Reviews by gregorsmith

The "Sweet Jane" cover is the absolute shit, the rest doesn't quite match up to it but it's not that bad either.

I mean, it has "Orange Crush", "Stand", and "Pop Song 89"...

Thats it, thats the review

This makes me think the Lord must have been asleep at the wheel, because whatever they were taught in Sunday school clearly didn't take. I can appreciate bands leaning into lo-fi camp and schlocky B-movie horror tropes with the best of them, but here the whole psychobilly novelty wears razor thin within minutes, collapsing into a disjointed, muddy mess of cheap gimmicks and grating noise. The rhythm section is amateurish, the guitars clash, and the deranged screeching is exhausting. Their sluggish take on "Fever" highlights a total lack of songwriting craft; being deliberately sloppy isn't the same as being good. It’s an abrasive test of endurance.

"Laura" is an all time bop. Anyone who says otherwise is a cop.

Normally I don't mind The Police, but weirdly this one bar "Synchronicity II" and "Every Breath You Take" was forgettable by the time you reached the end, and you can tell it's the end, they were done. At least they dropped the white boy reggae act by now.

Polly Jean is really on her game here, I've already had the raw shock of Dry and the later folksy poetical political Let England Shake, and this is the middle of those two extremes. Polished, but not overly so; rocking, but not overly so; accessible; but not overly mainstream...

Quite possibly her absolute peak. Was her "Good Fortune" slipping away?

Starts out with a bit of a rockabilly country twang, but it was fairly middle of the road 80s jazz infused synth pop (shout out Thomas Dolby) from there onwards. Neither soaring too high nor sinking too low, always average on average.

A level above the usual Britpop dross of the time, hard rocking and produced by Oasis producer leant some credibility to these gangly teens (at the time). I enjoyed it at the time and I enjoyed it now, but it's not setting the world on fire at any time in its existence.

Nick Drake just makes it all seem so effortless...

My third Talking Heads album in this list and I think I love them all, this is no exception, it bops along at a steady pace and everyone loves "Psycho Killer"

This is why I got involved in this, something so extraordinary that I'd never normally listen to. Break the cycle of westernized anglicized music and melt away with this. The only sad part is it was far too short...

The post movies Elvis comeback was in full swing and, thankfully, he's not entirely cribbing on black artists music here. Some genuine good songs like "Suspicious Minds" and "In The Ghetto" but don't sleep on songs like "Only The Strong Survive", the backing band as tight as hell throughout.

Fishscale is a mixed bag. Despite elite production from Dilla and DOOM, the 24-track runtime feels bloated. Great highlights like "Shakey Dog" and "The Champ" are buried by skits and radio filler and as a complete record it severely lacks the grit and cohesiveness of other solo albums by Wu members like Liquid Swords, Tical, or Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

A journey through a world where everyone's secrets are out in the open and love is a transaction. The title track, with its smarmy charm, sets the tone for an album that revels in its own cynicism. Cohen, ever the poet of the smoke filled, dimly lit bar, delivers lines like "If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to" with a voice that suggests he's both offering and mocking the deal.

The album's standout, "Everybody Knows", is a jaded anthem for the end of the world. Cohen's gravelly voice, accompanied by a somber piano and ominous synthesizer, paints a bleak picture of a world where corruption, addiction, and disease are commonplace. But hey, at least the song is catchy! If you're looking for an album that will confirm your suspicions that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, look no further

Yeah, no, mostly irredeemable nonsense.

So southern, so swampy, what do you mean John Fogarty was born in California? Mans as Louisiana as anyone in history. The start of a, frankly, ridiculous 4 album run

Unexpectedly enjoyable, solid beats and flows, can't hate. Very much in the Kanye West Late Registration space with lush production but feels a little like the Wish version of that era Kanye, not that that's a bad thing...

For some bands the jangly guitars are just that much more janglier. This is one such band of that late 80s shoegaze alternative scene, miles better than the earlier review Psychocandy album, the noise and distortion has been pared back significantly and the jangle pop is starting to rise.

You on point, Phife?
All the time, Tip
Well, then grab the microphone and let your words rip

Mark E. Smith doing Mark E. Smith things.