Reviews by gmuzza

This album was an interesting prospect as i love The Divine Comedy, but this album has either slipped my mind or i missed it entirely.

Ute’s voice brings an almost theatrical feeling to a lot of the songs, which makes me sad the we are never getting Neil Hannon’s Father Ted musical.

Punishing Kiss is the highlight for me, skipping along and was surprised to see this was an Elvis Costello song. You Were Meant for Me, runs it close with its stomping broodiness.

These two aside the album works best for me when Ute and Hannon are duetting, but this could just be my obvious Divine Comedy bias.

Overall an interesting listen, but not one i would be rushing back to as a whole, more likely to just listen to the select tracks.

The Sex Pistols are easy to write off as just provocative oiks, but whilst not as good as the Clash, they still produced great songs.

Anarchy and God Save the Queen are classics and lots of the other tracks come close to the same level. However there is a clear drop to filler with tracks like lisr, seventeen and submission, which prevents this album being a classic in its own right.

I thought i’d enjoy, but i didn’t. It’s all just too samey and clean

The songwriting is there, but i’m not sure the vocals work for me and that drags the whole thing down

Hearing this within two days of a pod of Orcas off the Northumberland coast is surely kismet.

I thought i remembered Dirty Projectors music and not in a positive way. I was wrong however and actually enjoyed this. It’s nothing special but a good solid album.

I don’t know quite how much this benefited from me listening to it while walking the dog along Seahouses beach, but by the end i think i actually enjoyed this.

I could see the appeal of this, its kookiness and strange tracks work individually for me. There are lots of albums i have enjoyed that feature a couple of kooky tracks like these. However an album full feels a bit overkill or at least i thought it did. It actually began to get inside my head and whilst i wouldn’t rush out and buy it by any means it was far from the bargain in bucket drivel that occupies my 1/5s. Its not an album i can imagine just listening to attentively but in the setting i heard it i think i’d say it’s a2.5/5

The big songs are perfectly spaced at the start, middle and end of this album. ‘Break on Through…’ is a great opener and the subsequent album tracks build well on this. However. ’Alabama song’ doesn’t quite live it to what came before.
‘Light my Fire’ would stand out on most album and marks the half way mark. It is somewhat questionable that this is followed by a song featuring lyrics about someone eating pork and beans and Morrison himself boasting the he ‘eats more chicken than any man ever seen’.

‘The End’ is a long meandering crescendo and one i have always loved and considered The Doors best song and nothing here changes that opinion

This is a difficult one as i started off really enjoying it and appreciating Elvis’s great vocals, but then i just got a bit bored.

Obviously’In the ghetto’ and ‘Suspicious minds’ awoke me briefly from my funk but ‘dont cry daddy’ and ‘Mama liked the roses’ made sure i returned there.

It’s all fairly enjoyable standard fair, but then you hit ‘Bad Moon Rising’ which is an undeniable classic.

Iconic. Perfect.

This is really not my thing. Sweet Love aside this is just so saccharine it is sickening. The synths are so eighties.

‘Been so Long’ is frankly irritating.

Just soooo dull. It’s like being stuck on hold listening to muzak

Just a pleasant album. ‘Over The Waves’ just reminded me musically of ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’

Walk on by is a great song. Isaac Hayes has a good voice. These statements are unquestionably true, but i do not need a 12 minute version of the song.

I enjoyed the funk of the second track, but even its title is too long even if the first track has made me see 10 minutes as a short track. It just doesn't go anywhere, i can see it being an enjoyable groove high on life (or more likely other substances) in a live environment, but on record it feels like s good case for radio edits. Around the 7 minute mark where we go into a piano and bass break it is just too much and thats before it becomes apparent this is playing the song out.

One woman is a far more sedate soulful affair. However it is just too schmaltzy for me and at times i just catch myself picturing the image of chef singing the song. It’s a shame that the more acceptable length song is actually the one i like least.

The last track comes on i glance at its length and begin praying for a hidden track rather than a near 19 minute track, but the fact its past three minutes before any singing is even vaguely a possibility and even then it’s only a suggestion, kills all hope. Just shy of the 9 minute mark actually singing breaks out! Unfortunately it’s the schmaltz of track 3. The last few minutes when the organ, horns and drums kick in are a joy, but a short lived one.

With some proper editing this is a good ep, without it is self indulgent pap. A good artist either decent material, but ruined by length.

This album is at its best on the fast ferocious songs. Whilst the grunge influences are clear it’s all a little too polished, so comes across more Radish than Nirvana.

The album is a strong debut and should have signalled a great career, but they stayed at the same level, bubbling slightly under.

Songs like homesick, Factory and (the too long) 1969 don’t really work for me and come across too much like a group determined to let you know there’s more to them than being a new era grunge band, which is a shame, on this album at least as that is where it shines

After eventually finding what i think is the right album on Youtube, this all felt a bit background music for me. The exception was track 3 which had a bit more energy and grabbed the attention more.
Track 4’s percussion reminded me of the Beatles Within You Without You, but not in a positive way

I got this album for my 12th following the release of Magic Number and therefore I have a strong personal attachment to it, luckily it is a great album. A few years back they played a festival in the park opposite my house and gave me the opportunity to enjoy the classic De La line-up before the tragic loss of Dove.

I love the laid back style of hip hop De La provide and Magic Number is the perfect intro into this musical journey.

This album generally just makes me feel happier. I loved the beats, the samples, the scratching, even the skits are a fun sideshow.

Eye Know is a perfect hip hop song. Sooooo catchy. Tread Water raises the fun levels even further “I’m Mr Mon-key”

Again the need to separate the music from the man is key here, as there is no defending Kanye’s actions.
The music across the album is quite interesting as its a step mark from most of Kanye’s previous albums
Black skinhead has such an infectious beat and is so catchy with a good old fashioned Kanye vocal.

Yes there is his undeniable arrogance, but there is also the fair rage at the impact that racism has had and that in attaining a position of power he is free to address this and call it out.

i’m in it is another track that hits hard. As does Blood on the Leaves, which makes the most of it’s Nina Simone sample.
Send It Up is just annoying is frankly annoying, but Bound 2 feels like classic early Kanye with his magpie use of samples to elevate his lyrics

Some albums make it really difficult to remember this process is based around the premise these are 1001 albums to listen to before you die. This is one of those, not because it’s horrendous (as to some degree the fact they solicit an extreme reaction means they serve a purpose), but because it’s just so mediocre.

It just sounds slightly dated and on some tracks like the sound engineer has failed to balance things, so songs like In My Mind sound like the instruments are too high in the mix.
Given the mediocrity of what comes before i also take issue with ‘nuf’ That Shit George’, i do not need a 30 second drum solo. Neither did i want a closing track that sounds as if its looped back to the start several times.

Short, shsrp shocks of punk in its purest form. Unfortunately it just misses more than it hots for me, which i think is a result of the vocals and some of the lyrical content. Not horrendous but far better punk records out there.