Reviews by guggmo

I’m at a 2.5 that I’ll bump down to a 2.

Eh. That really is the word to sum up the album for me: “eh”. This is just mired in mediocrity. Mediocre songwriting, often creating a feeling that the song has started at its halfway point with no context or buildup to create the emotional tissue each song is desperately trying to capture. Strong instrumentation that unfortunately loses all luster because all of its glitz & glamour feels unearned by the structure of each track. Once again, because the songwriting doesn’t really know how to paint pictures that lead up to the emotional release of the chorus as fruitfully as they’re expecting, the big solos here just feel like forced lifts as opposed to natural crescendos. They sound good, but without the investment towards the track, it’s impossible to really get into it.

The real issue this album has, beyond the songwriting / structure of each track plaguing the emotional pull, comes in the production itself – listen really closely to this thing, and tell me; do you hear an ounce of natural room tone at any point in this album? It’s not there. There is no natural warmth in any of these tracks; whether it’s the wall of sound that permeates a lot of this album’s guitar work & muddying it up, or the reverb placed on the vocals & harmonizations that creates a bubble effect that compresses & insulates them, this album just feels artificial. It’s part of the reason why the instrumentation doesn’t work as well as it’s executed – the bubble around everything feels unnatural to the ears, and that cascades its way to the vocal delivery & the lyricism. There’s no connective tissue that makes this album feel as alive as it wants to, save for maybe “Comedy”, “Lend’s Some Dough”, & “Captain’s Table” as the only 3 tracks that really clicked with me on a first pass here.

I just spent the vast majority of this album trying to get into it and never really clicking with it at all. If I only enjoyed 25% of the album on a first pass & can barely muster up even a loose admiration for certain aspects of some tracks past “it’s fine”, it’s just not worth bumping up to a 3. I do understand why it might click for other people, especially if some of the more localized references in the lyrics make more sense, but it really is just mired in mediocrity to me, and it doesn’t feel like it stands up with the other Britpop-adjacent albums on the list. For 1999, it feels like it’s 10 years out of date, if not a bit longer. It just did not click for me at all, and I feel inclined to bump it down to a 2. It’s not so bad as to earn a 1 but… damn, it just doesn’t feel like it needs to be on the list.

Eh.

I’m a little higher than a 5. I’d be at a 10 if those last two tracks were flipped.

Well, consider me impressed by the versatility of Fairport Convention. I enjoyed “Liege and Lief”, but this is an even better album. The mixed rock instrumentation that was present there takes on a more prog / psychedelic feel here, though still combined really fruitfully with fiddles, violins & dulcimers to create a soundscape that feels more energetically driven than “Liege and Lief”. It also helps that with just one traditional track here (“A Sailor’s Life”, which is fantastic), a lot of these tracks feel way more contemporary for the era, enhanced by having a few tracks from the pre-eminent songwriter of this generation in the tracklist. The Bob Dylan covers that are here (including one in French!) are really well done, and I’m most deeply impressed by “Percy’s Song”, which feels like the highlight of the entire album to me.

Every track here deserves some kind of love though, as there’s not a single bad one here. “Genesis Hall” does a great job of making you feel the ‘I’m on the wrong side, aren’t I?’ tension in the air, driven really well by the percussion. “Si tu dois parti” has a great energy behind it, and Sandy Denny sounds great in French. “Autopsy” is really well written, especially as a live autopsy of someone’s confessional nature & how it’s affecting their relationship. “A Sailor’s Life” does a brilliant job of matching her heartbeat’s despair with the percussive pulse of the track, & the instrumental section that closes it out is just a total jam. It’s my second-favorite track here.

“Cajun Woman” has fantastic fiddle work behind it, and the story of a mother’s lost influence on her bible-thumping child being everyone’s downfall is just fascinating to me. Richard Thompson, who we got over 400 albums ago on “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight”, wrote both it & “Genesis Hall”, and they’re both very well done. “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” is just a lovely track, reminiscent of say, Penelope waiting for Odysseus or Fry’s dog waiting for him. Sandy’s vocals really shine there.

“Percy’s Song” is… well, it’s just Bob Dylan crafting one of the most vivid pictures I’ve heard from the guy, enhanced DEEPLY by the instrumentation of the band & their harmonization. The constant turning feels like being forced to relive mugshots tainted with guilt, while his friend’s pleas for some kind of leniency (& the growing intensity of the instrumentation) fall on deaf ears due to the obvious nature of the crime at hand. The way everything layers on top of each other makes the track feel dynamic as hell, and overall, it’s a super captivating track that feels like it should’ve ended the album. “Million Dollar Bash” as a light critique on the idea that you HAVE to be seen as a status symbol by attending all these big fancy parties with meaningless cavorting is a good track, but it’s just not as effective of an album closer as “Percy’s Song” would’ve been, or “A Sailor’s Life”, or even “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?”.

If this album had ended with one of those 3 as a much more definitive finish, I think I’d be at a 10, as everything here just hit a remarkably strong peak for me. This album blends its songwriting talents with great production / instrumental work, and at its highest highs, it’s just really enthralling. I hope Sandy Denny somehow pops up at least one more time here as a feature on another album. As it stands, it’s higher than a 5, and it might still get up to a 10 one day. It’s REALLY fucking good, man. I’m very glad it’s on the list, and I think I need to seek out more of Fairport Convention on my own time.

P.S.: I really did not think I would be this captivated by an album with a cover that just seems like two grandparents posing in front of a gate. Could've done a bit more, guys.

It’s a 5.

Waylon Jennings is one of the country artists I definitely grew up on; even if I can’t remember a single song the guy has done, the name is famous to me, & his reputation in the world of country music feels monumental. It certainly feels reflected with these tracks; even if he’s not the primary songwriter here (I feel like I need to look up more from one Billy Joe Shaver), Waylon’s voice brings them all to life in a way that probably only a few other country artists of this era could really capture. The band around him does a great job as well (as always, I love that steel guitar), occasionally bringing a loose breakbeat energy to some of these tracks that adds just a touch of Beatles-y flair that spices up the album nicely.

It really is just a smartly written album, & the instrumentals behind each track elevate them more, with Waylon’s voice painting all the right strokes. It’s a super tight 27 minutes that touches on everything from reliving faded musical glory, to cheap lifestyles, to the natural high of traveling, the law-filled streets of California, the freeing lawlessness of Mexico, and a couple of love tracks, whether they’re about devoted love or constantly leaving. If I have a nitpick, it’s that I do think it’s not structured quite as tightly as a top to bottom album, with a few fadeouts that feel a little cheap (I would’ve ended on “Black Rose” instead), but it doesn’t matter that much. It’s still a very easy 5 for me, and it’s the type of country album that’s right down my alley. Good fucking stuff, Waylon.

It’s just a 3.

I like R&B. I like house music. I like both when it’s done well together, like Janet Jackson’s “Together Again”, Robin S’s “Show Me Love”, practically anything from the cheesy as hell Sonic R soundtrack, & this album’s very own “Back to Life” (the non-acapella version). This album, sadly, does not do them very well together. This is titled “Club Classics Vol. One”, and I would make the argument that there are perhaps 2 classics at most. Realistically, this album is “Club Classic” & then a bunch of other tracks that occasionally feel better than others, but for the most part, just kinda disappointingly fizzle out after strong starts.

The other classic in contention here is “Keep on Movin’”, which lines up given Caron Wheeler’s involvement. She’s got a great voice. You know who doesn’t? Jazzie B, whose spoken word approach on the majority of his tracks has absolutely no tonal match to the instrumental energy at hand here. He’s out of place, and while something like “Holdin’ On” is a bit endearing for the first time you hear him, but after that, the lack of melody & flow in his approach just wears out its welcome. He becomes a hindrance to a lot of strong beats, and his presence feels like a net negative by the end. You know who’s got a decent voice that feels out of place on this album? Do’reen, who sounds like she’s doing the Alanis Morissette vibrato at the end of every single line she does. Alanis got away with it on “Jagged Little Pill” because she used it sparingly & it felt like it was viscerally coming out of her. Do’reen… well, “Feel Free” is probably the most boring track here, so if you want an example, just go listen to that. You’ll hear what I mean. Not worth typing out anything about it. She’s a little better on “Happiness”, at least.

This album would be at more of a 3.5 (albeit still getting bumped down to a 3) if the instrumentals had a little more spice / progression behind them, but this album’s fatal flaw as an attempt to blend R&B & house music together is that it finds its peak of each track way, way, way too early, and just settles into that for most of the track. It speedruns the layering & progression that house music is supposed to have that keeps a listener engaged, and as such, a lot of these tracks just flatten out. The persistency of instrumentation that feels like it’s not moving is a constant throughout this album, and it makes those 45 minutes really drag on far longer than they should, especially with longer tracks here. The vocals (save for Caron Wheeler’s) don’t have enough behind them to save it, and the lyricism flattens out just as quickly as the instrumentals usually do. It’s a recipe for… not disaster, since this album never hits any kind of egregiously bad point, but it feels like going to a restaurant where the food peaks at the first bite every single time. It’s just not savory / satisfying enough to really justify itself, despite being a decent meal. “African Dance” does rip though. Maybe this album just needed more instrumentals, I dunno.

Hence, a flat 3, and that’s probably where the ceiling lies here for me. If someone wants to go for a 5, I wouldn’t side-eye it that much, but they’d clearly have more of a palate for this album than I did. It’s not bad at all, and on a good day, these tracks could click way more nicely (or perhaps in a club), but I still don’t think the entire package would ever go higher than a 3 for me. I can’t say you NEED to listen to it before you die. At the very least, “Back to Life” (non-acapella) will do the trick.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

Honestly, not too much to say about that one. I’m not sure if I hear all of the “most important alt rock releases” or “one of the greatest albums of the 1980s” hype after listening, but it’s a really strong album regardless. Maybe I’m just a bit desensitized after hearing a lot of highly influential alt-rock stuff that goes just a little harder for my tastes, or maybe I’m just not as mesmerized by this album’s pre-grunge / glam metal approach to everything. Perry Farrell’s songwriting & vocals are both good, but Dave Navarro & friends really steal the show here instrumentally. The basslines are great, the guitar solos are slick, and while the percussion never gets a huge moment, the power & the pulse of it feels strong throughout. It’s a tightly composed 45 minutes with some good variety throughout & not a bad track here.

So, why a 4.5 and not a flat 5? I think I’m just thrown off by the mixing more than anything else; it’s got a super dynamic range to it that emphasizes certain instruments over others on each & every track, and while I’m not opposed to the style at all (it does a great job of creating certain ‘distance’ on some tracks that enhances them), I just can’t help but feel like certain things got TOO de-emphasized in the mix, most specifically, Perry Farrell’s vocals. They take a back seat on a lot of the mixes here, and as such, it’s harder to connect with the lyricism in a way that doesn’t feel super satisfying to me. If you can’t grab the singer’s emotions, it just feels like he’s along for the ride, and I think that’s a bit of a disservice. Past that, there are times where tracks just feel a bit too muffled or quiet overall; “Had a Dad” feels like it suffers the most from this, but it pops up often enough that it just leaves a slightly hazy cloud over the whole album.

Ultimately, everything here is strong enough to warrant bumping this up to a 5; I’m not quite as dazzled as I hoped I’d be compared to expectations, but I’m impressed enough that I’m looking forward to whenever we get “Ritual De Lo Habitual”, especially if it cleans up some of the mixing nitpicks I had about this one. I hear all the bands they influenced, at the very least, and it’s a great ground floor for a lot of ‘90s bands to work from. It’s a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump down to a 4.

It’s not exactly the superstar version of Blur that would come to pass by their self-titled album, but it’s a pretty good album nonetheless. It’s just not one that really hooked me all the way through – these are all solid to great tracks, but this album’s connective tissue feels like a band still trying to find its identity & its musical niche. The foundation for what would come down the pipeline by “Parklife” is there, but it still really needs to be molded. Damon Albarn’s vocals are solid here, lining up with this album’s “regular guy trying to make it in this godforsaken country” approach to its storytelling. The problem is, that very quaint vibe that the lyrics & vocals give off doesn’t necessarily mesh with the instrumentals a lot of the time. These are energetic, with loud guitars, pulsing percussion & and some dynamic shifting that keeps each track fresh. To my ears though, as a full cohesive album, it just relies on that energy a little too much as its driving factor towards each track. I’m not saying these are poorly written, because there are some great lines in here, but that disconnect of the quaint lyricism / delivery & the instrumentals just becomes too apparent when EVERY track does it.

That disconnect creates a sense of repetition that permeates into lots of other aspects of the album; there’s a lot of “la la la” segments, a lot of longer outros, a handful of repeating choruses, & a lot of repeating guitar effects that feel more noticeable every time they pop up. When they’re done well, they’re done very well, and this album usually does them well, making it easier to ignore it while you’re in the moment. It is, however, noticeable enough throughout this album’s hour-long runtime that it leaves each track on its own island after you’ve finished the whole thing.

That’s mostly the reason I’m down to a 4 – not because of any individually bad tracks (although “Turn It Up” has the laziest lyricism I’ve ever heard from Damon Albarn), but because this album just never gains a sense of cohesion that hooked me in as consistently as they wanted it to. I can’t sit here and say there’s a great run of tracks that all fit together; there are runs of tracks that all feel good to listen to, and the entire album works well enough, but the flow of the album itself feels interrupted by all the little bits of repetition that pile up. Obviously, I can excuse parts of it for being from a band’s second album while they’re trying to find their musical identity, but it’s too persistent. It’s the type of persistency that warrants this being the lowest rated Blur album on the site, although not by much.

Hence, a 4.5 bumped down to a 4; the individual strength of all of these tracks still certainly warrants a listen (if nothing else, “Oily Water” is cool as hell), and perhaps if it were re-edited to let the album flow more naturally, I’d be inclined to look towards a 5. As it stands though, it just never flows well enough for me to get there. I admire the swings & experimentation here, a lot of which helped to shape their style & refine it down the line, and I think this album’s warranted to be on the list as part of the growing pains that make their later albums hit as hard as they do.

P.S.: I’m starting to think I need to give “Parklife” a revisit, because I probably underrated that quite a bit. It was super early on though, so can you blame me?

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

I think someone’s enjoyment of this album, for the most part, will come in the desire to understand its lyrics. For people who aren’t big on the lyrical side of things, this album will probably pass over the ears with some solid, occasionally lispy delivery & some traditional mid-90s post-grunge instrumentation behind it, with slight elements of shoegaze & a loose ‘lo-fi ska’ feel behind it. Enjoyable for its 41 minutes, but not as satisfying as it could be on just those parts of the album alone. That’s where the lyricism really enhances this album. I’ll be the first person to advocate for lyrics a lot of the time, especially when there’s effort put into them, but even I can admit this album in particular is a little too lyrically-driven. However, I do think they’re rewarding as hell if you can pick up on what they’re going for. It’s a little flowery at points, but they do try to make the meanings as clear as they can without explicitly spelling it all out.

Whether it’s an inability to be sexually comfortable with one’s self, a half-closeted / half-open gay relationship, a defiant spirit towards an older generation, the pick-me vibes of a girl walking through the woods, a plea to get out of a lonely slump, a hopeless romantic finding their victories in literature, the insidious nature of religion as it relates to suicide, someone waiting for an ex to be single again for a second chance, the desire for something more intimate than a surface-level love, or sex in one’s dreams being better than the real thing, this album’s ability to find & capture elements that navigate the complexities of the teenage years, at least as written by a chronically fatigued track runner, feels remarkable. That’s where the lyricism elevates this album – the pictures painted build up really well from verse to verse, & the choruses feel like flipping a page just to paint the next part of the story. Is it a little too “YA novel”-coded? I mean, probably, but as with the last album, I’m just kind of a sucker for these things when they’re done well.

So, with all that praise, why a 4.5 bumped up to a 5 and not a flat 5 or something higher? Again, it’s just because it’s a little too lyrically driven to cover up some occasionally flatter instrumentals; that, and I don’t know if it’s necessarily structured super well as an actual album experience. The push & pull of these tracks from a musical standpoint isn’t quite as dynamic as their lyrics are, so there is a slight sense of homogenization that underlines some back-to-back tracks on this album. That said, it’s an incredibly easy bump up to a 5 for me, just because I fuck with everything this album is going for. Stuart Murdoch’s one hell of a songwriter, and if “Tigermilk” is supposed to be even better than this, I can’t wait until we get it. I’m very impressed, given that this is by a band I hadn’t heard of until today, and for me, it’s a bump up to a strong 5.

I’m a little higher than a 5.

It might just be my love for early 2000s Pharrell-style production talking, but I REALLY enjoyed this. The aspects of it that others might see as weaknesses (too Black Eyed Peas-coded, corny record scratching, too much fusion with Latin elements, ‘bootleg Santana’) are precisely the exact reasons I liked this a lot. I enjoyed every track here, all of which brings something fun to the table, whether it’s in some strong rap verses (shoutout to Chali 2na), some great lyrical / vocal delivery, but I especially loved when this thing hit more of an energetic & danceable vibe, most exemplified by “Déjame en Paz”, which might be my highlight of the whole thing. If you can’t feel the rhythm of that track, you genuinely have no joy.

I do have my nitpicks; I think the first 2 tracks are a little stagnant at times & go for just a bit long, in a way that could easily create some worries about the overall pacing of the album for a first-time listener. With some trimming & some extra spice to them, those tracks could punch just a little harder. By “Street Signs”, it flows a lot better, up until “Santiago”, which does kickstart another wave of tracks that go just a little long / get a little repetitive. It’s never in a way that kills the energy of the track or the momentum of the album, but it is in a way where your ears catch that repetition lingering for just a bit long. Those nitpicks, however valid they might be, are cancelled out by the remarkably high highs of this album; the stretch of “(Who Discovered) America?” through “Dejame en Paz” is a fantastic 5-track run that carries its momentum as strongly as any album we’ve gotten so far from the early 2000s, & “Cuando Canto” is just a great album closer. Even with all my nitpicks about the early / late stretches of this album, their instrumentals are still great & the infectious joy & energy that they’re bringing to the table just feels like a net positive with all the current hell around us. Is it ‘millennial-coded optimism’ that hasn’t aged as gracefully as they would’ve thought back then? Yeah, probably. It’s optimism I don’t mind revisiting though.

Hence, a little higher than a 5. When this album’s at its very best, it feels like a party, and I haven’t gotten that sort of effervescent musical high in a bit. I think it’s a great album, I’m glad it’s on the list, and while I sort of see why people would be over this style of music, I’m just a total sucker for it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to jump around to “Dejame en Paz” at least 5 times in a row. It’s good exercise.

I’m at a 5.

It's very hard to apply a specific vibe or genre to this one; the most I can give you is “Peter Gabriel doing a Radiohead album”, “The Dave Brubeck Quartet as composed by Pink Floyd”, & “Brian Eno producing Bob Dylan”, and even then, that doesn’t fully cover the vast variety of styles that this album is constantly jumping through. A lot of this album is instrumentally driven, and while it’s full of instruments that shouldn’t work on paper, it somehow manages to feel cohesive despite itself. Robert Wyatt’s same eccentricities from “Rock Bottom” are here, but channeled into more fulfilling soundscapes; there’s good percussion & guitar throughout this album, and each track manages to capture the exact atmosphere it’s going for, even if it’s done through elongated ambience that might feel hit or miss after long enough.

It really does feel hard to go track by track here. I have lots of scattered notes, but they’d barely fit together in a pile. There’s stuff like “analog MGMT”, “he sounds very meek”, “this feels like it fits in Twin Peaks”, “sounds like an old PBS montage”, “that poor dead bird”, & more. This really is an album that jumps all over the place, and as such, it’s probably just better heard to capture the full palette of musical colors it attempts to paint its pictures with. I enjoyed it a lot, & while I get the 2.51 on the site, I feel like it’s people quickly giving up after the most eccentric stuff on “The Duchess”. This album finds its most consistent voice afterward, and it feels a bit rewarding if you can get into it. I certainly liked it, and I think it’s a 5. Pretty damn good stuff, Robert. I feel like I really owe “Third” a re-listen.

I’m at a 10. That one got me really fucking good, man.

I have sat here for 10 minutes pondering this album & how potently Sinead O’Connor lets her emotions pour out of her, and it has left me with one question that I think this album tries to answer – What does an angel sound like when it’s been abandoned by God? I think Sinead O’Connor is a woman pleading for answers throughout this album, and while I’m not sure if she ever finds them, it almost feels like a privilege to hear someone else ask the many angry questions that I have never been able to put so forcefully into words. Sure, her struggles are related to familial & romantic relationships, many of which I can relate to, but at their core, they express a distrust with life itself & the inability to reckon with struggle in a way that doesn’t fundamentally change you as a person. I do not know what an angel sounds like when it's been abandoned by God, but I know that Sinead O'Connor has come as close as anything I've ever heard with this album.

That’s genuinely all I can type. I think it’s a deeply rewarding experience if you just listen to her, especially with headphones in. I found myself just closing my eyes often throughout this album, just to lock in on her even more. At worst, there’s some longer outros, but they barely matter in the big picture. This is an album you need to hear before you die. It’s that potent. It’s a 10. It might be higher.

I’m at a 4.5 that I'll bump up to a 5.

The only track I knew going into this, as I imagine is the case for most US listeners, was “Our House”, which continues to be in the middle of their street. I didn’t realize Madness were as big as they were in the UK, since that track just kinda defines their legacy over here. Based on the ‘ska’ labeling that Wikipedia gives them, I was more so expecting the mid-90s brand of energetic, horn-driven ska. Instead, what I’ve just listened to is slightly darker new wave with some horns thrown in there, and it turns out, it’s a style I quite like. This is really well-produced for 1982, managing to let the eclectic, weird & occasionally chaotic instrumentals feel clear throughout, giving each instrument its own space to work. The pacing of the album is nice too, with every track (save for one) clocking in at 3:40 or less, so when a track starts to feel a little busy, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. That pacing gives them room to explore, & they cover a pretty good variety of styles & topics that keeps the album fresh.

Lyrically, I’d say it’s pretty good – occasionally a bit repetitive on some outros, or not as clear as it could be, but for the most part, they’re written well. I’m too American to understand the possible overtly British patriotism present here, but I will choose to live in a bit of bliss if it’s more jingoistic than I realize. Suggs’ vocals are good here, with a strange variety that somehow feels like Peter Gabriel at times, Sting at others, and yet entirely his own thing at the same time. At the very least, he’s good at inhabiting the spirit of each track & all the characters present in each. There’s not a consistent enough line to call this a real ‘concept album’, but it’s an album with concepts, at least.

Since it’s an album where the instrumentals drive the energy more than anything else, I find it a bit useless to go track by track here; if you’re inclined towards slightly experimental new wave stuff at all, you’ll probably like this. There are times where it can feel a bit busy, and while it didn’t overwhelm me, I can see how it might be a little too much for others. For me, I’m just impressed by how much personality each track manages to have & how cohesive it still somehow feels (including the very strange & probably racist “New Delhi”). I also just happened to enjoy the instrumentals a lot, & each track made my head sway around a bit. I think it’s a good album, I’m glad it’s on the list, and I think it’s worth bumping up to a 5.

I’m at a 4.

It’s a solid album; definitely a good blend of house / acid / trip-hop / electronica for the time, and the closest thing we have to a full early ‘90s DJ club set in the atmospheric sense. A lot of these tracks do feel like the type of obscure tracks you might stumble upon looking for deeper dives. They’re decently cohesive here, even if the glue is just faux crowd noise for most of the tracks. It’s pretty well paced too, until you get to “No More Tears” & the album’s momentum just freezes in place. That track is mostly the reason why I’m at a 4 – there are some repetitive spots, some lacking lyrics (namely on “The White Room”) & the last track doesn’t meaningfully divert from the first track too much, but “No More Tears” is… well, it’s just too damn long, really. If that had been trimmed down & paced a bit better, I might be closer to a 4.5, but it just stalls the album in a bad way. If 22% of your album is devoted to one track & it kinda flops, that kinda justifies any sort of bump downward.

Even with one track of woe, I think my biggest point against this album is that it never really finds what it wants to do as a full project. Electronica albums can usually evoke a sense of adventure, in some kind of way; at the very least, they find an atmosphere to build on & make the brain really conjure up stuff. This album sort of starts that way with the crowd noise, but once it strays away, it’s just tracks that find a mood, but not a consistently engaging mood. I did enjoy this though; it’s well-produced for its time & most of the tracks here are good. It’s just not a strong top to bottom album experience; my appreciation for this genre has me at a 4, but I understand if people would go for a 3 or even lower. It’s an album made for people who already like the genre, and if you don’t, then you just don’t. I am glad it’s on the list though.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

21 minutes and 40 seconds of lightning fast punk rock. It’s snotty as hell, thoughtfully angry, unapologetically loud, and it’s right down my fucking alley. This album feels like a preview of the more manically paced / experimental albums that would emerge through the rest of the ‘80s & would be especially refined by the ‘90s. The only reason this is at a 4.5 is just because it’s a little same-y in terms of the actual soundscape (aka insanely fast drums & guitar riffs for miles), but it’s got a lot of variety within it to keep it fresh. Ian MacKaye’s vocals work well here; he would obviously go on to greater success with Fugazi, but his venom-filled disdain gives this album an edge that really makes it work, anchoring & channeling all the nearly off-rails instrumental chaos into a package that manages to be concise & tight.

There’s really not much to say; everyone plays their part & their instruments perfectly, and since it’s such a short album / EP, it’s just worth fucking listening to it compared to whatever I could type about it. I’m glad it’s on the list, it’s deserving of the acclaim, and it’s an easy bump up to a 5. Really, really fun stuff.

I’m at a 10.

I mean, fucking hell, color me surprised for 1969. If “Are You Experienced” was a blueprint for rock music over the next several years to come, it sure feels like this should’ve been the blueprint for punk rock for years to come. I can’t believe that was 1969, let alone a live debut album. You gotta have stones to make your first album a live one, but the energy emanating from both them & their crowd felt infectious in a way that only a live album can really capture like that. Obviously, the technical skill behind it is one thing, especially to stay as in sync as they were, but beyond that, just managing to fill their atmosphere with such a natural charisma across the board that it can come through as if you’re actually there… seriously, it’s remarkable for the time.

Lyrics barely matter here, save for their use as a path to let Rob Tyner control the pace of each track / the emotion of the venue, and he does fantastic work, especially once the crowd is bought into what MC5 are selling. There’s a specific moment during the slower point in the halfway mark of “I Want You Right Now” where it feels like everyone, including the band, is hanging onto his every breath, and I haven’t felt a sense of control like that since Kurt Cobain’s literal deep breath back on the MTV Unplugged album. Obviously, the guitar work here from Wayne Kramer & friends is fucking unbelievable; just listen to it, if you somehow haven’t.

Ultimately, it’s just a stunner, top to bottom. I can’t type anything else about it that would do the 40 minutes justice – it’s a fantastic debut & it feels like the blueprint to follow, even now. I don’t know what has led this towards 35% of people on the site giving this a 1 or 2, but those people are dead wrong. Kick them out in the same way that MC5 kicked out the jams, motherfucker. It’s a 10, and thank goodness it’s on the list.

I’m at a 5.

Who even is Beck, anyway? That’s what I asked when we got Odelay near the end of February, and I think I now have my answer. Beck is someone who does whatever the fuck he wants based on whatever mood he’s in, and somehow, it just works, every time. This album’s variety expands even further past “Odelay”, taking full advantage of the extra technology available & taking some inspiration from other acts that had popped since “Sea Change”; Jack White, in particular, gets a co-writing credit & a bass-playing cameo on “Go It Alone”, which is really cool. This album does feel like Beck’s own take on the garage rock revival of the early 2000s, but with his own flair behind it & an eclectic mix of instruments that create something unique for the time, sticking out in a way that feels ahead of pace for 2005. Just listen to something like “Earthquake Weather”, which feels like a Thundercat track through & through, yet still retains the neo-soul vibes of the late ‘90s that Thundercat was inspired by. It’s a great melding of what was & what was to come in the music landscape, and that general vibe permeates the whole album, with the mixture of grunge elements & electronica throughout that somehow fit cohesively together.

It is harder to go track by track here, just because each track feels really instrumentally different in a way that is best experienced by listening to it rather than breaking it down, but I do want to give some love to the lyrics here; unlike Odelay, which felt largely like an afterthought that fit melodically, this album’s dichotomy between its generally poppier / upbeat instrumentals & the constant poking towards loneliness, heartbreak & death in the lyrics feels very intentional, and it’s consistently strong throughout. It’s obviously not as explicit & downbeat as “Sea Change” was, but a lot of these tracks feel like Beck’s expression of an identity crisis. The final 3 tracks in particular really work in tandem for me; “Farewell Ride” seems to be about an outlaw preparing to defy death despite its inevitability, “Rental Car” seems to be about someone actively seeking it out, and “Emergency Exit” is about someone who wasn’t prepared for it. It’s a good 3-track stretch to close out on, and it wraps up this album nicely.

Ultimately, his was just really enjoyable; I think this is my favorite Beck album on the list, especially with the matured songwriting & variety in production present, and I’m glad it’s here. Unlike what that top review is implying, this was well worth a listen & it certainly was entertaining, at least for my tastes. I can think of at least one artist on this list who has 3 or more that are less deserving than Beck (their name rhymes with “Snorissey”). It’s a good trio of albums to put here, and I certainly want to listen to more of the guy. As far this album goes, it’s a 5, if not a little higher. Damn fine stuff here, Beck.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump down to a 4.

I like Steve Winwood a lot. I like ‘80s production, even when it’s this cheesy & synth heavy. I also like Phil Collins, whose lack of a solo album here baffles me a little bit; not even “Face Value”, just for “In The Air Tonight”? I bring up Phil because… well, Steve Winwood sounds a lot like Phil Collins here, as many people have pointed out, especially so on the first two tracks. Put all of that together, along with Steve’s solid (if cheesy) songwriting & his innate musical ability (he played EVERY SINGLE instrument here), and you end up with a pretty damn good effort across the board. I enjoyed all the tracks here; there’s a good funk behind tracks like “Second-Hand Woman” & “Night Train”, some great guitar work both electrically & acoustically (“Slowdown Sundown” on the latter especially), and when this album wants to break out real drums to go with the synths, it just makes me wonder why so many artists in this decade chose to pair drum machines with synths. Granted, Steve is just as guilty of drum machine use here, but it still sounds nice. Overall, while it’s certainly cheesy at times & EXTREMELY dated to 1980, it’s the sort of cheesy style that’s directly attuned to my musical tastes, for better or worse.

So, why the 4.5 bumped down to a 4? Well, even I have my limits / critiques. This album settles into its starting groove a bit too often, leaving these tracks in a state of limbo that you will either tolerate because it’s surrounded by little synth hits & melodies that try to keep it fresh, or you will despise it because the synth hits just feel like bandaids for an endless loop. The truth is somewhere in the middle; I think these do a decent job of maintaining a groove & an energy, but not enough tracks shake things up meaningfully in a way that gives the track good progression. That’s combined with repeating lyrics & an overt reliance on choruses that starts to feel really noticeable towards the end of the album. “Arc of a Diver” is guilty of that chorus reliance, “Second-Hand Woman” desperately needs a bridge in there to shake up the rhythm, “Spanish Dancer” does as well, & “Dust” is just overly guilty of the repeating lyrics, in a way where it’s a weaker album closer. The best track here is a tie between “When You See a Chance” & “Night Train”, as neither really hit on those tropes.

That pile of issues along with the same ‘consistently good, never hits a stretch of great’ thought process that I threw at “Brothers” is why this is getting a bump down to a 4, but as with “Brothers”, I still really enjoyed it & I still do recommend it. Obviously, since I have an affinity for this style & a bit of tolerance, I don’t see all of those issues as huge sinking deals, but for people who already don’t really like this style, I sort of get & understand the 1’s & 2’s. Personally, I think the floor is a 3, but regardless, I think it’s still got a place on the list. It’s certainly on the chopping block, but I’ve heard much, much worse before. It’s a 4.5 that I’ll bump down to a 4.

I’m at a 5.

Not too much to say; it’s Frank Sinatra doing great bossa nova, in collaboration with the original songwriter / composer of “The Girl from Ipanema”, Antonio Jobim. This album, as far as its inclusion on the list, is probably meant to represent him more than Frank, but 'two birds, one stone' & all that. It’s 7 of Mr. Jobim’s tracks, & 3 “American Songbook” standards in a bossa nova style. It’s a tight 28 minutes, Frank’s vocals glide as always, and the orchestration / instrumentals here are lovely. It’s fascinating that this came out the same year as both “Sgt. Pepper’s” & “Are You Experienced” – it’s a very classic Sinatra album, in the sense that it’s practically just his voice & the music at hand, without any extra flair to it. I’m not sure where Frank Sinatra’s cultural status was at the time, but this just feels like a guy who’s still confidently at the top of his game. His voice still comes with a type of confidence that feels like it could pick up any woman willing to listen, and it blends really well with the orchestral bossa nova here.

If there’s any real nitpicking, it’s just that it’s a lot of love songs & not much else, though that might just be a slight indictment on Antonio Jobim’s songwriting as opposed to anything else. It’s a short, safe album that just knocks it out of the park, combining the easy listening of bossa nova with the flair of Frank Sinatra, and it just works, simple as that. For me, it’s an easy 5. I’m glad it’s on the list, but I am sad this is the final time we’ll be getting Ol’ Blue Eyes. I have a lot of love for his style / era of music, and I feel like I need to search out a bit more of it.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump down to a 4, though I did really enjoy this.

This is an album where the only track I knew going in was named “Tighten Up”. It’s a good track, and I like it; partly from early 2010s nostalgia, and partly because I just think the pulse of the track is pretty nice. This album, if you want to be rather cynical about it, is “Tighten Up” done 15 times, with not too much variance behind it. That’s the cynical approach; one that I won’t necessarily dismiss, because it’s true to a point, but one that takes away the nuances of this album & the very intentional choice to limit the soundscape as much as it does. This is a very direct album, made clear by the choice to declare the band name & the album’s title so plainly on a black square on that cover art. It’s direct in its lyricism, it’s direct in its vocal approach, & it’s direct in its percussion. The only thing that’s not super direct is the guitar work, and even then, that’s just because it’s doing pretty direct blues tropes that blend well with this album’s ‘softer White Stripes’ approach. It’s a very slight tweak of the garage rock era of the mid-2000s, blended with some of the future ‘pop rock’ tropes to come from bands like Imagine Dragons & a touch of the slower pacing that Tame Impala would ride with down the line. It’s a consistent approach, no different from some blues albums of the ‘50s & ‘60s where you can make the same cynical ‘every track is the same’ claim, but as a result, it’s not really a fair claim. It is, however, true enough that it’s partially why I’m bumping this down to a 4.

For as much as I love dissecting tracks & lyricism & the whole thing, since this is such a direct album, I think it’s a little hard to do so here. It’s not because ‘every track is the same’, but it’s because this album’s lyrical themes of family relationships & romantic dynamics feel rather obvious. These tracks overlap a bit; not in terms of direct references to other tracks, but there are ones that touch on being lusty or being lonely a little often. They’re written well enough & shake up the melodies enough that it’s not too much of a bother, especially in the moment, due to the grooves & pulse that drive this album, but when you’re done with the album & really reflecting on it, like I am now, they just kinda bite you after the fact. The other thing that’s really biting at me, and what’s most inclining me to bump this down to a 4, is simply the lack of a definitive ‘great stretch’ of the album. This is a consistently good one, and it lifts up to ‘great’ on a few tracks. There’s just never a definitive stretch where this album is REALLY rolling like that, at least in a way where my brain can point it out. A truly great album has a stretch that kills it & really gets you engaged. The closest thing here is “Tighten Up” through “The Only One”, but even still, I just thought “Howlin’ for You” & “Black Mud” settled themselves into ‘good’, and not ‘great’. This album just never REALLY hits that defining, elevating point, even though it never hits a bad one.

Hence, a 4.5 bumped down to a 4, though one I still really recommend. Realistically, my bump down is just a bunch of minor nitpicks about ‘safe’ songwriting coming to roost, and if someone wants to give this a 5, I wouldn’t even bat an eye. All of the people giving this 1 or 2 are overreacting in my mind; they’ve got valid points, but they’re intentionally not meeting this album where it is out of the expectations for something ‘bigger’ relative to its popularity / acclaim, and that’s just not this album’s modus operandi. I think it’s a strong album, and when it’s at its best, it’s very good. Perhaps if this album were trimmed just a bit to remove a little bit of the filler (some of the last 5 tracks didn’t fully hook me in like that), I’d be more inclined to bump it to a 5. Hell, it might get there on another day. As it stands, I think it’s a really good album; I hear the acclaim, and it’s deserved acclaim. Auerbach & Carney do great work together, and while they don’t have the same cultural pull as they once did, this album’s place as a landmark of sorts to usher in that early 2010s approach to blues/pop rock feels warranted on the list. I liked it a lot.

I mean, it’s obviously a 10.

I just don’t know how Jimi Hendrix & friends did this in 1967. It feels like listening to the next 20 years of rock music, if not longer, develop in real time. Jimi’s talents are one thing, and the obvious driving force of the album, but the percussion is on an insane level for the time, managing to be just as dazzling as Jimi’s guitar work at points. The pulse & pace of this thing feels incomparable; we’re two years before Led Zeppelin arrives on the scene, & I don’t think the Rolling Stones were quite there yet. The only guys even remotely close were The Beatles (in terms of innovation) & Cream (in terms of even remotely close guitar talent; that said, fuck you, Eric Clapton), and even still, they weren’t going for it like THIS. This is a top-to-bottom stunner of an album, managing to take blues as it was known, turning that Spinal Tap dial up to 11, and just going to fucking town. Lyrically, it’s pretty good too, but I’ll be honest; I barely cared about the lyrics past a certain point. Jimi’s delivery is super strong throughout, and his ability to lift his vocals up on each track spices the energy up in a really effective way.

As far as the track list goes, I personally went with the U.S. release & then threw on “Red House” as a bonus, just because it has 73.5 million plays on Spotify & it felt appropriate. Every track here is great; I feel going track-by-track would be worse than just listening to the damn thing, but I want to especially gush over the title track itself, since the backwards soundscape & the reverb tricks feel so far ahead of pace for the era. Throughout the whole album, there’s production that everyone would bite down the line, even going as far as feeling shoegaze-y at points. I cannot stress enough how much this album needs to be heard rather than read about, because it just feels ridiculous that this is from 1967. The only giveaway is just the vocal panning at times, & even then, it never gets egregious.

It’s a 10. It’s really that simple – I was not experienced with this album before going into it, and now I certainly feel experienced. Between this & “Electric Ladyland”, I’m just blown away. Jimi Hendrix fucking rules, & I cannot fucking wait to get “Axis: Bold As Love”.

I’m above a 5.

These are the same guys who did “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”? Are we sure? The guys who sounded like “American Radiohead” are out here doing an alt-country album 5 years earlier & doing a damn good job with it – color me surprised that this is what Wilco’s original style was like, as it’s somehow both way out of left field & right down my alley. I enjoy country music when it’s done well, so this album doing the genre justice as well as it does, while integrating soft portions of the grunge of the mid-90s in a way that doesn’t really too harshly one way or the other feels like a miracle. This sounds like ZZ Top at times, the Rolling Stones at others, Matchbox 20 on occasion, and yet, it’s all pretty cohesive. For Wilco, at least from what I thought I knew of them, I’m just really surprised.

I’m also surprised this thing is as consistently energetic as it is; despite so many of the tracks here being lyrically somber or snarky in some way, a lot of these tracks have faster tempos & a really vibrant approach to the soundscape. The guitars are always doing something fun, the percussion knows when to kick into gear, and the supplemental stuff (fiddles/banjos/piano/etc) fits in perfectly. It also knows when to slow down that energy and let the lyricism breathe. These are pretty well written, but Jeff Tweedy’s delivery makes some of the more mundane / repeated lines feel fresh. His voice is an underrated instrument here, and it does show aspects of what he’d REALLY push forward by “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”.

Going track by track here would be a fool’s errand – this is a 19-track album, and that’s just too many to cover all at once, especially since I liked all of them. My favorites are probably “Monday”, “Outtasite (Outta Mind)”, “I Got You (At the End of the Century)”, “What's the World Got in Store”, “The Lonely 1” & “Dreamer in My Dreams”. The last one in particular, closing out the album with a suicide song wrapped in a bluegrass bow, is, at the very least, the most fascinating one here to me. Its message is in plain sight, but I didn’t perceive it that way until the very end. I just assumed all that “swinging” was optimistic energy awaiting his son’s birth & the future to come, so I clearly got suckered into the happy vibes of the instrumental.

Why exactly is it not a 10 like “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” if I liked every track here & had a number of favorites, then? Frankly, it’s just a bit long. This is 25 minutes longer, and to be totally frank, I don’t think it uses all of its 76 minutes as tightly as it could. For as good as these tracks are individually, there is a slight lack of focus that starts to kick in after “Someday Soon”; not in the writing or delivery, but just in the pacing of the album. It starts to meander a bit, retreading on some themes & instrumental styles that’s definitely noticeable. It didn’t affect me too badly, but it is something that might bite on any future relistens. I don’t know if any tracks NEED to be cut here, since they’re all good, but some of them probably could’ve been trimmed out. It’s not my place to decide which ones though. Regardless, it’s still somewhere above a 5, at least for my tastes; this was super enjoyable, and I think they did a great job. I’m very glad to have heard country Wilco, & I’m very glad this is on the list.

P.S.: Whenever we get “Mermaid Avenue”, I’ll be very intrigued to see how they handle Woody Guthrie lyrics. Those are from a totally different generation, and putting those to music in their style feels like it could be very strange. I hope it's good though.