Reviews by gmuzza

The most positive thing i can say about this album is that at the end of the first track i thought we had a contender for the worst album this process has introduced me to, fortunately the rest of the album is better (not a lot, but still)

Such a great album with serious issues addressed, whilst maintaining Green Day’s humour.
Not a wek track to be found

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, but while ‘I Saw the Light’ isn’t my sort of thing i did enjoy it. Unfortunately my tolerance for that sort of thing is the odd song on the radio so i cant say the same of ‘It wouldn’t have made any difference’ and whilst ‘wolfman jack’ varies the style i think the problem is the vocals.
By track 5 I’m already desperate for the album to end and there’s still a ridiculous 20 more tracks to go.
And why given the length of the album do we need the entirety pointless’Intro’ (see also overture) and dont get me started on ‘Breathless’.
i do not like plinky plonk 70s keyboards!
‘song of the Viking’ just made me wish the Vikings would put an end to this absolute divel.
‘Piss Aaron’ is just purile snd the least said about the final track the better

I can only imagine this degree of guitar wankery and aimmless/tedium are far more enjoyable if you’re high on lsd. If there is a redeeming element it is the surprise of discovering what i assume is the original version of Mona, which was covered by Henry from Neighbours in his short lived foray into pop stardom.
Any nostalgia is quickly (more precisely slowly over an excruciating 13 minutes) ground away by Calvary. Ending the album with what sounds like a drunk in a western bar says it all.

Just a steady blues rock album. Nothing spectacular and not really the ZZ Top I think of most, who were for me growing up in the eighties permanently thumbing a hot rod on a desert road.

Monday monday is a great start to any album. Those harmonies are perfect.
Straight shooter starts like we’re about to launch into ‘last train to clarksville’ and has a very similar vibe to it, which having checked was also released in 1966.
Got a feeling is more gentle and whilst this drifts along nicely it feels out of place. I call your name is an interesting choice of Beatles cover and is a mixed bag with the first part feeling dated, even for the sixties with this changing for the chorus that tries to emulate the original too much and the ending is like some cheesy stage performance.
Do you wanna dance also fails to quite land. I struggle to pinpoint why but it may be slightly too slow. It feels odd to include these covers when their own material felt generally stronger and obviously more cohesive.
Go where you wanna go is pleasant enough and leads nicely into the undoubted classic of California Dreamin. California Dreamin has everything harmonies, soul and a great tune. In fact the only thing it doesn’t have is a ‘g’ regardless of what Apple’s autocorrect thinks.
Spanish Harlem is another track that doesn’t work for me and again leads me to question the decision to include these covers.
Somebody groovy suffers for sounding a bit like other mainstream music of this era and detracts from the things that made them standout.
Heygirl for all that is quite enjoyable and manages to blend a more contemporary backing with their trademark harmonies, which really works.
You Baby has a wonderful layered vocal element and despite being relatively simple sounding makes it an enjoyable listen .
For all that i’ve said about the other tracks ‘the In Crowd’ may be in the exception both in terms of vocal and being a cover as their arrangement really works. The focus of the single lead vocal with the other voices generally lower in the mix really delivers power. I’ll even overlook the hammond organ solo which could’ve easily grated.

If you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all.

It’s striking listening back to Giant Steps how much the Boo Radleys influenced my subsequent listening. As a band they perfectly balanced the melodic light and shade of calm harmony and crashing explosion. In particular the use of brass is very evocative of Elbow.

It’s difficult to single tracks out as this is one of those albums where it just works as a whole and perfectly captures Martin Carr’s songwriting. However Butterfly Mcqueen, Barney and me and Lazarus (obviously) are particularly wonderful.

The only downside is that whilst this is genuinely a great album it is not the best Boo Radleys album. C’mon Kids definitely deserves to be on this list and should be listened to whether you enjoyed Giant steps or not

Stankonia was a classic when it came out and remains so 25 years on….a quarter of a century since this album was released!

So fresh and so clean is just that. As contemporary sounding as when it was released with its simple infectious hook. Ms Jackson is just a classic track which only a fool wouldn’t like.

Yes a lot of the lyrics are fairly familiar and at times fairly route one (see I’ll call before i Cum) but Andre and Big Boi’s charm endure these dont grate like a lot of older rap music does.

B.O.B showcases how brilliant both are in terms of fast paced delivery but maintains that inherent catchiness that runs throughout this album

Would probably be 4.5/5 for me but mot quite a 5 so will have to settle for a 4

Good tuneful jazz, evocative of sitting at a table in a smoky club, drinking an old fashioned
I particularly enjoyed the mournful tone of Blue in Green, which takes you late into the night
A lot of jazz feels like background music and a lot more is frankly unlistenable, Kind of Blue is neither. Sure its perfect background music but is also highly listenable as the focus of your attention. This album just exudes cool.

Starts album. Checks timer 2:35 nothing happening. Looks at track duration 23minutes 19, FFS. Just as i was settling in for a very tedious and long instrumental some vocals suddenly appear or at least i think they do, they feel so low down in the mix it’s difficult to be confident that i am not just drifting off to sleep.

St Stephen is mercifully shorter but the presence of vocals actually manage to make the listening experience worse and it just feels very dated.

The Eleven starts with a good dose of drums. The vocals sound ramshackle and i would believe they were improvised as they struggle to approach anything that could be described as a harmony.
Turn on your love light offers a slight improvement, but that is not saying much.
Death Dont have no mercy is a durge, but feedback is even worse and does what it says on the tin.

And we bid you goodnight is frankly pointless m, but at least it is short

My god this us long winded. Save for the time i spent trying to work out what had sampled the opening track there is nothing remotely positive of the first track.

I talk to the wind is just dull. Epitaph is the usual overlong prog guff.
Moonchild features that other albums like this, a tune that at times sounds like the engineer has just recorded the instruments being set up and tested possibly by toddlers.

The Court of King Crimson brings down the curtain in a suitably overblown fashion and hopefully signals the end of my listening to their work

Rip it up is a great song, but ahead of this album is the only Orange Juice song i actually know.

I didn’t enjoy A Million pleasing faces, as the jangly instrumentation didnt work with the vocals for my liking.

mud in your eye at least changed the tempo but again my issues are with the vocals. I fear it is becoming rapidly apparent why i only know one song

Turn away is s big improvement and just works where the previous two tracks fell short

The rest of ghe album just serves to cement the view that Rip it up (the song) is sufficient Orange Juice for me.

This started with promise but overall was just meh!

Goddess on a Hiway is the first Mercury Rev song i remember hearing, thank i think to Mark snd Lard on Radio 1. It’s such a beautiful track i was compelled to buy the album.

Holes sets the scene perfectly for the album as a whole. Its skeletal instrumentation and pained vocals create an atmospheric wonderland.

I really like the chugging backing to Hudson Line that perfectly captures a steam engine plowing along the tracks and is relatively upbeat in tone

My hope were high when this album popped up, and more so when i realised everyday people was on it. Unfortunately i found it a bit dull and EP was definitely the stand out track and horribly i actually prefer the Arrested Development version

Not quite bad enough to be a 1/5 (more due to some of the albums that i have given a 1 to, but not far off)

I enjoyed the songs where the rhythm section led from the front, mainly because i’m a sucker for prominent drums. Unfortunately this was mainly in the first half of the album.
Overall i struggled to connect either this a bit too industrial, a bit too electronic for my tastes

A Tribe Called Quest make such enjoyable laid back hip hop. They blend laid back beats and samples effortlessly.
Whilst Can I kick it it? Is far from their best song it is probably their catchiest and best known and will always bring a smile to my face.
Overall just a great album

This is the sort of music that may have well been on the radio when i was younger but is so inoffensively dull it failed to register