Reviews by guggmo

I’m at a 10.

Just a stellar rock album, simple as that. “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” might be the more polished & realized setlist from a top to bottom perspective, and arguably a better album experience for it, but the overall raw energy of this one combined with a confident optimism that felt like it was going to take over the world by force whether the world wanted to hear it or not… there might be something even more appealing to this album compared to their sophomore effort. Don’t get me wrong, “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” is still an inarguable 10 in my book, and a seminal album of the 1990s, but when people have argued that this one might be even better, I suddenly find myself in agreement. Besides, you don’t get to that album’s stadium-driven tone without this one’s grittier style leading the way.

In broad enough strokes, this album is a direct response to the grunge craze that took over the world, yet met with a “fuck that negativity” attitude that’s meant to lift up everyone. There’s probably no stronger examples than “Live Forever” or “Cigarettes & Alcohol”, at least in terms of lifting people up. Even the title itself, “Definitely Maybe”, feels like a direct response to “Nevermind”. “Nevermind” is a defeated word, as if you either don’t care or have given up on caring to begin with. “Definitely Maybe” is an affirmative phrase – even if it’s got a touch of hesitancy with the “maybe”, you’ve still shown there’s a level of commitment that you’re at least willing to hear out, and sometimes, that little spark is all you need. That entire spark is what “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” is all about, and it appropriately kickstarted one of the most impactful runs of music ever.

I really don’t know what more to say; going track-by-track feels futile because I think this is an album you’re meant to feel out. Sure, have the lyrics in front of you to get at least a broad stroke of the meanings of each track, but otherwise, let the soundscape & vocal delivery guide your mood & just fucking rock out. If you can do that, you’ll get the intent of this album flowing through you, and you’ll understand why this was a monster hit. It’s worth all of the acclaim, it’s easily deserving of being on the list, it’s one of the easiest 10s I’ve given in a while, and it’s just a fantastic album. I’m definitely maybe coming back to this one in the future.

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

Yeah, I don’t know what the fuck any of that was about either. It’s in the title though; “Myths of the Near Future”. This is all some bullshit. That’s the part that made it work for me. Normally, I’m incredibly anal about storytelling & how lyrics can craft a picture in relation to the soundscape, and for the start of this album, I was left utterly baffled by a lot of what they were saying. Something about the soundscapes & production work felt captivating though, and by the time I got to “As Above, So Below”, it finally hit me that this album’s biggest strength is saying all of this shit with the confidence like it’s already normal. These are songs designed to be from the “near future” – we’re 19 years out from when this dropped & I would still argue they might be from a bit farther into the future. As Marty McFly once famously said, we’re not ready for it yet… but our kids are gonna love it. It’s not as radical of a change as say, giving Mozart an iPod with Death Grips on it, but more like giving a 1920s folk singer a vinyl of American Pie. Familiar, yet unusual.

In essence, this is an instrumental album with lyrics that mostly act as placeholders for sci-fi pictures the mind can only conceive. I fuck with that heavy conceptually, and it certainly helps that the instrumentals themselves just knock it out of the park. “New rave” is definitely a crummy descriptor for what this ends up being, which is significantly closer to some kind of electronica-infused Madchester with a touch of the indie rock revival of the mid-2000s thrown in – slightly heavy pulsing drums, soft wall of sound guitar work that still lets a melody cut through it, some groovy basslines, and just enough vocal filtering to maintain a grittier feel throughout. It’s still just a bit off-kilter from the typical stuff of this era, creating that “familiar yet unusual” tone. The one time this album hit a misstep for me was “Isle of Her”, which just feels like the most plain / flat track in comparison to the rest of this weird world established throughout the album.

That single misstep, however, is nowhere near enough to bump this down for me. Once again, a Mercury Prize winner has come through for my tastes. I think this is an easy bump up to a 5. It’s a speedy 36 minutes that barely slows down, and once you get into the groove of its weird alt-future tones, it’ll just feel encapsulating in a way that makes you wonder why more bands don’t just try to predict the trends of the future more fruitfully. I really enjoyed it & I’m very glad it’s on the list.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll just barely bump up to a 5, though I'd prefer to be at a 4.5.

My biggest issue early on was that some of DJ Premier’s beats weren’t quite clicking with me. Good percussion, but with some weird backing choices like a dissonant piano or a buzzy tone that took some shine away from Jeru’s flow & lyricism – he’s got a good pen & he’s got a great wrapping voice, so DJ Premier not quite meeting the mark in terms of beats that are easy to melt into left me a little bit shaky. “Mental Stamina” is what cracked that shakiness for me; yeah, the beat still kinda sucks, but his talent fully outshone it in a way where suddenly, the beat didn’t feel like it was a big issue. From that point onward, everything about the album worked for me. It also helps that after “Mental Stamina”, DJ Premier locked in with more engaging / fitting beats – not quite as strong as his contemporaries in 1994, but some pretty solid East Coast stuff regardless. The only real misstep is the F-slur on “Come Clean”, & to a point, the entirety of “Da Bichez”, if only because despite the clear line being drawn, there’s still definitely some misogyny there. I think someone got it right with “Gold Digger” a decade later, though that might just be a “flirting” vs “harassment” sort of thing.

The only thing I’d change is that “Jungle Music” should’ve ended the album, & that “Statik” should’ve been earlier in the album & not the closer. The rest of the album flows generally well, & I can’t find too much fault with it. If this album had a more clean / appealing start, I’d probably be a flat 5. The rest of the album pulls it up in my book, though just barely, if only because there’s some rather high highs here & not very many lows. I do feel like I’m closer to a 4.5 anyway, but I don’t think there’s anything bad enough here for me to go down to a 4, though it might get there down the line if things don’t click as well. I happened to enjoy it, I think it’s a fair (if maybe inessential) pick for the list, and if nothing else, it’s got an unmistakable East Coast vibe that I just generally fuck with. Hence, a bump up to a 5.

I’m somewhere above a 5. It might someday even be a 10, honestly.

Honestly, I thought this was even better than Ziggy Stardust. I can’t even totally explain why; a lot of this album’s lyrics flew over my head on a first pass, but the sound design & production work here might be the best stuff I’ve heard come out of the David Bowie / Brian Eno partnership, & maybe some of David’s most immediately impactful stuff ever. I only knew the title track going into this, so my expectations were a little tempered, even knowing how good that title track was. I didn’t expect the new wave-y lean to a lot of these tracks, nor did I know about the trilogy of instrumental tracks that flow into each other that all contrast each other brilliantly.

That first half is full of great stuff; “Heroes” is the highlight, obviously, but the overall weirder vibe to the first half felt like watching the world through the eyes of a man that nobody has bothered to identify as “crazy”. Even from the first weird twangs of “Beauty and the Beast” as it builds up with the percussion, there’s a tension that’s constantly present despite all of the funk of the track revealing itself afterward. David’s vocals coming in deeper than usual, filtered to hell, & slightly harmonized adds to that tension. That weird vibe, perhaps best described by Patti Smith as “a cryptic product of a high order of intelligence”, underlines the entire first half in a way that’s too captivating to ignore. It certainly left me weirdly mesmerized, & in combination with Brian’s production work, I found zero misses in the first half & practically zero complaints, even despite the unusual lyrics.

The back half of this album isn’t as realized conceptually as “Ziggy Stardust”, nor is it quite as electric as some of Bowie’s best stuff given that 4/5ths of it is mostly instrumental (V-2 Schneider is a good Kraftwerk-inspired track), but it all just clicked for me. Part of that might be the imagination lingering from yesterday, when we got the Virgin Suicides soundtrack, but I just found myself captivated by the push & pull & tension in the main instrumental suite. “Sense of Doubt” is 5 minutes of a piano & synthy keyboard strings pacing back & forth around each other, each tiptoeing as the lead melody at points, yet unable to take any kind of grasp on the track, perhaps inspired by Bowie’s hesitancy to fly to Berlin to begin with. One could boil down “Moss Garden” to 5 minutes of Japanese-inspired ambience that goes nowhere, but I think the pacing of it as a mirror to the unnerving vibe of “Sense of Doubt” works really well for the album. “Neuköln” struck me as an urgent dissonance, with him recognizing the inevitable doom he’s soon to encounter (probably from continuing his drug use), fully desperate to stop himself from being involved with it, almost like an out of body experience. “The Secret Life of Arabia” isn’t the most definitive closing track to follow up, but it’s just bouncy as hell in a fun way that feels like David’s relief from being able to kick his drug habits. Sure, it could’ve fit on the front half better, but I think ending on a nicer note makes for a good way to end it.

There’s just something appealing to this that, even after trying to lay it out, I can’t really describe what it is. I just know it’s left a mark of sorts on me. It’s not as concentrated as Ziggy Stardust, but it’s clearly got some kind of focused tone throughout that I picked up on, subconsciously or not. Is part of that subconscious thinking the knowledge that this would be our final David Bowie album on the list? Perhaps, but I don’t think it would change my opinion of this album on any future relistens. I think it’s a great, great album, I think it’s above a 5, and much like Ziggy Stardust inevitably will become, I think this will also reach a 10 for me someday. It’s that good.

David Bowie ends his run of 9 albums on this list with an average of roughly a 4.6 from me, and that feels just about right. I might need to give “Young Americans” another a try now that I’m far more familiar with his work, because that’s the only Bowie album here that got lower than a 4. Like I said when we got “★” a while ago, David Bowie’s legacy is one defined by discovery. He was always there, making art. You just had to find him first. Those who found him at his earliest got the honor of experiencing it in real time, and those who found him at his latest would have struck the gold that everyone else had known about. I’m still very glad to have struck upon that gold. 9 albums here may feel like overkill to some, but I wouldn’t drop a single one of them. Rest in peace, David.

I’m above a 5. Hell, it might be a 10 someday.

You have to be moronic to say this doesn’t work as an album. Yeah, the music by itself doesn’t tell the story of the movie from top to bottom, but neither did Shaft or Superfly’s soundtracks. I’ve never seen the movie or read the book, but I do loosely know the plot of the Virgin Suicides. This is an album where just that loose knowledge of the plot alone can enhance everything higher, and it certainly did for me. Even without any knowledge of the plot, the mixture of ‘70s Pink Floyd rock sensibilities with a Kraftwerk-esque synthy atmosphere & a Radiohead-esque precision in actually crafting these songs just makes for a remarkably compelling 40 minutes. If you’re inclined towards atmospheric music to begin with, or if you can enjoy video game music without having the actual plot play out in front of you, I think this is an album you’re going to REALLY enjoy.

I don’t think there’s that much more to say; if you choose to ignorantly boil these tracks down to nothing more than the sum of their parts without absorbing in anything deeper, that’s on you, I think. This is a really rich album for both the imagination to work with & as a soundtrack album to compliment the movie. I think it works hand-in-hand as its own album & as a companion piece, and it certainly earns the acclaim it got. I thought Moon Safari was a good album, but I think this is a much tighter, more focused & more realized album as a result of letting the music itself tell way more of the story. I think it’s above a 5, and I’m really glad it’s on the list. It really might get to a 10 someday.

I’m at a 5.

This is the first time we’ve gotten The Byrds since they were the final album of 2024 for us, and this is the first time I’ve given them a 5. I don’t know if it’s just because my expectations have softened, if it’s because of their Bob Dylan covers, or if I’m just a lot more used to ‘60s music by now, but this one just clicked nicely for me. This isn’t a flawless album, but nothing sticks out in a way that took away from my enjoyment. Sometimes, it’s just good to have an easy, digestible album, & that’s what this is, for the most part. Great harmonies, some effective lyricism in their penned tracks, & some really competent production work that feels like a pinnacle of the early ‘60s, pre-Sgt. Pepper’s style of poppier rock. The folksier side of things isn’t sacrificed too much (although I do think “We’ll Meet Again” could’ve been played a bit more straight), & while cutting out some lyrics does slightly dilute some of the intent of these tracks, the changes made to accommodate for a slightly more psychedelic style just feel natural.

Of all the original songs here, I think my favorite is “I Knew I'd Want You” – extremely easy to digest, since it’s just a straightforward love song, but the musicianship surrounding it just carries a bit of power to it that feels like it’s foreshadowing the era of bands like America & CSNY. There’s also a few tracks that feel reminiscent of bands like the La’s or R.E.M. (namely “The Bells of Rhymney”, “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”, & their takes on both “Spanish Harlem Incident” & “Chimes of Freedom”), and that’s pretty cool for 1965. The tree of influence this album spawned feels a bit bigger than expected, which is a testament to the impact these guys had. Overall, it’s a breezy 31 minutes that I just vibed with really easily, and I think it’s a pretty solid 5. I’m glad it’s on the list. Perhaps I need to relisten to the albums we’ve gotten from the Byrds before.

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

Just some really enjoyable soundscapes here. I translated most of the lyrics & while I did notice a lot of these tracks were woeful relationship songs wrapped up in ‘90s US pop production bows, I just have to assume that the trademark of the genre is being able to smile through the pain in a way, since a lot of these feel like they were tailor made for dancing through trauma. The production work here is one of the aspects that makes or breaks one’s opinion on the album; if you don’t really like late ‘90s pop production, you probably won’t like this too much. The other thing that makes or breaks it is the length; this thing is a staggeringly long 78 minutes that retreads a lot of topics. If you need less tracks with more lyrical variety, you probably won’t like this too much. For me, I’m somewhere in the middle; I liked the production work here a lot, but I fully think a lot of this album’s more repetitive tracks could’ve been cut down, especially in the back half when they resort to vocalizing to fill out more of the songs that can’t warrant more lyrical depth. The 78 minutes doesn’t hurt me too badly, since a lot of it was just a good groove & the tracks themselves covered a strong variety of genres… but I did feel the length bearing down on me by the end.

All of that said, I don’t want to judge this too harshly, since I enjoyed a lot of it. I don’t quite understand the 2.59 on the site (at the very least, like a 2.8 or something, come on), but I can understand this album’s initial shockwave of appealing soundscapes feeling much less effective on any further relistens. Regardless, the floor here should be a 3. I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5 just because I was able to get up & groove around a lot, and if music can make me feel that good, it’s doing something right. It’s a surprisingly nice pick for the list.

I’m just above a 5.

I didn’t know this album had THIS much acclaim going into it, what with all of the “best album of 1998” talk from critics as cited on Wikipedia. The instant contrast of that is the top review on the site calling it boring & generically written. The truth is a bit different, because that top review is right. The lyricism in the back half of the album trims down quite handily compared to the more vivid & lived-in experiences of the first half. It’s a notable difference. It’s an intentional difference. The back half of this album, starting from “Can’t Let Go” onwards, is her inability to consistently find and maintain the same sense of love she was able to find & mourn on the first half of the album. I mean, look at the first track; she’s so deeply in love that she can simulate sex down to every detail in a way that works. Her passion rings through to all aspects of her life in the first half, whether it’s the sights & sounds from the titular car wheels on a gravel road, or the memories of juke joints & murdered friends, culminating in “Lake Charles”, a wonderful tribute to her dead ex & how comfortable he felt in himself after finding his town & his people.

That’s why the back half of the album works as strongly as it does; it’s a pretty direct mirror of the first half, just from the perspective of someone who can’t recapture the same magic. “Can’t Let Go” shares the same sense of intimacy, but her clinginess to this relationship now reads as more desperate & much less effective to her mind. “I Lost It” tells it right as it is on the tin. The gravel road of the past becomes a touring bus on the road in “Metal Firecracker” where, instead of sharing her memories so openly, she’s now pleading to keep her passions a secret with a fling that popped as quickly as it sparked. “Greenville” onwards through the end of the album is her frustrations spilling out; instead of mourning the dead & trying to break down the barriers of concrete & barbed wire, she’s building walls back up & mourning her own dying passions. Hopefully, the time she does get to Jackson, she’ll have rediscovered it. The back half of the album works as a great mirror; the simpler lyrics are met with a greater intensity in the instrumentation & shakier, passionate vocals that keep them just as engaging despite their repetition. To say this album loses its touch in the back half is ignorant at best & stupid at worst.

That’s why I’m somewhere just above a 5. I just think it’s a great 52 minutes front to back. I think it’s definitely worth all of the acclaim it gets. I’m not that close to a 10 because there is some truth to the lack of extra lyrical depth biting at me just a little bit, but I wouldn’t dare call the final results generic. It’s a really strong album, I’m glad it’s on the list, and I think after all of this, I just want to give Lucinda a quick hug. If nothing else, I have some gravel roads I could drive down & listen to this album with, and that might just enhance it a bit more. Great stuff.

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

One’s enjoyment of this album will depend on how much you end up liking the pace / structure here, which leans less towards the lyricism Neil Young is typically known for (though it’s still quite well-written, just more simple), & leans more towards the atmosphere created by its extended jam session-style solos. These tracks are all pretty long as a result, creating an air around most tracks that could usually be trimmed down. However, I never found myself quite as bothered by it as I’d normally be. Part of it is trusting Neil Young from all the albums we’ve gotten from him so far, part of it is being 894 albums in & being much used to longer songs, & part of it is just from the joy / energy that seems to be present in those longer solos. The percussion could do a bit more, but the guitar work here is generally really strong, albeit slightly overreliant on reverb & holding onto certain notes & then panning around.

The only track that really bothered me was “Farmer John”, as it just feels too plain without evolving in any way throughout the track to warrant its inclusion here. The only track that kinda broke me due to its length was “Love to Burn”, since the last third of the 10-minute track just kinda treads water & repeats verses in a way that doesn’t meaningfully add anything. Those two tracks are why I’m at a 4.5 – the rest of them are all good to great in my book, with my favorites probably being “Days That Used to Be” & “Love and Only Love”; the former is just a really good critique of letting your physical possessions define & drive your happiness compared to the simple life of the past, & the latter is just super fun to do air guitar to despite the full 10 minutes. It helps that the message feels a bit needed.

Overall, I did enjoy this one. I do think it could’ve been trimmed down, especially on some of its more meandering moments, and I think the floor here is very easily a 3. I might go down to a 4 someday if some of these tracks just feel too long on future relistens in ways that dilute the actual experience, but for now, I feel like it warrants a bump up to a 5, if only because I liked a lot of the messaging here & the guitar work, while a bit of a two or three-trick pony, is just effective enough to vibe out to. Is it a grunge album? No, not really. It’s got grunge elements, but it’s very much a Neil Young album with a slightly more underground feel to it, and it’s a mixture that works well enough for me. Hence, a 4.5 bumped up to a 5.

I’m at a 10.

Look, I thought it was hyperbole for someone to have been so spiritually affected by this album that they made an entire church stemming from it (this is real, you can look this up), but after listening… I dunno, maybe they were onto something. There’s a passion here that’s hard to describe but easy to feel, and with the influence of God & religion on John Coltrane’s life prior to making this album, it makes it hard to deny that there might just be something to all of that. I hesitate to say that God himself came down & delivered the melodies present here into John’s mind, but when you listen to the focus in John’s harmonized vocals on “Acknowledgment”, the excellent piano work on “Resolution”, the intensity behind the percussion & the authority of the bass on “Pursuance”, or the pastor-like quality to the intention in John’s saxophone on “Psalm”, there might just be a special gift to everything here.

Just go listen to it. It’s 32 minutes that simultaneously fly by & yet command every inch of your attention, due to the complexity involved & the natural charisma of everything at hand. I loved it supremely, and I think any future relistens will reveal more complexities that my brain didn’t catch the first time around. Thank goodness for the remastered mono mix, because I was not prepared for the dissonance in the stereo one. It let my brain soar to places I didn’t think would be possible going in. It is absolutely worth the acclaim & praise it gets, and I’m so glad it’s on the list. It’s a 10.

It’s a 10.

Well, it’s the magnum opus I was hoping for after how much I enjoyed “There's No Place Like America Today”. Just an incredibly tight 37 minutes that never once loses focus of the story it’s trying to tell & the emotions it’s trying to capture. I’ve never actually seen Superfly (& I suspect it may not be as good as its soundtrack), but Curtis Mayfield’s work here makes me want to. That is the funkiest set of tracks about cocaine use in the inner city that I think I’ve ever heard. It also might be the only set of funky tracks about cocaine use that I’ll ever hear, which makes it a miracle that Curtis knocked it out of the fucking park here. Great lyricism across the board, some excellent production work for 1972 (the way the orchestra blends with everything else is stellar), and Curtis’ vocals give off a sense of inevitable despair that he’s constantly trying to overcome. He never adds much grit to his voice, even when it would be warranted, and I think that’s a great choice. If he ever got a little too gruffy, I think it wouldn’t fit with the vibe of the album. It’s meant to give off an air of confidence despite all the self-doubt contained within, and that control makes each track more potent.

I really don’t think I have to say that much more; just put on some headphones, make sure you’re listening to both what he’s saying & just how rich the instrumentals are, and let the fastest 38 minutes of a movie soundtrack put to tape superfly by. I really, really enjoyed it, and it more than earns its place on the list. I’m glad it lived up to the expectations & its place in both the rap zeitgeist & the cultural zeitgeist. Everyone’s sampled this thing, in ways I didn’t even realize (see: Eminem interpolating “Pusherman” or J. Cole using “Think” for Nobody’s Perfect), in ways that I hope we see on the list, & in ways I hope to encounter in the future. It feels like a timeless record that needs to stay in the public consciousness. It’s a 10.

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

The only track that didn’t click for me here was “Here Come the Rome Plows” – as the opening track, I just don’t think it set a great overall tone for the album. It’s a little too cacophonous, the lyricism is a bit too broad, & the lack of any clarity to let the track breathe out of its wall of noise just didn’t really work for me. It’s got a great anger behind it, and that does set a decent tone in that sense, but it’s just not very compelling as a starting track.

Thank goodness, then, that the rest of the album does everything right. Each track gets a lot clearer on their meanings, the walls of noise gain a lot more of a melodic tone, & the anger that emanates out of Rick Froberg’s voice enhances each track to a ridiculously strong degree. “Do You Compute” should’ve been the opener, because it’s 7 completely captivating minutes that knock it out of the park. The sense of generationally-driven anger combined with the guitar building up a tension throughout that gets released by some great percussion work (& I mean GREAT percussion work) just appealed right to my musical sensibilities. The only tracks that I had nitpicks about after that were “Luau” (just a bit long) & the closer, “Sinews” (where the lyricism is just a little loose). Beyond the minor nitpicks though, the whole thing just comes together as a release of several frustrations. Whether it’s from anger at American colonialism affecting Hawaii, romantically-driven anger over cheating, being cheated on, or being overly controlling, or downplaying substance abuse, a lot of this album dips into the ways in which people unhealthily confront their own demons. I think it tackles a lot of the issues well, and while it doesn’t try to solve them, it at least attempts to provide a catharsis over each of them through loud sustained anger. For me, that just really fucking worked.

Hence, a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. Obviously, it’s not for everyone, and I totally get the 2.73 on the site. If your musical taste needs more substance & melody to it, this is not for you. If your musical taste consists of letting the music dictate your mood & if you’re in the right mood to listen to Rick’s frustrations, this will likely click for you. Yeah, it’s a bit long, and I do think it could be just a little tighter overall, but if you let go & just soak it in, the 53 minutes go by a bit quicker than you might think. I enjoyed this one a lot, I’m glad it’s on the list, and I think despite the first track not clicking, the entire package is more than strong enough to warrant a 5. The floor, at the very least, should be a 3.

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

It took a little longer for me to understand this is more of an atmospheric new wave album; one driven less by pulsing beats & higher energy ala Duran Duran or Eurythmics, and one driven more by lingering instrumentals with sparse progression to just simmer in each of the tracks a bit more. Once these tracks have said what they need to say lyrically, they just shut up & let the music tell the rest of the story. There’s only one track that bothered me here, since I never really understood what it was trying to say lyrically, & that’s “Fall in Love with Me”. Great instrumental (& one that REALLY clicks on another listen), don’t get me wrong, but all the geographic shifting & the barely connected lyrics made it the least effective track on the album on a first pass. With “Quiet Life” being a totally fine but incredibly simple starting track, the first quarter of the album had me really iffy about the direction this album would be taking.

“Despair” is the track that started to make it click. It’s got no vocals aside from a brief French portion, and the rest is entirely in the vibe. The instrumental doesn’t really seem to progress at all. By all normal metrics, it’s a stagnant track that survives off of its atmosphere, and while that wouldn’t normally work for me, the thing that makes it work is in the microprogression hidden within: the backing vocals, the piano work, the drums & the strings are all working in a subtle harmony that keeps shifting the track & creating that sense of despair. It’s not a STRONG microprogression, but it’s enough to keep the track sonically interesting.

“In Vogue” is the track that made it fully click, and set the stage for the remainder of the album to glide in a much more fruitful way for me. It’s just a breakup track, centered around a little too much confidence in false stability, but the lyricism, vocals & instrumentation finally meet each other in a fruitful way. You can feel a sort of “not again” vibe in all of it, with his filtered vocals, the wiggly synth work, & the warnings throughout. Once it’s said all it has to say, it just lets the instrumental ride out the track, and it creates a perfect vibe to just imagine. The rest of the album follows this formula really nicely, especially so on the cover of the Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties”, & on the last track, with a sort of Ace Attorney courtroom vibe underlining the orchestral springs throughout the outro.

Hence, a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. One lesser track aside & a bit of a slower understanding to start, once it all clicked, it just really worked for me. I do think it could go down someday, if the atmosphere on some of these tracks doesn’t sustain the same air to it as it did on a first pass, but even now, relistening to some of them as I’ve been typing this, I find myself more pulled in than I was before by some aspects of the production. “Quiet Life” as an opening track feels a lot less simple now, at the very least. I do know this style isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but for my tastes, there’s just something appealing about an album that uses its “padding” so effectively in terms of enhancing the overall package. I’m glad it’s on the list.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5 just because I had some fun with this one.

Look, if you hate repetitive instrumentals (and I mean, REALLY hate repetitive instrumentals), this will feel like an exercise in listening to the same style of song for 30 minutes. Even if you do like them, it’s still kind of an exercise, since this album loses some of its touch in the back half in a very noticeable way. Normally, I’m a bit of a hater, but I’m giving this some grace for 2 reasons. Firstly, for 1966, I love the way they layer their intros to naturally build up a lot of these tracks. It’s not like it’s super innovative, but it’s the same sort of layering that you’d more commonly find by the mid-70s & with early 2000s garage rock revival bands. Hearing it in 1966, executed this well, is just cool to me.

Secondly, I just appreciate how quickly this album establishes its more manic tone & just how blunt the lyricism is as a result. “Monk Time” has a sort of Ren & Stimpy vibe to it that immediately establishes that these guys fucking hate Vietnam, hate the government perpetrating it, and that it’s Monk time, motherfucker. The instrumentation & vocal energy set the tone that persists throughout this album, making some of its weirder choices far less jarring, as it’s sort of expected. The blunt lyricism feels fresh for 1966, and is probably the most “proto punk rock” of anything here. Look no further than “Shut Up” or “I Hate You” for key examples of that.

Like I said, this does lose some of its touch in the back half of the album, with the repetition being more apparent & a distinct lack of extra instrumentation that doesn’t alleviate the stagnancy that comes up. It’s the key reason I’m just at a 4.5 here. Nevertheless, I was rocking with a lot of this album. There’s just something punchy & defiant about it that was working for me. The only track that stepped a little too far for me was “We Do Wie Du”, which is still really enjoyable, but just has so little substance to it that I never really vibed with it. I suspect that, for most people, the constantly strange keyboard work & the lack of bigger substance underlining these tracks is what’s leaving them hovering around a 3, and I think that’s totally fair. This just happened to catch me in the right mood on the right day, and I think it does a good job of being a high energy album. It could go down to a 4 someday, but right now, I feel inclined to bump it up to a 5. I think it’s worth being on the list.

I’m at a 3.

Honestly? Good vibes to chill to instrumentally. The problem is, this album just sort of settles there. Each track contains good flows, good energy, & generally, it does lift up to be as compelling as its beat. The problem is that each track lifts up about halfway in, and then settles for the rest of the track, creating a consistent stagnancy that never elevates this album past being enjoyably passable. There’s good lines, there’s good intent on each track, there’s generally something catchy & boppy to the instrumentals that occasionally feels like it’s ahead of schedule for 1992, & I can’t really find many major complaints about each track save for “All Night Long”, which just goes nowhere for its entire runtime. From a purely technical standpoint, it’s not bad, and I’d genuinely vibe to these. However, it’s also 56 minutes that only meaningfully uses about 28-30 of those minutes in a compelling way. The microcosm of this is in the last track, “The End”, where the first two verses / first half of the song are enjoyable, but then it goes absolutely nowhere for the back half of the track.

Hence, a 3. I really don’t think I need to go track by track here at all, or break it down any further. It might have good lines & good intent, but it never says anything more concrete as a total package. It’s a competently made album that just never meets its potential. For some people, that’s enough to go down to a 1. For me, I found myself bopping my head enough to keep this at a 3, but that’s the absolute ceiling here. I’m not really sure it had to be on the list.

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

If you like Bjork’s vocals, you’ll like this album. If you don’t, you probably won’t. I happen to love Bjork’s vocals. Her passion comes through here, albeit with more of a juvenile and occasionally overly sexual tone compared to almost all of her solo studio albums on the list. It’s a shift that isn’t too hard to adjust to, but it is a little jarring at first. The instrumentals that compliment Bjork are by far, the most traditional instrumentation yet, with a poppy post-punk lean that feels sort of like a mix between the Stone Roses & a calmer Sonic Youth. There’s also a male vocalist here in Einar Benediktsson, whose forceful spoken word approach generally works as a good contrast to Bjork’s more carnal stylings. It’s most apparent on “Delicious Demon” & “Deus”, and I think this album is better with him on it.

There’s not too much to say; a lot of these tracks are generally straightforward but compelling, so if you can get into the vibe from the instrumentals & if you can enjoy the vocals, this will generally hit as a surprisingly strong Icelandic post-punk album. The main reason I’m at a 4.5 is because more than a few tracks just sort of settled for their final minute, making the album not flow as cleanly as it could have. It’s still a breezy 33 minutes, but it could’ve been a little tighter & a little more adventurous. That said, a lot of these tracks just kinda rip, even if you’re not paying attention to the lyricism like that. I think the stretch from “Birthday” to “Deus” just kinda fucking rips, and each track has something cool going for it. It’s a really easy bump up to a 5, and I’m glad it’s on the list.

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

I mean, look, for as much as I’d love to put it all on “Cars Are Cars” as one of the silliest metaphors ever put to tape about how people are different from region to region, I actually think it’s not that bad. I liked the vast majority of these tracks, honestly. The only one that didn’t really click was “Think Too Much (a)”, but it’s just because it feels a little too hokey after the (b) version clicked well. If they had flipped in order, I think it would’ve flowed more naturally. If I tended to enjoy all 10 tracks here, why exactly am I not at a 5?

It’s just a bunch of compounding things, really. For one, I just don’t think Paul Simon’s songwriting hits a consistently strong tone here. Yes, “Cars Are Cars” isn’t great, but neither is “When Numbers Get Serious”. Hell, this album opens up on “Allergies”, which looks like a Weird Al song from the lyricism alone. This album’s strength is entirely in Paul Simon’s earnest vocal performance & the instrumentation that surrounds it. Paul’s voice has genuinely never sounded better to me, and he provides a lot of gravitas here. That said, when you treat something like “Cars Are Cars” with the same gravitas as something as lovely as “Hearts and Bones” or “Train in the Distance”, it does feel a bit goofy.

I think the instrumentation is great here; yes, it does feel like the most early ‘80s album to ever exist, and I’m sure that “Graceland” won’t beat those allegations either when we get to it, but while some people would see that as a negative, I see it as a positive, if only because it shows he could blend in the production of the time while retaining his own voice. That said, this album’s instrumentation occasionally fails to meet some of the gravitas Paul Simon’s vocals give off, holding this album back from soaring in a more potent way. “Train in the Distance” does a great job of building up the metaphor of an inevitability that you can envision coming to home roost, but it falls short of delivering that inevitability instrumentally. It’s the most notable on “The Late Great Johnny Ace”, which ends the album with strings that seemingly want to go somewhere, but just sort of meander after the 3 decades worth of emotional build up.

Realistically, I think the biggest issue holding me back from a 5 is that the album’s overall tone just feels unrealized, or at the very least, it doesn’t feel as consistent as it’s trying to be. For an album that’s seemingly so personal to Paul that he actually canned the idea of this being a Simon & Garfunkel reunion album, it just doesn’t reflect that way. Sure, Paul Simon might think too much, but the two versions of the track here portray that inconsistent tone in the most obvious way. This album cannot decide if it wants to be a poppier ‘80s album with Paul’s folksy insights behind it, or if it wants to be a folksy ‘80s album with pop influences underneath it, and while it does generally mesh the best of both approaches, it just doesn’t feel as tonally or emotionally consistent as a result.

Hence, a 4.5 that I’ll bump up down to a 4. Yes, I’ve once again spent 4 paragraphs on an album that I liked to explain a bump by half a point, but I’m just a sucker for explaining where I think good projects can tighten up to become great ones. I’m also certain that all of this album’s little issues will be tightened up by “Graceland”, so it’s good to get those thoughts down for whenever we get it. Overall, everything I mentioned is probably the reason this is at a 3 on the site, as it boils down to tolerance of all those things & for the incredibly plain percussion on each verse on “Cars Are Cars”. It is not Paul Simon’s best work, but I think its lesser tracks are nowhere near as bad as they’re made out to be. They just stick out a bit more. I happened to enjoy it, and while I wish it were a little better, it’s still good enough to warrant a 4. I do think it’s worth being on the list.

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

I mean, it’s jazz. There’s not that much to say, especially 885 albums in. This has a little more of an avant-garde juice to it than say, “Kind of Blue”, but at its core, it’s still a jazz album. The thing I’m most impressed by here is the willingness to let each instrument shine; this album takes turns between the piano, bass, sax & drums on each track to let each of them have a moment, and they all come across well. I especially loved the celesta on “Pannonica” for giving me huge Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood vibes. The only track that’s solely piano is “I Surrender, Dear”, and while it is just a bit plain, the arrangement is still nice. The most impressive of the 4 core instruments here is the drums; they have a really imposing presence, especially on the first two tracks when it feels like there’s an anger behind them. For 1957, there’s almost a punk rock vibe to them that’s wholly atypical of jazz albums of the era, and the drum solos become the most striking part of the whole thing, even over Thelonious Monk’s piano noodling. I wish Sonny Rollins’ sax work had gone a little harder at times, but it’s still pretty damn good throughout as well.

Overall, it’s 43 minutes of really well done jazz with a slightly experimental lean. The only reason I’m at a 4.5 is because some solos settle at times & because “Bemsha Swing” seems to unsatisfyingly end when it still has some juice left in the tank. It doesn’t really wind down the album in quite the way I was hoping for, but it’s still fine. It’s certainly not enough to bump it down to a 4. If jazz isn’t your thing, or if you find this a bit same-y overall, the floor is probably a 3. I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5, just because it clicked well for me.

I’m at a 5.

I really, really enjoyed this one, if only because the way it refuses to wrap up a lot of its showcased struggles into neater, happier bows feels like a much more honest reflection of the anxiety in the soundscape, the dysphoria of the lyricism, & the relatively strong vocal performances here. I think the way this blends a sort of industrial electronica with an indie rock soundscape is really well done. It’s not as intense as say, a Nine Inch Nails album, but the vibe I got out of this was “Kate Bush meets MGMT”, with just a touch of Radiohead in there. The flow from the transitions kept the album paced really well, leading to some really impactful non-transitions (see: “Opener” & “Reunion”).

It’s hard to describe exactly what this album is about, since a lot of my enjoyment is connected to the lyrics clicking really personally for me, but if I had to boil it down, it’s about the scars created by distance, both from a familial standpoint (“Ullswater” is about his dad going through Alzheimer’s), from a friendship standpoint (“Negative Space” is about the death of his sound engineer) & from a more intimate standpoint (“Each Time We Pass” being the most potent example here). It’s one thing to gather those scars, but it’s another thing to leave them unhealed & have their impact eventually catch up with you. “Shortcomings” is that impact, and with the inability to really wear those scars in a vulnerable way, it seemingly ends with him… I don’t want to say “dying”, but actively choosing to let go in a less happy way. It’s a sad ending, but it’s one that really, REALLY hits to sell the album’s point home.

Obviously, I’m disappointed that the lead singer here has pretty potent allegations against him, as it seems like he managed to put a lot of my own struggles into words here. I think it’s a really impactful album with a really honest sense of messaging that feels a bit tainted by him being unable to practice what he was preaching. It will not, however, keep me from giving this a 5. The lead singer is bad. The rest of the band split from him pretty quickly, & Hookworms no longer exists. It’s a shame. That said, bad people can craft great, meaningful messages for other better people to carry the torch. I think this album’s torch is worth carrying. It really, really worked for me. It’s easily a 5, and perhaps it would be higher if not for the allegations. I’m glad it’s on the list though.

You know what? I think I’m really at a 10.

It just clicked that nicely for me, and I’m really, REALLY impressed by the growth shown here in crafting a top-to-bottom flowing album compared to my original perception of these guys back on “Fuzzy Logic”. I might owe that album another attempt at a relisten, because I’m stunned it’s the same band. Obviously, part of it is the lean towards a mix of Radiohead’s more moody stylings on “Kid A”, though with less of a melancholic potency that seems to be depressed about the prospect of living, and with more of a Beatles-esque curiosity looking to answer all the questions that start with a “Why” with a smile. A track like “It’s Not the End of the World?” is obviously making a point that the status quo we live in is technically a better outcome than death & annihilation, but it begs the question of why we settle for that status quo. It does it with a bubbly Beatles-esque instrumental, and that dichotomy between the two is pervasive throughout this entire album. It’s a dichotomy I really, really enjoyed.

It’s also a dichotomy that exists in even more potent instrumental ways, perhaps most effectively done on “No Sympathy”, which is probably my favorite track on this entire album. The folksy ways in which he calmly & coldly sings “You deserve to die” struck a great chord, and the potently calm hatred that they (the song is gender neutral) learned to live with as a strength really made the first half pop. The way everything speeds up & shifts into folk-inspired dubstep for *2001* is fucking incredible, and the anger releasing itself in such a wild turn made for my favorite moment on the entire album. It comes out of nowhere, and the production work is really, really impactful. A lot of the production work throughout the album manages to make some kind of impact, & the way it’s all blended together with such a wide variety of styles from track to track just leaves me impressed as hell. It also helps that the writing has taken a clear step forward, as each track generally has a concise meaning. When it doesn’t, I happened to really like the sandbox each soundscape allows for.

Let me quote myself from my “Fuzzy Logic” review, as it seems like a review for an entirely different group at this point. I called that album “soulless music”, “chasing commercially successful sounds and aping other people’s styles” in a way that never found its own identity. It’s ironic, because I’ve praised this album for doing exactly the latter, yet I could not possibly describe this as “soulless” at all, and this album absolutely has an identity behind it. That was 586 days ago, so I probably owe “Fuzzy Logic” another listen with a more enlightened sense of who the Super Furry Animals are as a band. Either that, or it really does suck as a debut album, I dunno. 5 years can make a difference. Regardless, I’m just highly impressed by what’s here. The pacing is great, the lyrics are great, the vocal performances are good, & the production work just feels like it’s fully realized for 2001 in a way that makes this feel complete. It’s a great album, and for me, it really does feel like it’s worth giving a 10.