Reviews by heavymetal

The last Fall album I got from the generator was Live at the Witch Trials, with which I really struggled. I wanted to like it and enjoyed the post-punk feel of the backing tracks, but I just couldn’t get past the singing. This time around with the Infotainment Scan everything feels much more accessible and the singing isn’t nearly as grating to me.

There’s a pretty weird progression to this album too. It starts off with pretty straight forward post-punk, but more and more electronic and dance elements start to reveal themselves. A bit of a strange mix, but it kind of works.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and I might need to give Live at the Witch Trials another spin to see if it was as difficult and unenjoyable to listen to as I remember.

I previously enjoyed the Modern Dance when it was generated, but I don’t remember it being as weird as this. I remember the Modern Dance was a solid noisy post-punk record, but Dub Housing sounds like a surreal mix of the Talking Heads and Devo, which is kind of perfect for me right now as I’ve been exploring Devo after watching the Devo documentary and have been obsessed with David Byrne for awhile now.

I really want to know what was in the water in Ohio in the early 70s to produce these wildly avant-garde bands. Well, probably a lot of rubber by-products and too much lead actually.

My knee jerk reaction on my first listen of The Number of the Beast was, “damn, this is some corny as hell 80s metal”. I was ready to give it a 2, maybe 3, but I was convinced to give it another listen. Turns out it’s actually a damn good time! The guitar playing, the bass playing, and the drumming are all great! I even started to appreciate the singing by the end. I kind of wish I grew up as a metal head in the 80s now.

Very interesting combination of genres. Some hip hop, some electronica, some funk, some soul, some reggae. Overall, I enjoyed the vibe, but there were a few elements that didn't quite hit the mark for me. Specifically, I didn't love the vocals and some of the reggae elements seemed a bit out of place.

Ok, what is up with the horn at the end of You Still Believe In Me? I understand that Brian Wilson was obsessive about every single sound in this album, so I am picturing him sitting at the mixing console with a nearly finished track just looking for that one last thing to make a perfect track and somehow he settled on a little 'honk-honk, honk-honk'?

Anyways, on to my actual review. I stated that I don't really get the Beach Boys in my review of the Beach Boys Today. It's not really the band or their music that I don't understand, it's the lofty praise thrown around in any discussions of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, and Pet Sounds in particular. "Genius", "masterpiece", "redefining pop music", etc.

After three listens of Today, it was growing on me, but I still wasn't really understanding the hype. After listening to Pet Sounds, though, I'm starting to get it. Today was fine, but Pet Sounds is a great album. The tracks are finely crafted and catchy, the production is immaculate, you can feel how meticulous Brian Wilson was in putting this all together.

I'm on my second listen now and I feel like more and more of the album is revealing itself. I'm finding something new in each listen and the more I listen, the higher the rating is getting.

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never heard Joan Armatrading before. This is a bit bluesy, a bit funky, a bit jazzy, and very soulful singing. Thoroughly enjoyed this!

I actually liked this one a lot more than the last Public Enemy album I had on the list (Fear the Black Planet). Apocalypse 91 felt a bit less chaotic and I didn’t find Flavor Flav nearly as annoying this time around. Also, the song with Anthrax at the end was just wild. I might actually have to go have another listen to Fear of the Black Planet now.

Things I like: the interludes especially the PlayStation and Street Fighter samples in Start. The instrumentation in general is pretty solid. I dig the drumming and bass throughout. There’s a couple nice guitar solos like on Pink Matter.

Things I dislike: the modern hip hop / poppy R&B vocals. I just can’t stand it. It also overstays its welcome quite a bit.

My intro to Joni Mitchell was via the clip of her playing Coyote in Gordon Lightfoot's apartment during Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review (apparently that was the debut of the song, which she had written during the Rolling Thunder Review). I was immediately taken by Coyote and ended up listening to, and loving, Hejira shortly after watching the movie. However, my budding Bob Dylan obsession quickly took over and I never really got a chance to do a deeper dive into Joni Mitchell's work beyond Hejira.

Court and Spark feels much more accessible and pop oriented compared to Hejira's jazz-y experimentation, but Joni Mitchell's poetic inclinations still shine through on this album and some of that jazz-y experimentation starts to come out in the last few tracks. The way she crafts a song and a melody is totally unique; it stands out to me compared to all of the other folk acts of the time.

This isn't my favourite Beatles album, but it feels like a major turning point in their discography, so I totally get why it would be included in the book. There's a bit more experimentation with different instruments, recording techniques, and song structures that hints at the direction they start heading following this album. Interesting that this is the first album they recorded without concert, radio, or film commitments.

I went through a post-rock phase late in high school and every once in a while I like to dip my toes back in those waters. That said, I never really got into Sigur Ros back then. I knew of them, but I liked the more punk rock aesthetics of bands like Do Make Say Think, A Silver Mt Zion, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I'm genuinely surprised there's not a Godspeed album on this list.

Ágætis Byrjun is a great album. Standout tracks for me are Ný batterí and Hjartað Hamast (Bamm Bamm Bamm). The only thing that might hold it back from full points for me is that I need to be in the right mood to listen to an hour plus of ethereal, ambient, and atmospheric post-rock.

I was kind of struggling to get into this album at first. Something about his voice was getting on my nerves; I think it's just a little too high pitched for my tastes. However, something clicked during the track 'You', I think it was the bassline specifically, and I started to really feel the jazz-y, soulful tracks and appreciating his smooth flow. By the end of the album I was totally invested and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I went back for a second listen and thoroughly enjoyed the whole album. I guess it just took me a minute to get into it.

The White Stripes were one of the few bands outside of classic rock that I would listen to growing up, but by the time Jack White’s solo career came around I was pretty burnt out on guitar rock and was mostly listening to industrial, noise, or ambient music. That said, I did see him live when he was touring this album because a friend had an extra ticket and it was a pretty great show!

I really enjoyed listening to Blunderbuss this morning; it feels like I might finally be ready to appreciate this kind of music again. This pretty much feels like what you’d expect; it’s guitar rock similar to the White Stripes, but it’s not as striped down / is more complex.

Another great discovery! I’d never heard of this band, but I thoroughly enjoyed this album! Solid early punk rock with some jazzy breakdowns and if this list has taught me anything, it’s that I’m a sucker for proto-punk and jazz.

This is super smooth, funky, sexy R&B. Maybe a bit too smooth and sexy. It feels like the sonic equivalent of soft core porn. It’s honestly a bit too boring for me

Hell yes, this is one of my all time favourite albums! Experimental jazz with some top tier musicians performing at the peak of their craft. I totally get how this will be too far out there for some, but I absolutely love it!

Seems that this is another instance where I've overlooked a band because their most well known hits have become somewhat of a cliche and appear all over popular media (or maybe I've just watched Dazed and Confused a few too many times?). That said, I absolutely love both Low Rider and Why Can't We Be Friends?, so I'm not really sure why I never bothered looking any deeper into this band.

Disappointed I've been overlooking them because, holy hell, The World is A Ghetto is astonishing! Groovy, funky, jazzy, soulful. I am already on my third listen and might just keep listening to this all day.

As with most world music that is completely new and foreign to me, I was expecting I'd enjoy the experience of listening to the album more than I enjoy the music itself, but that absolutely wasn't the case here. The rhythms and chanting are absolutely hypnotic and I was immediately drawn in to the songs.

I could only find the combined Love & Devotion album that includes the album Love Songs on the first half and Devotional Songs on the second. I figured I'd start with Devotional Songs first since it's the album on the list, but enjoyed it so much that I went back and listened to Love Songs too.

Then reading through his Wiki, I saw mention of more experimental, fusion work like Mustt Mustt and knew I had to give that a shot as well. I've got to say, Mustt Mustt absolutely deserves to be on this list too. It's an incredibly cool East meets West fusion that works surprisingly well. The same hypnotic singing and rhythms, but with some jazzy guitar and bass. That said, I wouldn't replace Love & Devotion on the list with Mustt Mustt as I think the more traditional side of Love & Devotion should be acknowledged as well.

Honestly, this has been a great rabbit hole to explore! I'm going on to listen to Night Song next! I'm giving this entry on the list at least 4 stars based on this rabbit hole exploration alone!

Also, aside from the music, the album covers for Love & Devotion, Mustt Mustt, and Night Song are amazing!

Pleasant and relaxing album. A bit bluesy, a bit jazzy, a bit folky, and she's got an amazing voice. Unfortunately, it does all start sounding the same and it kind of drags on by the end. I did enjoy it, but I’m not going to return to it unless I'm looking for some calm background music to create a relaxing atmosphere for something

Funky jazz with solid production and playing, but unfortunately it’s rather generic, formulaic, inoffensive, and forgettable. It’s doesn’t really seem to do anything for me at all.