Reviews by h3lios

Haven’t heard much music with a flute solo before. It’s fascinating to listen to a combination of folk. Sounds like it could be put in a modern fantasy anime with slice of life or battle montages.

Wasn't able to find this Spotify but thanks to this link I was able to find a lot of the songs: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLglUu7rOaMDtVwnAyTk9BNz80ONuhBxkO

Before listening to this album, I noticed this was one of the lowest rated albums. Makes sense why. It's like if blues/post-punk was made with the screechiest, roughest instruments. They do make a dirty/scrapyard sound, except for the singer. He doesn't sound tuff, bro sounds like a zombie tweaking out 🤡. Not sure what made them think a few 4+ minute songs were a good idea. At least it's better than the last album, that had little to no changes in its instrumentation (2.5-3).

It reminds me of lounge-folk with a hint of jazz (aka kd lang’s Shadowland). Other than that there’s not much variation in the songwriting, delivery, and instrumentation, which does make sense that this record was made as a live session.

Even still, I can’t believe this album is 50 minutes long. It makes it seem like double that. I couldnt wait for this to end. At least Bob Dylan showed some diversity in the albums on this generator (1.5-2).

Folk/roots rock with synths. It’s not prog rock but the tracks are ambient and run too long, like a late night drive on the highway type of vibe. The lyrics are like the reflection on the way back home (2.5-3).

Sticks to an early 80s fomula and probably informed a lot of synth-pop in the future decades.

Wow! One of the first albums I listened to nonstop in 2021 over the summer. It was also one of the first “concept” albums I listened to; I found the way each song drives the narrative of a night party so masterful. Now having aged, I feel more of Lorde’s pain and infatuation over this doomed love. It pairs so well with the sound she and Jack made: so modern, late-night, and urban.

And that album cover? I hope I get my own portrait from that artist. It’s so beautiful and captures the kind of impressionist, emotional vibe “Melodrama” has (4.5-5).

First album from the Foo Fighters!

I didn't know Dave sang so good (or at least goes really well with this record). The album starts off strong and keeps that momentum for the next two songs. But the bigger picture is that it emulates a lot of the alt-rock/grunge sounds that were going on at the time, so not much stood out to me after the fact. What I did like was that compared to his time in Nirvana, this was more melody and hook-focused. Perhaps this debut is where the Foo Fighters gets its "foo"ting (3.5).

"You Are the Quarry" resembles the Smith's music if they added more instruments than the guitar and lost the reverb. It's just like Morrissey to make 2000s guitar rock sound theatrical, which doesn't really pair well for me. This is probably one of the first times I paid a little more attention to his lyrics because they come off as whiny and embittered. This resulted in a bit of disconnect for me where simple rock hooks clash with the "woe-is-me" mood.

Interesting how "world" music up to this point was Bossa nova. It's a very minimal album with just Miriam's voice, guitars, and African drums. You can also hear a hint of jazz in some of the slower songs and that one duet. It's a nice listen but there's not much to it than that (3.5).

One of the pioneers of soul, according to Wikipedia. Lots of short love songs and covers turned to “rock and soul”. I understand the genre a bit more through this record; it’s very vocal-focused, which makes sense given its roots in gospel.

As for this album, I think it suffers from how similar-sounding each song is. I guess since soul was just breaking ground, it was still attached to like rock and R&B (3.5).

Bob Dylan speedrun??

Makes sense that this is the first in his Electric Trilogy. I’m not really feeling this album’s sound a second time around, and it’s a shame that the album cover is so good. Songs like Garden of Eden and It’s Alright, Ma have that “spoken poetry” songwriting I don’t like. The verses and simple musical sections get repetitive, especially with a 46 min runtime. I’m glad Highway 61 clicked for me, I found it more musically varied (2.5).

Storytelling set to a mix of country, blues, and rock that works. It reminds me of "Nixon" by Lambchop and the later indie influences like Faye Webster. I can see why Bob Dylan and George Harrison liked collaborating with "the Band" because this album gets lyrical more than it does melody-wise at the start.

A reflection I had from this album is that one/a few good song(s) can affect how I see the rest of the album. After "The Weight" for example, "We Can Talk" immediately stood out to me as a fun song. If not for those two songs (Side B at this point) it would've been barely a 3.

Boasts a wide range of genres under a pretty British rock sound. The jangly guitars throughout this album make each song similar to each other. The opening track did give it some oomph but the momentum died out by like the 4th song.

An all-female band! I've probably said this before but this kind of new-wave/punk is so lively and playful. The tracks sound similar to each other, but it isn't a bad thing here. They sound like the B-52's but more poppy and less kitschy (3.5-4).

Short folk ditties that remind me of children's songs. Its short runtime and consistent sound make it a nice afternoon nap type of album, or maybe that's because I've been putting songs on Kacey's new album on speed dial (3.5-4).

Never listened to a Grateful Dead album despite their status in the music community. With a name like that they sound like an edgy band or at least hard rock. This album sounds more like the Byrds under a Bob Dylan folk rock beat.

One of the first East Coast hip hop albums! So much groove and vibes. It still sounds pretty fresh, as if Kendrick made it before his GKMC era.

When country meets 90s alt-rock. Some jam-based tracks. A lot of the songs seem pretty similar to each other.

A mix of R&B and electronica, which reminds me of FKA twigs' Eusexua. My favourite songs are the ones that are more R&B and melodically focused than leaning into the electronic ambience (ex. Waitin, Truth or Dare). The rest sounded like it was trying to gain momentum which wasn't there (2.5-3).

Despite knowing lots of his music, I've never listened to a full album of his before. He has a knack for catchy melodies and reminds me a lot of Billy Joel if he were British. It also has a lot for the glitz and glam of the early 70s, alternating between ballads and back-to-basic rock. It's a bit too long though so it gets almost 4 stars (3.5-4).