Reviews by guggmo

Yeah, I’m at another 5.

I honestly think that was a more complete top to bottom album than 2112, which is crazy for me to even consider, but I liked it that much. I think the synth work here is off the charts. I think the instrumentation that underlines all of that synth work has a ridiculously infectious energy to it. Lyrically, there’s some great stuff here – Limelight and Witch Hunt, in particular, have aged remarkably well. Even in terms of the vocals, which do feel a little high pitched and out of place at times… I think there’s a super strong performance here all-around. The percussion deserves its own spotlight; Neil Peart deserves more flowers than there are stars in the solar system.

I’ve got not a singular complaint; that was 40 minutes of rock music that hits on every single one of my musical sensibilities – I think it’s catchy as hell, it’s fun to listen to, and if you can’t enjoy hearing people shred on a guitar while percussion goes at 100 miles per hour, then you just don’t know how to have a good time with music. Very easy 5. Spectacular album.

Probably no surprise that I’m at a 5.

I’m not gonna be verbose about it: this is a really fucking good jazz album. Every composition here is really well done, and I enjoyed the entire runtime. Not a single lull for me, nor a single miss, or even a single problem with the mixing or production, which is a little wild for a 50s album.

I fell into a deep bliss during that, which makes me really terrified for whenever we get Kind of Blue, because this album has already set a high bar for me, and I know the critical acclaim that Kind of Blue has. Regardless, this is just a spectacular album to me, and I’ll easily come back to this often as studying music or reading music. It’s very deserving of a 5.

That’s a 5. I feel a little dirty giving it a 5, but I think it’s fine.

Jerry Lee Lewis is a strange, strange man. I think he did some really weird shit in his lifetime, and I don’t like any of what I’ve read since I finished listening to the album. However… I can kinda separate it, mainly because I just don’t have any sort of deeper connection to the guy’s music like I did for a certain rapper who shall not be named.

It’s just kind of annoying that this is as good as it is; I don’t have a single complaint. I think the crowd’s energy is electric, I think the live performances from the band are off the charts, and his piano performances (while singing!) in particular are downright incredible. There’s not a single missed note nor a single missed breath from the man, and he had that crowd hanging onto both of them deeply. His stage presence and control are unbelievable to me – I’m glowing with praise about the way this sounds because it just sounds that damn good.

Yes, a lot of this set is ripped wholesale from other artists, and I’d be remiss not to acknowledge that, but I do think he did those songs justice – What’d I Say in particular keeps a lot of the grit from the Ray Charles version, and it just feels good to listen to. Honestly, I enjoyed this a lot, and I really wish the whole thing was on streaming. It’s pretty damn good. Solid 5.

Of course that’s a 5.

It was gonna be a 5 just because it had You Oughta Know and Ironic on it, but my goodness, some of those other tracks are fabulous; Forgiven and Perfect, in particular, are so fucking tuned into my sensibilities out of 90s rock, and there’s not a single bad track on here.

Her vocals are off the charts for most of this album; just super strong control for someone constantly singing at such a high pitch, but when she goes deeper… man. Those moments are standout. The guitar riffs and the production on here is fucking crazy good; I don’t know if I’ve paid that much attention to the sound design on the bigger hits with headphones in before, but I clearly underestimated just how much work was poured into the instrumentals.

Yes, it’s pretty clearly dated to 1995, especially with how much You Learn feels like it could’ve been the theme song to a 90s teen drama, but I kinda don’t care – this was just a spectacular listen for me, and I can’t believe I never listened to the whole thing until today. Fantastic stuff here, easy 5.

Yeah, I’m at a 5.

I’ve never really heard a Beach Boys album in full like that – the big 60s singles that are all literally beach-y and happy and surf-y are the extent of my Beach Boys knowledge. I know sort of about the Smile Sessions or whatever, and the sort of desperate turn to try and match a wave they knew was coming, but I’ve never actually heard anything from around that era until now.

This was really fucking good, man; such a diverse variety of soundscapes and styles here – I don’t think there was a single bad track on this album. Yes, I know that “Student Demonstration Time” has some odd lyrics about the protestors and they’re especially weird because it’s Mike Love singing it, but I almost kinda don’t care? This is my first sort of Beach Boys experience, so I don’t know if they ever dipped into that kind of heavy guitar before or after this, but I thought it was so out there for my perception of The Beach Boys that I kinda just enjoyed it regardless. Take a Load Off Your Feet was kinda weird, and felt the least fitting from the entire album, but I still liked it.

Seriously, I don’t have any complaints; good production, good vocals, pretty strong subject matters, nice imagery in the lyrics, and overall, just a damn good album. Pretty strong 5 from me.

I’m at a 5.

I just deeply enjoyed that; I thought the instrumentals were off the charts and the ingenuity in the production for 1970 was super cool. A lot of blended synth work here, in a way that made everything feel super sonically pleasing – “Love Has Found A Way” impressed me in particular. Lyrically, while there was some repetition, that repetition never fully extended to the vocals, and I think they were pretty damn good on this album too.

Seriously, I don’t have a complaint about any track; I enjoyed this from top to bottom, and for 1970, it feels a bit ahead of schedule. Super fun album, really good vibes, great variety, and it nails down the “12 dreams” thing it’s going for. Pretty solid 5.

Big turnaround from a rather slow start to get up to a 4.

I think everything from Track 5 and onward on this album is pretty damn good; solid vocals, solid lyrics, solid topics for the songs, and really nice instrumentation that doesn’t intrude too much with the general “spirit” of each song – they’re just there to provide the melody, and they don’t make the recording space feel like an instrument by itself. You can see where this is going, I hope.

3 of those first 4 tracks are severely muddled and ruined by their production choices, which is utterly baffling to me. I get it, I get it; 1993, loud = new, new = good, and it clearly worked to the critics of the time, but the audio mixing and sudden jump in volume among instruments was all over the place in a way that wasn’t creatively satisfying or sonically pleasing, but just annoying to my ears as the listener. Thankfully, the album learns its lesson, and that’s how it’s getting a 4, but if those other 3 tracks were cleaned up, without having their walls of sound in them, it would be really close to (if not possibly) a 5.

It’s a solid album that really shoots itself in the foot when it comes to a first impression, but it ultimately ends up pretty good. I still think some of the outros are a little long and some of the songs a little too generic to really bump it into 5 territory, but given that I enjoyed most of the album, it’s definitely deserving of a 4, and probably no less than like, a 3.5.

It’s a 5. It’s a little weird to give a 2-track album a 5, but I think it’s definitely a 5.

Those were 2 really good fucking tracks; Zombie has one of the catchiest choruses I’ve ever heard out of this genre (or others like it), and while Mr. Follow Follow wasn’t as good, it was still pretty damn good. Obviously, the politically charged undertones and the aftermath of this album’s release play a big part in its mythology and its impact, but the songs by themselves are both excellent to me. Sometimes, it’s just as simple as going “the music is really good,” and I think the music is just REALLY good. I’m fine with a 5.

I’m at a 4.

Of course, I’m a little biased towards the soundscape, but this is a very lyric-heavy album, and I just really liked the storytelling on it. Yes, they’re all songs of tragedy, and yes, the stories get a little predictable the later you get into the album, but for my money’s worth, this has fine instrumentation, fabulous harmonization, and ultimately, I’m just super satisfied with it.

I don’t think there’s a bad track here, just a few slightly duller ones, but I enjoyed this a lot. It’s not a 5 – it doesn’t do enough to get up to that level, but it’s just good country music with a very traditional lean, and I’m a sucker for a good story. Pretty solid 4.

Well, that’s a masterclass in how to make repetition sound compelling.

This is definitely getting a 5 from me; I thought the energy and the vibes were great here, and that’s why it’s getting a 5. In terms of the tracks by themselves, I would say a couple of them hit on the repetition for a bit long in a way where they began to really lose their luster, but most of them kept the energy throughout in a really strong way, even with the repetition. The only real thing I can nitpick this album for is the length; I don’t think that everything on here had to be around 5 minutes, and I especially don’t think Acid 8000 had to be 7 and a half minutes… but that’s a nitpick.

The vibes are good, the energy is great, the sample work is immaculate, and I felt pretty captivated for most of those 62 minutes. Super cool album, and a hell of a proper introduction to Fatboy Slim for me – that was really fun. Easy 5.

Of course, that’s a 5.

It’s already the one that has Sledgehammer, Big Time, and In Your Eyes, which would’ve given the album at least a 4 by themselves; almost every other track here acts perfect complimentary tracks, especially the deeply touching song that is Don’t Give Up. Red Rain is this big bombastic opener, and it sets the tone for a wild variance of production that never once lets up throughout the album, even on its weirdest tracks (the last two before In Your Eyes).

If there’s any nitpick I have for this album, it’s that the outros are kind of clunky and a little long, but I imagine that’s some quirk about how radio play would’ve worked in the mid-80s. I think this is fabulous for pretty much the whole thing, top to bottom; the lyrics are great, Peter Gabriel’s voice is magnificent here, and the production compliments it perfectly. It’s one of the finest albums of the 1980s, and very deserving of a 5.

I think I'm at a 4.5 that I'm gonna very graciously round up to a 5, even though I don't think it's /quite/ at a 5.

It’s probably unfair, given that I listened to RENAISSANCE and COWBOY CARTER earlier this year, and I think those albums are absolutely spectacular, so I’m being a little biased in comparing this release from 9 to 11 years earlier to those albums, but… yeah.

It’s very clear to me that this is an absolutely fabulous album, but for my tastes, there's just /something/ that falls a little flat on this album, and I’m not sure what it is. It’s not her vocals; her vocals are great. It’s not her lyricism, because her confidence after having Blue Ivy shines through brilliantly on these lyrics. I don’t even know if it’s the production; I thought there were great beats throughout this album and some stellar production work, especially on the Pharrell-led tracks… but there are a few songs with that sort of early 2010s pop feel that hasn’t aged as well to me, for some reason. I love Counting Stars, for example – Ryan Tedder produced XO – but if it came out in 2024, it wouldn’t feel as good, you know? In other words, I’m looking at these through a 2024 lens, which is a bit unfair, but ultimately, most of the tracks succeed at keeping a super contemporary feel, even now.

Regardless of anything I just typed out, I REALLY liked this album. It’s super enjoyable, but for some reason or another that I just can't place, I’m just stuck on a 4.5, but I'd be a little rude to not round it up -- it's certainly higher than a 4.

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

I’ve never really heard Public Enemy before this; obviously I know about Chuck D and Flavor Flav in terms of name recognition and everything in between, but I’ve never listened. God, what a fool I feel like – this album is fucking rocking from top to bottom (ok, there’s a few lulls, but shh). In terms of just about everything from flow, to lyricism, to vocals, and especially in terms of the instrumentals, this album very rarely missed a beat for me.

With that said, I think a few tracks could’ve been cut down or cut out entirely, and that’s really my only major flaw with this album; 63 minutes is a bit of time to commit to an album that never really takes its foot off the gas pedal, even with the amount of instrumental breaks here. The amount of sampling, especially in terms of spoken word speeches and radio criticisms really make it feel like an album that desires your attention at all times, as it should. I just think for my tastes there weren’t many points where I, as the listener, got a chance to fully breathe. Even when songs hit those long instrumental points, they’re so full of evolving noise that you can’t really take that step back to appreciate them. The biggest offender of this is easily the 5:43 runtime of Revolutionary Generation, which just went on for so long that it almost diluted the message for me.

That’s a fucking nitpick though, really; I thought this was a fabulous album, and I’m honestly kinda glad it tested me as a listener. Paying attention for that much time through that many samples and that type of production (again, fantastic production) felt like an endurance test, and it’s a test I probably wouldn’t have gotten through at the start of this entire 1001 Albums bit. I could keep gushing about the flow and the lyrics and all of it, but I’m just glad this album lived up to the very high bar that was in my head. Very deserving of a 5.

I’m at a 5.

I really didn’t expect to enjoy that as much as I did, but talk about just hitting a vibe I never knew I really wanted to hit upon until now. I’ve never heard of “Celtic rock” as a genre, but like… yeah, this makes sense. Honestly, I’m still kinda just stunned.

I think the instrumentation here is super fun, I think the storytelling in the lyricism is fabulous (especially on the final track), and the vocals are pretty good across the board. The only real knock I could even have on this album is that the volume levels gradually go down as the album goes on, which certainly doesn’t feel intentional.

There are some lulls here and there, but ultimately, I just found myself captivated by what felt like such a lively world. There’s a genuine feeling that all of this could have (and probably did) happen, and it’s reflected in just about every aspect of the album. I thought it was really, really cool, and easily deserving of the 5. Just a super cool listen.

Yeah, that’s a 5.

I’m really just blown away by how captivating and energetic that felt for its entire runtime; even during the lulls in the My Generation medley, they just had me baited like a fish on a hook, waiting for every little next step in the song. The structure to the whole thing is perfectly done, going from stuff that’s sort of theirs, sort of not theirs and just using it to really build the crowd's energy up, to breaking out their big stuff and absolutely smashing it out of the park once they do.

The instrumentation was nothing short of incredible here to me throughout the entire album, and Pete Townshend… that motherfucker can sing, god damn. I got no complaints, and no more gushing to do; I’m just gonna call it how I see it – one of the easiest 5’s I’ll ever give. Absolutely spectacular.

That’s immediately a 5.

It was just fun, you know? I’ve been waiting for something this goofy and bubbly and happy for a while. We keep getting moody stuff, or hard rock, or semi-pop with a bit of a noir feel (looking at you, Billy Joel). Even when we get stuff that is fun, it’s never this fun and loose and carefree, or at least it hasn’t been for a while.

I’m sort of struggling to say exactly what I liked about the album, because I really did enjoy just about everything here. I think the instrumentation is fantastic, and deeply reminiscent of so many artists and genres that I already like, especially with how many songs feel ripped straight out of Elton John’s style. It Can’t Come Quickly Enough felt like it came straight out of a mid-90s George Michael cut, and the last track, Return to Oz, felt very Bowie inspired in its structure. I love paying homage to artists like this.

Lyrically, I thought every song was great, and it always manages to take itself seriously enough when the time calls for it – there’s a deep dichotomy between the seriousness of “Mary” and the goofier take on coming out expressed on “Take Your Mama,” but they all fit together on this album as a great listening experience from start to finish without feeling weird or out of place. Vocals were great throughout as well.

There’s really not a single complaint from me. Fabulous, fabulous album. Easy 5. I’m a moron for never having heard this before today.

You know, I think I’m at a 3.5 that I just can’t round up.

This album is ultimately good; in terms of the soundscape, it achieves the atmosphere it was looking for throughout, it has a decent progression in its lyrics from start to finish, and vocally, I think it does just enough for me to feel the intended emotion throughout the whole record.

I just wasn’t that into it.

For everything this album does right, I just think the overall vision here doesn’t align with my musical tastes as much as I would’ve liked. That’s a bit selfish to say, yes, but it’s just kind of how I feel. I think the overall structure of the album is a bit loose; there are songs where the soundscape could’ve been tightened up a bit more for me, with a lot of empty little gaps of nothing but the drums and guitar that slowly add up to me in a way that doesn’t make the album experience feel great.

I think lyrically, while it gets the progression right, a lot of what’s here is remarkably abstract, and feels very stream of consciousness in a way that diminishes the potent storytelling potential that every song kicks off with – every single intro on this album is fantastic at setting a tone and an atmosphere, but it never managed to keep me hooked from start to finish on most songs until the back half of the album began. Even then, those songs suffer deeply from “first minute is the whole song” in terms of their soundscapes.

Vocally… yeah, it could’ve just been better. It feels very spoken word-y throughout, and it kills me, because I can feel moments where the melodies are right there for him to take advantage of and hook onto, but he just never grabs them as tightly as he could have.

I really do like this album, but it’s dripping with unmet potential to me. It’s right on the edge of a 4, and with some real outside presence to commercially sort of clean up the rougher edges of the album, I really do think this could’ve hit as high as a 5 for me… but that’s for me. I can easily recognize that this style, the way it is now, is gonna absolutely connect to someone better than it did for me. It just wasn’t fully there for my tastes, so I’m gonna disappointingly give this album a 3.

I’m right on a 4.

I thought it was good – I think the biggest problem this album has is entirely in managing its pacing and its tone. The sort of ratio between faster songs and slower songs is a bit skewed, and I don’t think the album flows as nicely and as smoothly as it could. It still manages to pace itself well, don’t get me wrong, but as an album experience, it does feel a little more front loaded with the faster stuff.

That brings me to the point of its tone; I think a few songs here kinda touch around the same general soundscape and topics a bit too often, especially by the end, which lines up around the point where the sound design starts to kind of lose that luster, on account of the pacing of the album.

With that said, this is a really nice album in spite of all that; I think the vocals are really nice throughout, finding a super good balance between soft and moody and a bit more excitable and engaged throughout each point of the songs. I think the sound design and production, for 1994, is definitely ahead of schedule – a few songs on here feel like they could’ve dropped in 2018 or 2019 and not missed a beat. Lyrically, I thought it was a little abstract, but the focus here is on the mood and the soundscapes, so I’m not gonna be a stickler about it, because they nailed the mood and the soundscapes on every track, whether I was feeling the track or not.

I don’t think there’s a single bad song here, just different songs that you have to be in the right mood for in order for them to really hit. Someone’s least favorite on here could be someone else’s favorite, and that’s a testament to the variety of the tracks throughout the album, and the sustained quality it has. It doesn’t quite do enough for my tastes to get up to a 5, but it’s absolutely no less than a 4.

You know what? I’m at a 5.

I really am stunned by that; maybe I’m just sort of overreacting on a first impression, but I seriously enjoyed that a lot. The only track I wasn’t feeling was I’d Give You Anything, which just has a fucking huge wall of noise at the end of it that drowns out any semblance of a melodic structure.

Besides that though… yeah, I just really liked it; I think the vocals are the weakest part, but they’re not bad, they just feel like they could’ve added a bit more character to each song. The lyrics, while sort of lackluster, do the job they’re supposed to do, which is to get the feeling across, and the feeling is expertly weaved into the soundscape – I adore the way this album sounds. I think every song here has a really strong structure to it, save for I’d Give You Anything, and that structure, both vocally and instrumentally is what really carries this album to a super honest spot. I can firmly believe this was an album written by a 19-year-old kid, and that honesty makes its way through every track here in a way that I just kind of admire.

I’m also a sucker for a good Star Wars reference, which I honestly didn’t pick up on until reading the title of the last track, then hearing them humming the Star Wars theme at the end, and then realizing 1977 is when A New Hope came out. It’s a seriously good album, and I’m feeling super good about giving it a 5. I really liked it, man.

It’s a 2.5 that I’ll kindly bump up to a 3.

I just don’t think this album ever really hit a groove for me; I appreciate what it’s trying to do, and on the few songs where everything did come together for me, I thought it did its job well. I just think the other songs don’t execute the vision as cleanly or as clearly – there are times where I think the metaphors and the imagery and the storytelling get a bit muddled, and when those get muddled, it takes the focus away from what’s already a pretty minimal soundscape, which simply just never really worked for me throughout this album.

I get what it’s going for, and maybe if I caught this album on a moodier day, I’d be feeling it a bit more, but there’s nothing here that fully grabbed my attention save for a few songs. It isn’t bad though, just not my thing, so I’m OK with a 3.