Reviews by j-bizzle

This is a nice, well-made album. The production is strong, the variation in instruments is impressive, and her singing is reeal nice. There's some really nice little flavours sprinkled in there, even if it's some tiny detail like a small bell or something. The layered backing vocals also work really well.

It started off stronger, and while it remains accomplished, it gets a little bit less interesting and more samey as it goes on. I'm a big fan of hers, having been obsessed with the Magnolia soundtrack when I was younger. It's been nice to go back and explore her other stuff. I've only recently listened to 'Bachelor No. 2' which was excellent, and this makes me want to continue and check out some of her other stuff.

3.5 rounded down.

I've never been big on Pearl Jam. I always found them a bit dull, and I don't like his singing delivery. There are some good tracks on here though, I can't deny. Alive is probably the stand out, but Even Flow and Jeremy also registered. Listening to this made me realise that I may have been a bit harsh on them before, because it really is quite good in places.

Ah man, this was really great, I loved it. It's just such a shame that it wasn't that accessible all in one place. It was really difficult to piece together the different tracks on YouTube, which upset the rhythm of it a bit. And because there is quite some variance between some of the tracks, you wonder if you've even lined up the correct one.

Either way, it's just really accomplished. The music itself is really great. Lovely melodies and singing. I like the fusion of all the different elements. I like the pervasive violins throughout, the trumpet, the mixing.

It's such a great time. I would definitely revisit more if I could actually track it down. I might have to buy it on vinyl.

4.5 rounded down.

Why are hip hop albums always so long? I'm not sure he's got THAT much to say that it needs over an hour. It's competent enough I guess, and there are a few good tracks in there (best one: Old School). I preferred the tracks with additional vocals on in general.

2.5 rounded up.

Lots of manic, punky, relentless up-beat energy to this. Like the B52's, but a bit darker and more kitsch. It's good to get an album like this, if only to learn more about the deeper, niche layers of particular genres. I now have an understanding of 'psychobilly' and 'garage-trash'.

It's good. It's FUN. It's so specific though, I don't think you could easily return to it with any great regularity.

This feels like a bit of an album of two halves really. While it's still listenable enough, it really falls off in quality from about the halfway mark. The first half is much more successful I think. I've never really liked his voice or singing style, but I still enjoy a bunch of the tracks on here.

There's some down and dirty beats in the opening tracks, particularly on 'Crawl' which I really like. Sex on Fire is a big track whether you like it or not, and whether it's been played to death or not. That will always bring back memories of me dancing on a table in an après ski bar in Austria, drunk on schnapps and drunk on life. Good times.

It's very dramatic. And it's definitely an 'interesting' listen. It's like a soundtrack to a theatrical wartime production rather than a standalone album. I'm definitely not revisiting, but I kind of like that this is in the list.

2.5 rounded up.

Musically, the songs are accomplished enough, I'm just not really into it that much, and it seemed to drag a bit at times.

This is the kind of album I'm really glad to receive on this project, because there's just no way I would ever listen to it otherwise, let alone even be aware of its existence.

It's not the kind of thing I gravitate towards, but I do really admire the ambition, and the amount of stuff they chuck at it. The musicianship is really on-point. I like the down and dirty guitar (except when it goes on in extended periods, and definitely not in 'free form guitar'). There's tons of brass in here which I really like, and it's so unapologetically upbeat for most of it. I'm also quite impressed at how varied this album is, and the amount of different things they try, successful or not. It definitely doesn't feel like 'one thing'.

3.5 rounded up.

This is such a strange and quirky album, as I guess as a lot of their stuff is. You have all the Queen hallmarks, with the theatrical singing, vocal harmonies and powerful riffs. There's lots of variation and fun to be had. It is maybe a bit TOO quirky at times, but it's made up for with the number of big songs in there. Not least Bohemian Rhapsody, which as we all know, is a MONSTER track.

The write-up on this is wild. Having listened to a lot of albums on here now, why this would be a critical failure I have no idea, and the record company deleting it completely from their catalogue is mad. It's really nice. Well made, and well put together. He's got a nice voice, and some of the tracks are really lush.

3.5 rounded down.

At it's best, this album is perfectly cromulent. But let's be honest, it's so bland. It's like plain white bread. Bran flakes with no milk. Tepid tap water. You don't even need words to describe it. A single, large, languid yawn would do the trick.

2.5 rounded down.

This is kind of similar to the most recent Chemical Brothers' album I reviewed, in that I'm a fan of the artist, but the earlier stuff isn't as fully formed, and is more repetitive. But in this case it's still really good. Yes, it is more repetitive, but as with his later work, it's just a real upbeat-happy time and it's a great listen.

I was looking forward to getting this one. I'd heard, and enjoyed, Pale Green Ghosts, and was deliberately holding back on this as I knew it was on here. I'd only heard Marz and Sigourney Weaver before which I liked.

So.... it's really good! I really like the mood across the album. I love all the minor keys, matched with his voice. He has a kind of melancholic air to him, and when that's matched with further backing vocals and swells in the music it can be absolutely sumptuous. Notably on tracks like 'Where The Dreams Go To Die'.

Apart from a slight lull in the middle of the album (where it feels a bit samey for a number of tracks), it has tons of great songs, with plenty of surprises thrown in. There's plenty of variance too, not least with the instruments. Piano, violins, brass, woodwind, spacey synths..

I'm on-board, and I'll definitely be re-visiting.

4.5 rounded up.

As shallow as a muddle puddle. Shitty autotune applied throughout. The lyrics and content are utterly, utterly dreadful. No artistic merit at all.

It gets one feeble extra half-star because some of the production is quite good, and the song 'Prom' isn't bad. However I'm still rounding that 1.5 down.

I appreciate the experimentation and the fact that it's doing something a bit different at least, but I wouldn't say it's a great listen. It's quite repetitive throughout, as a bunch of the songs slowly, slowly build into something, although without much pay-off. There's not huge amounts of form here. It's not bad... it's ok. The last track is nice and ambly and I like that more.

I'm going to give him some credit for the PS1 loading sound right at the start. After that there's not really that much to go on. It feels like such a minimalist, safe, non-offensive time. It's really quite mellow.. but not in a particularly interesting way. The music and production is nice enough I guess...? I don't hate it, it passed the time nicely enough, but it's not exciting.

It's kind of alright, but for someone who's not massively into it, it is long. If you like synthy, new-wavey, dreamy pop then knock yourself out I guess.

My overall thoughts on this is that it's a bit weird, but nice enough. There's some skill there, but it's unusual, and not something I really vibe with that much.

I mean it's a classic isn't it? What an album. The guitar playing is so unique, and iconic. His vocals are really pointed and angry. It's a perfect match.

There's a few tracks on here that I'm not really into that much, but the best ones are SO good as to massively elevate the whole. There's tons of great riffs and grooves across the album. Really deep and driving guitars. And there's some absolute monster tunes on here. That trio of Bullet in the Head, Know Your Enemy and Wake Up - my god!