Reviews by gregorsmith

A PROPER psychedelic freakout

So... I've already had I (Car) and III (Melt) and after a decade of experimental art pop, Gabriel seemingly says "fuck it, how about some dirty commercialism instead?". So... it produced monster single with an even bigger monster of an MTV video in "Sledgehammer" but I adore "In Your Eyes" and "Big Time" also, mainly the latter because it sounds like it was ripped from the Talking Heads.

So what? So 80s.

Yeah, you just gave birth to grunge with Doolittle and toured relentlessly (for good or for bad) and become huge in the UK and Europe, but what have you done lately and, most importantly, how do you follow that? Pixies are, unfortunately, on the downward spiral here, its just beginning but the vibes are most definitely off.

"Velouria" is a great song, perhaps my favourite Pixies song on any given day, but the rest is middling at best and tensions are rife.

The birth of Americana, taking rock, blues, folk, R&B, soul, country, and swirling it all together in a pot. Everyone comes together and gets their chance to shine, nothing is wasted.

"Tears Of Rage" and "The Weight" stand out, but don't sleep on "Caledonia Mission" and "This Wheels On Fire"

Imagine having the chutzpah to make your debut album a double album, imagine making it be so soft rock it's practically malleable wet clay, imagine having a 7 minute guitar solo as song for no reason... That's the Chicago way!

What live albums should be, a window into the party some people had, no wasted time, no excessive banter, no encore. Enough to make you move, and wish you were there.

Liz wants to be your blowjob queen and fuck you till your dick turns blue but she is absolutely not here for your shit.

Well, I heard Steve Earle had lots of wives / About as many as cats have lives / Met him on his records and we're good friends.

He writes a song for everyone / They fall in love and before it's done / He writes an even better one when it ends

Someone made the conscious decision to tremolo all the things, and for that they deserve their judgement day.

Slow intro with "Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya" and the elongated drawl of Dr. John calling himself "The Night Tripper", then shit gets crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious... "Walk On Gilded Splinters" is a strong closer, though I had only ever heard the Paul Weller cover before.

Didn't like it in 1996, didn't like Marilyn Manson either... Still dont.

Repetitive, kinda, as song seemingly blend from one to the other if you're not paying attention. Feels like it's going for a Janet Jackson vibe so that's ok, but I had enough by "Enough"...

What if Jim Morrison was from Boston and lived despite his drinking, and The Doors stayed around long enough to become punky?

Not the Bryan Ferry of "Let's Stick Together" or "Slave To Love" nor the Roxy Music of "Love Is The Drug" that I was used to, this is quite out there by comparison. Much warbling from Ferry, like a bad Elvis impression at times, and Brian Eno doing Brian Eno things on the synths. But it's unsure what it wants to be, part glam, part prog, part punk...

Another one from the early 2000s who was anointed the future of British music and promptly disappeared just as quickly as they arrived, one good song ("Dy-Na-Mi-Tee"), one ok-ish album (this one), one long break in between albums and then discovered music had passed her by and basically retired.... yet somehow she got an MBE some 16 years later for services to music.

Not as rocky as Muse, but unmistakable cut from the same cloth. I mean you can hear it in songs like "The Bones Of You", just the melody and cadence are the practically same as Muse's Black Holes & Revelations era... Enjoyed the hell out of this with "One Day Like This" being the highlight

Not as good as Thriller, but that's like saying Rubber Soul or The White Album wasn't as good as Sgt. Pepper... You've already released the quintessential 1980s all time best selling monster record, how do you follow that up? Just casually make the 12th biggest selling album of all time I guess, make it have 11 songs and release 7 as singles and have 5 go to number 1 in the charts, make the "Bad" video be an 18 minute long short directed by Martin Scorsese? Sounds like a plan, be sure to throw in a world tour that seemingly never ended, play to 500k paying people over 7 nights at Wembley Stadium? Oh go on then...

Repetitive? A little, but its a solid groove beloved by teenage stoners since it came out. Pair this with Black Sunday by Cypress Hill and you'll become radicalized against the War on Drugs in no time, let it in, boy! That's freedom calling! Let it in! Let it run! Let it run wild!

Jazzy sound of that particular era, probably fueled a thousand late 70s/early 80s dinner parties where people schmoozed, did cocaine, shared partners, and laughed about new fangled things like how do they set the clock on the VCR?

Another album you have to seek out as it's not on Spotify and, honestly, the payoff wasn't worth it. It’s an exhausting, messy wall of dated house beats and random samples. While there are decent moments with guest vocalists (shout out Lisa Stansfield, didn't expect to see you near this list, love), the record is overlong, cluttered with annoying sound effects, and cheap synths. It feels like an obnoxious, never-ending spin class, definitely a one-time listen.