Reviews by ikejiri

Mermaid Avenue
Despite being a fan of Wilco and liking BIlly Bragg I’ve never listened to any of the Mermaid Avenue albums.

Has a nice barroom, loose feel, a bit like the Basement Tapes, which was probably an influence, and also with the Dylan Guthrie connection.

I like the ones with the Woody Guthrie lyrics but a lot of the Jeff Tweedy/Wilco non Guthrie lyric ones are very strong.
A couple of the Billy Bragg ones, Birds and Ships in particular, are great too.

California Stars, Way Over Yonder, Ingrid Bergman, One by One, Eisler on the Go, Another Man’s Done Gone highlights for me.

Sometimes when Billy Bragg is excessively sing/talking like Billy Bragg it gets a bit tiresome, but when he really sings on a couple of these tracks it’s very tender and affecting.

Great playing throughout, not sure what the Wilco line up at the time was, presuming it was the Being There era group, but it’s really lovely.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I expected from this, I thought it might be good, but maybe not as warm and enjoyable. I’ve listened through twice now and I think it just pushes past 3 into
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Low
Don’t look at the carpet, I drew something awful on it.

This is top 3 Bowie for me, it’s often my favourite but even if not no 1 at any particular time, t’s always up there.

The first side’s songs are all among my favourite Bowie songs, Speed of Life, What in the World, Sound & Vision, Always Crashing in the Same Car, Be my Wife. I love the band and the playing, the arrangements, the instrumentation and I love the sound of the drums and the bass.

I also love side 2. In most people hands a side of ambient music could be truly appalling, but this is is great, moody, atmospheric, occasionally sinister but never dull or ponderous. Knowing a bit about the inspiration for the 2nd side does help, but it really does evoke what I imagine 70s East and West Berlin to be like.

And the two sides complement and work along side each other, the slightly on edge ‘pop’ songs followed by the comedown and sadness of the 2nd side.

It’s a masterpiece, would be a six if I could, but of course it’s a
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This is my favourite Bruce album, the most emotionally affecting and evocative to my mind. A great set of songs that coalesce around the themes of bleakness, despair, compromise and unfulfilled dreams and ambitions, the immediacy and minimalism of the demos that turned out to be the recordings give them a primacy and directness that serves the feel of the album so well. It captures so effectively in my imagination a feel of the vast empty spaces of the Midwest, with a sense of mysteriousness and creepiness. Love it.

A stone cold, undoubted classic to my mind
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Beach Samba
I used to like those Nouvelle Vague albums of samba/bossa nova covers from about 15-20 years ago, but I don’t know a great deal about the main people other than names like Astrud Gilberto and Sergio Mended. I also know I much prefer the bossa nova end of the Latin American jazz spectrum than the salsa end

This is quite jazz flute, but not necessarily in a bad way. It’s enjoyable but very lightweight - it’s been a nice listen this morning while making breakfast. It’s very pleasant and floats along very nicely, but never quite leaves much of an imprint or memory.

Misty Roses and My Foolish Heart are both very nice. Wasn’t a fan of the circus one

I much prefer it to the other jazzy albums we’ve listened to, and really glad to have given it a go. I might not think to put it on, but if came across it somewhere I would definitely give it another listen, and I would also think about delving a bit deeper into this type of music

A nice enjoyable non threatening solid
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Rumours
There’s a reason this has been the best selling vinyl in the UK in the last few years, why it’s sold so many copies over nearly 50 years and why it’s almost universally lauded - it’s fucking excellent.

Aside from the myths and stories around the bands interpersonal relationships at the time it’s just a brilliant set of 11 superbly arranged songs, not a duffer or weak track. It’s beautifully sequenced and balanced, it flows well with the different singers and songwriters lapping or striking against each other.

The songs and songwriting are so good that’s it’s easy to overlook what great musicians they are - the Fleetwood & McVie rhythm section, Christine McVie’s piano, Lindsey Buckingham’s distinctive and fantastic lead guitar and Stevie Nicks superb singing.

The legend of it all, the perspectives of the different songwriters, the songs, the playing all contribute to it being great, but I absolutely LOVE the sound of it. I think that really helps it endure after all these years. Its sound is rich, warm and deep, without being syrupy or veering into inoffensive nothingness. The sound on Dreams is exemplary, it just sounds so so good.

The blues history of McVie and Fleetwood give it a bit of soul, Buckingham’s guitar gives it a bit of edge, with Nicks and Christine McVie giving it deftness and unique character.

It’s one of my absolute favourite albums of all time, a no brainer
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This is Hardcore
This is great, I love Different Class, but this might sneakily be my favourite pulp album. I certainly listen to it more frequently than DC. It has that dark, melancholic atmosphere, that is very evocative of the post Britpop period.

Some great songs and great lyrics, wry, grown up but also funny. It’s not as immediate or as obviously tuneful as DC, the melodies aren’t straightforward, but they really get their hooks into you once you’ve heard them a few times. And all the songs fit so well with the feel and themes of the album.

Overall it’s such and interesting album, maybe it’s quite hard to figure out, but it rewards repeat listens.

Is it a 4 or a 5…I think it it falls just on the side of a 4, but it’s close to a 5 for me.
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Queens of the Stone Age
Dear John , Mexicola, Walkin’ on Sidewalks, Spiders and Vinegaroons, I Was a Teenage Had Model I liked a lot. Loved If Only.

I like their more groove based songs over the more just heavy or chugging songs, they have that little bit more of that hypnotic dynamism. If Only and Walkin’ on the Sidewalks over, say, Avon, for example.

I’d say that I’m only a casual fan of QOTSA and I’m not that au fait with desert/stoner rock in general, although the bits I know and hear I do like. Feels like this is a superior example of that genre. You could argue that the songs start to sound a bit samey, however I think there is a kind of ineffable quality to them, maybe that bit of groove, or a feeling they convey that differentiates them and their music.

Although having said that, at 1hr it does feel quite lengthy. I listened to the re-issue which has extra tracks, I think the original 45 minute release is probably a tighter, more cohesive listen.

I’d say a solid three, might go higher with more listens, but probably prefer Rated R over this.
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Lets Stay Together
I think I’ve ever only listened to his greatest hits, rather than any of his albums.

The title track is a classic for a reason. You hear it so much that it’s easy to forget how good it is.

I really love the sound of the album - the ‘minimal’ band - drums, bass, piano/organ and guitar only - augmented by female backing vocals, some lovely string arrangements and great horns.
And of course the voice is just so so good - obviously that’s what he’s known for but it really is superb, so versatile.

Overall it’s exactly what you’d expect from a classic early 70s soul record. Melodic ballads and heartache, with some uptempo gospel influenced bangers. A little bit of grit here and there to complement the honey.

Let’s Stay Together, So You’re Leaving, the cover of How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Judy, all great. It Ain’t No Fun to Me is banger.

It’s great - not necessarily groundbreaking but exactly what an album like this should be. I can see myself listening to this a lot. Already listened to it twice this morning. Makes me want to check out more of his albums from this period.
Somewhere between a 4 and a 5, probably closer to 5, so will round up.
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Aqualung
Hey Aqualung!

I’m not much familiar with prog rock, not because I don’t like but because I never know where to start. I think I quite like it, which is probably a consequence of approaching 50.

Anyhow, I really liked this. The first 2 songs are great, particular Aqualung. Liked Mother Goose a lot too.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I liked the folky/pastoral elements, as well as the heavier riffing. I can see why stuff like this gets parodied, but I kind of think that makes it more enjoyable.

I’m not sure where to rate it. Tempted to give it 4 as I really enjoyed it. But I think I need to give it a few more listens, it’s quite dense and will probably be a real grower. I’ll give it 3 for now and revise when we look back and change all our reviews in a year
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The Cars
Im pretty familiar with it, but I think this is a great album. More synthy than the Go Gos and less stylised than the B-52s, they are right in that new wave power pop soft rock sweet spot that I love.

Love the production, the overall sound and the sense of pop songwriting craftsmanship alongside some post punk rough edges and attitude. Nice line in slightly detached cynical lyrics. They remind me of Television but with a kind of wry pop sensibility. Add in a bit of Bowie, a bit of Eno (Here Come the Warm Jets & Roxy Music) some sixties hand claps, some glam guitars, a splash of synths and it’s a tasty and satisfying combo.

Great little run with the first three songs, My Best Friend’s Girl and Just what I Needed are superb.
You’re all I got Tonight and Moving in Stereo are also excellent.

9 tracks 35 minutes - perfect length, doesn’t outstay it’s welcome or dip at all.

It’s a 5 for me
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You Want it Darker
Didn’t know much about this album before listening to it, and I couldn’t remember when he died and wasn’t sure whether this was posthumous or not. I do like Leonard Cohen but have never listened to him extensively, only really listened to his first album properly, which I think is very good.

I really liked the sparse band backing, with the simple but prominent bass giving things propulsion and momentum, against the gravelly slow and spoken word singing. I like the fiddle too, gives a country/dusty/19th century Americana feel. Great backing vocals too and some very nice string arrangements, which remind me of some of Lee Hazlewood’s albums. It all feels so well constructed around his voice, persona and the songs themselves.

Knowing now it was his last one before he died I like how it fits neatly into the bracket with the Johnny Cash American Recordings albums and The Wind by Warren Zevon.

Overall I think this is great, I really liked it and it will go in my rotation. I’ve actually already listened to it twice and I’m looking forward to listening to it more.
A very nice
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Figure 8
Listening to this I’m not sure why I didn’t get into him when his stuff was coming out - I think at that time I would have really got into it.

However now I find it just kind of passes me by - some nice moments and the odd good song, but in the main a bit forgettable.

Some of the melodies seem a bit forced and there is a rather distracting nasal tone to his voice. It often feels like a song is about to take flight and go somewhere really good, but then kind of never gets anywhere and just levels out, which is a bit frustrating. Felt this particularly on LA, Stupidity Tries and Wouldn’t Mama be Proud.

Enjoyed the White Album/Abbey Roadvibes of Son of Sam and Junk Bond Trader is very good. I liked Colorbars and Better Be Quiet Now too, and Can’t Make a Sound builds to an impressive conclusion.

Kind of falls right in the middle for me. Didn’t dislike it and enjoyed some of the songs, but I didn’t find much to excite me or hold my interest. A pretty average
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WIWBFTST
I had this album back when it come out, or right after the Fatboy Slim remix of Brimful of Asha came out. Would have been 1st year at Durham.

I remember liking it at the time, but I was probably a bit confused by it. I have returned to it sporadically over the years but have never truly got into it. I really really liked their next album, Handcream for a Generation, I listened to that a lot in 2002/03 when in Japan.

Listing to WIWBFTST this morning, I did enjoy it a lot. I really like how you can hear and feel the various diverse influences. It kind of reminds me of McCartney & McCartney II in it has the same lo fi bedroom noodling aspect to it. Although musically a bit different, it does have a similar electronic vibe in parts as McCartney II (it even has a song called Coming Up)

It also suffers a bit from CD bloat at nearly an hour. On the one hand I really like the sprawling nature of it and it’s mix of different music genres, often on the same song, but it could probably do with a bit of judicious editing to get it down to 40-45 mins. Some of the shorter electronica tracks like Chocolat don’t work as well for me. A bit more focus, without losing its diversity, charm and looseness and it would be a real gem.

Asha, We’re in Your Corner, Funky Days are Back Again, Good Ships, Good to be on the Road Back Home, Norwegian Wood are highlights.

Tough one to rate for me. It’s somewhere right between a 3 and 4, and I think I prefer their next album over this. But as we know I’m a generous rater so I think I’ll round up to 4
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Beauty and the Beat
I really love this little genre, that early 80s jangly post punk, new wave, power pop sweet spot - people like The Feelies, The Romantics, The Bangles, The Cars etc.

I love the harmonies on this, the melodies aren’t always top notch but the energy and vibe more than makes up for it. I love the up tempo and slightly loose, imperfect playing. That punk, do it yourself simplicity and energy in tandem with the 60s Byrds/Beatles/Who style pop melodies, harmonies and hooks - for me that is a delicious combination.

We Got the Beat is an absolute banger.
Our Lips are Sealed, Lust to Love, Automatic, You Can’t Walk in Your Sleep, Skidmarks on my Heart are my other highlights.

It’s not a perfect album, there are some dips here and there, but at 35 minutes it flies by and is such a fun, energetic, infectious, joyous listen that you soon forget about the lulls.

Not top tier but an absolute solid
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Birth of the Cool
I dunno. I’ve tried many many times to listen to and try and understand jazz, but it never sticks. I do like some vocal jazz and piano led stuff, but up tempo with trumpets and sax parping away starts to irritate me pretty quickly.

I can however appreciate its importance in the history of 20th century popular music, and the skill and virtuosity of the players. And while there are the elements of it and some songs I enjoy, I just think that I don’t really like jazz and won’t ever really like jazz, and ultimately I think no one really likes jazz, they just decide liking jazz is their personality, and that by liking jazz they have a far more sophisticated understanding of music, and therefore anyone liking any other type of music is a Luddite peasant.

With this album though, it’s not too much of a bebop up tempo parp fest, although it does wander into that area quite frequently. I couldn’t really tell many of the songs apart, and it all kind of passed me by quite unremarkably. Although I did like Moon Dreams quite a bit, the slower tempo and less frantic melody was very nice amongst the other songs.

I’ll give it a 2, based on 1 for the actual album and the 1 for its influence on 20th century music. I’m glad it exists and I’m glad I listened to it, but it’s not for me
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Vulgar Display of Power

Went in with an open mind and started off quite enjoying it. I’m not a metal aficionado at all but there are some songs in the genre I like. I can sometimes see a world where I get into stuff like this, but then after 3 songs I don’t want to get into it and I want to go home please. This definitely started to drag by the middle and then get quite boring quite quickly after that. I was glad when it was over.

Obviously It’s not for me, although I would assume for the genre it is good. A couple of things stood out. I liked the riff on Mouth for War, I liked Walk, that had a kind of groove and felt like a song. Hollow’s first part seemed like a superior version of a metal ballad with a decent tune, before evolving into more standard riffing.

There is an earnestness to this type of music that gets quite tiring. If you are really into metal I would guess that you can see the subtleties and nuances in the music, but to me the lack of light and shade drives a sense of monotony and stasis that ends up being frustrating and ultimately very dull.

Reluctant to to say 1, its obviously not for me, and I would never listen to it again, but if you are into metal it surely must be a very good album, so I’ll go:
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What’s Going On
I remember buying it at Durham and liking it, but not really understanding why everyone thought it was so great. Listening as an older person with hopefully more of an appreciation of different types of music and more of an understanding of the lyrical and thematic scope, I can really understand how good it is. It really is fantastic.

The songs are great, the sequencing, the themes and motifs slipping in and out.
I love the sound, particularly the bass as the lead melodic instrument working with the string arrangements. And Marvin’s voice is just so so good, that mellow, mellifluous tone contrasting with the anger in the lyrics.

When I was 20, it probably would have been 3 or 4 but I’m going to give it 5 now. I do really think it’s up there with the best albums ever recorded.
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McCartney
This is very hard to work out how to score. In the context of all his solo work? In the context of the end of the Beatles? In the context of what he was intending it to be at the time? As a stand alone album? How influential it turned out to be? The fact he did it all himself?

And, as we know, I’m also quite blinkered when it comes to Macca.

The thing is I do love love this album, even though it is a bit inconsistent and loose - but it’s those inconsistencies and that looseness that gives it so much charm and so much appeal. The sum of its parts give it a vibe that carries the whole thing past any imperfections.

Macca being Macca even the inconsistent throwaway tracks like Valentine Day, Hot as Sun/Glasses, Oo You, Kreen Akore have enough melodic inventiveness and musicality to be at the very least interesting and diverting.

Also it has some of his best solo songs
That Would Be Something
Every Night
Junk (one of my absolute favourite melodies of his)
Maybe I’m Amazed (he did play an early idea of this at, I think, the Get Back or Abbey Road sessions - imagine if this had had the full Beatles treatment)

Just those 4 songs would be enough peaks for most people in their whole careers and he just tossed them off on a farm in Scotland while the biggest musical act of all time that he was part of was disintegrating.

That’s why it’s hard to rate it as a stand-alone album, devoid of context and personal bias. I enjoy it thoroughly each time I listen to it, and despite the slightly disjointed nature of it, I think it works brilliantly as a entire listening experience - it’s one of those albums that is best listened to in one sitting.

It’s easily in my top 5 Macca solo albums. Although it has its flaws, it’s really appeals to me and always love and enjoy it when I put it on, so I think I can’t not give it
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Five Leaves Left

Love, love, love.

All three of his albums are in heavy rotation for me and they are all top tier.

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Rocks
Don’t think I’ve listened to many Aerosmith albums. I had the early greatest hits and I had Toys in the Attic, as it was the only place to get the full length version of Sweet Emotion, and I love that song. They do have some real gems across their career but have never been interested enough to do a proper listen.

I didn’t mind this - I neither particularly liked it or actively disliked it, a couple of good tracks but a lot of samey-ness. You can hear the influence on bands like G’n’R, but I’d actually rather listen to Appetite for Destruction, which has more excitement and dynamism.

Back in the saddle I’ve always liked.
Last child is good (riff sounds a bit like Hit me with your Rhythm Stick)
Rest of it is fine, nothing stands out, but as I say nothing to actively dislike.

Hard to score overall, somewhere around a 2 or 3, but as I’m probably unlikely to listen to it again and I enjoyed Lynyrd Skynyrd more and have that 3, I’ll go for:
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