Reviews by gregorsmith

In 1997, the band Sleater-Kinney proclaimed "words and guitar, I want it", well this is words and guitar and I don't want it.

Wholly unremarkable by any quantifiable metric, listened to it and forgot about it almost immediately, like zero impact in my short term memory whatsoever. It's not bad, per se, just bland.

Well crafted post punk vibes, almost haunting in its delivery as they moved onwards towards the darker goth-y sounds of the early 80s

Excessive vibrato warbling isn't my thing, your mileage may vary...

A double prog rock album by a band on the verge of losing their voice and lyricist... Clearly the producer never said "maybe that's enough lads?" because an hour and a half is way too much commitment for this kind of thing.

Never really vibed with Perry Farrell or Jane's Addiction, I can appreciate the change they were ushering in with this and the album before, and the whole Lollapalooza thing, but then he did Porno For Pyros and it was meh, and then Jane's Addiction would do a series of reunions that ended in wild and spectacular fashion last year.

I've only ever like a handful of songs by them, and the rest I can really take or leave, this has "Been Caught Stealing" which is a classic, but the rest is pretty forgettable.

The closest comparison I can think of is its the UK's equivalent to R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, insomuch it's full of anthems for weird kids everywhere. Its not close to that level of quality but everything hits in a weird comforting way and if you vibe with it then you vibe HARD with it.

Kinda dirgey, kinda bleah... Nothing to really note, its short but feels like it lasts forever.

if you had a lab that could somehow create perfectly distilled pop music in songs under 4:00 in length, this is the album it would create. Production and lyrics are perfectly intertwined and nothing feels too quick nor overstaying its welcome. This is the album that made the Taylor Swift industrial machine that's still churning out tens of millions of sold albums and billions of listened minutes on Spotify...

Morrissey is a twat....

Now thats out the way, he was in a fine vein of form here with this and Vauxhall & I, begrudgingly respectful.... but Morrissey is still a twat...

This was haunting back in 1990, and doubly so now, it has a few upbeat songs like "The Emperor's New Clothes" but it's mostly a maudlin dirgey affair, and extremely moving.

I can listen to most anything, this project has shown that, but this just didn't do anything for me beyond guttural repulsion. It's just noises, random unconnected noises. I'd take a double album of Yoko Ono screaming endlessly over this as at least that has a deeper meaning

I mean, the live version of "I Want You To Want Me" and "Surrender" are superior to the original, the rest is kinda meh. Big in Japan ain't what it used to be...

Mid beeps and boops from the turn of the millennium, but the Iggy Pop fronted "Aisha" is perhaps the most interesting, and most ridiculous. Going from "I think you ought to know, I'm a murderer" to "the rules are all wrong, every perversion is justified" to "Aisha, I'm confused, Aisha, I'm vibrating"...

The gods all suck... Must have been wicked weed

Title song is the song you think of when someone tries to imitate a porn soundtrack with a "bow chikka bow wow" wah wah sound.... Its sensual, dirty, horny, all them things. lay back and get your post listen cigarette ready, you'll need it.

A brooding, downright menacing album, it was never going to be another Nevermind, but it stands as a great album in its own right.

I finally found Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman, something extremely rare on streaming, but it’s overwhelming. Though I like experimental sounds, this chaotic grindcore feels like two out-of-tune saxophones and two drummers clashing in a metal shop. It strips the swing, soul, and melody I love from Coleman’s free jazz, making a wild idea that quickly loses charm. Including this while omitting Coleman himself is a crime.

Prefect early to mid 90s R&B with rappy hooks, En Vogue, SWV, and even Salt & Pepa were massive and still didn't touch the rare air TLC were in when this came out. A soulful all girl trio who accentuate each other. Horny as all hell, as is their wont.

One good song, thats it, and it blows that load straight out the gate. That's not enough. The rest stinks. It's only saving grace is its under 40 minutes...

For those who were on the Cardigans bandwagon since Emmerdale, this album takes a turn from inner ennui to full blown outer melancholy about dissatisfaction surrounding unfaithful lovers. The Iron Maiden cover isn't evenough to perk things up, this is a sad record, even the relative upbeat "Lovefool" is loaded with dark lyrics of unrequited affections.

Me? I'm just sad we're approaching 20 years without a new Cardigans album.