Reviews by giddy

I absolutely adore Darlene Love's voice, it's magnificent, and I assume that's why of all the songs on here, hers are the ones I know the best. Sadly I'm not as crazy for the rest of the album. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), specifically this version, is one of my favorite songs. It's a shame it's produced by a murderer, but considering he doesn't actually sing in any of these (although he does talk like a weasel near the end) and it doesn't detract from the album. I think I would've adored this with just Love, but instead we'll have to keep it in the middle. Still pretty good for a Christmas album, I'd say. Also, again, very funny, giving this on Christmas. It's like the Queen Is Dead all over again.

Wow, I was worried at first, but as thw album just went on I loved it more and more, then I went back and I loved the songs I was initially questioning, and the whole album really clicked for me. It's really interesting, as I hear the 60's sound people say they here, but I also hear some music that would come from the 90's britpop era, but like, not bad? It's hard to explain, but I encourage if you think this album was close to clicking with you, listen again, it was really lovely, and I think this album is great. Can be a tad whiney at times in the vocals, but it doesn't detract past a small part of a song near the beginning.

This was pretty good, although since it's very, VERY obviously meant to be dance music, it doesn't really jive with most of the other albums on this list and how you may listen to those. Some of the instrumental songs become background noise only a minute in, and the songs with vocals, save for one or two, are usually very simplistic. Again, this is all exactly the point in the context of the album, but I can't see myself listening to most of this in any moment of my life, other than a random shuffle. Still good enough to get into the four star range, but this is really in it's own category.

I've never spent the time to really listen to Rush, but my significant other considers them their favorite band, so I've been exposed to various songs by them for years now. So, after finally giving one of their albums a full listen, I've got to say I'm super impressed. I mean, it was slightly in good standings already, as I knew Tom Sawyer, YYZ, Limelight, and to a lesser extent Red Barchetta, which makes up more than half the album (number of songs wise), but I enjoyed the stuff I didn't know as well. I will say none of the songs really hit me with a strong feeling like other Prog Rock songs do (other than YYZ, that song has always, and will always, be one of my favorite instrumental pieces), but it was still all super solid and it's hard to say an album is anything but a five star when each song is good. It's a light five star, as I don't think the new songs will stick with me unless I give them a few more listens on my own time, but still a very good album I'm happy to have heard.

Oh, awesome, modern pop country, my ffffaaaavvoooorrriiittteee.

I'd first like to say I'm under the belief lyrics, while important to a song, are usually a backseat compared to the instrumentation, otherwise it would just be poetry. That being said, the lyrics in this are awful. When they're not cheesy they're just bad.

"In Tennessee, the sun's goin' down, but in Bejing, they're headin' out to work", what the fuck does that mean? What does that have to do with this love song? Yeah, timezones exist, good job Kacey. It doesn't even rhyme within the song, which I would excuse as an artistic choice, except the very next two lines rhyme with each other, so obviously it wasn't that. There's other examples all throughout the album, but when your first song has a lyric that makes me burst out laughing, you probably don't have the keen-est sense of writing, and there's probably a reason most pop singers don't write their own music anymore.

Another thing is the actual choice of genre itself. It's pop country with light sprinklings of more electronic-esque genres, but that isn't used in any interesting capacity, they just usually are either a light backing track that aren't notable enough to talk about, or start the song, hoping one of these songs will actually sound different, before switching back to pop country about five seconds later. This pop country is also aggravating. It's the worst of country, never really committing to the genre, which is fine by me because modern country is pretty awful in my mind, but I agree this is more pop music than anything. Bad pop music, that is, because none of this has the goal of pop music, which is to be catchy, and I don't remember these songs two seconds after they end. How do you make a song called "Space Cowboy" boring? Or "Velvet Elvis"?

There's just really nothing here I enjoy whatsoever, and the amount of modern pop albums I could understand being on here compared to this makes this even worse. Is it as bad as a male lead vocal modern country song? No, it isn't about trucks and beer, it can attempt something more interesting, it just doesn't stick the landing whatsoever.

Okay, I'll admit, maybe I'm just uncultured and don't know what I'm talking about, but this was awful. It isn't exactly "modern" pop (over a decade old!), but it sure feels like exactly why people say they don't like modern music. The ideas behind the album are in good faith, and the messages are okay, but the songs all sound pretty same-y, both in sound and in lyrics, and an over reliance on a heavy bass sound rather than any actual instruments really drags the songs down. This album also goes on far too long, with as I said, half the songs feeling like alternate versions of previous songs. Most of the featuring artists felt useless and in the background, usually in an annoying capacity (such as Drake's feature). The last song was sweet and probably my favorite on the album, but it didn't really recover the album at all. Just like Kanye West's "Yeezus", this may have changed pop music, but that isn't necessarily a good thing.

Huh, this wasn't quite what I was expecting, but also exactly fits? If that makes sense. I think this album was pretty in the middle. For the pros: the way each song is connected is phenomenal, it really makes it feel like such a tightly brought together album, despite the slight change in genres every now and then. The instrumentals are also pretty incredible, and I'd almost say this would really work as an instrumental album in it's entirety, but I'm guessing that's not what got this album such a high average score. As for "negatives", while his voice is impressive, I don't find it very notable, and it actually makes a lot of tracks a bit more of a lull. I also seem to be missing what makes this so important? Yeah, it sounds good, but it just sounds like a 2019 rendition of a style many albums throughout the decades have done just as well. I also don't understand how this won "best rock album", it's not really rock whatsoever, but that isn't this list's fault. It's hard to put into words my issues, but I don't see the fantastic album here. It's alright, and I can see why it's on this list, but I don't take much away from this as a whole. More power to those who did get something from this though, it's gotta have that high score for a reason.

Well, this should certainly help my jazz and 50s score, as I enjoyed this quite a bit! I knew I actually quite enjoyed jazz in the right style, and this more big band approach is definitely more up my alley. Each song pops so much and it's really appreciated how Count Basie let's his whole orchestra speak rather than taking the limelight like some other jazz artists I hear, it makes it feel like a full group. It does suffer from songs being hard to differentiate, especially at the beginning, but in the middle and end it tries to fix that a bit. I also don't usually judge an album on being an "album", as not every album is meant to be a concept album, but this one also does just feel like a collection of songs taped together, which while expected of the 50s, does still drag it down a little. Just a suprisingly enjoyable album, although unsure what kind of mood I'll have to be in to listen to most of this again. Not exactly driving or chilling music, and I don't dance. The last song may be good sunny day walk music, but as it's snowy where I am, may have to wait a little on that.

Man, this is extremely sexist, but I can't help but enjoy it? Perhaps it's because I know by the next album the Beastie Boys were apologizing for the lyrical content of this album, but even after listening to stuff like the Chronic and the Marshal Mathers LP, this one feels even more apparent than those, even though it definitely comes off as more delinquent-y in this album than those. Just something to note before I praise the rest of the album. The absolute joy the (albeit cheesy) lyrics, the flow between the three, and the samples/beats really bringing it all together makes it super clear why this album is so important to rap, especially for the era. I could totally see comparing this to anything modern and laughing (as I said, it's almost childlike in it's attitude), but it really adds to the whole mood. Not to mention how many lyrics here I reference without even thinking about it constantly, just because they stick in your head so easily. My only fault here as mentioned before is the lyrical content, but it's such a stellar groundwork for more Beastie Boys albums to come that it certainly won't keep me up at night. It's also extremely good at blending genres, bringing in a lot of hard rock influences that I can only assume helped the album really take off, being the first rap album to be on the billboard top 200. I don't think this is my favorite rap album (I don't think it's even my favorite Beastie Boys album), but it certainly is very good. Very, very high 4 star. Would get a 5 if not for lyrics and perhaps not changing quite enough near the end (they kind of use all of there metal influences in one fell swoop in the middle). Both of these I think will be addressed in the other albums by them on this list.

Wait, I actually like Iron Maiden? Like I thoroughly enjoyed this? But this is the band your one uncle (you know the one) likes. Am I become that uncle? Oh no. Any way, this was super good, and I loved the energy. Some of the songs fell a little flat, and with an album this short that's more of a hindrance than normal, but it starts super strong and stays strong on most of the songs, making it really enjoyable. Not perfect by any means, but still shockingly good.

This album rocked pretty hard. The sampling and the back beats were extremely satisfying, and sampling themselves and news stations talking about them is a novel idea that works really well here. Plus the topics being way ahead of their times on ideals, despite the controversy one of the former members was apart of at the time, which is unfortunate. Album is only getting a 4 because it does lose the momentum it had gained as the album goes on, making the later songs feel a little unnecessary, but this album was still an absolute joy. Probably my favourite rap album I've had so far, and excited for the other Public Enemy record on the list.

Wow, this album I have never heard of in my life sure does have a lot of accolades, huh? Guess we'll see if it lives up to it all, but I have a sneaking suspicion it won't.

It indeed did not, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Perhaps on a bad day this would be getting a one star, but I didn’t particularly hate anything, and the rest of the album was so nothing for me that the bluesy sounding song, a genre I generally don't like, was actually pretty alright. No clue why this is deemed so important in the world of music though, and that first song reeks of 80s, but not in the good way like new wave, but in the bad way, like "oh this is why music changed so much in the 90s".

Huh, I disliked this more than I thought I was going to. I knew southern rock wasn't really my thing, but even though musically it's impressive, it's also pretty boring. Non of the songs really stick out that much, other than perhaps Proud Mary (but that's because I already knew it), and the yell singing done by the singer even starts to get a little grating. None of it was BAD per se, just not interesting or my thing.

I feel as though I'm betraying myself a little bit, but I'm actually struggling between a 4 and a 5 star on this one. Obviously those are both good scores, but I figured going in this would be an easy 5 star. However, once actually listening I do have some faults, such as despite most of the songs being relatively short, it does go on a little long, making the "oomph" of the music lose it's touch near the end, and some songs just aren't very notable and blend together. I think I'm going to have to go with the idea this is a very high 4 star, but not quite that 5 star material. Perhaps one of the other White Stripes albums on here.

I am not looking forward to this. Scumbag who already makes middling music any way? I would just skip it, but if I listened to Kanye I should probably listen to this.

What, the guy who made music like this is a terrible person? Color me shocked! I was actually thinking about a two star with this one, as I didn't mind some small parts of some small songs, and the production value is pretty good. It reeks of 90s, which if that's your thing, then here you go. But then it just kept going on and on, with no song really feeling that different from each other. Whoa, he screams a bit, then at the end of the song various background noises start happening that are supposed to be eerie and uncomfortable to listen to? It judt becomes mind numbing by song number 9. Issue is the album then goes on almost double that. I also soley blame this album for the people who have "no lives matter" bumper stickers on their 2003 Honda Accord, as if they think they're edgy. All of that plus Mairlyn Mandon himself makes this a pretty definitive one star. God I hate Nu Metal.

This one is interesting because you can still hear the bluesy influence in some of these songs, something that definitely phased out as the albums went on. Sadly, that isn't a great thing in my book, as blues isn't exactly my favorite genre. This album was alright, and I think Babe I'm Gonna Leave You may be my favorite rock-centric Led Zeppelin song I've heard, but a lot of this album felt it went on quite a bit longer than needed, despite it's small amount of songs. And while the guitar and vocals were excellent, sometimes there was just too much empty space, due to the blues influence mentioned earlier. Overall an alright album, but you can definitely tell Led Zeppelin only got better with time, at least in my opinion!

The first song was okay. For two minutes. Then the next song was okay, for one minute. It didn't recover after that until the end of the last song, which I wasn't really enjoying after the four minutes I had to get through first. He sounded like Bob Dylan, but they music was just straight boring, and at times not good.

Well, I didn't expect this to be as hard to decide what to rate as it did. I figured it would either be a case where I only liked Master of Puppets and the rest was boring (I already have had run ins with Battery and Sanitarium and I still think those are boring), but the songs I had never heard are suprisingly good. In an almost cruel twist all the best songs are the long ones, while the shorter ones almost always seem too long. Basically the whole album is high highs, such as the absolute fantastic guitar, and lows such as the honestly very subpar singing, which wouldn't be that big of deal but it usually makes up half of the songs run time (seriously, Orion was a godsend and a nice break before the finale), and for whatever reason the band acts as though it's just as important as the musicality, when obviously the instruments were the most impressive. It does feel far better though then the Metallica output nowadays, where they actually seemed like they cared about the music and not just because they were THE metal band. I'm just all over the place here with thoughts, and I'm gonna smack it right down the middle of the rating system, but my thoughts here feel more conflicted than a star system can really express. All I know is that as this was Cliff Burton's last album, I wish his bass playing showed through more. Throw a bass solo in there, you were willing to back in your debut! It almost feels like they're hiding it in audio remasters, but perhaps my listening apparatus of choice for this album is at fault.

A serious contender for the best album of all time. I have heard this entire album plenty of times and hear the songs present often, and while I have pages I could write about the amount of amazement this album holds within, I worry that this may have a word limit, and so I will keep it brief in saying this is just immaculately made, and while nothing here is my favorite Beatles' song, many come close. Perhaps not my favorite Beatles' album, but easily the best, and no matter what a 5 star. One of the few albums that deserves the overwhelming amount of praise it gets.

Recently my partner got this album, so it's fresh in my mind. Unlike my partner, however, who didn't like it quite finish to push it into the five star category, I think it clears the bar. Each song has this feeling of what made early 2000s rock sound really good, before it became to homogenized and relatively safe by the mid-2010s, and I'll say while the lyrical content isn't usually too crazy, songs like Michael feel very ahead of their time in discussing a topic like it does. Then there is of course the crown jewel, Take Me Out. Everyone knows this song and for good reason, the slowdown with the tempo absolutely makes it a bop-and-a-half, and that technical quality is through the whole album. This album and Is This It by the Strokes really felt like they formed the alternative rock genre into something amazing, and while it may have crumbled a bit, I still can't deny this album's quality and importance. It helps that it holds up. Two 5 star albums in a row, let's keep it up generator!