Reviews by heavymetal

For some reason, every time I've seen the name Manic Street Preachers, I've pictured a ska band. No idea why, it just seems like such a great name for a ska band. Anyways, this clearly isn't ska. This is a really solid alternative / post-punk album with a lot of songs that feel all too relevant today. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this one and am definitely going to dive a bit deeper into their discography.

I can't believe that this album came out the same day as Definitely Maybe; I am so disappointed in the generation that let Oasis gain more popularity than this band.

I saw that this was listed as metal, funk, and reggae and got incredibly excited, but right out of the gate I realized it might not actually be a fun mash up of genres I was imagining. I'm not a fan of the genre of metal on the cover of Freddie's Dead; much too 80s metal/pop oriented for me. Luckily, they follow up Freddie's Dead with some fun ska tracks and excellent horns and the album really gets going. Then the punk comes out on Deep Inside! Bonin' in the Boneyard and One Day are the genre mash-ups I was hoping for; funky, metal, reggae tracks that work really well. And then more punk/metal on Subliminal Fascism!

Overall, this is a fun ska record with a really interesting blend of genres and influences, but there's maybe a bit too much 80s production for my taste and a couple tracks fall a bit flat. Personally, I prefer the Bad Brains blend of reggae/punk/metal, but it's not surprising to see that both bands travelled in similar circles.

This is my 5th Rolling Stones album from the list and I think it may have been my favourite so far. Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man are two of my favourite tracks from the Stones and there's a couple deep cuts that I don't know if I've ever heard that I enjoyed a lot like Prodigal Son and Salt of the Earth.

That said, I think this has solidified the idea that the Stones are a greatest hits band for me. While I enjoyed listening to this album, and the hits are great, it just doesn't do a lot for me as a whole and I can't see myself ever really returning to anything beyond the hits.

I spend a lot of time listening to music, searching for new music, reading and watching album reviews, reviewing year end lists, etc. Admittedly, hip-hop and pop music isn’t my focus and I usually gloss over it, but still if a modern album deserves to be on this list, I’d imagine I’d have at least heard of it or of the artist behind it. Yet, I have never heard the name Jazmine Sullivan, but I guess it’s not the first time something on this list went completely under my radar.

Actually listening to this album, I don’t understand why it would be included on this list either. I am all for female empowerment and have positive views on sexuality, but this just comes off as immature. The skits/interviews are annoying at best. The actual production is so simple, which I could get behind if the rapping was able to make up for it, but it isn’t even close. I didn’t enjoy any of this album at all.

I dislike this in the same way that I dislike Van Halen’s guitar wankery, but instead of someone flexing on guitar and playing as many guitar notes as possible, it’s a bunch of guys flexing weird time signatures and playing as many synth and organ notes as possible. Somewhat bizarre complaint from me as I usually love artists experimenting and exploring weird time signatures, but there’s just so much going on in each of these songs that it takes me out of it. I think this comes down to the Jeff Goldblum quote from Jurassic Park, “[they] were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

I've heard the name, the Stone Roses, but I've never heard any of their music before today and I really, really enjoyed this one. It's an eclectic and poppy mix of psychedelic rock and indie rock that sounds like it could be released today to great acclaim. It's genuinely surprising that this came out in 1989.

This is the Beatles really coming into their own as songwriters with all original compositions and some all-time great songs like A Hard Day's Night and Can't Buy My Love. That said, other than the hits, I don't really love the dated pop sound. They are starting to sound like the band I love here, and I do appreciate the incredible influence they had on music, but they just haven't quite gotten there yet. Overall, it is a good album, just not one I reach for too frequently.

As a long time fan of the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed's solo work, it's surprising I've never looked into John Cale's solo work. Honestly, I don't really have much to say about it. It was enjoyable enough, but nothing really blew me away.

I don't usually listen to bonus tracks or extended editions, but I accidentally left this one playing a little long. I've got to say, the drone mix of Hanky Panky Nohow sounds much more interesting to me than the actual album version.

I saw the Pixies on the 2011 leg of their Dolittle tour and that show is actually in my bottom 3 live experiences. There was little band chemistry, stage banter was non-existent, and there was just no energy in the room. Their playing was good, but I left feeling like I was better off just staying at home and listening to Dolittle on my own. Overall, it felt like no one wanted to be there and the whole experience soured me on the band; I haven't listened to them since that show.

Well, 15 years later and I'm happy to be listening to the Pixies again. Bossanova is a solid indie/alt rock album with their classic surf rock twist. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to it this morning and am finally ready to dive back into this band.

While I love the Beastie Boys and I do think this is a great album, it’s not my favourite Beastie Boys album. I love the Zeppelin samples, but overall, it just has a bit too much of the frat boy party rock vibe for my tastes.

I wasn’t expecting to like this at all, but was pleasantly surprised. Synth pop and new wave seems to be very hit or miss for me, but this one is definitely a hit.

I love how retrofuturistic this album feels. When this album came out people were definitely saying that this is the kind of music that people will dance to in clubs in the future. They weren’t exactly wrong either.

Hell yes! 322 albums into this project and I finally get a Nick Cave album, and not just any Nick Cave album, but probably my favourite Nick Cave album!

Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus showcases pretty much everything one comes to expect from a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album. It starts off with some high energy, gospel infused rock and roll with the Bad Seeds firing on all cylinders on tracks like Get Ready for Love and There She Goes, My Beautiful World, Cave's twisted storytelling is highlighted on tracks like the Fable of the Brown Ape and Lyre of Orpheus, and it ends with some more restrained and delicate moments like Breathless, Babe, You Turn Me On, and O Children.

A double album is always a bit daunting due to its length, and may not be the best starting point for someone who is unfamiliar with an artist, but admittedly I didn't realize this was a double album until recently despite having listened to it in its entirety many times in the past. I feel that the sequencing and arranging of Abattoir Blues / the Lyre of Orpheus is done so masterfully that I never noticed how long it was. Not to mention there's really not a bad track on this entire album.

I don't even know where to start with this album. It's one of my favourites, but I do need to be in the right mood to listen to it. It's incredibly ambitious to try and write an album about all 50 States. You would think that such a project would result in a lot of half-assed, patriotic gimmicks, so it's even more incredible that an album this elaborate and unique came out of it. The orchestration is complex and beautiful and the lyrics are deep with references to the history, culture, art, and geography of Illinois. Seriously, who else could pull off such a beautiful song about John Wayne Gacy?

I'd heard the name Little Simz before, but outside of this list, I would have never considered listening to her music. I was missing out though, because this was honestly great! She's got great flow and the backing tracks were funky and well done.

Two of my major gripes with hip-hop are the overuse of the n-word and bloated, long track lists filled with skits and interludes. Little Simz does unfortunately overuse the n-word, which took me out of it a bit, but it was quite refreshing to have a concise, brief track list that really didn't overstay its welcome.

How are there three Pet Shop Boys albums on this list? I have liked each album I’ve heard less than the last and this is no exception. I can’t stand this.

The White Stripes came along back when all I would listen to was classic rock and they helped open my ears to modern music. I loved the simple, but catchy rock songs, especially the absolutely fuzzed out and distorted guitar playing. It really made it feel like anyone could write and record this music. Pretty much all of the high school bands I was ever in covered at least one of their songs. I ended up getting into a ton of garage rock revival bands through them, which eventually led to listening to a wide range of newer music.

Over time though, the White Stripes, and the genre as a whole has lost its luster for me. I still enjoyed returning to this album now, but I don't think it's going to make it back into my regular listening rotation.

As someone who has spent a lot of time listening to psychedelic rock, I can’t believe I’d never heard of this band! This sounds like the version of the Wall that Pink Floyd would have wrote if Syd Barrett was still in the band. Or maybe what The Who’s Tommy would have sounded like if the Beatles had written it. And to top it off there’s some straight up early Black Sabbath-esque heavy metal added to the mix.

I haven’t listened to Rage Against the Machine in decades, but as soon as I saw this album generated, I immediately had Killing in the Name stuck in my head.

I don’t think there’s ever been a better time for a new Rage Against the Machine album. We need more of this angry, revolutionary energy today.

Electronic music is one of my worst rated genres in this project, but this isn't the same boring and soulless dance beats repeated ad nauseum. Kraftwerk are the godfathers of all electronic music and somehow they managed to infuse so much warmth and emotion into their music.

I also have to respect the skill it would have taken to orchestrate, perform, and record this music using the tools available to them at the time.