Reviews by j-bizzle

The 80's always feels like it's dated the worst out of any decade by far. A lot of this just doesn't work for me at all because it feels like it's from a different world. The music itself just feels so soulless. Maybe if I were wearing some mad, garish shellsuit or something then it would help me tap into this energy. I got about halfway through - I'm very certain it wasn't going to change direction. 2/5 because it was inoffensive enough and didn't actively irritate me. What a recommendation!!

Sorry Boss. I'm not really into it in general. It feels way too broad rock n roll and I just don't think it's for me for the most part. 'No Surrender' has got something about it and 'Dancing in the Dark' is a real air-punching tune.

I was 17 when these guys exploded onto the scene, and I couldn't have been MORE the target audience. Those were some formative years and these guys were part of my identity almost. I played this CD so much it's permanently engraved on my brain, to the extent I could probably not listen to it for another 50 years but still somehow remember all the lyrics.

I'm aware that the nostalgia factor has woven its way firmly into my rating, but I think if I heard it for the first time today... I think I'd still be on-board. I'd definitely have some heavy eyerolls at some of the overly-dramatic lyrics. I can't go on! The face inside! Paranoia! Pain! However, I think I'd still massively appreciate how many brilliant hooks and singalong choruses are in here. You can't deny how great some of these songs are.

To me these guys hitting when they did, it was lightning in a bottle. Everything came together, riding the nu-metal wave, Chester's raw vocals, Mike Shinoda's rapping, the heavy riffs, the soaring choruses. I love it. What a debut.

I like a lot of this. Nice music and grooves, good musicality, really good production. I like Paul Weller's vocals and style. The general content and attitude. "But I'm different now" is my standout, it's really upbeat with driving rhythms.

It's quite nice for the most part, but very gentle, and it didn't really grab me. I don't know why so many bands of the era felt compelled to add in random, tedious instrumental tracks with weird sounds. It's not big and it's not clever.

It seems to me like nothing much at all is happening in this album. I'm nearly at the end and I'm not sure I've really heard a single fully-fledged riff or some kind of theme. It's just... a bunch of stuff happening. Or maybe it's so boring and nothing that it's washed over me without me even realising it.

It's a really nice time, lovely jangly guitars, nice harmonies, some great toe-tapping beats in there. Lots of very short songs so it's over and done in no time at all - perfect to get in and out and have a perfectly enjoyable time in-between.

I really hate prog rock. I get the impression they think they're way more clever than they actually are. They're just farting about and making random noises. It's utterly tedious. There's a bit of nice violin in there which always gets my attention, and some nice piano and musical bits AT TIMES. That's where my 1 star is going. But it's like a feeble ray of light shining on a giant cloud of guff, which can't quite penetrate it and break free.

Again, as with their last album I reviewed, it's mostly very gentle and folky. But once again, there's some really nice songs in here.

I like the first song a lot. It's got a lot of manic guitar energy, and driving jams. The middle and end felt like it dragged a bit to be honest, and was just a bit too loud and brash.

(It's a really clever album cover. I had no idea about the face until I saw the deluxe album cover turned the other way around)

It's alright.

This is definitely my jam, and it really is a classic album. There's a lot of big hits in here, but the whole album is solid. Lots of interesting jams and production. Definitely one of the big trip-hop albums / touchpoints. 'Roads' takes the best song award - what an emotional punch that has.

This is a really random album. It started off as a 2/5.. it was very delicate and I was finding it hard to engage with a lot of it. But then you have Without You, which is a sudden weird burst of passion and energy, then you have that followed by the quirky and upbeat Coconut. And from there you have some genuine stand-outs. Jump Into the Fire has some jams, and I'll never leave you is really interesting and weird and quite heartfelt. Harps and everything, violins. I really like it.

So there's actually loads of variation across this whole album. It's a real mishmash.

He's got some good rhymes, but I'm not big into hip hop and it's very samey the whole way through. The score came down the more I listened.

2.5 rounded down to 2.

Very nice. Very soft, but some lovely songs on here.

I mean... it's interesting... there's lots going on here. I'm not really on-board with this wild ride, but I appreciate it's out there somewhere and people are jamming with it.

I like his voice, and some of the musical bits and melodies are nice, but it's just so sombre. There's a few standout tracks, but the whole album certainly didn't fly by, let's say that.

Quite nice this. I like his voice. It seems pretty solid all the way through. I'll have to check out their other albums, as I hadn't really heard of these guys before.

I was never really into Oasis as a kid. I always said Blur were the more varied and interesting and maybe dismissed Oasis as a bit one-note, but I realise that's not really true. Maybe when you look at their career as a whole, but there's a lot of variation in here.

Production is really good. I'm hearing a lot of bits I hadn't really heard before, with some really interesting harmonies and background tracks. The riffs are really good. The song-writing itself is super strong, and there's a lot of big, big tracks on here. The hit ratio across the whole album is massive, and this is undeniably a classic, magic album.

So why am I not giving it five stars? I guess because despite all the above it still doesn't quite connect with me enough. I don't think I would ever choose to actively listen to this despite really appreciating it.

Two Chic albums in two days! I liked the first one, but this one is just a bit too disco for me.