Reviews by heavymetal

Seems the list is teaching me once again that it’s not all country music I dislike; it’s specifically modern country music that I can’t stand. This album was actually quite enjoyable.

I've seen this album pop up all over the place recently and it seems to be portrayed as some kind of masterpiece, but I don't know, I just didn't really like it. There were maybe 2-3 tracks that I enjoyed, but the time spent between those tracks was boring and far too long.

The B-52s were a band that my friend's somewhat eccentric and absolutely hilarious dad always listened to. As a kid, I honestly didn't really get it. I didn't dislike it, but I definitely thought it was weird and I was always too cool and/or embarrassed to join in to Rock Lobster dance parties in their living room.

Giving this a proper listen some 25 years later and I absolutely get it now. That said, I'm also gearing up to be the same kind of somewhat eccentric and hopefully hilarious dad, so I guess it makes sense. It's coming full circle. I hope my son is ready for Rock Lobster.

I absolutely adore Bowie, but this is probably one of my least favourite Bowie albums on the list. That’s not to say I dislike Hunky Dory, it’s still a great album, but it feels more so like an attempt for Bowie to find his voice and the songwriting and production feel a bit inconsistent. Life on Mars?, Changes, Queen Bitch, and Oh! You Pretty Things are some of the best songs Bowie has ever written. Quicksand and Bewlay Brothers are also phenomenal deep cuts. The other songs on this album just don’t move me at all no matter how many times I listen to them.

Considering this is an attempt to capitalize on the raga rock trends of the 60s, I was expecting it to be more of a gimmick, but the sitar and Moog synth actually work really well together. Incredible production and great playing all around. Probably not something I’ll listen to every day, but I thoroughly enjoyed it

As a stoner in high school, Bob Marley was basically constant background music for everything we did. I rarely listen to Bob Marley now, but every single time I do I am reminded that I need to listen to more Bob Marley.

I’m sure there is a super specific genre name for this brand of downtempo, atmospheric electronic beats / hip hop. I don’t know what it is, but I do actually really dig this, so I should probably figure it out.

80s synth pop with poorly charting singles? To say I went in with low expectations is an understatement, but I was surprised and actually enjoyed the first few tracks. Unfortunately, it quickly went downhill from there. I’ll give it some points for the incredible bass playing on the first few tracks and the sadly still relevant lyrics throughout. Other than that, I really don’t understand why this is an album I needed to hear before I die.

I mostly liked this album, but the whole gothic, full of dread and despair feeling kind of gets tiresome by the end. Not something I'm going to return to frequently unless I'm feeling particularly bummed about something.

Another great discovery from the list! I'd never heard of Jurassic 5 before, but this is absolutely the kind of hip-hop I'm into. Great beats, fun samples, and awesome flow and the last song is phenomenal! Absolutely not surprising in any way that I prefer alternative/underground hip hop.

Usually when I don't like an album, it's pretty clear why, and if it isn't clear, then I usually try to find a reason. However, I don't like this and I don't even care enough to figure it out.

Another wonderful album from Nick Drake! This one feels more intimate and less upbeat compared to Bryter Layter. The songwriting is still absolutely phenomenal, but I do think I preferred the more upbeat and complex arrangements on Bryter Layter.

A couple years ago, I was watching an interview with the Tallest Man on Earth and he mentioned loving this album when he was growing up. Naturally I was intrigued because I always love looking into my favourite artist’s inspirations. So I threw it on and was so confused; it wasn’t at all what I was expecting as an inspiration for an indie folk artist.

Listening to this now and I find myself surprised again. Electronica and hip hop have been some of the worst genres for me to explore on this list, but I actually really enjoyed this. You can tell a lot of time went into collecting and arranging these samples. It sounds so much more natural than the standard 4 on the floor dance beats that every other electronica album has had so far and the instrumentals have been the best parts of several of the hip hop albums. It honestly feels closer to a jazz album than an electronica or hip hop album.

I’ve put on a few of Billy Bragg’s songs in the past thinking I must like him because I love the idea of a folk punk artist and I’m a huge fan of his work with Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue project to put music to some unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics, but I’ve never been able to get past his voice/accent. I understand that it’s very much part of his persona and is a way to connect with the working class, but it just isn’t really for me.

That said, I actually ended up enjoying this album quite a bit when I got into it with songs like Train Train, Levi Stubbs’ Tears, Honey I’m a Big Boy Now, There is Power in a Union, Wishing the Days Away being highlights for me.

I was a huge fan of Linkin Park when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure I played this album on repeat on my Sony Walkman for weeks when I was like 10 or 11. Listening to this now, I have no idea why I liked it. I wasn’t particularly angsty or angry or anything. I think it was mostly my attempting to figure out my music preferences. It doesn’t quite hold up for me now, but I think the nostalgia alone is saving this from a 1/5.

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of those albums that is so widely praised that it just has to be overrated, right? Honestly, no, I don't think so. It's a genre defining psychedelic rock album that is solid front-to-back and ends on one of the best songs ever recorded. Honestly, I don't really have anything else to say about it.

Jim Root's Guitar Moves interview was one of the most enlightening videos I've watched recently and helped me start looking at the fretboard differently. He seemed like a laid-back, down-to-earth kind of guy. I tried to listen to some Slipknot after watching that interview and their sound compared to the guy I watched in that interview were so diametrically opposed. I don't think I made it through a full song.

When I originally had this album generated, I absolutely hated it. At the time I couldn't stand the angry screaming or the drumming. However, since it was generated, I've learned to appreciate harsher singing in metal music and have done a bit of a deep dive into the genre as a whole. With that in mind, I've decided to revisit some of the metal albums I initially passed on from the generated.

Re-listening to Slipknot's debut now and I don't have such a negative reaction to it. The lyrics are still fairly cringy, but there's actually some really interesting experimental aspects and the drumming actually provides a really heavy, but solid groove throughout.

I don't know why I keep re-visiting Slipknot, but I am once again listening to this album and I've got to push it up to a 4. Sometimes you just feel like smashing a keg with a baseball bat, you know what I mean?

I’m not familiar with this album, but I am familiar with Drum’s Not Dead, their self-titled, and Sisterworld, which from what I remember were all a bit less experimental and abrasive. I could be wrong though as I haven’t listened to Liars in ages.

As with any experimental or noise rock, They Were Wrong, So We Drowned is a bit challenging to listen to, but is rewarding when you give it a chance. Overall, this album was actually pretty fun with the tribal aspects of the drums and the Brocken witch concept. I think I might have to dive back in to Liars music today.

Van Halen was a band I tried to get into in middle school when I was learning guitar because Eddie was supposed to be a guitar god and all pre-teens learning guitar think they can grow up to be guitar gods too. Well, I quickly learned that the gimmicky 80s pop infused hard rock with all its soulless guitar shredding just wasn't for me.

If you hadn't guessed, I went into this one with a pretty hard bias against Van Halen, but I tried to put that aside and honestly, I was fairly surprised. This wasn't nearly as gimmicky or soulless as I remembered. It was actually kind of a fun listen! That said, it does feel like music that only someone who is stuck in memories of their prime high school days in the 80s would listen to regularly.

While my wife and I were out for dinner at a fairly fancy restaurant in the city before going to a concert we overheard one of the waiters excitedly telling another table about his summer plans to see Coldplay at all 4 of the tour dates in our city. He went on to explain how he’d already seen them dozens of times and wants to see them at least 100 times in his life. I love music and love going to concerts, but that kind of commitment to one artist is genuinely baffling to me.

Anyways, I feel much the same way about this album as I did for Parachutes. Less groaning this time as I did genuinely enjoy Parachutes so I’m coming at this one with a bit less bias than last time. That said, there still were a few groans of ‘ugh, it’s this incredibly overplayed song’. Overall, it was a decent album, but I’m yet to be truly converted to a Coldplay fan and I’m definitely not planning on seeing them 100 times in my life.