Reviews by gregorsmith

I loved this in 1999 when I was 20, I'm horrified by this in 2024 when I'm 45. I can appreciate the craft and all that, but this was a 3 to 4 star album at best back then, it's not that any more 25 years later.

I was floored by the sheer musicianship, particularly the basslines and the tight, horn forward arrangements that make tracks like "Bonin' in The Boneyard" and "Ma And Pa" absolute standouts.

Much like Jerry Lee Lewis, the cloud of "white man popularising the black man's music" hangs heavy here. Classic rock & roll, albeit distilled.

OK-ish album, "Gasoline Alley" and "Cut Across Shorty" being the stand outs, but they also sounded much better when he did them unplugged some 20 years later...

By now Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer were long gone and Bob was on a tear spreading the word of reggae. This might be the crowning achievement, a classic album of memorable songs, "Jamming" and "Three Little Birds" being the obvious highlights, but the whole album is a solid groove.

Early 90s indie dance crossover that brought us the angelic, divine Sarah Cracknell, who's shimmery silver dress at Glastonbury 1994 *awakened* something deep inside that lives on to this day. "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" is an effortlessly cool summer jam that evokes visions of driving in a top down convertible through villages in Cote D'Azure, scarf billowing out the back. They would go on and make better music, but sometimes it's nice to remember those early days...

Breezy Bossa Nova that makes even the most mundane task feel like lounging on a Brazilian terrace with a cocktail in hand. The instrumentation is consistently sublime, featuring fluttering flutes and smooth, buttery percussion that create a relaxing, cinematic atmosphere perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. While the album is remarkably short and sweet, its quirks only add to its nostalgic charm.

Psychedelic jazz, man. The in sound from way, way out

The first time I really remember hearing a Lou Reed song was during the 1993 leg of the U2 Zoo TV tour, Bono would start singing "Satellite of Love" and a pre-recorded video of Lou would duet with him and it was cool. Then came the "Perfect Day" scene in Trainspotting at it was harrowing. And "Walk on the Wild Side" has always been around, I just never knew it as a Lou Reed song. So imagine my delight when all three are on this album. Just a wonderful listen from start to finish.

This was my favourite album of 2015 and it's no less potent, vitriolic, and on point almost 9 fuckin' years later. A roaring treatise on our fucked up society that really goes to show that ain't nothing changes but the date.

"King Kunta" and "I" still bang harder than they had any right to.

I don't get the Lana Del Rey vibe, naver have. This is just a whine/drone/white noise generator for people who think they like the 1950s style idea of America that never was. Anthems for day wine drinking bored housewives who can't manage the cadence for the anti-melodic lyrics like "Down at the Men in Music Business Conference"

I only mention it 'cause it was such a scene.

I was dreamin' when I wrote this so forgive me if it goes astray... An absolute party of an album, a party where Prince fucks you with the funk, and then makes you pancakes for breakfast the next morning. His purple badness is here giving you the full business.

Classic early 90s west coast gangster rap, braggadocio is the order of the day as Ice raps about people being bitches (both genders), gangster hustle shit, and guns going bang. Plenty of mid song skit style breakdowns but Ice changes things up with the hard metal "Body Count" that would be spun off into a legit side project by the same name. They are, of course, infamous for the "Cop Killer" song, but then Ice-T would spend the last 23 years playing a cop on TV, really makes you think...

Oh, and fuck Tipper Gore and the PMRC

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...

I like Queens of the Stone Age, but no Nick Oliveri, no party... even if he does appear at the very end. Subsequent albums (Rated R, Songs for the Deaf) would be much better, and there is a still more than a little Kyuss stank hanging around here, but it's perfectly adequate for what it is (or was).

You can hear the sounds that would make it over the crevasse into his collaborations with Bowie in Berlin, the drum sound on "Needles In The Camel's Eye" for instance. It's a real hodgepodge, but ahead of its time.

You got "Keep On Movin'" and "Back to Life" and a shit ton of absolute surplus filler, a classic example of when an LP should definitely be an EP...

Some monster hits, and surprisingly strong outside of "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", such as "Mother's Talk" and "Head Over Heels". I was really into this, it has a bit of everything for everyone.

A Christmas gift for me? Got the gift receipt? I'll keep the songs by The Ronettes and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love though...

The genius of Entertainment! lies in its incredible tension... The rhythm section of Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham creates these infectious, funky grooves that make you want to dance, while Andy Gill’s guitar stabs through the mix with a scratchy, abrasive energy that sounds like an electric shock. It’s a brilliant deconstruction of rock music where the bass takes the lead and the guitar serves as a rhythmic, percussive weapon, all perfectly supporting Jon King's barked, politically charged lyrics about consumerism and alienation.