Reviews by j-bizzle

What a way to kick off the album \m/

There's something about those propulsive drums and riffs that speaks to my soul man. I know it's their go-to, and it can be samey, but it WORKS. It's not as good as Back in Black in my opinion, but it still rocks hard. Consider my foot thoroughly tapped. Consider my head thoroughly nodded.

This is super fun, I like this.

There's lots of glam, punky energy from the off. It's not all one-note though, there's plenty to it. The guitars are great, but there's rock n' roll keys, harmonica and more. I also really liked the lower tempo tracks. The whole album has some great grooves and rhythms running through it.

My opinion on Steely Dan hasn't changed. Musically they're pretty good. Some of the tracks are pretty upbeat and a good listen. It's easy going and an easy enough listen.

It's just really soft and blah. How do you define 'blah'? I don't know, but they have it in spades. I prefer music with a bit more bite. This is all gums.

2.5 rounded up.

This is a real nice album, with some absolute gems sprinkled in there. I really like their style. There's a great toe-tapping rhythm throughout, but it also has soul.

3.5 rounded up.

It's a real easy listening rock n' roll time. Nice singing and harmonising. Some nice guitar and keys. You know what you're getting, but it does it pretty well. I really like the minor notes in 'Sigh, Cry, Almost Die'.

This is iconic for a reason. It's got so much energy to it. Johnny Cash has so much presence and charisma, and the audience and setting adds a lot to it as well. I like how his songs are so rich in their story-telling.

3.5 rounded up.

It's very straight down the line, generic country, which started to feel like a slog after only 2-3 tracks. But you know, they have nice voices if that's your bag.

2.5 rounded down.

Farewell Dolly, you were too good for this world. RIP legend.

I actually really like this, and once again it changes my opinion of Peter Gabriel - after the association with Genesis did so much damage. This is so bombastic, but in a good way. Big, dramatic instrumentation with epic and funky-wah guitars, brass, synths and more. Really really dramatic - theatrical even, and idiosyncratic, but I dig it.

3.5 rounded up.

It's a pretty good listen overall. There's plenty of extended jams that run throughout, and there's also a good amount of proggy noodling, but it doesn't sound anywhere near as wanky as a lot of other prog. The good musicianship is allowed to take centre stage without it being ruined by being painfully earnest and generally pretentious. I'm not put-off by the extended length of these tracks.

Don't get me wrong, it's still not 100% my thing, but I enjoyed it well enough and I appreciate the craft and musicianship.

3.5 rounded down

It's not bad. I think this is pretty good fun and has plenty of energy to it. It's interesting hearing a variety of styles in this, with some funky vibes to it as well as general alternative rock. I didn't actually realise this was 80's, so I get how they could be influential in bridging that gap and ushering in the alt-scene of the 90's.

This is great. It's quite hard hitting with those big, driving guitars. She has a real presence as a front-woman with those snarling vocals and tons of attitude. Lots of great tracks, and the commentary and overall content I'm here for. Another great album by them, and add me to the growing list of people who should have given them more time when I was younger.

This was a nice time for most of it. It's more upbeat than some of his other records, and there's some really nice instrumentation across it. His voice is quite unusual, but he uses it in a interesting way that really showcases it. It's sometimes a bit out there, but there's personality to it.

3.5 rounded down.

This is so fucking tedious. Insufferable. Self-indulgent. Utter nonsense.

I can’t even be bothered to write a proper review.

I will say this though – I’ve discovered that probably my most hated niche sub-genre is the one in which artists sing earnestly about nature in a twee-like manner. Singing about scarecrows and mice and fucking dandelions while layering over a bunch of stupid sound effects.

Rubbish. Absolutely fucking rubbish.

Not bad. There's things to like about it. At its best it’s upbeat and fun (on the most accessible ‘I Don’t Mind’) but there’s plenty of what feels like quite straight-forward punk rock that doesn’t hugely move me.

I tend to hate it when people immediately jump to the "why do I need to hear this before I die?" argument about any album they don’t like, or don’t understand – but there is a strong case to be made for this one.

It’s rough and ready with a real lo-fi production. The whole album has a really awkward flow to it, where some songs stop before they even get going, and other songs cut in in a disjointed manner. So many songs have such little form to them that it's hard to connect with it.

My key beef with this though, and the reason why I’m now jumping on the "why do I need to hear this?" bandwagon, is because so much of it is just utterly unremarkable. A lot of it just isn’t good enough or fleshed out enough (in my opinion) to put on a proper album.

By the mid-way point this was rapidly losing any good will I had, and it became a bit of a slog by the end.

What an awful gig to subject yourself to.

Very much wanky, noodly prog. Utterly tedious. Fucking weird. Jarringly inconsistent.

1.5 rounded up.

This is fine. A straight down the line, fine, middle-of-the-road, 3/5 bluesy rock album.

It feels very inoffensive and a bit bland, but then I tapped my hand gently against my keyboard a reasonable amount, so...

It’s not hard to understand why this album is rated so low. The persona he’s built for himself is so weird, full of bravado and ego, but just aggressively juvenile. The lyrics, genuinely, are utterly terrible. He has absolutely no talent at all in that department.

But you know, it’s also kind of funny in a way (intentional or not) and when he gets going the grooves can be pretty good. You can get into the energy of it if you switch off some of your other critical thinking skills.

2.5 rounded up.

Not my favourite Bjork album. It's all quite slight, and slow, and deliberate. Her vocal delivery grates a bit more in this one, although the musical delivery and experimental elements work. There's a good atmosphere across some of this.

It's a low three.

As with their other album, I'm finding this just way too stripped back and wafty. Particularly in the vocal delivery, which stays the same across the whole album. I don't mind some of the musical / atmospheric elements per se, but they don't have any real impact outside of a very gentle texture. It's hard to engage with this when it's so slight, and again, as with their other album, it's just so fucking boring.