Reviews by j-bizzle

It's a bit weird, but there's some nice vibey tunes in here. All weird samples flowing into each other. Frontier Psychiatrist is brilliant and elevates the score a bit, but overall it's a bit mad and chaotic for me to revisit or to have as a go-to background chill mix.

It's pretty good. It's quite upbeat. They kind of sound like a more energetic and slightly rockier REM. I don't think there's tons of variation across so many songs, but I didn't really mind, and it was a real easy-listening experience in general.

3.5 rounded down.

It's not bad - another middling Bob Dylan for me. I kind of appreciate him, but I'm definitely not a fan outside of a number of songs.

Subterranean Homesick Blues is great and the standout track. The rest are kind of just nice. He still has the habit of having waaay too many verses in a lot of his songs, but once again, at least the harmonica doesn't grate here.

I'm a filthy millennial, so I'm clearly not educated enough to understand or conceptualise this properly. Kids these days just don't understand what the jazz is all about.

So now that my ignorant and stupid position is established... this is fine. You know, in a kind of reasonably nice, background, boring way. There's some nice trumpet in there. My thoughts on this may be more easily summarised with a slow head-nod and a lip sticking out, in a kind of 'not bad, but ultimately I don't really care' face.

2.5 rounded up.

This just showcases that Paul McCartney is a really accomplished and interesting songwriter. I really like this album, there's tons of great songs, and lots of moods and tones running through it.

4.5 rounded down.

It's not bad this. More gentle than I thought it might be, but a few tracks hit a little bit harder and are more upbeat. I like Neil Tennant's voice.

I like this. It's very nice, well sung, nice tales, gentle guitars. What a silky voice! I like all the "oooOOoo" backup vocals too.

3.5 rounded down

I think this is pretty rubbish. The songs don't have much form to them at all, they're just kind of loose and chaotic. I don't like the singing at all. It's so whiny and weak and nothing. It's kind of telling that the best track is the instrumental one.

This is my third Bob Dylan album now. My previous two reviews both resulted in me demanding for him to 'give his harmonica a fucking rest', and in this case... you know, he's used it JUST the right amount. And when he does use it, it seems to have some genuine personality and fit well within the songs. So well done, Bob Dylan, you come good.

I actually really enjoyed this, and I think it's a definite step above the other albums. Some songs are over-long, yes, but they're also just really good. Again, lots of personality here, and well written, interesting songs.

I like a lot of Beastie Boys tracks, but damn man, so much of this is just irritating and repetitive. Some of the samples and beats are good. Fight For Your Right is a classic and I love it. No Sleep Till Brooklyn is good.

2.5 rounded up.

I grew up as an Offspring kid, and I am hearing SO much influence from this band, as I'm sure it influenced so many others. I do like the attitude and driving bass. There's just not really much variation and it's very samey. Thankfully it's short.

This is a real weird album, real hit and miss. The tracks are way too long and over-indulgent, and they start to get repetitive and grate after a while, especially when so much is instrumental.

The 18 minute track is 9 minutes of completely uninteresting talking, 9 minutes of great track that slowly builds into something with real energy.

One Woman was reeeeal nice - why couldn't they all be 5 minute tracks? I love all the instrumentation on here: keys, sweeping violins, wind instruments, chimes, backing chorus - and of course the big man's incredible voice. It's very dramatic and big and I love it.

On that note, I should say I'm reviewing this album without the single edits (so the original album). The single of Walk On By works SO much better. If they'd have trimmed the rest it would have improved this immensely.

There's some nice covers in here, alongside a few original songs. It's very soulful. Plenty of songs that are stripped way back, but mostly hit well. I really like the first track, that's great. Hurt is brilliant. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face is a standout, which has a real depth of feeling.

This is a really good album. I like the lo-fi beats across it, the strings, the piano, the melancholy / bittersweet feeling to a lot of the tracks. There's some good variation in there too, with some good upbeat tracks. It's really consistent across the board here, just very well done and great to listen to.

It's nice enough, but I'm 5 songs in and it's not really popped yet, it's just kind of floated along. Ok I'm now 8 songs in and it still hasn't - it's so stripped back and barely there. Surely this can't keep up for the whole album...? Ok I've finished it, and it kind of did. I'm not mad Fleetwood Mac, I'm just disappointed. You have some banging tunes, did you forget to put any on here?

The album cover is rubbish as well.

2.5 rounded down.

I'm sorry Rod, I just find this SO boring. It's way too boring, twangy, middle of the road rock n roll for me.

I love a bit of Stevie. This isn't his best, but it is a real nice, funky time. He obviously has great soul and presence, and a WONDERful voice. I really love the ballads most on this album, I think they're reeeal nice.

3.5 rounded down.

This is a good album on the whole. These guys really know how to write a song, with plenty of catchy tracks on here. I like the driving rhythm on a lot of songs. Especially towards the start of the album, I was tapping my foot a decent amount. There's some good synths in here, some nice piano and violins, and generally pretty good production. There's also a bit of atmosphere on a number of tracks.

It's not my usual go-to, but it's pretty good. I felt like the quality fell off a bit from about the half-way mark, but it's still quite solid.

3.5 rounded down.

It started off real nice, then it started to get a bit tedious after a while. I didn't even really like it as background music.

2.5/5 rounded down

It's quite a nice time. It's pretty funky in places, pretty atmospheric in others, and well made in general. It's not really something that kept my attention though, and the reality is a lot of it just sat in the background. But it was pretty nice background music.