Reviews by gmuzza

Strange that other than the big hitters, uicy and Big poppa, this didn’t move me either way. A solid album but few highlights outside those two tracks. Largely forgettable and as a result slightly disappointing

The album opens strongly enough with Sunshine of my life and Maybe your baby, but the subsequent couple of tracks feel distinctly filler.

At his worst Stevie can stray firmly into keyboard driven schmaltz and this album is not immune from that.

Things pick up with You’ve got it bad girl, which sets you up nicely for the undeniable classic.

Superstition is Stevie Wonder at his best. The funky brass filled joy of the backing will always make you feel joy.

Big brother is an interesting track with its simple backing track and ernest lyrics. I’m not sure i know how i feel about it, as every time i feel i really like it the lyrics just jar a bit.

Looking for another pure love feels like an attempt to writing another Sunshine of my life but fails to locate the spark that lifts that up. In the end it just feels a bit blah and repetitive

I Believe closers the album in a strong note walking the fine line of those before, settling on the great songs. Unfortunately the album just feels too inconsistent for a great album.

Meh!

An album of pure majesty which manages to be so traditional, yet so innovative at the same time.
BDB looks like a busker but by god he’d be the best busker there was.

Tracks like Once around the block, , Disillusion, Pissing in the wind and the Shining. BDB also made great videos for this album, who can forget him perched on the edge of Joan Collins’s bath

Now this what good 80s music sounds like. I remember this sounding just so different and exciting to Uk chart music.

It’s tricky has always been been my favourite Run DMC song, throw in My adidas and Walk this way and you cant go wrong

A fine example of good old school hip hop

I mean it sounds like classic Costello, so cant go wrong.
Kinder murder is brilliant storytelling in a song “dreaming of the pigskin’
The whole album just feels balanced.

I feared the worst on the album opener until the vocal’s kicked in and lifted it to become a really strong groove of a tune…..but then it refused to end.
Track 2 sounds like the theme to an American tv show from the 70/80s snd just lacks the ‘filmed before a live studio audience’ announcement.
Unfortunately that the highlights as the album continues into not unpleasant forgetableness

This is a great album. From the melancholy yearning straight in the damn right defiance of send my love this is a tour de force.

Adele delivers every line with such controlled power you have to pay attention.

Not far into this album and it feels very much like they are a band that feel the listener should do some work before they ate rewarded with songs. Unnecessarily long intros mean by the time the song proper starts I’ve already slighted turned off.

With the exception of Lovesong their slavish dedication to intros well over a minute mean i can only assume Robert Smith has a weak bladder and songs are all arranged in a manner they can be easily extended to enable his relief before the vocals come in.

That said, the songs are generally pleasant enough to listen to and whilst nothing really grabbed me and demanded my attention it is a reasonably solid album. Oh for the want of a strong producer to rein those unnecessarily long intros into line.

Six sings, 36 minutes and track one is ten minutes of that feels like something’s gone wrong. That said station to station in an enjoyable upbeat Bowie track, just not sure it needs to that long.

Rest of the tracks are fine but hardly spectacular. Just a reasonable solid album

As a rock/indie fan i never properly got into the Chems until after this album and have never been motivated to go back.

This just works for me as a complete album, unencumbered by the presence of a massive hit single (or at least one i recognise).
All albums can also be improved with a sprinkle of tim burgess.

I suspect i have all the albums after this or have certainly listened to them, but as it turns out the one i have previously ignored is their finest, most distilled collection of their craft

I perfectly understand people who think Dylan can’t sing and used to feel that way myself. But at some point it just clicked for me and now the vocals fit perfectly on classics like ‘Like a rolling stone’.

If you dont like Dylan they i doubt this will convert you.

I live the old style stomp of ‘It takes a lot to laugh’… which is evocative of walking into a smokey blues bar. Highway 61 has a stomping groove to it which i love.

Just a really good album

Brian Wilson was undeniably a genius and knowing the history of this album perhsps makes it difficult to judge.
It’s a story of what could’ve been had the beach boys clung together and completed Smile.

As it is it lacks any spark of magic and the inclusion of Good Vibrations judt highlights this is far from Wilson’s best. A solid album but not a classic

I approached this album with the preconception that i font like Leonard Cohen’s vocals, so was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t immediately grate on me.

The man can write emotive lyrics and is his younger years could passably sing these. However, it’s just generally a bit dull. Suzanne and So long Marianne are stand outs in a fairly bland album

Strong start but definitely front loading the album ahead of some pleasant but uninspiring album tracks. My god blue condition is a dirge and least said about Mother’s lament the better.

Oh and that is one way to pronounce Ulysses

A bit slow, a dit dull, but still listenable. Just meh!

Strangely for quite a short album a lot of the tracks felt unnecessarily long. Jesus is accurately named, but i suspect mr Mayfield and i are putting very different emphasis on that song title.

A tale of what could’ve been i fear.

Good old fashioned rock. Very evocative of the late 60s, early 70s. Like a gentle breeze of melody blowing through the day.
It was the perfect accompaniment for the dog walk of a cool sunny morning

Twaddle felt like i was l listening to a game load on the spectrum in the 80s.

How can you not love Just The away you Are and She’s Always a Woman, absolutely classic tracks.
However the minutes music and whistling at the end of The Stranger could have been cut for me, as could the very clunky lyrics of Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (a bottle of white, a bottle of red).

Billy obviously unaware of my comments about the outro to The Stranger decided that wasnt long enough so extended for the album closer. Damn you Billy Joel, you just dont want these stars!!

Remake/re-model is chaotic fun and even rips off Day Tripper but i cant get past the whiny annoying vocals

Is there something sounds like an attempt at Bolanesque vocals but just sounds like a goat wailing

Virginia plain is another example of what could have been for the want of a decent vocalist