Reviews by giddy

I didn't enjoy this one as much as Blue, but I still liked this well enough that I'm not worried about the other Joni Mitchell albums on the list. I can only hope that I still haven't reached the peak of her music. I really adored Blue Motel Room off this album, though, may be my favorite song of hers, just not enough here to raise it to the four star rating.

A pretty un-notable singer-songwriter album and not much more than that. This album had an issue I hear for Joni Mitchell albums a lot where the songs seem aimless, but at least with Mitchell there is something there musically and vocally. This kind of reeks of 80's. Not in the way new wave does, but more like just in its boring production values that just feel like they're missing something, so songs can start to feel very much the same. Only saved from a one star because nothing here actively made me angry or annoyed. Most media I'd rather be angry than bored, but that does not stand with music, because this at least did not offend my ears.

Despite this perhaps being the most well-rounded Sonic Youth album, it is not what I would consider the best entry point into the band and its catalog. As someone who did start with this album, the first go-around was something I knew I enjoyed, but was difficult to process due to its unconventional instrumentals, offbeat lyrics, and dry vocal deliveries. I had known of the band because of Kool Thing, but I didn't expect something so raw and drastic, yet collected and catchy, especially for 1988, and it made it hard to realize the album's overall quality at the time. Now, however, I see it as an album with an immense amount of power, not just within its own chords and melodies, but also as one with an iron grip on the shape of rock music to come. Sure, not everyone today knows Sonic Youth, but they know the sound they helped create, and the destructive yet intricate nature helped spawn dozens, perhaps hundreds of bands that would now be considered rock staples. Obviously, within pretty wide music circles the band is blatantly known, but it's that slight injustice of ignorance in the population that is more of a shame than anything. They're missing out on vicious yet catchy guitar riffs to get you jamming instantly. They're missing out on lackadaisical yet devastating vocal deliveries to be unlike anyone else in the industry. They're just, in general, missing out on the most wonderful kick to the head that a person can encounter. It's rebellious, being the exact opposite of pop's late 80s sheen and precision, yet still has better hooks than most songs from the time. It is the perfect balance of most things music, and while genres like noise rock and mainstream grunge were certainly not born from Sonic Youth, those genres would not be commonplace were it not for Sonic Youth's help, and I think that alone deserves this album recognition, if it wasn't for the amazing overall sound, pacing, playing, lyrics, etc., etc. already. For a cherry on top of it all, note that Kim Gordon is yet another S-tier female bass player, pretty much solidifying my opinion that women are just the best bassists. I'm glad I gave this album another go, or I may have too thought of this album as nothing more than good. I'd say go listen to one of the albums right before this and one of the ones from right after, then return and experience rock bliss.

An album that's great for driving, with high energy and the vocals not really mattering. However, once you actually sit down and listen, it does seem to lack any nuance that was on similar albums from the era. Certainly good if you just wanna jam, but runs out of steam quick on an already short album.

The very essence of "in one ear and out the other". None of this was bad, per se, but other than some cool switching between audio sources, there isn't much here.

I really love the variation in this album. You'll be getting a punky jam at first, then a new wave bop, and just moments later a ballad, all with really excellent singing and instrument playing. I mean, listen to those meter changes on Tattooed Love Boys. The thing holding this record back is perhaps a little too many instrumental only parts and a couple songs that aren't that notable, but this was super ahead of its time in pretty much all fields.

The supposed birth of the metal genre as we know it today, and its first song really tells you that. While I do enjoy this more than Paranoid, which I got a couple weeks ago, this still suffers from guitar solos that feel as though they go nowhere and lacking substance. I think there's a lot more to enjoy here, with it feeling more like a metal album than their follow-up album, but I still struggle to praise this too much. N.I.B. may tie with Sweet Leaf as my new favorite Black Sabbath song, however, I really enjoyed that.

An album that starts absolutely fantastic with Roundabout, then lulls around for a bit, but brings itself back by the end for an album that while certainly not perfect, feels like a solid little package. Nothing elevates above that opening song, though.

Hmm, this one is kind of tough to rate. The songs were nice and pleasant, but I never really felt as though I was getting into them most of the time, and there were small things throughout the album that were annoying more than anything, such as Charles Coleman's laughing throughout the whole song, or when Makeba's singing was muffled by herself via saying certain syllables. I really can't ignore the impressive vocals, however, and I didn't outright dislike anything, so I think it'll go in the middle with a three.

Her voice is great, don't get me wrong, but this all sounds the same, and that's over three hours of all the same. That's ridiculous, and the fact that this is a compilation hurts it more. Lots of songs where words are rhymed by adding "-a" at the end, and that was annoying. Just an annoyed experience, overall, and her voice saves it from the dreaded one star.

I had gotten Belle & Sebastian's album Tigermilk a bit ago on this generator, but knew of this album from my partner's love for it, so was hoping that may enjoyment from their prior album would just be heightened more in this, and it absolutely was. It is hard to explain what makes this album so enjoyable, but the melancholy feeling with the easy listening really are heighted with the almost "locomotive" feeling of some songs, while knowing when to reel it back to really make the album feel fuller. It's just a feeling that isn't quite folk, alternative, or anything else, but its own thing that is really quite enjoyable. Excellent listen.

An album that really feels like it ushers in the sound of 90's pop and R&B music. The issue is that isn't really a good thing. The cheesy synths and the "we need to make the world a better place" lyrics really don't do much for me.

I've seen people say this is a "love it or hate it" sort of album, with quite a few people on this generator going for the "hate it" route, but quite honestly, I've neither. I just think this is alright and really interesting, with a sort of folk-psychedelic vibe going on that may be annoying at times but really works at times. There are times when the hard acoustic guitar, such as on "Swift as the Wind", goes really well and sounds great, with the dreary vocals adding to it. I just fail to understand how this apparently the fifth worst album on this whole list, as it reminded me a lot of Pink Floyd's first album on here, and yet that has a almost a whole star on this album. Guess it just goes to show that artist bias is most certainly a thing.

You know what? This gets a 4, it may not have earned it totally, but it won't move the number too much any way, and I wanna help it get up a bit.

I'm starting to think I'm not much of a Wu-Tang Clan sort of person. Both this and when I scanned through 36 chambers were pretty unnotable to me. Perhaps I'm being too hasty, as I said I only scanned through one of them, but I found this pretty boring.

I've known about this album for years now, and after finally hearing it, I understand why this is such a standout part of hip-hop and rap. Lauryn Hill impressed me as an artist earlier in the list with her solo album, so I was looking to enjoy this too, and it delivered. I would even say I enjoyed this more, with the little skits not being as intrusive as in that album. The only thing holding this one back is its overall length, with some of the songs feeling almost like filler, and are obviously lesser compared to some of the others. However, great album and I wish someone had forced Killing Me Softly unto me sooner.

This album is mildly hard to rank, because I feel as though this supposed to be some sort of otherworldly experience judging from the composition and lyrics, but considering I'm as sober as a judge right now, this album tended to be a little boring. I really enjoyed Part 1 of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and knew this before going in because of my significant other and Rock Band, but the rest of this felt pretty samey with some bright spots shining through. There were some musical effects that had hairs on the back of my neck tickling a little, but otherwise an album that's certainly just okay.

God I hate Green Day. Almost all of their famous songs either sound goofy, cheesy, or rip-off another song. You can argue that "songs sound like other songs" all the time in music, but Green Day does it so much that they constantly get called out for it, and that obnoxious voice only detracts from these iconic songs. Now, I will admit most of these rip-off songs are not on this album, but that doesn't excuse my hatred of this whiney ass band. So, let's just say I'm not going into this album with the most neutral mindset of these pop punk shit.

Alright, this isn't any better. His vocals still suck, and knowing almost every song in some way just made me know right when it started I hated it. And why, oh why, is a punk album, what's know for being short and sometimes sweet, have multiple way too long songs. I realize they are usually multiple songs in one, but they are always listed as one, so they shall be punished as one. Just awful. Have no clue why pop punk is such a popular genre.

Suprisingly good. I liked the White Stripes-like music and the nicer poppier stuff was nice too. Only thing holding it back is the weird moaning in a lot of songs. Hard to take that seriously.

Well, I always thought I vaguely liked Kiss and their weird mesh of genres, but apparently those songs I do like are flukes, because this was pretty bad. The album started pretty good with the first song, but past that it was generic and boring. It's a shame, because considering Kiss is usually seen as glam rock, I bet this will drag my score down for that sub-genre, which I figured would be my favorite by the end of this.

I actually just recently listened to this album for the first time a few months ago, and I loved it, so we'll see if that love sticks for this re-listen.

I must admit, after re-listening to this album, I think the honeymoon era for me is over with it. Its still extremely good, don't get me wrong, but I don't find myself wanting to come back soon after this recent listen, and am satisfied with fewer of the songs overall. Once again, still a really good album, but not quite as perfect as I once thought. The songs present are really good at making your head bop around during, and the vocals hit this perfect blend of being unique without being annoying. This may have dropped from a five star to a four star album for myself, but I still enjoy it deeply, and must state this is a high four star.