Reviews by giddy

It's super interesting to see parody and satire of music still happening at the time of the music being made at the same time as this album. It would be like if Weird Al made Eat It before Beat It was even released. It's even better because Frank Zappa and his bandmates don't sacrifice the quality of the music (most of the time) for making fun of various genres, topics, and lyrics. It all turns into an album where you can only think more and more "holy shit, this was made in 1966!" I think the end of the album pretty much going crazy is also a great choice to keep the album from getting stale. I will say, though, that the length is a bit much, and even with only fifteen tracks, there's definitely some filler in here, with some songs seemingly repeating paordies of things like Doo-Wap. Still, really blown away by this, and I feel this is a high four.

Some notes to start is that this is one of the ugliest album covers on the whole list, and that man, do a lot of one hit wonder bands have albums on the list, for better and worse. In this case, it's worse. The album isn't bad, per se, as I like some of the ideas here, but nothing stands out as some crowning achievement in new wave, synth-pop, pop, or even electronic. Some of it is pretty okay, but nothing gravitates to me any more than anything else that blends together from the era. There could definitely be days where I could see this getting all the way up to a four, depending on how open I am to just stereotypical synth pop, but today is not it, and thinking of all the other much more deserving albums from the era that were probably axed for this makes it all the sadder.

Modt of the album was extremely nothing, even starting to get annoying and bad near the 75% mark, but the last four songs were all really nice and bleak yet beautiful. Nothing crazy good, but earns a three for its troubles.

Eh, I prefer this over the sound of everyone tuning on top of each other for twenty minutes at a time, but Miles Davis continues to prove to me that I don't get jazz. I just don't understand what makes this so amazing. Often it is boring more than anything, and with how long winded each song can be, it can even be annoying. I could see enjoying this in the moment at a club or something, but just listening? Total bore. Nice piano playing, though.

It's kind of funny that I got this so close to a Bob Dylan album, but this left a lot to be desired. Felt boring the whole thing, and gave a vibe the same way CCR does for me where it feels close to being something I like but instead just feels like southern rock 'n' roll stereotypes all rolled into one album. I have nothing wrong with this, just disappointed really. Hope Music from Big Pink is better.

I kind of figured seeing the fourteen minute song awaiting me at the end of this album that it'd make or break the album for me, but it didn't really affect my view of this album from the rest of the songs at all. I mean, it got tedious a little past the halfway mark, but it wasn't so annoying it pushed the album over to the one star. This is just an album full of little things I like, such as the guitar playing, or some of the more interesting chord progressions, but none of it really comes together for me. This doesn't feel like a congruent album to me, which stuff where songs sound decades old to newer more "sophisticated" country tunes, and even a random live(?) song. Perhaps this is just supposed to be a love letter to a bunch of commonplace country musician moments, but none of it left an impact. Don't hate this, but I certainly don't get it.

Before this album, I lumped Bob Dylan into that group of musicians that old-heads really liked, but were dull in a modern age. However, after living with this album in my life for almost a year now, it has become increasingly obvious how wrong I was. There are a couple duds on this album, yes, but almost every other track here is folk bliss, with Dylan's lyrics being so astounding that you get wrapped up in trying to translate them, only to come out of each song with a different connection than another may have had to the song, and only his vocals could make these songs sound as earnest as they are written. There's heartbreak and strife, playful whimsy, and everything in-between to rock your world with each new track, and you're still getting some of the best songs over an hour in; front loaded album, this is not. Hell, by your third or fourth time around (hehe) you'll start to take to even the lesser tracks, as they still outmatch all of Dylan's contemporaries, as does his harmonica, which is perhaps the only time where I don't find the instrument grating, rather I wanna pick one up myself. If you have to attach yourself to one double album, you'd be hard-pressed to find one better than this, and I'm just astounded that something like this can totally flip my beliefs on a musician and even a genre. Its that good. Final note, Dylan's voice is actually fantastic, and anytime I see a post online criticizing it I want to keel over and cry.

From this generator my partner and I have discovered two things, with each of us discovering one. On my side, I got Kimono My House, which pointed us towards discovering Sparks and now having a mutual favorite band of all time. And for them, they discovered the Buckley family. First it was Tim Buckley, in which they loved his voice and more eccentric musical pallette, but then they got Jeff Buckley. Now, it's safe to say this album would rank in their top ten favorites of all time, and that obviously means I got to hear this one before I got it on here too.

As for the album itself for me? It's amazing. Buckley's voice is angelic and mesmerizing. The band performing with him knows the exact mood to go for to really know when to go all out and reel it back in, and the obvious inspirations this had on artists like Thom Yorke and Matt Bellamy is worn on their sleeves. To say that this album is amazing in every way is a very easy statement. I mean, I really don't know what to say that hasn't been said. The opening track is fantastic and keeps that solid energy all the way through to the very end of the album. If I had slight critiques it'd be the length of some of the tracks, but that really doesn't matter too much when you're in the mood for this sort of stuff. I may not love this as much as my partner, but this is still an easy five star (two in a row, woo-hoo!)

Holy shit, this is awesome. The singing, the influences, the gorgeous chord progressions, and how ahead of it's time it feels. This is a powerhouse of a double LP with both singers bringing their S+++ game. Perhaps it's a little long, but it's hard to notice when every song is a banger. The Beatles influences are clear, but Borges and especially Nascimento take those influences and run, making one of the best pop albums I've ever heard. You can hear influences that inspired pop and rock bands all the way up through the 90s, and the fact that there's some that won't like this because it's not in English is a crime against themselves. I don't understand a single word and it's already a five, so imagine what the lyrics bring to the table. I adore this, were it not for Kimono My House this would be my favorite album so far.

Her voice and guitar playing is amazing, and her songs can range from the folky traditional tunes of Bob Dylan to the dark, introspective tracks of Leonard Cohen, a few years before either were apart of the mainstream concious. So, to all of that, hats off. I just think the album sometimes suffers feom being an older album, as those more country tracks feel like something put on their to appease the masses, rather than be something truly groundbreaking throughout, which Dylan took and and ran with a few years later. However, this is still a very good album, and I'm still at awe of that final track.

Not counting their debut, as it's quite different from the rest of their discography it seems, this is my first experience with Pink Floyd through a whole album, and it certainly feels like a new experience. I like the thorough storytelling and how it is all one cohesive "thing" while still managing to get those singles in there that stand out. Also it looping over and over if you so choose is a really cool touch, no matter how simple. That being said this does feel like it thinks it's higher art than it really is. At the end of the day this still feels like a pretty normal rock album, and there's nothing truly here that makes me go "wow, this was super important to listen to." I loved the reoccurring motifs, something I feel a lot of concept albums lack, and this is a good package, but I see why this is usually seen as the weakest of the big three (four?). Still giving it a four, but it's a light one at that. Also, the best song from the Wall, What Shall We Do Now?, isn't even on the actual album, so that sucks.

This felt extremely stereotypical and almost like a parody of oneself. That isn't to say it's bad, it's completely competent as an album, but everything just sounds like surface level 80s dark wave. Now, at the time I'm sure this was revolutionary as a darker sound in new wave, but now it feels like the bare minimum as to what someone would be playing if there was a soundtrack for the 80s. It just screams angst, but that angst is hard to take seriously with the cheesy synths and repetitive drum machine. Maybe if one of these songs alone was on a whole album that sounded different, then I'd be interested due to the darker tone, but instead I was just bored by the end. Maybe in the right mood, but I have no clue what that mood would be, and why I wouldn't pick something like Depeche Mode or Joy Division first.

The terriblness and disturbing-ness of this album has been greatly exaggerated by the reviews on here. If you have any experience with any sort of grit in your music, you should be just fine listening to this, and the fact that Nirvana's albums have such high scores compared to this, kind of tells you that I think a lot of Nirvana's fans miss exactly what made that so special.

Anyway, speaking of grit, this album is so gripping audibly that it scratches every itch I would try and achieve with any music I would ever make. And the varying genres and styles basically making fun of various types of music keeps the album light hearted without sacrificing the musicality (most of the time), despite the downright evil sound of most of the music. Overall I think this pretty entertaining, and at a cool thirty-two minutes, what's not to like? Are most of the songs something I wouldn't put on casually? Absolutely, but I think as an album and an experience it's pretty great.

An overall much more consistent Radiohead album in its tone and quality compared to most of their albums, but it doesn't nearly reach the highs of any of their other albums on the list, including stuff like Hail to the Thief. Still a solid record for the consistency and high polish, but it does feel like it's riding off the high of Kid A. Great album, otherwise. Seem pretty negative here but I should specify that this is still great. Would have loved more of that jazz influence we see at the end.

Literally none of this left an impact on me. Is it loud and abrasive? Yes, but none of it actually struck a chord with me, for better or worse. There's parts that sound like Tom Waits, but when this guy does it, it feels gross, not interesting. I don't hate this enough for a one star, but I wish stuff like the string samples were used more interestingly.

I've always had dueling thoughts when it came to Steely Dan, as my father would always say the music made by the group was awful, but my partner thought it was pretty alright. I'm gonna have to lean with my partner with this one, probably even more so, as I wnjoyed this one pretty consistently. I'd say each song has something I like about it, and the shorter length for each track makes it so nothing takes up too much time if you are disliking something about it. Perhaps had I not just listened to all of America's discography in the last year, which is very similar, then I wouldn't care about this, but I've got more of an ear for yacht rock now, and that definitely helps this album out.

Maybe it's just the mood I'm in, but I did not care for this. Nothing here struck a chord with me, and it just felt boring. I really have nothing to say other than that this is a light two.

Aren't people who do terrible things supposed to be really talented? This was boring. Sure, the piano playing is impressive, but it's just rock 'n' roll standards played slightly faster than usual. I can find more impressive piano-centered pieces from a century before this album. Thank god it's short, or I'm more than sure I'd hate this.

This makes me feel like I should be playing Crazy Taxi. It also makes me realize I really only care about this music while playing Crazy Taxi.

I like when he sounds like Nick Cave, but man is this album boring. Nothing here bad, but this came in one ear and out the other, and you can easily place what time this was made in the history of music, and in that case it is not a good thing. It's just so wishy washy, none of the "intense" moments feel like they earned it, and I'm just left questioning why this album has so much praise. Especially with such deep lyrics as "I'd eat your brains, 'cause I'm evil, 'cause I'm evil." Not bad I guess, but I never wanna hear this again. I'm thinking a light two at the moment, but it may be a one by the time I rate it.

Nah, it doesn't annoy me enough for a one star.