Reviews by gmuzza

This perfectly accompanied me on my walk to work on a fresh spring morning. There is no faulting the quality of the vocals snd the music is very enjoyable, however it lacks the sustained punch to push it into being a classic.

The vocals are just so weak and whiny it is really difficult to enjoy this. Aside from Been Caught Stealing and the strings on Of Course this a bit of a slog.
The guitars are enjoyable and bit are reminiscent of mid career Chilli Peppers (not much surprise there) but lacks the personality they bring.

This is the second MBV album in a matter of weeks and like the last one this starts with an annoying drone of a vocal and doesn’t improve at any point.

It’s all too downbeat, sounding as if it is being played at the wrong speed.

It doesn’t matter who is on lead vocals as the only thing that this seems to change is the pitch. No More Sorry is possibly the worst song on the album and it’s title perfectly sums up my considered view on MBV. Although Feed Me With Your Kiss, runs ot close sounding like hearing a shit pub band rehearsing from outside the building.

This is not good shoegazer music.

Welcome to Paradise!

Opening with the undoubtable classic that is Ace of Spades, seems a brave choice. This is quickly confirmed by the next few tracks that are just plodding filler for non-Motorhead fans.
Bomber and Motorhead is already knew and whilst above the rest of the post Ace of Spades tracks are hardly exciting

The Streets are very evocative of the early 2000s for me and this album perfectly refines the magic that was already apparent on Original Pirate Material.

The continuing narrative throughout the album is daft at times (see eventual location of Mr Skinner’s grand) but works well. The singles, especially Dry Your Eyes out are the stars, but the rest of the tracks dont feel out of place in their company.

Alison Goldfrapp has a lovely voice, but god this is boring

It’s easy to forget how fresh Beck’s music started, as he has firmly transitioned into being an established artist. Odelay however is the sound of a young Beck tilting at windmills.

A lot of credit here has goes go to the production of the Dust Brothers for their production, as well as Beck, matching his songs with more hip hop style beats at times that give the album its distinctive sound.

The singles are great, but so’s the album!

This set Daft Punk’s stall out for what was to come. Not their best album, but the ingredients are all here, as well some great videos to accompany the singles.
I actually enjoyed listening to Homework in full for the first time in a while less than i expected to.

Alright rather than great

This is such s tragically beautiful album. One laced with so much heartache, which is only amplified by the fact it is the only proper Jeff Buckley album we would ever get.
Mojo Pin is the perfect scene setter for the album as a whole, showcasing Buckley’s guitar and soaring vocals. It is however the chiming guitars of Grace, that for me, steal the show.
This album is so timeless, So Real’s more rock out approach shows grunge influences which are immediately contrasted with his definitive cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, which is just perfection (even if it did lead to lots of less great covers - yes Alexandra Burke i mean you). The stripped back instrumentation lets you enjoy the beauty of his guitarmanship and that vocal that show how manages to be so fragile and yet so powerful all at once. He really is one of the great lost talents.
Lover, Hou Should’ve Come Over is Buckley at possibly his most straightforward pop/rock and delivers a strong break up song.
The inclusion of Corpus Christi Carol always surprises me, but suits Buckley’s vocal style and contrasts wonderfully with the loud sludgy guitar that herrolds Eternal Life, which sounds like a clash between grunge and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

It’s technically very good, but just feels a bit trad jazz and straight laced to be exciting.
The live recording was annoying andI just found it a bit dull

I qyiite like a lot of Sigur Ros’s music. It’s ethereal relaxing quality felt like the perfect accompaniment to the drive round the m25 and back north. It certainly started that way, however as the album went on it just got a bit boring and slightly irritating

I enjoyed Needles in the Camel’s eye, but things quickly declined from there.
Dead Finks Don’t Talk is possibly the lowest point (not cheeky cheeky just crap).

Starts to albums dont get much better than Ace of Spades, the urgency of those opening guitars leading to Lemmy’s unmistakable growl.
Unfortunately the album as a whole is a bit one note and feels very repetitive. Yes the guitars are great, but Lemmy’s limitations are really evident the more you get into the album.
The least said about Jailbait the better. Yes, times were different, but the lyrics acknowledge that Mr Kilminster knows it is wrong even then.

The title track aside this is all just a bit dull

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s are a band that always passed me by and i’m not sure why, as i quite liked Karen O’s other work.
I fear the answer may lay with the amount of synths on this album.
Its not that i dont like the songs, just that i dont really care. It all just feels s bit like going through the motions.

This is the second Randy Newman the generator has thrown up in consecutive days and I fear it doesn’t do it any favours, i enjoyed the more political content matter, but despite having a nice voice, his phrasing makes everything blur onto one. It’s pleasant but I suspect Randy is an artist who is perfectly served by a compilation album (probably procured from a discount bin)

It’s difficult to hear Randy Newman’s voice without thinking of Toy Story. ‘Sail Away’ has very much the same vibe to it as ‘You’ve Got A Friend In Me’ and makes for an enjoyable intro.
Unfortunately from there, whilst Randy has a wonderfully rich vocal the songs just dont do much. Political Science is good, but hardly thrilling.
The last track is a bit of a dirge and a poor way to end the album. Just needed more energy in places to lift this from just being a good vocalist with hit and miss material

Some albums and songs just make you smile and for me, this is one of them. Not as polished or mature as ‘in it for the money’, but a cracking album nonetheless.
‘I’d Like to Know’ firmly sets out the stall for what to expect from this album, good time fuzzy guitars. Yes ‘Alright’ is the one everyone knows (and quite rightly), but ‘Mansize Rooster’ ‘Lenny’ and particularly’Caught By The Fuzz’ were equally great singles.

I love the contrast between the end of ‘Strange Ones’ and ‘Sitting up Up Straight’ with it’s piano intro reminiscent of old school cockney joanna tunes.

‘We’re Not Supposed to’ is a light fun breather of a track. The last three tracks display a mellower, reflective style. I’ve always thought Supergrass are an underrated band who have produced some great albums and going into this I was happy i knew this was a 4/5, but listening to it again it appears maybe i have been guilty of underrating this album, as it is definitely better than 4/5.

Boring schoegazer mcguffins

This album really hits its groove with ‘5 dollars’ and ‘Goya Soda’, but overall it feels more a piece of performance art than a great album.