Reviews by heavymetal

I really enjoyed the first half of this album, especially the opener Mannish Boy, but started getting a bit bored while listening to the second half. This might be a bit sacrilegious for a guitar player to admit, but I can only listen to so much blues.

This has always been my favourite Radiohead album and I'm happy for an excuse to listen to it today! I fully understand that the shift from Ok Computer to a much more ambient, atmospheric, and experimental sound isn't going to be for everyone, but I absolutely love it!

Favourite tracks: Everything in it's Right Place, The National Anthem, Idioteque

Well this was a super enjoyable listen while making coffee and breakfast on a Sunday morning.

Jazz isn’t really my go to genre, but I’m much more familiar with more avant-garde jazz artists, so it was nice to dip my toes into some big band stuff.

I enjoy the smooth, jazzy backing tracks, but her singing doesn’t do a lot for me. It’s not bad, just nothing exciting either.

I am very familiar with psychedelic era Beatles, but really haven't spent much time with the early Beatles era. It's genuinely wild referring to these as different eras considering it was only a few years between this album and when they started getting into psychedelic music. Incredible evolution over such a short career!

Overall, I enjoyed this album. It's not something I'd listen to all the time, but I can see myself throwing it on from time to time.

"He's got his piano in the kitchen, and he only uses the kitchen range to light his cigarettes, and then there's this refrigerator where he keeps his hammers and wrenches and nuts and bolts and stuff like that. He opened the fridge door and with an absolute poker face he said, 'I got some cool tools in here.'" - Bette Midler on Tom Waits

There's no other artist out there that makes me want to hop a train in the middle of the night to join a circus, drink whiskey, and eat cigarettes for breakfast.

Seriously, though, Swordfishtrombones is already one of my all-time favourite albums. This is the album that really shifted him towards his junkyard persona and I love everything about it from his gravelly, whiskey-soaked, smoke-filled voice to the experimental sounds and song structures.

I really haven't listened to much reggae beyond the obvious choices like Bob Marley or Toots and the Maytals. Honestly, this album by Burning Spear is as good as any Bob Marley record I've listened to and I'd definitely give it another listen in the future when I'm in the mood for some reggae.

Rap and hip-hop is a major blind spot for me, mostly because I’ve really struggled to find artists I actually enjoy. At this point, the only hip-hop artists I actively listen to are Aesop Rock, Beastie Boys, and MF Doom. However, I think I’ll be adding De La Soul to that list! This album is so much fun and feels to be the opposite of a lot of the rap trends that I can't stand, and after reading their wiki, it seems that this was actually a large focus of their music. It really sounds like they were having an absolute blast making this album!

Most people argue that IV is the best Led Zeppelin album, but they're all wrong! Physical Graffiti is the absolute best Led Zeppelin album! This is peak Led Zeppelin; their magnum opus! Also, while In My Time of Dying and Kashmir both deserve all the praise they get, I think In the Light, Down by the Seaside, and Ten Years Gone are all criminally underrated, epic tracks.

I’ve never been able to get into REM for some reason. They’ve always seemed like a band I should like, but they’ve just never clicked for me. I do like their hits and Man on the Moon is a great song. Overall, this album is enjoyable and I’ll probably give it another listen in the future the next time I try to get into REM again.

I’m currently hungover and I knew this album was either going to immediately get on my nerves or bring me back to life. Luckily, I’m ready for round two!

It’s wild that an album this good is only my 5th or 6th favourite Beatles album

Well, I guess I finally have to admit, I just don’t get the Beach Boys. The only reason I’m going to give this another listen or two is because I’m desperately trying to understand what I’m missing.

Alright, three listens and it’s growing on me for sure, but still not sure it lives up to the hype I’ve heard surrounding Brian Wilson and the band.

Not something I’ll reach for everyday, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will absolutely throw this on when I’m in the mood for an all around solid punk album.

My dad had a couple U2 CDs that we listened to growing up and I liked them enough, but not enough to listen to on my own. The fact that this is "their most transformative album" makes me curious about how different their earlier works were. It's not that its bad, it's just not very exciting.

Live albums aren’t usually my favourite, but this one is an absolute classic! I really appreciate the reminder to listen to this album more frequently!

This project so far has taught me that I don’t really enjoy britpop and this is the fifth britpop album I’ve gotten in the 72 albums that have been generated so far. That being said, I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit more than I expected. It’s probably on par with (What's The Story) Morning Glory for me. Not sure if that’s just because my expectations have gotten really low for britpop, but this one feels a lot more original, more raw rock and roll, and less derivative like some of the others.

This album gives me nostalgia for a period of time I never actually experienced. Genuinely surprised how experimental some of this is for an 80s pop album. I really wish all pop music was this good!

Favourite tracks: Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), Cloudbusting, Waking the Witch, Jig of Life

This is the second Elliott Smith album I've gotten from the generator and I enjoyed it a lot more than the first, Either/Or. I thought the songwriting was great on Either/Or, but I didn't really connect with the angst or melancholy in the lyrics. Those feelings are still here on this album, but I feel like the songwriting really took a step forward, especially as the simple, lo-fi production has evolved to a much more complete and complex sound.

Favourite tracks: Son of Sam, Somebody I Used to Know, Junk Bond Trader, Everything Means Nothing to Me, Colorbars, Can't Make a Sound

I knew very little about Blondie going into this, but I’m enjoying it quite a bit more than I expected. I had heard parts of One Way or Another, but I’ve never heard the whole song and there's A LOT more going on here than I realized! Some of the songs lean a bit too far into the pop realm for my preferences but, overall it’s well worth the listen!

Favourite tracks: One Way or Another, Fade Away and Radiate, I Know but I Don't Know, Heart of Glass