rock rather than experimenting with different musical mediums in the late 70s. That leads to a record that has got some great emotion and gripping parts of it, as well as that Stooges edge that can be enthralling if done right. It does lose me a little on some of the lyrical choices (especially on songs like Sixteen) and a good chunk of songs losing me when they were oh so close to bringing me in, but this is still a rocking tune that feels like the perfect blend between that proto-punk sound and that more intense grip music had going into the 80s, and I think it pulls it off really well.

Well, ain't this purty? The style of playing and singing fewls like its been copied countless times, to the point where as the album went on it was starting to feel a tad derivative, despite it being the origin point, and that did start to sour the album, even though it's quite short, but that doesn't stop that there are some really pretty chord progressions here, and the more stripped down nature reminds me of Nick Drake, but 90s-ified. Just something that's really chill and relaxed, while still having this uneasiness to me, like something else is wrong and you don't know what, and I really enioy those types of albums. Am I rambling? I'm rambling.

This has some really cool sounds to it for a regular ol' two-tone album. You could definitely tell the band wanted to change up their sound to adapt to the changing sounds of music, without removing their personality from it. That doesn't necessarily mean the whole album is up my alley, as there are often moments where the vocals annoy me pretty badly, and usually this style of music can get old pretty quick, but this is still a solid release that I feel probably at least has one enjoyable song for everyone.

This album just reads to me like a lesser Sister. That isn't to say this is a bad album, but I feel like the sense of dread they are trying to portray here doesn't come off as anti-establishment-y as one would hope, and instead can feel aimless. However, when this album does decide to rock out, it rocks out pretty hard! I love the guitar here, which is the case with all Sonic Youth projects, and the more often whispery voices are a cool change of pace compared to the louder sounds on some of their bigger releases. I see this as an interesting step in the band's catalogue, as well as a necessary one, but you can do better Sonic Youth-wise. You can do much worse in the music-as-a-whole department, though.

Music that is barely hanging on to its "glam rock" status, similar to Kiss or some Alice Cooper, but I'd say this is pretty okay. Most of it is inoffensive rock 'n' roll riffs with vocals that are neither forgettable nor iconic, but every now and then something leaks through that I find enjoyable. I'd say it makes me hopeful, but then I remember its just because I like glam rock, and I can find that in much better artists and albums.

I'm going to sound like someone who has no idea what they're talking about now, because I don't, but is this really that ahead of its time? I mean, it's pretty decent techno, and was huge for its time, I understand that, but there were other electronic artists at the same time who made songs that I feel captured this up and coming sound better and fuller. I often see the argument "this is crazy for 1978," but Giorgio Moroder had already made multiple tracks that were electronic powerhouses, and artists like Phaedra, while not rocking the house, were showing off the world of ambient along with Brian Eno. So, this album is just an awkward middle ground that doesn't appease either part of my brain. It is pretty decent, as I said, but I would never see myself thinking this is the pinnacle of 70s electronic. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to No. 1 in Heaven.

This is better than I remember it being the first time I ever heard it, with the mix of this showtune-ness of it all with American glam felt like it was no one but Alice Cooper's. That doesn't mean every song here is memorable, though, which isn't great when an album is already pretty short. However, you'll never not hear me sing the praises of Alma Mater, which is one of the band's best tracks, and brings this album up from okay to good, which is quite the feat for one track. This album is nothing spectacular, in fact I'd say there are multiple Alice Cooper albums that are better before and after this, but this is still a solid release from a group/performer that I feel can go much lower quality-wise.

Johnny Cash comes off so cool on this album, man. He's quick to a joke, he is so blunt that his aggressiveness also comes off as super charming, and he just deserves the title of "the man in black." I do wish I liked country music as a whole more, as the music here doesn't grab me too much, but when it comes to being a live album, I can't imagine the audience to performer contact gets much better, and I just like it on that alone.

Well, this was kind of disappointing. I've known the cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart for a while now, and that song is a solid bop and a half in the right move, but it seems the rest of the album is struggling to reach that same level of excellency within the trip hop genre. That isn't the say the album is bad, because it isn't, but it leaves you not really thinking much other than "okay," and that feels sometimes like a greater tragedy than an album being bad with one good song. Instead, this just lands somewhere in the middle of pretty much everyone's scale of alright-ness, and not much else needs to be said.

This and the United States of America record from the same time were so ahead of their time that it is insane how overlooked they are in the US. I mean, some of the electronic effects are so crunchy and powerful that one can't help but be taken aback by the brash sound this album presents. Can it be a bit too much? In this album's case, yes, I feel it can be, with often some songs losing focus and feeling a tad bit like just noise, and the language barrier certainly doesn't help, but can you really blame it when it's all just so cool sounding? And it is certainly varied too, which helps. There is certainly some filler here, but otherwise top notch and ahead of its time, I need to dig into more of this underrated, late-60s psychedelic rock, it's bating a nearly perfect score.

I've known about this one for a little bit, because my partner listened to it and showed me Sonic Attack because they thought I'd think it was cool, and it was. The rest of the music here carries that same space-y energy where nothing their saying feels real, and usually it isn't really, but suspending your disbelief for long enough to get sucked in a little is a neat enough experience, and there are most definitely some songs here that bang. However, the length and repetition of the whole package is a big turn-off, and by the end everything is starting to leave the same taste in my mouth. Its amazing that this is mostly all live, but it also feels sloppy enough that not knowing the music this stems from leads to aimless tracks that could use a few studio pass-overs. Overall, an experience with good and bad qualities, but I can't imagine coming back to it, unless I were to become a big fan of hallucinogens.

Well, this is interesting. It isn't what I expected this album to sound like, but it still isn't really my cup of tea. It gives off that "desert in movies" vibe to a lot of it, and while some of the songs around the 3/4 point are better, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps were it more engaging up to that point I'd be more happy eith my experience, but it was getting to be a slog, and really only survived because of picking up. I really hate albums at this length. Either commit to the over the hour or cut down your filler.

This has to be one of the most forgettable hip-hop albums I've gotten so far, which seems to be a theme with Wu-Tang's solo albums. Each song just feels the exact same after a while, and I'm not a fan of the raspy-ness of his voice in long sessions. This just feels like it covers the exact things that the GZA album I listened to already covered. Not terrible, but entirely forgettable, save for a bar or two.

This album reminds me a lot of America's output, being like you're relaxing on the beach, but that beach is in the middle of the woods, on a cold day. However, unlike America's early output, which I quite enjoy, I found this to be pretty boring. I understand that perhaps this was a big step for the soft rock genre, but is that really a genre worth highlighting? I mean, half the time, David Crosby and Co. decide to replace actual lyrics with slow, thoughtful vocalizing, but it leaves the song feeling hollow. There were small bits of joy when everything did come together properly, but as someone who just listened to Deja Vu, why would I pick this over something like that?