Reviews by gregorsmith

Surprisingly dull effort from former Husker Du front man Bob Mound, like generic alt rock made for college radio...

Shades of early Pink Floyd here, but I'd already said this of early Pink Floyd

"Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd, so super simple rhymes over psychedelic swirls and overdubs that makes it sound like the most transcendental shit ever laid down on tape. It shouldn't work, but it does..."

This time it doesn't work, it's missing everyone else...

Pretty inoffensive pop by a band who were always inoffensive new wave rockers. It really doesn't sound like a dawn of the millenium style piece, the elaborate lush arrangements feel more like the late 60s style.

The Stones stumble into a juke joint and ingest the vibes via osmosis... Stone cold classics on this album like "Tumbling Dice", "Sweet Virginia", and "Shine A Light" and the whole thing is just an experience, even if it's cribbing the black mans music...

Its hard to talk about Evermore without referencing Folklore, as this feels like b-sides or vault tracks from the Folklore sessions. Now people will see the name Taylor Swift and just immediately hate on this, but this is a really good album, not as good as Folklore, but has some real strong songs within like "Champagne Problems" or "Right Where You Left Me" or "Dorothea"... I'd have loved a Long Pond Sessions version of this like Folklore got but oh well.

Don't give me a reason to not bump Black Flag, throwing myself around my office like Henry Rollins would want.

Fuck the man.

Psychedelic Rock with a tingle of fuzzy distortion, so much fuzzy distortion... Great cover of "Summertime Blues" kicks it off and it's probably the highlight, again I struggle with album who blow their creative load right off the bat.

Latin flavours, but bland as all hell, no spices, no sizzle, just elevator muzak style beats with weak bars over the top.

The soundtrack to a chill out room in any mid 90's dance club, chilled enough to cool off but not too downtempo that you'll start thinking about winding down for the night, better go order some shitty beer (for some reason it was always Rolling Rock) or a vodka and coke, take a few puffs on a joint and then hit the main floor again, revitalised.

Good enough for the Navy, good enough for The Pogues

Much like my review for Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell where I said "This is bad, not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good..."

This is bad, not bad meaning good, but bad meaning bad...

Messy, disjointed, bold, visionary, all the sides of the same coin. It's a unique blend of post-punk and soulful electronica, a raw and worthwhile listen.

Sounding like a cut rate Sublime, has some decent beats and hooks, but I can't shake the open mic nature of it all

Hard to find and ultimately disappointing, this seems to be a theme of some albums on this list. Despite its supposed influence on 90s alt-rock, the album is a frantic, disjointed mess with clunky riffs and grating vocals. While "Stand Up" and "Green" have decent basslines, the record is mostly unlistenable and a chore to get through.

Banging opener, banging title track, everything else feels like filler except "Jennifer" rises above the mediocrity and with which you can point the path from this to "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazarus, and "This Is The House" which is just unquestionably bad...

As a huge Springsteen fan, I loved the vibe of the E Street Band reunion tour era, and this album has some of my favorite songs ("Waiting On A Sunny Day", "Mary's Place", "Worlds Apart", "Lonesome Day", to name a few). However, while I appreciate this album, it doesn't feel like a Springsteen and The E Street Band record. It's not a bad album by any means, but it's not what I reach for when I'm in the mood for a Boss album like, says, Darkness on the Edge of Town or Born To Run.

I sometimes think a stripped-down, no-band approach, like Nebraska, or as part of a folk-rock trilogy that runs from Ghost Of Tom Joad through Devils & Dust might have made it resonate more with me. I will say, when it hits, it hits really hard, like the usage of Islamic music and imagery in "Worlds Apart" ('neath Allah's blessed rain") in a time where Islamophobic sentiment was quite possibly at an all time high, but it just feels different, an album that's somehow less than the sum of its parts as its trying to reflect a different world. Like a strange celebration trying to uplift a gloomy world still reeling...

Everything about this album is terminal forward velocity. The album kicks off with the blistering "Highway Star", a track that perfectly encapsulates the band's blend of high-octane rock, Ritchie Blackmore's ferocious guitar work, and Jon Lord's virtuosic, classical-influenced organ. While "Smoke on the Water" might be its most recognizable track, with its iconic four-note riff, the album is far from a one-hit wonder. Songs like the funky "Maybe I'm a Leo" and the propulsive "Space Truckin'" showcase a band at the peak of their creative powers, jamming with a purpose.

The so-called Brown Album, because it's mostly shit?

In an era defined by a minimalist turn in alternative music and the burgeoning lo-fi aesthetics of indie rock, Mimi's Butterfly stands as a glorious repudiation of such sensibilities. It is a work that argues for the power of excess, for the virtue of the grand, the sweeping, and the all-encompassing. The album is a testament to the fact that when every element, from the layered vocals to the innovative production and the deeply personal lyrics, is turned up to its maximum, the result is not cacophony, but a sublime and overwhelming masterpiece. Butterfly is a declaration that true artistry is not found in the quiet whispers of a muse, but in the thunderous, undeniable roar of a liberated spirit.

"Experimental Pop" should be the first red flag. The endless echoy reverb should be the second. If you're already ignoring those then you're own your own kid...