Reviews by heavymetal

This opened with one of the more annoying tracks I've ever heard and hit its peak early with Parklife and Bank Holiday, which were the fourth and fifth tracks respectively. There was still a lot of album to go. The rest of the album wasn't bad, it had a fairly upbeat and playful feel to it, but just really wasn't my thing. It felt very repetitive at times and, while I appreciate the experimentalism throughout, some of it just felt like they were being quirky for the sake of being quirky. I thought I was coming around to britpop, but it turns out I might just like Pulp better.

This is one of the albums that I've played so many times and I've become so familiar with it that I actually started avoiding listening to it. At this point, it's been nearly a decade since I've given it a proper listen. Well, listening to it again today made me incredibly nostalgic, but also very happy that I had taken a break from it so that I could appreciate it properly. Honestly, there's not much else that I really need to say about this album. It's a masterpiece.

I’ve been learning that while I’m mostly not a fan of modern country pop, I actually do like a lot of classic country. This album is a wonderful example of a country album I enjoy. There is so much more substance to these songs compared to what gets spun on country music radio today. I especially like the bluegrass feel on a few tracks and her cover of For No One was spectacular.

Surprisingly, I didn't hate this. Well ok, I did kind of hate the tracks that leaned more into disco and dance, but some of the more glam rock/art rock tracks were actually pretty decent. That said, this album is getting a 2/5 for that cover of Comfortable Numb alone. While I do appreciate when an artist covers a song in their own style, absolutely no one was asking for a disco version of Comfortably Numb.

This album sure keeps you on your toes. 4 songs in an I feel like I've listened to 4 different bands. So far we've had some generic indie rock, some Smiths style britpop, some dubby reggae, and some noise rock. By then end of the album, we end up hearing some repeated genres, but they never really settle into a single sound; they're always evolving and changing slightly from track to track and it honestly works better than you'd expect. With this many genres mashed up it can sound a bit of a mess, but it remains pretty cohesive throughout. There's a few tracks on here that I really enjoyed; especially when they veered into the noisier, psychedelic, and more reggae influences. Unfortunately, I was indifferent at best towards a few of the more generic indie and britpop sounding tracks and with the long run time, it started to wear on me by the end. I feel like this could have been edited down to a really solid album, but I still had a pretty good time with this album.

I love albums where it feels like everyone involved is just having a great time recording it. Sure, some of the lyrics are a bit immature and don't quite hold up 30 years later, but this album is a blast!

This album immediately reminded me of one of our neighbours growing up. Every year on his birthday he would host a pig roast where he would invite pretty much the entire village, their friends, and their families. He played in a ZZ Top cover band that would play a set every year at the pig roast. The whole thing was pretty wild and a great time for all the kids running wild through the neighborhood.

Anyways, this album felt like ZZ Top had found their sound, but their beards hadn’t fully grown out and they hadn’t quite figured out the spinning guitar tricks. Overall, a good time and a lot less gimmicky sounding than Eliminator.

I haven’t listened to Billie Holiday or all that much vocal jazz before this. It was an interesting listen and she is clearly a great singer with a fairly distinctive voice. It’s just not really something I ever really want to listen to. On top of that, every song on this album sounded the exact same; same composition, same instruments, same tempo, same singing, same lyrical content. It just got a bit boring by the end.

Elvis Presley clearly never died; he faked his own death to form a band combining his new found love of punk rock, surf rock, rockabilly, and a bit of goth.

I enjoyed Songs the Lord Taught Us so much that I listened to it a few times and then followed it up with their next album, Psychedelic Jungle. Songs the Lord Taught Us leans a bit more punk and Psychedelic Jungle leans a bit more surf rock/rockabilly, but, man, they’re both great!

There were parts of this album that I enjoyed quite a bit. For instance, Andre 3000s rapping feels fresh and different and the feel of the album is pretty unique and experimental and is drawing from a pretty wide range of influences. That said, there was a lot I didn’t like. Most notably, the length of the album, the interludes, how repetitive some of the songs felt, and the general cliche hip hop subject matter in some of the songs.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Ritual De Lo Habitual when it was generated well over a year ago. Not that I disliked it, I was mostly just indifferent to it, thought it felt a bit disjointed, and couldn’t see myself ever returning to it. Well, I think I may have to give it another shot because Nothing’s Shocking was pretty great! It’s a solid alternative album with bits that veer into psychedelic rock and some that veer into metal territory. The drumming and grooves throughout are incredibly fun. My only complaint was that his singing isn’t my favourite and I started to get a bit tired of it by the end of the album.

Ended up giving Ritual De Lo Habitual another listen after finishing Nothing's Shocking and I actually liked it even more. I'm honestly a little shocked (pun intended) that I didn't get on with it the first time around. I'll have to update my previous rating!

White Blood Cells is the White Stripes albums I am most familiar with and probably my favourite of the three that we’ve had from the generator.

I've never really understood Tommy. I mean, I understand the gist of the story:

Tommy sees his mother and her lover murder his father, they convince him he didn't see or hear anything, which leads to him developing psychosomatic deaf, dumb, and blindness. His mother gets frustrated with his condition and neglects him leading to his abuse by several people including his uncle who sexually abuses him, his cousin who tortures him, and a quack doctor that gives him LSD. Eventually Tommy realizes he can play pinball through vibrations and a real doctor realizes that his condition is psychosomatic. His mental block is removed and he decides to start a cult, but his followers reject his teachings and leave his camp causing him to retreat inward again

But, Tommy is held as a major rock opera masterpiece and I just don't really understand why. Aside from Pinball Wizard, none of the tracks stand out to me and the story is dark, weird, and feels fairly pointless. So, I spent the morning reading up on Tommy and the connections to the teachings of Meher Baba to try to understand what I was missing. It was an interesting exercise and I do understand Tommy on a deeper level now, but honestly, I still just don't really care for it all that much. Pinball Wizard is an excellent song, though.

While this isn't my favourite Bowie album anymore, it's an undeniable classic and is basically perfect front-to-back. I don't really have anything else to add that hasn't already been said about this absolute masterpiece.

Obligatory, "I hate the fucking Eagles, man!". But seriously, I actually don't really like the Eagles. I've never been forced to put my dislike for them into words like this and I don't think I could have until I read the Ringer's article "The Case Against the Eagles" this morning. In far fewer words, the Eagles have always felt like that privileged kid that expects the world and more and will throw a fit when they don't get their way.

Anyways, separating the art from the artist and it's not all bad. Joe Walsh's guitar playing, when he's allowed to let loose, is amazing on this album. The hits are obviously great songs, Hotel California and Life in the Fast Lane deserve the praise they get, but other than a few select songs, this album is incredibly boring.

I threw this album on when I first woke up and started going about our morning routine. The first song was actually pleasantly surprising, but it quickly devolved into boring dance music. Luckily, it faded into the background as I emptied the dishwasher, made breakfast, and made coffee. Unfortunately, it was still boring dance music when we sat down to eat. While I didn’t fully hate it, I think I may have if I was actually paying full attention to it the whole time.

I do have to give it props for the most 90s album cover I’ve ever seen.

I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I expected as I really wasn’t a fan of the other Missy Elliott album on the list. That said, I could have done without the talking parts or the remix at the end. Overall, I didn’t hate this, but I’m not going to be returning to it.

This is the third Nick Drake album generated for me and it seems the generator has saved the best for last. I thoroughly enjoyed both Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, but the stripped back and minimalist approach of just Nick and his guitar on this album perfectly compliments his masterful songwriting.

Bryter Layter is probably my next favourite of his albums, but it was much more complex with the full band arrangements and, while Five Leaves Left was more stripped back, it felt a bit too dark and depressing for me. Pink Moon is still dark, but I can't help but feel like there's some hope in these songs.

I dig this album when they lean into their psychedelic side and I can't stand it when they lean into the rave side. Unfortunately, the parts I dug couldn't quite stand up to the parts I couldn't stand.

Can someone explain to me why I needed to hear this album before I died? It just feels like generic, modern soul/R&B/hip-hop, which honestly just does nothing for me.