Reviews by j-bizzle

I’m not really enjoying this one, I’ll be honest. There’s definite moments, but lots of it is just really meandering and kind of tedious. Not to mention the moments where it’s all out of tune. I know it’s deliberate, but it doesn’t sound good.

This is the second Massive Attack album I’ve had now, and once again I think it’s really good. Musically it’s very cool. I like how chill parts of it are. I like how dramatic and richly layered other aspects are. The production really is top-notch.

For whatever reason, this was never an album I’d ever delved into beyond the first half and some of the bigger tracks, so I’m glad I have now. Some of the absolute best tracks are towards the end (like Heat Miser) so I was seriously missing out!

As a side note, I still can’t believe Mezzanine isn’t on this list! This is a strong runner-up, but it doesn’t have the dark majesty of that album.

Hit and miss. Some of the tracks are decent, and I’m kind of into the arty feel of them. Others though are completely underwhelming and kind of boring. Bits of this come across as pretentious and I’m not into that. It’s interesting hearing the influence across this though, both before and after. There’s a very Velvet Underground feel to many tracks, and it’s easy to see the influence on later bands like Sonic Youth.

2.5 rounded up.

There have been worse albums on here, which are just a pure assault of noise, and which have been deeply unpleasant to listen to. This one kind of makes me laugh at how random and mad it is, so at least there’s that. Parts of it sound like it should be in a 70’s sci-fi horror film, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something.

But yeah.. it is a fair old slog. I didn’t listen to the whole thing, I got the idea.

1.5 rounded up for the lolz.

You know this is way more funky, experimental and expansive-sounding than I was expecting. The actual music and production on this is excellent, and I’m glad that they do so much across the album. I wasn’t expecting actual punk-rock (or Tibetan Buddhist chanting over 70’s funk-wah pedal either to be fair)… but it works! Big respect to the Beastie Boys. I’m starting to understand just how influential they were, and also how justified that was.

The Beatles, it turns out, are really good. I'm saying this now 7 albums deep and not one of them rated less than a 4. In this instance, there's much to like still, and there's still plenty of bangers in there, but it's just inconsistent. That means it's not up there with their very best, but still absolutely worth a look - but I'll be honest, due to the length, and the number of weird tracks, I'm probably only dipping in for specific tracks.

The good: I like the variance in the songs, the variety of styles and approaches. There's plenty of quirk and plenty of sincerity.

The bad: There's a reasonable amount of filler, with some genuinely weird shit that I don't get the point of (Wild Honey Pie, Piggies, Revolution 9).

I would have liked it to be more focused, but inarguably what's here is mostly great.

This is definitely the way more accessible type of jazz. I'm much more into the big band stuff, and for the most part this is a thoroughly nice listen. I like the really, really strange sound they get out of the trumpet at times. Like the musician is being strangled, hah.

3.5 rounded up.

There's a few tracks and moments that I enjoyed and found quite engaging, and there's a bit of atmosphere. I also appreciate the fact that they're doing something a bit different and are committed to it. But... so much of this is just really samey and repetitive and kind of awkward. It feels kind of low-effort at times as well. It's not one of their better ones.

2.5 rounded down.

This was actually a really nice time, which is some surprise from an artist called 'Jah Wobble'. I think the music itself across the album is really good, and nicely varied. Some of it is vibrant and fun, with a really good beat. Other parts are super chill. The guest singers and backing singers are good. His singing is a bit questionable on some tracks, but actually I'm mostly into it.

I have a feeling I would appreciate this even more with more listens, but for now, I'm going...

3.5 rounded up.

This is much better and more interesting than the other albums I've had of theirs. In those cases I liked the hits, and found the rest to be a bit wanting. In this case I barely knew any of the songs, and they're nearly all really good!

I really like the range of instruments and breadth of styles in here. I particularly like the brass and the funky synths. It's way more expansive than you might expect. It's also really weird and frenetic at times, but in a good way.

This was really good!

What an iconic riff to kick this whole album off. And the album as a whole has some epicly FAT riffs in it too, with some great guitar work in general.

But it's not all hard-rock. I really like the acoustic flavour on Thank You, and some of the softer bits too. They have some range!

I don't know what that stupidly long drum solo is about towards the end. What a weird way to disrupt the flow of the album.

Anyway... another solid album!

There are some BIG tunes in here, and the tracks I didn’t already know were also good. Lots of foot tapping going on!

It's not just campy, poppy fun either - these are genuinely great songs, well written with great hooks and rhythms.

I had a thoroughly good time with this!

Another not bad, quite unusual album, and another one that I fail to properly warm to. Some tracks are quite good, with some thrust and oomph to them. Others are a bit meandering and not really popping that much.

It's another 3/5 for these guys. Higher and more deserving than 'meh', but still not exciting me.

This was actually a really nice, chill time. The music is really accomplished, with some lovely guitar, and a great energy to it overall. It's quite moody and interesting, with some expansive soundscapes, and really effective use of backing vocals.

3.5 rounded up.

I very much enjoyed this. There's quite a lot of different shades and tones running through it. You can hear a little bit of the Beach Boys in here, but mostly it's quite expansive in terms of the sound. I like the variety of instruments, the explosions in brass, and the kind of dreamy, ethereal sections with great use of synths.

3.5 rounded up.

I have no fucking idea what this is. Even after listening to the whole thing.

I now understand the general consensus on French Tom Waits / Trent Reznor / Rammstein at least, but… so much of it is just fucking mad. There are flashes of good bits in here… like a particularly fat riff, soundscape or driving rhythm, but it’s mostly just very noisy and weird.

But you know, I didn’t sign up to this thing to be played safe easy picks every day. It’s good to get the weird shit every once in a while to spice things up.

This is a good time. I prefer it when it's more ska and upbeat, with tracks like Nite Klub, Concrete Jungle and Little Bitch (Hello, looks like the Dandy Warhols ripped this right off).

3.5 rounded down.

This isn't what I expected at all, in that it's not really classic country, and it's actually good! At its best it's moody and interesting, with really nice instrumentation. I like his spoken / singing style, and there's just something overall comforting about it.

It definitely started to drag a bit and get quite repetitive at the tail-end, which sadly brings the score down a bit.

3.5 rounded down.

Not too bad, I quite enjoyed this one. I didn't really know much about these guys before, so it's nice to get some exposure. I'm getting a lot of 'Ash' in this. This third album has about 5 years on them, so no doubt they were an influence. It's quite dreamy and accessible, and with some nice vibes, but it's not setting the world alight.

3.5 rounded down.

Ps: This is one of the best album covers I've EVER seen.

It's pretty decent. It's quite full-on, but accomplished and fun enough.