Reviews by henry-winchester

One of those albums that's incredible to listen to from start to finish. The production, the use of strings and wind and funky bass add so much depth and texture. "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" is a true odyssey and probably the best thing that's ever happened.

Reminded me of Prefab Sprout in the most awful way possible.

It's a shame I never listened to The Lemonheads as a teen. Kind of grungey, but with an acoustic edge that softens it and makes it feel more intimate and personable. The "Mrs Robinson" cover is good but incongruous with the rest of the album.

I HATE "Come On Eileen," but it turns out that they're pretty good songwriters. Every now and then this album threatens to go into "Eileen" territory, but, thankfully, it never commits.

I could imagine this being 100% better when you're stoned.

Incredible.

Really good when no one's singing.

Fun and light and wafty, just like their haircuts.

Whenever I listen to live albums, I just imagine the applause is for me doing the inane nonsense that I'm doing, like loading the dishwasher. This one is pretty good though.

Likeable and listenable, with a Stones-esque sneering rock edge.

Anger, desolation, remorse—this is just the bleakest album. It reflects the misery of turning 15 at the time; "soft skin now acne."
"The Holy Bible" is also peak Manics, when they jettisoned Hollywood-style production in favour of making an entire album that sounded like it was recorded down a tube, but that finds beauty in its unpredictable timeshifts and razor-sharp guitar, when Richie found his voice and confidence as a writer, and before they became radio-friendly with "Everything Must Go," which has dated awfully compared to "The Holy Bible."

I think there's a bit of a divide in the Beastie Boys output between this earlier stuff, which was puerile and misogynistic, and later work, where they even apologised for being dicks. They have to be one of the few bands that actually grew up.
Not that this is bad, some of the arrangements here are mint, and I completely forgot about "Barrel of a Gun." But it's also hard to ignore its more sexist elements.

It's like someone gave your left-wing art teacher a guitar and a record deal.

Finally, a 90s hip-hop album that isn't an hour-plus. And it's great.

If The Wicker Man starred The Beach Boys. The Bwicker Manboys.

So oddly beautiful and optimistic.

I've enjoyed Coldcut in the past (particularly "Timber", but I found this a bit grating. The collaborations are good, and I didn't realise they did "People Hold On." But some of the more sample-based songs feel like they're little more than tech demos that fail to come together as fully-fledged songs. I know that's kind of the point, but it's something hip-hop was doing far better on the other side of the Atlantic.

A natural evolution from "Low," and every bit as good. "Heroes" takes its predecessor's ambient weirdness and applies it to more upbeat and radio-friendly songs, before monging out into stoned electronic psychedelia. Anything Eno did before he started working with U2 and Coldplay is an instant A+.

This was so much like being in a pub with a band that I actually felt drunk towards the end. This is just about on the OK side of folk without becoming too corny, but I don't think I ever need to hear a banjo again.

Not sure why he looks so moody? This is a nice upbeat album!