Reviews by gregorsmith

Good old Goldfap, slow and sensual, borderline ASMR, it's gonna take you places you never knew existed...

Thrash Metal at its finest? I dunno, it certainly upped my energy levels for the half hour or so it lasted. First track hits hard and it doesn't slow down, all gas, absolute gas, no brakes.

"Goddam' Europeans! Take me back to beautiful England", transposing this album 13 years later takes on a very strange story in the post-Brexit landscape, while Polly was influenced by classical poetry while creating some of her own, the tone of the English nationalism seeping through is hard to avoid. It can be likened to the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics where its a throwback to when Britain, or England, was actually Great, now its a sad reminder of whole isolated we feel, by choice.

The album that compelled Fleetwood Mac to successfully queer heterosexuality. They were all drugged up to the eyeballs and fucking each other six way from sunday (except John McVie, poor sod, he had to play bass on all Christine's songs about him) and holed up in a studio with next to no windows and still produced a stone cold top 3 album of all time instead of systematically killing each other for sport.

Any song on here would be an apex mountain pinnacle for any other band not called The Beatles, take your pick. In fact it's CRIMINAL that they left Stevie Nicks beautiful "Silver Springs" off the track listing (thank you to The Dance and deluxe editions for restoring it), and I like to sometimes think that somewhere, in a CVS, Lindsey Buckingham is at this moment waiting for his quarter mile long receipt to print while the store PA plays "Silver Springs" and all he hears is "you'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you"

They never could get away from that sound...

50 stars if they would allow it.

Big, brash, bombastic, hair metal. Starts out with distorted feedback and classical organ style synths just to make sure you're ready to fuckin' rock. Has the hits, no filler and sold more copies than you've had hot dinners. Love it or hate it, its exactly what it sets out to be...

Well, this was an unexpected trip, part environmental psychedelic rock/part bubblegum pop? Brian Wilson was in his decline at this point, Dennis Wilson was half insane also so Carl Wilson and Mike Love stepped up to take some of the load and it shows, the final product is just so disjointed. Aurally pleasing because, hey, it's the Beach Boys in 3 part harmony, but it just doesn't hit like they used to.

Hard Heavy Metal, kicking what was left of the 60s in the face. Like nothing you had heard before...

I struggled with Hot Chip 10/15 years ago except for that one "Ready For The Floor" song and that's not on this, so I still struggle today, because nothing really stands out.

Only people who don't love their mothers could hate this. Classic old school hip hop that you'll think you heard elsewhere because most of it was eventually resampled.

From the bombastic opening of "Genesis" to the sheer, heart-pounding tension of "Stress", the production is a masterclass in using samples and analog synths to create a sound that is both raw and meticulously composed.

While there are a few moments where the momentum shift, specifically the more vocal-heavy tracks like "The Party", the overall journey is an absolute banger that has aged remarkably well...

Teen Age Riot takes me bak to simpler times, and this whole album just makes me want to go out and shoot skate videos with fisheye lenses...

Paul Weller's jazz days, and we don't talk about Paul Weller's jazz days... We ESPECIALLY don't talk about Paul Weller's rap days.

Obviously strong Beach Boy vibes, a very strong album (first 12 songs if you can only find the 30th anniversary 2CD edition) that gently breezes along without too much effort for the listener, it goes from soulful pop to dirty funk with amazing ease.

"Pump It Up" alone makes this a great album, and it's just that, great, catchy, infectious...

David Holmes produces a few good songs, but his albums always feel lacking, this is no exception

Raw uncut punk energy, the jams were, indeed, kicked the fuck out

I always struggled with Sepultura, I dunno why... I enjoyed Max's Soulfly project that came later, this just didn't move me.

OK, I get it, it's a masterpiece, but it's also *four songs long*, and one of those songs is split into two to make it a 5 song "long play" album.... Snark aside, its prog rock at its finest as suite of 9 movements encompasses the aforementioned split "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" bookends, then the 3 songs in the middle are just great, title track being the pick of the bunch but don't sleep on "Welcome To The Machine" (an anthem for disaffected youth that resonates way more than "The Wall") and "Have A Cigar". It's truly an album made for listening all the way through as opposed to individual songs.

Absolute aside, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a great karaoke song as you get 8:45 in before you even need to sing, and it's pretty anthemic when you do...

New Wave Romanticism abound, sitting in that weird space between outright punk and the likes of Duran Duran. The singles ("Dog Eat Dog", "Antmusic", and "Kings Of The Wild Frontier") are generally good, the rest doesn't hold up to the same caliber...

Hooker gets a second life here using as many collaborators as humanly possible, semi-ironically one of them was Carlos Santana who would run this play back 10 years later... Still, it's the blues by the preeminent bluesman, and the song with Bonnie Raitt "I'm In The Mood" is just pure filth, and I mean that in the best way possible.