Reviews by henry-winchester

Like being kicked in the balls (complimentary).

If Noam Chomsky became a pirate and joined a metal band this is what it would sound like.

Good, but not exceptional.

It's like they took Limp Bizkit's "Mission Impossible 2" theme song and made it into a whole album.

I'm not a huge Blade Runner fan - it's a bad film with a good ending - but there's no denying that the soundtrack and visuals combine to create a coherent sense of where and when this film is set.
This expanded version of the OST includes tracks that I don't remember from the film. It's occasionally a bit too cheesy and atonal, but I love those soaring, squelchy synths.

Really good live, just a happy guy enjoying the moment. Not sure if it quite translates to an album though: it does get stuck in a rut.

Occasional sparks of brilliance are let down by a rich vein of horrific 90s humour throughout, totally exemplified by the oh-so-edgy cover. Irritating and cloying.

Irritating as hell, but such a time capsule of that 8-bit electroclash sound, which it feels has been diluted into everything from dubstep to K-pop.

Why isn't this on the original list? It seems like such a major omission, and it just feels like because The Breeders weren't angry like Hole or Garbage they got a bit buried beneath an increasingly tedious pile of grunge and alt-rock.
Which totally fucking sucks. Kim Deal's voice is heartbreaking, at once girlish and innocent but able to crank it up when required. She takes the Pixies' oblique but entertaining lyrics and earworm riffs into more mysterious, feminine territory.
Also, caught them live last summer (my son's first ever proper gig!) and they were so ridiculously happy and entertaining.

Increasingly convinced that "Music Has The Right to Children" was a one-off, a lightning-in-the-bottle moment that could never be repeated*. "Geogaddi" is OK, but it can't quite match the unconscious weirdness of "Music," and occasionally and unfortunately resembles a Moby record or that kind of hideous "chill" that BoC inspired. It's far too long as well.
*I've actually realised this is a lie because their Peel Session is stupendous.

I love the way that as soon as this begins to get a bit stale, Louis starts singing and it's like sunlight pouring into your soul.

Liked this a lot. Musically intricate and great songwriting. The Alanis Morrisette it's OK to like.

Not a fan to start with, and I thought the highlight was the Kate Bush cover. But it gets a lot better and more interesting as it goes along, getting into fascinating almost shoegazey instrumentals. The soundtrack to the greatest 80s horror-fantasy movie that never existed.

Lizard, and Mary Chain, Jones, Christ; I always get confused by all these. But I think these are the American ones everyone loves, and I can hear why. Somewhere between grunge and post-rock.

Great music for bumming around on my bike on a sunny day

90s psych really was quite something. The alternative tunings here feel very Sonic Youthy, but maybe with a harder punk edge. Angular and arachnoid and arch and other pretentious words that start with A.
Also nice to remember that there were American 90s bands who weren't bloody Nirvana.

Definitely not what I was expecting given the album artwork. This is definitely on the softer side of hard rock, sort of a malleable clay, but that's not a bad thing at all, and it reminds of The Cult's goth adventures, but it also goes off on some esoteric tangents and even predicates the more harmonious nature of nu-metal.
Like the best scary rockers, Peter Steele also seems like he was a genuinely nice bloke and it sucks that he died so young.

Reminds me of an album from 30 years ago in the most pleasing way possible.

The vocals remind me of TV on the Radio, but there's something just a little bit too lackadaisical about this whole thing, which may be the point, but it's just not for me.

Reminds me a lot of Pulp's "This is Hardcore:" sleazy lounge music delivered with a northern twang. Not sure it quite reaches the lofty heights of Pulp's dirtiest album, but it's still interesting and diverting.