Reviews by gregorsmith

I get that this is supposed to be influential, the greater introduction of Bob Marley to the masses and all that, but, honestly, nothing jumped out at me. Telling that with nearly every posthumous compilation, this album accounts for nearly nothing in the tracklistings.

I guarantee that there are very few people in this world who could recall (let alone quote) this, but once upon a time, I actually said to someone, "I used to listen to NIN - Pretty Hate Machine was the best. But Trent sold out, man. The Downward Spiral Sucks."

I look back upon those days and I simply wish there had been a wiser man around who could have caned me for my ignorance. I have to admit that of all the things that shame me in my life (and there are quite a few), this was one of the big ones. However, as usual, I am going off track.

Very chill album that straddles the gap between trip hop, electronica, and lofi. I LOVED the follow up album ("Carboot Soul") but never really gave. this one a listen, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to tonight, it was a good soundtrack to my mundane tasks, enough to make me stop and bob my head now and then.

Good listening on headphones while you're laying back in the cut.

Just a funky chilled album, cut from the same cloth as the likes of Black Star, big beats and big vibes from the verbal herman munsters, the word enhancers.

This isn't just another flower-power relic, it’s a deceptively smooth blend of acoustic folk and baroque pop that masks a profound sense of disillusionment.

First things first, not my jam... I had to listen to this in headphones at the dead of night so no one would catch me. Obviously it's the monster debut album from the preeminent pop star of the 21st century, starts off strong with the title track but then dips when the second song "You Drive Me Crazy" comes in as it's not the far superior single version. Song three, "Sometimes", is pleasing enough for a mushy pop ballad but thereafter is far more misses than hits and full of emotionless generic pre-millennium pop beats that could have been lifted from a preset library. She would go into better things as far as her career was concerned, but was this as good as it got? It was definitely the biggest commercial success she'd experience but it just felt so empty out with a few fleeting moments.

I had Murmur a few days ago and joked that I expected big things from this up-and-coming band... Well this was them at their peak. A phenomenal album that felt like a seismic shift in the culture, loaded with anthems for weird kids everywhere. Starts with "Drive" and rarely gets you go.

Not his best album (that'd be "Darkness on the Edge of Town"), not his breakthrough album (that'd be "Born to Run"), but probably his most iconic... A track list that plays like a greatest hits (12 songs, 7 (SEVEN) singles), and contains one of my absolute favourite Springsteen tracks (that'd be "Bobby Jean").

Just a near perfect album...

Debut album from a small up-and-coming band from a sleepy college town the the south, I see big things from them...

As soon as the organ hits on the first song (Like a Rolling Stone), you know you're in for a treat but it's the title track that gets me every time with the opening lyrics of "Oh God said to Abraham, 'Kill me a son' / Abe says, 'Man, you must be puttin' me on'"...

But, yes, I think it can be very easily done
We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61

Gonna be brutally honest, I love Ella Fitzgerald, but ain't nobody got 3 hours to listen to non stop Gershwin songs. She doesn't even song for the first 15 or so minutes. I understand the reasoning behind it and it's part of the larger overarching "Ella sings the whole ass complete American Songbook" that last for around 15 hours, but I'm not American and I have no connection to it and it's all very old and tedious...

Like a mashup of the worst parts of R.E.M. and Cake, which is a shame because I love both those bands, but I hated this...

Bland, uninspiring, basic. I'm struggling with this one as it's just so by-the-numbers that all the songs sort of bleed into one amalgamous blob of jangly guitar music with no real substance.

Just wasn't feeling it, but it's one of her weaker albums.

After immersing myself in the soulful, water-like textures of Jimmy Smith's Hammond organ, I can confidently say that Back At The Chicken Shack is the ultimate "vibe" record. It’s a masterclass in soul-jazz that feels like the sonic equivalent of a warm, dimly lit room or a late-night drive where everything finally feels in sync.

I mean, it's literally what you think of when you think of classic rock, late 60 blues born from traditional folk songs, not as good as the discography that would follow it, but a solid foundation with some serious grooves.

Never mind the Buzzcocks, here's another post-punk, new wave, arty power rock band... This surprisingly hit me just right.

Personally this album was like a gateway drug into a whole new world of sound, back in 2002 I randomly heard "Do You Realize??" on the car radio and it just instantly clicked with me, I knew I had to seek out the origin of it. What I found was a sonic soundscape that felt like a straight up rebirth, gone was my beloved 90s indie/alternative straight jangly guitar music and what replaced it was music with depth and crunch and searing screams of electronic madness.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time, that post millennium haze, where life seemed simpler and find this album for the first time all over again.

Pure 80s heaven, how this album produced so many memorable songs is basically criminal.

I guess you have to be in the mood for a horn section, I was not.